May 1, 2001
hunger
part two
this is au; the topic upsets me greatly.
by bianca
"She's gorgeous," said Duo, elbowing me in the side. "God damn it, Heero! Look at her, for Christ's sake!" I finally turned my head, my neck chafing against the starched collar, and felt my stomach tighten, almost in empathy.
Her long arms moved awkwardly by her sides, the flesh over them like putty over twigs. The socket joint of her shoulder stood prominently beside her collarbone like a fossilized dinosaur bone, rising from sandy ground. "What happened?"
"I don't know," said Duo, sighing, "but Heero, she looks so lovely, and you know she wants nothing more than for you to go up to her and tell her so." I shrugged, picking at the sleeve of my jacket. "You tell her yourself, if it matters so much." Duo scowled at me, his face pinching in at the sides. I had tried to tell him not to do that, that it made him look like a starved ghoul, but he'd never listened to me. I doubted he'd have been interested in listening then.
"Maybe I will," he said, and he marched up to her and offered Relena his arm. She took it, looking fragile against his lanky basketball player's frame, and they made their way through the crowd, stopping at my table.
"Care to dance with a lady?" he asked.
The lights bled around us as we spun in a waltz; the people around us were standing with their partners, swaying back and forth. Not many kids knew how to waltz.
But then, I thought, looking at her smallish nose, her large blue eyes, and the red shading around them, not many kids made a habit of starving themselves to death. Her gloved hand in mine was like a kitten's paw; I dared not squeeze too hard.
"Heero," she said, and those eyes darkened, her tongue leaking out like a secret to wet her lips. "Would you care to stay after the party tonight to meet my parents? They're very interested in you." I swallowed. The people were all watching us, and the lights on my back burned. I felt as if the entire school was watching us, taking notes, laughing at the skeleton that I romped around the room with.
"Heero?" I turned my face back to hers, and I saw a maggot slowly crawl from the crevice of her ear. She was rotting from the inside out.
I threw her hand away, feeling those same maggots, her weakness, crawling all over my skin. I heard her gasp, but I didn't care, I just had to get away, somewhere.
[maggots]
"Heero!"
[eating me. my skin. crawling on my skin.]
I made it to the toilet, thankfully, and then I vomited until I was just dry heaving, then coughing, then half-crying. I felt a hand on my back, hands in my hair. It wasn't until I started hearing again, started registering the voice whispering in my ear, that I realized who it was.
"What's wrong?" he whispered. I shook my head. The emptiness inside me was thick, gelatinous. I felt I could reach inside and touch it with my finger, and feel the thickness and consistency. I didn't understand how anyone could do that.
"Heero," he said, and even though he was just touching my back, it seemed there was more to it than just his hand and my spine, curved over a toilet, slumped on the bathroom floor in a ritzy mansion.
He said my name again, but I didn't have the heart to tell him to shut up. I closed my eyes, counted to ten, and made a wish as I flushed the toilet.
End Part Two
Bianca
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