{"id":615,"date":"2013-11-20T00:26:04","date_gmt":"2013-11-20T04:26:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/destiny.bungie.org\/fanfic\/?p=615"},"modified":"2014-01-03T11:11:38","modified_gmt":"2014-01-03T15:11:38","slug":"introversion-in-the-key-of-d-minor-chapter-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/destiny.bungie.org\/fanfic\/2013\/11\/20\/introversion-in-the-key-of-d-minor-chapter-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Introversion in the Key of D Minor, Chapter 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leon sat near one corner of the locker-room, donning his armor.\u00a0 In the far corner was Angela and Dan.\u00a0 They were talking a little too quietly for Leon to hear, but as he got himself ready, he watched them thoughtfully.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Leon remembered all the things that had happened over the last five years.\u00a0 It all started when he met Angela.\u00a0 Back then, he could still speak.\u00a0 They weren’t a quick-made match, but after a while, they started to grow on each-other.\u00a0 Then, as things were starting to really shine, a mission against the Fallen went to shambles.\u00a0 A Fallen Captain stabbed him in the neck, cutting the vocal cords.\u00a0 He had survived only because the blade had failed to go an inch deeper, and Angela saved him in the exact nick of time.\u00a0 At the same time, the other member of the group was killed, replaced not long after by Dan.<\/p>\n

At first, not being able to speak had been horrible for Leon, but as time went by, the pain took on a different nature.\u00a0 He no longer felt horrified at his inabilities, but at the same time, something always felt deeply wrong.\u00a0 It just got worse when he had to deal with Angela; how he always yearned to be able to talk to her.<\/p>\n

Many things have a half-life, fading out over time.\u00a0 Pain is not one of those things; at least it wasn’t for Leon.\u00a0 It never disappeared completely; not even close.\u00a0 It just flattened out at a certain point, and deviated only slightly in response to certain circumstances.<\/p>\n

Leon put on his helmet.\u00a0 Immediately he could feel the density of the air.\u00a0 It never smelled good, more like rusty metal.\u00a0 It always left him with a bad taste, but at least under here he could hide, become just a stoic wall.\u00a0 The outside would be more congruous, even if it never truly reflected the inside.\u00a0 People would expect less from him, and his inability to make sound wouldn’t be quite so obvious.\u00a0 He could feel secure inside here.<\/p>\n

How introverted Leon had become.\u00a0 How caught up inside himself.\u00a0 Before this, he had been as focused on the outside as anyone.\u00a0 He had been incredibly warm to everyone.\u00a0 Now he was as cold as the armor he wore.<\/p>\n

His inability to express his thoughts had made him retreat into himself.\u00a0 Were he able to explain himself to others, he’d be able to unleash a flood of ideas, thoughts and feelings.\u00a0 As it was, he could only formulate those things, develop them, make them understandable to himself.\u00a0 But when you can’t get them across, they’re never really whole.<\/p>\n

He could see the world, but not affect it beyond the most superficial means.\u00a0 He was like an astronomer locked into his observatory.\u00a0 Sure he could fire a gun, but he couldn’t explain to anyone why he did it, or what was affecting him, or anything of the sort.\u00a0 He couldn’t offer up himself, only hope that someone would be able to figure him out for themselves.\u00a0 Angela could do it surprisingly well, but nobody else could.<\/p>\n

All for one inch of flesh.<\/p>\n

The pain was too much, Leon caught himself, searching for some distraction.\u00a0 He turned a little knob on his helmet, and now he could hear Angela and Dan from all the way across the room.\u00a0 He didn’t care much about what they were discussing; he just loved hearing their voices.\u00a0 Their voices.\u00a0 Not his.\u00a0 He had no voice.\u00a0 No voice.<\/p>\n

Damn it, he’d started down that path again.<\/p>\n

——————————————–<\/p>\n

While Dan and Angela were still capable of socializing, Leon usually aimed to try and avoid as many people as possible.\u00a0 He couldn’t just stay in their quarters all day, so he had to find an alternative.\u00a0 As it so happened, he found this alternative in the Final Vanguard.<\/p>\n

The Final Vanguard were essentially a last resort group of Guardians designed to keep watch over the City, remaining there in case the Fallen or anyone else dared try to attack the walls.\u00a0 Despite what their name might suggest, the Final Vanguard was truly a dull group, containing mostly those Guardians who had been singled out as liabilities in true combat or those who were seriously injured or unfit for field work.\u00a0 Even so, these weren’t enough to fill out the Final Vanguard; they needed at least a few volunteers.\u00a0 Very few Guardians did so, but those few did so largely for reasons a lot like Leon’s; they just needed an escape.\u00a0 Leon felt safe there; socializing was an option, and if you wanted to be left alone, people would give you breathing room.<\/p>\n

Volunteering was on a day-to-day basis, so Leon could keep to himself when there wasn’t any action while still getting to join his comrades-in-arms when the time came.\u00a0 On this particular day, there weren’t any missions planned.\u00a0 This was a day to rest and prepare.\u00a0 Angela pretty much always used her spare time to prepare, whether it was combat practice, purchasing more equipment, or just checking up on the current situation with her superiors.\u00a0 Dan, on the other hand, loved a good bit of rest.<\/p>\n

But Leon?\u00a0 He thought.\u00a0 That was all.\u00a0 He just thought.\u00a0 That was essentially the only thing left for him to do now, and he savored every moment he had to just sit and think.<\/p>\n

For today, he was stationed at East Salman Air Terminal, one of perhaps the least attractive locations to be posted.\u00a0 The place smelled of gasoline, and whoever ran the place had an odd tendency to play music all throughout the building – loudly.\u00a0 Still, you couldn’t fault the choice of music; classics from long ago were prized by just about everyone, and the most treasured of all were those from the mid to late 1900s, specifically the 1970s and 1980s.\u00a0 Such old music was difficult to obtain, but it had astonishing appeal.\u00a0 Rumor had it there was even a black market around such music.\u00a0 Sometimes a piece or two from even the 1930s or 40s drifted in; Billie Holiday songs, for example, were rare but almost divine in stature.<\/p>\n

On each side of the Terminal’s walls, positioned three-fourths of the way up, there was a small watch-post with a balcony, supplies, and some sparse furnishings.\u00a0 These would be occupied by one member of the Vanguard each.\u00a0 Leon was posted on the side facing into the City.\u00a0 Even though he didn’t really need to, he left his armor on; the feeling of security, even when unjustifiable, was all too important to him.\u00a0 Stepping out onto the balcony, he surveyed the City.\u00a0 How immense, how majestic, how awesome it was.\u00a0 And yet it was so fragile.\u00a0 He wondered if humanity would really make it.\u00a0 Would they provoke their own demise by waging further conflict with the aliens that had conquered their lands?\u00a0 Would some other new foe be brought down upon us?\u00a0 Could the Fallen be just the Goths fleeing the Huns?\u00a0 If so, it certainly didn’t seem like humanity would have a chance at that point; we’d barely survived the first war, and already the Fallen were posing serious problems to the recent attempts to reclaim Earth.<\/p>\n

What would the future hold?\u00a0 Leon couldn’t answer that question – no-one could.<\/p>\n

Glancing back at a clock fixed on the wall back inside the room, Leon saw it was 9:03 AM.\u00a0 A little under seven hours to just wait.\u00a0 Wait, and watch.\u00a0 Watch, and reflect.<\/p>\n

——————————————–<\/p>\n

As it turned out, seven hours felt more like fourteen.\u00a0 When you have nothing to do but reflect, time goes slower.\u00a0 When you keep glancing at the clock, it goes even slower.\u00a0 When you’re stuck all alone, it goes even slower.\u00a0 The combination of these three made time twice as long as usual.\u00a0 For most people, this would be absolute torture.\u00a0 Some had been pushing for the Final Vanguard to put two people in every post at a given time, but due to the already thin numbers of the group, this turned out to not be an option.\u00a0 This was a blessing for Leon:\u00a0 he needed every moment possible to be alone, just reflecting.\u00a0 It was his only real comfort zone; he didn’t feel secure around people, and you can’t spend your entire time out in the field.\u00a0 The alternative is to be alone, and that was what he wanted.<\/p>\n

All for one inch.<\/p>\n

God, when would he stop hearing that sentence?\u00a0 ‘Just an inch deeper’, he had been thinking all day.\u00a0 ‘I wish I were dead’ is what it really meant, and it hurt like hell.\u00a0 He had to get his mind off that crap, or he’d go insane.\u00a0 But how could he?\u00a0 Distractions were all but impossible, because he couldn’t socialize.\u00a0 He was totally isolated from the rest of humanity.\u00a0 He couldn’t really even communicate with the two closest people in his life, Dan and Angela.<\/p>\n

Angela.<\/p>\n

Oh god, it hurt.\u00a0 He had to stop, just for an hour.\u00a0 Even that was a feat, one he couldn’t handle.<\/p>\n

A knock on the door.\u00a0 Leon nearly jumped, having expected himself to be all alone and uninterrupted for the whole time he was here.\u00a0 He glanced at the clock again.\u00a0 3:42 PM.\u00a0 The door opened, and a young man stepped in wearing the clothing of a Hunter.\u00a0 He had a thin, sharp face, a buzz cut of brown hair, and olive eyes.\u00a0 He had a slight smile, though it didn’t seem very honest.\u00a0 “Morning,” the man said.\u00a0 “Thought I’d show up a little early, see a bit more of the sun before it goes down.”\u00a0 Something about the man struck Leon as off-putting, almost sleazy.\u00a0 He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, though.<\/p>\n

“Hope you don’t mind me imposing.\u00a0 I don’t usually do this, but today I thought ‘why not’ – after all, nothing to lose trying it once in a while.”\u00a0 Leon didn’t pay much attention to what exactly the man was saying after this, it made little difference.\u00a0 After a while, the man seemed to notice Leon’s strange silence.\u00a0 “Don’t say much, do you?”\u00a0 A sting; why’d he have to remind him?\u00a0 The man stepped out of a tiny storage room of food and drinks, holding a small bottle of beer and a glass.\u00a0 “You a mute or something?” he said as he finished pouring the stuff.<\/p>\n

Had he the ability, Leon would have groaned.\u00a0 Instead, he just nodded.<\/p>\n

The man froze mid-swallow, his cheeks turning a shade paler.\u00a0 He seemed to take a moment to digest this information and formulate a response.\u00a0 “Uh, sorry.\u00a0 I didn’t mean anything, I just, uh, I had to ask.”<\/p>\n

Bastard.\u00a0 He didn’t have to ask anything.\u00a0 Good thing Leon was still wearing his helmet, otherwise his face would’ve betrayed the seething anger boiling up inside him.\u00a0 He got up, grabbed up his stuff, and walked out the door.\u00a0 A quick ride through the underground metro, and he was back to the Tower, with Dan and Angela.<\/p>\n

To Be Continued\u2026<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leon sat near one corner of the locker-room, donning his armor.\u00a0 In the far corner was Angela and Dan.\u00a0 They were talking a little too quietly for Leon to hear, but as he got himself ready, he watched them thoughtfully. Leon remembered all the things that had happened over the last five years.\u00a0 It all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/destiny.bungie.org\/fanfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/destiny.bungie.org\/fanfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/destiny.bungie.org\/fanfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/destiny.bungie.org\/fanfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/destiny.bungie.org\/fanfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=615"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/destiny.bungie.org\/fanfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":616,"href":"https:\/\/destiny.bungie.org\/fanfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615\/revisions\/616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/destiny.bungie.org\/fanfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/destiny.bungie.org\/fanfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/destiny.bungie.org\/fanfic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}