Too Much Happiness
Prologue
Disclaimer: Do not own.
It was not a place for the faint of heart.
The aroma of sweet fruit and spice hangs in the air, swooning the senses. Here, it is night. The darkness is gentle; it coaxes you from the doorway, offering a place of refuge for the beaten, the lonely, and the broken to lick their wounds. Around you, there are dazzling lights. Songs. Laughter. Before you, soft chinks of glass peppered the air as magical potions are mixed, the colours capturing your eyes in a daze, the taste melting the strangled sob in your throat. You feel warm.
Here, names are not necessary. You can meet Dr. Watson, Ellery Queen, Sherlock Holmes - and perhaps, with a stroke of luck, Arsene Lupin himself. Conversations are light and cheerful. Even the meek are coaxed from their shells. There is much laughter - loud, sharp barks let loose in the open, high tittering stifled behind bashful hands, giggles in between the hiccups. It is night, but the playground is brimming with life. The boy leans over and whispers a secret in the girls' ears. She blushes. He teases her. She playfully pushes him away. The boy makes as if to leave. Stunned, she whines, tugging the boy back, threatening grief if he were to go. Bargaining. Pleading. Promising him prizes if the boy chooses to stay. His eyes crinkle with good humour. He knows the game of cat-and-mouse well: he tugs at the strings of her heart and, in turn, she shall tug open the strings of her purse.
He comforts and he teases. He loves and then he leaves. The glass is refilled again and again. The honeyed tonics numb him, but his smiles never falter. There is a quiet tinkling of bells, announcing the entrance of a new child on the playground. The Mother calls out for the boy. The girl weeps, dismayed that their play date is to be cut short. The boy hesitated. Slowly, he leans in toward the girl, brushing right past her waiting lips and drawing one red rose from behind her ear.
"Till next time, ojousan," the boy grins.
It was not a place for the young of heart. There was only one rule: look, but don't touch.
It held true for everything - flesh and hearts alike.
A/N: At the risk of spoiling the story, there is going to be a happy ending.
(... wait, what?)
Happy Reading~!