He Was Almost Absorbed By The System - Part Two

Chapter One Hundred And Ninety Two - Love Is...

"I like you."

Kyan had stepped around the corner of the facility building as he headed towards the main gate when those words reached his ears.  His eyes were drawn over to wear the nervous girl stood next to one of the tables just outside the second cafeteria confessing to the boy she liked.  He shouldn't have heard at all, but he'd been asking the astronomy professor about a few things he wasn't quite grasping, so was late leaving the campus. 

He'd already sent a message to his friends to go on without him, as they usually stopped off for coffee or cake once a week, before returning to their homeworlds or returning to the dorms.  That day just happened to be today.  But he'd catch up with them tomorrow, maybe spoil their taste buds by bringing them a real cake rather and coffee rather than replicated products.

"Please go out with me."

Kyan slowed his pace, unable to stop himself from wondering how that boy would answer.  He recalled with a wry smile how he had sloppily confessed to Aidan or rather Dominic that first time.  He'd been so confused, not understanding how his heart beat for the man until he tasted the bitterness of jealousy.  And even then, he had not the words to express himself clearly.  Well, in a way, it was understandable.  Not in his sixteen years before his incarceration by the System nor in the many lives before he took on the role of Warren did he understand the feelings of Eros between two people.  Not to mention that it never would occur to him before then that he would actually fall for a man. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but the first example of a loving relationship he had grown up with was between his mum and his dad.

It was common, in their era for a man to love a woman, for a woman to love a woman or for a man to love a man.  Concepts of what was considered 'right' in marital terms were lines drawn in sands of the distant past and had nothing to do with the generations of now.  Break ups, divorce, affairs and such still plagued the rollercoaster of any partnership or marriage no matter the sex of those involved.  And there were still those that looked as if they would make it though as they weathered all that life threw at them.  He believed, had it not been for the accident, his parents would have been such a couple.  And of course, there was an even better example in Orion and Damien, who had loved and struggled through many lifetimes only to meet again in reality and dive right back into their timeless relationship.

When he had found out that Dominic was from his reality and not just a program that had awakened sentience, he had hoped that they would have been able to do the same, that he would be able to continue to love and to receive love from the man who had chased him with such fervour through worlds.  But not every love had a happy ending.

"I'm sorry..."

Ah the rejection.  Kyan felt for the young woman whose feelings would not be returned, he sympathised.  He even hope she would be able to move on and find her own happiness in the future.  Unlike him.  He loved Dominic too much.

Ah I wonder if this was how she.. Destiny felt when chasing Dominic in the Archive.

He shook his head.  No, that woman's feelings felt more like obsession than love.  Or perhaps they had been love once and just morphed into something sinister as he stole away Dominic's affections.  Kyan loved Dominic and if there was any slither of a chance that Dominic showed that he recalled their time together, he probably would have rushed over to his side and said to him; "I like you."

"...I can't accept your feelings."

And if Dominic replied with that, then Kyan would let him go, but he couldn't imagine that he would be able to move on and love someone else.  He sighed, heavily.  It was a mute point.  Dominic did not remember him.