Unlikely Friends: Chapter 6

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Soft grey predawn light filtered through the mist that clung to the pasture outside the barn doors. It was early enough that most of the children were still asleep, but not so late that Milarose felt the need to get up and do his chores yet. He lay in the soft, dry bedding of his nest listening to the steady breathing of the children in the stalls and the hayloft, but his attention kept returning to Icarus where the kainu rested in that dark corner. 

Icarus had been with them for a week now, and the more he learned about the other drakiri, the more intrigued he was. Milarose didn’t think there was anyone else in the whole world that had travelled as much as this kainu, or seen as many wonderful things. Icarus had a way of describing things he had come across that let Milarose see them in his mind’s eye, like Icarus had painted them a portrait. 

When the children were about ready to settle in for bed, they had taken to asking Icarus for a story, and the kainu was happy to oblige. It was almost as much a treat to watch Icarus tell his stories as it was to hear them. More than once, Icarus had become so animated that he stood up and reared, kicking his forelegs for emphasis during stories of fights he had seen between great beasts out in the wild. 

His favorite times, though, were when Icarus thought no one was watching him. The kainu’s expression would change entirely, sobering and appearing almost grief-stricken. It proved to Milarose that the kainu was more than what he presented, that there was something more to learn about that secret side of Icarus Sinbad. 

Milarose turned onto his back to look up at the barn ceiling, rubbing his fingers lightly over the scales on his own chest. He remembered being touched there, feeling the warmth of another lying beside him, murmuring promises in his ear, soothing his fears and anxieties. But that memory had been poisoned. Instead of warm brown eyes watching him lovingly and hands helping to guide him on the path they walked together, Milarose only saw the hateful expression on his lover’s face, condemning him for things he had not done. He had tried so hard to work through their problems, but what he gave, his lover would take and then some. It was never enough, and Milarose never received anything in return. 

Thinking about these things made Milarose sick to his stomach. He knew he’d done nothing wrong, he knew he had allowed himself to be manipulated and abused for too long out of fear of being alone, but still the anxiety and surety that he had been the cause of their break up because he couldn’t be good enough plagued him. 

He rolled over once more, facing the wall this time, knowing he wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep but finding some small comfort in feeling closed in. A few moments later, he heard footsteps on the bedding beside him and he assumed it was one of the children coming to lie with him after a bad dream. But when the other drakiri laid down, the scent that lingered belonged to Icarus. 

“Why?” Milarose asked, his voice hardly above a disgruntled whisper. 

“I wanted some company,” Icarus murmured as he made himself comfortable. “You looked like you could use some. Was I wrong?” 

Milarose held his tongue. Icarus was as bold as he was eclectic, but he meant well. 

“I don’t know if I trust you,” Milarose said quietly.

“You could break me in half if you had half a mind to,” Icarus murmured. “And you don’t have to trust me to enjoy my company.” 

Silence stretched between them for long enough that Milarose thought Icarus must have fallen asleep, but the other asked once more in a voice that suggested he was actually doubting himself, “Was I wrong?” 

Milarose considered again and he closed his eyes before he finally said, “No.” 

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