ficbits
these are supposedly for halloween, but that was yesterday... ahwells!! ^_^;;; poorly proofed, and by that i mean not proofed at all, but hopefully you can glean some enjoyment from them. ^_^
heero, duo, trowa, beggar's night, for sunnie
Heero never quite knew what to expect coming home. That was part of the 'fun' of their living arrangement. From the day Trowa painted the grass black as part of his 'self-expression' or the time that Duo and Trowa were riding bears down the street...
Those two needed more regular jobs.
Today, however, might take the cake. There was Duo, on the front porch, shaking his shotgun, held aloft in one hand. And down the driveway, Heero narrowly missed the wee goblin, skeleton, and witch that were running away screaming. Frantically, he looked around, to see another mother grab her Princess Relena Starshine before she happily trotted up the front walk. In fact, while the neighborhood was teeming with children in costumes and their parents, it was like a dark, heavy cloud hung over their house.
Damn it!
He slammed his car door shut, and marched into the house, working up to his best glower. It was a damned fine glower, approved by both Dr. J and Odin, but when he came in, it was like his housemates expected that to be his normal expression.
"Heero! Thank God! You will not believe what kind of day its been!"
"It's Beggar's Night," Heero snarled.
"Ok," Duo started out, holding his hands together to emphasize his points. "There are two things wrong with what you just said. First of all, it's barely six thirty, and..."
"DUO!" Heero roared. Trowa was on the couch, snickering, flipping through channels. Heero would get to him. "It's... it's when the city decided to have Halloween. Only, they call it Beggar's Night. That's not the point. The point is..."
"All these brats expect to be given candy! Free candy! And they keep tromping on the lawn!" Trowa nodded helpfully. Heero felt his blood pressure rise. "You know, when I was a kid, there were laws against begging in L2, because everyone was poor, and..."
"It's Halloween!" Heero groused.
"Not for three days!" Duo protested. "I'm all ready for Halloween! I already told that annoying Baptist minister down the block that it was our religious holiday and we had multiple live sacrifices to perform," Duo beamed.
"I looked on ominously while licking my lips," Trowa piped in, showing he was a team player.
Heero couldn't resist smacking himself in the forehead.
"Every kid in this neighborhood is well-off, anyway," Duo complained. "They just assume that I'll have candy for them? Crazy!"
"I bought the candy! Remember, I showed you yesterday!" Heero flailed his arms helplessly. It was madness. He should be used to it...
"What?! My candy, you expect me to give away my candy? You gave that to me!" Duo accused angrily, pointing right into Heero's face.
"Duo..." Heero started.
"No!" Duo ran off to the kitchen, presumably where Heero had shoved the candy.
Sighing heavily, Heero started out after him, but Trowa cleared his throat. "It is an odd concept. Beggar's Night. Just giving away food to rich kids in costumes."
"This neighborhood's not that rich or anything. Just because they've got stable homes and get fed everyday and all. We all picked this house together. If you recall, I liked that place downtown," Heero defended.
"Because of the security cameras," Trowa nodded.
"Because of the security camera," Heero nodded. That was a damned fine security system! "Anyway, I don't get why you can't help out a bit here."
"Well, ok, but I'm not as good at waving that shotgun around as Duo is," Trowa started.
"You know that's not what I mean," Heero snarled. He liked it better when he still intimidated these two!
"Ok, I can be helpful. You realize Duo is right now trying to shove six bags worth of candy in his gut, right?" Trowa asked, smirking a bit.
Heero opened his mouth. And then he took off for the kitchen.
Damned holidays...!
shindou, touya, trick-or-treating, for mina
"Winner gets to decide the penalty."
That was quite possibly the stupidest thing that Shindou had ever, ever said, making the prospect of taking that bet - and choosing a penalty that would deeply satisfy himself while leaving his rival squirming - was just too attractive.
The only problem was, things that seemed to be too attractive often were.
He cast a glance to the hotel bed where Shindou had laid out the costumes he'd 'found.' Touya didn't believe for a second that he found those. It was getting late on Halloween afternoon, and they were in New York City, giving lectures and teaching games at the Asian Cultural Center. Those costumes were definitely bought. And this was definitely a prank, one which Shindou was certain that he could win.
Shindou should know better by now, but he didn't. He completely didn't.
"One of those is for a girl," Touya pointed out dryly.
"Oh, yeah. Well. I think it will look better on you, but we can flip a coin on it or something," he said casually. Too casually. He'd hit it off with an American-born Korean boy. That kid, the Director of the Center told Touya, was known for his pranks. This was a scheme, then, concocted by the two of them. To what gain?
Touya nodded, once. "All right. Whoever gets the most candy wins, huh? And we'll count each individually wrapped package as one?" He paused for a minute, as if considering. He was loathe to don that skirt, but... "Fine, I'll take the girl's costume... if you give me komi."
Shindou wasn't expecting that. Good. "How many?"
He had to pick a number that Shindou would agree to, but the largest number that Shindou would agree to that he could get. Hm. "Seven." Shindou opened his mouth to protest, so he quickly added, "Otherwise, you can wear the girl's costume and I'll give you a komi of seven."
That left Shindou torn. Clearly, he would rather be skinned alive than put on girl's clothing. On the other hand, he didn't want to give Touya that seven advantage. Finally, though, he sighed. "Fine. Seven it is." He picked up the short dress, and tossed it to Touya. "May the best... person win." Emphasizing the lack of gender.
Bastard.
Touya would indeed make sure that was the case.
++
Six hours later, Raggedy Anne and Raggedy Andy were busy counting their loot. Well, Andy was counting it a second time. Anne had helped herself - himself - to a Bit o' Honey.
Not bad.
"I can't believe this. We went together to all the same places except one!"
"I was cuter," Touya shrugged. Which was undeniably true. He had played up his role, smiling cutely at everyone. Still, most people had been pretty even in what they handed out.
Shindou pulled off his wig and threw it to the ground, furious. "I was plenty cute enough! I even painted my nose red and put triangles around my eyes! I was perfect! Just what the hell? I mean, if you won by less than komi, but this is a lot!"
Touya shrugged, and toyed with the hem of his skirt. "Well... the point it, I did win. And I believe that means... punishment is mine to determine." He grinned as Shindou paled.
Clearly, this was not what Shindou planned. And it was precisely that planning that irked Touya. They hadn't, after all, gone everywhere together. Shindou should have considered why he was in that convenience store for so long! Sure, he said it was to get the tights. It was cold and his legs had been bare. That was part of it.
"You sure have a lot of these things," Shindou said, frowning. He didn't even have any Bits o' Honey.
Touya was sure that would tip him off, but apparently, the idea of Touya cheating was beyond Shindou. So Touya just shrugged, and picked up one of the red-labeled candies. "Yeah, you have a lot of these, too. I guess someone didn't have their basket well mixed."
Shindou actually nodded. He didn't deserve to win.
"So! Fine, then, what's my punishment?" he asked, looking a bit grey around the edges.
Touya smirked, and stood up, reaching behind to undo the snaps on his dress. "I don't know if I've mentioned it... but... I've been pondering lately the merits of bondage."
He looked over his shoulder, thoroughly pleased by how fast all the color left Shindou's face.
tezuka, fuji, shopping for a halloween costume, for petalove
She cornered him before he left her shop. "What are you going to be for my party this weekend?" He was always so cryptic, but she had to be sure! It was hard enough to pin down Yuuta! She still hadn't gotten him to agree to come! She didn't want Syuusuke to show up in normal clothes, claiming to be a Philistine or something.
"Mm? Are you worried, sis?" he asked breezily.
She crossed her arms over her chest. She was still big sis enough for that to get a response.
"Ok, ok... I don't know. But that's because I made a deal with Tezuka. I would get his costume, and he'll get mine." He beamed at her.
Her jaw dropped. "Syuusuke! But... are you sure he'll bring you something? That's kind of a risk, isn't it?"
He just rolled his eyes, though. "Don't worry, sis. Most likely, he'll just have me wear my tennis uniform. Or his," he said, smiling broadly. His eyes got glassy for a minute.
Cute.
"But this way... he'll have to wear the sexy gladiator costume I got him." He winked wickedly at her.
She almost protested, but... wait... Tezuka, in a gladiator costume. Well.
"Just make sure you're not 'dressed' as 'Some Guy at the Bus Stop' or something else clever," she warned him.
++
"You're late," Fuji accused as he let Tezuka into his dorm room.
"Yeah, sorry," Tezuka sighed. He hefted up the suitcase he was carrying.
Suitcase?
"This was harder to carry around than I anticipated."
Fuji just stared at it. "Uh... Tezuka..."
"It's your costume." Of course, like that was obvious, but....
"Just what exactly did you have in mind here?" Fuji asked, dismayed. Was he going to be going as a Gundam or something...?
Tezuka puffed up proudly. "Well. Let me show you!"
He took the suitcase over to the bed, and opened it up. "I couldn't really decide, so I brought a few things..."
That was good. Probably not a Gundam, then...
Tezuka pulled out the first look. Fuji raised an eyebrow, but he didn't say anything at first... Tezuka looked very pleased with himself. "This one... yes. Well." He set it aside rather carefully and picked up the next one. Fuji had to cover his mouth. This one might be even worse. "This one comes with accessories."
"I'm sure it does," Fuji agreed.
"Then there's this one..." Tezuka happily laid it out.
Fuji shook his head, looking it over. "I'm not sure that will fit."
"It's spandex," Tezuka helpfully corrected him.
"Of course it is..." Fuji blanched. There were at least three more outfits, but Fuji was pretty sure they weren't much different than the slutty nurse, French maid, or sexy vampress costumes Tezuka had already spread out. "You know, though... while I'm deeply glad that this hidden desire for dress up play has been uncovered, you do realize there will be people who aren't us at this party... and that... some of them are close relatives of mine..."
Tezuka fingered the French maid's lace. "Mm. ...I have my tennis uniform, too, I think...?"
Fuji had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.
heero, duo, ghosts, for clare
He was going to ask Duo once, but he decided against it. It was interesting, in a way, because everything about Duo, his speech patterns, his tone, even his vocal patterns, changed when he was Talking. It would happen at the most random times - while he was doing dishes, changing the oil on his car, brushing out his hair in the morning - but it was always, always at times when Duo was sure he was alone. And Duo was good, a master of subterfuge. When he thought he was alone, he usually was.
Heero was good at being invisible.
The one thing that was truly strange about the Talking was that, to Heero's knowledge, and he considered himself an expert on the subject matter of Duo, he never lied when he was talking. No matter what, in any other situation, he could count on at least 50% of everything Duo said to be a lie. He even lied to grocery store clerks for no reason. He said he never lied, but that was one of his better lies, because while he rarely said anything that was outright untrue, he was the linguistic equivalent of smoke and mirrors. Someone would ask him if he enjoyed the beach, and he'd say, Have I told you about the time I won a sandcastle building contest? Duo, in fact, did win a sandcastle building contest. One time during the war when he was hiding Gundam parts on the beach while waiting for Sweeper pickup. He hated the beach. Any time spent near wet sand meant he had to undo his braid, wash it all, dry it, brush it out, and rebraid it. Part of the advantage of the braid was that it could be left alone from shower to shower for up to a week.
He didn't say things that weren't true, but he left things out and misdirected. Even with Heero, and Heero flattered himself that his lying dropped to 30% with him.
When he was Talking, though, he left nothing out. And so, Heero decided that every fragment of knowledge he could glean from the Talking was worth the moral ambiguity of listening in on your partner while he was Talking to himself. He learned about wet sand and hair, and about how Duo admired Wu Fei, and he missed Trowa, and how he stole from Quatre almost every time he saw him, just for larks. He found out that Duo was scared to be living with someone, so Heero backed off a bit and gave Duo more space, and he found out that was a good thing.
One Halloween, Sally's little girl asked Duo if he believed in ghosts. For a moment, he was quiet. And then, he answered her. But he answered her in his Talking voice. He said, There's no way I couldn't, pumpk'n.
Heero wasn't going to ask Duo about the Talking. He wasn't a moron. But.
Someday, when Duo wasn't scared anymore that Heero would be gone some morning with no explanation and no hope of ever coming back, he'd ask Duo who Solo was.
i don't know if that qualifies as CUTE per se, but... not scary??? ^_^;;;;
and, a few bonuses...
The Mentalist, cutscene from episode 26 (2-03) Red Badge
Episode where Lisbon is the prime suspect in a murder
He took five steps away from her door, so if she did look out her peephole or her window, she wouldn't see him. She wouldn't look out, but just in case she did... He stood against the wall, and counted. He counted the number of blue objects he could see - sixteen - the number of open windows in view - seven - the number of cars in the parking lot - eight, and one appeared to be unlocked. He bet there were keys in the glove compartment, too. He wanted to go down and check. Back in his day, he would have advised that client that a dead relative was sure his car was going to be stolen.
Being psychic let you give out advice like crazy. It wasn't all about telling lies about forgiveness.
That was long enough. Just long enough that she could start to break down. She probably cried a few tears, but then she pulled herself back together. She would be startled enough by his knock that she would answer the door, but her eyes would be red and a tiny bit moist. She'd wipe them, of course, before opening the door, so the hem of her sleeve would be wet.
"What? What is it?" she asked, frantic.
He looked at the hem of her sleeve, feeling broken inside. "The reason you can't remember what happened that night is because you were drugged, and I know who did it, and I probably know why, too. Oh, and he's the murderer."
"What?" she looked less frantic, but still confused. He did say all that awfully fast. But. There was just a tiny bit of it in the corner of her eye.
Relief.
"Why didn't you say all of that a minute ago?"
He half-shrugged, a gesture he did a lot when he wanted to be dismissive, though he hated the gesture. It was weak. "Oh... I needed to give you a minute to process. Are you done? I have a clever plan. I think you'll have fun with it."
She shook her head. And rolled her eyes. And then she turned away, leaving the door open. She was back to normal patterns, but not back to normal. However, that was as close to an invitation as she could give him to come back inside, and it was all he needed.
He wanted the person who hurt her to suffer, quite a lot.
Wolverine and the X-Men, Emma Frost and Scott
She waits outside his bedroom. There's a handy little alcove there, and she can wait a long time. He always goes up to bed early, by 11 at the latest. Even that Kitten and her Iceboy stay up later. He showers, shaves, and brushes his teeth, and then he turns out the light. And then he lays in bed and stares at the darkness. Some nights, he gives in, and pulls the bottle out from under the bed. He's very good at getting rid of the empties, and replacing them. Even Storm doesn't know, she's sure. She knows, but she knows everything about them. Unlike that simp Charles, she knows what telepathy is used for, and how to take the most advantage of her gifts. She knows, then, that while he is never downstairs after 11, he's never asleep until at least 3 or 4. Which suits her perfectly.
Once he starts dreaming, she begins. She doesn't have to work that hard at first. His thoughts are always of her, Jean Grey. It doesn't take much, then, to deepen the dream... technically, it's not dreaming. It's more like a meditative state. It doesn't matter, though. Once he is deep enough in, she slips out of the alcove and into his room. At this point, she's only wearing a robe, which she takes off at the door. He doesn't see her flawless skin, he sees other skin. He sees red hair and green eyes, but it doesn't matter, because his hands are greedy enough, he's greedy enough...
She doesn't know Jean Grey well, but she assumes that she must be rather vanilla in bed. She's opened whole worlds for Scott... made him experience things that make him scream, though she keeps his voice silent. It would not be good if anyone outside the room heard and barged in; that would be a disaster. She lets him ravage her body and she ravages his and when they both can't take it anymore, she slowly lets him fall to real sleep, pulling away. He keeps telling her how he loves her, how he needs her... how he's always believed in her and he always will and she's the only one for him, and honestly, it's all a bit sickening, but he's got a phenomenal body, a weak mind, and a broken heart.
That's all Emma wants.
Still, she's the only one who understands how much physical pain he's in every single waking moment of every single day, so giving him a few passionate, albeit delusional hours every night is almost a blessing. He should be happy, right?
She's the only one who knows, so she's the only one who understands how much he's willing to give up to be able to stay and be an X-men, whatever the fuck he thinks that's worth. She knows it's not worth his heart and soul, so when she pretends she's going to help him exorcise the memory of his beloved, she helps him relive his life with her.
Anything at all to keep that hot body in the house for her to keep using. Boy scouts would prove to be more intellectually stimulating than this lot!
heero, duo, trowa, beggar's night, for sunnie
Heero never quite knew what to expect coming home. That was part of the 'fun' of their living arrangement. From the day Trowa painted the grass black as part of his 'self-expression' or the time that Duo and Trowa were riding bears down the street...
Those two needed more regular jobs.
Today, however, might take the cake. There was Duo, on the front porch, shaking his shotgun, held aloft in one hand. And down the driveway, Heero narrowly missed the wee goblin, skeleton, and witch that were running away screaming. Frantically, he looked around, to see another mother grab her Princess Relena Starshine before she happily trotted up the front walk. In fact, while the neighborhood was teeming with children in costumes and their parents, it was like a dark, heavy cloud hung over their house.
Damn it!
He slammed his car door shut, and marched into the house, working up to his best glower. It was a damned fine glower, approved by both Dr. J and Odin, but when he came in, it was like his housemates expected that to be his normal expression.
"Heero! Thank God! You will not believe what kind of day its been!"
"It's Beggar's Night," Heero snarled.
"Ok," Duo started out, holding his hands together to emphasize his points. "There are two things wrong with what you just said. First of all, it's barely six thirty, and..."
"DUO!" Heero roared. Trowa was on the couch, snickering, flipping through channels. Heero would get to him. "It's... it's when the city decided to have Halloween. Only, they call it Beggar's Night. That's not the point. The point is..."
"All these brats expect to be given candy! Free candy! And they keep tromping on the lawn!" Trowa nodded helpfully. Heero felt his blood pressure rise. "You know, when I was a kid, there were laws against begging in L2, because everyone was poor, and..."
"It's Halloween!" Heero groused.
"Not for three days!" Duo protested. "I'm all ready for Halloween! I already told that annoying Baptist minister down the block that it was our religious holiday and we had multiple live sacrifices to perform," Duo beamed.
"I looked on ominously while licking my lips," Trowa piped in, showing he was a team player.
Heero couldn't resist smacking himself in the forehead.
"Every kid in this neighborhood is well-off, anyway," Duo complained. "They just assume that I'll have candy for them? Crazy!"
"I bought the candy! Remember, I showed you yesterday!" Heero flailed his arms helplessly. It was madness. He should be used to it...
"What?! My candy, you expect me to give away my candy? You gave that to me!" Duo accused angrily, pointing right into Heero's face.
"Duo..." Heero started.
"No!" Duo ran off to the kitchen, presumably where Heero had shoved the candy.
Sighing heavily, Heero started out after him, but Trowa cleared his throat. "It is an odd concept. Beggar's Night. Just giving away food to rich kids in costumes."
"This neighborhood's not that rich or anything. Just because they've got stable homes and get fed everyday and all. We all picked this house together. If you recall, I liked that place downtown," Heero defended.
"Because of the security cameras," Trowa nodded.
"Because of the security camera," Heero nodded. That was a damned fine security system! "Anyway, I don't get why you can't help out a bit here."
"Well, ok, but I'm not as good at waving that shotgun around as Duo is," Trowa started.
"You know that's not what I mean," Heero snarled. He liked it better when he still intimidated these two!
"Ok, I can be helpful. You realize Duo is right now trying to shove six bags worth of candy in his gut, right?" Trowa asked, smirking a bit.
Heero opened his mouth. And then he took off for the kitchen.
Damned holidays...!
shindou, touya, trick-or-treating, for mina
"Winner gets to decide the penalty."
That was quite possibly the stupidest thing that Shindou had ever, ever said, making the prospect of taking that bet - and choosing a penalty that would deeply satisfy himself while leaving his rival squirming - was just too attractive.
The only problem was, things that seemed to be too attractive often were.
He cast a glance to the hotel bed where Shindou had laid out the costumes he'd 'found.' Touya didn't believe for a second that he found those. It was getting late on Halloween afternoon, and they were in New York City, giving lectures and teaching games at the Asian Cultural Center. Those costumes were definitely bought. And this was definitely a prank, one which Shindou was certain that he could win.
Shindou should know better by now, but he didn't. He completely didn't.
"One of those is for a girl," Touya pointed out dryly.
"Oh, yeah. Well. I think it will look better on you, but we can flip a coin on it or something," he said casually. Too casually. He'd hit it off with an American-born Korean boy. That kid, the Director of the Center told Touya, was known for his pranks. This was a scheme, then, concocted by the two of them. To what gain?
Touya nodded, once. "All right. Whoever gets the most candy wins, huh? And we'll count each individually wrapped package as one?" He paused for a minute, as if considering. He was loathe to don that skirt, but... "Fine, I'll take the girl's costume... if you give me komi."
Shindou wasn't expecting that. Good. "How many?"
He had to pick a number that Shindou would agree to, but the largest number that Shindou would agree to that he could get. Hm. "Seven." Shindou opened his mouth to protest, so he quickly added, "Otherwise, you can wear the girl's costume and I'll give you a komi of seven."
That left Shindou torn. Clearly, he would rather be skinned alive than put on girl's clothing. On the other hand, he didn't want to give Touya that seven advantage. Finally, though, he sighed. "Fine. Seven it is." He picked up the short dress, and tossed it to Touya. "May the best... person win." Emphasizing the lack of gender.
Bastard.
Touya would indeed make sure that was the case.
++
Six hours later, Raggedy Anne and Raggedy Andy were busy counting their loot. Well, Andy was counting it a second time. Anne had helped herself - himself - to a Bit o' Honey.
Not bad.
"I can't believe this. We went together to all the same places except one!"
"I was cuter," Touya shrugged. Which was undeniably true. He had played up his role, smiling cutely at everyone. Still, most people had been pretty even in what they handed out.
Shindou pulled off his wig and threw it to the ground, furious. "I was plenty cute enough! I even painted my nose red and put triangles around my eyes! I was perfect! Just what the hell? I mean, if you won by less than komi, but this is a lot!"
Touya shrugged, and toyed with the hem of his skirt. "Well... the point it, I did win. And I believe that means... punishment is mine to determine." He grinned as Shindou paled.
Clearly, this was not what Shindou planned. And it was precisely that planning that irked Touya. They hadn't, after all, gone everywhere together. Shindou should have considered why he was in that convenience store for so long! Sure, he said it was to get the tights. It was cold and his legs had been bare. That was part of it.
"You sure have a lot of these things," Shindou said, frowning. He didn't even have any Bits o' Honey.
Touya was sure that would tip him off, but apparently, the idea of Touya cheating was beyond Shindou. So Touya just shrugged, and picked up one of the red-labeled candies. "Yeah, you have a lot of these, too. I guess someone didn't have their basket well mixed."
Shindou actually nodded. He didn't deserve to win.
"So! Fine, then, what's my punishment?" he asked, looking a bit grey around the edges.
Touya smirked, and stood up, reaching behind to undo the snaps on his dress. "I don't know if I've mentioned it... but... I've been pondering lately the merits of bondage."
He looked over his shoulder, thoroughly pleased by how fast all the color left Shindou's face.
tezuka, fuji, shopping for a halloween costume, for petalove
She cornered him before he left her shop. "What are you going to be for my party this weekend?" He was always so cryptic, but she had to be sure! It was hard enough to pin down Yuuta! She still hadn't gotten him to agree to come! She didn't want Syuusuke to show up in normal clothes, claiming to be a Philistine or something.
"Mm? Are you worried, sis?" he asked breezily.
She crossed her arms over her chest. She was still big sis enough for that to get a response.
"Ok, ok... I don't know. But that's because I made a deal with Tezuka. I would get his costume, and he'll get mine." He beamed at her.
Her jaw dropped. "Syuusuke! But... are you sure he'll bring you something? That's kind of a risk, isn't it?"
He just rolled his eyes, though. "Don't worry, sis. Most likely, he'll just have me wear my tennis uniform. Or his," he said, smiling broadly. His eyes got glassy for a minute.
Cute.
"But this way... he'll have to wear the sexy gladiator costume I got him." He winked wickedly at her.
She almost protested, but... wait... Tezuka, in a gladiator costume. Well.
"Just make sure you're not 'dressed' as 'Some Guy at the Bus Stop' or something else clever," she warned him.
++
"You're late," Fuji accused as he let Tezuka into his dorm room.
"Yeah, sorry," Tezuka sighed. He hefted up the suitcase he was carrying.
Suitcase?
"This was harder to carry around than I anticipated."
Fuji just stared at it. "Uh... Tezuka..."
"It's your costume." Of course, like that was obvious, but....
"Just what exactly did you have in mind here?" Fuji asked, dismayed. Was he going to be going as a Gundam or something...?
Tezuka puffed up proudly. "Well. Let me show you!"
He took the suitcase over to the bed, and opened it up. "I couldn't really decide, so I brought a few things..."
That was good. Probably not a Gundam, then...
Tezuka pulled out the first look. Fuji raised an eyebrow, but he didn't say anything at first... Tezuka looked very pleased with himself. "This one... yes. Well." He set it aside rather carefully and picked up the next one. Fuji had to cover his mouth. This one might be even worse. "This one comes with accessories."
"I'm sure it does," Fuji agreed.
"Then there's this one..." Tezuka happily laid it out.
Fuji shook his head, looking it over. "I'm not sure that will fit."
"It's spandex," Tezuka helpfully corrected him.
"Of course it is..." Fuji blanched. There were at least three more outfits, but Fuji was pretty sure they weren't much different than the slutty nurse, French maid, or sexy vampress costumes Tezuka had already spread out. "You know, though... while I'm deeply glad that this hidden desire for dress up play has been uncovered, you do realize there will be people who aren't us at this party... and that... some of them are close relatives of mine..."
Tezuka fingered the French maid's lace. "Mm. ...I have my tennis uniform, too, I think...?"
Fuji had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.
heero, duo, ghosts, for clare
He was going to ask Duo once, but he decided against it. It was interesting, in a way, because everything about Duo, his speech patterns, his tone, even his vocal patterns, changed when he was Talking. It would happen at the most random times - while he was doing dishes, changing the oil on his car, brushing out his hair in the morning - but it was always, always at times when Duo was sure he was alone. And Duo was good, a master of subterfuge. When he thought he was alone, he usually was.
Heero was good at being invisible.
The one thing that was truly strange about the Talking was that, to Heero's knowledge, and he considered himself an expert on the subject matter of Duo, he never lied when he was talking. No matter what, in any other situation, he could count on at least 50% of everything Duo said to be a lie. He even lied to grocery store clerks for no reason. He said he never lied, but that was one of his better lies, because while he rarely said anything that was outright untrue, he was the linguistic equivalent of smoke and mirrors. Someone would ask him if he enjoyed the beach, and he'd say, Have I told you about the time I won a sandcastle building contest? Duo, in fact, did win a sandcastle building contest. One time during the war when he was hiding Gundam parts on the beach while waiting for Sweeper pickup. He hated the beach. Any time spent near wet sand meant he had to undo his braid, wash it all, dry it, brush it out, and rebraid it. Part of the advantage of the braid was that it could be left alone from shower to shower for up to a week.
He didn't say things that weren't true, but he left things out and misdirected. Even with Heero, and Heero flattered himself that his lying dropped to 30% with him.
When he was Talking, though, he left nothing out. And so, Heero decided that every fragment of knowledge he could glean from the Talking was worth the moral ambiguity of listening in on your partner while he was Talking to himself. He learned about wet sand and hair, and about how Duo admired Wu Fei, and he missed Trowa, and how he stole from Quatre almost every time he saw him, just for larks. He found out that Duo was scared to be living with someone, so Heero backed off a bit and gave Duo more space, and he found out that was a good thing.
One Halloween, Sally's little girl asked Duo if he believed in ghosts. For a moment, he was quiet. And then, he answered her. But he answered her in his Talking voice. He said, There's no way I couldn't, pumpk'n.
Heero wasn't going to ask Duo about the Talking. He wasn't a moron. But.
Someday, when Duo wasn't scared anymore that Heero would be gone some morning with no explanation and no hope of ever coming back, he'd ask Duo who Solo was.
i don't know if that qualifies as CUTE per se, but... not scary??? ^_^;;;;
and, a few bonuses...
The Mentalist, cutscene from episode 26 (2-03) Red Badge
Episode where Lisbon is the prime suspect in a murder
He took five steps away from her door, so if she did look out her peephole or her window, she wouldn't see him. She wouldn't look out, but just in case she did... He stood against the wall, and counted. He counted the number of blue objects he could see - sixteen - the number of open windows in view - seven - the number of cars in the parking lot - eight, and one appeared to be unlocked. He bet there were keys in the glove compartment, too. He wanted to go down and check. Back in his day, he would have advised that client that a dead relative was sure his car was going to be stolen.
Being psychic let you give out advice like crazy. It wasn't all about telling lies about forgiveness.
That was long enough. Just long enough that she could start to break down. She probably cried a few tears, but then she pulled herself back together. She would be startled enough by his knock that she would answer the door, but her eyes would be red and a tiny bit moist. She'd wipe them, of course, before opening the door, so the hem of her sleeve would be wet.
"What? What is it?" she asked, frantic.
He looked at the hem of her sleeve, feeling broken inside. "The reason you can't remember what happened that night is because you were drugged, and I know who did it, and I probably know why, too. Oh, and he's the murderer."
"What?" she looked less frantic, but still confused. He did say all that awfully fast. But. There was just a tiny bit of it in the corner of her eye.
Relief.
"Why didn't you say all of that a minute ago?"
He half-shrugged, a gesture he did a lot when he wanted to be dismissive, though he hated the gesture. It was weak. "Oh... I needed to give you a minute to process. Are you done? I have a clever plan. I think you'll have fun with it."
She shook her head. And rolled her eyes. And then she turned away, leaving the door open. She was back to normal patterns, but not back to normal. However, that was as close to an invitation as she could give him to come back inside, and it was all he needed.
He wanted the person who hurt her to suffer, quite a lot.
Wolverine and the X-Men, Emma Frost and Scott
She waits outside his bedroom. There's a handy little alcove there, and she can wait a long time. He always goes up to bed early, by 11 at the latest. Even that Kitten and her Iceboy stay up later. He showers, shaves, and brushes his teeth, and then he turns out the light. And then he lays in bed and stares at the darkness. Some nights, he gives in, and pulls the bottle out from under the bed. He's very good at getting rid of the empties, and replacing them. Even Storm doesn't know, she's sure. She knows, but she knows everything about them. Unlike that simp Charles, she knows what telepathy is used for, and how to take the most advantage of her gifts. She knows, then, that while he is never downstairs after 11, he's never asleep until at least 3 or 4. Which suits her perfectly.
Once he starts dreaming, she begins. She doesn't have to work that hard at first. His thoughts are always of her, Jean Grey. It doesn't take much, then, to deepen the dream... technically, it's not dreaming. It's more like a meditative state. It doesn't matter, though. Once he is deep enough in, she slips out of the alcove and into his room. At this point, she's only wearing a robe, which she takes off at the door. He doesn't see her flawless skin, he sees other skin. He sees red hair and green eyes, but it doesn't matter, because his hands are greedy enough, he's greedy enough...
She doesn't know Jean Grey well, but she assumes that she must be rather vanilla in bed. She's opened whole worlds for Scott... made him experience things that make him scream, though she keeps his voice silent. It would not be good if anyone outside the room heard and barged in; that would be a disaster. She lets him ravage her body and she ravages his and when they both can't take it anymore, she slowly lets him fall to real sleep, pulling away. He keeps telling her how he loves her, how he needs her... how he's always believed in her and he always will and she's the only one for him, and honestly, it's all a bit sickening, but he's got a phenomenal body, a weak mind, and a broken heart.
That's all Emma wants.
Still, she's the only one who understands how much physical pain he's in every single waking moment of every single day, so giving him a few passionate, albeit delusional hours every night is almost a blessing. He should be happy, right?
She's the only one who knows, so she's the only one who understands how much he's willing to give up to be able to stay and be an X-men, whatever the fuck he thinks that's worth. She knows it's not worth his heart and soul, so when she pretends she's going to help him exorcise the memory of his beloved, she helps him relive his life with her.
Anything at all to keep that hot body in the house for her to keep using. Boy scouts would prove to be more intellectually stimulating than this lot!