Work Text:
Wild Goose Cold Turkey (Loveless/AU crossover)
By Haruka (haruka@ymail.com)
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Soubi couldn't find his cigarettes. He was certain that he'd left them on the bedside table, but the pack was gone.
It wasn't on the floor by the table, either. Maybe he'd somehow kicked them under the bed? He got down on his hands and knees to look.
"Well, THAT'S an inelegant pose for you," Kunzite remarked from the doorway. "Lose something?"
"My cigarettes," Soubi replied and stood back up. "They're not here." He frowned. This wasn't funny – he really wanted a smoke.
"Are you sure you didn't have the last one already?" the blonde sorcerer asked.
"I'm positive. I had one shortly before bed last night." Soubi sighed. "Well, I guess I can go get some more down in the mall –"
"No, you can't," Kunzite corrected him. "Today's a holiday, remember? The mall is closed."
Soubi gave Kunzite a stricken look that made the older man put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Calm down, just go borrow one from one of the smokers on this floor. There are several of them."
Soubi relaxed a little. "You're right. I'll go do that."
Kunzite watched him leave and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Soubi left the suite and glanced up and down the corridor. He was about to go to the Souma suite, but given that Akito had just been changed into a vampire and the Juunishi members were all suicidal at the moment, he decided not to bother them.
Kio didn't smoke, so there was no point in going to see his best friend, who probably had his hands full handling the little Zeros latest mischief, anyway.
It sounded like Haruka and Michiru were practicing their piano and violin in their suite. He didn't want to interrupt, and besides, he doubted they smoked.
He tried knocking on Nephrite and Jadeite's door, but they weren't in.
"Where the hell would they go with everything closed?" Soubi grumbled, the irritation of being denied his fix for too long starting to show.
He didn't think anyone in the Hearts/Angels' suite smoked, and if they did, Soubi didn't want to know. The two eldest of them were only sixteen.
That left two more suites, and he knew for a fact that both had smokers.
When he knocked on the Kuba twins' door, one of their two slaves, Nuriko, opened it. Soubi explained what he was there for.
"I'm sorry, but Misao is handling a job for Kanou today and Homare is down in the parking garage fiddling with his car."
Soubi's shoulders sagged. He was having NO luck today. He thanked Nuriko politely nevertheless and glanced toward Kanou's suite. Nuriko hadn't said that Kanou was out WITH Misao.
However, it was Kanou's Ayase, every seme's wet dream, who answered the door. Despite not being seme, Soubi still had to focus in Ayase's presence so he'd be coherent enough to speak, "Excuse me, Ayase-san, but is Kanou here?"
"No, he's at work," the waif-like beauty replied. Concern touched his expression and he regarded Soubi worriedly, "Is there something I can do?"
Soubi managed a weak smile. "I think not. It's just that I don't have any cigarettes at home."
Ayase smiled brightly. "Oh yes! Ritsuka-san mentioned that you would be quitting soon! How is that going?"
Ritsuka? Soubi's blue eyes narrowed and he excused himself quickly to the confused Ayase, stalking back toward his own suite.
He found Ritsuka right away – he, Yayoi, and Midori had moved into the living room to play video games. Zoisite was leaning over the back of the couch, watching them.
"Ritsuka," Soubi said, trying to keep his voice under control, "may I have a word with you, please?"
"All right." The twelve-year-old jumped up and frowned as Zoisite jumped over the couch to steal both his seat and his controller.
Soubi led Ritsuka out onto the balcony and closed the doors so they wouldn't be overheard.
"Ritsuka," he said, "by any chance, did you throw away my pack of cigarettes this morning?"
"Yes," the child replied without hesitation.
Soubi clenched both his fists and his jaw, but forced a smile to try and hide his agitation. "And WHY did you do that?"
"Because you don't keep your promise to smoke outside, your clothes, hair, and breath reek of it all the time, and I love you too much to watch you kill yourself little by little!" Ritsuka said emphatically.
The twenty-year-old ran a hand through his hair. "I've been smoking a long time, Ritsuka. It's hard to quit."
"Then I'll make it easy." Ritsuka folded his arms. "As your Sacrifice and your Master, I ORDER you to quit!"
Soubi blinked. He couldn't find words to refute something that was well-within Ritsuka's rights. He bowed his head. "All right."
Ritsuka flung his arms around Soubi's waist. "Thank you, Soubi. It'll be for the best, you'll see."
Soubi stroked the dark hair and rubbed the cat-shaped ears. What Ritsuka said may be the truth. But just then, craving the cigarette he would never have, he could only muse that this boy was giving 'Sacrifice' a whole new meaning for his Fighter.
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(Word challenge - Aggravation)
(2005)
None of these characters belong to me.
This fic is not to be re-posted.