Author: Lauand

Beta: Bookofnicodemus

Rating: PG-13 for this chapter.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Theme: #8 One last date.

Summary: Where Milo keeps on pushing and Shaka keeps on not yielding.

A/N: Thank you very much to Books for the beta-reading and for existing in this dimension. Written for the 30_Nights LJ community.

30 NIGHTS

Eighth Night - Of Trays, Walks and Superheroes

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"How come you keep on bringing me tea?"

"I wanted to show off my beautiful trays."

Today's tray was the monstrosity with big dots. Shaka's closed eyes were sort of gazing at it, which in Milo's humble opinion, composed a slightly disturbing picture.

Milo didn't try to touch his cup. Against his will, Shaka had to admit that it puzzled him, this odd routine of brewing and carrying around some tea that no one was going to enjoy. Even more reluctantly, Shaka felt forced to acknowledge that the Knight of Scorpio was not the predictable, dull moron that he liked himself to be taken for.

Shaka couldn't shake off the annoying notion that Milo had been right last night.

I would even presume people don't even say the word 'piss' in your presence…

In fact, they didn't. Except the man who was supposedly bent on taking him to bed. Shaka didn't try to fool himself into thinking he understood any of this.

"There's no need to waste Mu's excellent tea anymore," Shaka said, "you don't like it and I won't drink it, so you can try to impress me by bringing the crockery alone the next time."

Milo winced at that.

"I would feel stupid carrying household items up and down the stairs just for you to admire them, you realize..."

Shaka moved imperceptibly, signaling that he had just shrugged. Milo was starting to really get the hang of Shaka's non-existent body language.

"Your seduction strategy, not mine."

For an instant, Milo wondered wildly if he could convert the number of trays into the new currency when talking about getting into somebody's pants. 'It took me more than 16 trays to do him'. The idea was preposterous - therefore, he liked it.

"So, you think that the tea is excellent but you won't touch it," Milo remarked. "How come?"

Shaka did that non-shrug thing again.

"Because it is stolen. Because it comes from you. Because you can't brew tea to save your life. Take your pick."

Scorpio wondered if that meant that there was only one correct answer, that all of them were true, or that all of them were false.

Milo rarely knew things. He just had a lot of gut feelings and had learned to trust his instincts when rational thought didn't prove to be enlightening.

"Then, you brew some tomorrow night," he demanded shamelessly. "I'm the visitor, after all. And now you can't say you don't have enough cups..."

To Milo's utter delight, the Knight of Virgo raised a fine eyebrow, but didn't refuse. It was amusingly incongruent the look of a man with his eyebrow lifted but both eyes closed. It never stop astonishing Milo.

"You know," he grinned, "there's some kind of Legend of Doom about you opening your eyes. They say that it unleashes the power to destroy everything under your gaze... more or less like Cyclops."

"Cyclops?" Shaka's eyebrow descended to its partner's level only for them to be drawn together in a delicate frown. "The mythical race of giants with a single eye?"

"No, silly!" Milo laughed good-humouredly, "Cyclops, from the X-Men!"

A long silence followed that clarification.

"...Who?"

"You need to go out more," Milo sighed, "and watch more television... hey! We could go to the cinema..."

Shaka's inexpressibility paradoxically expressed in no uncertain manner how seriously he was taking Milo's offer.

"Oh, come on!" Milo insisted, "it would be like going out on a date!"

Shaka exhaled.

"I don't think that's an argument with a high potential to convince me. Rather to the contrary."

"There's more to life than fighting and meditating, you know..."

"I'll choose, anyway, to miss all those wonderful things that according to you constitute life and stay here protecting the Sanctuary."

Milo gave in a little. A fraction of an inch. He hoped to lead with the example and make Shaka reach a compromise.

"Okay, not to the cinema, but how about a walk? We don't need to leave the Sanctuary and our dutiful cosmos will be alert against evil threats. How does that sound?"

"A walk," was Shaka's dry response. "And you've got the nerve to call me a sissy..."

"Aw, come on Shaka, it'll be good for you. Just a little walk. It's a very nice night outside, really."

"No."

"And why not? There are hundreds of reasons to do it."

"There are hundreds of reasons not to do it."

"Like...?"

"Like the fact that your sole intention with this is to make me fall into your bed. Or that I don't like leaving my temple unattended. You're obnoxious. Tomorrow we have to get up early. Taking walks is not what we're supposed to be doing. I don't want to give you false hopes. I don't want to give false hopes to the other Knights who might have been betting for you. We'll have to climb stairs up and down. It's unreasonable. I'm not going to let you romance me like a silly girl... is that enough?"

Milo smirked.

"No."

"No?"

"No. You didn't mention 'because I don't want to'."

"Because I don't want to."

"Too late. Let's go."

Milo grabbed Shaka's wrist to pull him up, but found that he couldn't lift his arm even an inch. More than Virgo's cosmos burning threateningly, it was Shaka's utter seriousness that stopped Milo from pulling harder. He didn't release Shaka's wrist, though - he only ceased the traction.

They stayed like that for some long seconds, in a weird version of a stare down but without actual eye contact.

Shaka still wore a completely serious expression that for some reason made Milo softly smile. No dragging, then, no violence. No force.

He started to caress with his thumb the little skin that Virgo's gauntlet didn't cover when Shaka conversationally asked.

"Do you want to lose your sense of touch, Knight of Scorpio?"

There was a swift summary of the implications in Milo's helpful mind.

"Err... no?"

Shaka's silence was more eloquent than any word, so Milo reluctantly released the other Knight's wrist.

"I suppose that means that you won't kiss me good-bye, doesn't it?" he mostly whined.

It was nearly a visual experience how Shaka gathered his patience. Worshiping Buddha sure paid off in that aspect.

"I think it's safe to state that no, I don't especially feel inclined to."

Despite himself, Milo laughed. He didn't want Shaka to think he was mocking him, but he just couldn't help it. Shaka was too rich.

"Pity," Milo declared. After a little hesitation, he added, "I didn't mean to force you to take a walk against your will," even Milo could hear how stupid that sounded, but he still thought it was the right thing to say. "I just wanted you to want to take that walk with me."

Not especially looking forward to an answer, Milo walked away towards the exit of the temple of Virgo before Shaka could deliver a reply.

For that reason, Shaka couldn't observe him long enough to decipher how much honesty and how much planned deviousness could have been contained in Milo's parting words.