09-11-2018, 12:33 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-11-2018, 12:33 AM by Aiden Finnegan.)
Aiden blushed something fierce at the mention of the couch. He scratched at a spot behind his head and looked around the room, avoiding Nox’s eyes, “Eh… heh… Yeah… I told Sage I’d replace it, but he refused. The offer still stands! Total accident… The… fire has never acted that way before… Well, not if you don’t count that VR session from earlier…”
Nox went on and Aiden was quiet for a few moments, reflecting on what had happened in Sage’s bedroom. He really had no clue what caused the fire to change shape, coming to his hands in the form of an ethereal guitar. It was just thoughts and emotions he was feeling, at least that’s what had gotten him into the mood. He tried to recapture that feeling, but it was long since passed.
With a sign, Aiden bowed his head and addressed Nox, “I don’t remember there being any light… ever. It’s been this way since it first started happening… after the coma… Anytime I’m experiencing crazy emotions like elation, sadness, lust… All of it seemed very human. I was sure I was hallucinating for months, but then I burned myself one day and…” Aiden lifted up his shirt, completely disregarding his partial nudity, and pointed to a pink bit of flesh about the size of an American quarter, just to the left of his abs, “The burn never went away. That’s when I started believing all of this… I feel like I would have noticed if there was a light behind me… You sure I can channel? This isn’t some ghost haunting me and playing tricks? I’ve heard all the old Irish stories about fairy fire luring the unwary to their deaths in the forest… Am I crazy for thinking this is the work of fairies and not myself? Life was so much more simple when I only had to worry about what lies TMZ was spouting off about me…”
Aiden wanted to scream. He dropped the shirt back down and started pacing off to the side. This was all getting to be too much. He had come to this country as a means of escape from his problems, but it seemed that fate only piled on more. Why would God bring him here to meet this handsome man, only to prevent them from being truly intimate? Why give him this blessed life only to bring it crashing down after ten years? He had no answers and that only made him angry. Aiden hated being ignorant, and out of control, and in a strange country… Two more orbs of fire popped into existence above his head and began a deadly tango in response to his fury.
The anger swelled as Aiden imagined Nox hurling a fireball at him. The gaul of this man!? Sure, Aiden had asked for help, but being injured was of no help to anyone. Oh, how easy Nox’s life must be to have such control over these things. Aiden lost himself in thought for a moment, imagining what it would be like to control the elements at a whim. Nox probably did everything with magic; Aiden would if he knew how to. A light? What light!?
Calm down, Aiden,he thought to himself…
Focusing on his breathing, Aiden pictured he was somewhere else; no, pictured he was someone else. Why not Nox? The man had it all under control, laying there on the ground, breathing and yoga-ing… Aiden sat down cross-legged on the ground, pretending to be the man that was across from him. He looked so calm, or at least the man was trying to look calm… Aiden breathed in and out, trying to imagine what it would be like to live as Nox. Oh, he knew almost nothing of the man, but that didn’t matter. From what he could see, Nox was calm and collected…
Control it…
Fake it till you make it, as Mum always used to say! Aiden thought to himself.
He sat there for a few minutes, slipping into his old acting exercises… If he couldn’t control it, perhaps acting like his new ‘teacher’ would help? Mind over matter. Perhaps it was just a state of mind. From what Aiden remembered, Ancient Yogis were reputed to have crazy powers because they lived that principle. There were stories of monks surviving on nothing but air for months on end and levitating while meditating. Aiden didn’t believe those things, but Nox might. Nox might even be able to do those things…
Aiden was acting like Nox now. Aiden was Nox at that moment, at least the idea of the man… Well, the idea that of the man that Aiden had formed in his mind’s eye… He brought a hand up and made a flicking motion in the air.
A brief flicker of light seemed to manifest behind his right shoulder.
One of the fireballs overhead streaked forward, passing dangerously close to Nox, and finally collided with the wall behind him; smoke erupted from the protective sheeting, accompanied by a sizzling sound.
Aiden immediately jumped up from the ground, eyes goggling.
“Wha-!? Did you just see-!? Nox! I didn’t mean-! Well, I did- but I didn’t! There was light! I felt it!” Aiden shouted, excitement bubbled up inside of him and all thoughts of pretending to be his teacher fled from his mind.
“What!? How!? I don’t know what I just did, but I felt it, Nox! I felt the light! But it’s not there anymore! Wha-!?”
Aiden was utterly bamboozled.
Nox went on and Aiden was quiet for a few moments, reflecting on what had happened in Sage’s bedroom. He really had no clue what caused the fire to change shape, coming to his hands in the form of an ethereal guitar. It was just thoughts and emotions he was feeling, at least that’s what had gotten him into the mood. He tried to recapture that feeling, but it was long since passed.
With a sign, Aiden bowed his head and addressed Nox, “I don’t remember there being any light… ever. It’s been this way since it first started happening… after the coma… Anytime I’m experiencing crazy emotions like elation, sadness, lust… All of it seemed very human. I was sure I was hallucinating for months, but then I burned myself one day and…” Aiden lifted up his shirt, completely disregarding his partial nudity, and pointed to a pink bit of flesh about the size of an American quarter, just to the left of his abs, “The burn never went away. That’s when I started believing all of this… I feel like I would have noticed if there was a light behind me… You sure I can channel? This isn’t some ghost haunting me and playing tricks? I’ve heard all the old Irish stories about fairy fire luring the unwary to their deaths in the forest… Am I crazy for thinking this is the work of fairies and not myself? Life was so much more simple when I only had to worry about what lies TMZ was spouting off about me…”
Aiden wanted to scream. He dropped the shirt back down and started pacing off to the side. This was all getting to be too much. He had come to this country as a means of escape from his problems, but it seemed that fate only piled on more. Why would God bring him here to meet this handsome man, only to prevent them from being truly intimate? Why give him this blessed life only to bring it crashing down after ten years? He had no answers and that only made him angry. Aiden hated being ignorant, and out of control, and in a strange country… Two more orbs of fire popped into existence above his head and began a deadly tango in response to his fury.
The anger swelled as Aiden imagined Nox hurling a fireball at him. The gaul of this man!? Sure, Aiden had asked for help, but being injured was of no help to anyone. Oh, how easy Nox’s life must be to have such control over these things. Aiden lost himself in thought for a moment, imagining what it would be like to control the elements at a whim. Nox probably did everything with magic; Aiden would if he knew how to. A light? What light!?
Calm down, Aiden,he thought to himself…
Focusing on his breathing, Aiden pictured he was somewhere else; no, pictured he was someone else. Why not Nox? The man had it all under control, laying there on the ground, breathing and yoga-ing… Aiden sat down cross-legged on the ground, pretending to be the man that was across from him. He looked so calm, or at least the man was trying to look calm… Aiden breathed in and out, trying to imagine what it would be like to live as Nox. Oh, he knew almost nothing of the man, but that didn’t matter. From what he could see, Nox was calm and collected…
Control it…
Fake it till you make it, as Mum always used to say! Aiden thought to himself.
He sat there for a few minutes, slipping into his old acting exercises… If he couldn’t control it, perhaps acting like his new ‘teacher’ would help? Mind over matter. Perhaps it was just a state of mind. From what Aiden remembered, Ancient Yogis were reputed to have crazy powers because they lived that principle. There were stories of monks surviving on nothing but air for months on end and levitating while meditating. Aiden didn’t believe those things, but Nox might. Nox might even be able to do those things…
Aiden was acting like Nox now. Aiden was Nox at that moment, at least the idea of the man… Well, the idea that of the man that Aiden had formed in his mind’s eye… He brought a hand up and made a flicking motion in the air.
A brief flicker of light seemed to manifest behind his right shoulder.
One of the fireballs overhead streaked forward, passing dangerously close to Nox, and finally collided with the wall behind him; smoke erupted from the protective sheeting, accompanied by a sizzling sound.
Aiden immediately jumped up from the ground, eyes goggling.
“Wha-!? Did you just see-!? Nox! I didn’t mean-! Well, I did- but I didn’t! There was light! I felt it!” Aiden shouted, excitement bubbled up inside of him and all thoughts of pretending to be his teacher fled from his mind.
“What!? How!? I don’t know what I just did, but I felt it, Nox! I felt the light! But it’s not there anymore! Wha-!?”
Aiden was utterly bamboozled.
Russian Dolls and Broken Gods, a new Fantasy novel by best-selling author, Aiden Finnegan, out this December! Preorder online and instore today!