:: First Snow ::
:: Chapter I ::
:: Author's Notes :: - The series is Star Ocean: Til the End of Time. The main couple is Albel/Fayt, sometimes known as FayBel. There are no warnings just yet, and the rating is only Teen so far. Starting off, Fayt is still only about 10 years old right now. Albel is soon to be 18 years old.
As little paws treaded silently the cold sidewalk, soft white snow fell from above.
'What is this..?' A mewl came out as the kitten thought this.
A mistaken step on the ice ahead, he slid to the ground with a yelp. A sigh. 'Should I even get up?'
He lay there, slowly falling asleep as snow coated his blue fur in white, blood flowing from an unknown wound and staining the ground red. He felt dizzy, as if the ground had been moving. He forgot why he was out there, where he had been previously, and even where he was supposed to be going. What had happened to bring him here..? Why did it seem this place was empty?
Footsteps approached, but the kitten did not move. He lie motionless on the ground, even as the person came closer, footsteps becoming louder. The sound stopped, a pair of feet before his face.
"Well..." A man's voice spoke, quiet but rough.
Hands reaching for the kitten, he fell asleep, eyelids closing in a flutter.
The man walked home in silence, blue kitten in his arms, forgetting what his errand had been in the first place.
Emerald green eyes opened, looking around a room that was unknown to the owner of said eyes. Blue, furry ears twitched at the sound of a man's voice. It came from another room, in this house that was new to him.
"Where am I..." The boy mumbled this to himself as he stood on unsteady legs, taking small steps until he was peering around a door frame, into a kitchen.
There was the source of the voice; It was a man with long, black, brown and blonde hair, pulled up into a ponytail that hung to his lower back. He was on the phone with someone, and he sounded quite tired.
"I know, but..." The man's voice trailed off as he spotted the boy watching him. "..I will talk to you later..."
The boy squirmed, halfway hiding behind the wall as the man stared at him. 'Alright...It's not just some normal animal...' The man was thinking then, sighing.
As the man drew nearer, the boy backed away from him, as if he was frightened a bit. The man reached out to him, with a set of claws made out of metal. The boy stared at it with wide eyes, falling back onto the couch. The man sighed once again, and stuck out his other, normal arm, instead. The boy tilted his head, opening his mouth but saying nothing.
"What's your name, boy?" The man came slightly closer, leaning over him. The blue cat ears lowered, and he mouthed a word silently.
"Are you going to tell me?" The man asked again, but not getting an answer, he sighed. "Well then...I guess not. My name is Albel."
The boy nodded, repeating the name in a quiet, hoarse voice. Albel blinked, frowning. 'Why did I even bring home a stray...' He grumbled something under his breath, heading upstairs without another look at the creature sitting on his couch.
A whimpering noise reached the ears of a sleeping Albel, causing him to turn a bit and mumble. Another whimper, and a tugging at his shirt sleeve made him open an eye.
"What?" He snapped at the blue haired boy, who let go in turn. "What do you want at..." Albel glanced at his clock. "..at 3 fucking am? Hm?"
The boy looked aside, lowering his ears some. Albel rolled his eyes, sighing loudly. 'Why do I even bother..' He lifted the covers a bit, only holding it long enough for the boy to get settled underneath them. Another tug on his sleeve. He only looked at the boy, not saying anything.
"..Fayt.."
That left Albel with a most curious look on his face. 'That must be his name...' Albel just nodded, and turned over to sleep.
"Al-bel!" No response. "Bel..!" Fayt whined again and again, never getting an answer.
A sudden sharp ringing, from the nearby alarm clock, scared Fayt into falling off the bed in a tangle. Several groans came from above, and Fayt peered over the edge of the bed to see Albel waking up in quite the bad mood. Scowl set on his face, he marched out of bed right past the neko boy, paying him no mind at all. Fayt waited for a moment, before wandering downstairs to poke around the living room. Sitting alone, he drifted off to somewhere in his mind, not knowing what he was seeing. He vaguely remembered being held by a leash and collar, but by who, he still did not know.
A blonde haired man flashed across his vision briefly, but the image did not stay, nor show a clear view of his face.
Fayt shook his head, rubbing his eyes and yawning slightly. He had barely slept last night, for he was too busy wondering what would happen to him now that he was in a stranger's house.
He wandered near the stairs, realizing that Albel had since went downstairs. He stopped when voices were heard, leaning down a bit to see from where they came. A lady with medium length blue hair was talking to Albel, in a firm tone of voice. However, the tone did not seem to matter, as Albel showed his lack of interest as she talked.
"...and besides.."
"Are you done yet?" Albel cut into her sentence, not allowing her to finish.
She just rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "What are you going to do about it?"
"You think I know? Bah." Albel huffed, looking away from her and noticing Fayt on the staircase. He pointed one metal claw at the neko, adressing the lady. "That's him, Maria.."
The lady, Maria as Albel called her, came up to Fayt slowly. She slowly smiled and reached out to him a bit. "Oh, he's so cute!"
Fayt lowered his ears, pulling away and glancing at her cautiously.
"Don't worry little guy.." Maria laughed slightly, touching one of the cat ears. "Where did you find him, Albel?" She directed her attention back to Albel, who had started putting his boots on.
"Sidewalk. Now let's go.." Albel opened the door, Maria leaving and Fayt trying to follow. "Not you." Albel stopped Fayt with a glare, leaving him in his spot at the end of the stairs.
After being alone in Albel's house for hours, Fayt had already found everything that could be called secret. The hidden area of sweets in the fridgerator and cabinets. The closet, which contained Albel's normal clothing, {if it could be deemed normal} which consisted of skirts, sashes and small tops. Fayt giggled. 'Albel wears funny clothes..'
2 Hours Later....
Albel came home with that same scowl on his face, looking around to a seemingly empty house. 'I wonder if he left..'
Albel's idea was thrown out right away when he walked into the kitchen. All the lights were off in the house, and the only one was coming from the open fridgerator door. Against the door was Fayt, sitting on the floor and eating a plate of cheesecake that he had found, while wearing one of Albel's tighter shirts. Fayt dropped the fork he was holding, and smiled sweetly up at Albel, only to drop his ears and whimper when he was glared at.
"Not a word, boy..."
Fayt nodded quickly, standing up and mewling at him. Albel paid the noise no mind, just picking up the plate and fork, taking it up to his bedroom. The boy followed along soon, finding Albel laying sideways and watching mice run along the floor, holding a piece of the cake near his mouth. When Fayt didn't receive a glare from him, he decided it would be alright to sit on the bed as well.
For some reason, Albel didn't seem so mad. He had a half-smile on his face, even though he looked a bit sadistic when smiling.
"Bel..?" Fayt mewled at him, poking his thigh gently.
Albel stared for a moment with the nickname he was just called, before he chuckled. The cat ears perked up at the deep noise of Albel's light laugh, and Fayt tilted his head. Albel cut another small piece of cheesecake with the fork, holding it out. Fayt smiled brightly, quickly taking the cake piece from the fork.
"According to Maria..." Albel sighed lightly. "..I have to keep you." Albel's smile grew slightly wider, watching the younger boy lick his lips and wave his tail happily.
'Cute..'
:: Author's Notes :: - Yes, Albel and Fayt are a bit OOC, especially Fayt. Note that Fayt is not an actual cat, he is a neko, which means his main form is the human one that has cat ears and a tail. Oh and one more thing, the name of this story was based on the song First Snow by Super Junior. You'll understand the title later on, I believe.