Three more drabbles

[maderr]

Always

Elton stirred slowly awake, scrubbing at his face in an effort to wake up, blinking groggily at the still open window – had they forgotten to close the curtains?

Then he realized there was no ‘they’ and the previous night came flooding back.

His gift for them still sat on the bedside table. At least they’d let him know of the change in plans soon enough he could cancel dinner before all the food went to waste. Retrieving his lounge pants from the floor, he slid them on and wandered into the sitting room, collapsing with a yawn on the couch. He could call to have breakfast prepared, but…

Before he could finish the thought, the door opened to admit the objects of his thoughts. They look exhausted. As though they’d not slept all night – which they probably hadn’t. All the stress of a crisis on top of the fact they’d had to handle it the night of their one term anniversary.

“Pretty,” the twins said to together, the very picture of misery. Their clothes were rumbled, hair a mess, and that pale skin he so admired had a pallor to it that worried Elton. “We’re so sorry.”

Standing, Elton moved to let them embrace and pet him, content to enjoy the touches as the twins soothed themselves and murmured apologies. When they began to ease, he finally responded to their words. “There’s nothing to apologize for. You’re the Lords of Bangkok. It’s a demanding position.” He kissed each in turn, relishing the contrasting flavors, one so sharp and potent, the other a rich, slow burn. Hands smoothed along his bare skin, teased over his pants. One set of teeth nibbled at his ear, another testing the skin of his throat. Elton leaned back against Baxter, twining his arms around Lucid. “It’s not the day that matters, hmm? We’re together, still and always, yeah?”

The twins murmured soft agreements.

Elton smiled to see their faces clear of most of the tension that had darkened them. “Now go get some rest, and we’ll have lunch or something, hmm?”

“Come lay with us a bit, pretty? Until Luc starts to snore.”

“I do not snore,” Lucid replied with a sniff. “And even if I did, that’s better than trying to sing in my sleep.”

Chuckling, Elton urged them toward the back room and there got them both stripped and into bed, more than happy to be dragged there with them, more than content to doze cuddled between them while his jewels slept.





Break up

“You fucking bastard!” Cyan swung hard, fist connecting hard with Einn’s jaw, the sound loud in the sudden silence of the bar. “I guess that’s what I get for trusting a Fornarian.” He spat the words, eyes filled with rage. “I hope the stupid hellcat whore was worth it, cause you’ll have to find a new human now.”

Einn shrugged, seemingly oblivious to the punch that would have broken the jaw of nearly any other species. “You were getting boring anyway. Humans. You’re all so damned stupid, to think you’ll magically make someone want to stay with you for longer than a term or two. You were barely worth that.”

Cyan snarled and lashed out, leg a blur and Einn rather abruptly flat on his back on the filthy floor. “I’m too good for you anyway. You can find a new combat officer too.”

“The hellcat is better than you at everything.”

“Good riddance then. Slutty Fornarian.” Sneering in disgust, Cyan turned sharply away and stalked out of the bar, slamming the door shut behind.

Outside, he took a deep calming breath as he walked along the dark street. At this hour, even the streets of Bangkok tended to be mostly dark. Most places were closed to clean and make ready for the noise that would shortly begin again. Bangkok never really closed, but there tended to be lulls.

Before he could completely gather his thoughts, footsteps came up steadily behind him, a rhythmic clip of boots on pavement. Then a hand settled lightly on the small of his back.

“You really are too good for that crass Fornarian. Never should have let that planet into the IG.”

“They’re good for the Kharzar mines,” Cyan replied. “Certainly not much else.”

The man chuckled and leaned in a little closer. “Dare I ask if you are free?”

Cyan flashed a grin and leaned in closer himself, letting the hand on his back settle more firmly. “Definitely. I want to see this ship you’ve been hinting at. Not nice to tease a guy, you know.”

Fingers pressing firmly, beginning to move slightly, the man gave him an amused smile. “Now, I don’t think I’m the one who’s been teasing, baby.”

“Hey, I told you,” Cyan said sharply. “I wanted to make certain there was no chance of working things out.” He looked away, expression glum. “He’s a Fornarian, but he wasn’t all bad…then again, I spent two terms thinking he hadn’t once cheated on me and it’s obvious he has been the whole time.”

“I wouldn’t cheat on a hot piece like you. Come on, let me show you my…ship.”

Cyan’s glumness fell away, replaced by an eager smile. “Sounds like a plan, Anders.”

Giving up on all pretense Anders held Cyan close and all but dragged him through the winding maze of streets of the Green Dragon Pavilion, down to the spaceport.

To a ship that looked remarkably plain, but once inside Cyan could instantly see the differences. A 00917XA3 Combat Class should be made with grade three materials; it was a model built first for speed and agility, intended for firefights in asteroid belts and other such dangerous terrain. This was all grade two stuff…here and there he could see grade one. No way would the IG give such funding to a ship put on light duty.

“Hmm, want to see the guns? They’ve got your name all over them,” Anders said in his ear.

Cyan pressed back, in every way eager for what the tacky innuendos were implying. “Show me,” he said. “You can do me in the seat.”

“This way,” Anders said eagerly, taking his hand and leading the way through the ship to the bridge. “The rest of them will be lost in Red Dragon Pavilion for the rest of leave. We’ve got all the time in the world.”

“Good, because just thinking about a Pantheon scatter-shot rack gets me all kinds of hot and bothered. Show me those guns and I’ll take care of yours – and gladly.”

Smirking, clearly pleased with the way the night had played, Anders led him onto the bridge and quickly activated the weapons system in analysis mode.

Cyan’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction as he took it all in, whistling in appreciation of the specs.

Then he turned around and punched Anders hard, lip curling in rage and disgust as the man dropped like a rock. Planting his foot on the seat, he quickly pulled out a set of in-specs and ear piece, sliding them into place and activating them. “Vicky, do you read?”

“Of course,” Vicky said calmly. “Are you aboard the Hallow’s Eve?”

“Of course,” Cyan replied with a grin. “Connecting you now.” His fingers flew as he worked to connect Hallow’s Eve to the Brilliant. “Got it?”

“Yes, perfect. Thank you, Cyan. Alerting the proper authorities now. Lock down the ship and come home.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Cyan replied with a grin, suddenly in desperate need of a shower – and his lover.

It was a quick few minutes work to completely disable the ship, and he spent a few more securing Anders in the hold – thoroughly unimpressed the bastard remained unconscious the entire time.

After months of agonizing and hellish work, the mission was finally acccomplished.

He’d barely taken three steps off the ship when he was roughly grabbed and shoved up against a wall, mouth taken in a hard kiss filled with all the misery and tension the mission had caused. Cyan gave as good as he got, determined never to stop, never to do something so difficult ever again.

Einn pulled back only when breathing became necessary. “Can we go home now? Stars, I wanted to kill that bottom-dweller.”

Cyan wrapped his arms around Einn’s neck and all but climbed up his tall, slender lover, gladly wrapping his legs around his waist when Einn encouraged him to do so, barely noticing the cold of the metal wall he was pressed up against, caring about nothing more than the touch and taste and feel of the man he loved.

The kisses abruptly stopped, Einn giving him a look. “You know you didn’t have to punch me that damned hard. I would swear you like bruising me, Rehab.”

Laughing, Cyan dragged him back down for another hard kiss, biting lightly at Einn’s bottom lip as he pulled away. “I like making it up to you.”

“Well, that’s okay then,” Einn said with a grin, and after a more minutes of pressing Cyan hard into the wall, finally led the way through the port toward the Brilliant and their cabin.





Wizard Taming

Duc traveled through the halls, so used to the way people scrambled out of his line of vision when he was angry that he barely noticed them doing it.

Stupid ambassador. The bastard thought he was so clever. If he didn’t watch it, he’d get nothing for his troubles but abject pain and humiliation. Duc wanted to turn him into a frog. Rapunzel had put her foot down on that notion, telling him in no uncertain terms what would happen if he turned yet another foreign diplomat into an amphibian.

She hadn’t, however, said he couldn’t turn the bastard into a cat.

Yes, that would do quite nicely. Just the thought of the ambassador turned into a mangy cat cheered him immensely. If the bastard continued to try to cheat them, Duc would set the hunting dogs on the man.

Mood vastly improved, Duc decided to forgo returning his bedroom to visit the library. Bypassing the main stairway, he traveled down a long hallway to the massive double doors at the end, pushing one open and closing it behind him again.

The last of his tension faded away as he entered his sanctuary, absorbing the warmth of the fire, the smell of old books, ink…and spice tea. Every lingering frustration in his mind faded away as his thoughts centered on the source of the spice tea smell.

The library was enormous, rows upon rows of shelves, all manner of nooks and crannies…and before the massive fireplace, a jumble of sofas and deep chairs. Currently tucked into one of those chairs, a pot of tea on the little table beside him, a massive book tumbled across his lap from where it had obviously slipped from his fingers.

From the very moment Caesar had realized he was allowed in the library, he was seldom found anywhere else when he had free time and Duc was still occupied.

Given the late hour, Duc had not expected to find him here and he’d wanted to double check the spell for changing a man into a cat. Amphibians were much more his specialty. It was so much more satisfying to throw them into the well and let them stew for a bit.

Though the hunting dogs held an appeal all their own now that he’d thought of it…yes…

Smirking, Duc stored the thought away and returned to study the fine, fine sight before him. Kneeling in front of the chair, he carefully set the book aside – a history, they were Caesar’s favorite – and brushed soft strands of dark brown hair from his cheeks before letting his fingers trace the fine scars that would forever mark Caesar’s face.

His fault, those scars. He’d been in a rage and the thorns had seemed a fine idea…if only he’d figured everything out sooner…

Duc shook his head. It was long past and over, and Caesar had always defended his actions – even to the princess.

He traced the scar that cut into Caesar’s top lip, then leaned in to press a kiss to it, breathing in the mingled scents of his lover and spice tea, then shifted to kiss him properly, feeling long lashes flutter against his cheeks as Caesar’s eyes slowly opened. “Duc…”

Laughing softly, Duc pulled back. “You can take these books up to bed, you know. I’m sure it would be far more comfortable than this chair.”

Caesar smiled sleepily and lifted his arms to twine them around Duc’s neck, gently tugging him closer for another kiss, mouth slow and clumsy with sleep but sweet and fine all the same. “I knew you’d come here after the dinner was over.” His arms slid away and he picked up something from the table. “Got this for you.”

Duc looked at the book, blinked – then laughed in sheer delight. His book of shape changing spells.

Gentle fingers rubbed the emerald embedded in his forehead, making Duc tingle all the way down to his bones. Setting the magic book aside, he scooped Caesar up and moved them both to one of the large sofas. He kissed Caesar deeply, trying hard to convey everything he could never seem to properly voice.

Caesar understood though; always his precious ex-thief turned noble knight of the realm understood him.

“You’re going to scare the servants if they find us doing this in the library again.”

“Beloved, they all saw me stalking this way. No one is coming near the library.” Duc’s jewel flashed as he silently cast a spell to seal the doors anyway.

Caesar laughed, and tugged until Duc was on top of him, the shyness and uncertainty of their early days long gone. “Good.”

Comments

[tygati.livejournal.com]

Mmmm.... my love for the Bangkok trio knows no bounds... >.> If you ever scare me like that again with the Break Up I will have to hurt you... ^.~ and... Duc... *.* Ahh, Duc.... sparkly snarky gemstone wizards... PURR...

[animeartistjo.livejournal.com]

I hope you realized you almost gave me a heart attack when I read the first few lines of the Kidnapped drabble. I had to re-read them, not sure my eyes were working right.

The delicious little epilogue-esque drabble of the fairy tale soothed the trauma, though. Love, love, love Duc and Caesar. They're am OTP of their own.

[maderr.livejournal.com]

Sorry ^^;;;; I did not think anyone would actually be worried.

[stardance.livejournal.com]

lol, I'm glad I'm not the only one scared by Break Up. My eyes kept sneaking ahead to see if they were *really* broken up. I love both of the other drabbles, too. I love Kidnapped!verse and Fairy Tale!verse. *glomps you*

[maderr.livejournal.com]

*loves and adores*

Heh, I really didn't think it would scare anyone. If anything, I thought I'd get rolling eyes and 'lame, maderr, we're so not falling for it' ^^;;;

[dameange.livejournal.com]

i think the basis of people's fear was that einn's species weren't known for their fidelity. gives it a very nature vs nurture argument that works nicely with this kind of set. the fear didn't stop until the other guy came it. up until then, i totally believed it, then i was like, "wait a minute. . . oh thank GOD!"

[stardance.livejournal.com]

Psh. From I, the most gullible person alive? I think not! ♥

[dameange.livejournal.com]

mmmm, the lords of bangkok. all three of them. so hot. love. love. love.

also very much enjoyed calvin and jason. especially loved the one were suzie was talking to jason . . . "i accept his weirdness but you love him for it." so sweet. and i, surprisingly, like suzy. thanks gain for sending the link.

[chris-king-2005.livejournal.com]

I wibbled ferociously through 'Break Up' til the very end, you big meanie!

I adore the Bangkok trio. (More please!)

Tis my day off...I've been merrily rereading everything on your site this week. Today's project is the rest of the fairy tales.

[tsaiko.livejournal.com]

EEEEEE! Duc and Ceasar for the win! I think that was one of the first things I read by you that wasn't Calvin/Jason. Also the trio from Bangkok is lovely as ever.

[(Anonymous)]

Wooowww! All three of my favorites in one go! Seriously, Bangkok, Kidnapped, and The Tower are my three top favorites, the only competition being Main Gauche and Decieved. ^____^ Hehehehe! I loved the ruse, though I have to say you were a tiny bit too obvious. If they'd been planning for months, Cyan wouldn't immediately throw himself at the bastard. He'd have raged just a bit more, of made it seem more of a rebound than 'oh I'm free now, let's have sex' kind of thing. At least, I'd hope so, because Anders must have been really stupid, which contradicts the months thing, to have fallen so easily. Or too blinded by lust, I could see that...

I must know you too well

[rykaine.livejournal.com]

'Cause I spent all of the first two paragraphs going, "EEK! No!" And then I went, "ahh... I see." ^_^ Thanks, Meggie.

I should do something in return. (The Kyle V-day one doesn't count, 'cause I was already planning it, anyway.) So... pick something.

[skylark97.livejournal.com]

Elton! Oh, much much love for Bangok and its Lords. ^_^ *hearts* God, they're so hot sweet! ^_____^!!

I'm with everyone else, I was worried. XD I was all 'What the hell?!?! Is this an AU? ;_; But, but, Einn and Cyan were totally OTP! Weren't they? *sniffles*' So, much glad for those last couple paragraphs that cleared it all up. ;3 *tackle glomps* God, how I love that universe.

Eieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!! *bounces* Duc and Caesar!!! *tackle glomps* Sorry, every once in a while, you'll pop in with drabbles for characters I haven't thought of in a while, and it makes me giddily happy. ^_^ *hearts* Those two are so cute. And I love how well Caesar knows Duc and how Duc still regrets the scars from the thorns. *twirls you about*

You rock!

[sporkess.livejournal.com]

The Bangkok one was lovely. At least Elliot's understanding about the whole business.

The second one made me whimper. I was all "What are you doing? Why are you making them break up? REPENT OF YOUR SINS!" and then I realised you'd just tricked me. Sneaky person.

The third one - very cute. Those two have been gone for a while. I did notice one grammatical error: you have a sentence that doesn't finish properly. "Currently tucked into one of those chairs, a pot of tea on the little table beside him, a massive book tumbled across his lap from where it had obviously slipped from his fingers." It's obvious from the subsequent sentances that you mean Ceasar, but it doesn't ever say so.

Thanks for three lovely drabbles!

[kiyoshi-chan.livejournal.com]

I love you so so much. *adores*

[marasmine.livejournal.com]

Elton and the Jewels are so good! I wonder what they got him for their anniversary - and what was in the carefully wrapped gift on the bedside table...
You got me wibbling with Break Up too. Glad it was just a mission!
And now I have to go and find out about Duc and Ceasar!
Beautiful drabbles, thank you for sharing them!

[thelobstermob.livejournal.com]

I can't find something. i swear you wrote something on how pyotr came to live with his uncle but for the life of me i cannot find it. where is it hidden?

[maderr.livejournal.com]

I think you're looking for the prologue of Meant to Be?

[kiyoshi-chan.livejournal.com]

I love The Tower, I will never ever tire of it, and I'll never stop saying that either. If I remember right I used to gush about it to you. ;) That hasn't changed.