ﾟ･stars were made for falling ﾟ･ (original)

1- starfire

act one- the world is a very broken place and probably always will be

Leo didn't want to wake up just yet; he was having a good dream for once. Of course, he had never remembered his dreams. They always seemed to vanish the next day without a trace.

Anyway.

The dream was pleasant, but nothing special. It felt like maybe early summer, and the sky was vibrantly blue. He was slowly walking through a field of strangely soft grass, that also, strangely enough, was nearly chest-deep. He wasn't aware of going anywhere, he was just walking at his own pace, peaceful as he could possibly be. It was the most peace he would experience in a while.

What woke him up was the sharp sound of something unmistakably hitting his windowpane. Leo jolted awake, staring dazed at the broken glass scattered all over his carpet. He slowly moved over to the window, peeking out while still rubbing his eyes. Oh. He frowned. It was Bram. This is just stellar.

Suddenly more awake, he nervously opened the window- the break was small, but he didn't want the thing to shatter- and poked his head out. "Jesus, Bram, it's like," Leo glanced over to the clock on his nightstand, "Four in the morning. What do you want?"

The moon was unusually bright that night, illuminating everything in a glossy, pale glow. Bram- who resembled a weasel dipped in grease, with his long, oily black mullet- was standing plain as day in his backyard, one arm still held back as if he had more rocks to throw. He opens his hand, letting them fall to the ground, staring up at Leo with a smug grin. "Well, well, well Leo. Took you long enough. It's kinda stupid I had to break your window to get your attention."

"What do you want?" He repeated, his voice growing more edged.

Bram smirked, an oddly intense glint in his eyes. "I saw somethin' in the woods!"

Leo leaned on the window frame, his head resting on his arms as his irritation faded back to sleepiness. "Is that so?"

He nodded, not picking up on the other boy's tone. "Uh-huh, good buddy! You've got to come with me! It's some of the soldiers! They're having a big ol' campfire out in the woods! I think on that little cliff, the one with the weird dent in it?"

Leo nodded; he knew the one Bram was talking about. It was a neighborhood hotspot for the other kids; he didn't go often himself, but that wasn't because he didn't know about it. It was more because Leo didn't have any friends.

"Well, there's a fire! I saw the smoke! I wonder what they're doing?"

"Bram, I really hate to be rude," No, he didn't, "But I don't care. I'm tired. We have school tomorrow."

"Chicken!" He pointed a finger at Leo accusingly, but he didn't even flinch. "You're just scared of the soldiers! Always have been."

He flushed a little, his ears burning; that stung a bit. "I'm not scared of them! I just know to keep my distance-"

"You used to cry when we'd see 'em, remember?" He was laughing now, and it was an absolutely disgusting sound. "Such a baby, good god."

"It's their masks. They aren't right. I don't like how you can't see their eyes."

"Hah, yeah, okay, scaredy-cat. Leo- isn't that like, a lion or something? You're not a lion, you're a scared little baby cat!"

"Oh no, my feelings! How will I ever recover," Leo snarled, trying to seem sarcastic, but it came out way angrier. "If I go with you, will you leave me alone?"

He pointed a finger gun at him, something that should have been suave, but wasn't. "That's the spirit, Lee."

He pulled away from the window, disgusted. He didn't bother shutting it- it was still broken, and he didn't want any more broken glass on his carpet. So Leo pulled the curtains shut instead, stumbling tiredly over to his dresser.