White Rabbit

Note: Re-posting! ^^' Hope it all works now...I'm over my momentary depression! Mostly...grrr...*wills reviews back into existence* *gives up* *sigh* Ah well. ^_^ (Early merry Christmas from AFF right? ^_~)


Chapter Thirteen

Friday, October 29th, Ashi sat in perfect boredom, exactly one full work week into staying at Garnen’s residence. Over the past week, he’d had no sex, no friends, and nothing to do. Despite spread efforts to find Tray, contact Lan, or get a hold of either of them in general, none came up successful, and he now waited, as bored and frustrated as ever.

The clock showed ten thirty, a time of night he usually spent far more engaged than watching the weekend weather, and the fact that he was, in fact, watching some bald man on the television screen tell him what a beautiful day tomorrow would be, annoyed him terribly.

He groaned and rolled over for at least the third time in the past minute, utterly restless. His eyes flicked about the room. Anywhere but the TV. Ceiling, boring. Carpet, boring. Blue, soft enough, but still boring. He turned his gaze again to the lone other figure in the room.

Watching Garnen just across the room, sitting in a single person couch and fully absorbed in reading, reminded him once again, painfully, of his past week’s abstinence, and he glared in accusation to the peacefully content figure. How on earth did one man survive ten years of celibacy? Especially considering he himself found it difficult and increasingly frustrating after only four days.

Finally, impatience got the better of him, and he called out. “Garnen!”

The officer looked up from the lamplight, turning his gaze away from the lettered pages of his book to the questioning man across the room. “What?”

“Watch a movie with me.” It came more of a demand then an offer, but held enough of a pleading tone to it that the reading man frowned slightly, glancing over the pouting albiri curiously before giving a minor grumble of displeasure and setting his book down. He stood and stretched with a small yawn.

“What do you want to watch? And why now?”

Ashi shrugged indifferently and rolled off his stomach to sit up, satisfied enough to actually get the man over with him. “I don’t care, anything. I’m bored.” He really couldn’t have cared less in all honesty. The main point being to get Garnen on the couch with him, a good first step to getting him on the floor with him in any case.

The officer gave a slight frown, though otherwise unfazed by the lack of specificity. “Well I suppose anything’s better than the weather channel...” He bent to look over the minor selection of tapes and DVD’s provided at the small cupboard beside the TV and considered in debate. “Nothing specific?”

Ashi took this time to move off the couch and up beside the other man, careful to brush them just lightly as he kneeled to inspect the choices. “What’s this one?” He reached near by instinct for that first movie he’d deemed a ‘chick flick’ on his original self-tour of the house, and Garnen raised an eyebrow over the choice.

“Alright...we can watch that. I haven’t seen that in...a very...long time.”

The smaller man shrugged again carelessly. “Makes no difference. I’ve never seen it before, so...” Garnen nodded and took the case. Ashi could only grin. Step one went reasonably well enough, and the other got the movie started quickly, so the rabbit could only hope for continued success.

The title screen came up after a brief set of commercials, but Ashi long since lost interest in the film, or, namely, never had interest in the first place. Garnen seemed reasonably intent though, so the smaller man spared some time watching the thing, and after a time decided it not all that bad a choice after all, reasonably engaging even, at least if he had paid attention from the beginning, to late for that now.

The film turned out, by definition, a chick flick, soppy romance, lot’s of drama, but well enough made not to destroy the whole idea of it. About a quarter of the way through, Ashi made it, mysteriously, from almost opposite ends of the couch, to leaning flat against the police officer.

Though he didn’t fail to notice this, Garnen said nothing, deciding that if he kept up an oblivious nature, he could endure. Besides, the warm presence against him wasn’t really unwelcome, he might consider it comforting even, if not for the tiny, occasional shifts, that sent more than feelings of simple comfort through him.

When a hand graced just past his thigh though, he frowned and shut his eyes, refocusing on the TV again as fast as possible. Just a brush. Just one little- He tensed. A hand, less subtle now, on his leg, much more noticeable and, despite better instincts, his gaze flickered over, questioning. Intent lavender met him, already steady, locked with a set determination.

“Ashi-“

The hand shifted and Ashi shook his head. “Shut-up.” This took a bit to register, and before he even got a chance, he landed with a full lapful of the smaller albiri. “You have to damn much restraint.” The smaller man stated plainly. “...and it’s getting annoying.” The slender form pressed to him, smooth hands traveling his sides even in the pin and Garnen’s breath caught.

The darker head shook rapidly in his denial. “Shit, no. Ashi, get off me.”

“Mm...what if I say no?” The words purred in his ear, light, but heated against him, and Garnen growled lowly, eyes tightening shut.

“Ashi, get off. Watch the movie, or-“

“Or what? I don’t want to watch the movie.” Velvet lips, trailing over the shell of his ear, chin line, the corner of his own mouth. A shudder escaped him and Garnen cursed lowly. “That’s right. Come on, baby, it’s not hard. Just admit it, and give in.” Almond squinted open, narrowed, frustrated and heated in his glare.

“I don’t do free fucks, Ashi. Now just...get...off...”

“You should be thankful Garnen...I’m not cheap you know...and here I am for free...” A heated dampness flickered across the corner of his mouth, assumably a tongue, teasing, light. More than one swear left him. “Besides...it’s easier when it doesn’t mean anything.”

“You’ve never had it mean anything, how would you know?” Ashi paused. “No one, not one, that’s ever touched you, has cared even a wit.” He felt the rabbit tense and he knew he’d gotten somewhere. “You have no idea what it’s like to care, to feel something when you kiss, just meet eyes.” The smaller man backed up slightly in worry, lip now caught in a tiny frown and Garnen’s glare penetrated.

“When it’s important, you don’t have to do anything...just being there is what’s important, talking, understanding. You don’t have to have sex to get feeling.” He shook his head. “But you don’t care. You’re just a slut...I suppose I should have known that before.” Ashi tried to shake his head in denial but the larger man caught his chin, holding him in place.

“G-garnen...wait-“

“No. If you want a free fuck...you got it.” Lavender widened but the hand tugged him forward and he only managed a tiny whimper as the other’s lips pressed to his. Tight, warm, not painful, but somehow, it only left him guilty, trying to stop it.

“N-no! Garnen stop...Gar-..nmm...Garnen...” His breath shook, as his body, but the other ignored it, abruptly flipping their positions and upturning the small albiri to his back on the couch, pinned, and helpless beneath him.

“The world can just shove it if I go to hell for this...” The officer grumbled lowly, and lavender widened, only to lower, and finally fall shut as heated lips took his. Hot; demanding. Garnen relished at the feel, taking the smaller man’s shaky moan as positive incentive and plunging greedily into the awaiting heat. Ashi’s lips parted, eagerly guiding entrance now, and the officer growled lowly above him. “Damn you, Ashi...”

“Didn’t I tell you to shut-up...” Their mouths locked, slid, and entwined, back and forth, rough, forceful against one another. “I was damned a long time ago...” Garnen gave a snort of disbelief, possibly indifference, but Ashi got no time to decide on the matter, all thoughts quickly fading by that point to the increasingly pressing attitude of the man above him.

Despite their great satisfaction, heated kisses soon didn’t suffice, and Ashi gave a slight squeak as Garnen acted on the matter, rolling them from the couch, to the floor, in a surprisingly painless move, and landing them, much as they were before, but now pinned back to the carpet. Lavender stared, but the other simply panted slightly above him.

“So it’s alright...to drag me down to hell with you?”

Ashi opened his mouth to reply but only froze in a moan, ears pressing flat to the carpet as his head fell back, Garnen’s mouth exploring his throat now, and he shivered to the heated touch. “You...were the one...who-...ahh...pinned me...to the couch...”

“Yeah?” A hand slid beneath his shirt, and he shuddered, getting only a simple nod in edgewise as the cool touch spread over his heated skin. “Well you were the one...” His teeth grit as the cloth pooled at his shoulders, displaying the delicately pale, simply toned ivory skin of his chest, abdomen, and stomach to the man above. “...who placed your ass in my lap and begged for it...” Kisses, warm and open along his neck collar bone, he rose up to the touch with an unwilled moan and Garnen smirked. “...like a bitch in heat.”

Ashi glared, but it lost it’s effect as he caught his lip in order to stop the other escapes of noise that threatened, shaking his head rapidly. “I hate you.”

“Really?” Coarser fingers trailed over the velvet smooth expanse even as the firmer nips of teeth and tongue continued. The smaller man trembled beneath him, so appetizingly at his mercy, smaller hands catching at his shirt in rising desperation, and Garnen chuckled. “For the record...” He slid the small of the smaller man’s back and Ashi lifted to the press. “The feeling’s mutual.”

The albiri groaned. “Bastard.” He moved his hands over the man’s shirt, unbuttoning with well practiced ease. “And here I thought...you were this giant goody-two-shoes...” The buttons gave easily, and he spread the cloth, almost greedy, pressing back and over the hardened chest and stomach before off broad shoulders completely.

All words came between frenzied kisses now as, Garnen had returned at least his mouth’s attention to that. “...religious...conservative...law-abiding.....straight...” Ashi continued, keeping his voice up, steady as possible for the little pride he had left in the matter.

“Sexuality has nothing to do with it.”

Ashi snorted, disbelieving even as he lifted his arms for the other, losing his shirt to some unknown, and un-cared for section of the room. “Still...you’re having sex...on the carpet...with a man you hate?” He shook his head lightly even through the kisses and chuckled. “I think this is new grounds for you, lieutenant.”

Garnen grumbled, through all, but allowed the other’s aid, gladly shrugging off his upper garment permanently at Ashi’s incentive. “I still think...sex should mean something...”

“Whatever.” Neither knew what paused them there, but for some brief seconds, Garnen just held there, pinned over the albiri, both breathless and panting, half-naked, but stopped.

The odd lights of the screen flickered randomly over Ashi’s familiar features, giving a blue, then white look to heated cheeks, and almond watched, lavender vaguely reflecting the scene one the illuminated screen across his vision. “What’s the matter, Garnen?” It came quiet, unhurried, breaking the silence gently.

Garnen stared. He sounded, for that brief instant, innocent, and the larger man frowned. He didn’t know what, or why, but somehow, just at those careful, tentative words, he felt some wash of feeling, altogether different from the previous pure lust that flooded him, and he couldn’t find what to say. “Nothing.” He answered truthfully. “Nothing at all. You look beautiful.”

Ashi blinked. Many said that. People told him all the time. The men he bedded, even some female friends of his, but the way Garnen said it, it felt so different. “I...Garnen...are you feeling alright?” The officer frowned slightly.

“Yes, I-“ They both froze at a completely unwarranted sound and Garnen’s frown deepened in thought. “Was that-“

“Your phone is ringing.” Ashi confirmed. A forehead met his with a dull thud and he blinked in surprise. “Garnen?”

“Fuck.”

“You can’t possibly be thinking of-“

“Of course I have to answer it!” Garnen lifted off the other and the albiri stared.

“You can’t be serious!” The officer stood. “Wait a second! Garnen!”

“It might be important.” Garnen already made it half-way to the stairs and Ashi gave a loud groan of frustration.

“Garnen...” He was whining now.

“Oh hush.” By the time Garnen made it to the phone, he near worried the caller might hang up, but made it just in time. “Lieutenant Evans speaking.”

/Evans. Good lord, what the hell have you been doing?/

“...”

/Evans?/

“Err...I was...sleeping...took me awhile to get up, sorry...I’m still kinda off.”

/Bed so early? You sound...out of breath...are you feeling sick?/

Garnen coughed, giving Ashi, now standing shirtless and flushed in his doorway, an accusing glare. “Yeah...well no, I don’t know. I’m fine, really.” He could almost hear the other’s disbelief on the other side, if that were possible, but felt no better explanation at the moment so left it as was. “So...what did you wake me up at the ungodly hour of...” He checked his watch. “Eleven...for?”

The chief didn’t sound convinced. /We got a call. Apparently for Ashi. Do you know Lan Er..in..iok..ish..a....er...something. Lan’s the first name?/

“Yes. Why? He’s a friend of Ashi’s.”

/We got a ransom on him./

Garnen felt his chest tighten with worry. Already knowing the answer before he questioned. “What’s the ransom?”

/Ashi./

He cursed beneath his breath. “They can’t have him.”

“Can’t have who?” Ashi looked worried now at the smaller man’s tone but the officer shooed him.

“Go away, Ashi. Don’t worry about it.”

“Garnen...who’s on the phone. What ransom. Garnen...” The man entered the room despite the other’s protests and came up beside him, worry etching his features. “Garnen tell me what’s going on...”

“Ashi, stop, it’s-“

/Ashi’s on the phone with you?/

Garnen shut his eyes before answering tightly. “Yes. They can’t have him, chief! I don’t care about the kid. We need the one, he’s-“

“You’re talking about me dammit! Give me the phone! Who’s being ransomed!”

“Ashi, stop!” The smaller man glared and snatched over, trying to get the phone but Garnen gripped him, glare tight on the other as he caught the hand. “Chief, can we talk this over later?” Lavender narrowed in challenge.

“Garnen, if you-“

/See me tomorrow. You need see the video./

“Alri-“

/Bring Ashi./

“But-“

/This is his life, Lieutenant! Be here at eight sharp. Goodnight./ The phone clicked off and Garnen cursed, simply swearing into silence before finally hanging up his end. Worried lavender met his as soon as he dropped the machine.

“What is it, Garnen?”

The officer frowned, glancing over the frustrated and confused figure before sighing and shaking his head. He’d find out tomorrow anyway. “Someone has Lan.”

“What?! Why?? He never did anything! Is it Car-“

“I don’t know. Alright? I don’t know...and I’m sorry.”

Despite his obvious distress, Ashi’s words came low, steady, and forced calm. “What’s the ransom, Garnen?” Lavender lifted and locked on almond, and even as Garnen shook his head the albiri shouted his denial. “No! You can’t keep me back because of that! You have to keep Lan out of this! If Carlos wants me, he can have me! I can’t let Lan get hurt because-...because...” His words shook and his lip caught, shaking his head rapidly. “That can’t happen. He doesn’t deserve that Garnen...”

“I’m not letting them turn you in for certain death, Ashi.”

“Well I’m not letting Carlos keep Lan for certain death!”

The officer shook his head. “We talk with the chief at eight tomorrow. They have a tape. We’ll watch it, and deal with the situation then. Until then...get some rest, alright? And...turn off that video.” Ashi smiled, though more wearied with worry and fatigue now than the usual, energy-filled grins the officer had grown accustomed to.

“You sure you don’t want to finish it with me?”

“Maybe later, for now...get some rest.”

Ashi nodded, but paused in the doorway. “Hey Garnen?”

“Yes?”

“I don’t hate you.”

Garnen smiled slightly, curious as he locked with serious lavender. “I don’t hate you either, Ashi. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, officer.”

Note: I'm sorry if there are mistakes, I'm sorry if it looks wierd...I might fix it later...but right now, I'm focussed on getting to where I was. Forgive me! ^^'