- Title: Baby
- Author: Meicdon13
- Website: http://meicdon13.livejournal.com
- Pairing(s): Tenpou x Kenren
- Rating: PG
- Summary: Kenren and Tenpou have a little misunderstanding.
BABY
Kenren was happily walking through the
halls of Tenkai, sake jug swinging in his hand. He arrived at his destination
and knocked on the door, cocky smile fixed firmly in place. He was looking
forward to spending his unexpected free time with Tenpou. Plus, he knew that
the field marshal had been swamped beneath a load of paperwork for the past
week and thought he could use some unwinding.
"Come in," Tenpou called out.
He sounded distracted.
Kenren opened the door and walked in
like he owned the place. As usual, Tenpou's living quarters were messy as Hell;
books everywhere plus various other things. But mostly books. The brunet was
sitting at his desk, reading an official-looking piece of paper. For once, he
was in uniform so that probably meant he had just arrived from a meeting.
The general stood there, admiring the
way the military uniform displayed Tenpou's perfect body when the bespectacled
man looked up. "Hello, Kenren. What can I do for you?" There was
something a bit off about his tone of voice; it seemed a bit cold.
Kenren simply chalked it up to having
too many things to do. He held up the sake jug and grinned. "I thought you
could use a break. Want to help me empty this?" He gave the jug a shake
for emphasis.
Tenpou sighed then gave an exasperated
smile. Though it was a bit smaller than usual. He moved his papers and placed
them on a neat pile beside his desk. Moving quickly, Kenren dragged an extra
chair towards the desk and settled down comfortably on it. He placed the jug in
front of Tenpou and the field marshal pulled out two shallow cups.
They sat in companionable silence for a
few minutes, drinking sake and appreciating the brief respite from their
duties. Kenren propped his feet up on the desk and chanced a glance at the
other brunet. Tenpou seemed distracted. Usually, when they were alone together,
the other man would be laughing or talking about some random Earth-related
thing he had found. Now, he was just drinking his sake quietly.
"Anything wrong, Tenpou?" he
asked.
"There's nothing wrong,"
Tenpou replied smoothly.
Though most people wouldn't notice it,
Kenren saw that Tenpou was lying. Well…he wasn't most people anyway. He placed
his feet on the floor and rested his elbow on the desk, chin in his hand. "Come
on, you can tell me. What's wrong?"
The field marshal placed his cup down
on the desk. A little bit too forcefully, Kenren noted. "Kenren, I told
you; there's nothing wrong. At all."
"If nothing's wrong, then I'm a
virgin," the general replied smoothly. "You know I can tell when you're
lying. Now spill."
When his friend stayed silent, Kenren
began to get irritated. He wasn't used to being brushed off and he wanted to
help Tenpou. How was he supposed to do that when the field marshal kept
shooting down his attempts at being an understanding friend?
"This is stupid. We've known each
other for how many years already and you choose this moment to refuse to talk
to me?" Kenren said. "You've told me almost all of your deepest
darkest drunken secrets and now you just clam up when I'm trying to help you.
What? Have you done something so unbelievably wrong that I would hate you if I
knew?" He released an exasperated sigh. "Dammit, Tenpou, why won't
you talk?"
It was maddening seeing that something
was obviously bothering his friend. It was even more maddening when said friend
refused to open up to you and share even though in the past years of your
friendship there had been absolutely no secrets. Well…one secret if you counted
Kenren secretly being in love with Tenpou.
Finally, the green-eyed man looked up,
eyes boring into Kenren's darker ones. "You want to know what's wrong?
Fine. I'll tell you." His voice grew dangerously low and it didn't hide
the fact that Tenpou was angry; angrier than Kenren had ever seen him before. "When
were you going to tell me, Kenren?"
"Tell you what?" The general
hadn't expected this.
"When were you going to tell me
that you were in a serious relationship?"
What the fuck—? Serious relationship?
Him? Kenren? The playboy of the Tenkai army? Did Tenpou have a concussion of
some sort? "What the Hell are you talking about?"
Tenpou's eyes grew cold. "So. It's
not serious? You just got some random hussy pregnant and now you're not even
willing to take care of the problems the child's presenting? Not very noble of
you."
Child? What child? Kenren glanced at
the sake jug. Maybe there had been something funny in it, making Tenpou act
this way. In all of his years playing the field, Kenren had never gotten
anyone pregnant. He was always careful and even if he had been lax in
preventive measures, he wouldn't simply leave a poor woman with a child to
raise on her own. He may be a lot of things but he wasn't the type to shirk his
responsibilities when they were as important as something like a baby.
"Tenpou," he began slowly, "I
don't know what they've been asking you to do, but you're obviously overworked;
your brain's all muddled. I can ask the higher-ups to give you a leave or
something if you want."
"I am perfectly fine, Kenren,"
the field marshal snapped. "I just feel betrayed that someone I consider
my close friend has kept such a big secret from me. How old is the child now?
Nine years? Ten? That's how many years of lies and deceit!"
Kenren was totally confused by now. He
simply couldn't comprehend what was going on in his friend's mind. "I don't
understand…"
"Stop trying to play innocent with
me! I heard the rumors! You even said it yourself; he's your lovechild!"
Lovechild? It all clicked into place.
Kenren began laughing. At first he tried to stop, placing his hand over his
mouth to stifle the laughter but he eventually gave up, doubling over,
breathless gasps and guffaws escaping him. A stern frown came over Tenpou's
features; he was obviously not amused.
"Tenpou, that kid isn't my
lovechild. He's Konzen's little pet monkey. Kanzeon Bosatsu saddled blondie
with the job of taking care of the little guy. I just told those two idiots
that he was mine so that they would leave him alone." He leant back in his
chair, an amused smile on his face. "You should've seen their faces when I
told them that he was my kid."
The other brunet clearly didn't believe
him so Kenren sat up straighter. "Come on. You can talk to Konzen if you
want. The ice princess will back me up on this one."
Tenpou sighed and picked up his cup
again, taking a sip. "Never mind. I believe you."
"Really?"
"Konzen would never lie to cover
up for you and you would never go willingly to him if you knew that it would
mean exposing your lie." There was a brief silence, broken by Tenpou's
apology. "Sorry if I jumped to conclusions."
Kenren waved off the apology. "Nah.
No problem."
Another silence. Suddenly, a thought
struck Kenren. "Wait…were you jealous?"
Tenpou looked surprised. "Me?
Jealous? Why would I be jealous?" Even as he spoke, a very faint blush
appeared on his cheeks. He took another sip of his sake and motioned for the
general to refill his cup when it was empty.
xxx
By the time the jug was empty, Kenren
was obviously light-headed. He blinked a few times at the field marshal. He
stood up and took an unsteady step towards the other man.
Tenpou quickly stood up and put an arm
around Kenren's shoulders to help steady him. Though he would never admit it,
such close proximity was a bit uncomfortable because he held unrequited
feelings for his friend.
Suddenly, Kenren looked straight into
Tenpou's green eyes, leaned in, and—
—whispered into his ear, "I like
you too, Tenpou. No need to be jealous." He promptly passed out from the
alcohol after speaking. Tenpou was now left with an unconscious general, two
cups, and an empty sake jug.
A wry smile made its way across his lips. "Well,
at least I know he likes me."
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