Chapter Twenty-Two

Ethereal music flooded and resounded within the entire aviary with the first pianissimo note. It was a high note, and Michel wasn't able to recognize which one it was due to the beauty in such a heavenly sound. He saw Evan moving his fingers around the instrument's shaft carefully and softly, as if he were adoring it and every string his fingertips pressed and caressed…

He seemed so focused yet so serene and enjoying his way of playing, it was truly something breathtaking and mesmerizing… The prince had never seen this facet of his childhood friend, and he loved it, in all honesty. He definitely hoped that he'd be able to see him like this in a lot more opportunities in the future.

The music continued. It never ceased to have a tranquil rhythm, although the notes did vary from higher to lower at times. But suddenly, Michel happened to notice something peculiar that managed to catch his attention.

"It's my song in reverse." He exclaimed as he drew an astounded smile across his face and his teal eyes shone brightly.

Evan stopped playing when he heard his friend saying this. He grasped the cello's shaft firmly, balancing it with his weak hands and drawing the bow slightly away from it.

"It is, yes." He chuckled. "Seems like you've caught me"

Michel chuckled, too. He felt impressed by Evan's capacity to surprise and captivate him in the least expected of moments.

"I think it would go pretty nicely with your piece for piano. 'Ode to Patroclus' was its name, right?" The redhead suggested him, remembering the name of Michel's wonderful original composition for piano.

Michel blurred away his smile.

"Oh, but I haven't finished it yet, don't you remember?" The prince reminded him with a concerned tone of voice.

Evan let out a chuckle, almost seeming confident in himself for some odd reason.

"Yeah, I do. Just play it until you think it's enough." Evan tried to reassure.

Michel let out a growl.

"I don't know… Your piece sounded so great… I really don't want to ruin it with my unfinished work in progress." Michel replied, feeling rather hesitant.

Evan sat up from the patio chair and let the cello's bow resting on top of it. Then, he walked a few steps up to where Michel was sitting.

"Michel, it's your birthday. I want you to have fun today and I thought this could be fun for both of us." He said, smiling warmly at him and tending him his hand. "Please? Play your piano piece for me, Michel?" He asked for, low and convincing, almost like a purr.

Michel blushed at this petition, more like at how he was requesting it.

He felt so mesmerized by Evan's evergreen eyes that shimmered with the thin sun rays seeping through the glass walls of the aviary and the ivy that covered them. His smile... his smile was something so divine that he even felt the need to cry when he saw it —he wasn't worthy enough to have that angelic smile only for him…

How could he say no…?

Still hesitantly, the prince sat up from the patio chair, hand-on-hand with his best friend, and took a seat by the grand piano in the middle of the aviary.

Oddly enough, the birds had gathered on the branches that surrounded the instruments, as if they were ready and eager to watch a true concert for the first time in their lives.

Michel leafed through his music sheets until he found his latest composition. 'Ode to Patroclus', read the title of it.

"You enter first, I'll know when to do it myself." Evan said and gained a puzzled look from his friend. "Just trust me. I know you do trust me, right?"

And with this, Michel let out a hesitant sigh. He first tested the keys and, once he got aware that the instrument didn't need to be tuned up, he began playing it.

To Michel, it was exactly the same composition that gave him so much headache in the past few weeks, the one he was simply unable to finish; because he was simply unable to find the correct notes and rhythm to describe Achilles' grief from Patroclus' loss.

Ode to Patroclus… Patroclus was Achilles' cousin and best friend; a character with actually no greater feats in the Iliad other than fighting in the name of his beloved friend —his kindred spirit, or even soulmate with no doubts. Who would have died for Achilles without blinking an eye, and who ended up doing so.

But there is a certain detail that most historians often liked to omit, and that was blurred out by the modern editorials over time for some reason he'd never understand. And that was that Patroclus was also Achilles' unconditional lover.

He felt ashamed that writers and editors erased that kind of relationship Achilles and Patroclus had, for it was nothing else than love at its most glorious and purest peak. Was it because they were cousins? Or was it because they were both men? He already had gotten an idea of the why of it, for a really long while…

Some people were simply reluctant and too close-minded, that they disapproved of the fact that a man could love another man in a beautiful and healthy way.

He was beginning to reach the first measure of the second pentagram when he heard Evan's cello entrance. Suddenly, he felt frightened, scared of screwing up even when his fingers kept hitting each note flawlessly.

The two melodies were completely different, how were they going to be able to keep their respective rhythm like this?

Evan sounded so confident and focused, playing with his eyes closed and waving the bow, caressing each string so nonchalantly, as if he were a true professional… Michel, on the other hand, was simply playing the piece he composed out of mere inertia and panicking more and more each time.

But one thing was for sure: Evan entered and exited just at the most suitable times, leaving Michel some moments to regain his composure and get his beat back in tune.

He appreciated this from his friend, and even noticed that the duet didn't sound bad at all, in fact, it sounded great, almost worthy of being played in an orchestra —but of course, Michel would have preferred this duet to be kept only for themselves, like their little song, only for Evan and him.

Michel decided to exit on the last measure of the penultimate pentagram. He hit the last note mightful, and let out a silent deep breath.

Evan played the two other measures missing on the last pentagram in reverse.

But, suddenly…

A series of really high notes filled the aviary. It was heartbreaking and made Michel's heart shrink, his rare teal eyes began tearing up, a smile overflowing with deep pride drawn across his cherubic face.

Evan was portraying Patroclus' death and the last love words that crossed his mind before his last breath. His deep, unconditional, everlasting love for Achilles. All of those thoughts and feelings, perfectly conveyed in a piece for cello, how breathtaking…

He understood it now, as clear as day. Michel was Achilles, and Evan was Patroclus…

Evan made his last exit and stopped playing with this. A wave of birds shrieking and flapping their wings served as an audience's clapping and acclaim.

The redhead let out an overwhelmed sigh and adjusted the bowtie on his shirt's collar, loosening it a bit as he felt a bit hot.

It was indeed hot inside of the aviary, it seemed as if the summer were silently announcing its soon and imminent arrival. Evan was getting used to the idea that summers in Avevia were certainly abrasive (although not liking it a single bit, as expected).

"It seems your feathery friends liked it, uh?" He said, suppressing a goofy laugh, but he didn't have an immediate response from his friend, as he was used to. "Michel?"

Evan turned his glance around to fixate it on Michel: he was smiling bitterly, and his face was damp with tears that kept sliding down his well-defined yet reddened cheeks.

"Michel! W-What's wrong?" He questioned, speechless and astonished by seeing Michel in such a state.

Michel simply sniffed and widened his smile, his teal eyes shone in what seemed longing and mysterious secrecy…

Was he hiding something in first place…?

"I'm so proud of you, Evie." He uttered, his voice was cracking more and more each time. "I hope you never give up on your dream of becoming a renowned cellist… You are truly talented."

Evan's eyes opened wide as his cheeks turned beet red.

"W-Why are you crying? I'm really sorry if I did something… Oh, God..." He looked away, not being able to feel something else than embarrassment.

Had he just made Michel cry? Had he always had the power of making people cry by playing the cello…? He was completely embarrassed, but maybe a bit astounded and marveled by this new feat that he had just achieved.

Michel sniffed and wiped his tears away with his thumb.

"Hey, I'm sorry I made you cry… It wasn't really my intention, I promise…" Evan said as he left the bow aside and placed the cello on its metal base.

The redhead walked up to the piano's seat, sitting next to his childhood friend. He placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

"Don't cry, please. Your birds are happy and all, see?" He pointed out at the feathery beings with a shy smile.

The birds were chirping and tilting their puffy heads as if they were watching and admiring a loving scene in a dramatic comedy movie.

Michel let out a bitter chuckle as he looked away.

"My birds are my closest friends, you know… They know a secret that nobody else knows." The prince confessed with a heavy, husky voice tone.

Evan frowned deeply in confusion. How can a flock of birds keep a secret in first place? What was this secret that only his non-sentient animals were allowed to know?

Evan stared at the birds. They were looking at him with a certain curiosity in their shiny dark eyes and tilting their colorful feathery heads, like telling him, in a way: "go ahead, ask him".

He looked down at the floor as he drew his hand away from his friend's shoulder. He bit his lip, and, hesitantly, he dared to utter:

"Can… Can I know the secret that they keep, too?"

Michel let out another bitter snort, as if he had already known that Evan was going to ask that question.

The prince sighed in distress, then, he fixated his glance on the trunk of one of the trees in the aviary, not really staring at it, but staring at the void of the place, actually.

"Do you promise to keep it to yourself? To not tell anyone? Not even Belle?" He asked, his voice denoted that such a secret held serious perils, and he trusted him enough to reveal it.

Evan felt special with this… Of course he'd be able to keep it, he'd never do anything to harm his childhood best friend, at least not on purpose.

"I promise to, Michel, I swear it… for you, the person I treasure the most." He raised his gaze to look at him, and nothing else than true intentions and deep adoration feelings could be perceived in his shiny eyes.

Michel smiled in satisfaction and turned his gaze around, so he could face his friend.

With nervous, trembling lips, he confessed the secret that only his birds knew so far, and had been keeping well throughout all of this time.

"I… Don't like being a prince, not only because it's a useless position in my opinion. But also because… It doesn't allow me to be… Just who I am, you know…" He stuttered as he tried to futilely smile his fears and shame away, but there was no use… he was about to expose himself, to show what he really was to his first love.

"And… who are you, then?" Evan inquired, concern seized his citrine eyes which were still shining, this time in worry.

What was he trying to say with all of this…?

Michel snorted one more time.

He wanted to be honest, he was going to be honest to someone, for once in his life… And he was glad that someone was no other than Evan, his first love, his first best friend ever made, his soulmate, his everything, in other words… No one else than Evan.

"I'm just me, Michel Beaumont. A twenty-four-year-old guy. Who likes reading all types of history but also enjoys watching the trendiest series and sappy romantic comedies. Who can eat an entire pineapple pizza even when most people think it's awful. Who worries too much about living the present but worries too little about how it can impact the future. Who…"

He made a pause there, and silence and anticipation flooded the aviary. It was time to say it, at last.

"Who likes men just as much as he should like women…"