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Widow and Comrade

A

Azuriyuu

Star
Joined
Jan 10, 2009
“Papa...” Vision moped around the house, staring outside, groaning softly. He tried to get over it, but no matter how hard he tried... his father was dead. It had been a month. It was a terrible accident which cost him his life. The funeral had just been a couple days prior, and overall, Vision had been...moping. The young man with the usual bright brown eyes seemed so dull. The twelve-year-old just laid around in bed, and didn't come out for anything.

Which was why I came here. It was odd for me to say, but Vision was my best friend, my confidante, and my senior classmate. Despite being twelve, he was a High School senior...and me, at sixteen, I was a high school junior. This was unusual, but the boy was unusual. Applying himself so well and doing so grandly, I was jealous as hell. But now, seeing him broken and wasted, I felt anything but jealous. So I decided to use one of my 'three skills' to help my best friend.

“Huh...oh, thanks, Aniki...” he said dully to me as he took the cookies which I baked him. The short asian boy looked up at me with a dull gaze in his eyes before he wandered off to his room. With a frown, I crossed my arms. ...Should I leave? Should I wait for him to come back? With that in mind, I sat down at the kitchen table as I watched Vision numbly saunter away.

My name is Bartiel Onyx. I'm 6'3”, with bright green eyes which I cover with brown contacts, auburn hair which trails down to my waist, and a good deal of muscle to boot. My skin is pale, but I'm healthy, so it's okay. Admittedly, my fashion sense is a bit...odd most days, but I actually dressed normal to visit Vision. With a bright red hoodie, a pair of mud-resistant jeans, and a pair of black boots, I had braved the weather, and came out here for Vision's sake.

However, after a moment, I felt a tickle in my nose. I tried to supress it, but it got worse. I tried to ignore it, but it got worse. I tried to-”ACHOO!” Goddammit. With a sniffle, I lightly pulled out a hankerchief and wiped my nose. It seemed the cold and the rain were getting to me. At that, I decided to steal some of the household's cold medicine, seeing as it looked like I might need it, heading to the upstairs bathroom, right across from the room of Vision's stepmother. Cassandra...poor woman. In her mid-30s, she lost her husband. I guess I still felt a little more sorry for Vision, though; he'd lost his mother two years ago so he came to live with his father, and now that he was gone he had no more blood relations to count on.

But Cassandra was dependable, he could count on her, and he could count on me, too.
 
Cassandra stood in her room, once her husbands and hers. She hadn’t slept in it since he had passed away, but she would never let Vision find out about this. Instead she waited until her step-son was asleep before slipping from their room and into the guest bedroom. There, she would struggle to sleep on the large bed, but having a hard time, not used to the lack of heat next to her body.

She had refused, however, to show her true depression in front of Vision. Instead she treated him as if he were more then her step-son, always there for him. When he cried, she would hold him and bite her lip to hold back her own tears.

Her husband and herself had been together for eight years. Vision’s mother and father had split over something rather small and trivial, yet to them it was large. About two years after their divorce, Cassandra and her now dead husband met and began dating. It had been eight years. The best eight years of her life. But recently he had been complaining of troubles breathing and she often woke up to find him hardly breathing. They had taken him to the doctor where they diagnosed him with a type of lung cancer. They had given him a month to live, but he had pushed through to two months. They had been prepared all the time. She helped her husband write the will, allowing him to make the decision of putting her name in it.

He had given her custody of Vision, who happened to already be looking much like his father. She could hardly bear it. But she managed too.

She stood there, tears trickling down her cheeks for the first time since the funeral. She had tried so hard not to let those tears fall, but they did. She heard a sneeze and jerked her head up as she saw her step-sons best friend in the bathroom. She looked at him, the tears refusing to stop, only pouring harder.

Seeing Bartiel, she stopped and wiped her eyes free of tears, though this did not help the puffy eyelids. She stared at the boy for a moment before trying to speak, her voice cracking and croaking. She cleared her throat then tried again, stepping towards the doorway of her bedroom. “Bartiel… Is Vision doing all right?” She asked him softly, sqeezing her eyes shut for a moment, trying to relax before looking at him once more.
 
I didn't terribly think that Vision or his mother would particularly care if I raided their medicine cabinet. But as I looked at the instructions for the cold medicine and popped a couple, I paused, hearing a cracking voice. When I heard Cassandra's voice, I turned that way, pausing as she asked how Vision was doing. For a moment, I frowned. I didn't really know what to say. My first reaction was 'no'. He wasn't paying attention in class, he wasn't eating(I would know, since I started bringing lunches to Vision after I found out that he only ate junk food).

“His spirit's broken,” I said, not wanting to mince words. “There are things we can do, like try to bring his life back on track,” I said, halfway to myself as I left the bathroom and peered into his room, watching him just...looking at the cookies. “Oi! Kyoudai! I made those to eat, not stare at!” I barked at Vision, causing him to jump and fumble the plateful of cookies, which he caught. “S-sorry!” he yelled out before quickly stuffing one into his mouth, blinking, and giving a thumbs up. Closing the door, I smirked a little bit. Vision may be flustered, but if I distracted him he'd turn out just fine.

At that, I turned to Cassandra, looking at her. I wasn't thepolitest person in the world, so I often called Vision's parents by first name. At first ir bristled his father, but he came to terms with the fact that I was a good guy, even if I was rude as hell. “...Cassandra,” I said to her, before suddenly grabbing her hand and pulling her to her room. Closing the door, I gently pushed her against the door, before I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close, closing my eyes.

“...Go ahead and cry. It'll hurt you and Vision a lot more if you just bottle it up,” I whispered in her ear. I just wanted the two of them to get better.
 
Cassandra looked at him just standing their, looking at her. She frown told her what she had really wanted to know. He wasn’t getting any better. She sighed lightly and ran a hand through her hair.

Her normally vibrant, cheery blue eyes had dulled right down, now matching the color of the ocean on a stormy day, gloomy and dark. Her face looked very gaunt, dark circles under her eyes, her cheeks seeming almost sunken in. Her hair was naturally black, yet she had dyed it blonde, always having kept her roots touched up. Until now. Her roots having been grown out about an inch, leaving a black area at her roots. She looked at Vision as he yelled at her step-son. She frowned lightly as she looked at him stuffing the cookie into his mouth. She smiled at him, though make it made her look so much better then she had been looking.

She looked at Vision as he said her name and she blinked in surprise as she was pulled into her own room. The door was closed and she was pushed against her door. She stared at him in front of her, frowning lightly as his arms slid around her. She felt him pull her close and immediately she could feel her chest tighten.

“But…” She murmured, trying to speak again before her voice cracked. It didn’t take long for her legs to become jelly beneath her and tears begin to pour down her pale cheeks. She soon found her own arms around him, hugging him tightly as the tears rolled freely. Sobs began to wrack her body as she hugged him tightly, her face buried into his shoulder. “I…” She cried harder. “I’ve never had to be alone. I have Vision, but I can’t even make myself feel better, how can I make Vision feel better?” She sobbed into his shoulder, her fingers curling into the back of the bright red hoodie.

She shifted slightly, the jeans clinging to her slender form. Her shirt bunched up a bit around her stomach, long sleeve and gold in color. It shimmered in the dark room. She cried hard into Bartiel’s shoulder. “What can I do to help him…?” She sobbed.
 
I frowned as I felt Cassandra holding onto me tightly. Softly, I lifted my hand up and gently patted her back, letting out the softest of breaths, closing my eyes when her words reached my ears, reached my mind. How can I make Vision feel better? It was quite a question. As she cried into my shoulder, I did not move. Has she been allowed to cry while being held by someone yet? With a sigh, I simply held onto her, gently reaching up and running my fingers along the back of her neck.

It was a question that I didn't have an answer for; 'What can I do to help him?' I would have to give one of the most callous answers around. “Just keep living,” I said as I pulled away from Cassandra, slightly. I let her continue to hold onto me, but I had to make sure that she could see my face as I reached with one hand, leaving one on her back, before I thrusted my thumb into my chest, pointing straight at my heart.

“Vision hasn't realized that his father is still in his heart, and still near him... and when he despairs, that part of his father that he keeps in his heart despairs too,” I mentioned. Those sorts of words was how I got by when my mother died and I was left alone in the world(Since my father...well, I got emancipated rather than live with that asshole). Looking at Cassandra, I lightly reached up, running my hand through her hair.

“The same applies to you. If you despair, so will the memory of your husband, and so will Vision. So just try to live, okay?” I asked, trying to grin.
 
She hadn’t been held really. She had received hugs but no one had given her the chance to break down in their arms, and now she could. She clung to him, her fingers curling into the back of his hoodie as she softly cried against his shoulder, the tears slowing after a few and the sobs stopping completely, though the tears did not.

She felt him pull away slightly and she looked up at his face, her eyes showing lost and confused she really was. She frowned as he spoke, listening to his words. She looked as if she didn’t understand, but she did. She listened to him speak and slowly pulled away from him, leaning against the door and slowly sliding down the door, sitting there for a moment.

She just listened to him, sighing softly. She nodded her head at his words, and struggled to make herself smile but her lips didn’t even twitch. She sighed softly and bit down on her lip before standing back up and moving close to him and hugging him loosely. “Bartiel, you should go see Vision.” She said to him softly. She wrapped her arms around him again before turning to the door and opening it. She looked at him then the hallway and thought about it.

“Would you mind spending a few nights here Bartiel?” She asked softly. “Vision could really use your support, and we need a positive atmosphere here.” She said softly to him, sighing lightly. “Would you…? Please?”
 
I looked at her as she seemed not to understand. I bit my lip, trying to figure out if she really didn't understand, but when I noticed her barely smile, I accepted that my words had been taken to heart, or there was some attempt there. I couldn't blame her for some despair, since even I despaired when mom died, and it took some time for those words to even take to my heart. Upon feeling the reply to my hug, I squeezed her gently, looking at her when she asked if I go see Vision, nodding and leaving to go to his room, before I stopped, listening to Cassandra's request.

I didn't exactly have parents to tell me 'yes' or 'no', so I responded immediately.. “I'll close the studio for the weekend and come over on Thursday night.” I ran night classes at the dance studio that my family owned in order to make ends meet, from Monday to Thursday, and mostly kept the studio open to the public while I was home; it kept people interested in dance and got me more students, but it wouldn't cost me any money to close it when I wasn't home, which was good, because it meant I could have a social life. A weak one, but hey, it existed.

~~

A couple days passed and I came back to spend the night with Vision. I'd come wearing a more relaxed outfit, a bit more up to the par of my usual outfits. A tight, black sleeveless V-neck shirt, and a pair of loose, relaxing cotton pants. The rain had let up a little, so I could afford to dress more lightly. Entering the house, I had grabbed a backpack full of clothing, biting my lower lip as I looked at Vision, then looked at the front room. “There's something that should be here that isn't here,” I said casually, as I looked at my young, Japanese friend.

“That would be the couch,” Vision admitted.

“Yes. Yes, it would. And didn't you say that your mom slashed herself on a bedspring in the guest room?” I noted asked. Vision nodded.

“Yes, yes she did.”

“So where the hell am I going to sleep?” I asked, as Vision grinned.

“My room!” Vision announced, resulting in getting glared at. “Fuck no, I'm not sleeping in a room full of creepy machines,” I snapped at him. Maybe I could have handled it a little more gracefully, but Vision was a well-known random-homebrew-crap inventor...and I'm a well-known minor technophobe and a major electrophobe. I even regarded the battery-powered vibrator I rubbed up against myself when I needed release with some degree of suspicion, although it wasn't as if anyone knew I had it anyways. Still, the thought of going in Vision's room made me shiver. It was creepy as all fuck for me.
 
Those last couple days Cassandra had finally worked on pulling herself together. Her hair had been washed thoroughly and pinned back away from her face. She had forced herself to begin eating normally and to go outside a few times, even taking Vision out shopping, figuring it would be good for him to get out. It brought back some of the color in her deathly pale skin.

She still didn’t look too much better, but she was getting there slowly. A black, rather slinky and loose shirt hung from her shoulders, quite heavy, silky material. Skinny jeans clung to her legs as she stepped into the living room, looking at the two boys and smiling softly at them before sighing.

“I didn’t think of that.” She stated with a small frown, the frown showing the depression she had been covering up once more before she forced a small smile. “It will be fine.” She stated softly. “I’ll find a place for you to sleep.” She said softly, smiling slightly, though still looking quite tired. She had been dealing with her husbands family for the last while, forcing herself to call those she knew who wouldn’t openly cry on the phone, even those who did, and dropping off long handwritten letters to the houses of those who were within the city.

She was now dealing with lawyers about her husbands possessions but she didn’t care. She just wanted her husband back, but everyone knew that would not happen.

She ran a hand over her face tiredly- if one were to look past the fancy clothing and the nice hair and makeup, they’d see a tired woman who really just needed time to sit down and relax. She smiled at the boys suddenly, her face becoming cheery, looking almost fake but not quite.

She clapped her hands together happily and smiled at them. “Anything I can get you boys?” She asked, wanting more then anything just to help her step son get through such a hard time. She knew that Vision had been with Bartiel several times over the last few days. She looked at Bartiel, waiting until Vision was paying attention to something else before beckoning him down the hall, turning and walking down the hall and to her room where she walked in.

She looked down at her hand and gently touched the bandage, shivering slightly as she remembered slashing her hand on the bed spring. It had been a deep cut too, but it luckily didn’t hit any major veins. It was a miracle really. If she died, then what would happen to Vision…?

She shook her head, trying not to think about that before she waited patiently for Bartiel.
 
I was still sort of pissed when Cassandra said that she hadn't thought about it. I hesitated in speaking to control my emotions before I shrugged. “I guess it's weird for a person nowadays to get jumpy around electricity, and it's easy to forget,” I tried to forgive her, at least in my own way. I nodded quietly when she mentioned that she would find a place for me to stay. “I guess that works,” was all I said as I shrugged, glancing to head to the kitchen. Cassandra was suffering; I could see that easily, but at this point there wasn't much I could do, and I needed water. My plans were to help Vision, and she'd get better by that.

When she asked if there was anything she could get us, I stopped, opening my mouth to say 'Juice', but I was cut off when Vision said “Batteries for my Wii! Actually, wait, I had the batteries last? But where'd I put them? Hang on, Bartiel!” he said and then...ran off before I could even get a single word in. I blinked. And again. And a third time. Before my shoulders fell. What a distractable boy...? I didn't even notice Cassandra motioning towards me before after a while five seconds after Vision ran off. With a frown and a raised eyebrow I followed. Approaching Cassandra as she entered her room, I closed the door behind me and leaned against it.

“What can I do for you?” I asked, opting to be patient and understanding than impatient and thirsty.
 
“Is he doing any better Bartiel?” She asked softly, staring at her palms as she sat on the bed, inhaling deeply before covering her face with her hands for a moment. “Is there anything he’s said or done that would show a way that I could possibly help him?” She asked him softly, looking up at him, the fake smile having been washed away, now replaced with a look of exhaustion and helplessness. She really was helpless- she felt it. She felt like a lost puppy roaming the streets looking for scraps but unable to find any. Trying to find its way home.

She looked at him and slowly stood before hugging him tightly, just hugging him there before pulling away and suddenly shaking her head hard. “I apologize for putting so much pressure on you. I don’t know Vision well enough to know what’s good for him, and I know you do know. I also don’t have anyone to turn to for myself, and again I apologize for putting the pressure on your shoulders.” She stated, her voice just barely above a whisper before the fake smile was plastered across her face again. “You can spend the night in here.” She stated to him, looking at the bed that she had been forced to sleep in the previous night. “Just don’t touch anything on the right night stand, okay?” She asked him softly, looking at him with another helpless look before sighing. “I’ll pull out a blow up mattress and stay on that in the living room.” She stated, smiling at him sweetly.
 
I frowned as all of a sudden Cassandra started bombarding me with questions. A frown came across my lips as I saw how helpless and exausted she truly looked. I paused for a moment, thinking of what to do, before approaching her. She beat me to the punch as she hugged me tightly, my face contorting into a look of mild confusion. When she apologized, I acted on my own, reaching up and placing a single finger on her lips. When did I grow up to the point when I was telling women fifteen years my senior to shut up?

“He calls you mom, right?” I asked rhetorically, already knowing the answer as I'd seen them interact. “He thinks of you as mom. If you don't relax and stop thinking of him as your step-son, you'll alienate him and he'll start calling you Cassandra,” I explained flatly, standing up straight. It wasn't an answer, but I wasn't gonna answer her question. I'm a jerk like that. “Just ask him. He may be a mechanical savant, but your son is too much of an idiot to tell lies,” I said, before she mentioned that she'd stay in the living room on a blow-up mattress. “Aa...that's no good,” I said, pocketing my hands. “What kind of gentleman would I be if I rudely displaced a lady such as yourself like that?” I asked, my normally neutral face cracking the tiniest hint of a smile.

“I can sleep on the air mattress. I've been known to sleep down in the studio on the hardwood floors anyways, so it's not a big deal,” I explained, leaving out the part where I woke up with a backache from hell after doing so, but it was true nevertheless.
 
Cassandra went silent as a finger was placed to her lips, her lips shutting immediately as she looked at him, listening to his words and not responding to the obvious question. She listened as he spoke, staring at him before slowly nodding her head, beginning to understand what he was saying. If she treated him as if they were blood related- as if she were truly his real mother, she could do it. A small smile- not fake this time, but real- appeared on her lips. It was only the glimpse of one but it showed she understood what he meant and that being told she flatly helped a surprising amount.

She frowned as he went on, talking about what kind of gentleman he would be. “Bartiel, as it is, you aren’t a gentleman. We both know better then to think you are.” She stated with a small smile again, before sighing lightly. “I can’t stay in that bed again Bartiel. You sleep on the bed and I’ll take the air mattress.” She looked at the bed and her heart wrenched hard in her chest. “Too many memories I suppose one could say. “ She murmured to him, looking at him before sighing softly and shrugging. “Stay here, and I’ll take the air mattress. If I sleep here I’ll cry myself to sleep.” She laughed slightly but it was one filled with pain.
 
Yeah...I guess I'm not that much of a gentleman. “Oi...I've been found out,” I mumbled. Still, I was grinning a little, seeing Cassandra start to smile again. Then she gave her explanation. As to why she couldn't sleep on that bed... Listening to Cassandra, I glanced at her when she laughed falsely. “Maybe you should take a page from my book and don't laugh when things aren't funny,” I pointed out. “Of course, don't read the whole thing; you'll be making people check you for a fever when you smile,” I added. Most people thought I was cold. I just only showed strong emotion; milder emotions weren't worth the energy of showing.

“But I can stay in-” there was a loud explosive sound, causing me to bristle. Oh, hell. Bursting from Cassandra's room, I dashed into Vision's...where he was shyly grinning. The air mattress was kept in his room. Cassandra, why did you leave the air mattress in Vision's room for him to play with? “...Vision. Why, oh why did you just des...” I looked to my left. A shelf-ful of electric...things. I took two fucking big steps out of that fucking deathhole. “...Why did you just destroy the air mattress? And weren't you getting batteries for the Wii?” I asked.

Vision just looked sheepish. “...I forgot. ...And I wanted to test if the air pump would work faster if I overclocked it.” he explained.

“...You don't overclock air pumps!” I yelled, but Vision didn't look fearful, he only pouted. GRAH!
 
“What on earth…?” She looked at the door as the explosion sounded and Bartiel practically flew from the room. She followed shortly after, walking down the hallway to her son’s room, looking at the scrap bits of plastic and rubber and almost having a face-palm moment as she stood there, looking at her son then at Bartiel.

“Well, there goes plan A.” She sighed softly to herself and looked at Vision before shaking her head. “Clean up this mess Vision, then get your batteries and please, please don’t blow anything up. I’m sure our-“ The phone rang and she sighed before dashing too it, answering it on the third ring and listening to a yelling voice on the other end, holding the phone an inch from her ear. “Yes… Yes of course, we’re very sorry.” She hung up then ran her hand through her hair. “Vision, if you’re going to keep blowing things up, please make your room bulletproof, explosion proof, and sound proof.” She sighed lightly. “I’m sure one of your little experiments is going to get me arrested some day.” She smiled at her son, walking past Bartiel into his room.

“Hmm… Clean up the mess.” She looked at Bartiel and rubbed her head lightly, then back at Vision. “So Vision, do you have any brilliant ideas as to where I will be sleeping tonight?” She asked him, glancing at Bartiel for a moment then back at Vision and sighing lightly, hugging him and giving him a light noogie playfully before walking from the room.

“Boys…” She sighed. “…will be mad scientists…”
 
I groaned. Wonderful. Just wonderful. Vision was still looking sheepish and...slightly apologetic as he looked at us. Then the phone rang, and we all looked down the hall. Well, I did, Vision glanced out the door, and Cassandra ran off. When she came back and mentioned everything-proofing his room, Vision gave us both a dull stare...then his face twisted into a smile.

Oh god.

Oh god, oh god, oh god.

“Cassandra, stop right there, or you're gonna give him the idea to build a lab.” Vision's smile grew brighter. Oh, fuck me. With a sigh, I rubbed my temples in subtle despair as Vision got to work cleaning up. When Vision was asked where she would sleep, he shrugged. “...Your own room?” Vision pointed out. “Won't that work?” he asked, before I gave him a dull, dry look. “That's where she's gonna let me sleep?” I pointed out, before Vision just gave me a dull look. “...And? You're sixteen. You're just a kid,” he said, causing me to tense up and flare with a little anger.

“J-just a kid?! I-I run a dance studio, you cheeky little prick. And I get hit on by college students every day!” I said, taken aback as Vision shrugged. “Yeah, but mom's too old for college,” he said before he closed the door and got to work cleaning up. My eye twitched.

“...Cassandra, I promise your son will be rent into no more than two pieces,” I said, obviously offended and irritated by his bratty comments, my focus not on where I'd be sleeping at night, for the moment at least.
 
Cassandra laughed lightly at the sight of Vision’s smile twisting in a I’m-going-to-be-a-mad-scientist-one-day way. It almost scared her. But at the same time she couldn’t help but chuckle as he spoke to her. She looked at Bartiel as he spoke to her. “Honestly Bartiel, so long as he doesn’t blow anything up or make any corrosive… anything, or anything that can burn him, is poisonous, or anything dangerous in any way shape or form, then he can go right ahead.” She stated, looking at Vision and smiling at him.

“And no experimenting and people or animals.” She stated, glancing around his room before looking at them as they went back and forth.

Cassandra almost twitched herself as he called her too old for college. “Oh Vision, you have a lot to learn.” She laughed lightly before smiling at her son. “I’ll stay in my room as well, but do know that even if I am getting… Up there,” She refused to say the word. “It doesn’t mean I’m too … Up there for college.” She stated, frowning lightly. “My own mother took high school classes when she was thirty-eight years old.” She stated with a soft chuckle.

She looked at Bartiel as he spoke. “Hmm… Well, I guess two pieces is better then two hundred..” She stated.
 
Vision pouted when she said that he couldn't make dangerous things. “Aww, c'mon...” he said with a pout, but he kept quiet until she mentioned no experimenting on people and animals. And he was gonna do a couple experiments on himself...

But when Cassandra mentioned that she wasn't too 'Up there' for college, I paused, and my cheeks began to flush a little brightly, before she finished stating that she wasn't too 'up there' for college. My face fell just a little bit as I suddenly looked over Cassandra and became incredibly shy. At her comment towards me, I paused and looked at Cassandra. “...You do know that saying you're In college age after my comment means that you're in the age to be hitting on me, right?” I asked.

Cassandra was pretty, but she was not just older than me, but a lot older than me, AND my best friend's mom. It was all very silly to think of, but now that the thought was there, it was permiating my brain, doing stupid things. Deciding to clear my mind, I spoke up, standing up straight. “I'm going to go raid your fridge,” was all I said before running off to the kitchen.
 
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