http://clampfix.fanworks.net/re-fix/bf2.txt </head><body><pre> Between Friends Part Two After the attack passed, Eagle struggled to his feet. Fortunately, the doors to the garden area had been thick enough that Lantis hadn't heard and come to investigate, and fortunately there had been no one else in sight. Eagle walked quickly to one of the public drinking fountains and rinsed the blood off his hand. He would report the incident to his doctor, as ordered, but no one else would know. Even his parents did not know he was sick. Eagle rinsed his mouth out, too; the metallic taste of blood wasn't his favorite. But he couldn't stop the tears from running down his face, and suspected his high emotions had been the cause of this latest attack. He couldn't help that he loved Lantis any more than Lantis could help not returning the feeling. He very much wanted a shoulder to cry on, so he made his way to Geo's apartment. He might be silly and somewhat sappy in front of Lantis and Zazu, but Geo was the only one Eagle trusted with his real emotions. They had practically been raised together, he and Geo, and Eagle very much counted on his "older brother" to be there for him. Sometimes he almost suspected that Geo regarded him as a female, simply due to the fact that Geo was a softy only for him and members of the opposite sex. Geo's rooms were not too far away, and Eagle was lucky in the fact that he encountered no one. He was known far more widely than he liked, simply because his father was one of Autozam's senators, and planned to run in the next presidential election. Reaching his destination unseen, Eagle attempted to brush the tears off of his face before touching his hand to the panel that let Geo know he had a visitor. "Who is it?" Geo's voice asked. "It's Eagle," he replied quietly. "May I come in?" As an answer, the door slid open. Geo looked up from his set of problems on spatial irregularities to see Eagle entering his quarters, face wet with tears. Geo immediately stood and met his friend half-way, letting Eagle cry freely into his shirt. He gently stroked Eagle's white-blond hair, wondering what had happened to make Eagle this upset. "What happened?" he finally asked. "L-Lantis," Eagle stuttered through his tears. "You told him," Geo figured out. Eagle nodded. "How did he take it?" "He d-didn't mind," Eagle said, "but he d-doesn't feel the same way." "I thought you'd figured that out already," Geo said softly. "He didn't hurt you, did he?" "No," replied Eagle. "But I d-didn't think that him saying 'no' would hurt this much!" "Come on," Geo said, putting his arm around the younger boy's shoulders and leading him to the couch. Eagle moved wordlessly, tears still running down his face. "Stay here," he told Eagle once he had him sitting down on the couch. Geo quickly left the room and hurriedly threw together what he thought of as the "Eagle-stop-crying" kit. Eagle didn't break down in tears too often, but when he did, he inevitably turned to Geo, and Geo had gotten good at making the pretty face smile again. It was less than a minute until he returned to the living room and a subdued, though no longer crying, Eagle. Geo sat down on the low table in front of the couch and wiped Eagle's tear-stained face with a cool, damp cloth. Eagle sat still, having been through this a half-dozen times before over the years. Next, Geo handed Eagle a stuffed purple thing that looked vaguely like no animal either of them had ever seen on Autozam. Geo had won it at a carnival when he was fourteen and given it to Eagle, as he had no use for the silly thing. Eagle had enthusiastically dubbed it "Esu" for reasons he had never explained to Geo, and the stuffed animal lived with Geo so that Eagle could play with it whenever he came over, which was more often than not. "The hot chocolate will be ready in a few minutes," Geo told Eagle. "In the meantime, do you want to tell me what happened, or will that wait until later?" Eagle hugged the purple thing to him and wordlessly shook his head, indicating that he didn't want to talk about the experience yet. Geo sighed; maybe some things were just too private for Eagle to tell him. It was easy to forget that he and Lantis were both nearly four years older than Eagle; though only seventeen, Eagle had the poise and confidence of someone much older, and the intelligence to match it. Geo actually couldn't remember when Eagle had not been in the same classes as him; Eagle had been advanced several grades at a very young age. But in some ways, no doubt due to the extremely sheltered life his parents had given him, Eagle was younger than seventeen, too. The tones of the drink maker chimed, and Geo stood and fetched drinks for the two of them. He himself had coffee, as black as the synthesizer on the maker could create it, but Eagle's sweet tooth was catered to with rich hot chocolate, topped with large marshmallows. "Are you going to be okay?" he asked in a soft voice, carefully measuring sugar into his coffee as Eagle put Esu down in favor of the drink. It was instinctive by now to protect Eagle. Eagle nodded slowly. "I think so," he murmured, looking down into his drink. "I'm sorry for interrupting your studies." "To hell with my studies," Geo said, lifting Eagle's chin so that his friend had no choice but to look at him. "Schools come and go. Friends don't. When I ask if you're okay, I don't want some pat answer and an 'I'm sorry.' Now, are you okay?" Eagle looked down again. "I think so," he replied. "I don't know if this is what a broken heart feels like, but it hurts a lot even though I was fairly sure that Lantis wouldn't return my feelings." "He's an idiot," Geo said abruptly. "Geo!" Eagle protested. "Lantis is not!" "He passes you up in favor of what?" Geo asked in reply. "His 'dream' of abolishing Cefiro's 'pillar system,' a goal he may never accomplish. *That* is stupidity as I understand it." "It's good to pursue a purpose and have a dream!" Eagle argued. "So maybe he's a little devoted to it...." "Devoted? More like obsessed," Geo grumbled. "I swear, between him and Zazu, we have more fixations at this university than is healthy." "Zazu?" Eagle asked. "What's Zazu obsessed over?" "Mechs," Geo replied. At least he'd gotten Eagle out of his depressive kick. "He's a Mechanical Engineer major," Eagle replied. "He's supposed to like mechs!" "He's eleven years old!" Geo retorted. "Do you think that it's healthy for him to spend all his time with people years older than him, drooling over machines? The kid needs a girlfriend!" Eagle had no answer to that. Instead, he sipped at his drink. He knew he had done the right thing to come to Geo. Sometimes he wondered if he was really just being a bother to Geo by coming to him when he needed help, but he knew that that wasn't true. And if Geo ever needed anything of him Eagle would pay back the debt immediately. He finished the hot chocolate, and stifled a yawn. Crying and the attack of his illness had worn him out. Geo noticed it and abruptly said "Go use my room and get some sleep. I need to finish these problems." "Thank you," Eagle said, standing. On sudden impulse, he gave Geo a hug. "You're the best friend I have, Geo." "Yeah," Geo said roughly. He was usually uncomfortable when Eagle expressed affection for him. It had always been unspoken between them. Eagle smiled and went off to Geo's room to lie down for a nap. Funny, that was one thing he, Geo, and Lantis all shared, a love of naps. Geo sat back down to finish his problems, which were mostly rote by this point, only to be disturbed by the soft chimes of the door. Eagle was sleeping already, so it wasn't him. "Come in," he called, wondering who it was. The door slid open and Lantis walked in. "Am I disturbing you?" he asked. "Not at all," Geo replied, sizing up the look on Lantis' face. </pre><p><a href="./">Back</a></p><p><a href=http://www.dreamhost.com/donate.cgi?id=216><img border=0 alt="Donate towards our web hosting bill!" src=https://secure.newdream.net/donate1.gif></a></p></body></html>