ImmortalAnex: Hey, Mr. Hangman?

{1}

One: A candle to the wind

Aleksandr didn't really know what made the raven haired boy so special. He didn't know why he decided to watch him work on his dark drawings almost every day, he didn't know why they never spoke to each other, he didn't know why being around him made Aleksandr feel so at peace.

Kevin was strange in a lot of ways, but not the bad strange, and Aleksandr always knew where to find him, he was always in that same spot by the park, just drawing away. That same bench on that same path, he was there most days. Aleks wondered why, surely he had a family? Something better to do than just sit there all alone?

Did he go to a college? Aleks never saw him around campus. Did he live all alone? Was he maybe even homeless? No, that was dumb; his art equipment looked too nice. Plus his clothes were always clean and fresh, and Kevin always had a smell that was like some kind of expensive Cologne. 

He smelt kind of like a field of flowers. Earthy but like a very nice plant of some sort. It was pure, Aleksandr liked that. He generally just liked Kevin, though they had never even spoken. Aleks knew his name because of the way he signed the drawings, he had told Kevin his name, though he didn’t know if he had heard. 

Maybe Aleks liked sitting with him because it made him feel so much less alone. Just by sitting there it made him feel a little more like he wasn't a complete outcast. He could sit there and think, to hell with stereotypes, with standards set by a corrupt society. To hell with it all, he thought.

As for Kevin's art, it looked like something straight out of his fucked up head. The twisted creatures that lurked in the corner of his eyes. Maybe that's what he liked, he liked that he wasn't the only totally screwed up person on earth. 

He wasn't the only one who was stuck in a pit of darkness, being teased by the light of a candle in the distance that he could ever reach. A candle that every time he would get close enough to, someone always blew it out. Aleksandr had eventually stopped trying to get close; instead he just tried to ignore any light, to save himself the pain.

It was just better that way.

But Kevin was just something entirely different, and Aleks was drawn to it like a moth to a flame, Kevin's flame. 

Why did he keep doing this to himself? Aleks often pondered. Kevin was just another candle that would be too easy to blow out. Why did he come back over and over again though?

He really wanted to talk to the artist. He wanted to know more about him, Aleksandr wanted to know Kevin's story. He knew he would never be able to work up the guts to talk to him though, Aleks didn't even know if Kevin wanted to talk to him.

Coward.

On that particular day Kevin was drawing a boy holding a gun to his head, the remains of his skull splattered on the wall behind him and a sick grin plastered to his face. It was really disturbing, but he couldn’t take his eyes off it. Aleks wondered if Kevin felt like his drawings sometimes, and he drew to keep himself sane.

Or maybe Kevin just really liked drawing gore. Aleks didn't know, he didn't really want to make assumptions about it either. 

"Do you have something that keeps you going?" 

It was kind of random, and Aleks really hadn't expected it. Kevin's voice was much deeper than Aleks would've thought. Deeper and silkier. It was kind of quiet too, as if he didn't want to disturb the peace of the park. 

He had a content expression, not happy, but not upset. He was very neutral, but the peaceful kind.

"What do you mean?" Was Aleks' poorly thought out response. Kevin's hand stopped moving the pencil, but he didn't really look up, he looked like he was examining the picture.

"I dunno," Kevin replied as if his own question wasn't very well thought out. "I guess maybe it's a special person, or a dream, or a passion. Everyone's got something that keeps them going." Kevin smiled slightly, and took a rubber, erasing some lines that he had missed.

"That was kind of a dumb question, never mind."

"I like to play guitar." Aleksandr said quickly. There was a long silence after that, Kevin seemed to be busy examining his drawing for the longest time. 

"You should play for me, some time." Kevin then said. Aleksandr never really played for people outside of the pub he performed in on the weekends for extra money. Usually his only other friend, Eddie would join him and sing, and he usually brought along a drummer.

"You should just come watch me this weekend instead." Aleks said slowly, his voice shrinking just a little.

"Are you flirting with me?" Kevin was grinning stupidly, and Aleks found himself snickering, before standing up. He had to be at the pub before 6:30, and since he had no ride that meant walking half way across town, something he never looked forward to.

"We're gonna be performing at Benny's tonight, 7 till 9. Come see us if you want." Then Aleks was walking away. To be honest he wasn't sure he wanted to know what Kevin's response would be. He wasn’t really sure he wanted Kevin to show up at all. What if he wasn’t good enough? What if he embarrassed himself completely? What if he disappointed Kevin?

Aleks sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. He was being stupid, he was being unreasonable, he needed to stop thinking about it. Aleksandr guessed he'd just have to wait till tonight.

It took a long time to write for such a short update ^.^; Sorry. It’ll be longer and better written next time.