It Looks Like You Might Be One of Us // [Kaiser/Laide]

The roof. I knew I'd end up here. It doesn't mean I'm happy about it. I'm not happy about staring at him in all of his glory. I'm not pleased by what's to come. But I can't do fucking squat about it. So I take another drag on the pilfered cigarette and wait until he doesn't look so deep in thought. Only then do I slip from the shadows and angle towards him.

"How's the old ticker?" I offer, apropos of nothing. My cigarette is dwindling to nub, but it's the only prop I have. He is, as he knows, so heartbreakingly beautiful.

I suck harder.

"So," I cough, having never been familiar with tobacco, "how many beats you reckon your heart has left?" I wait, measure his stricken expression. It does nothing to dim his beauty. I press the ashy butt of the cigarette to his chest. "Maybe you haven't considered how all of this ends? I could tell you. But that would spoil all the fun."