Svartacus ran swiftly through the back alleys of LazyTown, barely a red streak to the eyes of anyone who actually saw him. Occasionally, he'd almost hit a garbage can or have to jump over a car when crossing a street. But his own personal safety was not his priority at the moment.
His mind was swimming and thrashing, going in circles like a continuous pendulum. It was like someone had released a can of Marti Graw inside his head, a constant ruckus and party that made it difficult for Svartacus to concentrate or clear his thoughts. There was one thing he new for sure as he ran. What made him so panicky right now was something bad…something to do with his plans…
Something to do with Robbie.
As the sun started to creep down ever so slowly, anxiousness stirred in the pit of the red elf's stomach. Svartacus hopped a fence, hardly a sound made as his feet touched the ground. Old memories and emotions had begun to reroot themselves in his mind. Loneliness started to creep through his veins in full force again, and Svartacus physically growled at himself to keep it from going to his head. Quickly he dashed through town. The billboard was getting nearer as he got close to the sports park with the large apple tree. A strange, unintelligible scent creeped into his nose as he ran, causing Svartacus to stop. He lifted his nose to the air, sniffing and inhaling deeply. The scent became more recognizable all the time and a pang of jealousy mixed with anger brewed in his heart. What is this? Brew within him started to boil. It's so familiar…The boil began to bubble with intensity. It can't be…The pot boiled over and Svartacus's eyes popped open.
"Sportacus."
Svartacus's head whipped around, looking up at the sky. His eyes widened as he saw what he had been looking for. The blue air ship hovered just above him, twinkling in the moon's light. Svartacus shook slightly and looked back to the ground. But why am I feeling this dread…like he just bounced back into the game? His mind suddenly connected the dots and the red elf's head snapped up to look at the billboard. Sportacus had gotten to Robbie. His entire body began to shake. The anger turned to rage, his maroon eyes flaring with fire. A snarl escaped his lips.
"He's mine."
Svartacus dashed towards the billboard. His mind was a cloud of rage and panic. Sportacus had the power to ruin his plan and he was using it right now. Svartacus growled again. Leave it to the spoiled brat to ruin big brother's plans. Memories of their childhood flushed through his mind again, causing Svartacus to shake his head in hopes of getting rid of them. How dare the blue one take what was rightfully his? Svartacus snarled. His plans were going to ruins, just like everything else, story of his life. Sportacus got everything, no matter what it was. Damn him…A skip of a nervous heart beat caught Svartacus's attention slightly. It felt like pain one would have when one was close to losing something held dear. Svartacus shook his head. Little brother was screwing his life up again. Damn him…Damn him to hell.
His ears twitched suddenly, causing Svartacus to stop next to the large apple tree. Someone was coming. With a giant leap, Svartacus hopped into the tree, camouflaging himself in the green darkness. His maroon eyes searched for the individual, his breath hardly a whisper. A blue streak started to come into sight and Svartacus had to bite back another snarl.
Sportacus was running and jumping happily from Robbie's home. He felt as giddy as a school girl whose crush had just asked her out. It was a strange feeling for the blue elf, but he liked it…a lot. Jumping into the air, Sportacus did a double summersault and landed on the fence. Laughter rose from him as he continued on. He didn't know where he was going, but he was too happy to care. He and Robbie had cleared the air…and Sportacus had just done something that he never thought he had the courage to do. What made it better was that Robbie didn't lash out at him or do anything in a negative response.
Svartacus's maroon eyes followed little brother as he bounced and laughed. His ears and hands twitched eagerly, his blood pumping through his body with extreme intensity. Part of him wanted to lash out and attack Sportacus, teach him a lesson to not mess with his plans. But the logical side of Svartacus kept him back. No, there would be better times to attack. Plan. Planning was good and was something the red elf was good at. Sportacus bounded off once again, flipping in the direction of his air ship. Svartacus didn't move until he observed the blue elf climbing up his latter and disappearing into the large blimp.
With Sportacus out of sight, Svartacus jumped from the tree and darted towards the big billboard, nervous as to what might be waiting for him.
-------------------------------------------------
Robbie stood at his work bench, staring aimlessly at the tools that covered the flat surface. Work didn't interest him at the moment, no. He just needed something to focus on. His arm was wrapped around his stomach, propping up his other limb. His hand lightly touched his face in the same spot Sportacus had just kissed. What filled Robbie's mind was an unnerving mess of thoughts and confusion, it nearly made him sick. He quickly realized that his precious tools were unable to curve his thoughts into a straight line, but remained where he stood.
Robbie wasn't sure about what had just happened. Earlier, Sportacus had flirted with him to no end. Little pets, compliments…hell, even the peck on the cheek. It wasn't just flirting. The damned blue elf seemed to have made a move on him. Robbie snarled slightly. It confused him to no end. The feeling Robbie had when Sportacus had done that…it was almost as if his entire body had a pleasurable spasm of happiness. But that wasn't supposed to happen…Robbie's face got softer as he thought more in anguish. Robbie was so confused. Sportacus was his best friend, nothing else…A bead of sweat trailed down his cheek. Maybe that was supposed to happen. Robbie never really had a friend before, so he had no real knowledge on how a best friend relationship works. Maybe this was all part of the package deal. Maybe…maybe physical contact and funny feelings in your stomach were part of it. Best friends do that kind of stuff…right?
Robbie's fingers on his cheek slowly inched their way to his ear where Svartacus had marked him. The mark was nearly gone now, just as the red elf had said it would, but there was always a tingly feeling whenever Robbie touched it. Never had Robbie felt so special when it came to Svartacus and he loved him dearly. Svartacus was everything that Robbie wasn't: Graceful, smooth, cool, high class…Robbie wasn't sure if he deserved such a gift as him, but Svartacus seemed to think highly enough of the tall man that he wanted to take him away. Any other day, Robbie would have been totally ecstatic about the proposal. Right now, though, he wasn't sure anymore…Especially with Sportacus coming on so strongly in a way Robbie never would have guessed, and this made things complicated.
On one side, Robbie strongly wanted to leave with Svartacus, have a happy life and see new places. That was Option A. On the other hand, Robbie could stay and try to pursue something with Sportacus, which was what the blue elf seemed to want. That was Option B. Robbie found it hard to choose between the two. Too bad there wasn't an Option C that involved both Option A and Option B equally. But the master of disguise knew he couldn't have both.
It was a time where Robbie really couldn't have both his cake and his ice cream, and he didn't like it. So which would he choose? Svartacus and his delightful invitation to see the world or Sportacus and his warm sense of home? Once Robbie thought about it, both Sportacus and Svartacus completed him, like they both offered something different that Robbie needed to be his true hue. Robbie felt like he was totally torn. He didn't want to hurt either one of the elves. Robbie knew what it was like to have a broken heart and swore that he'd never do it to someone else. But still, he had to make a decision, no matter what. Would Purple choose its Red counterpart or Blue counterpart?
He was so wrapped up in his thoughts; he failed to hear someone come into the room.
"Kitten…"
Robbie jumped slightly and whipped around. A squeak escaped his lips when he found Svartacus close behind him, only inches apart. Usually upon seeing that it was the red elf, Robbie became relaxed and at ease, but the agonized, serious face that plastered over Svartacus's face made him tense slightly. Worry twisted in his stomach. What's going on?
"Svartacus, you scared me half to-"
"What happened?"
Robbie blinked in surprise, "Huh?"
Svartacus grabbed Robbie's shoulders softly and brought his face closer, "Something was going on here, what was it?"
"I don't under-"
"Robbie, someone was here. Something happened. My crystal didn't go off, but something told me you were in trouble. I need to know."
"Uh…" Robbie looked down to the floor, "Sportacus was here…"
Svartacus knew that he had been, but pretended otherwise. His eyes grew angry at the sound of his brother's name, but said nothing.
Robbie fidgeted, "He came down and apologized for what he had said that night. That's all."
"That certainly wasn't all."
Robbie's eyes went back up to Svartacus's and nearly cringed underneath the intensity. It wasn't the same intensity he loved when Svartacus was focused. It was a creepy, 'I know something is wrong and it might be something really bad' intensity. It almost made his knees shake.
"Well, we talked more, but that's about it."
The empty look in Robbie's eyes told Svartacus otherwise. There wasn't just talking. Sportacus did something that made the kitten's emotions stir. Svartacus wasn't stupid. There was something Robbie wasn't telling him, scared of what he would say. Pulling Robbie closer, Svartacus hugged him tightly. His lips moved down the whisper against the tall man's ear.
"I know better than that. I can see it in your face. What did he do?"
Robbie hesitated, but wrapped his arms around Svartacus. He didn't want to do this. Not now. Svartacus was so warm and Robbie felt so cold…he just didn't want to do it right now. It might lead to an argument or even worse…losing Svartacus. Burying his face in Svartacus's chest, Robbie sighed.
"Not now, kay?"
Svartacus had to stifle a growl, "Why?"
"Just…not now. I'm too comfy right now."
If the circumstances were different, Svartacus wouldn't have argued. But Sportacus was involved right now in some form and really, he had no patience to wait. Truthfully, Svartacus hadn't wanted to resort to reading Robbie's mind, something the tall, dark man didn't know anything about. The red elf normally wouldn't feel guilty, but his time with Robbie made Svartacus feel like he was imposing on his privacy. Svartacus had always cursed himself for feeling so weak because of this. But reading Robbie's mind right now was the only way it seemed he was going to get what happened. A light twisted feeling clutched at the red elf's stomach as he pressed his face against Robbie's hair, taking in his scent and making his connection.
Sportacus had inched his way over to Robbie as close as he could get. By now, his arms had come up and loosely wrapped themselves around Robbie's shoulders with Sportacus resting his chin on Robbie's left shoulder, grinning.
"Um…You're in my bubble…"
Sportacus just grinned more, "Oh, I know."
"Could you…could you move?"
"Nope."
Robbie tensed up again, "Why not?"
"Because."
Robbie snorted, "That's no reason."
Sportacus chuckled, "I like looking at you."
Svartacus growled in his mind as he watched the blue eyes greedily eat Robbie up. You smug little…
Robbie gulped when he thought he heard a purr rumble in the elf's throat.
"Besides…I should probably go make sure there's no trouble going on in LazyTown."
"And you invading my personal space has to do with that how?"
Sportacus almost let himself blush, "I just wanna say 'bye' properly."
Before Robbie could respond with a snappy comeback, Sportacus leaned up and gave Robbie a long kiss on the cheek, causing a surprised gasp to escape his lips.
Svartacus's eyes popped open instantly and he had to stifle a vicious snarl. He couldn't believe what he just saw. Who does he think he is? Some Romeo? Some…Casanova? Little brother had balls, and Svartacus wanted to rip them off.
Robbie's eyes slowly opened when he felt Svartacus's entire body tense. His skin got even warmer, unnaturally warmer, and the occasional tremor would ripple across his muscular chest. He could hear irregular, labored breathing escaping Svartacus's lips, his chest barely moving with his breathing. Robbie knew something was wrong, but he feared pulling back and looking at his love. When he felt Svartacus's head remove itself from its position in his raven hair, a sharp shiver went down Robbie's spine from the lack of contact. After battling with himself for a few moments, Robbie reluctantly pulled back to look at Svartacus. His eyes grew wide at the expression that replaced the normally calm, soft face.
Svartacus was looking behind Robbie, his normally soft, crooked smile turned down in a fierce frown, white teeth glistening. Sweat dripped down the side of his face and his ears would occasionally twitch violently. But that's not what shocked Robbie the most. It was the fierce intensity in Svartacus's eyes. It was an intensity that radiated hate, the maroon circles blazing with fire. Robbie wanted to look away, but something wouldn't let him. Absent mindedly, Robbie raised a hand to touch his face.
"Svartacus?"
No response, but labored breathing through clenched teeth.
"Hey, Svartacus, what's wrong?"
Robbie regretted asking again. The sharp, maroon eyes shot down to look at Robbie, causing him to nearly crumble from their piercing intensity. Robbie unwound his arms from his torso and backed away slightly. He started to tremble. Never had Svartacus acted like this, at least not in front of him.
"What. Did. He. Do…"
Robbie yanked his eyes away from Svartacus, not responding.
"Kitten. Tell me the truth."
Robbie tried to push out the answer, but guilt kept him from doing so.
"…ROBBIE."
Robbie cringed as he felt his ear ache and burn and reached up to rub it. He wanted to cry, wishing this wasn't happening. But the tears were pushed back and he let out a large breath he had been holding and spoke, barely a whisper.
"He kissed me."
Even if Svartacus had already seen it, the admission made something tear inside him that would have never been there before. His eyes darted to the side and he took a few deep breaths, but his mind was whizzing even faster than before. All he could think about was how to destroy the blue one, make him suffer. A squeak from Robbie caught his attention and his eyes snapped back to the tall man. Robbie was doing all he could to hold back his frightened tears.
"Svartacus, it didn't mean anything."
Svartacus tried to soften his expression, but when he read Robbie's mind, he also read his emotions at the time it happened. It certainly did not mean nothing. Svartacus almost felt betrayed, but then again, Robbie did nothing to provoke it…at least he didn't think so…
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"Why'd he do it?"
"I DON'T KNOW."
Svartacus's entire body twisted in agony and adrenaline. He wanted to go out and rip his little brother limb from limb, but some sane part in his mind told him to wait a moment. Comfort Robbie. Svartacus snarled mentally at the voice. COMFORT ROBBIE? HE IS THE ONE THAT- "But he didn't do anything. It was Sportacus, not Robbie, who kissed and made complications." The voice was growing stronger and its arguments made Svartacus think more clearly. To him, the voice started to prove obviously right. His entire body visibly became less tense. Svartacus returned his gaze to Robbie and nearly hit himself for causing such fear in his kitten. Robbie was hugging himself, a few tears streaming down his face as his eyes watched Svartacus with fear.
"Robbie…I'm sorry."
Robbie sniffed.
Svartacus slowly engulfed Robbie in his arms again, feeling him physically tense, "I'm going to make this right again…" He took Robbie's face into his hands softly and brought him up to look at him, "I'm going to make all the troubles go away and I'm going to do it for you. Trust me."
Svartacus kissed Robbie's lips softly before quickly turning and running for the entrance to Robbie's home. The dark cape that flowed behind him covered the pipe's opening and in an instant, it was gone.
Robbie watched the entry to the pipe, tears still flowing. He didn't understand what Svartacus meant, but something inside of him stirred. Svartacus was out to do something, but Robbie wasn't sure what it was and it just added more questions and conflicts to his confusion from before the red elf had come down. Robbie slowly walked to his orange, fuzzy chair and collapsed in the sea of fuzz, crying softly to himself.
What do I do?
---------------------------------
Sportacus hummed happily to himself up in his air ship as he watched LazyTown from above. The sun had started to go down, its gleaming yellows and orange kissing the horizon. All the children would be in bed soon, meaning low chances of trouble, which in turn meant more time he could spend the way he wanted…More time with Robbie. His heart fluttered with the thought of Robbie. Sportacus admitted it to himself. What he had done down there was risky and incredibly stupid, but it proved slightly fruitful. Robbie didn't protest. He didn't yell. His body language said wonders and Sportacus grew more excited with every ticking second. Nothing could ruin such a ni-
Sportacus's crystal started blinking. Looking down, he stood up immediately. Looking back out over the town, he sighed.
"Someone's in trouble…Pixel."
Sportacus flipped over to the platform and ordered it down. Slowly it descended, and his rope ladder rolled down for its commander. Sportacus made quick work climbing down the ladder and flipped off to find Pixel. The fact that it was Pixel who was in trouble made Sportacus a bit worried. Pixel had been going through a lot in the last few days and nothing seemed to remedy it. Maybe it was time for Sportacus to take the offensive. It was time to fix Pixel.
Sportacus flipped over a large wall and landed on his feet. Where Pixel was was a place he hadn't been to much. It was a small park with a pond in the middle. Sportacus had been there time to time, but otherwise, it was usually left untouched. His eyes scanned the area and it didn't take him long to find the boy genius. Pixel had somehow managed to fall into the pond, the deep area where it was easy for children to drown. Water was flying through the air as Pixel beat at the water, but seemed to not go anywhere. It was confusing. Sportacus knew that all the children could swim well and Pixel wasn't getting anywhere.
Flipping to the edge of the pond, Sportacus dove straight into the water, swimming swiftly to Pixel. Once he reached the boy, he wrapped a large arm underneath his waist, struggling to keep himself a float with a flailing child.
"It's okay, Pixel! I got you!"
"No! It's not! I'm caught!"
Sportacus tugged Pixel up slightly and something pulled back. Pixel grunted slightly as he felt himself being tugged at both ends. It was embarrassing. The child genius couldn't get himself out of his own mess. He snarled at the water, still flailing as Sportacus hung onto him. The hero looked at Pixel, then down to his leg, moving his hand down to his foot. Sure enough, some sort of root had wrapped around Pixel's ankle. The rough bark was nearly solid rock, and Sportacus found it hard to break the boy free. Muttering under his breath, Sportacus conjured an elfin spell, causing the root to crumble away from Pixel's ankle. Once he was free, Pixel broke from Sportacus's grasp and began to swim for shore. Sportacus followed close behind, making sure the boy didn't drown from exhaustion.
Pixel finally made it to shore and collapsed on the soft dirt and grass. It felt good to be back on land. Never again would he dive into a pond where he knew old trees had been pushed into. Sportacus stood next to the boy, looking down at him with relief, curiosity, and anxiousness. Now was the time to figure out what was wrong with Pixel, and it needed to get over with as soon as possible. When Pixel started to rise slightly, making it to his hands and knees, Sportacus flashed his million dollar smile.
"You okay, Pixel?"
Pixel's eyes narrowed as he turned to look at him without a word.
"You sure were lucky I got here in time. Any longer, you might have gone under with pure exhaustion and drowned."
Pixel scowled slightly, "Yeah, well…" He stood up, brushing off his clothes, "I don't give up as easily as you think I would. Just because I'm a child doesn't mean I couldn't have saved myself."
Sportacus tilted his head to the side. The tone in Pixel's voice was almost…demeaning; as if Sportacus was totally oblivious to something. It was possible the boy was just tired. With that possibility, he shrugged it off. His deep blue eyes wandered back over the water.
"What were you doing anyways, Pixel? I mean, it's almost night time. I could see how you might have just fallen in along the outskirts here, but you were pretty much in the middle of the pond. How'd you get way out there?"
Pixel looked at him as if he was stupid, "The tree." Pixel turned and pointed to the large oak tree that had to be over a couple hundred years old, "You see that branch? It nearly covers the entire pond."
"You climbed the tree?"
"Boys have the tendency to climb things."
Sportacus raised an eye brow, "And just why did you climb way out there?"
Pixel rolled his eyes, "It's a common thing in boys, you know? Curiosity. I wanted to see how far it went."
"Then you fell in."
"Dove actually."
Sportacus nearly choked on his own spit, "You DOVE?"
"Yup."
"Why?"
Pixel only shrugged. Sportacus nearly grabbed the boy and shook him. What was going on with him? First he's all angry and asking stupid questions. Now he's being sarcastic and doing stupid things. He was so flabbergasted, he couldn't speak. Pixel didn't pay much attention to Sportacus's body language as he walked over to a nearby tree and picked up his pocket knife. Sportacus's eyes grew wide when he saw the object.
"Pixel, what is that?"
"Knife, obviously."
"What're you doing with a knife?"
Pixel flipped it open and started to carve on the tree, "Carving on trees. I saw Trixie do it once and decided I'd give it a go. I was working on this tree when I saw the large branch over the water-"
"OKAY, Pixel. That's enough. What has gotten into you?!"
Pixel just shrugged.
"Oh don't give me that! You've been acting so strange lately. What's going on? Is it something to do with-"
Pixel kept carving at the tree, "We had this discussion before, didn't we? This whole deal of for some reason there has to be a reason for everything?"
"That's beside the point, Pixel. You don't do stupid things for no reason, you of all the people don't at least."
Pixel stopped carving and looked at him disgustingly, "And why should I be an exception?"
"You've always been the practical child. I've always counted on you to be a good role model for the other-"
"What kind of role model can I be when the one who's supposed to be mine won't friggen' GROW UP!?"
Sportacus nearly toppled over with the intensity of Pixel's voice. The boy was in a defensive stance now, shooting icy glares into the heart of the elf. Sportacus could swear he could hear snarls in the boy's chest. Keep it cool, Sportacus. Calm him down. The pure impact of what Pixel had said finally hit him and he gasped in slight offense.
"What do you mean? Grow up?"
"Oh please, Sportacus. You don't know half of how reality works and you don't know anything about what's going on around you. YOU answer questions in the way your world works, not the real. When people prove you wrong, you run around with your tail between your legs. You don't LISTEN to us! We're KIDS! Who listens to kids, huh? OBVIOUSLY YOU DON'T."
Sportacus cocked his head to the side, "I'm not sure what you mean when you say I don't know what's going on anymore."
Pixel snorted, "Of course you don't. You don't even know what's going on with the people close around you."
"Like who?"
"Robbie."
Sportacus was quiet momentarily. He knew what was going on with Robbie. Sportacus had just been down there and Robbie was cleaning. What that had to do with Pixel being so troublesome didn't make sense.
"Um, I was just there this afternoon. I know what Robbie is doing."
"So you're okay with that?"
"…he…he was just cleaning, Pixel. Grown ups are allowed to do that you know?"
Pixel snarled. That idiot didn't TELL SPORTACUS! "You…are SO NAÏVE."
Sportacus folded his arms over his chest, "Excuse me?"
"He's not cleaning, Sportacus. He didn't have the nerve to tell you the truth."
"And just what is the truth, Pixel?"
"ROBBIE IS LEAVING."
"…huh?"
"As in Robbie won't be LIVING in LazyTown anymore."
Sportacus stood silent in shock. Robbie? Leaving LazyTown? That wasn't right. Robbie earlier had just told him he was cleaning. Pixel must be hallucinating and needed some medicine. The idea of Robbie Rotten leaving LazyTown was just absurd, and the blue elf was ready to laugh it off. But a little voice in the back of Sportacus's mind reminded him of what really had happened. Sportacus had suggested he was cleaning and Robbie responded "something like that." Sportacus's theory was falling faster than a rock in water.
Something in Sportacus's soul cracked and he nearly fell down in tears, but with the boy standing in front of him, he couldn't bring himself to such a thing. On the outside, Sportacus only looked shocked.
But inside, the elf's insides were ripped to pieces and his ears could hear the shattering sound of his heart breaking into shards of red glass…Robbie…
AN
Hey guys! Kami here! Update? Not in a long while, but an update none-of-the-less. There is a reason why I hadn't gotten to this. Last semester I was in a film class in which my final film project required a lot of attention...as in at least 12 straight hours of editing and putting together. I will spare the details, but that class took up at least three fourths of my time. The other fourth was nearly dedicated to all the other classes.
But the chapter. Truthfully, there isn't much to say about this chapter. Svartacus realizes Sportacus, unknowingly, has been messing with his plans, only he didn't know the full extent. Svartacus gets this little voice inside of his head that keeps him rationalized when he's about to go nuts. Almost like those little angels that are depicted in some cartoons, the angel and the devil? Who knew that was derived from Islam? Lol. Pixel follows Svartacus's advice and starts to rebel. I really can't leave Sportacus or Robbie alone, can I? They start to get a happy break but get sucked right back into negativeness.
And I never realized it. You know how we always associate Robbie with the color Purple and Sportacus with the color Blue and Svartacus is now associated with the color Red? Blue and Red make Purple. Sportacus and Svartacus both want Robbie. Robbie, to make his color, needs both. See conflict in strange, color metaphors? I do! :D
Anyways, thanks for reading, everybody! More on the way