Notes: WARNING! Slashy yaoi homosexual content stuffs here! That and demon
+ woman things. If it offends you, go away. It's not my fault if you read
it and get grossed out. That and strong language. This has words only for
the people who are not offended by mere sounds.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Valmont smiled to himself. Anyone watching would have thought him a lunatic for being so happy over a bit of gray stone. Anyone who didn't know it's real power. Lightly etched in the carved stone's middle were yellow lines that traced the outline of an ewe. There was the slightest hinting of sparkled reds and blues when he ran a finger over it. They were so vivid and vibrant that the colors seemed to be made of pure magic- and perhaps they were.
This simple and beautiful stone talisman was the single most prized possession the crime lord had. Not because of its beauty or magic, but because of the gift it could give him. The gift to see and speak to the one he lost.
Shendu had found it in his green coat pocket shortly after he had left Chan. Disgusted by astro-projection, body jumping and all the problems the little thing had caused him, the dragonic demon had tossed it aside. It ended up in a drawer, where he had taken it out few times since it's depositing; always at his host's request and only when he was feeling well spirited. Valmont had learned when was a good time to work towards temporary freedom, though it was not a common occurrence for a window of opportunity to open up. Of course, he made it a point to never suck up to his captor. Any chance he got to insult the beast or laugh at his failures was whole-heartedly taken. How he despised the creature, and reveled in his ill success.
When he had found himself free from the demon for twenty-three hour intervals, he had hesitated to touch the thing. Fear gripped him. He had resented Shendu for it every time he looked at the drawer. The damned demon had made him so paranoid: associating the talisman with anger and extreme beration. Valmont had finally worked himself into grabbing the thing, cursing himself for stupidity for his hesitation. Now he held the prized talisman in his hands while it was sparkling and teasing him with promises.
He looked around the empty room for intruders. It was still renovated with Shendu's unique Ling Dynasty tastes. Most everything was terribly old and musty Chinese antiquities: what Shendu scrounged up so he could "live in a manner halfway decent of a demon sorcerer."
The enormous bureau that had winded the enforcers, the over-sized porcelain vases, the high-posted bed. Valmont hated them all. Lately, Shendu had been sleeping in his study, leaving the awful bedroom to Valmont. Oh, how he wished for his fine apartment from the days before Shendu. For his own, green trimmed bedroom with the blue curtains that opened to reveal a charming view of the bay. The windows in this room were stained, old and overlooked a dirty dock.
At least, he could leave. Even if it was for only a little while. Maybe while he was out, he'd go look at his apartment. Surely it had been ravaged by police, and most likely had a new tenant….. still, it would be one familiar sight he liked. But first, another adored sight was wished.
Valmont's body fell back on the bed, an empty vessel.
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"You're an ignorant being, you know that?" Shendu said, casually scoffing at the woman, keeping his staid demeanor. He was sitting with an ancient looking book open in front of him, trying to read it. Of course, this was a little difficult with Viper as constant background noise, though he didn't want to admit it. He was doing his best to ignore her.
Viper was restrained, wrists bound and tied to a, she thought, rather annoying desk of sorts. Boredom had gotten to her and she had slumped down to the floor. Shendu had flatly and readily declined her advances, and had instead stuck her on the other side of the room. Annoyed with him, she had begun to bother the demon verbally.
"Ignorant? Call me as ignorant as you want, I'm still chaffing over here. My wrists hurt. I'm hungry." Shendu glanced at her, "I will feed you later. As for the wrists: live with it." He was cool, intent on not loosing his temper.
"But I'm not hungry LATER. I'm hungry NOW." "Should have thought about that before you came back, hmm?" The demon chuckled to himself. Viper conceded defeat quietly and laid back. There was silence for a whole precious minute before she spoke up again, making Shendu snarl in annoyance. "I don't see why you don't trust me."
"Really? Well that helps my theory, then, doesn't it?"
"What theory?"
"That you're an ignorant human being."
"That's not funny."
"I agree."
A pause.
"Nice desk you got me attached to. How old is it?"
"Old." Shendu said with a grunt.
"Ah. Old. Very nice handles. Er, Blunt, no sharp edges."
"Glad you enjoy it so much."
"Really?"
"No. Why don't you talk to it instead?"
Viper laughed.
"You should talk to me."
"Why?"
"Because! Now give me a background on this desk, pronto."
"I don't take orders."
This made Viper go quiet. Shendu didn't bother to look at her.
"Why wont you trust me?" She finally piped up.
"Because. I don't trust anyone. ESPECIALLY an enemy."
"I'm not your enemy."
"Funny. Usually people who thwart your evil plans of world domination are enemies."
"I didn't mean it. Hooonneeest."
"Do you always go on so??" Shendu turned his head to glare at the bothersome animal. Viper blushed and tossed her nose in the air in an attempt to gain some dignity. "I'm just talkative right now, I s'pose." He stared at her, skepticism written clearly on his bronze-gold face. "Likely."
Another time passed, this one longer. Shendu pretended to read while he really thought of his prisoner. Bothersome as she was, she was still some company, something he often went without. The enforcers, when they were there, didn't count: they had intelligence and wit that would have trouble competing with a large pubic hair growing out of an unripe banana. And all Valmont was interested in doing was insulting him. At the very least, Viper was giving his vocal cords a workout.
The long quiet grew longer and the demon sorcerer grew more uncomfortable. He tried to sneak a look at her, to see why she was so untalkative all the sudden. Without her noticing. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw she was merely sitting, mouth closed, thinking. She was still wearing the same thing she had been when she was abducted. The shirt was a little ruffled and his teeth had made a few marks on her jeans. Her hair had also lost some charm since she last combed it.
Suddenly, she was smiling in his direction. She had noticed his gaze. Shendu grinned, like he had some other reason for staring at her than….. what WAS his reason anyway? Eyes tinged with embarrassment, he turned away. "Shendu?" Viper said. She was responded with a grunt. "You like me." This incited a sardonic snort. "Ooh, you like me!" She said again, almost teasingly. Shendu turned around and smiled, "You think, do you? I must commend you on your very active imagination."
Ooh, he didn't like the look on her face. "If you don't like me, how come I'm not dead?" Viper said, gaudy with personal triumph. Shendu grinned widely, showing off all his razor teeth. "I'm not very hungry."
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Jackie stared at the huge pile of books Uncle gave him. They filled the room, and more were outside the door. He had to read them all. Right now. So he started reading. "Jackie! One MORE book! RESEARCH! RESEARCH! Quickly! Uncle is not getting any youngeeeeer!" Uncle kept returning to the room, more books in tow each time. Jackie had three open in front of him, trying hard to read them all at once. "Yes, Uncle." He said.
Black entered the room. "I missed you. Come back to me?" Gus grabbed his hand and lifted him out of the chair. "Yes, I, uh, no!" Gus grabbed up the smaller man and kissed him hard on the lips. When they broke the kiss, Viper was the one holding him, not Black.
"Viper!" "I'm here to help you research, Baby Face." She said, then grabbed up a book. She flipped through the pages then stopped and pointed at one. "See? What'd I tell you?" The man took the book and looked at the page she held out. It was a large illustration, a picture of a golden- bronze demon. His chops and claws were stained red. The demon threw back his head, frozen in a mighty roar. Jackie shivered, almost sure he could hear the ghastly sound.
"No, look!" Viper said, pointing at one side of the page. A spell of some sort was written there in Chinese. Jackie couldn't quite make out what the words said. Every time he focused on a character his mind blurred, hiding it's hidden meaning.
At the bottom of the spell was a word written horizontally. He stared at it for some time before realizing it was a signature, written in English cursive script. Its meaning too was hidden by his defiant mind, leaving it a useless blot of ink. He sat down and stared at the word, going over it again and again.
A hand touched his shoulder. Jackie jerked around in surprise and came face to face with a white-haired man. The study turned into an expansive field of nothing but grass, gray in the low light. The sky was of purples and oranges, making the whole plane above them appear a dark sunset. The vast plain ran into infinity every way you looked.
"Jackie?" Valmont said. He withdrew his touch.
Jackie stood up. "I'm glad you're here. Have you come to help me research?" He held out the book for a visual.
Valmont stared and shook his head, "No, I came to see you."
"Oh, well, I'm a little busy now. What with all this research I must do. Maybe we could talk some other time."
With that, Jackie sat down and began once again to try and figure out the inscriptions. The white-haired man sighed deeply. The delusions of dreamland were a formidable barrier between him and Jackie. And that was one barrier he would just have to break.
Valmont sat down next to Jackie and made the best puppy-eyed face he could. "Jackie, couldn't you take a short rest from work? Talk to me?" The Chinese man hesitated, torn between research and the man next to him. Finally, he caved. "Okay," He said, putting down the book. "But for only a minute."
Valmont grinned. 'What a nice grin.' Jackie thought. He liked the way the crime lord's lower lip covered his bottom front teeth when he grinned. It was….. endearing. "We haven't seen eachother in a while. Haven't talked in longer." Jackie stared blankly. "Oh? OH! Yes! It has been! Oh, I hadn't realized! Awwwww, I missed you!" Valmont jerked back as Jackie launched himself into a sort of sideways bear hug. Initially, it was an uncomfortable hug, but it didn't matter to the man, seeing as whom it came from. He hugged back. "I missed you too."
It was a while before the hug was broke. Jackie was the one who did it, sitting up to look at the other man. His stared at him with a kind of dog- like fascination, "I don't like it when you leave." "Me neither….."
Jackie scooted over and started leaning on Valmont, resting his head on his broad shoulder. The two sat together, looking idelly into the sky. "Are you staying with me this time?" Valmont frowned and ran a hand through the jet- black hair, trying to comfort them both. "I can't. I wish I could." "Oh….."
Suddenly, Jackie stood up in a hurry. "Ah, I've got to finish my research!" He said, panicky. He picked up the book once again and fingered through the pages until he found the one he had been on. "Um, Okay. You do that." Valmont said, disappointed. "I'll just sit here for a bit more."
The Chinese man had his face buried in the old, musty book. The picture seemed to be changed from the last time he looked at it. At first he couldn't figure out what was different, but he then realized the demon lacked the red stains. 'Odd.' He thought to himself. Jackie looked over the unreadable spell Viper had given him. The complex symbols still teased at him, no matter how hard he looked.
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Jackie woke later than usual that morning. His chest was heavy with sleep and his mind was groggy. With a lazy grunt, he rolled over. As most dreams do, the one from earlier that night had escaped the freshly woken mind, but returned to him moments later. He recalled mountains of books. He remembered Agustus was there, and so was Viper. And someone else…..
The disheveled man got up off the couch where he had fallen in exhaustion the night before and trudged to the nearby bathroom. After a trip to the toilet, he turned on the shower, extra hot. While he leaned on the shower wall, letting the drops of water wash over him, the sleepy man's mind wondered back to the dream. What had happened in it? He was reading some book….. no the problem had been he COULDN'T read the book. Then someone had come along and talked to him.
Jackie jumped, now fully awake. Chris had been there! Talking to him! He had said that he missed him. But had it been a figment of his imagination, or the real thing? Chris still had the sheep talisman, right? It was never recovered. The last time he had seen it was the hospital room. And Shendu had left Chris on his own, hadn't he? He seemed to find himself happier in his new body. It very well could have been Chris in his dream, paying a visit.
But then, if Valmont was free of body, why was he still with Shendu? What prevented the man from seeing him in person? Did Shendu still need Valmont? Well, he did need henchmen. He still couldn't touch the Pan Ku box. And what better way to keep the enforcers in his employ than to hold their boss prisoner?
Valmont's incarceration was one thing that Jackie refused to let go on for one day longer. He would return to the wretched cannery and free both Viper and Chris. And then, he would send Shendu back to the demon realm where he belonged.
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"What's up with Shendu and the chick, anyway? He treats her like some pet." Chow said.
"If it were me, I'd go ahead and blow her head off." He said, making his hand into a fake pistol and pretending to fire.
"Yeah, you're good at blowing, aren't ya Finn?" Chow laughed, pleased with his dirty little aphorism. Finn glared, angered and embarrassed then kicked him hard in the shin, under the table. "Damn, Chow, you little pervert! That's not funny!" Chow sniggered and smirked. A smile started to cross Finn's face. "Okay, well maybe it is a LITTLE funny."
The two enforcers were in a fast food joint, 'Moose-Burger,' sitting at one of the shiny, red booths. They sat on opposite sides of the table, but Chow had his foot on his lover's leg, enjoying the feeling of warmth. Finn could have cared less. Right now, he was more interested in his bacon-cheese- moose-burger combo (the #3)
"Naw, but seriously: Why's he keeping her? Why dunnit he just kill the bitch and get it over with?" Chow said, sipping a coke. Finn leaned over and raised an eyebrow, "Wanna know what I think? I think they're banging eachother." Chow stared for a moment, then laughed, "Sh-Shendu's got a girl friend?! Ha Ha!!! You serious??" Finn nodded and laughed, "I'm serious! Look at her! She doesn't seem too fazed about being tied up in a fish cannery with a moody dragon! And it doesn't take a genius to tell she ain't wearin' a bra no more. I think they got a little thing goin' on!"
"Hey, check out the fags playin' footsie!" Chow and Finn turned their heads. The jerk at the next table hadn't tried to keep his derision-filled voice down. The words were not intended solely for his friends' ears; he very much wanted to start something with the two enforcers. He was a blonde guy, late twenties maybe. A bandana was tied across his forehead and blacked out sunglasses hid his eyes. Stubble made his chin rough, and he wore a thick leather jacket with a picture of a woman on back. His face had the most irritating, mocking grin on it and he flashed it maliciously at the two while his friends laughed like the idiots they probably were.
Finn glared, but not how he had glared at Chow earlier. His eyes were burning with pure rage and he was ready to pound the blonde asshole into the ground. The kid must have had a shit-load of nerve. "What did you say??" He said threateningly, trying to pierce the man with his gaze. "You heard me. " His voice was slow and mocking. "I said 'check-out-the-fags- playin-footsie.'" Finn started to get up, but Chow grabbed his sleeve. "Finn. Little kids." He reminded him. Half the people in the building were under twelve. It was no place for a stupid fistfight. Already, a few parents were looking at the party disapprovingly.
Finn shot the blonde a dirty, violent look, and sat back down. Better to ignore the dumbass. "Guess we know who wears the pants in THAT relationship!!" The blonde said to the guy sitting next to him, elbowing him in the ribs. A new round of laughter circled the table. "That's it!!!" Finn stood up fast, his rage boiling over.
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Notes: I'm sleepy. Just so you know.
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Valmont smiled to himself. Anyone watching would have thought him a lunatic for being so happy over a bit of gray stone. Anyone who didn't know it's real power. Lightly etched in the carved stone's middle were yellow lines that traced the outline of an ewe. There was the slightest hinting of sparkled reds and blues when he ran a finger over it. They were so vivid and vibrant that the colors seemed to be made of pure magic- and perhaps they were.
This simple and beautiful stone talisman was the single most prized possession the crime lord had. Not because of its beauty or magic, but because of the gift it could give him. The gift to see and speak to the one he lost.
Shendu had found it in his green coat pocket shortly after he had left Chan. Disgusted by astro-projection, body jumping and all the problems the little thing had caused him, the dragonic demon had tossed it aside. It ended up in a drawer, where he had taken it out few times since it's depositing; always at his host's request and only when he was feeling well spirited. Valmont had learned when was a good time to work towards temporary freedom, though it was not a common occurrence for a window of opportunity to open up. Of course, he made it a point to never suck up to his captor. Any chance he got to insult the beast or laugh at his failures was whole-heartedly taken. How he despised the creature, and reveled in his ill success.
When he had found himself free from the demon for twenty-three hour intervals, he had hesitated to touch the thing. Fear gripped him. He had resented Shendu for it every time he looked at the drawer. The damned demon had made him so paranoid: associating the talisman with anger and extreme beration. Valmont had finally worked himself into grabbing the thing, cursing himself for stupidity for his hesitation. Now he held the prized talisman in his hands while it was sparkling and teasing him with promises.
He looked around the empty room for intruders. It was still renovated with Shendu's unique Ling Dynasty tastes. Most everything was terribly old and musty Chinese antiquities: what Shendu scrounged up so he could "live in a manner halfway decent of a demon sorcerer."
The enormous bureau that had winded the enforcers, the over-sized porcelain vases, the high-posted bed. Valmont hated them all. Lately, Shendu had been sleeping in his study, leaving the awful bedroom to Valmont. Oh, how he wished for his fine apartment from the days before Shendu. For his own, green trimmed bedroom with the blue curtains that opened to reveal a charming view of the bay. The windows in this room were stained, old and overlooked a dirty dock.
At least, he could leave. Even if it was for only a little while. Maybe while he was out, he'd go look at his apartment. Surely it had been ravaged by police, and most likely had a new tenant….. still, it would be one familiar sight he liked. But first, another adored sight was wished.
Valmont's body fell back on the bed, an empty vessel.
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"You're an ignorant being, you know that?" Shendu said, casually scoffing at the woman, keeping his staid demeanor. He was sitting with an ancient looking book open in front of him, trying to read it. Of course, this was a little difficult with Viper as constant background noise, though he didn't want to admit it. He was doing his best to ignore her.
Viper was restrained, wrists bound and tied to a, she thought, rather annoying desk of sorts. Boredom had gotten to her and she had slumped down to the floor. Shendu had flatly and readily declined her advances, and had instead stuck her on the other side of the room. Annoyed with him, she had begun to bother the demon verbally.
"Ignorant? Call me as ignorant as you want, I'm still chaffing over here. My wrists hurt. I'm hungry." Shendu glanced at her, "I will feed you later. As for the wrists: live with it." He was cool, intent on not loosing his temper.
"But I'm not hungry LATER. I'm hungry NOW." "Should have thought about that before you came back, hmm?" The demon chuckled to himself. Viper conceded defeat quietly and laid back. There was silence for a whole precious minute before she spoke up again, making Shendu snarl in annoyance. "I don't see why you don't trust me."
"Really? Well that helps my theory, then, doesn't it?"
"What theory?"
"That you're an ignorant human being."
"That's not funny."
"I agree."
A pause.
"Nice desk you got me attached to. How old is it?"
"Old." Shendu said with a grunt.
"Ah. Old. Very nice handles. Er, Blunt, no sharp edges."
"Glad you enjoy it so much."
"Really?"
"No. Why don't you talk to it instead?"
Viper laughed.
"You should talk to me."
"Why?"
"Because! Now give me a background on this desk, pronto."
"I don't take orders."
This made Viper go quiet. Shendu didn't bother to look at her.
"Why wont you trust me?" She finally piped up.
"Because. I don't trust anyone. ESPECIALLY an enemy."
"I'm not your enemy."
"Funny. Usually people who thwart your evil plans of world domination are enemies."
"I didn't mean it. Hooonneeest."
"Do you always go on so??" Shendu turned his head to glare at the bothersome animal. Viper blushed and tossed her nose in the air in an attempt to gain some dignity. "I'm just talkative right now, I s'pose." He stared at her, skepticism written clearly on his bronze-gold face. "Likely."
Another time passed, this one longer. Shendu pretended to read while he really thought of his prisoner. Bothersome as she was, she was still some company, something he often went without. The enforcers, when they were there, didn't count: they had intelligence and wit that would have trouble competing with a large pubic hair growing out of an unripe banana. And all Valmont was interested in doing was insulting him. At the very least, Viper was giving his vocal cords a workout.
The long quiet grew longer and the demon sorcerer grew more uncomfortable. He tried to sneak a look at her, to see why she was so untalkative all the sudden. Without her noticing. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw she was merely sitting, mouth closed, thinking. She was still wearing the same thing she had been when she was abducted. The shirt was a little ruffled and his teeth had made a few marks on her jeans. Her hair had also lost some charm since she last combed it.
Suddenly, she was smiling in his direction. She had noticed his gaze. Shendu grinned, like he had some other reason for staring at her than….. what WAS his reason anyway? Eyes tinged with embarrassment, he turned away. "Shendu?" Viper said. She was responded with a grunt. "You like me." This incited a sardonic snort. "Ooh, you like me!" She said again, almost teasingly. Shendu turned around and smiled, "You think, do you? I must commend you on your very active imagination."
Ooh, he didn't like the look on her face. "If you don't like me, how come I'm not dead?" Viper said, gaudy with personal triumph. Shendu grinned widely, showing off all his razor teeth. "I'm not very hungry."
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Jackie stared at the huge pile of books Uncle gave him. They filled the room, and more were outside the door. He had to read them all. Right now. So he started reading. "Jackie! One MORE book! RESEARCH! RESEARCH! Quickly! Uncle is not getting any youngeeeeer!" Uncle kept returning to the room, more books in tow each time. Jackie had three open in front of him, trying hard to read them all at once. "Yes, Uncle." He said.
Black entered the room. "I missed you. Come back to me?" Gus grabbed his hand and lifted him out of the chair. "Yes, I, uh, no!" Gus grabbed up the smaller man and kissed him hard on the lips. When they broke the kiss, Viper was the one holding him, not Black.
"Viper!" "I'm here to help you research, Baby Face." She said, then grabbed up a book. She flipped through the pages then stopped and pointed at one. "See? What'd I tell you?" The man took the book and looked at the page she held out. It was a large illustration, a picture of a golden- bronze demon. His chops and claws were stained red. The demon threw back his head, frozen in a mighty roar. Jackie shivered, almost sure he could hear the ghastly sound.
"No, look!" Viper said, pointing at one side of the page. A spell of some sort was written there in Chinese. Jackie couldn't quite make out what the words said. Every time he focused on a character his mind blurred, hiding it's hidden meaning.
At the bottom of the spell was a word written horizontally. He stared at it for some time before realizing it was a signature, written in English cursive script. Its meaning too was hidden by his defiant mind, leaving it a useless blot of ink. He sat down and stared at the word, going over it again and again.
A hand touched his shoulder. Jackie jerked around in surprise and came face to face with a white-haired man. The study turned into an expansive field of nothing but grass, gray in the low light. The sky was of purples and oranges, making the whole plane above them appear a dark sunset. The vast plain ran into infinity every way you looked.
"Jackie?" Valmont said. He withdrew his touch.
Jackie stood up. "I'm glad you're here. Have you come to help me research?" He held out the book for a visual.
Valmont stared and shook his head, "No, I came to see you."
"Oh, well, I'm a little busy now. What with all this research I must do. Maybe we could talk some other time."
With that, Jackie sat down and began once again to try and figure out the inscriptions. The white-haired man sighed deeply. The delusions of dreamland were a formidable barrier between him and Jackie. And that was one barrier he would just have to break.
Valmont sat down next to Jackie and made the best puppy-eyed face he could. "Jackie, couldn't you take a short rest from work? Talk to me?" The Chinese man hesitated, torn between research and the man next to him. Finally, he caved. "Okay," He said, putting down the book. "But for only a minute."
Valmont grinned. 'What a nice grin.' Jackie thought. He liked the way the crime lord's lower lip covered his bottom front teeth when he grinned. It was….. endearing. "We haven't seen eachother in a while. Haven't talked in longer." Jackie stared blankly. "Oh? OH! Yes! It has been! Oh, I hadn't realized! Awwwww, I missed you!" Valmont jerked back as Jackie launched himself into a sort of sideways bear hug. Initially, it was an uncomfortable hug, but it didn't matter to the man, seeing as whom it came from. He hugged back. "I missed you too."
It was a while before the hug was broke. Jackie was the one who did it, sitting up to look at the other man. His stared at him with a kind of dog- like fascination, "I don't like it when you leave." "Me neither….."
Jackie scooted over and started leaning on Valmont, resting his head on his broad shoulder. The two sat together, looking idelly into the sky. "Are you staying with me this time?" Valmont frowned and ran a hand through the jet- black hair, trying to comfort them both. "I can't. I wish I could." "Oh….."
Suddenly, Jackie stood up in a hurry. "Ah, I've got to finish my research!" He said, panicky. He picked up the book once again and fingered through the pages until he found the one he had been on. "Um, Okay. You do that." Valmont said, disappointed. "I'll just sit here for a bit more."
The Chinese man had his face buried in the old, musty book. The picture seemed to be changed from the last time he looked at it. At first he couldn't figure out what was different, but he then realized the demon lacked the red stains. 'Odd.' He thought to himself. Jackie looked over the unreadable spell Viper had given him. The complex symbols still teased at him, no matter how hard he looked.
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Jackie woke later than usual that morning. His chest was heavy with sleep and his mind was groggy. With a lazy grunt, he rolled over. As most dreams do, the one from earlier that night had escaped the freshly woken mind, but returned to him moments later. He recalled mountains of books. He remembered Agustus was there, and so was Viper. And someone else…..
The disheveled man got up off the couch where he had fallen in exhaustion the night before and trudged to the nearby bathroom. After a trip to the toilet, he turned on the shower, extra hot. While he leaned on the shower wall, letting the drops of water wash over him, the sleepy man's mind wondered back to the dream. What had happened in it? He was reading some book….. no the problem had been he COULDN'T read the book. Then someone had come along and talked to him.
Jackie jumped, now fully awake. Chris had been there! Talking to him! He had said that he missed him. But had it been a figment of his imagination, or the real thing? Chris still had the sheep talisman, right? It was never recovered. The last time he had seen it was the hospital room. And Shendu had left Chris on his own, hadn't he? He seemed to find himself happier in his new body. It very well could have been Chris in his dream, paying a visit.
But then, if Valmont was free of body, why was he still with Shendu? What prevented the man from seeing him in person? Did Shendu still need Valmont? Well, he did need henchmen. He still couldn't touch the Pan Ku box. And what better way to keep the enforcers in his employ than to hold their boss prisoner?
Valmont's incarceration was one thing that Jackie refused to let go on for one day longer. He would return to the wretched cannery and free both Viper and Chris. And then, he would send Shendu back to the demon realm where he belonged.
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"What's up with Shendu and the chick, anyway? He treats her like some pet." Chow said.
"If it were me, I'd go ahead and blow her head off." He said, making his hand into a fake pistol and pretending to fire.
"Yeah, you're good at blowing, aren't ya Finn?" Chow laughed, pleased with his dirty little aphorism. Finn glared, angered and embarrassed then kicked him hard in the shin, under the table. "Damn, Chow, you little pervert! That's not funny!" Chow sniggered and smirked. A smile started to cross Finn's face. "Okay, well maybe it is a LITTLE funny."
The two enforcers were in a fast food joint, 'Moose-Burger,' sitting at one of the shiny, red booths. They sat on opposite sides of the table, but Chow had his foot on his lover's leg, enjoying the feeling of warmth. Finn could have cared less. Right now, he was more interested in his bacon-cheese- moose-burger combo (the #3)
"Naw, but seriously: Why's he keeping her? Why dunnit he just kill the bitch and get it over with?" Chow said, sipping a coke. Finn leaned over and raised an eyebrow, "Wanna know what I think? I think they're banging eachother." Chow stared for a moment, then laughed, "Sh-Shendu's got a girl friend?! Ha Ha!!! You serious??" Finn nodded and laughed, "I'm serious! Look at her! She doesn't seem too fazed about being tied up in a fish cannery with a moody dragon! And it doesn't take a genius to tell she ain't wearin' a bra no more. I think they got a little thing goin' on!"
"Hey, check out the fags playin' footsie!" Chow and Finn turned their heads. The jerk at the next table hadn't tried to keep his derision-filled voice down. The words were not intended solely for his friends' ears; he very much wanted to start something with the two enforcers. He was a blonde guy, late twenties maybe. A bandana was tied across his forehead and blacked out sunglasses hid his eyes. Stubble made his chin rough, and he wore a thick leather jacket with a picture of a woman on back. His face had the most irritating, mocking grin on it and he flashed it maliciously at the two while his friends laughed like the idiots they probably were.
Finn glared, but not how he had glared at Chow earlier. His eyes were burning with pure rage and he was ready to pound the blonde asshole into the ground. The kid must have had a shit-load of nerve. "What did you say??" He said threateningly, trying to pierce the man with his gaze. "You heard me. " His voice was slow and mocking. "I said 'check-out-the-fags- playin-footsie.'" Finn started to get up, but Chow grabbed his sleeve. "Finn. Little kids." He reminded him. Half the people in the building were under twelve. It was no place for a stupid fistfight. Already, a few parents were looking at the party disapprovingly.
Finn shot the blonde a dirty, violent look, and sat back down. Better to ignore the dumbass. "Guess we know who wears the pants in THAT relationship!!" The blonde said to the guy sitting next to him, elbowing him in the ribs. A new round of laughter circled the table. "That's it!!!" Finn stood up fast, his rage boiling over.
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Notes: I'm sleepy. Just so you know.