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Post by Yoshimitsu on Nov 4, 2008 16:56:48 GMT -5
A story written in the first person. I'm new to first person writing, and I'm not as good with story writing again, so bear with me.
Introduction - Here We Go!
I'm Yoshimitsu. Seventeen years old, blue spiky hair, blue eyes. I'm mostly human, I guess. I mean, I look human, I've got all the biological human features like lungs and intestines and stuff. I feel human anyway. But back on track. Never knew me parents, didn't have them. Wasn't born on Earth, actually, but that's beside the point. I live with this guy called Vincent.
We've got an interesting lifestyle. Not interesting like, I dunno, you see a funny blue tree and say, "Ooh, that's interesting". Interesting like no one else has this kinda life. Neither of us are normal. We've got, well, powers. A normal day for us is to go out on a bounty hunt and kill a dragon or something. Keeps us with money, you know? Gotta make a living and all that.
I need to tell a story though. I'd jump straight to the action, but that'd probably confuse you. I think, maybe, let's start before that, maybe before me and Vincent got together. So you get an idea of what happened. Here we go.
I realise it's short, shoosh.
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Post by Yoshimitsu on Nov 4, 2008 17:33:48 GMT -5
Chapter One - Day Off
A monday. In November, I think. We'd been living together for about a year. Been friends for even longer than that, too. He bought a house near a cliff. Nice place, the ocean hitting the cliff, the steady sound like it was breathing.I didn't realise it when I was there, but I really liked the sound. Missed it after a while. It was, I dunno how to explain it, a bit like nature was peacefully accepting us? Vincent never saw it like that. He wasn't really one for metaphors. I think that's why we got along though.
I keep going off subject, though. I remember, 'cause it was ridiculously sunny, and I hadn't closed my curtains properly. The sun was like looking at a floodlight or something. Only brighter. Wasn't nice, and it woke me up. I did get up to close the curtains, but when I did I saw the clock. Half ten. Vincent wanted me up half an hour ago, so I swore to myself and started throwing on clothes. Nothing fancy, just a t-shirt and jeans. Wasn't as tidy as I liked, but I was hurrying at this point, taking the stairs two at a time. Vincent was in the kitchen.
"Hey," he said when he saw me. "Mornin'," I replied. "Why didn't you wake me?" "Didn't want to disturb you," Vincent said, almost too casually. I think, but I might be wrong, that he had wanted to wake me, and probably came into my room with every intention, but just hadn't. And I think this was the first time I thought he liked me. Like, like liked me. I'd liked him for ages, though. I mean, what wasn't to like? His longish black hair that was always, always messy, those really dark brown eyes, his toned body. He was fun to look at. I had to stop myself staring sometimes. And his personality, just around the house, he was always considerate. If I was feeling rough, he'd make sure I was alright, or if he made himself some food he'd make me some too. Just little things like that.
But the way he said those five words, like he was trying a casual comment but not really pulling it off. That's something, by the way - I can read people. I can always tell if someone means something else, or if they're lying or whatever. I can read body language too. But those words, there was more to what he was saying, I just couldn't decide what.
"I wouldn't have minded, I mean you wanted me up ages ago," I said. I was feeling guilty at this point. Like I'd let him down, when he never had before. "Sorry about that." "It's alright, Yoshimitsu," Vincent said, shrugging. He handed me a cup of coffee. "How come you wanted me up so early anyway?" I asked, sipping my coffee. Two sugars and milk. Just how I liked it. "Well, it's a day off so I figured we could get an early start," Vincent said.
I laughed. I couldn't help it. Vincent was always so prepared when we had to go on a bounty hunt, he had everything planned. Where to go, what to do, everything. I guess I should have known he'd planned to do something.
"Vincent, it's our day off," I grinned. "We don't have to plan it out." Vincent just shrugged. That was something I admired about him - he could shrug everything off, usually literally. "So what did you have planned?" "Well, whatever you want, really," Vincent said. I smiled again. Seriously, he did little things like that. On our day off, he was more than willing to spend it doing whatever I wanted to. But, I'm not that selfish.
"You wanted to get up early," I said. "You pick what we do." Vincent smirked at me. I knew he knew I'd say that. That's what happened when you spent a good two or three years around each other. "No way, I asked you first," he replied. "I'm not gonna do owt you don't want to." "I'll do whatever you decide." "Yeah, but you wont want to, I dunno, go try on dresses or something." He winced. One time, I'd actually managed to scare him into thinking we were really gonna do that. His face was priceless. The only reason I was busted was because when I went into the changing room, I started laughing and couldn't stop for a good half hour.
"Why don't we decide on something then?" He suggested. "Hmm... we haven't played on the Wii in a while," I said, shrugging. "Yeah, you haven't lost to me in ages," he grinned. I put on my best pout. "As if, you'd never beat me." "Let's go find out."
The Wii, actually, was in his room. He had the Wii, I had the three-sixty. Didn't play on it much, though. Wasn't really my thing. I was more of a, I dunno, compulsive gamer. Wanted to do everything. Unlock everything. And the three-sixty games bored me. Vincent liked it though. Hell, he'd spend ages in there when we had a day off, and I'd sit and, I dunno, read or write or something. I didn't mind. He was having fun.
There I go again. Anyway, his room. I was kinda jealous of his room, actually. Not 'cause it was bigger, not that at all - our rooms were the same size. No, the way he decorated it. It was... I can't describe it. The walls were a deep blue, like kinda turquoise? But darker? I could never name that colour. He'd done some paintings on the wall too. I was really jealous of his painting ability. My artistic-ness never went past doodling in margins of paper, stuff like that. And he had a wall of pictures. Just little things that he liked to see. And everything was organised. I couldn't get over that. It was all so... so tidy. I used to poke fun at him about it, but he said he liked it that way.
He went in first. It was only polite, I mean, I wasn't about to barge into his room. That's plain rude. So yeah, he went in first, but he held the door open. That said, once I was inside, I usually did overstep my boundries. First thing I did, every time, was jump on his bed. He tutted, but grinned about it and went to set the Wii up. while he wasn't looking, I looked around his room. I mean, we may be friends, but I still didn't want to let him know how much about him and the way he lived I liked. There were a couple new pictures up. Then, I saw the thing to really laugh about.
"Vincent," I sniggered. "You've left yesterday's clothes on the floor."
Vincent looked up, and I swear to whatever god's out there, his face was the most hilarious thing I've ever seen. He looked horrified. Like he'd left a corpse there or something. Still laughing my head off, I pointed at the suspect clothes. He went to grab them, but then he surprised me and lobbed them all at me. I looked at them. "Huh, nice top," I said, still grinning and looking at the t-shirt. It was black, but it had a white outline of a dragon on it. Underneath, it said "The last dragon lives and flies". I liked it. I didn't really notice it on him yesterday. We were kinda busy fighting. "Oh, thanks... you can have it if you want," he said, shrugging and returning to the Wii, putting a disc in. I felt myself staring again, and looked away. Then I realised what he said.
Again, there was another hint that he liked me. Back then, I thought I was looking into it a bit too much. He was offering to give me his t-shirt. I know for a fact that he loved all his clothes. All of them. I mean, who buys clothes they don't like? But he was different, he bought the clothes that he really liked. And there he was, offering to give me one of the things. It was probably pretty expensive too. He only ever bought really expensive stuff. I looked at him again. He looked pretty unconcerned.
"You sure?" I asked. "Yeah, if you want," he said, shrugging. "Alright... cheers." "No problem," he said. "Wii's set up. Brawl?" "You know you're gonna lose, even if you did give me that top." "Ha, we'll see."
We managed to spend most of the day on the Wii. I still dunno how. We never used to spend that much time on any console, but that day... I dunno. It was relaxing, I guess. We were perfectly evenly matched, though. Couldn't come out a clear winner, either of us. But that's probably why we played so much. It was the same on anything. In real life as well. We were opposites in nearly everything. I only ever had one issue with him, and even that went away, like he was setting a standard I had to follow, but I knew he wasn't.
It was eleven at night when we finally realised, oh wait, it's dark outside and we haven't eaten all day. I made food. Unfortunately enough, my cooking expertise didn't expand past either pasta, noodles or microwave food. So I made some combination of all of them. Pasta-noodle-chip-chicken wings. I thought it tasted pretty good, but that's just me and I'm weird like that. Vincent ate it without complaint too, and didn't leave any. If he didn't like it, he left it. I knew that about him ages ago.
After that, we pretty much just went to bed. That was what life was like.
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Post by Yoshimitsu on Nov 4, 2008 19:49:45 GMT -5
Chapter 2 - The Bounty
So, I guess I should tell you just what I meant by bounty hunting. It's pretty simple, to begin with anyway. We get bounty notices, and go after whoever's on the notice. I mean, sometimes it's something really petty, like this guy got stolen from and wants his stuff back, but he's gonna pay a boatload of cash for it. But sometimes it's not, sometimes it's something really dangerous, like there's a renegade dragon or mage or something, someone or something that's gonna cause some problems somewhere. And sometimes, it's almost too dangerous and me or Vincent nearly lost our lives. But it's a living, so we keep with it.
I was never any good at getting the bounty notices. I mean, it was my idea to begin with, 'cause I thought it'd be a good living. I didn't think me or Vincent could easily be taken down by anything. A few of the bounties, they really weren't fun. We were, like, seconds away from losing our lives and still don't know how we managed to live through it. But I'm getting off topic again. Again. Anyway, there was this one bounty. It was a swordsman or something, Vincent explained it but the notices kinda bored me. I just trusted Vincent knew what he was doing with them. And, believe me, I trusted Vincent a lot.
Anyway, this one bounty. God, I wasn't prepared for it at all. And I underestimated the guy. But I'm jumping ahead again. Let's see... It was a pretty cold day in December, I think. It was misty outside, and I didn't really want to go out that much. I mean, I wanted to do the hunt, but anything else outside I wasn't really looking forward to. I'd just got up.
It was early again. Vincent wanted me up early for real this time, so I made sure I was. I was up earlier than him, actually. I went downstairs after checking all my stuff was ready. Had my two swords on either side of my hips, and warmer clothing. Since Vincent had been so nice last time, I started making some breakfast for him. Nothing instant either. Pancakes, I figured. I was partway through the first one when Vincent entered the room.
"There's a sight I never thought I'd see," he said, surprising me. I nearly dropped the pancake as I was flipping it. I glanced at him quickly, grinning. "Thought I'd make it up to you for that time ages ago," I replied. Using my epic pancake skills, I flipped the pancake from the frying pan and on to a plate. I bowed to Vincent, who mock-applauded. He was grinning when he stood beside me, putting sugar and syrup on to his food. "Thanks," he said. He brushed me arm as he moved back to the table, which made my stomach give a weird squirm. Not a bad squirm, just a weird one. I guess my feelings for Vincent were getting a bit stronger by this point, but shrugged it off. More important things to worry about. Like making my breakfast too.
"So, you ready for today?" He asked me. He was cutting up his pancake into near-perfect squares. I smiled faintly at that. I always liked to roll my pancake up, then cut it into anything. And they were never any real shape. "Pretty much," I replied. "What d'you reckon about it? How hard's it gonna be?" "Dunno. I did some research on this guy, but no one seems to know anything about him," Vincent said. I nodded, then stood up, my mouth surprisingly dry. Vincent looked at me questioningly. "Coffee. Want one?" I said, getting two cups out of the cupboard and putting the kettle on. "Yeah, thanks," he replied. "So, what do you know about him?" I asked. "Not much. He's a swordsmaster, but you know that that term's not the best ever," he said. I nodded in agreement, filling the cups with hot water, having already put the coffee in. I liked coffee. A lot. Especially strong coffee. After adding milk, I came back to the table and handed Vincent his cup. "Thanks," he said. "No problem. So, no idea how tough it's gonna be?" I asked. Vincent shrugged. "It can't be that bad if he isn't that well known," he said. I nodded again, then looked at my half-eaten pancake. I wasn't as hungry as I thought. Or maybe the pancake was just rubbish. I hadn't decided. Vincent seemed to agree, though, 'cause he'd made it through three quarters of his before giving up. "Too much sugar first thing," he said, pushing the plate away from him. I laughed. "Shall we go then?" I asked. He nodded.
Now, this is an interesting part. Remember that I said I had powers? I can teleport. It's weird, right, because what I have to do is focus on a place I want to go. I can picture it in my mind, or I can just have the place name to go on. Then, I have to concentrate on moving from where I am to the place, and... it's hard to describe, but it's like I have an energy source in me that can fuel it, because I just... well, activate it, I guess. Then it's a weird feeling, like I'm being punted somewhere else, which I guess I am. But it's like being punted through space itself. It's weird, but pretty useful.
So I extended my hand to Vincent, who took it, and teleported. Vincent'd been on a recon thing, and come back with a few pictures so I had some idea of what to go on. Luckily, I got it right first time. One time I hadn't, and instead of being on a beach, we ended up in some poor old woman's house. I'm still not sure how it happened. I think I might have been distracted by the TV in the kitchen or something. But yeah, that was embarassing.
The first thing I thought when we'd teleported was how cold it was. I knew it was cold when I was back in the house, but this was... well, it was intense. Freezing, or close to it. The mist was thicker too. It was still pretty dark, but then I realised that we were in a forest. It was kinda unnerving, but not that bad. I mean, we'd been in different situations that were a hell of a lot scarier. I glanced at Vincent, who was looking around. I think we were a little off target, but Vincent clarified.
"I think this is the right place... I never went into the forest," he said quietly. I could understand his low voice. This was the sort of forest from stories where anything could be in the darkness. "And this guy lives in here?" I asked, my voice a whisper. I really didn't want to provoke the wrath of anything that might be living there. "Yeah... I looked around and he didn't look like he'd live anywhere else," Vincent said. He didn't really explain it well, but I got what he meant. It was very isolated. It'd explain why no one knew who he was. "So, should we just explore?" I asked. My hand was already one the hilt of one of my swords. I may have been strong, but I could still be a jumpy bastard in some situations. "I guess so," he said. He took charge, like he usually did, and lead me around the area.
On nearly every bounty hunt we went on, he was always the 'leader'. I'm saying leader, he always lead me around. I trusted him. I trusted that he'd be able to spot any trouble or danger before me, 'cause he usually did. I didn't mind. I always thought he was a bit braver than me. I'm not brave, y'know. I'm impulsive. Do whatever, whenever. Screw the consequences, I'll do it anyway. Usually got me into trouble too. That's why I didn't mind how we did things. I don't think Vincent minded either. I hope he didn't.
The forest was really creepy though. Everything was... silent. Completely. Still. Not even a breeze. Just that mist, that wouldn't let us see far enough ahead. We kept on glancing around, making sure we weren't going in circle. It was hard enough, I kept on wincing every time I stepped on a twig or something. Let me tell you, in that silence, it sounded like a gunshot.
I was walking only a few foot away from Vincent the whole time. Then I saw something on the ground. A foot print. "Vincent," I said, my voice still barely above a whisper. He turned and looked at me, and I just pointed at the foot print. We both crouched down next to it. "It's not your shoe print is it?" He asked me. "No, mine are criss-cross," I said. "What about yours?" "No, I don't even think mine have a print," he replied. I grinned at him. "So... we're on the right track?" I said, nodding to something else I saw. Another foot print. And another. A trail. "These are recent too," he said. I nodded, not really understanding how he could tell. It's not like there was a sign saying 'Stood here a day ago' was it? We went back to silence, and followed the foot print.
We walked for, maybe, two minutes? Something like that. Then Vincent put his arm out to stop me, so I did. I was about to question why, but then I saw him. The guy we were after. And man, did I ever get creeped out. He was wearing a mask. Seriously. A white mask that completely covered his face. I didn't think he was human at first. Vincent's voice threw me for a loop, though. Considering we were whispering only minutes ago, to hear him talking loudly and confidently was a bit of a sudden change.
"Yoshimitsu, I'll handle this one," he said, pulling out his sword. I just nodded and stepped back. We were in a clearing, the three of us. Pretty big, could probably play a good game of tennis if it wasn't so cold and creepy. The swordsmaster guy just looked up at Vincent. I swear, it was like he knew we were coming. Probably did. I remembered the time we went after that prophet, who not only knew we were coming, but set up traps. I never did get that slime out of my t-shirt...
The fight was something to watch, though. It wasn't really the moment, but I admired the way Vincent fought. His style was amazing. It was like he was dancing. I couldn't get over it. Even though we were clearly in a very hostile situation, I was still watching him fight, actually enjoying seeing him move in what should have been impossible ways. Every slash or strike or stab all looked like it was flowing, kinda like water. Like watching water fight. Vincent would have hated that metaphor, so I kept my mouth shut. I was planning on doing that anyway, so I... kept it shutter?
I was watching the fight, and I knew something wasn't quite right. This swordsmaster, he was matching every attack. I couldn't figure it out. Nothing was hitting him. I was watching very carefully now. The sword he was using wasn't anything special, and I couldn't sense anything from it. Vincent was attacking... but the swordsmaster was moving too fast. He was moving... like fire.
That was a stupid metaphor. But it kinda made sense. Vincent's fighting style was more like a dance, but the swordsmaster I could only think was aggressive as hell. And I saw what was going to happen with just... just enough time to do something about it.
Vincent's guard was broken.
There was no time for thought. I couldn't think. It was running on pure instinct. I ran at the guy, and I can run pretty damn fast. I ran in the way of the attack, the one that would have been fatal if I was just a shade slower, and I swung the blade in my hand upwards, knocking away the swordsmaster's weapon. Then, the fight was over. It was all Vincent had needed. He flipped over me, using my shoulders as a kind of platform, I guess, and he dropped his foot on to the guy's head. In sparring, Vincent did that to me once. I don't think my skull's ever been the same since.
But the fight was over. The guy was knocked out. We weren't meant to kill him. Just... apprehend him, I guess. Took him back to were Vincent got that bounty notice from, then went home. Normally, we'd just sit back and chill for the rest of the day, but something was different about Vincent. I could tell just by watching him. But he went up to his room when we went home, and I didn't wanna force my company on him. I figured he needed some alone time, so I sat downstairs for the rest of the day and watched some movies.
It was about... maybe seven pm when Vincent came out of his room. He came into the living room, and I waved without looking at him. Not because I was pissed off with him or anything, but because the program that was on was really actually interesting. Vincent just sat on the sofa next to me. Didn't say anything. I didn't know what to make of it, but I could tell something was wrong, so I turned the TV off, and looked at Vincent.
"What's up?" I asked. He looked at me. I could see those eyes. I couldn't make out the emotion he was feeling though. "Thanks," he said quietly. Emotional displays, I knew full well, weren't things he did well. "What for?" I asked. "For... well, saving my life earlier, " he said. He wasn't looking at me now. I swear, I just wanted to hug him or something. He was just acting cute. Like a puppy acts cute. "It's no problem, I mean, that's what friends do, right?" I said. He didn't say anything. I didn't understand what was wrong with him. This had happened before, the whole nearly-dying thing, and he never got like this. I frowned. "What's up?" I asked again. "I'm... just thinking," he said. He was avoiding the question. This time, though, I didn't want to pry. I couldn't help, I knew that much. He was having some kind of emotional turmoil. So instead of saying anything, I just pulled him into a hug. I think that's what he needed. Just a hug. For him to realise that someone... that I was there for him.
"Thanks," he said again once we seperated. "I think I'm just gonna head to bed now." "Alright, I'll see you in the morning," I said. He smiled at me, and lightly ruffled my hair. I smiled back, and watched him leave the room.
I'd never ask him, but I think I know what he was thinking about.
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Post by Yoshimitsu on Nov 5, 2008 19:55:45 GMT -5
Chapter 3 - Hey, we had friends too!
We didn't live completely isolated from the rest of the world. It was nice, yeah, living where we did, away from cities and stuff, but that didn't mean we were completely cut off from everyone else in the world. People stopped by to see us a lot, actually. The only thing is, everyone had really bad timing. I felt better saying that everyone else had the bad timing and not us. I can say, confidently, that someone would always, always stop by when me and Vincent weren't ready to see them. Like, one of us might be mostly naked with really bad bed hair, or right after I'd manage to spill something over myself.
It wasn't that bad, usually. Me and Vincent didn't really have any issues with dealing with what shoulda been embarassing situations. It was people's reactions. One time, Kilik came round and refused to open his eyes for half an hour because I was walking around in just my underwear. Vincent actually had to force his eyes open so he could see I'd put some clothes on. It wasn't my fault, he was the one who chose to visit at some stupid time in the morning, and expect me to be awake, clothed and tidy-looking.
I did wish some people wouldn't come round though. There was one guy that always turned up when I was having a good day, and just managed to ruin it for me. Alex, he was called. He was a water adept, he said. I called him a water elemental. He also had all these funny little tricks, like he could swap places with something like a tree stump to avoid getting hit, stuff like that. And they all involved funny hand movements I could never follow. I thought he watched too much TV, to be honest. Not that he watched TV. Or even owned one.
I wasn't bothered by his powers, or by the fact that somehow he always found a way to beat other people in fights. It was his personality I hated. Don't get me wrong, though, I didn't hate him. He was one of our... I'll say friends. But he was so damn infuriating. He always talked to us like he knew something we didn't. And like he was better than us. I hated being patronised like that. Not even Vincent was allowed to do it, not that he would.
No, one time, he did what Kilik did, and turned up at, like, eight in the morning. I wouldn't have known that he was there if it wasn't for how loud he talked. When I was in bed, he was talking. I knew for a fact that Vincent would have asked him to keep his voice down, but he didn't. And, when I was in bed, his voice was loud enough to carry up through my floor so I could hear every word he said. Irritated, I got myself up, and went downstairs as I was. In some pyjama pants and my hair looking like a bird's nest.
"Ah, Yoshimitsu," was what greeted me. "As charming as ever." "Oh can it, Alex," I retorted. "Next time, keep your voice down. Some of us need sleep." I was being rude, but I didn't care. I mean, seriously, he woke me up by talking. A floor away. So loud that I could hear what he was saying. I went to go make myself some coffee, glaring at him as I went. "Mornin'," Vincent said to me. I nodded at him. I didn't want to say anything, because I was in a foul mood and when I opened my mouth, I couldn't stop myself from being downright nasty. Vincent knew that. Probably why he didn't say any more to him. I was grateful for that. "So, Vincent," Alex said. "As I was saying, I could use some... assistance." "Why?" Vincent asked. He wasn't dodging the question, I knew. He was getting extra information. "Where I need to go is a place not designed for a single person to pass," Alex said, sounding like it was the simplest thing ever. I shot another glare at Alex. Why the hell did he have to talk to people like that? "And you couldn't find anyone else to ask?" Vincent questioned. Now he was dodging the request. "No, I confess I didn't. I didn't think anyone else would be adequate," Alex said. I think Vincent could tell how unimpressed I was. He glanced at me. "Well, sorry, we can't help," Vincent said. "It's our day off, and we're not risking our life for something you wont even explain to us properly." I noticed 'us', and the way Vincent said it. Alex must have asked Vincent, and Vincent alone. I looked at Alex, and the way his brow was furrowed confirmed my theory. "Well, I apologise for bothering you, then," Alex said, standing up and heading for the door. "I daresay I may put up a request for help if you change your mind." He left. Vincent looked at me.
"Who the hell calls at eight in the friggin' morning?" I asked, glaring at the door. "I think he wanted to avoid talking to you," Vincent said. I shrugged. I didn't care about him avoiding me. I did care about the fact that he was trying to drag Vincent off without telling me. I know Vincent would have told me anyway, but Alex wouldn't have. "He makes me want to kill kittens, Vincent," I said. "He's not that ba-"
"No, Vincent, he really makes me want to kill kittens. Not just any kittens either, but munchkin kittens. You know, the ones with the short legs and tiny ears that make you think your head might explode into candy just by looking at them. I want to kill those kittens."
Vincent laughed. I know he wasn't laughing at me. I grinned a little. The thought that someone could have that effect, and what I actually said, was a bit funny. Vincent shook his head, still grinning. "I know he's not the nicest guy to talk to, but he's not that bad," Vincent said. "I guess you're right," I sighed.
We never actually found out what he wanted us to do. Vincent could tell how completely unimpressed I was, I think, so he never went for that mission. I was so glad that Alex didn't stop by that often. But he wasn't the only person who visited. Kilik visited a lot. Like, three times a week or something. He was a pretty good friend, even if he did overreact a lot. I think he got used to arriving when one of us was barely clothed though. We never had to force him to check we were clothed again, thank god for that. That was a weird experience.
One time, he managed to arrive before both of us were up. I'd have stayed in bed, but he thought it'd be a good idea to go and throw stones at my window. I thought it was a bird or something at first. A very thick bird. I got out of bed and looked through the curtains to see Kilik grinning and waving at me. Grumbling, I went downstairs to let him in.
"Hey Yosh, sorry to wake you," he said when he came in. "I'm kinda surprised you didn't freak out," I said, my voice a little rough for whatever reason. Without saying any more, I went into the kitchen. "Why? 'Cause you're half-naked?" He asked, smirking. "Well, yeah," I said, handing him a cup of coffee. "At least you have pants on this time," he commented. I just nodded. "What brings you here at-" I checked the clock on the wall "-eleven am? Oh, not that early then." "Eh, I was just bored," Kilik said, shrugging. That was usually why he came round. He was bored. He was always bored. I nodded to him. "Better go get Vincent up, be back in a sec," I said. Vincent didn't usually like to stay in bed too long, I was kinda surprised he wasn't up. Then I remembered just how much he drank last night, and wasn't so surprised. Quietly, I pushed open his door, not wanting to scare him like Kilik usually did. I stuck my head round the door.
Vincent was still asleep. I was going to wake him, but then I saw him. He looked peaceful. His face was blank, content, no thoughts making him frown. He was curled up in a ball, holding his covers close to himself. I was going to wake him, but he looked so peaceful, so content. I couldn't describe it. It was... adorable, actually. I quietly slipped out of the room again, and headed back to Kilik.
"Not wake him?" Kilik asked when he saw me without Vincent. "Nah, he looks shattered," I said, shrugging. "He had a bit too much to drink last night."
Kilik said something, but I wasn't really paying attention any more. I was thinking about Vincent, curled up in bed like a cat. Looking peaceful. Looking content.
"Hellooo? Earth to Yoshi!" Kilik said, throwing a spoon at me. I snapped out of my daze. "Oh, sorry, what did you say?" I asked, looking at him. Then I realised he threw a spoon at me. "Oh, you jerk."
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Post by Yoshimitsu on Nov 6, 2008 15:03:00 GMT -5
Chapter 4 - My Turn
I'd like to say that our next bounty was one we'd picked and found ourselves, but that's the biggest lie in the world. Who the hell goes to pick off bounty hunters at six in the morning anyway? Were people trying to stop me from sleeping? It was getting kinda annoying now.
Vincent ran into my room, sword already out and started issuing orders. Wait, no. Not orders. That's what I thought at first. Then I actually listened to what he was saying, making sure I was alright. Concern. "Vincent, go outside and stall whoever the fuck is trying to explode our house," I said, suitably irritated. He just nodded and ran outside. I looked around the room, but I was still royally pissed off, y'know, so I threw on some combats, grabbed my sword and teleported outside.
"Yoshi, look out!" Vincent yelled when I appeared. I looked up and saw a beam headed my way. Now, I wasn't one to get angry. I got annoyed, not angry. Never angry. But this guy, whoever he was, was managing to do a really good just of pissing me off. And when I'm angry, I stop holding back. So this beam headed my way.
"What the fuck, no," I said, slapping the beam away. It went out to see, I guess, I wasn't paying attention, just keeping the beam away from the house. "Vincent, step back. This guy woke me up, I'll deal with him." Vincent just nodded at me, but I could see concern written on his face. I think he was remembering what happened last time. I shot him a quick look, trying to tell him not to worry.
Now, I know I said watching Vincent fight was fun, but fighting on my own, going against someone in a full on battle... It was intoxicating. I loved the thrill of the fight, the feeling where one wrong move might be fatal, being locked in combat until someone gave up or couldn't fight any more. I loved it. And at the moment, I really needed to let off some steam. I think Vincent sensed it. That's why he agreed.
And we were locked in combat. I dunno who this guy was, but he was bloody nimble. And gymnastic. He could dodge and attack at the same time. I was lucky enough to be able to recognise that. When I finally managed to land a hit, I grinned. A deep cut, going down his bicep. But the fight had gone on for far too long by then, and more than once I could tell Vincent was about to stop an attack from hitting me.
I cut the fight short. See, I could do one more thing. I teleported around this guy, each time I used another power. I'm an elementalist. Pick an element and I can use it. It feels weird, I can use fire and my arm warms up, or ice and it gets cold, or electricity and it kinda tingles. But yeah, back to the point. I 'ported around and hit the guy with as many different elements as I could. Vincent hated when I did that in sparring, he said he couldn't block it, but I knew he could.
The guy collapsed. I really wanted to roll him over the cliff, but dealing with bounties wasn't my forté. I just went back to bed. I didn't get up for a couple of hours, but when I did, I had a letter stuck to the outside of my door. Vincent wrote it, just telling me he'd gone to deal with that guy who attacked us. I smiled faintly. It was nice of him to write a message to let me know. I went back into my room and into my wardrobe, looking for something. It was a bad idea to put anything in there, my wardrobe was, well, a complete mess. It was a miracle I could find what I wanted to wear.
After ten minutes, I found it. A small box, tied with a ribbon. It wasn't much, but it cost me far too much. Just something I wanted to give to Vincent, 'cause he was also so nice to me, so considerate and caring... so perfect. I went downstairs to the kitchen. We basically lived in the kitchen, not in the lounge or our rooms like normal people. Always the kitchen. I smirked at that, putting the box on the table and making some coffee. Vincent walked in when I was stirring milk into my coffee.
"Hey," I greeted him, moving to sit at the table. "Howdy," he replied. "Just finished up with the bounty." "Who was he?" I asked, turning the TV on. "Oh, he was a bounty-hunter hunter," Vincent said, pouring himself some milk and joining me at the table. "A what now?" "A bounter-hunter hunter. He was one of those idiots that only go for Bounty Hunters." "Oh," I said. I couldn't think of anything else to say. "Turns out he's pretty dangerous. He went after us for our rising rep. He had a bounty on his head too." "Oh," I said again. "So we did ourselves a favour." "Yep."
I started watching the TV. Wasn't anything interesting, just some news on a bird that could speak English, and wasn't a parrot. Some stupid things made it to the news. "Yoshimitsu," Vincent said suddenly. "What's that?" He nodded to the box. "Oh, right," I said. I'd completely forgotten about it, so this wasn't how I visioned giving it to him. "It's for you, actually. Open it."
Vincent looked at me again, a puzzled look on his face, but he took the box and slid the ribbon off, opening it. Inside was a necklace. I'd seen it a while ago, and thought it was the perfect gift. I think he likes sapphires. The pendant on it was a small sapphire, meant to bring luck, dangling from the thin chain. He held it up to look at it.
"If you don't like it, I can return it, no big deal, the guy at the shop said I could return it whenever or exchange it, I just thought it was nice so I-"
Vincent put his hand on my arm, and I shut up. He was smiling. "I love it," he said. I blushed. He went to put it on, but kinda struggled with the clip behind his head. "Here," I offered, reaching behind his neck to sort out the clip. My hands slid over his, and even though he let go the necklace, he didn't move his hands. I clipped the chain, and went to pull my hands back, but he grabbed... no, that's not the right word. He just took them and held them.
"Vincent, what-"
He cut me off again, but this time, he pushed his lips on to mine and kissed me.
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Post by Yoshimitsu on Nov 8, 2008 7:49:35 GMT -5
Chapter 5 - If I could find a way to turn "Oh my god" into one word, I would
Okay. Okay. Okay okay okay. Okay.
Vincent kissed me.
...
Okay.
Words completely failed me. He kissed me. And it wasn't one of those friendly, peck-to-say-thanks kisses. I could feel the passion behind it. The emotion. It was the most beautiful thing ever. It was like a smile. He pulled back, smiling, and his smile... Amazing. I couldn't find words to do it justice. It was perfect.
"Thanks," he said. I smiled. I couldn't help it, and I definitely didn't want to. I was just happy. No. Ecstatic. "Any time," I said, and I meant it. I'd by him everything in the world for another kiss like that. I couldn't think of anything else to say. Vincent took away the need, though. He was talking again. "I've got a confession," he said. My smile just got wider. He was back to his bad-at-emotional-speeches thing again. "I like you."
There. The three words I'd wanted to hear for so long. I wanted to cry. I was so happy. I wanted to laugh too - he was staring at his hands. Shy. He was shy. "Vince," I said, raching totake his hand. Our fingers intertwined. He looked at me, right in the eyes. I could see his eyes, those beautiful brown eyes, so dark I couldn't tell when the brown stopped and the black started. And they were filled with so much emotion. "I like you too."
And, of course, Kilik came running into the kitchen. I started laughing when I saw him. Typical Kilik. I mean, would it kill him to not ruin a moment for once? I glanced at Vincent, who was grinning.
"Hey Yoshi, hey Vincent," Kilik said, going straight for the fridge. He always did that, too. The only reason we bought stuff like yogurt was for him. "Y'alright Kilik?" I replied. "Help yourself to what's in the fridge, by the way." "Cheers," he said, sitting at the table with a yogurt. I felt Vincent squeeze my hand a little, so I looked at him. I could see the question on his face, 'Should we tell him?' I just shrugged. Honestly, there was no reason not to. I mean, Kilik's probably the most understanding guy I know. But Vincent didn't know Kilik like I did, I guess. I could sense Vincent getting a but nervous, so I just squeezed his hand.
"So what brings ya here this time?" I asked, changing the channel on the TV. Still nothing interesting. "Bored and hungry," Kilik said, licking the last of his yogurt from his spoon. "You're not gonna throw that at me, are you?" I smirked, nodding at the spoon. "Only if you space out on me again. You alright Vincent? Bit quiet today," Kilik asked. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just in shock," Vincent said, smiling faintly. "In shock? Why would you be-" he noticed our hands, and stared for a minute. Then started grinning. "No way, really?" "Yeah," Vincent said. I smiled. "Way to go," Vincent nodded. I could feel Vincent relaxing now. Kilik hadn't thrown a hissy or freaked out. I knew he wouldn't. It was why he was one of my best friends. "Cheers," I said. "So what you guys doing today?" Kilik asked.
I looked at Vincent. I dunno if he had anything planned. I didn't - I was planning on being in bed for longer. I was still tempted to go back to bed. Probably would have done if Vincent wasn't sat there, holding my hand. "Nothing planned, we had a rough morning," Vincent said, shrugging. "Oh, I bet you have," Kilik said, grinning. I grabbed a nearby spoon and threw it at him. "Not like that," I said, smirking.
"Can I play on your three-sixty?" Kilik asked. I just nodded. He could if he wanted, but didn't trust him alone in my room. He might, I dunno, destroy my bed or my wardrobe or my three-sixty. I think Vincent could tell what I was thinking, 'cause we all stood up and went to my room. Kilik went for the three-sixty, Vincent sat on my bed, but I grabbed my guitar. It'd been a while since I played it. Thank god it wasn't out of tune - I hated tuning it. I strummed out a few notes, getting a feel for it again. I couldn't really think of anything to play, even though I really wanted to.
I did think of something, something really good, something I loved. I didn't know the full song yet, but I played what I knew, and sang the lyrics quietly.
"You're the voice I hear inside my head; There reason that I'm singing; I need to gind you, I gotta find you; You're the missing piece I need; The song inside of me; I need to find you, I gotta find you."
Vincent was looking at me, I could sense it. I could feel his eyes on me, so I shot him a quick smile and carried on playing. I liked singing. Not for show, performing wasn't my thing at all. No, singing with emotion, from the heart. Letting the emotion rise and overflow into the words and the tune. It got a point across more than speech. I think Vincent agreed. That's why he always listened.
"This is real, this is me; I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be now; Gonna let the light; Shine on me; Now I've found, who I am; There's no way to hold it in; No more hiding who I wanna be; This is me."
"Nice song, Yoshi," Kilik said, without looking back at me. I smiled again. Vincent put his hand on my arm, so I put my guitar back and sat next to him. He put his arm around me, and I felt like I could melt into his hold, and just stay like that forever.
Times like that were the best times I had.
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Post by Beelzebibble on Nov 8, 2008 13:47:15 GMT -5
It's fantastic. I was immediately hooked on the half-cynical, half-self-deprecating writing voice. G'wan, g'wan. Some critical bits, though: (1) How original to give a slight romantic charge to Vincent giving his t-shirt to Yoshimitsu. That was a great, unique moment, but I think you should give a shot at explaining it somewhat better. That "Again, there was another hint that he liked me" paragraph -- it seems like too much information after the fact, when you could have spaced that out a bit by, for instance, establishing how attached Vincent is to the t-shirt before he gives it to Yoshimitsu. (2) Your characters are shrugging a little too much. And I know [url=http://archipelagoexodus.proboards67.com/index.cgi?board=orpboard&action=display&thread=1239&page=1[HASH]25319]you're aware that that happens in your writing[/url], so just watch out for it, okay? (3) You want to brush up on the difference between a metaphor and a simile. You point out like three metaphors in Yoshimitsu's writing that are all actually similes. It's okay; no one gets that right any more; we've all deified the metaphor and left the simile by the wayside. Of course, I think it would suit Yoshimitsu's voice if he thought he was invoking the correct literary term and was in fact a bit off, because you're certainly not trying to present him as an academic.* But if you wanted to do that, I'd look for other similar "mistakes" to drop intermittently into the text, instead of just the metaphor-simile problem, because left alone it just comes across as you yourself not understanding that difference. Basically, either make it clear that these are Yoshimitsu's errors and not yours, or just fix them. *Here's an example you can no doubt appreciate. The word "euphemistically" is hideously out of place (in fact, Black Mage probably meant to say "metaphorically"), but we know without a doubt this is BM's error and not Brian Clevinger's. FUTURE EDIT: I'm a douchebag, and from the point of view of linguistics, similes are nothing more than a subset of metaphors.
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Post by Yoshimitsu on Nov 9, 2008 18:12:01 GMT -5
Cheers Pohatu. I'll keep those things in mind (Y)
Chapter 6 - Sometimes we were completely random
We didn't always just chill around the house or go kill or maim things. Not always, just most of the time. I mean, if we did, what would we ever get done? Like shopping? But those aren't fun things to talk about, things like shopping or chores or whatever. No, sometimes, we were completely random in what we did.
A few days after me and Vincent got together, Kilik came round telling us he'd organised a football game. Then he spent the rest of the day laughing at the fact that I called it football, not soccer. It's not soccer, it's football. You use your feet to kick a ball and can't use your hands, it's football. Soccer's a silly name. But yeah, anyway, he'd got together a bunch of friends for a game of football. He'd even organised teams. I never knew he could be so organised.
So we went to this massive field he told us to go to. No clue where it was, he just told us to go to this field and gave me a picture. It looked like any other field in the world, so thank god I got the teleport right first time, otherwise we'd have been 'porting all around the world. The only reason we knew we got it right was because we weren't the first people there. Waiting for us were Kilik, Fratley and this girl called Amélie.
Fratley was an old friend of ours. One of the last of the Dragon Knights of Burmecia, he told us. Burmecians are... well, they're... rat-people. Never said that to his face, though. He got really offended. But yeah, they're basically rat-people. Wouldn't have expected him here, but I guess being a Dragon Knight can be stressful. Everyone needs a break now and then, right?
Amélie was a friend of mine. She was probably one of my only non-supernatural friends. Everyone else had some kind of power, but she didn't. She liked my friends, though, I think. She liked being around us superpowered guys. She never seemed left out, which I thought she might be. If she was, she didn't say it. Anyway, yeah, I met her a few years ago, and we kept in touch.
"Yo, Frat, Amélie," I said, waving to them. "Where's my hello?" Kilik demanded. He was pouting. He looked ridiculous. "I said hi to you earlier," I laughed. He didn't look impressed. At all. "Yoshimitsu, Vincent, a pleasure to see you again," Fratley greeted us. "Nice to see you," Vincent said. "Didn't expect to see you here." "I was allowed some time off," Fratley shrugged. "Fair enough," I said. "Kilik, who else is coming?" "Just a few people. Sem said he might, Alexxia's coming for sure, Alex is coming too," Kilik replied. "You invited Alex?" I asked. Why the hell would he invite Alex? "C'mon Yosh, he's not that bad," Kilik said, smirking. "Kilik, he still makes me want to kill kittens," I said. "Yoshi, don't start that," Vincent said, putting his hand on my shoulder and grinning. I glared at him, but it died somewhere and I was just grinning. "Look, someone's coming!" Amélie said, pointing at the sky. I looked up to see a Pidgeot flying at us. "It's Alexxia," I said. "No one else I know trains pokemon apart from me." Alexxia hopped down from the bird pokemon, straightening her hat and returning the Pidgeot. I grinned. I loved her hat. She still wouldn't tell me where she got it. "Hi guys," she said, walking up to us. "Hey Alexxia," Vincent said. "Nice to see you again." "You two Vincent!" She noticed that Vincent had taken my hand. "Hey, you two together now?" I nodded at her. "Great! Took you long enough!"
Now was my time for fun. There was one thing I could do that none of my friends could. I was fast. Not 'I can do 100 meters in 10 seconds' fast, more 'You can see me when I'm moving' fast. Everything blurs past me when I'm moving, but I got used to it since I had to do it so often. To everyone else, it probably looked like I'd teleported away, then Alexxia's hat teleported to me when I reappeared. I dunno, I never asked anyone.
"Hey! No fair!" Alexxia stomped her foot, but she was grinning. I put the hat on. "I still wanna know where you got it." I bowed to her, then adjusted the hat. "If you keep nicking it off me, then I'm definitely not gonna tell you!" When I wasn't looking, Amélie crept up behind me and snatched the hat, putting it on herself. "I think it suits me more than you, Yoshimitsu," she said. I laughed. There was a slight movement around our waists, and we all knew who it was. "Hi Sem," Kilik said.
Sem was easily my freakiest friend. He wasn't even slightly human, not really. He looked more like some kind of otter-fish combo. Grey fur all over, a long tail, about three foot tall. Sometimes he wore a hoodie, like he was now. I looked at Amélie and realised that they hadn't met.
"Oh, Sem, this is Amélie," I said, gesturing to her. "Amélie, this is Sem."
Unfortunately, Amélie thought Sem was adorable. The first thing she did was 'squee'. I didn't know people could do that. Luckily, Sem was spared being pounced on by the arrival of Alex, who, flashy as ever, 'ported in with a gust of wind. He didn't address anyone, just nodded at us all.
"I think everyone's here, so that makes..." Kilik said, counting everyone. "Eight of us? Perfect. Four a side. I say... Yoshi, Amélie, Sem and me on one team, Alex, Alexxia, Vincent and Fratley on the other. Sound good?" "Fine by me," Amélie said, nodding. "I'm fine however teams go," Fratley said. I smirked at Vincent. "Try not to hog the ball, Vince," I said. "I'll just have to steal it from you," he replied. We all divided into our teams and stood on opposite ends of the field. I put up two pillars of ice on our side for our goals, and Alex did the same on the other side.
"I can't believe Alex agreed to this," I muttered to Kilik. "Eh, I asked him on the off chance," Kilik replied. "He said he'd come along." "Maybe he's not as bad as I thought," I said. "We kicking to them?" "Yeppo, I'll do it," Kilik said.
And the game started. I guess we had an unwritten rule at the start, no powers. Amélie and Alexxia would be left out, since neither of them had any powers, but yeah. It started out fine. Vincent passed to Alex, who managed to run past both me and Amélie before Kilik tackled him and took the ball. He passed to me, and I kicked it as hard as I could at their goal, where Vincent was waiting and blocked it. He smirked at me, so as a reply I got the ball from Fratley and kicked it again. This time it went in, and Vincent stuck his tongue out at me.
"Kilik, who's in net?" I asked. Kilik just shrugged at me. I looked back and saw that no one was there. "Sem, can you go in net?" Sem shot me a filthy look. "Amélie?" Amélie didn't look impressed either. "Alright fine, no one in net."
I think that's why we started losing, actually. Me and Kilik kept on running forward, but someone always tackled us and got past Amélie and Sem. They had a clear shot at the goal. After a while, I was tired of losing, so I started cheating. Any time the ball went near the goal, I used a blast of wind to knock it away. No one noticed until the fifth time an oh-so-convenient gust knocked it away.
"Yoshimitsu's cheating!" Fratley shouted. "Two can play that game," Alex said, kicking the ball at our net again. I knew they'd have some way of getting around it, but I tried to knock it away with wind anyway. Alex, or Vincent, made a sheet of ice appear, and the ball bounced into our goal again. "Oh yeah?" I laughed. "Alright then, try this on for size."
I got the ball, the started going at super-speed again. Not as fast as I did earlier, I'm guessing they could see me, but they couldn't do a thing about it. I kicked the ball at the net, and Vincent actually jumped out of the way of the ball. "Shit, Yoshi, are you trying to kill me?" He laughed. I just smirked. I didn't expect Fratley to return with the ball, though, and run for the net. Fratley had a whole load of Dragon-based magic to use, and he turned the ball invisible when he kicked it at the net. Amélie had no clue where it could be coming from, and definitely didn't expect it to hit her legs out from underneath her.
"You alright Amélie?" Kilik asked, pulling her to her feet. "I'm fine," she said, brushing some dirt from here. "But that was a cheap trick!" "It's fine, Sem, how about some watery help?" Kilik asked. Sem nodded, and ran for the ball. Sem looked kinda funny with the ball. He was on all fours, so instead he was headbutting the ball. When Alexxia was in his way, he blasted the ball with water, and used the water to control its path. Sem was hydrokinetic, I think. Kinda like Alex, but Sem was better. Instead of following the ball, he just made it roll around Vincent and into the net.
"Amélie! Heads up!" I shouted, seeing the ball head her way. She grinned, jumped and headed the ball right back where it came from. When it was in the air, Vincent jumped right into the sky and spinning-kicked it. Kilik replied by doing a backflip and kicking it back up their end. Alexxia didn't even try to hit it - she dropped a pokeball and released her Combusken, who kicked the ball for her. "No fair! They've got five members now!" Kilik shouted. Alexxia grinned, and recalled Combusken. "Alright, I wont do it again!" She shouted innocently. I ran for the ball, booting it as hard as I could up their end of the field.
The game went on like that for ages. We decided to call it quits when me, Vincent, Sem and Fratley managed to destroy the field. It was some kind of burnt-swampy-electrified mess by the time we'd finished. We only realised it was electrified when Sem tried to swim in the water and jumped out, saying there was no way he'd go back into the water.
"Okay, next time, definitely no powers, alright?" Kilik said, rubbing his temples. "I dunno, the powers made it interesting," Vincent said. "Easy for you to say!" Amélie replied. "At least Alexxia had pokemon, I didn't have anything!" "Hey hey hey, chill guys," I said. "Me and Vince are gonna head back now, if you guys don't mind." "Nah, go for it," Alexxia said. "It's fine," Amélie nodded. "By the way, still coming to watch Wicked with me next month?" "Definitely," I said, nodding. Vincent nodded too. "Don't worry, I'll sort Amélie's lift out," Kilik said. "Cheers," I said. Vincent took my hand, and we teleported back to the house.
Yeah, sometimes we were completely random.
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Post by Yoshimitsu on Nov 11, 2008 17:26:12 GMT -5
Chapter 7 - We Met New People Too
When we were on hunts, we weren't always the only ones. Most hunts were open requests, right, so sometimes we had to help other people, or other people helped us. The money was split so that was fine, but some of the people were jerks. We ended up, a few times, forgetting the bounty and fighting the people we were supposed to be working with. Those times were... well, not nice.
One time, we were on a hunt, hunting a pack of dragons. I didn't know dragons moved in packs. I always thought they were loners, to be honest. Shows what I know. Vincent explained it to me, these dragons hadn't actually made any, like, violent actions against anyone. But someone was concerned about them or something. Money's money, I figured. Vincent thought the same.
"Mornin' Yoshi," Vincent greeted me as soon as I walked into the kitchen. He'd even made me a cup of coffee and got me some toast. "Mornin'," I yawned, sitting down next to him at the table. He'd left all the info for the hunt out. Not just the notice either, some maps and pictures of the place we had to go, info on the dragons, stuff like that. I never understood how he could always be so organised. I must have been up early, too, since usually it was all gone by the time I was up. "I'm running a bit late today," Vincent admitted. "Only got up twenty minutes ago." "Wouldn't worry 'bout it," I said. I had a mouthful of coffee while he started sorting through all the info. "I don't think we're the only ones on this hunt," he said. "Guy who gave me the notice said it was popular. I'm kinda glad, since the dragons look tough." "We've fought dragons before," I said around a mouthful of toast. He grinned at me. "Shouldn't talk with your mouth full," he chided. I just grinned at him. "And yeah, but never six or seven on them." "I guess," I agreed. I leant across and kissed his cheek once before going to wash my dishes. I didn't expect him to follow me and stand right behind me, his hands on my hips. "Hey hey hey, I'll drop the dishes," I said, joking. I didn't mind. I really didn't mind. "Who cares?" He said. I laughed, then turned around to kiss him properly.
"You know, if we stay like this we'll never get that bounty," I said, pulling back slightly. He laughed, but agreed with me. "Yeah, I guess," he said. "There's time later," I commented, winking at him. He laughed again. "Anyway, ready to go?" "Yeah, just about," Vincent said. I could practically see his brain going over the details. I was just thinking, 'Dragons, sword, stabby'. I was really far too impulsive. Still am. Once Vincent gave the go-ahead, we teleported to the location.
Someone else had got there first, though. And they weren't having that much luck. As soon as we arrived, the guy was thrown straight past us, and we were forced to start defending ourselves. Vincent stepped in front of me and threw up a barrier to protect us from the fire breath while I checked on this guy who was fighting them.
"You alright?" I asked, helping him to his feet. He was pretty tall, about as tall as I was, with dark, messy hair with a big blonde-ginger streak in his fringe, that he'd styled into a side fringe. He was pretty well built, but still kinda thin. Wearing a black t-shirt with some logo on the front, and skinny jeans. He was also holding a katana. Kinda like one of my swords, but mine had no guard on it.
"Yeah, cheers," he said. "You after the bounty too?" "You know it," I said. "Vincent, what's the plan?" "We can't take them down one at once," Vincent said, still holding that barrier. "They'd slaughter us. We have to split up." "Can you manage that?" I asked this new guy. "I'm Yoshimitsu, by the way, and he's Vincent." "Eddie, nice to meet you, and I'm pretty sure I can, yeah," the guy, Eddie, said. I nodded and turned, charging one of the dragons.
Now, you'd think going into a full-on-attack against a dragon would be a terrifying experience, but it was nothing new for me and Vincent. It was just another dragon. I'd fought dragons before. I knew what to expect, like when they open their mouths wide, they're gonna spit fire at us, or when they turn away they're gonna try to swat us with their tails. Nothing new, nothing original.
So I ran to the dragon, I think it was the biggest of the lot. Shiny blue scales and kinda big wings. As far as dragons went, it was a prettier one... well, as pretty as dragons can go, I guess. I jumped up, right over its head and twisted in the air, which is pretty damn difficult to do, and blasted a wave of lightning from my hand, my arm tingling. It still felt a bit weird, using elements. Anyway, the electricity hit it in the middle of its back, but I dunno if it did anything, since it just roared and tried to hit me with its tail. It quickly moved my sword to defend, just so its tail-spikes wouldn't rip me to shreads.
I figured Vincent and Eddie were having the same issues - fighting a dragon alone is tougher than fighting one alongside your friend. I jumped on to the dragon's head, using its confusion to look at Vincent and Eddie. Vincent wasn't doing too badly, he was just dodging everything the dragon could throw at him, and not attacking. No clue what his strategy was. Eddie had done the same as me - he's charged the dragon, but I'm guessing he wasn't as agile as me, since he was sporting a few cuts, and a nasty looking cut on his arm. I jumped over to his side.
"Okay, stay still a sec," I said. I fired ice at the dragon, coating its eyes so it was distracted. Then I turned. Another cool ability of mine - healing. This one is one of the few I can't really explain. It's not really healing, it's accelerating the natural healing process. It's more like time acceleration, I guess. Anyway, I put my hand on his arm, and focused on the power. This one made my hand tingle as well, but not electric-tingle, just... weird-tingle. A few green sparks jumped from my hand on to his cut, sealing the wound. It just looked like a scar now.
"Cheers," he said. "Wanna give me a hand against this thing?" "Err, Vincent said we'd get wiped out if we went for them one at once," I said. Surely Eddie heard that. "And we're not - your friend's going for that one, and when we've dealt with this one, you can go help him while I go for another one, and run it like that," Eddie suggested. "Sounds like a plan, let's do it. I'll get its head," I said, nodding. "Oh sure, give me the spiky end," Eddie complained. "I have to put up with fire breath and teeth," I pointed out. Eddie grinned, then ran around the dragon, heading for its tail. I looked at the head, the ice had been shattered off, and its eyes were bleeding.
"Oh, lovely," I muttered. I couldn't just rely on dumb luck this time, so I pulled out my second sword. This sword was a special one. It was called Shinkuu. I got it a while ago, when I could actually stand Alex. He took me to this place, where he told me I'd get a weapon that'd be unique to me. He was right. All I have to do is say the sword's name and it changed. So I did.
"Rise into nothing... Shinkuu!" And the sword changed. It's like it had a mind of its own, and it moves to my shoulder and kinda... well, fuses with my arm. The blade wraps around my arm, loops at my wrist and forms a kind of wrist-blade. I can make the blade either flaccid, ribbon-like, or turgid, like a normal sword blade. I charged back into the action, new weapon read. I kicked off the dragon's snout and flicked my wrist, the blade losing its integrity and whipping down at the dragon's head. Shinkuu was also sharp. Just from that one hit, I'd opened a gash in the dragon's face.
"Hey, you have one of those weapons too!" I heard Eddie shout. "Check mine!" I looked at him.
"Pierce, Tsuki Kiba!" His sword changed too. His wasn't a sword at all any more, though. It turned into a Guan Dao. I had one of those, too, but mine was just a Guan Dao. His was... well, it was impressive. The blade was slightly curved and kinda... glowed. The divide between the blade and the staff was pretty ornate too. It looks kinda like a wolf head, but... a tribal one? Abstract? Not a normal wolf head. The blade came from its 'mouth'. The staff part and the divide were black with silver markings on them. Eddie grabbed his new weapon, and shoved the blade into the dragon's back.
"Yoshi!" Vincent shouted, and my eyes snapped to him. The dragon was advancing on him, and it looked like his barriers weren't holding. "Eddie, stall this one!" I shouted, running to Vincent. I swerved around the dragon, moving at super speed, and planted the tip of Shinkuu into the ground. That's something else, Shinkuu can extend. It has its limits, but they're not very... well, limiting. I planted the tip into the ground, then looped around the dragon's head, making a kind of collar that stopped it from getting closer to Vincent.
"Thanks, Yoshi," Vincent said, raising his sword. It was glowing, and I knew what he was gonna do. Something Vincent could do, he had this weird power where he can focus a whole load of... I think its some kind of energy or something. Anyway, he focuses it all into his weapon, making it pretty damn powerful. He shot at the dragon like a bullet, driving his sword straight through its head. It wasn't a pretty sight, I'll tell you that. That was one dragon down.
"Phew," Vincent panted. "I need to stop using that." "No time to worry, Vince," I said, pointing at Eddie. "Go help him while I get the next dragon." He nodded and went to help Eddie, who was holding his dragon at bay by firing these weird glowing orbs at it from his Guan Dao. I ran at another dragon, spinning Shinkuu around myself, building up momentum. That was something I learned from using Shinkuu - more momentum when it's like a whip means more power. I flicked my wrist again, Shinkuu flying at the dragon and cutting open its snout, up to in between its eyes. I guess it got some blood in its eyes, because it started rampaging. Not just as me, either, it was attacking the other dragons.
"Vince, Eddie, come here!" I shouted. Vincent and Eddie looked at me, then had to move when the dragon I was fighting attacked the dragon they were fighting. "Yoshi, what did you do?" Vincent asked me. He looked stunned. "I dunno, I cut its head and... it just started going mental," I said. "Looks like it's seeing red," Eddie said, pointing at its eyes. I looked, so did Vincent, and I couldn't actually see its eyes behind red. Blood. "So... our bounty's... killing itself?" I asked. "Looks like it," Vincent said. "The other dragons are attacking each other too." "Well, that was... um..." I said. "Easy?" Eddie suggested. "Lucky, I'd call it," I replied.
The bounty did kill itself, actually. I guess the dragons weren't really a proper pack. Maybe a convenience thing, instead of some kind of link between them. Either way, they turned on each other, and ripped each other apart. I wasn't complaining. Just holding that dragon for Vincent to kill wore me out. Dragon's are pretty hard to hold. They're bloody strong. It was late by the time the dragons had finished attacking each other. You'd think they'd kill each other faster than they did. But no, they took ages. It was dark by the time they'd finished.
"Hey Eddie, you were pretty good out there," I said. "Cheers. You weren't so bad yourself," Eddie said. "Thanks," I said, ignoring the apparent arrogance. "Me and Vincent are gonna go back to our house, if you wanna come?" Vincent nodded in agreement. "Er, yeah, sure, if you don't mind," Eddie said. "It's fine," I said. "Probably gonna have a few beers or something." "Good stuff," Eddie said. "Sure it's alright for me to come?" "Yeah, it's fine," I said. I took Vincent's hand, put my hand on Eddie's shoulder and teleported us back to the house.
So yeah, sometimes we made new friends on those hunts. Eddie was actually a real help sometimes, but... Not yet. There's still more to tell.
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Post by Yoshimitsu on Nov 12, 2008 18:27:52 GMT -5
Chapter 8 - A Night Out. Gone Wrong.
See, me and Vincent didn't spend all of our free time in the house, or cheating at football. I mean, yeah, those things were fun. Especially the cheating at football. Sometimes, though, when we either got loads of cash from a hunt or we went three or four days without anything to do, we had to find ways to entertain ourselves. Not like that.
So sometimes we went out. Not just us usually, Kilik or Alexxia or Fratley usually came with us. We knew a few good places, like that really chilled bar or the street full of clubs. And all the drinks were pretty cheap. We looked old enough so we could get served. No one ever questioned us, so that was good.
A few days after the dragon bounty, we went out. Hadn't been out for a while. Seemed like a good idea, so yeah. Phoned a few people, like Kilik, Alexxia, even phoned Eddie since he was pretty cool. Seemed like a good crowd, and no Alex in sight. Fratley would have caused too much of a fuss that night, and he was back on Dragon Knight duty anyway.
Even though we went out to chill, I never left the house unprepared, and thank god for that since sometimes we got into trouble. Somewhere on my body, I'd hide at least one of my weapons. That night, I chose one of my guns. It had a retractable blade on it, pretty nifty idea, but it locked the trigger in place. Good, small thing so I could hide it easier. I strapped it to my leg before we went out.
"Oiii, I still dunno why you bother with that," Vincent said to me when he saw me strapping the gun to my leg. "Hey, you never know what might happen," I replied, shrugging. It was true. You never do know what might happen. He just laughed at me. "I think you're being a bit paranoid," Vincent said, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Eh, still like to be prepared," I said. I stood up, and immediately Vincent pulled me in for a kiss. I still liked kissing him. It still felt like a smile. But I'm a sucker for dramatics, so mid-kiss, I teleported us to the street we were going out to. "Dammit, Yosh, can't I have some warning next time?" Vincent laughed. "And ruin the surprise?" I smirked. "Look, Kilik and Eddie are already waiting for us." Outside the club we wanted to go to, Kilik and Eddie were waiting. They didn't look uncomfortable, so I guess they got along.
"Heyyy Yosh," Kilik said. He already had a bottle of beer in his hand. "Couldn't wait for us?" I asked, grinning. He just shrugged at me. "Eddie, nice to see you again." "Likewise. You too, Vincent," Eddie replied, nodding to Vincent. Vincent nodded back. "So, d'you guys wanna go in, or should we just stand outside?" vincent asked. I could see a smile playing around his lips. I laughed, and we went inside. The atmosphere there was amazing. I mean, sure, the music threatened to deafen people, but everyone was having a good time. People were dancing, chatting somehow, having a few drinks. I loved this club. It was one of the places I felt I belonged. First thing I did was ordered a drink and slipped on to the dance floor. Not literally. I didn't fall flat on my face. I moved with the people, dancing and grooving.
Vincent never really understood why I loved that place. You could move with anyone, against anyone, up close to anyone and no one cared. You could just belong. Be a part of everything, and you felt like it. I was dancing in between two girls, I could smell them, their unique scents, could feel the way their bodies moved against mine, everything. Every. Single. Movement.
I never took Vincent for the jealous type, y'know. I'm still not sure whether I do, but a second later the girls had moved and I could feel someone else behind me. Someone taller, stronger, male. Moving with me, close, very very close. I could smell him, feel him, hell I could almost taste him. It was Vincent. And he could really move when he wanted to.
I loved it.
I loved every minute of it.
That said, there weren't many minutes to it, since I was getting pretty damn thirsty. I slipped back off the dancefloor to get myself another drink, with Vincent close behind. "Hey hey hey, get a room you two," Kilik mocked us as soon as he found us. "Oi, it's not like we had no clothes on," I retorted, grinning. "Bet you wish you didn't though," Eddie chipped in, smirking. I just grinned suggestively, and drank some of my drink. "Never took you for the jealous type though, Vince," I said, punching him playfully on the shoulder. "I'm not, but I saw you moving out there and couldn't resist," Vincent smirked back at me. He draped an arm across my shoulder. I liked it. "Y'know, those girls were pretty cute," Eddie said, looking out back to the dancefloor. "Yeah, but they were lesbians," I said. "How do you know?" Kilik asked. He looked stunned. "I know them. They're lesbians and a couple," I said. "So how come they were dancing with you?" vincent asked me. "Because we're friends, and they know I'm not about to grope them randomly," I said, smirking. "Fuck me, Yosh, how the hell do you find these people?" Kilik asked. I just grinned, and slipped back on to the dancefloor.
Unfortunately, this time, something else managed to distract me. The floor shook. Violently. Not like the music was playing really loudly, like a bomb had gone off or something. I looked at Vincent, who looked just as confused as me. The sound came from outside. Me, Vincent, Kilik and Eddie all ran out of the club to see what was going on.
"Oh for fuck's sake. No, not tonight," Vincent said angrily. I understood why. The road looked like a war zone. Cars were on fire, the pavement was ripped to shreads and people were running away, screaming. And we were having such a good time. "And you wonder why I always come prepared?" I said to Vincent, taking the gun from my leg. The culprit was up ahead. I didn't like looking at him. He really did creep me out. Not because he looked weird or anything. No, he looked normal enough. Kinda. Very short, spiky blonde hair, a couple of scars on his face, pretty normal clothes, just a t-shirt and jeans. The weapon in his hand was a bit of a concern, his sword. Why swords? Why does everyone use swords? I know me and Vincent do, but still.
"Who the hell are you and why are you ruining my night?" I demanded, stepping into the road so I was stood opposite him. I heard Vincent talking to Eddie and Kilik. "Did you two bring any weapons?" He asked them. They both replied with negatives. Looks like it was up to me. Fine by me. He'd ruined my night, and I was ready to let loose and make him pay for it. "You were in one of these buildings?" The guy said, with a cold laugh. The reason he creeped me out was because I could almost smell his hostility. It was really damn worrying. "Yeah, and so were my friends. I'll ask again," I said, pointing the barrel of my gun at the guy. "Who the hell are you and why are you ruining my night?" "Why? I need a reason to cause some mayhem and madness?" "Yes. Yes you fucking do." "Well then, I have none. As for who I am, well... I'm not gonna tell you." "Have it your way," I said, and I pulled the trigger. For one insane moment, I thought it might work. He didn't move. Then I heard the bullet drop to the floor. "What the hell?" "I can move faster than a bullet." "Yeah, well, so can I."
I pushed a button on the barrel of my gun, the blades extending, and ran at this guy, going at super speed. Now, it wasn't me being pissed off that was driving me. This guy was an actual threat. If someone didn't stop him, he'd cause mayhem. So it was down to me. I spun into a slash, but this guy, whoever he was, was moving too quickly and he blocked it, then backhanded me. He was bloody strong too. I thought my jaw might have broken, but it didn't, thank god. I didn't stop my attack though, I went for another round, but each time I attacked, he blocked it.
"This is all you've got? Don't make me laugh, kid," the guy said. I gritted my teeth and jumped back. Time for another one of my tricks. I got this one from Vincent. I can power up. Like, I can make myself move faster, get stronger, more agile, the works. This time, there is only one possible explanation. This was pulled from a power source in me somehow, which Vincent explained once. He called it my life energy. It doesn't affect my lifespan, but if I'm powered up for too long, I get pretty damn tired. One time, I was powered up and when I powered down, I slept for a week.
The only noticable difference is that my hair turns golden. That's the only way anyone can tell I've powered up. Vincent can go a step further, and his hair goes silver, but I'm still not that good. I powered up, and felt myself get stronger. This time when I went for the attack, he didn't block me quite as quickly. He still blocked, yeah, but I felt like I had a chance of beating him this time.
Well, I attacked him. As much as possible. As quickly as possible. Nothing I did could break his guard. I stopped just trying to use the gun, and started teleporting around him to attack him, but he blocked those too. I even started using elements, but every time I fired a beam of any element, he deflected, dodged or completely blocked it. Every time. Nothing I could do could put a scratch on him.
Then he went on the offensive.
I was overwhelmed. He was fast. He was strong. He had his own powers. At first, I could defend. I managed, just about, to defend, blocking or dodging his attacks. But he wasn't even going at half speed. I could only just follow his movements, and my lucky escaped were getting closer and closer.
I knew the fight was over when he teleported behind me, though. I couldn't turn fast enough, and suddenly I felt a massive pain in my back. Energy. I don't know what kind, or if it was even energy in the first place. All I saw was a flash of red, then I was thrown forward, blasted straight out of my 'super' mode, sent rolling across the road painfully. I could barely move. I had no clue what he'd done. I looked up at him, this small movement sending pain shooting through my body.
"Oh, you're done?" The guy taunted me. He was flourishing his sword. "Don't tell me this is the best defense you have? I don't believe this." I opened my mouth to reply, but all I managed was to cough up some blood. It hurt like hell. "Guess it's time to end this." He started walking towards me.
"Don't take another step," Vincent said. He was in front of me. So were Kilik and Eddie. Vincent had grabbed my gun. His hair was silver. He meant business. "This is too much. I'm not fighting you three, I have better things to do." Those were the last words I heard before I finally passed out.
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Post by Yoshimitsu on Nov 18, 2008 20:39:20 GMT -5
Chapter 9 - Driven, and a date
The fight changed my life at that time. Never, ever before, not once, was I beaten in a fight so easily, and so completely. I didn't know who that guy was, but the fact that he was so damn powerful made me remember everything about him. If I saw him again, I wouldn't lose. I was sure about that.
I started training. Properly training. In every different way I could. I even worked out a routine for it. Every morning, I'd get up at six am. If that fight hadn't happened, I'd probably complain about it, but I was so driven to get better. I'd get some coffee, then start. Go out into the area around the house with weighted clothes on, like wristbands, heavy undershirts, stuff like that. Push-ups, sit-ups, weights, variations on those, cardio-stuff. My favourite was my speed stuff. I'd jump on to the surface of the water and run in circles. As fast as I could. For a solid hour.
Vincent was surprised the first time he saw me. I was doing push-ups at the time. He came out of the house, wondering where I was I guess. "Whoa, Yoshi, what's with the exercise?" He asked me, a cup of coffee in his hand. "Training," I replied. "what for?" He asked. I glanced at him. He'd raised an eyebrow. I guess it was pretty surprising. "Can't be beaten like that again, can I?" "Yoshi, no one thinks any worse of you." "It's not that. Whoever he was, he's a real threat. If he turns up again, we need to stop him and I can't be beaten like that again." Vincent didn't say anything. I think he knew how badly it effected me. I don't think he knew why. I felt so powerless. So pathetic. I wont ever feel like that again. After a while, Vincent went inside. I was grateful. I needed some time alone.
It was the same for weeks. The same routine every day. Sometimes Vincent joined me, sometimes he just watched. I noticed a change in myself. I was stronger and faster. I think Vincent noticed too. One part of me felt guilty, thought. All of my free time went into training. Vincent was left with nothing to do.
One day, I took the day off. No training, no bounties. I wanted to spend the day with Vincent. I don't think he realised at first, though. I was awake at six, as usual, but I didn't get up. I kinda drifted between being awake and being asleep. At about eight, I guess, he came into my room. I was still only partially awake. I heard the door open and rolled over to look. "Vincent," I grumbled. I was still barely awake, so I probably sounded stupid. "Thought you'd be out training," Vincent said. He went to leave the room. "Vincent," I said again. Even I could tell my voice sounded weird. "Yeah? What's up?" He asked, turning back to look at me. "Stay with me?" I asked. I saw him smile. I missed that smile. He came over and sat on the bed next to me, and pulled me into his arms. He ran his fingers through my hair. I could feel my head rising and falling on his chest as he breathed, so I snuggled in a bit closer, closing my eyes. There, in his arms, I felt safe.
It was a good start to the day.
I honestly had no clue what I had planned for the day. I figured we could just be random. Like we usually were on days off. We stayed in my bed until... eleven, maybe? Then we finally got up, and went to make breakfast. In the kitchen that we still didn't seem to leave often. I still didn't eat properly first thing in a morning, so I just had coffee.
"Not that I'm complaining, but how come you aren't training today?" Vincent asked me. "I wanted to spend the day with you," I said, sipping my coffee. "I didn't want you to think I'd forgotten you." Vincent smiled again. "So what did you have planned?" He asked. He still wasn't any good with emotional speeches. I smiled at that. "Er... well..." I started. I could feel myself blushing. "To be honest, I didn't think that far ahead." Vincent grinned at me. "Well, do you wanna go for a meal and a movie, then?" He suggested. "Yeah, sounds nice. What's on?" I asked. He threw the paper to me, letting me decide. I flicked through the paper to the movie listings. "Hey, cool, High School Musical Three's on" Vincent smirked at me. "High School Musical Three," he said skeptically. "Don't look at me like that, you said the same thing about the second one," I said, grinning. "Yeah, and then you were singing all the songs for a month afterwards," Vincent replied. "But yeah, alright. High School Musical Three it is. When's it on?" "Half seven. Meal first or second, d'you reckon?" I asked. "I'd say second. Means if we want to drink anything, we wont be drunk during the movie." "Oh god, remember last time that happened?" "Yeah, you started singing all the way through it. And we still didn't get chucked out, somehow." "But it was a crappy movie anyway!" I said mock-indignantly, pouting. Vincent laughed, then pulled me round for a kiss.
When we seperated again, I went upstairs to clothe myself. I didn't notice him follow me until he loitered at the door of my room. I probably still wouldn't have realised he was there if my mirror wasn't reflecting the door. Still wearing just some pyjama shorts, I turned to look at him. "Can't get enough of me, eh?" I said, grinning. Vincent laughed again. I turned back around, and started sorting through for clothes. I finally decided on some jeans I don't wear often, and probably with good reason. My hot pink skinny jeans. And a tight-fighting black t-shirt. "Yosh, that outfit makes you look gayer than a rainbow," Vincent said, smirking at the outfit. While I was putting clothes on, he'd stepped into the room properly. I stuck my tongue out at him, then turned to start shoving clothes back into my wardrobe. When I turned back around, he was stood directly in front of me. I could have counted exactly how many eyelashes he had, he was that close. "You love it," I said, grinning. As a reply, he pulled me in for another kiss. Yeah. He loved it.
At about seven pm, maybe a bit later, we set off for the movie. I say set off, we teleported to the cinema. No other way to travel. We even missed the massive crowds usually lined up. Maybe the traffic was bad or something. Oh, I'd changed my clothes again. Skinny jeans are cool, but bloody uncomfortable sometimes. Just some casual jeans now. The other good thing about arriving when we did was that we had time to get snacks and stuff. I bought one of those funny ice blasts that are, like, ninety percent sugar or something, and some popcorn. Vincent got the world's biggest coke. Seriously, it was huge. I didn't realise "large" meant "the same size as a small child".
I really liked the movie. That said, I like anything like that. Show me a Disney film that involves singing and I'll love it. Guarantee. I think Vincent liked it too, but he'd never admit it. "I think this tux is too baggy, too tight it makes me look weird," I sang quietly as we walked out of the cinema. "I take it you liked it then?" Vincent asked me. "It was fucking amazing," I said, grinning like a loon. "What'd you think?" "It was alright, not as bad as I thought it'd be," he replied. I could see him trying not to smile. "You loved it really," I said, punching him playfully on the shoulder. He ruffled my hair back. "So where we eating?" He asked me. "How about over there?" I said, pointing at a nearby restaurant. Vincent nodded.
The meal was nice too. Not just 'cause of the food. I mean, yeah, the food was ace, but the fact that me and Vincent were out... well, it was a date. Not like we usually went out, clubbing or whatever, but we went out for a meal and a movie. On a date. We never said it was, but that's what it felt like. So while we were sat eating whatever food we'd ordered (chicken in my case, a burger in his) and sipping our drinks (which, thankfully, we hadn't been questioned on age about), I constantly had a smile on my face.
"This is nice," Vincent said while we were waiting for dessert. "Yeah, it is," I said, leaning back. "I dunno if I can eat dessert though, I'm stuffed." "Yeah, I know what you mean. At least we got one to share, right?" Vincent said. I nodded, and had another swig of my beer. I was a little bit intoxicated now. Not, like, flat out, falling over drunk, just... happy-drunk. "Y'know," I said, sipping my beer now. "I love you, Vince." Vincent looked up at me. "I love you too," he replied.
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