He sat alone in the dark of his room behind a worn wooden desk. A single candle to grant him vision, its orange light danced across his face as the flame flickered and swayed from left to right. Tiredness written deeply into every wrinkle of his face but yet he remained awake in the dead of night.
"Singed?" Her voice was sweet, calm, it sounded motherly in a strange way as she called out to him.
His tiredness faded in an instant, his legs straightening pushing back his chair. "Janna?" His movements were frantic as his hands searched the darkness for something to cover his face with. "Wait! I need to-"
She pushed open the door and stared at the man behind the desk. Though he did not return her gaze, the right side of his face hidden underneath his hand. "You needn't hide your face Singed. I have seen it many times."
He could barely make out the woman floating within the boundaries of his room, but he knew the sadness that was surely written across her face and nestled deeply into her eyes. He took a deep breath before he hesitantly lowered his hand. "Yes... of course. Just a habit." He replied without looking at her as he sat back down.
Silence.
Scars, each telling a of a different failed experiment, she knew them all. With each new scar that appeared, the boy she once knew faded away. Until he left, left her alone.
"As always Janna, you let yourself in." His raspy voice broke the silence, his hands grabbing hold of a stack of papers. "What brings you here?"
She floated towards him and stopped just short of his desk. "Is it true?"
For the first time he looked up at her. "Is what true?"
"Are you really to become a teacher?" She asked, sorrow hung in her voice.
"Yes." His eyes wandered back to the papers in front of him. "Is that all you-"
"Mathias may-"
He clutched the papers tightly, almost tearing them as he grunted in disapproval. "I told you not to call me that." He didn't look up at her.
"Mathias may I ask you for a favour..." She lowered her feet to the ground standing in front of him, stepping into the light of the candle.
He let out a long sigh and lowered the stack of papers. "Janna please. I do not have time for yo-"
"Don't leave them behind."
Singed's eyes widened, slowly his eyes wandered up her body to meet her gaze. A gaze he knew all to well. Just as he remembered it, every time she looked at him, a gaze of sorrow.
"Don't leave your students like you left me behind back then." She remained silent for a moment, simply staring him down. "Can you do that for me?"
"I-..."
"And if not for me, will you do it for the sake of our friendship. The friendship we once held so dearly." She bit her lip, fighting against the tears building up. It always brought back that painful memory, it always made her cry, no matter how long it was ago.
Singed remained quiet, his eyes staring off into the darkness. "You should leave." His voice stung like an ice cold dagger.
She lowered her head and turned around. "I know there is more to you than this. More than a wretched mad scientist everyone knows you as." She looked at him one last time. "I know of the days when you were kind and cheerful, caring even..."
"Janna please." He looked up to see the door close.
Silence. Everything was quiet.
He let out a long exhausted sigh and stared back at his papers. Everyone changes in time Janna...
A: Why hello indeed. Yes, t'is I! The guy who starts stories and then uhm- never finishes them. Happened twice now... though I am making up my mind for both certainly. Especially "Arise from the ashes". That shit needs to be finished, nigga damn. Anyways, this is a bit of a different take at Singed. No trolling in this story, nah mate. Looking for something a bit more uhm... something more out there! If you get what I mean. I do hope this little chapter will tickle your interest. Cheerio lads.