The only human resident of Elysia sat on a grassy hill looking out on the distant world, cradling his favorite book - a copy of the Celestial Record - in his lap as he enjoyed the warm summer day. The sun was shining, only a few puffy white clouds decorated the aquamarine sky, and a cool breeze swept across the fields just strongly enough to keep the temperature from growing too sweltering. It was one of those idyllic days when Sorey gazed at the images drawn in the book and imagined what the real thing might look like, his dreams of one day seeing the world dancing through his mind, a contended smile fixed on his lips.
A boy in blue walked slowly, hesitantly, through the woods at Sorey's back. The young water seraph's hands shook slightly as they gripped the box they held. Even having talked things through with his guardian, Mikleo was nervous. What he was about to do threatened to destroy his bond with the person he'd grown up with, his closest friend, and though he was normally level-headed, the possibility frightened him like nothing else in the world could. If he lost Sorey, he would have nothing - his long, long life as a seraph wouldn't be worth living.
Maybe it would be better to just not say anything, Mikleo thought, coming to a halt long before Sorey might notice him. It was a thought he'd had many times, almost daily, ever since he'd started noticing the odd feeling he got around his companion two years ago, at the age of eleven. But he knew that trying to deny how he felt might generate malevolence, and Gramps had been so supportive when Mikleo had finally confided in the ancient seraph who'd raised him, encouraging honesty above all else - indeed, Gramps had been very firm that Mikleo needed to confront the problem head-on, not hide from it, no matter how frightened he might be.
Drawing a deep breath, Mikleo forced himself to keep walking. Slowly. One foot in front of the other. It was all he could manage to do, the mere thought of calling out to Sorey made his insides twist, so he could only walk.
The wind picked up, tossing Sorey's brown hair in a wild dance, sunlight flashing along the strands, shifting between highlights and shadows that turned the untidy mop into a dazzling display of hues that couldn't be found in the hair of any seraph. Mikleo's breath caught, his seraphic body self-actualizing the sensation of heat blossoming in his cheeks. Without Sorey, he would have grown up never knowing such beauty, it was like a piece of the Celestial Record itself came to life every time he was lucky enough to see something like this.
No. There was no denying he was doing the right thing, even if he wanted to believe otherwise.
Both human and seraph had started to undergo what Gramps called "growth spurts", a natural occurrence for humans that Mikleo's body mimicked. Gramps said all seraphim with human-shaped bodies who manifested as young could perform that process, but Mikleo couldn't help but feel that his body learned to grow by watching Sorey's body grow; they were equally disproportionate, gangly and awkward, but still taller than they had been a year ago…which meant Mikleo's legs, and therefore steps, were longer, faster, taking him to the base of the hill far too soon. When he realized he had to shift his weight to hike up the incline, he felt a flash of panic, along with a wish that he was shorter - a wish, sadly, that was strong enough to affect his growth from that day forward.
"Huh?"
Mikleo's footsteps crunching softly in the grass finally drew Sorey's attention, and the young human turned to look behind him. The moment his emerald eyes landed on the water seraph, they lit up like stars.
"Oh hey, Mikleo!" he called cheerfully. "What are you doing?"
Running away was no longer an option; Mikleo froze, his grip tightening on the box he held. "Um…hey, Sorey," he managed.
Sorey tilted his head slightly, visibly confused by the look on Mikleo's face. Confusion quickly turned to worry, and he closed the Celestial Record and stood, walking down to meet his friend. "Is something wrong?" he asked, setting the book aside so he could reach a hand out to his partner.
"N-No," Mikleo replied. All the possible ways he'd thought of for broaching this subject, his half-dozen carefully planned and rehearsed speeches, fled from his mind, leaving him scrambling for words. "No, I, um…"
As Sorey's hand came to rest on Mikleo's blue-clad arm, he finally noticed that the water seraph was holding something. "What's that?" he asked, eyeing the small wooden box.
"Oh, it's, um, well…" Mikleo swallowed hard, drew a deep breath, and said in a rush, "I've been talking to Gramps about something, and he said it might be easier to tell you about it if I made a present for you."
"A present?" Sorey blinked. "Mikleo, what's going on?"
Dang it, that was not how Mikleo was supposed to start this conversation! That was supposed to be part…four? Three? He couldn't remember exactly, but it definitely wasn't supposed to be part one! "Sorey, I…I came here to tell you - er, I mean, I've been wanting to tell you…" Mikleo fumbled, trying to get ahold of his tongue. "What I'm trying to say is…" Jittering with nerves, afraid that he might be about to lose the person who mattered most in the world to him with his foolishness, a seraphic instinct took over, and he blurted out, "My true name is Lusrov Rulay!"
Those emerald eyes blinked. Once. Twice.
Silence. A breeze rustled the grass, and it sounded like the world was trying to tell Mikleo to shush.
But it was already said.
"…Oh," Sorey said at last, his lightly tanned cheeks turning slightly pink. "Um…I, uh…I'd tell you my true name too, if I had one, but, you know…"
"No, Sorey-" Mikleo shook his head hard - it was already said, he needed to be clear about it. "When a seraph tells someone their true name, it means-"
"I know," Sorey said quickly. "It means you trust me with your life."
"I…" That was indeed one possible situation in which seraphim exchanged true names…and if Sorey thought that was all he meant, Mikleo could still walk away from this. He could nod and say yes, that was what he meant, and they could stay close friends. Brothers. But…
"No good will come of lying to yourself, Mikleo." Gramps's words on the subject came back to him. "You must be honest with yourself, and with Sorey. No true bond can be built on lies, even well-meaning ones. I'm sure that no matter what happens, Sorey values what you two share enough that nothing you can say would convince him to shun you."
"Yes," Mikleo said slowly, "that's one thing it can mean. But it's not what I mean. I mean, I do feel that way, but that's not…I mean…I'm trying to say something else, too."
"What's that?" Sorey asked, a quizzical frown pursing his lips.
Of course it would come to this. It wasn't surprising that Sorey would need this spelled out for him, he was so…pure. As a human, he had to work to learn things, there were almost no instincts telling him how the world worked, things seraphim just knew were mysteries to him that had to be explained and puzzled out. Growing up among mostly seraphim, Mikleo had reflected many times about how many things he would take for granted if he hadn't been raised with a human. Seeing the world through the eyes of a human as well as his own seraphic eyes every day of his life since he was a baby, the world that had painted for him…it was one of the reasons why…
"What I'm trying to say…is…" Despite everything, Mikleo trailed off again. He drew another breath, then decided to try addressing the reason this was so uncertain, the reason his being here now was a risk. "I know we were supposed to be brothers," he told Sorey. "Gramps took us in and raised us together, he hoped we would think of each other as brothers. But I…I don't think of you as a brother."
A bit of a alarm sparked in Sorey's eyes at that, and he flinched back ever so slightly. "W-What do you mean?" he asked. "How do you think of me, Mikleo?"
That tiny modicum of increased distance between them hit Mikleo like a punch to the gut, and he swallowed hard. "Gramps says that for seraphim, the bonds we form with others…can't be assigned," he stammered, trying to find comfort in factual analysis. "When we become attached to another person, it can be as family, or as…something else - since we aren't made of flesh, our souls' attachments to others can take any form, for anyone, and it's okay for them to just be what they are. I…I can't say how it works for you, but…"
"Mikleo, you're starting to scare me a little," Sorey informed the nervous young seraph. "Can you just…tell me what you're talking about? What are you trying to say?"
"I…I'm saying…" The words would not come. And, Mikleo realized, even if he said them, Sorey probably still wouldn't understand - he'd already shared his true name and not gotten the message across, even the ancient tongue would be useless here. And so, Mikleo did the only thing he could think to do, something he'd wanted to do for longer than he could admit to himself: he stepped closer to Sorey, leaned in, and brushed his lips against his.
"Whoa!" Sorey yelped, as though he too had felt the electricity crackle between their bodies at the slight contact. "Mikleo, what…?"
"That's what I'm trying to say," Mikleo said firmly. "I…I love you, Sorey, and not like a brother." The box in his hands was all but forgotten, even as his fingers gripped it hard enough to make it creak.
"Oh." Sorey blinked again…then slowly smiled. Before Mikleo could react, his counterpart started to laugh. "You really had me worried for a minute there," he chuckled. "Don't scare me like that. Was that all you wanted to say?"
"I…" It was Mikleo's turn to blink. "I mean…like I said, I…I know we were supposed to be brothers," he managed. "And if you think of me as a brother, then-"
"Mikleo," Sorey cut him off, "I know you're not really my brother. I mean, you're a seraph, and I'm a human."
"I know," Mikleo said, "but for humans, I know it's-"
Even if he'd known how to finish the sentence, Sorey spared him from trying to do so by leaning in and pressing their lips together again, halting the movement of the young seraph's mouth.
For a moment, Mikleo was stunned. Then, he felt a rush, like mana charging through his seraphic being, except he wasn't preparing an arte. Closing his eyes, he leaned closer, until the flesh of Sorey's lips squished against his corporeal form, the human's resonance allowing this physical contact between these two members of the two different races. Losing himself, his grip slackened, and the little box slipped free and hit the grass, its contents rattling slightly.
"Oh!" The sound reminded Mikleo of what he'd even done, and he jumped, awkwardly breaking the kiss as he bent down to fumble for the present. His forehead bumped Sorey's chin, and Mikleo felt the hit, the bone striking just above the circlet he wore for mana channelling under his bangs.
"Ow!" they both yelped, and they laughed, all the tension crumbling away as Mikleo quickly snatched up the box.
"I'm sorry," the water seraph giggled. "I just, uh, I almost forgot I made you something."
"You made something?" Sorey asked, looking down at the package again.
"Gramps said if I made a gift for you with my own hands, it would help me convey how I felt about you," Mikleo said. "I had to get some help from the earth seraphim and fire seraphim, but only when I needed elemental power I don't have; everything done by hand, I did myself."
"What is it?" Sorey inquired, his brow furrowing.
No longer anxious, Mikleo was able to smile as he pried the lid off the tiny crate to reveal two small metal circles, each one attached to two orange-and-yellow feathers in just such a way that the feathers could shift and dangle slightly. "Earrings," he explained. "I thought that, since your hair will only ever be one color, attaching these to your ears might help you feel a little more…at home? I guess?" It dawned on him then how stupid that sounded, and again, his face flushed. "I mean, not that your hair isn't nice, I just, I mean, you - it - I thought…"
He trailed off, his stammerings halted by the pensive look in Sorey's eyes as he gazed at the earrings. "Mikleo," Sorey said softly, and he looked up to meet Mikleo's violet irises, "I'm human."
"I know!" Mikleo exclaimed. "I didn't mean it like - I - I was just trying to think of something I could make, and I saw these feathers and I thought about how they're like a fire seraph's hair, and then I thought how your hair's only one color, and-"
"Are you sure about this?" Sorey asked.
"Huh?" Mikleo's mouth froze mid-babble.
"I'm human, Mikleo," Sorey repeated. "Unlike you, I'm made of flesh, flesh that's going to wear out after a few decades. You have thousands of years ahead of you still; I don't even have a hundred. I…I can't be with you for the rest of your life."
"I know," Mikleo said softly, his heart twisting. "But…I love you enough to want to be with you for the rest of yours, if you'll have me."
"What happens to you when I'm gone?" Sorey asked.
"I don't know," Mikleo admitted, his eyes starting to burn now. "But we won't have to think about that for a long time, and…and I know how I feel about you." Drawing a deep breath to steady himself, he added, "And I know I wouldn't want to be with another seraph. The way you are as a human is just…my world would be so empty without your human way of seeing things. The world is so different for you, and every day I'm with you, it's like I'm exploring another world, a beautiful one. That's something I want to cherish for as long as I can."
"Mikleo…"
They gazed into each other's eyes for a long minute, thoughts and emotions passing between them without words. Another shift in the breeze rustled their hair and clothes, and tugged slightly at the feathers nestled in the box Mikleo still held out.
"Alright," Sorey nodded, and he smiled. "How do I put these on?"
"You mean it?" Mikleo gasped.
"Sure!" Sorey grinned, and he reached in and grasped one of the metal bands. "But…how do I put these on my ears?"
"You, uh…have to pierce them," Mikleo said. "It'll hurt a little, and you'll have to keep them clean for a while - but I can help you with that part using my water powers!"
"Huh," Sorey mused, eyeing the earring thoughtfully. "Well, it can't hurt more than that time I feel off that ledge and broke my ankle."
"Yeah - yeah," Mikleo nodded. "It's something humans do, I read about it once, I know I did, so it's not dangerous."
"Let's do it, then," Sorey said decisively, holding out the earring back to Mikleo. "Pierce my ears."
"You want me to do it?" Mikleo asked. "Right now?"
"Sure," Sorey shrugged. "I mean, why wait? Besides, I don't have a true name to tell you to show you I trust you, so letting you poke holes in my ears will have to do."
A surprised laugh erupted from Mikleo's throat, and he felt his heart soar. "Okay, but I have to warn you, I have no idea what I'm doing," he said.
"I trust you," Sorey reiterated, putting the earring back in the box. "And, Mikleo?"
"Yeah?"
Without warning, Sorey leaned closer and kissed Mikleo again. "I really wish you'd said something sooner," he told him. "I was worried you only thought of me as a brother, I'm glad you were brave enough to talk to Gramps about it at least."
So he'd felt the same way. Like always… "Me too," Mikleo said.
Shifting the box to one hand, he raised his freed arm to cross his forearm in front of his face. Sorey mirrored the movement without hesitation, pressing his own upraised limb against Mikleo's. It was a little gesture they'd made up when they were little, a promise to each other that they would always be together no matter what, like their own childish version of a seraphic oath. Mana surged through Mikleo's veins again, his body self-actualizing the sensation of his heart racing.
"I love you, Sorey."
"I love you too, Lusrov Rulay."
The sound of his true name on Sorey's lips cemented something in Mikleo, his being etched with this bond from this day forth. Whatever happened, he and this human he'd been with since their births were one, and that was all he would ever need.