That's Where Music Comes From

[Vichee Founder]

For Your Consideration
.The book of love is long and boring
Pawns: Vee and Ben
.No one can lift the damn thing
Status: private/active
.But I
Setting: near the east end of the wall
.I love it when you sing to me
Scene:
.You can sing me anything

The morning was cool and slightly foggy, her favorite kind of weather to run in. The air was mildly damp, and smelled of rain. The skies had been threatening to pour down on her for about an hour now, and still Vee pressed on. She was determined to get her full run in before heading back home to her fireplace and hot mocha in a warm mug. Just another mile now..

"Vee!"

Oh lovely, now she was hearing things. Ben-things, of all things she could possibly hallucinate hearing. They'd been around each other a little since waking up hung over together several weeks ago, but things were still a little uneasy, with him trying to figure things out and her trying to give him space to figure things out.

"Vee! Hold up!"

Ok, she hadn't imagined that one.

Vee glanced over her shoulder.

"Ben?" She slowed to a stop, turning and waiting for him to catch up.

[Dr. Benedict Hidzenboosh]

He caught up and came to a stop, hunching over to catch his breath. He loosened his scarf, trying to cool off.

"Harder to run with all this on..."

He looked at her, the words finally lost from him. Him. Lost for words. Again. Perfect. He looked down, nodding. He just had to word it. Buy time?

"You shouldn't be out in this weather. It's this kind of weather that gets people sick..."

He swallowed the lump down, but it came back. How to you explain what you can't even explain to yourself?

[Vichee Founder]

Vee frowned.

"I should say the same to you. I'll be fine though, thanks."

What was he doing out here? Even when theyd been so close, he'd only ever come out on nice days. Certainly not days like this.

"What are you doing out anyway? It's half about to rain, you're never out when it's so nasty out."

He looked so nervous. What did he have to be nervous about? She was the one practically half-naked with a storm about to hit. She needed to get going if she was going to beat the rain home.

[Dr. Benedict Hidzenboosh]

"We need to talk."

There was a clap of thunder in the distance. This was going to get bad... Ben shook his head and started to take off his jacket.

"Come on, lets get some where with cover. Take this so you don't get sick. It doesn't look like you planned ahead for rain..."

He held his jacket out to her, scarf still around the neck part. He wanted to tell her everything without interruption. It would change him--and maybe her. The words were trickling in finally.

[Vichee Founder]

"Oh, what, now you care?" She glared at him, taking a step back. "I can take care of myself Ben. A little rain isn't going to hurt me."

NOW he'd decided he cared about her? Months and months and NOW? In the middle of her run with a storm coming?!

"Listen mister." She stepped into him, poking him sharply on the chest.
"I can take care of myself dammit. I've been doing it since I left home and I can do it now. I don't need..."

Ok, that was a lie. She needed him, and fuck if that didn't just piss her off.

"What the hell are you doing out here anyways?! Are you STALKING me or something?!"

[Dr. Benedict Hidzenboosh]

He opened his mouth to make a comment when she beat him to it.

"Oh, what, now you care? I can take care of myself Ben. A little rain isn't going to hurt me. Listen mister."

Then she advanced on him and he blinked. A sharp poke and he winced, dropping his jacket on the ground. He blinked at her. What did he do?

"I can take care of myself dammit. I've been doing it since I left home and I can do it now. I don't need..."

He watched her face move. A lie. She was hurt. He did this. He did this to her. Another crack of thunder, and it was starting to drizzle.

"What the hell are you doing out here anyways?! Are you STALKING me or something?!"

He stared at her for a moment. Before she could move away, he moved in. He grabbed the sides of her face in a gentle embrace as the rain started to come down harder. It had a very specific sound, the rain, as it landed on the leaves around them and how the storm rumbled upon them as it filled the sky.

The words came to him in a memory from when he first got here. It was when he first arrived, the songs that had played on the plane ride here. One of those station channels. The mind was a wonderful thing, locking memories from ages ago and resurfacing when the mind needed it most. Ben couldn't sing, but by the laws of nature, it didn't matter. When you were passionate about something, freaks of nature can become the most beautiful and wonderful things... and make the most wondrous of sounds.

"The book of love is long and boring... No one can lift the damn thing... It's full of charts and facts and figures... and instructions for dancing... But I...I love it when you read to me... And you... You can read me anything..."

A clap of thunder and the sky lit up from a lightning bolt even among the dark clouds that loomed over head. The wind was steady, but not too strong. It made her hair move and dance in a way that captivated his eyes and he continued, louder now, still holding her face in his hands in that gentle grasp. He didn't hold out the notes, but he paused with the rhythm that played in his head.

"The book of love has music in it... In fact that's where music comes from... Some of it is just transcendental... Some of it is just really dumb..."

He gave a small smile, running his finger gently along her cheek. The rain was starting to soak them. His coat seemed to be getting lost in puddles of rain. His leather satchel, along under the tree, was damped by the drops that rolled off the tree, as if nature was crying itself.


"But I... I love it when you sing to me... And you... You can sing me anything..."

He licked his lips. The music was playing but the lyrics... there was a pause in the song. He swallowed, looking between her eyes as the rain continued to fall around them, a hush in it's own way, while making the world around them louder than anything. A lightning bolt struck again with the thunder echo that shook the air.

"I'm horrible and I've treated you so horribly... and I can never forgive myself for it. I'm scared, Vee, I'm scared to give my heart away because I don't want to be hurt again. I don't want to lose that feeling. So many years in the dark... in the pain... I'm so use to being alone, I didn't see why I should ever be with someone... because I became the darkness in myself... I don't want to be alone anymore, Vee..."

He swallowed. His hair was stuck to his face, and his vision was blurring from water in his eyes. The tears were mixed in with the rain and he continued with the music in his mind. His voice was choked with tears as he continued on. The memories and the pain coming back like as if the lightning was striking him.

"The book of love is long and boring... And written very long ago... It's full of flowers and heart-shaped boxes... And things we're all too young to know... But I... I love it when you give me things... And you... You ought to give me wedding rings..."

He moved his hands to hold her on her shoulders. His voice started to get weaker, as the darkness tried to press in. He was so tired of being alone and scared and having to push everyone away. He felt it was all his fault, but he never told anyone. He never did. Because they would try to get close... but now...

"And I... I love it when you give me things... And you... You ought to give me wedding rings..."

The water pooled around the satchel, soaking the papers within. He didn't care. Everything like that was replaceable. It all was replaceable. The books, the jacket, the scarf... his phone, his wallet, his journal... the journal he had since the beginning. None of it mattered.

"And I... I love it when you give me things... And you... You ought to give me wedding rings..."

Thunder shook the ground; the wind shook the trees; lightning made the shadows dance around them. Yet none of them seemed to move him. His suit was soaked, and he should be cold by all means. He wasn't. His feelings kept him warm. The feelings he had fought so hard to lock away all those years ago. All of the pain he had hid and the sorrow he had swallowed. The love he had tried to kill within himself.

"You ought to give me wedding rings..."

He took deep breaths, as if he was going to have a panic attack. It wasn't a panic attack--he had had those before. This was emotional shock--overload.

"I love you."

[Vichee Founder]

The skies opened and poured down on them as he grasped her face and...began to sing to her. The song was familiar. One she had on her own ipod, in fact. Without thinking, she joined him, her own voice a little too high to be considered good, though not earsplitting.

"I love it when you sing to me. And you...You can sing me anything..."

Her voice trailed off as she listened to him speak, sliding her hands up his chest and looping her arms around his neck- just holding him as they finished the song, her own voice soft and shocked.

"You ought to give me wedding rings."


She leaned up, pulling his head down and pressing their foreheads together, nuzzling their noses together softly.

"I love you too.." She murmured, voice choking. She certainly hadn't expected this and all the emotion she'd been forcing herself to hold in around his poured out in the form of tears and soft hiccups. Happy tears. Tears of love and devotion to him. To them.

She closed her eyes, pressing closer. The storm grumbled and roared and splashed around them, and she hardly noticed. Not when her top soaked through, and goosebumps stood out on her legs and arms and exposed midriff. Nor when she shoes and socks soaked through, chilling her feet. She would have given anything for this moment to just go on forever.

[Dr. Benedict Hidzenboosh]

Ben hugged her tightly to him. This feeling... he moved one hand to her chin and tilted her head up. He kissed her. Not a soft, shy, unsure kiss. A hard, passionate, and emotion filled kiss. The rain made him feel that they were alone, far from the rest of the world and any others that may be alive. Aside from the fact that they TECHNICALLY were separated from the world... He told his logical side to piss off. Time to be illogical for a while.

[Vichee Founder]

Vee gave a soft groan and curled her hands into the back of his shirt on either of his shoulder blades. She held on tight and just kissed him. Kissed him like she'd been wanting to for ages now. They stayed locked for moments at a time before she had to pull back to breathe. That lasted barely a second before her lips were back to his and she was clinging to him as though if she let go he would disappear on her.

"Ben." She gasped, pulling back a second time, suddenly very aware of how wet she was. How cold. Then she was shaking with the cold and pressing closer to him, nuzzling his neck and trying to find some kind of warmth.

"Ben.." It felt good to say his name like that. She wasn't what that was, but it felt good. Love, perhaps. Yes, it felt like love and something so much better.

They really needed to get out of the cold though. Her knees were quaking together and she kept pressing closer and closer, hoping he could offer some warmth to her bare arms, legs, and stomach.

[Dr. Benedict Hidzenboosh]

Then the logical side got louder.

"We have to get out of this storm before we both aren't going to be any good."

He looked at the trees. That satchel was beyond saving. He looked down at his coat. So was that. He looked at Vee and shrugged. He picked her up, bridal style, and started to carry her, the water sloshing around his feet with each step. He ran through the rain, his dress shoes being splattered with mud and loose grass blades. He wanted her out of the rain. He went for the first building he could find. He didn't care what it was. He'd find the heat and air controls and take it all over. Heat full blast if he had to just to dry them out.

[Vichee Founder]

"Head back to my place. It's closer." She offered softly. "I left the fireplace going."

She didn't want to be around other people right now. Just Ben. That would be easier if they were in one of their homes. She pressed close to him, resting her head on his shoulder and pressing her nose into his neck. She could feel his jugular throb against her nose. She gave a soft sigh and nuzzled the point softly, giving the vein a soft kiss.

Usually she would have protested being carried like this, but pressed close to him, their shared body heat was at least giving her a little warmth, even though rainfall was pooling on her stomach and soaking her even further. She wanted a fire, and a change of clothes, and hot liquid. She wasn't sure about Ben's clothes. She'd throw them in the dryer right away and he could..could...well she could give him a blanket at least. The idea of curling up on the couch with him in her now uncluttered and Starry Night-painted living room was a good one.