And his voice is a familiar sound,
Nothing lasts forever...
But this is getting good now
He's so tall
And handsome as hell
He's so bad, but he does it so well
Gripping tightly to the small bag of groceries and ill gotten contraband, the fingers of my free hand stretched to reach and encircle themselves around the doorknob. But as I twisted the ensnared metal handle to open the door, nothing happened. A slight jiggle of the handle in irritation, and still...nothing. He had locked the door behind me. Again. A small puff of an agitated sigh pushed its way through my lips as fingers finally released the doorknob to curl themselves into a loose fist. The light, swift rap of my knuckles against the barricaded door made their unobtrusive announcement. This was followed by silence...and the softer sounds of life and movement from beyond the other side of the door, like the slowed shuffle of feet as they drew closer in response to this gentle summons.
"Who is it...?"
A helpless groan escaped me as my eyes dramatically rolled themselves to the heavens in complete exasperation to this muffled question of a demand before crashing to the ground below. Unbelievable. My third day with him...and he was still doing this to me. The man had issues. My kaleidoscope gaze finally lifted to the door before I discreetly muttered my response.
"It's me." I quietly hissed to the closed door in growing irritation, wondering for a moment if he truly had expected someone else...or if this had just become a sick, morbid form of him messing with me. "Now open up." The rough metallic sounds of chain scraping wood caused me to shake my head in slight dismay.
"Dork..." I whispered this breathy insult as I bit along my lip to stifle harsher words, my fingers lightly swiped at the strands of bright blue hair along my forehead to tuck the unruly tresses behind my ear and the safety of the hoodie I wore.
The meatier, more substantial click of the lock and the jerk of the door opening pulled my gaze to meet the almost hateful rich, dark chocolate brown stare of my prickly little saboten. I just couldn't help the small, tingling rush of exhilaration that ravaged my body at the way he smoldered and glowered at me through that shock of electric blue, and I wondered if he really understood exactly how sexually intoxicating he could unintentionally make himself. Looming his imposing, tall lanky figure over me for a moment, he silently stared down at me before stepping to the side and finally allowing me to enter his humble abode.
Moving through the threshold into the entryway of his apartment, I slipped off the dull, basic black flats from my feet I had paired with a plain t-shirt and dark skinny jeans for the outing before reentering his home. A habit of my culture, and one he clearly didn't share as his own feet were still adorned with thick, heavy black leather combat boots. I heard him shut the door behind me before swiveling to bare witness to the man once again barricading himself inside his own home.
"You know..." I murmured lightly, making my way to a small table to set down the fruits of my labor and spare change from the money he had entrusted to me. "You're either a bit compulsive with that...or really paranoid." This slight of hand comment over his questionable mental health earned me a stern glare. "You might want to look into that..." I responded to his sour expression as my lips lifted into a helpless smirk.
"Is that mine?" My disgruntled host quipped in a bitter, angry tone, having finally noticed my choice of attire, stalking past me with a scowl as I brushed off the hood of the zipup I had stolen from him.
Yesterday.
...my man was a little slow on the uptake...
"You sent me out to buy you food and conduct your shady dealings." I deadpanned in mock seriousness, not actually bothered in the least by having been roped into purchasing junk food and Marijuana for my prickly little saboten. "I felt an equally shady disguise was necessary for the mission." I finished with a shrug of indifference in the oversized hoodie towards his surly disposition.
As he aimlessly dug through the small plastic bag, sifting through its contents to retrieve the Pepsi I had bought for him and the energy drink I had bought for myself, I watched his upper lip curl in a subtle sneer of disdain towards my favorite beverage. And that was it, the last straw.
I could deal with his snarky, passive aggressive rudeness and perpetually foul mood. Honestly...that was still a pretty big turn on for me.
I could even deal with his overtly hostel 'toleration' of my unannounced presence.
But the way he insulted my energy drink with his judgmental gaze...
That...was unforgivable.
"I did you a freakin' favor." I glared at his back as he opened the Pepsi to take an intoxicatingly masculine swallow, completely ignoring me for the soda as I faltered in my anger towards him. "It wouldn't kill you to show a little appreciation, you know."
The lip of the soda slowly drifted away from his mouth as his head tilted even slower in my direction to finally acknowledge my frustration. The man regarded me silently for a moment, his expression one of blank stone before he deigned to utter a response to my complaint over the lack of his hospitality.
"You feel unappreciated?" He muttered this cold challenge in an even colder monotone as he peered at me through that deliciously dark, smoldering gaze of his. "There's the door." The man jutted a black-tipped finger towards the locked entrance of his apartment. "Dasvi-fuckin-daniya." And I felt myself reflexively flinch away infinitesimally from the harshness of his words as my kaleidoscope gaze fell to the floor with the soft tremble of my lips.
He was a mean, cruel little boy. And I think he suspected that he had just hurt me. But I didn't want to admit that to him now. To give him that satisfaction and power over me. Stifling down the tears threatening to give me away, I decided to turn the tables instead.
"Thanks, but I think I'll stay." My voice manifested a facade of confidence through all the smarmy sarcastic bitterness I could muster. "Being around you makes my life seem way less crappy." And I felt a strange sense of satisfaction laced with a twinge of remorse as I witnessed the almost imperceptible tell in the falter of his stoic expression indicating that I had actually managed to successfully strike a nerve.
The smallest fracture in his cold mask that I had made in retaliation for his cruelty.
But I couldn't deny the kernel of truth to this statement. With a level of reluctant chagrin, I had to admit that the days spent with Saboten the Cactus Man had actually allowed me to put some perspective and distance on my own life and never ending list of whoas. My cheating scumbag asshole of a dad had finally done the only honorable thing by my mother and separated himself from her, finalizing their divorce. And this one honorable act had completely crushed my mother. Any last reserves of strength she'd had were violently wiped away with one stroke of the pen and my father's signature. Nothing was the same after that. And as much as I loved her, living with my mom had become a waking nightmare. So when school had finally ended...and she had suggested that I go and spend the summer break with my aunt and her husband in America... Well... I had jumped at the offer, to say the least.
But upon my arrival it soon became clear that my aunt was far more preoccupied with the goings on of her overindulged, spoiled children than a visit from the only daughter of her beloved baby sister. I didn't really mind this neglect, though. Relief from the spotlight and ever-present sorrow of my mother was a blessing to me. But...it was only when my cousin had mentioned a rumor that my summer adventure had really begun.
It all started with a whisper that my beloved saboten was dwelling in this same illustrious city. A rumor that I had initially discredited due to the outlandish coincidence and its source. I mean, really...what were the odds, right? But, as it always did, morbid curiosity had gotten the best of me. And so I did some investigating. I honestly hadn't expected much...but to my utter surprise and ecstatic delight, the rumor had turned out to be true. Go figure...
And thus, the stalking had begun.
In my hot pursuit of 'the one that got away'...formerly known as 'the one I'd never actually had'...I finally managed to track him down. A feat, I assure you, that was far more difficult than it sounds. Having accomplished this task, it had been surprisingly easy to convince my aunt to allow me to spend a few days of my vacation with 'an old friend'. Like I said, she was far more preoccupied with her own kids. Something that I was now exceedingly grateful for as I stood in Saboten's home.
Now...getting him to actually agree to this little impromptu visit of mine had been an entirely different matter all together. Not that I had expected him to be happy to see me, or even let me spend some time with him, but the man had been exceedingly difficult to win over. And at first I didn't really understand why he had finally agreed to let me stay. I initially attributed this grand coup to my overwhelming, more than slightly obnoxious, persistence. But as I spent more time around my prickly little cactus, I began to wonder if it might have been just a little more than that.
Maybe he had been just a bit lonely and in need of some company...
Not that he would have ever dared to admit this, mind you. Least of all to me. Whatever the reason had been, the clear and certain terms of my brief stay were swiftly negotiated.
Firstly, I was in no way to even dare to think about considering the remote possibility of trying to have sex with him. At all. Ever. And...honestly...I had to admit that I was filled with a level of guilt ridden humiliation and remorse over the fact that I had left him with this desperate version of myself when we had first met. So I agreed...and silently vowed to be on my absolute best behavior in an attempt to earn a level of redemption.
Secondly, I was only allowed to stay until the return of his roommate, upon which I would have to vacate the premises. Immediately. As this allowed me several days alone with my saboten, I had no problems agreeing to this term.
So, with these terms settled and agreed upon, I was promptly recruited into running various errands that I came to suspect he would have made his roommate do instead had the man been there.
Maybe he just wanted me out of the house to be alone from time to time during my visit...
...maybe he really couldn't manage leaving the apartment himself...
I don't know. Didn't much care. I was happy if it meant I got to stay and be with him.
His Pepsi now almost half gone, and the both of us having no further use of words as weapons to hurl at each other in passing, I watched as long, thin fingers tipped in glossy black nail polish traded the dwindling drink in favor of snatching up my lighter from the table.
Figures he'd want to use mine instead of his own...because I knew he had one, even though he claimed he didn't smoke. Maybe I had needed to clarify when I had brought it up, and he simply meant that he didn't smoke cigarettes. The man was really blunt and literal that way unless you dug a little deeper. But that was like pulling teeth with this guy. Though I had to admit a level of appreciation over the man's lack of verbal communication. He never seemed to use more words than absolutely necessary in order to get his point across...most of the time in the absolute snarkiest way possible...or have his needs met. It was...functional. And direct. I liked that.
In a way I supposed that sometimes he reminded me a little of my best friend, Haru. Haru wasn't a big talker, either.
I watched those long slender fingers as he went about his daily business, completely oblivious to my presence now. I liked to think that this had more to do with his growing level of comfort around me...but he probably ignored everyone around him like this. Truth be told...I really didn't mind this from him all that much. I just wanted to be the piece of furniture in his weird life. As he fished out one of the pre-rolled Marijuana 'joints' he had made me go and get him, a devious, knowing little smile crept along my lips towards the inevitable impending show.
My own experimentation with pot had been...shall we say...less than ideal. The last time I had indulged, I ended up raiding Haru's fridge and binge eating everything in sight. He had thought it was absolutely hilarious. I...on the other hand...had gotten violently sick after that and threw up everything I had just finished consuming. Like I said...less than ideal. But my man here on the other hand...?
Saboten was a different animal all together.
The man had an ever growing and expanding list of idiosyncrasies. And I'd had just enough time with him so far to discover a few of his dark secrets. His almost compulsive fixation with locking the doors. His affinity for the balcony just beyond the sliding door of his living room. His even deeper affinity for vodka and coffee...the man practically lived off those two things alone. His innate ability to walk without actually picking up his feet. His overt disdain for pretty much every living soul on planet earth. His inability, or unwillingness, to keep a clean home...honestly, the man's bedroom alone was a walking bio-hazard that made most teenagers' rooms seem immaculate. But as Saboten put the joint to his lips and set the thing on fire, releasing the first satisfied screen of smoke, I found that this latest discovered habit of his was my absolute favorite.
Because apparently...unlike me and the onset of uncontrollable binge eating... smoking weed made my man develop a hella craving for stripping himself bare ass naked.
A/N: I had originally created this just for fun, as an idea that had struck me while in the car on my vacation. But...I think this might have a bit more noble cause and dedication. To my dear friend, MoonlitAtMidnight (formerly known as TohruKyoYuki), congratulations on the celebration of a very special anniversary. For those reading this story, please go and read "Slave To Your Mentality."
As for this story right here...this is a slightly hilarious, satirical continuation of my earlier story "Suicide Girl And Her Saboten" featuring MoonlitAtMidnight's original character, Kurumi, from their story "Mirror Mirror." They have once again graciously allowed me to borrow Kurumi for the continued torture of MY own original character, one Aden McCaffery. I hope you all enjoy!
Notable mention, the line "I just wanted to be the piece of furniture in his weird life" was adapted from the movie Juno.
With that, I hope you all enjoy this, and don't forget to review!