"A Taurus Birthday"
By: Dark Cyradis
Edited 05.20.09
Disclaimer: Saint Seiya and all its lovely characters do not belong to me. This is just a fanwork for fun.
Notes: Here's one for the Shaka fans! :D Post-Hades/AU, no spoilers. A little bit of risqué-ness here, so we'll say this chapter is PG-13.
"A Taurus Birthday"
Chapter 2: Operation Virgin Blitz
The operation, it turned out, was rather simpler in theory than Aldebaran had anticipated.
"So all I have to do is sneak into Shaka's temple while he's bathing, then wait to ambush him after he gets out?" he asked Aphrodite as the latter tied his long, shining locks back in preparation for their stealthy mission. "That doesn't sound so complicated."
"Darling, it's not complicated at all," said Aphrodite. "Love is the simplest thing in the universe—and lust even more so!"
"But are you sure it'll work?" Aldebaran asked for the umpteenth time. "What if he manages to attack me before I get to him?"
"Tsk, tsk," said his friend, waving off his fears. "Have a little faith in yourself, Aldebaran! And anyway, why should Shaka be on the defensive? We're not currently at war with anyone, Athena herself is in residence at Sanctuary, and Shaka knows that there are five temples guarded by big, strong Goldies below him that can repel anything that comes crawling in—or at least hold them off until someone alerts him. He won't be expecting anything!"
"Well, fine," Aldebaran conceded. "But why do we have to attack him while he's bathing? Isn't that rather… well, unsportsmanly?"
Aphrodite sighed. "Oh, Alde, you're being tiresome now. I explained that the point of Operation Virgin Blitz is to introduce as sexually suggestive a situation as possible to Shaka's body as unexpectedly as possible, didn't I? Having him naked and relaxed after a bath will only help that!"
"I can't believe I'm doing this," Aldebaran groaned again, covering his face in his big hands.
At just that moment, Deathmask came scuttling back into the temple.
"He's in the bath!" he hissed, his cheeks flushed from more than just his hustle back to the Cancer Temple, Aldebaran guessed.
"All right!" Aphrodite said, giving Aldebaran a hearty smack on the arm. "This is it, darling. When I give the word, you've got to throw every last shred of passion and urgency you can muster at him, all right?"
"But—"
"No buts!" his companions said at the same moment. They each seized a massive arm and began dragging the Taurus Saint bodily out the back entrance of the temple. Aldebaran could think of nothing to do but allow himself to be dragged.
They found Leo Temple thankfully empty passing through; Aiolia habitually spent his mornings out on the training grounds, training alongside awestruck new trainees and the odd Bronze Saint or two. He had a reputation for being the most accessible of the Gold Saints and was very popular with the younger inhabitants of Sanctuary.
For his part, Aiolia seemed to take the "role model" part of being a top-ranked saint quite seriously, never missing a day, rain or shine, like the young cadets who were forced outside in all weather to "build endurance and character" according to brutal saint-in-training tradition. When Aldebaran had asked him once out of curiosity why he trained side by side with the cadets (the nicer rear training grounds were reserved for Gold and Silver Saints in the afternoons), Aiolia had grinned that boyish grin of his and explained that he made it a point to show the trainees that even Gold Saints must continually improve and hone their skills, and that he wanted to encourage them to persevere through the harsh early days of training with the reminder of what greatness could lay ahead.
"And also for myself," he'd added, "so that I won't forget where I started, and the fact that one of those tiny kids out there may someday grow to stand where you and I stand now."
It was such a sappy, romantic sort of answer—the kind a schoolboy infused with youthful romance and idealism would give. But the rub of it was Aldebaran knew Aiolia meant every word of it. The perfect boy hero, he'd thought, and had had to smile fondly. He really liked Aiolia—always had, even during all the scandal over his brother and that stint of insubordination against the Pope (perfectly justified, everyone realized now, after the fact).
Reflecting on all of that now, Aldebaran felt a pang of guilt at the thought that he was effectively swooping in and stealing—on a mere amorous whim—the object of Aiolia's undisguised affections for at least the last year. He could well imagine the look that would be on poor, earnest Aiolia's face when he strolled into the birthday feast tonight with the sinuous Shaka on his arm. Aiolia was too decent a man and too strong a believer in the sanctity of friendship to put up any kind of a protest; he would do the honorable thing instead and attempt to quietly bury his feelings, all the while berating himself as a coward and tormenting himself for not acting sooner.
This really isn't a good idea… Aldebaran thought again and turned a glance at Aphrodite to see if he could attempt another plea to cease and desist. But before he could speak, Aphrodite flashed his dazzling smile of perfect confidence at him again and said, "Here we are!"
Aldebaran looked up and realized that they had indeed arrived at the towering gates of Virgo Temple. Deathmask had scampered lightly down the left side of the front portico and was gesturing for them to follow him around the corner.
"It's back here," he muttered, keeping his voice and cosmo muted now that they were in "hearing range" of Shaka. Aldebaran quickly masked his cosmo as well. They were standing up against a long stone wall covered thickly with pale green moss and curly tendrils of morning glory vines. Deathmask waved them forward to a low stone door cut into the sandy-colored wall.
"A backdoor to his garden," Deathmask explained. "His bathing pool is just a little ways down on the other side, so keep low to the ground as soon as you're on the other side."
The other two nodded and Aphrodite gave Aldebaran a quick, heartening thump on the shoulder.
"Now, don't be nervous, Alde," he whispered. "This is going to be the start of the happiest time of your life!"
"Yeah," Deathmask chimed in, throwing a rare, real smile over his shoulder as he carefully unbolted the door. "Bein' in love is the greatest thing ever."
The odd sincerity of his sentiment touched Aldebaran, and for a moment, it seemed that this strange quest to bring love—not only to himself, but to the coldly aloof Shaka—was not so bad an idea. Using the momentary burst of resolve, Aldebaran pulled the door firmly open and began slinking as quietly as possible into the garden at a crouch.
Rumor of Shaka's mystical garden of natural wonders was widespread throughout Sanctuary, but few had ever actually seen it with their own eyes. Aldebaran had had a peek at it through the massive stone doors that led into it from Virgo Temple, but this was the first time he'd been inside of it. It was truly a paradise—a veritable Elysian Fields with rolling expanses of inviting green grass blowing softly on some mysterious, fragrant breeze. It was framed on all sides by copses of flowering trees, and there were blossoms of every imaginable color, lush and ardently in bloom, in every corner of the place. White butterflies flitted here and there like whimsical flower petals caught on an erratic wind. In the center of it all stood a wide, marble-paved pool of clear water, fed on one side by a glistening stream of water pouring from the carved mouth of a stone carp.
"It's…so beautiful…!" Aldebaran gasped, pausing behind a neat row of low shrubbery to take it all in.
"Ohh, you bet it is!" Deathmask muttered. The edge in his voice made Aldebaran turn to follow his gaze, and suddenly, all the flowers and butterflies and trees in the world didn't seem to matter anymore.
He was there; Shaka stood in the middle of the immaculate pool, his back to the three conspirators as he worked a small bar of soap into a lather on a damp washcloth. Aldebaran could feel his anxieties and doubts come rushing back a hundredfold, but they seemed fainter now, as though coming from a long way off as his eyes took in the scene.
Shaka was truly a vision. Standing in his natural splendor without the least trace of self-consciousness, seeming to draw the golden light of the day and the dazzling water around him to his person, he may well have been a god.
But nothing of holy perfection should have incited the kind of desire Shaka's unclothed form did, Aldebaran thought as he watched him. His golden hair, weighed down with the weight of the water, streamed sleekly down the slender contours of his back and fanned out in a dazzling pool at his waist where it met the water's surface. A milky, smooth shoulder; shapely arms; sculpted, delicate chin and jaw line; long, dark lashes peeking out from beyond a creamy cheek—Aldebaran wanted desperately to look away and end what was surely a crime of the most blasphemous proportions but simply couldn't muster the willpower to do so.
Even as he continued to stare helplessly, some part of him babbled that any moment now, a bolt of lightning would surely split the clear sky and strike him dead with eyes still stupidly agog. Or perhaps more realistically, Shaka—with his superhuman powers and intuition—would turn any second now and send him plunging straight into Hell with a casual Tenma Koufuku. It would be well-deserved, the rational (and currently utterly ignored) side of his mind thought idly.
But no, Shaka continued serenely scrubbing his arm with the soapy washcloth, quite oblivious to his bath-time companions.
All right, Aldebaran, the Taurus Saint said to himself bracingly, he's fantastically beautiful, but this is your old friend Shaka. Your very powerful, manly, intelligent, certainly-not-a-sex-object old friend Shaka. You don't want to disrespect him by peeping at him like this, do you? No, you should look away—look away right now and tell Aphrodite this whole scheme is ridiculous. Shaka will not thank you for intruding while he's trying to have a nice bath. In fact, Shaka will likely turn you into a smoking pile of ashes for intruding on his nice bath. At the least, he will never speak to you again. You must look away right now.
And it was working, too—Aldebaran had really just about rationalized himself into tapping Aphrodite's shoulder and whispering, "Let's just call this off." But then, Shaka drew his heavy curtain of hair aside to scrub the nape of his neck, and Aldebaran's will crumbled. There was hardly a coherent thought left in his head as his eyes took in the horrendously pleasing and suggestive shapes and colors of Shaka's lower half. They were somewhat distorted by the water's refraction, but still entirely too enticing. Aldebaran gave in and let his eyes roam at will—never mind that this was a person he knew and respected and would have a rather difficult time beating in a fight to the death. The urge to grab hold of that succulent skin, to press that supple body and smell that shining hair was suddenly overpowering, narrowing the big Saint's thoughts and vision to this one, consuming desire.
An honest man through and through, the direction of Aldebaran's thoughts was quite clearly readable on his rapt face and Aphrodite (less effected than the others, being in possession of a comparable masculine beauty himself) elbowed his lover to point out their protégé's gameness.
"It's going to work!" he hissed gleefully. "Alde's all ready!"
"Then let's get him to it!" Deathmask whispered back. The two took their positions on either side of the big Saint and prepared to thrust him out toward his target.
Unfortunately, at just that moment, due to the unspeakably coincidental flap of a butterfly's wing some hours ago somewhere in the vicinity of Crete, pointed in just the right northeasterly direction, a small breeze bearing the scent of jasmine came swooshing through the garden. The breeze had caught that faint, sweet scent as it had swept through the vacant Aries Temple where the flower grew in twining clumps about the back portico, and this had the remedial effect of reminding the twitterpated Taurus Saint's subconscious of its pink-haired inhabitant. Aldebaran's eyes cleared.
"What am I doing?" he gasped.
With every last shred of willpower at his command, Aldebaran wrenched his eyes away from the enchanting vision and forced himself to look at his blue-haired companion.
"Aphrodite, we have to go now," he hissed.
"Oh, not that again!" Aphrodite whispered. "I explained why you need to make your move on Shaka while he's naked and vulnerable, right?"
"But it's wrong," Aldebaran insisted, ignoring the half of him that was still insisting Aphrodite's plan was very, very right and ought to be encouraged.
They glared unblinkingly at each other, willing the other to break down, while Deathmask continued his (not entirely altruistic) vigil of Shaka. The Virgo Saint had finished rinsing himself, it seemed, and was wading toward the far side of the pool with his bath things in tow.
"Hey, guys," Deathmask whispered, "whatever you do, you'd better do it soon. Shaka's getting out of the bath."
"Come on, Aldebaran!" Aphrodite whispered, flapping his arms insistently. "You have to do it now or you'll be lonely on your birthday—again!"
"I don't care," Aldebaran said stubbornly. "I'm not going to jump Shaka. It wouldn't be right!"
"Nice guys always finish last!" Aphrodite hissed. "Do you want Shaka or not?"
"I do, but I'll approach him the proper way!"
"What, with flowers and chocolates? Do you think Shaka even eats chocolate?"
"Shh! Guys, he's gonna hear you!" Deathmask hissed at them. He glanced back at his mark only to find Shaka (already wrapped in a white robe) standing very still, his head turned in their general direction, though his eyes were still closed. Deathmask dived on his two companions, burying all three of their faces in the dirt behind their shrub.
"He's looking our way," Deathmask mouthed frantically.
"Shoot, we'll blow our chances permanently if we don't have the element of surprise," Aphrodite whispered.
"No, it's too late," Aldebaran whispered back. "He knows we're here. I…I should go apologize to him and accept whatever punishment he—"
"Don't even think about it!" Aphrodite snapped. "Not only will you never have a chance with him, he'll Tenbu Hourin you to Cocytus and back!"
"It's just what I deserve. I'm going to come clean, beg for his forgiveness, and tell him honestly what I feel," Aldebaran said, resolved. "And even if he forgives me, I will deny myself. I don't have the right to love someone like Shaka!"
"You delirious fool!" Aphrodite wailed (in a whisper). "Don't you—"
"Sorry, Aphrodite, but I've made my decision," Aldebaran said solemnly. Seeing that his big friend's mind was made up, Aphrodite closed his mouth and fell back in a sullen sulk.
There, then, thought Aldebaran, now all that remains is to apologize to Shaka. It would not be pleasant, he was sure, and infinitely humiliating. But once he was resolved, the Taurus Saint did not back down. He squared his shoulders and made to rise.
But just then, there was a sudden shout, sounds of a brief scuffle and a flurry of footsteps coming from the direction of the Virgo Temple's interior. With an almighty slam, Aiolia came bursting through the doors, bounded down the steps and all but hurled himself at the half-turning Shaka, knocking them both to the ground.
"What the?" Deathmask cried as all three of the hidden conspirators stood to get a better view from behind their bush.
They heard Shaka saying in a calm but slightly disoriented voice, "Aiolia, what is-"
"Shaka!" Aiolia cried, sounding stricken. "I-I-" He took in his surroundings quickly, glancing last at the person lying calmly beneath him, limbs still lying splayed and robe disheveled, where Aiolia's collision had landed them. Here, his gaze slowed and steadied but seemed to retain some of its wild-eyedness.
"Oh my goddess, he's finally snapped," Aldebaran muttered under his breath.
"This is bad for us," Aphrodite muttered back.
"Ha, don't worry about it," Deathmask snorted, trying unsuccessfully to hide his glee. "Mr. Goody-goody Aiolia? He'll never have the balls to carry through. Just watch—he'll be groveling for forgiveness before Holy Shaka-sama the second his brain realizes what he's done."
Aldebaran rather agreed with this prognosis and waited expectantly as Aiolia finally raised his eyes to look into the Virgo Saint's face.
"Now, grovel!" a gleeful Deathmask said under his breath, and the onlookers watched attentively for Aiolia to begin panicking.
And panic he did. However, rather than leaping to his feet and apologizing profusely as expected, Aiolia suddenly gripped the blonde's shoulders, squeezed his eyes shut and, screaming, "I LOVE YOU!" clamped his lips down on Shaka's slightly-parted ones.
"Ohh..." Aldebaran breathed.
"What?" Deathmask cried.
"Noooo!" Aphrodite shrieked.
"He's so dead..." came a dejected voice from beside them. All three conspirators started in surprise. They had unconsciously stepped out from behind the hedgerow to watch the spectacle and were so engrossed that they hadn't noticed Aiolos walk up forlornly beside them to watch what were certainly his little brother's final moments on this earth.
"Aiolos!"
"I tried to stop him..." the Sagittarius Saint intoned sadly. "I told him Shaka would raze his Sala trees to the ground before he'd ever fall for him, but he wouldn't listen to me, the lovesick fool. Now all I can do is gather his charred remains and give them an honorable burial..."
"There, there," Aldebaran said, patting the disconsolate Saint's shoulder comfortingly. "I'm sure your brother will survive somehow..."
"He... he's not even wearing his Cloth… There'll probably be nothing left!" Aiolos wailed suddenly as big, dollopy tears came streaming down his cheeks. He produced a large, green handkerchief and buried his face in it, sobbing. "Against all odds, I'll end up outliving my little brother...! I've failed as an older sibling-"
"Oh, shut up and open your eyes, you big crybaby," Aphrodite snapped. At that, his three companions snapped to attention and turned back to the forgotten pair. All three of their mouths dropped open in perfect unison.
"Operation Virgin Blitz," Aphrodite declared flatly, "a complete success."
Indeed, Aiolia was neither dead nor in the process of being slaughtered. He was rather happily engaging Shaka's mouth in a heated kiss as his hands roamed over all manner of exposed body parts. For his part, Shaka looked as far from divinely murderous as any of the party had ever seen with his pale cheeks flushed sweetly and his golden hair spilling all around them, tossing to and fro as he returned Aiolia's kisses with surprising eagerness. They were both entirely oblivious to their uninvited audience.
"Well," Aphrodite said simply, "I told you so."
Okay, I lose… I didn't update on Alde's birthday. (sweatdrop) But I'm really happy to see chapter 2 done at last! Several long bits of it had been written for ages (for instance, the Shaka descriptions—guess I was feeling lustful one day (double sweatdrop)), but the in between parts are fresh from yesterday. Hope it was an enjoyable read for you!
There's still one chapter left, so please do review and let me know that you want to read it!
