The Call of the Void

The Call of the Void- Chapter 6- Swap It Out With You

He hisses through his teeth as his bare fists collide with the bark of the nearest tree. He's thrown more punches today than any other day of his life and probably thought more self deprecating thoughts than the height of his self loathing when he was about 15.

He's absolutely disgusted with himself. He gets like this sometimes; irrational angry at the world and himself. It's days like these that justified to Eddie why they should get Aleks a punching bag which he's beat the absolute shit out of more times than he can count. He used to revel in the sound of his glove hitting the material, each and other punch letting out a bit more of his anger.

Seamus doesn't have a punching bag anywhere in his mansion of a house. Aleks is gonna ask him to get one come morning. As much as he likes the fact that the sting in his knuckles distracts him from his anger and pain, he can't keep doing this for the sake of his poor hands and knuckles. He lets out a shaky breath and he lowers his hands from his face, the pain in his hands becoming evident.

It wasn't in his plan to escape to the nearest place with trees to let out his angry. It's nearing 5 in the morning and he knows that the sun is going to start peaking over the horizon at any moment, but he needed to get all of this out before morning. He could barely sleep with it building in him with every passing minute as everything he hates in the world seems to hit him at once. He just... he can't even justify this to himself. He just lost control.

He seems to be doing a lot of that lately.

With an exasperated sigh, he leans against the tree he had been punching and slides down to the ground, blindly reaching for the water bottle had brought with him. He pours the cool water over both his knuckles and let them soak without wiping the residue onto his clothes. He shivers underneath his thin t-shirt because he was too ignorant to think about a jacket or sweater or anything. He closes his eyes, not out of physical exhaustion but simply because he's too tired of everything to even look at the world around him. He's panting slightly from the physical exhortation and also as he tries to bite back the sting in his knuckles. He knows he didn't break any of them- he was careful about that- but that doesn't mean they didn't get some nice cuts on them from the bare bark.

He's got nowhere to be, so he decides to stay and watch the sun rise. It won't be the greatest of views since buildings and other landmarks block a straight on view into the horizon, but it'll be good enough. It's been a while since he's actually seen the sun rise. He used to see it all the time when he came home from late night hits; after the adrenaline had long flowed out of his system and he was truly satisfied. It's one of his favourite sights in the world especially after a long night.

He misses this. He didn't realize how much he did.

Aleks opens his eyes just as he starts to see the sun, smiling as it begins to cast a glow on his face. It's not a smug smile or a dastardly smile. It's a real one; one that actually shows joy and happiness. He likes the feeling of it. It's like coming back to an old friend who doesn't know about the wrongs he's done and the wrongs he's continuing to do.

He watches it silently for a moment, drinking in this one peaceful moment, not knowing when his next sunrise is going to be. E's not sure what the expect out of his future with Seamus, so he's all for taking whatever time alone he can get while he can. Seamus is such a mystery to him at the moment that he could literally ask anything of Aleks and it would be a surprise. He's not sure he likes that in a person. When he first met Eddie, he all but interrogated the poor guy.