Hi ya'll. Long time no see. Sorry this baby took a while too, but I'm thinking that my updates have gone from every-other-weekly, to every-monthly. Sorry, but school's harder this year than last year. Anyway, hope you all enjoy (and please excuse the shortness).
Oh, and OMG I ALMOST HAVE 1800 PAGE VIEWS FOR THIS STORY! XDDD Thank you all!
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"My poor ass…" Link groaned under his breath. After two straight hours of "The proper way to start off a day" his body ached, his poor bottom in particular. Yet, despite the throbbing pain, he couldn't help but smile every time he thought about the last night's activities. He simply hoped that he would soon be able to walk properly…
Luck also seemed to be on his side since he didn't meet anyone he knew on his way to work, (he decided to drive because of the difficulty he was having with simply walking out the door) and once he got inside the building he was generally ignored – albeit the secretary gave him a knowing wink, but he ignored it.
All in all things were going smoothly.
That is, until he got to his office.
"Link! Where on earth have you been?" Yuki yelled, getting up from where he had been leaning on his desk and stepping right in front of Link. The young detective opened his mouth to reply, or at least tell Yuki to back up a foot or two, but whatever he was going to say was cut off as the older detective continued to berate. "Do you have any idea what time it is? Work started four hours ago Link, four hours!"
"Yuki, look I'm sorry. Just listen…"
"Listen? No, you listen to me Link. Rikuo and I had a hell of a time covering for you, so you better have a damn good reason for this!"
"You really should calm down cutie. It's kinda hard to explain yourself when every time you try you're cut off. Trust me, I know from experience," joked Rikuo as he walked up behind the two. While he had the nice guy look on his face, the fact that he was standing right behind Link – giving the detective no where to go – told him that Rikuo was pretty pissed too. "So, you mind explaining yourself kid?"
"Well, I'd kind of prefer not to… and you know, some breathing room might be nice," complained Link, trying his best to go around Yuki. He walked to his desk and sat in his chair ruefully, wincing at the jolt of pain that went up his back; it did him in.
"Ohh, I get it now. I do believe our little Linky boy finally gave in," Rikuo snickered. Yuki's eyes had widened his face unreadable until a smile stretched its way across his face, his bad mood gone.
"I think you're right Rikuo, and that would certainly explain it. Oh Link, I'm so happy for you!" chirped Yuki, looking almost giddy. By this point Link had gone red in the face and he let out an exasperated groan. He didn't even have the energy to disagree with his companions.
"God, why did I have to get stuck with the observant queers…?"
"Hey, you have no right to bitch to us. Considering you look like you had really good, hard, gay sex last night, if anyone should complain, it's us," commented Rikuo, grinning at the shocked/humiliated look on the young detective's face.
"It… It wasn't that hard…" Link stammered, unable to really put sentences together in his head. Rikuo laughed and Yuki gave the young detective a knowing smile.
"Don't worry Link, we're only teasing. You can tell us all about it once you get your wits about you. Until then…" – Yuki paused as he reached over to the desk, grabbed a pile of papers and thrust them into Link's arms – "you can get started on these."
"Thanks," Link muttered sarcastically, sighing before spinning his chair so he faced his desk. Well, at least the pile of folders was lighter than the ones as of late. It wouldn't take too long to get caught up.
Yuki and Rikuo made their exit, the taller whispering something in the blonde's ear to make him giggle. Link knew that they would be talking about him, and he honestly didn't care. Well, so he did care a little, but at least they wouldn't be criticizing him or critical.
Putting the two from his mind, he went to work, hoping to get through them quickly. However, his work was delayed as he kept finding himself thinking about his new lover. And, while it was at times about the sex, it was also about the bit of history and psychoses that haunted the poor thief. Link could hardly imagine what it would be like to be a prostitute at such a young age. While all teens felt anguish, it was still a time of learning, a taste of freedom before entering the real world; but Dark Link's time of freedom was cut very short, and it saddened Link.
As for the other two personalities, there was a multitude of questions that Link desperately wanted answered: What was it like with two other selves? When the Thief or this mysterious third persona is in control, could Dark Link take it back? Could he even remember what his other selves did in his stead? And what of the third self? What was he like and why would he likely never meet him?
Feeling a little lightheaded, Link looked at the clock, realizing that his thoughts had wasted him a whole hour of catch-up time. He straightened up quickly and went to work, delving himself into the cases to try to keep his mind from wondering.
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"So, how was he?" questioned the barman, handing Dark Link a "Duck Fuck". Dark Link raised an eyebrow at him, taking a sip of his drink.
"He?"
"Don't play stupid. That cutie you brought in a couple nights ago, blond hair, blue eye…"
"I know what he looked like Ranmaru; he was my date after all," Dark Link replied sarcastically, not really sure whether he wanted to talk about it. He was still having trouble piecing together how the night before went down himself. "What makes you think he wasn't just a fling?"
"Call it intuition," laughed Ranmaru, pushing his black bangs out of his eyes. Getting a skeptical look, he rolled his eyes saying, "One of the other barkeeps said he saw you with the cutie a couple nights before that. I've known you for four years D, and your flings don't last more than two nights."
"I was with you for a week though."
"Yeah, and all we talked about was sex. With that blond though you were talking politics; politics!"
Deciding to let the argument go, Dark Link submitted saying, "Alright, alright, I'll admit it; he's my new lover." Ranmaru grinned, his dark eyes twinkling. The thief sighed irritably, taking another sip of his drink before asking, "What else do you want?"
"Was he good or not?" asked the Asian. Before he realized what he was doing, Dark Link grinned softly as he replied.
"Oh yeah, he was good…"
"Ooh, I think I'm getting jealous," joked Ranmaru. Dark Link chuckled at his friend. If it hadn't been for the encouragement of the pretty Asian boy, he wouldn't have ever made it living under that bitch. They had both been one of her favorites, and became friends quickly. Dark Link found solitude in Ranmaru's optimism and humor while the Asian boy found sanctuary under Dark Link's protective wing. "Seems to me you're pretty attached to him."
"Why do you say that?"
"Politics?"
"Right…" groaned Dark Link. Ranmaru laughed at his friend's dispense.
"Not only that, but that look in your eye, the way you spoke to him; it's obvious he's special. So spill it, I know you want to." Dark Link considered this for a moment, his finger tracing the top of his glass. Finally he looked to the Asian curiously.
"Is it really that obvious?"
"God yes. You could practically taste the lovey dovey feelings that were swirling around you two!" exclaimed Ranmaru, his hands flying around to emphasize his point. Before Dark Link could respond though, the Asian continued, "Now stop prolonging and tell me already!"
"Alright, if it's really that important. I met him on the job and asked him out on a date…"
"You mean The Thief asked him on a date," clarified Ranmaru. Dark Link nodded. The Asian boy knew all about his personalities, having been witness to the "births" of both of them. There was little that Ranmaru didn't know.
"Yes, and I was rather interested in him anyway, so I decided to go myself. I was expecting the regular, but he was…"
"Special?"
"Yes, he was 'special'," sighed Dark Link, noting the grin on his friend's face. He decided to continue, knowing he had to tell Ranmaru eventually; the Asian could be very convincing. "I had him right where I wanted him, and I could have easily taken him to one of the backrooms, but I decided against it. I don't know why exactly though…"
"Intuition?"
"Of course." The rest of the conversation on in a similar fashion, Dark Link talking to his friend about all of their interactions, minus a tidbit here or there; but those weren't actually his fault. Not in the least. There where occasions where Dark Link found himself with Link – usually in particular situations – and he didn't remember how he got there. He knew who did get him there though; The Thief. There'd been countless times when he would find himself in unfamiliar places with people who were strangers to him, and he knew instantly that The Thief had been having one of his nights.
It wasn't that whenever The Thief took over, Dark Link wouldn't know what was happening. Usually Dark Link knew exactly what was going on when they were robbing a bank or the likes. But sometimes The Thief liked to take complete control so that Dark Link couldn't take control back, and doing that caused Dark Link to blank out. Such an experience had occurred the night before, when one moment Dark Link was walking aimlessly around the streets, the next he was making out with a naked, tied up Link. That's right, it wasn't Dark Link that had visited that night, but The Thief. But Dark Link guessed that his own feelings won out and he was able to take control again. Not at all adverse to the situation, he took advantage of it and had the night of his life. (A/N. Can you all figure out when Dark Link took control back?)
Ranmaru was ecstatic.
"That's great! Sounds to me like you're really into him D. I don't want to put a damper on the situation but… does the Boss know?" questioned Ranmaru, his enthusiasm dropping a notch. Dark Link grimaced at the thought. He still hadn't gone back to the apartment building and his beeper had been going off like mad. Dark Link eventually turned it off and went to get a drink before facing the hell that awaited him.
"No, he doesn't, and I hope he never does, or else we're screwed," grumbled Dark Link. Ranmaru frowned and his brows furrowed in slight confusion.
"Just tell him you have yourself a lover. While he's not going to be thrilled about it, I know that most of his minions have lovers on the side."
"Yeah, the ones that are allowed to have lives outside that shithouse."
Ranmaru's frowned deepened. "Surely he let you get away with it at least this once. He can't keep you cooped up all the time, right?"
"I wouldn't put it past him…" muttered Dark Link darkly. The Asian opened his mouth to say something, but unable to think of much, closed it again. Dark Link sighed before deciding to explain the twist in his relationship. "The blonde's name is Link Lennings, and he's a detective for the NYPD."
There was silence for a minute as the statement sunk in. Without warning Ranmaru squeaked out a "W-what?"
"He's a detective. For the NYPD."
"A detective!" cried Ranmaru, his hands slamming onto the bar. Dark Link kept his eyes closed as he sipped his drink, avoiding the explanation as long as he could. There was dead silence until the Asian forced a chuckle saying, "You're kidding, right? Jeez D, don't s-scare me like that, you k-know I hate it when you do that…"
"I'm not kidding Ranmaru, I'm dead serious," stated Dark Link, looking the Asian straight in the eye. The forced grin died away.
"Y-you're really… he's really a… for the NYPD?"
"Yes, I thought we'd already gone over that," said Dark Link dryly. Ranmaru glared at him in an uncharacteristic way.
"How can you be so calm about this D! I mean, my God, not only are you dating an enemy, you're dating the enemy! Of all the police you could fuck, why'd you have to pick one of them!"
"You don't think I realize that!" Dark Link yelled back, slamming his drink onto the table. His death glare shut the Asian up fast. Yet again, awkward silence befell the two before Dark Link's face went slack and his head hit the bar with a thud. For a minute Ranmaru was afraid he was hurt or something, but relaxed when he heard Dark Link murmur sadly, "God, why me? Can't I ever get off easy, just once? I just wanted something to go right, just this once…"
"I know D, and it will someday, just wait. Life'll surprise you when you least expect it…" Ranmaru comforted, his hand threading itself through shimmering black locks and stroking the man's head like someone would do to their cat; but Dark Link appreciated the sentiment and found the touch relaxing.
"Thanks Ranmaru."
"Anytime."
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Whew, wasn't that a fun chapter. -.-;; Well, at least I enjoyed typing it because I have found a new love… RANMARU! I swear, I made him up on the spot, but now I love him to death. His basic character structure was actually going to be a girl who came into the picture later, but as I've said, things change.
Also, the fact that people with split personalities tend to have blank spots where they don't know what they did or how they got somewhere is all truth. I'm actually learning more about split personalities lately because I'm reading an excellent book called Sybil about a woman with 16 personalities. O.o I know, freaky huh? But it's really interesting and it's helpful to this story.
And my, is that angst I smell?
