. : HELLACIOUS : .

The Father

Sometimes they tackled the city alone.

Alone meaning with Malcolm.

Black Avenue was rife with street performers, hooting on reedy saxophones with aluminum garbage cans for drums. Trumpets and acapella groups sounded at every corner, painting the afternoon with sultry notes of happiness lost and found.

A few blocks away from Xander, Malcolm and Kash watched a black woman in their fifties pluck a sweet tune on a guitar. Her granddaughter accompanied with a tiny pan flute, jigging along to her grandmother's easy tempo.

Kash wished they had pocket change to slip into their open guitar case, they had a terrible soft spot for cute people and music, but Malcolm gave the two enough to ease Kash's discomfort.

Minutes of peaceful listening ticked by. The graduate assistant exhaled and eyed Kash next to him before gently tugging their hand. Kash allowed themselves to be tugged along into the middle of the sidewalk and Malcolm drew them into a dance, spinning them on beat.

Kash laughed at the twirl before checking themselves and stiffly pulling away.

What the hell am I doing?

What the hell is he doing?

It was a poor time to remember their masculine appearance - many would feel uncomfortable seeing them so close to Malcolm no matter how innocent the act. Even so, Malcolm managed to gently rock Kash until they were hand in hand and swaying again.

The D'Jinn felt curious eyes digging into their back. "Malcolm, people are staring. I'm not wearing a dress."

He shrugged, dipping Kash back with ease. "So? Let 'em stare. That's all they're good for. Gossiping and talking and not doing much else."

"But what about..."

About Daisy? The woman you obviously adore and cherish?

"Hmmm?"

"Forget it."

The grandmother and the young girl settled the song into a bouncing verse, attracting a small crowd. Malcolm shifted their hold into a more comfortable stance, gently rolling like a ship on calm waters.

Kash was leading now.

"There. Better?" Malcolm asked. The D'Jinn settled into the dominate role as easily as they did with the passive, but it didn't ease their worry. The song picked up into a lively chorus and the footwork followed suit.

One-two-three

One-two-three

"We still look like two men dancing." They hissed, squeezing his hands in warning.

Kash spun Malcolm on his heel and they came back together like magnets.

"Don't think about them. Just look at me."

That's the issue.

It's disturbingly easy to look at you.

"We should stop. If any of them found out about us-"

Malcolm raised an amused eyebrow. "What about us? We're not together, are we? So in reality we're just two friends sharing a dance after not seeing each other for a week. I doubt even the most devout Christian would object to that."

Kash bit their tongue, twirling Malcolm on beat so he'd drop the issue.

But he wouldn't let it go, pressing closer to Kash. "What would you say about us? As an outsider looking in. Honest opinion."