Page 30 of Broken Chorus

There was a bit of irony too, him making an offering to a bird and waiting to see if it would be accepted or rejected. He tried not to think about the way it paralleled his little stroll through limbo with Hawk, but it was impossible to bury it completely.

When the melty feeling hit, everything narrowed down to the sunset on those iridescent wings, and the way the crow’s curiosity had moved it closer and closer to that dangling dragon and moonstone earring. It still took several more minutes before the crow grew brave, snatched up the earring, and flew away. Aaron watched it until it disappeared into the sunset.

“He’ll remember that, ya know,” Micah said, startling Aaron, ‘cause he’d forgotten Micah was there. “He might even come back hoping for another gift.”

“Guess I’ll have to carry something shiny in my pockets from now on.”

“Might be a good idea, unless you want to give away a small fortune in jewelry.”

Snorting, Aaron shook his head. “I’d be surprised if I paid more than ten bucks to get that thing. That crow will probably cherish it more than I ever did.”

Micah didn’t say anything for a minute, but Aaron heard the crinkle of cellophane again, and it was soon followed by more acrid cigarette smoke. The not talking was far more comfortable than attempts at meaningless conversation, but of course, it couldn’t last.

“So, was it the monumental disaster you expected it to be?” Micah asked as Aaron kept watch for the crow.

“Huh?” Aaron muttered, turning to face him for the first time since they’d come out there.

“Just wondering if having me as part of the band is as horrible as you expected.”

“We’ve barely gotten started; I need a full session to know if a disaster is monumental or not.”

“Yeah, I guess the song is still in disaster territory. Just do me a favor, don’t hold your breath waiting for me to get preachy. Your buddy Kelly, he seems to really like you, and I’d hate to have to explain how you asphyxiated trying to prove a point to him, especially with the way you pull together rifts. We’ve got a good shot of avoiding monumental all together, as long as you can untwist your panties about the whole Amish thing.”

It was so out of left field and caught him so off guard, that Aaron choked on the smoke he’d just inhaled, and coughed until his throat hurt. His eyes watered, but when he wiped away the moisture, Aaron noticed something he hadn’t before. That throat tattoo of Micah’s was a brightly colored coral reef with a wide assortment of odd but familiar looking fish. He couldn’t help but stare, especially at the brown and white fish with thintendrils of spiny fins, and a spooky looking fish with some kind of dangly piece hanging off the top of its head.

“You can stop staring any time now,” Micah muttered, backing away.

The cherry on his cigarette glowed as he took a drag, and while he hated the scent of cigarette smoke, Aaron closed the distance between them so he could stare at the fish with all the spines sticking out of its body, inches away from a stone with a fish face nestled between a sea anemone and a fish with bright blue stripes.

“Seriously. Stop staring at me,” Micah grumbled, turning a little.

That just revealed another bit of the tattoo, the bright colors rendering Aaron unable to look away. “I’m not staring at you.”

“We’ll I know you’re not staring through me, so what the fuck?”

“Was checking out all the freaky ass fish you’ve got tattooed across your throat,” Aaron explained. “They look like they belong in an aquarium exhibit. They’re all tropical, aren’t they? Isn’t that a stonefish? And the one with the spines, it’s a lionfish, right? And that’s a puffer. Ohh shit, isn’t that a boxfish? And a Zebra Surgeon?”

“Dude, chill, what the fuck? You’re getting a little too enthusiastic there. How about you dial it down a notch?”

His words were like a bucket of ice water and Aaron nearly tripped over himself backing away.

“Shit, sorry man.”

“No harm done,” Micah said. “And you’re right, about the fish, you pretty much named all the visible ones.”

“Umm, okay,” Aaron muttered, turning his attention to the city down below and the bright lights that had begun to highlight the streets.

“You’re unbelievable.”

“Huh?”

“You’re either the most socially inept person I have ever met in my life, or you’re going out of your way to get a rise out of me.”

“How about none of the above,” Aaron shot back. “I was seriously just admiring your ink. I’ve spent a lot of my down time wandering through aquarium exhibits. Some of the colors are seriously trippy and I don’t know, kind of inspiring.”

Silence followed his words, like Micah was searching his words for hidden meanings before responding. “Thanks. I guess.”

Chuckling, Aaron relit his joint and took a long drag. “It was a compliment; in case you’re confused.”

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