Tempo
AN: I haven't been writing a lot of DOTM lately (bad Nymmie, bad!) and the main couples of DOTM (aside from Serena x Stanton of course) seem to get surprisingly little love.
Also, DOTM Fanfiction contest! Please PLEASE enter! Check out my profile or the DOTM Writers forum for more info!
Autumn
He jammed his hands into his pockets as he watched his exhaled air drift upwards into the sky. To his side, Catty had linked her arm through his, a large canvas tucked under her arm as she viewed the trees that surrounded the park where they walked.
"How about that one?" She suggested cheerfully, but Chris remained silent to her side as he stared at the trees whose leaves were beginning to brown. She pouted, "If I wanted the anti-social type, I would have gone out with Stanton or something."
That got his attention, and Chris's head swerved to look down at his girlfriend, "Sorry, I got distracted by the scenery." He apologized sheepishly.
Catty rolled her eyes, but there was a smile on her lips, "Trust me to be involved with the thousand year old boy with the attention span of a fly."
He mock frowned, "That's a bit harsh, don't you think?"
She smiled, "Whatever. Back to my original question, how about that tree?"
Chris followed her gaze and saw a large maple that had been planted in the center of the park. Its leaves were russet colored, several of them had already fallen to the ground, "I don't like that one," he said honestly, pointing to another tree right beside it. This was a maple as well, but its leaves were fresh and green still, looking unmarred by the fall season.
Catty sighed, tugging him along by the arm, "The theme for my art project was autumn, Chris, that one looks brand new."
He pursed his lips, "Why'd you even bother asking my opinion if you were just going to go with your own?"
Catty laughed, "Formalities I guess." Without much dignity, she plopped down on the ground, dragging him down with her, as she pulled out her sketchpad and set it down on her lap. She gave the tree with the brown leaves a critical once-over, "Now tell me, what's your problem with the tree?"
Chris rolled his shoulders uncomfortably from where he sat sprawled across the ground, "It's leaves are brown."
Catty stuck out her tongue, "Duh. Of course the leaves are brown, it's fall."
Chris smiled sadly, "I don't like watching the trees loose their leaves over time, there's something sort of…depressing about it."
She stared at him in confusion, looking back at the tree, "The leaves come back though."
Chris frowned, trying to communicate his thoughts into words. The way that a tree looked stripped of leaves and standing naked in front of the coming winter, was an image that always settled poorly with Chris. Back when he had been a teenager, a real teenager, the falling of leaves meant that the time for war was coming, a time of bloodshed and long, grueling months of cold, misery, and pain. It wasn't something that set well with him, even now, thousands of years later.
"Back when I was younger, the leaves falling meant winter, winter usually meant death," was all he said bluntly.
Catty gazed at him before frowning, looking back at the tree, "Geez, Chris, way to be a mood killer."
He blushed awkwardly, feeling guilty for some unknown reason. "Sorry."
Catty's face scrunched up in contemplation as she eyed the tree, "So you hate this tree because it symbolizes the coming of winter?"
Chris paused, "Something like that. It just reminds me of the life I had before, one I wasn't quite fond of."
She nodded, "I see."
There was an uncomfortable silence between the two as the couple stared at the tree. Chris found his mind backtracking to the old times, where he had been Chrysippus, the Spartan. The dying leaves continued to call to him, reminding him of things he would rather forget, deeds he wished he had never committed. His life felt like eons away, and the cold fact remained that he could never discard his identity-
His inner ramblings were cut off when a large handful of dead leaves were dropped on his head and rubbed into his hair.
"Ack! Wha- Catty!" He sputtered, raking fingers through his brown locks, "What was that for?"
She sat a few inches away, smirking deviously, "You say fall reminds you of war? Well, fall reminds me of leaf fights!" With that she pulled on his arm and tackled him into a pile of leaves.
Chris found an odd laughter emitting from his throat as his girl continued to pelt him with dead leaves. Eventually he began fighting back, ignoring her giggles of protest as he landed on top of her in the leaf pile.
He was lucky, he inwardly mused, that Catty was always there to make his insecurities seem horribly silly.
