Disclaimer - Xiaolin Showdown and all its characters belong to Warner Brothers. It's a shame, really, that they don't give two shits about the series when it truly was a great show. :P I made no money off of writing this, blah, blah, blah… Do enjoy; I wrote it for the masses, haha.
A certain teen gazed intently at seemingly nothing in the comfort of his bedroom, waiting for the exact moment when the clock would strike twelve and unable to contain any of his excitement much longer, listening to the nighttime rain pummel the heavily curtained windowsill beside him.
As Jack glared at the numerical digits, which were glowing a faint red color that served as the only light in the darkness he surrounded himself in, he wondered what they were going to do tonight. Perhaps a nice stroll in the rain would do… not that they did much else. Jack reveled at simply being by his side as they walked, glowing in every metaphorical sense of the word as the goth dreamily reminisced about walking with his nighttime companion the very night before. They conversed little, preferring to enjoy the silence and the presence of each other's company, a silky ivory hand entwined with a sickly, pale one.
The more he thought about it, the more impatient he got. The clock read 11:59, just sixty agonizing seconds away from the genius's paradise. Goddammit! These seconds were always the worst because he knew what was coming soon, but time seemed to slow itself down out of spite for the goth, almost as if even the universe itself didn't want him to spend it with the one he loved the most. He felt his eyes crease and widen with intense anxiety as he counted down every consecutive second - until finally the alarm rang throughout the room, signaling his release into the precipice of his excitement.
In a flash the goth shut the alarm off and hurried down (the boy had already been dressed for the occasion) through the corridors of the mansion he called home until he reached a particular door and swung it wide open. There before him stood Chase Young, his Chase Young; standing calmly in the rain, Heylin magick shielding their caster from the droplets of water splish-splashing around them. Wearing a warm smile that would seem out of character to many, he raised an eyebrow when he saw Jack simply walk out towards him in all of his splendor.
"You don't want to bring an umbrella?" asked the dragon lord softly, extending his hand out to the lad.
"Why have one at all, when I have you to keep me from the cold rain?" answered Jack, who gratefully took said hand in his own.
Chase chuckled, encircling the digits of his hand around the other. "Touché."
The Heylin lovers took a particular route when on their nightly strolls. Jack and his parents lived just a mile away from a large city that had everything in their streets: from tall buildings for nearly every use imaginable, to extravagant shopping outlets and malls, to monuments of great historic importance, and to beautiful sight-seeing trails and parks everyone could indulge in.
However, a secret path was hidden from the all of the world except for just the two of them; a perfect trail, Jack decided, for them to spend the night traveling alongside one another. It seemed to drag on for hours, curving at almost every end like a forest maze, eventually encircling a very large hill that overlooked the entire city in all of its splendor. Strangely enough, this path was not rugged despite its secrecy; the rain that fell on both of them also showered the sidewalk, making it glisten like silver underneath the moonlit sky, or at least the bits that broke through the shield of trees. The lights, strangely crafted to match the eccentricity of the scenery around them, seemed to be shrouded in a mist that silently blessed the two as they walked past each consecutive pair, bowing respectfully to them to help light the way to their destination.
"Are you enjoying yourself, Spicer?" quipped the elder man after a very long moment's silence, crooning his neck down carefully to the much younger boy, who was holding a muscular arm close to his scrawny frame as if it were his very lifeline.
The goth, having nestled his cheek into the dragon lord's shoulder, turned his red eyes up to meet inquisitive gold ones and couldn't hold back an oncoming grin. "What do you think, Chase?" he answered as he nuzzled the shoulder that served as his headrest. "I always enjoys these walks, you know that."
Hearing no more from the younger of the two, Chase nodded and, after a time, replied again with a tender smile. "Of course, Jack."
The dragon left it at that, allowing the genius to bask in his thoughts once more. From a distance the two could finally see the top of the hill. Entwined in the darkness of the trees, the sky seemed so dark, but the top was separated from the edifice of shrubbery, free to unmask the deception the path had brought to their eyes and reveal the true face of the heavens.
Feeling a slight sting impale his now open eyes, Jack tried to hold back the wave of sadness, the undeniable truth, that threatened to hit him. He had walked through this road plenty of times to know where this was going.
The end was bittersweet, in a way; the inconspicuous Heylin lovers would say their final goodbyes for the while to all of the world, but at the same time they were shrouded in mystery: any one soul who happened to gaze at the top from the very bottom would only see faint shadows. Examined by any other angle, however, and that same person wouldn't see anything out of the ordinary. As the lovers finally escalated to the top and held each other close, a single tear slid down the contours of the goth's face, taking a small strip of his eyeliner down with it. Jack hated this part of the walk. He knew what it meant; he knew that he would have to return to the real world once more and succumb to the realities that plagued him.
Every thing at this moment in time; the comfort of Chase's embrace, the warmth of his toned body, the strong arms surrounding his waist and the lips and nose that rested in his sunset red hair… Everything about the Chase Young before him was simply a façade. A lie. A fantasy made up by his empty, hallow, lonely mind. He knew full well that the real thing would never want to touch him within an inch of his life, even if he absolutely had to, knew that he would never care for him as the genius had; knew that the legitimate Tai Chi master would rather perish than to be with a pathetic, little insect like him!
Turning his head so his cheeks rested on the chest that he would never be truly able to lean against, Jack could see that the rain had let up and the morning sun had peeked out from the top of the skyscrapers, rising within the last few minutes and erasing the remnants of the night they had spent together. How he wished he could go up to the god - or gods, didn't matter to him - that was controlling all of the universe and demand that he (or they) stop time, if only for a moment, so that they could have just a little more time to themselves…
The genius felt his very soul cry out in protest at the separation of their bodies, the tsunami of tears threatening to escape his pleading eyes as Chase - no, he knew what it was, a hallucination - cupped his face with a lone hand, forcing the goth to look into his eyes. Jack couldn't speak, the lump within his throat too big for him to allow his voice to escape and plead for him not to leave.
"I'm sorry, Jack," was all the ever omniscient Chase standing before him said, before adding an excruciatingly painful-to-hear "but I must go for now," at the end of the brief silence. "I promise to return, soon…"
Not soon enough, Jack thought, forcing himself to swallow those words.
With a sad smile that so cracked his fragile heart (and made the urge to sob even harder to repress) the dragon lord dipped his head to Jack's and let their lips lock in a passionate embrace as the sun made them glow before the path they had recently trekked, having finally heaved itself to the very top in full control of the sky. Gazes never escaped the other, even as the imaginary Chase Young dissolved and faded into the fresh, ripe daylight; leaving Jack to stand there in the fresh, crisp air that did nothing to ease the emptiness that overtook his being once more.
Jack observed the skyline, knowing full well that he was wet to the bone and shivering, his eyeliner (ruined, by all meaning of the word) had dissolved from its usual contours and laid crusted around his cheeks, but not caring in the slightest. He allowed the tears to finally fall free from restraint only when he was sure imaginary Chase was gone and that he was all alone again.
His bushy brows creased into a frown in the midst of his tears. Usually at this time, he would head back to the mansion, to resume his duties as evil boy genius and go about his day trying to collect the Shen Gong Wu that rightfully belonged to him (and his Chase Young) and failing miserably.
But today, he just couldn't bring himself to do anything but bear his eyes into the faint shape of the city, deciding that maybe today would be a good day to skip the 'evil genius' shtick and do something (dare he say it?) normal for once, flipping the bird to everyone and everything that caused him this misery (But not him. He could never bring himself to do that.). Maybe he'd actually shop around, actually walk about the metropolis and socialize with actual people today. For now, all he wanted was to forget the fact that his world would go on turning without the genius, for the rest of the day and unto the midnight hour, where hopefully 'they' would meet again.
Turning to leave everything about the night behind and heading home to start the day on a different foot, Jack mused to himself one last thought, a thought that he felt was too true to his life - this world was full of happiness that I had never known.
Or, perhaps, what he didn't know was that this happiness was not too far (or long) away… A shadow watched Jack from a safe distance, breathing out his name as golden eyes witnessed his leaving, hoping to see the goth rush back to him tonight, and to continue this 'game' for a little longer; only until he felt the time was right to make his intentions well known to the lad. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to wait much longer…
A/N - Jesus fuck. o_o I think I depressed myself writing about Jack. Also, there's over twenty hundred words in here (word count FTW!11!1!one). Again… Jesus fuck. I never write stories that long anymore. (Unless it's an original story, like Forget Your Fears… SHIT, I have to type that still. D8 Fudger!)
Best read when listening to bittersweet sad piano or the particular Les Mes. song that inspired this story. Like it, love it, or hate it - thanks for reading! I appreciate it lots. :*