Broken Wings
By Ryuuen
Warnings: Shounen-ai, modern setting
The smile faded slowly from her face, her fingers poised just in front of the glass, eyes riveted to the outside, although they did not focus- she was not really looking at anything.
She ran two fingers over a scar on her chest, an old scar, just under her shirt's collar. She hadn't any idea where she had gotten it, but sometimes when she was sad she would just touch it, ever so gently.
She could feel her heartbeat, would have been able to hear it save the noise of a small fan humming away near her thigh, where it sat on a cardboard moving box that she didn't yet have the energy to move downstairs.
The inky darkness outside seemed to surround the silent house, silent except for the fan and her breathing, dark except for the sparse light of a glowing, violet-painted lamp and a turned-on computer screen on a desk by the door, opposite the room from her.
She turned, an elegant motion, the cloth of her nightdress rustling as she moved, her foot twisting in a pinkish sheet that had been left lying on the floor by the window. She saw herself in the mirror, five foot five, all big violet eyes and long, similarly violet hair. Her nightdress, lavender and white, fell to her ankles, dwarfing her in it as though a child in her mother's gown.
She walked to the dresser, picking up an old, blue-stoned pendant that lay there, forgotten like a child's toy may be, collecting dust like all of the other things from her last life. Her last incarnation.
She walked to the computer and put it in shut-down, reached over to turn off the moniter, her frown deepening as it froze up halfway through the sequence.
"Stupid peice of..."
She trailed off as one long, elegant finger pressed the manual restart button, the location of which she had long since memorized.
She shut it off properly this time, ignoring the announcement of "you've got mail" in favor of the prospect of more sleep and less work.
She slipped under the thin blanket, but she couldn't sleep. She felt the tears gather in her eyes long before they fell to her pale skin.
Softly, her voice shaking slightly, she began to sing..
"I am like a bird with broken wings
Shattering my heart...
I'm whole again.." She sang, the song moving to some inner melody of her own design, her voice soft and low.
"But here, here's the thing about little birds with broken wings," she sang,
"A whole lot of times they don't fly again.."
The tears flowed freely now, silently, trailing down her pale cheeks to hang for a moment from her chin, then fall to make small spots on the pillow. They did not interfere with her song.
"Just give me back my heart I'll find a way
I may not love again
But I'll be saved.." Her heart ached, her hands shook, as she lifted herself onto her elbows, gazing solemnly at the wooden ceiling, tears falling from her eyes in tiny moonstone drops.
"But here, here's the thing about broken wings....
A whole lot of times they don't fly again.."
And she prayed.. she prayed for him.. for the forbidden love she had for him... or perhaps I should say... the forbidden love _he_ had for him...
Please, Gods, he prayed silently, protect him when I cannot.. let someone love him trulely, like I can't.. please..
He blinked, the last of the tears that gathered in his amethyst eyes slipping down his cheeks, and he fell back onto his pillow, facing, once again, the ceiling. His eyes closed slowly, tears falling from his eyes to land silently on his pillow.
Alone, as always, Nuriko slept.
*Owari*
By Ryuuen
Warnings: Shounen-ai, modern setting
The smile faded slowly from her face, her fingers poised just in front of the glass, eyes riveted to the outside, although they did not focus- she was not really looking at anything.
She ran two fingers over a scar on her chest, an old scar, just under her shirt's collar. She hadn't any idea where she had gotten it, but sometimes when she was sad she would just touch it, ever so gently.
She could feel her heartbeat, would have been able to hear it save the noise of a small fan humming away near her thigh, where it sat on a cardboard moving box that she didn't yet have the energy to move downstairs.
The inky darkness outside seemed to surround the silent house, silent except for the fan and her breathing, dark except for the sparse light of a glowing, violet-painted lamp and a turned-on computer screen on a desk by the door, opposite the room from her.
She turned, an elegant motion, the cloth of her nightdress rustling as she moved, her foot twisting in a pinkish sheet that had been left lying on the floor by the window. She saw herself in the mirror, five foot five, all big violet eyes and long, similarly violet hair. Her nightdress, lavender and white, fell to her ankles, dwarfing her in it as though a child in her mother's gown.
She walked to the dresser, picking up an old, blue-stoned pendant that lay there, forgotten like a child's toy may be, collecting dust like all of the other things from her last life. Her last incarnation.
She walked to the computer and put it in shut-down, reached over to turn off the moniter, her frown deepening as it froze up halfway through the sequence.
"Stupid peice of..."
She trailed off as one long, elegant finger pressed the manual restart button, the location of which she had long since memorized.
She shut it off properly this time, ignoring the announcement of "you've got mail" in favor of the prospect of more sleep and less work.
She slipped under the thin blanket, but she couldn't sleep. She felt the tears gather in her eyes long before they fell to her pale skin.
Softly, her voice shaking slightly, she began to sing..
"I am like a bird with broken wings
Shattering my heart...
I'm whole again.." She sang, the song moving to some inner melody of her own design, her voice soft and low.
"But here, here's the thing about little birds with broken wings," she sang,
"A whole lot of times they don't fly again.."
The tears flowed freely now, silently, trailing down her pale cheeks to hang for a moment from her chin, then fall to make small spots on the pillow. They did not interfere with her song.
"Just give me back my heart I'll find a way
I may not love again
But I'll be saved.." Her heart ached, her hands shook, as she lifted herself onto her elbows, gazing solemnly at the wooden ceiling, tears falling from her eyes in tiny moonstone drops.
"But here, here's the thing about broken wings....
A whole lot of times they don't fly again.."
And she prayed.. she prayed for him.. for the forbidden love she had for him... or perhaps I should say... the forbidden love _he_ had for him...
Please, Gods, he prayed silently, protect him when I cannot.. let someone love him trulely, like I can't.. please..
He blinked, the last of the tears that gathered in his amethyst eyes slipping down his cheeks, and he fell back onto his pillow, facing, once again, the ceiling. His eyes closed slowly, tears falling from his eyes to land silently on his pillow.
Alone, as always, Nuriko slept.
*Owari*