"…I wish to take them all [laughter and tears] in."
"FRIENDS"
HOUSHIN ENGI ("SOUL HUNTER")
Sai looked remarkably disappointed that I had emerged from the kitchen unscathed and relatively triumphant. I blissfully ignored him; he did seem rather pleased to see that Shirley had sufficiently "whupped" me into carrying the platter and dishes into the dining room. Domon and George looked relieved that I had sustained no outward bodily harm and Argo seemed…well…completely unaffected by the whole sordid affair.
The girls – who still knew nothing of the bet – worried me, because they kept giving me strange looks as I trotted to and fro from the kitchen and the dining room. On my last trip, I kissed Shirley lightly on her forehead and wondered how the hell we were going to announce our sudden union of hearts. The others were bound to notice that the two of us seemed unusually happy…and damn if it isn't near impossible to hide a budding romance from women. I was sure that before the day was out, Rain, Cecil, or one of the girls, would trap me into a corner and bully a confession.
"So how'd it go?" Sai whispered conspiratorially as I met him in the dinning room doorway as I carried the turkey toward the table. "Tame the beast?" he smirked a bit more smugly than I thought he had license.
"We…settled our differences," I replied evasively.
That's not entirely untrue, I reasoned, eyeing Sai, who looked utterly unconvinced. We certainly had differences…and we certainly settled 'em.
Thankfully, the turkey saved me. There's something about a well roasted, several pound bird to get people to flock around it. Before I had even turned around, Argo and Domon had drifted in, with a look in their eyes that I remembered seeing in a starving dog while he tracked down his prey. Marie Louise came in next, escorted by George, arm in arm; in less than five minutes, everyone had found their seats and was patiently waiting for the last of our party to appear.
I was about to abandon my nervous guardianship of the turkey, when she finally sailed in, carrying those two sweet potato pies in each hand. I couldn't help but grin when I caught sight of them.
She still hasn't told me 'bout her family, I made a mental note to ask her later. An' I wanna know 'bout these Southern 'passions.'
"…So cut the damned turkey, Bro!" Sai cut abruptly into my thoughts and I suddenly realized that I was still standing next to the turkey, carving knife in hand.
"Sai!" Cecil chided quietly, poking her fiancé in the ribs. "Don't be rude."
"Don't worry, Cecil," I winked roguishly at her, before giving the gigantic turkey my undivided attention. "After a year and a half, I'm used to it."
"As if you're a modicum of manners," George grumbled, but I could hear the good-humored amusement in his voice.
"Watch it, French," I grumbled playfully, giving him the evil eye. "Or ya' won't get no turkey."
"Just cut the turkey, Chibodee!" Shirley rolled her eyes in mock exasperation.
"Yes, ma'am," I replied sweetly, earning a variety of "looks," not least from her.
The plate nearest to me just happened to be Rain's. I picked it up and placed the first, steaming slice onto her plate.
"See?" I glanced triumphantly at George. "Ladies first – I do so know how to be a gentleman."
"Wonders never cease, I suppose," Domon snickered; I cocked an eyebrow at him.
"Ya' ain't got much room to talk, 'Dunce of Hearts.'"
"'Dunce?'" he sputtered indignantly.
"Hell, yeah!" I laughed, reaching for Marie Louise's plate. "You were the last one to realize that Rain was the only woman for ya'."
"Please, Chibodee…your language," George sighed tragically.
"I can assure you that the Princess doesn't have quite the virgin ears as you'd like to pretend," I grinned wolfishly at the Jack of Diamonds and his lady fair.
Marie Louise giggled, causing George a noticeable spasm of scandalized indignation. The other Thanksgiving dishes were being passed around as I cut the turkey – for several minutes the room was filled with the sound of clinking silverware and murmured "thank you's."
I was finally settling down to filling my own plate – the last one that remained bare – when Shirley gave a startling squeal.
"Holy cat, Shirley!" Bunny jumped in her seat. "What on earth is your problem?"
"I got the wishbone!" Shirley announced triumphantly, waving the infamous, forked bone in the air.
"Who are you going to break it with?" Rain laughed.
Shirley got a playfully contemplative look on her face. I had a sneaking suspicion who'd she ask, but I kept my face safely neutral while I spooned a generous helping of stuffing onto my plate.
"Well…?" Cecil giggled – I noted absently that she did that a lot.
Giggling, I mean.
"I think I'll break it with…" Shirley made a show of looking over the smiling faces around the table. "Chibodee!" she announced her decision with great relish.
I caught a brief glance of Sai's face. His eyebrows were arched dangerously high and there was a maddening "I-think-I-know-what's-going-on" look on his face. I would have mentally cursed him for his meddling, but then I remembered that Shirley and I both owed him big time.
"Fine with me," I wiped my hands on my napkin and stood up, reaching across the table to my right, as she held out the wishbone.
Everyone watched with great interest – too much interest, I thought.
They know something's up, I squirmed inwardly at the eyes I felt boring little holes in the side of my face. What the hell are Shirley and I gonna' say?
With one good tug, we broke the wishbone. Blinking stupidly, I realized that I held the long end. I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed that I hadn't gotten the wish.
"What did you wish for?" Natasha asked with uncharacteristic curiosity as Shirley sat down with an incredibly smug look.
Shirley glanced coyly at me with those maddening blue eyes of her before turning back toward Natasha.
"That Chibodee would be useful for once and help me clean up this mess," she gestured innocently toward the rapidly depleting dishes of wealth burdening the table.
I could feel my ears burning red, but I just smiled my usual, goofy grin and shrugged off the uncomfortable stares being divided between Shirley and me. In a way, I didn't really care – for the first time in my life, I looked forward to cleaning dishes.
Anything to be alone with her without causing too much suspicion!
I knew the others suspected something; at that moment, in fact, Sai looked like he was going to say something. But then George smoothly directed everyone's attention down another track of conversation. I breathed a sigh of relief and silently thanked George for being the incurable gentleman that he was. It could be damned annoying at times, but there were moments when his sensitivity to other's feelings really saved the day.
We finished the meal without anything remarkable happening. Shirley's sweet potato pies were especially a hit; she beamed and blushed beneath everyone's praise. I could barely contain myself – did she have any clue how goddamned gorgeous she was when she blushed?
It was with a great amount of relief that I stacked the empty plates and bustled toward the kitchen. Everyone got up and moved to the living room, where – to my surprise – Domon, Argo, Sai, and George were planning to watch football. The girls were going to talk, no doubt, like every woman since Eve has done down through the ages. And me? I was going work dish cleaning around a little playful hanky-panky.
Or so I hoped. I had no reason to believe otherwise; not with the sly little looks Shirley had been giving me during the entire meal.
But as I made way out of the room, Argo grabbed hold of my elbow just outside of the door and whispered in a surprisingly conspiratorially way –
"You know, Chibodee, no one's fooled."
"Fooled by what?" I gazed up at him in what I hoped was an innocent expression.
The second tallest of all of the Shuffles, I felt embarrassingly dwarfed by Argo's massive Goliath-ness. I wasn't used to looking up at someone; at this particular moment, I felt incredibly like a naughty little boy being put in his place by a scowling father. I absently hoped that my father never had eyebrows straight from hell itself.
"There's only one reason that a man agrees so willingly to clean dishes," Argo wasn't impressed by my mock stupidity.
He cocked one of his eyebrows. I was strongly reminded of those "fuzzy bear" caterpillars I used to torment as a kid. I would have laughed at the comparison, but I stifled my mirth. It didn't do to laugh in Argo's face…whatever the reason.
"And your point is…?" I still played the idiot.
"Have some class for once in your life and give us a wedding we'll all remember," Argo folded his massive arms across his equally massive chest.
I gauged the distance from where I stood and the safety of the kitchen. Deciding that I could sprint that in three seconds flat, I grinned up at him, eyes wide.
"Wow, Argo – I think that's the longest sentence I've ever heard outta' ya'!"
He growled deep in his throat like some kind of wounded bear. I was so intent on hightailing my ass into the kitchen that I missed the laughter twinkling deep in his eyes. I nearly knocked Shirley over, too, in my haste.
"Whoa, boy!" she laughed, slapping me in the shoulder with her tea towel. "What's the rush?"
"Hormones," I all but threw the dishes in the sink and grabbed her around the waist. "My biological clock is ticking very loudly."
"Well, hit the snooze button until this mess is cleaned," she disentangled herself from my arms with a snicker.
"Hmph," I sniffed, pretending to be offended by her "cold" shoulder.
She took her place at the sink, back toward me, and turned on the hot water. In a matter of minutes, the room became unbearably stuffy. As I waited for her finish scrubbing the grease off of the turkey pan, I peeled off my shirt and threw it on the nearby counter.
Her ears turned pink and I caught her glancing at me shyly out of the corner of her eyes. I grinned inwardly, but refrained from saying anything. Nothing she hadn't seen before; I didn't see why she should be embarrassed. In any event, it was much more bearable without the shirt and I leaned comfortably against the counter at her side.
"So…" I drawled, enjoying the flustered look on her face, which she tried to hide by ducking her head. "Tell me about this Southern past of yours."
* * * * *
Now, why did he have to go and do that? Not that I hadn't seen him without his shirt before, but… Well, now it was a bit different. All it did was make my imagination run overtime in picturing him a little less…clothing endowed. Just the thought was making me blush.
And that only succeeded in making me even more uncertain. Unlike Chibodee, who seemed absolutely sure of himself, I wanted all of this to be perfect. I suppose, that's what most women want when they find the right one.
In an effort to forget about his…diminishing attire, I answered his question. "Nothing to it, really. I grew up on a Quarter Horse farm in Louisiana. I was an only child and I left for New York when I turned eighteen. My dad still races Quarter Horses and I get a letter from him and my mother about once a month. Does that satisfy you?"
He pushed off from the counter and wrapped his arms around me, kissing my temple. "Nah. But I think I know something that will."
I closed my eyes for a moment as his lips headed southward. This was too nice. I jerked away when his fingers began to tug at the straps of my tank top.
I swatted him playfully and admonished him. "A kitchen is not the place for that."
"Oh? And where is?" His eyes had a mix of passion and that same dangerous gleam I'd seen earlier.
A sudden thought tugged at my mind. A naughty one, but it would suffice. "Well, when I was younger, our barn was
quite the cozy place."
His eyes widened. "The ol' 'roll in the
hay?' You actually did that?"
I pouted. "It's not like we had hotels right outside our house. When you own a horse ranch you tend to be quite a way from everything else."
Having to explain it to him was certainly taking the romance out of it. Or so I thought.
His kiss surprised me. It was far hungrier than what I'd experienced earlier and…oh, hell, much better. Apparently, he liked the concept of a 'roll in the hay.' Then again, he was a city boy, so it wasn't likely he'd ever experienced it that way. His arms tightened around me and I responded in kind, feeling a little thrill at running my fingers over his naked back.
So this is what it's like to be on the receiving end of his passion? As truthful as it sounded, I couldn't help but feel that I was getting more than any other woman had before. After all, I had his heart now, didn't I?
He broke off the kiss, leaving us both breathless. He grinned and said, "I knew you were a sneaky fox. Just didn't know how much of one."
I pulled free of his arms, determined to play this out. I frowned at him and said, "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were questioning my womanly values."
I ducked my head slightly, hiding my smile at his answering growl. I wonder what he would do if he knew how much I loved that sound?
"I was not. I was…complimenting you," he said weakly.
His look of confusion, irritation, and lust was burning through my blood. It was suddenly much warmer in here and it had nothing to do with the steam that was still hovering in the air.
Feigning indignation, I folded my arms over my chest and turned around. "By calling me sneaky? Well, that's no way to a woman, Chibodee."
I managed to turn back around about halfway, before he had his arms around me again.
His voice was husky when he spoke and it nearly robbed me of my knees. "All I mean is that I suddenly wish this place came with a barn. I wouldn't mind a little taste of that Southern comfort."
"Hey now, I'm not easy," I muttered feebly as his lips trailed to the hollow of my shoulder. "I was a girl then. It was…" I gasped as his teeth nipped my flesh, "…a rite of passage."
Never in my life had I felt anything as blissfully wonderful as the touch of this man. I could only imagine what else he was capable of and just the thought made my body shiver, and grow warm.
"Rite of passage?" he murmured. "Well, we'll have to come up with a new one for ya'. Now that you're gonna be with me."
'With me.' Everything I needed was in those two words. And oddly enough, I could hear all his love and passion in that short space of time.
I sighed, leaning into him as he brought his hands around, resting on my bare stomach. Damn tank top – keeps riding up. I may have to get rid of that. I giggled aloud at my sudden, lurid thoughts.
"What now?" he asked, craning his head to look at me.
I grinned, kissing him playfully. "I think I've been around you too long." I spun in his arms, wrapping mine around his neck. "I suddenly had a naughty thought."
"Oh? Care to tell?"
I gave him what I hoped was a seductive smile and purred, "But if I told you, that would ruin the surprise."
He growled again and lifted me up onto the counter, causing me to gasp. Placing his hands on either side of my legs, he said in exasperation, "If you keep trying to surprise me, I'm gonna die from the suspense."
I wrapped my legs around his waist and cupped his face in my hands. "Well, they always say the best way to die is with a smile on your face."
"The longer I'm around you, the more likely that's gonna happen," he said with a low chuckle. His lips pressed against mine softly as he pulled me closer.
I broke the kiss off first, lacing my fingers through his dark hair. "I hate to end this, but what are we going to tell the others?"
He placed his hands on my hips and kissed me again. "Well, we can just tell 'em I finally made an honest woman of ya'."
I bit my lip as his mouth brushed the hollow of my throat. "I think you have that backwards," I murmured.
He paused, giving me an innocent look. "But, I've always been honest. It's you who kept your past a secret."
"Did you ever ask me?" I questioned playfully.
"Feh. Semantics."
Laughing, I said, "Semantics or not, we have to tell them something."
"'Bout time. You could be a bit more discreet, though."
I stiffened and turned, nearly slipping off of the counter top.
Sai was grinning knowingly at the both of us.
I hadn't even heard the little sneak come in. "Sai! How long have you been here?" I demanded. I glared at Chibodee when he chuckled at my outburst.
Sai winked and said, "Long enough. Just, get a room before you do too much more." Still grinning, he slipped back through the swinging kitchen doors.
"There ya' go. Sai will tell 'em." Chibodee was grinning as he tucked a few loose strands of hair behind my ear.
I frowned at him, but it slipped into a grudging smile. "Well, I suppose that will work for now. Though, coming from Sai, it might not sound as serious."
Inwardly, I winced. And it means I have a lot of explaining to do to the girls.
Chibodee pressed his hand against my cheek, stroking my skin with his thumb. "It is serious. I know it and you know it. As far as I'm concerned, that's all that matters."
"You have a point," I murmured. Seeing the love in his eyes was all I needed as well. Everyone would know soon enough; for now, I had him and that was all I wanted.
Feeling mischievous, I bent my head lower, running my tongue against his lips. "I think, though, we should take his advice. After all, I made you a promise and you did behave tonight. And…" I repeated the action, giggling at his barely suppressed groan, "a Southern girl always keeps her promise."
* * * * *
Damn! Do they ever! It was all I could do, not to pick Shirley up then and there, and carry her up to the privacy of my room. But, it was Thanksgiving and the other Shuffles had come from all corners of Earth and Colonies, and passion or no, it would have been rude to sneak off.
So I satisfied myself my burying my face in her neck one last time, breathing in her warm, spicy scent. To this day, I always associate sweet potato pie with her – my Southern 'belle.'
"One more kiss?" I gave her a sly wink, to let her know that I wouldn't forget her 'promise.'
I thought she'd say "yes," but the cunning little vixen only shook her head, her lips pursed, her eyes shining mischievously. I pouted momentarily, but then she slid off of the counter and wrapped her arms around my neck.
"That'll come later," she whispered seductively in my ear, causing little shivers of delight to roll up and down my spine.
Then she moved away, picked up my discarded shirt, and threw it at my chest.
"Now, get dressed!" she almost laughed, despite her best efforts to appear stern and unrelenting.
"Yes, ma'am," I winked, grinning. "You can take it off next time."
Her ears turned a bright red; with cheeks flaming, she sputtered something that I couldn't catch and then turned quickly on her heel. Flustered, she exited the kitchen with no small amount of haste. I was busting a gut trying not to laugh. She embarrassed so easily – I didn't really understand it, but I knew one thing. I loved it when she blushed.
When I finally gathered enough gall to show my face in the living room, I was pleasantly surprised. No one seemed to notice that anything was "amiss." Sai sat on the corner of one of the couches with a knowing little smirk in his eyes, but apparently, he hadn't told a soul. Shirley was over with the other women, who were all gathered around, talking to each other and keeping a furtive watch on their respective men.
I was a little puzzled. I was sure as hell that Sai would spill the beans on us, but he clearly hadn't. No one crowded around us, asking a million questions and demanding to know what had caused the change in attitudes between Shirley and me. I sat down on the couch beside the little runt and whispered during one of the commercial breaks –
"Why didn't you tell anyone?"
Sai looked supremely proud of himself.
"There's no need to," he replied quietly. "The two of you can't hide it forever. In fact, I bet that it all comes out tomorrow."
I nearly groaned in despair – he was right. Tomorrow, all of the women were hitting the malls, trying to get one up on the Christmas rush with all those, after-Thanksgiving discount sales. Fortunately for us guys, we weren't asked to come. In fact, we were practically forbidden.
We four were planning to just hang out and do whatever. But I was certain that Domon and George would want details – and Sai would be sure to fill in should I refuse to tell. As for Argo…I sneaked a glance over at him. Who could tell whether he would talk or keep his usual silence? His admonition earlier had certainly taken me by surprise. I had a sinking suspicion that he had more such "surprises" up his stoic sleeve.
The night went well enough. Shirley and I weren't mobbed for the answers to embarrassingly personal questions; no one seemed to notice. We kept a discreet distance, satisfying ourselves for the time being, with the occasionally shared glance.
Around 10:30, the beer came out – or, well, actually the sake, vodka, and wine came out. I was the only one who really drank any beer and I only drank two. And only those two, because I wanted to avoid arousing undue curiosity. None of us really got drunk, but we expressed great amazement at Argo's almost super-human ability to down glass after glass of vodka like it was nothing more consequential than water.
Of course, a big guy like him would have a better alcohol tolerance than the rest of us combined. But we were still amazed. We all had a good laugh, too, at Sai's expense, when he – insatiably curious little bugger that he is – decided that he wanted to try a shot of vodka himself.
An outside observer would have thought he had been poisoned! He gagged, sputtered, and contorted his face into expressions that the human visage simply has no earthly right to be twisting itself into. It was damn hilarious.
"God damn!" he squeaked afterwards, eyes big and watering. "That shit's got to burn the whole way through!"
Argo gave him a look as if to say, "how do you know that it doesn't," before throwing his head back and swallowing another healthy shot. Then he smacked his lips and eyed Sai with something suspiciously akin to amusement.
I almost thought he was going to say something, but, in true Argo fashion, he kept his jaws tightly clamped.
As the evening wore on, the glances I directed toward Shirley became less and less frequent. It wasn't that I was trying to avoid her…well, okay. So I was. But not for the reasons one would think. I was avoiding her look because it was becoming harder and harder for me to suppress my feelings. The more I looked at her, the more I just wanted to stand up, sweep her up in my arms, and carry her away.
She noticed, of course. What woman wouldn't? But she seemed to understand my predicament and each time I risked a glance in her direction, her expression became craftier.
By ones and twos, the Shuffles and the girls began to leave for their respective bedrooms. George was the last to leave – at one point, I wanted to just whack him over the head and drag him off by the ends of his long, impossibly perfect red hair.
Shouldn't think about red hair, I admonished myself when I found myself eying George's hair very intently.
Not to mention that I suddenly incredibly silly, ogling at a fellow fighter's hair.
Finally, thankfully, George had had enough and he drifted off to his room and – I hoped – to sleep. For about five minutes after he left, I slouched on the couch, staring intently at the TV, wondering what Shirley was up to.
Where the hell is she?
I knew the answer to that, though. She was standing behind me – I could feel her eyes boring through the back of my head.
Just when I thought I couldn't take the suspense any more, she trotted into my line of vision. My jaw dropped.
She had taken off her tank top.
For some odd reason, my mouth suddenly became quite dry. I couldn't speak. I could I only stare at her, as she pranced up to me, that same look of desire smoldering in her gorgeous eyes. Furthering my shock, she sat brazenly in my lap, her legs straddling mine as she bent in for a kiss.
It was long, slow, and thoroughly arousing. My hand drifted lightly across her back, pausing only to toy with her bra strap. Even in the middle of a kiss, I grinned – I wasn't going to undue it, not yet. But I played with it, teasing her with the hope that I would take it off.
"Chibodee…" she cooed into my ear, breaking off the kiss and tugging on the bottom of my shirt.
"Shh," I tapped her lips with my finger, shivering with delight as she ran her hands up my chest. "I already know."
A quizzical look crossed her eyes and she stopped, her palms pressed flat against my shoulders. She looked at me, as if to say, "know what?"
I sighed deeply – god, I could die like this. This had turned out to be one hell of a Thanksgiving – everything I could think of to be thankful for, was sitting my lap.
I wrapped my arms around her, pressing her against me as I buried my face in her neck. Nuzzling her ear, I whispered softly, with all the meaning I could muster –
"I love you, too, Shirley."