Philophobia

Day one, or, the end

Alright, straight to the point this time.

Please vote or comment if you want to read more, it's really the only thing that keeps me motivated...(agh)

Enjoy the chapter. If you want.

- Lyn

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Mark had always preferred rising early.

He was a man with a schedule; his day carefully laid out ahead of him, with plenty of things he wanted to accomplish, and sleeping in certainly wasn't getting anything done.

His hangover wasn't bad, in fact, he was almost completely refreshed. Interestingly enough, Mark didn't drink on a regular basis. Not at all actually. Yesterday had been the exception though- yesterday was always the exception. Today was different, and he planned to enjoy himself as much as possible.

The first thing Mark was going to do was go for a run. It was about five in the morning right now and the city was bustling, but still quite sleepy if you knew where to look. As he got up and fumbled his way into his workout clothes, he thought about the little back area he was going to be exercising in this morning. It was a small complex of apartments a few miles from where he was that almost never had anyone about at this time of morning. The way the sun looked rising and reflecting off the metallic sheen of the buildings was beautiful; even he thought so, and Mark had been around long enough to see some pretty stunning things.

Fluffing his hair in the mirror, he played with it for a bit and began to giggle to himself as he stuck it in awkward positions all over the place. He whispered 'floof, floof' to no one in particular as he finally stopped messing around and made his way towards the outdoors.

An intensity that seemed somewhere on the brink between playfulness and insanity gleamed in Mark's eye as he hopped in a taxi to head down to the apartments. Mark payed the driver then took a deep breath as he stared in to the still quite dark world around him, and even darker roads between the buildings.  Getting out of the taxi, he stared at the taunting buildings defiantly and mumbled softly to himself.

"I'm a brave boy..."

Then, with a slightly unsure stride, Mark began to run.

Half an hour or so passed, and the world was beginning to finally light up. Mark had long since stopped focusing on his workout and was now dazzled by the way the sunrise reflected off of the buildings. A big goofy grin had spread on his face as he turned his head back and forth in hopes to not miss a minute of it. He had only recently discovered this place while out on another run, and this was only his second time experiencing the awe of it all.

When he was out here, running while the world still slept, he really felt like he was the only person in existence.

And surprisingly that he was completely okay with th-

-em?

Mark's thoughts changed mid-sentence in his head as he spotted someone else standing in the road a fair ways ahead of him. As he drew nearer, the person, who was now clearly a man, didn't seem to notice him. Instead, the guy was staring up at the buildings with the same expression Mark had had the first time he saw the sunrise glaring off them. Seeing his face pulled Mark's heart strings a little because he understood the feeling this guy was having. It was a strange sensation, and he shoved it to the side as he got even closer.

Upon further inspection, the guy was actually quite attractive. He had dirty blonde hair that was cut short on the sides and long and swept in the front. The long hair in the front was bright green, and surprisingly fitting to the man's demeanor. He wasn't tall, but not short either, sitting in a nice medium. He was also quite lanky, but not skin and bones, being slightly toned and muscular.

Mark, on whim, decided to call out to the guy. Stopping on the sidewalk, he turned so that he was staring directly at the back of the man who was standing in the middle of the road.

"Isn't that beautiful?" Mark questioned, just loud enough for the guy to hear.

"It's fucking wonderful!" The man replied, loudly and bright. His spirit and vulgar tongue gave Mark the strange urge to crack a grin. He moved out into the road, and closer to the man as he talked again.

"I came across this a couple weeks ago while I was out-"

Mark stopped mid-thought once again, and once again because of the man. Not because he surprised him like last time though, but because he turned around. Because that's when Mark saw his eyes.

Mark's breath hitched in his throat and for a moment all he could do was stare. He had seen a thousand eyes, and plenty of ones this color, but this guy's...

They were just so blue. They were so alive. Mark had never seen something quite that fascinating, and he couldn't bring himself to even formulate a word in case he somehow lost the look of them. Little did he know that he wouldn't need to say anything else though, and as the green haired guy cocked his head in response to Mark's silence, three things happened all at once.

The first was the car. It came speeding around the corner in a flash and was making its way down the road with no signs of stopping.

The second was the man in the street. Mark watched as the guy's blue eyes looked over to the vehicle, widened and his whole body tense up in panic.

The third was his own realization. Mark was a seasoned war veteran, and naturally did not pause in the face of danger.  The man he had just met however, had clearly never encountered a threat a day in his life.

Mark knew he could easily get out of the way, but for some reason his being refused to do that. A sort of determination flared up inside Mark as he looked at the guy, the complete stranger, in front of him.

In an instant he knew what he wanted to do.

Jumping towards him, Mark barely had time to think about how cliché it was to jump in front of a speeding car to save someone, and once more about how stunning the man's eyes were.

Blue was all he could see as his hands collided with a body, and somewhere in the distance there was screaming as a car collided with him.