Alida melted into the touch, eyelids falling shut as her hands came up to hold him. It was a soft kiss, burning through her with its kindness and Alida had a moment of 'oh, that's what this is supposed to feel like' before she realized what was happening and pulled away, eyes wide. Dean let her, green eyes searching hers worriedly when he realized she was panicking.
"Alida," Dean began, a disappointed echo to his earlier call and she shook her head, clearing her throat.
"No, don't. I'm fine, I just. I need to go," Alida told him, stepping away towards the edge of the cave and Dean instinctively grabbed her arm, making her leap in a jolt of fear, golden wings spreading instinctively as if to fly away.
"Wings, right, sorry. That's just a really long drop," Dean told her and he was relieved to see her relax into his hold, a grin tugging her mouth up and warming her eyes.
"I think I'm going to fly back, stretch my wings," Alida told him and Dean nodded, watching her face carefully. She didn't give anything away, but that was the avian equivalent of I need space if he had ever heard it.
"Okay, do what you have to. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have just surprised you that way," Dean told her, reluctantly letting go of her arm to run his fingers through his hair. She hesitated, caught between wanting to escape this conversation and something that looked like regret.
"Dean, it's fine, I promise," Alida said softly and he shrugged. If it was fine she wouldn't be watching him like that right now, her wide blue blue eyes nervous. Suddenly she lit up as if she had realized something and his heart lifted at the sight.
"You know, it's not very far to the impala if you'd like a lift," Alida told him lightly and Dean froze, mind blanking as he looked past her to where there was open air. The small flare of pride that she had gotten the Impala right when earlier her only descriptor had been black was utterly doused by a very strong panic. Dean swallowed, looking back to where she was watching him expectantly. He wanted to scream hell no, that there were thousands of things he would rather do, like revisit Purgatory for a vacation, or get a pet hell hound, but he could see that she was excited, nervously waiting for an answer. He didn't want to disappoint her, leave her with nothing except her new fear of him because he couldn't' keep his hands to himself.
"Sure," Dean agreed, nearly choking on the word and he could already feel himself starting to sweat. HE was a god damned hunter, he could face down a wendigo without flinching, he had faced down Lucifer himself. He could take a little flight.
Alida beamed, her happiness beautifully lighting up her face, and although that loosened the tight knot that his heart was in a little, it didn't get rid of the nausea or the fear. At least now he could blame his lack of breath on her instead of his fear.
"It'll be more like gliding. Nothing to worry about," Alida told him and Dean laughed shortly, not even hidden behind a mask of non-hysteria.
"You sure you can do this? Won't you get tired?" Dean asked, shifting his weight and Alida walked up to him, gently taking his wrists. He stilled, looking down into her confident face.
"Dean, I will not drop you. If you don't want to, we don't have to," Alida told him firmly and Dean would blame the sensation of her skin against his and her open eyes later, but he only nodded, giving permission for her to lead him to the edge of the cliff. HE kept his eyes on hers for as long as possible before she had to let him go.
"Now, do you want me to hold your hands where you can hold onto me, or under your arms?" Alida asked him, moving to stand behind him and he tried his damndest to focus on her body heat rather than looking down.
"Which ones easier for you?" Dean asked, before being thoroughly distracted as she pressed against him from behind, her body entirely against his as her arms wrapped around his chest.
"Let's do under the arms, that way you can hold onto them," Auria told him, breathe hot against his neck and he swallowed thickly.
"Ready?" Alida asked and he couldn't make himself say yes, eyes flickering downward to where the ground was very very far away.
"I"ve got you," Alida promised him, and he closed his eyes, pressing his hands over hers where they rest on his chest. She could feel his heartbeat, rapidly pounding in under her palms but then he nodded and she gently pressed forward, making him take a step into the open air. Dean screamed on the way down, before her wings opened wide with a snap, catching the air and pulling them up with a jerk against her arms. Her hold was firm however and he didn't slide in her hold as he immediately grabbed for her arms, knuckles turning white against his will.
She expected it, but it didn't stop her from laughing when his scream turned into colorful curses, and the sound only made him curse louder, eyes pressed firmly closed. His legs dangled, and his stomach dropped, knowing he was too far off of the ground with only Alida holding him in the air. He could feel the wind against his face, ruffling his hair and ripping through his clothing as they slowly descended downward.
"Dean," Alida whispered in his ear, her soft breathe against his skin and any interest he might have had in the sensation was diverted to sheer panic. This was a nightmare.
"Dean, you can't keep your eyes closed. You'll miss everything," Alida told him and he gritted his teeth as they did a small drop before leveling back out.
"Good," Dean forced out and he felt her sigh.
"Don't you want to see what my world is like?" Alida asked and the question made him pause. This was her life, this was who she was and she was sharing it with him. Had she ever done this with anyone else?
Dean swallowed thickly, jaw aching from clenching it so tight, but he slowly forced his eyes open, leaning his head back against her shoulder to look at the sky. It was everywhere. It was so clear and blue, swallowing them and it made him catch his breath. He tilted his head against hers, feeling her hair whipping in the wind and it stung his cheek for a moment before he took a steadying breath and lifted his head to look farther down.
It was beautiful. The horizon was still awash with the colors of the sunrise and from this high he could see for miles in both directions. He was so far above it all, the world moving beneath him at a pace that seemed unreal, leaving him with a sense of disassociation. Only the sensation of gravity pulling him back towards the ground, pressing him against her arms, and the wind against him kept him grounded that he was really doing this. He was flying.
She started to turn, tilting the slightest bit and he was jolted back into terror before they leveled back out. He looked over to watch her wing, the long powerful length always moving. Even though they were only gliding, he could see individual feathers moving to capture the air or the wing itself tilt the slightest bit to keep them air born. The yellow brown color caught the light spectacularly, lighting it up and making the feathers look like molten gold.
Dean tilted his head to see the side of her face, a wide grin splitting it with pure happiness as the wind whipped her red hair around her face and left her cheeks pink. Her blue eyes were more alive than he had ever seen them, and he could see the pure joy that flying caused her. She looked to him, giving him a small smile as if sharing a secret with him and he had never felt so honored to be a part of something that absolutely terrified him before. To see that look on her face, it was worth it.
"There's your baby," Alida told him and Dean turned to find his beautiful car waiting patiently for them. It looked so small. Dean swallowed, realizing how fast they were going as it whizzed closer, the trees around them going by so fast it hurt to watch.
They were getting closer at an alarming speed and Dean nearly asked if they were going to crash when she started to beat her wins, catching the air and slowing them with a jolt. Dean did shout as they fell before she caught them once more, before he realized it was the normal motions. The jerky falls made him nauseous and he held onto her tight as they came into the parking lot, his feet coming closer to the ground.
"Get ready, I've never landed with someone before," Alida told him and Dean sowre.
"You're only mentioning that now?!" Dean yelped and then they were hitting the pavement, her wings catching the air and carrying him across the surface so that his feet didn't slam into the hard ground. He ran a few steps, boots skimming the ground before she lowered a bit more, letting him take his own weight and then she was letting go, trying to lift up so she didn't hit him.
She slowly slid her arms away from him, holding on with one hand as she guided his landing. She tried to gain height, but at the moment that she would have let go and taken off Dean tripped, and he instinctively gripped her hand tighter.
She held on as well, trying to help him but then she was falling crashing into him and they tumbled onto the surface, Dean grunted as she hit him into the back and they went sprawling in a mass of scraped limbs and flailing feathers.
"Are you okay?" Dean asked after they had rolled to a stop, Alida landing half on top of him, and the flutter of very ruffled wings was his only reply as she tried to get her leg out from in under his.
"Are you?" Alida asked as she tried to untangle herself, succeeding only so far as to flop on her side so that she could see how badly Dean was hurt. She worriedly reached out for him, grabbing his chin and tilting his head as she searched for bumps or bruises. His head seemed okay at least, and satisfied she released him, crawling to her knees to get closer and look over the rest of him.
"Hey, I'm fine, nothin broken. Probably a bruise or two, but I call that a win considering I was expecting to go splat. Now, are you okay?" Dean asked again, firmly grabbing her hands and making her stop so that she would answer him. He frowned when he saw the scrapes up the bottom of her arms where she had tried to catch herself. They were bleeding and there were little pieces of gravel in them but Alida grinned, seemingly unconcerned. She tossed her wind knotted hair over her shoulder, eyeing Dean.
"Fine, I'll heal up within half an hour. We would have been fine if you could've stayed on your feet," Alida teased him and Dean rolled his eyes looking back to what had tripped him up. He couldn't' find anything.
"It was damn pothole, not my fault that the health freaks don't take care of their parking lots," Dean protested and Alida looked over the ground, pointedly raising an eyebrow.
"Shut up, it's there. A small one, with a crack or something," Dean told her as he shoved himself to his feet, reaching down to offer her a hand. She took it easily, and he pulled her to her feet, and surprised once again by how light she was he pulled so hard, yanking her against him. For a moment he felt the connection again, the heat of her body against his and her wide eyes staring into his, the shared joy from earlier still buzzing between them and ready to be caught alight. She blushed as she stepped away, eyes darting away from him and Dean frowned.
"Hey, thank you. For they flying. That was awesome," Dean told her, for once annoyed at being at a loss for words to describe how much it actually meant to him, but Alida smiled at him, understanding.
"Anytime," Alida told him, laughing at his very not interested expression.
"See you at the hotel?" Alida asked, stepping away and Dean's heart sunk as he nodded, giving her fake grin and a cheerful wave as she took off, only a few short steps before she was in the air again, flying off without him.
His smile dropped as soon as she was turned, and he watched her gain height for a moment, unable to leave until he lost sight of her. But then she turned in the air above him, making a wide circle and Dean grinned as he realized she was waiting for him. Dean got into his car, watching the golden wings turn towards the hotel, swooping lower before darting ahead of him and Dean smirked as he revved his engine, turning from the parking lot and getting onto an open road. Once there he hit the gas, picking up speed until he was catching up and then she was moving in front again, and soon they were taking turns taking the lead, racing back across the state to their hotel.
Okay, so its sort of short guys, I'm sorry. I decided to write something to try and jump back in, so we'll so how it goes!
Thank you so much for reading :)