Lust
By Tien Riu
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Disclaimer:
Weiss Kreuz and all characters do not belong to me. Plot (what little there is of it ^_^) and depiction of characters are mine.
C&C, R&R and any other derivation there of including flames will be appreciated.
"Lust" is the first of three Weiss Kreuz stories that are determinedly yaoi (that means homosexual relationships for the initiated) and (unfortunately, since I was aiming for a PWP at the start and failed miserable) plot-driven. For those who are interested, "Do you believe in sin?" is a short background story to this series - however, you don't need to read it to understand anything that happens.
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The best time of day - who would have thought? =================================================================
Omi
The best time of day, in Omi's opinion, was the end. As winter drew closer, closing time saw the slow gold of sunset streaming through the glass windows.
Omi liked to delay pulling down the shutters; instead, after the last of the customers were sent with their purchases, he would clean up quickly, then sit on the counter and stare out the windows. Across the road, between 'Sumeko's Sushi' and 'Kiki's Laundromat', was an empty patch of sky, and sometimes, if it was clear, all he would see was blue - and he could pretend he was watching the sunset across the ocean.
If Youji or Ken knew what I was thinking. . . Omi hid a smile as he put away the last ball of string and closed the lid of the box, I'd never hear the end of it. The whole 'do you want a bedtime story' jokes will come up again.
The problem with being the youngest member in the team was that the others didn't know how to treat him. It had been worse before Aya had arrived - especially during that (thankfully) short period when Youji had been designated his legal guardian for the sake of his cover story.
And thank gods that'll never happen again. Omi muffled a shudder, closing the door to the corridor leading to the mission room below. I won't even exchange the 'porn on the internet' jokes for Youji in guardian mode. The playboy had been strangely - insistent on his duties.
Homework checks, sign all notes. Even check up on my homework. It was like having a father -!
Okay - so sometimes he missed that sense of normality that whole period had brought.
Ken had arrived shortly before Omi had turned sixteen and been declared an emancipated minor by the courts - after that, the atmosphere had shifted from father and son to brothers. Yup - that's us. Youji's the feckless older brother who likes nothing better than womanising and sleeping in. Ken's the clumsy middle child who's dragged out clubbing - Well, okay only once, but that counted surely - and still allows himself to be pulled into silly children's games. Although beating Ken at Counter Strike five times in a row had stopped that too. And me? I'm the baby brother.
And why does that seem so depressing?
Omi sighed and perched on the edge of the counter, staring out of the window. They had closed early today - Aya and Youji would be leaving early for Kritiker's safe house and more mission briefs - so the sunset was still an hour or so away.
Still, there was a peace in the store; it emanated from the silence, mingled with the light fragrance wafting from the greenery bins. It was almost as if the spirits of the flowers, although dead, had forgotten briefly, and opened to the last rays of the sun.
Peace.
The corridor door slammed against the wall as Youji ran into the store; Omi jumped.
"Y-Youji-kun?"
Youji ran a hand through his hair, oak-coloured strands tinged gold in the light of the sun; he grinned as he slid his sunglasses up his nose, "I'm going upstairs to pack -"
"B-but you're not leaving till six -?"
Omi had watched Youji packed for a three-week mission an hour before they had to leave. And that had been when he had prepared.
"Yeah - but I want to go apologise to Jay for leaving just as our relationship started." Youji grinned, "I'll load Seven up before I leave so tell Aya I'll be back by six!" He paused, one foot through the door leading to their apartments, "Oh and Omiitchi," he drawled.
Omi sighed, "I know, I know - don't start dating or have a crush on any girls till you come back so you can give me advice." He said.
Youji grinned, "I was going to say make sure to water Ken's cactus or it'd die, desert conditions or not - but yeah that too." He left in a wave of cologne and expectations.
Omi sighed, returning to his perch. It seemed strange that of all of the three older men, Aya alone treated him, if not like an adult, then as less than a child.
Ken
Some days, Ken almost believed Case had been right, and there was truly some higher being floating on some cloud high overhead, watching over him.
On other days - I know that there is somebody watching me. And he's laughing.
Ken sighed, then froze, plastering himself against the branch and hoping nobody would see the telltale flutter of leaves. Below, the crowd of schoolgirls continued chattering as they cheerfully searched for him. Why did I climb the tree? Five minutes - it'd have taken five minutes for me to disentangle myself after they'd finish groping me.
"Did you see him?" one girl - he vaguely recognised her as a regular squealer from the store.
"No!" her friend, from his viewpoint, was made up entirely of a perky ponytail, "I swear, he was here - I mean, Ken-Ken -"
And they moved far enough away to be out of earshot. Ken relaxed against the branch. This must be why Omi runs back home from school every day, Youji goes clubbing on the other side of the city and Aya - his thoughts derailed. Aya didn't do anything as far as he could tell except turn up for his shifts.
Ah well - from now on, play soccer at the park near the kindergarten. Ken decided, Now all I have to figure out is how to get down from here.
He carefully raised himself to a half-crouch, balancing on the branch. At least I'm not going to fall off and make a fool of myself. If nothing else, his balance skills had improved since he had joined Weiss. Now - how to get down there? He peered through the leaves, and frowned, catching sight of a brilliant shade of red - What the -?
For several seconds, he was almost sure Aya was standing underneath the tree - but the shade of red was too bright. Ken leaned down, curiosity piqued.
And his breath caught.
Youji? What's he doing there?
Youji walked across the field, hair glinting in the sunlight as he walked under the tree and came to a halt directly underneath, in front of the red haired man.
"Hey." Youji said.
"You're late."
"Sorry." From up here, Ken could only tell that Youji was tilting his head up - he was shorter than the red haired man.
"So - we still heading out?"
"Can't. Work problems."
"At the flower store?"
"What can I say? Flowers are harder than they look." The red haired man snorted, "You have such a low sense of humour." Youji murmured as he leaned in and added something too soft for Ken to hear.
The red haired man laughed, roughly, "I'm flying back to America tonight."
"I know. Your friend told me when I picked up your message." Youji paused, "Any reasons why? Or am I so good you need to leave the country to get it better?" the last was said in an oddly tilted voice that Ken realised was Youji's version of humorous sarcasm.
"Family problems." The red head paused, "So how will we say goodbye?"
Youji shrugged, "Waving and a hug?"
The red head chuckled, and put a hand on Youji's chest, "Hugging at least." There was the sound of cloth rubbing against cloth, the rasp of something Ken couldn't quite decipher, then the red head chuckled again, "Or at least some close approximation there-of."
"I vote close approximation." Youji husked, "Come on - lets go somewhere more private."
"Not into public displays?"
"Not today."
They left, wandering away, not quite touching but definitely standing next to each other.
Well who would have thought?