Christmas
Aadhira lay on his side, his ribbon draped lazily over Justin's leg. For once, the frei was silent, bright eyes intent on the flickering television in front of them. However, Aadhira had still stolen the entirety of the fleece blanket they were supposed to be sharing. Well, Justin viewed it as stealing, but Aadhira considered it rightful allocation, and groaned dramatically in discontent as Justin tried to pull the blanket back. In the spirit of the season, they were sprawled haphazardly on the sofa watching "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer". Aadhira had never seen it before (did snowmen
really sing?), but his guardian had deemed it a fitting choice to match the rare snowstorm blowing outside. The movie was winding to an end, Rudolph's brilliant nose having saved them all, even the misfit toys. As the credits rolled, Justin poked the frei in his blanketed shoulder.
"So, what'd you think?" he said, leaning back against green cushions. For long moments, Aadhira was still uncharacteristically silent, the fleece doubled up over his face like a mask. Only his eyes showed, brows drawn together fiercely. The movie was oddly full of songs, which Aadhira was unsure he liked, but, more importantly, he could feel something odd unfurling within him as he watched: a movie about a poor reindeer with a glow he couldn't control. Aadhira, of course, would've always been invited to play reindeer games regardless of glows or not-glows. Of course. Slowly, dramatically, the blanket slid from Aadhira as he propped himself up on one elbow, facing Justin. The couch creaked.
"Justin... do I get a theme song now as well?" The frei grinned cheekily, teeth gleaming whitely below a... a nose that
glowed. Aadhira relished Justin's wide-eyed stare. He crossed his eyes, focused, and slowly, his nose blinked. The light was bright red: a perfect imitation of the unlucky reindeer's. His grin widened as he waited for his guardian's reaction. Justin stared, and stared, and finally, with an utterly inelegant snort, he began to laugh. His pale green eyes crinkled in mirth and Aadhira couldn't help it - he laughed too. The frei would never admit it, but he'd been the tiniest bit worried that Justin would think it odd. After all, he'd never glowed quite like this before.
"Aadi," Justin said between laughs,
"You have to show that to Cruz! You - you guys can be a Christmas duo!" Aadhira beamed; this was fantastic! He could, and would, show everyone. But once his guardian had stopped chuckling, Justin's voice was slightly worried, and it broke through Aadhira's self-satisfied grin.
"Uh. Do you... do you know how to turn it off?" Oh.
Oh. Aadhira's mood dimmed slightly; if he never turned it off, he'd glow brightly from his nose forever, and it would no longer be special, but ordinary. His wings stiffened against his back. Slowly, as Aadhira's mind became preoccupied, the glow paled, dimmed and went out. He looked up at Justin and grinned self-assuredly, pointing to his nose. Concentrating carefully, he glowed it on... and off again. It might take a little time to master it, but Aadhira could do this, of course he could, he had never doubted it!
Flashlight
"Justin-" Aadhira's voice hissed through the twilight of night, an impassioned whisper. He seemed to vibrate in the darkness. With a groan, Justin flopped over in his bed. Aadhira floated closer and Justin flapped a hand at him to either get in the bed or get out. The whole house got cold in the winter, and it wouldn't be the first time Aadhira had crawled into bed to leech heat. But no, Aadhira would not be tempted. He needed Justin to look at him! He whispered Justin's name again. Finally, with a grunt, his guardian's head rose from a spectacular tangle of pillows. His hair was a messy cloud, but Aadhira waited patiently until Justin's eyes opened and turned towards him.
"Aadhira," he yawned.
"It's a** o'clock at night, what do you-" Suddenly, it was as though Aadhira had turned a flashlight on, straight into Justin's eyes. The frei gasped; he hadn't meant it to be quite that strong, but it really was an awesome trick. Justin swore wildly and Aadhira bolted, gliding quickly into the hallway, bright glow bouncing randomly. He hurled himself into his room and paused, heart beating a bright tattoo in his chest. Silence reigned in the house. Justin had not come raging after him. Yet. One corner of his mouth kicked up in a smile as he dimmed his glowing shoulder. Maybe waking Justin up in the middle of the night was a bad idea, but Aadhira had just figured out that particular trick. Surely, Justin would see how cool it was, too.
Later on, Aadhira wouldn't feel nearly so pleased with himself when Justin informed him he was grounded for two weeks.
Meee-wow
Aadhira was bored. He was discontent, restless, fidgety,
bored. He looked around Justin's office, searching for anything interesting... nothing. Nothing at all. With a hmph, he pushed off of the ratty loveseat, knocking over a small stack of comic books, and floated over to Justin. It was only around his guardian and closest friends that Aadhira felt comfortable enough to whine - and whine he did.
"Juuuuusstiiinnn." It sighed out of his mouth like a bow scraping across an untuned violin. Turning to look at the frei, Justin put his finger to his lips and made a face.
Hush. His headset blinked, and Aadhira could make out the faint sounds of someone very irate on the line. Aadhira stiffened, wings fanning out in silent outrage.
He was grounded, in a manner of speaking. Which meant Aadhira was forbidden from going anywhere that wasn't work or home. So, rather than rot away at home with a stupid snake, Aadi had elected to come to Justin's work. But he hadn't been prepared for the fact that his guardian would simply have no time for him. It made him feel antsy, uneasy. He wrapped his arms around himself and floated back to the loveseat. Dexter hopped up on one arm and plaintively meowed. With a gusty sigh, Aadhira grumpily pet him, his free hand tapping rhythmlessly on a stray cushion.
Bored, bored; he absently made his hand glow. Each time he did it, it got easier and easier to control. Justin had patiently explained that these powers were just proof of how unique Aadhira was. Sometimes, he thought Justin knew him and his apprehensions too well. Dexter hissed and leapt away, his tabby fur on-end. Hmm. Aadhira concentrated - he imagined a thousand little bits of light flowing through his body and out. And suddenly, it worked! A light shot out of his fingertip and he startled back and up, bumping into the wall. The light flickered, fizzled in and out as he traced circles on the office's ugly grey carpet, but it was something interesting at least. Dexter meowed loudly and jumped at the light, fear forgotten. He chased it round and round and up the loveseat and onto Justin's desk. Finally, Justin tossed down his headset and fixed Aadhira with a glare.
"Aadi, what are you doing?"
"Being not-bored, Justin, no thanks to you. Hmph."