Hello! Hiroko Hana here! New update! :D I'm amazing right? Yeah, too bad this feels like filler to me.. but you get to see some of Prince's world (not really, but it makes you think you have)! Still no Yaoi this chapter, but we're getting closer to it! Once all the danger subside and some plot points are addressed there shall be gratuitous Yaoi! In the meantime, please enjoy!
TIS DISCLAIMED
Chapter 12: Mum and Son
"Where are we going?" Fang asked for the umpteenth time as Prince dragged him through a tiny back road. "You'll see,"
"You keep saying that, but all I'm seeing is brick, asphalt, and the occasional stray cat—where are you taking me?"
"To one of my favorite little hideouts," Prince gave in, but he was smiling none stop, looking like an excited child. "Hideout?" Fang's eyebrow rose up in question but there was no reply as he and Prince turned down a darker ally. This one looked a little different. They were between the back of too homes, but both of them were connected by a small brick bridge, the architecture of it creating an arch, and the opening was blocked by a tall wooden gate that Fang couldn't look over. Even though the tall buildings around them didn't block the sky, Fang felt boxed in, and it was suddenly harder to breathe.
Prince saw Fang's muscles tighten and his chest rise and fall faster than normal, he squeezed his hand reassuringly, "It's okay birdy, you're safe here," Prince quickly planted a loving peck on Fang's lips but Fang wasn't falling for it. Fang's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and revulsion, "Birdy?"
Prince knocked on the wooden gate and there was this strange moment of inhuman silence. "Looks like we're letting ourselves in," Prince said and simply shoved the (apparently heavy) wooden gate open. Fang caught his breath at the sight.
It seemed Fang was peering into the portal to a different world. Behind him was a fairly dirty back alley, and before him… was the most beautiful garden he had ever seen. Nestled in a fairly large opening between three buildings and the gate was the most colorful patch of greenery. There were statues, and a bench, and little fish ponds, and fountains amongst all the dozens upon dozens of different flowers, all shielded by a glass ceiling, letting kindly sunlight in.
Prince chuckled at Fang's awestruck expression, "So you're an admirer of nature too then?"
"Yeah…" Fang breathed, feeling as if it were taboo to step into this glorious garden. "C'mon," Prince said, pulling Fang in. Fang smiled as he peered down at the small cobblestone path that wound around the entire garden. "What is this place? How'd you find it?"
"Last time in England I needed to find cover, and I just stumbled upon this little area."
"It's so beautiful…" note the word Fang just used! Have you ever heard him use this word out loud before? No, no I don't think he has. Prince chuckled, "Yeah it's quite the—"
Click-click!
All sense of relaxation went out the window when Fang heard the all too familiar noise of a shotgun cocking. "Don't move, hoodlums!" squeaked the ragged voice of an Englishwoman. Fang wasn't keen on moving, but Prince whirled around with a big grin. "Marge!" Prince exclaimed, throwing his arms up for a hug. That made Fang turn to see an old woman much shorter than he is, dressed in humble clothing, her white hair hidden under a sun hat, her small green eyes intense, and wielding a shotgun that Fang was sure would break her little shoulders if it went off.
The little woman narrowed her eyes before sighing and grumbling, quickly slipping small glasses onto her nose. She suddenly grinned like she was mad. She dropped the gun to her side, "Prince! It's been forever! Give Margery some sugar!" she cackled and Prince swooped down and picked her up in a tight hug, kissing her forehead. He placed her down with her hat crooked and her glasses askew. She giggled like a small girl.
"I've missed you so much, sweetie! What have you been up to?"
"The usual trouble, Marge," Prince smiled his Crooked Grin™. "So who is this?" Marge asked, stepping eerily close to Fang and pulling at his cheek with strong fingers. "This is Fang, my new friend," he said, kissing Fang's reddening cheek when Margery released it. The little old woman and Fang blushed the same shade of red and Margery laughed this strange laugh, "Oh-ho-ho-ho! I see… Welcome to my garden Fang," she said kindly.
"This is your garden? It's amazing," Fang said, offering a smile, but he could still feel the intense heat in his cheeks. "Thank you, boy! I put a lot of work into it!" she said proudly, puffing her tiny chest out.
"How's your son, Marge?" Prince asked, now holding onto Fang like a rag doll slung over Fang's shoulders. "He won't stay out of those crazy gay bars, thanks to you!" Margery cackled and Prince smiled, proud to be guilty as charged. "But he's still sick; the doctors say he's quite lucky he's still around right now."
"What?" Fang raised an eyebrow as Prince rested his head on his, his arms wrapped tightly around Fang (Fang was moments away from breaking down, he felt so humiliated). "Marge's son Lionel has skin cancer, he's a good fellow though, doesn't deserve it."
"But it's not holding him back! He went bungee jumping yesterday! Nearly gave me a heart attack!" Marge laughed. "Anyway, why don't you boys come in—would you like some tea?"
"That would be great," Prince said kindly. The little old woman turned to the building behind her and yanked a white, wrought iron screen door open, jiggling the brass doorknob to the wooden door behind it with an angered grumbled before just kicking the door open. Fang admits; that little woman has some moxy.
The woman's house was very small and incredibly cramped with old furniture and books, lots and lots of books. Margery took them into her tiny parlor which had wall to wall bookcases—completely full, of course, and there were old couches covered in plastic. "Woops!" Marge squeaked and quickly took the plastic off and shoved them behind a couch. "Take a seat, boys!" She said, snatching up the tea pot from the coffee table and pouring them a drink. Prince plopped down on a couch and patted the cushion beside him, encouraging Fang to sit beside him. As Fang sat down Margery set out the teacups. "It's a bit hot, so don't scald yourselves."
"Thanks Marge," Prince smiled, "Thank you," Fang said as well. Margery giggled and pinched Fang's cheek again, "You're so cute!"
Fang flushed red again and scowled. Margery only laughed and sat across from them. "So what are you doing back in England?" she asked as she sipped from her tea, the steam fogging her glasses over, "Ace and I are helping Fang find his friends in Russia, we ended up getting a layover here, so I thought I'd visit, let Fang see your garden."
"You're still running around with that little redheaded tramp?" Margery asked, smiling like a madwoman. Prince laughed, "Yes, she still hasn't died yet."
"That girl is like a cockroach, refuses to keel over no matter what you do and is a nuisance and a danger to society… I love that girl!" Margery cackled (much like Ace does) and Fang couldn't help but smirk. It seemed Margery could practically be Ace's mother. "Where's the little tart anyway?"
"Who knows, she ran off, we'll be meeting up in a while,"
"Let's hope she doesn't have Erasers followin',"
"You know about Erasers?" Fang asked, surprised and Margery laughed, "I've been around the block boy! I not only hear old wives' tales but I'm the one tellin' 'em! And having ole snake-boy around doesn't hurt," she added. "Yeah, Fang's a Human-Avian-Hybrid sort of like me," Prince said, sipping from his tea.
"Oh yeah? What kind of bird?" Marge asked and Fang shrugged, "I don't know, some sort of black bird,"
"Well that's a very vague answer—no matter, got anything special 'bout ya? Any mutations that might strike some interest?"
"Uh… I can turn invisible at will," Fang offered and Prince choked on his tea, "You can?" he and Margery asked in near perfect unison. Fang lifted his teacup and then went completely still, concentrating on blending in. In a moment, both Margery and Prince were open mouthed and amazed. "That's incredible!" Margery squawked. Prince whistled and reach out, caressing Fang's clear cheek.
"How come you never told me you could do this?" He asked, smiling excitedly at Fang's ability. "Never came up…?" Fang guessed and reappeared and sipped his tea. "That's thoroughly impressive," Margery said thoughtfully and Fang just felt a little bit off by the way she looked at him, almost like a whitecoat might. "But there's no way I could really comprehend it!" she said and drank the rest of her tea.
"The rest of his friends in Russia are Avian-Hybrids like him too," Prince added and more amazement filled Margery's face, "Wow, there are tons of you! I must spend too much time in this bloody house…" she grumbled, "Maybe you'd notice little winged kids running around if you open your eyes you blind bat!" she grumbled back to herself and Fang blinked in confusion. But he didn't question out of kindness.
"You know, I—" Margery was cut off by the loud ring of Beethoven's 5th. "Damn it…" she murmured and riffled though the pockets of her dress and yanked out a phone, "This… stupid technology," she said as she struggled with it for a moment before she managed to answer. "What?" she barked into the phone then smile sweetly. "Hey sweet—what? No… what? What? I can't—what?" Fang quietly sipped his tea, his keen ears picking up a male voice over the phone.
"Well open the—it's under the doormat! What? I can't hear you—what? Oh! Then it must be in the pot! Okay, love you!" she hung up, "Lionel's back!" she squeaked and jumped from her seat, "You boys stay here!" she said before leaving the parlor.
"You have an interesting taste in people," was all Fang could say and Prince could not stop himself from laughing, "You're a part of that taste in people," he said, poking Fang in the ribs before leaning in taking up his lips in a kiss hot and passionate enough to brighten Fang's cheeks again.
Fang had no idea how long he sat there being so gently kissed by Prince, but next thing he heard was someone giggle and another person say, "Well now I feel jealous."
Fang pulled away from Prince to see not only Margery but a blonde, and blue-eyed young man nearly as tall as Prince. He was a decent looking guy, wearing a white suit with a green tie hanging loosely around his neck. "Hey Lionel," Prince said, standing and shaking the young man's hand, but Lionel pulled him right in for a manly hug.
"It's been a while, Prince! How are you doing and who's the cutie?" Lionel asked, winking his shiny green eyes at Fang who could only react by freezing his seat as he fought with emotion of frustration and embarrassment, wondering why now two people have called him cute. He's not cute, he's sexy and rugged and manly. Cute is not a word meant for him.
"I'm great, man, and paws off," Prince said jokingly, "this bunny is mine." Prince then winked at Lionel and the blonde laughed as if there was an inside joke involved. "Okay, okay, get your horny butts in the parlor! I think my biscuits are burning!" Margery asked, pushing the two back to the couches. Prince sat back down and took Fang's hand, smiling warmly. Lionel sat across from them.
"How nice, mum, you made bickies for my return home?"
"Screw that, I'm just hungry," Margery grumbled before leaving again. Lionel just laughed and poured himself some tea. "So what's your name, bunny?" Lionel asked and Fang mustered the manliness he had left to proudly say, "I'm Fang, it's nice to meet you."
"Where'd Prince pick you up from?"
It took Fang a moment to realize how horrible this was about to sound, "A bar." Lionel snickered, "You haven't changed at all Prince," he said and Prince bowed in his seat with much gratitude, chuckling lightly. "Is Fang a…?"
"An experiment too? Yes," Prince nodded, "I see, so you can stick around," Lionel smiled at Fang, "which is a shame…"
"What? How?" Fang asked and Lionel pouted, "You're so cute." More of Fang's manly confidence flew out of the windows of this tiny house. Fang visually wilted in his seat and Prince lifted Fang's hand and kissed atop it, "Handsome," he corrected, as if knowing how tragically depressed Fang felt. "So how's the chemo going?"
"Well, not amazing, my body has yet to react to the treatment," Lionel said gravely, "I'm sorry to hear that, man, I'm sure you just need to give it time,"
"Yes, but in the meantime, I'm living to the fullest,"
"Yes, your mother has mentioned that earlier," Prince smiled, "sounds like you're having some good times."
"Yep! I'm living like you, my friend, wild and pleasurable."
A lot of time was wasted talking to Lionel and Margery, but very quickly Fang had noticed the time and so did Prince. With some strange goodbyes and a chance to wander the garden, the duo had to depart, and were now working their way back to the pub.
"It's kind of interesting," Fang said and Prince raised a fine, dark eyebrow, "What is?"
"Your world, the people you know—it's interesting seeing it." Prince looked up thoughtfully, "Is it now? Well, I'm glad you find me interesting," Prince smiled, leaning down and pecking Fang's cheek, all whilst slipping his hand in Fang's back pocket and grabbing his ass, making him squeak loudly in surprise. Prince laughed darkly and Fang glared up at him, shoving the older boy away.
"Oh come on, birdy! You know you liked it!" Prince grinned that Crooked Grin™ for the millionth time today. "Quit calling me that!" Fang huffed, walking ahead, but inside he was thinking: Of course I liked it, damn it…
Prince quickly caught up, laughing to himself. In that moment both of them saw Ace tear around the corner, clear expression of panic lighting up her face.
"Shit," Prince frowned.
Sora: That had dreadful transitions.
Hiroko: I know it's horrible! DX *sob*
Sora: Yep! Didn't even make sense! What the point of introducing these people?
Hiroko: Because I have a habit of mentioning tiny background characters that will end up important plot points in the future?
Sora: ...
Hiroko: ...
Sora: No, that's not it.
Hiroko: Then I don't know, maybe I need some bullshit to write before Ace got back?
Sora: You really don't plan ahead do you?
Hiroko: I do! This is very well thought out! It's an intricate web of twist and turns and the occasional cliffhanger!
Sora: AKA You don't know.
Hiroko: Ugh... You're impossible. R&R people!