✓ wings -narry au-

5

Your life's about to start and you just don't know when.

the bar

Niall was 19 years old when Harry came back. He was at his favorite bar on Halloween night and everyone was in a costume. He himself was dressed as a skeleton, black and white face paint nearly smearing with the heat. He didn't know it was Harry he saw from across the bar, but he knew he was good looking and he was dressed as a bird with a mask and bright white wings.

He had white ears atop his head that reminded him of a mouse. It was a bright headband and Niall couldn't help but laugh because the kid didn't even have his costume aligned and he still stood out against the crowd.

He looked down at his hands and the bartender approached him carrying a pink drink. He looked at the older man that never got his order wrong. It was never too late to mess up, apparently. "Didn't order this, Rory."

"Don't attack me, Horan. Guy with the wings ordered it for you. Wanted me to give you a message."

Niall leaned over to look at him. He was facing him but it was hard to tell if he was looking. The guy pushed his long hair away from his eyes and then waved at him like he was excited. Niall pretended he wasn't captivated. He looked at Rory with skepticism. "What's his message?"

"Lovely is my life and honest is your word."

He shook his head away from the drink. "Why is it glowing pink?"

"My Barbie Drink. Asked for it specifically."

"Never heard of that before in my life."

Rory dropped the drink in front of him and walked away without a glance his way. Niall looked at the long haired guy who was still facing him. He was sitting with his back properly straight, a glass of water in front of him. His hands were folded on the counter like he was a patient boy waiting for a teacher to give him instructions. Niall lifted an eyebrow and picked up his hand to wave gently at him, mostly to check if he was looking at him.

The man waved back energetically before arranging his mask and standing from his seat, turning back and waving a hand toward him.

Looking between him and the drink, Niall guessed he had nothing better to do than to hook up with someone. He got off his chair, said goodbye to a stressed Rory, and followed the cat-like man who moved slowly through the crowd.

It wasn't until the man opened the front doors that he knew who he was, and he ran to reach him. He stumbled outside and turned to see the badly costumed boy leaning against the brick of the bar. "Harry," he breathed out. "It's you, isn't it?"

"Yet you looked so confused," his hands went to pull the mask from his face, his green eyes immediately finding Niall. "Nice drink, right?"

"Didn't try it."

"Neither did I, but the color was really pretty."

"Pretty?" He asked.

Harry smiled and nodded, pushing his hair away from his eyes. Niall wore a smile through it all. It'd been so long since he'd seen him and he was standing in front of him wearing his fake wings, only he got a new, bigger pair. "Pink is my favorite. You like it too."

"How do you know I like pink?"

"I told you you wouldn't see me for a while. Never said I wouldn't be seeing you."

"Stalking me?"

Harry laughed softly. "Guarding you."

Niall slipped a hand in his pocket, fingers grazing his lucky feather and latching onto two cigarettes before offering one to his friend. "Want one?"

He shook his head and reached out to take them both. "I hate that you took the habit. Osiris will have you soon if you keep burning your lungs."

"What do you ever talk about?"

"Lord of the Dead. He goes for the ones that kill themselves first."

Niall shook it off but didn't ask for the Lucky Strikes back. Instead, he looked at Harry and smiled. "They're not fake, are they?"

"Mythology? No, not fake at all."

"The wings," he corrected himself. "They're not fake, are they? That's why you bled that one time one of them broke?"

"When I come down, I need to disguise myself by charming them. They look fake sometimes. Other times they can be charmed into jewelry."

"I wore them once."

"That's why I needed to be watched. Zeus was out that night letting out his aggravation in a productive way and I was seen."

"Shouldn't have anyone touching them?"

"It's a sign of trust that comes only from love, and love between me and a human is forbidden."

Niall nodded but said nothing.

"My fault. I should have been more careful."

He shook his head. "Are you here for good?"

"Saw you crying yesterday."

"How is that important?" His jaw tightened.

"Your grandmother died two weeks before then and it was the fourth time that you cried. Why do you cry for her life more than once though you cry just one time for everything else that's broken?"

"She was my grandmother, Harry. Not an old, broken toy."

"I made sure she died gracefully and after you said your farewells."

He looked up at him under hooded eyes. "She died by your hand?" He always found it in him to talk just as properly as Harry did when he was around. It made him feel mature. But right now he felt betrayed. He was repulsed.

"She died by the hand of Osiris because she was ready to go and things that must go must go. She went delicately and she went willing."

"Willing?"

"Yes. People near death accept it, and when they don't, they don't go gently into-"

"No more of that."

Harry's eyebrows frowned. "No more of what?"

"Whatever you're reciting to me. Is that all you came here for? To ask why I've been mourning the death of my grandmother?"

Harry tilted his head in thought. "You have a lot of boyfriends. I'd like to know about that, too."

Straight to the point with it, Niall thought. His eyes widened. "Just people to help me with my frustrations."

Harry still looked confused.

"They're not important if that's the answer to your question. I see them only once and we don't talk again."

"That's dangerous. You people are vulnerable when it comes to intimacy. Vulnerability is weakness and-"

"So is crying, I've heard it all before. If I'm so weak, why is it that you always come by?"

"Because I like you," he admitted. He looked up at the sky that was beginning to cloud over, letting out a breath. "I should go."

"I'll see you in a few years then."

"You cannot promise me that. But I promise I'll see you everyday until the day we meet again."

"Learn slang while you're stalking me, yeah? It's tiring to listen to you quote Shakespearians."

"Learn Greek and we can talk slang in that language." Harry turned and walked away with his head down, white wings grazing the dirty wall of the bar but not dirtying.