~Repaint Tomorrow~
=The Past Never Quite Goes Away=
"Heh." The redhead smirked, licking the blood off his lip from his bleeding nose. He was surrounded on all sides by a group of thugs who had insisted that they go outside and "chat". It was no big deal, really. He had no idea that the pretty blonde sitting next to him was already seeing someone, and it wasn't like they were flirting. Well, she was trying to, at least. He noticed this and tried to shut her down as gently as he could without injuring her pride. Still, inevitably, he had fallen into her trap, and he had no one to blame for it but himself.
There were five of them in total, the middle obviously being the leader. There was a scar across his left eye and it was so damaged he could no longer open it. He towered over Elsword, and his hair was short but shaggy. He was also thick-muscled and looked like he could easily lift the younger boy by his head with ease. All in all, he was a hulking beast compared to the lean, agile boy. This was Banthus, and he had more than enough history with Elsword.
Banthus and Elsword were once friends, believe it or not. When the boy ran away from home at age 16, Banthus and his crew took him in for a while and showed him how to survive on his own. They weren't necessarily bikers, to be honest, but they were a closely knit group like bikers were known to be. Elsword wasn't given a code name, however. Everyone normally just called him Elboy or something similar. The common favorite being Elbrat.
It wasn't until shortly after Elsword's 18th birthday and being discovered with Luichel, Banthus' girlfriend at the time, that things turned south. To say Elsword didn't know would not be a total lie. He had his suspicions, but otherwise he really didn't know. Banthus never forgave him for that, and he made a point of pursuing Elsword all over Elrios. Whenever the two met, there were more scars, more bad blood, and one of them never left conscious.
Now 24, Elsword just about had it with Banthus and his crew, but there was nothing he could do to convince the man to leave him alone at this point. It was either kill or be killed, and Elsword wasn't really fond of betting.
"I see you're still sore about what happened in the past." Elsword replied. Banthus stopped laughing and glared at the boy. He seemed almost as weary about this whole thing as Elsword was. The only reason he continued was because it gave him something to do. "Look, I told you I didn't know! If I had, or you just said something I wouldn't have done anything!"
"Yeah yeah..." Banthus replied, waving off the boy's words. "I ain't even mad about that anymore."
"Then why...?" Elsword asked, his eyebrows knitting together in frustration.
"I just don't like the sight of yer ugly mug!" Banthus laughed again. As if on cue, the four others began to advance on him. Elsword sized up the situation carefully. He could probably take down the two smaller guys. They were just grunts, and he knew them pretty well. He'd beaten the teeth out of one of them. The other was fairly new, his code name being Mars. He'd fought him several times in Elder a few months back. They were pretty even in agility, but Elsword had more stamina.
The two taller, thicker muscled ones were the issue. He was the younger twin of the toothless one grinning evilly at Elsword, whose codename was as ironic as it was symbolic. Big Brother and Little Brother were a pretty annoying duo to handle together, but not impossible. The other, Bors, was a bit of a hassle He hit a lot harder than Big Brother, and had more stamina.
"This'll be fun..." Elsword grumbled before bringing his fists up and accepting the fight invitation.
x
Aisha sighed as she sat in class, a soft sound that barely had any weight to it. Her shoulders sagged a little as she stared at the blank canvas. It was something like a ritual for her by now: for a long while after the teacher would give them something to paint, she would stare at the canvas and wait until the lines of the image she wanted to draw appeared. Then she would trace the lines lightly with a pencil, and then fill them in with color. Of course, this also meant she got done only minutes before class, but at the very least, she was told she had an almost graceful way of doing things and that was all Aisha cared about.
Letting her eyes shift out of focus, Aisha raised her hand and began to work.
Aisha didn't notice when people began to flock around her to see what she was painting, nor did she notice when the teacher called them to turn in their paintings. So lost in her own world and in her art was she that when she finally blinked and brought her eyes into focus, she was surprised by what she had drawn. It was a girl who looked similar to Rena, wielding a bow and several arrows stuck into the ground beside her. There were several cuts and bruises all over her body, but she looked determined. The words "Siege" were written below her in Aisha's neat cursive. Even the teacher was speechless for a long while.
"Hello...?" Aisha finally spoke up, internally amused by this reaction. No one moved for a while until Aisha got up to stretch and looked down at her watch. It was a quarter to 3. "Shoot! I gotta go!" She exclaimed, grabbing her jacket and rushing as fast as she could out the door.
When she finally managed to get home, grab her supplies and get to the park, moving the fastest Aisha had ever moved in her life, it was already half past and the boy she met before was nowhere in sight. Aisha sighed and plopped down on the bench, letting the easel and canvas fall from her hands. She chuckled to herself and muttered, "Of course he wouldn't be here. Why would he be?" She frowned and closed her eyes for a minute, grumbling.
The next thing she knew, a hamburger was being shoved into her mouth. Aisha's eyes flew open to glare at the person who would try something like that but froze at the familiar red eyes from before. She blushed slightly and gingerly took the offered food...well, she couldn't relly say it was offered given that it was shoved into her mouth, but you get the point. "Sorry I'm late. Got caught up with some old buddies of mine. Good thing they had money on em too. Why are you such a downer?" The red head said, hopping over the back of the bench and sliding into the seat next to Aisha. The girl didn't say anything, opting to look straight ahead to the lake instead. "Did you think I wouldn't show up?"
"You wouldn't have been the first to stand me up. Let's just leave it at that."
"Madam! You wound me! Why would I not want to see one as beautiful as you?" The redhead spoke, holding the burger to his chest dramatically, spilling ketchup on his vest and cheek. Aisha snickered at the sight but quickly hid her reaction behind a passive face. It ws too late, however. Elsword saw it and grinned. "Well, it's not a laugh or giggle, but that'll do for now." He wiped off the ketchup with a finger and paused, considering what to do with in. Thinking for a minute, he grinned wickedly. "Hey, Aisha?"
"Wha-" Before she could finish her sentence, Elsword shoved his finger in her mouth. Of course, this also means that she bit down rather roughly for his odd and surprising reaction, but Elsword didn't seem to mind in the slightest. Aisha's face was covered in a bright blush, and that's all that mattered. "W-what the hell is wrong with you! Do you go around just putting your finger in people's mouths?"
"...that depends on how exactly you mean that." Elsword replied with a straight face. Aisha stared. "What? I'm not picky about my partner. As long as I have a warm bed to share and someone to cuddle up with, I don't care if they're the hugest flame you ever did see or the quietest girl you hardly ever notice."
"I'll just stick to being peacefully single, thank you very much."
"That bad, huh?" Elsword asked, bending down to pick up and set up Aisha's easel and canvas. He took notice of the colors she chose to bring and smiled faintly. "What were they like?"
"Why are you so curious? It's not like it matters to you."
"But it does to you, so why not ask? If talking bout it helps you move past it, then I'd listen to you a thousand times over until you could smile as naturally as I'm sure you used to." Elsword said, looking over at Aisha with a smile. Aisha blinked slowly, obviously missing how smooth he had just been. Elsword sighed softly and sagged his shoulders. "What I'm trying to say is, it doesn't matter to me, but I know it does to you. You can talk to me about anything you want. Just pretend I'm your roommate or something."
"Oh, so that's what you meant." Aisha said with a shrug. She dragged the easel and supplies over and began to work in silence. Elsword sighed heavily and looked away for a little while. what was with this girl? Normally anyone who heard that someone would listen to their problems would be happy about that. She was just so...passive. Like she didn't believe him or something. He was even more curious to know what happened that she wasn't quite so willing to tell him. He supposed he would just wait until she wanted to talk about it.
After about an hour of uncomfortable silence, Elsword looked at the progress Aisha had made in her painting and blinked at what he saw. Whe was painting him of all people, in the same position he had been sitting in just moments before: one arm in his lap while the other supported his head as he looked boredly forward, searching for something interesting to look at. He had been watching a group of children play for a while before their parents all came to collect them. The colors she used were all muted tones compared to the real thing, but it was still really well done.
"...have you ever tried selling portraits?" Elsword asked finally, earning a half-lidded stare from Aisha. "Don't give me that look, and I know what you're going to say, but you're wrong. You're very good. I mean your style is great, the colors you use match the tone really well and I'm honestly considering buying it off you."
"Do you even have a place to put it?" Aisha asked curiously, trying to hide the slight blush on her face at his compliments.
"Actually, no. But my buddy Raven could take care of it for me until I get a place at least." Elsword said nonchalantly. Aisha threw him a confused look and he explained, "He's married to a florist named Rena? Huge rack, sweet smile but-"
"Extremely explosive temper. I know. She's a friend of mine from high school. I met Raven when she first started dating him and didn't really like him at first." Aisha said. She smiled faintly. "Now I'm never going to hear the end of it once she realizes I know you..." Aisha groaned/. Now it was Elsword's turn to throw her a confused look. "Rena's been trying to set me up on dates for years now, but I always managed to avoid them by playing the 'i'm too busy' card. She won't buy that now once she learns I actually met a guy. Even Eve was teasing me about it and she's never even kissed a guy!"
"Is it really so bad? So you met a guy." Elsword shrugged. "It's clear you don't have any interest, and you don't even know if the guy has an interest in you or is already seeing someone so...?"
"It's not that I have no interest. I just don't want to get hurt like that again." Aisha finally admitted. She sighed heavily. "I met this guy in high school. He was a real jerk and a bit of a genius. Like super genius type. I was just...regular genius when compared to him. He was into computers and science, and I was the painter/artist who wanted to draw him at work but he wouldn't hear of it. So it was really lonely when he would lock himself in his garage and work. When things started getting serious I gave him some rules-simple ones really. Like I didn't want to do anything heavy like making out and the whole intimate touching. We could cuddle and kiss and hold hands, just...nothing beyond that."
Aisha paused, glancing sidelong at Elsword to see if he'd lost interest yet. When she saw that she hadn't, she continued. "Well, things didn't seem to be that much different. He locked himself away some days, other days he would hold me and keep me at his house to watch movies and stuff. He would be really romantic during those times. It was nice. But then I found out he was dating someone else, and when I confronted him about it...well, now you know why I try not to date." Aisha said with a wry smile. Elsword frowned.
"Does he have a name?"
"Oh sure. He's all over the billboards. Name's Add. He's the youngest researcher to receive the Nobel Prize in Bio-mechanics and many other fields." Aisha shrugged. "in fact, he's scheduled to visit Velder here in a day or so apparently. Eve wants to meet him and see if she can get his help on one of her projects." Aisha waved off Elsword's heightened confusion. "All I can do is warn her about my ex. I can't tell her he's bad news or anything like that. That's something she'll have to find out on her own."
"...my, you seem to love your friends just as much as ever." A voice from behind Aisha said. She froze and stiffened at the sound of his voice. "Still uncomfortable around me too, it seems. It's been years since then. May I take a seat?" Aisha glanced back to see the white haired male with a soft smile on his face. He wore what looked like a lab coat over formal clothes, and his hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, away from his face. the odd scar on his face was the first thing Aisha noticed about him, and he noticed this. "It was in a lab accident. lost my left eye as a result. This is mechanical." He pointed to the eye, his smile twisting to a slight scowl.
"I thought you weren't due for another day..." Aisha said finally.
"Officially, yes. but I came early after learning you lived here. I was on my way to your address but stopped to take a break. Lo and behold, I see you and..." He lowered his eyes as he looked at Elsword, giving him an almost menacing look. Elsword grinned and introduced himself, stretching out a hand for Add to shake. The male simply pushed it away with a finger. "Charmed. Are you two...?"
"N-no! I only just met him yesterday. I stopped dating." Aisha said before Elsword could speak up. He remained silent as he watched the scene. Add beamed at that.
"Great! Then what do you say we get tea sometime?" He asked.
"Sorry, I just don't think I'll have the time. Between school, and working at Rena's shop and running errands for Eve-"
"Oh, so you know Eve? I've been hearing a lot of things about her work. Her robots are always so lifelike, I hear." Add cut Aisha off, having grown tired of her excuses already. He wanted to smack the girl for lying to his face, but held back. She had her reasons, he supposed. He reached into his coat pocket and produced a card. He handed it to the girl. "Let her know I'm always looking for an assistant. If she's interested, perhaps we could even work on something together."
Aisha accepted the card, intending to throw it away as soon as she could. Add sighed. "Really...what happened in the past shouldn't affect things as they are now. It's been years since we've even spoken. Let's at least end this meeting on good terms, hm?" Add said. Aisha stared. Frowning, Add shrugged his shoulders in defeat. "Fine, I get the hint. Just...give Eve the card for me please? I'll see you around."
With that, the white haired boy left, gritting his teeth and grumbling under his breath.
"He seems nice." Elsword said after a while. Aisha rolled her eyes. "What happened between you two anyway?"
"He broke my heart, and said some terrible things when we broke up." Aisha answered. She began packing up. "Keep the portrait. I'm gonna head home now."
Before Elsword had a chance to explain that he had nowhere to put it, Aisha was gone, and he sat there, staring at the spot she had been sitting not long ago. Eventually he shrugged, packing up his things as well. "Guess i'll just drop this off with Raven and his wife." He eyed the portrait with a slight grin. "IT's really good though. She pays really good attention to detail."
x
At home, Aisha flopped down on her bed after putting her art supplies away neatly. She was exhausted mentally from having to keep herself from shouting at the boy who she had intended to keep out of her life until the end of time. There seemed to be little hope of that now that he knew where she lived, apparently. She expected he would try coming over now just to see her. IF she knew Add, he was persistent and would do anything he could to get what he wanted. And for the moment, that seemed to be her. She groaned. "Why me...?"
"Did something happen?" Eve asked, concern slipping into her voice as she watched her friend from the doorway. She was lightly dressed again, and her hair was let down from the usual braided buns that were wrapped around her ear muffs. Even those seemed to be gone, Aisha noticed when she looked at the amber eyed girl. She contemplated telling Eve, but then again, she would probably not leave her alone until she had the full details. Even was as bad as Add in that sense. Both were pursuers of things they would probably be better off not knowing. Eve waited patiently for Aisha to respond, and while Aisha was deep in her thoughts, the girl sighed softly. "You know, you'll never get over it if you never talk about it. Better out than in, as they say."
"...you remember that guy I told you about when we first met? The one that broke my heart and we shall never speak of again?" Aisha asked. Eve nodded slowly. "Well, then you're just gonna love this. I met him again today." Aisha grimaced.
"I see. What happened...?"
"I'm not done. He wanted me to give you this." Aisha reached into her pocket and offered Eve the card. Eve took it, and Aisha carefully watched her reaction. Eve's eyes widened, glancing from Aisha to the card. "Yeah. I dated him. He also wants you to be his assistant."
Eve was speechless. As she stared at her friend, Oberon pulled up a chair behind her, gently guiding her to the sear, and Ophelia began lightly fanning her mistress. Eve was in shock for the longest time.
In the time it took for Eve to regain consciousness, Aisha had managed to make a small bowl of noodles and sent Oberon to the store for tea. "I...wow. This is all I ever dreamed of, but also one of the worst things that could ever happen. I mean...if I went to work for him, I'd be betraying you, but if I don't, then I might never be able to complete my project and establish any new codes to build more of my nasod-"
Aisha shrugged. "Go for it. I'm not gonna keep you from your dream just because I hate the guy you admire. I have my art, and at least you'll be having fun. Add's not that bad of a guy, I guess. I just can't get over what he did to me so easily." Aisha replied. Eve was quiet for the rest of the night. She stayed in her room with Oberon and Ophelia and Aisha tried drawing in her sketchbook. She couldn't concentrate for very long, however, since her thoughts kept running back to Add. She had to admit, he was quite handsome now. Perhaps it was the hair-
"Stop it!" Aisha scolded herself, gritting her teeth and looking down at the sketchbook. She hadn't paid attention to what she had been drawing, in truth, but as she took a closer look, it was Aisha, holding a flailing miniature Elsword up by the belt in one hand, and Eve clinging to her other arm, covering her mouth to hide a smile. Aisha grinned at that. It was really cute in a way, but why would she draw Elsword? He wasn't really her type or anything of the sort. NOt that she really had a type. She was done with dating. She didn't like him. Or Add. Not one bit!
Aisha lay down and put her sketchbook away. Perhaps some sleep would clear her head.
x
Meanwhile, in her room, Eve gripped the phone tightly in her hand, threatening to shatter it from the force. Hot tears ran down her face as she struggled to continue the conversation. It was always like this-she could never get a word in edgewise! Why did her father have to do this to her? "-ever since you ran away you've caused us nothing but trouble! Just the other day your mother had another panic attack when she learned that you're still building those damned abominations! Why must you do this to us, Eve? Do you like making us suffer-"
She couldn't take it any longer. With all the control she could muster up to keep her tone level, Eve simply replied, "Goodbye, father. Never call this number again. If you so much as lift a finger to touch any money in my account, I will have Oberon over there to see that you put it all back. Or else."
"You dare threaten-" Eve handed Oberon the phone, and the butler simply crushed it, moving to his mistress's side and wrapping his arms around her. Eve let herself be cuddled by the affectionate butler, smiling faintly and resting her head on his chest. Ophelia eventually joined them, stroking Eve's hair gently, as if Eve were a child. She did not know where she had learned such a thing, but she didn't want to delete it from Ophelia either. It was comforting, and in time, Eve was back to her usual self, placing soft kisses on her servants' foreheads.
"Thank you." She said softly. Oberon nodded vigorously, and Ophelia bowed, as if to hide her embarrassment. "I never liked that man anyway."
Ever since she was little, Eve's father was a constant reminder of the person she never wanted to be like. Although his business was with robotics just as Eve's was, his were not nearly as wonderful and innovative as hers. Their codes were simple to copy and destroy, and they moved as though they were having seizures compared to Eve's. While her father's were either unnecessarily huge or annoying looking, Eve's were lifelike and beautiful. Their movements were fluid and graceful, almost like an elf's. Eve's father could never match up to her. So far had Eve raised the bar that her father could never hope to catch up to her in a million years, and it was often sad to call that man, Wally, her father.
Eve was a genius, like her Dad and she was forced to study at a pace that was far faster than most children her age. She had missed out on much of her childhood because she was always indoors learning trigonometry and calculus, instead of getting into fights with older boys and skipping rocks like she wanted. When it came time for Eve to learn robotics, she hadn't even had her first period, and the concept stuck to her so quickly that she had never learned how to take care of herself or her changing body. It wasn't until Eve had turned 16 that her mother took her from her lessons and taught her the things Eve needed to know in order to take care of herself. Needless to say, Eve was horrified by what she learned, but she was grateful to her mother nonetheless.
at 18 years old, Eve had created her first drones. They were the prototype versions of Moby and Remy, but she loved them all the same. They were great for storing data and protected her from things that would have crushed her or blown up in her face. In time Eve upgraded them into the drones they were today, only new and improved. In fact, they were still technically prototypes, only Eve continued to work on them and improve them with care.
Eve made her living creating her Nasods and performing research. She helped build rockets and drones that would explore planets that humans wouldn't survive on. She had created a device that could generate a black hole, but also emit a field to protect the operators and those around them from it, so that they could study it more closely. That isn't to say that there weren't still accidents, but it wasn't eve's problem anymore.
In time Eve amassed a small fortune doing her own work, and since her only bank account was one given to her by her father, he ultimately had control over how much she spent and what she saved. She soon came to learn that he was sneaking funds from her account and adding them to his if she reached a set amount. Even had become furious then and told her father to stop, but he did not. HE was her daughter after all, and as long as he had her under his roof, she would conform to his rules.
Eve had moved away, in the hopes that her father would learn that she was serious. She hated that he had such a tight grip on her life already, but to learn that he was taking her own money as well was like a slap in the face. One she would not tolerate whatsoever. Eve demanded all the money her father had stolen from her after moving away, but since then, they had been at odds. Not oly had he taken her childhood, but her money, and he had squandered away all the love Eve could ever have for the man. Eve's mother was no better, it seemed, always taking her father's side and never once giving Eve the chance to explain herself. As distraught as her mother had become since Eve's leaving, Eve could hardly find it in her to care anymore.
"Let them keep the money." Eve replied to Oberon and Ophelia. "You are my treasures now, and I have more than enough to live off of. I'll just transfer all the money I have left into my own bank account far enough from my father's reach and begin anew. Now come, let's get your brother finished, shall we?" Eve said to Oberon, smiling softly at his energetic salute. Ophelia curtsied and began collecting tools for her mistress to use, sliding over her computer desk as well. Eve frowned. "I may need to think about creating a voice box for you all as well. You've done so well lately that I think you deserve a reward."
Oberon and Ophelia stopped what they were doing and eyed their creator with wide eyes. Eve giggled. "But first, we need to finish your brother." Eve said. NEedless to say, a lot of work got done that night. By morning, he was nearly complete.