Chapter 6: Indecision
He's aware of the emptiness of the room, and that awareness annoys him.
There's nothing here to look at, nothing to read or do. Perhaps the boxes of costumes and glitter would be of interest for a while, or maybe one could content themselves with looking out the window, but in the end there's nothing here to distract the gaze of the girl on the sofa. Her eyes stay fixed on the outside sky for a while and she'll twiddle her thumbs, but inevitably he feels them trail back to him, even for a second, to watch his fingers as the move across the keys.
The gaze is like the ring of a bell, interrupting his work every few seconds. He pauses, his fingers halting, but swiftly returns to his photo-edit program, feeling ever dejected every time he realizes that the shots he's working on are of the one causing his distraction. He doesn't look back at her, but yet he's staring at her all the same, watching how different effects play up the fantastic color of her hair.
He doesn't know how long they wait in silence like that, but at some point the stillness is broken. Soft footsteps in worn shoes cautiously wander closer, begging for attention, but getting none from the coldness of the shoulder facing her. Almost unconsciously he finds himself squeezing against the wall on his opposite side, thinking about trying to escape and then becoming bitter at the cowardly thought. Despite his rising feeling of some sort of righteousness, he can't bring himself to be the one who meets their gazes.
He can barely see the tan material of her pants in his peripheral vision as she stands right next to him. He scrolls faster with his mouse and clicks through shots, quickly preparing them and adding text before moving to the next one.
"Is that really me?" The voice snaps his rhythm harder than he thought it would. He stops mid-word, his hand going limp, and moves his head slightly sideways, keeping his eyes low and face neutral. Slowly she bends down, looking into his eyes momentarily before glancing over to the laptop screen. He looks over, observing the image.
She's sprawled out across a chair, a sleek digital camera in her hands. Teal tresses topple around her and her smile seems brighter than the sun outside. He blinks and nods rather slowly, trying to discourage the girl without having to speak. Instead she gives the photo a strange look and frowns, gesturing to a few things. "I have a scar there. And there's no way my hair is that long. Photoshop really works wonders, huh?" He doesn't have to see her expression to know the distain it holds, however slight it may be. With a sigh he shrugs and finishes his typing, clicking through to the next one.
She stands there quietly, silently watching his work transform her already pretty image into something so ethereal and unrealistic it seems to disturb her. He hears her shift her position and cross her arms, the fabric of her clothes rustling with the movement. Trying to ignore her he focuses whole-heartedly on the shot, burning through it even faster than usual and clicking on the next one. A finished ad appears; he's done them all.
His hands hover stunned over the keys for a moment, wondering how on earth he managed to fix up an entire album of shots in just one day. Somewhat dazed, he looks through all the images again, making sure he didn't miss one, before attaching the file to an email and sending it off to the marketing department. The window of his browser closes and the default desktop background stares back at him, seemingly asking him to change it but mocking him because it knows he won't. A simple green twirl of lines float amidst a sky blue screen, the Crypton logo glowing in a corner. Keeping it is dull. Changing indicates some sort of personality. Not sure which is a better option, he decides to do nothing, becoming slightly disheartened as he realizes that in doing so he is really taking option one after all.
"So…" the girl mumbles, not seeming affected by his silent attempts at avoiding interaction. "Are you done now?" He makes himself look at her, his expression deadpan, and nods once slowly. She returns the action, seemingly thoughtful, and settles into silence, lips pursed as if confused about something. He watches her, fingers drumming anxiously on the desktop, and mulling over how she would react if he simply got up and went to another room. Although he may be ahead in his work now there is always more to do, more he could do, if not for this distracting visitor that doesn't seem to know the meaning of personal space.
He stands up, the quiet churning in his stomach calming as he regains his usual intimidating height. She only blinks mutely at him for a moment though and doesn't step back to let him move away. Trapped between a desk, a chair, a wall, and a girl, he resigns himself to speaking to her, keeping his words brief and professional. "Excuse me." He glances to the side to indicate the directions she should move. She frowns at him, tilting her head slightly, and proposes a command of her own, ignoring – or not noticing – the apprehensive shifting of his feet.
"I don't know your name," she muses, her mouth remaining slightly agape. He looks away, the roiling within him starting up again, and grits his teeth a moment before responding.
"Why do you need to?" Out of the corner of his eyes she crosses her arms and lifts her head, seeming very self-assured and rather indignant. The photographer inwardly cringes, wanting nothing more than to get away from her as fast as he can. It's bad enough that he has to deal with pictures of her.
She smiles slightly, in a trained and not entirely warm way. "Well we've met twice and I still just refer to you as…" She thinks, her pale eyebrows furrowing. "'You' I suppose." Glancing back up at him she continues and he turns his gaze back. "Doesn't seem very fair."
Not truly understanding her statement he replies, a little cynically, "Do you know the names of any of your other photographers?" The model pouts, her tone of voice taking on an annoyed edge that sends him looking away again.
"No, but I'd only ever meet them once." Silence reigns for a second as he tries to think up a retort for that. Just because they'd seen each other more than once doesn't mean that they ever would again. They're nothing to each other; just two temporary coworkers who don't even have a job to do right now. He is about to tell her such and shoo her away when a manicured hand swiftly darts out and snatches a piece of paper on his desk, bringing it up to her face.
"Kaito Shion," she smiles triumphantly, waving the addressed envelope like a small fan. Kaito stares wide-eyed at her for a moment, his mind teetering on the edge of shock, anger, and something else that he can't quite name. "It's nice to meet you, Kaito."
Lowering his lids back to their usual range he places a hand out in front of him, palm up, fingers slightly curled. "It's a felony to read other people's mail," is all he can mutter as she places the letter back in his grasp and he sets it down a safe distance away. Her eyes follow his movement then flicker back up to his face as if expecting something. He stares back, impassive, daring her to make a move.
After a second of muteness Kaito lowers himself back into his seat, breaking their connection and turning back to his computer. Two clicks resound as he opens up a chess game and quickly sets up a match against the computer, trying to omit the girl from further dealings with him. However, ever determined to thwart his efforts, she moves to look over his shoulder and watches for a while in silence, her breath barely ghosting down the back of his neck. He doesn't turn around to look but he can imagine the expressions she might be making; interest, confusion, boredom, annoyance. Pushing them to the back of his mind he focuses on taking the white team's bishop, reassuring himself that it doesn't really matter what she thinks anyway.
Cornering the king with his rooks and a knight, a glowing 'checkmate' flashes across the screen before showing his score. He allows himself the tiniest of smirks and leans back in his chair, only realizing after his head hits empty space that the model is no longer behind him. With a glance around he finds her near the sofa, picking up her bag and straightening out her shirt. Before he can look away she notices him and grins at his slightly confused expression which he quickly tries to hide.
"I'm heading out," she explains, her voice a little tense underneath it's cheery overlay. Kaito quickly looks back to the screen as if he hand never glanced away rests his hands on the keyboard. A finger or two rises in farewell.
There's a small sound of shuffling as she walks to the door, searching through her purse for something. The sound of the door resounds through the loft but halts halfway through its length.
"My name's Miku." Her voice is a little louder than usual, as if she's trying to make sure he'll hear her correctly. "Miku Hatsune."
"I know," he says simply, his tone unconsciously ticking up as well. Of course he knew. He had to label all those files as something.
A small hum of contentment follows his statement and the door finally swings shut, clicking into place almost musically. Despite himself, Kaito strains his ears to listen as her footsteps disappear down the hallway and into the elevator. When all is silent, he stops typing for a moment and waits, wading through the strange ambivalence of relief and disappointment that washes through him. He taps his fingers, faster and faster, appreciating the distracting noise, until eventually his head slams into the desk and he leaves it there, suddenly too tired to care about the pain.
A/N: I'm back! *woot woot*
Yeah, I was actually back Sunday, but you know...laziness :P
And now my little wall of Marionette inability has been broken! Yes! And the next update is mostly written too!
*Jumps up and down a little*
Though...I don't know what happened to Miku in this chapter. She seems like such a pest. I guess since I'm writing it from Kaito's POV and she's annoying the heck out of him...
Honestly, who just goes around stealing other people's mail?
So anyway, I feel like I have a lot to say. First of all, I don't think I mention enough how much I appreciate all of you. Your reviews and favorites and just knowing that someone is reading just makes me so amazed and proud that I don't even know what to do with myself. I usually just wind up walking around humming really happy songs all day ;). If you have any story ideas, praise, or help for my writing please let me hear it! I would probably never keep writing without all of you! Please continue to support me! I love all of you so much! :D
Also, school is about to start for me so my updates may be a little slower. It's pretty hard to write during the school year. Essays take priority over fics ;A;. From now on I'll be switching back and forth between Before December and Marionette until I finish one.
Oh, and again, if you want me to update faster or just have something to say, leave a review! I'll give you cookies! Or maybe a gift fic if you do it consistently!