Blue Skies

He clutches the rose, head bowed, tears falling onto velvet petals. There are no thorns on the rose, but his heart feels as if it has been pierced. He can sense Ray's watchful gaze, but he can't find the strength to pretend that everything is fine.

"You don't have to hide," Ray says at last. There is a rustle of fabric and the soft click of a lock being turned. The privacy shade is already drawn. "Florian."

Ray's hands draw him back gently and Florian doesn't resist. There hasn't been much opportunity for them to be together on this trip and Florian needs the security he's always found in Ray's arms.

"I only wanted to help." He says it so softly he can barely hear his own words. After a moment he tightens his fist around the stem of the rose and adds, "Perhaps it is arrogance, but then I never seem to manage it anyway, do I?"

Azura's presence looms over them, heavy and oppressive in the train car, despite the breeze from the open window. He's the thing that drives them together and yet stands between them, preventing that last step towards intimacy. It doesn't matter that Florian doesn't blame Ray for the actions of his childhood friend; Ray carries the guilt and anger anyway. Much like Florian carries the guilt of his mother's death.

Perhaps this... between Ray and himself, is one more thing Florian is not meant to fix.

The rose trembles in his hand and the stem snaps, causing the bloom to tumble to the floor. Florian turns his head away from the sight, his heart heavy in his chest.

Ray holds him tighter and says nothing, eyes fixed on window and the azure sky beyond.

::end::

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