(no subject)
Title: Familiar Realm
Author: atrocious_x
Band: Avenged Sevenfold
Pairing: Matt // Zacky
Rating: NC17 (later chapters)
Summary: [Extreme AU]. `They say every time the bell sounds, an angel gets their wings...`
Disclaimer: Not real, dur.
00 || 01 || 02
Familiar Realm
Chapter 03
"Aren't you even interested in my name?" I asked, giving a few trots to keep up with him.
He didn't show me any acknowledgement for a moment, but then he side-glanced me.
"Zacky." he said.
I stopped, and he started crossing the street -- like the day before, he didn't even look where he was going.
"Wait." I said loudly, my annoyance building (though for some reason I couldn't just forget about him). I started after him. "Mind telling me how you know that?"
A dark Cadillac suddenly skidded to a stop, narrowly avoiding hitting me. I froze immediately, a deer caught in the headlights as my heart raced, but Matt had been able to ignore it, just like the day before when he'd almost got hit. I went to turn and continue across the street, but I recognized the car. The driver's side door opened, and a thick figure slid from the seat, resting his arm on the roof of the car and throwing me an amused look.
"Well, look who it is." Brian said.
I dropped my head, unable to meet his dark eyes, and he just stood there, watching me. I got bombarded with a rush of feelings, most of them just synonyms for 'guilty', but I also got 'awkward' and 'embarrassed'.
"Get in." he said.
"Bri," I said glancing up at him. "I'm fine."
"I'll wait here all night." he replied.
I threw a look around, but Matt'd disappeared. I glanced back over at Brian who raised his eyebrows at me. Someone behind him laid on their horn, but he didn't move. Not wanting him to be hated for it, I gave a sigh, and quickly walked around to the passenger side. He waited until I slid into the seat, before following suit, and getting behind the wheel again.
"Seat belt." He said, though he ignored his own.
"Brian," I said, while aquiesting with his request. "I'm not a little kid."
"I wasn't lying when I told you those hundred times when I said you could live with me." he said.
"I know." I said, looking down at my thighs. "But it's easier said than done."
A red light, and he turned in his seat, giving me the look a parent gives their child when the kid's stayed out too late or something without checking in.
"But it's not like I don't want you to." he said. "I do, I want you to sleep on my couch for as long as you need to -- at least until you can get yourself back on your own two feet."
"That's not gonna happen," I said with a quick shake of my head. "Which is why, I can't move in with you."
"Why isn't it gonna happen? he asked.
"Because I don't care," I said. "I'm fucking sick of this world -- this universe, why the Hell should I worry about getting a god damned job when all that's gonna happen is that I'll be jealous of the schmuck in the next cubicle because he dares to have a fifty cent higher paycheck." I gave a snort. "And what's it all come to in the end? Dying old, and lonely, and miserable."
Brian shook his head, and the light turned green. "The only thing you're missing now is being old." he said.
That kind of hit me hard, but I ignored it. After a moment of silence, I reached into my pocket, pulling out the money Michelle'd given me. I held it out to him, and his dark eyes ran over it.
"What's that?" he asked.
"I saw Michelle earlier, and she gave it to me." I said. "But I don't want it."
He just stared at it, as if it was going to sprout little dollar legs and jump into his pocket. "Zack, put it in your pocket." he said.
"No." I replied grumpily. "I don't want it."
"Zack, don't be proud." he said with a sigh, looking away. "Put. It. In. Your. Pocket."
I made a noise of discontent, and returned it to it's denim home. I'd slip it into his wallet tonight or something.
"She gave me some sandwiches too, and I'd be giving them back had they not been stolen." I said.
"God, you're so difficult." Brian said.
"Then why do you want to help me?" I asked, glancing at him.
"Because you need it." he said simply.
I wanted to argue, but instead kept my mouth shut and we traveled the rest of the way in silence. We reached his place, and within moments he had me seated at his dining room table in front of some leftover Chinese. He was sitting across from me, plate of food in front of him, but pushed to the side, as he scribbled something on an important looking paper. I never did find out what he did for a living.
"Have you seen this guy wandering around the streets?" I asked suddenly. "Kinda..well, really buff-like, likes to wear a sleeveless black shirt...arms are covered in tattoos."
"Zack," Brian said, without glancing up from his paper. "You just described about ninety percent of the men walking around the streets. Besides, the only wanderer I look for is you."
That was a jab to my heart, and I shifted uncomfortably, still not having touched my food.
"Why?" he asked, and he cocked an eyebrow, finally raising his gaze to meet mine. "Did he do something to you?"
"Oh, no." I said quickly. "No...he's just...weird."
He smirked. "Like the naked bums that wear barrels and hold signs that say 'The End is Near'?" he asked playfully.
I grinned, and looked down, but the more I thought about it, the more Matt seemed exactly like those guys -- just not nude, and wearing a barrel. I bit my lip, and watched as Brian got back to work, not knowing what exactly I was thinking about.
~x~
"Stay here, Zack, I swear to God."
He held up an accusing finger as he pulled open the door, and I smirked before he left. It quickly faded, and I stood up from the couch where I'd still been sitting, wrapped up in the blanket I'd slept with. I was now wearing my own clothes, Brian had washed them and gave them back to me. I pulled the money he'd made me keep from my pocket, and slapped it on the dining room table, making a 'told-you-so' face before I headed to the front door. After locking the door, I was gone.
I didn't know where I was going, but somehow I'd ended up on a side of town I'd only ever been to maybe once. But, I think the subconscious part of my brain knew where I was going.
I'd ended up outside a big warehouse-type building, and I recognized it almost immediately. The place from my dream. I hadn't seen the outside of it in my dream, but I could just feel it.
I sounded like a fuckin' fruitcake, so I started to walk past the building.
"Are you stalking me or something?"
I spun around almost merrily at his voice, and stopped when I saw none other than Matt standing outside the double doors that would lead (no doubt) inside the building. He still had that look to him, the mean/angsty one, but it was also faintly traced, very faintly traced, with amusement.
"Who are you?" I demanded.
He ran his fingers through his hair, throwing a squint up at the sky, before he looked back at me.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." he said.
"I'm ready to listen." I replied.
After a moment, he turned and opened one of the doors, gesturing for me to follow.
I followed quickly, like when a parent tells children that it's story time, and they go running. Like I was some kind of stupid dog loping after his owner. He held the door open, and gestured for me to go in first. Now if you lived in the city, you knew this was a bad idea. However, this guy Matt -- I didn't care what happened. He followed behind me, shutting the door, and I glanced around. It was dark, random rays of sunlight coming from shattered windows above and on the sides. Looking straight I saw where there was a little table, above it, the dim, swinging light, which caused me to remember my dream. A chill went down my spine and I looked at him.
"Do you live here?" I asked.
He nodded. "You could say that." he answered, walking past me and towards the table.
I followed, not knowing what else to do, and a few moments later, there was movement from somewhere on the right.
"Still me." Matt said, turning, "I haven't left yet."
I followed his gaze and saw a tall guy come from a corridor. He was wearing only low cut black pants, and his hands were dirty as if he'd been working on a car or something else mechanical. His steely eyes passed briefly over me, before returning to Matt.
"Bringing guys home now, Matt?" he asked with a playful smirk. "Tsk, tsk."
Matt rolled his eyes and sat down at one of the three chairs that surrounded the small table. There were cards scattered about on the table, worn playing cards -- some still set up in a hand for poker.
"This is Zack." Matt said, looking down at the cards as he started to gather them. "Zack, meet Jimmy."
I nodded in greeting at Jimmy, but really didn't care. I just wanted to hear what Matt had to say. Jimmy threw a smirk at me, before he turned to go back down the corridor. I felt my breathing hitch, his shoulder blades were grotesque. There were two large markings, red scars, evenly spaced apart, and raised just slightly from the skin -- almost like short stumps. My brain jumped to the dream I'd had, but I couldn't explain it as Jimmy disappeared, and I glanced back at Matt.
He was still collecting cards, seemingly not to have noticed, and I pulled out a chair, and dropped into it quickly, hoping that he'd start speaking soon so I could find out what the Hell was going on. That Jimmy guy was fuckin' weird as well, the both of them gave me goosebumps, though I couldn't explain why.
"You aren't religious, are you?" he asked, finally looking up at me.
I paused. Bags were forming under his hazel eyes, but his gaze was still intense, and burning. Unable to take mine away from it, I shook my head slightly.
"Not at all." I answered.
He shrugged, and much to my discontent, broke the eye contact. "You might take this easier." he said. "But everyone else I've told thinks I belong in the loony bin."
"Who doesn't belong there nowadays?" I asked, crossing my arms and hugging myself slightly out of boredom.
He made a face that told me he agreed with me, but fell silent for a while. Just as I was getting ready to ask him if he planned on telling his story any time before the next day, he looked back up at me.
"Homosexuality is a sin." he said, "You do know that, right?"
I was flabbergasted. I didn't know what he was saying, was he calling me gay and saying it was a sin? Was he crazy and just randomly spouting it out?
"Uh....yeah." I said after a moment.
"Well, what would happen if there were some highly devoted...messiahs, and they turned out to be gay?" Matt asked, looking down at the table where he was now shuffling the cards randomly.
"Uhhh..." I said.
He stood up suddenly, dropping the cards, and I looked up at him with wide eyes, hoping he wasn't getting ready to kick my ass or something cause he thought I was gay. He grabbed the bottom ends of his shirt, and pulled it off with ease. My eyes traveled down his ink-covered torso, muscular was a bit of an understatement.
"Tell me what you think these are." he said, his tone low.
He turned around and I froze. He had the same markings as Jimmy, the 'stumps' on his shoulder blades. His were a darker red color, as if they were newer (not like brand new, or last week new, just newer). I gaped open-mouthed for a moment or two, and he turned back around, watching my expression.
"Tell me." he said.
I sat there, staring at his nipples now -- cause that's where the stumps had pretty much been on his back, my mouth opening and closing slowly as I tried to form words. And finally, it all hit me in a rush. It was very much like a lightbulb coming on, or someone slapping me in the face with a fish.
"Wings."
My gaze shifted upwards to meet his, and I couldn't read his expression. For a moment he seemed to enjoy the fact that I'd guessed right, but then he looked back down at the table.
"I was an angel." he said softly. "And I'm only telling you this because you seem to already believe me."
"Yeah I believe you." I said with a breath, sounding like some kind of excited old man who'd just discovered something new. "I mean...how..why would you give yourself those...those..?"
"Stumps." Matt said.
I looked back at him, and he watched me intensely. "So what happened?" I asked finally.
"He found out I was gay."
Me and my cliffhangers. Next chapter's in progress, sorry this one sucked. I'm getting there.
Author: atrocious_x
Band: Avenged Sevenfold
Pairing: Matt // Zacky
Rating: NC17 (later chapters)
Summary: [Extreme AU]. `They say every time the bell sounds, an angel gets their wings...`
Disclaimer: Not real, dur.
00 || 01 || 02
Familiar Realm
Chapter 03
"Aren't you even interested in my name?" I asked, giving a few trots to keep up with him.
He didn't show me any acknowledgement for a moment, but then he side-glanced me.
"Zacky." he said.
I stopped, and he started crossing the street -- like the day before, he didn't even look where he was going.
"Wait." I said loudly, my annoyance building (though for some reason I couldn't just forget about him). I started after him. "Mind telling me how you know that?"
A dark Cadillac suddenly skidded to a stop, narrowly avoiding hitting me. I froze immediately, a deer caught in the headlights as my heart raced, but Matt had been able to ignore it, just like the day before when he'd almost got hit. I went to turn and continue across the street, but I recognized the car. The driver's side door opened, and a thick figure slid from the seat, resting his arm on the roof of the car and throwing me an amused look.
"Well, look who it is." Brian said.
I dropped my head, unable to meet his dark eyes, and he just stood there, watching me. I got bombarded with a rush of feelings, most of them just synonyms for 'guilty', but I also got 'awkward' and 'embarrassed'.
"Get in." he said.
"Bri," I said glancing up at him. "I'm fine."
"I'll wait here all night." he replied.
I threw a look around, but Matt'd disappeared. I glanced back over at Brian who raised his eyebrows at me. Someone behind him laid on their horn, but he didn't move. Not wanting him to be hated for it, I gave a sigh, and quickly walked around to the passenger side. He waited until I slid into the seat, before following suit, and getting behind the wheel again.
"Seat belt." He said, though he ignored his own.
"Brian," I said, while aquiesting with his request. "I'm not a little kid."
"I wasn't lying when I told you those hundred times when I said you could live with me." he said.
"I know." I said, looking down at my thighs. "But it's easier said than done."
A red light, and he turned in his seat, giving me the look a parent gives their child when the kid's stayed out too late or something without checking in.
"But it's not like I don't want you to." he said. "I do, I want you to sleep on my couch for as long as you need to -- at least until you can get yourself back on your own two feet."
"That's not gonna happen," I said with a quick shake of my head. "Which is why, I can't move in with you."
"Why isn't it gonna happen? he asked.
"Because I don't care," I said. "I'm fucking sick of this world -- this universe, why the Hell should I worry about getting a god damned job when all that's gonna happen is that I'll be jealous of the schmuck in the next cubicle because he dares to have a fifty cent higher paycheck." I gave a snort. "And what's it all come to in the end? Dying old, and lonely, and miserable."
Brian shook his head, and the light turned green. "The only thing you're missing now is being old." he said.
That kind of hit me hard, but I ignored it. After a moment of silence, I reached into my pocket, pulling out the money Michelle'd given me. I held it out to him, and his dark eyes ran over it.
"What's that?" he asked.
"I saw Michelle earlier, and she gave it to me." I said. "But I don't want it."
He just stared at it, as if it was going to sprout little dollar legs and jump into his pocket. "Zack, put it in your pocket." he said.
"No." I replied grumpily. "I don't want it."
"Zack, don't be proud." he said with a sigh, looking away. "Put. It. In. Your. Pocket."
I made a noise of discontent, and returned it to it's denim home. I'd slip it into his wallet tonight or something.
"She gave me some sandwiches too, and I'd be giving them back had they not been stolen." I said.
"God, you're so difficult." Brian said.
"Then why do you want to help me?" I asked, glancing at him.
"Because you need it." he said simply.
I wanted to argue, but instead kept my mouth shut and we traveled the rest of the way in silence. We reached his place, and within moments he had me seated at his dining room table in front of some leftover Chinese. He was sitting across from me, plate of food in front of him, but pushed to the side, as he scribbled something on an important looking paper. I never did find out what he did for a living.
"Have you seen this guy wandering around the streets?" I asked suddenly. "Kinda..well, really buff-like, likes to wear a sleeveless black shirt...arms are covered in tattoos."
"Zack," Brian said, without glancing up from his paper. "You just described about ninety percent of the men walking around the streets. Besides, the only wanderer I look for is you."
That was a jab to my heart, and I shifted uncomfortably, still not having touched my food.
"Why?" he asked, and he cocked an eyebrow, finally raising his gaze to meet mine. "Did he do something to you?"
"Oh, no." I said quickly. "No...he's just...weird."
He smirked. "Like the naked bums that wear barrels and hold signs that say 'The End is Near'?" he asked playfully.
I grinned, and looked down, but the more I thought about it, the more Matt seemed exactly like those guys -- just not nude, and wearing a barrel. I bit my lip, and watched as Brian got back to work, not knowing what exactly I was thinking about.
~x~
"Stay here, Zack, I swear to God."
He held up an accusing finger as he pulled open the door, and I smirked before he left. It quickly faded, and I stood up from the couch where I'd still been sitting, wrapped up in the blanket I'd slept with. I was now wearing my own clothes, Brian had washed them and gave them back to me. I pulled the money he'd made me keep from my pocket, and slapped it on the dining room table, making a 'told-you-so' face before I headed to the front door. After locking the door, I was gone.
I didn't know where I was going, but somehow I'd ended up on a side of town I'd only ever been to maybe once. But, I think the subconscious part of my brain knew where I was going.
I'd ended up outside a big warehouse-type building, and I recognized it almost immediately. The place from my dream. I hadn't seen the outside of it in my dream, but I could just feel it.
I sounded like a fuckin' fruitcake, so I started to walk past the building.
"Are you stalking me or something?"
I spun around almost merrily at his voice, and stopped when I saw none other than Matt standing outside the double doors that would lead (no doubt) inside the building. He still had that look to him, the mean/angsty one, but it was also faintly traced, very faintly traced, with amusement.
"Who are you?" I demanded.
He ran his fingers through his hair, throwing a squint up at the sky, before he looked back at me.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." he said.
"I'm ready to listen." I replied.
After a moment, he turned and opened one of the doors, gesturing for me to follow.
I followed quickly, like when a parent tells children that it's story time, and they go running. Like I was some kind of stupid dog loping after his owner. He held the door open, and gestured for me to go in first. Now if you lived in the city, you knew this was a bad idea. However, this guy Matt -- I didn't care what happened. He followed behind me, shutting the door, and I glanced around. It was dark, random rays of sunlight coming from shattered windows above and on the sides. Looking straight I saw where there was a little table, above it, the dim, swinging light, which caused me to remember my dream. A chill went down my spine and I looked at him.
"Do you live here?" I asked.
He nodded. "You could say that." he answered, walking past me and towards the table.
I followed, not knowing what else to do, and a few moments later, there was movement from somewhere on the right.
"Still me." Matt said, turning, "I haven't left yet."
I followed his gaze and saw a tall guy come from a corridor. He was wearing only low cut black pants, and his hands were dirty as if he'd been working on a car or something else mechanical. His steely eyes passed briefly over me, before returning to Matt.
"Bringing guys home now, Matt?" he asked with a playful smirk. "Tsk, tsk."
Matt rolled his eyes and sat down at one of the three chairs that surrounded the small table. There were cards scattered about on the table, worn playing cards -- some still set up in a hand for poker.
"This is Zack." Matt said, looking down at the cards as he started to gather them. "Zack, meet Jimmy."
I nodded in greeting at Jimmy, but really didn't care. I just wanted to hear what Matt had to say. Jimmy threw a smirk at me, before he turned to go back down the corridor. I felt my breathing hitch, his shoulder blades were grotesque. There were two large markings, red scars, evenly spaced apart, and raised just slightly from the skin -- almost like short stumps. My brain jumped to the dream I'd had, but I couldn't explain it as Jimmy disappeared, and I glanced back at Matt.
He was still collecting cards, seemingly not to have noticed, and I pulled out a chair, and dropped into it quickly, hoping that he'd start speaking soon so I could find out what the Hell was going on. That Jimmy guy was fuckin' weird as well, the both of them gave me goosebumps, though I couldn't explain why.
"You aren't religious, are you?" he asked, finally looking up at me.
I paused. Bags were forming under his hazel eyes, but his gaze was still intense, and burning. Unable to take mine away from it, I shook my head slightly.
"Not at all." I answered.
He shrugged, and much to my discontent, broke the eye contact. "You might take this easier." he said. "But everyone else I've told thinks I belong in the loony bin."
"Who doesn't belong there nowadays?" I asked, crossing my arms and hugging myself slightly out of boredom.
He made a face that told me he agreed with me, but fell silent for a while. Just as I was getting ready to ask him if he planned on telling his story any time before the next day, he looked back up at me.
"Homosexuality is a sin." he said, "You do know that, right?"
I was flabbergasted. I didn't know what he was saying, was he calling me gay and saying it was a sin? Was he crazy and just randomly spouting it out?
"Uh....yeah." I said after a moment.
"Well, what would happen if there were some highly devoted...messiahs, and they turned out to be gay?" Matt asked, looking down at the table where he was now shuffling the cards randomly.
"Uhhh..." I said.
He stood up suddenly, dropping the cards, and I looked up at him with wide eyes, hoping he wasn't getting ready to kick my ass or something cause he thought I was gay. He grabbed the bottom ends of his shirt, and pulled it off with ease. My eyes traveled down his ink-covered torso, muscular was a bit of an understatement.
"Tell me what you think these are." he said, his tone low.
He turned around and I froze. He had the same markings as Jimmy, the 'stumps' on his shoulder blades. His were a darker red color, as if they were newer (not like brand new, or last week new, just newer). I gaped open-mouthed for a moment or two, and he turned back around, watching my expression.
"Tell me." he said.
I sat there, staring at his nipples now -- cause that's where the stumps had pretty much been on his back, my mouth opening and closing slowly as I tried to form words. And finally, it all hit me in a rush. It was very much like a lightbulb coming on, or someone slapping me in the face with a fish.
"Wings."
My gaze shifted upwards to meet his, and I couldn't read his expression. For a moment he seemed to enjoy the fact that I'd guessed right, but then he looked back down at the table.
"I was an angel." he said softly. "And I'm only telling you this because you seem to already believe me."
"Yeah I believe you." I said with a breath, sounding like some kind of excited old man who'd just discovered something new. "I mean...how..why would you give yourself those...those..?"
"Stumps." Matt said.
I looked back at him, and he watched me intensely. "So what happened?" I asked finally.
"He found out I was gay."
Me and my cliffhangers. Next chapter's in progress, sorry this one sucked. I'm getting there.