Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Tassadar's Legacy: Chronicles: Dark Light ❯ The Mask Starts to Crack ( Chapter 6 )

It'd been nearly a week. Akira had gone through her usual routine, including expanding and polishing off some of the rooms she'd created. But try as she might, she couldn't get her and Angel's 'first date' out of her head. She shook her head, smiling softly, wondering what would have been if things had been different. She went about playing her game on autopilot in the theatre as she day dreamed of a completely different time in that very room.

During that 'first date' of theirs, the movie had started out bland enough. Gunfire, cheesy plotline, 'high tech' weapons and gunships. It amazed her still what used to be considered high tech in the days before Meteor Fall day, as The Government had termed the solar system wide federal holiday. More often than not though, her attention strayed from the movie to her companion. Idly she whispered to the room that she wanted popcorn, and it popped up next to her. She set the carton in between them, an innocent gesture with not so innocent results, for just as she reached for popcorn, Abyssal Angel did the same thing on automatic and their hands brushed.

A lot of things happened at that point that Akira wouldn't forget for the world. Startled, both had looked at each other at the same time, while Akira noted just how soft his gloves are. She wished she could have felt his hand, but settled for feeling giddy about the fact that no one in the entire solar system could so much as claim the situation of touching him, gloves or not. The next part she would never forget is as they looked at each other, she could have sworn for a split second she'd seen blue green eyes through the mirror black eye pieces in his hood mask.

Akira sighed happily and wished again not for the first time, that she could simply reach over and pull that stupid mask off his head. Not only would she get the chance to see who Angel really is once and for all, to have something only she could claim to have, something special from Angel, but it made her realize and come to terms with something she'd been struggling against the entire time she'd been with him. She had it bad for him.

And it wasn't just lust either. Akira didn't want to just strip him bare and ride him hard till they both died from ecstasy or from old age, whichever came first, but she felt her heart lighten and jump when he was near her. And she was starting to think she might not be the only one. She'd noticed that often times, she'd catch him staring in her direction for longer than normal, or he'd find an excuse to just be in the same room as her as she worked and her Angel watched. She smiled at the thought. She'd been calling him that more often than not lately. Her Angel. She left the Abyssal part off since in her eyes it just didn't apply to him anymore.

Sure he had his moments. He seemed to surround himself in darkness, and sometimes if he mentioned his past, she noticed that he would purposely make himself seem like he was evil to the core. She didn't believe that for a moment, but she didn't disagree with him that what he did certainly could be viewed as evil. But she always thought that it wasn't really what someone did, more their intentions that spoke whether an act was truly evil or good or just plain misguided, and no matter how much he colored his actions and reasons with his own opinion of his evilness, she couldn't help often cutting to the heart of the matter and pointing out that he intended his actions for good in the end. He never argued about that, but he often left at that point to be on his own. That alone told her enough that she was starting to change him, or at least get him thinking.

Speaking of him leaving, he'd do that often after he caught himself staring at her too long or whatever situation happened that spoke just a little hint of being more romantic than normal. When he left she would smile and that's the way it was. He would leave and she would smile, though she couldn't help but wonder why he didn't just get over it and do something about their obvious, at least to her, mutual attraction. She didn't think him an idiot. If she'd spotted it then she knew he had. How could she view him an idiot after the lessons he'd been giving her? Not to mention their conversations hinted at far more intelligence than he gave himself credit for. She wondered sometimes if he simply enjoyed his misery. She hoped not. Maybe he's just giving himself an excuse she wondered.

The thought was so out there she froze in her actions and looked up at the ceiling in wonder. It would explain why he didn't simply take action about their attraction. If he views himself as evil and despise himself for it, it would give him an excuse to avoid her and not do anything about their attraction. Now the question that was left was why? Why would he go so far out of his way to make sure they didn't get together? Was it something she did?

She shook her head. It was only a theory after all. She didn't think she'd done anything to make Angel wish to delude himself into having a reason to avoid her. Her thoughts were interrupted as Angel entered the room and made some excuse he made to the room at large for him being there as he sat down and watched her playing games while doing whatever his excuse was. Akira smiled softly to herself and pretended not to notice for now. If that's the way he wanted to play it, she would just get to the bottom of this mystery, just like she had with so many others as an auditor/private investigator.