A Picture Worth A Thousand Tears
My Owner Fic
Shounen-ai Warning
Zsolt x Laxis
My Owner @ Ray Kitsune & Hippori
Fan fiction by [D u c k y]
Comment
From Contestthis is my first one so not very good na xDD
Chapter 1: A midnight flight
..........Footsteps in the dark, a groaning creek from the wooden door, and the sound of hushed breathing. Laxis crept back into the room he shared with Zsolt, holding his prize, a glass of milk, ice cold from the kitchen. His throat had begun to hurt during the late hours of the night, and even though his fiery-haired owner was in a deep and blessed sleep, the young fox still dared to creep into the cold kitchen barefooted to retrieve and aid for his scratchy throat. In all reality, the reason for his aching voice was the memories he had experienced while trying to fall asleep. Blood was dripping in pools of liquid and dead trees were littered in a land full of corpses.
..........He could remember, as clear as day, the night his mother and father were murdered, and the very recollection brought those hot, familiar tears stinging at his eyes. They always threatened to fall, but Laxis only cried at night, when Zsolt was asleep. He knew that it would be foolish to show weakness to his owner. ‘Stay strong and live long,’ was the mantra he repeated every night before his sleep, in which he was forever tormented with the screams of women and those two piercing red as blood eyes that were mirrored in the sky and every ocean. Those eyes mocked him so.
..........Slowly but surely Laxis made his way across the floor where Zsolt lay covered haphazardly in blankets. Careful not to wake him, the clever fox pup took large and quiet steps near Zsolt’s feet. It was only when Laxis climbed into the warmth of his own sheets, that he saw the key.
..........It shone silver in the pools of moonlight that were cast on the floor. It was the key. But one single, minute brass key that Zsolt never took off of his neck while he slept. During the day, it was practically invisible, wherever he kept it.
..........“Hey Zsolt, what is that darn key around your neck for?” he had persistently questioned one day. However his query was only met with an icy glare, a glare that was unfamiliar to the crimson eyed, broad-shouldered man.
..........“It’s none of your business Laxis…”
..........Now that the key was in sight, and Laxis’ owner under the toxic spell of sleep, the opportunity was there. If he could only lift it off of the man’s neck…
..........Laxis set the cup of milk down on the bedside table and silently walked over to the sleeping owner. Crouching down ever so slowly, his hot breaths steadied and his heart began to pick up pulse. Smooth, milky colored hands arrived at Zsolt’s neck, while beads of sweat dotted Laxis’ for head and his fluffy ears perked up. Steady now…steady now…
..........He almost had the velvet string in his grasp. Steady now…steady… His pulse began to rhythmically beat and he tried stifling the hot breaths that came rapidly. Hands lifted the string from the fair skinned neck and began to bring it over Zsolt’s head. Steady…steady… Blood rushed into Laxis’ ears and he could hear the drumming of his heart. Steady… He almost had it over. If only time wasn’t so slow! “C’mon, C’mon…” Laxis’ grunted softly to himself. Suddenly Zsolt stirred; his bare torso twisted around and Laxis swiftly tugged the key and the string off and froze.
..........Zsolt, who was a heavy sleeper, moaned something about a garden and some woman, and then returned to his gentle snoring slumber. The key shone delicately in the fox’s palm all throughout the silent night.
Chapter 2: Daybreak
..........Stark sunlight glared through the glass window near the bed Laxis lay in, yet did not wake him, for the pup was already awake and thinking.
..........“Is it wrong…what I am going to do today? I mean…I have no right to invade my owner’s privacy…but…he is so secretive…”
..........Laxis sighed and turned to watch Zsolt. The muscular figure was facing him, still in a heavy slumber, his mouth parted slightly breathing wisps of warm air. It was chilly out, near Christmas time, and Laxis had always disliked the cold. Interrupted by the sound of groaning and yawning, he pulled the wool blanket up to his nose and watched Zsolt awaken.
..........“Mmm, wow, that night sucked,” he muttered to nobody in particular. He caught sight of Laxis with the blanket covering him and smiled gently.
..........“Hey buddy, have a good sleep?”
..........Laxis nodded furiously and nervously stuttered, “Y-yep! Great n-night!”
..........The man peered at him curiously as though Laxis were crazy.
..........“Everything okay?” he asked suspiciously.
..........“Ju-ju-just cold, that’s all! I swear!”
..........Zsolt eyed him strangely again and then looked down at his chest. All too suddenly his eyes widened and with his mouth agape, exclaimed in the room, “Where the hell is my key?! I had it on last night. Laxis, have you seen it?” He turned, wild-eyed, to the fox, who shook his head a dozen times in frenzy. “Aggggh, maybe I left it in the laundry room. Anyway Laxis, I have some errands to run today, and Grant is sick, that moron, so you’ll have to stay by yourself while I’m gone. That okay?” Zsolt asked, while fastening a black spiked collar around his neck and fixing a belt onto his pants.
..........“Y-yeah, of course…I guess,” Laxis said under his breath. The truth was…he hated being alone. Always. But Zsolt didn’t know this, and staying strong for Zsolt was strictly required. Laxis bounded out of his bed without warning and wrapped his lean arms around Zsolt’s tall torso. He leaned against his warm figure and closed his eyes. The crimson haired man just stood there, staring at Laxis, and finally placed a hand on the boy’s sugary brown hair.
..........“I’ll be back soon…promise.”
..........Just those words were enough. Sometimes there were things Laxis was afraid to say, and sometimes those things were the ones that didn’t need words. Those moments where all you need is the warmth of your friend’s arms. Laxis breathed in deeply and Zsolt’s scent invaded his nostrils. And all of a sudden he had the urge to tell Zsolt that he had the key. But he didn’t and watched the man walk out of the front door and onto the frosty path. Laxis closed the door and sprinted to the room that he shared with Zsolt. A hand shot out under the snowy white pillow on the bed and pulled from it the small brass key. It was time.
..........Quick as he could, Laxis went to the desk that housed the locked, wooden drawer. The desk was made of a fine, rich cherry wood, and the key slid easily into the silver lock on the first drawer. Delicately, he turned the key and his heart pumped in his head. Finally, he would see what Zsolt kept locked up! The lock ticked and Laxis placed a firm hand on the drawer’s handle. He pulled and the drawer opened like magic. Eagerly, he looked inside the deep darkness of what Zsolt was hiding.
Chapter 3: What Laxis never knew
..........Inside the depths of the cherry wood drawer, sat a single, flimsy, disappointing photograph of a girl that Laxis never had seen before. His excitement had flown away like the jaybirds did every winter. Tentatively, he lifted the photo from the velvet lining of the drawer and examined it carefully. It was of a very pretty, young human girl with flowing dark hair and the kind of smile that brought memories of his mother back to Laxis. She was surrounded by a phalanx of colorful flowers, which appeared to be in some sort of garden. She looked blissful and at peace, and looked to be waving at somebody, probably the person taking the picture. Noticing a faint text on the picture, Laxis turned it over only to find words scrawled on the clean white back in messy black ink, a** though it had been written hurriedly.
..........“ Never forget this sin. Never forget this garden. Never forget Philena.”
..........“Philena…” Laxis tried the name. It rolled off of his tongue like a melody and kissed his lips like the sweetest cream. It sounded so natural coming from him, who had never even met her.
..........“Phi-.”
..........The rest of her name choked in his mouth. The picture of the smiling lady in the garden was now dim. A pitch black shadow towered over him, enveloping his form in darkness, and he nervously turned around, only to find Zsolt looking down at him, his crimson eyes on fire.
Chapter 4: What Zsolt had never told
..........“Laxis…what are you doing with that photo?”
..........Zsolt’s voice was as cold as night and it boomed into the silence of the room. There was Zsolt, a startling figure hovering over the frozen boy, now trembling with fear and guilt.
..........“Zsolt…I—.”
..........“DON’T TRY TO EXPLAIN THIS TO ME LAXIS. DO YOU THINK I’M AN IDIOT?!” he roared heatedly.
..........Laxis shuddered at his owner’s tone and backed against the desk in fear of the mighty man’s wrath.
..........“Please Zsolt! I, I know I was wrong just let me expl-.”
..........“Laxis…is this how you repay me for taking you in? By STEALING my key and INVADING my privacy!”
..........“But ZSOLT!”
..........“JUST GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!!!”
..........There was a deafening silence. Laxis sat, mouth agape, eyes wide and frightened like a deer in headlights. Zsolt stood, huffing and red in the face. His temper has once again overtaken him.
..........“L…Laxis…”
..........Laxis stood and bolted from the room, dropping the photograph, a stream of tears erupting silently from his eyes as he ran. There was a door slammed, and silence.
..........“What…what have I done…?”
..........Zsolt covered his face in his hands and crouched down, sighing. When he uncovered his hands, he picked up the photo from the hard, cold floor.
..........“Philena…what would you think of me? This isn’t the man you loved…”
..........He had lost Philena ages ago…and all because of him. He had vowed never to forget what he had done to her, but seeing this picture, knowing that a stranger had seen this picture, made him feel the deepest sorrow. Like he had betrayed her all over again. But…when he saw Laxis cry…
..........Surely, he placed the picture back in the cherry wood drawer, closed it and locked it with the brass key. For 10 minutes, he stood and stared at the bathroom door. He knew Laxis was inside, probably crying. That big baby… But Zsolt couldn’t leave him. No.
..........“Hehe…what am I, a softy? How did I turn this way…stupid pup…”
..........Zsolt took a breath, turned the knob, and opened the door.
Chapter 5: Don’t Cry, Laxis
..........Zsolt opened the bathroom door to reveal the young demi-human sitting on the floor, mopping up his tears with tissues, and sitting in a pile of balled up ones.
..........“Laxis…”
..........Laxis looked down, refusing to meet his owner’s eyes. Guilt filled his heart for what he had done to Zsolt, after the man had given him food and shelter. And Laxis knew how much Zsolt disliked dogs…
..........“Zsolt…I’m so sorry for what I did…I deserve to be kicked out…I…”
..........By now Laxis was sniveling and tears were falling from his watery brown eyes, dampening the floor.
..........“I…I…” Laxis continued, “Zsolt…I…”
..........Without warning, Zsolt dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms warmly around the fox. Laxis stuttered, but Zsolt just closed his eyes and said, “Shhh, don’t worry…it’s okay Laxis…what I can’t stand…what I can’t stand, is to see you cry…”
..........Just those words were enough. Sometimes there were things Laxis was afraid to say, and sometimes those things were the ones that didn’t need words. Those moments where all you need is the warmth of your friend’s arms. Times when you wish that you didn’t have to live anymore, because you would rather die in this happy moment, than die lonely. But at that time, Laxis knew that he would never die lonely. No…as long as he had Zsolt, and Zsolt alone, he could keep on living. He could keep on smiling.
The End
[ D I S C L A I M E R ] 