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Michael sat on the bridge railing, the same bridge he had been dangling from two weeks ago convinced he was going to die but had still wanted to prove himself.
His legs moved back and forth in the cold air that didn’t bother him anymore, hard to be bothered by the cold when your body temperature is below the average.
Michael heard the flap of wings and a body dropping beside him, Michael didn’t need to ask who it was.
“You’re awfully quiet” David walked over to the railing, hoping up and sitting in the railing beside Michael, barely leaving a gap between them. “Just thinking” Michael mumbled, he wasn’t lying, he had been lost in his own thoughts.
“Your wings are tense” Michael stopped his movement, letting his shoulder drop with a sigh, feeling his heavy wings droop the slightest furled on his back between the slits of his shirt.
The wings were the weirdest thing to get used to as a vampire; they were invisible to the human eyes, only halflings and full vampires could see them. They were exactly what you’d expect, giant bat wings growing out of one’s back.
That first night when Michael had drank blood he thought he was hallucinating the boys wings; the next day when the blood was working its way rearranging his system Michael had gotten horrible back pains which had turned out to be his wings growing in.
A halflings wings were smaller than that of a full vampire, only growing to full size once the transformation fully began as the body died, gladly that process tended to be painless since most people were unconscious during it, a dying body and all.
Michael felt a kiss on his jaw. “Got lost again” David brought Michael back, whispering against his skin. One of David’s wings expanded to wrap around Michael like a blanket.
Michael thought David’s wings were beautiful, velvety black that became a dark red at the end, with tufts of red fur on them. “What’s on your mind bright eyes?” David hooked his fingers under Michael’s chin and turned his head toward him, blue eyes meeting hazel.
“Nothing really, I’m still just processing everything” Michael knew there was no use in lying to David, he’d catch onto the front of his thoughts and know. Michael had turned almost a week ago, it was still hard to get use to everything now.
“You know you can talk to me” David reminded him, Michael gave him a soft smile, leaning forward to press their lips togethers in a quick kiss. “I know” Michael leaned back enough to enjoy the soft look on David’s face, the one Michael mostly got to enjoy for himself.
“Fly with me?” David suggested, tilting his head up to the night sky. David loved flying, Michael had come to learn that quickly, to David flying was freedom.
“It’s peaceful” David had explained, they were standing outside of the ironworks, looking up at the twinkling stars that seemed the be shining brighter than before, the moon casting a soft glow against the ocean.
“It’s just you and the air, feels like you could stay there for hours just enjoying the wind blowing against you” David unfurled his wings slightly. “You can trust the wind to catch you and never let you fall. I could stay up there forever just looking at the stars”
Michael focused on the stars. He remembered the conversation he had with Star on the billboard a few nights ago, she had explained how most of those stars were dead before they ever got to see them. It reminded Michael of David, he’d already been dead long before Michael ever met him, it seemed fitting he’d find comfort resting among the stars.
“It’s a beautiful sight” Michael had mumbled, turning his head toward David only to see him staring at him already. “Yes it is…”
“You know I can barely fly” Michael was like a baby giraffe learning to use its legs for the first time when it came to flying, he could stay upright for maybe a minute before he was falling. The others told him it was normal, Paul apparently took about a month to even be able to float properly, still didn’t make him feel much better.
“I won’t let you fall” David stood up on the railing, his wings expanding to their fullest. With a few flaps his feet left the railing, moving until he was flying in front of Michael, holding his hand out.
Michael slowly stood on the railing with shaking legs, holding onto of the arch supports even though he knew David would catch him if he fell, and that no real harm would come if he did. Slowly, Michael unfurled his wings.
Michael’s wings were a dark brown that faded into blue, similar to his eyes; the tufts were the same unnatural color. Taking an unnecessary deep breath, Michael took David’s hand as he let his wings begin to lift him off the railing and into the air.
Slowly, they drifted farther and farther from the bridge until they were high enough in the air to overlook the place. Michael could see the bright colors of the boardwalk in the distance, alive with its local who’d rather enjoy its night and its day.
Michael glanced briefly below them, but David tugged at his hand hard enough to snap his attention forward. “Don’t look at the ground, look at me” David slowly let go of Michael’s hand, staying close enough to catch Michael if he fell. Michael focused on the motion of David’s wings, trying his best to mimic them.
David said flying was like walking, once you could it was second nature; Michael argued learning to walk was a lot less risky than trusting your body to not fall a hundred feet while floating midair.
“You got it Michael” David grinned at him. Michael huffed out a laugh, he definitely did not have it, he doubted he would in a while. Michael had just gotten use to hanging upside down and it had still been a learning curve, even though it felt natural now.
The wind changed slightly, Michael knew he would drop before his wings stuttered against the change, loosing his balance and dropping a few feet, a yelped barely escaped his lips before David dove down and caught him around the waist, bringing him upright again.
David couldn’t help but laugh at Michael’s startled expression, which quickly morphed into an annoyed glare as he shoved slightly at David’s shoulder.
“You held on for a bit, I think that’s a new record” Michael rolled his eyes, relaxing against David’s hold. Michael’s wing were flapping softly behind him, he would be fine if David let him go, but Michael found he was rather comfortable like that. Slowly, he brought his arms up and wrapped them around David’s neck, pulling him slightly closer.
“I don’t think I’m getting the hang of flying anytime soon” Michael grumbled, David just shrugged. “I’ve got time to kill, you have an eternity to learn after all”
Michael didn’t say anything else, just stared at David. His eyes looked green, illuminated by the moon, his bleached blond hair glowing like the stars around them.
“Beautiful” Michael thought to himself, and by David’s flustered reaction Michael knew he caught onto the thought.
Without another word, Michael closed the distance, sighing into the kiss as David tilted his head slightly to deepen it, his hold tightening even more.
They stayed there floating, their wings flapping simultaneously against the wind, but they didn’t care about anything else in that moment, just each other.
Two burning bodies amongst the stars.