Caffeine Challenge #25
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Prompts:
1) Dialogue prompt: “When Man Discovered Magic, The World Stood Still With Wonder”
2) Song prompt: Hotel Room by Blake Rose
3) Image prompt:
1) Dialogue prompt: “When Man Discovered Magic, The World Stood Still With Wonder”
2) Song prompt: Hotel Room by Blake Rose
3) Image prompt:
Lennix expected Salto to enter his office so when the other stopped at the door and closed it, Lennix found the words tumbling out. “What are you doing?”
“There’s a quaint hotel I like to stay at,” Salto offered, sounding bored as he produced something out of an inner pocket. “I will be surprised if you don’t recognize it.”
He frowned at that as the door flashed. “We’re not staying here?”
Salto arched an eyebrow as he pocketed whatever the item had been. “And be where those two can touch you when they wake?” The man opened the door. “I would like to avoid another confrontation, thank you very much.”
Lennix bristled at the view beyond the door. He recognized the gate before he even saw the rest of the building and stared at Salto.
The other simply arched an eyebrow at him again and gestured for him to go first.
He pulled his wings tight against his back and stepped through the door. Sure enough, he stepped out onto a street he hadn’t been to in years but knew still to this day. He looked around as he tried to not drown by all the memories and emotions that slammed into him.
“Very little seems to change here.”
He looked back at Salto. The door closed behind the man and it was like it had never existed in the first place. He searched the other’s expression, finding nothing more than weariness and nostalgia on an expression not even directed at him. Instead, those eyes were locked onto the building behind the gate and Lennix wondered if Salto was in a similar state was he was.
A child ran past with a squealing laugh bubbling out of them. They were quickly followed by half a dozen others all screaming and laughing, breaking whatever mood they had fallen into. The adults corralling the children hurried past, one shooting him and Salto an apologetic smile.
“Come on,” Salto spoke, crossing between Lennix and the retreating storm of children and caretakers. “We had a conversation to get to, remember?”
“Yeah,” he offered weakly and trailed behind the other.
The structure itself was very well done, though it left him wondering if it was meant to look like something out of Wonderland despite its blue color scheme. The winding stairs up to the front deck were still well kept but looked aged. Or maybe they had always been like that and he had long forgotten.
At least the front desk associate was more refined than the one that had greeted him at Salto’s workplace.
Up the stairs they went and down the long hall to a door on the end. Something about the room number tickled at the back of his mind.
“I had forgotten how big this place was,” he commented as Salto unlocked the door.
Salto shifted so that Lennix lost sight of his expression. “The front can certainly be deceiving.”
The door clicked open and his stomach dropped.
“This is the same room, isn’t it?”
Salto had made it two thirds of the way to the balcony sliding glass door by the time he had voiced his thought and the man stopped, turning to look at him. “I am not getting another room, Fugama. It’s this or we don’t talk. Your choice.”
Lennix did his best not to flinch from that and crossed the threshold.
Salto opened the balcony door and stepped out, leaning on the railing heavily. Lennix made sure the door was locked before he crossed to the large double bed and sat down on the foot of it, trying not to think about what had happened in the room before all this.
“When Man discovered Magic, the World stood still with Wonder,” Salto quoted, his words muffled by his direction. The wind brought it to Lennix anyways.
“For Wonder would turn to Terror before the new century met its end, leaving the World blind,” Lennix finished out of habit. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “You still believing that old thing?”
Salto laughed. “After everything?” he asked, words edged in manic as he gestured wildly outward. He pushed away from the railing and stormed into the room, a grin on his face that twisted Lennix’s stomach. “After everything that happened in this room?” The man gained some of his composure back as he turned away. Lennix caught a flash of disgust and weariness. “How could I not?”
“Was it all that bad?”
“You cheated on me!” Salto bellowed, turning on his with such violence that Lennix felt the air rush past him as it quivered with the other’s energy. “And lied to me for years!”
“That had been a lapse of judgment from too much alcohol and you know it!” Lennix shot back, on his feet before he even knew he wanted to stand. He deflated because he had come to recognize that wasn’t fair and not the whole of it all. “Please, Salto. Yes, I had drunk too much that night and yes, I should have known it was someone else, but they….” He shook his head. He still didn’t understand how they had convinced him to cheat on Salto. “I did better, tried harder,” he tried again. “I hadn’t asked to be thrust into the roll of a superhero and I didn’t want you dragged into that either.”
Salto scoffed. “And, what? Thought it would be a great idea to leave me at the hands of the Villain Corp instead?”
Lennix took a step towards the other, urging, “I hadn’t even realized they were recruiting, let alone recruiting you.”
“I told you they were!” Salto shot back.
“When?” Lennix demanded but the word sounded broken and the beg far too heavy to be anything but. “Had I’d known, I would have done anything to get you out, sworn to secrecy be damned!”
“Let go of me.”
Lennix gave a start, thrown off by the very level, very cold statement. He realized how close he had gotten, could feel the magic that naturally existed in the man’s aura pressing against its bounds to be released.
He realized he was gripping Salto’s upper arms.
It took far more effort to let go now that he could feel the magic rolling beneath Salto’s skin again.
“Sorry,” he offered meekly, taking a step back.
Silence echoed between them and Lennix found his gaze on some point beyond Salto’s shoulder when the other spoke again.
“Two days after the Magnum Incident,” Salto spoke carefully, his voice filling the void of silence between them. “I had told you that I had received a recruitment letter from In-Sight Us.”
Lennix sucked in air between his teeth, this time outwardly flinching back from the words. “Shit,” he pushed past clenched teeth. He forced his wings against his back, running a hand over his face. “I had gotten cornered by Kingsman on my way home.”
“The Kingsman recruited you?” Salto asked and years of villanry had disbelief edging the comment.
Lennix shook his head. “I don’t know why he wanted me but he had bound my tongue. I couldn’t talk about it with anyone, let alone you, so I couldn’t process my thoughts properly.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I had heard In Sights, the eye company you had been looking to get into.”
Something shifted across Salto’s face. “I hadn’t thought about my ophthalmologist training since the day In-Sight Us recruited me.”
Lennix gave a weak, hesitant chuckle. “You had been so passionate about your field and now look at you. Part of the largest collection of villains and head of one of the most honest companies in the world.”
Salto laughed. Lennix caught the watery edge to the sound. “How did we end up like this, Lennix?”
Lennix shook his head. “I don’t know but I’m willing to give this ten year old chat a go if you are.”
Salto snorted at that but the man gestured at the bed. “Might as well put an end to all of this.”
Lennix plopped back down on the edge of the bed as Salto grabbed the desk chair. Lennix’s heart pulled at the familiar sight. “So,” he tried, weighing his words, “where do we start?”
Salto gave him a fond, albeit a bit exasperated, expression. “Where else? The beginning of this whole mess.”
Lennix leaned back on his hands, steeling himself against what was to come. He knew they needed to talk about it but he didn’t care to start there of all places. “The night I cheated, then?”
Salto’s expression closed off at that. “Unfortunately, but that is the oldest of the things we haven’t talked about.”
“There’s a quaint hotel I like to stay at,” Salto offered, sounding bored as he produced something out of an inner pocket. “I will be surprised if you don’t recognize it.”
He frowned at that as the door flashed. “We’re not staying here?”
Salto arched an eyebrow as he pocketed whatever the item had been. “And be where those two can touch you when they wake?” The man opened the door. “I would like to avoid another confrontation, thank you very much.”
Lennix bristled at the view beyond the door. He recognized the gate before he even saw the rest of the building and stared at Salto.
The other simply arched an eyebrow at him again and gestured for him to go first.
He pulled his wings tight against his back and stepped through the door. Sure enough, he stepped out onto a street he hadn’t been to in years but knew still to this day. He looked around as he tried to not drown by all the memories and emotions that slammed into him.
“Very little seems to change here.”
He looked back at Salto. The door closed behind the man and it was like it had never existed in the first place. He searched the other’s expression, finding nothing more than weariness and nostalgia on an expression not even directed at him. Instead, those eyes were locked onto the building behind the gate and Lennix wondered if Salto was in a similar state was he was.
A child ran past with a squealing laugh bubbling out of them. They were quickly followed by half a dozen others all screaming and laughing, breaking whatever mood they had fallen into. The adults corralling the children hurried past, one shooting him and Salto an apologetic smile.
“Come on,” Salto spoke, crossing between Lennix and the retreating storm of children and caretakers. “We had a conversation to get to, remember?”
“Yeah,” he offered weakly and trailed behind the other.
The structure itself was very well done, though it left him wondering if it was meant to look like something out of Wonderland despite its blue color scheme. The winding stairs up to the front deck were still well kept but looked aged. Or maybe they had always been like that and he had long forgotten.
At least the front desk associate was more refined than the one that had greeted him at Salto’s workplace.
Up the stairs they went and down the long hall to a door on the end. Something about the room number tickled at the back of his mind.
“I had forgotten how big this place was,” he commented as Salto unlocked the door.
Salto shifted so that Lennix lost sight of his expression. “The front can certainly be deceiving.”
The door clicked open and his stomach dropped.
“This is the same room, isn’t it?”
Salto had made it two thirds of the way to the balcony sliding glass door by the time he had voiced his thought and the man stopped, turning to look at him. “I am not getting another room, Fugama. It’s this or we don’t talk. Your choice.”
Lennix did his best not to flinch from that and crossed the threshold.
Salto opened the balcony door and stepped out, leaning on the railing heavily. Lennix made sure the door was locked before he crossed to the large double bed and sat down on the foot of it, trying not to think about what had happened in the room before all this.
“When Man discovered Magic, the World stood still with Wonder,” Salto quoted, his words muffled by his direction. The wind brought it to Lennix anyways.
“For Wonder would turn to Terror before the new century met its end, leaving the World blind,” Lennix finished out of habit. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “You still believing that old thing?”
Salto laughed. “After everything?” he asked, words edged in manic as he gestured wildly outward. He pushed away from the railing and stormed into the room, a grin on his face that twisted Lennix’s stomach. “After everything that happened in this room?” The man gained some of his composure back as he turned away. Lennix caught a flash of disgust and weariness. “How could I not?”
“Was it all that bad?”
“You cheated on me!” Salto bellowed, turning on his with such violence that Lennix felt the air rush past him as it quivered with the other’s energy. “And lied to me for years!”
“That had been a lapse of judgment from too much alcohol and you know it!” Lennix shot back, on his feet before he even knew he wanted to stand. He deflated because he had come to recognize that wasn’t fair and not the whole of it all. “Please, Salto. Yes, I had drunk too much that night and yes, I should have known it was someone else, but they….” He shook his head. He still didn’t understand how they had convinced him to cheat on Salto. “I did better, tried harder,” he tried again. “I hadn’t asked to be thrust into the roll of a superhero and I didn’t want you dragged into that either.”
Salto scoffed. “And, what? Thought it would be a great idea to leave me at the hands of the Villain Corp instead?”
Lennix took a step towards the other, urging, “I hadn’t even realized they were recruiting, let alone recruiting you.”
“I told you they were!” Salto shot back.
“When?” Lennix demanded but the word sounded broken and the beg far too heavy to be anything but. “Had I’d known, I would have done anything to get you out, sworn to secrecy be damned!”
“Let go of me.”
Lennix gave a start, thrown off by the very level, very cold statement. He realized how close he had gotten, could feel the magic that naturally existed in the man’s aura pressing against its bounds to be released.
He realized he was gripping Salto’s upper arms.
It took far more effort to let go now that he could feel the magic rolling beneath Salto’s skin again.
“Sorry,” he offered meekly, taking a step back.
Silence echoed between them and Lennix found his gaze on some point beyond Salto’s shoulder when the other spoke again.
“Two days after the Magnum Incident,” Salto spoke carefully, his voice filling the void of silence between them. “I had told you that I had received a recruitment letter from In-Sight Us.”
Lennix sucked in air between his teeth, this time outwardly flinching back from the words. “Shit,” he pushed past clenched teeth. He forced his wings against his back, running a hand over his face. “I had gotten cornered by Kingsman on my way home.”
“The Kingsman recruited you?” Salto asked and years of villanry had disbelief edging the comment.
Lennix shook his head. “I don’t know why he wanted me but he had bound my tongue. I couldn’t talk about it with anyone, let alone you, so I couldn’t process my thoughts properly.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I had heard In Sights, the eye company you had been looking to get into.”
Something shifted across Salto’s face. “I hadn’t thought about my ophthalmologist training since the day In-Sight Us recruited me.”
Lennix gave a weak, hesitant chuckle. “You had been so passionate about your field and now look at you. Part of the largest collection of villains and head of one of the most honest companies in the world.”
Salto laughed. Lennix caught the watery edge to the sound. “How did we end up like this, Lennix?”
Lennix shook his head. “I don’t know but I’m willing to give this ten year old chat a go if you are.”
Salto snorted at that but the man gestured at the bed. “Might as well put an end to all of this.”
Lennix plopped back down on the edge of the bed as Salto grabbed the desk chair. Lennix’s heart pulled at the familiar sight. “So,” he tried, weighing his words, “where do we start?”
Salto gave him a fond, albeit a bit exasperated, expression. “Where else? The beginning of this whole mess.”
Lennix leaned back on his hands, steeling himself against what was to come. He knew they needed to talk about it but he didn’t care to start there of all places. “The night I cheated, then?”
Salto’s expression closed off at that. “Unfortunately, but that is the oldest of the things we haven’t talked about.”