(41) Train
Da let the train jostle her as she stared at the graffiti on the back of the seat in front of her. She could still hear her cousin's voice in her head. I couldn't believe he wanted it in the little club house… oh wait. Wouldn't want to spoil ya'll virgin ears. Ji was very talented. One of her best skills was being an amazing bitch. Da glared at the black swirls from the sharpie on the leather. She couldn't even read the graffiti, it was written in such weird bubbles and designs.
Ji constantly made it a point that she was never without arm candy. She always had some sort of boy toy trailing her around like some lost puppy. But above that, beyond the fact that Ji was constantly with a man- for a hook up or as an actual man it didn't matter, Ji also constantly talked about it. She loved to point it out. She loved the idea that she could get any man. At times, Ji was actually nice. At times, she wasn't such a witch. But Ji had such moments that it drove Da crazy listening to her smug tone about men.
And now Ji was coming in. Already, Ji was teasing them about not having a man. About not dating. Da had only ever had two boyfriends. One of which probably didn't technically count. Xiao had three. Ji loved to point out that she didn't even count anymore. It was infuriating really, when Ji would get into her little moods. Absolutely infuriating. "Sis," Xiao said, leaning against the window, "everything cool?"
"What? Of course," Da said smoothly, smiling. "Why wouldn't it be?"
"You have that stupid look in your eyes. Like you're going to do something stupid."
"Don't be an idiot, Xiao. Everything is cool." Da leaned back in her seat and took a deep breath. Both of them glanced up when they heard the commotion. The jocks were getting on the train. They must have been partying, Da thought with a sigh. They were supposed to live in the dorm. Their football team this year was doing great. It was a 13-3 season. The college was ecstatic. She watched as some of the jocks passed their seats.
Ce, one of the best players this year-who had been slowly pulling the team to the talent they were at with the help of his friends, walked passed with a laugh. He ran his hand through his hair, and then shoved one of his friends, she was guessing Ning, into a seat with another laugh. Then he sat down, arms over the back. He was a big man, as was customary for the jocks in college. His shirt was open a little. Da stared at him for a moment, and then chewed on her lip for a moment.
"Da? That stupid twinkle in your eye just got brighter," Xiao said with a frown. Da just smiled at her, and waited quietly until the train came to a stop and the people pooled out. Da slipped away, and waited on her tip toes for him to come out. He stepped out, and she called for him. Ce stopped, turning to look. When he saw her, he looked none the less confused, but smiled. Ning, behind him raised an eyebrow. Slowly the two other jocks piled out, Ci and Tong.
"Can I talk to you for a second?" She glanced around him; she couldn't exactly look over his shoulder easily.
"Yeah." He jerked his chin at them, and they left laughing and placing bets. Da blushed, ignoring the sound of Xiao over the crowd screaming for her. "So…"
"My name is Qiao Da, and I was wondering if I could use you for a night."
"What?"
Da blushed, realizing exactly how that sounded. "I mean, that I needed you to… um… pretend to be my boyfriend for a night so that I could get my cousin to shut up…" Da slowly got quieter, her blush getting brighter.
"Really?"
"Oh… yeah." She really wished the ground would swallow her whole. Stupid Ji, she thought, staring at the ground. "It's a barbecue, and we have the pool…" Might as well finish what she started, she thought, wringing her hands. Maybe she wouldn't look as much a fool. Hopefully. She could just imagine the story going around the school after this.
"So, you want me to pretend to be your boyfriend to rub it in your cousin's nose."
"Just for a night," she mumbled. "It's free food… and the pool."
"Oh, do I need to go in the pool?" Da blushed some more, shrinking even more. He laughed. "What time?"
"Really? You would? I mean, ah, June twentieth."
"I think that's open," he said thoughtfully, grinning. "Though, I think I'll need your address… and number." He stooped a little to see her face.
"Ah," she stumbled back a little, but couldn't not smile back. "Right… of course. Thank you so much Ce" for not making me look like a complete fool she wanted to say, but didn't. "Here." She dug through her bag, pulling out a pen and paper, quickly jotting numbers down.
"I'll be sure to be there," he said, folding the paper and sticking it in his wallet. The train gave a whistle, Da jumping, and slowly started to pull away. Da watched it go, and then glanced up at Ce who was staring at her. He smiled again, a red tinge on his cheeks, with a wave. "Got to go! I'll call you." He winked with another grin, and ran off through the crowd to his buddies. Da remained stuck in that spot, face red.
A whistle behind her had her jumping and turning. "I didn't think it was going to work," Xiao said, hands on her hips. "Damn."
"Don't use that language!" Da said, more out of habit then anger. Xiao laughed.
(42) Change
"Good… What happened? Where am I?" he mumbled, blinking from the light.
"You are dead. This is the afterlife. I am God. I am here to talk to you about how absolutely horrible a person you are. Especially towards your best friend, and brother. Should I start from day one, young dead prince?"
"You're so full of shit," he said, sitting up and rubbing his head, but smiling. "Get off of it, Yu."
"I'm still rather hurt about that."
"You were a small little scrawny boy reading a book on a summer day. Your parents were with my dad. I was supposed to leave you under that tree? All alone?"
"You weren't supposed to dunk me in the dirty river by the port, and hold my head under."
"It made you tougher."
"I've still not forgiven you." The prince laughed, falling back onto the pillow. "But more than that, I wasn't going to forgive you for leaving me with emissary at the party last night. But I do think I'll thank you instead Ce."
"Thanks," the prince huffed. "If I'd known she was going to over react like that-"
"And hit you over the head with the platter?"
"Yeah. If I'd of known that, I think I would have invited you along."
"No. It was funnier from where I was standing." Sun Ce glanced up again, glaring at him. "Your sister hasn't forgiven you either. She is rather protective of her friends."
"Yeah, I got that when the platter hit my head."
"Thought I would clarify that for you. You might still be a little woozy still."
"No. No, I'm good. Things aren't spinning anymore."
"So, out of curiosity, did the change in scenery help your extreme case of boredom?"
Sun Ce closed his eyes, remembering the small woman who had been standing beside his warrior sister. The two were opposites really. She was small, and soft. Gorgeous standing beside his sister, giggling at something she said. Zhou Yu wasn't talking about the women, not specifically. He was more teasing about how they had traveled north for new scenery. And so when Sun Ce opened his eyes, he gave a crooked grin. "Yeah. It helped lots. Should I thank you, God? Or save until I cross to the light?"
"Your undying gratitude and adoration will due for now. Start bowing and chanting my name please," Zhou Yu said, waving his hand in a haughty manner. Sun Ce punched him in the shoulder.
(43) Cash
Xiao squealed, holding down her long skirt as the men of Wu zoomed passed her on their bikes. She spun around to watch them continue on the twisting road. She laughed, waving to them. It was sometimes hard to tell who exactly was racing; their helmets looked identical when they were speeding passed. They'd come around again eventually on their own race track.
She turned and rushed up the steep hill to her sister who was sitting and watching. It was just another day, really. Even as people stopped to watch the men on the motorbikes zoom passed, it was a normal day. Racing was a usual part of life. It was something that was entertainment, war, and death. The tournaments brought so many good lives to an end. The internal wars in teams brought so many deaths and fights to the streets. But everybody loved racing. Everybody watched. Everybody held their breaths for the final laps.
Xiao sat down next to Da, smoothing her skirt like her sisters and waited for the red bikes to come by for another time. She had judged them wrong when she had tried to cross the street. She was surprised Da hadn't said anything about it. She glanced at Da from under hair, chewing on her lip. Da just stared out on the road, holding her knees. Finally, Xiao couldn't help it. "Sis?"
"What is it Xiao?" Da turned to her, smiling.
"Ah… nothing?"
"Oh, stop fretting. I saw you almost get run over. I just don't feel like lecturing you right now. One of the boys will take care of it when they get off their bikes." Xiao sighed, shoulders sagging. Da was right of course. She'd hear it from them too. But she hadn't been scared. The men of Wu, for some reason Da refused to call them men, were good. One of the Big Three. They were one of the three teams that were new, and causing quite a stir among the town.
"But…"
"But what Xiao?"
"I… they wouldn't of hit me."
"You are right of course. They wouldn't hit you. They'd just end up crashing to avoid you. How would you feel then, Xiao? To see half the team taken out and put under special care? Then they'd miss the Yellow Turban and loose all the money? How would that of made you feel? You wouldn't have been hurt though."
"… I'm sorry. I hadn't thought of that."
"Of course not, Xiao. You don't think like that. You don't think about others getting hurt. You don't think they can be hurt or something like that. But you have to stop. I know you care about them, but you're not the only one who can break an arm or skin a knee."
"I know." Xiao plucked at the hem of her skirt with a sigh. The guys were thrilled to be entering the Yellow Turban. If they missed that tournament they'd be devastated. And it would have been her fault. She gave another sigh, pouting. Da reached over, pulling her into a hug and kissing her forehead. "I try to be good."
"We know Xiao. It's why we love you." Da continued to hug her, resting her cheek on her head. Xiao rested her head on Da's shoulder, and the two sisters waited for the men to come around again, this time stopping and getting off the bikes. After getting their helmets off, their bikes staying up, all of them started to march up the hill, obviously aiming for Xiao. She ducked, hiding her head in Da's shoulder now.
"Aye!" the biggest one said, glaring down even as he was walking up. Huang Gai was the oldest man at practice that morning, his dark skin matching his dark eyes. He didn't look angry as much as upset. That settled down Da.
"I've already reprimanded her. She knows and understands. Don't yell at her anymore," Da ordered, giving each of them a glare.
"It was dangerous and stupid," Xiao said, glancing up with a nod. "I know. Please don't be angry."
"I demand ice cream in return," Ce said, swooping down to sit next to Da with a grin. "Two scoops."
"Okay!" Xiao said, eager even to get it.
"Be nice Ce," Zhou said, pulling his hair out of the braid he had put it in. "Stay there Xiao. I'll go get it for the jerk."
"It's so awesome that he's finally dating a chick he cares this much about. I can get him to do so much now."
"Ce!" Da swatted at his arm, gasping.
"I'm kidding, love. He doesn't always fall for it." Ce leaned in, stealing a quick kiss. "Sometimes he catches on." He winked at Xiao. She giggled, nodding. The tournament, Xiao knew, was going to be big. And it was going to get them on the map. And then Wu would rule the streets. She smiled, waiting for her man to come back with their ice cream.
(44) Torture
He learned more the summer day when he skipped his father's classes. He learned more than he would have in that classroom as he sat on the sandy beach. He had dragged out his sworn brother, who had been rather reluctant at the start. He had been out in the ocean, letting some of the girls try to flirt with him.
She came around that time, when he was sitting on the towel and eating an apple. At first he didn't really see her. She was a little off to the side. But when the other girl she was with started to bounce around. She was the lighter one, with dirty blonde hair and bright eyes. She easily slipped out of her little dress and ran towards the ocean, yelling back at her sister. He turned to glance at the dark one, grinning. He thought he saw her glance at him, but then wasn't sure.
She turned back around, away from him to set up her little spot. And then it started. She was just out of reach, standing in a place he couldn't touch. It was almost like she was ignoring him as she worked her way around. Her little dance made it hard to do anything but watch. Each move was almost sensual. She set up the umbrella, spread out the towel, and fixed the ice box. All he wanted to do was go talk to her. To hear her.
Then she started to undress. Slowly shimmying out of those shorts. Pulling that top over head and just tossing it away. She started the sun tan lotion ritual. Sun Ce forgot how to breathe. It was too hot. He couldn't sit still. And he couldn't look away. It was painful. It was sin. It was beautiful. And all he wanted to do was talk to her. Touch her. Maybe just take her away. And when he rethought about, he wasn't ashamed to admit that he replayed what he saw more than once, he was sure she knew exactly what she was doing to him. And that just made it more exhilarating.
That's when he made up his mind, when she stuck the bottle back into its bag. He was Sun Ce. What woman wouldn't be happy for him to go talk to them. Of course she was teasing him. He stood up, dusting off his swim trunks and went to take a step. But it ended there. That man came walking down, and he said, "Yo," he said, and the beauty turned to him, unbraiding her hair.
"Yes, Wei?" she said, her voice almost ethereal. He snapped his head in the monsters direction. Short, stout, bald and all muscle. It was Dian Wei, the bodyguard of Cao Cao. Sun Ce leaned back, falling back into the shade of his umbrella with a glare. What was she doing with them?
"The boss wants to talk to ya," the ogre said, holding out a phone. The conversation was short, with easy answers. "Is he happy?"
"Yes Wei. And with Xu with him, completely safe. You know I am honored that you are here protecting us," she said, almost stationary like. Which wasn't much of a surprise to Sun Ce. Dian Wei wasn't exactly a ball of fun. But for the Wei bodyguard to be out here for two girls was something else.
"I was honored to be chosen to protect the Two Qiaos," he said, puffing out his chest. She giggled. Ce went into shock. The Two Qiaos. How had he mistaken them for anybody less? The two prettiest girls from the West. Given to Cao Cao. It had hit the underground news like a bomb. And he had been ogling her. He opened his eyes and was surprised to see hers watching him as Dian Wei went back to his position. She met his eyes fully, almost examining him. Then she smiled, waved, and left towards the ocean.
He continued to watch her as she disappeared in the crowd. He had come to the beach to skip classes. And in all honesty, she taught him more than he ever did in that stifling atmosphere.
He learned about sin and lust. He learned about want and women. But it was days later, when he confronted her, that he learned more. He learned what real torture was.
I had thought I posted these! Dang. There is more to Change on my LJ I believe. (As is a little bit of SW one shots I've written.) So, start from the beginning:
Not sure how much I like Train. Its cute, but I don't know. Something about it doesn't sit right with me.
I like Change because its some more interactions with Zhou Yu and Sun Ce. Which, I don't usually right their Bromance very often, so its good to try every once in a while.
Cash was me trying to take a twist on the usual Gangfics with DW. I rather like it.
Torture I like as well. Like Windy (already posted) its sort of my take on Romeo and Juliet.
Anywho, reiviews welcome! As are comments on my LJ.
