(I got a stained glass portrait of Racquetball to join Snowman's :))
He couldn't believe his eyes. When he walked in the door, he had found a see-through Adon and a very not translucent Nikolai, kissing.
Now he's gone.
"Nikolai!" Taylor yelled as he sat a waking Caleb down near the door.
He hurried toward the banshee, who now, somehow, had his original body back. There was even dried blood on his left arm and face.
It's not Adon's. He wouldn't do that... I hope.
His footsteps slowed as Nikolai stood from the sofa and flexed the fingers on his left hand until a metal baseball bat materialized.
Wait, so he gets a real body, and a ghost baseball bat?
Fighting himself not to step back, Taylor squared his shoulders and narrowed his eyes on the man before him.
"What did you do to Adon? He didn't let you get killed by Martin, and this is how you pay him back for it? Where is he?" he yelled, panting with anger and confusion.
Nikolai took a step forward, but stopped as his eyes lifted to stare at something past Taylor.
Caleb?
He didn't dare turn his head and look, but that was the only thing he could think of that would make his brother hesitate. His mind was trying to figure out what his next move would be when a hand appeared from his left side and quickly clamped over his mouth and nose.
Fumbling backwards as he reached up to try and remove the hand, Taylor felt his back hit something firm. An arm wrapped around his waist at that moment, then Nikolai stepped closer.
Caleb? Caleb, you have to let me go!
He struggled, but even tired, the wraith easily held him as Taylor felt his head begin to get fuzzy from lack of oxygen. His vision started to blur as Nikolai began to open his mouth. His ears were ringing, deafening whatever words the banshee might have been saying as Taylor's legs slowly began to lose their ability to hold his weight up.
Nikolai watched as the man before him slid to the floor, his brother lowering him gently. He allowed his bat to dissipate, then turned his attention to Caleb. He was only partially visible, but as he stood back up and met his eyes, it was clear that he didn't want to rest yet.
"Niko...?" he rasped, stepping forward and pressing his forehead against his chest.
Nikolai didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around his little brother and lean down, pressing a kiss to his faded hair. It took him several tries to get his mouth to work after having been extremely limited with the sounds he could make over the years, but he finally managed to figure it out after several long minutes.
"I... love you, K-Kay," he said quietly, holding him tightly for the first time in forever.
They both remained that way for some time, neither minding as the seconds stretched into minutes, then neared an hour. They had lost so much time and been so close, but unable to really be able to comprehend physical attention enough to just spend time together.
"Where is... your person?" Caleb finally asked as he looked up, making Nikolai lean back just enough to meet his gaze.
It took the banshee a while to form a response, his mind still trying to get used to functioning fully instead of having to push through cloud after cloud of confusion and anger.
"Inside. Like I-I was," he replied, seemingly content with his response, since he didn't bother to elaborate as he lead Caleb over to the couch and sat, then guided his brother into his lap so that he could rest against his chest and be hugged again.
"Did y... y-you have good time?" he eventually asked as he wove his hands through Caleb's messy hair.
His brother didn't seem able to reply with words any longer, and his form was becoming more and more translucent.
"Rest," he whispered as he hugged him closer. He was honestly exhausted, too. Of course, he'd always felt like he was seconds away from death, especially more recently, but now that he actually had a beating heart and mostly-functioning body, he felt an overwhelming need to sleep.
He wasn't sure when he actually did fall asleep, but the next time he opened his eyes, it was pitch dark and his body felt sluggish. The sound of quiet crying met his ears, but as he looked around, Nikolai realized why he couldn't see anything. He was inside of his mind. He thought that it could be a dream, since he hadn't had any in so many years, but that idea was quickly proven false when the crying quieted just long enough for someone to try and catch their breath before it continued.
Crying will solve nothing, he thought to the darkness. He knew that Adon was there somewhere, but whether he was right in front of him or in a different plain of his thought, wasn't something Nikolai could figure out.
He nonchalantly scanned the darkness, unamused with having returned to it, even though he could tell that he still definitely had control of the live body, which was all that mattered. He didn't have to focus on sharing the heartbeat to breathe anymore, or the legs, hands, and eyes, to move and see. He had it all.
I can kill you, if you'd like.
He knew that the man was already technically dying, to some degree. He'd had to latch onto him quickly or risk being thrown out of his body or fading into the dark nothingness completely the second he'd possessed him. He'd had years to grow desperate enough to act upon his instincts in that precious moment.
You aren't desperate enough to take your life back. You can barely steal enough oxygen from me to be able to keep your own heart beating.
Flexing the fingers of his left hand, Nikolai felt his bat slowly materialize in the darkness.
Come. I will help you sleep forever.
His eyes scanned the darkness again, calmly waiting and watching.
Ah...
Stepping forward, he walked for a short while before stopping in front of a few faint bioluminescent lines. Kneeling down, he reached forward until he felt his fingertips just-barely brush against frigid skin.
Faded blue-gray eyes suddenly appeared, staring up at him with an expected shine of tears in them.
The tears run out when you can no longer process the water needed for them.
He gripped his baseball bat tighter as he felt Adon's frigid fingers grab at his left leg. The man was soon wrapped around it, desperately seeking the warmth that had been taken from him. Nikolai watched his partially outlined body shiver and pant in the darkness. It seemed like only yesterday that he'd turned into a banshee, himself. He remembered freezing to death, but not dying. Suffocating for hours, but never being able to close his eyes. Eventually, he'd stopped trying to breathe and accepted that he would never feel warmth again.
He didn't intend to return the man's life and didn't want to risk him managing to figure out how to get it back from him.
Flipping his bat around so that he could use it to bludgeon easier, he aimed the base of it down toward where he felt Adon's head leaning against his knee.
I will relieve you from the torment I had to suffer for years.
He reached down with his free hand to press his fingertips into Adon's hair, double checking for his aim. He might be intent on killing him, but he had no intention of making him suffer further.
His arm lifted as he leaned down a fraction closer.
Rest, forever.
Nikolai swung his bat downward with as much force as he could manage, except, his eyes suddenly jerked open and the darkness disappeared abruptly as he felt the side of his face sting as if he had been slapped.
The other man, the one that currently owned their home, stood before him. His expression spoke volumes, as well as his slap that had awoken him. Unfortunately, emotions weren't something that were returning to Nikolai's mind all too quickly. He slowly stood from the sofa where he had been resting. Caleb had disappeared, but that was no surprise, and none of his concern. He knew that his little brother was more than capable of taking care of himself in his current form.
This human is being a nuisance, though.
"Bring him back! Give Adon his body back!" Taylor yelled unnecessarily loudly.
Nikolai tilted his, reaching up with one hand to press his warm fingers against the side of his face. He wasn't used to feeling pain in such a way. Of course, he'd been freezing to death for years with his lungs burning for air, but to actually have flesh to injure again, and not just a bioluminescent outline for a body? It was odd, but also welcome. He truly was alive.
"I do not know how."
The answer was surprising to both of them, evidently. He honestly wasn't sure how he'd swapped with him to begin with. How he'd gotten his own flesh and bones back, when his flesh had been eaten and his body lay downstairs.
"Not... your... yours."
Caleb's scratchy voice drew Nikolai's attention immediately, the human before him easily forgotten as he walked up to Caleb.
"What do y-you mean?" he asked, clearly confused. He had worked hard to come back from the brink of death. He also had his own body back, and wasn't sure how to even return Adoni's, so he saw no reason not to accept the fate that he'd managed to acquire.
Caleb slowly lifted his arm, the appendage shaking every so often.
He needs more rest.
When his pointer finger gently pressed against Nikolai's bloody shirt, he felt his new heart begin to race uncomfortably in his chest. Caleb allowed his fingers to splay over the dirty fabric as he took a step closer and frowned up at him.
Emotion? We are not capable... but he looks upset with me.
"These bones... nod your," he rasped out.
Nikolai wasn't sure what to say in response. The body was definitely his... but how could Caleb know that his bones were Adon's?
He went downstairs.
I'm still there.
Raising one of his hands, palm up, Nikolai stared down at the lines crossing his skin as he flexed his fingers. They were his. His hand was not Adon's. His body wasn't, either. It was somehow his, from years ago. He couldn't find a response to Caleb's words, so he remained silent until his brother reached down to take his hand, but his transparent one slid through his own skin, gripping onto something that made Nikolai try to step away... except, it felt like Caleb was grasping his hand from the inside, instead of grasping his real flesh.
"Kay?"
When Caleb looked down, then hesitantly back up at him, Nikolai tried to step away again, but the movement made Caleb lean away in response, and that's when Nikolai felt himself panic. His own translucent fingers were being slowly, agonizingly-painfully, pulled out of his own hand. It felt like he was being forced into a freezer as his arm began to follow.
The sheer cold and terror from the situation had him unable to balance, bringing him to his knees as his brother quickly followed, unwilling to relent.
"K-Kay," Nikolai whimpered as he tried to pull away, but was completely useless against Caleb's undead strength and persistence.
He felt his heart suddenly jerk in his chest and his vision blur. His banshee form was being ripped from his new human body, and he was somehow powerless to stop it.
Half of his full spectral form was already outside of his body when he felt something frigid slide along the top of his hand, then grasp between his fingers. The action had Caleb halting abruptly, giving Nikolai enough time to catch his gasping breath and blink away enough of the darkness, at least in his left eye, to see a mostly-invisible hand sitting on top of his own ghostly one, as if trying to keep him from being pulled out of the body.
Taylor appeared beside Caleb a moment later, his expression one of clear shock.
"Your right eye..."
Nikolai watched as the bioluminescent hand slowly began to retract the one Caleb was holding. His brother hesitated for a minute before finally releasing him, allowing Nikolai to hurriedly pull his banshee's form back into his human body. The shock of the abrupt heat and return of a full flow of oxygen had him dropping the rest of the way to the floor as his head swam and his forehead pulsed with a growing headache. He knew that he would pass out soon, but the only thing he could do was focus on catching his breath and trying to shiver the chills away.
He felt a blanket settled over himself at some point, then heard someone sit down beside him, but his good eye was too close to the floor to be able to see who it was, and he had no strength left to even lift his head.
"Don't worry, Adon. I'll help you get out. Just stay strong," Taylor's voice said in a muffled tone from somewhere nearby.
He will be gone soon, he has n—
His thoughts ended abruptly when he realized that his calculations hadn't been correct. He could not see out of his right eye. The thought had one side of his lips tilting up the slightest amount. The man had figured it out, somewhat. He wouldn't die... if left alone.
Unfortunately for him, he was still adverse to sharing. He would reassess the situation again another time, though. For now, he needed to rest. They both did. The darkness came seconds later, and Nikolai welcomed it wholeheartedly.