Pt 1

From Lavosbyssals

cause i'd rather feel pain than nothing at all
you're sick of feeling numb
you're not the only one
i'll take you by the hand
and i'll show you a world that you can understand
-Three Days Grace, "Pain"

"Stop threatening my sexuality!" the tall, blue-haired man protested to the slim, delicate redhead who was currently draped all over his lap, wiggling a bit. He could feel familiar heat pooling in sensitive regions, and that discomfited him a little: he was pretty sure that the redhead in his lap was a boy, and he wasn't attracted to men.

The boy blinked up at him with wide, pretty green eyes (Lost Butterfly Maiden, Lingering Smoke recalled: Cynis Falen Sarien, the boy with the girl's title), as if confused, and Lingering Smoke mock-glared at him, laying a hand on hisslender chest. "What do you think you're doing?"

The redhead tilted his head, birdlike, at Smoke. "Sitting in your lap~" he replied coyly, alto voice even.

"Do you do this regularly, or are you just in a good mood?" Smoke paused, and hastily added, "Wait, I don't want to know that."

In addition to the fact that Sarien was a boy, he also looked rather youthful, which only added to the uncomfortable feeling currently swirling around his inside somewhere. He looked to be fourteen, barely, barely, fifteen at the most, and while most fourteen-year old boys weren't almost six feet tall, it still bothered him, vaguely.

"How old are you, again?" he asked. Sarien giggled, a high sweet sound.

"Nineteen~"

"Oh, yeah, I've heard that one before." Smoke said skeptically. "You don't look nineteen. And are you flirting with me?"

"I've never looked my age~" Sarien giggled, and draped himself more over Smoke. "Do you think so~"

"I think-" Smoke said, steeling himself against the too-distracting wiggling, "You're going about this completely the wrong way."

Nimbly, he lightly pushed himself out from under Sarien, turning to face him. "Here's a better idea." With a bow and a flourish, he introduced himself, "Hi, I'm Smoke. I'm straight. How are you?"

"Sarien~" the redhead tilted his head birdlike the other way, spill of long, loose red hair (and there was quite a lot of it) falling over one slim shoulder. "Um, alright~"

Smoke nearly facepalmed. "Uhm. So if you were trying to flirt with me... you're a guy, aren't you?" he paused, and added, "...To some extent or another?"

Sarien giggled again. "Yes, but I can be a girl, too~"

Smoke paused for one long moment, considering the...possibilities.

"Really?" he said, one eyebrow quirking a bit.

Abruptly, Sarien's figure curved a little more-up his sleeves,Smoke caught a glimpse of a peach-colored, almond-shaped stone set in delicately worked bracers-and he...no, she, inhaled a bit, drawing his attention to her modest bosom for a moment, before he looked back at her face. "Is this more pleasing to look upon~?" She still had boyishly narrow hips, and not much of a bosom, but she curved just enough to tell that she was now a girl, and not a very feminine boy.

Smoke blinked. "That is a neat trick." he said. Sarien giggled: her voice hadn't changed at all, that he could tell.

"It is~" she agreed, and as she breathed, Smoke was getting quite a nice eyeful of what cleavage she did possess: her robes were translucent, and had hid barely anything when she was a boy, and now that she was a girl, it was worse. He could see nearly all of her breasts through the thin, clinging fabric: they were nice, if rather small, but perfectly formed. "Well, hell, I can't say you're not attractive..." Smoke was careful to keep his eyes on her face and not on her breasts. "Are you teasing?"

"Maybe~" Sarien giggled, trying to play the game, trying to get him to go along and not ask too many questions, the memories were getting too, too close, she needed something to make them go away and alcohol wasn't doing it for her.

"Maaaaybe?" Smoke grinned, a wide, infectious grin. "And what is that maybe dependent upon, exactly?"

"What you want~"

"Hm, I have to say there are quite a few things I want right now... and since I don't think I'm going to get world peace within the next several hours..." Smoke trailed off, to see Sarien's reaction.

"Then I'm not just teasing~" she giggled.

"Heh." Smoke grinned more. "There is, ah, one thing? You remember they said we're probably going to be working together, right?"

"Yes~" Sarien replied, looking up at him through veiled lashes. Even though they were the same height, just shy of six feet, she somehow managed to position herself so that she was looking up at him, rather then directly in the eye.

"And that whole..." Smoke waved his hand vaguely, "seeing each other in the morning thing, hey, I'm not averse to it necessarily, but I know some people... so I just feel the need to ask." he paused. "But if that doesn't bother you... hell, sounds alright to me."

"No, it doesn't~" Why would it bother her, really?

"Then I suppose I'd like to accept your proposition." Smoke said, and rested his hand on top of Sarien's head. Sarien smiled up at him sweetly.