Disclaimer:
Well, since this is an AU story, would that mean…nope, I still dun own Rockman. @[email protected];Random Rant:
My oh my, it sure has been a while since I last wrote something! Hehe, I've been getting lazy, ne? …Actually, it's school's fault, but there ain't I thing I can do about that. @[email protected] I hope you guys enjoy this. 'Tis a little AU ("Alternate Universe" for those who dunno. XD) story consisting of the original Rockman crew. Just a lil' somethin' somethin' I got the idea for a while back while reading Mick Farren's Renquist Quartet. Yes. It'll take me a while to whip out the rest of the chapters for this thing, since I'm trying to work on detail and such, and since I've currently been "grounded" from the internet, but I'll still try to update this thing regularly! ::try try::BTW, "nosferatu" means "vampire". ::nod::
Warning:
There'll be massive amounts of shounen-ai and perhaps even yaoi in this thing! Dun read it if you don't like that kinda stuff!\ lost in you /
By Bibly
The soft pitter-patter of rain echoed into the night, creating a comforting aura of false peace in the night's dark embrace. Had it not been for the thick clouds that hovered overhead, the sky would have been filled with beautifully twinkling stars and a bright full moon, sending young lovers, sky-gazers, and hoodlums of all kinds out of their homes and into the eerie glow. The streets of the city were still alive, even in the ugly weather, but the sidewalks themselves were quite bare and devoid of life. Only a few unlucky souls found themselves scattering across the concrete, hoping to reach the warmth of their vehicles or small city homes before the rain began to pour upon them. Their bodies weaved in and out of the colorful, artificial light created by the numerous neon signs that hung in the store windows; the stop lights and light posts that stood before them shining lightly on them as they hurried past, falling into a small patch of darkness before reaching the light once again.
However, as the people scurried by through the night, one lone figure walked through the rain calmly, his violet hair matted to his head, nearly covering his shut eyes completely. He didn't care that numerous people brushed against him, some curing at him for walking down the middle of the rather narrow sidewalk, others not even bothering with his presence. He continued wandering, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his long black coat, his black and red sneakers soaked with water as he splashed through puddles. It was obvious to him even through his shut eyes that many people were peering at him oddly, probably even sensing his hostile, violent nature. He grinned to himself. The fact that he seemed to radiate the mere feeling of death and destruction toward the humans that walked the earth made him feel superior to them, not that he wasn't to begin with. His race had lasted for many millennia, feeding on the helpless, stupid people that were so frightened of them, yet refused to even admit their existence.
Slowly coming to a halt upon the sidewalk, he opened his eyes, peering through his bangs with blood-red irises. He blinked slowly, scanning the area in which he stood – not exactly for a good source of food – but merely to see the area that he had wandered to. Filthy: that was the only word he could think of. Although he hadn't been part of the undead for very long, he could still see just how ugly the world was becoming with time. Not that things were any better when he was a mortal himself. He sighed. Even the people around him were filthy, much like the city in which they lived. Their blood was polluted with massive amounts of drugs or alcohol – a good deal of time being both of those substances – and to a nosferatu, such dirty additions to blood were like poison. Not that it would kill them, but the taste itself was enough to make one feel unbelievably sick. He would know. He had learned the hard way.
Stupid humans, he thought as he watched a group of young males and females wander past. He glared. Not only could he see the drugs they all had obviously taken by watching them sway across the pavement, but he could also SMELL the putrid vapors of various types of narcotics flowing from them. After they passed, he slowly began walking away from them, wanting to get away from the fowl young mortals and see what else the beautiful dreary night had to offer. To his dismay, nothing of any interest showed themselves to him. Even within the rainy weather, quite a few of the standard hookers that normally patrolled the streets on a clear night stood in the protection of arches leading to apartment buildings, every now and then coming out to try to lure a man – or even a woman – into considering them as their play-things for the night, just to get some money to try to live off of. Despite the obviously mysterious, murderous aura he gave off, quite a few bothered to come up to his side and brush up against him, trying to coax him into having a "night of pleasure" with them. Had he wanted a quick, simple meal, he would had gladly obliged to join one of them, despite the drugs that would surely be running through their veins. If he was hungry enough, however, the poisonous blood wouldn't make a difference to him. Other than the slight humor he gained from watching them throw their lives away on drugs, sex, and one-night stands, nothing else seemed worth noting.
"You seem a bit bored, Forte. Mind if I join you?" a deep voice questioned softly into his ear, accompanied by a pair of slender arms wrapping around his waist loosely and a light bite on his neck, two fangs teasing his flesh.
Forte sighed. He knew exactly who it was. Only one nosferatu in the whole colony in which he lived in would do something like that. "Gospel. I thought you were hunting on the other side of the city tonight," he stated flatly, turning his head slightly to gaze at him.
Gospel shrugged, closing his own blood-red eyes, a playful grin playing on his lips. "I was, but there's nothing of interest over there." He opened his eyes slightly, peering straight into Forte's, and purred. "The interesting ones are all over here."
Pulling away from the younger nosferatu, Forte fixed his coat, then gazed back at Gospel. The shorter boy was adorned in a simple white long-sleeved shirt – which now appeared a pale peach color as it continued to get pounded with rain and stick to his body – and dark blue jeans. His black shoes sparkled as droplets of rain crashed into them, making them almost glow in the pale store lights that shown through the windows. Forte shook his head, running a hand through Gospel's black hair. "Aren't you cold at all?"
Gospel chuckled. "You of all people should know that the weather doesn't make much of a difference. Besides – " he whispered, coming up to him and leaning against him, " – I'd figure you'd like seeing my chest through my shirt." He purred again lightly, staring up at him.
Forte grinned. "I've seen more than just your bare chest. Remember that," he replied as he kissed him slowly, his cold lips pressing against Gospel's own. Gospel responded in kind, finishing the short kiss with a quick lick to Forte's lips, watching as he pulled back and grinned once again. "Did you already hunt?" he questioned, turning away from him slightly to look at the humans that continued to pass them by. None of them seemed to have noticed the two males kissing before them, something Forte knew wasn't exactly thought kindly upon by their race, not that it mattered to a nosferatu.
"No, not yet," Gospel replied, eyeing them as well. "I can't seem to find interesting prey. I'm getting sick of the easy ones."
"True, but we can't help that. Would you prefer to wait for a someone worth while and starve?"
"It's not like I'd die from it."
"Yes, but the others at the Residence will consider you to be a hazard to the colony if you do that."
Gospel huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and staring at Forte with an almost childish look of annoyance on his face. "Why should that matter? I don't care what they'd consider it. It's my choice to do so or not."
A soft smile played on Forte's lips as he patted his shoulder gently. "It should matter to you, Gospel. A hungry nosferatu would mean trouble to the colony. Not hunting for a long amount of time could make you become primal, perhaps making you lash out on one within the colony or even run out into the sun light in a blind rage." He kissed his forehead lightly, then continued to walk. "You know I wouldn't want that to happen to you."
Silence enveloped the two as they continued their walk through the rain, both now searching for a potential source of blood, one that was preferably both interesting and would freely allow themselves to succumb to death. Forte heaved a soft sigh, running his hand through his hair as he peered down at the soaked concrete. He blinked slowly. Sometimes he missed being mortal; he often longed to see his reflection again, to be able to peer into his own eyes and see what he looked like on a day to day basis. But it was something he willingly gave up nearly sixty years ago.
Returning his gaze to the world around him, Forte continued to look around, pretending to be looking for some sort of shelter from the rain to make his true intention unknown to the ones around him. He sighed again, closing his eyes for a few seconds, then opening them again. Suddenly, his breath caught in his throat. His eyes opened widely as he stopped in the middle of the sidewalk once again. He could tell Gospel had noticed his suddenly odd behavior; he could see his mouth moving as he stopped a few paces ahead of him, calling out to him, asking him why he had stopped, but that didn't matter. Nothing seemed to matter to him at that moment. He had found someone of interest, and he was the most beautiful thing Forte had ever seen in all his sixty years of immortality.
~ * - - - - - - - - - - * ~
Stupid library. Stupid homework. Stupid school. All he wanted to do was go home and sleep, but he couldn't. He had to finish his report, the report that would determine his whole third quarter grade, the report he had put off all this time to help his family with the payments on their little apartment over in the run-down part of the city. Rubbing his temples slowly with his thumb and index finger, he stared down at the couple sheets of paper that sat on the table before him, completely bare of any writing except for two small, messily written words that sat at the top of the page: Rock Light.
"Grade-A report work right here!" Rock grumbled to himself as he stretched his arms out before him, resting them on the open book that sat a few inches away before placing his head gently on the papers, a loud, aggravated sigh escaping his lips. He lay there for a few moments, his eyes closed lightly as he listened to the soft jazz music that sounded from his CD player and into his ears before finally raising his head to peak at the book. Japanese history. He HATED history. He grumbled to himself again as he flipped through the pages. Why should he care about a bunch of dead people? Sure, so they had an effect on history, but did they matter to him? No! No, they didn't! But he HAD to take the class in order to graduate from high school, and with a high school degree, he would be able to get a slightly better job than the one he currently had, which would make paying rent for his family's apartment much easier.
Sitting up in his seat, Rock immediately began skimming through the first page, attempting to keep his mind from wandering, but found himself staring out the window just as quickly as he had began skimming. He sighed. He was never going to finish that paper, and he knew it. It was already near nightfall; despite the thick clouds that had blocked out the sun all day and the usual dark shadows the large city buildings would cast upon the ground, he had a knack for being able to tell the time of day it was without even needing a clock. He thought of it as a type of cheap talent, something that wasn't really of any use to him or anyone else. Blinking slowly, Rock spotted small raindrops beginning to crash into the dirty ground, which soon elevated to slightly heavier rain. He suddenly became interested in the people that began to dash past the library window, some with newspapers held over their heads, others with hoods or umbrellas, all of them searching for somewhere to go in order to escape the rain. Rock smiled softly. He always thought of the rain as a sort of blessing, something that he could use to wash away his troubles and fears, even if it was just temporary. He needed something to keep his mind occupied more than ever now, what with the bills piling up at home and the report needing to be –
"The report!" Rock shouted loudly, immediately regretting it when the librarian shushed him just as loudly. Stupid librarians, being allowed to break their own silence rule. Placing his pencil against the top line of the paper, he scribbled "Emperors During the Edo Era" quickly, nodded, then immediately turned his attention back to the book, determined to get it done, if not all of it, than at least most of it. Working diligently for what he guessed was about three hours with no more than a good three and a half pages written out, he removed his headphones and looked at what he had accomplished. No doubt he'd have to pull off an all-nighter. Hopefully he'd be able to finish it in time to at least get a few hours of sleep.
Closing the book before him, Rock immediately began putting his papers away, shoving the pencil into the small pencil case he had, then neatly placing the papers into a paper folder. He quickly put them in his backpack, placed his headphones in his coat pocket, then gathered the five books he had found and waddled over to the check-out counter, trying his hardest to keep them from slipping and causing a scene. He smiled gently at the librarian as he handed her his library card. The older woman glanced briefly at the stack of books with a glint of humor in her eyes before sliding the card through the computer and asking in a soft voice, "Have a report to finish up, ne?"
"Yes, ma'am," Rock answered kindly, nodding his head and slowly taking his card back.
"Japanese history? Very interesting topic."
"I don't think so."
"Really? I thought a lot of you young kids were into the country's history, what the with samurai and all."
Rock huffed slightly. "Young kids"? He was fifteen years old! He wasn't some "young kid" who dreamed of samurai and bloody battles and such! He had ACTUAL things to keep his mind occupied, despite how much he wish he didn't. "Not me. I think it's kinda boring."
The librarian stacked the books back together as she finished and pushed them towards him. "Really? You're probably the first I've come across who's told me that. Well, enjoy. I hope you get a good mark on your report."
"Me, too," Rock replied with a grunt as he grasped onto the books and headed toward the front door. Placing them down on a small nearby bench, he picked up the pay phone that sat mounted on the wall, searching through his pockets to find some change. Taking out whatever he could find, he picked through the limited amount of coins in his possession, breathing a sigh of relief when he realized he had just enough to make one call. Placing the coins into the phone and quickly dialing a number on the number pad, he waited through a few rings of the phone before he was greeted by loud screaming on the other end.
"Rock Light, where have you been?!" a young, feminine voice scolded him, making him cringe and pull the phone away.
"Geeze, Roll, calm down!" Rock replied gently. "I'm inna library!"
"Library? You never said anything about going to the library!"
"Yes I did, Roll! Before I left for school! 'Hey Roll, I'm going to the library after school, so I'll be home late!' Those are my exact words!"
Roll sighed, obviously aggravated. "Well, I didn't hear you!"
"That's not my fault! It doesn't give you the right to –" Rock rolled his eyes, cutting his sentence short, knowing it was time he ended the argument right there. "Listen, is Blues there? I need to ask him something."
"Hold on. Lemme check." A moment of silence passed before Rock was pelted with another loud scream. "Blues! Rock's on the phone! Pick up! …BLUES! Pick up the stupid phone!!"
"Holy cow, lady, shut up before you wake up everyone else in the damn apartment building." Blues' deep voice suddenly appeared on the receiver, oozing with the slowness that always accompanied his voice after he was woken up from a nap. Roll, obviously hearing his sarcastic remark, slammed the phone down as an answer, causing Rock to wince and Blues to grumble loudly. "So Rock. Whadd'ya need?" the elder Light sibling asked, following with a loud yawn.
Rock blinked, scratching the back of his head lightly. "Oh man, did Roll wake you up? Sorry! If I knew you were taking a nap, I would have just walked home!"
"No, no, no! It's all right! I'd prefer getting bitched awake than you walking home in this kind of weather." Blues sat silently for a few moments at the other end of the phone line before realizing what Rock wanted. "You need a ride home?"
"Yeah, if you don't mind," Rock whispered, suddenly aware of the stares he was receiving from quite a few people. "I'm at the library."
"All right. I should be there in…oh…fifteen minutes. Wait inside, though. …As if I really need to tell you." Blues chuckled softly before bidding him good-bye and hung up the phone.
Rock sat down next to his books and muttered to himself. Why was it that everyone treated him like some stupid six year old? He wasn't an idiot – he had both common sense and a conscience, so it wasn't like he'd suddenly decide it was nice outside and go stand in the rain or walk into the middle of the street or anything. Even the people at school treated him the same way. His "friends" seemed to think of him as some little kid who should be protected from everything and anything. So what if he never had a girlfriend before, had never been kissed or anything like that? Just because he didn't have the urge to get involved in anything like that didn't mean he didn't know about the stuff. For once, he'd like to come across someone who wouldn't either treat him like he was still in a crib.
Before he knew it, Blues was sitting in his car in front of the building, peering inside from his driver-side seat, his pale violet eyes searching for his brother from behind his trademark sunglasses. Heaving the weight of the books into his arms once again, Rock took a deep breath, then ran as quickly and as carefully as he could to the car. Had he not been in a rush to reach the safety of the worn-down automobile, he would have realized that a pair of wide crimson eyes had suddenly locked onto him.