In Exchange for Magic

I sputtered.

Being inside a cloud is sort of like stepping out into a tropical storm, minus the heavy winds. So, basically, a shit-load of rain.

"Ez!" I shouted over the eternal downpour. "What are you doing?"

He ignored me, focusing instead on staying aloft... Which was a good thing, I suppose. His black eyes were narrowed in concentration.

We stayed in cloud-hell for a few moments before I could feel, yes, literally feel the buzzing of the Shades' beetles fly under us.

Seriously, how smart is Ez? He knew that, by flying straight up into the cloud, the Shades would continue on under us, without seeing us! I could have burst out into applause.

After the vibration of the beetle's wings through the air had long since passed, Ez slowly descended from the mass of humidity. We were sopping wet, freezing, and quite tense... But we were alive.

It took the better part of the day to fly home. Ez was as magical as he had been in days, able to speed through the atmosphere - not weighted down by the heavy human blood that I'd been giving him for the past two weeks.

We landed back at the campsite just as dusk was settling in. Upon reaching the ground, I looked to Ez, trying to decide if I should be excited about getting the necklace, or upset at provoking the Shades.

There was a moment of tense awkwardness as I stepped away from him... But then his face broke out into that honest smile that was just so rare. He beamed and grabbed me by the shoulders, giving me a shake.

"We did it!"

I laughed out loud. "Hell yeah, we did!"

I began squeaking and jumping up and down rapidly, clutching Ez's shoulders. He chuckled half-heartedly and then grew impatient.

"Can you stop flapping for three seconds so I can get a good look at it?" he asked, annoyed.

I realized that he'd been excited about the necklace. Not my safety.

I ceased my "flapping" and Ez took the heart-shaped pendant between his fingers. The strange engraving caught the light of the dying sun, and refracted tiny, glittery prisms all across the ground.

He ran his fingers along the scratches, words written in a language I didn't recognize and mumbled something unintelligible.

"What was that?" I asked, already knowing his answer.
"Nothing."

Then, swiftly, he bent slightly at the waist and kissed the necklace. His ears reddened in a blush, and, as he stood back up again, I could see that the temporary "nice Ez" was gone.

The light that had played in his eyes while he was partly human was gone. In it's place was the same old angry glint... The same old uninspired dullness.

I thought about that the entire rest of the night. Through dinner, and through preparing for bed.

I thought about it so much, in fact, that I just had to say something to Ez...

"You know something?" I asked his back as we lay in the tent.
"What?" he muttered.
"What we had going on these past weeks was pretty good."
"What, the kissing?" he teased sleepily.

I poked him hard in the side.

"Ow!" he laughed.
"No!" I protested. "I mean... You were actually... And I can not believe I'm saying this... But, you were actually kind of fun when you were part human."
"Mmm," he grunted.

"I mean," I continued. "It was nice being able to talk to you. You know, I could ask you questions about your life and stuff like that."
He sighed and turned towards me. "You can still annoy me with that stuff. The fact that I'm not human anymore will hardly stop you."

I rolled my eyes. "No... It was different. Whenever I ask you anything I always feel like you want to bite-"
He sucked in his breath and glared at me.
"My head off!" I finished earnestly. "I was going to say bite my head off!"

He stopped glaring and shook his head. "Good night, Rose."

He flipped over and fell asleep looking at the opposite wall of the tent. About ten minutes went by, and I decided that I wasn't done with the conversation.

"Hey..." I hissed. "Ez?"
He didn't answer.
"Ez!"

I gave his butt a good kick.

He groaned tiredly, not even opening his eyes. "What now?"

"I just wanted to tell you something."
Silence.
"Ez?"
"Mmm?"
"I'm going to tell you something right now."
"Mhm..."
"Ez, are you listening?"
"That's awesome, Rose," he said, stifling a yawn.
"This is really important, Ez!"
"Yeah, me too. Well... G'night."

He rolled over, but I slapped his back, causing him to jolt awake.

"What?!" he whined. "What do you want?"
"I'm trying to tell you something really important!"
"Can it wait 'till morning? I'm really tired."
"I'd rather say it now," I said, pouting slightly.
"Just..." he interrupted himself with a huge yawn. "Tell me in the morning, 'kay?"

Then, before I could control it, the words burst from my mouth.

"Ez, I think you're my only friend."
This woke him up. He rubbed his forehead and propped himself up on his elbows, leaning over towards me.

"What?"
"I think you're my only friend."
"Oh."

He flopped back down on his pillow and stared upwards at nothing.

He seemed to be wrestling within himself. Then, with a pained look on his face, he swallowed hard and answered:

"Well, unlike you, I know you're my only friend."

Silence. Strange.... We were friends...

I shook my head. "But your parents-"
"Parents don't count. Parents are family."
"Okay, well, Dolores-"
"Dolores?" he snorted. "The tree nymph that sometimes bursts into camp to steal food?"

"She's still your friend, though, right?"
"Sweet, Dolores doesn't even know my name." Then, as an after thought, he added, "Frankly, I doubt Dolores knows her own name."

I laughed.

"I've been thinking about it for a while," he said. "I've been alone here for a long time. And I haven't really known anywhere else besides here. And, contrary to... well, pretty much everything I've ever done or said to you... I'm glad for the company. For your company."

"That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Ezekiel Sullivan."
"Yeah... Well... Don't call me Ezekiel."
I snorted.
"No! I mean... I... You're welcome...?"
"Good night, Ez."
He sighed in defeat and muttered, "Goodnight."