Tortoise and Fox [BL]

3.22

"You saved me."

"Eli," a familiar voice called, "are you there?"

Eli's fingers twitched. His forehead pressed against a warm chest. A breeze hit the back of his neck; the smell of sweet pinks and light buds paired with cinnamon. Warm hands held his shoulders, pushing him away. Eli's feet wobbled. His eyelids twitched.

"Wait. Don't open your eyes yet," Aisultan said.

"Is it... day already?"

Aisultan didn't respond, walking Eli over. He stepped forward with careful steps, each foot sinking into soft grass padding. Eli pressed a smile to his face with a difficult intensity, voice coming out odd.

"How–how was the ball?"

"Open your eyes, Eli," Aisultan responded, soft-spoken, in his left ear, "I haven't gone to any ball, yet."

His voice vibrated, almost gravelly in his left ear.

With a confused noise, Eli blinked his eyes open, crimson coloring his iris as they widened. Crystal, so crystalline blue it was as if the sky itself was shattered and pieced back together, surrounding him. The ice sprouted from an old, rotting trunk, intertwined with its dark, greying bark and shot up into flowering branches that reached to the moon, before drooping down.

"You once told me that... the trees at Alyssa's gardens were planted especially for you."

Aisultan stepped into Eli's peripheral from the side, the ice falling away to reveal his formal suit, handsome, unruffled, and exactly as Eli had seen–but through the majesty of meeting his squinted moles and unperturbed smile.

Eli met his eyes, stunned.

Aisultan's silver hair was braided into a stunning crown, the crystal light dancing atop each strand in fae-like wisps. His pale lips curled up. "So I thought it fit best to make one here, too."

He extended his arm. Beyond Aisultan, stood the crystal tree, the starless sea above, and the massive, overhanging moon above all else.

Eli looked down, scrambling to pat his chest and hair, his cuffed sleeves and tie–all of it pristine. His eyes boiled hot, tears brimming with a rosy flush.

"You... and Elijah planned this?"

"Yes. Above all, Elijah knew you were upset about not being able to go."

"And you," his voice wavered, as he gestured over with numb, gloved fingers at the tree, "created this?"

"I dabbled," he joked, "but yes. While you spent most hours in your shop, I worked on it. I figured you'd want a tree somewhat like the blossoms in Alyssa's midnight gardens that you could gaze upon in the day, even if it isn't quite alive. And one more thing, Eli dear."

Eli somehow managed to bob his head, unable to speak else he'd choke out a sniffle.

"Elijah told me to relay this word for word. He said only you would understand. Um, 'I've left it in your left inner sewn pocket. Do with it what you'd like."

In that instant, the stars absent from the sky glittered, shining crimson within Eli's eyes. He stepped forward as he reached into his pocket, heart knocking fast and slow and fast again, clutching it tight into his palm. He exhaled, relaxing his fist.

"Elijah's going to be more than exhausted if we spend any longer together like this. To forcefully swap us...it's like exchanging night and day, it is not natural."

Aisultan's smile faltered, "Will you and he be alright?"

"Yes. He chose this–and Elijah is strong, stronger than I could ever be."