The Sound Of Someone Promising They'll Never Go.
A trail of smoke slowly flitted up to the room, the smoker staring blankly into space, his expression unusual. Staring at the little creature scampering about, he frowned, the cigarette moving with his mouth. Such an annoying little thing, he thought to himself, spinning in his chair absentmindedly.
He stopped mid-spin, rolling closer to the creature, only to have it skitter a safe distance away before resuming it's odd little dance. He frowned again. "Get away," He commanded, his eyebrows knitted in frustration.
But the little creature continued to dance.
The man grinned, cocking his head like a dog. "Stubborn, are we?" He asked, seemingly to himself. A hysteric laughter fluttered out of him, as he spun and kicked merrily. He leaned forward, dragging the chair back at a length short of its flexibility. His eyes were narrowed and his lips in a firm line as he gazed at the creature. "Damn you," he muttered, glaring.
But upon staring at the creature, he recognized the dance he was dancing, and the tune he was dancing to. For it was one he knew only too well.
Leaning his head back, a dry chuckle escaped his lips as his head rolled. Yes, this tune. The tune he had been desiring yet flinching away from. The one that called him every second he was awake and asleep.
The tune of insanity.
The dance, he wanted to dance. It was a dance he was learning, one he'd soon master. For we all danced this once in our lives, or we would soon succumb to it. A dance we would never fully escape. Yes, this dance. The dance that had left him like this. Madness.
He furrowed his eyebrows again, watching the little creature flail about with madness, his need to learn it growing stronger every passing second.
He wanted it. He needed to know where it came from. Now.
He stiffened up visibly. He'd find it, he'd find where this came from, where this creature learned it, and learn it himself. Yes, yes. He grinned. That's what he would do. He'd find this dance and this tune, for himself. Nodding, he made a resolve to find it. He'd find it. Oh, that he would.
The door slammed open, and a golden haired woman stepped in, scanning the room with her one good eye. As it landed upon the madness-induced man, she smiled.
'Why is she smiling?' He thought, confused. There was nothing to smile about.
"Stein, there you are. Still not at Shibusen, are we?" She sighed, shaking her head as her golden locks fluttered about her, and set the heavy bag on the metal table. It made quite an impressive sound of weight. Turning back to him, she wiped her hands and smiled at him once more.
At that moment, all previous thoughts were gone, and he found himself floating between what sanity he had left, and what the rest had gone to. A frustrated look on his face, he wondered upon why he had thought those insane thoughts. Such a fitting word, he thought. Insane. It was what he coming to anyway, wasn't it?
As the woman sat down on the couch in the room, she sighed contentedly, and placed both hands on the side of her. "So, what were you thinking about? You had a pretty odd look on your face," She asked, only knowing too well what was going on.
"I thought of leaving," He responded bluntly. No use lying to her, he decided. She knows too much to be kept at bay with those flimsy lies.
If he thought those words would distress her, he was wrong. "Ah," she remarked, the smile coming to her face again.
Now he was truly confused. Why smile of that? She was supposed to keep the man from those thoughts, was she not?
As if knowing what he thought, she spoke up. "I'm glad you didn't leave," She explained to him, her one good eye glittering a beautiful amber. "Then I'd have failed you, and the others." Her smile faltered a bit at those words, but came back after a few seconds.
"But I'd never leave you. Ever. Not only because it's my job, but because I don't want to. You hear me? I care for you, Stein. I won't let you crumble under this. Not under my watch," She told him sternly, determination crossing her face.
He has no words to offer, or to say. He simply stays quiet, amazed at the woman's determination for this, and how her heart was set.
Slowly, he smiles himself. A new sound comes to his ears, a soft humming. He relaxes into it, letting it carry him into a deep peace.
Maybe he won't go after all.