|AN: This story is based heavily off Cloud Atlas, specifically the story of Frobisher and Sixsmith. (Nezumi being Frobisher and Shion as Sixsmith) The first chapter takes place the morning after No.6's walls have fallen. I hesitate to call it an AU, but since it follows CA's storyline, it will be more of Shion & Nezumi's relationship (and their individual paths after separating) rather than about the city in general. |
Awakened by the sound of fierce knocking at the door that could only belong to Inukashi, Nezumi untwined his arms from Shion's pale frame in order to prop himself up on the bed. He hoped for a second that Shion was still asleep, but that hope vanished when the white-haired male turned onto his back and glanced up at him ̶ glanced up with those eyes that reminded Nezumi exactly why he had wished the other were still asleep.
Damn dog keeper.
Nezumi cursed Inukashi internally. The walls of No.6 were down not even twenty-four hours before they came to his door with thundering rage. It didn't come as a surprise, however. Shion was technically dead the day before. The dog keeper would have no doubt been demanding to know what happened and then proceeded to complain about not receiving the news. Typical, yet not ideal for such a morning.
An undetected departure would have been desirable ̶ history proved that he was not very fond of goodbye kisses. Uncertain goodbyes were the worst, he decided. Rather than closure, they only left one questioning whether there would be another meeting. Was it goodbye forever or simply goodbye for now? His mind knew the former was for the best, but his heart longed deeply for the latter.
A delicate silence filled the air between them, suffocating them and hence prolonging the words they knew had to come, but wished wouldn't. Shion was repeating Nezumi's words in his head: Shion, you shouldn't shed tears for someone else. It took a considerable amount of control to hold back the tears, and, despite his success, he hoped Nezumi was unable to detect a broken note in his outward behavior. But Nezumi could read him like a damn book and Shion knew it.
"Cry and I'll leave right now," Nezumi threatened, though his voice held little hostility. There wasn't any sense to be found in making things worse. He lifted his hand to cup Shion's face and allowed his thumb to graze over the red mark on his cheek. Shion nodded, composed himself under the touch of the other, and gave him a half-hearted smile.
Nezumi returned Shion's smile with a smirk as he pulled the sheets out of the way and climbed over the other. He approached the couch, which his clothes were hanging off the top of. Shion watched, eyes taking in Nezumi's bare figure as he got dressed. All the while, Inukashi's muted complaints persisted in the background.
When he finished tying his boot strings, Nezumi allowed his foot to drop from the coffee table to the ground and took another step so that he was standing next to Shion. The white-haired boy sat up, blankets sliding down to reveal the upper half of his naked body. Nezumi then took the other's face in his hands and kissed him with great fervor. Shions hands closed around Nezumi's wrists, threatening to never let go.
Nezumi pulled away quickly when he realized how much the kiss was hindering his egress. A few seconds more and he would've sworn he'd stay. Shion smiled gently and let his arms fall. "I thought we agreed-no more farewell kisses," Shion teased lightly in an effort to comfort himself with the thought of their meeting again. Nezumi gave the other his smile-disguised-as-a-smirk in return, though the smile didn't reach his eyes. Another sentiment was clouding them already. Shion picked up on it, but simply passed it off as being akin to what he felt.
Neither of them could bring themselves to say the dreadful word, so Nezumi turned to leave in silence. With Inukashi's presence still lingering on the other side of the door, he made his way to the obstacle of a back exit. Shion had only recently discovered that such a thing existed. Well, of course it did. It was Nezumi after all.
One last glance back to the other boy and Nezumi was out of sight. Shion wiped away a few tears and got dressed, knowing he would have to explain quite a bit to Inukashi.
