Chapter 2: A person who appears in my mind is only you

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Karsh knocked over several Dragoon knights on his way to Lutianna's lab. Several of them, too angry to take their jobs into consideration, yelled and called him a plethora of colorful names, but Karsh didn't care. The elation he felt tuned out their voices.

After two years...two long years...he could finally see Gyadarun again.

For some odd reason, Karsh had felt a strange attraction toward the Porre cyborg ever since their first encounter in Viper Manor. Gyadarun was leaning against one of the pillars in the main hall, watching the Porre soldiers who had accompanied him be defeated by three people. When he finally faced them, Gyadarun had simply told them he would follow those stronger then him and proceeded to attack them. Karsh had a difficult time with that battle. He was so fascinated by the tall cyborg that he couldn't concentrate on his attacks and defenses. The Porre assassin was such an interesting creature to Karsh that he couldn't think of hurting the cyborg. Gyadarun had obviously noticed the Deva's lack of concentration and had used it to his advantage by attacking the him more then the others. Serge and Radius were furious at him for not being able to hold his own in the fight, mainly because they ended up protecting him, but Karsh didn't care.

He was elated when the cyborg asked to join them after the commotion at the Vipor Manor. Whenever he got the chance, he'd tag around the cyborg, who preferred to spend his free time alone. The lavender-haired Deva blushed slightly, remembering the countless number of times the Gyadarun had caught Karsh staring at him. The most unusual part about the times when the Porre cyborg found Karsh out, he would look at him with a questioning look, like he had no idea why Karsh would find him so interesting.

If he only knew why I watched him then...damn...why the hell did this place get built so maze-ish?! Didn't the architects ever hear the phrase "The shortest distance between two points is a straight li-

Karsh's thoughts were quickly interrupted by a collision with a tall, muscular form.

"Oof!" Karsh let out as he fell back on his rear end, letting out a stream of colorful curses. Looking up, he saw Zoah standing in front of him. The giant offered his hand to Karsh to help him up. Karsh refused Zoah's help and pushed himself up, giving the giant Deva an annoyed look.

"KARSH?" Zoah boomed what sounded like a question. Karsh snorted, then noticed that Zoah wasn't in the hallway alone.

"Like, where's the fire?" Marcella asked, her hands on her tiny hips. She had been standing next to Zoah the entire time; her presence went mostly unnoticed thanks to her tall companion.

"Lay off you two. I'm in a hurry." Karsh complained, trying to squeeze past Zoah's broad frame, which was taking up most of the hallway space.

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING?" the helmeted Deva asked, his head tilting slightly to one side to show his interest in what the answer could be. Karsh scowled up at Zoah, who showed no signs of fear from the shorter Deva's icy glare.

"None of yer business, bigfoot." The lavender-haired Deva growled rudely at his fellow Devas. Marcella gave him a disapproving look, which caused Karsh's self assurance to waver. Sure, Marcella was a cute little Arcacian Dragoon Deva, but she could be as nasty as a rabid dragon with a toothache when she wanted to be. One of her biggest boasts was that she was the most bad-tempered of the Devas, even when Dario was alive.

"Well, excuuuuuuuse me, Mr. No-Manners! All Zoah wanted to know was where you were dragging your useless self and you go and bite his head off! Look! Now you've hurt his feelings!"

Marcella pointed up at her tall companion who looked to be quite normal for a man with only a leather pair of battle undies and a helmet on, but Karsh's ears managed to pick up the faint sound on sniffling coming from inside Zoah's helmet.

Now Karsh felt bad. He had made Zoah cry.

Despite his height, fierce fighting skills and loud voice, Zoah was as sensitive soul who liked to look out for the best interests of his fellow Devas. One of the main reasons he constantly wore a helmet was to hide the fact that he cried when Dragoons were killed.

"Damn..." Karsh groaned, rubbing the back of his head nervously. He'd been present at times when Zoah had cried before, but even then he always let Marcella handle it. Now it was his fault and he had to handle it as best he could, Damn...I'm gonna screw this up... "Hey...Zoah?"

The tall Deva's helmet turned in Karsh's direction, indicating that he had the large man's attention. Karsh scratched the back of his head, sheepishly. This wasn't going to be easy.

"Um...Zoah...listen, I'm really...sorry 'bout yellin' at you. I need to be somewhere and it's really important to me." Karsh gave Zoah's arm a friendly smack, which to the tall Deva felt like a tap. "You understand, right?"

Zoah remained silent, which gave Karsh the idea that he was pondering over whether he should forgive his fellow Deva for being inconsiderate and rude. Karsh gritted his teeth, losing patience with Zoah's slow response. He had somewhere else to be after all.

"Um...Zoah...I really hate to say this right now but could you hurry it up a little?!" the lavender-haired Deva growled through his teeth and whispered closer to the helmet for good measure. "I'm kinda in a hurry, if- you-know-what-I-mean!"

Realization seemed to glow from inside the helmet. "OOOOH! I GET IT!" Zoah said, giving Karsh a 'knowing' nudge. "SURE I FORGIVE YOU, KARSH! YOU JUST GET GOING!" Zoah gave Karsh a light shove in the direction he had been heading, sending the smaller Deva halfway down the hall. The somewhat shaken Karsh turned and gave hesitant wave back before hightailing it down the rest of the way and through the door that led to Lutianna's lab.

Marcella glared after Karsh then turned to Zoah. "Well...you, like, forgave him pretty fast. I swear, Karsh needs to, like, learn some manners." she turned tail and started off down the opposite end of the hall when she stopped and turned back to Zoah, who was coming up just behind her. "Hey. I saw the two of you whispering. Like, what did he say to you?" Zoah shook his head.

"NOTHING IMPORTANT. JUST GUY STUFF." Marcella raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"'Guy stuff'..." she repeated, unconvinced that it was the truth but seeing Zoah's vigorous nod, she shrugged, deciding to drop it. "Whatever."

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Gah...I hate this place! Karsh thought as he looked around the empty lab, shuddering at the thought of the types of experiments that were conducted in that very room. Rusty cages, which usually were housing some of the most disturbing sights Karsh had ever seen, were still and empty. The entire room seemed as eerily silent as a grave. Looking over at Lutianna's desk, he saw several scattered notes and unusual looking odds and ends. Curious, he picked up a stray page and began to read it over.

"Hm...genetically enhanced bulbs performed poorly in the field test...yadda yadda." Karsh hummed to himself as he read the sheet, not understanding a single word on it. "Ugh...s'all Dragonian to me." and tossed the page carelessly on the table and looked about the room again. "Gyadarun?" he called, not sure if he should be worried that the cyborg wasn't there or angry for probably getting there too late.

"How-did-you-know-Gyadarun-was-here?" came a silky, semi-monotone voice that Karsh knew all too well. He spun around and looked by the final cage against the far wall. Gyadarun was leaning against the wall, partially hidden by the shadows cast by the thick iron bars of the cage next to him. Silently, the cyborg pushed his weight back on his feet and slowly walked over to Karsh, eyeing him with tense suspicion.

Karsh froze, feeling two feet tall under the stern, cold eyes of the Porre cyborg. Despite the fact that he cared deeply for the tall bionic man, he still couldn't help but be somewhat intimidated under the piercing ruby glare that had promised death for so many. "Um...Glenn told me." Karsh said quickly, getting a little nervous both with fear and excitement.

Gyadarun snorted and leaned against the operating table in the center of the room, his arms folded in an almost automatic fashion that Karsh couldn't help but notice had a subtle grace to it. "Really?" he asked with what could only be described as monotone surprise, but his face seemed to display utter disinterest. "Then-why-are-you-here?"

"Errg..." Karsh flustered, not sure of what to say. What should he say? He had never been the greatest at expressing feeling through speech; action was more of Karsh's style! The only thing wrong with that was that if he did do something rash, like running up and stealing a kiss from Gyadarun, he could easily provoke the cyborg to violence. "I just...uh...came down here to see...um......" Karsh lowered his voice and mumbled out the rest, feeling uncomfortable with Gyadarun's cold eyes on him. Please stop lookin' at me like that...

"Why?" the cold voice cut through the uncomfortable silence in the room. "Is-Gyadarun-that-fascinating-to-you?" seeing Karsh's shocked and confused face at the statement, the turquoise cyborg smirked under the red cloth that covered the lower half of his face and tapped one of his ears, silently telling Karsh that he heard what the deva had mumbled.

Karsh mentally cursed at himself for his stupidity. Gyadarun's a cyborg, you moron! Everything about him is enhanced....I wonder if he's enhanced everywhere...? the deva's thoughts wondered ideally, before snapping back to reality, NO! Keep the train of thought away from there!! Bad Karsh! he looked desperately at the cyborg, noting how Gyadarun studied him. Karsh felt like he was a bug under a microscope, like one of Lutianna's specimens being regarded for purely scientific reasons. He couldn't help but wonder if the cyborg had been regarded as much in Porre. Probably, damn Porre bastards!

"Well?" Gyadarun asked, slight impatience in his voice. Karsh blinked, momentarily forgetting that he had been asked a question.

A question he wasn't sure how to answer.

Gyadarun did fascinate Karsh, but the deva wasn't sure how to explain himself to the cyborg. His interest hadn't stayed the same since they had met. Karsh's feelings had grown over time and developed into something more then just fascination. He looked at Gyadarun's steely eyes, devoid of human emotion and focused entirely on Karsh. The deva swallowed and unconsciously clinched his fists in frustration. "I...yes." he managed, forcing himself to look at Gyadarun. "You do fascinate me but....ah I dunno, it's kinda more then that. It started out as nothin' more then interest. You really caught my attention but...ah DAMMIT!"

The Deva swore not only at the fact that he couldn't finish what he was going to say but that he had started rambling and making himself look like a total fool in front of Gyadarun.

This action didn't go unnoticed by the taller warrior, who narrowed his eyes impatiently at the other man. Karsh had been a constant annoyance during the mission two years ago. Gyadarun almost never had one moment to himself. Wherever he went, Karsh followed like a curious child looking at him wide-eyed, like he was the most interesting thing in the world. Even for all the experiments that had been performed on him at the lab, Gyadarun still had an organic human brain and it registered Karsh's behavior as unnerving for a human being. The motivations behind Karsh's constant following, however, remained a mystery to the cyborg.

Suddenly, the door to the lab swung open and Lutianna stepped in, carrying a small, wooden box with a large book balanced on top. She didn't notice either of the men staring at her since the book blocked her vision. Turning around, she kicked the lab door shut and walked toward her work table where she deposited her burden and started unpacking the contents of the box.

"So sorry to keep you vaiting, man-machine." she said, not looking up as she pulled out many strange looking things that, by the look of them, wouldn't be safe in Lutianna's hands. "I had to git some extra vorking materials." She smiled smugly and held up a utensil that looked like a cross between a saw and pliers and playfully maneuvered it in a snapping fashion. "Shall ve get started? Ohhohoh-" she stopped in mid cackle as she finally noticed that someone else was in the room with them. "...Oh...Vat are you doing here?"

Karsh, feeling braver when it came to dealing with Lutianna face to face opened his mouth to speak when he was cut off by a cold curt voice. "He-is- leaving."

TBC!