Scorpio

THIRTY - Lost Boy

A figure rose in the gloom of night, just a dark silhouette against a softly-lit platform. His fingers deftly wove between the rock-like orbs of his Kimono bead bracelet, pulling it back to snap against his wrist. He shook out his curls, took a large, shuddering breath, then pressed his fingers to the wall and stopped the lift.

"What are you doing here, Alycs?" Estella's voice echoed through the eerily quiet room, her tone drained rather than questioning. She was sitting on her duvet cover, leaning back against the embroidered pillows that seemed only symbolic of Wakanda. Her SHIELD gear was folded neatly on the dresser by her feet; the sleeves of her favourite hoodie covered her hands, leaving only her face and hair exposed to the air. Every bit of her seemed to be glowing.

Alycs felt his throat tighten.

'You know what you did was wrong, yes?' Shuri had asked him, expertly wrapping up an assortment of steaming food in a warmed tortilla.

'Yes,' he answered; she was usually right about anything they brought up, and he was just hungry. How did she wrap it up without everything falling out?

But then the Wakandan princess grabbed his wrist, startling him into nearly dropping his wrap, and glared at him with a certain amount of ice Shuri Udaku saved only for those who messed with her tech children.

'She laid her heart bare, you just walked out on her. Have you ever thought about it - if Peggy had done the same, where would you be now?' And then she stalked away, leaving Alycs with a messed up bundle of a crumpled tamale that seemed like a physical representation of his state of mind.

And now Estella was here, watching him with those fiery burning violet eyes. Waiting for an explanation - maybe one of the Avengers set him up to tell her something, or for him to say, 'oh, wrong floor' and flee her presence as he did last time.

Not anymore, he told himself, stepping forward.

"I shouldn't have left you like that," Alycs said finally, relieved when his voice didn't crack and encouraged in just the tiniest of ways. "You were at your rawest... You trusted me with your differences, your troubles, and I did the worst thing I could have done in that moment - I left you. And for that...I'm sorry."

It was like pushing a cannonball from his throat - like it had been resting in his stomach, physically hurting him, and the exit, of course, felt much harder - but it was better, too, because once it was out, he felt like he could finally breathe again.

"You didn't know what was going on," Estella amended, softly.

But I did.

Alycs exhaled, gesturing to the foot of her bed. "May I sit?"

Estella nodded slightly, pulling her knees in. "By all means."

Alycs sank into the duvet, leaning forward on his knees. The lift was right in front of him. He could just say goodnight and leave right now if he wanted to.

But I won't, he chided himself. He sighed for what felt like the umpteenth time.

"I think...you've noticed when you met me, I was not in school."

"You were with SHIELD," Estella answered, sounding much too kind. Alycs found himself almost wishing she was mad now - only so he didn't have to face her wrath later.

"But Peter wasn't."

Estella didn't seem to get it. Alycs angled his head, catching Estella's profile in his periphery. "The reason - why I ran that night - wasn't because I feared your differences to me."