Oooooooo, the chapter siiiiiiiiix. This was a long and rather sluggish chapter to write. I'm not entirely happy with the way it came out, but ya win some, ya loose some, right? BTW I just spent a hundred bucks on the first ten GRAVITATION mangas. I is so pathetic! But they are sooooo gooooood! And hilarious. And yummy. Muhaha…

To my reviewers…

Tiger5913: Those who are not noticed see all! At least, that is my theory.

SephirothsGoddess: Yes, the poor little bishies. I call dibs on Canaan first! Yes yes, will Allen keep his big mouth shut or not? Nehehe…

vspirit: That's exactly what I wanted it to be! It's tricky getting the fine details, like "Would he really say this" or "Would he really do that" and so on so forth. Eeee.

Xeora: Such passion! Glad you like!

Deona Lindholm: Thank you thank you. Allen really needs to get up the nerve to ask her out, doesn't he?

Kyone: I'm glad I could make your spring break more enjoyable by providing you with more ficcy goodness.

forgottenfaith: The happy feeling is all around! Yay! I'm glad there is yet another C/c fan!

I think that's the most reviews I've gotten for a chapter so far! Yay! Oh, and I would have met my normal deadline, but the up loaders were DOWN yesterday. GRRR.

Ze fic starts NOW!

"Canaan."

"Mmmm."

"Caaaanaaaan..."

"Mmrrr."

"Good morning Canaan. Time to wake up."

My eyes opened to the smiling morning face of chaos. He was standing over me, fully clothed, and ready to go.

Way to happy...way to early...

"Come on Canaan, it's almost eight and I'm starving. Are you going to sleep all day again?"

Little did he know that I hadn't been sleeping. At all. In fact, I had secretly watched him get up and get dressed. I had just pretended to be asleep.

Furthermore, it was all his fault.

"Canaan, are you even listening to me?"

"Go away..." I grumbled, burrowing back into the sheets.

I can't deal with this now. I can't deal with him now. I'm exhausted and cranky, and I just want to be left alone. Even if it's him that's asking me to get up.

"You're the one who wanted breakfast. And you do owe me after you bailed on me yesterday morning."

chaos, you're wonderful, and I admire you more than anyone else in this world, but can't you see I'm not in the mood?

"Go away..." I mumbled again.

I heard him let out a frustrated sigh.

"Canaan, please?"

My eyes poked out from underneath the covers. He was leaning down so he was eye level with me and he had this innocent pouting look on his face. It seemed like he really wanted me to go with him. I softened a bit.

You wanted a chance to impress him, right? Well now would be an excellent time. You were so looking forward to this time with him, and now you're royally screwing it up. Stop acting like such a grouch. Deal with your mental state later, ok?

"...fine."

He beamed.

"Good." He walked into the bathroom and I heard a rustle of clothes. I slowly pulled myself up from my bed and stretched, trying to shake off the last remnants of sleep. I rubbed my eyes and tried to get myself to focus. He soon came back out carrying an outfit, which he tossed over to me.

"Here, put that on." He said happily, "I'm going to finish getting ready, ok?"

He disappeared back into the bathroom.

I inwardly smiled at his eager attitude. I pulled on the clothes he selected for me and turned to admire myself in the mirror. He had a picked out some kind of dress shirt and black slacks combo. I didn't want to brag, but I actually didn't look half bad.

For someone who's supposed to like girls, he certainly has good taste.

I admired longer. Then I noticed...my hair. It was sticking straight up and frayed out in all sorts of different directions. I assumed it was from all my tossing and turning last night, but it looked like I had been electrocuted. I scowled and tried to flatten it with my hand, but it just sprang back up. I started to slightly panic.

Now what am I supposed to do? I've never had a hair crisis before, so how do I fix it? I guess I'll just have to go like this…

I heard the swish of doors behind me.

"Canaan, ready to go?"

I turned to face him. "Yes, I'm ready."

His eyes glanced upward.

"Umm, I think we may need to fix your hair first..."

I slumped. "Is it that bad?"

"Don't worry. I have a brush over here somewhere..."

He rummaged through a bag he had near his bed and came up with a small brush. He handed it to me. I stood there looking at it, completely clueless

"Oh, you probably...don't know what to do, do you?"

My face got hot.

"...no..."

I felt really dumb standing there without a clue on how to fix my own hair. I was acting like a total idiot in front of him of all people.

But he smiled kindly and said, "Don't be embarrassed. Here, let me help you."

Thank you thank you thank you.

He took the brush from my hand. He grabbed a chair from the corner table and placed it in front of the mirror.

"Sit." He ordered, pointing to the chair. I sat.

He stood behind me and began to brush. First he went to work on the tangles and snares. After getting out the main ones, he started to mat it down to keep it from sticking up. His elegant hands worked their way through, sending small shivers down my spine. While it was a little painful when he tackled a particularly nasty knot, it felt...really nice. He swooped my bangs expertly over my face like I usually had them, and pampered the back a bit to make sure everything was perfect. Soon, my hair was in the same style I usually had it. You couldn't even tell that it had been a mess only a few minutes earlier. I was relieved, although a little disappointed that it was over so soon.

I am so hopeless. Face it Canaan, you're totally smitten with the guy.

"There," he said, tossing the brush back on his bed, "all finished."

As I stood up, still feeling slightly awkward, I timidly said, "Um, thanks for the help."

"You're welcome. I understand that you've never had to deal with these silly human normality's before. You just deal with them one by one, ok? And I'll be there to help you if you need it, of course."

My chest swelled with affection.

"...even if you are a little crabby in the morning."

"Oh yeah...sorry about that..." I said, feeling rather shot down.

But he waved it off. "No worries. Guess you just aren't much of a morning person."

I turned to head out the door, when he called behind me, "Oh! I almost forgot; hang on a second Canaan..."

He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small disk.

"MOMO made me promise to remind you that you need to download your data before you go to bed tonight, okay?"

"I won't forget again. I don't need a repeat from yesterday."

"Good." He placed the disk on the end table between our beds. "Now that that's all settled, shall we go?"

chaos was right. This place is a lot less active during the day.

The "hustle and bustle" from the night before was quite absent at this point in time. There were still people walking around, things to buy, and stuff to see, but it all was so dry. So to speak.

Ah well. Won't let that spoil my fun.

chaos was walking next to me, absorbed in his thoughts like I was. He had a bit of a far-off look, as if he were contemplating something important. But they again, when was he not?

So we continued our walk. I glanced around, trying to absorb the few sights that were about. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the crowd part for a split second. As it did, I saw two men in deep black suits walk by, and I noticed they were starring intensely at someone.

Huh?Who could they be so interested in?

I looked closer. They were starring…right at...us?

What the...hey, weren't those the same "two suites" from yesterday? What are they still doing here? Are they stalking us or something?

I blinked and in an instant they were covered again by the crowd.

That was weird. Why were they looking at us like that? What could they be so intrigued by? None of my business, I guess. Maybe they recognized someone last night that we were with. Whatever. I couldn't care less. Now on to more important things...

"So," I said, striking up a conversation, "where are we headed? Someplace nice I assume?"

"Oh, don't worry, you'll love it. It's a little diner not far from here. I've been there a few times, and I've never had a bad meal. It may not look like much, but it's one of the best kept secrets this place has."

I raised my eyebrow. "Guess I'll just have to take your word for it."

We walked a little further, then:

"Say Canaan, how are you feeling today? I know yesterday must have been a nightmare for you. Any problems?"

"Not really. I felt a little a little...disoriented... last night," I said rather sourly, "but now I feel fine."

"Good. I was a little worried about you. I mean, you pretty much went through a complete shut down. But you're right, you seem fine."

Fine as I can get.

It looked like we had arrived at this "cafe" place. It was a small square little piece of building wedged in the corner of some obscure street. At first glance, it looked like it had been abandoned years ago. But there were lights on inside, and I could hear the faint murmur of voices.

"C'mon, let's go in." he said.

Inside, there were a few tables and chairs scattered about, and even fewer people seated in them. It looked like something you would find out of a history book. There was even a fireplace in the corner. It was quaint, small, and stuffy, but still fairly cozy and comfortable.

We found an empty table and sat down.

"I think I like this place," I announced, "How did you come across it? It doesn't look like it has much advertising."

"Well, believe it or not, Jr. and I found it a few years ago. We came over here to get some dinner, and every place was packed to the seams. After wandering around for a while, we finally stumbled upon this place. It was empty, so we decided to try it out. We sat down, got good food, got good service, and we were in and out in less than half an hour."

"Interesting. So you and Jr. found this place, huh? You two have gotten to be quite the pair. Guess it's been fourteen years since you've met him."

"Yes. We have our ups and downs like anyone. See, after we met, or should I say when you and I saved his life, we stayed in touch for a while. Then he started the Kukai foundation, and he was swamped with all sorts of work, so we lost contact. Then I got the job as Elsa's engineer, and I found out Mathews was working for Gaignun. Or should I say working off his debt with Gaignun. We've been stuck together ever since."

I just listened and nodded.

I've never heard him speak in so many sentences at once before. I know he's probably leaving out a lot of details, but oh well.

I continued to sit there and listen to him open up. To me of all people. It was so enjoyable just sitting and talking with him. Like normal people were supposed to do.

This is exactly what I want. Just him and me, together. Nothing can go wrong, right?

A bright eyed blonde waitress had finally spotted our arrival. She walked over to our table with a bounce in her step, grinning broadly.

"Good morning boys. What can I get for ya?"

I didn't hear what chaos said in response. I was way too lost in the bliss I was feeling at that moment. I think he said something about pancakes. Pancakes? He didn't strike me as a pancake guy...

Hopeless romantic. That's what you've turned out to be. You have entered the stage of "lovesick moron."

"And for you?"

I slightly jumped realizing she was talking to me. I prayed she didn't notice my starring and drooling over another guy.

"Um, I guess, er,"

I glanced up at her.

"I think I'll have some toast, and maybe a..."

"Oh! Uh..." she cried looking at my face, "Um, excuse me, I uh, forgot..."

She hurried off without finishing her sentence, leaving me rather dumbfounded.

What just happened? Is there something wrong with my face? I don't think there is… What in the world is her problem?

"What was that about?" I asked, hoping for some enlightenment.

"I don't know..." replied chaos, with a worried look on his face.

The waitress had retreated into a small back room. She came out a few seconds later following a huge meaty woman wearing an apron. The woman marched out and came over to our table with a spiteful look on her face.

"Is there...a problem ma'am?" chaos asked timidly.

"Yes, actually there is. I'm afraid I'm going to ask you boys to leave," she said in a gruff voice.

"May I ask under what circumstances?" he said calmly.

"I will not tolerate...his...kind," she growled looking right at me, "in my establishment."

I was speechless. I didn't know what to say. What could I say? I just sat there with my mouth slightly hanging open, stunned that someone would say something like that to my face.

chaos looked a little shocked as well. "What has...his kind, as you vilely put it, ever done to you?"

She frowned even deeper. "I had family on Miltia when all that mess was going on. I know that them Realians went crazy and started murdering people. With all this other junk rising up, Miltia getting destroyed and all that crap, I don't want no more ghosts bothering us over here. And I will not have this mindless machine scarring away my costumers. I don't want to remember what happened all those years ago. No one does. Now scram."

chaos stood up abruptly. "Let's go Canaan," he said.

I stumbled up, looking at the ground, trying to avoid the woman's loathsome face. I felt too numb to be angry. I just wanted to get out of there as soon as I could. We walked to the door, but then chaos turned around and said, "It's obvious these racist people have no morals...or compassion for another living being."

And with that he slammed the door shut.

We walked away together, in silence.

chaos was mad, obviously. I knew I should be too, but I just felt...ashamed.

We rode in the transport with an awkward silence hovering around us. I felt awful.

Why did she say those things to me? I've never done anything to her, have I? Is it just because I'm a Realian? It's not my fault I was born that way. Why did this happen to me? Why did this happen in front of him?

chaos had calmed down a bit, and was now looking at me with a mix of worry and sympathy. I looked down at my feet, for I still couldn't bear to look him directly in the eye.

My stupid yellow eyes were the cause of this in the first place.

"Canaan," he said gently, "I would ask you if you're all right, but I know your not."

I remained silent.

"We don't have to let this spoil our morning. Why don't we go to the Elsa? I can whip us up something, I think. Then we can…talk if you want. All right?"

"...ok,"

We got off the transport and headed toward the Elsa. I walked with my head down, still feeling like I had just been slapped in the face. chaos craned his neck, trying to get a glimpse at my face, but I just turned away. His worried look got worse.

Arriving at the mess-hall, I dropped down in a both to continue my silent sulk. chaos headed to the kitchen and started clattering with pans and bowls, talking constantly about meaningless things. I think he was trying to get my mind off of the events of earlier. It didn't help too much. I knew he was trying to cheer me up, and I appreciated it, but I was a long way from getting out of my slump.

A few moments later, chaos joined me and sat across from me in the booth.

"Food's cooking," he said with a faint smile, "I'm trying to make some eggs. Hope I don't manage to burn them, or something. Elsa's crew is infamous for their horrible culinary skills."

Still with a worried look on his face, he leaned in closer in an attempt to look me in the eyes. I finally gave in and turned my head upward, so he could look at my face.

"Canaan," he said soothingly, "Is there anything you want to talk about? Anything you need to tell me? You know I'll listen to anything."

I fidgeted under his intense and concerned stare, but I started talking.

"Well, I mean, I don't know…"

I sighed.

"I…how was I supposed to react to that situation? What was I supposed to say to her? I mean, I didn't want to make a scene."

He nodded his head in understanding.

"I hate people like that. I can't help it. It drives me insane the way they think. And the worst thing about it...is my hating of them is just confirming what they think of me. Of us."

"Which is…?"

"Monsters. Horrible demented monsters."

"Canaan…"

"This...isn't the first I've been through this," I admitted.

"I guess that shouldn't be so surprising."

"It was right after the Miltian Conflict. Everyone treated Realians like dirt. Realians had no rights at that point, so we couldn't complain or do anything about it. I couldn't go anywhere without getting all these stares. Some looked so angry, but others…others were just afraid. They were all scared of me. I walked down the street one day and saw a women clinging to her child, telling him to stay away from me. That I would hurt him if he got to close. I mean, I couldn't really blame them, but I didn't even do anything. You were there at Miltia, remember? I was trying to help."

"I know, I know...people can be so close minded sometimes. They are afraid of what they do not understand."

I scowled. Then blurted out, "I hate my eyes."

"Your eyes? Why?"

"They are my mark for being a Realian. I mean, no normal human has yellow eyes. They are my constant give away of what I am."

The corners of his mouth twitched, then his lips broke into a broad grin.

I was slightly offended by this, "What are you smiling about? I'm being serious, you know."

"Listen, Canaan, you shouldn't be ashamed of your eyes if that's what you're implying."

"Fine. But they are strange, you have to admit."

He sighed. "Canaan, look at my face. In case you haven't noticed, my eyes aren't exactly normal either. I've had to deal with a few rude stares in my lifetime as well."

He did have a point. I bit my lip in embarrassment. Here I was ranting about how weird my eyes were and how I hated them, while he was there facing almost the exact same problem. He had those lush green eyes that seemed to peer into the depths of your soul. They looked like they had seen everything. They were rather eerie, I had to admit, but still absolutely...beautiful.

"Thank you chaos..." I suddenly stuttered out, "It is…nice to finally talk to someone about this mess. I'm very...lucky to have a friend like you."

He beamed. "I'm just glad I could help."

"Um, chaos?"

"Yes?"

"Is something burning?"

I had noticed a rancid smell a few moments earlier. He glanced over to the other room and got a horrified look on his face. I looked over and saw dark smoke rising from the kitchen, presumably from what he had been cooking.

With a cry, he leaped up and ran over to his flaming masterpiece. I hurried over to help. He grabbed the pan and took it off the heat, then turned off the stove. He desperately started fanning the food with his hand, trying to cool it off. When it stopped smoldering, he looked miserable starring dejectedly down at his charred eggs.

"You know, this never happened until I joined the Elsa. It's a curse. I'm doomed to make horrible food forever."

I patted his shoulder. "Don't worry; I'm not very hungry for eggs anyway."

He slumped.

Inwardly, I smiled.

Poor chaos. He tries so hard. But I don't care if he can't cook.

I happened to glance down and look at his hand, the one he had used to grab the handle of the frying pan. My eyes widened as I noticed it was a deep ruby red.

I grabbed it and inspected, and sure enough, it was swollen and blistering.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"What's wrong? You burned your hand, didn't you notice?"

How could he be so careless? Is he trying to make me freak out?

"Oh...now that you mention it, it does sting a bit..."

"A bit? It's blistering. Be more careful when you cook, you could have really hurt yourself."

"Canaan, while your concern is touching, I'm fine, really."

"Sure you are. Come here, I'm going to bandage it up ok?"

I grabbed a med kit that was in a cabinet and rummaged around inside. I pulled out some ointment bottle thing that said it was for burns and a roll of gauze. I took his hand, despite his protests, and carefully began to doctor it up. I tried to be as gentle as possible, because I knew no mater what he said, it looked like it was a painful burn. I didn't want to hurt him.

It's my fault he got burned in the first place. Here I am moping around feeling sorry for myself and he's the one who suffers from it. I hate it when he gets hurt…

Why I am just thinking all this? Why can't I tell him how I feel? Am I just such a wussy sap that I can't admit it?

...I'm like a clam. A stupid hypocritical bizarre-eyed clam who can't admit he likes a guy.

I sourly tied up the last bandage on his hand.

Don't forget moody.

He flexed his hand carefully, inspecting it over.

"Thanks...I think it feels a little better."

"Oh really? I thought it only "stung a bit."

He grinned. "Don't mock an injured person. Now let's dig up some leftovers, I'm still hungry."

Haven given up on a decent meal for breakfast, we raided the fridge and stuffed our faces, still talking constantly with each other. My bad mood was gone, and back was the light and carefree atmosphere from before. It was almost like that mess had never happened. Almost. We finished with our eating, he eating more than I did, and we began to put everything away.

As we finished cleaning up, he said, "You know Canaan, despite that little mishap at the restaurant and my slight injury, I thought this morning turned out pretty good."

I didn't say anything.

I wanted to tell him how much I had enjoyed spending time with him, but I couldn't. I was too choked up and embarrassed. And I would probably screw it up anyway.

Wimp.

"I assume your silence means you had a good time as well."

My face slightly flushed.

If you were looking to for the opportune moment to tell him, now would be an excellent time.

I gathered my thougts together and took a deep breath.

Fine...ok...here goes nothing.

I whirled around and got face to face with him. Well, as face to face as possible, he was about two feet shorter than me. I grabbed his shoulders and looked him in the eye and said, "chaos, I…"

Then, the lights flickered.

Huh?

And then they went out.

…

WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED? NOT NOW.

I relased him from my grasp as I feared I might accidently harm him in my state of blind rage.

"Whoa...Canaan, are you still there?" Said his voice from in front of me.

"Yeah..." I grumbled, still passionately cursing the extremely bad timing.

"There must have been a short circuit…the emergency lights should come on in a minute…"

Sure enough, dim red lights soon flickered on overhead.

"What just happened?" I asked.

"I don't know…it might have..."

"chaos!" A loud booming voice yelled from the ceiling, "Where the hell are you?"

"Captain Mathews? Is that you? What just happened?" He responded.

"Well I damn well don't know! You're the engineer on this ship! Get to bridge now!"

"Yes sir. I'll come down immediately."

And with that, he hurried off, without so much as a good-bye, leaving me standing there with an irritated look on my face.

I should just give up. Nothing's ever going to turn out right.

Aww, my poor little bishie…Anyway, I've kinda gotten to a slight rut in the writing, so I don't know when chapter seven (wow) will be here. I will try my best! Oh, and my mind is already getting ideas for a new fic once this is done. Definitaly…R. Or is it M now? So weird… but yeah! But I won't start on it until this one is finished. I don't think I can write two fics at once…