Disclaimer: I don't own Shaman King.
I've been uploading the detritus of fics saved on my PC. HoroRen yaoi.
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Horo cleared his throat.
'Hi, Ren!'
it came out as a pitiful sounding squeak. Pathetic. If he was like this now, how would he manage face to face with the real thing?
He adjusted the fake Ren. It was really a pumpkin with a purple wig and a smiley face scrawled on it in permanent marker (Art was not Horo's strongest subject) but he'd propped it up on the sofa with cushions to practice his greetings. He had to be friendly, but not too friendly. Happy, but not too happy. Excited, but not too- you get the idea. He coughed, and tried again.
'Heya, Ren!'
Now he just sounded like he'd had too much sugar. He growled slightly in frustration and glared at the fake Ren. It glared back. One of the eyes was smudged.
'Ren,'
Horo stared straight ahead in horror for a few minutes. He'd sounded like... he'd sounded just like... he didn't even want to think it. He scooted the the other end of the sofa, accidentally dislodging the pumpkin from its nest of cushions. He watched as it began its descent to the floor as if in slow motion. It splatterd gloriously against the floor in a spray of orange. He said a word that would have made Ren hit him with something, and gingerly poked the mess. His finger came away with a slurping sound. He shuddered, and decided that was the least of his problems. He turned to the mirror and was just about to greet his imaginary Ren again, when he saw the reflection of the clock behind him. Half nine?! No. Half three. That was ok, cos Ren's flight didn't come in until...
Horo squeaked and ran out the door.
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Ren had left six months ago.
'Horo, I have to go back to China for a while,'
Horo wasn't concerned at first. Ren had gone home before, and he'd always been back within a few weeks.
'A long while,'
Horo looked down at the other boy, whose head was in his lap. Ren was gazing up at him seriously.
'H-How long?' Horo struggled to keep his voice under control.
'A few months. Maybe more. it could be as much as a year or two,'
Ren's face and voice were carefully expressionless, but Horo was far less adept at hiding his emotions.
'But...'
Ren raised an eyebrow.
'But I'll miss you!' Horo was disgusted with himself for actually saying it out loud, but he couldn't have stopped it. He felt tears pricking at the back of his eyes. No, not gonna cry... He squeezed his eyes shut.
It didn't work. At least one tear slipped out.
Ren wasn't crying. Ren never did. Instead, Horo felt Ren's hand against his cheek, wiping the stray droplet away. Then, in a whisper so quiet he wouldn't have heard it if Ren's lips hadn't been on his ear, Ren said,
'I'll miss you too,'
'When are you gonna leave?' Horo didn't want to open his eyes. He could feel Ren's face just inches away from his own.
'Tommorrow,'
Horo stared at Ren in shock. So... so soon?
Ren was even closer than Horo had thought. His face filled the whole of Horo's vision.
'I'm sorry. I really am,' Ren said, staring levelly at Horo. Horo looked down, unable to meet his gaze.
'Horo?'
Horo kissed him. He hadn't meant to. It just... happened. And he'd never done anything before that felt so right. And the best part of it all was Ren had kissed him back.
'What was that about?' Ren asked. They had collapsed back onto the sofa, and Ren's body had become tangled around him.
'I-,' Horo grinned, beginning to feel something like his former self. 'I wanted to give you something to remember me by,'
Ren returned the favour.
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Horo stood at the exit to the terminal. The crowd of people from the last plane was just dispersing, and Ren should be coming any moment. He'd decided on the 'Hi, Ren!' He'd almost got right before the pumpkin had met its untimely end on the floor.
There it was. A bright spot of purple against all the dour suits of the businessmen around him.
Horo took a deep breath. This was the moment he'd been practicing for an entire week.
'Hi-,'
It had come out pathetic and squeaky again, but horo didn't care. Because as soon as he'd opened his mouth to speak, he'd found it full of something... entirely different.
And words didn't seem to matter at all.