I know, I know, I won't say much except LET'S GET IT ON!!!
Love in the Garden of EdenIt was a LONG trip.
Agent Pleakley wasn't allowed to smoke for two long stretches of flight time, during which he was tempted to poke out an eye with his fork. It didn't help matters that he as sitting right next to the world's crabbiest CIA operative. Every time he tried to start up some conversation with Cobra Bubbles, he would receive a look that made him swallow his tongue. Talking to Cobra was like talking to a stone wall, except more unfriendly.
But now it was over and they were on the solid ground of the Lihue Airport in Kauai.
"Oh yes, baby, yes," Pleakley mumbled as he reached for a cigarette and started to spark up. Before the heavenly silver cloud could reach his lungs, however, the tiny little fag was snatched from his lips and once again brusquely murdered by Agent Bubbles, who didn't even bother to look at him.
"He's here." Bubbles simply informed a dismayed and jet lagged Pleakley, who turned his head to see a group of rather solemn looking men head towards them. Pleakley remained silent as a large and powerful-looking Samoan man dressed in a U.S. army officer's uniform came up and greeted them.
"Agents Bubbles and Peckley of the CIA, I presume." The tall Samoan, who overshadowed even Cobra spoke in a low and booming voice.
"Yes, that's us." Agent Bubbles shook his hand in return.
"Uh, actually, it's, ah, Agent Pleakley…" Pleakley weakly interjected.
"We've been expecting your arrival. Welcome to Hawaii. I'm Captain Mataafa Gantu of Army Intelligence, and as I've been told, we seem to have a…situation on our hands." The man shook Bubble's hand back.
"It's quite an uncommon name, if you think about it…" Pleakley continued.
"Yes. Well, we'll fill you in on
the details. But we're hoping that we'll have the full
cooperation of the military in this urgent and delicate matter,
Captain." Bubbles looked Gantu in the eye.
"P…L…E…A…"
"You can guarantee I'll have my best men on this as soon as we're informed. I want to make it clear, though, that all further actions will be taken by my forces and my forces only."
"Understood." Bubbles agreed stolidly. "Agent Pleakley." he called behind him.
"Yes?" Pleakley snapped to attention.
"I want you to help out Captain Cantu in any way you can. Fill him in on the details."
Pleakley perked up. "Really? Me?"
"Yes," Gantu pulled a briefcase from his comrade, opened it and pulled a rather large stack of papers from it, which he handed to Pleakley. "I need you to fill out these forms. Much obliged, Agent Ti-leaf."
"Pleakley," Pleakley glumly corrected him.
"Excuse you," Gantu misunderstood.
Pleakley could feel that somewhere, deep inside his head, his brain was kicking itself.
The shrill note of a conch shell broke the heavy night air. A man's voice soon followed in singsong Hawaiian chant, and drums soon pounded in response. On the stage of the Birds of Paradise's recreation area was a young Hawaiian man, about twenty something, dressed in traditional hula garb and holding two double-tipped torches. As the chanting began, the man let out a primal scream and set the torches ablaze and began his fire dance. As he twirled and twirled the tourists oohed and ahhed, and some snapped photos.
Stitch couldn't care less. He sat in his chair wearing not a detached look, but one of frustration. He stared at Lilo across from him. Man, had she turned out to be annoying. Were all girls his age like her? She really ran her mouth off the first hour, and he was glad he didn't have to say a goddamn thing because of his guise. He never killed women, but sometimes he really felt the itch with her. He felt uncomfortable. He had never been with the opposite gender for this long. Jumba had once explained to him about the birds and the bees but he hadn't really elaborated on anything, except the importance of baseball or soccer or something like that.
Jumba. Thinking about him put a pit in Stitch's stomach, a black seed of rage that made him vow to put all feelings aside and concentrate on his task ahead. He would not get side tracked, would not rest until Hamsterveil was good and dead. That he promised…
Still, he couldn't help but snicker a little when he noticed the dancer had lit himself and the stage on fire, though.
"You know, you still haven't told me your real name." Lilo reminded him from his side.
He tried to ignore her, then started picking at the tablecloth.
"I see. You've still got a long way to go, I guess."
He looked up and gave her a 'long way to what?' kind of look.
"You're a good person, I can tell. I'm usually good at these kinds of things. But you've probably been through a lot, 'cus now you're so…I don't know. I think it'll take a long time for you to warm up. Start trusting people, you know?" she suggested.
Stitch had heard enough. He scoffed, turned his head and pretended to ignore her again.
Lilo sighed and pulled a lock of hair behind her ear. Okay, the plan had worked as she had hoped for, but now that she had the mysterious stranger here she couldn't think of anything to say or do. It was always different on TV, or in movies. Something would happen; he or she would say something and strike up a conversation that was sweet and witty, but no too witty, and then they would end up spontaneously kissing like gourami fishes. It just didn't happen like that in real life, did it? Oh God, Lilo thought, rubbing her head in her palms, I watch too much OC…
Nani came up to the table in a green muumuu uniform and served two plates.
"Here you go. If you guys need any…" Nani looked in the distance and stopped. "Oh, no. God, I hope he didn't see me…"
"Hey, Nani!" the young Hawaiian dancer from the stage came up, slightly burnt, as an employee suddenly walked up and sprayed him with a fire extinguisher. "Hey, Lilo! Who's your friend?"
"Hey, David," Lilo greeted. "This is Johnny Stitch. He's an exchange student from Russia."
"'Eh, brah!" David stretched out a hand. "I never knew Johnny was a Russian name."
Stitch gave him the thousand-mile-stare only the few who have killed grown men possess.
David retracted his hand. "Sorry, yea." He turned to Nani. "Howzit, Nani?"
"Hi, David." Nani smiled a little in return. "I saw your performance. Er, nice show."
David blushed slightly and straightened his hair. "You were watching? Well, I did manage to keep the fire from spreading this time."
"Yeah," Nani picked up two empty cups from the next table and tried to hurry away. "See you later."
"So, uh, Nani," David followed her, "I know we both are off on Saturday, and I know you usually say you have overtime, but I was wondering if you might want to see a movie, or something. With me."
"Sorry, David, but I really do need the extra bucks. Things have been real tight this month, and I gotta pay the electric bill. You know how it is."
"Yeah, I do. But you don't have any free time at all? I mean, remember how we used to hang out together all the time in high school?"
"It's different now, David." Nani sighed.
"Yeah, I know I used to have acne-"
"No, I mean, things have changed. Ever since…well, Lilo's growing up now, and times are different. That's all."
"Okay." David nodded a little sadly.
"Well, I gotta go," Nani walked away. "Looks like some kids throwing poi again."
David stood there, staring at her leave.
"Don't give up. She'll turn around eventually. You just gotta give these things time and effort," Lilo cheered him on.
David smiled. "You really think so?"
"Yeah. And prayer always helps. In her case, lots and lots of prayer."
He looked a little less enthusiastic about that part.
Stitch rolled his eyes and got up. Then he walked away.
"Where's he going?" David asked.
"Oh, he just needs to use the bathroom," Lilo explained.
"How do you know?" David scratched his head.
"I just do." Lilo answered matter-of-factly.
Stitch stepped out into a small garden area, where he thought he could get some peace and quiet. This just didn't suit him at all. Yes, he was used to being surrounded by loud noises, but they were usually gunshots and bombs, not talking people. He didn't want any of this, and he didn't think he could handle the situation. He would likely either snap or someone would discover him.
Stitch turned his head around and looked around him at garden. Thinking about being out of place just made him more paranoid than ever, and he didn't like how quiet it was. There didn't appear to be a living soul around among the dark bushes, blushing red plumeria and silent birds-of-paradise, and that worried him. He listened real attentively for a minute, then shrugged it off, convinced there was nothing. As he turned back around, though, the bushes behind him parted and six dark shadows aimed strange looking guns at his back. Stitch remained still in contemplation as a lone arm of a shadow raised in the air, then quickly came down. At this signal, six barrels fired a volley of tranquilizer darts at him. Stitch writhed as he was hit many times, then slumped over quietly and hit the ground. The assailants could hardly believe their luck. They rashly stood up and walked over to the still body, gingerly holding their guns on him.
"Did we get him?" one asked the others.
"Affirmative," the other answered.
Suddenly, Stitch opened his eyes and jumped to his feet. Before the attackers could fire, however, he opened his palms to reveal the darts he had caught. He threw them and struck three assailants, who dropped like stones to the ground The other two pulled out tactical knives and surrounded Stitch. He smirked slightly as they rushed in to attack him. One assailant came too early, and as he lunged Stitch pulled his arm in, broke it, and flipped him onto the ground. The other two got the idea, and attacked together. Stitch grabbed onto the bough of the tree above him and swung around as the two passed under him, then looked up in confusion as Stitch came fully round and crashed his legs into their heads. He dropped to the ground, but heard a groan to his side. The assailant whose arm he broke was trying to raise a silenced pistol at him, but his arm was shaking too badly to aim. Stitch calmly walked over and snatched the gun, then aimed it coldly at the man's head. The assailant gasped and started to whimper, but Stitch remained his cool composure as he squeezed the trigger tighter and tighter-
"There you are!" a voice interrupted him from the side.
With quick reflexes, Stitch kicked the man away into the bushes and hid the gun behind his back.
Lilo walked up to him in the garden, and Stitch thought he was going to have an aneurism.
"What are you doing here?" she came so close to him he instinctively backed away. She sat down on a bench nearby, separating Stitch and the still breathing assailant.
Uh oh. Stitch thought.
Lilo looked up into the starry night, yet unmarred by the pollution of big cities.
"It's a beautiful night, eh?"
Stitch saw the bushes shake behind the bench, and quickly sat down next to Lilo.
She looked at him in surprise. Was he thinking about her? Her mind raced. Her body shivered, partly from the night air, and partly from anticipation.
"You're different from any other boy I know. I know we haven't really known each other too long, but I can tell you're different. You're… quiet, reserved. Sometimes I feel like you too, mad at the world. We're both alike."
Damn, he's not dead yet, Stitch watched the bush intently as it shake.
"I hope you and I can get along. It would be pretty nice to have a friend. Or maybe-"
Suddenly, Stitch moved closer to her. Lilo saw that he was so shy, he couldn't even look her in the eyes as he closed the gap between them.
She blushed. Was he feeling something? She hoped a little. Was he starting to warm up to her?
In actuality, Stitch was eyeing the downed assailant. Oh man, he's regaining consciousness… he noted. As the man started to get up, quickly pulled his gun from behind his back, bearing it closer to his victim-
-And inadvertently brought his arm around Lilo's shoulders.
Before he realized what he was doing, he was in a close embrace with Lilo.
The shit has hit the proverbial fan. He told himself.
The man had fallen silent, so Stitch turned to do something to ward Lilo, but as he looked at her framed in the silver moonlight, sitting under the dark shade of the tree with him, he couldn't help but notice how pretty she was. Not drop-dead beauty, but a simple kind of beauty, and by her calm and sad expression he could tell that she had pain inside. She had depth, and he couldn't help yearning to touch a little bit of it…
Lilo looked at Stitch. His cold, hard black eyes had softened a bit somehow, and he was looking at her strangely. Her heart jumped a little bit. On an impulse, she started to move closer. Stitch didn't move; he seemed trapped in her eyes, unable and unwilling to resist. This was the moment she had waited for, and she wasn't going to miss it…
The world seemed to slow down as they sat on the cusp of the eternal kiss. The night air swirled around them with a fragrant scent of flowers, seeming to whisper, to whisper-
"Lilo!" Nani yelled, interrupting her.
Lilo felt herself miss the connection entirely, and indeed the edge of the bench as she fell over into Stitch's lap. Stitch brought his arm back, dropped the gun, and shuddered. What the hell happened?! He found himself breathing hard and sweating profusely.
As Nani came up, she found Stitch sitting on the bench and Lilo lying across his lap. Both their eyes looked up at her like two scared children, and there was something like a weird electric charge in the air. She looked at the two and frowned.
"Uh, are you okay?" she asked Lilo.
"Yeah," Lilo picked herself up with what dignity she had left, "you called?"
"Yeah, uh, we're leaving."
"Okay. "Lilo quickly got up, not bothering to look at anybody, and walked quickly towards the car.
Stitch got up, but instead met a glare given to him by Nani, a death stare that made even him gulp.
"You're sleeping in the laundry room tonight." Was all she said.
Sorry, I took so long, but I had a lot of studying to do. You know how it is. But I'll try to get new chapters up in a week or so (24 hours if pay me!)
Ha, ha, ha!
…
Please pay me.