Original: Where Girls Fear to Tread
Saturday, June 3rd, 2006 04:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tsaikoWhat happens when you create a world that is every yaoi fangirl's wet dream and then stick one guy obsessed with girls, one punk with a hidden past, and one crazy mad scientist into it?
You get the first chapter of the cheesiest story I have written in a long, long time.
Sen was obsessed with girls.
The other guys on the soccer team teased him about it mercilessly. Hey Sen! Look! A female! Then they'd all laugh because he'd inevitably look. Over the years Sen had learned to really ham it up by pretending to look under rocks and clothes. After his always fruitless search he'd fake a faint from his disappointment. It had become something of a running joke.
There were no women, no girls, no females at all in the cities. Most men thought they were nothing more than legends. Sen knew better. He'd seen one. After that there was no help for him. He was obsessed.
His friends had tolerated his obsession through Junior High and most of High School. They figured it was harmless. His fathers had always hoped that Sen would grow out of it.
Boy, were they wrong.
During his senior year of High School, the Central City government, in cooperation with four other cities, decided to open a research center to study the world outside the bubble cities. The world that had been contaminated over five hundred years ago. The world where Sen had seen a female when he was only six.
Nothing was going to keep him from this opportunity.
Predictably, not everyone thought it was a good idea.
"You are insane."
"I am not insane." Sen was getting really tired of people saying that. "The year between High School and college is supposed to be used to explore the world. I'm just exploring a little further than most people."
"Explore the world? That's bull shit." Jonz had been Sen's friend since sixth grade when they'd given each other a black eye and gotten detention together. "Most guys use it as an excuse to get away from their fathers, party, and get laid."
Sen gave Jonz a look. "And I'm insane for wanting to do something productive?"
"No," Jonz said. "You're insane because you want to spend a year out there." Jonz waved a hand to indicate what he was talking about. "Why outside the bubble?"
"You wouldn't understand," Sen replied. Which was true. He'd never met anyone who did understand.
"This is about your obsession with females, isn't it?" Jonz asked. Sen didn't answer, but he didn't meet Jonz's eyes either. "I was right. You are insane. Why can't you like men like a normal guy?"
"Look, its not that I don't like guys," Sen pushed black hair out of his eyes in a nervous, impatient gesture. "I like guys just fine. I just don't feel the need to play the field to prove that point. I'm not much of a dating kind of guy."
"You dated in Junior High," Jonz pointed out.
Sen rolled his eyes. "Holding hands with Chris in the hallway does not count as a date."
"Chris still thinks of it as a date." Jonz took of his soft drink before continuing. "You know Chris would so totally date you if you asked him."
"Chris? I thought he was dating Alex."
Jonz blinked. "No... They're just friends."
"Chris might think he and Alex are just friends, but Alex wants more." Sen took a sip of his own drink, water in his case, waiting for that bit of gossip to sink in.
"Holy shit. Chris doesn't even realize it." Jonz's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "How do you know about this?"
"Duh. It's not hard to figure it out when Alex is checking Chris out in the locker room."
"In the locker room?" Jonz whistled. Unspoken rule was you didn't stare or touch in the locker room. It was too... weird. "Alex must be desperate."
"No kidding." Sen hid his smile of triumph by biting into a cookie. He had managed to neatly turn the conversation away from him. It took about five seconds for Sen to figure out he was celebrating too soon.
"However, we weren't talking about Chris and Alex. We were talking about you and you hare-brained ideas. Have you told your fathers about this?"
Sen sighed. So much for that brilliant strategy. "Yeah, I told my dads last night. Rich cried."
"You made your dad cry?"
"Just a little bit," Sen said defensively. "He stopped. My other Dad was kind of supportive."
"He would be," Jonz muttered. It was a well known fact that while Rich was a great guy and one of the best senator's Central had ever had, Cas was more than a little... odd. Half the High School refused to near Sen's house because of him. The man made working catapults capable of slinging bowling balls out of legos. For fun. "I guess there's no way to talk you out of this?" Sen shook his head no. "I still think you're wasting your year of freedom."
"Yeah, because clubbing and slutting are so my scene." Sen rolled his eyes again and pushed his drink around on the table. "Anyway, I'm going to go get some real food. Do you want anything?"
"No. I'm fine." Jonz paused as Sen got up from the table. "You do realize you're going to break a lot of hearts by leaving?"
"Sure, sure. Whatever."
When Jonz was sure Sen was far enough away not to hear, he spoke again. "Including mine."
***
The final part of the monorail was quite possibly the most boring thing Sen had done in a long time. Hell, he'd even take physics over this. Sen sighed and flipped to yet another song on his player. Part of the problem was that most of the two suitcases and one box of stuff he'd been allowed to bring were already at the research center. There was nothing to worry about or keep occupied with except his player and the few odds and ends he'd thrown into his backpack.
It didn't help that Sen had to ride to the very end of the line. Nothing was out here but the research center. Sure it had been busy going through two major bubble cities. Now it was nothing but a few sporadic stops and miles of track.
At least the car was no longer crowded. That was a relief even if it did make things more boring. Sen was no longer fourteen, thank all that was holy, which meant that he didn't have to deal with perverts who couldn't keep their hands off some fresh young thing as often as he use to. However, he was still more pretty than handsome. There were certain types of men that would take advantage of a crowded car in order to get a cheap thrill.
It was the most awful feeling in the world to have a complete stranger's hand grab your ass. Sen had become an expert in the use of a well placed elbow.
Nothing to worry about now, though. There were only three people in the car and that was including himself. One was an old man in his forties wearing a white lab coat, glasses and bright yellow sneakers with neon green shoe laces. He'd been slumped over asleep in his seat since Sen got on, quietly muttering to himself about genetic mutations in his sleep. The other passenger was a younger guy, about Sen's own age really, who was sitting at the opposite end of the car.
Sen was staring. He knew he was. It didn't matter. The only other thing in the car to look at was the flat screen set into the wall. At this point, he could practically repeat back the commercial loop word for word. Better to be caught staring than to die of boredom.
Even from this distance, Sen could tell the guy his age was tall and thin. Almost gawky, which was strange since most guys were more filled out by the time they hit eighteen. His pants were black, his shoes were black, his trench coats was black, and he even had hair that was dyed a flat, unnatural shade of – surprise! – black. The guy wore black, fingerless gloves. Who wore black, fingerless gloves?
What made this guy different from most of the "I wear black to show the deep angst of my soul" people Sen had seen were the flashes of color. Mixed in with the flat black of his hair were brilliant blue streaks. His T-shirt was blue as well with big, block letters in bright orange that read "Free Radical." His shoelaces were neon orange.
No one was showing the deep angst of their soul with neon orange shoelaces.
Sen was so busy staring that it took him a moment to realize he'd been caught staring. The guy frowned at him. He didn't look happy. Oh well. Sen made sure to roll his eyes before he went back to looking at the ad screen.
How much longer was this going to take? He'd already listened to all the songs on his player three times. It had to be late afternoon by now.
Ding. "End of the line for the green train. Please exit at the last stop unless you are going back to North Hill. Ding. Once again, we have reached the end of the line. Please..." Sen ignored the pleasant, impersonal male voice in favor of getting to his feet. The car slowed and he grabbed a pole for balance.
It was stupid, but there was something cheaply thrilling about being the first one off the train. Never mind that there were only three people in the car. That wasn't the point. The point was to be the first one off.
This was one of the older stations, one that hadn't been modernized to hell, and Sen wasn't expecting the two inch drop. He stumbled. A warm, dry hand caught his elbow and steadied him before he could fall.
"Thanks." Sen stepped forward and turned to see who had saved him from falling on his ass. His smile only dimmer for a second when he realized it was the punk from on the train.
"No prob," the punk said with a shrug. "This is my stop."
Well, duh. "Yeah, mine too."
Awkward silence.
A stray breeze blew, sending leaves skittering across the train platform. Sen looked up. The punk looked down. He had hazel eyes; almost green, almost brown, but not quite either. Sen knew this because was staring straight into the punk's eyes.
All Sen could think was that he really, really didn't need to explain to another guy why he was just not interested.
"Ack! This is my stop! Why didn't anyone wake meeee!" Sen jerked back from the punk. The moment was broken. Thank goodness. He looked towards the yell just in time to see the man in the white lab coat get caught in the train's closing door. "Let go! Let go of me you infernal piece of junk!"
Ding. "Doors opening." The man practically fell out of the car.
"Junk! You should have been decommissioned years ago. If I had my... oh." The man in the lab coat suddenly realized he had an audience. "Are you two going to the research center?"
Sen looked at the punk. The punk looked at Sen. They both wore identical "WTF?" expressions. The punk recovered first. "Looks like it."
"Good! You must be the new victims," the lab coat man said. He threw back his head and laughed maniacally. Sunlight glinted off of his glasses.
Both Sen and the punk were now exchanging "What the fuck have we gotten ourselves into?" looks.
"Well." Lab coat man switched from mad scientist to serious researcher in the space of a single word. "Let's start by introducing ourselves. My name is Doctor Han Wetzelmeyer."
"You're the head researcher?" the punk asked. When lab coat man nodded, Sen tried not to wince. Maybe everyone was right. He was insane and this was a bad idea.
"Yes, yes I am. I was back in the city to attend a conference. It's so good to be home." Here Dr. Wetzelmeyer did a pirouette, arms spread wide to encompass the whole world. "Now who were you again?"
"Tyb. Just... just Tyb," the punk said. Dr. Wetselmeyer nodded.
"It's good to finally meet you. And you are?" Sen winced as brown eyes turned towards him.
"Sen Abson." Then he waited for the inevitable reaction. He wasn't disappointed.
"The senator's son?" Well, well. It's so nice to finally be able to meet you!" Dr. Wetzelmeyer grabbed his arm and began to pump it furiously. "You know, the bill your father passed is the only reason we're still around. Everyone at the center was so glad he decided to champion it."
Yeah. And when his father had found out Sen wanted to come to the center, he'd tried his best to get his senator buddies to withhold funding. By that time it was too late. Sen somehow doubted that the doctor would be as happy to see him if he knew that. As Dr. Wetzelmeyer continued to pump his arm, Sen's smile turned into a gritting of teeth.
"You two must be tired," Dr. Wetzelmeyer said once he was done abusing Sen's arm. "We will head on to the center. You can unpack, unwind, and get to know your room mates. This year we have a totally of fifteen fine young men doing various internships with us. Who knows? You two might even be assigned to the same room."
"Wonderful," Tyb said. His voice was so neutral that Sen couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not.
"Splendid," Sen muttered under his breath.
"Off to the Research Center!" Dr. Wetzelmeyer said as he struck a dramatic pose. Sen was not pleased to notice that the good doctor cackled the whole way there.
It should be noted that I don't know whether I'll continue this or not. I started writing it because at the time I was also working on what was a very depressing story. I couldn't work on that all the time, so I started this in order to distract myself. Only it grew. And grew. And grew. I might work on it some more if I need a break from another depressing story. Otherwise this will be one chapter of concentrated WTF-ness.
You get the first chapter of the cheesiest story I have written in a long, long time.
Sen was obsessed with girls.
The other guys on the soccer team teased him about it mercilessly. Hey Sen! Look! A female! Then they'd all laugh because he'd inevitably look. Over the years Sen had learned to really ham it up by pretending to look under rocks and clothes. After his always fruitless search he'd fake a faint from his disappointment. It had become something of a running joke.
There were no women, no girls, no females at all in the cities. Most men thought they were nothing more than legends. Sen knew better. He'd seen one. After that there was no help for him. He was obsessed.
His friends had tolerated his obsession through Junior High and most of High School. They figured it was harmless. His fathers had always hoped that Sen would grow out of it.
Boy, were they wrong.
During his senior year of High School, the Central City government, in cooperation with four other cities, decided to open a research center to study the world outside the bubble cities. The world that had been contaminated over five hundred years ago. The world where Sen had seen a female when he was only six.
Nothing was going to keep him from this opportunity.
Predictably, not everyone thought it was a good idea.
"You are insane."
"I am not insane." Sen was getting really tired of people saying that. "The year between High School and college is supposed to be used to explore the world. I'm just exploring a little further than most people."
"Explore the world? That's bull shit." Jonz had been Sen's friend since sixth grade when they'd given each other a black eye and gotten detention together. "Most guys use it as an excuse to get away from their fathers, party, and get laid."
Sen gave Jonz a look. "And I'm insane for wanting to do something productive?"
"No," Jonz said. "You're insane because you want to spend a year out there." Jonz waved a hand to indicate what he was talking about. "Why outside the bubble?"
"You wouldn't understand," Sen replied. Which was true. He'd never met anyone who did understand.
"This is about your obsession with females, isn't it?" Jonz asked. Sen didn't answer, but he didn't meet Jonz's eyes either. "I was right. You are insane. Why can't you like men like a normal guy?"
"Look, its not that I don't like guys," Sen pushed black hair out of his eyes in a nervous, impatient gesture. "I like guys just fine. I just don't feel the need to play the field to prove that point. I'm not much of a dating kind of guy."
"You dated in Junior High," Jonz pointed out.
Sen rolled his eyes. "Holding hands with Chris in the hallway does not count as a date."
"Chris still thinks of it as a date." Jonz took of his soft drink before continuing. "You know Chris would so totally date you if you asked him."
"Chris? I thought he was dating Alex."
Jonz blinked. "No... They're just friends."
"Chris might think he and Alex are just friends, but Alex wants more." Sen took a sip of his own drink, water in his case, waiting for that bit of gossip to sink in.
"Holy shit. Chris doesn't even realize it." Jonz's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "How do you know about this?"
"Duh. It's not hard to figure it out when Alex is checking Chris out in the locker room."
"In the locker room?" Jonz whistled. Unspoken rule was you didn't stare or touch in the locker room. It was too... weird. "Alex must be desperate."
"No kidding." Sen hid his smile of triumph by biting into a cookie. He had managed to neatly turn the conversation away from him. It took about five seconds for Sen to figure out he was celebrating too soon.
"However, we weren't talking about Chris and Alex. We were talking about you and you hare-brained ideas. Have you told your fathers about this?"
Sen sighed. So much for that brilliant strategy. "Yeah, I told my dads last night. Rich cried."
"You made your dad cry?"
"Just a little bit," Sen said defensively. "He stopped. My other Dad was kind of supportive."
"He would be," Jonz muttered. It was a well known fact that while Rich was a great guy and one of the best senator's Central had ever had, Cas was more than a little... odd. Half the High School refused to near Sen's house because of him. The man made working catapults capable of slinging bowling balls out of legos. For fun. "I guess there's no way to talk you out of this?" Sen shook his head no. "I still think you're wasting your year of freedom."
"Yeah, because clubbing and slutting are so my scene." Sen rolled his eyes again and pushed his drink around on the table. "Anyway, I'm going to go get some real food. Do you want anything?"
"No. I'm fine." Jonz paused as Sen got up from the table. "You do realize you're going to break a lot of hearts by leaving?"
"Sure, sure. Whatever."
When Jonz was sure Sen was far enough away not to hear, he spoke again. "Including mine."
***
The final part of the monorail was quite possibly the most boring thing Sen had done in a long time. Hell, he'd even take physics over this. Sen sighed and flipped to yet another song on his player. Part of the problem was that most of the two suitcases and one box of stuff he'd been allowed to bring were already at the research center. There was nothing to worry about or keep occupied with except his player and the few odds and ends he'd thrown into his backpack.
It didn't help that Sen had to ride to the very end of the line. Nothing was out here but the research center. Sure it had been busy going through two major bubble cities. Now it was nothing but a few sporadic stops and miles of track.
At least the car was no longer crowded. That was a relief even if it did make things more boring. Sen was no longer fourteen, thank all that was holy, which meant that he didn't have to deal with perverts who couldn't keep their hands off some fresh young thing as often as he use to. However, he was still more pretty than handsome. There were certain types of men that would take advantage of a crowded car in order to get a cheap thrill.
It was the most awful feeling in the world to have a complete stranger's hand grab your ass. Sen had become an expert in the use of a well placed elbow.
Nothing to worry about now, though. There were only three people in the car and that was including himself. One was an old man in his forties wearing a white lab coat, glasses and bright yellow sneakers with neon green shoe laces. He'd been slumped over asleep in his seat since Sen got on, quietly muttering to himself about genetic mutations in his sleep. The other passenger was a younger guy, about Sen's own age really, who was sitting at the opposite end of the car.
Sen was staring. He knew he was. It didn't matter. The only other thing in the car to look at was the flat screen set into the wall. At this point, he could practically repeat back the commercial loop word for word. Better to be caught staring than to die of boredom.
Even from this distance, Sen could tell the guy his age was tall and thin. Almost gawky, which was strange since most guys were more filled out by the time they hit eighteen. His pants were black, his shoes were black, his trench coats was black, and he even had hair that was dyed a flat, unnatural shade of – surprise! – black. The guy wore black, fingerless gloves. Who wore black, fingerless gloves?
What made this guy different from most of the "I wear black to show the deep angst of my soul" people Sen had seen were the flashes of color. Mixed in with the flat black of his hair were brilliant blue streaks. His T-shirt was blue as well with big, block letters in bright orange that read "Free Radical." His shoelaces were neon orange.
No one was showing the deep angst of their soul with neon orange shoelaces.
Sen was so busy staring that it took him a moment to realize he'd been caught staring. The guy frowned at him. He didn't look happy. Oh well. Sen made sure to roll his eyes before he went back to looking at the ad screen.
How much longer was this going to take? He'd already listened to all the songs on his player three times. It had to be late afternoon by now.
Ding. "End of the line for the green train. Please exit at the last stop unless you are going back to North Hill. Ding. Once again, we have reached the end of the line. Please..." Sen ignored the pleasant, impersonal male voice in favor of getting to his feet. The car slowed and he grabbed a pole for balance.
It was stupid, but there was something cheaply thrilling about being the first one off the train. Never mind that there were only three people in the car. That wasn't the point. The point was to be the first one off.
This was one of the older stations, one that hadn't been modernized to hell, and Sen wasn't expecting the two inch drop. He stumbled. A warm, dry hand caught his elbow and steadied him before he could fall.
"Thanks." Sen stepped forward and turned to see who had saved him from falling on his ass. His smile only dimmer for a second when he realized it was the punk from on the train.
"No prob," the punk said with a shrug. "This is my stop."
Well, duh. "Yeah, mine too."
Awkward silence.
A stray breeze blew, sending leaves skittering across the train platform. Sen looked up. The punk looked down. He had hazel eyes; almost green, almost brown, but not quite either. Sen knew this because was staring straight into the punk's eyes.
All Sen could think was that he really, really didn't need to explain to another guy why he was just not interested.
"Ack! This is my stop! Why didn't anyone wake meeee!" Sen jerked back from the punk. The moment was broken. Thank goodness. He looked towards the yell just in time to see the man in the white lab coat get caught in the train's closing door. "Let go! Let go of me you infernal piece of junk!"
Ding. "Doors opening." The man practically fell out of the car.
"Junk! You should have been decommissioned years ago. If I had my... oh." The man in the lab coat suddenly realized he had an audience. "Are you two going to the research center?"
Sen looked at the punk. The punk looked at Sen. They both wore identical "WTF?" expressions. The punk recovered first. "Looks like it."
"Good! You must be the new victims," the lab coat man said. He threw back his head and laughed maniacally. Sunlight glinted off of his glasses.
Both Sen and the punk were now exchanging "What the fuck have we gotten ourselves into?" looks.
"Well." Lab coat man switched from mad scientist to serious researcher in the space of a single word. "Let's start by introducing ourselves. My name is Doctor Han Wetzelmeyer."
"You're the head researcher?" the punk asked. When lab coat man nodded, Sen tried not to wince. Maybe everyone was right. He was insane and this was a bad idea.
"Yes, yes I am. I was back in the city to attend a conference. It's so good to be home." Here Dr. Wetzelmeyer did a pirouette, arms spread wide to encompass the whole world. "Now who were you again?"
"Tyb. Just... just Tyb," the punk said. Dr. Wetselmeyer nodded.
"It's good to finally meet you. And you are?" Sen winced as brown eyes turned towards him.
"Sen Abson." Then he waited for the inevitable reaction. He wasn't disappointed.
"The senator's son?" Well, well. It's so nice to finally be able to meet you!" Dr. Wetzelmeyer grabbed his arm and began to pump it furiously. "You know, the bill your father passed is the only reason we're still around. Everyone at the center was so glad he decided to champion it."
Yeah. And when his father had found out Sen wanted to come to the center, he'd tried his best to get his senator buddies to withhold funding. By that time it was too late. Sen somehow doubted that the doctor would be as happy to see him if he knew that. As Dr. Wetzelmeyer continued to pump his arm, Sen's smile turned into a gritting of teeth.
"You two must be tired," Dr. Wetzelmeyer said once he was done abusing Sen's arm. "We will head on to the center. You can unpack, unwind, and get to know your room mates. This year we have a totally of fifteen fine young men doing various internships with us. Who knows? You two might even be assigned to the same room."
"Wonderful," Tyb said. His voice was so neutral that Sen couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not.
"Splendid," Sen muttered under his breath.
"Off to the Research Center!" Dr. Wetzelmeyer said as he struck a dramatic pose. Sen was not pleased to notice that the good doctor cackled the whole way there.
It should be noted that I don't know whether I'll continue this or not. I started writing it because at the time I was also working on what was a very depressing story. I couldn't work on that all the time, so I started this in order to distract myself. Only it grew. And grew. And grew. I might work on it some more if I need a break from another depressing story. Otherwise this will be one chapter of concentrated WTF-ness.
(no subject)
Date: 6/3/06 08:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 6/3/06 08:52 pm (UTC)The real question is: so where the hell are they?
(no subject)
Date: 6/3/06 10:59 pm (UTC)This is an honestly interesting bit of story with succinct words- and characters I'd like to see more of. Much more of.
Please?
(no subject)
Date: 6/3/06 08:55 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 6/4/06 12:27 am (UTC)torture him moremake it up to him.Oh Sen's dads are something else. Especially Cas.
(no subject)
Date: 6/4/06 06:00 am (UTC)*nodnod* Crazy eccentric geniuses are Teh Yummy. *____*
(no subject)
Date: 6/3/06 10:06 pm (UTC)Hm, no guesses yet where the females went... just curiosity. Also curious about Sen and Tyb. Wonder if they will be room mates?
(no subject)
Date: 6/4/06 12:29 am (UTC)Wonder if they will be room mates?
It depends on how bad Sen's luck is and how evil the author is.
In other words, yes they will be roommaates. XD
(no subject)
Date: 6/3/06 10:31 pm (UTC)If you decide to write more of this you'd make me a happy camper. =D
(no subject)
Date: 6/4/06 12:31 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 6/3/06 11:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 6/4/06 12:31 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 6/4/06 12:21 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 6/4/06 12:25 am (UTC)I have indeed seen parts of Vandread. About the first half of the series I think. I realized after I'd written about 3/4 of this why is sounded vaguely familiar. There are going to be enough differences that I'm not going to worry too much about it. XD
(no subject)
Date: 6/4/06 05:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 1/1/07 06:23 pm (UTC)|Meduza|