Children of the Mirror 2: Remember Me

...13th Part: Dark...

The songs went on, one by one, and awkward silence of words reigned between me and Krad, because we couldn't find anything to say unless we were arguing about dreams; whether they were relevant or not.

Krad's head ended up on my shoulder as time passed. He wasn't asleep, but his eyes were bleary and absent-looking. It wouldn't be long before he did fall asleep.

"Hey, Krad?"

"Hmm..?" he mumbled.

"Why did you start refusing to pay for that hotel room?" I wondered. "You owe me big time, you know that?"

Krad sighed and looked up toward me a little, mostly just shifting his hazy golden eyes. "I didn't have any money left," he said. "I'm surprised that I actually lasted that long. All that I had," he explained, "I found in my pockets."

I raised a quizzical eyebrow at him. "You just found all that money in your pockets?"

"That's what I've told you." Krad turned his gaze away from me again, looking down at the floor. "I only have one idea where it might have come from."

I knew what he was going to tell me. It was obvious that he was thinking of those dreams, again. The ones where we were allies in some way, journeying across nowhere in particular to find something we couldn't identify as anything specific. To me, not only was everything about those dreams ridiculous, it seemed horribly unfinished; lacking in detail.

Adjusting my legs so that I could stand up, I decided that it was time I leave. I didn't want to deal with anymore nonsense than I had to.

"Wait!" Krad said, grabbing my arm and pressing his face against my shoulder. "Don't leave just yet. I don't want you to leave until I figure out what I'm missing."

"Maybe you're missing a life," I suggested tartly. "Let go of me already. How can I trust you not to murder me in my sleep or something? Seriously..." I tried to stand up again, but Krad stretched his arm out over my chest, locking me to the wall.

"Don't. Go," he insisted.

So, with not many other options, I stayed.

. . .

"Ah! Jeez, when did you get there!?" I found myself looking around for a clock.

Krad shrugged his bare shoulders. He was sitting on the edge of my bed... in a towel. I rolled my eyes at him and got up to look for some clothes. Hopefully, we were the same size.

. . .

"You're the one who gave it to me!"

. . .

I snatched him back to me, turning him around and pressing my lips against his. "You might just have a point," I relented, reluctantly.

. . .

Krad glared at me.

"What?" I wondered. "I didn't do anything wrong, did I?" Krad didn't answer and I could see a slight blush dusting his cheeks. I felt a smirk tugging at my lips. "I knew it," I boasted, poking at his chest triumphantly. "You like it when I kiss you."

. . .

"Are you ready for the end of the world?"

. . .

I woke up with a start, feeling very disturbed and disoriented. Remembering to breathe again, I looked down at my shoulder. What I saw was not surprising. Krad was still leaning against me, but now he was asleep. My MP3 player had long since turned itself off, so I wrapped the ear-buds around it and shoved it in my pocket.

Now, to find a way to get up without waking the sleeping man beside me.

After what I'd just seen, I did not really want his company.

I moved away from him slowly, holding his head up with my arm. I lowered him to the ground just as carefully, if not more so, and once standing, I stayed just to gaze puzzlingly at him for a while.

Finally, I walked away, leaving the almost angelic-looking figure there on the floor. There was a small knot in my chest that wanted me to go back to him, but I'd left him before. I didn't see why it would make much of a difference now.

Smothering the feeling, I walked on. I needed to go home.