The day was – apparently - unbearably hot. It was mid-May, and still very early in the morning, but already everyone around him was sweating. Trying not to stand out so much, Kyle slowed his pace and tried to look as worn out as his colleagues. Adam and a few of the other teachers trudged along next to him, hauling gear for the class competitions out to the football field.

“Don’t fake it. And please just carry this.” Adam dumped the coiled tug-of-war rope on top of the stacked milk crates Kyle was already carrying.

“Sorry. But I suppose this will be nothing in comparison.”

“I’m already hot. I don’t need to feel guilty, too.” He smiled broadly at Kyle, just so that there would be no misunderstanding. Adam hoped he hadn’t gotten too comfortable, but he was pretty sure Ryka had a sense of humor and could handle some good-natured ribbing. Even, sometimes, at Kyle’s expense.

Kyle, for his part, just rolled his eyes and kept walking. From behind him, he could hear the chatter of excited students. It was the Seniors’ second to last day of classes, and the whole school celebrated with a field day, in which the four different grades competed against each other, and the Seniors won the day, no matter what.

“How do they have so much energy?” Adam panted, shifting the weight of his load – a tower of orange traffic cones.

“Because a quarter of them know that after tomorrow, they never have to come back here again.”

“I suppose that’ll do it. Man, makes me wish I taught Senior classes. I’d have so many free periods.”

“At least it’ll be quieter.” Judging by all the shouting and laughing, the crowd of students was rapidly approaching. They definitely had far too much energy for this time of day. He hoped the heat would subdue them as it had his colleagues. “So much quieter ….”

***

Hours later, Kyle was surprised to find himself thinking that the day was passing too quickly. The kids were all having fun, and it was absolutely delightful to be outside instead of planted in front of the chalkboard, lecturing. Thanks to Ryka, he could feel the warmth of the sun on his skin without being bothered by the oppressive heat that was affecting everyone else.

All too soon, students were streaming back toward the building, leaving staff to clean up. Kyle had been so focused on picking up the gear strewn about the field that he had failed to notice that, aside from himself and Adam, almost everyone else was gone. Except for a small group of Senior boys.

“Hey, Mr. S.”

Kyle jumped and looked up. Of course, it was Nick, Tommy and four of their close friends. They had apparently stayed behind to help. Seeing an opportunity, the rest of the staff had taken their leave. “Thanks, guys. You didn’t have to.”

“We owe you this much,” Nick told him, looking chagrined. They had done something rather stupid a few weeks earlier during their senior trip, and once more disappointed their teacher. And been forced to deal with his passenger as a result.

They’re just sad I drank all their booze.

“Don’t worry about it. Want to help me coil this thing back up?” Kyle asked, picking up one end of the tug-of-war rope.

The boys all looked at each, then back at Kyle. He didn’t think that was a good sign. “So, you’re really strong, right?”

“Only with help,” Kyle replied, trying not to name names.

“Like, could you win this,” Tommy held up the rope, “against all of us?”

I could send them into fucking orbit.

“Yes,” Kyle answered, with more than a little hesitation. There had been no malice in Ryka’s words; no threat, hidden or overt. He sounded … playful.

By this time, Adam had wandered over and was standing next to Kyle. “Do they really want to try this?”

I do! Now the demon absolutely sounded like he just wanted to have fun.

Kyle thought fondly of their first few years together - when Ryka had seemed almost innocently impish - and easily gave in. “Would you mind going down there with them? I don’t think he’ll try anything if you’re there, too.” Since the broken-glass incident, Ryka had developed an envy-inducing fondness for Adam. Kyle didn’t like it, but if it made Adam safer, he was willing to deal with it.

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“Um, sure. If you say so.” The boys cheered at Adam’s arrival, somehow thinking they now stood a chance. Eager to prove themselves, they picked up their end of the rope, and Kyle grabbed his. The cones had already been stacked, but with the lines painted on the field, it would be easy enough to tell who was winning.

“On three?” Kyle offered.

The boys all nodded, and Adam started the countdown. “Three … two … one …pull!”

“Shit!” Kyle thought his arms were going to be ripped out of their sockets. They certainly weren’t holding back at the other end. Pulling with all his might, he dug his heels in the soft turf and tried his best not to get dragged face-first through the grass.

Want a hand? That he wasn’t being hauled across the field meant he was already being given one.

“Yeah, that would be fantastic. But go easy on them. And no fire. We only have one of these ropes.”

I can only do so much without taking over.

What he could do was still plenty. For a brief moment, Kyle could feel his muscles burning with the strain of fighting back against the seven men at the other end of the rope. And then his entire body was nearly numb. All that was left to him was the feel of the rough fiber in his hands, and even that didn’t last. He gave the rope what looked to him like a gentle pull, and the group opposite him stumbled forward, barely managing to save their footing.

They redoubled their efforts, but without much success. All the straining and scrambling in the world wasn’t going to get Ryka to budge. And Kyle could tell that Ryka, aside from concentrating on what Kyle’s body was doing, had to put very little energy into this task.

To drive the point home, he dropped one hand to his side and took an easy step backwards. Based on the grunting and cursing happening at the other end of the field, Adam and the boys weren’t having as easy of a time. Two more steps, and his opponents all toppled forward. Into a whooping, laughing heap.

“That was crazy!” Nick called, leaping up and brushing grass off his shorts.

“Yeah, crazy.” Adam didn’t look nearly as impressed. In fact, he mostly just looked exhausted.

“Can you guys clean the rest of this up and leave everything in the gym? And bring a couple bottles of water back?” Kyle asked, starting toward Adam. He was too worried to wait for an answer, but it looked like the boys hurried to do as he said. Once they were out of hearing range, Kyle crossed his arms over his chest and reprimanded his friend. “Let me guess, you yelled at the kids all afternoon to stay hydrated, but forgot to drink anything yourself?”

Adam nodded. He was getting paler by the second, and had stopped sweating. Kyle put hands on his shoulders and steered him – no help from Ryka required – to the far side of the field, where the woods started. “Sit in the shade for a minute.” He more collapsed than sat, but Kyle was just glad Adam was off his feet.

I can help with this, too. Take your shirt off.

“What?”

Trust me. No one can see us here.

With his friend’s health on the line, Kyle didn’t argue. And the instant he was topless, Ryka summoned himself.

Through Ryka’s eyes, Kyle watched Adam slump forward, forehead coming to rest on his knees. He was about to ask Ryka to help him up again when he noticed Adam’s hair being ruffled as though by a breeze. And at the farthest edges of their vision, he could see the tips of Ryka’s wings moving.

“That feels nice,” Adam mumbled.

“Yeah?” Adam looked up quickly, but was too tired to be anything other than grateful. So he just nodded and put his head down again. “I can do more.” He started pumping his wings faster, and now Kyle could see the leaves of nearby trees dancing on their stems.

You can’t fly here, though, can you?

A little sadly, Ryka replied, “No. The thermals aren’t strong enough. I could glide to safety if it ever came to that, but these things are pretty damn useless here otherwise.”

Well, I wouldn’t say that. He looks cooler.

Adam had tilted his head to peer up at Ryka while he spoke, and Ryka met his glance with a shrug. “It is what it is. No point bitching.”

“Sorry. About this.” His voice was getting weaker, and Kyle hoped Nick and Tommy would be back soon. Otherwise he would be counting on Ryka’s help again, this time to carry Adam to the nurse.

“Don’t be. Just returning the favor.”

It was only another few minutes before Ryka heard the boys returning with water, and Nick and Tommy found both their teachers looking rather dazed. Kyle accepted a bottle just to appease them – he was stunned from Ryka’s sudden departure, but otherwise fine. Though having an audience while he struggled, half-conscious, to get his shirt back on was less than ideal.

But the boys were too concerned about Mr. Brissette to worry about what Kyle and Ryka had been up to. With a smile, Kyle watched as they pulled Adam to his feet, helping him keep his balance and making sure he didn’t overdo it with the water.

“Thanks, guys. I’ll be right behind you,” he called as they started toward the building with Adam.

“No problem, Mr. S.,” Tommy replied. With that, they were gone, Nick and Tommy supporting Adam on their walk back across the field.

Alone with Ryka, he shook his head in disbelief. “Those two…. A few years ago, they were going out of their way to hurt people. And now look at them.”

Wasted opportunity. I could’ve had ‘em both. The rest of those vile little fuckers, too.

“How come you can’t lie, but you can bullshit? A loophole?”

Guess so. And I wasn’t trying to be untruthful.

“I know, I know.” That was the scary part. “But thanks for sparing them that.”

I didn’t do it for them.

“Then thanks for sparing me that.”

Anything for you, Master.