Birthday drabbles part 6
Even had he not been able to deduce who it was through process of elimination, Ceithin would have known anyway when he heard footsteps make their way passed his bedroom and into the kitchen.
Mamoru was a notorious midnight snacker; and Ceithin was almost one hundred percent sure of what it was he was after.
Considering the fact that he was already awake, he decided that there would be no harm in keeping his former Prince company. Hauling himself out of the bed, too tired to bother putting on additional clothes, he slipped out of his room soundlessly and approached the kitchen, passing Noel’s room.
Ceithin waited for a moment at the kitchen doorway, slightly surprised that Mamoru hadn’t turned on the light. He leaned against the frame unnoticed in the darkness, listening with an amused smile as the silence was filled with the sounds of plastic wrappers being torn open and the crunching of biscuits. There was a distinct smell of chocolate in the air, one that Ceithin recognised as being an integral part of his childhood lunches in school.
When he heard what he believed to be a second of his Penguin bars being ripped out of its bright red packaging and devoured by the chocolate demon who seemed to have taken over Mamoru’s body, he was almost tempted to switch the light on. But curiosity got the better of him and he decided to wait and see how many Mamoru would actually eat.
By the fourth one, and with no sign of slowing down -let alone stopping- he decided it was best to make his presence known.
The light went on.
Mamoru froze like a deer in headlights, caught in mid-scoff. He had just bitten off half of the fifth Penguin and now the chunk sat in his slack jaw, his eyes squinting slightly as he adjusted to the sudden switch from darkness to light.
“Ceiffm.” The name came out muffled, so Mamoru chewed and swallowed down the chocolate as quickly as possible before repeating it. “Ceithin.” His throat felt a little dry.
Even leaning against a doorframe in nothing but a pair of striped boxers and bedhead, Ceithin was still an intimidating sight to behold; especially when the food which had been consumed was his. Mamoru’s midnight eyes flew downwards to the other half of the biscuit, the chocolate coating melting slowly in his fingers. The evidence of what he had been doing littered the kitchen table and countertop: there were crumbs and bright red plastic wrapping everywhere, and no hope of escaping the situation.
“I’ll buy you more tomorrow.”
Silver eyebrows lifted slightly as a small, all-knowing smile appeared on Ceithin’s lips. “Fancy a cup of tea?” without waiting for an answer he walked towards the kettle and after an experimental shake came up empty, he went to the tap and filled it.
Mamoru relaxed and cleared up the wrappers, sweeping up any crumbs in his hand and dumping them in the bin. He sat at the table, although it was closer to a slump, and waited for his friend to sit with him.
Ceithin put a tea bag and a teaspoon in each mug and set them in front of Mamoru -there was a choice of his usual ‘Fuck Off and Die’ one or Zach’s ‘I Taught Your Girlfriend That Thing She Likes’. Mamoru frowned as he looked at them both, eventually pulling Zach’s towards him and then twisting the other one around by pushing the handle away so he couldn’t see the words. To anyone else it would have seemed like idle fiddling, but as Ceithin brought out the milk from the fridge and placed it on the table he noticed that it seemed like there was something bothering Mamoru: from how he was pushing away his own mug, Ceithin wondered if perhaps it was the mild reference to death which seemed to unnerve him. Considering the fact that Mamoru was currently studying obstetrics, it wasn’t difficult to guess what happened.
“Something happen to a patient?”
Mamoru looked up from tapping on the mug, his eyes slightly wide with surprise as a small smile lit his face before his features sank back into the previous look of exhaustion. “Am I that obvious?”
Ceithin shrugged as he sat himself opposite Mamoru. He crossed his arms and leant on the table, his grey eyes steady and unwavering as they took in the sight of the man before him. Mamoru looked exhausted, a rare feat. His usually perfect hair was dishevelled, flat and limp and looking just as drawn out as its owner. His skin was pale and his eyes were a little bloodshot - Ceithin almost thought he’d been crying.
“It started out as nothing out of the ordinary. Just a woman in labour and her husband. They had a small daughter with them, she looked like she was about six, maybe seven years old.”
Ceithin could hear someone quietly coming down from upstairs, but Mamoru didn’t seem to notice.
“It was around three o’clock. Everything seemed normal, she was in labour for seven hours.”
Ceithin grimaced at the length of time.
Jared was now standing in the doorway with Mamoru’s back towards him. He knew better than to interrupt and instead stood there, echoing Ceithin’s original pose and waiting. His blonde hair was tucked under his Chargers cap, a perfect match to the navy Charger’s tee and boxer briefs which served as nightwear.
Ceithin lifted his eyes to meet Jared’s in brief acknowledgement before returning to Mamoru who was staring at the empty mug in his hands. “Is the baby alright?” He asked carefully.
Mamoru brushed it off with a twisted smile and a brief shake of his head. “Baby’s fine. Mother bled out. They couldn’t stop it.” He looked up, that turn of his lips threatening to waver and crumble. Instead he tightened his jaw, the glisten in his eyes refusing to spill over as he took in a deep breath. “She died before she could even hold her baby.” He gripped the mug tightly, his hand visibly shaking as he fought for control. “Are you going to join us Jared, or do you need to be invited into your own kitchen?” He turned around to look at him, a forced smirk on his lips.
Jared uncrossed his arms and moved to the cupboard which held the mugs. “Thought I’d slipped under your radar.” He said, pretending to act casual.
Mamoru smiled and swivelled back around in his seat, cupping his hands around his mug and staring at it intensely, his eyes focusing past the flat little tea bag sitting at the bottom. “Ceithin’s the only one who can do that.” He looked up briefly at the man in question.
The button on the kettle clicked, signifying that the water was boiled. Jared picked it up and filled his ‘Jizz Cup’ before placing the kettle on the table, in between Ceithin and Mamoru. He put three heaped teaspoons of instant coffee into the mug and sat down with them. “How was the rest of the family?” He asked.
Mamoru leaned back into the plastic chair and looked up at Jared. He didn’t think he needed to answer. Instead he waited for Ceithin to pour out the boiled water into his mug then picked it up without waiting for milk and took a sip. He put it down almost immediately and carefully pushed it away slightly.
Jared took it as a sign to switch their drinks. Mamoru cast a grateful look at him.
Ceithin, on the other hand, was eyeing Jared like he was contemplating which method would be best to dispose of his body once he’d killed him.
“What? Dude, just accept it, you’re never going to get him to like this kind of tea.”
Ceithin’s glare did not lessen in intensity.
Mamoru took pity on Jared and decided to intervene. “Did I wake you?”
Jared looked away quickly from Ceithin’s grey gaze, grateful for the change in topic and smiled. “Nah, I couldn’t sleep. Too excited about the game.”
Mamoru leaned back and smiled in understanding. “Ah yes, Chargers playing the Raiders?”
“Yep.”
“It explains the get up.” Mamoru used his free hand to point at the Jared’s clothes while he sipped his coffee.
Jared seemed to take offence. “Yeah, I’m going to need you to retract that last statement. You do not refer to what I am wearing as ‘get up’. Everything I have on serves an important purpose.”
Mamoru placed his mug back on the table and then raised his hands. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to mess with your pre-game rituals.” His smile died quickly though and he cupped his mug again, twisting it in his hands.
Jared noticed the darkened mood immediately. “Hey, you know what would go great with this tea? A Penguin Bar.” Being unaware of what had occurred prior, he had hoped for the possibility of coaxing Mamoru out of his funk with chocolate.
It didn’t work. “I should have saved her.” His midnight eyes hardened as he frowned.
Jared’s answer was automatic. “You couldn’t have.” He was going to say more but Ceithin had looked at him and gave a barely perceptible shake of his head.
“That can’t be true.” Mamoru’s midnight eyes shifted to Jared’s cornflower ones briefly before settling his gaze on Ceithin. “I can’t have all these powers and not be able to help people.”
Ceithin didn’t answer, simply waiting and watching with his steady, grey eyes. Mamoru couldn’t help but continue. “I feel like an idiot.” He took in another breath, this one shaky and angry. “That’s what I am. An idiot. And I’m scum for not having tried to help her. I’m shitty scum who’s too fucking stupid to figure out how to use his own fucking powers.” His grip on the mug tightened and a tear leaked out of the corner of his left eye. “I can throw roses and heal my friends but as for actually helping anyone else on this planet-”
“Mamoru-” Jared tried quietly.
“NO!” He pushed himself away from the table and stood up quickly. Walking towards the stove and then turning around, he raked his hands through his jet black hair, leaving spiky streaks in their wake. “Fuck!” He looked like he wanted to punch something.
To Jared it seemed like he was lost.
Mamoru stopped pacing and stared at him like he was searching for an answer. “How could I just let her die?!” The tears began to spill out, silent and angry.
Jared looked at Ceithin, stumped as to how to handle such a situation, but the man was simply staring at Mamoru and he couldn’t get a read on what he was thinking.
“You would’ve helped her if you could.” It was all Jared could come up with.
Mamoru looked down and wiped the tears away roughly, only to be replaced with fresh ones. “I’ve been trying you know.”
Jared looked confused. “Trying?”
“At the hospital.” Mamoru slumped back into his seat and began running his hands on the coffee mug again. “When I did my oncology seat I tried to leak my powers into patients.”
“A little ambitious, don’t you think?” Jared tried, knowing that Mamoru’s attempts must have ended in failure.
“I’d hoped that was it. But I tried it with others who had easier problems, like broken bones, something I know how to heal.”
This time it was Ceithin that spoke, careful and quiet, gently prodding Mamoru to continue. “And?”
“Nothing.” He looked up and then dropped down again, as if ashamed.
“Perhaps…” Ceithin stopped, and if Jared didn’t know better, he would have thought Ceithin was hesitating. “Perhaps it’s not you. We’re different than the rest of the population. The Shitennou and Senshi-”
“Don’t. I don’t need an it’s-them-not-you explanation because it’s not. I’m not searching for a higher purpose, I know what I’m here for and it’s to help this world, so it’d be pretty stupid not to be able to cure them.” He frowned. “How is Crystal Tokyo supposed to be a Utopia if people get sick, if mothers die of postpartum haemorrhaging and never get to see their babies?”
Ceithin sat back and contemplated his Prince, reanalysing and reassessing to see how to approach him again. Jared could see his mind working away underneath the still expression and tried to figure out what he would do.
“I know there is more inside me. I can’t believe there isn’t, or what good am I?”
“You do the best you can. No one can fault you for that.” Jared stared at Mamoru and waited for the man to look up at him. Midnight blue met with sky blue but it was Jared who had to turn away.
“What I can do is not enough.” Mamoru took a sip of his coffee.
Ceithin stood up at that and padded over to Mamoru, taking his shoulders in his hands, gripping him painfully, forcing him to meet his eyes. “One day,” He said, “It will be.”
“But how do you know that?”
Ceithin wouldn’t let him go. “Because I just do.”
For some reason that helped a little and his heart felt less heavy. “And until then?”
“You let life take its course and you do the best you can.” Jared stood as well and placed a firm grip on Mamoru’s other shoulder, smiling gently. This was territory he knew how to handle. “The game starts in two hours. You guys want to watch it with me? I have beer.”
Mamoru didn’t hesitate. “Sure.”
At that answer Jared tapped Mamoru’s shoulder in approval and sent a grateful glance towards Ceithin for his perfect timing and unnatural ability to know exactly what to say to make Mamoru feel better. “Until then, feel like some Anchorman?” He suggested.
Mamoru smiled. “Does Sex Panther sting the nostrils?”
“In a good way.” Ceithin said as they made their way into the living room.
Mamoru was a notorious midnight snacker; and Ceithin was almost one hundred percent sure of what it was he was after.
Considering the fact that he was already awake, he decided that there would be no harm in keeping his former Prince company. Hauling himself out of the bed, too tired to bother putting on additional clothes, he slipped out of his room soundlessly and approached the kitchen, passing Noel’s room.
Ceithin waited for a moment at the kitchen doorway, slightly surprised that Mamoru hadn’t turned on the light. He leaned against the frame unnoticed in the darkness, listening with an amused smile as the silence was filled with the sounds of plastic wrappers being torn open and the crunching of biscuits. There was a distinct smell of chocolate in the air, one that Ceithin recognised as being an integral part of his childhood lunches in school.
When he heard what he believed to be a second of his Penguin bars being ripped out of its bright red packaging and devoured by the chocolate demon who seemed to have taken over Mamoru’s body, he was almost tempted to switch the light on. But curiosity got the better of him and he decided to wait and see how many Mamoru would actually eat.
By the fourth one, and with no sign of slowing down -let alone stopping- he decided it was best to make his presence known.
The light went on.
Mamoru froze like a deer in headlights, caught in mid-scoff. He had just bitten off half of the fifth Penguin and now the chunk sat in his slack jaw, his eyes squinting slightly as he adjusted to the sudden switch from darkness to light.
“Ceiffm.” The name came out muffled, so Mamoru chewed and swallowed down the chocolate as quickly as possible before repeating it. “Ceithin.” His throat felt a little dry.
Even leaning against a doorframe in nothing but a pair of striped boxers and bedhead, Ceithin was still an intimidating sight to behold; especially when the food which had been consumed was his. Mamoru’s midnight eyes flew downwards to the other half of the biscuit, the chocolate coating melting slowly in his fingers. The evidence of what he had been doing littered the kitchen table and countertop: there were crumbs and bright red plastic wrapping everywhere, and no hope of escaping the situation.
“I’ll buy you more tomorrow.”
Silver eyebrows lifted slightly as a small, all-knowing smile appeared on Ceithin’s lips. “Fancy a cup of tea?” without waiting for an answer he walked towards the kettle and after an experimental shake came up empty, he went to the tap and filled it.
Mamoru relaxed and cleared up the wrappers, sweeping up any crumbs in his hand and dumping them in the bin. He sat at the table, although it was closer to a slump, and waited for his friend to sit with him.
Ceithin put a tea bag and a teaspoon in each mug and set them in front of Mamoru -there was a choice of his usual ‘Fuck Off and Die’ one or Zach’s ‘I Taught Your Girlfriend That Thing She Likes’. Mamoru frowned as he looked at them both, eventually pulling Zach’s towards him and then twisting the other one around by pushing the handle away so he couldn’t see the words. To anyone else it would have seemed like idle fiddling, but as Ceithin brought out the milk from the fridge and placed it on the table he noticed that it seemed like there was something bothering Mamoru: from how he was pushing away his own mug, Ceithin wondered if perhaps it was the mild reference to death which seemed to unnerve him. Considering the fact that Mamoru was currently studying obstetrics, it wasn’t difficult to guess what happened.
“Something happen to a patient?”
Mamoru looked up from tapping on the mug, his eyes slightly wide with surprise as a small smile lit his face before his features sank back into the previous look of exhaustion. “Am I that obvious?”
Ceithin shrugged as he sat himself opposite Mamoru. He crossed his arms and leant on the table, his grey eyes steady and unwavering as they took in the sight of the man before him. Mamoru looked exhausted, a rare feat. His usually perfect hair was dishevelled, flat and limp and looking just as drawn out as its owner. His skin was pale and his eyes were a little bloodshot - Ceithin almost thought he’d been crying.
“It started out as nothing out of the ordinary. Just a woman in labour and her husband. They had a small daughter with them, she looked like she was about six, maybe seven years old.”
Ceithin could hear someone quietly coming down from upstairs, but Mamoru didn’t seem to notice.
“It was around three o’clock. Everything seemed normal, she was in labour for seven hours.”
Ceithin grimaced at the length of time.
Jared was now standing in the doorway with Mamoru’s back towards him. He knew better than to interrupt and instead stood there, echoing Ceithin’s original pose and waiting. His blonde hair was tucked under his Chargers cap, a perfect match to the navy Charger’s tee and boxer briefs which served as nightwear.
Ceithin lifted his eyes to meet Jared’s in brief acknowledgement before returning to Mamoru who was staring at the empty mug in his hands. “Is the baby alright?” He asked carefully.
Mamoru brushed it off with a twisted smile and a brief shake of his head. “Baby’s fine. Mother bled out. They couldn’t stop it.” He looked up, that turn of his lips threatening to waver and crumble. Instead he tightened his jaw, the glisten in his eyes refusing to spill over as he took in a deep breath. “She died before she could even hold her baby.” He gripped the mug tightly, his hand visibly shaking as he fought for control. “Are you going to join us Jared, or do you need to be invited into your own kitchen?” He turned around to look at him, a forced smirk on his lips.
Jared uncrossed his arms and moved to the cupboard which held the mugs. “Thought I’d slipped under your radar.” He said, pretending to act casual.
Mamoru smiled and swivelled back around in his seat, cupping his hands around his mug and staring at it intensely, his eyes focusing past the flat little tea bag sitting at the bottom. “Ceithin’s the only one who can do that.” He looked up briefly at the man in question.
The button on the kettle clicked, signifying that the water was boiled. Jared picked it up and filled his ‘Jizz Cup’ before placing the kettle on the table, in between Ceithin and Mamoru. He put three heaped teaspoons of instant coffee into the mug and sat down with them. “How was the rest of the family?” He asked.
Mamoru leaned back into the plastic chair and looked up at Jared. He didn’t think he needed to answer. Instead he waited for Ceithin to pour out the boiled water into his mug then picked it up without waiting for milk and took a sip. He put it down almost immediately and carefully pushed it away slightly.
Jared took it as a sign to switch their drinks. Mamoru cast a grateful look at him.
Ceithin, on the other hand, was eyeing Jared like he was contemplating which method would be best to dispose of his body once he’d killed him.
“What? Dude, just accept it, you’re never going to get him to like this kind of tea.”
Ceithin’s glare did not lessen in intensity.
Mamoru took pity on Jared and decided to intervene. “Did I wake you?”
Jared looked away quickly from Ceithin’s grey gaze, grateful for the change in topic and smiled. “Nah, I couldn’t sleep. Too excited about the game.”
Mamoru leaned back and smiled in understanding. “Ah yes, Chargers playing the Raiders?”
“Yep.”
“It explains the get up.” Mamoru used his free hand to point at the Jared’s clothes while he sipped his coffee.
Jared seemed to take offence. “Yeah, I’m going to need you to retract that last statement. You do not refer to what I am wearing as ‘get up’. Everything I have on serves an important purpose.”
Mamoru placed his mug back on the table and then raised his hands. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to mess with your pre-game rituals.” His smile died quickly though and he cupped his mug again, twisting it in his hands.
Jared noticed the darkened mood immediately. “Hey, you know what would go great with this tea? A Penguin Bar.” Being unaware of what had occurred prior, he had hoped for the possibility of coaxing Mamoru out of his funk with chocolate.
It didn’t work. “I should have saved her.” His midnight eyes hardened as he frowned.
Jared’s answer was automatic. “You couldn’t have.” He was going to say more but Ceithin had looked at him and gave a barely perceptible shake of his head.
“That can’t be true.” Mamoru’s midnight eyes shifted to Jared’s cornflower ones briefly before settling his gaze on Ceithin. “I can’t have all these powers and not be able to help people.”
Ceithin didn’t answer, simply waiting and watching with his steady, grey eyes. Mamoru couldn’t help but continue. “I feel like an idiot.” He took in another breath, this one shaky and angry. “That’s what I am. An idiot. And I’m scum for not having tried to help her. I’m shitty scum who’s too fucking stupid to figure out how to use his own fucking powers.” His grip on the mug tightened and a tear leaked out of the corner of his left eye. “I can throw roses and heal my friends but as for actually helping anyone else on this planet-”
“Mamoru-” Jared tried quietly.
“NO!” He pushed himself away from the table and stood up quickly. Walking towards the stove and then turning around, he raked his hands through his jet black hair, leaving spiky streaks in their wake. “Fuck!” He looked like he wanted to punch something.
To Jared it seemed like he was lost.
Mamoru stopped pacing and stared at him like he was searching for an answer. “How could I just let her die?!” The tears began to spill out, silent and angry.
Jared looked at Ceithin, stumped as to how to handle such a situation, but the man was simply staring at Mamoru and he couldn’t get a read on what he was thinking.
“You would’ve helped her if you could.” It was all Jared could come up with.
Mamoru looked down and wiped the tears away roughly, only to be replaced with fresh ones. “I’ve been trying you know.”
Jared looked confused. “Trying?”
“At the hospital.” Mamoru slumped back into his seat and began running his hands on the coffee mug again. “When I did my oncology seat I tried to leak my powers into patients.”
“A little ambitious, don’t you think?” Jared tried, knowing that Mamoru’s attempts must have ended in failure.
“I’d hoped that was it. But I tried it with others who had easier problems, like broken bones, something I know how to heal.”
This time it was Ceithin that spoke, careful and quiet, gently prodding Mamoru to continue. “And?”
“Nothing.” He looked up and then dropped down again, as if ashamed.
“Perhaps…” Ceithin stopped, and if Jared didn’t know better, he would have thought Ceithin was hesitating. “Perhaps it’s not you. We’re different than the rest of the population. The Shitennou and Senshi-”
“Don’t. I don’t need an it’s-them-not-you explanation because it’s not. I’m not searching for a higher purpose, I know what I’m here for and it’s to help this world, so it’d be pretty stupid not to be able to cure them.” He frowned. “How is Crystal Tokyo supposed to be a Utopia if people get sick, if mothers die of postpartum haemorrhaging and never get to see their babies?”
Ceithin sat back and contemplated his Prince, reanalysing and reassessing to see how to approach him again. Jared could see his mind working away underneath the still expression and tried to figure out what he would do.
“I know there is more inside me. I can’t believe there isn’t, or what good am I?”
“You do the best you can. No one can fault you for that.” Jared stared at Mamoru and waited for the man to look up at him. Midnight blue met with sky blue but it was Jared who had to turn away.
“What I can do is not enough.” Mamoru took a sip of his coffee.
Ceithin stood up at that and padded over to Mamoru, taking his shoulders in his hands, gripping him painfully, forcing him to meet his eyes. “One day,” He said, “It will be.”
“But how do you know that?”
Ceithin wouldn’t let him go. “Because I just do.”
For some reason that helped a little and his heart felt less heavy. “And until then?”
“You let life take its course and you do the best you can.” Jared stood as well and placed a firm grip on Mamoru’s other shoulder, smiling gently. This was territory he knew how to handle. “The game starts in two hours. You guys want to watch it with me? I have beer.”
Mamoru didn’t hesitate. “Sure.”
At that answer Jared tapped Mamoru’s shoulder in approval and sent a grateful glance towards Ceithin for his perfect timing and unnatural ability to know exactly what to say to make Mamoru feel better. “Until then, feel like some Anchorman?” He suggested.
Mamoru smiled. “Does Sex Panther sting the nostrils?”
“In a good way.” Ceithin said as they made their way into the living room.