Chapter 22 - Wolf

Iris

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"Valkyre?"
The angel paused in rubbing down his slick black hair over his head with a towel, glancing towards Iris, who sat like a stiff, unmoving statue across from him on the bed, not even looking in his direction, gazing out sightlessly at nothing.
"...Yes?"
Valkyre sighed as he flipped his head back up, running his fingers through the moist hair to push it back from his face. He folded up the damp towel and set it aside.
Iris remained still, and the hunter moved over across the bedsheets to touch the boy's bare shoulder, running his hand over the long, silvery-gray hair, starting to dry out nicely after a similar bout of rubbing with the towel, but still dripping water at the ends.
Iris turn back to him, eyes lowered, not meeting his gaze. Valkyre wasn't sure if he could've stood those gray eyes anyways, at least not right then.
He hadn't spoken a word about the kiss earlier, and everything had suddenly become more awkward between them. ...Then again, were they supposed to be closer?? It was... something he didn't think of that way anymore. ...No, maybe... perhaps he looked to it...? He couldn't stop thinking about the soft, fluttering press of lips on lips, but... His entire life as a solitary bounty hunter denied him any reasoning from the emotions he was feeling. He couldn't...
Valkyre sighed and brushed back the boy's hair from his shoulder, trying to keep his thoughts away. Why did it matter? And anyways, he wasn't really any kind of bounty hunter anymore.
The angel lifted up the soft silvery chain around the boy's neck, the tearstone shuddering and quivering as it was lifted from where it'd been, resting on the boy's bare chest. Valkyre fingered the cool, twisting metal links, trying to ignore the warm but alabaster-white skin beneath him.
He blinked, then let the chain drop. The seal settled down, dully glinting in the pale light. The angel closed his eyes.
He wasn't a bounty hunter anymore. He wasn't really making any money, and his meager stock of food was just about gone. Iris... He and Iris were nothing more than fugitives on the run, living off of whatever was nearby, whatever someone offered them.
...It wouldn't work for much longer. They couldn't keep running forever. ...What was supposed to happen? What could he do, to get out of this mess? He'd plunged in without thinking, and now he had no way out. The state had almost unlimited resources, and the bounty hunters would all like a chance at Iris if they had the opportunity...
He couldn't keep running from them. It was just impossible. ...When would it all end? ...How?
"...Valkyre?"
The angel made an 'mmn' noise in his throat, blinking and focusing on the present again. Iris met his eyes only briefly, and Valkyre gave him a soft, quick smile.
The boy reached up and touched the other's hand, which'd been resting just above his shoulder. "...What is it?"
Iris didn't reply at first, but he rubbed his fingers along the black-tattooed back of the angel's hand, then pulled it near the crook of his neck, hair pushed away. Valkyre stared down at his hand as Iris pulled his fingers away. It rested over the bat tattoo.
"...Valkyre..."
The angel didn't reply, but his fingers twitched slightly and his brows drew closer together, uneasy.
"...Can you do... another one?"
Valkyre blinked, dark violet eyes at attention, sharp.
"-Why?" His voice came out low but quick, almost demanding.
Iris only smiled, eyes lowered, not seeing him. "...A wolf," he murmured quietly.
The angel paused, then tipped the boy's chin up, making the gray pools of eyes look back at him through the dulled silver bangs.
"...Why, Iris? Why do you want these...?"
The boy blinked slowly, hands running up and pulling at Valkyre's fingers, the angel immediately dropping his hand. Iris smiled faintly, running his small, thin fingers over the black crescents and curling vines.
"...It..."
The boy sighed, almost inaudibly, then leaned over and rested against Valkyre, closing his eyes and lowering his head, arm wrapped around the angel's side. "...It helps," he murmured. "...Like you..."
His words trailed off as he looked back up, leaving the end open for Valkyre to fill in.
The hunter frowned, touching the back of his hand to the flitting bat tattoo. "...I-I don't know... ...I don't like this, Iris."
The boy only smiled and nodded slightly, closing his eyes again.
Valkyre sighed in exasperation, knowing it pointless but still asking, "...Are you sure?"
Iris didn't reply, and the angel sat quietly with the boy leaning against him for a while longer, running his fingers through the wet ends of the silvery-gray hair. It was drying out slowly, and even in the dim lighting, it was much prettier cleaned and brushed out, draping down the boy's back whisper-soft and smooth, surreal.
After a while, he sighed and slowly pushed himself away, pulling out the black, tipped pen from the knapsack at the edge of the bed.
"...You said... a wolf?"
Iris didn't reply, but he smiled lightly and turned his back, pulling over his hair and draping it over his left shoulder. Valkyre paused, then moved up closer and touched the smooth skin over the right shoulder blade. Opposite from the bat. "...Here?"
Iris remained silent, so Valkyre started, breathing on the tip of the pen to get the ink flowing. The angel was more careful this time, keeping the lean, thickly-furred form of the running wolf small and concentrated. The ink was dark and sank down into the white skin instantly, rush of black on a clean canvas, and the fur and legs grew longer, more elaborate and detailed.
He stopped, pulling away, and quickly set the pen back.
"...Iris..." Valkyre shook his head, frowning. "...This isn't..." The angel closed his eyes, but the boy had paid no heed to his words, and only crawled up next to him, making the hunter relax some and eventually sneak under the blankets, pulling them up over both of them, Iris curled up around him, small body warm and delicate, at ease.
"...It's okay," he whispered quietly.
Valkyre reached around and flicked out the light, sighing and tucking in the blankets around them. It was a bit embaressing for him to be like this, for him to feel the press of warm skin and a fluttering, beating heart near his own, but it was also soothing, and somehow comfortable, despite whatever ran under the boy's pale surface.
He wanted to say something more; to say how much he was sorry, to ask a million questions, to make promises and to reassure, but Iris' breathing was calm and slow near him, small fingers curled up, legs tucked under.
Iris was already asleep.

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AN: Gawd, I'm so sorry, it's been so long since the last update. I haven't given up on Iris, not by a long shot, but, it's just, I've been working on other stuff lately... Eheheh.
I've been working on an earlier-abandoned website layout of mine, and I've been hammering out the html these past days. XD I'm bad at it, but it's rather soothing and kind of fun, so....
Sorry though, and the website's mostly functional and to my satisfaction, so hopefully there'll be more time for Iris. :)
But as well, I've gotten less free time overall now that the third marking period's on to me, and I've got tons of schoolwork... [the most ironic of which is from my visual arts class, which I now thoroughly abhore] but, uhrm, yah.
Please remain patient, I've got some plotting to do for Iris, but stuff should be happening soon! ...I-I just need a way to get it to happen... X3
Anyway, this chapter was a bit random and stuffed with pointless fluff [mostly!] but it's there, and it took me a while to proof-read But, well, it's chapter 22! This is my longest story ever, more than Nocte now, officially!
So thanks a lot to everyone for the comments, and please keep them up, because I need the support to continue! Thank you!

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