The Survivor and the Seer
by Sprinkles
5/28/A.C. 195
Click. Click. Click.
It was driving Duo insane! Heero was back on his damned laptop, literally having shoved Duo out of the chair whilst he was in the middle of an exhilerating game of solitaire. Admittedly, Duo had refused to move until he was finished, and Heero had taken the only course of action available to him, but still...
Click. Click. Clickity, Click Click.
//This is Heero's sweet, sweet revenge for all those times I talked him out of his mind.// Duo thought glumly. Even after a couple days, he still had trouble accepting his inability to speak. The wrestling match with Heero seemed so many days ago, despite the fact that it was only yesterday. Heero, fearing his own thoughts and feelings, had retreated into his usual cold self and did not pay Duo any mind at all.
Click. Click. Mouse click. Spacebar click.
//Jesus! I was never that annoying!// Duo had never been this bored either; especially if he could identify the kind of keys that Heero was clicking. //If Heero's just going to ignore me, what's the point of my staying? I've got to get out of here.//
He stood up and headed towards the door. Heero turned in his chair and lifted an eyebrow. "Where are you going?" He asked. Duo scissored his first two fingers in a walking motion, and Heero nodded, understanding.
Duo walked along a path a little ways from the house. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom, chipmunks chased each other around in the grass, birds were singing...
//Oh shut up!// Duo longed to shout at them. Everything was far too happy. It saddened him that the rest of the world could just go about their business as if nothing had happened, when Duo had lost one of the things that gave him character. He made it to the town nearby.
"Mommy, Mommy!! I want a balloon!!" A child yelled someways away.
"Lower your voice please, the entire world doesn't enjoy hearing you shout." Came the mothers stern reply.
//That's weird. Is it just me or is everyone--// Duo started.
From a news reporter: "Reports have just come in revealing The Romefeller Foundation's plan to silence--"
//--talking about voices.// He finished. What a depressing day...
"And Jesus said, 'Let the children come.' as all of you, the faithful, must come to our Holy Father." A street preacher was bellowing his lungs out. "Everyone! The ministry needs your kind donations! God would want you to donate! Remember, at the end of your lives, nothing will matter except your faith in God! God is everything! Donate today! Credit cards are excepted." Some people came forward to give their credit card numbers, others walked away shaking their heads.
Duo simply stood there staring at the crowd. //He is blessed with a voice and uses it to commercialize God. Such a waste...//
A hand rested itself on his shoulder. "I wouldn't listen to that 'God would want you to' bunk, if I were you, kid." came a voice from behind him.
Duo turned. A tall old man with sunglasses and a cane stood there smiling slightly. Duo patted his throat with his hand, hoping the man would understand. The man didn't see.
"Don't even bother to talk to this old timer? I may be blind, but I'm not deaf."
At a loss, Duo picked up the blind man's hand to touch his own throat.
"Oh, I see..er..so to speak." Said the man with an ironic smile. "Well, we're gong to have a bit of trouble communicating then. Let's sit down somewhere. There should be a cafe over there somewhere, called Linda's. If you would be so kind to..."
Duo understood and took the old man's hand, guiding him to the cafe. They sat down.
"Well, judging by the muscles in your shoulder when I put my hand on it, you're not that old. How old are you? Um...here" He said extending his hand, you can trace your answer on my hand.
'15' Duo traced.
"Is that right? Well not many are born without their voice, so was this... predicament a recent thing?"
'Yes'
"Well, kid, let me tell you something. My name's Tybalt and I was once a business man who had to travel a lot, and let me tell you, those shuttles are so safe; they check them up, down and sideways. However, one day my shuttle crashed. It was probably an error in judgement to fly through a storm, but you do the best you can and sometimes accidents happen. Five people survived. I survived but was forever blinded. Everybody said I was lucky." He paused.
Duo waited. Maybe this guy had some sense.
"Well the first week back in the world, everyone seemed to be talking about eyes, vision or sight. As if the world was determined to torture me about it. Eventually, as I got used to this dark world of sounds and textures, I realized that I was lucky. I was lucky to have survived such an accident. And I had the means to find out who my true friends were. And that's what will matter at the end of your life. Not some charity you donated too" - he motioned to where the preacher was still collecting - "but those true friends who you lived for, and kept you living when all was lost. Cause that's what you are, kid. A survivor."
//Those true friends who I live for.// Duo thought of those days ago when Heero's tiny smile reflected in the laptop screen and of Heero's eyes glinting as he attempted to strangle Duo with his own braid.
Tybalt's voice interrupted Duo's thoughts again. "You better get on home, kid. Think about it."
Duo got up, still deep in thought, patted Tybalt's hand in thanks and began to walk home.
And when the birds' loud voices cut through the silence of the still air, Duo didn't even notice.
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