Fragments

A collection of scenes from the stories I will probably never get around to writing.

Chase woke in darkness, his sleep-addled mind taking a moment to recognize the sound that woke him as the soft click of the door. He couldn't see anything, but soft breathing from the other bed told him Charon and Mayon were still asleep. He reached across to the other side of his own bed and wasn't surprised to find it empty.
He found Loki in the field behind the motel. He had a bottle of milk from a vending machine, which he'd emptied into a little silver dish and set on the grass beside him. It was a familiar ritual, one that used to amuse Chase, but after his talk with Braelyn it seemed so tragic. He knew he should go back inside, knew there was no point in discussing it - there was a reason Loki's companions never had - but his body and mind couldn't seem to agree, and he found himself seated on the grass next to his best friend.
"You know they probably won't come, right?" he asked hesitantly. Loki shrugged, barely glancing at him.
"Yeah. We're pretty far from their territory. They like to wander sometimes though, and I don't know how far they'll go looking for me."
"Loki..." Chase chewed his lip. He shouldn't say it, he knew he shouldn't. Then again, if it went too badly Loki would simply forget the conversation had occurred. It was a talent Chase often envied. He stared into the dish of milk. "Are you sure they're looking for you?"
Loki quirked an eyebrow. He had only recently discovered he could do it, and now looked for any excuse. "Of course they're looking for me. I need to get back to them."
"Why? Haven't you been happy here?" With me, he wanted to add.
"Yeah, this place is okay, but they're worried about me."
"But, what if... they aren't?" No going back now, but he wasn't about to suggest that they'd left him behind on purpose. "You told me yourself, pixies don't think about the past. They move forward. They forget. Maybe they never were looking."
Their eyes met for the first time that night, and for the briefest moment Loki looked hurt; but then it was gone, and he was grinning and smacking Chase lightly on the back of the head. "Moron. You can't forget someone you love."
"They aren't the only ones who love you, you know." It was futile, but he couldn't seem to stop himself. "Tess loves you, and Alastor did, and even Braelyn does, I think. I love you. I'm in love with you."
Loki didn't acknowledge the confession, didn't even notice it. "Yeah, I love you guys. You and Tess and even Braelyn, I think." Chase hadn't expected him to mention Alastor, but the absence was still upsetting. Rather than cope with the loss, Loki had blocked out all memory of the man who had taken him in off the street and been the first to really love him. You can't forget someone you love, but you can bury the memory awfully deep.
"Loki..." He didn't know what to say anymore. Loki had forgotten Alastor, ignored Chase's confession, and there was no getting through to him about the pixies. It was hopeless. Nothing would make him change. "I'm going back to bed. Are you ok out here alone?"
"Yeah." Loki was already ignoring him, watching for signs of tiny winged folk.
"Good night then. Just... remember what I said. If they don't come. You have a family here that loves you too." He was already walking away when the half-heard response stopped him dead.
"You'll leave."
Chase turned back, startled. Loki had drawn his knees up to his chest. For the first time since they met, he looked vulnerable. Chase sat down again and pulled Loki into his arms, resting his head on the other boy's. "We're not going anywhere. I really don't think the others would leave you, but I promise you this; no matter what happens with everyone else, I will always be with you."
The sat like that for a few long moments, then Loki pulled away. Oblivious to the dampness on his cheeks, he frowned at Chase. "I thought you were going to bed. You're probably scaring them away."
Chase smiled weakly, wiping a tear from his own cheek. "All right. Good night, Loki."
"Good night."

Kaian sat on his bed, naked from the waist up, trying to ignore the way he could feel Liam's eyes on his skin. Gentle fingers wrapped around the scarred stubs on his back.
"Now, move the muscles as if you were flaring your wings." His tone was apologetic, but this was the third time he'd pressed Kaian to let him examine what was left of his wings. It was awkward, and shameful, and forced Kaian to think about things he'd sooner forget. Still, he obliged. Liam had been good to him.
"Just one more. A strong downbeat." After Kaian had done it, Liam took him by the shoulders and gently turned him around. "I'm sorry. I just had to be sure I was understanding the musculature. It's important." Kaian nodded miserably and stared at his hands. "Come with me, now. I have something to show you. Maybe it will help."
Liam took Kaian by the hand and led him to the workshop. A pair of strange feathered contraptions, like something out of Celeste's steampunk magazines, lay on the table. Liam took one and stretched it out. "They're wings."
Kaian took the device in shaking hands and examined it, barely hearing Liam's explanation. "They'll fit over the remnants of your natural wings, which will probably be uncomfortable at first but hopefully you can adjust. They'll respond to the muscle movements. Mechanically they're sound, but magic is less my area. You'll notice they're nearly weightless, but until you try them out I won't know if I managed to give them enough extra lifting power. I hope so. The whole reason I didn't tell you was because I didn't want to get your hopes up, so I'd hate to put you through that and have them not work anyway."
Kaian placed a finger on Liam's lips, silencing him. "Why?" he asked, because of all his questions it was the most bewildering.
"You always look so sad. I was watching your sister in the air and I thought... maybe you missed the sky. Maybe I could give it back to you."
~^~^~^~^~^~
Kaian couldn't have said how he ended up on the balcony wearing the fake wings. They were uncomfortable, but that was a small matter if they worked. He twitched the muscles experimentally, saw the wings flap in response, and in moments he was airborne.
He'd forgotten how wonderful it felt. The cold air on his flesh was like the caress of a long-lost love. The discomfort and the strange look of his new wings didn't bother him anymore; he was flying. He would have stayed up there all night, but he hadn't flown in nearly two years, and the muscles soon began to tire. When he landed somewhat clumsily Liam grinned at him, and he was surprised to realize that he was grinning back.
"Thank you. This... Thank you." There were tears in his eyes, and he couldn't stop smiling. It had been a long time since he truly felt happy.
This didn't change much. He was still an outcast, still broken. But he didn't feel so alone anymore. He had someone besides his sister who cared about him, enough to build this incredible gift. He had a home where he was welcome, wanted, maybe even loved. And he had the sky.
He laughed, and Liam laughed with him, and it felt like home.

Loki dangled from a tree branch and scowled at Braelyn on the path below. She was pissed at him over something-or-other; he wasn't actually listening, until she started to say "You can't-"
"Yes I can!" he interrupted. "I can do anything. Watch me!" He swung down onto a fallen tree that spanned the river they were following, and flipped gracefully onto his hands. Halfway across the span he stopped and jumped from one hand to the other. "Come on, pay attention!" Braelyn rolled her eyes and turned to follow the others, just as Loki launched into a cartwheel. They froze when they heard the splash.
The river was deep, the current strong. There was no sign of Loki on the surface. Slowly, with dawning horror, Tess said "Pixies don't swim. He had no one to teach him."
Braelyn and Charon both moved for the water, but Chase flew past them, shedding his jacket as he went, and dove gracefully into the river. He came up several yards downstream, clutching Loki to his chest. Braelyn waded in and pulled them to shore.
Loki wasn't breathing.
Eris' hackles rose and she held back, but the others swarmed around the boys. Tess whispered, more to herself than the others, "He's alright. There's no reaper here. He'll be fine." Chase, coughing up the water he had inadvertently swallowed, took a moment to see what was happening. Once he did he lunged forward to beat on his friend's chest.
"Loki! Loki, come on, I need you! Don't do this!" Tess tried to pull him away so someone else could try, but he struggled free. "Loki, wake up, please!" He slammed both fists down hard -
- and a stream of water shot from Loki's mouth as he choked and gasped. He rolled into Chase's arms and they held each other like they were daring the world to try and pull them apart.
They set up camp where they were. That night Chase and Loki shivered next to the fire, covered in blankets and still holding each other. Loki didn't bother to claim he was alright; by morning he would have moved on, but at the moment he was scared and it showed. Across the fire, Eris lay with her head in Tess' lap, purring as Tess scritched between her ears. She seemed to have picked up Loki's denial, determined to convince herself that the thought of losing one of her companions hadn't terrified her. The others were asleep, or supposed to be.
Braelyn appeared first, draping her blanket over the boys' heads and dropping to stretch out on Loki's other side. Mayon, silent as ever, appeared next to Chase. Bell went to sit with Tess, but she squeezed Loki's shoulder as she passed, as if reassuring herself that he was really there. Charon lingered in the shadows until Braelyn threw a charred stick at him and ordered him to get his butt in gear and come sit with her. That was the last anyone spoke that night. They sat in companionable silence, watching Loki slowly fall asleep on Chase's shoulder. Come morning he'd be driving them crazy again; but in that moment, everyone one of them was simply grateful they hadn't lost him.
And Chase, just before drifting off himself, offered up a silent prayer that he never would.

Alex's skin tingled wherever the brush touched him. Every so often Lynn would blow on the ink to dry it, and the feeling would spread across Alex's back and make his toes curl. He couldn't quite remember how he'd ended up like this, half-dressed on the bed while the man he loved straddled his hips and used his flesh as a canvas. He didn't really mind.
As the brush emerged from the inkwell a drop fell to splatter on the skin below.
"If you get ink on my bed I'll smack you." He was far too content to make it sound like a serious threat.
"It isn't your bed," Lynn reminded him.
"I think I'll keep sleeping in it anyway."
"Good. Stay."
"Are you sure? I don't recall the homeowner being too fond of me."
"You've grown on him." He had reached the small of Alex's back. He slid down the younger man's legs and blew gently on the last few words he'd scribed, and Alex's breath caught in his throat.
"Tha-that's good to know. I'm not sure I'd be comfortable doing this with someone who didn't like me."
"Because I could kill you?" Alex chuckled, quite used to the way Lynn thought.
"Look at us. Look at what we're doing right now. And your mind jumps to murder. You'd better not be writing one of your horror stories on me."
"I'm not. It's about a family."
"Oh." That could be a difficult subject for them both; but Alex could see Lynn's face in the mirror over the dresser, and his soft smile suggested he was finally able to think of Cody without pain. As for Alex himself, he had made peace with his family's demons.
Lynn's lips brushed the back of his neck. It was the first kiss he had given uninvited, and that thought thrilled Alex more than the kiss itself.
"I've realized something."
"And what is that?" It was hard to focus on the words when he could feel the other man's breath on his ear.
"This is real."
That was significant. Alex felt that he should sit up, that they should discuss this face to face, but he was pinned to the mattress. Lynn continued.
"I didn't imagine you, or your feelings for me. This isn't a trick, some brief happiness to be stolen from me too soon." His hand found Alex's, and he intertwined their fingers. "This is real, and now, and for good." He slid off the bed, still holding Alex's hand. "Come with me."
Apparently this hadn't been quite as spontaneous as it seemed, because Lynn had already set up two mirrors in his bedroom to let Alex see what was written on his back. It read:
When you are hurt, I will give you comfort.
When you need shelter, I will be your home.
When you need a friend, I will be your very best.
When you need love You will never need love, for you will have it every day of your life.
Marry me.
For a minute Alex was too overwhelmed to speak. Finally he managed "What, no ring?"
The ink and brush had been left in the other room, but there was a marker in the nightstand. Lynn carefully drew a circle around Alex's finger. "Your ring."
Alex stared at his hand and laughed. "You're ridiculous." He took the marker and drew a matching ring on Lynn's hand. "But I think I'll marry you anyway."