Chapter 2- The Reveal
#3 of Soul
1
Kayden let Don inside. When he shut the door, he turned to his best friend and asked, "What happened?"
"Well," Don sniffles a little, his eyes still wet, "me and Mel went on a date, right? Things were going fine and she said that we needed to talk. She grabbed my paw and said we couldn't date anymore. I asked why but she wouldn't say." Don hugs Kayden tight.
"Here, let's take this upstairs." Kayden says. As he led Don up to his room, he couldn't stop thinking about the blue his friend's Aura was giving off. It started to make him sad.
Kayden shuts the door to his room and sat down next to Don on the bed. "You gonna be ok, buddy?" Kayden asks.
"I'm not sure. What do I even do now that I've been dumped?"
"I'm sure you'll be ok." Kayden wraps an arm around Don, slowly caressing his shoulder.
"Thanks for being my friend," Don says. His tears slowly let up. He hugs Kayden again. The fox could tell from how tight it was that Don was desperate for someone to hold.
Kayden knew what he needed to do.
2
Whenever Kayden reads an Aura, he can feel the emotion deep down, like it's pulling on the strings of his heart. Anytime he changes an Aura, it feels like he's searching within the deepest, darkest parts of a person in order to bring out the light.
Right now, with Don's shade of blue showing, Kayden needed to fix it. He concentrates hard to not just read his pal's Aura, but to go past that. It's like he's reaching out as far as he can into Don. He shivers when he feels the coldness of blue.
Keeping one end of his mind on the blue, he reaches within himself, eager to find the green that will make his friend smile again. Unknowingly, Kayden hugs Don tighter as he focuses hard on wiping away the blue and replacing it with green.
The sounds of sniffling and tears stop as soon as Kayden lets go of Don's Aura. "Huh?" Don lifts his head and looks at his friend. "How's you do that?"
"Umm.... d-do what, exactly?" Kayden asks, nervous. Did he do to much? Who knows what will happen if his secret gets out.
"I was crying a minute ago. Now... I don't feel like crying. How'd you do it?" Don asks again, calmly.
"I..." Kayden can trust, Don. Right? "I..." He's torn between what to do. He stammers for a few more seconds before saying, "I can't tell you."
"Why not?" His friend tilts his head sideways.
"Because, if I do..." Kayden thinks about what could happen. Experiments? Get locked away? Possibly executed for having a supernatural ability? Worst of all, get publicity for it? "... I'm worried that my life will never be the same."
"You can tell me, Kayden," Don puts a paw firmly on his friend's shoulder. Kayden sees his Aura again, it's slowly fading back to blue. No, not again! He couldn't stand seeing his friend to be sad again.
"Ok. I'll tell you," Kayden gives in. Don's ears perk up and his smile returns. "But, you have to promise me one thing."
"Of course. What is it?"
"No matter what, please don't think I'm crazy."
"Of course not."
"Ok," Kayden took a deep breath. "When I was in 6th grade, I started to see... things. Not just any things, it was mostly... color." Don sat up, seeming intrigued by what his friends was saying. "I saw color in people. After a couple patterns, I realized that I was actually seeing little pieces of people's Auras. If I concentrate hard enough, I can see the entire thing. And if I really focus..." Kayden puts both his paws on Don's shoulders. "... I can... change it."
"What are you saying?" Don asks.
"I'm saying, I... have... the ability... to control emotions. But I would never change them for the worse, I've only ever made people happy. Like you."
"So... the reason I stopped crying, is because... you... changed my Aura?" Kayden blushes, is unable to look his friend in the eye, and eventually nods. He pins his ears down and looks away.
"You must think I'm a freak," Kayden says. "I don't even blame you; but didn't choose to have this ability, my great-grandpa had it, and... and..." Don places a paw over Kayden's muzzle to keep him from hyperventilating.
"Dude, it's fine," Don says. "And I don't think you're a freak."
"You... you don't?" Kayden's perks his ears back up. He wants to search his Aura but is too nervous to.
"No. Do you have any idea what some people would give to have an ability? Any ability? You're not a freak. You're special, you're awesome."
"Thank you." Kayden blushes a little. The two cuddle up to each other, with Don lying his head on Kayden's chest and his friend slowly running his back. Don murrs a little, making Kayden giggle.
"What're you giggling at?" Don asks, the smile on his muzzle clearly visible.
"You're so cute when you murr." Kayden kisses Don's forehead. He looks up, confused, and then Kayden blushes more.
"Did you just... kiss me?"
3
Kayden didn't know what to say. It was obvious that he was gay but he didn't make it obvious who he had a crush on. His chest grows heavy again and his ears go back down. "I'm sorry," Kayden says, "it's just... I... I..." He takes a deep breath. "I... love you." Don's ears twitch a little when he hears that.
"You love me?" Don asks.
"Yes. Yes, I do. Very much." Kayden hugs Don's tighter, the waterworks starting to turn back on. He didn't want to let go of his buddy. He judged wanted to hold onto something.
"Dude, it's ok," Don says. Kayden couldn't have heard that right. He just came out and straight up kissed his crush, who just went through a breakup, and he said it was fine.
"Wait, it's fine?" Kayden asks.
"Yes. When Mel broke up with me, I was very upset. You helped me over that." He still wasn't sure if Don was telling the truth. Carefully, he reaches into Don to read his Aura again. Keeping his paws firm on his buddy, he dips deep and sees the color. It's not blue or green.
It's pink.
4
"Are you reading me?" Don asks.
"Yeah," Kayden says without hesitation. Don's probably curious about his ability now that he knows about it. At least, that's what Kayden thinks.
"What does it say?" Kayden strokes Don's back again.
"It's pink."
"What does that mean?"
"Love. Affectionate," Kayden says, smiling. He pulls his friend up closer so their noses are touching. Their hot breaths warm each other's faces, making Kayden shiver. "Wanna kiss?"
"Umm... sure." Don lowers himself, pressing his lips against Kayden. They close their eyes and hug each other more. Kayden looks at their Auras. They're both pink, but a special kind: pink fireworks. His heart grows heavy with passion. His tail wags back and forth. As the warmth of the kiss hits them, something tickles Kayden's ears.
He's felt that sensation before. Currently, under the purple of his ears, another strip of fur underneath it glows. At first, it's white, but as it dims down, the fur has changed from white to pink. Another new strip to his rainbow ears.
As Don breaks the kiss and opens his eyes, he looks over behind Kayden. "Hey, your ears changed," Don says.
"I know," Kayden says, "every time I experience a new emotion at an extreme level, the color gets added to my ears. I think rainbow's a pretty color if you ask me."
"What do the other colors mean?"
"Red means anger, orange is hatred, yellow is teasing, green means happy, blue means sadness, purple means nervous, black means fear, and white means confusion."
"What about other emotions like stress or depression?" Kayden plays with Don's ears as they continue their conversation. Don really seems interested in this.
"Those are what I call Mixed Emotions," Kayden continues, "they don't have one dead-set color. Stress has red, blue, and purple in it. Depression has blue and purple."
"Interesting. Have you ever seen the color for arousal?" The question makes Kayden draw a blank. He never recalled ever seeing that color. Or, if it's Mixed, he's never seen it.
"I don't believe I have. If I did, I never seen it."
"Oh. Ok. I was just curious."
5
After last night, Kayden let Don stay the night. As Kayden gets up and does his morning routine, his friend stays in his bed, sleeping the night away. He brushes his teeth, gets some waffles downstairs and heads upstairs to change.
As he strips down to his underwear, he's worried that Don will wake up and sees him. Then again, he isn't naked so that shouldn't be a problem, right? Kayden goes into his closet and pulls out a pink t-shirt with a cartoon wolf on it. He puts it on, not minding it's a little snug, and and goes over to his dresser for jean shorts.
He looks over at Don, still fast asleep. He reaches out and pets him on the shoulder. Kayden slips into Don's subconscious and into his Aura. It's green, making Kayden smile.
"My happy little puppy," Kayden says out loud. He sits down next to Don, keeping his paws on his back. All of a sudden, something feels cold, ice cold. Kayden shivers like his breath could be seen if he exhales. He looks at Don's Aura again. It's changing from green to black, fairly quickly.
A second later, Don starts shifting around. Kayden hears him whimper a little. No. No! "Don? Don, wake up!" Kayden gently shakes his friend, scared of what's happening. His friend suddenly snaps his eyes open, looking at Kayden and breathing heavily.
"How'd you know I was having a nightmare?" Don asks.
"Your Aura. It turned black and then you started to shuffle around."
"Oh. Well, I just... had a bad dream." Don sits up in Kayden's bed.
"Want to tell me about it?" Kayden wraps an arm around his friend.
"Sure."
6
Kayden could sense the black swirling around Don's Aura; but he wanted to hear what freaked Don out so much. "Umm... I remember running down the street," Don starts out, "I remember fire... everywhere. And these furs in black hoods were chasing me. Shouting at me. I think it was... Latin?"
"Well, it was just a dream," Kayden whispers. He reaches into his own energy, desperate to find green and lots of it. Black was the hardest color to change an Aura from. The darker the color, the harder it is to change it, like paint. When Kayden grasps a hold of the green within him, he gently pulls on Don's strings and replaces the black with green.
"Thanks," Don says.
"Anytime, pal." Kayden goes into his closet to pick out clothes for Don to borrow today.
"Have you ever read your own?" Don's question comes out of nowhere.
"Hmm?"
"Have you ever read your own Aura before?"
"No. I never have," Kayden says. The thought has never dawned on him before. "But I think I know a way for you to see."
"How?"
"Stand up." Don complies. "Give me your paw." Don reaches out with his right paw. Slowly, Kayden grabs it with both of his paws and places Don's on his chest. At the same time, Kayden reaches within his own Aura, eager to see the color. Kayden's chest glows white underneath Don's paw, the sight almost too beautiful. They look into each other's eyes.
"What do you see?" Kayden asks. Don looks a bit lost in thought, but he answers.
"I see you, but you're just one color," Don says.
"What is it?"
"Purple." Kayden slowly releases Don's paws. "Why are you nervous?"
"Because... I have a question. Yet, I'm nervous to hear your answer."
"What is it?" Don takes a step forward, their muzzles inches away from each other.
"W... Will..." Kayden takes a deep breath and slowly releases it. "Will you please... be my boyfriend?" His nerves skyrocket like crazy. It's 50-50, he thinks, but what if he says no? Would our friendship be ruined?
Don snakes his arms around Kayden, pulling him closer. Their noses touch and their lips less than a centimeter apart. "Yes," Don whispers, "I will be your boyfriend."
"Oh thank you," Kayden says. He closes the gap between them and kisses him.