Caged

Over the course of about ten minutes, the sky had faded into an off-blue color, clouds still visible, and Zack had drifted into a gentle slumber, hunched over the table; this was all unbeknownst to Brian, who was just finishing up talking and playing with Jimmy, and was headed down the stairs with the taller man in tow.

At seeing his quiet friend, peacefully resting against the small, wooden table, a smile crossed Brian’s features, and he stopped, causing Jimmy to smack into the back of him.

“What the fu—“ the tallest boy began to mutter, before being interrupted by Brian, who turned to shush him. Raising an eyebrow, Jimmy glanced over the other boy’s shoulder to see the sleeping frame of Zack, and chuckled.

“You really do have the hots for the kid, don’t you.” he grinned wildly, his crystal blue eyes flashing in the dim light. Brian sighed heavily and turned to face him.

“I like him. A lot.” he murmured, and Jimmy shook his head, his trademark smile holding its place.

“Then you’ve got to let him know. If you two were half as sociable as any normal person, you’d already be set in people’s minds as a couple. It’s written all over your faces, Haner.” Jimmy shrugged, pushing past Brian to step into the kitchen.

Yet another sigh eluded the spike-haired boy as he as well stepped into the medium-sized, tiled room, moving so that he stood beside Zack’s chair and kneeling down beside it.

“Zack…” he spoke the angel’s name softly, reaching to lay a hand on his upper arm. The smaller boy didn’t budge, and Brian smiled. The way his friend’s face looked now reminded him of the very first time he’d seen it: Peaceful and serene.

“Hey, Zack…” he murmured again, this time laying a hand gently over the crest of his wing instead. At this, soft shivers engulfed the Aralaysian’s body, and his bright, sea green eyes fluttered open as Brian stroked the soft feathers slowly.

After registering where he was and what had caused the sensation that was near pushing him back into sleep, Zack yawned. “Brian..?” he mumbled sleepily.

“Hey… yeah, you fell asleep here, Z.” the older of the two smiled, still running his hand carefully along the soft surface of Zack’s wing.

“Oh…” he half purred, closing his eyes again as he let himself enjoy his friend’s soft touch. Brian smiled at the sound, glancing back at Jimmy, who was incessantly making silent kissy faces at the two. Brian rolled his eyes.

“Jim and I were just talking; he wanted to know if we wanted to go to his place. We got to sharing ideas, and his dad works in a music store, so there’s more than likely a lefty guitar there that I’ll be able to teach you with.” the chocolate eyed man explained, smiling as Zack’s eyes fluttered open again, the soft green color shifting into an excited shade of golden-blue.

“Sure, that’d be awesome…” he smiled, though his earlier thoughts still weighed on the back of his mind. He did truly want to learn the basics of the instrument that Brian already seemed to have mastered.

“Sweet!” Jimmy grinned, “We have a rhythm guitarist, then.”

Brian cast a quizzical glance in his newest friend’s direction, shaking his head in the slightest.

“No one said we were forming a serious band, Sully.” he mused, letting his hand fall away from Zack’s wing.

The oldest boy scrunched his face up at the quirky nickname, but shook his head as well. “I’ve been working at it for some time now, Haner.” he shrugged, laughing slightly.

“Well, I think you should let me teach him a song or two before you decide you’re using us in your ‘band’,” Brian air quoted, again causing Jimmy to scrunch up his face and mutter a “whatever.”

“What if someone sees me, though..?” Zack asked quietly, nervously glancing up at Jimmy out of the corner of his eye. Something told the middle boy that his young companion would always be shy towards their older friend’s snarky comments.

“They won’t, I promise.” he smiled, standing straight and beckoning Zack to follow him up the stairs.

“But…” Zack murmured, folding his wings down behind his back as he stood and trotted up the stairs after the optimistic boy.

“Don’t worry, just trust me, okay?” Brian chuckled softly, stopping and opening up a large hall closet. The younger man raised an eyebrow at this, watching as Brian pulled a large throw blanket from the top shelf. The angel let out a soft chuckle.

“Clever.” he smirked as Brian shook out the blanket, and folded his billowy wings down around his body in the exact position that a blanket would’ve been in: Draped around his shoulders. And as soon as Zack had this accomplished, Brian laid the soft, thick blanket
over top of Zack’s wings.

Brian smirked, looking his friend over, admiring. “You could almost be from Earth.” he teased lightly, chuckling as a soft blush built in Zack’s cheeks.

A soft sigh eased from the smaller man’s lips as he looked up to his friend longingly. These were the kinds of moments—the moments when Brian’s eyes reflected the same longing that he felt—that Zack wished he were from Earth.
“Z, what is it?” the taller man asked gently, reaching to brush his fingertips over Zack’s
cheeks.

At the realization that Brian’s careful gesture had smeared moisture over his cheek, Zack looked up. The tears had come so suddenly, and now, he didn’t know how to stop them. No sound escaped the smaller man as the hot, salt liquid gushed over his cheeks; Zack simply cast his gaze towards the ground as his face puckered slightly.

Brian was slightly stunned, needless to say; he didn’t know what he’d done to upset his friend, or if it had even been his fault at all. All that he knew was that he didn’t like the sight of the angel crying; not one bit.

The taller boy pulled the other into his arms, letting the blanket fall from around Zack’s
wings as he embraced him. Still, there was no sound emitted as the tears rushed, but yet,
Brian could sense immediately that there was something amiss. Something had been
bothering his friend since earlier; something he had kept quiet about.

“Zack, please tell me what’s bothering you… I want to help…” Brian pleaded, earning a
small whimper from the trembling figure he held in his arms.

Carefully, Zack wound his arms around the torso of the other boy as his tear-stained
face buried itself in Brian’s soft black shirt. “We can’t, Bri.” he mumbled, tightening his
arms around his older friend.

At the three simple words, Brian’s heart dropped. He was sure he knew what Zack
meant, but still, he felt compelled to confirm his fears. “What do you mean, Zack…? I
don’t…” he murmured, trailing off as Zack began to sniffle erratically. The gentle sounds
stirred about the silence as Brian’s words melted away.

The smaller boy’s wings trembled slightly, wrapping tightly around Brian’s shoulders
for the slightest of seconds, though he still hadn’t spoken a word.

Zack’s tight embrace caught Brian by surprise, and his eyes slid shut immediately
while his face buried itself in the soft feathers.

“What… What did I say wrong? I didn’t mean to upset you…” Brian half whispered,
leaving his eyes closed as he spoke. The tremors that shook the angel’s body seemed to
calm somewhat as Brian spoke.

“Nothing… nothing you said, it’s not your fault…” Zack’s velvety voice murmured in turn
as his face found its way to the crook between Brian’s neck and shoulder. There was no
way that he could break his friend’s spirit now; not when he’d already hurt and confused
him enough as it was.

Besides, what he’d said was true; the fact that Zack was convinced that the two of them
couldn’t be together in the way that they both wanted wasn’t Brian’s fault.

“Well… what is it? Please…” the older boy pleaded; he only wanted to help. “If it’s
Jimmy offending you, then we don’t have to—“

“No, it isn’t him…” the angel smiled slightly, sniffling and pulling up from his friend’s soft
embrace. “Speaking of him, he’s probably pissed…”

This earned a sigh from Brian, and he stepped closer to Zack, keeping his arms
around the younger man’s middle. All that Brian wanted to do was be there for his friend.

The sudden closeness, however, caused Zack to blush as he gazed up at Brian. Their
bodies were so close that they weren’t far from being able to brace a magazine flat between
their chests. And this, unfortunately, brought about again the hot, heavy thoughts that
Jimmy’s comment earlier had caused.

“Promise me you’ll tell me later?” Brian asked softly, using one hand to rub soft circles
into the small of Zack’s back while the other moved around to grip one of his warm hands.

Suddenly, Zack couldn’t help but smile. “I will…” he said softly, trailing off as he took
note of the small things that Brian was doing. Involuntarily, his large, gentle wings wavered.

The small amount of flutter brought a smile to Brian’s face, and he found himself taking
yet another step closer, moving the hand that had originally held Zack’s to caress the
angel’s cheek gently instead. Butterflies swelled and overflowed in his stomach as he
drew his thin, soft lips closer to Zack’s plump ones.

The young angel had barely realized what was happening, and by the time it registered
in his mind, it was too late to do anything about it.

Brian’s lips pressed gently against Zack’s, and all emotion broke loose.

Zack’s breath became shaky as his lips gradually formed to Brian’s, working carefully
and passionately. At first, the only thought in his mind—again—had been how wrong this
was. But now, as soon as he had allowed his lips to melt into whatever Brian wanted them
to be, everything felt completely right.

What more could he do, after all? He had always been different from other
Aralaysians. But now, there was the questionable possibility of whether or not Zack
belonged in Aralaysia at all.