Title: I Thought I Knew You

Author: Ari

Warnings: Bad language, sexual comments, Fayt and Albel start to get along…somewhat…

Disclaimer: Thanks for once again forcing me to remind myself that I do not own Albel, much less Star Ocean. I hate you all now, and refuse to write anymore!

Other Notes: Sorry this is such a short chapter but I'm putting it out anyway as an 'I'm sorry' for the long wait before. Enjoy. And I'm fighting really, really hard against my writer's block. It's working a little bit.

Ari Ari Ari Ari Ari Ari Ari Ari Ari Ari

Chapter 5:

Symbology Part 2

Twin cups clashed into the sink as Albel haphazardly tossed them there. He than stood, leaning against the counter, with arms crossed and eyes staring blankly at the floor while Fayt sat silently back at the island, drumming his finger in a slow rhythm.

A heavy, uncomfortable feeling settled across the large dorm as the men just stood there without a word. If anyone walked into that room, the dense air would have felt like a physical hand pushing down on the unsuspecting person.

The two men took to starting at each other, judging each other, watching each other. Fayt's face flushed as he suddenly caught himself staring at The Wicked One's chest, he stood quickly and Albel smirked at his embarrassment. The Wicked One found himself wondering if the younger one owned any other clothes than those that he wore everyday.

Fayt was once again dressed in straight cut, low slung, blue jeans and a sleeveless green top, he had a dark blue baseball cap on, which was different, but Albel found he didn't like it. Albel liked looking at Fayt's hair.

"Where do you want to do this?" Fayt demanded, eager to leave the room. Albel shifted his weight to the other leg and slowly tapped on his chin thoughtfully.

"Well, we could go outside, a classroom, here on the counter, here on the couch, here on my wonderful bed," Albel happily watched as Fayt's eyes got wider and wider with each new place he named off. "Of course, there's always the locker room, or the shower-"

"Stop!" Fayt's voice gave a loud squeak and Albel couldn't help but laugh out loud at him. After all, it was only pay back…

"Is there a problem?" Albel gave a look of pure innocence and Fayt began to boil.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, but I was speaking of our project!"

"Project?" The Wicked One mumbled. "We're doing a project together? And here I thought you simply wanted me…" Fayt began to stutter and choke on his words. "Pity really, would've have been…interesting…" Albel moved over towards his bed and fell face first into the dozen pillows splayed across it.

"Absolutely not! We're going to work on this project! Then after words I have to go meet with my girlfriend to make-out and fondle her excessively to get the new, awful, images now stuck in my head out!"

"Images?" Albel was trying very hard not to smirk at the slightly flustered boy before him. "Well, never mind. Just start asking you dammed questions. You're wasting my time…" drawled Albel from his place on the bed. He was lying on his stomach, face buried in pillows.

Fayt had relocated to the couch in front of the fireplace watching the fairy on Albel's back. The little thing was stomping back and forth; kicking something only she could see in a rather irritated fashion.

"Well, tell me about your fairy."

Albel turned his head from within the pillows to watch Fayt warily. He was awake now, and remembered clearly why Fayt was in his room, talking about that project.

"Why? What's so interesting about it?"

Fayt decided telling Albel it was cute wouldn't be such a good idea. The little picture looked irritated, so Albel must be irritated, better not make it worse.

"Well…its an interesting part of you…" he replied hesitantly, wondering what answer he could give without risking Albel's wrath.

"Hrm…" Albel mumbled. "She likes showers more than baths." Fayt paused to think about that and process it. If the fairy liked showers, didn't that mean Albel liked showers? Fayt started to grin, realizing he'd just found a sneaky way to learn about The Wicked One. "And she prefers it when I wear thin shirts."

Albel watched Fayt nodded enthusiastically and start urging him to say more about Ellie, and it dawned on him that Fayt was trying to secretly learn about him. He smirked a little and played along.

"Her names Ellie, and her favorite colors are green and blue." He said, staring Fayt straight in the eye to see if he would notice. He didn't.

"I like blue." Fayt said simply and Albel couldn't help rolling his eyes. He took a quick glance at Fayt's head and let out a quiet, 'No kidding.'

"Ellie likes boys more than girls. She find girls flighty and stupid, but get along with them if she has to." He watched Fayt scribble down what he'd said, looking for a sign in the boy to show how he felt about that information. Fayt obviously didn't care one way or the other, either that or he hadn't noticed.

"Anything else?" Fayt asked impatiently, forcing a glare out of Albel.

"Yes! Will you just wait a second?" and The Wicked One paused to think. "She loves her hair." Albel sent Fayt a rather pointed glare. "She spends hours changing it around." Albel watched Fayt duck down his head in shame.

"I'm really sorry about that…I really am…"

"Keh…whatever." Albel rolled over to his side, facing Fayt on the couch. "I'm done telling you about me, it's your turn."

"Well…I like mash potatoes." Fayt told him simply and Albel stared at him, mouth hanging open in quiet shock.

"Wha…what kind of lame information is that?" he demanded. Fayt growled.

"No more lame than 'my tattoo likes thin shirts!"

"That's perfectly good information about me! Her! About her!" but it was too late, Fayt had missed the first slip, but he'd caught that one.

"You knew? Why didn't you say anything!" he snarled at the man still lying on the bed across from him.

"Why is it such a big deal, you fool? Who cares!"

"If you don't care, then why didn't you just tell me about yourself!" the yelling was beginning to get louder as the anger in both of them rose. Albel's fairy was violently shaking and strangling a faceless blue-haired person. She bashed his head into the ground every once in a while for good measure.

"Did it ever cross your mind that I don't want you to know about me? Why don't you just go fuck your girlfriend some more and leave me alone!"

"Oh? Jealous?"

"Absolutely not! If you hadn't noticed, I don't like boys!" well, that was only half true, but Fayt didn't need to know that.

"Hm? Really? That's not what you said before!"

Albel's mouth snapped shut and all he did was glare. 'Oh, touché, maggot; so you did catch that little slip.' But instead of loosing his cool, he simply smirked.

"I really don't think you know enough about me to be assuming things like that," he whispered sweetly. Fayt smirked right back and Albel almost scowled. 'Bastard! That's MY smirk…' he thought.

"I don't need to assume, you told me all on your own."

"Does it…bug you?" he asked, almost daring Fayt to say anything other than no. After all, he was Albel, and in this school, anything Albel did was law. If he wanted to go down on a guy, he damn well could, and no one would say a thing about it the next day.

Albel almost snorted in self-disgust. All Fayt would have to do was ask that blond ape to confirm that. Not that the stupid ape would admit it anyway. Admitting that your sworn enemy had been the best fuck of your life was a tad self shaming.

"Of course it doesn't 'bug' me, unless of course you hit on me." Fayt stared at him for a moment, trying to get his point across and failing miserably by staring at Albel's shirtless and nice looking chest. 'I have a girlfriend! I like girls! Boy's DO NOT get a reaction out of me.' He tried to explain to himself, but Albel was lying shirtless on his bed, hair fanning out under him, and The Wicked One hadn't taken his eyes off of him yet and it really wasn't working.

"Why would I hit on you? That would be suggesting that I am attracted to you, which I am clearly not. Little boys just don't do it for me." Fayt began to cough at the bluntness Albel was portraying. He was seeing an entire different side of him. "What I really want to know is when you'll be giving me back, Mr. Wiggles."

"Can't. I gave it to Sophia as a present." Fayt smirked, hoping his joke wouldn't kill him.

"Ah ha! So you do have him! I knew it!" Albel imagined himself doing a little happy dance in his head. He stopped suddenly, his eyes darkening. "Oh yeah, that girl. I forgot about her…" he went on, completely forgetting about his stolen stuffed animal.

"Don't you dare touch her…" Fayt warned. Albel stared at him for a moment.

"You're not allowed to date her." He said. Now, Albel's word may be law to anyone who'd been here for a while, but we mustn't forget that Fayt is still relatively new.

"Oh really? And why not? Who gave you the right to decide who I date?" Albel had to grind his teeth to keep from screaming, The Wicked One wasn't used to being defied.

"If you remember," he hissed. "I CLAIMED YOU!" Fayt literally rocked backwards as Albel screamed at him. "If she wasn't a newbie like you, she'd have been jumped long before now for touching something I had already said was mine…" Albel wasn't really talking to Fayt anymore; he was more mumbling to himself. "I distinctly remember telling the entire school that I controlled every part of your social life…I bet that fucking ape was behind this…never forgot that we fucked…or that red-headed wench… yeah…she'd do something like this…" Albel turned to stare at him again. "Your friends fucking suck."

"I like my friends, thank you." Fayt replied tartly. "Though, it is interesting to know you and Cliff slept together."

"We were piss ass drunk and it definitely didn't mean a thing. We hate each other, if you haven't noticed."

Fayt smiled. "Yeah, I noticed."

"That's it? You don't care?"

"No, not really. What business is it of mine?"

"You're too respectable, you need to hang with me and Ororon more. Hm…maybe I'll introduce you to Duo…if anyone can party, that walking ball of idiocy can…" once again, Fayt simply sat and listened as Albel just kind of went off and started talking to himself again. "Don't touch him though, Heero would get mad…probably shoot you…we could get drunk…and party…clubbing…skip school the next day…go to the red lantern district and buy some whores…good times…" (1.)

"Albel…?"

"Ororon would probably bring his girlfriend though…stupidest girl I've ever met…I take that back, your Sophia is…total moron…I should just go completely gay…girls suck…and they suck at sucking…"

"Albel? Are you listening?"

"Ororon took me out for fish…. hate fish…fish is nasty…wine's good though…wine tastes good with fish…God likes fish…I hate Go-"

"ALBEL!" Fayt simply chucked a pillow at him, smacking The Wicked One square in the face, successfully cutting off his rant. The pillow was shoved to the side and Albel sent a glare at him cold enough to freeze water.

"What the hell was that for!" he demanded.

"You were zoning out and going on some rant about fish!" Fayt watched Albel close his eyes, taking a deep breath.

"I can't believe I did that. Sorry. I sometimes just…well…zone, like you said." Fayt shrugged and gave a little grin.

"Hey, it's okay. Don't worry about it." He glanced at the clock on the microwave. "It's only 10:30, you want to…I don't know…go get something to eat?"

"What, like a date?"

"Sure…Albel…and you say you don't want me?"

Albel's gaze settled on the blue-haired freshman in disbelief. Was Fayt trying to joke around with him? Naw…wasn't possible.

"I don't want you, but if you're going to take me to lunch, how am I suppose to say 'No?' especially when you're paying." Albel pushed himself off the bed and pulled on a shirt, then started slipping on shoes.

"Who said I'm paying?" Fayt demanded while standing. Albel simply laughed.

"You invited me, so it's only proper that you pay."

"Fine. But you pay next time." He grumbled and Albel smirked.

'Next time?' The Wicked One wondered to himself.

Albel and Fayt stepped into the hallway and paused so The Wicked One could close the door. After they slowly made they're way down the hall to exit the dorm. Fayt glanced at Albel for a second and smiled.

"You know, you're not as bad as I thought."

Ari Ari Ari Ari Ari Ari Ari Ari Ari Ari

Notes: Wee! The titles starting to come into the story! Finally!

(1.) Duo and Heero! Only the BESTEST yaoi, anime couple from Gundam Wing around! I don't own them though, Bandai owns them…(waves a 1x2x1 flag)