Greetings, esteemed reader.
This ficlet-thing came about with me writing a character list, numbering it, and using a calculator to generate a random number. That number corresponded, on my list, to Cross. So I thought 'Okay. I need a scene for which to get inside Cross' head.'
And then I wrote this.
Warnings: yaoi. Not graphic, but strongly suggested.
Rated M not for explicit content but for some heavy references. (Safety and that, you see.)
Oh, and ...
Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Knight - I lost it to Hino Matsuri in Vegas. She plays a mean game of Go Fish.
Air Conditioning
by jesska-chan.
From what Cross could surmise, there was probably something wrong with the air-conditioning.
Maybe the central heating was messed up again? Heaven forbid that it had happened for a second time - the first time had been troublesome enough, with all the stress that had been caused trying to fix it.
That didn't seem likely, though, because it was spring, and the system wouldn't be likely to freeze over like it had last winter.
But it was far too hot in here for something not to be wrong.
So, if not the central heating or the air-conditioning (that had just recently been checked), then...
The school was on fire?
Highly unlikely.
Maybe he'd neglected to open any windows?
He glanced around his office, trying to be surreptitious...
Every window within sight was definitely open. They should have been, actually; he remembered opening them (once he thought about it).
So that left only one more option, and trust it to be the most annoying one.
It was Cross' obvious, inevitable, stupidly inescapable reaction.
To him.
This was not the first time he'd cursed the way he reacted in situations like this. Not once had this not happened - get Cross alone with anyone to whom he was even reasonably attracted, and after a while he'd start to blush and sweat and stutter nervously like a teenager. And it was so noticeable... and this person would notice if anything was even a tiny bit out of place.
Wonderful.
"W-what was the question?" He was tripping over his words again. Not good.
Yagari, sitting opposite Cross, gave him a look - as if he knew exactly what Cross was thinking. Anyone would have bet that he did.
"I was asking when you wanted the Ethics exam written," he replied. There was a very distinct tone to his voice: Cross knew it to be somewhat mocking. No doubt that that infuriatingly arrogant, disrespectful vampire hunter was enjoying watching him squirm. Damn those people who knew exactly the effect they had on others, and took full advantage of it for their own selfish, sadistic gratification; they should be outlawed.
All things considered, Cross should probably have had something against Yagari. The other man was derisive and sarcastic; had near to no respect for authority; and would not give up his awful smoking habit. Plus, he'd ridicule Cross any chance he got. He seemed pretty set in his ways, too, so any of that was unlikely to change any time soon.
By any calculation, he sounded exactly like the kind of person Cross could hate. Somehow, though, that wasn't the case - Cross respected him too much. He was exceedingly clever, for one; and despite his outward attitude, his moral compass was pointed in the right direction. He was also very protective of the people he felt he had a right to defend.
Moreover, he was almost criminally hot.
And that was the trouble.
It drove Cross mad. For all that he couldn't resent Yagari himself, he despised the effect that the other man had on him.
He was quite sure that this was not just a case of him being hopelessly attracted to Yagari simply because the man was attractive enough for the entire Hunters' Association and then some.
That obviously had something to do with it, but wasn't the entirety - Cross had come to the conclusion that between him and Yagari there existed some sort of chemistry, the kind that had created the entire global need for cold showers. He had no idea why - it was just there.
Had been since the last time they saw each other - by the time he'd left the city to go back to the Academy four years ago, said chemistry had been responsible for building a positively stifling sexual tension.
Now that they were in close proximity again, it had become palpable - to Cross, anyway, and that meant that something had to be done. It was driving Cross to the point where he might actually go insane with the sheer frustration (which, he'd admit, had been increasing in him for a while before Yagari turned up, but still).
Cross sighed.
"Are you okay?" Yagari asked, looking at Cross with unnecessary suspicion. "You seem kind of ... on edge."
Oh yes he was.
"Eh, I'm alright," Cross shrugged. "Too much energy." He said it matter-of-factly, deliberately making it a passing comment rather than the reason for all his twitchiness - heaven forbid Yagari should suspect something.
Cross wished, not for the first time, that he would.
And that's when his mind began talking to him.
What are you doing, giving away the opportunity to drop hints? someone demanded. You want him, don't you?
Cross' jaw would have dropped, but he wasn't all that surprised. He should have expected that his subconscious would do something like this.
Go away, he thought. Now is not the time.
Yes, it is. He's right there. And it's not like you're having a conversation or anything.
Cross glanced at Yagari, who, having given up on his question about the Ethics exam, was reading the initial planning for next term - a long document, so hopefully he'd be occupied for a while, leaving Cross free to argue with himself.
That sounded so stupid.
Hey, Cross, pay attention.
This was a different voice. It seemed to be Cross' sensible side. He guessed the first voice to be the bold part of him.
Don't listen to that idiot, Sensibility told Cross. This is Yagari we're talking about - if you try anything he'll either laugh at you or hit you.
Exactly; it's Yagari, Boldness interjected. This tension thing is obviously mutual, remember? ... And I thought you liked pain.
Oh. So it was Boldness and Lust.
Charming.
Just do it, Boldness/Lust ordered. Jump him, or something.
Uh, Cross thought rather stupidly, there's a desk in the way.
Boldness/Lust did its best to smack Cross upside the head. Then walk around the desk, baka!
No, Sensibility protested, don't. Just leave it. Do you really think it's worth the risk?
This elicited from Boldness/Lust a loud Yes!
Gah - if Cross was going to be hearing voices, they should at least have been useful. What was he supposed to do with this ridiculous argument? He wasn't gaining anything from this.
How unfair.
Look at him; he's right there... Boldness/Lust whispered. Being all typically sexy ... I think you and I both know that you're on the edge and you're going to grab him any second.
Cross reminded Boldness/Lust about the desk.
It's a good thing it's there, Sensibility commented. Otherwise who knows what could have happened?
Cross and I know, don't we? We can just imagine it, Boldness/Lust said smugly. And we want it, yes? We want him. Need I say it again?
No.
Sensibility's protest was ignored.
Again - we want him.
Okay, okay! Cross yelled to the voices. That's enough! Shut up, or I'll-
You'll what? smirked Boldness/Lust.
Well ... that had Cross stuck.
"Hn," Yagari exhaled, placing the document he'd been reading back onto Cross' desk.
Cross tried very, very hard to concentrate.
"If that's next term's planning, I guess I'll need a copy of it at some point ... whenever. This teaching thing is complicated enough anyway," Yagari continued with a sigh. "Speaking of which, I have so many essays to mark it's not funny ... See you later, Cross."
He got up and walked towards the door; he almost got there.
"Yagari, wait."
Boldness/Lust cheered in celebration.
Yagari turned as Cross stood up and rather pointedly walked around his desk.
That would show Sensibility.
Cross stood there for a second, a couple of metres away from the person who was causing him all this trouble.
He just looked at Yagari, for lack of anything to say, and Yagari looked back; and whatever it was that passed between them at that moment did a very good job of increasing Cross' breathing and heart rates. He could practically feel the blood leaving his brain.
If Cross had been asked later, when he was capable of conscious thought, he'd say that that look had been what pushed him over the edge. It was scorching heat, nothing more than uncontrollable, animalistic craving.
And Cross wanted it.
Before he knew what he was doing, he'd covered the remaining distance across the room and shoved Yagari into the wall, and was kissing him hard.
And after a second or two, oh gods, he was being kissed back. Holy crap holy crap holy crap...
While Cross was quickly losing his ability to think, Yagari moved forwards, turned around and slammed Cross into the wall.
Ow.
And trust Yagari to go all dominant like that - though Cross hadn't quite expected him to break the kiss so soon...
As Yagari did so, he just smirked down at Cross, who couldn't even manage a facial expression.
"Cross," Yagari said after a second, and quietly - which sounded amazingly sexy - but Cross wondered why, why, why Yagari would interrupt this with talk.
The vampire hunter didn't even blink. Cross knew he was going to say something significant, but wasn't sure what.
What it was, he would never have bet on in a million years.
"What do you want?"
This confused Cross rather monumentally, as he thought he'd made that perfectly clear.
Plus, from what he could tell, Yagari ought to know - he seemed to be in pretty much the same state as Cross, if the way he'd kissed him was anything to go by.
One side of Yagari's mouth curved upwards into a grin. "Yeah," he said, "thought so."
And then he kissed Cross, and after that it got a whole lot better.
Certainly made those stupid voices shut up.
They didn't come back.
A/N: I had so much fun writing this, and I hope that it somehow spills over when you're reading it ...
ConCrit is encouraged, because I'm such an amateur; but so is praise, because I am a human being.
Enjoyment is also promoted.
~ jesska-chan.