Bittersweet Heart (Ominis Gaunt x James Sharp)

Kaleidoscope

"You should move in with me."

Sebastian had already waved goodbye and headed home to Anne. The world outside celebrated a spring birthday. The origin of warm hues, vibrant colours and bird poems.

A twinge of guilt tugged at James for being selfish, yet his growing appetite to bind Ominis and keep him even closer was insatiable. With Sebastian now permanently staying at Feldcroft during the school term, his place at the dorm was vacant.

Each time it was harder to let Ominis go. Especially when James thought about him feeling alone. And lastly, he was ashamed of taking advantage of his friend's circumstances.

***

James placed the last of Ominis' belongings on the dresser, meticulously organizing them in his new dorm before lunch. Naturally, they were well aware that they didn't have official permission to move Ominis from his previous room. Their only hope was on the Gaunts' reputation, trusting that none of the other students would snitch on them.

And now it was done. The top bunk was now James'. There was no trace of Sebastian left in the room.

Ominis straightened his freshly made bed, hiding an empty suitcase beneath it.

It felt surreal. James stayed struck by an overwhelming feeling of finitude. His lungs could only take small breaths.

Something at the edge of his mind predicted that life wouldn't be the same. It was his first realization of this loss, a familiar feeling. The room seemed to narrow.

"Do you think we made the right choice?" James heard his own voice as if through the water.

"What do you mean?"

"At this very moment, I realized that we won't be the same. More precisely, it's been happening for over a year now. And now it all feels like a fact. We are here, and that is all that is left of us."

"Yes."

A shard lodged between James' stomach and heart. He closed his eyes.

"These... thoughts haunt me. And even if Sebastian was my oldest friend, I see that you have grown a special bond with him," Ominis' voice whispered softly.

Warm arms enveloped James, and he buried his face in Ominis' hair.

"I am sorry. What remains of our friendship cannot be returned to its bases."

"Didn't you feel," James took slow, deep breaths, "that we all perfectly knew where we were heading, but no one could find the resilience to say it? So we kept pretending to be fine, just for this last time."

Ominis gently tucked some strands behind James' ears, brushing his hair.

"I did. It is terrifying to lose trust."

"Can I keep you with me?"

A soft voice lulled him, "Of course."

***

A kaleidoscope of sun rays caressed James' face through the mosaic windows as he leaned on the railings of the Choir Hall. The melody swayed him into a sleepy state.

He could discern Ominis' voice among all the others, no matter how many there were. It was clear, like a spring river with floating paper boats. A glare which kissed you on the eyelids and a sense of the tickling grass under bare feet.

The light licked Ominis' shape, merging him with the surrounding sound. He felt ethereal.

"There was a creature,

who was half-boy

and half-deity,"

James' mind flowed downstream.