Note: This chapter/episode has been updated and is now the complete version.
Warning: Expletive-heavy.

The Cast List (so far):
Bastion Gorhan Gyurie is Gohan Son Jr.
Liam Princelo Sotea Jr. is Piccolo Daimaoh Jr.
Gerom Matyach is Yamcha (cameo)

(Mentioned only, so far...)
Chase Kozawa is Son Goku
Klarion Gyurie is Chi-chi
Trevor Loref is (Mirai) Trunks
Vinztche Dorian is Vegeta
Correm Yumin is Kririn
Lorelei "Honey B. Lum" Belle is Bloomer Briefs
Julienne Murcrowe is Nathaniel
Batholomew Hughs is Bartimaeus

"Bastion."

"Liam,"

- - - - -x- - - - -

Act 2:
Leading Lady

- - - - -x- - - - -

FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THIS WHOLE AFFAIR STARTED, Bastion Gorhan Gyurie actually felt like he was back on the set of a romantic feel-good movie. Only thing is, there were no cameras, no glaring lights- and this would be the part where he had completely forgotten his next line and somebody was supposed to be yelling, "CUT!".

But dead air continued to stretch between them, uninterrupted, and it was becoming more awkward than romantic. Moreover, Bastion knew that this could literally go on forever because he didn't stand any chance of winning a battle of "not breaking long uncomfortable silences" against this man.

With that in mind…

"Uhm, hi. It's great to see you again."

More awkward silence.

He guessed, either his partner has also "forgotten" his next line- or he wasn't a big fan of serendipity and this whole "happy coincidence" that they had found themselves in. But Bastion knew that the great Liam Princelo Sotea Jr. was never the type of actor who forgot his lines -even in real life, which could only mean that right now, this was his notorious cynicism doing the talking (and this is why he is effortlessly the reigning king of uncomfortably long silences).

"Why are you here?" Liam finally says.

It wasn't the warmest thing to say to a good friend you haven't seen in ages. Bastion had been hoping for something sweeter along the lines of 'I missed you' or 'How've you been?'. Even a more definitive reaction at the very least- like scathing resentment over their sudden "falling out". Actually, Bastion would have loved a punch in the face compared to a cold, flat-line, 'why are you here?'.

He would've taken offense in that. If, he didn't know this man even more than he did himself at times. And one thing about Liam, was that he never liked mincing words. His friend was clearly just as edgy as he had been to get answers.

"I'm waiting for someone who's supposed to be waiting for me too. Right here, at this very spot."

"Who?"

"I, uh," Bastion actually had to stop himself from saying, 'you?'. "I have absolutely no idea." No mincing words.

Liam's eyes grew wide slowly, almost imperceptibly to anyone else.

"And you?" Bastion shot back point-blank. "What brings you here?"

Liam sucked in a slow breath, veiling those orbs of his that were a cosmos of lapis lazuli, ruby, and amethyst; one of his stalactite fangs ever so subtly digging into plush pinkish-green lips. Sure, the Namek's eyes were obscured by those ridiculously dark sunglasses but when it came to him, Bastion's well-informed imagination had no problem filling in all the gaps. Liam did this whenever he was focusing on remembering his lines. Outside of the set, he did this when he was trying to think of how to best say something.

The faint purple blush staining his cheeks now, however, was normally not part of it. For a split-second, Bastion thought his imagination was playing tricks on him because the blush completed a picture that he has seen too many times before; it was the very same sensual expression Liam made every time Bastion took him, over and over again, in his fantasies.

Seeing the real thing for the first time was shockingly surreal. How it managed to be subtler and yet sexier all at once, boggled him. But then again, to his infatuated mind, Liam never failed to make even the most unappealing and even otherwise ridiculous things look impossibly sexy. Ankle-length capes, dirty-mustard-coloured moccasins, bulky weighted mantles, turbans, fangs (he never found them sexy on vampires), green, red, and pink skin, purple blood, meditating; long cynical silences, the list was never-ending! Even the humdrum ordinary act of 'thinking' looked exciting on him… Crumbs, he even makes these stupid sunglasses look sexy. Ugh.

"I'm sorry, Bastion."

Huh?

"I can't do this."

Wait- what…?

"I have to go."

"Whoa, whoa! Liam! Hold on! Wait! Please! So, it's you? You got the same anonymous offer?!" In his haste to catch up with the man's long strides, he almost misses a step and it knocks off his balance; his legs decide to skip over the remaining four treads at the very last moment and jump all the way down to the landing to compensate. Arg! Bastion inwardly cursed the fucking stupid sunglasses for impairing his normally excellent eye and body coordination. But the man he was chasing abruptly stops and turns and the momentum of his plunge causes him to collide directly into that said man. More precisely, right smack into Liam's chest where powerful arms and hands grab at his shoulders to steady him, effectively preventing both their bodies from ending up in a tangled and painful heap on the ground. The sudden whiff of Liam's familiar scent- combined with the sensation of being smothered against solid pectoral muscles and held fast by strong arms, sent an incredible surge of heat and electricity throughout his entire being that zapped him of all his strength and ability to function. Unable to do anything more than grab on for dear life (or in this case, for dear Liam), feeling as though the planet was suddenly knocked off its orbit and he got thrown into outer space as a result, where there was no concept of direction and gravity or even time. He tried to convince himself that it was just the sudden adrenaline rush from his near accident and not because of Liam's intoxicating presence, but the very real boner he was suddenly hyper-aware of, insisted otherwise.

Bastion attempted to take a slow calming breath, blinking rapidly, and counting backwards from one hundred in an effort to regulate his vital signs which were running amok. It was a handy exercise to stave off mini-panic attacks that used to happen often enough, especially during the peak of his career when his schedule got too crazy, even for a superhuman like him. Those were the days that found him too exhausted and sleep-deprived to remember the lines he rehearsed or times he'd miss his alarm from over fatigue and arrive an hour late, and would have to work doubly efficient to make up for it. Just the kind of run-of-the-mill everyday mishaps any in-demand professional was bound to encounter in the span of their eventful careers.

Falling into the arms of the object of his life-long fantasies did not fit into that category. Usually, by the time he reached ninety he had already regained full control of his faculties. Right now, he was hard-pressed to even remember what came after eighty-one. He gave up altogether when Liam shifted beneath his sagging weight and instead of doing what he expected –which was to push him off- those hands released his shoulders and wrapped around him in -what Bastion was sure he was only dreaming up- a protective embrace. Oh, Kamisama. Was Liam deliberately trying to kill him from over-seduction? This gesture was the final blow that drains all fight from him; virtually vaporising his knees and everything left of him still keeping him upright. He bonelessly slumps into Liam's body and relaxes into those arms- not minding at all if the world ended right there and then, and dear Kamisama, bless these heaven-sent sunglasses!

There was a wraith of rationale in him valiantly fighting to stay afloat in the cloudy befuddled haze that remained of his consciousness. And it told him that he can't indulge in this wonderful slice of freaky heaven for too long, lest arouse the man's (and not to mention, curious bystanders') suspicions. Even if he wanted to believe that this was some romantic story unfolding and Liam was hugging him "romantically", he should know better. And actually, he did. Laconic and taciturn tendencies aside, Liam was a gentleman by default and actually a really, really nice guy. That was all. But, his lagging brain refused to wake up to that reality just yet. And there was a very good reason for that… (apart from the obvious).

Liam was stooping a little, so Bastion's lips fell just above his clavicle; his nose sliding nicely into the smooth crook of his neck. At such close proximity- while doing his very best not to outwardly swoon- he couldn't help but notice how smooth and healthy Liam's skin still was (being a Super Namek, he never scarred) and how fantastic it smelled; the warmth of his sweat that lingered around him only complimented that, and each breath made his head a little woozier and his skin borderline feverish. Those firm, muscular arms contracting under his clumsy and lumbering dead weight only made his hands involuntarily tighten even more around those bulging biceps.

Of course, Liam, being the good-hearted, ever-forbearing best friend that he was, just let Bastion do all that. Let him inhale his neck and squeeze his muscles (even if it tickled) and just waited patiently for the other to "gather his bearings". And this was exactly why Bastion found himself appreciating Liam longer than he should and falling for him even more without even knowing it (since he was still in denial about his feelings). Liam was really the nicest (and cuddly-sexiest) friend in the whole world.

When he finally feels his knees materialize again, enough to actually allow him to move, he lifted his head and gave a sheepish titter (immensely relieved that he left no evidence of drool on the man's shirt). He mutters a breathless 'thanks!', as he dolefully pushed himself off, wobbling unsteadily for a few seconds before he finally managed to convince the Namek that it was safe to be removed from his arms.

"Why did you take off like that? It's not like you…"

"I'm sorry. I just… I think this is a mistake."

"So, it is you."

"No. Not yet, at least."

Confusion? Hurt? Anger? Or elation? He didn't know what to feel. Only moments ago, he was beyond happy to find Liam here, and now he didn't understand why the man was being so aloof. He never expected this, yes. But now that he saw what he wanted, only to find that the feeling wasn't mutual- he didn't know why he couldn't just let it go. So what if Liam wanted out? He had every right to back out. That was what this whole surreptitious meeting was for, in the first place. And if Liam wasn't happy to be cast with him, he didn't owe it to anyone to explain his reasons. As his best friend, he of all people had to accept and respect Liam's decision. Bastion knew this and yet, he really couldn't help being too indecently pleased and so utterly heartbroken all at once.

Perhaps, he might have underestimated this "little crush" he's had all these years and after teaching himself to "conceal" for so long for the sake of professionalism, he might've actually unwittingly assembled an atomic bomb from all the sexual tension that he had unconsciously stowed away. It felt as though that bomb had chosen this time and place to finally arm itself with his racing pulse counting down the seconds to its detonation, and Bastion feared that he might be completely helpless to stop it from exploding in their faces.

"You don't want to do it?" Bastion wanted to scoff, but his voice trembled. "I don't understand."

"I just can't. Let's leave things at that."

"No," He grabbed Liam's arm before he could walk away. "I need you to tell me! Why is this bothering you so much? Is it because I'm a guy too? Is it because we're good friends? I mean, c'mon, Liam. You're the one who would always tell me that it's only acting and that we're professionals, so when has something like this ever been an issue with you? You've done loads of stuff like this before! And, geez! Did you count how many zeros were in that paycheck?! It's a ridiculously generous offer -that in case you haven't noticed- doesn't come by as often anymore and I won't lie, I'm a bit desperate as of late, so for Kamisama's sake, help me out here!"

Liam relaxed and turned, and Bastion released him to let him process the hurried avalanche of speech that was rained upon him. Another paradox of Liam's brilliant mind was that he was never one to make brash judgements; always punctiliously considering his decisions no matter how uncertain or confused he was about any given situation.

So, Bastion knew for a fact that this wasn't something Liam was doing on a whim or because 'he didn't feel like it'. Whatever Liam did, he always did with good reason and usually after much arduous thought. Whatever was compelling Liam to act this way had to be one hell of a complicated conundrum because he had that (very sensual) pensive look all over his handsome face again with the added light purple blush. And in spite of it all, Bastion just couldn't stop his heart from plummeting again to only Shenron knows where…

Another effect that daunting and calculating silence had on him that he couldn't stop was rising panic. It was hard not to when those sharp blue eyes would often wander until they found his own brown ones, seemingly boring into his soul through there, and in this case, rattled his already oxygen-starved brain and caused him to incessantly babble…

"The truth is, I was desperate enough to go through with it with just about anyone… Pathetic, I know. But, I thought how bad could it be, right? Y-you… you were the last person I expected to find waiting here… but now that I did… I'm so relieved. And happy… well, at least I was- until you ran off."

Liam raised an eyebrow at that but still didn't deign to comment.

Sometimes, Bastion really felt as if his best friend was doing it on purpose, to get him to regurgitate his soul and all of his secrets in the worst, most humiliating way possible: as one giant emotional hairball of incongruous and unsightly poppycock. In short- until he was completely and perfectly undone at the man's feet as he continued to, well- stare him to death. Bastion shifted his weight and ran his fingers through his overgrown fringe. An unconscious habit of his that surfaced every time he was tense.

More unbearable silence…

Trying to contain his thoughts and feelings at this point was a lost battle and he knew it. "I- I mean, of all people, you just make me feel comfortable doing whatever, you know? A-and since it's my first crack at this sort of thing… I knew you'd be great at this, because, well, you just are! In everything! I- I mean, it's not that I've pictured you this way or anything! B-but, I know that there's no one else out there, you know? Who I could learn from. No one who could be better than you…"

Liar. Liar. Liar. You are such a liar, Bastion Gorhan Gyurie. Bastion, the great liar. Your soul will rot in the lowest levels of HFIL! Geez, that doesn't even qualify as "good acting" at all. Did you really think you could fool someone like Liam with that load of bull? That's right… He probably sees right through me. Every single time.

"Bastion,"

He froze. Whenever Liam said his name like that, it made the world stop and stutter a little bit.

"Oh, and you don't have to worry, Liam! I'm clean! I have myself checked every month -even if I don't really engage in, err, the kind of promiscuous activity that- uhh, oh crumbs. You know what I mean, don't you?"

"Bastion." The sudden iron grip around his forearm makes him squeak and compulsorily meet his companion's eyes. "Will you please, just shut up for one moment?"

Bastion let out a deflated sigh, obediently averting his gaze downward in an attempt to comply. His sights settle on Liam's shoes. They're a pair of black *Zadidaz running shoes.

Liam endorsed the said brand before for an entire basketball season's "end of summer to autumn" collection and Bastion actually bought all eleven shoes that Liam modelled for those series of commercials. He knew Liam didn't even like basketball that much. His eyes trail up to the loose-fitting dark plum-coloured jogging trousers and the charcoal grey hooded jacket that completed Liam's morning tracksuit. He apparently jogged all the way there from his house which he knew was more than thirty blocks away. Although, he wondered if Liam still lived in the same suite. Bastion used to crash at his pad all the time, until Liam got into a relationship with Ariadney Ochres…

"I just think this isn't going to work."

Bastion snapped to attention.

"Why? Did you have someone else pegged for this role?"

"No,"

"Is it because of Aria?" The name always tasted bitter on his tongue.

"What…? No."

"Well, why then? Why did you even bother to come out here if you felt that way? Am I that incompetent for you when it comes to these things?"

"No, of course not, it's just-"

"Well, what could it possibly be then?!" Bastion interrupted heatedly. He almost never got angry at Liam like this, and the mere idea of them fighting was upsetting him even more. But right now, he felt that he was being treated unfairly and remembering certain things he didn't want to didn't help the shock and frustration he felt. "Would you have agreed to do this with anyone else but me? Is that how much you hate me for what I did?"

"It's not that, you idiot."

"Well, do you plan to actually tell me? Or is it your new hobby to enjoy taunting me?"

Liam closed his eyes as a vein began throbbing in his temple and his fingers automatically went up to massage it. This was transporting him to more than thirty years ago, when the three-year-old Bastion would be close to tears and even sob uncontrollably whenever "he felt" that he had failed to act the way the director needed him to. Back then, it annoyed him so much that he took it upon himself to comfort the boy, both patting his back and ordering him to 'man up' and take every stumbling block as a chance to learn. Bastion was extremely smart and caring but sometimes he got carried away by his sentimentality. It's been a lifetime since he last lived through an episode of it, though, and was usually only treated to this side of his friend when alcohol was involved. Bastion must be more desperate than he's letting on if he was about to throw a sober fit.

Then again, he realized that his sudden walk out earlier may have been a tad too harsh and overly dramatic…

"Listen, Bast-"

"No, Liam! You listen! I don't know what the hell is going on, but I'm sorry, okay? I'm so fucking sorry to disappoint you! But it's me, alright! I don't know why either, but I was the one they paired up with you! And it hurts to know that -for some reason you can't bring yourself down from your pedestal to explain- you didn't want it to be me, but even if you're being such an ass right now, I'm not taking back what I said earlier! I still- wnmmph!"

Liam didn't normally resort to locking lips with people he wanted to shut up, but he made an exception with Bastion (since patting the agitated boy's back didn't look like it was going to work this time). The offhand kiss, however, proved to be very effective…

Bastion remained mute and relatively calmer (if you didn't factor in his racing pulse), many seconds after Liam had already removed his lips. And his aching ears greatly appreciated the silence, very much. But after more seconds elapsed wherein Bastion remained too stunned to remember to move or even breathe, Liam felt that it was cause for concern…

"You still what?" he murmured, their faces still dangerously close.

Bastion actually looked like a three-year-old all over again, his cheeks dusted fiery-pink and moisture pooling at the corner of his eyes. "Why did you kiss me…?" he croaked, his voice a mere breathless whisper.

"To shut you up," Liam said simply, before gently pulling the demi-Saiyajin up with him as he straightened to his full height. "And to prove a point."

To prove a point…?

Oh, gods. What point…?

He would have panicked all over again, his instincts setting off alarms for some reason, but most of him was still sinking underwater. Liam's deep baritone response was hitting him in sluggish undulating waves, all garbled and disjointed, and everything was tipping to one side like a boat about to capsize. Bastion cringed, mortified when he felt Liam reach out to steady him again, for the umpteenth time that morning!

Oh, fuck.

That was really sneaky, Liam. Kiss a guy to prove he's in love with you… This is the point you wanted to prove?

Great. This is not at all how I wanted him to find out…!

Is this what it's come down to? I'm all hung up on having sex with him and yet one kiss and I'm completely unravelled? Aw, but to HFIL with that! So what if he proved that I can't handle one lousy kiss from him because I've got a thing for him? That was a damn good kiss and anybody would've reacted the same way! Why should that be grounds for my inability to perform this part? My personal feelings for him are entirely out of the question! Just you wait when the cameras start rolling, I will prove it to you that I'm a professional!

I'm not backing down, Liam. And I'm not letting you bail either. So, bring it on!

Liam had already started walking, "If you're done internal monologuing, maybe you'd like to continue this somewhere more private? Over tea."

-x-

As they settled into a cosy and dimly lit booth waiting for their tea, Liam crossed his legs and rested his chin on his knuckles, fixing his eyes on a rustic-themed painting on the wall next to him; which Bastion took as his cue to speak.

"Fine."

"Fine, what?"

"If that's going to be the only thing between us- the only reason you don't want to work with me for this project, I'll come clean and admit it!-"

"That you're a virgin?"
"I'm in love with you!"

"What?"
"What?!"

Awkward silence.

"Jinxies!"

They both turned to the source of the overly bubbly interjection: A young blonde curly-haired waitress with two cups of steaming tea on her tray. And judging by the amused smile on her dainty oval bespectacled face, she had witnessed their simultaneous -and yet quite nonsynchronous- declarations for each other.

"You two seem like the kind of couple who would rather be jinxed together than have to jinx the other anyway!" she giggled. "Enjoy your tea!"

Bastion was momentarily derailed by the meaningful wink that was thrown his way. But Liam's focus was –as expected- much harder to disrupt and his probing gaze was back on the half-Saiyajin sooner than he was prepared for.

"What did you say just now?"

Bastion groaned inwardly. His hadn't even recovered from the kiss and now this? An accidental confession? Just how much more could he manage to screw things up in one day? Somehow, he'd rather not know the answer to that.

What are the odds that Liam didn't hear what he said? Super Namek race? Super hearing? Oh yeah, he definitely heard. The question is, did he manage to catch it? He could just be asking for the sake of verification. Or- reiteration. Of course, he could take a chance and lay his chips on the more unlikely bet that Liam didn't hear what he had said clearly enough, hence attempt to rectify the situation. Between being called out as a 'virgin' and as a 'virgin who fancied his best friend', the former was still the less humiliating of the two evils. Geez, did any of this really even matter right now?

"I said…" he began, putting on his best calm face as he brought the cup of organic Chamomile and Lavender tea to his lips and carefully sipped, trying to scald some backbone into his nerves. "I love working with you, Liam." He held his breath and pretended to be engrossed with his beverage, glad that he chose a calming non-caffeine variety, expecting the shrewd Namek to shoot down his obvious lie any moment now…

But no such rebuttal followed and he allowed the teacup to disengage from his lips, at last, so that their view of each other was once again unobstructed.

Liam didn't drink his tea, content for the moment merely staring at Bastion, waiting for him to… what? To fess up? Fold under pressure? the younger actor didn't know, really. But he was willing to take a chance. If Liam was patronizing him by pretending to buy that and just waiting for a chance to trap him again, then he wasn't going to make it easy for him. They were both actors, after all. This was a bluffing game, and the winner was the one who could put on a better act.

"So, that's it?" Bastion pushed his advantage since Liam was doing his 'killing you softly with my Zen silence' thing again; his special weapon of intimidation. But oh no, he was determined to have the upper hand this time! "You think it won't work because I am a virgin?"

"So, you are," Liam spoke, a ghost of a smile playing at the corner of his lips. He broke eye contact to gaze at nothing in particular. "I can't say I'm surprised. But somehow I still am."

"I have experience," Bastion didn't have to lie about that. "Just not as extensive as yours, I imagine. So is that your only problem with me? You think I'm too much of a virgin to do dirty things with?"

Liam gave him a withering look. "Is that something you normally think of doing with your best friends?"

"Don't change the topic!" Bastion grit his teeth (more out of irritation at himself for being helpless to the sudden heat invading his cheeks). "C'mon, you've done films like this before! It isn't like you at all to have a problem with a co-actor just because he lacks 'experience'."

"You're right. I just have a problem because it's you."

The half-breed's jaw fell slack. If someone had dunked a bucket of ice cold water over his head and punched him in the face at that moment, he would have considered it an act of kindness compared to hearing those words off of his best friend's lips. Why was Liam being such a dick? "What's that supposed to mean? You're okay with everybody else, but me?"

"Not everybody."

"Fine, whatever." Bastion spat crossly. "Not everybody. Just not me. Is that it?"

"Do you really want to do this with me?"

Bastion had to look up at his friend's eyes to be sure his ears weren't deceiving him. The expression he found there matched the soft, even somewhat pained tone those words had been uttered. One minute it's all insults, then now it's concern? All these mixed signals; he didn't know what to make of it anymore…

"I know you," Liam continued. "I'm sure you didn't remain a virgin for more than thirty years because there were no takers. It's because you're a romanticist."

Bastion's heart was pounding in his ears now. Just what the dragon's ballz was Liam driving at…? And why did he feel so scared to know, all of a sudden?

"You did read the contract, right? The sex scenes can't be fake."

Of course, he did. He was well aware of that detail. Bastion swallowed hard, his mouth suddenly painfully dry. Liam knew him well enough to know that he never entered these things carelessly. He had two prominent people from the industry close to him who taught him that. His elder sister Klarion, and of course, Liam himself.

"Don't you want your first to be with the one you love?"

Liam met his eyes when he said that and Bastion didn't look away.

This?

This was the reason he didn't want to do this film with me? Because he was worried that I might have "someone special" that I'd like to have my first legitimate sexual experience with?

Oh, Kamisama. If he only knew…

How many times I gave my virginity to him in my dreams; in front of a crappy low-quality monitor, locked in my room, masturbating to his beautiful voice and pleasured face; how many times I greedily took that divine body, tasted his sweat-slick skin and kissed those soul-searing moans from his lips…

Gods, Liam…

"What makes you think I have a special someone I want to have my first real sex with?"

It was the boldest and most brazen thing he had said all day. And now that he knew the root of all this misunderstanding, he felt that he could finally come clean himself. He was tired of running away from the greatest and biggest secret of his life.

There was never anyone else.

It has always been- just you.

He was going to tell Liam the truth, once and for all.

"Well," Liam crossed his arms and regarded him with narrowed eyes, "for starters, you have a girlfriend."

Girlfriend…?

"Did you tell her about this? Is she okay with you having sex with someone else and not her?"

Girlfriend?

Oh.

Oh…

End of Act 2.
Continued in Act 2.5 Revealing Intermission…

(01/06 – 08/2017)

Original Posts:
x- MariekoWest {AO3}
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