lol ficcage AGAIN? D:
So, got a prompt from Deb, regarding Kougaiji and Yukina.
AU RP!Verse, "after the 'Long Live the King' feast & celebration are over and they go back to his old rooms in the castle."
Don't you wriggle your eyebrows at me. There's no smex. :< KISSING BUT NO SMEX.
The celebration had gone on for hours and Yukina had been more than content to watch it all in silence: Ky loudly explaining the proper usage of utensils to a bored-looking Saitou and Mugen (who had tuned him out at some point and was pointedly gnawing on a turkey leg while his knife and fork lay forlornly by his plate), Naoto and Teresa talking quietly under their breaths while cleaning off their blades with their napkins, Yin trying to puzzle out which out of the three forks she was supposed to use on a salad... and all of them staring with expressions of mingled horror and fascination at the way Li seemed to inhale his food without chewing.
It had been nice to see how relaxed everyone was (as relaxed as some of them could be, anyway), especially after what they had all just been through. It seemed like a blur, but Yukina could recall it all clearly, each ring of clashing blades, every dying scream the youkai guards uttered before they were taken down, the bright splashes of crimson that stained the castle walls as well as the faces and clothes of her friends... their grim expressions and the vivid shock on Kougaiji's face when Gyumaoh "spoke" to him.
The king...
That's right... Kougaiji was the king now. Yukina had no doubt he'd be a very good one, much better than his father... but there was one little problem with the former prince's new status.
He was a king. She was a Koorime. Maybe back on the island, it wouldn't have made a difference, but here... here it made all the difference. If he took a consort, she needed to be someone who knew what she was doing. Someone who at least had the faintest inkling as to how to help run a castle or govern the people... things she didn't have the slightest clue about.
It would be too selfish for her to stay here-- and this time, she couldn't afford that selfishness. No, it was better if she quietly returned with the others and left Kougaiji in better hands....
She didn't know when the chatter had stopped or when the triumphant party of heroes had retired to their rooms for the night, but she did notice when someone scooped her up from her seat and carried her off through a maze of twisting stone hallways and she was alert enough to blink in surprise when she was placed on top of a massive four-poster bed.
Kougaiji stood by the bed, regarding her with an unreadable expression on his face. For a moment, neither of them moved or even drew a breath-- and then he sighed.
"You were thinking about going back with them."
Her flinch told him everything he needed to know. Except for one thing.
"Why?"
The words were slow to come and Yukina would have given anything at the moment to be able to look away from those impassive eyes, but they held her firmly in place, demanding an answer.
"... You're a king now, Kougaiji-san..." It hurt to speak, but once she started, she couldn't stop. "It wouldn't be right if you still associated with me, not when you deserve someone much--"
She broke off with a squeak for Kougaiji had suddenly moved, too fast for the eye to follow and, the next thing she knew, she was flat on her back with his knees resting on either side of her body and his hands pinning her wrists to her pillow. When she looked up at him for an explanation, it was to discover that he was no longer expressionless. He was staring down at her, his violet eyes blazing with too many emotions to name.
"Don't you dare--" It emerged as a low growl and Yukina's eyes widened. "Don't you even dare to think that. Not when I..." He lowered his head, speaking in a harsh whisper now against her lips. "Not when I love you this much."
"I--" Again she was cut off when Kougaiji took advantage of their closeness to silence her with a searing kiss and, as much as Yukina tried to keep her mind clear and resist, that kiss wasn't entirely one-sided.
"Do you know..." He kept pausing to kiss her, gradually moving those kisses from her mouth to her chin to her throat to her neck... "I thought I'd lost you when I came back here?" His mouth found the sensitive spot just under her ear and he was rewarded with a soft gasp and a darker flush of color in her face. "And when I saw you and you turned around, I couldn't get to you fast enough, hold you tight enough, because I was so afraid I was only imagining you being here?"
Yukina made a sound that might have been acknowledgement, but he was effectively turning her into mush, so she doubted the meaning got through.
"It doesn't matter if I'm a prince, or a king... just as it doesn't matter that you're an Ice Maiden." Kougaiji returned for a final kiss on the lips before releasing her hands and letting her sit up, still dazed. "I'm Kougaiji. You're Yukina. That's all you need to know. The only one I want-- the only one I need-- is you, Malati. And I'm not going to let you go this time."
The next instant, he had an armful of Koorime who, judging by how tightly her arms were wrapped around him, wasn't about to be letting go either-- at least not anytime soon.
~~--*--~~--*--~~--*--~~--*--~~
"See?" Mugen said smugly, leaning against the doorframe. "Told you they were sleeping together."
"I doubt you meant sleeping in that sense," Li pointed out as Yin tilted her head in his direction and shifted the unhappy piglet in her arms.
Ky was already frowning. "Still, I don't think--"
"Keep it that way," Naoto advised dryly, and Teresa coughed into her hand.
The blond grimaced. "I don't think such behavior is hardly proper for a-- mmmph!"
Naoto kept her hand over his mouth with the air of one who had been through this countless times already. "We were dragged from an island to help take over a castle for a guy some of us have never even met before. Not to mention I had to share a bed with you because Yin and somebody--" She glanced at Saitou, who met her gaze calmly and lit a cigarette. "... needed to have beds of their own and Teresa felt like sleeping outside and Mugen and Li shared the other bed--"
"I would have shared it with you!" Mugen interjected. "We could've had fun--"
"Now, now..." And Teresa joined in. "Don't be tasteless."
"And I know you said you'd sleep on the floor, which doesn't explain how I woke up with you CLINGING TO ME LIKE A TEDDY BEAR," Naoto finished, lowering her hand.
"Sleep-walking, obviously, as I would never invade a woman's privacy--"
"But you did, so still improper." She snorted. "This entire thing has 'improper' written all over it. So just let them sleep."
"Yare yare..." Saitou took a deep drag of his cigarette. "The fighting of children... it's too early for such foolishness."
"Saitou, I must protest, as I am clearly not a child--"
"Did I mention you kick in your sleep, too?"
"Told you sleeping with me was a better idea."
"I doubt she would have slept."
"... Yin, let's go see what they have for breakfast."
"... Yes. ......."
"What is it?"
"... Which fork?"
"Shouldn't we wake them up before Li eats all of the food again?"
"... Just let them sleep, like I said."
"But--"
"I'll gag you with my scarf this time if you say one more word about this being improper."
"Yare yare."
"....."
Oblivious to the peanut gallery, Yukina snuggled down against Kougaiji's chest, safe and secure within the circle of his arms, and the two slept on.
.... I blame the fact that I finished writing this at 2 AM.
.... and that Naoto and Ky are apparently married. Lol screwed-up family trees ftw
AU RP!Verse, "after the 'Long Live the King' feast & celebration are over and they go back to his old rooms in the castle."
Don't you wriggle your eyebrows at me. There's no smex. :< KISSING BUT NO SMEX.
The celebration had gone on for hours and Yukina had been more than content to watch it all in silence: Ky loudly explaining the proper usage of utensils to a bored-looking Saitou and Mugen (who had tuned him out at some point and was pointedly gnawing on a turkey leg while his knife and fork lay forlornly by his plate), Naoto and Teresa talking quietly under their breaths while cleaning off their blades with their napkins, Yin trying to puzzle out which out of the three forks she was supposed to use on a salad... and all of them staring with expressions of mingled horror and fascination at the way Li seemed to inhale his food without chewing.
It had been nice to see how relaxed everyone was (as relaxed as some of them could be, anyway), especially after what they had all just been through. It seemed like a blur, but Yukina could recall it all clearly, each ring of clashing blades, every dying scream the youkai guards uttered before they were taken down, the bright splashes of crimson that stained the castle walls as well as the faces and clothes of her friends... their grim expressions and the vivid shock on Kougaiji's face when Gyumaoh "spoke" to him.
The king...
That's right... Kougaiji was the king now. Yukina had no doubt he'd be a very good one, much better than his father... but there was one little problem with the former prince's new status.
He was a king. She was a Koorime. Maybe back on the island, it wouldn't have made a difference, but here... here it made all the difference. If he took a consort, she needed to be someone who knew what she was doing. Someone who at least had the faintest inkling as to how to help run a castle or govern the people... things she didn't have the slightest clue about.
It would be too selfish for her to stay here-- and this time, she couldn't afford that selfishness. No, it was better if she quietly returned with the others and left Kougaiji in better hands....
She didn't know when the chatter had stopped or when the triumphant party of heroes had retired to their rooms for the night, but she did notice when someone scooped her up from her seat and carried her off through a maze of twisting stone hallways and she was alert enough to blink in surprise when she was placed on top of a massive four-poster bed.
Kougaiji stood by the bed, regarding her with an unreadable expression on his face. For a moment, neither of them moved or even drew a breath-- and then he sighed.
"You were thinking about going back with them."
Her flinch told him everything he needed to know. Except for one thing.
"Why?"
The words were slow to come and Yukina would have given anything at the moment to be able to look away from those impassive eyes, but they held her firmly in place, demanding an answer.
"... You're a king now, Kougaiji-san..." It hurt to speak, but once she started, she couldn't stop. "It wouldn't be right if you still associated with me, not when you deserve someone much--"
She broke off with a squeak for Kougaiji had suddenly moved, too fast for the eye to follow and, the next thing she knew, she was flat on her back with his knees resting on either side of her body and his hands pinning her wrists to her pillow. When she looked up at him for an explanation, it was to discover that he was no longer expressionless. He was staring down at her, his violet eyes blazing with too many emotions to name.
"Don't you dare--" It emerged as a low growl and Yukina's eyes widened. "Don't you even dare to think that. Not when I..." He lowered his head, speaking in a harsh whisper now against her lips. "Not when I love you this much."
"I--" Again she was cut off when Kougaiji took advantage of their closeness to silence her with a searing kiss and, as much as Yukina tried to keep her mind clear and resist, that kiss wasn't entirely one-sided.
"Do you know..." He kept pausing to kiss her, gradually moving those kisses from her mouth to her chin to her throat to her neck... "I thought I'd lost you when I came back here?" His mouth found the sensitive spot just under her ear and he was rewarded with a soft gasp and a darker flush of color in her face. "And when I saw you and you turned around, I couldn't get to you fast enough, hold you tight enough, because I was so afraid I was only imagining you being here?"
Yukina made a sound that might have been acknowledgement, but he was effectively turning her into mush, so she doubted the meaning got through.
"It doesn't matter if I'm a prince, or a king... just as it doesn't matter that you're an Ice Maiden." Kougaiji returned for a final kiss on the lips before releasing her hands and letting her sit up, still dazed. "I'm Kougaiji. You're Yukina. That's all you need to know. The only one I want-- the only one I need-- is you, Malati. And I'm not going to let you go this time."
The next instant, he had an armful of Koorime who, judging by how tightly her arms were wrapped around him, wasn't about to be letting go either-- at least not anytime soon.
~~--*--~~--*--~~--*--~~--*--~~
"See?" Mugen said smugly, leaning against the doorframe. "Told you they were sleeping together."
"I doubt you meant sleeping in that sense," Li pointed out as Yin tilted her head in his direction and shifted the unhappy piglet in her arms.
Ky was already frowning. "Still, I don't think--"
"Keep it that way," Naoto advised dryly, and Teresa coughed into her hand.
The blond grimaced. "I don't think such behavior is hardly proper for a-- mmmph!"
Naoto kept her hand over his mouth with the air of one who had been through this countless times already. "We were dragged from an island to help take over a castle for a guy some of us have never even met before. Not to mention I had to share a bed with you because Yin and somebody--" She glanced at Saitou, who met her gaze calmly and lit a cigarette. "... needed to have beds of their own and Teresa felt like sleeping outside and Mugen and Li shared the other bed--"
"I would have shared it with you!" Mugen interjected. "We could've had fun--"
"Now, now..." And Teresa joined in. "Don't be tasteless."
"And I know you said you'd sleep on the floor, which doesn't explain how I woke up with you CLINGING TO ME LIKE A TEDDY BEAR," Naoto finished, lowering her hand.
"Sleep-walking, obviously, as I would never invade a woman's privacy--"
"But you did, so still improper." She snorted. "This entire thing has 'improper' written all over it. So just let them sleep."
"Yare yare..." Saitou took a deep drag of his cigarette. "The fighting of children... it's too early for such foolishness."
"Saitou, I must protest, as I am clearly not a child--"
"Did I mention you kick in your sleep, too?"
"Told you sleeping with me was a better idea."
"I doubt she would have slept."
"... Yin, let's go see what they have for breakfast."
"... Yes. ......."
"What is it?"
"... Which fork?"
"Shouldn't we wake them up before Li eats all of the food again?"
"... Just let them sleep, like I said."
"But--"
"I'll gag you with my scarf this time if you say one more word about this being improper."
"Yare yare."
"....."
Oblivious to the peanut gallery, Yukina snuggled down against Kougaiji's chest, safe and secure within the circle of his arms, and the two slept on.
.... I blame the fact that I finished writing this at 2 AM.
.... and that Naoto and Ky are apparently married. Lol screwed-up family trees ftw