Peg:Note: what was suppose to be the second chapter is pushed back to the
third for better plot development, and at the moment it seems weak and
needed serious Revamping (excuse the unintentional pun).
BTW, you must listen to Jangli Jaggas, a Pakistani-base Metal/Gothic band that have a few CV remixes and several other Castlevania-inspired songs. It's the perfect fan fic writing music. **************************************************************************** ********
"Seigmund Freud is the father of psychoanalysis and modern dream interpretations." Soma recited from the textbook, as he rubbed his temple slightly and then pulled out his pad, taking down notes as he continued to read out loud. He believes people act on two basic desires, Eros, lust, and Thanatos, Violence or...!" He paused as his slanted eyes shot wide open at the definition.
Death! Thanatos means Death! Could my Professor be...? No, it can't be. I think I'm finally cracking up. Okay, I better stop studying and find something to get my mind off of things... Soma groaned to himself as he rested his head in his hands.
"Come in...." The pale man muttered as he heard the knock on the door.
"Hey Cross." Benji barged in with a crooked grin across his face, which died upon seeing the taut form of the loner. "Say, what's going on? You don't look so hot." He leaned over.
"Are you suppose to be asleep at this hour?" Came the grumbled reply, as the taller youth buried his face deeper into his palms.
"Nah, your insomnia is contagious, I couldn't get some forty winks." The redhead shrugged as he tugged the leather satchel on his moonstone and turquoise necklace. "You seem tense, say, how about we get off campus and bum around?" He forced a cheerful grin, getting in the more serious youth's face.
"Bum around...?" Soma muttered numbly as he looked straight into glittering hazel eyes.
"Yea, fool around, hang out, that kind of thing. Wanna go?" He asked as he threw the white coat at Soma. "By the way, why in the hell do you wear that coat all the time?"
"Okay." He shrugged, then caught his coat. "Huh, What do you mean? I like it!" Soma immediately retorted as he pulled it on. "It's comfortable, warm, and I look good in it, so what's wrong with that?" He went to continue on, but paused to think on what he said, and found it ridiculous that he had defended an article of clothing, but that's what he just did. "Besides what about that silly necklace of yours?" The white-haired man retorted.
"Nothing, it's just well... well-known, I mean, get some variety once in a while." Benji shrugged. "And point taken." He grinned sheepishly as he unconsciously buttoned and unbuttoned his leather bomber jacket, watching the near-albino putting on the coat himself. "All right, let's go!" He turned to run into the hall but was halted by a firm hand on his shoulder. "What gives?" He blinked in confusion as he tilted his head.
"Not so fast, Just what are we going to do, and why ask me?" Soma questioned; his expression showed confusion. and distrust? He wasn't sure about it, for it was the first time someone asked him to join them in any sort of recreational activity.
"Just relax, as I said, we'll just go downtown, maybe check out the sites. Nothing more, nothing less, and besides, looks like you need to get out more often." The redhead grinned in that cocky, crooked way that gave him the air of a trickster.
"... All right, perhaps I need to unwind. Thanks for the offer." The foreigner nodded slowly as he chewed his pale lower lip out of habit. "Ah!" He yelped as he was literally dragged from his dorm room.
"Trust me, I'll make sure you have some fun!" Benji chirped as he looked back on the startled young man.
"Have fun where?" Came a sweet soprano in a rather stern tone of voice. The men stopped in their tracks and turned to the student attendant of the mix-gender complex. She was a slender, feline-like woman with platinum curls that tumbled down her back in an elegant, and yet careless manner, her green-blue eyes glisten, and overall, she had a very angelic appearance to her, but had a mettle that was stronger then titanium. "Well, will you answer me? Well then, Tsukikyobi, Cruz?"
"Downtown, Des or are there rules against that now?" Benji groaned as he rolled his eyes at the usage of his last name. It was no secret that Odessa Adler was the strictest S.A on the campus, and considered a cold fish by most fraternity boys. Well, maybe not cold fish, but too business- oriented.
"It's not, however, you better set a good example of our university." Odessa warned sternly as she hugged the clipboard to her chest, then walked over to Soma, smiling a little. "I'm glad you decided to go out and have some fun, some of us are starting to get worried about your health."
"Uh, thanks, Miss Adler." He muttered softly as he looked down at her; and immediately he was swamped with a strange dull throbbing feeling deep within himself as their eyes met. It was there in the back of his mind since he came here a freshman, but lately... that feeling he gotten from being around the woman was more pronounced, conceding with his heightened awareness of the air elementals and specters that surrounds him... calls to him... and coaxes him-
Stop that stop thinking like that! You're not him, and should not think like him. The young man cursed to himself.
"You okay, Cross? You seem to be zoning." The warm baritone questioned as an arm went around his shoulders. "Earth to Cross."
"Oh!" Soma yipped very softly, then rubbed his forehead sheepishly and gave out a wistful sigh. "I was just. thinking, that's all, you don't have to worry."
"Don't do that too much, Cruz, that's not very good for you. Well, can you do me a favor while you're out? I would do it myself, but I have an Econ exam I can't miss, and after that a S.A meeting that I just simply can't afford to miss, and then I got to schedule a school spirit activity for the complex-" She started, as she flipped through the papers.
"We get the picture, what do you need, Des?"
"Here's a list of a few books I need, and oh, I need some Thyme, Garlic and Rosemary, I'm fixing soup for the charity luncheon, and I just realize I don't have enough for it. Here's the money for them." Odessa smiled sweetly at Soma, but briefly shot Benji a chilly glance that warned him not to forget it. "Well, I better be going to class now, Good bye, Cruz." She bowed. Then she turned on her heels, and hurried down the hall, somehow maintaining the grace of a swan as she did so.
"Now let's get going before Des outlaws off-campus breaks!" Benji urged as he latched onto the hand again, tugging at it. "I'll show you how to have fun!"
"All right... But I draw the line at strip joints and the like, I am not interested in such things." The white-haired youth cautioned as he resigned to being dragged.
"Me take you a house of sin? You're being insulting Cross!" Benji pouted in mock moral outrage.
"Soma Cruz, not Cross." Soma corrected automatically, though he never had the heart to tell this oddball why he exactly hated being called 'Cross'.
The pale-haired young man found Benji was a very difficult person to keep up with, even if the said man had not let go of his hand while he was being given a whirlwind tour of downtown. Soma felt tensed and at unease in the throng of humanity that went past them, but most of all completely lost and disoriented
"What's wrong? You look tense." Benji poked him; a goofy grin plastered on his face.
"Nothing, I'm just not a social person." He replied with a huff as he jerked away from the annoying finger. "So, where are you going to take me?"
"There's this strip mall nearby that is full of the most interesting shops you'll ever see, I'll show you!" The redhead replied with a smirk as he hooked an arm over Soma's.
"But... I'm broke!" Soma protested, as he was lead down the street, he became very self-conscious about the looks he had received from people around them.
"That's because you're a college student." He smirked, but shook his head when he saw that the blue-eyed one didn't get the joke. "Ah well, we'll just do price-comparison on inflatable chairs and ramen cups!" The shorter man laughed off the concerns.
"What...?!"
"After all we are college students! Meaning, we're always broke!" Benji sniggered as he looked into the display of a bookshop. "Shoot... They of course have to put that textbook on clearance right after I bought it!" He groaned as he rolled his eyes.
"Because we're college students?" Soma shrugged helplessly.
"Now you get it!" The hazel eyes gleamed brightly as he roared with laughter, watching 'Cross' from the window glass. "Say, how about some gluttonous junk food? I'll pay."
"All right." Soma let a half smile escape as Benji again dragged him, this time into a small food court.
"Look at these new flavors of Ice Cream!" The redhead pulled the near- albino over to look.
"Fried Chicken, Sake, and Octopus*?! I'll pass!" The taller one grimaced at the thought of putting his mouth to such things.
"I'll have a scoop of Fried Chicken Ice Cream, medium Fries, and A large Chocolate Milkshake. And Oh, a medium sprite"
"That would be twenty-eight hundred yen." The server stated as she got out a scoop and cup.
"Why did you get that?" Soma winced at the menu choices and at the amount of money being passed.
"You only live once my friend, might as well do whatever strikes your fancy." Benji laughed off the look of utter disgust. "And you should see your face!"
"Well, I'll just have a... large Peanut Butter Cup Milkshake, and a cup of coffee, plain, black coffee, no fancy mixes or flavors." The white- haired one ordered, he empathized on the plain coffee due to one too many mixed-up orders.
"Twelve hundred yen, Sir. Just a second." The girl smiled as more money was passed, and then resumed the work of filling out orders, letting the two young men talk to each other without interruption.
"I think we better get Odessa's things out of the way first so we don't forget."
"And having to lug them around? Nah, Let's wait and get them on the way back, capisce?" He chuckled as he dismissed the concern with the wave of his hand.
"You're going to forget, I'm sorry, but from what I heard, you don't have a good track record at remembering things." Soma pointed out as he slid into a cushioned booth.
"Only because the stuff wasn't important to me at the time." The more compact man huffed as he gathered straws and napkins. "I do remember stuff that I think is worthy. Like what I am to buy today for next Saturday."
"What happens next Saturday?" He questioned, immediately intrigued by it.
"Can't really say it to you, sorry, it's the rules. Let's see, I need a bit of whiskey... sage, pure rock salt, charcoal, Wolfbane-that last one is somewhat tricky to get, I'll probably have to ride up to the Shrine and take some from there." Benji listed them as he stroked his chin in thought, lips pursed.
"I can ask Mina if she-wait a minute, why would you want Wolfbane? Isn't that poisonous?" Soma tilted his head, looking at the wiry man with a wary gaze.
"Ritual stuff, can't really tell you more." Benji shrugged as he sat the tray down on the table. "No, no, it's nothing like the Satanist crap that the preachers always screaming about!" he waved his hands as he plopped into the booth, shaking his head rapidly. "You can call it Neo- Pagan if you want, it's kind of a nature-worshipping ritual... and before you ask, there's no pretty young women going sky-clad." The redhead snickered.
"I wasn't going to ask that." He sighed as he sipped his shake, savoring the sweet taste of it.
"Thought as much." Benji smirked.
"What is that suppose to mean!?" Came the outraged demand.
"Hey, I didn't mean it in an insulting manner. Relax, I just don't think you're a pervert, unlike certain others we know." He clarified as he nibbled on a fry. "Sorry if it sounded different then I intended."
"... It's all right." Soma responded quietly as he looked at the darkened reflection of himself in his drink. A truer mirror then the glass that hangs on the wall, he thought grimly to himself as the hot liquid quivered from the slightest of movements.
"A yen for your thoughts." Benji whispered softly as he briefly touched Soma's creamy, delicate hand with his roughened peach-tone one, then as quickly as the touch was made, it was broken off.
"Just thinking...not very pleasant things I would admit."
"Hey, everyone has morbid thoughts at times, it's pretty normal." The redhead shrugged it off gently, his hand had absent-mindedly rubbed the satchel again as he locked eyes with the taller man. "If you want to talk about it, I'll listen, if you don't, that's a-okay with me as well."
"Excuse me gentlemen, there's a 30 minute time limit on a table, and you just expired the time, would you mind leaving right now?" The server tapped the two men on their shoulders, and urged them with feigned politeness.
"All right, we're going, don't get your pants in a knot!" the smaller of the two got up, and waved his hands in a sign of submission and mockery.
"We'll leave." Soma Cruz shrugged as he took a finishing sip on his milkshake before he tossed it.
And with that the men went on their way, their minds are not on the
troubles of the nineteen year old's troubled soul... for the moment.
BTW, you must listen to Jangli Jaggas, a Pakistani-base Metal/Gothic band that have a few CV remixes and several other Castlevania-inspired songs. It's the perfect fan fic writing music. **************************************************************************** ********
"Seigmund Freud is the father of psychoanalysis and modern dream interpretations." Soma recited from the textbook, as he rubbed his temple slightly and then pulled out his pad, taking down notes as he continued to read out loud. He believes people act on two basic desires, Eros, lust, and Thanatos, Violence or...!" He paused as his slanted eyes shot wide open at the definition.
Death! Thanatos means Death! Could my Professor be...? No, it can't be. I think I'm finally cracking up. Okay, I better stop studying and find something to get my mind off of things... Soma groaned to himself as he rested his head in his hands.
"Come in...." The pale man muttered as he heard the knock on the door.
"Hey Cross." Benji barged in with a crooked grin across his face, which died upon seeing the taut form of the loner. "Say, what's going on? You don't look so hot." He leaned over.
"Are you suppose to be asleep at this hour?" Came the grumbled reply, as the taller youth buried his face deeper into his palms.
"Nah, your insomnia is contagious, I couldn't get some forty winks." The redhead shrugged as he tugged the leather satchel on his moonstone and turquoise necklace. "You seem tense, say, how about we get off campus and bum around?" He forced a cheerful grin, getting in the more serious youth's face.
"Bum around...?" Soma muttered numbly as he looked straight into glittering hazel eyes.
"Yea, fool around, hang out, that kind of thing. Wanna go?" He asked as he threw the white coat at Soma. "By the way, why in the hell do you wear that coat all the time?"
"Okay." He shrugged, then caught his coat. "Huh, What do you mean? I like it!" Soma immediately retorted as he pulled it on. "It's comfortable, warm, and I look good in it, so what's wrong with that?" He went to continue on, but paused to think on what he said, and found it ridiculous that he had defended an article of clothing, but that's what he just did. "Besides what about that silly necklace of yours?" The white-haired man retorted.
"Nothing, it's just well... well-known, I mean, get some variety once in a while." Benji shrugged. "And point taken." He grinned sheepishly as he unconsciously buttoned and unbuttoned his leather bomber jacket, watching the near-albino putting on the coat himself. "All right, let's go!" He turned to run into the hall but was halted by a firm hand on his shoulder. "What gives?" He blinked in confusion as he tilted his head.
"Not so fast, Just what are we going to do, and why ask me?" Soma questioned; his expression showed confusion. and distrust? He wasn't sure about it, for it was the first time someone asked him to join them in any sort of recreational activity.
"Just relax, as I said, we'll just go downtown, maybe check out the sites. Nothing more, nothing less, and besides, looks like you need to get out more often." The redhead grinned in that cocky, crooked way that gave him the air of a trickster.
"... All right, perhaps I need to unwind. Thanks for the offer." The foreigner nodded slowly as he chewed his pale lower lip out of habit. "Ah!" He yelped as he was literally dragged from his dorm room.
"Trust me, I'll make sure you have some fun!" Benji chirped as he looked back on the startled young man.
"Have fun where?" Came a sweet soprano in a rather stern tone of voice. The men stopped in their tracks and turned to the student attendant of the mix-gender complex. She was a slender, feline-like woman with platinum curls that tumbled down her back in an elegant, and yet careless manner, her green-blue eyes glisten, and overall, she had a very angelic appearance to her, but had a mettle that was stronger then titanium. "Well, will you answer me? Well then, Tsukikyobi, Cruz?"
"Downtown, Des or are there rules against that now?" Benji groaned as he rolled his eyes at the usage of his last name. It was no secret that Odessa Adler was the strictest S.A on the campus, and considered a cold fish by most fraternity boys. Well, maybe not cold fish, but too business- oriented.
"It's not, however, you better set a good example of our university." Odessa warned sternly as she hugged the clipboard to her chest, then walked over to Soma, smiling a little. "I'm glad you decided to go out and have some fun, some of us are starting to get worried about your health."
"Uh, thanks, Miss Adler." He muttered softly as he looked down at her; and immediately he was swamped with a strange dull throbbing feeling deep within himself as their eyes met. It was there in the back of his mind since he came here a freshman, but lately... that feeling he gotten from being around the woman was more pronounced, conceding with his heightened awareness of the air elementals and specters that surrounds him... calls to him... and coaxes him-
Stop that stop thinking like that! You're not him, and should not think like him. The young man cursed to himself.
"You okay, Cross? You seem to be zoning." The warm baritone questioned as an arm went around his shoulders. "Earth to Cross."
"Oh!" Soma yipped very softly, then rubbed his forehead sheepishly and gave out a wistful sigh. "I was just. thinking, that's all, you don't have to worry."
"Don't do that too much, Cruz, that's not very good for you. Well, can you do me a favor while you're out? I would do it myself, but I have an Econ exam I can't miss, and after that a S.A meeting that I just simply can't afford to miss, and then I got to schedule a school spirit activity for the complex-" She started, as she flipped through the papers.
"We get the picture, what do you need, Des?"
"Here's a list of a few books I need, and oh, I need some Thyme, Garlic and Rosemary, I'm fixing soup for the charity luncheon, and I just realize I don't have enough for it. Here's the money for them." Odessa smiled sweetly at Soma, but briefly shot Benji a chilly glance that warned him not to forget it. "Well, I better be going to class now, Good bye, Cruz." She bowed. Then she turned on her heels, and hurried down the hall, somehow maintaining the grace of a swan as she did so.
"Now let's get going before Des outlaws off-campus breaks!" Benji urged as he latched onto the hand again, tugging at it. "I'll show you how to have fun!"
"All right... But I draw the line at strip joints and the like, I am not interested in such things." The white-haired youth cautioned as he resigned to being dragged.
"Me take you a house of sin? You're being insulting Cross!" Benji pouted in mock moral outrage.
"Soma Cruz, not Cross." Soma corrected automatically, though he never had the heart to tell this oddball why he exactly hated being called 'Cross'.
The pale-haired young man found Benji was a very difficult person to keep up with, even if the said man had not let go of his hand while he was being given a whirlwind tour of downtown. Soma felt tensed and at unease in the throng of humanity that went past them, but most of all completely lost and disoriented
"What's wrong? You look tense." Benji poked him; a goofy grin plastered on his face.
"Nothing, I'm just not a social person." He replied with a huff as he jerked away from the annoying finger. "So, where are you going to take me?"
"There's this strip mall nearby that is full of the most interesting shops you'll ever see, I'll show you!" The redhead replied with a smirk as he hooked an arm over Soma's.
"But... I'm broke!" Soma protested, as he was lead down the street, he became very self-conscious about the looks he had received from people around them.
"That's because you're a college student." He smirked, but shook his head when he saw that the blue-eyed one didn't get the joke. "Ah well, we'll just do price-comparison on inflatable chairs and ramen cups!" The shorter man laughed off the concerns.
"What...?!"
"After all we are college students! Meaning, we're always broke!" Benji sniggered as he looked into the display of a bookshop. "Shoot... They of course have to put that textbook on clearance right after I bought it!" He groaned as he rolled his eyes.
"Because we're college students?" Soma shrugged helplessly.
"Now you get it!" The hazel eyes gleamed brightly as he roared with laughter, watching 'Cross' from the window glass. "Say, how about some gluttonous junk food? I'll pay."
"All right." Soma let a half smile escape as Benji again dragged him, this time into a small food court.
"Look at these new flavors of Ice Cream!" The redhead pulled the near- albino over to look.
"Fried Chicken, Sake, and Octopus*?! I'll pass!" The taller one grimaced at the thought of putting his mouth to such things.
"I'll have a scoop of Fried Chicken Ice Cream, medium Fries, and A large Chocolate Milkshake. And Oh, a medium sprite"
"That would be twenty-eight hundred yen." The server stated as she got out a scoop and cup.
"Why did you get that?" Soma winced at the menu choices and at the amount of money being passed.
"You only live once my friend, might as well do whatever strikes your fancy." Benji laughed off the look of utter disgust. "And you should see your face!"
"Well, I'll just have a... large Peanut Butter Cup Milkshake, and a cup of coffee, plain, black coffee, no fancy mixes or flavors." The white- haired one ordered, he empathized on the plain coffee due to one too many mixed-up orders.
"Twelve hundred yen, Sir. Just a second." The girl smiled as more money was passed, and then resumed the work of filling out orders, letting the two young men talk to each other without interruption.
"I think we better get Odessa's things out of the way first so we don't forget."
"And having to lug them around? Nah, Let's wait and get them on the way back, capisce?" He chuckled as he dismissed the concern with the wave of his hand.
"You're going to forget, I'm sorry, but from what I heard, you don't have a good track record at remembering things." Soma pointed out as he slid into a cushioned booth.
"Only because the stuff wasn't important to me at the time." The more compact man huffed as he gathered straws and napkins. "I do remember stuff that I think is worthy. Like what I am to buy today for next Saturday."
"What happens next Saturday?" He questioned, immediately intrigued by it.
"Can't really say it to you, sorry, it's the rules. Let's see, I need a bit of whiskey... sage, pure rock salt, charcoal, Wolfbane-that last one is somewhat tricky to get, I'll probably have to ride up to the Shrine and take some from there." Benji listed them as he stroked his chin in thought, lips pursed.
"I can ask Mina if she-wait a minute, why would you want Wolfbane? Isn't that poisonous?" Soma tilted his head, looking at the wiry man with a wary gaze.
"Ritual stuff, can't really tell you more." Benji shrugged as he sat the tray down on the table. "No, no, it's nothing like the Satanist crap that the preachers always screaming about!" he waved his hands as he plopped into the booth, shaking his head rapidly. "You can call it Neo- Pagan if you want, it's kind of a nature-worshipping ritual... and before you ask, there's no pretty young women going sky-clad." The redhead snickered.
"I wasn't going to ask that." He sighed as he sipped his shake, savoring the sweet taste of it.
"Thought as much." Benji smirked.
"What is that suppose to mean!?" Came the outraged demand.
"Hey, I didn't mean it in an insulting manner. Relax, I just don't think you're a pervert, unlike certain others we know." He clarified as he nibbled on a fry. "Sorry if it sounded different then I intended."
"... It's all right." Soma responded quietly as he looked at the darkened reflection of himself in his drink. A truer mirror then the glass that hangs on the wall, he thought grimly to himself as the hot liquid quivered from the slightest of movements.
"A yen for your thoughts." Benji whispered softly as he briefly touched Soma's creamy, delicate hand with his roughened peach-tone one, then as quickly as the touch was made, it was broken off.
"Just thinking...not very pleasant things I would admit."
"Hey, everyone has morbid thoughts at times, it's pretty normal." The redhead shrugged it off gently, his hand had absent-mindedly rubbed the satchel again as he locked eyes with the taller man. "If you want to talk about it, I'll listen, if you don't, that's a-okay with me as well."
"Excuse me gentlemen, there's a 30 minute time limit on a table, and you just expired the time, would you mind leaving right now?" The server tapped the two men on their shoulders, and urged them with feigned politeness.
"All right, we're going, don't get your pants in a knot!" the smaller of the two got up, and waved his hands in a sign of submission and mockery.
"We'll leave." Soma Cruz shrugged as he took a finishing sip on his milkshake before he tossed it.
And with that the men went on their way, their minds are not on the
troubles of the nineteen year old's troubled soul... for the moment.