#drabbledrabble

All that pent up energy.

It had no where to go but out.  

He made the ultimate sacrifice to save so many people, so why did he feel so bad?  Was it because he died not knowing who he was?  Died without his friends with him?  Died without being prepared?

The energy was building up inside of him.  It was going to create an explosion that'd vaporize him.  "So...This is lights out, isn't it?"  He rose his hand, noting the white-glowing energy emanating from it.  He looked up at the sky, tears falling down from his eyes.  He uttered three words, and spread out his arms.

All hell broke loose as he felt all that power explode from every cell in his body.  Not as painful as he thought, but that didn't change the fact that he was dead now.  Not even something left to bury.

______________________________________________________

His mother looked at his father for a moment before turning back to him, her gaze dropping to the floor. "Tom, I'm... Shocked, to be honest." When they said nothing more, Tom's smile faltered, only for a moment. 

"...Because Jared's a man?"

"That's precisely why." his father jumped in the conversation, a stern expression on his face that the actor hadn't seen in quite a while. "We had no idea our son was out and.. Being involved with other men." 

The smile was completely gone now. This couldn't be happening. They cared about Tom; they should be happy. He obviously loved Jared... Wasn't that all they wanted? Was for him to be in love? Why did it matter if he was a woman or not? This was heading in the opposite direction that Tom had wanted, and... He felt sick to his stomach. "I-I'm... Sorry you feel that way." No, he wasn't going to apologize for loving Jared, but he was going to apologize because of how they were acting towards their son. 

Tom's mother cleared her throat. "Thomas, we love you but..." 

But. 

We love you, but. Suddenly being in love with a man was an exception to loving their son. Tom closed his eyes and put his hands over his face, his heart aching at the silence and atmosphere of disappointment. 

"..but we really disagree with your choices. Are you sure you're not just... Confused maybe?" Tom looked up at her, lips slightly parted and a look of disbelief painted on his face. 

"I'm absolutely positive, mum. Why can't you guys understand that... I love hi-"

"We can't understand because we've never anticipated being this ashamed of you." His fathers words cut Tom deep. His eyes fluttered as he looked to the ground, unable to meet the look his father had on his face. A knot began forming in his throat, making each breath burn a little. "I thought we raised you differently. I thought we raised you better, Tommy." 

Tom covered his face with his hands again, not wanting his parents to see his lower lip trembling, or the way his eyes squinted together so no tears would trespass. He knew, from other times during his youth, that when his father called him 'Tommy' that things were serious, that things had taken a bad turn. Tommy was what his father used when he was disappointed and sad with him. When he was ashamed. After all of his success and dedication for what he loved, they were now ashamed of him for being in love. 

Tom stood then, looking at his parents. He longed to see sadness in their eyes, or regret. But his dad was looking at him like he saw him as a failure, and his mother apparently refused to make eye contact with him. The actor just looked to the ground, and began to clear the knot from his throat. "It was... I'm glad I got to see you both again. I'll try to keep in touch." After that, he left, walking from the room and closing the door quietly. He approached Jared, and took his hand in his. 

Jongdae hated going to these formal work functions. It was all suits and ties, horrible champagne and useless chatter. He tugged on his tie, attempting to loosen the noose around his neck. He would much rather be sprawled out on the couch at home, watching reruns of Doctor Who and eating leftovers from the night before. He could almost taste Kyungsoo’s apple curry on his tongue. Speaking of the devil, where the hell is Do Kyungsoo?

  Jongdae’s best friend worked at the same company as him, only in a different department. Jongdae himself was in accounting, while Kyungsoo was in sales. He scanned the room, trying to spot the younger male amongst the crowd. Jongdae was situated at his usual spot during these kinds of events – right at the open bar. Luckily, this particular function served beer as well as champagne, so Jongdae wanted to take full advantage of that. The glass of beer in his hand was half full, and was already his second one. He did not have to worry about getting drunk. Jongdae was not a lightweight. Kyungsoo, however…

  Where the fuck was he? Jongdae had already given up on trying to locate his friend in the mass of people. Kyungsoo’s height was not his best aspect. Jongdae instead let his eyes roam around the room. There was Zitao and Baekhyun, the office gossips, talking in a corner. Park Chanyeol was also in the room, the easiest person to spot due to his height. The taller worked in the next cubicle to Jongdae and was one of his closest friends. He gave a wave to the other, who returned it with a bright smile. Jongdae also noticed Kim Jongin and Oh Sehun near the food table. He let his gaze drift past the two, but was immediately drawn to the person standing near them.

Junmyeon stared at a thoroughly soaked Jongdae, his hair dripping water all over the carpet, cuddling a small black kitten in his arms.

“Ew no, it’s probably infected or something. Plus it looks so dirty.” Junmyeon’s gaze shifted to the kitten, trying to ignore its light green eyes and cute little nose.

He didn’t need another mouth to feed – Jongdae was already diminishing his food supply at an alarming rate. He brushed away the annoying voice of his friend Kyungsoo in his head saying, “I told you not to let Jongdae move in with you. You’ll only get hurt.” all so knowingly. Kyungsoo may be right, but Junmyeon was no way in hell going to admit it. Jongdae was a poor university student and needed a place to stay, and Junmyeon had a spare room and thought himself a good hyung, so…

“Hyunggggg, that’s because she’s a black cat,” whined Jongdae.

“Don’t you dare make that face at me.”

“What face?” Jongdae pouted his lips more, his eyes widened adorably.

Junmyeon sighed. “Fine.”

“Yay! You’re the best, hyung!”

How could he say no to Kim Jongdae. How could he say no to the person he’s been crushing on for three whole years. How could he say no to the person he might actually love, but who doesn’t love him back.

Why was she feeling so tense? The Autobot sighed, looking out over the quiet waters of the lake she'd found to land by. It should have been her favorite sort of view... liquid water reflecting a brilliant setting sun, full green trees swaying in the breeze, and she couldn't even see any city lights in the distance. It was still. It was calm. The radio was playing softly... she should have felt content.

Honestly, she was starting to run out of ideas to handle the mounting tension. She'd tried finding new roads... that worked great while she was driving, but as soon as she stopped the melancholy was back. She'd sat back with a cube of high grade and just tried to relax it away; she'd decided that it was better to call that one a failure before drinking herself into oblivion. She'd played music as loudly as she could and shouted along with the lyrics, but eventually had to stop because Bitey didn't seem to be taking that one so well... it hadn't been helping anyway. She was quickly running out of ideas that were within the confines of what she would usually do. She kind of wished she could try an oil bath. Those always helped when she felt restless back on Cybertron...

The angel had basically raised him after all, days when their Father was most absent it was Michael who offered him the attention, and occasionally affection, he desperately craved. He was the calm collected one who never raised his voice, even as he'd pry Lucifer and Raphael apart, the two always butting heads, he'd scold them in a firm but still unharsh voice then send them on their way.

The fallen angel had always admired the way Michael never truly let his soldier like demeanor falter when in the presence of his brothers or Father. But Lucifer had seen the stoic facade crack, he'd witnessed wide smiles and heard the soft babble of the archangel's laugh. He'd lived an eternity at his older brother's side, growing together, learning together, fighting together, and he'd known a happiness so pure and true it would be all that would consume his thoughts for centuries to pass.