Hawk’s truck bounced along the uneven mountain road that led to the campground the four of them would be occupying for the next few days. It was an area Hawk and Jordan had visited many times over the years, and had been excited to bring their respective partners to when they had begun discussing what they would do to observe the upcoming solar eclipse. Elaine had been dubious at first since she had never gone camping, but the men had managed to convince her that she would like it, even naming the benefits being out in the wild would provide her as a pregnant woman.
Hero held on tight as he was tossed around in his seat, doing his best to keep his stomach right where it was. “How much further is this place?” he groaned.
Hawk grinned, his heart going out to his suffering boyfriend. “Not far, I promise. About another mile.”
Hero groaned again, leaning his head against the back of the seat. “Is the road going to stay this fucked up?”
“No, it’ll even out soon. Just hang tight a little longer.”
“I can only imagine how Elaine must be feeling right about now.”
“I can almost guarantee she puked at least twice by now,” Hawk said with a smirk.
“Glad that thought amuses you,” Hero muttered.
“Everything on this rock amuses me, my dearest. The frailty of humans chief among them.”
Hero glared at him.
Hawk took his hand and kissed it. “Except for yours, of course. Besides, you’re stronger than they are, remember that.”
“Tell that to my stomach.”
The road did even out as Hawk said, but only with less than a quarter mile left to go before they arrived at their destination. Hero made a mental note to smack Hawk when he no longer felt the urge to puke on him. Catching that energy, Hawk laughed.
Their campground was large, accommodating the two large trucks, their tents, the fabric chairs they set up around the bonfire stones, and the large telescope Hawk brought to stargaze. Jordan had the boxes they would need to watch the eclipse the next day without damaging their eyes.
Jordan got Elaine situated in one of the seats, making sure she was comfortable and had a bottle of water to help her recover from the bumpy ride while he and the other two set up the tents.
She leaned her head back, taking in deep breaths of the fresh mountain hair as she watched the clouds lazily drift above her. She was just on the point of dozing off when a shadow fell across her face. She opened her eyes to see Hero looming over her from behind the chair, smiling down, his thick, wavy blonde hair hanging in his eyes.
“Did you get a new nose piercing?” she asked, poking him in the nose.
Hero wrinkled his nose and touched the small blue stud. “Yeah, Hawk got it for me a few days ago. Like it?”
“It’s cute!” She sat up and looked over to see Hawk and Jordan tossing their sleeping bags and pillows into their separate tents. “That was quick.”
“It helps they’ve been doing this for years,” Hero said, rubbing her shoulders. Her eyelids drooped at the glorious feeling. She loved Jordan, but the man couldn’t massage for shit. They rolled their eyes as the best friends did a hand clasp with a snap at the end. “Men,” they said in unison and giggled.
“So what’s the plan?” Hero asked as the other two joined them, Hawk holding him from behind and planting a kiss on the side of his neck that made him laugh.
“Not sure,” Hawk said. “I was going to suggest a hike but Mama over there looks like she’s about to—” his words cut off as he caught a sense of something. He narrowed his eyes and turned them on Hero. “Did you do that on purpose?”
“Do what?”
Hawk sighed and rolled his eyes to the sky, shaking his head. “Babe, you really need to pay attention to your waves.”
“Why, what did he do?” Elaine asked, suddenly worried.
“Nothing bad,” Hawk said. “How do you feel?”
“Fine,” she said, wondering why that was even an issue. Sure, she’d felt tired and sick after the drive up, especially after puking twice because of those damn ruts in the road. Now, however, she felt better than before they had even left. Her eyes widened as she looked up at Hero who raised his hands and looked to Hawk.
“All I did was give her a massage.”
Hawk took Hero’s hand in his and kissed the back of it. “Something you need to always remember is you have more power in one hand than Toji does in his whole body, and he’s pretty damn powerful.” He wrapped his arms around Hero’s middle, holding Hero’s hands as he did so. “You sent a healing energy wave into her, boosting her energy and taking care of her nausea and body aches. You did it when you were rubbing her shoulders.”
“But I wasn’t even touching her for that long,” Hero said, staring apologetically at Elaine.
“It’s fine, Hero,” Elaine reassured him, smiling. “I feel great and you didn’t hurt the baby. That’s something I would have known almost immediately.”
Jordan patted him on the head. “Relax, my guy, you didn't do anything wrong.”
“Just be more aware, baby, that’s all I’m saying.” Hawk’s own waves washed through him, calming Hero’s nerves. “This sort of thing takes time to perfect, trust me.”
“Have you ever healed anyone?” Jordan asked Hawk.
Hawk stared blankly at the ground, trying to think if he ever had. One instance came to mind, but it hadn't been successful. “I tried once,” he said, avoiding Jordan’s gaze. “I’m not a healer.”
Hero noticed the energy shift and questioned Hawk who caught his gaze, his response plain: Another time.
“So, now that’s settled,” Jordan said, smacking his hands and rubbing them together. “Shall we do a bit of exploring? We can set up the grill and stuff later.”
“Sounds good to me,” Hero said. The other two agreed and they were off down one of the three trails that snaked off the main campsite. The one Jordan chose was more open and an easy walk through the woods, giving them an opportunity to stretch their legs after the long drive and breathe some fresh air.
Hawk and Hero walked hand in hand behind Jordan and Elaine who walked further ahead, their arms around each other, walking easily, all of them talking lightly as they took in the unobstructed view of their mountain. Even though they lived in their own little mountain paradise, the boyfriends were still able to appreciate and enjoy the perspective offered by a different scene.
For Hawk who thought he had seen all there was to see and experienced all there was to life, he was realizing he had seen nothing through the new lens that had been applied to his life since Hero appeared. He didn’t know how the sun’s rays through the trees could make something so ordinary become something truly magical; how the breeze could bring in the smells of new life overpowering death and decomposition of plant life. He had never heard the way the leaves danced together in the canopy, or the birds as they flitted from one branch to another, singing out to the ones they desired to be near.
He had never heard a more beautiful sound than Hero’s laugh. He had never seen a more beautiful sight than Hero’s smile. He had never felt anything so soft as Hero’s hand in his.
He laced their fingers together and allowed a tendril of energy to swirl around their wrists as they walked. It was something they had begun doing early on when they were training their control over the Veil. It was an exercise in focus that had turned into a game. The object was not to let the loop dissipate or touch their skin. If it did, it would give a light shock to the one who had lost focus first. No surprise, Hero lost more often than Hawk did, but only because Hawk was far more practiced in focus on a subconscious level.
One thing Hero liked to do in more recent weeks was send out tiny little energy dots to the loop as a way to practice energy sharing, energy amount control, and also a check to see just what may have changed recently within him. He did this now as they walked.
“Have you ever known any demons to be healers?” Hero asked.
Hawk shook his head. “Not a single one. We heal ourselves naturally without having to do anything, but that’s just because that’s part of who we are. Angels can be healers, that’s what makes them so amazing and wonderful and great and gross. In fact, a great deal of them are. Not all, but a lot.”
“Hm.” Hero held his hand up before him, staring at it. “I wonder if that’s what I did, instead.”
Hawk looked at him.
“Well, the energy and powers I have are essentially demonic, so if I can’t create healing energy to give to others, maybe I sent some of my own natural healing abilities into her.”
“That would definitely be a first if that is what happened,” Hawk said. “But then, it also feels like one of those things that fall into the ‘unexplained’ pile of our unique connection. We can experiment with it later when we get home. In the meantime, it’s nothing to worry about. If it’s something positive, then we should just accept it for what it is. Besides, you do have a history of doing things without realizing it, and Elaine and the baby didn’t get hurt.”
“If I can do something good without knowing it, doesn’t that mean I can do something bad, too?”
Hawk shrugged. “Guess it all depends on your intention. You were giving her a massage when you healed her, right? The intention was probably just to help relieve some tension, make her feel better after the drive, which is a good thing. If you intended something negative, chances are you would have sent something negative.”
“Okay, so with that logic, explain our energy storms and those times we accidentally attacked one another. I had no intention of hurting you when Persephone upset me that day, and I know you didn’t mean to do the same to me.”
“That was all shared through the link because it was driven through emotion. Our souls show and share everything, positive and negative, whether we like it or not. Unless we’re already making some sort of attempt at hiding it, like how I did with my feelings for the longest time, we’re going to experience it to some degree. When we cast out energy, we’re casting out our intent. I intend to destroy a wall, so I cast out something destructive like an energy burst or a fireball. You intended to make your friend feel better, so you cast out healing energy without knowing you were doing it. In principle, it really does make sense.”
“It’s just the fact that I shouldn’t be able to do it at all because demons aren’t healers.”
“But you’re not a demon, Hero,” Hawk said with a smile. “If you look at it this way, too, when it comes to us, a lot of impossibilities are possible. Demons don’t have souls, humans can’t have cores, demons aren’t healers, humans aren’t immortal.”
“So, you’re saying I am developing a core?”
Hawk frowned. “I’m saying I’m not discounting the possibility it’s happening. Especially since your energy is managing to remain mostly stable with each new ability that manifests. Those energy drops you send through the wrist loop are far less chaotic than they used to be and I can read them better. They also feel like they’re emanating from a central source, not just randomly from throughout your body like before.”
Hero watched his face and walked just a little closer. “You still don’t like it, though.”
“I’d be lying if I said otherwise, Hero. Only the Divine have cores, that’s just a fact. And you hold demon energy, not angelic. I promised I would make sure you didn’t become a demon, that I’d never let it happen, and I stand by that. But this core thing…” he sighed and ran a hand through his hair, some of it falling loose around his face. “It’s something I never stop worrying about.”
“I think you worry far too much about me, Hawk,” Hero said.
“It’s my job,” Hawk said with a small crooked grin. “You got dragged into a dangerous unseen world through our connection, it’s only natural I worry about its effects on you.”
“So far as I’ve seen, they’ve been pretty positive,” Hero said. “I have a different perspective on things, I feel stronger, faster, more alert, I’m more aware of the world around me, and more importantly, I have you.” He squeezed Hawk’s hand and smiled up at him. “I think that’s the best part of all of this.”
Hawk smiled, leaning down to kiss him gently as they walked. “I agree.”
“Hey, guys, hurry up!” Jordan called from further up. He waved at them, urging them to quicken their pace. “You gotta come see this!”
“Think he found a dead body?” Hero asked.
“Maybe it’s a treasure chest.”
Hero’s eyes went wide. “Oo, maybe it’s a dead body with a treasure chest!”
“Dibs!”
They laughed as they hurried to catch up to their friends. Elaine was smiling as they drew near, once again struck by the difference in Hero. He was definitely not the same man she had come back to the city with mere months ago. In fact, for all the years she’d known him, she’d never seen him smile so brightly, or laugh so loudly. Hero Grace really was well and truly happy.
“Alright, where’s this grand thing we need to…see…” Hawk said, his voice fading and his amber eyes wide as saucers as he looked out where Jordan was pointing, a wide grin on his face.
Hero gasped as he took in the view before them, the breeze buffeting their hair around all their faces, Elaine’s whipping out behind her in long, colorful waves. Hawk slowly wrapped his arm around Hero’s waist and drew him to his side.
Before them all lay a vast, almost fantastical scene. All around, a blanket of wildflowers bloomed in bright colors that waved to the will of the wind that swept over them. Cutting through was a long, winding river, the water clean and clear, giving the observers an unobstructed view of the rocks and fish below the surface, little whitecaps breaking over the exposed boulders. Stretching for miles, piercing into the vast blue sky was a mountain range painted in vibrant pinks, purples, reds, and oranges as the early afternoon sun shone down upon the valley. From one of these mountains, a grand waterfall flowed, splashing into a pool that fed into the river. Trees of all types and colors lined the banks of the river, in one area arching over to meet each other at the top. Birds flew around, singing to one another as they dipped and weaved in their mid-air dance. Hero could spot several cave entrances dotting the mountains and couldn’t help but wonder what mysteries they contained.
There was not one person in sight to spoil this beautiful view.
“Have you ever seen anything like this?” Hero asked in a hushed tone.
Hawk slowly shook his head. “I’ve seen a lot…but nothing like this.” He looked down at Hero, his eyes soft. “The company helps.” Hero turned his shining ruby red eyes up and smiled.
“Aww, that’s so sweet, man!” Jordan said, clapping Hawk on the shoulder. Elaine laughed and pinched his arm.
Hawk tugged his lower lid and stuck his tongue out at his best friend before grabbing him by the back of the neck and playfully shaking him. He looked back out over the valley and smiled. “This really is something else. Thanks, man.”
After a minute, Jordan said, “About tomorrow. What’s going to happen to you?”
“I’ll eat you.”
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