I realized after writing this chapter that I am just as good at writing romance as Currygom is (ie. Not just horrible but completely incapable).
Disclaimer: there are many things in this world that do not belong to me. Kubera is one of them.
S-C-N-D
Courtship of a Phoenix
…
Shake. "Vinata."
Shake. Shake. She didn't feel like answering, not even a grunt, not when there was a huge hole inside her chest.
Shake.
"Ng."
Shake. Sigh. She inwardly cheered at her victory. And it was a bonus that his arms never left her waist for a moment so she had the warmth of his comfort and her way. He tucked her head underneath his chin. Even better. She smiled and nuzzled him.
"Vinata," he was stern, "this can't go on forever. I don't mind watching over you or carrying you around while you're asleep. However, I disapprove of what you're doing. I know it's been harsh and painful, but I don't think replacing Cepphus and Kalavinka with me is going to accomplish anything.
"Right now I'm getting three persons' worth of affection from you. And I really don't want to be on the receiving end of your love for the other two. It makes me rather jealous of people I shouldn't be."
…
Chapter Sixteen: Habits Die Hard
N0 - approx. 54000 years
…
On a patch of tall, dry grass, Gandharva paced back and forth with his hands overlapping behind his back. Every now and then, he'd stop to look at his three friends, only to become even more agitated, especially in the presence of someone who wasn't even supposed to be there at all. How could he discuss his man problems seriously with Garuda canoodling his wife all the time?
How was this even fair?
"I don't get it. I just don't!" Unable to take it anymore, he finally blurted to Visnu. With an accusing point, Gandharva complained, "Garuda goes to a human planet for a thousand years and he comes back with a wife. I've been going to Willarv for three hundred thousand years now. When am I going to get my wife, Visnu?"
Being a close friend of the notoriously short-tempered Eradication Dragon, Taksaka, Visnu was hardly a stranger to the stinginess of strong Nastikas when things don't go their way. He barely batted an eyelash while retorting, "when you stop loafing around and actually ask her out, Gandharva. I can't imagine it being a herculean task."
"Ah, but Visnu," Shuri piped up from atop a bundle of soft moss, her eyes almost haughtily half-lidded, "I think you're a little lost in your path of time. Gandharva's got a little tiny problem at the present." She demonstrated by almost pressing together her thumb and index finger. "He can't get to Menaka. Urvasi won't let him."
At Shuri's comment, Gandharva froze. A few miniscule shivers passed from the tip of his toes to the tips of his hair, forcing him to jerk his shoulders spastically in an attempt to rid himself of them. Between the spacey god, smirking fox and about-to-be-permanently-unfriended bird, it was hard to tell which one got on his nerves more.
After a long pause of perplexity, Visnu came to a realization. "Ah, Shuri… now that you mention it, I think I do remember an incident he had a while ago. Didn't Urvasi publicly ban him from ever seeing her again?"
"And since Urvasi is always with Menaka—"
"Stop!" yelled Gandharva, who finally deigned to turn around, his blue face as flustered as could be. "Stop it! I get it, okay? It's my fault and all that. Yadidadida. How was I supposed to know Urvasi's so sensitive?"
Gandharva's jabbering was almost loud enough to transcend realms and wake Taksaka. Though he turned a blond ear to most of the conversation, Garuda, who was leaning against a rock with Vinata asleep in his lap, finally looked up. "I hate to take away your joyous moment," he quipped sarcastically, "but you were the one who told her—quite murderously, if I may add—that Makara wanted to pass her two flower necklaces along with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. To be honest, that is just so wrong on so many different levels that even I am quite disappointed."
"Menaka. I said Menaka, not Makara."
"Well…" Shuri smiled darkly. "That's not what Urvasi heard…"
"It was underwater, for pete's sake! She couldn't have been hearing right."
"Gandharva," Garuda sighed only for the sake of keeping the atmosphere serene, "you're fish. You don't have a problem with communicating underwater and Urvasi doesn't either."
"…" The blue man crossed his arms and hissed venomously,"Okay. Fine. It was completely my fault. I was tired and grumpy and half drunk. Now what do I do? Since you guys are so busy making gibes, why don't one of you tell me?"
Vinata suddenly stirred. From that point on, Garuda completely lost interest in the conversation. He didn't even look up after hearing his name called several times. While Gandharva complained more about inane matters, he smoothed Vinata's hair with a hand.
She chose an appearance much younger than usual. At first, he was adverse to this because he didn't want to look at his wife and see a second stage Rakshasa instead. After a little but of reasoning, his opposition ceased after discovering that the only reason she did so was to make it easier for him to carry her. Whether it was a meeting or hunting or visiting his friends, Vinata never stopped clenching onto his shirt.
For a second, her grip tightened and several of his feathers perked in nervousness. Fortunately, it didn't last very long and soon, her breath was even again. Sighing in relief, Garuda glanced back up to see what he had missed.
Gandharva was no longer complaining, for it was now Shuri's turn. Her ears pointed down while she grumbled most melancholy, "Visnu, when do I get my love? Why has someone as beautiful as me yet to find a husband?"
"Too many people want to be your husband, Shuri. The problem is… they're all from other clans."
"Oh, no," Visnu corrected Gandharva. "Close, but no cigar for you, I'm afraid. Actually, the reason why Shuri hasn't been able to find a husband is because she's rejected every male Nastika in her clan."
"Because none of them are strong enough and the only strong one told me I'm too beautiful to date," huffed Shuri. "Too beautiful to date! Has anyone ever heard of this nonsense? You'd think he was Vritra or something, but no, he had plenty of wives. It was just me that he didn't want." Her tail swished back and forth in sync with her grumbling. "And there are way too many females in my clan compared to the other seven. I need choices too! If only some of them would switch over, like Ha—"
Vinata suddenly stirred again. "Quiet guys," her husband hissed, hugging her protectively. "You almost woke her up."
The two of them, Gandharva and Shuri, stopped their moping to turn and stare unblinkingly at him. Even while Garuda ignored them, they continued staring, observing, blatantly glaring daggers his way.
Obliviously plucking the petals of a flower, Visnu hummed a pleasant tune.
Finally, Gandharva ran a frustrated hand through his hair. He mumbled to no one in particular, "makes you want to push him off a cliff, doesn't it?"
Shuri's ears twitched as she perked her head. "I agree."
S-C-N-D
N0 - approx. 54000 years
S-C-N-D
Vinata had a love hate relationship with the feeling of being half awake. Her senses were dull and her eyelids heavy. She could hear noises from every direction but she couldn't distinguish between them. Nor could she tell what made these voices. Not that she'd want to anyway, because she was holding onto something warm and comfy. It made her sleepy once more.
But something told her that it was time to wake up. It was a feat hard to accomplish in all this drowsiness and insubstantiality. In the back of her head, there was a little voice trying to tell her of a meaningful reason she had for subduing herself in this state. What was it again? Sadness? Death? She couldn't quite recall in this bliss.
Though she couldn't summon the power to lift her leaden eyelids, she yawned and stretched without restraint. The hand that flew up suddenly latched onto something soft and fleshy. Oh, fun. She giggled while squishing and playing with it. Accidentally, one of her fingers brushed against something hard and solid.
That was when she opened her eyes…
… To see herself grabbing Garuda's face.
Instead of the poised, patient expression she was used to seeing him wear, he also had his eyed closed. When she lifted her hand, he blinked them open. A smile slowly came across her face.
"Have you been my pillow?"
He nodded.
She looked around and saw that them sitting in a place she'd never seen before. It was beautiful, full of different colour trees and undergrowth. The entire area was shady, which meant that they were deep inside a forest thick enough to obstruct sunlight. Usually these areas only appeared on human planets. But it dead quiet for such a wild place. She couldn't feel the presence of any other Sura, human or Half. Garuda must have worked hard to isolate them in this peaceful little area.
Vinata shifted slightly to put her body upright. Tilting her head back to meet his gaze, she queried, "was it… inconvenient?"
He shook his head.
"Then… Cepphus and Kalavinka… Are they still gone?"
He said nothing.
She frowned. "I see."
She heaved a big sigh and dug both hands into his shirt. Incidentally, he also reached for her face at the same time and ended up accidentally grabbing it. With his fingers stretched out, he was able to cover half her head.
"I feel small."
"Sorry," Garuda apologized sheepishly, sliding his hand down. "You're a little small at the moment. I didn't mean to make you self conscious. I just thought—well, I thought you were going to cry again."
Vinata blinked incredulously. "I cried?" Even though she felt horrible at the moment, horrible and a little apprehensive of a future without her two best friends, it wasn't enough to reduce her to tears.
Yet Garuda nodded very firmly. "You don't recall the other times you were awake?"
Recall was putting it in very loose terms. It was more like she knew everything but couldn't differentiate between what was real and what was merely a figment of her fear. So she just shook her head and continued to stare cluelessly into his eyes.
"You were crying a lot. You'd always hide your face in my clothes. You wouldn't let go of me; your grip was relentless. I had to carry you everywhere, and if someone else tried to touch you or even come near you, you'd burn them. I was conpletely monopolized."
"Ah!"
She quickly scooted away from his body at the sudden recall of the stern tone he'd used with her. She took him by surprise and he froze, two arms drawn out as if still supporting her weight. He pressed his lips close together in frustration, but Vinata took it as a sign of anger and continued putting distance in between them.
Why she recalled that particular memory of all things was a mystery. His rejection, though stated many years ago, suddenly stung and sombered her. She subconsciously curled up, knees reclining to her chest and hands clenching her heart.
"You…" His eye twitched and he lunged forward, tackling her entire body with calculated precision. "Do not think you're getting off easy with this. I am far from done with you… Every single day I had to carry you around. I couldn't hunt properly because I was busy maneuvering your body around Transcendencies and as an extension of that, I couldn't eat properly either. I got ridiculed by all the Nastikas in our clan. Gandharva and Shuri no longer want to talk to me anymore. The list goes on and on."
"You said it wasn't inconvenient!"
"I lied! It was inconvenient. It was the most inconvenient period of my entire life!"
Garuda forgot for a moment to be more considerate with his word choices. His outburst stumned her silly. She trembled and whimpered under his arms. Did she not feel safe with him holding her? Or did she think that he would actually go as far as hurting her? Garuda guiltily released her and apologized.
He extended a hand. "Come here and talk to me. I guarantee you'll feel better afterward."
Tentatively accepting his offer, Vinata crept a little closer. She was still reluctant to climb into his lap because of the sharp tone he had used. Instead, she sat cross-legged in front of him. Considering that she took on the appearance of a second stage Rakshasa, her husband towered a good head above her despite that he was in the same position. As inconvenient as it was, neither if them seemed to mind.
"Tell me everything," he said, inching closer and placing a hand on one of hers.
Her eyes stayed glued to the ground. "I don't feel comfortable talking about it," she told him, albeit telepathically. "It just makes me think of all the things I could have done to prevent it from happening."
She was on the verge of crying now and Garuda's gut clenched guiltily at having driven her to this state. He almost went into panic when Vinata lifted her free hand to rub at her eyes in pretense of removing small pieces of dirt and debris. Garuda withdrew his hand to pull her closer to him. If she had to cry, the very least he could do was to lend her a shoulder to cry on.
She tried burying her head in his neck again, only to have him push it away. Firmly grabbing both her shoulders, he announced, "you're not allowed to sleep until this is all sorted out. I specifically took you to a private place so you can talk. I don't care if it'll take days until you're ready. I can wait."
The look in his eyes were very absolute. Despite knowing better, Vinata's temper flared and she pried his hands off with a glare. "That's a little mean."
"Mean?" He messed up her hair playfully. "You're in no position to talk mean, Vinata. Mean is when you prodded me like a toy in front of my friends. Mean is when you made me wait hundreds of thousands of years for you." He sighed. "Well I suppose, considering your situation I shouldn't demand you to speak. But unless you're intentionally looking for sympathy, I will do whatever it takes to bring you out of this deplored misery you've brought upon yourself."
"I only bring misery upon myself for profound reasons."
He shook his head at her. "It's not a smart idea, Vinata. There was once someone exactly like you. He was absolutely miserable. It wasn't until another person made him vent that he felt better. Every brooding bird needs a person to force them out of their misery, so you can either talk, or…" He grabbed her cheeks and stretched them. "I'm going to make you speak."
In all the years she opposed his leadership, why didn't he use that face with her then? Vinata was sure she could have accepted—even prostrated to him after seeing that powerful glint in his eyes.
In a panic, she reached out and instinctively burned him. She thought that he would release her and scramble away, but he didn't. His hands firmly held her cheeks and his body stayed rooted to the ground. By the time she realized what she was doing, his shirt was already charred and his skin red and raw. Garuda finally let go as she brought her hands to her horrified face.
"That wasn't… what I expected," he admitted in a strained voice.
"Oh my god," she said. "I'm—I just—" Unable to speak, she threw her arms around his neck. "I can't believe I attacked you without restraint. I didn't mean to. I'm so sorry."
"It's already healing."
It wasn't what she wanted to hear. It wasn't really important either. When she realized she'd burned him, she suddenly thought of all the times she had hurt him in the past, intentionally and unintentionally. It made her innards clench as tightly as it did when she saw Cepphus and Kalavinka's mangled bodies. The feeling wasn't exactly the same but it was just as bad.
"Don't say you forgive me, please," she implored. "It's not fair to you that I'm being such a bad wife. Can you please just punch me or fly away or just do something that makes me feel like a horrible being?"
"You want me to make you feel worse when you're already torturing yourself like this." He yanked her body back to face her. "Tell me you aren't serious."
"I am," she stated firmly, stretching her arms out to their full length. "Hit me as hard as you can."
Garuda stared blankly.
"Look, I'll even make it easier for you."
Before he can ponder the ambiguity of that statement, his lap suddenly began smoking. In a span of thirty seconds, Vinata became a lot bigger and heavier. He was still nonplussed when, out of nowhere, two hands roughly grabbed his throat.
The tanned man's wild eyes were red and glowing. "Give me your throne or die."
Now Garuda reacted. Inadvertently, he sucker punched Vinata in the gut so hard that the latter flew straight through sixteen trees.
S-C-N-D
Wow, I was intending to get somewhere but I actually got nowhere at all.
Thank your for reading! Please leave a review!
-SCND