Work Text:
You don't remember Michael Kaiser. Not really. Maybe his blue eyes send a little tingle to the back of your mind, a fuzzy memory from when you were younger. But didn't you see so many eyes like that back then? Back in that old, dreary neighborhood you lived in, working multiple jobs to scrape by. Tasked with far too many roles and responsibilities yet still looking out for others, clinging to the idea of kindness that you weren't so sure truly existed in the world of adulthood you had quickly been forced into. So many forlorn faces you had tried to brighten, it was too hard to remember all of them.
But Michael Kaiser remembers you. Vividly. Always. That little alleyway between the restaurant that always smelled of vinegar and spice and the dusty bookstore cramped with far too many decaying books. The jingle of the keys kept in your worn cardigan pocket as you ran between buildings, between shifts. Your movements always pausing when you caught his blue eyes and dull face, your eyes lighting up with recognition, relief. With care. With pity, as you took out another rumpled old paper bag of leftovers and bent down to give it to him. Michael Kaiser remembers each and every movement of your warm hands carefully trying not to spook him. Each and every soft movement of your smile, your tired yet twinkling eyes. Every word you uttered to him, too similar to what you told others.
Memories he never let go of, shaped and twisted to what is needed for his heart, for his trembling hands and clenched jaw. To soothe that dull ache, that ravenous need for your warm fingers gently patting his grimy hair, the bittersweet yet hopeful assurances that left your lips back then. Motivation. Fear. Hunger. Everything else is but a tool to be used to reach his dream, his reward, his trophy. His proof. It isn't enough to just be successful. Michael Kaiser has to be the best. So that pity will never shine in your eyes again, so that you will never see him as a little boy, so much younger than yourself, comparable to too many others.
So that you will have no choice for when he finally comes to get you, for when his fame and power and wealth overshadow everything that you have ever achieved, going far beyond anything you can ever dream of achieving. Leaving you no choice but to only look at him with your expressive eyes, your warm fingers only allowed to touch his flesh, to caress his lustrous hair. Your lips curling only for him, saying his name so sweetly. Only his name, and every silly pet name you'll no doubt come up with (he's dreamed of so many). Only Michael Kaiser's face will be left in the memories you make for the rest of this lifetime. He'll let you see that your kindness was worth it. Just wait.