Sorcerer Hunters Fan Fiction ❯ Perpetual Thoughts ❯ Morning Speculations ( Chapter 16 )

It had been a while, Gateau mused to himself.

 

The morning had been a nice, easy one so far. He'd woken up, he'd taken a shower, he'd had a nice chat with Eclair before she'd decided to go off and ask the Misu sisters if they were up for a bout of shopping... it'd been when she'd mentioned that, that Gateau's own thought sparked.

 

Eclair always went off with Tira and Chocolat to go shopping. However, while Gateau had quite regularly gone down to Facade with Marron for a while there... it'd been a while since they'd done anything like that. Of course, in the meantime there had been awkward moments and unpleasant situations, and sometimes Marron seemed to glean a perverse sort of joy from needling Gateau, but... Gateau's current state of mind, he could forgive that, just for today. He and Marron had had a rocky past, okay; the past was the past, why not lay that aside for a while and go out and have lunch, or something? It was a nice day, there wasn't anything else to do, surely Marron could also realise it was a nice day and just accept for the sake of accepting? If he was being treated, hopefully Marron would lose the urge to be bitter...

 

So, yes. Gateau was throwing a few poses in the mirror before he left the room, smiling appreciatively at himself. The way the sun shined in through the window only seemed to accentuate his fabulous body, didn't it? Oh yeah. He threw another pose. Maybe Marron'd be impressed today? Another one. Well, he hadn't been impressed many times in the past, but... there was always a first time. It was too hot for the leather jacket, so Gateau was only wearing his undershirt... that was impressive too, wasn't it? You could quite see the more subtle ripples of his muscles like that, see more of the shoulder, the upper arm... another pose, this time highlighting those features. Maybe Marron wasn't one to quite appreciate physical beauty like that, but if so, his loss.

 

What would the plan for the day be, then... first, find Marron, obviously. Then they'd go down to Facade... also obviously, they'd find somewhere to eat. Where to eat, though... a cafe? Somewhere cosy? Somewhere nice? A restaurant? Somewhere a bit flashy? That'd really depend on Marron's personal preference (though usually he didn't seem to have one). Or maybe it'd be a better idea to seem organized, 'I thought I'd take you to this place because I thought you'd like it', and then show some intuition as to Marron's personal tastes, too...

 

That said, Gateau still wasn't quite sure of Marron's personal tastes. Maybe he'd fancy a restaurant? Maybe he'd be in the mood for a cafe or something? Gateau didn't know. Mmm... maybe he'd have to make it up as he went along, be attentive to Marron's gaze, see what kind of place caught his eye.

 

It didn't really matter where they went, after all... just as long as they went somewhere, somewhere they could relax and chat and other such things... on such a lovely day, in such a jovial mood, Gateau was almost able to forget all the things that Marron had done to him. Well, maybe it wasn't exactly that, it was hard to forget those things at all, but... in his current mood, Gateau felt a lot happier about forgiving if not forgetting. So they'd asked too much of each other, shrug, move on. Marron could be a reasonable person when he wanted to be, surely he saw the advantages in remaining friendly...

 

It wasn't as if Marron had been exactly unfriendly recently... just a bit distant, like he'd always used to be. He'd talk, but he wouldn't exactly make conversation. He'd listen, but was he really listening? Gateau was never sure, and he was never quite sure if Marron was interested in the things he was talking about anyway. Marron wasn't impolite so he'd smile and nod, but he'd never say much himself, and Gateau'd often feel like he was interrupting things... perhaps it was time to be a bit more social and bring Marron back out of his shell a little more. Forget the kissing and the sex and the all of that stuff, it was nice but it wasn't strictly needed. If Marron only wanted to be friendly, fine, Gateau could do friendly.

 

Gateau left his bedroom in relatively high spirits. Yes, today would be good. He'd go somewhere nice, he'd go somewhere with Marron, he'd think of all sorts of things to talk about, and if he couldn't, he'd just ask Marron what he wanted to talk about. It wasn't as if there weren't plenty of things to talk about... and then, sometimes it was good to be spontaneous. Gateau stretched happily, looking down the sunlit corridor.

 

"Ah-aah! I feel really good about today!!"

 

There wasn't anybody to hear him, but Gateau hadn't specifically been talking for anybody to listen in the first place. After all, if you couldn't talk to yourself in the corridor of your own home, where could you talk to yourself?

 

Making his way down the corridor, Gateau suddenly wondered something. Where would Marron be... the sunshine was evident and the day was making out to be bright and sunny... so it was already far enough along in the day to tell such things. It was common knowledge that Marron usually woke up early in the day, whether it was for magic research (or practice), or for his meditation... if he was still asleep, he'd be in his and Carrot's bedroom. If he was meditating, he'd be in that little room at the end of the corridor. If he were practicing magic, he'd probably be outside in the gardens. It was just a matter of where to look first...

 

Well, he was standing next to a window, he could see outside; the gardens were looking lovely and vibrant, but they didn't seem to have Marron anywhere on them, not from where Gateau could see. It was more likely for Marron to be meditating, but he'd be walking past the Glacé bedroom on the way to that room, so... it wouldn't do any damage to check in there, Carrot would probably still be in there whether he was sleeping or resting; either way, he might know Marron's whereabouts. So Gateau decided to go there first.

 

Gateau knocked on the door to let whoever was in there know that he was about to come in; he was just opening the door, when he heard a cry from inside.

 

"GYAAAA!!"

 

Carrot's yell. Gateau shut the door quickly, perhaps he'd caught Carrot getting dressed, or something. He called from the other side of the door, "Carrot, you okay in there?"

 

"AH-... ah? Gateau! Gateau, it's you?"

 

"Well, I'm not Chocolat, am I?"

 

"Thank god... come in, please, come in..."

 

Gateau frowned. Carrot seemed awfully eager for so early in the morning, but... it was understandable for Carrot to be relieved that Gateau wasn't Chocolat, if nothing else. Gateau opened the door and walked into the room.

 

"God, I'm so glad it was you... I mean... I was sitting here worried in case Tira or Chocolat came in, 'cause ya know, what the hell would I say to either of them!?"

 

Currently, Carrot was naked. Naked and tied to the bed by his wrists and his legs, both quite capably bound to the bed by, what seemed to be, some of Marron's robecords. Gateau frowned, just staring at Carrot, motive for entering the room completely forgotten for the time being. So Carrot was naked and tied to a bed and happy for Gateau being there. What exactly did that imply?

 

"Carrot... Carrot, what the hell?!"

 

"Look, Gateau, listen, there's a perfectly good explanation for this!"

 

"Yeah, but do I want to hear it, that's the thing..."

 

Gateau's suspicion was immediately roused. A quick glance to the side confirmed that Marron wasn't in the room, but... for Carrot to be tied to his bed with items of Marron's clothing? Had Marron tried something weird on Carrot...? Part of Gateau figured he wouldn't be surprised if Marron had. Given how he got sometimes... Carrot was fair game, wasn't he? Marron might as well have gone after Carrot than anybody else in Eden, but... also, wouldn't Marron be more determined to cover his tracks? He wouldn't leave Carrot tied up then leave the room for anybody to see him, surely? Unless he'd just gone for a moment and was going to be back soon... Gateau was confused.

 

"Okay, I give. Carrot, what is going on?"

 

"Uhh... it's kinda embarrassing... could you at least untie me? I've been like this all night, he... he didn't untie me afterward..."

 

Still confused, Gateau sighed and set about undoing Carrot. First his legs were freed, then he moved up for his arms... Carrot let out a sound of relief at being freed from his bonds, stretching his limbs then rubbing at his wrists and ankles; faint marks still remained on them, sturdy and careful as the robe cords had been against him. Once free, Carrot sat up, pulling his knees to his chest and looking up at Gateau.

 

"... uh..."

 

Gateau was just staring at Carrot.

 

"I'm willing to listen if you're willing to tell me."

 

"Um... I... that is..."

 

Conquering his need to hesitate, Carrot looked Gateau in the eye and spoke quickly.

 

"Last night Milphey came in here and he tied me down and there was oral sex, okay?"

 

Gateau blinked. Milphey? That... wasn't really surprising, though Gateau felt slightly caught-out, then foolish for presuming in the first place. He'd been so expecting it to be something of Marron's working, but... dammit, they were brothers, probably even Marron had a line he wouldn't cross. What did it say about Gateau that he immediately jumped to such conclusions... he shook his head slightly as if to get rid of the thoughts, and sat on the bed as Carrot got off from it in order to find clothes.

 

"Milphey, huh?"

 

"Yeah..."

 

"Well... that's something he'd do, I guess."

 

"You think?"

 

Gateau idly stared at the wall opposite him as he heard the shuffling of Carrot getting dressed.

 

"Well, he likes you, doesn't he?"

 

A moment of frustration as Carrot tried to pull his trousers on, nearly lost balance, then gained it again.

 

"Uh... well, yeah... I mean... it's just weird though, you know? I mean... oral sex, yay, but... Milphey's a guy! I... I mean... I knew he always liked me and stuff, but... didn't think... I... I didn't think he was the kind to really... you know, do anything, you know?"

 

Gateau smiled to himself at Carrot being so flustered. Idiot as he was, didn't he realise just to be happy to get random spontaneous oral sex? So it was from a man. So what? From Gateau's point of view, there didn't seem to be anything to complain about from that aspect.

 

Admittedly, it did seem slightly strange that Milphey would suddenly pull a stunt like that. Not surprising, it did seem like the kind of thing he'd do, tricky as he could be, but... that was the thing. He always seemed to like teasing Carrot, glomping him, saying suggestive things... Gateau could relate to that, since the way Milphey acted with Carrot half the time reminded himself of how he acted in front of Marron... but the very phrasing of that gave it away. The way they acted... it was an act, it was a game, it was something they did - or at least something Gateau did, he couldn't speak on Milphey's behalf - to get a reaction from their chosen victim, any kind of reaction... even a bad reaction from Marron was telling, after all. As far as Milphey went, though... it seemed like he'd been playing with Carrot for as long as they'd known him, but suddenly, oral sex? That seemed a pretty big jump, from 'mild flirtation' to 'I'm going to tie you down and suck you off'...

 

Gateau just smirked in Carrot's direction, "You get oral sex then you complain about it? Didn't think that was like you, Carrot..."

 

"Yeah, but it was from a guy! I... I don't know, it's just weird..."

 

"What, and there's so much of a difference between a guy's mouth and a girl's mouth? Would you rather the Misu sisters came in during the night and did the same thing? 'Cause it sure sounds like something they'd do just as much as anybody else..."

 

Carrot shuddered, "Don't even say that, Gateau... ugh. That's too scary... I mean, it... okay, it was good, but like... apart from the fact that it was Milphey... he... he did it while Marron was sleeping right there, you know? I... it was too weird. What if he'd woken up, or something?! Milphey said about how he gave Marron some sleeping herb thing the night before so he wouldn't, but... it... even if he wasn't gonna wake up, it still didn't stop me being worried that he might, y'know? What would I say to him? You know what he gets like... I do too, but... I still don't know how he would have reacted to finding me getting oral sex right in the bed next to him..."

 

Memories of Euran Island were still vivid and Carrot could still recall exactly the expressions on Marron's face back then... Marron's face when he'd first arrived in the glade and seen the scene there... even more so, Marron's expression afterward, that kind of haunted, disappointed look... even if the demons had eaten him Carrot wasn't sure that could have felt so bad as he had at seeing Marron's expression there. It'd been a stupid and dangerous thing to do, and Marron's expression had spoken that entirely... then he'd been so angry afterward. The event stood out in Carrot's mind, he and Marron rarely argued, as in an actual argument... that situation was different to this one, but even so...

 

"... he probably wouldn't speak to me for a month..."

 

Unable to help himself, Gateau gazed across at Carrot with a meaningful look in his eyes, "And why would it bother Marron so much that you were getting oral sex in the first place?"

 

"Gateau, don't start, it's too early in the morning to be thinking weird things."

 

Of course, Carrot knew exactly what Gateau was implying. Ignoring that, he continued on.

 

"He'd be pissed off that his personal space was being disturbed, anyway. Like if you woke up and found, well, I don't know, but if you found someone having sex with Eclair three feet away from where you were sleeping, wouldn't you be just a bit freaked out?"

 

"Yeah, I get you, I get you..." It wasn't really something Gateau liked to think about, but he could see how it applied to the situation.

 

Fully dressed now, Carrot went and sat over on Marron's bed, bouncing slightly and smiling over at Gateau.

 

"Thanks for untying me, anyway. I dunno where Marron's gone, but... he obviously wasn't around to notice me being tied up, which is weird, but... yeah. I'm glad it was you and not Tira or Chocolat, I really wouldn't have been able to explain it to them, they woulda had my ass for sure..."

 

"So Marron's not here, then?"

 

"Mm? Does it look like it?"

 

"Guess not..."

 

Gateau sighed.

 

"Came here to find him... thought it was a nice day, maybe he'd want to go down to the city or something, grab a bite to eat... thought you might know where he was, but I guess you don't, do you?"

 

Carrot shook his head, "No, sorry... it's weird though. Even if he'd woken up early he woulda seen me and been like 'oh my god, niisan's tied to his bed for some reason, I should wake him up and find out what the hell happened'... even if he woke up late I'm sure he would have noticed, it's not like it's hard to notice something like that, is it?"

 

"I woulda assumed he was off meditating, myself... isn't that what he usually does in the morning?"

 

"Yeah... we should go look for him. Maybe... maybe he did notice what Milphey did last night... maybe he's pissed off with me. I wanna find him so I can at least apologize to him, if he did hear or see anything weird... then you can ask if he wants to go out, right?"

 

A nod between the two confirmed the agreement, they wordlessly went out into the corridor. Carrot shut the door behind him as Gateau walked off in the direction of the little room Marron always used... Carrot followed behind at a distance, then watching as Gateau knocked on the door. He waited for a few moments, Carrot caught up with him. They spoke in hushed voices.

 

"Any sign?"

 

"Doesn't seem to be... though he might be involved in something deep, you never know with him."

 

"Well, just open the door quietly and check, if you don't make any noise then it won't matter."

 

Gateau wasn't entirely sure of that, there was usually more to consider than just noise when it came to being wary of disturbing Marron; noise was a factor, but Marron might have set up magical fields, ofuda-controlled atmospheres, other similar things. Could he be sure that even by moving the door he wasn't disturbing the air inside? If so, that couldn't be helped. Gateau opened the door as carefully as he could manage, peering into the room as he did so.

 

The chink of the room that was visible didn't reveal much, and Gateau was aware of Carrot pressing behind him, trying to peer into the room too. He opened the door a little wider... the door was open enough to see the rest of the room, unless Marron was hiding against the wall behind the door, then he wasn't in the room. Mi-chan, however, had been shut in the room, he gave a miow to see people, and ran over to Carrot for attention. Carrot laughed and picked him up.

 

"Hey there, little guy! You were shut in, were you? Aww... who shut you in? Was it Mawwon? Was he a meeean and naaasty owner? Tell uncle Carrot all about it. Miaa-uu! Miaaa-u!"

 

Gateau watched Carrot and Mi-chan, amused. Then he realised... usually Marron let Mi-chan out in the morning, to coincide when he went in for his meditation; if Mi-chan was still in the room now, then that meant that Marron hadn't been in there at all this morning? That seemed strange.

 

"Hey, Carrot... Mi-chan hasn't been let out this morning, has he?"

 

"How should I know?"

 

"Well, we open the door and he's still in there, he goes running to you like you're the last saviour of feline-kind..."

 

"He might just be hungry... here, look, his food dish is empty."

 

Carrot plucked up the blue bowl and held it; he was watched intently by the cat. This just confirmed Gateau's thoughts, however.

 

"So Marron hasn't even been in here, then?"

 

"Uh?"

 

Gateau sighed impatiently, "If Marron had been in here he would have noticed that the cat had run out of food and gone to get it some more, wouldn't he? He wouldn't just let him starve, and even if he would, Mi-chan wouldn't let him rest and do his meditation like that... he'd keep trying to get Marron's attention and disturbing him until he got food. So either Marron fed him and Mi-chan's suddenly got ravenous, or Marron just hasn't been in here this morning..."

 

"I see... that's true, that's true. That's weird, I wonder where he is, then? If he wakes up early it's usually only to go and meditate, unless he's gone out to do some magic practice, or something... strange."

 

Despite the apparent strangeness of the situation, Carrot didn't sound particularly concerned. Gateau frowned, "I had a look out of the windows when I was walking along earlier and I didn't see him outside at all... he could be somewhere else, though."

 

"Mmm, maybe he went off to get some breakfast. Maybe he's doing some cooking. You know how he gets when he's cooking... still, it's a bit early in the morning for that, isn't it? Here," Carrot handed Gateau the blue food dish, "Could you fill this up for me and put it back in here? I'll take Mi-chan down and let him out for a bit, I'll see if Marron's anywhere doing stuff downstairs at the same time. The food's in that bag in my bedroom, next to the door?"

 

"Ah, yeah. Sure, I'll do that."

 

"Thanks."

 

Carrot picked up the cat and made his way out of the room. Gateau heard him walk off down the corridor... he sighed again, walking across the room and looking out of the window. You could see quite a lot of Eden's gardens from those windows, and from what Gateau could see, Marron didn't seem to be anywhere around... of course, it was also possible what Carrot had suggested, that Marron was getting something for breakfast or doing some cooking... but it was also strange that he hadn't noticed that Carrot had been tied up in their own bedroom for most of the night.

 

Heading back to the Glacé bedroom, Gateau mulled the matter over in his mind. So Marron hadn't been to his little room for meditation, he hadn't even let the cat out or checked on him... that was strange, as heartless as Marron could seem sometimes he wouldn't unleash any bitter feelings on an innocent animal, would he? So he hadn't been around to check on the animal, that was strange. He hadn't even noticed Carrot's predicament, and presumably Milphey had leapt on him the night previous...

 

The thought occurred, maybe Marron hadn't even been in his and Carrot's bedroom last night?

 

That was something else to consider, but... if Marron hadn't even been in his own bedroom last night, where had he been? Where was he now?

 

Gateau had reached the bedroom. He opened the door and found the bag; he knelt down, put the dish on the floor, and poured some of the catfood onto the plate. Once he figured he had enough he put the bag back next to the door and carried the full plate back to the smaller room. Putting it down on the floor, Gateau heard someone approaching along the corridor... he looked up, Carrot had returned.

 

"Hey."

 

"Yo... oh, you got the food, good. I let Mi-chan out, he dashed straight into the bushes... I waited for a bit, he didn't come out. I guess that's him busy for the day, right? The main door's open, he can come back when he feels like it."

 

"Yeah... any sign of Marron while you were down there?"

 

"I checked the kitchens... that dude with the glasses was there making something, but Marron wasn't there, and he hadn't seen him and he said he'd been in the kitchen for an hour or so... so like... where the hell is he? Um... wait a moment..."

 

Carrot went over to the desk at the side of the room. He flipped down the main cover, looking at the drawers and compartments on the inside... he looked around, seemed to see what it was he was checking for, sighed, then closed the main lid. He turned around and looked back at Gateau.

 

"Thought that maybe he ran out of ofuda parchment. I mean, even if he's still got enough left, he likes to make sure he has more than enough just in case of those emergencies... but, there's lots in the desk, so it's not like he was running out, at least, it doesn't seem like he was running out..."

 

Trailing off, the curiosity of the situation seemed to be weighing on Carrot just as much as it'd been doing on Gateau. The two of them stood there silently, enveloped in their own thoughts for a moment or two. Had Marron gone out to Facade on his own? It wasn't impossible, it wasn't as if he couldn't leave Eden for his own ends if he wished to, nobody was keeping him on a leash...

 

"Carrot, do you snore?"

 

"Huh?"

 

"It's just, sometimes I snore, and if Eclair can't sleep, it pisses her off. So sometimes she'll go off to sleep in one of the other bedrooms, 'cause it's quieter. Not that Eclair's especially a light sleeper or anything, but... I dunno, do you think he mighta gone off to another room for some reason? To sleep, I mean. Last night."

 

Carrot laughed humourlessly, "Only reasons he ever went out in the past were to go crawl into your bed... woulda thought you'd know where he was if he'da done that."

 

Gateau glared slightly, "There's no need to be like that about it... though, you think he got horny or something? Maybe he went off last night 'cause he needed to wank and didn't want to disturb you, or something."

 

"... Maybe..."

 

Carrot's voice was doubtful, Gateau had to admit to himself that that thought was flawed. Of course, Marron had had all that weird mania going on... would he settle for just his own hand? Maybe if he was desperate enough. No, if he was desperate enough he'd probably come crawling back and start acting all dominant on Gateau again... no... Gateau shook his head slightly, trying to rid himself of the thought. Nobody said that he was Marron's first port of call anymore. Given how Marron was, that was a good thing.

 

Wasn't it?

 

Trying to occupy his thoughts on something other than uncomfortable things, Gateau decided to talk rather than think.

 

"So, you got any more ideas as to where he might be?"

 

"I'm not my brother's keeper, Gateau. How the hell should I know? Could be anywhere."

 

"You're getting flustered, though..."

 

Carrot prickled at the note of amusement in Gateau's voice, "Yeah, well! It's just weird for Marron to not be around. I mean, you'd say yourself that he's pretty predictable in what he does in the morning and stuff, and you being curious got me curious too! Knowing him he'll randomly turn up at lunchtime having been doing something totally normal somewhere else in Eden and he'll be all 'oh hello niisan' and we'll be like 'where the hell were you' and he'll say something just totally normal and acceptable and we'll feel like idiots for being all 'oh man where is he' all this morning..."

 

Gateau raised his eyebrow, "Well, it's not like it's urgent we find him, or anything. I just wanted to take him out for lunch. At this rate we probably won't even find him until after lunch, so... I dunno, maybe I'll go out myself, wait and ask him tomorrow. No rush, or anything."

 

While he spoke, Gateau was already heading towards the door. Carrot watched him, then caught up the few paces between he and the door.

 

"Wait up. Maybe he did go to one of the other rooms? But, if he overslept..."

 

"Hnh, Marron barely ever oversleeps."

 

"So it's weird when he does, y'know? I mean, what if something happened?"

 

"Anything likely to happen?"

 

"Gateau, you know what I mean! Like... I dunno... like that time, remember, when he wouldn't wake up that time?"

 

"That was months ago, a-"

 

"Hm?"

 

"N-no, nothing."

 

Gateau remembered, just as he was about to speak, that he probably knew more on the subject than Carrot did. So Marron had told Gateau about how that night had been him getting on the defensive and everything, but maybe Carrot didn't know that. If he didn't, he didn't really need to... Gateau just shook his head and wrote it off as nothing. Carrot continued.

 

"Well, we don't know if anything's happened, do we? We should maybe check the other bedrooms. I mean, you never know where he's got to, do you? If he's done some weird passing-out sorta thing, I wanna know about it so we can do something about it."

 

"Fine, fine. Well, if you need me, I'll probably be out in the city for the next few hours."

 

With that, Gateau started walking away from Carrot. As he walked, he could hear Carrot behind him, checking along the doors of the corridor. A glance over his shoulder, Gateau saw that Carrot was peering through the keyholes of the different rooms. None of them seemed to hold any interest, not until Gateau heard the slight opening and closing of a door, then Carrot's harried whisper.

 

"Gateau!"

 

Gateau didn't see the point in whispering in return, not when they'd just been talking so easily previously.

 

"What is it?"

 

He looked over his shoulder again, he saw Carrot looking quite surprised, and beckoning him over with a waving hand. Curiosity piqued, Gateau retraced his steps back to the door Carrot stood in front of. Carrot held a finger to his lips to indicate silence, then pointed to the doorhandle. Obviously he wanted Gateau to see what was on the other side for himself... holding the door as he opened it to prevent any sudden loud sounds, Gateau opened the door slowly and quietly. Nothing could be as surprising as walking in to see Carrot naked and tied to a bed, could it?

 

They had, at least, learnt Marron's earthly position. He wasn't out in Facade, he wasn't somewhere else in Eden, it looked like he hadn't even woken up yet; he was curled up and sleeping on the bed in the room, and Milphey was curled around him, hugging him with quite the air of protection... both seemed sound asleep, and Gateau closed the door with a sharper slam than he'd hoped for.

 

Door closed, barrier set up between Marron (with Milphey) and the outside world once more, Gateau and Carrot just stared at each other. There seemed to be nothing to say and everything to say and nothing that could be said while standing in a corridor, in any case. Gateau couldn't help but feel an uncertain jump in his chest - that time ago, he'd been so angry when he'd thought that Marron had slept with Milphey. This could be just another one of those platonic things, but... just from the initial viewing, things didn't bode well. Though, it wasn't as if Marron was really any concern of his now, was it? Since Marron had said that they shouldn't tempt each other, they'd managed to keep mostly themselves to themselves...

 

No, but that was the thing. Marron had insisted that neither he not Gateau really try to tempt each other. Marron had specifically said he wouldn't be able to return Gateau's advances.

 

Why was he sleeping there with Milphey while wearing only a towel? What had happened?

 

Did he want to know what had happened?

 

Carrot was also feeling confusion, and a vague shifting sense of worry. It felt strange enough at all to see Milphey after what had happened last night, and even stranger to see him there with Marron... last night, Milphey had given he, Carrot, oral sex. So why was he there with Marron? What was going on?

 

The confusion shared between them, Gateau and Carrot hurried back to Carrot's bedroom to talk about and speculate on what it was they'd just seen.

 

****

 

The slamming of the door had alerted something within Milphey's subconscious. Not enough to tell him that somebody had been nearby, not quite enough to tell him that a door had opened and closed, but still some kind of sound that told his body that there was indeed a world outside of his world of darkness and sleeping. He moaned slightly, not really aware of it... he moved to stretch as he was apt to do, and was prevented by something - somebody - else. That woke him up. He was in bed with somebody. Opening his eyes, he saw a head of black hair leaning on his shoulder... ah, it was Marron.

 

Indeed. It was Marron.

 

Recalling the events of last night, reality and realization filtered back to Milphey's mind. Last night, he and Marron had had sex; Marron had quite effectively dominated him, yet... it seemed that Marron's problems were rooted in something quite separate from only personal preference. Almost like somebody had put a stopper over Marron's genitals or something, but... well, just what was it? Milphey didn't know.

 

He slowly disentangled himself from Marron, supposing that it was late, they'd both slept in, and that the fact that they'd been able to sleep in in the first place meant that there wasn't any harm in sleeping for a little longer. Marron let out a little whimper of his own on feeling the movement, but didn't quite wake up. Milphey figured he could allow Marron his sleep for a little longer.

 

So Milphey set about his usual little morning things. He supposed the sound of the shower must have eventually woken his younger charge, because the door to the bathroom opened (quite suddenly), and Marron was standing there. The relief in his eyes to see Milphey still there was far too apparent; Milphey stopped from where he'd been soaping his arms, and smiled at Marron.

 

"Good morning, Marron-chan. Did you sleep well?"

 

"Mi-Milphey, last night-..."

 

"We had sex, yes?"

 

"Y... yes... um..."

 

Milphey realised his place in the shower, "Oh! Maybe I should have waited for you to wake up... I'm sorry that you woke up and I wasn't there. Just, you were sleeping so quietly and so peacefully, I thought it'd be a shame to disturb you! I thought I could do my morning routine while you slept. I'm sorry."

 

"N-no, I mean... well... Milphey..."

 

Milphey's gaze was sympathetic, "You're confused, aren't you."

 

"I... the lust overpowered me, I... it's almost as if I couldn't think of anything but that, but... more than that, I... I couldn't even think... my body, it... it finally..."

 

"You didn't come, though..."

 

Marron leant against the wall opposite the shower, glancing away from Milphey.

 

"You should be as aware of that as anybody else."

 

With a metallic creak, Milphey turned the shower off, shaking water from his body before stepping out onto the floor, picking up the towel he'd set out for himself beforehand. Marron didn't speak while he dried himself off, either waiting for Milphey to finish or thinking things over, Milphey wasn't sure. He paused as he dried off his neck, looking at Marron with a sympathetic air.

 

"Marron-chan... I'm sorry. I... hadn't you said before you hadn't wanted to do that kind of thing with me?"

 

Marron looked up, still not saying anything.

 

"I... I should have stopped you. Shouldn't I...? You wanted so fiercely for Carrot to be the first, bu-"

 

"I don't know if that was ever the issue."

 

Milphey looked up on being interrupted, "Oh?"

 

"No... I... if it'd been purely about Carrot being... being the first, then... I wouldn't have chased Gateau so enthusiastically, would I?"

 

"I suppose not..."

 

Another silence as Milphey dried off his face and hair, then bringing the towel away and realising Marron probably was waiting for him to finish. He put the towel on a nearby rack and sighed, heading back over to the door, indicating for Marron to join him back in the other room. The two of them walked back through, Milphey sitting with a bounce on the bed, then joined by a more reserved Marron. Milphey sat on the pillows at the top of the bed, Marron sat with his legs hanging off the side... Milphey watched the back of Marron's head.

 

"So... if it wasn't about that... what is it about?"

 

Marron seemed to retreat further into himself as he slowly spoke, really thinking as he did so.

 

"It... it was first that I felt it was wrong, was it not...? I didn't want my useless feelings clouding my thoughts or vision... they were useless and I couldn't do anything with them, but also... it's as if... I didn't want anybody else doing anything with them either. I... when I attacked Gateau... that was something I wasn't even conscious of doing, or at least it didn't feel like it was... like... 'these are my feelings for my brother, stir them if you dare', or something..."

 

Marron lapsed into his thoughts. Milphey remained respectfully quiet.

 

"... I... then it... it really was like that, Milphey... I wanted to tempt Gateau into being uncontrollable... I wanted to be uncontrollable, I wanted him to tempt me into feeling that which I'd denied myself... I stopped myself feeling it, but if somebody else made me feel it then I wouldn't be able to help it, would I? I wanted to know I'd made him like that... I wanted to be powerless to stop him... but he wasn't like that, he's... he's too gentle, I suppose. That surprised me."

 

"And I suppose what happened last night was the opposite..."

 

"Mm?"

 

"I mean, it was me being powerless to you, wasn't it? I hope you don't mind me saying, but... you were good, Marron-chan. Ah, that's an understatement, but it's difficult to remember clearly... oh!"

 

Marron looked to Milphey, curious as to the cause of his sudden exclamation.

 

"Maybe I shouldn't call you 'Marron-chan' anymore?"

 

A frown, "What should you call me, then?"

 

"Well, you got angry last night. And, a sexual experience is a sexual experience, isn't it? Isn't there status attached to that?"

 

"Um..."

 

"I can drop it if you really want me to. Probably take a bit of getting used to, but I'm sure I can. Hm?"

 

"I... I don't really remember much of what I said last night. I wasn't really... I wasn't in a stable frame of mind. I'm sorry if I said anything unacceptable in my emotion... however, if you were to suddenly refer to me differently, wouldn't the others notice and come to strange conclusions?"

 

Milphey knocked at Marron's arm, "What, like we had sex or something? 'Cause you know, god forbid they think that. Like that'd ever happen."

 

The sarcasm was met by a steady glare from Marron. Milphey softened, "Alright, I suppose this is a just-between-us thing, isn't it..."

 

"What I do with myself is not the business of this building's population. I don't see why anybody else should know, and unless you wished for some kind of bragging rite, I don't see why you should either."

 

"Marron-chan's so terse... but no, I wouldn't have told anybody anyway, don't worry. I'll still call Marron-chan Marron-chan and nobody'll be any the wiser, okay? Okay."

 

There was the sound of somebody walking by outside. Both Milphey and Marron looked up, but the person walked past harmlessly, it sounded as if they were going towards the bedrooms. Could have been anybody, really. Suddenly thinking of something, Milphey looked back towards Marron.

 

"You have wet dreams, don't you?"

 

Marron glanced to the side for a second with a vague blush, "O-on occasion..."

 

It seemed as if this proved something to Milphey. He nodded to himself, "So it's not as if your body is entirely incapable, is it? When left on it's own, your body still knows what it's supposed to be doing... but last night it got so painful, and then earlier you were talking about how you didn't want anybody to do anything with your feelings..."

 

It sounded as if Milphey had a plan, but whatever that plan was, he didn't elaborate any further. Instead he patted Marron on the arm again, "Well... anyway, don't beat yourself up because you had sex with me and it didn't work. Who, outside of those bad romance novels Chocolat always reads, has an absolutely perfect thing going on when they first have sex?"

 

"I, I wouldn't know..."

 

"Exactly. It takes a while to figure out where everything goes and what stuff does and everything. If you were a woman, there's actually a pretty good chance you wouldn't have had an orgasm! Still, women are complicated, nevermind them."

 

Despite Milphey's easygoing air of conversation, Marron's expression seemed to fall somewhat.

 

"So, then... ah..."

 

"Mm?"

 

"You... did you... enjoy it?"

 

Milphey silently berated himself. Perhaps he could have chosen his words just a little better with his insecure post-virginal lover. He shifted up on the bed, in a kneel now; he leant forward and wrapped his arms around Marron, hugging him tightly. Then he pulled Marron back down onto the bed with him, Marron quite capably bound by the constriction of Milphey's arms.

 

"Of course I did! Marron-chan was all powerful and dominating, it was sexy! Why, if I think about it too much I might just get hard again. I'm not sure if 'enjoy' is the right word, it was more... more passionate and delirious than just 'fun', but... on the same count, it wasn't my first time. The question is more what you felt, and that... that's..."

 

His hug was a little tighter.

 

"Marron-chan wasn't quite in the right state of mind for enjoying things."

 

A small laugh, "I've had worse sex, anyway."

 

Marron's voice was even, "So you've also had better sex?"

 

Milphey squeezed Marron tightly and rocked him from side to side, "I've had lots of sex, leave me alone!"

 

Marron didn't say anything after that, for a moment Milphey was worried he'd offended the young mage.

 

"I mean... I'm not trying to brag, or anything..."

 

"Oh, no, no, I wasn't thinking that... I was just thinking, you manage to keep your affairs silent, don't you?"

 

Though Marron couldn't see it, the look on Milphey's face was quite indignant, "I don't try to break up marriages, Marron-chan."

 

Marron frowned, wondering if that was a brief glimpse of Too Much Information. Nevermind that; he shook his head slightly and went back to his previous line of thought.

 

"I mean... if you really are somebody who's had frequent lovers... you manage to keep it to yourself, don't you? I've never seen you with anybody outside of the people who live here, I've never seen you bring anybody back, never heard anything... and it's also not something you'd really tell people, is it?"

 

Milphey blushed, "Well, you say 'frequent'... how long have you been a Sorcerer Hunter?"

 

"Hm? Hm, I'm not exactly sure... it's been a matter of years, I know that much..."

 

"Well, in comparison to some other things, it's not been a long time, has it? I certainly haven't had any bedfriends back to Eden for a good decade or so, so it's not really surprising Marron-chan hasn't seen me with anybody around here!"

 

Again Marron was idly pricked by the curiosity of Milphey's age, but he didn't mention it.

 

"Ah, I suppose you wouldn't have to come back to Eden with somebody, would you. After all, there is a whole world of life outside the walls of this building!"

 

Milphey's voice was indignant again, "Maybe I just haven't got laid in a while."

 

That tone of voice reminded Marron of just what line of conversation they were following; it wasn't as if he really talked about such things often, he supposed that for a moment he'd forgotten his place. There were some things people just weren't comfortable with talking about, and some things that were better kept private. From the looks of things, Marron felt he probably didn't really want to know much about Milphey's sexual escapades, though... it did seem that, if there were anything Marron wished to ask about that sort of thing, Milphey would probably have some kind of answer. However, asking for advice such as that was probably better kept limited.

 

Relaxing his hold around Marron for a moment, Milphey stretched happily.

 

"Mmmmmmmn! Feels good. Still, anyway, Marron-chan doesn't have to worry about things like that. It doesn't really matter how many lovers you have, or what kind of sex you have... it's more the feelings, don't you think? Even if you've had sex a zillion times across the entire Continent, meet that spe~cial person and it's going to be different, isn't it? Different things happen with different people. And thinking of which, Marron-chan was so overpowering last night! I quite wish you had come, surely I should be the one wondering if I was good or not?"

 

"Ah-..."

 

"Don't worry, I'm not accusing you of anything. Though, I'm just curious. Quite what did Marron-chan feel? You weren't too vocal, but I can't blame you for that."

 

"I... what I felt...? I... I can't really remember..."

 

"Well, if you can't remember, that's alright too. Still... hmn, I can't help but wonder if we perhaps should have gone at it again. Alright, so you were hurting-... well, I couldn't really let you carry on in that much pain, you were shaking even, but... for a moment, do you think you ever did think you'd be able to come?"

 

"I... I didn't really think about that..."

 

Milphey reached up to prod Marron's nose, "See, perhaps that's where the problem is. You say you can't come, you're having problems with it and everything, but if you're sitting there going 'I can't, I can't'... oh, what's that saying... 'whether you say you can or whether you say you can't, you're right'. If you believe you can, then surely you can. If you believe you can't, then surely that's true as well."

 

"... I don't know how I could convince myself that I could, though..."

 

"Well, you have wet dreams, you just said you did, so surely something inside Marron-chan's still working right. Maybe it's like exercise? Like, if you ran a mile every day. You'd get fitter and fitter and the mile would become easier to run, wouldn't it? Then you stop for a month or two and just sit around in the mornings instead. If you then tried to run a mile again it'd be suddenly difficult again, wouldn't it?"

 

"So you're saying... perhaps I should ease myself back into it..."

 

"Exactly! You're very perceptive, Marron-chan. I can see the logic in 'maybe if I jump right in and have sex something'll happen', but maybe that was the very opposite of what you should have been trying to do. Maybe if you just, well, you know..."

 

Milphey pulled away from Marron and moved into a cross-legged sitting position. He nudged at Marron's shoulder, nodding to indicate that Marron should do the same.

 

"Maybe if you're just a little easier about things. Né, tell me. In the long-distant past, back when you did used to touch that thing between your legs, what was it like?"

 

Marron was in the same position as Milphey now, the towel from last night still clinging over his lap. He held at his ankles with his hands, and moved his gaze away from Milphey as he considered the question.

 

"What... was it like? Well, that is... I can't... it's not easy to remember... even the feelings of last night are hard to recall, so-"

 

"No no no. I don't mean 'how did it feel' or anything... I mean, in what sort of situations would Marron-chan do it? When? Where? That sort of thing. Did you take your time with it, did you hurry it, did you only use your hand or were there other things...? Things like that."

 

"Oh, well..."

 

Marron fell silent as he tried to recall that far back.

 

"... to be honest, back when I did... it wasn't exactly frequent, not even then. It was more... if I could, then I would. If I couldn't, I'd sleep it off, mostly. I... ofte-... well, not so much often, but at least sometimes, on missions... if we were in a forest or somewhere it usually wasn't difficult to find somewhere private to go once everybody was sleeping. That was always a bit... I was always a little worried in case somebody caught me, or even worse, if somebody was watching me without my knowing. I... would watch my brother in that fashion, but the thoughts of somebody watching me as I watched my brother..."

 

"Somebody like Gateau-chan?"

 

Marron didn't reply to that question, but his brief hesitation spoke that yes, Gateau had been the one Marron had been concerned about during those times. Marron carried on.

 

"... Privacy was more important than anything else. More often it'd be in the bedroom, but while private, there would always be one other person in there... it'd always be at night, after he'd fallen asleep. I never wanted him to hear me or catch me... I'd always say his title on climax. Always. I didn't want him to question me for that... so-sometimes I'd go to the bathroom instead, but that wasn't... I preferred it when I was in my bed. Even if I locked the bathroom door, it still didn't feel as secure as being in bed with my blankets around me..."

 

Milphey nodded, "I see... and did you take your time about it?"

 

"I... I'd try to, but taking my time always seemed at odds with my fears of being caught... I don't know why. Most of the time it'd only be niisan who would be at any risk of that... I caught him enough times. Though, I wonder if he ever felt what I felt when he caught me, when I caught him..."

 

"And that was?"

 

Wrapping his arms around his knees, Marron had tucked himself into a little crouch as he spoke. He couldn't bring himself to meet Milphey's line of sight and he hadn't done so for most of the conversation, but Milphey supposed that if it was awkward, he couldn't force him. It was enough to get Marron talking like this at all, even if his constant hesitation was quite apparent. Marron closed his eyes before speaking again, his fingers tightly latticed together; almost as if he was reliving just the sort of feelings he'd feel if and when Carrot caught him... he opened his eyes again, his expression heavy.

 

"... Ashamed. Terrible, terrible shame."

 

Expression flickering with sympathy, Milphey reached over and stroked Marron's cheek.

 

"Why would Marron-chan be ashamed? Did Carrot-chan ever react badly to you, even once?"

 

Marron shook his head, "He'd... he'd be embarrassed of course, usually he'd laugh it off. Say that he had something else to do and that he'd leave me to it."

 

"So... why feel shamed?"

 

Marron's expression seemed to fall further, "It... I always did it for his sake. Always with my thoughts of him. To be suddenly confronted by him, having had disturbed him... every time I'd panic, 'what if he heard me?'... 'how long has he been listening?'... 'did he hear me saying his name?'... if any of those... if he had... if he had, then he never ever made me aware of it. To this day it's possible he's heard me during any number of occasions, but has always been protecting me from the embarrassment..."

 

Milphey felt sure that, had Carrot heard Marron saying his name at any point like that, he would have told Milphey about it. That would likely be another factor to confuse the boy, at any rate... but Carrot hadn't mentioned anything like that, and so Marron was likely safe in that respect. Milphey remained silent as Marron did so too, gathering his thoughts for a moment.

 

"... Also, I..."

 

"Mm?"

 

"It's... it sounds stupid to say perhaps, but... I-... I felt guilty for disrespecting him."

 

"Disrespecting him?"

 

"I-indeed... the Carrot of my thoughts and dreams... so far removed from the niisan who I actually knew. Many of the things he did in my fantasies... the words he spoke, the movements he made, the positions he forced me into... the things he did, the things he used... my brother is kind, Milphey. He wouldn't do things like that. Then he'd catch me, and the displacement of the wicked Carrot of my mind to the confused and embarrassed niisan in front of me... I couldn't feel anything else. In my mind he would tell me that he wanted me to be shamed, that he wanted me to feel degenerate... that shame was delicious and would make me shudder."

 

Milphey's ears pricked on the way Marron spoke that last word; it seemed that, the further Marron spoke, the more introspective he got... he was staring at a section of the bed slightly left from Milphey's knee, but seemed so focused in his thoughts, in his words. There was a slight darkness to the way he spoke, and indeed, Milphey could quite believe that Carrot's words, even imagined, even in a dream, would have fantastic effects on Marron-chan's body.

 

Marron looked up, but he didn't look directly at Milphey. He shook his head, then looked down again.

 

"Fantasy and reality are different in that way. Knowing that my brother had caught me... knowing that my brother had seen me doing something so private, something only for him yet he couldn't know that... he always praises me for being so calm and in control. If he only knew... if he really knew the uncontrollable layers to my person... if he knew what controlled me, he-... he wouldn't be so lavish with his praise... but him having seen me at even a fraction of the passion which licked through my body... the very opposite of what he praised me for... and he'd say I was gentle and selfless, too. Say I always did things for other people, that I always did things for him... and yes, that would be for him too. It'd be for him, but... for my benefit... pleasuring myself... pleasuring me, my body..."

 

As he spoke, Marron brought his hands up slightly, gazing down at them as if disbelieving.

 

"... these hands... these hands I would imagine as his, would take me to such a loss of... loss of control? Just... a loss of everything I would otherwise present myself to be... the difference between him and my corrupted thoughts of my brother's actions... using him in my thoughts for my own ends... using him, Milphey! I would protect him with my life and give anything for him, yet I skew his personality so in my dreams, and then that is what I yearn for! How can I... how can I even justify anything that I do when the figure in the deepest point of my intense fantasies is... is a lie... a false idol...?!"

 

At that point Marron did look at Milphey, desperate and searching, wanting an answer, any kind of answer that he knew Milphey couldn't grant him... his breathing was quick all of a sudden, his emotions had quite moved him. Milphey also; he felt frustrated for hearing Marron's words, for listening to him and wondering to just what lengths this boy would go to to deny himself pleasure, but... if it was frustrating to him just to hear the words, then how much so did it have to be for Marron himself to be actually feeling them...

 

He shook his head, feeling painfully aware to Marron's hopeless expression. His voice was as gentle as he could make it, just wishing that Marron would give himself a break already...

 

"Marron-chan... nobody ever said that feeling pleasure was a bad thing, you know? Surely... surely it's better when it's just in your mind? Okay, so there's a huge separation between the Carrot in your mind and the Carrot off out there somewhere," Milphey indicated to the door with a finger, "You're the only person to know how you think, aren't you? So, in your mind... anything can happen. You have control over it, and nobody else has to know. Again with the sayings, but... whatever turns you on, right...?"

 

Marron nodded, "I do see what you're saying, Milphey... but... you said it yourself, it's more about the thoughts and the feelings... I- nobody else, knows, but... I know. I, the person who'd claim to love him more than anybody else... I twist him in my dreams, and I don't appreciate him for what he is, or at least, it doesn't seem like it... it pains me that he cannot be what I want him to be, but surely what he is already is more than enough...! He's my brother, nobody... nobody else has that connection, nobody else can be his brother, or my brother. So why... why..."

 

His gaze was pleading at Milphey once more. Feeling a degree of Marron's helplessness, Milphey took one of Marron's hands and held it tightly.

 

"I don't know, Marron-chan. I don't know. But, I do know... what I want you to know, I mean... if you ever need for somebody to unleash your feelings on, if you ever just need somebody... you can always ask me, alright? I won't get on my moral high horse at you. I don't mind that Carrot-chan is the one you want, I... I only worry about you, and what all this is doing to your mind..."

 

"I just... I feel so confused... like I should know exactly what it is that I want, just... even the things that I want have divisions and problems of their own... when I try to take something without thought, even then there are problems..."

 

Milphey ruffled at Marron's hair, smiling sadly.

 

"There are problems and divisions with everything though, isn't there? Even we as people are divided... Tira-chan and Chocolat-chan are, Carrot-chan is, even Marron-chan is... they transform, and you certainly seem divided between your rational side and your passionate side, whether that passion is anger or lust... oh, and just as a secret..."

 

Marron leant closer, beckoned by Milphey waggling a finger to indicate so.

 

"... Secretly, even I have another side!"

 

He didn't say anything more than that. Marron waited patiently in case Milphey was going to elaborate, but he didn't, and so leant back to how he'd been sat on the bed. Milphey sighed a deep sigh, "Marron-chan, aren't you even just a little curious?"

 

"About what?"

 

"I just said that seeecretly I have another side! Doesn't that make you go 'ooh, I wonder what that is' or anything?"

 

Milphey's tone was more playful, and despite the heaviness of the preceding moments, Marron couldn't remain empty on seeing Milphey's indignant face.

 

"Not especially. I'd imagine if it was something you wanted everybody to know then we'd know about it already, unless you're referring to how you switch from deathly serious to happy and playful within a matter of seconds..."

 

"Well, there is that. There's something else, too! But, if you're not going to ask, then you're not going to ask, I suppose. Bah, that's no fun. Still, thinking about that... thinking about how we all have our different sides, physically or mentally or whatever... what do you think about Gateau-chan? It's not as if he transforms or changes drastically or anything, is it?"

 

"There's a world of difference between his reaction to a Sorcerer and his reaction in a comfortable setting..."

 

"You mean Gateau in battle versus Gateau swanning around Eden showing off his muscles? True, but surely everybody has a battleface. You guys just take it a bit more literally, I suppose. Still, even your father and mother have - or had - their different sides..."

 

Marron nodded, "Father as a Haz Knight..."

 

"Your mother, too!" Milphey's voice was kindly knowledgeable.

 

"Mother also? She... of course she was a Sorcerer Hunter, yet... I can't quite imagine her... I can't imagine what kind of face she would have for battle... she used to get angry at my brother a lot, I remember that, but I don't think that's quite the same."

 

"Haha, no. Well, Apricot-chan was quite scary too. I suppose it'd be like if Tira-chan ever had children, if they weren't aware of her transformation, telling them that she was actually a dominatrix would come as quite a shock to them..."

 

On that point, Marron raised his eyebrow, "Mother-... was she...?"

 

Milphey blinked.

 

"Hm?"

 

"She was... was she also...?"

 

From Marron's undisguised surprise, Milphey suddenly realised what it was he supposed Marron was getting at. He laughed heartily, "Ahahaha! A dominatrix? No, no, nothing like that. More like... more like an assassin? Very feral. Lightyears away from her kindness as a mother. See... there are different things about people that you might never know, aren't there? Even the people close to you hide things, or there are things about their pasts that they hide, or just feel people shouldn't know..."

 

Milphey nudged Marron's chin upward with a finger, "And of course, that could apply quite nicely to you and Carrot-chan, now couldn't it."

 

"My brother... so close to me, but he doesn't know my feelings..."

 

"Ah, but might not there also be things Carrot-chan could be hiding from you also?"

 

Marron looked at Milphey just slightly too quickly. Milphey nodded with a smile, knowing that just the thought that there might be things about Carrot that Marron didn't know would set the young mage on self-righteous edge.

 

"After all, Marron-chan didn't know that Carrot-chan had come after me for help now, did he?"

 

"N-no..."

 

"On that same path of thought, Carrot-chan knows little about all of this now, does he? He doesn't know that secretly it was you doing wicked things to him last night, he doesn't know that you and I worked together... he doesn't know that you had sex with me last night. Doesn't know that you had sex at all, even! And that is the kind of thing that Carrot-chan would worry about..."

 

"Mmm..."

 

"I would assume that the pact to keep quiet about this applies to the both of us. However, Carrot-chan is going to be quite confused - to all intents and purposes, I brought him off last night. He's likely going to have some questions for me when he next sees me; I don't want to hurt you, Marron-chan... what would you like me to say to him?"

 

Marron was quiet for long enough for Milphey to consider asking once more, but then Marron spoke and silenced Milphey. Almost as if ignoring Milphey's previous question, Marron asked one of his own.

 

"Milphey... what are we now?"

 

"How do you mean?"

 

"I mean... we're... what kind of relationship is this?"

 

"It's a secret one, I think. Unless you want to tie yourself into saying that I'm your boyfriend, alienating Carrot, and pissing off that ex-boyfriend of yours?"

 

Marron sighed, that hadn't really answered his question. He wasn't sure if it could really be answered, either; he and Gateau had been self-declared boyfriends, easy enough. He and Carrot were brothers, even easier. Milphey was... Milphey was always strange. He seemed capable of supporting everyone in Eden, and in that respect he was a friend, but wasn't there something closer than that? Of course, he and Marron had just had sex the night before. Friends who had sex, then? Friends with benefits. Marron wasn't sure if he was planning on making a habit of using Milphey for his sexual ends, so as far as that went, the night before could almost have been considered a bit of an accident, for want of a better word... so, friend and confidante? With sexual overtones.

 

It couldn't really be defined.

 

"... I suppose. Though... Milphey?"

 

"I'm still here."

 

"Why... do you feel you have to help everyone? I mean... we're here like this. My brother came to you. If anybody else did... you would, wouldn't you?"

 

Milphey nodded, "You're right, I would. Why? Well... sense of duty? I like you, I like all of you. You're interesting, and you're all quite precious to me. If I can help any of you, then that makes me happy."

 

"Sense of duty..."

 

"Don't take it so seriously, it's not as if Big Mama is secretly ordering me to do every single thing that I do. I suppose it is just as I said, you're all interesting, and if you all trust me," he shrugged, "surely that's a good thing? It's a nice feeling to be trusted, in any case."

 

Silence again as somebody walked past outside. When they were gone, Milphey laughed softly.

 

"We always go quiet when we hear people moving. It's not as if anybody's going to hear us and go 'oh, people are talking in there, I'm going to go and listen', are they?"

 

Marron's tone sounded easier, "With the people in this building, you can never quite tell!"

 

"That's true, that's very true."

 

A comfortable pause, then Milphey wordlessly picked himself up onto all fours, leisurely crawling the short distance from where he'd been seated to where Marron currently sat; he reached out with his hands and draped them over Marron's shoulders, then releasing the strength holding him up, he found himself leant quite obviously over Marron's chest and lap. Milphey smirked craftily up at Marron, who seemed confused and somewhat unsure of how to react. Milphey's arms around his neck were pulling him down, but the movement combined with the smirk...

 

"Milphey, what... are you doing?"

 

Still the smirk, "Nothing yet."

 

"Wha-"

 

Before Marron could ask his question or even finish his sentence, his words were silenced by Milphey pressing his lips to Marron's own. The movement seemed a little sudden from Marron's point of view, but Milphey's eyes seemed dulled and his movements were slow; Marron let himself be pulled down onto the bed, feeling Milphey push him across then lie happily on top of him. Feeling the towel trapped between them, Milphey slowly pulled it away and let it drop to the floor; Marron felt keenly aware of that, and wondered if he'd preferred to keep the towel... after all, just what was the implication of getting rid of the one slight thing that had, in theory at least, stopped him being naked?

 

More than the implication of that was the fact that Milphey's kiss, slow though it was, was quite powerful. He didn't seem to be stopping, either... his eyes were closed, so making eye contact was out. Unable to resist the urge to question, Marron pushed slightly at Milphey's shoulders. Feeling that, Milphey reluctantly pulled away, but only just enough to allow speech.

 

"What is it?"

 

"What are you doing...?"

 

"Marron-chan already asked that... and I would have thought it was obvious, wouldn't you?"

 

"I-indeed, but-"

 

"Well then, why ask?"

 

"I'm... not sure we should be doing this..."

 

Milphey laughed at that, "Oh, Marron-chan, Marron-chan! Nobody can say that we can't, can they? Nobody governs what goes on behind closed doors, nor should they want to. And, after all... last night you were quite the energetic lover... I liked that. I'd like it some more. Last night, Marron-chan, we had sex... it's a lazy morning. Nobody says we can't do it again."

 

Something about Milphey's tone made the situation feel a degree surreal from Marron's point of view. If anything, was that now their current relationship? Were they now lovers? Milphey seemed quite confident in his actions, and Marron wasn't sure he'd ever seen him quite that sultry before. That last sentence especially set off some kind of alarm in Marron's mind; the night before was the night before, but now? The day was bright and sunlight still streamed into the bedroom, and he felt vulnerable for being visible. Nothing could be hidden under the cover of night when it was the middle of the day...

 

"I-... last night, though... I hadn't meant-..."

 

Milphey pulled back a little further, leaning his arms across Marron's chest then his head on his arms. He waved one finger, "You hadn't meant for last night to happen?"

 

"That... that is..."

 

Another laugh, softer this time.

 

"You know how to make a guy feel wanted, Marron-chan."

 

Marron shook his head quickly, "No, I mean- I didn't meant for it to sound like that... I hadn't meant for it to happen, but I never... I'd never planned for anything like that...!"

 

Milphey prodded at Marron's chest as he spoke, "Like you can plan everything in the first place. What is it supposed to be, '2.30am - remove clothes. 2.34am - start groping. 2.36am - move lower. 2.37am - begin-'"

 

Realising Marron's reaction to his sardonic humour, Milphey stopped abruptly; Marron was laughing, pushing good-naturedly at Milphey's arms.

 

He was laughing.

 

Really laughing.

 

"Milphey, Milphey! Nothing like that, I didn't mean so precisely!"

 

Not many things really made Milphey speechless, he almost prided himself on the fact that he could usually come up with something in any situation and hide anything unpleasant beneath a smile or a smirk, but... that did throw him, even if only momentarily. It just seemed strange, somehow. It wasn't as if Marron never smiled, it wasn't as if he never even laughed as such (though that was rare), but... just that Marron seemed to be laughing so easily at something Milphey had said, that he seemed relaxed somehow... his eyes were closed with a wrist over his forehead, his flushed cheeks either from embarrassment or amusement. His smile too, lips parted and the white of Marron's teeth barely but quite definitely visible... for a moment Milphey felt trepidation for even moving should he accidentally disturb Marron and this picture-perfect example of gentle ease and good humour, and also a sudden misgiving alongside that trepidation.

 

Help them. Guide them. Watch them. Show interest in them. Be interested in them.

 

Don't fall in love with them.

 

Remain the outsider, remain the catalyst.

 

Enthralled suddenly, Milphey gently reached out and touched Marron's lips with one finger. The laughter died down and Marron's eyes opened, but the hint of a smile still remained and he still seemed relaxed. His lips were soft, too. Soft as they were, when they opened to speak Milphey allowed his finger to slip over the gap, indicate silence just for the moment.

 

Looking so innocent, Marron nudged up so that the gap was no longer bridged. Milphey's finger now lay quite comfortably between lip and teeth, held there but not really.

 

His aim... his aim was to help Marron.

 

Just what was it Marron was trying to do... he seemed to swing between emotions so quickly, being unsure then shy then demure then... whatever the hell he was at the moment... Milphey knew that if he tried to step up to something else Marron would likely revert back to unsure, but just for a brief few moments there he'd even been amused, and his laugh had been sincere...

 

His aim was to help Marron and to help Carrot. Groom Carrot into accepting his brother's incestual leanings, groom Marron into being able to experience orgasm once more.

 

Of course Marron would be unsure. Marron was always unsure, and surely the night previous hadn't done anything to help his thoughts. There was a path of logic that made sense, but logic and practicality were sometimes at odds... it could have worked, it could have failed. It seemed to have failed, but who could really tell...

 

Groom them, groom them both. Groom them and train them, almost like animals, like pets even.

 

Milphey withdrew his finger as if bitten, though Marron's gentle hold hadn't moved a fraction. Though it seemed as if Marron had wished to speak beforehand, now that he wasn't being told to keep quiet, he didn't seem to have anything to say... Milphey didn't have anything to say either. Too many thoughts were chasing through his mind to be able to trust his voice to speak, after all.

 

Part of the problem with pets, though... they always died after such a short time, didn't they?

 

Even Marron sensed Milphey's body tensing on that thought. He could have questioned it. He could have used it as an excuse to stop, but his good mood seemed to prevail. Instead he just reached up and took Milphey's cheek in one of his hands, stroking it as it was met by one of Milphey's own hands.

 

Backtrack that thought as quickly as possible. Milphey wasn't going to allow himself any time at all to dwell on that.

 

In any case, Marron was quite definitely alive, and his hand felt warm. His smile was warm too, and his lips were inviting... they were inviting, and much less than wanting to say no, Milphey felt it his proper duty to give in, and deliciously...

 

Perhaps Marron had been right, Milphey wondered, to question Milphey's phrasing of 'sense of duty'... no, Big Mama would never be so explicit to order something such. 'Make sure they're alright' was ambiguous enough, 'make sure they're relaxed for the next mission' sometimes, then there was always 'protect them', 'make them happy'... those words could be interpreted in any way, really. Going out to lunch with Marron and buying him a nice meal he really liked would probably make him happier than having sex with him, Milphey mockingly reasoned with himself.

 

This did fall under the imperative though, didn't it? Protect them, make sure they're alright, make sure they're happy... Marron's obsession with Carrot was enough to stir his mood at the best of times, and one couldn't really argue that Marron was strictly happy by any argument. Milphey wasn't sure how to get to the bottom of the situation, but he was determined in that he wanted to, and eventually Marron would have reason to smile sincerely all the time, brow not marred by worries that felt unavoidable. And Milphey would have helped with that, and be able to feel a degree of pride for helping.

 

You couldn't make a cake without breaking eggs, and it just so happened that, in a roundabout way, sex had to be involved in this situation. To figure out Marron's problems and reasoning, well; it made sense for Milphey to want first-hand information, wasn't it? Or as first-hand as he could get without being inside Marron's head, at least.

 

Marron seemed to be growing easier with the kiss somehow. Well, it wasn't as if the boy didn't have experience at kissing, was it? Gateau had obviously fulfilled that purpose for Marron. Milphey idly wondered how the kiss, kisses, compared. Carrot had been quite impressed that time, hadn't he? Marron was harder to read, but he didn't seem to be disagreeing. To the contrary, he made just the slightest little moans against Milphey, and each one of those seemed to stir Milphey, just somehow.

 

Part of Milphey's mind argued with him. If Marron already had experience of kisses then there was no real need to kiss him now; kissing him didn't prove anything or lead to any discoveries, did it?

 

It was nice, though.

 

'Nice' being such an understatement.

 

Surely it also served to relax Marron too, though. Relax him, make him feel comfortable... no point in going through it all in a cold textbook fashion; much as Marron liked to spend the afternoon with his nose in a book, Milphey didn't feel he wanted to treat Marron as one also. Marron was a fascinating beautiful human in his own right, and needed to be treated as such. He was something precious, and something definitely breakable; Milphey wanted to hold him gently, make sure that he didn't break.

 

If either Gateau or Carrot ever ended up breaking Marron, well...

 

Milphey wasn't sure what would follow on from that 'if', but he felt strongly self-righteous about it.

 

Marron wrapped his arms around Milphey's upper body, gently ensuring that he wouldn't be thinking of stopping any time soon, or so Milphey took it. Hoping he was heading in the right direction Milphey pulled back momentarily, "Marron-chan...?"

 

With that searching look in his eyes Marron shook his head, "No, no... you said it yourself, it... it's a lazy morning..."

 

That seemed as much explanation as Marron was willing to give, leaning up himself and taking Milphey's lips in a kiss of his own.

 

If it was Tira, he'd feel exactly the same, Milphey reasoned to himself.

 

If it was Chocolat. If it was Gateau. If it was Carrot. Hell, even if Dota or Eclair or Sirius (or Dota and Sirius both at once?) or someone like Cinnamon came over and wished for a little sexual gratification, Milphey would have been willing to grant that, and then some. After all, he had all the time in the world, quite literally... he couldn't promise eternal loyalty or the sentiment of being faithful, but that wasn't realistic or practical when one was helplessly immortal. He couldn't ask these children to understand, he didn't wish to burden them with the knowledge of his plight, and the joys of being able to interact with so many interesting people served as a counter to, well, the less positive things. That which Milphey preferred not to dwell on, but which seemed to not want to go away when he was on a bed sharing a morning-after type experience with the most attractive boy he'd seen (let alone spoken to, touched, had sex with) in several centuries.

 

Backtrack again. There wasn't any point in romanticising the situation, that was only setting himself up for an eventual fall. Besides, the Spooner Continent had and had had in it's past many attractive people of both genders, many of whom Milphey had had the pleasure of interacting with. Marron was just one of them.

 

Milphey lifted back again, watching Marron almost curiously all of a sudden. Marron leant up to continue with the kiss but Milphey stopped him, watching his momentary confusion then acceptance with an eye of amusement. Marron lay his head back down on the bed, supposing that, for whatever reason, Milphey wanted to give kissing a rest for the time being. Alright then.

 

He couldn't help but notice Milphey's expression, though. Suddenly intent and quiet, as if he were looking at Marron without really noticing him. As if he were studying him. Well, he wasn't going to deny Milphey that, he felt a little embarrassed at being watched so closely like that, but he'd done more embarrassing things the night previous, so whatever Milphey wanted. Still, he didn't meet Milphey's line of sight until he spoke again, and when he did so, it was quiet and distant and, Marron couldn't help but think, just a little... well, not creepy, but... it was strange to see Milphey like that, if nothing else.

 

Milphey's expression seemed heavy with memory and distance as he stroked at Marron's cheek, his voice somewhat similar.

 

"I had a lover, once."

 

Marron didn't doubt that, "Ah...?"

 

"He was... like me, it seemed. A little like you, too. Probably... oh, when I knew him he was probably younger than you are now... I can't even remember how old I was at that time, that... didn't seem important at the time..."

 

"I... see?" Marron didn't, but Milphey didn't question his choice of words.

 

"He really was beautiful, Marron. He was happy and energetic, slender and slim... he always wore his hair back in a long silver plait. Didn't see him with it down much. Tanned, too... his skin always dusky and soft... and his eyes, you should have seen his eyes. So striking... almost... ah, I can see them in my mind even now, almost a ruby red..."

 

He leant his head back down on his arms as he laughed, and sadly.

 

"... He really was wonderful. I still say even now that I loved him. I suppose you could say that he was my first love? He was as young as I was, we knew each other from when we were not even teenagers... he was a servant boy and I was more than that, but nobody really minded. Or noticed, even... if they did, I suppose they turned a blind eye. We didn't care, they didn't seem to."

 

The heavy use of past tense flicked Marron's curiosity. He didn't quite want to say 'what happened' in case, as it seemed to be setting itself to be, it was something painful... and as haphazard as Milphey's train of thought seemed to be at the moment, Marron was sure he'd find out eventually anyway. He wasn't wrong.

 

"He had such a deep voice when I didn't, I was quite jealous for a while. His voice... seemed to match his skin, somehow. So tender and gentle and warm and dark... dark like... like a lake, when the moon's behind a cloud. That special sort of feeling. You could lie with him at nights and he'd tell a story from some far away land of a book... you could lose yourself in his voice, in his eyes, in... even in his body. The mixture of the three was far too heady, and he made me far more inebriated than even the best wine on the Continent could ever ever hope to achieve. The mere scent of his hair could send me into lusty cravings sometimes... many a time. Sometimes he'd tease me, but he'd always oblige..."

 

"M-mm...?" Marron wasn't sure where this was leading.

 

"He told me he believed in reincarnation, you know? In this world or another, he... always had such open ideas about such things, and could talk so vividly about other worlds one would almost sometimes wonder if he had actually been there, whether he'd touched the ground with the sole of his foot or floated there in a dream... he always told me that if he died before me, he'd do as much as was in his power to come back to me somehow. He was so confident about that; 'Milphey, this world is not alone!' he'd tell me, excitedly. Then we'd laugh and he'd wish himself immortal so that he could remain with me forever, but we could never be sad since he was so constant in his beliefs. If he did die, it'd only be for a short while I'd be without him. Maybe his reincarnation wouldn't remember me or maybe he would, maybe he wouldn't even come back to this world immediately, but he was determined that somehow he would, and even if he met me but didn't remember me it'd still be him and I, with the knowledge, could get to know him over again. Maybe it'd sound strange to say 'I knew you from a previous life', but... that's also a romantic thing to believe, isn't it? Especially so if it's true. 'I know you better than you know yourself since you showed me things you'd never trust with anybody else'... we were quite besotted with each other and our ideas, back in the day."

 

Milphey's unseeing eyes stared to the side, and Marron's sight was currently occupied by the ceiling. Milphey's voice was soothing and gentle in it's nostalgia, and Marron could quite picture a younger Milphey and this other boy in his mind. They'd run around and climb trees, go swimming in lakes, run home yelling and calling for and at each other then jump wonderfully into a warm and comforting bed once they returned. Thinking about it, Marron wasn't quite sure what setting that should be in... Milphey had said that the other boy had been a servant boy? Marron couldn't think of anywhere else that Milphey would have been other than Eden and they didn't have servants that Marron knew about, but it seemed as if Milphey was referring to a time a little further back than Marron's own comprehension, and so he supposed it could have been anywhere, really. Marron didn't know what kinds of things Milphey would have done before being a Sorcerer Hunter, after all.

 

The warmth in Milphey's voice, despite his sadness, couldn't be hidden. Marron smiled softly, "You really loved this boy, didn't you?"

 

Milphey chuckled, "More than life itself, at times. Why, back then... back then, we both felt out of place, like we didn't have anybody else. At the time Cinnamon seemed so hormonal and bitchy, though that's probably hard to imagine of her now. Shiffon and Kahlua... well, they were adults, they couldn't understand the deep torment of my soul or anything. Big Mama was Big Mama and she'd be kind and comforting and give a kind of warmth nobody else could, but I could never look into her eyes and believe she really knew my feelings... of course, I couldn't understand hers either, but back then, even less so. You're a teenager yourself, surely you know... well, perhaps you're not such a good example, but... just the need to do your own thing, to be your own person, to have control of your destiny and do whatever you want?"

 

"I try to fight those urges..."

 

"I had them too, long ago. The rest of the world could have burnt to ash as far as I cared back when I was that young - I had my lover by my side and as long as I had him I honestly needed nothing else. Love and friendship and understanding... I could never be lonely with him, and I always felt wanted, needed. I was lucky, I think; as far as I was obsessed with him, so too was he with me, so... we never needed to question each other's feelings, and sometimes it was as if we knew each other's thoughts... we'd speak and it'd be the same thing we'd both been wondering about, and we'd tease and laugh and hug and kiss. It was wonderful."

 

"It sounds it..."

 

Seemingly musing on that point, Milphey remained silent for just as long as one of his monologues. Noticing the far-off expression still in Milphey's dulled eyes, Marron remained quiet in case there was anything more he wished to say. Milphey's lips then curled into a sad smile as he talked, eyes still lost in a long-distant memory.

 

"When he died, I couldn't even speak his name for years afterward. Apart from me, nobody else had especially known him. I was the only person there to see him leave, and for a long time it felt as if I was the only person to remember him. I didn't want to speak his name to anybody, they would only say 'oh, who was that?' and I wouldn't be able to tell them through the choking emptiness that would cloud me just to think of him..."

 

Marron was silenced by that, he didn't really know what to say. From Milphey's tone, nostalgia, expression and the fact that he didn't seem to be having this wonderful relationship to the present day, he'd somewhat expected something along those lines... the lover broke up with him, the lover went away, the lover's attitude changed and he became an entirely different person... or of course, there was death, which was always a little more finalistic, and the worst to consider.

 

"... 'I miss him in the weeping rain... I want him at the shrinking of the tide'..."

 

"Uhn?"

 

"Just some poetry. I still miss him now. I still want so badly to believe that he was right... still want to believe that I've waited for long enough, and that I could go down to the city right at this moment and find his reincarnation, wide-eyed and beautiful, and that he would have been right... it's strange. I can't bring myself to believe him, but I can't doubt his words either... he told me that this world isn't the only one. The only thing more hurtful is to even for a moment entertain the notion that he's somewhere else and waiting for me..."

 

"Surely that's a comforting thought? That he's eternally waiting somewhere for you..."

 

Milphey's voice grew darker and, shocking Marron, hopelessly bitter.

 

"Then, he'll always be waiting, won't he? He could wait until the godforsaken sun in the sky imploded and swallowed him and the empty planet he waited on, I can't fucking get there."

 

"Mi-... Milphey!?"

 

"My destiny is too tied to this Continent, Marron. I can't escape it as much as I can't escape my own fate, my own destiny, my own life. All I can do is treasure what once was and hope I might find some semblance of it in the future, even if it might always lead to the same damned hopeless conclusion. It's not in human nature to be solitary for so long after all now, is it? I believe... at least, I think... everybody just wants to be appreciated... don't they?"

 

The sharpness seemed to fall out of his voice with that point, becoming just as desperate for confirmation as Marron had been earlier in a time that seemed hard to remember. Marron wanted to say something that could ease Milphey's apparent pain somewhat, but it was a situation he couldn't bring himself to realize and it certainly wasn't something he had experience of, he didn't know what he could say without it sounding patronizing. Voice quiet, he asked the one question he felt was justified.

 

"Milphey... why did you tell me all of that...?"

 

That question seemed to bring Milphey back into the present day, the present moment. He stared at Marron for a few moments, blinking owlishly... he smiled, seeming a little embarrassed suddenly. He shook his head.

 

"I don't quite know. Maybe I wanted you to know you're not the only one who's had such strong feelings. Maybe I just wanted to tell somebody." Another smile, slightly warmer, "I'm really not sure. I'm sorry for rambling on."

 

The thought 'maybe I wanted to tell you so I could focus on he who I loved to distract me from you' occurred, but Milphey didn't want to confuse Marron any further than he felt he might have done at that time. Of course, nothing was quite so alienating as talking to one lover about a past lover in such a warm and nostalgic way... Marron had asked what their relationship was now. Milphey had no idea, and he felt he needed a bit more time to work it out for himself, let alone before letting Marron know. Maybe Marron could come to his own conclusions, but the fact of the matter was that, before anything or anybody else, Marron was pretty damn hung up on Carrot, that couldn't be avoided. That was the point and also the root of the matter; Milphey didn't want to lose sight of that, for his own good as much as anybody else's.

 

Marron shook his head in turn, "No, I don't mind... it was interesting to hear of your experience."

 

Another slight laugh, "Oh, that's only a sweeping summary of the events of those years. I can tell you more if you want! See, he used to do this thing with his plait..."

 

Milphey's voice had fallen into a conspiratal whisper, Marron laughed back as he shook his head, "There are some things between lovers that should remain between lovers!"

 

"Well, if you put it like that, I suppose. Hum, I wonder if I could get my hair into a plait, then I could show you exactly what he used to do with his hair... would it work with mine? You know, it'd probably work with yours. Your hair is so silky-soft, Marron! A lot like his, actually. Hmn, I can still remember exactly how it felt... ah, I'm reminiscing again."

 

The atmosphere of the room before Milphey's trip down memory lane seemed to have been restored, but as Milphey continued speaking Marron couldn't help but think to himself, tune Milphey out slightly as his own mind ticked into action.

 

There he'd been just a short while before, showing his frustration at feeling he couldn't appreciate Carrot for his true self, for how he really was; that wasn't... he didn't know if that was quite true. He certainly treasured Carrot for most of what he was (though the girlchasing wouldn't be missed if it went), it was just that the things that Carrot wasn't seemed to eat Marron up inside some days. Most days. It was also easier to focus on the things at fault than the things that worked perfectly, but - looking at it now, looking at Milphey, thinking of Carrot... just as much as anybody else had ever done, Milphey had loved this nameless boy of his youth. Marron currently loved somebody too, as much as he felt it was possible to love, scarily so. Milphey had been lucky enough for his love to have been requited, more than Marron had, but on the other hand, Milphey had obviously suffered the trauma of losing his beloved... he hadn't said in what way he'd lost him, but that wasn't really important. The end result was the same, and Marron could feel the tremble of petrification in his body that came about from even considering what would happen should Carrot ever happen to die.

 

It wasn't a thought he liked to entertain and if it ever cropped up he liked to dissuade it as quickly as possible; the thought of losing Carrot was literally the thought of a fate worse than death. Death itself wasn't nice to think about, but the thought of outliving Carrot and having to survive a life where he wasn't there... just the thought in itself seemed incomparably hopeless and devoid of... of anything, really. No meaning or purpose, no driving force, no beloved niisan... and Milphey had experienced something similar. Not the death of a brother, but from the sounds of things they may as well have been so, outside of being lovers... he'd experienced that and somehow he'd survived it and continued to smile on through life. Marron stared at Milphey, really stared at him. Milphey noticed and prodded Marron.

 

"Am I interesting all of a sudden?"

 

Certainly so; Marron felt quite awed at how emotionally strong Milphey had become in his estimation, or at least how emotionally strong he seemed to be. Milphey had lived through the one worst thing Marron could imagine, and was living on wonderfully. There didn't seem to be any way to express this in words, though - again, anything that Marron thought about saying seemed to stand out as being patronizing before it even reached his lips... but those thoughts, Marron didn't wish to keep those thoughts. The thoughts of Carrot dying... of not being there... those were truly the things nightmares were made of.

 

Quietly, Marron reached for Milphey, "... Preoccupy me."

 

A strangely-worded request, but as with anything to do with the boy, Milphey felt that it wouldn't hurt to do as Marron asked. Even if Marron wasn't saying just what it was he wanted to be preoccupied from... Milphey felt he had some things he wished to preoccupy himself from at the very same time.

 

****

 

"I... dunno what to say."

 

"Me either."

 

"... I don't get it!"

 

"You think I do?!"

 

Unable to contain themselves from the shock at what they'd just seen and the connotations of what went alongside that, Gateau and Carrot had quickly gone back to Carrot's bedroom. Nobody would be in there, nobody would be likely to go in there (until Marron woke up, whenever that was), and nobody would disturb the two of them as they tried to make sense of what little they knew.

 

Carrot currently sat on the end of his bed, hunched over and staring at the chest of drawers opposite, as if it was supposed to suddenly answer his confusion. Gateau stood beside the window to Carrot's right, leant against the wall and gazing outside as he gave unhelpful answers to Carrot's unhelpful questions.

 

"Gateau, what is going on around here?!"

 

Gateau shrugged, "It could be nothing. I mean... it wouldn't be the first time it's looked like Marron's been doing stuff with Milphey then it's turned out to be innocent..."

 

It didn't seem that that was quite the issue that Carrot was concerned about.

 

"Last night Milphey was giving me oral sex! I got oral sex from that guy, and now he's sleeping with my brother! What's up with that?!"

 

Carrot's reactions could nearly always be counted on to be amusing. Gateau continued his stare out of the window, supposing that his silent mind was probably a better thing to bounce ideas off of than Carrot, who seemed to believe that Marron and Milphey being naked in bed together equalled them sleeping together, no question.

 

There seemed few other ways to look at it really, but for the moment Gateau was willing to believe anything to the contrary. Innocent until proven guilty.

 

Associating the word 'innocent' with Marron seemed a difficult connection to make. Gateau wasn't sure quite why he wanted to believe Marron's innocence in the situation nor why he felt he'd be so determined to stand up for the more conniving Glacé brother, but... he'd question his feelings later, he supposed. For the time being, his confusion was not the only one evident.

 

Quite amused at Carrot's one-track line of thinking, Gateau let out a small chuckle.

 

"Didn't I tell you to stop complaining about that? Oral sex is oral sex is good... I mean, it did get you off, didn't it?"

 

Carrot blushed, "Well, y-yea... I mean... it's... if it's not bad then anything's gonna, isn't it?"

 

"So if it was good and you came, where's the problem?"

 

On that, Carrot stood up quickly and pointed at the door.

 

"The problem is the fact that the person who made me come is sleeping only a few rooms away from where we are right now with my brother! You know, the complicated beautiful one you were all obsessed with a coupla months ago. If Milphey's sleepin' with Marron and then doing things with me when Marron doesn't even know about it, that, that's, that's not right!"

 

Supposing that now was not the time to be making idle jibes at Carrot's libido, Gateau sighed heavily and turned his attention more fully towards Carrot.

 

"I guess not, no..."

 

It was too easy to remember his own anger at that assumption he'd made that time, when he'd very nearly crossed the line and not cared... perhaps, Gateau thought to himself, that was why he was so eager to believe that Milphey and Marron had something platonic this time around. After all, last time he'd jumped to such quick conclusions exactly as Carrot was doing at the moment, and he was far too aware at how that had almost turned out... much as his emotions had taken him, Gateau knew that he would have regretted his actions afterward. Hell, even now he was still regretting his motives and intentions, and as far as his intentions had gone he hadn't gone nearly as far as he'd intended to...

 

Carrot spoke again, shaking Gateau from his thoughts.

 

"No, it's not! I... I mean... you don't... people don't just randomly go around giving oral sex to anybody, do they? You... Milphey's never gone after you or anything, has he?"

 

"No, he hasn't... weird how he just seems to go after you two, isn't it?"

 

Carrot scoffed, "Must run in the family. Didn't Milphey hang around with that stupid father of mine before we came along? That's sorta weird too. First the father, then the sons... god, I'm glad by the time I have any kids Milphey'll be old, given how he's been so far he'd probably be after them too! Actually, age probably wouldn't stop him... oh god. Remind me never to leave Milphey alone with my children..."

 

Realising he'd gone off the point, Carrot sat back down onto his bed, trailing off. His brow was furrowed in confusion for a few moments, then he looked up at Gateau with quite the imploring look, making Gateau frown in his own slight confusion. That was a strange expression to see on Carrot's face.

 

"What is it?"

 

"You fancy guys, don't you?"

 

"Well, if anyone's pretty enough the-"

 

"Yeah yeah, I know, but I mean, guys, you don't mind them, you'd have sex with them if you could, nevermind the particular things, but you would, wouldn't you?"

 

"Basically I would, yeah. Depends on who they were I guess, but yeah. Why, what have I got to do with it?"

 

"If like, you were horny, I mean like really horny, so horny you couldn't think of anyone else... and there was a guy you knew would probably have sex with you... say you didn't have the hots for men. Pretend you were straight, but reeally horny, and the guy in question was kinda feminine and good looking and stuff in a sort of way, sorta. Would you go after them?"

 

"Uh? Well, I can't really think how I'd react if I was totally straight, I can only speak for myself, but... sure, I don't think I'd say no if I didn't have a real reason to. Is this going somewhere?"

 

Carrot was netting his fingers together tightly, staring at them for a few moments while he listened to Gateau speak. He frowned again, seemingly deep in thought about something... and again, Gateau thought that that was quite a strange expression to see on Carrot's face. He couldn't help but worry slightly to see Carrot thinking so deeply on anything, surely it was dangerous for someone like him to have deep thoughts, wouldn't it make his brain explode or something?

 

Well, Gateau thought, maybe that was being a little harsh to Carrot. He was just as entitled to his thoughts as anybody else was, just that he didn't really seem the type to be too swayed by deeper thoughts... more the kind to just do what he felt like doing regardless. The silence was a little uncomfortable, too.

 

"Carrot?"

 

"Look, uh, you gotta never tell anybody about this or anything, not even Marron, but like, you're a guy and you like guys and I'm sure you probably know what it's like being frustrated and all so I guess I can tell you and you wouldn't tell anybody at all, right?"

 

"Uh, sure... I mean, sure, I wouldn't tell anybody, not if you felt that badly about it. What is it?"

 

A slight pause, then Carrot looked away from Gateau again.

 

"Well... one time... one time I kinda went to Milphey, okay? Figured that he could like, help me, y'know. Cause like, he's always flirting with me and saying all this kinda stuff and, well, you know how he gets. So I figured if I asked him he probably wouldn't say no or anything..."

 

Gateau raised his eyebrow. Did this mean that Milphey and Carrot had...?

 

"... I, uh... we didn't actually get anywhere, he was just kissing me and stuff and touching me a bit then we got talking and we ended up doing more talking than anything else, but... I guess it's like... I went to Milphey for that and he was fine with the idea and everything... but... d'ya think Marron would really go in for that? Do you think he'd go to Milphey just because he was horny and needed some kinda sexual thing?"

 

"I could never predict him that well, Carrot."

 

"I'm not tryin' to make any kinda dig at you, or anything. I'm just saying... I didn't... I never really saw Marron as that kind of person, I guess. He had that thing going on with you, and stuff happened between you two during all of that, but while things were weird with you and him at least you guys were in a relationship, you know? I just... I never thought Marron would go off for someone just for random sex..."

 

Gateau shook his head, "We don't know for certain that they had sex, though. There's at least one other time I know about where Marron was getting all fractious or something and ended up in Milphey's bed without anything happening."

 

"How do you know nothing happened?!"

 

It really was easy to doubt the assurance, hard enough for Gateau to do it himself, let alone when Carrot was arguing on the side of his doubts...

 

"Both Milphey and Marron said they hadn't had sex... dunno about Marron, but why would Milphey lie?"

 

Carrot shrugged, "Maybe Milphey didn't want you to know about it? Maybe Marron didn't want you to know about it?"

 

"... I'd say Milphey's a pretty trustworthy person..."

 

Nagging reminders of semen-stained sheets remained on Gateau's mind, but he didn't say anything about that; it was true, maybe there'd be reasons for those two to have sex and not want anybody to know to the point of flat-out denial, but... Milphey had been quite angry that time, and at least then, his reasoning against bedding Marron had seemed quite sensible. He wouldn't have said all of that as a lie, would he? If he would then he was very convincing. More than that, didn't Marron have some kind of problem with lying? Given Marron's temperament at the time, Gateau had a sinking sort of feeling that if Marron and Milphey had slept together, Marron would have far more likely used that as some kind of way to stab back at Gateau rather than deny it'd happened...

 

Almost reluctantly, Carrot supposed to had to agree with Gateau at some point.

 

"Euh, I guess you're right."

 

Still, if Milphey made it a habit of upholding people's trust, that meant that he'd value Marron's trust just as much as anybody else's...

 

Maybe he could have been lying? If someone really believed their lie, or believed that withholding the truth was more important than speaking a lie...

 

Did Milphey believe that?

 

Fortunately Carrot leapt onto another line of thought before Gateau could devolve too deeply into his thoughts. At that moment, he decided it was perhaps better he had Carrot to 'discuss' all of this with. He jumped from topic to topic with such speed and lack of connection that it was hard to remain down on one point at all... seemed that several at once was more Carrot's speed.

 

"It just feels weird, okay?"

 

"Mnh?"

 

"I mean, I... I wouldn't seriously-... I'd never... it's not like I ever looked at Milphey once I knew he was a guy and went 'oh ho, I wouldn't mind having him as my boyfriend' or anything, if nothing else I just don't want to imagine the many ways Tira and Chocolat would flay my ass if I even seemed like I was gonna consider having a relationship with a guy..."

 

"So you'd consider it, then?" This was interesting.

 

Carrot flustered for a moment, "N-no!... No... I... I wouldn't... u-uh... well, I guess that depends on what kinda thing you'd call a relationship... 'cause it's not like I could see myself settling down and making house with a guy or anything, but... Gateau, don't you think women are scary!?"

 

"I've said that quite a few times, actually. Hah, Tira and Chocolat put you off the fairer sex, did they?"

 

"Don't joke about it, it's not like that! It's just... they have all... feelings kinda crap, don't they? I mean... okay, going back to Tira or Chocolat... can you imagine how much it'd fuck everything up if I had sex with Chocolat? I don't think it could ever be 'oh hey, you're sexy, I'm horny, let's have sex' with her, and I can't imagine it being like that at all, really... I mean... I go after girls, I'd really like it if it was like that, but it just seems like sex would be some mad binding contract rather than just 'hey, let's do it' or anything... I don't want anything so serious, I just wanna be able to do... do someone, I suppose."

 

Gateau shrugged, "I'm sure there are girls out there who feel the same as you out there somewhere. Just a matter of finding one, isn't it?"

 

"And it's like I've not looked enough already?"

 

Carrot looked at Gateau, then threw his head into his hands, letting out an elongated groan.

 

"I'm like a woman..."

 

"W-wait, what?"

 

He looked up, "That's how come it's all so confusing, y'know? I want to have sex, I really want to have sex! There are lots of random girls out there, you're right, there's probably someone out there on the Continent who feels exactly like I do and wouldn't mind spending the night or anything, but... at the same time... I wouldn't want it to be totally random, I-"

 

Mind catching up with tongue, Carrot belatedly remembered the events on Euran Island. So much for good intentions, but he'd been perfectly ready to stay on that island if it'd meant he could have serviced those women for as much as they wanted him to (nevermind the whole blue furry demon thing)... Carrot stopped for a moment, wondering how that worked into the equation. Of course, that was something you couldn't really consider, 'become the leader of an island harem' was always one of those silly dream sorts of suggestions, but since it could have theoretically happened, surely it had to be considered too?

 

Another glance up at Gateau. He'd been asleep while all of that had happened, hadn't he? He didn't know anything about that. Carrot decided he wanted to keep it that way and at least carry on with what he'd been saying before, even if it did now sound a degree hypocritical to his mind.

 

"... I'd at least like to kinda... kinda know a girl, y'know? Get to know her before or afterward, either would be okay, but then that'd be a relationship and then it'd be all screwy..."

 

"Who says it'd have to be screwy?"

 

"The sisters in the bedroom a few doors down, or did you forget? Oh god, how embarrassing would that be... me in a nice relationship, nice girl, bring her home for dinner or something, suddenly Tira makes her appearance and starts insisting I call her Queen and stuff... anyway. Like I was saying... girls... it's not like I've been put off them or anything, just, with them, it seems like... there's... there's a whole lotta stuff that'd be going on there what with feelings and relationships and love and stuff, and I want sex and all, but I think it'd... it'd kinda lead on to that, or at least, I'd feel bad if it didn't, and that's kinda stupid and all..."

 

Gateau shook his head, "That's not stupid, that at least shows you've got some kinda rational conscience in there. So you're a bit more romantic than you'd like to let on, that doesn't make you a woman or anything! You can get romantic men, can't you?"

 

"Y-yeah, I guess. I just don't really see me as being romantic, but I don't wanna think of myself as being hurtful or anything either... I-... maybe if it happened I wouldn't mind, but I... if I had sex with someone then never saw them again..."

 

He didn't finish the point, but Carrot's doubtful tone spoke as much as the rest of his sentence could. Gateau had been biting his lip for a few moments, then supposed that now was just as good a time as any to speak. He didn't exactly want to give any personal examples, but he at least wanted Carrot to know his point of view.

 

"It is possible to have a sexual relationship with a woman without it going all romantic, you know?"

 

Carrot didn't look too convinced, "Oh, like you'd know?"

 

"Any reason why I wouldn't?"

 

That seemed to stop Carrot in his tracks.

 

"Wu-... uh!? Waiddaminnit. Gateau, you've-... you've had SEX!?! With a WOMAN!?!?"

 

Walking over to sit on Marron's bed, Gateau shrugged with a faint blush, "It's not something I'm gonna be yellin' from the rooftops or anything but yeah, I've had sex with a woman."

 

Another shrug, "Well... two."

 

Carrot gaped openly, blinking at Gateau as if he'd just revealed himself as being... being... well, something shocking... but, not a virgin? Though, this was Gateau, he was always flexing and flirting and okay, girls did find him attractive so maybe it shouldn't have been so shocking, but Carrot couldn't quite get used to the fact that he was sitting about two feet away from someone who'd actually had sex. With a woman. With two women, even! Probably not at once, but... two women! Then there was all the stuff that'd gone on with Marron...

 

"WHAT ABOUT MEN HAVE YOU HAD SEX WITH MEN??"

 

"Geez, Carrot, don't shout! Don't want the whole building knowing what I've been up to!... No though, I've not had sex with any guys, not just yet. Never really found many I was attracted to... well, there were a couple I guess, but it's a little harder to go up to a guy and go 'heyy', really. Especially when they have chicks hanging off their arms, though I guess I couldn't really speak... a little's happened here and there, but not actual sex, no."

 

"Oh..."

 

Carrot frowned again, "I guess it's pretty obvious I'm a virgin, then..."

 

It was, but Gateau supposed that maybe Carrot needed a little confidence boost, "What makes you say that?"

 

"You were saying, any reason why I wouldn't think you'd had sex or anything... and there's no real reason why I woulda thought 'no, Gateau's never had sex', but... it's like... I've not had sex, so I guess I sorta assume nobody else has either... until I find out they have, I mean. Then it's just like, fuck, everyone's having more sex than me..."

 

"I dunno, you'd be surprised. Myself, I wouldn't think Dota not a virgin, you know what she's like, but then on the other hand she's got that hunky besotted boyfriend of hers, and then you think... even though we know her and what she's like and all how dainty and sweet she is, she probably does have an active sexual side, doesn't she?"

 

"I, I guess..."

 

"It'd be weirder if she wasn't, actually. Unless the two of them were too shy... actually, I could believe that..."

 

"... When did you have sex?"

 

Gateau laughed, "Me again? Hum, let's see. Well, the first chick was this chick I knew before I became a Sorcerer Hunter... she was sexy, she thought I was cute, we had some sorta thing going on for a coupla months, we had sex, it was good, she turned into a colossal bitch then I found her in bed with another guy and got pretty burnt off about it all for a while."

 

"Before you were a Sorcerer Hunter? You musta been pretty young back then..."

 

"Kinda, yeah."

 

"And the second? I guess since the first was before you became a Sorcerer Hunter then the second had to have been after you were a Sorcerer Hunter..."

 

Gateau nodded, "Yep."

 

"Weeeird... all this time I've known you and I've never seen you go off with anybody or anything... but you were having a fun sexy thing going on with a woman? Man, you managed to keep that one quiet!! Did Marron ever know?"

 

"Oh, it wasn't recently... I mean, it was after I became a Sorcerer Hunter but it was before I knew you guys or anything. It's been a while."

 

Carrot idly tried to work that one out. After being a Sorcerer Hunter but before knowing everyone? That see-... oh yeah, there had been a while where it'd been just him, Tira and Marron together, though that seemed a long time ago now. Seemed like Gateau and Chocolat had been around forever, but of course the two of them had been quite successful in their own right, years ago. Understanding in his mind, Carrot nodded.

 

"Ohhh yeah, back when you and Chocolat did missions together."

 

Gateau's blush deepened, "Y-yeah."

 

"Hah, that musta pissed her off! 'Hey Chocolat, don't mind me, I'm gonna go boink my ladyfriend over here for a bit!'... man though, how did you manage that? I mean, that was before you guys really came around to Eden, wasn't it? If you kept dotting off all over the Continent with Chocolat but were having a relationship with a girl, how did that work? Unless there were three of you... what happened to the girl? Did she die? Was she a Sorcerer Hunter too? Was it a long-distance relationship? Oh, uh... would you rather I didn't talk about it?"

 

Gateau certainly seemed to be blushing a lot. Maybe it was a painful memory for him? Carrot supposed he might have been a bit eager to blurt out something like 'did she die'... if she had died, that probably hadn't been nice for Gateau, not after his first lover had ended up with another guy... to Carrot's relief, Gateau just shook his head.

 

"No, she didn't die, or anything. Nah, it just kinda... faded off, really. We were... yeah, she was a Sorcerer Hunter. There was... a guy she'd liked for ages, then she ended up getting posted with him for missions, and what with her having the major hots for him and all, we thought it'd be a bit awkward. It was only really when we had missions that were just the two of us, really."

 

"Huh, and I thought you only had missions with Chocolat during that time. Well, I guess if Big Mama posted you with someone else then that woulda worked out too, there are lots of Sorcerer Hunters out there! I mean, you saw at the Saint Mother's Day festival, all the people. Hey, what about then? Did she come over then? Is it anyone I know?"

 

Gateau felt that to continue with the conversation in the face of Carrot's stunningly blind ignorance would eventually lead to his fist having a timely meeting with the side of Carrot's head.

 

"Carrot, can we just drop the subject!? I thought we were talking about Marron and Milphey here, not me and my potted sexual history!"

 

"Oh, oh, right. Sorry, I got sidetracked..."

"I noticed!"

 

"So, as we were saying..."

 

Carrot faltered, "... what were we saying?"

 

"Before we got so amazingly off the point? I was saying about how you could have a sexual relationship with a girl without it doing all deep and romantic. Believe it or not, there are girls out there as horny as you are, hard though that might be to accept!"

 

"You only gotta look in Chocolat's direction for that... but anyway, what I meant to say, I just remembered... girls and stuff, they have all stuff attached to them..."

 

Gateau raised his eyebrow, "Girls have... 'stuff'... attached... to them?"

 

"I don't mean it literally, I mean, girls are all... if you get with a girl it's all 'oh, you're boyfriend and girlfriend now, when's the wedding' and stuff... but like... with guys... maybe it's different for you, I dunno, but... I don't... I didn't go after Milphey thinking 'I want to spend the rest of my life with him', I went after him thinking 'man I wanna get laid'. I don't think I could see myself settling down with a guy or even really having a relationship outside of sex and that's only like with certain people like Milphey 'cause he's the sort of person who wouldn't tell anybody or anything. I wouldn't be able to do the sorta things you do. Basically."

 

It had taken Carrot long enough to get to his eventual point, but Gateau supposed he saw what Carrot was saying, and didn't blame the guy for having that kind of point of view. It was what was written into most people's heads right from childhood, wasn't it? Grow up, find a nice person of the opposite gender, settle down, have kids... in Carrot's case, the base belief was probably a little harder to shake, though Gateau had to give him points for at least thinking about it.

 

Carrot fell back on his bed, looking across at Gateau.

 

"Hey..."

 

"Mm?"

 

"When you were with Marron... I dunno if you really thought about it... if you didn't, just pretend that you were still with Marron and you didn't argue and all of that, pretend it was all fine and dandy. How far did you see it going with him? I mean, it's not like you could get married and have kids or anything..."

 

Gateau leant back on his arms, "I dunno, I guess that depends on what everyone's eventual aims are. Some people just die at the thought of not having kids, but I guess I never really thought about it... I don't know, really. Just wanted to go as far as Marron was willing for it to go, which didn't seem to be too far out of the bedroom... besides, you don't need to get married to be together. We could have, I dunno, exchanged hand-woven bracelets under the full moon on an island somewhere or something..."

 

A moment to let that thought sink in; Gateau and Carrot looked at each other, then laughed.

 

"You think he'd go for that?"

 

"He's your brother! I dunno, maybe he'd like the symbolism. As for kids... there's always adopting, isn't there? I mean, Tira and Chocolat were raised like your sisters, weren't they?"

 

"Huh, and look how they turned out."

 

"They love you really, Carrot. But yeah, adopting could be cool, or that thing where you get another woman to have one of the people's babies... seli... surrogacy, that's the one. I'm sure there'd be someone willing to help... and even if not either of those, I'm sure most of the girls here will end up having kids, we can be groovy uncles or something rather than fathers. Most important thing is how you treat them and bring them up rather than just who they belong to, don't you think?"

 

Gateau's expression fell slightly.

 

"Of course, there's no point in thinking about all that now, I'm sure Marron would be disgusted to even think we'd had such a conversation."

 

"So... you're not really big on the getting-married-having-kids thing?"

 

A shrug, "Not really, no. Never been exactly high on my list of priorities, anyway... never really saw myself as a kid sort of guy, to be honest. I don't think I'd know what to do with one if I had to look after one... but you, you're big on it, or not?"

 

Carrot lapsed into concentration for a few moments, "I dunno... I mean... it's gonna happen eventually, isn't it? I can't see it not happening... it's not that I especially want it to, not at this moment... but I think I'd be kinda sad if I didn't have kids. Eventually. One day. One day in the far-off future."

 

Gateau nodded, making a satisfied sort of noise.

 

"Hmn, never really had you pegged for that kinda guy. Interesting."

 

The conversation quietened, Gateau shifting to rest on his back, his head resting on his hands behind him. Sometimes it was possible to have a really good conversation with Carrot, it seemed... also seemed that today was one of those days. Of course, neither of the two had really got any further in working out the mystery of Marron and Milphey, but they'd had a nice man-to-man conversation about women and sex and relationships and all of those sorts of things, which was almost as good. Not as relevant or really useful to the current situation (other than stirring up old memories in Gateau's mind), but still, interesting.

 

It seemed that Carrot realised how much they'd deviated from their original train of thought as much as Gateau had. Rolling onto his side for a moment before falling back down again, Carrot made an annoyed sort of sound.

 

"Unnghhh, what do I dooooo?"

 

"About whaaaaaaat?"

 

"About... about all this with Milphey and stuff! I had oral sex with the guy, I... I should talk to him I think. He's never gone that far before! You've seen him as much as I have with the flirting and all the stuff he pulls on me, but... I always figured he was kinda like Chocolat like that, he has all his glompy spazfits, but he-... I never thought he'd actually... y'know! AND he tied me down, too! He didn't have to have done that, that just made it weird! Then he just left me there... I can't believe that, and I'm just so glad it was you who found me and not Chocolat or Tira or Marron or Dota or someone, 'cause I really don't know how I woulda explained it to anybody else..."

 

"Maybe he just couldn't stand it anymore? He's always squealing about how cute you are..."

 

Realising something, Carrot's expression turned into a frown again.

 

"He didn't stick around for his own orgasm, though. Just got me off, then went quickly. Surely if he was all into the 'Carrot-chan you're so kyoooot' thing, he'd... wouldn't he want some sorta satisfaction too? Unless he had a major wank session going on when he went back to his bedroom, but... but if Marron was there...!? God, no matter how much I try to work it out, it all gets weirder on me! Trying to work out what I think of Milphey's hard enough without Marron being all involved..."

 

Gateau sat up again, "I dunno about you, but... well, s'what I'm gonna ask you. Don't you think Milphey and Marron are awful close these days? They'll sit in that little room where Marron meditates all day..."

 

"Yeah, I'd noticed that..."

 

"I don't get it... are they together? Do they just enjoy each other's company? I know I wouldn't feel comfortable hanging around in there all day, not while Marron's meditating. Actually, he'd probably tell me he wanted to be alone and stuff before he let that happen."

 

Carrot gazed soberly over at Gateau, "Maybe I... maybe I should have a word with Marron... see what's up with it all, if he'll tell me. I mean... I wanna know what's up with those two as much as you do, y'know? If there is something between those two, then I don't wanna... I don't wanna be the unknowing thing that breaks them up, or anything. And if they are together... I don't like the idea of anybody cheating on my little brother... should talk to Milphey too I guess, see if I can find out his motives. I just don't get why he'd randomly do the oral sex bit, especially not if he was in a relationship with Marron!"

 

Gateau didn't like the idea of anybody cheating on Marron either, especially not if, provided they were in that sort of relationship in the first place, Marron trusted Milphey enough for that sort of thing... Gateau was painfully aware that he'd been somehow inadequate for Marron, though he'd never quite managed to find out just how. If there were things about Milphey that Marron could accept that he hadn't been able to do so from Gateau... what things? Just what had Milphey been able to do or say that was better than anything Gateau had ever managed?

 

That was, of course, assuming that they were in that kind of situation in the first place. Nobody said that they were.

 

Nobody said that they weren't, either.