Hard to Stay Away (RidgeCoffee)

The room was dim and silent. It wasn’t a very large room, more of a closet in fact, and its only light source came from the many computer monitors mounted on the walls. Below the monitors was a desk with a built-in keyboard and a leather swivel chair. In this chair sat a tall, regal man in a long overcoat accented with gold. He was handsome with russet hair, devilish gold eyes, and a mischievous smirk on his lips. He had the air of a man who had always gotten what he wanted in life. He was Ridgedog, a powerful reaper with the attention span of a moth. He found that the people of his world were very nice distractions from his usual boredom. One in particular, he was very fond of.

The man sat watching the monitors and thinking up new ways of playing with his toys.  He scanned over a few of his favorites, like the spaceman and the dwarf, the two morons who called themselves the “Cheat Police”, the witches that lived in the cherry orchard, and, of course, the scientist and the flux girl.

This monitor he focused on specifically, a sigh escaping him as the wicked expression faded into longing. He found himself staring at that monitor often, and knew, sooner or later, that he’d lose his will power and eventually go to the oddly shape, red and white home that mocked him on the screen. He wasn’t supposed to become attached to the residents of the world he was assigned, but it was difficult, even for an ancient reaper.

Ridgedog could feel his boredom creeping up again and placed his hands over the keyboards, stroking the keys so the image changed to one of a large room filled with machines and cables. Standing at one of the odd machines, wrench in hand, was a blonde man in a white lab coat. In his messy hair were a pair of shiny goggles and he wore gray pants and a purple shirt. Behind him, working at a computer, was a small girl in a red oriental dress and wearing gauzy flowers in her black hair. Even from the back it was obvious there was something not quite right with her. Coating her skin were several patches of a strange purple rash. It had gotten worst since last time the reaper saw her and he worried about whether she would become a danger, but his eyes went back to the man and his heart stopped beating for a fraction of a second.

He zoomed the image in and stared fearfully at the man’s arms, trying not to believe what he was seeing. Creeping up on the man’s arms was the same purple blemish that covered the girl. It wasn’t as prominent and it didn’t cover as much but it was there, and it would spread slowly but surely, until he was just like the contagious woman he lived with.

Anger filled the reaper as he bolted from the room and teleported just outside the odd home. He knew he shouldn’t be there but it was hard to stay away. He shifted invisible and teleported to the room he had seen on the monitor. The man and woman were still there, working away and completely unaware of the unseen man floating above them.

“Can you make me some more of those tracking missiles, Nano?” asked the man, shifting through broken pipes.

“I can’t because we ran out of redstone, Lalna. Can’t do anything without redstone, can we?” replied Nano, snappily.

“Out of redstone? How can we be out of redstone?” questioned Lalna, frowning. “Can you go out and mine some more?”

“Uuuuugh, fine, I’ll just drop everything I’m doing and go out to mine some goddamn redstone,” grumbled Nano, slamming down her infected hands and going up the elevator. “I’ll be back whenever.”

“Okay, bye!” said Lalna, cheerily, as Nano rolled her eyes and went up to the first floor. Ridgedog could hear her mumble to herself all the way out the door.

This chance couldn’t have been more perfect; Lalna was alone and would be for some time by the sound of it. Time for Ridgedog to make himself known to the scientist.

Becoming visible again, Ridgedog quietly floated down behind the unsuspecting man. He plastered on his best smirk and finally spoke.

“Hello, Lalna, what are you working on today?”

“AGH!” yelped Lalna, jumping about a foot in the air. He spun around and nearly tripped over the tools he’d left on the floor. When he regained his balance he stared worriedly at the reaper. “R-Ridge? What are you doing here!? H-how did you get in?”

Ridgedog laughed and took an unnoticeable step toward the scientist. Underneath his nonchalant exterior rested a barely concealed anger. “Oh, I just decided to pop in, see how things are.”

Lalna’s surprised turned to confusion and suspicious. “You’ve never done that before. Why take an interest all of a sudden?”

The reaper sighed, “Can’t I be concerned for a friend? Do you think I’m that heartless?”

“Concerned?” asked Lalna, his eyebrows rose in even more bewilderment. “Why would you be concerned for me? Why do you care?”

Ridged sighed again, and his bravado faded. The raw tenderness and longing that usually appeared whenever he watched the scientist from the screens suddenly showed on his handsome face. He took another step closer, this one more deliberate, and reached up to touch the purple stains on the man’s cheek. Lalna flinched back, expected hostility, but was unexpected by the gentleness of Ridgedog’s touch. He was too surprised to move away as the demi-god stroked his face.

“I tried so hard to protect you,” whispered the reaper, sadness replaced the anger in his golden eyes. “I tried to keep my distance and let you live you life without interference from me, that’s what I’m supposed to anyway. I’m not allowed to get close to the people I watch over, and with all the others that’s easy to do...”

Ridge paused and sighed, a weak smile forming around his lips. “It’s not easy with you though, Lalna, I struggle everyday not to rush here and see you, speak to you, interact with you in anyway. I try so hard to leave you alone, and so far I’ve managed it.”

Taking his hand off Lalna’s face, Ridge gently took the startled man’s hand and brought it to his own face, his eyes closing. When he opened them again, Lalna was surprised to see the fury burning bright in his eyes.

“But when I saw what that...girl...did to you, that she infected you with this disgusting taint...I couldn’t just stand by this time, Lalna. I won’t let her corrupt you...”

“Ridge, you’re starting to freak me out,” said Lalna, growing very afraid of what the reaper said. “What the hell are you even talking about? Nano isn’t corrupting me, its just a little flux.”

“Yes, but a little flux can turn into a lot of flux, and soon you’ll be just like her. I can’t let that happen,” Ridge hissed, the barely contained ferocity in his voice giving Lalna chills.

“Why can’t you let it happen? I still don’t understand why the fuck you care so much about what happens to me!” countered Lalna, finding strength in his own anger.

This softened the reaper again and he moved even closer, until Lalna stepped back against the wall, trying to regain some distance between him and the man before him. Ridge smiled and followed him, pressing Lalna against the wall.

“You want to know why I care so much?” whispered Ridge, his voice sweet. “This is why...”

Giving the man no time to escape, Ridge leaned in and softly pressed his lips against Lalna’s. The kiss was gentle and slow at first, but when Lalna didn’t fight or try to pull away it gave the reaper the courage to deepen the kiss. He kissed him with all the intensity and raw emotion that had plagued him the moment he knew he loved the scientist. All the pent up love and loneliness poured out of him, having finally been given a release, and the relief of this sudden release was powerful enough to shake the both them to their cores. Lalna trembled in the reapers arms, never having experience so much hunger before, he was having a hard time not collapsing, but the reapers strong hold kept him standing. When they pulled away for air, Lalna blinked and leaned against Ridge weakly.

Hugging him close, Ridge purred in his ear, “See why I want to protect you so much? I can’t stand the thought of losing you. Come with me, Lalna. Come stay with me and we can find a way to reverse the spreading.”

Lalna frowned, Ridge’s words having finally pierced the lovely fog that had clouded his mind.

“But what about Nano? I can’t just leave her. Shouldn’t we try to save her too?” asked Lalna.

“I don’t think she can be saved by this point, Lalna,” sighed Ridgedog. “The flux has taken over almost her entire body. I doubt even I can fix it, but you haven’t been infected as badly as her. I can save you easily, if you just let me—.”

“No, Ridge,” Lalna said sternly. “I can’t leave her to fight this on her own, especially since it was partially my fault this happened. No, I’m either staying here and helping her or you’re taking us both, it’s your choice.”

These words broke Ridgedog’s heart, he should have known he wouldn’t leave his apprentice, but still, he had hope. He knew he couldn’t take them both, one would have been bad enough, but to take two of his subjects would be unreasonable and he would get in serious trouble that way. Thinking of no better alternative, Ridge’s shoulders slumped and he backed away from the scientist, resignation and sadness filling his eyes once more.

“Fine then, if I can’t change you mind, I guess I’ll be going,” said the reaper dejectedly. He turned and was about to teleport back to his empty home, when Lalna reached over and grabbed his shoulder.

“Wait, Ridge, would you...do you want to see the rest of the house? I could give you a little tour if you like,” offered Lalna, not wanting the reaper to leave so soon.

Ridge gave him a watery smile and shook his head. “It’s better if I don’t stay any longer.”

“Oh, well, you’ll come see me again...yeah?”

“I might,” Ridgedog replied simply. The truth was the thought of another visit was incredibly tantalizing to him, but he also knew it would hurt him every time he came, especially if the taint continued to spread. “I’ll think about it, and Lalna...?”

“Yeah?” Lalna said hopefully.

“Please, keep safe,” the reaper said, turning his back.

“Okay, I’ll try...No promises, though,” said Lalna, trying to lighten the mood.

Ridge chuckled and just before he teleported away, back to the cold, lonely castle, he muttered three words just loud enough for the scientist to make out. And then he was gone, leaving Lalna more confused and intrigued than when he first appeared to him. He didn’t know what to think of the reaper anymore, and through his mind rang those last words before Ridge had left.

“I love you.”