We had no time to say goodbye (no event)

[rideonmyharley]

Kia sat in an open area near the greenhouse and lit another cigarette. There were already a dozen butts crumpled in the ashtray next to him. He didn't know when it had happened, but Ran was gone. Just when he'd thought he'd broken the last bit of ice and had been about to hear the words he'd managed to pull from every other person he'd pushed

Comments

[moon_flicker]

Upset friend senses tingling!

Zelkova wandered by to find Kia looking despondent, and immediately felt the everpresent smile leave his face. Quietly, he took a seat beside the man and just shared his presence, feeling that speaking would probably not help things.

[rideonmyharley]

The very thing he'd been worried about the last time they'd spoken had happened. Seeing Zelkova was a painful reminder of that brief conversation. All of the people Kia barely knew stayed and the ones closest to him left. That seemed to be the way his life went.

He smiled sadly at him. "You can probably guess what's wrong," Kia said softly.

[moon_flicker]

"Yeah, you don't need to say anything. I'll listen if you do want to talk, though." He said softly, looking up at him with understanding in his yellow eyes.

[rideonmyharley]

Kia just sighed. "There's really nothing to say. I went to see him early this week and there were other people using his room to fuck. The things he'd left there were gone, too." So much progress and effort for nothing. Knowing that it would happen didn't make it any better when it was real.

[moon_flicker]

Zelkova said nothing as he listened, just continuing to stare at the floor. When Kia finished, the boy brought his legs up and crossed them in his chair. "No one's looking. You can cry if you need to." He told him, though he doubted he would. "I'm sorry it turned out this way."

[rideonmyharley]

The last time he'd cried had been when he'd learned that his mother was still alive, not dead as he'd believed for nearly a decade. Losing Ran hurt, but he couldn't let himself be that vulnerable around someone he hardly knew.

"I don't need to cry, Zelkova." If it happened, it would be while he was alone later. "I don't really know what I need right now."

[moon_flicker]

Silent for a moment, Zelkova stood before walking in front of Kia and pulling him into a hug. When he was sad, this kind of thing always helped, so maybe it would help Kia.

Fff, Kia has no hugging scenes I can icon

[rideonmyharley]

Kia returned the hug tightly. Sure, he didn't know Zelkova as well as he did other people, but the kid was still one of the faces he'd seen and been around the most in his months here. He rested his head on Zelkova's shoulder. "Last time, you mentioned there was someone you couldn't really be with. How did that end?"

All that sex and no hugging. It's kind of funny.

[moon_flicker]

Hugging him tighter, he smiled a bit sadly. "He's not here. He was never here, so nothing's ended. I do miss him... I miss everyone from home, really." He said, running his fingers through Kia's hair.

Well, he gets other cute ones, just no hugs

[rideonmyharley]

It felt nice to have this sort of contact with someone, even if Zelkova didn't have any interest in him as more than a friend. "I got to go home for a bit. I thought this place was just a dream I could barely remember."

[moon_flicker]

That sad smile never left his face. "Were you happy when you got to go back?" He asked, trying to avoid talking about his own situation.

[rideonmyharley]

"It was like this never happened. I was as happy as I'd been before coming here. Ignorance is bliss, or something like that." He managed to faintly smile and kept Zelkova close.

[moon_flicker]

He didn't speak what was going through his mind at that moment. Kia probably had thought of it already; that Ran was probably experiencing the same thing.

"I... actually like it here... I miss everyone back home, but everything's real here." I'm real. The last part he added mentally, burying his face in the crook of Kia's neck.

[rideonmyharley]

It was exactly what Kia was thinking, and it was the most painful part, knowing that Ran wouldn't remember everything he'd done to get through his barriers.

"What's that supposed to mean? Things should be more real home than in here." Kia raised an eyebrow.

[moon_flicker]

Well, he'd try to explain, but he doubted Kia would understand. "Remember how I said that I'm not real in my world?" He began, crawling into Kia's lap and just hugging him. "My world... was created by the people of a different one, and exists within a computer. In the simplest sense, I'm nothing more than data, a program."

[rideonmyharley]

Kia toyed with Zelkova's hair when the boy settled in his lap and tried to understand the explanation. He didn't really know what computers were; in his time, they were the stuff of new researchers and science fiction stories that he didn't care to read.

"I don't know what much of that means," he muttered, but he thought he understood enough of it. It seemed like more of the "other worlds" talk he'd heard from people here more than once.