Mutual Pining

Pining 03

"Your memory feels like home to me. So whenever my mind wanders, it always finds its way back to you." -Ranata Suzuki (found on goodreads.com)

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Air Supplena Island was typically peaceful at night, with all the gently crashing waves at the base of the land. It was a comforting tune for those trying to rest, if the ocean was something that calmed you in particular. It was a wonderfully dark, peaceful night. Mostly everyone had turned in for their sleep.

But a young Joseph was just waking up, from a dream-turned-nightmare. He felt himself breaking out into a cold, nervous sweat as his breath caught in his throat a few times. He was in his room, back on the island. He wondered where that beach was in his dream. The man began touching at his face, trying to see if he felt as old as he had in that dream. But he was still his young, arrogant, charming self. Good, good, he was still in one piece.

But he couldn't seem to get that damned dream out of his head. What did it all mean? Why was there a collapsing building? Why was he with Suzi, and some young girl? What was his head trying to tell him?

He swallowed hard, remembering how Caesar had been in that dream.

Or was that part even a dream?

Joseph's hands began to shake; he didn't like this. He felt around him again, just in case. Yep, this was still the room he'd been given to rest in for his training. His eyes began to sting.

Where was Caesar?

He stood up much faster than his head liked, and the room began to spin. The lump in his throat felt harder, and he hated it. He couldn't muster the courage to speak, but that was fine; he didn't want to. Joseph stumbled out of his room and subconsciously walked himself to another bedroom; to Caesar's, of course.

The blond man was nowhere in sight, and Joseph let out a choked sob, letting his thoughts take over the best of him. A bad feeling swelled inside, and he thought harder on that stupid dream. Without thinking, he slipped onto Caesar's bed, listening to the soft creak of the mattress as he settled and shivered. It wasn't enough. He haphazardly patted around for a blanket, rolling himself in its warmth for some kind of comfort. But it still was not enough for him yet. It wasn't a person. It wasn't him, and it was only starting to hurt more and more. This was going to be difficult to sleep off.

As much as he wanted to deny that dream, stumbling into the empty room only made his gut feeling worse. Not even the waves outside eased his mind, for there was an unsettling storm unraveling in there.

Caesar. Caesar.

"Caesar." He croaked, pressing a blanket covered hand to his mouth to quiet himself down. Joseph felt awfully pathetic, curled up and crying in someone else's bed. Not that he'd admit to it if ever confronted, obviously. That'd be stupid!

He sucked in a breath when he heard footsteps, figuring it was one of the mentors, or maybe even Suzi. He didn't think that Lisa Lisa would be out and about this late. So he bit into the fabric of the blanket, keeping still and quiet as he could to try and appear asleep. He suddenly found himself thankful for the darkness. Despite being a bit taller than Caesar, they both had buff forms, so perhaps it wouldn't be obvious that this clearly wasn't a blond Italian man in the bed. He could only hope for the best with that. Soon, the footsteps seemed to falter, and he held onto his breath to try and seem even less obvious; he even went as far as cramming his eyes shut for more impact.