Caged

“Hey… yeah, he already forgave you, but could you come over or something? …Yeah, he needs a good time...” Zack muttered into the phone, all the while smirking at Brian.

After a moment, however, to Brian’s confusion, an intense blush settled into the angel’s features as he hung up the phone and returned to the taller boy’s side.

“What are you up to, Z?” Brian smiled happily, even as he already knew what it was that Zack had in store. “And what’s this all about, huh?”

Gently, Brian raised two fingers to the angel’s cheek, tracing over the blush in his cheek carefully; this caused the color to intensify beneath his fingertips. Zack gazed up at his human friend bashfully as he thought through what he should say; how he could explain what their dear friend Jimmy had just told him without making a complete fool of himself.

“Well, it was Jimmy I called… Y-You know him…” he murmured shyly, coming to the conclusion that there was no way to tell Brian that wouldn’t be any less embarrassing than the first. He didn’t want to build the tension between them further, when its presence was already obvious.

“Well… yeah…” Brian mumbled, shrugging slightly as Zack glanced up at him nervously. He didn’t want to push, so he cast a cautious smile at the boy and withdrew his fingers from Zack’s velvety skin, turning towards the couch as a soft sigh brushed his lips.

However, as Brian pulled away, Zack nearly whimpered. As many times as he’d been told that it was wrong, whenever he found himself near his best friend, he couldn’t have felt any more right. Perhaps Jimmy had seen that, in the small amount of time that he had watched them sitting together, talking in the alley, the night that Brian had found him. Maybe there was reasoning behind his sly remarks and narrowed gazes.

In any case, if he ever wanted to make his way back to Aralaysia, Zack couldn’t allow himself to get tied up with the beautiful, coffee-eyed boy, and so he couldn’t do as Sullivan had just told him, and give Brian a “helluva good time, just the two of them.”

As Zack thought this through, what distorted things Jimmy could have possibly meant in saying such a thing, he was surprised to find himself actually pondering through the options, considering them.

Gulping, he sat himself next to Brian on the couch, trying his best to push the hot and heavy thoughts of his friend to the back of his mind before his pants grew any tighter than they already were. But as soon as Brian glanced up at him, Zack couldn’t help it; a slight bulge grew in his jeans.

“Fuck you, Jimmy…” he muttered to himself as his eyes fell away from those alluring russet orbs that bored into his own deep lime disks. The lust must’ve been coming off of him in waves, Zack thought. However, Brian took no notice of the smaller boy’s stiffened posture at all.

“I’ve heard that sentence spoken plenty of times… Hell, I went to school with the guy. Honestly, Z, what did he do now?” Brian sighed, again causing an intense scarlet glow to creep over Zack’s soft white cheeks. This—like the color of Zack’s eyes, now—Brian wasn’t able to decipher.

The shade of Zack’s eyes very much reminded Brian stained glass—a silvery base with flecks of several different shades of blue, green, and gold sparkling though—and also very much made his heart melt with want.

Again, the smaller man’s eyes drug themselves upward to collide with Brian’s chocolate gaze, their owner having meant to speak; in any case, though, at seeing the absolute desire in his friend’s eyes, Zack’s mouth dried up.

“Brian…” he spoke quietly. The single word was candy-coated with the same kind of need, the same kind of lust that Zack had felt before, looking into Brian’s eyes. And this time, as his friend moved closer, the older boy comprehended this.

Brian’s eyes widened as Zack moved before him, shifting so that his legs were positioned on either side of his hips; the angel was now practically on top of him, straddling his waist as Brian stared into Zack’s glazed over, stained-glass orbs.

“Zack?” he asked in turn, placing his hands carefully on the younger boy’s hips as he sat up slightly straighter, allowing his friend’s body to slide closer to his own. At this, Brian felt that slight bulge in Zack’s jeans, pressing up against his abdomen. Whispering a moan, the Aralaysian reached his hands forward, caressing Brian’s face gently, leaning in…

However, as soon as the angel’s hands touched the other boy’s cheeks, there was a knock at the door.

A frustrated groan escaped Zack’s lips, as that slight swell in his tight, black jeans had most definitely grown further with the way Brian had been gazing at him just now. The older of the two, however, smiled gently as a sigh slid through his thin lips; even though they’d been interrupted, he had seen the very same want in Zack’s eyes—and felt it, very clearly, in other parts of his body—in that moment, that he’d felt so many times before.

“Sorry…” he murmured, just before shifting Zack off of his lap and standing to walk towards the door. As Zack watched Brian stand to let Jimmy in, a heavy, very lustful sigh eluded him, and he allowed his eyes to close as he pulled a couch cushion over his lap to hide the oh-so-obvious prominence there.

“Well, look at you, Haner. Y’look a lot better from graduation.” Jimmy Sullivan’s voice rang through the small house, and Brian scrunched up his face.

“If you need to know anything about me, you need to know that I hate my name.” Brian muttered, looking back to the resting form of Zack, laying curled up on the couch, now.

“Hah, I could call you Handjob instead, how’s that for a nickname, huh?” Jimmy scoffed, chuckling as he followed Brian’s gaze to the couch, his eyes too finding the angel’s form, seemingly asleep on the couch.

For just a moment, as Brian glanced back to Sullivan, it seemed that the lanky man’s expression was just as awe-stricken as his own had been at the first sight of Zack. Not long after, though, it seemed to regain that smugness that he bared naturally.

“Ew. I think I’ll just stick with Brian, if that’s alright with you.” he laughed, lightly nudging the tall boy’s shoulder as he moved to sit just beside Zack once again. Jimmy followed suit, sitting on the opposite side of the tiny couch, sandwiching Brian in the center.

At the sudden tightness of space on the couch, Zack’s eyes opened slowly, gazing up at their new guest. His eyes still seemed quite glazed over, as if he’d indeed been asleep. Brian knew, however, that he hadn’t been.

“Hey there, angel. Napping?” Jimmy smirked, leaning forward to get a better look at his new acquaintance.

Slowly, Zack shook his head, holding the small couch cushion more tightly over his lap. Brian raised an eyebrow and sighed at this, almost sensing what the problem was. He’d come close to the same, but the difference was that he had had no idea what had changed Zack’s mind so suddenly, so the affect hadn’t overtaken him so quickly.

Anyway, he knew that Jimmy would most definitely tease them for what had happened before he had so conveniently showed up, so Brian decided that it was best to keep it quiet.

“Nah, we were just talking, we both got a little worn out, after a few hours…” he muttered, trying to establish a decent cover for the look in his beautiful friend’s eyes.

“Aw, dude!” Jimmy whined, leaning over top of Brian to slap Zack’s knee, making the shorter man jump slightly. “You didn’t do what I told you to, then… I was almost considering blowing you guys off, just so you could—“

“Shut up, Jimmy.” Zack grumbled, again sparking up confusion in the boy sandwiched between his friends. Brian understood the youngest’s frustration with Jimmy for interrupting them, but Zack had seemed rather crass with the oldest boy. Jimmy mock pouted, sitting back against the couch.

“Come on… don’t be such a stiff, Zack.” he then laughed, nudging Brian’s shoulder slightly. Brian wanted to tell Sullivan to back off, but he was still confused as Zack’s cheeks flushed a deep, crimson red, and Jimmy’s smile grew.

“Oh my god, you are a stiff!” he laughed maniacally, shaking his head. “You two…”
Zack, all the while, was beginning to believe that inviting Jimmy had been a bad idea, as Brian placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. Although, if he hadn’t called the loud, giggly boy, he might’ve never thought the things that he had about his best friend, wanted him like he had, like he still did…

“Well, shouldn’t we do something fun? We have about 3 hours…” Brian smiled, keeping his hand on his friend’s shoulder as he spoke.

Admittedly, there wasn’t much at his house to do, but he wanted to get the spotlight off of what had just happened, so that Jimmy would stop making fun of Zack.

“What do you suggest, Haner?” he smirked, and Brian did his best to ignore the fact that Sullivan had used his last name simply to get on Brian’s nerves. The spike-haired boy knew very well that Jimmy just loved to get on people’s nerves.

“Well… I don’t know… I guess there’s not much. You play an instrument..?” he shrugged, tracing back to what he and Zack had been doing before the younger boy had called Jimmy.

Immediately, the lanky boy brightened up. “Lots of ‘em.” he grinned, shrugging. “Drums, most specifically.”

“That’s pretty cool… I was going to teach Zack how to play guitar, but we figured out that he’s a lefty, and I’m not…” Brian smirked, glancing back at Zack, who again had his eyes closed.

“You play, then?” Jimmy smiled, actually seeming to be serious for once. “I know a dude who’s a pretty sweet vocalist, maybe we should get together sometime.”

Brian shrugged and reached down to take Zack’s hand, squeezing tightly, and smiling as Zack gave a gentle squeeze in turn. “Maybe we should. I’ll get Zack around to learning the ups and outs of guitar, and we’d have a cute little band.” the sandwiched boy mused, scooting closer into the angel’s side as Jimmy stretched out to lay his head on the back of the couch.

Brian only hoped that the stench of drugs wasn’t obvious to the oldest boy; after having medics come and pick up his mother’s body on the second day of Zack’s being there, he had scrubbed the house top to bottom, trying to get rid of that awful stench.

“Sure. Y’know, you should let me set up my drums here someday; we could practice together. I can play guitar, but generally, I’m more talented when it comes to percussion.” Jimmy explained, looking back to Zack after a moment. “Hey Zack, anything you wanna try out, ‘sides the guitar?” he asked, and Zack’s eyes fluttered, revealing the deep green orbs that shone brightly with embarrassment. Brian sighed softly.

“Well… I don’t know too much… as far as your instruments go… Anything outside of what Brian’s showed me so far.” Zack smiled softly, immediately blushing at his own words.

“Oh… wow.” Jimmy mumbled. This time, he seemed truly surprised. “Don’t keep him too sheltered, eh, Haner?” he laughed, standing from the couch, causing Brian to slide back away from Zack. At this, a sigh escaped his lips and he followed Jimmy’s lead, standing and then helping Zack from his place as well.

The youngest boy’s face reddened intensely, and he positioned himself just behind Brian, so that the still-there swell in his jeans wouldn’t be visible to Jimmy as he tossed the small cushion back onto the couch. “Where are we going..?” he asked timidly.

“Checking out Haner’s guitar skills.” Jimmy grinned, shrugging casually. This time, Brian’s face did scrunch.

“Sully, you really need to find another nickname for me.” he mused, but this time around, Jimmy was the one to blush. And you didn’t make Jimmy Sullivan blush. He made you blush.

“So it seems…” he muttered casting his gaze toward the ground. “Where’s your room?”
“Upstairs, second door on the right.” Brian smiled, glancing behind him to find a grinning Zack.

As Jimmy retreated up the stairs, he turned back to the younger man, looking into his eyes deeply. “You okay?” he asked gently, not releasing the hold he had on his hand.

Zack smiled, this time, in a softer manner. “I’m fine… just… well, y’know…” he murmured, squeezing Brian’s hand gently.

“I get it, it’s Jimmy….” he chuckled softly, drawing his eyes to the floor as the quiet tension between the two boys returned with a vengeance. Brian couldn’t seem to explain for himself why it was that he was so nervous, now.

“Yeah… well, I guess I’m… I’m really confused.” the angel mused softly, peering up at his human friend from under his long, dark eyelashes. Brian nodded, allowing his guard to fall just slightly as he reached to take Zack’s other hand as well, holding each of them carefully in his own. At this, he noticed Zack’s wings fluttering slightly, causing butterflies to swarm the taller boy’s abdomen.

“I am too, Z.” Brian sighed, using his thumb to work soft circles into the back of his friend’s hand.

As much as Zack wanted to give into his feelings, let Brian really love him, he knew that he couldn’t. Not if he ever wanted to get back home. The only conflict: He knew that by vocalizing the fact, in telling Brian of the beliefs of his people, that he would be hurting his best friend; the only person who’d been willing to help him.

“But Brian… I ca—“ Zack began, but was soon cut off by the sound of Jimmy’s voice, calling down from Brian’s bedroom.

“Guys! Wouldja hurry up and get up here?” he laughed, the sound nearly harmonizing with the soft strums of the guitar that came audibly from the upstairs as well.

Brian’s lips pulled up at one side as he let out a sigh; Zack shook his head slightly at being cut off once again. Telling Brian that they couldn’t be anything but friends would be hard enough without all of the constant interruptions.

“Later, then..?” Brian asked softly, giving each of Zack’s hands one last cautious squeeze before pulling him in for a brief hug, and then heading up the stairs.

Zack stood for a moment, confused and slightly hurt once again. Now, he did regret inviting Brian’s school mate over; because what he needed now was to be alone with his
friend.

The laughter he heard from Brian’s upstairs bedroom broke him from his thoughts, though he didn’t jog up the stairs to join the other boys; Zack simply made his way into the kitchen to sit at the dining table, staring out into Brian’s small back yard.

It wasn’t quite dark yet, since summer had grown near, and the days were continuing to grow lengthier, but as far as Zack was concerned, Brian was right; everything he saw before him, just outside of the pane glass door, took his breath away.

The sky contained a warm, pinkish-orange glow that reminded the Aralaysian of nothing he had ever seen before, and now, there were small points of light beginning to protrude from behind the soothing colors.

Zack felt as if he may have been able to reach and touch one of those specks of light; They couldn’t have been so far away, could they have? he thought to himself.

Wings folding down, blanketing his shoulders, the awe-stricken boy’s head gradually came to rest on his forearms, which were folded down on the table.

Tried as he might’ve, Zack found it impossible to keep his eyes focused on one particular point in the massive sky; his bottle green orbs danced about the space, examining the small, wispy clouds as they moved about with the sun’s remaining rays, which cast that same orange-crush glow about them.

A thoughtful sigh embellished the air before the petite boy’s plump lips, as a wonderful smile settled into his features. This, he thought, was much better than sitting and goofing off with the older boys.

Brian and Jimmy’s talk and laughter were still audible to Zack, but no longer an important factor as he gazed into the darkening sky.

It was only then that he realized how wrong his elders were about this planet.