I will be following up on that last cliffhanger next chapter! I didn't forget. I promise. Anyway, here, have another soft chapter. Thanks for enduring my absence guys!
Victoria threw herself onto the couch with a grunt, disheveled and dirty, one leg over the arm of the sofa and hanging loosely off the side, her face buried in the cushions.
"It went well I take it?" Kurama set a glass of sweet tea on the coffee table beside her and stood at the other end of the couch, regarding her.
She offered some response that was eaten by the couch cushions.
"I can't understand you." He chided lightly and she lifted her head to cast him a disparaging glare.
"Don't stand there, judging me." She warned him. "I just had to deal with being nagged by a dead housewife from the fifties because I didn't have on enough lipstick for her taste. She asked me no less than four times how my husband felt about the way I dressed."
He pressed his lips together to avoid smiling. "Sounds horrifying, I'm truly sorry."
"I got her to cross over." Victoria pulled herself up and sat like a normally functioning human being before grabbing the glass he'd brought over. Taking a cautious sip she stopped, assessed the tea, then glanced at the redheaded man watching her with keen interest. "You pass."
He sighed in relief.
This was his third attempt to make sweet tea the way she did and the last two had been utterly disastrous. The first had been far too light on the sugar. Hiei had taken a sip, taken the entire pitcher and dumped it in the sink. The second try had been on the other end of the spectrum. Victoria had finished her glass with a smile and just politely asked him to maybe scale back a touch. Vanessa had not been so kind. She'd pointedly asked if he was trying to send them into diabetic comas.
Victoria chuckled as he sat next to her, asking questions about her job that night. She answered them all, but when he ran out of things to prod her with, she grew quiet. Before she'd even gotten a chance to enter the house to help the spirit find its way, she'd received a call. One she didn't want to take. Explaining to the guys that she'd be gone a few days wasn't something she wanted to do, and she wasn't sure why. They were grown men, they wouldn't care. But she felt anxious despite that logic.
Maybe that was because Vanessa couldn't watch the house this time.
Grams said she'd come over, and Victoria knew that would be a conversation. Hiei was going to hate it. But Grams insisted. She wanted time alone with the boys anyway.
"You know, tomorrow, I think we should finally get you that cellphone." Victoria announced and Kurama perked up. "I have something I wanted to do with you and Hiei too, but after that we'll go into town and get you a phone."
"Really?" He scanned his attention over her.
"Yeah, there's no reason not to." She shrugged as Hiei walked in from the back porch and marched over to them. He took over the comfy chair cattycorner to the sofa. "God, I'm so tired."
Victoria reached around her back and unhooked her bra through her shirt before sliding one straps down her arm and pulling the whole thing out through the other armhole of her shirt. Tossing it over the back of the couch she relished in the freedom after a long day of seeing old fashioned sexism at play. It surprised her when she saw that Kurama and Hiei were both watching her with rapt interest.
"What?" She asked, brows pulled down. "Y'all've seen me without a bra on before."
Many times. She rarely wore them at home unless she was expecting company and after their second week with her they had ceased to be company. They were more like freeloading roommates at this point.
How did you do that? Hiei signed, looking over her arms then shooting his eyes to the bra.
It's second nature. She signed back, shrugging. Then she informed him that she had a surprise for him and Kurama the next day. Wear your swimsuit.
Hiei smirked. Boat ride?
Not quite. She shook her head and he frowned.
It amused her to no end how much Hiei enjoyed taking the boat out. He'd do it every day if she'd let him. He always sat on the front strip so she doubted he had pieced together how to operate the watercraft, but she hid the keys just in case. Hiei was crafty. She didn't trust his supposed ignorance.
"Alright, I'm going to take a bath then go to bed. Maybe if I get some decent sleep I'll magically be granted a husband to take care of when I wake up." She got up and rolled her eyes. "However will I go on if I don't get married?"
Kurama hid his laugh behind a cough, avoiding eye contact with her.
"See you in the morning boys."
Hiei watched her go, glanced at her bra and then to Kurama.
"Did she tell you what we're doing tomorrow?" He asked, not trusting this apparent surprise.
"No. But I know we'll be going into town after." Kurama offered back. "She said I'd be getting a phone."
"Joy."
Hiei rose from the comfy chair and walked around the couch toward the stairs. Kurama didn't see him snag the bra or shove it into his pocket as he passed.
"Oh, Hiei, once the load in the washer is done I'm going to start another. Could you put your dirty clothes in the hamper?" Kurama asked when Hiei was about halfway up the staircase. He received a sharp nod in response and then then other man disappeared toward their room.
Hiei closed the door behind him, ignored his clothes strung about the room where they fell when he shed them, and threw the bra onto the bed with a glare. He'd now seen Victoria take it off several times and he still couldn't understand how. It closed over her arms and back. How the hell was she able to take it off without lifting it over her head? Or without removing her shirt?
He'd walked in on her changing once and had seen her in just the undergarment.
It didn't seem possible.
Now was his chance to understand. Not that he needed to know, really, but he wanted to. He didn't like the idea that Victoria had secret skills he couldn't dissect. So he picked the bra up by a shoulder strap and examined it. Eventually hooking the back two pieces together. He laid it out and stared at it, trying to visualize the movements Victoria had gone through before removing the garment. Frowning, he tried to work through it with the thing sitting on the bed.
"Hiei, I need your clothes." Kurama pushed into their shared bedroom only to stop in his tracks and stare blankly at his friend.
Hiei stared back, a deer caught in headlights. Kurama not sure he'd ever seen the other man look so surprised by anything in his life. Or embarrassed, really, except for that time he'd been scolded by Kuwabara for getting his soul stolen by Kaito. Hiei dropped the arm that had been reaching behind his back and he opened his mouth.
"I can explain." Hiei said carefully, school himself into a neutral expression.
Kurama assessed his friend, standing there with Victoria's bra on over his shirt, and took a moment to mentally file this memory away. When they got home they'd eventually meet with Yusuke and Kuwabara for drinks and when they asked what had happened to their two missing friends, Kurama would tell this story in excruciating detail. Hiei's next words would make it into the story, no doubt, and send them all into choking fits of laughter at his expense. Sure, he'd storm off and call them all bastards, but it would be worth it. Just like old times.
So Kurama waited for Hiei's defense.
"I wanted to know how it worked." Hiei explained with a straight face.
Kurama nodded slowly.
"I figured it out." The other went on, once again reaching behind him to unhook the back strap before sliding the shoulder straps down one arm and then pulling the bra off over the other. "See?"
"You've proven you can take it off, but it's not under your shirt. You can't be certain."
"Obviously that was my next step before you barged in!"
"Don't let me stop you."
Hiei didn't. He was right, he had mastered the art of removing a bra without taking off his shirt. Kurama had never been more frustrated with Victoria than he was watching Hiei demonstrate this newfound prowess.
If she'd gotten him a phone sooner, he could have recorded this moment.
The thing about Victoria's truck was that it had no backseat. So whenever they traveled in it, they had to all cram into the cab. Hiei was forced to sit in the middle because he was the smallest. Just once he wanted Kurama to have to sit in the center so he could stick his arm out the window and enjoy the feel of wind rushing over his skin. Having both windows down was the smallest possible concession.
Of all the things he hated about this new world, not being in his true body sat at the top of the list. He had no power, no dragon, no Jagan. He could run, and Victoria had assured him he was still fast, but it wasn't the same. He got tired. His hands and feet didn't accept all of his commands as easily, so climbing trees had become a chore. Not to mention the damn splinters.
And don't get him started on fire ants.
There were a lot of drawbacks to being trapped here. He didn't like being human. He didn't enjoy having limitations.
But then there were times when it was okay. Not great. But palatable. When they went for rides on the lake. No one speaking to him because they all assumed he was deaf or mute. The food was good. Better than Makai by and large. He was going to be spoiled for that slop when he went back, actually. Maybe he should go back to eating what he caught himself…
"We're here." Victoria pulled into a dirt parking lot and nodded toward a shabby building resting on a hill overlooking the lakeside.
She slid out of the cab and fished their lifejackets from the bed of the truck, having to climb into the back to get them. He frowned and glanced at Kurama before following the redhead out the door. What did they need flotation devices for if they weren't going to be on the water? She knew he couldn't swim.
Victoria pulled her shirt off and started to apply more sunscreen even though she'd slathered some on before they left the house. Hiei readily followed her cue because he was not eager to endure another burn. Kurama also applied more, allowing Victoria to help him cover his back despite insisting he'd be keeping his shirt on. Then she gestured for them to follow her into the weather-worn building.
Inside, crickets chirped incessantly. Hiei looked around as Victoria greeted the dark-skinned old man behind the counter. Large containers of thick worms, barrels of small darting fish, raw meats. Styrofoam coolers and bags of ice in a loudly buzzing freezer. A large display of cold cokes, cans and glass bottles. Sunglasses. Hiei snatched a pair off the rack and pushed them into his face, examining himself in the mirror before disregarding them and going for a different pair.
Victoria had started to hide hers because he'd dropped a pair or three in the lake on accident.
"Everything all set Earl?" Victoria leaned against the counter with a smile, sunglasses poised atop her head.
"Just sign the line." Earl glanced over at Hiei, ransacking his sunglasses display, and then to Kurama who seemed engrossed in the map of the lake hanging on the wall. "Who are these boys ya got with ya?"
"Just some friends." Victoria assured him.
"Careful with em, Victoria. They look like trouble." He laughed when she full hearted agreed. "I'm not surprised a pretty little thing like you is juggling boys."
"Oh, it's not like that." She winked at the old man. "You know you're the only man for me."
"Damn skippy." He nodded and laughed again, stopping when Hiei marched over and held out a pair of sunglasses to Victoria. She accepted them and Hiei made his demand for her to purchase them with his hands. "He deaf?"
"He's something." She set the glasses on the counter and bought a strap for them so they wouldn't go flying off the man's head. "Alright, Earl. Let's show them their surprise."
He nodded and Victoria gathered the two men and had them follow her out the tackle shop to the pier down on the water. There were two sections of docks, one with old gas pumps lining the edges and the other with some jet skis tethered. She turned to beam at her companions, hands on her hips, life jacket open and revealing her black bikini top.
"Wallah!" She opened her arms wide. "This is the surprise!"
Hiei furrowed his brow, confused, and Kurama didn't seem to get it either.
"We're riding jet skis today!" Victoria brandished a hand toward the machines. When she didn't get a reaction she rolled her eyes. "Oh, just come on. You'll love it. I'll take you each out on mine to show you how they work. Kurama, come on."
The redhead glanced at Hiei, then at Earl, then nodded and tightened the straps on his lifejacket. Tentatively, he straddled the seat behind Victoria following her directions to hold onto her as she started the watercraft and maneuvered it away from the pier and out of the wake-free zone. And then she opened the throttle and Kurama called out, nearly falling off the back.
Hiei was bouncing on his toes on the pier when they came back from their short ride, his eyes hungry.
My turn. He signed and Victoria nodded.
Kurama accepted the second key from Earl and followed Victoria's careful instructions on how to start and work the machine. He left first, tentatively, and waited for them just outside the buoys marking where they had to slow down.
Hiei wrapped his arms around Victoria from behind, not eager to make Kurama's mistake and nearly fall off. Sure, his lifejacket was fitted to him. Victoria had made sure of that when she'd taken him to buy it. But there were some things you never wanted to test.
She eased them away from the pier and his hold tightened in anticipation.
Kurama's hair had whipped behind him when she'd taken off. They had gone so fast. Hiei waited impatiently for the same treatment. He wanted to feel that rush of wind.
"Ready?" Victoria passed the buoys, nodded to Kurama and didn't give Hiei a chance to respond before she took off.
As he adjusted to the speed, he allowed himself to stop anchoring against the woman and to extend first one arm out then his other. It was wonderful. She began to slow down and he protested, loudly.
"Do you want to drive?" She turned and asked him. He stared back blankly, even though she'd used sign and she knew he could understand.
You'd let me? He tilted his head.
Stupid. Of course. She made a face that plainly spoke of how ridiculous she found him.
Hiei didn't argue or glare at her. He merely nodded slowly and accepted her instructions as Kurama pulled up beside them. The redhead looked as liberated as Hiei felt, but his expression turned cautious when he witnessed Victoria and Hiei carefully switching places.
"Are you sure that's wise?" Kurama squinted at them.
"Yeah, it's fine." She assured him. "He needs this."
Kurama did not look convinced but he didn't argue.
Hiei oriented himself to the controls, practiced a few times, stalled once and then got then under wraps. He eased the throttle back at first, Victoria's arms wrapping around him startling him to the point his hand slipped off the gas. It shouldn't have surprised him. He didn't let it the second time. Once he comfortable he took off.
They were out on the lake for hours, Hiei refusing to give the controls back to Victoria until she finally told him they had to give the jet skis back. The rental period was over. With heavy annoyance, he relinquished the craft to her and allowed her to direct them back to the tackle shop. She filled the crafts with fuel and then tethered them to the right pier, returning the keys to Earl.
Kurama laughed at Hiei's hair, which had been blown in a mass of untamed senseless spikes. Hiei smirked, arms crossed and pointed out the redhead had no room to talk. He looked like he'd been through a tornado.
They made it into town and got Kurama a prepaid cellphone. An expensive one, that Victoria repeatedly warned him not to break. She showed him how to load the card and explained the limitations then left him to figure out the rest. It made her smile behind his back that he was reading through the entire owner's manual. After all of that, they picked up burgers and Victoria drove them to a park where they laid blankets and pillows out in the bed of the truck to avoid the hot metal and lounged. She kept the lifejackets, blankets, and some tools in the locked box that took up a portion of the bed of the truck.
It was nice.
Which only made Hiei's look of betrayal when Grams greeted them at the house all that much harder to bare.
What is this? He demanded with a glare.
"So. I have a job." Victoria explained to both of them. "I'm going to be out of town for a few days. Grams is going to be checking in on you guys. She'll take Hank with her to her place though, so you won't have to worry about him."
"Checking on us." Kurama repeated. "She's not staying?"
"Not the whole time. I figured you two could probably make it a few days without dying." She smiled at him, not sure why she felt the need to apologize. "And my number is in your phone so you'll be able to call me if you need anything."
"Why didn't you tell us?" He pressed, curious more than upset.
"I don't know."
That made Hiei run his eyes over her, then look to Kurama. "She's acting strange."
"Agreed." Kurama smiled back at the woman, then shrugged. "It is what it is. We'll look after the house, Victoria. There's no need for you to worry."
If he knew where she was going, he wouldn't be so certain of that. Victoria hugged Grams, kissed the old woman on the cheek and then grabbed her prepared bag and left.
