Adventures In Parodyverse: The Next Step Part 1 (UT #305 tie-in)

Adventures in Parodyverse - The Next Step Part 1

Follows UT#305 - Limbo Dancing


    "We could become lovers." Exu asked, going straight to the point after Liu Xi Xian asked him 'What do we do now?' Embarassingly enough he was browsing a small section in the Lair Library on sex, presumably added by CSFB!, or April, or maybe Megan Foxx.

    Liu Xi's smile disappeard and she looked down slightly as if the admission she was about to give was something to hide. "I'm not ready for that," she whispered quietly.

    "It's supposed to be the next step...isn't it?" he asked, seeming to almost ignore her first reply.

    "I said--" she began louder, but then her voice softened again. "I'm not ready. And neither are you."

    "You do know I don't remember much?" Exu continued, still pleading his case. "I worry sometimes that when I remember what I'm supposed to be I'll never have known some other things. Like I won't remember what it's like to make love. But then you won't recognize me anymore and I'll never have the chance."

    Liu Xi looked up again and calmly sat on one of the library couches. She tried to remain composed, knowing that if Exu was unsure, she had to be sure. "I thought many times about what would happen if I were killed during this war, or enslaved by the Parody Master. I would die never knowing anything but uncaring and violent men. But I don't want to rush to remedy that...because I want to be proud of what I have done, not embarassed."

    "Are you worried about what other people will say?"

    She shook her head. "No, what I will think, what I will feel. I want to look back and feel warm and happy, not ashamed of what I've done."

    Exu nodded. "And that's why you never tried asking Hatman again?"

    Liu Xi's eyes widened for a moment, shocked at how he knew that. But she composed herself again and nodded. "Yes. Me and Jay have a good friendship. I don't wish there to be shame and embarassment between us. You and me...I'm not sure what I feel about you. If we made love I would always feel something was wrong."

    "Oh." Exu sighed and looked out one of the windows. "I thought it was simpler than that. You know, share something exciting and pleasurable, and see how it is. I hear it's fun." When he looked at Liu Xi again she was staring at him questioningly.

    "Exu, I don't know anymore when you're serious and when you're toying with me," she warned him. "That's not a good thing. Do you like me to be uneasy around you?"

    "Honestly? No." He bowed his head sadly as he spoke to her. "But I don't know any other way. As far back as I remember...honesty leads to pain. I've always had to test people--"

    "I don't need testing!" Liu Xi interrupted him sharply. "I need honesty," she continued in a softer voice. "If you are so jealous of the attention I give Jay, and Dream? It's because they are honest with me and don't treat me like an unfortunate stupid creature who needs training."

    Exu's near constant smile disappeared entirely and his mouth hung open as all the color drained from his face. It was as if the conscience he was missing had just spoken to him in the form of Liu Xi. He closed his mouth and looked out the window again, unable to find the words to reply.

    "Did I upset you?" Liu Xi asked softly after a few moments of silence.

    "No." Exu replied. His voice had changed, as if his usual self had been replaced by someone else, or perhaps she had shocked part of what he used to be, something decent perhaps, out of his deep memory. "It's just what I needed to hear," he whispered.

    Liu Xi sighed, feeling a slight pang of regret anyhow. Especially given the upcoming circumstances. "Dream and Sir Mumphrey will probably want you confined," she told him, "if you really want me, as a friend at least, I ask you to cooperate. If you do I will make sure you are safe."

    "I need to visit the other Exu," he noted. "I can't be locked up just now."

    "I can arranged that for you," Liu Xi replied quickly. "I will speak to Dream, and to Sir Mumphrey."

    He looked at her sadly and seemed almost ashamed to tell her the truth at that point. "I probably won't be coming back," he said. "If I find out who I am...I probably belong somewhere else."

    This time it was Liu Xi's turn to be left in stunned silence. She stared at the floor for a time, pondering just what her answer would be. Finally she looked up and nodded. "So be it," she whispered. "If that's the way it must be. Chiaki once told me I have to trust to be trusted. I am willing to give the first trust. The next move is yours."

    "What if I have no choice?" Exu asked. "What if I do have a choice but I feel safer somewhere else?"

    "That's up to you," Liu Xi replied almost sadly. "If you choose to return, and do as I ask...it is the harder road, Exu. Maybe you will change my opinion of you, and the Lair Legion's as well."

    He simply nodded, but his expression didn't change to give any indication whether he agreed to that or not. Instead he simply said, "I have to go."

    "Good luck," Liu Xi barely got out before he disappeared. She secretly hoped he'd live up to the potential she believed he was capable of. But her heart sank as logic and experience told her it probably wouldn't work out that way...and it's likely he wouldn't return.

---

    Lara sat on a bench in the Lair Mansion's atrium, staring skyward through the large round glass and bronze skylight dome at snow slowly falling. Until a short time ago the Lair Mansion didn't have an atrium - Liu Xi added it after having a stray feeling that the Mansion needed one. It was amazing how creatively she could make a room fit with the old building's character so well.

    "Hey babe," she heard CSFB! greet her as he entered the atrium. She prepared herself to leave, hoping to get out of there before he and April used the room for...private purposes. But then she realized that April wasn't there.

    "Hi," she greeted him in return, relaxing on the bench once again. "How's Liu Xi? Did she make it back okay?"

    "She's in the library talking to Exu, I think." he replied.

    Lara smiled and nodded. "Good," she said, not seeming a bit concerned by what he just said.

    "You're not worried about leaving the two of them alone?" Dream asked. He smiled mischievously. "Think she's riding his pogo stick? They're both kind of repressed, if you know what I mean."

    That prompted a laugh from Lara. Dream's way of speaking always amused her. "No, I think they're just talking," she said, still smiling. "Liu Xi is too sensitive to do something like that without, you know, liking the guy first."

    "That's kind of a shame. She's wound kinda tight sometimes, it would be good for her." He sat next to Lara and leaned against her.

    She smiled and put one arm around him. "You don't have to talk about Liu Xi to hang out with me, you know," she noted.

    "I know." He shrugged. "I do feel bad for her, though. She's not really living, she just...exists. And she's always being threatened by something or other. If I were Liu Xi I'd try to live every day like it's my last."

    "You already live every day like it's your last," Lara pointed out. "We're all so jealous of you, Dream, because most of us are stuck with these inhibitions."

    "Ha-ha, you're so funny." Dream deadpanned, though he was stil smiling at her. That's when he noticed Liu Xi standing in the doorway of the atrium patiently, waiting to see if it was appropriate to enter. "Hey girl, come on in!"

    Liu Xi entered warily, looking around the room as if it were some kind of trap. She quickly smiled at Lara and Dream. "Hello," she whispered as she lowered her head slightly. "Thank you for rescuing me, even though I don't deserve it--"

    "Of course you do!" Dream blurted out, interrupting her. He offered her a seat at his other side, which she took gracefully. "What happened to Exu?"

    "He had something he needed to do," Liu Xi replied quietly. "To...find himself?"

    "Hopefully he'll find he's a better person than he thought," Lara contributed.

    "I hope so too," Liu Xi agreed softly.

    "So what did you two do?" Dream asked Liu Xi. He cut off the rest of his question when he noticed a glance of warning from Lara.

    "We talked about what's next," she explained. "I told him I'm not ready for him yet, and what he does that angers me."

    "Sounds almost like a marriage," Dream noted. This time Lara punched him in the arm.

    Then Lara stood slowly and took a deep breath. "It sounds like you and Liu Xi have some talking to do, so I'll go see what other trouble I can get into."

    "Okay," Dream acknowledged. He watched Lara leave the atrium and close the door behind her. "She's so hot," he commented to Liu Xi. He looked at her when she didn't seem to react. "C'mon, laugh a little, Liu Xi. You'll live longer."

    Liu Xi finally cracked a smile and looked up. "I...I have been waiting," she said slowly as her smile faded again, "for you to yell at me."

    "You have me confused with Mumph," Dream chuckled as he put an arm across her shoulders. "He'll probably yell at you," he said, "But I had to think about what I would have done in the same position as you."

    "And?" Liu Xi looked at him.

    Dream's characteristic smile disappeared suddenly. "And I don't know," he replied. "I don't know if I could have done what you did. I also don't know if I would have survived it like you did either." His smile reappeared. "Y'know, it makes me think you could be as good a leader as me or Mumph, because you can make the tough decisions."

    Her mouth hung open even after he finished talking. And then she smiled again, blushing slightly with embarassment. "Thank you," she whispered, bowing her head slightly.

    "And you're hot too," Dream noted.

    That finally pushed Liu Xi from a nervous smile to a giggle. The smile disappeared again as she had one more thing to say. "I feel...like before I was gone I was starting to know everyone. Now I...I feel like a stranger again."

    "I wouldn't have worked so hard to rescue a stranger," Dream told her. "I get what you mean, though. You're not sure who you can talk to now, right?"

    She nodded.

    "Try anyway," he advised. "Talk to whoeever you want. If they're cool you have someone to talk to. If they treat you badly? I'll kick their ass for you."

    Liu Xi giggled again. As she realized how long they had been talking, she looked at him and apologized again. "I'm sorry for keeping you here so long. I know you're busy leading things with Jay missing."

    "No problem, Yuki and Mumph are probably better at that stuff anyway." Dream shrugged. "I'm better at this stuff...talking to sad people and cheering them up."

    "Yes, you are." Liu Xi agreed. "I should go talk to Mumphrey. He deserves a thank you too."

    "If he uses any of those gay British words on you, just throw Chinese back at him," Dream advised.

    Liu Xi was still giggling as she stood and left the atrium.


TO BE CONTINUED?



-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2007 by Jason Froikin, and may not be
-- reprinted without permission.
-- Yuki Shiro designed by Jason Froikin, based on designs by Masamune Shirow
-- Liu Xi Xian and the Psychic Samurai are original design by Jason Froikin
-- Lara Night is an original creation by Jason Froikin

Post By Anime Jason Mon Feb 19, 2007 at 01:54:50 am EST	Subject Adventures In Parodyverse: The Next Step Part 1 (UT #305 tie-in)

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