So is everyone ready for another update?
Anyways to answer some reviews:
Mrs. Radcliffe 13- I suppose The Deck could be somewhat of a fraternity/sorority type thing, but I will hopefully keep it from becoming it. I will also try to explain and work out the kinks! nEeLLoC- Originality is what I'm going for :) And I appreciate that advanced congratulations :) StarAngel02- Yes, they were very dazzled by each other :) poems2songs- I will try my best!
So I am hoping that everyone is enjoying this story as much as I am!
Gilded Cage: Chapter V- Bottoms Up
Previously:
Looking through the crowd for Tomoyo, Sakura's eyes fell on a familiar messy head.
Coincidentally, the messy head looked up.
Amber met emerald.
Sakura diverted her gaze. 'Holy—'
--
'—Shit.' Syaoran thought diverting his gaze.
Staring out into the crowd, Sakura finally found Tomoyo, who was waving quite avidly but to her surprise she was standing by a tall, handsome man.
'Eriol-san!' she thought surprised.
"These are the eight new selected inductees for this year!" the loud voice boomed. "
Finally finding the small appetizer table in the back where no one could possibly see it, Syaoran walked over and plucked a macaroon off a stand.
Syaoran reached for another but was cut of by a tinkling noise.
Groaning he looked at the source of the interruption.
Yelan was now standing behind a long banquet table, which was positioned behind another banquet table half the length.
"Will the guests please take the two tables in the back, as the Suits take up the four tables in front of us?" Yelan asked motioning to the six lengthy banquet tables arranged in front her.
"Yelan-sama's wish is for the inductees to sit in the table in front of her." The man said, pointing to the small table in front of the Joker.
The eight of them made their way slowly through the crowd, walking down the crimson carpet, leading them straight to their seats, a rectangular table covered by a pure white cloth.
"Welcome." Yelan said before motioning to the seats. "Please, have a seat."
The guests gradually dispersed as everyone found their designated seats and each Suit seemed to separate into their own section, with each Suit's heads sitting with Yelan.
"Now as everyone is seated, maître d's will come around and serve everyone." Yelan announced, signaling to the waiting maître d's.
Multiple maître d's bustled into the ballroom with hands filled with plates, pushing carts filled with food, and carrying more champagne.
As soon as everything was poured, served, and situated, Yelan stood up for one last time.
"You my begin." And with a swoop of her arms, they began to eat.
And as fast as Yelan sat down, the four-course French meal— that consisted of an appetizer: a small plate of gougère sprinkled with crushed basil; a salad: Niçoise salad topped with sliced veal; an entrée: roast quail stuffed with foie gras; and a dessert: a petite crème caramel with a sprig of lavender—was gone within a matter of minutes.
"Now I hope that everyone's stomachs are satisfied?" Yelan questioned the ballroom.
A murmur of approval echoed throughout the ballroom.
"Wonderful, now we can end the night with dancing." Yelan said as the maître d's collected the dishes and the orchestra began a new song.
"Are you satisfied with tonight's meal Daidoji-san?" Eriol asked Tomoyo as he helped her out of her chair.
"I am very satisfied with tonight's meal Eriol-sama." She said, getting up from her chair. "It was delicious; did you like the meal yourself? I myself have to say that I really could go for another serving of the crème caramel, though I was not particularly favoring the foie gras and—"
Eriol cleared his throat. "Well I'm glad to see that you're so open-minded Daidoji-san, but I do have to take your mind off of the food and ask you for a dance." He asked taking her hand into his own.
Tomoyo grimaced and opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by a shrill cry.
"Eric!" a foreign voice called.
Tomoyo turned around to see a foreigner with ridiculously large, blonde hair wearing a revealing black dress stroll over to the two.
"Eric I was looking all over for you!" the foreigner spoke in English. "Where were you? You left me in your room."
Eriol chuckled slightly. 'I hate one-night stands.' He thought fixing his frames, glancing over to Tomoyo who raised an eyebrow.
"I'm sorry Elise; I had business to attend to." Eriol replied in English.
Elise played with a stand of loose hair. "But that still doesn't give you the excuse to leave me in your room unattended!" she whined, clinging on Eriol's arm.
Tomoyo sighed and took a glass of champagne from a passing maître d. "Sorry for intruding on your lovers spat." She said, walking over to Chiharu, who was talking to another one of the inductees—Reiko Mashima—and sipping on some punch. "I bid you goodnight Eriol-sama."
Spotting another flash of auburn, Syaoran instinctively moved toward the girl, but restrained himself.
"Now where the hell is Eriol?" he muttered to himself, trying to avoid the hoard of woman—Deck and guests alike—looking to dance with him.
Looking around he saw that flirting women surrounded Saeki and Fai, and the two shamelessly flirted back as well. "Those assholes." He glared at the group.
Deciding that he would not find any entertainment waiting around, Syaoran drifted over to the entrance, carefully exiting the ballroom without his mother or Mei-Ling catching him.
"Shaoran!" a nasally, accented voice echoed through his head.
'I hate one-night stands.' He thought to himself as he turned around.
"Shaoran I was looking all over for you! Where were you?" the tipsy voice giggled as freshly manicured claws grasped onto his clothed arm.
Syaoran groaned inwardly as he looked down at the intruder. "Hi… "
The woman's face lit up, egging Syaoran to continue.
'Shit, I forgot! Sharon—was a redhead… Christen—had glasses… Sarah—was Brazilian… Chloe—had a bigger nose… Natalie!'
"Hi Natalie!" he smiled, trying to release her grip on his arm.
"You remembered Shaoran!" she cried ecstatically, her grip tightening.
'It's Syaoran you bimbo!' Syaoran bit his lip. 'Do not hit her. Do not hit her. Do not hit her.' He repeated the mantra in his head as they walked down the hall.
Natalie let out a drunken hiccup. "How about you and I return to my room for some late night snacking?" she asked, dragging a long, lacquered finger down his chest, in attempt to be seductive through her state of inebriation.
Pulling his arm away from Natalie, Syaoran quickly dashed down the hall, far away from Natalie.
'Never again,' he thought, 'Never again.'
With a girl on each arm, the King of Hearts was in pure bliss.
"Saeki-sama, are you enjoying yourself tonight?" the girl on his right asked, batting her long eyelashes.
Saeki chuckled, swishing his cream-colored hair from his face to give her a slow wink, just enough to send her heart beating more than needed. "I am enjoying myself, Ayaka-chan—even more so with you by my side."
"Would you like a refill of your vodka, Saeki-sama?" this time the redhead girl on his left asked him, angling in to him, holding the bottle of vodka a little too suggestively.
Grinning, he leaned to his left. "Of course, but you know—I would rather have a refill of you, Isabel-chan." He whispered into her foreign ear, making her gasp, spilling vodka on his pant leg.
"I'm so sorry Saeki-sama!" Isabel cried, reaching for a napkin. "Let us make it up to you."
Saeki's grin widened, pulling the two girls closer to him, hearing them squeal slightly. "Well then, you know the routine girls. Tonight." He whispered, releasing them both, walking away.
'Sluts.' He smirked looking around. 'Now then, who's the next lucky lady?'
He watched the crowd, picking out girls as a hand patted him on the shoulder.
"Targeting more girls to satisfy your never-ending libido?" Fai laughed, shaking his platinum blonde locks.
Saeki grinned again. "I can't help it." He shrugged, looking around. "Is that Eriol? And who is that pretty lady he has his hand on?" he questioned pointing at the pair.
Fai simpered. "Someone that Eriol has had his eyes on."
Saeki snorted before something caught his eye. "Who's that?" he asked pointing at someone in the crowd.
Fai followed Saeki's finger to see Sakura giggling at something someone said. "Don't you remember Saeki? That's Syaoran's new slave. Sakura Kinomoto."
Saeki leered. 'Sakura Kinomoto.'
'Finally got away from Elise.' Eriol sighed inwardly. 'Now where's Tomoyo?'
Spotting the violet haired girl, Eriol ran over Tomoyo who was engaged in an animation conversation with a man.
'Don't they seem comfortable?' he thought glaring at the man as he approached, making his presence known.
"Hello Tomoyo, I'm back dear." He said looping an arm around her tiny torso. "Thank you for watching over her, Yamada-kun." He addressed the man, who in turn, bowed slightly before scampering away.
Tomoyo stood frozen in Eriol's arms, appalled. "What the hell do you think you were doing?" she cried, pulling him out of the ballroom into the hall where they wouldn't attract attention.
Eriol pushed his glasses up. "I was simply addressing the situation like any other matter Tomoyo." He replied matter-of-factly.
Tomoyo's face flushed with rage. "There was nothing to address!" she exclaimed, pulling violently at her hair—though careful not to ruin it. "And don't call me Tomoyo without my permission—only people I respect can call be by my given name!"
Eriol smirked, leaning in close to Tomoyo's face, taking in the light fragrance of her perfume. "Do you not respect me Tomoyo?" He questioned, tilting his head in a childish manner.
Tomoyo recoiled. "N-N-No… what you see, is that… I d-do r-r-r-resp—"
Eriol chuckled a low, throaty chuckle that sent a tingling feeling through her spine. "You don't have to push yourself to hard Tomoyo; I don't want you to hurt yourself," he said brushing her bangs out of the way, "though I would greatly appreciate it if you would greet me with your presence tomorrow." He asked kissing her the forehead.
Tomoyo froze as his lips left a scorching touch.
Eriol let out another low chuckle before walking back into the ballroom. "Remember to come."
Touching her forehead, she blushed before shaking her head violently. 'No! Stop thinking so hard Tomoyo! And I don't have to go to meet him tomorrow if I don't want to… but if I did…' her thoughts trailed off.
Yelan watched from where she sat on her personally made throne, the entire ballroom.
The Queens of each suit were together in a group talking, the Kings—Saeki and Fai specifically, surprisingly Eriol was talking with a young lady and as usual her stubborn son was no where to be seen— were scattered around—flirting—with the women species, and the Jacks were leafing through the crowd.
Smiling to herself, Yelan surveyed the ballroom sipping on her glass of wine.
'Looks like Fai's going to receive quite the beating from Mei-Ling; Eriol's looking rather smug—where did that girl go? Tomoyo Daidoji was it?—; Takashi is making up lies again.' She laughed inwardly as Chiharu delivered a routine punch to the arm. 'Naoko and Takuya seem to be enjoying the inductees; Fanren and Sheifa are looking for Syaoran again; Nade—'
Yelan whipped her head over to the petite, cream-covered girl, blinking multiple times to clear her vision. 'No, that's not her.' She thought, looking over to the girl once more, who was calmly sipping on her champagne. 'Eriol was right—looks like this is going to be an interesting year.' She smirked vaguely, draining the rest of her wine.
The music faded along with the night.
The ballroom cleared its inside of all life.
The guests left for their homes.
The numbers left for their beds.
And the inductees readied themselves for their dreaded assignments that would soon greet them.
I'm sorry that that was such a slow update!
Trying my best to make things go fast and get to the interesting parts!
The chapter title is pretty weird but its 'Bottoms Up' because if you were paying attention, everyone was drinking.
Keep in touch with reviews.
~feuledBYpachi