TalaTati19- Now, then…let's start screwing some shit up around here.
Summary:.. [Rei's POV] It's been nearly five years since the last time we saw each other. The gang has made no effort to keep contact and I am also to blame. Now, out of mere chance, fate is binding us again. "How did we get here? I used to know you so well…" K/R, T/M
Note:.. The theme song of this story is the song 'Decode' by Paramore, found on the Twilight Soundtrack. It's the centerpiece of this puzzle. Also, the title of each chapter is two song names put together, both which summarize and are of great significance to the chapter. (Both song names are given at the end of the chapter.)
Genres:.. This story falls under the following categories- Drama/Romance
Disclaimer:.. TalaTati19 does not own Beyblade or any other commercial/marketing references that may appear throughout the story. WARNING: Yaoi fanfiction. Don't like it? Don't read it, don't complain, and don't be an ass about it. Just let it go and move on.
Scene Break:.. x-x-x-x
Decode (S.E.X.)
June 19th
There's so much on my mind right now, I really don't know how to put it all into one word! Oh wait, yes I do: Kai.
Kai, Kai, Kai, Kai, Kai, Kai, Kai!
Today was like we were thrown into a fantasy realm, for both Max and I. We both hung out for the day with our crushes: Max and Tyson recuperated lost ground and I finally made it to said ground with Kai. In both our cases, we wished that it would never come to an end. But, as the world has come to know, they always do come to an end, so we lived up every moment to the fullest. But for me, it's still not enough. I'm a greedy man and I'm thirsty for more. I want today to happen all over again tomorrow and the day after that and for the rest of eternity. I want to be able to spend every afternoon -no, every full day- with Kai. I want to spill out my soul to him and have him do the same with me.
If I die in my sleep tonight, I'll die the happiest neko on the face of this earth.
-Rei
x-x-x-x
Nightfall blankets the island/country of Japan and I sit by the window in a heap of jitters. Will he come? Am I prepared? How do I look? How will he look? Does he remember? Should I be armed?
I watch the nightlife outside with glazed eyes, my thoughts nowhere nearby. A gleaming black car, a Toyota Camry, pulls up in the empty driveway and a tall man with fiery hair emerges from the sophisticated-looking vehicle. I watch as he makes his way up our walkways, jumps two steps up the front stairs and disappears from my sight. The doorbell rings and I'm finally pulled out of my daydreaming.
Shit! Tala's here!
Scrambling up to my feet, I trip over my own feet dozens of times as I stumble to the front door, fixing my appearance one final time as I make my way there. Why am I being so paranoid about how I look? It's not like this is a legitimate date or anything- just a friendly dinner between two friends. Friends maybe? Just dinner?
I hastily open the door and gape in awe at Tala. Goddamn, the man cleans up to a crisp- sleek red devil hair combed perfectly, his peachy-orange sherbet dress shirt appearing from beneath his black leather jacket, and dark jeans tying in the look all together. Most importantly, his icy blue eyes remarkably shine against the calming color pallet he's wearing.
He look delectably teasing and that's definably not a good thing in my case.
No, Rei, no! What about all that progress with Kai yesterday? I won't put that to waste; there's no way in hell I'm going to lose a mile of ground that I couldn't gain in ten years. I just have to keep myself under control. I have to continuously remind myself that this is friends and nothing more.
"Well, aren't you a sexy tiger? Damn, are you trying to make me look bad? I'm tempted to ravage you right here." Shit, this is going to be so much harder than anticipated. What have I gotten myself into?
x-x-x-x
Tala must think he's a very funny man with all his little cat jokes. When he's not referring to me in a sexual/intimate manner, calling me 'tiger', he insists on calling me 'kitty-cat' instead. When he's not making a dumb cat joke he's referring to one, such as taking me to dinner here at this sushi house. Isn't he funny? That's a knee slapper!
"…Y'know, I'll admit that I'm not a huge fan of Japan." He mentions as our conversation transitions into a different topic, the two of us sitting beside a bright and colorful tank off to the more secluded side of the restaurant.
Intrigued, I chuckle in confusion. "Then why are you here?" Thankfully, after being in the car with him and sitting here waiting for our meal for more than 20 minutes now (adding the time altogether), I've gotten over the worse part of my fidgeting, controlling it so that all my spazzing urges channel to my left hand. A habit that, after years of intense practice, now comes in handy more often than I realize.
He leans back in his seat, shrugging under his jacket that sat hanging on the back of the cushioned bench seat. "Eh, I guess I learned to tolerate it. Kai likes coming down here -God knows why- and kissing up to the boss' son has got to earn you something eventually right?"
I blink in surprise, outrage spilling out a little with my words more towards the end, surprised that the red head would do such a thing with his best friend. "You and Kai both work together? And you use him like that?"
"Haha, simmer down, will you? You're misunderstanding things- I don't take advantage of Kai at all, I take advantage of the perks he gets. That's the positive of a family business, such as his case. You always get paid a dollar or two more than the crowd, you're always the first notified with any changes, for better or for worse, you know what I mean? He's on top of the list there." I nod, relaxing again. Relaxing as much as I can, that is. "I'm here because I'm the traveling CFO* there- I have to haggle prices with Stanley because the old man doesn't want to pay full fare to the kids he provided scholarships to. Completely dumb, really. Personal relations should never interfere with business…" He goes off on his rant. I just nod and pretend to tag along with what he's saying, since I somewhat understand it all. It sounds relative to Lee's business back in Hong Kong.
"Besides, why were you so grouchy about it?" He asks off hand, smiling at the waitress that returned with our drinks: straight up sake. The hardcore stuff.
Stuttering, a little flustered while trying to come up with a reply, I answer before he can even notice my internal turmoil. "I didn't mean to be grouchy about it. It's because of the way you worded it- nobody should ever take advantage of anybody."
The pale Russian makes a face that can be described as 'oh please, give me a break'. "Rei, wake up, would you? This is reality; if people didn't take advantage of one another the human race wouldn't be where it is. It's just how life works."
I narrow my eyes, begging to differ. "Yeah, which also explains all the shit we're in."
"Ah, touché." He laughs, shaking his head. "Well, I apologize nonetheless. I didn't mean to make fun of your boy-toy." I blush a deep red, I just know it, and I ready myself to contradict his statement yet again but he beats me to the punch, changing the subject.
"This is what keeps me coming back to Japan." He says in complete honesty, lifting the small glass of sake and shaking it before us before throwing it down the hatch. "You can only get the best by following it to its homeland. Is Chinese sake any good?"
I roll my eyes playfully, chuckling lightly as well. "I would know."
"You would, hence my asking." He nods knowingly, a smirk gracing his pale pink lips. "Cough it up, kitty-cat, you can't hide your golden stash of alcohol forever. Ask that bleached-pink wife a' yours to send some over."
I turn away and ignore his jokes respectfully (if such a feat is even possible), and drink from my own glass. "I doubt it'd get by security."
"You bluff; I got into the country with vodka multiple times back in the day, when I was still considered to be underage. You just don't want to call her. Can't say I don't blame you- I hate that woman…pink cow." I stifle a snort at the name he gives her, hiding my knavish laugh behind the tinted blue glass. I meet his frosty eyes that are brimming with what I can only describe as a nefarious content. The magnitude of the emotion contained behind those eyes make me shudder, a chilling sensation creeping down my spine.
"W-what?" I manage to spit out, flexing my left hand beneath the table repeatedly as it trembled with no control.
"You think you fool everyone kitty-cat, but I can read you like a good novel. You must be slacking off on your rehearsals, if that's the case, or I'm just that talented." The red head comments offhand, breaking eye contact with me.
I sheepishly chuckle, wandering to gaze at the fish in the tank. The colorful little critters swim around without a care in the world- I wish I could be them. The saltwater animals do remind me of one thing, however. Wasn't the point of this entire dinner to discuss my wretched hemophobia? "Well, that's kind of it."
"Yeah, Kai told me about yesterday. How very adorable." I almost growl in my throat when I feel the blood trying to rush to my cheeks again, irritating and embarrassing. I also hate how he's putting me on the spot- he obviously knows I like Kai and now he's trying to get somewhere with this information- blackmail me perhaps.
I turn now, a glare prepared for him, but I immediately lose it when I meet his expression: pure evil and delight. "At least one of us won't be going home feeling guilty tonight, isn't that right, Rei?" I find myself short of breath, unable to find my voice, and with a blank mind. I want to be anywhere but here now. I want to be back home on the couch watching some cruddy Japanese game show rerun.
The waitress finally returns, saving me from having to find a response to his question. Our orders are set on the table before us and she more than gladly refills our glasses. Tala asks the woman to leave the bottle here, slipping her a lovely tip of fifty U.S. dollars, and she smiles sweetly at him and takes the money, leaving. He picks up his chopsticks and fights with them for a little to get a firm grip of them. I take my own and begin eating without a problem, still silent and not knowing what to say.
"Well, then, now that we've cleared up that issue, I'll tell you that I think everyone has ended up terribly in terms of relationship. At least up until now." His scoffs distastefully, now using the chopsticks quite skillfully. "You and Tyson, for instance. I knew Tyson was an idiot, but I didn't think you were too."
"Excuse me?" I sneer unwillingly, easing up on my glare afterward.
"Relax, will you, tiger, I'm tying to get you to wake up." He rolls his eyes, talking with both the chopsticks and his hands. "Take example B, for instance."
"Tyson? What about it- he likes Hilary." I shrug, inwardly knowing the real turmoil of the love triangle.
"Well, yeah, and he's really retarded for loving her. As much of a nuisance as he's always been, nobody deserves to be cheated on by a modeling whore." Shock washes over me as my eyes slowly widen in disbelief, my mouth small in a small gape. I already predicted such a thing, but hearing it from someone else is a different experience entirely.
"Hilary's…cheating on Tyson?" I slowly repeat and he raises his thick red eyebrows, nodding.
"Mmmhm, with that Italian rich-kid man-whore. Owns a model agency under his name now, dad's a vintage wine guy…Enrique what's-his-face?"
"Enrique?" I gasp. "As in the Enrique from the Majestics team?" He nods to confirm this, making his chopsticks walk on the table.
"Yyyup. Saw it myself before the holidays. I was sent down there on business and there they were, strolling the streets of Rome like a couple of lovebirds." Before the holidays? That bitch has been cheating on Tyson for more than six months? Was it even the past holidays that he saw them? Tala pulls out his phone and I feel my own phone vibrate in my pocket moments after with a text message. "Right there."
Pulling out my phone, I open the text and stare at the picture, finding it hard to get it through my head. I know that Hilary has never been a trustworthy woman- hell, everyone knows that- but I never imagined that she'd stoop so low. "…How could she do that to him?"
"Do you really want to hear what I have to say about that?" The Russian asks and I shake my head, a ghost of a smirk appearing and disappearing from my features. "The only PG thing I can say is that Tyson needs to wake up and dump the skank. The number one rule of identifying a whore is that their French fingertips and plump red lips always scream loyalty. You can keep that photo, I don't want sick shit like that on my phone anymore. I'm surprised I held onto it for so long."
I put away my phone, not bearing to stare at the picture of clear fiery romance between Enrique and Hilary any longer. Poor Tyson, he's being stabbed at from behind and yet he still strives so hard to please her. I'm gonna have a serious talk with Hilary if it's the last thing I ever do. "I guess we have been stupid romantics."
"You said it, kitty-cat. You, Me, Kai, Tyson. We're all hopeless fucks." He obnoxiously, and also adorably, sticks his tongue out in annoyance at himself, licking a piece of fish. "Does this stuff taste funny to you?"
Making the comment while I had my mouth full, I immediately put my chopsticks down, letting my taste buds tell me if the fish was, by any chance, bad. I feel a little sick when I see that I've already eaten ½ of my meal- what if this stuff is tainted? Tala chomps down on another piece and shakes his head. "No, it's nothing. Guess I just haven't eaten this stuff in a while." Ugh, did you really just scare me for nothing? Way to make me lose most of my appetite.
"Hey, Tala." I dare asking after a comfortable eating silence that allowed the two of us to practically finish our entire meal…and the entire bottle of sake. The red head's already order a second and is working away at that one as we speak. "What exactly did you mean by you being a hopeless love cause?"
His expression is partially serious, partially humored. "I meant those words exactly, kitty-cat." He laughs.
"No, I mean like," I explain myself further. "I never thought of that happening to you…or Kai, for that matter."
He snorts. "Kai's a wuss."
I glare at him, my defensiveness immediately reacting to his harsh words. "Kai is not a wuss."
"Kai is most definably a wuss. Both he and the love of his life are complete idiots. They love each other yet they're so scared of one another at the same time that they never open up to each other. Complete wusses. The two of them." He begs to differ.
"Have you even heard what he's had to say about that?" I argue.
"Heard? I lived through the entire thing; I know of aaaall the highs and lows of his 'I think I'm getting through!' and 'I'll never be looked at the way I wish to be's'. He's such a drama queen, honestly." He informs me, rocking from side to side to a inaudible beat with a grin set on his face. "They're both drama queens!"
My anger vanishes and I begin to wonder if Tala is 100% sane at the moment, for I believe the liquor's finally starting to get to him. "…Right."
"What're you lookin' at, kitty-cat?" He tilts his head at a 45 degree angle, the grin widening. "You bored already?"
"Well, yes- I mean no. Well, I have finished eating." Gah, crap, why must I always be so incompetent with words?
His icy blue eyes are bright and he nods in agreement, also having finished his meal as well. He runs his hand through scarlet locks, pulling his thin bangs back only to have them fall back over his face handsomely, and signals for our waitress to come over. After asking for the bill and waiting for the woman to disappear yet again, he fills his empty glass of sake all the way up to the rim and nearly overflows it. The red head dips his head over the glass and slurps from the surface to prevent spillage, hiding the bottle behind his back.
"Very inconspicuous." I sarcastically complement. He sticks his tongue out at me and cautiously picks up his beverage, drinking it all in one sitting. "You're insane."
"I bet you can't do that." He boasts, shaking his once again empty glass at me.
"I choose not to."
"Chicken! Bwa-bwa-bwa-ba-caw!" He taunts me, flapping his arms like wings and mimicking a chicken rather loudly, attracting attention to our table.
"Tala, quit it! People are starting to stare!"
"Bwa-bwa-BA-CAW! Bwa-bwa-bwa-bwa-bwa-BACAW!" I glare at his, leaning over the table to reach out and take the bottle from him.
"Give me that!"
I roll my eyes, filling more than half my glass with Japanese sake- I can't believe I'm doing this. Making sure he's paying attention, I smirk and drink the entire thing in one sitting, the bottom of my throat burning when I finished and my head spinning once. I felt a little out-of-whack for a few seconds but then came back to. "See? I'm not a chicken."
"Pfft, WEAK." He nearly shouts, waving off-hand at me. "You only did that once, I've already done so at least a dozen times. If you really want to prove that you're up to my level, you'll do that another 11 times." My heart clenches in fret: 11 more times?
"In your dreams; if we both get drunk who'll drive?"
"That's out of the question- we're both already under the influence and you're driving even if you were in my condition because I have a terrible DUI record. With that being said…chug, chug, chug, chug!" He lightly pounds pale fists on the table in excitement.
I shake my head. "Nuh-uh, not tonight, Tala."
"Come oooon, you're such a goody two shoes!" He complains. "Two more times!"
"No."
"Two more times!" He insists and I decline.
"No."
"Just once more!" He pleas, batting his thick eyelashes at me and even putting on a pouty lip. Has anyone ever told him how arousing he looks like that? How dangerous that look can potentially be? Fuck, I hate being so weak.
Resigning, I pull the cork off the bottle again. "One more time only."
He happily smiles. "One. And then I'll take you out for dessert and vodka."
I was in the middle of downing my second full glass and I nearly choke, sending a spray of alcohol into my esophagus and into my lungs, my entire chest searing with a burn now. "What?!"
x-x-x-x
I should've made him bring me back home after sushi. Hell, I was the one driving, I should've driven myself home after sushi. But my number one defect always get in the way: my politeness. He insisted on treating me out today, and he was being such a gentleman about it…and I am very easily manipulated, unfortunately. Why won't somebody call me to pull me out of this? I don't care who- Tanya, Max, Tyson, Kai, Hilary even! If anybody can hear me, call me!
"Chocolate or strawberry, kitty?" Tala asks me from the kitchenette of the apartment he and Kai are staying at, the latter and gorgeous blunette nowhere to be found, oddly enough. Even if it is 9:30 in the evening. I can't say I'm not surprised: Kai always has been one to disappear with something more important to do. Busy, busy, Kai. Busy, busy, unhelpful, Kai. Please come home in the next two minutes!
"Strawberry." I sat on the white couch of the living room with the television on, the volume low, and a glass of proof vodka in my hand, the bottle sitting on the coffee table before me. Let me tell you, proof, straight-from-Russia vodka is really strong shit and it's nothing to play around with. The stuff's like…absinthe. Ever tried it? No? Well, unless you're a very smart, very accustomed, maybe even alcoholic drinker, than don't try it. Just don't. End of story. Don't ask about mine.
I've had more servings of vodka than I can remember already, to 'catch up with Tala', as the Russian himself put it, and after the first glass I felt the effect of both sake and vodka together begin to stir. I'm not a terrible drinker, but I'm also not the best either. Reason being is because I don't drink that often to begin with, and when I do I'm controlled about it so I last long before finally succumbing to the title 'drunk'.
Tala returns skipping with a tray and both our ice creams on it, handing me my little silver bowl with the cold pink goodness inside it. His spoon was in his mouth, traces of whipped cream around his lips and on his nose, and a smile on his face. "One strawberry ice cream for my date."
Date? Have I really let this go out of hand?
"Thanks." I half grin, standing to receive it. "You got a little…" Out of subconscious impulse I wipe the whipped cream dot from his nose, sucking it off my finger and blushing as soon as I realize what I did. Terrible, Rei, you idiot!
"Thanks." He mimics me with the same response and half grin, catching me by the elbow. I was swaying and didn't even know it. "I take it you don't drink that much vodka?"
"How'd you guess?" I grumble a little playfully and sit, sourly spooning my first helping of ice cream into my mouth. Tala sinks to a sit beside me and eats his own chocolate ice cream, a smirk on his devilish face.
"Just guessing." He shrugs, and I also note that, even while sitting, he's rocking ever so slightly from side to side. I maliciously grin: revenge.
"I take it you don't drink that much sake either?" I narrow my eyes, leaning back triumphantly and spinning the spoon in my fingers, the silver eating utensil distracting me more so than the sweet dairy dessert. I hear him set down his bowl of ice cream on the glass table before us and he takes mine away. "Hey!"
He sits on top of me faster than I can react and this takes me by surprise. I gasp and giggle, not really knowing why. I'm starting to lose control over myself. "And what exactly do you mean by that, tiger?" He rests both his hands on either side of my torso, making it impossible for me to escape. Yet I don't care. What's wrong with me?
"I mean exactly what I said." I feel my canines slip over my lower lip in my smirk.
Tala's eyes narrow and he also smirks maniacally- a very seductive look for him. "You a very brave tiger, you know that?" He dips down, his bangs dancing over my cheeks and lightly tickling the skin. "You know what I'm thinking?"
"Tell me?" I ask as lowly as he spoke, his cool breath a refreshing feeling against my hot face.
His lips find mine, a tingling and electrifying sensation. I feel my hair raise at the back of my neck, my skin prickle with the gesture, and I return it at the same tempo he gave it to me. I'm hit with a sudden wave of passion and I feel the same intensity on his part- I felt hot and cold, alive and dying, excited and paralyzed.
His hand traces my arm from behind, coming up my back and finally tickling my neck with frosty fingers. I gasp and he licks my lower lip, stating his entrance. He tasted sweet yet powerful, a combination I never knew vodka and chocolate could perform so spectacularly; his tongue danced a salsa with mine.
We finally broke away, gasping for air, and he rested his forehead on mine, eyes shut. I felt pained when my mind finally registered that the affection disappeared suddenly. I needed the high, I loved being a druggie, and I needed more of the drug that's sitting on top of me. I wanted Tala to kiss me again a hundred times over.
"…I'm thinking…that I want to see if you can stand up to your challenge." He answers the question I long forgot I asked.
"What challenge?" I ask, my voice breathy.
He comes back with butterfly kisses, beginning from my lips and trailing down my jaw to my neck, speaking every few kisses. "The one…where you doubted…my resistance to sake…"
Using the opportunity that he was on his hands and knees on top of me, I wrapped my legs around his waist and let my fingers find their way to his shirt, unbuttoning it. "Did I say that?" I ask, not even fully aware of what I'm asking. He hits my weak spot, the area just beneath my jawbone that's particularly sensitive to me, and I purr out a moan.
He digs his arms beneath me, a task which I helped a little by arching my back, and he lifts me, up, steadily standing before proceeding down the hall. He turns his back to the bedroom door and walks into it to open it. Setting me down on the ground again, the sexy Russian goes straight for my pants, removing the belt and unbuttoning them. It ended up in a race of sorts- we both tore off each others clothes with unneeded haste.
When we reached our pants, both at our ankles, we tripped over them and fell onto the bed, Tala on top, myself no the bottom. I skillfully slip my feet away from my jeans, letting them slide off the end of the messy, unmade bed to the floor. I notice that the alarm clock radio is on, very low, but it catches my attention. Between messy kisses and tangling my fingers in Tala's silky scarlet hair, I manage to mumble out "Music…"
The man above me chuckles, his chest rumbling above mine. "Higher or lower?"
"Doesn't matter." He surprises me by actually turning up the song a little for a reason I immediately see why. Ever heard the song 'Buttons'?
"Loosen up your buttons, pussycat doll." He smiles at me, aquamarine eyes sparkling in the dimmed light. I laugh out once.
"That's a terrible joke." He silences me with yet another fiery kiss and I fall victim to it, enjoying every moment of the night. In the back of my head I still felt a buzz- a scream, if you will. It was me. I don't know why, but I was screaming at myself.
x-x-x-x
Song: S.E.X.- Nickelback. If that title wasn't a given than I don't know what is.
*CFO- Chief Financial/Finances Officer (Tala's job).
So, peepers, I apologize for the week delay on this update. You see, mid terms are just around the corner and I've been going crazy looking for papers that I need to turn in and what not. Not to mention that I have been, so to quote a good friend, "studying like a fuck". Hahahaha, I know, that doesn't really make much sense (the quote), but just go with it.
What have I done?! I'll tell you what I've done, I've finally gotten the plot running on the treadmill again! Muahaha! As lovely as everything was working out before, it was sickening me a little. Let the shit begin…
There's been a small decline in reviews ;-; I'm not complaining, but I'm just pointing out a fact. Wanna make the author happy? Review even if you hate me for what just happened!