A bazillion million glomps and loves to Velasa for letting me put her baby, Lute, in this chapter! He's an awesome guy, just like Tambourine and Discord. Like the others before, Jen and I RPed out the scene and then I took and wrote it in my own words. This trick works like a charm. Jen, I can't thank you enough! Everybody go check out Velasa's fics, they rock!
Apologies for the long-ass delay. Had writer's block and was doing a lot of RPing. Still am really...but here's another chapter anyway! Best read with a nice, big bowl of popcorn and a can of your favorite drink. -winks-
Believe Again
Part Ten
Revenge.
What's the old saying about revenge?
It's a dish best served cold.
Odd how it tastes better watching someone else eat it. And I was about to shove Piccolo's face in every bite.
As soon as I could move again(took a good four hours just to wiggle my pinkie, two more to move my legs!), I climbed out of bed, packed a few rolled up fanfics by my friend Jen in my pocket and crept over to the bed where Piccolo reclined comfortably. He looked so peaceful that I almost felt bad about what I was going to do.
Almost.
Trying hard not to snicker out loud, I slipped Piccolo's water flask off the nightstand and dashed into the bathroom to empty it in the sink. Tip-toed back out to the fridge for chocolate milk. I had a theory I wanted to test out, but there was no way to get Piccolo to willingly ingest chocolate. Not unless I forced the issue like the evil little bitch I am. I just hoped he drank some before he realized it wasn't water and spat it back out.
"This should be good." I slipped the flask back where I found it, picked up the bo and headed out onto the Quantum floor. Thinking Reality until everything faded from Anime to flesh and blood. I felt heat in my chest as the bauble I'd absorbed forced my body to remain Saiyajin even though I was Real. If chocolate did what I'd heard it did to Nameks, I'd need my strength.
I grinned, took out the fanfics I'd printed and read while I waited for the fireworks to begin.
No less than half an hour after I tainted Piccolo's flask, I saw him emerge through the door. His form faded from Anime to Real as he stepped on the fighting floor and glanced around for me. I quickly pretended I'd been doing push-ups and straightened, wiping imaginary sweat off my forehead.
"Morning!" I called.
Piccolo didn't look any different than he should when Real - gorgeous gray eyes, boyish lips and a body to die for. My eyes wandered down and...mmhmm...the chocolate did do what I thought it would. Even with his strong emotional control, Piccolo was still a man here.
This WOULD be fun.
I covered a wicked grin with my hand and ducked down into the mist to continue my 'push-ups'. "Sleep good?"
"Fine." Piccolo answered gruffly. He walked forward, mist swirling around his legs, and held his flask out in my face. "Mind telling me what you put in this, though?"
"Oh..." I wiped my hair back and fluffed it a bit. I'd purposely dressed myself in a halter top and shorts to show as much skin as possible without being obscene. Not that I had much to show, but it made me feel naughty. Hey, who said I had to make this easy on him anyway? "Just a little chocolate milk. Thought maybe you'd need a bigger jolt to help you wake up."
Piccolo turned towards me and glared. He was shaking! I could see his antennae quivering! "Do you have any idea what you've done?"
"Um," I looked down at the massive tent in his pants and struggled not to burst into hysterics. "yyyyeah. Now watch where you point that thing before you poke my eye out!"
"So you DID do this on purpose. I should've guessed." He turned the flask over to dump the brown chocolate milk out on the floor.
Too much temptation. I grabbed Piccolo there, grinning up at his wide-eyed, slack-jawed expression. If I get through this in one piece, it'll probably be one of the most hilarious moments I've ever shared with him. "Revenge is a bitch, isn't it? And now I've got you by the nads. What do you have to say about it?"
"I...I..."
"Sorry sounds good. Say you're sorry for earlier." I smiled up at him.
Piccolo growled and bit his lip. The best part of this? I don't think he knew he could take care of this little problem all by himself. He was completely at my mercy. It made me feel a little guilty, taking away some of his dignity, but the laugh factor was honestly worth it.
A slender green hand touched my hair lightly. Next thing I knew, I was pinned to his side like a football while he smelled my hair. The lust was going to his brain, eating away at all his rational thought.
"But there's a hole in your plan, Cyndi..." Piccolo's voice came out husky, "you see, you're still a Saiyajin. And you still have a weak spot. Right here." Then he reached down and touched my tail.
Oh...my...God...I thought I'd died - oh wait, I already had died and gone to Heaven. Let's just say it felt amazing. Like being stroked elsewhere with velvet gloves. I arched against his hand like happy kitten, purring.
"Why is it..." I panted, "...that every time I try to get you, it backfires?"
He smirked. "You haven't practiced enough."
"Maybe I should start." I rounded on Piccolo and climbed him like a tree.
Piccolo was so incredibly stiff that I sat on it like I would a tree branch, wrapped my arms around his neck and covered his mouth with mine. I don't care what Piccolo says, kisses drive him up the wall. I know this. He knows I know this. The only difference between this time and the times before was...this time I didn't have to dig at him to get a positive response. He kissed me right back like it was the end of the universe. His hands were in my hair, on my back, anywhere he could reach without dropping me. His fangs scraped against my lips. I kept biting his tongue by accident. Not that I complained, it was wonderful, bloody mouth and all.
Actually, Piccolo tasted more like chocolate milk than blood. Yum, yum.
We pulled back after a moment. If we were living, we'd be panting right now. Piccolo had some of my merlot-red lipstick smeared on and around his mouth. I'm sure it was all smeared on my face too. So much for "stay put" lipcolor.
I grinned and met Piccolo's eyes. They were dilated and glazed, two windows open to let me in. "You're blushing."
"It's your fault." His lip quirked. "And you should talk."
I playfully rolled my eyes and pulled my shirt off over my head, then hopped down to climb out of my shorts. "Just shut up and take your clothes off already."
Piccolo eyed me with...mischief? He was frowning deeply, but half his mouth formed a smile that crinkled his eyes. "No." He pinned me to the floor, his enormous weight aided by the gravity. Made me glad he was sans his cape and turban. We were in perfect position to - you know - or would've been if he'd taken his clothes off. "I'm not ready yet."
I shivered as his clothes brushed me in a few sensitive places. He was torturing me right back! And he knew it.
Meow, baby. Me-freaking-ow.
"Okay, this is scary. Who taught you to act like this?"
Piccolo pulled his head back to look down at me. His face turned really purple. "I read a few books. Curious, I guess, to see why you crazy humans consider such an act so important."
"That's not like you." I grinned in his face, reached down and smacked his butt. "But I'm not complaining. Are you going to get naked or not?"
This time he really grinned, revealing all four of his gleaming fangs. "I'm still not ready yet," he said in a mocking tone.
"You suck."
He chuckled and bent down. Our mouths mashed together. We groped and grabbed at each other like a pair of horny teenagers in the back seat of a car. I had to stop Piccolo a few times when he got too rough...hell, he had to stop me too. I went completely fangirl and threw myself at him. I told him when he hit my sweet spots and he let me know when I found his. We discovered each other all over again.
I got so worked up that I couldn't even think straight. My Saiyajin instincts were screaming at me to get it over with. I needed release. But Piccolo would push my hands away when I reached for his clothes. Finally my patience wore thin. I grabbed Piccolo's shirt and started pulling it off, teasing, "If you still say you're not ready, I'm going to smack you. Why are you being such an ass about this?"
Piccolo scooted out of his shirt, sat up and crossed his arms, mock-glaring down at me. "Are you still able to think straight?"
"Not really. You KNOW I can't think when I'm in this state."
"Good. Now you know what you put me through." He winked slowly, "Revenge is a bitch, isn't it?"
"Yes it is, and so am I."
"I know." With that, Piccolo untied his belt, dropped his pants and crossed his arms. The fabric fell away from his green skin and pooled on the ground behind him. He was like a Grecian god towering over me in the mist. A massive green and pink mountain of flesh, bone and desire. Dear God of all that is good and wonderful, that Namek is BEAUTIFUL. I looked at his...you know...and began to wonder how the hell he fit it in me at all. He's big all over!
Piccolo looked down too. His eyes moved from himself to me. A smirk formed on his lips. "Well, I'm naked, what are you going to do with me?"
I crawled to his feet and kissed them, his dusty desert scent swirling into my nostrils. "I'm going to love you with all my heart." I kissed my way up one leg and down the other. Back up over his hips and stomach. Then I climbed him and kissed my way from his chest to his face. Teased his ears and finally took his antennae into my mouth. He tasted salty like dried sweat.
Piccolo's blush deepened. He caught my tail and stroked it. My body tingled on the edge of...of something wonderful. He smirked in my face, grabbed the back of my head and caught me in a bruising kiss. The world shifted and I found myself once again pinned under his massive weight. Hyper sensitive to his bare skin. Extremely aware of our closeness. Lost in his warmth. Relishing in the feel of his long, muscular body.
I rubbed my hands over every hollow, crease, curve and line I could reach. Piccolo did the same back to me. Our eyes never broke contact, a record for me - usually when I stare into someone's eyes I feel like they can tell what I'm thinking. But with Piccolo...I didn't care. He's seen me naked, why not let him all the way in?
I told him, silently, that it was time. Piccolo grasped me roughly, his face serious, but caring. The space between us disappeared and we made frantic love. No gentle stuff, we were like rabid animals. Grabbing, groping, sucking, kissing, licking, biting and scratching anything within reach. It was dirty, hardcore and rough. We put X-rated movies to shame with the contortions we did. Despite being a Saiyajin and able to "take" more, Piccolo was wilder than I'd ever seen him. He was so rough I screamed at him to ease up a little.
My feet were straight up in the air, my lipstick was smeared, I probably had B.O. and I was moaning like a two-dollar whore, but I didn't give a damn. I didn't care about anything other than his body against mine. Piccolo had hideous veins forming on his temples and arms. He was all sweaty, smelly, scratched up, drooling and growling low in his throat. Not very attractive, trust me, but I don't think he cared about what he looked or sounded like either.
It was a joy watching him move. Pure joy. All those muscles moving under his taut skin. His bared fangs and fierce gray eyes gleaming as he reached completion and silently claimed me as his own. He sighed as he relaxed into my open arms, sweaty and satisfied. His heart throbbed near mine. It didn't beat for long, I think the heat of the moment made both of our hearts pound, but it was wonderful feeling it again.
Sore, scratched and bruised, but satisfied as well, I rubbed his back and petted his head. If I was a smoking woman, and I'm not, I would've lit a cigarette. "That was...awesome," I panted. "Mindblowing. I didn't know you had it in you, Piccolo. Send me whatever books you read, they must've been good."
"Mmh...s'all your fricken fault, kid." Piccolo eyed me sleepily. His deep, sexy voice was right in my ear. "That damn chocolate - "
"I honestly did NOT know you could bend that way." I giggled in his face, "Just don't change your name to Ron Jeremy, okay?"
He arched a brow, his eyes drooping. "...who?"
"An ugly, hairy porn star...ah forget it." I massaged the bases of his antennae, smiling when he actually purred out loud. Well, not purr, more like a low thrumming hum deep in his throat. That's funny, I make little noises when I'm really happy too...it frightens me how alike he and I are. "Hey, Piccolo?"
"Mm?"
"You're not mad at me for this, are you?"
Silence, then, "You'll find out when we spar later."
I stopped picturing him real because my mind was tired from the exertion. Oddly he stayed in me, leading me to wonder if he was keeping that one extra part just a little longer. It was still odd watching his features change from soft curves to sharp lines. He didn't feel any different though, which I was glad for.
"Piccolo?" I prodded him a little to keep him awake. "Last one..."
He exhaled, "Mmmshoot."
"Do you love me?"
Piccolo blinked twice, "huh?"
"Do you?"
His eyes fluttered. "Mmhmm..." and then he was asleep. He was one of those types that fell asleep after making love, regardless of how tough he is or how much he slept before. I just smiled and kept kissing and petting him while he slept in my arms. Did he answer me for real or was he just making noises as he drifted off? My mind held on to the belief that he'd said yes. Yes that he did love me.
Can you believe that whole mess took only fifteen minutes? It was the most frantic, insane thing I'd ever done. I just hoped Piccolo wasn't planning to splatter me across the floor when he woke up.
I didn't fall asleep after all that, but I didn't want to get up either. Not when I had a hot, sexy Namek sleeping on top of me. Piccolo is heavy as hell when he's a dead weight. I wouldn't have been able to get up without waking him first, which would've sucked if I was alive because I would've been forced to push him off so I could breathe. And I didn't want to do that. So I settled back, stroked his smooth cheek and thought deeply about that fic I'd been reading.
Heh, you'd think I'd learn not to daydream on the Quantum floor, but sometimes I just can't help it.
As was typical when I daydreamed, I zoned out and stared off to the side over Piccolo's head. I look like a moron when I do that, so I try to keep my mouth closed in public. But here? I thought nobody'd see me.
After a few minutes of this I felt something cold tickling my ear. You know that feeling when someone plays with the fuzz on your skin? Like that, but cold. I blinked and snapped out of my thoughts to wipe at my face and remove the source of the chill. And found myself staring at a youngish green face, which was hovering perfectly still and wore a huge toothy grin.
I jerked back in surprise, "What the hell!"
My movements disturbed Piccolo just enough to make him roll off me, but he didn't wake up. I didn't even noticed he'd moved.
The new figure looked up from where he was kneeling, one emerald green eye open and creased with a smile. "You're fun."
Namek...one eye shut...who did I know that did that?
"...Lute?"
The grin widened and he hopped lightly to his feet, folding his arms behind his back. A pair of gold, shimmering wings hovered over his shoulders. They seemed barely real, detached, nothing like normal wings like you'd see on a bird. Almost non-coporal.
I jumped to my feet. Should've known better when I felt the cold draft. The mist covered a lot, but still, DUH! "But how did you get here?"
Lute didn't reply at first, he just kind of blinked at me. He seemed so young, his green face tilted at the ends with a warm little smile. "How do y'think, silly?" He reached a hand up to tap the side of his head.
"But I just barely thought about you and..." I looked down at my feet and turned ten shades of red. Oh my God, I was still naked! BARE ASS NAKED in front of another man! I instantly felt mortified. It was almost as bad as the time I jumped out of bed naked in front of Vegeta. My face burned and I wanted to shrink to nothingness. "Oh, shit." I dove back into the mist for my clothes, Lute laughing at me the entire way.
"Do ya really get THAT scatterbrained? I was wondering how long you'd wait."
I had to pick Piccolo's leg up off my shirt. I felt so embarrassed I almost couldn't stand up after I'd made myself decent again. My choice of meager clothing didn't help. What I had on didn't cover much. "Oh, be quiet or I'll sit on your head!"
Lute made a face, "I'd like to see you reach it first."
I fluffed my hair and walked over to stand in front of him, peering up. He was about Di's height - shorter than Piccolo, but still pretty tall. "This's amazing. I wasn't even thinking that hard this time. Must not take much..." I reached out to touch him and see if he was really there or not. My hand encountered something concrete, though the skin was cold as ice. Lute's dead, so it's no surprise there. Drawing back after I satisfied my curiosity, I went on, "Not like you're a giant. I could reach your head easy!"
"Uuuuhuh...sure." A mock scowl passed over his face. He reached over and prodded the end of my nose with a long nail. "I'm not a midget either, midget."
I wiggled my nose at him, "You're about the same size as Discord." I hopped up into the air and perched atop his head like I belonged there. "And don't call me a midget!" A grin, "though I gotta admit, everybody's a lot bigger in person."
Lute looked up, "What'd you expect?"
"Sometimes I don't judge size well unless I've seen it for myself." I shrugged and peered down at him. His head was a lot harder in person. Or maybe my bony ass was biting me. I never could sit on hard surfaces for very long, my butt is so bony that the bone starts to dig at the skin from inside after awhile. "This...this doesn't work as well as it does in chats. Either my butt's bony or you have a hard head."
"Definitely both." Lute suddenly ducked and I found myself slipping off the top of his head.
"Hey!"
But his arms caught me before my butt met the ground.
"Oy, warning next time, okay?" As I dangled like a ragdoll from his hands. I must've weighed less than a kitten to him.
Lute's eye twinkled with amusement, "but it's no fun that way!" Then he pulled me in and hugged me against his chest. We're such good buddies in the roleplay realm that we hug and cuddle each other all the time. It...it just felt weird to really do it. His skin was so cold that I kept getting goosebumps.
"Only you would say that, ya goof." I watched him slouch a bit and saw the shimmer of gold and sapphire over his shoulders. Those magnificent wings of his. Finally I could look closely at them.
They barely looked real, even though the rest of him had taken on a real form. The wings stayed the same - glowing curls like clouds with tendrils hanging down. Swirling, shimmering blue in the center, gold on the outside. Lute's wings reached almost to his back, but not quite attached. I could probably fit my hand between his wings and his shoulderblades. Those wings - they're his soul. Touching them always caused him great agony and I learned that the hard way when we first met over a year ago. Only one person could touch them - another character I never got to meet.
I reached out, but pulled back. "They're gorgeous."
"Mh?"
"Your wings."
Lute looked back, blinking with his left eye. He made them shift and they seemed to move without me noticing they moved. Kinda like how Tambourine walked. One second they were at an angle and the next they were spread out in full splendor before me. "Mmh." A crease formed between his brow ridges. "A pain in the butt, though."
I glanced back at Piccolo to see if all this noise had woken him up or not. Scared that he'd get mad at me if he caught me talking to yet another visitor conjured from my imagination. I moved a few more feet away from him. Man, Jen would NEVER believe this. I was gonna have fun telling her about this part. That is, if she doesn't read this first. Then I'll REALLY have some explaining to do! My, oh my...
Lute's emerald eye followed me. Then he did so bodily, his bare feet stirring the mist and his wings casting a faint glow behind him.
My face flushed warm. "How much did you see?"
He shrugged. "What didn't I?"
"Uh..." I winced. "N-nevermind."
Folding his arms behind his head, Lute shifted his weight to one leg and tapped the other foot. His brown sweatpants came dangerously close to falling off his hips, but remained in place by the power of the drawstring alone. I couldn't help but stare at his young, oval face. Don't know the full story on how he was born and all, but Piccolo is sort of his father. He also has a mother. No, really he does! By the look of him he seemed to take after her in looks, though he did have Piccolo's ears...he really was a cute guy. Very boyish-looking.
"Ya know, I'm starting to enjoy this room. I mean...I'm starting to not want to leave anymore."
That shiny eye fixed back onto me. "S'that so?"
I stared at the sky, kind of half in thought. "Well...I know I have to, but I don't want to."
The green foot stopped its tapping. Lute tilted his head to the side and stopped moving completely. He just hovered there, utterly still. Like a statue. He made a soft, disapproving noise in his throat. Half sigh, half grunt.
I caught myself facing him with my arms crossed. Blame that new habit on Piccolo.
But my eyes were drawn behind Lute. There was faint movement in the mist. Just the faintest, slightest disruption like a cloud changing shape or fog dribbling through lighter air. What the heck? I wasn't doing that!
Wait, can the people I bring here also affect the room? But how? Is this really safe? Maybe I should send him back. But I don't want to...I mean I know he still exists there, but how do I know if he sees and breathes and has the same free will back in whatever place he comes from? What if...what if he's in oblivion?
Yet I kept looking at him, or around him anyway. What was that? Damn my lazy right eye, it screwed with my distance vision in this stupid fog!
Lute's face went blank. His body became still. Even more still than before, he didn't even bob up and down in the air where he was floating. It was very eerie. Lute is prone to dangerous mood swings and I began to worry for my safety. He could go psycho on me...or start clawing himself until his purple blood ran like rivers. I didn't know which was worse.
"Lute?" I caught myself wagging my Saiyajin tail. Piccolo hates it when I do that, he once said I look like a deranged puppy. "Are you okay? Is something wrong?"
No answer. His entire demeanor had changed. The happy, playful, silly aura about him was gone.
"Works both ways, ya know." Those eyes fixed on me. Both open now. One had light, the other didn't...and when Lute has both eyes open it means he's unhappy. Don't ask me to explain, it's just how he is. "Y'ever think of that?"
Cue my idiocy. "What works both ways?"
"This. This dreaming. You ever think of that?" He gestured around us. At the swirling, moving mist. Where it barely moved before, I noticed it curled around us like a slow motion tornado. We were in the only clear spot. I couldn't even see Piccolo anymore.
Oh, duh! "Yeah, I think anybody who stands on this floor can bring anything they want to life. But I don't think Void knew that and - "
"Who else's been here?" Lute trapped me in a serious gaze.
"Tambourine, Bo, Di...and now you." I met his eyes. "Oh, and Void once, but she left, as did the others."
And in a snap of movement Lute was right in my face. I just blinked and suddenly his eyes were right there in front of me, and they weren't the same eyes I was looking at before. You know how normally when someone stares right into your eyes, their eyeballs move back and forth to stay centered? His didn't do that. They were fixed straight on me as still and stony as the eyes on a sculpture or in a photograph. One alive and shiny, the other dark and cold.
"This isn't life, Cyndi." He was so close I felt his cold breath. Cold, not warm, and completely without a scent.
I jerked back from those shocking emerald eyes. Nervous as hell, I kept inching away. Hoping Lute would get the hint and at least back off a few inches. "I know that. Everybody in here's dead."
His eyes didn't move. "So will everybody else out there be if you stay. Your Believers, your family, your friends..."
"I'm not going to stay!" I squeaked. My hair bristled, "I said I want to, doesn't mean I'm going to."
"Oh, but why leave this wish-fulfillment?" Lute threw his arms up in the air and flared his golden wings. His voice grew darker and grave, boiling with sarcasm. "Isn't it the happiest place you've ever seen? Anything you want, BOOM! Everything you've ever desired, anyone you've ever known. BOOM! It's all right here!" He pressed his finger against the middle of my forehead with just enough force to push my head back. "Right here. You feel that?"
I shrank away from his touch. Okay now he was starting to scare me. I bet if I had a pulse it'd be racing about now. "I-I have people to save, Lute..."
"But they can be HERE!" Lute exploded. He put his hand in front of my face and snapped his long fingers. "Just like that!"
That reminded me...I knew what he was getting at. Lute's been through some horrible losses in his lifetime. He died by suicide and couldn't forgive himself, so he exists like this, unable to let go. And the people he wanted back couldn't come back. Not even to this fantastic place where any dream could become reality. It had to be horrible for him. So horrible and lonely.
"And in the process, your mind goes poof."
The Namek before me rocked back and screamed, "But it's so much FUN!"
Now I couldn't tell if he was just being sarcastically funny or having a serious meltdown. Nobody said I was an expert at reading people. And reading text in an IM window is, as I've said before, radically different than actually seeing these things. I caught myself taking another step away from him. "Lute, chill. Please."
Lute crouched like he was stalking, wings arched and his dead right eye burning through me. He looked like a panther about to pounce. "Make some ice then," he sneered and narrowed his eyes, "Go ahead. Chill. Ice."
But I didn't say anything. Didn't move, didn't blink. I just stared at him like he was going to eat me. Lute wasn't just bright blue text in an IM window - he was really here. He could seriously hurt me if he went completely psycho. Tear me to shreds and fling my guts into the wind like nothing, and I'd have to hurt or destroy him to protect myself. I don't want to do that.
Snarling, Lute clutched his head with one hand and sank to sit. The tassels on his wings spread out on the ground around him like ethereal gold ribbons. It was kind of pretty to look at.
He looked so sad. I walked cautiously towards him, stopping only a few inches away. "Are you okay?" Dumb question. But I didn't know how or what else to ask.
His hand trembled. I could see the veins in his arm all flushed and pulsing as his fist tightened to block the blood flow completely. It was kind of gross and scared me. Was he going to start slashing himself up? Was he going to cut me to pieces? I braced myself to see blood, his or mine I didn't know. But the fist relaxed. He slouched, staring at the ground. The mist continued to swirl around us like the breath of a ghost.
My hand found its way to Lute's shoulder. "It's not fair."
"Fair is a carnival," came the mumble from Lute's lips. He sounded so sad. Defeated...depressed...hopeless... "So let's get some popcorn."
"Feh, there isn't any." But I thought about popcorn and instantly a bag appeared. Fresh popped like from a movie theater. Oops, dammit! I blushed and tried to magic it away. It wouldn't disappear.
Lute raised an eyeridge. His right eye was closed again and he looked at the bag with the left one. The one with life and light. Something of a wry grin curled his boyish lips. "I told'ya."
"That...that was an accident."
"Well, make the best of it." He sighed, "Might as well. It looks good. Tell me how it tastes."
"Why don't you - " Oh, wait, Lute can't taste anymore. He could chug Japanese sake and it'd be like water to him. He could probably suck jalapenos and not bat an eye. God, what would life be like if I couldn't taste chocolate? Or the hot salt of Piccolo's lips? Or pasta...oh Lord I can't live without chocolate, wine, Doritos, pizza or pasta. Hell no!
But I'm not alive right now, am I? How come I can still taste and Lute can't?
I eyed Lute and reached for the bag. It was warm, steaming, slick with butter. REAL butter. "You made me want popcorn." I flung a few fluffs at his head and ate the rest Goku-style. One gulp like a shot of liquor...I never was one to reach in for one kernel at a time. Handfuls. Or, as a Saiyajin, the whole damn bag. I know I'm a pig. "It's like salty cellophane. Doesn't taste like real popcorn."
Lute's smile returned slowly, his open eye drifting up to the sky. Guess I appeased him a little. I tossed the empty bag towards him, following its course over his head and behind him. It disappeared as soon as it hit the ground. Just poof, gone as if it never existed. Oddly the full feeling also went out of my stomach. Like I didn't eat anything at all.
Of course I didn't, I just imagined I did. It wasn't real.
Shapes started forming in the mist behind Lute. Indistinct in many forms, sizes and consistencies. They all faded out again before they ever became solid. A bit like the T-1000 in Terminator 2 after it'd been tossed into that molten vat. Remember how it was taking all these shapes that melted before they could really form? It was like that...only in fog rather than metal. And it didn't scream. There wasn't a sound.
I wasn't doing that. Lute. His swirling mind. Then again the mist around me was often quite disturbed and moving faster than the rest, but it never really formed anything. At least not unless I let my mind stick too long on a single idea or image.
"Y'ever wonder?" his voice was light again, the smile still on his lips.
"Wonder what?"
"Whatever. Just wonder..."
"I try not to too much out here," I scratched my head, "but I wonder a lot of things, naturally." I looked over at him again. I may never see Lute alive and breathing in front of me again...I want to remember what he looks like. Just like I remember Tambourine's sharp, handsome features and Di's sexy, lithe body...I better be careful or they might come back!
He really was a young looking guy. Too young to die like he did. Light build though not overly so, a little bit like Discord. Definitely thinner than Piccolo. There was a drifted smile on his face that fit his features. A short, oval face like that of a little boy instead of a man. He was watching the shapeless clouds swirl overhead. For a moment the light on the floor played on his green cheek. He reminded me of those cherubs I see on Valentines and Christmas cards. Such a cutie. It's honestly hard to believe he's Piccolo's kid in the RP world, he doesn't look much like him at all...except maybe those ears and his lips. Definitely the lips.
I settled on my stomach and grinned up at him. "Anybody ever tell you you're a doll in person?"
Lute peered down at me, squinting slightly. "I once impersonated a plushie," he said casually.
"Are you serious?"
"Go ahead. Poke my tummy."
"Uh, okay." I poked his stomach. "Dough boy!"
He made this funny squeaking noise and yelled, "Mommy!"
Hilarious. I just leaned back and laughed a bit. "You're funny."
His eye lidded and he laughed back. A light, soft little sound. It was honestly nice to hear him laugh. Much nicer than the way he looked when he was mad at me.
"Seriously though, you're cute. I bet you get that a lot though."
"Actually..." Lute looked up again and tapped his chin with one finger, "I kinda do. Though the same amount of people tend to chase me with blunt objects, too."
"Oh come on, that's bull. I'm the one that gets chased with blunt objects." I made a face. "I still think you get a ton of attention from girls."
He chuckled, shaking his head. "Actually...it's more guys. Don't ask me, by the gods why, but it's usually guys."
I forgot...Lute is a gay man magnet. It was so horribly tempting to conjure up the Queer Eye guys just to watch them jump him and give him a makeover. It would've been funny as hell...and Lute would never forgive me.
I covered my blushing face with some of my hair. "Bo would SOOOOOOO hit on you if he was here. And I don't think I'm going to bring him in either. Cute and odd as he is, he's also a pain."
"Mmh, no thanks. Got nothing against gay men and all, but m'not interested. Just don't swing that way."
"Must be your cute little face." I snickered and poked Lute kinda hard in the side, making him jump. In the same mocking tone I continued on, "But this place...I wish it could fix everything that's wrong with the world."
Lute made a disapproving noise, tightened his lips and looked over. Now THERE was a more Piccolo-like face! "By making up a perfect one...save for the fact that it's not real. None of it is."
I met his open eye. "Your family could come back."
For a moment there was a deathly silence between us. Then, slowly, Lute turned his head to look fully at me. I saw his teeth grit behind his lips. Right then I knew my big mouth just got me in trouble. Again. Dammit, why can't I just shut up when I'm ahead? Why must I always say just one too many stupid things? STUPID!
"No," he whispered. When people whisper they're usually more angry than when they're yelling. "They can't come back."
"Not even here?"
"I'm real. I'd bet my ass that Tambourine was, somehow. But no one else was." The bright, cheerful eye lost some luster. "No one else..."
"Marbles."
"All glass."
"No," I said, "Something Di said."
"Mh." He curled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, resting his cheek on top. Just like a small, frightened, angry child. His wings just hung there behind him, drooped like wilted flower petals. I almost expected him to burst into tears or fly into a rage.
"Di said...well he said universes are like marbles on a floor. This's one marble," I gestured to the area around us, "You're from another. Tambourine came from another, Di from a different one and Bo from yet another different one. They were all real. Just like you are."
Snorting, Lute closed his eye, "Really?"
"Yeah." I leaned forward, tail wagging again, "I just kind of called them. Where do you think I got this?" I reached back and lifted the bo out of the mist. Its blades gleamed eerily in the light and I briefly remembered Di's careful hands polishing it. Those long, tapered fingers worn flat from piano playing...I quickly shook it off.
"And what do you think happened to the real them? In their worlds?" Lute's head jerked up and his wings flared, "I don't know, maybe you can tell me. C'mon, tell me."
I got nervous again. "I-in YOUR marble...universe...they're gone. But not in their own. They're still alive somewhere. Just..." I stared blankly ahead in search of a proper word. 'Gone' was the worst choice. Aha. "...unreachable."
Next thing I knew, I was three feet away on the ground. My face throbbing, stinging, heat rushing into the wounded area. I blinked in shock and pain, holding my face. Hurt and bewildered. I looked up at Lute and found him on his feet with his hand still outstretched. Blood, my blood, faintly shining on his clawtips. I took my hand off my face to find it smeared with sticky crimson.
He'd slapped me. Hard. Punches do a lot of damage, but slaps hurt a lot worse for a LOT longer. I would've been utterly pissed off if I wasn't so damn scared right then.
Lute glared at me with his face pulled into a mask of rage. I saw veins pulsing on his forehead just below his antennae. The bulbous appendages throbbed in time with the vein. I wasn't looking at anger...this was rage. Dangerous rage.
"Don't you know it's stupid to hit girls?" I spat in attempt to recover some of my dignity. Boy aren't I smart, screaming at someone whose sanity barely hung on by a thread.
"Don't you know it's stupid to live in a bubble?" He spat the words like acid.
Obviously Lute doesn't know what it's like to be autistic. And that ticked me off. "Where the hell do you think I've been my whole life? It's just...this place caters exactly to it! My mind!"
I heard him snarl. That was enough to shut me up...for about two seconds. "I hate the unknown. I don't even know if I'm going to win this one."
He took a step forward and spoke in a tone I can only describe as threatening. "This. Isn't. Reality."
And I exploded, "Then what IS!"
"Outside. Where things are, whether you think of them or not. Where you can't pick and choose your existence." He closed his fists, but his eyes burned into mine, "Where bad things happen, good people die too soon and everyone just has to hold on."
I didn't want to hear this. Lalala, not listening! LALALALA!
"My mind is like this room. Exactly like it. Out there it's crazy and scary and I barely understand any of it. I don't want to face it, even though I have to. I can stay with Piccolo here and live happily ever after just like the movies - "
"This isn't reality, Cyndi!" Lute snarled so loud I saw foamy spit flying off his fangs. "The people may be 'real' when you bring them here. But they're not really here. They're out there," he pointed at the building. Beyond it was the door leading out of this comfortable place. "with Void, who is going to kill them if you don't get your head out of your tiny ass."
The hot bubble forming in my stomach became unbearable. I was on the verge of a complete tantrum. And I exploded, shoving my face up into his, "NO! SHE WON'T! I WON'T LET HER!"
Lute gazed coolly down at me, eyes half lidded. Very casual despite my practically spitting in his face. "Oh, yeah?" He crossed his arms, "And how do you plan to stop her from in here?"
"I-I'm training! So when I go out I CAN kick her ugly mole-crusted ass!"
"Good girl."
Grrrr! "I'm not a dog. Don't talk to me like one."
"I didn't say you were."
With a sigh, I deflated and sat down next to his legs. I just suddenly felt too tired to stand. "Feh."
Something light dropped into my hands. I looked down and found a tiny little chain with a swirl of a flower at the bottom. So delicately made and beautiful. It was probably all solid gold and worth a fortune. My love of shiny jewelry took over and I studied it in the glow from the floor. "What's this?
"My mother's. Well, not my actual mother, just another reality of her" said Lute softly, "She said it gave her good luck."
I carefully pocketed the chain and looked up. Long way up too, "Are you sure you should be giving it away like this?"
He stuck his hand in his pocket and I saw the bulge of his fist clasping something. Though his sweats were hanging low they didn't move further down when his hand pressed on them from within. "I have other things to keep me going."
My eyes were moist. I sniffed. "Yeah."
"Hey, kid...who are you talking to?" Another voice cut in. A familiar deep, whispery rumble.
I jerked around to see Piccolo halfway sitting up, looking at me. He didn't seem to see Lute. Nobody could, except a select few. Children mostly, and those with childlike minds like mine. I remembered that in his own reality Lute was doomed to watch from the side, but never participate. He's stuck watching 'his' Piccolo go downhill. He's probably seen Void do awful things to his reality and he couldn't stop her. God, how awful.
Lute looked over at Piccolo and smiled faintly, crinkling his left eye.
"I'm talking to Lute." I said.
Piccolo squinted at me. Skeptical. I looked closer and saw he was still very much half asleep. The downside of the chocolate high - coming down was hellish. Poor Piccolo was going to have a hangover!
But it was worth it. Sore privates and all, it was worth it.
Piccolo put his head down on his arm and closed his eyes to rest a little longer - boy he didn't look too good. I was grateful he didn't ask more questions. He probably won't believe me when I do finally explain this to him.
I felt rather than saw Lute shift away.
"Ya gonna remember for me?"
"Yeah..." I sagged, "This place isn't real. But that kinda takes the fun out of it."
"Maybe." He looked up, "But what's fun isn't always what's best."
My shoulders drooped, "I know...that's what sucks. But I guess I just like the control." I looked up through my bangs and sighed, "I have to fight to save the people that bring places like this to life. There won't BE anyone to dream otherwise. I just wish I could snap my fingers and everyone would be happy.
"Heh, if you'd been in control of your life, ya wouldn't have met the stranger that let you come to this side. You wouldn't have needed what you've been learning all this time."
I pressed a hand to my chest where the necklace was inside me. Its warmth answered me and I looked up. "I never would've met Piccolo."
Lute's face softened. "Hai, you wouldn't have."
"And I never would've met someone that understands me. I mean...nobody in my world can really, but he does."
"So maybe change is a good thing, Cyn."
"Yeah," I snorted. "But I don't belong here. I don't belong there. I feel so strange."
"Sometimes that's the price of a little happiness," said Lute, a knowing look in his expression.
"Nobody knows that better than you."
Lute smiled distantly at me, his open eye faraway. "Maybe."
Geez...I felt myself exhale the leftover air in my lungs. "I guess I have to get past my comfort zone." I grinned wryly up at him, "Do you realize how much I HATE doing that?"
There was only silence as Lute looked up. His gaze drifted out over the mist, the door and the distant black sky. "S'the way life is. Cherish it, 'cuz someday you'll really be dead."
Dead for real. Yikes. I hoped it would be later rather than sooner.
"But what about you, Lute?" I looked at him expectantly.
He looked back with a raised eyeridge. Then he kind of chuckled. "Only time'll tell."
"Heh." I grinned and started singing, "Who can say where the road goes? Where the day flows? Only tiiiiiime."
"Don't go all Enya on me." Lute winked, "S'best I get going."
"Yeah...before others show up." Mostly meaning Void, but I had a few others in mind that I'd rather not see.
"Catch ya some other time, girlie?"
I jumped up and hugged him around the waist, pressing my forehead into his chest. His cold skin didn't bother me anymore. "Yeah, because you'll be getting this necklace back. You still need it."
"I'll get it back when you win." Lute's voice vibrated down through his chest and into my forehead. Such a light, calm voice that fit exactly with his appearance. He hugged me back and lifted my head to plant a big, wet, sloppy kiss right on the end of my nose.
I kinda laughed because it was slimy and cute at the same time. "That's a promise."
Lute pulled away and grinned back, laughing along with me at the spit on my nose. I wiped it off on my arm and looked up in time to see him stepping backwards. He raised a hand in a wave. Then he leapt up into the sky, flapped his wings once and just disappeared into the mist. The fog retained his shape for a long time. I watched it fly higher until it broke apart and drifted back into the swirl around me. Then the gentle tornado surrounding me calmed. The floor at my feet was once again completely shrouded from view.
I backed away from where Lute used to be. He was right. I needed to stop playing and get down to business.
"Cyndi..." Piccolo was right behind me. "did you - "
"Yeah, but he left. It's a really long, complicated story." I turned and buried myself in Piccolo's arms. He was only half dressed and his pants came dangerously close to falling right off. I planted both hands squarely on his butt and squeezed it. Mm, nice and tight, just like it should be. I nuzzled my face lovingly against his washboard stomach. Getting lost in the slick, rough texture.
Piccolo lifted my chin. His face was firm, but gentle. "Lute. I know who he is. He's visited me before."
I choked on my spit and coughed, "You saw him?"
"I can see him." Piccolo rolled his eyes at me like it was obvious. "The 'me' in his own world can't because that version of myself isn't attuned to those kinds of things." His lips quirked, "Who do you think told Kami to check your Reality in the first place? The old fart could've dumped himself in any number of Realities, but Lute told him to pick yours."
My eyes widened. "Lute did that?"
"Yes. And once you met Lute's creator, she tuned you into him so he could speak to you from cyberspace. He know of you before he knew who you were."
I looked straight up as if expecting to see Lute reappear. It was because of him that Kami even found me, and he didn't tell me. He must've seen me somehow. Damn, I wish I'd known...so I could thank him.
Lute, if you read this...thank you.
"Excuse me." Piccolo's voice cut into my thoughts. "You're holding my ass. Do you mind?"
"Mmh, it's such a luscious ass too." I kneaded it. "Can I hold on just a little longer?"
Piccolo did something shocking. He grabbed my butt back. Only it took one of his hands to span its small width and squeeze.
"Ouch! You're pinching too hard!"
"Now you know how it feels."
I promptly let go, which made Piccolo let go of me.
"We definitely need to do that again." I grinned up at Piccolo from under my bangs
"Hmph. No thanks, I hate migraines and that chocolate gave me one that lasted my entire nap." Piccolo walked away to get dressed. He seemed a little off about it. "I dreamed...and I don't dream that often." Must've been a bad dream. But I don't recall Piccolo being the type to have nightmares.
I blushed. "Could've been the chocolate."
"Maybe."
"What was it about, anyway?"
Piccolo straightened after he'd donned his shirt, cape and turban. He didn't answer me right away.
Phew, I needed to go put on more clothes. Just got freezing cold. "Piccolo? What did you dream about?"
"I...Cyndi, walk towards me." Piccolo was staring over my head. Frozen. Slack-jawed. "...I brought him here."
"Huh? Who?"
I got the feeling of something large behind my back. I just froze and let it happen, waiting.
The mist itself seemed to speak. "Me."
That voice! It...it was familiar. Deep, rough, kind of throaty.
I started to turn, "Who the - "
Suddenly a huge fist smashed down on the top of my head. I ate the floor teeth first, my ears ringing from the impact. My mouth filled with coppery blood. Reality swam in a sea of nausea as I rolled over to peer at who hit me. The mist in front of me parted and I saw only blue. My eyes climbed higher until they stopped on something familiar. Something too familiar.
I was looking into a pair of black eyes very different from Piccolo's. These eyes had a deep red ring around the pupil. Just like a demon. My gaze traveled over prominent, sharp, green cheekbones and a grin baring long fangs. A second later my eyes were fixed on his chest. It was the last thing I saw before I passed out.
The Daimaou sigil.