Wings of Time

Envy of the Outcast

The rain poured. Shivering in the chill of the room, she brushed her fingers against the grimy window pane. While she should have been suspicious that Shadi chose to stash her away in the office of some abandoned warehouse, it's not like she, who did not belong, should have expected a fine hotel room or even an apartment. And she had to hide somewhere until another rip in time opened. At least it was dry, though she admitted this skeptically as she listened to the water from the roof patter into buckets and trays behind her.

Besides, she kind of liked it this way: alone, watching the sky bawl on the earth. It was peaceful. At least she belonged with herself. At least she had the rain and this room for shelter. She could believe anything she wanted here and no one would be the wiser.

Adjusting the shirt and shorts she still wore, Aleah stood from the lone chair of the room and searched around for blankets of any sorts. She could wind herself up in a quilt and pretend she was back with Yugi, looking up at the rain and talking of adventures. Trying to ignore her shivering, she stepped about buckets. She dared to open the lone door (she hadn't opened it before in fear of spiders), to find a dirty, small half bathroom, but no blankets. After a full ten minutes of searching she found a dusty box filled with some moth eaten curtains. They were the most garish orange imaginable, but they were large and thick, and she was grateful. Pushing aside the chair, she curled up on the floor in the musty curtains and looked back up at the rain.

What would she say if she were just Aleah? Not some strange time traveler, but just a girl. She only knew Yugi for a few days, but she had never met anyone so open, so innocent, and so kind, and she had given her trust to him easily. He probably didn't know what a relief it was to her to finally trust after so long of treading about an ancient culture and king she did not know. So, smiling through her chattering teeth, she closed her eyes and imagined him there. Yugi would never hurt her. He could come into her lonely sanctuary.

"Thank you," she said, "for standing up to him. For trying to make a spot for me. But, I guess that doesn't matter now. How was your day? Did you hear about that skyscraper that turned into a pyramid? I hope the people inside are okay."

She imagined a smile on his round face and the twinkle in his eye, and when he opened his mouth she could hear the kindness, just not the words. She had, after all, only known him for a few days. Her eyes burned at the silence. She sniffed.

The quiet could be so scary. Because that's when he came, uncaring to her wishes that he stay far, far away from her thoughts. It surprised her to no end how alike Yugi looked to Atem—almost as though he could've been the pharaoh's little brother, but nothing more. Yugi was soft, gentle, with wide, open eyes. Atem was sharp, commanding, confident, and his own features guarded well when he faced down his enemies. He had been guarded to her as well, at first. But, of course, the man must've had a weakness for women she hadn't seen, huh?

"Liar." she breathed, watching her breath rise in the air. "Bastard. Horny jerk."

But calling him such would never make him such. No matter how hard she tried.

And that was the real problem.

Suddenly angry at herself, she tore at a piece of the curtain until she felt as though her fingernails would tear off. When had she allowed herself to let that...that ass in? When had she started to ignore her common sense and listen to his mushy love words? Well, whatever the case, she didn't care. She didn't love him. She never had! She was smarter than that. So him with another woman shouldn't have bothered her, even if they were in such a compromising position...