Me: Okay, time to get back to work again. I cannot wait till later in the story! I already have interesting plans for this.

Aries: *blushes reading the entire script* You can't be serious.

Me: I am.

Aries: You had better start paying me more before I do any of this!

Me: $10 per word.

Aries: You can afford that?

Me: Maybe. Just get on set, and I'll get my accountant to run the numbers.

Aries: Okay then… You do realize that if anyone else reads this script, they'll demand a raise, right?

Me: Not Sebastian. He's ready to do anything. It's bad enough he's already begun to flirt with Hal waiting for the big scene. I might be out a security guard soon.

Aries: Oh god, the poor man!

Chapter Six

Tommy

I enter the lobby via elevator. I'm not sure what time it is, but given how long it had felt just waiting for the elevator to get to my floor, and then reach the lobby, I'm guessing that it is just about midnight, and seeing as the elevator only ever had one passenger on it, myself, the mysterious sender of the roses is already here in the lobby.

"Hello?" I call it out in a whisper as the elevator doors close behind me. My voice sounds so loud when there is no one else speaking in this room. "I brought a rose. Is anyone here?"

"I see you came, Mr. Willow." The voice doesn't come from any one direction, something that is quite disturbing, but at least it isn't Sebastian's voice; I REALLY do not want to deal with him this late at night.

A familiar golden mask appears on a nearby column, and Thomas Farce peels himself from the structure. He's taken on a bipedal form, barely half my less-than-average height, with gold and grey markings criss-crossing his pitch black skin, a blood red suit on his small body. His face is still covered by the signature golden mask.

"You sent the roses," I ask, though it is more of a statement, since the answer is obvious as this lobby is gold.

He nods slightly, placing his hands behind his back as he looks up at me. "I did. I was hoping I'd get to speak with you in private at some point before the competition starts."

Twisting the stem of the rose between two fingers, careful of the untrimmed thorns, I cross my arms in a casual way. "What would you like to talk about, Thomas?"

"Well, firstly, we can drop formality. Please, call me Tommy. All my friends call me that, and I'd like to try and make friends with you." I nod before he continues. "Secondly, the reason I asked you to come was my brother. I knew I remembered you from somewhere. You were his boyfriend in high school, before he went on to college."

"That's correct, but I am not his boyfriend any more. And I'd rather talk about something as simple as dirt than talk about him. No offense to you, but I don't care for your big brother."

He shrugs, blinking slowly. "I know. It was pretty obvious given how you act whenever he's around. But, here's the thing. I actually need to have this talk with you."

The young giratina reaches into the jacket of his tux, pulling out a small book, of a genre that I immediately have to fight the urge to snatch from his youthful hands. "He was never one for reading casually until he discovered that your friend, Ikuto, was part of the competition. He began reading many novels like this in his free time, in hopes that you'd show up. The chances were slim, but I must say he was just as happy as he was shocked when he saw you were here." He runs his fingers over the pages, flipping them rapidly before tucking the book away again. "I'd like to know what it is about you that makes him act so, out of character."

"Actually, Thoma- er, Tommy, reading was one thing he used to enjoy doing when alone. If he wasn't sleeping, I mean. I'm guessing he just stopped for the longest time."

"And yet it is just when he thinks of seeing you that he picks up on it, and picks up novels of this particular, genre, if I might call it one, as filthy as it is."

I want to laugh so hard when he brushes his hands to make the notion of cleaning them of the book. I can feel the laughter deep in my gut, but I hold it in, only showing a smile. "Well, he can always enjoy the books. If you think it's me making this happen, you'll be wrong. I honestly want nothing to do with him after what happened between us."

"I do recall that. A funeral he was late to, I believe. Father was quite peeved when Sebastian left to attend it, and on that accursed machine of his as well. But I'll never forget what he was like after that." He looks up at me again, the look in his eyes vicious and heart breaking at the same time. "He looked as though he'd been torn to bits from the inside. He didn't eat anything for a good week, and he never talked once except when he accepted our father's demands the moment he came home." He is silent for just a moment, shaking his head. "You ripped his heart out that day, Mr. Willow. If you know what's good for you, please refrain from being too close to my brother, because I have only just recently begun to see him become normal in a sense. I do not wish for him to be hurt and go back to how he was before."

"I plan to try and do just that, because I came here to support my friend, not get involved with your brother. I didn't even know he was going to be here."

"Then we are at an agreement." He turns to the pillar and begins to merge with it once more when a question comes to mind about what Tommy had said.

"Wait." He holds and turns around, only his head away from the pillar. "What were those demands he accepted? The ones your father laid out?"

"Those? I do not recall exactly. If you want to find out, I will allow you to ask my brother. Have a nice night, Mr. Willow." With that, he disappears into the gold of the pillar and I'm left truly alone, with questions springing to mind about the day I dumped Sebastian.

Me: Phew, another chapter done!

Aries: Good to have you back to paying me.

Me: Bah. Shut it. You gotta go rehearse.