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I am to wait, though waiting so be hell.
William Shakespeare
Sonnet 58.13
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'No one likes to wait', or so the waiters say as they do, at every second of the wait—long or short—they wait nevertheless, sitting under the tree in the night, bracing the wind and watching the grass; opening the fridge in search of something spicy or in a single case, by simply existing.
But if simple existence was the wait, would he not be waiting forever, should he continue to exist?
Iolani Tori knew this.
There were people who waited. Waited for a return; for freedom; for others; and sometimes, for love. He could, very strangely, fathom the thought of a waiting humanity that waited for humans. It was patient and optimistic, sometimes weak but also strong. He wondered how long it would last—the wait.
He never did find his answer,
but at least he found something else.
*
The Class of Hearts (having, by some twisted and unlikely Fortune, regained their title) were gathered in the living area of Vaughn's room as they waited, in silence, for the last person to arrive. Some were seated on his couch; some on the stairs to the loft, bannister included; some by the window and some by the warmth of his electric heater.
This was only ever the second time that Vaughn had people come over and his first for a number that exceeded two. Admittedly uncomfortable, he could not help but watch over closely, ensuring that none of them had hands as itchy as Iolani Tori's or a curiosity as morbid as Shri's. Or the urge to comment at everything in sight as Dmitri Ford often had.
"Thank you for agreeing to this, Vaughn." The phoenix said to him as they stood by the kitchen door, watching the rest talk quietly amongst themselves. "Io was very glad that you did."
"I didn't agree to this," the vulture dismissed her gratitude with tight lips. "It was merely the only option. You and I were given the larger rooms in the dormitory. You because you're the phoenix. And I because I was, once, the unbeatable victor of the season games."
He continued. "Since we risk the danger of being caught in a female student's room past ten o'clock, it was only advisable that I offer mine."
There was a hint of a rare smile upon her lips, barely hanging on its edges. "That is thoughtful of you."
A gentle silence of compromise and reflection nestled between the two—a space once filled by needles and a dry electricity that would often spark into flames. He raised the question that had been pacing inside his cage for the past week. A week since the passing of Reux Yvone; a name that was once carried by the wind, far and wide, was now forbidden on the island.
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Flight School: Predator
Fantasy[Second book of the Flight Series] "More than anything, the sky was red. It wasn't dark, no. Just red." Iolani Tori learns about the part of him that isn't human; and sees the line between animal and himself thin to something less than a thread. If...
