Disclaimer of doom that ruins my nice formatting: I disclaim. As in, I do not own, therefore I do not claim. Not mine.
Chapter One: Right Here We'll Stay
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It is cold in the tower. Kanda can see his breath, and the little yellow thing he was put in charge of looking after is shivering. He vaguely wonders if the thing can actually feel cold, but discards the thought immediately. He doesn't care one way or the other. The only reason he is even keeping it is because his master had given it to him before he disappeared. Not that he cares about his master, either. Or, at least that's what he would like people to believe.
Kanda tells himself that he's keeping it so he can throw it at his master's head when he returns, and looks out the window, like he does every night. He likes the view from here, high above the hustle and bustle of the town, even at this hour. It's peaceful there, seeing tiny shapes but not hearing them. But even he can't suppress the slight shudder of... something -fear or disgust or sadness- when he thinks about the past, how there once was no life in that town.
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Lenalee is busy at all hours of the day, and much of the night. Not the kind of busy that would make a person pass out from exhaustion a couple feet away from bed at night, like she has noticed some of the scientists do on their breaks. It's more of a fulfilling busy that makes her feel good at the end of the day. She helps those around her. When someone needs something -not too dangerous, mind you- from storage, she runs and gets it. If her brother decides he would rather sleep on his desk than do his work, she is one of the few people who knows how to wake him. She prefers it this way, anyway, because otherwise he could be clinging to her and crying for hours.
And then there is the most important task of all.
"Coffee!"
She does this every two hours, and every time there is practically a stampede that makes it's way toward her. She feels bad for the scientists. Sure, she is busy, but it is nothing compared to the work load they have to endure. And besides, her "busy" was self-induced. No one told her to help out, she just does it because she wants to. So she smiles and she holds out the tray of rapidly disappearing mugs, thanks each and every person as they leave to go back to their work, and then wishes them all good luck before she leaves.
Then she returns to the kitchen to refill the tray, because despite the mass of people slaving away in the science department, there are still more throughout the tower.
Her next stop is her brother Komui's office, and on the way she offers a mug to anyone passing by. When she gets to her brother's office, he is asleep. She sighs. Sometimes he makes her mad, lazing around like he is. Granted, there hasn't been much for him to do lately. Not much for anyone other than the scientists to do, which is why she keeps herself busy helping them. She figures she won't wake him this time, and puts the mug down next to him, hoping he will wake before the coffee goes cold.
She takes her leave, visits a few rooms where she knows people are staying. Notices how few people there are in the tower these days. Remembers the days when she was a little girl, when the halls were flourishing with people. Well, not really flourishing, but over the years that small number has dwindled to a maddeningly small number.
She sniffs back the tear that wants to fall, wipes at her eye when the tear falls anyway, and runs face first into someone.
There is an annoyed, or perhaps angry, grunt. The tray falls to the ground and mugs break. She feels herself falling, but is kept upright by a hand on her shoulder.
"Lenalee?"
She smiles up at him, even though her eyes are still wet. The only Exorcist other than herself who has stayed. This long, anyway. She wonders what keeps him here, and how long before that something isn't enough to keep him from leaving.
"Kanda! Do you-- Oh." She frowns down at the remainders of the coffee, and the small amount of green tea hidden among the brown liquid and porcelain. "I made you some tea. Since you don't like coffee. But it..." She looks mournfully at the mess on the floor.
Kanda wants to ask her if something is wrong, because obviously something is. But he's bad at those things. So he pats her on the shoulder and gives her a look. He hopes it's a look that tells her he's here, and he's not leaving. She smiles, and he's pretty sure the message got through, even if he is bad with those things and has no idea how she got it.
She starts picking the mug shards up and putting them back on the tray. Kanda helps her. She smiles at him again, but the smile falters. She pauses and looks down at the mess, then back at Kanda with fresh tears trying to seep out.
"Kanda... do you think this place will ever be... alive again?"
He shrugs, tries not to scoff because it's Lenalee, and she's a girl. He was always taught to be nice to girls. And. And in all honesty, he doesn't know how to deal with tears.
The fact is, though, that he doesn't know if the tower will ever come back to life. It's not technically dead, anyway, considering it's an inanimate object. But mostly everyone is gone now, no need to stay in a place that doesn't need you. There are still a few hopefuls who believe they will be needed again. And there are the people like Kanda, who simply have nowhere else to go.
In the end, the tower's life is completely dependent on outside factors.
He opens his mouth, tries to say something, what he doesn't know yet. Hopefully something helpful. Or cheerful. Or whatever it is she needs, because he really has no clue what that is and he's really just winging it. But he doesn't get the chance to.
They both turn abruptly when they hear something crashing around the corner, followed shortly by the sound of breaking glass. Kanda leaps into action, running for his room, where he's sure the sound is coming from. When he opens his door, Lenalee is close behind him. Kanda stops and stares in horror at the scene while Lenalee looks rather confused.
There isn't really much to gape at. A bed, a desk with a book on top and a chair pushed underneath. And a bird's cage hanging from the ceiling. And empty bird's cage. With nothing in it. No little yellow thing flapping it's wings. There is nothing left of the thing but a hole in the cage and another hole in his window.
Lenalee gives Kanda a questioning look. "Kanda, when did you get a bird? I wasn't aware that you even liked animals."
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01- Confused yet? You should be. I like confusing people before I start explaining.
02- So, here's the thing. I have a horrible track record keeping up with things, and I lose interest in things fairly quickly. But I've had this idea in my head for a while, and I have most of it planned out already. In my head at least. And I have a co-writer with me, so HA! I will vanquish you, attention span of shortness! And if not, Emi will.
03- Just for kicks, the title for this chapter is a line from a song I've been obsessing over recently. Figure it out and you get twenty win points!
--Mosh.
