Hollow Point

Noire shifted in her sleep, almost falling off of her bed. She yawned loudly, before getting up and going to the living room to check on Daelen. He was sprawled out on the couch, the blanket only covering half of his body. His long, black hair stuck up in multiple places. She stood in awe, admiring how perfect he suddenly looked. Noire walked over to him and shook his shoulder gently. "Daelen? I know it's only 4 in the morning, but we need to start getting ready to leave."

His eyes flicked open and he rubbed them blearily. "Huh?" he said groggily.

She smiled at him. "Good morning, Daelen. It's time to get ready. We have to go to Japan, remember?"

He sat up quickly. "Oh yeah," he replied, bringing his legs over to the edge of the couch.

"Did you sleep okay?" Noire asked him, rushing into the kitchen to make them both coffee.

"Yeah, I haven't sleep so well in a long time," he said. "How about you?"

"I slept okay. Though, I'm a very light sleeper, so I don't get a lot of sleep most of the time." She smiled slightly, bringing two cups of coffee to the couch, handing one of to Daelen.

He nodded in thanks and looked down at the swirling brown liquid curiously. He remembered trying coffee when he was a little kid, and he had hated it. He wondered if he still didn't like it. He took a cautious sip and almost spit it out right away. He resisted the urge to make a face as he painfully swallowed and then nodded again.

Noire watched him and smiled. "If you don't like it, I could make you some tea." She grabbed the cup from his hands and dumped both of their coffees down the drain. "I never really liked coffee either." she said coyly.

"Yeah," he agreed. "I...had it when I was younger. I didn't like it then, either."

She put the tea kettle on the stove and walked back over to the couch. "You don't mind going to Japan, do you?"

"No, the sooner we're out, the better. I've had enough of Batakiai for the rest of my life." Despite these words, there was a ton of regret in his voice.

Looking at him with concern, she reached out to grab his hand, but quickly retreated. "Do you want to talk about anything with me, Daelen?"

He sighed. "There's not much to talk about. I tore my family apart, and I'd rather forget the scars I've laid across the land here." He looked at her apologetically, not wanting to hurt her feelings.

She gave him a weak smile and nodded. "Of course." She looked over at the kettle. "The water's probably boiling. What kind of tea would you like?"

Daelen looked confused for a moment. "I'll, uh, have what you are," he answered vaguely.

"Blueberry it is then." Noire sent Daelen a smile, before fixing up to mugs, then delivering it to him.

He took it from her and sipped cautiously again, but this time it was good. He smiled at her, taking another, larger sip.

Noire beamed, taking a sip from her own cup. "Mmm..nothing better on a cold morning than blueberry tea."

Daelen silently agreed, not having had tea since he was a boy. It was certainly an upgrade from stale tasting water.

"Well, I guess we should start getting ready, right?" She stood up, ruffling her hair. "Goodness, I'm a mess. I'm sorry you have to see me like this." She smiled, before walking into her bedroom. "I have extra travel bags, if you want to use them."

He glanced at his shopping bag, which held all of his clothing. "Uh, I think I'm all packed," he replied.

Noire winced. "Well, we can get you some more clothes when we get to Japan." Her eyes suddenly widened. "Don't you need a ring? My parents, remember?" Noire smacked her face and shook her head. "I'm so stupid."

Daelen's eyes widened. "A...a ring?" He looked confused.

She blushed slightly and looked to the side. "You know..remember how my parents only want me dating someone if I plan on being married to them?"

"Oh. Oh." He grimaced and blushed as well. A second later though, he reached into his shirt and pulled out an intricate ring on a golden chain. He lifted it over his head and held it out to her.

Tears formed in the corner of Noire's eyes. "Daelen..are you sure?" She took it in her hands and studied it.

"Yes," he murmured. "It was my mother's, and the thought of the ring and the memories that went with it kept me going most days up at Hollow Point." He paused. "Well I- I'm out, so I don't really need it anymore, and I know you'll take care of it."

Noire smiled, taking it carefully and placing it over her head. "Thank you ,Daelen. It may not be the traditional way, but at least it seems real. My parents will believe it." She leaned forward and hugged Daelen gently.

He paused, but then hugged her back, reveling in the warmth. When he pulled away, he felt another blush coming on, and he didn't look in her eyes.

"Come on, let's get packing." she said, clutching the ring she held around her neck as tightly as she could.
--
Daelen grit his teeth, feeling incredibly tense as he gripped the arm rest of his seat with one hand and the little compartment with the other. We're going to crash, we're going to die. He shrunk back into the seat as a car passed rather fast, the seatbelt strapped over him rather tightly.

"Daelen, stop!" Noire said with a slight giggle. "I'm an excellent driver, though you're starting to panic me. Calm down." She placed a hand on his arm for a moment, before shifting into the next gear.

Daelen flinched at her sudden touch. "I'm...I'm fine, really," he said, looking as if he was going to be sick.

"Do you need me to pull over?" she asked with slight concern.

He closed his eyes, calmed himself down a little, and breathed out slowly. "No. I'm...I'm okay."

Noire nodded. "We're almost there anyways." she said, more to herself than Daelen.

He nodded back, trying to relax his fingers. They were starting to ache from gripping so hard.

"Let's figure out what we're going to do at the airport. We need to change your name, first off."

"So they can't trace anything back to us." Daelen nodded, ignoring the sudden lurching in his stomach.

"Exactly." Noire said quietly. "Let's think of a fun Japanese name. You can take my last name." She pondered for a moment. "How about Takura Aurelia?"

"That's fine, I'm not picky...I don't look Japanese, though."

She waved away that thought. "Oh well. Just pull your eyes back so you can barely see through them." Noire crossed her eyes at Daelen and laughed. "It'll all be fine."

His lips twitched. "I think they'd notice if I was pulling my eyes back," he replied seriously.

Noire continued to laugh. "Come on, you know that was funny."

Daelen pressed his lips together tightly, intent on keeping his poker face. "It was a fairly ludicrous idea, actually." He didn't look at her, choosing to stare straight ahead at the open road.

Her eyebrows came together in confusion and frustration as she let out a small hmph. "Well, I thought it was clever of me. But, oh well." Noire sighed dramatically. "I guess you'll just have to be the oddball Asian."

"Or I could be the oddball European." He hesitated as a thought struck him. "Are you going to to teach me Japanese? I'm sure it would help me fit in easier."

"Oh. Umm..I guess I could try. It's a very difficult language to just pick up though." She smiled at the thought of all the time they would be spending together. "Is it hard to think that, at this time yesterday, you were still up in Hollow Point?"

He shivered. "It's...weird," he said finally. "I've spent half my life in Hollow Point."

"You don't regret breaking out though, right?" Noire's eyes watered at the thought. "You don't regret meeting me...do you?"

He studied her face for a moment. "No. Never. Meeting you has been the best thing that has happened to me in twelve years."

At that moment, tears began to flow from her eyes. She tried her best to hide them, but found it hard when you had no where to turn to. She wiped them away with her sweatshirt, hoping Daelen would ignore her.

Such hopes were all in vain, however when Daelen saw the tears well up. He averted his eyes quickly, pretending he didn't notice because he didn't know how to deal with it.

Noire took a deep breath and regained her composure. "We're here." she said quietly as they turned into the parking lot. "Are you ready?"

He took a deep breath and unstrapped his seatbelt in determination. "Yes," he said, and turned to the door. "Uh." He pulled the handle, but for some reason the door wouldn't open.

She tried her best to stifle a laugh, but couldn't contain it for long. "Here, let me help you." She leaned over him, blushing slightly, pulling the lock upwards. "The door was locked."

"Right." Daelen tried not to blush at his moment of ignorance and the smell of her hair as she leaned over him. "I knew that."
--
Noire sat herself into the seat, glancing over at Daelen. "You do know how to put a plane seatbelt on, right?" she asked, watching him fumbling with the straps.

Daelen fumbled with them some more until he dropped his hands hopelessly in his lap. "Uh. What's the point? If we crash, there's a strong possibility that no one will survive, and a seatbelt will not save us from certain doom." His hands were visibly shaking. "I think I'm going to be sick."

She rolled her eyes, unbuckling her seatbelt and bending over to strap Daelen in. "You're going to be fine." She paused a moment. "Here." Noire pulled out a pack of bubblegum, handing him a piece. "When you take off, your ears pop because of the high elevation. Chewing gum helps so it doesn't hurt as much." She smiled, popping a piece into her mouth.

He took the piece of gum and carefully unwrapped it and placed it in his mouth. He began to chew thoughtfully. "I've never been on a plane before. How often do they crash?"

"Very, very rarely." she reassured him. "It'll probably take us 4-5 hours to get there. They show movies on the plane and hand out food. Even better, you have me to talk to." Noire tilted her head and smiled.

He smiled back, unsure. "What kind of movies do they show?"

"Umm..I'm not really sure. Last time I was on a plane, they showed mystery movies. I'm not sure if this time will be different. Either way, I have music we could both listen to." Noire reached down to her carry-on, pulling out headphones and an iPod. "Want to listen?"

Daelen looked at the iPod with intense interest. "Is that new technology?" he asked quietly, looking around to make sure no one was listening. He held out his hand for it questioningly, wanting to inspect it.

She smiled, placing it gently in his hand. "It's not that new..it's been out for the past 7 years I think. That's the newest kind they have. It takes videos." A bigger grin spread across Noire's face. "We could take videos of us on the plane, to remember this." She bounced up and down in her seat, receiving a glare from the grumpy man in front of her.

He looked taken aback. "This little thing takes videos?" he asked incredulously. "But it's...so small." he finished lamely. He returned his attention to the ipod, tapping the buttons and trying to figure out how to scroll.

"Here, you just run your finger over it like this." She demonstrated for him, scooting herself closer, their arms now touching. "You can press down on the buttons, too. But to scroll, it's simply running your fingers around the circle."

He pursed his lips and reddened at their sudden closeness. "That's odd. How do you take a video?"

Noire blushed a bit and smiled. "You press the menu button and scroll down to camera. To start the video, you just press the button in the middle."

Daelen did as she instructed and turned the camera on her. "Wouldn't videos take a significant amount of space? How much can you possibly fit on something so small?"

She squealed quietly, blocking her face with her hands. "Don't record me!" Noire began laughing. "I'm the one supposed to be taking videos of you."

"What? Why?" He sounded confused. "Is there some unwritten rule of there not being any videos of the owner of the err. I-thingy?"

"Of course there is. I own it. I control it." She snatched away the iPod, pointing it towards Daelen. "You should smile for the camera once in awhile."

He gave the camera an unamused look. "The camera is not alive, therefore there is no reason to give it as a smile, as it has no feelings."

"Well, what if your 'girl' wanted a smile for the camera?" Noire peeked out from behind the iPod and beamed at Daelen.

He instantly turned bright red, cursing when he realized the camera would catch that. He turned his face away quickly and murmured something unintelligible.

Noire looked at him, a tinge of sorrow striking her. "Come on, Daelen. Please?"

He turned his face back to her at hearing his name and managed a small, unconvincing smile. "Good?" he asked, his eyes boring into hers.

She shoved the iPod at him and turned towards the window. "Peachy." she said in a monotone voice. "I'm going to sleep for awhile."

He sighed heavily, not sure what he did wrong. He had such a hard time trying to figure out what she wanted. He had spent over a decade at Hollow Point, and he had no idea how to act around people, never mind girls. Although he had smiled more than he ever remembered when around her, he found it hard to when he was thinking about it. There was just too much guilt and sorrow in his thoughts, and he never knew what to say to her. Not wanting to upset Noire more, he kept his mouth shut.

Noire stared out the window, frustrated. How hard was it to give someone a genuine smile? She shut her eyes tightly, trying to block out any thoughts in attempt to fall asleep. The attempt was interrupted by the captain speaking.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for flying with us today. We're going to be experiencing some turbulence in a few moments, so if you could keep your seatbelts on and stay seated, we expect it should be a smooth ride from there. Enjoy your flight."

Daelen jumped in shock when the voice that came out of nowhere began speaking, but he calmed himself quickly, admonishing himself for being so jumpy when obviously no one could take him away while they were up in the air. He fingered the cuff of his button-up shirt uncomfortably as his ears popped and chewed on his gum in agitation.

Noire mumbled to herself. "Stupid turbulence. You know how much I hate you." Her hands gripped tighter on the armrest. "I just wanted a nice smooth flight home. Can't you at least do that much for me?"

Daelen looked at her out of the corner of her eye in interest. He figured most people just talked to themselves in their heads, but she apparently liked to speak the words aloud. He did that as well, on days when he was feeling particularly lonely, but he thought only mad people did it. He shrugged the thought off. If anyone here was mad, it was him, not Noire.

She rocked back and forth in her seat, trying to remain calm. "Stop it, Noire. Don't let a panic attack take control of you again. You learned to fight these. You can fight this one, too." She clamped her eyes shut to try and block the tears, leaving only a few to escape down her cheeks.

Daelen turned to her in confusion and recognized the panic attack, having had quite a few on the way here and the night before. His heartbeat sped up as he felt the plane rise in the air, but he managed to ignore his own panic, instead focusing on hers. His hands flailed a little while he tried to think desperately how to calm her. Finally, he settled on putting a hand awkwardly onto her shoulder.

A blush crept up along Noire's neck and cheeks and she turned over to look at him. She put the pillow on the armrest that separated their seats and placed her head on it carefully. "I'm sorry, Daelen."

He flushed in response and quickly looked down at his hands, which were twisting back and forth in his lap. "I, uh. I'm...sorry as well. I'm not...I mean, I'm not...socially adept." He felt his face grow hotter at his confession, but plowed on. "I don't know..how to talk to people. Especially you." He cleared his throat uncomfortably, hoping that he didn't sound too pathetic.

Noire twisted her head so that Daelen appeared upside-down. "I know, Daelen. I just need to tell myself that more. I'll try harder." She smiled, trying to forget how frightened she was for the turbulence that was bound to strike the plane any second.

"Me, too," Daelen replied, and as if to prove it, he offered her a more genuine smile, hoping to make up from before.

She smiled bigger, reaching for her headphones. "I think they're starting the movie now. You can just plug the headphones into this spot at the end of the armrest. I think I'm going to try to take a nap to avoid the turbulence."

He nodded. "Sleep well," he said softly, plugging in the headphones to begin watching the movie, wondering how different it would be from the movies he watched as a kid.
--
"Woah," Daelen whispered as the credits to the movie began rolling. His eyes were wide. "That was amazing." he said to himself. It had ended just in time, too. The plane was beginning to descend, and all of a sudden, Daelen was excited. He'd just seen the coolest movie ever, and now he was about to walk on foreign land. Feeling inexplicably happy, he was about to poke Noire a thousand times to wake her up and tell her about everything that happened while she was snoozing. He brought his finger forward, but paused, wondering how she would take to being poked awake. Shrugging, he went to do it anyway, but retreated almost instantly, not wanting a grouchy Noire on his hands. Finally, he just settled for a tap on the shoulder, although he could not keep the excitement out of his voice as he whispered rather loudly, "Noire!"

Noire bolt up, frightened by the sudden jerk of the plane landing. "Huh? Is..is something wrong, Daelen?"

He shook his head frantically, a light in his eyes that she had never seen before. "We're descending, and I just saw the coolest movie ever," he said quickly, as if he couldn't wait to spit the words out.

She smiled, both from the fact he was so excited and that they were landing. "What movie was it, do you know?"

He looked up thoughtfully for a few seconds before it came to him. "Avatar," he said. "Movies have gone a long way," he added, beaming.

Noire smiled back, beyond happy that he was happy. "Come on, let's get our carry-on things and get going home." Tentatively, she squeezed Daelen's arm, before grabbing her bags.

He smiled at her briefly, grabbing his bag as well and heading down the aisle.

As they departed the plane and walked through the airport, the city life opened up to the both of them. When they reached the main doors and stepped outside, sounds of busy cars and chattering people surround them. Noire looked up at Daelen and smiled. "Welcome to your new home."