Fan Fiction ❯ Bereft Opulence ❯ Tepid Moments ( Chapter 2 )

Title: Bereft Opulence

Chapter Two: Tepid Moments

Author: Stygian

Rating: R (… For now…)

Warnings: Chaos, violence, language, yaoi.

For a cruiser ship drifting through space, the craft was impressive to say the least. It's exterior was black and metallic, reflecting the sparkling stars with additional waves of light mirrored in all directions. No wonder Seung hadn't been able to see it approaching in space. The trip over the porting bridge had nearly given the Korean a heart attack as well. It seemed to be made of a transparent material that held strong beneath their weight. It was as if they were walking through outer space itself, with nothing holding them above the abyss of darkness. As they boarded, through the top of the bridge, they spied a chrome symbol, coiled and swaying on the side of the ship. It was a dragon.

A room of soldiers greeted them with expressionless facades, although their eyes danced with liveliness and contained excitement. Claude's bag was thoroughly checked for weapons of any kind as two other soldiers checked the new individuals' clothing and bodies. The Korean purposely squirmed and grinned, making it rather difficult for his inspector. Afterward, Seung had grinned deviously and made a remark about his examiner meeting him in his room that night. This, of course, made a few of the men-in-arms snigger and the singled out individual blush.

Then they were escorted out of the loading dock area and into one of the main hallways in the lower regions of the spacious ship. Claude's crimson eyes glanced over to the Korean expectantly as a corner came up and they were separated, Claude to be taken to his room and Seung to be attended to in the medical bay.

Seung was directed to a bed to sit on and wait for attention from the doctor present. There seemed to be very few occupants of the reasonably nice bay area, and those who were there didn't seem troubled at all. His slanted blue-black eyes scanned the beds idly, sighing to himself before the familiar feel of eyes on him turned his attention to the soldier still standing by him… staring at him.

"Were you ordered to just stand there and stare at me?" He asked quizzically.

"Yeah, pretty much," the soldier shrugged nonchalantly, but a toothy grin began to play on his lips, "But, I can't say I don't like what I see." Obviously the man's eyes were raking over Seung's lithe little frame.

"Aren't you soldier guys supposed to be emotionally and physically oppressed and controlled?" The Korean asked, glaring faintly at the man.

`Er, no, that's just our commander."

The doctor wandered over and tapped the top of his digital record board with the metal `pen' as he gazed at it. Then he lifted his attention to the youth sitting on the edge of the bed and set the board down, pushing in a code on the side panel of a cabinet for it's top drawer to open. As he took out a two bottles and a cloth, he asked mechanically, "How did that happen to your face?"

Before Seung had a chance to reply, a deep defined voice made itself known and the Korean leaned over with a soft blink. He already knew who it was, as did the other two around him, and they all watched the figure stride over the metal floor with unpracticed grace.

Commander Takamara could have cared less about the two that had boarded his ship, and remained `above deck' with the rest of his ship control crew, had he not known there was something wrong about the two. He could feel it. And he could see it in the crimson haired youth's dark eyes. There was a guise that he had to remove to see the full picture, and that's why he was walking through the medical bay to see the less threatening individual.

"It's a tie between his ship blowing up and the android he was accompanied by," he said as he neared, glancing at the doctor and soldier silently. Then he held out a hand toward the table beside the bed in a gesture, "I'll take care of it, Doctor."

Without question, the physician placed the bottles and cloth on the table with a nod, before leading the soldier away as casually as possible. From across the room, the man of medicine tapped in another code on the pad at his desk, looking over as a sort of screen surrounded that particular bed and hid it from view.

Takamara glanced over to watch the doctor with a vague nod of approval as the `curtain' appeared, although they could still see out, its presence little more than an outline around the area. He turned his attention back to the youth on the bed, which he too had taken a seat on beside him. His body instinctively drew back slightly when he saw the teen so close, gazing at him in observation.

He hadn't ignored the other's looks when he had first seen him, but he hadn't been very keen on physical appearance other than the obvious to be able to recognize him. But, sitting so close and having the dark eyes locked on him stirred his curiosity of what else made up the young, obvious, Asian, besides the unnaturally blue tint to his captivating black eyes. He wasn't self-conscious either, allowing his eyes to roam along the ebony tattoo lines on the tanned skin of his forehead and over his eye, branching out twice into small curls, the main branch continuing down beneath a soft jaw. Long locks of deep crimson fell over his shoulders in waves, the tips ending in slight curls around mid-bicep.

It was apparent he was very young, mid-teens perhaps, slender and lithe … and very casual, uncaring, blasé. It was also apparent that his eyes showed every emotion his body language was trained not to. The blanket did little to cover the supple body, so delicate the boy looked with only his boxers on, ribs defined beneath flaxen skin, flexing with each little breath.

"What was your name again?" Takamara asked unmoved as his eyes continued their exploration.

"Seung, and you know it," the youth replied with a faint curve to his lips. A willowy hand lifted and abruptly lifted Takamara's head, his eyes being torn away from their musings concerning the other's lean legs, which he was sure had tightly weaved muscles hidden beneath the unquestioned smooth skin. "What region of Asia are you from?" Seung asked with a small tilt of his head.

"… Vietnam." The commander replied, and popped open the disinfectant bottle while snatching it from the table. He dabbed the cloth with it before applying it to the cuts on the teen's cheeks. He arched an eyebrow at the hiss of pain the action drew from Seung. It wasn't often that he saw someone flinch just from the little bubbling of the antiseptic. "… And yourself?" he asked in return, pulling the blood stained cloth away to lightly blow on the dampened skin.

Seung's grateful smile erased the creased grimace of his features as the hot pain ebbed with tingling cool air, his eyes closing. "What was once South Korea… although I remember very little of it."

They remained silent as the Vietnamese man opened the other bottle and gently applied a cream to the insignificant wounds. The cuts would close and heal in very little time. Naturally, a question formed in his mind.

"Is that your lover of sorts?" He was never one to judge relationships as long as he wasn't involved, but…

"Claude?" Seung laughed and shook his head, "Not likely- No, let me rephrase that: Hell no! He's my little minion body guard while I'm out here in space for my `vacation'."

"That doesn't explain why he hit you."

The Korean blinked in surprise and watched the young man a moment. "What makes you think that?"

"I know he did. The impact of his rings pierced your cheek. It's not common for programmed androids to strike their masters." Takamara casually cleaned the blood from the other's jaw, mentally smirking to himself as he continued to study the boy.

Seung was in deep shit. Or, rather, he and Claude were if the ship's captain could so easily pick away at their guise and use the obvious expertise he possessed to dissect their brains and decipher their plans. The wheels in his mind turned quickly to cover up for the stupid robot's mistake.

"I'm not really his master," it wasn't a lie, at least. Lies, something he was sure Takamara would pick up on and sense considering the way his steel cool gaze was piercing into him, "That's why it's not really a vacation. My master sent him with me to make sure I wasn't pulling any stunts for freedom, or some ignorant reason like that. He `keeps me in line', supposedly." Seung's eyes rolled sarcastically.

"That's even more interesting, that your said master seems so protective and possessive of you, although he allows you, a slave, to go on vacation… without him?" Takamara arched an eyebrow again, sapphire eyes wary once more as he set aside the cloth and bottles.

"What can I say?" Seung asked, sighing to himself as if displeased, "He's a busy man, and he can't drag me along everywhere he goes." Actually, he was relieved he wasn't stuck with the man at all times. These little missions, even if they were with Claude, were nice ways to take some time off from being a pet.

The commander made a guttural noise and glanced over the other Asian, regarding him silently. He was confused as to what to think of the boy; whether to continue to pry and reveal what deception he might hide, or leave it at that and no longer worry about him during the trip back to the nearest porting station. Either way, he'd be glad once the two survivors were off his ship. He didn't take kindly to strangers, as they tweaked his defensive barriers and caused tension among the crew of the ship. He knew off the bat that Seung was going to be a little more than a handful, as well.

"I have duties to attend to, so I trust your previous caretaker will escort you to your room. There should be spare clothes there and a bathroom joining you and your friend's sleeping areas." He stood from the bed and paused when the Korean started to object.

"But," Seung straightened on his leaning position on the bed, having inched closer to the man. His lips parted to begin to form words, and, amazingly, he momentarily couldn't think of anything to say; anything to give the man reason to stay with him, anyway to ease through the commander's emotionless demeanor. And then he started faintly while glancing around, "Won't you take me on a tour of your ship? She's lovely."

Takamara exhaled slowly in a faint sigh. He didn't have time for it; he didn't have time for anything other than keeping the ship in tip-top condition. There wasn't a reason in his mind why he would take Seung on a `tour'. His ship, his crew, his rules. Besides, the adolescent was going to be leaving in a week; it wasn't like he was a little kid and needed his hand to be held all the damned time. His annoyance peaked suddenly, and he was about to retort negatively before he was mildly thrown off guard.

"Please?"

No, it wasn't just the word, which was used in every day language all over the world, and throughout the galaxy for that matter… It was the pleading tone hidden beneath. It was the secret meaning waiting to be unlocked. Serene, yet anxious. There was something about the youth that was alluring, just waiting for him to unlock his darkest secrets, as he might have guessed the Korean wished to do to him in return. And at that moment, there seemed to be something familiar and similar that passed between them undetected, slipping beneath their defenses with a ghostly chill.

Seung shivered and lifted the blanket to pull around himself, a slow, honest, smile appearing on his lips as they kept gazing at each other silently. It seemed to be what shook the Vietnamese out of his thoughts. He was very pleased with what the man said.

"Have him bring you to the upper deck after lunch, we'll talk." With that, he turned on his heal and walked silently, with a natural air of dignity and pride in his stride.