História Just a Kiss - Play Dead

If I thought not crashing or getting arrested on the way over would be the hardest part, I was in for a surprise when I got to the match. Not the least of which was because the front doors were closed and locked.

I'd say the only reason I got in at all was that I showed-up in Mercurius's sportscar.

That's because when I got up to the door, the attendant was already staring out at me, a confused scowl across her face.

She got up slowly from behind the desk, as if she thought if she took long enough, maybe I would just turn around and walk away.

"Hi," I said when she finally cracked open the door, I'm here to see the match."

That only made her frown deepen.

"Sorry," she said, sounding anything but, "No late admittance." And then she shut the door so fast I barely had time to get my hand in and stop it before my fingers got smashed.

Pushing it back open, I said, "Hang on, hang on." Shoot, what would Chance do in this situation? I felt like he always had this way of getting things done... even if it was somewhat, uh, unorthodox. I mean, he did break in through a window when he thought I was in danger. I wanted to be able to do the same. Well, sans broken window.

"Look," I said, scrambling to think of something. I was getting antsy. "Mercurius sent me. It's important."

"Did he now?" The attendant arched one brow, narrowing her eyes at me, "And why might that be?"

I had to be getting desperate if I was resorting to dropping names. And even I began to wonder if I were crazy--I mean, I'd come all the way over just on a bad feeling.

"I just--" Crap, now I really was stuck.

"Thought so."

Except that just as she was about to slam the door for good, something nearby exploded with such force that it rattled the floor and walls and sent the door flinging open so hard it knocked the attendant off her feet. From over the explosion came the roar of people screaming and shouting.

Yeah, that sure as hell didn't sound good.

I took the moment and shoved through the still-swinging door, racing past the attendant and down the hall in the direction of the explosion, bad feeling growing worse and worse the closer I got.

It wasn't until I stepped into the auditorium that I realized why.

Doubled-over in a cloud of dust, Chance lay motionless on the floor. Meanwhile, a giant serpent circled him. A large man stood behind it.

Wait, I knew that man. It was the same one he had been fighting that night Mercurius took me with him to the match. The one that Chance defeated.

All around, the crowd cheered and yelled. Okay, mostly cheered. Ah, crap. This wasn't a fight--it was revenge.

Now if I'd generally been thinking straight, maybe I wouldn't have just run straight into the ring, shoving down through the crowd pressed up close as Chance's opponent raised his arms to guide his animus towards the final strike.

As the serpent coiled, I leapt through the remains of the barrier separating the competitors from the stands.

Probably, I was the reason the crowd got a whole lot louder right then. Probably they didn't really like it when I got in the way of winning their bets. Can't say I blamed them.

I'm not really sure what I would have expected the jaws of a giant snake to feel like as they clenched down around my body, but I didn't exactly consider the outcome before I found myself tucking and rolling to where I stopped, sprawling between Chance and the serpent as it snapped its mouth shut.

Suddenly, the crowd went silent.

The last thing I heard was, "You idiot."

And whatever I might have expected the bite from a giant snake to feel like, I can tell you one thing. I didn't feel good. The venom seared like acid. And it felt a helluva lot worse after the fact, when I woke to a burning ache that ripped out through my shoulder when I tried to move.

It didn't help that everything was dark. Why was it so dark?

I felt around for some sign of where I was and found sheets beneath me.

"Stop moving," said a distant voice. Distant, but familiar. "You'd have covers, but you threw them all off."

Chance.

"You're alive," I said, but it came out a mumbled whisper.

"Of course I'm alive." And I half-expected him to call me an idiot again. Maybe I'd have deserved it.

The bed moved as he sat on the edge. I tried to sit up but found his hand pushing me back down. "Don't."

Under other circumstances, I might have argued, but the fact that I couldn't see anything was really freaking me out.

"Where am I?" I asked, but I was pretty sure I already knew the answer. I remembered the little studio where he lived.

Sure enough, he said, "My place." And then, "You're giving me a weird look."

Was I? "That's because I... can't see."

I tried blinking my eyes just to be sure, but nothing changed.

The bed shifted as he moved closer. And then I felt his hands at either side of my head, turning my face gently towards his.

I wasn't prepared for it when his lips pressed against mine. It took my breath away. There was that warmth, the tingling feeling of energy passing between us. Not a bad feeling, that's for sure.

It was strangely dizzying, that, and I felt myself falling back into the pillow. His hands ran through my hair, trailing down along my neck and fell to the bed where he leaned closer to me, pressing me down beneath him. Slowly my vision began to return, pain fading. And as we kissed, I began to get the feeling it was something more. I swear that was the kind of kiss you give someone you like.

Or at least, it was for me.

Chance abruptly pulled away and rolled off the bed, stumbling backwards into the wall.

"You better yet?" he asked, looking anywhere but my face as he brushed himself off.

In fact, I was. A whole lot better.

"I... can see now," I managed, not sure why even I was having a hard time with this.

"Good," he said, then, "I'm going out."

And just like that, he turned and slammed the door shut behind him.

The hell. That was just like him to leave me alone in his house to make sense of a kiss like that.

What else was I supposed to do? I looked around the room. That's when I saw on the table was an open letter printed in large, red type. Beneath it was a stack of similar notices.

I wasn't trying to go through his mail, but it was impossible not to read the first line, even from a distance of several feet.

YOU HAVE THREE DAYS TO PAY OR QUIT.

That is to say, he hadn't paid his rent. It was an eviction note--or, it would be, if he wasn't able to pay by...

I picked it up and glanced at the served date. A date that had happened three days ago.

Oh no. This meant... He'd had to win that match in order to make rent. Just as I understood, the door swung open and Chance walked back in, heading straight for the table where I stood.

"Give me that," he said, snatching it away.

"That was fast," I said, nodding to the letter as he crumpled it into his pocket, "So what're you gonna do?"

"I'll figure it out, I've moved before." He said, looking off into the little kitchen space before turning back to watch the front door like he heard something. "But we've got bigger problems now."

From the other side came a heavy knock.