It's
Not What You Think
Chapter 8: What's In A Name?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, when I was writing down the part where the song's from Tarzan, in my head, I was thinkin' Hercules. –sweatdrop- Yea, I'm a nut. Anyways, thanks to "hm" for pointing out the mistake. –smiles- Well, nothing else I can think of at the moment, so…on with the fic!
Disclaimer: -cries- Those lawyers are such picky bullies!
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Erutis woke the next day from dreams she'd very much like not to admit to having. They were just racy enough to be a little too risqué for her tastes and starred the absolute wrongest person for her to be dreaming about at this point in time. She'd never ever remembered having a dream before with quite that much skin, and the cover of darkness. Not that anything had happened, of course! She shook her head to clear her of the thoughts she was having at the moment. Yawning and dashing off to a quick bath, Erutis hurried into something comfortable and headed to the courtyard. She'd left her students to their own demise for far too long…
Reaching the courtyard, she saw they were in a somewhat acceptable semblance of rows and practicing their strokes like she had bid them do the last time they'd met. She hollered a greeting at them, and they all paused to wave and yell acknowledgements back at her. "Ho, you lot are still on strokes?" she asked as she neared them and came to a stop in front of the assembly.
"Well, it's what you told us to practice, Sensei."
Erutis nodded. "Yes, I suppose I did. Well, that's enough of that for now…you'll still have to practice them daily, of course, they're a great exercise if you really want to become a swordmaster, but for now, I'm going to pair you all up with a partner after I teach you the basic thrust and parry and you'll be practicing on one another. Learn to calculate your opponents moves before they strike, that's always a nifty trick.
Scanning the small crowd, Erutis pointed to a boy with short, curly, golden locks and motioned him to step forward next to her in the front. He gulped in fear and made his way to the indicated spot. "Now," Erutis called to the others. "I'll show you the thrust and then the parry. Okay, the thrust! Raise your sword like this-" She raised her own above her head and watched the frozen boy shiver in anticipation and fear.
His curls weren't nearly as curly nor as outrageous as his, Erutis noted with satisfaction. And his eyes were large and blue, widened in fear, not half-lidded and amber, narrowed in seduction like his. Unbeknownst to her, her grip and posture had slackened as her thoughts wandered, unbidden and quite inappropriately to someone else. The boy was now shaking visibly from head to toe, and was looking at her in confusion and apprehension. Her gaze had softened on him, but there was also a small smirk of pride, which utterly confused the kid.
Thinking incorrectly that maybe she was bored stupid from his lack of participation, that maybe he was supposed to be the one showing the thrust, he shut his eyes and barreled on into the woman, sword lowered like a spear. The point of the wooden sword caught Erutis on the left side of her stomach, and with a muffled, "oomph", she skittered back, stumbled and fell with the force of the attack. The child stumbled forward a little from it's momentum, but righted himself and looked down at his Sensei in absolute terror.
Rubbing her side and wincing, Erutis stood up, vexed. "BAKA! What'd you do that for! Are you a crazy nut or what! Did I ask you to run into me like that! And that's not a spear!" She pointed at his sword with one hand. "It's a sword, so use it like one!" She turned her back on the boy in a huff, crossing her arms over her chest so that she wouldn't have to see him. He was starting to tear up, and that always made her weak. Even back when she was with Raenef, she recalled with a nostalgic grin.
"Ah, whatever," she said, laying a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Don't do that next time until I tell you to," she said. The boy nodded and Erutis proceeded to demonstrate the thrust and parry like she'd said she would earlier. Immediately afterwards, she paired them all up and sat down on her hammock, swinging gently, to watch them at it. The lull of the hammock's sway, the warm breeze, the sounds of swordplay…everything hazed together for a bit into just another quiet summer day and she relished the feel of nothing.
Her languid gaze passed over the students and she watched them without a thought in her head. A flash of brown caught her eye and the green orb followed it to the edges of her vision. His clothes were usually of the autumn colors. They suited him well. For all his cockiness, though, he had a surprising amount of modesty. The sleeves of his top were always full length, his pants were always ankle-length, and all the clothes were loose. No tight fitting, muscle baring outfits had she seen on him. And he could have pulled any one of them off, too.
A vague smile made its way across her lips, and she rested her chin in her hand, leaning on it as she swayed in the hammock. It was so strange to be thinking of him in a way that wasn't cocky bastard-ish. She grinned sheepishly. Why had she thought that of him? Well, he had an ego, that was obvious…or was that just him being his "manly" self? He knew he was eyecandy, that was for certain. He wouldn't bother catching the moonlight on his stars and winking at her, smiling those melt-for-me smiles at her, or smirking and staring at her with flip-flops-in-your-tummy half-lidded eyes across the table when they dined together otherwise.
She closed her eyes, reliving the memory of that wink, the smiles, and those beautiful, beautiful, sweetly poisonous eyes. A whisper caught her and snapped her up into an alert sitting position, and she narrowed her eyes, glaring at her students. Someone had distinctly said, "She's not even paying attention, look. She's all smiling and sleeping…There's something wrong with her, guys." Following this statement were a few titters from the others and even some wry comments about their "tough Sensei" acting like a "schoolgirl". She took her wooden sword and chucked it at a random boy.
The weapon caught him square in the face and he yelped, glaring at her in indignation. "I didn't even say anything!"
Erutis shrugged, "Well, then, return my favor to the idiot that did, and tell him to shut up and practice if he wants to stay." She watched amusedly as the boy marched resolutely over to a lanky teen and rapped him soundly on the head, telling him to shut up and mind his own business if he intended to stay. The shamefaced boy in turn, hit the guy next to him, telling him not to whisper inappropriate things about their Sensei when he was trying to practice.
Pretty soon the fray was engaged and she could see with satisfaction that several students were using the techniques she'd just taught them, while others… Well, it was safe to assume that a good number of these students needed much time and practice to become swordmasters. She let them at it for most of the afternoon, and then called a halt to it as the sun started to set.
"Okay boys! You can go home now, and don't forget to practice strokes, and the thrust and parry, too." They grumbled, muttered, and left, a couple noting that they weren't "boys". She shook her head and lay in the hammock for a while afterwards, just thinking. This was twice in the day, not counting her dream, that he'd stolen into her thoughts when she'd rather he not have. The dream she doubted he would have sent because…well…she colored at the memory. He didn't strike her as the type to stoop so low.
Sighing and sitting up, Erutis made her way to the exit knowing her way in the semi-darkness fairly well enough. Except for the tree she ran into- that one left a mark. Rubbing her nose, eyes slightly watering, she reached the doorway without further incident and turned to head towards the chateau. A rippling breeze that stirred nothing beyond her hair made her turn around, frowning.
And there he stood. The snug, red, sleeveless shirt clung to his figure, outlining everything she remembered from the night before and her dream in clear reality. The moonlight glinted on the damp locks and his pearlescent teeth as he grinned. There were wet spots on his shirt and the top part of the lacings on his black pants weren't completely done up properly. He looked as though he'd come in a hurry. Striding over to her, he made a quick apology. (A/N: it's -drools- the outfit, well, the top, at least, of that extra picture at the end of volume 7! The one where his hand is in front of the camera)
"I'm terribly sorry for arriving so late, you see, they'd just informed me that you were with your students." He added sheepishly, "I was in the bath, hiding from my advisors, you see." His boyish blush was just so endearing… "As you can see, I'm not properly dressed or dried, but I couldn't let you walk back all alone, you understand, and I've been too busy lately, so I've been having your students turned away…"
"What!"
"Well, Erutis dear, you must understand, I-" But the rest of his explanation was lost to her as she contemplated the anxious look on his face, the concern he showed, how his lips moved in speech, the way his bangs fell into those eyes, how the shirt clung to him, the way the loose lacings of his pants hung loose on his tight figure- NOT that she could SEE anything, and even the way his long legs moved, one in front of the other.
A warm hand rested on her shoulder, "Dear? Are you alright? I said I was sorry, and I really am, I've just been so busy lately, with the ball coming…and, my dear, I know you've been dragged into this as well, but I don't want you doing anything you're not comfortable doing. If you don't wish to wear the dress, that's perfectly alright with me, really. You needn't do anything on my account." His anxious look searched her face.
"Oh, ah, wha?" She looked up at him, surprised to find her back against the silver gate and him standing so very close to her, looking down at her, figuring her out. She turned hastily, blushing at his proximity, and pushed at the gates. "Uh, it's fine, Krayon, really." She stepped through the door and turned, realizing he hadn't followed her inside.
He was standing frozen in the doorway, the gates open, as though they were the gates of heaven, allowing an angel entry. His mouth hung open slightly and he was staring at her as though he couldn't believe his eyes…or ears. She stood with her arms akimbo, wondering what she'd done. "What?"
"You just said my name," he said in a low voice. "My actual name, not my title, my holding, or any nickname you'd thought up on the spot. And you waved away my infringement on your right as a Sensei…"
She blushed somewhat, but opted to try for a casual, offhand tone, which she almost worked if it weren't for the occasional stutter. "It's nothing, I-I've said your name before, too. Uh, remember?"
He smiled, "Not in a casual way you haven't. It's always been laced with anger before now. Now it just felt…as though it were the most natural thing in the world…I like the way it sounds when you say it." His gaze softened as it rested on the speechless, beet red girl, then he cut an elegant bow before he strode over, reached for her hand and kissed it delicately. It was nothing more than the fleeting whisper of his lips to her hand, but it shot tingles through her, and she gasped at the unexpected action, automatically jerking her hand back, but his grip held it firmly. Standing, still holding her hand, he whispered into her ear, "Goodnight, love. Sleep well!"
"Uh…I-" she stuttered as he strode past her, lightly dropping her hand. "Uh, Goodnight!" she called after him, and he turned on the spot, grinning and raised a hand in acknowledgement of the well wish.
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AUTHORS'S NOTE: HAHA, WE HAVE MORE INTIMATE INTERACTION! And a knowing of different feelings! Hehe, please please please review! They make me so happy! Btw, I actually had this finished before noon this morning, but didn't get a chance to upload it till now. -cries- Sorry!
