Pairing: SasuNaru/NaruSasu... if you want
Genre: Romance?, mystery. One-shot.
Warnings: ...uh weird crap
Rating: PG-13?
Beta: Nope
Summary: "…This world is in a constant state of repair, but the glue keeps cracking and the paint keeps chipping, and we shall continue this exercise of futility for ages to come. Have you done this? Have you tried to paint over the cracks?"
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AURORE
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He said, "Did you know?"
I knew. I nodded.
He grinned. "The world is hung on a string, held fast by wires of liars and of the good people. We are all insane, fascinated by our own pseudoligia fantastica, sick and blind to the needs of others. For when darkness falls, then another world emerges. Do you know? Do you know this world?"
I did. I nodded.
"…This world is in a constant state of repair, but the glue keeps cracking and the paint keeps chipping, and we shall continue this exercise of futility for ages to come. Have you done this? Have you tried to paint over the cracks?"
I had. I nodded.
He laughed. At me, for me, for us all.
I picked up my briefcase and left quietly. The guards showed me out. His laughter was cut off as the doors slammed shut, abrupt and as a real as the dirt white walls.
Through the streets as darkness fell I slowly entered that world, step by step, into an abyss of twilight.
I looked at black but saw white.
Walking by a dark alley, a voice called forth to me. A man sat proudly on his dirty crate, smiling up at me from beneath his crown of rags. I paused at the mouth of the passage to listen.
"All my friends," he boasted, "know that, this time, it's for good."
I looked around at the darkness and replied, No, we have until Dawn, at least.
He smiled up at me. "You poor foolish soul."
I was tired. I nodded.
As I walked away, I heard call after me, "Remember to leave a light on tonight."
I would.
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Later that night I walked through all the rooms in my house and turned all the lights on, one by one. Once I was done the house seemed to be weakly struggling to live so I shut them all off again.
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In the morning there was darkness.
I sat stiffly through work, because there was no point anymore, and we all knew it. A friend came by my desk and asked if my opinion of the new vice chairman.
Real grade-a bitch, I replied.
He laughed.
"Hey, stay here," he said, smiling. "I've got something to show you, you may be interested. Something in the news today…"
I nodded.
As soon as I saw his frame vanish from view I got up from my chair, adjusted my tie, and walked out of the building.
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I got home and wondered why.
Blankness seeped through the windows and I snapped the blinds shut. The phone rang. I left the curtains to billow in the breeze as I made my way to the phone.
Hello?
"Hey," his voice sounded amused.
I blinked.
"You doing alright?"
Yes.
"Kept your lights on like I told you to?"
Yes.
"Bought any new paint?"
I paused. …Yeah. I'll be busy for a while.
I could hear him smiling. "Good man. Good luck finding all the cracks."
I hung up and went to the den, picked up the newspaper and threw it into the fireplace.
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Naruto smiled as I approached. It warmed a desolate piece of my soul. His arms wrapped around me.
"Hey," he breathed into my ear. "Glad to see you."
I won't even ask why anymore.
"Went to see your brother yesterday?"
I nodded into his shoulder.
"How is he?"
Slipping.
Cracked.
I smirked.
He pulled away, grinning happily at me. "Come on, let's beat this eclipse. They can't block our light from shining through, no matter how many curtains."
I set down my suitcase so I could take his hand and we walked back into the Dawn.
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The nurses looked down at the prone form, lying regally in its bloody bed.
"Mute, huh?"
"Yeah." The other one laughed.
"Poor sucker."
His hollow eyes followed them out the door.
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"Hey, they can never get us, remember? We are the sun and the moon. We are our own Eclipse."
He laughed.