Arrival
"OI! MEILIN!"
Syaoran choked on his collar as Meilin
dragged him across the asphalt up to Tomoyo's front door. She seemed like such
a small thing, Syaoran would have to thank Wei-san once more for making her
into what she was.
Perhaps firing him would do the trick...
Meilin's outfit was definitely something
though, he had to admit. It had been a dress, tattered fashionably at the
bottom and low cut to accentuate the...erm, chest area. Small horns had come
with the costume, attached to a headband that vanished into her long dark hair
and to complete the look Meilin had put in red contact lenses. Or rather, he
thought she had. But then again, whenever she got mad at him her eyes flared
that same red color...
"Meilin-chan! Li-kun! You made
it!" Tomoyo cried happily from the door as she admitted more party-goers.
She was dressed in a small tight black leather skirt, black knee-high boots, a
low cut shirt also. Thick black bands surrounded her neck and wrists, shiny
spikes attached.
Meilin hopped up, smiling cheerfully.
"Nice outfit, Tomoyo-chan! What are you supposed to be? A hooker?"
Tomoyo frowned, looking let down. "A
street thug. Look, I even have a nice small retractable razor..."
Meilin squealed happily, gushing over the
new toy and Syaoran looked over his shoulder, thankful that he was at least
breathing normally again. A moment later he cursed as he caught sight of Eriol
coming up the walkway. Yue-san floated behind him, expression cold enough to
freeze ice. Or bore it to death, maybe. Nakuru was yanking on Spinel Sun's
head, trying to drag him up the walk but the dark Guardian was fighting, his
rear so close to the floor he was practically sitting.
He knew the feeling...
"Xiao Lang." Eriol said, smiling
at him innocently. "Good to see you made it."
Syaoran feigned a smile. He could do it
just as well as he could, playing innocent.
"Eriol-kun!" Tomoyo said,
turning her attention to him. "You look..." she cocked her head.
"Well, normal." And she looked at the Guardians, barely paying
attention to the fact that Nakuru was practically wrestling with Spinel Sun.
"Konban wa, everyone!"
"The Card Mistress?" Yue
inquired.
"She's not here yet." Tomoyo
answered and she stepped away from the door. "Please, come in." She
gestured.
The group of them entered the house,
pausing inside the immediate hallway. Streamers and decorations were hung up,
tables set aside everywhere with people serving drinks. The music wasn't as
loud as one would have expected, and chatter was audible everywhere.
"So, of COURSE I bought the house, it
was going for so cheap..."
"Not ONLY did he make me dinner but
he FED it to me! Like I were some kind of dog! I love a man who cooks but
PLEASE!"
"No, my wife works late tonight.
What's say you and me go back to my place after this shindig?"
"And then after I string you up I'm
going to undress you sloooooowly...and I'm going to pour melting hot wax all
OVER you..."
Syaoran turned at that last one, eyebrows
arching and he wound around Meilin, looking for the speaker. Meilin hardly
noticed, her hand wrapped around the small knife Tomoyo had shown her earlier.
She scratched the last few letters of her name into the wood of the doorframe
before pocketing it and glancing around.
"Syaoran?" she asked, noticing
his sudden absence.
She encountered only Yue who looked
not only bored and out of place but the slightest bit psychotic. He floated
over towards a table and stared at the small woman behind the punchbowl.
"Punch?" she asked cheerfully.
He gazed at her some more, even cocking
his head at her after a moment. His gray eyes bore into her face, barely
blinking.
"No punch?" she asked, her
optimism draining away with every second he continued to look at her. She
already had the cup filled and was holding it out but now she started pulling
her hand back.
Yue wordlessly held out his hand before
him.
She quickly deposited the cup into his
hand, recoiling as soon as he had a grip on it. With another long look he
turned away, lifting the cup to his lips.
"Yue-san, you drink?" Tomoyo
asked, hopping up to him.
He looked down at her, giving her the
exact same expression he had given the woman behind the table. "This has
liquor?" he inquired thoughtfully and he peered at the red punch some
more.
Tomoyo blinked. "No, I mean...you
drink? Literally?"
Yue gave her the same look once more
before lifting the cup to his lips and downing the punch. He tasted it, pausing
for several moments afterward and then the bored expression gave way to one of
distaste. "This is hideous." He replied. And he nodded once before
turning away from her and heading back toward the table. "I think I'll
have some more..."
The doorbell rang at that precise moment
and Tomoyo wandered over to it, trying to lower the hem of her skirt to at
least cover her hips. With an impatient exhalation she opened the door.
"Ah! Sakura-chan!" she cried happily upon seeing her friend outside.
Sakura entered timidly, light bouncing off
the pleather cat suit she wore, her whip-tail dragging behind her. Keroberos
also entered, already made up in his true form.
"You look great!" Tomoyo crowed,
closing the door behind them. She motioned further into the house. "Almost
everyone is here! Li-kun and Meilin-chan are here but Li-kun went off somewhere
without her so she's not in a good mood, watch out. Eriol-kun also wandered
off, I didn't see where he went but he made sure NOT to take along Nakuru and
Suppi-chan so don't trip over any of them. And Yue-san is getting to know
Helen." She motioned toward the punch table where Yue was once again
glaring at the poor woman behind the table. Tomoyo paused, studying them.
"They make a cute couple actually..."
At that point Helen burst into tears and
fled, hair flying behind her shrieking frame. Yue looked after her for all of a
moment before helping himself to the punch bowl.
Nakuru popped out of the side room at that
moment, Spinel Sun at her heels. She giggled merrily, sliding as she paused
before Sakura. "Konban wa, Sakura-chan!" she cried, lifting hands to
pinch Sakura's cheeks tightly. And then her eyes caught on Sakura's whip and
she reached behind, taking hold of it. "I used to have one just like
this!" she cried, eyes shining.
"A whip?" Sakura asked
reluctantly. She was not surprised that Nakuru was a freak.
"Not a whip." Nakuru giggled for
a moment. "A TAIL." And she paused thoughtfully. "Although I
used to have a WIDE collection of whips too, at one point in my life." She
glanced at Tomoyo. "Almost as wide as yours."
Tomoyo already had stars in her eyes.
"I need to borrow this." Nakuru
finished and she yanked the tail off Sakura. Sakura jumped as if struck and she
reached behind, massaging her rear with a frown. Nakuru wrapped a piece of the
whip around her fist, holding it and snapping it as if it were a towel.
"Where did Suppi-chan run off to?"
Directly next to her Spinel Sun's ears
rose, twitching, and he took off in the opposite direction, running for his
life.
"Bet you wish you were one of the
Three Little Pigs now, don't you!" Nakuru taunted, racing after him.
Sakura still rubbed her butt, wincing.
"There was a backlash when she pulled it off..." she explained to
Tomoyo who was looking at her with a strange interest.
"Did you enjoy it?" Tomoyo
inquired.
Sakura blinked at her wordlessly before
managing a smile and backing away. "I think I'm going to go find Syaoran
now..." she said slowly and she took hold of Kero's ear, yanking him with
her and muttering, "Run for it."
Keroberos nodded, turned, and fled.
"Wait for ME!" Sakura
hollered indignantly, running after him.
A moment later Syaoran came from the
opposite direction, a cup of blue punch in his grasp. He looked at Tomoyo who
was standing in the middle of the hallway thoughtfully. "Yo, Daidouji-san." He said,
stopping before her.
She continued to stare, gaze blank.
Syaoran sweat dropped and lifted a hand,
shaking it before her face. "Moshi moshi…" he said, smiling sympathetically.
Tomoyo lifted her gaze, focusing on him
finally. And a truly evil smile crossed her face. "Ah, Li-kun." She said,
cocking her head. She grabbed hold of his hand, almost upsetting his cup of
punch. "I have an idea you will absolutely love."
And she dragged him away, towards the
back.