Black and White

Part 12

"We should really continue this conversation elsewhere." Josie offered Hope a nod and a smile, noticing paint smeared across the young woman's hands and forearms, a little on the bridge of her nose. She could also feel traces of Lizzie's demonic residue all over her and splattered across the room. Then again, Lizzie Salzman had never been known for moderation.

"So, should we do this the fast way or the fun way? I kind of want to take these babies on a test run." Lizzie flexed and retracted her new wings experimentally. For about the tenth time that day, Hope felt completely breathless. She had been too distracted by Josie's arrival to get a good look, and now took the opportunity to fill her eyes with Lizzie and her joy at having been reunited with her wings.

The broad wings were white and accented with an almost gold color at the very tips, and Hope assumed that was where the feather she had caught come from. At full wingspan, Lizzie's wings would probably reach wall to wall of the classroom. Josie's had been about the same size; colored black, brown, and grey in a feathered kind of ombre. Hope worked to keep the awe from reaching and showing on her face. As the only tribrid in the world, Hope didn't feel that she should allow herself to be impressed so easily. Others should be more impressed by her than she was by her own right, one of the most powerful beings in the universe. Though all of her more recent experiences had her questioning that fact a bit.

"Let's do it the fun way. It has been a long while since we were able to fly together... I've missed it... almost as much as I've missed you." Josie said and smiled brightly for the first time since her arrival. Hope was amazed to see the difference the smile made in her face, soft and sad brown eyes lit up, naturally pouty lips tilted up. She was as beautiful and light as Lizzie had told her in all of her stories. Josie led the way out of the school as though she had the floorplan memorized.

Hope followed a ways behind the twins, giving them a moment to reconnect with one another. The dichotomy between the two was almost hilarious, though now that she could see them together, Hope could see the ways they were similar as well. Lizzie had left those parts out of her stories. She felt a little jealous of not having a sister of her own. The two balanced one another out well, just as Lizzie had once described.

Hope looked on as the siblings stepped out of the school, gave one another some room, and snapped both sets of wings out fully. Lizzie met Josie's eyes, they nodded in unison, and burst off the ground with a burst of air, wings carrying them into the night sky. Moon and starlight glittered off of them as they soared. Hope found herself desperately wishing to paint once more. This was an image she doubted any other mortal or immortal had been gifted the chance to see before... and it deserved to be put on canvas.

After a few moments of gleeful laughter and sisterhood, Lizzie landed in a jog up to Hope. "Sorry, to ditch you like that... I got a bit over-excited. It is just as amazing, beautiful, and free as I remember it. Hope, you have to fly with me and my sister. We can go and get Penelope too. She would love this." Lizzie was speaking so quickly Hope could barely keep up. She smiled softly and calmly; all of the things Lizzie was not at the moment.

"Unlike you, I don't have an infinite amount of energy, and I do have school in the morning. Maybe this weekend we can find a remote area for the four of us to try it out... if Josie and Penelope are up for it." Hope offered, barely holding back a yawn. Josie landed behind Lizzie shortly afterward and placed a hand on her sister's shoulder.

"It is all going to be okay, Lizzie. I am not going anywhere. We will have all kinds of time while I figure out why I was sent here." Josie reassured her. "Let's get your girlfriend home."

Lizzie and Hope found themselves blushing deeply at being called such, looking down and away from one another.

"Oh! So... this is something that just happened." Josie nodded knowingly with a smirk. Hope was glad to see she wasn't completely stuck up. "Good to know. Good to know."

Hope and Lizzie shared a glance. They knew there was a very good chance they were about to be teased quite mercilessly. Lizzie was much more used to teasing than being teased.

"Do you mind if we fly you on home? I am not quite done being in the cool night air just yet." Lizzie offered, opening her arms and wings wide, her cheeks still a bit pinkened by embarrassment. Her face was hopeful, so light and full of joy, in a way Hope had never seen before. She was glad for Lizzie, whether the other girl was her girlfriend or not.

"Only if you go a bit easier than you did the last time. It took a good long while for me to get my land legs back. I looked like I was sky high and you know it." Lizzie laughed and nodded in agreement. "Now, how does this work?"

"Stand with your back to me, and, if you're comfortable with it, I'll put my arms around your waist and shoulders to hold you while I fly." Lizzie offered while Josie looped around the school a few more times.

"I'm trusting you... just know that if you drop me it will be your fault that yet another Mikaelson vampire hybrid is wreaking havoc on Mystic Falls... like that poor town doesn't have enough to worry about." Hope chuckled quietly.

"I am not going to drop you." Lizzie scolded as Hope stepped into her waiting arms. Her voice was a bit lower than usual and filled with infinitely more affection. Her eyes were usually much colder, and Hope realized that this must be what Lizzie looked like when she was actually happy.

"I did say that I trust you. I was just giving you a fair warning so you could keep me from eating some innocent soul... like Mayor Donovan. It would probably be him. Everyone is shocked he's lived this long anyway." Hope said with a shrug, amused, and put out by how the much taller Lizzie rested her pointy chin on the top of her head.

She was much more prepared for the stomach drop feeling and rush of air as they took off from the ground and into the cold night air, braced by the warm body of the, now former, demon behind her.