Made For Each Other
~*~
Part II
"So…what's your name?" Luka asked uncomfortably as he and the young girl from the previous night stood outside and watched Luel work with Nell in his garden.
Shortly after she had arrived last night, he had once again used the explanation that he wasn't feeling well to get him out of the room and back into solitude. He had left so abruptly and been there for only a short period of time to begin with, that he had never caught her name.
"Hiryuu," she replied, not looking at him.
He snorted in response. "Hiryuu? That sounds Japanese to me and frankly-" He took in her pale blonde hair and tall, slime frame, "you don't look one damn bit Japanese. What's your real name?"
With a glare that could have shattered stone, she whirled upon him, hair swirling around her. "My name is Hiryuu!" she yelled irately as her purple eyes crackled and spat venom.
"Purple eyes?" Luka thought. "You sure as heck aren't named Hiryuu!" he shouted back, hackles rising. "What are you trying to hide from us?! I'm not stupid, and though you may have fooled the others, you cannot fool me!"
"Oh, excuse me," she sneered. "I forgot you were the great and powerful Luka Guillaume Reinhardt!" Her eyes still crackled with an angry light though, even as her body stance relaxed a little.
Anger springing to life in his own eyes, Luka was just about to shoot back a cutting retort when he suddenly found himself on the receiving end of a very painful smack. "OW!" he screamed and spun around to face the offending party.
Madame Batolli glared at him as she stood with her arms crossed. "What is going on here?" Her voice was deadly calm and cool as an autumn day. Behind him, Nell winced slightly; she knew what was coming. "Hiryuu just got here, and she is your brother's guest! You have no right nor any excuse to be shouting at her."
His eyes flying wide open as he realized that the witch really did believe the young women, he opened and closed his mouth several times, but the words just wouldn't come. Rolling her eyes, the older woman brushed right by him and took Hiryuu's arm. "Come along dear, let me see if there's anything I can get you for your room." The two women walked off together, whispering conspiratorially in that special way in which only females could.
Only after they had entered the large house did the full impact of what Madame Batolli had said hit him. Brother's guest?! Turning slowly, he found Luel's gaze already upon him and his mouth turned upwards in a sheepish smile. Once again struck mute by a combination of rage and disbelief, the wizard just turned and headed into the house himself.
"Uh-oh…" Luel muttered to Nell. "I don't think that went over to well."
"Oh well," the young girl replied. "He'll get over it, just as always." She was busy planting a row of sage plants and hadn't been paying much attention to anything either of the two brothers had said.
Shaking his head and muttering something about brothers and tempers and amiability, he knelt back down beside his fiancée and continued helping her with the medicinal plants.
And even as the two lovers carried on with their planting, Luka was busy in his lab, furiously working with his newest spells and incantations, working out the frustration he felt towards "Hiryuu". The pale walls and ancient atmosphere of his lab had a soothing effect on the young man's nerves; he often came down here whenever he was stressed or angry, the magic and age of the place calming him down more then any human being ever could.
Shouting the incantation one last time, he watched as a few flames sputtered to life in the palms of his hands. He smiled a satisfied little smile and let the flames wink out. It wasn't quite the effect the spell was intended for, but he was working on it, and it was coming along well.
Planning on leafing through the spell book he hadn't finished yesterday, he turned towards the large bookshelf along one wall and nearly died of a heart attack when he found Hiryuu standing there, leaning casually against the dark, polished wood. Her face was painted in an extraordinarily smug grin and her eyes glittered with thinly veiled spite. Even with the mask of instigation covering her face, Luka had to admit she was beautiful. Long platinum-blonde hair fell nearly to the backs of her knees and her smooth skin was pulled taut over a slender frame. The perfect balance of muscle and skin gave her the appearance of a crouching tiger. "Or…" Luka added as an afterthought. "A dragon."
Stepping forward, his rage at the intrusion return swiftly. "What are you doing down here?!" he snarled.
Still smiling the infuriating grin of hers, she turned away from him and walked along the length of the bookcase, running the tips of her fingers along the spines of the books. "I followed your magic aura," she said, the pointed toes of her knee-high boots tapping loudly on the stone floor. "I was just dying to see the world's greatest wizard at work."
His hackles rose at her tone. Even though a little voice in the back of his mind was screaming at him that this was just what Hiryuu wanted, he shoved the voice out and clenched his fists. "No one comes in here save myself!" His voice level rose to a shout for the second time that day.
"Tsk, tsk," she answered, shaking her head and keeping her cool. "Such a temper on this one."
But before Luka could get another word in, she disappeared and he was left staring at empty air. Slamming his fist down on the table, he shouted, "Damn you, Hiryuu!" His fury only increased as he glanced over towards his bookshelf and found one of the books missing. "Damn you to hell!" he shouted, even louder this time and charged up the stairs after her.
~*~
The shade was cool on her skin as she sat beneath the leafy branches, leafing through the pilfered book. Bored, she tossed it aside; she had learned all those spells ages ago. Yawning, she leaned back and closed her eyes, resting her head against the rough bark of the huge oak that sheltered her. Luka would be coming after her any time soon, but she didn't bother masking her aura. Hiryuu enjoyed toying with people like Luka and she was having an especially fun time now because he was so easy to provoke.
Sleep came quick and easy, and soon her chest rose and fell in time with her deep even breaths. Not even the arrival of a panting Luka disturbed her nap and he paused as he came under the oak's shadow and watched her intently. Once more, he had to stop and admire her beauty as a mixture of shadows and sunlight played across her skin. As he stepped forward, on cat-like feet, to peer closer he saw that her skin was unblemished and that her lips were a perfect pink. Her mouth was parted slightly while she slept and Luka had to resist the urge to brush the tips of his fingers over the tempting lips.
A tantalizing smell invaded his nose, reminding him of the musk of summer nights and the darkness of a false dawn before the sun touched the world. He breathed it in deeply with every breath, slowly letting the scent soak into his being.
Starting, he shook himself out of his obviously foolish daydream and let his ever-present scowl steal its way back over his darkly handsome face. Looking around, he noticed the book, discarded carelessly in the tall grass at the bas of the tree. With a cry of outrage loud enough to wake the sleeping "Dragon" he lept forward and snatched it up, immediately fawning over the precious item, checking it for any signs of damage or wear.
With a sleepy "Ahhhn…" Hiryuu sat up and swept her hair back over her shoulders, shaking the grass out of it as she did so. Blinking, she looked up to find a livid Luka standing over her, book in hand. She grinned cattily. This was so much fun. "Why hello Mr. Reinhardt," she said amiably.
Grinding his teeth so hard that Hiryuu thought they would surely turn to dust, Luka managed to spill out, "I'm…going…to…kill you!" His aura flared and Hiryuu laughed, leaping lithely to her feet.
"Catch me if you can!" she hooted and dissipated into thin air.
Aura fading, Luka heaved an angry sigh and threw the book fiercely down onto the ground. "I hate it when she does that," he muttered, running one hand agitatedly through his hair. "I hate it."
Part III
