Fic: Searching The Stars For Home 2/? Kyle/Zan
Title: Searching The Stars For Home. Author: Lopaka Tanu Disclaimer: I do not own Roswell or any media associated. Characters: Kyle, Liz, Zan, Max, Michael, and Maria. Genre: Slash/CC Fandom: Roswell Pairing: Kyle/Zan, Max/Liz, Michael/Maria Rating: Teen Warnings: Language, Angst. Summary: Strange dreams plague a lonely Kyle. He discounts them until the dreaming starts interfering with his waking life. Author's Note: Post Series - Taking this one slow writing/posting. _________________________ Part 1 ~ Part 2.
Bundled up in his hoodie Kyle watched the sun come up over a picnic table. Technically, it was coming up over the hills in the distance. As far as he could see, grass and scrub trees filled the horizon. His breath flowed out in thick clouds in the cool morning air.
He could hear early morning bird cries. It sounded like a pair of hawks. They were hunting or fighting over something. He had never really paid attention to those nature films in class.
Behind him, he heard the side door to the van slide open. It was well greased so it slid back fast and bounced off the bumper at the end of the track. When it came back it hit someone.
"Damn it!" The door went sliding back again as Michael smacked it hard. Rubbing at his forehead, he climbed out.
Kyle didn't have to turn around. He knew what the other teen looked like in the morning by now. His pants would be unbuttoned and his shirt riding up. Well, those were the two parts that Kyle always noticed first. Smirking, he snuggled deeper in to his sweats and luxuriated in the pleasing exhaustion.
The morning job had left him aching in all the right places. Needing to stretch his legs had never felt so urgent. It had been great for working out other tensions too.
"Valenti, what did you catch to eat this morning?" Scrubbing at his face, Michael stumbled over towards the picnic table.
Kyle snorted, glancing over saw Michael sitting down next to him. A hairy line of flesh was the first thing he saw. Rolling his eyes, he sighed. "When are you going to stop wearing your clothes to bed?"
"Why, you never complained before." Elbowing Kyle in the side, Michael made him scoot over. "I heard you moaning last night. Bad dreams again?"
That made Kyle freeze for a moment. All he did in response was to shake his head. There had been plenty of those lately to go around.
Michael shrugged. Pulling his shirt down, he stared out over the picnic table and the horizon. "I hate winter. It's too friggen cold."
Kyle didn't bother to respond to that one.
~~~~~~~~~
"I wonder where Liz and Max wandered off to last night." As if Maria didn't know already from the way she smirked. Her words were more for the girl entering the bathroom's benefit than for Kyle's.
Kyle caught Liz's sleepy grin in the mirror before he bent down to wash his mouth out. The bad thing about being on the run was having to do all their bathroom business in public restrooms. Bathing was the worst. At least he had gotten up earlier than everyone else and had washed already.
Liz didn't have that benefit. Slowly walking in to the only open sink, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. Puffy eyes stared back at her. "I'm not going to dignify your probing with a response, Maria. Besides, Max and I aren't the only ones who were..." She looked over to Kyle and pinked a little. "You know."
"Don't mind me, I'm now done." Picking up his toothbrush, Kyle beatfeet for the door. He could hear the girls snickering behind him as he left. The moment he pulled the door open he was assaulted by the brilliant daylight. He winced, putting up a hand to block it out. "Don't waste too much time gossiping, girls, spend some time washing too. You especially, Liz. Alien germs stink."
"Kyle!" Liz's screech of mortification chased him out.
If it wasn't his imagination, Kyle would have sworn he heard Maria cackling as the door closed behind him. Ah, the joys of being related to a perve.
Strolling down the path away from the rest area bathrooms, he searched for the other guys. They weren't sight. That meant they were most likely back at the van getting their things ready.
The walk was pretty though.
He listened to the whisper of the wind coming through the pine trees. Everything up hear seemed so ancient to him. It was probably all the tall trees. Aside from Fasier Woods and the occasional ornamental tree, there hadn't been much taller than two stories. Cactuses and scrub bushes were the norm back home. Roswell was lovely like that.
Holding out his hand, he let the wind dry his arm. The breeze tickled the skin, making him shiver. The chill of winter was stronger here. May be he would suggest heading south for the next four-to-six months. Florida sounded nice.
Checking his feet, he frowned at the flipflops. Definitely not winter approved. There were old tennis shoes in the back of the van, but he didn't feel like cleaning them. Unlike the guys, he couldn't wave his hand around and be done with it.
"Kyle, get your fat ass down here and help us load!" Michael's voice echoed through the trees, causing birds to scatter.
Scowling, Kyle's hand went automatically to his ass. "There's nothing wrong with my ass. You're just too friggen lazy to lift a box tent all by yourself."
"Oh, please." Snorting, Michael raised the tent all by himself. It wasn't in the box though. "Now, get down here and load."
Kyle got it now. He was expected to put away the camping supplies all by himself. "Hey, I got a better idea. Why don't you get on your knees and blow me?"
"Right after you're finished." Grabbing himself, Michael flipped Kyle off.
Closing his eyes, Kyle felt a stabbing pain start behind his eyes. It was going to be one of those days.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey, Liz, when did you know you wanted to do, it? With Max?" Flipping through a bridal magazine, Maria tagged along side the basket. It was an old question.
Which made Kyle groan inside as he pushed the basket. He had heard them discuss it endlessly before Liz got married. Then he had heard them yammer away after it had happened. Now, every time Maria even caught a glimpse of a white dress her mind automatically skipped here.
From the other side of the basket, Liz examined two different bags of chips for nutrition. "I already told you, like, a hundred times already, Maria." She didn't even break off her reading as she spoke.
"I know, it's just..." The hitch in Maria's voice signaled a new revelation. "I want to know that feeling myself. May be I have already had it, and not know."
Grabbing one of the bags from Liz, Kyle dropped it in the cart. "You would already know, Maria," he recited almost from memory. He rolled his eyes and pushed ahead of them.
How had they come to this? Less than six months together and they were already repeating the same conversations. This wasn't supposed to happen until they were like fifty or older. May be they were just senile.
Passing a pyramid of pringles, he snatched a can from the top. As much as he wanted to knock them over, it was a good way of getting noticed. That was another conversation they had talked to death. That was why Michael was not allowed to shop with them, ever.
No, only Kyle was lucky enough to get stuck with Broken Record Teen and Infinite Patience Girl. How Max had been able to talk himself out of this was a mystery to him. One day soon he would get the alien drunk and find out himself.
He was crossing aisles when someone's cart appeared directly in front of his. "Hey!" Kyle had to jerk back to avoid getting run over. "Watch where you're going!"
It shot out without regard to those passing and plowed on down to the frozen foods section. The teen pushing it flipped a bird at Kyle over his shoulder.
Kyle took in the baggy clothes and shaggy spikes in his hair with a sneer. "Stupid punk!" And, god, didn't that just make him feel old. Shaking his head, he frowned at a display of cream soups. If he was back in Roswell, he would have bought some.
Three for a dollar was a good price.
He was pushing the cart to the next aisle again when someone slammed in to it a second time. "Hey!" Looking up he found a security guard half bent over his cart where the man had plowed in to it. Kyle froze.
Pushing off the cart, the large man trudged around it. He limped down the central aisle the way the punk teen had run.
"Figures." Holding his cart closer, Kyle edged it against the displays. Less exposure in the aisles meant less chance of another run in. Sighing, he went back to his sad little existence of trying to find the good deals. There were coupons in the paper last week he was itching to use.
And didn't that complete the picture. He was an old man. Kyle Valenti, senior citizen at large. Depressed, he grabbed the first thing he saw and started to put it in his cart. Only a sigh made him put it back. It wasn't on sale and he definitely didn't have a coupon.
~~~~~~~~~
Resting his forehead against the passenger window, Kyle closed his eyes. Michael was driving this time, which meant everyone was asleep in back. Despite his record the other teen was probably the safest among them on the interstate. One bad experience with a cop outside of Dallas had spooked them all.
"What was it about this time?" Keeping an eye on the SUV in front of them, Michael kept his hand on the blinker.
Startled, Kyle looked over at the other teen. "What do you mean?"
"Your dream from last night." Michael gave him a quick look, then turned back to his driving. Even far from the city, the idiots were out in full force.
For a second, Kyle debated blowing him off. It wasn't often anyone cared about his dreams. They all had their fair share of bad ones. Then again, that one hadn't been bad, just weird. He must have waited too long because Michael sighed.
"Look, you don't have to talk about it with me, but it sounded pretty bad." Michael shrugged. "Just thought you might..."
"Yeah." Even to himself, Kyle sounded worn out. "I was in a diner, with Max."
The corner of Michael's mouth curled up.
"Not that way." Facing out the window again, Kyle shook his head.
"Hey, I didn't say anything." The laughter in Michael's voice did it for him. "What were you and Maxwell doing this diner?"
"He was eating, or, well, I think he was wanting to. I don't think he had enough money." Kyle scowled. Where that had come from he had no freaking idea. "It was weird, everything was distorted a little. He looked at me, and I looked at him, then I woke up."
My frowned as he switched lanes. The van moved smooth under his handling. "So, why were you moaning like you were in pain?"
"I don't remember." Suddenly tired, Kyle slumped deeper in to his seat. "May be I was in pain and just didn't realize it. Who knows."
"Yeah."
Kyle started to drift off until a hand startled him. Blinking awake, he realized Michael gave his shoulder a squeeze then released. Looking over, he found the other teen facing the road. This time he drifted off uninterrupted.