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"I suppose it was just a matter of time." |
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*Aramis takes a seat at his usual table and pulls a cigarette out from his pocket. He offers one to you. Politely, you decline. "More for me," he shrugs. He leans back in his chair and lights his cigarette, fanning out the match and tossing it upon the floor. Though the dim light of the Plastered Pig, you can see the dull glistening of a pair of gold rings under Aramis' fishnet shirt. It's a lifeless, cold glint, one that mirrors the very look in his eyes.*
"I've met someone," he begins, taking a short, punctuated puff on his cigarette. "Someone who I thought was worth building a relationship with. It seems I was wrong. Today, I found out that this kid, whose name I won't mention because, well, that's just wrong. But anyway, this kid, who've I've been completely smitten by, I'll admit--was out and about after every single piece of tail he could get his little hands on once my back was turned. Just today... today, I found out that this guy has quite the reputation following him. I caught wind of (name omitted)'s infidelity a few hours ago. Some guy actually said to me something in the area of 'I can't believe you didn't know that about (name omitted). Everyone else does." Yeah! It seems that (name omitted) is very well known, for reasons I will not say. I couldn't believe it. So I did some invesitaging of my own. And from what I've found, this kid has been lying to me all along. All along! He'd run up to me, smiling and full of affection while I was there, but as soon as I turned my back, he went right on the prowl, looking for someone else. Even worse was the fact that everyone but me knew about this. This kid has been lying to my f*cking face. And it's not that he lied once or twice or even six or seven times. He's been lying all along. All along! Unbelievable! Oh! Oh, and get this--it also appears that when I was gone, possibly over the weekend, he ahd actually gotten someone pregnat. Isn't that rich?"
*Aramis lets out a loud laugh, one that makes you wince in extreme discomfort. It's obvious that he's in an extreme amount of pain. You can hear it in his voice, hidden behind his forced laugh. Your mind suddenly snaps back to a name: Baanji, an old friend of Aramis from whom he'd learned his greatest form of emotional defense: laugh and laugh often. It best hides the pain.*
"You know, everyone who was in the bar at the time had something negative to say about him. I didn't want to listen. But when the facts are not only staring at you in the face, they're holding your head in the pool and drowning you in the truth, you don't have much of a choice. Not one person told me something positive. Not--wait. Wait, there was one. Ah, but there's a story behind that, too. This young lady told me that (name omitted) had actually come in sometime whining about how I'd been mean to him, and jumping into the lap of anyone who would lend a sympathetic ear. She even accused me of being mean and losing my temper with him. That's why I've come in here, to blow off some steam."
*What steam? you ask. He seems pretty calm to you!*
*Aramis points a finger at you* "Exactly. If there's one thing I'm known for, it's my impecable patience. You have to do an awful lot to get me angry. Never before today had I even yelled at this kid. Never in my life had I raised my voice OR my hand to him, never called him a degrading name. And I'm the bad guy here? As soon as I explained this to the young lady, she simply shrugged her shoulders and went on her way. So, now what? The kid is not only lying to me, he's lying to everyone else who'd hear it. It's amazing, really. A word of advice to you, friend: stay away from those young ones. They're all smiles and affection when you're around, but they'll drag your heart through the mud once you turn your back. Hell... I don't even think that's a fair statement. I can't judge him like that. I suppose that's the only reason why I'm going to give him a chance to explain himself to me. Yes, I did get angry. And yes, today, I did yell at him. But tomorrow, no. No. I don't even want a f*cking apology; just an explaination. A reason. Why would he do this? What does he want that I am not able to provide? And what am I lacking that he needs to go somewhere else to get it? He knows I've been though this same... exact... thing before. I can't understand for the life of me why he'd opt to try it for himself."
*Aramis' voice becomes gravely serious as he flicks the cigarette ashes over the side of the table.*
"I can't tolerate liars. It's the one thing that really bothers me, the straw that would break the camel's back, so to say. And they're not just little lies, they're... building up and up, like some forsaken mountain of festering deciet, and I'm tired of it... I'm tired of it. Tomorrow, I want to know why. I want to know why he's lying to me, or if he even wants to continue this... this flimsy romance we have. I know it's still very early, but we've just started building this relationship and it's already groaning under the weight of deception. I'm going to ask him, face to face, if he wants to continue this relationship or not. I'm going to dispel any sort of opinion I have of him now and start over again. I'll build it around his behavior from hereon forth. Begin anew. Give him a second chance. But if he says he doensn't want to be with me anymore, well, that's fine, too. I won't yell. I won't cuss. I'll just let him walk out. Besides... It's not the first time I've lost someone I cared for because of the lies."
*Aramis takes one final drag on his cigarette before snuffing the tip out onto the table, a small circular burn marking its final breath. He stands up and hoists a bag over his shoulder, extending his hand to you.*
"I...won't be coming back here," he says, taking an almost fond final glance around the Plastered Pig. "Too many bad influences." His gaze slowly floats up to the staircase, quite possibly to the room he'd rented here for more than a year already. "Too many bad memories. I'll be staying at the Frog's Throat from now on. Granted, my room will be smaller and there isn't any bar of any kind, but that'll be a good thing for me." He reaches forward and gives your hand a hearty shake. "It's been nice speaking to you. Maybe you can come by and visit at the Frog's Throat sometime. I've got to get out of here, start over. I said before, I'm tired of living in the past. It's time for a new beginning. The thing is, no matter how far we run, our past will always be a part of us. We're shaped by our decisions, and haunted by our regrets. We become what we fear the most. So what has that done to me?"
*As Aramis makes his way to the tavern door, he stops and looks back at you from over his shoulder.*
"It's made me a heartless monster. If you could have opened up my chest half a year ago and looked inside, you would have seen my shattered, fragmented heart. Though I've managed to put some of the pieces back together, there's still a gaping hole. If you were to look inside my chest now, you'd see nothing. A desolate, endless chasm. Because I've given all the love I've had remaining. There aren't any pieces of my heart left to break. But you know what the really sad thing is?"
*Aramis' lips curl into a smile that sends a chill down your spine to your very soul*
"I'm perfectly fine with that."
 Bleeding Apocalypse · Mon Jan 31, 2005 @ 10:17pm · 2 Comments |
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