Chapter Text
Society surrounded by humans has changed them both, whether they'd like to admit it or not.
Atop a quiet hill sat Harper and Nylora, sitting together enjoying the tranquil environment. If you peered over the hill you'd be met with an empty—practically abandoned— lake, trailing a path to the city sidewalk which was full of bustling life.
The unwanted area that people never went to was a safe space for the two creations to get away from the noise. They never anticipated humans outside to be so noisy, the real world was such a daze compared to where they were raised.
Creators were quiet, serious, a figure of authority from what they knew. But to see them act so freely and childishly was a new light.
It was difficult to get used to—the species you despised so much suddenly becoming someone you feel like you could trust.
Harper rested his head on Nylora's shoulder, watching them gaze up at the sky. It was a gradient of light blue to orange sunset, the light from the sun slowly descending reflected golden tints onto the fluffy white clouds.
A hopeful shimmer shone in their yellow eye as they watched birds soar the sky.
That's what they wished to be, to fly so freely with no obstacles or hurried timing, in an endless abyss.
Sensing their eagerness—as well as how they lifted themselves up off the ground slowly with their hands—Harper snuggled closer and wrapped them within his arms.
"Don't even think about it," He pouted which earned a laugh from his partner.
"I'm not going anywhere, not yet at least," Nylora reassured, lifting an arm up and peaking through their fingers, a beam of light shining through.
Their eyes had a gleam that couldn't be shaken off. A gleam of determination to fly like those birds in the wind.
Harper grabbed onto their arm and dragged it down, lifting his head up to look at them.
"You can't. What would they do to you if you were spotted? Humans don't fly, that would be abnormal. And then they'd take you away," He pulled them closer, hiding his head against their shoulder. "I can't risk losing you again."
Hearing his solemn thoughts deemed Nylora a little glum. They lifted their hand onto his head and gently ran their fingers through his light dirty blonde hair.
It was true, unfortunately. If any of them were reported as a strange otherworldly being, there would surely be severe consequences to it.
Nylora recalled what Kiah said about the humans out here—they're no better than those who served as creators. Full of malice and intrusiveness: these freed creations fates were likely to end up just as it was before; Locked up and experimented with inhumane ways of learning about their abilities.
Probably even worse than before since these humans didn't even know what they were. But they would know they were different.
"…Sometimes, I wish I were one of them," Nylora mumbled. Harper turned to them like they had lost their mind.
The thought of being a creator disgusted him. In what cruel world would he choose to be full of such malice? To create beings just as sentient as you are, only to end up treating them like possessions.
Creations were tools to control and make life easier for them, or a form of entertainment and amusement. Puppets on strings that had no say in what they could do—it was injected into their veins to obey.
This border between creation and creator was rigged. Give a being powers and qualities no human could have and that apparently means they can't mess up.
Perfection could never exist, so why would humans feel this way? To think that it is pathetic that the beings they created cannot give the results they wanted?
Enslaving and forcing what you considered 'objects' just because they weren't human—and having the audacity to be upset when they don't perform well.
No human could ever feel how he felt when he spent tireless nights managing his core and the effects it gave. No human could ever understand how bad he wanted to be perfect for them!
While the ethereal feeling of his sounds washed away their worries, he was forced to perform with gritted teeth and hours of perfecting his craft sucking the soul out of him.
Harper was either being clung onto like IV drips to a dying person, or thrown into the dark like an unwanted piece of rubbish.
Creations were made with the initial basic knowledge of how to speak, walk and complete other tasks that would take humans years of learning. But the neglecting that followed through with that was disastrous.
They didn't have to eat so they never ate food. When they didn't have to present themselves well, all hygiene and learning to take care of themselves was off limits.
Creators were the source of learning—they branch all creations' knowledge further than what they were made with. Yet they were too selfish to pass it down.
Not to mention, the audacity humans had to make creations resemble them was disgusting. Harper never asked to be made, to look so human-like because that was the norm in this society. He wanted nothing to do with humans.
In those few moments of silence and Harper internally seething—Nylora avoided eye contact with their astonished partner before they finally spoke up.
"Not in a way where I would do the horrible things that happened to us. More like, fitting in."
The wings at the sides of their head flapped down and curled inwards making them appear smaller. Too bad no matter how much they curled them, they would still stand out.
"You know what I mean? What kind of human has wings? I don't know much about the species creators are, but none do. I think." They chuckle lightly trying to ease the mood, wings moving to cover their face when silence remained.
Harper lifted their wings away to uncover their pitiful face, "Fitting in isn't so simple. I wish it were as well. They should have dragged me down like you and gave me some sort of weird obvious feature."
He frantically shook his arms in a 'not in a mean way' motion when he saw Nylora's attempt to shrink their wings again.
"Your features are great—! I wouldn't want you to be created any differently in any other universe out there." He stated.
"It's just that every time I see humans stare and whisper stuff about you, I can feel my core tightening. What would happen to you if they took you away from me again?"
He blabbered with a clear pain in his throat and tears welling in his eyes. Nylora had to adjust his body to sit upright so he wouldn't flop around like a fish in their lap.
They extended their arms out, allowing him to shuffle back closer and lean his head against their shoulder once more. Nylora soothed him gently by rubbing his back.
Noticing the faint perspiration forming around his neckline from the heat of the sunset, they delicately unzipped the jacket he had on.
Imagine their surprise when they realised he had no undershirt on beneath it despite them both learning that jackets were a piece of clothing that usually required something to accompany it underneath.
They tugged the jacket apart so majority of Harper's chest was visible, fingers trailing to delicately wipe the sweat around his core.
Harper's alien-like feature was a lot less obvious and a lot easier to hide.
A gemston lodged in his chest called a core, which was heavily damaged and shattered from what happened in that laboratory.
The same couldn't quite be said about Nylora with their antenna ears and wings where ears are meant to be.
Very obviously unnatural. Thank goodness cosplay and alternate fashion was a thing with humans.
Harper melted into Nylora's loving touch. A low rumble of the faint healing power left in his core vibrated through Nylora's fingers as they carressed the cracks on it.
The two of them could stay like this forever. Peace and quiet where they didn't have to suppress themselved because they were different.
"You idiots! Why would you kick the ball so hard!?"
A faint but audible voice startled Harper out of his tranquility, causing his partner to jump as well. Their antenna ears straightened up.
He leaned his head over the edge of the hill they rested on, catching a glimpse of what was going on beneath them.
A young teenager was scurrying to chase after a soccer ball that her friends kicked a little too intensely off the city pathway.
Harper watched cautiously as she snatched it up from the ground before it rolled into the lake—sprinting back to her giggling friends waiting for her.
Shit. He totally got carried away with how peaceful it was here to the point he forgot they were still outside! Outside with humans that could catch them at any moment!
"Hey, relax Harper! I was just about done massaging your core." Nylora said with a smile they couldn't control when they watched how distressed Harper was. He was strangely cute like this.
"No!" He squealed, frenetically fumbling with his jacket zipper to hide his core.
"The humans—they'll catch us! I-I can't, no, we can't be caught!"
Nylora had to contain themselves from breaking into a giggling fit, covering their mouth while Harper perspired more now than before.
"It's okay, I promise! See?" Their voice caught Harper's attention. They pointed to their antennas that were freely up and gently swaying with the breeze.
"I haven't hidden my ears, yet everything has been fine." Nylora reassured.
Usually when they were out in public, their antenna would too be curled up and the human-like ears at the ends of them would be positioned where actual ears were meant to go.
Harper was so carried away he never noticed, but now that he did he quickly scrambled to try and get them to hide them.
"What are you doing!? Have you been like that the whole time? They're gonna catch you!" He yelled, attempting to swat at their antennas to get them to move them down while Nylora chuckled amusedly in his face.
Their stronger hands managed to control Harper from getting any closer to them, they held onto his wrists and looked at his scared—almost mad expression. His grubby fingers that were free still attempted to grab onto their antennas.
"Everything will be fine. I know we'll be fine." They calmly soothed him. The gentleness of their tone made him calm down slightly. Nylora slowly guided his arms down onto the grass.
Once they saw that he was not so riled up anymore, they decided to make a bold move. In front of him, Nylora shuffled to their feet and stood before him. Harper looked up at them in confusion.
His face twisted like he had seen horrors as they flapped their wings and lifted themselves off the ground.
"Nylora!?" He yelled and tried to grab at their feet, but they managed to fly high enough that he couldn't reach them.
Turning their head, Nylora looked at the beautiful sunset sky. They took in all the fluffy clouds and the gradient of colours mixing into a ombré.
CC.LABCO.—the laboratory they lived their whole life in—never had as much colour compared to this sky.
Earth was a pop of colour that Nylora never knew they needed.
So many different tones of warm or cool colours could be naturally found, while in the laboratory they were surrounded by a dull monochrome environment practically all the time.
Surprisingly on cue, two birds flew across their line of sight. In comparison, although they might be the same size, bird wings could support their body much more than Nylora one's can. If only they had wings as big as their body, maybe then could they soar and live in the sky forever.
The breeze against their short hair and wings sent a good chill down their spine.
This was how it felt to be free. It was beautiful. Oh, how unfair it was that such a horrible species got to experience this beauty for their whole life.
"Please, don't do this!" Harper called out to them in distress. They snapped out of their thoughts, turning to look at his terribly worried expression. It was pitiful.
Nylora couldn't help but think he was just being overprotective though.
Who would think to look up at an abandoned hill? In their eyes, it was just the two of them and nobody else in the whole world at that very moment.
Suddenly, an idea lit a light bulb in their mind. A mischevious and self-indulgent one. They slowly descended close but not fully onto the ground, Harper let out a sigh of relief with an audible 'phew'.
"What do you—" he gasped in surprise when his partner suddenly held him by the waist and flew them off the ground. Nylora struggled to keep the both of them steady as Harper flailed his arms and legs around in the air.
Seeing the sight of the bustling city become wider as they flew higher made him cling tightly onto them instinctively. This was higher than he has ever been before…
Up here, he could see every part of the city. The diversity of the humans and the difference in their fashion senses.
Whether they wore dark or bright colours, tall or short, man or woman—or any of the other genders in between or none at all.
It was so dinstinctively different from the environment he lived in, beings here had self-expression. Beings there were all the same.
Harper snapped out of it and stared at his partner in disbelief, who too seemed like they were nervous about something.
Nylora struggled to maintain eye contact with him, their pupils averting his but always ending up being pulled back—they could see his patience draining away the more they awkwardly held him up in the air.
Their cheeks slowly tainted pink the more they stalled, it drew deep suspicion to their partner.
"We can't be caught like this Nylora! You can't—!"
Nylora pulled themself closer to Harper into a kiss, his eyes widened in shock.
That's one way to shut him up.
They held him up with one hand around his waist and the other holding his head against theirs. Similarly, he hugged them tightly and melted into their touch.
Their wings flapped like they were trying to fan their almost overheating face.
They both pulled away from each other panting, Harper's eyes still wide like a deer in head lights while Nylora looked at him nervously.
You could see the 'WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST DO' panic on their face.
"I-I saw that on television last week. Kissing, was it? I heard it was something partners do. We're partners… Right?"
Nylora explained themself, thinking back to that night when they were up late watching a romance movie.
The two main leads were alone on a balcony, embracing each other sweetly with their lips smushed together. The actors faces were all red.
Nylora thought it was just a movie thing, but goodness they could feel it happening to them… The heat creeping up from their neck and covering their whole face.
The once enjoyable silence was very far from enjoyable at the moment. Harper stayed speechless with his mouth gaped open.
"…I uhh.. I think I was supposed to ask for permission but it totally slipped from my mind." Nylora mumbled and looked away, ashamed.
"I'm sorry. I just got so carried away and…"
"Kiss me again."
Harper cut off their guilty rant. Not a hint of shame in his request.
They stared at him dumbfounded.
Goosebumps spreaded across their body as Harper moved his hand away from gripping their back and carressed their cheek. His warm breath against their already warm and blushed face managed to make them even redder.
Without hesitation, Nylora pulled him back into the kiss. They struggled to keep both their bodies upright in the air as Harper sunk fully onto their body.
If there was one thing humans did well, it was how to express love for their soulmate. Because the two of them have never felt closer than ever before.
Nylora slowly folded under the pleasure, wings weakening in strength as they slowly fluttered down back onto the grassy hill.
Harper laid on top of Nylora, pulling away from them to catch his breath and then leaning back in to steal another kiss.
Kissing was something Harper wasn't new to whether he'd like to admit it or not.
The first time he experienced it was at a period of his life where he lost about every reason to live. With a guy annoying enough to make him not want to live.
All he thought about during it was his dear partner—how much nicer it would be if the lips he was pressing against were theirs—and now that he had it, he never wanted to pull away.
Of course, he eventually did though. Wouldn't want Nylora dying of lack of breath from kissing.
They rolled him off them onto the grass where they both laid parallel from each other. Their foreheads touched and Harper gently held Nylora by the back of their head.
The satisfied grin and sweet short squeals of enticement made his heart feel all fuzzy.
"You're a great kisser," He complimented.
"Ehehe.. This is our first kiss ever, how would you know if mine is even worthy of being good?" They giggled, Harper chose to stay silent about his past experience.
Their fingers trailed down his neck to his jacket zipper.
"May I?" They asked, he nodded.
They peeled back his clothing revealing his broken core, something he was so ashamed of. Yet Nylora admired it to no end.
Since Nylora's urge to massage his core got to the best of them, Harper couldn't help but too touch some part of them. He brushed against their delicate soft wings, watching them puff up in surprise.
They were a lot more sensitive than he would have imagined.
"Don't worry, go on!" They affirmed. The wings desperate for touch brushed against his fingers this time, he gleefuly returned the touch back.
And there the two rested. Tranquily amongst a field of grass and flowers, away from the world and all of the beasts that lived there.
Harper plucked a small flower from the ground and tucked it behind one of their wings. It was a little yellow tulip, as yellow as their pupils that he could spend all day getting lost in.
Nylora blushed once more, this was something they saw too on the television. How romantic!
"I promise you, nobody will come looking for us anytime soon. We shouldn't have to hide what makes us different from them," Nylora gave him a quick peck on the lips.
"So let's just stay like this."
They ended the sentence off, beaming a cheerful smile which was awfully contagious. Harper's lips involuntarily curled up as well, the two laughing together as they laid there intertwined with what humans would call 'love'.
Maybe the human experience wasn't so bad after all, especially when it was just them together.