But I'll ride home laughing [RL]

[structuraldefect]

[It's a Friday night. Closer to Saturday morning. Kirei tends to wake up early, when he sleeps at all. Fridays are no exception. He hopped out of the bar earlier. Gilgamesh, of course, still had work to do. Well. A certain definition of work. It tended to involve climbing rooftops with various bottles in hand.

But it's the type of late that's starting to seem early, so Kirei tries to catch some sleep by the tail. It's illusive today. Just when he thinks he's got his finger on it, it slips away. Uneasy. That's the word for the feeling. A roll in the gut that won't stop churning. He shuffles his blankets and pillows in the hopes of pinning sleep down. He avoids the still slightly pained shoulder. There are some problems advil can't solve.

This is one of many.]

Comments

[structuraldefect]

[The pull on his wrist. The dig in. Half moon shaped marks left behind along with the sting of it all. He scoffs. It seems like a laugh at the edges. He stoops a bit. He's taller than him, after all. It amuses him. Gilgamesh has to reach up to reach him. Or pounce, to knock him down. A body made of wires and springs and coils, well engineered.]

Assuming it was there to begin with.

[It takes some time. To walk half-hobbled to the room. To open the door. He imagined dust clouds behind it. An emptiness. He's half wrong. It's clean. Almost sparkling in the dimness. It doesn't seem lived in. No lumps on the bed. No possessions left out. Like he'd moved in just yesterday.

But he gets there. Walks him to the edge of the bed, and lets go.]

[structuraldefect]

[He steps away from the bed. At first. Assumes sleep will trail Gilgamesh shortly. Just a half step. Not much. The impression of distance, more than the actuality.

There's an opening. He's not blind. He can see it. How easy it would be, to climb upon the bed. Like breathing. Or riding a bicycle. And he nips that analogy before it gets any further. The curtain of hair and the look in his eyes does enough. Like he's entranced.

By him.

It jolts him. Breaks the spell hanging over him. His eyes go wide. He steps back. A hand almost outstretched. An almost bend in the spine. The air seems thin. Or that there's suddenly not enough of it. And whatever little can be found burns on the way down.

There is an opening. Kirei doesn't take it.]

[structuraldefect]

[He does. For a moment, he gets the impression that the laugh is more dangerous than the bed could ever have been. Fleeting. Gone, almost as quickly as it came.

He closes the door behind him. Carefully, so it doesn't echo. Shuts off the light in the main room. Stumbles in the dark for his room. Outside he can hear cars whir past. The shouting in the parking lot. The thrum of bass.

But it doesn't sound so clear, beneath the rushing in his ears.

Sleep doesn't come easily, when it comes at all.]