Roses Roses

[Elric Vlarintos]

Heated words were being exchanged in a chilly climate. Elric had been hearing them for a while, but he had been trying to resist the urge to investigate. He was hardly in any state to be bothering with the drama other people created for themselves.

Solemnly he reached his hand back and rubbed at his neck. Walking was impossible after living through the hell of the ball. He had lived through more than one type of hell that evening, and waking up the next day had hardly been much better. Naelona had been thoughtful enough to grant him access to a wheelchair in order to provide some mobility to her slave. However, the gesture was hardly one of kindness and would not have been confused as such. It was nothing more than a motion of necessity and Elric would not confuse it for kindness. She needed Elric to be somewhat mobile so she could keep him close to her. There was little he could do without his feet, but Naelona had found him a task to busy his hands.

Writing.

He had been writing for hours on end ever since he woke up. It was practice to improve his penmanship to match Naelona's seemingly unreachable standards. Apparently, she remained convinced that he could still get better; he had not been told to stop. Sitting and writing at a table was occasionally interrupted by food and sleep. Bathing and using the lavatory were challenges of a different sort. Elric was grateful for this rare break from the monotony. He was outside in the cold air. Winter was coming, but he did not mind too terribly much. That was just the way things went.

Something was nagging at his ears. He forced himself to listen more carefully to the raised voices in the distance. It was easier because they seemed to get louder with each passing moment. The voices were familiar. Elric did not have too many people he could claim to know well enough to recognize their voices. Kristopher Roberts and Aione Higurashi. Both of them sounded like angry little schoolgirls about to get into a catfight.

"Just wonderful," he muttered dryly. With just a bit of effort he grasped at the stick he had been using to steer himself around in the chair. Modern wheelchairs had large wheels and he would have been able to move himself easily in one of those. This was an older model with small wheels and very little in regards to cushions. His mobility was reduced to nearly nothing if he did not have someone pushing him along. One more reason to understand that Naelona did not give him the chair out of kindness.

Elric grumbled as he propelled the chair forward slowly using the stick. It was something like paddling a canoe, but there was no conservation of forward momentum. He had to switch from side-to-side to keep moving in a straight line.

Elric managed to arrive just as the argument was coming to a climax. Death threats from Kristopher Roberts? Elric never thought he'd see the day that he could hear words like those leave the boy's lips. Of course, it seemed like Aione had been egging the boy on. Yet, he wasn't entirely certain that he could side with Kristopher on this one as he got closer and closer. Kristopher was not showing his pretty side at all.

Elric actually took a moment of pause when Kristopher made his big finish. "Don't you be trying to take my love just because mines alive and your is damn well dead and gone!" Elric had gathered that Miss Higurashi's recent depression was possibly related to the death of a friend, but Elric was too much the thinker to just leave it at hurtful words. There was a hidden meaning and he was working quietly to figure it out as he advanced forward once more.

Kristopher's brother, Kyle, intervened on Kristopher's half. Thank goodness. Elric was hardly certain that he'd have the patience to deal with the boy after that cruel exchange of words. Aione was back to square one, and that meant he'd have to focus his attention on her. She didn't look like she'd be hurting anyone now.

Elric rolled up quietly to Aione while wearing a face of disapproval. The two of them had both been acting inappropriately, but Kristopher seemed to be the one who had stepped too far out of line. Leaning forward Elric rested one hand on Aione's shoulder while he fumbled for the crown of thorns in her other hand to toss it away. If she gripped too hard on that she might really cut up her hand, and that was the last thing he needed. "Miss Higurashi?" Elric said to the little woman. He was terribly unsure of himself in this current predicament.

Elric looked back to Kristopher. Aione was in the same place she was when he first met her. Hardly any place to talk about what was going on in her head. Give her some time and maybe she'd open up a little more. Kristopher, however, was able to talk. Elric expected the story to be sugar-coated in his favor, but it was the best he was likely to get now.

"Yes, Kristopher. I'm also rather curious what this is about." Elric couldn't get the echo of the death threat out of his ears.

[Kristopher Roberts]

Did Kristopher care if Aione was crying? Nope, not in a long shot! At least the fight was coming to an end and that was fine by him, maybe she would get it through her head to stop messing with other peoples relations and stop egging him into a fight for her own pain.

However, getting a crutch to the side only made him grunt and look over at his brother. Oh, now wasn't this all fine and dandy? The younger Roberts frowned deeply at his sibling and yanked his wrist out of the others hold and took two steps back. Then of course, here came Elric in his righteous chair.

Kristopher wasn't slow, he already knew this looked bad and who was going to get pinged for making a girl cry, him, that's who! Raising his good hand to the side of his face, he whipped off the blood from the thorns, which only made it smear in a bad way.

He could tell them all about it, word for word. He could tell them to screw off, or he could point fingers and try to defend himself. But he didn't, he didn't even try. "I'll just take the long way home after all." The blond said finally, he was finished with confrontations.

There was no reason to justify his actions, he was sure they could figure it out. He hated Aione Higurashi sense the moment he saw her all over Augusta and even more when she tired to egg him into an all out fight. If she was going to hit below the belt, so could he. He didn't care about her feelings in the least.

Taking a few steps backwards, he turned and started down the path that he had came, coughing lightly as he was going to take the long way home. He could feel eyes on him and was damn well certain he was going to get a lecture later about his----actions. If they wanted him to stay, fine, but it didn't mean he had to talk if he didn't want too. This was his and Ai's problem, not theirs...

[Aione Higurashi]

The sound of approaching hobbles and wheels didn't catch the crying Aione's ears. She was too submerged in the frozen waves to hear or see or think...even breathing seemed too difficult. Kris had a right to be angry at her, but he didn't know the full picture. And he probably would never. Aione didn't care. She didn't care about anything right now. She was too far gone, again, locking herself in the quiet she'd just dug herself out of. He could hate her for the rest of his life, and hers. It didn't matter.

I'd rather be hated by someone than be nothing to everyone...

The voice of two people did, however, did snap her back to the planet for only a second. One was her roommate. Kyle Roberts. He was nice...they'd seen each other from time to time. What was he doing here? Then the other voice and the hand on her shoulder managed to pull her all the way back. She turned her head to face Elric. The first person who'd approached her after that day...her eyes swelled with tears this time.

"E-Elric-k-kun..."

Without even thinking her arms snapped around the crippled boy's waist in a hug. Silver eyes shed large, hot tears that landed in his lap, squeezing him tighter. Ai didn't care if it was a little awkward. She needed someone. Anyone. Somebody who cared just a little.

[Kyle Roberts]

The telltale squeak of the rickety old wheelchair was immediately recognizable, Elric being the only one he'd ever seen in one of them; partly because Nae was one of the few boogies with enough power and influence to afford to allow her slaves to be out and about when in such a state and have no fear of them being tampered with. That was probably the only reason he was still alive after having been out in the midst of all of those boogies today. He knew that there were plenty of them who wouldn't think twice about offing a (seemingly) helpless human.

Regardless, he didn't bother to turn and ascertain whether or not it was who he assumed to be. If it was then things would be much simpler; he trusted Elric to have enough sense to handle Aione while he dealt with Kris. That would be a great help, in his current condition he was only capable of holding one of them back should they choose to try and go on with whatever it was they were fighting about. He didn't think they would at this point, but he'd seen Kris mad before and he knew there was no predicting him at times.

Of course on the other hand, if it wasn't Elric, then things still might be alright. He wouldn't be able to take Kris back to his room for a little talk that he was thinking they'd really need because he'd have to help the girl to her room; from the looks of things he'd probably have to pack her....somehow. Briefly he mentally cursed the damn rebels and their shitty plans that never went right, but in the end it didn't really matter did it? Whats done was done and he was the worse off for it.

Moments later and the identity of the approaching person was confirmed, it was indeed Elric. Kyle almost sighed in relief to know that he wasn't all on his own wit these two, but of course he know that he had to keep up the tough appearance. Wouldn't do to let one of em think they had an opening to try more trouble.

Unfortunately though, something must have told. No sooner had Elric arrived than Kris had taken the notion to leave. He seemed to really want out of he situation now that the fight had been broken up, because he said not ten words before backing off and turning. Too bad for the blonde, Kyle wasn't about to let that happen. Ignoring the fact that about half the bones in his body were shattered, he jammed the crutch into the ground and practically hurled himself over the space between the two of them, coming down hard on the worst of his legs. Without hesitation his good arm shot out, grabbing the back of the boy's collar and holding him fast. "Your not going anywhere as long as your acting like that Kris..." Despite the fact that both his arm and voice were shaking horribly from the white hot pain shooting through him, his eyes and his grip were hard as iron. He wasn't about to let his brother off that easy.

[Elric Vlarintos]

Elric's default expression almost always seemed to be a sneer or an unamused look. Today had been no exception, but now the difference between his default look and a real look of disapproval was evident. The difference was mostly in his eyes and the way they were focused. He followed Kristopher with those eyes as the boy tried to walk away. Kristopher would be able to get away from Elric with just a brisk walking pace, so he didn't bother trying to stop him. Kyle would manage it well enough on his own and goodness help Elric if he had to get up from his chair.

Elric tossed the crown of thorns to the side. There were no kings in Wonderland, ironically enough. Naelona had all but confirmed it beyond a shadow of a doubt. Elric's attention would have to be focused on Aione. She was too out-of-sorts to really be angry at now. There would be time for harder words later if they were needed.

The sudden movement out of Aione had caught the cripple off guard. Elric actually dropped the stick he had been using to move his chair around as she embraced him. Apparently his words had brought her back out of whatever dark place she had set her mind down to rest. Now she had her arms wrapped around him. The only thing Elric managed to do at first was look a little shocked. When the initial surprise subsided he reached his own arms around the smaller girl (she felt like there was nothing to her) and he patted her back gently.

It was amazing that she still found more tears to shed, even after everything else. The addition of that weird title at the end of his name still confused him. One of these days he'd get around to asking her to explain it to him. "It's all right, Miss Aione."

Elric mouthed a 'thank you' to Kyle. There was more than a little relief that someone else was around to break it up if things turned ugly.

[Kristopher Roberts]

"Your not going anywhere as long as your acting like that Kris..."

Of course, he could never just simply walk away from anything, someone always had to hold him back. He hated that about his brother, he never let him just go off to take care of his own business.

"Kyle Eugene Roberts." The blond said sharply, not even bothering to turn and look at him. "Holding me like that isn't going to get my temper to disappear and it makes me less likely to talk to you." The short blond stood perfectly still in the chilly air. This time, he spoke softer, "Now, let me go before I catch my death out here. If you want to talk to me fine, but wait until I am less likely to punch someone in the face. It's not hard to find me."

Not giving his brother a chance to answer or decide to let go or not, Kristopher wiggled out of his coat that Kyle would be holding on too. Then, without missing a beat he picked up his steps and left his brother behind. Kyle was not going to get Kristopher to settle down, he was having the opposite effect and making him more angry then anything.

Reaching up to his face, he once again whipped of the blood that was still coming from his cheek. "Fucking roses." he muttered to himself, as he ditched the three to find someone who would actually listen and not judge automatically or lecture him to the end of the earth.

Piper.

Elric and Kyle could stick with Aione for all he cared. Though, she didn't deserve them in his opinion.