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Day 3: Freedom
Arthur seemed incredibly tense and easy to irritate lately, well as openly irritated as he would let show. The children had noticed and even asked to stay at Zoe’s for the night. Linus gave them permission and went to find Arthur. He wasn’t sure what was wrong, the week had been pretty smooth sailing as far as Linus knew.
“Dearest? Can I come in?” Linus asked through the closed door of the office. He would never just enter a room where the door was closed without asking first. This house didn’t offer privacy, closed doors were as close as any of them could get.
He heard Arthur let out an irritable groan before he heard a deep inhale. “Come in, Linus.” Arthur said pleasantly. Linus knew by the syrupy tone that it was fake. Linus felt pins and needles in his skin, his anxiety was back with a vengeance, he could even feel himself sweat from the uncertainty. Linus slowly opened the door and didn’t make eye contact. He almost felt like he was back at DICOMY where eyes were watching and judging him with every step.
“Can- um can we talk?” Linus got out, though his voice quivered at first before he cleared his throat to force some steadiness into his tone. He chanced a quick glance up at Arthur who looked almost as uncertain as he felt.
“Of course my dear, come sit. What’s the matter?” Arthur asked. This man was far too perceptive.
“Nothing is the matter, I just wanted to see if you needed to talk?” Linus asked, trying to not push any blame onto Arthur. The man simply raised an eyebrow. Linus bit his lip then continued. “I am sorry to bring this up, but I can’t avoid it anymore.” He took a breath and looked Arthur directly in the eyes. “You’ve been a right prat this week and I want to know if I did anything wrong.” There, he said it. Now was the part he was afraid of. What if Arthur said he was tired of him? What if he did something wrong that deeply hurt Arthur? What if Linus forgot an important date? What is Linus broke an unspoken rule?
Arthur’s gaze hardened before he took a breath. The temperature in the room spiked a few degrees. “A right prat?” He asked, sounding flat.
Linus nodded. “You’ve been irritable all week, the children asked if they could stay with Zoe because they weren’t sure how to react while at home. I think you need to go outside and fly. Burn some of this energy off, you haven’t been in your phoenix form in weeks, not even your wings.” Linus suggested.
Arthur chewed the inside of his cheek. “I have been pretty insufferable haven’t I?” He sounded slightly upset. “You’re right. I’ll go for a fly, would you like to watch?”
Linus’s eyes widened. He had never watched Arthur transform and fly freely before. It had been under dire circumstances the past few times Arthur and the Phoenix became one. “I-If you’d be comfortable. If not I can stay inside until you’re done.” Linus offered an alternative in case Arthur felt pressured.
Arthur stood up and stretched, his back and shoulders cracking. “I think I need to burn, and I would like for you to watch.” He admitted. Arthur offered a hand to Linus. Linus took the hand hesitantly. He still felt slightly uncomfortable, this week has put him on edge and he was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Arthur led them outside and to the beach. He grabbed a blanket for Linus to sit upon on their way out. The walk was silent. Linus’s hands were sweating something fierce and Arthur was a few degrees above comfortable to hold on to. The slight sting in his hand was not helping his anxieties. Arthur passed the blanket off to Linus and began to take off his shoes. Linus set the blanket down and sat on top of it. Arthur stripped out of his clothing and left it in a pile on the edge of the blanket. He walked a few paces away and let his mind and the phoenix’s mix together. He could see both through his eyes and the phoenix’s. Together they formed a flaming bird that lunged into the sky. The flames were ranging from yellows, oranges and pinks to blues and whites as the heat cooled towards the edges of his feathers.
They flew together around the island over the sea. Linus admired the man flying and finally being free to burn as he needed. He had never seen Arthur take flight in his Phoenix form. The sight was something he would treasure for the rest of his life. He heard a loud avian cry as Arthur dove down and then back upwards in a dance. The phoenix made complex movements in the sky, they reminded him of mating dances he had seen at the zoo.
The echoing calls sounded almost like relieved laughter. The type that you couldn’t hold back once the stress melted away. It was beautiful. The flight lasted three quarters of an hour before Arthur came back. He was naked as the day he was born and laughing with a large smile on his face. His muscles seemed relaxed as if all of the tension had been burned away. Linus loved him.
“Hello there my beautiful phoenix.” Linus said, his expression full of love. Arthur walked towards Linus and kissed him deeply. Linus moaned and held onto the hands that were resting on his cheeks.
Arthur had a starstruck expression on his face, as if Linus held all of the answers in the universe. “You brilliant, wonderful man. Thank you.” He said before kissing Linus again. Maybe next time Arthur became irritable he would call him a prat then ask him to go flying again. It worked wonderfully this time.