.Author's Note. I'm back, my poppets, with another part in tow! This was one of my favorite chapters to write so far, just because it was pretty fun overall. It doesn't have as much plot substance as my other parts, but this one removes some of the seriousness that I've been kinda trapped in for the past while with this fic.
Uhh...I really don't have much to say, 'cept for that I don't own the song that's mentioned in here. Most people should know full well who's song it is.
I stared with blank eyes as I watched their expressions morph into looks of complete surprise. It almost amused me to see them react so openly, but not to the point that I would've seen it. It didn't put a smirk on my face as it probably would have on usual occasions because I was too focused on what Komorka's words actually implied. How does she know so much about me? This is getting so strange. I don't think I've even met her before in my life…
She continued as if she hadn't even thought twice about the kids' reactions. And if she had thought twice, she decided to ignore them. "Now, please, untie her. There's no need to do such things to a friend; she's no threat to you."
That, to say in the simplest way, offended me. I glowered with my lips pressed together tightly, feeling insulted by how she put her words. No threat?! I could kick any of these stupid kids' butts blindfolded! I'm the one person you don't wanna meet in a dark alley! Don't believe me? Then put your fists up and I'll show you first-hand! I could take Rai if he was multiplied sevenfold! And I am not their friend! You'd have to pay me to get past the enemy level!
One certain redhead didn't agree with the old woman, either. I could clearly see on the curves of his face just how much the last words of his elder were annoying him; I thought the blood vessel in his forehead was about to pop. "Friend?! I don't care if she's a Tigeroid—she's not any friend of mine!" He turned towards me and we glared daggers at each other, his fiery eyes against mine. At least our opinions toward each other were mutual on this aspect.
Komorka chuckled at our resentment that must have been extremely detectable to anyone that looked at us, seemingly well-entertained by our rather childish antics. "I have a feeling that you two will become good friends. You have the same spirit."
"And the same stubbornness," Sena added with a grin and what looked like a knowing expression that I didn't know the reasoning behind, at which we both snapped our faces away from each other in pure irritation. I could feel my face beginning to heat an unusual amount at the brunette's rather insulting remark. The fact that she was comparing me to the likes of him was the top reasoning that came into my mind. I was nothing like him.
The Tigeroid elder didn't acknowledge the brunette's degrading words and just kept her soft eyes upon me. Instantly beyond my control, I felt my defensiveness decreasing. A part of me knew that she was in no way a potential risk to me if I believed her. After all, she seemed to be familiar with me and every aspect that made me. "Please release her if you will."
Rai paid no attention any longer, dismissing himself without any given warning out of the room aside from what seemed to be a not-so-subtle groan, while I was freed by the others of my bondage. My fingers gingerly touched my wrists, my hand that still held the Tai Chi Card tense and lacking much sensitivity. After a few words to Komorka that I didn't bother paying attention to, the Chasers left the room, leaving just the elder and me in silence.
Her expression remained unchanged, her face stoic but her eyes soft, as she merely gazed at me at what felt like a very long time and I just uncomfortably looked back. It felt to me that she was trying to tell me something without the use of words, but my mind just refused to tell me what that thing was. I knew it had to do something with how she knew me—that was overly obvious—but any connection that she may have had with my family was a total mystery to me.
A sudden smile startled me. Actually, for some reason beyond my knowledge, it scared me. There was nothing intimidating about it, but some little recognition within it that came from a root I knew not of frightened me. It had triggered something in the back of my mind and led me to look away. I started for the door, wishing to get away, and when I had my grasp on the doorknob, I caught ear of her voice from behind me, "You don't always have to be alone, Ara. Remember that not all Tigeroids are against you," and I left.
Upon exploration of the Tiger Airship, I realized it was really quite spacious and rather homey. Where I was held captive was rather close to what I figured was the bridge, an open, simple command center that was bright with the light flooding in through the countless windows that lined the walls. Looking out of them briefly, it wasn't hard to realize we were high into the air above Earth; I didn't care where we were, however, because there wasn't really much I could do about our location anyway.
I moved on in my journeying, moving about the hallways and peeking in the different rooms. When I opened a door to a bedroom, I realized I must've been in their sleeping quarters were. It was a rather simple bedroom with a bed, a desk, and a dresser in a corner. The room was void of any disarray whatsoever and the bed was neatly made without a single, visible wrinkle in the blankets, so I figured this room was currently uninhabited. I ran my fingertips along the soft covers and thought about how long it had been since I had slept in an actual bed. A nap really couldn't hurt anything, but… I stared down at the Tai Chi Card in my hand, I'll need to put this somewhere on my person so they can't take it when I'm sleeping.
None of my pockets would do, I figured, as putting it in one of them would be obvious, so I just shrugged, slipped it into my bra, and hoped that not even Rai was stupid enough to go for it there. That decided, I crawled under the warm blankets, snuggled my head into the feathery pillow, and began to nod off.
It took a few minutes when I roused to realize I really was seeing what I thought it was seeing. I squinted and rubbed my eyes a few times, but it still took a moment or two for my mind to click that Finn was towering over me and just staring down at me with his icy eyes, looking unimpressed. Apparently this was reason enough to finally talk to me after just giving me a deathly stare this entire time, and all he decided to say was, "You're in my bed."
I almost smiled as my mind made a response, I'll slide over if you wanna join me. But I figured that I was probably better off just leaving, so I noiselessly pushed the covers off me and got up. Beginning to stretch my arms, I knew he was watching me and my every move. Wasn't my fault that I thought this room was uninhabited. I frowned. It's not like you have any habits that are even remotely human-like to show me that this room belongs to an actual person. My neck turned and cracked, and from the angle, I could peer back, seeing the cold Tigeroid out of the very corner of my eye. He must've known I was watching him watching me, because I felt the chill of his irises meeting mine in locked gaze.
What is up with him?
My eyes narrowed, but neither one of us removed our stares from the other. A long silence ensued and both of us didn't move. His face was hard and almost completely expressionless, but his eyes were flaring like they had suddenly burst from their death-like state into a vivid life. Was he actually capable of feeling? This thought seemed more unnerving than the fact that I had accepted prior that he had no emotions to be shown because that meant I was underestimating him and his abilities. He clearly didn't trust me—I wouldn't either if I was him—and so I couldn't be certain what he was going to do. Because, as I had deducted when I first laid eyes on him, he didn't appear at all afraid to hurt me.
But I wasn't about to let him. In fact, I was getting pretty cocky at this point. I turned my entire face toward him, smiled smugly, and stuck out my tongue at him. Can't touch this, I said with my eyes before striding out of the room. Closing the door behind me, I pressed my ear to it and listened for the sound of him nearing. I heard only silence, and it was about then that I realized that he was skilled enough to walk without a sound, so it was pretty demeaning for me to do so.
Shrugging, I carried on in my venturing around. There was a door at the very end of the hall that caught my attention. I figured since it was where the hall led to that it was a door to a different wing of the airship. Maybe if I was lucky I would eventually stumble across the galley where they stored all the food. I had no idea what time it was because my internal clock was all screwed up, but my stomach told me it was time to look for something to eat.
So I proceeded to that room and when I had my fingers on the knob to open it, I thought I had heard someone talking from inside. I opened the door slowly to prevent my presence to be known and when it was open wide enough that I was just standing there in the doorway, my eyes widened at the sight and my mouth opened at a very deranged angle. Things had suddenly taken a turn for the weird.
What I had entered was another bedroom (a bit messier than the room I was in prior, so I knew there was an actual, normal human here), and for the fact that Rai was in there, I figured it was his (so much for normal human). He didn't notice me just watching him, as he was too busy standing in front of the mirror, running his fingers through his untamed bangs, and saying to himself with a snaggletooth grin, "Hey there, Sexy…" Well then. Someone's got ego…or something.
Oh yeah, he was also shirtless.
I crossed my arms and leaned against the doorframe, waiting, actually curious to see what he was gonna do. I kind of got an idea as soon as I saw him click the play button on a stereo. Music began to play and he just stood there bobbing his head and tapping his foot to the beat, like he was actually counting time for him to join in on it. He let the first verse and the bridge pass on by, keeping his cool, and then it came to the point of no return…
"I'm sexy and I know it."
Seeing him bust a move and dance to that made my eyes want to melt. I thought of leaving and pretending I wasn't scarred for life, but my body wouldn't budge. I wasn't sure what it was about this thing going on before me, but I just couldn't look away. With every passing second, I was growing just that much more disturbed. I knew that Rai was one deranged guy, but this…this didn't even fit the word deranged anymore. It was on an entirely different level.
My thought: Why, God, why?
A part of me distinctly wanted to go blind. The other part of me agreed. Unfortunately, I didn't spot anything that I could gouge my eyes out with, but that was probably because I just couldn't rip my gaze from him doing that right in front of me to look for a sharp object.
Before I realized what exactly was going on, the music had stopped and Rai was yelling something that sounded a little profane at me. At this point, I was caught in too much of a daze to realize the fact that he was actually really, really angry with me. A good question would be why, but common sense told me it was probably the fact I'd been staring at him as he preformed his whole little spiel. And plus, he pretty much already hated me, so now wouldn't be a very smart time to stop.
My eyes trailed downward off his face and furrowed my brows at his lack of shirt. It wasn't as though he was chunky or too scrawny or anything, it was just the fact that he looked a little ridiculous getting in my face while wearing only his shorts. It was just impossible to take him seriously.
I grasped his shoulders and shoved him away from me, causing him to let loose a little, "Hey!" but I was too busy walking over to a little coffee table near his bed, snatching up a pen and paper, and writing. He turned and watched me in a little vexation, until his expression changed to annoyance once again when I showed him what I had written:
Dude, put a shirt on.
No one wants to see that.
