Deicide

February 5 23xx

"I'm gonna take a shower, don't do anything dumb." Silas grabbed a towel and some clothes from Eden's locker.

"Well, I could always come and you could watch me." Eden shrugged and smiled up at him.

Silas stayed quiet, and neither of them spoke or moved for an entire six seconds.

"Joke. It was a joke." Eden curled in on himself a little.

"Oh." Silas frowned a little and turned to face the bathroom.

"Unless you'd be fine with that, in which case it wasn't a joke?" Eden moved to the end of the bed.

Silas let out a small huff of air. "How about we settle on it being acceptable for you to see me naked, when you remember what I look like without clothes."

Eden could feel a pink heat set in his cheeks. He hadn't thought about it much before, but Silas had already taken Eden's shirt off and pulled his pants down. Silas had been wearing the same sweatshirt and shorts since they had found him, and Eden hadn't gotten to see anything under them. He hadn't even seen Silas' bare arms yet. Speaking of shirts, he pulled his off and let his wings out, stretching them before laying on his back. If he slept with the intention of remembering something specific, maybe he'd be able to remember it.

He closed his eyes, steadied his breath, and thought about Silas.

And he opened them again when he felt the bed creak. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up." Silas was at the end of the bed, wearing a plain gray shirt and a pair of Eden's sweatpants.

"Oh no worries." Eden sat up and quickly folded his wings back in.

"You don't have to do that." Silas scooted closer to Eden.

"Oh, well, y'know, I just thought, sorry." Eden let his wings back out of his tattoo and rolled his shoulders.

"You don't have to apologize, I just want you to be comfy." Silas sat closer to Eden. He watched Eden's wings for a while, and Eden slowly started tucking them behind his back. When Silas noticed, he looked at Eden. "Sorry, I just," Silas looked down at his lap.

"Just what?"

Silas cleared his throat.

"Silas?" Eden moved closer to him. "You don't have to say it if you don't want to." Eden lifted his left arm, rolled his shoulders again, and set a hand on his leg. "Although I would like to know."

"Well, you used to get really, um, your back. Would get sore, often. And, I mean, if you were okay with it, I could, you know. That is, because I used to, you know, and I just noticed that you seemed sort of-"

"Alright." Eden tested pressing on his chest. When he didn't feel anything above mild discomfort, he laid on his chest in front of Silas.

"Alright?"

"Go ahead and do your thing. You're right, my back does hurt. So, if you want to, go ahead." Eden folded his arms under his chin and rolled his shoulders again.

"Oh, right." Silas leaned over Eden a little and set a hand at the base of Eden's spine and worked his way up, hitting every spot with accuracy and the perfect level of pressure.

"Woah."

"Sorry, I didn't hurt you did I?"

"No, it's just. . . that's perfect." Eden smiled softly.

Silas hummed, kneading Eden's back on the outsides of his wings. Then he moved to the top of Eden's back. Eden couldn't help but notice how Silas avoided the area in between his wings.

After Silas went back over most of Eden's back another time, he began to idly stroke Eden's back. "I'm not trying to be picky or anything, but really just wondering if there's a specific reason as to why you avoid-"

"Between them?" Silas chuckled. "There's not really a wholesome way to put it, but," Silas worked his wording out in his head. "It's kind of a sensitive spot for you."

"Sensitive?"

"Yes." Silas continued to knead around Eden's back. "And no, I will not demonstrate."

Eden let out a small sound but laid still. "So you did this often before."

"That didn't seem like a question."

"It wasn't."

Silas was quiet for a second. "So, how much do you remember?"

"Not nearly as much as I'd like to. But enough to know you." Eden spoke with a sort of confidence that Silas found familiar.

"Really? What's my favorite color?"

"Blue, but darker shades."

"Lucky number?"

"Twenty-three, same as mine."

"Favorite food?"

"You don't have one. You're not picky."

"How long can I hold my breath for?"

"Nine minutes and forty-seven seconds."

"What day did we meet each other on?"

"When we both first arrived at that place. It was a Tuesday."

"What's my species?"

"You're a Human."

"And yours?"

"I'm a-" Eden stopped.

"Eden?" Silas pulled his hands back and leaned down next to Eden's head. "Eden."

Eden shook his head. "I don't know."

"It's okay." Silas wrapped his right arm around Eden's shoulders, and kept his left hand near Eden's face. "It's alright. You'll remember." Silas wrapped himself around Eden to the best of his ability, staying clear of his wings.

Eden simply resituated and wrapped his left wing around Silas.

"Wow."

"Hm?" Eden looked over at him. "Sorry, is it too-"

"No, it's wonderful. Warm and soft." Silas stroked the inside of Eden's wing.

"I never did this before?" Eden adjusted his arms and head to face Silas.

"No, you knew that your wings came from the Lab, so you hid them a lot of the time."

"Hm, do you like. . . this?"

"What do you mean by this? Your wings? Yes, I think they're beautiful and soft." Silas pressed his cheek to the inside of Eden's wing. "I understand why you don't flaunt them or anything, but I do want you to know that they're wonderful. There's no reason for you to hide them." Silas stuck an arm out from under Eden's wing and set it on his back.

"What if someone recognizes me?" Eden shifted to move closer to Silas.

"I'm sure no one will. The people on that planet are kind of run down, most of them wouldn't want to go anywhere else."

"Oh, speaking of that, the man that got us to you. He was part of a Chaol group, and he had your name on a hit list."

"Tons of people probably want us dead. If not for a personal reason, then for the money."

"I thought you said we wouldn't be recognized."

"We won't. We're famous near there, in the planets that are a few hours at most away. This is a week-long trip. No one will be looking for us."

"Alright."