Oblivion

N I N E T E E N

Friday, 1 November, 2019

Nyco

"How do you feel?" I asked, noticing the blonde had been staring up at the ceiling for the past few minutes after he had woken up.

"Traumatised," he said without hesitation, "I had to see someone die..."

I frowned lightly, sliding over so that our sides were barely brushing against each other, "You're not used to that, huh?"

"I am..." he murmured, "Just...not used to seeing them murdered. That would've gotten dad's medical license revoked if that were the case."

"Your dad was a doctor, then?" I asked the boy, "You don't really talk about him much."

"Because I hate him, that's why," Zyre muttered bitterly, "Why talk about someone you despise? It's not like I admire him -- not anymore."

"He must've done something awful."

The blonde laughed dryly at that, "You have no idea."

***

"Ace?" I called softly, causing the man to look at me.

The red-haired man had dark circles under his eyes, his face far paler than usual, his hair in a dishevelled mess atop his head, and his ice blue eyes slightly red and full of sadness.

"Do you feel like talking...about anything?" I asked him, sitting down a foot away from the man.

He took in a shaky breath before nodding slowly, "I'll have to eventually...might as well get it over with, right?"

"If that's what you want," I offered assuringly.

"I only did it because I wanted to save her...if not them, then at least her," he murmured, "When the raiders showed up, they slaughtered everyone else except me, Arelle, and Adrian -- they didn't want to have to kill a child -- they told me exactly what I had to do to ensure that they would spare Arelle's life...how to get into contact once I completed the mission -- everything.

"I just wanted to save the woman I love -- make sure that my boy wouldn't grow up without a mother...well, look where that's gotten us now," Ace said, rubbing his eyes with his hands in an attempt to stop himself from crying

I put a reassuring hand on one of Ace's shoulders, giving it a firm squeeze as I glanced once over at a certain blonde with a pink-haired child in his arms, "I can understand that. If I could...I'd do anything in order to have saved the one I loved a long time ago...I'd do anything for the person I care about now. It'd be too hard to watch them leave without trying to do something."

Ace smiled sadly at me, "You really care about Zyre, huh?"

"I guess I do," I admitted, "Now that he's here, I couldn't imagine being without him."

"Last I heard, you had turned him away -- almost literally -- after he had kissed you, and now you're the one going around kissing people."

I rolled my eyes, "It's nice to know that my love life is entertaining enough to lift your spirits."

"Well, you wanna know what I think?" Ace asked, raising his eyebrows slightly, "I think you should go spend some more time with that cute boy of yours."

"Is this the nice way of telling me to leave you alone?"

"Yes, yes it is," Ace replied, crossing his arms as he watched me get up and leave.

"Mikey!" Adrian exclaimed as I approached the three of them -- Zyre, Jexa, and Adrian, obviously.

Zyre turned his head, smiling sweetly at me, "Hi."

I took a seat next to Zyre, pecking him sweetly on the cheek, "Hello there."

Adrian gasped dramatically, clapping his hands to each of his cheeks as his mouth fell open, "You lie! You say you no like Mikey!"

"Well, I do now," Zyre responded to the somewhat upset child.

Adrian pouted at the blonde, turning his head away with a 'humph'.

Zyre just continued to stare at the pink-haired boy sitting in his lap, "This kid is very....expressive."

"I've noticed."

"Why do you two look like a married couple with a child?" Jexa asked suddenly, raising her eyebrows at us.

"Not today satan!" Zyre exclaimed, "Marriage is just the devil in disguise!"

I stared at the blonde with an odd look, "What did marriage ever do to you?"

"My mum was married five times before she settled with my dad...." he stated, "Aunt Lucinda was married three times -- I think -- before she married Aunt Anaya. I went to all three weddings."

"What the hell is wrong with your family?" Jexa asked.

Zyre pursed his lips, "You really don't want to know the answer to that question."

"Well, now I do mister."

the boy frowned, "Too damn bad, 'cause I won't be telling you anything."

"That doesn't sound like a fun story," I said, draping an arm around his shoulders.

"You have no idea," he commented, "There isn't a word to describe how dysfunctional my family really was. Devil sister, evil father, work-obsessed mother....my brother was the only one who was born fine."

I cleared my throat at that, "What about you? You came out perfectly fine."

Zyre laughed at that, shaking his head, "No, no. I was the 'problem child', apparently."

"Well, I think you are wonderful," I told him.

"Damn, Nyco!" Jexa exclaimed, "Smooth as hell."

The girl got up, making grabby hands at Adrian before taking him from Zyre, walking away and shooting a wink back at me, causing my face to flush.

"I have to agree with her, that was smooth," the blonde said with a small grin.

I smirked at that, "And here I was thinking I was rusty after a few years without flirting."

Zyre pecked me on the cheek, "You're nowhere as great as me, though."

"Darling, I'm going to have to disagree with that."

"It's 'darling' now, is it? I didn't know we were going all out cute straight away."