Minako arrived at Alan and Katarina's apartment twenty minutes later, a
record time. She threw open the door before the taxi had come to a complete
stop and jumped out so quickly that she almost forgot to pay the driver. She
had a hard time getting into her purse to find her wallet, something that
always seemed to happen when it was raining or she was in some sort of hurry,
such as this one. Once that was finally done, she practically ran up to the
door, her foot slipping off the path at one point, which got her heel caught in
some mud. She groaned and pressed on, not even bothering to knock on the door
before pushing it open. She wasn't surprised to find that he'd left it open for
her.
"Alan!" she called out, setting her purse down by the door. She
almost walked into the foyer, but remembered her shoes. She kicked them off
without any of the ceremony she'd learned in her native culture, and moved
further into the flat. "Alan, where are you?"
"Bedroom," he responded, his voice sullen and heavy.
Minako sighed, shutting her eyes for a moment. "Great," she
muttered. "That's not awkward." Still, it didn't stop her from
plowing forward, making her way through the clutter
that had reaccumulated in the living room. She almost
banged her knee on the doorway to the bedroom, but she noticed the wall at the
last minute, jumping out of the way and into the room.
She'd never actually been in there, so she was surprised to see how much
cleaner it was compared to the rest of the house. For the first time, Minako
actually saw some of Katarina's need for order, though it didn't quite register
at the time. She was a bit too preoccupied with Alan, lying prone on the bed
with a bottle of scotch in his hand. It was close to being empty, and Minako
was quite glad that Alan wasn’t a lightweight. She didn’t know what she would
have done if he were completely smashed. He looked bad enough as it was.
"Oh, Alan," Minako said, caught between being worried and saddened
by his state. She moved over to him with as much urgency as she would have had
if he were bleeding. She took the bottle away immediately, setting it out of
his reach. He didn't seem to notice that it was gone. She hovered over him
fretfully before walking around to the other side of the bed, just to make sure
there were no other bottles. There weren’t. "What happened?" she
demanded.
"I'm having one of my moods," Alan explained, his voice
surprisingly steady considering the amount of alcohol he'd had. It was a bit
shaky, but she'd seen her father after he'd had that much to drink. He wasn't
nearly as coherent. "Isn't that what you call it?"
Minako swallowed, feeling a bit guilty, though she couldn't exactly say why.
"Alan, when I talk about your moods, I mean you sit in a dark room and
brood. I don't mean that you--"
"I did that," Alan interrupted a bit too loudly. "I sat in
here and I brooded. It didn't make me feel better, so I started drinking."
Minako wanted to ask him if that had made him feel better, but she decided
it was best not to antagonize him. "What happened?" she repeated
softly, sitting down on the edge of the bed and scooting towards him. Once she
was beside Alan, she propped him up into a somewhat upright position, finding
his previous one worrying. It was no simple task, as Alan had at least a foot
on her in height, but she had more upper arm strength than most girls.
“Does it matter?” Alan asked.
“Yes, it matters,” Minako insisted, her voice sharp. “I’ve never seen you
like this, Alan.”
Alan snorted. “You haven’t seen me in five years, Mina. How do you know I
haven’t been like this before?”
Minako frowned, narrowing her eyes. “Because Katarina would have called me
to come to London and kick your
butt, that’s why.”
Alan’s eyes darkened just as they had that afternoon at Versailles.
His lips tightened around his teeth and he said, “Katarina would have… wouldn’t she?”
"And where is Katarina, anyway?" Minako asked. “You said she
wasn’t here, but you didn’t go into detail. Is she really working this late?”
Alan shut his eyes, and she was rather happy that she didn’t have to look at
their stormy look anymore. She’d loved Alan’s eyes the best when he’d allowed
himself to be carefree, and seeing them like that made her hurt a little.
“She’s not working.”
Minako waited for him to continue, but he seemed to need prompting. “Then
where is she?”
“Not here,” Alan repeated unhelpfully.
Minako sighed and took a hold of Alan’s head, turning it towards her. She
forced him to make direct eye contact with her, hoping to break through the
haze of the alcohol and said, “Alan, focus. I need to know where Katarina is.
Tell me.”
She could tell that he wanted to look down, but she’d always been told that
she could have an arresting gaze when she wanted to know something. She used
that now on Alan, piercing through the fog and thunder covering his irises.
Finally, his shoulders sagged and he said, “She’s staying at a hotel.”
Minako furrowed her brow. “But why would she be at a--" she cut herself
off, her eyes widening in realization. The change was enough to make her gaze
lose its effect, causing Alan to look away from her again. She would have
stopped him, but she could only process one thing at a time. There was only one
reason for Katarina staying in a hotel away from her husband. It could only
mean that their relationship had been worse than Minako had originally feared.
“Oh,” she said softly. “Oh, Alan, I’m so sorry.”
“She just packed a bag and left,” Alan explained, the pitch of his voice
changing frequently. “Said she’d be back tomorrow.
She’s telling the truth. She only took one change of clothes.”
Minako nodded, glad for that at least. She scooted closer, gently laying a
hand on his elbow. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”
Alan shrugged, drawing his knees up to his chest. “I just came home and she
was in a bad mood, but then she’s always in a bad mood when you aren’t around.
And I was in a bad mood, and we got into a fight, and… She decided to leave.”
A part of Minako wanted to get more details from him, mostly to satisfy her
curiosity, but she resisted the urge by actually biting her lip and waiting a
moment for the inclination to pass. That done, she leaned forward a bit and
said, “Was the fight really that bad?”
“Probably not,” Alan admitted. “Things just… haven’t been good. Katarina
said she couldn’t stand to be in the same flat with me anymore.” Alan paused,
swallowed hard and making his Adam’s apple jerk violently. “It’s not like she
can banish me farther than the sofa.”
Minako felt a pang in her chest after hearing that. It was worse than she
could have possibly feared. She was about to offer sympathy when his chin fell
forward onto his chest. He closed his eyes so tightly that Minako's skin ached
in sympathy. She wasn’t quite sure what to do, not wanting to touch him
immediately for fear of making things worse, or because of her own feelings
that were still very present, despite the circumstances. She merely sat at
Alan’s side, waiting for him to give her a clue as to what he wanted from her.
It was a long moment before his shoulders heaved, a strangled sob shooting out
of this throat.
"Oh, God," Minako whispered, finally caving in and wrapping her
arms around Alan. She could tell that he needed it, and perhaps she should not
have waited as long as she had, though it had only been a few seconds. He
settled into the embrace easily, laying his head on her chest and clutching at
her back. His fingers were digging into her spine and he was holding on to her
so tightly that it was almost painful. But all she did was stroke his hair; she
wanted to tell him that everything was going to be all right, but on the other
hand, she didn't want to be that clichéd nor did she want to promise him a
solution when she didn't even know what the problem really was.
"I'm sorry," Alan said suddenly. "I'm sorry about this
afternoon and that I'm drunk and acting like a--"
"Stop it," Minako soothed. "You have nothing to apologize
for. You’re my friend, and you’re hurting. I should have seen that earlier, but I
just wanted so badly for you to be happy. I thought you weren’t, but I didn’t
want to face it.”
“And now I’m making you face it,” Alan moaned. It would have been laughable
if it hadn’t been so pathetic.
“Forget that,” Minako instructed, still trying to calm him down. “Just...
tell me what I can do, Alan. Please tell me that there's something I can
do."
He didn't, not immediately. For several more minutes, he just kept holding
onto her. Occasionally, it would seem that his crying was subsiding and that he
was about to speak, but as soon as she thought that, another wave of
desperation would pass over him. It began to get so upsetting that Minako's own
eyes were filling with tears, but she didn't dare let them spill over. She
didn't want to think of what Alan would do if he thought that he'd made her
cry. She was certain that it would only make the situation worse, though it was
contemplating the degree to which that could happen
which made Minako hold the tears back.
Finally, after what seemed like ages, Alan spoke. "Do you know what she
told me?" he said softly, his voice muffled as his lips moved next to her
collarbone. "A few months after... after we'd thought you'd died?"
Minako blinked, unsure of what this could have to do with that evening’s row
or the ongoing problems with his marriage. Even so, she knew better than to
direct the conversation. She shook her head, but he hadn't really needed her
answer. Still, he paused to let her give it before continuing. "She told
me that when she had a kid, a girl, she was going to name it Mina." He
paused. "Or Wilhelmina and just call her Mina. I don't know. She kept
changing her mind."
Minako furrowed her brow, unsure of what to make of the statement. She
wondered if there was any sense to his rambling and, fearing that there wasn't,
began to speak. "Alan, I'm flattered, but I don't see what that has
to--"
"I decided that I loved her when she said that," Alan said softly.
"Or maybe I just realized it. You said that you saw it right after the
explosion..."
Once again, Minako wasn't sure how she was supposed to respond to that or
even if she was meant to. She felt completely ill at ease and confused. There
was a strange feeling in her stomach that wasn't quite painful or queasy, but
she felt like it should have been. She felt her hands press against Alan more
fervently, willing him to go on and perhaps in an attempt to circumvent her
nervous energy.
"She was so happy when she got pregnant," Alan continued, his
voice sounding distant, and higher than Minako was used to.
Minako sat up straight for a moment from the shock, but slouched again when
Alan’s head didn’t move with her. She stared down at him, completely shocked
and repeated, “Pregnant?” Her head began to spin. Katarina certainly didn’t
look pregnant and she’d been drinking wine the other night. And Minako thought
Katarina would have told her if she was pregnant, since they hadn’t spoken in
so long.
Alan nodded against her chest. "But she wouldn't actually tell anyone
when she found out.”
It was at that moment that Minako realized he was using the past tense.
“You know Katarina's an only child: her mother had a few miscarriages before
she finally had Katarina, so Katarina didn't want to jinx the pregnancy or
anything like that." Alan paused to laugh, desperate and lost.
"Still, we... We never actually thought anything was going to go
wrong."
"Oh, God," Minako whispered, unable to stop the
tears from slipping past her lashes. Her eyes fluttered shut at the same
rate that her throat started to constrict. He didn’t need to finish, but he was
going to anyway.
Alan sniffed loudly. "I'd never seen her lose it like that
before," he recalled, his voice shaking, as if fearful that just
remembering the tragedy would bring it back into the present. "She went to
the doctor because there was some bleeding, but she didn't want to think
anything was wrong. It didn't necessarily mean anything. She told me that lots
of women..." he trailed off, taking a deep breath. "I had to go pick
her up because she was hysterical. She just cried and cried and... I'd never
seen her like that before. I mean, before that, I'd only seen her cry three times : When she thought you were dead; when she found out
you were alive; and the day we got married. I was... terrified. I didn’t know
what I was supposed to do … I had no idea how to help her… I didn’t know
anything, and I was so fucking scared."
Alan shook his head, his hands curling into fists at her back. He latched on
to some of the material of her shirt, bunching it up in between his fingers.
"She did everything she was supposed to do!" he exploded. "She
stopped drinking, she ate the right food, she took
vitamin supplements... She wanted that baby so badly."
Minako swallowed hard as everything began to make sense, though she found
that the clearer everything became, the worse she felt. "But you could try
again, right? It wasn't so bad that she can't have children, was it?"
"It was a miracle she even got pregnant," Alan said miserably.
"She always knew it would be difficult for her... Damn it!" he swore
suddenly, making Minako jump, almost releasing him. "I should have been
more prepared. I knew it was risky, and I knew that even though she was being
careful, she wasn't letting herself think about that. She just knew that she
wanted to carry one child to term and she wanted it to be a girl so we could
call her Mina. But I was just so happy that she was happy, I wouldn’t let
myself think about it either. And then when she lost it, I...” He scrubbed his
cheeks, looking at Minako, his eyes begging her to understand. “Katarina's
always been the one in control, Mina. She's always been strong and sensible and
it seems like she knows exactly what to do in any situation, but she was
just... She cried all the time and she wouldn't get out of bed for days. And
then when that stopped, she worked like a maniac."
Minako shook her head, subtly dabbing at her eyes. She wanted to be angry
that Alan and Katarina hadn’t told her. She wanted to ask Alan what he’d
expected to happen when he knew that Katarina wanted that baby so much. She
wanted to yell at him for not calling her when Katarina lost the baby. She
would have dropped anything, even the potential end of the world, to help her
big sister. She would have told Galaxia to shove it
or whatever else she had to do, she would have
hitchhiked to London if necessary
so that Katarina would have had someone else by her side. She wanted to, but
she didn’t. Instead she asked, "Did you try and get her help?"
"That's what started the fighting in the first place," Alan said
irritably, finally pulling away. He wiped at his eyes while Minako kept her
seat next to him. When it looked like he might start up again, she grabbed his
hand and held it tightly, which seemed to settle him down for the time being.
"I tried to get her to go and see someone, at least talk about it to me,
but she kept insisting that she was fine. After awhile, I got frustrated with
her being in denial and I said some stupid shit and... things
have been awful ever since."
"How long?" Minako asked, her own voice
shaking a bit.
Alan sighed, running a hand through his hair. "About a year I
think."
Minako covered her mouth with her hand, gazing up at the ceiling. She'd
heard from Katarina fairly regularly up until about a year ago. Then it had
been next to impossible to track her down, and when Minako did get a chance to
speak with her or write to her, Katarina was less than forthcoming. Katarina
had said she was busy, and Minako had believed her.
"I should have known," Minako said softly. "Oh, Alan, I'm so
sorry. I should have been there for you, and I--"
"No, it's my fault," Alan insisted, waving at her so sharply that
he almost knocked her off the bed. "I thought about calling you and
telling you what was going on, but I..."
Minako leaned forward, trying to look him in the eyes. "But
what? Why didn’t you?"
Alan shook his head miserably. "In my head... you were still a
kid."
Minako looked down, her chest tightening at the familiar words. They were
the same ones Katarina had said to her four years earlier. Even now, she could
think back on that moment and still be hurt that Katarina had thought she'd
been too immature to fall in love. She was old enough to risk her life and
fight monsters and nearly die on several occasions, but not old enough to love
Alan? She’d wanted to say something to her about it, but she’d been too happy
to have Katarina back at the time to suddenly make things pessimistic again.
And now, hearing similar words from Alan made that dull ache throb as if the
wound were fresh. She was too young to understand her big sister’s pain, too
immature to be of any use, to much of a baby to be told of their marriage
problems in the first place. And, she thought selfishly, it meant that she was
too young for him, and even if he was out of her reach
by marriage, that hurt the most.
"But you aren't anymore," Alan said, his voice suddenly sounding
just as despondent as it had before. "You're... You seem so old sometimes,
Mina. You've changed so much, and it's like that girl I knew doesn't even exist
anymore."
Minako blinked, looking up in surprise. Odd: something she’d never been
called before. At least not by anyone above the age of five.
"Alan--"
"And I know that it's stupid," Alan said, his voice tight as it
was pushed out from between clenched teeth. "But sometimes it's as if...
It's as if I don't even know you. Even though you're right there, it's like
you're not, and then I remember that I'm alone, because Katarina certainly
doesn’t give a damn anymore, and if you’re not there, who is? And that scares
me so much, I don't know what to do with myself, so I drink to make it go away,
but it never does."
Minako once again found herself feeling guilty, even though she hadn't done
anything to make him feel that way.
"That's why I got so upset this afternoon," Alan admitted, rubbing
at his nose like a kid. "I know that it was stupid and childish, but I
couldn't help thinking that you would have rather been out with Katarina. And
then, once I'd convinced myself I was a git for thinking that, I was thinking
about her and how she won't even look at me anymore." He leaned forward,
his forehead suddenly resting against hers. "I just feel so alone all the
time, but when you're around, it's not like that. Everything's... better. I
didn't want to lose you. Not to her."
Minako wanted to look into his eyes, but their current proximity was giving
her vertigo, so she glanced down at her hands. She was painfully aware of his
breath, hot and ruffling the collar of her blouse. It was the closest they had
ever been to each other when they weren't hugging, and their position on the
bed did nothing to alleviate the anxious feeling in her stomach. "Alan,
that's ridiculous."
"I know," Alan agreed desolately.
"I wouldn't leave you," Minako insisted, deciding to ignore his
gloomy admission. She took a deep breath to steady herself. "I promise.
You're my friend, and... I'd be the last person who would ever do that.” She
paused and then decided she might as well reciprocate Alan’s confession with
one of her own. "My friends are all moving forward, Alan," she said,
knowing that turning the conversation on herself
wasn't normally the correct protocol, but she wanted to distract Alan from his
own troubles, as well as distract herself from where his body was in relation
to hers. She hoped that he was having an easier time of it than she was.
"They're in college or doing some kind of training, and I got kicked out
of my house and I’m living in a crappy apartment never knowing where my next
meal is coming from. I'm getting turned down at every corner, but I can't tell
them that. I just can't. They all seem so happy, and I don't want to be the
reason that changes. I'm not supposed to be a failure," she whispered,
tears prickling at her eyes. "I always thought I'd be successful straight
off, but I'm not. And the only one who knows about it is Artemis, and he tries,
but he's just a damn cat. There's only so much he can do. And I feel alone,
too, every second of every day."
She licked her lips, swallowing. "But I don't feel like that
here," she whispered fervently. "It's like I told you in the car. I
can be silent with you. I can tell you the truth. I can tell you the truth like
no one else and I don't know if it's because of that... stupid crush or
what." Minako couldn't help but feel a bit violent towards her old
feelings, now brought to the surface so that it was more appropriate to say
they were her current feelings. "But that's how it is. I'm not alone with
you. I'm not."
She could feel Alan staring at her, his head tipping up so that the side of
his nose brushed against her. They were silent for a moment except for the
sound of Minako breathing, as the last monologue had come out in a rush.
Finally, he whispered, "Neither am I."
Even though Minako was surprised by Alan's lips suddenly pushing against
hers, she could never say that she had been unaware of what was going on. Her
response had been almost immediate, inhaling sharply and closing her eyes. She
kissed him back on either impulse or instinct.
Her heart nearly exploded and her stomach began doing a gymnastic routine.
She’d kissed boys before, but Alan was different. Alan had been her first real
crush, the first guy she’d ever pursued whole-heartedly for any extended period
of time. He’d been funny and charming, and goofy at times. He’d been a friendly
boy in a strange city who didn’t mind her tagging along. Falling in love with
him had been nigh inevitable.
And now he’d been a friendly man in a strange city who didn’t mind taking
her around. He hadn’t always been as happy as before right off, but she’d
always strived to cheer him up when he was down. He’d been nothing but kind and
made her forget about all of her troubles in Tokyo,
which was just what she had needed. He had been there and he had been so
attentive. He’d made it so clear that he wanted her around and that he’d missed
her while she’d been gone, and she couldn’t help buy daydream that maybe he
wanted and missed her for entirely different reasons. But she’d always stopped
those thoughts because regardless of her interpretations, Alan was a married
man.
Alan was a very married man, problems or no.
She pulled away a few seconds later, beginning to move off the bed. Impulse
was strong, but there were moments that her conscience was stronger. There were
also moments when she hated that her conscience was stronger. She shook her
head fervently. “No. We can’t.”
“Mina--" Alan began, reaching out and grabbing her wrist.
“No!” Minako argued loudly, yanking her arm away. He merely grabbed the
other one, and she would have removed that one as well if she’d thought it
would do any good. “Alan, I have to go.”
“Why?” he asked, and Minako very much wanted to hit him for asking her that.
“Because you’re married!” she shouted. “You’re married to my big sister! And
this is her bed and her flat and you’re… her husband! You’re wearing your ring
and your picture is on the mantle and… God, the room smells like her, and I
can’t. I can’t no matter how much I want to--"
Minako stopped abruptly, hating herself intensely for letting her mouth run
away from her.
Alan blinked, looking a little surprised. “No matter
what?”
Minako sighed, burying her hand in her hair and yanking on it. She wished
that the rest of her could disappear like that, so she wouldn’t have to deal
with this anymore. “Alan, please don’t be an idiot.” She shut her eyes,
deciding there was no sense in holding back now. “I was in love with you when I
was thirteen. Do you understand that? It wasn’t a crush; I didn’t fancy you. I
was head over... fucking heels. And say what you want about the heart
and absence, but proximity is what does me in. I’ve been spending nearly every
waking moment with you, and I promised myself I wouldn’t say it out loud. I
promised that I wouldn’t say that the feelings were coming back because that
made them real, but then… Then you had to go and kiss me, and how am I supposed
to pretend they’re not real when you’re kissing me and I’m kissing you back and
I like it. Damn it, what am I supposed to--"
Alan pulled her forward again, kissing her roughly with his arm hooked
around her waist. Something about could only be described as searing, making
her feel as if her entire body was melting. As unpleasant an image as that was,
it felt pleasant enough, and it was several more long,
aching moments before she pulled back again.
“Alan--"
“No. Listen,” Alan ordered harshly. “It doesn’t matter.”
Minako knew that he wasn’t talking about her feelings, so that had to mean
he was talking about Katarina. Minako found the suggestion appalling and tried
to wriggle out of his arms. “Of course Katarina matters!”
“No,” Alan repeated. “Don’t you get it? She’s never left before. It’s…” he
hung his head, the realization just falling on him. “It’s over now.”
Minako’s heart didn’t know whether to sink or skip a beat, and she felt
rather nauseated at her dilemma. “You don’t know that.”
He shook his head. “I… I can’t take this anymore, Mina.” He let go over her
arm, cupping her face with his hand. He smoothed over her cheek with his thumb and
said, “I’ve remembered what being happy is because you’re here. Please, please
don’t take that away now.”
Slowly, very slowly, Alan’s face began to inch towards Minako’s. He’d said
precisely the thing to break her down, and he’d probably known that, he knew
her so well. But Minako didn’t doubt his sincerity. She wouldn’t want to spend
her life on a sofa either. She knew Katarina would be devastated, just as Alan
was clearly devastated. And she knew that she shouldn’t have allowed herself to
be Alan’s distraction. The problem was that she wanted to be Alan’s
distraction.
“If Katarina ever finds out…” Minako said, her voice still vaguely
protesting even as it became distant.
“She won’t find out,” Alan insisted.
“I love her,” Minako maintained.
Alan nodded. “I know.”
Minako shut her eyes, shaking her head, her last resistance gone. “I’m a
horrible person.”
“No,” Alan said brusquely, even though the look in his eyes was gentle.
“You’re beautiful.”
And then he kissed her again, and Minako found herself forcing any unwanted
thoughts out of her head. She let down all of her defenses, not making a single
noise of protest when he pushed his tongue into her mouth. He tasted
unpleasantly of alcohol, but her inner thirteen-year-old wouldn't let her think
about that, forced her to ignore it, because she'd only been thinking about
this for the past five years now. Minako convinced herself that her heart was
pounding too much for her to notice the taste; of course, that didn't make
sense, but it didn't matter. She was kissing him. That's what mattered.
Eventually, Minako pulled away, opening her eyes slightly. She didn't look
up completely, keeping her eyes trained to the bedspread. She opened her mouth
to say something, and, though she wasn't entirely sure what it was she would
have said, Alan didn't give her the chance.
"Don't talk," he whispered, moving his head forwards so that his
lips brushing against her lips as he spoke and his fingers splaying out over
her thighs. "Please, don't talk anymore."
Minako's breath hitched again, and she arched her back to bridge the gap
between them. She cupped her hands around his face, her fingers slipping into
the dark silk of his hair, and kissed him harder this time, pulling back only
to nip at his bottom lip with her teeth.
Alan seemed to take that as some sort of signal, hurriedly sliding his hands
underneath her skirt and taking hold of her hips. His touch wasn't as gentle as
it could be, so she winced a bit when he pulled her forward, maneuvering her so
that she was straddling his lap. He brushed his thumbs against her inner
thighs, making her tip her head back. He leaned forward and bit at her throat,
more like a dog than a lover. She gasped loudly when his teeth dug in too far.
He seemed to take the hint and restricted himself to just kissing her neck, an
act she found much more enjoyable.
After awhile, Minako ran her hands down the front of his chest until her
fingers closed around the bottom of his shirt. It had become clear some time
ago that there was only one way this was going to end, and she wasn't going to
pass it up. After all, this was an opportunity that she had been for as long as
she had known Alan, though at thirteen she'd been too innocent to think of the
specifics. Still, Alan had been older and Minako had considered herself to be
very sophisticated for her age at the time, so she had convinced herself that
she would be ready, should things get to that point. But she was older now, and
presumably wiser, and she wasn't going to run away like a scared little girl, no
matter how young and scared she actually felt.
Perhaps that was another reason why she reached down to remove her shirt.
The movement seemed to keep her hands from shaking quite so much. Alan leaned
back after a moment to help her with the shirt. As soon as it was gone, Minako
pushed her weight forward, leaving Alan flat on his back. His arms weren't long
enough to keep holding her hips, so they slid upwards, flipping her skirt up
until they came to rest on her waist. Then she was kissing his neck, her lips
trailing over the area where she could feel his heart beat, something she found
intensely erotic for some reason. Her fingers occasionally trailed down his
chest, creating unknown patterns on his flesh.
Meanwhile, he was reaching forward to undo her blouse, though he had the
extreme misfortune of having to deal with buttons. Alan might have been fairly
coherent while intoxicated, but, as previously demonstrated, he wasn't quite as
aware of her body. As a result, he handled the buttons a bit too roughly, popping
one off in the process.
"Watch it," she hissed, biting his collarbone gently in
retaliation.
Alan moaned quietly, apparently not taking the gesture as any sort of
punishment. Still, he managed to get her blouse off without popping another
button, she could be grateful for that much. She shifted upwards, kissing him
again. It was even more frenzied than before, so that sometimes they scraped
teeth or hit their noses.
His hand would occasionally move up to her back, his fingers sliding under
the fabric of her bra, but never successfully managing to remove it.
Eventually, Minako reached around and unhooked the garment, deciding that it
was best if she didn't leave that up to Alan, as she wanted to keep it in mint
condition. That done, she set it aside, resting her full weight on him. She
sighed at the feeling of her breasts pushing against his bare chest and shifted
around a bit, creating some friction between the two of them.
Several minutes later, he rolled over on top of her, pushing his hips into
the air to remove his pants. This removal seemed to go much faster than any of
her clothing had, and without her assistance. Alan was completely nude within
seconds. He began to settle back down on top of her, prompting Minako to go for
her skirt. She was surprised when his hand wrapped around her wrist, pulling it
away.
"Leave it on," he breathed before moving back down to crush his
lips against hers again. She decided not to argue, especially not when his
fingers were hooked in her underwear, quickly pulling them down. A moment
passed where his kissing seemed to get a bit distracted, until she realized
that he was pulling something out of the nightstand. She heard plastic being
torn open and some more rustling before Alan spread her legs apart. Minako
barely had time to catch her breath before he moved again.
She cried out in pain when she felt him push inside her, her fingernails
digging into his back. The reaction seemed to be painful for him as well, as
his grip on her hips then briefly tightened to bruising force. She arched her
back and held on to him, trying not to use too much strength. He continued to
push into her, and the pain wasn’t getting better, wasn’t it supposed to get
better? A tear rolled down her cheek as he began to increase his speed. Minako almost
asked him to stop, but decided not to at the last minute, wrapping her arms
around his neck tightly.
She wasn't sure whether or not that she was thankful when it ended shortly
thereafter.
All too soon, Alan was asleep (or perhaps unconscious) beside her, his arm a
weight on her bare stomach. As Minako looked down, she realised
she was still wearing her skirt, and that she was dizzy with a combination of
his proximity and dissatisfaction. She wanted to curl up on her side, but at
first it was too painful to move. After about twenty minutes, Minako was able
to roll over, moving Alan's arm enough so that he was almost holding her. She
rested her forehead on his chest and forced herself to fall asleep.
She didn't want to think about what she'd just done yet. That could wait
until the morning.
Coming Soon - Part Six: Découverte
