Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ and I'm not making any money from this,
Chapter 20: Bitage
~~~~
For a few seconds I froze, just sitting there, savouring the feel of her arms around me, and watching the water from the fountain as it glimmered in the moonlight. I let my eyes slip closed, breathing in that gorgeous scent of hers and hoping against all hope that I hadn't ingested hallucinogen at some point and that this was really real. Right. Okay. Most people pinch themselves to check if they're dreaming, don't they? Well, since Marron's arms were around me, I couldn't do that, so I chose the next best (and stupider) thing, and bit down on my tongue. Hard. Maybe slightly too hard, in retrospect, as it made my eyes water.
Okay. She was still there, and my tongue bloody hurt. I guess it wasn't a dream. But if it was real, then why? Why had she found me? And how? Coming to my senses, I put my hands on hers, gently moving them away from me and standing up. I turned to face her, suddenly really, really self-conscious. I don't know why, I suppose it was because I knew that she knew. And she knew that I knew that she knew, and I was worried what that meant.
"Are you alright?" she asked as I gazed at her, and for a moment I wondered what she meant, but then realised that she was probably referring to the whole teary eyed thing thanks to the tongue bitage.
"I bit my tongue too hard." I said flatly, and she smiled, bringing a hand up to her mouth and giggling softly.
"And here's me thinking those were tears of happiness."
"Why did you come here?" I asked her, wiping my eyes and blinking a couple of times to clear my vision. I wouldn't be biting my tongue again in a hurry.
"Because I knew you'd be here, Trunks."
Fair enough. I shifted uncomfortably, and took a few steps back. She took a few forward, her eyes glinting with amusement.
"What's the matter?" she asked. "I won't bite."
Can we get off the subject of biting? Okay, mental image overload. Stop it, moron. Actually, I'm not really into the whole biting thing. I mean there's passion, and then there's downright painful-ness. Some things are best reserved for those kinky types who get off on stuff like that.
"You did it again."
I looked up, frowning. "Did what?"
"Zoned out. You always do it."
"Do I?"
"Yeah. Where do you go?"
"Huh?"
"What do you think about?"
"Sex." I said, completely straight faced. Marron laughed, shaking her head in amusement.
"Typical man, hmm?"
"I wouldn't go that far." Too right. The 'typical man' isn't as pathetic as me. Hmm. Do you think I have self-loathing issues?
Marron glanced around the square, then gestured to the jazz-playing wine bar I'd sat outside earlier.
"You wanna go get a drink?" she asked.
Heh. I could use a bit of alcohol about now. Actually, I could use a lot of alcohol about now. A truckload, in fact.
"Sure."
"Come on then." She held out her hand, her lips curving into a smile, and I gave her a doubtful look.
"What's wrong? You had no problem holding my hand before."
The girl had a point. It's weird, isn't it? Marron was right, before she knew about my feelings for her, I had no problem hugging her or holding her hand, but now, I dunno, I guess because I knew that she knew how I felt, it just made me uncomfortable. But I shrugged, trying to look un-bothered, and she slipped her hand into mine, giving it a reassuring squeeze which didn't really reassure me at all.
Our walk across the square was one of the uncomfortable silence variety, and I started to wonder whether Marron just wanted to forget the whole me- being-in-love-with-her thing, since she didn't seem to be in any type of hurry to discuss it. We waited in line to get a table, and she still didn't say anything. Finally, the waiting for someone to say something stuff got unbearable, and I opened my mouth to speak, but was cut off by the waitress, who looked me up and down, flashed me a smile, and took my arm, saying; "This way, please, Sir."
Marron smirked, leaning towards me. "Can't take you anywhere without you managing to score." She whispered. "I guess I should be honoured you chose me."
Although this could be interpreted as a subtle bit of flirting, I wasn't really in the mood for Marron making jokes about my feelings for her, while at the same time avoiding telling me what she thought about the whole situation.
Once we got a table inside the bar, my stroppy inner child kicked in, and I sat back in my chair sullenly as Marron glanced at the menu. I sucked my lower lip for a while, but stopped when I realised how immature it made me look, and instead settled for studying the patterns the light made on the table-top. There was a fish tank nearby, and the reflection of the water was making weird swirly shapes. A waiter came and went, I paid no attention; my sub-conscious had convinced me it was a good idea to go out of my way to be difficult until I got an explanation from Marron. Like why she'd actually come to see me, and why she'd not even mentioned the earlier incident.
"Trunks, are you actually going to bother looking at me at all?" Marron asked, and I kept my gaze trained on the table, but answered her.
"Depends."
"On what?"
"On whether you tell me what you feel knowing what you know."
She didn't answer, and I raised my eyes slightly, to lock my gaze with hers.
"Well, that depends." She replied, putting down her napkin.
"On what?"
"On whether you're actually gonna stick around to listen, or whether you're gonna smash the table and make a run for it."
She smiled, and although I was trying my hardest to stay sullen, I couldn't help but smile back.
"Okay, it's a deal."
More silence.
"Trunks?" Marron said finally.
"Mm?"
"Remember how Goten told you I had a crush on you back when you'd just finished high school?"
I nodded. I'd laughed it off back then, told Goten that he was only saying that because of how much time we spent together, and that there was such a thing as a guy/girl friendship that didn't need to develop into a full blown screw-athon. Funny, because all my friendships with girls seemed to develop into just that. Well, apart from Paresu. And Pan. And, of course, Marron.
"Well, you know how you asked me about it and I said Goten was lying?"
"...Mm?" What was this? Some abstract way of letting me down gently?
She lowered her eyes, and her voice was so quiet that I had to lean forward to listen.
"Well, Goten wasn't the one who was lying." she told me.
"So you had a crush on me?" I asked slowly, trying to keep the satisfaction out of my voice. After a long pause, she raised her head once more.
"Have." She corrected.
...Huh. You know what? I actually think I just forgot how to breathe.
~~~~
A/N: Took me a month, but I did it. ^^ Did I spell bitage right? Actually, I don't think it's even a word, but oh well. Made up words rock! *grin* I'd like to thank you guys for reviewing and saying such warm fuzzy feeling inducing things. And to everyone who told me that they knew how I felt, extra thanks goes to you guys. It really helped me to start feeling better, knowing that I wasn't the only one. *smile* Apparently it's just a mild case of depression, and it's normal, considering life-stuff at the moment. So nothing to worry about. ^_^ As always, review and tell me what you thought, although you may not kill me for finishing where I did. *wicked grin*
Aerith
Chapter 20: Bitage
~~~~
For a few seconds I froze, just sitting there, savouring the feel of her arms around me, and watching the water from the fountain as it glimmered in the moonlight. I let my eyes slip closed, breathing in that gorgeous scent of hers and hoping against all hope that I hadn't ingested hallucinogen at some point and that this was really real. Right. Okay. Most people pinch themselves to check if they're dreaming, don't they? Well, since Marron's arms were around me, I couldn't do that, so I chose the next best (and stupider) thing, and bit down on my tongue. Hard. Maybe slightly too hard, in retrospect, as it made my eyes water.
Okay. She was still there, and my tongue bloody hurt. I guess it wasn't a dream. But if it was real, then why? Why had she found me? And how? Coming to my senses, I put my hands on hers, gently moving them away from me and standing up. I turned to face her, suddenly really, really self-conscious. I don't know why, I suppose it was because I knew that she knew. And she knew that I knew that she knew, and I was worried what that meant.
"Are you alright?" she asked as I gazed at her, and for a moment I wondered what she meant, but then realised that she was probably referring to the whole teary eyed thing thanks to the tongue bitage.
"I bit my tongue too hard." I said flatly, and she smiled, bringing a hand up to her mouth and giggling softly.
"And here's me thinking those were tears of happiness."
"Why did you come here?" I asked her, wiping my eyes and blinking a couple of times to clear my vision. I wouldn't be biting my tongue again in a hurry.
"Because I knew you'd be here, Trunks."
Fair enough. I shifted uncomfortably, and took a few steps back. She took a few forward, her eyes glinting with amusement.
"What's the matter?" she asked. "I won't bite."
Can we get off the subject of biting? Okay, mental image overload. Stop it, moron. Actually, I'm not really into the whole biting thing. I mean there's passion, and then there's downright painful-ness. Some things are best reserved for those kinky types who get off on stuff like that.
"You did it again."
I looked up, frowning. "Did what?"
"Zoned out. You always do it."
"Do I?"
"Yeah. Where do you go?"
"Huh?"
"What do you think about?"
"Sex." I said, completely straight faced. Marron laughed, shaking her head in amusement.
"Typical man, hmm?"
"I wouldn't go that far." Too right. The 'typical man' isn't as pathetic as me. Hmm. Do you think I have self-loathing issues?
Marron glanced around the square, then gestured to the jazz-playing wine bar I'd sat outside earlier.
"You wanna go get a drink?" she asked.
Heh. I could use a bit of alcohol about now. Actually, I could use a lot of alcohol about now. A truckload, in fact.
"Sure."
"Come on then." She held out her hand, her lips curving into a smile, and I gave her a doubtful look.
"What's wrong? You had no problem holding my hand before."
The girl had a point. It's weird, isn't it? Marron was right, before she knew about my feelings for her, I had no problem hugging her or holding her hand, but now, I dunno, I guess because I knew that she knew how I felt, it just made me uncomfortable. But I shrugged, trying to look un-bothered, and she slipped her hand into mine, giving it a reassuring squeeze which didn't really reassure me at all.
Our walk across the square was one of the uncomfortable silence variety, and I started to wonder whether Marron just wanted to forget the whole me- being-in-love-with-her thing, since she didn't seem to be in any type of hurry to discuss it. We waited in line to get a table, and she still didn't say anything. Finally, the waiting for someone to say something stuff got unbearable, and I opened my mouth to speak, but was cut off by the waitress, who looked me up and down, flashed me a smile, and took my arm, saying; "This way, please, Sir."
Marron smirked, leaning towards me. "Can't take you anywhere without you managing to score." She whispered. "I guess I should be honoured you chose me."
Although this could be interpreted as a subtle bit of flirting, I wasn't really in the mood for Marron making jokes about my feelings for her, while at the same time avoiding telling me what she thought about the whole situation.
Once we got a table inside the bar, my stroppy inner child kicked in, and I sat back in my chair sullenly as Marron glanced at the menu. I sucked my lower lip for a while, but stopped when I realised how immature it made me look, and instead settled for studying the patterns the light made on the table-top. There was a fish tank nearby, and the reflection of the water was making weird swirly shapes. A waiter came and went, I paid no attention; my sub-conscious had convinced me it was a good idea to go out of my way to be difficult until I got an explanation from Marron. Like why she'd actually come to see me, and why she'd not even mentioned the earlier incident.
"Trunks, are you actually going to bother looking at me at all?" Marron asked, and I kept my gaze trained on the table, but answered her.
"Depends."
"On what?"
"On whether you tell me what you feel knowing what you know."
She didn't answer, and I raised my eyes slightly, to lock my gaze with hers.
"Well, that depends." She replied, putting down her napkin.
"On what?"
"On whether you're actually gonna stick around to listen, or whether you're gonna smash the table and make a run for it."
She smiled, and although I was trying my hardest to stay sullen, I couldn't help but smile back.
"Okay, it's a deal."
More silence.
"Trunks?" Marron said finally.
"Mm?"
"Remember how Goten told you I had a crush on you back when you'd just finished high school?"
I nodded. I'd laughed it off back then, told Goten that he was only saying that because of how much time we spent together, and that there was such a thing as a guy/girl friendship that didn't need to develop into a full blown screw-athon. Funny, because all my friendships with girls seemed to develop into just that. Well, apart from Paresu. And Pan. And, of course, Marron.
"Well, you know how you asked me about it and I said Goten was lying?"
"...Mm?" What was this? Some abstract way of letting me down gently?
She lowered her eyes, and her voice was so quiet that I had to lean forward to listen.
"Well, Goten wasn't the one who was lying." she told me.
"So you had a crush on me?" I asked slowly, trying to keep the satisfaction out of my voice. After a long pause, she raised her head once more.
"Have." She corrected.
...Huh. You know what? I actually think I just forgot how to breathe.
~~~~
A/N: Took me a month, but I did it. ^^ Did I spell bitage right? Actually, I don't think it's even a word, but oh well. Made up words rock! *grin* I'd like to thank you guys for reviewing and saying such warm fuzzy feeling inducing things. And to everyone who told me that they knew how I felt, extra thanks goes to you guys. It really helped me to start feeling better, knowing that I wasn't the only one. *smile* Apparently it's just a mild case of depression, and it's normal, considering life-stuff at the moment. So nothing to worry about. ^_^ As always, review and tell me what you thought, although you may not kill me for finishing where I did. *wicked grin*
Aerith