Disclaimer: I do not own Escaflowne.
Author's Note: Okay, I'm not sure where this is going, so bear with me. I kind of just wanted to write about a modern day Esca. romance. I thought that it'd be kinda cool if maybe there were no really big plot. I just feel like writing about everyday things that could happen to the characters. I'm sure some of it will be a bit farfetched, but hey- that's fiction. I guess it's mostly a piece about relationships. I hope this turns out well. Wish me luck!
*- Marks journal entries.
Chi-Town Nights
Chapter 1:
Enter Snow White
*November 27, 2002 11:29 A.M.Folken Lacour De Fanel
There's something very quieting about the way she looks at me and smiles. Our damaged world falls silent, the clock stops, the noise just clatters to a halt. A feeling like the turn of a carousel captures her and I in this strange moment of peace. It's amazing that a person like me is offered peace with someone like her. Then again we are both figures of shadow. Perhaps peace is not the right word for what we have. Never in my life will I ever truly obtain peace. I've crushed too much with this metal hand of mine. Ideals are too fleeting for humans to really comprehend. And what is peace but an ideal? Worlds shatter under the weight of people's ideals, their quest for the abstract musings of the mind. Gods know, I could've brought more destruction upon my own world had I not seen the veils before my eyes. Chasing dreams only to find that they are nightmares, evils that terrorize more than just the dreamer.
I don't even belong to this world, and yet here I have found what some would call a home. Oddly enough I fit here better then I did in Gaea. But still, I have no place. No matter where I find myself I'm never content, though sometimes in her presence I forget that. Should I be branded a coward for seeking out this little happiness to escape the tragedy of my life? Happiness is such a foreign word to me. It applied when I was young, before I knew of cruel realities in places of cold steel. And, perhaps it applies now, in this new world, with her.*
"Hey, have you seen my other earring?" She stood in the doorway, her hands to her ear as she fastened a silver hoop to it. He shut the laptop, pushing it farther back on the desk. Turning in the chair to face her he shook his head. She frowned with a sigh. She looked like a young girl when she frowned that way. Blowing a few stray hairs from her eyes she put her hands on her hips, "Kay, well I'm going to go check the bedroom again." He smiled lightly as she turned and disappeared from sight.
"You're late again," He commented, getting to his feet. He walked into the living room, heading toward the kitchen. Taking the two steps that led from the carpeted living room into the tiled kitchen he pulled a cell phone from his pocket. Flipping it open he pushed one button and held it to his ear ("Can you hear me now?" j/k). "Manny, bring the Explorer to the front… Thanks," He said. Turning at the sound of her heels on the tile he slipped the phone back into his pocket, "Manny's waiting downstairs."
"I was just gonna call a cab," She smiled as she picked up an apple from the bowl on the counter, "You going with?" She bit into the apple, leaving her burgundy lipstick on the green around her bite. The tangy scent hit his nose and for some reason he was reminded of the story of "Snow White". What irony seeing as how she was a pale beauty with midnight hair and hazel eyes. Bitter for bitter, a green apple for a cynical lady. Her smile grew as her eyes narrowed with a mysterious sparkle he had grown to love. She walked up to him and held the apple before her face as she tilted her head back to look at him, "Bite?" He smirked and shook his head. Laughing softly she pushed up on her toes, moving the apple away so that she could see his whole face. Kissing her lips he could taste the tart sweetness of the apple's juice.
"We should go," He said when they had broken away. She put her hand on his cheek, moving her thumb against his lips to remove the lipstick.
"Too bad," She sighed, her eyes taking on a devious glint, "A little morning tumble's good for the creative process." Her tongue slid across her teeth as she winked in a seductive gesture. The enchantress Circe could learn a thing or two from her. Ah yes, "The Odyssey". He shook his head, turning toward the door. He'd been reading too much lately.
"Lani, wasn't your first class at 10:45?" He opened the door, waiting for her to catch his drift. Luckily she had caught the tide with the first wind. Snatching her bag from the couch she shrugged carelessly.
As the Explorer came to a stop at the curb she literally hopped out, her bag slung over her shoulder. Folken turned the stereo down. He'd never liked Fa(c)et. She insisted on keeping the volume just below the level of piercing pain. The boys of Fa(c)et were her boys, so she didn't care if she could understand the screamed lyrics or not.
Offering her a twenty between two fingers he said, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't pass out today." Old argument. His lips may have been smirking as though to tease her, but his eyes were serious. Serious like a city brat alone in a dark alley at night. She cocked her head to the side smiling curiously, her hands resting on the windowsill.
"I don't know," She said playfully as she plucked the twenty from his hand, "Having an I.V. shoved in my arm is kinda fun." As she backed away she placed two fingers to her lips and brought them away in a peace sign. Stuffing the money in her ankle "granny" boots, she turned and headed toward the building. His eyes narrowed in annoyance at the thought that he wasn't sure if she had been kidding.
As he drove away he found himself wondering as he had a thousand times before what made her tick. The city around him pulsed with its usual traffic. But when you had been merging with the mass of impatient cars and drivers for so long, you tended to tune it out. It was like blocking out the raging rock music she listened to constantly. In time, it was in your blood, you had built up an immunity to it. He switched the stereo to radio, pausing the worn out CD. He could handle the Spanish rhythms of Mana better than he could Lani's favorite garage band.
The radio was programmed with all of her preferences despite the fact that the Ford was his. But it was one of the things that worked with them. He couldn't claim to know too much about music, so she introduced him to her "classics". Most of it he didn't mind, probably because it expressed her more than any of her sometimes bizarre words and actions. Then there were the tapes and CDs that started arguments, ending in him tossing the "troublemaker" out the window. The streets of Chi-Town were often the victims of the hurled music in question. Even the sidewalk below his apartment building was no longer safe for pedestrians fearful of falling discs.
Lucky for him he was paying a small fortune for his apartment so the landlord had no motivation to evict him. Even when one of Lani's parties had become one prostitute short of a raid, the landlord found it difficult to even approach Folken about perhaps turning the music down a tad. He had no reservations about engaging Lani in a bitter row, however. It was a foolish move on his part, for it always ended in tears, and not one of those salty drops was Lani's. In fact it usually ended with blood as well, and I don't have to tell you that the man bruised easily also. After so many confrontations resulting in a right hook to the face, or a quick jab in the stomach, it was a wonder Mr. Carlsen even bothered. Folken had only to count the days until another of the squabbles broke out in the hallway. About two, he figured.
Author: So, what have we learned? Not a bloody thing! Except that we have a new character joining the crew: Lani (short for Lanikai, a Hawaiian name meaning 'heavenly sea'). Not a huge help, but hey, we've established some contact. We know Folken journals in a laptop. Big wow. I think that's going to be my thing for this story. Journal entries are the thing! Hell yeah! I think the whole cast will be journaling as we progress. Writing of progress, I've decided to make my chapters rather small. By the way, not to insult anyone's intelligence, but Chi-Town is what we people of Illinois call Chicago. Another piece of info, again no offense, it's pronounced "Shy-Town". Well, I hope this isn't a complete failure. Please let me know!
Next Chapter: The dragon makes an appearance, and everyone's favorite fortuneteller hops into the mix.