Sylphiel was setting breakfast across the bars of his bed when he woke. She had the sides of her hair clipped back and cherry pink lipstick on. "Good morning, sleepy," she said cheerfully.
"See? No hard feelings!" David silently pointed out to his co-pilot, then wondered at himself for doing so.
The other voice gave a soft "Hrfm. Okay, fine. So you were right."
"Morning," David replied and lifted a hand to yawn behind it. She finished setting up his breakfast and assisted him in eating it. It was indeed like Kyle had said- he could have done it himself, except, honestly, he liked Sylphiel's attention too much to tell her so. Once he finished, she set the glass aside and placed her hands in her lap once more, smoothing her white skirt, which showed off her beautiful legs.
Tipping her head to the side, Sylphiel brushed her bangs back from her forehead and smiled softly, "Sorry about having Kyle bring you dinner last night, I was a little behind on my work..."
David quickly shook his head, "No- don't apologize, it... was my fault," he gave a slight smile in return and sat up further, catching her chin and stealing a kiss. She blushed, but returned it. "You didn't get in trouble, though, did you?" he asked, sitting back.
Cheeks still bright pink, Sylphiel shook her head, "I wasn't that far behind, and... the excitement over Mrs. Gouch's improvement was enough to keep them from noticing any lack on my part." Her eyes lifted again and she gazed at him with wonder, "That... was really amazing... truly a miracle."
Giving a snort and scratching his nose, David gave a humble laugh, "Yeah, you think I should make a booth on a street corner?"
Sylphiel blushed even more deeply, but laughed, "No," she answered, "but..." she looked down, "It...feels wrong... for you to hide such a gift but... but..."
"Shit, if everyone knew, they'd never leave me alone. Or think I was a charlatan and find some way to make life uncomfortable," David finished for her and shook his head, rubbing his face. "Sylphiel, I really don't think I need to be here any more, I feel fine, and I've got my... eh, new abilities to fix anything that hasn't already healed up on its own... I really need to go see if I've still got a home, or job, or car." Again, he sat forward, catching her hand where it rested in her lap and smiled coyly, "And then, you can let me take you out to dinner."
Her eyes flicked downwards, hidden by her lashes as she bit her lower lip, shoulder shaking. "Alright," was her soft reply and her emerald pools of life lifted to look at him once more, "No one's ever flirted with me like this before..." she said with a small giggle.
David shook his head, "Then they're all damn fools not to see how wonderful you are, Sylphiel. You're beautiful, smart, and kind... and might I also mention that you smell very nice." This too caused her to blush and David lifted her hands to place kisses upon her fingertips. "I know just the place to take you."
Laughing softly, Sylphiel didn't pull her hands from his grip, but continued to blush, "Oh... alright," she murmured, "I'll see what I can do- but!" she lifted a finger and pressed it against his nose as he was about to start kissing her hands again, "Only if you tell me something..." she leaned forward, eyes half-lidded, "Something secret that only a true healer would know about me?"
In return, David leaned forward, still clasping her hands where they now rested on his thigh. He didn't say anything in response, but moved in to take a kiss from her lips. Though his lips were busy, his mind wasn't idle. What would she take as a good answer to that question?
"Tell her she's wearing pink underwear," his co-pilot suggested facetiously. "Or tell her that her mother died when she was six when she fell from a horse at the estate and broke her neck."
Slowly, reluctantly, David drew back and, with his eyes closed, delivered the latter statement. Opening his eyes again, he found hers shining with tears, "I'm sorry, I should have picked something less..."
"No, no... It's okay, but that was on the news, so..."
David frowned slightly, "Hm, then I'll need to tell you something more personal." He peered at her with a playful smirk, "You're wearing pink underwear." Her face flushed bright red and she folded her arms on her chest, "Got that one right too, didn't I?"
"Speaking of which, how DID I know that one?" David asked silently.
His co-pilot laughed mentally, "You didn't notice her bra strap, but I did. There, see? When she leans over."
"How did you know?" Sylphiel asked.
Grinning, David sat back and replied, "I'm a great healer and I'm aware of all things, great and small," he replied haughtily. She reached over and slapped his shoulder, but lightly. "So, do I get recommended for release?"
Sighing, Sylphiel sat back as well, "Oh, alright," she replied, "I'll talk to the head doctor of this section." Shifting, she reluctantly took the tray and stood, "You be good, now, and don't say any more weird stuff," she leaned forward to receive a kiss, then took the tray, turned, and sauntered from the room. David and his co-pilot both enjoyed the view.
Heaving a gusty sigh, David settled back in bed, turning his head to look out the window at the fine view of Flagoon. "You said you'd explain today," he whispered to himself.
"I did, didn't I?" came the voice that was his, yet wasn't. It was like... having an imaginary friend that wasn't imaginary and ...not all that friendly. "I suppose... I'll start with our Deaths. ...What you remember of Lina with a sword, and Lina with a..."
"Motorcycle," David supplied.
"Whatever," his co-pilot growled. "They both happened, just not both to you. I figured this out when you started to panic over casting a healing spell. I knew I could do it, yet you didn't, and the incongruence hit me. I'm not you... yet I am, and I have a feeling that even if you hadn't grabbed me, we would have ended up together."
David shook his head slightly, lifted a hand and rubbed his face, "I'm still confused... so who are you if you're not just ...me talking to myself?"
In his mind, he could envision his other self, the one he'd seen before at his death. The image looked down and cleared his throat behind his fist, "I...well... in this world... you're Rezo Grayword's grandson, meaning... Zelgadis is your cousin. Well... um, you're not really Rezo's grandson. You're his copy- as I was. Your body wasn't made the same way as mine, but it's definitely the same. There're flaws in your body that shouldn't be there if you were ...natural. So..."
Silently, David waited... and waited... but his co-pilot didn't answer. He sighed, "Okay, so that means what? I'm a clone of my grandfather and you were too? How's that make what happened... possible? If what you say happened really did... which you haven't gotten around to saying in the first place."
"I will if you'd shut up!" the other snapped. "...I was just collecting my thoughts, that's all. ...it's...difficult... to really speak of." Again, he fell silent, and David bit his tongue to keep from saying anything.
"Stop that... Now, where was I?"David put both hands to his face this time, "The point. You were getting to the point." He sighed, "You talk just like grandfather."
"Oh, right. Um. So, you're not crazy, there really are two of us in your head. I can do healing and spells, and you... don't do anything constructive as far as I can see."
Lowering his hands, David sat up a bit, "Hey! I've got a job that pays, so lay off. Don't see how this silly healing stuff could get me any money when I can't let people know about it."
In his mind, his ghostly buddy growled, "And why not?" he asked sourly.
Closing his eyes, David replied silently, "Because, if people know I can miraculously cure people from life threatening injuries or blindness, then several things would happen, probably at the same time, and none of them comfortable. First would be that the various religious groups would be after my hide because they'd think I was their god in human form, or that I was a fake and had to be burned. Second, powerful people from around the world would be trying to use me to heal themselves or to inflict diseases on people. Not to forget that other people would be trying to either imitate me, kill me, or worship me. If by some strange chance- everything went well and no one decided to get rid of me and the various religions didn't think I was some sort of saint, and the political factions didn't think I was a tool, then we'd constantly be plagued by hoards of people begging for healing."
Silence met this longwinded explanation, a silence that lasted nearly a full minute.
"I don't want to be used again," came the final comment on that subject, meek and cowed. David winced, the Other sounded like he'd had a pretty hard time of it.
Taking a slow, deep breath, David settled back in bed again, staring out the window at the stiff breeze that played in the upper branches of Flagoon. "So who are you, and how did you get into me, and how are you going to get out?" he asked, changing the subject.
Even now, silence persisted from that corner of his mind, but at last, his co-pilot replied, "You grabbed me... I grabbed back, and then you returned to your body and brought me with you. As for how I'm going to get out... There're two options. The first is to... simply leave, though I think that might be a bit more difficult than just letting go. The other is to create a body of my own in this world, but for that I would need part of Rezo, and would have to boot whatever soul came to inhabit the body out."
"And that wouldn't be too nice, considering your life," David finished for him. "You still haven't told me your name."
Again, that blasted silence, but this time, their conversation was interrupted by a soft knock on the door. "G'mornin," a cheerful voice blustered. "Whom were you talking to...?"
Swinging his head around, David turned to stare at... of all people... his boss. Varon Seaddle was a large man who filled the door, and the room, both physically as well as audibly. He coughed and snorted and shuffled his way into the room, dressed in a fine suit of soft gray, salted brown hair slicked back from his face. David swallowed his shock and smiled instead, noticing the flowers that were all but dwarfed in the man's hand. "Myself. Thought I'd look into fiction writing," he lied, "what brings you?"
Varon huffed and shuffled his feet, looming in the doorway still, but after a gesture from David, entered, "I'm so very sorry to hear about the accident... and... well, for not coming immediately, but... I just couldn't get away from the office. Everything happened at once!"
"You had to whip the other coders into getting the project done in time and had to ride them hard," David translated. "I understand. Did you lose the contract?"
Sighing with relief, Varon shook his head and turned his attention towards shoving his flowers into the vase with the other ones. "Nope. They used the framework you'd written already and fleshed it out. So, how are you doing?" He said with a final push at the flowers.
David stretched slightly, "Ready to get out of here. Sure, there's a cute nurse that feeds me, but she can't date patients. Hospital policy."
Throwing back his head, Varon laughed uproariously, sort of like a mule's bray. "Good one, Graywords, good one! I'm glad you're well enough to make jokes!"
Giving a shake of his head, David shifted into a more comfortable position on the bed, "Actually, I'm about completely healed," he said honestly, "I'm hoping to be free within the week... but, uh...mmm. Mr. Seaddle... do I still have a job? Or is that why you came to see me?"
Varon spun around, his hand brushing the vase and sending it crashing to the floor. "Oah- oops, I'm ... sorry about that I-"
"Don't worry about it," David replied. "Really, Mr. Seaddle, it's fine," he leaned over, watching as the large man crouched to pick up shards of glass.
With a heavy sigh, Varon placed the shards he'd collected on the table the vase had fallen from. "I suppose you could just buy a new one," he stated slyly, "with the raise I'm giving you." David tipped his head to the side and frowned slightly as he continued. "I realized how much work you actually do around the place, and anyway," Varon paused to clear his throat loudly, "company policy is that I can't fire you just for getting hit by a car. You do good work, Graywords. Damn good work, it's your work that's gotten us all the contracts. Doing without you has been hell, so I fired Netts, and you've got his office," he finished with a rush.
David lunged forward, "Holy shit- his... office, your kidding!"
Varon took a shocked step back at David's sudden movement, and then laughed loudly. "Nope, no joke! You're the new head of the programming department."
Shaking his head, David flopped back again, "Damn... I was... so expecting something completely different." He shook his head again and lifted his hands to rub his face. "Wow. An office with a window... wow."
"So, now that you've got the good news- and I'm very glad to see that you were awake and well enough to hear it- I'd best be getting back to work." Varon clapped his hands loudly and rubbed them together. "I hope to see you soon, Graywords. We've got a new contract lined up, this time with the SSFC, working directly with the head of the Seyruun Space Flight Center's mechanics department. We've got funding directly from Prince Phillionel, so feel free to go all out with it!"
Biting his lower lip, David continued to shake his head and started laughing, "Oh Cephied!" he wheezed, "What strange luck!" he gasped and wiped his eyes, "Alright, alright, I could do some preliminary stuff if I had an idea of what exactly he wants this 'bot to do, even if I'm still stuck here for another month, which I hope I'm not. Seriously." Lifting his head, David looked towards Varon with a grin, "See ya when I get out, boss."
Nodding firmly, Varon stepped back once, then frowned slightly, "You know... your... eye changed color."
David winced, "Yeah. I know." He shrugged, "I can still see out it."
"Right, well, get better soon!" Varon ordered and left the room.
Sighing, David lifted his hands, drawing power between his palms into a ball, then dropped it on the floor amidst the water and glass, staring in shock as the pieces of the vase slid back together, the flowers and water returned, and it flew back up onto the table. "Now that's a handy thing," he muttered, staring at his hands.
"Yeah, whatever," his co-pilot muttered.
Lowering his voice, David whispered, "You still haven't answered my question. What's your name? You know mine." Silence was his answer for the longest time, and David closed his eyes, reaching deep within himself, in a way he hadn't known how to do till his co-pilot started flinging spells around. His vision darkened from that of backlit eyelids to pure blackness, then shifted over to the color of dried blood and dead grass with a streak of pale new green in a hazy mist around him. And before him... hunched down over his knees was his co-pilot. The Other wore a tattered red cloak with heavy shoulder guards, beneath which were white robes, with a large gash in the front over his heart. Blood soaked down nearly to his knees.
The Other lifted his head and turned slightly, eyes widening when he spotted David walking towards him. "W-what are you doing here?" he asked, shrinking in on himself.
David shook his head as he stopped beside the Other and knelt. "You wouldn't answer," he stated, "So I came to get the answer. Is that alright? I won't be stuck here forever, will I?" he said with a frown, looking around uneasily.
Bi-colored eyes turned down and away, and from that angle, David definitely saw the resemblance between him and Grandpa Rezo, "No," the Other murmured, "You just... will look asleep and not know how much time is passing outside of here."
Giving a nod, David settled down on the... nonexistent floor. "Alright, so we won't get bothered." Silence fell between them as David simply sat thinking for a long time, then slowly, dragging out his words from his thoughts- just to run them past the Other and see if they were correct assumptions, he spoke again. "I think... I believe you now, about the possession thing I mean. I've never been able to do this before. This is... inside me, somewhere, right?" he glanced at the Other just in time to see him nod. "So you really are another version of me. Which means that... Lina has another version, and Sylphiel, and Rezo, and Eris." Another nod and David took a breath, "So. Both the motorcycle and the sword happened... And where I got killed by accident, you..." his eyes slid towards the Other who was fiddling with the tear in his robes, "You were murdered."
These words made the Other curl up slightly, "no... I deserved what I got," he replied softly. "I destroyed Sairaag and Flagoon. I resurrected a demonbeast into myself and tried to kill Lina, and Gourry, and Zelgadis, and Amelia...and Sylphiel. I tried to kill her too."
Taking a breath, long and deep, David let it out just as slowly, refusing to get angry. "I know what you're trying to do," he stated. "You're trying to piss me off and distract me from something." The Other looked guilty. "I use that trick all the time, and it only works when people don't know it or play along. I won't." Shifting, David turned to sit in front of the Other. "Listen," he stated, leaning forward to place his hands on the... 'floor' in front of his crossed legs. "What you did before doesn't matter here, so long as you don't do it again. You said you'd learned better- you'd learned what death was and what it meant, and I'm not going to condemn you for making a mistake, even if it cost a lot of lives on your world. They're still alive here, and that's what matters to us on this world."
The Other stared at him in shocked silence and took a breath to speak, but David ran him over, "But nothing. I'm not telling you to forget your past, I'm telling you to take it and move on. That's what I've had to learn to do, because... where you've gone through maybe a year or two of abuse, I lived with Eris for eighteen years. Maybe I didn't have her actually controlling my thoughts, but she came close to programming me to jump at her every breath. The bitch is a mastermind at psychology and it took a long time to get the strength to ignore her manipulation or find ways around it."
Lifting a hand, David reached over and caught the Other's chin and lifted it, forcing their eyes to meet. "Nor am I saying you're weak. It took me a damn long time to realize what she was doing to me and break free... and Cephied, there have been many times where I've wanted to just shoot her in the head till there was nothing left. You... had the guts to actually do it." David gave a slight smile, "I just ran away from her, as far as I could get."
Now, at least, the Other made no attempt to interrupt him, and just sat there, silently listening. David gave a slight smile, "So, maybe neither one of us made the right choice about how to deal with that bitch, but I know one thing. You're still here, and you can still make choices. Lina told you that what she sees in the future is a 'great big beautiful flower', ... I think what she meant was that she sees something wonderful that she wants to," he paused, tipping his head to the side, eyes falling half lidded as he thought, "she wants to nurture and make grow, and call her own. Something she's helped make become what it is. Maybe it's a woman's mothering instinct, but she's right. You... and I, we're dwelling on the past too much.
"Now, you're going to answer my question. What is your name?"
The Other went pale, then lowered his eyes, "I...you...knew I didn't have one... didn't you?" he whispered, but didn't get as far as lowering his head as David pulled his chin up again. "I don't know... I don't have a name. Eris never named me. She called me Rezo, that's all I was to her... or Damn Copy, or Garbage. That's what I was to her."
David smiled when the Other lifted his eyes to look at his face again, this time without flinching. "Alright then, I'll start with what you are to me. To me, you are a friend, and a brother." The Other's eyes widened with shock, then his expression changed to muted joy, "As for your name, well, as my brother, you'd have the last name Graywords. Now..." he sat back, finally letting go of the Other's chin to scratch his own instead, eyes staring up towards the 'sky' or 'ceiling' or whatever the expanse of dry-blood-brown-and-green was up there. The Other sat forward slightly, uncurling from his pose, one that had reminded David so much of himself after one of Eris's abusive spats. The ache in his own heart eased at that as well, and he smiled a bit more genuinely at the Other. "Okay, middle name. Mine is Aleron. I've always liked Alcander though, so you can have that one." The copy blushed slightly, but remained attentive. "First name... hmm."
Pausing, David looked his other self over. He looked to be... physically older, but the expression he wore was quite a bit younger. "Rasmus. Rasmus Alcander Graywords." David watched as the Other mouthed the name, then smiled, head tipping to the side as he did.
"I like it," Rasmus replied.
David gave a nod, "Alright, Ras," he stated and settled into a more comfortable pose, leaning back on his arms, his legs crossed Indian style. "So let's put what we know of the situation together and see how the land lays."
Rasmus took a breath and let it out, "Alright," he agreed and settled onto his knees, tucking his feet beneath him, hands in his lap. His eyes followed David's glance around, and he gave a soft laugh, "Okay, I'll start with this place. You're right. This place is inside you. This is the center of your physical being, where I got tied to when you pulled me in. This is where we draw magic from too, or the place we draw on to control outside energies. The colors here are our auras."
Glancing upwards again, David frowned slightly, "It looks... like dried blood," he stated. "The colors mean something, right?"
Embarrassed, Rasmus looked aside and gave a nod, "Yes, that color would be my fault. It's the reflection of what I did to Sairaag in my world. The dead brown is yours and your experiences in this world, and the green is the original color we had- healer shade, and healthy."
Softly, David laughed, "I guess we're both a couple of wounded birds then," he sat forward, offering his hand, "But if we stick together, we'll be alright." If anything, David suspected that was his catch phrase.
A moment of confusion passed before Rasmus lifted his own hand and clasped David's. "Right," he agreed with a shy smile.
"Okay, so give me a better version of how exactly you got here?" David asked, bringing them back to the subject.
Grimacing, Rasmus nodded and set his hand back into his lap. "I was killed by Lina the same moment you were, though... it's odd, because Sylphiel isn't the same age as she was in my world and..." he shook his head, stopping a moment to retrace his thoughts, "Flagoon is the key, I think. I'd have to study it a bit more, but I think the tree has roots that go through time and space, like the staff that holds up the worlds. I died under the tree, so I might have traveled along one of its roots and met you by accident. So you grabbed me, I grabbed you, and the shock of our meeting restarted your heart." He shifted a bit and glanced around, "The funny thing is... the way our souls fit together, it was almost as if we were two parts of a larger whole."
"Puzzle pieces," David translated. "Making a bigger picture," he pursed his lips, "Weird. But your world and mine seem to be reflections of each other."
Rasmus snorted, "Very strange and distorted reflections," he replied, "This place is just covered with people, and I've never seen buildings like this. Fields of grass and farms surrounded Sairaag in my world, and the city wasn't as packed, or as tall. And we didn't have all of these- machines I think you call them. Though, on the other hand, there were some fairly ancient creations that worked like your machines. No one knows who built them but Rezo thought they were built by the dragons, although why should the dragons want to build stuff like that?" he shook his head.
"Wait, dragons? What? No... never mind, save that for later." David chuckled softly and gave a slight smile.
Clearing his throat, Rasmus went on, "In short, this is the same world, but not. Say, your Rezo can't open his eyes, can he?"
Frowning, David gave a nod, "He somehow managed to become a scientist even though he couldn't see. It was almost as if he was aware of things on a different level... Maybe like when we close our eyes, those colored lights."
"People's auras," Rasmus supplied and lifted a hand to push his hair back from his face, "Probably. Rezo was very powerful magically on my world, and I've got the same amount of power, as well as his memories of how to use it. You've got the power, but not the memories. Meaning, together, our power is doubled."
Tipping his chin up slightly, David smiled and raised an eyebrow, "So, you could teach me how to use those energies?" Rasmus nodded. "Awesome. I'll teach you about my world in exchange." This time, Rasmus grinned cheerfully.
A breath, and Rasmus shifted his shoulders, "Sounds fair. I'd be glad to, and maybe we can teach Sylphiel while we're at it. She's got a lot of potential, it just needs training and then she can do what we did with that burnt woman. That would make her happy, I think."
"Being able to help people even more than she already does?" David flicked his own hair out of his eyes, "It likely would," he agreed. "You realize, she's the mayor's daughter as well as a member of one of the old noble families," he pointed out with a sigh, "Her father would throw a fit over her dating ...us."
Rasmus snorted, "Eruk is aware of politics but his daughter's happiness comes first. He loves her too much to deny her anything she really wants. Thankfully she doesn't have the personality type to be spoiled by it, which is why he indulges her. She's got some silly daydreams about love and what it's supposed to be, which we've partially fulfilled." He rubbed his forehead slightly, "all we'd have to do now is destroy a demon with a magic sword and we'd have her."
David laughed softly, "Demons and swords, yeah, like that'll ever happen. Which reminds me, who's this 'Gourry' guy?"
Giving a soft hmm before speaking, Rasmus replied, "He's a brainless swordsman with a magic sword- in my world, not sure what he is here, but he's tall, blonde, blue eyed- a perfect prince to the ladies, but only because he's too stupid to take advantage of his good looks. He only remembers Sylphiel's name because she's a good cook and he's ruled by his stomach. He and Lina are a good match; he's hard to damage permanently and she's violent, especially at the dinner table."
Throwing back his head, David burst into a laugh, "and that's what ran a motorcycle into me? Wow."
"At least she didn't have a grudge against you," Rasmus pointed out, "It could have been worse. She certainly wouldn't have brought me flowers and apologized."
Returning his gaze to Rasmus, David sat forward once more and patted his other-self's shoulder, "Hey, she doesn't have a problem with you here. Like I said earlier, take it and move on. Sure we can't see the future, but walking backwards is stupid."
It was Rasmus's turn to snigger, "Zelgadis does that enough for everyone in the world," he replied.
Giving brief thought to the comment, David nodded, "Yeah, he does."
"You'd better break from your trance," Rasmus stated, "We can still talk, just direct your thoughts towards me rather than speaking them out loud and people won't think we're so weird."
David nodded and got to his feet, then hesitated. "Uh... how -do- I get out of here?"
Rasmus tipped his head back, looking up at David with a slight amused smile, "Reach for the light," he replied enigmatically.
Looking around, David finally spotted a hazy place in the distance that seemed a bit brighter than the rest. Glancing down at Rasmus, he reached down and fluffed the other's hair, to Ras's surprise. "Teasing me, are you?" giving a soft laugh, he started off, closing his eyes and reaching like he'd done before to get there- and opened his eyes to find himself staring out the window at Flagoon.
"Good work, for your first time going into trance," Rasmus commented and David could feel him settled into the backseat, looking through David's eyes passively. "Looks like it's about time for lunch, too."
Chewing on the inside of his cheek, David replied, "Hopefully Sylphiel will come back soon."
"I'm sure she will," Rasmus agreed soothingly.
On cue, the door opened and a woman stepped in. However, she wasn't Sylphiel. She was a middle-aged woman with graying hair, clad in the pants and shirt version of Sylphiel's outfit, with a long white coat over it. Dr. Neal, her nametag said. "My nurse tells me that you're ready to get out of here," she said without preamble, picking up his chart and looking over the latest entries. "You certainly look better." She paced closer and pulled out her stethoscope. Plugging it into her ears, she placed the other end on his chest. He breathed deeply for her and sat forward when she finished with the front of his chest. "Breathing is good. Let's see those wounds then."
David blushed when she pulled his paper gown down and exposed his chest. Her cool fingers tracing the pale pink scars crossing his chest like a spider web. "Amazing," she murmured, "You're completely healed..." she stepped back and picked up his chart from the end of the bed and thumbed through it again. "Therapy says you're ahead of their program." The doctor shook her head slightly. "Simply amazing. Full recovery from broken bones and major heart surgery in four weeks." She made some notes on his chart, then turned back to look at him. "Mr. Graywords, I have to admit that I don't know why you're still here."
Giving a grin as he pulled his gown back up, David replied, "So I get to go? I'll have to make a call and get someone to bring some clothes over for me."
"Indeed," the doctor replied, she had a square face with her hair tied back tightly at the nape of her neck. Stepping over to his side, she removed the IV and replaced the tape with an actual bandage, speaking as she worked, "Just head over to the nurse's station and Ms. Raada will see that you get to use the line. Your papers will be down at the front desk in an hour."
With that, the doctor left the room and David stretched. "Finally!" he breathed and slid down on the bed to put his feet on the floor, climbing out of the bed and shaking the wrinkles out of his paper gown before heading out to the hall and striding down to the nurse's station where Sylphiel sat, doing some paperwork. "Hey chika," David said and folded his arms on the top of the front counter, leaning on them. "Dr. Neal said I was to get out of here within the hour. I need the phone though."
Looking up, Sylphiel blushed but smiled, "Oh, wonderful!" she answered, "I'm so glad. Oh- here," she pulled the phone over and picked it up, dialing for the outside line, then handed it over to him.
"What's the date?" he asked Sylphiel.
"July thirteenth," she answered.
Pausing, David pondered his mental list of numbers to call. Nodding to himself, David finally settled on Paul's, "He should be just getting back into town." The phone rang three times, then the answering machine picked up. "Hi, this is Paul Garris's residence, I'm not home ri-" There was a muffled clatter and a thump, then a voice started speaking over the top of the recording.
"Hello? Ah, damn, wait a second." A bang and click as the recording was switched off. "Hello?"
David grinned a bit to himself, "Hey Paul, can I ask you a favor?"
"Oh God, David! I just got home an hour ago, I was about to head over and see you- I just heard what happened. God, are you alright?" Paul asked frantically and David closed his eyes, imagining Paul pacing back and forth, tethered by the phone cord to the table near the couch in his small apartment.
"Yeah," David replied, "I understand. Actually, you got my extra key still? Could you drop by my place and tell the landlord that I'll be there by the end of the day to pay the rent, then get me some clothes and come pick me up? Room three-seventy, they're kicking me out."
Paul fell silent a second, "They- they're what?" he asked, shocked, "You've been released? But- gyha, okay, I'll be there in an hour. Glad to hear you're alright though."
"See ya." David replied, "thanks."
Without another word, Paul hung up the phone and David put his end down. "That was some luck."
Sylphiel tipped her head to the side curiously. "What was?"
Grinning, David leaned against the nurse's station, "My friend, who's got the only other copy of my apartment key, got back from his business trip an hour ago. So he'll be here in another hour. So, when are you off next?"
Blushing, Sylphiel glanced around, then leaned forward slightly, lowering her voice. "Tuesday next week, I've got the day off." She paused and pulled out a sticky note, scribbled out a phone number and slipped it across the counter to him. Taking the note, he looked at it and memorized the number- in case he lost the paper. Dr. Neal stepped out of another room down the hall and headed towards them as David palmed the paper with a smile. Sylphiel, still blushing gave a polite nod as she took the papers the doctor handed to her. The older woman's sharp dark eyes glanced piercingly between Sylphiel and David, then she turned, heading out of the section.
Setting the papers down, Sylphiel covered her face. David laughed softly, "Hey, I'm sure that if she had a problem with it, she'd have said something. But I'm not a patient any more, or nearly, so what can she say?"
Lifting her head, Sylphiel looked up at him with her green eyes wide, "I ... guess you're right."
Giving a sigh as he stared down at her papers, David shook his head, "I'll let you get to work then and wait for my clothes." He turned and dropped onto the couch to lounge for a while.
The hall was silent except for the occasional shuffle of Sylphiel's papers at the nurse's station, and her answering the phone once. David leaned his head back against the couch and sighed softly, settling into a light doze in which he watched the spirits of the not-quite-so-departed wander around aimlessly.
"Someone should really do something about them..." he thought at Rasmus.
His other self stirred slightly and took a closer look, "The balance of life and death here is too delicate. I'd send half the people in this hall to their graves if I did a mass sending- there's too many people hanging close to the edge of death- and tracking every one of these bloody spirits down would be too much bother."
David let his eyes fall half closed again, "I suppose," he replied.
"Don't worry so much about them. They'll get over their deaths eventually and move on. Someone's coming up the elevator."
"Huh?" David murmured, and opened his eyes as the elevator door opened with a huff and ding. The man who stepped out of it wore a knee length black raincoat with the buckles and buttons polished to bright silver, a splattering of raindrops still clinging to the shoulders. His midnight hair was slicked back from his face by a recent shower, with a few strands getting loose to poke out at his hairline and fall in front of his gray eyes. He carried a shopping bag full of clothes in one hand, an umbrella in the other, and had a worried look on his face.
David sat forward and pulled himself to his feet, "Paul! Good to see you!"
Paul stopped his aimless staring and turned to look at David, blinking several times, and finally came closer, "God, what the hell! You don't look like you got hit by a car."
David shrugged, "Well, I did, more or less- I'll show you the scars later. Ah- real clothes." He reached out and snatched the bag from Paul's limp fingers, then hustled off down the hall to his room to change. He left the paper gown on the unmade bed and returned, running his fingers through his hair as he walked back to the lounge. "That's much better. Less drafty," he breathed. "Thanks for coming, Paul."
The dark haired man folded his arms and scowled. "And I thought you'd died or something and all you've got to show for it is a band aid on the back of your hand."
Looking down at his hand, David laughed, "That's from the IV. Here," he pulled his shirt up to reveal the multitude of scars, "See these, that's where they had to pull some redhead's motorcycle out of my chest. All she got was a crack in the head and a bruise or two. I did die, for a whole minute, you can ask Sylphiel here."
Both men looked towards her and she blushed from the sudden attention. "Y-yes," she agreed, "He did. We've never seen anyone recover as fast as he did."
Paul gave a shake of his head, "Alright, well he always did bounce back quick. I parked in the twenty minutes only spot, so lets get a move on before I get a ticket." He turned and headed back towards the elevator as David turned to look at Sylphiel again.
"Here," she said, holding out another paper bag holding his wallet- blood spattered- his keys, the necklace he'd been wearing that day, and even the change he'd had in his pockets. Beneath that were his blood stained shoes, sealed in a plastic bag.
"I'm sorry about your clothes," she said, "the EMT's had to cut them off of you, and there wasn't much left."
Taking the bag from her, he leaned across the desk and kissed her lightly.
"Not a problem," David said with a smile. "See ya Tuesday, kitten."
She blushed, but smiled back, and he turned, sauntering to join Paul in the elevator.
Slowly, Paul shook his head, "Damn, man. You picked up a hot nurse? What about Samantha?"
Flipping a hand, David snorted, "Samantha's been cheating on me for months now. Probably longer than that."
Paul frowned even more deeply, a line appearing between his black brows, his square-jawed face handsome even with that expression. "And you were moaning to me just last month that you'd –always- love her."
David gave a shrug, "Honestly, it was an infatuation. She treated me like shit, which I was used to, and that was the only reason why I really liked her, other than the sex. Sylphiel's a much better choice." He stared up at the numbers on the elevator, watching them go down, and finally, the door opened on the first floor.
"...Sylphiel... Raada? David! That's the mayor's daughter! Don't you have to be like, some sort of fancy-pants rich boy to date her?" Paul gaped and followed David as he made his way to the front desk.
Smiling, David leaned on the counter, "Hiya, I need to check out. David Graywords- yeah, that one. Sign here?" he picked up the pen given to him by the silently brooding middle aged man seated behind the desk and took the papers he shoved at him. Signing on the lines, David handed the papers back and turned, heading towards the door.
"Considering what the boss told me this morning, I may just be a fancy-pants rich boy in a few years." Grinning, David preened at Paul as his friend hurried to catch up and walk beside him during a break in the rain. "Boss came in and told me I had Netts's office whenever I got out. Not to forget what I'm owed naturally- if Grandpa Rezo would ever kick the bucket, I get half his stuff."
Putting his hands to his head, Paul groaned, "God. If your ego gets this big every time you get hit by a car..."
David laughed, "Don't worry, I'm going to curse the boss soon enough for the promotion. Those lazy bums over in the programming department are a bunch of morons and I'll probably get ulcers from dealing with them all the time. Also, I've got my bills to catch up on, so even with the raise, I'm going to be stuck with no money."
Lowering his hands, Paul pulled out his car keys and sighed as he pushed the button to unlock the sleek Lexus, then climbed in. David followed suit, feeling Rasmus's amazement at the procedure, and grinned to himself. He pulled his seatbelt on and rested back in the seat as Paul replied. "And still, you find the money to take the mayor's daughter out on a date."
"Oh, the idea I've got doesn't require much cash, and she'd like it all the better. See, Sylphiel's a natural girl, likes flowers and trees and stuff, so I was going to take her out to have a picnic under Flagoon."
Shaking his head, Paul started up the car and backed out of the parking space. From out here, only the front section of the hospital could be seen, the building was tall and wide, stretching in several wings in several directions, with a parking garage to one side. David's fingers curled involuntarily around the grab bar on the car door and he could not get Rasmus to let go, so he let his other self do as he wished as the car rolled out of the parking lot. Paul gunned it, getting into traffic. "Woah, David? You alright?" Paul asked as they got to a stoplight and he glanced over when David hadn't said anything for a long time.
Swallowing, he gave a smile, "Yeah," he replied, "Feeling a little dizzy, that's all. I'm alright, really."
Paul didn't look convinced, but turned back to driving, since the light had turned green. "I got a voicemail from Gary, who heard it on the news. You really made me shit my pants, man, what made you think you could take on a car and win anyway?"
Giving a snort of a laugh, David shook his head, "It was a motorcycle." He actually hadn't lied about feeling dizzy; the motion of the car was wrecking his sense of balance. He'd thought he'd been okay, but then, he'd been in a building that wasn't moving independent of him. "Got home late from work, decided I wanted some dinner and everything in the fridge was fuzzy, so I headed out to the Sun. It wasn't my fault. I had the green; Lina just sped around the corner, doing a right on red without even looking, I jumped back, into the path of a car, dodged that, only then I was back into Lina's path. She hadn't even noticed me until just before she hit me."
"Lina- sounds like a real cute girl, other than her tendency to mow people down," Paul commented, rubbing his chin. "Or is she a fat biker chick in her forties?"
David had to laugh at that. "No, little runt of a girl with barely enough tits to wear a training bra, and a real bad temper. Not your type at all, man. Sorry. Besides, I think she's got someone already, though I don't think she'd mind dating a lawyer, if you shared your cash with her."
Paul snorted, "No thanks," he replied, "Had enough of that kind of girl with Shayla."
"Yeah, Lina's a redhead too," David added.
Cringing, Paul shook his head, "No thanks then. I've had my fill of redheads."
"Yeah, didn't you date Auska before Shayla? And before that was-"
Waving a hand, Paul raised his voice, "I know! I should have learned before now! I'm going for blondes from now on."
Laughing, David laid his head back against the headrest of Paul's expensive car. It was a shame that he seemed to hardly have the time to drive it and it spent most of its time at the airport garage. "With your luck, you'll run into some real freaky ones and you'll have to rescind your vow against brunets."
Again, Paul cringed, "You're unusually sharp today," he pointed out. "You sure you're feeling alright? You've gone pale. I'm going to pull over."
David didn't get the chance to object, for the car turned into a fast food restaurant parking lot and stopped in a space. Prying his fingers from the 'oh god' bar on the door, David ran them through his hair and closed his eyes. "Is that just you getting sick or what?" he asked Rasmus.
"No, it's both of us," he replied, sounding a bit ill. "There's something disturbing the Astral plane and we're feeling it. I can't find out anything sitting in one of these contraptions. Just tell him to take us home."
Pressing his palms to his eyes, David replied, "I'd be better at home, Paul; just get me home."
Reluctantly, Paul pulled out of the parking space and returned to the road. Outside, the buildings went by in a blur and David had lost track of where in the world they were, but at this point, he didn't really care. Now that he knew it wasn't just motion sickness that was making him feel so shitty, it had started getting worse. Closing his eyes again, he asked, "You have any clue what's going on?"
Rasmus sounded vaguely distracted, and David could feel the currents of energy around him shifting, sending the hair on Paul's arms standing on end. "It's not close, but... it's nearby. Whatever it is."
Paul rubbed one of his arms and shifted uncomfortably. "Open the window, that'll help ease the charge in here," Rasmus directed and David obeyed, opening the window to the sound of traffic and the bustle of the city. "Still nothing. David, do you want him to know about me? If he's a close friend, he might... see some things, and this isn't natural and should be investigated now."
"Hey, Paul." David said softly. "There's... a really good explanation of why I'm completely healed. And you're going to think I'm crazy at first, but... I'll show you when we get to my place, if you've got the time."
Sparing a moment from his driving, Paul glanced over to his passenger, "Alright," he replied, taking the serious tone in David's voice just as seriously. Nothing further was said as David closed his eyes once more and relaxed back in his seat, the air crawling despite the breeze. It wasn't uncomfortable exactly, but strange, and probably driving Paul insane. He itched his arm again.
Eventually, the car stopped and Paul turned it off, then reached over to touch David's shoulder- and snatched his hand back quickly as a spark jumped to sting him. "Dear god- David!"
Opening his eyes again, David rolled his head to look at Paul, "Ehn..." he mumbled as he came out of the light trance he'd fallen into. "Sorry..." he reached down and fumbled the window closed, then opened the car door and staggered out, leaning heavily on it after he'd gotten out.
Hurrying to get out, Paul struggled with his seatbelt and finally won, then moved around to the other side of the car and caught David as his knees gave out. Somehow he still managed to grab the paper bag with David's things in it. Dragging David's arm over his shoulders, Paul kicked the car door closed and helped to steady his friend up the stairs to the front door of the apartment building. Shuffling in his pocket, he pulled out the key to unlock the lobby door and stepped in, dragging David along.
The lobby was small, with a staircase curling up to the right of the front door. On the left was the elevator, and on the wall under the first landing straight across from the front door was the door that led into the landlord's office, which in turn led to his set of rooms. At the sound of the door, the landlord's wife peeked out, then her eyes widened. "David!" she squawked, "Shouldn't you be in the hospital still?" she asked, getting a mother-hen look as she bustled closer to get a better look at him.
Blinking awake a bit more, David shook his head, "No, they kicked me out. I'm okay, just tired. I need to go to my room, okay? Okay..." he mumbled, fading out again as Paul hauled him over to the elevator.
"Sorry Mrs. Baker," Paul said to the woman as he dragged David into the lift and pressed the button for David's floor. "Gods, David, you were okay a second ago. You sure you shouldn't be in the hospital still?"
"Gimme a...bit..." David replied, now sounding as if he were in deep concentration. The air started crawling again and the light vibration around David himself began.
Paul cringed, "What the hell?"
David's lips twitched downwards, a line appearing between his brows as he leaned against Paul with most of his weight. Then opened his eyes.
"Damn, it got away." Shaking his head, David pushed off and stood on his own. "Paul, that's part of what I've got to show you. I wasn't sick just then, I was... in a trance, concentrating on trying to find something that just got away- whatever it was." He sighed. "I hope it was nothing..."
"Unlikely," David continued, as if answering himself. "Your world doesn't have magic users, so anything moving on that plane is likely here to make trouble."
Silence fell and Paul slipped a step away. "Dude... don't do that." The paper bag dropped to the floor from limp fingers.
Blinking, David lifted his head and winced, "oops, forgot," he rubbed his forehead. "I'll explain in my room." He fell silent then, frowning slightly. The elevator stopped and the door opened, Paul snatched up the paper bag again. David stepped out, pulling out his own set of keys to open the door. He entered and closing it behind Paul, he flipped on a lamp and went to the window, opening the shutters. "Good thing I don't have any pets," he muttered, looking at a dead houseplant, then turned to face Paul. "Okay, short version: when I died, I picked up a ghostly hitchhiker. He comes from another world, that's like ours, but uses energies naturally present in the world- stuff we'd call magic. He's... another version of me, which is possibly why he stuck to me when I came back." He didn't even pause, even as Paul's expression went from shocked to worried, "Yes, it sounds insane, but watch this."
Lifting his hands, David placed them palm-to-palm, then cupped them, and pulled his hands apart to reveal a simple lighting spell. "Now, tell me how I possibly could have done that?"
Paul remained silent, staring at the glowing orb of light. He blinked, then squinted at David's face. "..." he closed his mouth.
"I'd show you some other spells, but they're mostly destructive and I don't feel like cutting myself to show you healing, which is what I did to get out of the hospital so fast. So that's my story. My ghost-buddy is, as I said, another version of me and... talks to me in my head, though he can take over my body when I let him. His name is Rasmus, so... from now on, you're talking to two of us instead of one. Sorry to creep you out like that, Paul, but as Ras pointed out, since we're such close friends, you were likely to overhear or see me do some strange things and if you didn't know first off..." he shrugged.
Paul abruptly sat down on the floor. "Oh god, David," he finally said, "You're nuts, and so am I!"
Blinking, David shook his head, "You're not insane, I am real. David, you sure you don't want me to zap him?"
"Er, no, Ras, that's okay."
David shook his head and stepped over to Paul and knelt beside him. "Here," he took Paul's limp, unresisting hand and placed the lighting spell into it. "Pick it apart, or whatever will convince you that it's really there."
At first, Paul dropped the sphere of light, then reached down and carefully picked it up again, rolling it between his hands and staring intently at it. "How... does this work?" he asked finally.
Turning and taking a seat on the rumpled couch David used as a bed, as well as somewhere to sit while he played video games, he stretched his legs out in front of himself and kicked his shoes off. Rasmus took over from there, shifted into a more comfortable position and spoke, "You noticed the strange sensation in the air earlier," he stated, "That was me, tapping into the ambient energies in the air, trying to trace whatever was moving on a level of this world that most people can't see." He paused a second to gather his thoughts. "To make that spell," he continued, pointing at the glowing globe Paul held, "I created a small pocket of void, using my own energies and filled it with energy from the air, then gave it a spin to set the energy bouncing off itself at high speed, creating light."
Paul looked up, frowning slightly and squinting from staring at the bright object in his hands for too long, "That...sounds almost like science."
Rasmus gave a soft hnf, "Indeed," he agreed, "At least from what I can see in David's memories. He, unfortunately, doesn't know much about science, but if in this world Rezo is a scientist, then yes, likely magic and science correspond from my world to this one."
Shaking his head, Paul lifted a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, "This is confusing. You really mean... there's two of you in that body? How the hell am I supposed to know whom I'm talking to?"
Glancing aside briefly, as if he were having a conference within himself, Rasmus sighed, "Our vocabularies are different," he pointed out, and suddenly changed, expression softening, "Once you get to know him, I'm sure you'll be able to tell the difference, Paul. For now, though, I'm starving. I think I'm gonna call for pizza and make them deliver it."
"But it's just within walking-" Paul started, then stopped, "Oh yeah, your luck, you'd get run over again."
David snickered and leaned over, reaching for the phone on the table beside the couch. He dialed out the number from memory. "Kinda...sad that I know that number by heart," he said, eyeing the receiver of the phone as it rang.
Paul snorted, "Not really. You're a programmer, it's expected."
"Netts' office. Cephied, Paul! Maybe I should get run over more often if I get promoted for it," David said, remembering his promotion.
"Why do you keep swearing by your company?"
David paused at that, but didn't get the chance to answer, for the pizza place had answered their phone, "Yeah, large ham and pepperoni on thick crust- David Graywords. Um-hmm. Yep. Fifteen seventy-five? Right. Alright. Bye." He hung up and rolled onto his side on the couch. "In Rasmus's world, that was their god. There are many similarities between this world and that one, but they're not quite the same and I end up sounding like I'm crazy most of the time," David sighed. "Or that I got things messed up in my mind. I know people I've never met- or rather, Rasmus knows them and-"
The phone rang.
Sighing, David reached over and picked it up, leaving Paul to contemplate the light spell again, rolling it from one hand to the other, then tossing it up and catching it. Rasmus laughed softly, and David took over again, "Hello?"
"Hey. So you really were released."
It took a moment for David to place the voice, then sat up, "Zelgadis, you were worried? Oh, I'm so very touched," he said a mite sarcastically.
"Shut up, dickhead. I only called cause Rezo's decided to have a family reunion."
David's brows raised, "You sound upset. I thought you liked Gramps."
Silence fell on the other end, then Zelgadis muttered, "I just don't like that woman."
"Who? My mother?" David teased, looking towards Paul, who'd stopped playing with the spell to look at David with a grin.
Zelgadis hissed, then growled, "Yes, the bitch." He fell silent again, "I shouldn't have said that."
Tipping his head to the side, David flopped over on the couch again, grinning, "Oh? And why not?"
"You're not upset?"
Laughing, David said, "Why should I care if you call my mother a bitch?" he said for Paul's benefit, "I agree. She's an obsessed dominatrix whore with a tendency towards bondage and black leather. Call her what you want, I've said worse." Paul burst out cackling, and in his mind, Rasmus was sniggering as well. "So when's this little get-together? And can I bring someone to keep me sane?"
It took a good few moments for Zelgadis to gather his wits back together, but replied, "It's on the thirtieth, and I'm bringing someone."
Covering the phone, David looked towards Paul, "You free the thirtieth?"
Paul sat forward and shuffled in his pocket, pulling out his PDA and scrolled through it, and shook his head, "Sorry man, not this time. As fun as this sounds." He actually did sound apologetic, but Paul had never met Eris or Rezo. He'd briefly been introduced to Zelgadis, but that was the extent of it. Their family was rather small, with most of the members missing or dead.
Removing his hand, David replied, "Alright, you in town or is this long-distance?"
"I'm in town," Zelgadis admitted.
"Oh, got a concert?"
"Zelgadis is a... Rockstar?" oddly enough, this made Rasmus start cackling.
David cleared his throat, trying not to be distracted as Zelgadis replied, "Yeah," he admitted, "Supposed to be a charity promo for some new building they're putting up. I don't know, and I don't really care. My agent said we had to do it, and I'm getting paid."
"Understandable," David replied, smiling a bit at that. Zelgadis tended towards a rather melancholy look on life. He was the originator of Goth Rock-n-roll, mixing mindless noise with actual talent, and as a result, he was wildly successful, even if he didn't really care whether he was or not. Stardom had not gone to his head though; he thought it more of a burden. He wanted to make music, and all these fans kept showing up and making noise.
Rasmus laughed all the harder.
"When's your concert?" David asked, twitching slightly in an effort to keep from laughing as well, when Rasmus finally calmed down enough to let him in on the joke.
Zelgadis sighed, "Next Tuesday."
"Yo, can I have a couple tickets?" David asked, looking towards Paul.
"So you can scalp them?" Zelgadis muttered, "Fine. Not like it matters who shows up. How many do you want?"
Covering the phone again, David repeated for Paul, "Next Tuesday, Zel's got a concert, said he'd give me some tickets. Want one?"
Pursing his lips, Paul thought on that, "I heard of that one, it's in the evening, so I can make it. Gimme two?"
"Just four," David replied to Zelgadis.
Laughing softly, Zelgadis replied, "You sure don't think very big. I'll express them to you."
Shrugging, even if Zel couldn't see that, David snorted, "I just got promoted, so I don't need the cash."
"Promoted? Oh, you're still working for that software company, aren't you? Hm. Congratulations, though, if you got promoted just because you got ran over by a car, I think that's a bit far to go for a raise."
David laughed, "Motorcycle, and no, I got promoted because the boss figured out that I was the only one doing any work around the place and he decided to give me more work to do. I'm head of the division now, so I get the joy of riding those lazy bastards all day long just to get a few lines of code written."
Both men looked up towards the door as the buzzer sounded. "Ah, pizza's here," David said, "Thanks for the tickets Zel. Are you driving, or should I bring my car?"
"I think you should," Zelgadis replied dourly, "the fans won't believe it's me if I'm riding with a retard in that piece of junk. How in the world is that thing still running anyway?"
Huffing, David replied haughtily, "Love and care, Zel, it's an antique!"
"It sure is," Zelgadis muttered, "I'll talk to you after the concert. Bring your friends, make it a spectacle."
David snorted, "Alright, see ya."
"Bye." The other end disconnected and David hung up the phone. He looked up to find that Paul had disappeared. The door opened and Paul reappeared, stepping in with the pizza.
"I paid for it," Paul explained. "It's no problem since you just gave me a great way to pick up just about any chick I want. So, you're taking Sylphiel?"
Grinning, David got to his feet and found up a pair of clean plates, "Of course, how convenient that it's on her day off. And it's raising money for some good cause or another."
Paul set the box on the coffee table and opened it, plopping a piece onto his plate, "The new children's hospital on the south side, actually," Paul supplied, "The concert is being held over at the Flagoon open air concert hall. Weather should be good too."
David claimed a couple pieces of pizza for himself and sat back on the couch once more while Paul remained sitting on the somewhat gritty carpet. "I really need to clean this place up," he sighed, "Too bad Rasmus doesn't have any spells that can do it for me. Oh- he's got an awesome time reverse spell!" Getting up and setting his pizza down on the coffee table, David shuffled around, and pulled out a dirty plate from the sink. "Check this out," holding the plate up he deliberately dropped it. The plate made a satisfying mess across the kitchen linoleum and Paul winced but looked on in curiosity.
Holding his hands together, he murmured softly and dropped a ball of light on the shattered pieces. They flew back together, and the plate, slime and all, sat unscathed on the floor. "And watch this!" David grinned and held his hands over the plate. "Levitation!" The plate rose up from the floor and glided over to put itself into the sink. "Isn't that awesome?"
"Parlor tricks." Rasmus muttered sarcastically, "I'll be the life of the party everywhere I go."
"If... I hadn't seen you do it myself, I'd think it was some cheesy movie special effects," Paul said mildly, though his pale gray eyes were wide.
Returning to the couch, David wiped his hands off on his pants and picked up his pizza again, taking a large bite of it. "Oh god, Paul, the stuff they fed me at the hospital was terrible!" he complained as he licked sauce off his fingers, "Sylphiel said it was a protein mix or something purely nutritious, and anyone in that wing was too wonked out to really mind what it tasted like."
Paul laughed, "And the only reason why you put up with it was cause she was feeding it to you?" David winked. "Understandable," the lawyer agreed with a grin and chomp of his own pizza, then said around the mouthful, "I guess a match between you and her isn't so bad." He paused long enough to chew and swallow. "You've got some pretty famous family members. You're sort of the black sheep of the family, what with not being known around the world."
David snorted and swallowed and got up again to get something to drink, shook the plastic bottle of coke in the fridge, then got water instead and brought back two glasses. "I think the soda's flat," he explained and sat, "Yeah, actually, I made an effort to not be noticeable. Zel does have a point about fans and media. They're a bother that I don't want to deal with. He brought it on himself, you know, what with signing with that recording company. But then again, if he hadn't he'd have had to get a real job, and I just don't see him doing the nine-to-five bit." Again, Rasmus started giggling.
"Cephied! How appropriate that is! He's a Rockstar!" Rasmus sniggered and paused to clear his throat, "Here," he took a drink of water, "I'll show you what Zel looks like in my world." Setting the glass and plate down, he made a few gestures in the air, a light flickering up in the room, then dying as an image was created in the air over the coffee table. "In my world, Rezo did a few experiments on him and made him into that. A Chimera: part brow demon, human, and rock. Practically indestructible, but now he's quite pissy and has a lot more to be depressed about than this world's version of Zelgadis."
Paul tipped his head to the side, "...is ...that wire?" he asked, pointing at the illusion's hair.
Rasmus sniggered, "Yep. I think my world's Zelgadis would pound this one's pretty face in, just for spite."
"He does look rather pissed."
"Permanently," Rasmus agreed with David.
Taking another large bite of his pizza, working swiftly to finish his first piece so he could stuff the second down, David mumbled around his mouthful, "So how'd the case go?"
Paul actually took the time to swallow before answering, "Great, actually," he slurped some water, "If ya want, I'll go buy you some beers to restock your fridge," was the offer and David shook his head. The lawyer continued, "I really bailed those animal rights activists out this time. Ha. I really pulled the heartstrings on that jury!"
Giving a snigger, David finished off his first slice and started his second. Silence fell between them. One which Rasmus filled, "This stuff's pretty good... what're we eating?"
David choked, swallowed and laughed, "It's called Pizza, Ras." He said aloud for Paul's benefit.
"Ah... okay."
Slowly, Paul shook his head, using the back of one hand to wipe across his hair, pushing his bangs back. "That ...sounds really odd when you do that, David."
Rasmus looked back at him, "It's David's fault. He grabbed me first."
David shrugged nonchalantly, "If I could, I'd split like an ameba and give him a body, but..." he gestured vaguely at himself, "Can't really do that, can I? So what if it is my fault. You complaining?"
Pouting his lips a little, Rasmus replied, "No... please don't throw me out." This send Paul into a fit of giggles, shaking his head and trying not to squirt the mouthful of water he'd just taken out his nose. Rasmus stared at him haughtily, "And you think this is simply hilarious, don't you?"
Immediately, David shook his head, "Ugh, Rasmus, don't ever do that again! You sounded just like Rezo!"
In reply, Rasmus closed his eyes and smiled slightly. This time, Paul was the one who paled, "God. You really do look like him."
Rasmus opened his eyes and replied, "Because we ARE him, physically at least."
Silence fell then, Paul stared at David, "You mean... a... clone? But that's only..."
Selecting a new piece of pizza, David settled back on the couch, "Yeah, I know, but boundaries don't mean much to Rezo. I'm not perfect either, Ras says some of my genetics are messed up, might cause problems later, but he says they're easily fixed. But yeah, Rezo's been sitting on the medical breakthrough of the century for twenty-eight years now." David leaned forward and snagged his glass to take a long swig of it.
"Probably didn't want to admit he'd done it already and get all the morality flak. So- at least you're not REALLY related to that bitch. ...sorry."
Rasmus slipped in before David could say anything and stated haughtily, "I agree," but he kept the last of his comment for David only, "And she's terrible in bed to boot." David pulled a face.
"I'll never look at her the same way, Rasmus. Seriously."
A shrill beeping came from Paul's pocket. Snatching up one of the dirty shirts that lay on the floor nearby, Paul wiped his hands and pulled out a cell phone to answer it. David settled back in the couch as Paul argued with some person on the pone. Sighing, the dark haired man snapped the phone shut. "Sorry, David... Rasmus," he added after a blink, "I've gotta run."
Kicking off his shoes, David put his feet on the coffee table and wiggled his big toe where it stuck out of a hole in his sock. "It's alright, I need to pick up around here and get a shower. See you next Tuesday?"
Getting to his feet, Paul nodded, "Yep."
Leaning forward, David put his feet on the floor again and set his glass down, and wiped his hands on his jeans as he stood, walking with Paul to the door, "thanks for coming to pick me up,"
Paul shook his head, "No problem, really, I was just glad to see you're alright. Nice meeting you, Rasmus. You two stay out of trouble, okay?"
Rasmus smiled slightly, "Of course," he replied.
"See ya," David added.
Giving a nod and clasp of hands, Paul headed out and David shut the door behind him, locking it, then turning to look at his disaster-area apartment, eyes skimming over the debris that had collected in the corners and spread towards the center of the room. "You really need a woman," Rasmus stated, "Seriously. At least Eris cleaned up after me."
David shook his head and lifted a hand to rub his forehead, having acquired a sudden slight headache at the thought of cleaning the place up. "Least I could do is empty the fridge," he decided and headed towards the kitchen alcove.