NYE fic ^___^
Dec. 31st, 2008 05:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lavandarlizard2Due to the recent acquisition of a new 'muse animal', Part 101 is finally finished! I know; Holy crap! Damn part is nearly 15K words. So, it's fitting that it be posted on the last day of the year. ^___^
This is technically the second half of the part; I posted the first half... somewhere down there *waves hand*, due to the many little partlets and figured I should do the same for the second half. Happy reading. ^____~
Next up will be some ii kibarashi or the start on part 102 or maybe something from totally out in left field. Depends on the muse animal. O.o
“This is so fuckin’ cool!” Michael exclaimed as they went out the front doors and across the terrace. “Nobody ever wants to hear anything I have to say. It’s always ‘now Michael’ or ‘later Michael’ or ‘we don’t discuss those things at the table Michael’. That is soooo fucked!”
“How old are you?” Duo asked curiously, making a note to himself that perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to leave this kid to his own devices. That could be how Miles came to be such a shit.
“Thirteen last month, but they all act like I’m five.” He slowed slightly, allowing Duo to come abreast of him. “Well, except for Ctik. He’s really cool, but I don’t see him very often. Like Mom said, he mostly comes and goes without us knowing.”
“You like Ctik?”
The kid glanced at him, startled. “Oh yeah. We used to do Legos when I was little. We’d build castles and he’d show me how to make stairs and secret passages and he told me a lot of family history from back in the beginning.” He shrugged, a bit embarrassed. “Dad really sold the house out from under him?”
“Apparently so…”
“Fuck. That sucks. Well, so does the college fund thing, too, I guess, but the house… That’s just… you know, mean.”
“Yes.”
“What did the Dragon guy mean about Ctik’s earth?”
“His name is Heero. It looks like Miles disposed of Ctik’s cache of native earth; whether to simply drive him away or to destroy him, I wouldn’t know.”
“`Destroy’ like in ‘kill’?”
“Yep.”
He shook his head in disgust. “Fuckin’ Christ on a damn cracker…” he muttered.
Duo found it interesting that the kid made no effort to defend his father or to disabuse him of the notion that Miles was capable of such perfidy. Very interesting.
They crossed a large swath of grass and angled around the side of the building toward a small outcropping of stone.
“You don’t seem surprised that your father would do something like this.”
Michael slowed, then stopped and turned to look at Duo. “First off, I know I’m ‘just a kid’ to adults, but I’m not an idiot. I can read, I can hear just fine, I can figure things out and Dad isn’t the best at putting stuff away. And… you know… if it’s lying around in plain sight, I’m gonna take a look. So, I know he’s a lot like Grampa Ted. Especially with money. When I was little, we had a full-time housekeeper; now we have Ms Dotson in twice a week. And I know Mom makes more money now than when I was little. But Dad’s kind of… careless… you know… And sometimes he does stuff that sounds crazy even to Breeze, and she’s not what you’d call financially savvy.”
“And you are?” Duo wondered with a smile.
“Yep.” He made a head toss-shoulder shrug gesture that suggested it was self-evident but also no big deal. “Dad got into day trading.” He rolled his eyes and sighed. “That’s so last century, but that’s Dad; always the last one to the party,” he smirked.
“Does your mother know how much you know?”
Michael shrugged again. “Probably not. Her job is pretty high-pressure and anyway, I think maybe she already knows that Dad isn’t really…”
“Honest?”
Another sigh, delivered this time while staring at his shoes. “Yeah.” He looked up at Duo. “Not anything criminal; I checked up on that, but not so ethical, either.”
“Does your dad know that you know this about him?”
He snorted. “Are you crazy?! He’d tan my hide! But he’s not a computer guy and I am, so I can kind of… well, snoop… and he doesn’t know.”
Duo shook his head, grinning. “You’d make a good investigator.”
Michael brightened. “You think? I was kind of thinking about forensics. I like to know stuff. Hey, are you a Wizard? Ctik mentioned once that he called the Wizards for help…”
“I am not a Wizard; no. I am a Magical Creature; specifically a Banshee. Heero is a Magical Creature; a Wyvern, but he is also a Wizard.”
“Cool!” He turned toward the stone outcrop. “The entrance is down here.” He pulled back some plantings and pointed to a large stone. “You only have to push on the stone and it drops down and away and then you can kind of slither into a passage.” He demonstrated and the stone did indeed open for him.
“Nice work,” Duo murmured. The passage was dark so he sent a fairy light down to illuminate the entrance. Steps began about four feet down and descended into the gloom. “Well, let’s take a walk, shall we?”
Michael beamed and dropped easily down into the hole, Duo right behind.
Duo expanded the fairy light and sent it ahead of them. The passage was fairly regular, not nearly as rough as Duo expected. This was a classy reconstruction; the workers must have been the best available.
“About how far does it go?” Duo asked after a moment. There was a gentle downward slope to the passage and he wondered how deep underground Ctik’s crypt was.
“It’s about a half mile, as near as I can tell. I tried a pedometer, but it didn’t seem to work too well, so I counted my steps and then measured some of them and took an average.”
Oh, yeah; this kid definitely needed watching.
“You ever bring any friends down here?”
“Oh hell no! Ctik’s still a vampire and my friends aren’t mature enough to get past the whole blood thing,” he exclaimed. “Besides… It’s like Ctik’s secret… Not my place to go outing him that way…” He looked up at Duo. “Know what I mean?”
“I do,” he nodded. That offered some comfort; the kid still had his family loyalty toward his ancestor.
It wasn’t a straight-line path, so Duo placed their destination as probably being under the center of the house until they came to a stone wall.
“This is as far as I’ve ever been,” said Michael. “I never could find the trip to this. I know it has to open, but…” He shrugged apologetically.
Duo already knew why Michael couldn’t open it. “It’s spelled for extra protection,” he said thoughtfully. “I’m not a Wizard, so I may not be able to get it to open, but I’ll give it a try.” He had the charms and spells that Heero had made for him; he was almost certain that some of them were magical lock picks.
He plucked the spell case from his other space, very conscious of Michael’s eager eyes, and opened it to rummage through the categories. He drew out a small white pellet.
“This might work. It depends on how complicated Ctik’s spell is.”
“I thought all magic spells were complicated.”
“Oh, no. Some are quite simple. Remember in The Lord of the Rings book, when the travelers were supposed to ‘speak, friend, and enter’ and it took forever for them to get that all they had to do was say the word ‘friend’ for the doors to open. That’s a simple spell. So simple that it’s easily overlooked by the more powerful wizards.”
Michael looked suddenly nervous. “The Lord of the Rings is *true*?!” he blurted out.
Duo snickered. “Of course not. But it seems likely that the author may have encountered some Magical Creatures at some point.” He held the pellet in his palm and touched a finger to it, crumbling it easily and blowing the powder at the wall. “Open please,” he requested.
Nothing happened and Duo sighed. “Okay. Try something else,” he muttered to himself. Back into the case he went.
~ Won’t find one, ~ said someone in his head and he jumped. ~ Sorry. ~
Duo looked around, finally spotting the beady little eyes just above his eye level. A small, indeterminate species of rodent crouched in a small tunnel watching them.
“Oh, hello,” said Duo politely. “I didn’t realise anyone would be frequenting the passage.” Michael blinked at him.
“Who’re you talking to?”
The Banshee pointed and Michael took a step back. “A rat?!”
The rodent rolled its eyes. ~ Humans, ~ it snorted.
Duo grinned and shrugged agreeably. “We make allowances.” He glanced at Michael. “Don’t get crazy; she could have information. Now, hush.” He turned back to the smirking creature. “Do you know Ctik, the vampire who uses this passage?”
~ Know him. No problem. Passes through, in and out. We nod. ~
“Have you ever seen anyone else come through? Besides this one, that is.”
~ Recently. Maybe… five, six suns; more. Big. Smelled fermented. ~
“Drunk, or been drinking.”
~ Yes. Stumbly. Opened the wall. Went in. Came out maybe. Didn’t stay. ~
“You didn’t see any reason to hang around?”
~ Yes. ~
“Did you happen to notice how he opened the wall? I can tell it’s spelled, but I don’t have the tools to open it.”
~ Hand on keystone. Waited. Wall opened. ~
“Huh. No words?”
~ None heard. ~
“Interesting. Thank you very much; you’ve been very helpful. Oh, just so you know, the fermented one has sold the house and land to someone who will most likely be doing construction. I’m sorry to say that you and anyone else who has burrows in the immediate area should probably prepare to vacate.”
The rodent blinked and twitched her whiskers.
~ Dung. Appreciated. ~
“You’re welcome.” The creature backed into the tunnel and disappeared.
Duo turned to Michael, and found the kid staring open-mouthed at the spot where the rodent had disappeared.
“Michael?”
“You talk to *rats*?!”
Duo sighed. “In the first place, she’s not a rat, she’s a gopher. In the second place, I talk to a lot of creatures.”
Michael transferred the astonished look to Duo. “Like Dr Doolittle?”
“Kind of. Mammals mostly; some of the higher reptiles and birds, too. I can understand or translate and usually make myself understood to most of them. Fish don’t really ‘talk’, they just give off images, but I can sometimes make out what they’re sending.”
“Wow…!”
Duo shook his head. “It’s not that marvelous. You’d be surprised what a low opinion most creatures have of us ‘higher’ types.” He turned back to the wall. “So, your dad opened the wall… No words, just a touch.” He stretched up and laid his hand on the keystone and counted to twenty. Nothing happened.
“Maybe she just didn’t… you know, hear him?” Michael said hesitantly. Again, Duo was impressed at the kid’s ability to deal with magical things. He hadn’t argued or told Duo he was crazy; he just accepted that the Banshee talked to gophers.
“No… I think it’s a kind of blood spell. Not blood magic; that shit is dangerous,” he reassured. “I think Ctik made an unwarranted assumption… Here; put your hand against the keystone and count to twenty.” Duo rested his ear against the wall and sure enough, he heard a faint click and the stone wall began to move.
Michael jumped back. “No way! All I had to do was *touch* it?! Well, now I feel like a dumbass.”
Duo snorted and sent another, larger, fairy light into the space beyond. “Not that there’s any compelling reason for you – or your father, for that matter – to be weaseling around Ctik’s space.”
“Well… yeah… But that’s so simple!” He tried to see over Duo’s shoulder. “What’s in there?”
Duo stepped to the side with a sigh. “Absolutely nothing.”
The room, about four meters square, with a height of perhaps two-and-a-half meters, was empty. No coffin, no earth; no sign of anything ever having been there. Even the dirt floor looked undisturbed.
“But…” began Michael in confusion. “Where did Ctik sleep? I thought he’d have a coffin…”
Duo expanded the light even further and found some small indentations on the floor. “Looks like he did, at some point. I’d say your dad was making sure that Ctik couldn’t come back here.”
Michael stared into the empty room. “He really wanted to kill Ctik…” he whispered. A faint gulp that Duo pretended not to hear. “Shit…”
“Yeah.” He moved further into the room and searched with his Banshee senses. A faint lingering odor of alcohol, old and sour. Something flowery; cologne, perhaps. A bit of a tang; probably blood. Wood. Fresh cut – or broken – wood. And a final scent that Duo was very familiar with – fresh-turned earth; green, sweet and smile-making. He squatted down to examine the floor more closely and found the signs of activity; some small scrapes and gouges, a couple of long drag marks and over that, the even strokes of a broom.
He had to give Miles credit; he’d done a helluva lot of work to clear the crypt of any sign of Ctik’s presence in only the dusk to dawn hours that Ctik was away. No wonder he’d stoked up on liquid courage. Fuckwit.
Michael had also followed the dots and come up with the same picture. “I hate him,” he whispered. “I fuckin’ *hate* him!”
~*~
Heero stood, once more back in his less-remarkable form, next to the desk of the customer service manager of the Farmer’s Trust bank. Miles huddled in one of the comfy chairs, looking wind-blown and still twitching. The customer service manager was trying to look like she wasn’t dying of curiosity waiting for Allan Horstang to arrive. So far, there had been no arguments from the bank personnel. Then again, Heero did not expect any arguments. And he usually got what he expected. Except with the Banshee; the Banshee was deliciously contrary.
He cast a glance around the interior of the bank, pleased with the wary regard of the Humans. The customers paid him no attention, but the employees… They definitely knew something was up. Gossip would be flying come closing time, and he had no sympathy whatsoever for Miles.
He did feel a bit of regret for Gisela and her children, but this was Miles’ doing and he doubted Gisela would forget that. Not for the first time he wondered what attracted Gisela to Miles. Humans seemed to have no sense in their choices.
“And you are so much better?” wondered the little voice in the back of his head, and he had to smile. No, he was every bit as besotted as the average Human. But his Banshee deserved that besottment; Miles most certainly did not.
A Human male rushed through the parking lot door, heading for them. Allan Horstang looked harried, hassled and faintly frightened.
“Mr Yuy…?” he inquired breathlessly.
Heero inclined his head in acknowledgement. “Mr Horstang. I regret the need for you to interrupt your weekend, but this matter will not wait.”
“Oh, this is no trouble at all! Mr Vrostek has been a customer of this bank since – well, for a very long time! Please, come into my office.”
Heero assisted Miles to his feet and they followed Horstang into the office. An instant after the door closed, every employee in the bank had their phone out and was dialing.
~*~
Duo led the way out of the crypt and parked Michael on the stone wall near the outside portal. The kid was angry, disappointed, frustrated and trying very hard and very obviously not to break down and cry. Duo understood that feeling pretty well by now. No sense in rubbing it in by forcing him to face the females before he’d gotten himself under control.
“I hate him! How could he do that to Ctik?! Ctik’s cool! He never makes demands or tells us how to do things – why the fuck would Dad try to destroy him?!” he exploded thickly.
Duo sat next to him, hooking one heel on the edge of the wall and resting his arms on his knee. “I think… probably he wasn’t really thinking at all, just reacting. Miles did something incredibly stupid and his first reaction was to cover it up. According to Heero, his father, Theodore, was the same way.”
“I don’t remember Grandpa Ted much,” Michael muttered. “Just that Grandma Vee was upset with him about something and divorced him. He died when I was about four. Mom and Dad and Matthew went to the funeral, but Breeze and I got to stay home from school… Matthew told us that Dad cried…”
“Hm. Well, the problem was that Theodore did some fancy financial dancing with the family money and then refused to turn loose when Vivian and Ctik asked him to. Ctik called the Bureau of Sorcery and asked for help and my boss sent Heero.” He smirked to himself at the thought of that meeting. “Heero convinced Theodore that relinquishing control was the right thing to do.”
Michael snorted and Duo glanced at him. Nose red, eyes somewhat red and a little wet, but no visible leaking; good. He didn’t really know what to do with leaking; he much preferred if other people would ignore it when it happened to him, but other people, Human people might expect some sort of… notice.
“Figures,” Michael grumbled. “Must run in the family. Or at least on Dad’s side.” He sat up and looked over at Duo suddenly. “Did your father ever do anything so lame?”
Well. That was unexpected. Duo blinked. Blinked again.
“Um… I don’t have the same references, I’m afraid. My father wasn’t around when I was young, and my Clan isn’t very… financial. We dealt more in barter.”
“Oh.” He subsided once again to hunch over his knees, head in his hands. “Fuck. I can’t believe he did that… Fathers are supposed to be role models. I don’t wanna be like him.”
“There’s no reason for you to be like your father; none at all.”
“What; you’ve never heard of ‘the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree’?”
Duo rolled his eyes. “Depends on the tree you’re talking about. Just because he contributed half your DNA doesn’t mean that’s all you are. I haven’t heard anything squirrely about your mother. She seems to be pretty responsible and she’s the other half of you.”
“I guess…” He rubbed at his eyes.
Duo sat in silence for a few minutes, not sure whether to talk or just be a warm presence. Maybe he needed a class in crisis management. Or maybe he could call one of the Wizards for help. Humans were so hard sometimes… He knew that from his time wandering. Funny, though, he’d never really been bothered by the drama back then… Maybe he was different, or maybe he was growing up and growing away from his adolescent self.
Huh. That was both enlightening and mildly depressing.
“Look,” he said finally in an effort to interest Michael in something positive, “You said you were interested in forensics; that’s a good career. We have some forensics Wizards who handle the really tough things. You should start now, choosing classes to that end.”
“Yeah…” He brightened a bit. “I wonder what would be good… Chemistry, probably…” He frowned. “But what do you take to become a… a gun expert? Or a document person?”
“No idea, but I’ll bet your school counselor could help.” This was good; get his attention on something else and leave the leakage behind… They tossed ideas and suggestions back and forth for a bit, ignoring the current drama and Michael got more into the idea of forensics as a career.
There was a more immediate matter that Duo should point out… but that would be circling back to the leakage. He sighed and decided it should be tackled anyway.
“Michael, you know that since the house has been sold, you’ll be moving…”
Michael blinked at him. “Oh. Oh, yeah… I almost forgot that part… I’ve always lived here… I was only two or three when Grandma Vee asked us to move here.” He sat back thoughtfully. “I wonder if we’ll have to live in an apartment… Damn. I’ll have to pack… What are we gonna do with all the furniture? The house is ginormous! And every room is furnished! Shit!”
“Remember that Ctik will have to have a new home too. I imagine he’d like to have some of the furniture.”
“But how will he get it? We don’t even know where he is! And he needs more earth and a crypt to keep his coffin in… He can’t live in an apartment! Can he?”
Duo laughed. “Heero and I will help him find a good place, and no, I doubt if he could live in an apartment. He’s staying at the Castle right now, but as soon as this end is complete, we’ll get busy on the other details. Don’t worry; Ctik will be okay.”
“Okay…” He shook his head. “I’m never going to see him again, am I?”
“Why wouldn’t you?” Duo asked in surprise.
“Well… because of Dad… Ctik won’t want anything to do with us.”
Duo chuckled. “You’d be surprised, Michael. I think Ctik cares a lot about his family. He’s not going to abandon you guys. Maybe just Miles.”
~*~
Heero glanced at the cashier’s check, double-checking the amount. Exactly as he’d requested. Good. He tucked it safely into his other space and bowed minutely to Allan Horstang.
“Thank you for your assistance in this matter. Mr Vrostek will be most appreciative.”
“Um… You’re welcome, Mr Yuy. I’m… uh… sorry that Mr Vrostek will be leaving the area; he’s been an excellent customer and we will certainly miss him.” He glanced apprehensively at Miles, who was sulking in a chair. “Um… Miles..? I’ll call you later, okay?”
“Whatever.”
Again, Heero assisted Miles out of the chair, out of the office and out of the building. With every employee staring avidly and a few customers wondering what was so interesting, Heero changed form, took a firm grip on Miles and launched.
Duo would have been delighted by the screams, gasps and exclamations from the viewers.
~*~
Miles didn’t make a lot of noise this time, for which Heero was grateful. Hysterical shrieking did nothing for the ambience of his flight.
As they swept over the house and grounds, Heero noted that Duo was sitting outside on a wall with Michael. That was good; he didn’t relish the idea of dropping Miles in front of the children. He suspected that Gisela would rather say what she had to in private.
They landed on the front terrace, Heero keeping hold of Miles until they had entered the parlor. As hoped, Gisela was alone in the room, a cellphone and a file of paperwork on the delicate writing desk in front of her. She rose as they entered.
“Is everything right now?” she asked. “Or as right as it can be for Ctik?”
“I have a check for Ctik,” Heero confirmed. “And I have returned your husband, as requested. I know you have things to… discuss… I will collect Duo and we will be on our way. You have my card and Duo’s; if you need anything, please feel free to call us. I am sure that Ctik will be contacting you once he is settled.”
She hadn’t once looked at Miles. “Thank you, Mr Yuy. Please tell Ctik that I am so sorry that I let him down. I really should have been keeping a better watch on… things.”
“I am sure that Ctik does not blame you in any way.” He flicked a baleful glance at Miles.
Gisela nodded automatically and extended a hand. “Thank you again, Mr Yuy, and please tell Duo ‘thank you’ also. He’s outside with Michael…”
Heero took her hand briefly. “I saw them when I arrived. Take care, Mrs Grinsted. We will be in touch.” He bowed gracefully and left the room, pausing in the hallway out of sight.
“Gisela…” said Miles when they were finally alone. “Baby… please…”
“No. This is the last straw, Miles. We are done. I’ve already called a lawyer. I want you out of the house by Monday.”
“But Gi, I love you!”
A pause.
“I love you, too, Miles, but love doesn’t pay the bills. Love doesn’t put my children through college. Love doesn’t try to murder a family member and sell his home out from under him!”
“Gi -!”
“No. Get away from me or I will punch you.”
“I could have you arrested for domestic violence!”
“And that’s your idea of love? Go pack. I’m sure you can find someone to put you up for a while.”
Miles whined some more, but Heero had heard enough. Gisela seemed to be holding her own and hopefully she would not cave in to her husband’s blandishments. She seemed stronger than that. He left the house and went in search of his Banshee. He had a haircut to supervise.
~*~
Duo looked up at Heero’s approach and grinned. “How’d it go?”
“I have a check for Ctik. I’ve already contacted Gringott’s and one of their managers will meet with us tonight to handle the accounts.” He looked the pair over. Duo looked… tired, perhaps. Michael looked glum. “And what have you discovered?”
Duo glanced at Michael, but the boy ducked his head with an embarrassed shrug. “I asked about Ctik’s crypt and Michael was able to show me where it is. Or was.”
Heero lifted one eyebrow. “You know where Ctik’s crypt is?” Dammit, he was going to have a very long talk with that idiot vamp once they got him awake and his finances sorted out.
“Um…”
“Go ahead, Michael,” said Duo gently. “Heero won’t bite you.”
“Well… I’ve known about it for a while… where it is, I mean. But I’ve never been in it!” he cried at Heero’s sharp look. “Not until today. There’s a passage, but it ends in a door and I could never figure out how to open the door…” He looked at Duo. “He figured it out, though. He talked to a… a gopher, and she… told him how it opened. How my dad opened it…”
Heero threw Duo a narrow look. “May I see this, please?” he said carefully to Michael.
The kid shrugged again. “Sure. C’mon.” He hopped off the stone and led the way to the keystone.
“I am going to ream Ctik for this,” Heero muttered under his breath to Duo.
“Not too much; he just trusted the wrong person,” Duo whispered back. “And don’t glare at me. Miles is the one who did the damage.”
“Sorry. It is a strain not to just break Miles’ lying, thieving neck.”
“I know. I kinda want to punch him a few times myself.”
“This is the entrance stone,” said Michael, demonstrating how the stone opened. They followed him down into the passage and along its meandering length to the door. Michael stretched up and touched the keystone of the arch and the door began to move.
“It’s a blood spell,” Duo explained. “It allows access to anyone – I’m guessing – who is blood-kin to Ctik.”
Heero glared into the empty space. “Miles did this?” he growled.
“I’d say so, yeah. Probably while pretty damn drunk, too.”
“I see.” He turned away from the room in disgust. “Thank you, Michael, for showing us this place.”
“Um… Are you going to see Ctik?”
“Tonight; yes.”
“Could you tell him I’m really sorry… and I’ll miss him a lot?”
Heero cocked his head, seeing Michael as Duo had seen him; a too-bright child with more curiosity than understanding.
“We will tell him. I don’t believe Ctik will be angry with you, your siblings or your mother. He knows where the blame lies.”
Michael nodded slowly. “Yeah… Thanks.” He scuffed his shoe in the hard dirt and Duo sighed.
“Well, come on; let’s get out of here. We have things to do for Ctik at home and you –“ he pointed at Michael. “Have packing to get started on. And I’d say you might want to use the back stairs for a while. I imagine your parents are making some pretty difficult decisions right now, and they really don’t need any interruptions. Okay?”
Michael snorted. “If you mean Mom is probably dismantling Dad, cell by cell, yeah, I don’t want anything to do with that!”
“Good kid,” Duo smirked.
After they had climbed out of the passageway and closed the entrance, Heero sketched some figures over it with an index finger. “I’ve sealed the passage,” he told Michael. “No need to chance anyone else finding it. You have our cards?” Michael nodded and produced them from his pocket. “Good. You may contact either of us if you have questions or concerns.” He glanced at Duo. “Or if you just need to talk…”
Michael shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged. “Thanks… Can I ask about Ctik, too?”
“Of course,” Duo replied with a smile. “And I’ll make sure he contacts you after he’s settled somewhere.”
“Great.” He looked over at the massive stone mansion. “I really like this place… It’s gonna feel weird not living here anymore…” He shrugged yet again. “Hey, I’m young; I’ll adapt.” He grinned at Duo.
The Banshee reached out and ruffled the kid’s hair. “You’ll do great, Michael. Have patience with your Mom and sister, though; they’re gonna be kind of tense for a while.”
“Gotcha.”
“Then we will be leaving.” Heero morphed and scooped Duo up in his arms as Michael’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped. “Good day, Michael Grinsted.” Duo just waggled his fingers and clung to Heero’s neck as his wings snapped open and he leaped into the air.
Michael stood waving until they lost sight of him.
~*~
“Are we flying all the way home?” Duo asked after making himself comfortable in Heero’s arms.
“No. Only as far as the city. I want a coffee and I’d rather not have the porter popping into the middle of nowhere again. Draws attention.”
“Ah. Gotcha.” He reached up and kissed the side of Heero’s snout. “Thanks for being low-key to Michael.”
“Hn. His world is turning itself inside out; I have no desire to add to the confusion, angst and dramatics.” He nuzzled Duo’s ear and slurped his tongue over the side of his face – Dragon kisses, Duo called it.
“How was Miles at the bank?”
“Shitty. Pouty. Whiny. Expected behavior. I was sorely tempted to just drop him in the river.”
“At least he hasn’t gotten away totally. I’ll bet Gisela is going to rip him a new one.”
“She was telling him to pack and get out when I left,” Heero smirked.
“Really?! Wow! I knew she was mad, but I didn’t think she’d actually throw him out… Still… He stole from Ctik and from the kids, and that’s not exactly forgivable. You think she’ll stick to that? Or change her mind later?”
“Somehow, I do not believe she is going to change her mind. I think this is just the most recent of many incidents.”
“Miles is a damn jerk. Michael told me he was afraid of becoming like Miles when he’s grown.”
“What?! Why?”
“Because ‘the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree’.”
“Nonsense,” Heero snorted.
“That’s what I told him. I reminded him that he’s an apple off his mother’s tree, too, and she’s not wormy. Michael needs some kind of structure, I think… He’s interested in forensics as a career, and he needs a little guidance.”
“Forensics, hmm… Duo, do you think he would like to visit a real crime lab? Might that help to… solidify his dreams?”
“It might; what did you have in mind?”
“The New York City police department owes us a favor…”
“Oh… What a great idea! I’ll call Ryo after we sort out Ctik; he’ll know who I can talk to about arranging it.” He wrapped himself even tighter around Heero’s neck. “I’ll bet Michael will love it! And Ctik too.”
Heero dropped toward the ground then, swooping into a fast landing next to a large building. Once on the ground, he changed back and set Duo on his feet, giving him a hard kiss. “I’ve wanted to do that ever since Miles started shrieking in my ears.”
“Fine by me,” Duo murmured happily.
Heero pulled out his phone and called the port room, requesting a porter to their location in about fifteen minutes. Arrangements made, he closed the phone and vanished it to his other-space and took Duo’s hand.
“Shopping center? I don’t see a coffee place…”
“Inside. They’ve planted Starbucks inside Target stores.”
“Really? Huh. They really are every-damn-where. I’ll have a mocha frap; want me to grab a table?”
“Please. Our port will be LaVonda; she’s usually prompt.”
~*~
Duo trailed Heero into the salon, feeling a lot less confident in his decision to cut his hair. Maybe he should think about it some more. Maybe he was being hasty. Maybe he should talk to Teal first.
He shook himself in annoyance. How ridiculous! Teal got his hair cut every few months. He’d even taken Dael for her first haircut last month! A simple haircut wouldn’t make him dry up and blow away.
Maybe he should get a damn grip…
He tightened his hold on Heero’s hand all the same.
“Heero!” cried the salon owner. “Precisely on time!” The man bowed theatrically and Heero inclined his head in return.
“Stani; thank you for making time for us on such short notice.”
The man – Wizard, Duo reminded himself – waved away the apology.
“Nonsense! For you, I will make the time stretch! And is this to be my new pleasure?” he tilted his head to Duo archly.
Heero drew him forward. “Not too much of a pleasure, if you please. This is my Chosen, Duo of Blue Forest. Duo, this is Stani McConnell, the most excellent stylist in the country.”
Stani clutched at his chest. “Flattery! You know it will get you anything!” He grinned at Duo. “Well! How may I make you even more beautiful today?”
Duo glanced at Heero. “Um… I want my hair short for summer.” He drew his braid over his shoulder so that Stani could see how long it was. The Wizard’s jaw dropped.
“You want to cut it off?!” he gasped.
“Not all of it,” Heero said quickly. “Just… half?” He looked to Duo for agreement.
“Yeah. It’s just gotten to be more than I want to deal with in hot weather.”
Stani breathed a sigh of relief. “What a fright you gave me! You have beautiful hair. May I?” He reached toward Duo.
“Sure. Should I take it down?”
“If you would, please.” He combed his fingers through the heavy mane, shaking out the braid. “Are you sure you want it cut?”
Duo hesitated, then said firmly, “Yes. I’ve thought about it for a few months and I decided to cut it. I’m not backing out now. But Heero wants what you cut off.”
Stani raised an eyebrow at the Wyvern, who actually blushed. “He is my Chosen,” he muttered.
Stani gave him a benevolent smirk. “Of course he is. Shall we, then?”
In short order, Duo found himself swathed in a protective cape and seated in a chair, staring apprehensively at his reflection in the large mirror while Heero and Stani discussed the logistics of cutting and capturing his hair. Unbound, the ends of his hair pooled on the floor behind the chair. In a few minutes, it’d be gone. Almost ten years of history. His history.
He wondered if anyone else ever felt scared when they got their hair cut.
Soon he felt the touch of Stani’s hands. “Duo, Heero says you want it just short enough that you will not sit on it; is that correct?” He nodded, unable to get the words out. “All right then! We begin!”
Duo squeezed his eyes shut as the scissors slid through his hair.
~*~
“Duo? Open your eyes,” coaxed the familiar smooth voice of his Wyvern. “Take a look, my angel.”
Oh. He must have been half asleep. He opened his eyes, blinking in the light, and peered at his reflection, noting vaguely the two males standing behind him with eager expressions. Nothing looked any different. How…? Oh, wait. His bangs were… shorter. Neater. Styled. Kinda… poufy. Wow. He could see his eyes beneath them without tossing them out of his way. Double-wow.
He stared at himself in amazement. The only change was to the length of his bangs. The only *visible* change. As if in response to his scattered thoughts, Stani spun the chair and put a small mirror into his hand.
“You see,” he pronounced, more to Heero than to Duo. “It is a sleeker, more modern look. Better suited to this modern life.”
~ Away with that old life… Welcome to your new one… ~
I really do have a new life… I have a new Clan... A real home… A… a future, not just a past.
The auburn fall of hair now ended at the bottom of the chair back. Trimmed straight across, looking fresh and crisp, the ends were already curving into a soft wave.
He looked up at Heero. “It feels… light,” he breathed. “Like it could go floating up… Is it good?” he asked anxiously. “It’s not too short?”
Heero leaned down to kiss his cheek. “It is not too short,” he murmured. “It is just right. You will shock everyone on Monday morning. Wufei will have a fit,” he smirked.
Looking into the mirrors once again, Duo smiled. “He sure will. Ten to one he blames you.”
“Of course!”
“Does it meet with your approval?” asked Stani, not looking particularly worried.
“Yes…” said Duo slowly. “Yes, it does. It’ll take me a while to get used to it, but it’s great. I’m glad I did this…” And he truly was glad.
“Excellent!” Stani took the mirror and spun the chair again. “I’ll just dust you off; nothing more annoying than those tiny little bits of hair.” A wand appeared and Duo was engulfed in a brief whirlwind. “Would you like to braid it now? You’ll find that you will not sit on it when it is braided, but you may when it is loose,” explained the stylist.
“Perfect. I will braid it, I think. It’s breezy out.” He did so quickly, then shook his head experimentally. “It feels so light! Thank you!”
“Ah, no! Thank you for allowing me this honor.” The hair Wizard swept a deep theatrical bow and then shooed them from the salon. “You must buy your beautiful Chosen lunch, Heero! Stani insists!”
The door closed behind them, finding them standing on the sidewalk. “Wow. He doesn’t waste time, does he?” said Duo after a few seconds.
“Never has,” Heero replied with a smile.
“Wait! Where’s the hair? Didn’t you get the hair?”
“Of course, I did.” Heero produced a bundle of silk from his other space. “Here it is.”
Duo gave a sigh of relief. He’d taken a huge step in getting so much hair cut off all at once, but he wasn’t yet ready to let it go entirely. “Damn… That’s a lot.” He hefted the bundle. “I’ve been carrying this around on my head… No wonder I feel so light!” He grinned as he handed the bundle back to the Wyvern. “I want Chinese food for lunch!”
“You got it, baby,” Heero purred, clasping his hand.
~*~
Duo cracked open his fortune cookie and read his ‘fortune’. “You are the center of every gathering,” he intoned aloud. “It doesn’t say whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”
“It’s supposed to be cryptic. It’s the way of the cookie.”
Duo snickered and stuck his tongue out at the Wyvern.
“Now that my hair is no longer an issue, what are we going to do about Ctik?” he asked.
Heero snorted. He knew what he’d like to do about Ctik, but unfortunately he had been raised as an honorable Wyvern, so drop-kicking the idiot vamp into a live volcano was not an option.
“We will be meeting with a Gringott’s rep tonight after Ctik wakes. The first task is to establish accounts for him; short, mid and long-term, get him a bank card and a line of credit for living expenses. Once the financials are out of the way, we’ll work on finding him a place to live and arranging for the removal of any furnishings from the house.”
Duo nodded. He really wanted to find Ctik a place to live, but Heero was right; the foundations had to come first. “Does he really have enough money to live on?”
“Absolutely. Nine million, properly invested, will support a very nice household. And even Ctik is good at accruing wealth; it’s a skill most vampires have.”
“Can I mention his family? Or should I stay away from that topic for now?” he wondered. He really couldn’t see Ctik cutting off Gisela and the children, but he might not want to deal with them so soon.
Heero gave him a toothy grin. “By all means, mention them. We are not going to let him avoid the hard parts.”
“I just don’t want to make it, like, a condition of us helping him, if he’d rather not deal with it for a while.”
“Ctik is an idiot as a vamp, but as a human being he was a very responsible person; he will do what is right.”
Duo nodded his agreement, happy that Heero was willing to give Ctik a chance, even if he was an “idiot vamp.”
“Okay, that’s tonight, after sunset. What do we do in the meantime?”
Heero raised one eyebrow and smiled. “Let’s go test-drive your new haircut.”
“Ooooh…! ‘Test drive’; is that what we’re calling it now?”
“For today. Acceptable?”
“Hm…” Duo considered thoughtfully. “I was actually thinking about doing some shopping…”
Heero blinked. “Shopping? You would rather *shop* than romp naked with me?” His tone was hurt, but his expression mischievous.
Duo licked his lips and leaned across the table. “We have plenty of time to do both. I need a new hairbrush and I want some more yarn. Please?”
Heero gave a great sigh. “All right, then. I will harness my wicked desires for a few more hours. Lead on, my angel, and I will follow.”
“Of course you will! You love looking at my ass!” Duo laughed.
“And I can see more of it now.”
~*~
“Duo? Wake up, angel.”
“Hm…? Oh. Sorry. Didn’t mean to fall asleep.” He sat up; automatically reaching to gather his hair and coming up… short. He blinked at the way too short bundle. “What the fuck…?” he muttered.
“Haircut. Remember?”
Oh. Right. He’d gone to Heero’s stylist and gotten his hair cut. And Heero had saved the cut-off hair…
“You’ve got it, right?” he asked trying not to sound anxious.
The Wyvern produced the silk bundle and opened one corner to show the coiled mass of hair. Duo breathed a sigh of relief.
“Sorry… Still waking up, I guess…”
Heero kissed his temple. “I know,” he smirked. “I wore you out.”
“Smartass,” Duo snickered and rolled off the bed. “I’ll get a shower; that’ll wake me up for sure.”
“And it won’t take near as long now,” Heero reminded him.
“Oh yeah… That’ll be… different.” He headed for the bathroom, only to be startled by Heero appearing suddenly in front of him.
The Wyvern wrapped his arms around Duo’s waist, snugging him close. He dipped his head slightly – he was still a bit taller than the Banshee – to meet his eyes.
“I love you,” he said firmly. “You are *my* Banshee.”
Duo blinked; blinked again. Crap. Had he missed some new ‘Dragon thing’?
Heero eyed him intently, taking in the faint blush, the hesitant expression and the budding anxiety. No; still not ready. He raised one eyebrow, letting a faint smirk show.
“Am I your Dragon?” he asked playfully.
Duo noted the eyebrow, the smirk and most of all, the sparkle behind those impossibly blue eyes, and relaxed.
“Oh, yes! You are so *my* Dragon!” he laughed and the blush hit him full force with the relief.
“Excellent,” Heero purred and enveloped him in a full-body embrace with a kiss that possibly reached the Banshee’s toes. He released him only when the Banshee’s knees began to tremble.
Ctik. Right. Business first; ravishment second. Priorities, Yuy, he reminded himself.
Never mind that the current priority was a pain in the ass.
He broke the kiss and returned Duo to his full upright position, holding onto him until the wobbling subsided.
“Heero…” began the breathless Banshee. “Damn…”
“Run along,” Heero commanded imperiously, nudging him towards the bath.
“Um… Right. You want to… join me?”
Heero smirked at him. “I showered an hour ago.”
“Oh. Well… all right then…” He stumbled off to shower, still slightly intoxicated.
Heero grinned after him. Maybe there was something to these pheromones after all. He’d have to thank Tiffany for reminding him that he probably had some of the same Banshee-traits as Duo. When he chose. He set about selecting his wardrobe.
When Duo finished with his shower – fifteen minutes! Holy shit! – he rummaged out his Magical drag, since he would be meeting with Magical Creatures tonight.
The purple and green outfits were in the laundry, so he opted for the black leggings and the silvery blue tunic; the smooth-leather black boots were a better choice if it chose to rain again.
Heero purred at him when he returned to the room. “Mm… Perfect choice for meeting with the Gringott’s Goblin; they have a great respect for formality.”
Heero looked pretty formal himself; black trousers that bloused above his boots, a white shirt and a quilted black brocade jacket, wrapped and belted like a short kimono.
“You look very… warlord-ish,” he smiled, looking the Wyvern up and down.
“The European version of Wyvern drag,” he returned. “Shall we go fix the idiot vampire?” He offered his arm and Duo took it with a snicker.
“You really need to stop calling him the ‘idiot vampire’. How is he going to get respect from the Goblin, if you show him none?”
Heero considered that for a long moment as they proceeded down the hallway. “You’re right. I must control my natural inclination to cleanse the gene pool.”
Duo rolled his eyes and laced his fingers with Heero’s.
This is technically the second half of the part; I posted the first half... somewhere down there *waves hand*, due to the many little partlets and figured I should do the same for the second half. Happy reading. ^____~
Next up will be some ii kibarashi or the start on part 102 or maybe something from totally out in left field. Depends on the muse animal. O.o
“This is so fuckin’ cool!” Michael exclaimed as they went out the front doors and across the terrace. “Nobody ever wants to hear anything I have to say. It’s always ‘now Michael’ or ‘later Michael’ or ‘we don’t discuss those things at the table Michael’. That is soooo fucked!”
“How old are you?” Duo asked curiously, making a note to himself that perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to leave this kid to his own devices. That could be how Miles came to be such a shit.
“Thirteen last month, but they all act like I’m five.” He slowed slightly, allowing Duo to come abreast of him. “Well, except for Ctik. He’s really cool, but I don’t see him very often. Like Mom said, he mostly comes and goes without us knowing.”
“You like Ctik?”
The kid glanced at him, startled. “Oh yeah. We used to do Legos when I was little. We’d build castles and he’d show me how to make stairs and secret passages and he told me a lot of family history from back in the beginning.” He shrugged, a bit embarrassed. “Dad really sold the house out from under him?”
“Apparently so…”
“Fuck. That sucks. Well, so does the college fund thing, too, I guess, but the house… That’s just… you know, mean.”
“Yes.”
“What did the Dragon guy mean about Ctik’s earth?”
“His name is Heero. It looks like Miles disposed of Ctik’s cache of native earth; whether to simply drive him away or to destroy him, I wouldn’t know.”
“`Destroy’ like in ‘kill’?”
“Yep.”
He shook his head in disgust. “Fuckin’ Christ on a damn cracker…” he muttered.
Duo found it interesting that the kid made no effort to defend his father or to disabuse him of the notion that Miles was capable of such perfidy. Very interesting.
They crossed a large swath of grass and angled around the side of the building toward a small outcropping of stone.
“You don’t seem surprised that your father would do something like this.”
Michael slowed, then stopped and turned to look at Duo. “First off, I know I’m ‘just a kid’ to adults, but I’m not an idiot. I can read, I can hear just fine, I can figure things out and Dad isn’t the best at putting stuff away. And… you know… if it’s lying around in plain sight, I’m gonna take a look. So, I know he’s a lot like Grampa Ted. Especially with money. When I was little, we had a full-time housekeeper; now we have Ms Dotson in twice a week. And I know Mom makes more money now than when I was little. But Dad’s kind of… careless… you know… And sometimes he does stuff that sounds crazy even to Breeze, and she’s not what you’d call financially savvy.”
“And you are?” Duo wondered with a smile.
“Yep.” He made a head toss-shoulder shrug gesture that suggested it was self-evident but also no big deal. “Dad got into day trading.” He rolled his eyes and sighed. “That’s so last century, but that’s Dad; always the last one to the party,” he smirked.
“Does your mother know how much you know?”
Michael shrugged again. “Probably not. Her job is pretty high-pressure and anyway, I think maybe she already knows that Dad isn’t really…”
“Honest?”
Another sigh, delivered this time while staring at his shoes. “Yeah.” He looked up at Duo. “Not anything criminal; I checked up on that, but not so ethical, either.”
“Does your dad know that you know this about him?”
He snorted. “Are you crazy?! He’d tan my hide! But he’s not a computer guy and I am, so I can kind of… well, snoop… and he doesn’t know.”
Duo shook his head, grinning. “You’d make a good investigator.”
Michael brightened. “You think? I was kind of thinking about forensics. I like to know stuff. Hey, are you a Wizard? Ctik mentioned once that he called the Wizards for help…”
“I am not a Wizard; no. I am a Magical Creature; specifically a Banshee. Heero is a Magical Creature; a Wyvern, but he is also a Wizard.”
“Cool!” He turned toward the stone outcrop. “The entrance is down here.” He pulled back some plantings and pointed to a large stone. “You only have to push on the stone and it drops down and away and then you can kind of slither into a passage.” He demonstrated and the stone did indeed open for him.
“Nice work,” Duo murmured. The passage was dark so he sent a fairy light down to illuminate the entrance. Steps began about four feet down and descended into the gloom. “Well, let’s take a walk, shall we?”
Michael beamed and dropped easily down into the hole, Duo right behind.
Duo expanded the fairy light and sent it ahead of them. The passage was fairly regular, not nearly as rough as Duo expected. This was a classy reconstruction; the workers must have been the best available.
“About how far does it go?” Duo asked after a moment. There was a gentle downward slope to the passage and he wondered how deep underground Ctik’s crypt was.
“It’s about a half mile, as near as I can tell. I tried a pedometer, but it didn’t seem to work too well, so I counted my steps and then measured some of them and took an average.”
Oh, yeah; this kid definitely needed watching.
“You ever bring any friends down here?”
“Oh hell no! Ctik’s still a vampire and my friends aren’t mature enough to get past the whole blood thing,” he exclaimed. “Besides… It’s like Ctik’s secret… Not my place to go outing him that way…” He looked up at Duo. “Know what I mean?”
“I do,” he nodded. That offered some comfort; the kid still had his family loyalty toward his ancestor.
It wasn’t a straight-line path, so Duo placed their destination as probably being under the center of the house until they came to a stone wall.
“This is as far as I’ve ever been,” said Michael. “I never could find the trip to this. I know it has to open, but…” He shrugged apologetically.
Duo already knew why Michael couldn’t open it. “It’s spelled for extra protection,” he said thoughtfully. “I’m not a Wizard, so I may not be able to get it to open, but I’ll give it a try.” He had the charms and spells that Heero had made for him; he was almost certain that some of them were magical lock picks.
He plucked the spell case from his other space, very conscious of Michael’s eager eyes, and opened it to rummage through the categories. He drew out a small white pellet.
“This might work. It depends on how complicated Ctik’s spell is.”
“I thought all magic spells were complicated.”
“Oh, no. Some are quite simple. Remember in The Lord of the Rings book, when the travelers were supposed to ‘speak, friend, and enter’ and it took forever for them to get that all they had to do was say the word ‘friend’ for the doors to open. That’s a simple spell. So simple that it’s easily overlooked by the more powerful wizards.”
Michael looked suddenly nervous. “The Lord of the Rings is *true*?!” he blurted out.
Duo snickered. “Of course not. But it seems likely that the author may have encountered some Magical Creatures at some point.” He held the pellet in his palm and touched a finger to it, crumbling it easily and blowing the powder at the wall. “Open please,” he requested.
Nothing happened and Duo sighed. “Okay. Try something else,” he muttered to himself. Back into the case he went.
~ Won’t find one, ~ said someone in his head and he jumped. ~ Sorry. ~
Duo looked around, finally spotting the beady little eyes just above his eye level. A small, indeterminate species of rodent crouched in a small tunnel watching them.
“Oh, hello,” said Duo politely. “I didn’t realise anyone would be frequenting the passage.” Michael blinked at him.
“Who’re you talking to?”
The Banshee pointed and Michael took a step back. “A rat?!”
The rodent rolled its eyes. ~ Humans, ~ it snorted.
Duo grinned and shrugged agreeably. “We make allowances.” He glanced at Michael. “Don’t get crazy; she could have information. Now, hush.” He turned back to the smirking creature. “Do you know Ctik, the vampire who uses this passage?”
~ Know him. No problem. Passes through, in and out. We nod. ~
“Have you ever seen anyone else come through? Besides this one, that is.”
~ Recently. Maybe… five, six suns; more. Big. Smelled fermented. ~
“Drunk, or been drinking.”
~ Yes. Stumbly. Opened the wall. Went in. Came out maybe. Didn’t stay. ~
“You didn’t see any reason to hang around?”
~ Yes. ~
“Did you happen to notice how he opened the wall? I can tell it’s spelled, but I don’t have the tools to open it.”
~ Hand on keystone. Waited. Wall opened. ~
“Huh. No words?”
~ None heard. ~
“Interesting. Thank you very much; you’ve been very helpful. Oh, just so you know, the fermented one has sold the house and land to someone who will most likely be doing construction. I’m sorry to say that you and anyone else who has burrows in the immediate area should probably prepare to vacate.”
The rodent blinked and twitched her whiskers.
~ Dung. Appreciated. ~
“You’re welcome.” The creature backed into the tunnel and disappeared.
Duo turned to Michael, and found the kid staring open-mouthed at the spot where the rodent had disappeared.
“Michael?”
“You talk to *rats*?!”
Duo sighed. “In the first place, she’s not a rat, she’s a gopher. In the second place, I talk to a lot of creatures.”
Michael transferred the astonished look to Duo. “Like Dr Doolittle?”
“Kind of. Mammals mostly; some of the higher reptiles and birds, too. I can understand or translate and usually make myself understood to most of them. Fish don’t really ‘talk’, they just give off images, but I can sometimes make out what they’re sending.”
“Wow…!”
Duo shook his head. “It’s not that marvelous. You’d be surprised what a low opinion most creatures have of us ‘higher’ types.” He turned back to the wall. “So, your dad opened the wall… No words, just a touch.” He stretched up and laid his hand on the keystone and counted to twenty. Nothing happened.
“Maybe she just didn’t… you know, hear him?” Michael said hesitantly. Again, Duo was impressed at the kid’s ability to deal with magical things. He hadn’t argued or told Duo he was crazy; he just accepted that the Banshee talked to gophers.
“No… I think it’s a kind of blood spell. Not blood magic; that shit is dangerous,” he reassured. “I think Ctik made an unwarranted assumption… Here; put your hand against the keystone and count to twenty.” Duo rested his ear against the wall and sure enough, he heard a faint click and the stone wall began to move.
Michael jumped back. “No way! All I had to do was *touch* it?! Well, now I feel like a dumbass.”
Duo snorted and sent another, larger, fairy light into the space beyond. “Not that there’s any compelling reason for you – or your father, for that matter – to be weaseling around Ctik’s space.”
“Well… yeah… But that’s so simple!” He tried to see over Duo’s shoulder. “What’s in there?”
Duo stepped to the side with a sigh. “Absolutely nothing.”
The room, about four meters square, with a height of perhaps two-and-a-half meters, was empty. No coffin, no earth; no sign of anything ever having been there. Even the dirt floor looked undisturbed.
“But…” began Michael in confusion. “Where did Ctik sleep? I thought he’d have a coffin…”
Duo expanded the light even further and found some small indentations on the floor. “Looks like he did, at some point. I’d say your dad was making sure that Ctik couldn’t come back here.”
Michael stared into the empty room. “He really wanted to kill Ctik…” he whispered. A faint gulp that Duo pretended not to hear. “Shit…”
“Yeah.” He moved further into the room and searched with his Banshee senses. A faint lingering odor of alcohol, old and sour. Something flowery; cologne, perhaps. A bit of a tang; probably blood. Wood. Fresh cut – or broken – wood. And a final scent that Duo was very familiar with – fresh-turned earth; green, sweet and smile-making. He squatted down to examine the floor more closely and found the signs of activity; some small scrapes and gouges, a couple of long drag marks and over that, the even strokes of a broom.
He had to give Miles credit; he’d done a helluva lot of work to clear the crypt of any sign of Ctik’s presence in only the dusk to dawn hours that Ctik was away. No wonder he’d stoked up on liquid courage. Fuckwit.
Michael had also followed the dots and come up with the same picture. “I hate him,” he whispered. “I fuckin’ *hate* him!”
~*~
Heero stood, once more back in his less-remarkable form, next to the desk of the customer service manager of the Farmer’s Trust bank. Miles huddled in one of the comfy chairs, looking wind-blown and still twitching. The customer service manager was trying to look like she wasn’t dying of curiosity waiting for Allan Horstang to arrive. So far, there had been no arguments from the bank personnel. Then again, Heero did not expect any arguments. And he usually got what he expected. Except with the Banshee; the Banshee was deliciously contrary.
He cast a glance around the interior of the bank, pleased with the wary regard of the Humans. The customers paid him no attention, but the employees… They definitely knew something was up. Gossip would be flying come closing time, and he had no sympathy whatsoever for Miles.
He did feel a bit of regret for Gisela and her children, but this was Miles’ doing and he doubted Gisela would forget that. Not for the first time he wondered what attracted Gisela to Miles. Humans seemed to have no sense in their choices.
“And you are so much better?” wondered the little voice in the back of his head, and he had to smile. No, he was every bit as besotted as the average Human. But his Banshee deserved that besottment; Miles most certainly did not.
A Human male rushed through the parking lot door, heading for them. Allan Horstang looked harried, hassled and faintly frightened.
“Mr Yuy…?” he inquired breathlessly.
Heero inclined his head in acknowledgement. “Mr Horstang. I regret the need for you to interrupt your weekend, but this matter will not wait.”
“Oh, this is no trouble at all! Mr Vrostek has been a customer of this bank since – well, for a very long time! Please, come into my office.”
Heero assisted Miles to his feet and they followed Horstang into the office. An instant after the door closed, every employee in the bank had their phone out and was dialing.
~*~
Duo led the way out of the crypt and parked Michael on the stone wall near the outside portal. The kid was angry, disappointed, frustrated and trying very hard and very obviously not to break down and cry. Duo understood that feeling pretty well by now. No sense in rubbing it in by forcing him to face the females before he’d gotten himself under control.
“I hate him! How could he do that to Ctik?! Ctik’s cool! He never makes demands or tells us how to do things – why the fuck would Dad try to destroy him?!” he exploded thickly.
Duo sat next to him, hooking one heel on the edge of the wall and resting his arms on his knee. “I think… probably he wasn’t really thinking at all, just reacting. Miles did something incredibly stupid and his first reaction was to cover it up. According to Heero, his father, Theodore, was the same way.”
“I don’t remember Grandpa Ted much,” Michael muttered. “Just that Grandma Vee was upset with him about something and divorced him. He died when I was about four. Mom and Dad and Matthew went to the funeral, but Breeze and I got to stay home from school… Matthew told us that Dad cried…”
“Hm. Well, the problem was that Theodore did some fancy financial dancing with the family money and then refused to turn loose when Vivian and Ctik asked him to. Ctik called the Bureau of Sorcery and asked for help and my boss sent Heero.” He smirked to himself at the thought of that meeting. “Heero convinced Theodore that relinquishing control was the right thing to do.”
Michael snorted and Duo glanced at him. Nose red, eyes somewhat red and a little wet, but no visible leaking; good. He didn’t really know what to do with leaking; he much preferred if other people would ignore it when it happened to him, but other people, Human people might expect some sort of… notice.
“Figures,” Michael grumbled. “Must run in the family. Or at least on Dad’s side.” He sat up and looked over at Duo suddenly. “Did your father ever do anything so lame?”
Well. That was unexpected. Duo blinked. Blinked again.
“Um… I don’t have the same references, I’m afraid. My father wasn’t around when I was young, and my Clan isn’t very… financial. We dealt more in barter.”
“Oh.” He subsided once again to hunch over his knees, head in his hands. “Fuck. I can’t believe he did that… Fathers are supposed to be role models. I don’t wanna be like him.”
“There’s no reason for you to be like your father; none at all.”
“What; you’ve never heard of ‘the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree’?”
Duo rolled his eyes. “Depends on the tree you’re talking about. Just because he contributed half your DNA doesn’t mean that’s all you are. I haven’t heard anything squirrely about your mother. She seems to be pretty responsible and she’s the other half of you.”
“I guess…” He rubbed at his eyes.
Duo sat in silence for a few minutes, not sure whether to talk or just be a warm presence. Maybe he needed a class in crisis management. Or maybe he could call one of the Wizards for help. Humans were so hard sometimes… He knew that from his time wandering. Funny, though, he’d never really been bothered by the drama back then… Maybe he was different, or maybe he was growing up and growing away from his adolescent self.
Huh. That was both enlightening and mildly depressing.
“Look,” he said finally in an effort to interest Michael in something positive, “You said you were interested in forensics; that’s a good career. We have some forensics Wizards who handle the really tough things. You should start now, choosing classes to that end.”
“Yeah…” He brightened a bit. “I wonder what would be good… Chemistry, probably…” He frowned. “But what do you take to become a… a gun expert? Or a document person?”
“No idea, but I’ll bet your school counselor could help.” This was good; get his attention on something else and leave the leakage behind… They tossed ideas and suggestions back and forth for a bit, ignoring the current drama and Michael got more into the idea of forensics as a career.
There was a more immediate matter that Duo should point out… but that would be circling back to the leakage. He sighed and decided it should be tackled anyway.
“Michael, you know that since the house has been sold, you’ll be moving…”
Michael blinked at him. “Oh. Oh, yeah… I almost forgot that part… I’ve always lived here… I was only two or three when Grandma Vee asked us to move here.” He sat back thoughtfully. “I wonder if we’ll have to live in an apartment… Damn. I’ll have to pack… What are we gonna do with all the furniture? The house is ginormous! And every room is furnished! Shit!”
“Remember that Ctik will have to have a new home too. I imagine he’d like to have some of the furniture.”
“But how will he get it? We don’t even know where he is! And he needs more earth and a crypt to keep his coffin in… He can’t live in an apartment! Can he?”
Duo laughed. “Heero and I will help him find a good place, and no, I doubt if he could live in an apartment. He’s staying at the Castle right now, but as soon as this end is complete, we’ll get busy on the other details. Don’t worry; Ctik will be okay.”
“Okay…” He shook his head. “I’m never going to see him again, am I?”
“Why wouldn’t you?” Duo asked in surprise.
“Well… because of Dad… Ctik won’t want anything to do with us.”
Duo chuckled. “You’d be surprised, Michael. I think Ctik cares a lot about his family. He’s not going to abandon you guys. Maybe just Miles.”
~*~
Heero glanced at the cashier’s check, double-checking the amount. Exactly as he’d requested. Good. He tucked it safely into his other space and bowed minutely to Allan Horstang.
“Thank you for your assistance in this matter. Mr Vrostek will be most appreciative.”
“Um… You’re welcome, Mr Yuy. I’m… uh… sorry that Mr Vrostek will be leaving the area; he’s been an excellent customer and we will certainly miss him.” He glanced apprehensively at Miles, who was sulking in a chair. “Um… Miles..? I’ll call you later, okay?”
“Whatever.”
Again, Heero assisted Miles out of the chair, out of the office and out of the building. With every employee staring avidly and a few customers wondering what was so interesting, Heero changed form, took a firm grip on Miles and launched.
Duo would have been delighted by the screams, gasps and exclamations from the viewers.
~*~
Miles didn’t make a lot of noise this time, for which Heero was grateful. Hysterical shrieking did nothing for the ambience of his flight.
As they swept over the house and grounds, Heero noted that Duo was sitting outside on a wall with Michael. That was good; he didn’t relish the idea of dropping Miles in front of the children. He suspected that Gisela would rather say what she had to in private.
They landed on the front terrace, Heero keeping hold of Miles until they had entered the parlor. As hoped, Gisela was alone in the room, a cellphone and a file of paperwork on the delicate writing desk in front of her. She rose as they entered.
“Is everything right now?” she asked. “Or as right as it can be for Ctik?”
“I have a check for Ctik,” Heero confirmed. “And I have returned your husband, as requested. I know you have things to… discuss… I will collect Duo and we will be on our way. You have my card and Duo’s; if you need anything, please feel free to call us. I am sure that Ctik will be contacting you once he is settled.”
She hadn’t once looked at Miles. “Thank you, Mr Yuy. Please tell Ctik that I am so sorry that I let him down. I really should have been keeping a better watch on… things.”
“I am sure that Ctik does not blame you in any way.” He flicked a baleful glance at Miles.
Gisela nodded automatically and extended a hand. “Thank you again, Mr Yuy, and please tell Duo ‘thank you’ also. He’s outside with Michael…”
Heero took her hand briefly. “I saw them when I arrived. Take care, Mrs Grinsted. We will be in touch.” He bowed gracefully and left the room, pausing in the hallway out of sight.
“Gisela…” said Miles when they were finally alone. “Baby… please…”
“No. This is the last straw, Miles. We are done. I’ve already called a lawyer. I want you out of the house by Monday.”
“But Gi, I love you!”
A pause.
“I love you, too, Miles, but love doesn’t pay the bills. Love doesn’t put my children through college. Love doesn’t try to murder a family member and sell his home out from under him!”
“Gi -!”
“No. Get away from me or I will punch you.”
“I could have you arrested for domestic violence!”
“And that’s your idea of love? Go pack. I’m sure you can find someone to put you up for a while.”
Miles whined some more, but Heero had heard enough. Gisela seemed to be holding her own and hopefully she would not cave in to her husband’s blandishments. She seemed stronger than that. He left the house and went in search of his Banshee. He had a haircut to supervise.
~*~
Duo looked up at Heero’s approach and grinned. “How’d it go?”
“I have a check for Ctik. I’ve already contacted Gringott’s and one of their managers will meet with us tonight to handle the accounts.” He looked the pair over. Duo looked… tired, perhaps. Michael looked glum. “And what have you discovered?”
Duo glanced at Michael, but the boy ducked his head with an embarrassed shrug. “I asked about Ctik’s crypt and Michael was able to show me where it is. Or was.”
Heero lifted one eyebrow. “You know where Ctik’s crypt is?” Dammit, he was going to have a very long talk with that idiot vamp once they got him awake and his finances sorted out.
“Um…”
“Go ahead, Michael,” said Duo gently. “Heero won’t bite you.”
“Well… I’ve known about it for a while… where it is, I mean. But I’ve never been in it!” he cried at Heero’s sharp look. “Not until today. There’s a passage, but it ends in a door and I could never figure out how to open the door…” He looked at Duo. “He figured it out, though. He talked to a… a gopher, and she… told him how it opened. How my dad opened it…”
Heero threw Duo a narrow look. “May I see this, please?” he said carefully to Michael.
The kid shrugged again. “Sure. C’mon.” He hopped off the stone and led the way to the keystone.
“I am going to ream Ctik for this,” Heero muttered under his breath to Duo.
“Not too much; he just trusted the wrong person,” Duo whispered back. “And don’t glare at me. Miles is the one who did the damage.”
“Sorry. It is a strain not to just break Miles’ lying, thieving neck.”
“I know. I kinda want to punch him a few times myself.”
“This is the entrance stone,” said Michael, demonstrating how the stone opened. They followed him down into the passage and along its meandering length to the door. Michael stretched up and touched the keystone of the arch and the door began to move.
“It’s a blood spell,” Duo explained. “It allows access to anyone – I’m guessing – who is blood-kin to Ctik.”
Heero glared into the empty space. “Miles did this?” he growled.
“I’d say so, yeah. Probably while pretty damn drunk, too.”
“I see.” He turned away from the room in disgust. “Thank you, Michael, for showing us this place.”
“Um… Are you going to see Ctik?”
“Tonight; yes.”
“Could you tell him I’m really sorry… and I’ll miss him a lot?”
Heero cocked his head, seeing Michael as Duo had seen him; a too-bright child with more curiosity than understanding.
“We will tell him. I don’t believe Ctik will be angry with you, your siblings or your mother. He knows where the blame lies.”
Michael nodded slowly. “Yeah… Thanks.” He scuffed his shoe in the hard dirt and Duo sighed.
“Well, come on; let’s get out of here. We have things to do for Ctik at home and you –“ he pointed at Michael. “Have packing to get started on. And I’d say you might want to use the back stairs for a while. I imagine your parents are making some pretty difficult decisions right now, and they really don’t need any interruptions. Okay?”
Michael snorted. “If you mean Mom is probably dismantling Dad, cell by cell, yeah, I don’t want anything to do with that!”
“Good kid,” Duo smirked.
After they had climbed out of the passageway and closed the entrance, Heero sketched some figures over it with an index finger. “I’ve sealed the passage,” he told Michael. “No need to chance anyone else finding it. You have our cards?” Michael nodded and produced them from his pocket. “Good. You may contact either of us if you have questions or concerns.” He glanced at Duo. “Or if you just need to talk…”
Michael shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged. “Thanks… Can I ask about Ctik, too?”
“Of course,” Duo replied with a smile. “And I’ll make sure he contacts you after he’s settled somewhere.”
“Great.” He looked over at the massive stone mansion. “I really like this place… It’s gonna feel weird not living here anymore…” He shrugged yet again. “Hey, I’m young; I’ll adapt.” He grinned at Duo.
The Banshee reached out and ruffled the kid’s hair. “You’ll do great, Michael. Have patience with your Mom and sister, though; they’re gonna be kind of tense for a while.”
“Gotcha.”
“Then we will be leaving.” Heero morphed and scooped Duo up in his arms as Michael’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped. “Good day, Michael Grinsted.” Duo just waggled his fingers and clung to Heero’s neck as his wings snapped open and he leaped into the air.
Michael stood waving until they lost sight of him.
~*~
“Are we flying all the way home?” Duo asked after making himself comfortable in Heero’s arms.
“No. Only as far as the city. I want a coffee and I’d rather not have the porter popping into the middle of nowhere again. Draws attention.”
“Ah. Gotcha.” He reached up and kissed the side of Heero’s snout. “Thanks for being low-key to Michael.”
“Hn. His world is turning itself inside out; I have no desire to add to the confusion, angst and dramatics.” He nuzzled Duo’s ear and slurped his tongue over the side of his face – Dragon kisses, Duo called it.
“How was Miles at the bank?”
“Shitty. Pouty. Whiny. Expected behavior. I was sorely tempted to just drop him in the river.”
“At least he hasn’t gotten away totally. I’ll bet Gisela is going to rip him a new one.”
“She was telling him to pack and get out when I left,” Heero smirked.
“Really?! Wow! I knew she was mad, but I didn’t think she’d actually throw him out… Still… He stole from Ctik and from the kids, and that’s not exactly forgivable. You think she’ll stick to that? Or change her mind later?”
“Somehow, I do not believe she is going to change her mind. I think this is just the most recent of many incidents.”
“Miles is a damn jerk. Michael told me he was afraid of becoming like Miles when he’s grown.”
“What?! Why?”
“Because ‘the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree’.”
“Nonsense,” Heero snorted.
“That’s what I told him. I reminded him that he’s an apple off his mother’s tree, too, and she’s not wormy. Michael needs some kind of structure, I think… He’s interested in forensics as a career, and he needs a little guidance.”
“Forensics, hmm… Duo, do you think he would like to visit a real crime lab? Might that help to… solidify his dreams?”
“It might; what did you have in mind?”
“The New York City police department owes us a favor…”
“Oh… What a great idea! I’ll call Ryo after we sort out Ctik; he’ll know who I can talk to about arranging it.” He wrapped himself even tighter around Heero’s neck. “I’ll bet Michael will love it! And Ctik too.”
Heero dropped toward the ground then, swooping into a fast landing next to a large building. Once on the ground, he changed back and set Duo on his feet, giving him a hard kiss. “I’ve wanted to do that ever since Miles started shrieking in my ears.”
“Fine by me,” Duo murmured happily.
Heero pulled out his phone and called the port room, requesting a porter to their location in about fifteen minutes. Arrangements made, he closed the phone and vanished it to his other-space and took Duo’s hand.
“Shopping center? I don’t see a coffee place…”
“Inside. They’ve planted Starbucks inside Target stores.”
“Really? Huh. They really are every-damn-where. I’ll have a mocha frap; want me to grab a table?”
“Please. Our port will be LaVonda; she’s usually prompt.”
~*~
Duo trailed Heero into the salon, feeling a lot less confident in his decision to cut his hair. Maybe he should think about it some more. Maybe he was being hasty. Maybe he should talk to Teal first.
He shook himself in annoyance. How ridiculous! Teal got his hair cut every few months. He’d even taken Dael for her first haircut last month! A simple haircut wouldn’t make him dry up and blow away.
Maybe he should get a damn grip…
He tightened his hold on Heero’s hand all the same.
“Heero!” cried the salon owner. “Precisely on time!” The man bowed theatrically and Heero inclined his head in return.
“Stani; thank you for making time for us on such short notice.”
The man – Wizard, Duo reminded himself – waved away the apology.
“Nonsense! For you, I will make the time stretch! And is this to be my new pleasure?” he tilted his head to Duo archly.
Heero drew him forward. “Not too much of a pleasure, if you please. This is my Chosen, Duo of Blue Forest. Duo, this is Stani McConnell, the most excellent stylist in the country.”
Stani clutched at his chest. “Flattery! You know it will get you anything!” He grinned at Duo. “Well! How may I make you even more beautiful today?”
Duo glanced at Heero. “Um… I want my hair short for summer.” He drew his braid over his shoulder so that Stani could see how long it was. The Wizard’s jaw dropped.
“You want to cut it off?!” he gasped.
“Not all of it,” Heero said quickly. “Just… half?” He looked to Duo for agreement.
“Yeah. It’s just gotten to be more than I want to deal with in hot weather.”
Stani breathed a sigh of relief. “What a fright you gave me! You have beautiful hair. May I?” He reached toward Duo.
“Sure. Should I take it down?”
“If you would, please.” He combed his fingers through the heavy mane, shaking out the braid. “Are you sure you want it cut?”
Duo hesitated, then said firmly, “Yes. I’ve thought about it for a few months and I decided to cut it. I’m not backing out now. But Heero wants what you cut off.”
Stani raised an eyebrow at the Wyvern, who actually blushed. “He is my Chosen,” he muttered.
Stani gave him a benevolent smirk. “Of course he is. Shall we, then?”
In short order, Duo found himself swathed in a protective cape and seated in a chair, staring apprehensively at his reflection in the large mirror while Heero and Stani discussed the logistics of cutting and capturing his hair. Unbound, the ends of his hair pooled on the floor behind the chair. In a few minutes, it’d be gone. Almost ten years of history. His history.
He wondered if anyone else ever felt scared when they got their hair cut.
Soon he felt the touch of Stani’s hands. “Duo, Heero says you want it just short enough that you will not sit on it; is that correct?” He nodded, unable to get the words out. “All right then! We begin!”
Duo squeezed his eyes shut as the scissors slid through his hair.
~*~
“Duo? Open your eyes,” coaxed the familiar smooth voice of his Wyvern. “Take a look, my angel.”
Oh. He must have been half asleep. He opened his eyes, blinking in the light, and peered at his reflection, noting vaguely the two males standing behind him with eager expressions. Nothing looked any different. How…? Oh, wait. His bangs were… shorter. Neater. Styled. Kinda… poufy. Wow. He could see his eyes beneath them without tossing them out of his way. Double-wow.
He stared at himself in amazement. The only change was to the length of his bangs. The only *visible* change. As if in response to his scattered thoughts, Stani spun the chair and put a small mirror into his hand.
“You see,” he pronounced, more to Heero than to Duo. “It is a sleeker, more modern look. Better suited to this modern life.”
~ Away with that old life… Welcome to your new one… ~
I really do have a new life… I have a new Clan... A real home… A… a future, not just a past.
The auburn fall of hair now ended at the bottom of the chair back. Trimmed straight across, looking fresh and crisp, the ends were already curving into a soft wave.
He looked up at Heero. “It feels… light,” he breathed. “Like it could go floating up… Is it good?” he asked anxiously. “It’s not too short?”
Heero leaned down to kiss his cheek. “It is not too short,” he murmured. “It is just right. You will shock everyone on Monday morning. Wufei will have a fit,” he smirked.
Looking into the mirrors once again, Duo smiled. “He sure will. Ten to one he blames you.”
“Of course!”
“Does it meet with your approval?” asked Stani, not looking particularly worried.
“Yes…” said Duo slowly. “Yes, it does. It’ll take me a while to get used to it, but it’s great. I’m glad I did this…” And he truly was glad.
“Excellent!” Stani took the mirror and spun the chair again. “I’ll just dust you off; nothing more annoying than those tiny little bits of hair.” A wand appeared and Duo was engulfed in a brief whirlwind. “Would you like to braid it now? You’ll find that you will not sit on it when it is braided, but you may when it is loose,” explained the stylist.
“Perfect. I will braid it, I think. It’s breezy out.” He did so quickly, then shook his head experimentally. “It feels so light! Thank you!”
“Ah, no! Thank you for allowing me this honor.” The hair Wizard swept a deep theatrical bow and then shooed them from the salon. “You must buy your beautiful Chosen lunch, Heero! Stani insists!”
The door closed behind them, finding them standing on the sidewalk. “Wow. He doesn’t waste time, does he?” said Duo after a few seconds.
“Never has,” Heero replied with a smile.
“Wait! Where’s the hair? Didn’t you get the hair?”
“Of course, I did.” Heero produced a bundle of silk from his other space. “Here it is.”
Duo gave a sigh of relief. He’d taken a huge step in getting so much hair cut off all at once, but he wasn’t yet ready to let it go entirely. “Damn… That’s a lot.” He hefted the bundle. “I’ve been carrying this around on my head… No wonder I feel so light!” He grinned as he handed the bundle back to the Wyvern. “I want Chinese food for lunch!”
“You got it, baby,” Heero purred, clasping his hand.
~*~
Duo cracked open his fortune cookie and read his ‘fortune’. “You are the center of every gathering,” he intoned aloud. “It doesn’t say whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”
“It’s supposed to be cryptic. It’s the way of the cookie.”
Duo snickered and stuck his tongue out at the Wyvern.
“Now that my hair is no longer an issue, what are we going to do about Ctik?” he asked.
Heero snorted. He knew what he’d like to do about Ctik, but unfortunately he had been raised as an honorable Wyvern, so drop-kicking the idiot vamp into a live volcano was not an option.
“We will be meeting with a Gringott’s rep tonight after Ctik wakes. The first task is to establish accounts for him; short, mid and long-term, get him a bank card and a line of credit for living expenses. Once the financials are out of the way, we’ll work on finding him a place to live and arranging for the removal of any furnishings from the house.”
Duo nodded. He really wanted to find Ctik a place to live, but Heero was right; the foundations had to come first. “Does he really have enough money to live on?”
“Absolutely. Nine million, properly invested, will support a very nice household. And even Ctik is good at accruing wealth; it’s a skill most vampires have.”
“Can I mention his family? Or should I stay away from that topic for now?” he wondered. He really couldn’t see Ctik cutting off Gisela and the children, but he might not want to deal with them so soon.
Heero gave him a toothy grin. “By all means, mention them. We are not going to let him avoid the hard parts.”
“I just don’t want to make it, like, a condition of us helping him, if he’d rather not deal with it for a while.”
“Ctik is an idiot as a vamp, but as a human being he was a very responsible person; he will do what is right.”
Duo nodded his agreement, happy that Heero was willing to give Ctik a chance, even if he was an “idiot vamp.”
“Okay, that’s tonight, after sunset. What do we do in the meantime?”
Heero raised one eyebrow and smiled. “Let’s go test-drive your new haircut.”
“Ooooh…! ‘Test drive’; is that what we’re calling it now?”
“For today. Acceptable?”
“Hm…” Duo considered thoughtfully. “I was actually thinking about doing some shopping…”
Heero blinked. “Shopping? You would rather *shop* than romp naked with me?” His tone was hurt, but his expression mischievous.
Duo licked his lips and leaned across the table. “We have plenty of time to do both. I need a new hairbrush and I want some more yarn. Please?”
Heero gave a great sigh. “All right, then. I will harness my wicked desires for a few more hours. Lead on, my angel, and I will follow.”
“Of course you will! You love looking at my ass!” Duo laughed.
“And I can see more of it now.”
~*~
“Duo? Wake up, angel.”
“Hm…? Oh. Sorry. Didn’t mean to fall asleep.” He sat up; automatically reaching to gather his hair and coming up… short. He blinked at the way too short bundle. “What the fuck…?” he muttered.
“Haircut. Remember?”
Oh. Right. He’d gone to Heero’s stylist and gotten his hair cut. And Heero had saved the cut-off hair…
“You’ve got it, right?” he asked trying not to sound anxious.
The Wyvern produced the silk bundle and opened one corner to show the coiled mass of hair. Duo breathed a sigh of relief.
“Sorry… Still waking up, I guess…”
Heero kissed his temple. “I know,” he smirked. “I wore you out.”
“Smartass,” Duo snickered and rolled off the bed. “I’ll get a shower; that’ll wake me up for sure.”
“And it won’t take near as long now,” Heero reminded him.
“Oh yeah… That’ll be… different.” He headed for the bathroom, only to be startled by Heero appearing suddenly in front of him.
The Wyvern wrapped his arms around Duo’s waist, snugging him close. He dipped his head slightly – he was still a bit taller than the Banshee – to meet his eyes.
“I love you,” he said firmly. “You are *my* Banshee.”
Duo blinked; blinked again. Crap. Had he missed some new ‘Dragon thing’?
Heero eyed him intently, taking in the faint blush, the hesitant expression and the budding anxiety. No; still not ready. He raised one eyebrow, letting a faint smirk show.
“Am I your Dragon?” he asked playfully.
Duo noted the eyebrow, the smirk and most of all, the sparkle behind those impossibly blue eyes, and relaxed.
“Oh, yes! You are so *my* Dragon!” he laughed and the blush hit him full force with the relief.
“Excellent,” Heero purred and enveloped him in a full-body embrace with a kiss that possibly reached the Banshee’s toes. He released him only when the Banshee’s knees began to tremble.
Ctik. Right. Business first; ravishment second. Priorities, Yuy, he reminded himself.
Never mind that the current priority was a pain in the ass.
He broke the kiss and returned Duo to his full upright position, holding onto him until the wobbling subsided.
“Heero…” began the breathless Banshee. “Damn…”
“Run along,” Heero commanded imperiously, nudging him towards the bath.
“Um… Right. You want to… join me?”
Heero smirked at him. “I showered an hour ago.”
“Oh. Well… all right then…” He stumbled off to shower, still slightly intoxicated.
Heero grinned after him. Maybe there was something to these pheromones after all. He’d have to thank Tiffany for reminding him that he probably had some of the same Banshee-traits as Duo. When he chose. He set about selecting his wardrobe.
When Duo finished with his shower – fifteen minutes! Holy shit! – he rummaged out his Magical drag, since he would be meeting with Magical Creatures tonight.
The purple and green outfits were in the laundry, so he opted for the black leggings and the silvery blue tunic; the smooth-leather black boots were a better choice if it chose to rain again.
Heero purred at him when he returned to the room. “Mm… Perfect choice for meeting with the Gringott’s Goblin; they have a great respect for formality.”
Heero looked pretty formal himself; black trousers that bloused above his boots, a white shirt and a quilted black brocade jacket, wrapped and belted like a short kimono.
“You look very… warlord-ish,” he smiled, looking the Wyvern up and down.
“The European version of Wyvern drag,” he returned. “Shall we go fix the idiot vampire?” He offered his arm and Duo took it with a snicker.
“You really need to stop calling him the ‘idiot vampire’. How is he going to get respect from the Goblin, if you show him none?”
Heero considered that for a long moment as they proceeded down the hallway. “You’re right. I must control my natural inclination to cleanse the gene pool.”
Duo rolled his eyes and laced his fingers with Heero’s.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2009-01-01 02:29 am (UTC)And the last added bit was delightful. 15 minutes for a shower huh? For Duo that's a record. I wish someone would draw Duo and Heero in their magic creatures drag. That would really be drool worthy.
Now I just have to sit and wait for more of this great stuff.
Happy New Year, lady.
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Date: 2009-01-01 10:36 pm (UTC)I have a definite picture in my head of what the magical drag looks like. ^__^ Heero wouldn't be a problem, but I fear that some people might find Duo's costumes of choice a little too... flashy? ^.o After all, the Banshee does love color and sparkles.
Happy New Year!
^___^
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Date: 2009-01-01 02:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-01 10:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-01 03:19 am (UTC)And what WAS he thinking... of COURSE yarn takes priority over naked romping! *snickergiggle* Good things are worth waiting for... ^^;
Though you tossed in a bit of angst there at the end... *pets poor Heero* he's such a patient, good boy. ^_____^
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Date: 2009-01-01 10:38 pm (UTC)He is very patient. ^.o
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Date: 2009-01-01 04:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-01 10:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-01 04:38 am (UTC)Having the different parts plus the other stories I follow and their different parts got confusing some so this helped a bunch! :D
OMG! I agree with peeps on how Michael is becoming cooler and cooler because of his attitude and how he is eager to help. I thought it was funny when he was talking more then Duo...sorta. xD
haha I love how Heero's dry sense of humor soo works for that ' idiot vampire'. -laughs- Very amusing.
Yay 15 minute shower for Duo! I can so agree on that one. With short hair it makes showering easier and less shampoo! :D
Keep up the good work and can't wait for more! >:3
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Date: 2009-01-01 10:42 pm (UTC)Michael is one of those self-writing characters. O.o Not sure where he's going from here. >_>
^_____^
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Date: 2009-01-01 10:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-01 11:10 pm (UTC)^____^
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Date: 2009-01-01 11:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-02 12:08 am (UTC)Go, muse, go! :-D
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Date: 2009-01-04 10:18 pm (UTC)This new 'muse animal' has a very strange sense of humor. O_O
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Date: 2009-01-02 03:55 am (UTC)OMG You have a new animal muse? What type is it this type? Still a hamster or something bigger? xD
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Date: 2009-01-04 10:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-03 02:57 pm (UTC)Hmmmm the kiss was hot as hell. And Heero having some Bahnsheee traits is very very intriguing. Hope to see more of it.
annakas
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Date: 2009-01-04 10:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-03 04:41 pm (UTC)Is the new muse a fluffy shape-shifting owl? 8D
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Date: 2009-01-04 10:23 pm (UTC)I'd sure like to see a plushy of that owl. Twist one way and he foofs up all fluffy; twist the opposite way, and instant stick. ^____^ My zoo doesn't seem to have one of those; I must go on a Jedi-Owl hunt. ^___~
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Date: 2009-01-05 03:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-07 05:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-08 02:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-07 03:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-01-07 05:41 am (UTC)