Waiting for Nothing

He pulled out his phone, not really sure what he was expecting to find.  He knew full well that it hadn't rung and that no one would be texting him any time soon. Maybe it was just habit.

He swiped across the screen and opened up the Facebook app on his home screen . . . again.  He scrolled through all both of the new entries in his news feed, checked for messages he knew wouldn't be there, and scanned the list of online friends.

Nope.  Still nothing.

He set his phone down, watched a couple minutes of TV, then picked up his phone and repeated the process.

Nope.  Still nothing.

He set his phone down, stood up, and took in a deep breath.

Then he closed his eyes.

Letting out the breath he was holding in, he whirled around and slammed his fist through the wall leaving a burning hole that let in a breeze from the outside world.  He turned around slowly, opening his glowing eyes and clenching both his fists even tighter.  Flames began to spread up his arms and across his chest as he stood there panting.

The other Archers had never seen Nash this angry before.  He had always had a bit of a temper, but his training-enforced self-control had always tempered it rather effectively.  The fact that the wall (not to mention the rest of the building or them) was still standing meant that he had made a ton of progress.  It was a definite improvement over the weapon of mass destructive they had been sent just a year earlier, but he was still terrifying.

"Why are we even considering this?"  His voice was booming and echoed with a distinctly unearthly quality.

"Look, Nash," Irene said calmly, stepping forward into the line of fire, "we all know what she . . . "

"No!  You have no idea," he roared.  "How could you possibly know?  You JUST met her!"

Irene raised her hands and walked slowly toward Nash.  "You're right.  We don't know her like you do."  A faint glow began to emanate from Irene's back, visible to all the other Archers except Nash.  "But we do know you, and we know how far you've come.  You don't want to do this."

Nash's head suddenly jerked forward and his palms opened.  Flames completely enveloped his body and began to burn brighter.  At the same moment, Irene leapt forward, pale blue fizzle-wings bursting from her glowing shoulder blades and pulling the two together in a tight embrace.  Nash felt his own flames burning him for the first time in his life.

The pain intensified, leaving him lighted-headed and dizzy.  He could vaguely hear Irene screaming, but the pain screaming in his brain was starting to drown everything else out.

Then he opened his eyes.

He stretched out his arms, trying to steady himself, but to no avail.  He succumbed to his only option and sat back down.

Headrush.  That's what he got for standing up too quickly . . . or at all.

He reached for his phone and flipped through Facebook again.

Nope.  Still nothing.