7. Birthday

"Make a wish, Ravi." His father spoke as he handed Ravi a cake with a lit birthday candle on it.

"Dad, I don't believe in things like this," said Ravi, smiling at the cake in front of his face. He turned his gaze to his mother and Daniel who were waiting for him to do as his father told him to.

"Come on Ravi, just make a wish. God will grant it." Daniel walked over to stand by his side and put his arm around Ravi's shoulder.

"Come on, honey. Daddy already minds holding onto the cake," said his mother making both dad and Daniel laugh out loud.

"Yes, mom." Ravi closed his eyes. Even though Ravi didn't believe in such things but he couldn't help but make a wish. The problem is that Ravi has no wish, he feels all is enough in his life.

So he made a wish that wouldn't be possible or if it did then Ravi would be very happy with it.

'I begged on my birthday. There will be a beautiful girl who descends from the sky like a winged angel who will love me, accept my flaws and strengths sincerely.'

Ravi smiled at his plea and felt very silly about it. Then he opened his eyes and blew out the candle in the shape of the number twenty until a thin cloud of smoke rose to the ceiling.

"Ravi asked what?" asked Daniel curiously.

"Secret, Daniel," he replied with a smile.

After they all ate the cake, Ravi decided to go to his room. He climbs the stairs with a warm heart. Ravi is grateful that he is at this age in good health and still has a complete family who loves him.

When Ravi arrived at the door of his room he held the door handle which felt cold against the surface of his skin in contrast to the current weather.

Ravi opened it and was immediately confronted by a man standing dazzling with huge black wings on his back. He held the chocolate in the tan hand that was smearing his face and smiled innocently. The man's different colored eyes stared straight into Ravi's eyes without batting an eye. Then the mouth with full lips began to open with a smile and a voice entered his ears.

"Ravi, the chocolate is sweet. Like Ravi."

***

Ravi woke up from his sleep, still haunted by nightmares as clear as the sun in the afternoon. The dream was part of the reality of his birthday this afternoon, but with Raymond greeting him at the door. It was part of a nightmare that Ravi had never expected.

Ravi massaged his forehead which suddenly felt throbbing. He grumbled to himself for listening to Raymond's words with his heart, not his ears. It was strange to hear such things from a man like him. It wasn't the first time for Ravi to hear similar sentences from his kind, but Ravi was a normal guy and never got used to it let alone he felt so annoyed.

Ravi glanced at the clock perched on the nightstand, he exhaled when he saw that it was still two and a half in the morning. He lay back and hoped the darkness would greet him, but it didn't. Ravi can't sleep. So he tore off the gray blanket and started walking out of the room to get a glass of water.

Ravi's eyes were met with a soft light coming from Raymond's room in front of him, illuminating the hallway leading to the dark stairs. The door opened just as Ravi had left it at night. The reason was Raymond couldn't open the door handle.

Ravi started to walk slowly not wanting to hear his feet on the wooden floor and woke up Raymond who might have a sharp hearing because Raymond is not fully human so impossible things could happen to this man.

Instead of finding Raymond lying on the bed when Ravi was in the doorway, Ravi saw Raymond sitting at the window with his body pointing out. Raymond's head looked up at the dark sky with dots of light.

Ravi looked at Raymond's outstretched wings flapping softly with soft feathers dancing in the morning breeze which bit Ravi's skin because of the cold. The black feathers on Raymond's wings were as dark as the sky now, feeling something stir in his chest when he saw those wings like he was in a fantasy story Ravi had read.

Ravi froze as Raymond turned down from the window with his eyes wide as he met Ravi's.

Raymond's smile bloomed instantly and walked barefoot to Ravi. Ravi's eyes dropped to see the tattoo written clearly on Raymond's chest which was perfectly sculpted in front of Ravi. Raymond said the inscription had indeed been there, but that it looked unreal to Ravi with his name on the body of a foreign man.

Ravi's eyes rose to look back at Raymond. Ignoring the thick chocolate scent caressing his nostrils in such a way that it made Ravi's knees feel weak to support him. Ravi tried to say in his normal voice, ignoring how his throat was getting dry. "Why don't you sleep and sit at the window instead?"

They were still staring at each other. "I was gazing at the stars and the moon."

Ravi's throat went dry as Raymond stared at himself more deeply and intensely than before. He nodded slowly trying to ignore Raymond's large wings that were at each end at Ravi's sides as if to hug him.

"Not sleepy?" asked Ravi. Raymond was like a lump of magic that was always able to draw its essence to Ravi and seemed to attract Ravi to keep staring at him. He couldn't ignore how Raymond seemed to be pressing himself with those wings and the smell of the melted chocolate left Ravi confused as well as dazed.

Raymond shook his head making his black hair sway. "No, Ravi. Elf only needs a few hours to sleep."

Raymond opened his voice again because Ravi didn't respond. "Why did Ravi wake up from sleep?"

"I woke up from a bad dream and couldn't go back to sleep," Ravi said holding his breath as the black wings were sucked into Raymond's back quickly.

"Why is Raymond a nightmare for Ravi?" he asked doubtfully.

Ravi remained silent, leaving the question hanging without an answer. The question created a new question mark in Ravi's mind about Raymond knowing about Ravi's dream. He took a deep breath and immediately regretted the smell of chocolate being more dominant than the morning breeze blowing from the window.

Ravi subconsciously rubbed his arm as the cold pierced his skin. He flinched as the glass slid shut on its own. Ravi's jaw clenched at the miraculous thing that had just happened to the window.

"What just happened, Raymond?" Ravi asked with his pupils dilated and glanced at the window behind Raymond's back.

"Ravi's cold, right? So I closed it," Raymond replied in a low-pitched voice that sounded strange to Ravi's ears at this moment.

Ravi just muttered incoherently in the back of his throat, not knowing how to respond. "I have to go back to my room or Daniel will find out and scold me."

Ravi glanced slightly at Raymond's face, Raymond's jaw dropped and his eyes flickered occasionally. Not knowing what that meant, Ravi turned around and walked back to his room with Raymond not saying anything there.

When Ravi closed the door to his room with a pounding heart and hot cheeks, Ravi was haunted by the dream he had just had. It was half true that he made such a wish but Ravi just didn't expect it to come true.

Ravi walked to a glass window similar to Raymond's, he opened it slowly. Cold air began to hit the surface of his face and Ravi took a deep breath. The air in the city was sometimes not as fresh as the morning and this was the first time Ravi had woken up this early. Enjoy every second that goes by slowly.

Ravi faintly heard singing in a low, deep voice. It came from Daniel's room. Ravi never knew his brother could sing sweetly even though it sounded like a meaningless mumble amid this silence because Ravi didn't understand what language he was singing. Only foreign to Ravi's ears.

Ravi peeked, Daniel was leaning on the small balcony in his room looking in any direction. It was clear that it was Daniel who was singing softly.

His brother always got up early but Ravi didn't know that Daniel would wake up this early. Then Daniel looked up at the starry black sky with a faint light.

Ravi heard Daniel's next voice which sounded quite loud in the quiet morning atmosphere. "Star, tell him. I hate him so much. Hate more than I can do."

Thank you for reading