I do not own Star Ocean or any of the characters mentioned in this fic. LEMME ALONE!! O.o Anyway, how this was born when I should've been working on a different fic of mine-- I was talking to my friend Hopelessly Flawed, and I was going on about how much I love Faybel, and I said, "I wanna write a Faybel one-shot now," and she said something along the lines of, "It'll never get finished. -.-" I dun remember exactly what she said. X3 But then I was all like, "Oh yeah?? OH YEAH?!?! WELL I'LL SHOW YOU!!!" and I wrote this. 0.o Dun challenge meee, bad things result from it. X3 Like not doing my homework. o.o Anywayz, this is my first shonen-ai fic like, EVER, so if it sucks, plz dun hurt meee. ;.; Oh yeah, and this is basically set somewhere after Albel joins the party, and before anyone else does, cuz that's where I'm at in the game right now. X3 I have no idea what happens after that, so yeeaah... Wow, this was a pretty long ramble... I'm gonna shut up now, before I keep going...
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I'll Love You in the Dark
Fayte walked thoughtfully through the Runology library of Castle Aquaria. Picking up a random book on the history of runes, he quickly flipped through it, scanning a few pages here and there.
Symbology and Runology are so similar. It's almost like they're exactly the same thing, but there's something there that separates them, I just can't put my finger on what... Fayte thought to himself.
He found the book in his hand to actually be quite interesting, so he made his way over to one of the few tables in the library to read further into it. He walked through a row of bookshelves without even looking up from the History of Runes book, not thinking to watch for anything in his way. Unfortunately, there WAS something in his way--and he crashed right into it.
"Ahh!" he cried out as he fell backward onto the floor, the book flying from his hand. Looking up, Fayte saw what it was he had run into.
"Hello...maggot." Albel the Wicked didn't even bother to look at him, just kept scanning titles of books in the tall shelf. Fayte blinked, then brought himself to his feet while picking up the fallen book.
"Sorry about that, Albel. I guess I wasn't watching where I was going."
"Hn."
"...Well...I'm just gonna go read this book then." Fayte made his way out from between the two bookshelves and was about to walk over to a table when Albel spoke.
"I've never really looked into Runology, but it seems to be rather interesting..."
Fayte turned to look at him, unsure of why Albel suddenly wanted to have a conversation with him. "...Yeah, it is. But I really didn't think you were the type to like it, Albel."
"Some of it is beginning to intrigue me," Albel replied as Fayte walked back over to him. "Especially the combination of darkness runes and fire runes resulting in death..." Albel smirked widely, but then it faded. "Unfortunately, I've heard that only certain people can use Runology."
Fayte opened his mouth to continue the conversation when Cliff strode into the library and interrupted.
"Hey guys," the older man said to them, "we're gonna be spending the night at this castle, alright?"
"Fine with me," Fayte replied, while Albel said nothing. Cliff continued.
"Well, come with me, we have to figure out the room arrangement since we have more people than last time." With that, Cliff exited the library, and Fayte set his book down on a table and hurried to catch up with him. Albel strode silently behind him, seeming reluctant to join with the others.
Once they arrived at the hallway with their rooms in it, Fayte was somewhat surprised to see Nel, Maria, and Mirage together there.
"We're going to have to do some rearranging with where we sleep since we have more people now," Nel said in her usual calm, collective voice.
"Yeah, Cliff told us," Fayte responded as he stopped walking infront of them, Albel behind him. Cliff made his way over to Mirage.
"I can room with Mirage. We're buddies, and she doesn't mind me, right Mirage?"
"Just as long as you don't come near me while I'm in the bed, I'm fine with it," she replied.
Cliff laughed. "C'mon, do you really think I'd do that?"
"...I don't think I need to answer that..."
Cliff opened his mouth to protest, but Nel spoke before he could.
"Alright, then Maria and I will share a room," the redhead stated, "and that just leaves Fayte and Albel."
Fayte's eyes widened slightly. Share a room with Albel the Wicked? He didn't know how well that would turn out. Albel didn't seem to have a problem with it, though. At least, not one he showed outwardly. All he did was give a small "Hn" and continue to stand boredly against the wall.
"Okay, it's getting late," Maria spoke up. "We should all get to bed so we can be rested up for tomorrow."
"The little lady's right," said Cliff, who made his way into his room. "'Night, everybody."
Mirage followed him, and Nel and Maria went into their own room, all three saying their own versions of 'good night.' Once they were out of the hallway, Fayte opened the door to his and Albel's room. He set his sword by the wall, and Albel did the same.
"I'll take the bed by the wall," Fayte said, and began to make his way over to it when Albel pushed him out of the way, walked over to the bed next to the wall, and sat on it. "...or not..." Fayte murmured uncertainly, and sat on the second bed next to the first, which apparantly was now Albel's. Not even bothering to take his shoes off, Fayte lifted the covers and was about to snuggle into them and fall asleep when he noticed something was missing.
"Um...hey Albel," he said slowly, "...do you have an extra pillow? Mine's kinda...gone..."
Albel, who had already laid down on his bed on top of the covers, rolled his eyes. He grabbed his only pillow out from under his head and threw it at Fayte. The pillow smacked Fayte in his face lightly, but he caught it before it fell to the floor. "Er...thanks, Albel," he said, not really intending for Albel to give up his only pillow, but he took it anyway and placed it at the head of his bed. "Good night."
"Good night, fool," Albel replied. Fayte sighed inwardly, laid down under the covers, and turned out the light. Somewhat afraid of Albel suddenly jumping over and trying to murder him with his katana like a crazy man, Fayte managed to somehow fall asleep after a short while. An even shorter while later, he was awoken by a soft crack from somewhere in the room.
"...What was that...?" he asked, still half asleep. He could see Albel shrug through the darkness.
"Probably just the furniture settling," he replied monotonously, not even bothering to open his eyes.
Another crack sounded, this time louder, and Fayte cringed slightly. He never liked noises at night, plus he was just making himself paranoid about all the other horrible things that could be making the sounds. He pulled the covers further over his head.
"Are you scared, maggot?"
"No! I'm just a little...cold, that's all... Hey, why do you have to insult everybody in almost every sentence?"
"Hn."
"..."
Another loud crack.
"You're scared, admit it."
"...Okay, maybe a little..."
"Hehe."
Fayte glared at him. "Hey, don't laugh! I can't help it that I make myself paranoid..."
A very loud crack came from the dresser right next to Fayte, causing him to shriek. He scrambled out of his bed and crawled onto the other, not caring that Albel was there for the time being. Albel just blinked, eyes slightly widened and eyebrows raised.
"...?"
Fayte realized he was clutching Albel's arm and quickly let go. "Uh, sorry, I didn't mean to--"
Instead of being angry, though, Albel simply shook his head. "I don't want to hear you wimpering all night, so if you won't be such a frightened little worm if you're over here, then I don't mind."
"...Really? Thanks..."
"Yeah yeah, just don't kick me or something in your sleep...and go get that pillow." With that, Albel turned to face the wall, still laying on top of the covers. Fayte retrieved the pillow from the other bed and brought it back. Since Albel was already settled, Fayte just set the pillow next to him and then slipped under the covers where it was warmer, laid his head down on the pillow, and turned away from Albel. He couldn't explain why, but he felt safer with Albel, even though he'd been terrified of him in the dark not too long ago. He smiled softly to himself and closed his eyes to fall asleep.
xXxXxXxXxXx
Albel rested with his hands under his head as he stared up at the ceiling. Fayte was lying next to him facing the other way, snug in the covers and snoring lightly. The older man sighed. Why had he let Fayte sleep in his bed? He wasn't completely sure, but he didn't exactly regret it, either. There was something about the boy, something that drew Albel to him more than anyone else...
Albel quickly shook his head to discard those thoughts. He couldn't start thinking like that. He'd promised himself a long time ago that he would never let himself get close to anyone. The only thing that ever came out of that was pain, and Albel didn't want that, even though he already had pain he thought he'd never be able to get rid of. He glanced over at the sleeping bluenette, and Albel's eyes softened. Fayte seemed to be the only person who talked to him without hatred in his voice. Maybe he could make an exception to his promise...
Albel shook his head again, placing a hand over his eyes. This was no time to dwell on such things, and he needed to hurry and get to sleep before the sun rose. Suddenly noticing a chill in the room, Albel shivered. He sat up, lifted the covers, and slipped under them with Fayte. Happy that it was already warm due to Fayte's body-warmth, Albel laid back down onto the bed, this time sharing the lone pillow with Fayte and facing Fayte instead of the wall.
xXxXxXxXxXx
Fayte's eyes slowly blinked open, and he waited a moment for them to adjust to the dark. If it was still dark in the room, then that meant morning hadn't arrived yet. Coming to this conclusion, Fayte yawned heavily and rolled over, stifling a small gasp in surprise when he saw that Albel was now under the covers as well and was now facing toward him. He didn't look awake, though. Fayte looked at him a little longer, then settled back down in the bed, though he wasn't much comfortable being that close to Albel, especially in a bed. A slight warmth came to his cheeks, and Fayte knew he was blushing. But, why? He sleepily buried his face into the soft pillow, still very tired. Once the sudden warmth in his face was gone, he looked back over at Albel, eyes half closed from fatigue.
Why did everyone hate him so much? Yeah, he was a little...well, maybe more than a little...okay, a lot more than a little mean to everyone, but he must have his reasons, right? But, as hard as Fayte tried, he just couldn't figure the soldier out. Fayte didn't hate him, though. They'd had a few good conversations with hardly any insults from the older one, and Fayte actually liked talking to him. Albel was usually quiet, but once you got him going with a conversation, it was like he wasn't Albel the Wicked anymore, just plain Albel, the person. But why was he so hostile almost all the time...?
Fayte looked up at the other's face. Albel laid with his visage half hidden by the pillow and his black hair and blonde bangs, and his back and shoulders moved with the steady rhythm of his breathing. He looked so...peaceful. Fayte had never seen him look like that before. Maybe Albel just wasn't at peace during the day. Maybe he had a lot on his mind, or he was stressed, or...in pain. Fayte had read somewhere that emotional pain can cause someone to act the way Albel did frequently. Fayte didn't really like analyzing his friends like that, from things he'd read or heard, but he wanted to get to know the swordsman better. He smiled sleepily.
"I do always figure things out best late at night..." he said softly to no one in particular. His smile then faded into a frown. Albel, he thought to himself, are you in pain...? Like I've said before, I can't really relate to you and how you feel, but...I don't like it when my friends are hurting...I don't want you to be in pain...
He had no idea of why those thoughts ran through his head, but they did. Maybe he was still half-asleep, still in that state-of-mind between awake and dreaming, but he didn't feel uncomfortable being that close to Albel anymore. He scooted closer to Albel and rested with his forehead touching the swordsman's chest, being careful not to wake him up.
"I don't want you to be in pain..." Fayte murmured, no louder than a whisper, and almost instantly fell back into sleep.
xXxXxXxXxXx
"HEY YOU TWO, WAKE UP!!!" a voice on the other side of the door yelled, startling Fayte so much that he yelled in surprise and fell off the bed and onto the floor when he so abruptly sat up.
"We're gonna go on and eat breakfast, okay?" Cliff continued less loudly. "We'll wait up for ya. And don't take forever!" Footsteps were heard, meaning that Cliff had taken off down the hall of the castle.
Fayte sat on the floor trying to recover from his sudden awakening, bed sheets still wrapped around one of his legs and an expression of agitation upon his face. Albel, much less affected, calmly rose from the bed and retrieved his katana from the floor by the wall. Fayte looked over at him, the irritation slowly leaving his expression.
"Hey, how come that didn't scare you as much as it scared me?" he asked.
"Because I'm a soldier, fool. You get used to those kinds of things when you're a soldier."
"...Yeah, I guess I should've figured--"
"Why did you say what you said last night?" Albel asked unexpectedly, not looking at Fayte.
"W-wha?" Fayte stuttered. Was Albel really awake when he'd said that? "...Well...I dunno..." he muttered, rubbing his head. "I was still pretty tired when I had woken up, and a lot of random stuff was going through my head, y'know how you get when you're still half aslee--"
"Did you mean it?" Albel interrupted him again. "You don't want me to...be in pain?"
"...Well, I've read...or was it heard? Anyway, I've found out that people are sometimes more...truthful with their feelings and what they think when they're not even fully conscious of what they're doing..." Fayte laughed nervously. This was a pretty awkward moment for him, especially since Albel wasn't even looking at him.
Albel, however, didn't show any emotion over it at all. He just stood there for a moment longer, then headed for the door.
"Let's get breakfast before everyone leaves without us...not that I would mind much..."
Fayte untangled himself from the bed sheets and got his own sword from beside the wall. He caught up with Albel at the door, and was about to open it when Albel grabbed his arm, turned him, and kissed him deeply on the lips. Fayte's eyes widened, but he didn't fight back. As Albel kissed him, he soon closed his eyes and kissed back softly. It felt weird to him to be kissing a guy, but the last time he'd kissed a girl, it had turned into a bad relationship that ended in heart-break and tears. Also, this kiss with Albel felt so much better.
Albel broke away after a moment, a tiny bit to Fayte's disappointment.
"You tell anyone about that," Albel warned darkly as he opened the door, still not looking at Fayte, "and I'll kill you."
Not waiting for the younger boy to respond, Albel strode down the hallway toward the castle exit. Fayte couldn't even think of anything to say, though. He watched Albel, then decided to just not say anything at all. He ran to catch up with the swordsman, a smile crossing his face. Sometimes, your smile can say everything for you.
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Zomg, things! X3 Fayte seems like he's sorta drunk to me in that one part where he's supposed to be still basically half-asleep... 0.o Plz review! n.n Flames will be used as ammo for the flame-thrower I use on the spiders in my house and will be much appreciated for that purpose! Freaking spiders... o.o