Title: swing/ /butterfly
Pairing and Fandom: Eventual Oz/Eckhart, MapleStory
Rating: G
Summary: Eckhart waits. His faith is absolute. Part 1/?,
Warnings: mentioned character death, AU from Fall of Cygnus, work in progress
Words: 400
Setting: Erev
Other: I wrote this at 1 am when I was struck by inspiration (by Kagamine Rin's ver. of butterfly on your right shoulder). Dedicated to Olivia. Don't worry, your other fic is still being written.
Disclaimer: I don't own MapleStory.
Eckhart does not smile.
Not that it is something unusual, but not even a single of his usual dry, sarcastic comments can be heard. Every day, he's there at the swings the overlook the skies beyond Erev, ivory mask and hunched back, slumped shoulders and the wind in his hair.
What does he see?
Occasionally, the swings sway as Eckhart pushes his weight back and forth. They creak, a testament to the time that they have witnessed, the days that have passed. They creek as they move back and forth, filling the air with a drawn out whine.
He's waiting —
Come with me.
— for somebody.
Let's fly together.
Eckhart can hear Mikhail approaching. His steps are heavy, a result of the heavy armour he wears and the wiry muscle he possesses. Mikhail pauses behind him, waiting. And for what? Eckhart wonders. He continues to swing back and forth, watching the horizon.
Mikhail asks him what's wrong.
A plethora of answers bubbles up to his lips, fighting to be spewed out of his mouth in hateful chunks - swords to hurt, to wound.
Eckhart laughs and settles for a vague, "Everything and nothing."
Mikhail is silent for a moment, and then another. He's studying him with a quiet intensity that Eckhart normally sees him reserve for battlefields. Or perhaps a wild animal. How to approach? How to avoid attack? How to avoid agitation. It annoys him to the point of ad nauseum, because he's not going to snap. He won't break.
Not yet.
I'm waiting for you, can't you see?
"Stop." He says, voice sharp, clear.
Mikhail is silent, and when he speaks, Eckhart knows he's chosen his words, put them through a mental blender to find the 'best response'. "You know she won't come back."
Eckhart flinches, as if physically struck. Silence stretches out between them.
"She'll be back."
He hears Mikhail's sigh. Ignores it.
I am waiting
"Eckhart-"
"No."
"She's dead. She's dead and she's never coming back and you need to accept that!"
Eckhart swivels his head to stares at him. Bold. Unflinching. What Mikhail sees makes him step backwards. He sighs, heavily.
"I'm sorry. That was uncalled for."
Eckhart nods. Doesn't say a word.
"You'll only destroy yourself."
Eckhart looks at him in the eye. Smiles.
He's already dead. Already broken.
"Then so be it."
A butterfly flitters around his right shoulder.
Watching.
Waiting.
I'm coming home.