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“So, you’re telling me he’s just… gone?” Niya asked.
“I don’t know! I woke up and he wasn’t here!” Aurelio huffed.
It was dark out. Which was a constant since the Obsidians returned so that made the sky useless for time keeping, and Teo had disappeared, leaving Niya and Aurelio alone.
“Do you think that an Obsidian got him? Or one of the celestials?” Niya shivered.
“Why are you asking me? Why would I know?” Aurelio crossed his arms.
“Because you’re supposed to be the smart one here!” Niya said angrily.
Aurelio was worried. Not just about Teo, but because how in the world was he supposed to undo the apocalypse with Niya? She may be strong but she lacks strategy and intelligence. Which wasn’t very good for when you’re trying to figure out how to put the world's most broken puzzle back together.
Aurelio sighed. “I’m going to go look for him,” he turned and began to walk into the forest.
Niya huffed. “Well, so am I!”
He looked back and watched her vanish into the trees. Afterwards, he walked back to where Teo had been sleeping. Maybe if something had taken him it had left tracks.
He looked around Teo’s empty sleeping bag and saw that it had been thrown off in a hurry, and footprints, very far and few between, were trailing away and into the forest. Not the way Niya went, might he add.
She’s going to get lost, Aurelio realized. Teo might be pissed I let her walk off… he blinked, suddenly realizing how stupid that was. He lost my sister, so I lost his friend. It is what it is, Aurelio chuckled wearily when he realized that was more of something Auristela would have said, but then felt guilty laughing.
Aurelio quietly yelled for Teo as he followed the trail.
“Teo!” He yelled-whispered.
Aurelio froze as he saw the tracks vanish. Maybe he started flying… Aurelio pondered.
Looking up, he noticed a large clump of bramble that looked like a human-sized bird nest. Or more because that thing could probably hold Teo, Aurelio, and Niya. Minus Teo’s gigantic wings.
Aurelio raised an eyebrow. “Teo?” He called.
A slight rustle from the nest and the small flutter of bird wings almost made Aurelio jump.
“Teo. I know it’s you up there,” Aurelio frowned.
“Leave me alone…” Teo mumbled so quietly that Aurelio could barely hear him.
“No, Teo. You need to come back to our camp,” Aurelio commanded.
“Our camp is literally three sleeping bags we laid on the grass floor. Rather safe for a forest full of monsters, eh? Now leave me alone,” Teo grumbled in response.
Aurelio glanced around and noticed a long vine that would probably reach Teo’s sky-high bird nest. Grabbing it, he threw it to a connecting branch and tugged to test its stability. Deeming it safe, he began to climb.
When he reached the top, he looked to the nest and saw Teo’s large blue-green wings blocking Aurelio’s view.
“I told you to leave me alone,” Teo grumbled, not turning over to meet Aurelio’s gaze.
“Well, deal with it. What’s wrong?” Aurelio asked.
“You should know. I lost your sister. And everyone else for that matter…” Teo sighed.
Aurelio frowned and resisted the urge to say, ‘Okay. Fair enough. Have a good day in your pile of garbage.’ But decided against it. If the roles were reversed, Teo would have comforted Aurelio even if he was mad at him.
“You did. But you lost people too. Your friend Xio… and all the other semidioses,” he noted.
“Xio was my friend. Until he betrayed me… I mean, us,” Teo folded his wings around himself.
Aurelio sighed. “Well, in the last competition… Xio was like my Auristela. You didn’t want to lose him and I didn’t want to lose her. And if I’m being honest… if it was me in your shoes I probably would have done the same thing,” he admitted.
Teo went silent.
“But…” Aurelio looked away, even though Teo hadn’t been looking in the first place. “I have a feeling that’s not the main reason you’re up here in this nest.”
Teo sighed. “You’re not wrong.”
“Then why?”
Teo groaned. “Felt homesick. Bird brain told me to make a nest.”
Aurelio blinked. “You made this?”
Teo huffed. “Yeah…”
Aurelio looked at the material of the nest and noticed it looks surprisingly soft for something made of twigs.
“…is it comfy?” Aurelio asked, heat rising in his neck.
Teo went quiet. “Depends. If I said yes, would you come in?”
Aurelio blinked and turned red. “Uh, if you wanted me to.”
Teo chuckled but still refused to turn. “You can come in. I flew around to grab a lot of soft things so it’s pretty comfy.”
Heat bubbled in Aurelio’s cheeks. “U-uh okay,” he leaned over the nest as Teo tucked his wings in so Aurelio could have a large portion to lay on.
Crawling in the nest, he blinked in surprise as he felt comfort seep into him. “Oh… that’s… that’s really comfy,” he sighed.
Teo huffed in amusement.
They sat there in silence for a while.
“Hey Teo?”
“Hm?”
“Why haven’t you looked at me this entire time?” Aurelio fiddled with his thumbs.
Teo went quiet.
“Teo?”
He sighed. “Promise you won’t… scream… okay?”
Aurelio wasn’t sure he wanted to know anymore. “Y-yes. I promise.”
Teo sighed and turned to face Aurelio.
I bet you’re thinking, ‘Did he turn into a bird? Does he have a bird beak? Does he have feathers instead of hair?’ Well, no.
“W-what happened?!” Aurelio gaped.
Teo had three long marks over his nose and cheeks. They were still fresh. Analyzing Teo a bit more, Aurelio noticed some of his feathers had been torn out while others had been scratched and had fallen. He had a long scratch on his shoulder as well.
“Teo, what attacked you?” Aurelio bolted upwards and grabbed Teo, and immediately pressed on the wounds.
“Ow,” Teo griminced.
“Why didn’t you tell me?! We need to get Niya!” Aurelio looked around the nest and out the nest, trying to find a safe way to get down.
“What attacked you, Teo?!” Aurelio asked again.
Teo sighed and mumbled something Aurelio couldn’t catch.
“What?”
“I said, I got mauled by a cougar!” Teo exclaimed angrily.
Aurelio’s eyes widened larger than they should have. Frantically, he grabbed extra cotton from the nest and began pressing them on the still bleeding wounds.
“Aurelio!” Teo grabbed Aurelio’s wrist. “I’m okay.”
Aurelio’s breathing was fast and his heart rate was spiking. “No, you’re not! Some of your wounds are still bleeding!” Well, now Aurelio knew the other reason Teo had hid up here.
“Yes, I am,” he said sternly as he placed his free hand on Aurelio’s chest, over his heart. “Your heart rate is higher than mine. I’m okay. You need to calm down. Please,” Teo begged, tightening his grip.
Aurelio inhaled deeply, but he still felt like he wasn’t getting enough air in. He did it again, and again, until Teo smiled wearily. “See? Your heart rate is okay now.”
But all Aurelio saw was Teo’s beautiful, yet injured, face.
“Have I ever told you how beautiful your face is?” Aurelio asked.
Teo turned red. “What?”
“No, really. Have I ever told you that?”
Teo paused. “No…”
Aurelio smiled softly. “Well, it is.”
Teo turned an even brighter shade of pink. “You’re delirious from the surprise,” Teo put his hand on Aurelio’s head and ushered him down into a laying down position.
“No I’m not. You really are super handsome,” Aurelio said deliriously. He hummed as Teo pulled his hand through Aurelio’s hair.
“Do you like that?” Teo asked, smiling.
“Mhm,” Aurelio hummed as he closed his eyes.
Teo sighed as he laid down as well, wincing as one of his wounds hit a loose twig. Settling it back into a not-painful position, he sat quietly while Aurelio slowly drifted into sleep.
“You’re handsome too, Golden Boy,” Teo said lovingly, hoping Aurelio wasn’t awake enough to hear it.
But Aurelio smiled as he felt Teo’s wings wrap over him like a blanket. And he felt Teo fall asleep beside him with his hand still in his hair.
“Good night, bird brain,” Aurelio murmured.