Disclaimer: I abducted them and you can't have them back until I've had my
way with them.
Comments: Part two of the ever weirder 'Black Gold' conglomerate. In which Ken takes advantage of being the food bitch and Youji explains why he is the ho. It should be all good fun. Not a whole lot of progress in the actual story line is made here, but it's pretty amusing. (And the return of Ken's inner monologue!) Please enjoy. This is the only credible thing I've written since I left for my vacation. Please don't kill me if updates are –really slow- in the weeks/months to come… my laptop broke! It was very sad and now I'm never going to get to watch 'GTO.' *big sigh* Oh well. Life will go on. Just means that I have to now schedule my writing now only around my whims but the computer usage of the other –nine- people currently living in the house I am staying in. It's only for a few more weeks though, so bear with me. (Not like I was ever punctual with my updates anyway… muwahahaha!) R&R!! GRRRR, don't make me tell you twice!
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I am awestruck the moment the automatic 'In Only' doors swing open with a soft hiss, and bright un aesthetic light pours into my eyes. This grocery store is huge… and I do mean huge. I don't understand. I can't wrap my mind around it. What is a huge, fluorescent lighted, magnetic anti theft device, salad bar, full deli, Pizza Hut complete grocery store doing in this tiny, backwards, disgusting little town? An arctic breeze seems to flow past my sweating skin.
Sweet Jesus, relief at last; air-conditioning at its best. Guess being the food bitch has its advantages. I snicker as I imagine Omi still locked in that sweltering little hotel room of ours and Aya and Youji dragging themselves through the town on foot. I sigh as I enter the store, my body temperature dropping almost immediately. I swear I can hear the sound of angels singing. *Aaaahhhh!* I am bathed in heavenly light. Make that headache inducing ultra fluorescent light… but I'll take what I can get.
I reach into my pocket as I duck out of the way of an oncoming shopping cart. Everybody is in such a rush. Rummaging around through the lint and stray pieces of paper in my pocket I finally come up with the list that was handed me by Aya on my way out the door.
"This is on the store account. Don't buy anything extra," he'd said. Phsh! Yeah right. I have just entered the Mecca of Western snack foods; how can I possible pass this up? Fruit snacks… here I come.
After a rather long and drawn out battle with a row of carts I manage to procure a shopping receptacle on wheels. I glance down at the list, almost running over a little boy who seems to have become severed from his parents. He scowls at me, says something that is most likely rude and then runs off, raspberrying me over his shoulder. What is wrong with children in this country?! I am sorely tempted to scream something like, "Kuso gaki*!" but restrain myself. That would be childish and… he wouldn't understand me anyway.
Back to the list. Hmmm, let's see: instant Cup of Noodles (as many as I can carry), juice (oh that's specific), tea (also nice and specific), cereal (mmm… cereal… Honey Bunches of Oats…), milk (do we drink milk… oh for the cereal, duh), paper bowls, paper plates, plastic silver wear (cause it's hard to eat cereal with chopsticks), bread (uh…), jelly (..ok…), peanut butter (oh, I get it), and last but not least beer (scrawled of course in Youji's handwriting, crossed out once by two strait, thin Aya- esque lines, and re-written and circled twice). I have to giggle. What a crappy list. I start to make some brainstorms of my own. This is going to be fun. Sure Aya told me not to buy anything extra but… easier to ask forgiveness than permission. Right? Right.
I head off down the far isle. I might as well just comb the whole store. Rows and rows and rows of stuff. All written in English… this is giving me a headache. The lights aren't helping. What the hell kind of jelly is this anyway? Is that supposed to be a grape or a plum? I think that says grape… uh… but then again I KNOW this one says strawberry… I don't like seeds. Hey look! Tortilla chips… shit I didn't know that these things came is flavors. Is that… chili flavored chips?! Ew! Gross. Hmmm these –look- plain. Yeah, they're plain… I hope. Ah yes, cookies in bags. Awesome. Fudge filled. It's going in the cart. What kind of milk do we drink… 1%? 2%? Whole… why is this milk slightly blue? Ewww… Skim milk… barf. Homogin… homoginizied… no… homogenized… what does that mean? Oh well, it's going in the cart. Ohhh, cottage cheese.
I find myself caught up in a shopping frenzy of uncontrollable proportions. I start getting funny looks form people and I wonder why until I realize that I am muttering to myself in Niheigo/Japanglish. My eyes light up as a heavenly beam of light illuminates the sports drink case and slowly draws me in. That's a lot of Gatorade… sugoi!
Now, for the beer. Beer… beer… beer. Whoa… that's a lot of beer. Waaay more beer than Gatorade. I am not qualified to make this decision! How much beer can we consume… rather how much beer can Youji consume? And what kind of beer? I could just buy basic, generic beer… but why when I have all these options? But then again I don't really like beer. Drinking makes me really stupid. Really stupid. Ahhh… the decisions!! Ok, settle down, Hidaka, you can do this. Just reach out a hand and… there that one. Corona. Yes, corona. It's… expensive…but the bottles looks cool and it –is- on the Koneko dime so… in the cart. Good that's all taken care of.
I stand in line. I brush over the headlines of the magazines at the check stand. What is the American obsession with Princess Diana? I don't get it! The woman has been dead of years and yet she's –still- in their tabloids. But then again… Elvis has been dead since the seventies and according to the Weekly World News he's been spotted cavorting with 'Bat Boy' as recently as two weeks ago. The thing is that after working with Weiss… I'm not so sure how much I –doubt- the existence of Bat Boy….
"ID, please."
I look up. I hadn't even noticed that the checker was ringing up my food. She now stares at me over a pair of most un aesthetic glasses smacking what could only have been bright blue bubble gum, one hand resting on the case of corona.
"Ha? Nani? Er… excuse me?" I say blinking at her innocently.
She rolls her eyes. "Your. ID. Please," she says in a voice that is not only insultingly slow but ear drum splitting loud. And yet, to my chagrin… I'm still not exactly sure what she wants from me.
"So sorry… I don't…," I say, shrugging, smiling sheepishly.
"Identification. I. Need. It. Yours."
Identification… for what? I note the corona, I note her hand on the corona. Oooh, I get it. Duh. I smile and nod, reaching into my pocket, procuring my Pass Port. She takes it from me with a thin little smile and another eye roll. She flips it open and scans if for a moment then looks up at me with dull, un-amused eyes. Now what did I do?
"I cayn't sell you this," she drawls patting the beer.
"Ha?"
"You. Are. Underaged."
I'm still confused and the people in line behind me are getting restless. I hear one mumble. "Damn tourists."
I think she's telling me I can't buy Youji's beer. She holds up a little red sign that has a big '21' printed in the middle of it and some other words that I don't bother to read. I get it already.
"Oh, I see, I see," I say hurriedly. That's right I forgot… American sucks! "It's ok. It's ok. Hai, hai, hai," I nod.
She smiles at me warily and tucks the beer under the counter. "Okay then, your total comes to…."
I nearly inhale my own tongue. Aya is going to have a nervous break down. I better work on my sweet talk on the way home. It is nearly physically painful to hand her the store credit card.
Well… at least we got food. Lots of it.
Standing outside the store I realize that I had not anticipated the problem that would be posed when it came to taking my groceries back to the hotel. It wasn't really all that far away, but then again it wasn't all that close either. I look at the shopping cart…. All the bags fit so nicely inside. I chew on my lip and try to come to the right decision. It would be way easier to just take it, but then people are going to stare at me and then it'll be nothing but, "Damn Japs, always stealing grocery carts!"
Fuck 'em all!! I'm taking this cart and the Texan bastards can go to hell.
Away from the paradise like world of the super market shopping center I am pulled back into the sweltering heat and depravity of the town we are calling our temporary home. I struggle down the two lane highway, trying to keep the cart on the pavement as much as possible as beat-up, rusted out vehicles do their best to make me shit my pants. The huge gaping cracks in the pavement and the swirling dust devils prove to be formidable opponents, but I am not a professional assassin for nothing! I can deal with this. I am stronger than this hell hole! I won't let it beat me!
By the time I get back to the motel room I am swearing constantly under my breath, I have one mashed finger, and I think I may have sprained my ankle due to having the cart tip over on me as I attempted to jump out of the way of an oncoming Sedan. What's wrong with these people?!
The cart trundles up to the door and I bang furiously on it with one hand. We were only given two keys. Aya and Youji have them both. So if Omi and I even wanted to leave at the same time… we couldn't. Leaders are so sneaky like that.
"Omittchi?! Open up, it's me!" There is no answer. I pound again with the flat of my hand. "I'm not in the mood, bishounen! Open the door. For the love of God!"
There is not sound from within. If Omi even went out and locked us both out of the room I'm gonna…. Just the thought makes me want to curl up in a ball and weep.
I'm just about ready to slump down next to the door when I hear the latch slide open. Omi opens the door and stands there looking at me blearily. His hair is askew and his clothes are rumpled. He rubs one eye with the back of his hand. "Ken-kun? Back already?"
"Already?" I growl. "I've been gone for nearly three hours!"
"Oh, really? I didn't notice. I kinda… took a nap. Wow are all those groceries ours?"
"Yeah. I kinda… got a little out of control," I admit.
He stares past my shoulder. "Ken… tell me you did not steal that shopping cart from the grocery store."
"Uhhh, I would, but I'd be lying. Now just help me get this crap inside and then dispose of the evidence," I grumble, handing him a bag.
He looks down into it. "Hm, fruit roll-ups, were those one the list?"
"I don't know, Omittchi, what do you thing?"
He sighs and reaches for another bag. "Aya isn't going to be happy."
I grin. "Don't worry. I know how to deal with Aya."
"I bet you do," he says under his breath. I poke him between the shoulder blades to let him know I heard.
When all the grocery bags are unloaded and piled on Youji's side of the bed I push the cart out across the road, past a stray tumbleweed, and down into a ditch. Omi watches disapprovingly from the doorway.
Now to sleep. I throw myself down onto the bed I share with Aya and pull his pillow up over my head. Mm, smells like my koibito. I feel the bed sag unexpectedly as Omi plops down beside me and starts ripping open a bag of potato chips.
"Check it out, they're covered in green things. Smells good too…," he murmurs, sticking his nose into the bag. He holds them out to me, and I am overcome by onion and potato fumes. The smell of Aya is lost.
I glare up at Omi and push the chips away. "Aren't you supposed to be researching or something?"
He shrugs. "I already did a search yesterday. There's no rush. It will be easier to just wait till Aya and Youji come back with some real info before I go trying to make plans and start looking up personnel and all that. I sent and e-mail to Persia, but other than that there really isn't much I can do right now."
I grumble and roll over. "Well get those things out of my face. I'm not hungry."
He rolls up the chips and drops them onto the floor. "Yeah, me neither. I'm kinda tired though. I think I'll go back to napping." He curls up in ball next to me. "Can I have the pillow?"
I don't want to give him Aya's pillow. I hug it tightly. "Can't you sleep on your own bed?" I snap.
"My bed is covered with groceries," he says, "and you know how I toss around when I sleep. I'll knock them off. Just give me the pillow. You don't mind if I sleep by you, right? We used to share the bed all the time when we had away missions."
He's right. Before Aya and I 'hooked up' it was always Omi and I who shared a bed and Aya would usually sleep on the floor. Youji didn't seem to mind. Of course he really didn't seem to mind now either. He's pretty laid back. "No… I don't mind," I grumble, "it's just…."
Omi props himself up and looks over my shoulder. "Oh, sorry didn't know you were having 'private time' with Aya's pillow. I'll leave you two alone," he says disgustedly.
Now my conscience is nagging at me. I always manage to piss Omi off these days. I grumble and roll over the other way, throwing Aya's pillow up into his face. "Fine," I grumble, "sleep on my bed. Whatever you want."
He giggles. "Thanks, Kenken," he singsongs and then flops down, curling into a ball once again. I sigh. I hate the way motel room beds creak….
I must drift off because when I awake it is to the sound of deep voices and the key rattling in the door. Much to my disgruntlement one of Omi's legs has become tangled with mine. The rest of him is spread out across the three fourths of the bed that I do not occupy. I gruffly shove him off and sit up blearily. The door swings open. Aya and Youji come in, talking quietly.
"What did you find out?" I ask, stretching.
Youji shrugs. "Not much. There have been a couple of law suits again Global Oil, some general complaint and grumbling among the natives, but other than that not much to be said by the locals. We did manage to make a map with all the Global Oil processing and drilling facilities on it. Amazing what you can do at your public library these days. And compiled a list of the official site names, so running a check on supervisors through the net shouldn't be a problem and whatthehellisthathugepileofshitonmybed?!" Youji suddenly spews, his words coming out in one huge rush of disbelief.
"Gorceries," I say simply.
"That is not the list," Aya grumbles.
I shrug. "So sue me. We can't possible live off instant noodles, cereal, and PBJ sandwiches. I had to get some snack food. Oh, and Youji… sorry I couldn't buy you beer. I got carded."
"Zakennayo," he hisses. "I really wanted a cold one too."
"Why is Omi sleeping?" Aya asks gruffly.
I shrug. "Jet lag, humidity, I dunno. We've both been napping all morning."
Youji winks at me. "Isn't that cute? You guys are just precious."
Aya grumbles, easily made jealous, and plops down in one of the hard motel room chairs. He buries his head in the crook of one arm and breathes softly. He's so… *sigh* something. Unable to resist I walk to the chair and run one hand lazily over his head, through his cool red hair. Youji makes it a point to attack the pile of snack food heaped on his bed, so I lean down and whisper in Aya's ear. "I'd rather have been napping with you," I say softly and then kiss his temple, "I missed you."
He turns his head and peers up at me with one narrow, indigo eye. He lifts his fingers off his arm and twiddles them at me idly. I know what that means. I reach over and lace my fingers with his. He squeezes, I squeeze back. He looks at me for a moment more and then buries his face again. "I want out of this hell hole," he murmurs.
"Me too, koi, but there isn't much we can do about it," I respond, trailing my free hand through the hair at the nape of his neck. I sigh. "Just think how nice it will be when we get back to our own place with our own stuff and our own food and our own language…."
"And our own bedrooms," he growls playfully, letting his eye peek up at me again. There is a dangerous little twinkle in it now.
I chuckle and squeeze his hand again. Youji makes of show of choking on a potato chip. "One track minds, the both of you."
I turn and scowl at him, "Oh and look who's talking. Casa fucking Nova himself."
"Hey, can I help it? I'm the ho," he drawls, kicking back on his bed.
I glare at him for a moment and then say, "Elaborate, please."
"You know, it's just like in any set of friends… or whatever…. We all have our little roles to play. Brains, jock, beauty, ho. Omi's the brains, you're the jock, Aya's the beauty, and then I'm the ho. That's just how it goes."
I raise an eyebrow. Aya just groans and shakes his head. "Why does Aya get to be the beauty?"
"Cause if you were the beauty, Kenken, then there would be nobody to be the jock, and as far as me being the beauty," he flips his hair expertly at this, "then there would be nobody to be the ho," Youji says matter of factly.
"Well, how come Omi isn't the beauty and Aya the brains then?" I ask just to argue. "Aya –is- our leader after all."
Youji rolls his eyes. "Because, Omi is too sweet to be the beauty, and as clever as Aya might be, Omi is definitely the uber nerd here. I'm sorry, Ken-kun, that's just the way it works out."
"Hey, you guys talking smack about me?" Omi's sleep riddled voice breaks in followed by a huge yawn.
"No, Omi-kun. Go back to sleep," Youji and I say together.
Now he sits up and rubs at his oversized eyes. "You are talking about me. You guys are so mean," he whines.
Aya releases my hand and sits up abruptly. "Enough of this idiocy. We have a mission to plan."
"And a honky-tonk to get ready for," Youji adds. We all swivel around to fix him with glares of death. Aya of course is the most effective at this, but Youji weathers the assault well, smiling cheerily and humming.
"Yeah, so what is the deal with these girls you met, Yotan," I ask, leaning against the obligatory motel room table.
He shakes his head. "I told you. I met them at the ice machine this morning. I asked them if they knew of anything fun to do around here and they invited me and 'my friends' to come with them to this line dancing place tonight. They're coming by the room around seven or so. That should leave us plenty of time to scheme before we have to get ready. Right? Right."
"Exactly how many girls are we talking about?" Omi pipes up a bit nervously. The last time he went to a dance with a girl they both ended up abducted and she ended up ultimately dead. And his sister…. Confusing, but true.
Youji holds up three finger. "Trés muchachas."
Omi sighs in relief. "Oh good, then it won't matter if I come along or not, because I won't have a dancing partner. So you guys go and I'll stay here."
Youji shakes his blonde waves, hair bouncing effortlessly around his face. He puts way to much effort into his hair. "Not gonna cut it, Omittchi. That's the beauty of line dancing. Either nobody's your partner or everybody's your partner." He grins wickedly.
Omi sighs in defeat. "Oh well."
I pat him on the back. "Can't blame you for trying, kiddo. But what's the worst that could happen with all of us there?"
At the time I asked this in all innocence. If I'd only known. If I'd only known….
After thoughts: It was a bit long winded. But whoever complained about the length of a fic? Not I, said the little red hen. Hope it was enjoyed. Part three will follows soon… hopefully. Let me know if you have any thoughts about the story or what you think –should- happen. I'm always curious about what people imagine.
Comments: Part two of the ever weirder 'Black Gold' conglomerate. In which Ken takes advantage of being the food bitch and Youji explains why he is the ho. It should be all good fun. Not a whole lot of progress in the actual story line is made here, but it's pretty amusing. (And the return of Ken's inner monologue!) Please enjoy. This is the only credible thing I've written since I left for my vacation. Please don't kill me if updates are –really slow- in the weeks/months to come… my laptop broke! It was very sad and now I'm never going to get to watch 'GTO.' *big sigh* Oh well. Life will go on. Just means that I have to now schedule my writing now only around my whims but the computer usage of the other –nine- people currently living in the house I am staying in. It's only for a few more weeks though, so bear with me. (Not like I was ever punctual with my updates anyway… muwahahaha!) R&R!! GRRRR, don't make me tell you twice!
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I am awestruck the moment the automatic 'In Only' doors swing open with a soft hiss, and bright un aesthetic light pours into my eyes. This grocery store is huge… and I do mean huge. I don't understand. I can't wrap my mind around it. What is a huge, fluorescent lighted, magnetic anti theft device, salad bar, full deli, Pizza Hut complete grocery store doing in this tiny, backwards, disgusting little town? An arctic breeze seems to flow past my sweating skin.
Sweet Jesus, relief at last; air-conditioning at its best. Guess being the food bitch has its advantages. I snicker as I imagine Omi still locked in that sweltering little hotel room of ours and Aya and Youji dragging themselves through the town on foot. I sigh as I enter the store, my body temperature dropping almost immediately. I swear I can hear the sound of angels singing. *Aaaahhhh!* I am bathed in heavenly light. Make that headache inducing ultra fluorescent light… but I'll take what I can get.
I reach into my pocket as I duck out of the way of an oncoming shopping cart. Everybody is in such a rush. Rummaging around through the lint and stray pieces of paper in my pocket I finally come up with the list that was handed me by Aya on my way out the door.
"This is on the store account. Don't buy anything extra," he'd said. Phsh! Yeah right. I have just entered the Mecca of Western snack foods; how can I possible pass this up? Fruit snacks… here I come.
After a rather long and drawn out battle with a row of carts I manage to procure a shopping receptacle on wheels. I glance down at the list, almost running over a little boy who seems to have become severed from his parents. He scowls at me, says something that is most likely rude and then runs off, raspberrying me over his shoulder. What is wrong with children in this country?! I am sorely tempted to scream something like, "Kuso gaki*!" but restrain myself. That would be childish and… he wouldn't understand me anyway.
Back to the list. Hmmm, let's see: instant Cup of Noodles (as many as I can carry), juice (oh that's specific), tea (also nice and specific), cereal (mmm… cereal… Honey Bunches of Oats…), milk (do we drink milk… oh for the cereal, duh), paper bowls, paper plates, plastic silver wear (cause it's hard to eat cereal with chopsticks), bread (uh…), jelly (..ok…), peanut butter (oh, I get it), and last but not least beer (scrawled of course in Youji's handwriting, crossed out once by two strait, thin Aya- esque lines, and re-written and circled twice). I have to giggle. What a crappy list. I start to make some brainstorms of my own. This is going to be fun. Sure Aya told me not to buy anything extra but… easier to ask forgiveness than permission. Right? Right.
I head off down the far isle. I might as well just comb the whole store. Rows and rows and rows of stuff. All written in English… this is giving me a headache. The lights aren't helping. What the hell kind of jelly is this anyway? Is that supposed to be a grape or a plum? I think that says grape… uh… but then again I KNOW this one says strawberry… I don't like seeds. Hey look! Tortilla chips… shit I didn't know that these things came is flavors. Is that… chili flavored chips?! Ew! Gross. Hmmm these –look- plain. Yeah, they're plain… I hope. Ah yes, cookies in bags. Awesome. Fudge filled. It's going in the cart. What kind of milk do we drink… 1%? 2%? Whole… why is this milk slightly blue? Ewww… Skim milk… barf. Homogin… homoginizied… no… homogenized… what does that mean? Oh well, it's going in the cart. Ohhh, cottage cheese.
I find myself caught up in a shopping frenzy of uncontrollable proportions. I start getting funny looks form people and I wonder why until I realize that I am muttering to myself in Niheigo/Japanglish. My eyes light up as a heavenly beam of light illuminates the sports drink case and slowly draws me in. That's a lot of Gatorade… sugoi!
Now, for the beer. Beer… beer… beer. Whoa… that's a lot of beer. Waaay more beer than Gatorade. I am not qualified to make this decision! How much beer can we consume… rather how much beer can Youji consume? And what kind of beer? I could just buy basic, generic beer… but why when I have all these options? But then again I don't really like beer. Drinking makes me really stupid. Really stupid. Ahhh… the decisions!! Ok, settle down, Hidaka, you can do this. Just reach out a hand and… there that one. Corona. Yes, corona. It's… expensive…but the bottles looks cool and it –is- on the Koneko dime so… in the cart. Good that's all taken care of.
I stand in line. I brush over the headlines of the magazines at the check stand. What is the American obsession with Princess Diana? I don't get it! The woman has been dead of years and yet she's –still- in their tabloids. But then again… Elvis has been dead since the seventies and according to the Weekly World News he's been spotted cavorting with 'Bat Boy' as recently as two weeks ago. The thing is that after working with Weiss… I'm not so sure how much I –doubt- the existence of Bat Boy….
"ID, please."
I look up. I hadn't even noticed that the checker was ringing up my food. She now stares at me over a pair of most un aesthetic glasses smacking what could only have been bright blue bubble gum, one hand resting on the case of corona.
"Ha? Nani? Er… excuse me?" I say blinking at her innocently.
She rolls her eyes. "Your. ID. Please," she says in a voice that is not only insultingly slow but ear drum splitting loud. And yet, to my chagrin… I'm still not exactly sure what she wants from me.
"So sorry… I don't…," I say, shrugging, smiling sheepishly.
"Identification. I. Need. It. Yours."
Identification… for what? I note the corona, I note her hand on the corona. Oooh, I get it. Duh. I smile and nod, reaching into my pocket, procuring my Pass Port. She takes it from me with a thin little smile and another eye roll. She flips it open and scans if for a moment then looks up at me with dull, un-amused eyes. Now what did I do?
"I cayn't sell you this," she drawls patting the beer.
"Ha?"
"You. Are. Underaged."
I'm still confused and the people in line behind me are getting restless. I hear one mumble. "Damn tourists."
I think she's telling me I can't buy Youji's beer. She holds up a little red sign that has a big '21' printed in the middle of it and some other words that I don't bother to read. I get it already.
"Oh, I see, I see," I say hurriedly. That's right I forgot… American sucks! "It's ok. It's ok. Hai, hai, hai," I nod.
She smiles at me warily and tucks the beer under the counter. "Okay then, your total comes to…."
I nearly inhale my own tongue. Aya is going to have a nervous break down. I better work on my sweet talk on the way home. It is nearly physically painful to hand her the store credit card.
Well… at least we got food. Lots of it.
Standing outside the store I realize that I had not anticipated the problem that would be posed when it came to taking my groceries back to the hotel. It wasn't really all that far away, but then again it wasn't all that close either. I look at the shopping cart…. All the bags fit so nicely inside. I chew on my lip and try to come to the right decision. It would be way easier to just take it, but then people are going to stare at me and then it'll be nothing but, "Damn Japs, always stealing grocery carts!"
Fuck 'em all!! I'm taking this cart and the Texan bastards can go to hell.
Away from the paradise like world of the super market shopping center I am pulled back into the sweltering heat and depravity of the town we are calling our temporary home. I struggle down the two lane highway, trying to keep the cart on the pavement as much as possible as beat-up, rusted out vehicles do their best to make me shit my pants. The huge gaping cracks in the pavement and the swirling dust devils prove to be formidable opponents, but I am not a professional assassin for nothing! I can deal with this. I am stronger than this hell hole! I won't let it beat me!
By the time I get back to the motel room I am swearing constantly under my breath, I have one mashed finger, and I think I may have sprained my ankle due to having the cart tip over on me as I attempted to jump out of the way of an oncoming Sedan. What's wrong with these people?!
The cart trundles up to the door and I bang furiously on it with one hand. We were only given two keys. Aya and Youji have them both. So if Omi and I even wanted to leave at the same time… we couldn't. Leaders are so sneaky like that.
"Omittchi?! Open up, it's me!" There is no answer. I pound again with the flat of my hand. "I'm not in the mood, bishounen! Open the door. For the love of God!"
There is not sound from within. If Omi even went out and locked us both out of the room I'm gonna…. Just the thought makes me want to curl up in a ball and weep.
I'm just about ready to slump down next to the door when I hear the latch slide open. Omi opens the door and stands there looking at me blearily. His hair is askew and his clothes are rumpled. He rubs one eye with the back of his hand. "Ken-kun? Back already?"
"Already?" I growl. "I've been gone for nearly three hours!"
"Oh, really? I didn't notice. I kinda… took a nap. Wow are all those groceries ours?"
"Yeah. I kinda… got a little out of control," I admit.
He stares past my shoulder. "Ken… tell me you did not steal that shopping cart from the grocery store."
"Uhhh, I would, but I'd be lying. Now just help me get this crap inside and then dispose of the evidence," I grumble, handing him a bag.
He looks down into it. "Hm, fruit roll-ups, were those one the list?"
"I don't know, Omittchi, what do you thing?"
He sighs and reaches for another bag. "Aya isn't going to be happy."
I grin. "Don't worry. I know how to deal with Aya."
"I bet you do," he says under his breath. I poke him between the shoulder blades to let him know I heard.
When all the grocery bags are unloaded and piled on Youji's side of the bed I push the cart out across the road, past a stray tumbleweed, and down into a ditch. Omi watches disapprovingly from the doorway.
Now to sleep. I throw myself down onto the bed I share with Aya and pull his pillow up over my head. Mm, smells like my koibito. I feel the bed sag unexpectedly as Omi plops down beside me and starts ripping open a bag of potato chips.
"Check it out, they're covered in green things. Smells good too…," he murmurs, sticking his nose into the bag. He holds them out to me, and I am overcome by onion and potato fumes. The smell of Aya is lost.
I glare up at Omi and push the chips away. "Aren't you supposed to be researching or something?"
He shrugs. "I already did a search yesterday. There's no rush. It will be easier to just wait till Aya and Youji come back with some real info before I go trying to make plans and start looking up personnel and all that. I sent and e-mail to Persia, but other than that there really isn't much I can do right now."
I grumble and roll over. "Well get those things out of my face. I'm not hungry."
He rolls up the chips and drops them onto the floor. "Yeah, me neither. I'm kinda tired though. I think I'll go back to napping." He curls up in ball next to me. "Can I have the pillow?"
I don't want to give him Aya's pillow. I hug it tightly. "Can't you sleep on your own bed?" I snap.
"My bed is covered with groceries," he says, "and you know how I toss around when I sleep. I'll knock them off. Just give me the pillow. You don't mind if I sleep by you, right? We used to share the bed all the time when we had away missions."
He's right. Before Aya and I 'hooked up' it was always Omi and I who shared a bed and Aya would usually sleep on the floor. Youji didn't seem to mind. Of course he really didn't seem to mind now either. He's pretty laid back. "No… I don't mind," I grumble, "it's just…."
Omi props himself up and looks over my shoulder. "Oh, sorry didn't know you were having 'private time' with Aya's pillow. I'll leave you two alone," he says disgustedly.
Now my conscience is nagging at me. I always manage to piss Omi off these days. I grumble and roll over the other way, throwing Aya's pillow up into his face. "Fine," I grumble, "sleep on my bed. Whatever you want."
He giggles. "Thanks, Kenken," he singsongs and then flops down, curling into a ball once again. I sigh. I hate the way motel room beds creak….
I must drift off because when I awake it is to the sound of deep voices and the key rattling in the door. Much to my disgruntlement one of Omi's legs has become tangled with mine. The rest of him is spread out across the three fourths of the bed that I do not occupy. I gruffly shove him off and sit up blearily. The door swings open. Aya and Youji come in, talking quietly.
"What did you find out?" I ask, stretching.
Youji shrugs. "Not much. There have been a couple of law suits again Global Oil, some general complaint and grumbling among the natives, but other than that not much to be said by the locals. We did manage to make a map with all the Global Oil processing and drilling facilities on it. Amazing what you can do at your public library these days. And compiled a list of the official site names, so running a check on supervisors through the net shouldn't be a problem and whatthehellisthathugepileofshitonmybed?!" Youji suddenly spews, his words coming out in one huge rush of disbelief.
"Gorceries," I say simply.
"That is not the list," Aya grumbles.
I shrug. "So sue me. We can't possible live off instant noodles, cereal, and PBJ sandwiches. I had to get some snack food. Oh, and Youji… sorry I couldn't buy you beer. I got carded."
"Zakennayo," he hisses. "I really wanted a cold one too."
"Why is Omi sleeping?" Aya asks gruffly.
I shrug. "Jet lag, humidity, I dunno. We've both been napping all morning."
Youji winks at me. "Isn't that cute? You guys are just precious."
Aya grumbles, easily made jealous, and plops down in one of the hard motel room chairs. He buries his head in the crook of one arm and breathes softly. He's so… *sigh* something. Unable to resist I walk to the chair and run one hand lazily over his head, through his cool red hair. Youji makes it a point to attack the pile of snack food heaped on his bed, so I lean down and whisper in Aya's ear. "I'd rather have been napping with you," I say softly and then kiss his temple, "I missed you."
He turns his head and peers up at me with one narrow, indigo eye. He lifts his fingers off his arm and twiddles them at me idly. I know what that means. I reach over and lace my fingers with his. He squeezes, I squeeze back. He looks at me for a moment more and then buries his face again. "I want out of this hell hole," he murmurs.
"Me too, koi, but there isn't much we can do about it," I respond, trailing my free hand through the hair at the nape of his neck. I sigh. "Just think how nice it will be when we get back to our own place with our own stuff and our own food and our own language…."
"And our own bedrooms," he growls playfully, letting his eye peek up at me again. There is a dangerous little twinkle in it now.
I chuckle and squeeze his hand again. Youji makes of show of choking on a potato chip. "One track minds, the both of you."
I turn and scowl at him, "Oh and look who's talking. Casa fucking Nova himself."
"Hey, can I help it? I'm the ho," he drawls, kicking back on his bed.
I glare at him for a moment and then say, "Elaborate, please."
"You know, it's just like in any set of friends… or whatever…. We all have our little roles to play. Brains, jock, beauty, ho. Omi's the brains, you're the jock, Aya's the beauty, and then I'm the ho. That's just how it goes."
I raise an eyebrow. Aya just groans and shakes his head. "Why does Aya get to be the beauty?"
"Cause if you were the beauty, Kenken, then there would be nobody to be the jock, and as far as me being the beauty," he flips his hair expertly at this, "then there would be nobody to be the ho," Youji says matter of factly.
"Well, how come Omi isn't the beauty and Aya the brains then?" I ask just to argue. "Aya –is- our leader after all."
Youji rolls his eyes. "Because, Omi is too sweet to be the beauty, and as clever as Aya might be, Omi is definitely the uber nerd here. I'm sorry, Ken-kun, that's just the way it works out."
"Hey, you guys talking smack about me?" Omi's sleep riddled voice breaks in followed by a huge yawn.
"No, Omi-kun. Go back to sleep," Youji and I say together.
Now he sits up and rubs at his oversized eyes. "You are talking about me. You guys are so mean," he whines.
Aya releases my hand and sits up abruptly. "Enough of this idiocy. We have a mission to plan."
"And a honky-tonk to get ready for," Youji adds. We all swivel around to fix him with glares of death. Aya of course is the most effective at this, but Youji weathers the assault well, smiling cheerily and humming.
"Yeah, so what is the deal with these girls you met, Yotan," I ask, leaning against the obligatory motel room table.
He shakes his head. "I told you. I met them at the ice machine this morning. I asked them if they knew of anything fun to do around here and they invited me and 'my friends' to come with them to this line dancing place tonight. They're coming by the room around seven or so. That should leave us plenty of time to scheme before we have to get ready. Right? Right."
"Exactly how many girls are we talking about?" Omi pipes up a bit nervously. The last time he went to a dance with a girl they both ended up abducted and she ended up ultimately dead. And his sister…. Confusing, but true.
Youji holds up three finger. "Trés muchachas."
Omi sighs in relief. "Oh good, then it won't matter if I come along or not, because I won't have a dancing partner. So you guys go and I'll stay here."
Youji shakes his blonde waves, hair bouncing effortlessly around his face. He puts way to much effort into his hair. "Not gonna cut it, Omittchi. That's the beauty of line dancing. Either nobody's your partner or everybody's your partner." He grins wickedly.
Omi sighs in defeat. "Oh well."
I pat him on the back. "Can't blame you for trying, kiddo. But what's the worst that could happen with all of us there?"
At the time I asked this in all innocence. If I'd only known. If I'd only known….
After thoughts: It was a bit long winded. But whoever complained about the length of a fic? Not I, said the little red hen. Hope it was enjoyed. Part three will follows soon… hopefully. Let me know if you have any thoughts about the story or what you think –should- happen. I'm always curious about what people imagine.