Who Needs Words?
It was raining again. It had rained the day before, and the day before that, and it would probably rain again the next day, and the next. Marron sighed as he stared out the window, idly watching the rain pound on the tender leaves of a nearby tree.
The problem wasn't that he didn't like the rain. Quite the contrary, actually, he loved it. The problem was that he and the rest of the team were all cooped up in a small, two room cabin and would remain there until they were called out on another job.
Big Mama called it a vacation. Marron called it a training exercise in patience. Just because he maintained a cool, calm and collected exterior, didn't mean that he wasn't going as stir crazy as the rest of his friends. Perhaps he even wanted out more than any of the others, with the possible exception of Carrot, because being closed in here with nothing to do gave him time to think, and some of the subjects his mind kept dwelling on were things he didn't want to deal with. So he entertained himself by watching the rain.
Unfortunately, for someone with an active mind like Marron's, watching little droplets of water hit leaves and trail down the window glass couldn't serve to keep the mind from wandering for very long. A fact Marron bitterly lamented as he had to once again wrench his thoughts out of the path they had been taking. He sighed again.
"Darling! Where are you going?" Chocolat's voice demanded. Marron turned his gaze from the window, relived to have something, however temporary, to distract him.
Carrot had frozen half way out the window, his lower body hanging out while his upper body was still in the cabin. He had been attempting to sneak out while the girls had been in the other room. Too bad they had come in at just the wrong moment.
"I was- uh, nowhere! I was going nowhere!" Carrot vainly lied.
"Were you going to go to town to meet the girls again, Carrot?" Tira demanded.
As the argument proceeded, Marron turned his gaze back to the rain. It was the same old argument they had been having at least three times a day since they had arrived. Invariably, Carrot would be dragged back into the cabin and beaten with whips or any other object the girls found handy. It was so common, it couldn't even distract him properly anymore.
He toyed with the idea of reading one of his books, but he had finished all of them within the first few days of their arrival here, back before it had started raining. How he wished he hadn't done that! The weather had been so beautiful, and there were woods and a stream nearby. He could have gone and watched the water rushing by, or just enjoyed the sound of the wind in the leaves. Oh well. It was too late to change the past now.
My, but it was raining hard. Come to think of it, the cabin was getting quite cold as well. The rain had brought with it the colder temperatures. Perhaps they should start a fire? They didn't have any wood. Oh well.
As if reading Marron's thoughts, Gateau wandered out of the adjoining bedroom where he had been doing his daily workout. "It seems to be getting a little cold in here. I think I'm going to go get some firewood."
"I agree it's getting cold, Gateau, but all the wood will be wet. How could we start a fire with it?" Chocolat asked, looking up from where she had been attempting to seduce Carrot by removing all of her clothes, again.
Gateau blushed and scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Oh yeah. I didn't think of that."
Marron stood up, smoothing out his robes. "I can ignite the damp wood with my magic. It would be very simple."
Gateau smiled at him in that funny way that made his heart flutter and his insides quiver. Marron hated it when he did that. "Well, that solves that problem. Guess I'll go get the wood then."
"I'll come with you," Marron volunteered, without really knowing what had provoked him to do it. "Maybe I just really want to get out of this cabin," he thought to himself. "Or maybe I should stop lying to myself in my own thoughts," he added with a small, bitter smile on his face.
Those glorious blue eyes regarded Marron with an expression of pleased surprise in them. "Really? You want to come?"
Marron shrugged noncommittally. "I need to get out. Besides, I like the rain."
"Suit yourself. I'll be glad to have your company." Gateau began moving for the door, followed closely by Marron.
"Hey! No trying to pervert my younger brother!" Carrot shouted before he was promptly attacked by Chocolat again. Tira's yells could be heard for several feet outside the building.
Marron and Gateau walked silently for a long time, just letting the rain beat down on them, soaking their hair and clothes. Marron kept his eyes trained firmly on the wet ground, while Gateau cast covert glances at his beautiful teammate. In his mind, Marron never looked more beautiful than when he was wet. Of course, he was sure he would be even more beautiful if he was wet and smiling, but that was a lot to ask and he knew it. For now, just having Marron walking next to him, voluntarily no less, was enough.
It wasn't long before they arrived in a section of the woods that had obviously seen better days. Many of the trees in the area were dead. Just perfect for becoming fire wood. As Gateau set about breaking one of the trees down so he could make it into smaller pieces for the fire, he asked Marron, "Do you know what killed all these trees?"
"Hm." The dark eyes roamed over the burnt out area, searching for the signs he knew must be there. It didn't take long for him to identify the residue of the magic that had caused it. From there it was fairly simple to figure out what had happened. "It seems that an inexperienced and untrained mage passed through the area. Maybe on their way to get training, as there is a small school not too far from here. I would guess that they tried to start a fire and it got a little out of control."
"What happened?" Gateau asked, pausing in his work.
"Well, the mage didn't die. They were probably just scared. Something managed to put the fire out before it got too wild." Marron walked over to the nearest tree, running his hand along the scarred bark. "It seems that it may have started raining. The pattern of the burns certainly indicate that it did."
"Rains a lot around here, doesn't it?" Gateau remarked, returning to the wood cutting.
"It most assuredly does."
Silence fell again, but it wasn't an awkward silence. At least Gateau didn't think it was. He was used to Marron not saying anything. Marron, however, found himself profoundly uncomfortable. By this point he had a fairly good idea of why Gateau could get to him as no one but his brother could. He wasn't stupid. He was, however, inexperienced with this sort of thing and had no idea how he should go about telling Gateau how he really felt.
Seconds later, Gateau removed his need to think about it. He had finished chopping up what he thought was a sufficient amount of wood and had glanced to Marron to tell him they could go back. All words where taken from him when he saw him. Marron was standing with his back to him, one hand still resting on the tree trunk. His long black hair fell in a damp cascade down his back, clinging to the wet fabric. His clothes were melded to his flesh, giving hints as to the perfect body they concealed, that Gateau had only been able to see once or twice.
And to top it all off, Marron was shivering slightly. You had to look very closely to see it, but Gateau was looking closely. Temporarily forgetting the firewood, he walked up behind Marron and wrapped his arms around him. Not in the usual way he did when he was hitting on him, but in a gentle, caring way.
Marron's body stiffened, but then relaxed back into the embrace. "What are you doing, Gateau?" he asked wearily, not particularly upset.
It took Gateau several minutes to reply, as he was so shocked that Marron had actually leaned into him instead of pulling away. "You- you looked cold."
"Ah," was all Marron said in reply. What Gateau didn't know was that this time, Marron's silence wasn't because he had nothing to say, like it usually was. Marron had at least a thousand things running through his head that he wanted to confess. He was just too dazed at finally allowing himself to relax in Gateau's arms that all words were swept away.
Eventually though, Marron managed to collect himself and pulled away from Gateau slightly, turning around to face him. Gateau didn't release his grip on Marron's waist, but he did relax it a little. A few strands of Marron's hair were clinging to his pale face, and Gateau reached up with one hand and brushed them back. "You are so beautiful."
Gateau's earlier speculations on how Marron would look his most beautiful wet and smiling, were proven at that moment, when Marron smiled warmly up at him. The world faded away from around them. There was just he and Marron. Beautifully smiling Marron. And the smile was for him. He could die happy, now.
Unable to help himself, he blurted out the only words on his mind. "Marron, I love you."
That ruined the moment. Marron's smile faded, and he looked away to the encircling trees. Gateau felt his heart stop, but it started beating faster again when Marron stepped closer to him and rested his head on his shoulder, sliding his own arms around Gateau's waist.
Finally he spoke. "I've been so cold to you all this time. How can you love me, Gateau?"
Gateau shrugged, tightening his arms around Marron slightly. "I don't know the how, why or wherefore, Marron. I just know I do. It's one of the two truths I have that will never change."
Marron leaned back a little and looked up at him. "Two truths?" he asked, quizzically, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Gateau smiled, removing one arm from around Marron, albeit reluctantly, and holding up a hand. He raised one finger. "One, I love Marron." He lifted a second finger. "Two, I have beautiful muscles."
Marron laughed quietly, leaning more heavily into the embrace as Gateau replaced his arm around him.
Gateau sighed contentedly. "You know, even if it never goes farther than this between us, Marron, it will have been enough for me. Just getting to feel you in my arms like this, even for a little while. I don't need anything more."
"You really expect me to believe that?" Marron's muffled voice inquired.
Gateau chuckled. "No, not really. I was just trying to be a little romantic. I guess I'm not real good at it. You've always been better with words than I have, even if you don't speak a lot. What would you say at a time like this, Marron?"
The smaller figure of Marron pulled away slightly and looked up into Gateau's face, meeting his eyes. A small smile turned up the corners of his lips. "I would say, who needs words?" he murmured, placing one hand on the back of Gateau's head and pulling him down for a kiss. Gateau had never been so happy, but then, neither had Marron.
Eventually they ended their romantic interlude and gathered up the wood, carrying it back to the cabin. They kept sending shy smiles at each other the whole walk back, and when they arrived at the cabin, though everything was the same on the surface, both of them knew things would never be the same again.
Notes: Gaterron is not my favorite pairing, but I wrote it as a gift to the awesome Fala (her website is Tziporiland.) She draws me pretty Mion (Marron/Milphey) piccies! ^-^ I wuv her! Anyway, these characters aren't mine. Nuff said.
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