The Tomorrow Series Fanfiction: Who Will Lead Us? - Chapter 3
This is the third chapter in a fanfiction of The Tomorrow Series by theun4givables. This chapter is NSFW.
Chapter 1, Chapter 2
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Mari blinked uncomfortably at all the cameras going off in front of the funeral home. Of course, the media would be all over Emperor King's death. While she hadn't been close to him like Savin had, she didn't think it was appropriate for cameras to go inside a funeral home. She watched as Savin, followed by his friend Jazz, strode up to a gaggle of reporters and told them off.
Once inside the home, Mari sat down beside Savin, who actually got up rather quickly to go talk to his friend. With a puzzled expression on her face, she observed her husband as he appeared to give Jazz some sort of pep talk, even squeezing his shoulder encouragingly. The two of them stood awfully close to one another, but maybe that was just the angle Mari watched from? She couldn't blame the odd, meaningful looks on any sort of angle, though.
Savin sat back down beside Mari as Jazz walked up to the podium to give a speech. His attention focused entirely on Jazz; he barely seemed to notice Mari was there. She understood her husband was grieving, but something felt off to her. As Jazz's speech began, she observed Savin, trying to figure out just what bothered her so badly. It really wasn't the time or place to focus on strange ghosts of feelings that had nothing to do with the man being mourned, but Mari couldn't help herself.
She saw how Savin's eyes filled with tears as Jazz spoke. His focus on his friend was so intense, Mari was taken aback. Her husband's hands shook, which she knew happened when he was particularly distressed. Mari's stomach twisted. She felt a little sick watching Savin be so upset over Jazz's speech. Mari didn't think he had been so close to Emperor King to warrant such a reaction. In truth, she didn't know if Savin's focus on and distress over a friend was normal, though she tried to tell herself it was. Unfortunately, she couldn't quite convince herself of this.
When Jazz finished his speech, Savin's behavior returned to something closer to what she expected, though Mari simply couldn't shake off the sense of wrongness that had fallen upon her. The rest of the funeral passed in a relatively uneventful manner, until they went to the cemetery.
“I'm sorry,” Mari whispered after they had arrived. She didn't know what else to say.
Savin sighed. “I - I still wish I could have done something.”
“You did everything you could,” she said.
He looked over to where Jazz was standing, the tears in the younger man's eyes visible even from where Mari stood. “I can't stand seeing him like this,” Savin muttered.
Again, he showed such unusual concern for Jazz. It was like her husband cared more for his friend's feelings than his own. Mari looked at Savin, feeling puzzled and sick a with nagging worry that wouldn't let her go. While she knew she ought to try and be supportive of Savin, which meant being supportive of his friend, nebulous suspicion dogged her.
Mari reached to put an arm around her husband, but he pulled away. Savin murmured, “I have to go check on Jazz, okay?”
Before Mari could protest, he left her standing alone. She watched him approach Jazz and put his arm around the younger man. People often needed or wanted physical comfort when their close friends died. Mari knew as much, but Savin - his arm lingered as he just stood there, holding Jazz. They were too close, too intimate, from what she could observe. Ordinary friends didn't lean their heads against their friend's shoulders like that, did they?
Jazz and Savin were acting like - like they were lovers.
* * *
Throughout the whole trip home, Mari said nothing to Savin. Worry about what she saw at Emperor King's funeral ate at her, and she wasn't sure how much longer she could contain it. Mari knew perfectly well now wasn't the time to ask about it, as Savin's friend had just died. That didn't mean she would be able to control herself, though.
She trembled as Savin opened the door to their apartment. Her husband acted like Mari barely existed. He'd been acting that way for some time, when she thought about it. Stomach churning, she followed Savin inside. Mari took several deep breaths, trying to keep her feelings under control. The breathing wasn't helping.
After they put away their coats, Mari leaned against the wall in the living room. She avoided Savin's eyes. He, surprisingly enough, noticed she was acting oddly.
“Are you okay?” Savin asked.
“Oh, you're actually going to notice me now?” she hissed.
His eyes hardened. “And what do you mean by that? Now isn't the time.”
Mari knew now wasn't the time. She didn't care anymore. “It's like I don't exist to you. We haven't slept together in at least a month.”
Savin looked incredulous. “You're seriously going to complain about our sex life? Ryin just died.”
“And you spent an awful lot of time comforting his friend, didn't you?” Mari spat. She crossed her arms over her chest, her whole body shaking with anger.
“Just what are you implying?” he asked, eyes flashing as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
She glared at him. “Even you aren't that dense. I think you can figure out what I mean.”
“All I know for sure is that you're acting angry for no good reason,” he muttered.
Mari snorted derisively. “Don't try to bullshit me, Savin. You know what I'm talking about.”
He sighed. “No, I don't know what you're talking about, Mari. You need to explain it to me.”
She laughed, a hard, bitter sound. “I actually need to explain? Are you being stupid on purpose?”
“Would it kill you to just explain yourself?” he snapped.
"You're cheating on me with Jazz, aren't you?" Mari asked, looking Savin directly in the eye.
Savin's eyes grew wide, his mouth dropping open. Mari's heart sank into her stomach as Savin then clenched his jaw and looked away. "No, of course not," he muttered, avoiding her eyes the whole time. His voice became more subdued, quiet, compared to the anger it held moments before.
Her husband's reaction told her everything she needed to know. Mari's eyes stung, and she hugged herself even tighter. “You are having an affair with Jazz, aren't you? Savin, you're a terrible liar.”
He still didn't look her in the eye. “Do you really want to know the answer to that?” Mari could barely hear him.
“I don't want you to lie to me,” she said.
“Yes.” Savin started walking away.
Mari let him go, sinking to the ground as the tears fell down her face.
* * *
Jazz sat next to Savin on the couch in his apartment, trying not to let his anxiety get the better of him. That meeting with Mitchel ran through his mind, over and over. He bit his lip and looked away from Savin.
“What's wrong, Jazz?” Savin asked.
Still looking away from the older man, Jazz said, “That meeting with Mitchel. I - I can't stop thinking about what he said.”
Savin sighed. “We don't know that he'll be able to get the Natural Born laws reinstated.”
“What if he does, though? There's no way I can pass. I'll - have to run again.” Jazz could barely get the words out. He didn't want to go through that again.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jazz saw Savin push his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
“We have to convince the Council to stop Mitchel, so it doesn't come to that,” Savin murmured.
Jazz scoffed, “You really think they'll listen to us after what Mitchel implied about our relationship?”
Savin sighed. “I guess now is a bad time to tell you Mari found out about us, right?”
His jaw dropped and his stomach twisted. "What? Mari knows? If she knows, then Mitchel either has to know or at least suspect."
“He - he probably does,” Savin admitted.
Jazz gulped. “We're - Mitchel could make us vote on it in today's Council meeting. In less than an hour. If - if it goes through, I'll be fucking arrested. Everyone knows I'm an NB.”
“Don't you think you're getting ahead of yourself?” he asked.
Only then did Jazz look at Savin. His eyes stung. “I can't stay here. Can't - can't risk it.” He didn't want to do this, not at all, but Jazz had to go on the run, yet again.
Savin's hands shook. “You want to go on the run again? But what about us?”
“There can't be an 'us' anymore, not with the NB laws. They're gonna go through, and yeah it just won't work,” Jazz whimpered.
There was a terrible silence as Savin looked back at him, clearly struggling to take in what he said.
Jazz bit his lip so hard it hurt. “I - I love you, Savin. I don't want to fucking do this, but I - need to. If I don't wanna, you know, die.”
“I love you, too,” he murmured. Savin reached for Jazz, pulling him closer and embracing him.
Jazz embraced his lover in turn. He could feel Savin's hands shaking against his body.
“I - I don't want you to go.” Savin's voice cracked as he spoke.
“You think I want to leave? I never wanted to be on the run again, but I'm not gonna let myself be killed, either,” Jazz insisted.
He pulled back enough to look at Savin, still not letting go of him. Jazz could see tears in the other man's eyes. Impulsively, he leaned in and kissed Savin. He wanted to hold onto his life, and his lover, for as long as he could.
Savin returned the kiss, and Jazz felt the other man's hands stop shaking as Savin deepened it. Jazz tightened his arms around his lover. His heart raced; there wasn't any time, but he - he couldn't just let Savin go.
His lover couldn't let him go, either. Savin's hand slipped under Jazz's shirt, sending shivers up his spine. Jazz deepened the kiss further and slipped his own hand under Savin's shirt. His body flushed with both desperation and desire.
When Savin broke the kiss and pulled off his shirt, Jazz offered no resistance, feeling eager and anxious. He looked into his lover's eyes as Savin pushed him down onto the couch. Jazz let out a soft moan when Savin started kissing down his neck. He felt an ache building between his legs, strong and powerful and overwhelming for the little time they had.
Savin murmured, “I wish I had time to make you beg.” His voice was already strained, though Jazz couldn't tell if that was from arousal or distress or both. Even so, Jazz had to chuckle at his words.
He said, “Of course you do, Savin.” But there just wasn't time.
Jazz pulled off Savin's shirt, that ache of his getting worse and worse by the second. He then scrambled to take off his pants as Savin did the same with his own. Everything was a race against the clock, a race to get in that last bit of closeness before it was all over.
It wasn't fair. Jazz tried not to think about that unfairness as Savin positioned himself between his legs.
“Are you ready?” Savin asked.
Jazz nodded, not being capable of words. He was ready for this, sure, but he was nowhere near ready to leave. The thought of going on the run again made his stomach sink, so he did the best he could to push it out of his mind, if only for a moment. He looked into Savin's eyes, trying to burn them into his memory.
“Take off your glasses,” Jazz gasped. “I - I want to see your eyes better.”
Savin smirked. “But then I can't see your eyes very well.”
Jazz had to chuckle at that. When Savin pushed inside him, he cried out. Never once did he take his eyes off of Savin's own. Jazz reached his arms around his lover and pulled him closer. He wanted to remember everything, how Savin looked, how he felt. The memories had to last, as they were all he would have.
As Savin thrust, Jazz felt that ache of his building and building. The tension was almost unbearable. Jazz managed to put everything else out of his mind, concentrating on the painfully fleeting here and now. Warmth and pleasure filled his body as he looked into his lover's eyes.
He ran his hands all along Savin's body, imprinting the feel of it into his skin. Jazz needed the weight of it against his own body, needing to absorb as much as he could in the short time they had. Leaning up, he pulled Savin in to kiss him, needing the feel of his lips as well. All of it, he needed all of it.
It wasn't enough; it never would be. Jazz came, crying out as he tensed and released. Moments later, Savin came himself; Jazz could feel it happen. The look of bliss on his lover's face quickly turned to one of sadness and anxiety as he slipped out of Jazz, who was sure he wore a similar expression.
The reality of the situation returned to the forefront of Jazz's consciousness. He scrambled to put his clothes back on. “I've gotta go, now.”
Savin looked at him with such sadness. “I - I love you, Jazz.”
“I love you, too,” Jazz said.
Before he could start throwing stuff into his backpack, Savin pulled him into a tight embrace and whispered, “You can't go, not yet. It's too soon.”
Jazz's desire to stay physically hurt. “I have to go. And you do, too. You can't be late to Mitchel's fucking meeting.”
Slowly, Savin let him go. Jazz rushed to put everything into his backpack. It didn't take him long; Jazz wasn't bringing much. Last of all, he grabbed his cap, the last reminder he had of Ryin.
Savin remained where he was on the couch, seemingly unable to leave. Jazz leaned over and kissed him, quickly. He didn't allow the older man to deepen the kiss at all. If he did, Jazz would never leave.
Jazz exited his apartment with a sinking stomach and a heavy heart.
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written for the hc_bingo prompt "Job-Related Trauma" & writerverse Table of Doom - Table Alpha #2. Kiss & Tell, and #19. Emotion: Longing
Chapter 1, Chapter 2
---------
Mari blinked uncomfortably at all the cameras going off in front of the funeral home. Of course, the media would be all over Emperor King's death. While she hadn't been close to him like Savin had, she didn't think it was appropriate for cameras to go inside a funeral home. She watched as Savin, followed by his friend Jazz, strode up to a gaggle of reporters and told them off.
Once inside the home, Mari sat down beside Savin, who actually got up rather quickly to go talk to his friend. With a puzzled expression on her face, she observed her husband as he appeared to give Jazz some sort of pep talk, even squeezing his shoulder encouragingly. The two of them stood awfully close to one another, but maybe that was just the angle Mari watched from? She couldn't blame the odd, meaningful looks on any sort of angle, though.
Savin sat back down beside Mari as Jazz walked up to the podium to give a speech. His attention focused entirely on Jazz; he barely seemed to notice Mari was there. She understood her husband was grieving, but something felt off to her. As Jazz's speech began, she observed Savin, trying to figure out just what bothered her so badly. It really wasn't the time or place to focus on strange ghosts of feelings that had nothing to do with the man being mourned, but Mari couldn't help herself.
She saw how Savin's eyes filled with tears as Jazz spoke. His focus on his friend was so intense, Mari was taken aback. Her husband's hands shook, which she knew happened when he was particularly distressed. Mari's stomach twisted. She felt a little sick watching Savin be so upset over Jazz's speech. Mari didn't think he had been so close to Emperor King to warrant such a reaction. In truth, she didn't know if Savin's focus on and distress over a friend was normal, though she tried to tell herself it was. Unfortunately, she couldn't quite convince herself of this.
When Jazz finished his speech, Savin's behavior returned to something closer to what she expected, though Mari simply couldn't shake off the sense of wrongness that had fallen upon her. The rest of the funeral passed in a relatively uneventful manner, until they went to the cemetery.
“I'm sorry,” Mari whispered after they had arrived. She didn't know what else to say.
Savin sighed. “I - I still wish I could have done something.”
“You did everything you could,” she said.
He looked over to where Jazz was standing, the tears in the younger man's eyes visible even from where Mari stood. “I can't stand seeing him like this,” Savin muttered.
Again, he showed such unusual concern for Jazz. It was like her husband cared more for his friend's feelings than his own. Mari looked at Savin, feeling puzzled and sick a with nagging worry that wouldn't let her go. While she knew she ought to try and be supportive of Savin, which meant being supportive of his friend, nebulous suspicion dogged her.
Mari reached to put an arm around her husband, but he pulled away. Savin murmured, “I have to go check on Jazz, okay?”
Before Mari could protest, he left her standing alone. She watched him approach Jazz and put his arm around the younger man. People often needed or wanted physical comfort when their close friends died. Mari knew as much, but Savin - his arm lingered as he just stood there, holding Jazz. They were too close, too intimate, from what she could observe. Ordinary friends didn't lean their heads against their friend's shoulders like that, did they?
Jazz and Savin were acting like - like they were lovers.
* * *
Throughout the whole trip home, Mari said nothing to Savin. Worry about what she saw at Emperor King's funeral ate at her, and she wasn't sure how much longer she could contain it. Mari knew perfectly well now wasn't the time to ask about it, as Savin's friend had just died. That didn't mean she would be able to control herself, though.
She trembled as Savin opened the door to their apartment. Her husband acted like Mari barely existed. He'd been acting that way for some time, when she thought about it. Stomach churning, she followed Savin inside. Mari took several deep breaths, trying to keep her feelings under control. The breathing wasn't helping.
After they put away their coats, Mari leaned against the wall in the living room. She avoided Savin's eyes. He, surprisingly enough, noticed she was acting oddly.
“Are you okay?” Savin asked.
“Oh, you're actually going to notice me now?” she hissed.
His eyes hardened. “And what do you mean by that? Now isn't the time.”
Mari knew now wasn't the time. She didn't care anymore. “It's like I don't exist to you. We haven't slept together in at least a month.”
Savin looked incredulous. “You're seriously going to complain about our sex life? Ryin just died.”
“And you spent an awful lot of time comforting his friend, didn't you?” Mari spat. She crossed her arms over her chest, her whole body shaking with anger.
“Just what are you implying?” he asked, eyes flashing as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
She glared at him. “Even you aren't that dense. I think you can figure out what I mean.”
“All I know for sure is that you're acting angry for no good reason,” he muttered.
Mari snorted derisively. “Don't try to bullshit me, Savin. You know what I'm talking about.”
He sighed. “No, I don't know what you're talking about, Mari. You need to explain it to me.”
She laughed, a hard, bitter sound. “I actually need to explain? Are you being stupid on purpose?”
“Would it kill you to just explain yourself?” he snapped.
"You're cheating on me with Jazz, aren't you?" Mari asked, looking Savin directly in the eye.
Savin's eyes grew wide, his mouth dropping open. Mari's heart sank into her stomach as Savin then clenched his jaw and looked away. "No, of course not," he muttered, avoiding her eyes the whole time. His voice became more subdued, quiet, compared to the anger it held moments before.
Her husband's reaction told her everything she needed to know. Mari's eyes stung, and she hugged herself even tighter. “You are having an affair with Jazz, aren't you? Savin, you're a terrible liar.”
He still didn't look her in the eye. “Do you really want to know the answer to that?” Mari could barely hear him.
“I don't want you to lie to me,” she said.
“Yes.” Savin started walking away.
Mari let him go, sinking to the ground as the tears fell down her face.
* * *
Jazz sat next to Savin on the couch in his apartment, trying not to let his anxiety get the better of him. That meeting with Mitchel ran through his mind, over and over. He bit his lip and looked away from Savin.
“What's wrong, Jazz?” Savin asked.
Still looking away from the older man, Jazz said, “That meeting with Mitchel. I - I can't stop thinking about what he said.”
Savin sighed. “We don't know that he'll be able to get the Natural Born laws reinstated.”
“What if he does, though? There's no way I can pass. I'll - have to run again.” Jazz could barely get the words out. He didn't want to go through that again.
Out of the corner of his eye, Jazz saw Savin push his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
“We have to convince the Council to stop Mitchel, so it doesn't come to that,” Savin murmured.
Jazz scoffed, “You really think they'll listen to us after what Mitchel implied about our relationship?”
Savin sighed. “I guess now is a bad time to tell you Mari found out about us, right?”
His jaw dropped and his stomach twisted. "What? Mari knows? If she knows, then Mitchel either has to know or at least suspect."
“He - he probably does,” Savin admitted.
Jazz gulped. “We're - Mitchel could make us vote on it in today's Council meeting. In less than an hour. If - if it goes through, I'll be fucking arrested. Everyone knows I'm an NB.”
“Don't you think you're getting ahead of yourself?” he asked.
Only then did Jazz look at Savin. His eyes stung. “I can't stay here. Can't - can't risk it.” He didn't want to do this, not at all, but Jazz had to go on the run, yet again.
Savin's hands shook. “You want to go on the run again? But what about us?”
“There can't be an 'us' anymore, not with the NB laws. They're gonna go through, and yeah it just won't work,” Jazz whimpered.
There was a terrible silence as Savin looked back at him, clearly struggling to take in what he said.
Jazz bit his lip so hard it hurt. “I - I love you, Savin. I don't want to fucking do this, but I - need to. If I don't wanna, you know, die.”
“I love you, too,” he murmured. Savin reached for Jazz, pulling him closer and embracing him.
Jazz embraced his lover in turn. He could feel Savin's hands shaking against his body.
“I - I don't want you to go.” Savin's voice cracked as he spoke.
“You think I want to leave? I never wanted to be on the run again, but I'm not gonna let myself be killed, either,” Jazz insisted.
He pulled back enough to look at Savin, still not letting go of him. Jazz could see tears in the other man's eyes. Impulsively, he leaned in and kissed Savin. He wanted to hold onto his life, and his lover, for as long as he could.
Savin returned the kiss, and Jazz felt the other man's hands stop shaking as Savin deepened it. Jazz tightened his arms around his lover. His heart raced; there wasn't any time, but he - he couldn't just let Savin go.
His lover couldn't let him go, either. Savin's hand slipped under Jazz's shirt, sending shivers up his spine. Jazz deepened the kiss further and slipped his own hand under Savin's shirt. His body flushed with both desperation and desire.
When Savin broke the kiss and pulled off his shirt, Jazz offered no resistance, feeling eager and anxious. He looked into his lover's eyes as Savin pushed him down onto the couch. Jazz let out a soft moan when Savin started kissing down his neck. He felt an ache building between his legs, strong and powerful and overwhelming for the little time they had.
Savin murmured, “I wish I had time to make you beg.” His voice was already strained, though Jazz couldn't tell if that was from arousal or distress or both. Even so, Jazz had to chuckle at his words.
He said, “Of course you do, Savin.” But there just wasn't time.
Jazz pulled off Savin's shirt, that ache of his getting worse and worse by the second. He then scrambled to take off his pants as Savin did the same with his own. Everything was a race against the clock, a race to get in that last bit of closeness before it was all over.
It wasn't fair. Jazz tried not to think about that unfairness as Savin positioned himself between his legs.
“Are you ready?” Savin asked.
Jazz nodded, not being capable of words. He was ready for this, sure, but he was nowhere near ready to leave. The thought of going on the run again made his stomach sink, so he did the best he could to push it out of his mind, if only for a moment. He looked into Savin's eyes, trying to burn them into his memory.
“Take off your glasses,” Jazz gasped. “I - I want to see your eyes better.”
Savin smirked. “But then I can't see your eyes very well.”
Jazz had to chuckle at that. When Savin pushed inside him, he cried out. Never once did he take his eyes off of Savin's own. Jazz reached his arms around his lover and pulled him closer. He wanted to remember everything, how Savin looked, how he felt. The memories had to last, as they were all he would have.
As Savin thrust, Jazz felt that ache of his building and building. The tension was almost unbearable. Jazz managed to put everything else out of his mind, concentrating on the painfully fleeting here and now. Warmth and pleasure filled his body as he looked into his lover's eyes.
He ran his hands all along Savin's body, imprinting the feel of it into his skin. Jazz needed the weight of it against his own body, needing to absorb as much as he could in the short time they had. Leaning up, he pulled Savin in to kiss him, needing the feel of his lips as well. All of it, he needed all of it.
It wasn't enough; it never would be. Jazz came, crying out as he tensed and released. Moments later, Savin came himself; Jazz could feel it happen. The look of bliss on his lover's face quickly turned to one of sadness and anxiety as he slipped out of Jazz, who was sure he wore a similar expression.
The reality of the situation returned to the forefront of Jazz's consciousness. He scrambled to put his clothes back on. “I've gotta go, now.”
Savin looked at him with such sadness. “I - I love you, Jazz.”
“I love you, too,” Jazz said.
Before he could start throwing stuff into his backpack, Savin pulled him into a tight embrace and whispered, “You can't go, not yet. It's too soon.”
Jazz's desire to stay physically hurt. “I have to go. And you do, too. You can't be late to Mitchel's fucking meeting.”
Slowly, Savin let him go. Jazz rushed to put everything into his backpack. It didn't take him long; Jazz wasn't bringing much. Last of all, he grabbed his cap, the last reminder he had of Ryin.
Savin remained where he was on the couch, seemingly unable to leave. Jazz leaned over and kissed him, quickly. He didn't allow the older man to deepen the kiss at all. If he did, Jazz would never leave.
Jazz exited his apartment with a sinking stomach and a heavy heart.
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written for the hc_bingo prompt "Job-Related Trauma" & writerverse Table of Doom - Table Alpha #2. Kiss & Tell, and #19. Emotion: Longing