Passenger

Chapter 3

Turns out that I don't need sleep. At all. Which led to several hours of me meandering about the house – at least, as far as I could get away from Krys, which was about fifteen feet. So once I got bored, I just spaced out for a while.

So by the time morning had come, I was floating upside-down in front of Krys' bed, staring vacantly at the bookshelf on the wall and trying to read the titles upside down. Once sunlight began filtering through the window, I heard Krys begin to shift and stir, mumbling something to himself.

Then Krys suddenly sat up. I glanced over at him to see the Avian had sat up and was staring at me with a quizzical expression.

I grinned and waved at him. "morning. How'd you sleep?" Krys just cocked his head to the side. "oh, don't worry. I'm a ghost, so it's not like I can get a headache or anything."

Krys got to his feet, adjusting his hair and smoothing out his shirt before turning to the door. I followed him out the room as he went back into the main room. Leif was already there, busy making some food in the small kitchen.

My brother turned towards Krys as he heard the Avian's footsteps in the hall. "well, you're up earlier than I thought you'd be." Leif remarked, smiling. "hungry? I'm making some sausage and eggs. Not the best, but they're pretty good."

Wordlessly, Krys sat down on one of the stools at the table as Leif brought over a plate of piping-hot sausage and a few scrambled eggs. I couldn't smell the food or feel the heat coming off of it, but I could see the steam rising off of it. I hadn't known my little brother to be a chef, but the food didn't look half bad. I guess he'd learned to cook after all.

I watched as Krys stabbed a piece of sausage with his fork, biting and chewing it, then taking a bite of the eggs as well. the Avian took on a funny expression, and I floated above him curiously. "so, how is it? any good?"

Mouth still full, Krys nodded eagerly. Leif saw him and smiled. "glad you like it! mind if I join you?"

Krys nodded again. Leif made a plate for himself and sat down across from the Avian, beginning to shovel food in his mouth as well. I had to stifle a snicker as I watched the two of them eat in silence. Funny how two total strangers could bond over good food.

Once the two of them had made a sizeable dent in their plates, Leif leaned over towards Krys. "so, Krys. If you don't mind me asking, how did you end up down here?" he questioned. "did you come down from the islands?"

Slowly, Krys nodded. He looked hesitant. "I...fell." He replied; the same answer he had given me the night before.

"fell?" Leif raised an eyebrow, chewing another piece of egg. "like, down from the islands? That's not exactly a fall people survive, you know." When Krys didn't elaborate, my brother sighed. "alright, what happened to your wings? Can you tell me that?"

Krys hesitated again. "they were removed." He replied finally.

"removed? Like, cut off?" Leif looked horrified. "why? Was it something you did?"

"...yeah."

I groaned. "Krys, are you seriously just gonna answer everything in three words or less?" I complained, glaring at him. "he's been really helpful, you know! The least you could do is be forthcoming!"

If Krys heard me, he didn't react. Leif, unlike me, took a gentler approach. "you really aren't gonna tell me much about why you're down here, huh?" he said aloud, shaking his head. "alright, then. I'll stop trying to pry. But at the very least, will you tell me anything about yourself? Or do you want to know anything about me?"