Chapter Text
“I leave tomorrow for an important mission, so that’s something. Cool, right?” Matt sighed over the phone, Katie could almost feel his homesickness as if it were him, she pressed her cheek to the glass-kitchen window as she leaned to the side, her mother was making the Christmas dinner as she and Matt talked. She was supposed to be helping her, but wanted to call Matt before having to speak forcefully to her, unlike her mother, Matt was easy to converse casual topics with.
A sense of normality could be felt when she talked with him. It was… nice.
“Cool.” Katie echoed, struggling not to dampen his spirit any further. He was obviously already upset. She knew him well, if he was upset, he’d question it, and sigh heavily between sentences.
He was forcing it.
Matt hadn’t been home in a long time, after pursuing his dream to study and work towards his dream, and eventually explore space, he had missed a year with his family. It was hard, but she was happy that he was finally doing what he wanted.
“What’s mom doing? Is she making dinner for you?” Matt asked, he sounded worried, but the genuine love for their mother was all the same, Matt had always been very close to her. Their mother was still broken-hearted over the fact Matt wasn’t at home, as well as their father, who was accompanying him.
“She’s fine, and yeah she’s making dessert. ” Katie smiled softly, glancing at her mother who was folding a chocolate chip cookie mixture together in the kitchen, humming softly as she baked. Mom had always been the best baker, always taking her yummy treats around to the neighbors, the baking was delicious and welcomed promptly by them. Mom had always said “Give it with love Katie, what’s baking without it?” As she had packed it in several different containers and given it to her and Matt to deliver to a few lonely neighbours. Not anymore. She’d stopped delivering once Matt had left, had said that “There’s no point.” Now all baking was instead consumed by them only, even if it was consumed slower. Katie questioned why she didn’t just take it around, there was more than enough for everyone.
Ever since then, all of her cooking tasted a little sour. Tainted.
“Nice- oh hey, Shiro wants to say hi- Sh-shiro! Hey! I’m still talk-” Katie laughed as Matt’s voice was cut-off, and the sound of a phone clattering to the floor. She didn’t know Shiro that well, but Matt had sent pictures of him and he always said hello to her. He was nice, and Katie was glad Matt had made a friend when he’d told her about the ‘Great guy with the great hair’.
“Yo, Katie, can you tell your pathetic excuse for a brother that he should pack his bags and tidy his room more often? He’s a complete slob and-” Shiro’s deep voice was warm despite his scathing words, Katie began to reply but Shiro was cut off again, and she could pick up some background scuffling. They were probably fighting.
“Oh my gosh, Shiro, she’s my sister! Give me back the fuc-” Matt’s voice raised an octave higher than usual.
“No swearing in front of a young lady, young man!” Shiro gasped. Katie continued to smile, she could still hear their conversation. She could hear a grumble of something like ‘You’re like, one year older than me.’
“Anyways, yeah nice talking to you Katie. Bye-” Shiro yelped urgently, breathing hard, he was obviously running through the house. She waited patiently, only hearing muffled screaming and the knocks of furniture. Idiots, she thought fondly.
“Bye Shiro.” Katie replied warmly, staring at her nails as the phone was handed, well, thrown, back to Matt.
“I’m back, that dork finally gave me my phone back, did you know that he doesn’t have his own? Oh and how’s Keith by the way? Shiro wants to know.” Matt’s voice dropped the annoyed tone.
“Fine. He said he’s going to apply for the garrison entrance exam since the school year starts soon.” Katie reported.
She vaguely remembered Keith saying something about that, but they hadn’t spoken in awhile since the school year had finished. Even though he was older, he didn’t have a car or driver’s license, only a motorbike, and the rest of the family didn’t let him use it often.
Something about “Reckless driving”.
Keith begged to differ.
“Shiro says to tell him to ‘Study’, whatever the hell that means.” She could almost see him rolling his eyes in front of her. Matt always had a thing for sarcasm, and also a thing against studying, it was a wonder he’d passed the exam himself, apart from the fact he probably hadn’t needed to, dude was a fricken genius.
“Sure, I’ll let him know.” Katie knew that Keith would hate that. She could almost hear him saying something already, like ‘Shiro’s not my dad’.
“And Lance and Hunk?” Her other two best friends, whom of which still hadn’t actually met Keith, but they met up often, usually Matt, Katie, Lance and Hunk would always hang out at the local arcade, but since Matt left, it had only been the three of them. She wished they could meet up again, but Lance was away with his family on vacation, and Hunk was back in Samoa with family.
“Lance skyped me the other night from his family’s PC, but Hunk barely touches his phone when he’s with his family so no news about him. But they both miss you.” Katie whispered.
A brief moment of silence on the end, only her breathing at the smell of her mother’s baking filled her senses. A hole opened in her chest. Had she said the wrong thing?
“I’ll be back after this mission. Should only be a few weeks.” Matt sighed softly, voice heavy, not a trace of regret, but longing to be home with the gang.
“You’ll miss Christmas day, right?” Katie’s voice came out like a whine and she drooped, wilting like a flower without water to suffice. It hadn’t always been like this, talking to Matt over the phone used to be the best part of the day, but now it was a weight on her back, knowing they’d have to have a Christmas without him or dad.
“Yeah... but I’ll be back a few days after that.” He added on quickly. Katie felt herself lift a little, he’d be home soon, and so would dad.
“Good. I can’t take much more of walking to places since mom won’t drive me.” Katie grinned as he gasped, genuinely hurt.
“Is that all I am to you? Because, I mean, my dorm is pretty nice, I only have to share the bathroom with one person, plus I never have to clean up all the mess...” Matt droned on and on about how comfortable the room was with just him and ‘Brogane’ -his nickname for Shiro, his plans for re-decoration including ‘NASA’ posters, and how cool it was for his dad to stay at a hotel to give them space. Just as she was about to suggest he clean his room, she heard Mom call for her from the living room. She hadn’t realized that she’d left a while ago.
“Katie! Can you check on the cookies? My programme is on. And stop talking to whoever it is you’re talking to.” She shouted, the sound wrenching her back to where she really was.
“Okay, one second mom!” She hollered back, a little to sharply. The sound bouncing through the hallway to the living room.
“Oh, sorry Matt! I’ll talk to you later, uh probably? I have to help Mom.” She mumbled quickly, the words spilling out before she could stop them from sounding blunt and forced.
There was no reply. She let the telephone drop back into it’s holder before she could pick it back up and scream for him to come home. The call had been cut short. Too short. The absence of his voice left her disheartened. A single tear slid down her cheek.
Tears?Why am I crying? He’s still there.
Dead silence.
There had been no voice in the first place. She’d been talking to no one.
Stop this, Katie. He’s gone. He has been for almost a year now. Give up.
She punched the thoughts away, her blood boiling with rage.
Stop it. He’s still at the garrison, he and dad leave tomorrow. And he’ll be back soon.
She felt sick. Bile rising in her throat.
No he won’t.
He’s not there, Katie. Look around. He left you behind.
The room was empty, stone cold, the shadows of the dim-lit room ready to consume her. Her mother wasn’t here, she was alone.
“No no no no….”
With a sick feeling in her stomach, she turned on her heel towards the oven in their small-packed kitchen. To her dismay, a large waft of ghost-like smoke billowed out as she bent down and swung open the oven door. The grey substance filling her nostrils, she coughed, sputtering for clean air. Her hope for the baking draining quickly.
Sputtering as she waved the smoke away frantically, she bit her lip.
They were burnt. Blackened, charred, broken, dry with cracks running through them.
Reaching out to touch one of the biscuits, an inch away from her hands, a few more inches and she would touch it. She hesitated.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
She jolted upwards, she was at home in bed. Breathing hard, she searched her surroundings for the cookies, for the kitchen, for Matt. None greeted her.
She hadn’t dreamt like that in a while, already it was becoming a hazy blur of images. The dream was fading. All faded except for one factor.
Matt.
It all came rushing back to her, the cruel truth was being thrust at her; the move from their old house to the new crusty apartment she and her mom lived in, Matt, her father and the famous pilot Shiro’s disappearance, the interviews, the therapist appointments. She felt herself drawn back to the days when she was happy, she yearned to go back to sleep, to hear his voice again.
Idiot. Idiot. Idiot.
Rubbing her face thoroughly and had a better look at her room, as if she hadn’t seen it before. It didn’t make her surroundings look any more welcoming than they already had. Plain white walls, a black desk in the corner, and a small lamp was all that inhabited the small space.
Stretching to her bedside table again, she switched off the alarm. Relief.
Finally, she crawled underneath the covers again, trying to block out what she knew came next. A sense of dread overcame her.
“Katie!Wake up, you have an appointment in 15 minutes!”
- -
“And that was the last conversation you had with Matt Holt?” The woman pursed her lips, scribbling something down, and tucking a strand of hair behind one ear. She sat cross-legged, on a white chair in front of her.
“Yes. I don’t know anything else. I’m sorry.” Katie sighed, she’d had this conversation many times with various woman. She knew that they didn’t want to help her, none of them did, they just wanted information to leak. Thinking that she knew anything.
She looked down everytime she answered this question, if she saw their disappointment once more it might just kill her. She’d seen it enough times.
She dropped her gaze to the glass-coffee table in front of her, on it lay several papers. Yellowed and browned, but still able to read. All headers read things like “Takashi Shirogane and his accomplices gone missing.” and “Family’s heartbroken at the disappearances of the Holt’s and Takashi Shirogane” And endless made-up fantasy of people caring, offers for interviews to be aired on TV-all declined. All each paper said was that the Takashi’s and Holt’s preferred not to comment on the matter.
“You’re close to the Takashi family, correct?”
“Yeah.” Katie mumbled in response.
When would they get it into their thick skulls that she didn’t want to talk to anyone? She hardly talked to her mother on the matter, they had… just simply carried on living. With or without the two people they had lost. A broken family.
“Katie, dear? I asked you a question?” She hadn’t realized she’d been zoning out until the words had been spoken. The women tapped her pen against her clipboard impatiently, she hadn’t even written anything down on it.
“I don’t know anything.” Katie said quietly, not a hint of anger in the tone, but felt herself slowly growing more and more agitated with her surroundings. The white walls, the empty room, trapped with just her and this… pathetic excuse for somebody who cared.
The seconds ticked by. Her skin seemed to sizzle.
“That doesn’t answer my-”
“I said I don’t know anything, you piece of shit." Katie growled, the rage spilling out, a hot pool of lava dripped from her tongue as she spoke. Venomous, vicious. Her chair was knocked backwards as she jolted up.
Silence followed as the chair was knocked to the ground.
“Katie, please I’m only trying to help you, Matt wouldn’t want you to-” The woman's voice shook and broke off as Katie moved towards her, obviously shocked at the outburst.
“Don’t you fucking dare say that name in front of me.”
Afraid. Her face said it all-Fear. She seemed to sink into her chair, deflating at the anger being directed at her. An expressionless sack, deflated by the sharp poke of a snake.
Katie suddenly liked her better that way. Instead of rounding on her in anger, she savored her fearful expression and backed away.
Curling her lip, she picked up her chair in one hand, placing it back to it’s original position. Smiling sweetly, she dusted the chair down, as if it was damaged. The women remained silent.
“Next, Thursday then?” Katie grinned, reaching to shake her hand.
The woman flinched at the offer, her eyes sliding away as she avoided making eye-contact with the young girl.
“S-somehow I don’t think i’ll be available then.” The women scribbled something down, and smiling weakly, she got up and opened the door for her. Katie smiled again, wishing she had fangs, if she had she would flash them at the woman, and flick a forked tongue, just to scare her further.
“Works for me.” Katie shrugged, and skipped out the door.
- -
“It went fine mom. Just drop it okay?” Katie wanted to sink into her seat instead of sticking to it. The air was humid, the sweltering sun had a death-grip on the car. Maybe if the air was hot enough, the leather would melt her into a puddle and she could just… slip into the creases.
“Katie.” Her mother’s tone turned hard. Katie gulped. She could see her knuckles turning white at the steering wheel. She turned the wheel, hard, swinging around a corner down a desolate road towards their house.
You’re letting her down.
“Mom. I’m fine.” Katie breathed, unbuckling her seatbelt as they pulled onto the driveway. The gravel rolled beneath the wheels, sending a few pebbles flying behind the car.
“Katie, please.” Her mother whispered, pausing in that stern but broken tone. She was stressed, and why shouldn’t she be? Her daughter had expensive therapy to pay for and on top of that she had to work several part time jobs to support the both of them, some nights they went a little hungry.
If it weren’t for the Takashi's, they’d be picking food out of garbage cans by now.
Maybe even dead.
“I’m worried about you. You’re not doing well in school, and you never seem to talk about any friends or school work.” Her mother’s tone grew soft as she continued, but it remained saddened, a deep sadness she carried on her shoulders, weighing her down with each breath.
You are her only child left. You’re the one letting her down.
After a brief pause, Katie offered a plastic smile.
“I won’t let you down, Mom. I’ll try harder, I promise.” Katie told her, trying her best to be of reassurance. She had to stay strong for her, as long as she did, they would get through this.
Her mother placed a hand on her own, stroking her gently, and their eyes met. Mother and daughter.
“Thank you.”
- -
Katie did try harder actually. Very hard.
But not in the way her mother had meant. She thought something was odd about their disappearance, the gear from the garrison was top-notch almost next to some of the top space exploration
She researched, digging through the files at the garrison for anything, she combed every nook and cranny of their system, searching for anything, anything at all that would help her mind them. Just as she thought she’d found something, it would only be some stupid reports about noise complaints, and none of them were close to the date they’d left or gone missing.
All she found were their ID pictures and report cards. She gripped the printed out files in her hands, tearing them into pieces. Frustration threatening to overcome common sense.
They’re gone. They were really gone.
She tore the report up with her brother’s smiling face, the shreds falling through her fingers onto the cold floor. He didn’t deserve to be gone. He needed to be at home, with her and her mom.
As the paper fluttered to the ground, her phone beeped, her ringtone sounded, making her jump a little at the sudden sound. The nigra scream- Lance’s doing of course. Wiping away tears, she reached into her back pocket to retrieve it.
It was a text. And then another. And another. It was Keith. Why was Keith texting her? They hadn’t talked in months. She flicked her phone open and read the texts. Her eyes darting across the screen.
Keith Kogane.
Meet me at the spot. 3:15 PM.
Urgent. 3:15 PM.
Hurry. 3:15 PM.
It’s about Shiro and Matt. 3:16 PM.
She was out of the house and on her bike, speeding down the street in seconds.
- -
‘The spot’ Was a certain park with a dead tree and a small rigged park bench hunched against it. They’d called it the spot and met their- After school, on the weekends, during summer. Whenever they wanted to meet, it would always be at the spot. Nothing pretty to look at, but it had a certain nostalgic feel to it, after meeting at least 5 times, they’d gotten attached.
If Keith wanted to meet at the spot it was likely urgent.
She pedaled down the side of a street, lost in thought. Why would Keith want to talk now? After all of this. They weren’t coming back.
They’d both lost their older brothers. Their rocks, their grounding support. To be honest, she hadn’t even bothered to talk to him after the funeral, she’d been too caught up feeling sorry for herself. Just… what could he possibly have to say about Shiro and Matt…? Not to mention her father as well, but her and her father had never gotten along too well. Unless... Keith found-
“Oi! Watch yourself young lady!” She turned hard around an old women, just missing her by a hair. She groaned inwardly. The old woman scowled.
“S-sorry! In a rush! You know how it is! Haha! Haha…hah” Katie laughed nervously, adding silently to herself. Moron. The women simply shook her head at her, scowling harder.
Turning back to where she was going, she started to pedal slower, letting the wind catch her hair, sending it flying backwards in a gold flurry.
She felt free. The late afternoon air brushing her with gentle wings. Cloaking her in its feeling.
If only, she’d felt like this all the time. Half of the time she felt broken, like a piece of her was unmistakably missing.
Pedaling through the familiar street, she took a small moment to stare at the sights surrounding her, framing her existence. The trees blurred past her vision, green, browning leaves danced above her head, grinning, she pedaled harder. Straight into a cold puddle lying on the path. She didn’t take a detour, letting her wheel spin through the water, her bike wheel dove into it, sending the freezing drops spiraling towards her and hit her clothing, giving her clothes a slightly splattered look. Maybe not her best idea.
It was strangely refreshing.
Hopefully her clothes would dry in the late-summer heat. She was cold now, the air wasn’t exactly helping her body regain its former temperature.
Her eyes caught a certain sign on a passing pole next to her. It stuck out, tugging her attention by a hook. She stared as she passed, she couldn’t help but stare. She started to squint to get a better look.
It read; Now accepting applications for-
“Woah woah! Hey! Slow down!”
A familiar voice.
Shit.
She came to a grinding halt.
Too late.
Crash, bang, and a few seconds later, she lay in a tangled heap with none other than the man himself, Keith.
Ouch.
“AhhAHH oh my gosh I am so sorry Keith!” Katie stood up almost as quickly as she fell, getting off of him and helping him to his feet.
Jet black hair, pale skin, gloved hands, and the famous red jacket. Yup, just as exactly as she had remembered. Emo as always.
He laughed “Just look where you’re going next time.” rubbing his head, and managing to smooth his hair back down. With a huff, he sat on the bench behind him and folded his arms. Taking on his famous posture, Katie often made fun of him for it, but she loved him all the same. That was just his style, and she respected that. Despite Keith being older than her by almost two years, they were best friends. Plus, despite also being older, Katie’s mind expanded far beyond that which was considered ‘smart for a 14 year old’.
“So, how was the swim back there?” She realized he was pointing at her shirt, that was currently soaked.
“Oh my gosh you saw that?” Katie gritted her teeth, he must have seen the whole thing. She face-palmed. It wasn’t often you saw a 14 year old splashing in puddles at this time of the year, just shy of autumn and not in the proper clothing.
“Only all of it, don’t worry.” Good ol’ Keith, she could always count on him. Not.
There was a silence between them, they hadn’t seen each other in months. What kind of best friends do that? Them apparently.
“Yeah, not my ideal way of swimming but uh… anyway, here, I thought you might need this.” Keith pulled out a plastic cup from behind him, it’d been sitting on the bench, and thrust it towards her. Coffee. It’s sweet aroma reached her nose and she sighed, it smelled wonderful.
“I know you don’t really drink coffee but-” Keith started.
“-excuse me?Give it here.” Katie took it out of his hand, and took a big slurp. Letting the contents flush out the cold. Keith smiled, searching for a reaction.
“Wow, this is like... really good. Thanks.” Katie continued to chug it down, it felt good.
“I knew you’d like it. How’s Mrs Holt?” Keith took out one for himself, and took a sip, patting a space next to him on the bench. Katie obliged and sat down next to him, together they drank their coffee, letting the cool air encase them in it’s enchanting surroundings.
“Mom? Oh, well, she’s alright I guess, she got a new job, so that’s something. What about you? How’s your old man doing?” Katie replied, crunching the coffee cup into a ball and chucking it into the bright red plastic bin next to them. Score. She thought as it landed in.
“Same as always.” He sighed. She wondered what that meant. She’d barely talked to Keith’s parents, but they seemed nice, she hoped that meant ‘okay’. Her legs swung back and forth, barely scraping the earth, they didn’t reach the ground. Her height had gone stagnant once she’d reached 12. Since then she’d stayed short and small.
“So, what’s so urgent?” Katie felt herself edging forward, hungry for any information. A seed of hope began to grow in her. Was this it? The springboard she needed to finding them?
“Katie. Please don’t think I’m crazy or anything...but…” Keith paused, the silence was unbearable.
“...but?” Katie leaned forward and peered at him.
With a jolt, he suddenly looked tired, like he hadn’t slept for days, insomnia was something that they both struggled with since the disappearance… but Keith had always had it. It sucked, really. With a pang of guilt, she realized that she hadn’t been there for him, they should have stuck together through this, instead they had simply… drifted apart.
"Keith, when was the last time you slept?” Katie bit her lip, struggling not to sound like a nagging mother, but this was important. Keith seemed exhausted.
“I don’t know. Maybe... a few days ago?” His voice broke out into a yawn. A worry crept into her stomach, it was as if, this was all her fault. That’s it. She was going to make sure he rested.
“Look… Keith... this can wait. I know whatever it is you’re going to say is important, and like, trust me, I really want to know… but…” Katie stopped. Pausing for a brief moment, pursing her lips together, and staring up into the sky. Keith turned to her, and hurriedly started to gather up his things, they made eye contact.
“Katie, run away with me.”
- -
“Ew, that sounds like some, old 90’s film.” Katie laughed, and Keith groaned at her but his lips cracked into a small smile.
“I’m serious.” Keith folded his arms, his lips setting into a straight line, his eyebrows furrowed.
“Okay… but where?” Katie stood up, looking down at what she’d brought with her, just her backpack, it had a bottle of water, her phone, some paper and a calculator. Nothing much, she’d brought no food.
“I don’t know.” Keith shrugged.
“Wow. You really didn’t think this through did you ya dork- wait I’ve got it!” Katie pulled out her phone, the case was the star wars logo with R2D2 on it, she was a star wars nerd. Obviously.
Once they’d binged the star wars films together in one night, along with pizza and drinks.
Good times.
“I have a few friends who would totally let me stay over for a while.” She scrolled through her contacts and fell on the all too familiar name.
“We’re really doing this?” Keith crossed his arms, it was getting dark. The stars were just starting to brighten and show themselves across the dark blue blanket. It was also getting cold. The autumn breeze was becoming cold and desolate, reaching her uncovered arms, it wouldn’t be long before she would start shivering.
“Yup. And you’re going to meet my other friends.” Katie linked arms with him, dragging him towards her bike, he flinched but sank into the contact. Keith had never been the one to like touching others, honestly, Katie knew he just wasn’t used to it. Definitely a hugger.
“Other friends?” Keith questioned, other than Katie, he didn’t have many other friends. It wasn’t surprising, Katie was known to be more outgoing than him.
“Eh. Had to happen sometime, you’re not my only friend you know.” Katie flicked her hair back across her shoulders, and continued to tap in messages to the mysterious friends of hers.
He hoped that they weren’t all girls at least.
“You jump on the seat and pedal us, and I’ll ride in the back.” Katie pointed to it. It was getting colder, if they didn’t get moving they wouldn’t make it before her mother started to panic, most likely resulting in an all out search. Then probably four months spent locked up in her room as punishment.
That’s the last thing I need right now.
“The… back?” Keith yawned again, his mouth opening wide as the exhaustion started to sink in.
Katie rolled her eyes, exasperated, sometimes Keith could be a real idiot “The back bars you doofus. Now get on already, we have to get moving. Luckily, they don’t live far from here.” She stared at her phone, they weren’t picking up. She shot off a quick text to them and hoped they’d receive it before they got there.
Respond, come on. I know you’re awake at this time.
“Ready?” Keith asked.
“I guess.” Katie answered as she got a response.
Keith pedaled, the street lights just barely illuminating their path, she shoved her phone into her back pocket and slung her backpack behind her, over her shoulders. It was dark, the trees howled and moaned as the wind picked up. Other than that it was quiet, as if all were dead except for them. It seemed like that anyway.
This is it. We’re really running away.
“Who are these friends of yours anyway?” Keith called back to her after a few streets of total and absolute silence.
“Hmm, well for starters there’s Hunk. Who will totally love you, no doubt about that, he’s a real nice guy, Hufflepuff of course. Training to be a professional chef.” Katie started, thinking hard. Now that she thought about it, she really did have no friends who were girls. Huh, who knew. Maybe she just gravitated towards boys.
Boys, huh?
“Then there’s Lance, awesome dude really, complete idiot, loves pretty much all the stuff we’re into, he’s cuban and a pro competitive swimmer. He’s also obsessed with the ocean for some reason. Gryffindor by the way.” Katie rambled on about the two of them, she really did like those two. Apart from Keith, they had also always been there for her. She felt lucky to have four big brothers, well right now three, since Matt’s sudden absence, but yup, these four had been her rock.
“They sound… nice?” Keith echoed after her.
“What’s your house? I’ve never asked you before, but I’m a slytherin. Everyone thinks Ravenclaw, but I must embrace my snake-like qualities and attributes.” Katie swooned, knowing she could very much be a Ravenclaw, but thought it was too cliche and not to mention, cringey.
“Uh, well I’ve never watched-” Keith’s sentence was cut off as he surveyed the surroundings. The air dropped in temperature. For a moment, a strange sensation gripped him. The air went cold, as if they had suddenly stepped into something… not quite wrong, but not quite normal either. Something fierce. He could taste the air, it was wet, cold, ice-like. A cool-like substance clothed him. Water.
As if he could hear it from a distance, a faint roar could be heard, as if echoing over valleys and mountains, deep in the rain forests and jungles. A lion’s roar. He closed his eyes, and a deep blue swirled in his closed-off vision, underneath his eyelids all he could see was an endless ocean of blue.
Time was slow here. The breeze was gone, replaced with this new type of air. Type? Was that right way to put it? In a way, it reminded him faintly of being in a space suit, drifting where there was no gravity. Space? Possibly.
An odd sense of foreboding overcame him. His whole body felt light.
It was surreal. Something was tugging him towards this strange element of another reality. Had a few seconds gone by, or years, there was no way to determine it. Time had stopped, indeed, but only for a brief moment.
Only three things were presented to him in this dream-like world, none made sense if put together; Water, Blue, and a lion. He was perplexed at this, why was this happening? Why now? Just as he was about to delve into the possibility that this was some unknown force connected to him somehow, Katie shrieked.
What the-?
“Keith!”
- - -
“Oh my gosh, get him in here. Katie! What the hell? Who is this? I thought you said you were coming alone!?” An unfamiliar voice screamed, his voice slightly scolding, sounding exactly like some kind of grumpy, tired, but caring grandmother.
Keith felt himself being taken in arms, carried into a house, and placed gently on a squishy couch. Soon a blanket was thrown on him and heat was blasted at him. A heater.
Who’s house was he in? He could hear arguing, but with voices he didn’t exactly know, apart from Katie’s of course. She was there too, they seemed to be talking about him. He wanted to open his eyes, instead they were tired and sore, unable to open. He was sore all over, his muscles were on fire.
“Look, Lance. He’s my friend. Hunk, can you just get him so food alright? I have no fucking clue what happened there. He just… fell unconscious for some reason.” Katie was speaking, urgently and fast, she was worried about him. Her words came out shaky, spilling from her mouth.
“Fine. You can get a spare change of clothes for him from my room. He looks around my size.” Lance said to her.
Lance.So that was the name of the boy who was talking.
“Aight, I can make him something. Oh, does he have any like, allergies or anything Katie?” It was a new voice, what was the name of this one? He sounded kind, warm, and bubbly. He desperately wanted to open his eyes to see.
Keith had a peak of interest at the prospect of food. He decided that he was hungry, and tired, and sore. All of those added to feeling like shit.
He could vaguely remember these names from somewhere, had Katie mentioned them?
“He’s lactose intolerant, but he’s not picky or anything, Hunk. He won’t mind like, toast.” Katie told the voice.
Hunk. He liked the sound of that name. He couldn’t see the strangers so he assigned the two colors instead to associate them with for the time being, something he liked to do without looking. Katie was green, she’d always been green to him. A bright, neon spastic kind of green. The exact shade that was kind of sassy, but very much bearable. A bursting green that could go on endlessly.
He thought quickly, Hunk seemed to be a yellow kind of guy. Bubbly, caring, and very much welcoming. A strong kind of yellow, but not one that was nasty like mustard, quite the opposite. He obviously used that strength instead to help, create, and defend, not destroy. Hunk had a good heart, and a big one. A honey mustard kind of yellow.
“Lance, can you help me make this?” Hunk called.
“Yeah, sure. Gimme a second.”
Lance was… he listened closer. From what he could tell, so far Lance was a few shades of blue, the pretty kinds of one's. It was odd. He’d never been this intrigued in someone’s color before, this one was forever changing. Huh, weird. Lance was an ocean, one that bubbled, laughed, and flowed into the hearts of others, he seemed to be a lot deeper than he actually sounded. There was something tugging him towards this particular color, often all he could see for people was one straight color, but Lance was… different. He was obviously blue, but sometimes he was a turquoise, and other times he was a blackish-blue. It was as if Lance wasn’t stable, but forever shifting from one emotion to the other. An endless changing cycle.
Interesting.
He shifted slightly, his muscles twinging at the joints a bit.
From what he could tell, he was at ‘Lance’s’ and ‘Hunk’s’ apartment. Katie’s friends.
“Hey, mullet man.” Lance. He was talking to him.
“Wake up. There’s food and a change of clothes in front of you.” Lance urged slightly.
Keith forced his eyes open, finally able to see the mysterious blue boy.
His eyes almost popped out of his head. He was extremely attractive, with brown tufts of hair poking up slightly from his head of hair, curly and a rich brown. Tanned skin and long-toned limbs, a pointed nose, blue slanted eyes and a dorky kind of smile. Spanish perhaps? Cuban?
I am so fucked.
It took him a few seconds to realize he hadn’t replied. He just hoped he didn’t look as shitty as he felt next to this… Lance. Who seemed to look good without effort.
“Oi. I’m talking to you mullet.” Lance repeated.
Mullet? Is it really getting that long?
Keith hands instinctively went to the back of his head, fiddling with the strands of black hair. A mullet? Well I guess you could call it that. His arm burned at the movement.
“Uh…” Keith couldn’t speak. His mouth went dry, the words wouldn’t come.
Shit what do I say? ‘Uh thanks dude’? Is that weird? He doesn’t even know my name, fuck oh my gosh he’s waiting for me to say something shit what do I say-
“Look, you don’t have to say anything. Just eat something and get changed, your clothes are wet you know.” Lance pointed to his clothes, Keith’s eyes fell down and he felt even more stupid.
Why the fuck are my clothes wet.
They were soaked, his shirt and partially his shorts were wet and dripping onto the couch. How the hell hadn’t he realized? He was freezing.
Lance shifted, and stood up from squatting, so that Keith could more fully observe his appearance. He was wearing a blue and pink pastel shirt with patterned waves, across it in white text it said ‘Surf’s up’ despite being a slightly more childish shirt, it seemed to suit him. With it he wore white shorts and polka dotted off-white socks. Put together to create a bright, and bombastic look. Keith begrudgingly admitted that he pulled it off quite well.
The boy started to walk towards a door that led to a hallway, with his arms behind his head lazily. Just as he was about to leave, Keith coughed and croaked out;
“Uh, thanks.” His voice come out more raspy and flat than he had initially hoped.
Lance simply spun back around and threw a piece sign, accompanied by a toothy but bright grin that reached his eyes.
“No problem.” Lance replied, and exited the room. Carrying the ocean of blue along with him.
Now the room felt empty without that blue.
“Dork, am I right?” Katie said, pulling on a hoodie over her head. Keith hadn’t even realized she was in the room with them, she could be like that. Extremely quiet at times, at others loud and vicious. It used to shock him, but now he was used to her, popping into conversations like that.
“Yeah, dork.” Keith echoed quietly. Though his voice still scratchy and hard to use from the lack of speech, he grew brighter at the smell of food.
“Eat first. Then talk.” Katie pointed to the food on the coffee table beside him, finally he could look at his surroundings and get a grasp of things. He was indeed in an apartment, it was fairly clean with white cream walls, a few couches and a decently sized TV. A black coat hanger beside the door held Katie’s back-pack and clothes that belonged to probably Lance and Hunk. Glancing behind him, there was a small kitchen with a few undried dishes there, and a fridge that was decorated with what seemed to be children’s drawings. Around him seemed to be the living room, sagging brown couches, the coffee table, and a rough carpet. It seemed homely enough.
“Eat, Keith.” Katie repeated, again pointing at the food. It smelled delicious, a bowl of potato and chicken soup, warm and fresh from the pot. They must have given up making something and reheated some leftovers.
“Okay but… what the hell happened?” Keith sat up, his bones rigged and sore, but he forced himself upright, he really wanted the soup. Bringing it into his hands, he took a spoonful and brought it to his lips. Soon he was shoveling in spoonful after spoonful. Who knew soup could be so good?
“Nothing really, they splashed us with their car while driving past because they wanted to pick me up, I tried to tell you to dodge the water but you… kind of spaced out and went unconscious for a little while after the water hit us. What happened to you?” Katie looked genuinely worried, sending a little sliver of guilt down his throat, the soup suddenly tasted slightly sour.
“I uh…” Keith trailed off, searching for words to describe what he had felt before. It was odd sure, but was it really? He had been really tired.
Maybe I just blacked out or something-
“Oh, does the soup not taste good?” That voice again, it was the warm one again. Hunk. He turned to find a brown, chubby boy with dark brown hair, a round face and an orange band around his head, keeping hair out of his face. Naruto inspired perhaps? He’d have to ask him later.
“No no no! It’s uh, it’s really good actually.” Keith fumbled, knowing that he was very well intruding in on their home.
“Oh that’s good! For a second I thought you might not like it or something. Name’s Hunk. Nice to meet you man.” Hunk grinned, patting him on the shoulder.
“Keith.” He replied.
“Don’t mind Lance, he can be an idiot sometimes. Between you and me, I guess you could say he’s not that ‘Straig-” Hunk laughed, Keith immediately decided he liked Hunk’s laugh. It was just as nice and warm as Hunk looked. Squishy and soft, a little rough around the edges, but spongy.
“I heard that, Hunk!” Lance yelled from the opposite side of the house. Keith couldn’t help, he laughed, from the corner of his vision he could see Katie freeze. It was true, he hadn’t laughed in a long time. A laugh was long overdue.
He had laughed. Katie giggled at it, when Keith laughed, it didn’t happen often, but he snorted.
Hunk grinned again, as if pleased he got a laugh out of the seemingly serious black haired boy, then followed after what seemed to be the same direction Lance had headed in a few moments prior. Probably their room off to the side of the hallway.
“Your friends seem...nice?” Keith struggled for a better adjective, but the words wouldn’t come. Instead they spiralled away, out of reach as he grasped for the blue to come back. He yearned for the bursts of color.
What the hell? I don’t even usually like the color blue…
It was confusing, ‘blue’ had simply never appealed to him, he preferred red, with its several different meanings of, anger, love, hate, frustration, blood, the color was often misunderstood for being regarded as an angry hot color, but other times it could mean love. Misunderstood, just like him.
Even though he was aware of its ‘love’ potential, he preferred defining the color red as anger.
So what made blue so special?
Was it because it was cool, that it was calming, soothing, at other times ice-like and isolating, dark and brooding, deep like the ocean, or shallow like tropical rock pools? Or even descending like rain, or perhaps the stretching sky? And why had Lance triggered such a feeling?
Was it because it was so contrasting to that of his own color? Which was red, obviously.
Blue plus Red equals-
“Yeah they are nice, good pals of mine, I’ve known them for almost as long as I’ve known you!” Katie continued, shattering his peaceful slumber of thought.
Whatever, back to reality.
“I’m gonna go change.” Keith sighed, ignoring her statement, whoever this Lance was, he wouldn’t let him get into his mind so much, hopefully.
“Mhm.” Katie mumbled, barely audible as her attention diverted away from him, switching on the TV next to her, and flicking through the channels as if she had been here a million times before. Well, she probably had.
Standing up, he set his bowl down on the table he followed the direction where Lance and Hunk had disappeared off to.
As he stood in the hallway aimlessly, dumbfounded as where to go, a shout behind him sounded.
“Bathroom’s to the left!” Katie yelled. Relief washed over him.
Keith slid open the bathroom door and stepped into the room, eager to get new clothes on. Ripping off his cold, soaked clothes, he felt a sense of satisfaction as the warm, dry clothes replaced them. He averted his eyes from his body as he removed the clothing from his body leaving it bare and covering it again, desperately avoiding having to look at his pale skin.
Surveying the clothes given to him, he couldn’t help but gape at himself in the mirror. He looked like he’d just put a fucking sleeping bag on his body. He wore a fluffy red jumper, over sized and droopy, almost reaching his knees, and to complete the already ridiculous baggy look, black baggy sweat pants.
He exited the bathroom and walked back into the living room, retrieving his potato soup from coffee table, eager to dig back in now that he was dressed. Katie took one look at him, covering her mouth with one hand, barely able to contain her laughter.
“You look-”
“-Ridiculous, I know Katie. Thanks.” Keith said flatly, avoiding her penalizing stare and continued to slurp up his soup, grateful for it’s warm aroma. Despite knowing he looked like a red sausage, along with photographic evidence from Katie, he couldn’t help but smile around his spoon.
It was just too hard to be angry when he had a warm bowl of soup in his hands.
- -
Avoiding Lance wasn’t easy, on the contrary, it was extremely difficult to. How are you supposed to avoid the host of the home you’re staying in? That’s right, you can’t.
For example.
“Hey Keith what house are you?” Lance had learned his name after Keith had argued his name was most certainly not ‘Mullet man.’
“He said he’s never watched it before-”
“WAIT what!?”
“Katie, please do not tell me you’ve brought a muggle into our mitz.”
“I am afraid I have Lance. But throwing him out is a no-can-do, we are both on strict ‘sticking together’ terms and regulations.”
“We need to fix this right now.”
“Hunk! Get the DVD’s and popcorn ready!”
“Already on it.”
As if his current situation wasn’t bad enough, somehow the four of them were suddenly preparing for a Harry potter marathon, how the hell was he going to sit through eight movies without falling asleep?
“If you need to go to the bathroom, go now. The theater does not allow breaks in between.” Lance barked, he marched in front of the three others who were currently slouched on the couch.
“You can’t just block us from going to the bathroom-” Keith began, horrified at the thought.
“Oh, trust me, he will.” Katie interrupted flatly, barely looking up from her phone, from the dead-inside look on her face. Keith knew she was dead serious.
“This is a momentous occasion, Katie! Our first muggle is going to be joining Hogwarts!” Lance cried, and exaggerated the two phrases with a pop of his fists into the air, he was taking this seriously- too seriously. What was so great about this franchise anyway? As far as Keith knew, witches just weren’t his thing, neither was magic.
“The theater opens at two o’ clock and closes it’s doors at exactly ten past.” Lance murmured, glancing at an imaginary watch on his wrist. Keith couldn’t help but giggle a little at just how seriously this boy was taking this. As Lance caught his eye, he winked, and finger-gunned him.Keith blushed, and looked away, startled at just how much his heart boomed and pounded at that look.
“The official viewing of Harry potter will commence in exactly ten minutes!” Lance screamed in their faces, waving his arms vainly to get their attention. Keith glanced from left to right, on his left Katie was on her phone, what looked like to be scrolling through tumblr, and looking bored out of her mind, while Hunk simply stood up to stop the popcorn and get it out of the microwave.
It’s like they’ve done this a million times before.
Keith felt like a stranger among them, this tightly knit group of friends, was this why Katie had brought him along? To force Keith to get to know Lance and Hunk? Or was this a form of torture? Because shit it felt like it. His first instinct was to pull out his phone and pretend none of this was happening at all, but he knew that Katie had dragged him along for a reason.
Instead he decided to observe, maybe he could learn more about them.
Lance and Hunk seemed close, comfortable with each other’s presence as if they were connected at the hip. Both different, but they seemed to be childhood friends, brushing past each other and making skin contact like it was nothing. Hell, if somebody said “Hold hands for 5 hours” they could probably do it. He watched as Hunk pulled out the popcorn while Lance told it to him so he could catch it in his mouth. Hunk laughed and chucked a few at the same time, laughing louder at Lance’s scowl as it bounced off his face and onto the floor.
“I have been betrayed, Hunk.” Lance sighed in defeat as the popcorn plopped to the floor, missing his mouth by a mile.
“That’s what you get when you ask me to waste food!” Hunk cried, shrugging.
“I would have totally caught it if your throw hadn’t sucked, geez have some faith it me buddy.” Lance insisted, pointing at his mouth.
“As if man.” Hunk shook his head, and returned to the living room with the bowl of popcorn, pizza and chilled pepsi.
“Seriously? Pepsi? Why not coca cola?” Keith couldn’t help but blurt.
“Tradition.” Hunk shrugged, unscrewing one of the bottles, pouring it into a cup and chugging it down. Lance didn’t seem bothered by the statement, and neither did Katie. They didn’t seem to care.
“The Harry potter movie marathon will now begin!” Lance whooped, Katie and Hunk whooped along with him. He tried to ignore that.
Hunk then flicked off the lights and everything went dark, he could hardly see his own hands, Hunk had also closed the curtains so there was literally no light source.
Lance slid in the first DVD, shaking with excitement as it clicked and whirred in the machine. Keith looked up as the menu came on screen and Lance selected Play. Katie put her phone down and Hunk passed the bowl of popcorn to him, all settled down, the movie began.
Around halfway through the films Keith had completely forgotten about the bowl of popcorn sitting on his lap and most likely spilled over his black jeans. He was captivated by the setting of wizardry.
...Then the screen paused.
“Lance what the hell?!” They were halfway through Order of the phoenix.
“So…” Lance turned to him with a sly smile, leaving the movie paused, he stood up and coughed to get Katie’s and Hunk’s attention.
The blue light of the screen fell soft onto the boy’s skin, framing him in it’s blue glow. His eyes shone in the dark.
“The time has come Keith, the sorting ceremony!” Lance picked up an old baseball cap from behind the TV and shook off the dust from it, it looked tatted from years of being shoved behind nooks and cranny’s. He picked up a chair and dragged it to the centre of the room.
Hunk flicked the lights back on. It blinded him for a second, he blinked letting his eyes grow used to the light.
“Oh my gosh we don’t have to do this, I could just tell you all what house I think I am-”
“No can do, Keith. This club has strict terms, follow the rules or leave the premises.” Lance pointed to the door. “Besides, if we’re going to tell you what house you are, we’ve gotta do it properly.” Lance motioned for him to come to the chair, his hands tapping impatiently on the top of the seat.
“But-” Keith wanted to argue, scream, and chain himself to his seat, he just… didn’t want to be told what house he was.
“Lance is actually really good at telling you what house you are, Keith. Trust him on this one.” Katie flicked her hand and pointed to the chair, even her eyes were lit up with a fire, she looked excited and so did Hunk, as if this was the moment they had all been waiting for.
He looked around at each of their faces, their eyes shone with a passion he’d never seen before.
“Fine, but I don’t like it.” Keith sighed begrudgingly, internally groaning, but giving in. Reluctantly and slowly rising from his seat, he sat back down again on the chair Lance had stationed in the center of the room.
The hat was placed on his head, making his bangs get in the way of his eyes, tickling his cheeks. He suddenly wished he had shorter hair for this occasion.
Lance imitated the sorting hat’s voice, squeezing out the words so that they would come out raspy and rough. Hunk and Katie watched eagerly from their seats.
“Hmmm… a mullet aye? Interesting… lot’s of courage, bravery, and sharp-like instincts in this one hm? Dark and brooding, but skillful. You’d make a fine slytherin, my dear boy-”
“-NO.”
Lance, Katie and Hunk all looked at Keith in awe, surprised at his small but sudden outburst.
Shocked, but intrigued.
Lance decided to roll with it, shrugging it off.
Lance continued, sneering a little as he went on. “Not Slytherin? Hmm, definitely not a Ravenclaw, not enough smarts for that, I can tell that this one is sharp but a little blunt around the edges when it comes to intelligence-”
“-Lance.” Keith folded his arms, a whisker away from whipping the stupid baseball hat off, and storm out the door without knowing whatever house he was in.
“Okay okay! Geez, take a joke much?” Lance looked to Katie and Hunk, who both shook their heads in disapproval. Lance rolled his eyes, and narrowed his eyes, trying to concentrate a bit more. Gripping the sides of the baseball hat harder, he squinted, seeming a little more serious about the task at hand. Taking a deep breath, Lance lifted the hat from Keith friend, and leaned down beside him, grinning as he told him his answer.
“Gryffindor.”
Katie and Hunk cheered, Lance howling with laughter as Hunk opened the pepsi, it spurted everywhere, a brown froth spraying the air. Katie stuck out her tongue to collect the sweetness. Hunk pulled out cups for the four of them, and together toasted to their new wizard in the making.
- -
Why? Why Gryffindor? Why not Slytherin? Even though he had interrupted the discussion and said ‘No’, there had been a pulling sensation towards Slytherin, but why? Personally, he did think that he was a Slytherin deep down, something about it was compelling.
Was Lance right? Keith had his doubts, but hadn’t been able to bring himself to question it.
Lance seemed more perceptively aware than most, he’d probably been observing Keith himself till that point. Keith had noticed, but decided to ignore that, Lance had watched him closely with keen eyes the whole time, at first he had pushed that thought away, because to be frank, Keith had been doing the same.
Maybe Lance was right.
The movie marathon had been a success, though they had all begun to doze off halfway through the second to last movie, and eventually collapsed of exhaustion. The credits were still rolling, illuminating the room softly, painting it in a soft glow. The audio had been turned down, so the music was just barely audible in the background. It was a nice atmosphere honestly.
Keith shifted on the couch, struggling to gain a sense of comfort. The leathery grip of it had grown sweaty and hot after some time, losing its previous charm, it was no longer comfortable.
After shifting for sometime, over and over, rolling back and forth and having to listen to the other’s gentle and blissful sleeping, he cursed inwardly, throwing his blanket off. Hearing it plop onto the other side of the room, he slid off the couch and onto his feet.
He couldn’t sleep.
Suddenly, his phone started to vibrate. Startling him with it’s sudden movement. Retrieving it from his back pocket, his fingers mound the cold metal. Keith held it in his hands, groaning a little inside.
He scanned the name.
Shit. Mom.
His eyes instinctively darted towards the four lumps sleeping behind him, sighing, he gently slid open the apartment door, and stepped out onto the veranda on silent toes. He didn’t want to wake them. His bare feet trembled a little at the sudden cold that his toes touched, the cool air surrounded him, waking his body up and shocking it alert.
Keith tapped his phone, and waited for the inevitable.
“Hey, mom.” Keith answered, his voice came out gruff, composing himself, he heard his mother take a deep shuddering breath, then her voice blasted in his ear. He winced.
“Keith, where are you? It’s 3AM!” She shouted into the phone.
“Uh… at Katie’s place, I’m staying over.” Keith replied, thinking fast. He crossed his fingers, hoping that it would get her off his back. It was a plausible excuse, and it made sense, hopefully it would work.
“Oh.” His mother muttered softly, as if she had anticipated a more wild answer.
“Sorry, I should have called and told you, but-” Keith fumbled, praying that
“No no, it’s fine. Just, let me talk to Colleen for a moment.” She sounded tired, and too stressed to deal with his 'shenanigans'.
Shit.
Okay, fact number one; Keith was, not in fact, at Katie’s place, and her mother was nowhere near where he was right now, and fact number two; he was utterly fucked.
Trying to keep his breathing under control, as he had never actually been a good liar, he took a deep breath, and mustered up a monotone like voice.
“Sure, hang on.”
Bursting back into the room, he crawled over and recognized which lump was Katie. He recognized her and grabbed onto her shoulder, shaking her roughly, cursing as she didn’t stir.
“Oi! Katie! Wake up!”
She didn’t even turn. Grabbing her pillow, he whopped her over the head, sighing in relief when she finally turned over, yawing and rubbing her eyelids.
“Keith, what the fuck.” She sat up, still yawning, eyes drooping lazily. She grabbed her pillow from his hands, and smacked it over his head.
“Ow.” He rubbed his head and pointed at his phone, pressing a finger to his lips. Hoping she would get the message.
Lowering his voice to barely above a whisper, he cupped his mouth on one side, and whispered.
“It’s my mom! She thinks I’m at your place and wants to talk to your mom!” He scream-whispered, his eyes darting to Lance and Hunk quickly. Neither of them were awake.
“Give the phone here, believe it or not, I have a full-proof getaway conversation for this kind of thing.” She rolled her eyes as if he were a child, making him feel small in comparison. True, he was overacting, but he was desperately trying not to blow their cover, so he bit back a sharp retort.
Keith hesitated at first, but when Katie had an idea, it usually was a genius one. Still reluctant, he handed his phone over, she coughed a little, warming her voice up.
“Hi Mrs Takashi! It’s Katie here, mom’s in the shower right now, but whatever it is you need to tell her, I can pass on the message.” Katie was good, like really good, and Keith was… well, an idiot. Why hadn’t he thought of that? It was a simple thing to do really.
“Yup. I’ll tell her, oh and Keith wants to stay for a bit longer if that’s okay? My mom said it’s fine…” Katie continued, shooting at look at him.
“Yeah, okay! Bye!” As soon as she passed the phone back to him, her voice dropped back to it’s original tone.
“All she wanted to tell my mom was that you’re lactose intolerant, as if she doesn’t know that already…. also she said you could stay for a few more days, that should buy us some more time, oh yeah, and my mom thinks I’m at your place.”
“Thanks, Katie.” Keith smiled, switching off his phone, and getting up to leave.
“Now let me sleep, idiot.” Yawning through her sentence, Katie rolled back into her original position, pulling up the covers to cover her body. She was asleep in seconds. Huh, must be tired.
Now he felt bad for waking her up.
Stepping back outside, the cold felt nicer this time. Cool in a comforting way, but not icy. The boy’s breath billowed out in a soft grey cloud in little flowery plumes. Keith stared out across the street, trying to make it out, street lamps speckling the side of roads, little green bushes on well-kept lawns, and a few street cat’s pacing and prowling the street were all he could see. It was a nice neighborhood.
Looking up, and tilting his head back, he could pick out the first few stars burning out as the early dawn set in, extinguishing them one by one. A few held on, glittering for as long as possible before they to, were overcome by the sun, no longer able to be seen by the naked eye.
There was no way he was going back to sleep now. He knew that he’d be exhausted by the time the others awoke, but he knew that sleep would not find him, and besides, the sight was worth it.
He’d just wait it out. Waiting for the blue sky to return.