Title: Love You
Fandom: Xiaolin Showdown
Author: hitagashi
Warnings/Spoilers: mentions of violence and death
Character(s); Pairing(s): Jack Spicer, Chase Young, ; Chack
Rating: PG-13, T
Genre: AU/AR, romance, fluff, angst
Summary: It's a sappy thing, this. goodChack, Chack
Word Count: 2544
Disclaimer: I do not own Xiaolin Showdown nor do I profit from this story.
Notes: So you know, this has it so Jack is about three years Chase's junior and followed him like a lost puppy (which would translate easily into the future). Then there's angst and then there's happies because I can't hurt my babies too much. Starts in the past then shifts to present time. (whenever that is). There's art to go with this on my deviantART as well. It's a gift for my Sweets' birthday which was the 19th but as it's the week of Christmas it's busy times.
. . . . . . . . . .
It's a sappy thing, this. You sit there, together, under the sun that should rightly be hurting him. But it won't. You know it won't. You're in a secluded area, one so drenched in magic that all it takes is an asking of the spirits that are drawn here to allow him to bask in light. He's given up stroking your hair, something you had considered informing him you didn't appreciate until his hand settled on your back.
For someone as pale as him, he's always warm, warmer than you think he has a right to be.
You continue resting on him, even as his soft hum fades away and you can feel his eyes on your head. One arm is around his waist while your chest and chin rest on his right leg. The other arm is set behind him, hand easily able to grasp his thigh. He has no vocal complaints, seems to appreciate it if his hand on your right hand is anything to go by.
He's leaning now, using his hands to steady himself up, left foot allowing his leg to be off the ground.
"Hey..." You only smile, the only proof you're awake. You've been quiet the whole time, feigning sleep as you rested against him. Jack, warm, soft, devoted Jack. You remember when he had clung to you when you were children, how he'd been devastated when you left, how he'd shown up, smiling and offering to be the gardener to the Xiaolin temple. The world around him listened to easily to him, responding to his soft humming and slender fingers as he urged them to grow in a better direction.
"Love you, Chase." There was a pause before your name, like he wasn't sure you'd reply the same. You always did. Just as he always paused. But then, he's only fifteen and thinks you, after eight years as a monk, have lost your affection for him. This by who you'd promised to marry when you were both too young to know what that really meant. But you are your mother's son and even if it means no longer being a monk, you have to keep your word.
"I love you too, Spicer." You turn then, looking up at him and at eyes so red they're reminiscent of blood. His face is flushed a bit, a by product of being in the sun a bit longer than normal without his hat. His mouth twists into that unpleasant frown he takes up when you call him that in private. You do it to watch his lips turn down, his nose twitch, eyebrows furrow, and jaw grow firmer as he grits his teeth together. It's something you can't help but smooth away.
"Jack." And then you're on your back, a lap full of Jack Spicer as he curls against you in a hug. His arms are tight around your neck and you can't stop the chuckle that comes out as yours slide around his lower back. You wish, sometimes, that neither of you were monks, that you were free to explore each other in as many ways as you wished. But you know, without a doubt, that you need to go through this training. Something in you is recoiling at the thought of staying though.
"Chase... if I'm not with you... you'll find me right?" You frown, hand now moving and thumb pressing into his cheek as you wonder what he means. You know, for a fact, that you'll grow old together with this boy. You know you'll watch him struggle to communicate for the rest of your lives with others. No one's as smart as your Jack, no one can think of solutions without hearing entire situations as quickly as he can nor can they understand mathematics or schematics as well as he can.
"I've not a clue why you're asking me this, but yes. Always. You're to be my wife, aren't you?" He doesn't smile like he usually does, if anything his face gets more grim. His eyes begin to shimmer with the tell tale signs of tears and his lower lips gets caught between his teeth. Your thumb is quick to sweep in and pull it away from his teeth before he bites hard enough to bleed (he can do that, you've seen it happen) and watch him closely. "Jack?"
"I... yeah. I'm gonna be your wife. But..." A single tear falls, sliding over the marks he had painfully put onto his face in remembrance of something his mother used to put on hers. Of course, hers was more ornate and fitting of someone her age. His, though, was simple and black, no color and no attempts to outshine his long dead mother.
"But what?" The tears kept falling, shoulders began to shake as he tried to force a smile to his face. You sit up, holding him tight against you in your lap as he sobs onto your shoulder. Of all the things you were expecting on this outing, him breaking into tears wasn't one of them. So you hold him tight, let him soak your shirt with his tears as he tries to express what he means to.
"You're going to leave me. I know it. You won't want me when we're older." You know, for sure now, he means in the future. He's not able to see that of course, although you think he could if he focused, but there's a benefit to protecting and caring for plants. Eventually their guardians will warm up to you and grant you tastes of the future. But this, this is something no one should think.
"Jack, listen a moment, all right?" A sniffle from your shoulder, hands bunching into your hair as he pays attention. He never could ignore you, no matter how he tried when he was furious at you favoring training to picking flowers. "There will be no moment when we're apart aside from when I'm in training. I won't grow tired of you and I won't stay a monk forever. We'll grow old and die together, you and I. And in all our following lives we'll do the same."
"You mean it?" He's looking up at you now, red eyes wide and the skin around them already becoming irritated. You press a kiss to his forehead, smiling down at him while he settles closer.
"I give you my word." He knows he can trust that and the way his face lights up and his hands fist gently into your hair shows that. You're not supposed to do this, it's one of the things you deny yourself, but you can't help but press a soft kiss to his lips. The way he sucks in breath and clings to you, eyes wide and face bright instantly, makes you want to pull back. Then he falls against you, kissing back gently, smiling into it. It reminds you of when you were kids, when you would kiss each other on the lips like your parents did before you went to sleep.
It's a few weeks later that he starts to become distant. There's less hugs, no kisses whatsoever, little eye contact. You have a feeling one of the other monks caught on, found out you two share chaste kisses and made it seem like you'd done something fundamentally wrong. But it's for him that you refuse Bean's offer. It's not Omi trying to reach you, it's not the other monks, it's the look of resignation on his face.
"Jack." He looks at you, from the group of people, caught off guard at the use of his first name. It's that serious, you suppose. "I won't give in." He smiles, nodding for a moment and then he's throwing himself onto you, hands bunching your shirt tight as he holds onto you. Your arms immediately return the gesture, not as tight as him but enough to where it would be hard to separate you. You lean down, whisper in his ear low enough to where only he can here. "I must be a good husband after all." He laughs a bit, smiling wide as he looks up at you. Your lips connect with his forehead, smile matching his solely for the fact of his happiness.
It's a shock when you finally say yes.
It's a shock because he's terrified, eyes wide as he looks at you. It was for him, once again. Like everything you do. To keep him safe, to keep the other Heylin masters' hands off of him. And then there's the acceptance in his face. He smiles, soft and sweet, hugs your snout for a moment and then relaxes against the wall. He's waiting for death, waiting to die as if he's everyone else.
"Jaaaaackk." His smile only grows, serene and gentle. You can hear the laughter of the witch and bean, know that you have to kill him. He'd said so. Said he'd die before you could be married. So you lean over him, purring low in your throat. He passes, his throat in between your teeth and blood on your maw. It's a hard spell to cast as the monster you've become but you manage it. His soul is traveling swiftly through time and space with just a bit of you. The only bit you had left.
So you have to wait.
It's been fifteen hundred years and you haven't forgotten the soft smiles, the loving embraces, the sweet kisses. You remember them all and you remember the boy it went with. This one is nothing like him. He tries to hard to be evil, so had to be Heylin and please you. It makes you grip the rests on your throne as you look down at him, snarl ripping from your throat. He frowns, never flinches, just a frown and you can imagine your Jack with hands on his hips and a shovel in hand as he berates you for being a crab.
"Look, what I wanted to say is thanks for not killing me. I mean, I guess that's something you don't think I'm good enough to do but... thanks." You blink. He'd been saying something about going home. Home was in the middle of a forest nearby. Yet he was talking like he was leaving you.
Again. Only it isn't your Jack. Or it is. You're not sure. You've never been sure. The bit of your soul you gave him was tainted, you know that much.
"Sorry for bothering you and, uh, yeah. Just wanted to say bye before I moved back to America." And then you're on him, pressing him against the floor and cushioning his neck with your arm. You breathe deeply, smelling the air that now reeks of him. And you. It's not much in the end though, it's only enough to mark him as yours. He's confused now, not cringing away but shrinking. Afraid you'll hurt him. He who you'd been waiting for for so very long.
"You aren't leaving, Jack." A shocked stare, red eyes gaining fire at that. He always had been that way when you gave an order. Like when you told him to go home after he showed up at the temple. He'd damn near hit you with his bag. This Jack raises his fist, dropping it when you do nothing but press your mouth to his forehead. Soft, smooth, tender.
"Why not?" His voice takes on that rasping croak now, the one he always took as he came to terms with things. "Why should I stay?" And now you're frowning, mouth sliding slowly along the side of his face. It's an odd thing, something you're sure he'll hate. But he doesn't, just looks at you, hands reaching up and then sliding into your hair. There's a low grumble, something that slides into an encouraging purr as his fingers stroke through it.
"You've no idea how long I've waited for you. I've seen glimpses of people who look like you in the smallest ways." He makes a confused noise when your mouth slides under his jaw. "It drove me mad with grief that I'd lost you. By my own hands." He sucks in a breath, twitching as you slick the underside of his chin with your tongue.
"I don't..." You shut him up quickly, mouth pressing open over his own. He opens to you immediately, shuddering slightly as you map out his mouth with your tongue. Jack, your Jack, born again with the ability to commit evil and the understanding that your violence is sometimes necessary. Your mouth pulls away and you watch him pant, face flushed and eyes wide. Your foreheads press together, fingers twining as you hold his down by his head. You'd given this up for his safety. You'd waited fifteen centuries just to hold him again and to touch him.
"I have... no excuse for my inability to treat you well. But you're so different now, so very different." He's still panting, still watching you closely. "Even so, with the monster I am now, with the way I've treated you, will you be mine again?" You sound stronger than you feel, stronger than you want to really.
"I..." And here comes the rejection you feared. He frowns at you, tugging his arms out of your slackening grip and watching you. Then his hands are once again in your hair, pulling you down and tugging you into a tight hug. "I'll stay." Your heart jack hammers in your chest, breath stopping and then you've lifted him, long strides taking you to your throne. He just smiles, the same patient and love sick one he used to give when you sit down with him in your lap. It's been too long. You want to enjoy him and you want everyone else in the Circle to recognize this human is yours.
"You will not die this time. I forbid it." He laughs, turning and straddling your hips in a way reminiscent of that day in the sun so long ago. You hate him for being gone so long but the overwhelming need to keep him helps steady your feelings. Because he's yours now. He's yours, you can touch him, hold him, kiss him, make love to him, keep him.
"Chase, do me a favor." You tilt your head, watch him lean forward and feel his mouth trace over your ear. His breath tickles, makes your ear flick in an attempt to get it away. "Don't hold back. No matter what. I can handle it." You make what seems like an interested noise, a sort of trilling purr that ends before it really begins. He's pressed close, close enough to where you understand his meaning clearly.
"I've missed you terribly, my Jack." He's laughing then, shuddering as he feels your hands slide along his lower back. Jack presses close, quick to rid himself of his Helipack so he can plaster himself to your front. "Now... let's see if you're quite as flexible now as I remember you from then."