SPOILERS, RUDE PEOPLE, AND BLAH OF MY LIFE!
Chapter 8 (Yes I am aware that no one but Allie has read the first 7 chapters, but as far as I know Allie is the only one watching me here who understands the basis of this fanfiction)
Allen dodged Bal's grabbing hand, in favour of walking through the recently unlocked door. He hadn't spoken for the entire duration of the trip from school to this house in which Allen no longer felt anything but resentment. Instead he had listened to the making of a madman in his ex-best friend. Bal had held onto Allen's hand tightly the whole time, and had only intended to let him go long enough to open the door, but Allen slipped past him, and took a seat at the table. Bal walked in silently after, locking the door behind him.
"Alright, you wanted me to listen to you. Hurry up. I want nothing to do with you after this," Allen demanded following Bal with his eyes, always on guard.
"No. Not just listen. You have to understand. You have to! Damn it!" the older boy cursed, clutching his hair in frustration as he sat abruptly in the other chair across the table. "I wasn't expecting to have another thing to explain. I swear Allen, I did not want that kiss. I have no idea why she came onto me." His words did little to phase the desert boy, and were about as effective as throwing water on a stone in the desert. "Damn it Allen! What can I say to convince you?"
"I don't know. Aren't you the one with all the calculated answers?" Allen's words were cold and cruel, but not so much as his stare.
"Calculating answers yes. Do I know anything about people? Hardly," Bal replied with a forfeiting sigh. "I can promise you though, that I have absolutely no feelings for that whore. Never her," he said, murmuring the last part as an afterthought.
"Obviously not." Allen muttered in bitter retort. "So, what was it that you wanted to talk about?"
"Everything." Allen was beginning to hate this voice that didn't recognise, coming from someone he had known for so many years. "I have to be completely honest with you, because it's you." Here came the desperate tone that Allen also despised. Not trusting himself to hold back this terrifying new feeling of anger, Allen just nodded for Bal to continue. At the gesture, Bal's face lit up noticeably; well enough for Allen to notice at least.
When Baldwin drew in a deep breath, Allen knew that this was going to take a while, and tried to make himself comfortable. "Do you remember when I told you I had a brother?" After an awkward pause, the younger one realized that his older companion wanted some kind of positive response. Thinking about all their time together, he recalled some mention of an older brother and nodded. Bal nodded in response, his expression completely serious as he spoke. "Well he's still living in the city Rinna and I came from six years ago with a man named Conner. He's the one who took us in after...after our parents died. They worked for him, and were indebted to him for some reason, so he said it only made sense that he should adopt us. Now we're both working for him to pay off the last of their debt. I personally think it was paid off long ago, and now he's just using us," Bal spat out bitterly with obvious contempt lacing his voice.
Allen was just about the ask what any of this had to do with him when Bal raised his hand for silence. "Please. Just let me say everything now, or I won't be able to continue. I promise, after all this, you can yell at me, you can beat me for all I care, but please just let me finish." Wanting to avoid anymore encounters with this voice, that couldn't possibly belong to the Bal he knew; the Bal who was strong, stubborn, and never willing to admit when he was wrong, Allen shut his mouth, and turned to face away. Taking that as a sign, Bal continued in a rather degected sounding voice, "He sent us here on the lookout for Chosen. Chosen are normal humans plagued with too much magic for their bodies to withstand. It eventually grows out of control, and kills them. Conner takes away the powers that are killing them, because their only other choice is to seek out the crystal. No one has ever found the crystal, so many doubt it even exists." Bal tried to look up into his younger friend's eyes, to make sure he understood, but Allen had his gaze fixed pointedly away.
With a sigh he continued on. "Another part of the reason we were exiled was because of Ernest. That's my older brother's name, although he's never been much of an older brother. You'll never hear me say his name in a pleasant tone. Anyways, he's always looked up to Conner, to a point of grovelling, and kissing the very path he walks on. When it came down to who would help him in the city, and who would help him from abroad, to seek out Chosen, Ernest, oh so kindly volunteered me for the job far away. I wasn't about to leave Rinna with a prick that would sell out his own brother, so I took her with me, knowing anything was safer than staying with him." Allen took a peek out of the side of his eye to see Bal taking in ragged, deep breaths, as if talking about his past caused him physical exhaustion. Before he could stop his impulse, he had reached his hand across the table. Catching himself in time to stop, but not in time to avoid the pasty paler's notice, Allen's hand hung in the air uselessly. With jerky motions, Allen laid his hand down on the table between them, both boys catching the other's sight, and looked away red in the face from being caught.
Not knowing where he stood in Allen's mind after this gesture, Bal only placed his hand on the table beside it's tanned counterpart. He wished he could hold the desert boy's hand again, but after the day's events, he would be surprised if he could so much as be in the same room as his young friend without infinite apologies for forgiveness.
After awhile more of silence, once Bal's breathing had calmed down, and both occupants of the room were much more relaxed, he carried on, from where he left off. "There was a list of suspects, but none of them showed any of the warning signs of a Chosen. Until recently that is. It was very subtle, but I can't ignore even the faintest of hints. The results could be disastrous. Their powers not only affect them, if someone is caught when they go off, people can die. The only exception is if the ritual is performed before they destroy everything, and everyone around them." While he explained this, he drew a table onto the table crudely with a burnt piece of wood. Under his breath, he muttered almost inaudibly, "It's okay though I suppose, since family's not supposed to perform this ritual anyway."
Not being able to take much more of these vague explanations, Allen blurted out, "Who is the Chosen?" The suddenness of his voice must have startled Bal, because he jumped and smashed his knee on the table. This action was followed by a string of colourful curses from the older boy, but what shocked them both were the actions of the tanned boy. A week ago, Bal wouldn't be so confused to find his wounds being tended by gentle fingers, but now it seemed so foreign to have Allen on the floor in front of him, inspecting for anything other than a bruise. Had a week really separated them that much? Allen was also confused by what he was doing, but mentally shrugged it off as a force of habit, and finished his check. Bal was fine, and Allen indicated this with a good slap to the injured knee, and a wide grin like old times before remembering circumstances. "So...who is it?" he whispered now that they were close enough to hear each other’s breathing, and quite possibly the other's heartbeat.
"Azarielle," was the impossibly quiet answer.
This is where I decided to end the chapter, even though the next one is very similar to this one in terms of them talking in Bal's house about all of his little secrets. What can I say? I enjoy cliffhangers. There’s a lot more fluff in the next chapter though. Cuddles and kisses is all I can say...yeah that pretty much gives away the entire plot. If anyone's really desperate for chapters...1-6, go bug Kaea12345, for she has the first 3 typed and the rest of my little black book. Not much changes between the paper and the computer, so if you're really nice oh nonexistent people who obviously want BalxAllen yaoi, she might just type those missing 3 chapters for you with her own spins and proper grammar for you. If that happens I'll also write the very important chapter 7 for you to read.
So apparently taking photos at the dinner table is rude...until today, none of my friends have had issues with this behaviour of mine. I'm known for carrying a camera with me everywhere, and this has only slowed down recently because I realised that it hurt my back. The camera doesn't feel heavy, but unless I'm wearing a hood to support the neck strap, I feel it later on. Anyway, so people in Winnipeg, are cool with me taking pictures nonstop even while they're at a table for eating...okay Allie might not agree, given some of the pictures I've caught of her look absolutely EVIL, but for the most part people are more amused than offended...Unless you've all been lying to me this whole time. NAHHHHHHHHHHH My Winnipeg friends love me too much to lie, and are too straight forward to not just say, "Oi! Katie, save it for when I can beat the camera out of your hands."
My friends at CEGEP didn't care when I took lunch time photos...those were always good times. Twilight shots with apples for back when I was a fan, and the results of murdering a sandwich...what? It totally owed us money XD
Yup, so it was only today, and with these 2 people. Well, if it weren't for the fact that I can only catch shots of one of them when she's distracted, I wouldn't have to resort to not so ninja sneaky methods. As for the other, she's been on permanent PMS since we both came back from Winter Break. Maybe it's me, maybe she's pregnant. No clue *shrugs* Either way she's making me miss home now more than ever. Yeah so apparently it's rude. I don't really pay attention to those kind of folkways (Oh that's right, I just used a pro word from Sociology) so guess who's going to wear back supporting hoodies and a camera for awhile now. >:D
In other less depressing news, I've taken up exercise. One word. OW...woah totally didn't notice that OW is an acronym for one word XD Haha. Yup, so I've been practicing a dance that my dearest twin sent me to learn. I've memorized the opening, although that was a week ago, so no promises Rochelle. As well I've been going to the gym. I like the "Recumbent Bike" because it's more relaxing with the back rest, and I feel the burn unlike the upright bike. I've only been there about 3 times, so chances are you'll hear about me quitting the attempt fairly soon. There was also a dance training video, but that is under the possession of the PMSing person I mentioned earlier, so I'm avoiding that volcano until it's done erupting.
Let'-okay sorry, cool friend who never sleeps and suffers greatly for it just knocked. She makes me happy, and I hope that she switches into classes that allow her more time to sleep soon. Currently she's in sciences, but she just said she might switch. I'm also thinking of switching faculties, because as I hope people can tell from my writing, I'm more artistic than sciency...it's that or math, and I really don't feel like being a math teacher. Really, if anyone knows any other options outside of teaching from a math major, tell me, because I honestly have no clue.
So what was I going to talk about? Oh yes, tomorrow I plan on exploring Vancouver since I have the day off. If it's nice enough I'll probably go down to Stanley Park and take tons of shots. If not, I'll check out New Westminister at the Quay. There's a really big Sally Ann's and a Gothic Lolita store that I've only seen the outside of. I hope it's still there, since I haven't been since last September. I might just drop off a resume, since it would be awesome to work there despite the commute. It's not that far compared to the travel time to Metro, Waterfront, or Richmond, so I suppose it would be fine, seeing as I have 2 weekdays off, and I really need an excuse to get off the hill on the weekend that doesn't involve shopping. I have no money, I can't go shopping.
I know there was something else I was going to rant about...ah yes my missing friends. It seems two of my friends that are always good for laughs, smiles, and making me blend into the insanity have recently taken to grabbing meals either outside the dining hall or at a friend's place so that they can cook. It makes me lonely, and a bunch of my other friends that I would eat with moved off campus this winter, so no running to them either. The topic of winter tempts me to say something else but I'm afraid of being murdered by Winnipeggers, so I'll refrains >>
This certainly came out much longer than I first anticipated. I guess that's because so much has been bugging me lately. Allie! Even though you already take up a good chunk of my journal entries, I'm making a callout to you. You were most certainly the brightest part of my day, and I only wish that I could have skipped out on exercise and classes to talk to you more. <<<<<<<<<<33333333333333 I'll never be able to give you enough love for the sunshine you bring to this gloomy weather. Thank you, and know that I love and miss you muchsems. If you don't mind, please spread my love to anyone else you come across that may accept my love, and get better soon sweetie!
~Katie
PS. Allie, I came up with some plausible ideas for the awkward time gap in A Short Fall if you want to hear them later. <3