Title: Losing My Religion
Characters: Caine and Diana
Summary: "I still am unclear on your logic, Diana. How could you have drawn those conclusions from a song that's only a few minutes long?" A simple 20 Questions game leads to a not so subtle hint and a song disection.
Rating/Warning: K - There isn't anything bad in this one. It's just that peanut-butter-and-jelly-sandwich-you-just-found-under-your-bed-after-a-few-weeks kind of fluff.
Disclaimer: I do not own the GONE series, nor do I own the lyrics to 'Losing My Religion'. They belong to Michael Grant and R.E.M., respectively. I own nothin'. Not a thing.
Authors Note: Alrighty. Here we go. What my attempt to do in "G(oneshots)" is just probably what you think it is: a series of sometimes related (but sometimes not) oneshots about the characters of the FAYZ. I was going to put an introduction but I doubt anyone would read it, it would seem repetative, and I'm just too lazy to bother. I really don't know what else to put here. Have you ever gotten the feeling that these Author Notes are harder to write than the actual story? And I apologize for being such a rambler. Some people go on and on and on for no reason and I am on of those. Well, I hope you enjoy the first part in "G(oneshots)" and thank you for clicking on this story.
"Diana?"
"Yes, Fearless Leader?" was the snarky reply.
Caine grimaced. The two were sitting in the very expensively furnished guest living room of the infamous 'Todifer' mansion. He glanced around nervously. He didn't belong here. Never in his wildest fantasies had he imagined himself sitting on a several thousand dollar couch in the home of two famous actors. Next to Diana Ladris of all people. He shifted uncomfortably. Ever since the FAYZ started, he knew things would skyrocket out of proportion. He knew things would be weird, be different. But he'd never be able to guess his current predicament. And however like a dream it sounded—being trapped on a beautiful island with his love and food—Caine knew he was trapped in a nightmare.
"What's you're favorite color?"
The smart-alecky reply died on the Coates beauty's lips. "Um, what?" She turned to look at Caine. "Finally cracking under all the stress?" she smirked. "Of, you know, nothing other than leading our school to ruins?"
She's back, Caine thought, mostly with dismay but also a small shard of hope. Since he had pulled Diana out of the air and they watched Sanjit and his family fly away, the girl had been avoiding him like the plague. And now she was finally in the same room with him again. The things that please a megalomaniac…
"I want to know you better. After finding out what you almost did to me, I don't think I know you anymore. I'm not sure I want to know you now." Caine's voice was stiff and Diana almost looked away. But she couldn't. To look away would give Caine a small victory. So she held her own gaze against Caine's bottomless one.
"What's your favorite color?" he repeated, staring at her from the opposite side of the room. When he had entered the living room, he had sat quite close to the girl. The moment he sank into the plush couch, she was ten feet away, lounging on the matching piece. He yanked his baleful stare from Diana and stared pointedly on the blank TV.
She was silent for a moment. "Yellow."
Caine swiveled his head and stared at the girl with wide eyes. "Yellow?" he managed to choke out. Diana sniffed and nodded.
"Yeah, yellow. What's wrong with it? Not evil enough for you? Not dark enough?" Diana glared at him. "Not crazy enough?" She internally cursed herself for caring about what the egomaniac thought.
Caine smirked at her; he was very pleased on how the conversation had quickly fallen in his favor. "It was just…unexpected. Maybe hanging around Drake for so long made me think you'd say some gory color like misery purple or tear blue...or his favorite, blood red." He shuddered, not wanting to imagine that particular hue.
"Misery purple?" Diana rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Don't ask your next question if it's going to be stupid like that one."
"What's your favorite animal?" Caine said as quickly as possible so Diana wouldn't get the chance to interrupt him.
"Animal? Hmmm… Has to be something I can eat. A human? What other things can you eat?" Diana put an expression of mock thoughtfulness on her face. Caine stared flatly at her. "I don't know. A swan maybe?" Even though it was warm without air conditioning, she had a thick blanket resting across her lap.
Caine nodded. "Care to elaborate?"
"No."
"You sure?" he forced his dark eyes into hers. She tried to hold his stare but again the girl felt her cheeks burn slightly. Why she was embarrassed, Diana didn't know.
"New question please," Diana said in a hopefully toneless voice.
The telepath nodded and went quiet for a moment. "Were you grateful for when I saved your life? Either the time with Drake or this past one on the cliff."
Diana stood up so quickly the blanket tumbled off her lap and onto the floor. "I'm done with 20 questions. I need some air." She turned away from Caine and started to stalk away. An invisible force pulled her back onto the couch. She grunted as her body hit the seat hard. It didn't seem so plushy anymore. "Let me go!" she growled at him. Caine sighed and Diana felt the choking force pressed on her releasing.
"Answer my question," was all Caine said.
"Here's my question. Why won't you leave me alone?" She earned a fierce glare from the boy. Diana sighed dramatically. She was stuck. Again. Like so many of Caine's reckless plans, she was the one who had to pay for it. The girl tenderly touched her short hair and thought about what to say. "I'll answer that question, but then you have to let me go."
Caine didn't indicate that he heard her. Instead he just repeated his question again. "Are you glad I saved your life?"
The girl bit her lip. "Ye-es…" she said, drawing it out slowly and unsteadily. Then she realized what she was saying. Her eyes narrowed and shook her head at him. "Not the way you're thinking," she snarled at him. He looked taken back for a brief second before a cool expression masked his face. "If you didn't save me, I'd be sitting in some inner circle of hell right now. That's where I belong," she turned away, bitterness in her voice. She narrowed her eyes further into slits and hid her entire face from Caine. "I just want to prolong the inevitable. Maybe if I do the impossible and get you to feel any remorse, maybe my sentence will be lifted." The girl's shoulders sagged slightly. "I don't really know where I belong…" she murmured softly.
He almost wanted to say 'You Belong With Me' but somehow the Coates boy thought that would sound a bit too cheesy. And Caine never would be caught dead using some cliché line. Instead he just nodded.
"One more question and I'll let you go," he said softly. While Diana was looking away, the boy slipped to his feet and was standing only a foot or so away from the girl. Despite the softness in his voice, she still jumped.
She pointed angrily at him while glaring. "You said that was the last question!" She poked his chest roughly with her index finger.
"Did I?" A sheepish grin lit up the boy's gaunt face. Diana turned and tried to stomp away. She only got a foot before Caine's hand wrapped around her upper arm.
"Get off!" she snapped, ripping away his grip. The boy's hand fell slowly to his side and suddenly he looked exhausted.
"Fine," he muttered, sauntering back to the couch. He flopped himself on it and leaned back into the seat. Diana let out another huge sigh and rolled her eyes. She made a big production of walking back to the boy, loud groans and sighs at every step.
"Is our Fearless Leader upset to hear someone refuse him?" But despite her sarcastic words, the girl sat carefully by him. Still on the same seat but far enough so that their knees or any other skin wasn't touching. "One more question."
Caine looked over at her and again shock passed over his features. "My my, Diana. Are you being civil now?"
"Let's get this over with," she growled.
"Don't worry. It's not as 'intense' as that past one was. This one will be easier for you."
She scowled at him. "Just ask the freaking question!"
A large smirk spread across his face. "What's your favorite song?"
"Before or after the FAYZ started?"
"Is there a difference?" Caine tilted his head at her. He was expecting some pop song or something from that year for her answer. Even though Diana pretended to be heartless and emotionless, Caine knew she was still partly a love-sick girl. And girls loved music like that. He just begged in his heart it wasn't someone like that prepubescent kid, Justin Bieber.
"Yeah, there's a pretty big difference."
"Okay…" He glanced up at the high ceilings in the living room. "Since pre-FAYZ doesn't really matter now, after the FAYZ started."
"Losing My Religion," she answered automatically.
"What?" His reaction was similar to the yellow response. He was waiting for her to hesitate and say some horrible synthesized song. Some awful song he'd rather chew his own foot off than listen to.
"I said, Losing My Religion," she repeated crossly.
"By R.E.M.?" Caine asked, trying to get the facts straight. He was surprised by her answer. Of course he was familiar with the song—his 'father' was a big fan of the band from the 90's—but he just wasn't expecting it. It seemed a bit out of place for the teenage girl to be listening to a band that was created years before she was born—much less make that her favorite song.
"Yeah. You have a problem with that too?" Diana glared at him.
Caine shook his head. "No. I'm just curious on why you'd pick that song. The song really has no chorus or storyline to it." He personally had never gotten it and was now hoping she could shine a little light on it.
"Well," Diana shrugged. "I don't know. I like it. I've always felt like I can identify with. And it does too have a point to it!"
"You can identify with it…? Miss Ladris, are you losing your religion? I didn't know you worshiped a deity. I am unfamiliar with what the devil pays tribute to." Caine tilted his head with a smirk on his face.
"That's not what the song means, you idiot!" Caine's smirk froze and she continued. "Don't take the lyrics as someone literally losing their faith in God or whoever it is up there. The song is about losing your faith in somebody. Somebody you thought you knew before." Caine's face became cool and impassive.
"What do you mean?" he demanded, eyes betraying the slight emotion in his body.
The girl ran a hand through her short hair and a blank look slipped into her vision. "I don't know. I guess the way I see it is that you can be giving this person all the signs in the world…that you feel more than something for them…and they just go and ignore you. Or you really want something to happen and it just doesn't." The girl sighed dejectedly and slouched against the couch.
While Diana was slumped across the seat, Caine was perfectly rigid in posture.
"I still am unclear on your logic, Diana. How could you have drawn those conclusions from a song that's only a few minutes long?" Caine's voice was devoid of all emotion. The girl winced. It always went that way before the telepath would fly into one of his great rants or rages.
"Um, well, let's just say that I've been trying so hard for a while to let this guy know my opinions of him but not make them so…pre-teenish. It's not working. Y-I mean, this guy is unsympathetic about everything and cares more about himself than anyone else in the world. This guy thought my favorite color was misery purple! I tried to help him out, but everything I've tried has caused us to grow more distant. And now, I'm just starting to think that maybe it isn't meant to be. I don't even think he thinks I'm beautiful anymore," the girl sniffed sadly.
Caine raised an eyebrow at her speech. "But I believe this guy does know what your favorite color is. I believe he thinks it is yellow."
Diana rolled her eyes. "Knowing my favorite color isn't going to change everything, Caine!" she half shouted, exasperation clear in her voice.
"Wouldn't it help if this guy at least tried? It sounds like he is. I think I thought I saw him try." Caine said, pulling from one of the lines from the song. A cool smirk was fixed on his face.
Diana gave him a flat look. "This guy better try harder if he wants to make this more than just a dream."
Caine's face was only a foot from Diana's. While arguing they had, without thinking, scooted closer together. His deep eyes bore into the girl. "So what should this guy and you do then, Diana? Should they try harder or just slip away?"
Silence filled the rapidly shrinking gap between the two. Diana shifted slightly, feeling uncomfortably hot in the house. "I don't know. They'll have to see what happens. Oh no, I've said too much." She pulled away from his gaze and turned away. Suddenly the mood was broken. Staring at the blank TV, Diana was able to compose herself and forced the red from her face. Caine too seemed bored by the sudden turn of events. He picked at invisible snags on his shirt for a few minutes before talking again.
"So there's no greater being involved at all in your interpretation of this song?"
Diana's mouth twisted into a rueful smile. "I wouldn't exactly say no. This person in question thinks pretty high of himself. He's pretty incredible though, so I guess he's allowed to think that way." She turned back towards Caine, a snarky smirk on her face.
The boy grinned. "I assume you are talking about me then?"
"No, your brother."
"Sam?" Caine looked faintly amused.
Diana rolled her eyes at the boy. "No, your other hidden twin brother with superpowers. His name is Peter and he can shoot fire out his nose. You two should meet sometime; y'all would have a blast."
"Funny Diana," Caine said, feeling somewhat cross. He just wanted to hear her say what they both knew already. "No really. Who is he?"
"I told you already," Diana insisted stubbornly. "I like Sam."
"Something about my goodie two shoes brother doesn't scream 'a god on earth' to me. Don't tell me that it's Drake you've been pining over for."
Diana's eyes grew absurdly large and she shook her head frantically. "No, no, no!"
Caine found her reaction oddly funny. He laughed and Diana's cheeks burned again. "If you promise to leave me alone now, I'll tell you what the other three answers mean." Diana's words were taunting and they hooked Caine as effectively as the Gaiaphage ever had. "Maybe you can let the other guy know about those answers—they could really help him out later on."
"Deal," Caine said with eyes wide with a malicious glee.
Diana took a deep breath and pushed herself as far away from the smug boy as possible. "Yellow has been my favorite color ever since you showed me that V-neck sweater before we invaded Perdido Beach. I thought it would make you look like a girl and well, you know… Not batting for the same team. And then…where would we be then?" Caine's cheeks tinged slightly red at this. Drake had something along the same lines—just not as censored. "But then when the sweater did everything but that, I realized that yellow was my favorite color. Swans are very beautiful—"
"Is it just me or am I sensing you have problems with your appearance and modesty? Are you feeling inadequate to those around you? 'Cause Bug and I are the only ones here. Feeling inadequate to us means something is really wrong with you." Caine snickered. He always felt like he was in his niche either when he was controlling entire towns or analyzing someone's psychological problems. "You seemed distraught because he didn't think you were beautiful anymore. Just to let you know, I think you are very nice looking. Even with that piece of green in your teeth."
"Shut up, Soren! I wasn't finished yet." Diana crossed her arms at him. When she thought he wasn't looking, she scrubbed furiously at her teeth. He smirked and waved his hand for her to continue. From habit, the girl glanced around her, waiting to see DVDs erupt from the cabinet or something fly out of control. When nothing happened, she continued. "Also, when swans find their uh, partner, they'll stay with them forever." She made sure to avoid Caine's expressionless eyes. "And just to let you know, I still have a crush on your twin brother!" she added loudly. Both of them knew that was a lie though.
"The last question?"
Diana frowned. "Do I need to explain it? I said I was happy that you saved my life. I don't want to die. Staying here in a false paradise with you is better than where Drake is or where I should be. There! Happy?" She stood up quickly, patronizingly patted Caine on the head, and was halfway across the room so he couldn't pull her back.
Caine leaned back in his chair. It wasn't exactly an 'I love you' but it was enough from a cold witch like Diana. He smiled smugly. Some things could revel themselves in time while others he may never know. He was shocked with what he was able to pull out of her and quite frankly, it exhausted him.
"What was your favorite song before the FAYZ?" he called out after her.
"One Less Lonely Girl by Justin Bieber," she shouted back, disappearing around the corner. Caine laughed softly to himself.
"Ahh, of course." How could he have thought differently?
Thank you very much for reading. I hope the song went well with the story! Happy New Years Day!