A/N: Some people might be confused as to who Lowell and Michael are. Those people should go to Lindblum in the first disc, go to the theatre district, and go into the artist's house across from the station. Yeah, it's that guy - Apsiring Artist Michael. Lowell is that actor dude, from the Moogle show, in the moogle costume, who gives you a useless autograph. Together, they make the GREATEST TEAM EVER.
This was written for the ffixunderscoreslash challenge on livejournal. I'm on a roll.
Lowell is an actor. His entire life is dedicated to the art – so much so that he's begun acting even offstage. Michael watches him sleep in the dark night after a long performance. This is the one time he doesn't seem to be acting. He looks genuinely at peace, satisfied. Even if just earlier they had been fighting about the difference between art and acting. Even if Michael had called him...
But what if he's still acting? Even after all these months, what if he's still acting – feigning peace and affection...?
Blue eyes – just a shade darker than his hair – open in the dark and find out brown ones. No acting could hide the feeling there. Just as no acting could hide the passion in Lowell's voice when he stands on stage; and when he sees those girls calling out his name, the look of resigned love for them echoes through his whole body – through every movement and every word, spoken or unspoken.
Lowell asks why he's staring, and Michael shakes his head. It's nothing, he says, and Lowell shouldn't worry about it.
Good, the actor mumbles, because now he can go back to sleep. He has a feeling that something awful is about to happen... But as long as the artist is still there, and isn't having heavy thoughts or heavy feelings, everything will be alright.
You're just imagining things, Michael tells him, and they both close their eyes this time – Lowell has another performance and Michael has to finish his latest piece...
On the other side of town, the Serpent Gate opens, yielding to glowing golden eyes and walking premonitions.