"I choose Allie. I want to leave with Allie." Marucho said.
Sora Perse smiled, "well then. Let's go get him." Sora Perse extended his hand out for Marucho to grab. Marucho pulled on it and stood up.
"Is your hand okay by the way?" Sora Perse asked, gesturing to his left hand.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Marucho replied. Sora Perse nodded and led Marucho to the front door to go out of the house. He grabbed his keys on the way and then they were in his car.
"Okay, this is your last chance. Once we start heading over there, there is no turning back. You can still choose to go home." Sora Perse said. Marucho shook his head.
"I want to go with Allie." Sora Perse put the keys in and started up the car. They were on their way to the prison.
Once they got there, Marucho felt like falling asleep again. But he knew that he couldn't. He got out of the car and went into the building. Aura was already waiting by the door to the hallway.
"Did he know that we were going to be here?" Marucho asked.
"He probably heard the car." Aura replied. Marucho walked up to him with a skip in his step.
"So, you have chosen to run away with Allie?" Aura asked. Marucho nodded.
Aura opened the door, "Right this way then." The two of them walked down the hallway, Marucho following the Aurae rules that he had last time. Then, he was at the big metal door again. His heart was beating out of his chest. It was exciting, to run away again. This time he was at more of a risk having to run away with another person. Risky, but that's exactly what he liked.
The door was opened and Marucho saw Allie standing right in front of him. It felt all too real. He was going to run away with him. They were going to go live on a farm of their own. Marucho gave Allie a quick hug before stepping back again.
"Why are you smiling like that?" Allie asked.
Marucho laughed, "we're running away." Allie's eyes opened wide.
"Wait, we are? Like actually?" Allie asked. Marucho nodded eagerly. Allie smiled.
"Wait, where are we going?" Allie asked.
"I don't know yet, c'mon!" Marucho said as he grabbed Allie's hand and started pulling him through the hall.
"You don't know where we're going?" Allie asked.
"Well, Sora Perse is supposed to show us a place where we can stay." Marucho replied. Allie sighed in relief, knowing that they weren't just going out to 'figure it out.' Aura took them out and they went into Sora Perse's office. He had a map on his desk and he ushered the other two boys over to him. They went over and Sora Perse turned the map to face them.
"So, this is the prison that we are at right now." Sora Perse said as he pointed to the circle on the map.
"And this," he pointed to the squared area, "is where you are going."
"Are you sure we're going to be able to get there by ourselves? I don't think that either of us know how to get from here to there." Allie said.
"What? Are you doubting my abilities?" Marucho asked.
"Yes, I am." Allie replied. Marucho pouted.
"I don't think that you'll get lost to easily. There's cardinal directions on the map and I'll give you a compass." Sora Perse said.
"Cardinal directions?" Marucho asked.
"Yeah, just follow the letter that is pointing to your destination. I also marked your course with a marker so that you know where to turn. Find landmarks and you'll be fine." Marucho was confused still but didn't try to show it too much.
"So, are we going to leave right now?" Allie asked.
"Well, I would suggest sleeping before you start going, but I don't know if you want to wait." Sora Perse said.
"What's wrong with waiting?" Allie asked.
"Well, Marucho did technically run away again. Frederick doesn't know where he is right now. She'll probably be looking for him." Sora Perse replied.
"And why would she be looking for me here?" Marucho asked.
"Well, I'll guess that it's because of him." Sora Perse said, looking at Allie.
"You ran away again, Marucho?" Allie asked.
"Well, I actually got kidnapped." Marucho said.
"KIDNAPPED?" Allie asked.
"Stop saying that I kidnapped you. He passed out on the side of the road and I took him to my house." Sora Perse said.
"Passed out on the road?" Allie asked.
"Yeah, I was all drugged up so that they could take my fingers." Marucho said, raising his hand.
"Oh my god, Marucho. They actually took your fingers." Allie said.
Marucho laughed, "why would I lie about that?"
"I don't know! I just thought you were exaggerating." Allie replied.
"Come on boys. Do you want to stay and sleep, or do you want to head out?" Sora Perse asked.
"Well, I think we should rest before we go out." Allie said.
"But Allie, what if they come looking for us?" Marucho asked.
"Then we'll leave. But we should rest before so we can actually run away and not pass out on the road." Allie said.
Marucho groaned, "okay." Allie grabbed the map and compass and the two headed back to Allie's cell. Once inside they had the Aurae problem as when Marucho first visited him. Marucho laid down on the bed and closed his eyes. He heard Allie step to him and then what he assumed was him sitting on the floor. He peeked one eye open and saw Allie sitting and leaning his head on the bed. His eyes were closed too.
Marucho giggled, "why are you sitting on the floor?"
"Because you're in the bed." Allie said. Marucho sat up.
"We can both be in the bed. It isn't like we haven't slept together before." Allie turned away, the tips of his ears glowing pink.
"No, Marucho. I'm fine with sleeping on the floor." Allie said.
"Suit yourself." Marucho said, rolling over to face the wall. He heard Allie shift, then shift again, then again. Marucho opened his eyes.
"Stop moving, I'm trying to sleep!" Marucho said.
"I'm trying to go to sleep too!" Allie replied.
"Allie. Just get on the bed." Marucho said.
"Marucho, I'm fine-" Marucho groaned.
"Then stop moving." Marucho said. He closed his eyes again. Allie shifted again.
"UUUUUUUUGHHHH, Allie."
"FINE, I'll get on the bed." Allie said. Marucho scooted to be right against the wall. Allie got in the bed behind him. Marucho smiled and started to fall asleep again. Right as he was about to completely fall asleep, Allie rolled and moved the bed.
Marucho shot up and turned around, "BA-" He saw that Allie was asleep. He sighed as he laid back down, this time back flush against the wall. Allie was extremely close to him, his shoulder right in front of his nose. Marucho scooted his head to rest on Allie's shoulder. Allie's sleepy reaction being to scootch closer to him in turn. Marucho's arms were held close to his chest as he pushed closer to Allie's arm. After successfully not waking Allie up, he relaxed.
He was comfortable laying on Allie like he was a pillow. Though, it was uncomfortable to be laying on his arm, plus the wing that was tucked into his side was hurting him. Marucho got up just a little to move Allie's arm up. It was a long process of moving it an inch, seeing if Allie was awake, and then moving it another inch until it was out of the way. Then he slowly spread out Allie's wing to lay it flat on the bed. Now, Marucho was pressed against Allie's side and laying on one of his wings. He moved his head to be against Allie's chest.
He could feel the rising and falling of it as he breathed calmly in and out. Marucho tried to follow those breaths and breathe at the Aurae time. And again, as soon as he was about to fall into that dark comfort, Allie had moved, this time to use the arm above Marucho, and wrap it around him. Marucho was pushed more into the comfort of Allie and he felt his face turn to fire. It was comforting to be laying on him, but now that he had his arm wrapped around him, it felt like heaven. He was completely wrapped in comfort. An arm around him, the fluffy wing below him, and the warmth of the part of Allie that he was laying on. He followed Allie's breaths again, calming down his own and slowly, but surely went to sleep.
They rode through the fields of corn and wheat, their horse jumping over the gate that surrounded the barn. It would have felt exhilarating, fun even, but they were on a mission. Their hair flung at their face as they rode, they threw their head to the side in attempt to get it out of their face. They rode through the town one more time, making sure that what they were looking for wasn't there. After confirming that they weren't there, or the barn, the horse was pulled in the direction of the prison. That was their last resort, knowing that there was likely no way that he could have gotten there by himself. But there was a possibility that he could have memorized the route, or gotten a ride. A ride from someone who would want him over there.
Damn Sora Perse, he really had to ruin the perfect little life that they were creating. He had to ruin everything. He didn't have to show them the proof that Allie would be free. He didn't have to tell Allie or Aura that Allie would be free. Sora Perse didn't have to do anything, he should have left everything be. He just had to disrupt the peace. All they ever wanted was peace, and now their peace is getting taken away from them. Again. It wasn't fair. That's why they were going to find Marucho.
Sora Perse opened the door quickly, waking up the two boys. "I'm sorry to interrupt you two, but you have to leave now." Sora Perse said. Marucho rubbed his eyes and pushed up off of Allie's chest.
"Right now?" Marucho asked.
"Yes, right now! Come on!" Sora Perse said. Allie yawned, causing Marucho to yawn, and both of them got out of the bed.
"You two have no sense of urgency. They're looking for you!" Sora Perse said. They woke up immediately.
"Wait who?" Marucho asked.
"Frederick! Who else?" Sora Perse said. Marucho shrugged his shoulders.
"Just come on, we have to go." Sora Perse said. Allie grabbed the map and the compass and they rushed down the hall.
"Aura is distracting her. He'll be coming down the way in. We'll be going down the way out. So, we'll get out of here faster than them. She'll also have to go to the cell and come out, taking an even longer time." Sora Perse explained. They hurried up the stairs and got to the door. Sora Perse pushed it open, but then immediately closed it.
"What's wrong?" Marucho asked.
"She's still in there." Sora Perse said.
"What?" Marucho yelled.
"What are we going to do now?" Allie asked. Sora Perse shrugged and was then hit by the door opening.
"Ow, what the he- Frederick." Sora Perse said. Frederick stood from behind the door and made eye contact with Marucho. He started running back down the stairs. Frederick chased after him, but her heels caused her to trip. Luckily, she was able to grab the handrail to stop her fall. Marucho ran back up past her. She turned around quickly and started going up the stairs more carefully. Marucho grabbed Allie's hand and ran through the door, and through the waiting room.
Aura stopped them at the door with a bag. "Wait, you have to take this." Aura said. Allie opened his mouth.
"No time for questions, let's go!" Marucho said, pulling Allie outside.
"We're really running away Marucho!" Allie yelled.
"Yeah, Allie, we are." Marucho said. Those words made his smile wide. He was running away again, but this time he wasn't alone. He was running away hand in hand with his best friend. Ha, 'best friend.' Did they even count as that anymore?
Marucho thought that they would be okay with slowing down until he heard something behind him. He turned his head to see Frederick riding straight towards them with Jessica. "WHAT THE FUCK?" Marucho yelled.
"Language." Allie said before turning around and seeing Frederick as well.
"WHAT THE MUFFIN?" Allie said.
"Muffin?" Marucho asked.
"Now is not the time Marucho!" Allie said.
"What do we do?" Marucho asked. Just then Allie wrapped his arms around him and pulled him into the trees beside them. He made quick work of removing the bandage on his wing, the diamond glistening in the bit of sun that peered past the shadows and leaves.
Marucho reached out to touch it, "when did this happen?"
"Well, that's the diamond that Frederick gave me." Allie said. Marucho made contact with the cold gem, he felt a sting in his finger and pulled back.
"What's wrong?" Allie asked.
"It's nothing, don't worry about it. Right now, we have to leave." Marucho said, pointing to Frederick who had gotten off her horse to chase them.
"Right!" Allie said. He outstretched his wings.
"Hold on tight to me." Allie said. Marucho asked no questions as he jumped into Allie's arms. Allie held him like a baby, tight to his chest. He breathed out and then pushed his wings down harshly. He shot up and Marucho held on tighter, having a death grip on him with the hand that could grip. He looked down to see Frederick disappearing little by little. He started to get dizzy and pushed his head to the crook of Allie's neck.
Allie giggled, "stop Marucho, that tickles." Allie said. Marucho shook his head back and forth, using his hair to tickle him more.
"Stop, I'm going to drop you." Allie said. That surely made Marucho stop. Allie laughed as he used his wings to glide through the air, getting back down to the ground. Once he was close enough, he flapped them more to slowly land on the ground. His feet hit the floor and Marucho shakily got out of his arms. He tried walking but his legs shook even more with each step.
"Marucho, are you going to be able to walk?" Allie asked.
"No." Marucho said. Allie swooped him back into his arms.
"How are you able to carry me so easily, we're like the Aurae height." Marucho asked.
"Marucho, you weigh about as much as a feather to me." Allie said.
"That's hot." Marucho said.
"What?" Allie asked. Marucho replied with laughter.