Chasing the metaphysical express.
Inspired by the 31 Days theme for September 27, 2005.
Rei was always looking at something larger than him, something that loomed past his shoulders and was invisible to all but him, past the boundaries of a sky so large that it broke the soul of whoever stared at it for too long, and Rei stared at it plenty. Even when they made love and even in those sacred crests where they came together and there really wasn't a need for words, his eyes were distant.
"…What are you looking for up there?"
"Eh?"
Jack propped himself up on one elbow and smiled down at Rei, reaching forward to tweak the pale-skinned boy's nose. They were naked on his bed as per their usual practice on Sunday mornings. The slow turn of the ceiling fan above combated the oppressive heat of a summer on Fairy.
"You're always looking off somewhere," the man murmured as he closed in for a kiss. "What are you searching for?"
"Mm. I wonder."
Rei would smile and let Jack kiss him, and then the look in his eyes would go dark and sad. This time Jack failed to notice it, and soon forgot their conversation as lust got the better of him, and he climbed on top of the young pilot for another round.
It was only in the years to follow after the sky had swallowed Rei whole did he remember asking about it at all.