Dragonflies and fireflies.

The stale air tore through his hair as he leaped across an alleyway. Angry cursing followed behind him. He couldn’t help but spare a glance behind him. The dolts looked ridiculous, wearing neon skin tight uniforms that only accentuated their lack of optimal physique. Not to mention they glowed, some stupid thing about them being the physical representation of ‘the light to follow’ or whatever.

He looked back ahead of himself and slipped back down to the ground. Even though the enforcement down here wasn’t the most disciplined, what they lacked in talent they more than made up for with numbers.

After winding through a few blocks he slunk into an alleyway with constellations peaking out on the walls. It was dark, but he had done this so many times it was ingrained into his memory. Under the dumpster, move the wet and moldy cloth, then move a few bricks and voila. He opened the bag and donned the brown bomber jacket inside, removing his mask and goggles and putting them in the bag.

He hurried to put it back then rushed out the other side, slipping his hood up and taking a pack out of his pocket. As he leisurely leaned on the cold brick, enforcement ran past on the other end of the alleyway.

Most of the footsteps and yelling went on by, but he could hear two pairs of footsteps approaching him from behind. He tensed as they got closer and closer, praying they would simply pass him by.

His hopes were smashed as two gaudy uniforms found themselves in front of him. The first one's flabby cheeks bounced with every word, “You, civilian, did you see Apis pass by?”

Cheek’s was breathing so hard that he could hear a faint whistling coming from his throat. While his friend kept fidgeting with his long pale fingers so hard he was worried they’d snap like twigs.

He gestured towards his pack, and the stick in his hand, “Sorry, m’havin a bit of a break tonight so my brain’s a little muddled.”

Cheek’s partner held out a pouch that delicately clinked with the movement, “Would this help clear it?”

He blinked, did this guy think he was trying to haggle him? He inwardly smirked, well, may as well milk it. He waited a bit, seeming to contemplate, then put his hand out. As the enforcer put the bag of goods in his hand he pointed around where the rest of the guards had gone.

“I believe he was headed in that direction, good luck officers.”

Stick guy nodded, headed in the direction without question. Cheeks bounced along behind him. He let out a breath and set off in the opposite direction. As he went to put the stick back in its box, he realized why Sticks had assumed he was haggling. Both ends were pristine. He thanked the lord for their stupidity and hurried on in case they suddenly wisened up.

As he walked, the sky gradually turned from a reddish black to a rusty orange. The pollution rising from the grates, that weren’t completely covered in filth, only added to the already hazy air and smokey clouds from the production plants.

“Well that was close.”

He jolted as a figure jumped down in front of him, punching them in the face. They reeled back clutching blackened hands to their nose. “Ow, jeez Caelum, you didn’t need to hit me that hard.”

He stared back incredulously, “Yeah I did, I mean I didn’t mean to, but you definitely deserved that Nox, what were you thinking?”

Nox guiltily curled his tail around his leg, “I wasn’t, I should know by now not to do that.”

He shook his head and began walking forward, folding his hands behind his head, “Naw, it’s alright, at least I’m wearing gloves, so now you don’t have to deal with a face full of venom.”

Nox nodded, yellow eyes firmly rooted to the ground. They walked through the ruddy streets in awkward silence.

Caelum cleared his throat, “So, how's our little dragonfly doing?”

Nox immediately perked up at the mention, though he warily glanced around before speaking. “She’s coming along nicely, I was able to do a few test runs and she was having a little trouble but other than that it’s running smoothly.”

As he talked, his hands began moving alongside his endless rambling. “Although there is this problem with her energy conversion, a new converter would probably do the trick, but I don’t think there’s much else we can do with our current materials.”

Nox sighed, “At least everything else is going smoothly, we won’t know for sure until we actually test her in the field, but I have a good feeling about this.”

Caelum thought for a second, if the energy converter was the only problem…

Nox quirked an eyebrow at him, “You’re planning something, and I’m not sure if I should be worried or excited.”

Caelum grinned, bringing out the pouch of glasswings he’d gotten from Sticks earlier. “Well, I may or may not have run into a couple of enforcers earlier.”

Nox gasped, taking the pouch and rustling through the bag with his talons, “No, this is-wait, you were caught?”

He shrugged, reaching to climb the ladder to enter their home. “Technically no, Apis escaped the enforcers, I just happened to run into a few.”

Nox followed, lashing his tail in irritation. “Please don’t tell me you stole from them, I really don’t want to have to shake them off our tails. Again.”

“No, they actually gave it to me,” He shrugged off his hood and let his antenna spring up into the air, “For the cheap, cheap price of misdirection.”

“So you were almost caught, lied to, and haggled with officers.”

“Yeah, although I highly doubt Cheeks would’ve been able to put a finger on me if they did figure me out.”

“Cheeks?”

He snorted, “Oh yeah, one of them was so round I nearly mistook them for a bowling ball, seriously I don't know how they even passed the exam.”

“Yeah well, enough money can get you anything in this world.”

Nox huffed, flopping down onto the pile of fabric that was their bed. “Do you think we’ll reach them, the fireflies?”

Caelum plopped next to Nox, “Of course we will, we have enough glasswings to get a new converter and anything our dragonfly will need to blast out of this hellhole.”

He pulled his bag over near him and pulled a few cans of paint out. He walked over to one of the walls and brushed the fabric covering it aside. It was covered with illustrations and scribbles, some more faded by time than others. He shook the can and began painting an area that was mostly clear. Images from torn pages began forming on the wall. Purples, blues, reds, all mixing together to create silky clouds of cosmos. White dots connected with web-like lines woven in between the dusty puffs of otherworldly color.

He stood back, admiring his work. Soon, they wouldn’t need to imagine anymore. They would soar through the sea of fireflies above, exploring, adventuring.

Soon, they would be free.