Tekken Fan Fiction ❯ The Stone Lotus ❯ Chapter Seven ( Chapter 7 )

Chapter Seven

"Hey, you want breakfast?" Paul asked nudging Lei lightly. The detective groaned and turned on his side as he pulled the covers he was under up to his chin. "...Guess not."

"Give me fifteen minutes," murmured Lei as he made himself comfortable again; his breathing slowed, and he drifted back into sleep. The biker shrugged and tiptoed out of the room to let his guest be.

It was was bright and clear that morning, and Paul's little home was lit up by the blank, hot sunlight slicing through the open blinds throughout the house. He went down the hall and into the kitchen, where a bit of breakfast was made; again, he wasn't used to having guests over, and normally wouldn't had bothered making anything. However, there was some bacon laid out on a plate and and some toast. Paul grabbed a couple pieces of both and made a quick sandwich before heading back into the living room.

On the couch, Paul's financial books were opened; he had been working on taxes for the summer, partially disappointed in the little business his garage had had recently. At the same time, however, he was enjoying the extra free time. The biker sat down, made himself comfortable, and took a large bite out of his sandwich as he read over his notes for the third time that day.

He hated Sundays. It always seemed like there was something missing for him on that day of the week particularly. He found long ago that it wasn't church, since church had done little for him through life. Between his father's suicide and Nina, Paul really didn't see a point in going anymore: no matter how long he prayed and sat in a pew, the worst happened.

Paul glanced over his shoulder towards the hallway and smiled to himself before taking another bite of his meal. He did rather like having Lei over, even though the detective seemed to be depressed about something. Lei had said little about why he came back to Dreyfus, and Paul had no desire to ask. He just enjoyed the company.

The doorbell buzzed once, and Paul looked back over his his shoulder at the front door and frowned. Another ring, and he stood up to answer the door; he placed his sandwich on a plate as he passed the kitchen counter on his way to the front room.

His frown deepened when he opened the door.

"Yes?" he asked. The woman standing before him had been looking behind her shoulder, and she jumped at the sound of Paul's raspy voice. She turned back and smiled nervously at the blond.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you, sir?" she asked. He shook his head and discreetly looked the woman up and down. She was a waif Asian woman, her hair cut in a neat bob and bleached red, and she wore a tailored black pants suit and heels. In her hands, she clutched a little black address book to her chest. Paul arched a brow when he saw her face; she reminded him a bit of Jun Kazama.

He chuckled and leaned in the doorway, "Not at all." The woman flashed a nervous grin at the biker and tried to relax a bit. "So, you need something?"

"I'm looking for someone."

"Oh?" Paul replied, crossing his arms.

She nodded, "I found your address in this book...and that's his car in your driveway--"

"--Wenny?" Paul glanced over at Lei when he heard the detective's voice. Lei rushed over to the door to greet his would-be finaceé.

"Lei," she sighed with relief. "I was worried... Chancey is looking for you, and I hadn't heard from you since the other night--" Wenjun stopped herself and glanced over at Paul, who again lifted a brow at her.

"Oh, I should probably leave you two alone, eh?" the biker chuckled as he pulled away from where he was resting, stretching a bit before turning around to head back into the house. "Fine, fine, kick a man out of his own house. I see how it is," he added in a playful whine as he strolled out of the room, hands behind his head. Lei's eyes followed the biker, who disappeared into the kitchen to retrieve his sandwich, and the detective smiled to himself and shook his head before turning his attention back to Wenjun.

She smiled discreetly at Lei when his eyes met hers, "Your friend is quite the character."

"Yeah, that he is," he responded sofly; he stepped outside and latched the door behind him shut. His eyes dropped to the book she was still gripping.

"What's wrong, Wenny?" Lei asked then, his face darkening. "I know you didn't just fly all the way here to tell me that Chief Chancey's looking for me." He grinned a bit as a pleasant thought came to him, "Especially since Paul's phone number is in that book."

Wenjun frowned a bit, "Well, it was that important... Lei, they're--" She stopped and skewed her mouth a bit in frustration, and her fingers drummed against the leather book. The detective sighed and gestured at her, urging the younger woman to finish.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "Lei, they're reopening that Kazama murder case. Chancey wants you on it immediately."

There was no response from Lei. Instead, he closed his eyes and let out a shakey sigh. He then leaned back on the front door.

Finally, he whispered, "I don't think I can go through that again."

"That's what I told him!" Wenjun sighed a relieved grin, before hugging his neck. Lei's arms stayed limp at his sides, however.

She pulled away, "He was just going to call and tell you to stay down here, then he'd just send you the materials you need, and...and...your badge." Lei opened his eyes and stared blankly at the woman before him as she continued, "It was just so much stress on you, and you were gone for so long, and--"

"--Why are you here?"

Her eyes teared up, "I wanted to say this face to face...Lei, come home." She hugged him again then buried her face in his neck to cry. "Come home. Finish up your holiday with me... They'll put Edward on that case, and we'll won't have to worry--"

"--Ed?" Lei groaned, pushing the woman away, "Ed fucking Drummond?" The older man then buried his face in his palms. "Just when I thought my life couldn't get any worse, you bring up fucking Ed?"

"Well, who else would Chancey put on this?" She bit her bottom lip and tried to hug him again. He pushed her arms away.

"You have to forgive me for not being happy with you mentioning the bastard I caught you fucking around with, Wenny," he said, crossing his arms.

"We can work through this!" she cried. "Lei, we've been through too much together--"

Lei narrowed his eyes and hissed in a dangerously calm voice, "--You should had thought about that before you decided to fuck my partner in my bed, in my apartment."

With that comment, Wenjun's face hardened. She straightened up and cleared her throat a bit before looking her ex straight in the eyes.

"What was I supposed to do, huh?" she replied coolly. "Every single night, Lei, every single goddamned night, I'd lie in bed alone wondering where the fuck you were, if something had happened to you, if you were hurt. Or worse." She placed her hands on her hips, address book still in hand, "And then when you took up that case involving that Kazama boy, I didn't even know who you were anymore."

Lei rolled his eyes, "Christ, Wenny, you know that's what being a cop is about."

"It's not supposed to be an obsession, Lei!" blurted Wenjun as she balled her hands up in to fists. Tears rolled down her cheeks. "It's...it's not supposed to consume a person like that."

"It wasn't an obsession, it was an obligation," he replied quietly.

"And you don't have an obligation to me?"

Lei blinked, not sure what to respond with. He was silent for a moment and looked away.

Finally, he replied, "I have something I want to show you." His eyes still refused to look at her, and he turned to open the front door. "Wait out here here."

Paul looked up from where he was reading in the living room as Lei marched past him and down the hall, then watched as Lei reappeared, his hand in a fist, and went back out the front door, slamming it. The biker then cringed and went back to his books.

"Oh, good, you're still here," the detective mumbled sardonically as he yanked the door shut. "You want an answer for your question?"

Wenjun nodded in silence. she sniffed once and brought a palm up to her face to wipe away her tears; her eyes were still watery and red, however. She then looked up at Lei, keeping her gaze as steady as she could, though he could tell she was fighting off more tears. His glare softened, then with a heavy huff, the detective gingerly held the younger woman's free hand only to gently open it and dropped what he held in his fist in her palm: the ring he had bought for her.

She gasped, accidentally dropping the address book in shock. Her lower lip quivered as she brought her now free hand to her mouth, her gaze still fixated at the diamond ring in her other hand.

"You're right," Lei said quietly. "I do have an obligation to you. I never forgot that." She was still silent. "But--" he plucked the ring out from her palm, "--This case comes first."

"Lei...I'm..." Her head was down as her shoulders hunched up to cry.

He shook his head, "Don't say anything else. You've said more than enough." She looked up, her face tearstreaked.

Lei then smiled at the younger woman and held the ring out between his thumb and forefinger and eyed it. "After that, there won't be any distractions. Just you and me." She nodded once slowly. Then with a flick of his wrist, the older man flung the ring up then snatched it out of the air with the same hand.

He added with a sheepish grin, "That is, if we even want to by then." Lei then shoved his hand with the ring into his pocket. "Go home, Wenny."

With that, he turned and went back inside, leaving Wenjun to herself.

Lei latched the door shut behind him then pressed his back against with a heavy sigh. Paul looked up again from his books.

"You okay, man?" the blond asked, shutting the large binder he had been marking in closed.

The other man nodded once stiffly and pulled away from the door to join the biker in the living room.

"Yeah...woman trouble."

"Heh, I know how that goes..." Paul chuckled as Lei came around the couch to sit. "So, that was your girlfriend?"

Lei gave a weak nod before completely slumping down on the couch, "Yeah."

"She's cute. Reminds me a lot of Jun in the face."

"Heh..." The detective rubbed his temples painfully, "Christ, I never even thought of it like that..."

Paul lifted a brow, "Hm?"

"Nothing."

"Right...," Paul smirked to himself, "You need to relax some, it's Sunday."

"I don't see that happening anytime soon..." Lei mumbled as he slid his hands down from his temples to bury his face in his palms. "Besides, it's not like you're not working."

"Eh, it's just filling in numbers and dates," the biker shrugged. "It's like doing a crossword puzzle with the answers in front of you, only not as fun."

"Heh heh...fun...I don't remember the last time I did something for fun..."

"Really?" Paul glanced over at the hallway then back at the other man; his smirk grew, "So, how long are you off-duty?"

The detective turned his head towards the biker and opened his fingers to peek through his hands, "I guess until I call my boss in the morning. Why?"

There was moment of awkward silence, which was broken by Paul's chuckling. Steadily, his laughter grew until he was leaning back in his seat covering his face as he cackled loudly. Lei pulled his hands from his face then slowly straightened up in his seat, brow arched at the man roaring next to him.

"What's so funny?" the detective asked. The only response was more laughter.

It took a few moments for Paul to control himself; when he sat up, his face was red and he was still snickering a bit.

"I think," he said, choking back laughter, "I have something fun for us to do."

*****

The ceiling blurred then focus again.

"Shit..." Lei murmured lazily under his breath, squinting his eyes again as he tried to concentrate on one spot. However, he found that it was too difficult, considering how smooth the white sheetrock of the ceiling was. So instead, he closed his eyes.

The detective was shirtless and sprawled out on the living room floor next to Paul, who also shirtless and humming to himself softly. What the song was, Lei couldn't tell, but he smiled and found himself trying to hum along in vain. He gave up, choosing to listen to his companion.

Lei strained his ears; it almost sounded like Paul was in the other room or even outside the house as the biker's voice grew faint and far off. The detective slowly opened his eyes and turned to look over at the blond, who was sitting up now and silent. This alarmed Lei; however, he couldn't be bothered to sit up right away.

"What's wrong?" he asked slowly. Again, his vision blurred as he concentrate on Paul; he fought all urges to close his eyes.

Paul glanced over his shoulder at the other man, "Nothing at all."

"Right..." Lei chuckled, his voice trailing a bit as he finally willed himself to sit up, although slowly.

"Want me to roll up another one?"

"No, I think we've had enough," said Lei as he crawled over to the blond and collasped in front of him. He stared up at Paul and frowned, "Now, what's wrong?"

Paul shifted a bit and stretched out on his back next to his companion; he stared up at the ceiling, gaze unfocused and hazy. His chest moved up and down slowly as he breathed.

He glanced over at Lei; their eyes met for a second, which caused the biker to chuckle a bit before rolling his eyes up to stare at the ceiling again.

"What were you and whatsherface arguing about?" he asked, stretching out every word.

Lei grinned and turned his head towards Paul once more, "Everything."

"You going to marry her someday?"

"Nope." The blond blinked then started snickering again. With a final laugh, he turned his head towards the other man, also grinning.

"I wanted to get married once."

"Me too...but not to her." Paul started cackling again. A lock of his hair fell into his eyes,and he brought up a hand to swipe it away. However, it fell back.

"To who then?"

There was silence for a moment, yet Lei smiled remorsefully at the other man. His vision suddenly focused. Everything was clear and crisp now, and he stared at Paul, fascinated for a moment. In the back of his head, he could hear a voice asking why the hell he was staring so hard at another man. However, the voice's reasoning was a lost cause. Lei just continued to grin.

"Not going to tell me?" the blond asked, laughing.

"Jun Kazama."

Paul smiled, "Figures."

"She was...perfect," Lei's smile became almost blissful.

"Except for that whole fucking Kazuya Mishima thing, huh?"

Lei frowned and looked up at the ceiling, "And she was flighty."

"I know," the blond said quietly, and his smile disappeared. "I found that out the hard way."

"How's that?"

A small, pained grin broke on the biker's face when Lei turned to look at him again. Yet he was silent.

The detective blinked and sat up, "Oh, wow... Don't tell me she pulled that shit on you too?"

"It probably wasn't as bad as when she left you, man."

"Yeah...and then there was Jin." Lei sat up, rubbed his eyes, then leaned over Paul. The biker stared up at the other man, who frowned down at him. "He could had been my son..."

"But he wasn't. And, fuck, it doesn't matter, Lei."

"I guess you're right, but Christ! Kazuya Mishima, who would had thought?"

Paul frowned a bit, "Didn't surprise me at all. I'm just glad Jin turned out to be a good kid." He then smiled weakly, "He could had been a fucking nutcase, like his dad."

"Or the Anti-Christ."

"Or the Anti-Christ," the blond repeated, laughing. Lei shook his head and began laughing as well. Paul then sat up slowly, then stretched; he was starting to feel his high come down but was hitting that point between complete soberness and being stoned. The point where was a complete understanding of everything: the world, the meaning of life. His surroundings were suddenly more peaceful than he remembered. So much detail and beauty in something as simple as the white color of his walls, or in how the afternoon sunlight was streaming through the blinds and dividing the floor into perfect strips of light and shadow. Even the sounds he heard were like fine music. Songbirds, the blowing and rattling of the air conditioning, the ticking of the clock in the other room, and laughter from another person.

The laughter of another person.

Humanity, that was what he missed on Sundays.

"So, do you often smoke up with cops?" the detective chuckled when he finally got his laughter under control.

"Only on special occasions."

"Right..."

The two men glanced up at each other, and their eyes locked again for a moment, then Lei hunched over and started laughing again. However, Paul was silent, and he smiled fondly at the other man.

Lei grinned back, "What?"

"Hey, um, thanks," the blond replied.

"For what? Not turning you in for possession of an illegal substance?" the other man cackled.

"No, just for coming over," Paul shrugged.

"No, thank you for letting me stay." Lei's smile softened, "I really appreciate it."