Finally...many, many months later than it ought to have been done...part seven is actually complete. I'll refrain from boring you with my talking now, author's note's to follow at the end of the chapter.
Painted Wings
- Jheya Ono -
He waited.
He had never been particularly good at waiting - just ask anybody that knew him and they'd confirm that - but now he sat quietly and unobtrusively on the sidelines, and waited.
Taichi sighed softly, and absently blew a few strands of brown hair out of his eyes as he watched the bustle and activity that was taking place across the room from him. What with all the lighting and all the people present, even though the studio was large, the air in it was warm, and so his jacket lay discarded on the seat beside him. Stifling a yawn, he was seriously tempted to wad the garment up into a makeshift pillow, lie down across several of the chairs, and attempt to grab some sleep. It probably wouldn't have been very comfortable, but as tired as he felt, he doubted that that would have mattered much.
He discretely snuck a look at his watch: only 11am. The brunette blinked in disbelief. It couldn't be only that time, what with how exhausted he felt... Another, longer look at his watch only confirmed that it was indeed eleven o'clock in the morning. Gods...
He didn't know how in the hell Yamato was coping with having cameras repeatedly shoved in his face, and having to smile for it too. Ugh.
The voice of the photographer drifted over, and he half-listened to it as he tried to keep his eyes from drooping shut.
"Okay, can you tip your chin up just a fraction more? No, too much... There! That's perfect. Now tilt your head just a little more towards your right shoulder... Now hold that pose." A series of clicks and whirrs sounded. "Beautiful. Now if you could just turn the chair round and straddle it, and cross your arms on the back... Yeah, rest your chin on your arms like that, but keep looking at the camera. Show me those gorgeous eyes of yours..."
The photographer continued to enthuse, and give directions, and periodically take a series of shots when the blonde singer was posed to his satisfaction.
Taichi made a face, and let the continuing stream of dialogue pass him by without bothering to listen to what was said. Yep, he definitely couldn't understand how his friend was managing to deal with it all so well when the blonde had had just as little sleep as he had... If their roles had been reversed then the brunette was sure that he'd be glaring at the camera, and snapping at the photographer by this stage... Or even more likely: he would have just stormed out having had enough over an hour ago.
He groaned softly and rubbed at his eyes with the fingers of one hand, massaging the bridge of his nose... 5am... Who the hell had the bright idea of creating that time to exist in the morning?! It had been the hour that they had both had to get up at in order to reach the studio on time, and he felt that such a time should not be allowed to exist if this was how he felt after having been awoken at such an hour.
Common sense tried to chime in at this point, with the information that what with the hours he usually worked, he had long known of the presence of 5am, and he had never felt the urge to complain about it to such a degree before, so it couldn't truly be that bad- But he dismissed such thoughts easily, with the simple belief that still being up at 5am was an entirely different issue to being woken up at 5am... And when common sense tried to butt in again to tell him that really, that didn't make an awful lot of sense, he merely squashed that voice and refused to listen to it anymore.
After all, he was far too tired to be having a debate with himself over such matters. 5am was simply a bad, evil hour, and that was the end of that.
Damn the people that had organised this photo shoot... Didn't they know what a reasonable hour was?!
When Yamato had gotten a call the previous night, reminding him that he had to be up early because he was scheduled to have a photo shoot the next morning... Well, Taichi had found the idea of that pretty cool, even if it had meant that they'd had to cut their evening out short. After all, weren't these things meant to be occasions with glitz and glam, and pampering... So to be able to experience one first hand... The prospect had been rather appealing.
Only... It hadn't turned out to be that way. At all.
Why had no one told him about the reality of the situation?! The ludicrously early starts, the tedium, the repetitiveness, the waiting, the boredom... Quite simply the fact that when it came down to it, the whole thing was really rather dull.
Well, okay, Yamato had tried to warn him that it really wasn't so glamorous and exciting as he probably thought... So why hadn't he actually bothered to listen? If he had then he could have stayed behind at the hotel and slept in until a reasonable hour, rather than having been woken at a stupidly early hour. Or if he had known that he was going to feel this tired after only a few hours sleep, then he wouldn't have bothered to take those few hours of rest at all. He would probably feel better currently if he hadn't, god knows he couldn't exactly feel worse...
Yes... So it was decided. He was an idiot. He should have taken his friend's advice and had a decent nights sleep.
Except... Except that if he had taken the blonde's advice, he wouldn't have seen Yamato for likely most of the day, as it was currently heading towards noon, and the shoot gave no signs of coming to an end... And he wouldn't have wanted that. He wanted to stay close to his friend, not separated from him; five years apart had been far too long. And even though... Even though that had been caused by Taichi himself - he had been the one who had left, not the other way around... Even though that was the case, the time spent away from the blonde had hurt, and he had no desire to repeat the experience by being separated from him for any great length of time again. Except...
He forced his eyes open, deliberately focusing on his surroundings and the activity taking place, drawing his attention away from his wandering thoughts. But even though he didn't want, didn't need that thought completed, it persisted in making itself heard, and echoed softly in his mind.
Except that it hurts to be with him as well as separated from him...
The brunette stubbornly shoved that thought away, refusing to acknowledge it. It was just the tiredness talking. Nothing more...
He eyed the jacket beside him thoughtfully for a moment, before flopping over sideways. Ignoring the discomfort of being in such a position, he let his eyes slide shut, and buried his face in the garment... Only to stop suddenly, and become perfectly still as a soft scent rose to greet him, reminding him that it was Yamato's coat, not his own...
And he slowly pushed himself upwards until he was properly seated in the chair again, as that scent, Yamato's scent, enveloped his senses and made his thoughts drift back to the previous night...
He had been woken by the blonde having a nightmare, and had gone to rouse him from his troubled dreams. After that, he had started to head back to the sofa... Only his friend had asked him to stay, and there was no way he could have refused the look in those beautiful blue eyes, so stay he had... And then had followed a terrible, wonderful night, where it had taken him the longest time to fall asleep again. How could he sleep, with Yamato resting in his arms? When he was breathing in his soft scent as it surrounded him, his body so warm, and it felt so right, and-
Taichi tore his thoughts back to the present, and screwed his eyes shut, pinching the bridge of his nose sharply. God. He didn't need this. He really, truly didn't...
When he opened his eyes again, he blinked in surprise as he focused on steam rising from a white styrofoam cup. His gaze wandered to the hand that held it, then up the accompanying arm, and finally came to rest on the face of a young woman who was smiling at him. He blinked again, and her smile widened.
"Here, coffee." she said, a trace of laughter in her voice as she waved the proffered cup a little from side to side, careful not to spill the contents. "If you don't mind my saying so... You really look as though you need it!"
"I don't mind, and thanks." he said gratefully, accepting the drink.
She regarded him thoughtfully for a moment, taking a sip from the cup she held in her other hand.
"Mind if I sit down?"
"Oh, sure, go ahead..." he answered in surprise, using his free hand to wave at the empty seat beside him, thinking it an odd request. He was the guest here, the one unconnected to it all, whereas she was... She was... Well, he wasn't entirely sure what position she held, but he was sure that he'd glimpsed her in the midst of all the activity, so she had more right to be here than he did.
She took the seat to his right, the one to his left being occupied by the jacket, and they sat in silence for a while, taking sips of their drinks quietly.
It was only then that Taichi noticed that it was a lot quieter than before. Moving his gaze away from his coffee and to the other side of the room, he saw that although things were still happening - lighting being rearranged, backdrops being adjusted, fans being moved - there was a definite lack of all the many people that had been there before. The most noticeable absence of which, was that of Yamato himself.
"Costume change." the woman beside him told him amiably, obviously having noticed and followed his gaze.
"Oh... I see." He didn't really know what else to say.
"First time at one of these, huh?"
"Well... Yes, actually." he replied, feeling a little sheepish about it. "Why, is it that glaringly obvious?"
She laughed at that.
"Well... Maybe just a little." she said, smiling mischievously, and he couldn't help but grin back at her. "The lurking in the background, and the nearly falling asleep might have something to do with giving you away."
"Ah. So much for trying to remain inconspicuous then."
"Heh, most of these guys were probably too wrapped up in the shoot to notice... And even if they did, I doubt they would have minded. They'd have minded if you'd been trying to get involved, and thus ended up getting in the way by knocking the lamps over and the like... But falling asleep...nah."
"That's...good..." he said slowly, wondering if his being totally insignificant was a good thing...or not.
"So... Seeing as this is the first shoot you've ever been at, how have you been finding it?"
"It's..." He searched for a diplomatic answer. "It's a lot different to how I expected it to be."
"In other words, it's not glamorous at all, and is in fact, mind-numbingly dull." she translated.
"Well..." he began, not knowing quite how to reply to that, and flushing a little in embarrassment at having been read so easily.
"Hey, don't sweat it!" she said before he had managed to come up with a response, and smiled good-humouredly at him. "It doesn't bother me. Half the time I think exactly the same way."
"You do? Then how come you chose to do... Do..." The blush on his face deepened. "Erm, I'm sorry, I probably should have asked earlier but... What exactly do you do?"
He stared fixedly at the cup held in his hands, too embarrassed to look at her directly... But as the moment dragged on, and no reply seemed forthcoming, he looked over at her out of the corner of his eye to try and find out the reason for her silence... And then turned his head to face her fully, the blush receding a little as his expression changed to one of utter bewilderment.
She had her free hand clapped over her mouth to hold back laughter, her eyes bright with mirth... And then when she saw the look on his face, she had to redouble her efforts, her shoulders actually physically shaking as she struggled to keep from screaming with laughter. Her half-finished drink was sloshing about dangerously in its styrofoam cup, threatening to spill and stain her cream trousers at any moment...
But gradually the laughter subsided, without her coffee having been thrown everywhere, and Taichi could only sit and stare in astonishment, not having expected such a response at all.
"I'm terribly sorry!" she eventually gasped, having managed to calm herself sufficiently to draw in air and speak. "It's nothing personal... It's just that... Heh, you just brightened up my morning no end! God, you're adorable. No wonder Ishida-san likes you so much!"
She bit down on her lower lip to hold back the giggles that were trying to break loose, her hazel eyes dancing merrily... But Taichi couldn't join in with her laughter this time. He ran over what she had said again in his mind... No... Not what she had said, but how she had said it, that was what stuck in his mind. And couple that with her obvious amusement...
"Erm... What..?" he began, and she sobered abruptly, fixing him with a searching, totally serious gaze that he couldn't help but feel a little nervous about.
"Ah?" she murmured quietly, lips barely moving, talking more to herself than the brunette. With adjustments to the studio still happening around them he had to strain to hear her, and even then he only managed to pick out a few words, most having been drowned by the background noise. "Did I...wrong? Thought... But no... ...perhaps? ...felt sure that..."
She seemed to recollect herself after a few moments, and smiled at him again, though the expression didn't quite seem to match the look held in her eyes.
"Well..." she said. "Obviously he likes you, or else he wouldn't be friends with you! He's not exactly short of people applying for that role, now is he?"
"No, I guess not..." he replied, trying to smile back at her, though his face felt oddly stiff and unwilling to change expression.
"Hmm... Though he did decide to drag you along to one of these immensely tedious things, which could call into question whether he really does like you or not... I mean, would he really force a friend to suffer through one of these shoots?"
"Actually, he suggested that I stay behind and sleep... I was the one who decided to come along to see what it was like."
"Ahh... I guess he does like you after all, then!" she grinned, and everything seemed back to normal. The woman's quirky sense of humour was back as if it had never been absent in the first place... And that made him wonder whether things had truly been a little weird for a short while, or whether he had just thought that they had been, though too little sleep. There was no real way to tell.
"You must really be a glutton for punishment if it was your own idea to come along to this thing, you know..." she continued, unaware of his troubled thoughts.
"Yeah..." he murmured quietly. "Maybe I am..."
"Hey! I was only joking, you know..." she protested. "Erm... Now what were talking about, again?" She paused for a moment to think. "Blast... Can you remember?"
"Er... No, I don't think I can, sorry."
"Wait... I think it's coming back to me, give me a moment... Ah, you were asking me about what exactly I did, weren't you?" she said, nodding in satisfaction.
"Oh yeah, that was it!" Taichi agreed, as the memory promptly reported back to him as if to say it had never been absent in the first place.
"I'm in charge of the make-up for this shoot. And my name's Yasui Reina, in case you were wondering." she added with a wink. "But everyone usually just calls me Rei for short."
"Yagami Taichi." he said, feeling a little awkward as the introductions were so belated. How he'd managed to forget the most basic of things to say when meeting someone new, he didn't know... "But I'm generally just called Tai. Er, you know you said you're in charge of make-up?"
"Yes?"
"Don't take this the wrong way... But if that's the case, then how come you're taking a break now? I mean, the shoot isn't over yet..."
"Don't look so nervous, it's a valid question! Well, the costume change is handled by wardrobe, that's not my department... And I can't really do my job whilst Ishida-san is still in the middle of all that." She glanced at her watch. "Hmm... Though they may have finished with him by now."
"Do you need to get going then? I don't want to hold everything up by keeping you here talking to me." he said anxiously.
"Nah, its fine." she said, leaning back and settling herself more comfortably. "On a shoot this size there'd normally only be one make-up artist present, after all, with only one person to concentrate on, there's not really any need for more than that. However this isn't exactly a normal shoot, because after all, this is none other than Ishida Yamato we're dealing with! So because of that, the people in charge decided to hire not one, but three people to do the same job."
She rolled her eyes skyward.
"From my point of view that decision seems kind of flawed..." she continued. "It's still only one person, so there isn't any more work to do... And Ishida-san has this terrific bone structure, and a smooth, clear complexion, so there isn't all that much to be done any case. Not to sound immodest, but I'm pretty damn good at what I do, I don't need two other people helping me on this job... But I guess the powers that be are trying to impress him by having overwhelming numbers of people present to fuss around him. It's the only reason I can come up with for them spending all that money hiring everyone... I'm not so sure about everyone else, but I know that I'm getting paid my usual fee for doing this."
"You sure you're not needed?" he asked again, just to be sure.
"The other girls'll be fine. I know I said that I didn't need people helping me, but I didn't mean to imply that they're any less skilled than me. If they weren't extremely competent at what they did, they wouldn't be here at all. I've worked with them before on other shoots... The only reason I'm really labelled as the one in charge, is because my name is more well known than theirs. I have every confidence in their abilities. His make-up should only really need a light touch-up anyway, we did all the main work first thing this morning. They don't need me hovering around as well for so small a task."
"Sounds like a pretty good deal you have, to me... Because there are so many of you, you don't have nearly so much to do, and yet you still get paid exactly the same as you would, were you working on your own!" he grinned.
"Well, if you look at it that way, I can't really disagree!" she laughed. "It's a good deal in that sense, but in a way it's also really frustrating. I chose to go into this profession because I love what I do, and in this kind of scenario I don't get to practice my craft properly..." She exhaled heavily. "Ah... But you can't have it both ways."
"You mean you don't get frustrated that because of everyone else hired and hanging around, you don't get to spend time alone with the subject of the shoot?" he asked, sounding surprised.
"Why, did you think that that would be a major factor in wanting to enter this profession?" she shot back, sounding extremely amused.
"Maybe just a little..." the brunette admitted sheepishly.
"Heh, you think that way and you won't get anywhere in this line of work. Squealing madly and going all fangirly when you meet your client is rather unprofessional, ne? It doesn't quite work..."
"You mean to tell me that on the same fee basis you'd be just as happy working with ordinary people as you would working with big names?" he asked, unable to keep from sounding slightly disbelieving. He'd always thought that getting to meet all those famous people was a major draw for those who worked with them... It wasn't?
"Well..." she began, and it was her turn to look just a little sheepish. "I'd be lying if I didn't admit that it's a bit of a perk to get to be that close to people that some of my friends would kill to even catch a glimpse of... But it's not the most important factor for me, no. Professionally, it's great to be involved with things like this, as it means that my name gets spread in the right circles, which means that I can land good contracts. And I still get a buzz whenever I get to see the end result of a high publicity campaign, see how many people it reaches, and know that I played my part in making that happen...
"But on a more personal note, and as cliqued as it sounds, I love my job because I get to bring out the inner beauty of a person. And yes, on occasion I do work with people who don't live the grand lifestyle, and who are just ordinary people treating themselves to being pampered for once... And I can honestly say that one of the most rewarding things is seeing their expression when they see the results, and seeing how happy they are, and how much more confident they feel about their appearance. It means far more than working with someone who's used to that kind of treatment, and for whom it's nothing special."
"Wow." Taichi said softly, impressed. He hadn't realised that there was so much thought behind it all...
"Oh! Listen to me rambling on…" Rei exclaimed suddenly. "I must be boring you to tears... You know, you're really too polite! You should have said something earlier..."
"Oh no, you haven't been boring me in the least!" the brunette said hastily. "It's been really interesting."
"Heehee... Really?" she smiled. "Even so, I'd better get going before I do manage to talk your ear off."
She downed the remainder of her now lukewarm coffee in one go, grimacing a little at the slightly bitter aftertaste.
"Back to the grindstone, hey?"
"Yeah, keeping up appearances and all that..."
She rose to her feet, and winked at him as she began to walk off.
"Good luck with everything, Tai!" she called, and then she was gone, vanished through one of several sets of doors.
"I wonder what she meant by that..." he murmured softly to himself as he was left alone to his thoughts.
He was roused from his contemplation – it could have been hours or minutes later, so oblivious to everything had he been...but most likely minutes – by the sound of Yamato's voice. The singer did not sound best pleased.
"Look, is this one really necessary?" He sounded rather testy, and although not yet in sight, by the sound of his voice, he was getting closer.
"But Ishida-san, they're going to love this shot!" a female voice trilled. Not Rei, someone a few years younger, and also less professional, by the sounds of it.
"Hmm. Rather clichéd, isn't it though?"
Definitely irritated, and Taichi smiled slightly to himself, wondering what had happened to garner such a response.
"The idea perhaps... But you don't see it on shoots, very often. And certainly not this way. They're actually on set rather than edited in afterwards."
"I know." was the level reply. "I can feel their weight across my shoulders, after all."
"Don't worry, it won't be for long." she said hastily, anxiously. "It'll only be for maybe one reel of film, and then it's back to wardrobe for another change."
The voices were coming from behind one of the sets of double doors on the right side of the room, and Taichi turned to face that way, waiting for them to open.
"Well good." A pause. "I'm afraid someone's going to have to hold the doors open, or else this outfit's going to get crushed when they swing shut again."
"Oh, of course..."
The doors opened, two people emerging, one to hold each. And then Yamato strode into the studio.
Taichi's jaw dropped open.
As if sensing the brunette's eyes on him, the blonde turned his head to glare at him. The look in those blue eyes clearly said 'Don't you dare say a word!', and Taichi had to struggle to hide his smile.
Yamato was dressed almost completely in pure white: a sleeveless zip top with black accents, white trousers, and white shoes. With the singer's fair complexion, being clothes in near unbroken white would have normally been incredibly draining on him... Only coupled with the large pair of feathered wings that appeared to sprout from his shoulders, and a dusting of something across his face that brought out his cheekbones and made his skin shimmer just slightly... The outfit made him look positively ethereal.
The other thing that didn't quite fit with his otherworldly appearance was the slight scowl that graced his features. His blue eyes were still slightly narrowed and looking pointedly in Taichi's direction. The brunette couldn't help but grin broadly in response to the continuing stare, and offered a small wave as well. The glare intensified, and he bit back a chuckle.
With very deliberate movements, the blonde turned away and walked with every evidence of composure towards where the cameras and backdrops had been set up.
However, Taichi wasn't fooled. Even though Yamato showed little evidence of being in a bad mood, the brunette didn't doubt that he was in one. He had obviously been initially displeased by the choice in costume, and then his mood worsened by his friend's lack of sympathy for the situation...
Only... Only Taichi really couldn't see what he was meant to be feeling sympathetic about. To say that the singer looked absolutely amazing would be a gross understatement of the truth. He looked... Well, angelic was obviously the intention of whomever had organised the shoot, and that description almost fit him, only...not quite... With the serious expression currently on his face, he looked rather more imposing than the cheerful depiction of cherubs that existed in abundance.
Not quite angelic... Not quite resembling the stereotypical image such a word conjured up...
Now that the scowl had left his features as he slipped into professional mode, he looked... Well, the look wasn't one of being 'holier than thou', not in the least... But it was still somehow above what was considered the norm. Yes... Ethereal was probably the best word to use. As if he didn't quite belong on the same plane of existence as everyone else.
The same plane as me.
He didn't know how the photographer was planning to capture all that in a series of images... But assuming that he was as talented as everyone else who had gotten the singer to that point, then the finished result was going to be... Was going to look...
Well, Taichi was no poet. He simply didn't have the words to describe how good he thought it would look.
The woman that Yamato had been talking to was right. The magazine people or whoever ended up with this set of photos were simply going to love them. As was everybody that got to see them...
So he really wasn't sure why his friend found fault with the costume. Even as self-critical as he knew the blonde could be, surely he knew that he at least looked good?
The brunette watched the process thoughtfully – chin resting in his hands, elbows resting on his knees – not listening to the directions that were called out, just... Watching. Absorbing the details. Noticing when someone switched on a fan, and observing the way the blonde strands lifted, and the feathers fluttered...
And before he knew it, the reel of film had been taken, and the singer and his entourage had vanished from the studio once more, leaving a sense of emptiness in their wake.
With no one else present, Taichi slowly got to his feet and walked over to the area that had been recently vacated, careful not to trip over any of the wires that snaked over the ground. He stopped, looking down at a single white feather that had fallen from one of Yamato's wings, unnoticed by everyone bar himself.
He paused for a moment, then bent down and gently picked the tiny object up, looking at it thoughtfully for a moment, before carefully placing it in a pocket and walking back to his seat.
He didn't really notice the time passing before everyone returned, and the shoot resumed.
The rest of the shoot passed by in something of a blur. People coming, people going, and more changes in outfit, and more reels of film shot off than he could keep track of.
And then...
And then it was one in the afternoon, and Yamato was standing in front of him, now back in his street gear. The blonde smiled at him, looking a little wearied, and held out a hand to help him to his feet.
"Ready to go?"
"Hm?" Taichi replied, blinking a touch blankly at his friend as he grasped the proffered hand, though he didn't really need the assist to stand...
"Are you ready to go?" he repeated, sounding amused, blue eyes dancing. "Shoot's over, after all."
The brunette glanced past the singer to the room in general. There were still a few people around, moving and clearing things as they had been all morning... But there was a lack of urgency to their movements now, a lessening of the determined attitude that had been driving them before. Also the general atmosphere was...calmer. The place felt more peaceful and rushed than it had before, something that he hadn't noticed until now.
"Taiiiichiiii..." the lightly teasing, singsong voice drifted through to him, and he belatedly realised that he still hadn't given a response.
"Um...sure." he said hastily, quickly grabbing the jacket that he had left on the seat. "I'm good to go."
"I mean, we could stay a little longer if you really wanted to, if you're really that keen on sitting and staring at the walls..." Yamato continued, acting as if the brunette hadn't spoken.
"As thrilling as that offer sounds, I think I might just pass." He replied a little tartly, trying to resist the urge to stick his tongue out at his friend but not doing very well.
The blonde laughed, but as the two turned and began to make their way out of the studio, his expression abruptly sobered, and he gave the brunette a sidelong glance, his expression unreadable.
"I did...warn you that it was likely to be unbelievably dull..." he said softly, an underlying emotion audible in his voice, but impossible to place.
"I know." Taichi replied simply, not quite understanding, holding a door open and gesturing that his friend should go through first.
Yamato nodded, indicating that he had heard, but made no other response than that, and they continued on in silence.
The brunette fought the urge to fidget as they followed a girl who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere to guide them through the winding maze of corridors to the entrance lobby. The singer had acknowledged her with a nod, and smiled his thanks for her assistance... But other than that, he remained sunk in thought and otherwise uncommunicative.
True, seeing as they now had someone else with them, they couldn't be totally free and open with their speech... But even so, total silence was unnecessary, and it felt oppressive, and uncomfortable. And as he was completely in the dark as to knowing what was going on in the blonde's head, he had no idea how to break the atmosphere into something lighter, and calmer.
The silence continued to hold, even as they stepped outside into the early afternoon sunshine, which would have been almost warm if not for the breeze that skipped along, picking up a chill from the snow it coasted over. The sound of an engine starting suddenly cut through the air, and Taichi started slightly, and looked around for the source. His eyes fell on the form of a sleek black limousine that was just pulling out from where it had been parked a short way away: it's driver obviously having seen them come out of the building.
Yamato was looking vaguely in that direction, with hands thrust deep into trouser pockets, wind lightly tousling strands of gold, and a slight thoughtful frown creasing his forehead. With the winter sun picking out highlights in his hair, he looked as if he should still be engaged in the shoot, with a photographer nearby, snapping away...not just standing outside, waiting for his transport to reach him.
"...Matt?" the brunette said hesitantly, irrationally nervous about breaking the silence that settled around them like a thick cloak. After all, what did he have to be nervous about? The man beside him was hardly a stranger. They'd known each other since they were eleven. Had been inseparable all throughout high school. Had once known the ins and outs of each others lives, as well as they had known their own.
...it was that 'once' that was making him nervous now.
"Mmm?" the blonde murmured as if coming from a long way off, obviously still sunk deep in thought, turning to face his friend with slightly vacant eyes just as the limousine pulled up beside them. The singer opened the door, and gestured for Taichi to precede him inside.
It was only once they were comfortably settled in the interior, and were on their way back towards central Tokyo, that some focus returned to those hazy blue eyes. Now he actually looked directly at the brunette, rather than just vaguely in his direction, and he flashed a quick, small smile.
"Sorry, was miles away..." he apologised. "Um... You were saying?"
"S'okay." Taichi shrugged. "Wasn't anything earth-shatteringly important or anything."
"Eh, well... Things rarely are." He grinned, just a little. "I'd still like to know what you were thinking, even so." He prompted, when no response was forthcoming.
"Just..." the brunette began, then paused, unsure of how to put his thoughts into words. "Just... Why did you think to re-mention, as we were leaving the studio, that you had warned me it'd be extremely dull?" he said at last.
"Oh." Said Yamato, looking quite surprised. "Oh, um... It's just that I've been at a fair few of them, more than I'd like, over the past five years... So I knew what to expect, knew that they're really nothing so great, or exciting, or...anything, very much. And I just didn't want you thinking I'd let you wander in there blind. Making you come along under some false impression that it was going to be fun and exciting... Bah. That doesn't sound quite right. I don't really know how to explain." he finished, with a helpless shrug.
"Oh." Taichi said, echoing his friend's earlier sentiment of surprise. "I knew what I was letting myself in for. And even if I hadn't... I'd have hardly held the fact that you hadn't realised I wouldn't know what it was really like, against you."
"Um..." he frowned, replaying that last sentence in his head. "If that even made sense..."
"Heh, I think I understood what you meant, and I'm glad." the blonde smiled, then lapsed into silence once more.
This time, even though the brunette found the communication silence to be just as uncomfortable as before, he didn't seek to break it. Not even to try and find the answers to the questions that rose in his mind, such as why Yamato felt 'glad' over such an obvious thing? As if he could ever hold so small a thing against his friend... As if he'd even consider it.
And it wasn't lack of curiosity that held him back from speaking, for he would have liked answers... He just wasn't quite sure that he had any right to them, at present.
After all, the blonde singer had something on his mind, and the lack of communication obviously meant that whatever it was, he wanted to keep those thoughts private, at least for the meanwhile. So, no matter how curious he was... That meant that Taichi had to respect those unspoken wishes, and keep his silence also.
Well... He didn't have to... But he felt that he ought to.
There had been a time, in the past, when the brunette would have likely told that thought to go screw itself, and would have gone and bulldozed right through Yamato's silence, regardless of what he ought to do... But that was just it. That was in the past, and this was now. And he was no longer close enough to the man sitting a mere few feet away, to be able to afford to take those kind of liberties.
And after the closeness of the night before... That distance felt like an eternity.
- to be continued -
Author's Note's (feel free to skip reading):
1. ...yeah. I know. It's taken me forever to actually get this part done... For which I apologise. I actually started writing this chapter eight months (and one day) ago, and literally only finished it this morning. Because of the rather long writing-frame involved, I also apologise if this chapter sounds a little disjointed in places.
2. Rei...ended up talking rather a lot more than I originally intended her too. She was only meant to say a little, and subtly hint at a few plot points...but then she decided that she didn't really want to stop talking. :p But don't worry... I doubt she'll be back. Unless Yama and Tai decide to get married, and need prettifying for wedding photos or something. Heh.
3. About Yamato's outfit... I confess, no real reason behind it, other than the fact that I'm rather a Matt fan, and thought he'd look good in it. ::cough::
4. Hand-coded, so ff net doesn't eat random html tags/mess up the formatting. As it's prone to doing. Evil thing. Bet it'll still try and eat things anyway. So I may possibly have forgotten a paragraph break, or to italicise in places. Thus, if you happen to spot a formatting error, please excuse.
5. Someone pointed out to me a couple of months back, that as two parallel stories, LNR and LNR(ed2) didn't hold together too well if read individually, rather than paired. I'd come to the same conclusion myself, some time ago...and hence, with this chapter, I've been trying to blend in events covered in the alternate version better than I've done in other chapters. I'm fairly pleased with the results...seeing as I'm not totally repeating myself, but equally not covering things in a way that...just doesn't quite fit right. Other than that sucess, I'm a little unsure over the chapter as a whole. Probably due (at least in part) to the fact that this thing has just taken me so long to complete.
6. I've not quite given up on this thing...yet. However, it should be glaringly obvious that this is...not particularly high on my list of priorities, and I don't forsee that changing any time soon... ::sweatdrop:: There's just...a lot of other things I want to do/am busy with/am going to be busy with shortly. However, I do want to get this thing done...eventually. Honest. It just might take me an incredibly long time... I probably ought to dig myself out some of 01 and 02 to watch, to get me back in the mood to write this again. Or something.
7. Er...that's it. End of me talking. Back into hiding, for now, me thinks...