Patreon LogoYour support makes Blue Moon possible (Patreon)

Surviving in Shadows [Saria & CharlotteV]

Lucas winced at the reminder of just how accident prone and troublesome his brother could be. He dug out the burn cream and tossed it over. "Put that on. I'll rewrap them once I get the fire started." He shook out Max's roll as well and gathered the wood to get the fire started. Setting up camp was familiar, a series of steps he'd been doing so long he barely remembered not doing them. It was only natural to go from starting the fire to setting cans of beans and veggies near it to heat up, make sure they had enough water, get their rolls set up, and then settle next to Max to tend to his injuries.

He was starting to feel tired himself, but he didn't have the luxury of getting worn down. He could last a few more days. "Alright, pipsqueak... Give me your hands."
 
Max thought about offering to help but truth be told, he wasn't much use. His hands really did hurt and Lucas was faster than him anyway. So instead he focused on unwrapping his hands, wincing occasionally when the too sensitive skin stuck to the bandages in places.

The slashes didn't look as bad now, the burnt skin less violent. They'd hurt again when they'd scab over but he'd definitely been through worse. He worked on the cream diligently, finishing up about the time his brother joined him. "Asshole," he muttered in response to the name calling, but he held his hands out anyway. He couldn't wrap them himself.
 
"You're still too young to be talking like that, little brother," Lucas said with a mock glare. Where Max had even started picking up the language, he didn't know. It certainly hadn't been him. Nope. Even if he devolved into a cursing storm when he really got angry, that didn't happen often enough for Max to pick up the language, surely.

He looked Max's hands over with a soft sigh. "You keep this up, you're gonna lose a finger." He picked up the bandages and carefully wrapped Max's hands back up, wrapping each finger separately. He rubbed his fingertips along Max's palms once they were bandaged, wishing he could make them heal or at least leach away the pain. His fingers settled around Max's wrists, trying not to think about how easily he could lose his brother.

"Max..."
 
"At least I'm expanding my vocabulary," Max shot back. And, honestly, they had a lot more problems than the words he had started to use. Besides, they made him feel better for whatever reason. He didn't point that fact out, though. No need to go back on that line of conversation.

He frowned at his hands while he watched Lucas wrap them, occasionally bending a finger just to make sure the bandages weren't too tight. He was actually terrified of losing a limb, even something as simple as a finger, he hoped to hell that never happened. The way Lucas said his name drew his gaze back up.

The world was oddly still for a moment. So much had changed...so much had been added to the weight already on their shoulders in such little time. But some things remained the same, at least. The sun was setting, they were still together, they'd back up and leave again in the morning. Life was life.

Max licked his lips, swallowed thickly, and drew his gaze back to his hands. "We'll be alright," he muttered. Lucas always sounded so much more convincing when he was the one who said it, but...Max was trying.

Repeat something enough times and it'll eventually become true.
 
Lucas smiled faintly and squeezed Max's wrists. "We'll be fine," he agreed. He rubbed at Max's arms and stood. "Hungry? We have pinto beans and corn..." Not much, but it would fill them up enough to sleep. He found their spoons and hissed as he juggled the hot cans while he settled beside Max again. At least the cans were intact and didn't explode like some of them did.

Kithiel returned with a rabbit and dropped it at their feet. He'd found two others and already ate them for his own dinner. He moved to the outskirts of the camp as the sun sank and night started to settle, his fur glowing in the light of the nearly full moon. Shadows shifted beneath him as he made a full circle, weaving protective magic to keep animals and others from his realm at bay. If anyone or anything crossed the line, he'd know.

Rest easy, Kithiel said. I'll keep watch. Get some sleep.
 
"Beans for sure," Max answered, shifting to get a bit more comfortable. He'd been so drawn into Lucas for the last half hour or so that he hadn't actually noticed Kithiel take off, but he realized that the wolf had obviously gone hunting. And brought some back. Max liked rabbit. Wasn't as good as big game, but big game was also harder to find.

He watched the wolf for a moment, somehow realizing what he was doing. Kithiel's presence was both unnerving and comforting...Max still didn't particularly care for his company but...he was protective, at least of Lucas, which extended to Max by association. So...he believed in their safety.

That didn't mean he'd get any sleep, but of course that was another matter alltogether.

Max took a spoon from his brother, happily digging into the can of pinto beans. They weren't his favorite, but he really hated corn. Still, he'd try to be nice and share...
 
Lucas settled with the corn; it was one of his favorites anyway. He watched Kithiel when he returned, sighing at the thought of more work, but they did need protein. He took a few more bites of the corn before grabbing the rabbit to skin and gut it. Somehow he knew Kithiel had already eaten so he didn't bother offering the wolf any as he spitted it and set it to cooking.

Just a few more days... Just a few more days and maybe they'd be able to eat a real meal on plates and sleep in a bed that didn't smell old and unused. Maybe they'd be able to stop worrying about trackers or people trying to kill them.

"Are they still after us?"

I made a false trail when we stopped earlier. We should be fine for the night.

That was something at least.
 
Max ate through his can of beans quietly, for the most part. The extra notion of safety calmed him down some more, and after he finished eating he fell back easily onto the soft grass, staring up at what stars he could see through the sparse trees.

"What do you think it feels like to be...normal?" he asked.

It wasn't something he'd ever really let himself think about for very long. Normal was a subjective term. Magic had claimed the world long before either he or Lucas was born, so there was the kind of normal talked about in history books and the kind of normal that tried to copy that. The kind of normal Lucas and Max had been a part of, but not very long. In fact, Max could really only barely remember it.

But he had to wonder...if they hadn't had magic...what kind of life could they be living?
 
Lucas threw a small rock at Max. "We are normal," he said firmly. There was no use in believing they weren't. "We're not psychos or killers." They were just kids who'd spent most of their lives on the road without a home... They were still sane as far as he knew. He didn't feel insane. That was something, wasn't it?

He drained the rest of his water and stretched out on his roll. "We're normal." Magic was... normal, just dangerous because no one understood it or how to use it properly. He sighed, closing his eyes and hoping he and Max could get some sleep.
 
"We are not normal," Max muttered, shooting his brother a glare for throwing a rock at him, but one that lacked any real heat. Granted, Lucas had a point, they weren't insane or anything. They were just...them. They'd been dealt a pretty shitty hand of cards and they'd rolled with the punches.

"You know, if we didn't have magic, we'd probably have a home." Those still existed in places. Towns, communities, day-to-day activities. "Parents. Beds. Friends. God, sex."

He sighed and pushed himself up, finished off his water and stuck the bottle safely into his bag before flopping down on his roll instead. The sun was officially down, which meant they should get some sleep while it was an option. Max knew he'd crash eventually, his body was too tired for him to fight it.

"That stuff? That's normal."
 
Lucas tensed and glanced at Max at the mention of...sex... What had brought that up? Sure he was getting older, but... shit, he'd thought Max would maybe...bypass the horny stages of puberty since they never ran into any females. Sure there were skin mags in some of the houses they ran into, but those weren't...real people.

"You're too young for sex," he muttered, not liking at all the strange tone to his voice. Max was still a kid. He rubbed at his face, wishing Max had been able to grow up with...friends and a life not on the run. He'd probably have a girlfriend by now. They'd both inherited their parents' good looks. If they hadn't lived on the road, he probably would have had sex by now. Hell, they both might have. He wasn't a virgin, but his one and only time had been with a girl who'd had a crush on him the night they'd had to leave. Nearly a decade was a long time to go without sex.

Kithiel watched them through half-lidded eyes from the other side of the fire, ears twitching with interest.
 
"I'm too young to worry about dying tomorrow," Max answered, a little passive aggressively perhaps. "I'm too young to worry about accidentally killing the only person on this whole damn planet I care about. I'm too young to be afraid to sleep, because the things in my nightmares might actually hurt me. I'm too young to to lose my mind. I'm too young..."

He stopped, because it wasn't really worth it. He was too young for his life, that was the simple fact. He wasn't bothered by it, usually. Max had spent more time running than he'd ever spent in one place, and they honestly had left before he could really get strong memories of how life had been back then. But he was still a teenager.

One with a hyperactive mind, at that.

He twisted around to lay on his stomach, closed his eyes for awhile. He knew what he was missing, if they were normal. There were books and magazines and diaries and all kinds of shit in the houses they came across. "I could die too young," he mutters, "and never know what alcohol tastes like. Or what cigarettes do to your lungs. Or how even just a kiss feels..."
 
Lucas gritted his teeth and pressed his fingers against his eyes. It sucked because it was all true and there wasn't...anything he could do about it except what he was already doing. He sat up and dragged his roll over to lay beside Max, stretching out next to his brother. "Not going to let you die," he said, reaching over to run his fingers through Max's hair. "And we won't let your nightmares win."

He sighed and propped his head on his other arm, continuing to stroke Max's hair. "We'll find alcohol and you can have a taste, but you're not smoking," he added with a growl. "And...maybe we'll find someone you can kiss at the sanctuary..." He didn't like the thought of that in the least, but... he couldn't very well offer to... kiss his own brother. He'd considered it before, a few times, but he'd never act on it.
 
Max opened his eyes when he heard Lucas moving, arched his eyebrows slightly as his brother pulled his roll over closer. It wasn't unusual for them to sleep close, especially when the dreams were acting up because Max needed him, but...usually they at least tried to give each other space. Max wasn't always fond of it, though. He was clingy.

The fingers through his hair felt so good he relaxed immediately, not even realizing how tense he had been before that. His mouth quirked up into a smile at the complete denial of smoking, but he didn't argue. The last words though...those were the ones that rubbed him the wrong way. Not because he didn't want to kiss someone -- he did, god he did -- he just...didn't like the idea of it being anyone.

His eyes searched Lucas' face for a moment, half hidden in the shadows, fire playing across his features. He was attractive, Max knew that, Max knew that in ways he refused to let himself think about. In ways he'd noticed ever since he'd been about fourteen or fifteen. Sometimes in ways that made his stomach roll or his breath catch in his throat.

But there were some things even he couldn't ask of his brother. "Yeah," he murmured, letting his eyes close again. "Sorry. Didn't mean to throw all my teenaged angst on you."
 
Lucas snorted quietly. "You've been doing it for years, it's nothing new," he said dryly. He tried to remove his fingers from Max's hair, but his hand was unwilling to move. He couldn't help wanting to run the strands through his fingers since it was clean for once. He'd like to have another bath himself, but at least they were clean for the moment. Another few days on the road would see them dirty again.

"If you'd rather kiss someone you know, maybe Kithiel would be willing," he added with a smirk.

Kithiel rolled his eyes and yawned. Maybe later. Once the full moon hit and... he could take on his anchor's form. And vice versa.
 
"Asshole," Max said, probably enjoying using the curse even more now. He still huffed out a slight laugh though, because it was actually true. There'd been too many years worth of no one else being around to listen to Max complain.

The mention of Kithiel made him actually laugh, and reach out with one hand to smack his brother for the comment. "You know what, any form of bestiality I think I can live without experiencing. And yes, I know what that word means. I read it in a book."

At least they were laughing now though. He got a little more comfortable, rolled his eyes one more time before closing his eyes again. "Can you keep doing that?" he asked. "Fingers, hair, feels good..."
 
Lucas chuckled and glanced at Kithiel, wondering if he'd have to keep an eye out on him. "Bestiality is out of the question," he muttered.

He smiled faintly and massaged at Max's head. "Sure," he murmured, closing his own eyes as he continued moving his fingers. He relaxed by degrees and eventually drifted towards sleep.

Kithiel dozed with his eyes closed, ears twitching as he kept half awake and guarded the humans.
 
Surprisingly, thankfully, Max slept dream free. He was pulled under the moment there was no longer a conversation at hand, Lucas fingers through his hair lulling him into relaxation much faster than should have been fair.

The dream was always there, buzzing on the edges of his subconscious, but it never formed, like it couldn't get through or like...Max was keeping it away, somehow. Refusing to let it be.

He didn't dream about anything at all, but that was fine. He'd rather have no dreams than the nightmares that left him more tired than not sleeping at all.

It was the birds chirping that eventually woke him, but Max didn't want to get up. Normally he was a morning person, but he also normally had fitful nights, so instead of admitting that he was awake he shuffled closer to Lucas, pressing his face against his brothers side to block out the world. "No," he mumbled sleepily.
 
Lucas slept deep and dreamed of running through a forest under a full moon, the scent of prey and the last growing things before winter sank its fangs in filling the air. He dreamed of dashing between the trees far quicker and more agilely than any human could. Wind in his fur, running on four legs.

He woke with a start at the sound of Max, blinking his eyes open and squinting against the morning light. His fingers were still buried in Max's hair and he shifted closer without thinking, pressing his face into his brother's hair with a sigh and trying to go back to sleep.

Kithiel moved over to them after a few more minutes and pressed his cold nose into both their cheeks. We need to get moving.
 
Max was almost back to sleep, safe and warm and content, more than happy to have Lucas pressed up against him. He could sleep for another hour at least, maybe two. It'd been a hell of a long time since he'd actually wanted to sleep in.

Something cold against his cheek startled him so much he almost jerked away, but opening his eyes just showed him gold and white fur and he realized it was just Kithiel.

"No," Max said again, lifting his fingers lazily to stroke through what fur he could reach. It was softer than he expected, warm, strong. Go figure. "Just a little longer."
 
Kithiel's fur rippled at the unexpected touch before he leaned into it, turning his head to lick Max's fingers. The trackers are a few miles behind us. My shields won't last long enough to hide us from them. Get up. Now. He growled low in his throat to try and scare them awake. If that didn't work, he'd have to drag them by their necks.

Lucas growled right back and instinctively tightened his grip on Max as he lifted his head. "I'm up... I'm up." He sighed and mussed Max's hair. "Come on pipsqueak. Maybe we can take a nap at lunch." Being able to sleep through the night without either of them waking in a cold sweat was rare enough he'd rather linger, but the damn trackers were persistent this time and he didn't even know why. Sure they may have found out they could use magic, but... they'd been tailing them for a week. Usually they'd give up by now.
 
Max knew he was pouting, but he didn't care. He hid himself in Lucas more, determined to keep sleeping despite Kithiel's very obvious, and very warranted, warning. His sleepy mind was telling him that the threat wasn't that big of a deal.

At least until Lucas moved. He groaned pathetically, rolling onto his stomach for a moment before eventually dragging himself up on his knees and to his feet. "Fine," he grumbled, rubbing sleep from his eyes with the edges of his fingertips only. His hands felt better, so that was a plus.

He patted the wolves head absently before kicking at his roll to put it back up. "Do we still have that can of pineapples?"
 
Lucas groaned and got to his own feet, finding the can and rolling it towards Max as he gathered up their things. "We should eat on the go." If they were a few miles away, they could catch up. The trackers always seemed to be rested and far more provisioned than they were. Maybe they shouldn't have made it a point to try and steal from them that one time. They'd seemed to have issues with them ever since.

He picked up their packs and watched as Kithiel made their camp all but disappear.

Back on the road. Again. It was a neverending journey that was hopefully coming to an end, or at least a long rest...

Did you dream? Kithiel asked, glancing up at Max as he walked beside the boy.
 
It didn't take long to pack up, so Max shouldered his pack and worked on opening his can without straining his hands too much. The skin had obviously healed at some point, because it stretched uncomfortably, but it wasn't horrible. He drank the juice out of his can while they started walking.

Kithiel's question shocked him and after a moment he shook his head. "Nah." Which was odd, because the dreams had been so persistent lately. "I think maybe I was too exhausted or something?" Actually, usually when he was more tired the dreams struck harder, because there was less of a chance of him waking up. "I don't know why I didn't..."
 
Kithiel breathed a sigh of relief that his shielding had worked, or helped, at least for now. He wasn't sure it would continue working or not, but they might be able to make it to the sanctuary before whatever it was managed to break through. Good.

Lucas reached over to steal the can, taking a drink and tapping some of the chunks into his mouth before handing it back. He hated eating after waking up, but he needed something if they were going to be walking this early. "Isn't there some way to get there faster?" he muttered. They'd used a car a few times, but they never lasted long with the depleted gas supplies.

Not a safe way, with your brother untethered. If they passed through to his realm, they could be there by the end of the day, but he wasn't willing to risk it. Max would be a beacon to everything wanting an easy anchor, and he couldn't protect both of them right then.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom