Little Bits of Paper

My Fanfic100 Table

2007-06-28T23:21:08Z

This is the table for all my fanfic100 stories for the pairing Casey Jones/Raphael Hamato from the 2003 TMNT cartoon, if you all feel like reading it.

001.	Beginnings.	002.	Middles.	003.	Ends.	004.	Insides.	005.	Outsides.
006.	Hours.	007.	Days.	008.	Weeks.	009.	Months.	010.	Years.
011.	Red.	012.	Orange.	013.	Yellow.	014.	Green.	015.	Blue.
016.	Purple.	017.	Brown.	018.	Black.	019.	White.	020.	Colourless.
021.	Friends.	022.	Enemies.	023.	Lovers.	024.	Family.	025.	Strangers.
026.	Teammates.	027.	Parents.	028.	Children.	029.	Birth.	030.	Death.
031.	Sunrise.	032.	Sunset.	033.	Too Much.	034.	Not Enough.	035.	Sixth Sense.
036.	Smell.	037.	Sound.	038.	Touch.	039.	Taste.	040.	Sight.
041.	Shapes.	042.	Triangle.	043.	Square.	044.	Circle.	045.	Moon.
046.	Star.	047.	Heart.	048.	Diamond.	049.	Club.	050.	Spade.
051.	Water.	052.	Fire.	053.	Earth.	054.	Air.	055.	Spirit.
056.	Breakfast.	057.	Lunch.	058.	Dinner.	059.	Food.	060.	Drink.
061.	Winter.	062.	Spring.	063.	Summer.	064.	Fall.	065.	Passing.
066.	Rain.	067.	Snow.	068.	Lightening.	069.	Thunder.	070.	Storm.
071.	Broken.	072.	Fixed.	073.	Light.	074.	Dark.	075.	Shade.
076.	Who?	077.	What?	078.	Where?	079.	When?	080.	Why?
081.	How?	082.	If.	083.	And.	084.	He.	085.	She.
086.	Choices.	087.	Life.	088.	School.	089.	Work.	090.	Home.
091.	Birthday.	092.	Christmas.	093.	Thanksgiving.	094.	Independence.	095.	New Year.
096.	Writer‘s Choice: Jealousy.	097.	Writer‘s Choice: Little Things.	098.	Writer‘s Choice: Scream.	099.	Writer‘s Choice.	100.	Writer‘s Choice.

Fic: Teamwork NC-17

2007-05-18T09:03:06Z

Title: Teamwork
Author: Me
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Errr, well, this is new territory for me. Leonardo/Raphael/Donatello/Michelangelo and various pairings there-of
Warnings: Let's see if I got the list right: Incest, bestiality (is it bestiality if it's just turtle on turtle?), homosexuality, smut... um... I'm pretty sure that's it...

~~~

It was so strange, seeing Leo back at the lair. It was weeks after the incident with Winters, but... things were unusual. Raph was quiet, Leo withdrawn, and Don looked troubled. Even Sensei looked different. Tired. Worn. Old. The very idea of it chilled me to my core. Something had to be done. I had to fix this rift between me and my brothers, for Sensei's sake, and our own.

So I started forming a plan.

~~~

I met Michelangelo's eyes from across the table, though he wasn't really looking at me at all. I nudged him under the table with my foot, and when Mike seemed to come back to himself, I gave him a questioning look, unwilling to break the eerie silence in the lair. Michelangelo's face didn't change, but his eyes were sparkling with silent laughter before standing abruptly from the table. "Okay bros, let's go to the dojo."

Splinter had looked up in surprise at that, and I was confused. Mikey? Wanting to spar with the three of us? It was the only reason I could think of for him wanting to go to the dojo.

Raph looked up from his soggy cereal, and Leo met Michelangelo's gaze evenly, "Mike?"

"Team building exercise, Bro." I could've sworn Michelangelo was waggling his eye ridges at them, and I had to bite the inside of my mouth to keep from laughing at the oddity of it.

"Who died and made you leader?" Raph grumbled, half heartedly poking at his mush with his spoon.

"Leo's sense of big brotherness." Michelangelo said simply, bowing slightly to Splinter before walking out.

I glanced at my brothers before getting to my feet, "I don't know about you two, but I'm curious as to what he's got planned."

Leonardo chuckled, "Mike with a plan is a terrifying thought."

I dropped my dishes in the sink before padding out after Mike.

~~~

I watched as Splinter gazed at me and Leonardo, "I suggest you two take up Michelangelo on his idea. I will be in the living room, watching my stories," He got to his feet slowly, leaning heavily on his walking stick in a way that made my stomach tighten into a cold knot, "Today is the day we find out who the real father of Debbie's baby is."

I shook my head and stood, dumping the remains of my cereal in the sink before turning to Leonardo. The Wandering Son. "Are you coming?" It was so strange, pretending nothing happened. That I had nearly- I shook myself and walked away, but not before I heard the gentle scrape of Leo's chair against the floor as he stood. We walked into the dojo together in silence.

~~~

"So, what's this big plan of yours, Mike?" Donatello asked once we were all in the dojo and the door was closed.

I frowned as Mikey just stood there, before taking a deep breath, "We've forgotten each other."

I watched Leo's eyes widen in horror, "What the hell-?!"

"Leo, this is not just about you. We all 'left' in one way or another. Donnie and I buried ourselves in work, Raph with his Nightwatcher duties, and you with your animal activist gig, or whatever it was you did down in South America."

I snorted as Leo drew himself up a little taller, looking indignant, "I protected a village."

Mike waved a dismissive hand, "Not the point. If we're going to work as a team again, we need to relearn each other."

I glanced at the others, obviously no one else was gonna ask the question on all our minds, "And how are we going to do that?"

Mike's eye took on a glitter of mischief and... something else, "Sex."

~~~

Leonardo gaped at our younger brother. His brother, I could practically hear Leo's mind shout. "Are you insane?!"

"Not since the last time I checked," Michelangelo said, the joking words offset by the serious set of his face. "I'm serious, Leo. We're drifting apart..."

"And this is the way you came up with to bring us back together?! Sex?" Leonardo hissed, "We're brothers."

"Not biologically," I stated simply. "Technically, it's only theoretical incest." I had run tests on our DNA years ago, so this was not news to me. I don't think it mattered to Leo, though.

"How can you be so calm about this?!" Leonardo snapped, "Did this happen while I was gone?!"

"Why?" Raph's voice was a soft challenge from his corner of the dojo, "Would you feel left out, Leo?"

I watched Leo turn to stare at Raph. I never heard Raphael's voice take that tone before; that low, dangerous sounding almost-purr that seemed to rumble up from the very depths of his chest. We watched Leo swallow hard, "Raph-"

"Are you afraid, Leo?" Raph's eyes were narrowed in challenge... no, not just in challenge, in something else... I felt my throat close up. I had heard the term 'bedroom voice' before, but this was my first experience with it. My eyes drifted to Michelangelo, who was shifting uncomfortably where he stood. At least I wasn't the only one starting to get turned on. "Sex does involve letting go of your control, after all," Raph was beginning to stalk towards Leo.

"Raphael, are you flirting with me?" Leonardo looked bewildered, and then frightened, taking a step backwards before something must've clicked in his mind and he stood straighter and stepped forward, meeting Raph's challenge. Only Raph could get Leo riled up like this, only that was when Raph wanted to kick the shit out of him, and now he was staring at him like something he wanted to... oh. Oh. "I don't have to be the one not in control, Raph," Leonardo growled at Raph, and I would've sworn the temperature in the Dojo went up a few degrees.

Michelangelo inched closer to Leo, "So you all agree? That this is the thing to do?"

Leonardo watched as Raph and I both nodded and sighed, "Alright... but not now. Master Splinter is right outside and-"

"Don't trust yourself not to get loud, Leo?" Raph purred, smirking, and Leonardo growled again.

Michelangelo whimpered.

~~~

"Don't trust yourself not to get loud, Leo?" Raphael purred, and I couldn't stop the growl the came out of my throat. There was that damned purr again. When did Raph learn to talk like that?

I heard Michelangelo whimper softly and I turned to look at him, and what I saw made me blush, forgetting my irritation with Raph. Mike was leaning against the wall, fingers gently tracing the edge of his shell, his eyes heavy and dark with arousal... "Oh come on, guys... don't stop there, we're just getting started..." His voice was low and rough and I felt a tug in the pit of my stomach as I watched his thick fingers trail up and down his inner thighs, teasing himself.

"M-mike-" I was stuttering. I never stutter! "I thought we were going to do this later... when Sensei is not right outside the dojo!" I hissed at him, then choked as Mike let his erection drop from out of his shell and began to stroke it slowly.

"Come on, Leo... Sensei's watching TV, he can barely hear what's going on in here," Donatello said softly, eyes fixated on the movements of Mikey's hand. He reached out to stroke cautious fingers down Mikey's arm before wrapping his hand around Mikey's and following Mikey's rhythm. Mikey groaned, head thudding back against the wall as his eyes closed, a look of bliss on his face as his breath quickened. Donatello made a curious noise in the back of his throat, "This was your idea, Mike," Don murmured, "Tell me what to do, so we can show our brothers how it's done..."

~~

Oh God, oh God, oh God, Donnie's hand was on me, no one else has ever touched me like this... I could barely keep from making pathetic little mewling noises as Donnie moved his hand on me, breath hot and damp against my neck as my hand slid out form under his and I pressed them both against the wall to help me stay upright.

"Tell me what to do, so we can show our brothers how it's done..." He murmured before nuzzling my neck. "Is this good?"

"Donnie," Was all I could gasp out, bucking against his hand. It was too much, I've never done anything like this before, and if Donnie kept going, I was gonna... I was gonna-!! "Donnie, stop, I-"

Donatello's hand stilled, though he was still pressed against my side, "Something wrong?"

"I didn't want it to end too soon," I was gasping, trying to get my head clear, "I have plans for you... to show our brothers how it's done, right?" I stroked a hand down his front, running my finger along the edge of his shell where his legs meet, making Donnie gasp. I knew what felt good on me, and I've seen porn before. Granted, being a turtle, things would be a little bit different, but what the hell. "But first, I need someone to play ninja."

"Ninja?" Leo's voice cracked, and he cleared his throat before trying again, "Ninja? Why?"

"We're gonna need lube, aren't we?" Uhg, don't my brothers know anything?

"We are?"

I guess not.

"Yes Leo. None of us are female, therefore we don't self lubricate. So we need some artificial stuff," I, in the meantime, was enjoying the little hitching breaths Donnie was making as I stroked along the sides and bottom edge of his shell.

"A-ah. Right," Leo stuttered again.

"There's... some in my room, Leo... mineral oil..." Donnie breathed as I leaned in to nip gently at his throat.

"But, Sensei is-"

"Leo. Play. Ninja."

Leo nodded. He was the stealthiest of the four of us, even at his clumsiest. He vanished silently out of the dojo, leaving Raph to smirk at Don and I. "Well?"

Donatello ran his hands up and down my sides, making me shiver, "Hey!"

Raph pressed up against my shell, so I was now the center of a Raph and Don sandwich. Not a bad place to be, all things considered. Especially when Don started nibbling on my neck just Raph began to stroke my slightly softening erection back to full hardness.

Not a bad place to be at all.

~~~

I swear the only reason Master Splinter didn’t catch me is because TV networks always make the commercials louder than the actual shows. I made a mental note to tell Don about the loose cement in the main room of our lair when… this was over. I swallowed hard as I entered Donnie’s room, the only light coming from the soft glow of his many computer monitors, each showing something different. Intricate lines of code running faster than I could read across the screen, not that I understood any of it anyway, though I did recognize the windows of the self-diagnostic programs Don ran on his computers almost religiously. I flushed as I thought of my brother, the way his face looked as he stroked Michelangelo… I shook myself out of that line of thought. I had a mission to complete, damn it, there was no time to be daydreaming about what my brothers were doing to one another and what it felt like. I admit that I have never… touched myself in that way before, save for once out of curiosity. I found it unsatisfying, and sort of empty. It wasn’t about loss of control, not like Raph thought, though if he wanted to make it about control…

There was an odd noise filling the room, and it took me a few seconds to realize it was me. It was an odd noise for a turtle to be making, a strange combination of a growl and purr. I shook myself sharply, ‘focus on the mission and not the idea of pinning Raph down and having your wicked way with him, idiot! You’re going to get caught and then where will your brothers be? …other than in the dojo without lube, you pervert,’ I though to myself grumpily as I grabbed the rather large bottle that was labeled “Mineral Oil” in Don’s hand writing, what Mikey often referred to as ‘the Doctor’s Scrawl’. He seemed convinced that Donatello did it on purpose so that no one else could read his notes, though I chalked it up to Donnie trying to get his ideas down on paper as fast as he was having them.

I paused by Donnie’s door, waiting for the next commercial break to start before dashing silently back into the dojo, closing the door behind me with a soft click before turning to look at my brothers, and my breath caught. Raph had Donnie pinned to the wall, with Mikey trapped in between them, moaning softly. Donnie’s mouth was latched onto Mikey’s neck, and Raph was stroking them both, making that same, low, growling purr from before.

“Sucks that you’re not a screamer when it counts, Mike,” Raph’s voice was a low rumble, and Mike’s answer was nothing but a breath-y moan that ended in a choked off gasp as Don sunk his teeth into Mikey’s neck.

Raph’s eyes met mine, and it felt like the wind was knocked out of me. I was staring. I couldn’t help it, just like I couldn’t stop the soft moan that managed to escape.

Raph’s smirk was slow and deliberate, “Welcome back, Leo.”

~~~

Leo’s eyes widened a fraction behind his mask as I smirked at him, “Are you just going to stare, Leo?”

Mikey was churring in my ear. That’s what Don called it. Something about it being a sign of arousal for turtles or some bullshit. I wasn’t paying too much attention, to be honest, until he started moaning “We can’t just let him stare, Raph…”

Leo’s hands were shaking. He looked like he was about to drop the mineral oil in his hands. I backed off Mikey and Don, releasing them both. Don let out a soft noise of disappointment, but smiled at me over Mike’s shoulder, “Mike’s got a point, Raph. Think can handle all of us at once?”

Leonardo squeaked. Squeaked. He was scared. I felt my smirk grow wider, “I think so, Don. He’s always been talented.”

It wasn’t Leo’s fear that was turning me on. It was that he was afraid, and not running. It was something I had always admired about him. Not that I’d ever tell him that.

Ever.

Not in a million years.

Maybe under threat of death. ….Maybe.

I took a step towards Leo, and he stepped back.

“I can’t be that frightening, Leo,” I chuckled, but inside my stomach knotted as I flashed to that fight on the roof… the look on Leo’s face then, it-

“Once we do this, we can’t go back,” He whispered, so soft I almost didn’t hear it. It was too late, I wanted to tell him, everything changed when you left in the first place, when we fought on that rooftop, but I kept my mouth shut. Leo didn’t need that now. This wasn’t about power plays, or being the leader, or being better, or any of that bullshit. It didn’t matter here. Not now.

This, right now, was about us, as brothers, and the trust we need to have in each other in order to make a good team.

So, I reached out my hand to him, and waited.

~~~

My hands were shaking as I watched Raph and Leo stare at each other, Raph with his hand out to Leo. The minutes seemed to go on for hours, seconds ticking by so painfully slow, I began to clench my hands into fists to distract myself, only to find Donnie’s hand in mine, and his other hand resting at my hip. Donnie stroked his thumbs across my skin in an absent-minded manner.

Yeah, apparently Donnie is really touch-y feel-y when turned on.

Needless to say, I wasn’t complaining.

“Leo,” Raph broke the seemingly endless silence, his voice soft with affection, but still rough with arousal, “it’s just us, Leo. We’re not going anywhere.”

That seemed to reach Leo, because he took a cautious step forward, hand reaching out to take Raph’s and it was like there was a snap of a final puzzle piece fitting into place when Raph drew him into a kiss, hands coming up to cradle Leo’s face.

I pouted, “I didn’t get Raph kisses.”

“We’ll get ours later. Just enjoy the show, Mike,” Don chuckled against my ear.

There was a soft thud as Leo dropped the plastic bottle of oil, clutching at Raph’s shoulders like Raph was a rock in the middle of a raging storm.

“It’s so beautiful, yet so wrong…” I rested my head on Donnie’s shoulder, chuckling. To be honest, it really was weird to see Leo and Raph sucking face like they were the only two people left in the world, but in a good way.

My plan was working!

Leo was making hungry, needy noises in the back of his throat as Raph pulled away, “Ah-“

“Jeez, you’re such a virgin, Leo,” Raph murmured, though he didn’t really sound all that put off about it. Granted, the way Leo was flushed and dazed looking, I don’t think Don minded either. I know I didn’t.

Leo looked like his legs would give out if Raph let him go, “Huh?”

Raphael chuckled, “To think, if making you brainless was this easy, I wonder how easy it’ll be to get you off?”

I peeled myself away from Donnie and padded over to Raph and Leo, snagging Raph into a kiss. I could understand why Leo was as dazed as he was, Raph is a fantastic kisser, his tongue tangled with mine and completely dominated the kiss. I pulled away and stole a quick kiss from Leo. “You know, a thought just occurred to me…”

“I hope it didn’t hurt too much,” Raph said, the words harsh, but the warmth in his eyes totally made up for it.

“Ha ha,” I rolled my eyes, “As I was saying, we should probably pair off first before we all do it together.”

Raph frowned, “Oh?”

Donnie hugged me from behind, “It makes sense. We can’t really relearn each other unless we do some one on one work. Plus, it would be less suspicious if we spread this out over the course of a few days, rather than doing it all at once.”

Raph glanced at Leo and grinned.

Gift Fic for silverstrings: Tolerence (Zexion/Vexen, PG-16?)

2007-04-21T15:27:27Z

Title: Tolerance
Author: AquaianGoddess/Christina
Rating: PG-16?
Pairing: VeXion (Vexen/Zexion, though possibly not in that order)
Summery: It wasn’t affection
Notes: For Koi
Words: 423

It wasn’t that the members of Organization XIII have affection for one another. That would imply that they had emotions, which would mean that they had hearts, which would mean that they weren’t Nobodies. But they were Nobodies and they didn’t have hearts, and anything they did feel felt like it was coming through thousands of feet of water or cotton, dull and muffled and barely a shadow of the intensity a heart would’ve had. So it wasn’t that Zexion could say that he held Vexen “close to his heart”, or that Vexen could say that he was fond of Zexion. For the two, it was simply a matter of tolerance. Zexion was content with the piece and quiet of Vexen’s lab, and Vexen allowed Zexion to stay so long as he didn’t touch anything and left him alone.

As the time passed, the two had gotten used to the other’s company. Zexion would occasionally ask Vexen questions about whatever it was that he was doing whenever the older man seemed stuck on something, for he was truly interested in the scientist’s work, and Vexen found that when he sometimes talked out the problem with Zexion, the answer would come to him. They wouldn’t say there was affection developing between them, they left that sort of nonsense to the younger members like Axel and Demyx (both of whom, it should be noted, annoyed Vexen endlessly), but there was an attraction, which was entirely possible, Vexen would explain, though his normally pale face would take on a tint of pink as it did. Attraction was a purely physical reaction based on chemicals and hormones and had nothing to do with emotions and “hearts”.

At least, this was the reason he tried to give Zexion to explain why the younger man was kissing his neck and backing him up against a wall as he unzipped his coat. The explanation never got finished, as Zexion dragged Vexen down into a kiss and then into the older man’s bedroom.

It wasn’t that they liked each other that they continued to do things like kiss and have sex, and it wasn’t that they had affection for each other that saved Zexion from Vexen’s wrath when another of his experiments were slightly ruined because Zexion dragged him off to have sex, and it wasn’t because they were “in love” that Zexion was the only one who wasn’t chased out of Vexen’s lab with spears of ice. It was a matter of tolerance.

They tolerated each other. That was all.

Three Fics for silverstrings (PG again, I guess? I'm really bad at this rating thing)

2007-04-21T15:19:21Z

Roxas/Kairi: "I only keep myself this sick in the head 'cause I know how the words get you (off)"

Roxas both hates and loves Kairi.

Loves her, because of the way she makes him feel, because when he’s with her, it doesn’t matter that he’s only a part of something (someone) bigger, and her kisses always taste sweet and they could spend hours talking about anything and everything, or saying nothing at all, and it would still be the best conversation he’s ever had.

Hates her, because sometimes he catches her looking at him, as if she is saying ‘Sora would’ve done this,’ or ‘Sora did this differently,’ and he wants to shake her, scream in her face that he’s not Sora, but then it hits him that he is Sora. Or, at least, he’s a part of Sora; the angry, hateful part of him, in fact.

It’s that hate, that anger that Kairi likes though. He knows this, because the last time he called her on her looks, they got into a huge screaming match that turned into a rather violent session of sex. Both of them came away bloody from that. Kairi with a split lip and dark bruises on her skin and bite marks where Roxas broke her skin with his teeth; and Roxas with deep bloody scratches down his back, and countless cuts and bruises and a split lip and loose teeth from the beating Riku gave him when he saw what Kairi looked like. Riku didn’t apologize to him (still hasn’t) after Kairi explained what happened (leaving out several details), that it was an accident (not really) and Roxas didn’t mean it (he meant it just as much as she did).

Roxas didn’t mind though. He knew that Kairi got off on their fights just as much as he did. They just got better at hiding the marks.

Marly/Larxene: "Best friends, ex-friends to the end. Better off as lovers, not the other way around"

Marluxia often wonders if even bothering to start a relationship with Larxene was a good idea. Unless they were lovers, they didn’t get along. Granted, Larxene was still loyal to him, but he was getting a little tired of having his favorite flowers set on fire by her lightning. When they were together as lovers, she was putty in his hands. She was affectionate, calm, gave the best head he ever had (in both his lives), and he had to admit her torture of Demyx and then later, Vexen, was rather amusing.

When they weren’t together, though, Larxene was more violent and prone to destroying anything she could get her hands on. It was horrific, some of the scenes she left behind, ripping the limbs off some of the Dusks and Dancers, among other things. Demyx still has nightmares about it, apparently.

Marluxia sighed as he went to go find Larxene and initiate the customary round of make-up sex. Hopefully that will stop her little contest with Axel about who could destroy the most things in Castle Oblivion with fire.

Maybe this time he could even save his begonias.

Ban/Kazu: "We're the new face of failure, prettier and younger but not any better off”

It’s surprising that they’re still together, Kazuki thinks. He and Ban fight all the time (money, Ginji, moving in, Ginji, Shido, money, sex, pity, money…), and Ban says the most hurtful things (“The only reason I’m with you is because you’re so much like a girl that it doesn’t matter what hole I fuck you in.”), and half the time they end up not speaking to each other, but they never break up, and they always make up, because Ginji reminds them of the good times they have with each other (Kazuki’s first time at the beach, the museum, the book store, Kazuki’s first time having sex at the beach, the koto that Ban saved up to get him for his birthday, the violin he bought Ban on a whim…)

Ginji doesn’t realize that they make each other miserable. They want to keep it that way.

Besides, the fact that they make each other miserable doesn’t matter to Kazuki. It’s enough that Ban always comes back.

It has to be enough, because Ban sure as hell will never say “I love you.”

Not to Kazuki, anyway.

Two Fics Written for torsui (errr, PG I guess)

2007-04-21T15:11:02Z

Riku/Roxas: sea-salt

Roxas loves the beaches of Destiny Islands. The sand is warm and soft, and the water a clear blue-green that seems to stretch on forever. He loves to sit on the beach with his feet in the surf and his pants getting wet and watch the sunset. Or the sunrise, if he can convince a still asleep Sora to let him have control (Sora usually agrees, as he can still be asleep with Roxas in control of his body. He has discovered that they have a beautiful working relationship).

In all reality, his favorite thing to look at on all of Destiny Island’s beaches would have to be Riku. Sora teases him all the time for being in love with his best friend (‘But Riku’s not my best friend,’ He’d argue, ‘He’s your best friend. My best friend is-’ And then he’d remember that Axel was gone and Sora would quickly change the subject back to how Riku’s butt looks in wet, cling-y swim trunks and completely derail Roxas’ thought process entirely), and sometimes Roxas would point out that, since they’re technically two halves of the same whole, it means that Sora would be in love with Riku too (that’s when Sora freaks out, takes control back and goes to find Kairi so they can make out and reaffirm Sora’s complete and utter straightness).

Roxas’ favorite time is when he is watching Riku come up out of the surf, sand clinging to his legs and his hair is stiff and sticky with ocean water, and he walks over to Roxas with that little half smile of his that makes Roxas’ heart (yes, his heart) skip a beat. Riku then runs his fingers through Roxas’ hair, making it stick out even more oddly than it does, as he leans in to kiss Roxas.

Riku’s lips taste like sea-salt, and Roxas lets himself be dragged down into the sand, if only to hold onto that taste for just a little bit longer.

Riku/Kairi ("because they don't get enough fic alone T_T"): orange

Riku gazed up at Kairi as she straddled his waist, dress in only one of his orange t-shirts. The color clashed with the red of her hair, the tan of her skin, but it slid down to bare one shoulder and ended just shy of mid-thigh.

She looked rumpled and sleepy.

She looked beautiful.

He didn’t say any of that though. He didn’t have to.

Kairi looked at his face, tilted her head to the side and smiled before leaning down to kiss Riku softly, “Thank you, Riku.”

“Hm? For what?” He smirked at her as he ran his hand up her thigh.

She blushed, her fingers curling a little against his chest, “The way you looked at me. It made me feel sexy.”

“That’s because you are sexy. Especially when you wear my clothes.”

Kairi laughed, “I’d love to see you in some of my clothes for a change.”

“What? No way, I’d never fit!”

“Yeah you would!”

Riku flipped the over and pinned Kairi to the bed, “Would not.”

“Yes you would~ You’d look so good in one of my skirts!”

Kairi’s laughter was lost in Riku’s kisses, and an orange shirt fell to the floor.

Fic: Afterwards (gift for torsui) (Kingdom Hearts Sora/Riku/Kairi PG-13)

2007-03-20T14:38:10Z

Riku/Sora/Kairi: afterwards

After all was said and done, it wasn’t so much that it had changed, for Riku, it was about how much hadn’t changed. The island was still small and close knit, where everyone knew everyone else’s business and Sora’s Mom still made the best cookies and Riku’s Father still buried himself in the bottle (though the first time he tried to hit Riku when Riku returned, Riku sent him through the window before he even realized what he had done, and was now living with Sora and his mother; a dream he had since he was a child, only as a child he hadn’t expected the overwhelming urge to make himself useful. If only his Father could see him now, cleaning and scrubbing, but somehow his hands were still-). Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie still couldn’t touch him, and the secret place STILL had that stupid picture of Sora and Kairi sharing the paopu with each other (he refused to acknowledge being jealous though, because isn’t that the way the story always ends? The hero gets the girl and the best friend gets ignored). He wants to be happy for them, but their relationship leaves a bitter taste in his mouth and he just throws himself even deeper into his work because that roof won’t fix itself and this is the kind of thinking that got him in trouble in the first place, damn it!

He doesn’t realize he said the last bit out loud until Sora’s Mom peeks her head up from an open window, a worried frown on her face, “Riku, sweetie? What’s wrong?”

Riku jerked a little, startled by her voice, and shook his head, “Just hit my thumb with the hammer, don’t worry about it.”

“That should be a sign for you to take a break,” She said, smiling at him (he never noticed until now that Sora had his mother’s smile). “You’ve been working all morning. I just made some lemonade and sandwiches, and Sora just came home with Kairi.”

“Maybe later, I want to get this done and if I stop now, I’ll never finish it. Thank you, though.”

“Alright, honey. Just come on down when you’re ready,” and with that she vanished back into the house.

He mopped the sweat from his face with his discarded t-shirt. Riku didn’t want to see Sora with Kairi. He couldn’t stop those darkly jealous thoughts about Sora, and it reminded him of tales of dragons his mother had told him and Sora before she died.

“Dragons, or so the legends go, were very possessive creatures. They weren’t evil, really, they just wanted to keep what was theirs. How would you feel if someone snuck into your home and took your teddy bear, then killed you for being upset about it?”

Sora’s eyes had filled with tears as he clutched his bear tighter, “I don’t want anyone to take Mog!” He stood then, Mog clutched tightly under one arm as the other punched the air with as much bravery and determination that a three year old could muster, “I know! I’ll be the knight who protects the dragon and his treasure!”

Riku blinked up at him from where he was sitting, “If you’re the knight, who’s the dragon?” He had always been the knight in their games, and seeing Sora try to take the role confused him.

“You! You always hog the cookies, so that makes you a dragon!”

Riku had gotten up then and gave chase to Sora then, and his mother’s laughter echoed after them.

‘Maybe Sora was right back then, is a weird way. Perhaps I secretly am a dragon, and Sora is my treasure,’ Riku mused to himself, chuckling. He was struck by the mental image of Kairi dressed as a knight and trying to slay Riku so that she could take Sora from him and his laughter turned slightly hysterical before he shook his head violently. ‘Stop it, stop it, stop it!’

“Stop what?”

Riku’s head snapped around and nearly fell off the roof when he saw Kairi, holding a plate with a sandwich and a plastic cup on it with one hand as she climbed up onto the roof, “Kairi, what are you doing up here?”

“Sora and his mom were worried about you, so I offered to bring you lunch,” She handed him the plate and Riku set down the hammer to take it fro her, being careful not to spill the lemonade. “…So how’ve you been? Sora and I haven’t seen you in a while.”

“…I’ve been alright. Busy. The house needs a lot of work,” Riku took a large bite of his sandwich, hoping she’d get the hint and go away.

“You don’t have to work so hard all the time, Riku. We miss you.”

Riku looked at her, “…Is it wrong to want to give the happy couple their space?” He hadn’t meant to snap it out like that, harsh and angry, but he couldn’t take it back now, Kairi looking as though he just slapped her.

“Riku… what the hell makes you think Sora and I would be in a relationship without you?”

Riku choked on his sandwich and took a large gulp of his lemonade, “What?”

“Sora and I talked about it, and we have been trying to talk with you about it, but you’ve always been too busy. So… you were avoiding us?”

Riku didn’t look at her, couldn’t look at her, “Normal people don’t have a boyfriend and a girlfriend, Kairi. The hero gets the girl and the dragon ends up dead at the end.”

“Dragon? Is that how you see yourself?”

Riku shook his head, “Never mind. In any case, it’s still not normal.”

“Riku, you, Sora and I are about as far from normal as it gets,” Kairi laughed and crawled over to Riku, leaning her head on his shoulder, completely heedless of the sweat that coated his skin, “It wouldn’t feel right without you there, you know?”

Riku took another bite of his sandwich, refusing to look at Kairi, “I don’t understand. Sora is in love with you, not me.”

Kairi stared at Riku in disbelief, “Uh, Riku? When did you become an idiot?”

Riku bristled and snarled at her, hand half-curling and ready to summon up the Darkness to obliterate her, or at least shove her off the roof and into the flower bed (he didn’t want her dead, after all). Slowly, he relaxed himself, willing the Darkness to go away, “I. Am not. An idiot,” He said tightly, still trying to calm the Darkness and bury it inside himself.

“Riku, he saved the universe for you. Twice, in fact. How does that translate as ‘not in love’ to you?”

“He was looking for you.”

“The first time, maybe. But you forget, he was looking for you, too, Riku. And what about the second time?” Kairi sighed and rubbed her eyes, “Never mind. Sora’s feelings for you mean nothing if they’re coming from me. But then there’s imy/ feelings for you, you know.”

Riku blinked down at his empty hand. He had run out of sandwich to stall with, “…Huh?”

“That whole time… you protected me. And you kept trying to save me. And then, when you were hiding in Ansem’s form, you still protected me.”

“Kairi…”

“No, listen to me. I’ve always liked you, Riku. You and Sora both! Sora will probably talk to you on his own about this, but I wanted to tell you myself as well. Do you understand?”

“Uh… sort of? I need to think it over, Kairi, okay?” Riku drained his cup of lemonade and let Kairi take it from his fingers before leaning in to brush a soft kiss across Riku’s lips.

Kairi licked her lips with a impish chuckle, “Mm. Lemonade suits you.”

Riku frowned at her, “That’s letting me think it over?”

Kairi looked at him innocently, “There were crumbs.”

Riku chuckled and shook his head, “Yeah, yeah. …Thanks for bringing me lunch, Kai.”

“No problem. Come in soon, okay? All this sun will make you pass out, not to mention you’re probably going to get a sunburn.”

“I’ve never gotten a sunburn a day in my life, Kairi, why would I get one now?”

“…I don’t really have to point out two years in Darkness, do I?”

“I’m not going to get a sunburn. Thank you for worrying about me though.”

Kairi sighed and shook her head, “Alright. I’ll take this stuff inside for you.”

“Thanks again, Kairi,” Riku returned his attention to fixing the roof as Kairi took his paper plate and plastic cup and climbed back into the house.

~~

By the time Riku finished the roof, the sun was beginning to set. He felt tired and dehydrated and his back ached.

“Hey Riku!” Sora hugged him from behind and Riku cut off a yelp. …Perhaps he did get a sunburn after all, “Oh shit, Riku are you alright? Ack! You’re all red like a lobster!”

“I lost track of time when I was fixing the roof,” Riku ground out, teeth clenched in pain.

“Oh man, go lie down, okay? I know Mom has some aloe somewhere…” Sora darted off and Riku staggered to his room to collapse face down on his bed, dropping his t-shirt to the floor.

“Uhg. Kairi warned me…”

“She won’t rub it in your face that she was right, though,” Sora said, “Want me to rub the aloe in? I’d use an ice spell on you, but Mom has forbidden me from doing magic in the house.”

“That’s because you nearly burned the kitchen down trying to light the stove’s pilot light.”

“Hmph. I can always leave you to do this yourself.”

“Forgive me, oh great one.” Riku rolled his eyes and hide his grin behind his pillow.

“Of course, Riku,” Sora’s grin was bright as he peeled off his gloves and climbed up onto Riku’s bed, straddling Riku’s thighs. Sora brushed Riku’s hair aside and started rubbing the cool gel along Riku’s shoulders before slowly working his way down. “…Did Kairi talk to you?”

“Yeah.”

“And?”

“Why me? Why do you and Kairi want me?”

“Because we love you, stupid?”

“…Why?”

Sora pressed down on Riku’s burn, making him yelp, “Why can’t you accept it? Why can’t you just accept the fact that we wanna be with you?”

“Because a) I tried to kill you-“

“That wasn’t you, Riku.”

“And b) I’m still Dark.”

“It’s cute how you think that’s relevant, Riku.”

“…Sora-“

“You are my best friend. I have been in love with you since I first met you.”

“You don’t get it. Either of you. The entire reason for the island being the destroyed the first time? Was because I felt like Kairi was taking you away from me. I can’t share you. I won’t share you.”

“…So that’s when you meant when you called yourself a dragon,” Sora chuckled, “Riku, remember when we were really little and I said I’d be the knight who protects the dragon?”

“Yes?”

“I think I am the dragon in this case. I want you both, Riku.”

“Sora… look, just give me time, okay?”

“Alright.” Riku sighed as Sora finished rubbing his back, “Hey Riku?”

“Mmm?”

“Are you done thinking yet?”

Riku rolled over, taking care not to lean on his back, “Sora, I need more time than that.”

“Oh,” Sora grinned at Riku fro his seat in Riku’s lap, “Do I get to help convince you while you think?”

Riku eyed Sora wearily, “Define convince.”

Sora leaned in to kiss Riku, hands resting on Riku’s hips, humming softly as his tongue darted out and traced Riku’s lower lip, “Mmm, this.”

“…Nice convincing,” Riku said, dazed.

“You cheating bastard, you said you’d wait for me before you started molesting him!” Kairi stood in Riku’s doorway with her hands on her hips.

“Well, you were late.”

Kairi huffed and climbed onto Riku’s bed behind Riku, “Whatever. …Oh Riku, you did burn.”

“I lost track of time, Kai.”

“Poor baby, we’ll just have to take good care of you.”

Riku glanced between them, “…is this you two trying to convince me?”

Kairi nibbled on Riku’s ear, gently, “Mmmhmmm.”

…Needless to say, a few hours later, Riku was thoroughly convinced.

Challenge Fic: Ashes (Animorphs, PG)

2007-03-20T14:08:48Z

Over at the animorphs100 comm, there was a challenge for the word "Ashes". I wrote two versions, since my first attempt at it ran away from me.

Jake picked up the cordless phone in the hallway. “Hello?”

“Hey, Jake.”

“Marco, what’s up?”

“Are you working on that assignment for English?”

“Yeah, why?”

“The rhyme is about the Black Plague, dude.”

“Why does that freak you out so much?”

“I’m just over thinking it, I guess.”

“Don’t worry about it, Marco.”

“I’m gonna go.”

“Okay. Bye.” Jake frowned at his paper as he hung up, “Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.” Jake suddenly remembered a freed Hork Bajir falling to the floor and turning to dust from a Dracon Beam.

Maybe Marco was right to be freaked out.

"Don't people knock anymore?" Jake grumbled, not looking up from his homework as his bedroom door swung open.

"Well, considering I've seen you naked, I feel like we have nothing left to hide from each other, Jake. I thought you said that we'd have a more open relationship," Marco said, dramatically flopping down onto Jake's bed after dropping his backpack to the floor and kicking the door shut.

"Marco, we were toddlers," Jake rolled his eyes as he rolled away from his desk, “What’s up?”

“Are you working on that assignment for English?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Well, I was talking about it with Ax-“

“Why?”

“He and Tobias came over to hang out and play video games. They are actually downstairs being fed by your mom because I asked to talk to you alone for a bit.”

Jake arched an eyebrow at that, “What’s wrong?”

“The rhyme is about the Black Plague, dude.”

Jake scribbled that down on his homework, “Thanks, I’ve been beating my head against that for the last twenty minutes. But why does that freak you out so much?”

“I don’t know,” Marco shrugged, rolling onto his stomach to face Jake, “I mean, normally it wouldn’t bother me, but I guess I’m just over thinking it. Or hanging out with Cassie too much.”

Jake rolled his eyes and reached out to ruffle Marco’s hair, “Don’t worry about that, Marco. Really, it’s fine.”

“Could I stay here tonight?”

Jake blinked at the sudden request, but shrugged, “I don’t have a problem with it. What about your dad?”

“He’s with that woman tonight. He said he might be bringing her back to our place. I left him a note.”

Jake frowned, “Marco-”

“Don’t. Don’t say anything, okay?”

“Alright, no problem.”

“Come on, let’s go rescue Ax and Tobias from your mom. I brought some games over that I wanted them to play.”

Jake chuckled, “Alright. Go get them while I finish up this assignment, okay? Maybe I can get Ax to help me with my math.”

Marco rolled to his feet, “Hell, I got Ax to do my math homework for me.”

”Cheater,” Jake chucked a pillow at him as Marco darted out the door, laughing.

Jake glanced down at his paper, “Huh. Ashes, ashes, we all fall down…” Jake had a sudden vision of the last night’s battle, when they saw one of the freed Hork Bajir fleeing from the Yeerk pool fall to the floor as he turned to dust from a Dracon Beam. Jake shook his head violently.

Maybe Marco was right to be a little freaked out.

GetBackers: Heat. NC-17 (part 2)

2006-12-12T06:45:25Z

Title: Heat
Author: Uh, me? Yeah. Stuff
Rating: NC-17
Pairings: Ban/Shido
Warnings: First Person POV, porn, men having sex.
Summery: it's hot. too hot.

continued from part one over here.

"I think he's right, because hell if I don't walk away from half of our arguments hard as a rock." I am too surprised to answer that when he stands up and pads over to where I'm sitting on the bed, and he is all in my face now and I can see the sweat beading on his skin. I want to lick it off. "I want to fuck you, Monkey Tamer." I'm just blinking at him like a fucking dumbass now. I can't even form the words 'yes' or 'no', I'm just staring at him with my mouth hanging open like a fucking idiot. "...Don't tell me. You're not interested, right?" I don't answer him, I just pull him down into a kiss, licking the salt from Midou's upper lip before he shoved me back and took control of the kiss, growling softly as he bit my lower lip. "Just so you know?"

"Yeah?"

"I still hate you."

"Yeah, me too."

He's groping me through my boxers now, and he's kissing me again, tongue in my mouth like he's trying to map out of the fucking thing. It's messy and awkward, and I can't get enough of it. Granted, I normally hate being on the bottom, but sometimes you just gotta go with the flow (something Emishi taught me). Going with the flow doesn't stop me from rolling him over and pinning him under me, though. Or making quick work of the removal of his pants.

I press the heel of my palm against him through his own boxers and he hisses at me, catching my ear between his teeth in a way that made my toes curl, as loathe as I am to admit it. what can I say, my ears and my neck are the most sensitive parts of my body, the most obvious one aside.

"There is no way I'm letting you top, Monkey Tamer."

"Oh?" I bite his shoulder and he tenses under me with another hiss of pleasure.

"Yeah. I need to be able to fucking drive tomorrow, not to mention walk." I chuckle. It's a good enough reason. "Besides, I don't want Ginji to get smug about how he was right." That's an even better one. Not that Midou is... unequipped, but I am definitely larger than normal (a horse, I believe Ginji mentioned. No, I'm not gloating. ...okay, maybe a little bit).

"I hear that. ...does this place have anything, because while I don't know about you, but I don't exactly carry lube around."

Midou tilts his head back as I lick my way along his neck, "Ginji and I keep some in the car, but there's no way in hell I am going out to get it. Get off me so I can check the bathroom."

It feels weird, not to be fighting with Midou, but I let him up and flop onto my back as he heads into the bathroom. The place is cheep, but even the cheapest of places have complimentary lotion, right? Or at least soap.

Midou comes out of the bathroom naked and holding up the tiny bottle of lotion between two fingers with a grin on his face that quickly turns into a frown, "Why the hell are you still wearing those?" he stalks over and literally rips my boxers off me, dropping the two pieces to the side as he crawls over me.

"Midou."

He frowns, "What, second thoughts?"

"No, idiot. i don't wanna be fucked on my back like some chick," It's half true, but at the same time face to face is more personal, you know? Kazuki would probably laugh if he found out about this, but whatever. Midou shrugs ans backs up a little, letting me roll onto my stomach before gripping my hips and lifting my rear up. "Hey!"

"Stop your bitching, I don't wanna wait any longer," He runs his tongue up my spine as he slides a lotion-click finger inside me, curling his finger inside me and making my hips buck as he sinks his teeth into my shoulder.

GetBackers: Heat. NC-17 (part one)

2006-12-11T07:14:27Z

Title: Heat
Author: Uh, me? Yeah. Stuff
Rating: NC-17
Pairings: Ban/Shido
Warnings: First Person POV, porn, men having sex.
Summery: it's hot. too hot.

It's hot. Too hot. I'm in a tiny ass hotel room with the stupid Snake Bastard and Ginji is already at the Honky Tonk, which we won't be able to get to until morning thanks to the roads flooding because of the rain and that stupid sardine can Midou calls a car would never make it through the puddles. It's still too hot, even with the stupid rain, because it's not the cold kind of rain that will make the mornings too cold with fog, but the hot kind that makes up want to strip naked when you see the clouds on the horizon before the stupid storm even starts. Of course we land in the only fucking dump for miles around, and it's got no air conditioner and I am down to my boxers. Maybe I'm just getting spoiled.

Midou called Ginji eariler, to make sure he was alright. Ginji went on ahead with Maguruma to deliver the target and they got paid. Ginji had Maguruma count the money three times to make sure it was all there ("Good boy," Midou had told him, like Ginji was some kind of fucking pet or some shit), because Ginji is terrible with numbers, and usually lets Midou handle their cash (which is a huge mistake, if their constant state of 'broke' is any indication). I used to be bad with numbers, too, but I got Kazuki to help me out with that in exchange getting revenge on a pet store that was mistreating their fish. I tried to tell him that the goldfish have no idea that they're being mistreated (the only thing the damn fish think about is food. Kinda like Ginji and Midou, though I don't have the energy to start a fight with Midou by saying he has the attention span of a goldfish), but he insisted that it was the principle of the matter and in the end it was worth it. Kazuki walked away with all the fish and two cats (though why he got cats when he has so many fish, I'll never know), and I got some puppies, but whatever.

I made Maguruma agree to stay with Ginji, because Midou and I both know Ginji can't be alone at night. He still gets nightmares, sometimes. About Mugenjou.

Snake Bastard has been drinking like there's no tomorrow. Said the only way he could deal with me was if he was drunk, never mind that the room only has one bed and neither of us are keen on sleeping on the wood floor with splinters as long as my God damned arm sticking out of it, not that there's enough floor in the damned room for me to sleep on anyway, the room is so fucking small. Midou's a quiet drunk from what I can tell, and that is fine by me, because the last thing I need is his fucking trash talk when it's too hot to go over there and kick his scrawny ass head in.

I take my chance to get a good look at Midou for the first time since this stupid ass job started. He took off his shirt a while ago, and I can see his ribs, though it's his scars that get my attention most, the ones on his right shoulder look almost like a damn spiderweb on his skin. I want to run my tongue along them, see if I can taste the memory carved into the flesh. It's not the first time I wanted to do something like that to Midou. It pisses me off, because I do hate him, but fucking is fucking, and you don't need to like a person to fuck them. Or be fucked by them, because I know Midou's a control freak in bed, thanks to Ginji's big mouth. I don't care either way, but I doubt Midou would be up for it.

I start to wonder what sex with Midou would be like when he turns and glares at me.

"Why the hell I gotta be stuck here with you?" he's pointing his beer bottle at me (that I ran across to the 24 hour mart to get, the ungrateful shit didn't even say thank you. Or leave me one for that matter), "Why couldn't there be at least a cute girl here if Ginji isn't?"

I roll my eyes, "I'm asking myself the same question, Snake Bastard. What the hell would you do with a girl, anyway?" I'm baiting him. He knows it, I know it. Half of it's instinct, I guess. The other half is hoping for a chance to= work off some of this tension. When sex is not an option, a fight will work just as well.

"I'd bang her, moron. Stupid heat. At least it's better than the cold." I had to agree with him on that one. "You like guys, Monkey Tamer?"

I frowned at the question, "What the hell do you care?"

"I'm curious, and Ginji keeps nagging about how I should 'get to know you better', or some shit," He mumbles the last few words into the mouth of his beer bottle as he takes a swig, and I am silently planning to kill Ginji. Ginji knows I want to have sex with Midou (stupid me for telling him, right?), and I hate the feeling that he is trying to get us to hook up, because Ginji would do something like that to make his friends happy, the bastard. "He says he wants to have a threesome with you and I. Ain't that fucking weird?"

"He wants to have a threesome with me and you?" This was news. Ginji and I haven't fooled around with each other since before he left the Volts.

"Mmhmm. Told me I should take this chance to jump you. Which is stupid, because, dude, you're the fucking Monkey Tamer-"

"And you're the fucking Snake Bastard," I point out, not wanting him to forget the feeling is mutual.

Midou is waving his beer around, and it's a good thing it was half empty because otherwise it would be all over the damn place, "-And, hell, we hate each other, damn it! I asked him if he remembered that we hated each other-"

I wanted to laugh at him. Like Ginji actually needed to be reminded of the animosity (Kazuki told me I should start expanding my vocabulary to make myself appear smarter to my clients. Then he hit me for picking a word that means "a strong feeling of hatred or dislike". Said that was a sign of my antisocial tendencies or some shit.=) between Midou and I. "Violently hate each other, even."

"You know what he told me?"

"What?"

"That what we do? It's not fighting, it's foreplay. Fucking foreplay! You know what I think about that?"

"What do you think about that, Snake Bastard?"

"I think he's right, because hell if I don't walk away from half of our arguments hard as a rock." I am too surprised to answer that when he stands up and pads over to where I'm sitting on the bed, and he is all in my face now and I can see the sweat beading on his skin. I want to lick it off. "I want to fuck you, Monkey Tamer." I'm just blinking at him like a fucking dumbass now. I can't even form the words 'yes' or 'no', I'm just staring at him with my mouth hanging open like a fucking idiot. "...Don't tell me. You're not interested, right?" I don't answer him, I just pull him down into a kiss, licking the salt from Midou's upper lip before he shoved me back and took control of the kiss, growling softly as he bit my lower lip. "Just so you know?"

"Yeah?"

"I still hate you."

"Yeah, me too."

NaNoWriMo Day 4 Results

2006-11-06T17:04:37Z

Chapter 6: The First Date

Yuji forced Liam to sleep on the couch that night, though Liam stood outside Yuji’s door for fifteen minutes complaining. Yuji threatened to hit him with a rolled up newspaper if he didn’t shut up and Liam sulked on the couch after that.

Yuji stumbled out of his room, cursing, “Late, late, late, so late! Crap!”

Liam yawned and stretched as he sat up, “Hm? Work?”

“Yes! Shit, shit, shit!!”

Liam stood and walked into the bathroom as Yuji scrambled about the living room trying to find where he threw his keys and his wallet when he was yelling at Liam the night before. Liam walked out of Yuji’s bedroom three minutes later dress in more of Yuji’s clothes and holding his house keys and his wallet, “Yuu, here. You didn’t actually throw these at me last night.”

“Thank you. I’m still mad at you, though, and don’t think I’m not. I barely got any sleep last night and it’s all because of you and your stupid stupidness!”

“Stupid stupidness, Is that a technical term used in the modern day medical field? I haven’t kept up to date on such things.”

“AUGH! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!” Yuji tugged on his shoes, nearly falling over in the process and paused, “Wait a minute… what time is it?”

Liam peered into the kitchen, “The heating box says it’s 6:15.”

“…what does the clock in my bedroom say?”

“Oh, you unplugged it last night in your mad scramble to get away from me. Don’t you remember?”

“…you know about plugs, but not about microwaves?”

“It’s too early to remember things like that. Anyway, we should walk to work since you have the time and are awake already.”

“What is this ‘we’, Liam? You are staying here and not touching anything.”

“It is my duty as your loyal pet to walk you too and from your job,” Liam said, batting his eyelashes at Yuji.

“…I hate you so much.”

“So you’ve mentioned at least once in everyone conversation we’ve had since your discovery of my curse. Anyway, tell me about your job?”

“Why do you wanna know?” Yuji pulled on his coat and grabbed his backpack as Liam pulled on one of Yuji’s oversized sweaters before they walked out the door.

“I am merely curious.”

“Well, I work in the office of a shipping company, entering data and pulling files and things like that. It’s pretty boring and my co-workers for the most part are bastards, except for my boss, who can be nice if you stay on her good side, and the girl at the front desk who always greets me by name, though I think she does that with everyone. The pay is crap, but my boss let me modify my schedule to fit around my classes. Besides, a paycheck is a paycheck.”

“Wait a minute, let me get this straight. You come to this place, do boring work, get paid very little, you hate your co-workers….yet you won’t quit? Why?”

“I don’t hate all my co-workers …just most of them. Besides, I don’t have the luxury to quit my job. I have to pay my own way through school.”

“…School?”

“Yes. School.”

“…huh.”

“HAVE YOU BEEN LIVING UNDER A ROCK OR SOMETHING?!”

“No, I’ve had private tutors all my life.”

“I hate you.”

“Yes, you’ve mentioned that, but you know you don’t actually believe it. Anyway, why must you pay your own way through school? Surely your parents could help you at least a little bit.”

“If I wanted to be reminded that I’m a failure every five seconds, sure, because we all know about my secret masochistic streak, and that, really, I like being verbally abused by my parents in such a fashion, ” Yuji rolled his eyes.

“….Really?”

“Liam, I know you grasp the concept of sarcasm, you’re not that daft.”

“Well, yes, but it’s so hard to tell with you, since the inflection of your voice doesn’t change that much.”

“Are you saying my sarcastic voice is the same as my normal voice?”

“Yes.”

“…Go home, Liam.”

“No. It is my duty as your loyal pet to-“

“Shut UP, Liam.”

~~

Yuji nearly bumped right into Tala as he approached the front door of the building, “Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t see you.”

Tala laughed and waved her hand, “Don’t worry about it, Mr. Teng, but what brings you to work so early?”

“I woke up early. I figured I’d take advantage of it.”

“Yuji! Why did you not tell me you worked with such a vision of loveliness?” Liam stepped forward and smiled at Tala, taking her hand in his own and kissing the back of it, “Good Morning, Miss. Would you care to have dinner with me this evening?”

“Uh, Liam? Please stop hitting on my boss, please?”

Tala removed her hand from Liam’s grip, fixing him with a glare, “I have plans with my husband. Touch me again and I will make you eat your arm.”

Liam winced and took a large step back as Yuji bowed his head, apologizing, “I’m really sorry about him, Mrs. Wulfhaven. He’s, uh, French.”

Tala nodded, “Ah, I see. Well, unless you are not coming into work right away, since it’s so early, say goodbye to your… friend. I’ve got a project that I’d like your help on.”

Yuji blinked at her before turning back to peer at Liam, “Uh, right. Look, here’re the house keys, okay? I’ll be home late tonight, so help yourself to the stuff in the fridge, but leave me some of it for me.”

“When are you getting out of work?”

“Uh, around three, I guess. I have class from five to nine tonight.”

“Okay, so I’ll be here at three to walk you to school.”

Yuji scowled, “Gonna carry my books too?”

“If you need me to, yes I will.”

Yuji could feel a headache forming behind his eyes. “…Go home, Liam. Seriously. I’ll be alright.”

“I’ll be here at three then.”

“Liam!”

“Good day, Yuji.” Liam waved with a grin to Yuji and twirled the house keys around his finger as he walked away.

Yuji snarled, gripping the strap of his backpack tightly in his fist, “That man is infuriating!”

“Have you been dating long?” Tala asked, scanning her ID at the door.

“What? Dating? No, he’s my dog - er, roommate.”

Tala smiled at him knowingly, “Ah. Of course. Come on, we have work to do.”

“Coming, Mrs. Wulfhaven.”

~~

Yuji ran into Liam as he was leaving the building at three thirty, eye crossing form all the small print he had to read. “This better be someone I know because I can’t move.”

“You’re late. I’ve been waiting here a half hour for you.”

Yuji took a step back from Liam and scowled up into his face, “No one asked you to come get me, Liam.”

“No, but it is my duty as your-mmf!”

Yuji clamped his hand over Liam’s mouth, snarling. “If you do not shut up, I will hurt you. Badly. Understood?” A nod. Yuji removed his hand from Liam’s mouth and ran both hands through his hair. “God, I’m tired.”

“I never realized how short you were,” Liam said absently, petting Yuji’s hair, “I think with bed hair, you come up to my nose.”

“Remember what I said about hurting you?”

“There are too many witnesses here, you won’t do anything. Come on, Yuji, tell me how to get to your school.”

“Oh right…. I’m going to die.”

“What?”

“Yuji!”

The two men jerked apart as they turned back around to face the building to see one of Yuji’s co-workers hurrying towards them, “Juliet?”

“Is that her name?”

“Liam, if you tease her about it, I will hurt you. She gets enough flak about her name as it is and she’s always been really nice to me.”

“Yuji, thank goodness I caught up with you! You left this at your desk.” Juliet held out Yuji’s wallet to him, chest heaving. Juliet was on the heavy side, and it was always whispered about behind her back.

“Oh. Oh wow, thanks Juliet. I would’ve been in trouble if I headed to school without this! My ID is in here and everything!”

Liam smiled at her, “Thank you for bringing it to him. You are truly a kind individual.”

Juliet blushed, tucking some fly away hair behind her ear, “Oh, well, it was nothing. Um…I’m Juliet.”

“My name is Liam.”

“Oh. Uh, how do you know Yuji?”

“I’m his new roommate.”

“Oh! That’s…good?”

“Yes. Listen, Miss Juliet, I am new in town and don’t really know my way around. Would you like to have dinner with me tonight, and perhaps show me a little bit around town?”

“I, uh, wow. Me?”

“I would have no one else,” Liam was practically purring at Juliet and it made Yuji’s stomach twist and knot and his cheeks flush in a way that had nothing to do with the cold and everything to do with the fact that that voice didn’t belong outside the bedroom. And Yuji wasn’t even on the receiving end of that voice! The fact that Juliet was, and why she was, made Yuji’s stomach twist and knot in a different way, and his fists were clenched to his sides, and he was practically shaking with rage.

“I have to go now. I’ll leave you two kids to your date. I have to run to school.”

Liam turned, “I’m still walking you there, Yuji, if that is alright with you, Miss Juliet?”

Juliet waved Liam off with a nervous laugh, “Oh yeah, it’s fine! I’m not getting off work until 8 tonight, anyway.”

“And I assume that you’ll want time to freshen up afterwards?”

“Oh yeah, so, um, is ten okay? It’s a little on the late side, but I know of this great all night bistro place…”

“It sounds fine… I just need your address.”

“Oh right!” Juliet pulled out a pad and scribbled her address quickly, “Here, I gotta run now, but I’ll see you tonight, okay?” She thrust the piece of paper into his palm and skipped backwards a few steps.

“Of course. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Juliet waved and walked away quickly, heading back the way she came and past the building, off to probably get her lunch. “Lovely girl, isn’t she?”

“You make me sick.”

Liam frowned as Yuji stalked ahead of him, “What did I do?”

“God, just go away!”
“Why? It is my job as your loyal pet to walk you places!”
“I’m going to push you into on coming traffic.”
“Domestic violence is bad, Yuu. I will call the Animal Services people on you.”
“Shut up, Liam!”

“Why are you so angry with me?”

Yuji ignored him, throat tightening with bitter anger and sorrow, though he wasn’t sure if it was for Juliet, or himself.
~~

Yuji could feel himself dropping off during class, and when it finally let out, he nearly sobbed with relief. His eyes were burning from all the tiny print he had read, not to mention now had to read, and he hadn’t sleep at all the previous night because of all the thoughts racing through his head. Gypsy curses, and werewolves, just thinking about it made his head swim. He scowled though when he caught sight of Liam waiting outside for him. “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you getting ready for your big date?”

“I have already prepared for my date. I wanted to walk you home so that I may borrow your keys.”

“Bullshit.”

“I also wanted to borrow some money.”

Yuji scowled even more darkly than before, “And?”

“And I also wanted to know why you are so angry with me.”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“Try me.”

Yuji whirled on Liam, “You want to know why?! I’m angry with you because you don’t think twice about using people! I’m even more angry that I didn’t do a thing to warn Juliet about what kind of guy you are, and now she’s going to end up hurt, because even if she is the one for you, you wouldn’t stick around to be with her anyway, because you are self centered and cruel and-!”

Liam glared down at Yuji, “So you are simply angry with yourself because you didn’t do a thing to ‘warn’ Juliet about me? Am I truly so terrible?”

“Yes! You are that terrible, Liam, because you don’t see that using women like that is wrong!”

“You don’t even know me, Yuji.”

“I wish I never met you in the first place!”

“Well, you are stuck with me, so you might as well… what is that term again? Oh yes. Suck it up and deal.”

“You make me sick, Liam.”

“So you’ve mentioned. Come, we’re going home.”

Yuji could only follow him, sick to his stomach with guilt and grief.

~~

Yuji went right to bed when he got home, leaving Liam with his house keys, though he didn’t sleep until he heard the front door close some time around two in the morning. The door to his bedroom opened quietly.

“Yuji? Are you still awake?”

“Yeah. What’s up, Liam?”

“Juliet and I had a nice time… though when we got back to her apartment, she became angry with me for attempting to be romantic with her.”

“What did you do?”

“I, ah, asked her if she wanted to have, ah…”

“What?”

“I asked her if she wanted to have sex, Yuu. She said no.”
“Ah. Sucks to be you, huh?”

“Yes. It does. …your name is rather unfortunate, isn’t it?”

“Oh that’s really mature, you ass.”

“You’re unfairly angry with me. You had it coming.”

“I’m glad Juliet turned you down. You’re a god awful person for trying to take advantage of her like that.”

“Oh shut up.”

“That’s what I thought. Good night, Liam.”

“…Yuji?”

“Hm? May I stay in here tonight?”

Yuji blinked, “Why?”

Liam sighed, “…I do not wish to be alone tonight.”

“You don’t take rejection all that well, do you?”

“It doesn’t happen very often, so no. Does anyone, really?”

“You get used to it after a while. Go get your stuff from the couch, you can sleep on the floor.”

“You’re still angry with me.”

“Yes and no. Don’t push your luck, Liam, okay?”

As his eyes grew used to the darkness, he could make out the refined features of Liam’s face pulling into a pained expression, “…Thank you, Yuji.”

“Yeah, well, don’t get used to sleeping in here until you’re back in dog form.”

“Of course. Good night, Yuji.”

“Good night, Liam.”

Yuji fell asleep shortly after, attempting to ignore the raging headache behind his eyes.

Chapter 7: Even Doctors In Training Make Bad Patients.

Yuji to feeling something damp and cool run over his forehead. But he couldn’t gather up the energy to even ask what was going on. What?

“You have a fever, Yuji. Just rest.” Liam ran the cloth over Yuji’s forehead again before tucking the blankets up under Yuji’s chin.

“What are you doing?” Yuji’s voice came out as a harsh rasp, and it made him wince just to hear it, much less actually talk.

“I am going to take care of you, because you are obviously incapable of doing it yourself.”

“Liam, you don’t know what you’re doing.”

“Well, I’m not about to let you die, Yuji!” Liam snapped, “Now be quiet and save your strength.”

Yuji felt charmed by how concerned Liam was over him, but he wrote it off as a side effect of the fever, “Liam, I don’t know where you’re from, but around here, we have something called medicine and that stuff will kick this thing right out of me. Help me up.”

“No! You stay in bed. Just tell me what you need and I’ll get it.”

“Can you even read?”

“We do not have time for your frippery, tell me what you need.”

“Liam, no one is more an expert on frippery than you. And who the hell uses ‘frippery’ anymore anyway?”

“Yuji. What. Do. You. Need?”

“Oh, right. Just a glass of water and two pills from the box that says ‘cold medicine’ is all I need. The cold medicine should knock me out for a few hours.”

“Is there anything else you require?”

“Nah, I don’t think so. I’ll let you know, though, since you’re so concerned.”

“I am not concerned about you, Yuji. I just don’t want to be out on the street again.” Liam huffed before vanishing into the kitchen to grab a glass, then into the bathroom for the cold medicine.

Yuji chuckled weakly, head turning to the side. “…I need to call into work.”

“I’ll take care of it, you just rest!”

“Liam, you don’t know the number…”

“What did I just say? Here. Take these. You are positive that they’re help?”

“Yes, Liam. It’s just gonna take a little while.”

“Right then, I will call your job and let them know that you will not be joining them today.”

“You make it sound like they invited me to go play ball in the park.”

“Yuji? I’m going use a phrase you seem so very fond of. Shut up. Right now. Take your pills and rest, because I will never forgive you if you die from this.”

Yuji popped the two pills and drank the glass of water with a wince. “Hey, Liam?”

“What is it, you insufferable prat?”

“Thanks.”

Liam sniffed, brushing his hair over his shoulder, “Yes, well, if you behave, I’ll allow you to rub my belly as you seem so fond of doing with dogs.”

Yuji only yawned and pulled the blankets over his head and rolled over to go back to sleep.

NaNoWriMo Day 3 Results (So Far. I might add more later)

2006-11-03T19:06:05Z

Chapter 3: The Prince and the Dog

Yuji was warm when he woke up, and a glance at his clock told him that it was only a couple of hours after he had originally fallen asleep. “What the?”

That was when he felt an arm wrap around his waist, “Ah, you’re finally awake, Yuji. I’ve been waiting for you.” Yuji slowly turned to look behind him, and the face of a rather attractive man smirked at him, “Hello there, Master.”

Yuji screamed and shoved the man away from him, scrambling out of his bed and crashing to the floor before scrambling over to the wall, pressing his back against it. “You! Who the hell are you?! Where’s my dog? And why the hell are you in my bed?! Better yet, why are you naked?!”

“Why, Yuji, I’ve always been naked, you just never minded because I had fur before.”

“Cut the crap, asshole! What the hell did you do to my dog?!”

“Yuji, relax. I am your dog. Though my name is Liam, not Arashi. Now get dressed, we’re going out.”

“Like HELL we are!” Yuji hissed at the man, at Liam, getting to his feet. Granted, he didn’t feel very intimidating in old sweatpants and a stretched out long sleeved shirt. “Why the hell should I go anywhere with you?!”

“Because you’re going to help me,” Liam said, rummaging through Yuji’s closet for something, Yuji wasn’t sure what, but when Liam tossed a tight fitting long sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans at Yuji before digging out a pair of leather pants (that Yuji’s roommate in college had gotten for him as a gag gift. Yuji had only worn them once) and a different long sleeved shirt and headed into the bathroom. “I want you dressed by the time I get out. We don’t have long.”

“I am not helping you!”

“Yes you are, because if you help me, the faster I’m going to be out of your hair.”

“You’re such an asshole, you know that?!”

“So you’ve mentioned. Get dressed, Yuji, time is of the essence and we cannot afford to waste even a second of it.”

The bathroom door shut and Yuji growled at the closed door as he stripped out of his pajamas, “I can’t believe this. I can’t believe I’m going along with this STUPID scheme. I’m being kidnapped by a guy who claims he’s my dog! This is insane. I’m still dreaming, that’s gotta be it. This is all just a crazy dream…”

The bathroom door opened a half hour later and Liam stepped out dressed in the clothes he borrowed from Yuji, “Hm. Not bad, wouldn’t you say, Yuu?”

“What the hell do you want from me, you bastard?”

“Now, now, my parents were married when I was born. And what I want from you is very simple, Yuji. I want you to help me get laid.”

“WHAT?!”

“Come, we’re going clubbing.”

“You’re insane if you think I’m just going to help you!”

“You are going to help me. Come on.” Liam grabbed Yuji by the arm and dragged him over to the door, “We have to hurry.”

“I am NOT going anywhere until you explain what the hell is going on!”

“I’ll explain when we get there, Yuji, let’s just get going!”

Yuji grabbed his coat and his keys and his wallet before following Liam out the door, growling under his breath the entire time.

~~

The club had loud music, flashing lights, and the pulsing beat of the music matched up with the trashing and writhing of the people on the dance floor and Yuji could feel a headache forming behind his eyes.

“Okay. We’re here. I’ve waited. I’ve paid your stupid cover charge, bought you your stupid drink, now tell me what the hell is going on here before I start getting really angry.”

“Alright, alright. No need to be so grumpy, Yuji,” Liam brushed his hair back over his shoulder, “My name is Liam Darkwater, and I am cursed.”

“…You’re cursed?”

“Yes. Cursed.”

“…and that’s it?”

“Yes.”

“…you’re an idiot. There has to be a reason you’re cursed, isn’t there?”

“Well, yes.”

“Well? What is it?”

Chapter 4: Moonlit Memories

Liam Darkwater was the second son of the Darkwater family. They were a royal family, and Liam was allowed to get away with almost anything, as long as he didn’t get caught doing it.

~~

“Oh, well, that’s good to know. You were a spoiled rotten brat of a prince.”

“Yuji, please don’t interrupt my story. You wanted to know what happened right?”

“Well, yeah, but I have the sinking feeling that you didn’t learn from your mistake.”

“I didn’t make a mistake.”

“…Right.”

~~

This lead to Liam meeting a lovely young maiden named Keaira. Keaira had long lovely black hair and rich, dark brown eyes and a smile that could charm an angry troll. Of course, Liam was charmed by this lovely and mysterious girl, and made the decision to woo her, much as he had done with several other maidens before.

~~

“Ah, so you were a slut.”

“Pardon?”

“A harlot. Strumpet. A tramp.”

“Oh no, no, no Yuji. I am a lover of women. I give each and every girl I’m with my complete and undivided attention and devotion.”

“Until the next one catches your eye.”

“Exactly.”

“Uh huh. I think I can see where this is going.”

“There’s still more to the story you know.”

“Oh, please, continue then.”

“I will.”

~~

Keaira was a gypsy, and her troop would only be in town for a short while, so their romance was a whirlwind one. They met in secret at nightfall, and consummated their love under the stars. Unfortunately their love had some unexpected results, and Liam was expected to Do The Right Thing by Keaira.

~~

“So, you got the poor girl pregnant and were supposed to marry her?”

“If you want to put it crudely, yes.”

“When then hell was this, that you didn’t think to use a condom?”

“A what?”

“…I’ll tell you later. Please continue.”

~~

Liam didn’t wish to be tied down by marriage, and his parents would never approve of a marriage to a peasant girl, much less a gypsy from a traveling troop, so Liam denied the child was his, and refused to take responsibility for it or the girl. The troop took great offence to this, and Liam realized his grave mistake. Keaira was the daughter of the troops’ witch.

~~

“A witch?”

“Yes. A gypsy witch.”

“I thought the term was medicine woman.”

“She was that too, but she was also the lady you went to when you wanted people cursed.”

“Ah. I see.”

“I’m not finished, you know.”

“Oh, sorry.”

~~

Keaira’s mother placed a vicious curse on the poor unfortunate Liam, claiming that if he insisted on acting like a dog, then he shall become one for the rest of eternity. But the kind and beautiful Keaira begged her mother to lessen her love’s punishment, and since her mother loved her daughter very much, she added a few conditions into the curse. Poor Liam would remain a dog until the night before the full moon, when he will return to his human form until sundown on the night after the night of the full moon. During that time, Liam will have to find his one true love in n unexpected place and commit the ultimate act of love. Of course, the mother had hoped that the werewolves would eat poor Liam before he could break his curse.

~~

“Werewolves?”

“Yes.”

“So… you’re a prince who was cursed by gypsies and has to hide from werewolves?”

“Yes.”

“…You’re an idiot.”

“What?!”

“You heard me. You’re an idiot.”

Liam scowled at Yuji, “Just for that, you’re paying for my drinks.”

Yuji scowled back at Liam, “I’m paying for your drinks anyway, asshole.”

Chapter 5: In Which Nothing Really Happens

“Why should I help you anyway, since this whole situation is because you’re a moron who can’t keep it in your pants or take responsibility for your actions!”

“What? No it’s not! I was unfairly judged!”

“Unfairly? You left that poor girl pregnant and alone!”

“She wasn’t alone, she had her family!”

“She was disgraced in the eyes of her family!” Yuji shook his head, “Liam, do you understand what you’re supposed to learn from this?” Yuji was met with a scowl, “Okay, fine. Do you completely understand exactly what you have to do to break the curse?”

“Yeah. Find a girl I like and make love to her,” Liam grinned at Yuji as he sipped his drink, “Which is where you come in my friend.”

Yuji scowled, “I am not your friend and I have nothing to do with your stupid curse, Liam.”

“You wound me, Yuji. And after you shared your home with me, you wouldn’t help a friend in need?”

“A friend, yes. You? Not so much.”

“The faster you help me the faster I get out of your hair, Yuji.”

“And you want to do what? Find you your perfect mate?”

“Yes. I only have three days, not even that, to find a suitable girl myself, but what about for the rest of the month?”

“So, what you want me to schedule dates for you?!”

“Precisely.”

“You vain, selfish, self centered-!”

Liam smiled at Yuji, “I knew you’d help me, friend.”

“We’re leaving.”

“What, now?”

“Yes, now! I don’t have time for these stupid games. I have work and school tomorrow and I need to sleep and I can’t do that here and I can’t do that if I get sick!”

Liam frowned as he stood, draining his glass, “Are you feeling ill?”

“YES! I hate clubs!” Yuji snarled at him, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Can we just go? Now? Please?”

Liam frowned and placed a hand on Yuji’s forehead, “We can’t have you getting sick now… you don’t feel too warm, but you’re right, we should get you home.”

Yuji swatted at Liam’s hands, “Will you stop it?!”

Liam reached into Yuji’s pocket and pulled out his wallet, leaving two twenties on the table for the waitress and gently pushed Yuji out of the club, “I wish you would’ve said something sooner, Yuji, you’re of no use to me ill.”

“You’re much more pleasant as a dog, Liam. Stop talking.”

“Oh, I can talk as a dog you know. I try to avoid it because people tend to be, as you say, freaked out by a talking dog.”

Yuji growled half heartedly at Liam, “You are really annoying, you know that?”

“Yes yes, less talking more walking. You get cranky when you’re tired, you know that?”

“Shut up, Liam.”

Probably more to come later today after I take my cat to the vet.

NaNoWriMo Day 2 Results

2006-11-03T00:19:53Z

The dog gave Yuji a happy bark and an even happier tail wag.

Yuji opened the door to his apartment and the dog bounded in, “Freeze, dog. You need a bath before you get dirt on more than just my floors.” The dog’s head drooped. “But I did think of a name for you. What do you think of Arashi? It means storm. What do you think?” His answer was a woof. “That’s what I thought too. Now, into the tub with you. You need a bath, and I want to get it over with before I pass out.”

Arashi licked Yuji’s cheek and leapt into the tub.

Chapter 2: Puppy Love

Yuji stretched as he woke the next morning, he was mid-yawn when something started licking his face.

“Ack! What the hell is- Oh! Arashi it’s you. Good morning.”

Arashi nosed at Yuji’s face and throat, tail wagging.

“Yes, I’ll take you for a walk and get groceries while we’re out. You also need a collar and a leash, you know.” Yuji chuckled and brought a hand up to skritch Arashi behind the ears, “We’ll have breakfast when we come back, okay?” Arashi gave a happy bark before jumping down off the bed, and Yuji shook his head before dragging himself out of bed and into the shower.

He had just gotten out of the shower when Arashi started barking at the front door. Yuji wrapped himself in a towel and then his robe before walking out into the main area of the apartment. “Arashi, hush, it’s totally okay, see? I’m going to answer it now, see? I’m opening the door, so stay put.” Yuji opened the door and blinked at his sister and her two children, “Li li? What are you doing here?”

Lixue Teng, now Lisa Vera, leaned in to kiss her brother’s cheek, “I wanted to see you and mom and dad put me on maternity leave,” She rolled her eyes, “Let me in, this is heavy.” She walked in and set a heavy pot down on the table, her two children; a five year old boy named Tai, and a three year old girl named Jia; following her like ducklings. “Hey Tai, I heard you’re getting a new sibling soon… you excited?”

Tai nodded, “Uncle Yuu, we heard barking.”

“Yup. I got a dog yesterday.”

Lisa gave him an alarmed look, “A dog? Yuji, you never mentioned a dog to Mother.”

Yuji grinned at his sister before turning his attention back to his niece and nephew, “His name is Arashi. Wanna go play with him?”

Tai frowned a little, “Does he bite?”

“No, but you should still be gentle with him.”

The little boy nodded before frowning again, “Is he clean?”

“Yup. I gave him a bath last night before bed.”

“Okay. Come on, Jia, let’s go play with the doggie! You have to be gentle though, okay?”

Jia nodded, fingers of her left hand in her mouth as her brother led her by her other hand into the living room area.

“Yuji, when did you get a dog?”

“Li li, he not only followed me to work, he came with me to lunch and then followed me home.”

“He’s a stray?”

“Yeah, but I think he was someone’s dog, he’s really well behaved. And he’s smart, too. When I gave him a bath, I couldn’t find a collar on him, though.”

“You think he was abandoned?”

“Yeah,” Yuji huddled more inside his robe, shivering, “So what did you bring?”

“Oh. I made chicken and dumplings last night, but you know me, I’m not used to cooking for more than one person and I made too much.”

“…Li li, you’ve been using that excuse for the past seven years since you’ve been dating Max. I think it’s time to just admit that you like feeding people.”

“I like feeding you, Yuji. You’re way too skinny and you’re refrigerator is always bare!”

“I was going to get dressed and take Arashi for a walk to get groceries when you showed up.” Yuji scowled at his sister, “And why are you on maternity leave? You don’t look the slightest bit pregnant yet.”

“Ever since that scare with my blood pressure when Jia was born, Mom and Dad don’t wanna take any chances,” Lisa shrugged and put the pot in Yuji’s refrigerator. “Anyway, the kids an I can go shopping with you.”

“Thanks, Li li.” Yuji smiled at his sister before looking in on the kids and Arashi. Arashi gave him a long suffering look as Jia perched herself on top of him and Tai tugged gently on his ears, “Kids, be careful with him, okay?”

“We will!” Tai called, rubbing Arashi’s neck.

“Look, Lisa, I’m gonna go get dressed okay? I need to get Arashi a collar and a leash and a food dish, not to mention actual dog food, and that needs to happen before I do any other shopping.”

“Yuyu, don’t worry. I will help you pay for everything, okay?”

“No, that’s not okay, Lisa. I don’t want you to pay for my groceries. I don’t want you to pay for anything!”

“Yuji, think of it as my buying gifts for your new dog, okay? What possessed you to get a dog, anyway? Aside from him following you home, I mean.”

Yuji grinned wickedly at his sister, “Well, you know that speech mom has? When she starts getting into the fact that I live alone? Since I’m so sad and alone, I decided to get a room mate.”

“…You crafty little bastard,” She chuckled, “Mom called me yesterday after she spoke to you and complained to me about how I should be more independent like you and why can’t I be more like Jun and be married to someone she approves of.”

“Let’s face it, Lixue, Mother will never be happy with us. She keeps telling me why I should be more like you and give her grandchildren.”

Lisa rolled her eyes, “The only one she doesn’t have a problem with is Jun. Look, go get dressed and we’ll take you and Arashi shopping.”

Yuji shuffled into the bedroom to get dressed, listening to the sounds of the kid’s laughter as Lisa walked over to play with Arashi with them.

~~

“So what made you pick the name Arashi? Did he pee in the corner the minute you got him inside?” Lisa teased her brother as they drove back from the store, Jia and Tai asleep in the back seats while Arashi looked out the window from the other side of Jia’s car seat.

“Hm? Oh, his eyes. They’re this really awesome shade of grey that reminds me of storm clouds. You should’ve seen him yesterday, Li li, he looked so depressed every time I went somewhere he couldn’t follow.”

“That does sound really adorable. …Can you afford to keep a dog, Yuji? I mean, you’re not making a lot of money once you get past your bills and your rent and-”

“Lixue. I’ll be okay, seriously.”

“Are you sure? Yuji, you know Mom and Dad would be happy to-”

“No, they wouldn’t. They’d hold it over my head and make it a point to mention how much of a failure I am at every opportunity. I would never turn to them for help with anything. Ever.”

Lisa said nothing and continued the drive back to Yuji’s apartment.

~~

Yuji stretched out on his bed once Lisa and her kids left. “I love my sister, but if I had to listen to her try to defend our parents any longer I was gonna scream.”

Arashi huffed in agreement, sprawled out on his side next to Yuji on the bed. Yuji loosened Arashi’s collar, thanks to Tai trying to be helpful and putting the collar on Arashi just a bit too tight.

“You did very well today, though, boy. I’m very proud of you for being so patient with the kids. Especially Jia, since she is insanely shy. Granted, she’s three and Tai is so very protective of her. He didn’t want to go to school at first, because then he wouldn’t be at home to help my sister take care of her. Obviously, he was convinced otherwise. Eh, you don’t care, do you boy? Yeah. Brunch was good though. Anyway, I am going to go do my homework, and you can just chill out, okay? You earned it.”

Arashi barely lifted his head when Yuji rolled out of bed and over to his desk, hauling up his backpack to pull notebooks with papers sticking out of them haphazardly and tugging down thick textbooks from the shelves above the desk and curled up in his chair, ready for hours of work a head of him. Arashi yawned and settled back down for a nap.

~~

Once he was finished with his last reading of the night, Yuji yawned and stretched his arms over his head, his clock telling him it was a good six hours since he started working, and his stomach was telling him it was time to get something to eat. “Oof. It’s so overly complicated sometimes. They can’t just say ‘the hip bone’s connected to the thigh bone, the thigh bone’s connected to the knee bone, the knee bone’s connected to the shin bone la la la la la la’.” Yuji chuckled to himself as he unfolded himself from his chair and padded into the kitchen to fill Arashi’s bowl with some dry food and heat up a portion of the chicken and dumplings that Lisa had brought over for him. He tossed a few pieces of chicken into Arashi’s bowl just as he padded out of Yuji’s bedroom, tongue lolling out of his mouth with a stupid doggie grin on his face. “Yes, I spoil you, mutt, enjoy it while lasts, because it won’t happen every day.”

Arashi ignored him as he ate his food, making the usually snuffling noises of eating a good meal. Or eating like a dog, but that was besides the point.

When Yuji finished his own meal he put his dished in the sink and crawled into bed, Arashi leaping up onto the bed next to him.

NaNoWriMo Day 1 Results

2006-11-02T11:33:17Z

Moon Spell

Chapter 1: The Dog and Yuu

Hello Journal. My name is Yuji Teng. I’m not entirely sure why I’m making a journal. Perhaps because I need a place to write down my thoughts and not be judged on them? Or because I just have no life outside of work and school. I work in an office building as the ‘gopher boy’. I do data input, make copies, and do the filing, and sometimes I get my boss coffee. It’s not very interesting work, but it’s a pay check and it keeps me busy, besides, I don’t plan on staying there forever and they’re not planning on promoting me anytime in the next three years. Right now, I’m in my first year of Med School. It’s tough, but I’m sticking with it. My parents aren’t pleased, but what else is new. So between work and school, I don’t really have much of a social life. That worries my mother, but my mother always worries. Speaking of my mother, the phone is ringing and Caller ID says it’s her, so I should go answer it.

Yuji set down his pen and went to go answer his phone.

“Hello?”

“Yuji?”

“Hello, Mother. How are you?”

“Oh, I’m fine, fine. Did you hear? Lixue is pregnant with her third baby! My third grandchild from my beautiful daughter,” his mother’s tone of voice was wistful. A very cultivated and practiced kind of wistful, one that she had perfected through years of using it on her children. The kind she used when she was about to mention to

“That’s great, Mother,” Yuji leaned against the counter with an annoyed roll of his eyes. He could see where this was going.

“Do you have a girlfriend yet, Yuyu?”

“No, Mother. I really don’t have time for relationships right now.”

“What?”

“Well, between work and school, I barely have a minute to myself, much less time for anyone else.”

“That’s nonsense! You live in that apartment all by yourself!”

“Yes, but I don’t have time to deal with someone being underfoot all the time, Mother. Nor do I want to.”

“But you are sad and alone.”

“Actually, Mother, I’m pretty happy by myself-”

“You are sad and alone!”

Yuji blinked at his mother’s tone, “Okay, fine. I am a sad and lonely fellow who only has time for his job and his school work. Woe is I.”

“Do not get saucy with me, young man. Why can’t you be more like your younger brother, Jun? He’s dating a lovely girl from his physics class, and he plans to work for your father’s law firm over the summer and while he’s in college, unlike you.”

“Good for him, Mother. I’m sorry I’m such a failure for wanting to save people’s lives in the hospital instead of defending them in court.”

“As you should be,” His mother said dismissively, ignoring Yuji’s sarcastic tone, “Anyway, you know your father’s secretary has a daughter about your age, would you like me to set up a date with her?”

“No, Mother, I don’t. Look, I have to get going or I’ll be late for work, okay? Give my love to Father.”

“Yuji, wait, I just-”

“Bye, Mother,” Yuji hung up the phone and grumbled as he padded over to his front door to tug on his shoes and head to his job.

Wulfhaven Shipping Co. wasn’t a very large company, but it was always very busy in the office area, of the company, and Yuji could not afford to be late.

“I can’t believe the buses aren’t running! Stupid snow, could this day get any worse?!”

Yuji’s question was answered rather quickly when he slipped on a hidden patch of ice in the snow and landed flat on his face in a snow bank. Thankfully it was on the side of the alley way and not the street, where the dirty sludge and snow were piled high and as it was he could feel the damp and the cold of the snow seeping in all the way through his winter coat. Granted, his winter coat was cheaply made and he had gotten it on sale for half off, so what was he to expect, really? He refused to ask for help from his parents (in his kinder moments he’ll even admit that he got his stubborn streak from his father), and made ends meet where he could and cut corners were he had to.

Yuji lifted himself from the snow with a bitter sigh, trying to get the snow off his glasses when he was met with a pair of startlingly blue-grey eyes.

“GAH!” Yuji fell back on his rear end in the snow, staring at the large dog that had appeared before him, “Oh, jeez, you scared me, big fella.” The dog tilted its big, shaggy black-grey head to one side before grabbing Yuji’s sleeve in his teeth, “Hey, hey, hey! Don’t rip it, it’s my only coat! I am not to be eaten, you stupid mutt!” The dog gave Yuji a long suffering look before tugging on his arm again, slowly backing up as Yuji climbed to his feet.

“Huh. You’re a really smart dog, aren’t you? Thanks for helping me, but I’m running late for work and I don’t have any treats to give you. I’m sorry. Good bye.” Yuji turned around to continue down the street when he noticed the dog walking next to him. “What are you doing, boy? You can’t come with me to work.”

The dog ignored him and kept walking.

“Oh, fine. You can walk with me to work, but that’s it! I don’t have any food for you.” Yuji grumbled, wrapping his arms around himself as he continued his to his job.

~~

“Well, here we are, boy. Wulfhaven Shipping Company. My place of work.” Yuji headed towards the door, scanning his work ID before pushing the door open with his shoulder. The dog started to walk in ahead of him when Yuji placed a hand on the dog’s
large head, “Sorry boy, you can’t come in with me. No animals allowed inside.”

The dog looked up at Yuji, with a confused tilt to his head and a soft whine.

“No, I’m sorry. I wish I could bring you inside with me and out of this cold, but I can’t or my boss will have my hide,” He gave the large dog a comforting scratch behind his ears, “I have to go now, boy.” The dog sat back on its haunches and watched Yuji walk inside the office building. It was the most pitiful thing Yuji had ever seen and it made his heart break to leave the poor thing out in the cold like that.

“Oh my goodness, is that you, Yuji?! What happened to you?” Marilynn, the secretary at the front desk stood and walked out from behind the desk to brush the snow off her co-worker.

“I slipped in the snow on my walk to work, since the buses stopped running. A really sweet dog helped me out, though. I wonder if he’s- oh jeez, he’s still out there.” Yuji had turned to look over his shoulder back outside, and the dog was, in fact, still sitting in the snow, looking longingly inside at Yuji.

“Oh, he’s so precious! Is he a stray?”

“I think so, though he seems to be in good shape for a stray,” Yuji said, scanning his ID at the time clock (a mandatory procedure for whenever an employee entered or left the building). “I’ll talk to you later, Marilynn, okay? I gotta get going before Mrs. Wulfhaven has my butt for lunch.”

“Alright, Yuu, have a good day.”

Tala Wulfhaven was the secretary to Adolph Wulfhaven, though only in title. Everyone knew she was really a co-owner, and she was the one who was the over-seer of the office. She had little patience for slackers and had even less patience for those who stepped out of line. Yuji had never once done a thing to make her angry with him and he wanted to make sure it stayed that way. Just the idea of the fiery woman getting angry was terrifying, and Yuji had bared witness to her sharp reprimands on his co-workers before. Yuji didn’t even want to think about that anger and tongue being directed at him. The rumors about Mr. Wulfhaven, her husband, were that he had an even worse temper than she did, and the very idea of it made Yuji quake in his shoes. He had only met the man twice, once when he came in for his interview and once when he was hired, and the man was easily twice his size in height and width. Not that Adolph Wulfhaven was fat, far from it. The man had biceps bigger than Yuji’s head!

Yuji shivered as he squelched (uhg, wet socks and slush in his shoes, wonderful) out of the elevator and over to his cubical to hang up his coat and settle down at his desk.

“Mr. Teng?”

Yuji looked up to see Tala Wulfhaven peering down at him, “Uh, yes, Mrs. Wulfhaven? What can I do for you?”

“What happened to you?”

“I slipped and fell in the snow on my way to work, Mrs. Wulfhaven,” Yuji answered, praying that she wouldn’t rip into him for coming to work in such a state, “It won’t happen again.”

“Well, go and get yourself a cup of tea and try to be more careful in the future. We don’t want you to get sick, now. Once you’ve settled in a bit, I need you to pull these reports and bring them to me,” she handed Yuji a sheet of memo paper with a list of names that covered both sides of the paper. Yuji fought down the urge to whimper. All the filing cabinets were kept in the basement. The dank, damp, chilly, dark and cold basement that Yuji loathed going to with great passion.

“I’ll get right on it, Mrs. Wulfhaven.”

“Take your time, Mr. Teng, but just remember I’ll need those files before I go to lunch at one, alright?”

“Yes, Mrs. Wulfhaven.”

Tala Wulfhaven nodded and walked off, and once she was out of hearing range, Yuji heard a voice from the cubical next to his, a snide and mocking tone, “Yes, Mrs. Wulfhaven. Of course, Mrs. Wulfhaven. Anything you say, Mrs. Wulfhaven. Let me lick your boots, Mrs. Wulfhaven. God, could you get more pathetic, Teng?” Alec Buckhalmer sneered at Yuji from his seat across the gap that separated their respective cubicles

Yuji could feel his teeth grinding together, “Good morning, Buckhalmer. Lovely weather we’re having, isn’t it?”

“You must love it a whole lot, since you’re wearing at least half the snow from outside. Why don’t you go make snow angels and let the rest of us actually do our jobs?”

“Oh, I’m so terribly sorry! I didn’t realize that your eavesdropping on my conversations was distracting you from your work so much,” Yuji sneered back at Alec.

Buckhalmer made a disgusted noise in his throat as quiet snickers came from the surrounding cubicles. Yuji headed towards the coffee station to make himself a cup of tea, the list of files in his pocket. ‘I’ll just drink my tea on the way down to the basement,’ he thought, hiding a yawn behind his hand. Already he could tell that today was going to be a long day.

~~

“Ah, fresh air,” Yuji muttered to himself, hefting the heavy crate up higher with his knee. “Do they deliberately grown mold down there for atmosphere or something?”

As he passed by his own cubical, a foot shot out to trip him and he tumbled forward. Thankfully, the files stayed intact, though they fell out of the box, and he didn’t have to look to see whose foot it was that had tripped him. “That was real mature, Buckhalmer. Do they let you sit at the big kids’ table now at family gatherings?”

“You shut your hole, Teng.”

“I don’t know what your problem is with me, Buckhalmer, and to be honest, I don’t care, but if you continue to harass me, I will bring it up with Mrs. Wulfhaven.” Yuji didn’t look at Alec as he put the files back in the box.

“Aww, running to Mommy now, are you? You still sucking milk from her too?”

Yuji got to his feet as he hefted the box up, “You are a sick and disgusting individual.”

“And you’re a fag.”

Yuji continued to walk down the hall and decided he’d make it a point to ignore Alec Buckhalmer from now on. He knocked on the door to Tala Wulfhaven’s office and rubbed absently at his knee. He probably had carpet burn on his knees now.

“Enter.”

Yuji opened the door, and lifted his knee to help heft the box up higher again, “Sorry it took so long, Mrs. Wulfhaven.”

“It’s quite alright, Mr. Teng. I heard a crash earlier, are you alright?”

“Oh yeah, I’m fine. I just lost my grip on the crate, that’s all,” Yuji gave Tala a timid smile and set the crate down on her desk, “That’s all of them, Mrs. Wulfhaven. Anything else you want me to do?”

“No, this is all. Thank you, Mr. Teng. You may go.”

“Alright then, Mrs. Wulfhaven.” Yuji bowed slightly to Tala before backing out of her office and heading back towards his cubical, and settling into his seat with a sigh. A glance at the clock on his computer told him that it was nearing noon. “Uhg. I wonder if that dog is still out there…” Yuji gathered up his coat and shrugged it on, “I’m gonna go check on him.”

“You know, talking to yourself is a sign of insanity.” Buckhalmer said, eyes never leaving his computer screen.

“And I’m sure you’d know all about that.” Yuji answered back absently, shrugging into his damp coat and walking towards the elevator to go to the lobby.

“Hey Yuji,” Marilynn called as he scanned his ID card at the clock and hit the “Out to Lunch” button, “That dog is still outside.”

“Seriously?” Yuji turned to look outside, and the dog was lying down under the awning from the building, but he lifted his head when he caught sight of Yuji, his tail wagging, tongue lolling out of his mouth, “Oh man, he must be so hungry.”

“I gave him a piece of pastry earlier, but I couldn’t be away from the desk too long, so I couldn’t give him more…”

Yuji smiled at her, “I’m sure he appreciated it. Well, I’m off. I’ll be back in an hour, Marilynn.” He headed out the door and smiled down at the dog. “Hey, boy. Still here, huh?”

The dog gave a soft woof as it got to its feet, tail still wagging.

“Yeah, I’m gonna go get some lunch. You’re more than welcome to join me, if you’d like. I’ll even split my lunch with you.”

This time the dog gave a happy bark as he followed Yuji towards the deli place he always bought his lunch.

“I figure we’ll get one of the hot sandwiches. They’re a little more money, but they’re huge and I always end up bringing home the other half to eat for dinner anyway, so I figure I can split the sandwich with you, Mr. Dog. Just this once, though,” Yuji chuckled and shook his head, “I can’t believe I’m talking to a dog. It’s not like you can understand me. Well, not entirely, anyway. You are very smart for a dog, after all.”

The dog’s eyes looked almost as though they were laughing with Yuji, like there was some private joke that he wanted to share with Yuji. It sent a shiver down his spine, and so Yuji just held himself tighter as they walked in the snow.

~~

The dog had been a lovely lunch companion, eating the second half of Yuji’s over stuffed and warm pastrami sandwich with the vigor of a starving man. Yuji ate his half a little slower. He still had some leftovers from when his sister visited him a few days ago, so he was alright as far as supper went.

“Tomorrow I have to go food shopping, as well as all get my homework done, and I can’t forget about the reading for next week’s class,” He told the dog between bites, “Thankfully, I don’t have work or class tomorrow, so I should be okay. Not that you care. You don’t have to worry about things like school or a job, or overbearing parents who can’t accept that you’re not what they want you to be. Not that I’m bitter about it or anything.” Yuji balled up his trash and chucked it into the trash bin at the curb. The dog nosed at Yuji’s hand, giving him a reassuring lick and nuzzling it. Yuji scratched behind the dog’s ears absently as he walked, “You know, you’re really big for a dog. I wonder what breed you are… oh well. Good bye, Mr. Dog. Thank you for joining me for lunch today. You are much better company than some of my co-workers. Well, most of my co-workers. The only two people I really like working with are Marilynn, the nice lady who gave you some pastry this morning, and Mrs. Wulfhaven, except that Mrs. Wulfhaven scares the crap out of me sometimes, you know?”

The dog whimpered, its pointed ears flattening against his skull.

“My sentiments exactly, Mr. Dog. Well, I have to get back to work, now, okay? You head on home, okay? It’s way too cold for you to stay out here without some shelter or something.”

The dog whined again and settled back into his previous spot in the corner of the doorway under the awning.

“Fine, be that way. Just remember that I warned you, Mr. Dog,” Yuji knelt in front of the dog and gave his head one last skritch before heading into the building to finish his work day.

~~

When Yuji finally clocked out for the day, he was nearly knocked over by a rather happy dog. “Ack! Didn’t I tell you to go home?”

He dog just licked his face and buried its nose in Yuji’s neck.

“Come on, now, your nose is cold! Fine, you can walk home with me, but you can’t stay with me, you know. My apartment is kinda small… oh, forget it. Come on, let’s go home, okay Mr. Dog?”

The dog barked happily and licked Yuji’s face again, tail wagging a mile a minute as he got back down on all four paws and circled around Yuji.

“I’m glad you’re so happy, Mr. Dog. Can we go home now, I’m cold and I’m sore and I want a bath like you wouldn’t believe… you could do with one yourself.”

The dog gave him a look of disdain as they walked, huffing. Well, at least Yuji now knew what he thought of that idea.

“Hey, you wanna live with me, there are certain rules. Like no chewing on the furniture, and definitely NO doing your business in the house. I’ll take you for a walk in the morning before I leave and in the evening when I get home, okay? Is that doable? The dog woofed, and Yuji took that to mean a yes. “Alright then, we’re agreed. You also need a name, because I can’t keep calling you ‘Mr. Dog’ now, can I? Eh, I’ll think about it on the way home, alright?” The dog simply barked happily at Yuji’s side.

The dog was pretty well behaved for a stray. He didn’t run ahead, and he didn’t growl at other dogs. Actually, he stuck almost uncomfortably close to Yuji’s side, as if he were afraid to leave it. And the way he always looked so depressed whenever Yuji had to leave him behind somewhere, though when Yuji had to go into the store earlier the dog hadn’t seemed to mind, though that may have been because Yuji was in the dog’s line of sight.

Finally he made it to his apartment building, “Well, here we are, Mr. Dog. Home sweet home,” Yuji tugged out his keys and opened up the heavy front door and nearly ran right into his landlord. “Mr. Tennulli, good evening.” Mr. Tennulli was a heavy set Italian man with a big smile and a soft spot for Yuji.

“Good evening, Yuji. Oh, and who is this?” Mr. Tennulli crouched down to rub the dog’s head with a chuckle, “He is a big dog, isn’t he? What’s his name?”

“I haven’t figured it out, yet. He just followed me home from work today, and it is way too cold to make him stay outside.”

“Yes it is. The snow looks so lovely, though, doesn’t it?”

“When you don’t have to be in it, yeah,” Yuji grinned. “Is it okay if I keep the dog in my apartment, Mr. Tennulli? I’ll pay the pet deposit in my next rent check.”

“Oh yeah, yeah, it’s fine. My wife loves dogs, you know? If she found out that I didn’t let you bring in this poor stray, she’d have my hide for a new coat. The pet deposit is four hundred dollars, just so you know.”

“Alright, thanks Mr. Tennulli!” Yuji got his mail from his mailbox and headed inside to his third floor apartment, “I hope you appreciate this, Mr. Dog, because next month is going to be very tight for us.”

Fic: For Coyo

2006-10-19T01:25:02Z

Gift for ciceqi

This is for Coyo. Because she is EVIL and I love her for it. TT_TT Tentacles~<3

Except there are no tentacles in this fic, sadly. But there’s smut, so yeah.

By the way? Zack is a big jerk face in the best way possible for hijacking this and making it entirely smut. TT_TT

~~
He can't keep track of whose hands are whose, or who he's kissing and touching, or who's inside of him or who he is inside of and this feeling of overwhelming ecstasy and love floods him with warmth and joy and, really, who ever thought he'd be this lucky to have them all at once? Rather, he had hoped and dreamed, but at the same time he never thought it would actually happen and now they all were spent (well, not him and probably not Sephiroth, but Aeris and Spike? Hell yeah) and were a pile of tangled limbs and hair and Zack could not have been more pleased. Sephiroth was at his back, panting softly and Spike was at his front and Aeris was in front of Cloud, with her fingers curling a lock of Sephiroth's hair.

They hadn’t stopped there, though, Zack had purred at Aeris, and Aeris had purred back and poor, exhausted Cloud couldn’t have moved himself out of Zack’s pounce range in time if it wasn’t for Sephiroth’s hand around his arm and gentle tug that sent the shaky blonde sprawling into his lap. Sephiroth absently stroked a hand up and down Cloud’s spine, watching Zack and Aeris moving together with a contented, half-lidded look of a cat that got the aviary and a month’s supply of cream (the first time they had done this, Aeris had pointed out the look and when Zack had opened his mouth to comment, he was met by three different pillows to the face). He hadn’t expected to feel the soft, timid brush of lips against his neck, because this was Cloud and for all the times they’ve done this, Cloud still wasn’t sure about touching Sephiroth like that, and just the fact that he did so without shaking (or asking) made Sephiroth dip his head to kiss him.
Sephiroth wasn't all that experienced with kissing, and the few times they done this, Zack was always there with them, helping him, but this time Zack was busy and Sephiroth took his time finding out all ways to make Cloud moan. He still wasn't quite sure what he was doing, and he knew he had to be more careful with Cloud than he was with Zack, that the boy wasn't as strong as Zack was and Sephiroth could hurt him badly if he wasn't thinking about what he was doing, but none of that actually mattered because Cloud was kissing him back and had his arms wrapped around Sephiroth's shoulders and hands fisted in his hair and he found that he quite liked that coupled with the way Cloud moaned into the kiss.
Cloud arched into the General's hands as the older man stroked his fingertips along his spine and Cloud just wanted to melt against him because this was The General, and it hadn't happened enough for Cloud to be used to the fact that, yes, Sephiroth enjoyed touching him and having sex with him and Zack and Aeris. He still couldn't get used to the fact that they wanted to have sex with him, and nothing had happened to screw it all up (yet). Sephiroth dipped his head to nip at Cloud's neck, derailing any and all thought processes as Cloud let his head drop back with a moan that was echoed by Aeris, which made him blush because no matter how any times they did this together he was never going to get used to it. There was a rough, low chuckle by his ear and it made him shiver.
“Sir?”

Sephiroth smoothed Cloud’s hair back away from his eyes, “I thought Zack’s rule was ‘No one is to be called Sir in bed unless we’re role playing’, Cloud?”

"Sorry. Force of habit." Cloud was still blushing, because he had the General's undivided attention and he was naked and dammit he was never going to stop feeling awkward and get used to this, was he?

Sephiroth just chuckled again, though they both jumped slightly when Aeris’ hands reached out to grip his and Sephiroth’s as she hit another orgasm, back arched and Zack’s mouth on her neck. Cloud’s eyes fluttered shut with a moan, and he still didn’t entirely understand why he could feel Aeris’ orgasms whenever they did this, but he was beginning to accept that sex with Zack and Aeris and Sephiroth will always be strange and gasped at the rumbling growl that found it’s way out of Sephiroth’s throat as he rocked up against Cloud. One of the weirder things about having sex with Sephiroth was that he didn’t seemed concerned with his own pleasure, just Zack’s and Cloud’s and Aeris’, and for a brief second he’d wondered if Zack’s crack about Sephiroth being a control freak wasn’t entirely a joke before his vision went white as he came.
Aeris took in deep, shuddering breaths as she slowly came down, Zack's familiar weight above her a wonderful comfort, as was the awkward stroke of Sephiroth's thumb across her knuckles and the timid brush of Cloud's fingers through her hair as she finally managed to get herself back inside her own body. She felt wonderfully boneless and relaxed, and was quite sure that some of the orgasms she felt tonight weren't all her own and it made her chuckle.
“I’m not going to be able to walk tomorrow,” she laughed, not sounding nearly as grumpy as the words would’ve indicated.

Cloud gave a soft groan of agreement, burying his face in Sephiroth’s shoulder, face still burning.

Zack chuckled, "We'll make sure you get home okay, doll-face; won't we, Seph? Seeing as how we're probably the only ones who'll be able to walk tomorrow."

“You SOILDER boys cheat,” Aeris teased, nipping at Zack’s ear.

Sephiroth frowned, “I have several meetings tomorrow. Meetings that I was supposed to be preparing for tonight before I was ambushed by you three.”

“You loved it and you know it,” Aeris teased, smiling impishly at him.

“My office is in shambles,” Sephiroth’s tone was bland, but the lazy contentment that wasn’t obvious in his face so much as it was in his eyes took the sting from the words.

“Oh come on, you never would’ve found out about Cloud’s desk kink if we hadn’t-“

“Zack!” came the muffled protest from Sephiroth’s shoulder, but the silver haired man just chuckled.

“That’s true, I suppose. But next time you three wish to have a moment with me, please leave my desk out of it.”

“But your desk was so lonely, Sephiroth,” Aeris pouted, “We needed to include it or it would feel neglected!”

Sephiroth gave her a flat look. "I'm sure, but my chair can be horribly jealous at times, you know."

Cloud gaped at him as Aeris and Zack clung to each other in their laughter, “Your chair, Sir?”

“Yes. It has a tendency to change its height settings at the most inopportune moments.”

“Ah,” Cloud yawned as Zack pulled the covers up over the four of them, “I would’ve figured your couch would be the jealous one.”

Zack chuckled, “Me too, Spike. Goodnight.”

Soon, the only sounds left in the room were the sounds of their breathing as the four slept in a tangled heap on the bed.

GetBackers Fic: Shido Fuyuki: Private Eye

2006-03-07T14:01:00Z

I wrote this a while ago, but never posted it here (I suuuuuck), so here are the first two chapters, after which I'm going post a poll thinger that I ask everyone who reads this journal to answer...

Title: Shido Fuyuki: Private Eye
Author: Christina(AquaianGoddess)
Rating: I don't know yet. Most likely NC-17.
Summery: It's a smoggy afternoon, just like any other in this damn city.
Warnings: AU; WTFness; sex (het even!); violence; genderbending but not.
Notes: sort of inspired by an RP torsui and I were doing. Told from Shido's perspective.

thank you sammei for being my beta.

It's a smoggy afternoon, just like any other in this damn city. The AC's busted and the fan ain't doin' jack for the heat in the office, the open window letting in the exhaust and heat from the passing traffic below. I had my feet on my desk, and a cigarette hanging from my lips. Bad habit, but a hard one to kick. I can hear Madoka typing at her desk outside my office. She's a good kid. Blinder than a bat, but she can type 300 words a minute with no spelling errors. Go fig.

The door to my office creaked open, and in walked the most beautiful dame I've ever seen. Decked head to toe in black, the flashes of skin I did see were a creamy pale, her lips her blood red, but I couldn't see her eyes, not between the veiled hat and the sunglasses she wore. Odd getup for a heat wave.

"Can I help you?"

"I hope you can." Her voice was like warm whiskey, low and husky, and shot fire through my body and right to my groin. "You are Shido Fuyuki, yes?"

"That's what it says on my door. How can I help you, Miss...?"

"Midou."

"Do I get a first name?"

"No." She pulled out a cigarette and I offered her a light. "I hear you're good at what you do."

"The best, so I've been told." I watched her as she crossed her legs, revealing a black garter with a small silver buckle. I wondered briefly if she'd let me take it off with my teeth.

"I need you to find my twin brother."

"Oh?"

"He looks exactly like me, only male."

"Do I get his name?"

"Midou."

"I meant his first name."

"Ban. My brother's name is Ban."

"I'll see what I can do for you Miss Midou. Can you leave me a number to contact you by?"

"I'm staying in Lower Town Heights. Suite 17." She smirked. Everyone did at that name. I know the owner, he thought it was funny. He's got this thing for making people laugh. Something about the city life being depressing enough as it is.

"Dangerous neighborhood for a girl to be staying in alone."

She scowled at me. "I can take care of myself, Mr. Fuyuki."

"Please, call me Shido."

"I hope to hear from you soon, Mr. Fuyuki. Let me know if I can be of service."

She could definitely be of service, I thought as I watched her walk out. Her stockings had seams running up the backs of her shapely legs. She had a nice rear too.

I would definitely be seeing more of Miss Midou.

~~~

I left soon after Midou did, telling Madoka I was getting lunch out today, and headed down to the Honky Tonk, my favorite cafe and bar. Paul, the owner, used to be some hotshot back in the day. Now he's just a bartender who's married with a kid on the way.

"Hey Mr. Fuyuki!" The waitress, Natsumi Mizuki, greeted me. She's a cute kid, always all smiles when she greeted you, eager to serve and please. "Mr. Fuchouin is here. He said he was waiting for you."

Great. I should've known that damn bitch was eavesdropping again. I nodded to Natsumi and gave her my order before sitting down at the booth that damn bastard sat in.

At first glance, you'd assume Kazuki Fuchouin was a girl. Lord knows I did when we first met. He's actually an old friend of mine. We used to run together, back in the day. Now he deals with information, which makes him one of my favorite people at the moment, even though he pisses me off. "You need to stop snooping, you bitch."

Kazuki tilted his head so the bells in his hair jingled. His bells are where he stored his strings. I have no clue how he uses the damn things to get information, but I've seen him fight with them. It's impressive, to say the least. Me? I prefer good old fashioned hand-to-hand combat. "So you don't want me to go looking for information on Ban Midou for you?"

"I do and you know it."

He grinned at me. "It'll cost you."

"What is it this time? Pastry? A puppy?" He never took payment in cash, and every time it was a different cracked out thing. Apparently he's heir to a shit load of cash. Whatever.

"How's your shoulder?"

"My shoulder?" What did that have to do with anything? Yeah I fucked it up a few times, but it doesn't bother me so much nowadays...

"Juubei says it's time for your check up." Juubei is Kazuki's boyfriend/body guard/love slave. Or something like that. He's also a doctor. My doctor. Shit.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll make an appointment for next week."

"Actually he has a slot free today." Did I have any plans for today? "And I know you have a clear schedule." Fuck. "I spoke to Madoka." That traitor.

"...I'll be in after I hit a few more places."

"How about after lunch? He said you could come into the home office."

God damned manipulative bastard. "I hate you."

Natsumi set down my sandwich (pastrami, roast beef, ham, salami and cheese on rye with extra mustard and a pickle on the side. Yum.), and Kazuki made a face. "Must you eat that thing in front of me?"

"Yes." I crunched my pickle at him. Take that, you evil bitch.

Kazuki sighed and sipped his iced tea, bells jingling as he shook his head. "You're so immature."

"And you're such a girl."

"Don't talk with your mouth full, you unwashed caveman."

Ah, friendship. Gotta love it.

~~~

Have I mentioned I hate doctors? And needles? And that Juubei is an acupuncturist? Who's blind? No? Well, I just did.

"Honestly Shido, I don't know why you always avoid me." Juubei chided. Though it wasn't really chiding, because Juubei's not like that.

"Let's see Juubei, you're blind, and an acupuncturist."

"And you don't trust any other doctor enough to let them near you before throwing them through a window."

"I only did that once! And we were on the first floor!"

Juubei hasn't always been blind, not like Madoka. There was an accident a little while ago. Something involving a broken promise to Kazuki, but I'm not sure on the details. I don't want to know the details.

"There. We're done. Your shoulder seems to be doing good. You haven't been overworking it, right?"

Well... "Define 'overwork'."

"... lifting more than twice your body weight." Shit.

"...only once in a while."

"Shido." Juubei fixed me with a look that made me really glad I couldn't see his eyes...eyes...That's right.

"I don't know the color of her eyes..."

"Eh? Who's eyes?" Juubei tilted his head.

"My client's. Midou."

"Midou what?"

"Her last name is Midou. I don't know her first name."

"That's not like you." Juubei sterilized his needles.

"I know. Hey...what's a good gift to bring to a lady?"

"You're asking the wrong person."

"It's the same thing with that one." I said.

"Don't let him hear you say that."

"Yeah yeah, whatever."

"Anyway, a nice bottle of wine always works."

"Why Juubei, I'm not trying to seduce her... It's just a business trip." If the guy was blind, how could he see shit like that so well?!

"...Shido, you are my friend and I care deeply for you, but I get the feeling that you are, in fact, going to try to seduce her."

"Her garter is black! Black!"

Juubei arched an eyebrow in amusement. "Obviously this means she wants you to seduce her."

"Obviously."

"You worry me."

I glared at him, ignoring the fact that glares don't work on blind people. Not that they had affected Juubei when he could see... "...so...wine, huh?"

"Nice wine. None of that cheap two dollars a bottle crap."

Eh, I had a bit of money saved up. I could spring for a good bottle of wine.

Besides, I had a feeling Miss Midou would be worth it. In one way or another.

~~~

With my shoulder feeling better than it had in a while (not like I'd tell him that), I set off to do three things. Find a good bottle of wine, send out more feelers on this "Ban Midou" guy, and ask Emishi about his new temporary tenant.

The wonderful thing about Lower Town Heights, other than the name tends to make people smile every time they hear it, is that it's a nice place dispite the neighborhood it's in. It's pay by the week, for those with, err, fluctuating income. A lot of single mothers stay there. Emishi's a good guy, underneath the stupid jokes, bad puns, poorly hidden innuendos and ex-Volts member exterior. The Volts were the gang he, Kazuki, Juubei and I used to run with, though Kazuki, Juubei and I were higher up in the food chain than Emishi. He did mostly grunt work, Kaz and I were officers, and Juubei was our doctor.

Bottle of wine (A good bottle of Pinot Noir. Expensive as all hell, but I managed to "convince" the guy to drop the price a bit for me) in arm, I headed over to Lower Town Heights. Emishi, as always, greeted me with a smile.

"Hey! Shido! Long time no see, my friend!"

"Hey Emishi."

"Man, we've been friends for how long and you still call me Emishi? Try Haruki once and a while, it won't kill you and is that lovely bottle of wine for me? Oh Shido, you shouldn't've."

"Good, because I didn't. It's for one of your tenants, actually. In Suite 17."

Emishi's eyebrows shot up over his cheesy sunglasses at that. "Miss Midou? You move fast."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"She only checked in yesterday... and she was asking about you."

Oh really..."Oh?"

"Yeah. Wanted to know how good you were. I told her that you were the best at what you do." He waggled his eyebrows at me. "In everything you do."

Man, you sleep with a guy once... "Thank you for singing my virtues at her. I'm sure she's impressed."

"Anytime, my friend, anytime." Emishi leaned forward on the desk, brown ponytail spilling over one shoulder. When I was sleeping with Emishi, my favorite thing to do was play with his hair... "Let me guess, you want to know more about her?"

"Your opinion of her, yeah. Also, did she give you a first name?"

"Yeah, Ellis. Why?"

"She wouldn't tell me."

"Weird. Usually women aren't like that with you. Then again, she's not your average gal."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Reminds me of the girls in Mugenjou. You know, the ones who pretended to be flighty and dumb right up until they slit your throat and stole your wallet."

Good. He noticed it too. Emishi is great at reading people. Sometimes I trust his judgement over my own...sometimes. "Only she's not flighty. Or dumb."

"Which worries me. The ones who didn't act like they were flighty and dumb were the ones who knew they could take you out without the advantage of surprise. My advice? Be careful. She's not what she seems."

"Thanks buddy." I nodded to a passing mother in greeting and made my way to Suite 17.

~~

Okay, I smell good, my hair's okay, and I've got the wine...I am so ready for this. I knocked.

"...Who's there?"

"Shido Fuyuki."

The door opened and there she stood, in nothing but a silk bathrobe.

She has blue eyes.

Focus on her eyes, dumbass.

She leaned against the doorway, revealing a lot of leg...

There's that damn garter again.

Oh God.

"Mr. Fuyuki?"

I forced my eyes to meet hers. "Miss Midou." Blue eyes. Bluer than sapphires... I could drown in eyes like hers.

"News on my brother?" Oops...looks like this is her second time asking me that.

"That's what I came to talk about. May I come in?" I held up the wine.

She accepted the bottle and stepped aside. "By all means." She smiled. "Can I take your jacket?" God only knows why I was wearing it in this weather...professional courtesy or something, I guess.

But she was being friendly. Too friendly. Either she was warming up to me, or she really liked good wine... "You don't have to, I can take care of it."

She took my jacket from me. "Nonsense. You're my guest. Sit, and I'll bring out glasses." She hung my jacket up and padded off. I sat down on the couch and looked around. Not much, but then again, she just moved in. I smiled at her as she walked in with two glasses and a cork screw. Not wine glasses, but regular cups. "Sorry that it's not etched crystal, but I'm still unpacking."

I opened the wine and poured us each a glass as she sat on the other side of the couch. "So, Ellis-"

"How did you-?!"

I handed her a glass. "Dollface, that sort of thing is what I do."

She took the glass from me and crossed her legs. Again with the garter... "Alright. What did you want to know?"

"Why did you hide your face from me?"

"It would be bad if I was seen."

"Why?"

"We have dangerous enemies, my brother and I."

"Even in my office?"

"Why does it matter?" She took a sip of wine, her eyebrows were drawn together in annoyance.

"Because it doesn't help me any if I know your brother looks just like you, but I don't know what you look like." I took a sip of wine. "Besides, it should be a crime to hide a face like yours."

She blushed faintly and took a long sip of wine. "Anything else?"

"Your garter's been driving me crazy." Hey, they always said honesty is the best policy.

She blinked. "What?"

"Every time you cross your legs, I see it."

She blushed even more and fixed her robe, to my disappointment. "A real gentleman wouldn't have looked!"

She was so cute when she blushed. "Ellis, a saint would've looked." I watched as she drained her glass and I leaned towards her. "You're a beautiful woman, Ellis."

"Did you come here to talk about my brother, or to try and seduce me?!" She demanded.

I refilled her glass. "A little of column a, a little of column b..." I grinned as she scowled. "When did you see your brother last?"

"A month ago." A sip. "I tracked him here."

I took another sip of wine. "Any idea why he'd disappear like that?"

"No." She sniffles as I moved closer to her. "He was always such a homebody, you know?" She turned to look at me and seemed surprised to find me much closer than I was before. "I-I just want my brother back, Mr. Fuyuki." A tear rolled down her cheek.

I was always a sucker for crying women. I brushed away her tears and pressed my forehead to hers. "Call me Shido, Ellis." I kissed her then, her lips sweet from the wine.

She placed her hand on my chest and those blue eyes of hers looked up at me from under her lashes. "I think you should leave, Mr. Fuyuki."

I blinked. Wait, what?! "Huh?"

"I don't sleep with men I just met." There was that steel from before creeping into her voice again, as she walked over to my jacket and held it out to me. "Thank you for the wine but if you have nothing new on the whereabouts of my brother, please leave."

"...Are you sure?"

She narrowed her eyes at me. "Fuyuki," Whoa, I was just Fuyuki now? "if I ever feel the need for a bedmate, I'll let you know."

"I thought we moved past that last name thing."

"Fuyuki-"

I kissed her again. "I let you know if I find anything new." She shoved my jacket at me. "Ellis?"

"What?"

"You're still a beautiful woman."

She glared at me. "If I didn't need you to help me find my brother, I'd hurt you."

I smirked. "If I had a dollar for everytime I heard something like that-"

"You'd be rich."

"No, I'd have a dollar." She blinked. "See you later, dollface."

She slammed the door in my face.

I grinned.

~~~

Emishi blinked when he saw me. "Leaving already?"

"We were just talking."

"She shot you down, huh?"

"Shut up." I've never been turned down before. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I sleep on everything with two legs, but I've never had anyone turn me down.

Needless to say, I wasn't enjoying the experience.

"It happens to the best of us, Shido. Don't let it get you down."

"I'm not. I just gotta try a different tactic. I'll wait. I know she wants me." I know she was turned on when I kissed her, damn it! I could smell it.

"Laying in wait for your prey, eh Beastmaster?"

"Kazuki~ What brings you here?"

"Nothing, really. Shido, got a minute?"

We waved goodbye to Emishi and walked out into sunlight. "What do you have for me, Kaz?"

"Ban Midou killed Yamato Kudou."

Yamato Kudou. I knew him by reputation only; a famous thief. Worked in a team with his kid sister, Himiko, and a third guy. They worked together up until his death, then Himiko and the other guy just dropped out of sight. Yamato was found dead in a cabin with his heart torn out on the day of his 28th birthday. "Seriously?"

"Yeah."

"Think the Kudou girl might be involved?"

"There's a chance. She's sleeping with the art thief, Clayman."

"Thanks, Kaz. I owe you one."

"A bottle of Pinot Noir will do."

I cringed. "Damn it, Kaz, no need to rub it in my face."

Kazuki grinned. "Need Clayman's address?"

"I know where it is." Clayman wasn't really a man at all, but a woman by the name of...well, her real name isn't important. We'll just call her Dolly. Dolly's a nice lady who runs an art gallery and gives a sculpting class on Thursdays. "Later, Kaz." I turned the corner and headed towards the art gallery.

~~~

"Oh! Shido, what a pleasant surprise. How can I help you?"

"Hey Dolly. Do you know anything about Himiko Kudou?"

Dolly's barely there smile faded completely. "Why?"

"'Cause I hear you're sleeping with her."

"And have been for the past few months, not that it's any of your business."

"She's a minor, Dolly." Not like I cared, but I had to needle her about something. It's my way of showing I care... that and she's so damn hard to piss off.

"So? She propositioned me, and she's only a minor until next February." Cool as ice, she brushed her hair out of her face. "In any case, what does that have to do with anything?"

"Has she been around lately?"

"She left on a job three days ago. She said she'd be back tonight, though."

Job? "Job?"

"She's a transporter now. Lady Poison. You might have heard of her?"

"...Lady Poison?"

"Yes."

Lady Poison. One of the best in the transporter biz, right up there with Dr. Jackal and Mr. No Brake. Damn impressive for a 16 year old brat.

"Thanks. Tell her to give me a call tomorrow. I need to ask her a few things."

"Sure. You ever gonna sign up for my class and put those hands of yours to good use?"

"Maybe some other time, Dolly."

"Later, Shido."

"Bye, Dolly." She hates that nickname.

I started towards my apartment. So, Ban Midou killed one of the top thieves out there, but not his sister? Where was Ellis during all this, if her brother's only been missing for a month? The murder happened two years ago. Unless Ellis helped in the murder...

So here I am, with a murder, two sets of siblings and no leads until I can talk to that Kudou chick.

I hate Mondays.
~~~

It was in the dead of night when I was woken up by a tapping noise. I blinked awake and promptly fell out of my bed, disturbing the slumber of His Excellency, Kat von Purrington, my lilac point siamese. Yes, his name really is Kat von Purrington and no, I didn't name him myself, he's a shelter beast. Of course the only thing he answers to is "Your Excellency". Damned high maintinance beast eats better than I do! Of course, he had to voice his displeasure, and woke up my dog, a Doberman by the name of Aries, who has his own quirks. He only answers to "Captain". I get the feeling those two would take over the world if they weren't so lazy. But where was I? Oh yeah, the shock of seeing my upstairs neighbor, Masaki Kurusu, outside my window, tapping on it with a beer bottle.

I wrapped the sheet around my waist and flung open my window, snarling. "What the fuckdo you think you're doing you-"

"Meet me at my place."

"At three thirty in the morning?!"

But he was already making his way back up the fire escape to the roof. Fucking psychopath. Masaki's the type of guy who writes poetry on old pizza boxes and broods ysteriously on the roof for weeks at a time... He has one of the best apartments in the damn building and he sleeps in a tent of the roof! He used to run with Kazuki, Emishi and I before- well, let's just say I know the bastard and I wasn't thinking too nicely of him as I pulled on pants and made my way up the fire escape.

"Alright. I'm here. What is it?"

"Mysterious lady dressed in black."

"What?" I wasn't here for a poetry reading, damnit!

"Eyes hold secrets behind purple glass." He handed me a beer.

Poetry reading and... beer? At least its good beer. "Okay..."

"Beauty is deadly, her bloody hand gleams." This was obviously one of the more morbid ones... "The girl who isn't is not what he seems. Watch your back."

I blinked at him. "That was... uh... yeah, can I go back to bed now?"

Masaki turned to me and ruffle my hair. "Sure. Remember what I said."

"Beer before bed is good for sleeping?" He had said that to me once, when I was sixteen.

Masaki just looked up at the moon. Apparently, I've been dismissed. I finished off my beer and started down the fire escape.

"Late night poetry?"

I turned and smiled tiredly at Teshimine. "Yeah."

"I'm sorry about him." Teshimine, Masaki's lover for God knows how long, ran a hand through his hair. "Have you... spoken to Ginji recently?"

I tensed. Ginji... I haven't seen him since that time. When he.. I snarled at Teshimine. "Why would I?!" I stormed down the fire escape with Teshimine calling after me, even as I dragged myself back into my apartment, only to have my phone start ringing. I snatched it up off the cradle, and growled. "This better be someone who I'm not pissed at or whoever this is is dead."

"...Did I wake you?"

Ellis... Why was she calling? "No... no. Sorry I snapped. Is everything alright?"

"Someone was outside my room with a knife. Mr. Emishi is looking into it, but... I'm scared."

Jesus... "Are you alright?"

"They ran off when I screamed." I could hear her draw in a shakey breath over the phone. "Shido, I don't want to be alone..." She sounded close to tears. Damnit.

"I'll be there in ten minutes." I hung up the phone and tugged on a shirt and my sneakers. "Captain, let's go."

Poll

What do you want to see next?

[Original]
- More NaNoWriMo '05 Story (currently on hold)
- The beginning of my NaNoWriMo '04 Story (also on hold)
- Some random notes on the Untitled Paranormal Romance Novel (it's in plotting stages)
- Snippets from Nox (in progress)

[GetBackers]
- More Adventures in Bansitting (in progress)
- What I have of Dam Would Break (in progress)
- More Shido Fuyuki: Private Eye (on hold/in progress)

[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]
- More Human!Turtle Boogie (on hold/in progress)

OR

- Do you have some other thing that you'd like to see from me?

for nightwalker

2006-03-05T17:19:39Z

"If we live through this, no one can tell Rachel." Marco hissed. "Who's bright idea was it to let Ax have-?!"

"Yours." Jake hissed back, cutting him off.

They watched as Ax rampaged, nothing was left unmarred from his attacks.

"Why didn't you stop me?!"

"Because I'm a retard!" Jake growled.

"And now we're stuck out here until that stuff wears off!"

"Or until he morphs out."

Jake and Marco watched from the fire escape as Ax, morphed into the form of a seemingly harmless tabby cat, sprayed and clawed and destroyed Marco's apartment, a hyper active ball of drug induced fury.

Stupid catnip.

Kingdom Hearts Gift Fic for torsui

2006-03-04T15:11:03Z

Title: Untiled as of yet
Author: Christina/AquaianGoddess
Rating: PG-13, I guess.... no porn or anything (which is rare from me)
Pairing(s): RikuxSora/SoraxRiku
Summery: After locking the door to Kingdom Hearts, Sora had terrible nightmares.
Warnings: I completely ignore the exsistance of both Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II in this as a)they didn't fit into the way I wished the story to go and b), I haven't played Kingdom Hearts II yet (and won't until it comes out on March 28th TT_TT) and am not comfortable writing about something I've never actually played through to it's entirety. As I was a Final Fantasy VII fan long before Kingdom Hearts was a twinkle in Squeenix's eye, I use the spelling of Aeris, rather than the one of Aerith, as old habits die hard. There is also a point where I completely partways from canon, and venture into the realm of speculation. So, uh, stuff. It's also written from Donald's perspective...I figure this needs a warning all it's own.

This is unbeta'd and a gift for torsui. Happy birthday.

~~~

After locking the door to Kingdom Hearts, Sora had terrible nightmares. Donald knew this, of course, because he was the one that was woken up by them (Goofy could sleep through anything, the lazy bastard). Soft, pitiful, soul-sick sobs of the name of the one person Sora couldn’t save. The name of Sora’s friend, no, his best friend, Riku. It hurt Donald to hear those soft whispers and sobs, not because he was jealous (not like Riku had been when Maleficent had him convinced that Sora had replaced him with Donald and Goofy. HAH! Like that would happen, all Sora had ever talked about was Riku. Riku this, and Riku that and this reminds me of that one time when Riku and I…), but because he knew he couldn’t do anything to stop it. And maybe, just maybe, the whole situation was his fault, for forbidding Riku to fly with them. If he had just asked Cid to alter the gummi so there was room for one more, would the boy ever have turned into Ansem’s puppet? Would he ever have listened to Maleficent’s lies? Donald told Sora none of this though. Nor would he admit to worrying about the boy and his feeling of guilt over the fact that not even the strongest of his curative spells could ease his hurt. Of course, Donald also knew of Sora’s other dreams about the boy; dreams that all young men his age had, that Sora had had ever since the beginning of their journey. It was how Donald found out about Sora’s crush on Riku. He would’ve found out anyway, as after the fourth or so time Donald was woken by the boy’s moans, the boy himself woke up soon after, panicked and frightened by his feelings, though more-so of the thought that he may never see Riku again (it disturbed Donald, the look of relief Sora got whenever he saw the boy, even after Riku had become not entirely himself). Donald helped calm the boy down, before he woke Goofy (like that could happen, but Donald really didn’t need Sora’s arm flailing and voice-cracking screeches the whole time they were talking) and helped him through his feelings. Talking to Hercules had helped too (he, unlike Goofy, could not sleep through anything, thanks to his “hero training” and was woken by Sora’s screeches), as Hercules was of the belief that sex between fellow warriors was a sign of respect for them (Donald made sure never to leave the two alone after that, as the idea of Hercules trying to seduce Sora with that lame line made him shudder, and Sora was too innocent to sense his virtue being threatened, no matter what kind of dreams the boy had about Riku!).

Of course, being the brilliant mind that he was (not just anyone could learn magic, no matter that that lunk-head Sora had an aptitude for it), Donald began to piece a few things together even before that, and after listening to Sora’s stories of he and Riku’s (and occasionally Kairi’s) adventures on their little island home, he had learned from Sora’s stories that Riku had changed slightly when Kairi arrived, the two boys competing more-so than ever after that. Sora had thought it was because Riku was trying to show off to Kairi because he liked her. After having a run in with Riku in Traverse Town, Donald knew better. It wasn’t Kairi’s attention Riku was seeking, it had been Sora’s, based on Riku’s quick dismissal of the girl’s whereabouts. And then, after seeing the eerily perfect shadow-replica of Sora (or has they had come to call it, the “Anti-Sora”), Donald’s idea of Riku’s feelings towards Sora were cemented. No one could possibly create a replica that perfect without lots and lots of practice, which made one wonder why Riku would spend the time practicing making a replica of someone he “hated” (Donald had hoped it was not for sexual purposes, as attempting to make out with a Heartless was like telling Cid his gummies were low-quality junkers; after having just barely survived that experience, Donald was sure that making out with a Heartless would be ten times as hazardous, if not more). Donald deduced the fact that Riku didn’t hate Sora, so much as he missed the boy and felt betrayed that Sora seemed to have new best friends (Donald would never admit that Sora was his friend even under normal circumstances, so stating that he was one of Sora’s best friends seemed like a bit of a stretch to Donald, but whatever), which lead Donald to believe that Riku had had a difficult time really warming up to people (oh he was admired and respected, that much was certain from Sora’s stories, but did anyone on their little island other than Sora, and possibly Kairi, really, truly, like the boy?) and that Riku seemed to thrive on attention, specifically Sora’s attention. Oh yeah, Donald had figured the two out. Each had “it” quite bad for the other, and neither knew about the other’s feelings (once Donald actually got around to explaining this all to Goofy, the taller of the two had laughed and told Donald that he had figured it out a long time ago, but didn’t say anything ‘cause it was Sora’s personal business and while they were friends, good friends at that, Goofy wasn’t about to go muddling - meddling! – in Sora’s private business.).

This was why Donald didn’t complain when Sora decided that they were going to hunt down Riku (He hid this under the guise of “Riku’s with The King” as his reason for agreeing to go, whereas Goofy had simply said “Of course! We’re friends aren’t we?”).

And thus, their search began. For two years, Sora looked for a way into Kingdom Hearts to find Riku, and after finally finding it, the reckless idiot dove right in to look for his friend. With Donald’s staff lit their path, they didn’t not stop to rest for three days, eating as they walked, and using what Sora once referred to as “Green Gooshy Manna Balls of Justice” (the boy was running on no sleep at the time, and while the body nor mind wasn’t truly feeling the affects of sleep deprivation, the dementia it caused certainly still happened.) to help ease the fatigue and weariness caused by lack of sleep. When they finally found Riku, battling off Heartless, but very close to losing, Sora had leapt into the fray with a loud cry, startling Riku (and more importantly, the Heartless), which gave Donald time to heal Riku’s injuries (though not all of them, some were too old, or already healing badly, for his spells to hold) and while the four of them finished of the Heartless surrounding them with ease, Riku collapsed shortly after (from exhaustion, no doubt. Donald was exhausted just from being in the dark place for four days, and Riku had been here for nearly two years!), and Sora carried the boy out, snarling at Goofy when he offered to help (though a quick whack with Donald’s staff changed Sora’s attitude pretty quickly), and clinging to him protectively even after they got to Traverse Town (perhaps even more-so after that, for once they stepped into the afternoon light of Traverse Town, Riku began screaming, even in his unconscious state. Later they found out Riku had become photosensitive, what Cid had explained as having an extreme sensitivity to light). The two had stayed in the hotel in the 2nd District for a week, Riku clinging to Sora in sleep, for he still had yet to truly wake up, trembling and tense from constantly waiting for an attack. Sora had stroked the boy’s hair, murmuring softly to him that he was safe, and that he was there to protect Riku from any harm, even though he, too, was asleep. The two boys had cried into each other’s hair (something both boys would deny fiercely when asked) once Riku finally became aware of where he was, and who he was with, apologies spilling from their lips as they clung to one another. Donald had not known about just how guilty Sora felt, for not locking himself inside Kingdom Hearts in Riku’s place. He had figured on Riku’s guilt for allowing himself to be deceived, for doubting Sora’s feelings, his friendship, long enough to allow Ansem to take control over his body and use him to hurt his friend.

Donald felt like beating his head against a wall for months after rescuing Riku, because while Sora risked life and limb of not only himself, but Donald and Goof - well, no, Goofy didn’t really risk anything too vital - to go rescue Riku, and Riku himself had locked himself in Kingdom Hearts to atone for what he had done (granted it was only part of the reason, but it was a really big part), neither had any idea what the other felt for him! Still! Donald was tempted to lock the two in a room together and – oh no, wait, that already happened, and nothing came of it! Nothing! Donald was tearing out his feathers in frustration until Goofy had patted him on the shoulder and told him that things would happen in due time (Donald wanted to punch him for that, but settled for zapping him with a lightning spell to make himself feel better).

They danced around each other for months, Riku’s eyes slowly healing so that he only needed his blindfold during the daylight hours (Sora, apparently, thought Riku looked even hotter in it, which Donald later found out after listening to the boy panic more – “Oh God, what if I’m pushing him for something he doesn’t want? What if I lose his friendship if I tell him how I feel?! DAMN THAT STUPID BLINDFOLD THAT MAKES HIM LOOK SO DAMN SEXY, ANYWAY!” – And it was times like that that Donald wished the boy had not chosen him as his confidant on the matter. Aeris was so much better suited to these things), and sunglasses at night (which had made Leon of all people snicker as Cid began humming a tune that Donald didn’t know). Whenever the two Keyblade Masters got together, their talks were either hushed and somber, or loud and cheerful in a way they must’ve been before the whole mess with the Heartless started, though sometimes they just spoke quietly as proof of how much each of them had grown, when they spoke of Riku’s job in the Accessory Shop, working with the Moogles of the Synthesis Shop to make Cid’s merchandise and also helped Cid with his gummi business (Donald had absently noted that Cid had gotten more female customers once Riku started working there, which made Sora bristle with jealousy). Sora was often found at the Accessory shop’s workshop, helping Riku with his job, or just hanging around and talking with him while he worked (when Sora wasn’t running off to the Coliseum to fight in the games and earn some pocket money).

Just when Donald was about to crack and force the two to admit their feelings, the two had beaten him to it, and in the worst way possible. Donald wasn’t keen on the details (Goofy had sat on him to keep him from spying on the two boys, and Aeris had distracted Yuffie with the quest of trying to steal Leon’s belts without him noticing), but from what he gained from Aeris, Sora had confessed to Riku, albeit a bit drunkenly (apparently saving the known universe earned even an under-aged boy a few drinks), and kissed him. Riku hadn’t responded to the confession well, and hadn’t brought it up the next morning when Sora woke with a hangover and didn’t clearly remember what had happened the night before until after a cup of coffee. Sora had fled from where he and Riku had stayed in the hotel and holed himself up in the house that Aeris, Yuffie, Leon, and Cid shared for hours, until after Aeris spoke to Riku to find out what the hell had happened. When confrontation was forced between the two boys, no thanks to Cid and his rather blunt method of dealing with things, it ended up with Riku claiming he needed time to think things over, and Sora fleeing off world to the Coliseum, freaking Riku out even more because he thought he’d never see Sora again (not that he actually freaked out, though Cid said Riku’s reaction to the whole thing was basically his equivalent of breaking down into hysterics and wreaking his apartment in a fit of rage).

In the end, Donald had found out that Riku’s real problem was that he feared he had lost part of his heart in Kingdom Hearts, and, of course, being the reckless idiot that he and Sora both were, he went back into Kingdom Hearts to get it back (Sora had neither eaten, nor slept the whole time Riku was gone, and merely sat in Riku’s apartment, curled around his pillow). And of course, upon Riku’s return, the silver haired boy had confessed that it wasn’t the Heartless that had taken his heart, it was Sora. Cheesy, yes, and Donald will always be proud of the fact that Sora had beaten the crap out of Riku, healed him, and beat the crap out of him again before accepting his apology and confession of love.

Now all Donald had to do was just stop walking in on the boys at inopportune moments, and remind Sora and Riku that they still had to find King Mickey, but, well, one thing at a time.

GetBackers/Wolf's Rain possible fic?

2006-03-02T21:15:48Z

I thought I lost all this! holy shit! saved by the lj auto-saver, man.

though I fear what this will do you everyone.

this was originally written when I was at my father's house and I was just typing.

There had been an explosion at the old military base the pack had been fighting in, that was the last thing Tsume remembered. Other than being worried (worried? HAH! Like he worried about those fools, nevermind the way his heart raced and his blood burned when the pup looked at him with those big adoring eyes and spoke about Paradise) about Toboe the split second before the explosion. Hige and Kiba, they knew how to take care of themselves (even though Hige had terrible taste in women to go for that half-breed Blue, and Kiba was creepily obsessed with a girl made out of flowers), but the pup? He wouldn't be able to to take care of himself if he was all alone. He needed someone (a human, not you, you damned coward) to stick with him. Tsume cracked open an eye, body sore and tired, as he looked around, he could smell everyone was there... and it was so cold, the scent of snow crisp and sharp in the air (hadn't they been in the desert?). It was safe... no danger... he just needed to sleep some more, that's all... just a little bit...

~~~

Shido hunched himself deeper into the seat, the heat in the truck making him sleepy. Himiko was in the back, bundled up in Shido's and Maguruma's coats and at least five or six blankets after she insisted she stay with the object of Shido's retrieval. He was just about to drop off when he saw it, a shock of orange fur, matted with blood.

"Stop the truck."

"Huh?"

"Stop, I said!"

Maguruma stopped the truck and Shido jumped out, racing for where he saw the injurded animal, praying that it wasn't dead. He froze in his tracks when he saw that there was not one, but four bodies.

"Are they dogs?" Himiko's voice asked from behind him.

"No. Wolves. Get Maguruma out here, I need him to help me carry them."

"...I'll set up some blankets." Himiko had experianced this sort of thing with Shido before... the need he had to help animals injured by humans (of course, when it happened with her, it was pouring rain out and Shido had rescued a litter of kittens from drowning in a sack. She was surprised to find that Akabane had taken in three of seven kittens. Shido had shrugged it off, saying that he didn't care as long as Akabane took care of them. She later found out Akabane had named the kittens Urd, Verdande, and Skuld, which amused him for some reason). These wolves were no exception.

Shido, with help from Maguruma, carried the four wolves to the truck, setting them up in a nest of blankets, and shooed Himiko into the front. "I'll sit with them. if they wake up, they'd be less likely to attack me. Besides, you look frozen stiff."

Himiko had snorted at that, but climbed into the front anyway, leaving Shido his and Maguruma's coats.

Shido stroked the head of a red furred wolf with a sad smile. "You're still a pup, aren't you little one?"

"...don't touch him." A voice growled. Shido jerked his head up. It was different than when he normally talked with animals...this one had actually spoke. "Get your hands off him." The grey wolf had a scar on his chest and was baring his fangs at Shido.

"Save your strength. You'll need it to heal."

"...why are you helping us? I thought humans hated wolves."

"I'm not entirly human."

"What, you're half wolf too?" was the snorted reply.

"More like a little bit of everything." Shido smiled. "Rest now. You're safe with me."

Tsume narrowed his eyes at Shido, and growled again. "If you're lying, I'll kill you."

"If I'm lying, I'll let you."

Tsume snorted and setting down to rest again.

~~~

Mozart was less than pleased that Shido brought the wolves into the house, but under Shido's promise that no harm would come to Madoka, he returned to his mistress' room without fuss.

Shido set the wolves up on his bed and curled up on the floor with a yawn after patching up the worst of the small pack's injuries. The grey wolf didn't even put up much of a fuss, just grumbled.

When Shido woke, it was to a curious face of the red-furred wolf. "Oh! You're awake! Kiba, the human's awake!"

"Not so loud, pup, the rest of the house is still asleep." Shido grumbled, sitting up.

"Sorry... I'm Toboe!" His tail was wagging happily back and forth, bangles on his paw jingling as he sat down.

The white wolf jumped down from the bed, fixing Shido with a stare. "Who are you?"

"Hm? Oh. Name's Shido. I assume you're Kiba?"

"Yes. Why did you help us?"

"Will you feed us? I'm kinda hungry..."

"Shut up, porky." The grey wolf growled.

Shido shot up. "Oh crap, I forgot to feed the others!" He snagged a pair of jeans and tugged them on as he made his way downstairs, the four wolves following at a more sedate pace.

'You're late, cub.' His lion growled softly.

"Yes, yes, I know, I'm sorry...it was a late night."

'Shido-nii left us home! MEANIE!' one of the kittens mewled at him angrily.

'Oh be quiet, you're not even old enough to go on missions!' one of the older cats hissed.

'I am too!'

'You're not even weened, you brat. Go suck some milk, you stupid punk.'

'You go suck milk!'

"...I've never seen all these animals in one place outside of a picture book Granny used to read to me..." Toboe said, looking at the lions.

Shido blinked at him. "Oh, them? They're my friends, you know."

"A human who can understand animals and calls them friend?" Kiba said thoughtfully. "I heard about such people once... but they died out long before the humans destroyed the Earth."

"I'm the last of the Maryuudo." Shido said as he padded back inside.

"What happened to the others?" Toboe asked.

"Toboe!" the orange one growled.

"They died."

"...oh."

"It's alright, it happened when I wasn't much older than you, pup. Well...what would translate to your age anyway. Enough about that, though. What happened to you guys?"

"We were fighting in the desert when there was an explosion. Next thing we know, we're in your bed and patched up and it's snowing."

"I found you in the forest by the highway some kilometers outside of the city. Japan doesn't have any deserts."

"Kiba...what's Japan?" Toboe whispered.

"No idea."

The two were startled out of their conversation when Shido set down a plate of food in front of each other them, then settled down on the floor with his own. "There. Dig in."

"Oh wow, this smells great You know, for a human, you're not half bad, Shido!"

"Uh, thanks Porky."

"It's Hige!" The orange wolf protested as the grey wolf snickered. "The grumpy jerk over there is Tsume, and you've met Kiba and Toboe, the runt."

"Ah."

"...why are you eating on the floor with us?"

"'Cause we're in the middle of a conversation."

"...then we'll join you at your table."

Shido stared dumbfounded as where once was four wolves were now four boys. "...well I'll be damned. I've never seen any animal do that before, wolf or otherwise."

"We had to do it for protection. Humans believed us to be extinct for 200 years."

"Wolves aren't extinct. Some species are endangered, but none of them are extinct." Shido pointed out, picking himself up from the floor.

"I take it this world is different from the one we're used to."

"Apparently." Shido couldn't help but stare at them. "...Jeez this is freaky."

Toboe laughed. "I guess it is..."

"We have to get back to our own world."

"Kiba?! Are you serious?! We could stay here and not have to worry about anything ever again!" Hige protested. "Do you really want to go back to that world where we're hated and feared and that crazy bastard is trying to kill us?!"

"Yes. Cheza's there."

"...I wonder if she's okay..."

"Who's Cheza? Another wolf?" Shido asked, totally ignoring when a little orange cat lept into his lap and stole a piece of fish.

"She's the Flower Maiden. The girl who will lead us to Paradise."

Shido could hear the capitals as Kiba spoke. "...Okay. I'll help you."

"Huh?"

"I'll help you get back to your own world." Shido blinked down at the cat polishing off his breakfast. "...now that His Majesty is finished eating, I'll go get dressed and take you guys to someone who should be able to help."

"You mean it? Oh Shido, thank you!" Toboe leapt on him, nuzzling him happily. "Hee~"

Shido scritched Toboe's head with a laugh. "Yes yes, you thanked me. Here. Play with Kyo." Shido thrust the orange cat into Toboe's arms and went to go get dressed.
~~~

what do you all think? love it? hate it? want more of it?

I, personally, don't like it, but that's just me.

Nano - Chapter 11

2005-11-25T05:31:10Z

Chapter 11

Weapons training was nuts. Cid completely turned into this whole other person when weapons were involved. I learned to use my weapon in simulated combat and having shit thrown at me and once I came out of it, Connor and I had fought back to back against zombie hoards. And water clones, and fire clones, and plant clones. We were burnt, fried, mud covered, grass stained and soaked to the bone before staggering back into the infirmary and then to our respective rooms to shower and change clothes.

I am beginning to think it was a bad thing that I was getting used to Yuuishi accosting me whenever I’m in the bathroom.

“I heard you crash landed on the balcony of Their Majesties bed chamber.”

“It was an accident.” I grumbled, using my tail to scrub between my wings.

“Oh really? Sure you weren’t trying to sneak a peak at our fair Empress Reia?”

“Dude, she’s pregnant, first of all, and it’s just wrong to try and steal a pregnant chick from her boyfriend. Unless he’s abusive or something. Plus, Artaxiad? Is totally in love with her. You can see it whenever he looks at her.” It was cute really. My parents were like that when they weren’t trying to mortify me into an early grave.

Yuuishi perched on the edge of the sink, tail swishing lazily back and forth. “That’s true.”

“Plus, he’s really possessive of her and I think he’d kill me.”

“But you still like her.”

“She’s likeable. That doesn’t mean I want her like that, you pervert.”

“Giving up on Connor?”

“…my feelings for Connor are none of your business.” I hissed at him, sparking. That was probably a bad thing, considering I was in the shower, but it didn’t hurt me, so I didn’t really pay any attention to it. Yuuishi jumped a little though, so I tried to keep my emotions under control. It was never really a problem until this whole Daemon mess came up in my life.

“Hey, you seem to be going to everyone else about it! Why am I not allowed to say anything?”

“Because you’re an asshole who’s part of the problem and I really don’t like you!”

Yuuishi gave me an odd look. “How am I part of the problem between you and Connor?”

I ignored him. “And for your information, I haven’t talked to Kaida about this, or Aya, or Cid for that matter, so don’t go around saying I’m talking to stupid everyone about this shit, all right?! Stop being so fucking nosey and get the fuck out of the bathroom so I can finish my fucking shower in peace!”

Yuuishi ignored my ranting, as usual, ‘cause he just continued to sit on the sink and watch me shower. “…You’re really mad, huh? I think it’s the first time I’ve heard to cuss like that.”

“I’m a teenage boy, it’s not like I have the purest vocabulary on the planet. And you make it a point to make people hate you.”

“It’s easier that way.”

“No, it’s not. Not when you have to go out of your way to do it.”

“I don’t.”

I stared at him, until soap almost dripped into my eye. “You’re just that much of an asshole all the time?”

“…no.”

“See? I was right, you do go out of your way.” Prick.

“I really am this sarcastic though.”

“You don’t have to justify yourself to me.” Really, he sounded like he was trying to justify his behavior to himself.

“I’m not justifying anything. Yes, I’ve been a little meaner than usual, but if you can handle that, then you can handle the rest of the regiment.”

“And what regiment do you lead?”

“I don’t lead just one.”

I rinsed soap out of my hair. “Oh? What’s your rank then?”

“General.”

I snorted soap up my nose. “WHAT?!”

“I never told you?”

“You outrank my dad?!”

…Oh God…he was blushing. Yuuishi doesn’t blush! What the fucking hell?! “Well, that’s kinda a recent thing…it only happened ten human years ago…”

“…I was six ten years ago! You’re, like, the same age as me! What the hell?!”

“…you sound like someone from one of those annoy teen dramas on television.”

“Why are you watching TV?! You’re a GENERAL! Generals don’t watch TV, you freak!”

Yuuishi looked really amused at my distress, which was fucking annoying, the ass. “I don’t see why you’re so freaked out by this.”

“Because you’re a fucking GENERAL! You have legions at your command and they have to listen to you even though they’re totally twice your age and size and you didn’t pull rank on my dad back on Earth! Why didn’t you pull rank on my dad?!”

“Because he was my commanding officer before he left. He’s been offered a promotion and he doesn’t want it.”

“I think that if I suddenly outranked my dad, I’d totally use it against him. Could you get me a towel?”

Yuuishi handed me the towel and frowned. “And I do not watch Tee Vee, I watch television. And only when someone else works the damn thing!”

“It’s not Tee Vee. It’s TV, and TV is short for television, you idiot!”

“What ever, you are being stupid.”

“You’re being stupid, you stupid idiot! And it’s whatEVER! One word!”

Yuuishi looked amused again, and I really wanted to hit him. Or kiss him. Or maybe do both. “You’re more wound up than usual today.”

“It’s your fault, you ass.”

“I’m just sitting here.”

“Watching me be naked.”

“I like watching you be naked. You’re very pretty.”

“I’m not fucking pretty. You’re pretty.” I hissed. “You are practically a girl, you’re so pretty.”

Not exactly the best of insults, but that wasn’t the point! I called him a girl and affronted his manly pride! That totally pissed guys off and made them want to fight, or something, right? I don’t relate to other people outside of Connor, I don’t know this shit!

Yuuishi blushed again. “I am not a girl.”

“Oh really?”

“I don’t have breasts, do I?”

“Maybe you’re just flat chested.”

Yuuishi growled at me, a low, kinda gravely sound that reminded me of Godzilla only not as shriek-y as they made him in the remake – What the hell ever happened to the good old Godzilla movies where he fought plant monsters made from his cells eating a rose petal and befriended robots and saved the people of Tokyo and the dubbing sucked so badly the words weren’t even in time with the mouth flaps, much less properly translated?

I growled back at him and sounded…kinda dumb actually. I didn’t sound at all sexy like Yuuishi did- wait. Sexy? Yuuishi was sexy? No, Yuuishi was kissing me. Which wasn’t bad, really, but he had me pressed against the wall and was using his feeler things to pull me down so he could kiss me properly, which was kind of uncomfortable, so I bite at his lips until he let up, but all he did was growl at me again and bite back and move his mouth from my lips to my neck. Also not bad, but I hissed at him anyway.

“Stop it.”

“You like it.”

“Not the point. Knock it off, you ass.” I pushed at him half heartedly, annoyed, but not really.

He pulled off my neck after sucking hard enough on the skin that wasn’t covered by scales, and I could see that he left a mark in the mirror. He looked over his work with a smirk. “Nice.”

“Don’t leave marks on my neck, jerk.”

“See, you really do want me.”

I was tired, half hard, and in that state of turbulence that Artaxiad was talking about, which is probably why I did what I did. “I don’t know. I think I might, but I’m not sure.” I kissed him after I said that. Nothing like the kisses he gave me, which were all tongue and sucking. It was soft, gentle, just a brush of my lips on his. I opened my eyes and pulled away, leaving him to stare at me in shock…and he was blushing again. “You look like a girl when you blush.”

“And you sound like a cat in heat when you’re aroused.”

“I do not, you girl.”

“Oh, shut up.” He swatted at me as he walked out. And I followed, laughing.

It was strange, feeling like this. So I got dressed, and went to go find Connor, who I always talk to when I feel confused about something. He usually says something that’s total bullshit, but sounds really deep and meaningful. Like he’s some guru on a mountain in Tibet, or something.

Whatever.

20,028 / 50,000
(40.1%)

The END of Chapter TEN! YAY!

2005-11-24T04:46:18Z

My wings were drooping and my tail had lost its energetic swing that it had yesterday. Dorjan was mad at me, for something that wasn’t really my fault! It wasn’t fair! I poked at the food set before me with a sigh.

“You okay, Al? You look kinda down.” Connor said, sitting down across from me with his own plate from the kitchen.

“Dorjan’s mad at me.”

“Oh come on. Dorjan’s not mad at you.”

“Yeah he is. I asked him if he was mad at me and he didn’t answer.”

“That’s not exactly a yes, Al.”

“But it’s not exactly a no, either! I’ve never had anyone be really angry with me before!”

“Want me to talk to him for you? We had a bonding moment last night, so maybe he’ll talk to me.”

“…A bonding moment?”

“Yup, he’s just as scared of spiders as I am! See? I’m not crazy, they really are evil.”

Connor’s fear of spiders is mind numbing for him. He’s been scared of them ever since the death of his mother.

Before now, I never really connected the two in my head.

“You are such a wuss, Connor.” I said, jabbing at my food with a fork.

“Bite me.”

I stuck my tongue out at him.

Oh yeah, we’re totally mature.

~~~

I was on my second cup of hot cocoa when Connor came back into the kitchen. “So…I talked to Dorjan. He’s not mad at you, he’s mad at the whole situation. And this is the last time I act as a go between for you two.”

“Sorry about that…I just didn’t want him to kill me and then make my corpse do embarrassing things.”

“A valid concern, I assure you.” Connor said with a smile. “Feel better?”

“Yeah. I mean…bah, I don’t know what I feel. Wakinyan said that was part of my problem.”

“Oh?”

I stared at him a bit, and decided it might be best to get his opinion on this…never mind that Connor was part of my problem, but who said he couldn’t be part of the solution too? “Well, you see, it’s like this… There’s this person I like, and I’ve liked this person for a long time now, but then there’s Yuuishi.”

Connor arched an eyebrow at that. “Yuuishi? What about Yuuishi?”

“Um, well…you see, it’s like this. Yuuishi has a thing for me, and he keeps kissing me. I’m not exactly disgusted by his kisses…I kinda like them, really, but then I think about the other person I like and I get all confused, because I love this other person, but Yuuishi is…not bad, but sometimes he does things that make me want to punch him in the face.”

“I see… so…you want to give in to Yuuishi’s advances-”

“Not ‘give in’! Don’t make me sound like some kind of girl!”

Connor ignored me and continued. “You want to give in to Yuuishi’s advances, but you still have feelings for this other person.”

“…yeah.”

“Well, first, talk to this other person, see how they feel. They might like you back.”

“But what if it turns out that I’m not in love with this other person and just the idea of this other person? Or what if it turns out that I don’t love that person at all and I’m just using them as an excuse not to let Yuuishi get close to me because I’m scared?”

“You’ll figure it out when you talk to this person, then.”

“But-but-but!!”

Connor put a finger to my lips. “No. No more buts. When we go home, talk to this person you like and…” He trailed off, looking perplexed about something before his eyes widened in horror. “But time moves slower here than it does in our world! By the time we get back home, the person you like will probably be really old!”

I laughed as Connor pulled away and flailed as his rant continued. My tail came up to circle around Connors wrist. “That won’t be a problem, Connor.”

He paused in his over dramatic arm waving to look down at my tail, and then he gave me a sad smile. “Me, huh?”

“Yeah.”

He looked pained. “I’m sorry, Al.”

It didn’t hurt to hear him say that. Not really, anyway. I don’t know what I felt. I was numb. My tail slid from Connor’s wrist and thudded to the floor, as if in shock…or stunned. “I… I know, Connor.”

“Will you be okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll be fine. The show must go on, after all.”

Connor gave me another pained look. It made my heart ache. “Al, don’t be like that.”

I stood slowly, calm and cool and collected. “I’ll see you later, Connor.”

“Alastair…”

I walked out of the dining room, and once I was sure the door closed behind me, I ran. I ran until my lungs burned and my legs ached. And when I ran out of hallway, I dove out the window at the end.

And I flew. I was a picture of grace and beauty, sun catching my scales and making them glitter and sparkle. I was free, and my heart felt a few fractions lighter.

Of course, then I crashed into the roof and ended up with my chin pressed against cold marble with my feet and tail hanging over my head.

I was the picture of grace. Really, truly a graceful and magnificent being.

In my head, anyway.

“That was a magnificent show, Sir Alastair.”

I peered up at the person talking to me. “Err, Emperor Artaxiad! What are you doing up here?”

“…this is my balcony.”

I righted myself and looking around. Now that I wasn’t as up close and personal with the floor, I noticed that it wasn’t the roof, it really was a balcony. “Oh….sorry.”

“You seem troubled. Perhaps I could be of some help?”

To be honest, I could not tell you how he managed to look so regal in his pajamas, a robe and…fuzzy bunny slippers? “…I don’t know. Everyone I talked to about this hasn’t been very helpful.”

Artaxiad arched an eyebrow. “Who did you talk to?”

“My weapon, who was all mysterious and guru on the mountain top on me, and Connor, who is actually part of the problem. I started to talk to Dorjan about it…but he’s kinda involved too.”

Artaxiad looked confused at this. “…So it involves Sir Connor and Sir Dorjan as well?”

“Well, Dorjan in a more abstract manner than Connor, really.”

Artaxiad nodded, then peered behind the curtain into what must’ve been his bedroom, then righted two chairs I must’ve knocked over during my elegant face-plant landing. “Please, sit. Tell me about this problem you have.”

I didn’t know it then, but later on I discovered that Daemons like to fix other people’s problems before their own.

I explained my problem to him. When I got to the part about Yuuishi, he laughed. “Yuuishi can be rather charming…if not a bit pompous at times. Ah, sorry. Do continue.” When I was finished, explaining what had happened between me and Connor in the dining room, Artaxiad looked sad and reached out to place a warm hand on my shoulder. “I forget just how young you really are… ”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing insulting, it’s just… when you think about it, they are really such childish cares in the face of fighting a war.”

”I try not to think about the ‘fighting in a war’ part.” I said, honestly. “I think I really will go crazy if I do.”

“You will have to face it sometime, Alastair.”

“I know…”

“But perhaps we should sort this out first; we cannot afford to have you distracted on the field of battle.”

“Darling?” Reia poked her head out of the curtains and onto the balcony. “Oh! Sir Alastair! Good Morning.” She rubbed her eyes a few times. “…why are you up here?”

“He practiced flying the hard way.” Artaxiad said, smiling at me.

Reia winced. “Oh dear…”

“You’re both just jealous of my fabulous triple gainer face-plant.” I said, then I froze. I was chatting with the Emperor and Empress, both of whom were still in their pjs, like I was some old and dear family friend or something! “Not that I mean any disrespect or anything!”

Reia giggled. “It’s alright, my dear Sir Alastair. Please, feel free to speak plainly with us.”

Artaxiad’s tail was swishing back and forth in a slow, drowsy manner as his brows furrowed in concentration. “I would say just go to Yuuishi and confess how you feel, but…I doubt it’s that easy, is it?”

“Not everyone is like you, my darling.” Reia said, kissing his head as she held her stomach.

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Reia went to go pull over another chair when Artaxiad got up from his seat and ushered her into it, going to pull over a different chair for himself and lifted Reia’s tiny feet into his lap. “Oh…I suppose you would not know the story… You see, I was not exactly a prime candidate for the next queen when Artaxiad was still a Prince. The people I lived with wanted Artaxiad to marry their daughter, but when he saw he saw me, he thought I was their daughter, and he courted me. Well, he tried to, anyway.”

“She refused to be courted. She ran from me, returned my gifts…even went so far as to throw various fruits and vegetables at me.”

Reia blushed and scowled at Artaxiad. “That is because you would not take no for an answer!”

“Because, as an answer, it was not a very good one. Nor was it the correct one.” Artaxiad said, grinning.

“Needless to say, once he did manage to get me to agree to a courtship, the people I was staying with were rather upset when he asked for my hand in marriage. They explained who I really was and introduced him to their real daughter. I though Artaxiad would choose her over me, and instead he said-”

“’She is not the woman I fell in love with and I will have nothing to do with the courtship of her. I will be taking Reia’s hand in marriage whether you like it or not’.” Artaxiad said with a soft look at Reia. “Father was furious with me that I had anger such an influential family. I did not particularly care for his opinion on the matter. All I knew was that I was in love with Reia. And she returned my affections.”

“Your father got over it though, did he not?”

“After he found out they were acting spies for Materia, yes. He got over that mishap very quickly indeed.” Artaxiad finished rubbing Reia’s feet and covered them with some of his velvet robe. “What do you think of Sir Alastair’s predicament, my love?”

“What predicament?”

I explained my problem fully for the second (third) time that day. It was getting rather boring. I was beginning to think I should just write it down and show it to everyone.

Reia bit her lower lip in concern. "It is a... rather messy situation, is it not?"

"Yeah." I slumped in my chair.

"Well, honestly I think you should leave it all alone. Do not worry about such things and the answer will come to you."

"So what do I do in the meantime?"

"I supposed you could throw yourself into your training. It is what I did when I was confused about Artaxiad's affections for me."

"I guess." I rose, wincing slightly. "Thank you for your...help..." I trailed off. They were not paying any attention to me.

"What was there to be confused about?" Artaxiad said, flustered. "I was obviously madly in love with you! And still am, for that matter."

"I know that now, but at the time I thought it was a very cruel prank."

"That was a silly thing to think."

Reia flicked her tail at him. "So you think." She looked at me as I stretch my wings out and winced again.

"Go see Lady Alda. You do not want to go into weapons training already injured." Artaxiad said, giving me a concerned look that mirrored his wife's.

"Will you be alright?" She asked me, reaching out to touch my arm.

"I guess so." I shrugged. "Don't worry about it." I was about to take off again when Reia tugged on my wrist.

"Sir Alastair, perhaps it would be wiser to use the door this time?"

I blushed a little before coughing to clear my throat. "If that's all right with your majesties…?"

"Of course it is. Go on."

Reia nodded to Artaxiad and he stood to see me out. "Sir Alastair."

"Yeah? I mean, yes?"

"You should at least talk to Yuuishi."

"But-"

"It is hard enough to have feelings for another without the added complications you both have. I know what it is like to chase someone who doesn't know what they want. It is painful, Sir Alastair."

"He said my tail knows what I want. It's embarrassing to tell someone to go away and leave you alone when your tail is wrapped around them."

Artaxiad laughed. "It could just be that because your mind and heart are in such a turbulent state that your tail was simply looking for something to hold on to."

I stared at him. "Yes, but him? And what's so funny about it?"

"Nothing. It's just that children tend to do it more often than adults."

"Yes, yes, I know, it's a sign of just childish I am here, blah blah blah."

"It's all right, Sir Alastair. Do not make yourself fret over such things."

I walked out after thanking him, my head swimming. “What the hell am I gonna do?” I hated feeling with way. I hated it. I found my way to the healer’s room eventually and held still as Lady Alda worked. I pulled my wing muscles and put my spine back into alignment apparently.

Cid poked his head in as I was being worked on and gave me a careful once over. “You all right, kid?”

“I will be.”

“Good. We’ve got weapons training in an hour.”

“Where?”

“I’ll send someone to come get you and take you there. See you in an hour, kid.”

I nodded and watched him lumber out.

This was not going to be my day.

18,575 / 50,000
(37.1%)

Nano Chapters 6-9, and a little bit of 10

2005-11-16T19:47:28Z

Chapter 6

I walked out of the bathroom to see Yuuishi holding a bag of ice to his eye where I hit him. I didn’t feel sorry at all for doing it, either. Do all Daemons have no sense of personal space? Or was it just Yuuishi?

Connor walked over to me. “Are you okay?! Did he touch you?! Are you still pure?!”

“No, yes and yes. I’m fine, Connor. Really.”

Connor frowned, and gave Yuuishi one last dirty look before going to pick up his duffle. “So…when do we leave?”

“Once we’re all bathed and dressed and ready to go.”

It wasn’t all that surprising that Aya and Yuuishi took the shortest amount of time, while Dorjan and Kaida took the longest, though Kaida considerably longer than everyone else. Probably because of all that hair.

I couldn’t stop staring at Yuuishi though. I couldn’t honestly believe he was going to leave the house looking like that. He was wearing a sweater that bared his midriff and had the sleeves bunched up so they were only three quarter’s length. That wasn’t so bad though. What was even worse were the pants. They were tight and black and rode low on his hips. Even Dorjan looked uncomfortable with Yuuishi’s choice of outfit, though judging by the blush on his face, I’d say for a very different reason.

“Won’t you be cold?”

“Nah. Cold doesn’t bother me.”

“In that outfit, I should hope so.” Connor was eyeing Yuuishi oddly.

“…What? Does my butt look big or something?”

“We’re leaving now.” Kaida grabbed Yuuishi by the hair and dragged him out of the house. I packed my notebook into a bag with some clothes in it and followed them, Aya and Connor flanking me, with Dorjan bringing up the rear.

We reached a clearing in the park near my house. It was too cold for anyone in their right mind to be there.

This probably explained why we were there, in any case.

Aya was rummaging around in her messenger bag for something. “Aya thought she put it in here when Joran gave it to Aya… Aya is positive Aya put it in here when Joran gave it to Aya, because Joran said to Aya to make sure it was safe, because Joran doesn’t make Gate spells very often and Joran said Joran would feed Aya to Kai if Aya lost it.”

“Would you like it if I looked?” Dorjan offered, holding out his hand for the bag while the other reached behind him for something.

“Aya would appreciate it muchly if Dorjan looked.” She handed her bag over to Dorjan, looking very upset at the though of losing…whatever the hell a gate spell was.

Dorjan made as though he was looking though the bag as he pulled something out of his back pocket, making it appear as though he removed it from the bag. “Ah, here it is, Aya.” He handed the…whatever it was to Aya.

“Yay! Thank you, Dorjan!” Aya bounced over to Yuuishi with her find.

“Uh…”

“If we had left it with her,” Dorjan whispered to me, “She would have lost it, and then we would be stuck here until Joran made another gate spell and had it delivered to us…which means he’d be very upset with the lot of us and probably make good on his threat to have Kai eat Aya.” Dorjan paused for a moment. “Well, no, Kai wouldn’t eat Aya, but he’d defiantly chew on her.”

“…What is it?”

“A gate spell.”

“Oh.” That explained everything. It was a gate spell. How could I not have known that?

What the hell is a gate spell?!

“…What’s a gate spell?” Connor whispered to me.

“No clue.” I pulled out my notebook. “Yuuishi never mentioned it.”

“…you took notes?”

“What?” What was wrong with taking notes?

“You are such a geek, Al.” Connor laughed.

“Hey, my notes save your ass sometimes, so don’t knock ‘em.”

Aya blinked at us. “What is a ‘geek’?”

Kaida looked at us oddly as she answered Aya’s question. “A geek is a person who bites the heads off of live chickens.”

Connor and I blinked at each other. “Err, not so much anymore, really.” Connor said with a laugh. “’Cause of all those animal rights laws and all that kind of stuff.”

“Oh? So…what is a ‘geek’ in modern tongue?” Kaida asked, as Yuuishi grumbled and cursed as he fiddled with the “gate spell”.

“Nowadays, the word geek is more often applied to a person who is extremely studious, usually in a very socially crippling fashion.”

“Oh.” Aya said. “So…being a geek is bad?”

“Only if you value the acceptance of people who will always be dumber than you are.”

No, I’m not bitter. Really, I’m not. I enjoy being sort of popular vicariously through Connor.

Aya looked confused. “I don’t understand. You humans are really weird and kind of scary.”

“STUPID PIECE OF- GRAH! Dorjan! You do it!” Yuuishi thrust the hunk of metal into Dorjan’s hands, scowling.

Dorjan merely raised an eyebrow (the action made him look like Spock from Star Trek: The Original Series). “Perhaps it is better if I do.” Dorjan open his mouth and reached his finger in. I never realized he had such huge fangs. After he painted his blood over the chunk of metal (I was told later there was a glyph on the metal that had to be painted over with blood), he set it between the two bars of door way in one of the jungle gym sets. I stared as the door way became filled with a glowing, iridescent light.

“Are you sure this is safe?” Connor asked, nervously.

“Of course it’s safe. What did you expect us to do? Walk there?” Yuuishi scoffed.

“So, you’re absolutely, positively sure we won’t end up in some kind of hell dimension or something?”

“Please, no one’s ever hijacked one of Joran’s charms before.”

Connor shivered. “If you’re sure…”

“Totally and completely. Now, everyone, grab a partner.” Connor and I looked at each other and grabbed each other’s arm. Yuuishi gave us a look. “…if you are human, pick a non-human.”

“Aya will hold Alastair’s hand, okay? This way, Alastair won’t be scared. Okay?” She smiled at me and took my hand in her glove covered one.

It had comforted me, then. Not much, but enough.

I never thanked her. I’ll regret that for the rest of my life, how ever long it may be.

“Alright…” I took Aya’s hand in mine. Connor took Dorjan’s hand.

“Whatever you do, Sir Connor, do not let go of my hand.” I heard Dorjan say.

“You’ll have to pry me off when we get there.” Connor said with a nervous laugh.

“Everyone have a buddy? Good. Close your eyes as you step through the door. Interdimentional travel is a bitch on your brain, and you’re of no use to us mindless.”

“…can we keep our eyes shut before walking through?”

Yuuishi turned to give Connor a look. “What? Are you scared?”

“Absolutely terrified.” Connor said, giving Yuuishi a big smile.

Yuuishi looked a bit confused at just how honest Connor was. He held pride a little higher than Connor did, I guess. “Err…well, yeah. You can close them before going through. Just don’t open them inside the gate.”

“Right. Let me know when it’s safe.” Connor squeezed his eyes shut.

I did too, but that’s besides the point.

“Okay, Alastair. Walk forward.” Aya whispered to me. Her voice guided me through the gate, even as her own eyes must’ve closed. I felt a tingly feeling wash over me. Not unpleasant actually. Almost like being in the bath and then rising from the water and climbing out of the tub. It was a good, warm, safe feeling.

For about three seconds, anyway.

Chapter 7

Once I had stepped out of the gate, I had barely opened my eyes before I screamed. I fell to my knees, clutching at my head as a sudden, blinding pain blasted through me. I could feel something coming out of my head near my temples, out of my shoulder blades, and from my tail bone. It was agonizing. It felt like my skin was being peeled off in strips while I was being burned by red hot pokers at the same time. My screams turned into howls of agony. Inhuman wails that echoed off the walls and covered the sound of rushing footsteps. I could feel a cool, soothing wind blow over me and gentle fingers running through my hair, a soft voice saying it would all be over soon. Connor told me Yuuishi held me as I howled, sobbing in agony that can hardly be described. He soothed me until the healers got there, and he stayed by my side while they numbed my nerves, and that he stayed by my side even after I passed out.

It was nice to know he didn’t make fun of me for it. He was frightened by it all almost as much as I was. No one had expected me to have a Daemon form; not with me having a Human mother.

…for the record though? The horns totally kick ass. As do the wings. The tail took a little getting used to. Connor thinks it’s prehensile, and that it will help me with my balance when I try to walk with reversed knees.

My wings and tail were covered in shimming golden scales, as was my back and the sides of my neck, fading up into my hair. My horns curved up from my head, went into a zigzag pattern then curved around to point towards my jaw.

I looked awesome. I looked badass. I…looked like a total retard when I tried to take my first step and landed flat on my face. My tail began twitching in annoyance.

I looked up to see Yuuishi, Kaida, Dorjan and Aya, and I gaped. I hadn’t seen the others switch into their Daemons forms.

“Alastair, I figured it out!” Connor said excitedly. I guess he had more time to get used to the new forms than I did.

“…figured what out?” I asked from the floor.

“Why we want to punch them when they’re in human form! Their faces are perfectly symmetrical!”

It didn’t make any sense to me, really. I wasn’t in a position to give the idea any real thought, but Connor seemed pleased.

I got myself up off the ground and eyed each one carefully.

Yuuishi had a long, serpentine tail that glittered when light struck the blue scales, making it look like the ocean almost, as well as two long…antennae-like feeler thingies that started on Yuuishi’s forehead, near his temples, and went down to the middle of his back, and they were also covered in blue scales..

Kaida had wide wings that reminded me of a dragon’s, covered in red scales, looking almost as though they were on fire. She had horns coming out near her temples as well, curving back, and then forward, looking as though if she were to head butt someone, those horns would go right into their skull and kill them instantly.

Aya didn’t look much different, save for the fact that where once a headband had given her rabbit ears, she now actually had them. She had brown fur running down her spine and into her little almost deer like tail that was twitching in a happy rhythm.

Dorjan was by far the most terrifying of them all. His wings looked like a bat’s, only without the flesh covering the bone framework of the wings. The flesh in between the bones was an inky black that gave me the shivers, and he had his wings hooked in front of him, making him appear almost vampire like, his tail curling around to cover his feet. The tail was thick and powerful, and looked more like a snake then an appendage. The black scales covering Dorjan’s tail and wings gleamed in the light as he shifted, and I could see patterns in the scales on the wings that almost looked like eyes, though I couldn’t tell for sure. The horns coming up from his hair seemed more wicked and vicious than Kaida’s, even though they looked like simple ram’s horns.

I trembled where I stood, whimpering and shaking, and it felt like I was just noticing how black his eyes were for the first time. The were dark, all encompassing and it felt like they were drawing me in, swallowing me whole and suffocating me to the point where even if I had wanted to scream, I couldn’t. I was trapped, unable to move from that gaze.

I was never more terrified until that moment.

“Alastair?” Aya put a hand on my shoulder.

“Aya, remember how I reacted to seeing Dorjan’s true form?” Connor said to her as I tried to stop shaking.

“Yes. Connor said it was like looking Death in the face.”

“That’s what Alastair’s going through.”

“Oh. Aya doesn’t think that Dorjan is that scary looking.”

“It’s not the way he looks, Aya. It’s the, how do I say this… I guess the word for it is aura.”

“Oh.” She turned to me, tail twitching worriedly. “Is Alastair okay now?”

“Y-yeah. Yes. I’m fine, Aya.” I gave myself a mental shake. “You know, Dorjan, you could give a guy some warning before you go and loom over him.”

“I am not looming, Lord Alastair. I am merely standing here, though from your vehemence, I will assume that you are in good spirits after that nasty magical shock you had.”

“Magical shock?”

“We miscalculated in a big way.” Yuuishi said. “We expected you to have magic, but not a Daemon form.”

“Why wouldn’t I have a Daemon form?”

“Because you’re half human.” Yuuishi said, looked agitated.

“Why should that matter?”

“Most half humans do not have a Daemon form.” Dorjan said. Really he was being much more helpful now that he looked like he would steal my soul and send me to Hell at any moment. “Come, we will provide you with clothing, since the ones you came with were destroyed during your transformation.”

Oh yeah. My clothes. I forgot about those.

Wait a minute.

“ACK! I’m naked!” I scrabbled back towards my bed.

“Actually, you aren’t.” Kaida said, amused. “Look down.”

I glanced down. “…So now I get to wear a skirt instead of pants?” It made sense, what with the tail and all. The outfit (more like very loose pants and a top) looked like layers upon layers of gossamer draped over my body, lighter than feathers so I didn’t realize I wear wearing it.

“It is typical of hospital clothing to be very light, so it does not irritate the patient’s sensitized skin after healing.” A voice said behind me.

I spun…and landed on my ass again. “WAH!”

“Granny Alda!” was Aya’s delighted cry.

“Elder!” Kaida and Dorjan.

“Master Healer.” Yuuishi bowed to the elderly woman. Her wings were folded back like a butterfly at rest and were a clear, shimmering white. Here hair was silver-y white and piled on her head in elegant braids. She was old. Very old. She carried herself with grace and dignity, though.

“Uhh…hi.” I said lamely.

She smiled. She reminded me of old Mrs. T, though without the cats of Evil, or the almost bitter loneliness that sometimes crossed her face. “Hello, Alastair. My name is Alda. I am the Master Healer here.”

I nodded. “Thank you for, uhh… doing what ever it was that you did to help me.”

Oh yeah, what a charmer I was.

“We really only sedated you, Alastair.” She said with a kind smile. “If you are ready, we have some…other clothes for you. The Emperor is waiting.”

“Err, yeah. Yes. I’m ready.” I turned to the others. “What about them?”

“We’ll be taken care of as well, Alastair, don’t worry.” Kaida gave me a confident smile. “This isn’t the first time we’re going before the Emperor.”

“Well, it’s mine!” Connor said, distressed.

“Do not worry, Sir Human.” One of the other healers said, smiling at him. “We will make sure you get taken care of too.” There was a wave of giggles as I scowled.

Yuuishi gave me a look. “Don’t worry, they won’t hurt him.”

“That’s not what I’m afraid of.” I growled at him.

Alda rested a hand on my arm. “Come, Alastair. This way.”

I followed Alda out of the room, a sinking feeling in my stomach.

Turns out I was right.

I’m beginning to hate being right.

~~~

I was dressed in loose pants (with a hole for my tail. As it turns out, it is prehensile) and backless top (backless for my wings, of course). I checked out my feet. They were weird. It was like someone gave me bird legs, only much stronger. Much, much stronger. My thighs were huge. It was so cool! I was like an ostrich or something, but with scales!

Wow, that was geeky. Never mind. The point is that my legs were really strong.

Anyway, the cloth was a soft, muted grey, I have no idea what it was made of, but it was also heavier than the stuff I wore in that medical room.

At least I knew I was wearing it, this time.

Walking in the new form had taken some getting used to, but I was practicing in the room they had left me in.

“Lord Alastair?” a soft voice from behind me.

I turned (slowly) to see who it was. She was a small, about Aya’s size, probably closer to Aya’s age as well. “Yes?”

“Ah, I’m Aoulani.” She gave me a tiny bow. “…I’m not usually so nervous but, well, they’re saying you’re the one who’s gonna end the war…”

“That’s what I was told.” I gave her the warmest smile I could manage. “And while I don’t know what’s going to happen, I can promise you I’ll do my best.”

“...Thank you.” She bowed again. “I have a message from the Emperor. He will see you now.”

“Oh…well, could you lead the way?”

Aoulani nodded. “Please, this way, milord!” She darted off, and I did my best to keep up without falling on my face.

This was how I got the hang of running in my Daemon form.

~~~

I was shown into yet another room to wait for the Emperor, only this time, the others were there.

“Well well well, don’t you look spiffy?” Yuuishi said to me. He was wearing an outfit made of shiny blue cloth. I wonder if this had to do with the Class they were all in, as Connor wore the same color outfit that I did, though Kaida was in a shimmering red, Dorjan in a shimmering black, and Aya in a sparkling grey outfit. Connor looked really good though. The healers did a good job, the grabby wenches that they were.

“You do clean up nicely, Al.” Connor gave me a grin.

I blushed a little “You look nice too.”

He smiled at me again, and I fought down the urge to hide my face in my wings.

The doors opened and we stepped through to see the Emperor and his Empress.

“Oh! Lesbians!” Connor said, almost delighted.

I buried my face in my hands with a groan of embarrassment.

I hate it when my bad feelings always come true.

Chapter 8

“Forgive him, milord, milady!” Dorjan sounded scandalized as he knelt before them. “Please spare the human, he knows not what he says!”

There was soft laughter coming from the woman with the long hair. I couldn’t tell for sure from where I was, but it looked like she was very pregnant. “My husband is very pretty isn’t he?” More giggles. “Though I do so hate to disappoint you with the fact that he is very much a male.”

The Emperor buried his face in his hands. I had a feeling he and I would get along very well. “Reia, please. You are embarrassing me in front of my subjects.”

“I am sorry my dear…it was just too funny though…”

“Ah, never mind. I welcome you to my kingdom, honored guests.

Yuuishi sidled up next to Connor. “The only reason he’s being so lenient with you is because Her Majesty hasn’t laughed like this since she became pregnant.”

“Oh…” Connor stepped forward and bowed slightly. “Thank you for your hospitality, your Majesties. I meant no offence with my earlier comment.”

“None was taken, Sir Human.” The Empress said with a soft smile. “My name is Reia, and my husband here is Artaxiad… what is yours?”

“Me? My name is Connor Andreas.” He gave a dramatic bow. “I am most honored to meet your acquaintances.”

“…he speaks well. For a human, anyway.” Artaxiad said with a slight sniff. I think he was still a little bit insulted that Connor thought he was a girl.

“Connor pretends to read a lot of Shakespeare, Sire.” I said. “Um…My name is Alastair. Alastair Brogan.”

“The prophesized one?”

“Apparently.” I said with a nervous laugh. “I mean…I can’t make any promises, except for the promise that I’ll do my best.”

Artaxiad nodded. “That is all we can ask of you, Sir Alastair.”

“Err, just Alastair is fine, Your Highness. Or even just Al is okay…” I shifted nervously. “Um…is it okay for Connor to be here? I mean, he is fully human and all and I don’t want to start any trouble for you if he’s here and-”

“I am not here to help you, Your Highness.”

I gaped at Connor. We all did. “What are you doing?!” Kaida hissed.

“I am not here for you, I am not here for your cause, nor am I here for your people. I am here to help out my friend, and nothing more. I came of my own free will, and I will leave of my own free will, though you can be damn sure that if I do leave, I will be taking Alastair with me, that stupid prophecy of yours be damned.”

They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity before Artaxiad raised an eyebrow. “He speaks very well for a human.” He smiled. “All right. I understand.”

The two shared a smile. I didn’t understand what, exactly, had passed between the two, but it was obvious that they had reached an understanding.

“Your Highness, would you like my report?” Yuuishi said, stepping forward.

“Oh, yes.” Artaxiad looked to one of his attendants. “Is Cid here yet?”

Connor and I looked at each other. ‘Cid?’ I mouthed to him, amused.

‘There’s always a Cid.’ He mouthed back, just as amused as I was.

“Yes, Sire, he just arrived.”

“Send him in.” Artaxiad turned to face us again. “Lord Cid is our Weapons Master. He will analyze you to figure out your Class- you do know about the Classes, don’t you?”

“Yes, Your Highness. Yuuishi explained it to me.”

“Good. He will have you both outfitted with a weapon as well.”

The doors opened and a man walked in. He stood at about 6 feet tall…though when I looked closer, I saw that that was only his torso! Starting from just under his navel were dark red scales. His whole lower half looked like that of a dragon’s! He had four powerful legs that ended in claws, and a tail that had to be at least four feet long and about as thick as one of my wings. There were spines running along the length of his back, from the beginning of his lower body to the tip of his tail. He had to be at least 15 feet from head to tail tip. He was huge. Gargantuan. Really, really, really big, even!

It was damn scary! I began to flap my wings, trying to get away from this huge, terrifying man.

“Alastair, calm down!”

No, I couldn’t! Couldn’t they see how dangerous he was?! I had to get to higher ground! I had made it about three feet off the floor when he spoke.

“Relax, boy. I’m not gonna eat ya’.”

I froze in mid-flap and fell to the ground, landing on my butt (not my tail, thankfully). “You must be Cid.”

“Yup.” He grinned at me. “You must be Alastair. The healers said you were a bit of a screamer.”

I scowled at him. “So? Nothing wrong with that! It just so happens to be the Brogan family battle cry.”

Cid gave a snort, and I whimpered as smoke came out of his nostrils. “I know the Brogan family battle cry, kid. It doesn’t involve screaming like a little girl.”

Drat. Foiled. “Hmph.”

“I was under your father in the First Wave, you know.”

That caught my attention. “My father?”

“What, you didn’t know? He was commander of the 13th regiment; a hero around these parts.”

“So you were in the 13th regiment…under the command of my father?”

“Yup.” He folded his huge arms. “We’ll talk more as we go. Come on.” He turned and lumbered out of the room. Connor and I jerked quick bows to the Emperor and Empress before dashing after him.

“What did you mean by ‘First Wave’?” Connor asked, keeping up easily with the large man.

“The first wave of Materia’s attacks.”

“Oh.”

We walked in silence towards our destination.

"Alastair, are you okay?" Connor whispered to me.

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"I mean...all this, I guess. The discovery of the fact that you're a half Daemon with a Daemon form when by all rights you shouldn't have one, Daemon magic, and fighting in a war to save the Daemon and Human races."

"Should it bother me? I mean, this is what I was born to do, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but... your destiny is your own. Something some old fogey said thousands of years ago is not gonna control that."

"I know." I gave him a small smile. "I think it'll all catch up to me all at once at some point. Then I'll go crazy and blow shit up."

"That's the spirit, kid!" Cid laughed. "Don't worry. I'll help you out how ever I can."

That was comforting to know. It made me feel better to know Cid would help me out. "Thank you."

"You're the son of my commander. How could I possibly face him again if I just left you high and dry?"

"What was my father like?"

"He was a great man. A strong fighter, though he always made sure he killed quickly and painlessly. He was a good leader, never leaving one of his own on the battlefield to die. We would follow him to the ends of the Earth, to Hell and back, if he asked us. Heh, even if he didn't we would."

"You inspire the same kind of feelings, Al."

I turned to Connor. "What?"

"You always do what you think is right, you don't take shit from anybody, and you're quick to stand up for others. It's admirable."

I blushed to the roots of my hair. "Shut up."

Connor laughed. "And you seriously cannot take a compliment gracefully."

"Bah." I scowled, still blushing.

"He's like his father that way." Cid said, laughing as he paused in front of a door. "Here we are. Alastair, go on in, we'll wait out here for ya."

I nodded and opened the door. The room was pitch black as I stepped inside. "Hello?"

"Come in." A circle of light appeared on the floor. "Step into the circle."

"...I'm not gonna die, or something, am I?"

"What?"

"Nothing." I stepped forward into the circle.

"Oh, I know who you are, boy... Alastair Brogan, hm?"

"Uh, yeah. That's me."

"Close your eyes."

"Okay..." I did as I was told.

"What do you smell?"

Smell? I took a deep breath through my nose. The air smelled like there was going to be a thunderstorm. "Like a storm is coming."

"I see... I thought so. You are of the Yellow Class."

"Which part?"

"We're getting there, be patient!" A growl. "Just like your father; an insufferable brat."

"HEY!" Who was whoever this person was calling a brat?!

"Reach out."

"Huh?"

"Reach out with your mind."

"To what?"

"Focus on the smell."

Okay... I closed my eyes again and focused on the smell in the air. I called out to it in my mind, reaching for it. 'Come to me.'

Lightning crashed all around me. "Whoa!"

"I see... Half Level LC."

"Half Level LC?"

"Creation of lightning, but poor control over it."

"What are the other levels?"

"You don't know?"

"Would I be asking if I did?" Really. It was only natural that I'd ask...

"Hmph. Brat. Level A is creation, Level B is control and Level C is the ability to do both. Get someone else to explain the rest, I'm busy."

Oh. "Thank you." I turned and walked out.

"Hey! How did it go?" Connor asked, getting up from the floor.

"I'm a Yellow Class, Half Level LC."

"Huh?" Connor looked confused.

"I can create lightning, but my control is crap. I think that's what it means... that's what the person said, anyway."

"Now that your powers have manifested, you got to be careful. It's tied to your emotions until you learn to summon it of your own free will." Cid said. "You'll be a regular LC in no time."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Cid."

"So, what, you're like Storm from the X-Men now?"

"Uh, no. Not exactly."

"Oh. So... what are you?"

I took my bag from him and rummaged through it, pulling out my notebook and handing it to him. "Read that. It doesn't explain the level thing, but it should basically explain the Classes."

"You're still a total geek, dude."

"You're just jealous of my crazy note taking skills."

Cid had stopped in front of another door. "Alright. This is the weapons chamber. Now, before I send you in, I want to explain a few things."

"I don't want a gun blade." Connor said suddenly.

"...What?"

"I don't want a gun blade, 'cause then I'd have to wear fuzzy leather and shout bits of inter monologue out loud and angst a lot and, besides, the nose scar thing? So. Tacky."

Cid gave Connor and odd look. "All right... no gun blade for you. Got it. Can I finish what I was saying, now?"

"Oh yeah, sure. Go right ahead."

"Thank you." He cleared his throat. "The thing with weapons is that they all have a name, and only one weapon is meant for you. it is very rare that a person gets two weapons."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll understand when you go in."

"Um, okay."

"Your weapon will become a part of you. You will hear your weapon's voice in your heart. Do right by your weapon, and it will never guide you wrong."

"What weapons are available?"

"You do not choose the weapon, it will choose you."

"Oh."

Cid smiled. "Take Kooriryuu for example."

"Who?"

"Kooriryuu is Yuuishi's jitte."

"Jitte?"

"You'll meet her soon enough. It took Yuuishi a very long time to form the alliance he has now with her. When a weapon and its wielder are out of sync with one another, it will cause damage to them both."

I reached for my notebook and was startled to find it not at my side like normal. Connor handed it to me with a pen and a smile.

He knows me too well.

"Please, continue." I said, scribbling down what I learned so far.

Cid gave me an odd look, but then nodded and continued to speak. "For some people, it is not a matter of disharmony, it is a matter of hearing your weapon. Dorjan sat in this room for days before hearing Ars Moriendi, his scythe."

"His weapon is a scythe?" Connor shivered. "He really is Death."

"Aya and her shuko, Funinjoo na Funiki, practically leapt at each other. She calls him Fun-Fun for short."

"Do the names mean something?"

"Hm? Oh yes. Kooriryuu is Ice Dragon, Ars Moriendi id 'The Art of Death', and Funinjoo na Funiki is 'the Unkind Atmosphere'."

Huh. Odd for Aya's weapon to have such a name when she isn't apparent of an Elemental Class. "Cool."

"There's very few people who can sync with their weapon on the first try, and one of them was Kaida and her whip, Honoo no Odori."

"Honoo no Odori?"

"Dance of Flames."

"Lots of really poetic names, aren't there?"

"Sometimes. Other times you get a weapon with a name like Bob."

I coughed to hide my snicker. "Bob?"

"I'm not kidding, its name was Bob."

I shrugged. To each his own, as the saying goes. "Okay, so what now?"

"Who wants to go in first?"

"I'll go." Connor said, setting my bag down. "But, uh, why did you ask?"

"You're both getting a weapon, aren't you?"

"But I'm human."

"So? Go on."

Connor took a deep breath and walked through the door. When he came out again, he had what looked like a shot gun and a sniper rifle in one.

“Well?”

“I shall call him Ghandi.”

I stared at him. “Dude…Ghandi was a pacifist.”

“I know, and this here inspires one to be real peaceful like, doesn’t he?”

Well, I guess he had a point. I eyed the room with a sense of unease going through me.

“Go on…You don’t need to be scared.”

“What if I don’t find one?”

Cid placed a guiding hand on my shoulder and led me into the weapons chamber. “Look around. One will call to you.”

I must’ve walked around for hours until I heard a soft voice calling out to me. I had no idea what it was called, the actual form of the weapon, but the minute I touched it, I knew its name. Wakinyan. I learned from Cid that the weapon was called a glaive-guisarmes, because of the hook on the reverse side of the blade. He also told me that Wakinyan meant Thunder Bird, which was really fitting, when you thought about it.

Holding the weapon somehow made me feel a little more, I don’t know, calmer, I guess you could say. Like I finally found something I’ve been searching a very long time for. I held onto it as Cid talked about something. I think he mentioned weapons training, but I was too distracted by the soft whispering in my head, and the faint rustle of feathers behind it.

“Alastair? Are you listening?”

“Huh?”

“Get some sleep, we’re starting Weapons training tomorrow.”

“Oh…right then. Good night.”

I had made it about half way down the hall before a thought occurred to me. I turned around.

“You want to know where your room is, right?”

“It would be a good thing to know, yeah.”

Cid laughed. “Follow me, I’ll show you where you’ll be staying.”

“Thanks Uncle Cid.”

He gave me an odd look at that, but then he smiled and ruffled my hair. “Don’t mention it. You’ll actually be pretty pissed off, if what Connor here says is true.”

“Huh? Why?”

“You’re bunking with Yuuishi.”

It took Cid ten minutes to get me to stop banging my head against the wall.

Chapter 9

I curled up on the far side of Yuuishi’s bed, scowling at him. “I know you had a hand in this.”

“Oh? What ever do you mean?”

“I mean, you pulled strings to get me in here.”

“What? In my bed?” Yuuishi smirked. “The only strings I pulled to get you in here were your own.”

“What?!”

Yuuishi crawled closer to me. “I think I’ve made it obvious that I’m attracted to you, Alastair.”

“Well, the feeling isn’t mutual! You keep the hell away from me!”

“Playing hard to get?”

“I’m not playing, and for you? I’m not hard to get, I’m impossible to get! NOW GET OUT!”

“It’s my room.”

“Get out anyway!”

“I fail to see the logic in your argument. Come on, lovely…you know you want me.”

Where the hell was his logic, huh?! “I want you dead more than I want you in the sexual way that you seem to think I do.” I hissed.

“Of course you do.” Yuuishi leaned in and kissed me. I tried to shove him off, but he wasn’t budging.

Yuuishi smirked against me lips. “You know, for all your protesting, you really do want me.”

“No. I. Do. Not.” I hissed at him, sparking.

“Oh? Explain this, then.” He indicated my tail…it was wrapped around his waist and curling at his hip. “See? Your tail knows what you want.”

"First of all, it lies; second of all, never talk that way about my tail again. It's disturbing and weird."

Yuuishi just smirked at me. “But it’s true.”

“Let me go.” I shoved at him again, though my tail still had a firm grip on Yuuishi’s waist.

“You let me go first.” Yuuishi kissed his way along my jaw as I tried to pry my tail off the infuriating bastard without actually having to touch him. It didn’t work very well, but by the time I got my tail off him, his hair was starting to stick up strangely.

“There, go away now!”

“I’m still not leaving. It’s my room.”

“…I hate you. So much.”

“No you don’t. You just haven’t realized it yet.”

“I haven’t realized that I don’t hate you?”

“Exactly.”

The whole thing made my head hurt, so, with a noise of irritation and disgust (and a few annoyed sparks), I turned so that my back was to Yuuishi as I clutched my tail to my chest so it wouldn’t do more weird things without my permission. “Don’t touch me while I’m sleeping okay? Or I will stab you with Wakinyan.”

“…Wakinyan? Oh! You got your weapon already?”

“Yes. Want me to introduce you?”

Yuuishi gave me an odd look. “You won’t make out with me, but you’ll introduce me to your weapon?”

“I meant point first.” My tail began to twitch in annoyance. At least it got that emotion down right. “Why?”

“…When you introduce your weapon to someone…I guess it’s kinda like bringing your lover home to meet your parents.”

…I was beginning to wonder just what kind of relationships, exactly, did Daemons have with their weapons.

“…that’s freaky and kind of disturbing, Yuuishi.”

“Didn’t Cid tell you? Your weapon is an extension of your self. Your soul, even, if you can to believe in such things.”

I shifted to face him again. “Your soul?”

“Granted, the weapon has its own personality, but it’s still a part of you; another aspect of you. People who have their weapons broken go into a comatose state and it’s rare that they ever recover.”

Oh. “That’s a distressing thought.”

“It’s reality, though I guess it would be upsetting for someone like you.”

“Someone like me?” What the hell did that mean?

“Someone who has never been in combat; who has never had to take the life of another to save your own.”

Well, that was true at least. “I suppose I’ll experience that soon enough.”

Yuuishi looked almost sad at that. “That’s a distressing thought too.”

“But it’s reality.” I said, echoing his words back at him. I curled into a ball, my back and wings facing him.

At least I didn’t have another smut dream this time.

Chapter 10

I felt the rustle of feathers on my skin before I saw them. “Open your eyes, Alastair.”

They opened, and I saw the most beautiful creature, with feathers shifting between silver and gold and hair the shade of shock white and eyes as grey as any stormy sky. “…Wakinyan?”

“Yes.” He smiled, wings folding around me, holding me to him. “You’re heart is in distress, Alastair.”

“I know. You don’t think I know that?!”

“No need to get so riled up…I’m trying to help you.”

I rested my head on his chest. “I know. It’s just so confusing. I know I love Connor, but then Yuuishi goes and he dose these things and it’s so…infuriating and confusing all at the same time.”

“Because you like them? The things he does?”

“Sometimes. I mean…kissing is nice, and he’s not exactly horrible to look at, but then there’s his attitude and it makes me want to punch him in the face.”

A soft chuckle. “Did you try talking to him?”

“And say what? ‘Listen, Yuuishi, I think you’re kinda hot, but I’m totally in love with someone else and I hate your guts’?”

“No. I suppose before you talk to Yuuishi, think on your feelings for Connor first.”

“I know why my feelings for Connor are.”

“Do you?”

I woke up with that question echoing in my head. Did I really know what my feelings for Connor were?

My musings were cut short when I realized my tail had wrapped itself around Yuuishi. Again. I grumbled as I tried to pry it off him.

Stupid tail.

~~~

I wandered aimlessly around the castle for a bit, trying to find my way to place where I could get something to eat.

“Lord Alastair?”

I squeaked and spun around, coming face to face with Dorjan. “Dorjan, dude, don’t sneak up on me like that!”

“Did you sleep well?”

“I guess.”

He gave me a smile. “We are working on trying to get you and Sir Connor your own quarters. Please try to endure it for a little while longer.”

“Hey, Dorjan? I have something I need to ask you.”

“Yes, Lord Alastair?”

“Where the hell is the kitchen?”

Dorjan looked startled for a moment before chuckling softly. “This way, Lord Alastair.”

I followed Dorjan as he lead me through the twists and turns of my castle. “Hey, Dorjan?”

“Yes, Lord Alastair?”

“Do you have a crush on Yuuishi?”

He paused and turned to look at me. “I fail to see how that’s any of your business.”

“Well, it kinda is. ‘Cause Yuuishi’s be flirting with me a lot… and I’m trying to figure out if that’s just the way he is or if he likes me.”

“Do you like him in return?”

“See, that’s the thing. I don’t know.”

His tail began to twitch. “If you must know, my feelings for Lord Yuuishi are unrequited, he doesn’t flirt with everything that breathes and he really does like you.”

“I’m sorry…”

“What have you to be sorry for?”

“It’s like I’m stealing him from you, even though I don’t mean to.”

“You cannot steal from me what was never mine to begin with, Lord Alastair.” He started towards the kitchen again. “Please follow me.”

“Are you angry with me, Dorjan?”

He didn’t answer.

I took that as a yes.

~~~

My wings were drooping and my tail had lost it’s energetic swing that it had yesterday. Dorjan was mad at me, for something that wasn’t really my fault! It wasn’t fair! I poked at the food set before me with a sigh.

“You okay, Al? You look kinda down.” Connor said, sitting down across from me with his own plate from the kitchen.

“Dorjan’s mad at me.”

“Oh come on. Dorjan’s not mad at you.”

“Yeah he is. I asked him if he was mad at me and he didn’t answer.”

“That’s not exactly a yes, Al.”

“But it’s not exactly a no, either! I’ve never had anyone be really angry with me before!”

“Want me to talk to him for you? We had a bonding moment last night, so maybe he’ll talk to me.”

“…A bonding moment?”

“Yup, he’s just as scared of spiders as I am! See? I’m not crazy, they really are evil.”

Connor’s fear of spiders is mind numbing for him. He’s been scared of them ever since the death of his mother.

Before now, I never really connected the two in my head.

16,361 / 50,000
(32.7%)

Nano, Chapters 1-5 (Woo!!)

2005-11-16T19:46:29Z

Chapter 1

I’ve always thought I was a normal kid. I had normal parents, relatively; normal friends, sort of; and a normal life in general, kind of. I’m the kid who sat in the middle of the room, did my homework at the last minute and waited until the day before a test to study. I like video games, comic books, and the occasionally not sucky show on TV.

Normal, right?

Of course, this was before I found out my father was a Daemon (Not Demon. Daemon. Yeah, that’s what I said too), a commander of a regiment in the Daemon army, and I was apparently going to save both the Human and the Daemon realms, thanks to a prophecy written thousands of years before my birth.

No. Really. I’m apparently the Savior of not one, but two races.

I guess I’m not as normal as I thought I was.

~~~

I want to say it started out as a good day. I want to say it was snowing, and school had been cancelled. But, while it was snowing, I still had school, which included the four tests I had to take, and the paper that was due that I hadn’t actually finished doing yet. It was freezing cold, and too damn early in the morning for it to actually be my birthday, even though it was. The morning of my sixteenth birthday and I was running to the bus stop, fingers freezing and a piece of toast hanging from my mouth. Not exactly the ideal way to start the day, but the highlight of my morning so far was seeing Connor. Connor’s been my best friend since the fifth grade. He’s funny and smart, though he can be a bit of a ditz. Not to mention oblivious. Everyone in the school is in love with Connor, including me, and he doesn’t have a clue. It may be for the best that he doesn’t know about my feelings. I think it would actually be really awkward if we were, you know, a couple, or something.

“Hey.”

“Do you know how cold it is outside?” Connor said to me absently. “It’s twelve degrees Fahrenheit. That’s negative eleven degrees Celsius.”

See what I mean about the smart bit? “Really? Damn.”

“Yeah. It’s cruel and unusual to do this to us, making us wait in the cold for the bus to take us to our imprisonment center for six hours of grueling brainwashing and mental assaults.”

Have I mentioned that Connor is a bit of a drama queen? He has quite the flair for the dramatic. At least, that’s what my mother says.

“We’ll make it through somehow, dude.” I said, through chattering teeth. I squinted through the snow, and thought I saw a bit of snow swirl around a boy who hadn’t been there a moment before. I almost didn’t see him; he was so pale…even his hair was pale. He smirked at me, and in another flurry of snow, he was gone. “Did you see that?”

“See what?” Connor blinked at me, snow clinging to his brown hair.

“There was a kid over there just now…but he just vanished!”

“The snow’s playing tricks on you, Al. Come on, the bus is here.”

I climbed onto the bus, though I continued to stare at the spot where the boy had stood. Maybe I was seeing things. I shrugged it off and opened my text book to study for my first test.

Whoever thought making math first period was a good idea needs to be dragged into the street and shot.

~~~

The boy I saw near the bus stop kept showing up all day. No matter what class I was in, if I looked outside at the snow, he was there, seemingly unruffled by the cold. I knew he was watching me, and I'm positive he knew that I knew. At least I got a better look at him this time, blue-ish white hair (but not like an old lady, more like someone took ice and made it into hair), and pale blue eyes.

It was lunchtime when I managed to pin him down, going up to the roof of my school. He was waiting for me, the creepy bastard.

"I was wondering when you'd show up." He said, casually. "I've been waiting for you all day."

"I had class. Who are you?"

An elegant eyebrow arched. "Who am I? You came up here alone with no idea who it was that you were confronting? That's sloppy, kid."

Who the hell was he calling kid?! He couldn't possibly be any older than me! "Listen, short stack-"

He bristled. "Short stack?!"

"-First of all, I didn't come here alone. My friend will be here any minute. Second of all, how the hell am I supposed to know who you are when I've never seen you before in my life?!" Something about this kid set me on edge. I couldn't put my finger on what it was, exactly, that made me uncomfortable about him, but I didn't like the feeling.

"How rude of me." He crossed his arms and tossed his hair out of his face. "My name is Yuuishi, and you, Alastair, are going to help me."

"Help you? Why? And how do you know my name?!"

“Your father hasn’t told you?”

“You know my father?” Yuuishi nodded. “What hasn’t he told me?”

"The world as you know it is at risk. You are your world's only hope. Your world's...and mine."

"And yours? What do you mean 'yours'? What are you talking about?" Was this guy on something? 'Cause the only way someone could come up with a story like that was if they were taking some kind of drug… or needed to be taking some kind of drug, anyway. "Does the mental institution know you escaped, Youeeshee?"

Ice blue eyes narrowed. "It's Yuuishi. I can assure you that I haven't escaped from anywhere. I am from the Daemon realm, a realm from which you are also apart of."

"Demon realm? Look, Yuush, I'm not from any Demon realm, okay? You need help."

"Not Demon. Daemon. Creatures of magic."

Magic. Pffft, right. I told him as much.

"You don't believe me? Look around you."

It was then I realized that while it was still snowing around us, we weren't being snowed on. It wasn't quite as cold, either.

"Alastair!" Connor called, jogging up next to me. "Al, what are you doing, it's freezing out...here…" He trailed off as he caught sight of Yuuishi, and the snow not falling. "...what the hell? Is this the guy you saw by the bus stop? Hey, buddy, leave my friend alone or get arrested. My father is chief of police around here you know!"

Yuuishi ignored him. "I'll see you later, Alastair. We have much to discuss."

"I'm not discussing anything with you!" I shouted at him, though he was gone before I finished. The snow was falling everywhere again, and an icy wind cut through my clothes.

"Come on, Al. Lunch is almost over..." Connor pulled me back into the school.

I could've sworn I heard Yuuishi's laughter echo on the rooftop.

~~~

The rest of school passed in a blur. The things that Yuuishi had said on the roof bothered me. I turned them over and over in my head, and asked Connor what he thought.

"He said you were going to be the savior of both 'our' world, and his? Like he was from another world?"

"The Daemon realm, he called it."

"Daemon, huh? Maybe you should ask your mom. She knows all about this kind of thing."

He was right. My mom runs the magic shop on the first floor of our building. Of course she hates it when people call it a magic shop. She sells mostly healing herbs there, and then there are the books and trinkets and other things there too. She calls herself an herbologist, having gotten her masters in botany. This whole thing would be right up her alley.

"-besides," Connor continued saying. "Wouldn't she know if you were half Demon, or whatever?"

"Yeah...I guess. I can't believe that we're actually considering what this guy said to actually be true!"

"The thing with the snow was pretty convincing. And he did say he knew your dad."

"Whatever, lots of people know my dad." I scowled.

"Al." Connor took me by the shoulders and tilted my face up to meet his eyes. I could feel my heart beating faster, and I hoped as hard as I could that he'd take the redness in my face to be from the cold. "It's gonna be fine. You'll see. No matter what happens, I'll always be by your side."

"...Connor?" Damn my voice for shaking just then.

"Oh! What's that?" Connor dashed across the street to the game store and I sighed.

Trust Connor to be easily distracted by shiny things.

~~~

After Connor bought me a snack from the oriental food store (chocolate covered cracker sticks make the world go round I swear), we headed home, to ask my mother about this Yuuishi guy. I was still convinced that the guy was really just plain crazy, and I should just ignore it. I was positive my mother would agree.

“Ma, I’m home!” I called, entering the store.

“Oh, Alastair, there you are. I was getting worried.” My mother leaned over the counter and kissed my forehead. I suppose most teenage boys hate it when their mothers do such things in front of their friends, but I never particularly minded. My family and I are pretty tight…though my parents seem to enjoy embarrassing me, but I suppose that’s just a regular parent thing.

“Hi Cybil.” Connor said, waving.

“Hey Connor. How’s your dad?”

“He’s doing alright.” Connor gave a half shrug. Connor’s dad is chief of police. He had gone a little nuts for a while when Connor’s mom died thirteen years ago. It took him nearly a year to find the man who killed Connor’s mom. Connor was with her when she was killed, but says he doesn’t remember anything, as he was three years old when it happened.

Sometimes I think he’s lying.

“That’s good to hear.” Mom said, as she smiled and went to ring up a customer. “You boys head on up and do your homework. Once the shop closes, we’ll have dinner and then do birthday things and have cake.”

“Yay, cake.” Dad said, coming out of the back room. My dad’s what my mother calls a “total mush,” in spite of the fact that my dad is this huge, intimidating guy. He’s almost six feet tall and looks like he could be one of those Roman gladiator types you see in the movies, all bulging muscles and perfect cheekbones. Mom says when I was a baby, I used to cry whenever I saw my dad, until after he had his nose broken in a fight. It never healed perfectly straight, and after it healed, I never cried when I saw him. I always thought that was funny. I mean, he’s my dad; why would I cry when I saw him?

“Hi Dad.”

“Hi Armand.” Connor waved.

“Hey guys. How was school?”

“It was alright.”

“Alastair has a stalker.” Connor said helpfully.

“A stalker?” Dad looked amused. “Tell me when we get to the apartment.”

Our apartment’s on the second floor of the building, and Connor’s is on the third floor, in the apartment above ours. We passed old Mrs. Teranika and her two cats, Abdullah and Delilah. She’s a sweet crazy lady who doesn’t have any actual family, so Mom always has me bring over a plate of food for the holidays. In return, she usually has a huge plate of cookies or a pie or something for us. I think she’s a bit crazy, ‘cause she’s always talking to her cats, but she’s old and lonely, so I guess it’s excusable.

I, personally, think her cat Delilah is evil incarnate.

“Hey Mrs. Teranika.”

“Oh hello Alastair…it’s your birthday today, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

“Happy birthday, dear.” She smiled and shuffled to her apartment.

“Later Mrs. T.” Connor waved.

Dad opened the door to the apartment and we piled in. “So…what’s this about a stalker?”

“This guy named Yuuishi came up to me and told me I’m supposed to help him save the world or something.”

“…Yuuishi?”

“Yeah. He said he knew you.”

“He does, the little bastard.”

…That was not the answer I was hoping for.

Chapter 2

“What do you mean?”

“What did he tell you?” Dad leaned against the counter and folded his arms, strands of blond hair falling forward from their usually slicked back position.

“That I was half demon and needed to help save the world.”

“Daemon.”

“Eh?”

“You’re half Daemon.”

This wasn’t happening. It wasn’t. “No.”

“From me, actually. Your mom’s the human one.”

The room was spinning. I needed to sit down. “You’re shitting me…You have got to be shitting me.”

“I didn’t want you to find out like this… I wanted to-“

“Do what?! Break it to me gently?! There is no way to break ‘Hey, you’re a demon-‘”

“Daemon.”

“WHATEVER! –easily! There just plain isn’t!”

I think I was justified in freaking out at my dad. I only realized later, with much embarrassment, that I had also been freaking out in front of Connor. I stormed out of the room and into the bathroom, locking the door and leaning against it before falling down to the floor with my head between my knees. I felt sick, betrayed, almost irrationally so. It wasn’t like they went out of their way to hide it from me. It just wasn’t the type of thing that came up in casual conversation. ‘Yeah, son, speaking of evil teachers, you’re half Daemon. Pass the peas.’

I took a deep breath, let it out slowly and stood.

“Hi there.” Yuuishi said, sitting on the sink.

I screamed.
~~~

“Alastair! Alastair, what’s wrong?!” Connor was pounding on the door. “Alastair!”

I, in the meantime, was squeaking in the most manly of panic attacks ever documented. Ever. Really, it was a perfect follow up to screaming like a little girl.

“Y-Y-Y-Y-”

“Yuuishi, yes. That’s my name.”

I managed to get my feet under me, somehow, and pointed at him in a manner in which only the shocked and overly rattled can manage. “Why are you in my bathroom?!”

“I did tell you we would talk later, remember?”

“…In my bathroom?!”

“Why not? It’s as good a place as any.”

He was insane. That’s all there is to it.

“How did you get in here?!”

“Oh. Through the faucet.” He pointed. “See?” I watched in horror as the last of his body mass dripped out in a watery trickle and rejoin his body. I stared at him, disbelieving, for a few seconds before my ever so manly screaming continued as I clawed at the door to get it unlocked.

“GET ME OUT OF HERE!!”

~~~

After finally managing to get out of the bathroom with minimal screaming, I hid behind Dad and Connor until I stopped shaking.

“Yuuishi, could you not traumatize my son before I’ve had a chance to talk to him about this?”

“He should’ve been told before this.” Yuuishi folded his arms and glared up at my father. I should’ve been more amused. I mean, there he was, this five foot four skinnier than a toothpick punk of a brat scolding my father, who is five eleven give or take an inch, and has arms that have got to be at least four times the size of Yuuishi’s.

“Yuuishi, he’s still a little boy. He’s only sixteen… Hell, Aya’s older than he is!”

I wanted to take offense to this. Firstly, I had no idea who this Aya person was (and when I did find out, I was even more offended, at first), and secondly, sixteen years is not exactly something to sneeze at. Especially when most of those are spent going through the hell of not being popular at school.

I didn't know of any other kind of hell, back then.

“You know how old he would be in our world. You think too much like a human. Your time here has made you soft.”

Dad bristled. “I have no qualms about knocking your ass through seven buildings, you damn bastard.”

“That’s not the point anymore! Look at him! If he’s acting this way from just a little bit of magic-”

“And a sudden dumping of knowledge on him that he wasn’t ready to receive all at once!” Dad hissed.

“Whatever-how is he going to handle fighting in a war?!”

“We agreed that I would be the one to tell my son about this. Not you.”

“We don’t have time for that! We-”

“Yuuishi.”

Yuuishi seemed to tense up in the presence of my mother. “...Cybil.”

Had I been looking, I would’ve seen my mother glaring at Yuuishi with the same glare she gets when she’s really pissed. I’ll let it be known now that things tend to get broken when Mom gets mad.

I wish I could’ve seen the look on Yuuishi’s face. Connor said he was scared shitless.

“Yuuishi, we had an agreement.”

“I know that, but we’re out of time.”

There was a knock at the door, and I watched as Mom went to open it, and was bowled over by a little girl in bunny ears, paw-like gloves, and a little cotton tail sewn to the back of her skirt as she bounced into the room. She couldn’t have been older than ten.

“Aya’s here!” She said, delighted as she bounced into my father’s arms. “Hi Armand!”

“Hello, Aya.” Dad said, smiling.

“Did Armand miss Aya?”

“Of course I did.”

I slowly crept out from behind Connor. I wanted answers, and I wanted them now.

~~~

"Just what the hell is going on here?!" I shouted

At least it was Friday. My voice was going to be totally dead by the end of the night if this kept up.

"Alastair, this is Aya. Aya, this is my son, Alastair.

"Hi!" Aya chirped, beaming at me.

"....Hi."

"Perhaps we can best explain all this." A voice said from the doorway.

I turned to see a huge man, bigger than my dad!, with black hair helping my mother up from the floor, and a tall woman with long, flaming red hair standing in my doorway.

"Dorjan! Kaida!" Aya said happily. "Aya found Lord Yuuishi!"

"You also knocked over this nice lady. Did you apologize to her, Aya?" The man with the black hair, who I assumed was Dorjan said patiently.

"Oh. Sorry Miss Lady."

"It's quite alright, Aya." Mom said, brushing herself off.

The woman with red hair, I assumed she was Kaida, scowled at Yuuishi. "Lord Yuuishi, you cannot run off like that!” She stalked over and punched him in the head. “How are we supposed to protect you if you're always gonna go running off somewhere, dumb ass?!"

"Kaida is right, Lord Yuuishi." Dorjan said as Yuuishi examined his nails, looking as though he had heard this speech a thousand times before, though he was rubbing at the spot where Kaida has punched him. It served him right, the little bastard. "You must have more caution. We still do not know where Materia is hiding."

"Materia?" Connor spoke up. "Like those gems that enable you to use magic in Final Fantasy Seven?"

There was a long, awkward silence as Aya, Yuuishi, Dorjan and Kaida all gave Connor a blank look.

"Err, who is this Materia person, rather."

Dad sighed. "First, let's introduce everyone." He pointed to each person as he introduced them. "Yuuishi, Dorjan, Kaida, and Aya, meet my wife, Cybil, my son Alastair, and his best friend Connor. Everybody got that? Good."

Mom padded towards the kitchen. "I'll go put dinner in the oven..."

The seven of us (Yuuishi, Connor, Dad, Dorjan, Aya, Kaida and me) sat around the table and stared at one another.

"So..." Yuuishi said, folding his hands.

"Start from the beginning. I want to know everything." I said.

"Alright." Yuuishi cleared his throat. "It started with a Royal Advisor, an Emperor, and a blissfully unaware race of people."

Chapter 3

"Materia is a Daemon. She swore vengeance on the kingdom when the old Emperor refused to enslave the human race."

"Well, that was nice of him." Connor said, setting a mug of some of Mom's stress relief tea down in front of me. "What about the new Emperor?"

"What about him?"

"What's his opinion?"

"He won't be enslaving the human race either. That might be more because one of his best generals is married to a human rather than any particular sort of love for the race in general."

Dad's eyes narrowed. "Yuuishi..." he said warningly.

"What? He is rather apathetic about the whole thing. He doesn't want to enslave the race, but at the same time, he's not about to get all mushy over them either."

"Can we keep moving, please? Kaida said, looking as annoyed as I felt.

"Right then, where were we? Materia wanted to enslave the humans, Emperor said no, end. Okay, moving forward a few hundred years. Materia has been banished from the kingdom and disappeared off our radar, a new Emperor took the throne and all is well."

"Yay!" Aya interjected, giggling.

"Then a prophecy was discovered about... what was it? Twenty human years ago?"

"Yes." Dorjan nodded, before thanking Connor for the tea. Connor and Mom are big tea people.

"Anyway, the prophecy said that a half human half daemon boy would save both worlds. Then the attacks started. As it turned out, while Materia was in hiding, she was building up an army to attack the kingdom with. During a lull in the fighting, your father was given a leave of absence to get his head on straight and to take a vacation.”

"Uh huh..." I nodded and eyed Dad. Mom had said they met when she started University, which was about twenty “human” years ago. I could see where this was heading.

"He met Cybil and they dated, eventually getting married and giving birth to you. Thus our child of prophecy was born."

"Yay!" Aya cheered again, smiling at me.

"That was sixteen years ago today." Mom said as she was setting the table as Dad got up to get the food from the kitchen.

"We tried really hard to have you, you know." He said as he served our (unwanted) guests.

"When your father had told me about it, I felt that I owed it to Emperor Artaxiad to have you."

"Artaxiad?" I asked, taking a bite of food. Ah, lasagna. My favorite.

"He's the current Emperor." Kaida told me.

"Honey, didn't we use this table for a few of those tries?" Dad asked Mom. I choked on my food.

"Oh no, this is a new table. The one you're thinking of was broken during one of those tries."

I couldn't breathe. I was coughing and trying to gasp for air, all while trying to not just die of mortification. How could they?!

"I think you broke your son..." Connor said, patting my back to try and help me get the food down, or out, of my throat.

"Eh, once his super healing kicks in he'll be fine. Can I have seconds?" Yuuishi asked, handing his plate to my mother.

I took a long drink of tea and glared at everyone at the table. "You people suck!"

"No one’s complained to me so far." Yuuishi smirked at me.

He wasn't talking about... He couldn't be talking about...Oh God he was. I flushed to the roots of my hair. "Shut up!"

He laughed as Connor glared at him. "Leave Al alone, you damn jackass."

"Hello everybody!" I heard the front door close. We didn't keep our front door locked during the day when we were all home.

"Hey John, we're having dinner. Come join us." Dad said.

"Don't mind if I do." He said, walking over.

"Hi Dad." Connor said, smiling.

I waved at him, trying to calm my blush.

"Hey kiddo." He leaned over to ruffle my hair.

"Here, John. I saved you a piece." Mom handed him a plate.

"Mmm, thanks Cybil." He nodded to everyone else at the table. "Hey."

"Hi Mr. John person!" Aya said. "Aya’s name is Aya, and we're here visiting Uncle Armand."

"Ah, I see." Connor's dad smiled at Aya. He was used to dealing with people who spoke oddly, what with locking up the disorderly drunks and drug addicts and all.

“Ah, John…let me introduce you to my cousins. You’ve met Aya, that’s Yuuishi, Kaida and Dorjan.”

And so they all talked. John was as friendly and polite as ever, but I could tell he was just as on edge as Connor and I were. I wondered what was wrong with my mother that she hadn’t seen it, as she’s usually an excellent judge of character. I couldn’t stop glaring at Yuuishi. That damn bastard; he pissed me off the most.

I wondered, since I was half daemon, if I could make him spontaneously combust. As it turns out I couldn’t, which sucked.

Eventually there was cake (I bet you don’t know anybody else who has cheesecake filling in their birthday cake), and presents. I got lots of new books, which pleased me. My teachers always complain how I don’t like to read, but really, I just don’t like to read the boring stuff they assign. Who the hell cares about Romeo and Juliet? I mean, really, she was what, twelve, when they met? And then they both killed themselves, thus ridding the world of their taint in the gene pool, which was all well and good in my opinion. And don’t even get me started on Hamlet. Seriously.

…Sorry about that, I tend to get passionate about my hate for most of Shakespeare’s work. Connor says I have no class, but he doesn’t read it either! He just smiles and the teacher is too distracted by perverted and most likely illegal thoughts to pay attention to the fact that he doesn’t know what the fuck he’s talking about.

It’s amusing to watch really. I tried to focus on these thoughts as the conversation continued.

Connor put his hand on my shoulder and smiled.

It’s probably what kept me from screaming for the rest of the night.

Chapter 4

Finally, the time came for everyone to leave. …At least, that’s what I’d like to say. Sadly, only Connor and his dad left to go home. The two people I had wanted to stick around left, leaving me to fend of Yuuishi, Dorjan, Kaida and Aya by myself. Dorjan and Kaida were okay. Aya was a bit hyper, and Yuuishi…Well, we all know how I feel about that damn bastard, Yuuishi. And yet, my ever so kind parents were having him bunk in my room. It’s the joy of joys, really.

“Tomorrow we’ll bring you before the Emperor, get you analyzed and outfitted with a weapon.” He said as he took one of my shirts to sleep in… without asking me first, of course.

“Analyzed? Weapons?” I figured I knew what it meant to go before the Emperor.

“Analyzed, to figure out and classify your powers. Like me, I’m Blue Class, with power over water and freezing. Kaida is Red Class with power over fire, and her brother Dorjan is Black Class with the power to raise the dead,-” Whoa, Dorjan could raise the dead? Like, as in zombies? “-in addition to having some minor telekinetic abilities. Aya is Grey Class with physical enhancements.” He was stripping out of his clothes as he said this.

“Uh…?”

He pulled my shirt over his head. It came down to his knees. Granted, it was one of my bigger shirts, but still. How can such a tiny person be such a huge jackass? “To put in simpler terms, she’s got super strength.”

“…Classes?” I was so lost.

“Ah...right, you don’t know anything about that, do you? Let me explain.” He cleared his throat and sat cross legged on my bed. “So, you know that Daemons have magic, yes?”

I glared. “Obviously.”

“Right, then. Moving on. This magic is separated into seven ‘Classes’, each given a color; Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Black, White, and Grey. Each has its own set of abilities as well. Red, for example, is associated with heat and other things.”

“I thought it was fire.”

“Not always. That’s just Kaida’s power. You don’t have to have power over fire to make heat. Have you ever seen a person die from being boiled from the inside out?”

I gave Yuuishi a blank look. “Obviously not.”

“Wow, you’re missing out.” He flashed me a grin and continued. “So, anyway, there are different parts to each Class. Again, Red is Fire and Heat, though fire is also broken down as well, the ability to create fire, and the ability to control it. You don’t need to be able to control fire to create it, just like because you can control it, doesn’t mean you can create it out of nothing. Blue Class, like me, deals with water and freezing, much in the same way as fire and heat. I can do all three.” Smug bastard.

“So you can create water from nothing, control it, and freeze it?” I wasn’t particularly interested in his abilities, mind you. I just wanted to see if I was following all of it. Really.

“Yes. I am one of the strongest in my Class.”

“Can Kaida do all three too?” Okay, now this was starting to get interesting. I reached over to snag my notebook to write this all down.

“No. She can only create and control fire. …what are you doing?”

“Writing this down. I don’t want to forget.”

“…you’re not gonna be tested on this, you know.” Yuuishi looked amused.

“Not the point. Keep going.”

“Right, then; moving on to the Black Class. Black is very different from the other Classes as its segments really have nothing to do with one another.”

“Isn’t Black Magic evil?”

“No. Magic is merely a weapon. The one who wields it is the one who is good or evil…or maybe something in between. A good person can do bad things, you know. What do you think war is?”

He brought up a good point, but I wasn’t about to start a philosophical conversation with him. “Anyway, Black magic?”

“As I was saying, the parts of the Black Class don’t have anything to do with one another. It’s also one of the hardest Classes to master because of how broad it is. The first part deals with raising and controlling the dead.”

“Like, as in zombies and stuff?”

“Something like, as there are varying degrees of power for it, depending on the age of the corpse. A low level Classmen cannot raise a corpse that’s older than a few years. The higher levels can raise gradually older corpses. The oldest recorded corpse raised successfully was the corpse of a dinosaur.”

“That’s over a billion years old!!”

“So was the man who raised it.”

I could feel my jaw drop. Just how long do these Daemons live, anyway? “Really?”

“No. He’s closer to two thousand. Even us Daemons are mortal. We just live longer than the average human.” He shook his hair back and stretched. “Anyway, other than the matter of raising corpses, there’s also the matter of controlling them, ‘cause, really, what good is a zombie hoard if they’re just going to rip off each other’s limbs and eat them instead of attacking your enemy?”

I didn’t need that mental image right after I had eaten. “Uhg…”

“You’ll get used to it.”

“God, I hope not.” I felt ill.

Yuuishi rolled his eyes and continued. “So there’s the raising and controlling of corpses, and that’s just the first part of the Black Class.”

“You mentioned telekinesis?”

“Oh good, you were listening. Right, though it’s not so much telekinesis as the control over the movement of matter.”

“So…with this aspect, you can create matter from thin air, and or control it?

“Right. Then there’s also things like mind control and hypnosis; before you ask, yes they are different, but I won’t get into that now, or we’ll be here all night.”

“…alright. The next Class, then?”

“I’ll talk about the Grey Class next, since that’s what Aya and your father are.”

“My father?”

“Yes. The Grey Class doesn’t have an elemental aspect to it, much like the Black and White Classes. In fact, the Grey Class isn’t really a Magical Class at all. It’s the enhancement of an aspect of one’s body. Both your father and Aya have the ‘super strength’, but there are others, like enhanced sight, hearing, speed, taste-”

“Taste?”

“They tend to become chefs.” Yuuishi chuckled. “but yes, taste. Other things too, like smell and touch.”

“You mentioned super healing before… is that a Grey aspect too?”

“All Daemons have a bit of accelerated healing, by Human standards, anyway. In battle, our weapons compensate for that, so it’s not like it’ll save your life or anything, which gives me a good opening for the explanation of the White Class.”

“The White Class is healing, right?”

“Not entirely. The White Class is non-combatant, like some aspects of the Grey Class. A most common aspect is healing, yes, but there are other aspects too, like clairvoyant abilities, dream walking, astrological abilities, and protection spells.”

“Dream walking?”

“The ability to see peoples dreams, and, if you’re strong enough, take control and change them. This is used as an information gathering technique. I assume you know what clairvoyance is?”

“It’s the ability to see the future, right?”

“Yes. And I doubt I need to explain protection spells and astrological abilities. Those also range in power, from protecting entire battalions, to shielding only one part of the body at one time. Those who can only shield themselves usually become front line fighters.”

I was scribbling this all down as fast as my hand could go, even though I was getting a cramp from holding the pen too hard. “So what about the levels of healing?”

“Well, if a healer is strong enough, they could bring back the dead…if they get there before it’s too late. After a certain point, the only way to get them back is as raised corpse, and by then they’d only be soulless, mindless dolls, the only trace of the person they were being in their looks and nothing else.”

I shivered. “I don’t think I could ever handle seeing a comrade as a soulless doll.”

“You’ll have to get used to that too.” Yuuishi said, his voice a few degrees colder than before. I wondered if he had ever been in battle before he came to get me; or if Dorjan had, or Kaida, or even Aya. I was too scared to ask, though.

I think I always will be.

Yuuishi rubbed at his eyes. “We have two more Classes to go through, and then I need sleep. Using magic in the Human Realm can be draining.”

I made a mental note to ask about that later. “So, what’s Yellow?”

“Electricity. To make a long explanation short, it’s like the other elemental abilities. There’s the aspects of creation and control, as well as the difference between lighting and electricity. Those with electrical abilities tend to be close ranged fighters…like jellyfish or electric eels. Those who can control lightning tend to be more long range.”

“I see… Green Class?”

“This is the oldest of all the Classes, as it is as old as the Earth itself. Those in the Green Class can control flora and terra, and usually have an affinity for growing things.”

“…Plants and rocks, basically?”

“Yes. It’s a powerful Class. They all are.” Yuuishi yawned. “Sorry…”

“It’s alright-” I cut myself off as Yuuishi tipped forward, dead to the world. “Hey…asshole, your bed is on the floor. Wake up.” I poked him in the head a few times. Nope, nothing doing; he must have really been worn out, to just fall asleep like that… “Fine…but just this once, you prick.” I set my notebook aside and switched off my bedside light, settling down next to Yuuishi, but not touching him.

I fell asleep, and I dreamed.

Chapter 5

I couldn’t see the person I was kissing, but that was okay. I didn’t need to. I knew the feel of his body (his?) like it was my own, mapping a path down his torso with my tongue before being dragged up by my hair (and oh how that tiny snap of pain was such a turn on) for a kiss, pressing me back into the mattress. I didn’t mind the display of aggression, or the switch in power, because his tongue was in my mouth and his hands were pinning my shoulders down and he was on top of me and we were naked and panting and moaning and rubbing and sharing spit and sweat and the air was hot and heady, even though his breath was cool against my skin as his kissed his way along my jaw and down my neck, leaving hickeys along my pulse. He made me beg for every little touch, and I did. And you know what? I liked it. I didn’t want to be in control, I didn’t want to be depended on and here it was just him and me and the bed, no one else; just his hands on my body, and his mouth on my skin and his tongue driving me crazy, and my hand in his hair and the other in my mouth, stopping me from getting too loud as I bit down on my knuckle. I was needy, and mewling like a cat in heat and I know he enjoyed every damn minute of it, of turning me over and sliding his fingers inside of me, making me practically scream in pleasure. I needed him and he knew it, but what he didn’t know was that I knew he needed me too. He slid inside me and I threw my head back with a shout, feeling his hand slide along my body to reach under me and stroke me in time with his thrusts, his other hand gripping my hip so tightly there was probably going to be a bruise in the morning and I didn’t care because he was jerking me backwards and stroking me rapidly, panting against my shoulder in cool gusts of air and I was oh so close I just needed to get a little….bit…farther…and then I broke with a scream.

“YUUISHI!”

I snapped awake, clutching my blanket to my chest and whimpering. I just had a sexy dream about Yuuishi. And liked it. It made me feel dirty. I love Connor, damn it! I hate Yuuishi! I hate him with every fiber of my being! I-…ended up staring down as him curled up in my bed. He looked much older in his sleep than he did when awake, as though haunted by something that he would never allow himself to be troubled by when awake.

It almost made me feel sorry for him. Almost. Damn those stupid teenaged hormones and their stupid inconvenient flare ups, anyway! I got up to change my pajamas, and when I came back to see if I could get more sleep, I suddenly had a lapful of Yuuishi, who was clinging to me in his sleep like I was the last real and true thing in the world.

Or something like that, anyway.

I grumbled something half coherent at him as I started to settle down to sleep again. I think it may have been something like ‘leggoa’me ya’ damned rat bastard.’, but I couldn’t be too sure.

I would say it felt nice to hold someone in my sleep like that…except I still wished it was Connor.

~~~

I woke again to hear soft whispering from somewhere.

“See, I told you they’d get along.”

“I doubt they even know what they’re doing!”

“Really I don’t see what his problem is.”

“…Our son just discovered he’s half demon-”

“Daemon.”

“Whatever-, he has to save the world, he has to fight in a war to save said world, pass all his classes, and he might just be a little gay.”

A long pause, and then… “So?”

“….go set the table for breakfast, Armand.” Ah, Mom and Dad. Mom sounded like she had her left eye twitching at my father.

“Yes’m.”

Really, it happened more often than you’d think.

I felt something shift closer to me with a sleepy noise of protest, and so I rolled over and went back to sleep.

~~~

I woke up again to the smell of French Toast and bacon. Not a bad thing to wake up to, really. I sat up and stretched, then blinked down at my bed. Yuuishi was in it! Ack! Shock! Horror! Oh, wait…he was bunking in my room. Right.

I’m not exactly the swiftest person in the mornings, in case you missed it.

I staggered out of my room with my notebook from last night and sat down at the table. Mom, Dad, Kaida and Dorjan were already awake. I looked over at the pull out couch to see Aya curled up in a nest of blankets and pillows… Perhaps I’ll find it disturbing she sleeps in her bunny ears when I’m more awake.

“’Morning.”

“Good morning, Lord Alastair.” Dorjan said. “I trust you slept well?”

I blinked at him. Then I blinked at him again, and then once more for good measure. “Lord…?”

“…Are you alright?”

“My son is not a morning person, Sir Dorjan.” Mom said, putting a plate of food in front of me. “He’ll wake up more once he eats.”

“I see.” He pushed his hair back behind his ear. “May I ask what the notebook is for?”

I took a sip of hot chocolate from the mug my mother put down in front of me. “Yuuishi was explaining the Magic Class system thing last night. I just want to look it over so I don’t look like a total ass in front of the Emperor…we are going before the Emperor today right? I think that’s what he said…”

“Yes, we are going to be seeing the Emperor today, so pl-”

The door opened and Connor stepped inside, dressed and with a duffle over his shoulder. “I’m coming with you.”

“What?” Mom.

“No, you can’t!” Kaida.

“I cannot allow it.” Dorjan.

“No way in hell.” Dad.

“The monkeys are attacking! Everyone, get to your battle stations!” Aya.

“What’s with all the shouting?” Yuuishi.

“…Connor…” Me.

“I’m coming with you, Alastair. I can’t let you do this by yourself.”

“He won’t be by himself! He’ll-” Dorjan was cut off by Connor’s glare. It was one of the few times Connor has dropped his ditzy, oblivious facade

“He’ll be all alone in an unfamiliar place, with unfamiliar people. I’m not letting him handle this by himself, and forgive me for not trusting you lot with my best friend’s life.”

This lifted my spirits, though at the same time, saddened me. If I was going to fight a war, I didn’t want Connor involved.

To be honest, I didn’t want to be involved either.

“Welcome aboard.” Yuuishi said, sitting down. “The more people we have the better. Besides, Materia would never actually expect us to bring full blooded Humans into this.”

“…That is true.” Kaida said. “What can you do, kid?”

“I can hit a target dead center from two hundred feet.’

Now, I’ve probably mentioned this before; Connor’s dad is a cop, but I think I may have failed to mention that since the seventh grade, he has been training Connor how to use a gun. For his own protection, of course, nothing shady. There was never an explanation as to why it started, though I think it has to do with John getting threatened by someone. Connor doesn’t know the whole story, but he threw himself into his training head first.

I’m sometimes frightened by just how good a shot Connor is, and how cold and hard his face gets when he’s firing. It’s not like him. It’s like he’s a different person altogether.

“Lord Yuuishi, I cannot support this choice!”

“You let Aya fight.” I said, glaring at Dorjan. “You’ll let me fight. Why not Connor? Is it because he’s fully human?”

Dorjan looked flustered and angry with me. It was kind of scary to see, truth be told. “I do not support Aya’s involvement in this matter either! Younglings are sacred!”

I found out later that because of their extended life span, Daemons have a very low birthrate. They value children above all else. It explained my father’s overprotective nature concerning Connor and me, and the rest of the block’s kids as well. Everyone knows Dad, because he’s always watching the kids when they’re playing outside.

“That’s why she’s so valuable to me.”

“Is that all we are, Lord Yuuishi?! Pawns?!” Tea cups and coco mugs were rattling as Dorjan’s temper began to flare. “I do not mind being such a thing, but my sister and Aya- Their lives are not your playthings!”

“Shut up!” A gun went off, making Aya wake up screaming. Mom rushed to her side to calm her as everyone else stared slack jawed at Connor. “Next person to raise their voice gets shot!”

There was a knock at the door. “Cybil? Armand? Is everything alright?!”

I went to the door and opened it. “We’re fine Mrs. T. Dad’s relatives are here.” I rolled my eyes. “They’re a little…you know.”

“Oh…I thought I was going to have to call the police…”

“No, its okay…would you like some tea?”

Never let it be said that I can’t keep my cool in certain situations. Or that I’m impolite, ‘cause, seriously, asking Mrs. T if she wants to have tea with a house full of Daemons and trigger happy humans all staring at the door like they forgot we even had neighbors isn’t as polite as I would like, but what else could I say? ‘Go away; my best friend is shooting up the place to get the crazy, fighting Daemon people to calm down.’?

~~~

So Mrs. Teranika and her two cats joined us for breakfast. There’s got to be some sort of health risk, sharing your plate with your cats, but I guess when you’re as old as Mrs. T, you kinda stop caring about that sort of thing.

Breakfast was quiet, peaceful. …I didn’t really expect it to be anything but, after Connor threatened to shoot everyone.

Once Mrs. T left, everyone seemed to relax. Well…almost everyone.

“What in the One’s name possessed you to bring that thing with you?!” Dorjan hissed at Connor.

Connor gave him an unimpressed look. It reminded me of that look most cats get, as if to say ‘Why are you bothering me, scum?’ “To keep your boss away from Alastair.”

“We already slept together, what’s your problem?” Yuuishi said, nibbling on his toast.

It was a brief moment before Connor and I lunged at Yuuishi at the same time.

“YOU BASTARD!”

“I’LL KILL YOU!”

…Looking back on it, it was probably a funny sight, to see two blindingly angry teenaged boys being held back by a little girl in pink footie pajamas and a rabbit ear head band. Then, it wasn’t funny so much as it was annoying.

“It wasn’t like that at all, you asshole, and you know it!” I shouted.

“You keep your hands off Alastair, you vile cretin!”

“Oh my, so lively this morning, aren’t we?” Yuuishi said innocently.

Dorjan buried his face in his hands and sighed. “Why did I agree to go on this excursion? Why?”

“Because you wanted to make sure we stayed out of trouble.” Kaida said, calmly sipping her tea.

“Oh yes…right.”

Aya was holding us off as though we were nothing. She wasn’t even budging. “Alastair and Connor need to calm down…and Lord Yuuishi needs to stop being such a meanie head.”

“I’m a meanie head?”

“Yes. A big one.” Aya gave him a disproving look as Dad held off Connor and me from killing the damn bastard.

“Aya, I’m hurt.”

“Not yet you aren’t!” Connor howled.

“I think you two need to calm down. It was just a harmless joke…”

Mom walked over, and smacked the three of us (Yuuishi, me and Connor) upside the head. “Knock it off.”

“...Yes ma’am…” Connor and I said, hanging our heads.

“Ow! What the hell?!” Yuuishi held his head as he hissed at my mother.

“You deserved it.”

“Geez, are all humans this touchy or is it just you lot?”

“You both have shorter tempers than me.” Kaida said, eyeing Connor and I. “What the hell set you off like that.”

“It was a bad joke that was said in bad taste, and it wasn’t appreciated.” I hissed. “You’re all intruding in my home! You are not welcome here, and yet he goes and makes himself comfortable in my bed, helps himself to my clothes, my food, and he’s a God damned rat bastard who’s been grating on my nerves since yesterday morning! I have had it up to here with all of you!” I was shouting by the time I was finished.

So I was a little bit stressed and hysterical. Little like the Grand Canyon is nothing but a ditch.

“…Aya thinks Alastair needs a bath.”

I paused. “…a bath?”

“Yes. A bubble bath.” She nodded. “Alastair go take one, then Alastair will be much calmer and less ‘grr argh’.”

“...Good idea. I’ll go do that.” Less ‘grr argh’? I’d like that…

~~~

You know, there's something to be said for little kid logic. It usually makes the most sense. The bath really was improving my spirits. I tilted my head back and sighed, letting my eyes close. It's probably why I didn't see what was coming next.

I didn't notice someone was crouched over me until I felt something warm and soft on my neck. "Nnn?" I couldn't be bothered to open my eyes.

A gentle kiss was pressed against my jaw. "I wanted to apologize." A soft voice murmured against my neck, breath cool against my skin in a delicious contrast to the heat of the bath and the steam in the room. "I was out of line... let me make it up to you."

I opened my eyes...and screamed, punching Yuuishi in the face. Then I continued to hit him, just for good measure. "Don't touch me, you presumptuous ass!"

"Will you stop hitting me?!"

"I'll stop hitting you when you stop accosting me in my bathroom!”

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry! ACK!" He burst into particles of water and made his escape under the door. I heard Connor yelling at him a few moments later. I sighed and sank back into the tub. I was going to be as grey as Mrs. Teranika at this rate.

I finished my bath and got dressed in a slightly nicer pair of jeans, and a slightly nicer sweater than I would normal wear. Too casual for a meeting with the Emperor, but the only thing I had that was nicer was a suit that was way too small, as I haven't worn it in years. There was no way in hell I'd be traveling in it. I tried to make my hair presentable, but as usual, my bangs fell into my eyes and the rest of my hair spiked up on its own, like it always has.

What, you people actually thought I styled this mess?

I studied my face in the mirror. Was it the face of a half Daemon? Were there any signs that I was...abnormal?

No... just my face stared back at me. The face of the kid who has been teased mercilessly about his name since grade school, who has always hated gym class until the one summer he bulked up from working out with his father (I still have no particular love for the class, though at least I'm not picked last anymore, not that it matters anyway).

I guess, at the end of the day, I will always just be me. Just plain old ordinary Alastair.

Who's a half Daemon.

Damn it.

Nanowrimo Novel Chapters 1-4 and a bit of five, mostly unbeta'd

2005-11-07T01:10:37Z

I will write a mini ficlet for the pairing of your choice if any of you can come up with a title for this thing.

Chapter 1

I’ve always thought I was a normal kid. I had normal parents, relatively; normal friends, sort of; and a normal life in general, kind of. I’m the kid who sat in the middle of the room, did my homework at the last minute and waited until the day before a test to study. I like video games, comic books, and the occasionally not sucky show on TV.

Normal, right?

Of course, this was before I found out my father was a Daemon (Not Demon. Daemon. Yeah, that’s what I said too), a commander of an armed regiment in the Daemon army, and I was apparently going to save both the Human and the Daemon realms, thanks to a prophecy written thousands of years before my birth.

No. Really. I’m apparently the Savior of not one, but two races.

I guess I’m not as normal as I thought I was.

~~~

I want to say it started out as a good day. I want to say it was snowing, and school had been cancelled. But, while it was snowing, I still had school, which included the four tests I had to take, and the paper that was due that I hadn’t actually finished doing yet. It was freezing cold, and too damn early in the morning for it to actually be my birthday, even though it was. The morning of my sixteenth birthday and I was running to the bus stop, fingers freezing and a piece of toast hanging from my mouth. Not exactly the ideal way to start the day, but the highlight of my morning so far was seeing Connor. Connor’s been my best friend since the fifth grade. He’s funny and smart, though he can be a bit of a ditz. Not to mention oblivious. Everyone in the school is in love with Connor, including me, and he doesn’t have a clue. It may be for the best that he doesn’t know about my feelings. I think it would actually be really awkward if we were, you know, a couple, or something.

“Hey.”

“Do you know how cold it is outside?” Connor said to me absently. “It’s twelve degrees Fahrenheit. That’s negative eleven degrees Celsius.”

See what I mean about the smart bit? “Really? Damn.”

“Yeah. It’s cruel and unusual to do this to us, making us wait in the cold for the bus to take us to our imprisonment center for six hours of grueling brainwashing and mental assaults.”

Have I mentioned that Connor is a drama queen? He has quite the flair for the dramatic. At least, that’s what my mother says.

“We’ll make it through somehow, dude.” I said, through chattering teeth. I squinted through the snow, and thought I saw a bit of snow swirl around a boy who hadn’t been there a moment before. I almost didn’t see him, he was so pale…even his hair was pale. He smirked at me, and in another flurry of snow, he was gone. “Did you see that?”

“See what?” Connor blinked at me, snow clinging to his brown hair.

“There was a kid over there just now…but he just vanished!”

“The snow’s playing tricks on you, Al. Come on, the bus is here.”

I climbed onto the bus, though I continued to stare at the spot where the boy had stood. Maybe I was seeing things. I shrugged it off and opened my text book to study for my first test.

Whoever thought making math first period was a good idea needs to be dragged into the street and shot.

~~~

The boy I saw near the bus stop kept showing up all day. No matter what class I was in, if I looked outside at the snow, he was there, seemingly unruffled by the cold. I knew he was watching me, and I'm positive he knew that I knew. At least I got a better look at him this time, blue-ish white hair (but not like an old lady, more like someone took ice and made it into hair), and pale blue eyes.

It was lunchtime when I managed to pin him down, going up to the roof of my school. He was waiting for me, the creepy bastard.

"I was wondering when you'd show up." He said, casually. "I've been waiting for you all day."

"I had class. Who are you?"

An elegant eyebrow arched. "Who am I? You came up here alone with no idea who it was that you were confronting? That's sloppy, kid."

Who the hell was he calling kid?! He couldn't possibly be any older than me! "Listen, short stack-"

He bristled. "Short stack?!"

"-First of all, I didn't come here alone. My friend will be here any minute. Second of all, how the hell am I supposed to know who you are when I've never seen you before in my life?!" Something about this kid set me on edge. I couldn't put my finger on what it was, exactly, that made me uncomfortable about him, but I didn't like the feeling.

"How rude of me." He crossed his arms and tossed his hair out of his face. "My name is Yuuishi, and you, Alastair, are going to help me."

"Help you? Why? And how do you know my name?!"

“Your father hasn’t told you?”

“You know my father?”

Yuuishi nodded.

“What hasn’t he told me?”

"The world as you know it is at risk. You are your world's only hope. Your world's...and mine."

"And yours? What do you mean 'yours'? What are you talking about?" Was this guy on something? 'Cause the only way someone could come up with a story like that was if they were taking some kind of drug... or needed to be taking some kind of drug, anyway. "Does the mental institution know you escaped, Youeeshee?"

Ice blue eyes narrowed. "It's Yuuishi. I can assure you that I haven't escaped from anywhere. I am from the Daemon realm, a realm from which you are also apart of."

"Demon realm? Look, Yuush, I'm not from any Demon realm, okay? You need help."

"Not Demon. Daemon. Creatures of magic."

Magic. Pffft, right. I told him as much.

"You don't believe me? Look around you."

It was then I realized that while it was still snowing around us, we weren't being snowed on. It wasn't quite as cold, either.

"Alastair!" Connor called, jogging up next to me. "Al, what are you doing, it's freezing out..." He trailed off as he caught sight of Yuuishi, and the snow not falling. "...what the hell? Is this the guy you saw by the bus stop? Hey, buddy, leave my friend alone or get arrested. My father is chief of police around here you know!"

Yuuishi ignored him. "I'll see you later, Alastair. We have much to discuss."

"I'm not discussing anything with you!" I shouted at him, though he was gone before I finished. The snow was falling everywhere again, and an icy wind cut through my clothes.

"Come on, Al. Lunch is almost over..." Connor pulled me back into the school.

I could've sworn I heard Yuuishi's laughter echo on the rooftop.

~~~

The rest of school passed in a blur. The things that Yuuishi had said on the roof bothered me. I turned them over and over in my head, and asked Connor what he thought.

"He said you were going to be the savior of both 'our' world, and his? Like he was from another world?"

"The Daemon realm, he called it."

"Daemon, huh? Maybe you should ask your mom. She knows all about this kind of thing."

He was right. My mom runs the magic shop on the first floor of our building. Of course she hates it when people call it a magic shop. She sells mostly healing herbs there, and then there are the books and trinkets and other things there too. She calls herself an herbologist, having gotten her masters in botany. This whole thing would be right up her alley.

"-besides," Connor continued saying. "Wouldn't she know if you were half Demon, or whatever?"

"Yeah...I guess. I can't believe that we're actually considering what this guy said to actually be true!"

"The thing with the snow was pretty convincing. And he did say he knew your dad."

"Whatever, lots of people know my dad." I scowled.

"Al." Connor took me by the shoulders and tilted my face up to meet his eyes. I could feel my heart beating faster, and I hoped as hard as I could that he'd take the redness in my face to be from the cold. "It's gonna be fine. You'll see. No matter what happens, I'll always be by your side."

"...Connor?" Damn my voice for shaking just then.

"Oh! What's that?" Connor dashed across the street to the game store and I sighed.

Trust Connor to be easily distracted by shiny things.

~~~

After Connor bought me a snack from the oriental food store (chocolate covered cracker sticks make the world go round I swear), we headed home, to ask my mother about this Yuuishi guy. I was still convinced that the guy was really just plain crazy, and I should just ignore it. I was positive my mother would agree.

“Ma, I’m home!” I called, entering the store.

“Oh, Alastair, there you are. I was getting worried.” My mother leaned over the counter and kissed my forehead. I suppose most teenage boys hate it when their mothers do such things in front of their friends, but I never particularly minded. My family and I are pretty tight…though my parents seem to enjoy embarrassing me, but I suppose that’s just a regular parent thing.

“Hi Cybil.” Connor said, waving.

“Hey Connor. How’s your dad?”

“He’s doing alright.” Connor gave a half shrug. Connor’s dad is chief of police. He had gone a little nuts for a while when Connor’s mom died thirteen years ago. It took him nearly a year to find the man who killed Connor’s mom. Connor was with her when she was killed, but says he doesn’t remember anything, as he was three years old when it happened.

Sometimes I think he’s lying.

“That’s good to hear.” Mom said, as she smiled and went to ring up a customer. “You boys head on up and do your homework. Once the shop closes, we’ll have dinner and then do birthday things and have cake.”

“Yay, cake.” Dad said, coming out of the back room. My dad’s what my mother calls a “total mush,” in spite of the fact that my dad is this huge, intimidating guy. He’s almost six feet tall and looks like he could be one of those Roman gladiator types you see in the movies, all bulging muscles and perfect cheekbones. Mom says when I was a baby, I used to cry whenever I saw my dad, until after he had his nose broken in a fight. It never healed perfectly straight, and after it healed, I never cried when I saw him. I always thought that was funny. I mean, he’s my dad; why would I cry when I saw him?

“Hi Dad.”

“Hi Armand.” Connor waved.

“Hey guys. How was school?”

“It was alright.”

“Alastair has a stalker.” Connor said helpfully.

“A stalker?” Dad looked amused. “Tell me when we get to the apartment.”

Our apartment’s on the second floor of the building, and Connor’s is on the third floor, in the apartment above ours. We passed old Mrs. Teranika and her two cats, Abdullah and Delilah. She’s a sweet crazy lady who doesn’t have any actual family, so Mom always has me bring over a plate of food for the holidays. In return, she usually has a huge plate of cookies or a pie or something for us. I think she’s a bit crazy, ‘cause she’s always talking to her cats, but she’s old and lonely.

I, personally, think her cat Delilah is evil.

“Hey Mrs. Teranika.”

“Oh hello Alastair….it’s your birthday today, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

“Happy birthday, dear.” She smiled and shuffled to her apartment.

“Later Mrs. T.” Connor waved.

Dad opened the door to the apartment and we piled in. “So…what’s this about a stalker?”

“This guy named Yuuishi came up to me and told me I’m supposed to help him save the world or something.”

“…Yuuishi?”

“Yeah. He said he knew you.”

“He does, the little bastard.”

…That was not the answer I was hoping for.

Chapter 2

“What do you mean?”

“What did he tell you?” Dad leaned against the counter and folded his arms, strands of blond hair falling forward from their usually slicked back position.

“That I was half demon and needed to help save the world.”

“Daemon.”

“Eh?”

“You’re half Daemon.”

This wasn’t happening. It wasn’t. “No.”

“From me, actually. Your mom’s the human one.”

The room was spinning. I needed to sit down. “You’re shitting me…”

“I didn’t want you to find out like this… I wanted to-“

“Do what?! Break it to me gently?! There is no way to break ‘Hey, you’re a demon-‘”

“Daemon.”

“WHATEVER! –easily! There just plain isn’t!”

I think I was justified in freaking out at my dad. I only realized later, with much embarrassment, that I had also been freaking out in front of Connor. I stormed out of the room and into the bathroom, locking the door and leaning against it before falling down to the floor with my head between my knees. I felt sick, betrayed, almost irrationally so. It wasn’t like they went out of their way to hide it from me. It just wasn’t the type of thing that came up in casual conversation. ‘Yeah, son, speaking of evil teachers, you’re half Daemon. Pass the peas.’

I took a deep breath, let it out slowly and stood.

“Hi there.” Yuuishi said, sitting on the sink.

I screamed.
~~~

“Alastair! Alastair, what’s wrong?!” Connor was pounding on the door. “Alastair!”

I, in the meantime, was squeaking in the most manly of panic attacks ever documented. Ever. Really, it was a perfect follow up to screaming like a little girl.

“Y-Y-Y-Y-”

“Yuuishi, yes. That’s my name.”

I managed to get my feet under me , somehow, and pointed at him in a manner in which only the shocked and overly rattled can manage. “Why are you in my bathroom?!”

“I did tell you we would talk later, remember?”

“…In my bathroom?!”

“Why not? It’s as good a place as any.”

“How did you get in here?!”

“Oh. Through the faucet.” He pointed. “See?” I watched as the last of his body dripped out in a watery trickle and rejoin his body. I stared at him, disbelieving, for a few seconds before my ever so manly screaming continued as I clawed at the door to get it unlocked.

“GET ME OUT OF HERE!!”

~~~

After finally managing to get out of the bathroom with minimal screaming, I hid behind Dad and Connor until I stopped shaking.

“Yuuishi, could you not traumatize my son before I’ve had a chance to talk to him about this?”

“He should’ve been told before this.” Yuuishi folded his arms and glared up at my father. I should’ve been more amused. I mean, there he was, this five foot four skinnier than a toothpick punk of a brat scolding my father, who is five eleven give or take an inch, and has arms that have got to be at least four times the size of Yuuishi’s.

“Yuuishi, he’s still a little boy. He’s only sixteen… Hell, Aya’s older than he is!”

I wanted to take offense to this. Firstly, I had no idea who this Aya person was (and when I did find out, I was even more offended, at first), and secondly, sixteen years is not exactly something to sneeze at. Especially when most of those are spent going through the hell of not being popular at school.

I didn't know of any other kind of hell, then.

“You know how old he would be in our world. You think too much like a human. Your time here has made you soft.”

Dad bristled. “I have no qualms about knocking your ass through seven buildings, you damn bastard.”

“That’s not the point anymore! Look at him! If he’s acting this way from just a little bit of magic-”

“And a sudden dumping of knowledge on him that he wasn’t ready to receive all at once!” Dad hissed.

“Whatever-how is he going to handle fighting in a war?!”

“We agreed that I would be the one to tell my son about this. Not you.”

“We don’t have time for that! We-”

“Yuuishi.”

Yuuishi seemed to tense up in the presence of my mother. “...Cybil.”

Had I been looking, I would’ve seen my mother glaring at Yuuishi with the same glare she gives you when she’s really pissed. I’ll let it be known now that things tend to blow up when Mom gets mad.

I wish I could’ve seen the look on Yuuishi’s face. Connor said he was scared shitless.

“Yuuishi, we had an agreement.”

“I know that, but we’re out of time.”

There was a knock at the door, and I watched as Mom went to open it, and was bowled over by a little girl in bunny ears, paw-like gloves, and a little cotton tail sewn to the back of her skirt as she bounced into the room. She couldn’t have been older than ten.

“Aya’s here!” She said, delighted as she bounced into my father’s arms. “Hi Armand!”

“Hello, Aya.” Dad said, smiling.

“Did Armand miss Aya?”

“Of course I did.”

I slowly crept out from behind Connor. I wanted answers, and I wanted them now.

~~~

"Just what the hell is going on here?!" I shouted

At least it was Friday. My voice was going to be totally dead by the end of the night if this kept up.

"Alastair, this is Aya. Aya, this is my son, Alastair.

"Hi!" Aya chirped, beaming at me.

"....Hi."

"Perhaps we can best explain all this." A voice said from the doorway.

I turned to see a huge man, bigger than my dad!, with black hair helping my mother up from the floor, and a tall woman with long, flaming red hair standing in my doorway.

"Dorjan! Kaida!" Aya said happily. "Aya found Lord Yuuishi!"

"You also knocked over this nice lady. Did you apologize to her, Aya?" The man with the black hair, who I assumed was Dorjan said patiently.

"Oh. Sorry Miss Lady."

"It's quite alright, Aya." Mom said, brushing herself off.

The woman with red hair, I assumed she was Kaida, scowled at Yuuishi. "Lord Yuuishi, you cannot run off like that!” She stalked over and punched him in the head. “How are we supposed to protect you if you're always gonna go running off somewhere, dumbass?!"

"Kaida is right, Lord Yuuishi." Dorjan said as Yuuishi examined his nails, looking as though he had heard this speech a thousand times before, though he was rubbing at the spot where Kaida has punched him. It served him right, the little bastard. "You must have more caution. We still do not know where Materia is hiding."

"Materia?" Connor spoke up. "Like those gems that enable you to use magic in Final Fantasy Seven?"

There was a long, awkward silence as Aya, Yuuishi, Dorjan and Kaida all gave Connor a blank look.

"Err, who is this Materia person, rather."

Dad sighed. "First, let's introduce everyone." He pointed to each person as he introduced them. "Yuuishi, Dorjan, Kaida, and Aya, meet my wife, Cybil, my son Alastair, and his best friend Connor. Everybody got that? Good."

Mom padded towards the kitchen. "I'll go put dinner in the oven..."

The seven of us (Yuuishi, Connor, Dad, Dorjan, Aya, Kaida and me) sat around the table and stared at one another.

"So..." Yuuishi said, folding his hands.

"Start from the beginning. I want to know everything." I said.

"Alright." Yuuishi cleared his throat. "It started with a Royal Advisor, an Emperor, and a blissfully unaware race of people."

Chapter 3

"Materia is a Daemon. She swore vengeance on the kingdom when the old Emperor refused to enslave the human race."

"Well, that was nice of him." Connor said, setting a mug of some of Mom's stress relief tea down in front of me. "What about the new Emperor?"

"What about him?"

"What's his opinion?"

"He won't be enslaving the human race either. That might be more because one of his best generals is married to a human rather than any particular sort of love for the race in general."

Dad's eyes narrowed. "Yuuishi..." he said warningly.

"What? He is rather apathetic about the whole thing. He doesn't want to enslave the race, but at the same time, he's not about to get all mushy over them either."

"Can we keep moving, please? Kaida said, looking as annoyed as I felt.

"Right then, where were we? Materia wanted to enslave the humans, Emperor said no, end. Okay, moving forward a few hundred years. Materia has been banished from the kingdom and disappeared off our radar, a new Emperor took the throne and all is well."

"Yay!" Aya interjected, giggling.

"Then a prophecy was discovered about... what was it? Twenty years ago?"

"Yes." Dorjan nodded, before thanking Connor for the tea. Connor and Mom are big tea people.

"Anyway, the prophecy said that a half human half daemon boy would save both worlds. Then the attacks started. As it turned out, while Materia was in hiding, she was building up an army to attack the kingdom with. During a lull in the fighting, your father was given a leave of absence to get his head on straight and to take a vacation.

"Uh huh..." I nodded and eyed Dad. Mom had said they met when she started University, which was about twenty years ago. I could see where this was heading.

"He met Cybil and they dated, eventually getting married and giving birth to you. Thus our child of prophecy was born."

"Yay!" Aya cheered again, smiling at me.

"That was sixteen years ago today." Mom said as she was setting the table as Dad got up to get the food from the kitchen.

"We tried really hard to have you, you know." He said as he served our (unwanted) guests.

"When your father had told me about it, I felt that I owed it to Emperor Artaxiad to have you."

"Artaxiad?" I asked, taking a bite of food. Ah, lasagna. My favorite.

"He's the current Emperor." Kaida told me.

"Honey, didn't we use this table for a few of those tries?" Dad asked Mom. I choked on my food.

"Oh no, this is a new table. The one you're thinking of was broken during one of those tries."

I couldn't breathe. I was coughing and trying to gasp for air, all while trying to not just die of mortification. How could they?!

"I think you broke your son..." Connor said, patting my back to try and help me get the food down, or out, of my throat.

"Eh, once his super healing kicks in he'll be fine. Can I have seconds?" Yuuishi asked, handing his plate to my mother.

I took a long drink of tea and glared at everyone at the table. "You people suck!"

"No one’s complained to me so far." Yuuishi smirked at me.

He wasn't talking about... He couldn't be talking about...Oh God he was. I flushed to the roots of my hair. "Shut up!"

He laughed as Connor glared at him. "Leave Al alone, you damn jackass."

"Hello everybody!" I heard the front door close. We didn't keep our front door locked during the day when we were all home.

"Hey John, we're having dinner. Come join us." Dad said.

"Don't mind if I do." He said, walking over.

"Hi Dad." Connor said, smiling.

I waved at him, trying to calm my blush.

"Hey kiddo." He leaned over to ruffle my hair.

"Here, John. I saved you a piece." Mom handed him a plate.

"Mmm, thanks Cybil." He nodded to everyone else at the table. "Hey."

"Hi Mr. John person!" Aya said. "Aya’s name is Aya, and we're here visiting Uncle Armand."

"Ah, I see." Connor's dad smiled at Aya. He was used to dealing with people who spoke oddly, what with locking up the disorderly drunks and drug addicts and all.

“Ah, John…let me introduce you to my cousins. You’ve met Aya, that’s Yuuishi, Kaida and Dorjan.”

And so they all talked. John was as friendly and polite as ever, but I could tell he was just as on edge as Connor and I were. I wondered what was wrong with my mother that she hadn’t seen it, as she’s usually an excellent judge of character. I couldn’t stop glaring at Yuuishi. That damn bastard; he pissed me off the most.

I wondered, since I was half daemon, if I could make him spontaneously combust. As it turns out I couldn’t, which sucked.

Eventually there was cake (I bet you don’t know anybody else who has cheesecake filling in their birthday cake), and presents. I got lots of new books, which pleased me. My teachers always complain how I don’t like to read, but really, I just don’t like to read the boring stuff they assign. Who the hell cares about Romeo and Juliet? I mean, really, she was what, twelve, when they met? And then they both killed themselves, thus ridding the world of their taint in the gene pool, which was all well and good in my opinion. And don’t even get me started on Hamlet. Seriously.

…Sorry about that, I tend to get passionate about my hate for most of Shakespeare’s work. Connor says I have no class, but he doesn’t read it either! He just smiles and the teacher is too distracted by perverted and most likely illegal thoughts to pay attention to the fact that he doesn’t know what the fuck he’s talking about.

It’s amusing to watch really. I tried to focus on these thoughts as the conversation continued.

Connor put his hand on my shoulder and smiled.

It’s probably what kept me from screaming for the rest of the night.

Chapter 4

Finally, the time came for everyone to leave. …At least, that’s what I’d like to say. Sadly, only Connor and his dad left to go home. The two people I had wanted to stick around left, leaving me to fend of Yuuishi, Dorjan, Kaida and Aya by myself. Dorjan and Kaida were okay. Aya was a bit hyper, and Yuuishi…Well, we all know how I feel about that damn bastard, Yuuishi. And yet, my ever so kind parents were having him bunk in my room. It’s the joy of joys, really.

“Tomorrow we’ll bring you before the Emperor, get you analyzed and outfitted with a weapon.” He said as he took one of my shirts to sleep in… without asking me first, of course.

“Analyzed? Weapons?” I figured I knew what it meant to go before the Emperor.

“Analyzed, to figure out and classify your powers. Like me, I’m Blue Class, with power over water and freezing. Kaida is Red Class with power over fire, and her brother Dorjan is Black Class with the power to raise the dead,-” Whoa, Dorjan could raise the dead? Like, as in zombies? “-in addition to having some minor telekinetic abilities. Aya is Grey Class with physical enhancements.” He was stripping out of his clothes as he said this.

“Uh…?”

He pulled my shirt over his head. It came down to his knees. Granted, it was one of my bigger shirts, but still. “To put in simpler terms, she’s got super strength.”

“…Classes?” I was so lost.

“Ah...right, you don’t know anything about that, do you? Let me explain.” He cleared his throat and sat cross legged on my bed. “So, you know that Daemons have magic, yes?”

I glared. “Obviously.”

“Right, then. Moving on. This magic is separated into seven ‘Classes’, each given a color. Red, for example, is associated with heat and other things.”

“I thought it was fire.”

“Not always. That’s just Kaida’s power. You don’t have to have power over fire to make heat. Have you ever seen a person die from being boiled from the inside out?”

I gave Yuuishi a blank look. “Obviously not.”

“Wow, you’re missing out.” He flashed me a grin and continued. “So, anyway, there are different parts to each Class. Again, Red is Fire and Heat, though fire is also broken down as well, the ability to create fire, and the ability to control it. You don’t need to be able to control fire to create it, just like because you can control it, doesn’t mean you can create it out of nothing. Blue Class, like me, deals with water and freezing, much in the same way as fire and heat. I can do all three.” Smug bastard.

“So you can create water from nothing, control it, and freeze it?” I wasn’t particularly interested in his abilities, mind you. I just wanted to see if I was following all of it. Really.

“Yes. I am one of the strongest in my Class.”

“Can Kaida do all three too?” Okay, now this was starting to get interesting. I reached over to snag my notebook to write this all down.

“No. She can only create and control fire. …what are you doing?”

“Writing this down. I don’t want to forget.”

“…you’re not gonna be tested on this, you know.” Yuuishi looked amused.

“Not the point. Keep going.”

“Right, then; moving on to the Black Class. Black is very different from the other Classes as its segments really have nothing to do with one another.”

“Isn’t Black Magic evil?”

“No. Magic is merely a weapon. The one who wields it is the one who is good or evil…or maybe something in between. A good person can do bad things, you know. What do you think war is?”

He brought up a good point, but I wasn’t about to start a philosophical conversation with him. “Anyway, Black magic?”

“As I was saying, the parts of the Black Class don’t have anything to do with one another. It’s also one of the hardest Classes to master because of how broad it is. The first part deals with raising and controlling the dead.”

“Like, as in zombies and stuff?”

“Something like, as there are varying degrees of power for it, depending on the age of the corpse. A low level Classmen cannot raise a corpse that’s older than a few years. The higher levels can raise gradually older corpses. The oldest recorded corpse raised successfully was the corpse of a dinosaur.”

“That’s over a billion years old!!”

“So was the man who raised it.”

I could feel my jaw drop. Just how long do these Daemons live, anyway? “Really?”

“No. He’s closer to two thousand. Even us Daemons are mortal. We just live longer than the average human.” He shook his hair back and stretched. “Anyway, other than the matter of raising corpses, there’s also the matter of controlling them, ‘cause, really, what good is a zombie hoard if they’re just going to rip off each other’s limbs and eat them instead of attacking your enemy?”

I didn’t need that mental image right after I had eaten. “Uhg…”

“You’ll get used to it.”

“God, I hope not.” I felt ill.

Yuuishi rolled his eyes and continued. “So there’s the raising and controlling of corpses, and that’s just the first part of the Black Class.”

“You mentioned telekinesis?”

“Oh good, you were listening. Right, though not so much telekinesis as the control over the movement of matter.”

“So…with this aspect, you can create matter from thin air, and or control it?

“Right. Then there’s also things like mind control and hypnosis; before you ask, yes they are different, but I won’t get into that now, or we’ll be here all night.”

“…alright. The next Class, then?”

“I’ll talk about the Grey Class next, since that’s what Aya and your father are.”

“My father?”

“Yes. The Grey Class doesn’t have an elemental aspect to it, much like the Black and White Classes. In fact, the Grey Class isn’t really a Magical Class at all. It’s the enhancement of an aspect of one’s body. Both your father and Aya have the ‘super strength’, but there are others, like enhanced sight, hearing, speed, taste-”

“Taste?”

“They tend to become chefs.” Yuuishi chuckled. “but yes, taste. Other things too, like smell and touch.”

“You mentioned super healing before… is that a Grey aspect too?”

“All Daemons have a bit of accelerated healing, by Human standards, anyway. In battle, our weapons compensate for that, so it’s not like it’ll save your life or anything, which gives me a good opening for the explanation of the White Class.”

“The White Class is healing, right?”

“Not entirely. The White Class is non-combatant, like some aspects of the Grey Class. A most common aspect is healing, yes, but there are other aspects too, like clairvoyant abilities, dream walking, astrological abilities, and protection spells.”

“Dream walking?”

“The ability to see peoples dreams, and, if you’re strong enough, take control and change them. This is used as an information gathering technique. I assume you know what clairvoyance is?”

“It’s the ability to see the future, right?”

“Yes. And I doubt I need to explain protection spells. Those also range in power, from protecting entire battalions, to shielding only one part of the body at one time. Those who can only shield themselves usually become front line fighters.”

I was scribbling this all down as fast as my hand could go, even though I was getting a cramp from holding the pen too hard. “So what about the levels of healing?”

“Well, if a healer is strong enough, they could bring back the dead…if they get there before it’s too late. After a certain point, the only way to get them back is as raised corpse, and by then they’d only be soulless, mindless dolls, the only trace of the person they were being in their looks and nothing else.”

I shivered. “I don’t think I could ever handle seeing a comrade as a soulless doll.”

“You’ll have to get used to that too.” Yuuishi said, his voice a few degrees colder than before. I wondered if he had ever been in battle before he came to get me; or if Dorjan had, or Kaida, or even Aya. I was too scared to ask, though.

I think I always will be.

Yuuishi rubbed at his eyes. “We have two more Classes to go through, and then I need sleep. Using magic in the Human Realm can be draining.”

I made a mental note to ask about that later. “So, what’s Yellow?”

“Electricity. To make a long explanation short, it’s like the other elemental abilities. There’s the aspects of creation and control, as well as the difference between lighting and electricity. Those with electrical abilities tend to be close ranged fighters…like jellyfish or electric eels. Those who can control lightning tend to be more long range.”

“I see… Green Class?”

“This is the oldest of all the Classes, as it is as old as the Earth itself. Those in the Green Class can control flora and terra, and usually have an affinity for growing things.”

“…Plants and rocks, basically?”

“Yes. It’s a powerful Class. They all are.” Yuuishi yawned. “Sorry…”

“It’s alright-” I cut myself off as Yuuishi tipped forward, dead to the world. “Hey…asshole, your bed is on the floor. Wake up.” I poked him in the head a few times. Nope, nothing doing; he must have really been worn out, to just fall asleep like that… “Fine…but just this once, you prick.” I set my notebook aside and switched off my bedside light, settling down next to Yuuishi, but not touching him.

I fell asleep, and I dreamed.

Chapter 5

I couldn’t see the person I was kissing, but that was okay. I didn’t need to. I knew the feel of his body (his?) like it was my own, mapping a path down his torso with my tongue before being dragging up by my hair (and oh how that tiny snap of pain was such a turn on) for a kiss, pressing me back into the mattress. I didn’t mind the display of aggression, or the switch in power, because his tongue was in my mouth and his hands were pinning my shoulders down and he was on top of me and we were naked and panting and moaning and rubbing and sharing spit and sweat and the air was hot and heady, even though his breath was cool against my skin as his kissed his way along my jaw and down my neck, leaving hickeys along my pulse. He made me beg for every little touch, and I did. And you know what? I liked it. I didn’t want to be in control, I didn’t want to be depended on and here it was just him and me and the bed, no one else; just his hands on my body, and his mouth on my skin and his tongue driving me crazy, and my hand in his hair and the other in my mouth, stopping me from getting too loud as I bit down on my knuckle. I was needy, and mewling like a cat in heat and I know he enjoyed every damn minute of it, of turning me over and sliding his fingers inside of me, making me practically scream in pleasure. I needed him and he knew it, but what he didn’t know was that I knew he needed me too. He slid inside me and I threw my head back with a shout, feeling his hand slide along my body to reach under me and stroke me in time with his thrusts, his other hand gripping my hip so tightly there was probably going to be a bruise in the morning and I didn’t care because he was jerking me backwards and stroking me rapidly, panting against my shoulder in cool gusts of air and I was oh so close I just needed to get a little….bit…farther…and then I broke with a scream.

“YUUISHI!”

I snapped awake, clutching my blanket to my chest and whimpering. I just had a sexy dream about Yuuishi. And liked it. It made me feel dirty. I love Connor, damn it! I hate Yuuishi! I hate him with every fiber of my being! I-…ended up staring down as him curled up in my bed. He looked much older in his sleep than he did when awake, as though haunted by something that he would never allow himself to be troubled by when awake.

It almost made me feel sorry for him. Almost. Damn those stupid teenaged hormones and their stupid inconvenient flare ups, anyway! I got up to change my pajamas, and when I came back to see if I could get more sleep, I suddenly had a lapful of Yuuishi, who was clinging to me in his sleep like I was the lat real and true thing in the world.

Or something like that, anyway.

I grumbled something half coherent at him as I started to settle down to sleep again. I think it may have been something like ‘leggoa’me ya’ damned rat bastard.’, but I couldn’t be too sure.

I would say it felt nice to hold someone in my sleep like that…except I still wished it was Connor.

~~~

I woke again to hear soft whispering from somewhere.

“See, I told you they’d get along.”

“I doubt they even know what they’re doing!”

“Really I don’t see what he’s problem is.”

“…Our son just discovered he’s half demon-”

“Daemon.”

“Whatever-, he has to save the world, he has to fight in a war to save said world, pass all his classes, and he might just be a little gay.”

A long pause, and then… “So?”

“…go set the table for breakfast, Armand.” Ah, Mom and Dad. Mom sounded like she had her left eye twitching at my father.

“Yes’m.”

Really, it happened more often than you’d think.

I felt something shift closer to me with a sleepy noise of protest, and so I rolled over and went back to sleep.

~~~

I woke up again to the smell of French Toast and bacon. Not a bad this to wake up to, really. I sat up and stretched, then blinked down at my bed. Yuuishi was in it! Ack! Shock! Horror! Oh, wait…he was bunking in my room. Right.

I’m not exactly the swiftest person in the mornings, in case you missed it.

I staggered out of my room with my notebook from last night and sat down at the table. Mom, Dad, Kaida and Dorjan were already awake. I looked over at the pull out couch to see Aya curled up in a nest of blankets and pillows… Perhaps I’ll find it disturbing she sleeps in her bunny ears when I’m more awake.

“’Morning.”

“Good morning, Lord Alastair.” Dorjan said. “I trust you slept well?”

I blinked at him. Then I blinked at him again, and then once more for good measure. “Lord…?”

“…Are you alright?”

“My son is not a morning person, Dorjan.” Mom said, putting a plate of food in front of me. “He’ll wake up more once he eats.”

“I see.” He pushed his hair back behind his ear. “May I ask what the note book is for?”

I took a sip of hot chocolate from the mug my mother put down in front of me. “Yuuishi was explaining the Magic Class system thing last night. I just want to look it over so I don’t look like a total ass in front of the Emperor…we are going before the Emperor today right? I think that’s what he said…”

“Yes, we are going to be seeing the Emperor today, so pl-”

The door opened and Connor stepped inside, dressed and with a duffle over his shoulder. “I’m coming with you.”

“What?” Mom.

“No, you can’t!” Kaida.

“I cannot allow it.” Dorjan.

“No way in hell.” Dad.

“The monkeys are attacking! Everyone, get to your battle stations!” Aya.

“What’s with all the shouting?” Yuuishi.

“…Connor…” Me.

“I’m coming with you, Alastair. I can’t let you do this by yourself.”

“He won’t be by himself! He’ll-” Dorjan was cut off by Connor’s glare. It was one of the few times Connor has dropped his ditzy, oblivious facade

“He’ll be all alone in an unfamiliar place, with unfamiliar people. I’m not letting him handle this by himself, and forgive me for not trusting you lot with my best friend’s life.”

This lifted my spirits, though at the same time, saddened me. If I was going to fight a war, I didn’t want Connor involved.

To be honest, I didn’t want to be involved either.

“Welcome aboard.” Yuuishi said, sitting down. The more people we have the better. Besides, Materia would never actually expect us to bring full blooded Humans into this.”

“…That is true.” Kaida said. “What can you do, kid?”

“I can hit a target dead center from two hundred feet.’

Now, I’ve probably mentioned this before; that Connor’s dad is a cop, but I think I may have failed to mention that since the seventh grade, he has been training Connor how to use a gun. For his own protection, of course, nothing shady. There was never an explanation as to why it started, though I think it has to do with John getting threatened by someone. Connor doesn’t know the whole story, but he threw himself into his training head first.

I’m sometimes frightened by just how good a shot Connor is, and how cold and hard his face gets when he’s firing. It’s not like him. It’s like he’s a different person altogether.

“Lord Yuuishi, I cannot support this choice!”

“You let Aya fight.” I said, glaring at Dorjan. “You’ll let me fight. Why not Connor? Is it because he’s fully human?”

Dorjan looked flustered and angry with me. It was kind of scary to see, truth be told. “I do not support Aya’s involvement in this matter either! Younglings are sacred!”

I found out later that because of their extended life span, Daemons have a very low birthrate. They value children above all else. It explained my father’s overprotective nature concerning Connor and me, and the rest of the block’s kids as well. Everyone knows Dad, because he’s always watching the kids when they’re playing outside.

“That’s why she’s so valuable to me.”

“Is that all we are, Lord Yuuishi?! Pawns?!” Tea cups and coco mugs were rattling as Dorjan’s temper began to flare. “I do not mind being such a thing, but my sister and Aya- Their lives are not your playthings!”

“Shut up!” A gun went off, making Aya wake up screaming. Mom rushed to her side to calm her as everyone stared slack jawed at Connor. “Next person to raise their voice gets shot!”

There was a knock at the door. “Cybil? Armand? Is everything alright?!”

I went to the door and opened it. “We’re fine Mrs. T. Dad’s relatives are here.” I rolled my eyes. “They’re a little…you know.”

“Oh…I thought I was going to have to call the police…”

“No, its okay…would you like some tea?”

Never let it be said that I can’t keep my cool in certain situations. Or that I’m impolite, ‘cause, seriously, asking Mrs. T if she wants to have tea with a house full of Daemons and trigger happy humans all staring at the door like they forgot we even had neighbors isn’t as polite as I would like, but what else could I say? ‘Go away; my best friend is shooting up the place to get the crazy, fighting Daemon people to calm down.’?

~~~

So Mrs. Teranika and her two cats joined us for breakfast. There’s got to be some sort of health risk, sharing your plate with your cats, but I guess when you’re as old as Mrs. T, you kinda stop caring about that sort of thing.

7,838 / 50,000
(15.7%)

More Nano!

2005-11-03T18:34:14Z

4,155 / 50,000
(8.3%)

Nano!!

2005-11-01T23:03:03Z

I’ve always thought I was a normal kid. I had normal parents, relatively; normal friends, sort of; and a normal life in general, kind of. I’m the kid who sat in the middle of the room, did my homework at the last minute and waited until the day before a test to study. I like video games, comic books, and the occasionally not sucky show on TV.

Normal, right?

Of course, this was before I found out my father was a Daemon (Not Demon. Daemon. Yeah, that’s what I said too), a commander of an armed regiment in the Daemon army, and I was apparently going to save both the Human and the Daemon realms, that’s to a prophecy written thousands of years before my birth.

No. Really. I’m apparently the Savior of not one, but two races.

I guess I’m not as normal as I thought I was.

~~~

I want to say it started out as a good day. I want to say it was snowing, and school had been canceled. But, while it was snowing, I still had school, which included the four tests I had to take, and the paper that was due that I hadn’t actually finished doing yet. It was freezing cold, and too damn early in the morning for it to actually be my birthday, even though it was. The morning of my sixteenth birthday and I was running to the bus stop, fingers freezing and a piece of toast hanging from my mouth. Not exactly the ideal way to start the day, but the highlight of my morning so far was seeing Connor. Connor’s been my best friend since the fifth grade. He’s funny and smart, though he can be a bit of a ditz. Not to mention oblivious. Everyone in the school is in love with Connor, including me, and he doesn’t have a clue. It may be for the best that he doesn’t know about my feelings, I think it would actually be really awkward if we were, you know, a couple, or something.

“Hey.”

“Do you know how cold it is outside?” Connor said to me absently. “It’s twelve degrees Fahrenheit. That’s negative eleven degrees Celsius.”

See what I mean about the smart bit? “Really? Damn.”

“Yeah. It’s cruel and unusual to do this to us, making us wait in the cold for the bus to take us to our imprisonment center for six hours of grueling brainwashing and mental assaults.”

Have I mentioned that Connor is a drama queen? He has quite the flair for the dramatic. At least, that’s what my mother says.

“We’ll make it through somehow, dude.” I said, through chattering teeth. I squinted through the snow, and thought I saw a bit of snow swirl around a boy who hadn’t been there a moment before. I almost didn’t see him, he was so pale…even his hair was pale. He smirked at me, and in another flurry of snow, he was gone. “Did you see that?”

“See what?” Connor blinked at me, snow clinging to his brown hair.

“There was a kid over there just now…but he just vanished!”

“The snow’s playing tricks on you, Al. Come on, the bus is here.”

I climbed onto the bus, though I continued to stare at the spot where the boy had stood. Maybe I was seeing things. I shrugged it off and opened my text book to study for my first test.

Whoever thought making math first period was a good idea needs to be dragged into the street and shot.

~~~

The boy I saw near the bus stop kept showing up all day. no matter what class I was in, if I looked outside at the the snow, he was there, seemingly unruffled by the cold. I knew he was watching me, and I'm positive he knew that I knew. At least I got a better look at him this time, blue-ish white hair (but not like an old lady, more like someone took ice and made it into hair), and pale blue eyes.

It was lunchtime when I managed to pin him down, going up to the roof of my school. He was waiting for me, the creepy bastard.

"I was wondering when you'd show up." He said, casually. "I've been waiting for you all day."

"I had class. Who are you?"

An elegant eyebrow arched. "Who am I? You came up here alone with no idea who it was that you were confronting? That's sloppy, kid."

Who the hell was he calling kid?! He couldn't possibly be any older than me! "Listen, shortstack-"

He bristled. "Shortstack?!"

"-First of all, I didn't come here alone. My friend will be here any minute. Second of all, how the hell am I supposed to know who you are when I've never seen you before in my life?!" Something about this kid set me on edge. I couldn't put my finger on what it was, exactly, that made me uncomfortable about him, but I didn't like the feeling.

"How rude of me." He crossed his arms and tossed his hair out of his face. "My name is Yuuishi, and you, Alastair, are going to help me."

"Help you? Why? And how do you know my name?!"

"The world as you know it is at risk. You are your world's only hope. Your world's...and mine."

"And yours? What do you mean 'yours'? What are you talking about?" Was this guy on something? 'Cause the only way someone could come up with a story like that was if they were taking some kind of drug. Or needed to be taking some kind of drug, anyway. "Does the mental institution know you escaped, Youeeshee?"

Ice blue eyes narrowed. "It's Yuuishi. I can assure you that I haven't escaped from anywhere. I am from the Daemon realm, a realm from which you are also apart of."

"Demon realm? Look, Yuush, I'm not from any Demon realm, okay? You need help."

"Not Demon. Daemon. Creatures of magic."

Magic. Pffft, right. I told him as much.

"You don't believe me? Look around you."

It was then I realized that while it was still snowing around us, we weren't being snowed on. It wasn't quite as cold, either.

"Alastair!" Conor called, jogging up next to me. "Al, what are you doing, it's freezing out..." He trailed off as he caught sight of Yuuishi, and the snow not falling. "...what the hell? Is this the guy you saw by the bus stop? Hey, buddy, leave my friend alone or get arrested. My father is cheif of police around here you know!"

Yuuishi ignored him. "I'll see you later, Alastair. We have much to discuss."

"I'm not discussing anything with you!" I shouted at him, though he was gone before I finished. The snow was falling everywhere again, and an ice-y wind cut through my clothes.

"Come on, Al. Lunch is almost over..." Conor pulled me back into the school.

I could've swore I heard Yuuishi's laughter echo on the rooftop.

~~~

The rest of school passed in a blur. The thinngs that Yuuishi had said on the roof bothered me. I turned them over and over in my head, and asked Conor what he thought.

"He said you were going to be the savior of both 'our' world, and his? Like he was from another world?"

"The Daemon realm, he called it."

"Daemon, huh? Maybe you should ask your mom. She knows all about this kind of thing."

He was right. My mom runs the magic shop on the first floor of our building. Of course she hates it when people call it a magic shop. She sells mostly healing herbs there, and then there's books and trinkets and other things there too. She calls herself a magical herbologist. This whole thing would be right up her alley.

"-besides," Conor continued saying. "wouldn't she know if you were half Demon, or whatever?"

"Yeah...I guess. I can't believe that we're actually considering what this guy said to actually be true!"

"The thing with the snow was pretty convincing."

"Whatever." I scowled.

"Al." Conor took me by the shoulders and tilted my face up to meet his eyes. I could feel my heart beating faster, and I hoped as hard as I could that he'd take the redness in my face to be from the cold. "it's gonna be fine. You'll see. No matter what happens, I'll always be by your side."

"...Conor?" Damn my voice for shaking just then.

"Oh! What's that?" Conor dashed across the street to the game store and I sighed.

Trust Conor to be easily distracted by shiney things.

~~~

After Connor bought me a snack from the oriental food store (chocolate covered cracker sticks make the world go round, I swear) we headed home, to ask my mother about this Yuuishi guy. I was still convinced that the guy was really just plain crazy, and I should just ignore it. I was positive my mother would agree.

“Ma, I’m home!” I called, entering the store.

“Oh, Alastair, there you are. I was getting worried.” My mother leaned over the counter and kissed my forehead. I suppose most teenage bys hate it when their mother’s do such things in front of their friends, but I never particularly minded. My family and I are pretty tight…though my parents seem to enjoy embarrassing me, but I suppose that’s just a regular parent thing.

“Hi Cybil.” Connor said, waving.

“Hey Connor. How’s your dad?”

“He’s doing good.” Connor gave a half shrug. Connor’s dad is chief of police. He had gone a little nuts for a while when Connor’s mom died thirteen years ago. It took him nearly a year to find the man who killed Connor’s mom. Connor was with her when she was killed, but says he doesn’t remember anything, as he was three years old when it happened.

Sometimes I think he’s lying.

“That’s good to hear.” Mom said, as she smiled and went to ring up a customer. “You boys head on up and do your homework. Once the shop closes, we’ll have dinner and then do birthday things and have cake.”

“Yay, cake.” Dad said, coming out of the back room. My dad’s what my mother calls a “total mush”, in spite of the fact that my dad is this huge, intimidating guy. He’s almost six feet tall and looks like he could be one of those Roman gladiator types you see in the movies, all bulging muscles and perfect cheekbones. Mom says when I was a baby, I used to cry whenever I saw my dad, until after he broken his nose in a fight. It never healed perfectly straight, and after it healed, I never cried when I saw him. I always thought that was funny. I mean, he’s my dad, why would I cry when I saw him?

“Hi Dad.”

“Hi Armand.”

“Hey guys. How was school?”

“It was alright.”

“Alastair has a stalker.” Connor said helpfully.

“A stalker?” Dad looked amused. “Tell me when we get to the apartment.”

Our apartment’s on the second floor of the building, and Connor’s is on the third floor above ours. We passed old Mrs. Teranika and her two cats, Abdullah and Delilah. She’s a sweet crazy lady who doesn’t have any actual family, so mom always has me bring over a plate of food for the holidays. In return, she usually has a huge plate of cookies or a pie or something for us. I think she’s a bit crazy, ‘cause she’s always talking to her cats, but she’s old and lonely.

I, personally, think her cat Delilah is evil.

“Hey Mrs. Teranika.”

“Oh hello Alastair….it’s your birthday today, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

“Happy birthday dear.” She smiled and shuffled to her apartment.

“Later Mrs. T.” Connor waved.

Dad opened the door to the apartment and we piled in. “So…what’s this about a stalker?”

“This guy named Yuuishi came up to me and told me I’m supposed to help him save the world or something.”

“…Yuuishi?”

“Yeah. He said he knew you.”

“He does, the little bastard.”

…That was not the answer I was hoping for.

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My progress so far?

2,113 / 50,000
(4.2%)

W00!