The L Word,
author: hikasne
pairing: wally/kuki
tune: goodbye to you – handlan
time: a lifetime and a half
summary: "You've got a sexy mouth."

"Do you have a death wish?"

A voice comes from behind him as he strips off his shirt, about to dive into the bay. He's tempted to turn, but he knows better. After (more than) a few relationships have gone awry, he thinks he has enough experience to be able to resist the alluring voice. He's had enough of girls nowadays. She giggles—he realizes that he stopped with his back turned toward her. Grumbling, he continues to walk past the 'Danger-Jellyfish in Water' sign toward the tinted-orange water, shirt crumpled in hand, squinting into a red halo of quickly setting sun. "Mind your own business."

"Ooh," the voice murmurs, self-satisfied and lofty, followed by a laugh that sounds like windchimes. If there's anything he can't stand, it is self-satisfaction, teasing. He pivots, completely forgetting not to look.

At that exact moment, Kuki Sanban opens her eyes from underneath her shaded hand and smiles at him, complacent.

He never had a chance.

He leans down, kisses her neck, then her shoulder, then the bare expanse of her stomach, smiling as she murmurs something in her sleep. Her hands are flat against his bare chest, curling into fists, the soft skin of her leg sliding down his.

The smile drops off his face as he looks at her peaceful form, curled innocently into his body, needing him as much as he needs her. Her lips are swollen, curved into a benign smile, so achingly childlike.

He's almost forgotten—she's not single. That was problem with wanting a girl who was taken. She never fully belonged to you.

But he can't hurt her.

As ridiculously trite as it feels to say it, she is addictive. He's obsessive: to her, her reactions, her expressions, her everything. She is the source of his longing, his desire, his lust, his contentment.

Once again he finds himself questioning where exactly that boundary between right and wrong falls, and how in hell he is going to get himself out of this one this time.

"Tell me what to do."

It isn't often Wallabee Beetles asks for direction. In fact, it's never happened before Kuki has walked into his life, but as of late, he seems to require more and more assistance toward his baby steps in the right direction.

"It depends. How much do you like this girl?"

Wally raises his eyebrows. "I think it might be the l-word."

Hoagie's eyes pop open. "What? Excuse me?"

Wally grits his teeth, not about to repeat it. Hoagie calms down a little, returning his palm to the sweating glass of lemonade he is drinking. "Okay. Then I guess it depends."

"On what?"

"On whether you're smart or stupid." Hoagie smiles as if he already knows what the answer to that question is. Wally glares at him, getting the unspoken implication.

"Let's say that I'm smart."

Hoagie snorts, but replies. "Then you'll walk away without looking back," he says without skipping a beat.

"Are you kidding?"

"'Tis what I advise, my friend."

"I advise you…to shut up."

Hoagie grins, appreciating the banter. "If you were smart, you would let Ace have his dibs." He smiles and sips the lemonade, toying with the orange paper parasol.

Wally's heart sinks. "And if I'm stupid?"

"Then you won't change your mind. Because I know what you're thinking right now…" Hoagie winks, thoroughly pleased with his wittiness. "Mate."

You'll let Ace have his dibs. Wally freezes. If he knows himself at all, he knows giving up is something he never does.

"Look, if I know anything about you…" Hoagie looks at him, cupping the glass in his hand. There's a dimple, the hint of a smile, pitted into his cheek. "I'd say…you're stupid."

Well, at least on that note they agree wholeheartedly.

When she isn't here, he finds himself thinking about her. When she is here, he has no time to think about her, because he's already filled up with her. But when he's alone, he can remember.

Sitting underneath the fluorescent yellow umbrella at the local sandwich shop, not eating, just sitting across from each other in friendly companionship, she smiles at him. He offers a half-smile in return, unaccustomed to all this happiness.

"You've got a sexy mouth," she observes unflinchingly, tucking a lock of jet-black hair behind her ear and looking at him, violet meeting green.

He smiles, but says nothing.

"And big hands," she continues, picking his hand up off the table and holding it, toying with the class ring on his finger. "Your hand must be bigger than my face."

He looks at his hand, then at her face. It probably is.

"You know what they say about guys with big hands," she chirps, winding her fingers through his.

"What?"

"Two words: big gloves."

They both laugh.

He cracks a grin at this memory. A sexy mouth. There was one he had never heard before. He looks at his hands, smiling. His class ring is on the table in front of him.

"Wally!"

Wally turns from window-shopping at Champs and looks at the booth in the middle of the mall, expecting trouble but not this soon. Kuki's squirming in the ear-piercing seat, looking terrified. "Wally! Help me!"

Wally looks at the girl who is holding the ear-piercing gun tentatively and looking from Kuki to him. A small silver sphere is already in one of Kuki's earlobes. She's bright red, tears trickling from the corner of her eyes.

"I'll handle this," he says to the girl, who nods and steps away, looking helpless.

"I thought you said you wanted this?" He turns to Kuki, who is gripping the arms of the chair like they are life buoys.

"I did," Kuki wails. "I didn't know it would hurt so much!" Her earlobe is turning pink.

"You can't walk away now," Wally says levelheadedly. "Look—one's already in, if she stops, you'll look weird."

This brings a fresh batch of tears. Wally sighs. "I think you need a distraction."

Kuki looks up, blinks, pearly tears outlining the corners of her mouth, nose pink. "What do you mean?"

He leans forward, coaxing her shoulders back into the chair. "Not in public—" Kuki gasps, edging back into the chair, but his lips are already on hers, tongue pressed against her lower lip. From his peripheral vision he sees the girl with the ear-piercing gun, staring wide-eyed. Kuki's eyelashes flutter close and she sighs.

"Do it now," he mouths to the girl, leaving Kuki's mouth for about a second before kissing her again. Nodding slowly, she approaches. Click. Kuki doesn't cry out, too focused on his hands cupping her neck.

He pulls away, mouth upturned in a cocky grin. The ear-piercing girl looks like she's biting back a smile.

"Looks good," the girl says offhandedly, picking up a hand mirror and handing it to Wally, who holds it up in front of Kuki. Diamonds are glimmering in her earlobes.

The girl returns to the cash register quickly for another customer, turning away so as not to reveal her amused smirk. Wally puts down the mirror and leans closer to Kuki, looking at her ears. "Nice," he says. "Even." He ignores the gawking from surrounding mallgoers, an old couple looking offended and a mother and her children looking shocked. Kuki goes positively beetroot.

"I can't believe you just did that," she murmurs, flushed and feeling her earlobes. She winces but does not look displeased.

He puts his hands down, sobering. The couch next to him, and the bed, is empty. She's with Ace, and he knows it—technically, he can't blame the guy. For the first time, but not the last, he appreciates what waking up to soft pearly skin and long black hair really means and reaches for the class ring on the table, trying to remember her fingertips on it.

I think this would have done well as a multi-chapter; but I just don't have the time, patience, or talent. Sigh. This feels ridiculously rushed and is riddled with so many errors. I attempted to make it deep and yet it just…fizzled. Ah, curse inadequate English teachers.
Either way, if you couldn't deduce the implications behind this meaningless congregation of words, Kuki is cheating on Ace, her boyfriend, with Wally. I feel Kuki was rather out of character in this one.
I think I need a nap or something.

Next time, then—Hikasne.