Posting this a day early. Will be getting married a third time to the same person (LOL) next weekend, woohoo! ;)
Naruto and its characters do not belong to me.
Elf Prince, Digivolve!
Chapter 2: A Series of Incidents
Neji is sitting on the couch, watching the news when Tenten leaves her bedroom the next morning with a yawn. She did not sleep well at all last night, not with digimon out and about, and Neji (handsome, intelligent elf Neji) making it known that he doesn't find her attractive in the least.
It really shouldn't matter, because they aren't meant to be together anyway - he has his kingdom to return to, and she needs to move on with life, find an actual boyfriend, and get laid so her mind isn't filled with thoughts of him all the time.
Easier said than done.
Tenten shuffles into the kitchen, makes herself some coffee, and returns to the living room to wait while her coffee brews. "What's new this morning?" she asks, voice scratchy with sleep.
Neji looks up at her from the couch, and back at the TV. "There are more monsters showing up all over Tokyo," he summarizes. "The police are telling the public to stay home - it is an emergency situation."
"How bad is it?" Tenten wonders aloud, walking over to the windows, and parting the blinds by a crack. It is cloudy out, and smoke is rising from a couple of places in the distance. There are a handful of too-large birds flying in the air, and military helicopters circling them. She watches, stunned, as the birds breathe fire onto the helicopters, and the machines swerve in midair, as if the pilots have lost control of them.
Neji is observing the same scene, but closer up, on the TV. (He hasn't needed her to explain much about the human world since she taught him to use her computer, because the internet answers more of his questions than she could ever hope to.)
"I can't believe this is happening," Tenten mutters, and sinks into the couch next to him. It won't be long, she thinks, before the digimon are upon them (and she knows they are, in fact, digimon, because she recognizes the plumage and the bodily structures of the monsters on TV).
"Are you required to be at work today?" Neji asks, looking sidelong at her.
Tenten thinks to check her phone then - two new messages, one from her supervisor, and one from Lee. "No, Shizune-san says to stay home."
Keep me updated, Tenten, I'm worried about you, is Lee's message. We're making our way towards Odaiba. Hope to see you soon.
Worry about yourself first! Don't come to Odaiba, there are digimon here too - I'll be fine, Lee, leave Tokyo and stay away! Be safe, Tenten replies, and tosses her phone onto the couch, looking at Neji with a frown. "I don't know how long we'll have food here. It's bound to run out sooner or later, and the stores will be closed soon, at this rate."
Neji matches her frown. "How far is the nearest store?"
"It's not too far away." Tenten glances at the clock. "I usually take the train there, but with a situation like that, we stand a better chance just catching a cab, or walking."
He nods, processing the new information. There are fresh scenes of even more digimon appearing, and Tenten bites her lip.
"New reports of monster sightings are coming in," the news reporter announces on the TV. "More land-based creatures have been seen in Shinjuku, Taito and Edogawa. We do not know what their purpose here is, but they have not taken well to the military's efforts to subdue them..."
Tenten breathes a sigh of relief - the sightings are beginning to spread further away from Odaiba. She gets to her feet, and returns to the kitchen for her coffee, hurriedly adding sugar and milk to it, before cramming a piece of bread into her mouth.
"Have you eaten?" she asks Neji, still chewing.
"Yes. I'm ready to go," he tells her. Tenten eyes the makeshift rope belt around his waist, that holds the wakizashi in place, and smiles. He doesn't comment on her expression, merely waiting by the door as she bounds into her bedroom, pulls a pair of jeans and an extra shirt on, and grabs one of their supply packs, together with her phone and wallet.
"Let's head out," Tenten says, more to herself, when she steps into her shoes. Neji acknowledges her words with a nod. She takes a deep breath, and opens the door.
There are far fewer vehicles on the streets than is usual this morning - those who have somewhere to go, or are seeking to earn a few extra dollars while everyone else is hiding behind doors. Neji walks quietly beside her, ever alert, and Tenten can't bring herself to interrupt his concentration, so they make their way forward briskly, sunshine warm on their faces.
As expected, there is a crowd at the store - those who have bravely ventured outdoors aren't returning home empty-handed, and Tenten grabs a shopping cart, keeping an eye on Neji so he doesn't get separated from her.
They quickly find that having Neji walk next to her cart is simply not working, because she's trying to navigate through a sea of people and carts, and Neji has to step behind her repeatedly to make way for others, much to his princely displeasure.
Tenten huffs, between grabbing canned goods from the shelves, and catches his hand, planting it at her waistband, by her spine. "Grab my jeans so I don't lose you in the crowd," she tells him, and swallows when he nods, and slips his fingers under the hem of her shirt, holding firmly onto the reinforced band. She finds that it's easier to ignore the warmth of his fingers when she's trying to wind through the crowd, grabbing at food products flying off the shelves.
She checks for her phone and wallet periodically, just in case, and it is a long while before they squeeze their way to the harried cashiers, who are trying their best to plow through the lines of waiting customers.
"Would you like me to let go of your clothes now?" Neji murmurs in her ear, standing right behind her, and Tenten finds herself breathless for a moment. His chest is pressed against her back, and he smells of soap. Warm fingers brush slowly across her skin.
"Um, yes," she tells him regretfully, and refuses to meet his eyes, even when she unloads the contents of her cart onto the conveyor belt at the cashier.
It is another long stretch of waiting while the cashier scans their items. Neji studies her as she places the bagged products back into the cart, and fidgets.
Tenten is about to hiss at him to stop looking at her, or at least help her with the groceries, when the cashier tells her the total sum to be paid, and an explosion blasts through the entrance of the store, sending a wave of energy and heat over them. People scream.
She curses, and slaps banknotes down, enough to cover the full amount, before grabbing the last of the bags and dropping them into her cart. Neji moves swiftly to the front of the cart, and is pulling it along before Tenten has a chance to tuck her wallet away. She scrambles after him, grabs the cart handle. There are others pushing their carts towards the entrance, and Neji pauses, allowing them to go through first-
Tenten is about to comment on his being a gentleman, when the people who have exited right before them scream. She tightens her grip on the cart, heart pounding. Neji chances a peek outside from behind the wall, and then he's pulling back, looking at her.
"Follow me, and don't look back," he mutters in a low tone. Tenten nods, and they are off, pushing through the entrance, leaving the chaos in the grocery store behind. Out of the corner of her eye, Tenten glimpses a handful of colorful monsters, some shorter than she is, one taller, though for some reason, they aren't chasing after her and Neji-
Neji breaks out into a run once they've rounded the corner of the store, heading straight for the busiest road. She pushes the cart along, made easier by his guiding it, and the wheels clatter noisily along the sidewalk.
"You froze them," she gasps, when they finally pause, breathing hard.
"Only for a while," Neji admits, his chest rising and falling. "I can't immobilize that many for a long period."
"Do you think they saw us?" Tenten asks, worried, barely remembering to flag a cab down.
"They should not be able to identify us - that is why I told you not to look back," he replies, lilac eyes darting around in search of threats. "We can stand not to make any enemies right now."
Tenten nods, and breathes a sigh of relief when a taxi slows down to a stop beside them. She checks with the driver that going to her address is fine, and begins to load the trunk with the groceries they've bought.
"Will you help me with these!" she hisses at Neji, who is content to watch her struggle with the manual work. He frowns, and is about to say something when she cuts him off, "If you want to be attractive to the women in this dimension, at least be more of a gentleman!"
Neji shuts his mouth and grabs the plastic bags of food from the shopping cart, placing them where she's done the previous few.
Tenten collapses against the door when they've set the last few carrier bags down, panting. There have not been any more sightings of digimon on their way back to her apartment, though the image of the monsters outside the grocery store is still vivid in her mind, with their wide eyes and gleaming teeth, and how easily they can tear her apart.
"That was close," she tells Neji, who has returned to the TV and is checking the news channel for more updates. "Come on, help me put these away in the kitchen. You're going to be eating them, too."
With Neji's assistance, the food is stored in her cabinets in a surprisingly short amount of time. Tenten makes her way back to the living room, where the TV is now airing video footage of the grocery store they've just left, complete with explosion and people running. It is a little grainy, as videos taken on a cellphone tend to be, and Tenten smiles when she sees how the monsters freeze, and Neji and herself, together with some others from the store, take the chance to escape, pushing carts laded with supplies.
"I'm glad we're not the only ones they saw," she comments, and Neji agrees with a slight nod. "Do you think they'll try to hunt us down for that?"
"Are digimon aware of the abilities of elves?" Neji asks in return, slanting a look at her. Tenten joins him on the couch, pulling her extra shirt off.
"Not that I'm aware of. I don't think anyone knew that your dimension actually existed," Tenten muses, wrapping her arms around her knees. She looks suddenly at Neji, turning his words over in her mind. "What other abilities do you have?"
"There's no need for you to know," he tells her with a smirk. Tenten narrows her eyes, and punches him lightly on the arm.
"You're insufferably arrogant," she grumbles, and is about to climb off the couch when he stops her with his next words.
"What characteristics do women in this dimension find attractive?" Neji probes, curious.
She turns back to face him, and traces the outlines of his pointed ears with her gaze, remembering what he said about their sensitivity. "Well, women like to be respected, treated as equals, and it sure doesn't hurt when you act like a gentleman-" Tenten pauses when Neji frowns.
"How does one act like a gentleman?" he questions, almost contemplative.
"Um, well, don't leave the manual work to a woman, for one," Tenten tells him, narrowing her eyes.
"But I'm a prince-" Neji protests.
"Prince or not, women are women - we like to be treated nicely, and not like slaves," she snaps. It is getting warm in here, so she pulls the hair ties holding her twin buns off, and shakes her hair loose, running her fingers through them.
"You look good like that," Neji murmurs suddenly, and she glances quickly at him, taken aback by his comment.
Not quite knowing how to react, Tenten looks away, and combs her fingers through her hair. "Well, that's one way to get through to a woman," she stutters eventually.
"How else should I behave?" Neji asks next, just as quietly, and Tenten finds herself not quite knowing what to say. He hasn't stopped looking at her yet.
"Um, other than that, you're fine," she says, acutely aware of how her pulse is racing.
"Are you educating me about the standards of the average woman?" Neji continues, reaching up to touch her hair. "Or your own?"
"Does it matter?" Tenten replies, flustered, looking unseeingly at the coffee table. Neji can't actually be interested in her, can he? After what he said last night, about not finding her attractive?
He doesn't reply, and Tenten turns to look at him, only to freeze when she finds his face closer to hers than before. She gulps, and stares at the intricate lines that make up his irises, and his moist lips.
"Is- Isn't it against your elvish morals to be so close to someone else?" Tenten whispers, her throat dry. She can smell the musky scent of sweat on him, feel the heat from his body, and she wonders if the rest of his skin feels as velvety as his fingers, or arm-
"Not when I'm not promised to anyone, no," Neji tells her, quietly, and Tenten's eyes widen when he threads his fingers through her hair, cupping the back of her head. Physical intimacy - that seems to be popular where I'm from, are the words that echo in her mind.
"You want sex, don't you?" she blurts, when his lips are an inch from hers, and Tenten could have slapped herself for being so awkward-
Neji smirks, and leans in closer, so his lips barely brush hers. "I would like a taste, that's all," he whispers.
All she knows after that is his mouth slanting over hers, soft and moist. Tenten can't recall receiving a kiss as sensual as this, when his lips slide over hers, nipping tenderly, and his teeth graze her skin. He licks at the seam of her mouth and she finds that she can't think anymore - all she knows is his slow entrance, seeking her flesh; he is soft and moist and gentle against her and she yields to him, breathless, reaching up to touch his face, his hair, his ears-
Neji tenses against her, shivering, and Tenten finds herself pressed backwards, her back against the seat of the couch. He dips into her mouth, hungry - desire pumps through her veins in response - and nudges her legs apart with his knee. A moan slips from her throat. She arches when his hand slips beneath her shirt and bra, finding a taut nipple, teasing it, and she is wet, so wet-
They do not hear the first doorbell, nor the second, and it isn't until the hammering at the door sounds as if it'll send the door crashing that Neji jerks away from her, breathing hard, his eyes dark with lust. She stares at him, still trying to comprehend what just happened, and he's climbing off from her, a noticeable bulge in his pants.
"I'll get the door," he rasps, walking away without a backward glance.
Tenten glances at the TV then, and remembers-
"Wait!" she sits up and hisses at Neji, who pauses and turns, looking at her in question. His straight hair is mussed, clothes rumpled, and he looks sexier than Tenten cares to put a name to. "Look through the peephole - the looking glass thing on the door - before you open it, it could be anyone."
She gestures towards the TV to get her message across, and Neji nods once in understanding.
Tenten holds her breath when Neji presses his eye to the peephole - his shoulders tense, and he moves to hold the wakizashi by his side, slowly unlatching the door-
She glimpses a sliver of red, purple and blue when he opens the door by a slight bit, and her stomach plummets. There are screams and wails echoing from further down the corridor.
"What is your purpose here?" Neji asks, slowly. His fingers are grasped tight around the hilt of his sword.
"I don't answer to you, human - round up all the occupants here and move out, now!" the digimon on the other side of the door growls. Tenten freezes. Looks around for somewhere to hide.
"You're in no place to command me," Neji tells the creature, and Tenten has a moment to fear for him, when he seems to glitter around the edges, his outline wavering. "You will move on to the next apartment. There is no one here to round up."
"I will move on to the next apartment," the digimon repeats, a little subdued. "There is no one here."
Neji shuts the door then, and locks it, finally releasing his hold on his sword. Tenten inches back on the couch when he turns back to her, all traces of glitter and wavering outlines gone, as if she has just imagined the whole incident.
"You aren't going to pull that hypnosis thing on me," she threatens shakily, looking warily at him.
"Only if you give me a reason to," Neji answers, sitting himself heavily down beside her. He looks at her from the corner of his eye. The pointed ears are peeking through his hair, but Tenten makes no move to conceal them. "About what happened earlier - I did not intend to go that far."
She rolls her eyes, folds her arms across her chest. Her heart is still thumping, and adrenaline is coursing through her veins. "I should have expected as much from you."
"Look, it would not have escalated if you hadn't been interested yourself," Neji grits, frowning at her. "You were on the threshold of giving yourself to me."
"I was not!" Tenten snaps. (She was, and she knows it.)
"Keep your tone down, or it'll be back," Neji warns, lowly, nodding towards the door.
Heat creeps up her cheeks, and she looks away, chagrined. Is there no way to get the better of this damn elf?
"I thought you said I wasn't attractive," Tenten mutters, looking towards the wall socket at the corner of the apartment.
Neji raises a brow. "Last night? I merely said that I wasn't referring to you in particular, during our conversation on the attractiveness of females in this dimension."
Tenten frowns. "Isn't that the same-"
"The general human female, from my observations, is different from the elvish females I have met back in the Nymellian Forest," Neji interrupts. "I have not, at any point, commented on my attraction towards you."
Elf prince Neji is actually interested in her? Really? Tenten looks dubiously at him. After what they've been doing on the couch, though... But then again, he could have merely done that to satisfy his needs.
"Well, I don't need to hear about it," Tenten tells him wryly. "I'm just the first girl you picked up since you got here."
"Suit yourself," Neji tells her loftily, folding his arms and looking back at the TV.
HA HA Oh dear, Tenten. That is hereby labelled as The Couch Incident. ;) I'll be overseas at this time next week, so this might or might not get updated then.
Current fic statuses: f/2.8 will end in 2 chapters, and I will begin posting Complexities of Blackmail after that (have written the first draft of the first third of it already). ;) There are 6 parts of Elf Prince in total.. Guess we might just have the one ongoing story to take us through the new year. ;)