Author's Notes: …I have no idea what I'm doing anymore. O.o; This whole "plotless" thing is giving me a run for my money. I apologize in advance for the dryness of this chapter. I'm on a bought of Writer's Block, I think. Happy (belated) New Year's everyone!
Chapter 7: Expression
Key's vision was blurry.
Granted, his vision was always blurry out of his right eye, but that was something he was already used to.
No, this was different
Not his own eyes, but something of the worldly condition obscured his vision.
"Fog! I've never seen it like this!" The voice was nasally, almost incoherently babbled.
"I know! It's usually just endlessly sunny. I sorta welcome the change."
Ah, he recognized that voice.
That was Sora.
He looked up to place his face. When did he fall asleep again? Was it morning already?
He didn't really know.
He shrugged it off, and stood by the familiar voice. The familiar face.
The duck stared at him. Squinted, really. His eyes were large. Expressive. TOO expressive, really.
'Talk about wearing your emotions on your sleeve.'
He smiled inwardly to himself. How obnoxious would it be to have eyes like that?
The duck snorted slightly, looking over Sora's shoulder to Key. He was agitated about something. He always seemed agitated about something.
"It's quite the coincidence." The syllables were very annunciated. Precise, even. Key stared at the duck. His nasally voice was hard to listen to. How did Sora stand it?
The dog spoke next.
"Ga hyuck."
Okay.
So it wasn't really 'speaking'. More like a mutilated chuckle of a thought that got lost somewhere in the exit.
"What's a coincidence?" There was Sora again. Appealing in all his naivete.
"That HE showed up here and all we get is fog!"
Key blinked.
"…Right." He murmured in a simple reply. As if. He could jump worlds, not control the weather.
Sora shrugged and glanced over to the boy behind him.
"Key, did you break the sun?" He sounded stupid. Of course he didn't. He had to know at least that.
"No." Key found himself answering anyway.
"Well there. Y'see Donald? Our new friend can't change the weather at will."
Friend?
He again almost laughed at the thought.
They were barely acquaintances.
Barely.
Hardly enough to be considered 'friends'.
"Guh…" there was the half formulated thought again. Drabbling Dog. "Maybe Donald thinks it's a bad oven?"
There was an awkward silence.
Oven?
"Omen?" Came Sora and the duck's voice simultaneously.
"Du'hyuck. That's what I said."
Well. The thought was there. At least the dog was rational in his suspicions.
Stunted with words but…rational in the least.
Despite that…He didn't like his presence being enough to fuel a 'bad omen'.
What did he care?
He'd be rid of them soon enough.
Did they always talk this much?
He turned on heel, for no reason particular. His back was to Sora's own.
He wasn't mad.
Not really.
They had good reason to be suspicious. He had given them no reason not to be.
He would just…
Have to pretend to be oblivious to such accusations.
He would pretend to be friends, just a bit longer.
He felt a tap on his shoulder.
"We're getting ready to split, you coming?"
Key looked at Sora for a moment.
Without thinking he felt himself giving a nod, hesitantly lifting his bag from the ground. He slung it over his shoulders, and blinked at Sora. Obeying his request as if he were nothing more than a lapdog.
He cursed himself for agreeing so easilly.
'But…'
What would be the harm in following them?
At least he wouldn't be alone.
Sora smiled at him, before trotting back to tell the others.
He was always smiling.
Smiley Sora.
Drabbling Dog.
Delirious Duck.
The sky was gray.
And the sun was barely a whimper of a glimmer.
They walked for a long time.
Key didn't mind walking.
In fact, he might even go as far as to say he 'enjoyed' it.
The steady rhythm of his own feet was somewhat calming to his nerves. Such an act of mediocrity, such mindless repetition. It was relaxing. It was minimal effort.
Talking, on the other hand…
He didn't enjoy that so much.
Sora seemed to.
He liked to talk, to tell stories. He liked to laugh and smile and joke at his friends.
And they seemed to enjoy his company.
Key listened.
Sora mostly talked about his friends.
And his home.
He was on a journey, apparently, to find one of them. He seemed to miss these two things very much.
Despite his smile, he ached for them.
Key could tell just by the sound of his voice.
He felt envy flick it's long nails against his gut. He never knew such a nasty monster resided in him until he met Sora.
He stopped listening for his own sake. Envy would surely rip-apart his insides if he didn't.
He made sure to keep a distance behind them after that.
The duck seemed to prefer this, anyway.
The fog still hadn't lifted.
Sora and his friends blurred into mere silhouettes as their walk continued. Key put his hands in his pockets. Empty pockets. Empty hands.
He glanced around. Sora's voice simmered to a monotonous slur. He heard the dog guffaw.
It was strange.
This place had seemed so vast just yesterday.
It had seemed so endless.
Now with the mere presence of fog…Key almost felt claustrophobic. He kicked at a rock absentmindedly.
It shot forward about a foot, and landed again, rolling over itself until it finally stopped.
He stared at it.
Rock.
It was gray.
A little jagged along the edges. A little uneven.
It had looked out of place nestled in the blades of grass.
It looked even more out of place in the road.
Was it stupid that this rock reminded him of himself?
Of course it was. This rock had no face. This rock could not move on it's own. This rock had no hands. This rock wasn't even alive.
Key kicked it again suddenly angry, and it flew through the air with the grace of a gull.
He had used more force that he had even thought to anticipate. It arched in it's decline.
And hit the duck square in the back of the head. His hat toppled forward, and a big red welt was already forming by the time he spun around.
The duck yelled something, but it was inaudible under the sound of Sora's laughter. The dog guffawed.
"Sorry…" murmured Key. His empty hands fidgeted in his pockets nervously.
The duck glowered at him, rubbing the bruise and sliding the hat back atop his head. He mumbled angrily. If looks could kill, Key suspected he might be dead.
"I said I was sorry." Key spat again. He was almost prompted to find another rock and fling it at him. What a short-tempered duck! Sora just continued laughing, the dog hooting right along with him.
For the rest of the day Sora tried to start conversation with him.
"Hey Key, what's up?"
"Hey, you hungry?"
"Geeze we've been walking a long time."
And other awkward phrases. Key would answer with a shrug, a grunt, a simple word. Why was this boy so persistent to talk to him?
Night rolled in, and the fog failed to diminish. How strange that it would last for so long. Key began to wonder if it truly was an omen of some sort.
The others slept.
He had yet to consider them friends.
He wouldn't let himself.
They slept.
And Key felt no need for it.
He found himself impatient for the next Jump, anxious to leave this place and these people. And he didn't like it.
Was it too soon? Could he accomplish another jump after such a short amount of time?
"Nothing to lose, right?"
He stood for the second consecutive try in two days. The grass was springy underneath his feet. The dog snored, the duck babbled incoherently in his sleep. He took a deep breath, letting such senses seep away.
They probably would have been friends. Maybe if it had been another world, another time, another place, another face…Maybe if he wasn't so deterred from the thought of such a companion, less willing to run away.
And the familiar numbness filled his fingers and his feet. A hot gush of air washing his entire body until every fiber of his being caught fire and burst. His thoughts blurred together.
Friends? Could he have been? Would they have helped him? Would they care about what he lacked in memories? Care that he could slip through the boundaries of other worlds?
Whatweretheconsequences? Wouldtheyhavelefthimtoo?
"Key?"
His eyes flew open with the recognition of such a voice. It was Sora. It was always Sora.
"What…what are you doing?"
Shit. His concentration fluttered, and he felt the numbness slip away for an instant before it flared again. This boy talked too much.
Key clenched his eyes shut again. No. He wouldn't let go. Not when he was so close to leaving these people. Not when he could he was so close to tearing himself away.
His breath left him in stabs of suffocation. The road, the fog, the grass, the sky, melted away until all that was left was Sora's voice ringing in his ears.
"Key!"
He faltered for a moment, and reality flickered back to him in flashes. As if someone were flipping a light switch. He was too determined to leave than to let it consume him again.
The dog looked confused. The duck was still rubbing sleep away from his eyes. Sora's smile was gone. He felt the boy latch onto his arm.
What a fool.
What a mistake.
He let the blackness consume him in a familiar whirlwind.
Felt Sora still clutching onto him.
He had no room for panic in his head. Key simply grabbed the boy's hood and held it tightly.
He had never jumped with another person before.
He didn't know it was possible.
He didn't know what would happen.
What a fool.
What a mistake.
The pain sizzled through his body.
And unconsciousness flooded him again.
Chapter Notes: Ugh. I am so SO sorry. You guys really deserve a better chapter than that. (keels self). I don't know WHY this was so hard to write! I guess I'm just lazy. I'm beginning to wish I had made Key a more exciting character, rather than this morbid blank faced kid that he turned out to be.
I'm also wondering if this particular fic would have been better off in First Person.
Yes, well. I'm sorry. This chapter really WAS supposed to be longer. There was supposed to be some character development, Key was supposed to officially learn Donald's and Goofy's names, he and Sora were supposed to actually become friends…But none of that translated from my thoughts to my writing. Oh well. I guess I'll just have to work extra hard on the next chapter to make up for this sorry drabble of words you just read.
Don't ask me about the mysterious fog. Ever heard of how art imitates life? Well, it was really foggy when I started writing this. That's it. I guess it COULD be symbolism for the hazy, restricted way Key tends to view things. Instead of seeing an endless, sunny field of opportunity, all he saw was an entire world of emptiness used to confine him. That could be stretching it. XD
Thanks SO much to all of you reviewers! And a special thanks to "obaa" for trying to cheer Key up! Remember, the chapter I get no reviews is the chapter that this story ends! XD Sorry, does that sound too dramatic? Well it's true! You are the ones who keep this story and its characters alive!
Seeya next chapter!