Chapter Text
When Kaelix and Freo first met in high school, it was a bit strange.
“Zeal! Do you know where my ear-piece is?” Kaelix called from the stage, a stark difference to the angelic vocal warm ups he was doing that seemed to come from a voice embroidered with gold.
They were in their gym, a large space that occasionally was transformed into assembly halls or a sort of stage area, and on that centre stage, was Kaelix, going through a practice run of his first ever performance.
Granted, it was in the talent show, and he was going alongside some other acts, but it was still nerve wrecking as hell.
Zeal popped his head from the wings, the velvet curtains rippling as he pulled them open, “You might want to ask Freo, he’s-” Zeal looked at Kaelix’s confused stare, then realised he didn’t know who this ‘freo’ character was. “Freodore, he’s backstage now, our assistant tech guy.” He pulled his head back, leaving Kaelix still confused.
How was he meant to know who this freo person was based on what, his name, and job??? Did Zeal expect him to just go yelling: “DOES ANYONE KNOW A FREODORE AROUND HERE??” and hope he didn’t sound crazy???
But regardless, there was nothing else to do, so instead of yelling it out, he politely, calmly, went to every person backstage until he found him.
“Sorry, do you know who Freodore is?”
“Ah- excuse me, are you Freodore?”
“Someone told me Freo was around here, would you know him?”
“Are you Freodore?”
“Freodore?”
“Please tell me your Freo.”
His questions became more exasperated. There were only so many people backstage!!!”
After a solid 5-10 minutes of asking around, he gave up. He’d just have to practice without the whole fancy audio set up.
So he went back onstage, dodging people running frantically, and weaved through the curtains, light pouring into his eyes that were well adjusted to the dark backstage already. To save himself from blindness, he shielded his eyes, squinting as he kept on walking.
To immediately bump into a ladder.
A faint gasp could be heard, followed by “Hey-!”
The ladder swayed on its feet, tragically, slowly falling backwards.
Kaelix scrambled to keep it upright, latching onto the nearest side and planting it firm onto the floor, thankfully, after a few seconds, a person did not come raining down to the floor, and after whole minute, the silence was loud as it rang between the two.
*I just nearly killed someone.*
Dramatic, worrying questions filled his brain, but he ripped his mind off of them to take priorities seriously. Breaking the silence, he lifted his head to the person at the top of the ladder, “Hey- you okay!?”
A small, “yes.” Was heard, before the figure started climbing down, one rung at a time, slowly and carefully.
Originally, the lights were in the way, so the figure before hand looked like a black silhouette, but as they descended down the ladder, a more clear view could be seen.
…
Kaelix wasn’t a shallow person by any means. In fact, he was quite the opposite. He had dated a few people in his few years of living and all of them ranged in the objective social scale of ‘attractiveness.’ Obviously, you should date someone you’re attracted to, both physically and emotionally, but Kaelix was quite oblivious.
If you were bald? Kaelix would still find you attractive.
If you had wrinkles? Kaelix thought it was signs of happiness.
Acne? Too fat? Too skinny? Kaelix wouldn’t care.
Because for him, physical appearances were never a big thing, something to notice, recognise, and leave it at that. No preferential treatment just because someone’s hair was shinier than someone else's.
That also meant that he wasn’t shocked when a beautiful person walked in. Sure if a magnificent model walked in the room, he’d turn his head, but when it came to conversation? He’d treat them as anyone else.
This meant, that he made friends easily, his happy-go-lucky attitude and friendly nature just seemed to attract people to him like moths to a flame.
So. Keep this in mind.
…
When the person came down, Kaelix might have been in shock.
Beautiful.
For better or for worse, the light that the person seemed to be working shone on top their head, as if ascending down from heaven, leaving a halo of light reflecting off soft turquoise locks.
An Angel.
Even his steps seemed to be angelic, the way he descended the ladder, his porcelain like skin and fair hands laying on rungs as he climbed.
An embodiment of grace.
And as they met eyes?
Damn.
His sunset eyes that burned, shined, glowed with a look that made Kaelix quiver. But not in fear, or even extreme happiness, just from the sheer intensity behind those eyes. An streaked with pinks and reds. The way he presented himself, painting himself a picture that couldn’t be told with any amount of words. And the way his mouth quirked up in a shy smile, god. He could make you feel like you were the only person in the world, or at least the only person who mattered.
And apparently, Kaelix was a bit shallow, as he lost words to speak, which was strange because he usually had too much to say at times.
“You are… Kaelix, right?” the voice spoke.
He spoke.
His voice- velvety like honey, a gentle tilt to his voice, a sharp one, similar to an accent but one that Kaelix couldn’t pinpoint-
focus.
“Ah-! Yeah! Yeah, I’m Kaelix.” He stammered, trying not to fumble over words and syllables he could have easily said a few seconds ago.
Suddenly, he remembered what happened a few seconds ago.
And shaking, trembling, terrifying horror struck poor Kaelix Debonair.
“Oh! I am, so *so* sorry.” Kaelix apologised profusely, “I wasn’t looking where I was going and I bumped into the ladder, I didn’t realise, I am so sorry!” He bowed deep, and when he raised himself, he couldn’t find the courage to meet his eyes again, afraid that he might burst from the intense scrutinisation.
And instead of the ugly reprimanding he expected?
A soft, gentle, “It’s alright.” came.
A few words, only two words in fact, and it shook Kaelix to his core.
The person spoke again, “I should’ve had someone to hold the ladder as well, and I am okay now.” He paused before adding on, “Next time, make sure to look where you’re going though. Not just for me, but you could’ve gotten hurt as well.
They met eyes again, and Kaelix swore electricity sparked between them.
The other person quickly looked away, but before diving off into the wings, he grabbed Kaelix’s hand and pulled his fingers open so he had his palm facing up.
“Zeal said you were looking for this?”
He placed a small black object in his hands and quickly dashed off, the red curtains swishing to a close as all traces of him were gone.
Except one.
Kaelix fiddled with the object in his hands, flipping it over and fitting it into his ear.
So that was… Freodore.
…
I’d like to see him again.
Freo was playing with switches, mentally taking notes of the differences each made and labelling them in his mind.
Obviously, he could just ask, being the *assistant* tech after all.
But, the one person he was meant to rely on?
Well he was—
Actually, Freo didn’t know where he was, arguably better than knowing what he might have been doing instead.
Regardless, Freo was on his own, but thankfully, he had sufficient knowledge to understand the basics. In fact, this unfair experience was kinda fun! Learning, exploring and expanding on knowledge and putting theory into practice was what engineering was about. Creating. And instead of learning from a desk and thousand word textbooks, Freo could apply his skills.
“Aye, Freooo,” a deep but light voice that prolonged syllables, interrupting his stream of methodical thoughts. “Kaelix, he’s going to be the 3rd act tonight, even dyed the tips of his hair blue, he’s that excited, but also nervous.” he pointed to the stage, “I think he’s trying really hard, so do him a favour? He’s looking for his ear-piece.”
“Hmm…” Freo stared at the board of light switches and different notches. He grabbed the ear-piece from a table nearby, flipping it over in his fingers, hesitant because inside, his brain was itching for him to return to his work.
Freo let out a small sigh, “Alright, I’ll get it to him.”
“Thank you!” Zeal smiled, dashing off to do whatever important duties he needed to do.
Onstage… right?
Freo pulled back the red curtains, yet no one was onstage except for a lone microphone.
He scanned the stage, as if this ‘Kaelix’ might have been hiding in the ceiling tiles.
But what he did find?
Was a visible fault in the lights.
So he mustered all his reasonable thinking, and concluded to follow the irresistible itch in his brain. To fiddle, meddle and fix.
Who else was going to do it anyways? The actual tech guy? He was off playing hooky anyways!
So, slowly, he dragged a ladder from backstage, pulling it through the curtains with strenuous effort, placing it below the light and shaking it to ensure it held stable.
Carefully, and slowly, he climbed up the ladder, and when he reached the top, he meticulously searched for the source of the problem. It was a quick fix, so really, it shouldn’t of been too hard.
Was what he was thinking when he finished. But as soon as he took a breathe out in satisfaction, he immediately sucked that air back in when an earthquake happened!
Well, the ladder was shaking, but it sure felt like an earthquake.
He whipped his hands to top of the ladder, planting his feet firmly onto the top rung and squeezed his eyes shut, his heart lurched up in his throat hoping that gravity wouldn’t fail him.
After a few beats, he wrenched his eyes open again.
I’m… okay?
I’m okay!
With a few heavy breathes, trying to calm down his fast beating heart, he started to descend the ladder, a death grip on the sides and a slight tremble to his legs as they shakily climbed down each rung at a time.
He saw a person at the bottom, clutching the ladder beneath him.
He must have bumped into it.
First, anger seared through Freo’s heart. How careless is this guy? What kind of idiot doesn’t watch where he’s going, heck for all I know it could have been on purpose!
But then, reason came back. And Freo stared into those eyes clearly.
Deep blue eyes that Freo didn’t know for sure, but he felt as if they should have reflected with passion, joy, everything nice in the world, but instead, those cerulean eyes were wide in shock, fear lacing his pupils and mouth slightly agape. The embodiment of guilt, sadness and regret.
…
Now, Freo obviously wasn’t stupid. He wouldn’t just forgive someone because they had nice eyes and felt bad. Heck, he’s designed clothing using his friends as models, and not to brag, but his friends were definitely lookers! Zeal had a cool rebellious handsomeness, while Seible was the embodiment of cheekiness, yet somehow everyone let him off because he had more charisma in one smile than Freo could hope to give in a lifetime.
But this person?
An effortless expression that reflected every emotion, every feeling that this person could’ve been hiding, all hidden by a pair of azure eyes that you could drown in. Even his white hair, perfectly soft on his head in a fashion that screamed I just woke up like this! Not to add on, but blue tips on his hair that somehow blended perfectly with his white hair, making the designer in Freo want to examine every hair strand to see how it perfectly was applied. In fact, everything about this man made Freo want to put him under investigation.
But first things first.
Blue tips?
“You are, Kaelix, right?”
Freo tried his best to make his voice stable, as if he wasn’t considering stealing his mop of hair for his selfish experimentations. Even if he was still trembling and felt like a complete wreck on the inside, did *not* mean he needed to show it. Just because he was sure Kaelix could see the terrifying death grip he had on the rungs of the ladder and his legs that settled on solid floor like jello did not mean Freo lost all his dignity.
“Ah-! Yeah! Yeah, I’m Kaelix.” He stammered, fumbling over words.
It was cute. Kaelix wore his heart on his sleeve and let everyone know his emotions, most likely because there was nothing to hide. This also meant that the fear he showed? Was most likely the sickening fear he displayed when he first saw Kaelix. He was a genuine, honest and kind man.
Unlike Freo, who couldn’t help his annoyed and stone cold face that stuck like a mask on him, no matter how long he spent in front of a mirror, practicing facial expressions, he wasn’t able to change the way he was. And that was alright! He was just born that way, and learned to embrace it, if he couldn’t exactly laugh loudly like Kaelix naturally, or jitter with nervousness, then so be it.
“Oh! I am, so so sorry.” Kaelix apologised profusely, “I wasn’t looking where I was going and I bumped into the ladder, I didn’t realise, I am so sorry!”
Kaelix bowed, and when he looked up, he wasn’t looking anywhere but at Freo, but the regret was clear in his eyes, if he could see them or not.
Freo tried his best to keep his voice stable, even if he felt as if his heart was thumping so loud Kaelix could probably have heard it. “It’s alright.”
Maybe he should have stopped there, but he didn’t want to leave Kaelix, the nervous wreck with two words of solace. “I should’ve had someone to hold the ladder as well, and I am okay now.” He paused, then reconsidered his approach. “Next time, make sure to look where you’re going though. Not just for me, but you could’ve gotten hurt as well.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt a sting of regret. Did he sound too harsh? He was just trying to give good advice. Why did he have to speak like that? Could he have not just kept his mouth shut? But his conscience wouldn’t of let him. Freo always knew that logical responses to situations like these were the most reasonable, and the most comfortable to him. But something about this Kaelix, made him want to treat him with the utmost care.
They met eyes.
Freo’s heart did another 360, yet not because of the adrenaline from the accident earlier, but because of another, mysterious factor.
I am not usually swayed by handsome faces. Get a grip.
Freo looked away quickly, afraid he might not have been able to if he waited a second longer, lest he get lost in the ocean of passion contained in his eyes.
He mumbled a small “Zeal said you were looking for this?” Before forcefully grabbing Kaelix’s arm to drop it into his palm and disappeared into the curtains, not looking back afraid that he might have been met with a sharp blue gaze that he couldn’t look away from.
When he sank from the stage and shelled himself into his little safe haven of a mini studio, he mentally crumpled in on himself.
… So thats Kaelix?
…….
??
…
I’d like to see his performance.