No. 16: Bonding

No. 16: Bonding

Kaleigh had given up trying to figure out where they were going a several minutes ago.
"Relax Kale. I won't drop you." He said after she hadn't relaxed since he'd picked her up.
"It's not the drop I'm worried about." She answered. Honestly, she had no idea why she was still tense, maybe it was just the fact that he was holding her. No, that wouldn't be it. No she was tense because, even though she had seen Brandon use his powers in training, he had never used this much for so long, t hat's what was making her tense.
"You do remember that we're stronger together even if there is no Bond right?"
She looked at him, startled.
"How do you do that?" She questioned. "Know what I'm thinking. It's a little creepy."
Brandon laughed a little as he gazed down at the city below.
Kaleigh saw in relief that their altitude was dropping, though she still had no clue where they were.
   When his feet touched the ground of an alley, he set her down gently.
"Come on, I want you to meet someone."
As soon as he had landed, he moved away quickly, the spark that always flared up between the two, stopped as soon as the physical contact was gone.
She took a step to the side so he could walk past her, as he did he shoved his hands in his pockets, though she could tell they became fists.
She followed right behind him quietly and was subconsciously pulling her sleeves down to cover her hands.

Brandon led her onto the street and she had to practically hold his arm to keep from getting separated. When ever she brushed his jacket he'd glance down at her with a reassuring smile.
"So you're not mad at me or anything?" She blurted out before being able to stop herself. His face came over with a shadow of confusion.
"Why would I be mad at you?" He asked.
"Because I snapped at you? And probably would have done worse if I had continued."
"Really?"
Okay so maybe adding that last bit wasn't the best of ideas. She thought to herself as she saw the playfulness in his eyes.
"Well to answer your question, no I am not mad at you. In fact I had been expecting you to lash out sooner or later."
That made her feel as if someone had just taken a weight off her chest that she hadn't even realized was there.
However, she didn't have time to reply because he stopped at a town house and opened the door.
"Mom! I'm home!" He hollered as he stepped in, leaving the door open.
Kaleigh was suddenly hit with the realization she was at his house. And the 'someone' he was talking about earlier was probably his family. She didn't know why, but she was seriously hoping they wouldn't hate her.
"Are you coming? Or are you just going to stay there like some kind of idiot?"
The jab was what she needed to cross over the threshold and smack him.
He grinned as he pushed the door closed behind her and led the way into the living room.
A small woman came out of the kitchen completely covered in flour. Her brown hair was done up in a bun at the back of her neck and she wore a friendly smile when she saw Kaleigh.
"Hey honey. I wasn't expecting company today." she said as she wiped her hands off on her bright yellow apron and kissed her son's forehead.
"Mom." He groaned, though didn't pull away.
Kaleigh couldn't keep the smile from her face, she certainly hadn't imagined this side of Brandon before.
"You must be Kaleigh."
Her eyes went to the woman's soft brown ones with a smile.
"That would be me."
The woman walked over to her and gave her a hug, which Kale hadn't been expecting but after a moment hugged her back. Suddenly realizing how much she had been missing not having a mom, and was now envious of Brandon for having one.
"You can call me Tracy." She said as she pulled back. "And it seems I have gotten flour all over you. I am so sorry!"
Kale shook her head, the smile still obvious on her face.
"Don't worry about it. It's not going to kill me." She said with a little laugh.
"Brandon!"
A little angelic girl came bounding into the room, her curls bouncing as she moved.
Brandon's face lit up in a way Kale had never seen before. He hugged the little girl and started to move his hands in a way that jogged something in Kaleigh's memory of her past life.
"Hey Maddy. How are you?" His hands asked.
"Good." She signed back, but then caught sight of Kaleigh. "Oh! So this is the 'very interesting person' you were pain -" The rest of the words got cut off as Brandon suddenly jumped on her hands, his eyes wide with embarrassment.
"Okay that's enough of that Maddy." He spoke aloud. "Kale," She looked at him with a smile as he called her nickname. "This is my little sister Maddy. She's uh..."
"I'm deaf." The little girl spoke for the second time.
Kaleigh nodded, not letting that fact change the way she'd treat her. She walked up to the little girl and knelt in front of her.
"Well hi there Maddy. I'm Kaleigh." She said with her hands. The other three people seemed to gasp as they watched her speak perfect sign language.
Maddy suddenly started clapping, and jumping up and down, squealing with excitement. Then she almost toppled Kaleigh over in a bear crushing hug.
"She's so awesome!" Maddy declared. She ran over to Brandon and hugged his waist.
"I like her. You should keep her."
Kaleigh laughed quietly at the look of pure shock and awe on Brandon's face.
"Well....that was....interesting." He breathed. Kaleigh chuckled as she got up to her feet.
"Well the cookies are in the oven," Tracy began, addressing the two teenagers. "but I promised Maddy she could decorate them, so they might take a while, but you're welcome to stay around and have some if you'd like."
Kaleigh smiled, and didn't really feel like she could turn down Tracy's hospitality. Not that she wanted to either.
"I'd love to."
Maddy grinned, and Tracy smiled.
"Well alright then. I'll leave you two to it than."

Once Tracy had taken Maddy into the kitchen once again, Brandon beckoned Kaleigh through another door which led into the garage.
Only it was full of paintings, and art supplies.
When she first stepped in, she had to stop and take it all in. Canvases both empty and full were everywhere, cluttering up the floor. Easels were also everywhere, full of course. As she walked into the room further, she noticed all the paint spots on the concrete floor and for some reason just had to smile.
"So I finally get to see some of your pictures huh?" She asked as she gapped at some of the paintings.
"Uh...yeah I guess..." He said, inwardly sighing in relief as she passed the one painting that had a blanket covering it. He didn't want to look creepy having painted her face, and scare her away.

"So," She sat down on one of his bar stools that were by a desk that he was now clearing, so he could start a sketch on a piece of paper.
"how does this whole Bonding thing work?" She asked.
"We have to use our powers at the same time, while we're linked together."
"Linked?"
"Yeah uh..." He glanced at her confused face. "Like holding hands kind of thing."
"Oh...Okay and that's going to do what?"
At this he shrugged. "Beats me. The book wasn't too clear on that."
Kaleigh knew he meant the Elemental book that the Professor had shown her a few weeks ago.
"We've also got to say a vow while we're like that." He went on, not looking at her, concentrating on the sketch he was working on.
"And that's what?" Her voice seemed quiet and he suddenly felt her breath on his neck. He tried not to let it get to his head. She was just curious as to what he was doing, that's all.
"Do you remember the exact words?" She added.
It was driving him crazy with her so close, but he did his best to ignore it.
"Yeah. The Professor had me memorize them back in the early days."
He moved away from the desk, bumping into Kaleigh as he did, though she moved back with a jolt.
"I bind myself to thee, to guard and to keep. I will follow thee everywhere 'til thee walk down the path of death. I will give up my life for thee before I let thee die. If I have to take a bullet for thee I will, if I have to cut out my own heart for thee I will. I bind myself to thee."
Kaleigh didn't move, didn't say anything, didn't even breath as he recalled the vow.
"Whoa....that's....specific." She managed to say after a minute of looking like a complete idiot.
"Yup. You still want to do it?" Brandon asked. She knew he was offering her a last chance to reconsider but she shook her head.
"Yes. We don't have much of a choice anyways."
"We always have choices." He mumbled under his breath. "I worked on a sketch, but you do realize it might not come out the same right? I don't know what'll happen honestly." He said admittedly.
Kaleigh nodded.
"Then I suggest we go outside huh? Wouldn't want your paintings ruined by who knows what."

They actually ended up on the roof of Brandon's house.
Kaleigh didn't mind it, especially since she wouldn't let Brandon just fly her up. She had climbed through Maddy's window and had let him help her up from there.
Now they stood in middle of the roof, the sun beating down on their backs, but the breeze kept them cool. Brandon offered an his right hand, and Kaleigh took it with her left, both of them grabbing onto the wrists.
"Now, you'll have to -"
"I know what I have to do." Kaleigh said, cutting in gently. Brandon's stormy eyes locked in on hers and he nodded.
Kaleigh took a deep breath and searched for that chest she had stored the alien feeling in in her mind.
Through reflex she gripped Brandon's arm tighter as she opened the chest and let the alien feeling take over. She heard him gasp as the electricity flowed through her, until she channeled it through her whip she had clutched in her free hand.
What had been a steady breeze soon started to churn around them becoming a sort of twister joined with electricity.
Brandon said the vow first.
As he said it, silver moved down from his eyes. Kaleigh watched wide eyed, not sure to be scared or in awe. The silver moved like veins down his skin until they ran down his right arm and crossed over on to her own arm. She couldn't see it as it moved up her arm and around her neck to her right shoulder, but she could feel it. Like a warm finger's touch running across her skin, sending a shiver down her spin.
Brandon said the last word, and she knew it was her turn. He had drilled the vow into her a few minutes ago, and it was still fresh in her mind. She allowed the words to run out of her mouth, as she did, she knew silver was leaving her own eyes and that thought alone was freaky enough, but when she caught sight of the silver veins running down her own arm, she got a little panicky.
Brandon's grip on her arm tightened and she quickly looked back up at him, trying to ignore the silver veins that were running around his neck.
"...I bind myself to thee." When the last words left her lips, the silver veins had moved to his left shoulder, and stayed there.
The wind died down and she locked up the alien feeling once again, happy that she could now access it now on her own accord.
Their grip on each other weakened as their breath came out hard. Kaleigh was the first to move. She let go of his hand and pulled her sweatshirt over her head and dropped it on the roof. Pulling the neck of her long sleeve down over her shoulder, her eyes grew wide when she saw the silver mark now on her bicep.
She pulled her shirt back up as she looked at Brandon, who had been watching her.
"I guess it worked." Kale said.
He nodded as he pulled up his own short sleeve to show the same mark on his more defined bicep.
"Guess so...The question is...Now what?"