Caged

Their attacker sped off within seconds of accidentally firing his gun, startled apparently by Zack’s differences—his vast wings.

Tears immediately rocketed over Brian’s cheeks as his wide, brown eyes fell upon one of those wings. The milky white feathers were stained a sickly, threatening red, and Zack’s body quivered as soft, pained sounds poured through his lips.

“Zacky, Zacky!” he murmured frantically. “Oh no, oh God, are you alright?”

The only response Brian got was a soft, muddled version of “I’m alright” as Zack brushed his fingers over the moistened, red coated sections of feathers. When his pale fingertips touched over the small, circular wound, colored the deepest crimson, he winced, and Brian allowed a small whimper to escape his lips.

“Come here—“ the older boy said softly, holding out his arms. Before he could speak the next word, Zack collapsed into his arms, trembling and sobbing softly.

“It hurts, Brian, it hurts…” he cried, burying his face in Brian’s shoulder. He knew that Zack had tried to be strong and hold the pain inside, but there was not a way in the world he could blame him for breaking under pressure.

“I know, baby, I know… Let me see it…” he almost cooed, reaching one arm around to caress the crest of his love’s injured wing. He soon found that to be a mistake, as Zack
flinched violently and cringed further against his chest, crying out softly.

Immediately Brian withdrew his hand and wound his arms around his love’s torso, careful not to touch any part of his wings.

“Shh…” he almost sighed, tears falling over his cheeks as he allowed Zack to cry into him. “Baby, you didn’t have to do that…”

At the words, Zack shook his head softly, taking in a shaky breath. “I won’t lose you… I-I can’t…” he whimpered, holding himself tighter against Brian’s chest. Brian kissed his hair gently, stunned at the fact that Zack would go so far to protect him.

“Love…” he whispered, caressing the younger man’s cheek softly and bringing his startled, pained gaze back to meet his own worried one. All Zack gave as a response was a gentle nod, causing the tears lingering, soaking his face to dip further down his cheeks.

Brian gazed into Zack’s eyes, which were now colored a pale, yet deep yellow, just before dipping his face toward the angel’s, catching his lips.

Breathing shakily, Zack formed his lips to Brian’s, glad, at least, for the fact that his lover was safe.

As they parted, Brian gazed into his boyfriend’s eyes again, moving his hands slowly up and down his back. “Will you let me see it now..? I just need to make sure the… the bullet’s not still embedded…” he asked softly, and Zack’s form quivered.

The pain in his wing was still present, an incessant throbbing that just wouldn’t go away. The last thing he wanted was to have anyone making it worse. But he knew that his love was gentle; he trusted him. So he nodded, sitting up from Brian’s embrace and unfolding his wounded wing.

It hurt—oh, did it hurt—but he knew that he had to let Brian take care of him at one point or another. If he didn’t, the wound would get infected.

Hearing Brian let out another soft, half-sigh, half-whimper, Zack’s head hung. “How bad is it..?” he asked quietly, voice shaking.

Brian sighed. “I don’t think it’s as bad as it looks… we should clean it up. It doesn’t seem like the bullet held.” he said softly, getting to his knees before standing and helping Zack to stand.

As the smaller boy got to his feet, however, a light, metallic clank sounded from below them. Half smiling as he glanced down, Brian bent to collect a small, compacted piece of led.

“Good… I don’t have to guess, then…” he smiled, but Zack didn’t so much as chuckle. He sighed softly, tossing the bullet behind him and reaching to take his love’s hand, saying nothing more.

He wanted to hold him, comfort him, and make him know that everything would be alright, but he knew that the pints (or what seemed like pints) of blood seeping from his wing would tell him otherwise. Suddenly, Brian wondered if Zack had ever been hurt so
badly before.

The whimpers escaping the shorter man’s chest as they made their way up Brian’s driveway told him that there was no such pain—physically, at least—in the Aralaysian world.

“Come on…” he spoke softly, guiding Zack towards the bathroom after closing the front door and sitting him down on the edge of the bathtub once they were there.

Noticing the excess tears and the expression of fright written over the angel’s face, Brian knelt before his partner.

“Don’t worry… I’ll try as hard as I can not to hurt you…” he spoke softly, stretching upward so that he could plant a soft peck on Zack’s cheek, as meant earlier. When he noticed the younger boy nodding, he sighed and proceeded into cleaning up the injured
wing.

He moved around so that he knelt down in the bathtub, and began unpinning the back of the shirt Zack wore so that he could slip it over his head. Afterward, the angel hung his head, sniffling softly every now and then.

Brian stood, and took the detachable shower head from its latch. Turning on the water so that it was lukewarm, testing it first on his hand, he looked to Zack.

“It might sting a little bit, love…” he sighed, and then continued as his boyfriend nodded
once again.

Immediately, Brain felt guilty as he worked the warm water over Zack’s wing, seeing him wince violently and bite down hard on his lip rings. It was his fault that this had happened after all, wasn’t it? He nodded to himself, deciding internally that it was.

He should’ve let Zack sleep, taken him out the next night. Everything might’ve been alright, then.

The sight of pinkish red flowing through the water, under his shoes and down the drain seemed so innocent, yet so menacing at the same time; symbolizing such hurt and fear,
though, it was much more menacing than innocent.

This, plus each muffled whimper of pain that Zack let out made Brian sick to his stomach.

He shut off the water the minute he was done cleaning away the excess blood; he knew that the sudden rush of cold air would help soothe the sting just a bit.

Stepping out of the bathtub and toward the medical chest to collect a small box containing gauze and other materials that could be used to clean an open wound, Brian bit
his lip.

As he turned back toward his love, he noticed that Zack had pulled his wing around the front of his body and was examining the damage. The slight of tears racing over the younger’s cheeks was enough to glaze Brian’s own eyes with salt moisture.

“Zack…” he murmured, biting his lip to cease its sad quivering. The other boy brought his gaze from the still-bleeding wound to Brian, eyes sorrowful.

It only made Brian want to break down and cry more than he already knew he would tonight. The older boy let out a muffled whimper before speaking.

“Come with me…” he stammered, reaching forward for Zack’s hand. However, the angel simply hung his head a moment and then simply stood, leaving his boyfriend’s hand hanging out before him, trembling.

That hand was soon enough dropped, as was Brian’s head, as he turned, leading Zack into his bedroom; he carried the first aid supplies clutched tightly to his chest now, as tears raced over his flushed cheeks.

The two carefully sat on the edge of the bed in Brian’s room, Zack pulling his legs up and crossing them while Brian wiped his tears and opened up the medical kit. The larger man smiled slightly despite his sinking feeling of rejection, noting the way his partner stared at the kit. “It’ll only help… I promise. It might just sting a little at first…”

After nodding, Zack emitted a soft sigh, which splashed onto Brian’s face like a gentle ocean wave. The angel knew that what had happened hadn’t at all been Brian’s fault, but he’d interacted with so few humans that he just didn’t know what to think.

Of course, only one of the three he knew had hurt him, and it was obvious that Brian would never have hurt him on purpose. It didn’t seem that Brian could hurt anyone on purpose.

As he watched the older man prepare to clean up his wound, he couldn’t help but smile a bit. Zack would never understand why or how Brian loved him the way he did.

The smaller boy couldn’t ignore the tears ghosting his lover’s cheeks, though, and his smile dulled slightly as Brian sniffled. Shaking his head, he nearly read the other boy’s mind. He knew also that what he’d done in the bathroom just now, leaving Brian standing there alone, was a good portion of the cause for his partner’s feelings.

“Bri, it’s not your fault.” Zack spoke softly, reaching to grip his boyfriend’s hand—even though the gesture was slightly overdue—and causing him to drop the opaque brown bottle he’d picked up.

As Brian’s milk chocolate gaze collided with Zack’s, more tears swelled in his eyes and spilled over his cheeks. “It is, Zacky…” he whispered, shaking his head.

As much as it hurt, Zack pulled his wings back behind him long enough to tug Brian against his chest.

“No it isn’t. It’s mine. I’m selfish, and I can’t—no, won’t—live without you.” he reassured the other man, carefully dragging his fingers through the now-drooping spikes that were his hair.

Brian smiled widely at the angel’s words, and for a second, thought he might have coughed up butterflies.

“I wouldn’t call that selfishness… You saved my life... for the second time.” he smiled, and not long after, pulled up from his angel’s embrace. “Now we need to get your wing cleaned up, love.”

Zack nodded softly and smiled, bringing his billowy white wings forward and bending the pinkish colored one into Brian’s lap. The bleeding seemed to have stopped, and it didn’t sting as badly as it had before.

Brian worked carefully over the damaged skin and muscle, first applying peroxide—to which Zack hissed slightly in pain—and then dabbing away the dried up blood and bandaging the worst of the wound.

By the time the process was finished, Zack felt much better and immediately collapsed against his love’s chest as soon as he was done packing up the medical supplies.

“Thank you…” he murmured, closing his eyes as he nuzzled against Brian’s neck. The older man shivered softly and gave a soft laugh, nodding.

“What time is it..?” the shorter boy wondered aloud, giving a slight yawn.

“Uhm, about 6:30, I think…” Brian whispered, tugging his young friend into his lap and scooting back toward the head of the bed. Zack knew that he wasn’t leaving the other
man’s arms tonight, and he was glad for it.

He was safe with Brian; he knew he was.

“Lemme sleep next to you..?” he asked, even though he was already positive that Brian would say yes.

This, like so many other things, was something that Brian had wanted a long time; to be able to hold Zack while he slept, guard him and keep him safe even in his dreams.

“Of course, baby…” Brian giggled, tightening his arms around the smaller man as he tugged the covers up over the both of them.

Zack was asleep almost as soon as he got himself snuggled into Brian’s chest.

The larger man didn’t blame him. He had to have been exhausted. And it wasn’t long after that Brian fell into a deep slumber of his own.