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Thus far ... this had been most probably the shittiest birthday Farlest could remember having in just about his entire life. Minus when he had first turned old enough for his father to start legally using him in his films. That had not been a fun day either ... but this was looking to top it, the way things were going.

First of all, he absolutely detested getting up early. He'd avoid it in any way possible. Today, there hadn't been any way to do so, as he had a shoot to do at literally eight AM. Which meant getting up at least an hour earlier or risk his father's wrath. He didn't need that much time to get ready ... but far be it from him to tell anyone else that.

Then it turned out that said shoot was not one of the more pleasant ones, and it left him aching in places he really didn't want to be hurting. And after that it turned out that he had (surprise!) two more shoots to do, all in a row. Neither of those were very pleasant either ... though the last was with Nash, so it was a bit better. As careful as Nash could be, however ... Farlest was already hurting too much and was too damn tired for it to do any good.

Ah. And add to that. Absolutely no-one seemed to remember at all that today was his birthday. Everyone just carried on like it was a normal day (despite the fact that it was actually turning out to be a very bad day for him). Not to mention that he hadn't been able to see Ka all damn week. Again, thanks to dear old dad. He missed the other, and was starting to wonder ... just a little ... if Ka missed him as well, or if he was even thinking of him.

Once Nash left the studio after their shoot, Farlest curled up in a small ball in the middle of that bed and tried very hard not to give in to the tears that were threatening now - had been for a matter of hours, in fact. He didn't know for sure how long he stayed there before he heard the door open - jolting him out of his own dark thoughts. He pushed up, shoving hair of his face ... knowing this place was probably going to be used again soon and he should leave.

"Farlest?" a voice called, and he blinked. Ka..? It was indeed Ka'hmesh, and he stepped into that darkened studio, padding over toward the bed. "You are still in here ... thought that you might be," he murmured.

Within a matter of moments, Farlest had practically launched himself off of that bed and into the other's arms. He clung to clothing, burying his face in Ka's chest ... and now those tears did come, the smaller man unable to stop them.

Ka jumped just a bit, staring for a moment ... the moved to put his arms about the other, holding him. He didn't ask what was wrong, having talked to Nash a bit before coming here. He could more or less guess. Finally, he moved, pulling the other closer and shifted them both onto the bed, where he held Farlest practically in his lap and began to murmur softly, soothing.

Eventually, the sobbing started to subside, and Far took a few deep, shuddering breaths, his hold on Ka slowly easing just a bit. "All right ..?" Ka asked, softly, one hand having gone almost automatically to run fingers through the other's hair.

Farlest sniffed and lifted his head, offering a sort of shaky smile. "Y-yea ... I ... thank you," he murmured.

Ka smiled at that and leaned in for a kiss, gently wiping away the remainder of those tears. "Mm ... good. Then get dressed, we're going out for a bit."

Far blinked up at the other, confused. Going out ...? Where? He didn't ask questions out loud though, just nodded and moved to grab a robe so he could go back to his room and retrieve real clothes. Ka followed, slipping into that room behind him and waiting while he got dressed. Then he took the other's hand again, and headed for the door with a smile.

Mystified by this point, Farlest followed without asking any questions - grinning when they stepped outside and he spotted Ka's bike. He loved to ride on it with the other ... as it meant he pretty much had to be close and any contact was automatically loved by the dark-haired young man. Ka glanced back with another little smile and then handed over the extra helmet and climbed on. Once Farlest was on as well (and snuggled in quite close to his back with arms about his waist), he took off for the nearest mall.

Once there, he took the other's hand again and walked to a store just inside the door he had parked by. It turned out to be a jewelry store and Far gave Ka a bit of an odd look. Ka just smiled again, though, and walked up to the counter. "Hi," he said. "My, ah, friend here would like to get his ears pierced. A second hole in each one."

Farlest blinked. "I would?"

"Yes, you would. Don't argue," Ka murmured, then turned that smile back on the clerk.

Charmed, she nodded and came out from behind the counter to the ear-piercing station. "What studs would you like ..." she trailed off, looking from one of them to the other.

Ka leaned over the display for just a moment and then pointed to a pair of gold studs set with tiny emeralds. He wasn't sure if they were real or not but they certainly looked pretty enough and the gold was of high enough quality that they were fairly expensive.

"Ka..." Farlest started, but he got no farther than that in his protest, as Ka turned and put a finger over his lips.

"Hush." Another of those little smiles. "This is a present."

Far blinked, uncomprehending. By this point, he'd pushed the fact that it was his birthday to the back of his mind - refusing to think of it in the hopes that it wouldn't make things more terrible.

"It is your birthday, yes?" Ka asked, raising one brow a little.

Another blink. Oh! "It ... it is but ... Ka ..."

"Yeeees?" The brow rose a little farther.

"How did you know?" he asked, as the clerk watched the two of them with a rather amused look on her face.

"I asked around," he replied evasively. It didn't really matter how he knew, what mattered was that he did know, right? He turned, raising brows at the clerk in a sort of silent question.

"Ready when you are boys," she said, having put the first of the studs into the small piercing gun, and now holding it up.

Far looked over and nodded, grinning. One hand reached out to grasp Ka's - again, contact. He'd been through a lot of things that hurt far more than this would ... but yes. Any excuse to touch, to hold, and he would take it. He'd wanted to get a second hole in his ears for some time now, he simply hadn't had the time or inclination, really, to go and do it. How Ka had known that really was a mystery.

Lost in thought, he almost completely missed the clerk swabbing at his ear and marking it. Ka leaned around a little and nodded. And even though he was expecting it, Farlest still jumped just a little at the loud click and the little p***k of pain as the first earring went in. Ka squeezed his hand a bit and smiled. The other ear went just as quickly and Far practically bounced out of the chair to go and look into the mirror.

It was amazing at times how he could bounce from one emotion to the next. But Ka was here, and not only that, he'd figured out it was his birthday and then done something for him, planned it. And because of all of that ... Farlest was happy now.

Ka, meanwhile, paid for the piercing and studs and then moved in behind Far, wrapping arms about him from behind. "They look good on you," he murmured into an ear, lips just barely brushing over one of those new earrings.

Far shivered at that, and hummed softly. "Mmm ... " Then he shifted, turning in the other's arms and leaning up to steal a kiss - completely ignoring the clerk now. Her eyes widened just a little, but she smiled and left them alone. There wasn't anyone else in here at the moment to be offended and she was quite enjoying watching them.

Ka leaned down a little himself to give that kiss, eyes lidding. Then he pulled back and glanced around for a moment. "Do you have anything else to do the rest of today?" he asked.

"Who knows," Far replied, just a hint of bitterness creeping into his voice. "I seem to be at everyone's beck and call lately."

Ka tilted his head at that, and grinned. "Well then. Now you're at mine. And we are not going back to the studio. We are going to my apartment and we are staying there until sometime tomorrow morning most likely." He had some wine at home ... and he could order dinner. Mm ... yes. That would be nice.

Emerald green eyes sparkling to match his new earrings, Farlest nodded, grinning back. "That sounds lovely..."

Leading him out of the store, Ka murmured, "Happy birthday, Farlest," and for the first time that day ... Far believed that it actually would be.

Aaah finally out of class for the afternoon. Grinning, Zach headed out of the building, wondering idly if anyone he knew was around. He hadn't seen Jaden or Elijah for a little while ...

Sticking hands in his pockets, he headed for the grassy area outside the Mall, thinking of maybe going and looking around in there if there was nothing else to do.

He adjusted the strap on his bookbag as he scurried out of the building, his eyes cast down and his expression rather dreary as he thought of the work that lay ahead. He'd sort of fallen asleep in class today and was given a bit of a nudge in the way of extra work to make up for it, and Micajah sighed deeply as he knew any plans for sitting outside and watching the sunset this evening were out the window.

"Perhaps I should pay more attention to what the time is when I go to bed and prevent this from happening again. I knew it's all a learning experiance, but this is sort of ridiculous."

He scoffed inwardly and switched paths as he came to a small fork, uncaring that he was going the opposite direction of where he wanted to go. When the path beneath him ceased to be actual path and had instead turned into grass, he looked up from his dejected glance and blanched at the area around him.

"...."

He was lost...again.


Zach caught sight of the other boy just as he was about to turn toward the Mall. Blinking slightly, he tilted his head, watching him for a moment or two. He looked ... lost. And Zach hadn't seen him before, which meant he was probably new. Even though he didn't know everyone all that well, he at least knew what other boys had been here for a while - so he could spot a new one easily enough.

Changing direction, he turned and headed toward the other, waving. "Hey!" he called out. "You lost..?"


Micajah's head snapped up as the sound of someones voice calling to him filled his ears, and his cheeks flushed with deep embarrassment as the speak clearly pointed out the boy's obvious distress without a second guess. He sighed inwardly, clearly thinking that his facial expression must give away every bit of his inner thoughts if someone could guess that easily.

"Ah...yes. I am, actually."

He rubbed the back of his neck as he waited for the boy to get closer, and he quickly snapped in his brain that rubbing his neck was sort of rude to do as a gesture and if he didn't watch out it could become a nasty habit. Micajah dropped his hand to his side, then quickly shifted his arms behind his back and folded them while adjusting his posture. He seemed so fidgety, but it was probably because he'd been called on his error.

While it was a learning lesson, to be sure, he felt stupid. Part of him demanded that he memorize his location for future reference, and part of him cried at the other part's demands. It was complex, really.


Zach smiled as he came up to the other - the nervousness not hard to pick up on at all. "Hiya," he said then. "I'm Zach ... sorry for kinda yelling it out like that. But don't worry, I wouldn't have if anyone else was around." He paused and leaned in a little, like he was telling a secret. "And I won't tell anyone. Trust me, I got lost a lot too when I first got here."

Stopping in front of the other, he rocked back on his heels a little, still smiling, then stuck out a hand to shake, trying to make the other boy feel a bit more at ease.


He settled down at the other boy finally drew near, and when he was offered up a smile he felt all the nervous nature he had in him drop out like water from a sponge.

"Don't worry about it, and it's good to know I'm not the only one whose direction sense is a little skewed. And thank you, that helps. I mean it."

Micajah smiled and politely and took the extended hand into his own, his cheeks tinting a soft hue of pink as he shook it. He was quite happy actually that the person who had called out to him happened to be someone so kind, and he was thrilled to note that he'd learned another new person's name.

"My name is Micajah, but most people tend to call me Mica or Aja. It seems that Micajah is quite a mouthful to pronounce. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Zach blinked at that, shaking and then letting go again, lips quirking. "Well ... Mica it is then. My full name's actually Ethan Zachary Williams, but I just go by Zach cause it's easier."

Glancing around, he wondered where the other had been trying to get to ... well ... no reason he couldn't ask, right? "Where were you headed..? Oh, and when did you get here?"


"I see. You have a nice name then, and I hope you don't mind if I will call you Zach."

He pulled his hand back as the other released it, placing it on the shoulder strap of his bag before nervously watching his fingers twitch. He was being asked questions about himself, and he wasn't sure how much of them he could honestly answer. Well, he could answer both of them without any real trouble, so he smiled and pointed back in the other direction.

"Believe it or not, I was trying to return to the dorms so I could get a jump start on my extra assignments. I sort of fell asleep in one of my classes and have some additioanl work to do as a way of making it up."

He shrugged sheepishly and let out a small grin that matched in nature, but he took another breath before deciding to continue.

"As for when I arrived here at ShinKami, it was perhaps a little over three weeks ago. I'm still getting used to everything and everyone, as I've never been to a school like this before. I was always homeschooled with a private tutor for each subject."

Oops, he told a bit more about himself than he actually wanted to or need to, but it was okay.


Zach shook his head at that, still smiling - trying to put the other a little more at ease. Though he may look like a bit of a punk kid, he was usually a pretty nice person, especially here ... where he didn't really have to keep up appearances for anyone.

"I don't mind, I practically told ya to already." He tilted his head a little, then, wondering why Mica had been going this way if he meant to go to the dorms ... which were the other direction.

"And yea, extra works sucks ... you must've been working hard so far, though, since I haven't seen you before now. I was one of the first ones to come this term. Which track are you in, Mica..? I'm in Magic, myself."

Micajah relaxed a bit more as Zach continued to ask questions and despite his friendly smile and seemingly willing nature, he was going to answer only in a way that protected himself and gave what information was directly needed. There was no need for excess chatter, even if he was trying to make a new friend and learn from them.

"My track? I'm in Magic as well, since it caught my interest back when I was preparing to enter this school. I'm not very fond of sciences as they can be explained through testing, but I like the mysteries that follow behind Magic and the people who understand it."

He grinned widely at the comment, and he felt inwardly that he was slowly enjoying the company of this boy in front of him. Although Zach asked quite a few questions that made him have to honestly answer, he was glad to have someone here so friendly, someone who could be similar to him.

"As for my overworking, I'm somewhat of an overachiever according to my Father. I always try to strive and get the best I can, even if it's not really needed. Odd, huh?"


Zach nodded at that, listening. "It's not really that odd ... some people just like to work, I guess." The way he said it wasn't condescending or anything though, just an observation. For his own part, he would do his work and do it well ... but then once it was done, he didn't generally go looking for extra.

As for picking a side ... "I could've gone either way myself ... I kinda picked magic because, well ... I'm fascinated with Elves and other fantasy stuff." He flushed just slightly, glancing down. "Have been since I was a kid ..."


"Elves, really? I find humans to be far more fascinating."

He was looking directly at Zach as he spoke, his eyes studying the boy's face with deep interest. It was always fun to listen to how people loved the race of Elves, what with them being wise beyond human understanding and generally beautiful creatures, but he truely felt it was the race of humankind that had everything one could wish for.

Humans were evil, humans were good. They were pure, they were tainted...all at the same time. Plus Elves didn't need help from anyone, while humans needed that guiding hand every now and then.


"Oh..? Why's that?" Zach asked, sticking hands back in his pockets and starting to head slowly for the dorms. He shouldn't really keep Mica too long if the other had to study or whatever... but that didn't mean they couldn't talk on the way there.

To him, Elves were like the mystery Mica had talked about with Magic ... sure, he'd read books and stories ... but until he'd come here, he hadn't ever seen one in real life.

As Zach turned to move Micajah frowned a bit, wondering if he had someone offended the youth, but when he reliazed that the other was leading him back towards the direction he had originally desired to go into he smiled at the act of kindness.

"In my mind Humans can evolve, while Elves cannot. They are an old race, one that has reached its prime and remains there, while we humans are merely toddlers trotting along on unsteady feet for the first time. No one knows what we are capable of, not even ourselves."

He ran his fingers over the strap of his bag once more as he moved to follow Zachery's departure, his feet protesting silently at the sudden pressure change of standing still to walking.

"To imagine the things we are able to do, the things we have done and forgotten, it sends shivers up my spine."

Micajah did shiver a little, but it wasn't from the though of Human prowress, but because he was feeling a little hungry from skipping his meals today. His loss, really.

Zach listened with head tilted a little bit toward the other, walking slowly. After all, he found Mica to be interesting. He was so fascinated with humans, but he'd chosen Magic ... which was more connected to Elves than the sciences was ... a bit of a contradiction of sorts.

He nodded then though, murmuring, "Well I guess that makes sense ... I think, to me, I just want to learn about all the stuff that made the Elves like they are now. What did they do in the beginning, how did they get like they are now..?"

"If you knew that, where would the mystery continue to be?"

Micajah chuckled softly and brushed a strand of hair behind his ears, his eyes staring straight ahead. Zach truly was amusing, and he hoped they could meet again many times and talk this, make clumsy attempts at understanding one another like this.

"You know, I think the history of Elves is actually something far beyond our current scope of understanding. Actually, I think the history of any race other than human would be beyond our full understanding. I don't even think most people understand Human history, what with there being so many gaps in our records of events long gone by."


"Ah, but there's so much of it!" Zach pointed out cheerfully. "By the time I got finished studying, I probably wouldn't want to do anything else, and I'd be old and ready to retire or whatever anyways ..." Of course, he knew that this school wasn't really focused on the type of learning where one could just sit around and study something like that. But this was all theoretical.

"Human history is interesting too, yea ... I just wanted to do something ... different."


Micajah frowned a little, wondering if perhaps him going on and on about humans had somehow upset the boy next to him. The way he spoke at the end seemed to maybe indicate it, but he shook his head a little scatter the thoughts and remain positive.

"I think that's great. It's in human nature, or the nature of anything for that matter, to try and be different, right? Do you plan on someday sharing what you've learned with others, like as a teacher or a lecturer?"

He thought to himself that Zach had a rather pleasnt edge to his voice, one that made him like listening, so perhaps teaching or lecturing would be something he was interested in.


Zach blinked slightly at that, eyeing the other. "Hmm ... I never really thought about it, to tell you the truth," he admitted then. He had nothing at all against the other boy, or against humans in general ... it was just, to him, Elves were more interesting.

And about the other thing .... he knew enough now to almost think they were in a sort of war ... and a part of him was unable, or maybe unwilling, to look past that. To a time when said war might be won or lost ... or a time when he had done all he could ... and had to step off the battlefield ... or even worse, a time when he might lose his life doing this. He just ... didn't know. So he generally tried not to think about it.


Micajah stopped walking as he felt a slight change in the boy's tone and mannerisms, as he had been looking closely at Zach the whole time to tell that had certainly made the boy feel a little uneasy...or at least made him think about something. Micajah was pretty good at making people think, even if he didn't mean it, so without hesitation he slowly bent his head.

"I'm sorry."

Even if he felt he was completely off the mark and Zach was jsut acting...like Zach, it was always better to apologize and try and take the edge off things. He probably was way and far from where Zach's mentallity was, and considering Micajah knew hardly anything about the boy's personality his apology was probably unneeded and somethign to make the other feel even more awkward.

Still...it was in Micajah's nature to try and apologize in any sitation, as he'd been taught to do by many of his tutors and by his father. When in doubt blame yourself, they'd always say.


Zach blinked at that, though, pausing as well and turning to look at the other. "Hm..? What're you sorry for ..?" he asked, sounding more confused than anything else. Sticking thumbs into his pockets, he rocked back on heels a little, smiling.

"You don't haveta apologize for anything. Making people think about stuff like that isn't a bad thing, not really."

Micajah lifted his head a little as Zach spoke to him, and when he noticed the smile on the other boy's face he mirrored it with one of his own before standing back up fully. It had been a misunderstanding, as Micajah had prayed it would be, and he learned that Zach seemed to be more open minded than previously thought. Score, in a way.

"You'd be surprised, but thank you."

He chuckled a little to try and ease the situation that he himself had created, and with a nervous swallow he started to walk again but paused a bit as he reached Zach's side.

"I tend to overract about...many things. I'm probably going to go bald at an early age or get an ulcer at this rate."

At that, Zach laughed softly and actually reached over to ruffle the other's hair slightly. "Well then ... you just gotta learn to relax a little," he pointed out. "I'll help you ... if you want, that is."

After all ... they were sort of all supposed to be a team here. Right?

Micajah flinched slightly as he felt the other ruffle his hair, but he didn't exactally dodge out from Zach's touch. Instead he let his hair get fluffed, and he smiled softly at the kindness of this act.

Micajah was touched very little growing up, or shown very little affection, as his father was often too busy to look in on his child, and his mother too sickly to actually hold him.

Well maybe 'very little' was a bit of an exaggeration, considering his nanny would ALWAYS be hugging him or his butler always punishing him with spankings or a thwap on the hand. His tutors liked to hug him when he got things right too...so maybe he was touched a lot. ...A WHOLE lot.

That thought kinda depressed him. His childhood should be a little more tragic than it was, actually. Like...really tragic. But anyway, moving along...

"Help me learn to relax? How would that be done? Is it something that CAN be done? Are there classes, like yoga?"

Micajah popped off question after question in Zach's directions, his eyes wide with extreme interest in how this feat could and would be accomplished.


Zach blinked at that, confused for a minute ... before he realized Mica probably just didn't really understand. "Well ... maybe. But that's not reeally what I meant," he replied, smiling slightly.

"More like ... uhm. Just hanging around with other people ... talking. Laughing and joking around ... relaxing?" Ok, so it was harder to explain than he'd thought at first ...


"Oh, stuff like that? So are you relaxing by talking to me?"

Micajah was coming off as a bigger idiot than he actually was, considering he knew damn well what 'relaxing' meant and he knew how to relax. He was always relaxed when he was sewing away at something, and he was always relaxed when he sat and watched the flurry of people walk past him on a busy street.

Perhaps he was just teasing Zach a little, to see if the boy could really pull off something like an explination. Relaxing was just a common term, something that was better felt than explained, so he was a big eager to see how Zach would get his point across.

"Or are you getting stressed out trying to explain it to me?"

Zach blinked, eyeing the other for a minute - trying to figure out what the meaning behind that was. He wasn't an idiot either, but he also didn't mind a bit of teasing ...

He decided, though, to just try and explain in the end ... because he didn't want to offend Mica by implying the other was teasing when he might not be. After all, he'd only just met the other boy.

"Well. I mean. There's other things that can be relaxing too ... but I'm not really stressed out, no." Not that he was reeeally relaxed either, but still.

"Which is kinda what relaxing is ... not being upset or stressed out or ... y'know. Thinking too much."

Micajah chuckled a little and smiled softly, giving the boy next to him some mental props for trying to keep explaining something even though it was something that had to be experianced rather that told.

"I think I understand, thanks. It's relaxing talking to you, or at least I feel calm talking to you, so I'll group that in together."

It was true, he liked the conversation he was having even if it was something completely useless and stupid. He wasn't learning anything new about the boy at this time other than his drive to explain things to others and his will not to give up - or so it seemed to Micajah - so perhaps changing the conversation would probably be in order sooner than later.

"So, do you like it here at....ShinKami?"

Huge change.

Aaah, so maybe he hadn't been teasing. How weird, someone who didn't really know what relaxing was ...

Zach smiled though, happy he'd managed to explain, somewhat.

As for the other question. Hm ... did he like it here? "Yea ... I do. It's better than a lot of places I've ended up in before. And I wanted to come here. How about you?"


"I was sent here by my Father, I didn't choose to come here."

Micajah's answer was cold and flat, and he stopped walking as he spoke the line. His eyebrows narrowed a bit and he turned his head to the side, almost as if he was a bit to perplexed to look at Zach. It was then though that another look came over Micajah's face - one of an 'oops' - and he quickly popped a goofy-like smile on his features.

"Just kidding! Did I sound pretty cool or serious when I said that?"

He rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand, all the while using his right to rummage into the pocket of his pants. He was looking for something, perhaps...

(( Continued in next post to make sure I don't run out of room... ))

(( The end~! XD ))