FIC: The Rules of Engagement, pt. 2
“Shit. I- I’m sorry, Sir.”
Tenpou’s smile dropped. He studied Kenren’s face pensively for a moment.
“You’ve touched a lot more than that before today, General.”
“Sir.”
Kenren panicked. Considering ‘it’ had been broached it looked like it was finally time for the Talk. He should’ve been happy things were finally going to be squared away, but now that the time had actually come he wanted to back away from it as fast as his gangly legs could carry him. He wasn’t quite ready to admit it, but he was afraid of what the answers might be. Anyway, he wasn’t any good at this sort of shit. Talks like this always got emotional, and he’d get angry and start yelling and things would go to hell in a hand basket real fast. He was doing a shit job of hiding it too; from the man’s expression he was sure Tenpou could clearly see the distress in his face.
“Tell me what this is about, Kenren.”
Kenren stared at him, struggling over exactly what to say. It didn’t go without notice that it was the first time in a long time Tenpou called him by his name. Normally that made him do the happy dance but this time it only made Kenren suspicious of an underlying motive for the sudden change. It just served to piss him off that Tenpou could be so fucking manipulative sometimes that he had Kenren wondering over such stupid shit as being called by his name. Well, two could play at that game.
“Sorry, Marshal. It was just… you know.”
“If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking you to explain.”
“It’s just that… I know you and the Commander are… you know. A unit. Wasn’t trying to mess with that or anything. Didn’t mean to be so forward.”
Tenpou looked at him with a baffled expression, as if his General was suddenly speaking in tongues. It wasn’t the reaction Kenren had expected at all. Tenpou didn’t seem to know what the heck he was talking about. Maybe the touch didn’t seem all that intimate to him. Hell, of course not. The whole thing was probably a total non-event to Tenpou, since he wasn’t the one with butterflies in his stomach over his pretty C.O. Nope; all Tenpou knew was he had an X.O. who was suddenly acting like a fucking lunatic. He felt like shooting himself to put himself out of his stupidity. He got up to leave again because he wouldn’t be able to take Tenpou’s laughter when the man figured it out.
“Stay where you are, General.”
Kenren stopped dead. Things sure as hell went back to “General” mighty fast. That just proved it. He closed his eyes and waited for what was coming.
“Sit back down. Now.”
He sat and put his head in his hands. Tenpou sat up. About fucking time he moved. It took the man a while to say anything. When he found his voice, it was clipped and angry.
“You seem to be laboring under the misconception that Commander Goujun and I are married in some way.”
Married to another man of course got you kicked out of this man’s army. Even if the two of them were living like they were common-law hitched, there was no way Kenren would come out and actually say it. Some things just weren’t talked about.
“Not married. I didn’t say married.”
“That was certainly the implication.”
“It’s not what I meant. I just meant… “
“I’m quite aware of what you meant, General. And you are wrong. The Dragon King of the Western Seas has any number of legal wives, concubines, and consorts, all of which share his bed and his affections, and I do not number among them.”
Kenren was fast becoming aware of the size of the hornet’s nest he had just poked. Tenpou’s anger wasn’t so much directed at him as at the dragon. Or maybe at the situation. Tenpou was Goujun’s Dirty Little Secret, and he obviously wasn’t too happy about the fact. If he was angry at Kenren it was because he had basically just rubbed his nose in it. Of course the deeper implications of this little bit of news wasn’t totally lost on Kenren, either; it meant that he was even less than the Dirty Little Secret. He was the doormat the two of them got to clean their feet on whenever they wanted to really get filthy.
“I wasn’t trying to imply anything, sir. I was merely apologizing for overstepping my role.”
Kenren continued to stare at his feet while Tenpou seemed to take that in and digest it for a bit in silence. When he finally spoke it was in a much quieter tone and more in control, but what he said made Kenren’s blood turn to ice.
“I hadn’t realized you had a ‘role’ in this to overstep, General.”
Damn the fucker. Alright, he got it. Message received loud and clear. He meant less than nothing; little insignificant General Kenren had no ‘role’ in the great melodrama between Mr. Big Important Dragon King and his Golden Boy Marshal. Well, fuck them anyway. See if they get any more catnip out of their glorified call girl. He was so angry with himself, for letting it get to him like this. This is what came from pining over his pretty little C.O. like a motherfucking idiot. He felt his face begin to flush and his anger started rising to the top. He had to try and calm himself down or he’d be up for assault because he really, really wanted to kill something right now. If he hadn’t been so close to being discharged during the last permanent reassignment he would have already decked the man.
“Kenren, look at me.”
The last thing he wanted to do right now was look at the asshole. He needed time to calm down. He needed to be left alone. And the fucking genius should have been able to read his body language well enough to know that. Instead, he had to keep twisting the knife in deeper.
“Kenren.”
Kenren’s head snapped up just high enough to make brief eye contact, just enough to let the man know to back off before he got seriously hurt. Tenpou jerked as if he’d been hit. Good. He was sure what the man had seen there wasn’t pretty. Kenren went back to looking at his feet and tried to slow his breathing. He needed to regain enough control to be able to remove himself from this situation without ending up in the stockade in the process. Tenpou was blessedly silent while he worked himself down. After a few minutes of deep belly breathing he finally got things to the point where he thought he’d be OK. His fists were still clenched, but that was to be expected. At least his jaw had unlocked. He took in a deep breath and tried his best to keep his voice calm and steady.
“If you’ll excuse me, sir. I need to leave now.”
He’d done remarkably well with that. He hadn’t yelled and his voice didn’t break or anything. Unfortunately Tenpou wasn’t following the script and seemed intent on getting himself killed.
“Tell me what’s happening here, Kenren.”
“Stop calling me that.”
All that hard work was undone in a second as he went live wire again at the use of his name.
“You never call me by my name. It’s always ‘General’ this and ‘General’ that. You’re just trying to fucking jerk me around. Stop it.”
“I don’t know what you think is going on here, Kenren, but you’re wrong. Now talk.”
The fucking bastard was baiting him. If Tenpou yanked his chain like that one more time it was going to snap. He could feel it already starting to happen. He needed to get out before he went ballistic right then and there.
“I have to go. Now.”
“Permission denied. Not until you tell me what this is about.”
There was no way in hell he was about to admit to the man he was pissed off because he’d been mooning over him and felt like a jilted fool, but he was so angry he couldn’t think clearly enough to come up with a reasonable lie to tell Tenpou that would pass inspection. He had to get out of there, go to the gym, and beat something to a pulp. He had no choice; better to be busted for insubordination than for assault. Without another word he got up and left.
Before he took three steps his legs were swept out from under him and a yank from behind flipped him around and brought him down hard. The back of his head met the floor with a resounding crack. Holy shit that hurt like hell.
Tenpou came down on top of him an instant later in a perfect pin down. He kept his hand hard on Kenren’s neck, forcing the chin up. His face was inches from Kenren’s own, eyes wild.
“You will not walk away from me, Kenren. Do you hear me?”
His head was screaming at him and the hand on his neck was making it difficult to breathe. Blood was roaring in his ears already, so he brought his own hand up over Tenpou’s, trying to pry it off, getting him to let up on the choke hold before things got dangerous. Tenpou eased it nominally, enough to allow for blood flow but not enough to give Kenren much of a purchase to throw the man off. He coughed as his wind pipe opened back up. He was well caught. Fuck but the man could move fast. After a short, futile struggle to dislodge the weight on top of him Kenren did a belly up by shutting his eyes and relaxing his body as much as his anger and the pain in his head would allow. Tenpou wasn’t buying it and hadn’t let up in the least, so they stayed locked together like that as both of them fought for some self composure. After about a minute Kenren finally got up the gumption to reopened his eyes and found Tenpou was watching him, looking slightly less livid but no less dangerous. Tenpou waited until their eyes actually met before he hissed at him again.
“Talk.”
Talk. Talk how? About what? Kenren couldn’t even remember anymore what the hell this was about. He just knew he was angry and his head was killing him. He bucked Control Freak Tenpou’s authority, that must be it. He needed to kiss ass some more.
“I’m sorry.”
“Wrong answer, Kenren.”
Kenren searched Tenpou’s face in frustration, wondering what it was the man wanted from him. He’d already submitted, damn it. Why wouldn’t he let this go, and just bust his ass into the lockup already? Tenpou wanted something, but he didn’t know what he had to give that the man would take from him. How could he answer the fucker when he didn’t even know what the actual question was? The fingers around his neck tightened again in warning, looking for that answer. This was fucking ridiculous. What the hell did Tenpou think he was doing, tackling him like this and pinning him to the floor over something as stupid as a minor insubordination? This entire turn of events was ape shit crazy even for him. He sputtered out the next thought that came to him.
“What am I doing down here?”
He knew it wasn’t the answer Tenpou was looking for, but damn it, his head was throbbing, an elbow was beginning to join in on the chorus, and his leg was starting to go numb. Plus he was confused as all hell. This was an awful lot of energy to expend just to keep the doormat in its place. When Tenpou actually answered his question he was surprised. He sounded lost somehow.
“I didn’t want you to leave.”
It was at that moment that Kenren finally saw it. The fear. In the back of Tenpou’s eyes, he could see it as clear as a bell. They were too close together for Tenpou to hide behind those damn fucking eyeglasses, and Kenren could see right into him, see it all. He could see the fear, the hope. The want. For the very first time, he could see Tenpou as he really was, and it was as if he’d reached the eye of a hurricane. Everything inside of him suddenly went still, and the clouds cleared and it was blue skies above him.
“Let me go, Tenpou.”
His voice was as calm and as quiet as he felt inside. Tenpou’s eyes widened and his breath hitched at the words. There was a long moment that seemed to hang in space between them and Kenren could see the conflict inside, then the sadness as he seemed to suddenly collapse and give up. Tenpou closed his eyes, gave a ragged sigh, released the choke hold, and sat up.
As soon as Tenpou let him go Kenren struck like a coiled snake. He bucked up, grabbed a wrist, twisted and pulled down. Tenpou was caught totally off guard and was easily flipped onto his back, wrists pinned to either side of his head. He quickly wedged his knees between Tenpou’s legs and shoved them as wide apart as he could. Tenpou looked up at him in undisguised surprise as Kenren let himself pause to catch his breath. He let go of Tenpou’s wrist and brought a hand down to stroke the side of his face, soaking in the feel of him, for just that moment, before he crossed his Rubicon and crushed that perfect mouth under his.
Tenpou met his kiss, open-mouthed and frantic. That brief calm in the eye of the hurricane passed and the storm returned in its full fury, a wild frenzied outburst of biting, scratching, clawing, taking everything they could grab a hold of and trying to climb into each other’s skins. He devoured Tenpou completely. Took him, nailed him into the floor as hard and as long as he could with all the pent-up frustration and anger he had held inside since this whole damn thing had started between them. Tenpou desperately clung to him, growling and moaning like an animal, marking him with teeth and nails and he made sure that Kenren felt it, felt the pain. Felt him. When the storm clouds finally abated they were a panting mass of limbs and sweat and scattered clothing lying tangled together on the floor. Kenren felt light and empty and absolutely exhausted, as if he’d just finally let go of that boulder he’d been forever pushing up that hill. His arms were still wrapped tightly around Tenpou, hands stroking the sweaty back underneath the shirt and tie that had somehow managed to stay on throughout the storm. A leg was wrapped possessively over him and a gentle hand was caressing his face while they lay there side by side, mouths joined together in searching, tender kisses that were soft and so intimate that he felt swallowed up by them. He was still basking in the glow of it all when Tenpou asked him something he had waited through eternity to hear.
“Stay tonight.”
Kenren nodded and grunted an affirmation. Tenpou kissed him again. Deeper. As if they were closing a pact between them. While they were still kissing the thought suddenly struck that he had never actually seen a bedroom up to this point. He was almost afraid to ask, but he had a reputation to uphold for going where others feared to tread.
“You better have a bed.”
Tenpou snorted in laughter and he grinned into that sweet mouth. Shit, but he was in trouble. He even found the man’s snorts endearing. Tenpou’s voice had that bedroom laughter sound to it, reserved for lovers.
“Oh, it’s in there, I assure you. Though some excavation may be involved.”
“So now I have a whole ‘nother room to clean. I’d stock up on the liquor if I were you.”
Tenpou snorted again. He seemed almost giddy, if Tenpou could ever be such a thing. It made Kenren immensely happy to have been the one to make him feel that way. Tenpou twisted his body up, looking about, and reached a hand over their heads. Kenren strained to see what he was doing. A crumpled pack of cigarettes had been located and retrieved. Tenpou rested his chin on top of Kenren as he pulled one out and brought it to his bruised lips. He looked about as wiped as Kenren felt.
“Hmm. The lighter’s in my pants. Kenren, do you have any idea where my pants are?”
“Um…” Kenren made a brief show of looking about a bit. “Which piece?”
Tenpou laughed. It wasn’t exactly a joke; he’d been more than a little aggressive at getting them off and the pants were probably not salvageable at this point. Tenpou momentarily gave up his quest for a nicotine fix and flipped onto his back, flopping his head down on Kenren’s shoulder. The unlit cigarette danced between his fingers as he rubbed his face with the back of his hand.
“So… a team has named itself after me. ‘Hidden Dragon.’ That’s… quite touching, really. Quite touching. It consistently amazes me as to the level of estimation I receive from my troops. Though I’m surprised that one hasn’t been named after you as well. Has one?”
Kenren snickered. It had been so long since they’d been together he’d forgotten what a bedroom talker Tenpou was.
“Well, kind of. Like I said there’s Team Hidden Dragon, and then there’s The Wild Bunch. The third team first tried calling itself “The Flying Skulls,” and I told them they could call themselves whatever they wanted but they wouldn’t get any brownie points for the suck up. They gave that up pretty damn quick.”
Tenpou craned his head to look up at him. “I’m feeling a punch line here.”
“Yeah, well. There is. After that they called themselves “The Screaming Skulls” for a few days. Guess I was riding them pretty hard, like a regular DI. At least at the beginning. But they finally got off that whole skull shtick.”
“So now they’re called…”
Kenren’s grin spread from ear to ear. “’The Iron Derrières.’ I have a sneaking suspicion they just might be insinuating they think their General is a hard ass. You should see their team flag.”
Tenpou snorted again. Kenren buried his nose in the long hair and trailed his fingers across what he could reach, which wasn’t much with Tenpou laid partly across his arm. It was enough to keep him content for the moment.
“I’d certainly give them points for creativity. I believe I’ll have to make an appearance tomorrow, to review my troops. Hopefully you’ll be able to remind me, come the morning.”
“Come in the morning. Check. Can certainly help you out with that.”
“Why were you so angry before?”
Kenren sighed. He felt like a bloody idiot about that and had hoped Tenpou wouldn’t ask. It took a moment’s pause before he responded, not knowing exactly what to say about it that would make any sense outside of his own head.
“Because I have ‘Anger Management Issues,’ that’s why. At least that’s what my psych eval says. The shrink has me set up for some classes. I’ve been working on it.”
“Kenren.”
“It’s nothing… I thought you were slapping me down to show me my place, giving me a ‘Dear John.’ I just… I wasn’t sure I where I stood with you, and not with the dragon.”
“You never asked.”
“I thought it’d be crossing the line. Didn’t want to get busted again for it.”
“Hmm. I had thought you knew me better.”
“Which ‘you’ are you referring to?”
That bit of reality shut him up. They were quiet for a while. Not a long while, but a while.
“You going to tell me about the librarians?”
Kenren smiled again into Tenpou’s hair. He just knew the man hadn’t let that go.
“Tomorrow. Maybe.”
“I’ll hold you to that. And now, I definitely need a smoke. If you would be so kind as to help me in trouser reassembly.” With that Tenpou sat up and started searching for what was left of his pants.
Tenpou was right; serious excavation was needed before a mattress was visible in the spot where he claimed the bed was sitting. Fortunately, by this time Kenren was fast becoming a Master Book Stacker and Scroll Wrangler so it wasn’t too long before they were tangled up in each other again, a bit more comfortable than on the floor but with Tenpou no less talkative. Kenren hadn’t realized before this what a lonely man Tenpou was. Well, he’d do his best to change that. He fell asleep listening to the man softly babbling away, the world narrowed to the sound of his voice and the feel of the fingertips that were slowly redrawing the map of the heavens across his back.
Army Slang/Terms
Ate Up: Not up to army standards
BCD: Birth Control Device. Army issue eyeglasses, said to make anyone ugly
DI: Drill Instructor
FUBAR: Fucked Up Beyond All Repair
Golden Boy: Pet of a high ranking officer
I&I: Intoxication and Intercourse; a wilder version of R&R
PT: Physical Training
Rectal Cranial Inversion: to have one’s head up one’s ass
ST: Situational Training
XO: Executive Officer. Next in command under the C.O.