Hours later they were standing in the front driveway while the sun started to set, waiting for Kevin to come down. Nick was already there with Howie, who had checked and approved the contents of the backpack he now had slung over his shoulder. At the sight of Nick, AJ kept himself back a little. He didn’t want to create any more tension than there always was. The crying jag with Brian had helped quite a bit to bring himself back under control. It had been enough to help AJ find a peace inside, and lock away his own demons.
From there his lover had taken him down to a stream, insisting that Howie would call if there was trouble. The two men had washed away the blood on their bodies and their clothes, and then they’d lain in the sun while their clothes dried. He had yet to talk to them since he had come back to the house.
But Nick took it on himself to walk over to where AJ stood. To AJ’s surprise, Nick playfully grabbed his ponytail and gave a small tug. “Kevin will come around, J.” He said softly, giving that Carter smile. It lacked a little of its usual glow, as did his eyes, but AJ knew it would come back. Nick was a resilient person. What AJ had done had changed Nick a little; aged him slightly. But he would be ok. “I’m sure he will, Nick. You’re not upset with me?”
“Upset? Yes. With you? No. Best as I can see, you did what you had to. Hearing and seeing are two totally different things. I thought I understood before, but, well, what you showed us told me loud and clear that I’d had no idea. I understand better now. It gives me an inkling of what could happen, and what did happen to you and Bri. It wasn’t just Kev and I that I was crying for, J.”
The sincerity of the words almost brought AJ back to tears. He felt the liquid in his eyes. “Thank you.” He managed to croak out. Nick folded him into a strong hug, the same hug he’d always given, and AJ felt a smart part of his heart heal a little.
When Kevin came out, the sun was just barely setting on the horizon. Howie came with him, having gone to make sure he was packed right. Kevin had his backpack over his shoulders as well. He avoided looking at AJ, causing Nick to sigh. He gave AJ one last squeeze, whispered “I’ll talk to him” and moved over to take Kevin’s hand and stand with him.
They had decided to leave the car, since anywhere they went they’d have to abandon it. Questions would be asked if an abandoned car belonging to one of the backstreet boys was found somewhere alongside the road. That meant walking for a short while through town and to the forest where they’d been picked up. First, AJ realized that he had something he needed to do. Idiot, he cursed himself. “Just a quick second, guys.” He called out.
Kneeling in the yard, AJ pulled water up from the ground, forming a puddle in front of him. Then, using spirit, he wove a net around the water. After a moment his grandfather’s face appeared in the water. “Alyck, is everything ok?” Flreu wasted no time in asking.
In short words AJ summed up what had happened. He felt the others eyes on him but ignored them for the moment. When he was done, Flreu sighed. “You’re right, of course, to bring them here. We will have chambers ready. Would you like me to see if Tripha would mind coming for you?”
“That would help, Grandfather. Tell him that we’ll be in the area he dropped us off in. On foot we should get there about the time that he does.”
“Just a moment.” Flreu’s face disappeared for a moment or so before returning. “He and Alfeera will arrive there shortly. They are already being fitted with the saddles and then they will head out. May the winds favor your return, son of my daughter, honored grandson, trulion. You and your heart song.”
“May they favor our return that we might soon be home again.”
Smiling, AJ released the water and climbed to his feet. He looked down at himself and sighed. It would be wonderful to get back out of human clothes and into clothes that had become infinitely more comfortable. A corner of his mouth quirked. Becoming an elf seemed to have cemented some of his preferences as well. It hadn’t used to be so hard to fit in among the humans. He had actually felt like one of them. Now, he didn’t.
Still, he may need to fit in at the moment, but it was going to be dark, and most likely anyone who went past they would be trying to hide from anyways. Suddenly cheered by that thought, AJ pulled off his shoes and socks and stuck them into his own backpack. His toes wiggled in the soil. Much better.
“Ok guys.” He turned around and flashed them all a wide smile, choosing to ignore Kevin’s scowl. “Let’s set to jet!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They walked mostly in silence. Howie took up the rear guard, covering Nick and Kevin from behind. AJ and Brian took the front, the two strongest and most able to deal with a head on attack. They played nothing on chance. Until they got Kevin and Nick to their home, nothing was safe. To keep up their guard, no one spoke. But AJ and Brian carried on their own private discussion. Neither mentioned what had happened earlier underneath the shade of the tree. They had got that out of their systems when they’d talked before.
‘So how do you think they’ll do when we get them home?’ Brian teased lightly while his eyes scanned the darkness. ‘I bet Nick will be flittering around talking to everyone and asking a million and one questions, annoying everyone to death.’
‘Ah, elves love the attention. They all love humans, even if some of them would never live side by side in the world with them. Answering question will make them feel important. What about your cousin? He going to be able to handle it all you think?’
Even in the darkness AJ could see Brian’s shrug. ‘Right now I don’t care too much. But, I think he’ll end up ok. So long as he remembers what we tell him, and treats everyone with the proper respect.’
‘I’m um…worried about something.’ AJ’s mind voice was hesitant. He scanned the area, feeling Brian’s eyes dart to stare at him for a minute. After pondering his words, AJ picked up the conversation again. ‘I don’t like all the bowing and scraping that others do, and I definitely don’t want these two to do it. They’ll have leeway too because Kevin is family, and by their relationship Nick will be considered family too. But, well…’
‘Spit it out, Alex. I’ve never seen you half form your own thoughts so badly!’
AJ snorted and flicked his gaze to Brian. ‘Shut up, butthead. It’s just that they’ll be expected to treat you and me a certain way. The trulion and his baka have high ranks. Higher than anyone in the magical world. If others sense that there’s not at least a small amount of what they’d call ‘proper respect’ they might get a little nasty with them.’ To AJ it sounded horribly conceited, which was the last thing he wanted to come off as. But it was the truth. The elves, dragons, all of them would expect that Kevin and Nick show a certain respect. Like he’d said, they’d be given leeway as family members, but only so much.
To his surprise and pleasure, Brian didn’t even seem to think there was conceit in what AJ said. He pondered it for a little bit before he spoke up. ‘I can see what you mean. Like we are with Grandfather. Respectful yet familiar. When we’re flying, or before Tripha and Alfeera arrive, we’ll have to instruct them on how to be. Or, Howie might. I agree, the bowing and shit can be annoying, and I never want them to have to bow down to us. But they’ll need to watch how they speak and the way they treat you.’ Unspoken in that was Brian’s anger at the way Kevin was currently treating AJ.
Briefly AJ let his tattooed hand brush against Brian’s, the magic pulsing under their skin as the tattooed thorns touched for that split second. It was a reassuring gesture. Soothing.
Around them the evening had gone dark and silent. The only sounds they heard were the sound of nature. They walked on and on, moving off into the forests in an attempt to skirt around the edges of town. But after twenty minutes of walking, AJ realized that this wasn’t going to work.
Despite being physically fit, Nick and Kevin just walked at a slower pace than AJ was accustomed to. He hadn’t calculated how long it would take to walk at this pace before they reached their destination; he’d calculated at his own pace. Foolish. But if they wanted to be on time for Tripha and Alfeera’s arrival, they were going to need to do something.
A grin stretched over AJ’s face while humor danced in his eyes. He broke ranks, practically dancing back to where Nick stood. Without a word AJ reached into Nick’s bag for the blankets that he knew were in there. Once he had them free, he tossed one to Howie, who had caught on to AJ’s idea and was grinning.
“Ok, guys, new mode of transportation. I forgot what mortal speed is like, stupid me, so we need to do something ot pick up the pace. I thought, hey, why not have fun while we’re at it, right?” AJ spoke quietly, but his voice had the ring of laughter to it. At the same time both he and Howie shook the long, dark green blankets out, laying them on the forest floor.
Brian was starting to smile. He too had finally caught on to what AJ had planned. “Are you kidding me, Alex?”
“Nope. Let’s divvy up. Pick a blanket, everyone!”
On the blanket AJ had laid out, Brian naturally went and sat down. Kevin, of course, took Howie’s blanket. After looking at Brian, he sat down as well. AJ skipped forward, sitting at the front of the blanket. “You’re with us, Nick.” He called back.
Kevin made to protest, but it was Howie who shushed him. “AJ’s stronger than I am by quite a bit. Let him take the heavier blanket.” He teased.
Everyone finally got settled on top the blankets. With grins for one another, Howie and AJ let their magic loose, using air to lift the blankets into the air. Laughter echoed through the woods as the two set off. They darted between and around trees, quickly turning it into a race. Realizing that they were going to be extremely early, and seeing how much Nick and Kevin were both enjoying this, AJ made a split second decision. ‘Shield us from eyes, would you baby? I want to at least give the guys a tiny bit of fun. Just for a minute, I promise.’
Brian cast the shield over them. One it was in place, AJ lifted his blanket higher and higher. He used more air to hold them all in place so that he could spin in a loop. Nick’s laughter echoed around at them, soon followed by Kevin’s as he was taken on the same swirl.
All too soon they landed in the area that Tripha had dropped them off at. Their small party settled down, still chuckling even as they sat there and the magic was pulled away.
“Oh God, that was fun.” Nick snickered, leaning back on his arms and staring up at the stars.
Humor was on Howie’s face as well, and lit his voice. “Hell yeah. We haven’t done that in…God, how long has it been?”
With a sigh AJ climbed to his feet and stretched out his body. “Uh, that would have been in the Sahara, right? Back in, um, 430 something or other, right?” He looked down at the ground, then back up at Howie. “Yeah, 432. That was when we had our race across it. I won.”
“Psh, only cause you flung that sandstorm at me. Cheater.”
“Bullshit! I didn’t throw it at you!” AJ indignantly put his hands on his hips. “We were going fast and the air I was using just blew it back, that’s all.”
“Whatever floats your boat, Alyck. I know better.”
It was Nick who interrupted them. He looked from one to the other before saying “What did you mean, 430 something?” All eyes looked down at him. AJ was surprised to see honest confusion on Nick’s face. As gently as possible he explained “432 AD, Nick. That was the year when Howi and I did the race. 432 AD.”
That set Nick back. He fell silent, his face thoughtful. AJ watched him for a minute before shrugging. They would just have to adjust to everything in their own way. He didn’t have the time to walk them through everything and hold their hands. There was too much that still needed to be done. There was one conversation that they still had to have. But, first things first.
Tossing his backpack down on the ground, AJ squatted and rifled inside it a bit before finding what he wanted. With a triumphant cry he pulled out his prize and tossed it over the nearest tree branch. Then, without any sense of shame or modesty, he started to strip. Howie just lay back on the grass to watch the stars. Brian let his eyes drift over his lover’s body in appreciation. Nick flushed slightly, not at the nudity, but at the way that AJ looked while he was changing. His eyes were starting to glow a little underneath Brian’s heated gaze.
Kevin grew annoyed. “Do you two mind?” he asked them, trying to keep his temper in check. It had mellowed only slightly since their incident earlier in the day. But it embarrassed him to see AJ standing there wearing nothing, holding his breeches in his hands but not putting them on. Instead AJ and Brian had been staring at one another with their lips curving.
“What?” Brian asked, turning to look at Kevin.
Distracted from the look in Brian’s eyes, AJ gave a heavy sigh and pulled his breeches on, lacing up the front of them. Next he pulled on the soft leather jerkin the same color as the moss on the trees.
“The way you two were looking at each other, right here in front of us. No offense, Bri, but I’m your cousin. I don’t need to see that kind of…yeah.” Kevin was explaining.
It amused AJ to see the honest confusion on Brian’s face, and to feel it in their bond. He decided to have mercy on Brian. ‘Honey, you’re becoming enough elf, and have spent enough time there, that you’ve forgotten human modesty. As your cousin, Kevin doesn’t want to see us look so sexually at one another. He’s embarrassed that your look turned me on, and that he could see the start of that. Remember what it was like just a year ago when you would get flustered if I slapped your ass around anyone else? That’s what he’s feeling.’
The light dawned on Brian’s face. Unable to help himself he started to laugh. “Oh, Kev! Oh man. We better give you guys a heads up on what life is going to be like staying with the elves. They’re a lot more open than what you’re used to.”
Absently Brian took the clothes that AJ offered him, sending a mental thanks. While he changed, AJ took a seat on the grass between the two blankets. He spread his legs out in front of him, crossing his ankles, and braced his body back on his hands. All he felt was relief at being able to dress the way he wanted to again. He didn’t realize the way he looked put them all in mind of exactly what he was; an elf.
Once he was dressed, Brian grabbed a hairbrush from the bag and moved to sit behind AJ. There he set to brushing his hair. AJ growled softly at the pleasure before focusing his eyes on his friends. “Ok, so…life with the elves. Where do we begin?”