Chapter 14

His head pounding like a drum and his eyelashes gummy and reluctant to part, Watanuki came awake in his bed. For a moment, he tracked grains of wood in the ceiling and tangled one hand in the thatch of fur—Mugetsu's ruff—as he tried to remember the course of events that had led to such a flattening headache.

But thinking was too difficult with so much pain. Watanuki gave it up with a shallow sigh, and began to arduous process of getting himself to his feet. He retained a white-knuckled grip on his bedpost as he, mumbling to himself about his aohola's hangover remedies and where he might find them, waited for his sense of balance to reinstate itself. When the world felt somewhat steady beneath his feet, he looked down to Mugetsu, seated near his feet.

"Do you know where she might have put them?" He asked, ignoring the light of amusement in the animal's eyes. The fox made a chuffing noise, and gestured to the bookcase with its nose.

Watanuki grunted. "But which one, is the question."

That was when he noticed the little puddle of greenery at the foot of his door.

--

The Archer was unhappy.

His investigation concerning the character of Watanuki's company the night before had turned up nothing reassuring. His body was still sore from the stress of his recent mountain climbing, and his head throbbed from whirling thoughts of the ranger's story and suspicion aimed towards the man from the tavern. But beneath it all there burned a hot, angry emotion he wasn't sure of, and a building frustration like a simmering witch's brew. He was tired, and no one saw fit to give answers to his questions.

So consumed was he by his thoughts that he was only a few paces from the Rose Cottage when he finally looked up to the warlock blocking the door, and the slender hands that held out a familiar bundle of leaves.

The Hero stiffened, remembering his desperate message. His ears burned with embarrassment.

The warlock noticed, of course. He gave him a small, comforting smile, and glanced down at the handful. Silence reigned in the little clearing, until Watanuki cleared his throat.

"You wanted to speak with me?" He prompted easily.

"Yes." The Hero fought the heat in his face as he considered his next words.

"Who was that man, last night?"

The question came on its own. Doumeki winced.

Watanuki rocked back on his heels as if blown by a sudden wind, blinking.

"Him? What about him?"

"Who was he?"

Well, in for a sheep, in for a cow.

"An acquaintance," The warlock cocked his head curiously. "Little more."

"I don't think he had anything good in mind for you." Doumeki growled, the heat in his own voice surprising him.

Watanuki blushed, forcibly clearing his throat. "I don't either. He was rather forward with the placement of his hands, as I recall…" His eyes wandered, and made their way to the leaves he held, momentarily forgotten. The spellworker frowned at them—then remembered with a shock what exactly they were. He prepared to speak, but Doumeki beat him to the punch.

"Did he mistake you for a woman?"

Watanuki gave him a funny look. "What? No."

"Yet he still…?" Doumeki was confused. "Why would he…-?"

He allowed the inquiry to trail off. He had heardof it; two men, but he'd never particularly thought about it. There were men and women for a reason, wasn't there? His grandfather's teachings of their god had not mentioned much in the way of intercourse at all.

Doumeki floundered, for a moment.

Watanuki was still giving him that look, now with an additional underlining of consideration that made Doumeki fidget. At length, he dropped his gaze with a sigh and held up the leaves.

"Care to discuss these?"

Doumeki grimaced.

If you're confused by what happened in this chapter, blink back to chapter 12 :) That should make things a little clearer....

-Oceans

(Totally unrelated) Star Trek fans! There's a petition for the new films to include some kind of homosexual relationship between two (ideally) main characters! Care to support? ;) The link is in my profile if you're interested.