Cameron might have lost music, but he gained other gifts after the horrors he endured.
He was sitting by a bench. He had instructed Devon to build something from the wood in their backyard. Devon had never been much for arts and crafts, but it was something both had looked into.
As his husband worked, Cameron saw what could be described as an aura. Red and green, passion and creativity. It flickered every few seconds, and measuring time by it's smallest units was something Cameron had been doing for a while now. After everything they'd been through, every second mattered in ways too visceral to to talk about. Well, he could talk about it, but Devon would interpret it as dealing with mortality, and Cameron was quite done having those little talks. They never went anywhere.
"You're doing great, hon!" Cameron said.
"Thanks!"
They never quite discussed what Devon was making beyond the materials he'd been using. It was a surprise. An element of anticipation crawled into Cameron's awareness; if he was any younger, it would be painful waiting. But now it was simply a state of quasi-nirvana, a blessed state that he would definitely not be able to explain to Devon.
"All done" Devon said, sweat tinging his shirt.
He sat besides Cameron and the two kissed. After that Devon showed what he had made: a wooden duck with three holes on it's back.
"Looks lovely" Cameron said, pecking Devon on the cheek, "What is the meaning behind it."
"Leaving things behind" Devon said, "The holes are meant to be kinda like a flute, the duck is because of the damn lake."
"Nice. It will burn very well."
"Yeah."
The two got off the bench and walked towards a hole in the ground, full of coal and ashes. Devon put the duck right on top of a coaled bunch of branches, looking like a little phoenix. Cameron then picked his lighter and lit up up on fire. As it burned, it did so white-hot, both in physical light and in spiritual aura.
"I love you" Cameron said, hugging Devon from the side."
"Love you too" Devon said, kissing his husband's cheek.
They watched the wretched thing burn.
