“Are you sure you’ll be okay teleporting back over to your house?” I asked from the doorway of my apartment, not going in yet with the door closed against my back, he laughed softly as he looked down towards his feet for a moment.
“I’ll be fine…people and things in the dark don’t tend to try to get close to me.” he said, alright…that’s a little odd. What being with all-speak has this ingrained presence that makes all sorts of shadowy beings and people fear them or shy away?
“Alright.”
“And if I didn’t, I’m only twenty minutes away by the metro…it’s not that far.”
“If only you could fly.”
“Oh, I can” he said with a nod
“You have wings?” I asked
“I do”
“Can I ask a question, Aden?” I asked, he smiled softly
“You just did, but sure.”
“Why…why do you hide so much of whatever you are?” I asked, he sighed as his expression shifted not to one, I could easily place.
“I could ask the same for yourself, the most you show of yourself is the eyes and your horns…you don’t walk around everywhere with the wings, tail and all other aspects on display, do you?” he asked
“I’m…I’m sorry if I offended.” I said, looking towards my feet as I twiddled my fingers in front of me.
“You didn’t…it’s just…people like me are like other people with you; they see me and instantly know who and what I am, I like the…animosity of hiding everything when I’m just running errands.”
“But it’s not like…you’re ashamed or something, right?”
“Of course not, I am very proud of what I am, just…in the right situations where I can open talk about it.” he said, soon after he said that, I covered my ears as my neighbor down the hall’s piercing screech filled the air, everything warbled with the sound, all of the hanging lights rattled and it felt like something was trying to melt my brain, but…Aden seemed fine, he wasn’t even covering his ears or anything, just looking around confused. “Is…something wrong?” he asked confused as he pointed down the hall.
“No, just…my neighbor down the hall…banshee and she have…night terrors.”
“Oh, that is not a fortunate combo" he said“Did that not hurt?”
“Did what not hurt?” he asked
“Her scream…banshee screams like that cause like…tons of damage to people who can’t withstand it.” I said, he shrugged with a curt nod.
“Things like that…don’t really affect me like others. Did that hurt my hearing? Yes, of course, but there was no physical pain due to the lingering magic.” he said, “Though there is someone I know who might be able to help her…dream magics, and sciences is their realm of expertise.”
“Dream magics?”
“Colleague” he said, “Well, it is…absurdly late, so…good night, Vlad, I do hope I’ll be able to see you again, but I need to be getting home.”
“Got to let the dog out?” I asked
“No, I don’t have any pets or anything, don’t have the time…plus some bad experiences with dogs when I was a kid. I’ve got class to teach in about ten hours.”
“Oh” I said, “Good night, Aden…I’ll…I hope I get to see you again too”
“Thank you for tonight, Vlad…I had a good time” he said with a soft nod as he started walking down the hall.
“I did too, thank you for buying me dinner” I said as he walked, he looked over his shoulder as I could have sworn, he tossed a wink my direction with a soft wave, but as he walked…the shadows on the ground around him were…wrong. Just wrong. His shadow was too dark and there were multiple of them like multiple spotlights were on his front throwing them across the floor and walls, the shadows of other objects and things stretched across the surfaces like they were latched onto him and wanting him to take them with him. The darkness just…seeped off him and seemed to be far, far fonder of him than anyone else I’ve ever seen.
I relaxed my hand as I hadn’t realized I had my hand closed into a fist over my heart, my other hand clasped overtop as I watched him wall, the sound of his hard soled dress shoes louder on the floor as he walked down the hall, but as he was swallowed by the growing darkness of the long hall…like someone stepped off a ledge, the sound of his footsteps just vanished…just gone, no fading away, no sound of magic puffing, no arcane words uttered, just…nothingness, like a single footstep only ever occurred and none followed.
I went through my usual nightly routine before checking to see if Zavi was still up, it should still be midnight or so for them, but I don’t know it would be a school night for them, but it is still the first week, so…there is some hope that they’re still up, which when I checked…they were. The most recent picture on social media being a picture of them at one of the parties, I just sent them a text that can, “Got a minute?” the text being a weird footnote to the wall of memes that we send each other throughout the day. What can I say…Zavi and I are closer than people would expect, when I was a little kid I’d spend summers with them and they’d spend winter with my family, we’ve always just been closer than a lot of our other cousins. I didn’t even have to wait more than a few moments before my phone started ringing with a video call from them.
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