Disclaimer: Well, I don't own them, that's for sure. Otherwise, the story line would be a helluva lot different.. *cackle*

*~Soul Food~*

Warnings?-- Shonen-ai, mostly rated for later chapters. This is unedited, b/c all by betas decided to disappear when I wanted to post this ~_~;

A/n--Yes, as you might have not figured out, this is KaisternxKharl. And if you haven't guessed, I am one of the only two people who support KaisternxKharl. The other is sparkle hunter here ( on FF.net ) and also commonly known as Anonymous. Go read her stories as well, if you feel even slightly interested ( or just curious ) in the pairing. (I helped w/ some of the ideas in them! ^^;)

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Kaistern moaned as he rolled over in bed, unable to sleep. Nagging, nagging… there was a nagging feeling in the back of his head, making it quite impossible for him to sleep. Toss and turn as he might, it was hopeless. He had obviously forgotten something important ... but what was it?

Getting out of bed, he stalked over to the mirror on the opposite side of the room, staring at his reflection which of course promptly stared back at him.

"What did I forget?"

Try as he might, the Blue Dragon Officer just couldn't get his brain to cough up the much wanted answer. He sighed, running his hand through his slightly messy hair as he wracked his mind for possible motives.

Well, he would always remember in the morning, that's just how it was for him. A good nights sleep would always do him some good….and considering it was around three in the morning, he didn't really expect himself to remember anything anyway.

Turning back to the bed, he was just about to go back under the silken covers when he caught sight of the freshly folded white sheets, placed neatly on a chair in a obscure corner of his room.

"SHIT! Kharl!" jumping off the bed, he quickly pulled some pants over his sleeping shorts and darted out the door, not caring to close the door after him, eat something, or even leave a note for that matter.

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Lykoleon poked at his eggs with his fork, fidgeting in his seat relentlessly. Even on such a nice day, with the birds chirping and the sun shining he could not relax. Perhaps it was the screaming, spazzing, white dragon officer next to him, yelling about some obscure thing? Maybe. He never could figure out Alfeegi completely anyway.

"Lykoleon! Are you even listening to me?"

"Hmm?" Its not that the Lord was being rude, on the contrary, he didn't mind Alfeegi at all. He just got so used to him stressing out over the simplest things that…well, you just learn to tune things out.

Clearing his throat, the aqua-haired officer continued, this time making sure he had the Dragon Lords full attention.

" Kaistern is missing"

" ….Wah?" The blonde dropped his fork, narrowly having breakfast miss his face when it came splattering back from the force of the previously mentioned utensil dropping. 'Damn Newtons Law….' mildly came to mind.

"From what I was able to gather, he was seen sprinting out of the castle in nothing but jeans and a pair of shoes around three forty A.M. this morning….he was muttering something about forgetting something."

Lykoleon released his breath that he didn't know he was holding in the first place, relaxing a bit. "Oh…I thought he was abducted or something, from the way you were going on about it…"

Alfeegi's eye twitched, making sure not to strangle the Lord of the Lands…he was kind of important after all. "But, haven't you heard the rumors?"

Lykoleon blinked, inquiring more information as his eyes showed the slightest hint of question.

"…..Rumors?"

The white dragon office sighed, handing a newspaper to the dragon lord. The headlines, Lykoleon discovered, were very interesting indeed. Well, definitely something to catch anyone's attention, that was for sure.

They were in bold, italicized, underlined print, taking up most of the header of the first page. But what it wasn't the fancy typing or big words that caused the Dragon lord to almost lose his just eaten breakfast, not at all. It was the full formed sentence, just a few words. Simple, but unmistakably shocking.

"Blue Dragon Officer and Renkin wizard, rumored to be seeing each other! Will this Break the bonds of war between Dragons and Demons?"

Alfeegi continued as the Lord gaped at the paper, still trying to register this newly received information. "Usually I would just dismiss this as the humans getting bored and making up stories to entertain themselves, but now I'm starting to wonder. Well, it might not be Kharl, but Kaistern must have some kind of relationship started. I mean, for a while now he has been acting…well, not normal, for lack of better words."

Lykoleon continued to stare fish-eyed at the paper, now unblinking.

"Like his disappearing acts lately. Now, I know he has always been one to wander, but its just ridiculous. He'll disappear for a week or so, without telling any of us mind you, and coming back exhausted."

The dragon lord slowly came out of his shock, his mind pulling itself out of the fog. " What would cause anyone to think he was going out with Kharl though? I mean, talk about you more that average nut-case…not to mention he's up there on the 'formidable' charts along with Nadil… "

" He's been taking a lot of ships to Arinas."

"Arinas?"

"Yes. Not to mention its odd to see him looking longingly at white bed sheets."

Lykoleon almost laughed at the mental image of that, but decided against it. "What should we do?"

Startling them both, they were interrupted by Ruwalk standing in the door way. "You should start by not making any assumptions." Noticing the looks he was getting, he decided he should explain himself. "I heard it all -- you should really close doors if you want to speak privately."

Blushing in shame, Lykoleon spoke up for both of them. " Yes…your right. We shouldn't make assumptions. Besides, why on earth would Kaistern be seeing Kharl? We're insane for even thinking that."

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Kaistern cast a somber eye at the door before him, his hand paused attentively above the large brass door-knocker as if in question. He was torn and tattered, beat and worn from the long trip he had endured, might he add, in record time.

But not in time.

Yes, he was quite late for something he really shouldn't have been later for, and knew he was going to get hell for it one way or another.

Kaistern might have been well known for letting himself wander around from place to place, but very few people ever realized that not only did he physically wander around like some Child with ADD but mentally tended to wander quite a bit as well.

Deciding he might go for the "I was going to surprise you!" method, he casually threw his idea of knocking aside and ambled in, just to trip over the other human of the household; Garfakcy.

All he did was take one step in the door, and he was already tripping over him.

Again.

As Gravity continued to take its course --which wasn't always expected in the alchemist's household-- Kaistern's continually wandering mind paused to speculate upon the on goings of 'now.'

It seemed that whenever he was anywhere near the shorter human, he seemed to be incessantly tripping over him. It didn't matter where or when it was, it just happened. From getting a snack in the cellar to going to the shower, the multicolor haired boy was there, under his feet. Maybe it was that he never looked down when he was walking? Perhaps…. But it had gotten so ridiculous that it was to that point that he had paranoid the poor boy into believing that Kaistern was "following him around and kicking him."-- in his own words.

But, soon enough the cold, ( perfectly kept, might he add ) stone-tiled floor had done its good deed for that day by bringing the taller man back to his senses. And oh, did it do a good job.

"….Itai…."

A apathetic Garfakcy stared at him from his spot on the floor, as a sneer creeped its way onto his facial features.

"Serves you right"

Kaistern pulled himself up onto his knees finding that the floor was just fin, seating himself more comfortably as he turned his attention the person before him.

"Well, I see you've at least found a way to scramble out from under me…."

"No thanks to you."

The awkward, silent staring contest continued, unblinking as far as the paintings and statues were concerned. Usually one would say "as far as that dust was concerned" but as long as the slightly obsessive-compulsive housekeeper/servant/homicidal terrorist was about, dust would cease to be.

"Have…you seen…Kharl?"

A small but slender finger pointed toward the west wing of the elaborate hall, while his gaze stayed fixated on the taller man's eyes in hoping to bring about some sort of discomfort.

"West lab, the one on the right"

Happy for an excuse to scramble away from the unwavering eyes, he got up quickly and started a rushed gait toward the said Laboratory.

"Er, thanks.."

Garfakcy replied to the gratitude by picking up his mop and resuming his interrupted cleaning, as if nothing had even happened.

Kaistern slunk into a quiet stroll as he further distanced himself from the entrance.

'He scares me sometimes….'

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; Right…er, it will get better, I promise ( sweatdrop ) yeah ^^;; I have a tendency to get lazy, so you might have to bug me for updates, if worse comes to worse Oo;

Next time: Kaistern, Kharl, a newspaper, a voodoo doll, and some frantic insanity as truths are revealed at the dragon castle.

~*~R&R, onegai! ~*~