Raincheck (8 page)

David took the items as though they were precious valuables and sat down cross-legged on the rooftop to examine them. He formed a little pile in front of him and motioned for Rodney to join him.

Rodney crouched down on his haunches and watched as David examined his belongings, turning them over with his beautiful hands. Rodney knew exactly what those hands were capable of doing, and he smiled in remembrance.

“Tell me about them,” David demanded. Rodney picked up each item, one at a time, and related its story, ever conscious of the lightening of the sky around them.

David picked up the copy of
A Tale of Two Cities.
It fell open to a marked page. David began to read aloud. “‘The night comes on dark. He moves more; he is beginning to revive, and to speak intelligibly; he thinks they are still together; he asks him, by his name, what he has in his hand. O pity us, kind Heaven, and help us! Look out, look out, and see if we are pursued’
.
” He looked up sharply when he’d finished, obviously struggling with a myriad of emotions. He set the book down and unfolded the bookmark. “You kept my note,” he said incredulously.

Rodney merely shrugged. David looked up at the sky, his mouth tightening, before he went back to his catalog of items again.

When he got to the crystal pendant, David frowned. He took the necklace from Rodney’s hand, turning it over carefully. “Where’d you say you found this?”

Rodney told him of the glitter that caught his eye on an evening so cold it took even Rodney’s breath away, beckoning him to come down from the sky and fish it out from the storm drain.

“Rodney,” David said slowly. “If I’m not mistaken, this is a very valuable diamond necklace that was reported stolen a few months ago.”

“It’s yours now.” Rodney drew a nonsensical pattern with one claw in the fine gravel dusting the rooftop. It was of no importance to him anymore.

David just gaped at him. Rodney smiled at his expression and, feeling the need to speak while he still could, plunged into a stilted confession. “It’s been a good life, you know? I got better than I expected. Better than I deserved. I want to thank you for that.”

David’s face folded in on itself, as though he’d received a physical blow. “Look, Rodney. Who’s to say what will happen next to you, right? It might not be as bad as you think.”

Rodney smiled indulgently at David. “At least let me say goodbye.”

“No.” David frowned. He dropped the necklace abruptly. “No,” he repeated. “Damn it, Rodney, this
can’t
be goodbye!”

David’s denial was amusing, comforting, and painful all at the same time. “But it is,” Rodney said gently. The sun was a thin, red sliver in the sky now; the clouds picked up its light and began to reflect it in great bands of color that washed across the sky.

He’d never truly watched the sun rise before. It was beautiful. He felt a touch on his arm, and he looked down to see David’s hand gripping his bicep. He smiled at David as the first beams of light crested over the building skyline and caressed his face.

He could feel the change coming over him, the nauseating twist inside his body, as though something were melting and withering away his strength. He couldn’t look at David anymore; he didn’t want his last thoughts to be filled with the sorrow on David’s face. He lifted his wings involuntarily, as if to fly away from what was happening to him, only to have them shudder and crumble into dust. He’d suspected all along that this was what would happen to him, but it broke his heart just the same.

“David,” he said suddenly, unable to be strong anymore. David closed his arms around him. His breath tickled in Rodney’s ear when he whispered, “It’s okay; I’ve got you.” It was worth it, all of it, just for this moment.

The moment passed, and Rodney shivered in the morning breeze. He lifted his head from David’s shoulder and stared down at his hands in disbelief. His skin was no longer green; his talons were gone. In their place were ordinary-looking human hands, a fine dusting of golden hair catching the light of the morning sun. Rodney gasped and squinted up at the sky. It was full-on daylight now, and he was still here.

David reacted to his movement by breaking off his hug and looking up into Rodney’s face. “Oh, wow,” he exclaimed stupidly. “Your eyes are blue. Really blue.”

“What?” Rodney extricated himself from David’s embrace and stood up. He stared down at his pale-skinned, hairy legs, his mouth agape. His cock seemed absurdly small, his balls pink, soft, and vulnerable. Thank heavens he was still reasonably muscular.

David stood as well. “You’re blond,” he said with a little shake of his head. He grinned widely, a ridiculous expression if Rodney had ever seen one. It made David look like a dork, and Rodney had every intention of telling him that, only David wasn’t finished speaking. “You’re
human
. Damn, you’re hot in this form too.”

David pushed at his shoulder, and Rodney was surprised at how strong that movement felt. He cranked his head over his shoulder to look at his wings, but nothing was there, just a smooth expanse of pale skin. Rodney jerked his head around to look at David again.

“Welcome to humanity.” David smacked him on the shoulder, and Rodney flinched. That
hurt
. He flexed his fingers, looking down at his hand with its blunt-tipped fingernails in awe.

“We’d better get you inside,” David said practically. “Before Sadie tries to shoot you. Again.”

Rodney followed him numbly back to the apartment. David’s words washed over him as he sat down in the overstuffed chair.

“We’ll need to set you up with an identity. Is there anything in particular you’d like to do? Something you’ve always fantasized about?” David piled Rodney’s treasures in a stack on the coffee table.

Rodney looked up out of his bemused daze. “What are you blathering on about?”

David grinned as he sat down on the couch across from Rodney. “You need an identity. A background. A job. You’re going to have to earn a living, you know. It won’t be easy, but we’ll need to create a past for you, one that doesn’t include hanging from the side of buildings.”

Rodney was still trying to take it all in. “I’ll need a place to stay,” he said, the terrible circumstances in which he found himself just now starting to sink in.

David looked wounded. “You’re staying here. Unless you don’t want to, that is.”

Relief coursed through him like a flash flood in a narrow canyon. “Thank you,” he said sincerely. Part of him cautioned against taking advantage of David’s generosity, but he told that part of his brain to shut the fuck up. A gargoyle didn’t become a human every day. One thing at a time.

“What are friends for?” David quipped. He reached over and patted Rodney on the shoulder. Rodney’s cock, formerly quiescent against his thigh, shifted at the contact.

Rodney looked down at it. It was certainly thicker than he’d expected. He wondered how long it would be before it could reach a rate of full arousal. The fact that he even thought about that right now embarrassed him. A sudden wave of heat flared over his skin, and he was alarmed when he looked down at his chest and saw how pink he’d become. “I feel a little weird.” He cradled his head in his hands, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. It occurred to him that Fred knew all about this feeling, and if he ever saw the bastard again, he intended to kick his ass for not sharing the information.

David frowned at him. “You do look flushed. We should see if you’re running a fever.”

He got up and headed off into the bedroom area. Rodney could hear him rummaging around in the bathroom before he came back with a thermometer in hand. “Open up,” he said, holding the thermometer in front of Rodney’s lips.

Rodney obliged, feeling ridiculous as he sat naked on David’s chair, his lips tightly clamped around the thermometer. This was terrible. What was he going to do as a human? He didn’t know how to
be
a human.

When the thermometer beeped, David took it out and read it. “Normal.” He seemed relieved as he placed it on the table. “I think you were just embarrassed, you know? Or maybe excited. This is a pretty exciting moment when you think of it.” David looked pleased on his behalf.

Rodney nodded. He didn’t know what he should be feeling right now. It was all so mixed up and strange and nothing like what he had expected.

“Come on, Rodney,” David said. “The world is your oyster. Think of it! You can do anything you’ve always wanted. What’ll it be?”

“I want to go to a bookstore.” Though he made it a statement, he ended on a questioning note. Rodney was afraid David would laugh at him.

He did.

“Okay, not what I was expecting.” David’s grin was contagious, though. “But fair enough. Bookstore it is.” He pulled Rodney up by the hand.

“And the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I want to go to the Met.” Rodney spoke with more confidence as he stood beside David. “Oh, and can we eat at that grill a few streets over? The one with the barbecued ribs that smell so good. It’d be nice to go to a dance club too. Do people go clubbing anymore?” He felt like the veriest tourist in a city that he’d lived in for decades. He could hardly contain his excitement, and he pulled David by the arm toward the door.

“Whoa, Rodney.” David balked suddenly, slipping out of his grip.

Rodney frowned at him. Okay, maybe it was being a little presumptuous, assuming that David would want to spend his day taking Rodney around the city. David probably had more important things to do, things Rodney would have to start worrying about soon, like paying the bills and putting food on the table. The idea panicked him just a little, and he rapidly told himself that he’d think about that tomorrow.

Scarlett O’Hara would be proud.
So what was David’s problem?

“Clothes.” David indicated Rodney’s naked state. “Not that I mind seeing you in the buff like this, because damn, you look good.” He gave Rodney an appreciative once-over. “But the Sadies of this world might object.”

Rodney looked down at himself. “You think I look good?”

David’s chuckle was warm and inviting. Rodney’s cock began to fill at the memory of the night before.
Finally
. He was beginning to wonder. This was going to take some getting used to.

“You were magnificent as a gargoyle, but as a human?” David just shook his head. “You’re fucking gorgeous.” He chewed at his lower lip, obviously embarrassed. He added with a little shake of his head, “Come on, we’d better find you something to wear. Though I’m not sure what. You’re a lot broader in the shoulders than I am.” He flicked a glance at Rodney’s cock, and Rodney could tell he wanted to say something else but had chickened out at the last second.

“Wait.” Rodney stopped David as he headed back into the bedroom again. David looked back inquiringly at him. Rodney took a deep breath. “I think I’d like a raincheck on going out just yet.”

David raised an eyebrow at him.

Rodney let his smile form slowly over his features. “Well, it’s just a little after dawn. I’m guessing not much is open yet and won’t be for hours. Seems to me we might as well go back to bed for a while.”

David nodded, slowly shaking a finger in Rodney’s direction. “That’s a very good plan.” He grinned as Rodney moved closer to him. “Who knows? This time we might not break anything either.”