Ok, I had a MAJOR attack of writer's block (and I felt angst-ridden, which wouldn't be good for a fluffy fic)...Sorry peeps. After beta-ing for two people, doing some art, and applying to be a manga scanlator, I think I'm finally back :D
Azusasan: Cookies! And...I'm sorry, for not updating in forever...::pleads for forgiveness::
Cluless97: Yes, stupid catnip...-that- was where it went, I was looking all over for it! I'll restrain Mia, promise, okee?
Kitty Riku and SW: Wheee! You always make my day, you know? ::hugs::
White bunny: ::revives her slowly:: Awake? Good! More ficcage for you!
Michelle: No, blackrose isn't...And I have! See? ::points downwards::
Cool-kitsune: CHOCOLATE! ::loves you forever:: And of course I'll read your fic! Post it soon, please? There needs to be more Balmung x Kite stories out there! And thank you! :3
One-Winged Angel: FF:VII...Ooo...That game scared the bejeebers out of me...::shudders:: It's Jenova, all Jenova...But when I write fluff, I always listen to Porno Graffiti and L'arc en Ciel. Strangeness...
Cool-cat1: See? I'm not the only scared person out there! And yes, Balmung and Kite make the cutest couple in the world :3
Hairu: Hehe...Actually, when I first played .hack, I thought this was going to be one of the popular couples! Elk never struck me as a good bishie...But oh well. I guess the age difference scared everyone off. ::sweatdrop::
Jeweled Knife: O.O You don't like Balmung? ::huggles her plushie of him:: Oh well, each to their own...And yes! Kite is so kawaii :D
Writer's block SUCKS. So does math homework. I've never had so much math homework in my life...Apparently, offering to re-learn Algebra I wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done. And I also offered my arse on a nice shiny platter...BECAUSE I'M GONNA HAVE FINALS AGAIN! ::cries:: Sorry for ranting, but...it's just...
On to the story!
Warnings: The usual. Spoilers up to and past the first white room. And fluffiness...
= Entering new areas, or time change, or POV change
underline = System Message
italics = Thought
"What the..." Kite asked quietly.
The twin-blade was officially freaked out.
Under normal circumstances, he would have just shrugged the mysteriously spotless room, and moved on. Then again, under normal circumstances, there wouldn't be a bed with dozens of teddy bears lying around it. Ok...So it sounded a bit stupid, being scared of such a scene. But it was just downright creepy.
In the very center of the room, if it even had a center, was a simple, four- poster bed. White, curtains up, with a yellow ceiling. It was very old looking, seeming to gather digital dust with every second that passed by. That, by itself, would have been fine...Simply an oddity, to be mentioned to Balmung later.
It was the teddy bears that gave the room its abandoned look. Yellow, strangely elongated bears, lying in all the manner of positions around the bed. Like they had been knocked off, strewn across the room in a surge of anger, and just simply left. Only three remained on the bed, one seeming to stare into Kite's heart with a sullen, conniving look.
All three jumped as a dull, rusty-sounding voice cut through the silence.
"And so, I shall name her Aura.
Without you, she would not exist.
The shining girl, Aura.
We will entrust her with our will.
Our future is in her hands. She is our..."
With that said, Kite instinctively held out his hands, and a yellowed note fell into them. "Harold's Note" was its name, upon closer inspection.
"...Well, that made no sense..." said Blackrose, looking around warily. "Let's get out of here, Kite. This place gives me the creeps..."
"No...Look, there's another note over there." Balmung stated quietly, barely brushing the paper before it dissipated and another voice filled the air.
"Shunning the field broken by Wave,
the shadowed girl whispers,
"Surely, I will return."
Alas, the truth unbeknownst,
Awaiting her at journey's end;
Eternal mourning for her land."
Another note joined the first, this one entitled 'Epitaph 00'
"Balmung...Let's just go..." Kite said, also starting to peer around the room nervously. In a way, he wanted to absorb as much as he could, of this place...And at the same time, shove it out of his mind for all time.
Blackrose was the first to react, whipping out a Sprite Ocarina and whisking herself away first.
Balmung didn't think as he reacted. He simply did what he felt was right. The elder man reached forward, and tugged Kite close to him...Close, held tight against his chest, a startled look on the twin blade's face visible for only a moment, before both men faded to dust.
The Descendant of Fianna had no idea what had compelled him to grab the younger boy, but he did so anyway. Well, perhaps not grabbed the boy, but brought him to a tight hug against him as the swirls of light grew brighter.
In the midst of darkness, the angel-like blademaster felt the warm body he held tense, suddenly rigid despite the loose hold. His own calmness suddenly dissipated, alarms ringing in his head and panic running amok. This wasn't good, his instincts were yelling, you've just ruined a potentially vital friendship. A potentially great lover.
But! He responded, mind whirring back to that day not too long ago. He didn't react strangely last time...
Yeah, but it's best not to take chances.
Kite hadn't rejected the sudden change in environment -- Anything, absolutely anything was better than that room. The more he thought of that blank area, the more frequent shudders came across him from that creepiness. For some reason...He got the feeling he'd be seeing more of those rooms in the future. And that feeling wasn't a good one.
His mind had realized instantly who it had been who held him, the one who had given the boy a sudden sense of security...But it took a while for his numbed spirit to interpret all that information. Leather was against his chest. Long threads of something white were tickling his legs. Behind him, it was hard -- platemail, if he wasn't much mistaken.
It clicked suddenly, and years of reflex caused him to curl inwards. The twin blade managed to restrain that instinct to struggle and get free, but it wasn't hard to; he also knew it was Balmung, after all. But BlackRose's words came drifting back to his mind, haunting and accusing.
"It just isn't right for someone at your age to be hanging around older people! And a guy at that! He's going to rape you or something, you know? He looks the type..."
...No, he doesn't look the type...He looks quite...Fascinating? No...More like stunning. Hands-
His thoughts were suddenly shook from his mind as an abrupt push came from behind; a push of hands at his back, thrusting him away from the other player. He looked back for a moment, seeing a smear of white and blue, before he faded again.
When Kite re-appeared in the Root Town, he looked around anxiously. Balmung. He was gone.
...He probably freaked out or something...
I don't blame him too much though. Although...It was nice.
Admittance. Yes, he liked the silver-haired angel. Complete and utter admittance to that fact.
And he's going to avoid me from now on, isn't he?
BlackRose peered curiously at Kite, wondering what the boy was thinking so intently about. He looked troubled, in a way, but determined at the same time. It better not be that Balmung-character again...
The heavyblade was intent on snapping the boy out of that daze. As she walked closer and closer, she was more and more assured of the fact that the orange-clad boy was thinking of Balmung. It wasn't an assuring though though.
She reached forward, grabbing his hand and dragging him out into the street. "Kite, Kite! Look, someone's trading off his Masterblades...You wanted those, right?"
The boy in question suddenly snapped out of his dream-like state, looking at BlackRose as if she were some god. Then, back to a distracted, dull look. "Oh...Uh, yeah. I'll go see that later thou-"
"No no no...I'll get'em for you! How's that?"
"Um...Yeah...Ok, sounds good." He replied, a vague attempt at being normal.
Despite everything BlackRose was still genuinely worried. It looked like something bad.
Balmung of Azure Sky had logged off of the World immediately after pushing Kite away. The screen was now dark, and the young man at the desk had his head in his hands, apparently either mad at himself or extremely upset. Or both, as the case was. Black hair was ruffled, eyes were rubbed free of compter-screen syndrome. It was getting late in his part of the world. Yes, yes, that was his reason for getting off. Not that he was nervous to see Kite, no no...Balmung was always confident, he never got nervous.
Hah! Pure crap, pure and utter crap I say.
Yes, it was...The man who played Balmung usually stayed up well past this hour, so he could meet with the twin blade. And further after that, to complete the paperwork his job required.
But. Oh well. I am tired now and that is why I'm going to sleep. Yes, that's the reason, I'm tired and I want sleep...
He wasn't tired, not really. Not in the least.
I've fallen in love with some guy on The World. Love. Not lust, I don't think. I've done that enough to know what it feels like... and I'm acting like some schoolgirl...
He visibly sweat-dropped, now regretting his actions.
Too late.
He slowly made his way to his bed, just slumping in without bothering to do anything. Morning could wait, this battle in his head was more important.
...I'll just pretend it never happened. If he hates me, he hates me, and...And I'll be sad. If he also pretends it never happens, that'd be good. If he liked it though...
Without further thought to the other situations, he drifted to sleep with stray thoughts of possibilities, possibilities.
NYAHAHA! Yes, Balmung is feeling particularly uke-ish today...Haha, I wonder if I should get them together like that. ::gets shot by Balmung fans:: ::most of which, are Balmung himself.::
Ok, ok...I won't. It doesn't work too well in my mind like that anyway...But heck, I'm gonna have fun with this while it lasts! Warning to people though, Balmung history flash-back is coming for the next chapter...It'll have nice shounen-ai-ish goodness though, so maybe you'll forgive me for it...::hides::
I'm sorry it's so short...It's all I could squish out of my tired, tired brain after weeks of hours of math everyday...
Reviews are loved! Reviewers are loved even more!