Disclaimer: All characters from Gravitation belong to Murakami Maki. I make no claim to them (although it seems at least a couple made a claim on me. *_*). So please don't sue me. My fansub collection isn't worth it.. really!
Rating: PG-13 for profanity and sexual situations
The fans were screaming below the stage as spotlights washed the room with splashes of color. The singer took a deep breath, closing startlingly blue eyes as he focused. He had to sing well tonight. It was their debut! Him and Tohma and.. he cast a nervous glance at the extra set of keyboards that had been prepared on the opposite side of the stage. It seemed she had been serious about quitting. He hadn't believed her, making a joke out of it until she spun on her heel and left.
It had been a very cold night.
Now he was standing on the edge of the precipice. His dreams would either take flight, or he would fumble and crash all in the next few minutes, dragging his band mate with him.
Tohma stood quietly behind him. No one else would guess the blond was nervous, but the singer knew. The button of Tohma's shirt cuff popped in and out of its hole as the keyboardist fiddled with it.
Finally, the spotlights went dark for a moment, their cue to go out on stage. Faking confidence, he strode across the planks toward the microphone, while Tohma made his silent way to his set of keyboards. When the lights focused on the stage again, bathing the singer in fire engine red, he grinned with manic energy.
"Yahoo! I'm Ryu! And this is Tohma!" A blue light illuminated the keyboardist. Ryuichi looked to his right at the abandoned keyboards and bit his lip, but he quickly recovered. "And we are Nittle Grasper!"
A cry of despair rose up from the mass of teenagers standing on what usually passed for a dance floor, followed by demands for B.E.M., the evening's main attraction. As the chorus of young voices reached a crescendo, the singer yelled over them.
"Now, now.. they're still warming up! So we're here to do the same for you," he winked.
The roar quieted somewhat, and he took the opportunity to scan the crowd once more. But there was no sign of the figure he so desperately wanted to see.
Suddenly, a very loud voice shattered his composure. "GET OFF THE STAGE, YOU ASSWIPES!"
"We want B.E.M.!"
"Go home, ya losers!"
The rest of the crowd slowly started joining in until the noise reached a fever pitch once more, and the singer was completely at a loss.
They hated him. They hated him, and he was alone. Utterly alone. No lithe form pushed through the crowd, long hair flying, to support him now, on the most important night of his life.
The screaming filled his ears, drowning him in an ocean of rude comments and jeers.
"Chichue.. you were right. I was such a dumbass to even think I could do this."
And he sank to his knees, tears streaming down his cheeks as he collapsed, seeing the bright slivers of his dream shattering around him…
Large blue eyes opened to stare at the wall on the far side of the room, decorated with an impersonal lithograph of the seaside. It took him a moment to realize that he wasn't on stage. He was safe in his room, cuddled up in bed, with someone very warm beside him. A hand reached up, one that was attached to an arm that had been thrown over his sleeping form, and brushed his cheek. Those fingers stopped and recoiled at the dampness they found.
"Ryuichi, doushita?" a rich tenor inquired in his ear.
Ryuichi whimpered like a child who, upon waking from a nightmare, is not quite ready to tell anybody about it.
"You had a bad dream?" the voice persisted.
The lead singer of Nittle Grasper hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Mm-hm."
A gentle yet insistent hand pulled at his shoulder, rolling him onto his back. Then that same hand reached across and captured his other shoulder, drawing him onto his opposite side so that he was now facing his lover. Black hair, dark eyes…
No wonder he was so attracted.
Feather light kisses touched his forehead, the tip of his nose, then his lips. Those kisses quickly deepened, becoming more fierce, yet still protective. Eventually, his lover pulled away, but only so their noses touched. Their bodies were still pressed together, and Ryuichi could feel the growing excitement that their passionate kisses had aroused in both of them.
"Then let me give you sweet dreams for when you go back to sleep," the teenager's eyes burned into this idol's.
Ryuichi smiled, his own eyes serious. "Hai, Ta-chan," he purred.
And soon he was warm. Very warm indeed.
Notes:
Yes, Ryuichi shortens his name when he introduces himself in the dream for a reason. I did this on purpose. *chases plot kumagoro* The dream is also supposed to be slightly confusing.. it works better that way. :) (okay, okay, so it's how it came to me, so I just flowed with it. I am helplessly at the mercy of my muse!)
Doushita - What's wrong/What's the matter
Chichue - Very formal word for "father"
Hai - yes
-chan - "cute", informal name ending.
Gal pals refer to each other with -chan. Guys are usually only addressed with -chan when it's part of a pet name, or by a girl who's known him since childhood.
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