A Body of Dreams
By: Raiha-chan
Teaser: He met him in his dreams. And he can't get him out of his mind.
Author's Note: Things in italics will be flashback scenes for now. Things like //this// will be dream scenes.
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CHAPTER ONE
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The figure sat up in the large bed, blue eyes blinking sleep away from them as one hand snaked out to grab the small black clock sitting nearby. It hands indicated that it was only four in the morning.
Bradley Crawford let out a small sigh, his hands moving to rub his face tiredly. This was not the first time he had such strange dreams. As a matter of fact, they've been plaguing him since practically the day he was born. Though, they were never as frequent as they had been recently.
Throwing his comforter away from him, Brad moved to get off his bed, making his way outside his room. As he headed down the dark hallway, he noticed the light was still on in the room not far down from his. Deciding to ignore this discovery, he continued his way towards the kitchen. Light flooded the small room as Brad flicked on the wall switch. He pulled a plastic cup from its bag in one of the cabinets, filling it with warm filtered water from the faucet.
"What, dreams again?" Brad did not even bat an eyelash at the sudden voice coming from behind him. "I highly recommend a shrink."
"Speak for yourself," Brad crushed the cup in his hand once he was finished and threw it into the trash bin, making his way out of the kitchen and back to his room.
"Well, you'll know where to find me if you ever need company."
"Thanks but no thanks."
"But seriously though, you need to see someone about those dreams you're having. They're starting to become unhealthy, I think."
"Ah yes, your lovely Golden Opinions." Brad rolled his eyes as his hand rested atop the doorknob to his room, waiting to give it the twist it needs to open.
The pair of jade-colored eyes glared at him. "Now you listen here, buddy…"
"Go to sleep, Schuldig," Brad cut him off with a tired glare of his own. "If I'm lucky, I might still be able to have 3 hours of sleep. But not with you babbling nonstop to me."
"Alright, fine," Schuldig threw his hands up in the air in defeat. "But don't come running to me when you find your sanity slipping just because you wouldn't listen to a piece of good advice from me."
"I live with you. Sanity jumped out the window a long time ago."
"Why, I oughta…"
"Go. To. Sleep. Schuldig." Finally giving in, Brad gave the doorknob one big twist, pushed his bedroom door open and all but slammed it shut as he got inside, leaving Schuldig glaring still at his retreated back.
++++++++++
Bradley Crawford was a smart man. A graduate from the University of Oxford in England, Brad was first and foremost an American. He had lived in America for ten years, before moving to Japan with his family. Though accepted into Tokyo University, for reasons unknown, Brad moved once again with his family to England, where he applied for Oxford and was accepted.
Though he was somewhere between being sociable and anti-sociable, Brad still made quite a reputation for himself in the University. Part of the reason for his popularity, however, was most likely due to his physical appearance, which caused many females (and quite some males) to fall head over heels in love with him.
But never once in his 26 years of life has he gone out on a date with anyone or even spoken of a crush on anyone.
Following his graduation from the University, instead of going into business, which everyone thought he was sure to do, Brad shocked everyone by declaring that he will be going into archaeology. Because of this, it led to his temporary stay in quite a few locations, including Germany.
Which was where he met Schuldig and came to own a shop with the red-haired German in Japan.
"Hey, Boss, can I take a break now?"
"No, and stop calling me that."
"Can I take it now?"
"No."
"Now?"
"Oh, for God's sakes," Brad stopped in his trek to the backroom to glare at the German seated behind the counter. Schuldig began to pull on a pout but was interrupted by the jingle of the bells he had hung at the top of the door just to annoy the shop's other owner.
"Welcome!" Schuldig changed gears and turned to face the customer with a wide grin plastered on his face. "May we help you?"
"I think so…" The customer was a schoolgirl, as is evident in the uniform she was wearing. Twin braids hung over both shoulders and with hazel-colored eyes, the girl looked to be around 15 to 16 years old.
"Well, I'm sure we'll be able to provide you with anything you're looking for. And if we can't, we'll dig it up for you! We'll make sure you get what you want any way we can!"
"Uh…" The young girl was nearly overwhelmed by the talkative German had Brad not decided to play hero and went to save the poor child from listening to any more of Schuldig's nonsense babbling.
"What is it you're looking for?" Brad asked as he moved behind the counter, coming to stand beside the German.
"I passed by the shop earlier this week and saw an angel statue sitting out by the display window," the girl explained. "I was wondering if the statue had been sold already? I would like to buy it for my brother's birthday."
"Oh, what a darling little sister you are!" Schuldig gushed. "But are you sure you'd be able to buy such an expensive statue?"
"The price doesn't matter," the girl said.
"Ah, how pitiful, however," Schuldig shook his head, voice in a dramatic hush. "The statue has been sold to another person only yesterday!"
"Oh," the girl stated simply, crestfallen.
"We do have other angel figurines," Brad made a gesture at the cabinets against the wall. "Perhaps you would be able to find a better one among those?"
The young girl took a look at where the figurines stood, silent for a moment, before shaking her sadly. "No. I think it had to be the one I saw at the window before. It's alright if it was sold. I didn't think a beautiful statue like that would remain out there for long." The girl took a small bow. "Thank you."
"Come again," Schuldig gave the retreating back a small wave, and listened as the bells jingled again. Once the sounds have stopped, the German turned and gave Brad a small look. "If only you hadn't wanted to keep the damn thing. There you go making that poor girl upset."
"If only you hadn't insisted on wanting to put it on display in the first place," Brad retorted, giving Schuldig a look of his own.
"Things we find, we put on sale anyway. I don't see why that statue's different." Brad didn't response. He only gave the other another look and made his way to the backroom, as he had intended to do so before the customer arrived.
++++++++++
"Personally, I think you're insane," Brad adjusted his glasses on his nose carefully.
"I was born sans Sanity," Schuldig grinned at him. "Enough talking. Time to venture forward to our doom!"
"When you first saw me, did you see a 'EASY TO ANNOY' neon sign stuck to my forehead by any chance?"
"Nah, I just saw a 'HAVE A STICK SHOVED UP MY ASS' sign," the German pulled open the lock as gently as it could. When it was finally unlocked, the door swung open, creaking the entire way.
"Very funny," Brad coughed as some of the dust flew out from inside the room. "Tell me why the hell you're 'excavating' my own ATTIC?"
"Shouldn't you be asking me to tell you why you're letting me do this in the first place?" Schuldig gave him a funny look as he passed the American a flashlight.
"Oh, I thought of that. It's just that every time I did, I see Sanity cackling at me from where it was perched before it jumped to its death."
"Ouch. Fiery flames of hell?"
"Heaven."
"Double ouch." Brad gave an audible sigh as he followed Schuldig into the darkened room that is his attic. "You know, you didn't complain quite as much when we were digging up MY attic."
"Because that was YOUR attic and you 'dig it up' every other month!"
"I have a lot of junk," Schuldig gave his friend an innocent look. "But anyway, let's see what we got here. We might be able to find some dirty old secrets of yours."
Brad only rolled his eyes in response. He watched silently as Schuldig pulled out the metal box nearest to him and blew the dust off the top.
"Oh man, the dust is like ten layers thick here!" Schuldig coughed, holding a hand over his nose.
"I'm sure it couldn't possibly compare to yours," Brad remarked, squatting down across from Schuldig.
"I'll be the one here with the bigger heart then," Schuldig gave him a glare before giving his attention to the lock. "I'm thinking all you have to do is poke this stupid thing and it'll give way." Putting his words to actions, it hardly surprised him any when the lock did indeed give way. Stored away inside, however, was another smaller box.
"Seems like we found quite a treasure after only being in here for less than 10 minutes," Schuldig stated, gleefully. "Come help me pull this box out."
Brad gave another sigh and stood up, just as Schuldig was beginning to stand as well. Both bent over the box at the same time, hands going to grasp the box at its sides. Schuldig gave the signal and both men began to heave the box upwards. However, despite its appearance, the box had been relatively light making it easy for them to move over to an empty space on the floor.
"And here I thought it would be more heavier than this," Schuldig said, as they placed the box to rest on the floor. "So then let the master here get the lock open and the treasures revealed!"
"It would be nicer if you're less pompous," Brad commented, as Schuldig sat down before the lock to inspect it closely.
"Yes, it would, wouldn't it?" was all the response that Schuldig was willing to give. Brad also sat himself down when he realized that once Schuldig's attention was completely elsewhere, it would be hard for it to come back to him and his words.
"Figured it out yet?" Brad asked, bored.
"Patience is a virtue." Brad was more than sure that if he was drinking or eating anything at the time, he would've choked and died already. Deciding that he would rather not hear that kind of words being spilled forth from the German's lips again, Brad simply sat quietly and waited for Schuldig to finish. The only sound that remained in the room was the soft ticking of his watch.
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// 'There you are!'
He turned and watched fondly as the other skipped lightly over to him. Long, pale arms enveloped him in a gentle embrace, giving rise to a small smile on his face.
'I was looking all over for you! Don't you know you are very hard to find?'
A playful pout.
"Am I?"
'Absolutely! But I'm glad I found you now.'
"I'm glad, too."
'But you know now that I've caught you, you won't ever be able to get away from me anymore right?'
"I wouldn't want to."
A soft laugh as the world exploded in hues of red, violet and gold.
'Good!' //
"Good God, this is impossible!" Schuldig declared, throwing his hands up defeat. He looked up, mouth opened to form his next words, only to find Brad sprawled over the top of the box, asleep. Schuldig glared half-heartedly at his partner-in-crime, making a move to wake the sleeping man when he stopped, noticing the strange but happy smile present on Brad's face.
"I'd be willing to bet my life that it's those dreams of his again." Shaking his head, the German took Brad's left shoulder and began shaking him awake. He watched as the smile was disappeared from the American's face, only to be replaced by a small frown. Blue eyes began to open as their owner became fully awake.
Sitting up, Brad stretched slowly, eyes blinking away what remains of sleep. "Schuldig?"
"Yes, Schuldig," the German looked at him. "I told you to do something about those dreams but you never listen! But anyway, I couldn't figure out this lock. It has some weird shape in it, not a normal keyhole."
"Shape?" Brad rubbed at his eyes, slowly registering the other's words.
"Yeah, some cross." Schuldig looked up when he saw the silhouette of Brad almost falling over again, as if returning to his slumber. He froze when he caught the gleam of light reflecting off the short necklace that he's always seen the other wore. It was a simple silver cross, hanging from a black leather cord. A gold 'X' was set over the area where the two lines intersected.
"That cross necklace…" Schuldig leaned closer to get a better look at the object in question.
"What, this?" Brad held up his necklace. "I got this from my grandmother, just before she passed away. Something about it being a family heirloom thing."
"Can you take it off for a second?" Schuldig asked, barely listening to what Brad had just told him. Brad gave him a small look then moved both hands around him to unclasp the necklace.
"Thanks," the German murmured as Brad handed him the necklace. Scooting backwards slightly, Schuldig bent over the lock again. He looked back and forth between the lock and the necklace in his hands before finally, moving to set the cross on the necklace in place with the shape on the lock. When he heard a click, Schuldig let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
Schuldig took the cross out of the lock and handed the necklace back to Brad, who promptly secured it around his neck once again. The German gently pushed the lid upwards as Brad stood and moved around the box, sitting down again beside him. Setting the lid back once it was fully opened, Schuldig returned his gaze to the treasure hidden inside the case.
Laying in the middle of a dark, velvety cushion was a porcelain angel about a foot and a half tall. It hands were crossed over its chest, and its eyes closed, looking as if in eternal peace. A halo was set on its head, the gold still looking bright as if the statue had only been created barely a week ago. The hair was long and straight, disappearing behind the angel's body. It wore a simple white robe that an inch or two past its ankles. A rope of gold hung around the waist, a piece falling down and resting on its left leg.
The angel was created to look so plain and simple that it would not attract many people if the wings had not existed. Spread out on both sides of the angel were a pair of wings with so many different shades of the same colors that it certainly brightened up the image.
The most solid and stood out color was the violet, outlining the shape of each nook and cranny that made up the wings and its feathers. Beneath the violet was a streak of gold, working as a shadow for the violet. Streaks of red colored in the remaining spaces as if the creator had become so hasty in his want to finish the statue that each stroke was incomplete and the color fading at the ends.
"This is certainly…pretty," Schuldig remarked. "And you know me - not quite the type to appreciate art, or even care about it." When his comments had received no response, Schuldig looked up to find Brad completely immersed in the statue.
"Oy," Schuldig gave his friend a slight push, jolting the latter to awareness. "You okay? You zoned out on me, you know. That's not nice, especially when the person's talking."
"That's incredibly nice when the person talking is you," Brad retorted. He shook his head, continuing, "Anyway, let's get this statue downstairs first."
"What about the other junk in your attic?" Schuldig asked as he watched Brad took the statue in his hands carefully and slowly.
"I'll let you explore it all you like next time around."
"You're not kidding?" Schuldig gaped. When Brad disappeared out of the room, he hurried to close the case, putting it back where it belong in order to catch up with the retreating back.
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Schuldig sighed once he heard the click that told him Brad locked himself in the backroom again so as to not get any interruptions from the German in the middle of his work again.
"Ol' Stick up the Ass," Schuldig muttered beneath his breath, while settling himself in a comfortable position to sleep.
Across the street from the shop, a black car started and pulled away.
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CHAPTER ONE: End
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