"Good news!" Beck exclaimed, bouncing into the living room. "Lots of good news! Kushrenada-sensei had fun at the party and wants to get together like that again sometime, Usagi and Quatre want me to cater their next party, Heero challenged Trowa to a duel if you can believe that, and Lien called and said he's staying with a friend of his back in the woods west of town named Chaud, and Chaud's got a girlfriend who's supposed to be really cute, and I'm gonna visit him tomorrow! Who's coming with?"
"I'll go." Duo volunteered timidly.
"Then I'm going, too." Trowa agreed, smiling down at Duo.
"So'm I." Tasuki said, glaring at the book in front of him. "Gimme a break from all a' this gibb'rish."
"You're the one who wanted to help out with the prophesy." Beck said, shrugging. "Now, I'm gonna go pack us a lunch!"
"What the hell are you doing out here?"
"None of your fucking business." Rebbekha snapped without looking up. She'd know Seth's voice anywhere; visual confirmation was unnecessary.
"It is if you're moping around in the rain in front of my building, blocking the door." He replied. "Now, I'll ask again; what the hell are you doing out here?"
"Not that it matters, but I got kicked out." She replied acidly. "Apparently, someone with red eyes and a nasty temper, who shall remain nameless for the duration of this conversation, showed up asking for me and got fresh with the dorm mistress. So I'm out on my ass with nowhere to go. Happy?"
"Hell no. Now get off your fat ass and come inside before you catch pneumonia. I don't want to have to tell your fucking sister you died because you were too stupid to get in out of the rain."
"Here; this should fit you okay." Seth said, thrusting a plain black shirt under her nose. "Go in my room. I'll sleep on the couch tonight."
Wordlessly, Rebbekha snatched the proffered garment and stomped off to the indicated room, slamming the door behind her.
She'd managed to soak her own clothes, with the exception of her underwear, past the saturation point and wound up drenching the carpet getting undressed. Leaving her clothing in a sodden heap on the floor, she pulled on the shirt, which turned out to be too big for her, and stood in the center of the room, staring at the large unmade bed in front of her.
Seth's bed.
She'd never seen the inside of his apartment before; they didn't have that kind of a relationship. Sometimes he'd pick her up at work and take her to a hotel, but he'd never invited her home with him.
Feeling like a child sneaking candy before dinner, she sat down on the edge of the bed, surprised to find it softer than her own. She gave an experimental bounce, then pushed herself into the middle and bounced again. She bounced a little higher, then even higher than that, until she was coming completely off the bed with each bounce.
With an uncharacteristic giggle, she flopped backwards, wondering at the feel of Seth's sheets against her bare skin.
"I've never seen you so happy." Seth commented dryly from the doorway. "You'd think you were drugged, acting like a goddamn schoolgirl."
"Fuck off, Seth." She told him, sitting up and glaring at him. "It's just another one of my emotions; it should wear off soon. And don't worry, I'm not contagious."
The next thing she knew, he was on top of her, pinning her to the bed. She put up a token resistance, although both knew that he was much stronger than her. Not even what little magic the redhead possessed would get the fire demon off her.
In the familiar ritual of their long and rocky relationship, he captured her lips in a long and fierce kiss comprised more of need than any real emotion. She didn't kiss him back; she never did, no matter how much she wanted to. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction.
When he finally let her breathe again, she just lay there, glaring up at him, waiting for him to make his next move.
"You gonna fuck me or what?" She demanded when he did nothing.
"Do you love me?" He asked suddenly, shifting his weight so that he was sitting on her stomach instead of her thighs. "Or is this just lust?"
"What's the difference?" Rebbekha retorted, turning her head to stare out the window.
"Dammit, woman, I'm serious! Do you or do you not fucking love me?"
She turned back to him, staring into his eyes to gauge the fire demon's sincerity.
"Yes," She said quietly, shifting uncomfortably. "If you really must know, yes, I love you. I've loved you ever since I met you. Maybe even before."
"More than your sister?"
"I don't know." She answered honestly. "If it came down to choosing between you and her, I'd probably kill myself. What about you? Do you love me?"
"I don't even know what love is." Seth whispered, and Rebbekha could feel the pain that mystery caused him jarring through her heart like lightning. "I think⦠I hope I love you. Or else what do I have to live for?"
"Even if you don't really love me, I'm still here." She reminded him. "I don't give a damn if I'm just an object to you; as long as I'm your object, I'm fine with it."
"Good."
Rebbekha woke slowly to unfamiliar warmth. She opened her eyes, blinking a few times to clear them, and smiled.
"You're smiling." Seth commented, sounding surprised.
"You're here." She responded, snuggling a little closer to him. "You've never stayed all night before."
"Does me being here really make you that happy?"
"Of course. Every time, I've fallen asleep wondering if maybe this time I won't be alone when I wake up. Call it a fondest wish, if you will."
"Makes me wish I'd given in and stayed before. You have a beautiful smile."
"You're making me blush."
"That just makes you cuter."
"Are we acting like a normal couple?"
"I guess. Does that make us at least somewhat normal?"
"Maybe. I hope so."
"So do I."
"You're sure it's around here?" Trowa asked for the tenth time in half as many minutes.
"Positive." Beck sighed, resisting the urge to kick Trowa in the shin. "It's only a little further, and if you'd just shut up for a minute, we could get there in peace. Hint, hint."
"Whatever." Trowa sighed, stretching and staring up at the sky. Or at the tree branches blocking out the sky, to be more exact.
They'd taken the bus as far out as they could, then hiked the remaining mile to Chaud's house. Duo and Beck seemed to be enjoying the walk, but Tasuki was lazy by nature, and Trowa wasn't in the mood for strenuous exercise at the moment, so only half the group was having fun.
Though Trowa didn't mind as much as he pretended; after all, nothing that made Duo smile could be all that bad.
"We're here!" Beck announced cheerfully, running up the steps onto the porch and giving an extravegant bow.
"'Bout friggin time." Tasuki muttered sourly, stomping up the steps to the door. "We're gettin' a cab back, wench."
"Ah, the exercise is good for you." Beck said with a smile, ringing the bell.
"Coming!" A voice called, and something inside crashed to the floor. What sounded like inventive cursing reached the group, and Beck giggled.
"Sit!" Someone ordered sharply, and the door was yanked open to reveal a downcast brunette sitting in the middle of the foyer, hands in his lap, and an angry redhead holding the remains of a vase in one hand. "Hi." The redhead said, visibly forcing himself to calm down. "Come on in. You must be Beck and co."
"Yup!" Beck exclaimed happily, stepping inside and attacking the brunette. "Konichiwa, Lien!"
"Hey, Beck! Who're your friends? Hi, Trowa. I broke Chaud's stuff again."
"I figured." Trowa said with a sigh, catching Duo's hand and leading him around the almost-chaos. "You should be more careful with other people's things."
"I'm trying." Lien said cheerfully, managing to stand up with Beck still attached to his neck. "But it's kind of hard."
"I'm sure you'll do fine."
Yup. Another short-ass chapter by yours truly. I haven't worked on Voices in so long... It got to the point where it was almost abandoned! So I'm putting this little bit up to prove I haven't forgotten this! I swear, I'll try to get something up much, much sooner next time!
