| Fan Fiction |
by Hibiscus
There was a knock on the door and Ariel glanced at the clock. Two twenty five in the morning. She got up and padded silently to the kitchen door. She opened the door a crack and peered out. Chun stood on the doorsteps.
“What do you want?” Ariel got straight to the point without opening the door any further.
“Let me in, it’s cold.” He looked tired, fatigue pulling his mouth in a straight line.
Ariel thought about it for a second. “Do you have food?”
“Yes.”
“What do you have?”
“Pineapple topped cheesecake.”
Ariel opened the door. Chun walked in, thrust the bag at her and walked to the living room.
Ariel grabbed a fork, and then followed him. He was already sitting in the spot she had kept warm. She gave him a dirty look but took a seat opposite him and pulled her legs up.
“Who did you get to investigate me?” she asked between mouthfuls of cake.
“John.” Chun replied. He shrugged off his coat and leaned back, closing his eyes.
“Hoover?”
“Yeah. He’s the best.”
“Second best. Hu Ge’s the best. Hoover found out about my…uh…about Fire Light?”
“No. Edward told me.”
“It figures. How long have you known?”
“A while.”
“Does your grandfather know about my less than prolific activities?”
“No.”
Ariel smiled. For some reason, that amused her. “Are you going to tell me what you know about the guy who killed my parents?”
“Ask Hu Ge. Since he’s the best and all.” The sulky tone said it all.
“He had to fly back to Canada. Something came up with his wife.” Ariel poked Chun with her toe.
Chun opened his eyes. “He’s married?”
“Getting divorced.”
“Oh.” Chun closed his eyes again.
“What are you doing here?”
“I had nowhere else to go.”
“How about home? It’s impolite to make yourself so comfortable at other people’s houses.”
“Have you decided yet?”
“About what?”
“If you are going to move in with me.”
“I thought I gave you your reply last week.”
“It wasn’t the one I wanted to hear.”
“Tell me what you know.”
“Move in with me.”
“Bastard.”
“I do what I have to do.”
“And what will it get you?”
“I don’t know but I sure am curious to find out.”
“Are you in love with me?”
“Not quite.”
“Sex?”
“No. Not really. Not that I would mind. But that’s not it.”
“Tell me what you know.”
“Move in with me.”
“A week.”
“Six months.”
“Three.”
“Deal.”
---------------------------------
Ceci left first. To spend a week with her family before she flew to Japan. She cried. A lot. Apologized to Ariel. Thrice. Promised emails, calls and pictures. To keep in touch. Cried some more. Then she left. And then there were three.
Patience gave them all her contact information. Three different email addresses, five phone numbers. She gave and took assurances that she’d, that they’d remain friends. In the end, she left whispering a thank you in Ariel’s ear.
And then it was Rosa’s turn. She didn’t let Ariel drop her off at the airport. The family can take care of that, she insisted. So Ariel had called her a cab.
“This seems all so neat, doesn’t it?” Rosa mused. “We are all leaving. As though by someone else’s design.”
Ariel gave her the signature amused smile. “Yeah, then they’ll get their grubby hands on poor helpless me.”
Rosa rolled he eyes.
“This isn’t goodbye you know.” She said sternly.
“Then why are you crying?” Ariel smirked.
“Because I am going to miss you, damnit.” And she threw her arms around Ariel for a teary hug. “You’ll visit me, right?”
“Of course.” Ariel assured.
“Because you can afford it. And hire a proper manager. And look after yourself.” Rosa was sniffling.
“Yes, yes.”
“Try not to get lost in the in the darkness, okay?” Rosa gave Ariel one last hug and was gone.
Ariel turned and looked at the empty house. The bare walls, the covered furniture. Memories wept, still clinging to corners, wistfulness was transient in the air and a longing for what was, what had been fluttered all at once intensely, in the house and in Ariel.
She looked at the house one last time. “What do you know, House, now you are just like me. Empty.” Then she turned off the lights, locked the kitchen door and left.
----------------
Chun was waiting for Ariel. He had given her a key and the directions and then settled in to wait. He had been waiting for an hour now. Actually, truthfully, he had been waiting ever since she had agreed to move in with him. “I’m a bleeding sap.” He muttered. It was chilly so he had lit the fireplace. The flames cracked hypnotically, undulating like eastern beauties in desert harems. And before he knew it, Chun was fast asleep.
An hour later when he opened his eyes, he saw Ariel sitting as near the fireplace as she could get. Her hair was wrapped in a towel that looked suspiciously like his own, grey sweats which were way too big for her (again, they seemed like his) and a hoodie…his hoodie. Chun smiled sleepily and then closed his eyes. Then realization whacked him and he opened his eyes in immediate attention.
“When did you get here?” He got up and stretched.
“Thirty minutes ago.” Ariel replied without turning.
“Are those my clothes?”
“Yeah. It’s raining. I got soaked. Mine are still in the bags.”
Chun felt something warm in the region of his chest. She was marking herself with his scent without even being aware of it.
“Your neighbor is nosy. She saw me coming in. Probably calling the tabloids right now.” Ariel continued from her spot on the floor.
“Don’t worry about it. Her husband got his transfer papers this afternoon.”
“Good. I’d rather my daily life didn’t become public fodder.”
“They left?”
“Yep.”
Silence. Except for the sound of the rain falling outside.
“Are you hungry?” Chun finally asked.
“Does that even require an answer?”
“Let’s go.” He offered her a hand up. Ariel didn’t take it. She followed him into the kitchen, sitting cross legged on the kitchen counter as he cooked.
“I like cooking.” Chun explained when he saw her questioning glance.
“The first decent thing I have heard you say. Make me an omelet, please and thank you.”
Chun worked in silence and Ariel seemed disinclined to spark a conversation. She seemed content to observe his movements and gestures.
“It’s done.”
Ariel reached out a hand for the place but Chun placed it out of reach. “Reward the cook and you get the food.”
“Thank you?”
“You know what I want.” Chun stood in front of Ariel, in the gray light of the kitchen. The heat from his body tugged at Ariel’s skin.
Ariel stared at him for a scant second. Then she pulled his forward by the lapels of his shirt. Slipped her arms around his neck. Brought his face closer. She reached out, her eyes wide open just like his, caught his lower lip with her teeth and bit down. Gently. Chun’s breath went out in a rush and he took control of the kiss. His arms automatically went around Ariel and he lifted her off the counter. Ariel locked her legs around his waist to prevent herself from falling. It was a searching kiss, an intimate one. An exploration. Intimate. In all the ways. It didn’t allow any secrets. His mouth left hers, his lips traveled down to her neck and he returned the bite with a little more ferocity than she had shown.
“You gave me a hickey.” Ariel frowned, holding her hand against the spot. “Trying to claim your territory?”
Chun was still getting his breath back. “I want to mark you everywhere.” He said simply.
“I don’t love you, Chun.” Ariel watching him with dark eyes, eyes that still simmered from the fever.
“But you want me.”
Ariel didn’t deny it. It would be pointless to.
“I’ll work with what I have.” Chun handed Ariel the plate of food.
-------------------
Ariel woke the next morning in an unfamiliar room. She lay in an unfamiliar bed listening to the morning silence. Sorrow. Was that what the choking feeling in her chest was? For the first time in her life, Ariel didn’t know how to react. Chun hadn’t asked her for anything. If anything, he was treating her as though she were someone who deserved gentleness. Ariel still didn’t trust him. But perhaps she didn’t hate him that much. Not anymore. He was the first person who knowing who she was, what she was, still treated her normally. Even Hu Ge had a healthy respect for her. Even though he treated her flippantly, he knew how far to go and when to stop. But Chun didn’t care that she had killed, that she was dangerous. Maybe he had a death wish. Ariel basked in the light that was seeping from the large windows. She couldn’t fathom why Chun would keep her around if he didn’t want anything from her, something material. If it was only a physical lust he sought to quench, he could have certainly done so; she hadn’t exactly been averse to it last night. But after the kiss in the kitchen, he had kept himself a polite distance from her. And after showing her the room he had excused himself, claiming fatigue and an early shoot the next morning.
The cell phone rang. Ariel stuck her hand underneath her pillow and pulled it out.
“Hello?” Ariel didn’t recognize the number.
“You’re awake.” It was Chun.
“Where’s my breakfast?” Hey, he was the one who said he liked cooking.
“It’s almost time for lunch.” His tone was wry.
“Where’s my lunch then?” Hunger was hunger.
“Come visit me on the set and I’ll buy you lunch.” Ariel could hear the director screaming in the background.
“In what capacity?”
“As my wife.”
“Forget it.”
Suddenly, Ariel heard Rainie in the background. “Baby, let’s practice the kiss scene one more time.”
“On second thought…”
“Yeah?” Chun sounded wary.
“I’ll be there in an hour.”
Ariel didn’t linger over her show but she did linger over the clothes she wanted to wear. Finally she decided on skinny jeans and a floaty white tunic. She pulled her hair up in a ponytail and put on minimal makeup. She looked like a fresh faced schoolgirl. A far cry from the assassin she was.
Following the directions Chun had given her, Ariel arrived at a new hotel where the final scene of the drama starring Rainie and Chun was being shot. There was a crowd gathered in front of the hotel and of course the media was ever present. Cameras clicked madly when Ariel was recognized and questions were shrieked out. Ariel ignored them all and gratefully escaped into the comfort of the hotel which was off bounds to the media.
“They are on a recess right now, Miss.” One of the crew directed Ariel to the set location, a courtyard located in the middle of the hotel. It was actually outside. The hotel had been built around the garden. It was all quite clever really. Booths were set up all around, one for makeup, the other for the actors and so on.
At that moment, Chun sat at the makeup booth with the makeup artists hovering over him. Ariel walked over to him. He watched her, his eyes lit with lazy appreciation.
“You came.” He caught one of her hands. The makeup artists threw startled looks at their joined hands.
“You said you would feed me.” Ariel pulled her hand from his.
“One last scene and then we’ll go.”He promised.
“Chun, I told you I didn’t want any outsiders onset.” A voice from behind Ariel roared. Ariel turned around and the man swallowed whatever words he had been about to say. “Oh, Miss Lin.”
“She’s hardly an outsider, Lee. This is my wife.” Chun said casually, draping his arm around Ariel’s waist.
His proclamation was met with silence. Several jaws dropped, some hearts broke.
“Are you serious?” Lee asked.
“No.” Ariel grinned.
“Yes.” Chun said at the same time.
“Congratulations…” Lee smiled at Ariel. Now that he looked at them, they made a beautiful couple. “Ah Chun, could you come over to my booth after you’re done with the makeup. I have to discuss some dialogue revisions with you.” And he walked away, excitement apparent in his footsteps. This was big news.
Chun stood up and looked at Ariel. She stared at him not saying a word. “Sorry?” He looked apologetic. She still didn’t say anything. Then he lowered his lips to her ear. “The hickey’s showing.”
Ariel’s eyes widened and she clapped her hand against her neck and frowned. “Damnit.” He grinned and walked away. Ariel plopped down in the chair Chun had just vacated and looked beseechingly at a young makeup artist. “Could you hide this for me, please?”
The girl blushed and nodded her acquiescence. In a moment, it was hidden as though it had never even been. Ariel nodded her heartfelt thanks.
“Tina, I thought I told you to go get me coffee!” Rainie said as she rounded the corner to the makeup booth. She stopped short when she saw Ariel.
“Why don’t you take the rest of the day off, Tina?” Ariel said sweetly. “You look tired.”
“But Miss!” Tina looked uncertainly at Rainie who glowered at her.
“I’ll talk to the director.” Ariel promised. Tina muttered a thank you and fled without looking in Rainie’s direction.
“You know Ariel, I’ve had Chun.” Rainie sat in the chair beside Ariel and turned to her in a conversational manner.
“Oh, have you?” Ariel was very pleasant in return.
“Yes. Numerous times!” Rainie was full of malice.
“Good for you.” Ariel didn’t seem too affected.
“Doesn’t it bother you?” Rainie wanted Ariel to burn with jealously.
Ariel focused all her attention on Rainie for once. “Well. YOU couldn’t keep him, could you?”
----------------
“Pancakes, hash browns, eggs, freshly sliced pineapple and tea.” Ariel ordered and stared at the waiter daring him to say something.
“And you sir?” The waiter wisely refrained from comment.
“The risotto please.” Chun replied.
When the waiter left, Ariel leaned back in her chair and stifled a yawn. Then she looked over at Chun and remarked. “You have the worst taste in women.”
Chun raised an eyebrow.
“Rainie. You picked the shallowest, most vindictive women in the entire industry. Her spite is probably what attracted you in the beginning. And then, you picked me.” Ariel played idly with her fork.
Chun didn’t reply immediately. There was a silence punctuated by the conversations of the people around them. “It’s a failing I have. This weakness for the wrong women.”
“I can tell.”
The food arrived. They ate in silence. Then. “We have a party to go to tomorrow night.”
“We?” Ariel put down her fork.
“I accepted on behalf of you.” Chun replied coolly.
“Back up. When did I say you could do that?”
“I didn’t realize I needed your permission.”
“Damn straight you do.”
“Can’t we have a truce?”
“No. I don’t know what sort of ideas you are entertaining, Chun, but moving in with you has changed nothing. We are not setting up house and creating a Utopia. I married you because it consolidated my power. Edward’s granddaughter, San’s daughter in law. Hell, you should understand. In my line of work, it pays to be untouchable. I am not your wife in the true sense of the word and you’re not my husband. We simply coexist in the same space.”
“Is this about Rainie?” Chun sounded perplexed.
“Screw Rainie. Oh wait, you already have. Numerous times.”
“You are jealous.”
“I am not jealous. If I was jealous of all the women you’ve ever slept with, I’d have to hate a lot of Taiwan.”
“Don’t you already?”
“No. I have a problem with the way you view women, Chun. Do not try to mould me into someone you can spend your days and nights with. I am not malleable nor am I a novel toy to be cast aside when you tire of it. Which you will. Oh and don’t confuse lust for anything deeper. Save us both the trouble.”
“Are you done?” Chun was almost thrumming with white hot anger. “First, I have not tried to change you in any way. Give me one damned example if you think I’m lying. Second.” And here he paused. “Utopia, Ariel? You’d have to be normal for me to be able to create a Utopia with.” Ariel hissed, stung. “And what would you know of love? Hell, what do I know of love? Nothing. But I know that I feel something that I’ve never felt before. And I’m not letting you leave before I figure out what it is. I’m not letting you push me away either. Not this time.”
Chun’s cell phone rang, interrupting him. He picked it up.
“Yeah, I’ll be right there.” He hung up.
“Enjoy your food. I’ll see you at home.” He got up and walked away.
--------------------
The next morning Ariel stumbled out of her room at ten o’clock. She had deliberated stayed out late the night before so she wouldn’t have to face Chun. And she had deliberately stayed in bed until it would be too late for him to be still at home.
She walked into the kitchen, yawning. And there he was. Bright as the sunshine which had decided to sleep in this morning. Ariel sighed to herself. God deserted her when it mattered the most.
“Morning.” Chun said crisply from behind the paper was reading. Oh, so he was going to be civil now, eh?
“Morning.” Ariel could be civil too. Well, it took some effort but she could be.
“Coffee’s in the pot. Freshly brewed. No wait. You like tea. Second cupboard on the left.” Ariel followed his directions, irked by his niceness but soon had a cup of hot tea in her hands.
“French toast in the microwave. Help yourself.”
Ariel frowned. Then she stalked over to him and grabbed the paper out of his hands. “Why are you being so nice?”
“I’m just giving you breakfast. I’ve learnt that you are easier to deal with when you are full.” He snatched the paper back.
Ariel gave him a considering look. “I see. Okay. I’m going to go watch some cartoons.”
She grabbed her cup of tea and munching on a piece of toast walked into the den, flopping down on a spacious sofa in front of the TV.
“Chun, where’s the remote?” Ariel yelled after a minute of fruitless searching.
“On the coffee table.” He called from the kitchen.
“It’s not there.”
Chun came over to the den, picked up some papers on the coffee table and voila! The remote control sat there, gleaming in glory.
He tossed it over and sat down beside her. Ariel turned on the TV and flipped to the Disney channel. Pretty soon she was engrossed in one of the colour cartoons. And then ten minutes later she was fast asleep, snuggled against Chun’s side.
Chun looked down at her. And sighed. He had been awake late the night before, waiting for her to come back home. Worried she wouldn’t.
And now here she was. By his side. Frail and tiny in her sleep. Lethally deceptive. He picked her up and placed her gently on his lip. He liked the feel of her in his arms, the feel of his skin against hers. It felt right.
Ariel swam the shallower waters of sleep after an hour. She could feel the rhythmic beating of a heart and she rubbed her cheek against the sound. The chest in which the heart was beating. So reassuringly. She felt safe. Arms tightened around her and Ariel’s eyes flew open. What?
Chun. He was holding her close, his eyes shut, lashes dusting his cheeks, breathing even. Ariel tried to extricate herself from his embrace but he wouldn’t budge. “Maybe I should hurt him.” She said solemnly to his shirt. Okay. It wasn’t TOO bad. She’d just yell at him later. She could do with some more sleep. Yeah.
-------------------
The waves crashed on the beach. Rain poured down in punishing drops. The heavens were expressing their ire. Ariel looked outside.
“You expect me to go out in this?” She raised an eyebrow at Chun, all of a sudden struck by the domesticity of the scene. They had argued about TV and what to watch and then finally decided on Heroes. They both liked the series, yes, they were both amazed by that similarity.
And now it was 5 o’clock in the afternoon, time for them to get ready and go to the (dumb, in Ariel’s opinion) party that Chun had so imperiously accepted invitations for.
“I’m not asking you to walk there.” Chun replied, looking annoyed.
“We are in the midst of a storm, Chun.” Ariel said as patiently as she could.
“We are not. It’s just a simple rain shower.” Before Chun had finished speaking, lightning flashed and thunder boomed.
Ariel smirked. “You were saying?”
The wind picked up, a low keening sound like a bereavement song. Something clattered loudly outside.
“What was that?” Ariel peered into the gloom. “Lemme go see.”
“No. I’ll go.” Chun shrugged past her. Ariel followed. He opened the door to the porch and a gush of wind and rain poured forth. In a matter of minutes, they were drenched. Well, Chun was. Ariel, not so much since she had been blocked from the elements by his body.
Someone’s tarpaulin had flown to Chun’s backyard and draped itself along what had been once Chun’s well tended rose garden.
“Not a storm, eh?” Ariel said brightly, peeking from behind him.
“Has anyone ever told you how annoying you are?” Chun scowled. He shrugged past her (again) and started rolling up his jeans.
“You are going outside?” Ariel continued following him, observing his actions with bright eyed interest.
“Yeah. The roses need to breathe.”
“I didn’t figure you to be a gardener.”
Chun shrugged. He went and removed the tarpaulin from the roses. Ariel waited for him on the relatively dry porch.
“Could you get me a towel?” He asked as he came back on the porch, dripping, shivering.
“Do I look like a maid to you?” Ariel retorted.
“Forget it.”
“Don’t get your knickers in a twist. I’ll get it.” Ariel fetched it for him and then watched as Chun peeled off his shirt.
“I can see your nipples.” She told him conversationally.
Chun gave her a look and she beamed. “Are you going to molest me?” He raised an eyebrow.
“I’ll think about it.”
Chun rolled his eye sand turned his back to her. Ariel’s eyes traveled down the length of his naked back and then she frowned.
“IS that a scar?” She reached out and traced out a scar which ran the entire length of his back with her finger.
“Yeah. Bear fight.” Chun answered in a clipped tone. He had gone entirely still at her touch. “Can you stop touching me?”
“No. A bear fight? Cool.”
“I was twelve. Seriously, stop touching me.”
“You were twelve?” So assassins can still be shocked. Miracles would never cease.
“Your parents let you?” She asked him. She had memories of her own parents, memories she treasured and from what she remembered, parents didn’t usually condone bear wrestling.
“Father doesn’t give a fuck. Mother cares even less, if possible. Bitch left as soon as I was born, yeah, I’m still bitter about it. According to my sources, she died three years later on some boating accident with one of her boy toys. And my grandfather, the one who did raise me, has odd ideas about showing affection. He was the one who arranged the bear fight.”
“Who won?”
“The bear. Put me in the hospital for two months.”
“Damn.”
--------------
Thirty minutes later, dry and with hot mugs of coffee in their hands, Ariel and Chun sat in front of a crackling fire. It exuded warmth and this sense of peace that was, well, a delusion but at this moment, Ariel was content to pretend to herself.
“Aren’t you going to do any more dramas?” Chun asked. He was reading a script. He hadn’t signed on to do any more work after this latest drama with Rainie and Fei Lun Hai were on ‘vacation’ for the rest of the year. He was a free man.
“I’ve been approached for some dramas with…” Ariel cast Chun a sidelong glance. “Ahem.”
“With?” Chun focused all his attention on Ariel.
“Mike.” Ariel smiled sweetly.
Chun’s face immediately looked as stormy as the weather outside. “What?”
“Yep. Some of them have bed scenes.” Ariel continued blithely.
“Over my dead body.” Chun slammed the manuscript on the table.
“Hey, you are talking to an assassin. I can easily arrange that.”
“I’m going to bed.” Chun glared at her and stalked out.
Ariel followed, chuckling quietly.
-------------
“Make me porridge.”
“Who eats porridge anymore?”
“Healthy people do.”
“Are you calling yourself healthy?”
“Do you object?”
“Heartily.”
“I don’t care. Are you making me porridge or do I have to hurt you?”
“You can try.”
Just then the doorbell rang. Ariel swallowed the reply she had been about to give Chun and stalked to the door.
“Who was it?” Chun asked as she walked back into the kitchen holding a large, yellow envelope.
“Delivery boy. Hu Ge investigated you. This is the result.” Ariel replied bluntly, opening the envelope with a kitchen knife.
“You could have just asked me.” Chun said quietly.
Ariel wasn’t listening. Her attention was riveted on the papers she was holding. Finally she spoke, no trace of humour in her voice, “I thought you said your mother died twenty three years ago.”
Chun stilled. “What?”
-------------------------------------------
Author's Note: Yes, I know it's been a while. Sorry. This chapter was very difficult to write. My characters refuse to behave themselves. Dunno when's the next one is coming but i'll work hard on it. thanks for reading, if you are still around and reading. =)