Voices of the Past (Tech)

[Brandon (Tech)]

Brandon's sobs grew louder, deeper and more eartfelt. He was crying out the pain he locked away, fed off and damaged hismelf with. This was his dream come true, him and Kelsie back together again, and this time nothing could force them apart. This was why he had escaped after his time with the SoG, the reason that he had kept on living, he realized that. He had always secretly hoped to find Kelsie again, to relive the childhood his parents stole from him when they decided that he should take advantage of his skills. They had ripped him from Kelsie, leaving a deep, eternally hurting wound, that had not begun healing until now. All the pain had been released into his soul, healing upon contact with the love and security she gave him, the gentle kiss on his cheek further unlocking the seal of sorrow.

"I want to be with you" he whispered, feeling her caress his back. "I never want to leave you, ever again." He cried harder, but he knew he couldn't let it all out, not yet, not before she knew. He left her blissfull embrace reluctantly, gently taking her hand. He led her fingertips slide over the artificial part of his face to the natural, allwoing her to feel the border. Then he rolled up his sleeve and ran her fingers over the crudely modified prosthetics as gently as he could, until it too met the flesh. Then he guided her hand back to his cheek, dripping with tears.

"Now do you see?" He asked, so very afraid that she would be repulsed just like all the others. His life would be even more hollow if she left him now, the hope and joy he had felt lifting his spirits letting it al crash down again, most likely resulting in a permament deppression. "I'm not the same." He sat, longing to be back in her arms, but waiting to see her reaction, expecting the worst but hoping for more.

[Kelsie]

She smiled softly when he told her he wanted to be with her. That was all she would ever need to hear. In all her life just to be reunited with her best friend in the world was all that she could ever want. He pulled back and she did too at the same time. Immediatly she felt cold.

He took her hand in his and lifted it to his face. She smiled until the smile fell when she encountered a metal. It was strange the line that went down half his face. She didnt have much time to explore when he showed her that his arm too was the same. Her eyes opened wider as she took his hand away gently and went back up to his face.

"Close your eyes." she whispered.

She began to work her hands over his face. She remembered what he looked like from so long ago but even if he hadn't become half metal she would have had to do this anyway because she had to know what he looked like now. She began to feel around both metal and non metal feeling his eye brows and his cheek all of him and finally feeling the line. Down her hands went to his arms and up and down them they felt going from metal to skin and back again.

"My dearest Brandon," she whispered as she let her hand cup each cheek letting him know that he was not any less perfect. "What on Earth happened to you?"

[Brandon (Tech)]

The sound that escaped Brandon's throat sounded like hiccups drowning in tears, of both sorrow and joy. She was still here, she hadn't left, his worts fears had been proven groundless. He moved back and hugged her again, only wishing to remain in her blissfull presence. He hugged her tightly, the memories that her questin brought forth almsot choking him, the pain that had disfigured him, the agony of waking up and realising ehat he had become and the torment when he found what had happened to his friends.

After he had hugged her, seeking snactuary in her arms as he had always done when the world grew to much, he pulled himself together, but remained in her embrace. "I few years after my parents made me move, I doubt you could have recognized me" He begun, for the first time ever. "Parties, dancing, booze, drugs, I did it all. I needed something to fill out the hole, you know, something to compensate, even mildly, for what had been taken from me. My studies" He snorted, memorizing the entertaining chats he had had with his teacher. "They went straight to hell. One night, a few years back, there was a new kind of drug passed round. The party was already going fast, but still some people wouldn't take their shots, so I took mine first, as an incentive of sorts." A half-choked sound escaped him, the sorrow within awakening.

"I dunno what happened after that, I can only remember pain, pain like my body was being eaten from inside, pain that would have made me tear myself t oshreds if I hadn't been paralyzed." He hugged her a little tighter, this was the part that always haunted him, sometimes he relived it through his dreams, never the same level of pain, but it still scared him. "They say that there was an ambulance nearby that picked me up when my friends called 911, and that..." He began sobbing, steadly growing stronger. "And that my hands and feet and my face was eaten away by the acid. The doctors couldn't do anything, but there were mroe than just authorised doctors there."

He ran his hand throuhg Kelsie's hair thoughtlesly, the touch of it had always had a calming effect on him. "There were some members of an organisation calling themselves ´Seekers of glory´ who took me to their lab and neutralized the acid before they cut off my face" The last few words came out as a low moan of sorrow, as he lived through the realisation of what he had become again. "They gave me these, the prosthetics you felt, and installed some sort of computer in what was left of my brain. I ran away from them as quickly as I could, but" his face contorted in sorrow, remembering the terrible realisation that had dawned to him.

"The drug that had eaten me," It sounded like he were changin subjects, but he was doing all but that. "Was actually pretty harmless on its own but combined with alcohol it turned corrosive. After I had taken my shot so did everybody else" He was crying it all out now, letting the pain and guilt he had felt for those deceased gain relief from his emotionel tomb. "They all died, and I weren't even there for them" This came out as a low sob, but the words were easily heard. "Then I went to uncle, you know, to aske him what to do, and also to find you."

He smiled and rubbed her back gently, so happy that at least one of his wishes had come tru and that it was the one most imporatant to him. "But the SoG where already there. Uncle told me to run, to hide, but when he tried to protect me," Brandon swallowed a large lump in his throat "they killed him too" It came out as a moaning sob, as he buried hmiself deeper into the embrace of Kelsie, his childhood friend and still dearest friend. He continued to cry, letting his pain out after years of captivity

[Kelsie]

He had fallen so low. So very low that he had hit the ultimate bottom and she hadn't been there to help. She began to let the tears run down her face as she held him close while he lay his life story in front of her. She listened carefully. All the things that had happened to him it only made her feel worse that she hadn't done something to try to find him sooner. But she could help right perhaps as she got stronger here she could help him.

A new mission in life developed. A new course for living came to be as she knew that she would study here until she could return Brandon to himself. When he talked about his uncle dying she cried with him because his uncle had been like a second father to her in many ways. She cried softly in his shoulder it seemed that today though a day of happy reunions was also a day of tears.

Finally she pulled back and she wiped his tears away as she leaned in and kissed his face. Metal and flesh alike all over his precious precious face but never the lips. That was too much yet. She didn't want to do that when they had only just met.

"Im so sorry, so terribly sorry. I should have tried harder to find you I should have been there. Never, should you have fallen so low. I'm so so sorry. Please.. please.. yet.. however can you forgive me. Please.. please try. I'll never abandon you again." she whispered as she continued to kiss his face over and over again she had to do something. He was never going to become repulsive to her unless his personality changed.

"..please.."

[Brandon (Tech)]

He felt her gentle kisses on his face, the sweet, blissful calm they gave him helping to loosenthe sadness "It's not your fault" He whispered through a throat cramped with sorrow "It's not your fault, I should have come looking for you. I should've gone to see uncle before...." A halfchoked moan of sorrow escaped him, his face grimacing with the pain. For once he couldn't hate his parents for what they had done, too lost in sorrow and joy, back in Kelsie's arms where he felt he belonged.

"It's not your fault" He said again, gently caressing her cheek with one of his artificial hands. The fact that he couldn't feel like most other people had made him grow more distant by the day, but now circumstances seemed to have conspired to give him a second chance, in the embrace of Kelsie, now the only living person who had understood him, ever.

He ran his hand through her hair, as happy as he had been last time they were together. Her gentle kisses made him feel slightly lifted, providing a counterpart to his sorrow as he continued to run his hand through her hair. "If you could have done anything I know you would" He whispered to her throuhg his tears "And that's all anybody could ever want" Then the tears came back, followed closely by the sobs as he felt her caress and kissies loosening his crystalized pain.

Mek had finished the hot chocolate a while ago and had landed himself on the coffee table next to the two reunited childhood friends, using one of his tools to keep the chocolate warm. The emotion that Brandon felt was so strong that it transferred to Mek, who would have cried had he been able to. Instead he just sat there, the effects of the emotion flooding through him invisble to all but him, hurting inside.

[Kelsie]

She smiled softly as he told her it wasn't her fault. She knew it wasn't but she had indeed given up on him some time ago. Not on him as a person but on finding him again. Her heart had been damaged severely by that seperation. She smiled softly and leaned against him completley worn out from this emotional exchange. Her head lay on his shoulder as his hand went through her long blonde hair.

"I'm going to tell you right now, you are stuck with me for life. I'm never leaving your sight again for longer than a day. I can't and I won't. I don't want to and I cannot lose you again." she said softly.

Her nostrils picked up the hot chocolate smell that was invading the room. She didn't care about it right now though as she closed her pale eye lids and began to relax herself. They were back together. She pulled herself into his lap and leaned against him again in the same position and allowed her body to nearly meld with his. She felt so small and fragile in his arms and she almost liked that feeling.

"Lets just enjoy ourselves now." she whispered softly as she began to fall asleep. This had really worn her out. She had never let go of so much emotion at once. It had definatly take a toll on her body.

[Brandon (Tech)]

He felt her lean against him, happily embracing her once again. "I wouldn't it want any other way" He whispered gently into her ear. "How could I possibly wish for something else?" He loved her, he realized that. He had probably loved her since their childhood and after that summer, that very special summer, where they had held hands for the first time, he had definetly loved her. But he would tell her later, now he was too busy cuddling her for all she was worth to him, everything.

She moved into his lap, saying that they should enjoy themselves. He felt her her breath slowly stabalizing, which typically meant that one was falling asleep. He held her dearly, she was what meant most to him in all of existence, her delicate, seemingly fragile body housing her all but flawless soul. A silent tear of joy ran down his cheek and onto her shoulder, his heart so happy that she had not left nor shown repulsion at his prosthetics. "Thank you" He whispered, holding her tightly, their bodies seemingly blending, and also their hearts. He ran his hand through her hair once more before he closed his eyes and another tear rolled along his genuine cheek. "Thank you so much Kel"

[Kelsie]

Kelsie woke an hour later with a soft sigh as she felt much better and lighter than she had in a very long time. She rubbed her eyes and found that she was leaning against something warm. That dream had been so real that for a moment she thought she really had been reunited with her best friend.

But then she heard his breathing and she knew it was him. A bright smile crossed her face as she leaned over and kissed his cheek gently. She sighed softly.

"Sorry, I fell asleep, Brandon. Please forgive me, I was rather tired." she said softly.

She found his hand and held it to her chest gently as she lay in his arms still. She had found no reason to move just yet. He was warm and he was also her best friend in the entire world. She ran her thumb over the back of his hand gently and brought it up to kiss everyone of his finger tips.

"So what should we do today to celebrate?" she asked happily.

[Brandon (Tech)]

Brandon had sat with his arms around her, just enjoying her presence and the fact that she still trusted him, and maybe more than that. He had gently caressed her cheek all the while, her eyes having been closed as he smiled, an uncommon warmth in his heart, something more than passion, something stronger than denial. He had enjoyed every second spent this way, his thoughts never leaving her or what she made him feel.

He felt Kelsie stir and heard her sigh, and smiled, knowing that she had awoken. She smiled, leaned in and kissed his cheek. She made him feel something that only she could, a warm feeling of comfort and of trust, a thing that he hadn't truly felt since they were forced apart. He chuckled lightly as she apologized. "What's with all this sadness you're feeling, shouldn't you be happy that we've found each other again?" He said this in a joking voice as he ran his other hand up to her face and gently brushed some of her hair away. He put one of his fingers over lips before he continued "Don't apologize Kel, I've missed you far too much to worry about that." He added, just to make her know that he listened to what she said and took it seriously. Then he let the finger slide away.

"Everytime I was sad, I thought of you. Everytime I cried I longed for your touch, the special way you took my tears away" He felt and saw her take his hand and place it on her chest. He couldn't help feeling his heart skip a beat and a jolt of passion, but mostly he felt it increasing the warmth and care he felt for her. He gently ran his hand down down her cheek and laid it to rest by her chin, softly caressing her cheek with his thumb. He felt her thumb slide along the back of his other hand before she gently kissed each of the fingertips, making him shiver for some reason.

For the first time since he left her, he felt the cold, craving, insatieable, all-consuming hunger gone, truly sated for the first time ever. It was like greed, a lack of security that you sought to feed with money while you really needed something else. He had found what he had truly needed all along, the heart-felt, mutual care that he and Kelsie shared, something that healed the wound and melted the cold away.

He smiled when she asked him how he thought they should celebrate. "Well" he began with jokingly feigned consideration. "We could ask Mek to make us two new cups of chocolate, as I think I could use the first ones as coolant by now, or I could take you around town and we could have something to eat or..." He ran his hand through her hair and looked deeply into her unseeing eyes, the sweet, calm blue reflecting his image. And, to his surprise, he found that he was less disgusted by it now. "We could stay here, and I'd cook for you" His lips made gentle contact with her cheek, his eyes closing in a moment of blissfull calm "Whatever you want" He whispered, hugging her as the most precious thing in the world, with all his tender care and his heart, praying that they would never be seperated, ever again

[Kelsie]

Kelsie smiled when his finger made contact with her lips. He was so sweet. She felt as if once again she was right. Her soul had indeed begun to heal now that she had been reunited with the man that she had searched and yearned for all those years. She sighed happily and and let him carress her cheek gently.

"I am happy. Happier than I have been since that day we held hands by the lake." she said softly.

He leaned in and kissed her cheek and she blushed softly. She loved the small little touches he was giving her now. It was as if he was talking to her without even having to use words. He understood that she could see his looks of caring and concern so he had to show them to her in a different light. And so he did. His fingers through her hair and his lips or hands on her cheek. She smiled softly at these feelings. Butterflys swarmed her heart as she wasn't nervous but feeling more than alive for the first time in years.

He have her options on what they could do and she thought about it for a moment. Going out sounded like it could be fun and might be infact but they could go out any time. Hot chocolate was cold and she could wait to drink that another time as well. But he mentioned that he could cook for her and her eyes widened and lit up with delight.

"I can help. I would love to cook with you Brandon. We've never done that before it would be amazing and so much fun." she said with a bright smile as she hugged him excitedly. She nuzzled into him softly.

She didn't care if he was different now than before on the outside. Because what he had apparently forgotten was that he was the same beautiful Brandon Thomas she had known six years ago. She kissed his ear softly and giggled as she began to get up. She smoothed down her dress and Harley stood next to her.

"Down boy, we're staying for a little while." she said and Harley lay back down and closed his eyes. He had never seen his master so happy in all the time he had known her.

"So, where is the kitchen." she asked holding a hand out to him as she stared blindly ahead. She was so happy to be here. She never wanted to leave. How was she going to get out anyway. Her room was upstairs somewhere. But she was down in a colder area probably under ground. Thoughts for later she assumed.

[Brandon (Tech)]

Brandon felt a slight tear rolling down his cheek when she mentioned the summer they had spent at the lake, their summer. "You, you remember?" He hadn't expected her to, but it only made sense he realized, that summer had meant the world to them both. He remembered it like it had been yesterday, it had been the best days of his life.

He heard her answer before he felt her nuzzle in to him, and he began running his hand through her hair again. "I'd love to cook with you" He whispered, his metallic fingers gently running through her blond strands. She was so sweet, so understanding and so beautifull and she had been back from the first day he saw her. So much had happened since they had been seperated, som uch had changed, but their mutual feelings remained the same, unyelding to the change of time. He saw felt her kiss his ear, the genuine one luckily, and chuckled with her.

She got up from the couch and he got up immediatly afterwards. "Mek" He adressed the skull lying on the coffee table. "Empty those cups in the sink and heat up the cooker. Kel and I will take care of the food." Mek didn't eat, but Brandon preffered to treat him like a fellow human, it made him feel less commanding and less lonely. He put his arm around waist before leading her to the cooker. Mek had already started it when they came, as Brandon had led Kelsie slowly, enjoying each moment he was close to her. "So" He began, squeezing her ever so gently. "What would you like to cook?" He asked her, softly kissing her ear

[Kelsie]

"Of course I remember. I remember it was warm and we sat at the edge of the dock with our feet just inside the water. Splashing each other and laughing. That was one of the best days ever. I remember the warm sun and the cool water. It was something I've never forgotten." she said

He stood with her and she smiled taking his hand. He told Mek to go into the kitchen and pour out the cold hot chocolate while starting the stove for them. She smiled. Must be handy to have a helper like Mek around really. She felt Brandon put his arm around her waist and she blushed softly. He led her into the kitchen where she could hear the flame on the stove working.

He leaned in and asked her what she wanted before he kissed her ear. She shivered at the kiss her skin was a bit more sensitive than most but her ear even more so. She blushed as she thought about what she wanted them to cook and then smiled.

"What about spaghetti and meat sauce. I remember that was what we ate that night before my parents took me home. How about we eat it again almost like we never parted. We can even sit on the floor and eat it like a picnic if you want. What do you think?" she asked as she hugged him. Her head on his shoulder again as she closed her soft blue eyes and just hugged him because he was so special to her. Gently she ran her hand through the hair that he had and waited for his answer.

[Brandon (Tech)]

Her arms around him and her head on his shoulder and he was back in heaven. He hugged her back, not too tightly but enough that she knew that how much it meant to him. Her embrace was like no other, soft, warm and caring, just like her. Her every smile, her every blush, touch and caress made him feel even lighter. "Yes, let's" He whispered, his head on her shoulder and his eyes closed. "There's not a lot of forest down here, but the carpet is not all that dusty and there are no ants to worry about" He remembered their summer, when he had sat himself too close to an ants nest and had been bitten and had cried. His uncle got the ants away but it was Kelsie who had comforted him afterwards, speaking soothingly and wiping his tears away.

He gently lifted his head from her shoulder, but remained in her embrace, not wanting to end it until they had to. He stroked her cheek, gently running his fingers across her smooth skin and then mving on to hair, caressing every strand with all his love. "Do you remember the ants?" He asked her, not knowing why. He sent a message to Mek, asking him to pull out the neccesary ingedients. Speaking the command would have been easier, but he didn't want to let thos words disturb the calm. Mek hovered past them, the odd humming sound the only sign he noticed, too lost in Kelsie's eyes and embrace to see anything else

[Kelsie]

"It sounds perfect." she whispered softly.

He held her there in the middle of the kitchen as if it was the most beautiful ball room in all the world. She felt so perfect and whole in his arms. He was safe and he was sweet. He was the one that could soothe her wounds and the one that she had always turned to during her times of trouble.

He asked her if she remembered the ants and she laughed. A real laugh as she shook her head yes. She hugged him even tighter.

"The ants are kissing you. Kissing you because you're so sweet and they like you as much as I do. Don't cry and make the ants sad, but smile and laugh because they love you." she whispered the lines she had told him that day as she had wiped away his soft tears.

"Of course I remember. That was the best summer of my life. I've never forgotten anything about it. I never will. I can't wait to make new memories with you but I will never forget the old ones that we shared." she said softly.

Mek flew by but she didn't care. She loved being in his arms. She leaned her head against him again and closed her eyes. She even began to sway putting them into a soft dance that had no real steps or rhythum just swaying to the music in their own minds.

[Brandon (Tech)]

"Yes, Yes I remember" He said, smiling as he stroked her hair. She tightened the hug slightly and so did he, feeling whole. "You always knew what to say when I was crying." She was so sweet, she always had been. He couldn't wait to make knew memories with her either, but he didn't voice it as he felt that he didn't need to. He ordered Mek to begin cooking, as he had the feeling that they would never make it that far.

He felt her lean her head against him, and was about to kiss the top of it when she began... dancing? She was swaying gently as she held him, apparently lost in whatever music she heard inside. He began to follow her, first clumsily replicating her steps, but soon he found the rhythm in his inner. Soon it felt as though they were dancing their own inner ballet, his dusty, untidy home and workshop becoming the greatest of royal dancing floors. He closed his eyes and saw it for his inner eye, the dusty concrete floor becoming a dancing floor fit for kings and the walls and tables fading away to reveal an all but infinte space for them to dance in. He the music ran through his veins like liquid joy, the joy of love. They danced in their own world, a world beyond fear, pain and suffering, a world of love, pure, abundant, life-giving love