Author's Note: so, I've begun to protest outside of that big corporation
building--demanding that they restore me to power. For some reason, I keep
getting these strange looks! Like they have no idea what it is I'm going
on about!! Hmm, imagine that. . . . So! As I've said before, I do NOT
own Sailor Moon or anything of the like (can you imagine what kind of
talent I'd have to have to think up something so utterly ingenious?!?--not
happening!!), but I am a severe fan gone mad. . . . Shucks, darn! Oh well,
on with the story!!! I love all my R&R's! You guys make my day! This one
can be for. . . mmm. . . TALULA.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~
Endymion was still cold by the time they returned from the tavern. Sure, it wasn't the smartest thing in the world to go riding out into below- freezing weather soaking wet with ice water, but he could never have let the ordango-atama have the satisfaction of seeing him go back into the house and change because of something SHE did. He just knew that her grin of success would push him into insanity. 'Serenity' indeed!
"More like 'Dissonance,'" the shivering soldier muttered as he grabbed his bedclothes from his travel pack.
The room Lord Tsuniko had prepared for him was nothing short of amazing. A large window jutted out towards the fields of snow outside with seats beneath the white sill for him to sit on. His bed was covered in fleece and fur, the pillows filled with goose-down and other soft feathers. When he had first sat on the bed, he had thought it to be too soft, but upon spending some time enveloped in the endless warmth of the bed, Endymion concluded that he could not have had a better place to sleep. Currently, however, the chill in his body had settled deep in his bones and was forbidding any such rest.
Endymion sat up and glanced around the room for the towels he had requested the servant bring him. He caught sight of the plain white terrycloth draped over the chair beside the window. The bath was not far from his room and so when he slipped from his room in his bedclothes, he did not expect to run into anyone. The tiles were cold against his bare feet as they slapped quietly against the floor. Only three candles were lit in the hallway, one of which continuously flickered in an unseen breeze. The door to the bathing room was open, the lights inside were off, and Endymion quickly entered the room, lighting a small torch-like candle that hung on the wall.
Hot coals were already warming the bath in the center of the warm room. A fire burned in the hearth at the far corner. Lord Tsuniko had mentioned that he often took advantage of a warm bath in the middle of the night; it apparently helped him to sleep. The noble had also promised that the soldiers would not need fear an interruption from him for the evening, and that they were welcome to use the bath without fear of disturbance (at which point he had looked pointedly at Zoicite and Kunzite--both of them had blushed at his comment).
Endymion tossed his towel over a small wicker chair that resided behind the door. He proceeded to remove his sleeveless white shirt and loose black pants. He placed them beside the towel, draped over the back of the chair. The room suddenly seemed cooler without clothing to warm his body, and Endymion quickly submerged his sore, staunch muscles into the wet heat, the spa-like water immediately enveloping his solid, sinewy form. His ice-blue eyes closed as he relaxed; for the first time in months, he would have some peace. . . .
Or so he thought.
The water was warm and welcoming, the silence soothing and calm, but thoughts of Serenity--the very source of his initial cold--swamped his mind and obliterated any hope of repose. He tried positioning himself differently, placing his back towards the door, or facing the fire; he tried humming random tunes that came into mind; he tried to think of his assignment with the northern military. . . of the manor. . . of Lord Tsuniko's hospitality. . . of Zoicite and Kunzite. . .of . . .
. . .it really was no use, Serenity was still in the recesses of his mind, forcing her way into his foremost conscious.
Accompanying thoughts of the young woman who had so easily evaded him and made a mockery of his anger, were emotions close to rage. Endymion found himself tensing--as though he had cause to defend himself from physical harm--as he thought of how confident she seemed, appeared, looked, behaved. . . . His sore muscles knew no rest despite the soothing warmth of the water. As though it wasn't enough that she should disturb his sleep (partially because he was too cold to get comfortable, but mostly because his mind could not be silenced), now she disturbed him from enjoying a bath.
"This is ridiculous," he muttered beneath his breath as he pushed his hair from his eyes with a wet hand. His ebony strands stuck up in strange spikes, but remained out of his cold blue twin orbs and allowed him better sight. He shifted himself so that he was facing the wall perpendicular to the bathing room's doorway. Settling deeper into the hot bath, he closed his eyes and tried to shut out his annoyance with Serenity.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~
Serenity could not sleep. Try as she might, the young woman could do nothing but toss and turn with thoughts of Shingo's health. Even when her hyperactive mind had calmed thoughts of her sickly brother, Serenity did not know rest. . . thoughts of the man who had made her so anger earlier refused to let her be. Consequently, when Serenity jolted upright in a fury of rage she nearly screamed in frustration.
"This is ridiculous!! Why can't I just forget HIM!!!! Is HE going to haunt me FOREVER?!?!" she clutched a teddy bear by its neck and proceeded to wring its stuffing until she realized what she was doing. Her crystalline eyes widened, and she hugged the bear to apologize. "I'm sorry. . . . He has me going insane, doesn't he? And you want to know the worst thing?"
The bear stared at her with its black button eyes, but said nothing. Serenity took the bear's silence as an affirmation to her question.
"I might have to see HIM again! He has to come back for his horse-- the poor animal! I can't even imagine what absolute TORTURE it must be to have HIM as an owner! I wouldn't wish that fate on anyone!!" she snuggled with the bear and tried to sleep yet again, but dreams and rest continued to evade her. "I HATE HIM!!!!!!!"
Serenity left the stuffed animal on the bed and jumped from the raised platform where her mattress lay. She began to pace. Her bare feet thumped inaudibly on the long slates of wood on her bedroom floor. She wished that someone else was up so that she would have someone to talk to, have someone suffer with her and share her misery. In her mind, Endymion did not deserve her time in any form; yet here she was being forced to devote endless hours to thoughts and emotions regarding how much she 'despised' him. She had conflicted with people before, but never had they kept her up until all hours of the night!
"I bet you he cursed me, teddy. I bet you that he's a witch--or a warlock, whatever--and I bet you that he's just killing himself laughing about how much fun it is to keep me awake!" she jutted out her bottom lip and stomped her foot in a childish fashion. In a more quiet voice she continued. "I hate him!"
She continued in this manner for nearly a half hour before deciding that she would not be able to sleep. Pulling open the small closet in the corner of her humble room, Serenity removed a small baby blue terrycloth towel; it was the last one in the closet for some reason. Under normal circumstances, she would have a number of larger towels, but the servants did not seem to have filled it yet. Serenity dismissed the shortage; she could easily do without the luxury. Skirting quietly from her bedroom, she made her way to the bathing room. If she couldn't sleep, at least she could try to relax. . .
. . .right?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~
Lights were on in the bathing room when Serenity approached. She slowed her steps and tiptoed up to the closed door. Her father would often have bathes late at night, but he would sing or make some form of noise while in the bath. Pressing her ear to the door, Serenity did not hear anyone inside of the room. Experimentally tugging on the doorknob, she found that it was unlocked--her father must have simply forgotten to extinguish the candle when he had finished. Pushing the door open, Serenity entered the bathing room and closed the door behind her just as Kunzite and Zoicite rounded the far corner of the long hallway.
Endymion opened his eyes and looked up to find *his* ordango-atama beginning to pull her socks off while facing the doorway. A devilish grin spread across his face; he knew that she would not do anything of the sort had she known that he was in the room. "Is this how you greet everyone, ordango-atama? Or is this just my own special treatment?"
A loud scream silenced any following commentary from the soldier as Serenity threw herself behind the wicker chair and peeked out from the back. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY BATH!?!?!?"
Without shame, Endymion cast her a sideways glance, arms raised above his head, and arched one of his ebony eyebrows. "I thought that I might try to relax, maybe get back some of the heat that YOU stole from me today!" he retorted heatedly; unconsciously, he was deeply amused with Serenity's dark blush and angry features. "What are YOU doing INVADING?"
"How can I possibly be 'INVADING' in my own house!?!?!" she spat. "Aren't you supposed to be out whoring, LORDLING?"
Endymion glared. "I don't go 'whoring,' ordango."
"Being sexually promiscuous then," she glared; his disheveled, wet hair nearly broke her composure--he looked so cute.
"I don't do that," Endymion found himself trying to best the young woman's glare just as he had before the ice water had ran down his back and into his clothing.
"I don't really care if you do or not, lordling," she snapped. The pair fell silent, Serenity looking everywhere but at him, Endymion staring directly at her. She finally restored her previous glare. "Could you just turn around so I could leave?"
Endymion laughed at her bashfulness. "Excuse me, ordango, but I am the one who has nothing on, here. Perhaps you should be the one to turn around while I get out," he liked the way her eyes flared when she was angry, although this penchant was only alive in his subconscious. He would never admit anything of the sort to himself. Serenity had dropped her innocent blue eyes again, and Endymion suddenly felt some regret for putting her in such an awkward situation. "You can have your bath, ordango. I'm done."
"Like I'm going to go into anything that you've touched, lordling!" she squawked in revolt.
Endymion's regret dripped away. "Either way, ordango-atama, I'm getting out."
Serenity grabbed his shirt from over the chair and pulling it over her spaghetti-strap nightgown. Endymion watched, not quite sure what she was doing. When she grabbed his towel and wrapped it around her waist, he began to get concerned.
"What are you doing, ordango?"
"Leaving," she murmured while casting a vicious glare in his direction. "You have no sense, lordling. First you would ride a lame horse--"
"I did not ride my horse," he said defensively. "I rode Kunzite's mare."
Serenity stood up having properly concealed her bare shoulders and legs. "I really don't care!" she said exasperated; she still had not moved from behind the wicker chair. "You have no brain at all!"
"Where did you form that conclusion?! I--"
"You forced me into that conclusion, lordling! Within the first moments that I saw you!!" she threw her balled-up blue towel at him. "You nearly killed me!!!"
"Killed you?! Are you insane?! No, wait, you don't NEED to answer that!" Endymion shook his head at her. "I would not have hurt you in the barn. Even if Zoicite and Nephrite weren't there."
"The barn?!" Serenity looked at him with disbelief. "You're an idiot! I'm not talking about the barn!"
"When else have I EVER had to put up with you?! I think that I'd remember the headache!"
Serenity crossed her arms. "I'll throw harder next time so you don't forget!!"
Endymion looked at the wet towel floating in the bath with a confusion. It took him a while to piece together what miniscule hints he had been given, to realize that it was her that had so accurately thrown the iceball at him. "That was you?"
Serenity's eyes narrowed. "So nice of you to finally figure that out, lordling! Do you think that I'm like this to everyone?!"
Endymion's devilish grin returned. "No. . . we already established that this was not the way that you greeted everyone. I apparently get special treatment."
Serenity's hands clamped into angry fists as she was reminded of Endymion's condition. The two remained silent as they glared at each other. Her cheeks flushed to a deeper red, and she turned towards the door. . .
. . . just as Kunzite and Zoicite swung the thick entrance open.
Serenity fell back against the wall, her hand jumping to her already- swelling forehead. Kunzite popped his head around the door to see what he had opened it into, and his eyes widened in guilt. He was quickly by the stunned woman's side, pulling her hand from the wound. Zoicite, on the other hand, was muffling laughter behind her hand. She thought it particularly amusing to find the irritable soldier in the bath naked, looking more than ready to leap from the water, with such interesting company. Her fun, however, was cut short when Endymion motioned for her to bring him her towel.
"Are you alright, Serenity? I am so sorry. I had no idea that you would be here, much less behind the door," Kunzite murmured as he inspected the lump with light fingers and tender care. "Lord Tsuniko told us to simply listen at the door, and if we did not hear anything, to push against it. We were under the impression that it would have been locked were anyone in here."
"We stopped yelling at a bad time, I guess," Serenity murmured in a daze. Her head throbbed in pain, and before Kunzite had pulled her hand away, she had felt quite a large rise where her hair met her forehead.
"I thought I did lock," Endymion muttered beneath his breath as Zoicite retrieved the young man's clothing from the wicker chair. She spared a glance at Serenity's bump and sighed--that would definitely leave a mark.
"Zoi?" Kunzite called quietly. "Would you mind taking Serenity back to her room? She says that she can go by herself, but I would rather be safe."
Zoicite cast a wistful glance at Kunzite before nodding her head in agreement. She doubted that Serenity would allow Endymion bring her back, and she would be too jealous if Kunzite even entered the younger woman's room. "Of course."
Endymion shook off his concern as Zoicite supported Serenity and slipped a stabling arm around the dazed woman's petite waist. He stood in nothing but his pants, beads of water dripping down his back and chest as it fell from his tousled hair. When the two females had left, Kunzite raised a single silver eyebrow at Endymion. "Yelling?"
"She's infuriating," the younger soldier responded with a glare.
"Infuriating?"
Endymion threw one of his hands towards the door in a frustrated gesture. "Everything she does is to spite me! She stole my shirt!!! And my towel!! Do you think that I'll see either of those again? I personally think that she'll burn them or drag them through the swine's pen!"
"Such faith," Kunzite smirked. "Zoi did something like that to me once. Only she stole my sword and had it broken into five pieces. She tried to kill me with each of those splintered blades, you know."
Endymion walked past the soldier shaking his head of ebony hair. "And how did you two end up together."
"She figured that I was worth it after I stole back the fifth piece during our last fight," Kunzite laughed. "She's a spirited little thing-- so cute, persistent."
The younger soldier had to laugh. He often wondered if Kunzite would find a blood-soaked youma 'cute' if it showed just as much persistence. Endymion excused himself from the bathing room and made his way back to his own quarters. Zoicite emerged from one of the rooms further down the hall and motioned for him to stop before going into his own.
"She will be fine, Endymion. Although she will have a lump for the next few days," Zoicite smirked.
"Why would I care?"
Zoicite narrowed her fiery eyes at him. "I'm not stupid, Endymion. I saw how you nearly leapt out of the bath--completely naked!--to help her. Had I not brought you the towel fast enough, I think you would have."
"At least now she really can't object when I call her 'ordango- atama."
Zoicite gave him an odd look, not having heard what he said. "What?"
Endymion rolled his eyes as though he was a child being lectured. "Nothing, Zoicite. I think Kunzite's waiting for you."
Zoicite slapped his bare stomach, the impact hurting her more than him because he tensed. She offered him one of her playful, wolfish smiles. "You can tell me whatever you want, Endymion. I only thought that you might want to know."
Endymion watched the general return to the bathing room. He felt nearly embarrassed by what she said, although he could not understand why. His ice-blue eyes traced up the hallway to the doorway where Serenity was presumably staying. Realizing what he was doing, the soldier forced himself into his room and onto his bed. Somewhere only moments before dawn, Endymion finally fell asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~
Endymion was still cold by the time they returned from the tavern. Sure, it wasn't the smartest thing in the world to go riding out into below- freezing weather soaking wet with ice water, but he could never have let the ordango-atama have the satisfaction of seeing him go back into the house and change because of something SHE did. He just knew that her grin of success would push him into insanity. 'Serenity' indeed!
"More like 'Dissonance,'" the shivering soldier muttered as he grabbed his bedclothes from his travel pack.
The room Lord Tsuniko had prepared for him was nothing short of amazing. A large window jutted out towards the fields of snow outside with seats beneath the white sill for him to sit on. His bed was covered in fleece and fur, the pillows filled with goose-down and other soft feathers. When he had first sat on the bed, he had thought it to be too soft, but upon spending some time enveloped in the endless warmth of the bed, Endymion concluded that he could not have had a better place to sleep. Currently, however, the chill in his body had settled deep in his bones and was forbidding any such rest.
Endymion sat up and glanced around the room for the towels he had requested the servant bring him. He caught sight of the plain white terrycloth draped over the chair beside the window. The bath was not far from his room and so when he slipped from his room in his bedclothes, he did not expect to run into anyone. The tiles were cold against his bare feet as they slapped quietly against the floor. Only three candles were lit in the hallway, one of which continuously flickered in an unseen breeze. The door to the bathing room was open, the lights inside were off, and Endymion quickly entered the room, lighting a small torch-like candle that hung on the wall.
Hot coals were already warming the bath in the center of the warm room. A fire burned in the hearth at the far corner. Lord Tsuniko had mentioned that he often took advantage of a warm bath in the middle of the night; it apparently helped him to sleep. The noble had also promised that the soldiers would not need fear an interruption from him for the evening, and that they were welcome to use the bath without fear of disturbance (at which point he had looked pointedly at Zoicite and Kunzite--both of them had blushed at his comment).
Endymion tossed his towel over a small wicker chair that resided behind the door. He proceeded to remove his sleeveless white shirt and loose black pants. He placed them beside the towel, draped over the back of the chair. The room suddenly seemed cooler without clothing to warm his body, and Endymion quickly submerged his sore, staunch muscles into the wet heat, the spa-like water immediately enveloping his solid, sinewy form. His ice-blue eyes closed as he relaxed; for the first time in months, he would have some peace. . . .
Or so he thought.
The water was warm and welcoming, the silence soothing and calm, but thoughts of Serenity--the very source of his initial cold--swamped his mind and obliterated any hope of repose. He tried positioning himself differently, placing his back towards the door, or facing the fire; he tried humming random tunes that came into mind; he tried to think of his assignment with the northern military. . . of the manor. . . of Lord Tsuniko's hospitality. . . of Zoicite and Kunzite. . .of . . .
. . .it really was no use, Serenity was still in the recesses of his mind, forcing her way into his foremost conscious.
Accompanying thoughts of the young woman who had so easily evaded him and made a mockery of his anger, were emotions close to rage. Endymion found himself tensing--as though he had cause to defend himself from physical harm--as he thought of how confident she seemed, appeared, looked, behaved. . . . His sore muscles knew no rest despite the soothing warmth of the water. As though it wasn't enough that she should disturb his sleep (partially because he was too cold to get comfortable, but mostly because his mind could not be silenced), now she disturbed him from enjoying a bath.
"This is ridiculous," he muttered beneath his breath as he pushed his hair from his eyes with a wet hand. His ebony strands stuck up in strange spikes, but remained out of his cold blue twin orbs and allowed him better sight. He shifted himself so that he was facing the wall perpendicular to the bathing room's doorway. Settling deeper into the hot bath, he closed his eyes and tried to shut out his annoyance with Serenity.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~
Serenity could not sleep. Try as she might, the young woman could do nothing but toss and turn with thoughts of Shingo's health. Even when her hyperactive mind had calmed thoughts of her sickly brother, Serenity did not know rest. . . thoughts of the man who had made her so anger earlier refused to let her be. Consequently, when Serenity jolted upright in a fury of rage she nearly screamed in frustration.
"This is ridiculous!! Why can't I just forget HIM!!!! Is HE going to haunt me FOREVER?!?!" she clutched a teddy bear by its neck and proceeded to wring its stuffing until she realized what she was doing. Her crystalline eyes widened, and she hugged the bear to apologize. "I'm sorry. . . . He has me going insane, doesn't he? And you want to know the worst thing?"
The bear stared at her with its black button eyes, but said nothing. Serenity took the bear's silence as an affirmation to her question.
"I might have to see HIM again! He has to come back for his horse-- the poor animal! I can't even imagine what absolute TORTURE it must be to have HIM as an owner! I wouldn't wish that fate on anyone!!" she snuggled with the bear and tried to sleep yet again, but dreams and rest continued to evade her. "I HATE HIM!!!!!!!"
Serenity left the stuffed animal on the bed and jumped from the raised platform where her mattress lay. She began to pace. Her bare feet thumped inaudibly on the long slates of wood on her bedroom floor. She wished that someone else was up so that she would have someone to talk to, have someone suffer with her and share her misery. In her mind, Endymion did not deserve her time in any form; yet here she was being forced to devote endless hours to thoughts and emotions regarding how much she 'despised' him. She had conflicted with people before, but never had they kept her up until all hours of the night!
"I bet you he cursed me, teddy. I bet you that he's a witch--or a warlock, whatever--and I bet you that he's just killing himself laughing about how much fun it is to keep me awake!" she jutted out her bottom lip and stomped her foot in a childish fashion. In a more quiet voice she continued. "I hate him!"
She continued in this manner for nearly a half hour before deciding that she would not be able to sleep. Pulling open the small closet in the corner of her humble room, Serenity removed a small baby blue terrycloth towel; it was the last one in the closet for some reason. Under normal circumstances, she would have a number of larger towels, but the servants did not seem to have filled it yet. Serenity dismissed the shortage; she could easily do without the luxury. Skirting quietly from her bedroom, she made her way to the bathing room. If she couldn't sleep, at least she could try to relax. . .
. . .right?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~
Lights were on in the bathing room when Serenity approached. She slowed her steps and tiptoed up to the closed door. Her father would often have bathes late at night, but he would sing or make some form of noise while in the bath. Pressing her ear to the door, Serenity did not hear anyone inside of the room. Experimentally tugging on the doorknob, she found that it was unlocked--her father must have simply forgotten to extinguish the candle when he had finished. Pushing the door open, Serenity entered the bathing room and closed the door behind her just as Kunzite and Zoicite rounded the far corner of the long hallway.
Endymion opened his eyes and looked up to find *his* ordango-atama beginning to pull her socks off while facing the doorway. A devilish grin spread across his face; he knew that she would not do anything of the sort had she known that he was in the room. "Is this how you greet everyone, ordango-atama? Or is this just my own special treatment?"
A loud scream silenced any following commentary from the soldier as Serenity threw herself behind the wicker chair and peeked out from the back. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY BATH!?!?!?"
Without shame, Endymion cast her a sideways glance, arms raised above his head, and arched one of his ebony eyebrows. "I thought that I might try to relax, maybe get back some of the heat that YOU stole from me today!" he retorted heatedly; unconsciously, he was deeply amused with Serenity's dark blush and angry features. "What are YOU doing INVADING?"
"How can I possibly be 'INVADING' in my own house!?!?!" she spat. "Aren't you supposed to be out whoring, LORDLING?"
Endymion glared. "I don't go 'whoring,' ordango."
"Being sexually promiscuous then," she glared; his disheveled, wet hair nearly broke her composure--he looked so cute.
"I don't do that," Endymion found himself trying to best the young woman's glare just as he had before the ice water had ran down his back and into his clothing.
"I don't really care if you do or not, lordling," she snapped. The pair fell silent, Serenity looking everywhere but at him, Endymion staring directly at her. She finally restored her previous glare. "Could you just turn around so I could leave?"
Endymion laughed at her bashfulness. "Excuse me, ordango, but I am the one who has nothing on, here. Perhaps you should be the one to turn around while I get out," he liked the way her eyes flared when she was angry, although this penchant was only alive in his subconscious. He would never admit anything of the sort to himself. Serenity had dropped her innocent blue eyes again, and Endymion suddenly felt some regret for putting her in such an awkward situation. "You can have your bath, ordango. I'm done."
"Like I'm going to go into anything that you've touched, lordling!" she squawked in revolt.
Endymion's regret dripped away. "Either way, ordango-atama, I'm getting out."
Serenity grabbed his shirt from over the chair and pulling it over her spaghetti-strap nightgown. Endymion watched, not quite sure what she was doing. When she grabbed his towel and wrapped it around her waist, he began to get concerned.
"What are you doing, ordango?"
"Leaving," she murmured while casting a vicious glare in his direction. "You have no sense, lordling. First you would ride a lame horse--"
"I did not ride my horse," he said defensively. "I rode Kunzite's mare."
Serenity stood up having properly concealed her bare shoulders and legs. "I really don't care!" she said exasperated; she still had not moved from behind the wicker chair. "You have no brain at all!"
"Where did you form that conclusion?! I--"
"You forced me into that conclusion, lordling! Within the first moments that I saw you!!" she threw her balled-up blue towel at him. "You nearly killed me!!!"
"Killed you?! Are you insane?! No, wait, you don't NEED to answer that!" Endymion shook his head at her. "I would not have hurt you in the barn. Even if Zoicite and Nephrite weren't there."
"The barn?!" Serenity looked at him with disbelief. "You're an idiot! I'm not talking about the barn!"
"When else have I EVER had to put up with you?! I think that I'd remember the headache!"
Serenity crossed her arms. "I'll throw harder next time so you don't forget!!"
Endymion looked at the wet towel floating in the bath with a confusion. It took him a while to piece together what miniscule hints he had been given, to realize that it was her that had so accurately thrown the iceball at him. "That was you?"
Serenity's eyes narrowed. "So nice of you to finally figure that out, lordling! Do you think that I'm like this to everyone?!"
Endymion's devilish grin returned. "No. . . we already established that this was not the way that you greeted everyone. I apparently get special treatment."
Serenity's hands clamped into angry fists as she was reminded of Endymion's condition. The two remained silent as they glared at each other. Her cheeks flushed to a deeper red, and she turned towards the door. . .
. . . just as Kunzite and Zoicite swung the thick entrance open.
Serenity fell back against the wall, her hand jumping to her already- swelling forehead. Kunzite popped his head around the door to see what he had opened it into, and his eyes widened in guilt. He was quickly by the stunned woman's side, pulling her hand from the wound. Zoicite, on the other hand, was muffling laughter behind her hand. She thought it particularly amusing to find the irritable soldier in the bath naked, looking more than ready to leap from the water, with such interesting company. Her fun, however, was cut short when Endymion motioned for her to bring him her towel.
"Are you alright, Serenity? I am so sorry. I had no idea that you would be here, much less behind the door," Kunzite murmured as he inspected the lump with light fingers and tender care. "Lord Tsuniko told us to simply listen at the door, and if we did not hear anything, to push against it. We were under the impression that it would have been locked were anyone in here."
"We stopped yelling at a bad time, I guess," Serenity murmured in a daze. Her head throbbed in pain, and before Kunzite had pulled her hand away, she had felt quite a large rise where her hair met her forehead.
"I thought I did lock," Endymion muttered beneath his breath as Zoicite retrieved the young man's clothing from the wicker chair. She spared a glance at Serenity's bump and sighed--that would definitely leave a mark.
"Zoi?" Kunzite called quietly. "Would you mind taking Serenity back to her room? She says that she can go by herself, but I would rather be safe."
Zoicite cast a wistful glance at Kunzite before nodding her head in agreement. She doubted that Serenity would allow Endymion bring her back, and she would be too jealous if Kunzite even entered the younger woman's room. "Of course."
Endymion shook off his concern as Zoicite supported Serenity and slipped a stabling arm around the dazed woman's petite waist. He stood in nothing but his pants, beads of water dripping down his back and chest as it fell from his tousled hair. When the two females had left, Kunzite raised a single silver eyebrow at Endymion. "Yelling?"
"She's infuriating," the younger soldier responded with a glare.
"Infuriating?"
Endymion threw one of his hands towards the door in a frustrated gesture. "Everything she does is to spite me! She stole my shirt!!! And my towel!! Do you think that I'll see either of those again? I personally think that she'll burn them or drag them through the swine's pen!"
"Such faith," Kunzite smirked. "Zoi did something like that to me once. Only she stole my sword and had it broken into five pieces. She tried to kill me with each of those splintered blades, you know."
Endymion walked past the soldier shaking his head of ebony hair. "And how did you two end up together."
"She figured that I was worth it after I stole back the fifth piece during our last fight," Kunzite laughed. "She's a spirited little thing-- so cute, persistent."
The younger soldier had to laugh. He often wondered if Kunzite would find a blood-soaked youma 'cute' if it showed just as much persistence. Endymion excused himself from the bathing room and made his way back to his own quarters. Zoicite emerged from one of the rooms further down the hall and motioned for him to stop before going into his own.
"She will be fine, Endymion. Although she will have a lump for the next few days," Zoicite smirked.
"Why would I care?"
Zoicite narrowed her fiery eyes at him. "I'm not stupid, Endymion. I saw how you nearly leapt out of the bath--completely naked!--to help her. Had I not brought you the towel fast enough, I think you would have."
"At least now she really can't object when I call her 'ordango- atama."
Zoicite gave him an odd look, not having heard what he said. "What?"
Endymion rolled his eyes as though he was a child being lectured. "Nothing, Zoicite. I think Kunzite's waiting for you."
Zoicite slapped his bare stomach, the impact hurting her more than him because he tensed. She offered him one of her playful, wolfish smiles. "You can tell me whatever you want, Endymion. I only thought that you might want to know."
Endymion watched the general return to the bathing room. He felt nearly embarrassed by what she said, although he could not understand why. His ice-blue eyes traced up the hallway to the doorway where Serenity was presumably staying. Realizing what he was doing, the soldier forced himself into his room and onto his bed. Somewhere only moments before dawn, Endymion finally fell asleep.
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