A few days passed without much going on, I usually spent my time browsing through tumblr, Hanging out with Mordecai, Barracuda and Fresh, and I then started to reconsider the stuff I thought about him.
Maybe he wasn't as much as a monster as I thought that he did.
After hearing what he said about those unknown people, who I don't really know the names of, I started to think to myself, question myself - Was his hatred justified? Did these people deserve his hatred towards them? The fate he had in mind towards them? And of course, who were they? But right now, that's merely a thought at the back of my mind now.
Every day, he gave me an addition fo that vase of roses, every day he visited me in my quarters, presented me with a rose very much like the first one, and always, I responded with a happy squeal. Until one day, I went up to his throne room. This was probably the first time I went there without him summoning me, or leaving me a note by my bed telling him to meet him when I woke up, so when I entered the rooftop, he looked surprised.
He was playing the guitar at such a volume I actually had to cover my ears when I ascended the stairs to prevent permanent deafness, and the moment he saw me, he put the guitar down, and leapt off the throne in such a handsome yet graceful manner I stared at him in awe. He was like a cat. The bandages from the wound I inflicted on him were gone now.
"So, finally decided to come up to see me yourself, I see?" He smiled as he approached. Whenever he walked, I could hear a faint "clank" noise coming from an unknown source. What is it? It always sparked my curiosity. Even now, I don't know.
'Yeah, I guess' I responded. Just like always, he gazed deep into my eyes, with a very familiar look of interest in them. My heart pounded in my ears, and I started to sweat despite how cold the air up here was.
"How're you feeling?"
'Happy, you?'
"That's good to hear, I'm feeling the same.' He smiled. "So, Butterfly, what is it? Do you want anything? Your wish is my command."
'Well, um... Quite the opposite - Actually no, not the opposite, um... Just-Just take it.' I managed to mumble out as I gave him what I had taken with me up to the roof.
A moment of silence passed
'Aw' He smiled, taking the present from my hands. 'Is this for me?'
"Who else?"
His grin was wide from ear to ear as he examined the box in his hands. It was a music box the size of his palm, with a tiny little lever at the side for winding it up. With it was a piece of Candy, a Pitch Black guitar pick, and another, larger guitar pick, though this time it wasn't a real guitar pick - It was a rock shaped like a guitar pick. His face was red, even against his pink skin, and he was smiling so much I thought his lips were gonna pop right off his face. He was a little kid in that regard.
He wound the Music Box up, and listened to the tune.
The gentle, metallic voice of the melody filled the air as the two of us listened intensely. The tune was sweet, happy and beatific, and it made you feel warm inside when you listened to it, the type of music you'd listen to after you've had an argument or had a rough time.
The type of music I listen to after I slice red carvings into my wrists. The only comfort I had until Fresh came along.
After he rewound it a few times, listening intently to the beautiful melody, he checked the other, smaller things I bought him.
The piece of candy was wrapped in a cute buttercup Yellow, and was Lemon Flavoured. He held it, saying he'll eat it later. The Guitar Pick he seemed to really like, while he was a bit confused about the Guitar pick-like rock.
'What is this?'
"For Rock music." I smirked.
Silence.
'Okay, I thought that you were gonna be one of those mature people, one of those pun-hating grown ups, a proper adult, but instead you give me a rock, shaped like a guitar pick, and say it's for Rock. Music. I feel insulted, I just lost all hope in you, (Y/N), go and think about what you just did.'
Hearing his sarcastically dramatic response, I couldn't help but laugh. Even the look on his face was amusement, mixed in with a little pride from knowing that he just made me laugh.
"Well, c'mon, (Y/N), I wanna test this new sweet Guitar Pick out." He said.
'Alright, sure, let's hear it- Woah!'
I was interrupted by Fresh reaching over, grabbing me in his large arms, and sweeping me off my feet. He walked to the base of his throne, before flying upwards like a leopard. I let out a childish "Whee!!!!!" As I flew up with him, and we landed perfectly and gracefully on his "Throne". In the middle of it all was a guitar connected to the amplifiers that surrounded him. He reached to it, turned a little knob which I assume is the volume since I was so dangerously close to the amplifiers that I thought that just a simple strum would render me permanently deaf. Then, he started playing a heavy metal song which I think I've heard somewhere before, with such talent that I wondered if there was any difference between Fresh's performance and a real proper concert.
"I quite like this, Thanks Butterfly" He smiled towards me, face beaming with joy.
'No problem! well, I had to pay you back somehow, right?'
Fresh smiled, looked back at his guitar, then back at me.
"What's your favourite colour?"
'What's my favourite colour? Well, that's a very generic question, but oh well, It's (F/C).'
"Ah." He nodded.
'Yours?'
I had expected to hear him say Pink, but then he said something else.
"My favourite colour's Yellow."
'Yellow? What kind of yellow, like Butter Yellow? Banana Yellow?'
"Sun yellow."
'Oooooh.'
"Yeah, It's quite a nice colour, brings back some... fond memories." He smiled, looking into the distance with a reminiscing look in his eyes. I didn't want to interrupt his moment, so I said nothing.
'Fresh?' I said after moments of silence. 'Can you play another song?'
His face immediately lit up.
"What do you wanna hear?"
'I dunno, your choice, but I'm kinda in the mood for something relaxing.'
He thought for a moment, before he sat down, crosslegged, and I did the same.
And the song that he played was something very familiar.
It was old, a very old song, but it seemed to calm me somewhat. It sounded like a lullaby, the kind you would sing to frightened children or hungry babies or even a fully grown adult who's going through hard times. It sounded melancholic in a way, like it was written by a reminiscing songwriter who was missing home.
Reminiscing songwriter who was missing home...
I suddenly remembered.
That song was the very same song that had sedated me into a dreamless, peaceful sleep when I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned all night, and sleep only came when I heard that beautiful, beautiful song.
It was Fresh who played that song that early in the morning.
I watched his fingers effortlessly and swiftly move from string to string, key to key, as his other hand held the pick and strummed it in a way that it didn't give off that ugly TWANG noise. His face was concentrated as his eyes were closed, I had no choice but to admire his talent, he wasn't even looking at the strings.
Wasn't he stuck in a cave sleeping for a thousand years? When did he learn how to play the electric guitar?
But that question didn't bother me at all, right now I was just simply enchanted by the melody dancing around us, singing the same, familiar, comforting song that embraced us in her gentle caress. Once I finally heard the song come to a close, I sat there for a few seconds in silent awe, before applauding.
"That was amazing, Fresh!" I congratulated him, smiling as I clapped just like how I would clap after a musical number.
He didn't even say anything, he just smiled.
"You know, a few nights ago I couldn't sleep. I was tossing and turning and everything, and then I heard that exact song come playing a few rooms down, it immediately made me sleepy and I fell asleep listening to it, was it you who played it?"
His eyebrows raised.
'Well, I'm probably the only person alive who actually knows this song, so take that as a yes.' He smiled. 'It reminds me of home.'
"What was your home like?"
'Heaven.' He smiled thoughtfully. 'It was so peaceful and happy and all that, I loved it.'
"Aw"
'Every morning I would wake up to my Friends, and play with each other all day. We would play in green flower fields, we would swim in the ocean, we would do everything together, it was great. One of them was extremely beautiful and was really nice to me. She was my first love.'
"First love?"
'Yeah. She then became my fiancée.'
"Oh, that's... Adorable" I had felt a discomfort deep in my heart when I heard the word fiancée, and I didn't know why.
'Jealous?' He smirked.
"No! Anyways, keep going."
''Course, she died before we could get married, but oh well.'
"How did she die?"
'Shit happened, anyways, we all lived in wooden huts about the size of my room, Winters were especially harsh, but we had each other, and I remember that we all snuggled up together beside the fire in thick blankets when it was especially cold. One of my friends, was a great cook who always made mushroom soup during the winter. I loved it so much, I think I'm starting to get hungry just thinking about it. Hell, one day I was so excited I accidentally ran into a door and almost broke my nose! We all had a good laugh that day, and he even gave me extra soup.'
Hearing Fresh talk about his life with his friends, I started to smile. He seemed really happy recalling fond memories of him and his friends, though he also seemed really sad at the same time. It was like recalling fond memories with a dead person.
Fresh was a thousand years old, if his Fiancée was dead now, so was his other friends. That must be why he's so sad, all his friends were dead.
After his long narrative, he sighed, lied down and looked up at the sky. There was a thoughtful smile on his lips, as he lay reminiscing his fond memories.
"Enough about me, what about you? What was your home like?"