Broken Wings

Progress: 4,242/30,000

More than a little tired, Jak stumbled into Language 101 the next morning and dropped down into the seat beside Zaiden.

"Rough night?" Zaiden inquired with a crooked grin. "What's his name?"

"It's not what you think," Jak said, rubbing a hand across his face. "Maika had a nightmare."

"Oh," Zaiden said, sounding surprised. "He seemed okay this morning."

"You saw him?" Jak asked. Maika had been up and gone before Jak's alarm went off.

"Sure," Zaiden said, nodding. "He asked me to give you something." He leaned down and opened his bag, pulling out Jak's battered leather jacket. "Did you loan it to him or something?"

"No, I was wearing it the night of the party," Jak said, reaching out and taking it from him. "It got ripped and covered in blood. Akitra said he threw it out." Jak checked the lining first, the satin worn but clean, and then turned it around, running his fingers over the patch covering the tear in the shoulder. It was beautiful, a butterfly with lacy wings of grass green, green-gold, and honey brown.

"Yeah, I saw that, too," Zaiden said giving him another of those crooked grins. "It looks like someone wants to dance with you."

"What the hell does that mean?" Jak asked. Akitra had said something about dancing in the shower.

"I don't know all the intricacies," Zaiden said, "but I had a faerie roommate last year, so I've got a pretty good idea. Dancing is their idea of dating, only it's like the games mage's play times ten. There's all kinds of rules and codes of conduct--it's like a chess game, or an elaborate dance. Take that butterfly, for example. When a faerie decides that a person is worthy of dancing with them, they give them a butterfly in the colors of their wings, since their glamour is what gives them their social status."

"So these are Maika's colors?" Jak asked, holding the patch up to better catch the light. He pictured Maika's eyes, glimmering green-blue, and then that soft down of turquoise curls around his cock, and he swallowed hard. "I would have thought there'd be more blue in it."

"A faerie's wings don't always match their eyes, Jak. I once knew a sea faerie with blue eyes and hair, but her wings were scarlet and coral and sunshine yellow. So..." He reached out and touched the butterfly. "What are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know," Jak said, frowning. "I don't know anything about faeries. What do you think I should do?"

"Depends," Zaiden said, reaching back down into his bag and pulling out his notebook. "Are you interested in him?"

"Maika?" Jak asked, feeling like the pit of his stomach was carpeted in locusts. "I- I don't know. Maybe. He always acts like he hates me." He used to, anyway.

"Faeries will do that, acting one way, saying one thing, when they really mean another. That's part of the game."

Jak groaned.

"Maybe I shouldn't. I don't like games, and even if I did, I don't know how to play this one."

"I think you could do better, personally," Zaiden said, giving him a wink, "but it never hurts to try something new. I'm sure he doesn't expect you to dance perfectly." He gestured toward the butterfly. "This is probably the only way he knows to get your attention."

"Okay," Jak said, setting the jacket in the empty chair beside him, "let's say that I decide to give him a chance. How do I tell him? I assume I can't just come out and say so."

"You got that right," Zaiden said with a laugh. "You should at least make an effort to play along. If I were you, I'd just wear the jacket and if he says anything to you about it, act...coy."

"Coy?" Jak repeated, arching an eyebrow. Zaiden shrugged and opened his notebook as Professor Sashenti limped out onto the teaching floor. He didn't get another chance to speak to Zaiden until class was over. As they packed up their things and headed out Herbalism, Jak cleared his throat and lengthened his stride to match Zaiden's.

"You're okay with this, right?" he asked. "I mean, if I decide to see where this goes, you won't be mad at me, will you?"

Zaiden snorted.

"Come on, Jak, I'm not that naive," he said. "I've known from the beginning that there will never be anything serious between us. And if you do hook up with Maika, I bet it won't take me five minutes to find my own faerie boy-toy."

"Probably not," Jak said with a laugh. "But let's not get ahead of ourselves. He gave me a butterfly, not an engagement ring."

"Same thing," Zaiden said, and the smile vanished from Jak's face.

"Really?"

Zaiden laughed.

"No, but you should have seen the look on your face. Priceless."

"You ass," Jak said, and he punched him in the arm. They reached the end of the hall and Zaiden shoved open the door, cold, wet air swirling in and making the flames in the sconces quiver. Jak shoved his hands into his jacket pockets as he stepped outside, ever so grateful to Maika as the thick fog surrounded him.

They started down the flagstone path toward the greenhouses, the fog muffling the sound of their footsteps. Jak saw the figure through the fog before heard him, the slender shadow materializing only a few feet away. Jak's mouth went dry.

"Hi, Maika," he said. The faerie looked tired, but his usually lank white hair had been washed and pulled back in a long braid, and his eyes were shadowed with glittery green-gold powder. He glanced at Jak and acted like he was going to walk past without saying anything. It wouldn't have surprised Jak in the least.

"Hello, Jak," Maika said as he passed by, and Jak suddenly found it hard to breathe. With anyone else, a reluctant hello wouldn't have meant anything, but this was Maika, this was different. He started to turn, to look over his shoulder, but Zaiden grabbed him by the arm and kept him walking down the path.

"What was that for?" Jak whispered when Zaiden finally let go. He glanced back, but the fog had swallowed Maika without a trace.

"You weren't being very coy," Zaiden said. "You don't look, you just walk away and let him look. Besides, how can he see you wearing his wings if you're turned around?"

"All right, all right," Jak said, nodding. "You've got a point. I guess my game is a bit rusty."

"Well, you better polish it up," Zaiden said with a grin, "because that faerie wants you bad."