Kai: Why do you like doin this to me?
Tyson: What? Dragging you through the angst? Making you more emotional than a PMSing girl?
Kai: Yes, that.
Me: Ah but it makes such good reading material! Besides you get hugs from Tyson afterwards so it can't be allt hat bad.
Kai: Hn.
Tyson: Read on!
Red, orange and browning leaves fell from dying trees. Autumn had rolled in and in the midst of October, the pavements began to be coated with fallen leaves, the trees going darker and bald as the cold forced them into hiding for half the year.
Two large white wings flapped as Tyson landed on the drive in front of Kai's house. Two months on from when they'd first met, the dual haired teen had gotten used to having an angel being with him all the time. He found, with time, that it felt odd without the bluenet hovering somewhere nearby, like he has just lost his shadow.
Letting go of his charge and folding his wings, Tyson blinked as a leaf landed on his head. Shaking it off he looked at the pile of fallen, multi-coloured leaves that the gardener had swept up to make the drive look more presentable. "The temptation to leap into that pile of leaves is growing strong…" He murmured, voice imitating that of a wise old man's.
The corner's of Kai's lips quirked up on the own accord as he walked slowly up to the front steps, "yes well, the gardener wouldn't be too happy if you ruined his days work." He commented dryly, letting himself into his house.
"There more leaves falling anyway… he'll have to do some more sweeping sooner of later." Tyson replied mournfully, eyes watering up in mock horror as Kai shut the front door and tugged at his arm to lead him away.
"I would have thought you'd have grown out of such things by now…" The younger teen muttered, though more out of exasperation than anything. It might have been the way the angel did all his antics with a light, happy heart that made him so hard to mad or irritated over.
"Kai! Master Kai!" A maid hurried towards them, wearing a simple casual dress with a white apron tied around her waist, cooking smudges dotting the cotton. She stopped before the slightly baffled teen bowed slightly. "Master Voltaire would like to see you sir."
Kai sighed in irritation. "You don't have to bow… or call me 'Master'. I'm not above you." He instructed. The fact that the workers here were treated like they were below the family they worked for by his grandfather angered him slightly. "Where is my grandfather?"
"In his study." The maid replied, her tone sounding more cheerful, she raised her head smiled shyly at the dual haired teen before dashing off back to the kitchens.
"She's nice." Tyson commented a he followed his charge in the direction to Voltaire's study. "It's a shame your grandfather has banged such stupid… stuff into her head." He paused when he felt emotions of dread coming from the younger teen. "Kai? What's wrong?"
"I don't like meetings with my grandfather." Kai replied shortly, knocking sharply on the wooden study door before him.
Tyson was about to make a comment when Voltaire's voice sounded sourly through the wood, "come in."
Kai twisted the door knob and prepared to walk inside. Hesitating, he looked behind him, "stay here." He murmured quietly before turning around and taking a step forward into the room.
The angel, slightly shocked by the request, reached out with a concerned, tanned hand gripped his charge's shoulder gently, "Kai, what? I think the last thing you need is for to face that man on your own." He frowned unhappily with the younger teen shrugged off his hand gently and gazed back at him with determined red eyes, "Kai…"
"You're distracting; I'll do better if I'm alone with him." Kai explained. In all honesty, the angel was more interesting to take interest in than most people that tried to communicate with him in some way. That distraction wouldn't be too helpful when his grandfather was talking to him. Giving his angel an apologetic looks before closing the door.
Tyson looked at the shut door sadly for a few moments before sighing and turning around, it would be best to stay in Kai's room while the other had his talk with Voltaire.
The study door slammed open, banging against the wall. From within the study, a small pleased chuckled sounded from Voltaire's lips as he grandson burst out of the study, the beginnings of tears welling up in his crimson eyes.
Striding towards his room, Kai tried to block his grandfather's tauntings from his head. He could handle the old man's insistence that he take over the family company, something he planned to do anyway to make it better for the public in general rather than Voltaire's greed.
What he couldn't stand, however, was his grandfather using his parent's to force guilt welling up at the pit of his stomach, wondering whether he should do things that would have made them proud… or not.
Suddenly feeling unbearably alone, Kai wiped the back of his hand over his eyes to brush away the tears threatening to fall, sniffing slightly and making his way blindly to his room.
He didn't get to make it to the door, as a pair of hands gripped gently at his upper arms, "Kai? What's the matter?" The voice sounded urgent, panicked and held a note in the attempt to soothe with concern. Blinking away moisture in his eyes, he looked up into the worried eyes of angel and shook his head faintly, "nothing… I'm fine."
Tyson clucked his tongue impatiently, the sad emotions radiating from his charge certainly felt like nothing. He let his arms drop and eyed him gently, "I think there is something."
"There isn't. Leave me alone." Kai muttered, turning around. As much as he was fond of the blue haired angel, the only thing he wanted now was to be alone and away from concerned questions and touches. A destination in mind, he set off stiffly to the exit of his house.
"Kai!" Tyson took one step forward, as if to reach out and pull back the younger teen to demand answers out of him. Biting his lips, the bluenet stayed still, knowing it wouldn't be fair on Kai to go past his wishes. He sighed dejectedly and hung his head, wings drooping slightly, "oh man…"
Kai tossed a pebble violently into the river, watching with satisfaction as it broke the clear surface and sunk to the bottom, ripples spreading around the water where it had fallen. Grabbing a handful of small stones, he repeated action, throwing them into the water with a growl of frustration.
He sunk down slowly to sit on the bank, legs drawn up to his chest and he rested his arms on his knees, chin placed on his forearms. Sighing, he watched the stones he'd thrown be picked up by the river's current and swept downstream.
Closing his eyes tightly, he couldn't help feeling anger towards his grandfather for his ways of persuasion. He had never liked the old man, then again, they had never been very close, seeing as Voltaire was nearly always away on business.
That thought lead to the reminder that his parents were often out together, not including him or staying to keep him company. Admittedly, he often secretly longed for someone… solid enough to stay with him and not go off someplace and leaving him behind. After years of being left in a large house with maids and butlers who were too busy to talk or play with him, he'd gotten used to not being close to people, and often pushed them away.
Opening his eyes, he stared sadly at the rocky ground with small tufts of grass popping up here and there. His throat felt tight and his eyes felt wet and tearful. Burying his face in his arms, he took a shuddering sigh.
He was beginning to feel the beginnings of regret for telling his angel to stay at home while he went to think. Tyson was solid, and was going to be with him no matter what mood he was in. The bluenet had made that clear over the two months he'd been with him. Right now, he was sure the older teen would give him an encouraging smile and give him comforting words that would make his negative feelings fade away.
Tyson fiddled with the duvet cover on Kai's bed, feeling steadily more bad as his charge's upset emotions nagged at his mind, telling him to go and find him, make him feel better.
Shoulders sagging, the blue haired teen raised his eyes to look at a photo sitting on Kai's desk. He'd never really taken much interest, mostly because it was normally half hidden by his desk lamp. Standing up, he moved the lamp to the side and lifted up the framed photo.
It was a picture of a family, a small one. The mother had short, stylish cut brown hair; her eyes are simple hazel colour. She wore a simple sky blue summer dress, and was waving happily at the camera. Next to her was the father, his hair dark and striking against his pale skin. His eyes were a dark brown, barely distinguishable from the pupil. He was dressed casually, a simple white t-shirt and a pair of fading blue jeans. On his shoulder sat a boy, mostly likely the couple's son.
Tyson blinked. He knew that face and recognisable features. He found himself staring into a younger version of Kai, who was smiling shyly and the camera lens, his clothes matching the same shade as his mother's dress and a plaster donned his knee. Despite himself, he found himself smiling softly at the happy picture.
Soon, it was followed by sadness, knowing that Kai had lost these two people recently, which explained why the dual haired teen had hidden the photo. Placing it back down on the desk he sighed. He could sympathise with his charge, seeing as he had lost his own mother at a young age, his father leaving shortly after that to travel the world. His father hadn't been there when he'd died.
Firmly pushing the memories from his mind, Tyson shook his head slightly and turned to look at Kai's bedroom window. He couldn't ignore Kai's emotions any longer. The last thing the dual haired teen needed was to be alone, even if he wanted space to think.
Decision made, he strode over to the window and flung it open, letting his wings unfurl and spread, flapping a few times to get the joints warmed up ready for flight. Taking a few steps back, he took a running leap and jumped of the window, his wings spreading and catching himself in the air. He rose up and soared away from Kai's house, intent on finding the dual haired teen quickly.
Closing his eyes and hovering in the air, he focused on his charge's feelings, mentally searching for their location. Upon locating him and shuddering slightly at the negativity of them, he flapped his wings and headed in the right direction.
After five minutes or so of flying, and the overhead skies becoming richer in colour as the sun sunk down, Tyson spotted a small figure huddled by the riverside. Swooping down lowly, he could just make out two different, striking shades of hair. Relieved slightly, he angled hi swings and lowered himself down silently onto the rocky ground, walking slowly towards his charge, "Kai?"
The younger teen stiffened at the sound of his name and he turned his head slowly to face his angel, letting his legs slide down to spread out in front of. He folded his arms to keep in lost body heat that had disappeared with the dropping temperature. "Tyson…" he replied, not sure what to feel now that the bluenet was standing there.
Tyson said nothing at first, walking over to his charge and settling himself down beside him. Silently, he wrapped one large white wing around Kai and smiled absently when the younger teen leaned back into the warm, soft feathers. "I know you're lonely…" he began quietly, looking down at Kai. He reached out with a tanned hand to grip his charge's paler one gently, "but you shouldn't be."
"How can I not be?" Kai muttered sourly, refusing to let his gaze meet his angel's. However, being grateful for the warm and security the bluenet was giving him, he allowed himself to be immersed in the white feathers draping over his back and gripped the angel's hand in return. "I've always been lonely."
"I thought as much. I saw the photo of your parents on your desk." He felt Kai stiffen and gave his hand a squeeze. "You know I did tell you that they weren't really gone. You'll see them soon. I promised you that."
"I know, but…" Kai's red eyes swung up to look into Tyson's blue ones, "when? I need to talk with them… ask them things I should have done when they were alive." He murmured softly, feeling a slight ache in his chest at the fact that he'd lost that opportunity.
"Well… you can only get into Ai Clouds by four ways." Tyson started, "first one is the obvious, you have to die." He looked down sternly at Kai, "and don't go killing yourself because I won't let you."
For he thought was the first time in a long while that day, Kai felt himself smirk slightly, "I won't." He told the bluenet.
"Good. Now, the second way is, providing you're angel, you get sent to their medical ward when you hurt yourself. And if the angel has a charge, which is normally all the time if they aren't inside Ai Clouds already, the charge comes along too."
Kai frowned as he thought of something, "what happens if you get a fatal injury? Do you die?"
"I'm dead already." Tyson replied bluntly.
"No, I mean… say you snapped you neck, what happens?"
"They heal it." Tyson shrugged, "you can't die if you're already dead."
Kai blinked. "They can heal anything?"
"Pretty much. Anyway! Third way is if you want to participate in a flight competition, but you need a charge's permission to go, because they have to come too."
"Flight competition?"
"Acrobatics and racing." Tyson explained, "I compete sometimes."
"Have you ever won?" Kai questioned.
"Not yet, my best is second."
It took a few moments for the dual haired teen to fully be impressed by that. There had to be millions of angels, even though not all competed, seeing as some had an old body. He frowned, wondering how a winner could be determined out of thousands of competitors. "How do they pick a winner? There must be thousands of entrants."
"Well, trials are held every few months or so. Those that have a natural flying ability or a skilled flier earn a 'pass' to enter competitions. They're not given out very often so not very many angels compete." Tyson explained, shrugging. "It took me a couple of tries to get my pass."
"I see… and the fourth?"
"Scheduled visits. Charges can go and see their dead relatives or friends on certain days, which are awesome." The bluenet replied enthusiastically, grinning.
"When is the next one?" Kai asked softly, heart clenching slightly at the prospect of hopefully being able to see his parents soon.
"Hmm… a couple of weeks, maybe more…"
Kai clutched Tyson's hand so tightly that angel winced slightly, "really?" He murmured, voice slightly hoarse. He couldn't help but feel slightly dizzy by the news, knowing he could see them again, tell them the things they needed to know… in an odd way, it was a slightly weird revelation, he'd never felt a need to see or talk with his parents in a such a way before.
Tyson smiled slightly in understanding, even though the dual haired teen didn't say anything. "You never know what have before it's gone." He said.
"Yeah…" Kai hung his head.
"Hey… cheer up! You'll see them soon, remember?" Tyson let go of his charge's hand in favour and looped the arm around the younger teen's shoulder like his wing was doing. Giving Kai a one-armed hug, he smiled encouragingly at him, "so give me a smile, please? I hate it when you're sad."
The dual haired teen raised his head slowly, staring into those navy blue eyes that shone with fond warmth. Without him thinking, the corners of his lips twitched up into a small, slightly shy smile.
Tyson beamed happily in return and gave Kai one last affectionate squeeze before letting him go and standing up. "Come, we better go back, it's getting dark and the maids will be wondering where you've disappeared too." He held out a hand for his charge to grab.
Kai set his hand in the bluenet's and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. He couldn't help but let out a small shuddery sigh of content as the older teen wrapped his arms around his waist securely and spread his wings, preparing for flight. His stomach dropped violently to his ankles as the angel suddenly soared into the air, the ground dropping away and the dark skies becoming the only scenery.
Stars twinkled above them as Tyson flew at a steady, slow pace. Shining brightly, the moon hovered near by, sending silver coloured rays of reflected light across the landscape below, the grass and the buildings and the river that shone in the shimmering light.
"Sometimes I forget how beautiful it is…" Tyson murmured, whether to himself or too Kai, wasn't clear. "You take things for granted and then when you die… you suddenly appreciate it a lot more."
"Night time? Or Earth in general?" Kai questioned, breaking his angel out of his thoughts he turned his head slightly to look up into his angel's ace curiously.
"Neither. Life in general I suppose…"
They fell into a comfortable silence after that, both quietly enjoying the silent scenery that was slowly unveiled to them as the flew at a leisurely pace, despite Tyson's mention of the maids back at the house possibly being worried about Kai. As they past over a field dotted with wild flowers and a couple of grazing horses, Kai clucked his tongue slightly to fight a sudden nervousness and turned to ask his angel a question, "can you show me some of your flying skills?"
"Which one?" Tyson replied happily, feeling very pleased that his charge wanted to see what he could in the air.
"There's more one?" Kai questioned, bemused.
"Yup! Racing and acrobatics. Or do you want to see both?" The angel replied, his tone light and happy as his charge took interest.
"Both."
"Cool." Tyson grinned and tightened his grip on Kai, resting his chin on the younger teen's shoulder. "I'll show you racing first, bring your legs up and press them together for me."
Kai frowned slightly but complied, "why?"
"So you're streamline You can't fly fast if you're not streamline." Tyson explained, angling his own body to make himself perfect for fast flying. Increasing the speed of his wing beats, he picked up speed, soaring forwards.
Kai had to close his eyes against the wind, his hair flying back off of forehead. He was aware of their speed increasing for a while before they reached a steady one. The dual haired teen had to admit, it was pretty exhilarating, to be travelling so fast by air.
Tyson slowed down slightly s they were at the slow speed they were before, "that was nearly my racing speed, but I can't fly as fast when I'm carrying you." Just ahead, just barely, he could make out the sight of Kai's house. "I guess I can show you some tricks before we have to land." He immediately arched his back and moved his wings to curl backwards a loop, before spiralling down to the ground and soaring back up with a loop.
Kai had been with Tyson while he had been performing acrobatic skills before, silently knew to himself that he loved being in the air with the angel when he was flying like this. It made his blood pump around his veins and his head go dizzy with excitement and thrill.
As soon as the angel reached his peak in height, he angled down and dived, flattening his wings to his body, heading fixatedly on the gravel drive below them. As the ground neared, he spread out his wings and landed gently at the last moment. Straightening himself, he let go of Kai and he folded his wings. "There you are."
Kai could only murmur a breathless 'thanks', his head still spinning slightly from the experience.
Kai frowned over at his angel as the bluenet winced and rolled his shoulders. Pushing back the covers of his bed, he got up and wandered over to where Tyson was seated on his desk chair. "What is it?"
Tyson looked up at his charge's concern. "Oh, nothing much. Wing muscles are little sore that's all. Carrying you does put strain on them." He replied vaguely, letting his arm go limp in order to reassure the younger teen, "I'm fine!"
Kai rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Take off your shirt."
"Why?" The angel blurted a swath of red splashing across his cheeks. He complied however, removing his white shirt and laying it on Kai's desk. He eyes his charge suspiciously.
"Don't look at me like that; I'm going to make your wing muscles feel better. Turn around." Kai told him, placing his hands on the angel's shoulders when he obeyed. He took a moment to admire how the wings were attached to the bluenet's body. The feathers merged neatly into the tanned skin, and Kai could see vaguely the muscles around the start of the wings were twitching very slightly, the surrounding area looking a little red.
Tyson let a small sigh as his charge began placing pressure to his sore wing muscles and massaged, soothing away the tension and soreness. His shoulders sagged and his wings fell limp out of their folded position to drape on the floor, the feather ruffling and making his wings puffy at the attention.
Kai smiled slightly at the reaction he got, rubbing the muscles beneath Tyson's skin a few more times before pulling his hands away slowly and getting up, "there… better?"
"Much…" Tyson murmured, stretching a little. He shot a dazzling smile over his shoulder and winked at the dual haired teen, "thanks!"
Kai turned away with a nod, but not before Tyson caught the sight of a pale red blush appearing briefly on the younger teen's cheeks. He grinned, "aww… you look cute when you blush!"
Me: Now see Kai! Going through your angst must have been worth it to see Tyson shirtless
Tyson: (Flaunts)
Kai: (Fixtated stare) Perhaps...
Me: Review!