Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ The Fall of the House of Usher ❯ In a Kingdom by the Sea ( Chapter 2 )

Title: In a Kingdom by the Sea

Author: Crazy Miko

Chapter: N/A

Warnings: Potential yaoi, OOC Aya

Pairings: YoujixAya

Summary: A week after spending the night with an upset Aya, Youji takes the opportunity to press for something more.

Disclaimer: I do not own Weiss Kreuz; it belongs to Koyasu Takehito among others. The titles and any further references to the works of Edgar Allen Poe are his property.

In a Kingdom by the Sea

It's been a week since I spent the night with Aya. He hasn't said anything one way or another on it, he's just been acting like it never happened. All he's done this week is stay in his room and listen to his music. He won't listen to that one song though, every time it comes up on his CD player he turns it off. I think he's still upset about that night, afraid that losing face once will change my opinion on him. To be truthful it did, but not in a bad way like he's worried about. It just helped me see that there was a little more to him than what he decides to show us on occasion. Fortunately or unfortunately it also made me realize that I like what I see. I like Aya, more than I thought I ever would. It's like I'm meeting him all over again, and this time I'm falling in love with the idiot. I can't push him though; I told him he would decide where to take things.

~~~~~

After his shift Aya walks over to me and gives me a searching look before making that `hn' sound of his and going up to his room. I grin, that's as much of an invitation that Aya ever gives anyone. I take the stairs two at a time so I can get to his room quicker. I knock on his door and he tells me it's unlocked. I let myself in, he's sitting in his chair by the window, and one of his books lie closed in his lap. He crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow, clearly wondering why I took him up on his unspoken invitation. Idiot, doesn't he know I've been waiting all week for it? I lean on the door frame and ask if he wants to come to dinner with me, my date cancelled and I don't want to waste the reservations. He thinks it over and uncrosses his arms before nodding yes and picking up his book. I wink at him even though he doesn't see it and tell him that I'll meet him in the kitchen at seven. He makes a noncommittal noise before turning a page in his book. I wish he would just say when he wants me to leave; I hate this type of dismissal.

~~~~

Maybe I should have made up a different story, I'm sure Touma had to pull a lot of strings to get me this reservation. I really owe the guy; I can't just keep blackmailing him every time I need something. Well, I could, but I'm running out of material. I hope Aya appreciates this though; most of my dates never get taken to a nice seaside restaurant. But, I meet most of them at clubs. I'm going to stop that train of thought right now, it's getting nowhere. Aya's already in the kitchen by the time I get down there. Judging by his expression he didn't know I owned something besides my work clothes and clubbing clothes. I think I'm offended, how could I be such a great playboy if I don't know how to wine and dine my dates? I say that to Aya and he snorts, I think that's his version of a laugh.

I take my keys off the rack but he tells me to wait, he wants to take his car tonight. I nod and put my keys back, this is all up to Aya. I comment on his outfit as he takes his keys off the rack. He looks skeptical, wondering if I'm just feeding him lines no doubt. I flash him one of my best smiles and ask he how he's healing. He looks confused for a moment until I say I was asking about his wrist. He says it's almost healed; the cut wasn't as deep as it seemed. When I look again I can see a bit of a bandage peeking out from his sleeve, I don't believe him for a minute. It was a very deep cut, it couldn't have healed completely by now, and the bandage proves it. Well, it could have, but not with the way Aya takes care of things. The man has no regard for his health besides the very basics, it's a wonder he hasn't caused himself irreversible damage yet.

We get in his car and he switches on the radio. For once Aya obeys the speed limit and the traffic laws; I feel my chances of living to see tomorrow dramatically increase. Aya doesn't talk, occasionally he looks at me in the mirror but he stays quiet. I debate on whether or not I'm allowed to smoke in his car. Aya knows what I'm thinking; he glares at me when I reach for my lighter. I sigh and lean back into the soft seat, Aya is so uptight. A little smoke won't hurt the leather. The drive is uneventful; the car would be silent without the radio's unintelligible mumbling. Every time I open my mouth to say something, nothing comes out. I'm not sure how to start a meaningless conversation with Aya; he's not much of a person for small talk. I don't really know what interests him either, I don't really know that much about him come to think of it. I mean, I know the basics and a few things here and there. I just don't know how much I can push Aya.

Aya pulls into one of the spots on the far side of the parking lot, probably hoping that since no one wants to park there no one will hit his car. I think he loves that car almost as much as his sister, I could swear he was talking to it the time I passed by when he was cleaning the interior. I know for a fact that he orders special leather cleaner from the dealership to clean the seats with. I get out and he locks the door, even the beep the alarm makes sounds perfect if not a little different. I'm willing to bet he has all sorts of "special" security on that car. We walk inside and a hostess materializes from no where to ask for our reservation. I give her my name and she looks down to scan her list. Finding my name penciled in on the bottom she nods and leads us to our table. She takes us to the quieter area of the restaurant and seats us by the window. I really need to thank Touma, as soon as I have time I'll send him a nice gift.

I sort of wish I could take Aya to Jess' again but I want his first real date to be enjoyable. Omi told me this place was Aya's favorite, how he found out I'll never know. The chibi has methods that us mere mortals cannot even begin to fathom. Aya looks very interested in the menu, probably comparing it to what it was when he was here last. Places like this change their menu as often as I change my clothes. I can't understand why people like to come to this type of place on a regular basis. It's sort of expensive, crawling with upper middle class, and the food is just as good as somewhere like Jess'. But, if this is what Aya likes this is what Aya will get.

Abruptly, Aya puts down his menu and asks me what I want from him. I smile and tell him I'll take whatever he'll give me. He gives me one of those really penetrating looks of his before raising his menu again. He's hiding his face from view; I guess he doesn't want me to see his expressions while he puzzles through what I said. I suppose he has reason, one of my smarter girlfriends once said that the words of a playboy are cheap. Aya's probably deciding whether or not he thinks I'm making another joke. My reputation precedes me it seems, this time I wish it hadn't.

We order and I try once again to make small talk with Aya, he just nods and sips on the complementary tea the waitress had brought us when she came. I give up on it after a few minutes; Aya just turns and watches the ocean with a hint of a small on his face. I haven't had such an awkward date since high school; I just don't know how to handle a date with such a quiet person. Last week didn't really count, that was more of a night out with a friend. Actually, it's kind of strange in a way. To think that two of Weiss were gay or bisexual, may there is something to that florist stereotype. Maybe it's the whole teammate relationship thing that's making this so awkward.

I wonder what the kids are up to, Ken mentioned a game but Omi's plans are a mystery. He didn't tell anyone what his plans were for tonight, he's probably going out with that classmate of his again. Omi must be having a high school crush, how cute. The chibi probably doesn't want us to know he's seeing someone, but a kid can only `study' with a friend so much before it becomes suspicious. Well, I just hope he's having better luck than I am with his date. I wish I had taken Aya dancing, I'd think he'd be good at it with all his sword stuff. Too bad I don't know if Aya likes to dance, it would have been more awkward if I took him and he didn't.

Our food finally comes, Aya ordered fish again. He almost looks happy when he begins to cut the fillet into small evenly sized pieces. He places the first bite in his mouth and his eyes droop a little as he slowly chews it. He must have really missed this place; I'll have to remember that. I suppose with his sister he doesn't really have the money to be eating at a place like this all that often on top of maintaining his Porsche like he does. My food is good, but I still like Jess' cooking better. I ask him how his meal is and he says that it is very good. After that there is yet another awkward silence before he asks me how my steak is. I tell him that it needs to be fried and covered in gravy, he looks absolutely disgusted. Aya stabs at his fish with his fork and mutters something about Americans and confused half-breeds. Aya's sense of humor must be rubbing off on me; I wouldn't have found it funny if anyone else had referred to me as a `half breed'.

The rest of the dinner passes with some light conversation about music and other such topics. Aya becomes noticeably more relaxed as the meal wears on and he starts to be comfortable around me. I wave the waitress over and hand her my card, this time Aya can't pay for himself. The little jerk doesn't understand that I want to pay for him when I invite him out like this. Aya glares at me though his gaze is lacking its usual venom. He finishes off the last pieces of his fish and the waitress brings back my card. We walk out of the restaurant and I catch Touma sending me a thumbs up from near the kitchen. For all the things I put the man through he really is a great friend to have. We get into Aya's car but he doesn't turn the key in the ignition. He turns to me and asks what I want to do now; it's too early to be going back to the Koneko. For a moment I consider giving the directions to one of my favorite clubs but instead I settle on a movie. Might as well follow the cliché, Aya would probably enjoy it more.

Aya drives us to one the more popular theaters for teenagers, probably the only place he went to with Aya-chan. He probably was very indulgent and sat through all the sappy love stories his little sister wanted to see. I trail behind him and let him chose the movie, he picks one of the new action films. I was afraid he was going to pick a romance; he stared at the poster advertising them for a minute, probably remembering Aya-chan. He pays for both our tickets, now I get to protest. I asked him out, not the other way around. I satisfy myself with buying us some snacks though, what's a movie without some American buttery popcorn? We sit in the near the back, sandwiched in between the kids making out and those who actually want to see the movie. This showing is crowded, but Aya and I managed to keep three seats on each side of us empty. The movie is the standard imported Hollywood fare, complete with love interest and bordering on cheesy dramatic music. Neither of us are really watching it, we spend the entire movie pointing out flaws in the fight sequences…well, I point them out and Aya nods every once in awhile. Occasionally he comments on something but he seems perfectly content to sit back and watch the show. I guess he hasn't seen a movie since the explosion.

The rest of the movie is actually kind of fun, Aya almost smiled when I started throwing some popcorn at the couple a few rows in front of us making out. If they're going to make out they could at least have the decency to go to the back row, then people like me wouldn't be tempted to interrupt them. I have very good aim; they never knew where it came from. Aya holds up his hand for me to stop and picks a piece of popcorn out of the bag I'm holding. He closes one eye and sends the popcorn flying, it sticks in the boy's hair where he can't see it. I snicker and get a piece and launch it at the girl. Now we're competing to see who can get the most popcorn on the couple before they notice. I bet Aya used to do this when he went out with his friends, why else would he know how to throw popcorn? After we exhaust half of the bag, the couple finally notices when an errant kernel hit the girl's cheek. I shouldn't be throwing stuff at teenagers but it's too much fun and Aya's enjoying it. The girl gasped when she saw her boyfriend and dragged him out of the theater; they'll be picking the popcorn out of their hair for hours.

We both leave the movie in a good mood; I do impressions of the girl to amuse Aya. He suppresses a smile and asks if I had anything else planned. I wink at him and ask what kind of plans he's talking about. He gives me what passes as an exasperated look for him and says he meant are we going anywhere else. While leering at him I say that there are many places we can go and many things we could do. I don't want to annoy him that much though, so I stop and ask if he wants to go get some ice cream. He says that's fine and I lead him to a little shop I'm sure he knows well. When we get there it's packed with the same people that were in the movie with us, even the couple is sitting at a booth and trying to salvage their date. The girl missed one, there's a piece of popcorn stuck on the dead center of the back of her head. I snicker and point it out to Aya, he smirks and points out the boy missed a few. I guess he won that game then, oh well. After we're served, we take our ice cream outside and eat it while we walk. Aya digs his spoon into his cup green tea ice cream while I eat my chocolate from a cone. I wish he had gotten a cone; it's funny to watch him try and eat them.

I'm not sure how long we've been walking, we finished our ice cream awhile ago and now we're just wandering around. A lot of things are closed now, there's not much to do. I don't think Aya wants to go home yet either, I've just got to think of somewhere else we can go. A neon sign catches my eye and I pull Aya in its direction, I may be able to weasel some clubbing out of this yet. Aya points out that we're not dressed right for such an activity but I tell him this isn't one of the clubs I normally go to, it's more or less a bar with some dancing. I tell him what we're wearing is fine. Aya hns but allows me to drag him inside. It's not really a club, it's sort of a bar that added a dance floor and became a popular hangout. I wave to a few friends as I lead Aya to one of the quieter corners. The bartender calls out when we walk past the bar, you can only drink so much before you have to make friends with them. I wave back at him and tell Aya to sit in the seat on the end. He does so grudgingly, but he does it. The fact he hasn't stormed out is enough for me, he has to be enjoying this on some level.

Aya sips his drink quietly while I tell him about the bar and some of the people here. Occasionally he points to someone in the crowd and ask that's who I'm talking about. He's surprisingly accurate; he's 3 for 5 so far. This was a good night to come; they've been playing most of my favorites. Maybe I can get Aya out there in a little while. It's not like this is the first time we've ever done something together. He has to like me enough to let me have a dance, right? Besides, why else would I drag him in here? Aya's smart, I'm sure he's figured it out by now.

Aya sighs when I ask him to dance, but he gets off the stool and follows me onto the floor. It's a full house tonight so he's forced to stay close to me if he doesn't want to get lost. I pull him into one of the less crowded corners and start dancing. He gives me a look that's a cross between amusement and exasperation. I tell him to loosen up and go with the music, but Aya just looks at me. Good naturedly I pick up Aya's hands and move them in time to the music while drawing him closer to me. He growls and snatches them away from me and starts to move while trying to pick out the beat. Finding it, he begins to dance opposite of me and mimicking my moves. His steps are kind of hesitant, but I guess that's because he hasn't danced since the explosion. An experienced dancer like me can tell that he'd be good if he practiced regularly.

Time flies when you're having fun as the saying goes. I picked up so many pointless English phrases from my dad its shocking. My friends laugh whenever I accidentally let one slip; they tend to ruin the suave playboy image. But hey, how many of them can say those phrases with nearly accent less English. Being familiar with some American sayings has helped a great deal when I dated foreigners. Anyway, Aya lets me keep him on the dance floor for about two hours before he rather forcibly pulls me away from it. I guess he just remembered that enjoying himself goes against everything he's ever done to drive us away. Jerk, I was having fun too.

We walk back to the car in silence. The streets are pretty empty and quiet except for the occasional pachinko parlor. Dating Aya is weird, he can't make up his mind on whether or not he's allowed to enjoy himself. This is probably going to lead to the longest string of intimacy-less dates I've had since high school. Then again, even if I didn't leave the pace up to Aya he'd still either ignore me or skewer me if I crossed certain lines. Tonight's been productive though, I got to see some more of what Aya was like before he joined up with Kritiker. Contrary to what some may think you can't "forget" who you were for most of your life; you only bury them. Aya did a shoddy job of burying Ran, he shows through a lot more than Aya likes to think. I think I'm the only one who notices, Omi and Ken don't really try to push past the first layer of prickliness that is Aya's usual self. But, they're busy enough with their own life that poking their noses into Aya's is not something they want to do. Aya indirectly dragged me into this, but I'm not complaining about it.

The ride home is a little bit more exciting, Aya asks me if this is what I wanted. I tell him once again that I want whatever he'll give me. He looks confused and doesn't say anything but I don't want to drop the subject quite yet. I turn so I'm facing him and he watches me carefully out of the corner of his eye. I ask him why he wants to know what I want; why does it matter to him. He doesn't answer so I keep pressing. I ask him what he wants from this then lean back in my seat and look at him triumphantly as he tries to think of an answer. He doesn't say anything before we pull into the garage, then he tells me that he isn't sure what he wants. I shake my head and get out of the car, this is better than I expected.

I follow him up to his room and he stands in front of his door and asks if there was something else I wanted. I pretend to think it over a moment before grinning and leaning down to give him a quick goodnight kiss followed shortly with a very hasty retreat to my own room. I know I crossed a line there but I couldn't let the opportunity go, that little gesture of affection will give Aya something to chew on for the next couple weeks while he figures out this relationship we have going. After a minute I finally hear Aya swear and slam his door. His reaction time needs work. It's not long before he has his katana out and he's slicing at the air with a vengeance, probably imagining it's me. I'll have to make myself scarce in the morning; Aya's usual isn't rational until about two days or so after an incident. This is perfect timing though, I've been meaning to go out and run errands.

~~End In a Kingdom by the Sea~~

I am ashamed of this fic but the timeline must go on. This fic was originally meant for a fanzine but seeing as nothing had happened and Nekojita as already posted her submission I figured this one was overdue. I apologize for the probable drop in quality but this is one of my earlier writings and I did not want to tamper with it too much.