Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters used in this story.
Note: This has implied violence at the end, character death, implied gay sex, and curse words, so don't read it if you can't handle it. The story is just a short little thing that popped into my head one day and as I started to write it down I liked it more and more. Also, the title was actually me misspelling 'Title' because I didn't know what to call it. I decided that I liked this new name enough that I'd let it stay and if you want to know, I pronounce it 'tur-lay.' lol. Enjoy!
Tirle
Walking the line between reality and fantasy is dangerous. One wrong move and you could find yourself stuck on a dull planet without imagination. One misstep and you would be stranded in a dream world with nothing real to grasp onto. Sora was a tightrope walker. The blue eyes viewed both reality and fantasy simultaneously. Sora saw his first nymph sophomore year of high school while in English class. It sprang out of a tree that grew five feet from away from the window and the mythical creature glided through the closed window and landed on the desk in front of Sora. As if to contrast the old gnarled tree, the nymph looked like spring incarnate, bringing a ray of warmth to the cold winter that was underway. The gorgeous creature drew no eyes other than the azure ones in the desk behind her and so she decided to enjoy herself. Sora's teacher, whose name has been long since forgotten, continued to lecture in a tone as mundane as the grey he was wearing. The lecture was on the Shakespearean play The Tempest and Sora hadn't the slightest idea what was happening in the act they were discussing. This was because the teen's ears were drawn to the beautiful song the nymph was singing in an unknown language. Finally deciding on whether or not to talk to her, Sora thought about what to ask. The sophomore chose to ask the simple question as to what her name was.
"It's Miranda," the creature answered. She was balancing on the thin computer monitor at the teacher's desk, when the nymph nimbly leapt from her perch back to the desk in front of her creator. The golden curls followed and a stream of autumn leaves fell from her as she soared across the classroom. A patch of wild flowers sprang up the instant the nymph's feet touched the top of the desk. Sora sat in amazement at his new friend and the two talked for the rest of the class. After the bell rang the creature sprang from the desk and back through the glass and into her tree.
Sora met many nymphs after that but never saw Miranda again. The sublime creatures came and went like the wind and Sora could never remember their names so as an homage to his first imaginary friend he called them all 'Miranda.'
X X X
The grey clouds threatened the campus with a torrential downpour not seen since the Ark. Regardless of rain or shine, Crown University's beauty never wavered. Situated on the beachfront on Destiny Islands, the university housed a wide assortment of tropical flora and fauna. The palm trees swayed gently in the pre-storm winds that came off the seas. Watching the clock anxiously, Sora wondered if he could make it home before the maelstrom started.
"Even if you do, that red-headed roommate of yours will kick you out to get some privacy with his boyfriend," a sparkling voice rang out from across the lecture hall. The nymph sat on a cushion of air, obviously an air nymph, and began singing again, attracting all kinds of small mythical creatures. Sora moved his mind back to the English class he was in and listened to a description of the upcoming paper. Unfortunately, the class let out two minutes too late as Sora stood in the doorway while he watched the water nymphs dance and play in the puddles; their silvery dresses repelling any water that actually touched them.
Sora's umbrella barely protected him from the warm rain on his walk home and the young man silently regretted his cheap nature for deciding on the less expensive umbrella. In the midst of cursing a passing car for splashing him, Sora suddenly noticed the lack of singing and dancing around him. The crystalline irises scanned the surrounding area for any sign of a nymph or other imaginary creature. All he found, however, was a lone figure standing off in the distance. Walking forward with caution in every step, the figure began to take a more definite shape and form.
He stood about five inches taller than Sora and his skin was as pale as the full moon. His tight-fitting, black clothes gave away his apparent muscularity, which Sora enjoyed. The eyes glazed over as they watched the long, silver tendrils whip around as the young man turned to see who was behind him. The instant the azure eyes met the turquoise ones, Sora's train of thought was wrecked as if someone had simply taken that section of track out and sat down to watch the carnage that was sure to ensue.
"There you are," was all the mysterious man said. Sora didn't think anyone would be waiting for him, but after looking at the other student, Sora decided he would play along. What else could the brunette do? Sora thought of at least 14 other options before he caved in and followed the young man. Sora was such a sucker for a pretty face.
"Sorry for making you wait so long," Sora replied, smirking at the sincerity in his voice.
"It's okay, but you'll have to blow me to make up for it."
Sora stood stunned at his new friend's comment. No one knew the brunette was gay except for Axel, and Sora had threatened to slice him open with everything in their dorm, from the rusty scissors to the keys, if the red-head said a word about Sora's preferences.
"Ha, caught ya. Riku's the name. I'm your new boyfriend. You can't say 'no' either, because you know I'm everything you've ever wanted."
"What's going on?" Was the only thing that escaped from Sora's lips.
"I'm in several of your classes and I've noticed that you're gay. Naturally, I just asked you out because I think you're cute, and then you agreed," Riku explained. Sora barely heard any of it though, because he was to intent on watching his boyfriend's perfect lips move.
The two walked back to Sora's dorm and entered to hear Axel and Roxas having fun in the next room over.
"Wanna see if we can join?" Riku questioned slyly.
Sora punched his boyfriend in the arm and turned the television on its loudest setting. The couple sat and chatted while Sora's roommate finished up his business with his boyfriend. When the two finally emerged from the room, Sora was surprised that sun was still up.
"Hey, Sora," Axel said, heading to the fridge.
"Hello, Sora," Roxas said, following suit. Secretly, Roxas would have said 'yes' to any threesome as long as Sora was involved, but Axel was the only one that knew Sora was gay, so Roxas didn't get his hopes up.
"Hey, guys. Did you have fun?"
"Don't we always?" Axel replied with a smirk and received a glare from Roxas.
After Axel had grabbed some food, the two retreated to the bedroom again to watch T.V. together. This left Sora and Riku alone for a while and as the night proceeded, Sora found himself dozing off in Riku's lap.
X X X
Sora awoke panting: his imagination had given him a very clear depiction of what would happen if Axel and Roxas came out to find Sora asleep with another man. Something felt out of place, however, as the blue eyes searched the room for any sign that the red-head or blonde had been there. With a sigh of relief, Sora sat up and turned off the television, before moving to the fridge for breakfast. As soon as he got up though, Sora knew what had felt wrong earlier: Riku was gone.
X X X
The days drifted by like a leaf floating on a stream and the two college students acted more and more like couple with each moment they spent together. Riku came over almost every night and stayed over on the weekends when Axel and Roxas were out partying. Sora never asked about it but the blue eyes had noticed his boyfriend was always gone before dawn. Riku never woke Sora up to say goodbye and Sora didn't stir as Riku let himself out. The night that Sora knew Riku was serious about the relationship was the same night that Sora received his first kiss. Riku had to be up early in the morning and said goodbye to his boyfriend before walking out the front door. Sora felt depressed every time his love left and this instance was no different. Fortunately for Sora, he received a call from his boyfriend not two minutes after their departure asking to meet right outside the dorm. Riku's excuse was that he forgot something, but Sora didn't care because he got to see his Riku for a couple minutes longer. The college sophomore ran up to his boyfriend and immediately noticed the look in the turquoise eyes.
"What's the matter?" Sora inquired with a hint of suspicion that he had done something wrong.
"I told you I forgot something," Riku replied. With a swift movement of his arm, the taller boy grabbed his younger boyfriend and kissed him on the lips. Sora's mind went completely blank and he couldn't imagine one single thing while in the wonderful embrace with Riku.
"Have a wonderful night, Sora," Riku whispered as he let his boyfriend go. Sora almost fell on his face, but remembered how to hold himself up with his legs. The azure orbs watched Riku disappear into the darkness and somehow Sora found himself back in his room and ready for bed.
X X X
More time passed and midterms were approaching quickly. Sora studied with Riku whenever he got the chance and when Axel wasn't home the two would make a game of it, striping when the other got a correct answer. While looking at an old chemistry quiz on the Wednesday before midterms started, Riku decided to change the conversation.
"You know we can be together forever, if you wanted," Riku said, picking every word as carefully as he could.
"Gay marriage is illegal, Riku. You know that."
"Well, that's true, but not the point."
Sora's questioning face told Riku that he needed to clarify more, but the older of the two decided to leave that for another time. Riku packed his things and left just before Axel walked in with a bag of groceries.
"Someone's been studying hard! Can I cheat off of you next week?" Axel joked after noticing papers strewn across the coffee table.
"No, but you can use my notes if you want," Sora replied with a smirk, helping Axel stock the fridge.
The two sat down on the couch and while Sora watched the latest blitzball match, Axel perused the notes on the table in front of him.
"Are these all yours, Sora? The handwriting isn't the same on all of them," Axel commented during a commercial break.
"Oh, Riku must have left some of his notes here," Sora clarified.
"Riku?"
"A friend of mine. He's in several of my classes and we've been studying together all week."
"Is he cute? Have I seen him?"
"He's very cute, and I've had him over a lot, I'm sure you've seen him at some point or another."
"You've had him over here? I've never seen anyone with you."
"Well, you were probably too enthralled with Roxas's ass so don't worry about it."
"How many times a week does he come over?"
"I don't know. Five out of seven?"
"How have I not seen this boy?" Axel asked, more to himself than to his roommate.
"I don't know. You've been with Roxas a lot so that's probably what it was. Don't worry about it," Sora reaffirmed. Unfortunately, Sora was more worried about it than he let on. Finally, deciding that it wouldn't be resolved by night's end, the two watched the end of the blitzball match and headed to bed.
Sora awoke with sweat running down his face and looked at the clock. The dream where Riku left him for another man was recurring more and more with each passing week. Sora calmed himself down and looked out the window to the sea. The moon sparkled on the waves that crashed against the shore.
"Where are all of the sea nymphs? They love to sing and play in the moonlight," Sora questioned quietly to himself. Brushing the thought off, the young man concentrated on the sound each wave made and drifted back into silent slumber.
X X X
The morning sun broke Sora's sleep the next day and the azure eyes searched the room for any sign of his roommate or any other uninvited guest. With the dorm to himself, Sora walked to the kitchen to have a bowl of cereal, and sat down on the couch to eat and watch television. Thursdays were amazing because Sora didn't have class until one-thirty in the afternoon and Axel was also gone most of the day. To top it off Sora's one-thirty class was with Riku. Sora placed his empty bowl on the coffee table and picked up some of the notes left from the previous night's studying. After looking at the notes, Sora picked up the rest and squared them up, making them look nice and neat for when he would give them to his boyfriend. Sora's eyes caught one sentence from his English class as he placed the papers back on the table, "Love conquers all." The young man smiled, but felt uneasy about the quote at the same time. The azure orbs scanned over what was wrong with the notes, until they noticed the problem. The notes were in Riku's handwriting.
"But Riku's not in an English class this semester," Sora said to himself quietly. The cogs in Sora's head slowly began to turn and as Sora looked at the rest of the notes, and after noticing that the holes in Sora's notes corresponded with Riku's notes the young man understood what was wrong.
X X X
"Hey, Roxy, you'd better hurry up if you wanna get any of the leftover chicken!"
"You'd better save some for me, Axel, or it's no sex for a month!"
Axel opened the front door just as Roxas jumped on his back. The two crashed onto the couch and wrestled for a bit. Before long, things began to become a little hot, and the couple started to remove their clothes.
"But what if Sora comes in?" Roxas questioned.
"Okay, we'll move to the bedroom. You go on ahead, though, I'm gonna heat up that chicken for us for later."
"Sure," Roxas replied as he moved to the bed room.
Axel had no sooner pulled out the chicken than dropped it on the floor, watching the ceramic plate shatter across the tile floor. Axel hadn't done this without cause, however, because the moment Axel had picked up the chicken Roxas had screamed, "HOLY FUCK! GET THE FUCK IN HERE AXEL!"
Axel grumbled over the broken plate and the chicken lying on the floor.
"Well, what he doesn't know won't hurt him," Axel said as he picked up the chicken and threw it onto a new plate. The red-head ambled to the bedroom, and was about to ask what the blonde was screaming bloody murder about when he opened the door.
The blue mountains and valleys and the grey cement sky made a nice scene for the strangely shaded river. The river glided from its pale gushing source through twists and turns. It divided in some places and pooled in others, before it reached the edge of the small, oddly colored world and fell in a gorgeous waterfall to its pool on the tile floor.
X X X
A pair of flashing lights faded into the distance as Roxas and Axel sat in tears on the doorstep to the dorm. The policemen surrounding them had already deemed the case closed, due to the evidence clutched in the red-head's hands, but stayed for moral support until further professional help could provide the boy's with the ultimate closure they needed. Axel read over the handwritten, tear-drenched letter once more just to prove it wasn't a dream:
Dear Axel,
I'm sorry it had to be this way. You deserve better than this. But unfortunately, I can't do any better with what I've got, and I need to do this. My life is a sham; a fantasy that will never be complete. I'm glad I knew you; you were my best and only friend. Don't cry over me, I'm not real, I'm just a nobody. And never forget that you have Roxas to help you through this. In all, I did this for me. I couldn't stand being apart from Riku and now I'll have him to myself in eternity. I love you like a brother and I hope you have a wonderful life.
Love,
Sora
The police had confirmed to Axel what he already knew. Sora was dead. Self-inflicted lacerations to the wrists; he died from blood loss, and heart failure from long term cardio-myopathy. In other words: Sora died from a broken heart. They also confirmed what Axel had figured out from the note, but the police had to use the university's registration records to discover the facts for themselves. Riku had never been over to Sora and Axel's dorm. Riku wasn't in any of the same classes as Sora either. Riku didn't even go to Crown University. And all of this was because Riku simply didn't exist.
The End.
XXX
A/N: Well, I know it was probably a lot crappier than I thought it was but whatever. I enjoyed it and that's all that matters :D Please review and I swear I'll have another chapter of Clay up before Valentine's Day!!!! hopefully...
~Roxas