Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Capricious Infection ❯ Act 34: The Best Conversationalist ( Chapter 34 )

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Capricious Infection

Act 34: The Best Conversationalist

By: Revamp

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Oz walked inside from the front porch, accompanied by the black-haired teen. He shot him a quizzical glance. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"You know, back then when I told you that I idolize you?" David started off. He might as well have gotten straight to the point, and today he was feeling a new sense of bravery since he had approached Dante and the two shared their little moment.

"Yes, you said that you had a 'bro crush' on me," Oz still wasn't quite aware of what exactly a brocrush was, even with the explanation. It would have been nice if David gave him an explanation that was clearer than the one he had given prior.

"Well, I think it might be more than that but I'm not sure," the black-haired teen took a deep breath before he stopped and looked at the alien before him. "I know that your race is bisexual by nature, and I have no idea how you feel about that."

Oz blinked a little, bi-colored eyes hidden by bi-colored shades, but his visage was still one of befuddlement nonetheless. "So, you have feelings for me? I'm not sure how to feel about that. Isn't it considered a defect of your culture to like those of the same sex?" From everything he had known about humans, their relationships had strictly been limited to male and female. Relationships that were same sex couples, whether they had been female or male yielded no young. Did David really wish to be considered an outcast by his own race like that?

David looked as if he was trying to fight unspoken emotions that welled up in his being. They conflicted and stirred around within him, waging a horrible war that racked his brain and assaulted his heart. "Well, yes and no. People have been that way for a long time but society frowns on it, I guess. I don't have to worry about it anymore, though. I've been thinking about it. There's a certain way that I've always felt and you probably don't get it."

Doing what he had done with Dante only rectified his feelings. In those moments, he felt as if he was himself. In those moments, David felt unbridled and free, and in those moments, he was finally happy. Dante gave him strength to want to stand up to Oz, to tell him how he's felt and about the feelings he had harbored for him.

"I might," Oz replied. It wasn't entirely impossible to relate to a human despite the circumstances that surround him.

"Let's see..." David looked thoughtful for a moment. "There are a lot of preferences. Like, there's male and female, male and male and female and female. Sometimes, there are people who like are like you guys. Then there are people who have a preference, like a guy who likes guys and not girls or a girl who likes girls and not guys."

"We have things like that in our race as well. Some of us naturally want all male sectors and there are females who do the same." It wasn't something that was so far out of reach. In fact, it seemed like their races did have some similarities between them. Oz was a little shocked to know that humans could be like that. It seemed there were many things he had yet to understand.

"I found out recently that I'm not really fond of girls. Like, I've been with girls all of my life but I don't feel anything when I'm with them. I thought maybe I haven't found the right girl, but then I was finally with a guy and I just knew it. I felt the attraction, the adrenaline and I could be myself. It was like 'call off the fucking presses, because holy shit, I like guys'. David Ryzek is gay, yo." Finally, he was able to face one of the darkest points of his past. Since he had been with Dante, he felt braver, freer with his sexuality. It was finally time to admit it. It was time to come to terms with who he really was.

"Gay?" What exactly did he mean by that? What was gay? What did it mean? Oz was definitely confused at what he had just admitted.

"When you prefer the same sex," David brought clarification to his inquiry.

"You humans have weird terminology for things. I don't fully understand but I can relate to the preferences," Oz was going to make an effort. He felt like this was something important in David's life, and he wanted to be there for him.

"It's not easy when you just like men. I mean," he hesitated, "its cool if you don't feel the same way." At this point, David really was just expecting disapproval to just smack him in the face.

"I've only ever been with one person and that was Calypso. So, I've never really thought about it. Now that I know your opinion on me, I can handle it a little better." This was new for the both of them. Not only was it against the norm for David, but it also was for him when he thought about it. For the both of them, this was a cross-species relationship and another step entirely from just breaking the sex boundaries.

"Please don't think anything of me," David was afraid to admit his feelings to him to begin with. It wasn't every day that you walked up to the god of time and told him that you were sexually attracted to him. It made things worse that they were different species, and that Oz was basically his personal trainer and mentor. The teen felt like backflipping out of a window of a six story building right now.

"It's not a big deal. I think of you as a friend. I was actually wondering if I should have helped you against Boxcars." All in all, Oz felt genuinely guilty. The entire time the fight was going on, he fought against every thread in his being not to do something to help him.

David's head snapped back towards the alien and a serious expression was written onto his features. "No, don't feel bad. I told you not to interfere because I wanted to prove myself to you. I failed at that, too." If Oz would have meddled in his affairs, then he would have been twice as pissed with everything. Not only would Oz have interfered and saved his ass again, but David would look twice as weak than he did when he went through the situation alone.

"Boxcars is strong. I'm shocked that you lasted that long. I actually never knew that Boxcars had that ability. I'm sorry," Oz knew there were reasons that Boxcars was considered an intergalactic gladiator for a reason but he never would have guessed that the Arcane was a spirit commander. This made him twice as dangerous as Oz originally thought him to be.

"Nah, it's all good. I'm better now." In reality, that was the only thing that mattered.

"So, the magic worked?" Oz asked. If it did, then Lannad had improved more than he thought she would have.

"I have some internal injuries but I'm all good. Just healing, you know?" As long as they didn't have a big fight ahead of them, then David was sure that he'd be able to make a full recovery. A long silence passed between them before Oz finally said something to him.

"If it counts, I'm interested."

David blinked a little and took his hands from his pockets. "In what? In me?"

"I hope that you can look past our differences, our species." When he thought about it, David might be interesting. The fact that his species was so different than his own was both exciting and held its own series of difficulties, but in a way Oz liked the hands-on experience.

"You know, we should talk about things. Explain ourselves to each other. If we're going to make a world together, don't you think we need a common understanding so we can establish basic rules?" After all, this was going to be a world that they both would reside in and as such, they needed to agree on how things worked and operated.

Oz arched an eyebrow and stared at him. "You want a world with us?" It was strange that he would say something like that. His race invaded their planet, along with a lot of other races, and for him to want to make things work between them was shocking.

"Why not? I am right now," David shrugged. He couldn't change what was already there, so why not just make the best of what he had?

"I'm just shocked. I don't usually hear someone so agreeable to such a foreign subject. Is it because you have feelings for me?" Oz tried to find a logical reason behind why David would agree to sharing his planet with his race. Usually, when he was on another race's planet, they didn't welcome him with warm arms, especially not when there was a situation like this one.

"I've said things before about it. That was before I found out how I really felt." It wasn't as if David was completely opposed to it. Even when Oz and he simply had a friendship, he just wanted to make things work and get the earth into a better shape than it had been. David wanted to work on reformation instead of war and death.

The alien looked at the floor and placed his hands on his hips. "Do you think I'm selfish?"

David looked at him, "why would I think that?"

Oz looked back at him, and their eyes met. "Why wouldn't you? I came here, demanding that you do what I say and I enforced it with Tarvos." The entire time, Oz was doing as he wished, and David had went along with him. He believed him; even if he had lied about the situation he was sure that David would have followed his direction.

"I believed you because I got to know you. You've never lied to me before." Sure, it might have been odd that he put his trust in a complete stranger, but at the time there wasn't anything else he could do. The world was ending and he reluctantly put his faith in Oz, knowing at the very least that he was an alien. Now that they had bonded, he learned that there was a deep and personal meaning to the Dius' decisions, and that this was about the fate of their paradox.

"You could be called naive and easily manipulated," Oz noted.

"Then I would have let the coins fall where they did," David shrugged. "If I was dumb enough to do it, then it would end up making me wiser." There was no denying the truth. Oz could have manipulated him easily back then, but there wasn't any other options. Also, Oz needed him, and that was obvious. If not, he wouldn't have had he and his friends play Twisted Land to decide their respective fates on Earth. In fact, if Oz could have cared less, then he wouldn't have had any of them play the game. They would have all just been meaningless sacrifices.

Oz turned to the boy and placed his hand on the side of his face. David gazed at the alien and the skin on his cheeks turned red at the contact. "You have a good head on your shoulders," Oz smiled, his voice was low and held a strange kindness to it that David had only witnessed a few times. "I like you, but that is why we became human friends. Since you were honest with me, let me be honest with you."

"Your honesty scares the shit out of me," David feared that more than anything. He didn't want to be rejected by his alien friend, the man he looked up to since they first had contact via Twisted Land. It petrified him more than facing the issues behind his sexuality. He felt his heart beat accelerate and his stomach felt as if it was falling into a pit.

"It's nothing bad," Oz reassured the boy," even when the other humans were distance from me, you were there and you spoke to me, wanting to know me. At first, I tried to hide from you and I was distant but you reeled me in. I was fascinated by you. You never cease to amaze me. I wish all humans had your good qualities, and you were the perfect candidate for the job I assigned you. You wanted to impress me? Well, you're higher than my expectations. However, if you want to be my mate, then you need to get to know me more than you already do now."

"I thought it would be awkward if I just came up all asking you personal shit like that." In just a small paragraph, Oz was able to tell him how he felt about everything he'd ever had questions about. It felt good, to be honest, that all of his fears and uncertainties were being lifted.

"I can ask you anything, right?"

David nodded. "Yep, I'd even tell you my really personal stuff, like if I had sex, when, where, positions...things like that." Now that they had broken the ice, the human felt more willing to talk then he had before. At least Oz had taken an interest in him. There was some hope to that, right?

"Humans must have many types of procreation." If David was throwing out all of those suggestions, especially types of positions, then there was more to human breeding than he had initially thought.

"That's a broad topic on its own. Besides, I just know some stuff with girls. Not saying I'm the Sex Master of anything," he waved in dismissal. David didn't want Oz to think he was something that he wasn't. He just knew about the positions, of the fact that they existed.

"Interesting," Oz arched an eyebrow. He had no idea that humans had so many methods to their copulation.

"You know what?"

"What?"

"You care more than you say. I think you're just as curious as I am," the teen who donned shades smiled a little, leaning his head into the alien's touch. It was a huge relief to know that Oz felt the same way that he had. That made things easier to deal with.

"I wonder about things," Oz admitted. It was only natural to have a curiosity about the humans, or any other race that did things differently than they did. Oz wanted to know about how humans bred, how they lived and their many different types and customs. Their race was interesting to him, he couldn't deny that.

"Well, ask away," David was an open book for any questions that he wanted to throw at him.

"Do you realize the barrier we have and just how far away they are?" Oz wanted David to see the dark side of the truth behind what their union may come to. They were very far away from each other in lifestyle and methods of everyday life, much less procreation and beliefs. Together, they would have a multitude of tasks to overcome if they wanted to achieve a truly harmonious relationship.

"So? This is how I see it. You kept me alive for a reason. Hell, you couldn't have killed me so many times and I think that you would if you wanted. You didn't though, because I'm too cool to die, like I said before," David was one of the good guys. There was no way in hell that he was going to just die just like that.

"I have my reasoning," and it was more than what shallow thoughts laid within the boy's mind.

"I've always wondered what went on in that head of yours. You have bitchin' intellect. I wished I could be that smart." While he made good grades in school, David knew that he only possessed a fragment of the intelligence that Oz held. To be the creator of all things, the man who helped birth everything into existence, he must have known the secrets of the universe.

"Intelligence is a burden as well as a gift. The more you know, the more you feel. It's a responsibility and not an easy one to bear." Knowing everything was a great pain, more than someone like David could possibly know at this point in his young life. With the knowledge came the roller coaster of emotions that came with it. Death, war, murder, sorrow, anger, and the pain of worlds and races of aliens...it was all contained within him.

He who harbors all knowledge, harbors the pain of the universe.

"I admire that about you. You handle it well." It was one of his many reasons that David had looked up to him. He couldn't even fathom the amount of pain the Dius had been in, and even now he had been feeling something he was sure of it.

The alien choked back a bitter laugh at the boy's words. "Not really, a lot of people would think I'm a horrible coward. I'm not as strong as I seem." Oz wasn't anyone to be admired. If anything, David should have hated him, like many others had. Everyone had their cracks, but he had more than most.

"Why would they think that? Everyone seems to respect you a lot." Unless there was something that David missed, he didn't see anyone who thought he was a horrible coward. As far as he knew, his friends felt nothing but respect for the Dius of Time.

What even was there to really hate about this guy?

"Truth be told, I sold my soul a long time ago," Oz looked down in shame, taking his hand from the boy's face. It was a genuine guilt and pain that he held within him. Just thinking about that act in specifically pained him, and it served as a constant reminder of his cowardice.

David arched an eyebrow, shooting him a skeptical glance through his shades. "I question your motives, but what else is new?"

"I'm not sure you'd believe me if I told you." Coming from anyone of his own species it would have surely been looked upon as crazy or deranged. It was something that they would have been put into the mental hospital for.

"I dunno...there is a lot of shit I wouldn't have believed that I would now." Those events of the end of the world definitely taught him to be more open-minded when it came to various subjects. He practically lived in a world of fantasy. What was to keep him from believing whatever off-the-wall story Oz had for him now.

"Tarvos and I are the same person," Oz admitted as plainly as anything else he would casually say.

David arched an eyebrow once more, "oh, in the game, right?"

The alien's visage darkened and his words were serious. "In the real world, too."

David drew back, even through those dark shades, shock registered on his face. "Dude, that joke's not funny." He tried to desperately cover up his shock with disbelief. It wasn't cool that Oz would say things like that to him. If he expected that he was going to believe him, then he was full of shit. "You're a bad comedian. If I saw you on stage, I'd throw a tomato at your ass."

Oz didn't waiver from his serious expression. "Tarvos is the manifestation of my negative feelings. We are the literal Gemini, Yin and Yang, Creation and Death."

David paused in his tracks. Oz wasn't joking with him. He was actually being serious. "You're shitting me. You look nothing alike." They were as different as night and day. To readily think that the two of them were two halves of the same person was believing lunacy.

Oz began to explain the story of Tarvos' creation. He informed David that he had planned the two to look nothing alike. He created Tarvos and divided his soul, shoving his negative energy into the reaper. At the time, he thought that he was doing a good thing by purging all of the evil from himself. He wanted to create something that was heartless, a creature that could kill easily and with no sympathy. He never wanted Tarvos to have a heart, if he tried to kill him, Oz could control him easily. If Tarvos did anything wrong, Oz could destroy him. Tarvos' task was to act as the grim reaper. He couldn't have Tarvos develop emotional attachments to those who would die by his own hands. The Dius of time felt as if it would have been cruel, but what he had done as a result was far worse in comparison. He should have been careful for what he wished for.

"He doesn't seem like he minds. Some dude named Eris or something cares about him, right? Diablo liked him-" David replied but was cut short by his idol.

The alien continued his story, telling his human companion that Tarvos' existence was because he didn't want to be the destroyer and creator of his own worlds. Time birthed and destroyed. All things grew old and time's cycle started anew. Distrust ran rampant when he showed up. No one knew his motives and he was feared and hated. Because it made Oz so miserable, it drove him insane.

Tarvos was his scapegoat. Oz was afraid of being hated, so he created Tarvos so that their anger would be directed at him. He thought if he was hated that his apathy would keep him from caring about other's opinions...However, Tarvos was confused by Diablo's lust for him and what really shocked Oz was that Tarvos cared so much about Ares.

Ares was publically humiliated and nearly killed. Calypso threw him off of the stage and into the angry crowd below, but Tarvos flew over and held his hand, keeping the crowd from his battered form. Oz thought that Tarvos lived for a blood bath until that moment in time.

"It's what he plays up, anyway," now David wondered about it as well. As long as he had known the Grand High Messiah, he was under the impression that the winged Dius could have cared less who he killed or how he did it. To know that he was capable of feelings threw him off a little. There was his relationship with Dante, but it never went anywhere.

"After that moment, I wondered if Tarvos meant everything he said. If there was some point that I was missing about him, or if I had only looked at him through tunnel vision." Either way, it was intriguing for Oz. He never could have guessed that something that was molded from pure hatred, apathy and anger was capable of having a heart.

David decided that he would bring up something he considered a strange philosophy, but he wanted Oz to hear him out. Death to him was the most misunderstood thing in the world. Nothing was worse than death and everyone tried to run away from it. No on promised tomorrow, they just counted on today. Death struck without warning, all they could do was accept it. Death was mysterious, if someone looked at the nature of death, it's only as scary as someone perceived it to be. He thought that death could be peaceful, gentle and forgiving. It could kill someone quickly or let them suffer. It could take someone away in their sleep, or someone's life could be ripped away from them violently.

He kind of saw Tarvos that way. When he first met him, he thought that Tarvos was bat shit crazy, like serial killer, Nazi, mass murderer crazy, but at the same time, he wondered what Tarvos thought. What did he think when he was killing someone? There were all kinds of motives: hatred, jealousy, insanity but maybe Tarvos took people out of their misery, too.

David thought that if he knew he'd die the next day, he would go up to the grim reaper and ask him to end his life. Tarvos would do it. Tarvos would have been happier than a nudist in an orgy porn, but he thought that the Dius would be nice about it. David had always heard of Tarvos referring to death like some kind of fucked up romance, where someone holds another in their arms as they took their last breath. David thought that it was his weird way of laying someone to rest or easing someone into a peaceful state so that they weren't so scared. Granted, it was scary as fuck because Tarvos was so awkward, but there was no one else more qualified to do the job.

"You're right. I've never thought about it like that. I must have been blind." Even though Oz was an old dog by existence, there was always something new that could be learned.

"We all get that way. I know I'm a jerk sometimes, but I'm not so bad when I'm one-on-one. I sorta hate group shit. I have a rep to keep and I'm not into letting everyone see the real me," David knew that it wouldn't have been as easy to come to terms with himself in a group setting as it was just telling Oz and Dante separately.

"You always seemed like a different person to me. The real you isn't so confident. You get upset when what you do doesn't solve the problem and you're a very confused individual." Through his observations, that was what he had thought David to be. That was the David that he knew.

"You're insecure, too. I also think you're sad as hell but you play if off because you're smooth like that. I still can't believe you and Tarvos are the same person." That last part still unnerved him. David definitely had an influx of strange feelings about that issue. He was pretty sure that he was going to see the two of them differently from that moment on.

"It's why he has no childhood. It's also why he's the only Dius with wings. We do have mutations, but usually they are blood related. It's kind of interesting, however. The Dius race is known to have one blood color - royal blue," Oz cleared the air of those mysteries, then he walked over to the kotatsu where the Time Sword was laying. Unsheathing the weapon, he drew the blade and slit his arm. A pitch black, tar-like substance welled to the top and dripped down his arm. "You see, I, the very first Dius in creation have blood as black as night."

"Looks like tar, dude," David lowered his shades a little, examining the black substance.

"My people consider this a mutation, a defect. However it is our true blood color. The blue came about as we populated our planet and selective breeding caused it to be a common color. There are only three black-blooded Dius in existence now, Ares, Calypso and myself." Oz usually didn't allow anyone to see the true color of the blood that he possessed, but David was special. As a student, a friend and a possible pyrex he wanted to share this one moment of vulnerability to him.

"So, black blood should be considered like royalty," that was what David's thoughts on the matter. It was something that seemed logical at least.

"That would be so, but our race has three divine mutations," Oz brought about another piece of information regarding the Dius race. "This means, those with that blood color are considered special and revered. These mutations turn the blood pastel pink, blue and teal. Dius with the lighter mutations have all accomplished grand things, so it's a mutation of valor."

"Tarvos' blood is normal then." That was disappointing, considering the grim reaper had accomplished a lot of grand things according to his opinion.

"I planned it that way. You are the only one to see my true blood color. No one else knows about it," Oz held up his arm and healed his wound. The laceration was enveloped in a neon purple, then vanished from his arm.

"You can heal?" David arched an eyebrow.

"Maybe I should teach you," it would have been better than allowing him to be knocked around by Boxcars like a rag doll.

David smiled and readjusted his shades. "That would be cool as hell."

"I wanted to be the one who healed you but Dante and I argued. He wouldn't let me around you," David felt a prang of guilt knowing that Oz tried to help him but his friend denied him that right. If only he would have been conscious, he would have told him that it was alright and that he and Oz agreed that he should stay out of it.

"I'll talk to Dante. We're close. He'll listen to me. If he doesn't, I'll beat his ass," the teen smirked playfully and held up a menacing fist. Of all people, he wasn't below giving his stubborn friend what for.

"Good luck," Oz nodded.

"I won't tell anyone."

"I'd be put to shame if anyone dared knew. It's my one true secret that I keep hidden from the world." Above everything else, Oz would put his trust in David. He hoped that the human would be able to keep his word. The Dius race would be turned upside down if a word of it got out.

...To Be Continued