He was Almost Absorbed by the System

Chapter Forty Three - Let's Play A Quick Game of Chess

Just a few weeks after the wedding of Savannah and Leilei and a few months after that of Kez and Rush, things had become a little quieter around North.  But naturally such peace was not to last; his mother had decided that her son had had enough time to get over his 'heartache' from being dumped by Savannah and had, once again, applied on his behalf, for potential partners from the Matchmakers.  He sat gloomily on his plush sofa, looking through the profiles, though barely absorbing any of the information on them.

Xavier invited himself around.  He sat down on North's sofa with an audible poof (it was also an extended one, as people tended to sink awhile on that couch).  He waved his handheld up in front of him, indicating that he had received some news.

"I have the first batch of potential partners here," he told North.  There was a slightly excited smile on his face, a contrast to North's unhappy look.

"You really want to do this?" North asked, feeling that the suffering of first dates was not worth it.

Xavier nodded.  "After seeing the girls all lovey dovey, not to mention Rush and Kez, I want a partner that I can go all ga ga over too!"  North shook his head.  As if it were that easy!

A silence fell over the apartment as they both read the profiles at hand.  And then suddenly they stared wide eyed at their devices, looks of similar surprise upon their faces, before they turned their attention to each other.  "You...er..." North quickly deduced what Xavier had also discovered.  The younger man blushed and they sat there for a moment with their own thoughts.

"You know, I'm not unwilling," his voice became unusually shy.  A wide and gentle smile appeared on North's face in response.

****

Rush announced his marriage to Kez shortly after his husband graduated.  There were many broken hearts, many had hoped that Rush was still on the market and many others had prayed that Kez would appear amongst their prospective partner profiles. The young man had become quite the catch, a qualified I.T. Technician, a model and the son of a newly discovered artist, whose painting "In Between" depicting an actor with his script standing in the studios with various technical staff, waiting for his next scenes to be recorded, sold for a hefty sum on an online auction.  It probably helped that the actor in the painting had once again been voted amongst the top ten most wanted men in the world.

****

Honor Harlow had an arranged marriage to a handsome, fresh young actor, a couple of years her junior.  Their high profile wedding had boosted his career to the point where he was on par with men like Rush Haven and Dante Night amongst others.  Two years after the wedding, the young man applied for a divorce.

****

Xavier and North did get together and wed. Friends and family were not really that surprised.

****

Dante Night remained single.

****

Aidan woke surrounded by those familiar white walls and upon that memorable white floor. As expected, the person who he never recalled during his lifetimes was sitting behind where he lay, this time on his white throne. Little Yang floated off of his wrist as a line of beads before spiralling it's segments which then merged together forming it's usual bulbous self. It then hovered over to it's master to give him its report.

"I died first this time," Aidan mused, his elderly, grey form still fresh in his mind, though his thoughts of Kez could only focus on his sparkling pale eyes that seemed ageless despite the wrinkles framing them. He wondered if Kez was okay and if he mourned him as much as he had mourned Kez in the past. He attempted to bury his painful thoughts with the reminder that he would see him again; their bodies would be different, their personalities not the same, but Aidan would still love him and he believed Kez would definitely love him back.