#cofas

~

“So,” James said, settling down on the parapet. “What’s up? Or do you want me to guess?”

Aiden let out a huff of laughter, but his brief amusement vanished as quickly as it had arrived. In its wake, he took a breath and straightened up, the same way James always saw him doing whenever one of his parents came into view. Out of habit, James glanced around to make sure neither had suddenly noticed and decided to investigate Aiden’s absence before returning his attention to the prince.

“So, I’ve been thinking about some things,” Aiden started, his voice stilted and two wingbeats away from cracking and far too formal for James’s liking considering the circumstances, “and I—”

His voice broke, and Aiden’s feathers ruffled with poorly concealed agitation as he whirled away from James. “I—”

Another crack.

“Aid.” James reached out and brushed his fingers against flame-colored feathers.

The persona of the dutiful prince crumbled in an instant.

“I can’t.” The words left Aiden’s chest on a wheeze, his shoulders and wings rising to cover his face as he curled in on himself.

“Hey.” James moved in an instant, darting between white and orange feathers to catch Aiden as his legs gave out, making sure they both ended up on the ground with nothing worse than a mild bruise and ruffled feathers. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”

Aiden’s entire body shuddered with each gasping breath he took, his hands finding James’s shirt to clutch at him with a white-knuckled grip. “I don’t think I can do this,” he rasped.

“Do what?” James asked.

“I—It’s—” Aiden stumbled over his words for a few moments. “Ugh!” His head thudded against James’s shoulder, his feathers shaking with his agitation. James said nothing and just held him close, allowing him whatever time he needed to find the words that sometimes seemed to escape him.

After a few long minutes, Aiden finally managed to relax his death grip on James enough to sit back slightly, his feathers going mostly still. “That,” he said, his voice still thick.

James tilted his head. “What about it?”

Aiden huffed, refusing to meet James’s eye. “I can barely even talk to you about stuff and…” He paused, his breath hitching again.

James reached out to take his hand, rubbing his thumb over Aiden’s knuckles.

Aiden took a shuddery breath, then continued. “I can’t… talk to people.” His fingers wrapped around James’s, squeezing slightly. “And I know Mother—neither of them… like it. And I’ve been trying to do everything right but I can’t and now the meeting is tomorrow and I’m supposed to be formally introduced and I don’t think I can do it and—”

Aiden stopped abruptly, panting in the wake of his words.

“Aid.” James squeezed his hand back. “You do remember you don’t have to do anything for the introduction except sit there and look pretty, yeah?”

Aiden gave James his best unimpressed look, which wasn’t very compelling considering he was still trembling and sniffling. “I have to make a good impression,” he said, his voice not quite whining but close.

James scoffed. “Again, sit there and look pretty, and you’ll be fine. Can’t do worse than the Second Princess of Water.”

“Doubt it,” Aiden muttered.

“She nearly doused one of the People of Flame, almost started a fight between Earth and Flame, and stole at least 20 different feathers from the Sky,” James recounted. “And still the general consensus is that she’s just a little too free spirited and not necessarily a bad person or princess or whatever.”

Aiden remained silent, almost a little sulky as his cheeks flushed with color.

“Or you could always go the route of the Heir of Earth,” James continued. “She never left her father’s side last year.”

Aiden huffed, refusing to meet James’s eye. “But what if that’s not good enough?”

“Good enough for your father, or your mother?” James retorted.

Aiden didn’t vocally respond, but the way he curled in on himself, his free hand twisting in the hem of James’s shirt again, was answer enough for James.

“It’ll be good enough for your father,” James said softly, brushing Aiden’s hair out of his eyes. “And we both know nothing but Flame is good enough for your mother.”

“I am Flame,” Aiden bit out, but his voice shook too much to get much venom behind the words.

“And Sky.” James brushed a few errant feathers back into place. Aiden twitched his wings out of reach, and James didn’t chase them down. “So, sit there and look pretty should win over just about everybody of importance,” he said. “Seems like a win for me.”

But even as he said it, James knew Aiden would disagree. He had watched the Flame Princess (never the Queen of the Sky) spark and snap and scorch Aiden for daring to be too much Sky in her presence, and he had watched Aiden continue to chase after her attention and an affection that seemed to have died the day he gained his wings.

To James’s surprise though, Aiden didn’t vocally protest. His feathers rustled and he refused to meet James’s eye, but at the same time something like resignation flitted across his face.

“Plus,” James said, determined to lighten the mood at least somewhat, “if things somehow go terribly wrong, we can always run away and live the rest of our lives traveling the world.”

Aiden made a surprised little noise. “You cannot be serious,” he muttered.

“I absolutely am,” James said, giving Aiden his best innocent smile. “No matter what happens, I’ll be here for you. I promise.”

Aiden hiccupped and threw his arms around James, burying his face in James’s shoulder.

James hummed and pressed a kiss to his temple. “Come on,” he said softly. “It’s a big day tomorrow, and you need some sleep if you’re gonna do your best sitting pretty.”

Aiden let out a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and a sob, but he untangled himself from James to let him stand.

As James helped him to his feet, he whispered, “James, I—can—I don’t—”

When his words stumbled to a stop, James filled in the gaps. “Your room or mine?”

Aiden’s relief was palpable. “Yours, please.”

Alexis followed his finger, and saw a boy hiding in the shadow of the door. He was too far away for Alexis to make out many details, other than pale hair and white feathers that lingered even after he ducked behind the doorway.

Will finally let go of her. Alexis took a moment to brush her hair out of her eyes and stick her tongue out at her brother, who returned the gesture without hesitation. “Why are you guys being mean?” she asked.

“Cause you’re drawing attention to us watching him,” Will replied.

“Not that.” Alexis stuck her tongue out at him again. “Why are you being mean to him?”

Her brothers exchanged another of those silent conversation looks. “We’re not?” James said, though he sounded unsure of himself.

“Well you’re doing something if he’s hiding from you,” Alexis said.

“Nuh-uh,” Will argued.

Alexis huffed. “Yes you are.”

“Lexi,” James started, glancing over her shoulder at the courtyard door again.

Alexis turned around to see the boy peeking around the corner again. “I’m gonna go talk to him,” she decided, spreading her wings.

Both her brothers immediately began to protest, but Alexis jumped from the wall before either of them could grab her. She wobbled through the air a bit, still learning how to fly herself, but she managed to make it across the courtyard and land at the doorway without embarrassing herself in front of everybody watching. A glance over her shoulder saw James and Will still on top of the wall, back to silently talking.

Alexis huffed and turned her attention back to the boy hiding in the doorway. He had ducked further into the shadows when Alexis approached, but he hadn’t run. Instead, his wide blue eyes stared at her, feathers rustling like a bird who wasn’t yet sure if they needed to fly from danger.

“Hi!” Alexis chirped. “I’m Alexis! I don’t think we’ve met before!”

“Uh.” The boy’s voice was soft, almost inaudible as he glanced over his shoulder. “Cause I’m not supposed to be out here.”

Alexis tilted her head. “Huh? Why not?”

The boy kept looking between Alexis and the corridor behind him. He bit his lip, then quietly admitted, “Mother doesn’t want me talking to any of the Sky. But… she’s not here right now.”

“I can keep a secret,” Alexis promised, glad that neither of her brothers were nearby to lie about her secret keeping skills. “Where is your mother anyways, if she’s not here?”

“Home.” The boy’s voice had gotten even softer, and to Alexis’s dismay, she caught sight of tears making themselves known in his sky blue eyes. He hiccupped and whispered a quick, “Sorry.”

But when he tried to turn away, Alexis darted forward and wrapped him up in a hug. “Don’t cry,” she chirped. “C’mon, if she’s gonna leave you here by yourself then you shouldn’t have to listen to what she says. You can come play with me and my brothers! They’re kinda brats but they’re really nice—well, James is, Will’s really more of a brat than anything but James can make him play nice.”

The boy hiccupped again, but he hugged her back and nodded into her shoulder.

Alexis held on to him for a moment, then she started to pull him out of the shadow of the door, into the sunlight of the courtyard. “Come on,” she started, only to falter once she finally got a good look at him.

Hair that had appeared a pale blond in the darkness turned fiery gold in the light, and while Alexis had spotted the white feathers of his right wing immediately, she hadn’t noticed his left wing was covered in orange and yellow feathers that danced like flames.

The boy—the prince cringed away from her staring.

A breeze ruffled Alexis’s skirt, bringing with it the sound of one of her brothers landing behind her. “Alexis,” James said, uncharacteristically hesitant.

Alexis gripped the prince’s hand tightly. “This is James!” she chirped. “Will is—” she hesitated, looking around until she caught sight of Will’s dark hair standing out against the blue sky, “—over there, being rude as usual.”

“Alexis,” James hissed. The prince winced, pulling against Alexis’s hand like he was trying to flee back into the darkness.

“Since his mother isn’t here, we’re gonna play with him, okay?” Alexis stared defiantly at James, just daring him to tell her no.

James hesitated for a few moments, looking between Alexis, Will, and the prince, then he gave in with a sigh. “Do you want to join us?” he asked the prince.

“Um.” The prince glanced over his shoulder, back at the shadowed doorway. “O—okay.”

Space (Astral Part 2, Always My Kitten)

In the kitchen, Aiden stood at the counter, hunched in on himself. Without the need to keep silent, the sound of his ragged breathing filled the space. Smokey padded across the floor and leapt up onto the counter, purring as she wound around his wrists.

Aiden’s breath stuttered in what could almost pass as a laugh. “You know you’re not supposed to be up here.”

Smokey meowed in disdain of the so-called “rules” that forbid her from comforting her kitten.

Graze (Nova)

The lack of dirt highlighted the scrapes from their fight though, and Jay winced as he ran his fingers over what looked like a graze from a bullet wound on his stomach. He’d have to remember to get Basil’s help cleaning that when Basil was showered.

Race (Traitor Queen)

The pieces clicked then for Holli. “First race without her was rough, huh.”

Kairan scoffed. “What the hell do you think?” As he looked away, a flash of light from the bar illuminated the patch of road rash on his collar from earlier today.

Accurate (Stars)

I can’t help my soft little “Woah,” as I cross the room to what is obviously an observation railing. I’ve always wanted to reach the stars. And now it feels like I could stretch out my hand and touch them, feel stardust trickling through my fingers.

I know that’s not accurate. I know I would burn up long before I could actually touch a star. But it’s poetic, and it’s the type of thing Mamma would always say to me, laying in Nonno’s backyard and staring at the sky that seemed to go on forever.

Flat (Space Pirates)

For a moment, Caelan didn’t respond, their breathing surprisingly steady despite Reizora’s hold on them. “What do you want?” Their tone was flat.

“What?” Reizora hissed, pressing the knife harder against their throat. “What the hell does that mean?”

Caelan lifted their head, almost seeming to bare their throat to the knife. “You currently have the Imperial Heir at knifepoint,” they pointed out. “That gives you a lot of bargaining power. So, Captain, what do you want to do with that?”

“What makes you think I want something from you?” Reizora countered.