Teddy sighed, seeing the way his friend slumped over like a wilted rose, color faded with the summer gone.
Copia seemed to droop more and more as the days went by. And on the rare days where he was off with everything in the world he could do, it was like there was nothing in the world that he couldn't do, but it came at the price of breaking even more, wearing down.
"Copia," Teddy said haltingly, pecking out the 'saved for special occasions', self soothing cigarette, "I don't want to see you wear yourself down. Just let me help a little huh?"
Copia sighed heavily waving the smoke towardshis face. The scent calmed his nerves. Teddy knew this. Of Course he did. Sweet man he was then, sharing his vices for his friend's sake of comfort.
Teddy jad his back against the plush office chair that seemed to remain an uncomfortably stiff thing for his posture. But he and Copia had this thing where every once in a while, T3ddy would wander in for a shared a ciggy from his own special occasion stash in his own office desk.
"I don't like this. I don't like this one bit!" Copia groaned, feeling the way his bones creaked and protested as he stood up, crossing the room to Teddy at the mantle, "This, mortal coil is so frustratingly slow to take on-" Copia hissed between his teeth as pain shot up from his hip through his spine. His gloved hand clasped at the quivering muscle beneath his palm.
Teddy moved in, rubbing the flat plant of his knuckles on the spot, twisting his fist to try and massage the tightened strings and sinews that pressed against things like nerves and the pain of an aging body. Copia was aging slowly, but it was enough that there would be more days of discomfort ahead, than ones that made him forget he was no longer invisible.
"Th-thanks" Copia grunted, griping the mantle, arching back suddenly as a particularly sensitive spot flared pain signals to his brain.
Teddy frowned but didn't stop. Instead, he softened his touch with a sigh, "There is never a cure for what time does to beings like us. But in that time -" He said, making a soft groan as he flexed strong fingers over the flesh, trying his best to knead around the problem area to make it easier to loosen, like wrangling down Copia's stubbornness. Like how one brushes the end of a ratted nest of hair to ease the mass of tangles down. "Good lord, it's like trying to rub out water from a rock," Teddy teased, trying to lighten the mood. Copia flashed a smirk, "Yeah, yeah, I'm a mess-" "Hey," Teddy interrupted, turning Copia at the waist, his hands finding Copia's arm and shoulders, holding himself close, the way a mentor might try to impress upon his mentor, a thing or two they know...
"You're *Human*. Don't apologize for merely existing."
"Well my behavior hasn't exactly been steller," Copia muttered, gently, but determinedly pushing past, to go to a set of drawers where he kept medications, potions, and talismans. A junk drawer of personal baubles and knickbacks saved for specific occasions that never came. Pawing through them, Copia searched for something to ease his pain in the moment.
Teddy shook his head, "Oh you really are a stubborn jack-ass you know that?"
Copia shoved the drawer closed and held the edges frustratedly, "Yes, I am aware I have problems. Jesus, I AM a problem!" Copia growled, pinching the bridge of his nose, the other hand on his hip as he stewed. Teddy took a calming breath, stealing himself a moment, gearing up to do what needed be done... and came up behind Copia, turning him once more and embracing him fully. Copia leaned in, as expected. Eveb if he still felt fidgety about the affection being given.
*just being nice*
Copia thought.
*Just being real, being here*
Teddy prayed inside.
He refused to let go, letting the wrap of his arms settle into the planes and valleys of the body in front of him, splayed palms and tensed fingers aching, like meeting after too long apart, begging for Copia to see that he wasn't alone.
That being vulnerable hurt.
And, that he was there for him.
But that he should let his friend in.
He should remember that he is loved.
"You are loved dearly, god dammit, you restless thing... you are loved, you hear me. Loved. Hear this and hear it plain lad, you hear me, plain?"
*Why couldn't he just see that?*
Copia's chest hitched as an all too familiar hurt broke him inside, but only let a few tears shed.
Teddy sighed and flexed his arms a little harder around the man. Tightening his embrace at, every, word, so Copia knew not a one was being wasted on his ears when Teddy said,
"You are not a problem Copia. You are somone I love. Please. Don't say such things about the people I love..."
**
It was quiet. But the warmth of the hearth glowed and the scent of soft soap and mild detergent on Teddy's skin smelled glorious. Copia relented. He had to admit. This was... nice. It was
comforting.
And it was the one thing he had been searching for to hold himself together... except he wasn't doing the holding. He had to let someone else tend to his wounded heart, hold it in their hands, share the burden, lighten the load for a moment so he could be here, now, and breathe deep. His jaw unclenched, and his brow wiggled out of its tense grip, and as his face relaxed, he felt that momentary calm that comes when one knows the other is telling the actual truth. No minced words, flattery, or pity. Pure human love. Heart to heart. A brother in his circle. Family chosen.
The blessing to know that experience, that something that only comes from living in such a mortal coil as he inhabited now. Oh, how Copia suddenly felt wretched for taking his aging body for granted, but he wasn't alone in the experience. He had people he loved that loved alongside. And while Teddy's hair had greyed and he looked a bit more like a silver fox than a lycan, he'd been a companion in Copia's unaturally long life. And a fairly good one at that.
Ear twitching a moment, as Teddy huffed a playful note, he pulled back, a hand cupping Copia's neck as he leaned his forehead in, pressing it against Copia's, breathing long and deep. As if in greeting to his soul. Absorbing part of his friend forever. And letting go, and with every exhale, Copia's own shoulders rested down from his ears.
Sharing a woman they both loved fiercely, Milagro.
They stood that way togethwr for a long time...
**
It felt like an utter blessing, albeit a reluctantly received one more often than not, stubborn as he was, but blessed all the same, that Copia had such friends to grow old with, and love their children and chosen families, together. It's a beautiful thing to be friends from far and still be so close.
To share something in pride together. Their creations, Charlotte and Ari.
Sharing a paramour they never seemed to avoided becoming entangled with one way or another. Jim...
Old blood was beginning to stir. They had more years ahead than behind them, in the fight to keep themselves and their loved ones safe.
But they were brothers together in their chosen family. And they were glad they had managed to be alive this long, to come this far, together, and get to see the good times in their lives, the very thing they fought so hard to keep going.
Oggi inaguro una nuova serie di cartoline poetiche d'autore, la prima è una collaborazione con EvaTattoo di Bologna (sulla pagina Facebook di Dear Cyrano troverete l'illustrazione)
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Lasciata a Tattoo Records il 24/08/2017 (presso Tattoo Records)
