Crossed
Electronic red lights danced upon Jinx's furiously sweating brow, her eyes bulging with fear. Hundreds of fully armed laser cannons were aiming right at her quivering little head. Jinx could say and do nothing, just hang there helplessly in the grip of the cold, iron tight clutches. Julius frowned bitterly.
Julius scratched his chin as he said "Auto guns deactivate, lower target and recoil all bindings".
The red lights on the devices flashed green, and in mere seconds Jinx was released from the steel tentacles. The laser guns returned back into the secret ceiling compartments inside Julius's room. Jinx gasped for air as she was dropped to the ground, the girl was very aggravated by Julius's protection system. It was written so hatefully clear on Jinx's face.
Jinx rubbed her neck "What the hell do you need all that crap for anyway? I could barely breathe they were so tight.
Julius frowned "Don't be such a baby, there simply precautions I've taken the liberty of installing in case of emergency".
The girl angrily scowled "Baby? ARGH you have got some nerve buddy".
Julius snapped back "I can say the same thing to you".
Jinx replied "You always treat visitors this kindly?".
"No, I save it for the ones that dump me" Julius said.
A cold hearted blow struck deep in Jinx's wounded heart, though no where near as wounded as Julius's heart. Jinx tried to approach the body but he coldly turned his back to her and entered his mechanical chair.
Jinx winced a bit "You know that was uncalled for and don't you dare try to deny it. Sheesh, I thought you at least had better manners then that".
The boy angrily ignored her "Yeah well I thought you actually had common sense but I guess were both wrong then, aren't we?".
Angrily scowling, Jinx grabbed the chair and spun it around so Julius faced the enraged enchantress directly, face to face. Julius stared blankly to Jinx.
Jinx frowned "I am trying to apologize".
Julius bitterly crossed his arms "Then why does it still sound like an insult?".
Jinx said "Stubborn smart ass, you're making this more difficult then it needs to be".
Julius raised an eyebrow "Well that must be one of the many reasons you HATE me, isn't it Jinx?".
The young girl sighed "Look what I said…….back at the arena……I……I had no right to say. I thought I knew Stone, I thought I knew him better then even he knew himself. But I was just stupid, too stupid to see what everyone else could obviously see in front of me".
Julius groaned "Then WHY the hell didn't you listen to me in the first place?".
Jinx bit her lip "Because I didn't want to believe it. I wanted Stone to be who he was, I wanted him to be my boyfriend, I wanted to".
The girl stopped half way; small tears trickled down her trembling cheeks as she whimpered a bit. Julius gasped and stood out of his chair slowly. Never has this dark young lad felt so hurt, so sad, so dreadfully hollow inside.
Jinx said "I wanted to be someone to someone else. I'm tired of being upstaged, tired of being seen as a 2nd rate flunky. To Brother Blood, to the Titans, to you. Stone was someone different, someone I could prove myself to and work hard to please, not to embarrass, not to humiliate, to please. I'm tired of being viewed and treated as the child the whole world sees me as. And so I ignored you, brushed you away no matter what you had to say.
I never realized how much you cared about me, or how concerned you were with my safety. I was too worried about making it to the big leagues that I never even realized who you were or how you felt".
Julius blinked "Well, I can't say I blame you. It's not like this is the first time the world has turned a blind eye to my existence".
"You mean people have treated you like this before?" Jinx said.
The young boy nodded slowly.
The sorceress shook her head "But I don't get it, how can they? You're a genius. You make machines, weapons, gadgets; you fix super computers, laser blasters, hell you even led the construction team that helped finished building this underwater base".
Julius nodded "That's exactly why they hate me, why they fear me".
Jinx blinked "Huh?".
The young dark haired scientist slowly sighed and sat down on his bed, sheets were neatly prepared and all straightened out. Jinx gently approached Julius and sat beside him on his bed, looking to him with concerned pink eyes. Julius sighed with deep sadness in his young voice.
Julius began "Look, when you've been in the super villain weapons business as long as my family has you pick up a few trends, and a few enemies. Everyone wants me for my brains, always wanting me to build them this or build them that. They ran my parents ragged making all kinds of super powered weapons, never once allowing us to live as anything else but servants. And the better we got at it the more scared people got of us.
People think just because my parents have such power and intellect, that we are nothing more but selfish, egotistical monsters. Ingenious outcasts shoving society and friendship away with each new advance. My family wielded great power, such indescribable power and brilliance, and not even my genes could escape those traits. I see it every day in the HIVE student's eyes Jinx. Fear, terror, hatred, loathing, they see me as some sort of disease.
Some sort of toxic god who poisons every living creature around him, no matter where he goes or what he does. What good is being famous if it keeps denying you from having a happy existence with others?".
A slight gasp escaped the pink haired girl "Wow, I never really thought of it that way. I always thought being a big name bad guy would get you noticed; put your name up in lights and stuff like that. I had no idea it could cause someone so much pain".
Julius smiled "Knowing you know helps the pain; it helps it a lot actually. Thank you Jinx".
Smiling sincerely to Julius, the sad truth of the matter is Jinx knew that Julius's feelings were no doubt the same as he had felt before. The girl slowly stood up from Julius bed and walked towards the door. Looking almost horrified, Julius stood up and quickly tried to go after Jinx. The loss of pain in his purple eyes, the suffering, it almost seemed as if his heart walked away when Jinx did. The sorceress stopped half way to the door.
Julius also stopped, realizing that Jinx clearly still had something to say. Cold silence filled the deathly quiet room as the young student desperately awaited his female friend's response.
Jinx turned away "I'm sorry Julius, I really am. But after what happened with S……I mean Cyborg, I don't know if I'm ready to let someone back into my life. I just".
Before the pink haired charm caster could finish, something shiny caught her curious eyes. Julius gasped as she was walking over towards his CD collection.
Julius gasped "No, no, no, Jinx wait a minute, I don't want you to".
It was too late. Jinx was already scrounging through Julius variety of CDs, his face was wrenching with utter embarrassment. He so fearfully expected mockery and laughter from Jinx. Julius knew his tastes in music were rather odd compared to others, and the last thing he wanted to do was appear any freakier or weirder to his so called girl of his dreams.
Jinx blinked "Is this Depeche Mode's "Playing the Angel"?".
The scientist boy mumbled "GAH uh I c-c-c-can explain. I know there well kind of an acquired taste, really, I barely listened to the thing actually".
The girl smiled "Are you kidding me? I've wanted to listen to this album for weeks".
Julius blinked "Really, are you serious?".
Jinx nodded "Yeah, I was really disappointed with their last album and I really didn't think the blend between techno and rock mixed in well. I've heard it's also got some really amazing lyrics, almost poetic like. Do you mind?".
The young girl had removed a pair of headphones off of Julius's desk, sitting right next to his CD collection. Julius baffled a smile and shrugged to Jinx's request. Jinx smiled and slipped the head phones over her head and slipped the CD into the nearby player.
Julius blushed "Uh might I suggest……track 10?".
Nodding to his suggestion, Jinx flipped the buttons on the side and skipped to the track Julius suggested. The dark and silver strands of Julius's hair hanged so heavily over his trembling purple eyes. Once again, this young soul was being tormented by the very sight of such beauty unimaginable. The music slowly hummed into Jinx's ears, and her eyes widened with obvious delight. Dark shoes started to click and move to the beat of the song.
As if ignoring the rest of the world around her, Jinx started to move and sway, dancing to the song.
Jinx cheerfully hummed "Mmm now THAT is music, you were right about this song Julius. It sounds amazing".
"R-r-r-r-really? You really think so?" Julius asked.
The dark girl bounced, nodded "Yeah. It's dark, sad, touching; I really think this is something special".
Without words, movement, thought or sound, the boy became a stone statue of perpetual bliss. Julius found himself lost in the sight of Jinx dancing right before his very eyes. Entranced, enchanted, and ensnared by the breathless beauty of that dark, pink haired girl so happily igniting his soul with passion.
Julius whispered "Yeah, something special. It's something special all right".
We're damaged people……
Drawn together
by subtleties that we are not aware of
Disturbed souls
playing out forever
these games that we once thought we would be scared of……
Julius approached Jinx as she continued to dance in her blissful state of blinded harmony, he cautiously approached. The last thing this boy wanted to do was ruin the one perfect moment Jinx was sharing with him in his room. Julius carefully went behind Jinx and softly wrapped his warm arms around Jinx; she stopped dancing for a brief moment and gasped softly.
When you're in my arms
The world makes sense
There is no pretense
And you're crying……
When you're by my side
There is no defense
I forget to sense
I'm dying……
As soon as Jinx realized what had happened, she remained still, bathing in the warmth of Julius's loving touch. Never has such a hand made this kind of an impact after one touch. Jinx blushed, but eventually pulled away. The CD player dropped and the music continued to play as they stood there.
"Julius please, I'm not ready yet" Jinx said.
Julius pleaded "I'm ready, your eyes say you're ready, we both KNOW you're ready…… face it Jinx, we are ready. Why can't you see that?".
Still, Jinx insisted "Even after all you're kindness, all your protection, I still find myself so weak and helpless".
Julius begged "You need to stop beating yourself up about this, there was no way you could have known".
We're damaged people……
Praying for something
That doesn't come from somewhere deep inside us
Depraved souls
Trusting in the one thing
The one thing that this life has not denied us……
Jinx whimpered "I was horrible to you Julius. I don't deserve love; I deserve to be denied it. I've abused it and your feelings for the last time. I couldn't see, and after how you've still treated me so kindly, I don't think I ever will".
Warm fingers wrap around Jinx's palms, she looked up to see Julius holding her hands and smiling. Leaning in close, the boy whispered before kissing the blushing, gray skinned girl.
Julius gasped "The only thing there is to see……is this".
When I feel the warmth
Of your very soul
I forget I'm cold
And crying……
When your lips touch mine
And I lose control
I forget I'm old
And dying……
(Damaged People by Depeche Mode)
To be continued……