Note: This was the fic that got me into writing. Riely is an OC based on L from Deathnote. He is in fact an OC though. I often make references to my favorite T.V shows and anime in my fics, in this chapter I believe there is one to Ouran High Host Club, twoTorchwoods, if you get any of them then please tell me in the reviews! I don't know where I'm going with this except that Zack and Riely are going to get together at some point. Read review and enjoy!
Zack Addy had been stuck in the asylum for few months now and he had grown quite accustom to having his room to himself despite the fact the room was divided in half for the purpose of another person living there. There were two beds, two desks, two small closets, and two night stands that sat beside the beds. Zack was told not to use the desk or the nightstand or sleep in the bed or put anything in the closet. Zack complied willing and, for the most part, kept to his side of the room, keeping the other side nearly untouched, this was very convenient when Riely Edison showed up in the middle of the night one night.
It was late but Zack wasn't asleep. He lay quietly in the dark when he heard the grunting of the security guards as they dragged an irritated Riely into Zack's room. One guard opened the door while the other kept a firm grip on Riely. Zack looked up as they entered. Riely was kicking and struggling silently. When he was in the room they let go of him and quickly exited. Riely shrugged and straightened his plain white t-shirt. He looked at Zack briefly before finding the bed, which was up against the opposite wall, got in facing the wall and didn't make another move the entire night.
When Zack woke up, he was gone. The only evidence that he'd ever there was a pair of jeans left on the ground and his shirt hanging off of a slightly askew desk chair. The top cover was pulled up but the bed was clearly not made. Zack checked the clock 7:24. He had five minutes until breakfast, no time for a shower. Zack almost never set his alarm. His first mandatory session of the day wasn't until 4:00 PM so the worst that could come of sleeping in was missing breakfast.
He wondered if the boy from the other day would be at breakfast. Then he wondered if he would have group therapy with him, or arts and crafts. Then he wondered what his name was, and why he was here. He contemplated if he even cared. He finally landed on he did care or else he wouldn't be wondering so much. He looked again at the clock. 7:30. He got up and got dressed. He had become more creative with his attire since he entered into the asylum. He even designed some of his own shirts. He put on a blue shirt that had an anvil and said "wwwcd" and (what would wile. E. Coyote do?) below it. He found this very humorous. He also wore a pair of worn out jeans. He walked through the hall to the dining hall.
There were two sets of rules at the asylum. The ones the directors put forth (no biting, you must be clean shaven, etc.) and the ones no one ever spoke of. The unwritten rules. Zack didn't like anything to be 'unwritten' so he took the liberty of writing down all of the courtesies people needed to know upon entering such a place. He wrote all of these in a notebook that he always kept in the top left drawer of his desk. He called it 'The Looney Bin Etiquette Manual'.
When he got to the dinning hall not many people were there. The breakfast rush never started until around eight. The boy from last night was sitting in the back corner table. Zack spotted his friend Oz at a near table and decided to sit there. He set his stuff there. Oz was loyal and he could be trusted to take care of Zack's stuff, and if anyone tried to take it, which was unlikely, well, let's just say oz had often broke the 'no biting' rule.
"hey man" oz greeted him rocking nervously in his seat. He had brought a notebook and a pencil. Since his hands got blown up he had recovered and no longer required gloves but he still had to practice writing. He felt like a kindergardner when he sat at his desk tracing oversized letters on a sheet of paper with the letters outlined in dotted lines. All he got was eggs today, and coffee, always coffee. A fellow patient Ianto always made the coffee and it was always amazing. Zack was told he also made great tea but Zack didn't enjoy tea that much.
Zack sat down with his tray across from Oz. Oz nodded and Zack smiled in reply. He practiced his writing while he ate. The two ate in silence. Zack knew why Oz was so nervous but didn't mention it. That was a rule. Rule # 2 don't mention how someone was admitted unless they bring it up. This was an important rule. Almost as important as rule # 1 which was never ever ask why someone was here. That's the million dollar question though. 'Why are you here' that's the question they always ask.
There were several answers. The medical answer, The cause/effect answer, and the therapist answer. They are all different.
The medical answer was their diagnosis, the cause/effect is what they did to get incarcerated and the therapist answer was what the therapists told you, you 'needed'. Using Oz as an example his medical reason was 'because he was delusional', his cause/effect answer is 'because he attacked someone until they nearly bled to death' and his therapist answer was 'because he needs a stable environment'. But those are only the answers you give if you are asked. You never answered the truth. You can only tell it. And the truth of it was that Oz thought he was a werewolf, and was nervous because tonight was a full moon.
Zack finished his breakfast at around 8 and went back to his room. He had been so absorbed in his writing practice he hadn't seen the boy from last night leave, but when he go back to their room there he was. He was in the middle of room staring at the back wall; he spun around when he heard the door. He stared. The boy had messy black hair and loose fitting clothes. Same outfit as last night only the collar on the shirt was different and the jeans had a rip in them displaying a bony knee. Zack squirmed, uncomfortable under the dark eyes that stared him in the face unblinking. Suddenly the boy made a mad dash straight at him. Zack braced himself. The boy stopped right beside him and whispered in his ear
"Riely" before he ran out of the room
"That must be his name" Zack thought out loud.
Zack addy went about his day as normal, he went to his mandatory four o'clock group therapy session and went to arts and crafts at 5. The rest of the time he either spent in his room reading or wandering the hall hoping to run into Riely. Once before stepping into his room he noticed the sign on the door had changed; now it read:
Dr. Zack Addy (Dr. Mahogany) and Mr. Riely Edison (Dr. Mishu).
I guess he'll be staying a while, thought Zack with a smile. His smile quickly faded when he realized tomorrow was a Friday. On Fridays Zack had to meet with doctor Mahogany for two hours to talk about what happened that week.
Zack was at the dining hall at 7 for diner he quickly found his usual table. Oz was already sitting there and so was Teresa, Lionel, and Jasmine.
Teresa had long blond hair and dazzling blue eyes. She was a beautiful girl until she opens her mouth. Her teeth were uneven and sharp, like a shark, and she had a thick and country accent and she stuttered, so most of the time she kept her mouth shut.
Lionel was a tall boy with short black hair and brown eyes. His hair fell neatly to his shoulders and his eyes constantly darted from side to side. He seemed fairly normal most of the time until he has an episode. He starts hallucinating and he runs and screams and occasionally hits people.
Jasmine had dry frazzled hair from constantly dying it. At this point it was black with blue and green streaks. Her eyes were hazel but dull and undermined by the dark bags under her eyes. She spoke quickly and excitedly and joked often. She was surprisingly cheerful for a girl on suicide watch.
Oz was short and dyed his hair red. He always wore green contacts that looked like cat eyes and he always spoke in the same monotonous voice.
Zack got his food and sat down. Teresa and jasmine seemed to be in an argument. "All I'm saying is that they're cute. I didn't say I liked them, I didn't say I was gonna invite them to our room, they are CUTE that's ALL" it must be about the twins. The twins were a very rude pair of red-headed boys that always talked in unison and picked on people.
"bu-u-t-t the-y're mean-ean-ean-ean-" sometimes Teresa got stuck, like a broken record.
"I didn't say they weren't! I just said they're cute is all"
"ean-ean-ean-ean-ean"
"for the recorded they are cute" Zack chimed in
"ean-ean-ean and they're hair looks silly" everyone stopped and counted how many words she had said without a stutter, 5. It was a game of theirs. See how many words Teresa could say in a row. 8 was the top score.
One of the floor directors, Dr. Owen, stood on a chair.
"Hello everyone! I have an announcement!" he had to speak loud so everyone could hear him. "We have a new guest today! His name is Riely! Tell us something about yourself Riely!" Zack couldn't hear what he said because he spoke softly, but it was something along the lines of 'I like strawberry short cake.' it didn't matter anyway. No one ever said anything important when asked that question. Zack remembered when he was asked he replied "I didn't actually eat anyone" not that anyone knew he had been gormogon's apprentice.
Riely glanced around the room before dragging a chair over to Zack's table. He placed the back of the chair to the table and stepped on choosing to crouch instead of sit. He slowly pushed his thumb to his lower lip and fixed his gaze on Zack, who rested his head on his hand and meet the gaze with a smirk. Jasmine and Teresa shared a knowing look. They had their suspicions concerning Zack's sexuality and truth be told, so did Zack.
"Umm you wanted to show me a book right?" Oz asked Jasmine.
"What boo- ohhhh that book. Come on Teresa" she replied. They all got up except Lionel. "Com'on Lionel we want to show you"
"But I'm not done with my food yet"
"It a really good book" Jasmine said between gritted teeth. Nudging him and pointing at Riely and Zack, who hadn't taken their eyes off each other since sitting down.
"Ohhh that book" Lionel said getting up and putting away his tray. As the four walked away Zack heard Lionel say "I'm not saying two books of the same genre can't be read together, but I think you're reading Zack the wrong way." loud smack could be heard from down the hall. Riely either couldn't hear or didn't care because he held his gaze as evenly as before.
Zack sat up and offered Riely his hand to shake. "I'm Zack Addy" Riely looked at the hand, then his own, then back up to Zack's face but didn't shake. "Umm your Riely right?" Zack started, setting his arm back on the table. The boy nodded his head and pressed his thumb harder to his lip. Riely stepped off his chair and walked to the doorway that leads to the hall. Zack sighed. Riely turned and looked back at Zack, stopping in the doorway and nodded his head towards the hall, a silent invite for Zack to come with him.
Zack got up quickly fallowing him to their room. Riely slouched as he walked and leaned forward slightly. He looked like if he were to straighten his legs he would fall on his face. When the two got back to their room Riely opened the door and let Zack in before closing it behind him. Zack went and sat on his bed. Riely sat down in the middle of the room facing him. He sat Indian style a stared at Zack. Zack let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He grabbed the book and read. He read for the next two hours very aware of the other boys gaze. He decided to go to sleep he turned off the light, the switch to which was placed conveniently next to his bed and got into his bed facing the wall.
More notes:
Hope you liked it. There wasn't any science stuff in this but there will be in later chapters. I haven't been writing for this one in a while so I'm not sure how quickly I'll get back to it, and the later chapter probably won't be as long. The more reviews I get the more I'll be inspired to write.
