Fin De Siecle
By: Shinigami Forever
Prologue: Beckoned In A Dream
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A/N: A slightly different style of writing, this time. Extreme OOC on Duo's and Heero's part, a little on Wufei's part. Trieze is portrayed a bit differently too, the same for Zechs and Trowa. Screw ups of demonology and Christianity. Lots of weird technological junk. Stuff happens. That's all. The usual. Various pairings, all shounen-ai. Be warned! Enjoy! ^-^;;; (by the way, the title means "the end of an era")
***
He paused outside the door, waiting, like a silent shadow, pondering his entrance. A whisper of sound fluttered out of the door, fleeting, then disappearing. Soon, all was silent again, broken only by his sporadic breathing. He placed his hand over the scanner that served as a lock, watching lights scan past rapidly, reading the bar-codes etched into the pads of his fingertips, occupying the role of fingerprints.
"Voice recognition, please," the computer quipped, a vaguely feminine voice with a tint of tinny mechanism that barely disturbed him. He leaned over, placing his mouth over the speaker.
"In the spaces that lie between us," he spoke with perfect articulation, each vowel and consonant perfect, no fluctuation in tone. The code he knew well. The resident of the room was his best friend, his partner, perhaps his lover, but in this mechanical world, with icy metal walls and hearts that gleamed coldly, love was implied, never taken for anything. He was bonded. That was how it was put.
"Wave patterns and tone valid. Welcome, Duo Maxwell. You may enter." He watched the door slide open, stepping in with a momentary hesitation that was almost lost in the quiet whirl and swish of perfunctory tasks the machines performed with every metal heartbeat. He quickly scanned the room he entered, the door closing behind him.
The pale stark light illuminated his body. The loose hooded gray tank-top blended seamlessly with white spandex-like tight jeans. His shoes were thin black boots, cut to his foot. He knew, as every occupant of this place, that the clothes he wore had tracers in them. The tank-top revealed a implanted microchip, much like the bar-codes on his fingertips, etched onto his right shoulder, with the number 02 above it. His hair cascaded down in a braid to the back of his knees, neatly plaited halfway and dangling in a loose ponytail the rest, golden with blond and amber highlights in the light brown shade. A watch hung to his wrist, his skin pale with gentle warm undertones, contrasting delightfully with the glittering resolute amethystine eyes. A black wire-thin head set with an ear-piece plugged into his right ear and a curved mouth-piece adorned his head. He wore it with an air of practiced indifference and learned acceptance.
The resident of this room was dressed similarly, with the exception of the colors. This one wore a tank-top the shade of gentle green, his pants a light blue. His hair was a dark brown, streaked with black and light coffee. The eyes were ocean blue, varying in depth and color, gleaming with a crystal hardness. He wore a similar headset, donned a similar microchip, the number 01 instead. He held a sense of determination, an aura of danger, perhaps a whiff of power. He gave one a sense of being a living loaded weapon, which, to a certain extent, was exactly who and what he was.
The dark haired boy was seated on the bed, wrapped in a countenance of quiet meditation. The other boy walked up to him, standing with apathetic eyes in front of the seated one. For a moment, both were silent, lost.
"Duo." The seated one spoke, lifting marine blue eyes to meet briefly with plum purple. He slid over, allowing space for Duo to sit down.
"Heero." They were both seated now, a gap of about 2 inches between them. Heero let his eyes wander over Duo briefly before returning to gazing off, eyes distracted and unfocused. Duo leaned closer, gaze fixed on the perfection of the other boy's face, all angles, smooth and sharp, molded to the absolute beauty of both male and female. Long eyelashes shaped black crescents when he blinked, a nose sculpted like an ancient Greek or Roman statue, and a mouth, full and sensuous, settled in a gentle frown. Perfection. Total perfection.
Duo, of course, did not see his own features. He knew that when he looked in the mirror, he would see eyes that reflected color like wine that had twirled itself in a multi-faceted glass. His own face was round, slim yet curved, bangs offsetting with jagged raw edges of brown hair, framing and shading his eyes. His face was set in an expression of untold calmness, a deathly coolness and composure. His lips were set in a dimly smug line, the edges pulling downwards, yet holding a hint of smiles and smirks. He himself was beautiful. But he held none of the exotic exquisiteness of Heero, nor that of the other boy, Wufei. He had none of the arrogant, refined, yet subtle beauty of their commanders, Zechs or Trieze. But he was beautiful. They all were. They were made that way.
They continued sitting in silence.
Heero turned his head around, a strangely vacant smile on his lips. "Hello." Duo smiled back, faintly amused by Heero's comment. He watched the blue-eyed boy lift a shaking hand to the other's face, brushing the bangs away with trembling fingers, and then letting them fall, softly stroking the pale skin. Duo leaned into Heero's touch, letting smooth skin glide down smooth skin.
"I dreamed last night," Heero whispered, his breath floating towards Duo's face. It smelled of tea and peppermint, perhaps a faint twinge of metal. Or was it blood?
"I dreamed," he continued, "that I was surrounded by lights. Beautiful flowing lights, a color that lay off of the color scale, perhaps blue, perhaps white, and perhaps yellow. They sang a melodious song, full of held notes and trills. It slithered down scales with angelic wet velvetiness. But they made no sound. Can you see it? A sea full of resonating lights that trailed across my mind." Duo nodded, surveying the face of the speaker, watching the slight changes of expression and listening to the almost nonexistent catches of the voice.
Heero had closed his eyes, searching for the surreal splendor of the dream world. Duo continued to watch him, fascinated by the magnificence of a being which seemed perfect to him. He allowed his hand to brush like gossamer wings across Heero's hand, the cool touch sending electric sparks across Heero's senses, flinching briefly.
"And when you woke up?" Duo asked, voice low and husky, tuned to the flawless sensuous tone.
"I woke up. I looked around, the cold metal walls gleaming in the early light. And I saw lights in my head. Lights. Arresting, melodic, angelic lights." Heero now took his fingers and brushed it down Duo's spine, drawing him close.
"They whispered your name…"
Duo closed his eyes, leaning back into Heero's touch. "My name?" He felt himself spiraling out of reality, allowing himself to be sucked into Heero's world.
"They sang 'Duo, Duo, Duo…' Over and over again in my head." Heero whispered, close against Duo's ear now, breath sending shivers across the brown-haired boy's body. "They said your name on my lips…
"Duo…"
***
A/N: Yeah, yeah, and really short. I promise I will actually get this series continued, not drop it off. As you can tell, this is mostly 1+2, but remember, nothing is as it seems.
Thanks so much for actually reading, if you still are.
Feedback please!