The Title Will Go Here - 9. Chapter 9

- IX -

...“Oh, come on...!” Katherine slightly narrowed her eyes against the startlingly bright December sun and flicked away her cigarette, completely ignoring the ashtray that was sitting in front of her. Stratos just sighed at that. “How old is he?” She leaned on the back of her chair and crossed her legs.

“Twenty-two,” Stratos nodded, absent-mindedly playing with her lighter.

“Uh huh,” she said without looking away from his face. “And he had never had an orgasm before? With all his...” She hesitated for a brief second. “...experience...” She finally continued. “With all his...” There was that brief pause again. “...practice... He had never climaxed? Never...?”

“That’s right,” Stratos replied calmly, his thumb flicking the lighter off and on, making the bright yellow flame dance in the wind.

“Oh, Stratos...” Katherine sighed and took away her lighter after pulling another skinny cigarette out of her pack. “I am sorry, but I smell bullshit...” She put the lighter back on the table and threw one of her legs on top of another, slightly swaying her foot. “See...” She blew a cloud of blue smoke out of her nostrils. “If he was a girl, then I would probably buy it... Some females go through their entire life without having any idea what sex is really all about... But a guy...?” She shook her head. “No way in hell...!”

“He wasn’t lying,” Stratos said in the same calm manner, picking up the lighter once more. “He was telling the truth.”

She gave him a long, questionable look, and he shrugged without looking away.

“I just know,” he said simply, and she let out another sigh.

“I am not saying he was lying...” she said slowly, her foot swaying back and forth. “It’s just...” She paused for a thoughtful second. “It’s just...” she finally continued. “...he was probably saying something like... Well...” She shrugged and flicked some ashes off the tip of her cigarette. “He was probably trying to compliment you and it didn’t come out quite right... Something like, ‘You are the best I’ve ever had’ or...” She narrowed her eyes. “Something like, ‘I never came so hard with anyone in my entire life’, or...”

“I get it,” Stratos interrupted her, his expression undisturbed. “And no, that wasn’t it. He wasn’t trying to compliment me and he wasn’t lying. He meant it.”

She watched him for a few seconds, her eyes thoughtful, and then she sighed once again.

“Stratos,” she said slowly and flicked her half-smoked cigarette away, making Stratos roll his eyes.

“There is an ashtray right in front of you, you know that, right?” he asked in a low voice, and she leaned forward, pressing both of her elbows into the dark-brown tabletop.

“Stratos...” she said again, her expression suddenly serious. “You are so...”

“I don’t care,” he shook his head and she gave him a silent question. “I don’t care if you think that I am gullible,” he continued, his calmness never changing. “Hell, you are probably right...!” He shrugged and moved the ashtray closer to her when she lit up another cigarette. “You are probably right...” he continued, ignoring her slight eye roll. “...but not this time,” he finished calmly. “He meant every single word... I just know it,” he shrugged again, and she let out another sigh and leaned onto the back of her chair once again.

“Okay,” she said a few seconds later, her expression undisturbed. “Okay, I will drop it...” She looked at him through her eyelashes and let out a small smile. “Nice mark, by the way,” she said in a low voice, and he frowned.

“What?”

Katherine raised her hand and slightly tapped her fingertips on the right side of her own throat.

“Nice mark,” she said again.

Stratos blinked at that and slowly touched the side of his neck. Then his frown smoothed out and he smiled and drank more coffee.

“Yeah,” he said and smiled again without elaborating any further.

“I see you weren’t the only one marking your territory last night,” Katherine said in the same low voice, and he glanced at her with a silent question.

She didn’t say anything else; she just looked at him patiently. Finally, he let out a short laughter and picked up his coffee cup again.

“He wasn’t marking me,” he said without looking away from Katherine’s face. “It was just...” He shrugged without finishing the sentence, and Katherine let out another sigh.

“Uh huh,” she nodded seriously. “He was just lost in throws of passion, so he placed that very obvious mark in such a clever strategic place that you could not possibly cover it up...” She paused and finished her latte. “Not even if you wore a turtleneck,” she finished with another nod and set her cup back on the table.

“He wasn’t marking me,” Stratos said again, slower this time. “Katherine, he...”

“I gotta go,” she interrupted him and stood up, her expression as calm as before. “I will see you tonight at seven.”

He let out a defeated sigh and stood up as well.

“Want me to pick you up?” he asked, and she shook her head.

“No, I’ll drive myself...” She leaned forward, and Stratos placed an absent-minded kiss on her forehead, never noticing a sudden dark cloud that ran over her expression. “Don’t forget to find massage oil!” She said lightly and straightened up, her eyes calm once again.

“Got it,” Stratos said automatically and emptied the ashtray into the trashcan that sat not too far from their table.

When he came back, Katherine was gone. He sighed and started walking towards his car, his expression thoughtful.

**** 

At 6:30 in the evening, Stratos started working the coffeemaker, figuring that the fresh pot would finish brewing by the time Katherine showed up. He finished with the coffeemaker in less than two minutes and walked to the living room. He stopped a few seconds later, watching Gemini getting lost in another book, his figure strangely small in a big chair, his hair trying to take over his eyes as usual. Stratos watched him for several minutes without saying anything, and finally, he walked closer.

“Did you mark me last night?” he asked without a smile, and Gemini slightly jerked and looked up.

“What?” he asked with a small frown.

“Did you mark me last night?” Stratos repeated as seriously as he did before. “This...” He briefly touched the side of his neck. “Did you do it on purpose? Did you mark me?”

Gemini stared at him without blinking, and Stratos almost heard him say, ‘Of course, not! Why would you even ask such a thing...?’ when all of a sudden, the golden eyes closed, and Stratos blinked and frowned at the same time when he heard:

“I’m sorry...”

He frowned deeper, this time, with more confusion.

“Wait...” he said, noting that the golden eyes remained closed. “Wait... Was that a ‘yes’?”

Gemini’s expression tightened and he gave Stratos a very small, slow nod without opening his eyes.

“I’m sorry...” he said again, and Stratos just stared at him.

“And you admitted it just like that...?” he asked a few seconds later. “You didn’t even try saying it was an accident...?”

Gemini finally opened his eyes and looked up with the same small, tight frown on his forehead.

“I would never lie to you...” he said slowly. “You hate it...”

“Yeah...” Stratos muttered without looking away from the golden eyes. “I really do...”

He reached out for a silky strand of hair that took the long eyelashes hostage, and was about to tuck it behind the small, pink ear as usual, when suddenly, Gemini let out a small, tight inhale and stiffened up in his chair, his shoulders rigid. Stratos frowned and stood still for a second. Then he slowly tucked that strand behind the small ear and lowered his hand.

“You flinched...” he said a minute later. “Why?”

Gemini blinked and looked away for a second. Stratos frowned deeper.

“Did you really believe that I would hurt you?” he asked very slowly and received another tight golden glance in return. He shook his head. “Did you...?” he asked when there was nothing but silence.

“I made you angry,” he finally received a soft reply, and closed his eyes for a few seconds.

“Gemini...” he said quietly when he opened them. “I will never hurt you...” He paused. “And I will damage anyone who tries,” he continued after a silent second. “It doesn’t matter if I am livid; it doesn’t matter if everything is about to go to hell...” He took a quick breath. “Gem, I will never hurt you... I need you to know that...! I will say this as many times as I have to, but I need you to know that...! What?” he asked when Gemini’s expression suddenly became strangely curious.

“Nobody ever called me that before...” the blond kelari said softly, a very small smile peeking through the corners of his mouth. Stratos blinked at that.

“Call you what?” he asked with genuine confusion, and the smile grew bigger.

“Gem...” he received another soft reply, and he sighed and slowly lowered himself on his knees, pressing his elbows into the arm of the big chair.

He looked up at the slightly flushed face that started reflecting that familiar rosy glow, and reached for the smooth cheek with one of his hands. He stroked the silky skin, never looking away from the golden eyes, and ran his fingers through the soft hair.

“I will never hurt you, Gem...” he said seriously, and then cleared his throat. “By the way,” he said in a lower voice, his fingers returning to the smoothness of the cheek. “You didn’t make me angry...” He nodded when he saw the expression in the golden eyes. “You didn’t have to mark me...” He shrugged. “...but if you want to, go ahead,” he finished with another slight nod. “Just maybe not this obvious next time?” he slightly raised his eyebrows. “At least, leave me an option of a turtleneck...”

Gemini blinked at that, the same smile splashing on his mouth, and Stratos let out a smile of his own and pulled him down, snaking his hand onto the back of his neck. He slowly caressed the smiling mouth with his tongue, loving the feeling of the long fingers that buried in his hair, and threw a quick, half-lidded glance at the clock that hung on the wall.

“Dammit...” he muttered with dark regret and pulled away. “Katherine is going to be here in fifteen minutes,” he answered a silent golden question, and Gemini’s smile slightly faltered.

“Right...” he breathed and straightened up when Stratos got off his knees. “Katherine...”

“I need to get that ice-cream cake out of the freezer,” Stratos said loudly, heading towards the kitchen. “She likes her ice-cream slightly melted...”

Gemini put his book away and left the chair.

“Who is she?” he asked casually when he walked into the kitchen and leaned against the wall. Stratos shot him a quick glance.

“An old friend,” he nodded. “Very good friend... Well...” he hemmed and opened the door of the freezer. “Used to be more than just a friend...” He reached for the cake box deep in the freezer, never noticing a dark shadow that cast over the gold of the eyes that were hiding behind the eyelashes again. “But she left two years ago; said that she wanted to experience life to the fullest, that she needed a real adventure, so...” He emerged from the freezer with the box in his hands and kicked the door shut. “Now she is just a very good friend,” he finished with a slight nod and set the box on the counter, carefully opening the lid.

“Ah,” Gemini said in the same casual manner, his gaze fixed on the cake box.

Stratos noticed a small vanilla smudge on the side of his hand and licked it off, never noticing a suddenly tense posture and stiff shoulders. He was about to say something when there was a loud sound of the doorbell rolling through the air, and he smiled and glanced at the clock.

“Punctual as ever,” he muttered and headed to the front door, leaving Gemini alone in the kitchen.

Gemini stared at the box without really seeing it, and briefly closed his eyes when he heard:

“You remembered...!”

“Of course, I remembered! I remember not just your favorite wine, but a lot of your other favorites...! And I am not talking food or colors...”

“Found massage oil...”

“Good, we’ll need it!”

Gemini opened his eyes and looked at the box again, frowning at the sudden desire to grab it and splatter vanilla ice-cream all over the wall. Instead of doing that, he sighed and walked to the fridge. He opened the door, looked inside for a second or two, and then sighed again and pulled out a bowl of cherries. He carefully set the bowl next to the box and straightened up, staring at the box once again.

...Dinner took maybe an hour total, but to Gemini it felt like an eternity. He was a little bit relieved when it was dessert time. Then Stratos started carefully cutting the ice-cream cake, and that brief relief immediately shattered into pieces.

“Dammit...” Stratos muttered with a frustrated frown when the knife cut the cake a lot easier than he expected, and he had vanilla ice-cream all over his hand as the result.

Katherine laughed at that and took the knife away from him.

“Messy as always,” she said, quickly fixing the cake and putting the knife away.

Stratos grimaced and reached for a napkin. Katherine laughed again and grabbed his hand.

“No need,” she said in a low voice, and before he could say anything, she brought his hand closer to her lips, ignoring Gemini’s stunned look. “No need to waste some perfectly good ice-cream,” she said in the same low voice, and then her quick pink tongue started dancing on Stratos’ hand, gathering all the ice-cream it could reach, and cleaning the spots that didn’t need to be cleaned.

Gemini closed his eyes for a few seconds, the same dark, heavy feeling rapidly growing in his chest. Finally, he opened his eyes and looked at Stratos. He expected the other man to take his hand away from Katherine’s overzealous tongue, but he never did, letting her to continue ‘cleaning’ his skin. Gemini saw a small smile on his face, and suddenly, he couldn’t take this anymore. He dropped his fork onto his plate, and the sound came out unexpectedly loud, making Katherine to look up and finally let go of Stratos’ hand.

“You okay?” Stratos frowned when he turned his head towards the loud clanking.

Gemini slowly stood up, avoiding looking at him.

“Yes,” he muttered and pushed his chair away from the table. “I am going to go to bed early tonight...”

Stratos frowned deeper and glanced at his plate.

“You haven’t even had any cake,” he said, and the dark feeling suddenly bucked into a huge wave, making Gemini lock his teeth. “And I know that you love ice-cream...”

“I am not hungry,” Gemini said softly and stepped away from the table, the dark feeling growing inside him, making him slightly dizzy.

“You sure you...” Stratos started asking with the same frown, when all of a sudden, Katherine jumped up with a frustrated groan, and Stratos turned his head to look at her.

“Crap...!” she exclaimed and tried to brush vanilla ice-cream off her tight pants when the cake on her plate suddenly decided to tumble off the table and land in her lap. “Crap...!” she said again.

“What happened?” Stratos stood up as well.

“Ugh...!” She looked at him, tightly pressing her lips when she realized that the cake was not going to be merely brushed off – it was determined to be a worthy foe. “I guess I put my plate too close to the edge,” she said and reached for the napkin. “Must’ve hit it with my elbow... Dammit!”

“Good night,” Gemini said evenly when Stratos started helping her to clean up the mess in her lap.

He started walking away when he heard Stratos’:

“Gem, are you okay...?”

He paused on the stairsteps, half-turning his head.

“Yes,” he muttered. “Good night...”

“Night...” Stratos said slowly, his expression confused.

He was about to say something else, but Gemini turned away and went upstairs, trying to tame the dark waves that kept drowning him from the inside.

Stratos watched him walk away and blinked when he heard a suddenly loud door slam.

“Wonder if he’s sick or something...” he muttered, and Katherine raised her head, briefly leaving the mess on her pants alone. Stratos noticed her curious look and shrugged. “He is never like this,” he explained, and Katherine sighed and returned her attention to vanilla ice-cream that turned out to be incredibly creamy.

“No surprise, really...” she muttered and raised her head again when Stratos said with genuine confusion:

“Huh?”

She looked at him for a second or two, her expression mildly-disbelieving.

“What?” he asked when she wouldn’t say anything, and she sighed and straightened up.

“Stratos,” she said. “You are a brilliant musician.”

“And...?” he frowned when she stopped talking.

“That’s it,” she nodded. “You are a brilliant musician... Everything else, however...”

He rolled her eyes at her expression, and she smiled and returned to her pants.

“He is jealous,” she shrugged without looking up this time, and Stratos stopped helping her.

“Jealous...?” he repeated slowly and received another quick glance from her.

“Yes,” she nodded. “Extremely jealous... Has been ever since last night... Why do you think he marked you?”

She threw the soaked napkin on the table and reached for another one, glancing at Stratos again when he wouldn’t say anything. She sighed and straightened up once more, leaving the napkin alone.

“It’s only natural,” she said patiently. “It’s only natural that he developed feelings for you,” she explained as patiently when Stratos kept looking at her with a silent question in his blue eyes. “In fact...” she shrugged again and started working her pants once more. “I’d be surprised if he hadn’t...” she finished, and Stratos slightly shook his head.

“What are you talking about?” he asked impatiently, and she slowly straightened up, giving him an incredulous look.

“Really?” she said in a low voice. “You really asked that question...? Oh, Stratos...” she let out another sigh. “Okay... You are the only one in his entire life who treated him this way... You are the only one who cared about his pleasure; the only one who made him enjoy sex instead of dreading it... Hell, you are probably the only one who actually kissed him!” She let out a short laughter. “Of course, he developed feelings for you...! And now...” She glanced upstairs. “...he is jealous because you are down here with me instead of up there with him,” she finished with yet another nod, and Stratos slowly shifted his gaze upstairs, saying nothing.

Katherine patted her pants with the napkin for another minute or so, and then let out an exasperated sigh.

“Screw it,” she muttered and threw the napkin on the table. “Doesn’t matter... These pants are not going to stay on much longer anyway...” She let out a small, sly smile and glanced at Stratos who kept looking at the stairs. “So, you wanna hear a few stories before we get to wine and everything else...? A few months ago, I met an actual Hunter, can you believe that...? Stratos...” she called when he wouldn’t look away from the carpeted steps. “Stratos, are you even listening to me...?”

“He is hurting...” he muttered, and she narrowed her eyes and leaned forward.

“What?” she asked in a low voice, and he finally looked at her.

“He is hurting,” he said again, and she blinked at that.

“I would imagine so,” she nodded slowly. “Jealousy is never pleasant... Anyhow, the way I met that Hunter is absolutely crazy! If it hadn’t happened to me, I’d never believed this story...! I was...”

“He is hurting...” Stratos said again, not listening to her, and she stopped talking and looked at him with wide eyes.

“Wait a minute...” she said slowly after a few stunned silent seconds. “Wait a minute... You don’t like it, do you?”

He looked at her without saying anything.

“When he is hurting...” she continued in the same slow manner. “You don’t like it...?”

“I hate it,” he said quietly after almost minute of silence, and Katherine briefly closed her eyes.

“Wow...” she said very softly after she opened them. “Wow... I guess he wasn’t the only one who developed feelings...” She looked at him, expecting immediate denial, and closed her eyes again when nothing came. “I am going to take off,” she said a little louder, a few minutes later. Her voice sounded as brightly as it did before, but her eyes reflected sudden bitterness somewhere deep inside.

“To take off...?” Stratos frowned.

“Don’t...” she said softly, and he stopped talking. “You don’t have to force yourself into being a good host; I know you are...” She paused. “I forgot that I have an early meeting in the morning, how’s that?”

He blinked without replying, and she sighed once again.

“Good night, Stratos,” she nodded and turned around, looking for her coat. “Keep the wine,” she gave him a quick smile.

“Katherine...” he started saying, but she interrupted him.

“Good night, Stratos... Go to him,” she said quietly after a second or two. “He is hurting...”

He looked at her silently for several minutes. She turned around, heading towards the front door, and he finally spoke.

“I love you, you know that, right?”

She stopped and looked at him over her shoulder.

“Yeah...” she said softly. “I love you too... I will lock the door, don’t worry...” she nodded when she noticed him glance at the stairs again. “Go...”

He gave her a quick smile and went upstairs without saying anything else. She watched him go, and when she heard the sound of the opening door, she closed her eyes.

“I love you too...” she muttered very softly.

She stood still for a few minutes, and then sighed, opened her eyes, turned around, and walked outside, making sure the door was locked after she left.