Bazı konserlere gidilir... Bazıları ise ömür boyu hatırlanır.
Alphaville'in büyüsünü yaşadıktan sonra, şimdi sırada bir başka efsane var: Thomas Anders – Modern Talking.
"You're My Heart, You're My Soul", "Cheri Cheri Lady", "Brother Louie"... Bu şarkılar sadece müzik değil; milyonlarca insanın gençliği, ilk aşkı ve unutamadığı anıları.
15 Ağustos'ta İstanbul yine tarihe tanıklık edecek. Ben de o gecenin bir parçası olacağım. Telefon ekranından değil, binlerce insanla aynı anda o melodileri söyleyeceğim.
Bazı anlar fotoğraf çekmek için değil, sonsuza kadar hatırlamak içindir.
Slight AU I guess, in which Neo gets to spend more time on the Nebuchadnezzar before he goes to the Oracle and everything goes to shit, so the crew is the one from the first film but most events are yet to occur. I just think they're neat.
English is not my first language, I'm sorry if i made some mistakes!
Summary: You're the first person he sees when he wakes up in the real world. He's fascinated.
Warnings: none, vague descriptions of medical procedures
Gif not mine. I don't remember from where I downloaded it, but credit to the original maker.
You're there when Neo's being picked up from the sewers. He slumps against you and Tank, staining your sweatshirt with all the slime and water. They all do, when they stand up for the first time. You've helped quite a few of them by now.
Born and raised in Zion like Tank and his brother, you boarded young with them on the Nebuchadnezzar. All you've ever known is the war against the machines, and the struggle of getting people out the Matrix. Not able to log into the Matrix, and not good enough as an external operator, you drifted towards the medical bay and learned how to treat most wounds your crewmates came back with.
You also took to helping newcomers like a duck to water. You're there when they board and you follow their recovery, up to when they acclimate and get to Zion. You even try to keep in contact with most of them, in the short breaks you get in the city, at least until you're sure they found their place. It can be sad when they finally find their new family and friends and don't need you anymore, but it never shadows the satisfaction of helping them in the first place.
With this being your job and dedication, you've seen quite a few of young men that Morpheus believed to be the One, and seen them all fail. And even if this time he really seems sure of it, Neo right now looks like all of them did: weak, disoriented, all hooked up to a machine to get his muscles to work and develop. It's in that moment that he actually sees you for the first time.
He groans softly, and you immediately stand up to hover over him. When Neo finally opens his eyes, they zero in on you. You smile kindly at him and greet him in a low voice, knowing his ears are probably still ringing. He tries to talk, but you shush him.
"I know everything hurts, but I promise it'll get better. You should rest some more." You chide him as he tries to move an hand. With a move that you know works with everyone, you rub slightly between his eyebrows to get him to close his eyes again. Yeah, he's not too different from the others. You still hope Morpheus is right this time.
A few weeks pass, and Neo is up and about, training and living with the crew. He seems to have taken to it well, after that first fainting at being told the truth about the world. And, he seems to have taken to you well too, following you around as you do your tasks, much to the amusement of everyone else.
"I'm telling you, he's like one of those ducklings. You're the first person he saw when he woke up, and he has imprinted on you. Don't you know that about ducks?" Mouse whispers not so subtly over a bowl of that bland porridge one morning.
You raise your eyebrows at him as you chew slowly. You already looked over at Switch and Trinity for help, but they're both hiding matching grins behind an hand.
You finally answer, "I'm not even sure what a duck is."
"It's a... water bird."
"Never seen a bird."
While you hoped that would've shut him up, it just makes him go on a long rant in between mouthfuls of slop. He's talking about birds and nature and all things you've never seen, which he apparently learned in a documentary when he was very young and still in the Matrix. You're half hoping he chokes on the porridge, when Neo comes in. He serves himself his breakfast, and sits down right next to you, oblivious to the glare you send to Mouse when he snickers. The topic of conversations changes and thankfully steers away from birds and you. Neo still hasn't said a word other than a soft greeting, but you can feel his eyes on your exposed arms as he eats. It should be a little creepy, but it's somewhat endearing. He's been fascinated by them, ever since he saw that you don't have any rough plugs on them.
It had happened after a long day for him, the first of many busy with training. He wandered the ship, too wired to sleep but too tired to do anything meaningful. He found you in the medical bay, where you spent most of your time. You turned to him and waved him over.
"Hi there. Did you get hurt during training? Need some patch up?" you asked as you were already taking out the medical kit. He shaked his head no, but still perched on the cot next to you so you can check him out. He'll do anything for a scrap of attention.
"No, it was rough, but..." he trailed off, distracted as you rolled up the sleeves of your sweater. He gaped and reached out, trailing his fingers down your forearm. The light touch tensed you up, but it was so soft and reverent you knew he meant no harm. He finally glanced up at you seemingly as bewildered as you felt, "You don't have plugs?". Oh, that's what it is, you nodded and stepped closer so he could feel up your arm easily. He was rubbing your wrist with a thoughtful expression, just over where his is sporting a plug.
You noticed then that he had a cut on the temple facing you, not concerning but deep enough to need some care. Keeping him distracted with your arm, you dressed it up one handed as you briefly told him about your early life in Zion. He hissed at the sting of disinfectant, but his eyes never strayed from your forearm that he was now traveling with both hands.
After that, he started following you around more than he already was, and you got closer, way closer than what you'd usually allow with newcomers. You can't help but let him though, when he looks at you like that, touches you so delicately. He's charming but quite shy, and on the rare occasion you tease him back he stammers around a grin, just proud you're reciprocating.
It keeps going like this, and while you're usually fine with it, you're having an awful day. You keep thinking about what Mouse told you, and maybe he's right about ducks. About Neo.
And if he is, aren't you taking advantage of him? Sure, he's a grown man, definitely stronger than you and probably the savior of humanity, but he was also lost in a world he didn't understand and you were the first one to treat him kindly here. You know that the novelty of it will soon wear off and he'll move on, like everyone does when you're not useful anymore. This strange fascination he has with you will probably end before anything comes out of it, and you know this time it's gonna hurt you badly.
You hoped to have some time alone to ponder about this, the mechanical and repetitive work of fixing a panel in the medical bay almost soothing while you think. But, you're not alone, and Neo is standing way too close as you work, which is making everything harder with the added task of dodging him.
It's the fifth time you've bumped into him in the last fifteen minutes, and it went from slightly endearing to extremely irritating. You reach next to you for a wrench, and elbow him. He huffs from the impact, and that does it for you. You turn around on your heels angrily and put your hands on his shoulders. He visibly perks up at having your attention, which does make your irritation almost vanish. Damn him, especially as he leans down a little to get closer and puts his hands over yours.
You see he's opening his mouth to question you, but he shuts up when you push him backwards. His sweater his soft under your fingers as you guide him until he's sat down on a chair near where you're working. You look down at him with a sigh, and you have to squeeze your eyes shut and cover them for good measure to gather yourself for a minute, when you see the look on his face.
He's looking at you adoringly, like you're the best thing he could ever have in front of him. Like a puppy or, how Mouse oh so kindly suggested, a little water bird. When you tilt your head in consideration, trying to find a nice way to word what you need to say, his head follows suit tilting too.
"Why are you being so..." so cute, you want to say. So pretty. Devoted. And all the adjectives that you should not associate with the One. The pause you take makes him fidget on the chair and he misunderstands.
"Sorry if I'm being annoying, I..." he starts worriedly with a frown, but you stop him immediately raising your hands in a placating gesture.
"No, no, you're not annoying" you huff, looking everywhere but at him, "it's just...you need to stay back when I'm working. I can't keep bumping into you, it's slowing me down", your voice is as kind as possible, but it still makes him pout a little. You don't mention that the distance would help you sort out your jumbled thoughts.
"I could help you? I won't get in your way" he asks hopefully and, coupled with the way he's still squirming under your gaze and gawking at you, it makes you finally relent. He can see the defeat in your eyes before you name it, and he smiles shyly and stands up. You start to work again, this time including him in the process.
Well, there goes your alone time. But, you think, you should enjoy his company while it lasts, even if it might hurt more in the end. You'll deal with it when the time comes.
The nickname slips from you as you order him around, but he doesn't mention it since it flusters him too much.
"Pass me the screwdriver, duckling".
You're turned away from him, a grabby hand over your shoulder awaits for the tool.
He passes you the wrong one. He's lucky he's cute.
