bsumone | ❝ temper us in fire ❞

Dangerous? Oh! Oh, that's right! This was a banshee's house! Then, this one helping him? That must be why he speaks so softly. Gaja made a small, mournful sound. No, he wasn't ready to leave at this moment. He wanted to let his feathers dry completely so he could properly fly. That would give him more time to spend with Cian. Cian, who helped him, but who seemed so heartbreakingly lonely.

Without any conscious thought on his part, Gaja's body shifted to take on his human form once more. He's capable of creating clothing when he changes, but since he was wet, this time he didn't. Or maybe because he didn't think of it. Just like his bird feathers, Gaja's hair was now obnoxiously bright orange. Blinking over at Cian, he simply said, "Come away with me."

Gaja shifted before his eyes and he blinked in surprise. Oh he was ready to change already? He really must feel so much better. But more than that there was recognition in those eyes. Recognition of him. Eyes wide, he listened then gasped softly.

He couldn't have heard him right. That was impossible...

"What?"

“You’re not happy here,” Gaja stated simply. “Something other than your power frightens you.” He paused, flicking his tongue across his lips. Lurching to the tub’s edge, the phoenix reached out to grasp Cian’s wrist. “You helped me. Let me help you.”

Cian reached out on instinct to support him, keep him from falling. It got himself wet but he didn't care. They were just clothes and he couldn't get sick anyway. Licking his lips, he stared at the beautiful bird. "I...I don't want to put you in danger..."

At that, Gaja chuckled. "If anyone's putting me in danger, it's me. I absolve you of that worry."

The mirth quickly faded away, leaving an expression far more serious than Gaja usually wore (not that Cian would know that yet). His fingers tighten ever so slightly around Cian's wrist as if he might just drag him away regardless of what the banshee says. They're warmer than a normal human's but not nearly as hot as his skin had been several days ago. Gaja tipped his chin down slightly, brows lifting as his gaze focused more intensely on Cian.

"Do you want to stay here?"

The way his eyes opened so wide said how surprised he was very easily. No one, absolutely no one, had ever asked him that question before. Did he want to stay there? They just all let him know it was his duty to stay but never actually asked him what he wanted. Never.

And he was so startled by it that he hesitated to answer at first. He just...wasn't used to anyone caring about what he wanted. Enough so that he usually forgot what he wanted as a result.

Slowly, he shook his head before he even realized it.

Though he's only just been reborn, Gaja recognizes that look. It's the face of someone who's never been given a choice. How pitiable. But Gaja refused to pity him. Cian's making a choice now and that's brave of him. He made a choice to help the phoenix, too. He's clearly someone who wants autonomy. And that's all Gaja's offering: a taste of freedom. If Cian decides he wants to return to this house, that will be his choice, too.

As it should be.

"Tell me," he urges. "Say the word and I'll take you away."

If his heart could beat it would be rushing, pounding right out of his chest honestly. Instead he was just left in shock, mouth opening and closing. He really did want what Gaja was offering, more than he fully could even comprehend. Yet he was so scared. So scared of what saying yes could mean. Biting his lip, he tried to resist the urge because could he really escape this life? Was it even possible?

But then suddenly he was speaking again before he realized it.

"I don't want this life..." The words were whispered so softly they were almost inaudible. But they were said.

Gaja's hold on Cian's wrist didn't loosen at the utterance. Nor did it tighten. Raking his freehand through that fiery hair, Gaja nodded once. They should leave soon. The sooner the better if Cian's fear of what's in this house is any indication.

"Is it safe to go outside now?"

It had been safe when he came in here but now? Now he wasn't sure. Time had passed since then and that worried him. He looked to the door then back to Gaja.

"The servant passages are..."

That was the safest way to get outside from here.

His fingers slip from Cian's wrist to clasp his hand. Carefully, he lifts a foot to step over the edge of the bathtub. There's an urgency to the gesture, burning in those dark eyes. Is he worried Cian will change his mind? Maybe.

"Show me."

Rising to his feet, he let Gaja pull him from the bathtub then nodded. He shouldn't do this. He should let the phoenix go. He should forget he ever existed. But, could he really do any of that?

The answer was no.

So he led the way to the hidden passage, his cold hand holding tight to the one holding his as he brought them out into the gardens.

It was dangerously close to the house, but Gaja didn’t want to risk his savior getting dragged back into it if the didn’t make their escape quickly. His feet barely touched the grass before those brilliant feathers sprouted and Gaja’s very body began changing. Would he burst out if skin as a giant bird of fire? No, not with Cian in tow. Though he now had full control of his fire, Gaja wanted to draw less attention to them, not more.

They were still moving through the garden when he shifted into a bird far larger than even an albatross. Large enough to easily carry off a grown man. Or, in this case, a slim banshee. Only once they ascended above the clouds did Gaja spark and catch fire — all in an attempt to keep the cold from their altitude and the rushing wind from making Cian colder than he was naturally.

He couldn't believe this was real. He couldn't. This was freedom and he gasped as he looked at the world beneath them fading away. Growing smaller and smaller. He'd done it. He'd run away.

Cian was startled by a little laugh that escaped him, putting a hand over his mouth even as he kept smiling, trying to look at everything at once.

That note of laughter made everything worthwhile. If he were capable of it in this shape, Gaja would've smiled. As it was, he could sense the awe rolling off his companion.

"This won't be your last time flying." Rather than a spoken voice, the words were more like the notes of a song on the wind, a deep sort music that almost seemed to resonate more in Cian's mind than outside of it. As large as Gaja is in this form, he can cover a lot of distance quickly with those powerful wings. Which prompts his question:

"What do you want to see first?"

Cian shook his head simply because he had no idea. The idea that he could actually escape hadn't even been a dream. It had just been literally impossible. The fact that he was doing this now? It didn't even feel real. So he had no idea where to even start, eyes staring at everything at once.

Eventually he just...pointed. That way. Wherever that went. That was where he wanted to go.

That way. Eventually that way led to the ocean. As much as Gaja didn't enjoy being wet, he did admire the beauty of the sea and all its wonders. It held a vast number of creatures he could never know or even see; as true a mystery to him as the deep dark of space (which he probably could survive if he were ever inclined to leave the Earth).

It made him wonder if Cian has ever been over the ocean. It's so different than peering at its amazing size from the shore. Either way is amazing. But Gaja thought soaring above it was the best way to truly appreciate how long and far it goes. Even for as large a creature as Gaja is, the ocean was immense.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

He didn't need air to breathe yet he was breathless from the wonders around him. It almost didn't feel real. Like he'd wake from a dream any moment now to find himself back in his icy cold bedroom all alone again. Not here in the sky with this beautiful warm bird who wanted to show him the world.

"Beautiful," he whispered in awe.

Gaja, for all his long years, still found wonder in the world. The vastness of the sky, the deep dark between the stars, the perfect blue of the sea; there are man-made wonders, too: great architecture, canals, even the clothes they don can be breathtaking. Gaja loves them all.

Even with his preternatural speed, it will take hours for them to cross the ocean. They could admire the sun glistening of the ripples and the changing shapes of the clouds around them.

"There is so much in this world to admire," Gaja mused thoughtfully.

His fingers moved so they could touch feathers, move through them as they kept flying. To feel their softness as a reminder to himself that all of this was real. It wasn't some dream anymore. He'd escaped and his clan wouldn't know where he was.

Gaja had saved him.

"Where will we go?" he finally asked, relaxing while he watched the light change as it hit the surface of the water.

Gaja felt every ripple of wind in his feathers and soft touch of the banshee's hands in them. A rumbling trill (rumbling only due to his size) bubbled up as they continued to fly. Those strong wings beat steadily, sending the wind rushing around them.

"West. To the Americas." There were waterfalls and lakes and canyons and rock formations to be observed and adored. "I'll show you so many wonderful things," he sighed happily. How lovely it will be to experience these wonders with someone at his side!

The Americas. He'd heard about them, read about them in his books. But to think that he'd actually get to see them... It made him smile as he felt the wind rush through his hair, watched the way the light hit the feathers Gaja had. Had he ever been this happy before? He didn't think so.

"Thank you," he said suddenly, not even sure what else to say but wanting to show his gratitude to him.

There were so many places he could think of to take Cian first: Niagra Falls, the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Great Smoky Mountains, Iguazu Falls, Torres del Paine, the Galapagos, the Everglades, the Atacama Desert...! So many places just on the East side of the Americas! Waterfalls, glaciers, mountains, deserts, where to even begin? It has to be something larger than life that will take Cian's breath away.

He had hours to decide, and chose something he hoped would awe and astound the seemingly sheltered creature he carried. When the hours passed, they flew over cities and mountains, Gaja veered southward to the Argentine Patagonia. They remained high enough that they'd go unnoticed by any of the people so far below until the air grew colder and Gaja began his descent bringing them to the Perito Moreno Glacier.

The air around them grew so cold and snow started to appear around them. Perking up, he gasped when he saw the glacier, patting Gaja to show him it as if the bird hadn't brought him here. But it was so beautiful that he couldn't resist show it to him anyway. He'd never seen anything like this before!

"...beautiful," he murmured in utter awe.

Gaja himself wasn't terribly fond of cold, but his body also ran hot so it wasn't that much of a bother. And, well, his body heat could help warm Cian, too. Yet this was no colder than a mild winter day, so it wasn't such a dreadful thing. Even if the cold was bothersome, it was worth it to show this precious creature something new and beautiful.

If he could have smiled, he would have been grinning from ear-to-ear at Cian's enthusiasm.

"Do you want to get closer?"

He'll land and shift into a human shape if Cian wanted a closer look.

❝ temper us in fire ❞

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