In Contrast of Storms [LoE]

CW: This story contains swearing.

(Oh, and full disclosure, two out of the three characters are very much queer, as am I)

“Oh, fucking shit! It couldn’t have held out for two more minutes?!” Anthony screamed over the thunder. He seized my free arm, his steel grip startling me more than his scream and causing me to splash myself in the face with the soda I’d bought on our walk to school.

“Damn it, Ant, I got soda in my eye!” I yelled, pulling my sleeve over my hand to wipe out the stinging drink. 

“Yeah, well, you’re about to have rain in your eyes if you don’t pick up your fucking feet!” He snapped back. In the next second, he bolted down the last bit of the sidewalk and swung around the corner, where the tip of my sneaker caught an uneven slab of concrete and I skidded on the sidewalk. The soda bottle smashed on the ground when I scrambled to stand back up again and match Anthony’s pace. The rain had just started to plummet to the ground when he yanked me into the tall, brick building that was our school. 

“I dropped my soda!” I yelled over the din of students throwing themselves through the entrance.

“For fuck’s sake, I just got this jacket and now it’s going to be fucking ruined!” He finally freed my arm from his grip— it was sore where he grabbed me— and shoved his way through the crowd of irritated students. I imitated his actions.

“I dropped my soda, Ant!” I repeated when we finally stopped at his locker. The storm was in full swing and inky raindrops obscured anything beyond the thick panes of glass that made up the third floor hallway’s windows. 

“I’ll buy you another one at lunch,” he grumbled, throwing down his backpack and pulling off his jacket to inspect it. He’d been chasing it for months, I remembered, jumping from store to store to see where it had yet to sell out. It was made from thick, black leather and painted in silver and metallic blue patterns I didn’t understand. He’d tried explaining them, but gave up and said I was just too young to get it. Now, he was shaking it and trying to knock off any of the nauseating, greasy rain. 

“But they only have the cans! That was a glass bottle!” I whined.

“Oh, what’s the difference? It’s the same damn soda!” He added, “Give me the stain cleaner out of my bag, will you?”

I set my own bag down and picked up his— it was as nice as his jacket, yet he claimed it was “out of season.” I unzipped the frontmost pocket and handed him the stain cleaning stick. 

“There is a difference,” I argued, zipping the pocket and standing back up. “The glass one tastes better! The cans always make it taste weird.”

“Okay, fine— if you stop whining, I’ll buy you another glass bottle after school, all right?” He pulled off the cap of the stick with his mouth and rubbed it furiously into the jacket. 

“Honestly, Shade,” he growled, the cap making his speech slightly muffled, “you sound just as obnoxious as the bitches I take gym with— and they’re juniors!” 

I winced. Anthony always said I was more mature than the kids in his grade despite being four years below him.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, averting my eyes from him to the scuffed-up floor. He sighed.

“I don’t mean to be mean, but, y’know, the world won’t end if you drop a bottle of soda. Do you know how much this jacket cost?”

“About $100,” I answered.

“$100 and a fuck ton of time. It’s the end of the world if this gets damaged, not if you drop a $7 bottle of soda.”

“I’m sorry,” I repeated, now a bit defensive, which I suddenly feared would piss him off more.

“It’s fine,” he sighed again, much to my relief. “This is why you have me so you’re not completely clueless when you’re on your own in this hellscape.” He capped the stain stick again and tossed it back to me so I could put it back in his bag. When I rezipped the pocket for a second time, he had pulled the jacket back on.

“How’s it look?” He asked, turning left, then right, trying to see if there were any other stains from the rain. The patterns shimmered in the fluorescent lights like siren scales. The sleeves seemed to mold perfectly to his arms. He pulled his auburn ponytail out of the back of the jacket and let it fall over the collar. His jade eyes perfectly hid any worry he might’ve been feeling. He was a fucking movie star.

“Like nothing ever happened,” I assured him, and he sighed in relief. 

“I was going to kill a bitch,” he laughed, striding over to pop open his locker. He hung his bag on the top hook after pulling out whatever he needed for the classes he wouldn’t pay attention to. I copied him, but pushed my bag onto the floor of the locker instead of a hook. 

“You’re coming with me to history later, right?” He asked, kicking the locker shut. I nodded. He started down the hall, but my gaze trailed back to the now-stained windows. I knew why it was like that— magic contamination and general pollution— but I had never been so…depressed by it. The day was ruined the moment rain was projected on the forecast. It was dangerous to walk around since the leftover residue made everything slick like oil. If it got on your clothes, they were probably ruined. 

Add that to the list of reasons I want out of this realm.

“Shade!” Anthony yelled down the hallway. I turned my back to the depressing windows and ran to catch up to him.

———

“You know iced coffee is supposed to be really gay, right?”

“Victoria, your whole outfit is gay!” 

“Says the boy wearing denim on denim,” she snickered, taking a swig of her own iced coffee and shoving her hair out of her eyes for the umpeenth time. 

“I asked you if the outfit looked stupid before we left!” I exclaimed, dodging a tiny, angry dog as it turned to bark at me on the sidewalk.

“And I said no because it does not look stupid!” She paused, then added, “By Hell’s standards, at least.”

“Oh, so by human standards, it does look stupid,” I concluded.

“Well, humans will believe you look stupid regardless of what you wear, so there’s no point trying to fit their ever-ridiculous standards.” 

She took another, longer sip of her coffee— she was halfway finished while I’d barely managed a quarter of mine. It was overcast, yet bright, an odd phenomenon Victoria hadn’t seemed all that concerned about. She sported combat boots with rainbow laces, ripped jeans, some t-shirt for a band I’d forgotten the name of, and an old, worn leather jacket decorated with pins and keychains in the place of zippers. Her brown and red hair was tied back in a braid. She’d added a belt chain and a handful of accessories before dragging me out to get coffee as early as possible. I’d pulled the denim-on-denim look together with a pair of sneakers in five minutes, if even. Anthony would’ve teased me relentlessly for an outfit like this, I thought, and Victoria for own creative spin on an otherwise simple look. 

The air in Aetherwind City was cool and crisp, a far cry from the Shadow Realm’s semi-suffocating air. The shockingly smooth sidewalks were gradually filling with people, but I never lost sight of her and she’d pause if she realized I fell behind. It was odd. It was nice. It was almost as if she were looking out for me despite how close our ages were.

She’d just stopped at a crosswalk when a rumble like a bass drum roll briefly drowned out the din of traffic. 

“Was that a truck?” I asked, catching up to her again as she was pulling out her phone. 

“It sounded more like thunder,” she replied, then, after looking at her phone, confirmed, “The forecast predicted rain for this morning, so ‘twas probably thunder.” 

“Oh,” I responded, shivering despite the mild temperatures. I quickly glanced around at the shops, finally spotting one with an overhang just near the crosswalk. 

“Shouldn't we, you know…duck under somewhere?” I questioned. 

“‘Tis water, not acid,” Victoria chuckled, then stepped into the crosswalk as the signal changed to green. Another, louder clap of thunder gave a final warning before the drops began to sail toward the ground. Fear silenced any rational thought and I grabbed Victoria to yank her under the closest overhang on the other side of the crosswalk. Droplets bounced off the cloth and spilled off the edges. I shrank back toward the building’s display windows. 

“Shade,” Victoria started, sticking her hand out to catch the spilling water, “it’s just water.” 

“Not safe water,” I answered without thinking. She stared at me, perplexed, then her gaze softened. 

“Is it not safe in the Shadow Realm?” She asked carefully. 

I hesitated, then finally sighed, “No. It’s like thick oil. It ruins your clothes and makes it really fucking unsafe to walk anywhere. It’s part magic contamination, part pollution that the government wouldn’t do anything about.”

“Ohhh…” she breathed. 

“Well,” she said after a moment, “it’s not like that here. I don’t think it’s like that in any other realm, actually.” Then, without warning, she fucking tossed whatever water she’d caught in her hand at me!

“Hey!” I pulled my sleeve over my hand to wipe away the liquid. “Why would you—?!” I froze mid sentence and mid movement.

The water wasn’t greasy. 

I pulled my sleeve away from my face. There were no black stains on it. The only indication that any water was there was a slight darkness in some spots. It was cool where it had hit my skin.

“See?” Victoria asked. When I looked back at her, she was smiling. “Perfectly safe.” 

I tentatively stepped up to the edge of the overhang. After a moment’s hesitation, I stuck my hand into the rain. It slipped through the gaps between my fingers and splattered lightly on the edge of my sleeve. It was clear and crisp like the air had been. My fear finally subsided. I stepped out from under the overhang.

More thunder shook the ground. The droplets came down faster, yet I had no intention of ducking for cover again. The water soaked through my shirt and sneakers and likely made its way into my coffee. It stung my eyes, but not enough to close them. Droplets latched onto windows and ran down in tiny streams. Cars kicked up white plumes as they drove by. The sidewalk darkened like my jacket and my hair stuck to my forehead. It was magic without magic.

Add that to the list of reasons I never want to leave this realm.