After a while the worst of it passed. By late afternoon she was already done and the fever was over.
She came out of the bathroom looking tired but no longer like she was about to collapse. Veneri had moved from the couch to the kitchen and was pretending not to have been worried, though the way he kept glancing over gave him away. Somehow that made her smile.
She sat down beside him and pulled her knees up slightly with her hoodie sleeves covering her hands again. The room had grown quieter than before. For a few moments neither of them spoke. They just sat there with the remains of last night's dinner still on the table and the election excitement feeling far away. Then she exhaled and looked at him.
"I have something to tell you."
"That usually means danger."
"I'm serious."
"Okay."
She hesitated, and that alone told him this mattered. Greshina was rarely hesitant. Even during the election she had always spoken with control but now she looked almost embarrassed, which for her was rarer than eclipses. She looked down before saying it.
"I have the power to create poison. My... body produces it naturally. Every so often the poison builds up in my body and has to be expelled. If I ignore it too long, my body would force the release violently, like what just happened. Holding it in makes me stronger in endurance but also makes the backlash miserable. I delayed releasing it because of the election campaign and I stupidly wanted to test my limits."
When she finished, she expected concern, confusion or questions. Instead Veneri nodded.
"That was obvious."
"What?"
"After seeing purple poison in the toilet? I assumed you had poison powers."
"You saw that?"
"Yes."
"You said nothing."
"You looked like you were dying."
She narrowed her eyes.
"That wasn't the shocking part."
"The shocking part was your plumbing surviving. Good thing your poison didn't affect me because of my regeneration."
Now she stared harder.
"You just casually say that?"
He looked at her.
"You're pretending to be shocked."
"Maybe I am."
"I'm not stupid. You know about my regeneration."
Her face betrayed her for half a second. She eventually gave in and sighed.
"Fine."
He looked deeply satisfied.
"I knew it."
"How?"
He looked offended she even asked.
"People with abilities have an aura. We can sense things. You really thought I made myself trip and fall in first year for no reason?"
Her eyes widened.
"You did that on purpose?"
"Obviously. Why would I be that sloppy? I had to let you notice."
She almost looked scandalized.
"You faked an injury so I'd see your regeneration?"
"Yes."
"That is absurd. And you knew I kept your secret all this time."
"Which is actually impressive, yes. You kept that a long time. Thanks for not ratting me out to the government or something."
Something about hearing that made her strangely warm. He wasn't just acknowledging the secret but trusting her with it after the fact. She hadn't realized until then how much that mattered to her. She looked away slightly before speaking.
"I thought you might be angry I knew."
He looked confused.
"Why?"
"Because I never told you."
"You didn't expose me. That's enough."
"Can your regeneration… help me?"
He shook his head.
"No. It only works on me. If I could heal poison powers, I would."
"Oh. That's okay."
"And for the record, your poison thing is horrifying. But kind of impressive."
She laughed.
"Thanks. You have strange compliments."
"I work with what I have."
A comfortable silence settled again after that.