Title: Dark Gray
Author: OpheliacAngel
Pairing: Alice/Claire
Genres: Romance/Fantasy
Rating: Teen
Summary: Alice wanted to learn everything about Claire just by looking at her.
A/N: Written for femslashficlets for prompt #035 fantasy. Wing AU.
When she first met Claire, she still had not grown into her wings.
Alice was a late bloomer herself; barely a month before working for the Umbrella corporation she sprouted. It made her feel important, to know that it wasn't her wingspan or experience with flight that got her the job. Those who sprouted late often had a disadvantage when seeking careers, since they weren't fully matured and there was often a good, or not so good, reason for that. Specifically, those who hadn't established themselves fully often weren't trusted or looked upon as valuable members of society. Lucky for Alice, she had been able to prove herself in other ways.
She had grown into her wings quite easily. Usually if you sprouted late then you would have a harder time adjusting to compensate your new organs. Stretching, even just moving, could prove painful. It also tended to affect one psychologically: breakdowns weren't uncommon, nor the inability to tell reality from hallucination.
The way Alice figured it, she had no time to rush into anything. When her body was ready, then it would show her the path on which she would need to tread on.
But sprouting late… it also had other major life problems.
A major part of relationships were your wings and the wings of your significant other. Wings were overly-sensitive and they often relayed emotions just by being near someone significant, let alone touch. Grooming was something that Alice didn't even want to think about.
Despite that Alice had been late, it was shocking to see that Claire was still behind her, even so much as struggling in her own skin.
Alice would massage the red-head's shoulder blades in the back of the truck at night, wrapping Claire up in her arms to keep her warm. The shade of her hair would catch the firelight from outside the window, and Alice would breathe in her heady smoky scent. She knew this wouldn't last long, not when there was so much left to be done, but she could never stop thinking about Claire's wings, about what they would look like. About how beautiful Claire would look, so at ease in her new skin, no longer itching and tense and longing for something she didn't know about but would someday.
Wings revealed so much about a person: who they were, where they came from. And Alice wanted to learn everything about Claire just by looking at her.
And here she was now. On guard. No memory of Alice, not even those fire nights together, not even the steady burn of friendship and a connection Alice understood but couldn't live through back then, not when there was so much left to worry about. Here she was. No doubt distracted from the incessant burn at her back, the fire at her shoulder blades which pooled to the back of her neck, causing her disorientation as she pulled Alice in with her gaze.
She couldn't believe that Claire had finally grown into her wings.
"Your wings," Alice stepped forward, hand outstretched but not daring to touch the red-head. Claire was kneeling on the ground, panting, sharp eyes dull with pain, staring intensely up at Alice.
Like she remembered her.
Alice could see Claire wracking her brain to put the pieces of her together and it hurt Alice, to see her like this. To see her still fighting so hard. Grooming Claire's wings would put her at ease, Alice knew this as second nature, it's what they were all taught, it's what they all felt, but she wouldn't breach Claire's space.
"You have wings too."
Jesus, Claire didn't even know what she was. There was a look of horror on her face as she touched one of her feathers and Alice wanted to tell Claire how beautiful she was, how she never need to hide from her or fear anything at all. Yet there was still the Umbrella Corporation, there was still the fact that they stole Claire's memory.
Alice crept forward, searching for that familiar smoky scent. For that flash of bright red against the clouded sun.
"You're going to be okay. We're going to be okay." Her reassurances took her off-guard. Her hand snatched Claire's, thumb brushing across her knuckles. Claire's dark gray wings shifted, pulled forward, and she smiled. Just a small smile.
Alice's breath stuttered: she could feel it too.
FIN