Wishes Are Granted in the Strangest Ways

[Sky]

OOC: Just some random Sky angst that occurs sometime after Sky's/Bloom's/Christine's run-in during the "Close Encounters" thread/also ties in with the "When Things Were Simple" thread

Ever since he had run into her in town, Sky couldn't stop thinking about her - a fact that caused an immense knot of guilt to blossom in the pit of his stomach. He knew that he shouldn't be having those thoughts about her, shouldn't be questioning the great thing he had going with Christine, but lately, her name kept creeping to the foreground of his mind. Her face kept slipping up behind his eyelids and he swore that he could hear the sound of her laughter and her voice calling his name. But worst of all were the memories that he couldn't brush aside. The memories that made him long for things to go back to the way they were.

Those memories made their appearances everywhere. Every time he went to town these days, everywhere he looked, there was some memory he had of her waiting to pounce on him. That flower market on the corner of Main Street reminded him of the time he bought her a bouquet of roses for her birthday. The bench on Market Street reminded him of the time they had waited for the city bus to catch a ride back to Red Fountain after his levabike had broken down on a rare occasion. But most of all, there was the park.

He only had recollections of one time he and Bloom had spent time there, but that memory was so vivid that even now, it wouldn't be difficult to convince himself that he had only been there with her the previous night. He remembered how the breeze had felt in his hair and how it had felt to wrap his arm around her waist. He remembered how they had danced on the fountain and how they had teased each other with corny jokes. But most of all, he remembered how they had watched a shooting star light up the night sky and how they had each made wishes.

He had wished that the night would never end even though he had known that it was the most foolish wish to make - that it defied all aspects of logic.

Strange that he had been wrong.

Strange how he now saw that his wish had been granted in a strange, twisted way. It was like the universe was having the last laugh and Sky hated it.

Because even though that night had long ago ended physically, it was still very much alive. In his mind. And in his mind, it would last forever.

Irony. It killed him.

[Tags: Anyone who wants to come out to play with a brooding Sky XD]

[Riven]

(OOC: Well, if nobody else is gonna bite... *makes up excuse to be at Red Fountain*)

Red Fountain. It was the place he had called home for a few years, and also the place he had sworn never to return to. Yet here he was. His last conversation with Darcy had left a bad taste in his mouth, and this seemed like the only way to get over it.

Although he’d never admit it to anyone, barely even to himself, the hard, often heartless exterior he put on was hardly more than a veneer. Although he pretended not to care, even succeeded in convincing himself that he didn’t sometimes, the fact was that he was worried. Darcy had dropped a bombshell on him about Brandon, and it was driving him crazy that he didn’t know how bad it was. There were only two ways to find out, and even though Sky was the last person in the world he wanted to see lately, he was slightly more favourable than the hysterical Stella that he pictured in his mind. He couldn’t handle crying women.

Having checked the dorm and came up empty, Riven searched around and eventually got a lead on his former friend’s whereabouts. Stopping at the door to the observatory, he did just that: observed. Inside was a very sullen and pensive looking Sky. Riven could only hope that it was Brandon he was brooding about, and not another chapter in the Sky and Chris soap opera.

“Hiding out are we?” he opened, a callous smirk on his face.

[Sky]

At the sound of the familiar voice behind him, Sky abruptly turned toward it. And at the sight of the voice's owner - none other than Riven, his former teammate and friend, although Sky suspected that the magenta haired former specialist would be loath to admit it - the thoughts that had been flooding his mind vanished and were replaced with just one. What was Riven doing here? He had left Red Fountain, had given up on the team, had packed up his bags and hit the road to live the 'independent life.' So what could possibly have driven him back? Hard times, perhaps? It wasn't exactly a secret that Riven wasn't as well off as some of the other students - many of whom were princes or at least part of the nobility - and so it wouldn't be entirely surprising if he had found it more difficult to survive out in the real world than he had anticipated. Although, from what Sky understood about Riven, he was a cunning fellow and was capable of taking care of himself. But who knew? Perhaps Riven's time at Red Fountain had made him go soft; after all, the school was very much like a mini world in itself and it was easy to forget that life existed outside of it.

Realizing abruptly that he was just standing there gaping at Riven, Sky gave his head a quick shake before he said slowly, not bothering to give his former teammate the satisfaction of riling him up, "Uhh...what are you doing here?"

[Riven]

“Tsk, tsk. Is that any way to greet an old friend?” Riven replied, making the words sound as if that was the last thing they ever were. Whatever lies he would have to make up to explain his being here, it would be worth it just for the look on Sky’s face. The open mouthed look of surprise on Red Fountain’s prize specialist was priceless.

“I came to pick up some of my stuff,” he lied, nonchalantly. “What are you doing here?” he quickly countered, gesturing to the room around them before walking over to look out one of the windows.

“Shouldn’t you be off wrangling dragons or saving damsels from distress?”

[Sky]

At Riven's jibe, Sky winced, knowing that his former teammate's words were an ill-concealed attack on his leadership abilities. Obviously, Riven thought - and had probably thought for a long time before he had even considered leaving Red Fountain - that he was indeed a 'golden boy' incapable of doing anything worthwhile. That because he didn't devote every last second of his life to wrangling dragons or levabiking but instead, liked to contemplate aspects of his life, he might as well be the worst captain of all the Red Fountain teams.

Even if that was the farthest thing from the truth. Sky knew that he was capable. Knew that if it hadn't been for his leadership, for the way he kept his team in line with a mix of stringency and humor, that they never would have become Red Fountain's most respected group of students.

Swallowing down the swell of wounded pride that Riven had set off, Sky walked forward and held his hand out politely. "It's good to see you too, Riven."

[Riven]

Turning his head to look over his shoulder, Riven looked down at Sky’s outstretched hand before looking up at his former leader’s face with an eyebrow raised.

“Yeah, right,” he scoffed, ignoring the offer. Instead he turned around to face Sky and folded his arms over his broad chest. Sky had been the leader of their squad, and Riven had always felt he needed to compete with him. Riven wasn’t handed everything on a silver platter like the Prince of Eraklyon and all the other royalty that infested this place. He had to fight for everything that was his, and to prove that he was just as worthy, even more so, than the rest of the silver spoon swallowing pretty boys.

Some days, though, it hardly seemed worth fighting for.

“Tell me, Sky. Have you even given me a single thought since I left? I know it would take time out of worrying about yourself and your life, so I don’t expect so.”

[Sky]

This time allowing a wounded look to cross his features, Sky insisted, "Of course, I've thought about you, Riven." Dropping his extended hand back down to his side, Sky sighed. "I thought we were friends, you know. Maybe not the kind of buddy-buddy friends Brandon and I are, but I thought we were finally coming to the place where we weren't at each others' throats all the time - and maybe that we were finally starting to respect each other. But apparently I was wrong."

Raking a hand through his hair, Sky shook his head. "But you left, cut your ties with all of us before we even knew what hit us." At this, Sky felt his resentment for Riven's actions rise up once more, and he continued in a harsh voice, "So we had to move on. You abandoned us, Riven, and that was unacceptable. So I guess I was the stupid one, because fool that I was, I thought that behind all of that 'I'm so macho, I don't need anyone' crap you toss around, you actually gave a damn about us too. Looks like the joke was on me, right?"

[Riven]

The wounded look on Sky’s face gave Riven a slight sense of satisfaction, but not as much as the fact that he’d gotten him riled up. What quickly quashed this, though, was Sky’s accurate description of how he was. And the accusation.

Abandoned. He had abandoned them just like his mother had abandoned him.

Looking stricken for a brief moment, Riven quickly covered it by pushing past Sky to move to the other side of the room.

“Damn right it was,” he growled, but there was something diminishing the conviction in his voice. “But maybe if you would’ve taken your head out of your own ass long enough to really look around, you would’ve seen it coming.”

I don’t need this place. I don’t need anyone.

He repeated those words in his head as he often did. Some days it was easier to convince himself that it was true. He would never admit it, but part of what Sky had said was true. As time went on, their rivalry had become more friendly, the competitions just for fun and gloating rights instead of glory. But the days of fun seemed to end, and Riven found himself disliking what had replaced it. So he had ran.

[Sky]

“But maybe if you would’ve taken your head out of your own ass long enough to really look around, you would’ve seen it coming.”

Another punch to the stomach - but this time, Sky felt his face turn crimson. Because this attack wasn't like Riven's earlier attempt to make a mockery out of the way he spent his time. No, Riven's words now seemed to conceal something entirely different - something like hurt and betrayal.

It was then that Sky realized that it wasn't Riven who had abandoned the team. Physically, yes - but Sky knew with a sudden sense of deep shame that in many ways, he had mentally checked out of the team a long time before that. Had stopped thinking about what was good for the group and had started thinking only about himself and Christine. Had inextricably entangled the whole lot of them with his personal drama. And none of them, besides Riven, had really been firm enough in their convictions of what a Red Fountain team was to stand up and protest. Only his protest had been silenced by the rest of them. The rest of them trying to pretend that their rank as number one in the school was still solid - that they hadn't become the butt of all the jokes, that wagers hadn't been set by other teams to see how long it would take for the rest of their group to splinter apart.

His eyes trained on the ground, a lock of hair falling down against his forehead, Sky fought to stay in control. Tried to tell himself that Riven knew what he was doing, knew that he could get under his skin, but he couldn't. Over and over, Riven's words turned over in his head until he couldn't take it any longer and he blurted out ashamedly, "You're right. Gods, you're right."

[Riven]

There was a whole lot of silence following his words, and Riven had no idea what to expect for a response. Either he had succeeded in striking Sky speechless, or his former leader had had enough words and was about to come at him, fists flying. He almost hoped it was the latter. At least that would prove that Sky hadn’t been completely girl thingy whipped.

The last reaction he expected, though, was the one that he got.

“A few words I never thought I’d hear from you,” he chuckled in surprise as he swiftly turned away from the wall. Sky looked suddenly deflated, yet this time the twinge of satisfaction didn’t come.

(OOC: Ha, the sensoring on this site is interesting! Just in case you read the above post and went "girl thingy whipped? wtf?", that isn't actually what I wrote)

[Sky]

"Yeah, well, I guess now you can call me Captain Unpredictable," Sky remarked with a ghost of a smile as he attempted to infuse his voice with a bit of humor. Unfortunately, his heavily sagging shoulders accompanied with the distant, shell-shocked look in his eyes had the opposite effect and in the end, Sky only succeeded in looking even more pathetic and disheartened.

The fact that he again lapsed into a long silence didn't help matters either. Not that that thought even crossed his mind. Already, his thoughts had turned inward and he again resumed mentally berating himself. It was true that Riven could toss around harsh words, but compared to what he was calling himself in his mind, Riven's names for him were nothing but apple pie.

For goodness sake, what kind of team leader was he? How far up his ass was his head? Because Riven was right. Even now, even with Brandon's current condition, what had he just been thinking about before Riven had waltzed in? Bloom and Christine, of course. What else was new?

Embarrassment again coloring his face, Sky quickly turned away as he moved to stand by a window on the opposite wall from Riven.

[Riven]

Again Riven scoffed, but this time it was slightly less harsh. That was part of Sky’s problem: he was predictable.

“I’d rather be Captain Unpredictable than the title of Captain Moody I got saddled with,” he remarked, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards in what could have been a smile if it had been given the chance to grow. Instead his face turned neutral once more as he studied Sky. His words really seemed to have hit a nerve, and it wasn’t one that would easily stop twitching.

Good. About time someone smacked him in the face with a mirror.

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Sky’s face that shade of red. It should have been much more amusing than it was. This place really had gotten to Riven, that much was obvious. It was the only explanation of why he had got frustrated enough to leave, and worried enough to return. Which reminded him of his current predicament. How could he inquire about Brandon’s health and still make it seem like he didn’t give a damn? Because he didn’t. He was just curious. That was all.

The answer was easy: play dumb. Sky had no way of knowing what Darcy had told him.

“At least you got Brandon to pick up the slack, not that he has a chance of matching me in skills or strength,” Riven baited.

[Sky]

At Riven's mention of Brandon, Sky felt his stomach twist into knots. The fact that he hadn't done anything to help his friend besides ponder over an intervention with Bloom suddenly sickened him and filled him with a sense of personal disgust. Gods, who was this person he had turned into? Had it truly happened so slowly that he hadn't even been able to realize it? Where along the line had his priorities shifted so much? When had he started putting so much stock in what was good for him? When had he stopped paying attention to the lives of anyone besides himself, Bloom, and Christine?

But now, with Riven waiting for an answer, it was not the time to ponder those things. What he did have to think about was what exactly to tell Riven about Brandon. Did he just come out and tell the whole truth - that by some freak incident, Brandon was now a canine? Or would it matter if Sky just pretended that Brandon was fine? It wasn't like Riven would give a damn either way, right?

But somehow, Sky couldn't entirely believe that.

And so, he said, expelling a long breath, "Brandon's in a bit of a pinch at the moment." Not wanting to go into all the details, Sky continued vaguely, "He disappeared for a couple days and no one knew what happened to him. No trace of him. No one, not even Saladin, had a clue how to find him..." Sky paused in embarrassment, somehow sensing that Riven would scoff at the idea that the team hadn't searched harder for Brandon. "But, uhh, Stella being Stella ran off to find him anyhow. And she did. Well, sort of. Turned out that Brandon wasn't exactly himself." Another pause. "He got spelled or something, no one is quite sure, and now he's a...a...a dog."

[Riven]

"Brandon's in a bit of a pinch at the moment."

“Oh?” was all Riven said to that. For a brief moment he wondered if Sky would even tell him the truth or just play it off as if Brandon was perfectly fine. But lying was more Riven’s forte than Sky’s.

As suspected, he did scoff at the predicted time, but said nothing. A whole school full of Specialists couldn’t find him, but one single fairy could? Pathetic. But that wasn’t the point of the story.

“A dog,” he repeated, inflicting the right amount of disbelief in his voice. “Is this a hint to bring biscuits if I ever visit again?”

[Sky]

At Riven's snide remark, Sky shot him an angry glare as he suddenly snapped, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned a bright white, "Dammit, Riven, this is serious! But since you obviously don't care about any of us - you made that blatantly clear when you left - why don't you just do everyone a favor by getting the rest of your stuff and getting the hell back out of here!"

Having worked himself up into a fine rage, Sky paced back and forth as he ranted, pointing an accusatory finger at his former teammate all the while, "You know, you've got some nerve, Riven. I may not have been the perfect team leader, but deep down, I do care."

Hypocrite. He was a hypocrite. He cared about his team? Well, he sure as hell had an interesting way of showing it. If he cared so much, why had he spent all of this time mulling over his life when he ought to have been fighting alongside Stella to cure Brandon. And to think that he had actually told Stella not to worry when she had first called him to ask him if he knew where Brandon was! To think that he hadn't given it a moment's thought to just how uncharacteristic it was of Brandon to just disappear without any word! If he hadn't been so damn stupid, maybe Brandon wouldn't be in the predicament he was in-

Sky knew that he was angry at himself, but at that moment, he just couldn't deal with it. And so he transferred all of his hurt, rage and humiliation onto Riven as he snarled, "Some nerve, I tell you. How dare you try to give me a lecture on being self-absorbed. You, Mr. Independent. You, who could never do anything for anyone unless you were getting something in return. So you know what? You can just shove it because as far as I'm concerned, I'm done with you."