[Fanfiction] Moon Children Chronicles 03 (Moonchild)
Title: Moon Children Chronicles 03: Candles
Warnings: fluff, some dirty language
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Kei, Sho
Disclaimer: The movie Moonchild and its characters are sole property of their creators. I have no rights to them whatsoever. This story merely borrows them. I make no money with this story.
Note: All Parts of the MCC-series are standalones and can be read seperately.
Summary: The fire had already spread far too much by the time Kei came back home.
HAPPY (belated) BIRTHDAY TO
plain_ornament !!!
This is for you, love. I hope you had a wonderful birthday. May the coming year leave you just as amazing, awesome and inspiring has I have gotten to know you this year. *hugs* I love you!.
MCC Part 01: Calamity
MCC Part 02: Treasure
Moon Children Chronicles
Part 03: Candles
~*~
The flames were reaching for the sky already. Like a satin sheet their red gleam had covered the surrounding buildings in deep, bright reds and oranges and yellows, chasing away the darkness of the night. The fire hissed like an angry flame and cackled like a horde of evil imps, reaching out and beckoning. Dare to move closer and you would be engulfed.
Siren's were blazing as the firemen took the battle to their archnemesis. People already gathered to watch the old warehouse burn down. Some drunk young men were cheering, a woman sobbed, and the policemen stuck to their coffee. It was too much trouble to find the culprit anyway. Who cared about some empty warehouse?
The heat radiated far. Although the little family had taken refuge on the roof of an apartment building across the street, they could feel the flames on their skin. A small boy of maybe twelve or thirteen years stared at the blazing fire with wide eyes. When his chin was grabbed to force his head around, he bit his lip.
„It wasn't my fault!“ he exclaimed as punishment rained down on him.
Kei touched the handkerchief with his tongue to wet it before he scrubbed the grime off of Sho's cheeks. The boy grimaced and tried to turn his face away. Kei's iron grip wasn't painful but relentless nontheless.
The silence was more heavy than any words Kei could have spoken. The small boy flinched and dared to look up into green, serious eyes. The vampire's pale skin was a stark contrast to the black grime and the angry red marks slowly fading away as they healed. Behind them Toshi and Shinji had fallen into uneasy sleep from exhaustion and fear.
~*~
„Watch out!“
Kei pulls Toshi towards him just in time as a wooden beam crashes to the ground where the boy just stood. The vampire shields the child from the greedy flames with his body, though he can't help the gasp of pain as a fiery tongue flicks across his back. There are blisters on his face already from when he has pulled Shinji away from a crumbling door.
He crouches down, one eye on the three frightened children and the other on the quickly spreading fire in the background.
„Don't be scared now.“ His voice is calm and reassuring, because that's what his little ones need right now. „Come here.“ Sho is the first in his arms, shaking and clinging to the vampire. Then comes Toshi. Kei has no patience tonight, so he just pulls Shinji to him by force. „Hold on tightly.“
The danger is not to bad, not with him holding the children. Still it's a dire situation, and Kei needs them to understand that. They cling to him and he takes a deep breath before he jumps. For the kids it's just a matter of seconds before they safely land on the platform leading to the fire escape. For Kei it's half an eternity. He can see every flickering movement of flames, every wall that is about to give in, every threat to the frail lives in his arms.
He can see the tiny home they've built for themselves burning, even the cake consumed by flames and heat. He mourns the loss, but he knows it's going to be alright. As long as the three heartbeats he holds close are not silenced, his world will keep spinning.
~*~
Sho fought the tears with all his strength then, which prompted Kei not to mention them. Instead he brushed dirty bangs from a forehead desperately calling for a bath. His gaze lingered for a while. The boy had been foolish and had burnt the whole warehouse down. Kei had made sure the boys knew all about the dangers of fire ever since he had first caught them glancing at his lighter.
And still there had been all those candles, and the fire had already spread far too much by the time Kei came back home. For a terrifying moment he had believed everything to be lost, until he could pick up the scent of his children above the smell of fire, smoke and danger.
For the third time since he had carried them up here, Kei's hands ghosted over Sho, checking for injuries the rational part of him knew were not there. There was another side of him, though, part his inner beast and the human long dead. That side was shaken and riled up by what had happened. It was an inner need to make sure his little ones had made it out alive, this one especially.
Maybe it made him a bad person that although each loss would cut him apart, he knew Sho's death would be the only one he wouldn't overcome eventually.
“I told you about playing with fire, Sho.” Kei's voice was barely more than a whisper. The boy wished he'd be yelled at. This was so much worse.
The first tears spilled.
“But... you said... five hundred...”
~*~
“Ne, Kei?”
The vampire holds the tiny flame of his lighter to his cigarette, waits until it flares up and then glances at Sho. The boy has been unusually fidgety and nervous these past couple of days. Whatever is up with him? Not being able to figure that much out bugs Kei to no end.
“Hm?”
“If it was your birthday...”
Kei rolls his eyes. Not that again. They've already talked about this a few days ago. The topic has darkened his mood considerably already. But how do you tell a child to fuck off? Hm. Maybe he should actually do just that. Then again, Sho already has a filthy mouth and telling him to fuck off would ruin Kei's parental efforts.
Not that he ever succeeds in anything but getting them even more interested in the stuff they are not supposed to be interested in.
Cigarettes.
Alcohol.
Guns.
Him.
“... how many candles would there be on your cake?”
“Too many.”
“How many?”
“A lot.”
Sho stangs in front of Kei and crosses his arms. He taps his foot, just once. The vampire's eyes nearly bulge when he recognizes the stance as the one he himself adopts when he wants the three boys to tell him who the fuck ruined his favourite shirt or who the fuck thought it was funny to play soccer with the toilet paper or why the fuck half the furniture is covered in bubble wrap.
Kei raises his hands in defeat. “Fine. Five hundred. Now fuck off.”
And damn, he has said it after all. Hopefully Sho's ears fail him for once. However, the way the boy beams and runs off in happy excitement causes such a happy little flutter in Kei's stomach that he can't bring himself to listen to the nagging voice telling him this would come back to bite him in the ass.
~*~
“Sho...” He should have known better then to give the boy a random number that was impossible to fit on a birthday cake if measured in candles. Kei's hands took a gentle hold of Sho's face, thumbs stroking away the tears. “Come here, crybaby.” With a tenderness he rarely allowed to show he wrapped the child in his arms and held him close.
An affectionate kiss landed atop Sho's head and made him look up.
“I apologize”, Kei murmured and ruffled the boy's hair to distract him. “You've made a mistake, but it was my fault, too. Still, why did you consider it a good idea to stick five hundred candles on a tiny little cake and light them in the middle of an old warehouse?”
With teary eyes Sho looked up at the blonde vampire and sniffled pitifully. “I j-just wanted... t-to do something special... for your b-b-b-birthday!”
~*~
Kei is counting their money. He sits on the floor in front of the small wobbly table they call their own and is more than tempted to bang his head against the cheap wood in utter frustration. He still does not make enough to afford rent each month, especially if he wants to stay out of the really bad neighbourhoods for the children's sake. Living in this warehouse was meant to be a short term solution. Hitting larger targets for more money means victims, though, and while the vampire in him cherishes the thought and tries to egg him on, the human wants to avoid that sort of bloodshed.
How can he come home to his children if he is even more of a murderer?
Speaking of which...
Kei smirks as he hears the jingling behind him. Of course, he has been aware of Sho's attempt to sneak up for a while now. The boy is supposed to learn how to sneak up on humans though, so Kei has pretended his keen senses haven't picked up on the game yet. The bracelet would have given the boy away to a human.
“Better. But not good enough.”
Without looking Kei can tell Sho pouts at once and he has a hard time keeping the grin at bay that threatens to light up his whole face. Sho sits down and stares angrily at his bracelet. It seems the tiny daggers clink against each other just to spite him.
“You'll get the hang of it eventually. It's only been a week since your birthday. If you keep practising...” Kei nods at the determination showing in Sho's brown eyes. The bracelet has been a gift from the vampire to his favourite little cub - annoying brat though he can be - and the boy actually seems to treasure this new possession above anything else.
“Kei, when is YOUR birthday?”
The question catches him off guard. A lot of more or less pleasant memories are dragged to the surface to haunt Kei. When he has collected himself enough to answer, he has to swallow a lump in his throat.
“I don't know” he answers evenly, voice not betraying the sad reality. I don't remember. I've tried too hard not to care, not to keep count...
Sho looks stricken as though this is something incredibly sad. Kei can practically smell the tears forming in the boy's eyes, so he reaches out and tugs on the bracelet. The daggers tinkle and remind the child that there's something else to focus on. Sho rushes off to practice sneaking up on Kei some more and the vampires makes sure not to let his shoulders slump.
Birthdays...
~*~
For a few precious seconds Kei was silenced. The facts took a moment to make it through the haze of danger and potential threats to his children's lives. Slowly everything sunk in as he glanced over towards the burning warehouse.
Sho had made up a birthday for him because the boy had not been able to accept the fact that the vampire was without that special day to celebrate. Somehow he had gotten a cake and 500 candles and had attempted to light them all at once and stick them on the cake.
Fuck.
This boy was a nut case.
With a hand on the back of Sho's head Kei made sure the boy's face was pressed close to his chest. The little one didn't need to see the vampire blinking rapidly himself to keep his eyes dry. It had been a long time since anybody had been that thoughtful and stupid on his account. Foolish child. Lovely boy.
“So in order to celebrate my birthday you decided to burn down the warehouse? Really, Sho, a gift certificate would have been much appreciated as well.” There is the tiniest chuckle as the tension starts to bleed from Sho. Finally. “Never, ever do that again. No matter how many candles should be on the cake... always remember this, Sho. Stay reasonable. I won't tell you that you nearly killed all of us today, because you already know that. I won't reproach or punish you, because I think you are already doing that to yourself enough right now. We've all made it out safely and we will find a new place to live, but if I ever so much as catch you looking at matches, I will shave your head.“ A kiss to the forehead this time, because Sho looked about ready to cry once more
Short arms snaked around his slender form. Sho held on as tightly as he possibly could. It would probably take a while before all three children had properly dealt with nearly burning to death. For Sho there was also the guilt of having actually burnt the whole building down. What did that do to a child's mind? Well, the boy couldn't probably become even harder to take care of.
Kei ruffled the unruly black hair and picked Sho up. As if the boy weighed nothing at all he carried him to the balustrade and sat him down on top of it. The child let his short legs dangle over the edge of the roof. He trusted the vampire to hold him and keep him safe, just like always.
“Why today?”
Sho leaned back against Kei, snuggling into the much cooler body. “One year ago today I found you. Don't you remember?”
A smile bloomed on Kei's features as he rested his chin on top of Sho's head. “More candles than I can blow out and a very nice new birthday. My Sho, you are spoiling me.” They stared at the battle on the streets below for a while longer in silence.
“It looks kind of cool.”
“If you ever say that again about a building you burnt to the ground, Sho, I'll buy 500 candles and have you blow them out all in one go. And don't think I consider a blue face a reason to stop.”
A child's laughter drifted through the night. “You still need to tell me. And the truth this time, Kei. You lied. Lying is bad. You said so yourself.” Sho's small hands wrapped themselves comfortably around the vampire's cold ones. Kei was already starting to figure out by this time that the kid loved to bounce his lectures right back at him when given the chance.
“Fine.” Kei brushed some of Sho's hair aside and whispered into his ear. The boy snorted.
“You should have just said so. Like, that's a LOT less than five fucking hundred! I bet it wouldn't have been so bad. You know, actually I think this is kinda your fault.”
Kei went back to staring at the fire. Well, maybe he did have a few things left to learn, too, especially regarding his patience for human children and their various quirks and questions. Also he would have to double his efforts to make Sho's mouth a lot less filthy. Soon, preferably. Or maybe dangle him over the edge until he got the point across...
There was a gentle touch of a child's lips against his cheek and he blinked in surprise. Before he could ask, he saw the beaming smile and instead put his head on Sho's shoulder contentedly. “Happy Birthday, Kei.”
There were no candles left. But as they shared the inedible leftover piece of cake from Sho's pocket, Kei found himself making a wish anyway. His wish was very simple, and so he allowed himself to indulge in the hope of having it fulfilled one of these days. It was a wish he'd make every year from now on on his new birthday.
Just one more year...
~*~
Fin...
Warnings: fluff, some dirty language
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Kei, Sho
Disclaimer: The movie Moonchild and its characters are sole property of their creators. I have no rights to them whatsoever. This story merely borrows them. I make no money with this story.
Note: All Parts of the MCC-series are standalones and can be read seperately.
Summary: The fire had already spread far too much by the time Kei came back home.
HAPPY (belated) BIRTHDAY TO
plain_ornament !!!
This is for you, love. I hope you had a wonderful birthday. May the coming year leave you just as amazing, awesome and inspiring has I have gotten to know you this year. *hugs* I love you!.
MCC Part 01: Calamity
MCC Part 02: Treasure
Moon Children Chronicles
Part 03: Candles
~*~
The flames were reaching for the sky already. Like a satin sheet their red gleam had covered the surrounding buildings in deep, bright reds and oranges and yellows, chasing away the darkness of the night. The fire hissed like an angry flame and cackled like a horde of evil imps, reaching out and beckoning. Dare to move closer and you would be engulfed.
Siren's were blazing as the firemen took the battle to their archnemesis. People already gathered to watch the old warehouse burn down. Some drunk young men were cheering, a woman sobbed, and the policemen stuck to their coffee. It was too much trouble to find the culprit anyway. Who cared about some empty warehouse?
The heat radiated far. Although the little family had taken refuge on the roof of an apartment building across the street, they could feel the flames on their skin. A small boy of maybe twelve or thirteen years stared at the blazing fire with wide eyes. When his chin was grabbed to force his head around, he bit his lip.
„It wasn't my fault!“ he exclaimed as punishment rained down on him.
Kei touched the handkerchief with his tongue to wet it before he scrubbed the grime off of Sho's cheeks. The boy grimaced and tried to turn his face away. Kei's iron grip wasn't painful but relentless nontheless.
The silence was more heavy than any words Kei could have spoken. The small boy flinched and dared to look up into green, serious eyes. The vampire's pale skin was a stark contrast to the black grime and the angry red marks slowly fading away as they healed. Behind them Toshi and Shinji had fallen into uneasy sleep from exhaustion and fear.
~*~
„Watch out!“
Kei pulls Toshi towards him just in time as a wooden beam crashes to the ground where the boy just stood. The vampire shields the child from the greedy flames with his body, though he can't help the gasp of pain as a fiery tongue flicks across his back. There are blisters on his face already from when he has pulled Shinji away from a crumbling door.
He crouches down, one eye on the three frightened children and the other on the quickly spreading fire in the background.
„Don't be scared now.“ His voice is calm and reassuring, because that's what his little ones need right now. „Come here.“ Sho is the first in his arms, shaking and clinging to the vampire. Then comes Toshi. Kei has no patience tonight, so he just pulls Shinji to him by force. „Hold on tightly.“
The danger is not to bad, not with him holding the children. Still it's a dire situation, and Kei needs them to understand that. They cling to him and he takes a deep breath before he jumps. For the kids it's just a matter of seconds before they safely land on the platform leading to the fire escape. For Kei it's half an eternity. He can see every flickering movement of flames, every wall that is about to give in, every threat to the frail lives in his arms.
He can see the tiny home they've built for themselves burning, even the cake consumed by flames and heat. He mourns the loss, but he knows it's going to be alright. As long as the three heartbeats he holds close are not silenced, his world will keep spinning.
~*~
Sho fought the tears with all his strength then, which prompted Kei not to mention them. Instead he brushed dirty bangs from a forehead desperately calling for a bath. His gaze lingered for a while. The boy had been foolish and had burnt the whole warehouse down. Kei had made sure the boys knew all about the dangers of fire ever since he had first caught them glancing at his lighter.
And still there had been all those candles, and the fire had already spread far too much by the time Kei came back home. For a terrifying moment he had believed everything to be lost, until he could pick up the scent of his children above the smell of fire, smoke and danger.
For the third time since he had carried them up here, Kei's hands ghosted over Sho, checking for injuries the rational part of him knew were not there. There was another side of him, though, part his inner beast and the human long dead. That side was shaken and riled up by what had happened. It was an inner need to make sure his little ones had made it out alive, this one especially.
Maybe it made him a bad person that although each loss would cut him apart, he knew Sho's death would be the only one he wouldn't overcome eventually.
“I told you about playing with fire, Sho.” Kei's voice was barely more than a whisper. The boy wished he'd be yelled at. This was so much worse.
The first tears spilled.
“But... you said... five hundred...”
~*~
“Ne, Kei?”
The vampire holds the tiny flame of his lighter to his cigarette, waits until it flares up and then glances at Sho. The boy has been unusually fidgety and nervous these past couple of days. Whatever is up with him? Not being able to figure that much out bugs Kei to no end.
“Hm?”
“If it was your birthday...”
Kei rolls his eyes. Not that again. They've already talked about this a few days ago. The topic has darkened his mood considerably already. But how do you tell a child to fuck off? Hm. Maybe he should actually do just that. Then again, Sho already has a filthy mouth and telling him to fuck off would ruin Kei's parental efforts.
Not that he ever succeeds in anything but getting them even more interested in the stuff they are not supposed to be interested in.
Cigarettes.
Alcohol.
Guns.
Him.
“... how many candles would there be on your cake?”
“Too many.”
“How many?”
“A lot.”
Sho stangs in front of Kei and crosses his arms. He taps his foot, just once. The vampire's eyes nearly bulge when he recognizes the stance as the one he himself adopts when he wants the three boys to tell him who the fuck ruined his favourite shirt or who the fuck thought it was funny to play soccer with the toilet paper or why the fuck half the furniture is covered in bubble wrap.
Kei raises his hands in defeat. “Fine. Five hundred. Now fuck off.”
And damn, he has said it after all. Hopefully Sho's ears fail him for once. However, the way the boy beams and runs off in happy excitement causes such a happy little flutter in Kei's stomach that he can't bring himself to listen to the nagging voice telling him this would come back to bite him in the ass.
~*~
“Sho...” He should have known better then to give the boy a random number that was impossible to fit on a birthday cake if measured in candles. Kei's hands took a gentle hold of Sho's face, thumbs stroking away the tears. “Come here, crybaby.” With a tenderness he rarely allowed to show he wrapped the child in his arms and held him close.
An affectionate kiss landed atop Sho's head and made him look up.
“I apologize”, Kei murmured and ruffled the boy's hair to distract him. “You've made a mistake, but it was my fault, too. Still, why did you consider it a good idea to stick five hundred candles on a tiny little cake and light them in the middle of an old warehouse?”
With teary eyes Sho looked up at the blonde vampire and sniffled pitifully. “I j-just wanted... t-to do something special... for your b-b-b-birthday!”
~*~
Kei is counting their money. He sits on the floor in front of the small wobbly table they call their own and is more than tempted to bang his head against the cheap wood in utter frustration. He still does not make enough to afford rent each month, especially if he wants to stay out of the really bad neighbourhoods for the children's sake. Living in this warehouse was meant to be a short term solution. Hitting larger targets for more money means victims, though, and while the vampire in him cherishes the thought and tries to egg him on, the human wants to avoid that sort of bloodshed.
How can he come home to his children if he is even more of a murderer?
Speaking of which...
Kei smirks as he hears the jingling behind him. Of course, he has been aware of Sho's attempt to sneak up for a while now. The boy is supposed to learn how to sneak up on humans though, so Kei has pretended his keen senses haven't picked up on the game yet. The bracelet would have given the boy away to a human.
“Better. But not good enough.”
Without looking Kei can tell Sho pouts at once and he has a hard time keeping the grin at bay that threatens to light up his whole face. Sho sits down and stares angrily at his bracelet. It seems the tiny daggers clink against each other just to spite him.
“You'll get the hang of it eventually. It's only been a week since your birthday. If you keep practising...” Kei nods at the determination showing in Sho's brown eyes. The bracelet has been a gift from the vampire to his favourite little cub - annoying brat though he can be - and the boy actually seems to treasure this new possession above anything else.
“Kei, when is YOUR birthday?”
The question catches him off guard. A lot of more or less pleasant memories are dragged to the surface to haunt Kei. When he has collected himself enough to answer, he has to swallow a lump in his throat.
“I don't know” he answers evenly, voice not betraying the sad reality. I don't remember. I've tried too hard not to care, not to keep count...
Sho looks stricken as though this is something incredibly sad. Kei can practically smell the tears forming in the boy's eyes, so he reaches out and tugs on the bracelet. The daggers tinkle and remind the child that there's something else to focus on. Sho rushes off to practice sneaking up on Kei some more and the vampires makes sure not to let his shoulders slump.
Birthdays...
~*~
For a few precious seconds Kei was silenced. The facts took a moment to make it through the haze of danger and potential threats to his children's lives. Slowly everything sunk in as he glanced over towards the burning warehouse.
Sho had made up a birthday for him because the boy had not been able to accept the fact that the vampire was without that special day to celebrate. Somehow he had gotten a cake and 500 candles and had attempted to light them all at once and stick them on the cake.
Fuck.
This boy was a nut case.
With a hand on the back of Sho's head Kei made sure the boy's face was pressed close to his chest. The little one didn't need to see the vampire blinking rapidly himself to keep his eyes dry. It had been a long time since anybody had been that thoughtful and stupid on his account. Foolish child. Lovely boy.
“So in order to celebrate my birthday you decided to burn down the warehouse? Really, Sho, a gift certificate would have been much appreciated as well.” There is the tiniest chuckle as the tension starts to bleed from Sho. Finally. “Never, ever do that again. No matter how many candles should be on the cake... always remember this, Sho. Stay reasonable. I won't tell you that you nearly killed all of us today, because you already know that. I won't reproach or punish you, because I think you are already doing that to yourself enough right now. We've all made it out safely and we will find a new place to live, but if I ever so much as catch you looking at matches, I will shave your head.“ A kiss to the forehead this time, because Sho looked about ready to cry once more
Short arms snaked around his slender form. Sho held on as tightly as he possibly could. It would probably take a while before all three children had properly dealt with nearly burning to death. For Sho there was also the guilt of having actually burnt the whole building down. What did that do to a child's mind? Well, the boy couldn't probably become even harder to take care of.
Kei ruffled the unruly black hair and picked Sho up. As if the boy weighed nothing at all he carried him to the balustrade and sat him down on top of it. The child let his short legs dangle over the edge of the roof. He trusted the vampire to hold him and keep him safe, just like always.
“Why today?”
Sho leaned back against Kei, snuggling into the much cooler body. “One year ago today I found you. Don't you remember?”
A smile bloomed on Kei's features as he rested his chin on top of Sho's head. “More candles than I can blow out and a very nice new birthday. My Sho, you are spoiling me.” They stared at the battle on the streets below for a while longer in silence.
“It looks kind of cool.”
“If you ever say that again about a building you burnt to the ground, Sho, I'll buy 500 candles and have you blow them out all in one go. And don't think I consider a blue face a reason to stop.”
A child's laughter drifted through the night. “You still need to tell me. And the truth this time, Kei. You lied. Lying is bad. You said so yourself.” Sho's small hands wrapped themselves comfortably around the vampire's cold ones. Kei was already starting to figure out by this time that the kid loved to bounce his lectures right back at him when given the chance.
“Fine.” Kei brushed some of Sho's hair aside and whispered into his ear. The boy snorted.
“You should have just said so. Like, that's a LOT less than five fucking hundred! I bet it wouldn't have been so bad. You know, actually I think this is kinda your fault.”
Kei went back to staring at the fire. Well, maybe he did have a few things left to learn, too, especially regarding his patience for human children and their various quirks and questions. Also he would have to double his efforts to make Sho's mouth a lot less filthy. Soon, preferably. Or maybe dangle him over the edge until he got the point across...
There was a gentle touch of a child's lips against his cheek and he blinked in surprise. Before he could ask, he saw the beaming smile and instead put his head on Sho's shoulder contentedly. “Happy Birthday, Kei.”
There were no candles left. But as they shared the inedible leftover piece of cake from Sho's pocket, Kei found himself making a wish anyway. His wish was very simple, and so he allowed himself to indulge in the hope of having it fulfilled one of these days. It was a wish he'd make every year from now on on his new birthday.
Just one more year...
~*~
Fin...