Stuck With You

Part 5

Chapter 5

Aidirian narrowed his eyes at the creature.  “This cannot be the right spot.”

It squawked at him, and Celeste immediately ran her hand over its feather covered hand to sooth the creature. Aidirian rolled his eyes at the two of him.  The angel went out of her way to make the sandwalker comfortable when she should be worried about how she will fix the mess she had gotten herself into.

“You are not allowed any help?”

“I am allowed help,” she answered while glancing at the place Fred had taken them, “just not from the angels.”

Understanding dawned on him.  “Were you meant to find an army on earth?”

Her gaze snapped towards him, a confused expression on her face.  “Why would I want to do that?  They would just get themselves killed.”

“Like you are planning to do.”

She shook her head.  “I have a plan and no urge to die.”

He shook his head and let out a sigh. Shaking his head, he let the conversation die off as he looked at the place once more.  A house, well, he used the term loosely.  What was sitting in front of him was a small hut like thing, built into one of the many caves surrounding them.  “What is this place?”

“Somewhere to stay for the night,” she mumbled while rubbing her hands up and down her arms.  “Is it always so cold here?”

“We are in the desert,” he reminded her.  “The temperature goes from scorching hot during the day to freezing cold at night.  I didn’t know that angels could feel the cold.”

“Excuse me for not being born by fire,” she mumbled.  Her wings extended from her back, and it was the first time he noticed that they were tinged in a golden color.

“What is that?” he asked while running a finger down one of her feathers.

She shivered before snapping her wing away from his touch.  “I was born with them.  They are called wings.”

“Not that, you smart ass.  What is the gold for?”

“Being a good little girl?” she asked in a sarcastic tone.

He stared at her, seeing the underlining unease.  “Fine, if you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t push you.  Now, let’s get in this place before you freeze to death.”

“Good idea,” she replied before halting.  “Where will Fred sleep?”

“Not with us,” Aidirian mumbled while cutting his eyes towards a sad looking sandwalker. 

Celeste ran her hands across his head.  “He looks so miserable.”

“It’s an act.”

“He’s just a baby.”

“He’ll take up too much room.”

“He would help warm me.  I am so cold.”

“He sleeps near you.”

She sent him a large smile and pulled him into a hug.  “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he grumbled as she dropped her arms and took a step back. 

Aidirian glanced back at the small hut.  “We are never going to fit.”

“Don’t worry about Fred,” Celeste said with a large smile.  “He likes to sleep in the rocks.”

“In the rocks?”

“Yep,” she replied with the same large smile on her face.  “He’ll just burrow into the ground and sleep there.  I don’t think there would be enough room for all of us in there.  It will be tight with just the two of us.”

“Wait a minute.  Where is Fred sleeping?”

“Beneath us, of course,” she told him before darting towards the place, Fred following meekly behind her.  Aidirian cursed the creature for having Celeste wrapped around its claw before cursing himself for being wrapped around her finger.  Why had he given in so quickly?  Was it because of the pleading look on her face?  Was it because he had this urge to give her what she wanted?  He didn’t know, and he did not want to find out.

Following behind the two, he stopped at the entryway.  A loud burrowing sound echoed throughout the small place.  Fred dug at the ground, causing half of the place to become a rocky, jagged mess.  “We can’t sleep there.”

“Nope,” she said without turning towards him.  “I thought we would sleep there.”

He followed her finger to where she was pointing in the corner.  He looked back towards her, hoping she had noticed the size of the space.  “It’s too small.”

“Not if we squeeze in tight.”

“I thought you didn’t like me.”

Finally, she glanced over at him.  “It’s not that I do not like you.  It’s just that I am weary of your kind.  I’ve only met a couple of Jinn in my life.  The rules that you follow are not very clear to me.  For all I know, you could murder me in my sleep.”

He shook his head.  “We cannot cause harm to our masters.  For as long as I belong to you, I will never physically hurt you.”

“You could easily get one of your friends to do it.”

“What friend?” he shouted over the noise of Fred’s burrowing.  “It is dangerous to have friends when you are Jinn.”

She hesitated before nodding.  “I trust you, Aidirian.  So, please, don’t kill me while I’m sleeping.”

He rolled his eyes at her.  “There won’t even be enough room for me to kill you.”

“Oh, quit pouting.  As cute as it is, it’s unnecessary.”

She began walking towards him, amusement on her face.  Fred had finally quit his digging, only to be completely out of sight.  It was how he preferred the creature.  Celeste motioned towards the ground.  “You first.”

“Well,” he said while looking at the space, “would you like to sleep by the wall?”

“I thought I promised to sleep by Fred?”

“The wall for me then,” he mumbled while settling down awkwardly.

She lay next to him, her side parallel with his.  “This is odd.”

“Stating the fact only makes it odder,” he mumbled as she turned to her side.  She stared at his face for a moment before her eyes drifted close.  As soon as they did, her wings extended.  It seemed that in her sleep, she had no control over them.  He filed the information in the back of his mind.  This would come in handy when they were hiding from the humans.

She shifted as if she were uncomfortable before slinging one wing across him.  Letting out a sigh, she shifted again.  To his surprise, her eyes snapped open.  The haze in them let him know that she was not fully alert.  Grabbing him, she lifted him slightly before her other wing spread beneath him.  She lowered him with ease, and then snuggled closer.  This time, her sigh was filled with contentment as she cocooned him in her wings.  It may have been a bit hotter than he wished, but it made him feel a strange, safe feeling.  He glanced over at her face.  In her sleep, her face was relaxed, making her look younger than her form actually was.  Lifting a hand, he pushed the hair out of her face.  She really was beautiful.  Leaning over slightly, he pressed a kiss to her forehead before letting his own eyes drift shut.  As the darkness of the dream world took over, Aidirian knew that he was in more trouble than he had thought.

***Amazing photo on the side drawn by Dipper.  If you didn't already know, it's Fred!  Isn't that an amazing drawing though?  It is exactly how I pictured the baby sandwalker :)  So, a huge thank you to Butty -n- Dipper!***