The Tales Of Crowboy The Incredible: Of Ink and Power

Chapter Seventeen

"How stoned are you?" A voice asked, like the Cheshire Cat smiling into the dark, their teeth glinting. "You barely even walked up the staires. I don't know how you got that past your little nanny or your mom." I sighed, bracing my brain for the bullshit interaction I was about to have. But my heart kind of jumped and smiled and fluttered with the idea of it as well.

The night was Jacob had been fun. We basically just smoked. Talked about school and shit. I met a few of their friends, and so now I have a few more friend of friends. None of them stood out to as a close friend, except for maybe Matthew. Matthew was defenitly an egg though. No doubt about it. I enjoyed it. All I remember is getting home by teleporting and texting Salliman that I was in fact teleporting home.

One thing tho is that they talked a lot of shit about Ginger and Evie and Owen. Ginger and Evie just because there was no reason, and Owen because they hated everyone who wasn't a legacy. It was also very stressful to keep up the lie that I was in fact a Legacy. Not very difficult, because I was high and I could just be like "oh I'm high". But stressful.

"What do you want, Zain?" I rolled my eyes. "How did you even get passed Mama?" Zain was my......situationship. There was a point in time where I loved them and wanted them and only them. (I'm polyamorous, just by the way. So haha, fuck you normies. I like lots of people.) Zain was beautiful. And I loved them in a way I loved smoking. It was absolutely horrible, but I've become addicted to being with them and around them.

Zain was the reason everything that happened months ago happened. I ran after the friend group for no reason, other than me being dumb. Zain and I were kind of dating at the time, so when I got upset, I called them. Turns out, they were part of this group called Pures. Their parents actually ran it. So, their Dad tried to cut my wings off. Actually, most of them were cut off. But yeah. Zain also ended up shooting Hudson. They got scared cause they saw that their family was dead, and so boom boom bam. And then Hudson was dead.

Zain was also kind of fucking insane, and I mean that in the least ableist way possible. After that night, the first time I saw them was when they snuck into my fucking hosiptal and demanded to be with me. And I went with them. Because love. And deep down in my heart, I rally did love them. A lot.

"Are you cranky, baby? I thought you were done smoking." I fell into my bed, and they followed after me.

"I was done smoking. I just wanted to have a little fun tonight." Fuzzy memories of hours earlier flitted through my brain. Passing the joint. Drinking some stolen booze. Other various illegal things that I could do to change my mind up.

"Well, don't do anything really stupid. I don't want you to get hurt." They took my hand and kissed it gently. There had been converstions about my smoking before. They really hated it, but knew that it was just a coping device for me.

"How have you been lately?" I liked talking to them. After the inital resentment faded away, we could have a fun time. Zain was alright to talk to. They did actually care. And I did care about them. To a certain level. I just....didn't know how to go further. And I didn't even really wanted to go further.

"Good. I got to visit Zia for a little today." Zia was his twin sister. So, you know, shit was a little awkward.

"Did it go well? Is she being nicer to you, or is it the same?"

"The same, but there was a little bit of progress. She still blames me for everything that happened, but now we talk about Mom and Dad a little bit." From what I know, Zia and Zain had always had a rocky relationship. But since the accident, it had gotten worse, as one would expect. Zain was permitted to see her from time to time, and they've decided that if they would do anything good in their life, it would be to reconnect with their sister.

"That's good. She cares about you, you know." They shifted their way so that they were laying on my chest. I placed my hand gently on their head. "She just doesn't know how to move on after the accident. None of us do."

"Yeah, but that was five months ago. You've seemed to grow up and I have and everyone else has moved on and for whatever reason she just... can't." Zain huffed. Sometimes I can't beileve that it was five months ago. I spent like, one and a half of those basically dying. And then just recovering from the rest of that. And Zain had just kind of.... floated around.

"Sometimes we don't know how to move on from something like that, babe. It hurt everyone in the house that night, and Zia hasn't gone through something like that, ever. You know that, right? They just need a little more time." I said gently. Zain could be a little bit.. emotionally self centered.

"But they've had time. So much time. And you're the one who practically died, and we're still happy." Happy doesn't seem like a good adjective to descibe us. But yeah. I don't know.

"Do I have consent to touch you?" Zain asked suddenly, shocking me a little bit. We had been pretty PG for the last couple months, and I was happy with that. We had had sex once, and it made me feel so absolutely horrible.

"No. I don't think so. Not tonight." I haven't talked about this the last few chapters, but most of the spell that made me into a boy hadn't worn off. I had my boobs, yeah, and my height had gone back to normal. But my voice was still deeper, and I still had the... you know. My monkey. But now I had become somewhat used to it, which was why it had become less and less of a thing to talk about. Plus, there were more pressing things to talk about now.

"C'mon. Please. I really want to." Zain said, and put their hands on my chest. A memory of their dad putting their hands on my bare chest whispered in my mind.

"Zain, I'm serious. No. I don't want to." I said, and got out of the bed. "And I don't want to wake up my Mom. It might be.... loud."

"Oh, it's cause you're high. I get it. But trust me, you wouldn't regret it. But I understand. Just don't wake up your Mom. Don't be weird." Oh yeah, cause I'm the weird one.

Do anyone of you think that like, this is weirder? Or illegal? Should I be worried? At this point, I've gotten to used to people doing really really shitty things to me, and I don't know how else to deal with people.

"I do really love you. I hope you can feel that everywhere on your skin that I do really and truley love you." Zain said, and stratled my lap. They tried to kiss me-long and hard- but my lips weren't cooperating. I wanted to kiss them to. But for now, I couldn't bring myself to it.

"Zain, I'm too high for this, alright." I pushed their chest away from mine, and they sat on my thighs and pouted.

"That schools changed you babe." They flipped their hair out of their eyes. "You're different now. You're acting like a Celestial. You smoke more and you never talk to me and everything is different now. I don't like it."

"If safer for me now, you know." I said, trying to unhigh myself so I don't say something dumb or impulsive because I do really love Zain but right now they resemble so much pain and so much truama I don't know how to work them into my life. "And I love you too. I'm just growing up. You're 16. You're growing up too. But I'm doing my part of growing up right now and some of it I'm not going to need or want you around for, because this is messy and dirty and a little painful."

"You're not allowed to be so mature without me, alright." They said, and kissed me on the forehead. "I get it. I'm going to go now, okay. See you in a few weeks, alright. Gotta do a few legal things." They hesitated. "How's Lennon doing, by the way?"

"He's fine- what legal things? Are you okay?" The Lennon thing didn't really bother me, even though it was out of character for Zain.

"Don't worry about it. I love you."

"I love you too." I said, but they had already teleported out of the room, leaving me alone, stoned, confused, and too tired to want to go to bed.