The Dragon and the Star

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"It's alright," she answered, sliding her chair around so she was in front of Starling. The less the poor girl had to move, the better. "I wouldn't worry too much about Leon. Sometimes, he just gets moody for no reason. He's an odd one, that's for sure. He'll come back around." She sounded confident enough as she moved to pick up one of Starling's feet. It was clear that she'd known Leon for a long time, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to even see Starling.

"Well, your feet look better than they did last night, from the looks of it," Miranda continued, undoing the bandages from her foot. "The cuts aren't too deep, but there are a lot of them. We can put on some cream, wrap them back up and give you a few pain killers if you need them. Your wing is going to have to wait though. I'm sorry. I just don't want to damage it further. From what it feels like, you displaced a bone and cracked several others." Miranda dug in her bag, finding something to coat Starling's feet in.

"You'll be grounded for a few months at the very least." It was a tough call to make, but it was better to keep her on the ground rather than fly when her wing wasn't ready.
 
Starling stared at Miranda in disbelief, slowly shaking her head until it sped up so much she felt the world spin. "No! I can't wait a few months! I have to be up in the sky, I have to find my way home! They need me!" If not for the fact that Miranda was fixing her feet, Starling would have certainly ran off. Her eyes darted to the door, looking tempted to say to hell with it and do it anyways.

Her good wing tightened against her back, both quivering slightly. They ached from not being used to their potential. She had to be up in the air, how could either of them understand that feeling? Eyes tore from the exit and closed as Starling buried her face in her hands. "I can't stand around for months. I have go be in the air as soon as possible. Why can't your people mend things faster?"
 
Unbeknownst to Starling and Miranda, Leon was listening. He was leaning against his bedroom door, gripping his phone so tightly that he threatened to break it. Starling had no idea what he knew, what he'd seen in his life. She was young and immature, only thinking of getting back home. She barely understood the pain of losing everything. Leon rested his forehead against the door, throwing the phone on the bed. He hadn't even made the phone call, and he didn't act like he had as he walked out. He heard Starling complain about the fact that human technology was limited, and Miranda was flailing for answers.

"Well, we simply don't have the knowledge yet," she started slowly, wrapping up Starling's left foot. "Your body will heal on its own, and I'll do my best to help as much as I can. Anything to make it go faster, but I can't guarantee anything." She glanced up at Leon as he came back into the kitchen, taking the plates from the table and putting them in the sink without a word. His expression was neutral, but his eyes said otherwise.

"How long?" he asked.

"What?"

"How long?" he repeated, motioning to Starling's limp wing.

"Several weeks... three or four months maybe. It's hard to say. I'll know more on Monday." Miranda went back to wrapping up Starling's other foot, and the room was dead silent for five seconds before she put her things away. "I should get home. I have things to do tomorrow. Call Stacy and set up an appointment, but I'll do my best to fit you in." Leon nodded, watching her cast a glance at him as she left the kitchen. "Good bye, Starling. I'll do whatever I can to help, I promise." With that, she saw herself out.

Leon heard the door close, but he didn't relax. Instead, he turned in the direction of the bathroom. "I can show you what to do to bathe yourself. It's not complicated. You won't be able to get your feet wet though."
 
Starling lowered her hands when she heard Leon's voice, watching him as Miranda explained to him the time frame. With a mumbled goodbye she looked back to her feet, tapping them against the ground to test how much pressure could be applied before they started hurting her too much. The cream and bandages helped, but it was still uncomfortable. Miranda was nice, seeming far more open about things than Leon. It was sad to see her go, instantly feeling like the home had gotten a bit darker.

Whatever she had said to frustrate Leon was still lingering around him, and Starling felt like it would be best to just leave him be. Though he was heading off to the bathroom, so she stood up and followed after him. Starling entered the bathroom, blinking at the area with curiosity. Her hands stayed stiffly as her sides though as if afraid to have another coffee machine incident. She would be sure to let him show her everything first before touching. "What about clothes?"
 
For Leon, the whole house, his day, even his life had gotten darker. He was responsible for a young, naive, and incapacitated girl... with wings of all things. It was as if the universe was taunting him for all the things he'd once had and lost. With a stifled sigh, Leon walked to the bathroom, but he could hear Starling's muted footsteps following him. She stepped lightly, and with the bandages, she hardly made a sound. He could have done the same thing a long time ago, but that form was lost to the ages.

She stopped behind him, and her hands didn't immediately try to grab anything. Maybe she feared breaking off the shower head and melting that too. "I'll find you something," he assured, though his voice lacked a large amount of confidence. He began to walk her through the steps of how the bath turned on and how the water would divert to the shower head. He also flipped the handle to the sides to indicate temperature, though he didn't think she would want to take a cold shower.

"Use this towel to dry yourself. Don't get your feet wet, otherwise Miranda will have to come back and bandage everything back up again." He didn't think he could handle seeing Miranda twice in one day. He'd enjoyed her presence once, but now, even as he considered her a friend, he couldn't always be around her. It was the loss of something he couldn't place, which seemed to be a recurring theme in his life.
 
All Starling did was nod at his words, keeping still until Leon had stepped out of the way. She still did not want to talk to him. Honestly, it was probably for the best she didn't, he was in a bad enough mood and anything she said wouldn't help most likely. She moved to the bath and began running the water, testing it with her hand until it was at the right temperature before plugging the tub and letting it fill up. After Leon left hte bathroom she removed the dirty clothes, looking at herself in the mirror. She had scars along her right ribs, looking at if she had been cut by a sharp object long ago. There were more placed randomly around her torso and all it did was make her wonder who she was to get in such a position.

With a shake of her head Starling moved away from the mirror, turning off the water and slowly easing herself into the tub. The size was awkward for her, having to sit sideways in it so her feet stuck out. She washed around the bandages on her wing as best she could before letting the working one dip into the water. They were already white, but over time the feathers looked more brilliant as the dirt was removed from them and she began to work o her hair and skin after. Starling was relaxing more, beginning to hum a song only her subconscious knew as her body gradually stopped smelling like the earth and whatever soap Leon had on hand.

Finally she was clean, carefully picking herself up out of the tub and drying herself with the towel. She tried her best to shake out her wing without getting water everywhere but there was only so much she could do and was bound to get droplets along the wall and floor. The towel was secured around her frame before she checked the bathroom for another, using that to clean up the water as the tub slowly drained. She stepped out afterwards, looking around for Leon. "I'm finished." Those were the first two words she spoke to him, still feeling a bit worried to say anymore. One hand rested at her side while the other rubbed at her left shoulder, feeling the slight bumps in her skin from the scars there.
 
Leon flopped into his bed face first as Starling closed the door. Too much emotion roiled in his chest. Everything from Starling, to her wings, to Miranda's prodding, back to Starling again... It was too much. Years and years of hiding himself from the world, wasted simply because a girl with a broken wing landed in his backyard.

He huffed into the bed, the noise low from his nose buried in the covers. He rolled onto his back, staring up at his ceiling. Starling thought only one day on the ground was heartbreaking. Tch, try one century, he thought, bitterness winding its way into his mind. He didn't deserve this, but if Starling had fallen onto anyone else's lap, she would have been dead or turned over to the authorities. She was lucky, far more lucky than she had any right to be.

By the time Starling flicked the water off, Leon was sitting back in the kitchen accompanied by his laptop. Coffee makers were always cheaper online, and he'd needed a new one for a while. He took one short glance in her direction before his dark eyes went back to scanning the screen. "I don't have clothes for you," he said, pushing a few keys on the keyboard. When he was done with his work, he pushed away from the table and walked past her. "You'll have to wear your old clothes until I find something." While it wasn't exactly right to allow her to sleep in her old, dirty clothes, he didn't know how he felt about cutting up his own clothes to compensate.
 
Starling didn't move past the entrance way to the kitchen, seeming far too worried to step over any boundaries and frustrate Leon even more. She couldn't help but look a bit curiously at the laptop he was browsing on, but figured it would be best not to ask about it-- and she wouldn't dare touch something again. Starling quickly stepped to the side as he moved past her. No clothes? He had assured her he would get her something and now he was changing his mind? No, it wasn't his fault, she had intruded on his home and life so there would be no reason to complain.

A smile formed on her lips and she held the towel in place with one hand while waving off his words with another. "It's fine, I don't mind staying in my own clothes a bit longer!" She didn't wait for a response from him, going back to the bathroom to dress back in her clothes. This was horrible though, she instantly felt dirty again wearing her old clothes that had been covered in dirt and sweat as well as a few droplets of blood from when her head had been bleeding.

The sound of a door opening and closing broke the silence as she moved to his backyard. No one would see her out here anyways, right? Her wing stretched out to its fullest, the light reflecting off the feathers like it would to snow. The red eyes closed and she took in a breath before the large wing lifted and brought itself down, though her eyes flew open when she only managed to get partially off the ground before falling back to earth. She was lucky enough to catch herself on her feet, but at the same time the force of the landing made them hurt even more, Despite all of this she tried a few more times before finally just sighing and sitting down on the grass, burying her face in her knees while wrapping the wing around herself like a protective barrier from this strange world she had literally fallen into.
 
She scurried away, but Leon was in no mood to open his mouth another time. She left, and he didn't make an attempt to stop her. Let her try and fly away. Let her see what life on the ground is truly like. He knew what it was like. It was awful, through and through. No one knew that better than Leon. But Starling was going to know soon enough.

The pain was almost enough to make him cry, but instead, it made him angry. He was used to such feelings: fury, longing, sorrow. Everything culminated into his existence, and it was what put him on the ground in the first place. Starling hadn't felt those things; she just wanted to go home. It was all so innocent. Innocence was something he'd lost a long time ago.

His hand was on the doorknob before he noticed what he was doing. Human brains were so fickle in their motions, and he often lost track of his thoughts. Opening the door, he found Starling curled up on the ground, looking more like a child than ever. She truly has no idea, he thought. In a way, for a time, they were the same. They were trapped in a world unfamiliar to them with only their memories to sustain them.

"You'll be back up there soon enough," he said, though he made no move to sit down beside her. His dark eyes were studying the stars, a favorite past time of his. He could see the constellations that so many people worshiped, the moon as it glittered down upon them, and the night sky that once matched his own body.
 
Starling could feel warm tears begin to damped her knees. The sound of the door opening once more caused her to hug them even tighter while her wing wrapped as much as it could to hide the poor creatures form. The wing quivered with her shoulders, refusing to let the sob escape her throat despite the aching feeling as if it were trying to claw its way out.

Once the feeling was completely subdued, Starling lowered her wing to smile back at Leon. "I know I will. Thank you for taking me in, I'll work with my wing as much as a can to quicken the healing process. I do not wish to burden you with my presence for too long." Her eyes moved to the sky, watching the stars and wondering where she belonged in them. "You are very kind, Mister Leon. I suppose luck was on my side by allowing me to land here. I could have easily wound up in cruel hands, or even worse died with the fall. Thank you. So very much."
 
Leon could have told her that her presence wasn't a burden, but in reality, it was. Long past were the days of caring for others. He had to take care of himself, for he was the only one that mattered. The thought made him sigh as he leaned against the door frame, staring out into the darkness just as Starling was. She wanted to go back home just as much as he wanted her gone, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. There was too much going on in his head to make a snarky comment.

"Don't hurt yourself more," he said, "because then you'll be on the ground even longer." He could have spoken less harshly about her injury, but it was just the truth. Leon wasn't one to lie about serious situations, despite the fact that he was holding back feelings about her presence in his home.

"Rest is what you need," he continued, pushing himself off the door frame. "So you should come back inside and do just that. I lock the doors at night, and you shouldn't get stuck out here."
 
Starling held the smile despite what she was feeling inside. She looked away from Leon and out into the darkness that was forming around them to show the day was almost over, the very stars she had fallen from beginning to fill the sky. She didn't want to go back inside, she felt trapped in there, she wanted to be out in the open. But then again, she was in no position to want anything, it would just burden this man more. Slowly, she pushed herself up and followed him inside.

"I'm not tired, I've been laying around most of my time here." Starling mumbled, walking to the kitchen and having a seat in a chair. She still did not understand many things around his house, and seemed frightened to be in any of the other rooms out of fear that she may break something else that did not belong to her. So she sat in silence, looking down at the dirty part of her tunic while becoming lost in her thoughts. She wanted to remember things, but nothing was coming up. Not even a name.
 
"And you'll continue to do so until your wing is healed," he replied, unfazed by her words. He couldn't really force her to do anything, but rest was necessary, whether she liked it or not. Once they were both inside, he flicked the lock closed and followed her into the kitchen. He pulled his computer from the table, carrying it into his small living room. Sitting down in the chair, he clicked the button on the television remote to turn it on for background noise. Normally, he let it sit on a music channel, but he'd been mildly interested in the new channels as of late.

However, this channel held something much worse than petty thefts or fundraisers. "We've received numerous reports of a comet or falling star hitting Earth a few days ago. No one has seen the crash site, though some people tried to follow the descent. We have several astronomers on air to tell us what it might have been--"

Leon clicked the television off, leaning his head back in his chair. Publicity and attention wasn't what he wanted right now, and cameras weren't going to speed up Starling's recovery. He sighed, tapping a finger on his laptop in deep thought.
 
Starling leaned forward to rest her forehead on the table, releasing a sigh after Leon left for another room. Was this all she would be able to do until she was better? Sit and wait? The sound of someone speaking made her instantly sit up. Strange, she didn't hear anyone else enter the home. We're they talking about where she crashed?

Standing up, Starling moved to poke her head into the living room to stare curiously at the television. She listened with interest until Leon turned it off, causing her to enter fully in almost a frantic state. "Wait, make them show up again! They might know about where I came from, right?" She gave him a pleading look, still unaware that the news was just as clueless about her whereabouts as the two of them.
 
"No, they don't." Leon was stern, and if it didn't show in his voice, it showed in his grip on the remote. "They don't know where you're from. You fell from the sky, and that's all they would have said. They're all idiots." He set aside the remote, opening his laptop. He wasn't sure he would be able to convince Starling with just that, but he also didn't know if she understood the idea of unwanted publicity and cameras. Who am I kidding? he grumbled to himself, closing the laptop before he started anything.

"You might not understand, but those people don't know anything. They would have made some guesses, but no one knows for sure. Only Miranda and I understand what you are, and we're going to keep it that way, alright? The fewer people that know about you, the easier this whole thing is going to be. You don't need people swarming you while you're trying to heal."
 
Starling frowned when he spoke sternly, hands clenching unto fists at her side. She wanted to yell at him, to tell him even he and Miranda didn't understand what she was. No one did, not even herself. But instead she released her grip and slipped her hands behind her back and forced a smile. "You're right. Even if we are both in the dark about all of this, you at least understand this world better and know what is best for me."

With a bit of hesitation, Starling took a seat on the couch, staring at the blank television. "I'll stop asking questions and just focus on my healing."
 
Her smiles seemed fake. Leon had been around long enough to know that. He saw the cracks, the subtle twinges along her lips that suggested she was only holding the expression to please him.

It didn't please him.

He sighed, gripping the remote, but the television didn't come back on. There was no way to appease her until she got better, and by that time, she'd be gone. Hopefully. It was wishful thinking, seeing as he didn't know where she was from other than the sky. She didn't even know about herself, so there was no way to guess. It seemed like a lost cause, but some part of him was determined to see her home. He was sure that part of him also just wanted to see her gone, but he liked to think he was more noble than that.

After all, getting angry was what had ruined his life in the first place.

"You can be curious about this world all you want. Just know that the more people that know about you, the less likely you are to heal on time. That's what humans do: they wear you down."
 
Starling brought her bandaged feet up to rest on the couch, hugging her legs to her chest and nodding in response. She had not even been here for very long but she felt like she was going crazy. There was a tightness in her chest and she couldn't pinpoint the feeling for a but until it finely struck her like a jolt of electricity.

Homesick, that was the feeling.

She didn't even remember her home but she knew she missed it, not only that but there was a continual nagging feeling within like there was something of great importance she was supposed to be doing. Nothing came to her though and she tried to focus on what Leon was saying, the final bit making her glance at him curiously.

"You speak as if you are not one of the humans. Do you really dislike your own so much?"
 
She didn't speak. Leon couldn't decide if that was good or not. It meant she was at least considering his words, whether or not she believed him. It also meant she would fold into herself and her feelings, as he had once had. He leaned back in his chair, watching her. She wasn't moving her wing, and that was a good sign at the very least. She was curling her toes, but she didn't do much else. She was quiet, and the silence flooded the room. He was used to such a lack of noise, but this time, it bothered him.

When she spoke, he took his time digesting her words. It was common for him to refer to humans like that. "They aren't my own," he said simply, leaving it at that. "And even if they were, I would still call them such. They are... different than they once were." He pushed himself up from the chair without excusing himself, but he only went to the kitchen, filling a glass of water while searching through the cupboards. Pulling out a small, yellow bottle, he tipped some of the contents into his hand and came back.

Standing in front of her, the man held out the small pellets and the glass. "Put these in your mouth and swallow with the water. They'll help with your pain."
 
"They aren't?" Starling asked, lifting her head to watch him go into the kitchen. She didn't move to follow him, staying curled up on the couch to keep her wing still. But he looked so much like them, how was he not one? He returned with a glass for her and something else she had not seen before, eyeing them curiously for a moment before finally taking them.


She put them in her mouth and instantly scrunched her face at the bitter taste that assaulted her tongue, gulping down the water quickly to wash it down. "That's disgusting. It's worse than the roots I took when I was sick as a ... child." Her eyes grew wide as she paused before the last word, a look of shock forming. "I remembered something! Leon, I remembered!" She stood up quickly and grabbed his arms, bouncing on her toes with excitement.


"I - I mean it wasn't much, but it was something right?" She couldn't help but laugh from the joy of remembering something, no matter how mundane. What mattered is that she actually had memories coming back. She shook her head and smiled up at him before releasing his arms. "Sorry, I got a little excited... Uhm, so what are you if you aren't human?"
 
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