SONGS OF OURSELVES

❦ parasite

"It's foul. Just foul."

"You don't exactly smell like strawberries and mangos either, sister."

Sunkanmi got the sneaking suspicion they had this exact same conversation before. A long time ago. But that wasn't possible.

"That was the easy part. Put me down."

Xosa released her none too gently and Sunkanmi clattered to her feet. Restricted by their chain, she traced the mossy walls and confirmed what she already knew. The only way out was up.

"Of all the times I wished I could fly," she murmured.

"Why wish?"

"What, those wings on your back aren't just for show?"

Xosa raised his glowing fists. "I have just enough juice left to blast us out of here before I need to rest. But I have to get it in one."

"Oh, so no room for mistakes then."

"I've been in stickier situations," Xosa eyed her warily. "And you'll have to hang onto me. Tight. If you fall off, you'll drag us both down."

Sunkanmi eyed the ledge as the last variables floated into place. The equation locked in and solved itself.

"We'll need a braking force to push us off to the side before we drop. Otherwise, we'll just end up right where we started with a few more broken bones."

"How about you handle the numbers and I take care of the gasoline, pal."

"Sure thing, pal." Sunkanmi gathered up the chord and squeezed his middle in a vice. His stomach tensed under her touch. "Blast off."

Xosa snorted and concentrated his power in his legs. The earth quaked slightly, and smoke erupted from his nose as they shot into the sky.

[Wait for it...]

[Now!]

Mid-air, Sunkanmi roughly twisted them clockwise so they wouldn't plummet back into the tomb. The ground rushed forward.

"Oof!"

They split and tumbled away from the hole, not stopping until they hit the temple's rubble.

All they could do was breathe. Xosa and Sunkanmi didn't speak for a few minutes. They sprawled out on their backs and tried to comprehend how they worked so well together.

How nicely they, well, clicked.

[This changes nothing.]

"You know what?" Sunkanmi's lungs sang with fresh air. "It's really a shame I have to kill you. We could've been good mates in a previous reincarnation."

"I don't see why we can't be good mates now."

"Because I have to kill you. I literally just said that."

Xosa rubbed his face with a bloody palm. "If I have any say in the matter, I really wish you wouldn't."

"At this rate, I don't think we have a choice."

"Hey, we might've started on the wrong foot, but I'm all for second impressions," Xosa flipped onto his stomach and reached out his cuffed hand. "What's your name?"

"Nope. Not falling into that trap," Sunkanmi sat up with a wince. "From now until we get these shackles off, we're strangers to each other. We owe each other nothing."

"Don't be ridiculous. It's just a-"

"If you must address me, heaven forbid, then just call me Commander."