And….I'm back! Yay! Finally, after a long two weeks in Europe, I have returned. And I bring new Drabbles!

These ten Drabbles you're all looking at are of couples I kind of stole. The explanation is this: When searching through the profiles of Gone authors I found some rather interesting/amusing pairings there. I decided to play around with said pairings and, well…you all should know how I am when I start to play around with Gone pairings.

On the plus side there are even Drabbles for you to read, the tenth of which was requested by Miss Rouge Apple. The eleventh is…extraordinarily strange. If you want to know where it came from, read Hyperactive Lioness profile, specifically her random Gone pairings. The eleventh one is from the final one on her profile.

Dedication: To Armygirl0604, LittleMissProngs, and moonray9. You all rock.

Of stone:

Orc is exhausted. He lies in the sand, feeling the pulse of his own heart, eyelids fluttering, and breathing heavy. Orc feels the life slipping away from him, out of the giant, gapping holes in his midriff. Those coyotes had torn him apart, and now he would die. Die alone and cold in the desert…die just like Bette…

No, not yet. It's too soon.

Orc doesn't understand, barely hears, the voice in his mind. The words do not make sense, do not compute.

You will live, boy. You will live to serve me.

Only then does Orc rest. Finally, Orc sleeps.

He never sees the approaching dark shadows. Never sees the first of the stones that grow from his wounds, covering him, healing him.

He never sees the Darkness's promise; his pledge to serve written in blood and stone on the bare earth beneath him.

The birds and the bees:

Andrew lies in bed, staring at the ceiling. Beside him, his lover turns over, unable to rest as well. After a moment Andrew wraps his arms around the person by his side.

"What?" his lover asks, agitated. Andrew shrugs.

"Nothing…just wondering. Worrying."

"About what?"

"Well…what if we did something wrong? What if I got you pregnant?"

"What?" Zil sits up in bed, horrified. "You can't get me pregnant, you dolt! We're both boys! Didn't your mother ever teach you about the birds and the bees?" Andrew blinks.

"Zil, what do birds and bees have to do with anything?" Zil puts his head in his hands and lets out a moan.

"Okay, Andrew, when two people love each other very much…"

Bud light:

"Orc, what the hell are you doing?" Caine glares down at the boy lying on the sidewalk before him. He is clutching a half-filled can of beer and sunning himself. Kids pass by warily, their eyes and heads turned away. They'd heard about Bette; no one wanted to mess with Orc now.

"I'm drinkin'. Ain't it obvious?" Caine sighs, shaking his head.

"Get up, you dumb thug." Orc glares at Caine, stumbling to his feet. For a moment he holds his ground before toppling over, very nearly smashing Caine into the concrete.

"Sorry," the bully mumbles, barely conscious. Caine uses the power to tighten his grip on the thug, and haul him home. He couldn't have murderers sun-bathing in the plaza on his watch, now could he?

Caine drops Orc off at home, almost literally. "Get yourself cleaned up," he says before turning away.

Orc, however, is not finished with Caine. Before Caine can blink Orc grabs hold of his arm. He spins Caine in a circle and then plants a drunken kiss on his lips. Caine pulls back, shocked.

"Later," Orc mumbles. He then proceeds to pass out on his doorstep, leaving Caine standing alone, dumbstruck, and still tasting the sweet flavor of beer on his lips.

Nap time:

"…And so the square root of 178 is actually…" Astrid yawns. Computer Jack has been going on for hours about some new math theorem he'd discovered. Wouldn't shut up about it. Normally, Astrid enjoyed Jack's company. He was one of the only kids in the FAYZ who seemed to be able to follow along with what she was saying; to take an interest in the math and science she loved. But today she is simply too tired and Jack is too loud. She falls asleep.

When Astrid wakes she finds herself curled up on Computer Jack's sofa, Jack himself snuggled up against her. It looked as though he'd fallen asleep himself when giving her an extra blanket. Astrid smiles and strokes his hair. Jack really is one of the most adorable twelve-year-olds she knows.

For the first time in many days both Jack and Astrid sleep peacefully, comforted by the other's warmth and security in a world gone mad.

Do I want to know?:

When roaming the halls of Coates Academy, Sam hears the murmur of voices. He freezes; everyone assumed Coates had been cleared out; all the Coates kids were down in Perdido Beach now. But there were still voices…coming from behind that door.

Sam flings open the door to find the most disturbing scene of his young life.

Caine has his arms wrapped around another boy, Andrew, and is kissing him passionately. Both of their shirts lay, forgotten, on the floor. After a moment the panting boys turn to face an open-mouthed Sam Temple.

"Do I want to know?" Sam asks timidly.

"No," Caine answers, deadpan, "you really don't."

Nodding weakly, Sam departs, hastily closing the door behind him as the boys pick up where they left off.

Run:

"Let me rest. I can't keep this up…let me stop."

"No."

"I can't keep running like this! I'm too tired…too hungry."

"I said, no. Now pick up the pace!" Crack.

"I hate you. I hate you so much."

"No, you don't. If you hated me you would have run away, little birdie. You would have gone and kept on running. But you didn't. And now you're stuck here. Permanently. With me."

"No…"

"Oh, yes. Now run, little birdie. Run for me. Run for me." Crack. "You're not going fast enough!" Crackcrack. "Why aren't you running? Keep at it! Run!" Crackcrackcrack. "Thatta, girl. That's my little breeze, all gusty and full of energy. That's my little runner."

I'm done:

Edilio puts down the back hoe, staring at the fresh grave before him for a moment. He then turns to face Caine, righteous anger displayed clearly on his face.

"That's it, Caine. I'm done. That's the last body I bury, and I mean it." Edilio runs his fingers through his hair. "I can't keep doing this, man. I just can't." Tears well up in his eyes and Caine steps forward, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I know. This is the last one."

But Edilio knows his words are empty. This isn't the last little body he'll have to bury; not even close.

Early:

"Zil? Zil, are you up yet?" Zil groans, turning over in his bed, putting his head under his pillow. It's too early for this; too early for her to be up, annoying him.

"Zil? Zi—ii—lll! C'mon, get up already!" Zil whimpers in bed, holding his head in his hands. God, is he ever loosing it. All he wants to do right now is kill Lisa. Just kill her. Just so she'll shut up and leave him alone. So he can rest for once in his life.

"Can we kill her?" he asks. He sounds like he's begging. "Please?"

"Shh," Drake says, silencing him. "Not yet. But soon. So soon, Zil, she'll be dead."

And these words carry Zil through the remainder of the day. Soon.

Last shift:

"Dude…blue bats?" Duck nods, happy that she is finally getting it.

"Blue bats that could swim." Brittney shakes her head, smiling.

"No way. I've seen some pretty crazy stuff in the FAYZ, but that's not possible. Blue flying, swimming bats? No way." Duck lifts up his chin.

"Alright, then I'll prove it to you. Come down to the beach with me and you can see for yourself." But Brittney shakes her head, her braces flashing in the disco lights of Albert's club.

"I can't, I have the graveyard shift at the Plant tonight." She leans in, so close that Duck can feel her breath on his cheek. "And, if that was a lame line to try and ask me out on a date, it almost worked. Better luck next time."

She pulls away and walks to the exit, walks away to her next shift. Her last shift.

Freak:

Freak.

Murderer.

Killer.

Hang him! Hang the killer!

He isn't human! Kill him!

Orsay shudders as she hears these words. They whisper themselves to her, long after she has crawled away, sobbing, their echoes dying in her mind. Hunter is dreaming again. Dreaming of that day, so long ago, that changed his life forever, made him an outcast. He dreams of this every night; Orsay knows it.

You killed Harry.

Monster!

Orsay sobs. What cruel, awful, things to hear. She can hardly bare it. How does Hunter? How does he bare it each day?

Freak.

She crawls back over to him, loosing herself in the nightmare again. The voices and people are everywhere again, attacking her every sense, filling her body with terror. She reaches out and takes Hunter's hand, intertwining their fingers.

Freak.

They sit out the nightmare together, sobbing some, holding some. And soon the nightmare ends, leaves just as it came, sudden and powerful, lighting bursting from the sky of Hunter's guilt-ridden mind. And the pair fall asleep in each others arms, forgetting for now.

Freak.

At least, until the next nightmare arrives to sweep them away.

Astrid the Guru:

I have no flipping idea why she wants me to write this all down. The events of the last week or so are kind of a blur…Still; I remember pretty well what happened.

Okay, I'm writing it down, now! Are you happy, Astrid? Because I know that, as soon as I put this pencil down, you're going to come up behind me and read it.

Okay, alright, stop yelling! Jeez, it's not like I knew you were reading over my shoulder. I'm writing, I'm writing.

Okay…Sam. Where do I start with that one?

Well, we had a pretty good relationship going for a while there, I must admit. It was fun and wild, and I was about as happy as I get. And then, naturally, something came around to spoil it when a certain blond-haired genius ran off with a certain computer nerd *cough* AstridandJack *cough*.

Ow. You didn't have to hit me so hard with that Webster's'!

Alright, alright, I'm writing.

So then I had a kind-of affair with the Darkness. Yeah, I know what you're asking: How the hell did that happen? He…It…Whatever, doesn't even have a body!

Well, the answer to your question would be that it didn't happen. Not really. A one-night stand doesn't count, right?

Anyway, after the Darkness I had, and I quote, "a brief and unhappy affair with Andrew." Right. Well, I don't consider it to be an 'affair' when you've already broken up with your long-term boyfriend and are technically single. I also didn't consider it 'brief and unhappy.' Ha! More like nonexistent! Andrew didn't have a clue as to what to do with himself. I think he was nervous. Might have something to do with my rather, err, odd-looking appendage…

And now you're saying I'm getting off topic. Jeez, Astrid, give it a rest, will you?

Right, so, back to the point. After 'breaking up with' Andrew I ran into you, Astrid. You told me that you had officially been renamed Cupid and were about to introduce me to the love of my life. I told you to go screw Jack, and you told me to haul ass over to the plaza. So I did.

And, I guess you were kinda right. Not about that true-love crap. Jesus, I'm not in love. At least, not to my knowledge I'm not. God, I hope not.

Okay, okay, I take it back! I'm in love! Now, for the love of god, stop hitting me so hard!

So things with Orc are going pretty well now. Sam and I are at least on friendly terms. Andrew stutters every time he sees me, and the Darkness…Astrid, please don't make me go there. Please?

Thanks. Don't really think it's necessary to get into that issue.

Now that I'm done with this lame-o diary thing, I've gotta run. I'm going to meet Orc at the plaza for a beer and I, Drake Merwin, don't plan on being late.

Wow…was that last one strange or what? Holy crap, I'm getting crazier with every passing day. ;)

Okay, guys, for the next Drabbles! update I'm going to post a real preview of my up-coming (some day) story Snow Angel. Yes, the main character of this story is Drake, and, yes, the main OC of this story happens to be female, but this is not a Drake/OC story. Seriously, it's not. Ice Angel is not his lover, his friend, or his death. You will all understand more when I get around to posting the preview next week.

Until then, adios! Expect a new oneshot sometime soon, and an update of Um, Poof? in the nearby future. R&R, please!