#ramus writes

There shouldn’t be a cat in the building, let alone in Arin’s office with the door shut and Arin nowhere to be found. And with said door being the only way in and out of the room besides the vent, it didn’t add up. But here it is, splayed out on the couch without a care.

The only explanation was the least possible, but there’s only one way to find out.

Dan flicks on the light, and the feline only twitches a bit, meowing softly. It’s a rich brown all throughout, except for a light streak running from its head to the tip of its tail. He gets in closer, ready to run if the cat wakes, and sees the faint line of a scar on its upper lip.

That settles it.

Hesitantly, he reaches up, resting his hand on the cat’s head. The cat’s eyes blink open, deep brown with flecks of gold, focusing on Dan with a soft meow.

“Uh.. hey, Arin… assuming that’s you.. and I’m not losing my mind..”

The cat continues to watch him, but gives a little nod under his hand. He nudges up into the touch, silently requesting scratches, which Dan obliges him.

“Do you always turn into a giant fucking cat when you’re here late?”

A nod.

“Why? What happened to cause it.”

A gentle glare and a mewl.

“Oh, yeah, you probably can’t answer that right.. Yes and no questions it is, then… Did you just want to get comfortable?”

A nod.

“… Are you naked right now?”

A glare and a nod.

“Is me petting you like this weird?”

His head shakes.

“Oh, good… uh, can I sit up there with you?”

Rather than shake his head yes or no, Arin simply sits up, stretching his back as he frees a cushion for Dan. The older man sits down and leans back, only for Arin to sit right in his lap. He groans. “Shit, you’re heavy..”

Arin doesn’t seem to care, twisting and laying against his chest and starting to purr, only getting louder when Dan resumes scratching his neck.

“Hey, Arin?”

He looks up at him.

“You can change back, right?”

If he had eyebrows to raise, he would.

“Like, you’re not stuck?”

Now understanding, he shakes his head.

“Is it a were thing, or just at will?”

A glare again.

“Shit, sorry. Will you tell me later?”

A nod.

“… Can we sleep for awhile? It’s still early..”

Arin can't remember what they'd even started fighting about. Something stupid, in hindsight, but the specifics escape him. The last things he remembers are Dan screaming at him in time with a crack of lightning outside, and then anger overwhelming him. Arin had yelled back, tears running down his face, and then the insults started. Fueled by whatever the fuck had caused the tension between them, Dan hurled stinging insults at the younger man, each one like a needle through his heart as a humid heat permeates the house.

Arin can only take so much before turning away from the man he loves (loved?) and leaving the house. Dan follows him down the street, yelling apologies, acknowledging that he went too far (no shit). Arin doesn't listen to him, and his emotions override his brain. All he wants is to get away from Dan, and he runs across a crosswalk to do just that.

He doesn't see the pickup slam its brakes a second too late, only feels the sharp crunch of bones shattering in his side, the harsh sting of asphalt tearing his arm and cheek up. His head bounces off the pavement, and the world goes black.

A few minutes later, he comes to, but it's like being in a fishbowl. His vision is blurred, his hearing is as though through a seashell. But he can make out Dan above him, and for a second, his vision clears. He sees the worry etched in Dan's features, the way he pleads with him to hold on, the ambulance will be here soon, please Arin, just focus on me. He reaches up slowly, giving a weak caress of Dan's scratchy cheek, before his arm drops heavily to the pavement. Lightning radiates out in the clouds gathering above them, rumbling out like a thousand drums in the desert. He can't feel the pain anymore, and his body may as well have faded away.

Vaguely, he's aware of Dan screaming his name, of cold rain splashing against his face. Strangely, the first thought that comes to his addled mind is that the weather didn't call for rain for a week.

He feels like he's flying, and it sounds like Dan's getting further away, even though he can picture in his mind's eye that the older man is becoming more frantic, sobbing Arin's name as paramedics load him into the gurney. He can't feel it, how strange. It must not really be happening... 

Arin chose to go down, into the soft light of peace and the arms of death.

The steady drone of the heart monitor snaps Dan from his brief nap, hand clutched around Arin’s. Tears come to his eyes as he realizes that his love has finally moved on, free from this plane of existence. As a nurse comes to verify, leaves for someone who can officially deem him dead, he finds the tears dry up too soon, far too soon for the pain that aches harder with every beat of his heart that Arin is not there for. 

The funeral is nice. Arin had asked to be placed in one of those biodegradable coffins, the egg shaped ones with a tree sapling planted above, so that he could give back to the world. It seems there is no shortage of tears and beautiful words at the event, and yet, Dan’s eyes remain dry, even as his voice wavers, talking about their time as friends, as more. Even recalling how cruel his last words to him were cannot squeeze a tear from his eye, nor does helping to lower the pod into a hole dug in their backyard, along with Barry and Brian. 

The mourners disperse late, having been talking and sharing all the happiness Arin had brought into their lives. Dan was glad for it, a bright break from the solemnity and depression. Arin would have wanted it that way.

Laying in the grass, next to the fresh dirt and new sapling, he can almost feel Arin laying next to him, breathing softly in the chilled night air.

Dan smiles, looking at the diluted night sky above. “I miss you, Arin.”

I miss you too, Dan, he can hear Arin saying next to him. Being dead is lonely.

“Yeah? I wouldn’t know.”

Arin snorts next to him. That’s good. I don’t want you to know for like, a hundred years.

"You expect me to live a hundred years without you, baby girl?”

No, but I’ll ask you to. Live for what I couldn’t, do what I’m not there to do anymore.

“You’re asking a lot of me.”

I’m not asking anything I don’t believe you can do.

“Arin?”

Yeah, Danny?

“I love you. Even... even when I said those things. I always loved you.”

I know Dan. I love you too.

“How do the stars look from up there?”

They’re beautiful. I’ll show you sometime.

“Not for a hundred years, though, right?” He cracks a smile.

Not for a hundred years.

“I don’t want you to go, Arin.”

Dan, you know I’m already gone.

It is the dawn sunlight that wakes Dan the next morning. He brushes the loose dirt from his shirt, still the same collared one he wore at the funeral. A small smile crosses his face, and as he pats the dirt around the young sapling, he finally begins to cry.

“Goodbye, Arin.”

Dan watches as the fusion whaps a pencil around the table, eyes blown wide like they’ve gotten into someone’s coke stash. The pencil gets too far, and they climb up on the table to chase it, only to be distracted by a shiny red wrapper. Impromptu toy now forgotten, they sit on the table, picking up the candy bar and looking it over.

It takes a moment to process the words, and then they look up and around. “Dan, Dan, Dan. Dan.”

The taller man comes over, eyebrow raised. “What is it?”

They hold out the bar, looking serious. “Me.”

“You… you want this Kit-Kat?”

They shake their head, pointing at the wrapper again. “Me.”

Dan thinks about it, and the lightbulb might be dimmed by his crazy hair, but it goes off somewhere in that jungle. “Oh… you want this to be your name?”

A vigorous nod.

“You want to be called Kit-Kat?”

Now they shake their head. “Kit. Kit. Me.”

“I get it. You’re a cat, called Kit.”

They smile, dropping the candy bar now that its purpose is served. “Kit!”

“Alright, Kit it is then.” Dan can’t help but match Kit’s goofy grin.

Brian looks up at them, turning back to his Google search on getting the fusion apart. He speaks under his breath, not wanting to upset either of them. “Don’t name them… you’ll get attached…”

“I read somewhere that it was supposed to help.”

Dan smiles sheepishly at Brian, who is, in turn, passing him a disappointed frown.

Kit was laying on his stomach on the floor, pupils blown and chest basically vibrating with a constant purr.

Dan had given him cat nip, found tucked away for safe keeping in Arin’s office. Out of curiosity, he let Kit have his way with a small amount.

“You get to fix this, I’ll keep looking for an actual solution,” Brian sighs, pulling out his phone again to search for anything at all that would separate the two.

Dan giggles at the sight of Kit nuzzling into the carpet, walking over to examine the situation.

Kit rolls over and focuses on Dan, immediately breaking into a lazy, toothy grin. “Dan.”

“Hey, buddy. How are you doing?” Dan asks, leaning over Kit.

Kit reaches up and swats at some curls that had fallen in Dan’s face, not even registering that he had been asked a question.

Dan simply laughs again and pets Kit around his ears. The fusion’s arms suddenly relax, and he pushes up into Dan’s hand, purring louder than ever.

Dan feels his heart swell.

Oh no.

It’s the sound of speaking, or rather, rapping, that brings Dan to Arin’s office door, leaning on the frame. He’d set Kit up in here to watch videos, keep him distracted while he and Brian go about continuing to look for a solution to pull Arin and Ross apart. Headphones weren’t really an option with the fusion’s ears on top of their head instead of at the side, so the speakers were set on low. He could hear a few NSP songs going, and honestly found that to be cute, followed by the beginnings of Hero of Rhyme, and then—

Rapping.

He’s watching them now, bouncing with the beat and throwing lines one after the other just like Arin would. Dan would have thought the limited vocabulary they seemed to possess would have prevented this, but here they were, absolutely thrashing it. The song ends and the cat calms, finally noticing Dan.

If they didn’t have fur, the blush would be super bright, but it’s obvious enough from their body language. “Dan. Long?”

“No, I haven’t been here too long… but you did really good.” Dan’s proud of his fluency in Kit’s very simple speech patterns.

“Thanks…” They look down, rubbing a paw in the carpet. At some point they ditched Arin’s sweatshirt, leaving them in just Ross’ jeans. Their chest isn’t visibly toned, but there’s definitely muscle hiding under the fur. It’s got Dan a bit red himself, as strange as the thought of looking both at his coworker and his boyfriend in the same body is.

“Why’d you take your shirt off, Kit?”

“Warm.”

“Do you want to wear one of Arin’s tank tops instead? I brought some with me, I told him he’d fry in the sweatshirt…”

“Please.”

Dan smiles, heading to his desk to grab his bag. Kit pads after him, brushing their hand over Brian’s head on the way by and earning a bit of a smile from the older man. Dan passes them a teal tank, and they pull it on. It’s far baggier on them than it is on Arin, but they don’t seem to care, starting up a soft purr. “Dan smell.”

“You want me to smell it?” Okay, maybe not that fluent.

“No, no… smell, you.”

Brian rolls his eyes, pushing away the tail batting his face. “No, it smells like you. Probably cause it was in your bag.”

“Oh. That makes much more sense.”

Kit giggles, lightly poking Dan’s shoulder. “Tag! Seek!” Then they’re running off, bounding down the hall to hide. The taller man can’t stand for such injustice, chasing after them.

Brian sighs, continuing to read. “Dorks.”

Dan gets to the kitchen area and looks around. He’d seen Kit’s tail disappear around the corner, and he didn’t hear any footsteps running away, so he had to be here somewhere, right? Searching the obvious hiding spots reveals nothing, and he stands by the table to think on it.

It takes him longer than he’d like to admit that he’d completely forgotten Kit was mostly a cat and could likely squeeze into far more ingenious places. Plus, just because he couldn’t speak well didn’t mean the fusion wasn’t smart as dicks. It warrants rechecking everywhere he’d just been, and even some places he hadn’t thought of before. It’s not until he catches a glimpse of a tail in his periphery that he thinks to look up, looking right at a complete Cheshire Cat style grin as Kit watches him from the rafters above. Of course, they were a cat and could totally jump stupid high.

“Alright, get down here. Don’t need you falling off, fuzzball.” Dan shakes his head, pulling a stepladder over to help them down. They don’t seem to need it, though, simply jumping down with a solid thump. “Showoff.”

They grin at him, running over and pecking his cheek. “You hide!”

That fluttering starts up in his chest all over again, and Dan knows Brian’s gonna have him in hot water for this one….

For now, he could at least humor the fusion, giving a shaky grin and going to hide. And also hide his feelings.

Because he couldn’t be in love with Arin, and falling for Arin fused with Ross, especially not when they needed to come apart, so they could continue with their jobs.

This is a whole mess, and it’s not getting any better….

Kit stared at the screen, ears perking and twitching as the pronunciation of the word “hewwo” was played once more by Brian.

Kit’s tongue poked out just barely past his lips, giving him a playful look. He suddenly reached out for Brian’s phone, trying to take it and find something more interesting to watch.

Brian reeled back. “Not until you say it. Hewwo,” he urges, then facepalms at Kit’s blank, confused expression.

Later that day, Dan is sitting on the couch, reading a new novel he had picked up with Kit laid over in his lap, purring softly like the motor of a car.

Kit reaches out for Dan’s hand, and presses it to himself, begging for pets wordlessly.

Dan chuckles and runs his fingers through the soft fur, feeling his heart grow about four times its size like the Grinch. He feels like his ribs will give way at any second and Kit would be able to play with his heart which was currently, full of adoration.

Kit suddenly sits up and looks Dan in the eyes, holding onto his shoulders and shaking him, as if he didn’t already have his attention.

“What is it? Are you okay?” Dan asks, folding the corner of the page he left off on and closing the book for him to pick up later. He hesitantly places his hands on Kit’s waist, his fingers sinking into the plush fur poking out of his too large clothing. He exhales, letting his short-circuiting brain focus once again on Kit’s matter at hand. Or rather, paw.

“Hewwo.” Kit states, search Dan’s face for any reaction.

Dan is stunned for a second.

Oh fuck, that was cute.

Dan then begins to shake with laughter, much to Kit’s confusion. However, Kit loves the tingly, light sound of Dan’s laugh and continues.

“Hewwo. Hewwo?” Kit breaks into a grin, a low purr rising in the back of his throat as he spoke.

Brian rubs his face from the hall, walking away from the scene that he had just witnessed.

Brian walks up to Dan, who is watching Kit nap in a pile of blankets and pillows pulled from around the office. It’s almost the time they usually call it a day, but with Arin and Ross in their current state, that’s a bit hard to do. Dan looks at the older, grinning from ear to ear. “Look at ‘em, they’re adorable. Like a pillow dragon!”

Brian sighs. “I found the answer. For getting them apart.”

“Shit, really?” Dan smiles, although a bit of disappointment tinges his excitement. “What do we have to do?”

“Well, I’d texted Holly to let her know that Ross was in a bit of an issue, and I explained what had happened. She had me check back in the engineering room where we found them and turns out those glass shards were from a potion bottle, one of hers. Untested, unknown, and she’s betting Ross stole it to prank Arin and didn’t count on getting caught in the backsplash. I’m heading over to their place now to grab the antidote.” He looks at Dan, a serious look on his face. “Can you watch them while I do that?”

“Of course! I’m obviously the best people sitter ever. Plus, I doubt he’ll wake up, they’ve been out since I found that laser pointer.”

Brian nods, grabbing his keys. “Alright, okay. I’ll be back in twenty minutes. Don’t fuck anything up.”

With that, he’s gone, leaving Dan alone with Kit. He exhales, sitting in Brian’s chair and watching the cat sleep. “I’m definitely gonna miss you, dude, you’re kinda fun to have around… and you’re super adorable, and—shit, I miss Arin and all, but… you’re still kinda him…”

He doesn’t notice the fusion’s eyes open, too lost in his rambling thoughts. He doesn’t notice them get up, slinking over to nudge their head under his hand. “Dan?”

Dan jolts out of his contemplation, looking down at the hybrid and stroking their hair as they seem to want him to. “Sorry I woke you, Kit.”

“Miss?”

“Oh, you heard that… yeah, I’m gonna miss you.”

“Not leave.”

“Brian found a way to get you to come apart, bring Ross and Arin back…”

“No. Not leave. Kit stay. Kit here.”

Dan sighs, scratching their ears. “You gotta, buddy, I’m sorry.”

“No.” Kit pulls away from the scratches, a look akin to disgust crossing their features. “No. Kit stay. Kit stay always.”

“Kit, we need Arin and Ross—”

“No!” They stand up, fur poofed up and making them seem bigger than they really are. “Arin, Ross, me! Same! Kit!”

“Just rel—”

Kit bares his teeth and growls at Dan, pupils reduced to feral slits. “No!”

The taller man gets up, trying to pull Kit into a hug, but the cat just shoves him away. “Kit, please, I’m sorry—”

“Dan hate!” They’re crying, tears soaking into the soft fur around their eyes. They don’t just look angry, they look hurt. “Why?! Why Dan hate? Thought like!!”

“I-I do like you, Kit, I do!”

“No! Liar! Only like parts!” They scrub at their face, trying to stem the flow of tears.

“That’s not true!” Dan steps forwards again, only to be met with a clawed hand swiping at his face and dragging down his cheek, leaving angry red scratches behind. The shock of being hit has him stumbling back, clutching his face and staring at Kit with wide eyes.

The hybrid realizes what they’ve just done, eyes as wide as Dan’s, if not wider. There’s a difference in the two eyes now, more than the color, like…

Like two different people are staring at him from within.

“I-I’m so sorry…” The hybrid chokes the apology out, before turning and running from the room with their tail literally between their legs.

Dan stands in shock for a moment before grabbing his phone. He’s barely aware of the trickle of blood down his cheek, of the sound of a door slamming somewhere in the building. Could have been a closet door, or maybe the main door, who knows? He slowly dials a number, holding the phone to his ear.

“Hello? Dan? Don’t need to be so impatient, I got the antidote from Holly.” Brian seems tired, likely from dealing with a tall fluffy three-year-old and Kit all day.

“Doesn’t matter.”

“What do you mean, it doesn’t matter? Of course it matters. You know we need Arin and Ross apart.”

“They’re gone.”

The line is silent for too long. “What?”

“They’re gone…. I… I mentioned coming apart and they freaked out… Kit slapped me and scratched my face and they just fucking ran, Brian… I don’t know if they’re even still in the building…”

“Okay… okay.” Brian audibly takes a breath, pushing down his own feelings about this. “We can find him. I’m sure there aren’t many cat fusions running around the city.”

“I’m sorry, Bri, I shouldn’t have—”

“You had no way of knowing they’d react like that, so don’t beat yourself up. Start checking the office, he might still be there. I’ll drive around the area and see if I can’t find him out here.”

“What if… what if someone else finds them first, and they get sent to the pound or some lab or…” Dan trails off, starting to be overcome by his fear that he’s going to be the reason they never see Arin and Ross again, as Kit or apart.

“Don’t think like that, Danny. We’ll find them. And then we’ll get our boys back. Get looking, I’ll start looking too.”

“Okay.” Dan hangs up, staring at the floor for awhile before finally convincing himself to stand and start his search.

Searching the office yields no sign of the cat, and Dan hasn’t heard anything from Brian about finding him outside. Worst case scenarios of Kit being used as a sick science experiment flash through his mind, up until he hears soft crying as he passes by Arin’s office.

The one place he’d forgotten to check.

Pulling out his phone to text Brian takes only a second, and then he’s pushing the door open gently. Fabric ruffles around, and at first glance, no one is in there. Dan sighs, thinking he’s been tricked, until he sees two eyes shining at him from under the desk. Quietly, he pushes the door shut, sitting against it. “Hey, Kit… I see you there… come over here if you want, I promise not to do anything.”

A veritable eternity passes before the cat pulls himself out of the cramped hiding spot, laying across Dan’s lap as hiccups wrack their lean body.

Dan’s fingers curl in their soft fur, scratching gently along their shoulder. “I’m sorry I scared you. I didn’t mean to… but I do care about you… I just miss Arin and Ross… and I’m gonna miss you too, ‘cause we need them back…”

Kit sniffles, sitting up to hug Dan and bury their face in his shoulder. “Didn’… didn’t mean hurt… just… scared…”

“What are you scared of, little buddy?”

They shrug, shaking their head. “Scared… cause love you. Don’ wanna go…”

Dan smiles a bit, softly kissing their head. “I love you too, Kit, don’t get me wrong. But I love Arin and Ross too, they’re my best friends.”

“Kit… Kit best friend?”

“You’re my best friend too, Kit. Always.”

They smile at him, starting to purr as Dan scratches their back. “Kit come back?”

“What do you mean?”

“Kit… Kit need… break. But… come back? Later?” They look up at Dan, tilting their head ever so slightly.

“If Arin and Ross are up for it, absolutely. I’d love to have you back to visit.”

They seem satisfied with this and nod, tail lazily flicking through the air. A soft knock sounds from behind them, and Dan scoots the two of them away from the door. Brian comes in with a small green bottle in his hand, breathing a sigh of relief as he sees the two. Kit looks at the bottle, then at Brian and Dan.

“Kit ready.”

“You sure, buddy?” Dan is sad to see them go already, but he knows this needs to happen.

“Yeah.” They reach up to Brian, pulling him into a hug too. “Grumpy. But nice.”

Brian chuckles, kneeling by them and pulling the stopper from the bottle. “Holly said to just pour it on them, it’ll break them apart.”

Kit nods, giving a tiny wave to Dan, even though they haven’t moved from his lap. The concoction is poured into Kit’s hair, soaking in and smelling of fresh pie. They grin and move to hug Dan again, and he hugs back as a glow overtakes them.

Then, he’s hugging Arin, with Ross squished between them. Ross is still clothed the same as when they fused, but Arin’s shirtless now. Thank god he’s still wearing his shorts. Well, Brian and Ross are thanking God. Especially Ross, given his current position.

Arin looks up at Brian, a half-amused smile crossing his face. “’Hewwo?’ Seriously? You taught us to say ‘hewwo’?”

Ross snickers. “I wish he’d taught us more than that.”

Arin swats Ross’ shoulder, shoving him out of the hug so he can cuddle against Dan. “I can’t believe you tricked me like that, Ross. I should have known nibs don’t snap.”

The younger shrugs with a big grin on his face. “But you fell for it anyway! And you can’t tell me that wasn’t fun.”

“…Okay, maybe I can’t. But you’re still an asshole.”

“I accept that title.”

Brian rolls his eyes, guiding Ross out. “Your wife is pissed about you taking her potions for pranks, you might want to go deal with that before she hexes your dick off.”

Dan chuckles, turning back to face Arin, who has a sly grin. “So, you love Kit?”

The older man stammers, face going bright red, as the other just laughs and presses a gentle kiss to his lips. “You think I care? I was in that body with Ross, and he was in the whole loving thing too. Not a big deal.”

“You… you sure? I don’t want you to feel like I’d be cheating on you… with you… by telling him that.”

Arin rolls his eyes. “Platonic love is a thing, Avidan. A great thing.”

“Oh yeah. I forgot.”

“You’re an idiot.”

“Yeah, well, you love me anyway, Hanson. Now kiss me again, I’ve been missing your smooches all day.” Dan grins, puckering up exaggeratedly.

I wish the nice man would come by.

Ego brings flash cards over. He says they’re to try and recover part of my broken drive, and maybe to help me remember, though I don’t know what. He flips them all over, and then asks me to match them. These ones have foods on them.

I’m not sure what purpose these cards have, but Ego seems to be having fun, so I’ll play.

I saw a new face today. I think he looked like me. He asked very nicely for me to grab some parts. The nice man told me I shouldn’t grab these parts, but the other one asked nicely too. Maybe he’s the nice man’s friend. I would ask, but he’s so busy. I hand them over and ask what his favorite letter is, but he just leaves. I don’t have a favorite letter, I haven’t picked yet.

I’m very lonely, no one has come to visit me yet.

A18 came back today. I remember him being built, and then he left to go on an adventure. He even has a human name now, Arin. He smiles, asking me about what had happened so long ago. I don’t know what he’s talking about, and I tell him. His face falls, but he picks back up into a smile, and he walks away with the nice man.

I wish A18 would come home soon. It’s lonely being the oldest bot with no one to chirp to.

I see how they all look at me. Varying degrees of pity, from my limp to when I beep to them as speaking. No anger, no hate, just sadness, because they can’t fix me. I don’t know why. In fact, I barely know what happened to need to fix me. All I know is that I am truly alone here, watching them watch me fade into oblivion, as my body fails from the inside out and deletes me more and more.

Arin flips the older human off, munching on his tiny sandwich while Dan chuckles. “It’s only until the storm passes and his wing heals up.”

“Which it seems to be doing quickly. His wing, not the storm.”

Arin nods, fluttering the almost totally healed wing gently. “Being in a warmer environment helps with that.. just waiting on the storm.” He finishes the sandwich, experimentally hovering off of the counter. He grins when it doesn’t feel like his wing is being torn off, doing a few short laps around Dan and leaving a trail of pink sparkles.

Brian laughs. “Don’t be sprinkling your pixie dust everywhere, Dan doesn’t need to be flying.”

Arin darts over to him, hovering in front of his nose. “Oh, come on, I’m sure lanky over there would be just fine with a set of wings on him.”

“Not like you could do it. I can’t doubt fairies are real now, but I know magic isn’t.”

He scoffs. “Excuse you, sir, magic is absolutely real and I happen to be very skilled in transformation. I could turn you into a cat.”

“No you couldn’t.”

“Okay, maybe I can only make forest animals. But I could totally turn Dan into a fairy.”

“No, you–” He’s cut off by an excited squeal from Dan.

“You could!? That would be so fucking cool–as long as you could turn me back, I mean, we kinda have a job..”

Arin laughs and goes to stand on Dan’s shoulder. “Not right now I can’t. I have to be closer to the forest, and I’d probably just enchant a necklace or something, that’s way easier.”

“Can you do any magic away from the forest, or are you super connected?”

“I can do some magic. Like this.” He grins and jumps off of Dan’s shoulder, and with a thump, lands as a full size human. His wings are gone, but he’s still wearing his tunic and leggings. “See? Super cool.”

Dan squeals once again and tackles Arin in a hug, while Brian checks for whether his eardrums are bleeding. “You can be tall, that’s so cool!”

The fairy blushes at the contact, his glow intensifying just a hint. “Yeah, it’s useful for humans that don’t respect the woods, you know. A fairy can’t do shit besides turn them into trees, but another human can whoop their asses.”

Brian raises an eyebrow. “You can turn Dan into a tree, that’s fine.”

Dan pouts, and Arin snorts. “I was kidding about the tree thing. I’m the only fairy still here anyway.”

“Why’s that?” Dan looks at him, and he looks away.

“Humans. Deforesting, trampling, kidnapping… I’ve been alone for a few years..”

He looks so sad, pulling Arin closer. “I’m sorry, dude, I… if I’d known fairies were real, I’d have been right there helping keep you safe..”

Arin smiles, shrinking back to his normal size and fluttering to Dan’s shoulder. “It’s okay dude. In the past and all that. If I hadn’t met you, though, I’d have definitely died, so obviously not all humans are awful like that.”

Brian huffs. “Being connected to the forest must be hard when they come in to cut..”

“Like a stab in the heart every time.” He sighs, flying over to the window and looking out. “Oh, the storm is letting up.”

Dan smiles, almost remorsefully. “You probably want to be getting home, then, huh?”

Arin flies back, hovering in front of Dan. “Come with me, I wanna show you where I live.”

“You.. you want to show me your house?”

“Yeah, it’ll be fun!”

“Alright, I won’t say no to another nature walk. I’ll bring an umbrella you can fly underneath.”

Arin grins, and Brian just sets his head on the counter with a thunk.

The pink fairy leads Dan through the woods, along an overgrown path. He chirps and trills at the birds they pass by, even flying over to a deer to pat its head.

Suddenly, he stops, pointing at a thick redwood with a hole in the trunk. “There, that one’s mine!”

Dan grins and moves towards it, looking up at the tiny hole. Arin darts right in, disappearing into the trunk. After a few minutes, he pushes something out of the hole, and it lands right on Dan’s head. “Put that on!”

He turns the pendant over in his hand, a blue crystalline tulip, before sliding it on. It has a comforting warmth to it, and then he’s falling, falling, and the umbrella is falling towards him, and–

a pink blur shoots down, catching him before he hits the ground or is crushed by the umbrella.

Arin lands on the lip of the hole, holding Dan bridal style. “Probably should have told you to put that down, huh?”

“You think?” Dan can’t help a grin, as Arin sets him down on the inside. It’s a cozy little living room, complete with a tiny sofa, rug and coffee table. There’s a kitchen attached, with a small fireplace lined with rocks to keep from burning anything. Stairs spiral down from the side of the room, leading to presumably Arin’s bedroom. “Woah… this is so cool. How’d you do this?”

The pink fairy chuckles. “Free time. Lots of free time.” He smiles at him, and Dan smiles back. Now he can see the details in Arin’s wings, how they’re mostly opaque but catch the light to create a beautiful glow, the soft glitter of dust along the tips of his wings. It brings out a soft flutter in his heart, and weirdly, in his back.

“Oh!” Arin moves behind him, pulling his jacket off and pressing on his back. The pain is sharp despite the gentle touch, and he pulls his dagger out as Dan gasps with the sudden pain. “Hold still, okay?”

A few seconds later, the pain sharpens, but then relents, and it feels like stretching out after laying still. “Shit, what’d you do?”

Arin says nothing, pulling Dan over to a mirror made from a discarded compact. He gasps when he sees the soft blue wings, sharper and thinner than Arin’s, but wings all the same. “You.. you turned me into a fairy?”

“I wasn’t kidding, and you seemed pretty excited about it, so.. yeah.” He smiles, and Dan grins like an idiot, tackling him in another hug. “Holy shit, this is so cool! I gotta send a picture to Bri–oh hell, my phone is in the car!”

“I can go get it. Stay here, okay?” Arin grins, hopping back out of the little hole and darting off.

Dan smiles, going about exploring the tiny room.

Arin’s back ten minutes later, pushing the smartphone through the hole. It’s a tight fit, but he manages it without even scratching the screen. He looks around and spots Dan curled up on the couch, fast asleep. With a grin, he shakes the other’s shoulder, leaning down to ask the unlock code. Of course, Dan’s sleepy mind answers truthfully, and Arin pulls the phone over to take a picture of him. It takes a bit to figure it out, and the shutter sound about knocks him on his ass, but he manages.

Then comes sending the picture. He knows how, having used a flip phone way long ago, but this is almost a different beast, especially when he’s only a little bigger than the device. Ten minutes later he’s at least found Brian’s contact, and another five minutes pass to get the picture attached. Only a moment to draft a short message and send it off, then another ten to figure out how to silence the phone as he sets it in an empty corner.

It takes no time at all for him to pick Dan up and carry him downstairs to his room, set him on the bed, curl up with him, and fall asleep.

Brian’s phone goes off with a ding.

Looks like he got tired. I’ll bring him back safe in the morning. -Arin

The picture is unmistakably Dan with bright blue wings, and Brian groans. Now he was wrong and his band partner had a magic fairy friend that could probably turn him into a unicorn.

But mostly, he was wrong. Dan would never let him live that down, and if he’d made friends so quick, Arin never would either.

Dan is only here to confirm what he already knows, but he wants, no, needs to hold onto that sliver of hope, that Arin is okay, somehow.

“Mr. Avidan?”

A gentle voice snaps him from his thoughts, and he looks up at the doctor that’s entered. She was the same one who met the ambulance carrying Arin, an older woman who looked like she could easily command half of the staff in the hospital.

“I’m sorry, we did everything we could for Mr. Hanson…”

His head drops, and he feels that hope burn out in his heart.

“He’s alive, but in a coma. We.. can’t say for sure when he’ll wake up. There was severe bleeding in his brain from a vessel that popped on impact…”

Her explanation drowns out as Dan processes her words.

Arin’s alive.

He’s not gone. There’s still a chance he could wake up.

He’s not dead.

“Can I see him?”

The doctor nods. “He’s being set up in a room right now, but I think they’ll be done by the time we get there.” She smiles for him, and he returns the smile as best he can.

The walk to his room is short, but it feels like an eternity. The doctor opens the door to his room, a private one, and Dan feels his heart break all over again.

Arin lays there, just as lifeless as when Dan watched him be loaded into the ambulance. His hair has been cut–no, shaved, and a fresh scar runs from his temple to his ear. Bruises purple around his eye, and down his arm to a cast on his wrist. Who knows what other damage lay below the thin gown he wears now, but at least his face is peaceful, like he’s only asleep.

“How long will he be under..?” Dan slowly makes his way to the bed, closing his hand around Arin’s good one.

“There’s no telling. He could wake up tonight, or not for months. At the same time, he could never wake, or die just as easily. We just don’t know.”

Dan nods, settling into a chair by the bed. “Is there anything I can do?”

“We’ll be checking his brain activity every so often… you could read to him or just talk, to try and stimulate him. It could help him wake.”

He just nods. “Okay… thank you.”

The doctor leaves, and Dan sighs. “Arin… I don’t know if you can hear me, but… I’m so, so sorry for what I said, for what I did… I understand if you’ll never forgive me for it, but please… please wake up. I need you to wake up, even if you hate me forever. Arin, I need you. And I miss you, so much.”

Arin, I need you. And I miss you, so much.

He looks around in the featureless void he floats in. The voice comes from above him, from a soft blue light. Below, a yellow light beckons him, silently promising an end to pain, a comfort.

But the voice is so alluring, so familiar. If only he could place it…

The choice stands. Up, to the voice, to familiar and uncertain. Down, to painlessness and a certain end.

A third, a choice yet unseen, a faint light forward, to something totally unknown. It does not beckon with a voice nor a notion, but with simple curiosity.

He does not know, and listens to the darkness around him for direction.