The living room exploded around them, wood flying out into the trees and the water. Wind whipped up like a hurricane, surrounding where the room used to be. AJ lifted Howie in the air, launching him out to the beach. His friend hit the sand, sliding almost down to the water. He left a path in his wake from the force of his landing. “Alyck, listen to me!” he tried hollering.
Using air, AJ lifted himself and drifted down to the sand. He glared at Howie, pure fury on his face. “I don’t have to listen to anything you have to say.” he hissed. The wind picked up, swirling over them, whipping his hair into his face. “You knew how I felt about this! You know the risks!”
Howie tried to speak again, but AJ raised his hands up on either side of him, pulling water in from the ocean. With a flick of his wrists, he sent balls of water flying at Howie, knocking him to the ground each time he tried to stand.
“How dare you take this on yourself to do?” he called, stepping forward. Howie was lying in the sand, holding himself up with his arms and panting. He didn’t try to move as AJ stalked toward him, the wind still whipping around them. “Did you think for one instant that I would just shrug and say, oh, ok, oh well?”
“Listen to me, Alyck, please. If you’d just look-“
“I told you I want to hear nothing from you!” AJ sent a solid blow of air at Howie’s stomach, knocking the breath out of him. “You son of a bitch, you knew how I felt about this, and you did it behind my back! Who the fuck do you think you are?”
Howie coughed, still trying to get in air. “Alyck, he’s alive!” he managed to spit out, gesturing with one hand to the area behind AJ. Held back by the wind, Brian stood there with his hands pressed against what felt like a solid wall of air. AJ didn’t even bother to turn. He just kept coming forward.
When finally he was standing over Howie, he used air to bring him to his feet. Once his friend was standing, he let him go. Howie swayed, but stayed on his own feet. For that split second they stared at one another. AJ dropped the magic around them, pulling it back inside himself. Almost instantly Howie started to relax. Then AJ drew his fist back and punched him in the nose. As AJ heard the satisfying crunch of bone, Howie dropped to the ground.
Kneeling beside him, AJ said “I know he’s alive, you fuck. I felt his magic explode the instant you were done. I saw him breathing when I came in.”
“What the fuck did you hit me for, then?” Howie swore in the old language, holding his hand to his bleeding nose and glaring at AJ.
Ruffling his friend’s hair, AJ gave him a sharp smile. “I told you to leave him the fuck alone and let me handle it.” AJ stood and dusted his hands off. “You’ll be fine in an hour.” That said, he turned and walked away.
Brian was waiting on the edge of the beach, arms crossed over his chest. When AJ got close enough to hear him, he said “That was an asshole thing to do, Alex. I went to him and asked-” He was cut off when AJ closed the last distance and grabbed the front of his shirt, hauling him close and kissing him passionately. Everything that Brian had wanted to say melted away.
Their kiss was broken when Howie walked past, punching AJ’s arm as he went. “Put some damn clothes on. Asshole.”
AJ pulled back and looked down at himself as if just realizing that he hadn’t bothered dressing. With a shrug he raised his hand. A minute later his jeans came floating toward him. He grabbed them out of the air and pulled them on before turning back to Brian. This time it was his turn to cross his arms and glare. Unafraid, Brian crossed his arms too and stared back. He was the first to speak, though.
“I did what was right, Alex. As you can see, I came out of it fine. So your little snit can be done.”
“Snit?” AJ asked dryly. “Oh, darling, you haven’t seen a snit.”
“Well, whatever you call it then. It can be done now, and we can move on.”
“You think so, do you?” Cocking his head to the side, AJ stared at him. “One thing you learn about immortality, Bri, and you can call this your first lesson in our life, but you’ll discover you can hold a grudge for a long, long time.”
Rolling his eyes, Brian sighed. “Don’t be so dramatic. Why can’t you stop to realize that everything turned out fine? I survived. You don’t have to worry anymore about me being a liability just because of my mortality. An neither of us has to worry about me growing old, and dying without you.”
“You think you’re safer now?” There was shock on AJ’s face. He dropped his arms. “You actually think becoming an immortal makes you safer?”
“Isn’t that part of the definition of immortal, Alex?”
At first, all AJ could do was stare at Brian. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Was he really that much of an idiot? Seriously? “Didn’t you pay attention to anything I’ve been telling you?” he asked. Before Brian could answer, he continued on. “If it were against anyone else in the world, yes, you would be perfectly safe. There’s no one out there with the strength to hurt me, and the only other one with the strength to hurt you is me. Except for one thing, Bri.” AJ held a finger up. “Roth. I told you, I told you! He is the only one capable of killing me, because him and I are equal in strength.”
“But I can help you now, Alex!” Brian insisted, holding his hands out. “I never discounted the threat he presents, but now I can help instead of just standing by and watching someone try to kill you!”
“You don’t get it, do you? He can still kill you.” AJ stepped forward, his words dropping to a hiss. “You’re strong, I’ll give you that much. Stronger than Howie. But he could still kill you with a thought. You have no idea how to protect yourself, how to shield yourself. You know nothing about what to do against his kind of magic!”
“So teach me!”
“You’re damn straight I’m going to! You have strength enough you could do some damage until you learn to control it.” AJ crossed his arms again, annoyed at everything in general, yet happy underneath it all. Part of him was thrilled with the idea that the man he loved had done this to help keep him safe, and to stay with him for eternity. The other half of him was livid that Brian and Howie had put Brian in danger this way. He was more of a target for Roth now than he had been before! “Immortality may have strengthened your magic, Bri, but only so much. The very first thing we need to do is see how much.”