Quill Feathers (Oriel)

[Deleted]

It was one of the reasons why he never talked about his past, or his home life. Or why he just straight up didn’t talk to a lot of people about anything serious. His lack of parents was always an excuse for some people to start being awkward around him, tiptoeing around the subject like it was some sort of taboo. It was, and it hurt and he hated whenever it came up because there were a lot of feelings there that he didn’t wish to share with anybody, but the tiptoeing bugged the shit out of him too. As if he were some sort of fragile piece of glass or something. It was always better when they just simply said “oh, i’m sorry to hear that” and moved on like it wasn’t a thing. But rarely did anybody do that. The most common responses were prodding questions or, like now, an awkward silence as they actively tried to avoid the subject.

Whatever, didn’t matter, it was a subject gone and past already, though rest assured that Oriel was going to use that little blunder against him one day.

Oriel laughed, understanding perfectly where Ray was coming from. Rainbow Alex was…Oriel liked her. He hated her. They had their moments, but overall Oriel thought she was just a naive bitch who just tried to act tough through her image. And waaaay too skinny to be healthy. She reminded Oriel of those open minded ladies that he used to hang out with. The streetwalking type.

“You didn’t?” he asked, genuinely surprised that anyone couldn’t immediately figure out Awesome Alex’s “disability” after spending only a few minutes with her. Oriel had figured it out almost right away. “You mean the dead-end stare didn’t give her away?” It really wasn’t as obvious as Oriel was making it out. Oriel was just too dumb to realize he noticed things sometimes.

But Oriel really liked Awesome Alex. She had a good strong head on her shoulders. She was intelligent, snarky, and had a lot more balls than a lot of guys he’d come across. Oriel was actually smiling with interest as Ray iterated the story of their meeting. He glanced down at the boy’s feet. Those were for flying? Okay. Oriel snorted at the image Ray painted, him having to be saved by a little blind girl half his size. “I’ll bet,” he agreed with an amused smile. It was what he said next that had him cocking his head curiously. “Like fuck. That’s my title,” he declared. And there wasn’t nobody who was going to take that away from him. Not even Alex. Oriel stared at Ray firmly, daring the other boy to challenge his claim to the Evil Lordship.

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

As far as Ray was concerned the subject was dropped and there were no hard feelings. He was clueless and often thought that the world was as innocent as he was. That wasn’t to say he didn’t feel bad for Oriel, but he also didn’t seem to be the kind of person who would take kindly to prying questions of pitying eyes. So, Raylaigh thought he was doing the right thing by avoiding both altogether and letting it fall. Ray had no idea he should be watching his back. Perhaps he just went around making himself a good target. He was too clueless for his own good, he really needed someone to look out for him and keep him from doing stupid things. But there was only so much one person could do when someone was as clumsy (both physically and mentally) as Raylaigh.

Ray’s face grew more and more red as Oriel laughed. Sure it was funny and embarrassing now, but at the time he really had no idea. He supposed it just went to show how incredibly slow he was. He shrugged innocently and shook his head. Ray really hadn’t noticed. He was about as observant as a daydreamer. His head was perpetually in the clouds. Perhaps it was all of that breathing of the upper tropospheric air that did it but he was definitely an airhead. And not to mention he’d blundered pretty spectacularly before she’d told him. Really! Who told a blind person to get their eyes checked!? Stupid people like Raylaigh, that’s who.

“I’m a little slow sometimes…” Ray admitted, ducking his head before adding, “She’s good at hiding it.” As if that made it all better. There was only so much she could do to trick someone before it became obvious and Ray had just missed it completely. Ray shifted a little bit uncertain of what to do next. He wondered if most people knew he was stupid or if he did a good job of hiding it, but well, cat was out of the bag now. It wasn’t like Ray tried to be an idiot, he actually tried really hard to not be an idiot, but he hadn’t figured out the whole studying thing yet. Why couldn’t all classes be like art or like lab where it was all about doing experiments and making things explode. Because that was all he remembered from Chemistry class.

Now that Oriel was aware that Raylaigh was a tactless idiot Ray was nervy. He shifted uncomfortably and jumped a little bit when his expression changed a little bit. He couldn’t quite tell if Oriel was one of those laughing with or laughing at kinda people but he could definitely tell when Oriel’s eyes became sharp. If there was a way for Ray to fly away and hide right now, he would probably have done so. But Alex was his friend he needed to defend her. “Um… you’re gonna have to take that up with her, I’m just the messenger,” Ray said holding his hands up as if he were innocent. Of all of the world dominating people he knew, Alex was on the top of the list, followed by Yancey, but mostly because Yancey seemed intent on kidnapping if he attempted a revolt. “But as far as I’ve heard she’s got the best regime planned,” he added swallowing nervously, even thought he might sound like he was defending her, the flyer was slowly sinking back into the couch, trying to make himself as small as possible. He was definitely not of those people with a strong demeanor, he usually didn’t care enough to fight for something.

[Deleted]

Ray should be watching his back after that. Oriel had pegged the other boy as one of those naive, idiots who didn’t know when to stop. So now that he knew…Oriel was going to be hypersensitive to a lot of potentially offensive things he might end up saying in his ignorance. Oriel had a short fuse when it came to crossing the line - his line. Oriel was fine with crossing the line of others, but his own were off limits lest you wanted a fist through your face.

“Yeah, no shit,” he said, doing nothing to be ‘gentle’ with his words or opinions of the slow-minded dork. “You seem to be ‘bout as perceptive as my Aunt Judy…well, I don’t really got an Aunt Judy, but you get the gist of what I mean, right?” Oriel laughed in that demeaning way he did when he was kind of tickled but also just being a bit of an asshole - not quite a cackle, but pretty darned close to it.

After hearing about Alex’s so-called regime plans, Oriel was tempted to degenerate right into his full-blown bellows of Evil, a maniacal kind of laughter that Oriel had spend quite a bit of time perfecting behind closed doors. After all, an Evil Overlord needed to have a laugh which properly struck fear into the hearts of all who heard it. “So…she made you her bitch, huh?” Man, this guy was turning into more of a pussy than Oriel thought. “I can see that, actually. You know, good for you! For having the guts to pick a side.”

It was a bad thing for Ray that he’d even brought up the subject, because for this particular one…it was like someone flipped a switch in him and his brain had simply lit up like Time Square with ideas of how he was going to carry out his plans for World Domination. “But just for curiosity sake,” he started, flopping down into the seat on the couch next to Ray and sliding up uncomfortably close to the other boy. “Why don’t you give me lowdown on what pretty little Alex is planning, what do you say?” Oriel crept a “friendly” arm around Ray and gave him a good ol’ bro pat on his opposite shoulder. Oriel sent Ray his best salesman smile. He didn’t want to scare the guy, now did he? Well, at least not too much.

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Eyeing the other boy uncertainly, Ray was starting to wonder if he had made the right first assumption. Maybe Oriel really didn’t like him. Well, it wasn’t Raylaigh’s fault. He didn’t know, how could he have? How was Ray supposed to know he’d crossed the line when he didn’t know there was one. Sure Ray wasn’t happiest when he talked about his parent’s divorce but he didn’t go around expecting people to not talk about their parents because his parents couldn’t make it work. It wasn’t his fault, nor was it his parents. He certainly didn’t see Oriel’s situation as being his fault. Raylaigh knew he shouldn’t care what Oriel though, but something about him was very familiar and Ray felt the need to not upset him. Ray swallowed and pushed the thoughts away. No one knew about that. But that was his fault, he’d let it happen.

Ray giggled and scratched his head sheepishly giving a dopey smile. “Generally,” Raylaigh couldn’t help but agree. He shrugged, he’d been being teased about stuff like this forever by his brothers, he couldn’t say it honestly bothered him, what bothered him was the laugh that followed. So he wasn’t good at that kind of thing, and he wasn’t good at learning, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t good at other things. He could draw and he could fly, he was good at both of those. He was a good dancer, just as good as Oriel, he liked to believe. He swallowed, but that didn’t matter, not so far as Jack had been concerned. He shrugged and leaned forward organizing his papers into a pile, hoping that Oriel might see that as a sign that Ray was done with this conversation.

Raylaigh took it back, every thought he’d had about Oriel being not so bad, he took it back. Oriel was terrifying! Raylaigh had no idea what he’d done, but Oriel really didn’t like him and Oriel was scary. Maybe he was in cahoots with Rainbow-hair Alex. Ray looked back at Oriel, his lips set in an uncharacteristic frown and the beginning of an uncertain glare. “I’m not! We’re friends.” He declared angered by the familiarity of the phrase. After all he wasn’t her bitch, technically he was her genie, but they weren’t going to get into that right now. Raylaigh didn’t know what to do in this kind of situation, he’d never been in a situation like this so he just heaved an annoyed sigh and looked back down at his drawings. Why was Oriel even still here? Hadn’t he gotten Phoenix’s stuff?

It wasn’t hard to tell that Raylaigh was uncomfortable with the closeness that Oriel suddenly decided was necessary. The slender boy stiffened and shifted away from Oriel giving him a side eye that made no attempt to hide how skeptical he was of Oriel’s ‘curiosity’. If Oriel’s goal was to not frighten Ray, well that ship had sailed. Ray shrugged his shoulders, hoping Oriel would get the hint and back off. Ray had no illusions about his ability as a fighter. If Oriel wanted to hurt him, well there wasn’t much the flyer could do other than flee. He could try to fight back but his bones weren’t as strong as a normal persons and one blow and he’d been down like shattered glass. “She didn’t tell me anything,” Ray said more or less honestly with another shrug. “Uh… I’ve got homework.” He leaned forward and started to gather his things, ready to scurry quickly back to his room. Courage be damned, cowards lived longest.

[Deleted]

It was, in Oriel’s opinion, unfair to say whether or not the he liked someone or not. Oriel liked to believe that he didn’t hate anyone more or less than the other(lies). At the very least, Oriel would say he hated everyone(except Phoenix). But just because he hated people, didn’t mean he couldn’t like them. Take this brainless dweeb for a moment. Oriel had him targeted. Oriel was wary of him, because he now had the notion that the idiot was tactless and would step on any sensitive subject without restraint if it were brought up. That didn’t necessarily mean that Oriel disliked him. In fact, Oriel might actually like him…..as a plaything. Yup, Oriel was going to poke and prod at this kid to see what made him tic and then strike when he least expected it, all for his own amusement.

Nothing personal. Really. Oriel wasn’t at all a vindictive, grudge-holding person.

Oriel wasn’t about to let Ray go so easily. He could easily pick up on the cues that said that the other boy was uncomfortable and to a guy like Oriel, that only encouraged him to push even more. How long would it take before this kid finally snapped? When he’d finally had enough? And what would he do once he did? Would he yell? Throw a punch? Cry? Or would he just sit there and take it until Oriel got bored? It was always different with different people, and Oriel was always interested in finding out what that ended up being. Oriel sneered as his evil chuckles ebbed away into sporadic snickers.

“‘Friends’. Riiight,” Oriel said, clearly putting a twist on whatever Ray meant by “friends”. Sounded like he was hiding something. Of course, Oriel had no idea that Raylaigh was a male-only kind of guy, but even if he did, it probably wouldn’t have mattered. “Sure she don’t just keep you on the back-burner until she needs you for something convenient? Like a good boy-toy.” Now Oriel was just being mean. But since when had that mattered?

“Nothing? Now, I find that hard to believe.” Oriel crossed one leg over the other and leaned in even further to the obviously retreating boy, looking at him with sharp eyes that panned over him like a hungry animal, lone which was two steps away from eating the thinner boy alive. “Suuurely she must’ve told you….something.” Oriel grinned and seductively trailed his finger gently over Ray’s chest and up across his collarbone. Ray started moving, as if he were an animal fleeing from a fierce predator. “Aww, stick around a bit longer, I’m sure it can wait,” Oriel said glibly, waving his hand dismissively towards Ray’s stack of things.

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Raylaigh didn’t understand it. If he’d upset the other boy, why didn’t he just leave? Problem was, Ray wanted to leave but that would involve giving Oriel rule over his place. Well, the common room at least, if he let Oriel chase him out wouldn’t that be like giving up? Oriel would win this war, Ray knew he didn’t have a chance, as he didn’t know what he’d done to insight Oriel’s wrath. Sure he’d made a small blunder but well, Ray was sure that wasn’t a big deal. If Oriel was looking to dig into Raylaigh and strike when he least expected it he would have ample opportunities because Ray would never expect to be on someone’s hit list. He was blissfully unaware of the trap he had tumbled his way into. Even the way that Oriel was looking at him was noticed but dismissed. It made Raylaigh nervous, like he’d gotten himself stuck in a spider’s web but the spider hadn’t quite decided how to strike yet.

The winged boy shifted away from Oriel, watching Oriel out of the corner of his eye, as if he were afraid to meet the other boy’s eye. He shivered and ducked his head wishing he was as small as he used to be so he could just disappear into the couch. Now he was tall and gangly as a colt and it made him all the more noticeable. The look on the other boy’s face was giving Ray a strange plunging sensation in his gut. He shook his head. “We are! It’s not like that!” He cried in weak defense. He bit his lip, did Oriel know that Ray was gay even? Ray didn’t think it was a secret, in fact most people he told had either guessed or heard. He’d technically come out to a few friends a few years ago and since then he just guessed as to whether other people knew or not. His face flamed and he ducked his head more but Oriel had no way of knowing how much that last statement hurt.

Raylaigh wanted to stand up and give Oriel a good slap across the face but that wasn’t how Ray operated. He could imagine it but he could never go through with it. Ray’s jaw clenched and he closed his eyes, but closing his eyes just brought the image of another aggressor. He was only a ‘boy-toy’ to Jack. That showed with how easily he tossed Raylaigh aside. He’d thought that all to himself as well. He shook his head and forced a smile and gave a laugh himself, “No, it’s not like that at all. Alex is a awesome and that is why she’s gonna be a better ruler than you.” His mind did that thing where it blacked out and suddenly he realized he’d gone and done something stupid. Like taunt Oriel. Ray didn’t know why he said it, it just popped out! God, Oriel was going to kill him!

How did Raylaigh find himself surrounded by people who wanted to take over the world? Maybe it was because he was the perfect lackey, he had no ambition whatsoever himself, so maybe that drew them to him. But none of them scared him more than Oriel, not Alex and Not Yancey. Raylaigh’s breath caught when Oriel touched him and he shivered at the unexpected touch. He hunched his shoulders as if he were trying to fold in on himself. He laughed, uncomfortable, “Is it really?” He made an effort at a joke. Really, Oriel now knew Ray was a completely idiot, was it that hard to believe that even if she’d told him something he’d have forgotten it. “Nope, nothing,” Ray said and he ducked under Oriel’s arm.

In his effort to grab his papers and get away as quickly as possible he ended up scattering them across the table and on the floor. He gasped in distress and started gathering them. “I-I… uh, it’s due at midnight, I totally forgot about it, haven’t even started.” Ray chimed, rolling his eyes and swatting himself into the forehead as if for his own foolishness. Raylaigh gave Oriel a weak smile, the flyer was about as good at lying as he was at math. Ray dropped to his knees on the floor to gather the pages that had gotten on the floor. One of which happened to be a caricature that he was working on for Yancey, that had her looming over the world a crown on her head. He thought she’d get a kick out of that for her birthday or something.

[Deleted]

Oriel could sense that the kid wanted to leave, that he’d probably say just about anything to Oriel, give Oriel anything he wanted to hear, if it meant that he’d leave him alone. That was sweet, Oriel honestly wondered what he could get away with? How close could he get?

And either way, even if Ray pushed him off here, Oriel was certain there’d be other opportunities to poke at this guy. He seemed to show up to a lot of the dorm parties, so Oriel would look for him at those, heh heh heh.

Oriel smirked. “Right, sure sure, whatever you say!” Oriel held his hands up in “surrender” at Ray’s protests. Oriel could spot a patsy from a mile away, and this beanpole here was definitely one of them. Heh, yup. This guy was clearly uncomfortable. Really, would it kill him to grow a pair and just tell Oriel to step off? The boy might actually listen. Maybe. On the other hand, Oriel might just get more fierce to see exactly what else he could squeeze out of this guy. Maybe he’d actually help him grow a backbone?

Oriel snorted, mocking the guy’s praise for his new rival. “Oh, I have no doubt that she’s awesome. I have no doubt that she’d be good at what she did. But I got ambitions and I ain’t gonna leave them in the hands of nobody else but me.” Oriel used ‘evil’ and ‘overlord’ to describe himself, but he did have a plan. He did have something he wanted to accomplish with his reign(not that anyone wanted to hear what his ambitions were). But Oriel had no doubt that Alex had the some designs of simply making the world a “peaceful” place full of rainbows and butterflies. Not smart at all. Just like that freak Maud who only wanted to rule the world so she could make people do her bidding and live the “easy” lifestyle(at least that’s what he gleaned from her descriptions). No, Oriel wanted change. Because nobody else was going to do it.

Not that anybody cared. They didn’t have to, they just had to be loyal, trust him, and follow. Oriel would do all the thinking for them.

“Yeah, it is. Chicks love spilling that kind of shit to their minions. It strokes their ego.” Not that he had any evidence to support that. Oriel smirked as Ray finally started to make a break for it. Oriel simply sat on the couch and watched at Ray let him be defeated by his own awkwardness. It was really quite amusing. “Really?” he asked with vague interested, tilting his head and leaning forward over his crossed legs. He didn’t believe Ray for a second. But maybe this was a good chance to let him go?

He would have thought so if he hadn’t caught a glimpse of one of the boy’s drawings which had gotten away from him. Oriel slid off the couch and squat down on his haunches to start gathering up some of the papers himself. He was “helping”. “Huh…looks like someone I know…” he mused as he picked up the drawing of the familiar face.

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Oriel wasn’t wrong. Ray didn’t do well in situations like this and so he avoided them when he could. It was making his wings twitch. There should be no mistaking, Raylaigh’s flight response almost always won over his fight response. Ray didn’t know what he’d done to put himself under Oriel’s microscope, he didn’t think Oriel liked him very much, but at least he had thought he’d flown beneath Oriel’s radar, for the most part. Sure they went to the same parties, but Oriel always seemed so… occupied. He certainly had never shown anything more than a passing interest in Ray, Ray had liked it that way.

The flyer huffed and crossed his arms across his chest attempting to at least look like he was getting angry. Really, Oriel scared him too much for the anger to be stronger than the fear. It wasn’t like Ray had chosen to be a doormat, he just really preferred the path of least resistance. There was nothing more he could say to make the other boy believe him. Raylaigh was trying to do that thing where he said his piece and now he knew where he stood it didn’t matter what anyone else thought. But, problem was that it did. It mattered very much. Ray didn’t like it that Oriel didn’t like him, whether Oriel did or didn’t like him didn’t matter, the fact that Ray thought that Oriel didn’t like him was the matter.

Ambitions? Ray raised an eyebrow, he didn’t really get that whole ambition thing. Sure there were things that Ray wanted out of life but he was never meant to be a leader. He was a very good follower though. As curious as Ray was he was wary of asking. He waited a moment to see if Oriel would continue and when he didn’t Ray bit back the question. That would be the perfect trap. Oriel put out a line and Ray was tempted to bite, but if he asked about Oriel’s ambitious plans then he’d have to say something about Alex’s plans. He really knew very little, she was probably wise in not telling him much. Raylaigh wasn’t much known for his subtleties. Before he could come up with a better response Ray asked, “How are your ambitions better than anyone elses?”

Ray frowned and shook his head. “I’m not anyone’s minion!” He squeaked, hoping that he came out a little more confident than he felt. How was it that some people could just take all of his confidence and suck it dry. Ray nodded like a bobble head looking to not say anything again for fear his voice would crack as if he were still going through puberty. Now that would be embarrassing, especially in the face of Oriel, who it seemed could and would take all of the ammunition he could and use it against him. Ray hissed air through his teeth as his papers went everywhere. He was not having very good luck at the moment.

“Huh?” He replied, ever so eloquent. Then he looked up at saw Oriel’s helpful gathering, or rather a page in particular had caught his attention. Ray gulped as if he were extremely guilty. “Just something I’m making for my friend, Yancey.” Ray laughed awkwardly, “She keeps joking about that kinda stuff…” He gestured randomly. The sketch was unfinished but it was pretty easy to get an idea. Ray made a grab for the page, he didn’t want Oriel to think he was the minion to two overlord mistresses. That would send the wrong message if the other boy had already gotten the wrong message from Alex. Ray didn’t get it, he supposed they had kissed the one time, but that was to keep from getting in trouble. They were just friends.

[Deleted]

It was true that up ’til now, Raylaigh had been only a marginally noticeable presence in the background of Oriel’s attention. Now that they’d met one-on-one like this, however, that was definitely going to change. Ray had “random” encounters and Oriel treating the two like “best friends” during dance practice to look forward to from now on. Yes, he fully intended on approaching Ray during practice when the instructor wasn’t “looking”(because let’s face it, Hay-lin didn’t actually look at anything, being blind and all). Who knows how long this fixation will last? The last guy Oriel had targeted, the terrorization had lasted a good four months before Jack started keeping his distance permanently. Yes, Oriel needed a new plaything.

Because Ray was really tickling him, especially with his feigned defiance. Oriel always liked it when they did that, despite being scared shitless underneath it all. It was something to tear down, in his opinion. So in the face of Ray’s “anger”, Oriel merely smiled with playful “innocence”.

Yes yes, that’s it. Inquire and query. That’s what Oriel was looking for, though he didn’t really like going into his plans for world domination too often(aww, hell, he loved it, especially since he oh, so rarely got a chance to boast about it). “Because I’m going to fix this goddamn fucked up world!” he declared, his face suddenly serious. “You know what’s wrong with it? The fact that while a guy like you is stuffing his face with Thanksgiving turkey and a bunch of useless fucking decorations over a holiday that don’t have shit to do with nothing, there’s a guy with a needle in his arm, wasting away in his own filth and eating the remains of a rancid roast beef sandwich and calling that a feast.” Oriel gave him a sinister smirk. “Paints quite a picture, don’t it?” And one he’d no doubt forget by the end of the day.

This guy was useless. He probably wouldn’t become a part of Oriel’s regime. He had positions reserved for others though, if they’d take ‘em. People like him, who’d seen the real world and were just as disgusted with it as he was. People who’d been the butt of the universe’s joke because they didn’t live up to this mold that society expected from everyone in it. However, though this guy was useless, Oriel was also certain he wasn’t a threat either. He could live. Probably.

Aww, who was he kidding? This all was just a pipe dream, but it was still fun to plan and pretend it could happen.

Oriel was pretty much done now. He was ready to be on his way. Besides, Phoenix was probably wondering where he was. It was the picture of Yancey that Ray had that stopped him for the most part. Oriel pulled the page away from Ray when he grabbed for it, his face staring at the other boy somewhat dumbfounded. “So…does your mistress know you’ve been boinking the so-called “future empress” on the side?” Oriel snorted in amusement. “You really got to get your loyalties straightened out. If either of them are serious, you think they’re going to stand for you fraternizing with the “enemy”?” Oriel snickered again. Hell, if everything went well, he could just let those two destroy each other. Then he’d step forward in the aftermath. Yes, this was a good. plan. Heh heh heh.

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Poor Ray was clueless, he was under the impression that this was going to be an isolated event, after all, Oriel had never approached him in any other context, why should he think that would change, it wasn’t like Oriel was going to go out of his way. Surely, that was how it was. Ray didn’t like the look in Oriel’s eyes and he dodged it as best he could. It was predatory and there was something about it that was scarily familiar that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Ray didn’t know what he’d ever done to make Oriel dislike him, Ray was of course oblivious to the blunder about asking about Oriel’s parents. How was he supposed to know? Surely Oriel didn’t blame him for that.

Oh well, soon Oriel would go back to being clingy with Phoenix and Raylaigh would be all forgotten about, Ray thought. That was precisely how things were going to go. Maybe if he got this guy talking about his plans then he would forget about what he was talking about before. Ray didn’t understand it, why did so many people around him have intent to take over the world? Ray was definitely a passive person, it was strange that so many people around him were so strongly ambitious. Perhaps unconsciously Raylaigh hoped that they would rub off on him eventually. Although, he couldn’t say he wanted Oriel’s brand of world domination to rub off on him. Ray maybe could do some good here if he ever needed to report to Yancey or to Alex, or maybe even Nao, since it seemed to be a trend in the people he hung out with now.

Taken aback, Ray grasped for words that slipped out of his mind’s reach. He gaped momentarily at Oriel his face going hot with fury, who did this guy think he was? He didn’t know anything about Ray. Against his better judgment Ray scoffed. “I don’t understand, how is that my fault?” Raylaigh knew that there were people who were under unfortunate circumstances, but why did that make him at fault. He hadn’t asked to be born to a wealthy businessman who paid his mother handsomely for child support while he went off with another woman. But Ray wasn’t going to say that, because it wasn’t any of Oriel’s business. It wasn’t like Ray didn’t help when he could. He just didn’t see how much help he could give, he was only one person, and a teenager at that, who didn’t have a penny to his name.

Ray made a noise of displeasure when Oriel pulled the drawing away from his hand. He set his face in what he hoped was a strong and defiant way, but he really just looked uncertain with a whole lot of scared behind his eyes as he waited for Oriel to say something or give the drawing back. The flyer’s face flushed and he rose to his feet his papers and notebook cradled tightly against his chest. “I haven’t been… boinking anyone!” He cried suddenly filled with the need for Oriel to believe him. What if he told Jack, Jack was always certain Ray was cheating on him, what if… Jack wasn’t here anymore. Right, Jack just up and left. Narrowing his gaze, Raylaigh snapped his wings sharply. “No one’s enemies,” Ray protested in a calmer voice, but his voice still shook. “Give it back.” He put in his best effort glare and held his hand out. It was supposed to be Yancey’s present but now it was in the hands of Oriel.

[Deleted]

Oriel might forget about Ray for a little while, while he was wrapped up in giving his attentions to Phoenix. Or while he was doing any number of other things he was involved in. As much as Oriel enjoyed his afternoon naps, the boy enjoyed being active as well; he had dance practice, drama club, he went to the computer lab frequently to do minimal work on his homework, he went running at least once a day, and then he power-cleaned the dorm whenever he had an idle moment with nothing(or noone) better to do(like Phoenix). The boy kept himself busy. It would be that idle moment when he say Ray in the hall, or saw him sitting by himself during dance practice that Oriel would suddenly remember that the kid was an extra thing to play with for his own amusement and his brain would work out how to execute his next attack.

Oriel snorted, imparting a condescending glare at the other boy. “I didn’t say it was. But it’s that kind of attitude that pisses me off.” Oriel sneered. “I’ll bet you’re the kind of kid who gives pocket change to the charity buckets at Christmas time and then thinks you’re a holy saint for doing so.” He put up a pair of jeering jazz hands to illustrate his point. “Oh, you did your good deed for the year, so now you can go home and brag about it on Facebook then kick it up with your brand new playstation game.” Oriel had known of plenty of entitled ass-wipes like this in his short lifetime. “And then if some sap starts rummaging through your trash for a taste of your wasted privilege, the first thing you do is chase ‘em away, or call the cops to have them carted away to where they ‘belong’.” Because that’s the only place where the lower class could possibly belong; locked up and labeled as ‘no good’.

Ray may not have done any of those things personally, but he was definitely of the sort that would. It didn’t matter that he was a kid. The fact that he thought there was nothing he could do only proved that it was something he didn’t want to be bothered with. And any sort of “giving” he actually gave was just enough to appease his own guilt, not because he actually cared. Oriel was convinced that this was true of Ray and the rest of the middle-class white-Aryan trash that existed at this school.

It was a bad reason to be pissed at some random kid who didn’t know any better…but Oriel was rarely rational when it came to his opinions and impressions of others. He often saw intentions that may or may not have been there, and they were what fueled his dislike for people like Ray. So of course, he was justified in being a dick to them. “Yeah…sure, keep telling yourself that,” he said dismissively. Oriel slid his eyes from the paper back to the desperate boy. An impulse filled him, one he told himself to ignore. His fingers twitched. “Fine.” Oriel held it out, but released it before Ray could wrap his fingers around the paper. Once it fell to the floor, Oriel’s shoe went right on top of it. He leaned forward and snorted, a smirk returning to his lips. “Tell the “empress” I said ‘hi’.” Oriel ground his foot into the paper a little more then stepped away. He grabbed Phoenix’s sketchbooks then started for the door.

At least he didn’t do the other thing he was thinking about.

[Raylaigh Hawthorne]

Raylaigh was honestly very surprised at how this visit had turned out. He couldn’t understand what he had done to piss off Oriel in the first place nor what had gotten him to be the victim of his vicious lecture. Ray just gaped for a while and shook his head now and again. For someone who seemed to be really riled up by people making assumption about him, he was making an awful lot of them about Ray. Ray wished abruptly that his older brother Kyle were here, he would have stood up to Oriel, probably told him exactly where to go for talking to Raylaigh and about their family as he was. Sure the Hawthorne name was an old one and probably went back about as far as one could. That didn’t really mean anything though, not in this day and age.

“Don’t talk like you know me!” Raylaigh snapped, very uncharacteristically, “My mom works hard for what we have.” He snarled, if they had more he knew that they would give more. His father did a lot. But then again, his father also thought that love came in a financial form. That was rather uncharitable, his father was a kind man and he definitely worked hard to give to people when he could, especially in the way of jobs and such. He was just very much a businessman and he didn’t really know how to connect with his children, least of all the meta ones. He wasn’t sure if Oriel had ever been to D.C. but there were areas that were better off and worse off. Sure, Raylaigh lived in the better one but if he actually had spending money he liked to think he would give. He didn’t really have a lot, he had an allowance but it wasn’t quite as high as some of his friends back home. Oriel’s speech left Raylaigh flushed with anger. This was exactly the kind of person that made people not want to give to charities. No one liked to be guilted into doing things, and really the more pressure the more people resisted. Not to mention that giving out of guilt wasn’t really giving.

The flyer narrowed his eyes and didn’t respond to the accusation. He was watching Oriel with what he hoped was a harsh gaze. He wished he was more intimidating sometimes. He really was just a tall skinny kid, anyone could break him in half. If only Jack were here, if anything he would give Oriel some hell. It only vaguely crossed his mind that Oriel might strike at him, if he did that well, Ray knew how to deal with that. No one would ever know but Oriel, unless Oriel told someone. When someone he loved punched him nothing else hurt quite as much. Raylaigh flinched upon seeing the page drop and he flinched again when Oriel’s foot came down on the drawing. Ray’s expression froze in a hopeless stare and he didn’t move from where he was standing rigid until he heard the door open and close. He sniffled and stooped to pick up the page. It was ruined. The charcoal smeared and the impression of dust from the bottom of Oriel’s shoe ruined it. His heart broke just a little as he touched the page. “I’m sorry, Raylaigh, I didn’t realize what it was.” He closed his eyes and placed the page safe in his arms. He crossed the room and grabbed the crumbled page.

Jack was holding the remains of one of Ray’s sketches, a friend from back home, Jack gave a sickly satisfied smile, “I love you, Ray, but you wasting thoughts on people who don’t care about you. I mean, when was the last time you talked to this guy?” That was an accusation and Raylaigh swallowed nervously. “It’s been years, Jack.” Jack moved toward Raylaigh and the flyer held in a flinch as the older boy took him in his arms, “You know I am the only one who really loves you.” And Ray had nodded, he knew. Ray hadn’t cried then and he didn’t cry now, he just retreated into his room, dropping the crumpled page in the trash on his way. Jack’s voice and face were so fresh in his mind and Ray realized with shame that he missed the older boy. He reached for his phone once he was in his room. With the piece to his ear he listened to the ringing then: “You’ve reached Jack, I’m—” He didn’t even bother listening to the rest of the message. Ray’s tears started to fall now. “Jack…” You’re the only one who will ever loved me… why did you leave? Ray curled into his bed, still heartbroken and worse, he was ashamed of being so heartbroken.