I am so sorry for being slow. I have three presentations in one day and mid semester exams the next (and it was pharmacology, neuroscience and physiology combined together-you can wonder how did I survive).
To China Gamer Girl: Yes, I never mentioned why suddenly Francis knew Yao was a man. It was a blunder on my prat. or maybe because Francis' instinct? LOL.
Enjoy!
Parte 4
"Arthur… wake up, aru…" Yao tried to wake Arthur, whose head was deeply buried in his flat chest. "Arthur…"
"I don't want to go to work."
Yao smiled at the selfish demand. Arthur has changed, in a matter of weeks. He used to be the scary sentinels who imprisoned Yao inside a small inn, but two days after that they moved into a small, comfortable apartment. And although Arthur still not allowed Yao to go anywhere without him, he gave Yao more freedom and provided a safe place for both Yao and small Kiku. Furthermore, Arthur's attitude changed 180 degree, from a cold, aloof dominating Sentinel, into a meek, spoiled, demanding kid. As much as Yao was amused, Arthur's new attitude was quite cute.
The downhill was that Arthur became less and less able to separate himself from Yao during the day. Mornings were always a problem, because Arthur mostly pretended he was still asleep and refused to go to work. Just like that day.
"It's Monday and you need to work, aru."
"I will call in sick and stay here for the whole day. I want to be with you, Yao."
"Arthur, this is not good, aru. You called in sick on Friday too."
"Don't mind. It's fine. Let's play twenty questions morning version?"
"What is that, aru?"
"I ask you a question and you answer. Honestly. Then you can ask anything and I will answer. It's simple. Okay, let me start. What is your favourite food?"
Yao looked confused for sometime before answering. "I… I like rice, aru."
Arthur laughed. "Now I know why your teeth are so white. Now you ask."
Yao smiled. "What is your favourite food, Arthur?"
"Let see.." Arthur snuggled deeper onto Yao's body, his nose enjoying the scent from Yao's neck. "I want to always eat you."
"Silly. I am not food." Yao smiled slyly and rubbed Arthur's rough hair. It smelled heavenly.
"So it's my turn now. Why you are named Yao? What does 'Yao' means?"
"Yao means to shine brilliantly. My parent wished I will be a scholar or something. But I ended up being a Guide and can do nothing, aru…anyway, what is yours, Arthur? Why are you named Arthur?"
"…I don't know. Maybe they just named it from the story book. I was taken in by the Tower when I was small. Before that, I don't have family."
Yao sensed a string of pain and darkness from their bond. Unconsciously, he tried to push the darkness away, yet it was there, hard and unmoveable. It showed how strong the feeling was. Yao hugged Arthur tighter.
"You have me, now, aru."
"…You were the one who tried to run from me just weeks ago, Yao." Arthur chuckled. "Are you sure?"
"I don't know aru. But you seem like a nice guy."
"I don't like that."
"My turn, aru." Yao smiled. "Why do you never take a bath in the morning, aru?"
"I don't want to clean myself for a dirty job. ..Hey! This is supposed to be my turn!"
"No, it was my turn, aru. You asked me 'are you sure' aru, so I answered and then it is my turn."
"Mine!" Arthur shook his head and pouted. "Mine!"
"Fine, aru. This is your turn. What do you want to ask me?"
"…What did Francis wrote in his letters?"
Yao closed his mouth. Francis, yes, his—Yao's—pen pal. They had been writing to each other with Arthur as the post man. the French man has told Yao a lot, about what is the meaning of being a Guide in the West, how to survive and how to use his ability to guide Arthur. Francis mentioned that Arthur was one of the most fucked up Sentinel minds he ever saw in his—Francis'—life, so he encouraged Yao to be super-sensitive towards the green eyed man.
"He told me about you, aru. You like tea better than coffee, aru. I like it too. But Francis mentioned that you always wake up early. Yet now you are not. Why aru?"
"He is just a lying bastard." Arthur pouted. "I don't like to wake up early when I can snuggle with you in bed."
"Arthur…"
"…Alright, I am going to work." Arthur straightened his body. He rise from the bed and moaned loudly. It startled Kiku in his cribs and the baby started to sob.
"Ah, I awaken him." Arthur scratched his hair. He walked towards the crib and peeked inside. The baby was sobbing with his little hands clamping on the sheets. Arthur watched closer, watching how such a small mouth can produce such a big sound.
"He wouldn't stop if you just watch him like that, aru." Yao laughed. "Smile to him Arthur. It will make Kiku feel safer."
"Smile?" Arthur asked. And his lips started to open and formed a half circle. Kiku saw Arthur's changing face and bawled even louder.
Yao laughed. "That's not a smile, aru! Be gentler, sincere."
Arthur chewed his lips before forming another smile. This time he did it right, because Kiku stopped crying and smiled back, giggling with face full of snot.
"He… he is laughing at me." Arthur stumbled, but he maintained his smile to the baby. Yao laughed even louder.
"No, he was laughing with you, aru. He could sense your happiness. Toddlers are sensitive, aru."
"Finally I got you."
Arthur hissed at the air in front of him. No, it wasn't actually some air. It was another Sentinel with the ability to 'blend in' just like Arthur. Arthur has been trying to spot on the Eastern Sentinel, and finally he succeeded into bringing the man away from the war front line, into the other part of the wood where it wasn't full of blood. And true to it, suddenly a man appeared out of nowhere. Stood in front of Arthur, was an Eastern man of his late twenties.
"You are the one who had been targeting me since two weeks ago." Arthur growled. "What do you want? I know this is war and everything, but I don't kill. I don't want to kill if I can. It's annoying to maintain that will if you keep targeting me."
"I know." The man frowned. "I am here just like you. We are spies. We blend in, we watch the war and reported it back to our superiors. Yes, I know what happened. I am exactly the same as you. But me targeting you is because of private reason."
"I never know you; I never did anything to you, so why? What private reason do you mean?"
"You took my partner away." The man snarled, showing his elongated fangs. "He is mine. He originated in the East, and I met him first in the Eastern village before he ran away. I was supposed to be his partner, not you, a Western fool!"
Arthur finally realized what it was all about. Yao.
"He is mine now, so don't you dare touch him."
The Eastern Sentinels growled darkly. "I will kill you if you don't return my Guide! Flaunting his smell on my nose like this… you are truly a brave man to challenge me."
"He has bonded with me. He is mine."
"I don't care. In the East, we can bond to out Guide as long as the Guide is free. If you are dead, then he will be free to bond with me."
"I won't surrender Yao, you imbecile!"
"You are the one who took it first from me!"
Their eyes told each other that they won't reach a peaceful agreement, and both started to move. In a split of second, they both blended into the air.
The thing with blend-in Sentinels are, they still could feel the other even though they were both blended into the air and cannot see each other. Arthur could feel the aura of the Eastern man came nearer to him, a neck breaking speed. He reacted, and almost a split of second late. His cheek was bleeding, as if the wind has cut him. Arthur knew that if he didn't dodge, his neck would have been slashed clean cut.
He attacked back. Instead of using his hands, he used his feet and aimed at where the aura came from. It made a crack sound, and a bit of pain stung his feet. Arthur knew he aimed well, but how much damage his kick has done was unclear. Suddenly a gush of wind came from beside his left ear, and Arthur dodged it just in time; pain from the impact made his arm throbbed.
"He is mine. Get your own western bitch, Westerners!" The voice roared, and Arthur felt another punch was aimed at his face. As he dodged, Arthur smiled. So the Eastern man aimed more to the face and head, Arthur's most vulnerable points. Meanwhile Arthur attacked back and aimed for the gut, which was the other's vulnerable point. It showed how different Eastern and Western in their defence training.
Interesting.
The battle continued for another half an hour before suddenly Arthur was distracted by the sound of his clock signalling lunch alarm.
His mind was down for a minute, reminded of lunch and Yao, when he got punched right on the nose by unseen hand. It was painful, Arthur felt as if his forehead has been detached from his head. He cursed, and aimed his punch to the aura instead. It nicely landed on some part of the body that induced considerable amount pain, as suddenly his opponent appeared from the thin air, holding his chest in pain.
Both of them stopped for a moment to collect themselves. Arthur could smell blood from his broken nose, while the Eastern man spitted out blood.
"We'll continue this later." The man growled.
"…What a coward. Can't you stand?"
The man growled, but he disappeared into thin air. Arthur readied himself for another attack and blended in himself; but the aura totally disappeared. Arthur readied himself, but after ten minutes of silence, he knew that he had won the first battle.
But then he realized he didn't know the Eastern Sentinel's name. What a waste. If he knew, he could search something about him from the Tower linked database.
He would definitely asked Francis later.
"What happened? Your nose look like it grows inside your skull, Arthur." Francis sighed. "I thought you were not supposed to fight? Aren't you the spy?"
Arthur refused to answer. He was seated on one of the bed inside the Tower's Hospital wing. Around him were Sentinels and Normals and Guides, all in medical occupation or patients. Arthur's face looked fine, except for the crooked bluish black nose.
"Why are you here?" Arthur hissed in irritation, because he didn't wish to see the Guide. He wanted to go home straight away and made sure Yao was safe inside their apartment.
"I got called. I was supposed to calm you down. But now that you have 'him', you don't need me anymore. Yet just for safety precaution, do you want me to calm you?"
"No. I want to go back."
Francis sighed. "You fool. If you refused my offer, they will get suspicious, you know. You haven't asked for calming for at least two weeks, and you were one of the most 'needy' Sentinels in the past. If I don't calm you here, they will think you have something back in your newly bought home."
"I… I don't want to bond with you. I want … him."
Francis scratched his head. Yes, Sentinels are head headed and needy, yet they are also unbelievably loyal. There are some cases where Sentinels killed themselves when their Guides die, simply because they couldn't receive any other guides anymore. Arthur never received Francis fully as his personal Guide, so he was fine. But now he had Yao, Arthur felt disgusted at the mere thought of thinking and bonding mentally with Francis; let alone physically bonding.
"I want to go back. I want to go to Yao."
Francis sighed. "Fine. I will tell them we had bonded. Now, go."
When he saw Arthur's face light up; Francis felt something stabbed his heart directly.
Francis sighed. He wanted to cry. The boy he loved dearly has found his own love. And now Arthur refused his help, the only thing Francis could give him.
It used to be different. When Francis was caught and brought into the Tower ten years ago, he was angry and scared and hates the Tower. But then he leaned the truth that his family was killed to prevent him getting out from the Tower. So instead he wanted to get revenge at the Tower using his own skill, from the inside.
He was a Guide, yes. He was physically weak, yet his mental was strong and he was very manipulative. He was assigned into 5 Sentinels in his first month; and although it was painful, he managed to control himself and instead, manipulated the Sentinels in his care to love him more than the Tower. Under his orders, the Sentinels under his guidance brought prosperity to the Tower, and most of them are upranked within a year.
His reputation then boomed; and eventually he was assigned as many Sentinels as he could handle. All those who fell under his guidance became very loyal to him, and Francis slowly took control of the Sentinels inside the Tower. It wasn't that easy as the concept showed, but basically Francis was quite able to manipulate those lower Sentinels. And Arthur was one of the new Sentinels given under his guidance.
The teenaged Arthur was an angry boy. He was the most challenging and also the clingiest. Francis grew a bit a soft side for the boy, especially since he knew Arthur's background, which was quite similar to his current condition as a family-less man.
But now, he reaped what he sowed. Arthur found someone else he loved more than Francis. Francis knew better than to involve his own feeling while manipulating people. And now Arthur's attitude made him sad. And jealous of the new Guide, the Eastern Guide he never seen but knew a lot from the letter.
The new Guide—that Yao—sounded like a sweet weak Eastern man. Yet Francis knew how tightly guarded Yao was. From the letter, he could find no lingering scent/thing that can let Francis tracked back to the Eastern man. The only thing he could make sure that Yao existed was the scent lingering on Arthur's body and Arthur's smug smile. Yao seemed meek, yet he was strong in guarding what was important.
The Sentinel in his arms looked at him.
"What are you thinking?"
"Nothing." Francis smiled and kissed the blond four-eyed boy. "You are adorable with your white teddy bear, Matthew."
Yao went pale when he saw Arthur's black nose.
"AIYAH! Heavens, what happened, aru? Why your nose turn black? Are you OK? Aiyah! Not good!"
Arthur smiled. Somehow looking at panicking Yao brought him a kind of warmth. "I am fine, Yao. But I need you so much now."
Yao stopped panicking and abruptly opened his clothes. "Come to me, aru!"
Arthur was flabbergasted before he roared in laughter. Yao's act was so manly, and his words 'come to me, aru!' sounded like a Superman call. Yao ignored the laugh, despite blushing a bit, and in no time, they embraced each other's heat.
Yao gently pulled put everything, lowering Arthur's senses and made him felt better. It was one of the rare moments when Yao topped (but Arthur still delivered—as in, penetrated); and Arthur realized that his pain went away as Yao pushed up and down on his hips, riding him.
From his box, little Kiku watched in amusement, while sucking on his pacifier.
review? Cheer me up after a bad week?