Later that night Brian and AJ were settled down in bed. Snuggled against one another, they listened to the storm that still raged outside. The sound of rain hitting the roof was lulling them both. So AJ was surprised when Brian spoke up suddenly. “What was going on with you and Howie earlier?”
Oh, God. He should have known better than to think that Brian hadn’t noticed, or wasn’t going to ask. How the hell was he going to answer this without sounding like a lunatic? “Just a bit of a debate we’ve had going for a while now. I know he’s right, but I won’t let him know that.”
Brian chuckled. “Sounded like you two were getting pretty annoyed with one another. I just wanted to make sure everything was ok.”
“Yeah, we’ll be fine, so long as I see things his way.” Stretching, AJ offered Brian a smile. Nothing on his face showed the racing thoughts inside of his head. “But thanks for the concern, hon.”
At least, he hadn’t thought anything was showing on his face. But Brian took hold of his chin, holding him still in the moonlight. “There’s something bothering you.” He said simply. “Talk to me.” That right there was one of the reasons AJ was having a hard time doing what Howie wanted. He had never in his life met someone who understood him the way that Brian did. Understood him, and loved him still.
Was it really time to come out with the truth? Part of AJ was so afraid to do it. Absolutely terrified that he was going to lose the one thing in the world that made him the happiest. But if he didn’t, well, then he was doomed to lose him soon anyways. Better on his terms, right?
Resolve gripped AJ. He knew what he had to do. There were no more doubts about it. No more room for error. Howie was right. They were moving on soon, and this needed to be dealt with first. That way, they could decide what to do. But how to tell him? He doubted that Brian would believe a word he said.
“Alex?”
With a sigh, AJ prepared to set his world on edge. “We need to talk, Bri.”
The seriousness of his tone had Brian sitting up in bed. He crawled over to the edge and switched the lamp on, then turned back and sat, looking at AJ’s face. “What’s going on?” His eyes were worried, but full of love. AJ couldn’t resist leaning forward and taking what would most likely be his last kiss.
He steeled his heart as he sat back down. “There are some things I need to tell you about. Things I haven’t been truthful with. I can’t keep them from you anymore. I need to tell you. But, please, promise me one thing. Hear me out until the end before you make any judgments, ok? Promise me that no matter what I say, you’ll sit here and listen until we’re done.”
Without hesitation, Brian said “I promise.”
So, now it was all left up to AJ. Where did he start? “I don’t know where to start this. I don’t really have practice at telling people these things. I’ve only done it once before, and that person had already guessed it, really.” AJ looked up at him and took a deep breath. “I guess the best place to start is my name. I, uh, my names not Alexander James McLean.”
Brian’s eyes grew wide and confused. He would have laughed it off if he hadn’t been able to see AJ’s eyes, and know without a doubt that his lover was serious. “What?”
“Yeah. It’s Alyck. A-l-y-c-k. Alyck Tuian. I’m not, well, hell this is harder than I thought. I’m not in my twenties, either.”
“Baby, what’re you talking about? I don’t understand.”
For a single moment AJ stared at Brian’s face, memorizing it, mentally saying goodbye to the man he loved more than life itself. Then he dropped the bombshell. “I’m trying to tell you that I’m not who you think I am. At least, not completely. I’m not in my twenties. To be honest, I don’t know how old I am. A few millennia, I’d hazard. Maybe more. I don’t really know. There are some years that there wasn’t really an accurate calendar. Plus, I didn’t really start to pay attention until later.”
Silence filled the bedroom. As he spoke, AJ could see Brian’s eyes widen in shock. Whether he believed it, or was thinking of calling the cops, AJ didn’t know. But he did know that Brian would be true to his word, and he would sit and listen before making any judgments. So better to get it all out now, so that there was no more secrets left.
“That’s part of what Howie and I were arguing about. He’s been on me to tell you for a while now, but I didn’t know how. How do you explain something like this without sounding like a lunatic? You can’t tell someone that you’re thousands of years old, and expect them to just understand. But, like I said earlier, Howie was right. I needed to do this. There’s a lot I need you to understand. I just wish Howie hadn’t created the storm in an effort to force the issue. There’s going to be repercussions for a while.”
“You’re telling me Howie did this?” There was skepticism in Brian’s voice as he gestured to the windows. For just a moment AJ watched him. He could see that Brian was confused, and worried. He didn’t believe a word of what he was saying. How did you prove this to someone? Tampering with the weather had some repercussions if you weren’t careful. Howie hadn’t been. But, Howie didn’t have the strength that AJ had, or the finesse. If he was very careful, he could, maybe, get the storm to leave without it backlashing somewhere.
With a shake of his head, he came back to the moment. Now was not the time to be drifting. “Yeah, he got a little annoyed with me. He knew I was using the barbeque as an excuse to post pone the conversation, so he ended it by making it rain. But then he got pissed, and it got a little out of control. He has no finesse with that kind of thing. Pisses him off that I do.”
“You can do this too?” This time there was a tone in Brian’s voice that had AJ’s back stiffening. Was he mocking him? Temper has always been AJ’s problem. It took him now, and had him glaring at Brian. “Follow me.” He said simply.
AJ got up and padded from the room, unconcerned with his nakedness. He heard Brian grab a robe and start to follow. They went downstairs, and through the kitchen to the back patio. Despite the rain, AJ stepped out on the patio, and started to move to the rain. Brian’s hand on his arm stopped him. “Put something on, or grab an umbrella. You’re going to get sick if you go in the rain like that.” It was a tribute to Brian’s love that he didn’t bother trying to stop him from going at all, just simply asked him to protect himself.
“Have you ever known me to be sick, or hurt, baby?”
Leaving him to ponder that, AJ stepped out into the sheets of rain. As he did, he opened his senses, let his mind connect with the storm around him. The exhilaration came, as it always did when he let that part of him open and flower. Though it wasn’t necessary for what he was going to do, AJ lifted his arms. He became a part of the storm, and the storm became a part of him.
A small part of his brain registered that Brian was watching him, that he hadn’t left. That was good. There was no point to this if Brian wasn’t paying attention. Temper was almost gone now, washed away by the joy of using his gift.
He used his mind to seek out the storm, find the center of it. Delicately he wove air and fire together. If he could do it just right, find just the right area, he could contain the center of the storm, burn it out. But no, that was too dangerous. He let those weaves drop. It had been a long time since he had forced a storm away.
Then it came back to him. He picked up his weaves this time, combined his elements in a different way, until what he did resembled the most delicate lace tapestry. Not that Brian would be able to see it, but AJ could, and that was what mattered. He lifted it, meshing it with the storm itself. The process was slow. Too fast, and the storm could blow up into a hurricane right over them. Too slow, and the weaves would simply melt away.
Slowly the rain lessened, first do an average rain, then a drizzle, then to nothing at all. AJ vaguely heard Brian gasp, but he was too busy concentrating to pay it any notice. His mind was now focused on fixing the damage Howie had done. It was a good thing he’d come out. If he hadn’t, the storm would have grown too far. Damn that man for having such little control!
Next were the clouds. They slowly but surely faded away, until there was nothing left. When it was done, AJ let the weaves melt, the magic come back inside of him. He lowered his arms, fighting the reluctance that always came when he had to lock that part of his soul away. Magic was not a tool to him; it was an extension of his very soul. That was the biggest difference between him and Howie. Where Howie had to generally rely on emotion to bring out his magic, and could have more trouble bringing it out than anything, AJ simply had to open himself up. Instead of seeking his magic when needed, he had to force it to stay inside of him when he didn’t.
Now he turned. Brian’s face was a picture of pure shock. There were still hints of disbelief there; AJ could see Brian’s rational mind trying to find something to use as an excuse for what had just happened. AJ could see when Brian started to convince himself that whatever he saw must have a rational explanation. So, he was going to have to go all out with this.
Walking forward, AJ took the robe that Brian had brought for him, and belted it. Almost instantly it became damp, but he ignored that. Instead, he turned to where Brian had a few flower pots. As a bit of a lark, and for something to brighten up the slightly stark backyard, the two had been trying to grow flowers. The others teased them mercilessly about it, but the couple enjoyed it.
AJ reached into the dirt, pulling out one of the lily bulbs. Under Brian’s watchful eye, AJ concentrated. Within seconds the bulb grew, until it blossomed into a red lily.
Looking up into Brian’s wide eyes, he asked “Do you believe me now?”