(no subject)

[heroshirou.livejournal.com]

When; January 1st
Rating; PG-13 to be safe
Characters; Archer heroshirou and Hotaru silence_bringer
Summary; What starts out as a question turns into romance which ends as possible danger.
Log; Archer sat on the couch. Well, more like laid on the couch. It was far more comfortable like that, with his legs sprawled out. His hands were behind his head and he was staring at the ceiling, thinking. Planning for Hotaru's birthday and what needed to be done for it. He turned his head and looked at Hotaru to get her attention.

The girl in question looked up as his head turned towards her. She was sitting on the other end of the couch, nestled somehow amidst the tangle of long limbs that was Archer, elbows resting on an upraised knee. She smiled at him, shifting position to lean back against the couch. "What is it?"

"I think I've gone and done something irrational." Archer sighed at his statement. "I can't back down from it though, so I think you'll have to join me."

Confused, she slid a bit closer, violet eyes concerned. Irrational? That didn't sound like Archer. In fact, the man had always seemed, to her, to be the more sensible of the two of them. "What do you mean?"

Archer turned his head back up to the ceiling. "Have you heard about that concert that is being held sometime this month?"

Hotaru nodded. She'd heard about it. She'd even been asked to play in it, but she didn't have a violin here in the City. Or any other instrument, for that matter. But...what did that have to do with Archer? "I know of it. What does that have to do with us?"

"I signed up for it. The girl holding the concert, Motoko, needed a drummer. So I volunteered. So you know what that means?"

She shook her head, black hair swinging around her chin. She knew what him being a drummer meant. That he would be in the concert. But..she wasn't sure how that involved her. Besides the fact that she would obviously come and watch him, of course.

"It means that you'll have to come to the concert. However, unless you go with a friend, you'll be by yourself in a crowd."

Biting her lip, she thought about it. She didn't much care for the idea. She wanted to be with him. Not by herself in a crowd of people. Frowning slightly, she crawled over his legs to half-lay atop him, hands folded on his chest as she studied his face. "I don't want to. Want to stay with you..." Thinking that perhaps pouting might help, she put on her best sad face and stuck out her bottom lip.

Archer looked at Hotaru. Her face bit into his heart. He knew he spoiled the girl by doing whatever she said but he just couldn't resist that face. He closed his eyes. "Stop making that face."

"Why?" It was working. She scooted closer, seemingly unaware that she was only making their current position look even more compromising. "Why'd you close your eyes? Don't you like looking at me?" A slight whimper was added to the pout, though she was having a harder and harder time not smiling at him. This was actually sortof fun. Maybe this was what Rei-san had meant when she'd talked about 'using your feminine wiles'.

He reached up and put his hand on her face. With his palm covering most of her cute looks, he opened his eyes. "You probably know perfectly well why I don't want to see that face. Anyways, I'm going to be on stage. How do you plan to be at my side the whole time?"

She giggled. "Why, because you can't tell me 'no' when I make that face?" Closing her eyes, she leaned her face into his hand, smiling. "I know.....but I still want to be..."

"If I answered that question, you'd never stop making that face." Archer pulled his hand off her face and put his arms around her neck. "Why don't you go with Glinda or Naruto? I can even understand if you wish to go with that Xulchilbara man."

"They're not you. I want you." She frowned again, lower lip threatening to find it's way back into a pout.

"You shouldn't spend every second with me. You should be with other friends too." Archer was quite adamant with this point. He tried to say it as nice as possible though.

With a sigh, she laid her head down on his chest, fingertips tracing the patterns on his shirt. "I know....but....I want to be with you, too..." She knew he was right. He was usually always right. But that didn't mean that she had to agree with him.

"I know. I know. But you should start thinking about who to ask to go with." While he was saying this, he started to run his hands through Hotaru's hair.

She smiled, letting her eyes close at the feeling of his fingers running through her hair. "Mmmm...that feels nice, Archer." She guessed he was right. But..she found it a bit odd that the strange man with the burning eyes had somehow made it onto Archer's "OK-list". "Ne, Archer? I thought you didn't like Xulchilbara-san."

"He talked about having a daughter. Men like that...they usually care for girls rather than hurt them." Archer lifted up tufts of her hair, letting the black shimmer in the light, watching it sparkle as he dropped it.

She nodded. "He said he protects innocents. Am...am I really an innocent?" She bit her lip slightly. "I...don't feel like an innocent.."

"I think you are innocent and that is all that matters."

"Really?" She lifted her head to fix her eyes on his, smiling.

Archer smiled back. "Yes. That is part of your beauty."

That only served to make her face turn red. She glanced away slightly, a bit embarassed. "I...I'm not that beautiful, Archer.."

"Of course you are. Why would you think any different?"

"Because...you're the only one who's ever thought so..." Laying her head back down, she twined her fingers in the tassel on the front of his coat. "When...when I was little. In the accident. I...Poppa had to rebuild my body. I...I wasn't even completely real. I was...like a machine. With so many scars....that's why I always wore black tights and long sleeves. So..no one would see.." That in itself was a mystery to her as well. Whether it was a result of the fact that she'd died, or a perk of the City, her body here was perfect. Unmarred by the ravages of her childhood.

Archer frowned a little. "Well, that isn't a problem now, it is? I don't see it being one. Even if you were like that, it wouldn't matter to me."

She could have cried. Right then and there. Ever since she was a child, she had been shunned and ridiculed, abandoned and teased for the scars she bore. And now, to have someone who meant so much to her tell her that his feelings for her wouldn't change in the slightest no matter what...She did the only thing she could think of to do. Scooting forward, she leaned down and kissed him, trying to put all the feeling she could into it. Maybe that would be enough to let him know how much his words meant to her.

Archer tensed, surprised at her reaction. However, he relaxed into the kiss and put his arms around Hotaru.

She felt him tense, and frowned. She didn't want him to freeze. She wanted him to....well, she didn't really know what she wanted him to do. She supposed that kissing her back was a start, but she wasn't really sure how to tell him that. But...now he seemed to be relaxing, so maybe it was ok. She ignored the shaft of sudden fear that she'd done something wrong, that she'd made the wrong choice, not even wanting to really entertain that notion.

Archer broke the kiss and smiled at her. "I won't continue until you've made up your mind about who you want to go with to the concert."

She frowned, lower lip slipping into the familiar pout from earlier. "So...if I pick someone, I'll get a real kiss? Like in the movies?"

"Perhaps. But I don't want you picking some random person. You should think just a little."

Her frown deepened, nose wrinkling up as she attempted to glare at him. And failed. "I'll ask Glinda-san. I wanted to talk to her about something anyway. And...she said she'd help me get ready when you take me out on my birthday. Is that ok?"

In response, Archer gave Hotaru the kiss she wanted. Or as close to it as possible. It was almost impossible to completely copy what the movies did.

It might not have been exactly like the movies, but it was certainly enough to make her face flush and her head seem to spin slightly. Or maybe that was the fact that she forgot to breathe...Either way, it was a good enough answer for her.

When Archer was done, he leaned back and took a deep breath. "Was that good enough for you, Hotaru?"

All she could really do was nod. And hope that he'd enjoyed that as much as she had. She snuggled her head up underneath his chin, small hand fisted in the material of his coat. "I like that.....do..do you?"

"I did. Very much" For some reason, Archer felt very sleepy. He tried his best to stifle a yawn, but failed. Archer frowned because servants weren't supposed to get tired.

She cocked her head at him, confused. "I thought you said you didn't get tired, Archer. Are you ok?"

"I don't know. I just feel really sleepy." Archer set his head back down and closed his eyes. He wasn't going to sleep quite yet, but he felt as if he needed to rest for a bit.

Frowning, she sat up slightly, shifting around to press one hand gently to his forehead. "I wonder if you have a fever..." Brushing a few strands of white hair out of his face, she leaned down and pressed her lips gently to his forehead. Poppa had always said that you could tell better that way then by using your hand.

"Nah. I don't think I have a fever. Just need to sleep..." Archers voice dropped a bit while he talked.

She shook her head. No, his forehead was cool to the touch. But...Archer didn't get sick. He didn't get tired. In fact, there were a lot of 'normal' things that Archer didn't do. With a small smile, she leaned down and gently kissed him again. "Don't worry, Archer. I'll take care of you."

"Alright. Sounds good to me." Archer slowly feel in the black hole of sleep. Just barely noticing that he was being kissed by Hotaru.

Hotaru watched him drift off to sleep before snuggling back under his arm, head nestled underneath his chin. He could sleep. And when he woke up, she'd make sure she was there. Sliding an arm across his chest, she shifted slightly, as though trying to get closer. Lifting her head again to look at him for a moment, she smiled. "I...I think that...I love you, Archer." Setting her head back down, she too drifted off to sleep. Maybe next time, she'd know how to tell him when he was actually awake.