Fey

Part 1

Akemi Jacobs closed his eyes, holding his arms out wide and his wings with them. He smiled as he felt the wind rush through his shaggy black hair and catch under his black and purple wings. When he opened them, he was soaring over Silver Falls, a town named for the large waterfall to its south. He came to a stop and flapped his wings, keeping him in the air, high above the city. He was naked. Clothes caused too much drag. He took a deep breath, feeling the moonlight on his skin. His father had scolded him about flying at night. With wings that were mostly black, he couldn't be seen very well. But that didn't matter to Akemi. He was just happy to be away from it all. He needed a break from people. And the quiet of the skies above Silver Falls calmed his mind. As he saw the horizon start to brighten and color, he pulled his wings around him, falling into a nosedive. He smiled, unfurling his wings as he navigated back to his cozy, two-story house in the residential area towards the edge of town. He landed on the inside of the tall fence that guarded the perimeter of his family's land and put on his robe, which he'd hung over one of the lawn chairs sitting around a glass table. He didn't like the way it restrained his wings, but he'd learned to live with it. 

His father, Kenneth, was in the kitchen, wearing his hospital uniform, when Akemi walked in. "Oh, hey, Dad." He tried to scurry up the stairs, but Kenneth called to him. "Aki, come on back down." Akemi sighed and stayed in the stairwell long enough to release his wings from the robe, wrapping it around his waist and tying it securely. He walked into the kitchen, picking up an apple from the bowl on the counter. "You were out flying, I take it?" Akemi nodded. "I'm a Fey, Dad, I need to fly. My wings aren't just decorations." Kenneth sighed and took a sip of his coffee. "I know that, but you shouldn't be flying at night. What if you got sucked into a plane engine or something?" Akemi rolled his eyes. "Planes around here fly at between 15 and 35,000 feet. I tend to stay closer to five thousand. Best winds, but not so high that I'm in danger." Kenneth pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why can't you just fly during the day? Why do you insist on flying at night?" Akemi squinted. "So I can fly naked? Do you have any idea how restrictive clothing is? I like flying free. And I go so fast that if someone sees me, I'm just a blur." 

Kenneth set down his coffee cup. "I know, I know. I can't understand because I don't have wings. I just worry about you." Akemi smiled. "I know, Dad." Kenneth checked his watch. "I have a twenty-four-hour shift today. There's money on the coffee table for dinner when you get hungry. Have a good day at school." He walked around the kitchen island and kissed Akemi's forehead before picking up his keys. "I love you, Aki." Akemi smiled. "Love you, too, Dad." After Kenneth left for work, Akemi went upstairs and got ready for school. He got dressed in a pair of battered jeans and a baggy green shirt that had a large hole in the back that tied at the small of his back. His pants were high-waisted to compensate for the open design of the shirt. He tied the shirt, stretching out his wings a bit to settle it against his skin. He fixed his hair in the bathroom mirror, taking a moment to admire himself. He was a fifty-fifty mix of Japanese and Caucasian. He had a nearly perfectly symmetrical face with almond-shaped eyes, which were a rich amber-orange. His lips were full but perfectly proportioned to his face, so far as the cheerleading team said. Being a gay guy on a team of women certainly had its benefits, first and foremost, the best skin care routines. Akemi was nineteen and had never had a single pimple. As a Fey, he was incapable of growing hair anywhere but his eyebrows and the top of his head. He dragged his fingers across his spotless cheeks, smiling. He brushed his hair before shaking his head so that it sat messily, just the way he liked it. After picking up his orange messenger bag, he walked downstairs and slipped on his tennis shoes. 

The flight to school was uneventful, carrying his messenger bag under him as he soared over the city. What was a half-hour drive for Humans was a five-minute flight for a Fey. He flapped his wings, slowly making his descent, as two other Fey were walking into the school. He fluttered his wings and settled his bag on his shoulder, walking into the school. Akemi's wings weren't small by any means. Completely unfurled, tip to tip, they spanned twice his height. And when they were folded up against his back, his wingtips hovered just barely above the ground. Under the harsh white lights, his orange-amber eyes almost glowed, and his black feathers seemed to shift between shades of dark greens and blues. He loved the way his wings looked under these lights, and he wished he could see how they looked from behind, with those primary and secondary covert feathers that were this intense blue-purple.