Melanie: What if he never leaves? What if he becomes a permanent fixture?
Brian: What if my aunt had balls? She'd be my uncle.
—Queer as Folk
"Wow…it's really coming down out there…" Alex stood with her nose pressed against the glass. "I hate rain…"
A silent streak of purple lightening lit up the dismal colored late afternoon. The short-haired girl wrinkled her nose, and jumped as a loud clap of thunder voiced its opinion right back at her.
Ducky felt inclined to agree, laughing at his best friend. "I happen to like it just fine. Storms too. What's better excitement than sitting around in candlelight when the power goes out?"
Alex rolled her eyes, turning her back to the window and hefting herself up onto the sill. "When your parents are out, you've got the house to yourself, and your boyfriend is over."
"The curly-haired boy smirked from his seat on the couch. "Oooh honey, been there. You've got a point."
Shinsa padded into the living room then and slumped next to Ducky, chin dropping on the skinny youth's shoulder. Ducky turned his head awkwardly to look down at him. The delicate face, or delicate for a boy at least (not the he was complaining), was moping largely with his lower lip stuck out.
"Aw, sugar," Ducky rubbed the little nose for a second or two with his index finger. "What's the matter?"
"Rain," he answered simply, heaving a dramatic sigh.
"See!" Alex flicked Ducky's shoulder as she passed to go into the kitchen. "I'm not the only one."
More thunder had Shinsa startled and clinging to the blonde's arm for comfort. Ducky giggled behind his hand, but covered it with an unconvincing cough.
"Poor thing. It's just thunder. No need to worry," he scratched Shinsa's hair. "Where's El—Eris? I'd think she'd be the one you'd be clinging to. Or your…parents." Ducky found it odd calling those strange people the kids' mom and dad, seeing as Shina was the only born and bred human in the bunch.
"Sister is sleeping." He seemed to have calmed under the scratching. "It's Shina's medicine taking time. Kenmei is meditating."
"Your English is getting really good," Ducky remarked, raising a brow.
Shinsa smiled at him and sat up, drawing his legs under him on the couch. "I learn best from Sister. Kenmei and Shina talk too…uh…" His face scrunched in absence of words. Ducky's lip was nearly trembling at how cute he was, scratching his head and trying to think like that.
"Lofty?" He tried to help. "Big?"
"Yeah," Shinsa shrugged, wrinkling his nose. "I can't understand a lot."
"Well, as dubious—sorry, 'not sure'—as I am about Elf teaching you how to talk," an unfeminine snort came from the direction of the kitchen; Ducky grinned, trying not to laugh, "—You're doing very well."
"Thank you!" Shinsa beamed, then came down a few notches, and looked slightly serious. It was a little weird. "Why do you call Sister 'Elf'?"
Ducky did laugh then. "Because she's short, like a Christmas elf. We're having a bit of trouble coming up with a new nickname since she switched the mythical creature resemblance on us."
"What's a Christmas elf?"
"Oh boy," Ducky let out a whoosh of air past his lips, now the one having difficulty finding words. "Ask your mother."
Shinsa pouted. "You sound like Kenmei."
"Speak of the devil…" Alex's voice came floating in before they saw her body in the door. "Come have a look at this."
"Hey! Kenmei is nice, not a devil." Shinsa followed anyway, scampering after the girl, Ducky following.
"I think she meant Shina," Ducky corrected, peering out the kitchen window as Alex pulled the curtain back. "…What in the world?"
"Why is mom walking out in the rain?" Shinsa's voice was equally as puzzled, his head cocked to the side, and looking like a confused puppy.
"That's what I would like to know," Alex frowned and crossed her arms. "Anyone feel like a romp through the rain?"
Ducky smirked. "Sounds like fun. Shinsa?"
He looked unsure for a record two seconds before the claustrophobia decided for him. Not to mention it was a chance to spy on a parent and catch them doing something naughty for once, and what kid could resist that?
"Sure!" He was the first one to the door, practically bouncing for the mischief.
Alex pushed him out the door, shaking her head with a snerk. "I feel like we should put you on a leash."
Shinsa stuck his tongue out at her. "Kenmei keeps threatening me with one."
That had Ducky laughing as they trotted through the waterlogged lawn to place where they'd seen Shina disappear through the sheets of rain and trees. "Aww! You poor mutt."
"Hey!" Shinsa stuck his nose into the air and took the lead in front of them, almost prancing. "I am not a mutt, and never was."
Alex and Ducky exchanged amused looks with one another. "Yessir, your hybridness, sir!"
Shinsa smirked over his shoulder. "That's better. This way!"
"Wow, definitely can believe he's got more than a bit of Elf in him," Ducky said towards Alex, and picked up his speed so as not to lose Shinsa as the wolfish boy turned past some bushes.
"Tell me about it. Or at least heavily influenced. Shit, it's really coming down," Alex was starting to get tired already. "Where the hell…?"
They found Shinsa looking up and down a narrow stream. Shina was nowhere to be found. Or at least not in body.
"There's footprints in the mud," Shinsa pointed along the sloppy bank.
Alex squatted down, squinting past the water dripping into her eyes. They were small, and she'd guess female. "I may be bias, but giving that she was running around here, I'd say they're Shina's."
"But there aren't any coming back…" Ducky put his hands on his hips.
The three stood around, shaking water from their hair and eyes, all thinking hard. It didn't make sense. Unless…
A disconcerting thought entered Shinsa's head. "What if…what if she…" He looked frantically at the rushing stream. "She's in there!"
"What!" Alex shook her head. "No way, why would she jump?"
But Shinsa would have none of it. "She did! She's drowning! We have to help!"
He made to jump in after her, but thank goodness the other two had fast enough reflexes to grab onto him. Keeping him back was another matter.
"It's not even deep enough!" Alex shouted over Shinsa's crying and the rain. The sky began to rumble, making the boy even more hysterical.
"It only takes an inch," Ducky grunted as Shinsa elbowed him in the ribs, hard. He almost fell over and into the stream himself.
"DUCKY that is not helpful!" Alex growled at him. "Damnit, Shinsa knock it off!"
They all slipped in the mud and spent the next five minutes wrestling in it. Ducky finally managed to pin Shinsa on his back by half laying on him and holding his shoulders down. Ducky was surprisingly strong, but could barely keep the wolf boy down.
"Get his legs!" He called to Alex, trying to keep his face out of reach of Shinsa's hands.
"I'm trying! He already kicked me twice!" Alex growled, when she saw a white blur from the corner of her eye. She wasn't quick enough to avoid being thrown off by the force, but was lucky by only sliding in the mud and having a relatively soft landing.
"GET AWAY FROM MY SON!" She heard a familiar voice roar. Alex lifted her head in time to see a fearsome Kenmei bearing down on Ducky. She saw the blonde try to move off of the now stilled boy and talk to Kenmei. There wasn't a chance. The chameleon forcefully knocked her terrified friend away, sending him directly into the path of a large oak. He crumpled at its base, unmoving.
"NO!" Alex screamed, and scrambled to her feet, slipping in the mud once, twice. It was hard to say if it was the rain or panicked tears blurring her vision.
"Not very smart," a different, but still familiar voice. "Attacking the girl's friends like that."
Alex made out the smaller form of Hiei, the quiet guy who popped up whenever he felt like it. Shinsa had gotten off the ground and hid behind his father, peeking around him at the small demon, who had his hand firmly on the hilt of his sword. Kenmei, it seemed, was frozen in place by something, but she couldn't tell what. Whatever it may have been, the demon was not happy to be caught by it, and by the veins popping from his neck, was struggling to fight free.
"They were assaulting my son!"
"He was trying to jump in the fucking stream!" Alex screamed angrily at him, deeming it safe enough to let him have a piece of her mind. She rushed as fast as she could to Ducky, who had not so much as twitched. Turning him over, she noticed his arm hanging oddly. Alex bit into her lip, and did her best to clean his face free of mud.
"Mamma's drowning!" Shinsa moaned and buried his face in Kenmei's back. "Her footprints go to the stream but not back!"
"Stupid kid," Hiei sneered. "She's at the temple."
What? Alex thought in confusion, She can't have made it back already…
Shinsa seemed placated by the simple answer, however. "Kenmei, I wanna go home!"
"Good idea," Hiei rolled his eyes and spoke to neither Kenmei nor Shinsa, but…something over their shoulders. "Take the sniveling kid and papa back with you. And try serving your fucking purpose in the future."
Alex shouldn't have been surprised by anything extraordinary by now, but the sight of her attacker and Shinsa hovering into the air and moving off speedily had her reeling.
"Next time let him drown himself."
Hiei's words towards her snapped Alex back to the current unpleasant reality. "Hey!" She called at his retreating back. "Aren't you going to help me?"
"I already did."
"He could have internal bleeding! I can't carry him back by myself!"
"I am not a pack animal."
Like a raging storm herself, Alex left Ducky momentarily to bear down on the black-clothed demon. "You're going to carry him back to the temple like a jackass if I tell you to, or else I'll have Eris throw YOU against a tree!" Oh she was pissed. Not to mention scared to death about what sort of ailments Ducky could have.
Hiei narrowed his red eyes at her, fingering his katana. If he used it on the girl, Eris probably would try to attack him in some form. She definitely would if he blatantly abandoned the unconscious one. He thought back to the encounter and conversation he and Ducky had had the other day… Biting the inside of his cheek, Hiei grumbled to himself, plowing past the girl and to examine her friend.
"His shoulder is dislocated," he said, kneeling, and as he put a hand just above his shoulder, Ducky woke up with a yelp of pain. "Hold him down," Hiei sniped at Alex, who surprisingly obeyed without complaint.
"Wha—let go of me, Alex…why're you—" His half conscious babbling morphed into a ragged scream as Hiei popped his shoulder back into the socket. He passed out again.
"That was easy enough."
"Shut up and get him out of here," Alex glared at him.
"I'm not carrying you as well!"
Alex rolled her eyes. "Ducky is three times your size by himself. I'm not stupid. I can get back fine on my own. Just hurry up!"
With a sniff, he arranged Ducky on his back and sprinted off, gladly leaving the girl to find her own way back. With Hiei's speed the journey took all of ten seconds, and just as he set foot on the temple wood and stones, there was movement on his back. Ducky was shivering, trying to cling to Hiei's warm back. As an after thought, the spiky-haired one raised his body temperature, and felt a puff of breath on his neck.
"Yukina!" he called out to his sister, knowing her as the best candidate to take care of him. She liked doing that sort of thing, didn't she? "Yukina!"
They almost ran into each other; just as Hiei located her with his Jagan to be making tea for herself, the ice demon came around the corner, stirring a little spoon in her teacup.
"Hiei! My goodness—!" She dropped her tea at the sight of the muddy boy her brother carried.
"Yukina." The fire demon said her name again, irritation roughing the edges. He was starting to sound like Kuwabara.
It seemed to work, shaking her out of shock and into action. "Follow me."
She led him to one of the open rooms; luckily it was dressed for company. Hiei set his cargo on the bed. Ducky moaned, and hissed in pain as Yukina made him sit up on the edge of the bed and tried to get him to raise his arms.
"Rip his shirt off," she ordered her brother.
He looked at her like she was insane. "What?"
He wasn't going to touch a human! More than he had to. And damnit, he'd had more than his fill already.
She shot him a look, tinged with amusement, but was completely serious. "I sense broken ribs," Yukina gently guided his left arm down, and caught the boy as he swayed dangerously. "And the injured shoulder you so gently fixed."
"It would have been more painful your way!" Hiei said irritably, and uncrossed his arms. With his sword, the front of Ducky's t-shirt was easily shredded. Yukina peeled the dirty, wet fabric off his body. His face contorted, and for a delirious human, had quick enough reflexes to grab Yukina's hand as she pressed against the discolored skin on his side.
"No! Stop!" He pleaded. "It hurts…!"
"I know it does," she soothed him with her voice, and formed ice in her hand. "Can you hold this here for me? Hiei, help him."
"I'm not—" She actually glared at him! Hard to argue with that. He held the makeshift icepack, his hand over Ducky's trembling one. "He's going to pass out again."
"Keep him awake! I don't know if he has a concussion or not. Those ribs need immediate attention before anything else." The urgent tone in her voice left no room for argument either as she began to leave the room in a hurry. "I need to fetch a few things.
"Hn…" Hiei's lips were turned down in a deep frown. Being around humans he could tolerate without much problem, but touching them was whole other issue. Unless it was fighting, but this one already had the shit kicked out of him.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Ducky's head bobbing as he began nodding off again. "Hey," he jostled the lanky teen. "Wake up."
Ducky grunted, grimacing at all the kinds of unpleasantness caused by the little movement. "Sorry…" At least he was becoming more coherent. "'M tired…everything hurts."
"Well it should."
He snorted, and then regretted it with another grunt. "Fuck…you'd think I be used to this."
Hiei raised a brow, eyes narrowing in curiosity. "What?" Surely this one wasn't a fighter? Then again, the way he came after me the other day…
"People like me aren't strangers to having the snot beat out of them. Only the scenery's different from a playground this time."
"People like you?" Hiei didn't understand. Humans were humans to him. Then again they always had the pettiest reasons to screw with one another.
"Gay," Ducky was the irritated one now; then again, he had rights to be more than that. "Homosexual. Come on, you knew that. And anyway, I know it's not exactly hard to miss."
"Humans." Hiei said in disgust.
Ducky raised his head quickly to glare at him. "Well you can just go fuck yourself if you don't like it! I've already been through one bashing, I don't need a verbal one from you!"
He tried moving away with no success. "Stop it," Hiei pulled him back, Yukina's wrath in mind. "Anything that keeps the human population at a minimum has me practically giddy."
Ducky was still glaring at him a little, but stopped struggling. It hurt anyway. He looked away, feeling a little awkward but peeked up at him again. "You really don't care?"
Hiei obviously thought it was a ridiculous question. "No. Demons are less concerned with breeding. It's a non-issue."
"Really…why?"
Hiei looked bored. "We live longer. It's also a foolish thing to be offended by. Openly disapproving of another's mate can get you killed."
"Hmm…" Ducky seemed to be turning this over in his mind. "So why are you holding me at arm's length then?"
"I'm allergic to human flesh."
He laughed, and again regretted it, but there was still a grin left over the hitching breath this time. "You're so…ungh…full of shit." Ducky moved his hand out from under Hiei's, made it into a fist, and then released, and then did it again. "My hand's gone numb."
Ducky grinned, but Hiei could see him shivering and the purple tinge around his lips. His hair was still wet, and he was sitting in wet pants. Well no wonder the fool was cold.
"You're freezing."
Ducky snorted. "You're holding a piece of melting ice on me. Yeah. I'm a little nippy."
"Hold still." He didn't need Yukina blaming him for the kid getting a cold. Hiei put his other hand around the blonde's neck and let loose some heat. The arteries there would carry the warm blood faster.
Ducky sighed, his shoulders starting to relax. His eyes even drooped a little. Hiei pinched him to keep him alert. "If you fall into a coma, they can't yell at me for not doing anything."
"Except for strangling the patient." Yukina finally came back, a bowl of water in her arms, and pockets filled with medicinal herbs and wraps. "You can work on heating the water now, Hiei. Ducky I need you to take everything else off while I fix these herbs."
"Easier said than done," he gritted between his teeth while trying to move around enough to get his pants off.
Hiei merely glared at the water for a second before it was boiling. "Speak for yourself." Yukina reprimanded him for making it too hot.
"My back feels stiff," Ducky rubbed his neck with his good arm, pants only halfway down as he opted for using his feet and legs to get them off. "And like someone took a cheese grater to it."
With a furrowed brow, Yukina temporarily abandoned her medicine mixing and went to examine Ducky's back. Her hand came up as she gasped. "Oh my…I'm going to need more bandages…"
Wondering, Hiei moved to see what had her in a flurry of action now. If you could see through the purple bruise blooming across his back, Ducky had numerous cuts smeared with a mixture of blood, mud, and dirt. The tree bark certainly hadn't been kind.
"Just missed the head," Hiei muttered, following with his eyes how the bruise crossed diagonally to the shoulder and not up the neck. "You're damn lucky."
Both demons suddenly looked towards the half closed door; Hiei rolled his eyes while Yukina busied herself with dipping a white cloth into the hot water and making Ducky sit sideways so she could clean it.
"Oh dear, oh dear," she murmured, looking back at the door as her ears twitched. "You'd think they'd have decency with an injured around…"
"What are you two so irritated about?" Ducky asked, puzzled. "Ow! Ow ow ow…"
"Sorry," Yukina huffed a sigh. "Oh, they're all becoming hysterical about what happened. They should put their energy towards worrying about you, not that chameleon."
"How did you know—?"
"Well I didn't," she tossed the now soiled rag aside and wetted a new one. "But they're loud enough to wake the dead, how could I not hear?"
"I don't—ow—hear anything."
"You're not demon." Hiei was, of course, sitting in the window and being superior.
"I'm not so sure it's so great. No offense." There was a steady bit of hostile shouting coming closer. "I can hear them now."
What sounded like Eris, Alex, Koenma and Shina trying to out-shout each other finally came to the door; through the four-inch gap, they looked like a pack of fighting wolves. It all came to a curious halt as someone slid the door all the way open and they saw the bruise and cuts on Ducky's back. It was like a big purple beacon that drew your eye right to it.
"Ohhhh," Eris was covering her mouth and looking ready to cry. "I'm so sorry Ducky…"
Alex was full out glaring at Shina who was ignoring her by offering her help to Yukina.
"As an old woman, I have an extensive knowledge of cures for aches and pains. It's the least I could do."
"That's quite alright," Yukina was firmly focused on applying a salve to Ducky's back; someone not familiar with her would have passed off the tight lips as concentration rather than the displeasure it surely was. "I've gotten everything under control while you all were out arguing."
"We'll continue this tomorrow," Koenma said grimly, frowning around his pacifier. Shina's eyes flickered over her shoulder to the prince. Clutching her hands in front of her, she made to leave as well.
"This old woman should get herself to bed," she gave a fleeting half smile.
Alex sniffed, arms crossed and still glaring. Her lip was near curling. "She left quickly enough. 'Oh! Let me help! I'm such a wonderful medicine woman! Nevermind my husband just tried to kill your friends!' Che."
"Alex!" Eris snapped at her, grey eyes fierce over her shoulder as she stepped past the threshold and into the room. "That's enough!"
"Fine! Fine," Alex was tense with anger, and before Yukina could get out the words, picked up the dirty rags and Ducky's clothes with a huff. "Don't believe what I saw. Those people are dangerous Eris! There's something weird going on, and I don't like the feeling in my stomach about it." She held up Ducky's shirt and looked at her through the slashed and hole-peppered back. "But you keep looking through those rose-colored glasses and snuggle up to your new daddy figure. Fuck everyone else, right?"
She stormed out with the laundry, leaving Eris pissed beyond measure. Neither Ducky nor Yukina said anything, the latter applying herb induced compresses to the former's ribs and back. It wasn't until she plopped onto the bed that the ice demon opened her mouth.
"Perhaps you should keep her words in mind."
Eris instantly went on defense. "What, now you're against me too? What about you Ducky? Anything? I'm a still target for tomato throwing."
"If you'd shut your face," the edge in his voice wasn't playing. "For one second and empty your ears of the Lone Rider wax buildup, you'd hear that she meant that you should take Alex's point of view into mind and see where she's coming from. She's worried about you. We both are. That was some scary shit that went down today."
Eris sighed and ran a hand through her long hair. "I just can't help feeling that…I don't know!" She looked at her nails, picking at them, wings twitching with anxiety. "What he did was wrong, and I'm sorry, really sorry, you got hurt, but…he's not as bad as everyone thinks! I know he's not!"
Ducky looked reserved as he achingly, slowly, moved around to lie in the bed on his stomach; Yukina was forcing him to try and sleep, not that it was going to be hard, his eyelids were heavy already. "For you, I won't pass judgment on him. For now. But I'm not going to pretend that nothing happened."
He yawned, burrowing his head into the pillow. "Say, you're a fire demon. Can you do that heating thing too? I'm cold. Get your butt over here."
"Sleep well you two," Yukina shut the door, her characteristic smile back in its proper place the last thing of her seen through the closing gap. It was relatively early in the evening yet, with a dim light in the gray, wet sky, but both were drained enough for sleep. Eris figured she'd nap and keep Ducky company for awhile. It was the least she could do. Ducky probably wouldn't accept anything more.
Feeling at least a tiny bit lighter, Eris smiled and snuggled up behind him, pulling the covers over them both. "And who's spot am I replacing?"
"Hiei," the blonde yawned again, drifting off faster with Eris' heat soothing his body's shakes. "Must've left when you guys stormed the door. Thanks a lot."
Eris craned her neck to look out the window. A smirk bloomed, seeing a familiar dark shape up in a tree close by the window. She caught Ducky's yawning bug and curled her left wing around them both, keeping the other tucked snuggly against her back. It had been a hellish night trying to find comfortable positions with the damn things. She'd almost opted to perch in a tree.
"Ducky, have I told you lately that I love you?"
"Mmm…no," he said in the light, fading voice of one falling asleep quickly. "But next time it's my turn to yell and be pissed off."
Eris awoke hours later, curled against Ducky and both of them tucked under her wing. She yawned once and sighed, mentally cursing. The nap had taken care of her sleepiness, and now she'd be up for the rest of the night. Damn. She hadn't meant to sleep that long.
Carefully lifting her wing and folding it back, Eris removed herself slowly from Ducky, trying not to disturb him. Those sneaking around lessons from Hiei were coming in handy. Going around to the other side of the bed, she kissed the blonde's head and escaped out the window.
With the moon in a waning crescent phase, there wasn't much light. Not that it mattered. Eris could see everything almost as well as if it were day. Passing under Hiei's tree she saw him lazily open an iridescent red eye at her. She smiled and gave a little wave.
"He's all yours!" she whispered, giggling to herself. Hiei glared, and went back to sleep with a grunt.
Stretching her arms and wings above her head, Eris shook herself out. A late night fly sounded relaxing right then. Still shaky on the take off, Eris managed well enough and was soon gliding peacefully above the temple. The air still felt wet, but the rise and fall of her wings was soothing. It was like daydreaming; only she really could get her head in the clouds.
Eris.
She blinked, coming out of the reverie upon hearing the call. Banking to one side, Eris circled down, enjoying the last bits of wind ruffling her hair and feathers. Spotting her caller, the phoenix demon glided in his direction and hovered a bit before finally dropping down a few feet away.
"You look beautiful up there," he smiled, the two of them falling seamlessly into a side-by-side walk.
"Eh. Still needs practice," Eris smiled back at him, letting out a satisfied breath, eyes bright. "So, a midnight walk under the stars and moon, Kurama? How romantic."
The fox didn't deny it. "I couldn't sleep. My mind has been busy all day."
Her mouth twitched down, but Eris wrapped an arm around his and tilted her head back to look at the sky. "Too bad you can't fly. It's great for clearing the mind."
"Mm." Kurama mused silently for a moment, just feeling her comfortable weight on his arm and near his body. He could smell her scent, and got lost in it. Hearing her talk startled him back to reality. Strange…that had never happened before.
"I know what you're thinking." Not likely. He'd probably get slapped if she did. "And I know I'm crazy for believing it, but…" Eris sighed, running a hand through her hair. Kurama followed the curves of her neck with his eyes as she looked up at the dark sky again.
"There's just something, a feeling I have…"
"Yes?" He prompted, drawing her closer.
"About Kenmei."
Kurama blinked, and visibly drooped. "What?"
"He didn't mean to hurt Ducky and Alex! I know he didn't!"
Kurama was the one who sighed now, rubbing his forehead. "Eris, I can't conceive even a semblance of a coherent thought about that."
She stopped and stood with her hands on her hips, looking with turned down lips at him. "Why not? Why does everyone hate him so goddamn much? He's been nothing but sweet and caring to me from the moment I met him!"
"One, he attacked your friends and nearly killed Ducky this afternoon," Kurama vainly tried to tear his eyes away from her lips; did she have to be so pretty when she was pissed off? "And two, he was the reason you were killed in the first place!"
"And also the one who saved my life!" Eris countered, pointing a finger at him. "If he wasn't a genius, I would be dead right now!"
"He cared about saving his wife, not you. If not for the both of them, you'd be perfectly normal, happy, and safe at home!"
"I'm happier here than I ever was at home!" she shouted, and turned, hair whipping him as she went to storm off. "And I LIKE being a demon!"
"Eris!" Exasperated, Kurama strode after her and jogged until he was in front of her, stopping the girl by holding onto her arms. "I didn't mean it like that!"
"Get your hands off of me!" She was pissed. She even tried to hit him! Kurama caught both her wrists. "Let go! Kurama!"
"I'm not letting go until you calm down. You're upset over nothing."
"I'm upset because everyone expects me to see through their eyes, but no one's willing to see through mine!"
"That's because he's a chameleon demon," Kurama re-caught a wrist that she managed to get away. "A leopard can't change its spots, but a chameleon can change its skin to match the leopard's spots. Do you understand?"
"He's not playing me to get on my good side, if that's what you mean," Eris gave a frustrated growl, and stamped her foot. "He's not! And I don't appreciate you thinking I'm stupid and—and blind!"
"I do not think you're stupid," he set her wrists down at her sides and rested his hands on her shoulders. "And you're not blind. You just…need experience in seeing past the glamour people and especially demons can put on."
Eris sighed, biting the inside of her cheek and looking to the side. Kurama noticed it made her lower lip stick out slightly. The pouty look. Oooh dear…that was almost more than a man could bear.
By its own accord, his hand seemed to nudge her back by the chin, and without thinking, Kurama placed a quick, chaste kiss on her lips. He smiled at Eris' shocked and dazed reaction.
"Umm…"
"Are you going to keep in mind what I've said?"
"…What were we talking about?"
At least I'm not the only one distracted now. Kurama grinned. His fingers tucked a section of hair behind her ear. Everything in him was reluctant to step back from her, or stop touching.
Eris was completely…interested. And none too bemused. "Do you…I don't know," she laughed a little, looking away from his eyes and putting an embarrassed hand to her forehead. "I'm sorry, nevermind."
"You ought to start sharing your thoughts," Kurama's thumb softly roamed her cheek. It caught on her lower lip, and both became oblivious to anything else around them
"I would if I could remember what I was thinking before…" she murmured, wetting her lips and looking between Kurama's and his eyes.
"Before…?"
Oh God, he's coming closer. Eris' heart started jumping with exhilarating terror. "Before I wanted you to kiss me again. Or me to kiss you, and not so safely."
Kurama let out an air puff of a laugh, and he couldn't seem to stop grinning. "That is certainly speaking your thoughts." His close-standing body language and eyes commanded that neither of them look away. "We should intimidate each other like this more often then."
She barely managed to breathe out an "Agreed!" before both dove in for a kiss. Eris didn't really mind that after awhile her lips were starting to bruise, or that it was a little wet, and the hand tugging on the roots of her hair certainly weren't a bother (she was probably doing the same to him!), but the other one playing at the hem of her shirt was a concern. It really wasn't going to work if he tried pulling it off—
Her gasp made him purr and nip at her lip. Perhaps it was a little too hard, as she pulled away. Dazed, and wanting more of her, Kurama slurred an apology and went in to explore that neck he'd been so fascinated with earlier.
"What?" he asked in confusion as Eris stopped him. Her wary, unsure face spoke of something amiss. "What's wrong?"
"Your…eyes are gold." Eris sounded a little scared, lifting his hand from her waist. There were long, sharp claws growing. "And you scratched me, and…bit me!"
Kurama was just noticing something out of place on Eris as well. He pulled her up closer by the chin and hushed her protests (of course he was sorely tempted at stealing a kiss right then and there and never stopping).
"There's white just around your irises. And your nails—" he displayed her own hand by the wrist. "Aren't exactly dull. I thought I felt something pricking me…"
"Kurama, what the hell is this?" Eris was looking at her elongated nails in alarm. They were nearly as big as Kurama's.
"I think it means," he said solemnly. "That I should…regrettably…distance myself from you for a period of time. I think that you may be in heat."
AN: Whew! Finally done with the chapter. I planned on having it out earlier, but I lost the notebook that had my notes for the beginning. So that was a fun time, me going insane and about ready to kill someone. Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter, and as always, thanks for your patience. Hope you enjoyed this one!
