Okay then, chap 2 up and running! Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed; it made my muses hyper. A suggestion I had for a name was "Metamorphasis" from darksaphire, which I quite liked. So, that is a definite possiblility at the mo. Thanks also to Omili and Black-Dranzer for their really lovely reviews. Anywho, I will stop rambling now. At one point, it switched to Ray's POV and I keep changing how I spell Rei as well, . That is because I wrote that bit with a different fic which I then discarded. And, on with the story...
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The next morning I woke early as usual, thanks to my alarm clock, but instead of immediately getting up as I usually would, I found myself just watching Ray as he slept. He was lying on his front, with an arm raised above his head and the other hanging off the bed. He was wearing his blue t-shirt and every breath stirred a few wayward strands of hair. I slowly shifted slightly and leant precariously over the gap between the beds. With the tips of my fingers I brushed his hair out of his face and back behind his ear. He stirred and I pulled back, swinging my legs out from under the covers swiftly. I hear him make a funny noise in the back of his throat as he stretches.
"Gu mornun, gi." The side of my mouths quirks up slightly
"Morning Ray. Nice sleep?"
"Yeah, not bad. What we doing this morning then?" You have to ask?
"Training."
He nods sleepily, before wrapping his arms around the pillow, burying his face in it and exhaling. His foot pokes out the bottom of his covers and I tug it slightly as I walk past.
"Up.Now." Strangely, there's a lot of affection in my tone and for a moment I'm worried that I'm getting too close to him; that I should step back a bit. I walk quickly out the door as he groans in annoyance and shut the door behind me.
We all spend the morning training, lunch at a cafe in town and the afternoon at the cinema since Mr D is currently fixated on making the team more socially integrated. I don't remember what the film was; only that it was so boring I spent most of it watching Ray out of the corner of my eye. He was in less traditional clothes today; just jeans and a Chinese style shirt. Though always the red bandanna to keep his hair out of his eyes. Yin-Yang. I've never thought about it much but he must be Buddhist. I'm Eastern Orthodox personally, though not particularly devout. He probably is; some of the main components of Buddhism as far as I'm aware are calm and tolerance which pretty much sums him up.
At any rate, the day was fairly unremarkable, and Ray seemed not to have been aware of the incident that morning with my itchy fingers.
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"Hey guys, any preferences for dinner?" I glanced back over the sofa. Ray was stood in the doorway to the kitchen, one arm raised and bent beside his head as he leant on the door frame. Suddenly, a horde of raised voices clamoured for recognition.
"Sticky rice!"
"Beef stir fry!"
"Veggie spring rolls!"
"Chicken and cashew nuts!"
"That stuff with the sauce!"
Real descriptive, Tyson.
It's not often we have real food, only the days when Ray cooks so I suppose they can't be blamed for being enthusiastic but it pisses me off slightly; I know full well that Ray will try and make whatever they want and then get stressed because of it. Think about that. Ray. Stressed. In the same sentence.
Said teen smiles wryly and mutters something in Chinese that I have heard him use before. Generally at mealtimes and in relation to Tyson.
Maybe I should help? Oh, but I'm so comfortable! No!
But my damn conscience is having a right hissy fit, so up I get. Up from the lovely comfortable sofa, into the nasty cold kitchen. Blairgh. I despise lino.
I walk up behind him with my arms wrapped around me and huddled up, hoping I don't look too much of an idiot. I really need to go back to Russia and sort out my resistance to cold again. I mutter something that could, at a stretch, have sounded like,
"Need any help?"
He smiles at me and suddenly, I don't mind anymore.
"Yeah, sure. Can you cut up those vegetables for me?"
He points towards a chopping board with some assorted vegetables piled on top of it. Hmm, not too difficult I imagine…
"Shit!"
I stick my thumb in my mouth and taste the blood now seeping out of it. Fucking broccoli. Ray looks over my shoulder, winces slightly and takes the knife from my free hand.
"Wrong knife Kai. This is too blunt; I'm surprised you didn't cut yourself sooner." He hands me a much sharper one-the kind that you could very easily decapitate someone with but small enough to fit fairly safely in someone's boot. Tala would love it.
Ahh, much better. I go through the evil greens much quicker now and tip them in a wok. (Buurn!!) Ok, I freely admit it, I think I'm going mildly insane. It's these bloody kids. I swear I've started to get a twitching vein in my right eye when I'm angry.
Soon we're all done and after dinner I give myself the satisfaction of making the three younger ones wash up the dishes. I'm in the room Ray and I share, thinking; just laying on my back with one arm across my forehead and the other clasping Dranzer on my stomach, when Ray walks in. He smiles at me slightly, a wonky smile that I have come to recognise as one that he rarely uses with other people. It's a smile of partners in crime, two people with the world (Or more accurately, three psychotic kids) on their shoulders. The side of his mouth quirks upwards on one side and that eye closes ever so slightly without him realising. Sometimes a sharp tooth grazes his mouth but he doesn't seem to notice.
I nod back to him, glad he knows that I'm not being aloof. He yawns slightly, the back of one hand covering his mouth. He stops whatever he's fiddling with and sits casually on the side of his bed.
"Thanks for helping with dinner, by the way; it really helps." Suddenly he grinned. "Do you need a plaster?"
"Hn. I'm not sure. What if I get gangrene and my thumb falls off?"
He reaches forwards, takes hold of my hand and looks at it. As he speaks, his breath brushes over my palm and for some reason I have to fight a shudder.
"Bless."
Slowly, his laughter died away and even I felt a small half-smile tug at my lips. In the comfortable silence following, I noticed in the back of my mind how very close we were; our heads bent at an angle to the other.
Without knowing what was going on, without even realising it, I was leaning forwards further. Towards him. His eyes went wide, and though he surely knew my intention, he didn't move. Showed no sign of either encouragement or resistance. His lips were soft, though a little chapped in one area from where his sharp teeth regularly grazed them. Caught in his surprise, he didn't react. I, however, did. Suddenly realising what had happened, I pulled back and licked my lips slightly. His feline eyes followed the movement and I could swear I saw his breathing speed up.
My thoughts were screaming incoherently to run, to hide. Where had that come from? All this time I had never thought of him as anything more than a friend. I had never really thought of anyone as any more than a friend, be they male or female. In fact, I had never really thought of many people as friendsLet alone something more… Wait! What in the world? Getting ahead of yourself aren't you, Hiwatari? He hasn't even said anything yet. Maybe I should just go, to prevent either of us from saying anything at all. To try and forget and keep things the way they are.
I stood, moving away from him but as I turned I felt my wrist caught in a gentle grip. I stood silently, still facing away. Rei slowly moved to stand in front of me. I was suddenly gripped by an inexplicable fear. I couldn't read his expression. I had no idea what was going on in his head. Then, in an incredibly surreal moment, his hand slid upwards from my wrist to my forearm, up over my shoulder and then his fingers were grazing my cheek, tracing the facepaint triangles. He came closer, eyes on my lips, flicking upwards to my own eyes nervously. He tilted his head slightly and kissed me sweetly, chastely. He smiled a little, that quirky smile I recognised instantly. My hands slipped around his waist and he stepped closer still until our bodies were pressed together.
We kissed again, and I knew I was lost, perhaps forever.
Rei
My right hand moved up to his chest and my left threaded into his hair. He was inexperienced, his kiss had a slightly awkward movement as thought he didn't quite know what to do. Bless. But regardless, he seemed to have a natural talent of sorts for my legs felt weaker by the second and my stomach twisted slightly. His hands stroked up and down my back, the restrained strength easily apparent. As we grew more passionate, I knew where this would inevitably lead and I didn't care. My mind just gave up and let my body take control.
I parted my lips and traced his with the tip of my tongue. Startled slightly, he parted them and I slipped my tongue into his mouth. Searching his crimson eyes to see what he thought of this, I was rewarded when they dilated slightly. Slowly, instinctively, he took control of the kiss and I began to feel breathless as I trembled slightly. One of his hands cupped the back of my head and he deepened the kiss further.
After a few minutes, we separated. The hand around the back of my head caressed my cheek before moving over to my damp lips and tracing their outline. Reaching the corner, he leant forwards and placed a soft kiss there. He kissed the skin just behind my earlobe and up until the point of my ear. His lips moved lower to caress my neck along the line of my shirt. Glancing up, he seemed to ask for permission and I shakily nodded as he slowly opened the first button and placed another kiss on the exposed skin. Soon, he had undone the whole shirt and slipped it from my shoulders. I did the same, removing his scarf and pulling his top over his head. As he moved forwards again I stopped him and reached across the room to the hotel sink. I took the cloth I knew was there and turned away to run it under the tap. When I looked back at him, he stood exactly the same way as before, watching me. I reached up hesitantly with the cloth and gently cleaned the blue from his face. He watched me, unreadable.
Much better. Without the paint he seemed younger, just a boy like me. Just Kai.
Kai
With the paint gone, I feel more vulnerable. It's strange. It's just paint for Christ sake. I feel as though I should say something but I don't know what. What do you say when you have just kissed your team mate? When you have started to undress him?
His tanned skin is smooth, aside from a few scars. I like imagining him as a child in his village in the mountains, perhaps playing in rivers where the water sparkled and the sun turned his skin this glorious brown. The image in my mind is almost from another era and I wonder how Rei felt when he stepped forwards into a different time and place. He is an enigma, my Rei. Few know what he is feeling but you can be sure it will be calm and content, unlike me. I've heard Tyson say a few times that I have two "modes" of thought: beyblade battle-aka "must beat opponent into ground" and non-beyblade battle-aka "Shall I walk away disgustedly, call him/her names or smash him/her into the ground". The little twit.
But that thought fades as my hands reach out to touch his chest, his shoulders. His breathing has definitely sped up now and I step closer until we are almost pressed against each other. He rests his head on my shoulder and closes his eyes, sighing slightly. His arms are around my waist and then one hand starts stroking up my side. I'm not sure what to do and to be honest I'm happy staying like this for now. I know that soon, we will be overwhelmed but for now I just want to have him close.
Rei
He is as slim as I am but he is still more strongly built. While my body is the result of spiritual martial arts, gymnastics and just general gentle exercise, his has been made by hard sport and training. He knows more martial arts than I do "Hello" in different languages. He is pale, which is a rarity in Japan and a feature of his Russian heritage. His red eyes are also unusual, though I suppose that I'm hardly of a normal appearance. He kisses the top of my head, his lips lingering longer than necessary.
Kai
As I thought, we are soon kissing again and I discover that brushing my fingers over his nipples causes his breath to hitch and his eyelashes to flutter. We spend a few minutes just caressing each other, growing warmer by the minute.
Two hours later, we lie on our sides next to each other, exhausted and content. His golden eyes open and he blinks sleepily, cuddling up to me. I pull him to lie on my chest slightly, since I prefer to sleep on my back and it can't be comfortable for him to be lying on my arm. After a few moments I hear, ever so softly, a quiet purr. I smile a little and bury my face in his hair before I lay back holding him in a hug as I fall asleep.