Chapter 7
Warnings: AU-ish, yaoi, language, Duo's POV
This Chapter is rated R for language, crude humor, violence, smooching, and general lecherousness
Pairings: 2x1/1x2, 3x4, 5+S, Y/L, A/D; Y+2, Sukibera+2 (…you'll see…)
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. Damn it.
A/N: Finally! Wow, guys, I truly am sorry this took so long, but here it is, Chapter 7. I won't waste your time with a boring, uninformative author's note that half of you might not read, but I do want to thank you all for sticking with this story, you're the best!
"Speech."
Thoughts.
Telepathy.
Chapter 7: After the Party is the After-Party
:ooooo:
"-ang Wufei. And so, without further hesitation, let the Celebration begin!" I sighed in relief as a raucous cheer went up from the crowd gathered around us.
It was about fucking time!
The Elders had been talking for an eternity (ok, so apparently, according to Raz, it'd only been about thirty minutes, but still!), rambling on and on about who we were, where we came from, what Gift we had, and who our amplifiers were (oh, God, you should have SEEN some of the peoples' faces for that, hahaha!), all that good stuff.
I'd sat there the entire time, sandwiched between Razyo and Yori, bored out of my mind, wondering just when the hell the woman's speech would be over. I alternated between drooling over the food-laden tables and Heero, unsure of which I wanted a taste of first.
…Although, when you really take the time to think about it, there's no competition.
I was snapped out of my reverie by a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at Razyo, as he nodded to the tables. "You ready to eat, Duo?" I was on my feet before he finished the first word.
"Hell yeah, I'm ready to eat!" I exclaimed, quickly smoothing out my… skirt (I'd stood up a little too quickly, if Yoriko's snickering was any indication). I turned to the still-laughing (bastard) demon. "You coming?" He shook his head, still grinning.
"Nah, 'm not hungry." I opened my mouth to say something (not sure what, exactly, I'd planned for it to be one of those fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants moments), when Loeke sidled up to the black-haired demon's side and purred something in his ear. Yoriko's grin turned lascivious. "Apparently," he continued as he stood. "I've got… other plans." With a suggestive eyebrow-raise to Razyo and I, he and the smaller demon strolled across the lawn and out of sight.
"Wow," Raz said laughingly as I rolled my eyes and we headed off to grab plates. As I looked around myself, I was amazed as to how surreal this whole situation was. We were at a party, a garden party, not unlike any other I'd ever been to, with lots of food and drinks, and laughter and music and dancing, people gossiping and arguing (from the looks of it), old people, young people, the works. In the midst of all this apparent normalcy, it was easy to forget that we had just fallen into another world, easy to forget that all these people possessed magic powers, that they had no problem with the fact they were in the presence of demons, that some of them were demons themselves. That they-
"Ah, Duo?"
Fucking fuck!
I whirled around to face the owner of the questioning hand on my shoulder, ready to chew out whoever had just interrupted my thought process, and was caught off-guard by a pair of blue eyes.
Q (ha, bet you thought it was Heero, didn't you?) blinked rapidly. Taken aback by my vehemence, he backed up a little, smiling almost cautiously. "Calm down, Duo, I was just going to give you a plate, since you didn't have one and they're over on the other table." He held out his left hand, and handed one to me. I stuck my nose in the air and stomped airily past him. He chuckled, unfazed by my admittedly ridiculous reaction, and fell in line behind me. "You're such a freak, Duo," he teased. I didn't really hear him though, as I was too busy piling deliciously exotic-looking food onto my plate.
I was almost halfway through the huge table, my platter already full, when I felt a pair of eyes drilling into my back. I whipped around, hoping against hope that it was Heero, and found myself looking into a pair of pale grey eyes. I blinked a few times, wondering why those eyes seemed so familiar….
"Hn," I heard, as someone brushed past me, and snatched a roll out of my hand. I quirked an eyebrow at Heero, as he bit into the still-warm bread. "What?" I asked, ignoring Aedeka's laughter. Heero shook his head.
"Nothing, I just recognize that guy from the pool. He…" he looked a little uncertain for a moment, but continued. "He was watching you the whole time we were in there." I chuckled. Oh, yeah! There was no doubt in my mind now: he definitely wantedme!
I chanced a quick glance back at my mystery admirer, who was, consequently, still looking at me (hm, not bad looking…), then turned back to Heero, grinning. "Aww, you jealous, Hee-baby?" He simply smirked back at me, turned, and started walking away.
…Goddam beautiful sexy bastard.
I grabbed a few more things off the table and loaded them onto my plate, and grabbed a mug filled with wine (I'm assuming it was wine, judging by the fact that the little kids weren't drinking it, and older people were clearly under the influence of something). I started over to the table where the guys were, but got stopped half a million times by random people, who were apparently fascinated by me, my powers, and my demon. And my hair.
I'm not going to tell you how many times I heard "Oh, so you ARE a boy!"
Anyway, after what seemed like forever, I finally reached the table where the guys were and plopped down next to Trowa. I'm not even sure my butt had touched the seat yet, before I started to dig in. For some reason, everyone seemed to find this hilarious.
"Slow down, Duo, your food's not going anywhere," Quat chuckled. I tried to stick my tongue out at him, but my mouth was too full. So, instead, I decided to make a face, and continue to enjoy the delicious food, and whatever was in the mug. That was some darn good stuff, by the way.
Apparently, Shoria didn't like being associated with Raz (or men in general), so she was off somewhere with her friends, but other than her, we were eating with our Temple Heads. For awhile, there was nothing but the not-so-musical sound of food being consumed, and we simply enjoyed one another's presences. It was simple, and quiet.
After awhile, though, things started to get interesting.
It all started when Yoriko and Loeke re-appeared, looking ridiculously happy (jeez, I wonder why), and the little white-haired demon couldn't seem to keep his hands, or any part of his body, off his lover. Fortunately for us, everyone had finished eating, so we could sit back and enjoy the sight of Veda trying to chew them out for being "indecent."
Pretty soon, however, it became apparent that Yori's and Loeke's mood was contagious: Seiren and Taiga were snuggled up together (uninhibited because they were a little drunk), while Quat and T leaned close, and smiled tiny, secretive smiles at one another.
Awww….
Gag.
I was also feeling the effects of the wine, enjoying the warm, floaty feeling that it had created. I was also a little frustrated, as up until this point, I still hadn't learned anything about "dangerous" Dakora. He hadn't said anything, hadn't really moved form his spot between Aedeka and Trowa; he actually seemed almost nervous. But, as the sex-vibe spread, Dakora seemed to get more daring. He silently climbed into Aedeka's lap, smirking, and started whispering into his ear. Then, he got a little more daring and began licking and biting that same ear. (Damn, these people were oversexed!) Aedeka grinned and growled encouragingly, wrapping his arms tightly around the smaller demon, who chuckled darkly and got even bolder, his hands disappearing from immediate view.
…And that, apparently, was far too bold for Veda.
"Dakora, you licentious little profligate, stop that!" the blue-haired demon snapped across the table. Dakora looked up and bared razor-sharp teeth, golden eyes narrowed. Yoriko and Loeke snickered, and Aedeka sighed deeply as the little demon began growling.
"The fuck did you just call me?" the redhead demanded hotly twisting around in his lover's embrace. I saw Trowa shoot a rather concerned look in Wufei's direction, to which the Chinese boy answered with a brisk nod. (If you hadn't noticed, brisk is the nature of Wufei. Just in case you hadn't noticed. Cuz I have.)
"Dakora, stop arguing with Veda," Trowa commanded the riled little fox.
"Veda, calm down and leave Dakora alone," Wufei said in a voice that left no room for argument, putting a stern hand on the tall demon's shoulder. Veda scowled at the small fire demon for a moment before sniffing and turning up his perfect nose, clearly finished with the situation.
Dakora, apparently, had no intention of letting Veda have the last word, as it was, (come on, who would?) and growled obstinately in Aedeka's lap. In fact, I think (and was hoping that) he would have gone over and let the blue-haired demon know exactly how he felt, had Aedeka had not whispered something in his ear, and let his hands fall strategically into the boy's lap. Veda snarled, but said nothing, and stayed where he was. Meanwhile, I pouted in my seat.
Dammit, why was everyone hooking up but me!
I glanced over at Heero, and was about to ask him to take a walk, so we could finally have that talk, when Wufei cut me off.
Damn him and his poor timing!
"Well, I'm bored. What is there to do around here, Seiren?" The black-haired boy started a bit, tearing his eyes away from his half-demon boyfriend, and blinked rapidly.
"Hauuh?" he asked, eyes straining to focus. Taiga laughed and hugged the smaller man.
"Sorry, Wufei, he's not at his best right now." The brown-eyed boy muttered something incoherent, burying his face in his lover's shirt. Taiga laughed again, stroking Seiren's silky black hair. "No, you're not, dear. Anyway," he continued, turning back to Wufei, "there's plenty to do, if you're bored with the party, I'd suggest walking around the grounds." He waved an arm around, indicating the land beyond the field we were in. "Anywhere you could want to go is technically on temple grounds. If you'd like, I could show you all to your house, and then you can take your walk." Wufei nodded.
"That sounds good to me, what do you all think?" I thought heck yes! As interesting as this party atmosphere was, I was rearing to see what exactly I was getting into. Quatre nodded, and polished off the rest of his drink. Whoohoo, Quat!
"Yeah, I'm for it, sounds great." Trowa nodded as well, and looked over to Heero.
"Yuy, what do you think?" Heero stood up and looked around.
"Yeah, why not?" He paused, then, "Hey, Taiga?" The half-fox turned.
"Uh-huh?" Heero smiled a tiny smile.
"Are there any hotsprings around here?" The half-demon looked a bit caught off-guard by Heero's question, but nodded and stood as well.
"Well, yeah, there are a few. There's one in particular…" he began, trailing off, casting a questioning eye over at his boyfriend. Seiren seemed to sober up a bit, looking around at us.
"You c'n tell 'em, Taaaiiga, I think they c'n keep a'secret. I trust'um." And with that, he promptly swooned. Raz caught the larger boy before he hit the ground.
"Damn, Tai, why'd you let him drink so much?" The redhead's smirk was sensual, and his wink suggestive.
"Because he'll sober up by the time we get back to the House, and we don't have morning training tomorrow." Raz rolled his eyes, but grinned.
Dear Lord, I was so concerned for these people! …And so jealous!
Taiga laughed again, taking his lover into his own arms, and then turned back to us. "Trowa, could you come here a moment?" T frowned a bit, but obeyed his Temple Head, and walked over to him. Taiga said something that seemed to shock Tro, and they began conferring in low voiced. I tried to eavesdrop a bit before I tuned them out.
Eavesdropping is horribly boring when you can't hear anything.
Yoriko and Loeke stood up and stretched, and I followed suit, yawning widely. Raz chuckled behind me. "Tired already, Duo?" I pretended to wave him away. Pishaw!
"Oh, please, like I'd miss an opportunity to get into another hotspring. With him." I nodded to you-know-who, who was chatting it up with his demon, Wufei, and Veda. Razyo nodded.
"Ah, I see. Well, normally I wouldn't pass up the opportunity to get into a hotspring with you," he pressed himself snugly against my back and wrapped his arms around me, "but I have a morning training session tomorrow with Urai. I'm so sorry." I laughed and pretended to snuggle into him.
"Oh, no, Raz. And here I was so excited about being nearly naked in front of you again," I pouted. We shared another laugh and separated when Raz was summoned over by Quat, who was admiring the some of the flowers around us. Still smiling, I looked up and found Kyo directly in front of me, with an unbelievably murderous look on his face. The smile melted instantly.
Gulp.
I was fully expecting some sort of assault, verbal or otherwise, and steeled myself for the worst. "Don't."
Meh? I voiced this.
The pale boy took a deep breath, then let it out in an explosive sigh. "I-I said don't, don't do that. Don't joke with him like that." Oh-ho-ho, victory! The ice prince does have a heart!
"So you do like Raz, don't you?" I crowed, jabbing a triumphant finger at him. He growled and slapped my hand away.
"I never said that," he snapped too-quickly. I grinned.
"No, but if you don't, why do you have such a problem with him being all over me?" Haha, me and my philosophical questions. The water mage turned his back to me and started to walk towards Quat, Loeke, and Raz.
"Be quiet." Well, fine, then. Snippy bitch.
He placed a gentle hand on the shoulder of the boy that he, supposedly, only had platonic feelings for (ha, platonic my left nut!) and gestured to somewhere across the lawn.
"I'm heading back, Razyo. I'll see you in the morning." Raz blushed and stammered a response. Kyo nodded to him, then to everyone else, and walked away.
"I just don't fuckin' get that guy," I muttered to myself. Taiga surprised me by chuckling and putting a hand on my back, leading me away from the tables.
"Don't worry, Duo, no one does," he said, shaking his head in mock pity. "Poor idiot." He laughed again, then turned and began walking backwards, so he could face the others. "Alright, come on, guys, I'll show you to your house, then, after that, I've explained to Trowa where the spring is, and you can go afterwards, if you still want to." He ditched me to walk next to Seiren, and I slowed down and caught up with Yoriko, who was, surprisingly, walking next to Heero. Yori saw me and grinned widely, elbowing the messy-haired boy next to him. Heero's eyes widened and he colored a bit, then he damn near sprinted over to Tro and 'Fei.
Maybe it wasn't so surprising after all.
"What the hell did you say to him?" I demanded, turning on the demon, fists clenched. I'd be damned if he ruined my soon-to-be-perfect night with his lunacy! Yoriko shrugged.
"Nothing. He was just a little embarrassed that I saw what he had been thinking about." He grinned and suddenly I got a vivid mental picture, one involving Heero, myself, nudity, and copious amounts of steam.
Oh… my….
Yoriko shrugged again, and the little X-rated mind-movie stopped. "I have no idea why…." And with that, he strolled off, leaving me to ponder whether he had just replayed Heero's fantasy, or one of my own.
God, I hated him and his enigmatic…ism.
That's not a word. And don't try that, you love me, and you know it, he purred in my head. I glared over at him, and would have probably chewed the bastard out, had Dakora not popped out of nowhere at that exact moment.
"Hey, Duo! What'cha doin'? You look kinda sad." I jumped, partially because he startled the hell out of me, and partially because he seemed to be back to normal all of a sudden. I glanced questioningly over at Aedeka, who gave me a "what are ya gonna do?"-type shrug, and smiled fondly at his mate.
I looked back down to find that the little fox was now walking backwards, staring at me, waiting for me to answer his question. Oh. "Ah, well, I'm not really doing anything right now, Dakora. I mean, I was contemplating killing Yoriko for a bit, but, you know, I guess I kinda need him." Dakora looked cutely contemplative.
"Yeah, you do. But, you should be real careful about wanting to kill him, Loeke might hurt you if you try to." He nodded sagely and began wandering away, towards Quat and Loeke. "Yep." Uh, okay. I turned to Aedeka, who watched as his lover pounce upon the little white haired demon.
"Um, what the hell the hell was that all about, Aedeka? Is he back to normal?" He chuckled and nodded. Huh. How disappointing.
"For the time being, I suppose he is. Honestly, I was as surprised as you were, his shifts usually last longer than that." He shrugged. "I don't mind, one way or another, which 'phase' he's in, I have fun either way." I rolled my eyes. Fun, huh?
Aedeka laughed, ruffled my hair in an obnoxiously older-brother kind of way, and went over to his lover, who had dropped to the back of our little procession, and was now chasing his own tail in a dizzy circle. He was still so damned cute.
Tired of getting abruptly left by everyone, I walked over to Wufei, who was also alone, as Veda seemed to be in the midst of arguing with Yoriko (again).
"What up, 'Fei-cakes?" I called, slapping him sociably on the back. He stumbled (ok, so maybe I was a little heavy-handed…) and glared over at me.
"When are you going to call me by my proper name, Maxwell?" he demanded, ignoring my question. I stared at him pointedly for a moment, lips pursed. Maxwell? Really, now. He caught on and grinned. "Hn." Aw, God, he was turning into back-in-the-day Heero!
"Fine, then, be antisocial if you want to, see if I care." He chuckled at that, and we continued our walk in companionable silence.
It was during this companionable silence that I thought to take note of my surroundings. We had long-since left the festivities on the lawn behind us, and were now coming up on a cluster of bungalows. I walked a little ways over to Razyo and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, is that where we're staying, Raz?" I asked, gesturing in the direction of the large cottages. He nodded, stretched, and yawned.
"Yep. That's actually the one you all are going to be living in, right there." He pointed to an especially large house, and it was then that I noticed that they were all vaguley reminiscent of the Japanese temple-houses Heero loved so much. I smiled at that; it was a gladdening thought, to know that the house might make Heero happy. I looked over at him, and noted the awestruck smile on his face. Yep, gladdening, indeed.
Once we were in front of the door, Seiren spread his arms with a flourish. "Welcome to your new home, gentlemen," he said, smiling. I wondered to myself where his drunken slur went, but then quickly stopped caring.
We walked into the large house/temple thing, and I can honestly say I was impressed. Just inside the door, there were three rooms with three large beds, and we were informed that they were for the demons. Good, that meant that none of us would have to endure listening to their nighttime activities.
Going further into the house, I saw that each room had been set up for each of us individually. The first room we walked through was so for Wufei: the color scheme was white, yellow, and pale blue, the furnishings were elegant and simple, and there were books everywhere. Also, there was, for some reason, metal stuff everywhere. Hm.
After that, the room that was intended for Trowa. His color scheme was red, gold, orange, and black, and there was a huge fireplace in the center of it. In addition, there were lots of places to lounge: a loveseat (of which I had no doubt he and Q would be making good use of, in the future), a wide couch, and three large futon-like… things.
"Damn, T, what, do they think you're a cat?" He laughed at this, the shoved me, indicating that I should keep waking, into the room intended for Quat. Q's room was relatively ritzy, his furniture more ornate and elaborate than the previous two rooms (for crying out loud, he had a friggin' water fountain in there!), and in addition to the lavish furniture, there were several large pillows in one corner. Heero whistled appreciatively.
"Wow, Quatre. This looks like one of the rooms in The Mans." (The Mans was our affectionate name for the largest of Q's estates, just in case you were wondering.)
"I know. How on earth did they manage to cater to us like this?" Quatre asked incredulously, looking over at Raz. The Green mage grinned.
"It's maajic," he intoned, wiggling his fingers at us, teasingly. We all got a pretty good laugh at that, and continued on into the bestest room in the entire house: MINE!
"Oh, yeah, baby."
My colors, of course, were green and black, and the furniture was cool: I had a huge canopy bed (hell, yes!) and an enormous couch, and the strangest looking table I'd ever seen. And there were plants everywhere! Big plant, little plants, flowers, trees, herbs, fruits, it was crazy! Damn, I was gonna end up getting high from all the pure, unadulterated oxygen these things were going to produce! Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Yoriko shaking his head disdainfully, but I ignored him, as we didn't slow down, and headed into the second best room in the house.
I didn't really have time to dwell on the fact that I was ridiculously excited about the fact that Heero's room was adjacent to mine, because of the shock of his actual room. It was…
"Perfect." I turned around to face Heero, who was grinning widely, taking in his "perfect" new room.
His bed was a simple, yet ridiculously comfortable-looking mat in the corner of the room, while the room itself was even more sparsely furnished than Wufei's: the only other furniture he had was one desk, near his bed, and a chair. On the opposite side of the room, there was a small section of sand. Yep, you heard right, just sand, loose golden sand. Now, I had no idea what purpose it served, but it was there. And, apparently, Heero loved it, so that was good enough for me.
The last room of the house was a living room, of sorts, with two couches, two gigantic pillows, and a long futon. They were arranged in such a manner that no matter where you sat, you could see and be seen by someone sitting in the other chairs. Pretty cool. I nodded appreciatively and looked to the others, who seemed to have the same ideas about our new house as me. I was snapped out of my reverie by Raz, who abruptly clapped his hands together.
"And, so, here you are, in your new home. Don't worry about tomorrow, for your training sessions, someone'll come 'n get you. And, with that having been said, I bid you all goodnight, 'cause I'm fucking sleepy." He smiled, waved, and left, just like that. Taiga and Seiren were right on his heels, waving as well.
"We'll see you all tomorrow," Taiga called, as he walked out into the night. "Our house is actually right over there, if you need us." He pointed to a bungalow about four houses over, across the yard. Seiren growled and grabbed his lover by the tip of one pointed ear.
"Yeah, but if you come over tonight, I just might have to kill you," he said, grinning, as he closed the door behind himself. We all laughed again, then looked dazedly around our new livingroom. Damn, that was weird to say.
"Does anyone still want to go to the spring?" Quat asked as he perched on the edge of one of the couches. I nodded and flopped down onto the pillow at his feet.
"I guess I do. How far away is it, Tro?" My banged friend shrugged.
"Well, it's pretty far, and apparently, there's only one way to get there, and it's… odd." Dakora, in his fox form, cocked his head to the side.
Odd, Master? Odd how? Trowa scratched the side of his head.
"Well, we gotta swim there. There's an underwater channel in one of the lakes in the forest, and it leads to another lake that's the entrance to the cave." Heero frowned.
"Well, honestly, as much as I wanted to go tonight, the walk from the party took longer than I thought, and I'm pretty tired. Why don't we make plans to go tomorrow? We'll probably end up needing a soak anyway, after the training. From what I've heard, it's pretty rough." Wufei nodded.
"I agree with Yuy, that sounds like a better plan. Besides, I'm tired, too." Trowa yawned.
"Damn, I guess I am, too." Beside him, Dakora yawned and stretched out, long black claws clicking on the wooden floor. Loeke smirked, and apparently, the two of them had a mental conversation, because Dakora growled up at the white-haired demon, who laughed and shrugged. Hokay….
I grumbled to myself. Man, I wanted to go to the spring tonight! Yoriko laughed and wrapped an arm around me.
Aw, don't worry about it, Master, you'll get your chance to see the Yuy boy naked soon enough, I promise. I gulped and swatted his hand away.
"You stop that!" I shouted, flinging myself away from him, lest he decide to send me another mental porno. He laughed in my head.
I don't need to be near you to do that, Master, you should know that by now. I sulked.
"Shut up, you perv!." I looked up, and I realized I was getting few funny stares from my friends. Great, now, because of him, they all thought I was crazy!
I stormed over to the door (admittedly, a bit melodramatically), threw it open, stuck my nose in the air, and walked outside. Just before the door closed, I heard Trowa's voice. "Was there caffeine in those drinks? There was, wasn't there?"
Outside on the wide, wrap-around porch, I collapsed onto one of the soft little cushions (this place has a thing for pillows, doesn't it?) and brooded.
As much as I was trying to make the best of this situation, I think that the fact that we were in another world was still freaking me out more than I wanted it to. I sighed and leaned back into the wall.
"Damn," I whispered to myself. This was so fucking hard to accept!
"You'll get used to it," came a lilting voice behind me. I sighed again and turned.
"Yeah? You think so?" Yoriko smiled and nodded, sitting down next to me.
"I know so. You'll see, Master, you'll get used to it." He wrapped what could have construed as a comforting arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to his chest. Hm. Awkward. "Promise." We sat there for a moment before something occurred to me. I turned a little, so I could see him better.
"Why the hell are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?" Yoriko smiled.
"Do I need an excuse to dote on you?" he asked, batting his long black eyelashes. I snorted and turned back away.
"Ha, funny." Yoriko took a deep breath and adjusted his position.
"Yeah, well. I guess it's a little upsetting to me as well, I was trying not to like you." I blinked. Hmmm? I punched him in the arm.
"So you like me, huh?" I crowed, grinning maniacally. He growled and shoved me roughly away, then scowled almost petulantly.
"No, I don't. And even if I did, you just ruined the mood, halfwit." I laughed again, and Yoriko smiled, and for awhile, we simply sat there on the porch, looking at the innumerable stars in the sky.
After about ten minutes of tranquil stargazing, though, I heard a rustle in the grass beside us. I jumped (hey, if you were in some sort of creepy alternate world, wouldn't you?) and pressed back against the demon at my side. Yoriko snarled and rose up.
"What the...?" He prowled over to the edge of the porch, and for some reason, his perpetual growling was reassuring, as was the reappearance of his tail and wings. He chuckled as he stalked closer to the edge of the porch. "Ah, so I'm growing on you after all, is it?" I was honestly too worried about what could be in the grass to think up a retort. We reached the railing of the porch, and I put two hands on Yoriko's shoulders.
"Hey! Hey, who's there?" I called, peering around his left arm. I sensed him rolling his eyes.
"Effective," he said drolly, leaning over the edge of the railing. The tip of his tail was lashing back and forth behind him, like that of a frustrated kitten.
Kitten? he snarled, outraged, in my head. He probably would have gone off on a tirade, had something not suddenly wrapped itself around his neck and pulled. He hissed loudly and shoved me brutally backwards, even he staggered towards the tentacle-like vine around his throat. "You…."
And, as much as I wanted to run screaming back into the house, I was no coward, dammit.
Really, I wasn't.
"Yoriko!" I shouted, climbing (gingerly) back to my feet. I started towards him, but he snarled and glared back at me.
"Stay back, you little idiot! The fuck kinda sense does it make for me to save your sorry ass if you come back into thi-ack!" The vine around his neck tightened perceptibly, and he changed his focus back to the thing assaulting it. "Damn it," he choked out. I scowled darkly, threw myself over the railing, and hit the ground running. Yoriko made an agonizingly frustrated sound. "You'd sure as fuck better be glad I can't kill you, weed," he gargled. Unsure of what that meant (and exactly what I was going to do when I got to the thing that was assaulting Yoriko…), I approached the cluster of bushes cautiously. However, when I got there, I was confronted by the sight of-
"Sukibera!"
The plant demon looked up, startled, and quickly released Yoriko. I stormed over to him… it…, my fist clenched into fists. What the fuck, man? I thought he/it was on our side!
"Sukibera, what the hell do you think you're doing? You attacked my demon!" The plant hung its head in shame as I rounded on it.
"Sukibera is… sorry." He shuffled around a bit. "Sorry." Yoriko hissed loudly and jumped over the railing, landing between me and the plant.
"Sorry my ass, you lousy shit!" he spat viciously. "What the fuck were you thinking?" Sukibera seemed to get bigger, and from my position behind Yoriko, I heard him growl.
"None of business, demon," he threw back, vines writhing menacingly. "You nasty demon." Yoriko hissed louder and took a step forward. Oh, man, this was getting heavy.
"Nasty? The fuck? Where do you get off calling me nasty, dirt-boy? And why the fuck were you even here?" my demon asked acidly. Sukibera looked away.
"See Master Duo. Came see Master Duo. Miss him." His leaves drooped a bit, and I felt vaguely guilty. Oh, no, I hurt his feelings… then again, though, he did just assault Yoriko…. Suddenly, though, the leaves bristled, much like a dog raising its hackles. "Then you here, demon. Not supposed to be here. Bad. I protect him." Yoriko tossed his head and laughed.
"Ah, okay, yeah, right. You were protecting him from me, while I was protecting him from you? You're insane, and we're going back in. You're supposed to be protecting your own Master, aren't you?" Sukibera shuffled guiltily again, then turned away.
"Goodbye, Master Duo. Will see tomorrow." I nodded stupidly, still trying to comprehend what the hell had just happened.
"Uh, yeah, okay, see you tomorrow, then." He grinned (still so damn creepy to see a plant smile, man) and shambled away, into the darkness.
I stood there, rooted in my spot for a moment, until Yoriko snapped me out of it with a snort. "Stupid spirit demon," he groused, rubbing his neck ruefully. I shook my head.
"So, you can't kill him? Why? What was that even about, man?" I asked as we headed back onto the porch. Yoriko laughed dryly.
"No, I can't, demons aren't allowed to kill guiding spirits, it's against 'the law'. Unfortunately." He smirked. "And in regards to your second question, he's jealous of me because he likes you." What? "Sexually."
WHAT?
"The hell?" I demanded, rounding on him. He shrugged as though it was no big deal, but the obnoxious grin on his face gave him away.
"You heard me, Master, he likes you, he wants you, it's as simple as that." He chuckled again. "I guess it's a lot easier to accept a demon's advances, when it looks like me, huh?" He draped himself on my back and kissed my neck. I shook him off and opened the door, to see that all the lights had been dimmed or turned off. So everyone was asleep, then. Huh.
"Get off me, you friggin' lech. Why don't you go do this to Loeke?" Another chuckle.
"You know what, Master? I think I will. Goodnight," he called back over his shoulder, walking into the bedroom intended for his lover and himself. I snorted.
"'Night." I sighed. I went down the hall, into my room, stripped off my clothes (I swear, I was burning that skirt in T's fireplace in the morning), and picked out a pair of pajama pants and a tank top (at least those clothes were normal). I then went back into the livingroom and sprawled out on the arm of the couch Quatre had been on, arm over my eyes. Damn, this place was just too much! Suddenly, there was a soft laugh behind me, and I bolted upright.
"You know, that's what your bed is for, Duo," Heero chided as he sat down next to me. I tried to hide the fact that I noticed how very delicious he looked it pajama pants and nothing else, and smirked wryly.
"Yeah, well, this couch is just as comfortable as any bed I've ever been in." Heero shook his head.
"I dunno, Duo, according to Quatre, your bed is the most comfortable one in the entire house." He continued before I got the chance to ask him just how exactly Q knew what my bed felt like. "He decided to 'test' all our beds for us. Apparently, yours is first, then his, then Tro's, then mine, and then Wufei's." I grinned lecherously.
"So, Trowa's is pretty comfy, huh? Wonder how often he'll end up in there, then." Heero laughed and leaned back into the couch, and, coincidentally, into my side.
"You're horrible, Maxwell, but I can imagine you might be right." The, out of the blue, "We had fun today, didn't we?" he asked. A tad thrown off by the sudden question, I nodded.
"Yeah. Man, I'm still freaked, though. I mean, think about it, if you go on 'Fei's accusation, in a roundabout way, I brought us into another world." He chuckled.
"I suppose. So, in that case, if you really think about it, in a roundabout way, you could consider this our first date, then, since you brought me here." I snorted and continued to smile at him, but suddenly, I remembered something that struck me as a bit infuriating.
I face-faulted and turned away from him, then scowled a little. …That rat.
Heero, being who he was, sensed the change immediately. "Duo," he called, sounding a little concerned. He leaned over a bit, and got in my face. "Are you okay?"
I grimaced. Well, there was no sense in trying to hide it, now, was, there? I huffed. "What, did you forget, Heero?" He looked confused for a moment, and I was about to elaborate, when he smiled, a genuine, beautiful smile. Ooohhh….
"No, Duo, I didn't forget, I was waiting up for you." He leaned in closer to my face and I swear, I could have melted right then and there. Dear God, and this was really happening! His smile widened, and he was so close to be, our noses were almost touching. "I didn't forget, okay?" he whispered softly, taking my chin into his hand. His gorgeous blue eyes were half-lidded, and questing. "I didn't…." He leaned in even closer, parted his lips, and closed his eyes completely. I put out a hand and stopped him.
(CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?)
Heero blinked confusion and sat back a little.
"Duo?" he asked, unsure of himself. I sighed deeply and slipped lower onto the couch, next to him. "Duo, what is it, is something wrong?" I cleared my throat and shifted nervously. How to say this….
"Heero… I…." He stared imploringly at me. (And yes, believe it or not, Heero was staring imploringly. It must've been the wine….)
"What, what is it?" I looked down guiltily.
"I… Heero, I don't kiss on the first date." Heero stood there for a moment, seemingly shocked, then frowned.
"The hell you don't." And with that, he grabbed me by the base of my braid and kissed me soundly.
Oh, wow.
I wanted to pinch myself, just to see if I was dreaming or not, but at the same time, I didn't want to move. It was interesting, to me, how fantasy and reality were both similar and different at the same time. Like in my fantasies, Heero was aggressive, and a little rough. He had me smashed against the arm of the couch, and was almost fully draped over me, our chests and stomachs were touching, his left knee pressed firmly between my legs (that was hot). His lips were fervent and sweet, his tongue was demanding and hot.
There was no fantasy I've ever had, though, that could have prepared me for what the real Heero felt like. He'd made me drunk with pleasure, and I couldn't get enough of him: my hands, my legs, my mouth, my chest, I couldn't touch him enough. He shifted slightly and I gasped.
I wondered vaguely if it were possible to die of pleasure.
We probably would have gone on like that for hours, had there not been a sudden loud thump, and an even louder exclamation from one of the bedrooms. Heero and I jumped and looked towards the door from which the sound had come. There was a quiet, breathless giggle, then a shushing noise.
"Sorry, Master," Aedeka called. From the sound of it, he was trying to suppress laughter himself. I blushed a little, at the thought of the fact that Aedeka and Dakora knew what was going on. Ah, well, it's not as if it weren't glaringly obvious what they were doing in their room.
Heero snickered and buried his face in the side of my neck. Oh, that was nice…. "Well, now that our mood's been ruined once again, I guess now would be just as good a time as any to end the night on, huh?" I grinned and looked up at the ceiling… which was really the only place I could look, considering my position.
"I guess so. Although, you know, we never did talk." Heero laughed again, and dropped a gentle kiss on my throat.
"Do you really think we need to?" he whispered, sitting up. (And as much as I loved him on top of me, I was surprised at how much easier I could breathe once he sat up.) I shook my head.
"I guess not, unless this was just another drunken make-out session." Heero made a face.
"Another? When did we ever have a first." I thought about bringing up the incident on Q's yacht, but decided against it. He once again took my face in his hands. "It wasn't a drunken make-out session, Duo, I swear, I'd never do that. I really do like you. I-I like you a lot, and I guess I wanted to tell you, I just didn't. I-" I put a finger over his lips. Jeez, for someone who was generally the most tight-lipped, he sure was singing like a canary now. …Although the admission was indescribably endearing.
"Shut up, Yuy, I get it. And I like you, too… but you already knew that, didn't you?" He nodded, grinned, and kissed me lightly on the lips. Ah, heaven.
"Yes, I did." He kissed me again, and stood. "Sleepy?" I smiled and shook my head, but the yawn that escaped from my mouth proclaimed me a liar. Heero helped me onto my feet, and then hugged me close. "Liar." I shook my head again and hugged back.
"I'm not lying." Uh-huh. "Sure, I could go to sleep, if I went to bed." I looked up at him and tried not to blush. "But I'd stay up forever if you were up with me." Heero laughed and began leading me through the house.
"Now I know you're sleepy, you're spewing sap." …This was true. I usually only said stuff like that in my head.
We walked slowly through the house, holding one another, and despite all that happened, I couldn't really believe it: I couldn't really believe that Heero liked me, that we kissed (mmmmm), that we were now "together." There was no crazy labyrinth I had to get through, no tests, no tricks, nothing! It had been easy. I was honestly half-expecting this to be some big cosmic joke.
We stopped in front of my door, and the expected long awkward pause ensued.
Unsurprisingly, I was the one who broke the silence. "Ah, so, I guess I'll go find out just how comfy my bed is, eh?" Heero nodded and scratched his head.
"Yeah." Ah, so we were back to monosyllabic answers. Great.
"Y-yeah." He nodded slowly, and I bit my lip. And we continued this rather circuitous sequence for a full minute before we both broke into nervous laughter. How ridiculous were we?
"Ah, so, well, ah, g'night, then, Heero." I went into my room and then turned around to face him. He smiled warmly, and I nearly died.
"Goodnight, Duo." He leaned in, and I leaned in, and you can guess what happened when we got close enough.
"Mmm," I purred as we broke apart. Heero dropped one last peck on my lips, smirking.
"I agree," he whispered. He straightened up and sighed. "Well, goodnight for real, this time." He gave me a parting smile, and walked away.
I groaned loudly, went into my (wicked-awesome) new room, and shut the door behind myself. I began running, and with a tribal yell, launched myself through the curtains draped over the canopy, and into the bed. Quat was right, it was insanely comfortable, and I tried to go to sleep, but I ended up flopping around, trying to gather my thoughts.
But, as usual, my thoughts refused to be gathered, and I ended up sitting up in bed, staring into blank space. Ah, blank space.
Well, as you know, blank space is only so interesting (I hate blank space), and so I decided to take a walk around the house. I went and sat in the ginourmous livingroom for a bit, but, again, there wasn't much to do there but play with my toes, and stare into blank space. And you know how I feel about blank space.
I growled in frustration at my sudden insomnia, and paced back towards my room. However, for some reason, I got to my door, and my feet kept going. I suppose it really shouldn't have come as any surprise that I ended up in front of Heero's door, I loved to see him sleeping. It was a surprise, though, when it opened.
"Yes?" There was a bemused look on Heero's face as he stood there, leaning in the doorframe. Oops…
"Ah, hey. Sorry, I couldn't sleep and I was just, kinda, you know, looking around. You heard me?" He laughed quietly.
"I'm surprised no one else did," he chortled. I rubbed my arm guiltily.
"Sorry, man, I didn't mean to wake you up.?" He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair.
"You didn't, I couldn't sleep either."
"Why?" A dumb question to ask, granted, but I really wanted to know. He snorted self-deprecatingly.
"I… well, I…" His eyes locked onto mine. "I was thinking about you." (Well, now, that's no reason to snort self-deprecatingly at yourself, now is it?)
"Well, in all honesty, I couldn't sleep 'cause I was thinking about you, too." I felt a little cheesy saying it, but at least I didn't say it first, right? Heero chuckled again.
"Surely, princess, a bed like yours would mask the discomfort of something so trivial as thoughts of me?" Thrilled with his fairy-tale reference (who the hell knew Heero Yuy even knew any fairy-tales?), I ran with it.
"Oh, I dunno, you'd be surprised, the bed's not that comfortable. I mean sure, maybe if it were just any old pea, I'd be able to ignore it, but you're a different kind of pea, Mr. Yuy, a big one." Heero furrowed his brow.
"Oh, so I'm a pea now?" I stuck my tongue out at him, a little frustrated that he noticed I switched metaphors (hey, you try talking about the Princess and the Pea, and see how far you get when you turn the pea into a thought!), but he continued. "I mean, in a bed like that, you could probably sleep on top of anything and not notice." I shook my head (but liked where this was headed).
"No, Yuy, I'm pretty sure that I'd notice if I were sleeping on you. Besides, how do you know what my bed feels like?" He shrugged.
"I don't, but-" I cut him off by putting out my hand.
"Ah, ah, ah, don't you go making assumptions about my bed, which you know nothing about." He shrugged again, then started off down the hall. I knew where he was going, and what he was doing, but I felt the need to ask anyway. "Where the heck're you going, Yuy?"
"To find out just how comfortable your bed actually is. Maybe I really don't know anything about it, Quatre does have a tendency to over-exaggerate a little." He opened the door to my room, went inside, and jumped (yes, ladies and gentlemen, jumped) onto my bed.
I walked in the room and stopped just short of the foot of the bed. Damn but Heero looked good surrounded by plant life, on green satin (I guess it was called satin here) sheets. MY green satin sheets. In my bed. I grinned. "Well, what do you think? I told you, you'd be able to tell if there was a pea under there, wouldn't you?" Heero abruptly frowned. "What is it?" I asked as I walked closer to the bed. He shook his head, frown deepening.
"The hell is this?" he queried, running his hand over one side of my bed. Oh, man, what was wrong?
I leaned over and re-traced the little shiny path his hand had made. "What, what, what is it, what's wrong with my-" Suddenly, he grabbed my arm and yanked me into the bed, dropping me unceremoniously next to him. I gawked. Of all the…. "You lousy-mmfff?" Was all I got out before he pounced one me, lips glued to mine.
Ah, bliss.
The kiss only lasted a few minutes, and we didn't do anything other than kiss (I swear!), but when we broke apart, we were both panting raggedly. I chuckled and snuggled up close to his side. "So, you wanna stay here tonight?" I realized how utterly forward that sounded, and quickly amended my statement. "Shit, I mean, do you want to sleep with me tonight?" …Better. "Fuck! I mean, no! Not fuck! Just sleep! Damn it, I was, ah, I'm trying to ask you, I mean, if you want to-" Heero laughed.
"Yeah, Duo, I'll sleep in here tonight, I'd like that." I let out a relieved breath, and burrowed closer to him, only to realize that the candle that had been light on the little table next to my bed was still lit. Damn stupid light. I grumbled, leaned over and blew it out, and then curled back up. Heero began stroking my hair, and I swear, I would have willingly died right then and there, a happy man.
We stayed like that for quite some time, and before too long, I was truly sleepy. I had assumed Heero was already asleep, as the hand on my head had long since stilled, but just as I was about to drift off to sleep, he sighed.
"I think you're right, Duo. There's no way I wouldn't notice you underneath me." He must have thought I was asleep, because he jumped when I giggled.
"Oh, jeez, who's spewing sap, now, sleepyhead?" I chided. He smiled and nuzzled my face, much like a content housecat.
My Hee-kitten.
Yawning widely, I gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek. "Hopefully, I won't be a distraction to you while you're trying to sleep. I'd hate to keep you up all night, or anything." My only answer was a light snore. I chuckled to myself and closed my eyes, breathing in the scent of him, loving the strength I sensed beneath his skin. God, he was perfect.
Simply perfect.
I fell asleep, and, for the first time in years, I felt safe enough to dream.
Okay, and there it is, Chapter 7, done. Just so you know, I don't like it, something's weird… bah, whatever, I'll revise it soon. Hopefully, the next chapter won't take me 50 years to finish, and it'll be better than this one. Oh, and, thanks to Nevair, for the idea that sparked the Sukibera/Duo/Yoriko action, it'll be interesting to see how that ends up unfolding. Again, guys, thanks for staying with me, and please let me know what you think of the story so far!
-D4D