Insomnia

By The Eternity Dragon

Disclaimer: …..o..0;

Chapter 3

Tolerance Limit

Hello again! Thank you for reading my fic Insomnia, I will, once again, try to promise you a good read- I can't guarantee it though…but I'll try.

In this chapter….it's more Kai's perspective, I did play around with numerous drafts of doing it more from Tala's point of view…in 3rd person, what can I say, I totally love Tala now…I can make him as grouchy as I want:giggles: But this version made it to the final draft, partly because it's more succinct, it gets right to the point with a bit of detail, and also helps to clue you onto a bit more about Kai, apart from that snippet from the last chapter he hasn't been in it so far- and now about future updates I'm going back to school next week and I'm doing my A levels, but on the other hand I want to keep writing, because frankly I'm enjoying doing it again, (yey!), so weekends will probably be the prior time for updates after this, so look out forlate night posts- okay on with the Tyson and Kai goodness!

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"Shit!" Tala snarled, his voice echoing off the cavernous walls of the enormous reception room, several people turned and stared at the red head youth leaning across the counter top with the cold wolfish grey eyes.

"What do you mean they aren't available right now? Damn it we have an appointment for today, not tomorrow or next week!"

The receptionist raised one carefully pencilled eyebrow and drummed her red manicured nails of the marble countertop, watching as the flat monitor of her desktop computer ran through file after file shifting through copious amounts of names and times.

"I'm sorry but currently they are unavailable, you'll have to wait." She picked up a phone and began to dial in a number; Tala however wrenched the receiver out of her hand, "We're not waiting," he snarled softly, his voice low and dangerous.

She glared at him, eyes narrowed, "The person you need to speak to should be here, unfortunately it seems that they aren't. So I suggest you sit down and wait for me to locate them."

They had a brief, but furious wrestling match over the phone (all eyes in the room were now fixed solidly on them) which the receptionist won and pointed sternly to the leather seats by the wide double windows that over looked the massive domed structure of the blitz stadiums. There was somebody already sitting on one of the arm chairs, someone with slanted lavender eyes, dark hair and a highly sculpted face with suggestive lips.

"I'm afraid there's a bit of a delay." Tala mumbled dejectedly, slumping into the chair next to him, not daring to look Kai in the face. Hiwatari said nothing, his eyes, curiously romantic, amorous and yet distant at the same time had a flash of deep seated irritation in them that was amplified by the slight down curve of the perfect mouth.

"So I heard." His voice was slightly clipped, and faintly strained; Tala mentally winced, stood up and began pacing in circles across the marble floor.

"Jeez," he muttered, glaring at people at intervals as they traversed the expanse of the room to get to the elevators. Most of the employees in the complex were lab assistants, dressed in unanimous uniforms, all stiff looking, with hair scraped back holding clip boards and ball point pens in their hands. A group of these passed nearby with the words 'Legacy' and 'BBA' printed in bold letters across their backs.

"You'd think a company as high strung as Legacy would be able to keep one appointment on time wouldn't you. It's not like we're asking them to cure cancer or anything- and you'd think since it's you we're booking for they'd at least jump to your attention."

He sent a scathing look across to the red manicured receptionist, "Last time I checked it was your grandfather who footed the bills for the donations here."

Kai stiffened, his eyes flickering momentarily up at Tala, a slight snarl curling its way across his upper lip, "I told you, there's nothing wrong with me- just skip the appointment, I wouldn't want to inconvenience them." The words that rolled off his tongue were laced with sarcasm and a poorly concealed anger, they lingered in the air for a moment before dissipating, leaving an uncomfortable silence.

Tala's eyes grew very cold, "Don't-you-even-start!" he snarled suddenly, abruptly coming to a halt mid prowl, "We didn't come here for the hell of it damn it! Here at least they can tell us what's wrong and we'll be able to deal with it."

Kai's eyes narrowed and his mouth became compressed, his hands clenched slightly and he raised his chin stubbornly, "We?" he questioned sardonically, "I was under the impression it was my problem, I'll be the one dealing with this, not you."

His words were like acid, burning their way across the roof of his mouth and down his throat. Why was he so damned angry? Tala was right he needed to be here, he needed to see these people, why was he so determined on running away again?

There was a pause, and then the tall red head came stalking forwards, knuckles white as he slammed them down hard on the arms of the chair, his eyes scintillating anger as he hissed in murderous undertones: "Don't you give me that shit, I don't want to hear it, I don't have time for it. I'm sick of you and your lying, I'm sick of you keeping secrets, I'm sick of you hiding things from me. Jesus Christ you have one hell of an attitude problem! Has anyone ever told you that? The number of time's I could have walked out on you and I didn't, I stuck by you, and do you know why?"

Kai didn't answer; he folded his arms and looked at Tala from the depths of his lavender irises, he really didn't want to hear the end of this, partly because he knew Tala was once again correct, and partly because he didn't want to admit that.

"Because asshole I'm your friend, and I'm not going to let you 'deal' with this alone because I know you won't-"

Kai opened his mouth to say something but Tala ploughed on his eyes sparkling with emotion, "You never do Kai, you never did! You lie in the foetal position on let these things eat at you. I'm not gonna let that happen, ever again, so get used to the idea of me holding your hand when the scary needle goes in because whatever it takes to stop this 'condition' you're gonna do. Got it?"

"I'm not afraid of needles," Kai retorted coolly as Tala let go of the arm rests breathing heavily through his nose, "You're the one who's afraid of needles, not me."

"I was speaking hypothetically," replied the red haired youth curtly resuming his rotating prowl, his eyes fixed on the rather annoyed looking receptionist with the perfectly pencilled eyebrows who seemed to be yelling down the phone at someone.

"Damn it, who the hell is holding everyone up?"

Tala stalked away to the desk, and stood with his hands on his hips, strategically positioned in absolutely everyone's way.

Kai felt the beginnings of a smile tug at the corners of his lips as he turned his head to look out of the window, Tala really had a gift when it came to sticking by people, he was impossible to remove; he'd followed Kai for almost three years now after their accidental meeting in Russia one memorable night. He had been ready to obliterate the past and the future and Tala had been full of questions how to free it. In truth, combined they were rather like oil and water, they didn't mix. Tala was frank, up front and personal with most of his feelings, when he was pissed off he let you and everyone in a three mile radius know. Kai on the other had had learned long ago to repress outward emotions, his face at the best of times was impassive and unfathomable, it was his eyes that gave away what he was really thinking.

He drummed his fingers impatiently across the arm of the chair, in all legitimacy he didn't really mix with many things, research centres being one of them. His eyes followed a group of white coats as they moved towards the elevator, the sight triggered a reaction somewhere deep in his subconscious. Bubbles of memories broke on the thin membrane of his conscious before settling back down into nothingness once again. Suddenly, as though a dam had been let loose, the flood gates opened into a surging, pounding wave of recollections. Flashes of thoughts intermingling into his mind, sounds, feelings, smells becoming incoherent in multicoloured flash of light- existence itself seemed to slow into a pulsing heart beat causing his head to swim in a thick soup of random thought, as suppressed images and half groping fingers attached to dark malignant limbs ran rampant through his mind.

Kai put his head between his knees and felt himself wretch uncontrollably for a minute or so, breaking into a cold sweat, his right arm throbbing dully in its socket as all the nerves in his shoulder seemed to blaze in a cold fire.

Limbs shaking, he sat up, palms sweaty and his skin damp, dark strands of hair clung to his forehead as he tilted his head back exposing the creamy skin of his neck.

Kai stood, and the world became a mixture of colourful explosions before his eyes, he grit his teeth, blinked his eyes as everything slid achingly slowly back into focus.

"Holy Mary Mother of God!" Tala's voice was coming from somewhere near the receptionist area, "Can't you guy's do anything right?"

Kai ignored it the pumping nausea in his gut as he scanned the room for windows, air, his mind screamed, air I need air. The massive domed complex with its black marble walls had no apparent usable windows, only wide double glazed ones that didn't seem to open. He moved then across the floor towards the elevator, conscious of the eyes on the back of his head, and the whispers of the female employees as they fluttered their clip boards before their faces as he passed and exchanged giggling whispers with their female companions.

The door of the elevator slid shut behind him as he leaned against the curved metal wall, feeling the throb of the cool solid seep into his back. He punched a button on the glowing panel and the contraption shuddered and moaned moving up the narrow shaft like a giant caterpillar.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Kai muttered furiously with his eyes closed as the doors slid cleanly open again on a dark deserted corridor. He stepped out and heard the swish of the metal close fast behind him.

His mind was solidly fixed on one thing only as he moved down the hallway, the slatted light falling from the long thin ceiling lamps above his head as he jammed his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans.

What was he thinking? He wasn't thinking was closer to the truth, an instinctive reaction had forced him out of the reception area, some powerful controlling memory had triggered the primal urge of retreat and escape, a part of him that seemed to be closing in on all sides of this dark domed building.

His feet moved him steadily forwards one pace at a time whilst the dull throbbing in his arm subsided a little. The solitary footsteps echoed through the empty space, the slap and the scuffle of rubber on hard cold stone. Bouncing from the curved walls and flying up through the ceiling, above the guttering lights.

All doors in this section had 'Staff members only' written in bold font against the enamelled wood, mirrored observation windows showing empty darkened rooms lined the corridor on all sides.

A monotonous pain pressed lightly against Kai's temples as the feeling of claustrophobia returned magnified by the domed rounded structure of the walls, his pace quickened a little as the corridor spiralled in on itself, rounded and then widened into a double door stretching onto a balcony. The dark haired youth paused, his hand hovering above the brass oval handle, pulse drumming in his ears- something held him back for a moment. A small voice inside his head that spoke softly and spitefully in his ear with tingling tangent words, 'You broke your promise in coming back here,' it said, his long fingers brushing the coolness of the metal, 'and now I'll make you pay.'

Kai frowned and shook his head trying to wrestle the voice from his mind, it wasn't his fault damn it, he was leaving, he was leaving. He should never have let Tala bully him into this when he was in hospital. Then after a long internal struggle, common sense finally broke through, stifling the knife-like words and his hands gripped the handle firmly and pushed the doors wide open.

The balcony was high railed, laid with concrete with a few potted plants with long trailing creepers dotted at intervals in corners beneath the rail. The railing itself was broad enough to sit on, wrought iron bent into an intricate swirling patterns that curled about themselves, weaving in and out of ovals and loops.

Kai leant his entire torso directly over the rail and looked down at the sheer drop without a stirring of panic in his stomach. The balcony overhung the massive domed complex of the Blitz stadium. The sun's rays hit the roof and arched off into a spectrum of different directions. The intricate passage ways, arenas and connecting hallways were all visible through the dark tinted glass of the walls.

Kai placed his elbows on the ledge and felt himself exhale slowly, his right hand searching in his pocket for a cigarette and then fumbling for his lighter. Tala would kill him for doing this later but right now he didn't really give a damn. The nausea in his stomach subsided as he rolled the butt of the cigarette between his teeth, he flicked the lid of the lighter open in one deft swift movement and the flame illuminated his face as it flickered on the breeze of the wind.

He was older now, dressed in his habitual black, a dark leather jacket, black polar neck jumper, dark parachutes and black and white Nike trainers.

Over the years the shape of his face had become more pronounced, enlightening the high cheek bones with the beautiful drawing eyes and the inviting mouth, the smooth creamy skin devoid as it had been for sometime of the rebellious face paint, his left ear however showed two piercings as if in compensation for this.

There had always been a very romantic air about Kai Hiwatari, an invisible quality, some magnetic attraction that turned the eyes and heads of both male and female. He had always drawn the gazes of passers by as he walked down the street, his whole body moving gracefully, like a dancer, with the broad shoulders and the slender athletic frame, but now the eyes would linger for a longer, the memory imprinted like a burning photo into the minds eye. Some ghostly ethereal quality that seemed to move with him, like a spectre wooing you closer, guiding you in with golden gentle claws, ensnaring you, possessing you to the point of obsession with his face, his lips, his ardent eyes.

The lighter sputtered and wavered in his hand as the flame sprang up licking the base of the cigarette; he cupped his hands to protect the light, his eyes half closed as he took the first drag feeling the smoke curling its way down his throat, coursing through his lungs. He wished at times like these he had never been born, that he had never existed, that he had never known being, he watched the glowing embers of the flame smoulder in the half shadow of the balcony.

There was a muffled movement by the doors and Kai looked up, the lighter tumbled from his hands and skittered across the floor as an icy numbness coursed through his body as he saw the person standing there, and then he knew.

'Ah-hah,' the little voice in his mind said, as he felt every muscle in his body instinctively stiffen into acute defence, his evocative mouth becoming compressed, his lavender eyes becoming hard and his hands clenching ever so slightly into fists.

'I told you you would pay…. didn't I?'

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Tala: Jesus!

Me: What?

Tala: Jesus Christ, why am I swearing so much?

Me: o..0; because you do, it's part of the more…endearing personality I've decided to give you.

Tala: I'm not endearing. That makes me sound cute.

Me: But you are, really, I have so much fun making you run through hoops!

Tala:death glare: I demand a different role!

Me:looks at list of roles: I'm afraid they're all taken unless you want the part of the dancing bear in chapter 9…

Tala: I'm not even going to ask…..

Murray: Hey! Excuse me, official muse here:clears voice importantly: I think you ought to apologise for the ending.

Me:Sweatdrops: Hahah- it's a cliff hanger of sorts is it not? Neh- it's about time I had one, I did mean to tell you who it was in the corridor this chapter, but I decided this ending was better, other wise it got a little…messy.

Murray: Do not deny you like being evil.

Me:grins:

Yes, so, I'm sorry if this one was a bit boring…and again, am I raising too many questions? ;….; you're reviews all mean so much to me, thank you! I want to reply to all of them really I do but they don't let you on this website- anyway, feel free to email me with constructive criticisms, how you think the story's coming, characterisation- descriptions….do you like my descriptions? Or do I use them too much? I'll answer some questions too, (but no spoilers ;P) and I might at some point need a beta, I've got too many drafts I like, and I have such a hard time choosing the final one.

Until then, and again thank you!

Love The Eternity Dragon and Murray

p.s if I get a flame in an email I'm not gonna bother to respond, it's not really worth my time to reply, just so you know, I don't wage war, but I don't tolerate it either.