All My Brothers - Part 10
By: Reba Jean, Jan. 31, 2002
E-mail: rjean@ghg.net
Rating: PG13/R
Genre: Romance/comedy
Disclaimer: Characters are based on Sailor Moon copyright 1992 by Naoko
Takeuchi/Kodansha, TOEI Animation, English language adaptation copyright
1995 by DIC Entertainment. This story is not intended for monetary gain
or tangible profit, but purely for entertainment of the readers.
Notes: This is an alternate storyline. Names are a mix of English and
Japanese versions.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Serena heard a knock on the door, followed by the doorbell. Lita and
Serena were putting away groceries and setting up for a senshi "cooking
lesson". If she was right that should be Mina, Rei, and Ami.
Rei pounced immediately commenting, "Meatball Head, you don't look
nearly as beat up as Darien did." It was her first chance to razz her
friend in person since Andrew had spread Darien's story to the girls on
Sunday a couple of weeks before. Serena feigned a yawn; she had
already been through this with the other girls at school, with Molly
and Melvin thrown in as well.
"Old news, Rei. Mina beat you to it," she replied in a bored tone.
"But I think you might be interested in watching what I have to show
you later after dinner," she added as she went back into the kitchen.
The girls worked companionably under Lita's watchful eye, punctuated by
periodic exchanges of insults between Serena and Rei. Mina looked over
the food being prepared, vegetable sushi, smoked salmon rolls, fish
stew, shrimp and vegetable tempura, plenty of rice and noodles of
various kinds, and an array of sweets for dessert. "Why are we fixing
so much, Lita?"
"I had to tell Kenji that he could come over and be a test subject,
cause he wouldn't stop begging," laughed Lita. He probably told the
other guys too; you know how they run in a pack. And can you see them
ever passing up free food?"
The doorbell rang again and Serena ran towards the door as she wiped
the dough from the spring rolls she was making off her hands onto her
shirt. "That's probably them now," she said as she opened the door and
stared. "Andrew, I wasn't expecting you. What are you doing here?
Darien's not home yet."
"I brought by this book he left at the Crown this afternoon. He was
showing me some references I could use for my abnormal psychology class
paper. Aren't you going to invite me to eat; I mean inside?" he asked.
"Sure you can stay. We're expecting Ken and maybe some of the other
guys anyway," she told him.
"What should I do?" Andrew asked the chef in charge.
"Go help Serena put the food out on the coffee table and set up some
more tables and cushions," Lita told him.
Andrew followed Serena into the study turned nursery. She pointed to a
stack of nested tables and folding trays in the corner. He looked
around at the redone room. "It looks - uh, cute. The stuff you
ordered finally got here." He looked at her oddly.
"What?" she asked suspiciously.
"You sure are starting to show a lot. It seems weird that you two are
going to have kids already," Andrew commented moving quickly toward the
door with his stack of tables.
"Gee, thanks. I guess you've been taking lessons in tact from Darien
along with abnormal psychology," she responded sarcastically.
"Well I shouldn't have been surprised about you getting pregnant. I
mean, you were always all over him all the time," Andrew added
spitefully.
"YOU JERK!" Serena screeched, dropped her pile of cushions, and began
hitting Andrew with the cushion in her hand.
Mina watched the scene in disbelief. That remark was so unlike Andrew,
and he had no reason to be angry with Serena. "I can't believe you
said that Andrew," she added as she joined Serena in beating him with
another pillow.
Lita grinned, "Hey, that looks like fun!"
As Lita moved toward the corner where Mina and Serena were chastising
Andrew, the door flew open. Greg and Ken staggered in carrying a large
keg between them. Chad shut the door and commented, "Whoa dudes, a
pillow fight. I thought the party was over when Ken dragged me and
Greg out of the bar." He grinned happily and picked up a cushion. But
he was stopped short when a small fist grabbed his shirt tail and
pulled him backwards.
"You're drunk!" yelled an irate Rei.
"Naw, I just had a couple with my buddy Greg," he tried to explain.
Ken broke up our party, so I thought I'd bring it with me," he said
pointing to the keg.
Greg was backing away from the frosty glare turned on him by the highly
irritated Ami. "I didn't have any beer. I was just drinking coke," he
protested.
Ken meanwhile had escaped to the kitchen and was checking out the food.
He was the only one who heard the apartment door open as the owner
quietly arrived home a little after nine o'clock. Filling a couple of
glasses from the keg, he sauntered over to Darien and handed him a
beer. "Hey man, great party."
Darien raised one eyebrow as he looked around the bedlam in his
apartment. "Whoever threw this party forgot to invite me," he
remarked.
Serena grew tired of beating up on Andrew. Her desire for vengeance
was satisfied. She surveyed the chaos and saw the keg on the kitchen
counter. "Chad, Ken, Greg, who told you guys you could bring that
beer," she yelled angrily. Spotting Darien drinking with Ken, she
rounded on him as well, "You're encouraging them. This was supposed to
be a nice quiet dinner, not a drunken fraternity party!"
"Hey, nobody told me anything. I didn't know you girls had anything
planned either. So don't blame me," Darien defended himself. Cracking
a grin he added, "Is this any way to welcome your beloved Mamo-chan
home?"
Serena bowed elaborately. "This humble one is most sorry that
worthless self did not properly welcome esteemed husband," her voice
dripping with saccharine sweetness.
As she straightened, she took in the look in Darien's eyes: surprise,
satisfaction, and pleasure. Rage replaced amusement as her expression.
She snapped, "It was a joke, you baka. You're not supposed to take it
seriously. And you make me sorry I ever gave you that stupid
nickname."
"Oh," he responded, sounding disappointed.
Ken whispered an aside to Darien, "Wow, is she always this bit---,
grouchy?"
Andrew had emerged from cowering in his hiding place behind the chair
in the corner and joined Ken and Darien. He smirked, "I told you they
get that way when they're pregnant and you didn't believe me."
Lita decided that it was time order was reestablished. "Everybody
listen up. I'm only going to say this once. Shut-up and go sit down.
Or no dinner!" Adding in a lower tone, "Ami and Rei, come in the
kitchen and help me pass out the plates."
Dinner proceeded smoothly, as the hungry crowd was more interested in
the food than goofing around. Rei even refrained from teasing Serena
about her appetite. When serving dishes were emptied, Lita's cooking
students took turns carrying away the cleaned platters and returning
with full ones. The keg steadily grew lighter as well.
Everyone was stuffed to surfeit. Chad and Ken were displaying an
almost lizard-like torpor. Serena bounced up and began to clear away
the dishes. Lita and Andrew moved to assist her.
"Andrew, you don't need to do anything. You're supposed to be a
guest," Darien reminded him.
"Well I don't see you helping the 'little woman'," Andrew answered.
"If she hears you call her that, I won't be held liable for the damage.
She's already beat up on you once tonight. You're on your own. I have
'orders' from Lita to stay out of the kitchen tonight and no way I'm
gonna cross her. I've sparred with her before," responded Darien.
"Hey Darien, did you ever figure out the strategy algorithms I was
using the last time I beat you at chess? You want a rematch?" Ami
queried.
His competitive instincts aroused, Darien agreed eagerly, "You're on!"
Ami and Darien set up a folding table in the corner near the balcony
door and began to play.
As soon as the food was cleared off the dining table, Mina fished a
deck of cards out of her purse. "Who's in for poker?" Chad, Rei, Ken,
and Greg joined her at the table. "Dealer's choice. Five card draw.
Aces high/low. Joker's wild. Ten yen minimum bid," she called to
start the action.
"Andrew, Lita and I can handle this if you want to go play cards,"
said Serena.
"Naw, I'm almost broke. I can't afford to lose what little I have left
for the rest of the month by playing poker with a couple of psychics.
Rei and Greg may not 'cheat' but they sure are 'lucky' a lot," Andrew
replied.
"Okay, you're on dish duty. Lita is packing up the left-overs while I
dry and put things away," Serena directed.
Clean-up complete, the kitchen crew adjourned to the living room with a
couple of trays of snacks and sodas for the non-drinkers. Serena was
surprised to see both Rei and Ami drinking beer after their earlier
protests.
"Aw, come on Ami. You just sacrificed a pawn; you gotta drink another
beer," wheedled Darien. Apparently he and Ami had turned their chess
match into a drinking game. There were seven empty paper cups stacked
on their table.
"Darien, are you trying to get Ami drunk? You know she shouldn't be
drinking that nasty stuff," complained Serena as she saw what they were
doing.
Darien gave her a silly grin, "I gotta do something to handicap her;
she keeps beating me." Ami just smiled, giggled, moved a piece and
said, "Check."
"Crap, see what you did by distracting me, Serena. I'm trapped. She
beat me again!" complained Darien.
Lita wandered over to Serena and elbowed her. "Did you ever get those
outtakes you told us about? Let's watch them."
"Oh, yeah. They sent me a dvd with the commercials and 'all' the
outtakes." Raising her voice, "Hey, everybody, grab something to sit
on and come watch this." Serena dragged out and unrolled a couple of
futons in front of the big screen TV. She retrieved the dvd and set up
the media system to play it.
Lita and Ken claimed one futon. The other was occupied by Rei, Andrew,
and Mina. Chad tripped over a pile of cushions and pushed them around
so he could sprawl out on them. Greg, Ami, Darien, and Serena crowded
together on the couch.
While the girls sighed over the Rapunzel commercial, the guys mostly
looked bored. Mina commented, "That was so sweet."
Serena grinned, "Next we have a take that Scott said the tights
manufacturer might want to see." She played the outtake of Darien in
prince costume of short tunic and tights, prancing and pirouetting
across the set. The camera guy had added a voice over, "And now the
dance of the fairy prince."
Giggles, laughter, and howls of mirth from Andrew penetrated red-faced
Darien's futile attempts to hide his head beneath Serena's hair. "Aw
shit, nobody told me they were filming; I was just bored and tired of
standing around."
Lita smirked, "Serena, you have got to show this one to Haruka. I can
just imagine her comments."
"I don't think so!" growled Darien.
Serena interrupted, "Oh, this is just the beginning." She showed the
shower commercial next. "Here's the ending for the family shows," as
she switched to that track. The couple had donned towels and as Serena
turned to face the camera she was visibly pregnant. She had clasped
Darien's hand and placed on her stomach. Her line was, "Can you feel
him kicking?" This scene was followed by a shot of the couple kissing
chastely.
"Oh that is too, too sweet!" gushed Mina.
"Is that all you can say?" asked Ami.
Chad grinned, "Real cute. When can we start working on our first one,
Rei?"
Rei glared and tossed a cushion at him. "Maybe never if you keep
acting the way you have been lately!"
Andrew looked mischievously at Darien and Serena. "You guys didn't
look all that hot and bothered; at least not enough to end up the way
you looked the next day."
Serena smiled evilly, "I heard about what Darien told you guys. What
really happened was a 'little' different. There were two versions of
this commercial. The next one is the late night sports show cut. What
Darien didn't know was that the film crew told me that I was supposed
to keep him 'visibly' interested." The next cut was shown accompanied
by giggles and laughs elicited by Serena's comments.
Darien and Serena played a man and woman in business suits going to the
gym separately. There were a few workout shots. They met up in the
shower room and Darien borrowed Serena's shampoo. A few cuts of them
washing each other's hair and steamy shower scenes ensued. "One thing
Darien didn't tell you was that he had to take a couple of unscheduled
breaks during filming to keep from embarrassing himself messily on
camera, if you know what I mean. They used the second time he called a
break as the end to this commercial."
An obviously amorous Darien backed Serena into the corner and embraced
her. The film cut to the next scene. Darien draped a robe over Serena
and a towel around himself. The kissing resumed and Darien picked up
Serena and carried her to the break room door. As he kicked open the
door, his towel dropped to the floor, revealing a nice shot of his
rear. As he turned a quick view of his prominent interest in Serena
was visible as they passed through the door. The door shut and the
scene faded out.
Over the giggles and chuckles, Darien's outraged exclamation, "They
erased my pants! They can't do that!"
"But darling, you were the one who told me yourself that it was going
to be a nude scene," purred Serena as she needled her appalled spouse.
Darien muttered, "Your dad's gonna really kill me this time if he ever
sees this." The room erupted with laughter.
Andrew rolled back and forth between Rei and Mina making choking
noises; he was laughing so hard. Tears were streaming down his face.
He looked up at his tomato-red faced friend, "So what happened next,
Lover Boy?"
Serena smiled and answered, "Exactly what you might imagine." She
debated whether she should tell Darien that the towel drop scene was an
outtake, and the real shot for the broadcast ended as they reached the
door. It was more fun to let him stew about it and was far less than
he deserved for booking them to do a "nude" commercial.
Darien jumped suddenly and turned toward Ami. She was regarding him
intently with a peculiar expression. She was flushed a rosy pink and
was eyeing him hungrily. She had placed her hand on his leg closest to
her and was walking her fingers up his thigh. Darien signaled Greg
frantically, "Help!"
Greg remarked, "I think Ami and I will be going now; we need to study."
Ami wiggled over onto Greg's lap, wrapped her arms around his neck, and
started to unbutton his shirt. "We have LOTS of stuff we need to study
and PRACTICE!" She burped, giggled, and then sagged sleepily against
him.
Greg glared at Darien as he draped Ami over his shoulder and carried
her out the door. "I think some BAKA encouraged Ami to drink a
'little' more than she should have," Greg added sarcastically.
After the laughter died down a little, Mina chirped brightly, "I
brought some more comedy movies to watch and we can make some popcorn!"
By the time a few videos had played, Chad was snoring loudly. Rei got
up and rolled him over with her toe. "I'm out of here. He can sleep
it off where he is," she commented disgustedly as she left the
apartment.
Lita and Ken seemed more interested in each other than in watching TV.
Andrew had fallen asleep where he, Mina, and Rei had been sprawled on
the floor. Mina was more than half-asleep herself.
Serena was tired. "I'm going to bed. If anybody wants a ride home,
the concierge desk downstairs can order a taxi. Or you can just crash
here," she announced. To Darien she added, "You can stay out here or
come to bed with me. I don't care which."
Darien's half-closed eyes opened and brightened. "I'll take Door
Number Two," he answered. He suddenly hopped up, grabbed her hand, and
towed her toward their bedroom.
The sun shone brightly through the open curtains the next morning.
Serena awoke at eleven o'clock, early for her on a Saturday. She
padded down the hall to the bathroom and afterwards regarded the
party's aftermath in the living room. Returning to the bedroom and
stifling a giggle, she sat down next to a comatose Darien and shook him
gently. "Wake up, honey. You've got to see them," she whispered.
Darien moaned, "Go away, Luna. It's too early. I don't want to get up
yet."
Serena smiled. Darien had become the new victim of the 'alarm' cat
when Luna had moved in with them. Luna preferred Darien's calm
awakenings to being shoved off the bed or thrown across the room by
Serena.
Serena lightly stroked Darien's shoulder and brushed the tousled hair
off of his face. She pulled him closer to her and kissed him. As his
arms closed around her in response, his eyes opened and he regarded her
sleepily. "Oh, it's you, love. I thought Luna was trying to get me up
to go running," he murmured.
"It's already eleven o'clock. You've usually been up for at least three
or four hours by now. I guess you're getting too old to try and drink
Ami under the table any more," she teased him. "It was really funny
when she started to put the move on you and then switched over to
Greg."
"It's not Ami I want. But you can have me any time. Now would be
good," he whispered huskily in her ear as he started nuzzling her
neck."
Serena moved back and shoved his chest lightly, "Down, boy. We still
have an apartment full of sleeping drunks. You've got to come see
them."
Darien acquiesced and dressed. Serena pointed to Chad who was wrapped
around a long pillow, to which he was talking in his sleep. "Come on
baby. Just give your Pookie Bear a little sugar."
Darien laughed, "He'll probably have better luck with that pillow than
Rei today."
Ken and Lita had awakened. Ken was attempting to retrieve bits and
pieces of their clothes scattered around on the floor. He clutched the
blanket to himself in embarrassment. Lita shrugged as if to say
'whatever'.
Serena said, "Look at Mina and Andrew. Isn't that absolutely darling."
They were curled and twined together, with smiles on both their faces,
still asleep.
Darien commented, "I've been wondering if they would get together.
They've seemed like they have been getting closer since Andrew got
dumped by Rita. Maybe Ms. Matchmaker has finally made a match for
herself."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Themes: I had fun looking for some for this chapter; these could apply
to the previous chapter as well.
Proverbs 13:16 "Every prudent man acts out of knowledge, but a fool
[exposes] his folly." (think Darien)
Proverbs 20:1 "Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler, whoever is led
astray by them is not wise." (for Ami & the rest)
By: Reba Jean, Jan. 31, 2002
E-mail: rjean@ghg.net
Rating: PG13/R
Genre: Romance/comedy
Disclaimer: Characters are based on Sailor Moon copyright 1992 by Naoko
Takeuchi/Kodansha, TOEI Animation, English language adaptation copyright
1995 by DIC Entertainment. This story is not intended for monetary gain
or tangible profit, but purely for entertainment of the readers.
Notes: This is an alternate storyline. Names are a mix of English and
Japanese versions.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Serena heard a knock on the door, followed by the doorbell. Lita and
Serena were putting away groceries and setting up for a senshi "cooking
lesson". If she was right that should be Mina, Rei, and Ami.
Rei pounced immediately commenting, "Meatball Head, you don't look
nearly as beat up as Darien did." It was her first chance to razz her
friend in person since Andrew had spread Darien's story to the girls on
Sunday a couple of weeks before. Serena feigned a yawn; she had
already been through this with the other girls at school, with Molly
and Melvin thrown in as well.
"Old news, Rei. Mina beat you to it," she replied in a bored tone.
"But I think you might be interested in watching what I have to show
you later after dinner," she added as she went back into the kitchen.
The girls worked companionably under Lita's watchful eye, punctuated by
periodic exchanges of insults between Serena and Rei. Mina looked over
the food being prepared, vegetable sushi, smoked salmon rolls, fish
stew, shrimp and vegetable tempura, plenty of rice and noodles of
various kinds, and an array of sweets for dessert. "Why are we fixing
so much, Lita?"
"I had to tell Kenji that he could come over and be a test subject,
cause he wouldn't stop begging," laughed Lita. He probably told the
other guys too; you know how they run in a pack. And can you see them
ever passing up free food?"
The doorbell rang again and Serena ran towards the door as she wiped
the dough from the spring rolls she was making off her hands onto her
shirt. "That's probably them now," she said as she opened the door and
stared. "Andrew, I wasn't expecting you. What are you doing here?
Darien's not home yet."
"I brought by this book he left at the Crown this afternoon. He was
showing me some references I could use for my abnormal psychology class
paper. Aren't you going to invite me to eat; I mean inside?" he asked.
"Sure you can stay. We're expecting Ken and maybe some of the other
guys anyway," she told him.
"What should I do?" Andrew asked the chef in charge.
"Go help Serena put the food out on the coffee table and set up some
more tables and cushions," Lita told him.
Andrew followed Serena into the study turned nursery. She pointed to a
stack of nested tables and folding trays in the corner. He looked
around at the redone room. "It looks - uh, cute. The stuff you
ordered finally got here." He looked at her oddly.
"What?" she asked suspiciously.
"You sure are starting to show a lot. It seems weird that you two are
going to have kids already," Andrew commented moving quickly toward the
door with his stack of tables.
"Gee, thanks. I guess you've been taking lessons in tact from Darien
along with abnormal psychology," she responded sarcastically.
"Well I shouldn't have been surprised about you getting pregnant. I
mean, you were always all over him all the time," Andrew added
spitefully.
"YOU JERK!" Serena screeched, dropped her pile of cushions, and began
hitting Andrew with the cushion in her hand.
Mina watched the scene in disbelief. That remark was so unlike Andrew,
and he had no reason to be angry with Serena. "I can't believe you
said that Andrew," she added as she joined Serena in beating him with
another pillow.
Lita grinned, "Hey, that looks like fun!"
As Lita moved toward the corner where Mina and Serena were chastising
Andrew, the door flew open. Greg and Ken staggered in carrying a large
keg between them. Chad shut the door and commented, "Whoa dudes, a
pillow fight. I thought the party was over when Ken dragged me and
Greg out of the bar." He grinned happily and picked up a cushion. But
he was stopped short when a small fist grabbed his shirt tail and
pulled him backwards.
"You're drunk!" yelled an irate Rei.
"Naw, I just had a couple with my buddy Greg," he tried to explain.
Ken broke up our party, so I thought I'd bring it with me," he said
pointing to the keg.
Greg was backing away from the frosty glare turned on him by the highly
irritated Ami. "I didn't have any beer. I was just drinking coke," he
protested.
Ken meanwhile had escaped to the kitchen and was checking out the food.
He was the only one who heard the apartment door open as the owner
quietly arrived home a little after nine o'clock. Filling a couple of
glasses from the keg, he sauntered over to Darien and handed him a
beer. "Hey man, great party."
Darien raised one eyebrow as he looked around the bedlam in his
apartment. "Whoever threw this party forgot to invite me," he
remarked.
Serena grew tired of beating up on Andrew. Her desire for vengeance
was satisfied. She surveyed the chaos and saw the keg on the kitchen
counter. "Chad, Ken, Greg, who told you guys you could bring that
beer," she yelled angrily. Spotting Darien drinking with Ken, she
rounded on him as well, "You're encouraging them. This was supposed to
be a nice quiet dinner, not a drunken fraternity party!"
"Hey, nobody told me anything. I didn't know you girls had anything
planned either. So don't blame me," Darien defended himself. Cracking
a grin he added, "Is this any way to welcome your beloved Mamo-chan
home?"
Serena bowed elaborately. "This humble one is most sorry that
worthless self did not properly welcome esteemed husband," her voice
dripping with saccharine sweetness.
As she straightened, she took in the look in Darien's eyes: surprise,
satisfaction, and pleasure. Rage replaced amusement as her expression.
She snapped, "It was a joke, you baka. You're not supposed to take it
seriously. And you make me sorry I ever gave you that stupid
nickname."
"Oh," he responded, sounding disappointed.
Ken whispered an aside to Darien, "Wow, is she always this bit---,
grouchy?"
Andrew had emerged from cowering in his hiding place behind the chair
in the corner and joined Ken and Darien. He smirked, "I told you they
get that way when they're pregnant and you didn't believe me."
Lita decided that it was time order was reestablished. "Everybody
listen up. I'm only going to say this once. Shut-up and go sit down.
Or no dinner!" Adding in a lower tone, "Ami and Rei, come in the
kitchen and help me pass out the plates."
Dinner proceeded smoothly, as the hungry crowd was more interested in
the food than goofing around. Rei even refrained from teasing Serena
about her appetite. When serving dishes were emptied, Lita's cooking
students took turns carrying away the cleaned platters and returning
with full ones. The keg steadily grew lighter as well.
Everyone was stuffed to surfeit. Chad and Ken were displaying an
almost lizard-like torpor. Serena bounced up and began to clear away
the dishes. Lita and Andrew moved to assist her.
"Andrew, you don't need to do anything. You're supposed to be a
guest," Darien reminded him.
"Well I don't see you helping the 'little woman'," Andrew answered.
"If she hears you call her that, I won't be held liable for the damage.
She's already beat up on you once tonight. You're on your own. I have
'orders' from Lita to stay out of the kitchen tonight and no way I'm
gonna cross her. I've sparred with her before," responded Darien.
"Hey Darien, did you ever figure out the strategy algorithms I was
using the last time I beat you at chess? You want a rematch?" Ami
queried.
His competitive instincts aroused, Darien agreed eagerly, "You're on!"
Ami and Darien set up a folding table in the corner near the balcony
door and began to play.
As soon as the food was cleared off the dining table, Mina fished a
deck of cards out of her purse. "Who's in for poker?" Chad, Rei, Ken,
and Greg joined her at the table. "Dealer's choice. Five card draw.
Aces high/low. Joker's wild. Ten yen minimum bid," she called to
start the action.
"Andrew, Lita and I can handle this if you want to go play cards,"
said Serena.
"Naw, I'm almost broke. I can't afford to lose what little I have left
for the rest of the month by playing poker with a couple of psychics.
Rei and Greg may not 'cheat' but they sure are 'lucky' a lot," Andrew
replied.
"Okay, you're on dish duty. Lita is packing up the left-overs while I
dry and put things away," Serena directed.
Clean-up complete, the kitchen crew adjourned to the living room with a
couple of trays of snacks and sodas for the non-drinkers. Serena was
surprised to see both Rei and Ami drinking beer after their earlier
protests.
"Aw, come on Ami. You just sacrificed a pawn; you gotta drink another
beer," wheedled Darien. Apparently he and Ami had turned their chess
match into a drinking game. There were seven empty paper cups stacked
on their table.
"Darien, are you trying to get Ami drunk? You know she shouldn't be
drinking that nasty stuff," complained Serena as she saw what they were
doing.
Darien gave her a silly grin, "I gotta do something to handicap her;
she keeps beating me." Ami just smiled, giggled, moved a piece and
said, "Check."
"Crap, see what you did by distracting me, Serena. I'm trapped. She
beat me again!" complained Darien.
Lita wandered over to Serena and elbowed her. "Did you ever get those
outtakes you told us about? Let's watch them."
"Oh, yeah. They sent me a dvd with the commercials and 'all' the
outtakes." Raising her voice, "Hey, everybody, grab something to sit
on and come watch this." Serena dragged out and unrolled a couple of
futons in front of the big screen TV. She retrieved the dvd and set up
the media system to play it.
Lita and Ken claimed one futon. The other was occupied by Rei, Andrew,
and Mina. Chad tripped over a pile of cushions and pushed them around
so he could sprawl out on them. Greg, Ami, Darien, and Serena crowded
together on the couch.
While the girls sighed over the Rapunzel commercial, the guys mostly
looked bored. Mina commented, "That was so sweet."
Serena grinned, "Next we have a take that Scott said the tights
manufacturer might want to see." She played the outtake of Darien in
prince costume of short tunic and tights, prancing and pirouetting
across the set. The camera guy had added a voice over, "And now the
dance of the fairy prince."
Giggles, laughter, and howls of mirth from Andrew penetrated red-faced
Darien's futile attempts to hide his head beneath Serena's hair. "Aw
shit, nobody told me they were filming; I was just bored and tired of
standing around."
Lita smirked, "Serena, you have got to show this one to Haruka. I can
just imagine her comments."
"I don't think so!" growled Darien.
Serena interrupted, "Oh, this is just the beginning." She showed the
shower commercial next. "Here's the ending for the family shows," as
she switched to that track. The couple had donned towels and as Serena
turned to face the camera she was visibly pregnant. She had clasped
Darien's hand and placed on her stomach. Her line was, "Can you feel
him kicking?" This scene was followed by a shot of the couple kissing
chastely.
"Oh that is too, too sweet!" gushed Mina.
"Is that all you can say?" asked Ami.
Chad grinned, "Real cute. When can we start working on our first one,
Rei?"
Rei glared and tossed a cushion at him. "Maybe never if you keep
acting the way you have been lately!"
Andrew looked mischievously at Darien and Serena. "You guys didn't
look all that hot and bothered; at least not enough to end up the way
you looked the next day."
Serena smiled evilly, "I heard about what Darien told you guys. What
really happened was a 'little' different. There were two versions of
this commercial. The next one is the late night sports show cut. What
Darien didn't know was that the film crew told me that I was supposed
to keep him 'visibly' interested." The next cut was shown accompanied
by giggles and laughs elicited by Serena's comments.
Darien and Serena played a man and woman in business suits going to the
gym separately. There were a few workout shots. They met up in the
shower room and Darien borrowed Serena's shampoo. A few cuts of them
washing each other's hair and steamy shower scenes ensued. "One thing
Darien didn't tell you was that he had to take a couple of unscheduled
breaks during filming to keep from embarrassing himself messily on
camera, if you know what I mean. They used the second time he called a
break as the end to this commercial."
An obviously amorous Darien backed Serena into the corner and embraced
her. The film cut to the next scene. Darien draped a robe over Serena
and a towel around himself. The kissing resumed and Darien picked up
Serena and carried her to the break room door. As he kicked open the
door, his towel dropped to the floor, revealing a nice shot of his
rear. As he turned a quick view of his prominent interest in Serena
was visible as they passed through the door. The door shut and the
scene faded out.
Over the giggles and chuckles, Darien's outraged exclamation, "They
erased my pants! They can't do that!"
"But darling, you were the one who told me yourself that it was going
to be a nude scene," purred Serena as she needled her appalled spouse.
Darien muttered, "Your dad's gonna really kill me this time if he ever
sees this." The room erupted with laughter.
Andrew rolled back and forth between Rei and Mina making choking
noises; he was laughing so hard. Tears were streaming down his face.
He looked up at his tomato-red faced friend, "So what happened next,
Lover Boy?"
Serena smiled and answered, "Exactly what you might imagine." She
debated whether she should tell Darien that the towel drop scene was an
outtake, and the real shot for the broadcast ended as they reached the
door. It was more fun to let him stew about it and was far less than
he deserved for booking them to do a "nude" commercial.
Darien jumped suddenly and turned toward Ami. She was regarding him
intently with a peculiar expression. She was flushed a rosy pink and
was eyeing him hungrily. She had placed her hand on his leg closest to
her and was walking her fingers up his thigh. Darien signaled Greg
frantically, "Help!"
Greg remarked, "I think Ami and I will be going now; we need to study."
Ami wiggled over onto Greg's lap, wrapped her arms around his neck, and
started to unbutton his shirt. "We have LOTS of stuff we need to study
and PRACTICE!" She burped, giggled, and then sagged sleepily against
him.
Greg glared at Darien as he draped Ami over his shoulder and carried
her out the door. "I think some BAKA encouraged Ami to drink a
'little' more than she should have," Greg added sarcastically.
After the laughter died down a little, Mina chirped brightly, "I
brought some more comedy movies to watch and we can make some popcorn!"
By the time a few videos had played, Chad was snoring loudly. Rei got
up and rolled him over with her toe. "I'm out of here. He can sleep
it off where he is," she commented disgustedly as she left the
apartment.
Lita and Ken seemed more interested in each other than in watching TV.
Andrew had fallen asleep where he, Mina, and Rei had been sprawled on
the floor. Mina was more than half-asleep herself.
Serena was tired. "I'm going to bed. If anybody wants a ride home,
the concierge desk downstairs can order a taxi. Or you can just crash
here," she announced. To Darien she added, "You can stay out here or
come to bed with me. I don't care which."
Darien's half-closed eyes opened and brightened. "I'll take Door
Number Two," he answered. He suddenly hopped up, grabbed her hand, and
towed her toward their bedroom.
The sun shone brightly through the open curtains the next morning.
Serena awoke at eleven o'clock, early for her on a Saturday. She
padded down the hall to the bathroom and afterwards regarded the
party's aftermath in the living room. Returning to the bedroom and
stifling a giggle, she sat down next to a comatose Darien and shook him
gently. "Wake up, honey. You've got to see them," she whispered.
Darien moaned, "Go away, Luna. It's too early. I don't want to get up
yet."
Serena smiled. Darien had become the new victim of the 'alarm' cat
when Luna had moved in with them. Luna preferred Darien's calm
awakenings to being shoved off the bed or thrown across the room by
Serena.
Serena lightly stroked Darien's shoulder and brushed the tousled hair
off of his face. She pulled him closer to her and kissed him. As his
arms closed around her in response, his eyes opened and he regarded her
sleepily. "Oh, it's you, love. I thought Luna was trying to get me up
to go running," he murmured.
"It's already eleven o'clock. You've usually been up for at least three
or four hours by now. I guess you're getting too old to try and drink
Ami under the table any more," she teased him. "It was really funny
when she started to put the move on you and then switched over to
Greg."
"It's not Ami I want. But you can have me any time. Now would be
good," he whispered huskily in her ear as he started nuzzling her
neck."
Serena moved back and shoved his chest lightly, "Down, boy. We still
have an apartment full of sleeping drunks. You've got to come see
them."
Darien acquiesced and dressed. Serena pointed to Chad who was wrapped
around a long pillow, to which he was talking in his sleep. "Come on
baby. Just give your Pookie Bear a little sugar."
Darien laughed, "He'll probably have better luck with that pillow than
Rei today."
Ken and Lita had awakened. Ken was attempting to retrieve bits and
pieces of their clothes scattered around on the floor. He clutched the
blanket to himself in embarrassment. Lita shrugged as if to say
'whatever'.
Serena said, "Look at Mina and Andrew. Isn't that absolutely darling."
They were curled and twined together, with smiles on both their faces,
still asleep.
Darien commented, "I've been wondering if they would get together.
They've seemed like they have been getting closer since Andrew got
dumped by Rita. Maybe Ms. Matchmaker has finally made a match for
herself."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Themes: I had fun looking for some for this chapter; these could apply
to the previous chapter as well.
Proverbs 13:16 "Every prudent man acts out of knowledge, but a fool
[exposes] his folly." (think Darien)
Proverbs 20:1 "Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler, whoever is led
astray by them is not wise." (for Ami & the rest)