“I will cherish what we have my entire life,” he whispered, then chuckled. “And that’s a long time.”
“Don’t say things like that,” I whispered. “It makes it sound like… we won’t have each other after this. I have to hope you’ll all survive. I need you all.”
He kissed the top of my head. “I know. Still, I don’t regret saying it.”
“You… okay?” I asked. I felt… something from him, some hesitancy I couldn’t place or name.
He sighed heavily, his chest heaving behind me.
“I recently realized I can’t protect you, not in the way I want to, that Ineedto. I still don’t know exactly what to do with that.”
I had no idea what to say, to reassure him. So, in lieu of words, I turned in his arms and reached up to pull his facedown to mine for a long, deep, tender kiss. After, he rested his forehead on mine.
“Perfection,” he breathed.
“If you want to protect my heart, you’ll come back to me, alive, after all this,” I whispered, not knowing where those words had come from.
“As long as you do too,” he said.
“Deal.”
I rested my head on his chest, and he crushed me close one last time, then we parted and Vyns joined me.
“What do you need, Angel?” he asked. He’d only just started with that nickname and it always made me smile.Hewas the angel. “Your spirit is… cloudy.”
I felt into the strange connection I had with Vyns, a thing of curious sensations. It wasn’t exactly emotions, like what I shared with Myel, but more… vague, though still powerful. Vyns always felt… warm. Though when he was in pain it felt like some out-of-body headache or stomachache. And when he was aroused it felt like sweltering summer rain, those humid days, when the rain brings no relief, only more sultry heat. He said my spirit shone like a sun or star, so me being “cloudy” was probably my anxiety over this coming battle.
“It’s hard to be sunny with so much… uncertainty,” I said as he enfolded me in his arms. Then he flashed out his wings and wrapped them around me too. I loved his wings, white and gold and soft and fluffy and warm.
“Of one thing I am certain,” he whispered. “I love you more than anything. You are my sun and moon. You light my days and my nights.”
I tried to think of some way to express how he felt to me, through my spirit.
“You are my eternal summer’s day,” I whispered, liking that analogy. Then I ruined it, “You make me… hot.”
We both laughed.
That bit of levity made it easier for me to say, “I love you too.” And I hugged him tighter.
And as we stood there in each other’s arms, his spirit flowed into mine, bolstering and strong, unwavering.
“Thank you,” I said with a sigh. “You always give so much.”
“You give too, though I don’t think you see it. It’s often in little ways, but you do it for so many it adds up to a lot. It’s one of the things I love about you.”
He was right, I didn’t see it, but I trusted him. If he said I did stuff like that… then maybe I did and I had no clue about it.
“Right now, you’re giving thousands of people hope for a better future,” he breathed.
Huh… I supposed that was true.
I smiled and felt a sense of ease settle over me.
“There we go, that’s better,” Vyns said with a sigh of his own.
Apparently, the master of foot rubs was also really good at spirit rubs. I didn’t know if that was a thing, but that’s what I was calling it.
He kissed my forehead. I tilted my head back and we shared a deep kiss before he stepped away, gazing at me like I was his entire world. He smiled and left.
