Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of the characters
Gold continued to knock on the glass door but the woman he met the previous night continued to gawk at him. He thought about making a little quip to her to see her reaction but he didn't know if she could hear him through the glass door. He hadn't been on earth for centuries but was sure that they couldn't have been different from that time or how they were portrayed on television.
She didn't make a move to let him in and he didn't know if it was a good decision to ask for her help. The only other place he could think of to stay was with Red who trained in the mountains. The last time Gold went with him to the train, he became sore for weeks and since he didn't want a repeat of that so tried once again to get her attention. "Can you let me in now? It's getting kinda cold out here."
Crystal started to panic when he took out his paintbrush and started to paint a key in the sky. The last time he painted something, it became tangible and she didn't want to risk him entering her home even if she was in a craze dream. She rushed forward and held the doorknob so that he wouldn't be able to open the door even if he had a key.
With her free hand, she took out her cell phone to call the police. Gold saw the panic in her eyes and knew that she must've been trying to call someone. He didn't want too many people to know about him and risk people finding about his powers so phased through the glass. She was too shocked to react as he took the phone from her hand and canceled the call.
"Sorry for intruding but I don't want the gods to know about me being here and causing a panic won't help. As a gentleman I wanted to wait for you to open the door before I enter but as an artist I don't want the gods to send me back before I find my muse." Gold explained but she didn't look convinced as she moved to kick him again.
She was shocked when he didn't try to dodge her kick and let her strike his temple. After a moment she eased herself away from him and stood a safe distance from him. He looked amuse as he leaned back against the glass door. Crystal was glad that Lyra left early for her meeting with her publisher and wouldn't be in danger of what that man was capable of.
"Why didn't you block?" Crystal asked hesitantly. It was obvious that he was strong but what worried her more was that his behaviour was far from the norm. On top of that he had the strangest powers that broke all laws of physics. She didn't understand how they worked and a part of her didn't want to know about it and go on in blissful ignorance.
"You seemed angry and you have every right to be. If it helps you can kick me all you want," Gold closed the space between them and reached out to ruffle her hair. He stopped when she stepped away from him and he could read the anger and confusion in her eyes. People were so different than they were a millennium ago when they believed in magic.
"Let's start over. My name's Gold and I'm an artist for the gods." He held out his hand to her but she didn't take it. Who in their right mind would? If he told his story before she saw his power, she would've called him insane. Now she wondered if she was the insane one. "I was just hoping that I can stay here while I look for my muse. I promise that I'll help anyway I can!"
"This isn't a boarding house," She couldn't believe that she was having a conversation with the man instead of rightly kicking him out of her home. He looked perfectly relaxed as he sat on her bed and took out his paintbrush. He said something about finding a muse and painting the stars again but how much could she believe? "Do you really paint the stars?"
"You're wearing them now, aren't you?" He smiled as he glanced at the earrings. While Gold said that they were rushed he considered them more beautiful than any of the works he did of recent. All he ever wanted to do was paint. He knew that was his passion when the gods placed a paintbrush in his hands. All he had to do was find that passion again.
"I promise that I won't stay too long and you won't even notice I'm here. I just need a place to stay while I explore this world a little more. Then I can go back to painting the stars. If I don't then they'll fade away forever." He tried to reason with her and her head came up when he said that the stars she loved could disappear. "I'll grant you any wish-"
"So let's say by some miracle I believe you," She interrupted. "My sister lives with me too and I'm not going to risk her safety. You're going to explain everything about your powers to me so I can make a decision. And if I do let you stay, you're not allowed to use your powers. Do we have an understanding?"
"Man you're serious," Gold sighed. Most of the other painters were laid back and Crystal was different from the other women in his life. He didn't know if that was a good thing but it amused him at least. "Ask me anything you want to."
"What exactly are you and why did you appear in front of me last night?" She asked first though there were a large number of questions she wanted to ask. She deciphered some understanding of his powers through little remarks he made but she didn't understand them fully and doubted that she ever would.
"I'm a painter for the gods and I help creature earth's natural beauty. The gods had more fun playing with you humans than creating something beautiful so they tasked artist with the job. In trade for eternal servitude, we get to create what we love for that eternity. I was tasked with painting the stars with acrylic. There are others besides me but we're scattered around and between the worlds."
"But why did you come to my balcony? If your job is to create stars there is no reason for you to interact with us humans. Why paint me these earrings and scare me like you did last night! Do you know what can happen if people find about your powers? Why risk angering gods by granting wishes?"
"Firstly I'm human too, I just became immortal and given these powers." Gold pointed out. "And like hell I'm going to do everything those old geezers tell me. I'll paint what I want and talk to who I want. I like to grant wishes because I can make people happy with my art. When someone interacts with my art I can feel it here and I'm not going to ignore the feelings of those people."
Gold placed a hand over his heart and she wondered why he had a sad smile on his face. "I'm losing my touch with painting and if I can't paint… I don't know what'll happen to me. I would've painted all those stars for nothing. Can't you just take pity on this lowly painter?"
Crystal was silent for a moment and he was sure that she was going to throw him out of her home and he would have to look for another place to stay. She sighed and touched the earrings he painted. "Not a word about your powers to my sister. You can stay here but if you involve us in any of your strange power, the wraths of the gods will the least of your problems."
"I knew I could rely on you, Super Serious Gal!" Gold jumped up and hugged her. "I promise I'll paint you whatever you wish in return. I'm your wishing star after all."
"My name's Crystal, so don't call me by any nicknames. God, I'm already regretting my decision." She forced herself out of his arms. She thought over things she could tell Lyra to explain Gold's presence. They only had one guestroom and hopefully he was telling the truth when he said that he would be outside the house mostly.
"To becoming roommates," Gold held out his paint brush to her and the gold paint that fell on the floor became marigolds. "Let's be friends!"
Lyra walked leisurely along the riverbank as she did every day. And like every day, she saw that familiar stranger standing on the bridge above her. They never traded a word but she always noticed him by the strange way he always twirled a chalk in his hands. The setting sun shined behind him and his auburn hair seemed to burn like fire. But what always made her stop was how lonely he looked.
She didn't know why he was always there but the author in her couldn't help but make a story for him. In her story he was a mournful man who lost a loved one on that bridge. Lost in despair, he didn't notice anyone around him. Every time she saw him, she thought of another story for him since she knew that he would never actually tell her his story.
For the first time since she saw him, he looked down from the cloudy sky and she jumped back into the shadows of the bridge. His eyes didn't rest on her but the river and she was glad he didn't notice her. He would most likely think she was crazy by the way she was staring at him. She risked another look at him and saw that he was once again staring at the sky but was talking on his phone.
"I should've never gone along with that idiot's plan," Silver groaned. He was talking to his sister, Blue, who told him that Gold was staying at a human's home. What was he thinking being so close to a human? If he revealed his power to a human, the gods would strip him of his power and Gold could die. "I'll drag him back before he can do anything stupid."
After Blue told him the address, he started to climb over the rail so he could fly. He was about to pull his mantle around him to hide himself from humans eyes but before he could he felt two small arms wrap around his waist. Shocked, he looked back to see two fawn eyes plead to him. "Please don't jump! You have so much to live for even if she's not here anymore."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Silver asked. He thought that he was alone on the bridge since not many people used it and he cursed his carelessness because now he had to deal with the woman clinging to him. The woman most likely thought he was going to jump by the way she was trying to pull him away from the edge. "I'll get off the ledge so just let go of me!"
The strength of a human was nothing compared to an artist of the gods but he couldn't fight her. He hadn't interacted with humans in a long while but he couldn't remember them being this persistent towards a stranger. He tried to step off the ledge but stumbled as she continued to pull at him. Too late he realized that they were starting to fall over the ledge.
Swearing, he turned his body so that he was facing the sky. He couldn't fly without revealing his power but he could slow their fall so she wouldn't die. With one arm, he held the woman close to his side so she wouldn't see him draw and with his free hand he started to draw a giant dove with his chalk. He grabbed onto its foot to stop their fall but since his chalk was meant to create animals, the bird started to fade.
Luckily they were already close to the river by the time the dove faded. He took the blunt of their fall and swore as he tried to keep her head above the water despite how she was flailing. If he wasn't immortal human women would be the death of him! He stood and forced her to do the same with an arm around her waist, "You're alive so you can stop screaming now!"
"We're alive?" Silver twitched at how her attitude suddenly changed and she stared down at her body in shock. She touched her beating heart and sighed in relief the sound created. Her cheeks were flushed and he couldn't help but think that she was the strangest woman he ever met. She suddenly hugged him, "And I want you to continue living too. No matter how hard life gets it's worth living."
"You know I wasn't going to jump, right?" He asked her deadpanned and she gave him a skeptical gaze which he couldn't fault. She was a human and couldn't have known that he could fly. He thought of a quick lie, "I saw a woman run beneath the bridge and I thought she could be a stalker or something so I tried to get a better look at her."
The woman flushed red and he knew that she was the one that had been watching her. He had seen her walking along the river a couple times in the past but never spoke to her. Silver never expected to trade a word with her much less their first meeting to be so strange. She was flustered already so pitied her, "I didn't see her before you tried to kill me."
"I was trying to save you!" She puffed her cheeks. How ungrateful was this man?
"Let's just forget about this and go on our way," He took her hand and pulled her out of the river. All Silver wanted to do was get away from the entire situation. She shivered once they were out of the river and he sighed, taking out his chalk. When she wasn't looking, he ran the chalk over the air and drew a warm wind. It was his fault she was wet and he couldn't have her catching a cold.
A warmth surrounded Lyra and she wondered how there could be a warm breeze on an autumn day. She tilted a look at him as he tried to use his phone that was an unfortunate casualty of their fall in the river. "First I can't contact Gold then some crazy girl attacks me and now I can't contact my sister. Can this day get any worse?"
"I'm not crazy!" She grabbed his mantle when he started to walk away. "And I'm really sorry about your phone but I think I can help you. My house isn't far from here and you can use my home phone to call your sister. You'll be able to dry yourself there too! Please let me repay you for all the trouble I caused with this misunderstanding."
"Haven't your mother teach you about stranger safety? You don't know me yet you're inviting me into your home." Silver pointed out and she looked at the floor reminded of all the times her sister chastised her for being so trusting. He saw the disappointment no her face and sighed. "You can repay me by showing me where I can find this address my friend's staying at."
Her eyes widened when he told her the address. "That's my home! Do you know Crystal or something? I'm sure she would've told me if someone was going to come over today. Oh well any friend of Crystal is my friend too! My name's Lyra. What's yours?"
"Silver," He answered with a groan. She must've taken his answer as a sign to lead him to her home since she took his hand and dragged him away. He cursed Gold as he followed her and muttered beneath his breath. "Why do you always drag me into your plans Gold? I better not regret this."
"Lyra should be back by now," Crystal noted worriedly. She kept looking out the window, waiting to see her sister turn around the corner. Her sister liked to take walks to find inspirations for her stories but she was never this late getting him. She had tried to call Lyra but she didn't answer which made Crystal worry all the more.
"Is your sister as serious as you are?" Gold asked as he looked over the photos on Lyra's writing desk. She quickly pulled him away since she didn't want him to read Lyra's work without her permission. He said that he wouldn't be staying at the house for long but he hadn't left to find his muse yet. Was she making the wrong decision by letting him stay?
"You said that you're not going to stay here for long so I don't know if you should bother with getting to know us too well. Just remember the story. You're an old friend from college that's between jobs and you're going to stay here until you find a job."
"I got it," she didn't know if he was actually listening to her since his eyes were focused on the photos. He pulled out a canvas from his mantle and she wondered about the limits to his power since he seemed to pull out an endless amount of art supplies from the cape. He started to sketch an outline for a portrait but the moment he tried to use acrylic, the colours didn't come out as he wanted.
"Man this isn't working," Gold sighed and threw the unfinished painting onto the couch. Crystal picked it up and saw that it was of a two angels separated by the Milky Way. It was beautiful but there was something different about it. When she looked up at the night sky, she felt inspired by its beauty but there seemed to a passion missing from the stars on the canvas.
"Do you know a good place to eat?" He asked her. "I can't really draw on an empty stomach. I'm sure that if I eat some really good it'll become my muse! I haven't had cookies in so long so let's go to the nearest bakery!"
"I didn't think that there was any merit to the phase 'a way to a man's heart is through his stomach'." Crystal had to smile at how his boyish smile lit his face as he reminisced about the treat and the old bakery he visited in the past. "I'll take you to the bakery in town tomorrow but you can't go dress like that. You'll attract too much attention."
"But these are the only clothes I have," Gold lifted his mantle for her to see the plain clothes he was wearing beneath. He could create clothes for himself but an idea appeared in his mind. "How about we go shopping together? You can show me around town and I can interact with more people! Surely one of them can give me some inspiration."
"It'll have to be tomorrow since I have to work at the planetarium tonight." Crystal checked the time and saw that she would have to leave in another hour. She didn't want to leave Gold alone with her sister but she didn't know what would happen if she brought him to her work. She was weighing the options when the door burst open and her sister strolled in.
"Crystal! I bumped into your friend Silver while on my walk." Crystal twitched when the man appeared behind her sister and she knew exactly who he was by the gray mantle he was wearing. It was the same as Gold's and the stranger looked right pass her to him. Lyra noticed Gold too and asked, "Who's this? I didn't know you'll have this many guests."
"This is Gold," Crystal introduced the two with the story they agreed on. She was worried about how quiet the man beside her was since he hadn't say a word since he enter but his eyes were so sharp that it could cut through steel. Gold didn't seem put off but Silver as he easily placed an arm around the man's shoulder and laughed.
"I thought you were too serious to bother with human company but here you are with this little one. Looks like you're becoming more like me and Blue!" Gold said confidently and Silver twitched at the assumption because he knew his friend would never let up from now on. The woman seemed to be a never ending source of trouble. "Are you going to stay with us?"
"I was just checking to see if you're actually working and not goofing off. I have no intention of angering our bosses like you do," Silver muttered careful not to say anything strange in front of two humans. "Blue told me that you were living here. You really need to get a cellphone so we can contact each other easier. Our usual way isn't going to be helpful around humans."
"Don't worry Crystal and I are going to go shopping tomorrow so I'll get everything I need then." Gold said to calm Silver's worries. While his words were harsh, Gold knew that Silver was only worrying about him. Lyra must've been confused about their conversation since she looked at them dumbfounded. "Crystal told me a lot about you Lyra."
While Lyra haven't heard Crystal say a word about Gold, she was sure that he was kind since her trusted him enough to stay in her house. It confused her when he said, "Can you do me a favour Lyra? Look at the clouds, pick out your favourite one and make a wish. I have a feeling that someone will grant your wish if you do."
"I thought that only worked on stars," Lyra tilted her head towards the window. It was late but the moon reflected on the light clouds. She always liked watching the clouds during the day but she never looked at them during the night. "The clouds sure are beautiful tonight though. I don't remember the last time I've seen so many without it turning the sky gray. 'Kay I'll make a wish. I wish-"
"Gold you know better than to play with humans. It's not right when the gods do it and it's not right when you do it." Silver snapped before she could make her wish. While Gold was the first to grant wishes, the others started to do the same after a while. Of course stars were the most popular things to wish upon and that didn't bother him.
"I just want you to have as much fun as me some time. You need to loosen up," Gold patted his shoulder. He always found it ironic that everything from Silver's attitude to his name didn't match the clouds he drew. "Maybe a little down time will help you too Silver."
"If you want you can stay here for dinner," Crystal offered. She had to leave for work soon and Silver was a good scapegoat. From watching their exchange she could tell that he was an artist for the gods but took his job much more seriously than Gold. Hopefully Silver would keep him from involving Lyra. "I need to be going soon but you guys can enjoy yourselves."
"Where are you going?" Gold asked her while Lyra only nodded. Crystal's job required her to work nights and Lyra was used to the lonely nights without company. "If you're taking a walk I'll come with you. It's not safe for a pretty lady to walk around in the dark."
"I'm going to work," Crystal answered quickly since she was slightly flustered at his easy compliment. She was sure he said similar things to other woman and told herself not to look too much into the word. "And my work's not far so you don't need to worry about me. I'll just be charting more stars so you'll be bored if you do come."
"I want to see how other people study my stars. Maybe I'll find inspiration by seeing it through different eyes!" He pleaded and she could see how passionate he became at the mention of his stars. She was conflicted since she didn't want to leave her sister alone with another artist of the gods.
Another part of her reason that Silver would leave once Gold did and Lyra could take care of herself. She also knew the sooner Gold found his muse, the sooner he would go back to painting the stars. The longer he stayed on earth the more likely her stars would fade and the gods would become suspicious. With a sigh, she answered.
"Fine you can come but don't cause too much trouble." Gold smiled impishly at her request and she didn't know if she signed her own star-crossed fate.
To be honest, this isn't going to be very long because I don't want this to be an epic adventure but a small down to earth story with a fantasy twist. I want to talk about art and what it means to me and other issues people might have. The other shippings will appear but I just had fun with SoulSilvershipping.
When this is over I'll probably write Stolen Splendor (I already have the first chapter written since I was in a specialshipping mood at the time :P)