Landyn's Curse

"The Cursed One"

They landed hard in the middle of an alleyway and Camden crumpled to the floor, his hand falling from Landyn's grasp. He was trying to absorb as much of Landyn's pain as he could, but he heard him yelp and knew his hand was burned.

"'Ere, lemme look at it," Camden tried to struggle to his feet, but his knee gave out and he fell again. Landyn's hands landed on his shoulders and he helped him up. They leaned for a moment against the wall, gasping for breath.

Landyn's left palm was blistered where he'd been touching Camden. The old scars burned bright, and steam seemed to lift from them.

Camden was in much worse shape. His hands were both blisters, and angry red marks ran up his arms and down his back. Steak definitely lifted from him, and he was sure his clothes would be burnt if it weren't for the pixies' excellent craftsmanship.

Camden felt dizzy and weak, his forehead sweaty. Landyn looked pale and concerned, and probably felt rather weak as well.

"What happened?" Landyn asked, finally catching his breath.

"'Xactly what I was 'fraid of," Camden replied. He sighed and ran a hand through his thick, brown hair.

"What do you mean?" Landyn crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at Camden.

"Landyn, you know how violently you react to time travel," Camden eyes his partner warily.

"I haven't reacted badly in years!" Landyn threw his arms up in exasperation and scoffed. "Why now?"

"You always react badly," Camden admitted. "I usually absorb the pain, but we've never made such a 'uge jump together. This was just too much. I'm sorry. I couldn't take it all. It's my fault you're blistered. This is why I didn't wanna bring ya."

"You mean every time we teleport together, you get hurt?" Landyn's eyes shone with angry tears. He gritted his teeth together and blinked them back, staring fiercely at Camden.

"Not bad," Camden shrugged. "Just some blisterin' that I can us'ally will to go away. I didn't wanna worry you."

"I can't believe you kept this from me!"

"I was tryin' to protect you," Camden argued. "I didn't wantcha to feel bad. I didn't- I didn't wantcha to fink it was a sign we shouldn't be together."

"I would not have thought that," Landyn protested. His vivid green eyes glowed with a pain Camden had never seen before. He sunk to his knees. "I can't believe I've been hurting you all this time. Three years and you've never let on about it. We're sixteen, Cam. You're seventeen in two weeks! Don't you think we're too old to keep such huge secrets?"

Camden hung his head in shame. He knew Landyn would react this way. He hated making him cry, but he could hear the soft sobs now, bringing tears to his own eyes.

"I'm so sorry," his voice cracked painfully. "I didn't wantcha to worry. I- I'll never keep somethin' like this from you again."

Landyn wiped his eyes and got shakily to his feet, sucking in a raspy, pained breath. He set his jaw and eyed his blundering bafoon of a boyfriend.

"It's not a big deal," he lied. "Let's get to that damn Starbucks."

"Right, so," Camden glanced around warily, his voice still thick with apology, "what exactly is a Starbucks?"

Landyn shrugged and took Camden's hand, but that proved painful and they both winced apart. The blisters on their hands didn't seem to be going down just yet. They walked out of the alley inconspicuously and stopped someone on the pavement.

"Excuse us," Landyn smiled politely. "Do you know where the Starbucks is?"

"Which one?" the woman asked, flipping her hair out of her face and rolling her eyes. She seemed to be chewing something as well, but she seemed keen to simply chew it without swallowing.