we light up the sky [system of a down fanfiction]

blue hydrangeas

A/N: Slightly longer chapter ahead... but I think you guys will enjoy it :3

Hydrangea - a flower which symbolises heartfelt emotions. It can be used to express gratitude for being understood.

Serj Tankian woke up in a state he wasn't naturally accustomed to, in the arms of someone. Allow me to explain, he had slept with plenty of women in his lifetime. A great majority of them however meant nothing more than a one night stand, because none of them were after the real Serj Tankian. They all wanted the rockstar.

Instead Serj was waking up to two arms around him and a slightly snoring face of a sleepy Clementine. She looked so peaceful when she slept. All her creases seemed to disappear, not like she had many, but it just struck Serj how restful and soothing her face appeared. Her purple hair was spread like a mane all over him and her face was nuzzled in his chest.

How did I get here? He really had no clue but it seemed like the forces of the universe were playing some trick on him. What did I do to deserve such a lovely human being beside me? He was completely at a loss of words and thoughts to even remotely explain his life at that moment. When was the last time I ever felt this much at peace? He really couldn't remember, but he doubted that this was, sadly, only a consequence of his Alzheimer's...

Almost as if sensing his void of questions, Clementine shifted in her sleep, drawing closer to him until her head was almost resting on his shoulder. Her forehead was so close that Serj was beyond tempted to lay soft kisses upon it. He resisted all the urges that overcame him though. Clementine after all, shouldn't be disturbed.

He looked at the clock and it was only 4 p.m.. It felt like it was midnight though, as the night had already replaced the Sun and it was still raining. He read a yellow sticky note that was right next to the clock and immediately remembered that he had to take his medicine in 5 minutes. Some would say that the amount of post its all over the place was obscene, but Serj just wasn't taking any chances with his condition. Depending on the location, the post its would serve various purposes. The ones right on the photographs had general information about him, such as "I'm Serj Tankian and I suffer from Alzheimer's", while the ones on the clocks all had information regarding his medication schedule. He also had post its right on every door, showing where and how to find the other rooms of the house. Especially the bathroom... God, he wanted so badly to avoid another situation like the bathroom incident. As stated before, this situation of yellow post its all over the place would look quite strange to all others, but it was a system that worked for Serj, and he intended to keep it that way.

With Clementine sleeping so soundly, it would be hard for Serj to move without waking her up. Thankfully, right at the moment when he was thinking of ways to wake her up very smoothly, Clementine's eyelids opened up and her green eyes stared right into Serj's earthy ones. She looked lost, but strangely at peace. She was trying to recollect how she got there, how she ended up in the arms of someone she'd only met three and a half weeks ago. She was searching for the answer in Serj's eyes, but all she could find was Serj's utter amazement at how beautiful she looked in her messy, sleepy state. Then it all came back to her, and as recollection slowly came to her, she closed her eyelids, breathed in and smiled in acknowledgment. Serj never broke eye contact because what he was seeing was something incredibly beautiful. To others it would be just one of those random moments of waking up and trying to remember where you are, but Serj was mesmerised by it.

"Good morning sunshine" she said smiling. Her face was only inches apart from Serj and her eyes were once again locked into his.

"Good afternoon more like" Serj replied patting her lightly on the back. "It's actually around 4 p.m.."