Home Sweet Home (mxm)

Chapter 14: Stolen Flesh

(I got a stained glass portrait of Racquetball to join Snowman's :)) 

He couldn't believe his eyes. When he walked in the door, he had found a see-through Adon and a very not translucent Nikolai, kissing. 

Now he's gone. 

"Nikolai!" Taylor yelled as he sat a waking Caleb down near the door. 

He hurried toward the banshee, who now, somehow, had his original body back. There was even dried blood on his left arm and face. 

It's not Adon's. He wouldn't do that... I hope. 

His footsteps slowed as Nikolai stood from the sofa and flexed the fingers on his left hand until a metal baseball bat materialized. 

Wait, so he gets a real body, and a ghost baseball bat? 

Fighting himself not to step back, Taylor squared his shoulders and narrowed his eyes on the man before him. 

"What did you do to Adon? He didn't let you get killed by Martin, and this is how you pay him back for it? Where is he?" he yelled, panting with anger and confusion. 

Nikolai took a step forward, but stopped as his eyes lifted to stare at something past Taylor. 

Caleb? 

He didn't dare turn his head and look, but that was the only thing he could think of that would make his brother hesitate. His mind was trying to figure out what his next move would be when a hand appeared from his left side and quickly clamped over his mouth and nose. 

Fumbling backwards as he reached up to try and remove the hand, Taylor felt his back hit something firm. An arm wrapped around his waist at that moment, then Nikolai stepped closer.

Caleb? Caleb, you have to let me go! 

He struggled, but even tired, the wraith easily held him as Taylor felt his head begin to get fuzzy from lack of oxygen. His vision started to blur as Nikolai began to open his mouth. His ears were ringing, deafening whatever words the banshee might have been saying as Taylor's legs slowly began to lose their ability to hold his weight up. 

Nikolai watched as the man before him slid to the floor, his brother lowering him gently. He allowed his bat to dissipate, then turned his attention to Caleb. He was only partially visible, but as he stood back up and met his eyes, it was clear that he didn't want to rest yet. 

"Niko...?" he rasped, stepping forward and pressing his forehead against his chest. 

Nikolai didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around his little brother and lean down, pressing a kiss to his faded hair. It took him several tries to get his mouth to work after having been extremely limited with the sounds he could make over the years, but he finally managed to figure it out after several long minutes. 

"I... love you, K-Kay," he said quietly, holding him tightly for the first time in forever. 

They both remained that way for some time, neither minding as the seconds stretched into minutes, then neared an hour. They had lost so much time and been so close, but unable to really be able to comprehend physical attention enough to just spend time together. 

"Where is... your person?" Caleb finally asked as he looked up, making Nikolai lean back just enough to meet his gaze. 

It took the banshee a while to form a response, his mind still trying to get used to functioning fully instead of having to push through cloud after cloud of confusion and anger.