First Flight (19 page)

“Yeah, we did. You okay?” Jesse kissed him on the forehead, then moved back so he could see Chris’s face.

“I’m sleepy,” he said. “Is that okay?”

Jesse kissed him again. “Me too, and yeah, it’s fine. Try to stay awake for another couple minutes, ’cause we need to get cleaned up before we go back to sleep.”

“Oh, yes.” Chris looked along their bodies, his nose wrinkling. A second later, though, he was wiggling backward and then licking at Jesse’s skin.

“What’re you doing?”

“Cleaning up,” Chris said, moving his head a little and licking up another salty smear. “You taste good.”

“That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but if you like it….” He shrugged.

“Am I not supposed to?” He looked up at Jesse.

Jesse put his hand on Chris’s head. “If you like the way it tastes, then go for it. But when you’re done there, I’m gonna go get a towel or something, for the rest of it, okay?”

“Okay, but that didn’t answer my question,” Chris said, poking Jesse’s side, smiling a little as the other man wiggled and made a funny noise.

“There’s no rule about it,” Jesse said, drumming his fingers against Chris’s hair. “I promise.”

“Good.”

A few minutes later, after Jesse had declared them clean enough, Chris kissed him. “I’m glad we did that.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes. It was good, better than mouths and better than just rubbing together. Can we do it again, soon? Is this the season for it? It’s not spring, but people
are
different than birds.” Chris didn’t like the thought of having to wait for joining-season to come around again.

Thank God
. The confirmation that Chris had enjoyed himself lifted a weight from him that Jesse hadn’t realized was there. “We have to wait until we’re ready again, but that’ll take just a little while, like maybe twenty minutes? Maybe a little longer. And no, lucky us, we get to do it whenever we wanna. Or almost, since there’re laws about having sex in public places and stuff.”

“We do?” The possibilities were astonishing. “Is the tree in public?”

“Kind of,” Jesse said, visions of Chris wanting to climb the tree and have sex flashing through his mind. “Uh, you don’t want to, um, try doing it
in
the tree. Do you?”

“I don’t think we
can
,” Chris said, thinking about the way Jesse had moved and the amount of room he’d managed to take up on the bed. “Not enough room. But
by
the tree? This was very good, but it wasn’t
quite
right. There was something missing, at the beginning.”

“Something missing?” Well, true, he hadn’t asked Chris to finger him, but that was because he was in a hurry and because he wasn’t sure Chris would be
willing
. He had thought there had been plenty of kissing and touching, though. “Like what?”

“I’m not sure. I will have to think about it, but now I want to sleep.” Chris yawned and settled, warm and content. Kevin was gone, he’d joined bodies with the one he’d chosen, and the only thing that would keep them from doing it again was being sleepy and not ready for it. “I’m happy you found me,” he murmured.

“Me too, funny bird.” Jesse kissed the top of Chris’s head and closed his eyes.

Epilogue

J
ESSE
kept an eye on his speed as they followed the unplowed length of Collins Road. It was mostly wet and sloppy, but slush turned to ice on the edges and he really didn’t want to go into the ditch.

The music couldn’t go any louder, mostly because the crappy little speakers in the doors would start cutting out. Jesse flicked the knob anyhow, just a bit, pushing the sound system to its limit and glancing to his right.

Chris smiled at him, reaching over and taking Jesse’s hand as he sang along. “Just don’t let go.”

He squeezed Chris’s hand and shook his head, then turned the volume down again. “It’s kind of a safety thing. Do you want to stop?” Jesse lifted their hands and gestured at the old oak tree that stood near the shoulder, a quarter-mile ahead.

“I know, and no—wait! Wait, yes, they’re there!” Chris yanked his hand free and pointed at the dark shapes in the branches. “I will try to be fast.”

“We don’t really have a schedule,” Jesse said, as he pulled off the road. “Is it okay if I get out, too?”

“Of course it is,” Chris said. “You’re mine, and maybe they don’t understand it, but they don’t think it’s
bad
, either. Come on.”

The two of them picked their way over to the tree, Chris making his usual odd sounds as he went.

“Sings-like-water!”
Light-on-water glided down to land on his shoulder, pushing her beak through the hair over his ear.
“And your… mate?”

The term was close enough, and Chris nodded.
“Yes. My
Jesse
. We came to tell you that we are going away for a while, but we will come back, I promise.”

“Going away?”
Sees-caches landed on Chris’s other shoulder, peering around the back of his head at Jesse.
“Why?”

“Jesse and I are going on a trip together,”
Chris said, turning to look at the man. Jesse was standing still as Fell-from-tree inspected his boots.
“We will see different places, far away. I will take pictures of them, and when we come home, I will show them to you and tell you about what we saw. People do it all the time.”

“But why? This is your home, and you are not a traveling-bird,”
Light-on-water said,
“not like the little singing ones that come in spring and go away again before the snow.”

“It’s something people do,”
Chris said, trying to remember how Jesse had explained it.
“We like it here, but this is not the whole world. We aren’t going to see the whole world, this time, but we want to see more of it. I will learn things and eat new food, and… and it’s something people do, as mates. Jesse’s mother and father did it.”
Which wasn’t exactly what they were doing, but Leanna’s description of a honeymoon was close enough.

He’d tried to reduce the complexities of everything that had happened since Kevin had painted Meyer’s Market to something his family could understand, but he hadn’t been able to do it. Finding a way to explain the need to be away from the circus that their lives had become was proving just as disappointingly difficult.

“And you will come back?”
Sees-caches said, watching as Fell-from-tree pulled at the floppy wormy things on Jesse’s feet.

“Yes, we will, I promise. And I will bring you food, if I can.”
Chris frowned a little as his brother untied Jesse’s left boot, but he didn’t say anything.
“Jesse and I will keep each other safe. I wish I could call you on the phone, so I can tell you that I am all right.”
He touched his parents, gently.

“You must come back,”
Light-on-water said, then tried tucking his hair back behind his ear. As usual, it wouldn’t cooperate.
“You must see Plays-with-stones and Finds-mice-well and their hatchlings. They will pip very soon, and you are still her brother.”

“I know, I know. I will, and I will bring them all something good to eat. I must go now, or we will have to sleep here under the tree.”

“Be well,”
Sees-caches said, then took off toward the tree.

“Be well, my not-lost Sings-like-water,”
Light-on-water said, running her beak through Chris’s hair one last time.
“Watch for hawks and eagles and don’t eat anything with big red spots. Keep your feathers neat and clean, and bring your mate good things to eat.”

Chris leaned his head against Light-on-water for a moment, trying to figure out what he should say. Finally, he settled on,
“I will be careful and clean and good to
Jesse.
We won’t eat bad things. I will see you when we come home. Be well.”

Light-on-water flew over to join Sees-caches, and the two of them called Fell-from-tree away from Jesse. Chris waved at his family, then followed Jesse back to the car.

“Ready to go?” Jesse said, as he buckled his seatbelt.

“Yes. I think my mother and father think I am more strange than Fell-from-tree, now,” Chris said. “I tried to tell them about our trip, and they didn’t know why I want to go away. My mother did tell me to look for danger, that anything with red spots was bad to eat, to stay clean, and that I should feed you good things.”

Jesse laughed as he pulled onto the road. “I knew it: moms are the same no matter what.”

“Did Leanna tell you the same thing?” Chris remembered her hugging both of them in turn and telling them she loved them, telling them to be careful, and to call when they got to their destination for the night, but nothing about what to eat or washing.

“Not exactly, but she did ask me if I’d remembered to put the big bag of sand in the back of my car. Three times.” Jesse shrugged and reached over, touching Chris’s hand for just a moment. “It’s something moms do. The first time I went on an overnight trip by myself, Mom said all of the same stuff she said today.”

“My mother said I have to come back to see Plays-with-stones and her new family, because I am still her brother,” Chris said, looking over his shoulder. He could just make out the dark shapes of his family.

“We’ll come back. Tanner and Edie and Betsy and Lucas will all call us up and complain if we don’t, after all.”

“I know.” Chris watched until the tree and distance obscured his view, then settled down in his seat again. He reached over and turned up the stereo as the distinctive growl of Spider One’s voice caught his attention. “I’m going with you,” he said, over the music.

Jesse grinned at him, nodding along in time. “Awesome, ’cause I’m going with you too.”

They sang along with the growly lyrics as Jesse turned his little car onto the highway, toward whatever their future held.

About the Author

C
ONNOR
W
RIGHT
’s head is full of other people’s lives, all of which are far more interesting than his own. When he’s not writing about unusual guys finding happy endings, he can be found riding his bike, looking after his oh-so-helpful cats, or walking other people’s dogs. You can keep up with him at
http://www.connorwrites.com
.

Also by
C
ONNOR
W
RIGHT

 
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com

Copyright

First Flight ©Copyright Connor Wright, 2011

Published by

Dreamspinner Press

382 NE 191st Street #88329

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors’ imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover Art by Paul Richmond  
http://www.paulrichmondstudio.com

This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of International Copyright Law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. This eBook cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this eBook can be shared or reproduced without the express permission of the Publisher. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press at: 382 NE 191st Street #88329, Miami, FL 33179-3899, USA

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Released in the United States of America

November 2011

eBook Edition

eBook ISBN: 978-1-61372-211-4