A/N: Hi, Knights! I'm back with the new round for this story! I Hope it hasn't been that long… oh, who am I kidding? Sorry for being so late in posting this. I only just got the time to do so. Anyway, just ignore my babble and here's round 9… FIGHT!
Disclaimer and Warning: See prologue…
A Gift from A Far Away World—a Seven Knights Fan Fiction
© lunaryu~
Round 9: Lit a Fire in your Heart (Part 2)
At Heart Jewel orphanage, afternoon—
Kris was leisurely sitting on an armchair at the patio of the orphanage, enjoying afternoon slightly chilly breeze as he observed the game of tag the younger children played at the front yard. Yui and Snipper seemed to have too much fun running after each other, while the slightly older boy and girl—Evan and Yuri— were watching to make sure no one ended falling and getting hurt.
Rudy was entertaining Li with a game of blind chess. It was amazing how the smaller boy could remember every move he made on the board while Rudy seemed to have to put so much effort in remembering his own as his eyes were covered with a layer of cloth to prevent him from seeing the chessboard. Hellenia and Heavenia dutifully moved the chess pieces per Rudy and Li's request while gossiping.
Kris looked aside slightly and found Karin on the sideline, a bit further away from Evan and Yuri, also watching the kids. However, Kris noticed her periodical glance at Evan and Yuri talking for a few seconds before she seemed to remember herself, blushed and quickly moved her gaze away from them, back to the kids. She looked kind of down, though, like she wanted to join them but didn't have any courage to approach them.
Kris had no idea why he thought about this. It was just… well, Evan was too much like Rudy in some ways, and he had a feeling that Karin had a thing for Evan. Remembering their short conversation after he and Rudy tried the costumes earlier…
Yuri was still teasing Kris and the blushing Karin when Evan showed up in the living room.
"What's going on here?" the brunet asked, frowning as he looked at Karin covering her steaming face while whimpering, Kris letting out a long suffering sigh and Yuri cackling. Hellenia, Heavenia, Yui, and Ariel just chuckled and Rudy made a forced awkward smile. "Ah, Yuri! You're teasing Karin again, aren't you?" Evan immediately accused, like it was a recurrent event. "Sheesh, I told you to tone down the teasing. Karin is very shy, you know."
Evan sounded just like Rudy when he was reprimanding Dellons after he teased Kris too far, and the way Karin looked at the boy with adoringly grateful expression as Yuri turned her mocking face and attention to Evan and away from her just then was too much reminiscence of what Kris often did in the past.
"T-thanks, Evan," Karin whispered softly, her face still red but she was smiling happily and Evan blinked once at her before he grinned so brilliantly that Kris was reminded once again of how Rudy usually behaved.
It was probably too farfetched to consider Evan's feeling for the new girl as romantic since he was still a kid, and Kris had a strong suspicion that Evan was as dense as Rudy in this field. He felt slightly bad for her. She was in the same shoes as Kris after all.
Kris turned his gaze back to Evan, where Yuri was hugging his arm and smiling at him lovingly now. Kris raised an eyebrow at seeing Evan smile awkwardly while conspicuously try to pull his arm back from her, his eyes darting to Karin's position repeatedly.
Huh. Not as dense as I thought after all—Kris moved his attention to Karin again, and now she looked down at the ground, smiling solemnly, not noticing how Evan looked at her. Not dense at all. He definitely notices Karin. But he doesn't seem to know how to handle the 'triangle' part, huh? Since apparently Yuri has a thing for him too—Kris smirked. This would get interesting soon.
In the absence of Dellons' scheming, Kris plotted.
~ # ~
"Have you all decided your first partner for the dance tomorrow night?"
Mother Elena asked during dinner, which caused everyone's attention to shift from their food to her instantaneously.
"Of course!" Yuri was the first to answer in exclamation. "We are so totally paired up for the dance! Right, Evan dear?" She grinned while snatching Evan's arm again in an excited, too tight embrace, which caused Evan to wince slightly.
"Uh, we are?" Evan asked uncertainly, seeming to try to shake her hug again.
"Of course we are!" She wasn't about to take no for an answer apparently, and Evan could only sigh as he failed to retrieve his arm back. Karin, who was sitting on the other side of Evan looked at them for three seconds before she looked down at her soup, expression resigned.
Rudy looked like he had something to say too. He turned to Kris, who glanced back at him with a raised eyebrow. He opened his mouth, but then his voice caught and he closed it again. His expression was hard to discern. It was like he was trying to collect his courage by rephrasing his words in his head and had ample trouble to spit them out.
Kris scowled on the inside while he shook his head slightly before he turned his gaze to Karin again. He decided that this plan could get him two birds with one stone.
"Hey, Karin," he called to get her attention. As soon as she looked at him, Kris made a disarming smile and asked, "Would you mind becoming my first dance tomorrow night?"
All the occupants of the room got silenced, their eyes bugged out (except Li whose eyebrows raised to his non-existent hairline), mouth slightly open while they were gaping at him (except Elena who was too graceful for such gestures, but she looked very surprised with one of her hand in front of her mouth).
The silence continued that Kris got annoyed. "What?" He turned his gaze to the others before everyone (especially the girls) exploded in excitement.
"Oh my God! Kris, that's so bold!" Heavenia covered her blushing cheeks.
"Kyaaa! Congratulation, Karin!" Hellenia hugged the smaller girl—which seemed to be still in too much of a bewilderment to respond—beside her with misplaced enthusiasm.
"Aww! I'm envious!" Ariel bemoaned, but with humor and mirth in her tone and expression.
"I knew it! Kris, you absolute dog! I knew you got your eyes on her!" Yuri chortled again, still in full teasing mode, but more certain than ever.
"I never thought of Kris having fast hands," Snipper's sweat dropped while Li chuckled and Yui giggled. Even mother Elena tittered, glimmer of hilarity in her eyes. Rudy and Evan were the only ones still gaping, seemingly not over their shock yet.
Kris, once again, let out long suffering sigh. "I was just asking her for a first dance. Is that such a big deal?" He almost rolled his eyes. Sheesh, teenagers. Well, except for Mother Elena, but who could blame her for the opportunity to tease Kris anyway?
"Well, it's you!" Evan suddenly exclaimed, finally seeming to get over his shock, his tone still disbelieving and lightly accusing. "Who are you and what have you done to Kris?!"
"Evan! That's rude!" Rudy, apparently already back to catch up with reality again, scolded Evan with a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek.
Kris decided to ignore them all and focused his gaze back on Karin. "How is it, Karin?" he asked again and everyone seemed to hold their breath, waiting for her reaction.
"Eh?" Karin's face flushed again, so bad that the steam was almost visible to the naked eyes. "B-but I… I can't really… dance…" She looked down, her face looking like she was about to combust. Kris felt rather bad for getting her cornered in dinner table and putting her in the spotlight. She seemed like a girl who had a social phobia. He should have more tact in asking her to dance in a more private setting. But what was done was done, so he continued to bargain.
"That's perfectly fine. I can teach you how to. Do you want to practice with me after dinner?"
Some of the girls made a suspicious unbearable whining noises, but he was determined to ignore them.
"Uh, I-…" Karin, still very much blushing on her entire face, ears and neck glanced at Evan who stared at Kris with indecipherable gaze and Yuri who was still clinging to his arm, before she looked down once again and seemed to steel her mind and nodded slightly. "Okay."
"Oh my, that's so sweet!" Hellenia hugged Karin once more while her twin giggled at the lavender-haired girl heartily. The others chuckled as well, except for Evan who instantly whirled to look at Karin in incredulity and Rudy who never averted his eyes from Kris after he scolded Evan earlier.
"Alright then. We can practice in your room if you prefer to do it in private," Kris suggested which seemed to be suggestive in nature, but never in his voice or expression. Still, he didn't escape Mother Elena's sudden sharp gaze and he was immediately reminded about the no boys allowed in girls' room policy. "Or we can just do it in the living room," he amended immediately and Mother Elena softened her expression.
"Okay," Karin nodded once again, still blushing but with a shy smile on her face.
"You guys are welcome to watch," Kris addressed the others, but his eyes specifically lingered on Evan before he glanced at Rudy who made a difficult expression again.
"Well, I won't miss this for sure," Evan grumbled lightly, his eyes sharp on Kris who smirked inwardly while Yuri was whining that she needed to practice as well and they should all practice together for maximum efficacy.
Definitely will get interesting.
~ # ~
"First, we have to know the manner of formal dancing," Kris started as he and Karin stood in the middle of the living room. The others seemed to be interested in watching, either for their amusement or seriously learning the formal dancing from the top.
"Before the dance started, both partners stand in front of each other and pay respect to each other," Kris made a gesture to bow with one left arm bent in front of his torso and right arm spread to his side, a gesture from the leading role. "For the follower's part, if you wear a long dress, you can hold part of your skirt in both your hands and lift them slightly as you bow, like this." Then Kris made a perfect example of bowing like a lady and Rudy made a chocking sound from the sofa.
Kris turned slightly to see the red-faced coughing man whose back was slapped repeatedly by Snipper, who seemed worried, while the girls giggled amusedly. Luckily, Karin seemed to be determined to learn that she ignored them and focused on Kris.
Who'd have thought? When she's focused, she doesn't seem to be embarrassed at all—Kris praised inwardly while nodding.
"Next, both partners move once step closer to each other and put their hands on their partner's assigned body parts. For the leading role, they put their left hand on their partner's waist while the other hand on their left hand. As for the follower, they put their right hand on the leading partner's shoulder." Kris made a gesture to Karin to practice the position and she let herself be maneuvered with minimal resistance despite the occasional flinch and jolt as Kris' hand touched her waist and hand. "Okay?" he made sure that he had her consent to continue and she nodded.
Someone whistled in the background, probably Yuri, followed by more giggles. At last Rudy didn't choke and cough this time.
"Are you familiar with waltz dance steps?" Kris asked before he released her from their position.
"Y-yes. I mean, I've ever seen the sequence in video," Karin answered.
"Have you done it yourselves?" Karin shook her head and Kris nodded. "Alright. Wait for a minute."
Kris left the room to fetch a chalk from one of the cabinets in the kitchen. He was back inside the living room moments later, drawing step sequence on the floorboard. "Can you follow the sequence on the floor according to the number?"
Finished with the drawing, Kris looked upward to Karin and she nodded. Kris stood up and let Karin tried the sequence. "Since I am the leading role, you start your sequence by moving to number three. The pace is one, two, three, one, two, three…"
Karin followed the pace Kris had set up while practicing her step. She was a fast learner and had a graceful movement, so in no time, she seemed to get the hang on the step-sequence. "Very good. You have the basic covered now," Kris praised and she blushed as her step faltered slightly before she timed herself once more and got back on track. "Easily distracted, but you got a great start," he chuckled. Karin's face got redder, but she didn't make any more mistake.
"Next step is timing with the music." Kris said, turning to Heavenia and Hellenia who brought him an old tape recorder and a cassette of classical music. "Waltz?" he asked and they both nodded.
They started the music and a familiar tune of slow song filled the room. "Can you time the 'one, two, three' with the song? You can use your foot to tap to get the timing right," he said and Karin nodded as she tapped with one of her feet in time with the pace of the song. She had good grasp in timing her pace and soon her taps were in tune with the music and Kris nodded again in approval.
"You got it. Now you can try the step-sequence with music," Kris instructed and she immediately entered the steps while mumbling 'one, two, three' in soft, barely audible voice, in tune with the pace of the music.
After Kris deemed Karin passable with her basic, he offered to dance with her for a practice run. "Care to dance with me, Milady?" Kris bowed perfectly like a gentleman and she flushed as she accepted with her slightly awkward bow since she wasn't wearing a dress at the moment.
They followed every rule and step in a slow dance and soon there was a perfect pair of dancing people in the living room that made everyone stare since apparently the movement was very elegant and beautiful and no one would consider one of them had just learned the steps today.
"You're good already," Kris said, closing his eyes and losing himself in the dance and the music. He thought this would be terrible, but it was enjoyable after all. It had been awhile since he danced and teaching Karin the steps made him remember his own practice way back then.
"T-thank you… for doing this for me," Karin whispered in the middle of the dance and she looked a bit conflicted before Kris realized that she might have thought that Kris was really interested in her. Kris chuckled.
"No problem. I'm just trying to help," Kris said, leaning her face down slightly to whisper in her ear. "At least Evan does look like he's jealous of me."
Surprised, shocked, Karin's steps faltered and her face color became the spitting image of a tomato as Kris chuckled and tightened his grip on her waist to make sure she didn't trip on her own feet.
"I-I-… how?" Karin looked mortified and Kris chuckled again, lifted her waist and twirled her to hide her expression from the others.
"Well, everyone is not subtle with their interest," Kris sighed ruefully. "You're having difficult time getting in between Yuri's tenacity to seduce and Evan."
"I-I am not trying to get in between them!" She protested albeit in low tone, still flushing so much he wondered if it was healthy.
"Well, maybe not, but you like Evan, right?" He pulled her back to his arm before dipping her for a moment, and continued to dance some more. Karin had to put her forehead on Kris' chest to hide her expression again, seeming to be stalling for the obvious answer.
"You're not alone in that regard. Evan just need a little push to make his move. Be sure to save your last dance for him," Kris said again softly before he gradually slowed his steps and then stopped even though the music was still playing. He let go of her waist and hand and stepped back. "You are ready for tomorrow night," he said a bit more loudly, purposely changing the subject, and signaled Heavenia to shut the music down.
"Uh, I-…"
"See you tomorrow," Kris smiled, before she or anyone could say anything, turned away, took a tissue from the table and knelt to clean the chalk-drawing on the floorboard. Then he stood up once again and left the room after disposing the dirty tissue on the trash bin.
~ # ~
Kris was playing with cubic puzzle absentmindedly, eyes not even looking at the cube in his hands, but at the glass part of the ceiling when Rudy entered the room. Kris only spared him a quick glance before his eyes went back upward, looking at the twinkling stars which were quite visible since there was no cloud in the night sky.
Rudy was quiet as he moved to his own bed, sitting down, his eyes trained on Kris once or twice before he opened his mouth. "Hey, Kris."
"What is it, Rudy?"
"You… are you really interested in Karin?" Rudy seemed hesitant as he asked. Kris stopped his hands before he turned his head to face Rudy, who didn't look at Kris but at the spot over Kris' shoulder. He seemed nervous.
Kris kept silent for a minute or two, contemplating how to answer. Should he tell him the truth that he only wanted to help her gain Evan's attention or keep the scheming to himself and implement this to bait Rudy's reaction for Kris' own gain? It sounded quite manipulative, but Kris never considered himself having pure intention all the time, so he shrugged and decided to choose the latter.
"What if I am?" Kris observed Rudy's expression. The brunet looked surprised before he opened his mouth.
"Uh, I thought you were interested in Ace?"
Kris narrowed his gaze at Rudy, mood darkening suddenly. "What was that?" Kris swore if Rudy tailed him again without him knowing, he was going to punch him in the face. No matter if Kris liked him.
Rudy shook his head, seeming to catch up on his suspicion. "I didn't follow you! I swear! Just… when I was looking a gift for Evan, I happened to see you in front of a café. Then, Ace came out and both of you walked together after he gave you something. Rachel thought you were on a date, so we didn't greet you…" Rudy was trailing off, fidgeting apprehensively.
"You two went shopping together?" Kris knew exactly why he was more pissed about that fact instead of his secret meeting with Ace not being a secret anymore since Rudy and Rachel saw them. At the time, Ace was only there to give Kris' AI super notebook back to him. All the programs were cleared of suspicion on the multiverse case.
Kris was jealous. Of Rachel. That was quite pathetic and it annoyed him more to admit that to himself so easily.
"No, we met at the store accidentally. She helped me pick Evan's gift after that," Rudy answered, looking a bit relieved somehow.
Kris scrutinized Rudy for a minute before he nodded. "Alright," he said, going back to his cubic puzzle.
There was awkward silence for a few second before Rudy opened his mouth again. "So… you're not… interested in Ace?"
"Rudy, he's just an acquaintance," Kris responded slowly, not looking at him.
"Okay, but you're interested in Karin?" Rudy repeated his question and Kris sighed, putting down the complete puzzle before he glanced at Rudy again.
"What is it with you? You have never had such interest about my relationship before," Kris grumbled slightly, feigning annoyance, but he was very interested in the reason of Rudy's sudden awareness of Kris' love life. Well, Kris didn't have any previously, so it could be because of that, and that Rudy was just looking out for him as his best friend, but a person could hope.
"I…" Rudy didn't seem to know the answer to that question. "I am just curious, I guess. I mean, you didn't have any interest in this sort of thing before, and I think I just… want to look out for you," he smiled, a bit brittle, but quite sincere nonetheless.
Kris looked at Rudy in silence for ten seconds before responding. "I see." He was disappointed, but Rudy was Rudy. His goodwill was always genuine and Kris couldn't hate him for that. Moreover, facing such honesty from his best friend, Kris already felt terrible for lying (even though it had only been for a few minutes) and he decided he didn't want to worry Rudy any more than he had to.
"For the record, I am interested in Karin because Evan seems too, and he just needs a little push to make a move," Kris explained and Rudy's face immediately cleared, a hint of smile creeping at the corner of his mouth.
"I see," Rudy grinned then. "Somebody is being a busy body."
Kris scowled. "I don't want to hear that from you, mother-hen." Rudy just laughed at that, looking like he had just won something. Kris couldn't help smiling albeit secretly.
~#~
It was finally the big night in the Heart Jewel orphanage. Everyone seemed giddy and excited as they prepared for the dance party. The staff of the orphanage and the children went all out on the decoration and the food. Even Mother Elena was singing and swaying as she put the final touch of flowers pot in the big dining table.
"Alright children, time for you all to change into your costumes. We'll start the party at 7 p.m." Mother Elena said and the chorus of 'okay' from the children, teenagers and both Rudy and Kris were heard before they dispersed to their respective rooms.
Rudy was the first to come back to the dining room, together with Heavenia and Ariel, since they were Rudy's first dance partners for the night as the number of people participating in the dance didn't add up.
"You look beautiful, Heavenia," Rudy smiled, noticing her trying to fix the hem of her dress for the 4th time after he picked her up in front of her room.
"I think my sis messed the tassels of my skirt," Heavenia said, face flushing slightly.
"Your skirt looks great," Rudy chuckled, amused by how self-conscious she was with her dress.
"Doesn't it look too short? I'm worried I'm going to flash someone when I dance later," she pulled down the tassels again, trying to make it cover her knees.
"Then you should wear leggings under it if you're that worried," Ariel suggested and Heavenia beamed at her while exclaiming that it was a good idea before she turned back and ran to her room to do just that.
Another pair came in as Heavenia stepped out of the dining room.
"Oh, hey Yui, Li." Rudy greeted.
Yui made a surprised but pleased squeal as she saw him. "Rudy! You look so dashing with that armor-like costume!" She squealed again as she run to him and hugged him.
"Ahaha, I'm glad that the shoulder pieces are made of stretchy material. I'm surprised they can be a bit stiff despite rather bendy. And the head-piece… it's made from helmet right? The decoration is really detailed. It rather scares me to wear it lest I break them accidentally," Rudy chuckled, swinging Yui around.
"Nah, I bet Karin's design is flawless. She's very good at it," Ariel quipped from beside him, smiling.
"Yea. Heard she designed clothes for doll when she was in Japan as a hobby and a part time job. She has eyes for picking up material that goes well with her design too. I believe she can go pro if not for her timid personality," Yui remarked, twirling around showing off her fluffy, pink dress, completed with fluffy bunny ears and red-cherries hair ornaments. The overall costume made her look very adorable.
Li's costume was more traditional. It was oriental-like in soft brown-red color, complemented with black in sleeves, collar and chest area. It was like Chinese formal attire with sash on his waits and long black pants.
"You look good, Li," Rudy complimented as Ariel spoke more to Yui.
"Thank you," Li smiled back softly.
"So… where's everyone else?" Rudy asked, looking around, but before anyone could answer him, people started to trickle into the dining room pair by pair.
First were Elena and the staff, then followed by Snipper and Helenia.
Snipper wore a royal blue dress robe with gold chain on the chest and a red cape. Hellenia wore a pink one-piece dress with wide golden ribbons tied to her waist, and dress ornament on the chest and skirt part. Golden tiara was perched on her head, framing the shape and her hair nicely. They greeted Rudy, Li and Yui as they came in.
Next was Evan and Yuri. Evan's costume, like Rudy thought, was dominant in silver, with jagged edges here and there and big diamond-like ornament on the chest. He forego his head piece though. Yuri's costume was white sleeveless dress with sparkling Chrystal ornament on the surface and on her hair.
"Did you dye your hair blue?" Rudy asked as he stared baffled at her silvery-blue hair now.
"Silver blue," she corrected with a grin.
A short time later, Heavenia returned with a pair of leggings under her too short skirt. "This way I won't have to worry about flashing," she smiled before reasserting her place beside Rudy who laughed slightly.
The last to come down and entered the dining room was Kris and Karin. Karin's pink and purple long dress was magnificent, alright, all the girls, even Snipper and especially Evan, looked stunned before complimenting her enthusiastically, but Rudy's sight was too focused on Kris to notice more than the color of her costume.
Rudy widened his eyes, feeling his heart almost stopped when he saw Kris in his full regalia; armor like clothes, all black and silver, the spine-like pattern, jagged shoulder piece, the black cape, and the hood. Huh?—Rudy thought he had ever seen him like this before, somewhere, but he was pretty sure that it was the first time Kris wore this costume.
"Cat got your tongue, Rudy?" Kris asked, the corner of his mouth twitched up slightly.
"What? Oh," Rudy blinked once before he chuckled sheepishly. "Um, I thought I'd ever seen you with this getup. It surprised me, but I don't remember when you'd ever worn something like this…"
Kris stared at him in silence for a second before he shook his head. "I never wore something like this before," he said before smirking. "Maybe you dreamt it." There was something strange with his tone, but Rudy didn't have time to ponder about it before Elena spoke, opening the party.
"I'm glad all my children can gather here today to celebrate Evan's birthday, congratulation to Evan." Everyone applauded and Evan flushed slightly, saying thank you with a grin. "And congratulation to Yui since some nice people want to adopt her. Her paper work is being finalized as we speaks." Again, the others applauded, this time followed by Hellenia and Heavenia hugging the little girl in turns while congratulating her. "And last but not least, we'd like to welcome our newest addition to this home, Karin. Welcome, my dear. I hope we can be your family starting from now indefinitely." Elena addressed the purple haired girl and she smiled at Elena, saying thank you.
"Now, since it's the time to have fun, let's start the party with some music and dance!" Elena clapped her palms twice and the slow music started. Everyone immediately scrambled to their pair and did the formal gesturing before starting to dance.
Rudy was enjoying the dance immensely since he already knew that Kris' interest in Karin was only for helping the girl gain Evan's attention. He didn't have to worry that Kris would ask her to be his special someone.
…
Huh? Why am I worried about that in the first place?—Rudy was slightly confused as he danced and almost missed his step when he changed partner from Heavenia to Ariel, as he realized that it was rather strange to think this way. If Kris liked someone, wasn't it his right to like them? Why was Rudy worried about it?
Rudy contemplated more. He was also a bit worried when Dellons showed interest in Kris, but he wasn't really worried when Dellons dated other people. Yet, when it was Kris… whether people showing interest in him or the other way around, Rudy always felt anxious. What was the difference? Both Kris and Dellons were his best friends. What made Kris differ from Dellons in this regard?
Rudy kept contemplating until the dance and the music stopped and was distracted immediately as everyone nodded at each other in a dance well-done. Then he didn't have time to think more about it as everyone regrouped at the dining table and started with dinner. They chatted and joked. Ariel took pictures as everyone gave Evan presents. Some presents went to Yui, and some gave welcoming gifts to Karin. It was merry and fun and Rudy almost forgot about his contemplation when Evan made his move to Karin, much to Yuri's chagrin. He asked Karin to dance after dinner and Karin smiled happily as she accepted.
Rudy glanced at Kris and saw him smile approvingly at Evan and Karin as they started the slow dance. Evan whispered something in Karin's ear that made her blush, but she seemed happy and flattered.
Rudy kept his gaze on Kris until he was aware of Rudy's eyes on him and smiled at the platinum blond haired man when his eyes met him. Rudy decided to hell with it. He wanted to dance again and he wanted to dance with Kris.
Rudy stood and went over to Kris. "May I have this dance, Milord?" He extended his hand and bowed slightly, grinning at Kris.
"I was wondering when you were going to ask." Kris chuckled and took his hand as he stood. "You may," he said by the way to answer and moved to bow slightly before his other hand grasped Rudy's shoulder, informing him by gesture that Rudy would lead.
When Rudy brought Kris to the make-shift dance floor, swaying and moving with the music, the others saw them and laughed, probably thinking that this was supposed to be a joke to entertain them, but Mother Elena's knowing gaze and Ariel's startled expression clued Rudy in that this was more than that. Rudy didn't exactly want to treat it as a joke, but he wasn't sure how to treat this as something else either.
"You did well in making Evan jealous," Rudy spoke softly in their dance, unable to stay silent for too long because he didn't want it to be awkward.
"Ah, that's because Evan isn't as clueless as some people," Kris looked at Rudy meaningfully, as if he was conveying some hidden message with his words.
"Some people?" Rudy tilted his head slightly, almost missing his cue to lift and twirl Kris.
"Some people," Kris repeated, but refusing to divulge further as he just smirked at Rudy. "Besides, Evan will definitely understand how she feels since Karin won't dance again with other people after this dance."
"How come?" Rudy became even more confused.
"It's the significance of the last dance in waltz." Kris gripped Rudy's shoulder more tightly as Rudy dipped him low. He lowered his eyelids and stared at Rudy with something smoldering in his ruby colored eyes and Rudy felt like he could drown in those pools of crimson.
They were so stunningly striking, Kris' eyes. Rudy completely missed his cue to straighten his partner's body again to continue their dance, attention too captured in Kris' gaze, helplessly bound and imprisoned that he no longer knew which was up, down or sideway. It was like all the noises were mute and Rudy felt this… desire to diminish any distance between them.
What- what's going on?—Rudy didn't understand what was happening, he just knew it was and he had no power to stop it.
Rudy almost closed his eyes when the sounds of repetitive hand claps registered in his mind and he gasped, almost jolting and releasing his hold on Kris which would resulted in dropping his partner if not for Kris' vicelike grip on his shoulder, keeping their position balanced.
"What's wrong, Rudy? You missed the dance closure," Kris slowly straightening his back again, looking at Rudy with raised eyebrows.
"I-…" Rudy didn't know how to respond to that. He had no idea what was wrong.
Wrong? It's wrong?—It was mystifying and confusing as hell since he had no idea what the 'it' was. It was like he was on the verge of figuring out something, but it eluded him in that last moment.
What's going on with me?
~#~
Kris was a bit worried when Rudy made his escape after that dance. He looked really lost at first, but then he snapped up like he was surprised and proceed to make an excruciatingly fake smile as he excused himself that he needed to go to the restroom and that he was sorry for messing up the dance closure because he was distracted by the urge to do the call of nature.
Everyone that heard the excuse, except Kris, laughed at him in good humor as he ran to the bathroom.
Kris knew though… Rudy was lying. He didn't know what was on Rudy's mind, but lying had never been in his habit to escape from conversation. Something definitely happened just then, something that made Rudy lie to Kris.
Unbelievable—Kris pressed his lips thinly and returned to his seat while silently fuming.
"Sheesh, big bro Rudy has no tact sometimes," Ariel was still giggling as Kris sat down. "Don't be so angry with him, Kris. He'll cry if you're still furious when he gets back," she touched his arm, smiling soothingly at him.
"Furious? I'm not furious. I'm just perturbed," Kris frowned. What was she talking about? How come she translated his confusion into fury?
"Yeah, well, big bro still feels guilty for his last stupid decision that made you very mad. He's afraid you haven't forgiven him yet, you know? And now this, maybe he's berating himself in the bathroom right now," Ariel chuckled.
"I see," Kris nodded, finally getting it.
So Rudy still felt responsible about the last fiasco with the Four Lords. He might just remember that Kris was supposed to still be angry with him and was panicking now because he embarrassed Kris by messing up the dance closure to add the fuel.
Silly him. How many years has he known me again? How come he doesn't realize I already forgave him?—Kris clicked his tongue, maintaining his scowl for image purpose.
"As I expected, you're still angry after all?" Ariel asked ruefully.
Kris let out a long suffering sigh. "If I was still angry with him, I wouldn't come here in the first place." Kris rested his back on the backrest. "If I was really angry, it wouldn't be just him who suffered my wrath," he smirked and Ariel stared at him, sweat dropping.
"O-oh, really? Then that's great. I'm glad you and big bro made up," Ariel laughed again a bit awkwardly before she seemed to remember something. "Oh, right! Will you have a dance with me, Kris?" she asked, seemingly excited all of sudden.
"I'm sorry, Ariel. I'm beat. Maybe next time," Kris smiled at her, politely declining the invitation despite her whine of disappointment, since he had decided that Rudy would become his last dance in waltz tonight, even though Rudy didn't understand the meaning of it.
At least I do know what it means.
~ A Seven Knights Fan Fiction ~
After both Rudy and Kris got back from the orphanage to their boarding house in New York, things had been a bit strange between them. Everyone in the house (including Kris himself) noticed this immediately a few days later.
Usually, it was Kris who was avoiding people when he felt uncomfortable with them, while Rudy was often known to initiate contact to establish some ground rules to eradicate the awkwardness. Now, it was like the role was reversed.
Rudy was avoiding Kris for some unfathomable reason, and Kris' temper was being tested as he failed again to catch Rudy for some conversation despite the usual chatter from everyone else.
Kris almost crushed an unopened soda can when he noticed Rudy missing from dinner table the third time.
Yesterday, Rudy made excuse that he had early lesson, so he didn't eat breakfast together with Kris and the others. At lunch, Rudy said he had a plan with (the obviously protesting) Dellons, some kind of joint project that was due the day after, so he apologized that he couldn't accompany Kris, and he came home late last night because he needed to consult to his professor about the project alone, apparently, since Dellons was already home before dinner and was completely asleep when Rudy arrived.
The day before yesterday, Rudy jogged longer than usual in the morning, missing breakfast, and said he had to study at lunch for a mini test in the period after it, even though he usually didn't bother with such test, and later that night, he said he had to tutor some underclassmen and that he would eat out when he was done.
This morning was no better. Rudy was already out of the house when Kris woke up. Not even Jave (the one who had breakfast duty today) knew where Rudy went. He didn't even show up at lunch and didn't bother to make another excuse, and now after Kris worked hard on making dinner, the guy was still missing without any contact. It wasn't like Rudy at all. He was seriously acting strange and it pissed Kris off that Rudy was avoiding him so blatantly.
"M-maybe he has a lot of things to think about, and just needs some space," Jave said, obviously trying to mollify Kris' worsening irritation.
"Maybe he died in a ditch somewhere. See if I care," Kris muttered darkly as he glared at the offending soda can in his hand.
Jave made an –eep- sound and quickly moved to hide behind Spike who stared at Kris expressionlessly. He reached his hand and patted Kris' head softly before digging in his dinner.
Dellons muttered lowly, something about Rudy being a cheat that ran away from Kris' terrible cooking that instantly earned him a sharp glare from Kris. "What was that?" He loomed over him threateningly.
"Nothing! Wow, dinner today is superb!" Dellons smiled heartily as he quickly filled his mouth with curry rice.
"That was rude Dellons. Kris worked hard on dinner today," Rachel scolded the blond before she turned to Kris with a smile, seeming to try to mollify Kris' anger. "It's delicious, Kris. Thank you for the food."
Kris huffed, actually mollified. He did feel bad for taking his anger on his friends via awful cooking. He already forgave them even before he went to the orphanage with Rudy, so he decided to normalize the food now, to show them that they were forgiven. But Dellons would always be Dellons. He just couldn't help himself sometimes.
"Well, we've got to admit that it was strange for Rudy's standard of oddity," Eileen chuckled wryly after Kris was back on his seat, which involuntarily flared Kris frustration again about the matter.
"Did something happen when you guys were at the orphanage?" Rachel asked, sounding and looking curious.
"Nothing that I could think of. He was fine at the orphanage," Kris grumbled as he gave up on crushing the soda can and opted to open it to drink the content. Being mad was exhausting.
"Midlife crisis?" Dellons quipped unhelpfully and instantly earned him collective withering glare from the others.
"He's 20. There's nothing midlife about him," Jave scoffed at the blond and he just shrugged.
"Sexuality crisis then."
"Shut up, Dellons. You just make everything more problematic," Spike cut before Dellons could annoy Kris further.
"Has he talked to you about it?" Kris addressed Dellons then, to everyone else's surprise.
"Why do you think I know about that?" Dellons raised his eyebrows, also looking startled with the sudden in-depth question.
"Because you're one of his best friends? I figured if he didn't want to talk to me, he would go to you."
Kris started to eat as well after that, while his friends speculated on Rudy's weird behavior. Dellons claimed that he knew nothing of Rudy's sudden weirdness.
"You want me to talk to him?" Dellons offered.
Kris was silent for a moment, feeling rather suspicious of Dellons' motive, but didn't exactly express it verbally. "You will do that for me?" He opted to ask, gazing at Dellons rather hopefully with half smile.
Dellons widened his eyes, looking astounded, as if he didn't expect Kris to indulge his offer. "Of course I will. There's nothing I won't do for you." Dellons smiled, never wasting a chance to flirt with Kris, as always.
Jave made a barfing sound, Spike rolled his eyes. Rachel and Eileen grumbled at Dellon's corniness exasperatedly. But surprisingly, Kris ended up chuckling instead of getting upset. It surprised even himself that he tried to disguise his reaction with a cough, but judging from the others' gaping faces, he did it poorly.
Kris usually thought that Dellons' flirty nature was infuriating, but for some reason, it felt funny now. He didn't know why he felt that way though.
"Kris, are you alright?" Jave looked concerned.
"I'm fine." Kris fixed his expression to his default indifference. "It was just the stress. It made me see something funny when I heard Dellons' flirting," he cleared his throat as he hazarded the cause of his unusual reaction.
"Yeah, Rudy being so weird stresses us too," Jave agreed wholeheartedly.
"Just give him some time. He'll come around and then tell us what's wrong with him even if we don't ask him like always." Rachel suggested.
Kris still felt a bit dubious, but then he couldn't do anything if Rudy didn't want to talk anyway, so he just reluctantly shrugged and everyone agreed to give Rudy some space for some time.
~ A Seven Knights Fan Fiction ~
'Some time' turned into a week and into two and still there was no sign of Rudy wanting to talk and it drove anyone, especially Kris crazy. He was crazy enough to actually ask Dellons to really talk to Rudy. However, even when Dellons asked Rudy directly what was going on, the guy only said that there was nothing wrong, but with a smile that didn't reach his eyes and bags under his eyes as dark as shadow, like he hadn't taken a wink of sleep in weeks.
"There's definitely something wrong with him," Dellons said, pretty worried even though he pretended that he didn't care as much as he did on the outside.
"We already established that fact weeks ago, Dellons," Kris deadpanned at him as they were eating together.
It had to have been a sight actually, looking at just the two of them being friendly with each other in Kris' usual spot under the tree, without Rudy bridging their interaction. It was like Kris was actually getting used to being with Dellons and seemed more amused when Dellons were flirting with him, instead of being annoyed or irritated like he used to. Well, Kris still dealt with it mostly with sarcasm though, yet there was no longer harsh bite to it.
"Of course, but you look less worried about it, despite being rather desperate to talk to him." Dellons raised his eyebrows, still mulling over the possibility of Kris warming up to him in Rudy's absence.
"It is common decency to feel worried about your friends and want to help them when they are in some kind of trouble, right? Haven't you seen his face lately? He's even worse than you when you were dealing with the drug rats," Kris pointed and Dellons almost burst out his drink, but he could save face by pretending to choke, and started to cough madly instead.
H-how the hell did he know about that?! Did Rudy blab to Kris about that ordeal?!
"I have no –cough– idea of what you're –cough– talking about," Dellons wheezed with red face, still coughing here and there between his words.
Kris gave him a rueful glare, as if asking 'Are you serious?'
"Anyway, if Rudy doesn't want any help, there's nothing we can do about it. Fretting about it too much won't change that. Besides, it's usually Rudy's job as the mother-hen. I can't be like that too or we will drive each other crazy a long time ago," Kris huffed a few seconds later rather demurely, apparently willing to look the other way about Dellons' incident with the drug lords a few months back in order to stay focused on the current problem.
"Kris…" Dellons felt a slight compassion, since he thought the exact same way about Rudy.
"I'm done eating. I'm going to be at the library," Kris finished the last bite of his lunch, which was meat-bun this time, before he stood up and left. "See you at home."
"See ya," Dellons gave him a soft smile, but Kris already turned his back, so he didn't see it.
~A Seven Knights Fan Fiction~
Kris came home to Dellons playing the communal computer in the living room.
"Welcome back, Princess" Dellons greeted, not bothering to turn around from the monitor, as if he had eyes on his back or had a Kris' radar or something equally freaky for guessing right every time Kris was in his vicinity.
Kris rolled his eyes and didn't greet him back even though it was rude.
Dellons seemed to wait for him to say something before he realized that Kris still didn't want to talk to him and sighed. "Are you being silent again on purpose? I thought you already forgave me for invading your privacy weeks ago, what with your cooking being delicious again." He closed the window he was on before swiveling the chair around so he could be face to face with him.
Kris just stared at him and raised one of his eyebrows, keeping his silence. Dellons sighed again after a few minutes of staring contest. "Alright, I give up. You win. I am sorry, okay? See, I sincerely apologize. I guess I was wrong and it will never happen again. You have as much freedom as the next guy to make friends with other people. It's just… please understand. You're an important person and your father…"
The blond paused as Kris' other eyebrow went up as well, silently daring him to continue to that direction, but Dellons seemed to catch up with it and chuckled ruefully. "Well, you're important to us," he changed his train of thought swiftly and it was a wise decision because Kris would be angrier if Dellons brought Kris' family background into this conversation.
Kris already knew how his family, especially his father's influence made people think; that they could get a fraction of that influence and benefit if they were at least close with Kris. They could take advantage of him and they thought Kris so naïve that he couldn't read their ulterior motive. Well, Kris was often alone for a reason, Dellons should have known that since he was one of a few that was bestowed by Kris' hidden gentleness.
"You're important to me, especially," Dellons continued and Kris chose to sit down on the sofa to mask his surprise at the sudden grave tone, not releasing his gaze from the blond man. Dellons seemed to be unnerved with his gaze though and then stood up to walk over to him. "When are you going to understand how I feel about you?" He continued slowly as he stood right in front of Kris, looking down at him instead of on him and Kris couldn't see any teasing or leering in his expression then.
Kris shifted his gaze to Dellons' side. Well, it seemed that Dellons hadn't been joking right now. He looked serious this time and Kris had to make up his mind to answer it seriously as well. String someone's feeling without any intention of returning it would be cruel. Though, the violent way Kris reacted in past whenever Dellons came onto him should have warned Dellons of the answer to his feelings. Dellons just refused to see the reality and kept at it while disregarding Kris' rebuff every time.
Kris had thought before that Dellons had always been flirting because that was how he was. He flirted with Rudy too and with the others as well even though the way he flirted was different from one to another. Though, now that Kris thought about it carefully, Kris was the only one bestowed by the nickname 'princess'.
Maybe… maybe this world Dellons' feeling for this world Kris was genuine, maybe…
"You…" Kris shifted his eyes back to look at him, but before Kris could continue, he noticed the shaky shoulders. At first he thought Dellons had been nervous, but then he looked upward slightly at Dellons' face to note that his eyebrows were twitching and the corners of his mouth trembling badly enough like had been holding back from massive amusement.
Kris' left eye twitched as well as a vein popped up on his temple. The nerve of that brat! Fine. Two people could play this game. He'd make Dellons pay for teasing and making fun of Kris like that.
Kris reached out his hand to grab at Dellons collar before pulling the blond down. Dellons yelped in surprise as he lost his balance and ended up toppling on top of Kris, with both of his hands beside Kris' head on the backrest of the sofa to hold his weight and one of his knees between Kris' thighs, his face ended up so close to Kris that Kris could note the way those sky-blue eyes widening in shock.
"Uh…" Dellons seemed to lose his voice, dumbfounded, as he finally noticed how compromising their position was.
"Is this what you want?" Kris asked, lowering his tone and softening his gaze.
"Um," Dellons swallowed audibly, his expression looking so stunned that Kris actually laugh inwardly that he finally could reduce Dellons' extensive vocabulary to single syllable.
Kris smirked inwardly, opening his hand that was clenched on Dellons collar and slowly splayed his palm over Dellons' heart, feeling the way Dellons' heartbeat increased by seconds until it was drumming hard before Kris pulled it back to rest limply on his thigh.
Dellon chuckled slightly (nervously if Kris paid attention to it closely), pushing his body back slightly to look at Kris in the eye more clearly. There was a split second where Dellons looked conflicted, but then he seemed to decide something when he smirked.
Dellons supported himself with only his knees while his hands moved to both Kris' wrists, pulled them up, before pushed them down gently yet tightly. "Why, Princess… you've been very peculiar these days," then he purred seductively, his low tenor voice tickling Kris' ear as he leaned into him and nuzzled the side of his head.
Kris kept still as he tested the boundary of his wrists, gripped by Dellons on each side of his head on top of the sofa backrest as one of the blonde's knees was nestled between his legs and his warm body was so close, bordering touching on top of him.
Kris' entire body was suddenly tense in fight and flight response despite his dare earlier, getting ready to knee the guy on his royal jewel if he needed to, but Kris had grown tired of this escapade, and he needed to teach the brat a lesson anyway (since the original Kris was older than this Dellons), so he forced his body to relax and then nuzzled Dellons' nape in retaliation.
"And how peculiar do you mean, Dellons?" Kris whispered back, lowering his tone as well and he smirked inwardly as he felt Dellons' body shiver in reaction.
"Oh, I don't know… you seem to be more receptive of my advance lately," Dellons closed his eyes and rested his lips on Kris' neck. "Are you giving up on Rudy?"
Kris was slightly surprised with the accusation, and he felt Dellons grip tightened on his wrists. His voice sounded strange too. There was a tremble in it. It was as if…
As if…
But before Kris could think further, there was a sudden pained yowl and Dellons body was thrown aside until he fell down violently on the floor.
"You bastard! What do you think you're doing to Kris?!"
Kris was so startled by the fury and anger that was shouted from that baritone voice. He looked upward to see Rudy, eyes blazing like raging fiery amber and his fists were clenched with ferocious tenseness, part of his right knuckles were bloody, and Kris was even more shocked as he realized that Dellons was still crouching on the floor, covering his damaged left cheek and bloody mouth with one hand while cursing obscenities belligerently as well.
Kris actually gaped like a fish out of water at the sudden violent scene and he honestly didn't know what to do before suddenly Rudy snapped, like he was just released from a trance, jolting up while staring at Kris and then at the still couching-cursing Dellons with horror on his pale face.
"Oh my God! Oh my God, Dellons!" Rudy immediately kneeled beside the pained man o the floor and touched his shoulder in a panic. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! Oh, my God! Let me see your face!"
"Ouch, ouch, OUCH!" Dellons protested exaggeratedly as Rudy manhandled him to sit down and gripped his wrist to pull the hand away from his cheek and mouth. "What the Fuck, Rudy! What was that for?!" he growled angrily, looking pissed off and bewildered at the same time.
"Sorry! I'm sorry!" Rudy rummaged his breast pocket for a handkerchief to clean the blood away from Dellons' split lips.
"Ouch! Don't touch it! You bastard! That's painful!"
"I know. I'm sorry! But-" Rudy looked like he was about to cry himself, so Kris snapped and decided to help.
"I'll get a first aid kit and an ice pack," he said before he moved away to just do that.
~ # ~
"I'm sorry…" Rudy said, having a difficult time to blink his tears back as he treated Dellons' split lips while the blond was holding an ice-pack on starting to bruise cheek. "I don't know what I was thinking. I really didn't mean to hit you…"
Dellons was silent, winching one or twice as Rudy's ministration hit a tender spot. It looked like it was painful after all. Kris was dutifully handing medical needle and string to Rudy as the split lips apparently needed some stiches. The tear on Dellons' lower lip was quite bad. Rudy didn't realize that he had hit Dellons very hard earlier. But looking at the damage, he didn't pull his punch at all.
After the wound was stitched and dressed and the three of them sat on the sofa beside each other with Dellons on his left side and Kris on his right, Rudy sighed deeply, feeling very guilty and yet angry at the same time. He was so angry at himself right now.
"So… why did you hit me again?" Dellons asked slowly, still keeping the icepack on his bruised cheek, while glancing at Rudy warily.
Rudy flinched. He was silent for a moment, trying to look into himself what made him do what he did, and he still didn't know any rational reason to justify his bizarre action at all. "I… when I saw you on top of Kris earlier, I… I felt this irrational anger and fear. I don't really understand it, but… I don't want you to touch Kris like that." Rudy unconsciously raised his tone at the end and it startled even himself how fierce the feel of protectiveness in his heart.
Protective? No. It's… it's different from how I usually feel. This is more…
"Like what?" Kris asked now, raising his eyebrow and looking at Rudy seriously, as if daring to explain further, surprising him and bringing him back from his train of thought.
"Like… intimately," Rudy couldn't help flushing. He knew he was being a busy body. Kris was an adult. He was free if he wanted to be intimate with other people. But it was just… it looked a lot like Dellons attacking Kris and Rudy hated the thought of anyone else's hands on Kris' body…
Wait, what? Where the hell did that come from?!—Rudy could feel his face burning at the sudden realization that that fierce feeling he felt just then wasn't protectiveness, but possessiveness. He was returning to his middle-school self. He felt possessive of Kris to the extent that he would viciously hit even his best friend when he thought Dellons was about to touch Kris.
I'm the worst!
Rudy was so ashamed that he had to cover his face. He didn't want Kris to see him like this. Petty. Jealous. Ugly. He felt like burying himself and never came out of the hole of his slowly shredding dignity. He hated himself for feeling like this.
"I'm so sorry… I don't know why I feel like this. I… I feel the world is being turned upside down at the moment and I absolutely despise it."
"Sheesh, you're really are clueless it's absolutely hopeless!" Dellons threw the icepack on the table and crossed his arm on his chest. "Can't you see that you're jealous?" he challenged.
"Dellons." Kris sent the blond a warning glare.
"No! This had gone too far even for him!" Dellons sent Kris back a sharp glare. "I refuse to play this game anymore. Rudy. Tell me now or forever hold your tongue! How do you exactly feel about Kris and me?"
"What?" Kris widened his eyes at Dellons, an incredulous tone in his voice.
"Oh, I…" Rudy was bewildered now. Dellons had asked that question before, when he confessed that his feeling for Kris was serious. Rudy hadn't known the answer then, but now… now that he hit Dellons for touching Kris, he couldn't exactly lie to Dellons. He would absolutely hate the idea.
"I… I… hate it…" Rudy couldn't help looking down, his voice getting lower in volume until it was no more than tangible whisper.
"Rudy…!" Kris stared at Rudy, his eyes looking vulnerable.
"So, which would you hate more, me being with Kris, or Kris with people other than me?" Dellons asked again, narrowing his eyes.
"Dellons! What on earth?!" Kris's incredulous tone was back, complete with an affronted expression.
"Don't be ridiculous, I'd hate both," Rudy responded automatically and he widened his eyes in surprise when he realized what he just said.
Kris shut his mouth and stared at Rudy in shock and Dellons smirked suspiciously.
"You don't hate it when I am with other people," Dellons stated and Rudy shook his head slowly, gradually realizing what was going on, while confirming his best friend statement. "Then, there's only one conclusion, right, Rudy. You are not that stupid." He raised one of his eyebrow, still looking gallant and sophisticated despite the slight swell on his cheek.
"I… Dellons, I'm so sorry… I… I can't be happy if you're with Kris, because I… I love Kris… more than a friend…"
Rudy finally realized how he felt. His feeling for Kris… why he was so protective of him, so possessive at times, wanting him to always smile at him, wanting Kris to be content and happy… always… always… since they were little… more than anything and anyone, it was because Rudy loved Kris.
I love him… so very much.
End of Round 9
Tbc…
A/N: I don't know what to say. It didn't go the way I wanted to at first. I didn't know what happened. It felt excruciating on some parts. It's hard making Rudy's reaction because he's so… so damn oblivious! Ahem, anyway this is the turning point I was talking about in the previous round. So… thoughts?
Teaser:
"It's not like you at all," Kris said tentatively and Dellons gave him a smirk.
"What aren't you satisfied with now, Princess? Haven't you gotten the Prince's heart?" His tone was teasing and mocking, and his smirk was rather annoying, but the gleam in his eyes told another story.
"Rudy said you were serious about me." Kris stated.
"Well, it wasn't a lie," Dellons shrugged.
"Yet you don't seem about to give up despite our current status." Kris looked at him straightly in the eyes and Dellons' baby blue eyed shone with gravity.
"Haven't I told you? You're my one and only princess," Dellons said, reaching out his hand to touch Kris' cheek. "But I haven't told you this one yet. You might have been my princess, but Rudy… he's my prince."