Caged

“I’d guess you don’t have a place to stay…” Brian smiled, still clutching his new friend’s hand tightly as they say side by side in the cold alleyway.

Zack shook his head. “Then you’d guess right… My arrival wasn’t exactly planned, at least not on my part…” he sighed, and Brian noticed his eyes darkening again.

It was becoming apparent to him that Zack’s irises changed with his mood; there was such a range of emotion, just within the two similar colors that Brian had seen so far, that he wondered if the glowing orbs held a different color for each and every different emotion that Zack might have been able to feel.

He wondered what sorts of shades he’d find in love, in happiness, in excitement… then there were the sides of the angel that Brian wasn’t so sure he wanted to uncover: The fear, the anger, the sorrow…

A sigh brushed his lips as his eyes moved back to Zack’s face. It was plain and clear on his face that whatever had gone on in his home-world was gnawing at him.

“Can I ask what happened..?” Brian asked, giving Zack’s hand a light squeeze. Instantly, he felt his friend’s hand start to tremble.

“W-Well… right now, apparently, as of a couple hours ago… I’m what’s considered ‘fallen’… in my world.” he explained. With each word he squeezed Brian’s hand tighter, as if he were frightened. Perhaps he was.

“Fallen… like a fallen angel?” Brian asked, recalling the first moments of looking at Zack when he’d thought exactly that. He felt a soft blush creep into his pale skin; the question was so stereotypical… even though that was exactly what Zack seemed to be.

“I supposed you could say that…” he smiled. It was obvious that he knew that typical term that the people from Earth would use to describe him. “But in my world we’re just the Aralaysians.”

Another very real smile settled itself into Brian’s features, as he kept his gaze glued to Zack’s. The same warmth grew within the center of the boy’s chest as he stared into the deep blue-gray color of his foreign friend’s eyes.

“See… the rules in my home are extremely strict… you have to be perfect, no exceptions, no excuses.” he explained further, and Brian watched as the sorrow grew in his eyes.

“Wait… what?” Brian gaped, dumbfounded once again by Zack’s forced nature. How could they expect so much of someone?

And if Zack appeared so utterly perfect to someone like Brian, what kind of perfection could his own kind possibly expect?

“Yeah… Nothing can be flawed in any way. If you have bad enough personality flaws and problems, like me… well, you end up… like me.” he sighed.

Brian’s mouth gaped even wider as he processed what his friend was telling him. He’d had problems—like everyone did—so they’d kicked him out of their world.

“Oh my… I’m so sorry, Zack…” he muttered, feeling Zack’s frame tremble slightly. When the angel met his gaze again, they were a deep, deep sea foam color. Brian assumed that this color indicated sorrow, and immediately—instinctively—pulled Zack into his arms, against his chest.

Zack’s tremors calmed instantly, as his arms wrapped around Brian’s torso tightly in turn. After a moment, his wings fluttered as they had moments before, and wrapped themselves around Brian’s shoulders as well.

As this happened, and Zack buried his face in the crook of Brian’s neck, Brian jumped slightly. The feeling of the velvet, pillow-like feathers wrapped around his body was a feeling nothing short of heaven.

Soon, he found himself burying his face in the cropped black-violet portion of Zack’s hair, as he held the boy tight in his arms.

He wasn’t sure if it was because of the feeling the angel’s wings gave him that he did this; but again, like when he’d first taken Zack’s hand, this felt right.

“They send us here to fix the problems we have… we don’t know why, and it’s happened to… 12 of us..? Myself included…” he went on, turning his head so that it lie just on Brian’s shoulder.

“So… do they watch you? While you’re here, I mean…” Brian wondered, moving one hand to smooth down the portion of Zack’s hair he’d distorted just moments ago.

Zack nodded. “It’s something every one of us is taught from birth… if you have any imperfections to your character, you’re sent here until they’re fixed. Once they’re fixed, you get to go back… but none of our people whom they’ve sent here have ever returned to Aralaysia.”

As Zack explained this, that warmth that Brian felt just beneath the skin of his chest reformed into an ache.

As much as he wanted his new friend to be happy, Brian also didn’t want to lose this feeling that he had now; because for the first time in years, he was somewhat happy. He had a friend. Who knew how bad it would get if he lost that all over again?

His arms subconsciously tightened around the smaller boy he held in his arms, and again, Zack buried his face in the crook of Brian’s neck.

After sitting a moment in this position, Brian came to realize something. When Zack had promised to love him, he’d mentioned that he as well knew what it felt like to not have love. Immediately, he wondered if that strict world of his considered this a “personality flaw”.

He gazed down at the angel, noting the expression on his face; a smile. Was he feeling the same way that Brian was? Did he feel as though he finally had a friend?

“Zack, were you… are you here for the same reasons that I’m… the way I am?” he wondered aloud finally.

The expression on his face shifted, reforming into more of a sort of thoughtfulness than a smile. Not long after, he nodded.

“Oh… well with any luck… we can fix things for each other…” Brian said softly, and was immediately surprised at how intimate the statement sounded. He hadn’t meant it that
way… had he?

In any case, Zack smiled and pulled up, looking into Brian’s eyes.

Brian found it amazing how quickly his mood seemed to change; how frequently his eyes changed shade. Now, the original, dark sea foam color had reformed itself once more, resting inside of something that was more like a sky blue with jade green thrown into the mix.

“Sounds good to me.” he nodded, smiling widely. The feeling of embarrassment passed as soon as Zack spoke the words, and the subject that Brian had been about to bring up before the two had started talking about Zack’s history came back to mind.

“So about that place to stay…” he smiled at his friend, whose eyes seemed to be growing brighter and brighter by the second, now.

“Yeah..?” he grinned in turn to Brian’s small smile. It seemed that he knew what it was that was being implied.

“I was thinking, since I’m alone in my house most of the time, and there’s an extra room…” he smiled. If he would’ve tried to finish, Zack would’ve cut him off straight away.

The smaller man’s arms flew around Brian’s neck as he kneeled up in front of him. This time, Zack’s wings spread out and then came back around to encompass Brian completely, wrapping tight around his upper-body.

At this, a soft, moan-like sound brushed past his lips as his eyes closed and his face buried itself in the felt-like, cushiony feathers of one of Zack’s wings.

As Brian’s cheek pressed against the soft muscles within the crest of the one wing, he could feel an instant throbbing against his cheek. It was Zacky’s pulse he was feeling. Immediately, his whole body grew warm.

He wondered if it was because of the blanket-like texture of Zack’s wings or because of the closeness in general. It nearly seemed to be both.

“Thank you so much, Brian…” Zack murmured, and all Brian could do was nod. He was still overwhelmed by the sensation of Zack’s hug.

“I’ll h-help you out… get you more clothes, help you set the room up…” he sputtered
out, turning his head so that the smaller, smooth feathers covering the crest of Zack’s wing brushed against his cheek.

“Okay…” Zack smiled as his wings relaxed and fell from around Brian’s shoulders, resting on either of his sides. This left Brian feeling suddenly cold, losing the warmth that his friend provided.

Yet another sigh escaped Brian’s lips and painted the air between the two teenagers as they sat back from one another.

As Zack looked around, confusion flitted over his features. “It’s getting… dark?” he mused, pulling each of his lip rings into his mouth and furrowing his brow. He said the last word as if it were something completely unfamiliar.

“Um… yeah?” Brian chuckled softly, leaning his head slightly out of confusion.

“Odd…” he sighed, looking towards the ground, and then back to Brian. “I mean, it’s just something I’ve never experienced before.”

Once again, Brian’s eyes went wide. “It’s never dark in your world? Ever..?” he gasped.
The rest seemed odd, yes, but this… Brian couldn’t imagine living without the nighttime, it was basically his sanctuary.

“Never…” Zack smiled slightly, clearly embarrassed. “I’ve only heard about the stars, other planets and galaxies, and the moon… never once seen them.”

“That’s… that’s terrible.” Brian said, looking up as the stars were just beginning to protrude from the darkened sky. Zack shrugged.

“I guess I wouldn’t know, huh?” he laughed, though it was nearly humorless.

“It’s beautiful… I’ll show it to you sometime.” Brian offered, smiling. Zack nodded.

“My kind is taught that anything dark is a bad, evil thing…” the smaller boy mused as his eyes sank to the ground once again.

“Definitely not true… so much about the dark is so… so stunning.” Brian reassured him, smiling more.

“I can’t wait to see all of it.” he beamed, his eyes sparkling as he smiled. It seemed that he truly was excited to stray from the dull normality of his own world.

“I can’t wait to show you… but should we start with my house?” Brian chuckled, standing and reaching a hand out to help Zack up, who nodded.

“S’pose we should…” he mused, not letting go of Brian’s hand as he got to his feet, but instead holding on tighter. To this, Brian gave a small smile and squeezed the angel’s hand carefully.

“It’s nothing compared to the nighttime… but it’s a start.” he said, smiling wider as he spoke.

The two teenagers turned and began to stroll slowly toward the exit of the alley; by this point, Brian had completely forgotten about the hidden whiskey.

However, what he saw next brought that very thought back and stopped him in his tracks, causing Zack to smack directly into the back of him and stumble slightly in confusion.

A set of crystal blue eyes and black-dyed hair showing just a few strands of the original red in its roots. The tall, lanky figure of the graduation cheer giver.

Jimmy Sullivan had followed him after all.

Once Zack realized why Brian had made the sudden stop, he shrank back behind his human friend as he wings folded down, behind his back.

As much as he now trusted Brian, he still wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the rest of the human race.

“U-Uhm… What are you d-doing here..?” Brian asked when the intruder didn’t speak, squeezing Zacky’s hand reassuringly. Jimmy’s eyes were wide, but it was obvious that, like Brian, he meant the young angel no harm.

“I saw you at graduation… figured I’d see why you were so down about escaping that damned school and never going back.” he explained, though his eyes remained on Zack, who’s fingers still trembled slightly inside of Brian’s as his palms began to sweat.

“So…” Brian urged the older boy on, hoping he might just let it go and leave.

“Then I got here… and… and found that you already had company.” Jimmy mused, gesturing to Zack behind him.

Brian heard a soft whimper escape his friend’s lips and knew immediately that he was frightened. He pulled Zack to his side and wound an arm around his torso.

“You heard everything…” Brian sighed, already knowing it was true. Jimmy nodded.

“Yes… I must say, you Aralaysians must have some pretty stunning women, if you’re this—“ he began, and then trailed off, chuckling. “Never mind.” This was the Jimmy Brian had seen so many times before.

Next to Brian, Zack coughed nervously as an intense blush settled into his pallid cheeks. Brian sighed.

“You can’t tell anyone about this… Zack and his world.” he insisted, tightening his arm around the blushing, younger teenager beside him.

Jimmy narrowed his gaze. “What if I did?” he said, speaking in a sly tone.

Brian huffed, then after a moment, smiled. “Then you can’t have that bottle of whiskey that’s hidden back there.” he smirked, gesturing to the back corner of the alleyway.

A goofy grin plastered itself onto Jimmy’s face as he laughed wildly. “Score!” he yelped as he practically began skipping toward the back of the alley. Another fact about Sullivan: He loved to drink.

However, Brian caught his arm midway, looking at him seriously. “Keep it quiet.” he smiled slyly. Jimmy grumbled and nodded.

“Fine… but only because you’ve got the hots for him.” he whispered in a devilish voice, yanking his arm free and continuing the journey to the whiskey he’d earned.

As the Sullivan kid spoke the last sentence, an odd sort of lump formed in Brian’s throat; one that he didn’t recognize. And it only grew in size as he looked to Zacky, who was smiling at him.

All at once, a realization nearly as big as what he’d felt at the ceremony hit him; reaching again to take Zack’s hand as they both continued out of the alley, Brian realized what that lump in his throat, that warmth in his chest meant.

Was that what this happiness was? Was he falling for an angel?