Note: Thanks to the support of the first Allen/Dryden story (yeah! You didn't kill me! you tolerate me, you really tolerate me!) I have decided to write a sequel. Sugar was once again involved in the writing.
Chapter summary: Merle learns the joys of blackmail, Dryden attempts to negotiate with her, Allen is feeling very stressed for some reason, and everyone is confused and acting rather silly.
Rationales and Blackmailing
(a sequel to the odd yaoi story with the bad title)
Allen was taking a shower. A _cold_ shower. Whilst trying to convince himself that he had not just done what he thought he had just done. He was failing.
"I... kissed... Dryden," was the mantra he muttered under his breath in time with pounding his head against the wall.
"I..." *whack* "Kissed..." *whack* "Dryden..." *whack whack*
Admittedly, it had been a nice kiss. Allen was an experienced kisser (and quite a good one to boot) and he had to admit that much. It was not that so much as the fact he had enjoyed it immensely that bothered him.
"I..." *whack* "LIKED..." *Whack!* "Kissing..." *whack* "Dryden..." *whack whack*
He noted the fact he was suddenly noticing that Dryden was attractive. Very good looking. Hadn't Millerna said he himself had said the same. "And I'm not too bad in the looks department, if I do say so myself." Damn him and his cute smirk. Okay, sexy smirk. And silly glasses. Damn him. And his contagiously cheerful laidback personality. And the fact he was rich, smart, and had a... what was that other thing? A sense of humor? Oh yeah, that too. It was a concept Allen was a bit rusty on, seeing as his love life had always been horribly serious. Damn him and his sense of humor and the fact he was so likable and so unlike Millerna and all the other court girls. Damn him.
Allen stopped the head pounding and sunk to the floor.
"I... Like... Dryden..."
Meanwhile Dryden was sitting in his study, reading Leon Schezar's journal. It was quite heavy going, seeing how the translations to the words had a time lapse between him reading them and them registering in his mind. He squinted cutely in determination and plowed onwards.
"Watcha doing Dryden?" rang a cheerful voice. Dryden jumped slightly as he suddenly found a pink haired catgirl perched behind him on the step ladder, peering over his shoulder at the text.
"You're Merle, right?" Dryden smiled at the catgirl indulgently as she looked around the study. She seemed innocent enough. At her meow of affirmation he continued. "What can I do for you? Does the King want to talk to me?"
"Noooo..." she teasingly stretched out the syllable. Her tail was swishing back and forth hypnotically, a sure sign Merle was up to something.
"Then what could you ever be here for?"
"Can't you guess?" she smiled happily at him.
"No. I'm afraid not. Do you care to enlighten me?"
The cat girl giggled. "I saw you and Allen," Merle practically sang, appreciating how Dryden's eyes got wide and his jaw dropped. She wondered if you could fit your whole fist in his mouth, it certainly looked big enough.
"You... er... saw... us..." Dryden stammered. But as he did Merle scampered out of the room, giggling insanely at his distress. "Err... WAIT! COME BACK HERE!" he managed a recovery and chased after her, down the halls of the airship.
Needless to say, when they ran into Millerna and Hitomi things suddenly got very complicated.
After his prolonged shower, Allen decided that he should go talk to Dryden. He had avoided this long enough and the honorable knightly thing to do was to face his fate like a man. The trouble was it was very hard to feel brave when you see the guy you're about face chasing a catgirl down the hall yelling at her.
Abandoning his first plan, Allen turned on his heels and headed towards the bridge. When all else failed, he could at least act like nothing had happened and get on with his life. Of course, fate was mocking him and therefore that fell out from under him approximately five seconds after stepping onto the bridge of the Crusade.
"Hey Boss," Gadeth called, "Why's your hair all wet?"
Allen looked at him intently, blinked, and felt himself hovering on the edge of a hysterical breakdown. But somewhere deep inside, behind the twitching nervous about-to-scream-why-can't-I-just-confess-and-be-done-with-it-ness, a numb voice replied.
"No reason."
Gadeth looked at him very strangely. The rest of the crew were probably doing the same. "Are you okay Boss?" Gadeth asked in the calm, concerned tone used on animals and small children that are emotionally unstable.
"Fine. Never been better."
Gadeth exchanged glances with the other men. "Right Boss. Just come on now, you need to go lay down." He edged carefully towards Allen and nudge the blond's shoulder in the direction of the door.
"No, I don't I'm fine. Fine." Allen protested in a dull monotone, but allowed himself to be led off.
The remaining crew looked at each other very confused indeed.
"Dryden?" Millerna asked worriedly. Her fiance had just tackled Merle and was now attempting to cover the catgirl's mouth with his hand, despite the fact she was biting him.
"Yes?" Dryden asked innocently.
"Why are you..." she searched for a way to say 'fighting with Merle' that didn't sound like 'fighting with Merle' due to the fact that sounded very silly and unprincessy.
"...fighting with Merle?" she conceded.
"We're not fighting. We're having a mature conversation aren't we Merle?" the catgirl bit his hand harder. He flinched in pain. "Come now, and we shall continue our discussion. Elsewhere," he added sharply to the end and half dragged Merle around the corner, smiling a rather forced smile at Millerna.
"Did that just happen?" asked Hitomi, wondering if this whole thing really wasn't just some drug trip. She was sure anyone that heard about what had happened to her would think that it was. Plus she was never sure what it was Yukari was giving her as "nutrition supplements."
"No. I couldn't possible of happened," the princess answered.
"Right," agreed Hitomi.
"What the matter Allen?" Gadeth inquired, staring intently into his superior's eyes. All he got was an incoherent mumble in reply. "Okay, how about I guess." Mumble. "All right, is it about Millerna?" Allen shook his head. "Is it about Hitomi?" No. "Is it about a woman at least." Defiantly no. "All right, is it about Dryden?" Gadeth took the way Allen started to rhythmically hit his head against the nearest wall as a yes. "Is it about him reading your father's journal? Are you worried about what he's going to find there? You never talk about your family and..."
"I kissed him."
Gadeth stopped mid sentence and foundered briefly, wondering what he was supposed to do now. "Kissed who?"
"Dryden." *whack* *whack* *whack*
"All right... that's erm... that's all right Boss... I mean," Gadeth briefly stumbled with the thought that this was nothing compared to the level of weirdness that had been occurring recently, but decided that Allen didn't want to here that. *whack* "Could you at least stop banging your head against the wall? Thanks. So you kissed Dryden? And he kissed you back?" Nod. "Okay, then that's fine then, because... well..." Stumbling, stumbling, think of something quick. "Princess Millerna will get over it, she's young, she'll find someone else." Gadeth patted Allen on the back. "I'm sure it will all work out for the best."
"Gadeth? Can I ask you a favor? Don't tell anyone about this."
"Right Boss."
"What do you want?" Dryden asked desperately, "I'll pay you whatever you like. You CANNOT tell ANYONE about this? Okay? Okay? How much?"
Merle grinned evilly, "We'll work it out when the time comes, until then, remember: I own you. He he he." She then skipped off merrily, dreaming of the perfect time to call in her favor. Consumed with the image of her and Van-sama's perfect wedding, her looking marvelous in an expensive white dress (paid for by Dryden, out of the goodness of his heart *wink wink*), Van in his best prince outfit. The flowers, the alter, the kiss...
She wondered dreamily pass Allen and Gadeth, the former regarded her blankly, the later wondering if there was any sane people left.
"Are you going to be okay boss?" Gadeth asked. Allen nodded. "Okay, I better go make sure those bums aren't goofing off." He walked away, glancing at Allen over his shoulder, making sure the blond wasn't going to bolt off and have a hysterical breakdown, he certainly looked like he was going to. But Allen just stood there calmly, staring into space.
When Gadeth was out of sight, Allen sunk to the ground, holding his head in his hands. "First father has to be dug up, and now this," he moaned, "How could life possibly get worse?"
Fate grinned, for everyone knows what happens when you ask that.
Chapter summary: Merle learns the joys of blackmail, Dryden attempts to negotiate with her, Allen is feeling very stressed for some reason, and everyone is confused and acting rather silly.
Rationales and Blackmailing
(a sequel to the odd yaoi story with the bad title)
Allen was taking a shower. A _cold_ shower. Whilst trying to convince himself that he had not just done what he thought he had just done. He was failing.
"I... kissed... Dryden," was the mantra he muttered under his breath in time with pounding his head against the wall.
"I..." *whack* "Kissed..." *whack* "Dryden..." *whack whack*
Admittedly, it had been a nice kiss. Allen was an experienced kisser (and quite a good one to boot) and he had to admit that much. It was not that so much as the fact he had enjoyed it immensely that bothered him.
"I..." *whack* "LIKED..." *Whack!* "Kissing..." *whack* "Dryden..." *whack whack*
He noted the fact he was suddenly noticing that Dryden was attractive. Very good looking. Hadn't Millerna said he himself had said the same. "And I'm not too bad in the looks department, if I do say so myself." Damn him and his cute smirk. Okay, sexy smirk. And silly glasses. Damn him. And his contagiously cheerful laidback personality. And the fact he was rich, smart, and had a... what was that other thing? A sense of humor? Oh yeah, that too. It was a concept Allen was a bit rusty on, seeing as his love life had always been horribly serious. Damn him and his sense of humor and the fact he was so likable and so unlike Millerna and all the other court girls. Damn him.
Allen stopped the head pounding and sunk to the floor.
"I... Like... Dryden..."
Meanwhile Dryden was sitting in his study, reading Leon Schezar's journal. It was quite heavy going, seeing how the translations to the words had a time lapse between him reading them and them registering in his mind. He squinted cutely in determination and plowed onwards.
"Watcha doing Dryden?" rang a cheerful voice. Dryden jumped slightly as he suddenly found a pink haired catgirl perched behind him on the step ladder, peering over his shoulder at the text.
"You're Merle, right?" Dryden smiled at the catgirl indulgently as she looked around the study. She seemed innocent enough. At her meow of affirmation he continued. "What can I do for you? Does the King want to talk to me?"
"Noooo..." she teasingly stretched out the syllable. Her tail was swishing back and forth hypnotically, a sure sign Merle was up to something.
"Then what could you ever be here for?"
"Can't you guess?" she smiled happily at him.
"No. I'm afraid not. Do you care to enlighten me?"
The cat girl giggled. "I saw you and Allen," Merle practically sang, appreciating how Dryden's eyes got wide and his jaw dropped. She wondered if you could fit your whole fist in his mouth, it certainly looked big enough.
"You... er... saw... us..." Dryden stammered. But as he did Merle scampered out of the room, giggling insanely at his distress. "Err... WAIT! COME BACK HERE!" he managed a recovery and chased after her, down the halls of the airship.
Needless to say, when they ran into Millerna and Hitomi things suddenly got very complicated.
After his prolonged shower, Allen decided that he should go talk to Dryden. He had avoided this long enough and the honorable knightly thing to do was to face his fate like a man. The trouble was it was very hard to feel brave when you see the guy you're about face chasing a catgirl down the hall yelling at her.
Abandoning his first plan, Allen turned on his heels and headed towards the bridge. When all else failed, he could at least act like nothing had happened and get on with his life. Of course, fate was mocking him and therefore that fell out from under him approximately five seconds after stepping onto the bridge of the Crusade.
"Hey Boss," Gadeth called, "Why's your hair all wet?"
Allen looked at him intently, blinked, and felt himself hovering on the edge of a hysterical breakdown. But somewhere deep inside, behind the twitching nervous about-to-scream-why-can't-I-just-confess-and-be-done-with-it-ness, a numb voice replied.
"No reason."
Gadeth looked at him very strangely. The rest of the crew were probably doing the same. "Are you okay Boss?" Gadeth asked in the calm, concerned tone used on animals and small children that are emotionally unstable.
"Fine. Never been better."
Gadeth exchanged glances with the other men. "Right Boss. Just come on now, you need to go lay down." He edged carefully towards Allen and nudge the blond's shoulder in the direction of the door.
"No, I don't I'm fine. Fine." Allen protested in a dull monotone, but allowed himself to be led off.
The remaining crew looked at each other very confused indeed.
"Dryden?" Millerna asked worriedly. Her fiance had just tackled Merle and was now attempting to cover the catgirl's mouth with his hand, despite the fact she was biting him.
"Yes?" Dryden asked innocently.
"Why are you..." she searched for a way to say 'fighting with Merle' that didn't sound like 'fighting with Merle' due to the fact that sounded very silly and unprincessy.
"...fighting with Merle?" she conceded.
"We're not fighting. We're having a mature conversation aren't we Merle?" the catgirl bit his hand harder. He flinched in pain. "Come now, and we shall continue our discussion. Elsewhere," he added sharply to the end and half dragged Merle around the corner, smiling a rather forced smile at Millerna.
"Did that just happen?" asked Hitomi, wondering if this whole thing really wasn't just some drug trip. She was sure anyone that heard about what had happened to her would think that it was. Plus she was never sure what it was Yukari was giving her as "nutrition supplements."
"No. I couldn't possible of happened," the princess answered.
"Right," agreed Hitomi.
"What the matter Allen?" Gadeth inquired, staring intently into his superior's eyes. All he got was an incoherent mumble in reply. "Okay, how about I guess." Mumble. "All right, is it about Millerna?" Allen shook his head. "Is it about Hitomi?" No. "Is it about a woman at least." Defiantly no. "All right, is it about Dryden?" Gadeth took the way Allen started to rhythmically hit his head against the nearest wall as a yes. "Is it about him reading your father's journal? Are you worried about what he's going to find there? You never talk about your family and..."
"I kissed him."
Gadeth stopped mid sentence and foundered briefly, wondering what he was supposed to do now. "Kissed who?"
"Dryden." *whack* *whack* *whack*
"All right... that's erm... that's all right Boss... I mean," Gadeth briefly stumbled with the thought that this was nothing compared to the level of weirdness that had been occurring recently, but decided that Allen didn't want to here that. *whack* "Could you at least stop banging your head against the wall? Thanks. So you kissed Dryden? And he kissed you back?" Nod. "Okay, then that's fine then, because... well..." Stumbling, stumbling, think of something quick. "Princess Millerna will get over it, she's young, she'll find someone else." Gadeth patted Allen on the back. "I'm sure it will all work out for the best."
"Gadeth? Can I ask you a favor? Don't tell anyone about this."
"Right Boss."
"What do you want?" Dryden asked desperately, "I'll pay you whatever you like. You CANNOT tell ANYONE about this? Okay? Okay? How much?"
Merle grinned evilly, "We'll work it out when the time comes, until then, remember: I own you. He he he." She then skipped off merrily, dreaming of the perfect time to call in her favor. Consumed with the image of her and Van-sama's perfect wedding, her looking marvelous in an expensive white dress (paid for by Dryden, out of the goodness of his heart *wink wink*), Van in his best prince outfit. The flowers, the alter, the kiss...
She wondered dreamily pass Allen and Gadeth, the former regarded her blankly, the later wondering if there was any sane people left.
"Are you going to be okay boss?" Gadeth asked. Allen nodded. "Okay, I better go make sure those bums aren't goofing off." He walked away, glancing at Allen over his shoulder, making sure the blond wasn't going to bolt off and have a hysterical breakdown, he certainly looked like he was going to. But Allen just stood there calmly, staring into space.
When Gadeth was out of sight, Allen sunk to the ground, holding his head in his hands. "First father has to be dug up, and now this," he moaned, "How could life possibly get worse?"
Fate grinned, for everyone knows what happens when you ask that.