Forces Flight, Forced Freeze

Draz sneaks another look to his right.

Aiden is still awake, as the train rumbles farther into the night. He should be asleep. Draz should tell him to sleep. They had a long fight. Well, Aiden didn’t really, I mean, he did, but well-

Fire, and smoke, and swirling magenta pulsating, and the sharp spike of fear- No, no, no, not fear. Not fear.

He begins to open his mouth. Falters. Glances again.

He fixed it, right? Draz fixed it. Eric fixed it. The nurse fixed it.

He remembers the way it wriggled, squirming, magenta and furred and soft bellied, so so easy for Eric to close his teeth around, teeth around the shrew, teeth around Aiden’s throat-

No, not Aiden. Aiden’s okay. Aiden is better, actually!

Draz remembers Aiden’s face when they pulled the shrew from him. He didn’t look happy. He looked angry. Burning, scalding anger twisted his features, and Draz’s hand almost drifted to his sword and then- Nothing. A cool, sharp wave of nothing. But Maybe Draz just imagined that.

See, Cyrus was still around, and the Queen didn’t tell him, but it’s fine, it is, really, because Draz fixed it! He got it out of Aiden. He hadn’t known it was still there, and he should have, but it’s gone now. Cyrus is gone. He can’t hurt Aiden anymore. Can’t hurt anyone Draz loves- Protects. All the people he has to protect. He can’t hurt them. Draz won’t let him.

The soft magenta glow floods the room. Which doesn’t mean anything. Aiden is okay. It’s okay to keep him at his back.

Why are his- oh. His wings are up. He flattens them back down, spares a look to his right as he does. Aiden is still looking up at the ceiling. His hands are at his side, clenched into fists, nail pressed to palm. Draz wants to reach over and take his hand, uncurl each finger. Wants to pull his gaze from the ceiling, feel the magenta bathe his face as he turns to him, and Draz won’t flinch. He won’t.

But Draz doesn’t. He turns back to the door, back to his watch. He sneaks glances though, periodically. Aiden doesn’t move for the rest of the night.