#kolt

Kolt looked out the windows as they drove, excitedly.

Kolt looked out the windows as they drove, excitedly.

As the town came into view he opened the door leaning out of it.

“Hey, you crazy bastard, close the damn door!” Heisenberg almost swerved as the air hit him.

Kolt seemed not to hear, heartbeat hammering around in his chest.

“He’s just excited to see his friend.” Juniper smiled, touching Heisenberg’s arm.

He snorted, focusing on the road.

As soon as they parked, Kolt’s feet hit the ground. He started heading off until the sound his his mother’s clearing throat stopped him in his tracks. He turned, looking like a wounded puppy.

“Not going to help us settle in?” Juniper asked, tilting her head.

“I called Luca at the last town…told him I was going to meet him soon.” Kolt admitted sheepishly.

Juniper smiled knowingly, padding over. She placed her hand on her son’s cheek, “Be careful ok?”

“Always Ma.” He nodded.

She saw how eager he was to go, giggling, “Well go then!”

Kolt nodded again, scampering off.

~

His feet knew the ways to Luca’s apartment easily. He knocked on the door, tapping his boot a bit.

Luca opened the door with a smile. He made a sound as Kolt practically jumped into his arms, getting hugged.

“I missed you!” Kolt beamed.

Luca chuckled at the comment but Kolt didn’t notice, taking the younger’s coat to hang on a hook near the door. Kolt pulled away, fishing in his pants pocket.

“I made you something.” Kolt explained awkwardly.

Luca watched him curiously but the second his eyes caught what Kolt had, his face fell.

Kolt held a little metal ring, simple but clearly made by his own hands. He looked down as he spoke, “Iv been thinking about you a lot and well…I thought…” he began to hold out the ring for Luca.

“I…I can’t accept this.” Luca stepped back.

Kolt faltered, looking up.

“Kolt..I don’t know what you think we are, but it’s not…it’s…” Luca searched for the words.

Kolt tensed up, drawing in on himself worriedly. Luca saw the look of fear flash over the other’s features.

“Hey, hey, hey.” Luca took Kolt’s face.

Kolt desperately wanted to just melt into his touch, reaching up to gently grab the other’s wrists to keep the contact.

His pale eye flicked up, meeting the blue ones. Luca’s eyes were oddly apprehensive, a look Kolt wasn’t accustomed to on his face.

“Listen kid…I’m not a good guy.” Luca swallowed, looking over all the younger’s features, “Don’t feel this shit for me. You’re…your a good kid, sweet as hell…don’t go down this road with me.”

Kolt felt a sharp pain rip through his chest, stuttering out, “L-Luca I love you!” His eyes stung as he kept the others hands on his face, squeezing hard.

Luca’s lips were a thin line, squaring his jaw, “No you don’t. I made you feel good and got you acting stupid.”

His voice was like one you would use when chastising a child, every word made Kolt feel smaller and stung all the worse.

“We were just having some fun. That’s all this was.” His voice was firm and almost scolding, leaving no room for doubt, “You were a cute little thing that I had fun with.”

Kolt swallowed, throat feeling like nails. He let go of the other, Luca instantly pulling away. Kolt shook like a leaf, trying to process everything. He looked down at his hand, “I was just fun? A good time to you?” His voice was small.

“Exactly, it’s nothing personal.” Luca shrugged, “I don’t do domestic bullshit. We make each other feel good then we move on.”

“…but..”

“No, don’t do this.” Luca pressed. He walked away a bit, leaving Kolt to look down at himself.

He felt ashamed, face hot and stomach sick.

“Go home kid.” Luca held out Kolt’s coat to him.

Kolt took it with shaking hands, not able to meet the other’s face.

He robotically put on the coat, finding the door then the street. Everything felt sped up and wrong. He didn’t go home, instead stumbling into the pine forest. He wanted to be alone, to dig a grave into the ground for himself.

He felt so stupid and naive. Once he was in the darkness of the pines he broke down, hot tears running down his face. He threw the ring away, getting lost in the underbrush.

Something deep inside him pulsed as sobs wracked his chest.

~

“Kolt isn’t back yet?” Heisenberg asked from his chair.

“No.” Juniper shook her head, stirring a pot over the stove, “He was meeting his friend today remember?”

“I don’t think they are friends…”

“That’s what he said.”

“Love, ‘friends’ don’t usually give each other hickies.”

“The fun ones do!” She snickered, making Heisenberg roll his eyes.

As the night went on Juniper’s heart began to twist with worry. They’d heard nothing from their son. It didn’t help that the air itself felt volatile, a storm rolling in.

Juniper stood in the doorway, watching the dark pine branches dance in the wind. Heisenberg came up behind her, pulling her curls away to kiss her neck softly.

“I’m worried about him.” She finally spoke, crossing her arms tightly.

“He’s a man now.” Heisenberg reminded her.

“But this is so unlike him…he always lets us know if he’s not coming back home.” She frowned, adding, “I don’t mind if he stays out..you know that!”

Giving a big sigh, Heisenberg shrugged, “He might be busy.”

Just as Juniper almost gave up her watch something deep in the forest cried out. Heisenberg straightened, listening.

The sound was both inhuman and eerily familiar, a distorted mesh of a wail.

Juniper met his gaze, her green eyes pooling with concern. Heisenberg squared his jaw, his own worry spiking.

“I’ll go look for him.” He concluding, going for his coat.

“I’ll come with you!”

“No, love.” He was firm, “Stay here in case he comes back..”

She nodded, bringing him his boots. Heisenberg deftly put them on, going back to the door.

“Stay safe.” Juniper worried her hands into her night skirt.

“Always.” He tipped his hat, “I’ll find him.”

~

Heisenberg walked between the pines, their needles a choir over him. The iron coil in his guts tightened further the deeper he went, the sound he’d heard earlier echoed through the forest once more.

It was unmistakably Kolt, but his voice was different and monstrous. All the carefulness and concern Heisenberg carried for years felt so heavy on his shoulders now, he knew it was the sound of Kolt mutating.

The fear of them being discovered was coupled with the concern that his only son was hurt. The thought of his child in pain on the forest floor gnawed at his brain as his veins pumped with adrenaline.

He started running towards the sound. The loud ripping of wood caught his ears the closer he got.

He turned the corner to see Kolt standing in a small clearing, crying up into the sky. Almost thankfully the storm above them broke, the sound drowning out his inhuman sounds from the nearby town.

Kolt’s arm was outstretched, the tendons and sinew stretching out around wood, glass and metal; turning his arm into a twisted weaponized mass. He cried into the sky, rain streaming down his face and slicking his hair to his skull. His eyes glowed green, muscles writhing under his skin.

Heisenberg’s swallowed, blinking water from his eyes. “Kolt!” He bellowed over the rain.

Kolt jerked as if shot, the mass that was his arms lifted a bit. Veins connected him to the ground as it pulsed heavily. The glass glittered in the low light. The wood twisted deeper into the muscle as he tried to take a shaking step forward.

Heisenberg didn’t know how many moments passed, each one feeling like century. As the rain started to let up after a lull in the storm the wood pulled away from Kolt’s arm.

With every step he looked more himself, more human. The extra muscle and veins retreated back with blood dripping down into the mud.

Kolt crumbled to his knees, face hidden behind his tangled hair. Heisenberg rushed forward kneeling down. He reached out a hand. In a quick movement Kolt surged into him, knocking the air from his lungs.

Heisenberg was taken back for a moment, unsure of his son’s intentions in this state. Until Kolt began to cling onto him, his knuckles bleeding. Heisenberg wrapped his arms around the other’s smaller frame. He felt Kolt’s form shutter as he began to sob. The glass and metal worked their way out of his skin, leaving weeping holes behind.

Heisenberg squeezed tighter, concern thick in his mind.

Kolt’s fingers clawed at Heisenberg’s back as he tried to deepen the contact, wanting the comfort he felt as a child. Needing it.

“I’m here pup.” Heisenberg soothed, lips a thin line as his ear’s filled with the heavy sound of his son’s crying. He hadn’t seen Kolt in such a state since he was a small boy.

“P-Pa…I was so s-stupid.” Kolt finally spoke.

“What happened?” Heisenberg asked, wanting to alleviate whatever plagued him.

“He never cared about me.” Kolt hiccuped, “I was so fucking stupid…”

Ah, it was heartbreak…

Heisenberg thought. He flashed his teeth, a surge of protectiveness coursing through him, “Where is the fucker? I’ll turn him into paste!”

“No!” Kolt objected, wiping tears on his father’s coat as he tried to find his breathing, “It wasn’t his fault.”

Heisenberg stilled to listen.

“I thought…I thought there was shit where there wasn’t.” Kolt swallowed, pulling away a bit, “I was stupid and naive…started caring like a dumb little kid…”

Heisenberg took his son’s face in his hands; his jaw was strong and his wet eyes a mirror of color and shape. Kolt deflated a bit in the hold.

“Kolt…you are a dumb kid.” Heisenberg began.

Kolt instantly grimaced at the words, feeling belittled.

“Let me finish!” Heisenberg barked, waiting until Kolt settled down and looked back at him, “You’re a dumb kid…right now. You’re gonna fuck up, you’re gonna care about the wrong people. You got a big fuckin’ heart.” Heisenberg tone was serious, “It’s all apart of life, but you gotta keep going forward. You hear me?”

Kolt gave a tiny nod.

“Keep standing and going forward.” Heisenberg pressed, “You got the power of a god at your fingertips.”

Kolt nodded again, taking a breath.

“Come on.” Heisenberg pulled him up to standing with him, “You got your Mama all worried.”

“…sorry.” Kolt spoke in almost a whisper, wiping his nose on his tattered coat sleeve.

Heisenberg gave him a long look before speaking, “Don’t be…It happens.” He looked him up and down, “Let’s get you cleaned up first, you’re a fucking mess.”

“Inside and out.” Kolt chuckled weakly as they began to walk.

“Well the hose will only help with the outside.” Heisenberg laughed, seeing a smile shadow Kolt’s lips.

“Maybe some potato soup will help the inside?” Heisenberg ventured.

“…maybe.” Kolt smiled more honestly.

“Well, only one way to find out.” Heisenberg led the way.

~

Kolt ate in silence, bent over the kitchen table. After he was finished he put the bowl in the sink before quietly going to his room. Juniper and Heisenberg shared a long look after the door closed.

Kolt shed his ruined coat, rubbing some of the tenter spots where the wounds had formed new flesh over his arm. He kicked his boots off, removing some of his earrings before falling into bed. He buried his face into his pillow, willing himself not to cry anymore.

He felt incredibly empty, heart still aching and raw. He wanted to claw into his chest, dig out all the feeling he still harbored for Luca.

He felt stupid, used, the other man had devoured him inside and out then spat him away like he was nothing. Kolt took a shaking breath, mind poisonous.

That’s when he heard a light knock on the door. He raised up a bit, “Yea?”

Juniper cracked open the door, “Hey honey…” her voice was soft and kind, thick with worry.

“Oh…hey Ma.” Kolt lay back down, looking emptily forward.

Juniper stood for a moment, before closing the distance and sitting on the edge of the bed. The mattress creaked as she settled.

She reached out a hand, finger’s brushing through his Raven curls. It was a loving gesture, something she’d done since he was a baby.

He didn’t shrug her away, instead closing his eyes and trying to focus on her touch. A silent gentleness radiated from her, she loved him immensely, there was no question.

“Papa told me what happened…” she finally spoke.

Kolt gave a tiny rumble, not opening his eyes.

“Are you alright?”

He looked at her then, pale eyes heavy and deadpan.

She gave a weak chuckle, “I guess not.”

His gaze shifted away, looking at the ceiling.

“The other boy…he broke up with you?” She ventured.

“We were never dating, so no.” Kolt shook his head, “I was the only one that had any feelings….”

“Oh…” she said knowingly, hand pausing.

Kolt swallowed thickly.

“Well, I know this will mean shit now.” Juniper spoke, “But relationship are hard and fast when you are young. It’ll be ok. There is so many kind people out there.” Her hand drifted down to cup his cheek softly, “People that will be able to appreciate you for the wonderful person you are.”

He looked at her for a long moment, exhaling, “…thanks Ma…”

She removed her hand, setting them neatly back into her lap. She looked down worrying her hands a bit, a stress response he shared. That and boot tapping.

“I’ll be fine.” He tried to reassure her, but his voice was far from convincing.

She looked up, a deep concern pooled in her unnatural green eyes.

Kolt reached out, grabbing one of her hands. He gave it a little squeeze, “Ma…I’ll be fine.” He insisted.

She nodded, standing. “If you need anything, just ask.”