Title: Insomniac dreams
Summary: Pick up the phone. Your night might just get a whole lot better.
Rating: Dancing on the borderline of K+ and T.
Pairing: Garland/Claude
Warning: Blatantly queer people and some naughty language.
Disclaimer: Beyblade and it's characters do not belong to me, I'm just borrowing them to amuse myself and the others.
Beta: The usual. –bows-
A/N: A little sisterfic to "Small things like that". I guess you can read this without reading the other, but personally I do think that reading both is the best choice.
I shall bore you no more than this. On with the story.
He hadn't slept decently for a week. Even now, after spending hours in bed, he had stayed almost painfully awake and aware of the surroundings. The ticking of the clock, the traffic noise floating from the distance, the sound of his own breathing... and Claude was almost certain that at least the latest one was not supposed to disturb you.
He might as well admit it. He wasn't going to get any sleep in the next few hours. After that, he would probably doze off to a couch or, worse yet, on the floor and wake up with a terrible back ache in the morning.
God damn family with the god damn tendency to suffer from the god damn insomnia.
Claude got up to his feet and left the bed to be able to look out from the window. He could honestly say that he hated nearly all the things in that sad excuse of a apartment, all except the view. When it was late and you opened the curtains of the dark room, outside was endless sea of lights. Neon glow mixed beautifully with the moonlight, giving the streets an irresistible look Claude had learned to love in the last few months.
The last few months were actually the whole time he had spent in the country. He and Miguel had taken part in a student exchange program and chosen the same city as their primary option. They had both been chosen to the program. Now they were supposed to spend the next four months there. Luckily, the language was familiar to them, and at least they were still on the same continent as before.
Claude really wished he could go outside. But since he was new in town, he thought that going alone could be a fatal mistake. He hadn't really managed to make any new friends yet, and Miguel had been awfully quiet in his own room for several hours. Claude suspected that he was probably asleep, like most of the normal people during that time, so it wouldn't be very nice to go tell him to get dressed and come outside to watch the stars. Besides, Miguel was usually in a bad mood after rough waking up. Claude might have ended up with getting loose items thrown at him.
Claude walked to his CD-player and pushed 'play'. Slowly, the energetic beat of techno filled the room. Of course, he had to keep the music quiet in order not to disturb the neighbors, but even silent music on the background made him feel a bit better. It also managed to bring back the memories from the last weekend...
He had been doing a DJ gig for money in a nearby club. Miguel had been there too, though completely off-duty; he seemed to be more interested about the girls than the music. Claude, on the other hand, focused on the music with all he got, and that's why he mostly didn't pay any special attention to people as a separate human beings, he just took notice of the whole group and its general mood. This time, however, a certain red mop of hair had suddenly caught his attention. It was the same guy who had nearly destroyed earth with the wormhole-thingy that one time. It was rather hard to ignore him after a stunt like that.
Also, Claude knew Brooklyn from the posters he had hidden in his closet. Not that he owned them because of the redhead, the guy just happened to be in some of them.
"Dance with me! And you will realize that it is not your heart that beats inside you... It's the music..."
The singer of that song had a lovely voice. Crowd had obviously liked it too, almost everyone were moving even more manically that before. Almost everyone had been dancing. Claude, personally in love with the music he was playing, had curiously paid a bit attention to those who were persistently keeping themselves away from the dance floor. It was then that he had spotted another familiar face, and almost ignored the whole DJ table just to be able to stare.
Garland. The subject of his daydreams, the same guy who had given a meaning to the word 'perfection'. The looks, the life, the blading; everything was so perfect. He was someone Claude could only dream of being. A sex god, to begin with. And the list went on and on. Claude had, in fact, been admiring Garland ever since he had seen him for the first time in television. He hadn't told anyone about it until about a month ago, when Mathilda had incidentally said that she thought that Garland was rather good-looking. After that, Claude had spent the next hour by telling Mathilda (Miguel and Aaron did their best to ignore him) just how wonderful Garland really was. Just as Claude was about to start explaining about Garland's hair, Miguel felt pity for the pink-haired girl and saved her from boredom by taking her out shopping.
Aaron, who had once befriended Crusher and still kept contact with him, had suggested that he could arrange Claude to meet up with this personal idol. Claude had strictly said no. The reason, as he explained, was that he really didn't want to seem like a fanboy in Garland's eyes. Never mind the fact that he admittedly was a fanboy.
After his DJ shift had been over, Claude had feverishly wondered whether he should go and talk to this manifestation of his dreams and desires. Luckily, he didn't have to think for too long. The hunk had come to talk to him. And oh, how they had talked... Claude had never been more excited during a conversation with someone, and still he had managed to enjoy every second of it. At the end of the evening, he had given Garland his cellphone number, telling him to call if he felt like it.
All Monday and Tuesday he had waited for that call. On Wednesday and Thursday, he just hoped to hear the cellphone ring, but had somewhat stopped believing that it ever would.
"If he doesn't call me by Friday, I'll forget him", he had promised on Tuesday evening. Miguel had looked at him, clearly sceptical about what he was hearing.
"Oh really? So you'll forget your Mr. Dream Guy, just like that?"
"If he doesn't call, then yes. He can't be Mr. Dream Guy if he doesn't call, can he now?" Claude had replied, clearly happy about this intellectual conception of his.
"Uh-huh. And you'll also throw out all the posters of Garland and BEGA-team you once collected, I'm sure?"
Claude had hesitated for a moment.
"But I need someone to kiss goodnight."
There had been a dramatic pause.
"... You kiss his posters?" Miguel had finally asked. He had snickered. Then he had started laughing. Then, he had been rolling on the floor, laughing like someone who had been given a nice, big doze of nitrous oxide
Claude had mumbled something about old habits dying hard.
"Kiss... his... pictures... for... goodnight!" Miguel had managed to pant between the bursts, tears of laughter glimmering in the corners of his eyes.
"Unless you want to start snogging with me every night, I suggest you zip it", Claude had snarled, blushed to match the colour of a beetroot. Miguel had quieted down relatively fast.
And now... it was Friday. Saturday morning, to be frank. Garland hadn't called him.
"I should have known, really. Silly me. To think that he'd actually care..." Claude muttered and slapped himself softly on the face.
He knew he should forget the guy. But his feelings usually didn't agree with what his sense suggested.
Claude admitted both that he wasn't going to get over Garland so easily and that he really needed to sleep. In his hour of desperation, he opened a book Aaron had bought him when he had suffered from sleeping difficulties the last time. Claude had never before dared to read any part of the book. It was sinisterly called "Night night for insomnia-monsters". As far as Aaron was to believe, it was a book for adults.
Claude shuddered and skipped right to the 'what to do?'-part.
1. Go to bed and get up at the same time each day.
How was that supposed to work if you were a student, as well as someone who had to work to keep up with the payments and get something to eat?
2. Keep the bedroom quiet when sleeping.
As if Claude could really control the noises coming through his window.
3. Exercise daily.
He walked to the school with Miguel, wasn't that enough?
4. Avoid caffeine.
Claude preferred water anyway, and seldom drank any coffee or tea. Some sodas he did like, but hadn't had any the current evening, so no help there.
5. Don't take sleeping pills.
He couldn't really afford to get any. One section easily fulfilled, it seemed.
6. Don't lie in bed awake for more than half an hour. Instead, get up, do some quiet activity, then return to bed when you are sleepy. Do this as many times in a night as you need.
Somehow, Claude didn't manage to see that any helpful at all.
7. Use your bed only for sleep and romance.
... Damn. Just as he had been about to forget Garland for a moment...
Claude realized that his cellphone had been silently ringing, possibly for quite a while. Normally he didn't get calls from his friends so late, and the number didn't seem familiar at all. He hoped that it wouldn't be one of those 'Yoouu are a famous perrson, aren't you?' –calls he sometimes received. It was even worse when the callers just panted.
Claude pressed answer-button and listened. No panting yet.
"Yeah?" he asked cautiously, ready to shut the phone if necessary.
"Claude? Hey, it's me, Garland. You gave me your number last week, at the party? I just thought to give you a call."
Claude turned slowly to look at the clock.
"At four a.m. in the morning?" he asked with a grin. There was a horrified silence at the other end.
"Oh, hell, I am so sorry, I didn't even think about checking the time before I called, I just –"
"Easy there! I wasn't sleeping at any rate. And it's really nice to hear from you. You have a lovely phone-voice, too. How's it been? Already got yourself another fanboy from another party, perhaps?"
Claude didn't take notice when the CD stopped spinning, he didn't hear the clock ticking anymore, his only focus was the light chitchat which very much reminded him of the last time the two of them had spoken. It felt almost as if there hadn't been a week's pause at all.
"This city has some freaky people going around. I mean, seriously. Someone tried to make out with me on the subway yesterday."
"Was she at least a good kisser?" Garland asked, sounding somewhat amused.
"Can't tell, I kinda slapped him before we really got started", Claude said evenly and walked to the window again.
"Sometimes people just need some affection. Maybe you should have tried to hug him?"
"And risk my ass to be groped? No thank you", he answered and looked outside. He wondered if Garland lived somewhere near.
"I've lived in this city all my life, and I can guarantee you that your friendly neighborhood kisser is a relatively harmless species. It's a lovely night, isn't it?"
Claude flinched and looked out on the street, half-expecting Garland to be there, talking on the cellphone and watching him. The street, however, seemed to be abandoned.
"Yeah... it is. The neon lights are calling for me. It's all rather... beautiful, in lack of a better word."
"You lived close to the centre, right? Are you tired?"
Claude wasn't sure where this was going, but he liked the sound of it so far.
"Not really. And I can't get sleep anyways, so I'm bound to stay up for some time."
"In that case, would you like to go out with me right now?"
Claude suspected that screaming 'Hell yeah!' wouldn't be very sophisticated.
"I mean out for a walk, uh, not meaning to pressure you or anyth –"
"Sure. I'd love to go out for a walk." He made sure his voice suggested that he had much less innocent things on his mind.
"Great. I know your address, I'll be there in a sec", Garland said hurriedly.
"I'll be waiting outside", Claude said and closed the phone. He stayed quiet for a while. Then he took a deep breath, squeaked and ran into his friend's room.
In the next morning, after Claude had managed to finally get up from his bed, Miguel yelled at him for disturbing his night's sleep because of some trivial information such as 'I'm going out!'. Claude just twiddled his piece of bread and ignored his friend. He had other, much more interesting things on his mind.
Whoaa. Claude is worse fangirl(boy) than I am.
Garland/Claude is absolutely one of my favorite random-pairings. I'd stick "MINE!"-sticker to it, but someone else beat me to it.
Why I like it, you ask? Ehh... LOOK, A DUCK WITH SUPERMAN'S CAPE! -runs away-
Reviews are appreciated, thank youuu.