Within White Walls
A/N: Hooray for alliteration! This is basically centered around Ruwalk, kinda. Very, VERY AU. The basic premise: Ruwalk is an ordinary Japanese man, has a girlfriend. That's how it starts. Woohoo. But, she gets killed by something that could not belong to this world. According to the doctor's, he suffers "post traumatic syndrom", ranting about dragon lords and officers and demons. Obviously dementia. On the other hand, Ruwalk is the Yellow Dragon Officer, and has a boyfriend. This boyfriend gets killed off by creatures that CAN'T be real. Then, he starts rambling about another world, the one to which he belongs. This man's mind is so fractured, he lives two lives. But, which one is real? Is there even a way to tell?
The first two chapters take place at the same time, while the third and fourth switch half-and-half in the two different realities. There will only be FOUR chapters. That's one longer than usual! Yay me!
Well, maybe. I actually have a different way of going about it. I like transitional coolness, so, you'll see.
Ruwalk yawned, rolling over and banging the alarm clock a few times. Why did the off button have to be so small? He sighed when the incessant buzzing finally stopped. Rolling over again, he brushed a few strands of light hair out of his wife's face. She sighed quietly, opening a copper eye.
"Is it time to get up already, Ru-koi?" She asked with a slight hopeful sound in her voice. It was obvious that she wanted to stay asleep. Ruwalk chuckled.
"Sorry, Celia. It is time to get up. But, it's Friday, so you can sleep in tomorrow." He leaned down, kissing her on the forehead, while she made a small unhappy noise. He flipped up the covers, climbing out, and wandering over to his dresser. As he hunted through it, he heard Celia's soft voice behind him.
"Honey, are we showering together today?" He smiled at this. That women was truly insatiable. He fished out his clothes, or the parts that wasn't part of his suit. He knew how bad it was to show up in the office in a wrinkled suit, so that was hanging up in his closet.
"Sorry, not today, love. I have a lot of work to do at the office and I need to get it done." Well, that was a lie. He hated doing work. But he was TIRED. There was only so much that he could keep up with. He went into the closet and grabbed his tie and suit. He wasn't looking forward to the day. He hadn't even started on a report that was due today. His boss was not going to be happy. But his boss was never happy. He had like, male PMS or something.
He went into the bathroom, hanging his suit on the back of the door. He started to strip off his shirt, when he heard a soft 'fwump'. He sighed again, noticing his suit laying crumpled on the floor. He walked over and picked it up, laying it on the counter and shutting the door all the way.
While in the shower, Ruwalk contemplated his life. Besides his amazing girlfriend, his life was pretty average. He was an unknown face in the business world, with an asshole boss and a bunch of underlings who were better at their jobs then he was. And his family had apparently forgotten about him. He hadn't heard from them in a long time. Even his girlfriend left him unsatisfied. She was great, but she didn't make him feel totally whole. It was close, but not quite right. He thought that he loved her, but he got sick of her and her needs quickly. He had gotten around quite a bit before, and she was a one night stand that never really ended. But... he felt like he was totally unremarkable. Which was true. There was nothing special or different about him except for his hair, which was longish and had orange tips. He was very proud of his hair. It set him apart. And it labeled him a freak that was too normal for the other freaks to be seen with. Which wasn't quiet what he wanted, but at least it gave him identity.
He turned off the water and stepped out, soaking in the steam.
He walked out of the bathroom dressed entirely in his suit, and his girlfriend smiled sweetly at him.
"Hey honey?" He braced himself. He knew what that 'cute, coy smile' meant.
"Yes sweetie?"
"I've been depressed lately, and I thought that shoe shopping would make me feel better." Oh, of course.
"Sure honey. Maybe later." He sighed as she squealed in happiness. She's great alright. Great but demanding. He walked over to the door, opening it. He turned around, facing her.
"See you later!" He smiled, backing out of the room. He closed the door, waiting to hear the click before sighing again, this time in relief. He turned, and his eyes widened. Two gigantic double doors were sitting there, looking for all the world like he had always been there. He glanced to each side, seeing nothing but rows and rows of book cases. There had never been books and gigantic double doors in his kitchen before... Suddenly, the sound of a chair moving and a book snapping shut came from behind him.
"Ruwalk! It's about time you got here! You can't avoid work forever!" Ruwalk spun around, staggering a bit at the sudden size of this place. It was so long he couldn't even see the far wall, and the ceiling went up forever! Then, just a bit in front of him was a table stacked with rows of paper work. And there was a man glaring at him. He had long aqua hair that was split, seemingly, into two separate parts, and large copper eyes. And he had pointed ears... Ruwalk lifted an eyebrow, eye twitching. This guy was really weird...
"Ruwalk, don't give me that look! Your so late I was going to go get you if you didn't appear soon!" The man's glare intensified. Ruwalk just blinked.
"Where am I?" The man blinked at him in surprise, before scowling.
"You know, I wouldn't doubt that you had never been to our library if I haven't had to drag you here a few times. Now stop being dumb, and get over here!" He sat in a huff, pulling out papers and signing them with an amazing speed. Ruwalk walked over cautiously, wondering what was going on. So, he decided to ask this strangely irritable man. Well, he did have a lot of paperwork. Anyone would go crazy with that kind of workload.
"Who are you and what's going on?" This seemed to piss the man off in a way that Ruwalk had never seen.
"Stop playing around! You know well enough that I'm Alfeegi, and that you are about to do work, or I will make you in many unpleasant ways! And I don't know if you'll really enjoy that option, considering it involves cutting off 'parts'!" Ruwalk's face drained of color and he sat down quickly. This... Alfeegi... was VISCOUS! Damn, why was he so scary! He looked at the top paper, and (unwisely, I might add) shouted loudly.
"This paper has my name on it!" Alfeegi growled, grabbing one of the many pens by his side and hurling at Ruwalk. It hit him square on the forehead, leaving a red mark.
"Ah, fuck! What was that for?" Ruwalk exclaimed. Alfeegi closed his eyes and exclaimed matter-of-factly.
"You need to be quiet and do your work." He opened his eyes, before leaning down a bit and started working on his paperwork. Ruwalk sat in silence, staring at this man. His brows furrowed, as he studied him. He was very... well, pretty. Eventually Alfeegi looked up.
"What do you want and why aren't you working?" Ruwalk blinked.
"Your gorgeous." He stated it as if it was a fact, not an opinion. Alfeegi froze.
"Wha... What?" He looked at Ruwalk like he was alien.
"I'm just saying. If I didn't have a girlfriend, and you know, was gay... I'd be after you." Alfeegi sputtered at this.
"Wha...? You? What? You don't have a girlf... Oh! Just get out of here! I can't deal with your crap today. The lord wants these done today! It would be so helpful if you would just... you know, HELP! But, apparently you can't even do that! You are so useless! Get out of here, NOW!" Alfeegi was frustrated almost to tears, and Ruwalk didn't really want to anger him further. Alfeegi should really relax more often. He got up and walked forward quickly, pushing open the double doors... and running right into another man. This one had long blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes. And they were both laying on the floor, Ruwalk on top of the poor guy.
"Ah, oh! Hello, Ruwalk. Um... how are you?" He was very flustered, which Ruwalk smiled at. He was apparently in the land of all of the most gorgeous guys in the history of any planet. Ever.
"Hello Rune." He blinked. Rune? That was the guys name? How did he know that? He suddenly realized that all of these names and places were in his head. They were just like the double doors, acting like they had always been there. This man's name was Rune, and he's a Dragon Knight. Not like Ruwalk knew what a 'Dragon Knight' was, at any rate. He rolled off of the blushing man, allowing them both to get up. After they were standing and dusted themselves off, Ruwalk decided to strike up a conversation.
"So, where you going, Rune?" Rune smiled happily.
"Oh, just to visit Thatz. I haven't seen him around lately, so Rath and I were going to visit him. But Rath got called to visit the Dragon Lord, so he's obviously not here. So, I'm just going to check up on him." Ruwalk smiled. He had heard from Kai-Stern that Thatz had a crush on Rune... Ruwalk blinked again. No one had ever told him that. He didn't even know who Kai-Stern is. He was suddenly wondering if his girlfriend was worried about him. Wait... What was her name again?
"Rune... I'm forgetting everything that happened before in my real life. What am I doing here? This isn't where I belong, but I feel like I've always been here. Do you understand, Rune?" Rune blinked at him, not understanding at all. But, because he is a kind and generous person, he tried to help anyway.
"Well, I thought that you had always been here. Maybe your remembering something that never happened? That happens sometimes. I know that this is where you belong, because I see you everyday. How could you have ever been anywhere else?" He looked at Ruwalk worriedly. He was hoping that he was helping, but he didn't think that he really was.
"But... it seemed so real... Oh, never mind." He laughed, hiding his confusion. He did this a lot, really. It was one of his trademarks. He turned and started heading down the opposite hall from Thatz's room. He didn't know how he knew which way to go. But he decided to stop asking. There was no point in that, because no one knew.
"Ah, hey! Ruwalk!" Rune called after him. Ruwalk stopped, turning at the waist, he raised a hand in a wave.
"Don't worry about me. Just take care of Thatz, okay. He needs your 'special attention' more than I do, Rune. Ja." Ruwalk ignored the look of pain and concern on Rune's face and continued on his way. He walked for about ten minutes, hopelessly lost. Then, he turned down a hall... and ran into his sink. He fall backwards with a shout of surprise. He fell hard on the linoleum, hissing. A door banged open, and he heard a familiar voice.
"Ruwalk! Why haven't you gone to work yet?" His girlfriend, Celia. Oh yeah, that was her name. He looked up at her, in bewilderment.
"Where did the Dragon Castle go?" He asked as he stood up. She looked at him, before laughing.
"That is the strangest cover up story for not going to work that I've ever heard. Now go. Your boss will kill you if you don't turn in your stuff today." She smiled, tilting her head.
"I know. Alfeegi said almost the same thing. But he was mad at me for not helping. He is really stressed out, the poor guy." She tilted her some more, so it was almost sideways.
"Alfeegi? Is that someone new at work or something?" He shook his head quickly.
"No, I've apparently worked with him forever in a job I don't remember being a part of. You should meet him sometime." She cocked an eyebrow.
"Un hunh. Well, go to work! Shoo! You can't be late!" She started ushering him out the door, smiling. Ruwalk looked confused, before everything came back to him. What in the world was he talking about? Dragons? There are no such thing! How could he think that he was part of something like that? He was a nobody, a faceless drone. He wasn't special.
He sat, typing up his work that he never bothered to do before. But, as much as he was surprised that he went along with that mirage, he couldn't get the feeling out of him. He belonged there, Rune had said. Everyone knew him there, and yet here his name was "hey, you!". He was a number here. But over there... he was a person. And Alfeegi... He wanted to help that poor man relax, before he popped a blood vessel or something. Or injured himself by taking his work too seriously. But, he was never going to see any of them again, because they weren't real. He sighed, typing away at something that no one was going to read, and probably just going to laugh at him for bothering. (A/N: Like me with my poor fanfic. It's okay. I love you! Hug!) But it's his job, right? What could he do? Someone tapped him on the shoulder, startling him out of his reverie.
"Hey you! Your wanted in staff room B2." And with that, the other number walked away to go about his business. Ruwalk saved his work on his computer, and then closed the window, getting up with a creak from his very old computer chair, he headed down to the staff rooms. He pushed open the door.
"I'm here." He sighed.
"It's about time Ruwalk! You know we can't start meetings without you! And, the Lord just discovered new information on the enemy!" A very angry Alfeegi hissed at him.
"I don't think that Jhonson's Number Company deserves a battle plan..." He looked around, and noticed that he was back among the people who cared about him. Well, except for Alfeegi. Alfeegi hated him. And they were all staring at him like he had lost his mind.
"I er... Sorry about that. I was hungry." He laughed, taken his seat next to Alfeegi, just like everything else. They always put him next to Alfeegi for no real reason. Bastards.
"We're having dinner right after this! Your such a useless idiot!" He sighed, shaking his head. Ruwalk smiled, but he was almost hurt inside. How could Alfeegi say that? True, compared to 'Feegi, he did practically nothing, but still, that wasn't fair...
"Aw, don't say that 'Feegi! You know we love you!" He laughed cheerfully, acting the opposite of what he felt. Suddenly, Alfeegi stood up.
"Shut up! You don't even know what your saying! Don't say that sort of thing so casually!" He gave a look to Lykouleon, which was apparently comprehended, and left the conference room. Ruwalk looked at him confused, before glancing at Kai-Stern. Kai-Stern knew all the secrets of everyone. He got up and motioned for Ruwalk to join him in the corner, which he did. Kai-Stern leaned next to his ear, whispering in an almost giddy tone.
"Alfeegi has a crush on you, baka." Ruwalk started, and Kai-Stern laughed at him.
"What, that's impossible! Have you seen the horrible way he acts around me? He's always done that! There's NO way!" Ruwalk was panicking a little bit. He suddenly realized how easily he had slipped into the role of Dragon Tribe Ruwalk. He was actually very proud of himself for finding himself such a secret little world. Where he was special. Where people, apparently, liked him in a more-than-friends way. Kai-Stern rolled his eyes at him.
"Have I ever been wrong?" Ruwalk sighed in defeat.
"No, you haven't." Kai-Stern smirk.
"No, I haven't. Why would I be wrong now, hmm?" Ruwalk shrugged and headed back to the table. As Kai-Stern and Ruwalk sat down, Ruwalk tumbled to the floor.
"Ah! Shit, sorry about that! I thought that the chair was there." He scrambled up, laughing. His boss gave him in a sidelong glance.
"Oh, Ruwalk. When did you get here?" Ruwalk blinked. He was back in the real world, and he was not happy about it.
"Crap, I have to get back! I'm going to miss the conference on the Demon Lord!" He turned and walked through the door a few times, hoping that it was a trigger. But, he got nothing but a few confused and disapproving glances from the executives inside the room. He finally stopped, shrugging his shoulders sadly. He lost the other world again, the world where they were carrying on their important meeting, thinking that he was there. He needed to find Alfeegi! He turned back to his boss, who was holding out a piece of paper. A pink piece of paper. A dismissal slip. Ruwalk shook his head.
"No! I can explain! Really, I can!" He hoped to god that this wasn't happening to him. He needed this money! He would lose his food, his house, and most likely his girlfriend. She liked his bank more than him. His boss just shook his head.
"No. Your basically useless. I don't have the time to deal with this. I've included psychiatric counseling, because you seem crazy to me. Don't come to me for a reference, because I don't like you very much. Leave." He motioned to the door with the pink slip in his hand. Ruwalk's face fell. It was at this point that he no longer cared if the other world was real or not. He liked it a whole HELL of a lot more than his one. He snatched the pink slip out of the hand of his former boss, and stormed out. A tear fell silently. He hated his job, but now he was no longer average. He was less than that. He had fallen from even the ranks of the average. What kind of person was he now?
"Ruwalk, what's wrong?" He looked over at Lord Lykouleon, sighing.
"It's nothing Lykouleon. Please, just continue." He sniffed a bit, wiping his eyes. He now couldn't remember why he was sad... That was odd. But, he looked over to the empty seat next to him. Alfeegi was mad at him, and that made his chest constrict with pain. He needed to find him. He needed to tell him how much he cared for him. He felt like no matter how much Celia tried, she could never complete him. But, even when Alfeegi was mean to him... he felt whole. He stood up, scooting the chair out behind him. All eyes turned to him.
"I need to go. Can someone fill me in later?" Kai-Stern nodded.
"I will. You go. Oh, and let me know what happened later, alright?" Kai-Stern smirked, teasing Ruwalk with his eyes. Ruwalk chuckled.
"Alright. I'll be sure to do that, Kai-Stern."
End Chapter One
A/N: How did that feel to you? Hmmm? It was only like, six pages, and not much happened. If it was boring, sorry. But, when I was watching all this unfold in my head, it was SOOOO cool! Wheee! Anyway, I already know several important points in the story, and everything that going to be in the final chapter. So, when I stop being lazy I'll try to get the second chapter done. Have fun doing whatever it is your doing.
Oh, and Celia's an OC. She's actually pretty fun to play with, but you know, she's kind of a bad guy in this. But, she's usually pretty cool. I've planned on a whole bunch of Ru/'Feegi fics where she's Ru's girlfriend. Ah well, let's see how I feel about her when I finish the story. She's kind of a materialistic bitch in this one. Sorry, Celia!
And yes. She does have 'Feegi's exact eyes. There is a reason for that. But, that story is for later.
