• "Over there is the Luria's star. See?"

    He watched the little head of blue nod in affirmation, golden eyes filled with a childish light.

    There were only two boys in the meadow tonight, one being a brunette thirteen-year-old with black eyes, wearing a brown short-sleeved t-shirt over a cream long-sleeved t-shirt and black pants, leaning up against a tree. The other was a six-year-old, much-smaller-than-average child with sapphire-blue hair, wearing a white shirt with golden trimming and black shirts all beneath a white cloak, held close to the older boy.

    "And that one right there is Incendius. Kinda matches him, huh?"

    Another nod. The young teen smiled softly, pulling the little boy closer. Big golden eyes looked up at black ones and vice versa, their gazes locking. Small little hands reached up for brown hair (or was it his face?), missing it by a mere centimeter.

    "Ru-Ru," the little boy whined, trying to turn so that he was facing the older boy, who only hummed in question. The six year old nuzzled into his chest, looking up at him again.

    "What is it, Alex?" the brunette asked, threading his fingers through the soft blue hair. But the child didn't respond, nuzzling back into his chest, giggling by now. Then he stood up and scuttled out of the older boy's arms, snagging his wrist and tugging him forward.

    "Ru-Ru," he whined again, trying to pick the much-bigger body up as best he could. "Come... !"

    "Alright, alright. I'm coming."

    The teen laughed as he picked himself off, dusting away the grass on his pants and following the little energetic boy over to a field of yalurias, a beautiful white flower with four wide petals and small specks of green that glowed brightly in the night. It was a strange flower that, according to text, only lit up in the presence of an angel. He'd never seen one glow ever, only watched as Alex happily enjoyed running through them and eventually lay among them.

    "Hey, careful; you're gonna get your clothes all dirty," the teen warned, watching the blue-haired child quickly sit up, cloak billowing in the gentle breeze. Said boy was about to open his mouth and say something, but he quickly shut it when he was aware of it. The brunette looked slightly sad but shrugged it off, only initiating a fun game of tag that got the child squealing and running away in a hurry.

    "Noooo, Tohru! You're too big!"

    "Oh? I'm definitely gonna get you now!"

    He had rescued the strange child a long while ago, almost a year. He had been so frightened, had refused any sort on contact. Now that seemed to be all Alex wanted as he constantly explored and learned.

    He'd been so happy to watch him turn back into the child he should have always been. He still didn't quite know everything about the boy, such as why he'd had that aversion to touch or why his health had deteriorated to such an alarming level. Alex never seemed to want to be in the same room as Tohru's father, and he almost always clung to his mother and himself.

    Then there were times where the child just collapsed, where he just seemed to hurt far too badly to be considered normal. They had called the doctor a few times, but all that had been found was a simple fever.

    "Gotcha!"

    "No!"

    Tohru snagged Alex roughly in a trapping embrace, going overly dramatic and doing something of a summersault while protecting the young child. He nuzzled into the back of his neck, listening to the happy cries and struggles of freedom.

    But then the child suddenly froze, startled by something. Before Tohru could ask, Alex squirmed out of his grasp and flopped on the ground, little arms around their owner. The teen didn't have a chance to ask before two small, pure white wings sprouted out of his back.

    He didn't know what to say. Onyx-black eyes stared in awe at them, the brunette already reaching to touch them. However, the child saw and cried out, frantically scrambling away from him and huddling in a frightened, shaking little ball.

    "I-I didn't mean to!" he whined, tears spilling down his face. "I-I didn't... ! I won't do it again!"

    Tohru felt sick, daring to approach the damaged child. But Alex only scrambled back away, shaking even more violently, golden eyes watching in fear. The teen knew he'd had to have been beaten to get some of those discolorations on his skin, but to what extent was what truly peaked his interest. How badly was the child damaged? He was shattered on the inside, hiding behind a well-created shield against pain. But being beaten over something like wings... not to mention what they could be hinting at... that wasn't right.