Skeleton Keys

[Ixidor92]

Sanz blinked once. Twice. Three times. His mind was having a hard time comprehending what had just been said. Was he . . . being come on to? By a guy no less? Sanz pulled himself upright and grabbed his bag before turning around.


"I don't swing that way, you'll have to find some other guy."


He tried to put anger and irritation behind his words, but he knew it was half-hearted. It was the first time in years someone had legitimately shocked him with words alone

 

[Ricia]

Sanz got up after a stunned few seconds and the silence was almost thick with confusion. Sage waited for his answer, sitting up after he released her. She watched him actually politely reject her as he walked away... rather cool like. Sage really had to admit... Sanz was pretty cool. She stood and then brushed herself off before actually followed Sanz again, very blatantly this time. She was surprised he didn't actually punch her.


"I thought up that nickname I promised!" She said from behind him while she followed him. "It took a bit but I think I really struck something cute. It is not to complicated and actually really simple!"

 

[Ixidor92]

Sanz let out a sigh as he continued to walk down the street. Why was this guy so insistent?


"I already rejected you. Why are you still following me?"


He chose to completely ignore the mention of a nickname, as if not acknowledging he had thought of one would remove its existence

 

[Ricia]

(One sided conversation on both sides haha.)


"Sanzy..." Sage said after a moment, "See what I did there? I just added a 'y' at the end of your name. So simple and it makes your cutie factor go up!" Sage told Sanz, ignoring him almost as much as Sanz was ignoring Sage. The rejection seemingly almost didn't phase her. She kept a distance that if he turned around, he wouldn't be able to grab hold of her again like he did when he popped out of the bush.

 

[Ixidor92]

(Pretty much )


Sanz stopped after about five minutes of silence


"Why?"


He gripped his book bag slightly tighter


"Why do you keep pushing me? Do I look like the sort of person you want to be involved with?"

 

[Ricia]

When he stopped, she stopped. She waited for his next demanding response so she can answer back with something random and offsetting. She was sure he thought she was an idiot by now. More than sure, 100% positive.


"Why do you keep pushing me?" Sage answered his question with the same question. In reality this was how people were. You were friendly, they were friendly back. Bam, instant friendship. Sanz has been glaring at people since he stepped out on school grounds. The girls all thought he would kill them if they even sneezed the wrong way. So far Sanz that day had done nothing but hunt down thugs and stomp them before moving on.


Vigilante by chance?


How noble. What an asshole.

 

[Ixidor92]

Sanz let out a sigh


"I'm not someone you want to get involved with."


He was blunt, right before he dashed off. He clambered over a fence in a few seconds and turned away. See if he could follow him through this

 

[Ricia]

"Ah..." Sage watched him basically run away from her and straight over a fence.... was climbing over the fence really worth chasing him? "Ah.. wait Sanzy!" Sage said with a whine, "I don't know where I am! Don't leave me here to be raped and beaten!" Sage called out to him. She tried to sound distressed and scared.

 

[Ixidor92]

Sanz did not miss the cry. However, he kept walking through the back areas of the suburb.


"It wouldn't happen, it's still 6:00, not dark yet."


It was getting very close to twilight


"There aren't any people around who would do such a thing


That was a bald-faced lie. He'd met several who would


"He's a man, he can defend himself right?"


A very effeminate man . . . who best he could tell weighed only about 100 lbs and had no muscle mass to speak of. At all


"Goddamn it all."


He leapt over another fence, and started heading down the street, this time towards where Sage was. He tried to put on his best pair of angry eyes

 

[Ricia]

Sage was looking around a bit, she was almost sure Sanz had left her, though the rattling of the fence behind her caught her attention. Sanz was climbing back to her...


Oh.. my god. Was Sanz an actual goody two shoes? Sage thought to herself. "OH SANZY! You came back to me! I'm so happy you heard my pleas! I knew you cared deep down in your black heart of death and thug crushing!"

 

[Ixidor92]

Sanz clamped his hand down on the boy's head, squeezing hard enough to cause pain


"One: Never call me that again. Two: If I take you to the bus station will you stop pestering me?"

 

[Ricia]

"Ahhhh..." Sage flailed a bit in Sanz's grap, "Sanzy that hurts~" Sage said with a whine, her hands lightly grasping his wrists. Sage had surprisingly small hands. "I'll stop stalking you today if you take me..." She said in a continuous whine as he squeezed her head.

 

[Ixidor92]

Sanz's grip tightened a little further


"Number one?"


He wasn't going to let go until he stopped trying to use a damned nickname. That was the first step to getting closer to someone

 

[Ricia]

"Ahh... Ok ok! Sanz!" Sage said a bit teary eyed, mostly because he was squeezing a little hard. Rick hit her a lot too so it was not that big of a deal. Not like she wasn't going to pick the nickname up later again. She just had to say what he wanted to hear, to get him to let go.

 

[Ixidor92]

Sanz let go and immediately started walking, as if he had done nothing more than pat Sage on the head


"It's this way, don't lag behind."


Shit. First day and already things were getting more complicated than they needed to be. Somehow, Sanz had to get this 'Sage' off of his back as soon as possible.

 

[Ricia]

"Your so cool Sannzzy-- Sanz.." Sage said, correcting herself while following. "I think you should kiss my owy better!"

 

[Ixidor92]

Sanz let out a low chuckle at Sage's comment. It was difficult to tell if it was a fake laugh, or a legitimate one that was merely pained.


"I'm not cool. Not in the least."


He kept walking at a brisk pace, his long legs easily making good time

 

[Ricia]

"Sanz, lets have lunch together tomorrow~" Sage asked him. She smirked when he laughed, did he actually like that? Sage was taller than most girls, but not as tall as the average boy. 5'9. She didn't quite walk next to Sanz, but she did keep up a pace next to him.

 

[Ixidor92]

"Not a snowball's chance in hell."


Sanz responded immediately and harshly. What was this guy on about


"I bet you have a dozen other people you could eat lunch with besides me anyway."

 

[Ricia]

"Well you know, they said hell is actually covered in ice, not fire. I would say the chance of a snowball was rather good...." Sage sounded like she was making a hypothesis, her hand on her chin nodding. Almost like she was patting herself on the back. Sage was obviously good at not taking a hint. "Besides.... nothing gets my fire going like the sight of your blazing hair in the sun set!" Sage was not entirely sure where or why that last part came out, but it sounded great!

 

[Ixidor92]

"You have blue hair, I wouldn't be talking."


This conversation was not being controlled by Sanz, and he didn't like it. He needed to be in control so that he could push this guy away. so far nothing seemed to work

 

[Ricia]

"Whaaat? What's wrong with my blue hair?" She asked touched the top of it and slowly smoothing it down. "It's natural!" She then dramatically flipped her hair a bit. "So... why were you going around beating thugs?"

 

[Ixidor92]

Sanz stopped as they arrived at the bus station, and he checked the schedule immediately. Shit. There were another fifteen minutes before the thing showed up. A thought hit him as Sage asked his question. If he had been tailing him . . . it was likely since the end of school. Which would mean he saw both brawls. And this didn't bother him at all?


"They started a fight, I finished it. Isn't that natural for someone like me?"

 

[Ricia]

"No... I was pretty sure you were goon hunting..." Sage said with a bit of a smirk. "You were actually out looking for them. As we went through many of many alleyway." She pointed out to him.

 

[Ixidor92]

"Pah, for all you know I just hate crowds, and that's my normal way of going home."


Sage's curiosity baffled Sanz. Most ordinary people, curious or not, would stop following someone when they got into a brawl with five other people. They also lose interest when someone threatened bodily harm. And yet this young man seemed to know all the ways to just try and break down Sanz's carefully laid facade. This was not good