A/N: The whole thing with Kurt and Shirako was completely improvised last minute, so sorry if it seems forced. But I heard My Sharona on the radio, and I was like, "Dude! Sharona kinda sounds like Shirako!" So here it is.
SOUNDTRACK: "My Sharona" by The Knack; "Get It While You Can" by Janis Joplin.
Kurt waved goodbye to Nolo and Tork as they headed towards the casino downstairs. Finally. Really, what had taken them so long? And now, the eldest Teku smiled to himself a shark's predatory smile, and went back to his room. He knew what was waiting for him there.
Shirako was an easygoing young man, and at some times, he could be rather lazy. This was one of those times. For the half-week that he and his friends had been in Las Vegas so far, Shirako had had something to do every day, but today his plans were to do nothing. Almost absolutely nothing, except for maybe to eat, sleep, and breathe. Yes, today was a lounging day, as far as he was concerned, and the young Jap didn't even bother to get dressed. As his boyfriend Kurt walked through the door and closed it behind him, Shirako was lying on his stomach in his boxer shorts and reading a Steven King novel.
With a hungry look in his eyes, Kurt sat down next to his beau and his predatory smile softened. He put an arm around Shirako and bent down to kiss him, but the younger man pulled away.
"Not now," he murmured. "This is interesting."
"Aww, c'mon…" Kurt ran a hand along Shirako's back and tried again. They had been together for so long now, but the while at Tezla's and then the hotel, they hadn't had a lot of solitude. They were constantly being driven apart by other people, and Kurt was getting frustrated, but today, they had no plans, and they were all alone together.
This time, Shirako let Kurt kiss him, but he pulled away after a moment.
"Kurt, my novel…"
"You can read it later."
Shirako pushed him away again, but he was smiling. "Cut it out, Kurt. Someone'll hear us!"
"So what if they do?" Kurt asked, pouting. He could tell Shirako was playing with him. "Why are you being so coy anyway? Stop playing hard-to-get, Shi-kun..."
He traced patterns on Shirako's shoulder with his fingertips, grinning with hungry eyes, but Shirako shrugged him off. Kurt huffed, lying on his back and staring right at his lover's face with those big blue eyes of his, and pouted.
Ooh my little pretty one, pretty one
When you gonna give me some time, Shirako?
Ooh you make my motor run, my motor run
Gun it comin' off the line Shirako
Never gonna stop, give it up
Such a dirty mind!
I always get it up for the touch of the younger kind
Mine, mine, mine, all mine. Ohhh, my Shirako...
Kurt held his body close to the younger Teku's, and Shirako slid his copy of "The Dark Half" off of the bed.
Karma forced an innocent smile as she cautiously approached Melissa's room. The Metal Maniacs used the place as a lounge, and she…well, she wasn't really sure whether she wanted Taro to be there or not, but she thought that might be the place to find him. Karma knew she had to explain herself sooner or later, that Taro deserved to know why she had run out so suddenly—
But did it have to be so soon?
Karma abruptly pulled back her hand before she could knock, and she turned to leave, but Porkchop walked right up with a grim look and a bucket of ice. "Hey, Teku," he said coldly, opening the door. "The boys were just talking about Friday night."
"Were they?" she asked. Had Taro talked? What did he say? Karma suddenly found herself very flustered; this was something extremely personal, and if he blabbed to his Maniac buddies, she would strangle him.
"Yeah, they were," he said, and ushered her into the room. "Get in. You owe Tork an apology."
Tork? Why should she apologize to—?
(("You'll never be as good as Tone was!!" she screamed, swinging the half empty bottle of Jose Cuervo at him. "You don't control me!!"
Nolo ducked just in time to avoid getting a liquor bottle smashed in his face, but Tork had been momentarily distracted by the band and was not quite so lucky. The glass shattered over his forehead as his knees buckled, and Tork fell to the floor in a heap. The tall, muscular blonde girls Nolo had spotted earlier leapt from their table and entered the fray—))
"Oh crap…" The fight, the drinking, it was all coming back to her now, even the hasty wedding ceremony in a little white chapel near the MGM Grand. It had performed by one of the Elvis impersonators they followed, and she remembered how happy she felt, and she wanted to cry.
No. Not in front of them. Still, Karma was glad that Taro wasn't there, or else she might have gone over the edge. She began to compose herself as she glanced around the room, but her eyes stopped on the bruising on Tork's forehead. She gasped.
"What have I done?" she whispered to herself, placing a hand over her mouth. Karma turned away from the mean looks she was getting from Tork, Porkchop and Monkey, and let out a shuddering breath. "I-I'm sorry, Tork. I'm so sorry..."
"Well, you should be," he said sharply, but he immediately regretted it. Karma's shoulders were shaking, and they could hear her softly sobbing, no matter how hard she tried to control herself. What happened to the Ice Queen, cool, calm, collected Karma Eiss?
"I'm sorry!" she screamed, and ran from the room in tears.
Karma slammed the door of her own room shut, hoping that no one would come to check on her. She couldn't face people right now, the terrible things she had done; it was all too much. She locked the door, hook and chain, and closed the curtains, letting it all come out. The pain, anger, confusion, and regret. She didn't want to cry, but she needed to.
Why did she drive him away? She liked Taro, but it was just so soon. "No" she whispered into the darkness. "You don't just like him, you love him. The sooner you admit that, the easier it will be to sort out this whole mess. Control yourself, Karmita."
For a moment, it seemed as if she was done in her solitude, but that nickname. Why had she used that nickname, God. Tone was the only one who ever called her Karmita, since they were little kids. And then she remembered.
"Antonio!" she sobbed. Karma had loved Tone Pasaro with all her heart, and it nearly destroyed her when he died. They were planning to get married that fateful summer; the very night Tone was killed, they were going to tell Nolo about it, ask him to be the best man… They were going to use his sure victory as a platform to break the news to the Teku that they were out of the game, settling down to start a family. But then…
Karma thought she heard a strange fluttering sound from somewhere in the room. Jumping to her feet, she picked up the desk lamp and planned to use it as a club. "Who's there?" she demanded in an icy voice. "What do you want?"
There was that fluttering noise again, and a bright white light and Karma dropped the lamp in shock and grief. A familiar face smiled down on her just like before, and she sobbed.
"Shh, shh, stop that now, Karmita," he whispered soothingly, taking her in his arms and enfolding them both in his wings. "It's okay. Things are as they should be."
"But, how, Tone?" she asked. But then Karma snuggled into his arms, feeling warm and safe, and forgot what she was so concerned about. He sat down on the edge of the bed, bringing her with him. It was all so confusing.
"How?" she repeated, and Tone smiled at her. On the border of her mind, Karma thought she could hear a soft whisper, a friendly warning. "It's too quiet," the voice said. "Things are going too easy. They know we're here; we're being strung along. Something's very wrong here. We're in danger."
"That warning I gave you, along with getting Nolo to fix that whole mess he made with Tork," Tone said, "Was enough to earn me my wings."
Karma looked into his eyes, confused. She didn't know what to say; it was all just too much.
"If you don't know what to say, then don't say anything, M'ija" he said, reading her thoughts. "I know you've had a rough time, Karma, and that's exactly why I am here. The Teku were my family, and now I watch over all of you. I steer you down the right path whenever I can."
"Oh, Tone," she murmured, lightly rubbing her cheek against the soft feathers of his wing. He was so warm. "I've missed you so much. I love you and I always will."
"But you love Taro too, don't you?" he whispered softly. "You feel guilty because you love him, but you still love me."
She didn't answer him, and he didn't look at her face, but Tone could feel tears rolling onto the surface of his wing, dampening his feathers. "There is absolutely no reason you should feel that way, Karma," he told her. "You deserve to be loved. I can't be there for you like I used to, but Taro is a good guy. He would never hurt you. I still love you, too, Karmita, and I want you to be happy…
In this world, if you read the papers, darling
You know everybody's fighting with each other
You got no one you can count on, baby
Not even your own brother
So if someone comes along
Who wants to give you some love and affection
I say get it while you can, yeah
Honey, get it while you can
Hey, hey, get it while you can
Don't you turn your back on love, no, no
Don't you know when you're loving anybody, baby
You're taking a gamble on a little sorrow
But then who cares, baby
'cause we may not be here tomorrow, no
And if anybody should come along
Who wants to give you any love and affection
I'd say get it while you can, yeah!
Hey, hey, get it while you can
Hey, hey, get it while you can
Don't you turn your back on love
No no no, no no no no no
Oh, get it while you can
Honey get it when you're gonna wanna need it dear, yeah yeah
Hey hey, get it while you can
Don't you turn your back on love
No no no, no no no no, get it while you can
I said hold on to somebody when you get a little lonely, dear
Hey hey, hold on to that man's heart
Yeah, get it, want it, hold it, need it
Get it, want it, need it, hold it
Get it while you can, yeah
Honey get it while you can, baby, yeah
Hey hey, get it while you can!
Karma looked up into her former lover's eyes, so grateful for what comfort he had given her. "Thank you so much, Tone," she said. "I still love you, you know."
"I know Karmita," he said, stroking her hair and holding her close. Tone kissed Karma's forehead gently, looking into her eyes again. "And I'll always love you, too, but you have to let go of the past. I have to leave now, but I'll be in your heart."
Karma nodded, wiping one last ear fom her eye with a smile on her face, and she finally let him go. Tone spread his glorious wings and went right out the window and into the shining sun.
Vert was both excited and anxious as Mikki pulled up to the curb in front of the hotel, but he winced as a shadow passed over them. He looked up and for a moment because he thought he saw something passing by in the light, but there was too much glare to tell what it was despite the sound of flapping wings that made a chill run down his spine.
"What's up?" Mikki asked him, but Vert just shook his head.
"Nah, it's nothing," he answered. "Hey, I was thinking, maybe we shouldn't tell anyone about Slither just yet, Mikki."
"Yeah, I don't want to get their hopes up either. Sorry we couldn't stay at the park longer."
Vert smiled. "It's cool, Mikki. I'll see ya 'round, okay?"
"Yeah, see ya."
A/N: How was that? This Janis Joplin number was one of the original songs I put on my possibilities list when I was first thinking about the musical. It was sometime in February, I think, and I wasn't even finished with Sweet Melissa just yet, and I had this whole huge list of songs I liked and so many just didn't make the cut because the scene ideas sucked. This one's kinda convoluted, I admit, but I like it. Very emotional, plus I got to squeeze in a supernatural occurance with Tones' Angelic appearance! I must say, I am quite pleased with myself.