Bird of a Wing (Bow 1)

Chapter 6

It was late. There was no window in the small room which was Ryraso's cabin, and he could see no light coming through the edges of his door. He had gone to bed alone but there was now someone in the room with him. A shadow straddling his thighs and looming over him with large wings which covered the room. The room was only big enough for a double bed and even then it touched three of the sides of the room. Anyone else would have been scared or yelled for an alarm but Ryraso knew this man.

Ryraso knew his scent, the way his wings folded and the way shadows cast across his face in the dark of the night. He lifted a hand and cupped the man's cheek gently. "Nel'os," he murmured with a gentle smile on his face, still partly asleep. "You're not meant to be here," he scolded teasingly.

"Ry," Nel'os breathed, leaning down to press their foreheads together for a moment. "I missed you," he admitted gently, not letting his voice get too loud. Ryraso wasn't sure if the k'nairi didn't want to break the gentleness of the moment or just didn't want to be caught. Last thing Ryraso remembered, Nel'os had been in the brig.

"I miss you too but I'm not helping you out if Taidra finds out you've slipped his cage," Ryraso chuckled, trying not to let a tear roll, suddenly feeling about to cry. It was a weird sensation to wake up to something he had not felt in a long time.

"Taidra doesn't scare me," Nel'os smirked as he sat back up again. "This room is small," he mused, flexing his wings. "You deserve better."

"It's what room we had. At least I have my own cabin. Most share," Ryraso commented softly, knowing what Nel'os was trying to do here. "Can I sit up?" he asked, unable to move with Nel'os straddling him.

"No," Nel'os said plainly, his hands resting on Ryraso's chest. "I like you like this," he hummed before turning more serious. "I want to talk with you Ryraso. I have something to ask you. Something that has been our mind a lot since you left us." His voice hitched as he said us, making Ryraso's heartache.

"You make it sound like it was personal Nel. It never was, you know that," Ryraso gently pointed out, shifting slightly so he was more comfortable.

"I know," Nel'os breathed. "Still hurt, though. All of us Ryraso. We..." he paused and looked away for a moment. "Even now we would never hurt you. While you leaving was not personal, you did do something which certainly felt like it was Ry."

A tear dropped from Nel'os's face onto Ryraso. Ryraso frowned and reached up again to comfort Nel'os. "Nel..."

Nel'os grabbed his wrist and pinned it above his head. "No Ryraso. You did this, you can live with it a little while," he sneered, the effect ruined slightly as he sniffed. The big bad k'nairi not quite able to pull off being an arrogant jerk. Nel'os was not the type of k'nairi who was about to pin down someone and intimidate someone. Tai'ray and Dyn'ad could and had, but Nel'os was only making Ryraso feel for sorry for the k'nairi. It was almost pitiful.

"What did I do Nel?" Ryraso asked lightly. "What felt personal?"

"You didn't say goodbye," Nel'os croaked. "You said goodbye to Tai'ray and Aw'endo but not us. Me nor Dyn'ad." Nel'os slumped for a moment. "We knew you favoured Tai'ray over us but we would have never let you get as close as you did if we knew..." Nel'os cut himself off, apparently revealing too much. "We thought we were your friends, we thought you cared about us."

Ryraso felt his heart skip a beat as Nel'os reminded him of what had happened. He had forgotten almost, that he had never said goodbye to them.

"I..." Ryraso felt his mouth go dry. Why didn't he say goodbye? He remembered feeling sick after Tai'ray and Aw'endo but was that really a good enough reason? "I'm sorry Nel'os," he breathed.