After a moment, Will lifted his arm up to look at Crow. “What?”
Will inspected his hair in the mirror with Crow and then they returned to the window, where Crow drew back the curtains. All of the light flooding in on Will's hair turned it to it's brilliant pink color, but only the parts that were being lit up by the sun. Everything else in shade was black.
A depressed look hung over Will's face, “I don't think it's coming back.”
“No!” Crow protested, “I can totally see it turning pink. I just don't get why it's not staying.”
“Cause Aether didn't give it back to me.” Will replied, going back to his bed and pulling up the covers. “I'm going back to sleep.”
Groaning, Crow walked over, standing next to him. “I'll get it back for you.”
“There's no need, Crow.”
“Yes there is.” Crow answered, “It's important to you.” Will shifted to sitting to pout at him. “What? You can't tell me I'm wrong.”
“I.... don't really mind it being black.”
Rolling his eyes, Crow smiled, “See, why don't I believe you?” Will scoffed and Crow leaned in so their noses touched. “I want your hair to be pink again. Please?”
Will shifted back, shaking his head, so Crow straightened back up. “That's great, but I can't do it.”
“I can.” Crow nodded, “I'll go see Aether. Right away.” He hurried to getting dressed. His clothes were a bit cold from still being damp, but it wasn't so bad.
“No,” Will threw off the blanket and started to get up. “You're going back to the training with your dad.”
“Ah, that can wait. This is more important.” Crow threw his arm at Will, smiling and then pulled on his shirt. “I'll be back by dinnertime.”
Will sighed, shaking his head. “Crow.” At the sound of his name, Crow stopped midway to getting his jacket on. “I know you think you have to help me, but I'm fine.” Steadily, the smile on Crow's face turned into a frown. Will spoke slowly, and gently.
At that, Crow shifted, nodding as if Will had just insulted him. “Oh, okay. I get it.” He let off a small smile, waving his arms in the air. “I pour my heart out to you and let you in on the fact that I've loved you for years, and you just think it's okay to start bossing me around.” He watched as Will's face went plain to avoid showing any signs of being hurt. “That's fine, that's cool. You just keep living in your little bubble where you shut out everything that matters to you. In the mean time, I'll be out here, feeling.”
Will shook his head, “You want me to feel?” No answer came. Very calmly Will stood up. Crow looked down to the ground, not wanting to meet those intense eyes. “You don't tell me things you're planning-- you shut me out just as much!” As he spoke, slowly his voice rose, creating a gravelly texture.
Crow shifted back toward Will, reaching to touch the other's shoulders. Will jerked away from him, refusing to look at him, “Go away.” For a moment, Crow kept trying to get his arms around Will, almost wrestling with the stubborn young man.
“Stop-stop-stop.” Crow insisted, pulling Will to him, while countering and stepping towards him until Will was between Crow and the window. Softly, Crow spoke to him, “Am I hurting you?”
Will shook his head, “I just don't want you doing things for me.” Crow nodded, understanding, pushing his forehead against Will's. He sighed and closed his eyes, “There's a lot of pressure to help him.”
“Matéas?” Crow asked. Slowly Will nodded. Crow shifted back, lifting up the edge of Will's sleeve, “Can I take a look?”
Without a word, Will started undoing the buttons on his shirt. Slowly, but not with hesitation or shyness, he slipped the shirt off of himself and tossed it onto the chair. The two stepped away from the window so Crow could get a good look at Will's arm, shoulder and the markings running down his back. With featherlight touches, Crow ran his fingertips up and down the markings along Will's arm.
“Does it look bad?” Will asked after a moment. He was beginning to get goosebumps from the gentle treatment that was cascading up his arm toward his shoulder. Mesmerized, Crow continued to touch, but when his fingers grazed the edge of Will's ribs, the other took a step back from him.
Crow took note, and dropped his hands back to Will's forearm and then looked up to him. “I think Matéas is getting nervous, so his power's seeping into you.” Seeing the frown on Will's face, Crow smiled at him. He shifted and took off shoes and socks. “Here, see.... So I can use his powers, Tengyi put a secondary Seal. See the glyph?” Crow showed Will the bottom of his foot.
Will shifted, leaning down to look at it for a moment and then straightened up again. “Hold on, are you saying that if I touch anybody now-- I'll poison them?”
“Noooo, no no, no no.” Crow stood up, grabbing Will's wrists, pulling them toward his chest. “I haven't been poisoned.”
“Yeah, but, everyone else--” Will frowned, eying the vines on his arm out of the corner of his eye.
“It'll be fine, Will.” Crow urged. He smiled a bit, easing his palm through Will's black hair, watching as the pink from the sunshine danced in the locks again. Feeling the Will was more relaxed, Crow released him from his hold.
Will looked to the ground and then up to Crow. “You should get going. You have training to do, right?” Hesitantly, Crow took a step toward him but Will just backed away again. “I'm okay.” Will forced a small smile, “I'm sorry. I didn't … mean to snap at you.”
Unsure, Crow lifted an arm, gesturing that Will come to him in a hug. “I won't be able to see you again until your concert...”
Crow stood there like that for a minute, feeling kind of stupid. Then, finally, Will walked over and into his arms and gave him a small hug back, wrapping his arms loosely around Crow's lower ribs. Instantly when he got his chance, Crow wrapped both arms around Will's shoulders and back.
“You... really do care about me that much?” Will asked, his words muffled as his face was pushed into Crow's shoulder.
“Well, yeah, Will.” Crow nodded. He gave Will a squeeze around his shoulders before releasing him. He bumped their foreheads together as he smiled, “I promise. I'll help you whenever.”
Will shook his head, bumping his forehead against Crow's. “You idiot.”
“Live for me.” Crow cut in abruptly. “Live for your family. But... please, live for me?”
He asked it in such a sweet, pained tone, that it caused Will to laugh a bit, “I'm not suicidal here, Crow.”
Hearing him laugh again gave Crow enough ease to smile himself. “Okay, seriously. You keep living because I want you here with me.” Will's smile faded a bit, feeling Crow's forehead push up against his once more. “I wanna see more sunrises with you, and I can keep going on and on with the cheesy crap. Whatever it'll take for you to believe me.”
Will laughed, pushing Crow back. “Fine. I'll be fine. I'll see you at the concert.”
It took a few minutes, but Crow did finally leave smiling. Afterward, Will rubbed his forehead. The cool morning air after a night of rain made his empty room feel larger and lonelier. To ease his worries, Will gathered up some clean clothes and went to take a hot soak in the bath.
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