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

4- darkness falls

act two- and fate's hand keeps drawing you toward the inevitable

December 1993

Miles had never actually enjoyed his job, in fact, he'd never even wanted it. Sure, being a coverperson meant he got to be up, basking in dismal sunlight, rather than hiding away like a mole underground, but it didn't mean his day was any more exciting. The best part about it was the animals, for sure; down below, they never really got to interact with animals, so seeing the chicken farms up above was nice. Of course, he knew they were eventually going to eat the damn things, but he couldn't help getting attached, sneaking off to go visit the birds every once in a while. They were a bit strange but overall very endearing in his eyes, and something about the noises they made were very funny.

There were also the deer he would see roaming the woods in the morning, and the little birds in the trees, along with various other small creatures. Maybe a stray cat, if he was lucky- and, if he was even luckier, he'd be able to pet it. But really, besides that, this job was just doing pretend chores for a pretend town on the off chance an outsider would stumble in, looking for shelter. No one had done that since he was a kid, not since his friend Elizabeth had shown up with her mom.

She was barely five at the time, and now she was freshly twenty, so it was safe to say it had been a while. The only reason they'd shown up was Liz's father had been killed by Archons a few days prior, and was, obviously, unable to take care of his sickly wife and young daughter. Diane hadn't wanted to come into town, and she fought back fervently against the people working in the hospital down below, only speeding up the illness and killing her as a result. The only thing Liz had from her mother was a necklace in the shape of the Gemini symbol, which Miles had found strangely funny, considering that was the Community they were situated in.

But right now, Miles was leaning against the doors of the barn he was supposed to be cleaning, arms crossed against the cold as he waited for a certain troop of Keykeepers to return. They'd been out for three weeks, and during that time, Miles had found that it was almost unbearably boring. A rowdy bout of laughter from across the clearing made him perk up- there they were, walking in a jovial group of six. They must have parked their Jeeps somewhere different this time, as he hadn't heard them pull up. One of them glanced over towards him, visibly perking up, before splitting off from the group to join him.

Pushing her white, bulletproof glass mask off of her coppery face, Liz gave Miles a snarky grin as she stalked over. Most of the Keepers had their plated masks pushed up by now, too; apparently, they were a bit hard to breathe in, and weren't even that safe, according to Liz. She was convinced they were just for show- featureless nightmares meant to make them all look uniform.

"Howdy there, stranger," Something about her reminded Miles of a shark, but he could never place what. Maybe it was the fact that she always seemed to be moving around, eyes constantly surveying the area around her. Whatever it was, it was also endearing to him, seeing as Liz was his only real friend.

Her shoulders were drooping a little, and the area around her eyes was darker as if she'd been given watch duty several nights in a row. Miles nudged her arm with an elbow, returning her smirk. "You look ready to drop." He inclined his head towards one of the fake houses, right on the edge of town, that the other Keepers were flocking to. The beaten-down cellar doors that faced outward on the house were actually the entrance to Gemini proper, though there were other exits in different parts of the Community. Of course, only authorized personnel were allowed through those- there were two in the hospital, one near the greenhouse, and one near the Keykeepers' sleeping quarters.

They started to walk towards the doors, Liz replying with, "And you look just as ugly as always," through a small laugh. Idly, she took a knife off her belt, twisting it in her fingers for a moment before playfully pointing it at Miles. "Y'know, you could do with a shave."