Chapter Summary: A prelude
of sorts. Fayt is irresponsible, Sophia is justifiably upset, and
come morning Fayt must wash the blood from his hands.
Chapter Rating [T
(homosexuality, kissing, gore)
Chapter 1: The Collapse of Frailty
Brightly colored birds chirped from their perches in the flowering trees over the café terrace. The patio was bordered by red brick embedded with a mosaic of blue and green glass. The branches of the small palms draped gracefully over the wall and swished gently in the salty, tropical breeze while an orange butterfly fluttered towards the table and perched on the flower center piece.
Sophia sighed and sipped her drink; an old fashioned orange cream soda with just the right amount of ice as a pleasantly light pop song was played on the speakers, offsetting the distant roar of the waves, and the faint sounds of laughter and gossip from inside the small bamboo and thatch café. Without the soft noise the place might have seemed too isolated. The music also provided a nice soothing backdrop for the turbulent thoughts the young girl was currently entertaining.
"Baby I've been waiting, I've been waiting night and day. I didn't see the time, and I waited half my life away," a soothing male voice crooned out of the speakers hidden in the dense flowering bushes. Sophia smiled at the lyrics. "There were lots of invitations. I know you sent me some. But I was waiting for the miracle, for the miracle to come."
"Doesn't this sound familiar!" she murmured into her glass, and then gave a self-deprecating snort.
Fayt had stood her up. Again. Sophia had been waiting there for nearly an hour after he was supposed to show up. And even worse, this was the fifth time in the past two weeks. Sophia could understand that he enjoyed playing on the battle-sims just as much as she loved shopping and hanging out with her friends, and she wasn't the type of girl who demanded every moment of someone else's time, but would it kill him to spend just a little time with her? She knew that Fayt wasn't all that interested in eating lunch in cute cafés and chatting about cute waiters and things like that, but really, his parents had spent a lot of money to take them on this vacation! The whole thing made her more than the slightest bit irritated.
"I don't believe you'd like it, you wouldn't like it here. There ain't no entertainment and the judgments are severe."
It was an old song, written long before the SD years. It was one of the few that had survived the ages, being rewritten again and again. It had been her favorite song when she was little. Her papa had a version by an old folk singer playing a real acoustic guitar. She still had a recording somewhere on holo-disc. The only version the Pangalactic Federation was likely to allow to be played on its stations was this upbeat dance tune with synthesized violins and a distorted guitar rift.
She sighed again and finished her drink, left her empty glass on the table, and went to find her Aunt Ryoko. Even as she walked out of the restaurant, the fake voice from the speakers followed her.
"Let's be alone together. Let's see if we're that strong. Let's do something crazy, something absolutely wrong, when we're waiting for the miracle…"
(.s.c.e.n.e. .b.r.e.a.k.)
Fayt stumbled backward at the force of the sixty-pound Dire Wolf colliding with his chest. "Oh yeah? We'll just see about that!" He quickly recovered his balance, rolling to the side to land a powerful kick to the wolf's head.
"How do ya' like them apples!" Fayt crowed, only to have his feet thrown out from under him by a second wolf. Panting, he scrambled to his feet while the second beast was aligning itself for another attack. The first wolf was still skulking off to the sidelines, apparently recovering from having its head kicked. "Spoke to soon," Fayt quipped.
The wolf began gathering its will for its next reckless charge. It lunged and Fayt dodged to the side and spun, cutting through the beast's back with his sword. He smiled in triumph and dropped his defensive stance, forgetting about the first wolf that was still watching him reproachfully. The wolf, taking this as his chance lunged and the system lights went on.
"Man! I can't believe I forgot about that one!" Fayt cursed himself loudly. That was one of the things he liked about the battle-sim, you could argue with yourself all day. No one was around to hear you. He scowled as the computer's monotone voice echoed through the room.
"Fayt Leingod. 38 wins, 1 lose. Your Win/Lose ratio is now 38:1. Congratulations, Mr. Leingod, you've set a new record for the Hyda IV battle simulator system." The computer menu appeared in front of him, prompting him to either give up or continue.
"Computer, shut off the battle simulation system. I'm done for today," Fayt said as he crossed his arms and frowned at himself. "I just can't concentrate with Sophia always breathing down my neck."
(.s.c.e.n.e. .b.r.e.a.k.)
"I just don't get it! I mean, doesn't he want to spend time with other people?" Sophia sighed and took a swig of her water bottle. "I've, like, barely seen him since we got here! I wanted to at least do something fun together!"
Ryoko Leingod smiled. Though Sophia was naïve and sometimes a little demanding, Ryoko had to admit that girl was very patient. In fact, she was just about as patient as Fayt was stubborn--not that Fayt wasn't just as patient, she amended in her mind. "You know how Fayt is, he's very solitary. Boys will be boys, and sometimes boys just… like doing things alone."
"That doesn't mean he can just. . . ignore other people while he's on vacation! I'm getting really tired of being stood up by him, you know?"
'Fayt normally paces around when he's angry,' Ryoko noted to herself.
"I didn't say that his personality justifies his behavior. I think it's high time he unplugged from his games and spent some time in the real world."
Sophia's lips tightened into a thin line. "It's just, I wouldn't mind so much if we weren't here on vacation. You guys spent a lot of money on this trip (thanks again) and what's he been doing? Playing on the battle-sims! There's a whole resort here for him to explore! I bet he hasn't even seen half of the hotel yet. I wonder if he's even spent more than an hour out here on the beach!"
"Your cucumber slice is slipping dear," Aunt Ryoko commented as she rubbed more tanning lotion into her legs and Sophia re-adjusted her cucumber over her eyes. "I agree completely. I'm going to have a talk with him about it. Oh, hello dear," she said absently as her husband's shadow fell over her.
"You're gonna talk to me about what?" he asked jovially as he fell into the chair beside Ryoko.
"Oh, not you, Fayt."
"What's he been up to now? Harassing old ladies again?" Robert said with a chuckle.
Ryoko played along. "Oh, you know Fayt. Always up to no good."
"So what's up with my troublesome son this time?"
"He's been playing his battle games non-stop, and he left Sophia waiting for him again." Ryoko sighed in exasperation.
"Again?" Robert turned to Sophia.
"It was the fifth time in the past two weeks!" Sophia said from where she was reclined behind Ryoko. Robert put on his 'fatherly frown.'
"I'll be having a talk with him," he said with finality. "But let's change the subject. Isn't this sun great!"
(.s.c.e.n.e. .b.r.e.a.k.)
Fayt sighed at the image before him. He was watching a video of the legendary Lastair Souffre fighting in the battle-sim. There was an intergalactic tournament coming up that Fayt had hoped to participate in, but the only opponent he really wanted to battle was Souffre. The man was practically a god among the digital warriors. Rumor had it Souffre had trained on Klaus to achieve his unstoppable physique, and it was well known that he was personally escorted everywhere by some of the top combat experts this side of the trans-divian ring.
Fayt sighed again. To make matters worse he was also drop dead gorgeous, with scruffy black hair, piercing eyes, and a smirk that could make the hardest of hearts swoon. Fayt had wanted to battle the beautiful digital warrior for some time now(;) even more than that he wanted to impress Souffre with his skills.
Many a long night had been spent envisioning scenarios where Fayt would win the Intergalactic and get a personal congratulations by the warrior, or (even better) where Fayt fell wounded after a difficult and heroic fight, and Lastair came to check on him and give him the courage to keep practicing.
Fayt clicked replay on his video and watched again as Souffre performed a flawless maneuver involving a back-flip, throwing his sword, and a quick ice needles spell.
Fayt sighed yet again. He would never be that good. He couldn't even keep his wits long enough to beat two Dire Wolfs, let alone a Frogman.
It was late before Fayt finally shut down the computer terminal and went to bed.
(.s.c.e.n.e. .b.r.e.a.k.)
"Fayt!" his mother's voice echoed through the darkness.
"Mom? Sophia!" The green flames licked cold at his face. Fayt shivered and squinted through them. "Dad? Where are you guys?" he called out. They were out there, he had heard his mother.
Fayt stood looking through the gloom and the flames. "What is this place?" His thoughts echoed oddly around him, ebbing like a tide then pounding at his ears. He began walking forward. The flames began to crystallize around him, forming an icy, shimmering tunnel. He paused and looked into the glowing depths of one of the walls. Reflected within the shards of the faceted surface were a million Fayts. He focused briefly on a larger piece, where he watched himself cry on a pier overlooking a gray ocean. Then a smaller shard next to it caught his eye. He was battling a four-legged robot many times his own size. He followed a crack in the surface along, and his attention was momentarily stolen by an inch high Fayt eating a hamburger and another Fayt watching an erotic movie on a computer terminal.
"How strange…" he reflected aloud. He tore his attention away from the walls continued through the green ice tunnel. He walked for what seemed like years. "But there is no 'time' here, is there?" He stopped, hearing a something that sounded remarkably like a child crying. Without thinking further, he hurried toward the sound.
"Hey! Is anyone there?" he called out to the child. At last, in the darkness, he came upon the boy. "It's me!" It was him, but much younger. "I must have fallen out of the wall…" He walked toward the blue-haired boy kneeling naked and wet on the ground, crying into his hands. As he approached, a cold rain began to fall, chilling him further.
"Are you alright?" The boy looked up at him. Fayt stepped back. It wasn't him. "Who are you?" he asked himself. "It's me, but it's not me…" The child sniffed and wiped its face on its sleeve. Then he stood up.
But he didn't just stand up, he changed. "That's me…" The man that Fayt the child had become seemed so terribly familiar, but Fayt didn't think he'd ever seen him before. He was taller than Fayt, and his dark hair was plastered to his face by the rain, obscuring his features. Fayt tried to catch sight of the man's eyes through the shadow and hair, but he caught only the barest hint of blood red in the dark.
The man reached out to a hand towards him. Fayt felt his body begin to ache as he was overcome with sympathy. He wanted to crush himself against the man in front of him. He wanted to hold and protect him and never let go. He took the one of the man's hands in his and reached up his other hand to brush the dark hair aside. Fayt let his fingers brush against the man's sharp cheekbones, trailing down across the lightly stubbled jaw. He lifted his hand upward again and trailed a finger down the long, slightly crooked nose. The man's eyes fluttered shut.
He lifted his mouth up to the man's face and pressed his lips to the corner of the man's mouth. His stomach fluttered when the man began kissing him back. He closed his eyes and fell into the sensation, stroking the hand that was still trapped in his grasp. The hand that was quickly becoming quite hot.
He broke away with a startled cry and yanked his hand out of the stranger's grasp. The man's hand was slowly darkening, the skin was becoming black and crisp all the way up to the shoulder. Fayt watched, repulsed, as the charred skin cracked, revealing the reddish pink bloody flesh underneath.
"No… please," Fayt implored, although he didn't know who he was speaking to.
"You…" the man said. "…Don't" He shook his head at Fayt. Don't what? "Don't leave. I hate you, but don't leave."
"I won't," Fayt assured the man. "I won't leave, but I don't hate you. I promise."
"Don't fall," the man warned.
"I won't."
"Don't fall…" the man repeated, and lifted his eyes to meet Fayt's, but the rest of the warning was lost on Fayt. He couldn't see. All he could see was…
Red. And he fell.
Fayt woke up the next day with his palms bleeding from the bruised scratches his nails had left. Shaken, he washed the blood off his hands and wondered why that dream had affected him so much. That dream hadn't been any worse than his normal nightmares. That man had called up such strong emotions in him. Even now he longed to meld himself against the other, to press his lips against the man's skin, to run his hands down the man's back.
He wondered why he felt so desperately alone.
A.N. Well, chapters 1 and 2 are edited and back up! If you're interested, I'll likely be updating things much, much faster on IJ. Also, I can't stand ff net formatting, and I'll try and have pictures to go along with this. So, check me out!
flashfics (dot) insanejournal (dot) com!