Page 121 of Labor of Love

“You never have to wear anything like this here,” Truett said as he found the spot and slowly began peeling the cloth away.“We don’t have uniforms for companions either, unlike some households where they’re intended to mark companions as help instead of family. That isn’t our way here. Everyone who lives here and in the village is important to us. We see them all as our extended family whether we’re related by blood or not. Many of them have been cast off just like you were. We’ve tried to create a community everyone can be proud to be a part of. Skills and knowledge are valued here. It’s what we trade on, not currency.”

“I love that,” Laney admitted as the bindings finally came free and his slightly crumpled wings were able to breathe again and lift away from his damp skin.

“Are you in any discomfort?” Truett asked.

“Only a little and it’s already fading,” Laney admitted. “Thank you for being so careful with them.”

“They are…magnificent,” Truett said as the moonlight struck, allowing all the hues of purple woven through the gray and silver to shimmer and slowly begin to glow. “You…. Marcus, are you seeing this.”

Laney’s head whipped around as Marcus stepped out and froze, eyes widening as he stood, staring at Laney, mouth half hanging open to show the bottom row of his fangs.

“Elden is going to be overjoyed when he gets home,” Truett murmured.

“W-why?” Laney asked, turning back to face him.

“You’re wings are like his,” Marcus explained. “That doesn’t happen often. I doubt you know how rare you are or even where your ancestry stems from. That’s okay, he might be able to help you figure it out and if he can’t, one of the Pizkie elders is sure to have some answers if you’d like to know. It just stunned us both to see them. Aside from Elden, we’ve only seen one other individual with glowing threads spun through their wings. It’s remarkable, even after all the times we’ve seen Elden’s wings in the moonlight, seeing yours is just as stunningly magical.”

“I welcome the opportunity to talk to him,” Laney said, a little overwhelmed by the fact that he might be able to get answers to some of the questions that had plagued him since the incident in the forest that had gotten him exiled.

“He’ll be home in a few hours,” Truett said. "If you’re still awake, we’ll introduce you then.”

“No promises,” Laney murmured, cheeks pinking up a little as he shucked off his jeans.

Being naked around one another was a common thing among their people, but being around them had left him a half state of arousal ever since their dance in the kitchen. At least he wasn’t the only one getting naked, which meant that they weren’t staring at him as he shucked off his jeans and discarded them.

Shrinking down to his diminutive pixie size wasn’t something he’d done often since he’d found himself hovering and in command of every shadow in the forest. It always took focus. Each time he tried, a nagging fear cropped up, whispering in the back of his head, warning him not to get caught. It was the other reason he’d never showed his ex. That fear had held him paralyzed and unable to shift the one and only time he’d attempted it where his ex could see. Maybe he should have paused and asked himself why that was, but he’d been too caught up in the whirlwind romance to worry about why that was.

He looked up just in time to see Truett bulk up and grow several inches in size as he threw his head back and growled at the moon. Quartz ribbons ran along his stony skin, sparkling green when the moonlight struck them. On his other side, Marcus had also given in to his more primal form, blue ribbons of sapphire and azurite crisscrossing his body.

“I cannot tell you how much I need this tonight,” Truett growled, kneeling as Laney closed the distance between them.

Truett held his hands out, lifting him when Landy stepped into his cupped palms. A few flitters of his wings and he settled onto Truett’s back as the big gargoyle shuddered and reached back, sliding a hand over his thigh to hike him up a little further.

“You may dangle your hands over my shoulders or grip my hair, whichever is most comfortable for you in that position,” Truett rumbled.

“And since he won’t say it, I’ll tell you that having his hair pulled really helps keep him from thinking about things he shouldn’t,” Marcus said.

“Then how about I do both?” Laney replied, letting one arm dangle over Truett’s left shoulder as he tightened his knees against his side. With his head on Truett’s shoulder they’d be able to talk as they flew, and with his grip in Truett’s hair, he’d be able to help keep the Gargoyle from slipping too deeply into thoughts he shouldn’t be focused on.

He felt Truett shudder beneath him as he flexed his wings and nodded to his brother. “Ready?”

“Always.”

They took to the skies in a rush of wind and motion that was always exhilarating, even when the stars spun overhead as they climbed high, then leveled out. Truett kept on hand on Laney’s lower leg, just above his ankle, while they flew, added security to ensure that Laney wouldn’t slip.

Lanterns swayed from the trees while will ‘o the whisps dangled from posts by their feet, swinging, waving and flipping from time to time, casting light while also performing for those passing by.

“We only use electricity inside of the shops,” Truett explained “And even then, it’s solar powered, so when night falls we simply revert to the old ways, since the village never shuts down.”

“That makes sense, when there’s a mix of day and night dwellers,” Laney said. “It’s beautiful the way you were able toblend every structure into the woods to connect the trees, rather than destroy them the way other places have started to do.”

“The only time we remove a tree is if it is dead or if it’s presenting a danger,” Truett explained. “Instead, we use them as natural pillars and anchor points and build upward around them.”

“I love it.”

“So do I,” Truett replied. “Especially the way it’s allowed us to build the ceilings of each floor high enough that even in this form I don’t have to duck when I pop into any of them.”

Laney giggled at that. “High ceilings are the only way to go, unless you like getting your hair caught up in a chandelier.”

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