A world in colour

In a world where everything is black and white, color is known to take hold when one meets their soulmate. Still this does not make the hunt for the 'one' any easier, the key is they eyes they are known to be the first hint of the truth.
Atrel x Connor
Teenager Connor is stuck on the camp his parents sent him to to 'fix' what's wrong with him. Atrel winds up in a mushroom ring very close to the camp and the young human comes across him seeking to escape the camp even for a little while.
Kat x Kit
With her brother in line for the throne, Kat feels more comfortable wandering around the human world on her own. On one of her trips she finds Kit sketching more treehouses
Nero x Vi
Deciding that he's in need of an assistant, the royal healer Nero takes a trip to the warehouse to see what's on offer and finds Vi.

He hadn’t interrupted the silence, looking out at the forest instead listening to the birds singing to one another and various crickets playing their music, keeping an eye out just in case some camp workers showed up looking for him. Almost forgetting that he’d spoken to the stranger he jumped slightly when finally he spoke, Connor turned his head to glance at him in surprise and a fair amount of hope, if it wasn’t foolproof perhaps he’d be able to escape from this hell. He didn’t get much time to formulate several questions and was instead was presented with a query about what this place was like “Hell.” Speaking bluntly Connor didn’t really give a fuck if it was rude,  “This is were they send kids they think are gay. This is where they ‘fix’ us and turn us back onto the path of god and holiness, this is a place of hard work, worship and pain” he was sick of lying and pretending it was anything better than it was. He was looking at a beating when he returned  “I get punished extra. If anyone fucks up I get punished just as they do” it felt strangely good to be able to get that anger and frustration out of himself, cathartic even. His hands balled up into fists at the injustice of it, he wasn’t even sure what he was, if he was gay or in the middle of the road or ‘normal’ he was well aware of what he wanted to be, he wanted to be normal, heterosexual so he could go home and things could go back to the way they were. Biting the inside of his cheek to keep his mouth shut he kicked at a stone and watched as it got sent flying ahead of them bouncing into a tree and skittering to a halt in a pile of leaves.

It’d been a month or so since he’d last seen the stranger, covered in bruises and sitting down at the base of a tree wit the half moon already in the sky, he tried not to cry too hard his aching ribs were sore enough as they were without being hurt more. Fairly confident that they were broken in a few places, Connor closed his eyes gritting his teeth ignoring the fact that his nose was still leaking blood and it was mingling with the blood from his split lip. He’d gotten a little too back chatty and as a result he’d been punished infront of everyone, he wasn’t sure how many bones were broken and quite frankly he didn’t care it just hurt, a few more broken painful sobs escaped him, wanting to do nothing but curl up and just stop feeling. How much more of this could he take before he broke? He was on his own, alone, in the dark, they were slowly changing how he thought, those boys that were gay they were wrong, he wasn’t gay he couldn’t be he was the heir to the church’s leadership, he really was a piece of shit.

The sensation of something or someone sitting next to him distracted him from doing his best not to sob and make his broken ribs cry out so much, looking up and stiffening rather clearly preparing himself for another beating, blue eyes that were red from crying settled on who it was. Recognizing the stranger he didn’t leave, it would hurt too much to get up, instead he lifted his arm and wiped his nose on his shirt sleeve smearing blood and a fair amount of snot on it. Not that he cared at present, he didn’t really understand why the other male had chosen to sit next to him, he was after all the most pathetic being, not having the guts right now to try and be defensive he slowly drew his knees up to his chest and hugged them, wincing at every movement. Closing his eyes he was silent for a while, feeling pathetic and weak, it all hurt so much he just wanted it to stop.

There was movement and then the now familiar voice spoke, opening his eyes he looked over and spotted a packet of tissues that had been offered toward him, stiffly moving an arm to take them he proceeded to use them instead of his sleeve and found that what Atrel had said was true. They did do a better job, so he went through the entire packet, wiping the blood off of himself and blowing his nose, after all, he’d been given the whole packet so might as well use them, waste not want not. A couple of thoughts kept bothering him, originally he thought like bees but now he was more convinced that they were wasps, they kept stinging repeatedly after all “Who are you?” he wanted to ask why the stranger kept showing up, was it because of him? No, now that was pride and he’d get a good walloping if he voiced that anywhere, it was just a coincidence, he wasn’t worth this strangely attractive man's time. Feeling a little more like himself now he’d cleaned himself up with the tissues, he started to relax a little and lowered his legs down so they lay out straight, the movement was done with a wince or two that he tried to hide. He was nothing, why was this stranger helping him, he didn’t know and didn’t have the courage to ask more questions right now, the self-confessed coward sighed and leaned back against the tree, keeping mental tabs on the pain. It was just pain, once you’d dealt with enough of it you could learn to deal with it, he’d long separated pain from hurt, pain was just a sensation he wasn’t being actually hurt or was dying, it was just a message from his body to his brain, multiple mental tabs were left open monitoring the pain and reminding himself that it was just pain, it wasn’t actually causing physical damage he was fine, he would survive this…. maybe

The answer wasn’t convincing, having spent much of his life learning to deceive and manipulate others to keep himself safe, the words sounded rather hollow as if he wasn’t being told the entire truth. However he wasn’t really in a place to be announcing that “Atrel” where had he heard that name before, it was if something stirred within him, that recognized it. It was strange what he felt, frowning slightly he packaged that away to discuss with Conrad later his imaginary friend had always been a good guide, “Thank you” the frown melted away to show a slight smile. The longer he spent with Atrel the more he could feel himself relax around him, he didn’t know why but it was something he didn’t want to fight, shifting his weight he added “For the tissues” trying to get a little more comfortable on the hard ground, he sighed softly “Are you going to visit again?” he didn’t really know what to expect as an answer, there were things he had to work through himself in order to figure out what he was going to do. The small kindness was appreciated however he knew that there were things going on in them both, it made him restless he wanted to work through them already, what quiet dormant parts of himself existed that he didn’t even know about? He could almost feel Conrad next to him and how he wanted to ask him what he should do next, why was there this almost painful yearning? He had no idea that Conrad was himself from a previous life and had no idea that the pain and yearning he felt were his ‘imaginary friends’ feelings from the parts of him that were locked away. Turning his head away from Atrel to glance at the spot on his other side where he could feel Conrad was the pain in his heart he didn’t understand grew stronger, were they connected? How could they be though? He didn’t have the answer to that, just like he didn’t have the answer to so many questions, but it was a possibility. Dragging his eyes away to look at Atrel again, Connor was unaware of the slightly confused look on his face, a result of what he was feeling so strongly but what he didn’t understand.

Winter had come and snow had fallen, it was late afternoon when Conrad appeared and told him to go into the forest again, to follow the tug, cold and sore he’d resisted the urge for a while. He didn’t want to get caught out there at night he’d freeze, but the nagging wore him down, bundling himself up in nearly all of his clothes so to keep warm he trudged his way through the snow sticking to patches where it had already thawed disliking the idea of leading anyone to where he hid his music. After about half an hour he came across the tree and stopped seeing Atrel there, he’d been unsure if the strange man would ever come back after such a long time away and a rush of conflicting feelings confused him. “You’re back” was the first thing he could think of to say, his hands were jammed in his pockets and his face had some bruising that was slowly going away. The boy had gone through a growth spurt and now looked more like a lanky teenager than he had before having grown several inches rapidly, his hair was kept very short by the camp staff and he hated it, whenever he saw his reflection he felt like he looked like some kind of imprisoned criminal. Thankfully there were very few mirrors around so he didn’t have to deal with the way he looked very often, still, it was nice to come across Atrel again, he was someone neutral that he didn’t have to hide who he was around, that he didn’t have to be on high alert and defensive “I wasn’t sure if you were going to come back” he had resigned himself to the fact that he wasn’t going to return.

Doing his best not to shiver he kicked some snow around hating it with everything he was, just accepting the answer when he next looked up he paused, there was something different than before. Staring at the strange man who had visited him several times it took him a moment or two before he realized that it was Atrels skin, it was still pale but there was colour there. Instantly three things made sense at once, the other male had likely seen colour on him and that was why he’d returned several times, second he was confirmed as being the worst thing, gay or at the very least bi, third if anyone found out about this his father might just kill him. Unsure of what to do or say he tore his eyes away, what was he going to do? Lost in his thoughts as always he forgot about trying to not shiver, the cold distracted him from his thoughts once he was shivering again, he hated the cold it was like his life force was being drained, sucked away leaving him an empty husk. He had to say something, so he said the first thing on his mind “Fuck I hate the cold” well well well, that was a stupid thing to say, where was his skills of manipulation and charming charisma? Mentally kicking himself he wrinkled his nose in private disgust, but he couldn’t take the words back and so would just have to hope that he wasn’t an open book to be read by this person he somehow saw colour on, how it complicated everything.

Very aware of the amusement on Atrels face, Cons own face flushed red in embarrassment, however the suggestion of a more sheltered clearing wasn’t one that he could really ignore, he made quick progress to where the suggested place was and sighed with relief once they were out of the wind. “I have no clue how Tess enjoys the cold so much, whenever it snows she turns into a little kid with excitement” the part about his sister slipped out, she was the only one that never judged him and who he could always be himself with. Every day he missed her and her quirky sense of humor, her awful ice puns and how much she loved the Frozen franchise, unaware of the sad smile on his face he leaned back against a tree where it was free from snow and shook his head slightly. She’d always had a million dreams of what she wanted to do, he was concerned for her future knowing full well that their parents would want to forbid her from doing so, she loved acting, preforming and being in the spotlight but that was vanity according to the church. “She’s my little sister, adopted, she’s got so much life and passion and courage, she’s brave, unlike me. I’m a coward” He had promised himself that he would do whatever he could to help her reach her dreams, he would never be able to reach his so helping her was the best he could do. Doomed that was the best word to describe him, doomed to take over the church and forever be what his parents wanted him to be. Ugh again the thoughts just wouldn’t leave him alone, all he wanted was some peace, it was why music was so important to him, music took him away from this place and cleared his mind he could sit and listen to the harmonies, as the instruments and voices worked together to make music.

Wishing he had the courage to go sit next to him where the ground was dry and free from snow “She’s amazing, bold and brave and bright, I’d do anything to make her dreams come true, I worry about her with me away. I usually took up mum and dads attention which left her free to be herself” he’d been unable to talk to anyone about Teresa for so long that the answer lead him to ramble about her. He loved his little sister even though they weren’t related by blood “Winter is her favourite time of year, she’ll ice skate make all sorts of things out of snow. It agrees with her, its like its her element” his face lit up while he talked about his sister, he obviously loved her and thought the world of her. She kept him going kept him motivated “If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t still be breathing” he would have killed himself, attempted again and again until he’d managed it. His face grew slightly grim at that and he rubbed his wrists out of habit, there were old scars there and elsewhere, he was ashamed of them, they meant he was weak, he’d very nearly succeeded in ending it all but he’d realized if he was dead Teresa would have no one.

How he wished that he could write to her, send a telegram, an email, or a thought message, anything, heck he’d settle for Egyptian hieroglyphics right about now, shaking his head mutely, hesitating a brief moment when the spot was indicated the boy rocked back and forth on his feet seemingly torn before giving in. Moving to sit down next to him he shivered slightly “Fuck its cold” muttering to himself and wishing to the heavens for a thicker coat, Connor tucked his knees underneath his chin and hugged his legs. “do you have any siblings you’re close with?” it was a bit of a risk to ask the man who was practically a stranger who sometimes seemed so closed off and wary about himself but there was a desire to at least try to bond and understand the one corporeal being that didn’t seem to want to shit on him. As such he didn’t really expect a response but the question had been asked and all he could do was just wait it out and see, there was something about him that was so familiar, like he was looking through a thick veil and could only see a shadow. That was crazy though, it was just some weird de ja vu thing, it was all in his head, there was nothing there between them.

Glancing up in surprise at the answer he nodded quietly accepting that he wouldn’t be told any more than that, stiffening briefly at the touch, some alarm showed on his face as he m entally scrambled trying to figure out what he was going to do about this. In the end the warmth and comfort as well as the sheer familiarness of this soothed the alarm and he chose to lean into the contact resting his head on the faeries shoulder. It wasn’t long before the boy fell asleep and wound up curled up against Atrel with his head in his lap, comfortable there and feeling safe enough to relax properly for the first time in a long time, after all nothing could hurt him here. Having gotten confused about her brother, Katherine had gone searching for him and after a while of following the bond that they shared she came across him sitting in a clearing with a boy asleep in his lap, the kid looked maybe fourteen or fifteen and battered badly. The spitting image of Conrad, she stopped at the edge of the clearing before making her way over to sit next to her brother on his other side “He really is the same as him” speaking softly, Kat touched a gentle hand to his shoulder.

Not mindng when he leant his head on her shoulder, she looked down at the sleeping boy with a slight sense of wonder, it was amazing that he had found this colour again. In a way she was admittedly jealous of him a little, she had only ever seen colour on him and nobody else, ever. It was part of why she had been so stubborn in regards to pushing her brother to pursue this colour  “Yes, Father isn’t very well, Nero hasn’t really said what the problem is but Mother and Father want you home just in case”  just incase he didn’t make it, she had been getting wind of the fact that her parents had been starting to look through their children to name who would take over from them when they were ready to retire and part of her was fairly certain that they were eyeing up Atrel. Which in all honesty might be good for him, it’d potentially give him roots and a purpose again although it meant that it would be harder for him to decide what to do about the boy. Standing up she brushed her fingers through her brothers hair gently and moved away to stand at the edge of the clearing where she had first appeared, waiting for him.