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There was quiet around the king’s little home among the
Patch. Most people avoided it unless there was business to be had, which was
why she was carrying her bundle of needles, inks, and various other tools up to
the place. Life thrived there oddly enough, vines twisting about the home
making it look more it was made of plants instead of plaster. Arriving to the
door, she hesitated, brushing sunny hair from her face and tucked it behind her
ears. There was not a chance to knock though, as the door opened and before her
stood their king only wearing a pair of pants, chest bare for all to see.
“Ah, so you must be the one that is going to give me the
tattoo…” he looked her over and shrugged dismissively, “At least you won’t be
distracting.” The girl had potential but not much for ability, making her
useless overall. The long brown haired shaman shuffled back into the home
calling back, “You may enter.”
Champagne looked onward for a little while before following
after him. She watched all of the matches and saw that he seemed unhappier at
that moment than in a fight. One would think that a person would be happy being
the Shaman King. Power was not everything.
The place was without
decoration except for what came standard with any of the homes. Seating areas,
a fire pit, the small kitchen and simple wooden table with wooden chairs. Hao
was sprawled out on the couch with a devil-may-care expression, dark eyes
peering at her. Hair trailed over his shoulders, framing the thin body that was
built from frequent fighting, scars etched permanently into skin. Just as he
was studying her, she was studying him in return. The girl appeared pretty enough
although she was not drop dead stunning. There were round eyes that shone with
life and hair let loose to dance with her every movements, much too happy to be
distracting to him he decided.
Besides he had been tricked by those kinds of eyes before.
The girl laid out her tools and pulled a small sketch book and started drawing
in it without a word to him. Silence reigned and while although he preferred
guests to stop their pointless chatter, her quiet was simply maddening. Eyes
peered over and she would return to her book to sketch once more. Impatience
sparked and he pushed himself from the couch, snatching the book away from her
causing charcoal to be dragged across paper.
As he leafed through it, he waited for the demand to return
the book. The eyes full of pain and animosity while trying to threaten him into
giving it back. Instead, she sat patiently and watched seemingly without a
care, hands folded on her lap as she held onto the charcoal. Finally, her voice
was drawn out, “I was drawing you a phoenix since it symbolizes rebirth and
fire. It appeared to suit you. Although I can change it if you do not like it.”
Voice was soft and gentle, catching him off guard before he looked over the
page, tracing every line of detail of the bird. Life was given to it, looking
as though it could fly off of the page.
Tossing it back to her, he shrugged, “It will have to do.”
His apathetic mood was going to be difficult to keep if she continued to act as
she was. Most Patch began shouting at him. Blaming him for the terrible crimes
he committed. Some had even begun to cry at his actions of being so cold. This
one was acting calm, voice soft and gentle.
It was professional, “As you wish.” Hands picked up the
notebook to turn the pages until the drawing was at the top, “Would you prefer
it on your chest or back?” Bright inquiring eyes stayed on him. His answer was
in the motions, moving to lay a cover on the floor then laying with his back
against the floor, crossing arms behind his head as a pillow. Then he looked at her once more, waiting
impatiently.
Tools were grabbed, her toting over a little generator with
a tooled needle and black ink, “If you want this in color I can always come
back another time then…” Girl was seated then the quiet buzzing as he watched
her unhesitatingly curl over his chest, running fingers along the ‘canvas’ that
was his skin. It should have not brought life to his skin as it did, life
tracing through it from the touch of one who could not move souls.
The girl was too distracted to see his faltering expression
as silken hair curtained across the body and the gentle stings began as she
started the art on his chest, “You can keep breathing you know. I won’t mess
up.” There it was again, the song-like voice whispering into the air making him
curious. Words sank in and he realized he indeed stopped taking breaths.
When had he done that? Slowly, he took a breath and allowed
her to continue her work, the silence filling the home except for the buzzing
and breathing. Her particular brand of silence was uncomfortable. It could not
due to her voice being like little rays of sunshine in the dawn, both haunting
and hopeful.
“What is your name?” He demanded rather than asked, trying
to see past the hair to catch sight of the eyes fluttering slightly with every
movement and detail.
There was a pause, hand hovering before she started to
continue, “Champagne Pailyu… or Pailyu Champagne if you follow the habits of
last name first.” Such a pause was the most reaction he had gotten from her the
entire time. Part of him wanted to take the game further to see if there was a
possibility to get any [i]fun[/i] reactions.
Hand slipped from behind his head and he reached out,
drawing her long locks from the front of her face and held them back, fingers
enjoying the texture against his fingers. He managed to be absolutely serious
about it. Still, she did not react much except to pause and readjust the tool.
It seemed he was going to have to get serious.
Instead of getting frustrated he began to smirk devilishly.
A ruined tattoo could be solved if he so wished so instead of being still he
started to wrap the hair around his hand slowly before tilting her head
forcefully. It caused her to stop again, eyes peering at him with the tint of
confusion while the rest of her face retained the polite countenance.
“This will take longer if you don’t stop. If I finish then
you won’t have to see me any longer.” There was something else mixed in her
voice, something familiar, although she seemed to keep herself from letting the
expression falter. Almost as good a liar as him, he decided.
“I’ve decided you are interesting so you will have to stay.”
“Thank you, but I really should finish this. “ Her voice
starting to grow softer as she tried to tilt her head back down towards the
outline of the fiery bird. Other hand moved and grasped the handle of her tool,
gently wrenching it out of the hand and setting it aside, flicking the little
generator off. Dark orbs turned to see if there was any change, but he found
she simply looked at him in return patiently.
There was staring before she started to reach out slowly for
her tool, but he stopped her, fingers wrapping around her wrist. Eyes twitched
slightly, mask slipping only slightly and he began to grin, teeth showing in
his personal victory, “So you do have emotions in that pretty head of yours.
You are very good at hiding them you little worker bee. I wonder what other
ones I can get you to show.”
The reaction was not indignation nor shock but instead
laughter. Giggles spilled from her as she lowered her head onto the puckering
skin of his chest, not quite touching. A frown started to form as he believed
her to be laughing at him.
“I have no idea why everyone says such bad things about you.
You don’t act like a monster at all.” The words stopped the shaman cold and he
looked at her with scrutiny. The Patch girl was not laughing at him maliciously,
although it still confused him. Giggles finally ended and she gave a sunny
smile, “So, may I have my hair back please?”
“I’ll think about it.” He responded, trying to look
thoughtful, heart beat faster with the sound of her voice. What other emotions
could he draw out from her? The hardest probably would be anger, he decided,
since she seemed unnaturally tolerant for someone from her family. It perhaps
made up for the lack of ability she had from the strong bloodline. An anomaly perhaps.
Shifting, she rested her head on his chest, waiting, “Let me
know when you are ready, because I think my neck is getting stiff.” The
partially finished tattoo only stung slightly, having been used to more pain
than that. Mostly her weight shot warmth through touch, breaths dancing across
the body making it feel as though electric waves were being introduced into his
skin.
Devious smiles while the hand unwound from hair, letting it
fall before instantly wrapping arms around her shoulders. The shaman rolled
over quickly, perching himself over her with hands placed at either side of her
head as he inspected her once more. The
expression was one Hao found he especially enjoyed, surprise tugged at the
smile she previously had, and then the nervous blush that tinted the cheeks. “Well
at least I can move my head now… although I don’t think I am really your type.
Most shamans get bored of me after a while.” There was the quiet streak of
loneliness in her voice yet she seemed as though it hardly bothered her at all.
Curious and strange. Most people disliked being alone to the
point of becoming depressed, whereas she seemed to accept it as a fact of life
and move on. Smile vanished and he studied her longer, “You don’t care that you
are tossed aside?”
“Not really. Unless someone needs a tattoo, most people
don’t bother with me. I haven’t been that good with any herbal ointments even
though I can cook. I guess it is more of the fact that my grandmother has a
spirit help her make it so they turn out tons better than anything I have made.
So unless you need a cake or a tattoo I am useless as a shaman.” Her voice
still seemed cheerful, bright eyes looking to him with the undeniable honesty. It
was odd how they were similar and different the bright young girl with no hatred
for the world left behind because she was too weak while he held all of the
anger he could as he was left behind for having too much strength.
How was it she still brought warmth when he already held so
much fire on his own. Perhaps to fuel his own fire it was taking the very
warmth from himself. Thoughts distracted him from the hands that reached up to
play with strands of the dark hair that hung around them. A gentle tug as she
worked out a small knot in the unkempt hair brought him back, seeing that focused
look once more.
The smile returned as he touched her nose with his own, dark
eyes smoldering and peering at her. It was an amusing game, seeing her starting
to [i]finally[/i] become flustered, “Well, I believe you are the most tolerable
of all the Patch, plus I am under the impression that you would like to learn
all about me. Hm?”
“You will get bored of me.” Such a matter of fact tone,
making him draw back and frown again, “Which is okay I suppose. You seem
interesting as well and getting to know you would be nice while I can.
Obviously you are nothing like what people say about you. I’m still alive and
whole.” His position gave him a better view of the blush that started to creep
down her neck, stopping by the white blouse and the soft leather vest covering
her.
Some people looked strange when then would blush, turning
into a tomato or becoming blotchy, yet for her it only served to highlight
bright eyes and the sprawling hair. “I suppose I have stopped the killing bit
since my brother assisted some resolution to my problems. Although, no one has
seemed to find it in their heart to try and test my patience yet.”
“Like you have been trying to test mine?” She inquired with
a red faced smile as she paused with her hand in the hair, eyes slipping slightly
to his chest, the redness was going down some, “This is probably the longest
conversation you have ever had without some sort of yelling or threats.”
It was true, and he shrugged slightly as he looked her over,
“So you have never gotten angry? Never yelled at someone?” A grin as he added
with a low whispering voice into her ear, lips so very near to touching the
smooth skin, “Although I suppose there are other ways to make you yell.”
Face and neck became darker as she brought her hand up to
her mouth to keep from saying something totally ridiculous. Her heart wanted to
respond in like, which was inappropriate and impulsive, the rest of her wanted
to just nod and speak politely again to put him off.
Rarely had she ever found herself in such a predicament,
usually she blew it off and continued on with her day, but instead she found
herself wanting to respond to him. It was not appropriate as she knew
traditionally the Shaman King picked a strong shaman as a wife, though there
had been the few odd cases. She was getting ahead of herself… there obviously
was no thought of marriage going through the fire shaman’s head.
In silence, she could feel him tensing, breathing filling
her ear as he waited for a reaction. What felt like only a short amount of time
seemed painfully drawn out. Rationalizing seemed to be the method and she
questioned herself. Would it really be so bad, if even for a short time, to
allow herself this? The brain decided on the reply and she turned her head
slightly, their cheeks brushing together until her lips pressed against his skin
lightly before she spoke.
“Well, I could yell at you to lay down so I could finish the
tattoo.” A playful and innocent smile spread across her features as she went to
place another kiss on his cheek, finding that she really did rather like the
feeling of his skin. Except, her lips did not land on his cheek, as he turned
his face towards her, capturing the small sound of surprise.
Thoughts halted as heart pounded away in her ears as it
seemed to swell in her chest as though to stop her breathing. Stomach tightened
as those seconds would pass, her hand gently pressing against his chest to
separate them. Reluctance, but Hao dropped the kiss, hovering close still with
half lidded eyes watching her take deep breaths to try and keep her chest under
control.
“Apparently, my heart has a hyper drive function… I almost
had enough gigawatts to power my flux capacitor and go back in time.” She
joked, receiving a blank look from the fire shaman. A sigh as she shook her
head a bit, “Well, I know something you are going to watch when we finish that
phoenix of yours.”
He just sort of nodded slightly, waiting for her guard to be
down again once more to take her lips into his once more. It was very natural,
without the usual taste of lipsticks or other balms that were chemically made
to frequent lips. There was a sort of bitter sweet aftertaste that reminded him
of berries freshly picked and eaten. Soon he was beginning to wonder if she had
not simply sprouted from the earth itself, soaking up all of the sunlight and
warmth that it offered.
The two looked to each other, breaths mingling before
Champagne lifted both arms and wrapped them carefully around his neck allowing
for fingers to play with hair once more. Hao took the initiative, dipping back
down to her lips once more. A feeling of fingers tensing to gently pull on
chestnut locks make him grin slightly before breaking the kiss once more.
The girl took a couple gulps of air once more, each breath
becoming more and more steady before she pressed fingers against his lips to
stop another kiss, grin still keeping on her lips, “How… about this. I finish
your tattoo and then you can have another kiss?”
He opened his mouth to retort that the tattoo could have
waited, but there was something in her eyes that made him sigh reluctantly and
rise away from her instead. After a moment, he let himself lay down on the
cover as he watched her roll over, hair in slight disarray before she made her
way back over to his chest, grabbing her tool.
Soon she got to work, and he silently thought that perhaps
there was more than one kind of rebirth.
