estranged

5. leon

 5. Leon

I get home at exactly 12:45 pm and am greeted by a swarm of wagging tails. I cant help but grin as i greet my wonderful dogs. They're honestly like my children to me. each one has their own personality and are overflowing with love . but i suppose they're the closest thing to children we can have, considering that i haven't heard of any new orphanages around here, however i am worried that my current workload will make me unintentionally negletful towards a child. im anxious that i will somehow end up like my father and abandon a child, though i doubt it, i would never want to put a child through what i endured because of it. but i am here and while i am far from perfect by any means, i am a fully functional adult ,so i consider my existence a part-success . the downside being my appearance and all of the stigma that comes with it. Which is why i'm so grateful towards my dogs, after all, they dont care what you look like .

. i am trapped in a wall of fur as the weight of the dogs topple me over and they surround me , covering me in fluff and slobber. My only option is to surrender to their love. After i have been thoroughly drenched in drool i pull myself out of the pile, push my glasses back onto my nose and whistle. They all sit immediately, as all good dogs do, and i take a packet of treats out from the laundry . the wagging starts again as i look all 6 dogs in the eye before carefully placing a treat in front of them, one at a time.

Lundi sits patiently, calm and collected as always.

Portia seems to ignore the treat entirely, a genius ploy to take more when i am not looking.

Apollo struggles to hold himself back, eccentric and filled with energy at the prospect of delicious food.

Komnene looks up at me, smiling wide. I must hold myself back from falling into her sweetness trap to receive more treats.

Thales seems unfazed by the treat, however he soon assesses the situation and focuses on it once more.

Alto however appears afraid of his treat, backing away with his tail between his legs. He is soon reassured by komnene's confidence and approaches the treat again.

Apollo is the first one to crack , he dashes forward and grabs his treat. All of their concentration falls apart rapidly after that . Portia, thales, alto, komnene and then finally lundi. They look up at me, a mix of shame and triumphancy in their eyes. I smile, We play this little game every time i get home but it never gets old. I give them all more pats and bring them over to their 'bedroom' . they all line up to receive a bedtime kiss and then curl up in their beds. Komnene lies down next to alto, as she usually does, he gets very anxious easily and komnene is kind of like a mother to him. I pat alto softly on the head again and then leave to go to bed.

i try to open the bedroom door as quietly as i can and change into pijamas.I look over at the bed and see aleksander smiling at me. I grin, i didnt expect him to still be awake. I flop down next to him on the bed and bury my face in the soft , feathery down of his wings. I love them more then anything, theyre incredibly soft and fluffy. This town is full of irregular occurrences, but this is far bigger then any of that. I dont know the way they function or how such a thing is even possible. It defies all logic. Yet here he is. Perhaps these things were more prevalent in the past and this phenomenon is a relic from a more mysterious age, but i have never found answers. I would usually press matters in order to find out everything i can about something i do not know, but this is an exception. I love him just how he is,

"Nightmares again?" i murmur. he nods , "i just couldnt get back to sleep, not without you at least" he says quietly, His soft and melodic, as it always is. I wrap my arms around him and he rests his head on my chest, brushing his long white-blonde hair out of his face as he does. "Do you want to talk about it?" i ask. "You know what it's about , lew" he mumbles. I do know. It's about him, it always is. I trace my finger down the scars on his face, "I can leave if you want.. If it'll make you feel better.." i say but he shakes his head. I hold him closer to me and kiss his cheek. He smiles and kisses me back and i feel my cheeks flush . despite being with him for years, i still get flustered every time he shows affection towards me. I suppose it's from me not really experiencing physical contact with other people for most of my life , and im too shy to ask for any. Even from my surrogate family when i was a child.well, it's not really me being shy , its more of me not wanting to waste anyone's time on myself. "Try to get some sleep, ok?" i whisper .He nods. I stoke his wings softly , they're just so beautiful , i cant help myself. He squeals, "stop! That tickles!" i smile , "fine, fine." and then we snuggle until he falls asleep. It's always hard for me to get to sleep , i can never do it right away and the medicine dosent work very well. So i just use this time to think about things. I look back over at alex and smile. It's a miracle we're even together. A few years ago i couldnt imagine him even sitting in the same room as me, but now, Well.. im just thankful that things changed.. I rest my head on the soft down of alexander's wings until i eventually fall asleep too.