Bokukei ~ Zaigou City ~ ARC

 ~

\"Where are we going tonight?\"

\"You my little angel are going to have your first performance.\" Orin
gasped in shock.

\"Really? You mean it? How did you get this all set up?\" Orin asked,
very excited. It seemed everything was working out for him. Sure,
his parents and group had kicked him out, but now he was on his way
to being an Idol Star, just like he had dreamed. David chuckled as he
ruffled his hair.

\"I wanted it to be a surprise for you, I hope you are ready.\" David
smiled down at him. Orin hadn\'t quite grown into himself just yet.
He was only 17 and still growing, trying to get used to longer legs
and arms, but David was still taller than him, a muscular 6\'3\" while
Orin was only a lean and gangly 5\'6\". Orin wished he could be like
David, the man was beautiful to him, dark brown hair, cut short, and
dark chocolate brown eyes. He was finely muscled, from working as a
bodyguard he had told Orin. He adored the man, when no one else
cared for him, he had taken an interest in him, given him food,
clothes, and the key to his dreams. He trusted him enough to even
show him his wings, hence the reason David often called him \'Angel\'.
What seemed to most people as ordinary tattoos on his back, they
were actually wings. Some form of magic or genetics had altered him,
he could change form, the simplest being the wings, his hardest
being he could change into a silver-haired fox. But that seemed to
be the extent of it. His family had always told him to keep it a
secret, that people wouldn\'t understand him. But David did. David
loved him, just like he loved him in return. Orin frowned at that.
Another reason he was out on the streets now.. his family had not
approved of that when they found out that he had a lover that wasn\'t
female. They told him it was wrong.. when they told Nathaniel\'s
parents, they where eve more violent to him than his own family was
to him. At least his family let him live.

\"Hey, you daydreaming again?\" David shook him from his thoughts.

\"I was just remembering home..\" Orin replied, wistfully.

\"Ah, you don\'t need them anymore, not when you got me. Come one,
here we are.\" Orin looked around at where they were, recognizing the
building.

\"Hey, didn\'t they shut this place down 5 years ago? Did they re-open
it?\"

\"Yeah, you could say that.\" David replied, motioning at two men
across the street, but Orin didn\'t see that, he was too busy staring
up at the old building. David shuffled him inside, leaving the door
cracked for the two men to follow after them.

\"David, it\'s too dark in here, I can\'t see... David?\" Orin felt the
larger man grasp him around the shoulders, hugging him tightly from
behind as he led him into a smaller room. Light was filtering in
from a streetlamp outside through a dirty window. Orin turned his
head and saw two men stepping out from the shadows. Something wasn\'t
right.

\"David? What\'s going on?\" his voice betrayed the fear he felt. He
should have listened to his gut instinct when it started to feel
strange, but now it was too late. David was pushing him to the
floor, pinning him on his stomach.

\"Time for your first performance.\" David growled at him, his entire attitude changing. One of the other men came forward and held Orin\'s
hands out in front of him, pinning them to the floor as David ripped
at his shirt, pulling it up before he started working on his pants,
ripping them from him.

\"Stop it! NO! STOP! DAVID, PLEASE STOP!\" Orin began screaming. He
wanted to be as far away from this as possible. he shut his eyes as
he felt David pressing himself into him, tried to clench all his
muscles against him, but the other man didn\'t care, he forced
himself into him, causing a fireball of pain to rip through him.
David had now leaned down and was panting into his ear, grunting
with each painful thrust into him. Then he bit into his shoulder. It
was a perversion of normal biting when one was having sex, this was meant to draw blood. And it did, in large amounts. Orin continued to
scream, trying to wriggle away, but now the other man was holding
him down now too. Tears were in his eyes and his throat was raw from
screaming. He felt the man who was holding his hands shift and
looked up. The man was holding his hands under his legs, kneeling in
front of his face, his pants around his knees. He grabbed Orin\'s
hair and forced his head up, trying to open his mouth to shove his
cock into his mouth. He heard a grunt from David as the man spilled
his seed inside him, before he moved aside, letting the third man
take his turn with him.

\'God no, this isn\'t happening, god, help me help me someone help me please.\' Orin chanted in his mind, trying to shut it all out. Then he
noticed something. It was a gun. It was tucked into the boot of the
man who was holding his hands. If he could just get free. Orin pulled hard to get his hand free, hearing something snap and feeling
another fireball of pain shooting through his arm. But he was free,
it didn\'t matter. He reached out and grabbed the gun, which was
already cocked. Blindly, he fired it at the man holding him down.
Suddenly, the man at his back was gone, and so was David, both had
backed away, in shock and fear. Orin quickly scrambled on hands and
knees to the other side of the room, holding the gun in his one hand.

\"Hey, put that down... put the gun down..\" Orin watched the third
man, the man who had just been violating him. Orin put his other
hand on the gun, cocking it, tears running down his face and blood
pouring from the bite on this shoulder. He fired before turning on
David, cocking the gun again.

\"I trusted you... I loved you...\" Then he fired.



Orin jumped bolt upright in the bed, sending sheets and covers
flying everywhere as he screamed, sweat pouring off of him, tears
streaming down his face as he gasped for air like a drowning man.

\"No..no.. nonononono..\" He chanted to himself, his eyes wild.

Ralph had been having a quiet, yet stupid dream about potatoes.
Though when Orin jolted awake and away from he jumped up clear out of
his skin, nearly falling out of bed. He hung half in half out of bed
the only thing, which kept him from falling, was a sheet, which
managed to get tangled around his foot. \"Wah...wah?!\" He was groggy
and being awakened so suddenly he became a little nauseous.


Scrabbling back into bed, his face covered with worry, he inched
forward. \"Hey...hey...\" He placed a hand on the agent\'s shoulder
and tried to shake him out of it, before snaking the other arm around
to embrace him lightly, \"Hey...now, it was just a nightmare....\" He
couldn\'t speculate on what exactly Orin had been dreaming about,
though mildly in the back of his head the demons which lived in his
skull pointed the blame on him.

`You did it, you hurt him, you bastard fuck, you probably caused
this.\'

Almost blindly, Orin reached out for Ralph, tears in his eyes. He
hugged him closely, his head tucked down at Ralph\'s chest, both arms
around his middle, clutching to him like a lifeline as he sobbed.
After a few moments, he got control of him self, his breathing
beginning to steady and the tears stopped. He used a corner of the
sheet to wipe away the tears from his face, before he started to
speak.

\"I saw him again. I saw the whole thing again. I was back in that
theatre, him and his friends. I could hear them, smell the sweat and
stink of them. Oh gods...\" Orin closed his eyes, squeezing them shut,
trying to block it out.

Ralph had a hard time crying, tonight was perhaps the first time he
had actually laid there and sobbed like a wretch on the toilet seat.
His hand slid down the agent\'s back and he mumbled something
incoherent about \"Everything will be alright.\" Though it didn\'t come
out just that way. It was more of a muffled growl that made his
shoulder twitch.

He hated the fact he couldn\'t just....do something.

\"It was just a dream...dreams always make things worse than they
seem....\" he was lying through his teeth, for him dreams made things
more clear, the revealed the inner truths that the normal awakened
mind could not see. He hugged him a bit closer resting his chin
lightly on top of his head in an attempt to make the agent feel
protected.

\"It\'s over, at least it is over...you don\'t have to worry about them
anymore right?\"

\"No... I don\'t.. no one does.\" he whispered.

\"Gods.. I\'m sorry I woke you up.\" Orin said, as he released Ralph
and started to flop about the bed, preparing to get up to start the
day. Glancing over at the clock, he was it was already 10am.

\"We slept late.\"

Ralph fell back down on the bed his eyes screwing shut. \"Ten
already, it doesn\'t feel like ten.\" He was still so tired, that
potato dream had been less than satisfying; it had just made him
hungry. \"Are you sure you are going to be ok....I mean...you say
that now...but later...you could change your mind.\" He had put his
arm over his eyes, in an attempt to emulate the pitch black that had
greeted him in the night. Now the room was filled with a murky light
that day brought even to the darkest places. He rolled
unceremoniously out of bed with a WHUMP and laid face first on the
floor.



\"Blah, I don\'t want to get up...stupid stupid...having a life stuff.\"

Ralph was prone to immaturity. Especially in the morning.

Orin smiled over at him before getting up from the bed, brushing the
hair from his eyes. He hadn\'t pinned it back the night before and
now it was hanging freely.


\"I\'m fine.\" Moving to the closet, he put on a pair of boxers before
slipping on a pair of trousers. Wandering down to the bathroom, he
splashed some water on his face and relived himself.

\"I\'m going to make something to eat. What do you want?\" Orin called
to Ralph, who was probably still laying facedown on the bedroom
floor.

\"I promise that we don\'t have to go anywhere today. You can lay on
the floor in your skivvies all day if you want to.\"

Ralph lay with his face to the floor. His body refused to budge and
he mumbled. \"Potatoes.\" Closing his eyes again. He felt funny, and
not entirely ready to wake up at all. His arms were weak and he
attempted to move them in order to pick himself yet he failed and
toppled back to the floor. \"Mehh, give me a second.\" This was
normal morning procedure for Ralph. Fifteen minutes spent trying to
wake up and failing. It just felt a little stranger today. \"Blarg\"

With one massive push he lifted up and rose to his legs. Wandering
over to where his pants were he methodically put one leg in and then
the other and pulled them up to rest around his waist loosely. He
picked up his rumpled shirt and sighed, \"Why can\'t wrinkle free
clothes remain wrinkle free?\" Slipped the shirt on and fastened a
few buttons letting the top half rest half undone on his shoulders.

Wandering out following Orin into the kitchen. \"I should probably go
home and get some better clothes on.\" He was feeling particularly
nit picky about his appearance right now, he looked like a
slob. `Look like one too.\' His hair was disheveled and it had a
curl to it because of his massive lack of pomade. He usually tried
to keep it from curling so much, and he was glad he didn\'t have a
look in the mirror....his curls drove him mad.

At least it wasn\'t humid, because then he\'d have a fro.

Orin had busied himself in the kitchen making a good breakfast. He
had heard Ralph mumble something about potatoes, so he made sure he
had some of those cooked.

\"Here. German Potato Pancakes, Eggs and Toast.\" He said as he set
two plates of steaming food down on the small dinette table that was
at the edge of the living room. Turning back to the kitchen, he
procured a glass of grapefruit juice for Ralph and a mug of hot tea
for himself.

Ralph stared at the breakfast before him in a strange state of
awe. \"Wow...this is so not granola.\" he was used to just chunking
down a quick bar of granola instead of actually making something.
And oh dear lord the, \"Potatoooessss\" he worked on the pancakes
first. Not much for not talking with his mouth full he mumbled, \"So
uhm, want to come with me back to my place so I can get changed?\" He
pushed a few curling hairs out of his eyes, \"And fix this crap?\" he
pointed to his head sardonically. Having to go out in public in such
a state would not be fun.

Finishing off a mouthful of food, Orin nodded.

\"Sounds ok to me. Not like I\'m really doing much today. Other than
spending some time with you.\" He smiled at the last bit.

\"Besides.. the rumpled look just doesn\'t suit you..\"

That was very true, rumpled Ralph was a strange creature. He needed
to be neat and tidy. It gave him a sharp look, as though he were a
man who knew what he was doing. This was just backlash from when he
was a janitor. He was so depressed, and dirty all the time, the
dirty part mainly because he was so tired he would come home and fall
asleep five minutes later. He shook his head, and masticated a few
more pancakes. \"It is very uncomfortable.\" Which probably wasn\'t
true, he felt like he was a janitor again...which was comfortable
enough but brought back memories of dirty toilets.

He finished off the last of what was on the plate and stared
blankly. \"Potatoooooooo.\"

Orin finished off his breakfast and stood up, clearing the dishes
and dumping them into the sink, to be washed later. He made his way
back to the bedroom closet, pulled out a light blue silk shirt and
put it on, adding his shoulder holsters to it. He pulled on his
shoes before finally wandering back out to the living room, where he
had left his overcoat.

\"Alright then. I\'m ready.\"

Ralph wandered aimlessly for a moment in search of his coat. He
wasn\'t going to walk out of the door without his coat. \"Orin....
have you seen my coat...I know I took it off after we almost died
last night...\" He was referring to when they had nearly fallen off
the building. That had been a frightening moment, raising yet
another phobia to the surface. He wandered into the bedroom again
and eyed the bed, dear god how he wanted to lay down again. Looking
over his shoulder he fumbled back to bed to lay down. Hand over his
eyes he sighed.

He was so tired. It barely felt like he had enough sleep. He was
too lazy to even find the coat he had worn over. \"Stupid fucking
coat...you need to walk to me with your nonexistent legs.\"

Orin checked the last place he remembered seeing the jacket, the
hallway linen closet. He found it crumpled on the floor of the
closet, along with a few towels. He plucked them all up, tossing the
towels into the bathroom hamper.

\"Here it is.\" Orin wandered into the bedroom where Ralph was laying
on the bed, hand over his eyes. Not able to resist the sudden urge, Orin leaned down and kiss him on the lips, a sort of languid, slow
kiss.

Ralph moved his hands to crack his knuckles above his head before
placing them on the back of Orin\'s. Smelled good, like clean things,
much unlike him who made little effort the night before in the
shower. This wracked his nerves and so with one final scintillating
smooch he grabbed the coat and wrapped it around Orin\'s head. \"I
have to get dressed or I will go insane, and maybe bite you...I don\'t
want to that, but this state of undress makes me feel like a serial
killer.\" He waggled his eyebrows in a strange sleazy way, before
unwrapping the coat from Orin\'s head.


\"You ready?\" He queried as he stared at the jacket a moment before
lifting Orin up with him and putting on the coat. Fastening a few
buttons he searched for the tie, but gave up mid quest. \"Screw it,
nobody will recognize me anyway.\"

\"Ready when you are love.\" Orin smiled at him. They left the
apartment and headed in the direction of Ralph\'s, strolling through
the streets at a relatively quick pace. Orin walked close to the
singers side, closer than he normally would, but not so close as to
be odd to passerby. He wasn\'t sure how and if they were going to release this news to the public.. if ever. He doubted \'Swan\' would
want to be seen as gay. He\'s lose a few female fans then. Orin
sighed. It wasn\'t the fist time he\'d have to keep a secret
relationship. He sighed as they walked down the street, his blonde
hair suddenly whipping into his face because he had forgotten to tie
it back and it hung loose.

\"What are we going to do? About us I mean.. keep it a secret? Or go
public? It\'s your decision ultimately.\" Orin asked him as they began to near the others apartment.

\"I mean, I\'m fine with secrets, I keep enough already.\" Orin Smiled
at that, looking over at Ralph.

Ralph scrunched up his face and bumped Orin with his side, \"Not much
my decision either, I don\'t care but producers might...they are funny
about image...they are not going to exactly want to lose the female
audience....not that it should really matter....people are shallow.\"
They had arrived at the step to his home, plunking a few numbers into
a pad the door swung open and he sauntered in, and clambered into the
rickety elevator, strange for a building so new.

\"I guess we just have to....humm I don\'t know...I don\'t care, well at
least I don\'t think I do...its different when it is actually less of
a conversation and more of a public thing.\" It was true he was a
wishy washy jellyfish. `Damn me.\' The elevator dings and he hopped
skipped out and down the hall towards the door, which led to the
penthouse. For someone so afraid of heights `I sure do live up
high.\'


Though all the shades were drawn, Light filtered in through windows
in the ceiling making it seem like heaven was shining down from
above. He gestured to the couch casually, \"You can sit...there if
you want, or follow me.\" He motioned over his shoulder with a finger
and headed to the back room.

Orin followed Ralph further into the apartment, towards the back
room, not really paying much attention, more absorbed in the
conversation.

\"Well, if it was entirely up to you, if the producers were fine with
whatever you wanted... what would you want?\" Orin asked him,
pondering over the prospect of being public with this.

Ralph unbuttoned his coat and tossed it onto his ill made bed.
Everything was in a general state of disarray because of his quick
departure the night before. He was stuck for an answer, really it
didn\'t matter when he thought about it...truthfully he didn\'t care
about the fans. `Bunch of simpery whiners.\' Though there was always
something in the back of his head that emblazoned `WRONG\' into his
mind. Though that could have been entirely the brainwashing. \"I
don\'t really care, though the lash back would be...undesirable.\" He
bent to pick some things off the floor, mostly magazines, and
newspapers, some of them had images of him in them, in which one
could see with a glance the Ralph had marked over his face with a big
black X.

Stowing it away quickly, he went to mill about his closet finding
something random, and dark to wear. He didn\'t know why he felt dark
today which was strange, he was usually pretty bright. Well for the
most part..

He wandered down the hall motioning for Orin to follow to the large
bathroom where he stared at his visage for a long
time. \"Ugh....people probably thought you were walking with a
wandering hobo.\" And with that he undressed tossing his clothing to
the side and stood in his shorts staring in the mirror some more.
Turning on the faucet he ducked his head under the water for a second
a popped back up to run ab thb through his hair quickly. He
schmoozed a hand full of violety smelling pomade into his hair, rivulets of water draining down his spine, and turned to face Orin as
he combed it in his usual fashion.

\"Sorry...for taking so long, it is a complex process.\"

Orin smiled, leaning against the doorframe, watching the singer as
he went about his business.

\"No problem to me. Just means I get to watch you longer.\" Another
wicked grin at that. Suddenly something occurred to him and he stood
up straighter.

\"Um, I\'m going to be right back ok? Don\'t go anywhere, I have to get
something.\" Orin said, making for the door. He had a surprise for
the singer.

Ralph quirked an eyebrow, and continued to comb his hair back,
watching Orin leave. \"Where are you going?\" Ralph sidled into the
hall and then back into the bathroom to brush his teeth. His mouth
felt like there was a garbage dump inside of it. Humming to himself
he went along his way grooming himself meticulously. He hated
looking in the mirror, and with how pretentious he seemed to the
public that would come off as a shock. `God...\' he turned around and
started getting dressed, suddenly repulsed by himself.

\"Somewhere, don\'t worry. I\'ll be right back.\" Orin called over his
shoulder as he dashed out the door. Once on the street he quickly
dashed off, intent on where he was going. He had gotten an idea and
he needed to do this now before he forgot, besides, today was the
perfect day. He entered a small shop that was marked with an
Illuminati symbol, drones were definitely not allowed in this shop.
Not that they could ever afford anything in the shop. Orin talked
for a moment with the clerk, explaining something to him in hushed
tones.

\"Certainly sir. It will be ready in about 15 minutes if you want to
wait, I\'ll have someone start on it right away.\" The clerk told him.
Orin nodded.


\"Thanks.\" He wandered about the store for a bit, not interested in
the rest of the merchandise, but he watched the street outside
through the glass.

Ralph tidied the last bit of his hair and moped out of the bathroom.
He hadn\'t brought his shoes with him and so the cuffs of his pants
dragged along the floor as he made his way to settle on the couch
pulling his knees up to his chest with a shy. He stared at his toes,
wiggling them back and forth. He was alone in this apartment a lot,
he really didn\'t have friends beyond Orin, too dangerous if they
found out he was really a drone they could use that against
him...they could get just about anything they wanted...he had no
choice or he was dead.

Glancing to his watch he mumbled, \"Where the hell did he go....\"

\"Here you are sir.\" The clerk passed him a wrapped parcel. Orin
smiled and thanked the clerk, paying her and giving her a few extra
credits to keep for herself. he walked quickly back to Ralph\'s
apartment, the small parcel hidden in his overcoat pocket, a grin on
his face. Entering the building, he waited for the elevator to reach
the penthouse, whistling a small tune to himself. Knocking on the
door to the apartment, he opened it, smiling.

\"Sorry I took so long.\" Orin plopped down on the couch next to the
singer, shrugging off his overcoat, pulling the parcel from the
pocket.

\"I got you something.\" He opened the small grey-colored box,
revealing a small silver charm on a matching chain. It was a small
feather.

\"I want you to have this.\"

Ralph had been sitting with his head nestled away in his arms; he
heard Orin come back but didn\'t lift his head until He felt him plop
on the couch. \"Mmph?\" He looked up to see the charm. His face
remained deadpan for a moment; his brain really didn\'t know how to
react. People were nice to him, all the time, but it was a fake
niceness that really didn\'t seep through. Orin was nice all the
time, but he just sorta...

Ralph buried his head back in his knees to collect himself. He was
overjoyed but he couldn\'t react...he snuffled quietly against his
coat sleeve rocking back and forth a bit before launching himself to
wrap his arms around the agent\'s neck taking up his favorite spot in
the crook of his neck. He really didn\'t know how to say thank you,
or express anything close to how he felt.

It was intangible. So he just sat there, and held Orin in his arms.

Orin wrapped him arms around the singer, still holding onto the
necklace. He had wanted to get him something that he could always
have, even if he himself wasn\'t always with him or couldn\'t always
show his affections.

\"I love you Ralph Sutherland.\" Orin said softly, whispering into
Ralph\'s hair. Shifting, he removed the necklace from the box,
undoing the clasp, getting ready to slip it on Ralph\'s neck.

\"You can tuck it under your shirt if you down want it seen, the
chain is long enough. Or you can wear it out, whichever you prefer.\"

The strange sleepiness that had consumed him when he first woke up
took over again as he bowed his head so that Orin could slip the
necklace around his neck. His mind was slowed to a strange slog, trip trap, slog and he couldn\'t think of much other than staring at
the shining silver around his neck. Sitting there idly glistening,
he had the oddest urge to...

`no.\'

Without plausible reason, in fact ironically, he felt drained and
wobbled slightly. He should have been energized this was a wonderful
thing he had before him....yet just...his eyes burned he felt as
though he would just topple over and so he leaned back, feather
resting lightly on the knot of his tie.


`no...no...no\'

His pale blue eyes stared up at Orin, they weren\'t blank of
expression, simply vapid and lost. He felt as though something had
just been ripped out.

Orin looked down at the singer, his eyebrows furrowed in concern.


\"Hey, are you ok? You don\'t look like feel too good.\" Orin asked
him, worried. Something wasn\'t right, Ralph acted like he was dizzy
or sick.

\"Ralph?\"

Ralph shook his head, he was just...messed up. He couldn\'t find
words to describe it, the feeling simply pulled out his very being
and smashed it to the floor. `This is stupid you are stupid, what
are you doing, stop sitting there like a jack ass...DO something say
something, you are hurting him you sadistic bastard.\' Hiss
cs
curled into a melancholy smile, \"I\'m ok, nothing is wrong...just in
shock cause nobody has well...nobody has done something like that for
me before.\" Maybe that was it, it was plausible...but it didn\'t feel
right, this was stupid.

He grabbed Orin by the wrist and pulled him to his chest. His heart
was going a thousand miles per hour twittering like a caged
hummingbird. His eyes still blank, wide, and open vapidly staring
into space. He would be ok, `in just a second, this will pass,
stupid stupid stupid, here I go ruining everything again.\'

Orin sat there with his hand on Ralph\'s chest, feeling his heart
fluttering.

\"Are you sure you are ok?\" Ralph had said he was fine, but by the
look in his eyes, something was odd. Thinking back to the reaction
Ralph had the night before, he wondered if it was still effects of
that.

\"Is it the same as last night?\"

It was hard to breath, it wasn\'t exactly like last night, it was like
something else....like something was stealing his joy. `son of a
bitch\' He shook his head, `I am ok, I am sorry I am ok.\' He
couldn\'t get it out. He felt horrible and so he simply held the
agent close to him. Smelling the mixture of pomade and Orin\'s own
scent. His eyes felt watery. Though he was sure it wasn\'t
tears. \"I am fine, it is probably just some other form of torment
they debase drones with...I am sure.\" His heart was pained.

`My god, why am I so fucked up...he shouldn\'t like me at all...shut
the fuck up you need to stop being such a ball of angst!\' He pulled
Orin up, and gave him a small kiss on the forehead. He was stronger
than he looked. Working on maintenance did that to a person. He
looked the agent in the eyes holding him close his eyes still foggy
but conveying feeling. \"Thank you Orin, I don\'t think I have said
that yet...I am sorry that I didn\'t say it sooner.\"

\"It\'s ok.\" Orin said to him. Leaning down towards him, he gave the
singer a kiss. Just a light one that left him wanting more, but
Ralph was already in pain from the brainwashing he had been
subjected to his entire life. If he wanted more, Ralph would just
have to move at his pace, he wasn\'t going to make him do anything he
didn\'t want to do.


\"Just go at your own pace ok? Please don\'t make it hurt worse just
on my account.\"

Ralph snorted, he knew Orin was only looking out for his own good,
but hell he felt like a retarded person. He guessed he was, his
abilities were purposely limited. He was lucky he could even do
anything with music. It was apparently not of the top of the list
for keeping the drones in line. They figured they\'d smother them so
much in other ways it will keep them from being creative.

His eyes were still strangely vapid; he lay back on the couch for a
few subtle moments before he got up taking Orin with him. \"Meh, I\'ll
get over it, I had a lot of problems early on in my career remember,
I got over that...\" He wandered idly to the kitchen to procure
grapefruit juice.


`Yep, I got over that.\'

Orin followed him, smiling faintly.

\"Yeah, but at least then you didn\'t get violently ill.\" Orin told
him, folding his arms across his chest and then leaning on the
countertop, stretching his legs out behind him. Most people found it
odd that he leaned on things so much, doorways, poles, countertops.
He didn\'t know why he did it, he just liked to lean. Sometimes it
was more comfortable to lean than to actually sit down.

\"So sir, what are you going to do with your day off?\" Orin asked
him, as he idly played with a spoon that he found on the countertop.

Ralph shrugged indifferently. \"I usually sleep when I don\'t have
anything to do...sleep or write...you know pieces I can\'t use in my
shows.\" He grinned sardonically and started sipped from a can,
wandering around the kitchen idly picking things up. He sidled the
spoon away from Orin. \"That probably needs to be washed.\" He
replaced the spoon with a pencil, \"Play with that instead.\" He
wandered over to the sink and did a few dishes.

\"I guess I clean a lot when I have a day off too...compulsive
nature...to do so.\" He chucked the plates away and moved to
cleaning off the counter with a wet rag. Once he had the room
feeling spotless he meandered into a tiny side room and started
picking up pieces of paper and newspapers. It was the room that
contained his piano, a plunky rag-tag thing he had found in a
dumpster out back behind a Euphonics building. He sidled onto the
bench and started to organize various sheet music.

\"Hmmmm, I guess that might make me pretty boring.\"

\"Not to me.\" Orin said in his ear as he came up behind him, hugging
him from behind.

\"You know me, I spend way too much time with guns. Days off I
usually spend cleaning them and practicing. Or hanging out with you
from time to time.\" Orin smiled.

\"Need to find something more interesting with our time or something,
we are turning into boring old men.\" He was still hugging Ralph from
behind, his face nestled into his shoulder.

Ralph smiled and lifted the cover to the piano, plunking one key
after another he began to lilt out a tiny tune that sounded small.
Maybe even a little scared. \"Not so much boring, as so much we know
what we like to do, I happen to enjoy sleeping my life away.\" The
tune began to pick up slightly, though he remained perfectly still
from the elbows up, a lot like a classically trained pianist. He
stopped suddenly feeling a lot less vacant and turned around in his
seat quickly to face Orin.

He grabbed the agent by the collar and pulled him into a deep
reckless kiss. He had been attempting to control himself; he had
been attempting to prevent any more pain for either of them. Though
he couldn\'t resist, just being that intolerably close to Orin made
him crazy without touching him. It had been a controlled effort to
not fondle him on the streets. He stood up and pushed the agent
against the wall, the same blank look in his eyes as he ran a hand
through his long golden hair.

\"You are definitely not a boring old man.\"

\"Really then? Not boring?\" he teased the singer. His arms went up to
grasp the singer around the waist, hugging him tightly to him. It
was taking a lot of self control not to throw him to the floor and
take him right there, that kiss has sent tendrils of fire snaking
through his entire body, exciting him.

\"Gods, you have no idea what you do to me.\" he murmured, inhaling
the scent of him, slightly sweet and musky in the same instance,
like cloves and patchouli. He loved the smell of him, the feel of
him against him, pressing him into the wall.

\"Mmmhmmm, not...boring.\" His hand oozed dangerously down the side of
Orin\'s torso. One hand held the agent in place as the other one
caged him in, his light eye\'s quavering slightly, as they laced over
the body before him. His body pinned Orin still pressing against him
needfully, the back of his mind capering over this and that as he
looked over the agent\'s form.


\"Mmmm what do I do to you, tell me what I do.\" His hand moved down
to its favorite spot on the agent\'s hip brushing playfully at times
to the side. The slicked sheen of the pomade in his hair reflected
of the din of a skylight. It halo\'d around them casting strange
shadows on the floor. He took that moment to light his tongue along
the edge of the agent\'s ear whispering into it quietly with heated
breath...\"What do I do?\"

\"Gods.. you make me.. oh god you bloody well make me want to fuck
you senseless.\" Orin stammered out as Ralph teased his ear with his tongue, causing
shivers to run down his spine while another tendril
of fire snaked around and lit straight into his balls. Orin leaned
hid head back against the wall, exposing his throat as he shifted
his hips slightly into the singers, hissing at the contact there.
Self control was gone now, he only had so much of it and the
sensations running through his body were too much to keep any
semblance of it left.

A bizarre curled smile crossed his face as he nibbled against the
exposed neck stopping at the pit of his clavicle and then bringing
his face up to stare into Orin\'s eyes. He was pressed, clean, sharp
and tidy towering slightly over the shorter man. His hand slipped
into a pocket to pull out a cigarette and he smiled rubbing his
fingers slightly against the fabric of the fly beneath him with his
free hand. Sticking the cigarette into his mouth he returned his
hand to glide down the curve of the agent\'s jaw.

The pure light of the gray sky lit him in the dark suit making him
look like a ghost, the black cigarette stood out strongly against his
lips. He just wanted to taste the sweet bitter flavor of the
cigarette in his mouth for a moment, and praise the agent with his
hands, looking him over with those same eyes that had plagued him
since earlier. He didn\'t know what moved him suddenly.


Of course it was Orin, but suddenly he had a strange need again. The
headaches were gone, it wasn\'t like last night it was something
different. A new kind of brainwash, something much more divine and
pleasurable was before him. He pulled the lighter out removing his
hand from the agent\'s neck to light the cigarette and take a deep
draw on the end. He let it seep out of his mouth slowly, like some
sort of fire breathing creature.

Pull close he muttered in the other ear, tricks of smoke and breath
breezing gently on hair and skin, \"Fuck me then.\" And a hand slipped
into the back of the agent\'s waistband softly as Ralph drew back to
look into the agent\'s eyes.

Orin felt like something had grabbed his guts and tied them up in
knots, his erection springing to life, already achingly hard as
Ralph spoke. The desire was evident in his eyes, flashing a deep
ocean blue as he watched the singer, who seemed to ooze sultry-ness
from every pore at the moment. He reached up both hands, framing the
singers face and leaned in to kiss him, a hungry, needy kiss, like
he was starving for it. He could taste the clove cigarette he had
been smoking, the rich earthy taste tantalizing on his tongue as he slipped it in, tasting him. He pushed away from the wall, pushing
against Ralph, his hands starting to move southward, one reaching
around to grab the singess, ss, gripping it tightly, while the other rested lightly on his hip. He grinded into him, pulling Ralph\'s ass
against him, causing such a delicious contact, he had to break for
air as he moaned. He dipped his head down, tracing him mouth over
his jaw line and neck, suckling, only pausing as a shudder went
through his entire body.


\"You want to be fucked? Like you did to me last night?\" Orin practicly growled at him, his voice low and husky, filled with desire
and need.

He didn\'t answer, the aggressive actions of the agent made his head
spin. This was a whole new pleasure he he didn\'t quite understand
where it came from exactly. It stirred something strange deep within
him and caused him to balk for a moment hand pressing Orin close, and
the dragged on the last of the cigarette and tossed it aside. The
smell of rich spice permeated the air, and he edged back more due to
the agent\'s force. His free hand loosened his own tie. If he didn\'t
feel like this he would have criticized himself for wasting so much
time putting clothes on to wto tto take them off so soon.

His back arched slightly as he wrapped a leg around one of Orin\'s own
using it to affix their two bodies together tenaciously. He needed
to be all around the agent all at once as he pulled them to the soft-

carpeted floor in front of the piano. The leg which he used to keep
Orin close moved to wrap tightly around the agent\'s lower waist
forcing him to grind against him. The thin fabric of their pants the
only thing between his now evident arousal and the one he needed so
badly.


Throwing his head back his neatly combed hair became mussed as he
gazed at Orin\'s intense face quietly, passively, the charm which he
had been given laying silently on his throat. He finally spoke in a
nearly inaudible whisper. \"Use me.\"

His eyes were glazed over with lust and desire. He used one arm to
prop himself up, the other hand removing the tie, and working on the
buttons of Ralph\'s shirt. After relieving the singer of his shirt,
he struggled with his own, forgetting to take off the holster for his
guns. He struggled for a moment, before finally growling, and then
ripping the holster off, discarding the shirt with it. He then fiercely attacked Ralph\'s nipples, suckling at them, nipping
occasionally. Leaning back on his legs, he used both hands on him,
scraping nails softly down Ralph\'s exposed skin, enough to send
shivers, but not enough to hurt. He gave him a wicked grin and
kicked off his shoes, using his toes to remove the heels, and kicked
them away.

\"You really want this? To be used? To be fucked?\" Orin leaned down,
biting the singers earlobe, and blowing gently across the skin. He
added a thrust with his hips, rubbing his erection against him. He
snaked a hand down to his groin, feeling the budge there, play with
his fly.

\"Like that? Want me to suck on that for you? Want to feel my lips
wrapped around cock of yours?\" He growled wickedly, pressing his
hand against Ralph\'s hard length, teasing him with suggestions, his
own words making him hot.

All the words Ralph had ever learned could not help him form a
sentence to respond to that. His blank eyes were like a window into
his soul that was pleading for something like this, something he
would only allow from Orin. If this was anyone else he wouldn\'t have
ever thought of doing this...he wouldn\'t have ever. A gasp of
pleasure escaped his lips as he felt the hand upon his groin,
thrusting up into the palm lightly legs spread slightly to wrap
tighter around the agent.

The trail of nail scratching stung sweetly on his skin as he tasted
the agent and his last cigarette in his mouth. He ached all over,
and thought he would burst, his fingernails dug into the carpet below
him as he looked up upon the agent. One of these hands slipped down
to unbutton the fly of his trousers, and he scootched down a little
to push the pants down, exposing himself without regret to Orin\'s
eyes.

He felt hot and weak there laying before the older man, and his
quintessential caretaker like that...he knew Orin had the ability to
come on strong like this, he just never expected him to make him feel
the need to do something like this. His graceful fingers curled
around the agent\'s hand and slowly glided him along the length of his
taut cock nestled in the open fly of his pants. His lips parted
quietly flushed pink with need \"Please...please, I want to be yours
in everyway...make me yours take me.\"

Orin grinned, feeling like the cat who got the canary. He moved
down, tracing a pattern with his tongue over Ralph\'s chest and
stomach, removing his hand from his arousal, careful not to touch it
in any way, teasing him. He knew it d bed be like torture to him,
which is why he did it, it made the pleasure that much more...
pleasurable. He slipped the pants down further, removing them,
placing careful kisses on his thighs and pelvic bone, still avoiding
his erection.

\"You like that? You want to be teased?\" He whispered, his breath
tickling the damp skin. Very carefully fli flicked his tongue across
the tip of the singers erection, tasting pre-cum there, making it
jump. He slid both hands along the pelvic bone, kneading along the
thighs. Then Orin sudy toy took his length into him mouth, sucking
it down, one hand playing with his balls, the other wrapping around
the base of his cock, squeezing gently. He moved his tongue around
it, along the ridge, and then up to the tip, swirling around it. He
pulled back a little, letting it slowly ease out of his mouth,
sucking as he went, teasing the hood a bit as he nearly let it all
out of his mouth, just leaving his lips playing at the tip, looking
up at the singer, blue eyes flashing.

The then began a slow, rhythmic bobbing motion, sucking it in and out
of his mouth.

\"Dear holy fuck...\" Ralph squeezed his eyes shut and arched his
back in a subconscious effort to force himself further into the
agent\'s mouth. The kisses left marks of fire on him, the hands sent
a burning into him that he couldn\'t describe. All he did know is
that he wanted more. The feeling of Orin\'s mouth around him, sent
streaming lines of electricity to his brain that made he gasp out in
short pleading moans. His hands raced up to run his fingers through
the agent\'s hair.

The more he was sucked the more he felt like he would explode, his
thin hips forced themselves upward randomly, as the urgency grew
greater his thoughts wild and unpredictable. The feeling of strange
detachment lingered no longer as he felt the cool silver of the
feather upon his heated chest. He felt jolted right there and for a
brief moment he regained thought. \"No...I....not before you...\" He
started to pull away using the strength in his upper body to help in
the procedure.


His body was weak and trembling, he felt so dense full he needed to
he wanted to but....\"Not, before you.\" He pulled away from the agent
laying there throbbing legs spread and back arched exposing
himself, \"It is only fair.\"

\"I\'m going to make you cum first whether you like it or not.\" He
told him.


\"But first.. I will be right back.\" He said, getting up and dashing
to the bathroom. He returned with a bottle of oil, the only thing he
could find that was suitable. he dropped the bottle onto the floor
next to Ralph, before he removed his socks and then his pants,
dropping the boxers with it. He kneeled down between the singers
legs, his own erection jutting proudly away from his body. He picked
up the bottle of oil, opening it smearing some into his fingers.
Leaning down, he whispered to the singer.

\"You need to relax your muscles, otherwise this will hurt. Don\'t
worry though, I\'ll be gentle with you.\" he said, as he pressed his
fingers to the singers anus, intending to make sure he was thoroughly prepared for this and loosened up. He gently pushed the tip of one
finger in, watching for a reaction, stopping the movement to wait
and see if he wanted to change his mind, or if he really wanted to
go through with this.

Ralph saw stars, that is all he could call them because at that very
moment he felt the strangest things. He had screwed his eyes shut
the moment Orin had run away, the sensations boiling at the base of
his cock was driving him insane. Absolutely insane, but he was
adamant about waiting. He heard the agent come back and strip but he
didn\'t look, he had to admit he was scared, last night was one
thing...but right now, this was like giving his soul away.

He heard the garbled words Orin spoke, about relaxing and he tried he
really did, but his guts were all squeezed up on thsideside. When he
felt the finger slide into he balked, and nearly rolled over right
there, as a natural reaction, though instead of that he gasped
slightly hands wandering aimlessly through the carpet. This felt
good, this felt good in a way that was just taboo, this was like...he
couldn\'t describe it, \"Go on, go on...\" he muttered, actually urging
himself down further. His legs scissored wider, as a rivulet of sweat
glided down his forehead.

He would definitely need a cigarette after this.

Orin slipped the finger in further, rigid at first, then squirming
it around a bit. He slowly removed it a bit, before sliding it back
in, watching as Ralph squirmed around. He gave it a minute before
slowly easing another finger in, moving the two fingers in and out
slowly, but building up a bit. after a few minutes, he moved his fingers, spreading them apart, opening him up wider.

\"That feel good? Do you like " Wi" With his other hand, he had begun
to put oil on his erection, getting it ready, trying not to linger
too long with his own touch. Turning his full attention back to
Ralph, he leaned towards him.

\"You ready for me?\"

\"Gah....\" It was so sweet right there his head was thrown back
against the floor as he waited, the long fingers of his own hand
curling around the end of his arousal, he couldn\'t keep his hands off
himself the desire was too great. Who would have thought being
touched there would be so powerful. Hearing Orin speak to him he nodded arching his spine upward to grant better access. His free hand
quivered anxiously against the ground.

His eyes opened slightly to stare up at Orin and making a quick nod,
it hurt, it would hurt...but his pain was wonderful. \"I want to feel
what you felt, I want to know what that feels like....\" He stroked
his shaft softly in an effort to stay off what was built up in
being. This was perplexing yet strange. One would have never
thought he would be lying there touching himself as he prepared to
feel the agent within him. It was a strange beautiful picture in a
sea of emerald green carpet.

Orin readied himself, pressing against his anus, removing his
fingers, very slowly he edged his way in, letting the singer get
used to the feeling of being stretched. he leaned down to get a
better angle, pressing into him, but not moving for a moment, as he
let himself and Ralph adjust to the feeling. He kissed his lips,
softly at first, then deepening it a bit, before breaking away.

\"You ok? You want me to move?\" Orin searched his face, watching his
eyes.

It hurt, \"Oh god, keep going.\" He mumbled. It was a good kind of
hurt, he could feel his body adjusting to it molding itself around
Orin\'s shaft. He stayed away the pain by focusing on the pleasure he
received from it, \"It hurts...good.\" He pulled the agent\'s mouth
back to his and danced his tongue across his lips before parting them
with it to probe his mouth, gliding across every surface. His free
hand moving now from its entangled place in the carpet up the spine
of the one above him, the one he wanted to feel...

\"Deeper...\" he gasped free hand moving now to push at the small of
the agent\'s back...his legs curling tightly around his waist forcing
him to move faster pushing him deeper without have to move. The
feeling of Orin\'s stomach across his groin just as wonderful as his
mouth, he could feel it pulsing living within him, not moving not
breaking away he pressed himself more firmly, unable to move the
agent any further on his own he waited strung up with passion.

He thrust in deeper, hitting the prostate gland before he began to withdraw, slowly, then gliding back in again. He slipped a hand
between them as he sat back a bit, fingers gripping him, fisting him
slowly in the same rhythm as his thrusts. She slowly built up speed,
every now and then alternating short thrusts with deep long ones.
The singers ass was tight around him, squeezing him.

\"You like that? Can you feel that moving in you? Feeling ever inch
of it, invading you... Gods, feels good doesn\'t it, filling you up.
God, you feel so fucking good.\" Orin growled to him, voice deep. He
picked up a faster pace, pumping into the singer as he picked up a
more desperate rhythm, aching for release.

His eyes had screwed into the back of his head leaving only the white
to be seen, this was too strange and too wonderful all at once. It
made him lost within the grating painful waves of pleasure that
scored through him every time the agent lanced him. He couldn\'t even
say anything words were so meaningless right now, short swift moans
escaped his lips as he was thrust upon, legs squeezed tight to where
the agent would obviously feel his trembling.


His hand became entangled in the older mans hair, pulling back into a
moaning kiss. His words ran through him like strange arousing knives
driving him ever closer to the edge. Yet he refused he absolutely
refused, he didn\'t know why he stemmed off his own release.
Initially it was just for Orin himself...but now when the agent had
demanded he cum it felt like a challenge...he wanted to see, he
wanted to hear. It was maddening and he really didn\'t know why he
taunted the agent now. He seemed to be in a vicious state but it
felt so good to feel his cock right there touching the back of his
spine.

It was addictive.

He groaned as he pumped into him, striking the prostate gland with
each stroke, he could feel it there, the tip of his cock just
striking it. He shifted she he was in more of a sitting position,
brining both hand Ral Ralph\'s hips, guiding him onto his erection.

\"I want to watch you.. I want you to touch yourself.. cum for me..\"
he breathed, his breath coming is short gasps now. He was getting so
close, but not close enough.

Ralph brought his head up his freshly combed hair was dangling in his
face limply, smelling strongly of violets and cloves. He was panting
deeply the dead look that had cursed his eyes earlier gone and
replaced with strange elation. As he sat there speared on the
agent\'s hardened dick he listed feeling the throbbing from within...

One arm wrapped around Orin to hold him close and to prevent himself
from losing balance while the other moved to wrap his hand back
around his shaft. He couldn\'t stop himself, he couldn\'t wait
anymore, it continual prodding of his prostate was driving him crazy
he needed release he needed to cum now.

In a frenzy of stroking he brought himself closer, he was already
dangerously near but now it was a maddening fire in the back of his
brain. \"Fuck...\" He moaned as his whole body tightened into one
thin rod of pleasure, cumming in his own hand and again it splashed
against his chest and Orin\'s.

He dropped the free hand to the floor and pulled himself up closer to
the agent into a full sitting position. He sat there spent for a
second grinding his ass into the older man\'s lap panting, but wanting
Orin to cum. Once reorientingselfself he bore down hard whispering
softly between gasps, \"I want to feel this inside of me, use me hard
until you cum.\" He coeasieasily do it again himself, and probably
would when the moment was right.

\"God!\" he nearly screamed, feeling the singers ass clench around him
as he came and now he was riding him, spearing himself. The
sensation was too much now, fire lacing through him as his balls
tightened and his muscles clenched. He came in great gushing spurts,
filling him. Orin\'s eyes rolled back into his head as he shuddered,
all words lost in one long groan of pleasure.

\"Eeenhhh.\" He pressed his forehead against the agent\'s shoulder
hard as he felt the agent cum inside him. The rushing spurts against
his prostate sent shivers down his spine causing him to roll over the
edge again catching it against the stomach. He panted deeply
crumpling into the agent\'s chest and ceasing his movements, lying
perfectly still. He sat there with Orin still inside of him and
didn\'t move he wasn\'t even breathing hard anymore. Rubbing his hand
off on the carpet he wrapped the other hand around the agent\'s neck
and sniffled.

He didn\'t know WHY he had decided now was the time to tear up. `What
the hell...\' He just felt so, complete like a force had filled in
something missing. `You are such utter tripe sometimes Mr.
Sutherland.\' He felt raw and achy and he wasn\'t quite sure he could
convince his legs to move in order to get off of Orin. So he sat
there to collect himself quietly snuffling.

\"You ok?\" Orin asked him, listening to Ralph sniffling. His eyes had
been closed, but he snapped them open to look at him. He really felt
like taking a shower now, he was sweaty and sticky with now drying
cum, but having his lover begin to cry caused him some distress.
Moving slowly, he disentangled himself from Ralph, pulling him down
so that they laid together on the floor, front to front. He wrapped
and arm around him, holding him close, smoothing hair out of his
eyes.

\"I\'m sorry if I hurt you.\" he whispered to him, giving him a squeeze.

Ralph remained vised to Orin\'s shoulder he hadn\'t been hurt...well he
had but that wasn\'t what was wrong. He didn\'t even KNOW what was
wrong, it was like some grotesque Pandora\'s box had been opened and
strange nasty beasts had flowt. \t. \"I\'m...ok.\" He sad in-between
heartfelt sobs.

It was just something he needed to do, his emotions lay there on his
sleeve just for Orin to see, he didn\'t cry and there he was oozing
sorrow from his face. It was pent up. He couldn\'t help it. He
couldn\'t move though he found the room to mumble, \"Go ahead...clean
up...I\'m just going to lay here a second...you can\'t be comfortable
all messy like that.\"

Orin slowly got up, making for the bathroom. He turned on the taps,
filling the large tub with warm soapy water. He swirled it around a
bit, making sure it was all an even temperature, before retuning to
the small music room. He carefully picked Ralph up, cradling him in
his arms, his muscles straining a bit to carry the taller man. He
carried him gently into the bathroom though, slowly slipping him
into the tub, joining him.

\"Whatever it is, just let it out. I\'m here for you, I\'m never going
to leave you now.\" he murmured, as he used a washcloth to massage circles on him back. They would still have to take a shower, but for
now, the bath was relaxing, warm and very soothing. Orin hoped it
worked the same for Ralph as it usually did for him, when he ever
felt bad, sometimes a long bath would help soothe away the worries.

He didn\'t know, he just didn\'t know. He\'d cried before sure but at
really stupid things that he didn\'t understand. This was one tho those moment. \"Not sure, just felt like it...\" His hair flopped in
his face as he bent over fare enough to submerge his head in water,
opening his eyes he saw the misty haze of blood in the water and
would have been concerned if he didn\'t deduce what it was. He
floated there feeling Orin behind him and watching his hands brush
through the water below him. Things look strange underwater, things
looked like a dream.

Pulling up he turned around to face Orin, bringing himself over to
lay comfortably in the crook of his chest, pulling his hand up to
bring the charm of the feather into his vision. He snuffed again,
this was the first time he had gotten a real good look at it, his
bipolar behavior had ruined that chance prior. The feather strangely
made him feel safe all around, a weird thing to feel from something
so small but it was there.

\"The feather you mean?\" Orin asked him, looking down at the man who
nestnestled against his chest.

\"Someone once used to call me his angel, because of my wings...
though I\'m no angel, I know that. But angels are protectors, guides,
they are with you always. That\'s a very special charm there, it may
not look it, but the silver is just a coating. Inside is one of the
feathers from my wings, a small one of course. That is my way of
showing you that I will always be there for you, even if you can see see me.\" Orin sighed as he finished, kissing the top of Ralph\'s head.

\"I thought you might like it.\"

He sat there staring at it in the palm of his hand slightly submerged
in the water. \"I do like it, I like it even more now.\" That had
made him feel less like being so tearful. His hair wasn\'t as long as
Orin\'s but when wet it lay shoulder length and dripping in his eyes,
some still slicked down with pomade. He smiled up at Orin, in his
hunched state he felt so small, so young. He felt so naive when he
was with Orin, the man had experience so much more than him.


Ralph grasped the side of the tub and pulled himself out dripping on
the rug below him. \"I\'ll be right back, sit there and look pretty.\"
His normal demeanor was returning to him, though the dull throbbing
in his behind reminded him to grab a towel before sauntering out the
door.

He went back to the music room, and started pulling out drawers and
dumping them out on the floor. Pencils and paper fell out in bulk,
each sheet had something scribbled on them at random. Sifting
through then quickly he found one he wanted and trotted back to the
bathroom, and sat tenderly on the toilet facing the agent.


\"Mmmmph....wrote this for you...long time ago, never got the balls to
give it to you...\" He read over it quickly before placing it on a
dry spot near the ledge of the tub, within Orin\'s view. \"Just a
little song...but well...it is heartfelt....\" He didn\'t finish, but
stood up to sit on the wet rub before the bathtub. \"I mean, I\'ll
give you something better...but this was the first thing I made for
you.\"

Orin read the lyrics written in Ralph\'s familiar handwriting. It was
obvious that he had put some thought into it... or was that
feelings? His heart tightened in his chest, something had triggered
a feeling he hadn\'t felt before. Pride. Something he had never felt
in so loit wit was almost a foreign feeling. He suddenly leaned over,
hugging the younger man, being careful not to drip water on the
paper.

\"Thank you.\" he croaked, tears in his eyes.

\"You have no idea how much this means to me.. no one has ever cared
this much.\" he murmured into Ralph\'s hair as he rested his chin on
the singers shoulder.

Ralph nodded his head from left to right while re reading the lyrics,
hearing the music in his head. \"I was playing it earlier on the
piano...remember...that was what that was...\" He patted Orin on the
head and stood up again slowly. \"Argh.\" shuffling to the mirror for
a second to comb out his hair, he turned back around, \"I\'m going to
get our clothes, go ahead and shower I\'ll be right back.\"


He stumbled out of the doorway leaving Orin in peace. Passing the
front door he checked the mail slot and pulled out some random
strange fan mail that he let `accidentally\' drift into the garbage
can, and then took the magazine with his face on the cover straight
to the music room. Tossing it to the side he collected up all the
clothing into a rumpled pile and dragged it back to where the `zine
had been left.

Pulling a marker out of his coat pocket and slash a great big face
across the cover, and sent the offending periodical packing into a
desk drawer. He picked up the clothes and wandered back to the
bathroom. Sitting back down on the floor he began to sort Orin\'s
clothes into a neatly folded pile.

Orin stood up and slowly drained the tub before turning on the
shower. He rinsed the rest of the grime from himself and started
washing his hair. It was an odd day for him to let it hang freely
without being pinned back, but now that he thought about it, he
rather liked it sometimes too. Finishing, he stepped out of the
shower to dry off just as Ralph returned to the bathroom. He smiled
at tingeinger. \"So, what are our plans for the day now?\"

Ralph shrugged indifferently. \"Don\'t really know, we are boring old
men remember?\" He handed Orin a towel and moved around him to whip
off his towel and take a shower himself. Leaving the clothes piled
in the center of the restroom. Stepping into the shower he turned
the water on the hottest he possibly could and started methodically
cleaning himself. After a while he began to sing some unwritten song
to himself.


He paused mid phrase and pulled the shower curtain back, steam
pouring out of the opening, \"What time is it anyway...maybe we should
uhmm....\" he thought for a second, \"Maybe we need to talk to the
producers...about this..\" he gestured between himself and Orin...\"I
don\'t really want to but they are tenacious fucks...they\'d find out
eventually.\"

Orin wrapped the towel around him and pondered that for a moment.

\"True... I just hope they don\'t do anything stupid about it, if({ou
catch my meaning.\" Picking up his clothes, he began to dress again

snapping out his silk shirt to removed the wrinkles. The one thing

he had found about silks, was that his favorite silk blends didn\'t
wrinkle

as easy as normal silk, and they usually stayed mostly wrinkle-free.

He wandered out into the kitchen after picking up and pocketing the

paper that Ralph had given to him. Checking the clock, he found it was

close to 1pm. Lunchtime for the producers. If he made a few calls, he

could probably set up a lunchtime appointment. Taking out his comm,

he began making calls to various people, setting things up,

barely managing to squeeze in a time for lunch with their most direct

producer, the one who was most likely to not have a huge fit on the

subject.

\"Hurry up in there, we have to meet with Kurt Strehein in 20 minutes.

We are \'doing lunch\' with him at his favorite German restaurant.

Orin made a face, he may have had German heritage, but that didn\'t

seem to apply to his like of most German foods.

Ralph grumbled from within the shower. Dear lord he hated German
food. It was heavy and stuck in his stomach. He hoped they had
potato schnitzel that would be the only advantage. Jumping out he
dried off quickly, and got dressed before combing his hair out and
following his normal routine. \"Do you think...I mean...ugh.\" He
wandered out of the bathroom putting his shoes back on his feet one
step at a time.

He ass felt slightly better now that he had washed and time had
passed. Shuffling idly through the kitchen he pocketedew
ew
crackers. \"Just incase.....heavy food makes me sleepy....well
sleepier than normal.\" He played with the chain of the feather and
laid it out over his tie. It contrasted nicely with the black, and
beyond the pink hue to his cheeks he was back to looking like a ghost.

Pulling out a black cigarette, he fingered a second one and pointed
it at Orin. \"Want, mentholated and clovish....very nice.\" He lit
up and wandered to the door, \"Ready?\"

\"Sure.\" Orin smiled as he took one and lit it, taking a long drag
off of it.

\"Let\'s go then.\" The both walked quickly towards the restaurant,
navigating the crowed streets with ease. As they neared a sec
th
that was more populated by the Illuminati, the crowds thinned out and
the streets became broader. Orin smiled at Ralph, happy that he was
wearing the charm in plain view of everyone. It was a small gesture,
but one that made him immensely happy. Finally, they arrived at the restaurant, 2 minutes early.

\"Orelaneland and Swan, we are guests of Mr. Strehein.\" Orin said to
the hostess. She checked the book and nodded.

\"Mr. Strehein has not arrived just yet, please wait over there
though and I will inform you when he does.\" She told them, pointing
to a row of leather benches. The entire restaurant was done in dark
colors, rich dark leather chairs and dark wood tables. it was classy
though, Illuminati only of course. Orin watched the door, waiting for
the producer to come.

Ralph wrinkled his nose and looked around. Dark wood always hid
dirt. These restaurants, no matter how hard the drones cleaned them
they were dirty. He fought the urge to start cleaning himself and
folded his hands over a napkin on the table. He fought the urge to
light up another cigarette, the producers made him nervous...and he
wasn\'t ever too sure which ones were privy to his status as acting
Illuminati. Some knew some didn\'t either way he always had to watch
what he said when they were around. This was why he normally let
Orin do the talking. Sometimes he came off rather inarticulate, thias uas usually when he was enraged, and being enraged was quite normal
for him in a meeting with the people in charge.

He had to admit though that he was nervous and scooted a little
closer to Orin. Just enough to put his hand out to pull on the
agent\'s pant leg for reassurance.

Orin felt the tug on his trousers and moved his hand under the table
to place a reassg hag hand on Ralph\'s. Then he saw a tall blonde man
entering the restaurant, dressed in expensive business attire.
Standing up, he greeted the man as he got to their table, holding
out his hand to give him a handshake.

\"Mr. Strehein, sir. Good to see you again.\" Orin gave him a smile,
trying to quell his nervousness.

\"Ah, Orin my boy. Good to see you, And the illustrious Swan. So good
to see you both here.\" He noted the charm that Ralph was wearing and
raised his eyebrows.

\"An interesting piece of jewelry there. Now, what can I do for you,
my secretary tells me there was a matter of some importance.\" The
blonde man said as he seated himself, wiping his spectacles on a handkerchief that he pulled from a pocket.

\"Yes, sir, you see...\" Orin started.

\"Enough of the sirs... You know better than that Orin. call me Kurt
for once in your life.\" He chuckled.

\"Um. alright. Anyways, I arranged the meeting because there is
something we need to discuss with you, my client a.\" .\" Orin took a
deep breath, before continuing.

\"Something has arisen that we need to consult with you about, about
the status of Swan going public with a relationship and the effects it may have.\" Kurt raised his eyebrows again at the comment, pausing
the conversation as the waiter came to take their orders.

\"Braughtwurst and potato salad please.\" Kurt ordered, motioning for
Orin and Ralph to order.

< \"S \"Sauerbraten, with potato dumplings.\" Orin said after quickly
glancing over the menu.

\"Nuthin.\" He wasn\'t exactly too hungry right now, and truthfully
everything here scared him slightly...the names alone made him raise
a curious eyebrow. Though right now he was too busy staring down his
long nose to his folded hands. `ok so far so good, I don\'t exactly
feel like I am about to have my head ripped off....I don\'t
think....\' He glanced at Orin, his gaze was normally strong and
aloof when in public but right now he couldn\'t help but feel a little
afraid.

He had withdrawn so far his clumsy drone accent had almost slipped
out. This was probably the best time to just let Orin do all the
talking; he had a tendency to go one of two ways when it came to
talking to higher ups. Extremely subservient, or highly belligerent
and at the moment he felt strangely low.

Another eyebrow was raised at that, but Kurt hadn\'t said anything to
it. He motioned the waiter away.

\"So, a discussion about a relationship. Who is the lucky lady that
we are going to be discussing? She should be here too.\" Kurt asked.
Orin shifted in his chair, uncomfortable.

\"That is the thing, there is no \'lady\'...\"

\"So we want to set up a relationship with a girl?\" Kurt asked,
interrupted.

\"No, that\'s not quite it, there is a relationship, but not with a
girl...\" Kurt paused in folding his napkin, before laying it on the
table. He folded his hanookiooking between the singer and the agent,
his eyes lingered for a moment of the feather charm.

\"I see. And who is this gentleman?\" he asked, quietly. Orin squirmed
for a moment, the gaze from the older German man was intense.

\"Me.\"

Ralph whipped a cracker out of his pocket and started nibbling. The
crunching kee keeping his mind off the fact this could have been a
bad idea. Maybe they should have just kept this quiet...\'I
mean....it wouldn\'t be so bad...but it just wouldn\'t feel right.\'
Ralph hid so much already he didn\'t want to have more things to keep
secret. He kinda sensed Orin felt the same way and that was why he
suggested it.

The staring from the man was unnerving and he really felt the urge to
hide under the table. Though the cracker continued to prove to be a
worth distraction, his light eyes flashing from the producer to the
agent and back agent. `Ugh I feel like I am going to puke!\' He
scooted forward slightly to pluck the napkin up and place it on his
lap, anything to keep him from going absolutely crazy.

Kurt sat there for a moment, eyes flicking back and froth from
singer to agent. Leaning back in his chair, he sighed.

\"So I see.\" was all he said, his eyed glazing over for a moment as
he thought. Orin resisted the urge to want to run from the table,
from the man, and from all responsibility for this mess.

\"Well, most likely you will have the choice to go public or keep this
a secret, considering this is most likely something neither of you
wish to break off. If you will give me some time, I have some
figures and things to go over before we can make a decision on this
matter. I know there might be some dissent from some of the other
producers, gh Igh I expect most will be fine with it, if you are to
go public. The only one that we may have a problem with is John
Gordon.\" Orin relaxed visibly a bit. seeing that Kurt would once
again be a help to him. He had been the one to help him the entire
time he worked his way up through the ranks, and had become the
closest thing to a father figure he could get.

\"Ah my boy, you do seem to have the most interesting times...\" Kurt
said, shaking his head. As their food came, he smiled at them all.

\"Now relax, business later, let\'s enjoy our lunch.\" He smiled before turning to Orin.

\"I\'ll contact you as soon as I find out the information I need about
your situation.\"

Ralph sighed audibly through his nose and pulled the crackers out of
his pocket and placed them on the table. He felt much better to know
that the producer wasn\'t going to jump down their collective
throats. Though the sound of that Gordon guy\'s name made him frown.
He remembered distinctly disliking the man intensely. He tried to
lighten up a little and so in normal fashion he started talking about
whatever came to mind. \"It feels like fall out doesn\'t it?\" He
picked up a cracker and took a tiny nibble out of it.

\"I\'m not quite sure but I think that it is fall....you can never tell
the seasons are all the same in Zaigou....though the air smells
so....fall.\" He jammed his hand into his pocket and pulled out the
last crackers to lie on the table. \"It\'s my favorite time of
year...I think...from what I can tell of it....\" his voice trailed
off as he watched the other two men eat. Sometimes he had acute
diarrhea of the mouth...and needed to learn how to shut up. He
glanced to Orin, and then took a sip of water from a glass on the
table.

He had a few questions about their situation, but he supposed he
would wait until after thed fid finished eating.

The meal went smoothly, Ralph chattering away as he ate his crackers
while Kurt and Orin talked about various things. Once they were
finished, their dishes were cleared away.


\"So, as soon as I take a look as a few things, I\'ll be in contact
with you, about the decision. Is there anything else we need to
discus?\"

Ralph tweaked looking from the older man to Orin for a second. \"Well
uhm....I was just wondering....how terribly hard that Gordon guy is
going to make this...\" he screwed his eyes shut for a second, he
really didn\'t know what his problem was, higher up Illuminati made
him nervous. Probably had a lot to do with the fact they could
almost always read into him, and that made him act like a spasmodic monkey.

He edged even closer to Orin. `God....what kinda drugs did I do this
morning...Orin mixed crack into those potatoes!\' He elbowed the agent
in the side playfully. Before Folding the napkin up into the shape
of a small animal. The whole time watching the producer with
concerned eyes.

Well, if the numbers look right, then you can go public, but if not,
then I would advise you to keep it a secret, very secret. If it
looks to be something detrimental to him, he will do everything in
his power to fire both of you. he\'s someone to tiptoe around. And
since he knows about your interesting past... things are even more
dangerous.\" Kurt said to Ralph.


\"Less so with Orin, but you have so much to loose here. Alright
then. I have to return to work. I will be in contact soon.\"

If he were a puppy he probably would have flattened his ears against
his head and whimpered at that statement. He wished he had just let
himself glide around in a hopeful disillusion of harmony. He was
right, he had a lot to lose. Mostly his life. Though if it was
anybody\'s fault it was his own, he made these choices not anyone
else...well for the most part. He scooted away from Orin at that
point, he felt like he was endangering them both by being in such
close proximity.

He stared distantly at a couple eating across the room. Happy golden
little Illuminati, allowed to do as they please. His face turned
into a sullen frown and he shoved the fabric napkin in his pocket
without a second thought. \"Save this for later.\"

Orin stood up from the table, thanks Kurt as he did so. After paying
his and Ralph\'s portion of the checkqe, he motioned to the singer to
follow him.

\"You ok? That wasn\'t so bad.\" Orin said to him as they left the restaurants.

Ralph slumped through the streets outside the restaurant, he felt
like it was bad, that John Gordon guy probably had it in for
him. \"Yah...not so bad....how long do you think it will take him to
talk to them....I don\'t like waiting it makes me on edge.\" He
started to smoke again and stopped to lean against a building. His
back hurt, mostly from the lingering traces of the events, which took
place before lunch.


His hands usually busied themselves by tightening the knot of his
ties, but now that the feather was there he found himself feeling
over it with his fingers while he stared at Orin. \"I didn\'t know
that Gordon guy knew about...you know...my past experience as an
advanced sterilizing official.\" He snorted at himself. It was funny
to hear it be described as such a fancy thing. \"He really does hold
my life in his hands.\"

\"Yeah, well, he\'s a git. Always will be one too. As for how long,
I\'m not sure, but from the way Kurt spoke, I don\'t think he\'s going
to go to the other producers until after he\'s talked with us
again.\" Orin sighed.

\"Bum another off you?\" Orin asked, indicating the clove cigarettes.

\"Left mine at home.\"

Ralph pulled out an extra pack of cigarettes from his coat pocket and
tossed it to Orin, \"Keep \'em I carry around two pack always cause I
ain\'t ever sure where I am gonna be next...and how long its gonna
take me ta get home.\" He slipped casually into his born mode of
speaking, a strange mixture of drone and illuminati dialect that
caused him to stick out like a sore thumb. \"So yah think he\'ll get
back pretty fast, I mean I guess there ain\'t no use in jus\' stringing
us along.\" He took a deep draw on the cigarette and let the smoke
curl to the sky through his nose.


He mumbled again this time in a more...\'normal\' fashion, \"What can we
do now other than wait, my house are yours either way I don\'t want to
be alone.\"

\"Yours is closer, so I vote for there.\" Orin said, taking a drag off
the cigarette.

\"So much for quitting, eh?\" Orin joked. They slowly strolled back to
Ralph\'s apartment, watching the bustle of people as they went about
their business. Orin was lost in his thoughts, thinking about the
possible future. He had been a bit reluctant to tell Kurt about his
new relationship with Ralph, but it was another secret he would have
had to keep and he was already bursting with so many.

\"Meh, it doesn\'t matter, I am starting to not care what the producers
say either way, I am just about going to smoke myself to death and
kiss you in the middle of the street if I damn well feel like it.\"
He shoved Orin slightly with his shoulder and chuckled, \"Lots of
girls like shit like that anyway...might be pretty lucrative in the
long run for them, we\'d just have to do fun stuff like make out on
stage...people are animals.\" He was starting to feel a little better
and as he thought about it more and more likely it became of little
consequence what happened to him at all. He could die, it would be
fine, what mattered was Orin.

\"Y\'kno I don\'t think we are REALLY in that much trouble...I
mean...really.\" He wasn\'t convincing himself.

Orin smiled at him, one of his rare toothy grins.

\"That would be fun.\" Orin laughed as he bumped into Ralph, intending
to make him stumble a bit. They had finally made it back to Ralph\'s
building and they made their way inside to wait for the elevator.

Ralph stumbled slightly but managed to grab a hold of Orin\'s shoulder
first, and then move his handund und to give his hair a little
tug. \"Yes well...\" He pondered a second as he wandered into the
elevator, his hand grabbing Orin\'s to hold. \"What do you think will
happen if they decide this is going to be an unfavorable event....\"
He laced his fingers in-between the agent\'s and brought it up to stare
at the two combined. It was only when he saw his hand against Orin\'s
that he realized how white he was, \"Dear god...\"

It wasn\'t that he didn\'t know how strangely devoid of pigment he
was, it just...it was strange to see himself in comparison to someone
with generally normal skin. He didn\'t say much other than that
instead he chose to stare at their hands a little longer....studying
the contrast.

\"You need a tan.\" Orin laughed as he brought Ralph\'s hand up and
kissed his hand.

\"No matter what happens, I\'ll always be there for you, Ok?\" Orin
told him, looking at him, his gaze level, but conveying how serious
he was about that. Nothing was ever going to get in his way of being
near the singer now, not after last night and this morning. He had
been chasing his shadow for too long, not that he had finally
grasped hold of something real, he wasn\'t ever going to just let go.

Ralph smiled and canted his head to the side, \"I can\'t tan, it is
impossible I have tried, I think I have some disease or
something....not sure.\" He held out his hands unlatching himself
from Orin. \"My ma always said that it made me special, I never liked
it much growing up, but that\'s why they call me Swan I guess, cause I
am so freaking white...all the fuck over.\" He snickered to himself,
he felt ridiculous. He was lucky that when he worked maintenance
that he was usually pretty dirty, and nobody noticed that he looked
so unique.


The elevator churned to a stop and he pulled Orin out, and spun him
around in a strange dance step, \"Do you think it\'s weird?\" He spun
him again, using himself as a pivot. \"I mean, that\'s why all the
girls like to look, s\'cuz they ain\'t never seen a fella like me.\"
He\'d stumbledk ink into his accent, feeling relaxed did that to him,
with Orin he wasn\'t on edge.

He smiled, pushing the taller man against his door. Thanking god
Ralph had the entire floor to himself, Orin pressed against him.

\"I like it.\" He whispered to him, bringing his face up to the
singers, almost as if to kiss him, but stopped.

\"You don\'t like it?\" he asked, bringing one hand up to tease at
Ralph\'s hip.

Ralph smiled slightly and licked the tip of Orin\'s nose, grabbing the
hand on his hip he spun the agent and himself deftly away from the
wall, and started dancing him down the hall. One step two step,
swoop and twirl. He spun the agent through the main entrance of the
penthouse, and with a flourish and a pivot turn he laid him down on
the couch. The sky was getting dark as though it was about to rain,
and he remained standing staring at Orin from where he was...

\"I guess I like it, looking in the mirror freaks me out though....\"
He plopped down on the edge of the couch and tilted his head to look
into the agent\'s eyes. \"It\'s weird to see myself...the....\" he cut
himself off and stood to walk into the kitchen, \"Thirsty?\" He had
stopped himself fin finishing his sentence. He didn\'t want to come
off sounding crazy.

He always felt crazy when he even thought about. People didn\'t see
what he saw. It wasn\'t normal.

\"Heh, they should have named you loon. But that\'s what I like about
you. Now what were you going to say?\" Orin asked him, as he sat up
on the couch, brushing some hair away that had fallen in his eyes.


\"Hmm.. smellke rke rain coming.\" Orin noted as he sniffed the air.

Ralph shrugged, and pulled out a cup to pour tea in, Orin hadn\'t
asked for it but he figured he might as well bring him some. Taking
up a can of grapefruit juice in the other he glided over to sit next
to the agent and handed him the glass. He took a sip from the can
and stooped to pull a magazine from under the couch. Opening it up
the center he pointed out his figure which had a huge x over
it...as normal.

\"Fuzzy...don\'t you see...how my edge is fuzzy?\" He felt completely crazy now pointing this out and flipped to a different page where a
girl was smiling brightly in an attempt to sell what looked like
yogurt with tiny frogs in it. \"I am just weird, probably just the way
light reflects off my skin, that\'s probably it...\"

He didn\'t sound too sure of himself and as a thunderclap cracked
against the pitch sky he jumped and tossed the magazine across the
room.

\"Just a loon.\"

\"Jesus Lord and Christ have mercy!\" orin yelped, nearly jumping out
of his skin as he shot bolt upright off the couch.

\"I really hate thunder.\" He explained to Ralph as he tried to calm
himself.

\"So, what is odd about it? The way your skin reflects light? I\'m not
quite understanding where you are going with this.\" Orin asked
puzzled. He made a motion with his hands.

\"Start from the top, makes a better story and more sense.\"

Ralph shook his head and sighed, \"I told you I was being stupid, I am
the only person who can see it...Orin it\'s just...\" He stopped and
wooshed his hand through the air, staring at something which he knew
the agent couldn\'t see. \"It doesn\'t matter, I am probably just
schitzo, iike.ike...I don\'t know an echo sometimes I get ahead of
myself and...I am going to shut up.\" He curled up on Orin\'s lap and
shut his eyes listening to the sound of the rain pounding on the
skylight above them.


\"It doesn\'t matter, it doesn\'t hurt anyone, and I am the only person
who can see it so I don\'t know why I even brought it up.\" He jumped
when the thunder clacked again and buried his face in Orin\'s
stomach. He felt really dumb, like he had brought up something he
needn\'t bother. He just figured it wouldn\'t matter to talk about it
with the agent. He sighed and muttered into the fabric of the agents
shirt \"No big deal, just don\'t worry about it.\"

Orin tensed when the thunder rumbled again, but paid not much mind
to it. He was thinking about what Ralph was talking about.

\"Like you are seeing your own aura possibly? No... because you would
see other peoples auras too then probably. Huh..\" Orin muttered as
he thought aloud to himself. Orin cringed as another crack of
thunder sounded. He curled up on the couch, hugging Ralph close to
him.

He bundled himself closer to Orin as he listened to rai rain. He was
tired, he was used to napping throughout the day. He nibbled on a
button on Orin\'s shirt. Before curling up a bit more, \"Rain makes me
sleepy....\" he mumbled through tired lips. Releasing a sigh he
started to doze off without really knowing what he was doing. \"I
dunno what it is...doesn\'t...mat.t.." He snoozed off the stress of
the day made him need to nap severely he couldn\'t control this fact
and so nature took its course.


He snoozed lightly taking long deep breaths, fingers curled around
the fabric of Orin\'s shirt.

Orin watched Ralph as he drifted into sleep. Shifting, he gently
picked the singer up like he would a child, head over his shoulder,
arms around his waist, and carried him into the bedroom. He took his
shoes and jacket off after placing him in the bed, pulling the
covers up over him. Sliding next to him, Orin joined him, one hand
propping his head up as he watched Ralph sleeping. Laying back, he
listed to the sound of the rain as it his the roof and windows.
Before he knew it, he was asleep as well.

His stomach kinda hurt like he was nervous and sick at the same
time. The sound of the rain was soothing made him feel better, made
him feel safe. He normally didn\'t have dreams. Usually he just
slept like a log and woke up when the time was right. Always when
the time was right. Rolling his head from side to side he fumbled
through the sheets and rolled to lie against the agent. He wasn\'t
really cognitive of what he was doing. He couldn\'t feel anything
around him...it was like he was floating.


Traipsing through the dreamscape version of Zaigou he saw nothing,
there were no people on the street. He ran up to see if there was
anyone in the buildings but they were all locked. `damnit\' he
continued to head towards his initial destination...a high tower, the
central point of Zaigou. A point he could see when he was awake
though no one else seemed to pay attention to it...no one else say
it. At the top of the tower was a bright red light, which caused him
to cover his eyes, as he grew nearer. It drew him to it one step at
a time and every time he tried to turn back he was drawn to keep
going.


`I don\'t want to go here, not yet leave me alone.\' The red light
enveloped him as he stepped forward and his eyes rolled open and the
stared at Orin\'s face. He wasn\'t scared, when he did have a dream
that was the one he always had, that same dream about the red light,
and the high tower. It was unnerving the first time he saw it, but
now it just seemed like part of sleeping...something normal.


Maybe everybody always had the same dream all the time.

He was drifting in and out of sleep. He wasn\'t used to sleeping in
the middle of the day. He was aware of Ralph tossing and turning,
but he continued to snooze through it. When the singer snuggled up
to him, he wrapped and arm around him. He was still snoozing when
Ralph woke up from his dream though. Something about flying as
usual, as his dreams mostly were about. Finally, he yawned and stretched, opening his eyes, to see Ralph looking at him.

\"Morning.\"

Ralph yawned widely revealing a set of perfectly white teeth. \"Yes
well...or good evening....\" He rolled out of bed and stomped off to
the bathroom. Did he ever have to pee; it feike ike he hadn\'t for a
month.


Staring at the wall silently he did his thing and wandered back to
the bedroom where Orin was, and rolled back into bed. \"This is what
I do on my days off, isn\'t it particularly sad?\" He really didn\'t
feel it was sad he felt it was more like....something that he wanted
to do all the time if he could. Aside from music that was fine
too. \"Sleeping makes me feel at peace I guess, that\'s why I do it
all the time.\" He stretched and scooted around the covers like a
ferret, before coming to rest next to Orin.


\"So I am always up for suggestions on exciting new things to do,
though for you that might be gun polishing...\" He snickered as though
something about that he found particularly amusing. \"I suppose it
isn\'t a bad thing, we don\'t have to fill our lives up with
meaningless drivel like most Illuminati do...you know the bossing
people around and generally making others feel small about
themselves.\"

He watched the plik plok of the ran above him, the intense darkness
of the sky made the red light from the dream shine brighter and he
could see a tint of it along the skylight\'s edge. The light made him
nervous and he edged a bit closer to Orin, \"You think he\'ll call back
today?\"

Right after Ralph spoke, Orin heard his comm begin beeping in the
living room, where it was in his overcoat pocket. Scrambling out of
the bed quickly, he dashed down the hall to answer it.

\"Hello?\"

\"Ah, Orin my boy. I havee nee news for you. I haven\'t spoken to the
other producers yet on the subject, so this is just coming from
me... actually, I think both you and Swan should hear this. Is he in
the room with you?\" Kurt\'s voice came from the speaker. Orin started
down the hall back towards the bedroom, where Ralph was still in bed.

\"Hang on, here he is.\"

\"Ah, well. Anyways, After looking over the numbers of your current
sales and in comparing to history and to other Idol Stars in similar
situations... What the heck am I talking about all this mumbo jumbo
to you for? I\'m sorry, I tend to ramble. Anyways, like I said, I
haven\'t run it by anyone else yet, but by looking at figures, there
should be absolutely no argument to your decision, be that it may.\"
Kurt rambled. Orin stood there, holding the comm as he sat on the
edge of the bed, giving Ralph and the comm a slightly confused look.

\"So, what is that supposed to mean?\" He asked the producer.

\"What? OH! Dear me, that made no sense. I\'m sorry. As of now, this
is just coming from me though but I don\'t foresee even John Gordon
making a stink over these figures, you may do as you wish. Meaning
that Swan can either keep his relationship secret or public. Though
if I know John, he\'ll want to try and boost sales by making it a
public spectacle."

A mixed reaction was the only reaction something like that could
bring. Ralph yawned slightly and arched an eyebrow. Not knowing
what to say exactly to the whole thing. It was massively good that
he would be able to do what he liked with Orin with little
repercussion. Though the whole phrase, `public spectacle\' made him a
little wary. It could mean...bad things...he nudged Orin on the
shoulder in the hopes that he felt like reading minds and asking the
producer what exactly he meant by that.

He couldn\'t find his voice right now, he was too busy grinding his
teeth together because of his nerves. Talking to the people in
charge always made him feel that way. \"Welllll....\" he mumbled,
itching his wrist and waiting for Orin to continue the conversation.
He wrapped his arm around one of the agent\'s and sighed staring up at
the ceiling he mulled over the possibilities.

\"Public spectacle? What do you mean by that?\" Orin asked after he
felt the nudge from Ralph. He was curious about that too.


\"Knowing John, it would probably be something very public, like a
staged event where the subject is brought up, or even onstage at one
of your concerts.\" Orin stared at the comm, almost in shock.


\"What?\"

\"Like I said though, I haven\'t talked to the other producers yet. I
won\'t until tomorrow either, it\'s about quitting time here and most
are heading home. I\'ll give you until tomorrow at 10am to decide if
I tell them or not ok?\" Orin looked over at Ralph, this just wasn\'t
his decision to make.

Ralph nodded slightly at the comm without really even thinking about
the fact that the producer probably didn\'t hear him. He just sat
there, even after the man was obviously gone. He didn\'t like having
to make big decisions like this on his own. Then again it really
wasn\'t much of a decision now was it? Why would you hide something
like that? He didn\'t understand the concept. Love was love right,
nothing wrong with that.

Then he thought of something, and his face became grim, \"Maybe we
shouldn\'t....Orin...what about your family?\" A thousand and one
dangerous scenarios ran through his head. All of them ended up with
Orin dead. This could not be...\"I don\'t know if we should.....I mean
it isn\'t like your family will have forgotten you completely right?\"



The whole idea made him nervous...he didn\'t care about being public.
He did care about the reaction the spectacle might cause.

\"They disowned me and any responsibility they had towards me long
ago. I won\'t hide just because of them. They can\'t really do
anything about it, considering they have no claims on me anymore.\"
Orin told him, dropping the comm, wrapping both arms around the
singer.

\"I\'m not too fond of making a huge spectacle of myself, but if that
is what the producers want and that keeps them happy, then so be it.
If you want to keep it toned down, then that is fine too. Just as
long as you are there.\" Orin smiled at him.

\"What do you think?\"

Ralph sighed and flopped back down on the bed dragging Orin with
him. \"I don\'t know, I hide a lot as it is...hiding even more kinda
makes me uneasy...just one more thing for the producers to find out
about me, and to use against me...\" He propped himself up on his
elbow. \"Might as well be in their faces about it...\" He twisted his
head from left to right to crack his neck.


\"I mean...is there any real point to hiding it...if you say it
doesn\'t matter to your family then...who cares right, maybe it won\'t
be such a big deal...\" He was sure if it would be a small thing or
not, he wasn\'t sure at all. What he did know is that he didn\'t want
to hide something like this. It was too good to hide.

Orin smiled as he curled next to the singer on the bed.

\"Anything for you.\" He told him.

Ralph smiled and patted Orin on the head, rolling out of bed he
wandered out the door calling over his shoulder. \"Wait here, I need
to go to the bathroom again.\" He started smoothing his hair, it was
mussed from sleeping. The feeling of the stress being lifted made
him tired again. It was wonderful, he felt wonderful....though his
hair was less than wonderful...click click he turned on the light to
the bathroom and wandered to the toilet humming to himself idly as he
did what he came to do.

He was flourishing around the bathroom like a Spanish dancer, soon
after he had finished just before he stopped dead in front of the
mirror. The thunder cracked and with that the power to the building
went out sending him into complete darkness aside from the fate
glimmer from above. A shiver ran down his spine as he stared into
the reflection before him. It was dark and malignant; he seemed to
be leering at himself with great distaste.


Moving closer he started to run a had through his hair, in an attempt
to quickly fix himself before returning to Orin. The torrential pour
of the rain drowned out all the sounds in the apartment and just when
he was about to turn to leave he noticed the light in the
reflection. A dim firelight that shone in the background and as he
turned to look behind him it began.

An oozing strange surface overtook the mirror, reflected in the din
of his eyes Ralph too a step back. He should have run, he scolded
himself for standing there but his feet were adhered to the
floor. \"Or....O...Orin?\" He attempted to call out to the agent but
all that came from his throat was a harsh whisper that scratched and
scrabbled at his throat.

His reflection was like mist ie mie mirror he could hardly make out
his oorm orm and as he finally willed his feet to move away towards
the door he saw himself phase out. And another figure appear, a
reflection of himself, in everyway except for its hair. Dark locks
fell into its eyes covering its gaze, and it placed its bloodied
hands against the mirror pushing at it as though behind a window.


Ralph couldn\'t move he could only stare as the long arm broke through
the glass rasping the skin of its hand against the surface and
reaching out to the froze form before it. \"Come here, come here it
is time to go home....\" The other hand burst through and reached out
for him until finally the figure was halfway out, a thing fingered
hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back towards the
mirror. \"Come home.\"

Another lighting crack threw itself through the air blinding thom
om
for a moment and then in a blink of an eye their places were switched
and the holes in the mirror were sealed. The reflection of Ralph\'s
smile was full of malice as it glanced over its shoulder and walked
from its place in front of the mirror towards the door and out, back
towards the bedroom. Sticking its head through the door to peek in
at Orin its smile turned into one of mocking kindness.

One would not be able to tell the difference between the two aside
from the hair. The hair which Ralph had a tendency to dye quiet
often.

\"Hey. You got any candles around here? I hate the dark...\" Orin
asked Ralph, who was standing in the doorway, smiling at him.

\"What, you dye your hair again? Lord.. it\'s all going to fall out
you know.\" Orin scolded him as he got up, intending on going in
search of candles. he really hated the dark. He didn\'t mind dim
light, but darkness was something else. It frightened him for some
reason. Then he noticed something odd with Ralph. Blood on his hands.

\"What the bloody hell did you do?\" he yelled as he grabbed one of
the singers wrists, looking at the blood.

The black haired Ralph smiled holding his hands up to stare at the
blood from behind his dark bangs. He didn\'t say anything, instead he
wandered aimlessly from the room to the kitchen and put his hands
under the faucet washing away the blood from his hands and returning
to the bedroom with a candle. Wagging it under Orin\'s nose he took
it to the side of the bed and smashed it into the end of a holder,
and lighting it.

\"Just an accident.\" His voice was the same as it had always been,
though there was an odd scratchiness to it, like he had been
screaming (or smoking) too much. Laying back down on the bed he
stared at the agent, his eyes still hidden by the bangs. He put his
hands behind his head the wrists and fingers had started bleeding
again covering the pillow with dark red blood. And spreading like a
sick spider web across the white linen.

\"Just and accident.\"

Orin furrowed his eyebrows. Something wasn\'t quite right, Ralph was
acting a bit too odd, even for Ralph.

\"Are you sure you are ok? You seem... I dunno... maybe it\'s just my
imagination.\" Orin chuckled to himself. Though something in the back
of his head was screaming at him, saying something wasn\'t right. He
ignored the voice.

\"Anyways then...\" Orin turned to look at the singer laying on the
bed, hands behind his head. He noticed the bloodstain as it crept
across the pillow.

\"RALPH! What the bloody fuck is going on, you\'re fucking going to
bleed to death!\" Orin ran into the bathroom, grabbing a towel from
the rack and then dashed back into the bedroom, grabbing Ralph\'s
hands, wrapping the towel around them. He noticed cuts on his hands
as he did so.

\"What the fuck?!\"

He turned his head to look at the towel which was starting to soak
with blood, it was only a matter of moments that the towel itself had
turned a rusty red. Oozing the hand out of the wrap he snaked a
bleeding palm to rest on the agent\'s forehead. \"Nothing is wrong, it
will be ok, everything is ok.\" He removed the hand and with that it
was no longer bleeding. He pushed the bangs out of his eyes to
reveal that they were bruised and bloody one eye bloodshot, so much
so that the wound poured into the iris staining its normally light
color with a slashing line.

He reached up again and pulled Orin on top of him, and
whispered, \"I\'ve come home, did you miss me, did you know I was
gone?\" he edged his face close lips nearly touching the agents as he
did so, \"It has been a long time, a long sad time, I thought I would
never get back....never.\" And with that he placed a soft nearly too
gentle kiss upon Orin. A dark red fluid burbling from his mouth.

Orin stared at him in horror.

\"Who are you? You aren\'t Ralph... you can\'t be Ralph...\" Orin leapt up off the bed, away from the thing that looked like Ralph, but
couldn\'t possibly be him. Clutching at his head, he screamed at him.

\"What the bloody fuck is going on?!\"

The Ralphish Doppelganger snaked his way forward slowly forcing Orin
back into a corner. The expression on its face sad, \"My love...my
dear love...\" an arm sneaked its way around the agent\'s waist to pull
him closer, the blood stained lips of the fair man mouthing `my love
over and over again though no words came out.


It was evil, pure and simple, innocent evil. An oxymoron upon
itself, and irony wrought by the misshapen disillusion of the
mirror. \"What do you mean?\" It didn\'t understand its request, to it
this was normal there was nothing unusual going on. It forced itself
closer mumbling incoherently random things about nothing that made
any sense. It was on the edge, close to anger.


It wasn\'t expecting to be greeted like this, it was expecting open
arms. \"Are you saying you didn\'t miss me, are you saying you didn\'t
notice I was GONE?\" His bleeding mouth was close to the agent\'s
again, hands on either shoulder as the dark hair fell back into his
eyes. \"Are you saying you don\'t love us?\"

Orin looked at him, confusion in his eyes, his face half a worried
expression.

\"What\'s going on... You... He... just left the room... the power
went out... and now you are here, bleeding...\" Tears were beginning
to form in the agent\'s eyes, he was confused, something was going on
and he had missed it, now there was this.. thing that looked like
Ralph, holding him close, calling him his love, saying he missed him.

\"Us?\" he looked up at him, his face twisting into further confusion.

He really didn\'t understand the problem that the agent seemed to be
having, it was clear that this creature thought it was in the right
place. It was, in a sense. \"Us.\" He laid his head on Orin\'s
shoulder, his breaths coming in short rasping gasps as though he had
water in his lungs. \"Please?\" It pleaded helplessly as though it
absolutely needed Orin to pt ipt it as who he felt he was, Ralph.

The hands had started bleeding again, and the blood slowly seeped
down the sides of Orin\'s clothing as the Ralph refused to let
go. \"Don\'t cry it\'s ok, it\'s ok.\" The harder it tired to convince
Orin of this the angrier he became and the harder he forced the agent
against the wall. The fingers began to dig into the older man\'s back
as it became more desperate for acceptance.

\"Stop, you\'re hurting me!\" With a great shove, Orin pushed at the
false Ralph and ran towards the closest sanctuary he could find. The
bathroom. Turning, he locked the door, effectively cutting off his
own escape routes. leaning against the wall, he looked down at the
blood covering him and his clothes.

\"What the fuck?\" He mumbled to himself. He was so confused.

The doppelganger wailed from the rejection a sad haunting sound that
rang throughout the whole building. \"WHY?!\" The raspy voice raised
above a whisper as it pounded with bloody hands against the bathroom
door. It would find a way inside, it would find a way in there and
then its love would be sorry. It would make him realize who it was,
even if it had to kill him.

On the other side of the bathroom door, the bathroom was bathed in an
eerie white light, as opposed to the red, which had haunted the room
before Ralph had been taken into the glass. A vaporous figure
floated silently behind the glass, every so often fingerprints would
appear and disappear like a ghost was touching the glass. \"Orin?\" A
voice whispered over the sounds of the creature outside of the door.

\"Orin?\" It said again this time a little bit louder. It sounded
distant and hallow as the vapor in mirrmirror dwindled slightly,
replaced splatterings of blood on the mirror, though in the
reflection and not on the physical glass. \"ORIN?!\" the voice arose
from the surface this time panicked. The sounds of the doppelganger
growing more silent as it wandered down the hall in search of some
unknown thing.

Orin watched the strange happenings in the bathroom, his head
reeling. He heard the false Ralph screaming from the other side of
the door, but he also head another voice, also Ralph, coming from
the bathroom. Looking at the mirror, he watched the fingerprints
appear and disappear. Finally he heard the source of the other voice
was from inside the mirror.

\"Ralph?\"

The doppelganger had gone to some unknown part of the apartment. His
wails could only be heard from time to time when he wandered into
earshot. The sound of things being over turned filled the air.


\"Orin....\" Ralph whispered from the mirror, the hand prints paused
as though he was trying to peer hard through the mirror to see into
the bathroom. \"Orin what\'s out there...I can\'t get out...\" his voice
trailed off and he attempted to push through again the cracking of
the mirror evident. More blood splashed against the inside of the
mirror. \"Eiih\" with that sound his hand prints melted away and he
fell silent no sound rising from the mirror.

The sound of the doppelganger bring a chair to meet against the hard
wood of the door resounded through the apartment. This each smash it
bellowed loudly how much it adored Orin and how he wouldn\'t hurt
Orin. Which was completely true in its mind, the pain it intended
was entirely blissful in its mind. The door came ajar and it put one
dull eye to the doorframe peering in, \"Come out please, I just want
to hold you.\"

The mirror continued to crack, as the doppelganger became closer to
the reflective piece it became evident that the two were connected,
and the one needed to break.

Orin watched as the mirror seems to crack as the false Ralph began to beat the door down. Something was connecting the two through the
mirror.

\"God, this better work..\" Orin muttered to himself, really not want
to get killed by a twisted version of his lover. He unlocked the
bathroom door, throwing it wide to allow the false Ralph entrance.

As the Black-haired version of Ralph wandered through the door arms
outstretched the mirror stretched loudly. A shrapnel of glass sprung
forth from it though didn\'t hit Orin but directed itself into the
doppelganger. Every slash the glass specks beat against the
doppelgangers skin sent blood flying. When the glass had been
depleted all that was left was a large hole in the wall that seemed
to appear and disappear out of existence. The creature took one more
step forward and from the place where the mirror once stood fell
Ralph. Black haired and bruised looking exactly as the creature did
but unmoving.

The false-Ralph stopped mid stride, and rumbled and looked to Orin.
Its eyes flashing light, as it fell to the floor and broke into a
thousand pieces. The shatter was so fine that the particles stood
alight in the air like mist and milled and formed around the prone
body of the Ralph which had fell from the floor. His hands bleeding
like the doppelganger, his face bloodied and bruised just the same,
though the air shone all around him, visinow now to Orin\'s eye
instead of just his own.

Orin ran to Ralph\'s side, picking him up and dragging him into his
lap.

\"Ralph? Dammit, what the bloody hell is going on?\" he grabbed a
towel to try and clean up the blood from his hands and face, hugging
him to his own body.

\"Fuck!\"

Ralph coughed pushing the hair out of his eyes, each one damaged in
such a way that now he was completely identical to the
doppelganger. \"Dunno.\" He tried to sit up but failed falling back
into Orin\'s lap. The misty shine around him following like an eerie
echo. \"I don\'t like mirrors, my mom always said that the devil lives
in the mirror\" The last part of the sentence came out more like a
strangled cough, his ears turning red and he was unable to control
himself, convulsing in Orin\'s lap.

\"All I did was comb my hair, then it got dark and then...\" He
shuddered looking to where the gaping hole was, a thin mist poured
from its endless darkness. \"Orin, I don\'t like that hole...\" He
looked up to the agent with brokees, es, \"Can we leave? Even if it
is raining can we leave?\" He sounded panicked and afraid, the shine
around him grew brighter the more distressed he became. Holding up
his hands he looked at where too cross-shaped slashed lay deep in his
flesh. \"Please?\"

\"Time to go then, I don\'t like it here any more than you do.\" Orin said as he got to his feel, dragging Ralph up with him, supporting
him as he quickly moved past the mirror and out the door, grabbing
his overcoat and holster as he passed them. Passing the holster to
Ralph, he shrugged the overcoat over the both of them as they left
the building, heading for Orin\'s apartment. He moved them along the
streets quickly, though it was raining, both of them were covered in
blood and made for a strange sight for anyone who happened to pass
by.

Ralph stumbled along beside Orin walking the best he could with his
support. The rain seemed to dim out the light which now plagued him,
the people in the streets staring in awe not quite sure what to make
of the couple. It could have easily been a couple of criminals
making their way home from some trouble. It seemed odd though, and a
few tagged along silently for a few blocks before they became oddly
disoriented and turned the wrong way. Once the got close enough to
the shelter of Orin\'s apartment most everyone didn\'t take note of
them at all.

The light around Ralph had grown intense, and yet they still did not
follow. He coughed as the stepped through the door, and tearing away
from Orin he made his way for the bathroom. And began to cough up a
strange mixture of green slime and sparkly stuhat hat looked a lot
like glass shards. After resting a second he flushed and stumbled
out of the bathroom to lay flat out on the couch.

Orin watched him for a moment before gathering some towels and
bandages from eh bathroom before returning to Ralph\'s side. He
rolled him over gently, to inspect where he was bleeding. He handed
the singer a towel, pressing it to his hands before he took another
towel to wipe the blood from him face.

\"God... what the hell happened to you?\"

He was shaking from head to toe, it hurt to open his eyes, and when
he did open them he could barely see out of them. \"I...d..ddon\'t
know...one minute I was trying to leave the b...bathroom, the next.\"
He clenched his eyes shut tight. The black hair lay lank pushed
back, and the halo of light had diminished so that it only shone in
rings about his wrists where blood still oozed forth.

He clenched his sides with his arms and gasped, blooded fingers
moving to undo his coat. Fresh blood could bee seen on the white of
his button down shirt, pouring forth as though from some great
wound. Ripping open the shirt he stared wide-eyed as the life giving
liquid trailed from an opening in his chest right below the rib
cage. A thin like that ran from one side to the other.

Ralph\'s bloodied gaze turned up to Orin, confusion could best
describe the look on his face, confusion that verged on the brink of
complete hysteria. He wanted to freak out, he wanted to scream in
pain, yet he kept it all bottled on the inside, run ragged in an
attempt to keep Orin from worrying, more than he needed to.

\"I don\'t know...\"

\"Don\'t fucking do this to me... this can\'t be happening...\" Orin whispered under his breath as he busied himself with attending to
another of Ralph\'s injuries. he was bleeding way too much for his
liking.

\"Press down here, ok?\" Orin instructed him, placing a towel over the
wound under Ralph\'s ribcage and placing Ralph\'s hands over the towel.

\"Goddammit!\" Orin looked up into Ralph\'s face, his eyes filled with
worry and concern. In his head he was worried sick, he didn\'t want
to loose him, not now, not after all this. It was like fate was
playing a sick joke on him.

Ralph furrowed his brow, this was all his fault...somehow.
Truthfully he didn\'t know what he had done to deserve this...he
wasn\'t a naturally malicious person, only when he was riled by
something or someone. Usually he kept to himself, or to Orin. The
pain was intense, though as it went on the bleeding did slow under
Orin ministrations to the wounds. They were stubborn though and
every so often they would start oozing blood again. \"I\'m sorry,
I...I...I\" He shut up not know what exactly to say to the agent.

At this point even HE was fed up with himself. This was probably
some other lame excuse to abuse drones that was untapped. A system
made to keep them in line. Though there was something about that
thought that didn\'t ring right to him...just something...

\"I could see you...through the mirror....\" He coughed and a wound on
his hand slid open, a strange fragrant aroma rose into the air as
though it came from the injuries. \"Who was that?\" He hadn\'t seen
himself since he had last looked in the mirror. He didn\'t get a good
look at the doppelganger before it had shattered into a million
pieces.

He did not know that was himself.

\"It was you... or at least something that looked and sounded like
you. It kept calling me his love..\" Orin told him as he set to
binding the wounds on Ralph\'s hands and wrists, in an attempt to
stop and keep the blood flow stopped. He set himself a rhythm, clean
a wound, check it, stop the blood flowing, bind it. He worked
methodically on each one, getting the larger ones done first before
moving to the smaller. Finally finishing his task, he removed the
soiled shirt, getting up to throw it in the hamper. He retrieved a
pair of cotton nightclothes from the closet as brought them into the
living room, handing them to the singer.

\"Here, let\'s get you out of those and into something dry and clean.\"

Ralph turned his head from side to side, \"Me?\" and for the first
time he nod thd the blackness of his hair. \"Wah....\" He had the
strongest urge to run to the mirror and look, though at the same time
it made him wary and ill to his stomach. He feared the mirror, it
could only provide pain. He sensed it. This was starting to piss
him off, and the angrier he got the brighter the light became. \"DAMN
IT!\" he stood up suddenly and wandered around in a crouched limping
fashion. He needed to stand up no matter how much it pained him.

\"Are you ok...I mean...you sounded scared...I\" He slumped to the
floor, and coughed a second, nothing came up which he took as a good
sign. He just sat there staring at the bandages on him hands before
clumsily pulling himself back up into a sitting position. \"I don\'t
know..I don\'t know....\" The whole thing bothered him like an
irritated wound.

\"I just want you to be ok. Look, I\'ll be right back, if you need
anything, just call for me.\" Orin told him as he left the room. he
was just as wary about mirrors now as Ralph was. Mirrors had always
been odd to him, he held some old superstitions about them, which
was why he only had the mirror in the bathroom. A previous occupant
of the building had many mirrors, and for a solid week, Orin had
cleaned the place out, throwing out the mirrors. He was very
particular about the things. He had rules, never face a mirror
towards a window or a door, they let evil spirits in. Besides, they just creeped him out when he always kept
the lights dim, flitting
movement at the corner of his eye when he passed them. So he had
removed them, all save the one in the bathroom. Which was soon to be
remedied. Carefully, without shattering it, he removed the mirror,
carrying it out of the house, back out into the rain to place it
carefully by the rubbish bins. He pulled a piece of burlap from the
rubbish pile and threw it over the mirror, covering it. Satisfied,
he returned inside, in search of dry, clean clothes, his shirt was
ruined now, covered in blood, same with the trousers. Shucking them
off, he changed into clean clothes, jeans and a tee. Not something
he normally wore, usually only when practicing his shooting upstairs
in the rest of the building, which he had turned into a sort of
obstacle course shooting range.

\"Feeling any better?\" Orin asked Ralph, as he passed through the
living room and into the kitchen, intent on making some tea.

Ralph was staring at his bandaged hands; in awe at the fact they seemed to actually have stopped their bleeding.
€Ok, I guess...confused...€? He was lost, nothing anybody had ever told him prepared him for what had happened. Nothing at all. His mom had only mentioned a few times to not look at mirrors in the dark...ever. He always took that is reasonable sound advice and so he did what he was told and remembered to turn the light on when in the restroom.

\"My mom mentioned once...no mirrors in the dark€? He felt that maybe Orin should know that for any reason at all...if just for his own personal information. He just wanted to forget about this, but his hands hurt as a constant reminder.
€I am sorry...I don\'t€™t understand...I wish I did...\" He slumped against the edge of the couch looking distant and despondent as he had earlier in the day. The wound on his chest nearly bled through the wrapping.
\"I\'m sorry.\"


\"Well, if it\'s all the same to you, I\'d rather stay away from
mirrors for awhile. Light or dark.\" Orin told him as he finished
making tea, pouring it into two cups. Picking up the cups, he moved
back into the living room, sitting down on the coffee table, across
from Ralph, handing him a cup, sipping from his own.

\"So... if your mum knew enough to tell you not too look at mirrors
in the dark... why don\'t you contact her, see if she knows anything
else.\"

Ralph frowned looking deeply into the cup of tea. \"Not so sure, after I received my contract she thought it best if I completely cut off ties...so we wouldn\'t get associated...you know the drone thing.\" He sniffed the tea and too an experimental sip. It felt so good to have something warm inside of him....he felt like there had been no warmth within him for the longest time.

\"We could try, though we\'d probably have to do it tonight...while it is dark...so nobody really see us going into drone housing.\" He personally didn\'t want to look into a mirror ever again. It was scary inside of a mirror, there were creatures you couldn\'t see but only hear. This did not mean that they were imaginary beings. They were very real and very dangerous. \"We can go tonight, ma might know...she\'s gotta know cause we don\'t have much anybody else to ask....\" he trailed off staring at the blood splotches on the palm of his hand as it soaked through the bandages.


\"I don\'t think this is even my blood. I don\'t feel light headed at all...don\'t you think I would by now?

Orin nodded as he watched the bandages soak through with blood.

\"You probably would have bled to death by now..\" Orin shook his
head, looking up at Ralph.

\"Alright then, lets go see your mum.\" Orin said, standing up
finishing up his tea. He went looking for shoes and guns. Finding a
pair of boots, he quickly pulled them on, lacing them up, adding
ankle holsters, slipping twin .45 cal guns into the holsters, he
pulled on his usual shoulder holster as well, which stild hid his
favorite twin .9 mm Berettas. For extra measure, he slipped on a
belt, with back holsters, that held to more .9 mm guns at the small
of his back. He went in search of another overcoat to give to Ralph
as he slipped on his own.

\"Come on then, let\'s get you dressed in something that doesn\'t
scream \'Idol Star\' ok? I have some jeans that might fit you.\"

Ralph couldn\'t have looked more crushed. \"Jeans?\" He hated jeans or anything like that reminded him of being a janitor. Though Orin was right and he changed with little argument. For the most part he looked normal, the halos of light could be hidden under the over coat. He looked like a drone that had gotten into a bar fight...\"Ugh....\" He snuffled as he made his way for the door, staring out into the torrential downpour that was still pouring from the sky. \"Follow me I guess.\" He motioned with a bandaged hand, the wrappings themselves covered with blood.

Making his was towards the cardboard cut out district where drones lived they came across very little in the ways of people. Mostly the stray drone attempting to make his way home from a late night job. Turn this way and that they eventually made it to a large white building with green tinted window. \"Third floor....number 46\" He wandered inside and hauled Orin into the elevator. There were no guards in drone housing...what was the point? The elevator opened with a ding, and Ralph strolled out, making his was down the cool drab hall until he came upon a door etched with the numbers four and six.

Knocking twice he waited a second, the sound of a person milling towards the door greeted them after a few seconds. As the lock clicked and bolts slide Ralph hid behind Orin. A futile attempt since he was infact a bit taller than man man. A tiny woman with a round face opened the door. Her blonde hair stuck up in unusual places like she had been sleeping. She glanced to Orin, then the man behind him and mumbled in a voice laced with sleep. \"We don\'t want any...\"

\"I\'m sorry to disturb you ma\'am, being that it\'s late. However,
there is something I... we... need to discuss with you.\" Orin said
to the woman. Stepping off to the side a bit, he scooted Ralph
forward a bit.

\"May we come inside please?\"

The woman looked from Orin to Ralph and back again, \"Ralphie?\" She grabbed him by the wrists and pulled him forward ushering the agent inside. She stared at her son\'s palms in shocked amazement. \"What did you do?\" She sent a glare in the general direction of Orin, not quite sure what to make of him. \"Naw mom, this is Orin...he didn\'t do this, the...the mirror did....\" The woman looked stunned and amazed, and she pulled them farther into the room. \"When the power went out....you were in the bathroom.\" She raised her hand and jumped to smack her son across the back of the head.
>
\>
\"What were you thinking?!\" She stomped int into the back room, indicating that Ralph and Orin need to sit on the couch.

Orin flinched as the woman smacked Ralph, but didn\'t say anything.
he sat down on the couch, waiting for her to return. His own mum was
very cold towards him, never really caring, until she found out
about him that is.. But he didn\'t see that from Ralph\'s mum, she
actually seemed to really care for him, Considering they showed up
on her doorstep late at night, soaking wet, Ralph bleeding, five
years after she had last been in contact with her son, she reacted
quite well. If Orin had a child of his own, he probably would have
reacted similarly. Either that, or hugged them to death.

Ralph rubbed the back of headhead and mumbled, \"Geez, I didn\'t know she was going to do that...I feel slightly betrayed.\" Though his face didn\'t say that, he was smiling lightly and looked much better than he had an hour ago. His mother came rolling out of the back room with a bounce and sat before them, holding a box him her hands. \"I thought I had told you to not go nears mirrors in the dark...\" she shifted her gaze to Orin, \"I am guessing you took care of the mirror or he wouldn\'t be...right.\"


She pulled out a thing that for all extents and purposes was a jar full of fireflies. Opening it up thousands of tiny bugs flied out and surrounded Ralph\'s hands, who put on a face that could easily be called pure fear. After a moment of buzzing and flying the returned to their jar, the glowing around his hands now gone. \"You can take those bandages off, you won\'t be bleeding anymore...\" and with that she traipsed back to the back into the rear room.


Orin watched as the woman wandered back off before turning to Ralph,
taking his hands into his lap, he bego uno undo the bandages.

\"Obviously, she does know something. Guess you get all your answers
now.\" He wished things could be that simple for himself, finding out
just what he was. His parents had always kept it secret and told him
not to talk about it to anyone either.

Ralph frowned and laid his head on Orin\'s shoulder, listening to his mother mill about her small apartment. \"I guess, I don\'t care.\" He did care but at this point he was sleepy, and wanted to hide behind Orin. He loved his mom sure enough but he felt strange being there. Sure he still looked like himself. Though he was 50% less dirty and 100% more covered in blood and bandages. He sniffed, and pulled out a cigarette, and stuck it in-between Orin\'s lips, \"Smoke fe, Ie, I am not allowed here but guests are...\"

His mother milled back into the living room and settled into a straight backed chair. Eyeing both Orin and Ralph she cleared her throat. \"Ehm....\" Ralph sat up bolt upright, and she smiled softly and shrugged, \"Well then...introductions are in order I think...\" she offered a hand to Orin, \"Malise Sutherland, and who might you be to my dear silly child?\"

\"Ah, I\'m sorry.\" Orin shook hand,and, standing up partway to reach her before sitting back down again.

\"My name is Orin Leland. I\'m a friend of your son. Actually, I am his agent, manager and bodyguard as well, but I prefer to keep it simple.\" Orin explained to her. He left out the fact that he was also his lover, but that was for Ralph to tell her if he felt she needed to know, though he hoped he would tell her now, in person, rather then let her hear about it later on the news or something. He indicated the
cigarette in his mouth that Ralph had stuck there.

\"I hope you don\'t mind if I smoke, we have both had a very stressful evening. And day for that matter.\" Orin continued as he lit the
cigarette, puffing on it for a moment. Gods, he had needed that.

Malise nodded and turned to Ralph giving him an accusing eye. \"I thought you told me that you would rather die than be in love.\" Ralph balked at this and hid his face behind Orin\'s shoulder. \"Oo..ok so I did say that, doesn\'t mean I meant it!\" His ears turned red as though this was highly embarrassing, and it was...he didn\'t realize it was that obvious...maybe it was a good idea to not even try to hide it...apparently they weren\'t too good at it.


\"Anyways, at least you didn\'t grow up to be a bitter old man like you were aiming to...\" she chuckled and stared at the agent for a long uncomfortable period of time, as though she was sizing him up and ascertaining his value. \"And at least he has a job...\" she trailed off and stood up to grab Ralph by the arm to pull him into a tight hug. \"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh Ralphie, I thought I would never get to hug you again.\" Ralph blushed looking from his mom to Orin with a sheepish smile. \"I...uh...I.....\" He pushed away, \"MOM, what is going on...don\'t try to distract me by being all lovey dovey and stuff.\"


She cast a wary glance to Orin, she wasn\'t quite sure if she wanted to trust him yet.

Orin blushed. He hadn\'t realized the woman could see right through him. The fact that she had picked up so quickly unnerved him, but at least she didn\'t try to kill him like his father had when he had discovered Nathaniel. Though she was giving his a wary eye however, so he made sure to keep on his toes. he pulled his overcoat around him a bit tighter, being careful not to let her see his armory that he had felt compeled to bring. Last thing he needed now was for her to see all his guns and freak out.

It wasn\'t that she distrusted Orin. It was just that she distrusted herself. \"Well...Ralph...that is a pretty long story.\" She shuffled her feet and patted his knee before heading back to her chair. \"I really don\'t know where to start.\" She rubbed her hands on her jeans nervously looking from her son to his lover before muttering. \"Well...did you see him?\" Ralph quirked an eyebrow but he was pretty sure he knew who she was talking about...\"Orin did....\" She nodded her head slightly, \"Well he would have, I am sure you were stuck in the mirror correct?\"

Ralph really wished he could steal that cigarette from Orin. This was making him nervous. He twitched slightly and nodded, \"Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaah....\" He sounded slightly flustered, \"Come on mom...spit it out.\" She flashed a glare at him, and it became obvious that she was trying to see how much she could hide from them. \"That was you, the real you...he\'s not the reflection you are...we...when you were young, there was an accident...\" Ralph glanced to Orin, he was having a hard time believing this...

\"Wait? What? You\'re saying this isn\'t the real Ralph? He\'s a
reflection of the real one?\" Orin stood up from his seat, confused.
This news was.. it was certainly shocking. But he refused to believe that the Ralph that was sitting next to him was the false one, that
his lover wasn\'t real. Well, he was real, but it wasn\'t the true
version. he shook his head, his brain warring with his emotions.
Ever since Ralph had gotten up to go to the bathroom, and returned a
bleeding mockery of what he was, his head was filled with this
horrible conflict. He just wanted to crawl into a hole somewhere
until everything was figured out and the world wasn\'t so confusing
anymore.

If it was at all possible for Ralph to get any paler this would be the time. He felt strange and wrong now, staring at his mother with angry skeptical eyes. \"Orin?\" He looked to his hands where two fresh scars had developed each one in the shape of a cross. Shaking his head he looked back up and glowered, \"What do you mean there was an accident?\" His mother sat uneasy in her chair and then continued. \"An accident when you were little, we though we were going to lose you...so...since your father was close to some higher up Kyokujitsu...we just...\" She paused a moment covering her eyes for a second as though reliving something awful in her mind. \"Ralph, it was terrible, criminals had nearly torn you apart in the streets...just because you were a drone...Ralph...I couldn\'t lose you like I did Kile...\"

Ralph stared blankly ahead...that was something new...but he wanted to know what he was first....this Kile thing he would touch on later. Though not vastly later. \"Go on...\" He tried to shoo her forward and she started again with hesitation. \"The switched your reflection, with you, to keep your being alive...though you were nearly opposites..nearly...everything is different until it is the same...you are false...an unreal image of your former self...\" Ralph cringed and backed away from her slightly as she continued, \"Now that you smashed your true self...I suppose you are just a reflection of nothing.\" She pondered a second, \"A ghost even.\"

Orin stumbled back a bit, flopping back down on the couch. He tucked
his knees up higher and ducked his head down, his long hair hiding
his face as he brought it down within a few inches of his knees, his
hands clasped behind his head as he listened to the conversation.

\"What do you mean, a ghost?\" he asked, not moving. He didn\'t want to
look up at her, or up at Ralph. He was afraid that if he did, he
would loose it and do something incredibly stupid.

\"He\'s a ghost? You\'re saying that he\'s a fucking ghost? That he
shouldn\'t exist?\" Orin was starting to loose it now, something in
him had gone a little too cockeyed. He clenched his hands behind his
head, balling them into fists and he hugged closer to himself.

\'This isn\'t fair!\' A voice in his head screamed at him.

Malise didn\'t move, she stared simply in the direction of the agent, and watched as he had his fit. Ralph on the other hand edged closer to Orin, and tapped his knee, \"Hey...I\'m real, hellooo, hellooo....would I be able to tap your knee if I wasn\'t real?\" He didn\'t believe himself, though he hoped that it would make Orin feel better. It made his guts feel as though they would fall out every time he heard the agent refer to him as...something that seemed to not exist. He didn\'t feel unreal...though the more he thought about it the more he wouldn\'t blame Orin for stabbing him in the forehead. It was like he was a lie, he didn\'t even act like the real Ralph. He wasn\'t born this wasn\'t his mother, he was just...refracted light.


He didn\'t know what to do with himself. He wanted to run away and hide....he felt...like he had betrayed Orin somehow. Flashing a dark glare in the direction of the woman he had called more he stood and bolted for the door, running down the semi-lit hallway of the apartments finding the fire escape he clattered out of it and bounded downward. He didn\'t know where he was going, he just didn\'t want to listen to them...listen to them refer to him as nothing anymore. He was something, and his heart ached.

His head pounded, but it was nothing compared to the feeling of his
heart, which felt like it had been ripped out.

\"RALPH!\" He screamed and he shot up off the couch. He paid no mind
at all to the woman that Ralph had been raised by, running from the
apartment after him. Dashing into the hall, he looked for where
Ralph had gone. No sign of him. Screaming in rage, he took for the
roof. He didn\'t know exactly why, but something told him the roof
was the place to start. Breaking out onto the top of the building he
scanned the streets below that he could see.

\'Wings.\' A voice in his head whispered. He had no idea where that
came from, but followed instinct and after removing his overcoat,
screamed as he allowed his wings to take shape from the tattoo on
his back. They tore through his shirt, ripping open the back of it.
Suddenly, he knew exactly where Ralph was.

Ralph tore through a back ally the rain stinging his face as he drew closer and closer to being lost. He couldn\'t take it, he couldn\'t take being thought of like that, he wished he was as lucky as his...true self. He wished he was dashed into a million pieces, to hear those words...\'a ghost...not even a ghost.\' He tumbled into a fence and clattered to the ground, scarred hands holding his face and he fought the urge to weep. \'You can\'t cry, you aren\'t even real...\' It didn\'t make any sense, why could he feel pain...things that weren\'t real didn\'t feel did they. He was soaked to the bone, black hair laying in his face and he attempted to make himself into a tiny ball...or as much of a tiny ball as a man his size could be.

He wished someone would find him, a criminal, and destroy him.

He jumped. he wasn\'t even thinking anymore, just jumped. Wings
snapped open to catch him, and he carefully flexed the wings,
gliding through the rain. Suddenly, it was like instinct took over,
his wings were straining for the sky as they beat at the air,
gaining altitude. The next thing he knew, he was diving back to the
earth. He reacted my allowing his wings to snap back open, slowing
him as he landed. He was in an alley somewhere, he didn\'t know quite
where though. Turning around, he let his wings fold back up, hiding
themselves as a simple tattoo on his back, that was slightly visible
through tears in the back of his now soaking wet tee. He saw a
person curled up at the end of the alley on the ground, walking
closer, he realized it was Ralph. Dashing forward, he threw himself
at the man who was curled into a ball, not caring at all about the
mud or the rain.

\"Ralph..\" He croaked out and he hugged the man on the ground. His
own heart felt like it had cracked in two, it was like anguish was
tearing him apart. He didn\'t care what that woman had said, about
this not being Ralph, this was just a ghost. Ghosts didn\'t feel like
this, and even if they did, he didn\'t care, not one bit.

\"I don\'t care, I don\'t fucking care. I love you and that\'s all that
matters. Even if you were still in that mirror and the other \'thing\'
was here, it wouldn\'t matter. All I want is you, here, in my arms.
Cause that\'s what is real to me, and you are who I love. Nothing
will ever change that. FUCK! I don\'t care what that woman says, it
may as well be lies. But please.. don\'t run from me again. Cause I
won\'t let you. Hear me? I won\'t let you run away from me, you are
mine and I will never ever let you go!\" Orin nearly screamed this at
him, as he tried to pull the singer up into his lap as they sat
there on the muddy ground, drenched, as the heavens above poured
what seemed to be every drop of water in existence on them.

Ralph didn\'t move he was frozen in a ball....he felt like emptiness. It hurt so much, even with the word Orin said, he was in pain. So much emotional pain. The rain beat down on him he could feel it stinging through the jacket that he was using as a wall. The wall, he needed to hide back behind that wall. At this very moment it mattered very little his his career was in the balance, the halos of light started to reform around his wrists. He hurt and though Orin had said al those things, he still heard the initial panic that filled the agent\'s voice. \"Oh god...\" his face was pressed against the rocky surface of the back alley road, and his voice rose up like a painful moan.

A moan which was very reminiscent of the doppelganger\'s....\'I\'m the doppelganger...I am the one that is false...\' he edged backghtlghtly the will to stem off his own tears too great, he couldn\'t stop them. \'I have been crying too much what is wrong with me...my can\'t I stop, I shouldn\'t cry, I don\'t exist I shouldn\'t have tears.\' He raised his head slightly to look at Orin\'s knees. His bruised bloodshot eyes stared vapidly searching for words, though he couldn\'t find anything, Orin didn\'t need this...Orin didn\'t deserve this...the agent deserved someone who was real... \'Are my feelings fake?\'

The rings of light glowed brighter as his sorrow increased causing the hands to begin bleeding again. He ducked his head back down to hide within the coat again, \"I...didn\'t know Orin, I swear...If I had known I would have never...\" he was cut short by a great flash and crack of lightening as he bunched himself up tighter the thunder an total darkness following the electricity reminding him of the mirror, and the ghostly orange light which shone in the mirror. If only he hadn\'t turned to look for it, he could be living in blissful ignorance now. If only. Though he wasn\'t here he was a lie laying in the gutter, watching as blood poured from his wounds and trickled in rivulets around his lover\'s knees.

He sat there, stunned.

\"You regret this? You would never have done anything?\" Orin stared
blankly into space, lost inside his own head. Ralph had said if he
had known, then he would have never.. Rage and sadness swelled up
in him, he didn\'t know what to do, to cry or to scream.

\"AAAARRRAAGGGGHHH!\" Orin screamed in frustration, throwing his head
back as he did so, tears streaming from his eyes that were clenched
shut. Crawling on hands and knees, he moved closer to the wall of
the building, where he then beat fists upon the concrete, smashing
with all the strength he could summon. He wanted to destroy himself,
throw himself upon the wall until he was nothing, anything to stop
the pain. Finally, his rage exausted, he leaned his head against the
wall, fist still pounding at the wall, though there was no heart in
it, and he slowly stopped as he began to sob. Hard body wrenching
sobs, tears pouring from his eyes even though they were hidden by
the rain. His hands and arms were bleeding now, cut open from the
concrete.

\"Why? Why? Why?\" he chanted to himself over the sobs.

Ralph flinched and drew back htlyhtly at the sound of Orin\'s rage. That wasn\'t what he meant, he didn\'t regret, he didn\'t at all. Uncurling from his ball-like state he mumbled, \"I didn\'t say regret.\" He couldn\'t tell if he was sad or angry, sad because well, who would me, and angry because he had been misunderstood. Jumping to his feet he gave the agent a push. \"I wouldn\'t regret you, fuck head, how dare you think there is anything to regret about loving you.\" He wasn\'t angry, though maybe it came out like anger. He flipped the older man around and shook him the blood pouring forth from his hands staining everything it came in contact with, mixing and miring itself with the agent\'s.

Staring into Orin\'s eyes he realithatthat he could not be something that was fake, a ghost maybe, but he was real, he loved this man...evf hef he had gone completely crackers in the rain. Ralph loved crackers. \"Stop it Orin, come on...stop, I don\'t regret you, I love you....when I said that...I meant to save you the pain....\" Pulling the agent close he wrapped his arms around his shoulders into a tight hug. His heart still hurt immensely but that didn\'t matter. His feelings counted so very little when it came to them contributing to Orin\'s pain.


\"Gods, oh god.\" Orin sobbed and he latched onto Ralph, hugging him
like there was no tomorrow. He buried his head under Ralph\'s chin
as he clutched him. He grabbed at oneRalpRalph\'s hands, clutching it
with his own, their blood mingling together as Orin watched it.

\'Stay, stay, stay.\" Orin murmured as he sat there. He was trying to
calm down, the rage and anguish subsiding. As the adrenaline began to wear off, he
began to feel the pain in his hands where he had
beat the wall, and he was starting to feel tired.

\"Home.\" Was all he mumbled, indicating that he wanted to go home.
All he wanted was to be dry, in a nice warm bed, with Ralph there
with him.

Ralph helped Orin shuffle home, luckily he had some recollection of where he had come from and once out of the complicated ally system he was fine. He went in a different direction than they had originally come from not waiting to pass by the drone building that his \'mother\' was in...he felt so...sad. He attempted to not radiate this he didn\'t want the agent to know that even though he had no regrets, he still had heartache....being a living lie was painful.


As they schlouped through the streets the rain started to ease up, leaving a bitter crispness to the air. He was worried, Orin in such a state unnerved him, it was scary to think he caused this, and he felt horrible. He should have grinned and
bleared it, taking the initial panic like a dose of medicine swallowing it down and ignoring the fact that they had basically disowned him for a few moments. Itherehered him that Orin had reacted that way, as though just because they knew the truth he suddenly....shouldn\'t exist.

Coming upon Orin\'s apartment he forced the agent to grant them access and dragged him inside. Looking over his shoulder he wandered the agent to the bathroom, and started the shower, helping Orin undress he led him into the shower and wandered aimlessly a moment to find warm cloths for both of them. Finding something sufficient he traipsed back, and set the clothing on the toilet seat and wandered into the kitchen to find something to drink. For all the rain that fen hin him he sure was thirsty. Idling over a glass of water he stared into the water, the lights were reflected, everything but himself could bee seen in the shiny surface of the liquid. It was as though he wasn\'t even there.

\"I am really...\" He didn\'t finish his sentence and turned to go back to Orin in the bathroom. He wished he could see himself, his face hurt badly and he sensed he must have looked even worse. He washed his hands off in the sink and then stripped down to his shorts, which were wet and plastered to his legs, with a sigh he stripped down completely and wrapped a towel around his waist, and assumed his spot on the floor, waiting for the agent to finish his shower.

Orin stood in the shower, letting the water cleanse him, washing
away all the filth and mire from his body and his soul. He breathed
in deeply finally, before turning the water off and stepping out of
the shower. Ralph was sitting on the floor, a towel wrapped around
him. He grabbetowetowel for himself and dried himself, before
slipping on a dressing gown that usually hung near the shower.

\"I\'m sorry I lost it back there.\" Orin bowed his head. Moving to the
cabinets, he pulled some bandages out an began to tend to his very
tender hands.

Ralph tilted his head to the side watching the agent turn his back to him to tend to his wounds. Crawling on all fours he wandered his way over to wrap his arms around one of Orin\'s legs in a hug. \"Don\'t be sorry...I....was being stupid.\" He wasn\'t so sure about that...he didn\'t feel like he was being that stupid. Though who was he to judge. He could have been totally ridiculous...he didn\'t know many other people that were basically figments.

\"You going to be ok?\" He queried gazing up at the agent. From the angle he seemed very tall, and he felt very childlike. \"I am not letting go until you tell me you are going to be ok.\" He hugged the agent\'s leg tighter pressing the side of his face against the calf muscle. He was cold, and shivery and the hug ended up being more of a
trebly vise. He feared having Orin look at him...he knew he looked different, and all he would do was feel the agent\'s depression. \"Please be ok?\"

\"I was going to say I was going to be fine, but if that\'s what it
takes to keep you here, then no.\" Orin grinned as he tried to crack
a joke about it. Honestly, it wasn\'t all that funny, but he was an
emotional wreck, still trying to piece himself back together.
Kneeling down, he pried Ralph from his leg and replaced it with
himself, hugging the singer close.

\"No matter what, know this.. I loved you for who you were. Still
love you now, and I always will. You just know a bit more about
yourself now, we both do. Just new data, you are still the same
person, the same person I fell in love with.\" Otoldtold him, before
smoothing Ralph\'s hair out of his face, leaning into him, kissing
him gently.

Ralph was very self conscious right now, he realized that the state he was in was strange. Ragtag broken face, and bleeding hands...he looked as though he had just been pummeled by a gang...and he had...once.. Or at least the real Ralph had...he was afraid for Orin, he felt guilty like he had done something terrible to the agent that he couldn\'t repent for...

Using Orin as a tool to pull himself up he whipped off the towel and stepped into the shower, washing vigorously without agitating the stigmata-like wounds that seemed to enjoy tormenting him by bleeding at random moments. \"You know Mr. Leland, I might become known as tloodloody Swan if we don\'t figure out a way to stem this bleeding.\" He washed quickly and hopped out drying off and much to his enjoyment the wounds had all ceased bleeding for the time being.

Getting dressed in the dry clothes (that were slightly too small for him) he wandered over to the agent and perched his chin upon his shoulder. The black hair which graced his head contrasting darkly against the agent\'s golden. \"I think we should go to bed....before we catch a cold.\"

\"Bed it is then.\" Smiling at him, he stood up and led Ralph into the
bedroom. he dropped the dressing gown to the floor, quickly ing ing
into bed, moving around a bit to warm up the sheets. Pulling Ralph down tot eh bed, he held him close, spooning into him. With one
hand, he stroked the side of Ralph\'s face over and over.

\"So beautiful. Don\'t ever leave me... please.\"

Ralph wiggled flush against Orin and leaned his head back to place a kiss on his
jaw line. \"I\'m sorry that I ran Orin....I just got scared...\" he bowed his head and mumbled, \"I would never leave you....\" He didn\'t add in even if he died...he didn\'t know if he actually could. He yawned widely and rubbed his feet together for a second before closing his eyes and allowing the gentle breath\'s the agent released lull him to sleep.

His dreams were strange and different this night, as though with the shattering of the mirror he had gained more than black hair and bruised eyes. There were people in the streets of Zaigou, and all of them saw the red light he thought that only he could see.

Orin yawned and then he was out like a light, exhausted. Drifting into dreams he dreamed of flying, as per his usual dreams. But this time it was in a star filled sky above a vast desert. He watched in wonder as the dark sky
began to turn a velvety purple, then glowing with reds and gelds as the sun rose over the horizon. There was something there, someone waiting for him, reaching out, stretching as far as he could, he tried to reach them.


Opening his eyes he saw dark black hair. Ralph, sleeping peacefully neo hio him. Even for all his injuries, he sti still beautiful to him. His now dark locks framed his face. It was an amazing contrast, snow white skin with jet hair. Reaching over, he brushed a strand of hair out of his eyes before placing a gentle kiss on his lovers lips.