The coffee here was shit, but that wasn't the point really. The cream cheese and lox bagel he had ordered was also stale and otherwise unappetizing, but that wasn't why he was here. He was here to get away from her.
That horrid woman who called herself his editor and who he had (aptly) named that-evil-ghoul-that-has-dedicated-her-life-to-making-his-miserable.
The tapping of fingers of his laptop keyboard was a continuous drone in the small coffee shop. After all, shit coffee was not exactly the best motivator to stop typing.
"I see you're busy." Blood shot lavender eyes lifted from the illuminated screen for what felt like the first time in hours. He blinked in surprise. There was actually another customer in the shop at this hour besides him. True the place was 24 hour but it was three in the morning. The witching hour.
"So, are you an author?"
"…Yes." The silver haired man would have labeled the interruption as a fan but something just didn't seem to line up.
"May I have you name."
"Usami Akihiko."
The man smiled and Akihiko noticed how his smile just seemed a bit too wide, and his teeth a tad too sharp. The author didn't think much of it though. A sudden lightheadedness had come over him. He shook it off.
"I believe it would be proper manners for you to give yours in return." The already feral smile only broadened further.
"No."
"No?"
"Yes."
And with that, the man and his smile stood back up and left, the chime above the door sounding as it shut.
Akihiko returned to his laptop screen, fingered poised to resume typing only to realize he had lost his train of though. Rereading the paragraph he tried to remember what he was going to put down. Only he couldn't. And neither could he think of anything else to add. Deciding he must be tired he saved and closed the laptop before placing it back in his bag. Aikawa must be gone from his apartment by now.
He paid and left.
+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+
It was the brightness that woke him. Someone had cracked open his bedroom door and the warm yellow light from the hallway was flooding across his toy strewn floor and invading the dark solitude of his bed.
Lavender eyes fluttered open, trying to decipher the blurred figure standing a few feet from his bed. The silhouette was short and as his vision began to clear he could make out the shape of a boy…no, a girl?
Deciding it wasn't worth his time, he turned over and went back to sleep.
+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+
Several hours must have passed before he again awoke, aware of a gaze boring into his person. This time he opened his eyes and attempted to focus them before turning over to once again attempt to discover whom it was who had invaded his room.
The sun had risen and a thin sliver of it shone through a crack in the black out shades of his window. Green eyes sparkled in the light. Green eyes which had fixed on him with an unrelenting stare. Reaching over he flipped on the light. And glared. The person, whom he had now discovered was a teenage boy, looked a little taken aback.
"Where's your name?" Not it was the author's turn to stare.
"Pardon?"
"I said, what's your name?"
"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?" The stranger blushed.
"I'm Takahashi Misaki. Takahiro must have spoken of me." Aah, not it was making sense.
"My names Usami Akihiko." Silence greeted his statement. The boy, Takahashi he corrected himself, had resumed staring at him with his big green eyes, like he was seeing something the author couldn't.
"Usagisan."
"Huh?"
"Is it alright is I call you that?"
"…Ok."
The boy smiled before turning around and exiting the room leaving Akihiko on the bed, wondering what had just happened.
Something…just didn't seem right.
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It took him a while to spot the boy after coming down the stairs. A breakfast had been prepared, rice with a side of omelet, but the boy wasn't anywhere near the food. Instead he was standing near the coffee table holding something in his hand. The pink cover immediately gave it away as one of the authors…less reputable books and he left it at that. He was just making to sit down at the breakfast table when the boy exploded. There was no other word to describe it.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO TAKAHIRO?!"
"Nothing."
"THEN WHAT IS—?"
"A book."
"I KNOW IT'S A BOOK! WHY IS IT SO…SO…" What it was, was not answered for instead of attempting to articulate the rest of his sentence Takahashi had instead chosen to throw the novel at its author's head. Akihiko was not happy when the impact caused him to spill his coffee. He turned around and glared with all the darkness he could muster as the red faced teen. Well not all the darkness, the other had made him breakfast, or so he assumed, granted that the meal had not just spontaneously appeared. It was still a powerful glare though.
"Why are you here?" The question seemed to shock the brunet out of his rage.
"Huh? You said you would tutor me?"
"I've never seen you in my life." There was a snort, obviously an implied 'duh'.
"You've seen Takahiro though. He talks about you all the time." Akihiko took his time to contemplate this. And he frowned. Usually such words would stir a warmth in his chest. Today he felt strangely…empty. "And he said that you said you would tutor me."
"And what makes you think I should tutor a brat who threw a book at my head." Said brat looked taken aback. At first Akihiko thought it was because of the label, until the other replied.
"You would go back on your word?" He looked positively scandalized. Akihiko took his time drinking his next sip of coffee.
"It's human nature."
"…I know." The elder looked at his visitor with interest. There was such reassignment behind those words. Curiouser and curiouser.
"So are you going to give me a reason? Why do you need me to help you study?"
"So that I can get into M University."
"Really now. And why would you want to do that?"
"Because that's where Takahiro wanted to go."
"That still doesn't tell me why you want to."
"Because…it would make Takahiro happy." Akihiko took another long, pensive, sip of coffee.
"You pass."
"Huh?"
"I'll tutor you."
The boy smiled.
+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+
Akihiko had often heard of the horror of the blank page. He had even heard a fellow author talk of how they always wrote on yellow paper, just so they would never have to confront the terror behind the blaring white. Yes, he had heard of it often.
But this was the first time he had experienced it.
An hour had passed since he had sat down before his computer and prepared himself for a long bout of typing. And an hour later there was nothing. He frowned. This was…new. Not to mention disconcerting. He had typed so much last night, where had it all gone?
It was night now, the lights of the city flooding through his pent house window. Car horns blared and somewhere he could make out the wail of a siren. Somehow though he felt detatched. As if the only reality in the world was him and a blank screen. He could hear a shuffling down stairs. Was Takahashi still here? He thought the boy had left once the tutor session had ended. Suddenly there was a knock at his office door.
"Come in." The hinges creaked at the teen appeared in the doorway.
"Sorry to intrude. You've been up here for a while, I thought you might like some coffee or something." And indeed, by the light of the computer screen Akihiko could see the other was holding a mug in his hands, steam rising gently from the top. He was only able to look at this for a second though before his eyes were once again drawn to acid green. They eyes seemed almost too big, too wide. They gaze at him, absorbing every detail and returning nothing. Akihiko coughed. "Oh, right, sorry. Here you go."
The fingered curled around the mug were small and pale. The term lily white rose to the forefront of Akihiko's mind as he reached for the coffee, his own fingers curling around the other's for a second.
And in that second the next sentence to his novel rushed in on him like a steam train and he whipped around, leaving Takahashi with the mug, his fingered pounding away at the key board.
It lasted for a full minute before it was gone and once again he was floundering desperately for the next word to write. Realizing he had left the other with the coffee he turned back, only to catch the boy at yet another of his stares. Realizing he had been caught the boy smiled at him and handed over the coffee before leaving. Watching him depart Akihiko couldn't help wonder at how…sad that smile had been. Almost like the teen was pitying him.
What exactly was there to pity though.
With a sigh he turned back, resigning himself to long night between him and a lonely paragraph of text.
+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+
He was awaken the next morning not by those staring green eyes but instead the clink of dishes in the kitchen. Slowly he rose and grabbing the nearest Suzukisan, made his way down stairs.
This morning's breakfast was porridge with raisins and nuts accompanied by a steaming cup of coffee. He could get used to this.
The boy was looking at him as he arranged the dishes in the dish washer. He opened his mouth, but it was not to say good morning.
"So are you going to get it back?" Deciding the boy was just being strange again he ignored him and seeing he was going to get no reply the boy turned back to his work.
The boy was a surprisingly good cook.
+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+
On the third day the boy was late. Akihiko was up by the time the door opened and the boy rushed in, flushed and panting, and in his hands, held so carefully he might have been cradling a baby, was a small potted blue flower.
"Oh, you're up." Lavender eyes gazed at him curiously from over the rim of the coffee mug. Apparently that was all the boy had to say because without further ado he removed his shoes and made his way over to the window. It wasn't until the plant had been carefully placed on the sill that he turned back to the author.
"I got you a present."
"…I see." Misaki frowned.
"The usual response is thank you."
"Is it now?" Takahashi pouted and really, sometimes Akihiko wondered if the boy was actually old enough to go to university.
"You're infuriating!"
"Then why did you give me a flower? Do you have a crush on me Takahashi?" The resulting explosion of red on those translucent cheeks was priceless. Akihiko smirked.
"Shut up! It's not just a flower!"
"Oh?"
"It's a blue bell! And it's for your own good."
"The flower is going to…help me?"
"Stop looking at me like that and just accept it, ok?"
"…Ok."
+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+.+
It took a full week of sitting every night before the blank screen until he finally gave up and went to bed early. It was because of this that he woke earlier that morning than usual. And it was because of that when he came down stairs, one Suzukisan tucked under his arm, he was there to witness Takahashi preparing…crêpes? It took him a moment of watching, cigarette hanging just out of the side of his mouth, before he realized what was wrong. He resumed his descent down the stairs.
"I don't remember those dished." With a squeak Takahashi jumped and dropped the terracotta bowl he had been using to dish out the batter from. Immediately there was a scramble as the brunet got down in his hands and knees and began gathering the pieces.
"Stupid rabbit! Look at what you made me do!"
"Don't blame me, you're the one who dropped it. And where did you get these dishes anyways?"
"They're mine."
"And what's the matter with the ones in the cabinet?"
"I can't…I'm allergic to metal." One of Akihiko's eye brows rose in question. Looking flustered Takahashi turned back to the sharp pieces of pottery. "Not all metals, just those with iro—OWW!" Immediately one slender hand was brought to the teen's chest and curled up in his black t-shirt.
"What's the matter?"
"I cut myself."
"Let me see."
"NO!" Green eyes flew wide as the boy threw himself away from the author. Akihiko scowled.
"Don't be an idiot. Let me see.
"No, you can't!"
"Why not?"
"Because…because…You just can't!" And with that the boy was up on his feet and with an almost inhuman speed he had made his way into the bathroom. The clicking of the lock sent a scowl to Akihiko's features. Getting up the man made his way to the bathroom door and rapped sharply at it with his knuckles.
"Takahashi?"
"I'll be out in a bit."
"…It's been a bit."
"Go away stupid rabbit."
"No."
"AAAAAAAARGH! Is it physically impossible for you to mind your own business!?" With these words the bathroom door was thrown open, revealing the enraged brunet.
"I'll answer that if you answer my question."
"Why can't you just leave me alone?!" The shorter's hands came up to clutch at his unruly hair in aggravation, make it even more messed up than usual. This gave the author a clear view of his bandaged hand and green t-shirt, which he was sure had not been sporting splatters of a thick white liquid earlier. It didn't look like batter.
"What, two questions now? It really seems you do have to answer mine in that case."
"Just shut up and ask your question." The petite figure stormed passed him, back towards the kitchen.
"…How tall are you?" Suspicious emerald eyes met his own.
"Is that really what you wanted to ask?"
"No."
"Well I don't want to answer your other question, so I'm 153 centimeters."
"…"
"Anything else I can do for you." The amount of sarcasm he could put in those words was truly amazing. Or so Akihiko absently mused. Really he was wondering at the way a light almost seemed to sparkled behind the other's blazing eyes when he got emotional. Interesting.
Lost in thought the elder didn't see Takahashi move until the teen had pushed a plate bearing a fully prepared crepe under his nose.
"Here, since you don't like sweet things I made you a savory cheese sauce. Now eat so we can get some work done."
"Demanding aren't you."
"Well…I…uh…" Make the boy turn red was really turning into a sport. Akihiko smiled internally. Walking passed him Akihiko sat down at the table. There was silence for a few minutes as Takahashi spread out his work in front of him at the other end of the table. Quiet reigned for a while as the prospective college student began to attempt some problems on his own, before, almost absentmindedly the words slipped out.
"So when are you going to get it back?" Akihiko directed his attention towards his companion and frowned, puzzled.
"Get what back."
"Your name."
Happy Ostara lovelies!
As some of you know and some of you don't, Ostara is a time to start new projects. Here's mine. How many of you can guess where this story's going?
I have two weeks of spring break with literally nothing to do (I know, it's scary) so I'm going to give y'all a new story and hopefully finish it before the next quarter.
Anyways if some of you have read my profile, you know I consider myself a witch (faerie faith) and there's just something about spring that makes it so I can think of nothing but.
I want to go outside and sing! And dance! And do both at once!
Happy Ostara!
'Tis my favorite holiday, except maybe Imbolc, but that's just 'cause it's my birthday. And obviously Samhain, but who doesn't like Samhain.
Anyways for you not of the pagan orientation let me explain.
Ostara is a celebration of spring. For those of the Greek pantheon it is when Persephone is finally returned to the world above. For those of the more Celtic/Germanic way, which is the one I'm more familiar with, sorry, Ostara is named after the goddess Eostre (Also where the name Easter came from). Ostara is a celebration of birth and rebirth (anyone know any sons of gods being rebirthed at Easter, *wink* *wink*) and her symbols are the hare (fertility) and the egg (again fertility, and to represent the world egg). The story goes that Eostre was a very difficult goddess to please and there was a competition held among all the animals of the world to find who could impress her. One by one the animals failed until finally the hare had the idea to steal an egg from a chicken and paint it before presenting it to her. Obviously a good move 'cause she loved it so much she demanded the hare give her more every year. So yeah, do a favor for a goddess and end up in her servitude for eternity. Anywaaays.
Ostara is a time for projects. Usually witches use this time to make their tools for the craft and consecrate them. Ideally you're supposed to be in circle all day but that's just not realistic. Candles lite at this time are green, for fertility and wealth. And since most of my knowledge centers around herbs, and not crystals, sorry, here you go.
The herbs of this holiday are: Lilies of the valley, lavender, marjoram, thyme, tarragon, lovage, lilac, violets, lemon balm, dog wood, honeysuckle, sunflower seeds, rose hips, oak, crocus, daffodil, jonquil, and tulip. I've also heard elder and willow, but like I said, faerie faith. I avoid these during this night. I also avoid mounds and grave yards.
Best song I think right now is Loreena Mckennit's Mummer's Dance. Even though it's not about the holiday.
Wow I wrote a lot. Sorry, I'm just really charged right now. And I just finished finals!
Happy holidays!
Happy Ostara!
Love you all!
I feel high!