Disclaimer: I don't own Dogs, or any of the characters used in this fic. They all belong to Shirow Miwa. I only own any original characters that I choose to include, as well as any original plot ideas.
Flightless Bird
A/N: For a friend's birthday; prompt was "you spent your life earning the keys to set you free when you were free all along;" I like the idea of Nill thinking of Heine as her "big brother," so I put that in here.
They were so alike, he could see it in their eyes. The reflection of his staring at him from her own. Almost as if he were having an out-of-body experience every time their eyes met.
They were still so close the bottom of the heap, beneath the ground where sun didn't dare to shine, where life seemed to die with each full rotation of the clock. Even lower they'd both started, about as worthwhile as the trash they'd been forced to call home. Like useless, filthy little animals.
Heine had never seen the sun, just the blinding lamplight that stared down at him from artificial skies. It was shit, the fact that he was trapped in this place like the mongrel dog he knew he was. Maybe, with wings, the warmth of the surface could come.
Nill's hand came to grasp his own, her eyes questioning, concerned. She always knew when he was lost, distressed, because she'd been there too, caught up in a hell not unlike his own. The only difference was that someone, he, had come along to save her.
There had been no savior for him.
You don't need them, he imagined she'd say. Though she didn't have a voice, he could still hear her. The white plumage of her wings brushed past his fingers, her hand leading his. You don't need wings. You're in control.
"Maybe." He didn't mean it. It was only to appease her. He couldn't be free with the Dog in his heart.
She touched his cheek. Big brother runs. You can't run with chains. You're free.