This Addiction - Chapter One: Eating Me Alive
Title: This Addition
Chapter: 1/?
Chapter Title: Eating Me Alive.
Rating: Mostly R and NC-17
Pairings (throughout WHOLE story - bold for chapter): Aoi/Uruha, Ruki/Kai
Genres: Mystery, suspense, drama, angst, romance, dark, action, fantasy
Summary: With a bottle in hand to suppress our dreams, all we find is that they appear more easily. Whether or not we accept what they have to tell us depends on how terrifying the truth they hold is.
_________________
The best thing about dreams is that fleeting moment, when you are between asleep and awake, when you don't know the difference between reality and fantasy, when for just that one moment you feel with your entire soul that the dream is reality, and it really happened.
~Unknown
Chapter One - Eating Me Alive
Uruha remembered falling asleep and being awake simultaneously.
It was a strange place to be; in the twilight state that seemed to cover both consciousness and unconsciousness. It was as if he could control his dreams in that small sliver of space that he tried to reach as if challenging himself to find an alternative state of existence. Granted it came with a good deal of booze and sometimes forced lack of sleep, but it was still a feat to reach such a place. A for the reason he strove for it, he couldn't rightly say. He had a rather comfortable life and a profession he appreciated. He had good friends and what seemed to be everything going for him. Like his taste for drinking, and an addictive personality that he buried away, it became an obsession. There was addiction to the control he had in those moments; or at least the control he thought he had.
Lately it was more of a memory though and not the spot where he could control his dreams. Instead it was a rush, like watching a horror film and getting the little jolt of adrenaline when the villain appeared; though entirely out of his influence, simply a bolt of excitement. Previously, he hadn't even noticed he dreamed because he slept hard, likely from the amount he drank. He knew it was a vice, but he had the lofty idea that he could control his booze intake. He never tested the theory because he was positive, conceitedly so, that he could stop if he wanted. His band mates, on occasion, subtly voiced concerns about his choice of recreation. He dismissed it, just like he did their annoyance with his timeliness.
All in all, Uruha liked how easily he lived life; it might have been why he liked to control that which he discovered he could. It was a display of power which energized him as typically he shrugged off most things and just rode the wave of life wherever it took him. It was all a culmination of that which led him to believe it was a dream that he'd stepped into; a terrible, terrible dream.
He had passed out, face first on his bed.
"Uruha..." Aoi glanced through the entryway to his bedroom. There he discovered his friend in a puddle of his own drool, one arm hanging over the edge of the bed with nothing but a half empty bottle of some liquor in it. Aoi sighed heavily; he was more disgusted than anything. There was a point in which Aoi would have been driven to take advantage of the situation, waking Uruha and playfully toying with him until they both gave in to some of their more carnal passions. It would only feel awkward the next morning and they would somehow come to a measure of understanding about what had transpired. But Aoi was just disappointed now and wanted nothing to do with Uruha when he was in such a state. Therefore he closed the door, in the hopes to pretend he hadn't seen his friend as he'd been regularly as of late.
Uruha heard Aoi come and go, but it was somewhere in the recesses of his mind where he couldn't will himself to get up and ask the other to stay. Between his exhaustion and the fuzzy head from the alcohol, he was unable to convince himself to move let alone ask the other to stay; though he wanted to. Uruha missed Aoi in those feisty and fun moments when there was nothing between them but passion and skin. The only thing separating them from being the same person was the flesh as they tried so desperately to become one.
First he felt the bottle drop from his hand as it went slack in his bleary state. It was like a gentle reprieve, a sweet release, as the heavy glass had been weighting down his arms and he felt suddenly warm, inches closer to real, restful sleep. However, it was in that same instant that Uruha heard it. The sound of something as it scratched against the floor and a chill pervaded over his spine until little hairs across his body stood alert too. His eyes shot open and he tried to focus through the darkness. Uruha couldn't place what the sound was as it wasn't anything he recognized being a thing he owned - in fact, it sounded alive. He couldn't get his eyes to adjust enough to actually see anything in the hazy darkness filling his heavy head.
There was an eerie sensation of mystery and Uruha gulped in anticipation. His arm, hanging over the edge of the bed, in the dark room, didn't quiet reach the floor. Yet he felt a strange sensation of fright pass him, as if he were a child again and all his limbs absolutely needed to be on the bed, safely tucked under the covers with his body. He felt as if the only way to keep himself safe from whatever terrible thing had invaded his room was to hide away underneath the fabric of the blankets. If he didn’t, surely something would come up from the darkness under the bed and tear him apart, limb by limb. Not until light penetrated the room and he could actually see the floor would he be comfortable emerging from such a cocoon of safety.
He heard it again, this time the small squawking voice came with the clatter of scuttling feet; much the way a mouse or small rodent would sound against the tatame floor. Every sound was like nails against a chalk board, echoing in Uruha’s ears as if that sound was meant to be part of his memory forever. He felt the same fear race across his skin as he realized he was still tired and detached enough not to be able to lift his arm in placid retreat. Therefore, though he wished to hid under the covers, he couldn’t bring himself to save his arm from the monsters he was certain were about to eat his flesh.
Then he felt it. Something brushed under his fingertips. It felt woolly, with thick and coarse curls but chilling and worthy of the fright he felt. The curious chirps that came from whatever brushed his hand suddenly turned vicious and in an instant the critter was on his arm. It felt like dozens of legs gripped against his skin as it used Uruha's soft flesh to scuttle up his arm to make it to his body. It was petrifying and it forced Uruha's foggy head to sober up as he had no other choice in that second.
It didn't stop there either. After the first voice of the nondescript beast sang out, others had echoed back and were swarming his arm that hung over the bed. He was envisioning an entire army of them, pouring up in swarms to climb up his skin from their home on the floor. His imagination of them, as he could only feel in the darkness, not see, was running wild as he pictured them biting and wrestling their way to grab onto his flesh. Uruha opened his mouth to let out a terrified yelp of feeling, but he found himself unable to control his vocal. They were like basketball sized insects with massive snapping pincers clinging to his flesh as they crawled up his bed to reach him.
They flooded his mattress as if it were a life boat and his floor was the sea. Though they did not actually harm him, the sensation of being covered by them as they moved, their little feet light but gripping against his skin, was of the most discomfort. He thought surely, any second, they would take to eating him alive. It was like a swarm of bees or cockroaches that covered his entire body in the darkness, positioning themselves so no part of his flesh would be wasted in their feast.
Finally Uruha had the strength to throw himself up and his voice flooded his mouth then his room, just as daylight swept in. He found himself with his chest heaving and he was perched up on all fours against the soft mattress of his Western style bed. It was daytime now, his heart was still hammering against his ribs and he smacked his lips a few times from the dryness of them.
It had felt so real that he'd absolutely believed whatever horrors were running through his inebriated head. His eyes scanned the side of the bed, first in search of the army of critters that had accosted him. It was then that he spotted the fallen bottle and he hummed softly, thoughtfully. He almost wanted to laugh at himself for how ridiculous he felt for what he'd let himself believe; dreams were funny things that way. Yet still, he had an odd sort of chill for the lingering fright he'd had from such a sudden, terrible nightmare.
His eyes turned to the clock by his bed and he frowned first. The frown turned into a scowl within seconds. He'd overslept by enough time that his band mates would be a good deal more than annoyed with him. Uruha mumbled a string of swears as he pulled himself from bed and moseyed in for a shower. He was late enough that rushing would serve no purpose.
"Where the hell have you been?" Reita snapped when Uruha appeared at the studio and Uruha offered a passive and blasé shrug. Having known Uruha the longest, Reita always felt the most inclined to receive a response from the other, or as if he had the authority to demand answers from his friend. It was because Reita considered Uruha his best friend that Uruha knew he was somewhat harsh with him, Reita expressed his concern differently than others and the general malaise that had settled over Uruha seemed to actively trouble Reita the most. Reita, perhaps, was the one least likely to give up on him.
"Are you fucking kidding me? That's all I get - a shrug?" Reita caught Uruha's shoulder and spun him back with a heavy tug to face him. The bassist's instrument was already slung across his shoulder and hung in between them or Reita might have reached forward and shook his friend heartily to get some sort of reaction from him; because the passive behavior was simply not enough anymore.
"Reita..." It was Ruki's somber voice that beckoned the bassist's attention. Their singer seemed to always have melancholy air about him, however those that knew him were aware that it was the rest of the world's inability to understand him. He spoke on their behalf sometimes, he even got animated with his hands but rarely did his voice rise over a the regal halcyon tone he most often used. Though he was a nervous sort, shier and worried, it didn't readily show as it was buried under the cool and enigmatic facade he wore. However the others of his band could usually pick up on his personal idiosyncrasies. "Can we just play? We haven't much time and this banter will serve no purpose except to waste even more time." He said stoically.
Though Reita huffed, he obeyed; none of them missed the passive prod at Uruha in that he was the guilty party in their already 'wasted' time. Their dynamic was usually befitting and playful, however it had the potential to be exactly what it was right then - tension filled and near explosive. Ruki hoped that the energy, though negative, could be translated to their music or another day worth of studio time would be shot.
Uruha took his spot after having collected his guitar and Kai drew out a familiar rhythm. He knew the chords, he knew when he was supposed to start -- but he couldn't find the strings. He sat for a moment in shock, unmoving, as Kai's drums died and everyone turned to look at him. Uruha blinked, completely bemused as he stared at his hands holding the guitar comfortably. It was familiar, the feel of the neck and the way his arms sat in it's contours; he knew this piece of musical flesh like he knew his own body and yet it was distant from him in the same moment.
"I...it..." Uruha tried to speak but every time he tried to express what he was thinking he stopped because he had no idea what he was trying to get across as he had no idea what was going through his head. He wondered, momentarily, if he was still slightly drunk. He licked his pouty lips and blinked again, hard this time. He had been drinking long enough to know what it felt like the following day after a particularly heavy bender. He didn't feel that sort of achy nondescript post indulgence, but he did feel a slight pang in the back of his mind like the remnants of a long lived headache - a slight hang over. "Start again." He finally found words that made sense and though it could be mistaken for a command it was more of a plea.
Kai's eyes were set on Uruha, they were laced with worry and concern as the drummer had a difficult time containing anything he was feeling and often let those emotions fuel his behavior. His eyes flicked to Ruki, the same plea was in them that Uruha had used in an attempt at another chance. Usually they wouldn't have hesitated to start again and they would have ribbed Uruha for missing his mark, but there was tension in the room from the fact that Uruha was already late and that bled over into their behaviors. Kai was sad that this hadn't happened later in the day when they could playfully tease Uruha for being off his game.
When Ruki gave a small, almost unperceivable nod Kai settled back behind the drums. Uruha placed his fingers in the appropriate places and he took in a deep breath. It was in that same instant that he felt his muscles tense and a lingering fear, reminiscent of his dream, over came him. "Stop." he said sharply, before Kai had even started to play. It was too much to handle in that moment as it felt like the ghost of a thousand critters were on his body. Uruha felt himself start to shake and he swept his guitar over his head and set it down. Without a word, he slipped from the studio and into the outside air behind the building. It felt safer outside, the sunlight there to wash away the memories of the darkness, of the creatures--of the terror. With a trembling hand he drew out a pack of cigarettes and lit one up.
One breath in. One breath out.
The smoke curled translucently upward and for a moment he felt solace wash over him. The warmth of the sun in the late afternoon settled the hairs that were standing up on end. He was watching the smoke as it penetrated the air and that too was familiar enough to calm his fears. His hand had at least stopped shaking, but it didn't help him to keep from jumping when he felt fingertips between his shoulder blades. "Got a light?" Uruha turned at the familiar voice of Aoi. He let his shoulders relax and he reached in his pocket and flicked the flame to life for his friend.
"So they sent you to wrangle me. How kind."
Aoi shrugged. "I'm more fun than Reita, naturally. Sexier too. More talented. I have amazing eyes…Hmm, I could go on forever. Trust me, I’d like to - but I think you get the idea." Aoi offered Uruha a sly, teasing smile. "Oh - I even play bass too; hell I could be Reita if I wanted to, but that would defeat the purpose of me being better than him. And who would want that? But no, they didn't send me." He jammed a thumb over his shoulder and let out a breath of his own smoke and grinned. "I sent myself. See, this is me being more thoughtful than Reita too. Its on that long list of superior attributes. It's working isn't it?" Aoi chuckled and nudged Uruha in the soft part of his side.
The blonde shook his head and offered a complimentary snicker to Aoi's laugh. "Something like that." Uruha commented as he drew his cigarette away from his lips. It was in that same instant that his eyes trailed over a mark on his wrist. He focused on it for a moment and even drew it closer to his eyes. It looked like a small scrape and nothing more, but a shiver raced up his spine as he remembered quite well that spot as the location the spider-like-screeching creature had used to initially race up his arm.
"Uruha?" Aoi nudged him a moment later, his smile replaced with a frown. "You okay? Thought I lost you for a minute to the scary insides of your mind. You‘ll die in there if you‘re not careful"
Uruha's eyes snapped up to his friend. "What? Oh...no it's nothing, I'm good. I just - scratched my hand or something. Probably in my sleep. I had this dream, it was ridiculous and really uneventful but it shook me apparently."
"Apparently." Aoi volleyed back verbally drawing out the word in a pseudo taunt as he nudged the other again. "Hopefully it had me naked. A dream with me is always better than one without me." Aoi fluffed the words and tipped his head to the side with a wide and playful smile. "And a dream with me naked is even better, as if that was possible." He went on more jovially. Uruha offered another half-hearted chuckle of agreement, though he was mostly distracted, but it didn't prevent him from appreciating Aoi's endeavor of cheering him up and cheering him on. The attempt didn't go unnoticed and Uruha hoped he could reward the try later, when he was less preoccupied.
____________
A/N...
We've been working on this one shot for forever, someday we'll finish it. I went through mini break down; then my writing partner had a month of straight hell. Then my desktop computer crashed and bled out; not 24 hours later my netbook did the same. I purchased a new computer but am waiting for all the pieces to get here so it can be built. So I'm running on very little computer time and Jackie is now having a family crisis. I'm not sure which cosmic karma god's cheerios we pissed in but it happened and now we're both reeling and wondering what the fuck just happened. Anyway! We have not given up on the other story in the least; it's just a matter of us picking up the debris after the storm and getting realigned.
Right now I need to write something. Granted I write everyday, it's not been anything for a story so this has been one that's been in my head for awhile. Please go in knowing it won't be 'normal'. I have said this many times and I will say it again - please trust us and give us a chance. I think it'll be worth it in the end. This is a fantasy sort of story that is not AU - I know sounds odd but please trust and I assure you it'll be a grand adventure, albiet shorter than the typical story we write.
RAWR!!! I have been wrestling with this story and started it a couple different ways...God I hope this one sticks. DOWN (PLOT)BUNNY, I WIN! Mandy > Bunny...I hope.
This page was meant for 'normal' stuff. Alas, Mandy is epic fail there. My head doesn't work in 'normal' apparently. ^^P
Those of you that know us will find some old familiarities in this story - first all the Alkaline Trio titles and lyrics for chapter titles and such. The rest, I think, will be self explanatory.
-Mandy
P.S. Uruha should ask Pon for some advice on how to handle us when he's in our care as a muse I think. *^_^* Next thing he knows he's covered in blood and shipped off to the loony bin, who knew?
Next Chapter: Two
Chapter: 1/?
Chapter Title: Eating Me Alive.
Rating: Mostly R and NC-17
Pairings (throughout WHOLE story - bold for chapter): Aoi/Uruha, Ruki/Kai
Genres: Mystery, suspense, drama, angst, romance, dark, action, fantasy
Summary: With a bottle in hand to suppress our dreams, all we find is that they appear more easily. Whether or not we accept what they have to tell us depends on how terrifying the truth they hold is.
_________________
The best thing about dreams is that fleeting moment, when you are between asleep and awake, when you don't know the difference between reality and fantasy, when for just that one moment you feel with your entire soul that the dream is reality, and it really happened.
~Unknown
Chapter One - Eating Me Alive
Uruha remembered falling asleep and being awake simultaneously.
It was a strange place to be; in the twilight state that seemed to cover both consciousness and unconsciousness. It was as if he could control his dreams in that small sliver of space that he tried to reach as if challenging himself to find an alternative state of existence. Granted it came with a good deal of booze and sometimes forced lack of sleep, but it was still a feat to reach such a place. A for the reason he strove for it, he couldn't rightly say. He had a rather comfortable life and a profession he appreciated. He had good friends and what seemed to be everything going for him. Like his taste for drinking, and an addictive personality that he buried away, it became an obsession. There was addiction to the control he had in those moments; or at least the control he thought he had.
Lately it was more of a memory though and not the spot where he could control his dreams. Instead it was a rush, like watching a horror film and getting the little jolt of adrenaline when the villain appeared; though entirely out of his influence, simply a bolt of excitement. Previously, he hadn't even noticed he dreamed because he slept hard, likely from the amount he drank. He knew it was a vice, but he had the lofty idea that he could control his booze intake. He never tested the theory because he was positive, conceitedly so, that he could stop if he wanted. His band mates, on occasion, subtly voiced concerns about his choice of recreation. He dismissed it, just like he did their annoyance with his timeliness.
All in all, Uruha liked how easily he lived life; it might have been why he liked to control that which he discovered he could. It was a display of power which energized him as typically he shrugged off most things and just rode the wave of life wherever it took him. It was all a culmination of that which led him to believe it was a dream that he'd stepped into; a terrible, terrible dream.
He had passed out, face first on his bed.
"Uruha..." Aoi glanced through the entryway to his bedroom. There he discovered his friend in a puddle of his own drool, one arm hanging over the edge of the bed with nothing but a half empty bottle of some liquor in it. Aoi sighed heavily; he was more disgusted than anything. There was a point in which Aoi would have been driven to take advantage of the situation, waking Uruha and playfully toying with him until they both gave in to some of their more carnal passions. It would only feel awkward the next morning and they would somehow come to a measure of understanding about what had transpired. But Aoi was just disappointed now and wanted nothing to do with Uruha when he was in such a state. Therefore he closed the door, in the hopes to pretend he hadn't seen his friend as he'd been regularly as of late.
Uruha heard Aoi come and go, but it was somewhere in the recesses of his mind where he couldn't will himself to get up and ask the other to stay. Between his exhaustion and the fuzzy head from the alcohol, he was unable to convince himself to move let alone ask the other to stay; though he wanted to. Uruha missed Aoi in those feisty and fun moments when there was nothing between them but passion and skin. The only thing separating them from being the same person was the flesh as they tried so desperately to become one.
First he felt the bottle drop from his hand as it went slack in his bleary state. It was like a gentle reprieve, a sweet release, as the heavy glass had been weighting down his arms and he felt suddenly warm, inches closer to real, restful sleep. However, it was in that same instant that Uruha heard it. The sound of something as it scratched against the floor and a chill pervaded over his spine until little hairs across his body stood alert too. His eyes shot open and he tried to focus through the darkness. Uruha couldn't place what the sound was as it wasn't anything he recognized being a thing he owned - in fact, it sounded alive. He couldn't get his eyes to adjust enough to actually see anything in the hazy darkness filling his heavy head.
There was an eerie sensation of mystery and Uruha gulped in anticipation. His arm, hanging over the edge of the bed, in the dark room, didn't quiet reach the floor. Yet he felt a strange sensation of fright pass him, as if he were a child again and all his limbs absolutely needed to be on the bed, safely tucked under the covers with his body. He felt as if the only way to keep himself safe from whatever terrible thing had invaded his room was to hide away underneath the fabric of the blankets. If he didn’t, surely something would come up from the darkness under the bed and tear him apart, limb by limb. Not until light penetrated the room and he could actually see the floor would he be comfortable emerging from such a cocoon of safety.
He heard it again, this time the small squawking voice came with the clatter of scuttling feet; much the way a mouse or small rodent would sound against the tatame floor. Every sound was like nails against a chalk board, echoing in Uruha’s ears as if that sound was meant to be part of his memory forever. He felt the same fear race across his skin as he realized he was still tired and detached enough not to be able to lift his arm in placid retreat. Therefore, though he wished to hid under the covers, he couldn’t bring himself to save his arm from the monsters he was certain were about to eat his flesh.
Then he felt it. Something brushed under his fingertips. It felt woolly, with thick and coarse curls but chilling and worthy of the fright he felt. The curious chirps that came from whatever brushed his hand suddenly turned vicious and in an instant the critter was on his arm. It felt like dozens of legs gripped against his skin as it used Uruha's soft flesh to scuttle up his arm to make it to his body. It was petrifying and it forced Uruha's foggy head to sober up as he had no other choice in that second.
It didn't stop there either. After the first voice of the nondescript beast sang out, others had echoed back and were swarming his arm that hung over the bed. He was envisioning an entire army of them, pouring up in swarms to climb up his skin from their home on the floor. His imagination of them, as he could only feel in the darkness, not see, was running wild as he pictured them biting and wrestling their way to grab onto his flesh. Uruha opened his mouth to let out a terrified yelp of feeling, but he found himself unable to control his vocal. They were like basketball sized insects with massive snapping pincers clinging to his flesh as they crawled up his bed to reach him.
They flooded his mattress as if it were a life boat and his floor was the sea. Though they did not actually harm him, the sensation of being covered by them as they moved, their little feet light but gripping against his skin, was of the most discomfort. He thought surely, any second, they would take to eating him alive. It was like a swarm of bees or cockroaches that covered his entire body in the darkness, positioning themselves so no part of his flesh would be wasted in their feast.
Finally Uruha had the strength to throw himself up and his voice flooded his mouth then his room, just as daylight swept in. He found himself with his chest heaving and he was perched up on all fours against the soft mattress of his Western style bed. It was daytime now, his heart was still hammering against his ribs and he smacked his lips a few times from the dryness of them.
It had felt so real that he'd absolutely believed whatever horrors were running through his inebriated head. His eyes scanned the side of the bed, first in search of the army of critters that had accosted him. It was then that he spotted the fallen bottle and he hummed softly, thoughtfully. He almost wanted to laugh at himself for how ridiculous he felt for what he'd let himself believe; dreams were funny things that way. Yet still, he had an odd sort of chill for the lingering fright he'd had from such a sudden, terrible nightmare.
His eyes turned to the clock by his bed and he frowned first. The frown turned into a scowl within seconds. He'd overslept by enough time that his band mates would be a good deal more than annoyed with him. Uruha mumbled a string of swears as he pulled himself from bed and moseyed in for a shower. He was late enough that rushing would serve no purpose.
"Where the hell have you been?" Reita snapped when Uruha appeared at the studio and Uruha offered a passive and blasé shrug. Having known Uruha the longest, Reita always felt the most inclined to receive a response from the other, or as if he had the authority to demand answers from his friend. It was because Reita considered Uruha his best friend that Uruha knew he was somewhat harsh with him, Reita expressed his concern differently than others and the general malaise that had settled over Uruha seemed to actively trouble Reita the most. Reita, perhaps, was the one least likely to give up on him.
"Are you fucking kidding me? That's all I get - a shrug?" Reita caught Uruha's shoulder and spun him back with a heavy tug to face him. The bassist's instrument was already slung across his shoulder and hung in between them or Reita might have reached forward and shook his friend heartily to get some sort of reaction from him; because the passive behavior was simply not enough anymore.
"Reita..." It was Ruki's somber voice that beckoned the bassist's attention. Their singer seemed to always have melancholy air about him, however those that knew him were aware that it was the rest of the world's inability to understand him. He spoke on their behalf sometimes, he even got animated with his hands but rarely did his voice rise over a the regal halcyon tone he most often used. Though he was a nervous sort, shier and worried, it didn't readily show as it was buried under the cool and enigmatic facade he wore. However the others of his band could usually pick up on his personal idiosyncrasies. "Can we just play? We haven't much time and this banter will serve no purpose except to waste even more time." He said stoically.
Though Reita huffed, he obeyed; none of them missed the passive prod at Uruha in that he was the guilty party in their already 'wasted' time. Their dynamic was usually befitting and playful, however it had the potential to be exactly what it was right then - tension filled and near explosive. Ruki hoped that the energy, though negative, could be translated to their music or another day worth of studio time would be shot.
Uruha took his spot after having collected his guitar and Kai drew out a familiar rhythm. He knew the chords, he knew when he was supposed to start -- but he couldn't find the strings. He sat for a moment in shock, unmoving, as Kai's drums died and everyone turned to look at him. Uruha blinked, completely bemused as he stared at his hands holding the guitar comfortably. It was familiar, the feel of the neck and the way his arms sat in it's contours; he knew this piece of musical flesh like he knew his own body and yet it was distant from him in the same moment.
"I...it..." Uruha tried to speak but every time he tried to express what he was thinking he stopped because he had no idea what he was trying to get across as he had no idea what was going through his head. He wondered, momentarily, if he was still slightly drunk. He licked his pouty lips and blinked again, hard this time. He had been drinking long enough to know what it felt like the following day after a particularly heavy bender. He didn't feel that sort of achy nondescript post indulgence, but he did feel a slight pang in the back of his mind like the remnants of a long lived headache - a slight hang over. "Start again." He finally found words that made sense and though it could be mistaken for a command it was more of a plea.
Kai's eyes were set on Uruha, they were laced with worry and concern as the drummer had a difficult time containing anything he was feeling and often let those emotions fuel his behavior. His eyes flicked to Ruki, the same plea was in them that Uruha had used in an attempt at another chance. Usually they wouldn't have hesitated to start again and they would have ribbed Uruha for missing his mark, but there was tension in the room from the fact that Uruha was already late and that bled over into their behaviors. Kai was sad that this hadn't happened later in the day when they could playfully tease Uruha for being off his game.
When Ruki gave a small, almost unperceivable nod Kai settled back behind the drums. Uruha placed his fingers in the appropriate places and he took in a deep breath. It was in that same instant that he felt his muscles tense and a lingering fear, reminiscent of his dream, over came him. "Stop." he said sharply, before Kai had even started to play. It was too much to handle in that moment as it felt like the ghost of a thousand critters were on his body. Uruha felt himself start to shake and he swept his guitar over his head and set it down. Without a word, he slipped from the studio and into the outside air behind the building. It felt safer outside, the sunlight there to wash away the memories of the darkness, of the creatures--of the terror. With a trembling hand he drew out a pack of cigarettes and lit one up.
One breath in. One breath out.
The smoke curled translucently upward and for a moment he felt solace wash over him. The warmth of the sun in the late afternoon settled the hairs that were standing up on end. He was watching the smoke as it penetrated the air and that too was familiar enough to calm his fears. His hand had at least stopped shaking, but it didn't help him to keep from jumping when he felt fingertips between his shoulder blades. "Got a light?" Uruha turned at the familiar voice of Aoi. He let his shoulders relax and he reached in his pocket and flicked the flame to life for his friend.
"So they sent you to wrangle me. How kind."
Aoi shrugged. "I'm more fun than Reita, naturally. Sexier too. More talented. I have amazing eyes…Hmm, I could go on forever. Trust me, I’d like to - but I think you get the idea." Aoi offered Uruha a sly, teasing smile. "Oh - I even play bass too; hell I could be Reita if I wanted to, but that would defeat the purpose of me being better than him. And who would want that? But no, they didn't send me." He jammed a thumb over his shoulder and let out a breath of his own smoke and grinned. "I sent myself. See, this is me being more thoughtful than Reita too. Its on that long list of superior attributes. It's working isn't it?" Aoi chuckled and nudged Uruha in the soft part of his side.
The blonde shook his head and offered a complimentary snicker to Aoi's laugh. "Something like that." Uruha commented as he drew his cigarette away from his lips. It was in that same instant that his eyes trailed over a mark on his wrist. He focused on it for a moment and even drew it closer to his eyes. It looked like a small scrape and nothing more, but a shiver raced up his spine as he remembered quite well that spot as the location the spider-like-screeching creature had used to initially race up his arm.
"Uruha?" Aoi nudged him a moment later, his smile replaced with a frown. "You okay? Thought I lost you for a minute to the scary insides of your mind. You‘ll die in there if you‘re not careful"
Uruha's eyes snapped up to his friend. "What? Oh...no it's nothing, I'm good. I just - scratched my hand or something. Probably in my sleep. I had this dream, it was ridiculous and really uneventful but it shook me apparently."
"Apparently." Aoi volleyed back verbally drawing out the word in a pseudo taunt as he nudged the other again. "Hopefully it had me naked. A dream with me is always better than one without me." Aoi fluffed the words and tipped his head to the side with a wide and playful smile. "And a dream with me naked is even better, as if that was possible." He went on more jovially. Uruha offered another half-hearted chuckle of agreement, though he was mostly distracted, but it didn't prevent him from appreciating Aoi's endeavor of cheering him up and cheering him on. The attempt didn't go unnoticed and Uruha hoped he could reward the try later, when he was less preoccupied.
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A/N...
We've been working on this one shot for forever, someday we'll finish it. I went through mini break down; then my writing partner had a month of straight hell. Then my desktop computer crashed and bled out; not 24 hours later my netbook did the same. I purchased a new computer but am waiting for all the pieces to get here so it can be built. So I'm running on very little computer time and Jackie is now having a family crisis. I'm not sure which cosmic karma god's cheerios we pissed in but it happened and now we're both reeling and wondering what the fuck just happened. Anyway! We have not given up on the other story in the least; it's just a matter of us picking up the debris after the storm and getting realigned.
Right now I need to write something. Granted I write everyday, it's not been anything for a story so this has been one that's been in my head for awhile. Please go in knowing it won't be 'normal'. I have said this many times and I will say it again - please trust us and give us a chance. I think it'll be worth it in the end. This is a fantasy sort of story that is not AU - I know sounds odd but please trust and I assure you it'll be a grand adventure, albiet shorter than the typical story we write.
RAWR!!! I have been wrestling with this story and started it a couple different ways...God I hope this one sticks. DOWN (PLOT)BUNNY, I WIN! Mandy > Bunny...I hope.
This page was meant for 'normal' stuff. Alas, Mandy is epic fail there. My head doesn't work in 'normal' apparently. ^^P
Those of you that know us will find some old familiarities in this story - first all the Alkaline Trio titles and lyrics for chapter titles and such. The rest, I think, will be self explanatory.
-Mandy
P.S. Uruha should ask Pon for some advice on how to handle us when he's in our care as a muse I think. *^_^* Next thing he knows he's covered in blood and shipped off to the loony bin, who knew?
Next Chapter: Two