"What time is it?"
She stopped her ramblings abruptly, letting the silence sit for only a second before sucking in air for another reply. "It's 4:00. As I was saying..."
He sighed deeply, her hardly noticing as he did so. The darkness had been leaving him strangely empty, but he had enjoyed the silence and the laying for about six hours now. There was no purpose to getting up, since neither hunger nor persons had bothered him, except for the recent phone call. Even the darkness couldn't conquer his mind though, and he'd lacked sleep for a week. The last time he could actually sleep was when he fell asleep in the meadow... but that was never going to happen again.
The dream was something only created in a mind of a madman, and he supposed that, in that case, it fit him very well. There was a glowing, lava purgatory in which he sat in the middle, sitting upon what seemed like a cold mirror of ice. He never questioned why it hadn't melted and plunged him into the depths of the hell that lie beneath, or the hell he supposed waited there for him. Looking down in the dream was probably the worse, and always the point at which he would awaken. There, in that mirror of ice, was a pasty, gray-skinned being, hollow sockets at the placement of the eyes.
"And the eyes are the windows of the soul, something I must not have."
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
She continued.
He could have very well hung up the phone, leaving her there talking to only herself, and it would have mimicked all of their conversations for the past 3 months. The conversations became more and more tedious for him, and he considered just changing his phone number in some attempt to get away. Sadly enough, if I did that, she'd be more frequent with visiting.
There was a faint knocking on the wall, a constant plunk, plunk, plunk, instantly sending the young man into a standing position. He hung up immediately, not even warning the girl on the other end that their one-sided conversation was now officially over. After the phone was decently placed on it's mate, the young man charged for the door, opening it quickly. "You!" he shouted rather indifferently.
"Hello! Mommy's allowed me to play!"
"Really?" he seemed uninterested, but still stood in the doorway.
"Will you play, Heiji?"
"I always do."
The little child, probably no older than five, ran full speed back down the hallway, avoiding crashing into the young man by a foot. "We can play with the Gundams today!"
He almost wanted to laugh, how they had commercialized their whole endeavor, yet still forgotten those heroes that they had so long ago. Instead, a sad attempt at a sigh escaped his lips as he shook his head slowly. "I don't like Gundams."
The little boy made a whine. "Fine, we'll play with the blocks instead..."
"Fine."
The boy ran off, making a small racket around the corner. He emerged pulling along a wooden cart full to the brim with what seemed to be building blocks. They sat in the middle of the hallway floor, ignoring the many dust bunnies that immediately attacked their clothing. "You don't mind playing, Heiji, do you?" his voice was high, afraid of the answer.
"Not at all."
"Good!" The blocks fell like a flood across the floor as the young boy dumped them out. His looked at the young man expectantly, his eyes wide and bright.
"Your eyes remind me of some one's," the young man murmured quietly.
"You always say that!" The little boy tugged at one eyelid, rubbing it slowly.
"I know." Another sigh escaped his lips.
"What's the person's name, Heiji?"
The young man's ears perked. "Why do you ask?"
"Just wanna know."
"His name was Trowa."
The little boy blinked. "I know a Trowa!"
A frown spread easily across the young man's face. "It's not the same Trowa."
"Why not?" The boy looked perplexed.
The young man seemed to ponder it a moment, before replying. His brow furrowed a little, making him look rather brooding. "He's dead."
"Oh," the little boy moved his attention to the blocks. "Well, my Trowa's not dead."
A call came from the corner, only hitting the little boy's ears.
"That your mom?"
"It is!" The little boy immediately struck up, running for the hallway.
"James!" He called to the little boy, getting his attention. "I'll bring the blocks by later."
"Thank you, Heiji!"
--
"Heiji!"
Heiji stopped short, taking two steps backwards out of his doorway. He stared blankly at the little boy standing in the hallway.
"Come out with me!"
He raised an eyebrow, looking the child up and down for a moment. "Not today, James."
"Please?" The look of complete and utter innocent crossed the tiny boy's face, his features of guilt being intensified a million times.
The young man wasn't susceptible to the disease of pity, but he lacked the willpower to break the poor child's heart; as if he cared about that anyway. "Where to?"
"Just around the block! Momma said I couldn't go by myself."
"Your mother doesn't know me, won't she be a little annoyed by a stranger, James?" Maybe that would be his excuse, not having the mother want him to go with the child.
"Poppa said I could go with you."
He stared at the child, slightly bewildered. "Your father doesn't know me either."
"He's heard me talk about you, Heiji, silly."
Lenient parents. "Lets go, then."
The little boy ran into his this time, clutching onto his leg for a moment. "Thank you, Heiji!"
His eyes widened for a moment, his jaw dropping. "...you're welcome..."
James grabbed his hand tightly, swinging their connected hands together. Heiji hit the elevator button and awaited its opening, feeling his hand being involuntarily swung by the tiny boy. The ding awoke the little boy's spunk, allowing him to pull the taller, more muscular young man straight into the elevator. "Only for a little, though, James."
The door closed on the two of them, confining them in the tiny box that the apartment building had labeled as an elevator. Heiji felt slightly uncomfortable, the space almost as tight as the feeling about his throat. "Is that lady coming to visit today?" He looked down at the blacked-haired mop that was attached to the boy, slowing see his face revealed as he looked up anxiously.
"Lady?"
"You know, the pretty one. The one that comes to visit you a lot."
"When do you see her?"
"All the time. She comes to see you a lot."
"Yes, but not today." He let out a rather large sigh. "I already saw her today."
"Heiji, is she your wife?"
The young man actually expelled a laugh, making the little one look confused. "Of course not."
"She seems like it."
"Well, she's not. Don't get those dumb ideas in your head." The little child's smile faded a little, and Heiji felt a pain constrict in his chest. Damn, I shouldn't have been the tiniest bit cruel to him.
"I'm sorry, Heiji, don't be angry, please?"
Heiji used his other hand, sending the mop of hair array with it. "I'm not, doing worry."
"Good!" The elevator lunged one last time, jerking the two of them forward the slightest bit. The door opened to another blank, green hallway, a twin to the one upstairs. They walked down the mimicking hallway and out to the street, busily working with people. It was like one big creature, people of all sorts making a long string down each sidewalk, but then again, to Heiji, they all looked the same.
"It's busy today."
"Momma says there's some kind of parade today. My uncle's in it."
"Really?" Heiji didn't seem to interested, but James knew it meant that he'd like to hear the story about it, no matter how unenthused he seemed.
"Yes! Momma would be in it, too, but my baby sister's in her tummy, so she can't risk anything she says. I wouldn't mind, I don't want a baby sister anyway. My uncle says it'll be nice to have another little baby. He says he likes them, but won't have any of his own..."
The little boy went on, chattering up a storm not unlike the one he heard over the phone every day. He was appreciating the discussion, finding the boy pleasant to listen to. The people thinned out slightly as they turned the corner, getting away from the planned parade root. Heiji realized the child had stopped talking, looking up at him with wide eyes and an even wider smile.
"Are you going to see the parade today, James?"
"Of course!"
Heiji tried his best to smile for him. "Hopefully, it will be nice for you. Will your uncle be stopping by later?" Funny how pleasant you are with the boy. You're normally so cold.
"Yes! Would you like to meet him, Heiji? I'm sure Momma and Poppa would want to! You're so lonely too, the only person who comes by is that lady."
He sighed. "I know. No one else knows where I am."
"Where's your Momma and Poppa?"
He looked down at the little boy, his innocent expression. He'd have no idea if I told him they were dead. He'd understand just as much as he did when I told him Trowa was dead. "I don't know."
James looked perplexed. "Did you lose them?"
Heiji let a small smile slip through. "Yes. Yes, James, I did."
He had hardly noticed the long duration of their trip, the streets that they had made their way down, and the circle that they are pretty much filled in. Heiji could see the steps leading in their apartment complex, and was once again struggling through the people that were crowding the usually empty street. "Damn parade," he muttered.
"Huh?"
"Nothing, James. Time to go in, isn't it?"
"Yeah! Momma will be waiting, and probably Uncle, too."
"And I'll be meeting them?"
"You have to." James nodded thoroughly, looking as if he were completely sure.
Heiji kept silent as they walked back into the elevator and waited for it to slowly chug its way up to their floor. It finally opened. James relaxed his hand, allowing Heiji's long imprisoned hand a breath of fresh air. He toddled off down the hallway, his little feet making soft thuds had they hit the old wooden floor. Heiji waited to see the little body move around the cover before adventuring back to his door, and into his own apartment.
The message light blinked on his answering machine, a small lighthouse out in the darkness of the room. He kept it pitch black for almost most of the day, except for midday, where the sun found its way to shine through no matter what. He found himself yearning to clean up, supposedly wanting to look nice for the new people venturing into his life. A man who hadn't slept in a week must not look handsome in the least... But why will I need to impress them? I don't want them taking away James.
He scoffed at himself for being sentiment like that about the young boy. After a while of internal arguing, he made his way to the shower, cleaning himself meticulously. He emerged a short fifteen minutes later, half dressed, toweling his hair harshly, throwing brown locks here and there in their normal unruly pattern. He dropped the towel around his neck and shoulders, taking a deep relaxing breath, acting as if he had actually found a moment of peace.
The phone rang sharply, as if to shatter any hope of relaxation for him. "Hello?"
"What happened before?"
"Nothing. Company."
"Oh! Was it Trowa?"
The young man thought for a moment, bewildered. "No, why?"
"He came by recently, asking where you were. I told him your new address. I hope you don't mind. He was rather surprised, actually. He said he'd been there a million times, but never ever saw you lurking the halls. I started telling him..."
Heiji listened as she babbled along again. Suddenly, the little thuds started echoing again, making him sigh, quickly slamming down the phone on it's receiver. "Screw," he muttered through clenched teeth.
"Heiji!" The little knocking came to the door, not displaying the true excitement of the boy on the other side. "Heiji, he's here!"
"Really?" Heiji raised his voice so it would echo to the young man as he walked towards the door. He felt a little ashamed for not being fully, dressed, but shrugged it off. It was just another man, it wasn't anything he wouldn't have seen already. He opened the door slowly, seeing the little boy anxiously bouncing up and down.
"Yeah! Stay right there!" James ran from view for a moment, talking quietly to some unseen figure in the hallway.
Heiji stood completely still in the doorframe.
James came back, his hand hugged tightly in another young man's.
"Hello-" Heiji gasped, quickly hiding it.
The other brunette young man widened his eyes, his mouth dropping a little. "Heero?"