*Messed up, but I fixed it...
Hi. Chapter Five, finally.
This took forever... I blame work and the story itself. Neither wanted to cooperate with me.
But anyway, here it is- I don't like.
See bottom for more.
"They said if you don't let it out
You're gonna let it eat you away
I'd rather be a cannibal baby-
Animals like me don't talk anyway…"
"The Calendar" -Panic! At The Disco
XXX
A-(Not So)-Sexual Man
Chapter the Fifth:
Over
Rhode Kamelot would say- if asked- that right then she was content; a feeling that hadn't held her this captive for a good while at this point. And she would have believed it would stay that way- until moments after her purple phone vibrated in her pocket just after ten o'clock in the morning.
Being as she was in a tickling match with Tyki right then, she took a moment to answer it. And just after the match was done, they both were grinning as her uncle went for a cup of coffee and she pulled her phone out- she felt perfectly content.
But five words changed that.
'he broke up with me'
No capital letters. No punctuation. And Rhode knew her cousin was hurting- probably hurting bad.
"What's wrong," Tyki was asking her instantly. Rhode was unable to answer, he eyes locked on the device in her hand- the white letters scrolled across the black background. Tyki seemed to not like her lack of response and with three long strides crossed Tiedoll's kitchen quickly and took the phone from her.
But Rhode was lost- every profanity in her vocabulary making work through her mind, all somehow having words that linked them together quite nicely.
"He did it on purpose," she found herself saying, "They weren't going to see each other again before he left- and he knew it." Tyki's eyes were reading and rereading the message, his face a mess of resignation.
"You can't say you didn't see it coming," was all he seemed willing offer. "Hell, we all know Dev did." And for once her uncle's golden eyes on her seemed to do nothing to comfort her.
"But he just let the pressure get to him," she tried to fight. But Rhode Kamelot of all people knew how hard it had been on them. She wasn't in much better of a position anymore- her vagina the only thing seeming to keep her out of water just a hot. "I wonder if Jas knows."
"Silly question," Tyki reminded her, as he passed the phone back to her, "Jasdero was probably the first to know- as always- and you would have been the second." And with a hum, Rhode had to agree.
"But on his birthday-"
"But two weeks before the most hectic day of his life so far- and then another seven months when they wouldn't see each other with out a million and three questions from the media- who are already asking far too many for the family's comfort," Tyki had to retort, with a heavy sigh. "As family I dislike the idea- simply because I how much it hurts Devitto. But as their producer and tour manager, I'm sad to say I'm thankful- we've just lost two-thirds of the media hassle we would have been getting for the next half year."
And Rhode could only pout to that.
Didn't make it right.
XXX
As soon as Rhode and Tyki returned to the living room, Alma felt the air go stagnant. Rhode was unusually quite as she took a seat on arm of Kanda's chair. He watched his brother look at the girl with his usual quick retort on his tongue, but then he noticed the face she was making and Alma was mystified to watch the retort seemingly vanish. Then Kanda quickly pushed the textbook in his lap onto the end table next to his chair and in a graceful movement wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled the vacant-looking girl into his lap. Alma also noticed that Allen was no longer typing as he had been and instead was looking up at his cousin sitting in Kanda's lap.
But no one seemed to want to ask, he noticed. Wisely had looked up at acknowledge it, but said nothing. Tyki was keeping an eye on her, as he took the seat on the couch with the older Walker.
And the air was tense, so tense Alma wasn't exactly sure he was breathing. Like cut it with a kni-
And then his phone rang. Kanda was the first to pin him with a questioning look across the room. Pulling the device that was playing a small 16-bit sound out, he nearly rolled his eyes as soon as he read the front screen.
"Hello," he made sure to ask in a bored tone.
"I wanna go out tonight," Lavi was suddenly yelling in his ear. There was wind moving passed the phone and it nearly hurt Alma's head.
"And you're telling me this why," he had to ask now, though it was mostly teasing. Unlike Kanda, he actually enjoyed Lavi's company the majority of the time.
"'Cause I want you to go with me- and I know you got people over, so I figured I'd tell you first." A pause. "So, we're going out." Alma had to sigh, as his eyes lifted to meet with several quizzical gazes.
"I call you back, doofus," Alma replied after another sigh, and then without waiting for a response, he snapped his phone shut and turned again to meet the five questioning looks. "Lavi wants to go out tonight." There was a pause then in the room, where for the most part they all looked just confused.
"He does realize it's three days before Christmas, right," Kanda had to demand. "Wait, never mind," he correct himself before Alma could say anything, "It's Lavi- he wouldn't give a shit." Rhode chuckled at that and the staleness in the air seemed to lessen a bit.
"Well, yeah," Alma had to agree. "He didn't say what he wanted to do… But knowing him, it involves drinking to the point of being above the legal limit."
"Or livable," Kanda had to add. Alma sighed again.
"Or possibly livable."
"Sounds grand," Tyki suddenly concluded, his face lighting with a large grin.
"Down tiger," Allen was chuckling from the chair in the back of the room, once again back to speedy typing.
"There's a Gate near here, isn't there," Alma heard Rhode ask, and his brain instantly short circuited.
"Gate?"
"Yeah," Allen was answering his cousin, "The 6th is on the other side of town- near Lulu's."
"I wonder if Maggie's in town yet," Wisely was wondering aloud suddenly before puling his slick looking white phone from his pocket.
And then the conversation went totally go over Alma Karma's head.
"She should be- Robin got in last night," Allen replied again.
"Robin's in town," Rhode was asking quickly turning on Kanda's lap to look back at the younger white haired man. Allen only looked up for a second to nod.
"Am I going to meet her this year actually," Kanda asked him in a seemingly board tone. Allen scoffed a bit before chuckling.
"If your unlucky."
"Oh, she's not that bad," Tyki was throwing it. "You should be more worried about Paul-"
"And Jude," Wisely added. "They can be jerks- but they're mostly cool." He was still tapping on his phone. "And Maggie's a hoot- just don't tell her that, she likes people to think she's a bitch."
"Hard ass- hah, my ass," Tyki was chuckling at his own joke as he closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the back of the couch. "She's a powder-puff." There was a pause where both Allen and Wisely's fingers stopped typing and tapping and the three cousin's turned to look at the dark haired man. Tyki seemed to notice and cracked open one eye to look at them. "What?"
Allen only shook his head for a moment. Rhode was grinning crookedly. Wisely though, scoffed and shook his head, before looking back down at his phone, and muttering to himself, "Fag." Then Rhode had launched at first thing available at him- which happened to be Kanda's textbook. "Hey," was Wisely's surprised response, as it landed rather forcefully against his knee.
"Hey," was Kanda input, "That book cost a shit-ton- and was no where near pointy enough for that insult." Then he had picked up a glass ashtray from the end table next to where his book had been. "See this," he said handing it to Rhode who was chuckling at him oddly, "If you throw it hard enough to might break into little pieces-"
"Kanda," Allen was scolding from where he sat, once again back to typing and not even look up as he continued, "Please don't kill the pisser. Regardless of his recent asshole-ish-ness, I do still need him alive to function most days." Kanda merely huffed before thunking the ash tray back onto the end table.
"Damn."
"So, wait-" Alma's brain decided to suddenly try to process again- "You were talking about a Gate?" Rhode was then looking at him as Kanda turned to give him a small sheepish smirk.
"Yep," she responded simply. "We mostly stick to them- makes life easier." Alma felt himself gulp.
He knew about the Gates- high end dance clubs with high end restaurant style food and lounges in them, along with full service bars, that if they didn't have something would go get it- if that's what the swanky people who got in decided they wanted. The cover change alone was around a small fortune. They weren't your everyday clubs, and only the High End of society usually managed to sneak in.
… And Alma was suddenly wondering about Allen's family- because if they 'mostly stuck to them,' he was wondering who these people were. And from the now off-put 'please don't ask' vibes he was getting from his nearly twin were any indication, Alma probably had a right to wonder.
"Really," was all he could seem to find to respond.
And so, when Lavi finally called back around eleven, Alma was given the task to telling his friend that they would be attending the 6th Gate on the west side of town. There was a long pause and Alma suddenly was having déjà vu.
"Are you fucking serious," Lavi suddenly screeched in his ear.
And that déjà vu was gone…
And by noon- they had all agreed that they were going. Alma and Lenalee would be riding with Allen and Kanda in Allen's CRX, while Daisya and Lavi were going to be riding with Tyki, Wisely and Rhode in Tyki's Element. Allen had then disappeared upstairs with Lenalee and Kanda to make a 'phone call'. Lenalee had returned back down stairs a bit later with a goofy smile on her face and simply said, "We're set for six-thirty." And then how had been dropped as Alma, Daisya, Lavi and Lenalee all separated to get ready.
Wisely had chuckled at them scampering around, "You guys're act like this is a big deal." But none of them had said anything else. Lenalee was the only one to ask what they all wanted to know.
"How?" And Rhode had just looked at her blankly, before grinning and winking at the other girl.
"It's a secret."
XXX
"Yuu," Allen was scolding without lifting his eyes from the laptop in front of him.
"What," Kanda choose to reply in a quiet, but still somehow harsh voice, his hands still moving toward illegal places- or that was what the other had dubbed his hip area (front and back had been specified), neck and chest for the week while they were with his family. Yuu Kanda did not agree.
"Don't," Allen added as Kanda knew his eyes were still scanning quickly over the document on the screen that had been taking far too much of his boyfriend's time for the last two days. Usually the week after finals they would be together for a few days before Allen would be forced back into his work. Damn holidays, was Kanda thoughts. "Kanda, seriously," the white-haired man continued, but he could hear the small whine that told him he was winning. "I have to get this typed before the twins' tour leaves."
And that made Kanda pause- a few thoughts running through his head at the speed of a train. His hand stilled where it was on the back of the other's thigh as he lay on his stomach on the hide-a-bed in Kanda's old room that Froi had converted into a half office. Unwillingly he lifted his head from where it had been ducked to place pointed pecks along the newly-exposed areas of Allen's back- that he'd left for display when he'd pushed up the gray shirt the other wore. And still unwillingly he sat back to straddle Allen's legs between his.
He saw Allen's gloved fingers stop editing the document and even without turning to look at him he knew Allen was totally focused on his sudden change in motive. "What wrong," Kanda heard him whisper. There was a slight tilt of his head as Allen waited for his answer.
This wasn't their problem so he'd talk about it without much prying. But Allen had explicitly been trying to stay out of this particular disagreement- asking Kanda to keep an eye on it. 'Because if they come to me it'll become a Family Issue- and I don't think any of us want that.' Easier said than done.
"They broke up," Kanda found himself saying regardless. It was bothering him, he wouldn't deny. It just seemed so easy for it to… end- just like that, over. Allen hummed a moment before there was a silence. Kanda noted Allen's slender, pale, fingers with their black painted nails didn't go back to typing. But over the other's shoulder, Kanda eyed the black and burgundy gloves on his fingers. He didn't like them, but he understood their purpose.
The members of the Walker Family liked their privacy- and it made people want to know them more. Allen and Wisely, along with Allen's sister- Robin- and their cousin Maggie had made a point to always stay out of the Media's light. Because with their Walker White hair, once known- they'd never be able to go back into the shadows. At least not without a few bottles of hair dye a year. But there was only one things that signified any and every member of Noah's family- the thick black tattoo they all had gotten on the backs of their hands seven years ago. It was their memorial- that was their explanation that was added to the things Kanda had already known.
He knew the facts, just like most of the rest of the public- but the familial parts had come later to him, the personal part.
He knew it still hurt- but it also kept them close as a family.
But family was the problem here.
"I don't know why," Kanda continued after a moment, "And I'd rather not ask Dev." Allen merely nodded.
But then he was snapping the laptop shut and moving it to the edge of the bed, before moving his hip jus the right way so that Kanda was forced to sit up off the back of his knees- and then somehow without pulling his legs from between Kanda's had turned over and the younger, dark-haired man was suddenly straddling his hips. And that wicked smile was covered Allen's lips.
"What time it is," He asked as his hands began to work up to Kanda's shoulders, half-covered fingers quickly latching onto his shirt and pulling him down.
With a quick tilt of his head, Kanda answered, "Just after one."
That wicked smile grew a bit.
"Good," Allen noted, before lips meet and tongues immediately began to mingle.
"I thought," Kanda heard himself saying between kisses, "You didn't want to mess around while we were here." He felt that grin against his lips this time.
"This was your room right," Allen asked back as Kanda began the tiring task of unbuttoning the other's pants. But he paused to meet eyes at the question. There was no verbal response. "You were a virgin before college… right?"
There was a pause between them, where the devious grin on the white-haired man's face grew and the frown on the dark-haired one's face grew to match it.
"You're sick."
"Love you too, jerk face."
Hiya...
I don't like this chapter- at all. I don't like how it turned out, or how anything was processed. If it's choppy that's because it was written in bits. Like literally, a word at a freaking' time... It didn't want to write itself unlike the- well, no that's not true. Other than the side-plot that you can visibly see now, none of this story wants to write itself. And the bits that do are like probably two or three chapters from now... (Sigh)
But anyway, there was a glimpse at a bit more of the family. Which I have now spent about three sheets of paper working up- but only because I kept messing up.
But seriously, don't be surprised if this chapter gets reposted at a later date... I really don't like how it turned out.
And in other news, the next chapter or two will be spent on the time Lavi had demanded they go 'out'- here meaning to the 6th Gate. (Did we all get the base reference there?)
Eh, anyway... I'm going to go do something productive now. ... Maybe get some sleep- that sounds necessary.
-Aseru