Creeper - 5. Chapter 5: Desire

CREEPER

Chapter Five: Desire

Harbor you encompass me and in turn we share a purpose.

Haven.

Desire. Revelation from just one look? Landry was not sure what exactly to look at in this moment. Red hair. Well, how can one call this just red hair? Because it was molten gold, heated by the sun to flame. Even wet it burned lustrous, gleaming. It hung in gentle, heavy curls from his crown in a garland of tangles that must have taken hours to arrange… for such ingenious, flawless ease. And it brushed his shoulders with the seabreeze. Shoulders that should be burning red with too much sun and sea, but were not. Shoulders of such grace could only end in arms of elegant form. Hands hidden by his stance akimbo. His skin glowed with the look of creamy alabaster brushed with pink and blue and gold undertones, all overlayed with the crystal sparkle of sand mica and sea salt. Those wide shoulders rode above a firm, defined chest decorated with two flushed, wild blooddrops. His breathing showed his ribs and the concave flexing of his stomach. Tight and lightly divided into sections like a loaf of breakfast bread. His loins. Hip bones, accents atop full thighs. Knees that looked delicate in their function. Full calves and again the delicate ankles and well turned feet. Landry almost asked the Prince to turn around but settled for another glance up to the bounty found there. A pink phoenix rising from its nest of flames. Landry cocked his brow and returned to Isaac’s face. The smile was gone now, replaced with a questioning gaze. One might expect to find green eyes but one would be surprised to find brownish rose tourmaline, almost pink. Brows and lashes an almost auburn black. In the past these eyes were unhealthy looking, sad eyes in a sad face wearing a sad smile. For all the effort the Prince put forth to seeming normal and happy he was forever in the shadow of his illness. But these eyes were not just healthy, but lovely in their current soft innocence. They were a twin sunrise of promise. This was not a sickly boy standing before him. Landry should think about that some more, but at the moment he was giving all of his attention to pink carmine lips. The lips moved. “Will you teach me to swim, I never learned?” And with that Landry got his desire met as Isaac turned and walked to the surf.

Describe sudden grace. Sing of movement sublime. Gape at the divine.

~*~

Not understanding what all this meant was not a problem. Creeper scanned the view of the vision again. Creeper understood not knowing. Lady Garnette had trained him well in not knowing. Be quiet and wait and watch. He would know. It would come. Creeper stared at the view of Landry sitting atop Charger. Suddenly he got it. He was seeing what Iggy was seeing. Landry only looked that way at one person. That is it, isn’t it. With this knowledge Creeper was able to focus more. The disorientation lessened. And Creeper began to hear a roar in the distance. A rolling rhythmic pounding. The surf. And then came the scent of sea and the feel of seabreeze. And just as suddenly Creeper was there in his body again. Aware of his body, the world, and aware of Iggy. It was like he was standing behind Iggy or more like he was surrounded by Iggy. And again suddenly Creeper realized something. He could push Iggy out, he could force him to be gone forever. Insight after insight came now. He could subjugate Iggy. He was the stronger. He could imprison Iggy. He could own Iggy. Iggy was his, his slave. But Creeper made no move to do so. Because this felt… well this felt familiar, like before. This was like before when Creeper spent his days watching and protecting and loving his Iggy. This was his purpose and his desire.

Creeper paid closer attention now to Landry. Landry was looking back at him. Well he was looking back at Iggy. But something new, different had been added. He was more than looking. He was summing him up wasn’t he? No, he was admiring or maybe almost paying homage. Wait, this feels like…

~*~

Isaac wasn’t going to stand there all day staring at Lannie. He had made a fool of himself once that day doing that. Not again. Well at least this time he wasn’t about to faint. His breathing was almost normal and his heart wasn’t in his throat and his knees were not too weak. No, he did not feel weak at all. He felt suddenly confident. So what if Lannie was still just as beautiful as the first day he had ever see him. Isaac was ten and Lannie was twelve. Landry’s family had fostered him with Isaac’s mother and father. Under the terms of the contract Landry was to be apprenticed to Stablemaster Tyme. His fostering would end with his ascension to Stablemaster. As the fifth son of a Prince he was a lesser Duke, a kind of redundant insurance. Also he was Isaac’s distant cousin. The foster contract also required that Lannie be treated as an apprentice and not as duke. This was a common practice. So Lannie worked and lived and slept in the stable learning a trade. And once a week on end day he would dine with his adopted family. Maybe this was also an attempt to provide a companion for Isaac. But it didn’t work out that way. It wasn’t like it was dislike at first sight. It was just awkward. And the days passed and the months passed and they settled into a distant awareness of each other. But that was all. Lannie became involved in his life as an apprentice and Isaac listened to his tutors.

Reminiscing came to an end with the realization by Isaac that he was again at attention before Landry. But this time he did not panic. This time he found a distraction and his voice. “Will you teach me to swim? I never learned.”

~*~

Yes, Creeper knew what this was now. He could feel it. He could see the evidence of it in his body and he could see it in the eyes of Landry. Mostly he listened to Iggy’s yearning. That craving, crying siren call. Desire.