[jp] garth brooks quote
The greatest conflicts are not between two people, but between one person and himself.
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“Kyle Howard, you are absolutely no fun!”
Laughing, Kyle kissed Stephanie again, running a hand over her freshly washed hair, now blonde again instead of dazzling red. “Baby, I love you, but blondes really do have more fun.”
“But it’d look so great with the new costumes Chan’s letting me use in the paso, and wigs itch!”
“Yeah, and I like blonde better. Plus, it’d be hell to maintain…and you tracked it everywhere.” He laughed, pointing to the bright red footprints that followed Stephanie out of the damp bathroom. “See? It’s dangerous stuff, changing your hair color.”
“Seriously, you should have joined me in the shower. It looked like I was being murdered or something!”
Laughing, Kyle wrapped his arms around her body, clad only in a towel and contemplated hauling her back into the bathroom to clean up the bright red mess with a second shower.
“You’re making me reconsider the offer.”
“Well, I hope you do, because I’m pretty sure I could stand another wash…just to make sure all the dye came out…”
Her words faded into nothing as he caught sight of himself in the glass of a painting hanging on the wall behind her…his own reflection, aghast and pale in muted shades against an abstract image.
“Kyle? Baby, what is…oh.”
Clutching her tight as she saw his reflection, Kyle turned his back on it quickly, holding her fast.
“Effie, get dressed and find your boss. Tell her everything.”
“What? Kyle--”
“Listen to me. He’ll be able to take me over in a minute, I don’t have a lot of time. Get away from me, now. I’ll find you later.”
“You think he’ll hurt me?”
“I know he will. Eff, we’re linked, our souls and our life. He dies, I die, so he can’t kill me…just everything and everyone I love. Get out of here. I’ll come for you later…don’t let me near unless I can tell you what corsage I gave you at prom, he wasn’t there for that.”
“What are you going to do?”
He hated how small her voice sounded, how frightened and confused. Leaning down, he kissed her one more time and prayed it wasn’t the last.
“End this. Once and for all.”
He let her go…time passed. When the door eventually clicked shut behind her, Kyle kept his gaze down and stalked into the bathroom to face the sneering image in the mirror.
“You won’t find her.”
“Like hell I won’t.”
“You won’t. I know the way it works: you die, we both die.”
Claude raised an eyebrow coldly. “And?...”
Taking a deep breath, Kyle swallowed hard and said a silent prayer.
I love you, Effie…and I’m sorry.
“And…I’m willing to go that far for her.”
Claude’s eyes went wide as Kyle surged forward, driving his fist into the mirror directly over Claude’s heart. He was hoping to shatter him, destroy him instead of shoving back the other man the way Claude had done to him years before. He wasn’t sure how this worked…
He felt heat, resistance…flesh beneath his knuckles. He was grabbed, shoved, swung into the ether, bleeding from a thousand tiny cuts. Deep inside, he felt something tear and drift away, leaving him screaming in pain.
The last thing he saw was an unfamiliar bathroom in an unfamiliar apartment before everything went black.
Muse: Kyle Howard
Fandom: Original Character
Words: 565
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“Kyle Howard, you are absolutely no fun!”
Laughing, Kyle kissed Stephanie again, running a hand over her freshly washed hair, now blonde again instead of dazzling red. “Baby, I love you, but blondes really do have more fun.”
“But it’d look so great with the new costumes Chan’s letting me use in the paso, and wigs itch!”
“Yeah, and I like blonde better. Plus, it’d be hell to maintain…and you tracked it everywhere.” He laughed, pointing to the bright red footprints that followed Stephanie out of the damp bathroom. “See? It’s dangerous stuff, changing your hair color.”
“Seriously, you should have joined me in the shower. It looked like I was being murdered or something!”
Laughing, Kyle wrapped his arms around her body, clad only in a towel and contemplated hauling her back into the bathroom to clean up the bright red mess with a second shower.
“You’re making me reconsider the offer.”
“Well, I hope you do, because I’m pretty sure I could stand another wash…just to make sure all the dye came out…”
Her words faded into nothing as he caught sight of himself in the glass of a painting hanging on the wall behind her…his own reflection, aghast and pale in muted shades against an abstract image.
“Kyle? Baby, what is…oh.”
Clutching her tight as she saw his reflection, Kyle turned his back on it quickly, holding her fast.
“Effie, get dressed and find your boss. Tell her everything.”
“What? Kyle--”
“Listen to me. He’ll be able to take me over in a minute, I don’t have a lot of time. Get away from me, now. I’ll find you later.”
“You think he’ll hurt me?”
“I know he will. Eff, we’re linked, our souls and our life. He dies, I die, so he can’t kill me…just everything and everyone I love. Get out of here. I’ll come for you later…don’t let me near unless I can tell you what corsage I gave you at prom, he wasn’t there for that.”
“What are you going to do?”
He hated how small her voice sounded, how frightened and confused. Leaning down, he kissed her one more time and prayed it wasn’t the last.
“End this. Once and for all.”
He let her go…time passed. When the door eventually clicked shut behind her, Kyle kept his gaze down and stalked into the bathroom to face the sneering image in the mirror.
“You won’t find her.”
“Like hell I won’t.”
“You won’t. I know the way it works: you die, we both die.”
Claude raised an eyebrow coldly. “And?...”
Taking a deep breath, Kyle swallowed hard and said a silent prayer.
I love you, Effie…and I’m sorry.
“And…I’m willing to go that far for her.”
Claude’s eyes went wide as Kyle surged forward, driving his fist into the mirror directly over Claude’s heart. He was hoping to shatter him, destroy him instead of shoving back the other man the way Claude had done to him years before. He wasn’t sure how this worked…
He felt heat, resistance…flesh beneath his knuckles. He was grabbed, shoved, swung into the ether, bleeding from a thousand tiny cuts. Deep inside, he felt something tear and drift away, leaving him screaming in pain.
The last thing he saw was an unfamiliar bathroom in an unfamiliar apartment before everything went black.
Muse: Kyle Howard
Fandom: Original Character
Words: 565