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Post By Anime Jason Sat Oct 08, 2005 at 12:24:21 pm EDT |
Subject Adventures In Parodyverse - Heartbreak Originally Out of the trash bin and into the fire...unfinished and discarded stories of mine to be posted below here (text inside) |
In Reply To Anime Jason Sat Oct 08, 2005 at 12:08:47 pm EDT |
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Notes: This one I started writing and never finished, and by the time I went back to it, I felt like it was outdated already. Adventures In Parodyverse - Heartbreak "Feeling antisocial?" the dark-haired Asian woman standing in Jay Boaz' doorway asked when he answered a knock at the door. She made her comment after she noticed that his room wasn't exactly a welcoming sight. It was somewhat dark, and one lamp was on where Jay was reading. He shrugged. Being the one who invited her Jay did expect Keiko Takashi. He specifically asked Liu Xi Xian to see if she can contact Keiko. "A little," he replied. "I...need someone to talk to." "I knew there was some reason you invited me," Keiko replied. "And I would have been upset if it was just so you can stare at me." "Oh, you're pretty nice to stare at," he complimented as he let her in and closed the door. "Thank you." Keiko smiled and hugged him. "You know, sometimes you say these sweet things and I wonder how you're not happily married yet." She released him and just then realized just how much her comment saddened him. "Oh," she quickly added. "You lost someone, didn't you? I'm sorry, I didn't know." "How could you?" Jay replied sadly. "Come." Keiko took his hand and moved to the couch, sitting sideways with her legs crossed so Jay could sit facing her. "Let's talk." "Zdenka was her name," Jay began. "She's amazing. I can't remember when I've just...fallen for someone like that." "So what went wrong?" Keiko asked. Jay sighed deeply. "She practically told me she's in love with me," he whispered. "But...she's married." "Oh." Keiko gave him a sympathetic look. "I've been there." "I've heard." Jay shook his head, and then looked down slowly. "But I...can't do what you did. Even if she's in a loveless marriage." "I'm not sure I understand this completely," Keiko prodded. "Her marriage was arranged by the state," Jay explained. "She doesn't love him, but...I guess they have a symbiotic relationship." He sighed deeply. "I...I wish things were different. I don't know what do to, Keiko." "You have two choices." Keiko shuffled closer to him and lowered her voice. "You can get over it," she whispered, followed by a dramatic pause. "Or?" he asked. "Or you can take Zdenka to bed with you," she whispered, "Make love to her with every ounce of passion in your heart. And then see if she thinks you are worth the difficulty of leaving her life behind." Jay looked at her, stunned, seeing a streak of ruthlessness in Keiko that he never saw before. But he also saw a streak of passion he never saw before too...something about his plight touched her heart. He could see in her eyes that she genuinely thought her idea would help. "I...couldn't do that," he replied quickly. "Why not?" Keiko asked quickly. "It's not right," he said. "It would violate so much of what I believe in. It violates a couple of the Commandments too." "What about your beliefs on being forced to remain with someone you don't love because you're afraid of him being harmed?" Keiko asked. "Wouldn't you consider that a type of slavery?" "I--" Jay sighed deeply again. "That just makes things even more complicated, Keiko. Now I'm more confused than ever." "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I was helping you weigh your options. I could tell you were leaning more toward trying to forget about her, and that wasn't fair to you. Or to her. Not without proper thought first." "What would you do?" Jay asked. He thought about that and a moment later took back the question. "Never mind," he said, only Keiko had already given him a sly smile by then. "I'm a strong believer in love," Keiko told him. "Perhaps I tend to pass up opportunities too, but only when I believe the choices leading to them will make me more miserable." "Did it make you miserable?" Jay asked. Keiko shrugged. "I suppose it did. But my circumstances were much more complicated than yours. Once the first stone is cast, Jay, you and Zdenka will both be happy and in love. In my case--" She sighed. "--I suppose I had my sights set on someone who wasn't so dedicated to me." "And Zdenka isn't dedicated to me," Jay pointed out. "She has responsibilities. I have responsibilities. Maybe it just...wasn't meant to be." "Let me ask you something." Keiko looked into Jay's eyes and calmly spoke. "Will you have to tell yourself that months or years from now? Will you have to remind yourself because you missed something that--" She looked deeper and noticed a distant darkness in his eyes. "--I can see in your eyes that your soul craves?" "I know, Keiko, but--" Jay paused and took a deep breath. "I'm...more afraid of doing something like that than what will happen if I don't. I'm afraid of what kind of person I'll be. I can look in the mirror right now, and sad and miserable as I am, I know I'm a good person. I...don't want to be afraid to look at myself in the mirror." Keiko gently held his hand and squeezed it. "Does the idea of making love to Zdenka just because she's in a loveless sham of a marriage genuinely bother you that much?" Jay closed his eyes for a moment, but then slowly nodded. "Yes," he replied confidently. "Yes, it does." He sighed, feeling a little relieved at having admitted that. "To be honest I'd feel more comfortable making love to you. Not that I--" "I get it, I get it." Keiko smiled. "Because I'm not married to someone else." "Yes. But not just because you aren't married," Jay pointed out. "You're also pretty, smart, and very sweet, at least to me, and I probably know you a little better than I know Zdenka." He flashed a smile. "I just thought I should take my foot out of my mouth and compliment you." "Not bad." Keiko nodded and smiled. "I think you're smart and pretty too," she joked. "Though mostly pretty," she added. "If you were really smart you would have arranged with me for Zdenka's husband's death so you can have her to yourself." She winked at Jay to make it clear that she was kidding, given that he was so on edge about the whole situation. "If only I could put you and Zdenka together into one person," Jay joked. "Someone who's not married, someone I'm in love with, and someone who's not a complete mystery." "That's not fair to her, your description is two-thirds me." "Did I mention she's a goddess?" Jay added. Keiko nodded. "That's much more fair." She smiled at him. "You seem to be feeling better now." "Because I have you to distract me and talk to me," he replied. His good mood diminished for a moment as he had an occurring thought. "I only hope it lasts after you go." "I'm not going to go so quickly." She smiled at him warmly. "I'll stick around for a bit, just for you." "But it's kind of late," Jay pointed out. "Or is your world in a different time zone?" "No, but I'm used to staying up late," she said. "And I'm willing to keep you company overnight if you wish." "Keiko, I thought I said--" "I said," Keiko clarified, "I'd keep you company. Just share a room so neither of us has to be alone." "Oh." Jay looked a little embarassed about his assumption a moment ago. "I didn't mean to imply it would be horrible to--" "No, I understand." Keiko smiled. "You have rules. Honestly, so do I." "You do?" Jay was genuinely curious about that one. "I don't like to make love to a guy who will regret it," she told him. "I value friendship more than sex." "That's smart." Jay nodded. He smiled as he added, "Now I understand why you relented with your advice when I told you why I couldn't do it." "Yes." Keiko nodded. "Can I ask you something?" Jay asked. "Do you still kill? I mean...professionally? I only ask because...I kind of would have a problem with that." He laughed slightly and added, "Feel free to lie to me if the question makes you uncomfortable." "I don't," she said. "So I have no reason to lie. I have killed recently, but most of that was fallout from my leaving the I.A., part of the price for escape. I had to protect myself and my friends." "I can't say I agree with that," Jay answered weakly. "It's probably not a good topic for debate between us, though." "Maybe another day," Keiko suggested, "When you're feeling more up to it." She grinned slyly and added, "Perhaps after you've had sex and are in a very good mood." Jay shook his head. "You have a terribly raw sense of humor sometimes, Keiko." He smiled slightly. "I kind of like that. It's like talking to Dream, only with less foul language and harassment." "If you want harassment I can give you a pinch on the bottom," she joked. Jay laughed out loud at that one. "No, that won't be necessary. But thanks for making me laugh, I needed that." "So tell me," Keiko continued, "Why did you invite me of all people to talk to you?" Jay seemed embarassed to answer that question. "I like you," he replied. "You're smart, you've very sweet...to me, at least. You're nice to talk to. And honestly you're nice to look at too, and you even smell nice." "More compliments," Keiko noted. She smiled at him. "I wanted to ask because you have so many friends to choose from." "True, but they aren't exactly impartial," he pointed out. "And you've had a very interesting life. You kind of have the experience I need to help make this decision." "Ah." Keiko smiled slightly. "I suppose I'm glad that my most difficult experiences can be of use to you." -- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2005 by Jason Froikin, and may not be -- reprinted without permission. -- Keiko Takashi is from World Class, (C) 2005 by Jason Froikin, all rights reserved -- All other characters property of their respective owners |
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