Slipping Through Your Fingers

Slipping Through Your Fingers

Author: pratz

Disclaimer: Gundam 00 and its characters rightfully belong to Sunrise.

Note: this is my kind of denial. Episode 21 and up never happen. Lockon never dies. Tieria never submits to his depressed self. That’s it, and don’t disillusion me, thank you.

‘Tieria’ and ‘cooking’ really should not sit in one congruent sentence just as ‘Setsuna’ and ‘God’ should not.

“This is impossible!”

Lockon winced as the shaker hit the bottom of the large bowl loudly, making melt chocolate splash everywhere. Some landed on Tieria’s left cheek, just an inch below the rim of his glasses, and some landed on his fingers.

Allelujah, always the pacifier between them when things went skewed as Lockon stood on the most extreme polar of having fun and Tieria on being very strict to the bone, only shrugged. “I don’t think this is the right time to,” he coughed, “have some fun just as you said before, Lockon.”

Lockon laughed weakly at that, and it won him a Tieria Erde’s patented glare.

“I’ve told you it’s impossible,” Tieria scowled. “And you, Lockon Stratos, are impossible.”

“Hey, what’s wrong with enjoying a little spare time?”

“Of course it is when even the first was blown up!”

“Well, now that we have a second chance, why don’t we try again?”

“Yes, try is the magic word.”

Setsuna took off his apron, bored as ever. “I’m leaving.” It was obvious that he did not want to be trapped in a fuss between an all too eager cook-wannabe and an uptight, self-proclaimed stoic.

Allelujah, too, decided to leave the mystery of cooking to the hands of two toddlers in the world of cooking. “If it so,” he clasped Lockon’s shoulder and Tieria’s arm, “please just let me know when it’s time to bake.”

Tieria glared at him. “Go run away, you coward.”

Allelujah took no offense and smiled. “Good luck.”

Lockon watched amusedly at Tieria’s antic. Well, a dog’s bark was always louder when its bite was less painful. He just could not help smiling at the way Tieria hiss, glare, scowl and glare some more. “Hey,” he began, taking two steps closer to the smaller pilot, “you know, glowering at the chocolate won’t turn it into cakes.”

“You and your cakes can go to hell for all I care.”

He took the hand that was smeared by the chocolate concoction. “You have beautiful hands.” Tieria immediately elbowed him in the ribs, not hard enough to force him away, though. He grinned. “Someday you’ll be the death of me, I swear.”

Something in Tieria’s eyes flickered and dimmed for a moment. Lockon watched closely as Tieria swallowed, the small bump of his Adam’s apple moving up and down with the move. “Don’t say that.”

His grin softened into a gentle smile. With his free hand, he swept some of the hair falling onto Tieria’s face and slipped it behind his ear.

“Don’t touch me.”

“And what ‘don’t’ will be next?”

“Don’t,” Tieria swallowed again but did not continue. Then he noticed the good-humored sparks in Lockon eyes. And he scowled. “You’re really a bad influence.”

“On you?”

“On everyone.”

He laughed softly, still not letting go of Tieria’s hand. “That I could bear with.” He brought the hand up to his face, nuzzling the back of said hand with his nose. Tieria gave an effort to pull his hand back, but Lockon was having none of it.

“Let me go.”

“Never.” He looked up through the curtain of fallen hair, and he was glad to find Tieria flinch even a bit as he found how possessive Lockon Stratos could be. Well, maybe not exactly possessive, he thought. The word ‘determined’ will suffice for now, perhaps.

Yeah. Determined.

“Are you flirting with me?”

He closed his eyes, concentrating on the hand near his lips. “You could put it that way.”

“Bastard.” But it wasn’t wrath that laced the small whisper.

“Uh-huh.” He was sure that Tieria would never understand how beautiful he was. But then again, beauty was forever in the eyes of the beholder, wasn’t it? Only he could understand Tieria’s beauty, and only to him Tieria would submit his beauty. He would make sure of it, determined or not, possessive or not.

He brought Tieria’s hand to his lips, peppering kisses on each knuckle, dragging his tongue over the back of his hand. Tieria tasted so good. No pilot, much less a Gundam Meister, should taste this good. The chocolate had been slipping through Tieria’s fingers, drying and coating. Such a stain. The tip of his tongue met the joint between fingers and the corners of neatly clipped nails. His palate was greeted by a combination of the dark taste of the chocolate and Tieria’s own taste. Then a finger was in his mouth, then two. Good for Tieria, better for him. Lord, he had never felt headier than he was right now. He would memorize this, the lines of his hand, the map of soft tissues and almost invisible callouses Tieria gained from piloting, the outline of each finger. A little spot here to lick, a little spot there to suckle. Beautiful. Perfect. His. His. His.

His ears concentrated to every small noise escaping Tieria’s lips, be it a quiet groan, hitched breath or suppressed moan, and perhaps it was some kind of manly pride that made him proud, knowing that he was responsible for it all.

Then...

“Ahem.”

He was sure Tieria would hit his head on the roof if only he had not kept his hold on the smaller pilot.

On the doorway, Sumeragi tried to hide a knowing smile—to no avail. “As happy as I really am to know that you both enjoying yourselves,” she said, “I believe it’s time to go back to the Ptolemaios.” She turned to leave. “You have half an hour to prepare yourselves.”

And through out the whole embarrassing scene of getting caught, though they had not done anything so scandalously obscene, he still did not let go of Tieria.

“What an untimely interruption.” He relapsed into a small grin.

Tieria pulled his hand from Lockon’s grip, wiping the smear of chocolate on his cheek. “You’re such a hustler.”

“Oh, is that a complaint?” What he did not expect was for Tieria to yank him forward by grabbing the front of his shirt. “Uh—yes?”

“A good Gundam Meister starts everything properly, Lockon Stratos,” Tieria said. “And a great Gundam Meister finishes what he starts.”

And it sounded so good he couldn’t help laughing. If Tieria’s prior self-doubt surprised everyone among the crew, then this definitely delighted him to no end. Lord, he could not wait to see more. And to have more, his mind supplied. Of course.

“So,” he eyed the bowl of chocolate concoction, “how about cooking?”

“Oh?” There must be something glinting behind that sweep of dark eyelashes across smooth cheeks. “We’re in cooking term now?”

Oh yes, he just could not wait.