Gamble
"No." Rei growled. "And not just no, but hell no." She crossed her arms, flipping thick black hair over her shoulder with an almost regal toss of her head.
"Rei." Minako pleaded, sticking out her lower lip for added effect. "It's just a game."
"You are out of your damn mind."
"Think of it as team bonding!"
Violet eyes narrowed. "I'm thinking of it as proof that you have some sort of head trauma. What the hell did they do to you out there in New York?"
"Aw, come on Rei-chan!" Usagi giggled. "It's just us, and it's been forever since we've all been together!"
Rei took in the hopeful faces of her dearest friends, sitting cross-legged in the middle of floor in a circle. The recently married princess was still batting her eyelashes at the former priestess, and Minako sat beside her, echoing the expression. Ami pushed her glasses further up the bridge of her nose, her cheeks dusted a light pink from the wine, no doubt. Makoto leaned back on her hands, a broad grin sweeping her features and a stick of Pocky dangling from the corner of her mouth.
Great. Absolutely no help to be found here.
Rei's eyes briefly flickered over to the wide bay window overlooking sparkling city lights, but the idol seemed to read her mind even as she daydreamed about taking the world's most epic swan dive…
A perfectly shaped eyebrow arched and Minako's lips quirked mischievously. "Rei, even if you transformed, you wouldn't survive the fall." She got to her feet and tugged on Rei's elbow, putting forth her best puppy dog eyes. "Besides, I ask for so little from you."
Rei could feel her resolve was wavering, and it only got worse when Usagi joined her cohort, tugging on her other arm and dragging her towards the others. She knew any argument made now would be met with crocodile tears and flailing arms, and that thought alone made her feel so very old. "Had to pick the top floor, didn't you?" she ground out between clenched teeth, reluctantly plopping down on the plush carpet and folding her long legs beneath her.
"Only the best for Japan's number one staaaar!" Usagi sang gleefully, throwing an arm around Minako's shoulders. The pair melted down into giggles, and Rei fought the urge to bolt once more.
"What are the rules again?" Makoto drawled, eyes glassy, and bringing the group's attention back to the game at hand.
"Traitor." Rei muttered under her breath.
The tall brunette laughed heartily, clapping her friend on the back with such a force that if Rei had not been sitting, she would have face planted.
"Okay!" Minako cried ecstatically, leaning forward, blue eyes sparkling with something Rei equated with demonic possession. "This game is called, 'Baby, do you love me?'"
"Seriously?" Rei snorted.
"Unnecessary comments are not necessary!" Minako replied firmly, fixing the dark haired woman with a stern look.
"That doesn't even…"
The blonde huffed. "How about this then? Shut up, or I'll make Mako hit you."
"She wouldn't." Rei tried warily, casting an uneasy glance in her friend's direction. Makoto cracked her knuckles for show, earning another round of giggles. Rei sighed, burying her face in her palm as the brunette hammed it up now, flexing her arms for an extremely excitable Usagi, who oooh'd and ahh'd, poking at strong biceps with a wide grin.
"Oh yeah, welcome to the GUN SHOW."
Rei wanted to cry.
"Rules are easy." Minako continued. "First person that's 'it' has to go to each person in the ring and say, 'Baby, Do you love me?'" There was a slightly strangled noise from Rei's side of the circle, but she ignored it and plowed on. "The other person answers, 'Baby, I love you, but I just can't smile.'"
"Aw, come on!" Rei cried. "How old are we?"
"Mako?" Minako replied, gesturing to Rei with a nod.
Makoto laughed, giving Rei a quick rap across the back of the head with her knuckle.
"Alright, alright!" the fire soldier scowled. Across from her, Usagi was in near hysterics.
"It's like a shock collar for a dog!"
"WHAT?" Rei snapped, gritting her teeth.
"We should have done this years ago!"
Rei would have sprung forward on her feet and murdered the clueless princess, if it weren't for Makoto's strong hand on her shoulder, pushing her back down.
"ANYWAY," Minako cut in, swirling her drink in her hand, "if you smile, you're it."
"That's not so bad." Ami decided with a nod. "I can handle that."
Minako's grin damn near turned lecherous, and Rei felt the hair on the back of her neck prickle in warning. "There's a catch. You see, the person who is 'it' can try some persuasive tactics. Silly faces, tickling, you know, what have you."
Rei felt her eyebrow tick. Persuasive tactics? An evilly vague what have you? This was bad on so many levels, and why did everyone else seem perfectly okay with this?
"Where did you learn this?" Usagi asked incredulously, blue eyes wide.
"On tour." Minako replied with a dismissive wave of her hand.
Rei bit back any comment she could have made, as Makoto was still within arm's reach.
"Everyone got it?" the idol questioned cheerily, mentally noting Rei's absolutely horrified face. She could practically see the beads of sweat on her forehead from here, and it was just fantastic the way she was trying to subtly squirm.
"I'll go first!" Makoto cried valiantly with a nod in Ami's direction, and Rei was making her own metal notes about never letting Makoto drink anything alcoholic ever again.
The brave warrior scooted over to Ami, who suddenly found herself in the world's most god awful spotlight. She blinked slowly, as though her brain were struggling to play a very rapid game of catch up and losing terribly, and as soon as Makoto slung an arm over her tiny shoulders, her face flushed a brilliant shade of red. Wiping the comical grin from her features, in all seriousness, the thunder soldier leaned in near the shell of her ear, her voice low and throaty, her breath a light tickle. "Baby, do you love me?"
Minako blinked from her spot beside Usagi as Ami nearly collapsed, sagging forward under the tension. Had Makoto not been holding her up, she reasoned she would have gone into a coma of embarrassment.
"Great." Rei grumbled. "It's only been thirty seconds, and already somebody broke Ami. I knew this was a bad idea."
"She's broken?" Usagi wailed, blue eyes wide.
Minako giggled. "She's not broken, but I think her nose is bleeding."
"Holy crap." Makoto muttered, giving the petite woman a light shake. "Ami?"
The little genius sucked in a breath and sat up, and with a quick shake of her head and another heavy sip of wine, blue eyes turned to meet emerald. "Baby, I'm sorry, I love you, but you're not very funny right now."
The room erupted into catcalls. Well, the blonde half of the room anyway, because all Rei could do was feel all of her blood run cold as Makoto laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of her neck. "Scared me there for a second."
Ami gave a demure nod and lightly shoved Makoto off of her. "Nice try."
"Are we in an alternate universe?" Rei muttered weakly. "I'm not the only one thinking that, right? Like, we fell into some bizarre…"
"Mako." Minako sighed, gesturing to Rei again.
The former priestess snapped her mouth shut as she dodged a halfhearted swipe from the thunder soldier and the game continued.
Usagi, it was decided, was absolutely terrible at this. She giggled at everything, having succumbed to Makoto before she could even finish her line. Minako blew the princess off easily, and before Rei could make a mad scramble to the door, arms were around her neck and Usagi was laughing until her eyes watered, holding the fire solder in place. "Baby, do you…"
"No."
"Aw, Rei-chan..."
"NO."
"But, Rei-chan, you have to say the line…"
Rei fixed the princess with a look that would have melted steel, but Usagi laughed anyway.
"Moron." She giggled, flicking Rei in the forehead.
"Whatever." Rei growled, feeling her face flush. "Let go."
Minako grinned, a devilish scheme forming in her mind. She had made Rei her target long before the game started, but had planned on going for a few rounds until her strong resolve and discipline had shown signs of weakness. Apparently, that hadn't taken long at all.
Oh, how she loved breaking the sheltered girl.
On Usagi's next ridiculous lap around, Operation: Torture Rei had moved past the planning stage and was now in full swing. Cerulean eyes locked on violet ones and held her gaze, and tiny alarm bells began to sound in the back of the fire soldier's mind.
Usagi said her line, and Minako burst into peals of laughter, tipping the princess back in a mock swoon. "I thought you'd be better at this than that, Minako!" Usagi giggled, swatting her hands away and struggling to right herself.
"Guess this means I'm it." The idol stated innocently, but the wink she threw Rei was anything but.
Rei felt her throat go impossibly dry when she realized that Minako did that on purpose, tossing the game like that, because then she would be….
Minako slid over next to Rei with an impossibly wide smile, and already Rei started to throw up any and all defenses.
"No."
The blonde laughed. "I haven't even done anything yet!"
"I'll save you the trouble." Rei growled. "No." Her eyes narrowed sharply. The best course of action may very well be a swift retreat, but she was being challenged now, and she would be damned if she was going to be made a fool of with some ridiculous game.
But Minako had other ideas, and she crawled into Rei's lap like she had done it thousands of times before, settling in easily and leaning against her chest as though it were the most natural thing in the world. The dark haired woman stiffened ramrod straight as one of Minako's hands wound around to the back of her neck, fingertips grazing the sensitive skin there.
No response.
Meanwhile, the idol's other hand was on a mission of pure agony as it ghosted over the fire soldier's hip, her thumb sliding up under the hem of Rei's shirt and gently caressing abstract patterns over heated flesh. Minako had to control her glee when she actually felt the soldier tremble for the briefest of moments in her embrace, though Rei's face remained a mask of perfect indifference.
"Wow, pretty sure that's cheating." Makoto observed blearily, sent into a stunned silence when both Usagi and Ami shushed her.
"Rei." Minako murmured softly, fingertips still coaxing delicious little shakes from the stoic soldier. "Look at me."
Rei tensed up, prepared to growl out some snappy response, but the hand on her hip moved to cup her cheek gently, turning her face until their eyes met. Horrified, the raven haired woman felt her body freeze, and her mind went completely blank, lost in deep blue and most certainly drowning.
Minako tipped her head closer, their faces just inches apart, and licked her lips, mentally congratulating herself for wearing her very best lip gloss today as Rei face turned a thousand shades of red, all the way to the tips of her ears.
"Holy crap. She is the goddess of love." Makoto hissed, earning an elbow to the ribs by Ami.
"Baby." Minako whispered, stroking her thumb along a defined jawline and never breaking eye contact. "Do you love me?"
Rei nodded dumbly, her body running on autopilot and absolutely transfixed.
"Say it." the idol purred.
"I love you." Rei whispered softly, her arms seemingly developing ideas of their own as they wrapped around Minako and…
"OH MY GOD." Usagi squealed, promptly clamping her hands over her mouth when she realized the error of her ways.
The spell was broken. Rei shook her head rapidly, her mind in a hazy fog, and suddenly the blonde still perched in her lap looked incredibly nervous.
Rei blinked. Once. Twice. "…the hell?"
Minako, not wanting to waste the three seconds she had before she was roasted alive, darted forward and pecked Rei on the lips anyway, theorizing that she could at least go out with a bang. Her world was turned upside down, quite literally, when Rei scrambled to her feet, dumping Minako into an unceremonious heap on the floor.
Rei, quite flustered and obviously in great distress, growled out strings of curses that would have made a sailor blush, whirling on her heels and making a beeline for the door.
"Rei," the idol giggled, "I thought you loved me!"
There was a fierce growl, and the walls shook with the force of the door slamming behind her.
"Makoto!" Minako sputtered out between bouts of laughter. "Go, go get her! Bring her back!"
Makoto blinked slowly. "…what?"
"Go on." The blonde wheezed, waving a hand in the direction Rei had gone. "You're the strongest!"
"But not the dumbest!" Makoto cried. "She'll kill me!"
"A…as your leader…" Minako tried, still struggling to get her mirth in check, "I command you!"
The brunette sighed deeply, shaking her head as she rose to her feet. "You owe me."
"I know, I know. Forty percent of the proceeds."
"Fifty."
Minako rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine."
From the hotel hallway came the sounds of a fierce scuffle. Apparently Rei hadn't gotten too far, and Minako finally got herself under control. She pushed herself up into a sitting position, sliding next to her princess and draping an arm over her shoulder.
"Your Majesty?"
"Hm?"
Minako grinned. "Pretty sure you owe me some cash."
Usagi groaned, digging into her pockets for a crumpled wad of bills. "It's scary, you know, how easy you made that look."
The idol flashed her a V for victory, and turned her attention to Ami. "Your turn. Pay up."
Ami sighed, tossing the blonde some bills of her own. "We shouldn't be toying with her like that."
"Says the one that had twenty on her not cracking for four rounds."
Ami blushed.
The door was thrown open, and Makoto entered the room, a very pissed off Rei draped over her shoulders in a fireman's carry. "It wasn't easy, but I got her!"
Rei was seething as she struggled to free herself, the hold leaving no room to kick her legs or deck Makoto in the middle of her stupid face. She resorted to threats, violet eyes darkening as her teeth gritted together. "I swear to god, if you don't put me down right now…"
"Hold that position!" Minako gasped, diving for her cellphone.
The thunder soldier laughed, striking a mighty pose as the camera flashed, and Rei felt her blood pressure skyrocket.
"I'm going to kill her," Rei muttered darkly, even as Makoto set her back on her feet. "and then I'm going to kill you."
"Ah," Makoto laughed, pushing her forward. "shut up and go sit next to your girlfriend."
Minako patted a spot next to her and with a grin and a wink. "Come on lover. I won't bite, unless you want me to."
The ensuing calamity resulted in one Aino Minako being banned for life from the hotel, along with trashy tabloid stories that ran in the morning, citing property damages that rivaled that of American heavy metal bands. Her manager had sighed wearily, massaging his temples as his charge skimmed over the various articles.
"The damage control I'm going to have to do on this is outrageous." he growled out, catching bright blue eyes across his desk. "Was it worth it?"
Minako grinned. "You have no idea."
Notes:
This one is absolutely ridiculous. Almost didn't post it, but I felt like I had to stick to the rules I set for myself. Apparently, this game isn't well known in some parts of the world. When I describe it, I get the weirdest looks...