*Warning: sexual content*

{ KI }

Toothbrush, hair comb, nail clipper in the bag—

"Baby, come on! We're going to be late!"

I head out of the bathroom and glance at Aht, who's leaning against the door jamb with an amused smirk. Is my purse in the drawer? Aha! Dash around to check if everything is clear. "I'm coming, I'm coming!"

"Pfft. That's what you screamed last nigh—"

I shut him up with a passionate kiss, breathing in his breathless moan... Mmh the way he did me last night.

"Don't remind me or we never leave this room. You asked me not to be late, remember?"

My fire, who is still quite dazed, murmurs, "That isn't such a bad thing, sweetheart."

"It'll be when those KKK napkins rally up in front of this building," I sigh.

Slumping forward, he kisses my brow. "Uugh. Forgot." Then, his stature goes right back up. A guarded one. He opens the window and his head pops out, silky hair dancing in the wind. He's looking for any clearance to sneak out safely. "The coast is clear. We better hurry."

Climbing down the knotted sheets first, he stays nimble and silent. I don't know how he does it with his large frame but I'm trying my best to follow his moves. Emphasis on trying. My saint of a lover guides me down with patience.

It's been three years or so since we left the town.

It has been two weeks since we last received a postcard from Theo and Angeline, and they told us how their family is doing. For three years, we've sent postcards every month without fail and stayed for a week in one place, just to wait for theirs.

We haven't met again since they left for Australia. Theodore wanted to take care of us financially, worrying about us despite he isn't a rich man... But we reassured him that we are capable of being independent, and that is why we will never tell him about our current predicament.

What's the predicament when the war is already over?

Not.

The world isn't in an official war, but goddamn wars between races, maniacal control over countries that are 'uncivilized' by their standards, and all the rising crises. With our appearance, it's impossible for us to get jobs and get out of America.

So, we wander from place to place. Dallas, Boston, Wyoming, and... I forgot other names. Money? Back to stealing. Food? Stealing. Places to sleep? A shack, a neglected cabin, a room in some rich man's manor to which we are sneaking away right now—risky but the money we stole is worth it—and a whole lot more.

Vagabonds are who we are.

"Hey, that's not the bag you're grabbing!" I almost laugh out loud when his hands paw my bottom.

He beams without an ounce of shame. "Oh, I know."

Aht is familiar with this kind of life. I know I'm jaded by time, even more judgemental than before, though it means I'm learning a lot and I love to learn. If we have to wait decades to feel safe and settle down, we'll take that chance.

We run far with bags on our backs. Most books and vinyl records were given away to people who needed a cheer up, but there is no way we'd give up the gramophone.

Aht had to remove its screen because it cracked when we were in New York. He was devastated for weeks... and bounced back, saying it's a part of nature. Maybe because he was a volcano spirit and I was just a meadow spirit, but the way he worded them seems it is a universal nature instead. To this day, I haven't grasped the meaning behind his words.

Climbing up to the rooftop of a small office building in the middle of L.A., we set our things down.

Aht sits on the ledge with a huff. "How much money do we have left?"

I sit and lean on his shoulder, side by side watching the glaring city lights in the dead night. "Around five grand."

"We spent seven hundred bucks?" He frowns up to the sky. "That's... little. Since we stayed there for almost a month."

"Seven fifty, mind you. We ate a lot, although we were not demanding luxury."

He watches me, grinning. "Could've fooled me. You looked like a queen when you bathed in the bathtub last night. As if you own the place."

"I bathed for like ten minutes before those shitty guards could find me," I justify.

"Ten minutes count." Heat rises to my cheeks and he chuckles, holding me tighter by the waist against his. "It's okay to desire luxuries sometimes. I do too."

A long exhale escapes from me. "Is it? We're banished. Not on a vacation."

"I think..." He takes my palms in his rough hands and kisses them, pressing them against his lips for the time being. I deeply adore it whenever he does this.

He continues. "The term 'banishment' is a scare tactic. Think about it. It was treated like a big bad word, even when a banishment isn't equal to punishment. That was what I thought at least."

"Got a point there." Because so far, we are doing alright regardless of our circumstances.

While I'm bringing out the gramophone, he brings out the vinyl. Stardust by Bing Crosby from 1939. I snicker and play it. "Don't you get bored with it?"

"Do you?"

"Never. My love song for you."

"Why do you think I'll ever get bored of it?" He flashes a toothy grin while tucking my palm onto his lap. I'm warm all over on this cold night.

"My fire you are," I whisper. My cheek rests on his shoulder and I touch the gramophone. Humming to the song, I then say, "I never understood what you said after you took off its screen."

"What did I say? Nature?"

"Yes, what did you mean by it? I know your nature was to create, destroy and repeat but... Seems it's applied universally?"

Biting his bottom lip, he stares at the empty street. "Not my nature only. Every beginning has its end. It's a matter of how long in between."

My brow furrows. "Quite depressing."

"It can be, albeit you can enjoy it while it lasts. It's necessary despite I don't like it." I throw a weird glance at him and he huffs with fondness. "I created rare gems and stones deep within my caverns around the area, even far from my volcano. They were indestructible, made with blood and sweat. What do you think had happened?"

I do a careful scrutiny of his features. "I don't know."

"Humans wanted to pry my lands open." I hold our linked hands closer to my chest. He pushes on. "Whenever something wonderful is created, people will want a piece of it or ruin it if left long enough. Might be left unappreciated. Let's say an artist leaves a painting on a street, people will vandalise it. The artist can protect it for so long if they're capable, but what if there are several paintings everywhere?" He kisses me and gently says, "You had the advantage to fight off intruders since your place was small while mine was... I had to, Ki."

"Oh Aht..." My face buries onto his shoulder, breathing him in. My chest feels tight. "I'm sorry I didn't understand you sooner."

"Sweetheart, you did understand. Because you experienced the aftermath with your meadow. You weren't aware." His lips peck my forehead.

I gasp out, "Fight off! No wonder the latest intruders wanted to raid my poppy flowers. I was so confused before."

"Didn't they want to build a place there or something?" he questions, bewildered.

"I read from an old newspaper in the library last week that opium trade routes into this country were blocked. Yesterday, I learned that poppies can be made into drugs."

"Wait... Opium is made of poppies??"

"Heroin too. Morphine."

"Oh my God..." he groans and buries his face in his palms.

"From a specific kind of poppy, though."

"I love all kinds of poppies!"

Nodding, I hum weakly. "I discovered that the red poppy is the main symbol for fallen soldiers during the war."

"Humans took OUR flower for their—?" His horrified eyes peek through the splayed fingers, where they are slowly dragging down his cheeks. "I prefer it as a dream symbol. Sleep. Peace. Not taken over to soften the horrors those poor men had faced."

"Have faith it won't be, and we can't be possessive over this flower. Let humans have their own meaning and we retain ours." I rub his back. "We can't control how the viewers perceive a painting."

His forehead creases. "...I hope they won't chip off the painting and sell it to pieces."

Eh? I look over his shoulder, where a neighboring building has a silhouette peeking out from the highest window. Their face contorts to misshapen features and has blood everywhere.

Aht twists his body around to see what I'm looking at and bristles. "FUCK OFF! I just found out our poppy is used for products!"

Their head pulls back in shock, seemingly confused. But soon, they bare their teeth.

I throw a thin-lipped smile at them and exclaim, "Look, we aren't in the mood and didn't disturb you. Why waste time on us when we are not remotely surprised?"

They pause and snarl right after. Screeching, they disappear back into the window. My fire rubs his face. Deep.

I shake my head and chuckle. "Be careful or we'll have to deal with possessed people."

"Hard to be cordial when they have no jobs besides scaring people without reason!" His arms throw up.

Out of all spirits, the most incomprehensible kind to grasp is wild spirits, the lowest rank. Love to break rules but not all, have sexual desires, have families, and like being near to humans. The malicious ones are known as demons most of the time. Some aliens or ghosts. We were confused about why The Highness created them; they are so similar to humans except for bodily flesh.

We bumped into them occasionally and half of them didn't cause harm. Kind even. Others, however, were very cunning and despicable. Not towards us, although they were defensive, but towards humans. And we were often caught in their chaos. I don't get how they're okay with being unstable. Far more than humans in general. At least humans try to be stable and adapt to... change.

Too many changes in the past few years. We were settled higher spirits, stuck in one place for eternity. Even mobile ones aren't that quick to adapt. I still miss Aunt Jac and her stew. Miss the inn. We both miss plenty of our past. My meadow. Our meadow.

Starting to see a clear picture of why Their Highness favors humans over us spirits. Change is Their modus operandi and humans are learning to balance it, instead of losing in it.

Aht and I talk more, waiting for our star to rise. This sweet man keeps encouraging me to learn more about programming... while avoiding my question about his skill. Somehow, a topic about our former places is brought up. Agonizing to discuss, but he wants to visit again. Just not soon. I don't want to again, it's buried and remains undisturbed. I get chills remembering when he told me last year that his volcano and forest are blanketed...

With snow.

He lightens things up and at one point, I take out a picture of us with Theo, Angeline, his family, and their friends during their wedding. We were all so happy...

Aht thumbs over the crinkled corner. "I miss him dearly. Others too but he is the closest."

"One day, Aht. I miss him too. If only we could use our powers to travel everywhere." Caressing his long hair gently, I ask, "What song next?"

"Any of Billie's," he sighs.

"Coming right up. Hey, did you see the way the shopkeeper looked at you yesterday?"

"I saw it. Don't care. Why do you, huh?" He tickles my neck, making me squirm and giggle.

"Why were you rough around them? I understand about Vivian, although why did you do that to Mary too?"

"Mary's a good kid and I didn't mean to be rude to her. I want to stomp down any feelings towards me. Okay, remember the Prick guy—"

"Phillip." I laugh when his eyes roll hard.

"Phil, the guy who you befriended two years ago. Why did he think you're flirting with him?"

"I was being friendly!"

"See? He was not the only one, you know? Among the men you have befriended, Theo and Mikey are the only ones who respect you. Friendliness from a woman can make guys go gaga. Much more when she's like a fresh breath of air."

A delighted grin curve my lips. "Aww baby." His eyes roll once more. He's too cute in his oh-so-rough exterior.

"Ki, I'm trying to make a point." I kiss his nose and he's blushing all over. "Prick forced you to go on a date with him. For weeks! He knows you already have me!"

"Should I stop being friendly then?" To be frank, friendliness takes too much energy, but it's how I learn about people without increasing the ruthless judgement.

Thankfully, Aht shakes his head with zeal. "No, that's how you are. How you cope with this world. Do it to the ones who earn your smiles. Genuine smiles."

"Careful, hm?"

"Yep. I myself have to moderate my err... roughness, so people won't pick a fight with me."

"Good. I don't want you to lose all of your roughness."

"...Gets you going?"

"Oh baby, absolutely. More so when you are different when we make love." I knead his thigh, coaxing a shudder from him.

He breathes in my temple and whispers, "I want you to take me as your own personal toy. Dominate me in whatever you can. Right this second."

Oh my poppies, yes. My hand makes way to grip his growing bulge until—he stops me? He groans and looks out to the city, pursing his lips.

"The rooftop is dirty."

"HAHAHA!" I pepper kisses on his warm cheeks, lessening his sheepish guilt.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be! I admire how hygienic you can be. Wonder why you didn't mind when your hair was caked with mud, though."

"While you drove me to oblivion under the rain on that meadow?"

A shy laugh emanates from my chest because of his dreamy gaze. We were animals in heat back then. I mean, there's no difference now since we do it on beds. Mostly.

"Such a long time ago." His fingers run through my hair... "I miss it, sweetheart. Earthy with you."

"I miss it too... Why can't we do it now then?"

"I know your—the meadow was clean under your care. I was comfortable. But out here? Where I don't know the germs came from?" He sneers in disgust.

I laugh again at his goofiness, his animated expressions. "We'll find our own secluded place."

Beaming, he swings his legs over the ledge. "What song do you want?" The sky is getting brighter and it remains incomparable to him.

"Yours. I want you to sing for me."

"Ehm. I'm not that good. My voice is too scary for some. Yours, however, is heavenly."

"Thank you, my dear. But please? I want your singing for years. Please don't think about what other Calamities have said. They are gone from our lives for a long time." I hope this time it'll get through to him.

He frowns for a while. "Alright."

"FINALLY!" I fist pump the air and he explodes a nervous laughter.

"Don't get too disappointed."

I tuck his falling locks behind the ear, filling up with affection. His anxious smile washes away under my palm and instead, he smiles so sweetly. I am, honest to Your Highness, don't get why most people didn't give him a chance to show his warmth. "Who says I will?"

"Mhm. What song do you want me to sing, my Ki?"

"Stardust?"

A barely contained grin pushes up his cheekbones, creating a combination of cute and handsome in one go. His sparkling eyes—

I clutch my chest. "Gah! You're expanding my heart!"

"Drama queen." He giggles and clears his throat.

The sun rises, casting violent hues of blues and oranges on our dark and light skins. He sings.

...

I am... shocked. His singing is better than I've ever imagined.

He sings out to the city as it wakes up, while the people down there occupy the streets at a snail's pace. They don't care how rich he sounds and he doesn't care about them. He does it all for me.

Turning to me, he then twirls my curls between his fingers. My heart's racing by the time he finishes the song. My jaw tenses. I'm almost heaving. Now. I have to have him now. I stand up and walk over to our bags, shouldering them.

"Ki? Are you alright, love?" He fidgets in apprehension. "Is my singing that bad or has it made you aroused? I can't read you this time because your jaw tic indicates a lot of things."

He laughs, attempting to lighten up again. I throw him his bags and he catches them. Holy Highness, what has he done to me?

"We'll break into the nearest hotel. I don't care about the risk of getting caught," I say. His eyebrows shoot up. "Get ready."

____________________

{ AHT }

Bathe in our sweat. And other liquids. Loads of our liquids.

I pant with ragged breaths, as if I'm in a desert. My chest rises and falls from exertion when I crash on the bed. Blankets were thrown off. I don't know where the pillows are. The wall behind the bed was chipped from vigorous banging. The bed frame is broken.

Ki. My Ki lifts her head from my chest, shooting me a satisfied grin. Her damp sweaty hair is wilder than ever. My eyes roll back from how amazing she is and my drool is wiped away by her thumb.

"You look delirious, baby."

I moan helplessly. "Can't talk. My mind is doing a happy dance."

She laughs on my scratched-up chest and kisses it over and over, soothing the small pain of her marks. A damn good pain.

She purrs, "Another round?"

"Another trick question?"

She licks her lips and straddles me! The heat in her eyes holds me captive. I almost whimper, immediately running my fingers on her waist. I did varying positions for her. Took her from behind on the cupboard. Her pussy rode on my tongue. Demanded me to split her open against the headboard just earlier. I can't wait for what she will do next.

My stomach rumbles from hunger, causing Ki to laugh abruptly. "Damn it, I want to go at it."

She kisses my nose. I love it when she does that every time. "Soon. We have to fill up our energies. We missed breakfast, I think."

"How long have we...?"

Looking at the clock, she tilts her head to the left. "Almost three."

"Non-stop for eight hours, huh?"

"Complaining?"

"About we didn't have enough hours."

She smacks my shoulder with mirth and sits beside me. "I think we could die from having too much sex."

"What a spectacular way to die." I yank her body closer to mine.

"Shameless! Come on big boy, let's eat."

Sighing, I get up from the bed and take out clothes from my bag. She sneakily—not so sneaky—picks my shirt up from the floor and wears it unbuttoned.

"Funny coming from a person whose mouth was around my cock this morning."

She–! She slaps my ass! Heat coils up inside me. Especially when she gives this certain look. Especially when she is comfortable with me, sensual, and self-assured. Jaded but ever so refined. "Don't remind me or we'll never get out of this room. The sooner we eat, the sooner I'll have you again."

My fingers trace her strong nose, causing it to twitch. "You can drink me for lunch." So responsive to me...

Oh. Her cocked, thick eyebrow, her tongue in cheek, and her jaw flexes... This is new. She is truly annoyed with me.

That's it.

I carry her over my shoulder to the bathroom, earning her cry. Her annoyance dials me up a whole another notch.

"Another round, sweetheart. I need your fill," I speak from a sense of urgency. Her laughter that echoes in the bathroom pushes down my hunger for an hour or two.

____________________

We stop in front of an empty restaurant after we ran away.

Easy to break in actually, no matter how extravagant the places were, although we do have guilty consciences regardless of our current lifestyle. The hotel employees should find a stack of cash on a broken, stained bed by now.

Sitting at a table and far from the windows, we check the menus until a man goes out front from the kitchen.

He seems shocked to see us. "You two ain't welcome here!"

"Mister, we want to eat," Ki replies evenly.

"You knuckleheads get this into your heads. This joint won't serve any brown and yellow savages!"

Enough. I get up to my full height when he approaches Ki. He stops and gapes. My scowl contorts more and more.

Knuckleheads, he said? I'm confused about current slangs. I'd never heard any slang words in the town, up until we travelled. It's difficult to keep up, but for Ki, not a problem. She just doesn't want to utter slang words to me, thinking they're too fickle. But she'd teach me new curses and swears instead.

Curses and swears are different. Theo once questioned my bad habit—hers too, with him being religious and all. Imagine we were repressed for almost eternity and unable to use powers anymore to smite humans who violate our patience. And stuck in that cesspool of apathy made it difficult for us to be comfortable with our... abundance, despite it has been four to five years. Yes, curses are cigarettes to us. To get by.

"What did you say?" My teeth grit.

The man stammers, "Wh-who are you people!?"

No backbone and all bark. My least tolerated kind of people... He keeps glancing at her. Insulting and ogling?? She gets up too and sighs. He's a blown-up fish now, considering we look like a couple of towers.

"Find somewhere else, Aht. Besides, I don't want our food to get spit on. There's a reason this place is deserted."

Her head tips toward the door and we walk out, though not before I shove the man to the ground. If I could pummel him for what he did to Ki... Haih, no more unnecessary danger for her.

"Hahaha! You look like a bully." She drags my arm, giddy.

"I'm bullies' bully! Let's find another restaurant. I'm tired of stealing for now."

"Come on. Further into downtown."

Our arms link together when we walk down the street, earning plenty of stares. Keep searching fast for any decent food joint that has black people. It's Russian Roulette on which people are kind or not. Both of us are still very much capable of fighting, albeit such messy situations are best avoided, and we've successfully done it so far.

I find that a family of black people is among customers in a small restaurant, quickly dragging Ki into this place. She hums in relief.

"Mike! New customers here! Welcome! Table for two?" A friendly waitress smiles up at us, with eyebrows raising slowly when she takes in our heights.

"Two, please! Thank you," Ki answers with a polite smile.

Before we can sit, a man comes out from a store room, I think. Might be the manager—HOLY MOLY!

"MICHAEL?"

"Welcome to— AHT?? KI??"

Good ol' Mike! We both rush to him, hugging him close. Finally, a familiar face. He's taller now, with more mature features. 

"My word, I thought you were still living in that town?" She messes with his hair. "You've all grown up!"

"That suffocating place and most people had left? I'm out of there too. Come sit, we have a lot to catch up on. Any dishes you choose are on the house."

I shake my head. "Oh no, we could never!"

"I'm the owner! No biggie."

"We'd feel bad if we don't pay," she mutters, guilt-ridden.

"Why would you...?" He throws a questioning look. "Eat first. Then talk, okay?"

Ki and I eat. A lot. The desserts are scrumptious! He drinks his coffee in amusement.

We tell him about what we had experienced aside from wild spirits and otherworldly matters. Non-stop talking, and before we know it, it's around dusk and the joint's empty.

He stares down at his mug. "That's a lot to take in."

"Yuppity yup!" Her mouth is filled with garlic bread, creating a chipmunk look on her.

I grin at her adorableness and look at him. "We pay. Please?"

"Never have I heard a person plead to pay." He scoffs. "How about you two work for me? Not much income but it will lessen your guilt?"

"...We are never meant to stay here, Mike," I say. His features flicker sadness and morph into a small smile. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, Aht. Selfish of me to keep you both here for old time's sake. I'm content now."

Ki speaks, "How did you open up this joint anyway? I assumed you're studying at university."

"My parents wanted that. After everybody else, including you two, had gone, I took off. Used my trust fund for this place." He then chuckles suddenly. "You two better watch your words. Be glad my regulars didn't mind earlier. Outside here doesn't take swear words lightly like our town was."

"We know. It's been three years," she laughs. "We just don't care."

For hours, the three of us talk about the past until closing time. He offers a room in his apartment for tonight. We can't thank him enough.

As we wait outside in front of Mike's place while he locks it up, he asks, "You two want to travel outside and couldn't because of imminent threats from KKK, hate crimes, and—?"

Tugging the ends of my locks, I tell, "Plus airplanes for whites, Michael. No passports either."

"How did you come here in the first place?"

"Prisoners of war were carried here and I was the stowaway. I don't think they returned the captives."

"Woah okay. That's..."

"Morbid." I share a tired look with Ki.

He paces on the pavement. We watch him funnily, biting our smiles as he talks to himself. Snapping his fingers, he tells us, "Got it! I have a friend who owns a small cruise ship. She used to carry immigrants across seas."

My beloved tilts her head in question while I frown quizzically.

He shrugs with unsure and grimace. "It's haunted."

Oh bother.

"Travelling was fine until last year. Not before ten minutes, the passengers begged the captain to turn around. She and her crew remain undisturbed." A faint frown takes up his face. "Her overall businesses aren't doing well; not much income despite her being a trust fund baby like me."

"Wild ones?" I whine like a brat. We encountered dozens of them this month only!

"Wild...?" Perplexed, Michael turns to Ki.

She bulges her eyes at me. "Anyway, a haunted ship! Never experienced that before."

Withholding from screaming into the night, I say in deadpan, "Yay."