RP log- Shinji, Kevin
Date: current
Rating: PG
Summary: Kevin helps a rather unstable Shinji (and by gum, Kii), to go back to his room. And accidentally, both boys see sides of each other that they don't want anyone to know about.
Kippei was out somewhere...Shinji had forgotten where, but it had been a while now so he probably went to class or to train for a bit or just to get some fresh air. Shinji had been half asleep and told him to go and then fallen back to sleep but he wasn't asleep anymore and he sat on the bed, looking around blearily. Kii kept whining at him and scratching at the door...oh yeah...cat toilet break.
Shinji slowly got up and tracked down shoes and wandered over to pick up Kii, petting him and nuzzling him a little, talking to him in silent, gentle tones as he opened the door and wandered down the hallway cautiously, out the door and into the garden. Memories instantly hit him of all the times he had walked out that door and into the little garden and lawn area and watched Kii do his business in the garden and then played and waited for Kippei and talked to people and oh geez, this just sucked. Shinji dumped Kii in the garden and flopped down on the lawn, staring at the sky, immediately assaulted with memories of every time he had lain on his back and stared at the sky. A frustrated yowl escaped him and he clenched his eyes shut.
Phew, effective as it was for his learning, translating songs from Japanese to English and viceversa was So Damn Tiring. Kevin still had to wait for a while if he wanted to check on Saeki, since Oshitari had asked him to wait until sundown to do so. But his ears were borderline burning... damn CD player. Using it for several hour straight was so stupid.
"I'll take a break..."
Stretching his arms, Kevin decided to go out for some moments. So, he skipped down the hallway quickly (oh, his legs really thanked him), inteding to reach the garden. But there was someone else there...
"... Shinji?", the younger boy stuttered. He was still alive after that odd sort-of breakdown? Thank God, but he looked like shit...
Oh, no no no, don't talk now! Shinji blinked and unscunched his eyes and looked up at....oh damn, who was that? He sat up, and his head swam and he tried hard to think through it. That was....someone snarky. And short. A little guy...the little young one! Oh damnit...
"You're...oh, come on stupid head, the little baby short guy with sunny hair...is...Kevin!" He was so damn proud of himself for all of five seconds, and then the memories started, as if he had turned a key. There was blood all over his hands and he had control of someone; was ripping apart their brain to get what he wanted and they were in a car, pulling up, and someone dragged him away and locked him in that room and there was blood everywhere and he could smell it but he couldn't hear anything, but...Kevin came in and let him out. And gave him his laptop. Kevin came...Kevin was a good guy? Maybe...Shinji curled in on himself, clutching at his head as a low whining sound made it out. His head felt ready to explode.
Oh, dear, WHAT now? Shinji... he was now on the floor... liek he waas dying... And shoot, Tachibana *had* to be out of the manor *right now*, and Kevin didn't know how to contact him...
In the verge of despair, Kevin was about to go and drag Shinji out of his funk by force, even if it meant knocking him out. And then, Kii came in, mewling and looking like he didn't really get what was going on. The boy confusedly stared at the blue kity, then scooped him up in his hands and placed him next to Shinji...
Let's see if this can calm him, sheesh... Shinji looks like he's dying and I don't want to hurt him to calm him down... Dammit, Shinji, GET OVER YOURSELF ALREADY...! No, calm yourself down, Kevin... or you won't help Shinji at all...
STOP IT! Shinji bellowed into every brain in the area, obliterating every thought at that moment, relieved by the sudden silence. Then his headache caved in on his brain again and he reached out, clutching Kii and trying not to just burst into stupid girly tears. He should have stayed inside. Kippei would have cleaned up Kii's mess. But he was probably scaring Kevin too and Kevin was just a little guy! Shinji sat up and grabbed his knees, curling tight in a little ball, trying to make the spinning in his skull stop.
"Sorry....sorry little Kevin."
WHAT the Hell was THAT?! Kevin's head suddenly felt like it was *exploding* in pain. Not only his head, but ever cell of his body. The blond boy had to cover his mouth to hold back the screams of pain that came up to his throat... No, he wouldn't start screaming, no, it'd make things worse... for Shinji and for him...
And it went away as soon as it came. Less than a moment, the pain tiself was gone, though he could feel it weakly reverberating through his very being. And Shinji was still there, now curled up and clutching on his cat like it was the last living thing on Earth.
Kevin fell on his knees and just stared at cat and blue-haired boy, unable to say anything until the pain was fully gone and he was coherent again.
What the hell was he doing, broadcasting what he was feeling to everyone? Damnit, what if Kippei felt that and came running back then he would get into trouble for leaving the room alone and Kippei would be upset because he got hurt and he wasn't there and think he had let him down again and that would be bad! He had to calm down, but his head wasn't thinking it was screaming and this was so not cool.
"Sorry," he gasped again, petting Kii and hoping he hadn't hurt anyone, least of all the silly near brainless little cat. Why was the cat still so little anyway? He should ask someone...later. "Are you okay?" He looked at Kevin with eyes brimming with tears.
Trying to calm down, Kevin opened his blue eyes and stared at the other man. He... he looked like he was about to cry. Why, dammit? He was the one who should've know better than calling out for Shinji when he damn *knew* the other was unstable. After all, he *had* helped Shinji to get out of the quiet room once, just after Tachibana got shot by the dumbass humans in the mall.
Unable to be angry at Shinji even with the remains of his headache, Kevin smiled weakly and nodded.
He was okay. That was good...right? Why would it be bad? Shinji had no idea. This was stupid. He should get up before he got stuck. Anyone could come along and then there would be more memories and he really didn't see how it could get worse, but he didn't want to challenge the power of worse either. But there was no way he could walk like this. He eyed Kevin for a moment, but that wasn't an option either. No leaning on Chibis. Shinji pushed himself up and his head immediately protested, eyes swimming and he crashed back into the ground, no balance whatsoever. Damnit!
Huh, there was no other option. If Kevin wanted Shinji to be okay, he'd have to help him to go back to his bedroom. It didn't seem that the other could do a lot to resist, anyway... So, struggling to get himself back in gear and keep his mind somewhat clear (otherwise Shinji would pick up his vibes and freak out again), the American slowly half-crawled, half.walked towards his friend (fighting back the dizziness that assaulted him briefly) and pulled both of them up to their feet.
"Let's go back," he whispered. "You, me, and Kii."
Shinji wanted to protest, but if he didn't get back to the room he was going to hurt Kippei, and he couldn't get back on his own, so he had to accept help. That grated, a little, but he nodded wearily and reached out, wrapping an arm around Kevin's shoulders and picking up Kii, then trying again. But the vertigo hit and he would have thrown up if he had eaten anything. Instead, he lost control of his powers again and accidentally broadcast his own agony onto Kevin again. He clamped down on it quickly, but tears escaped. He was hurting, and worse, he was hurting the one person trying to help him.
"Sorry! Oh...sorry, sorry, sorry!"
Fuck, not again. That fucking pain, goddammit, it was killing him. But Kevin was stubborn enough not to give up, tightening his grip on Shinji. No, he wouldn't leave the other there, crying and pained, when his boyfriend wasn't on sight and the others had their own affairs to attend (principally Kamio and Oshitari, what with just getting their own teddycat back).
"Shut up and just let me help you," he muttered through gritted teeth. "Don't worry about me, Shinji. I'm getting you back to your room no matter what."
This just sucked, in Shinji's opinion, but at least Kevin wasn't just dumping him there and running away, which would have been smarter. Shinji wasn't exactly a safe mutant to be around. He gripped Kii a little tighter to make sure he didn't drop him and just tried to relax long enough for Kevin to get them anywhere. Shinji couldn't even see, vision blurred as it was a static television and not the real world he was looking at. He wanted to say sorry again, but also didn't want to distract Kevin.
"Thanks."
One step... two steps... slowly, that was much better... and Shinji seemed a little calmer now... That was damn good in itself.
"You're welcome," Kevin said in a somewhat gentler voice, and continued walking towards the stairs and carrying his friend along. Stairs, ouch, this would be harder. But his strength was coming back to him now that the physical pain was going away, and if he took it calmly there would be no reason for Shinji picking up his bad vibes and freaking out again.
For Kevin, staying calm was still kinda hard due to his impulsive personality, and specially when his body still hurt... but damn, he was in charge of Shinji and Kii now, and couldn't afford to lose the rests of his cool. So...
One step up... another followed...
Stairs...oh that just sucked. Why were there stairs? Shinji stumbled on one and crashed into the wall, taking Keving with him, wincing as his head smacked against it, just making it worse, another bout of agony being sent thundering through everyone else. Damn it, control powers control powers control powers! Shinji snuggled Kii closer against his chest while he tried to right himself and Kevin. He decided that stairs were the devil.
"Stupid devil stairs...how do drunk people do this?"
Kevin braced himself as yet *another* wave of pain hit him. And yet again, he refused to scream or unleash his own powers. He mumbled something that he didn't really know if it was directed to either himself or Shinji (or damn, even to Kii... who knew), then he felt something salty on his lip. Oh, crap... he bit his lip to the point of bleeding, not wanting to yell.
"I don't think I want to know...," the blond murmured when Shinji asked something about drunk people and stupid stairs. A brief vision of his father getting drunk after a discussion with his mother years ago came to his mind, but Kevin made his best to block it as Shinji tried to make both of them go back on their feet. He vaguely smiled at Shinji, tightened his grip on his friend and continued going up the stairs, still slowly...
Walking walking walking.....was way overrated, in Shinji's opinion, but they reached the landing and it was easier to lean against the wall, walking along the hallway and there was his door! Thank god! Shinji fumbled for the handle and then laughed as Kii reached out a paw and pushed the handle down for him.
"Good kitty..." He stumbled in and walked crookedly straight into the bed, tumbling both Kevin and himself onto it with a loud groan at the jarring movement, but the bed smelt like Kippei and Kii and the room was familiar and thank god he was back and it was all thanks to Kevin. "Mmm...yer a good friend."
No more walking. Thank whoever was watching over the two mutant boys and the kitty who was with them. As he lied down on the bed, Kevin closed his eyes for some seconds, only then fully aknowledging how tired he was and how the physical pain was clinging to the rest of his body. Fweee, that was more than an adventure.
Then, he heard Shinji's voice. He opened his blue eyes and stared at the other boy, who also looked far better. This meant his effort wasn't in vain. Fantastic.
"Anytime, Shinji," he said, finally allowing himself to smile.
"Mmmm...." Shinji wriggled around until he could get under the blankets, smiling a little as he felt Kii rummaging around too, trying to crawl in with him, getting comfortable in the crook of Shinji's knee. Ah, blankets and Kippei's scent on the pillow and no damn memories. But what if giant spiders came in the room or a ninjq leapt through the window? Shinji bit his lip, trying to figure out why some small part of his brain thought that was unlikely.
"Kevin...you wanna stay a while?"
"Huh?" He looked up at Shinji, blinking a little. When he was sick or hurt, Kevin usually wanted to be left the Hell alone, but he supposed not everyone was that way. Besides, he didn't mind to just rest a little, after being stressed for days over the whole Saeki issue...
"Sure, why not?," and he smiled a little, sitting up on the bed, enjoying how the physical pain was now almost gone.
Relief washed through Shinji and he relaxed, settling more into the pillow and wondering when Kippei was going to be back. Maybe they could have a shower together or something, that would be nice and Kippei could give his head a massage and maybe the headache wouldn't be so bad.
"Why'd you let me out of the quiet room?"
Why? It wasn't easy to give an answer. Kevin's memories of those days were kinda fuzzy. He did remember spending several hours outside of the room, Waiting for Shinji to actually get out on his own, and then bailing him out when he got tired of waiting. And as to why he was tired...
"Because...," Kevin sighed a little, taking his time to answer, trying to recall the reasons themselves. He continued when he had the words somewhat clearer and the image of his 11-year-old self, curled up and crying by the door of the hospital room where his mother had just died, went away. "Because you were screaming back then. And then they locked you up and left you completely alone. I...I couldn't stand that."
There was a brief moment when Shinji picked up on a mini-Kevin, sitting curled up on the floor of a hospital next to a door....crying. Shinji couldn't imagine Kevin Smith crying. Inside...his mother was dead and he was alone, and then it was gone and Kevin had switched thoughts and Shinji sat up, just blinking at him and hoping he wasn't squashing Kii. He had been screaming, when he thought Kippei was gone and they were taking him away and leaving him alone...was that how Kevin had felt? Had he had his Kippei taken away...and not given back? Hadn't anyone come to get Kevin out of his quiet room? Was he still in one, figuratively speaking?
"You were so little...." He was little now, but Kevin had been even littler. "How do people not help someone so little?"
Huh? How did he know? Ah... Shinji's powers. And this time, he used them on Kevin without causing him any physical pain. In fact, the blond didn't even notice it until Shinji spoke.
Kevin closed his eyes. Fuck, even in those years he was angry, frustrated, confused. Specially after his mother died and Ryoma moved away. Tennis was his only salvation for three years, then he also lost it and landed himself in the Brotherhood. The first place he could really call home. Not even his ex-teammates and his relatives in Philadelphia were to him as importnat as the ones he had met in this manor.
"... I...". He lightly kicked the floor with his left foot, breathig in deeply and speaking in an unusually quiet voice. "As a kid, I wasn't exactly easy to interact with, and was too much to handle for both adults and children, and the few ones who could handle me... they left. And in a sense, I still am that way. I don't think I'll ever change that part of me."
"Why would you?" Shinji frowned. Just because Kevin was a ratbag little mini fireball didn't mean he was any less deserving of love and affection or basic mutant kindness. "You were little and someone should have been nice to you..." That was the be all and end all of it to Shinji. "I dont go stomping on Kii just because he wants to go out and pee in the middle of the night."
"The only logical answer is that everyone out there was too wrapped up in his or her own troubles, whatever they were, in those days. From my father to my best friend... Even I was into that... and I wanted to get the hell out of there. Boarding school helped a big deal... both the American one and this one."
He smiled. A sad, somewhat bitter smile. "It's odd. I didn't even know you guys existed here, yet... I can hardly imagine myself far from you all. None of you are my blood relatives, yet you guys are more like my family than those I still have left."
Kevin still somewhat cared for his grandparents and his cousin Emily. They were relatively decent people, as well as mutants like him. But he knew clearly that he'd never fully consider them as his real family; his grandparents didn't do a lot for Kevin's mother, Melissa, when she was dying, and only contacted him around six months ago, after years of silence. And George Smith, his father... well, he was dead, so Kevin couldn't do a lot about that. And he wasn't sure if he'd do a lot about this point, were he alive.
Shinji blinked, something suddenly occurring to him. He tried to remember something....anything at all, but there was nothing there, not even a headache. Startled, Shinji slid out of bed and stumbled into the chest of drawers, cursing softly and wishing his head would get over itself. He rummaged through the draws, then the closet, then under the bed until he collapsed on the floor in defeat. Maybe he wasn't born? Maybe that was why he didn't remember anything like that.
"I dont...remember...my family. Did I have one?" He frowned. "I have one. Here....but arent I supposed to remember...." It was so weird, that complete blankness. Was that what it felt like, when he obliterated things completely? Were people out there walking around with nothing in their heads, thanks to him? Weird.
Kevin stood up and walked up at his friend. "If you didn't have one, you wouldn't be here. But where and who they are... those are different bussiness, Shinji. And I don't think you should waste energy into wondering such things right now. You just lost the grip on your powers, man, leave it for another moment."
At least Kevin still could remember his parents, grandparents and cousin. Shinji couldn't remember anything outside of the Brotherhood, or at least that seemed to be the case. And the blond had not way to help him, in that sense; maybe the creepy doctor Banji could, but that was another subject.
Shinji sighed explosively, realising Kevin was right. He got up slowly and wandered back over to the bed, flopping down on it.
"I guess....I mean, its probably better here anyway. I have Kippei and everyone...nothing could ever be better than that." But it still made Shinji wonder just because it was something he didn't know.
Kevin sat not to far away from his friend, also sighing. He still felt a weak pain and his temples were slightly pulsating, but he brushed it away as a sort of consequence that would soon be gone. What mattered was something else... Shinji (and by gum, Kii) were safe now. Not only Tachibana would've been majorly upset if something happened to his boyfriend, but the American youth would've not been able to forgive himself for allowing this to happen.
Something wet touched his fingertips. Ah, it was Kii's tongue. Kevin smiled and just allowed the kitty to do so, watching him rather absent-mindedly. Hopefully this was *not* the calm before the big-ass storm...
Shinji eyed Kevin a little cautiously...he was still hurting a little and that was Shinji's fault but the pain had only lasted a little bit...and Kii was fine, happily sucking the small remnant of milky scent off Kevin's fingers, no doubt from breakfast or something. So they were both fine, and Shinji wanted to know, or at least try, so he turned away, pretended no one was in the room and pushed every barrier in his head he had, trying to hunt down any trace of a memory about his family. His head exploded in agony and he completely lost control of his powers, and everything else, passing out from the pain while his powers were still exploding, transmitting the pain to anyone in the vicinity and blissfully unaware of what he was doing.
... The idiot. The goddamned *idiot*! After the flash of blinding pain crossed his whole body and left almost immediately, Kevin could barely drag himself into a sitting position and grab Kii, who tensed completely and almost scratched the blond's hand when he did so. Shinji... damn, but wasn't he an expert in the art of fucking up things when they were going fine?!
Cursing to himself, Kevin put Kii back on the floor and went towards the unconscious blue-haired man. "Damn you, Shinji," he muttered as he managed to tuck Shinji into bed, covering him with the blankets. When done, he grabbed Kii again and placed him on Shinji's pillow, close to the other guy's head.
"Sheesh, Kii..One hell of an owner you got there," and he sat not too far away from them, still eyeing both boy and cat.
Kii looked from Kevin to Shinji and back again, then batted Kevin's hand and stared licking his fingers again. He was rather used to the stabs of pain...at first he thought he was going to die but then Shinji started spazzing and he thought Shinji was going to die. He had tried to tell Tachibana, but the big oaf ignored him most of the time so Kii had settled for licking Shinji's toes to try and make it better. When that hadn't worked he had given up and settled for acting as if nothing was wrong. Now Shinji was unconcious and the power bleeding seemed to have stopped for the moment, and he had a Kevin to play with until Tachibana got back, and Kevin had fingers that smelt like milk. Perfect!
Rating: PG
Summary: Kevin helps a rather unstable Shinji (and by gum, Kii), to go back to his room. And accidentally, both boys see sides of each other that they don't want anyone to know about.
Kippei was out somewhere...Shinji had forgotten where, but it had been a while now so he probably went to class or to train for a bit or just to get some fresh air. Shinji had been half asleep and told him to go and then fallen back to sleep but he wasn't asleep anymore and he sat on the bed, looking around blearily. Kii kept whining at him and scratching at the door...oh yeah...cat toilet break.
Shinji slowly got up and tracked down shoes and wandered over to pick up Kii, petting him and nuzzling him a little, talking to him in silent, gentle tones as he opened the door and wandered down the hallway cautiously, out the door and into the garden. Memories instantly hit him of all the times he had walked out that door and into the little garden and lawn area and watched Kii do his business in the garden and then played and waited for Kippei and talked to people and oh geez, this just sucked. Shinji dumped Kii in the garden and flopped down on the lawn, staring at the sky, immediately assaulted with memories of every time he had lain on his back and stared at the sky. A frustrated yowl escaped him and he clenched his eyes shut.
Phew, effective as it was for his learning, translating songs from Japanese to English and viceversa was So Damn Tiring. Kevin still had to wait for a while if he wanted to check on Saeki, since Oshitari had asked him to wait until sundown to do so. But his ears were borderline burning... damn CD player. Using it for several hour straight was so stupid.
"I'll take a break..."
Stretching his arms, Kevin decided to go out for some moments. So, he skipped down the hallway quickly (oh, his legs really thanked him), inteding to reach the garden. But there was someone else there...
"... Shinji?", the younger boy stuttered. He was still alive after that odd sort-of breakdown? Thank God, but he looked like shit...
Oh, no no no, don't talk now! Shinji blinked and unscunched his eyes and looked up at....oh damn, who was that? He sat up, and his head swam and he tried hard to think through it. That was....someone snarky. And short. A little guy...the little young one! Oh damnit...
"You're...oh, come on stupid head, the little baby short guy with sunny hair...is...Kevin!" He was so damn proud of himself for all of five seconds, and then the memories started, as if he had turned a key. There was blood all over his hands and he had control of someone; was ripping apart their brain to get what he wanted and they were in a car, pulling up, and someone dragged him away and locked him in that room and there was blood everywhere and he could smell it but he couldn't hear anything, but...Kevin came in and let him out. And gave him his laptop. Kevin came...Kevin was a good guy? Maybe...Shinji curled in on himself, clutching at his head as a low whining sound made it out. His head felt ready to explode.
Oh, dear, WHAT now? Shinji... he was now on the floor... liek he waas dying... And shoot, Tachibana *had* to be out of the manor *right now*, and Kevin didn't know how to contact him...
In the verge of despair, Kevin was about to go and drag Shinji out of his funk by force, even if it meant knocking him out. And then, Kii came in, mewling and looking like he didn't really get what was going on. The boy confusedly stared at the blue kity, then scooped him up in his hands and placed him next to Shinji...
Let's see if this can calm him, sheesh... Shinji looks like he's dying and I don't want to hurt him to calm him down... Dammit, Shinji, GET OVER YOURSELF ALREADY...! No, calm yourself down, Kevin... or you won't help Shinji at all...
STOP IT! Shinji bellowed into every brain in the area, obliterating every thought at that moment, relieved by the sudden silence. Then his headache caved in on his brain again and he reached out, clutching Kii and trying not to just burst into stupid girly tears. He should have stayed inside. Kippei would have cleaned up Kii's mess. But he was probably scaring Kevin too and Kevin was just a little guy! Shinji sat up and grabbed his knees, curling tight in a little ball, trying to make the spinning in his skull stop.
"Sorry....sorry little Kevin."
WHAT the Hell was THAT?! Kevin's head suddenly felt like it was *exploding* in pain. Not only his head, but ever cell of his body. The blond boy had to cover his mouth to hold back the screams of pain that came up to his throat... No, he wouldn't start screaming, no, it'd make things worse... for Shinji and for him...
And it went away as soon as it came. Less than a moment, the pain tiself was gone, though he could feel it weakly reverberating through his very being. And Shinji was still there, now curled up and clutching on his cat like it was the last living thing on Earth.
Kevin fell on his knees and just stared at cat and blue-haired boy, unable to say anything until the pain was fully gone and he was coherent again.
What the hell was he doing, broadcasting what he was feeling to everyone? Damnit, what if Kippei felt that and came running back then he would get into trouble for leaving the room alone and Kippei would be upset because he got hurt and he wasn't there and think he had let him down again and that would be bad! He had to calm down, but his head wasn't thinking it was screaming and this was so not cool.
"Sorry," he gasped again, petting Kii and hoping he hadn't hurt anyone, least of all the silly near brainless little cat. Why was the cat still so little anyway? He should ask someone...later. "Are you okay?" He looked at Kevin with eyes brimming with tears.
Trying to calm down, Kevin opened his blue eyes and stared at the other man. He... he looked like he was about to cry. Why, dammit? He was the one who should've know better than calling out for Shinji when he damn *knew* the other was unstable. After all, he *had* helped Shinji to get out of the quiet room once, just after Tachibana got shot by the dumbass humans in the mall.
Unable to be angry at Shinji even with the remains of his headache, Kevin smiled weakly and nodded.
He was okay. That was good...right? Why would it be bad? Shinji had no idea. This was stupid. He should get up before he got stuck. Anyone could come along and then there would be more memories and he really didn't see how it could get worse, but he didn't want to challenge the power of worse either. But there was no way he could walk like this. He eyed Kevin for a moment, but that wasn't an option either. No leaning on Chibis. Shinji pushed himself up and his head immediately protested, eyes swimming and he crashed back into the ground, no balance whatsoever. Damnit!
Huh, there was no other option. If Kevin wanted Shinji to be okay, he'd have to help him to go back to his bedroom. It didn't seem that the other could do a lot to resist, anyway... So, struggling to get himself back in gear and keep his mind somewhat clear (otherwise Shinji would pick up his vibes and freak out again), the American slowly half-crawled, half.walked towards his friend (fighting back the dizziness that assaulted him briefly) and pulled both of them up to their feet.
"Let's go back," he whispered. "You, me, and Kii."
Shinji wanted to protest, but if he didn't get back to the room he was going to hurt Kippei, and he couldn't get back on his own, so he had to accept help. That grated, a little, but he nodded wearily and reached out, wrapping an arm around Kevin's shoulders and picking up Kii, then trying again. But the vertigo hit and he would have thrown up if he had eaten anything. Instead, he lost control of his powers again and accidentally broadcast his own agony onto Kevin again. He clamped down on it quickly, but tears escaped. He was hurting, and worse, he was hurting the one person trying to help him.
"Sorry! Oh...sorry, sorry, sorry!"
Fuck, not again. That fucking pain, goddammit, it was killing him. But Kevin was stubborn enough not to give up, tightening his grip on Shinji. No, he wouldn't leave the other there, crying and pained, when his boyfriend wasn't on sight and the others had their own affairs to attend (principally Kamio and Oshitari, what with just getting their own teddycat back).
"Shut up and just let me help you," he muttered through gritted teeth. "Don't worry about me, Shinji. I'm getting you back to your room no matter what."
This just sucked, in Shinji's opinion, but at least Kevin wasn't just dumping him there and running away, which would have been smarter. Shinji wasn't exactly a safe mutant to be around. He gripped Kii a little tighter to make sure he didn't drop him and just tried to relax long enough for Kevin to get them anywhere. Shinji couldn't even see, vision blurred as it was a static television and not the real world he was looking at. He wanted to say sorry again, but also didn't want to distract Kevin.
"Thanks."
One step... two steps... slowly, that was much better... and Shinji seemed a little calmer now... That was damn good in itself.
"You're welcome," Kevin said in a somewhat gentler voice, and continued walking towards the stairs and carrying his friend along. Stairs, ouch, this would be harder. But his strength was coming back to him now that the physical pain was going away, and if he took it calmly there would be no reason for Shinji picking up his bad vibes and freaking out again.
For Kevin, staying calm was still kinda hard due to his impulsive personality, and specially when his body still hurt... but damn, he was in charge of Shinji and Kii now, and couldn't afford to lose the rests of his cool. So...
One step up... another followed...
Stairs...oh that just sucked. Why were there stairs? Shinji stumbled on one and crashed into the wall, taking Keving with him, wincing as his head smacked against it, just making it worse, another bout of agony being sent thundering through everyone else. Damn it, control powers control powers control powers! Shinji snuggled Kii closer against his chest while he tried to right himself and Kevin. He decided that stairs were the devil.
"Stupid devil stairs...how do drunk people do this?"
Kevin braced himself as yet *another* wave of pain hit him. And yet again, he refused to scream or unleash his own powers. He mumbled something that he didn't really know if it was directed to either himself or Shinji (or damn, even to Kii... who knew), then he felt something salty on his lip. Oh, crap... he bit his lip to the point of bleeding, not wanting to yell.
"I don't think I want to know...," the blond murmured when Shinji asked something about drunk people and stupid stairs. A brief vision of his father getting drunk after a discussion with his mother years ago came to his mind, but Kevin made his best to block it as Shinji tried to make both of them go back on their feet. He vaguely smiled at Shinji, tightened his grip on his friend and continued going up the stairs, still slowly...
Walking walking walking.....was way overrated, in Shinji's opinion, but they reached the landing and it was easier to lean against the wall, walking along the hallway and there was his door! Thank god! Shinji fumbled for the handle and then laughed as Kii reached out a paw and pushed the handle down for him.
"Good kitty..." He stumbled in and walked crookedly straight into the bed, tumbling both Kevin and himself onto it with a loud groan at the jarring movement, but the bed smelt like Kippei and Kii and the room was familiar and thank god he was back and it was all thanks to Kevin. "Mmm...yer a good friend."
No more walking. Thank whoever was watching over the two mutant boys and the kitty who was with them. As he lied down on the bed, Kevin closed his eyes for some seconds, only then fully aknowledging how tired he was and how the physical pain was clinging to the rest of his body. Fweee, that was more than an adventure.
Then, he heard Shinji's voice. He opened his blue eyes and stared at the other boy, who also looked far better. This meant his effort wasn't in vain. Fantastic.
"Anytime, Shinji," he said, finally allowing himself to smile.
"Mmmm...." Shinji wriggled around until he could get under the blankets, smiling a little as he felt Kii rummaging around too, trying to crawl in with him, getting comfortable in the crook of Shinji's knee. Ah, blankets and Kippei's scent on the pillow and no damn memories. But what if giant spiders came in the room or a ninjq leapt through the window? Shinji bit his lip, trying to figure out why some small part of his brain thought that was unlikely.
"Kevin...you wanna stay a while?"
"Huh?" He looked up at Shinji, blinking a little. When he was sick or hurt, Kevin usually wanted to be left the Hell alone, but he supposed not everyone was that way. Besides, he didn't mind to just rest a little, after being stressed for days over the whole Saeki issue...
"Sure, why not?," and he smiled a little, sitting up on the bed, enjoying how the physical pain was now almost gone.
Relief washed through Shinji and he relaxed, settling more into the pillow and wondering when Kippei was going to be back. Maybe they could have a shower together or something, that would be nice and Kippei could give his head a massage and maybe the headache wouldn't be so bad.
"Why'd you let me out of the quiet room?"
Why? It wasn't easy to give an answer. Kevin's memories of those days were kinda fuzzy. He did remember spending several hours outside of the room, Waiting for Shinji to actually get out on his own, and then bailing him out when he got tired of waiting. And as to why he was tired...
"Because...," Kevin sighed a little, taking his time to answer, trying to recall the reasons themselves. He continued when he had the words somewhat clearer and the image of his 11-year-old self, curled up and crying by the door of the hospital room where his mother had just died, went away. "Because you were screaming back then. And then they locked you up and left you completely alone. I...I couldn't stand that."
There was a brief moment when Shinji picked up on a mini-Kevin, sitting curled up on the floor of a hospital next to a door....crying. Shinji couldn't imagine Kevin Smith crying. Inside...his mother was dead and he was alone, and then it was gone and Kevin had switched thoughts and Shinji sat up, just blinking at him and hoping he wasn't squashing Kii. He had been screaming, when he thought Kippei was gone and they were taking him away and leaving him alone...was that how Kevin had felt? Had he had his Kippei taken away...and not given back? Hadn't anyone come to get Kevin out of his quiet room? Was he still in one, figuratively speaking?
"You were so little...." He was little now, but Kevin had been even littler. "How do people not help someone so little?"
Huh? How did he know? Ah... Shinji's powers. And this time, he used them on Kevin without causing him any physical pain. In fact, the blond didn't even notice it until Shinji spoke.
Kevin closed his eyes. Fuck, even in those years he was angry, frustrated, confused. Specially after his mother died and Ryoma moved away. Tennis was his only salvation for three years, then he also lost it and landed himself in the Brotherhood. The first place he could really call home. Not even his ex-teammates and his relatives in Philadelphia were to him as importnat as the ones he had met in this manor.
"... I...". He lightly kicked the floor with his left foot, breathig in deeply and speaking in an unusually quiet voice. "As a kid, I wasn't exactly easy to interact with, and was too much to handle for both adults and children, and the few ones who could handle me... they left. And in a sense, I still am that way. I don't think I'll ever change that part of me."
"Why would you?" Shinji frowned. Just because Kevin was a ratbag little mini fireball didn't mean he was any less deserving of love and affection or basic mutant kindness. "You were little and someone should have been nice to you..." That was the be all and end all of it to Shinji. "I dont go stomping on Kii just because he wants to go out and pee in the middle of the night."
"The only logical answer is that everyone out there was too wrapped up in his or her own troubles, whatever they were, in those days. From my father to my best friend... Even I was into that... and I wanted to get the hell out of there. Boarding school helped a big deal... both the American one and this one."
He smiled. A sad, somewhat bitter smile. "It's odd. I didn't even know you guys existed here, yet... I can hardly imagine myself far from you all. None of you are my blood relatives, yet you guys are more like my family than those I still have left."
Kevin still somewhat cared for his grandparents and his cousin Emily. They were relatively decent people, as well as mutants like him. But he knew clearly that he'd never fully consider them as his real family; his grandparents didn't do a lot for Kevin's mother, Melissa, when she was dying, and only contacted him around six months ago, after years of silence. And George Smith, his father... well, he was dead, so Kevin couldn't do a lot about that. And he wasn't sure if he'd do a lot about this point, were he alive.
Shinji blinked, something suddenly occurring to him. He tried to remember something....anything at all, but there was nothing there, not even a headache. Startled, Shinji slid out of bed and stumbled into the chest of drawers, cursing softly and wishing his head would get over itself. He rummaged through the draws, then the closet, then under the bed until he collapsed on the floor in defeat. Maybe he wasn't born? Maybe that was why he didn't remember anything like that.
"I dont...remember...my family. Did I have one?" He frowned. "I have one. Here....but arent I supposed to remember...." It was so weird, that complete blankness. Was that what it felt like, when he obliterated things completely? Were people out there walking around with nothing in their heads, thanks to him? Weird.
Kevin stood up and walked up at his friend. "If you didn't have one, you wouldn't be here. But where and who they are... those are different bussiness, Shinji. And I don't think you should waste energy into wondering such things right now. You just lost the grip on your powers, man, leave it for another moment."
At least Kevin still could remember his parents, grandparents and cousin. Shinji couldn't remember anything outside of the Brotherhood, or at least that seemed to be the case. And the blond had not way to help him, in that sense; maybe the creepy doctor Banji could, but that was another subject.
Shinji sighed explosively, realising Kevin was right. He got up slowly and wandered back over to the bed, flopping down on it.
"I guess....I mean, its probably better here anyway. I have Kippei and everyone...nothing could ever be better than that." But it still made Shinji wonder just because it was something he didn't know.
Kevin sat not to far away from his friend, also sighing. He still felt a weak pain and his temples were slightly pulsating, but he brushed it away as a sort of consequence that would soon be gone. What mattered was something else... Shinji (and by gum, Kii) were safe now. Not only Tachibana would've been majorly upset if something happened to his boyfriend, but the American youth would've not been able to forgive himself for allowing this to happen.
Something wet touched his fingertips. Ah, it was Kii's tongue. Kevin smiled and just allowed the kitty to do so, watching him rather absent-mindedly. Hopefully this was *not* the calm before the big-ass storm...
Shinji eyed Kevin a little cautiously...he was still hurting a little and that was Shinji's fault but the pain had only lasted a little bit...and Kii was fine, happily sucking the small remnant of milky scent off Kevin's fingers, no doubt from breakfast or something. So they were both fine, and Shinji wanted to know, or at least try, so he turned away, pretended no one was in the room and pushed every barrier in his head he had, trying to hunt down any trace of a memory about his family. His head exploded in agony and he completely lost control of his powers, and everything else, passing out from the pain while his powers were still exploding, transmitting the pain to anyone in the vicinity and blissfully unaware of what he was doing.
... The idiot. The goddamned *idiot*! After the flash of blinding pain crossed his whole body and left almost immediately, Kevin could barely drag himself into a sitting position and grab Kii, who tensed completely and almost scratched the blond's hand when he did so. Shinji... damn, but wasn't he an expert in the art of fucking up things when they were going fine?!
Cursing to himself, Kevin put Kii back on the floor and went towards the unconscious blue-haired man. "Damn you, Shinji," he muttered as he managed to tuck Shinji into bed, covering him with the blankets. When done, he grabbed Kii again and placed him on Shinji's pillow, close to the other guy's head.
"Sheesh, Kii..One hell of an owner you got there," and he sat not too far away from them, still eyeing both boy and cat.
Kii looked from Kevin to Shinji and back again, then batted Kevin's hand and stared licking his fingers again. He was rather used to the stabs of pain...at first he thought he was going to die but then Shinji started spazzing and he thought Shinji was going to die. He had tried to tell Tachibana, but the big oaf ignored him most of the time so Kii had settled for licking Shinji's toes to try and make it better. When that hadn't worked he had given up and settled for acting as if nothing was wrong. Now Shinji was unconcious and the power bleeding seemed to have stopped for the moment, and he had a Kevin to play with until Tachibana got back, and Kevin had fingers that smelt like milk. Perfect!