Homecoming [powered_otaku]

[sweetsalome]

    He had silently entered his own house the night before, when no one was there to greet him, to make a fuss over him.  Standing in the front foyer, he looked around slowly, not a thing out of place, the great walls and ceiling as silent as a tomb.  Like a giant cat he had stalked through the house, making sure everything was as it should be.  A massive shadow, gliding over chairs and carpets, all seeing, all knowing.  The shadow beast settled himself in one of the massive high back chairs in the living room, glass of scotch in hand he listened, he waited.  He waited a long time before this, there was nothing wrong with waiting a little more.

   

    Salome thought she had been wrong.  Maybe he wasn't coming home that day, or maybe he had just decided that it wasn't worth it and just left town.  Maybe Santa was real and this year she would finally get that pony she always wanted for Christmas. 

There's nothing wrong with being wrong, just expect the consequences of not being right.

He called her into his office, summoned her, as if some sort of employee, if she was nothing but a serf on his estate.  She sat in one of the big high backed chairs across from his desk, the one with the slippery leather that squeaked every time she moved or shifted.  Palms wet, heart racing, two works away from a panic attack as he fixed her with those eyes of his, eyes she had only seen from behind the safety of bullet proof glass.  There was a high likelihood that she was going to either die or throw up on his Persian rug.

She did neither.

He spoke to her softly, asking how she had been, how Jonba was and how her summer had gone at her grandparents.  The more they talked, the more she relaxed, until she was left only slightly weary, her palms now dry.  Maybe she had made a mistake, there was no threat here, just a man she had missed while he had been gone.  Someone who had changed when no one thought he could.

He asked her for a hug.

Standing up, she walked to him and lent forward to give him a gentle hug around his shoulders.  For a moment that was enough, but when she started to pull away, he grabbed her by the hips and yanked her down into his lap.  Despite the struggle, despite the fight she didn't do any damage, except smack her foot against the desk drawers.

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me two hundred times. . . Maybe I might be asking for it.

    "I heard you've been bad," he whispers into her ear, hand at the back of her neck, holding her still like some wild animal.

    "I heard that you've been telling lies about me," his fingers tightened, applying more pressure.

    "I even heard you found a play thing, and he believes you.  How long do you think that's going to last?"  With his free hand, he reaches for the ring on her left hand and twirls the band around slowly.

    "How long before he gets tired of you?  Before you come crying back to me because he doesn't love you any more. . ."  He stands up with her and starts to move to the door, dragging her along as she struggles in his grip.

She doesn't fight as hard as she could have, she knows that if she did it would hurt, a lot.  She doesn't want to get hurt, she doesn't have the defenses for it any more.  This needs to be over, this pain, this humiliation, this feeling of being so filthy and disgusting that she can't even look at herself in the mirror.  Somewhere, between the study and the bedroom, she takes over, and mercifully, Salome doesn't feel a thing.

She picks up the phone and she sends the text message after a shower.  There is no need to delay the inevitable any longer.

Comments

[sweetsalome.livejournal.com]

She can feel him getting heavy with sleep in her arms, and so she shifts herself carefully to hold on to him better. "We will be safe, and loved with you here. I want you to be happy, to be content, and so sleep, Hiro, I'll watch over you." Pressing close she runs her fingers through his hair and hums softly, determined to make him feel good and safe. "My precious moon bunny, I love you more then words could ever say."

[powered-otaku.livejournal.com]

Everything crashes down on him and Hiro slips quietly to sleep. He tumbles so deep he doesn't even dream and hardly even moves. He is exhausted enough to sleep very heavily for 8 hours at which point the phone rings.

[sweetsalome.livejournal.com]

Salome dozes, but doesn't sleep anywhere near as deep or as long as Hiro does. When she heard the phone her heart starts racing, and without thinking she grabs for it. Putting it to her ear she just tries to quiet it without waking him up. "Hello?"

[powered-otaku.livejournal.com]

There's a sound like someone sucking in a breath, then a female voice says, "May I speak to Hiro?" She recognizes Kimiko's voice from the earlier phone call.

[sweetsalome.livejournal.com]

Wincing she rubs her forehead, no idea if that breath was a good thing or a bad thing. She's thinking bad, "yes, of course. I am sorry, he was just asleep, I didn't want him to wake up." Too late now. Taking the phone away from her ear she sets it aside and kisses Hiro's cheek lightly. "Beloved, your sister is on the phone."

[powered-otaku.livejournal.com]

Hiro looks up her sleepily confused. "Moshi mosh'. Neesan?" There's a long pause as he listens to something on the other end, then he's chattering in Japanese as he bolts out of the bed, grabbing his clothes. He's saying, "Sumimasen" a lot.

[sweetsalome.livejournal.com]

Sighing, she slowly rolls out of bed and gets dressed before making the bed once more. Pulling her hair back into a pony tail, she washes up before heading into the living room. Salome figures that whatever he's on the phone for it's for work and so she cleans up lunch. She takes her various medications before checking her voice mails and calls her grandmother.

It's awhile before she heads back to the office, knocking very lightly before poking her head inside.

[powered-otaku.livejournal.com]

Hiro's in front of the computer which has 2 of the 3 screens showing a young woman with a calm expression on her face and another older Japanese man. The third screen is scrolling through a lot of Japanese print. The man is talking a great deal while Hiro and Kimiko listen. Hiro's expression looks much like his sister's at the moment. When the man finishes speaking, Kimiko says something concilatory and the man's screen goes black.

"Hiro? You have a visitor."

Hiro turns around and grins at Salome. "Salome, this is my sister, Kimiko."

[sweetsalome.livejournal.com]

Her cheeks turn pink, and she wraps an arm around her stomach and moves forward slowly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I just wanted to see if Hiro wanted something to eat." She nods to the computer screen and tucks some hair behind her ear as she steps close to Hiro.

"It's nice to meet you, Kimiko."

[powered-otaku.livejournal.com]

"Hajimori san is a bore," Kimiko smiles. "Your timing is perfect. It's late there and you should eat, ototochan."

"Is Ando there?"

Kimiko shakes her head. "He took the day off. I'll need you to review that report by the end of the week, Hiro, and give me your opinion. It is a pleasure to meet you, Salome. I look forward to the day we meet in person."

[sweetsalome.livejournal.com]

Salome can't help but smile in return, the woman has a rather contagious smile, and for once she can breathe normally. She puts her hands on Hiro's shoulders and gives him a little squeeze. "I will make sure he eats, Kimiko." She assures the woman and then nods her head once more.

"Hopefully it will be soon, I look forward to meeting you face to face soon too."

[powered-otaku.livejournal.com]

"I will talk to you both later" She gives a small bow and the screen goes black. The third screen continues scrolling through text. Hiro ignores it as he looks up at her. "He really is a bore, but we have to pretend to listen to him. He is a very old-fashioned businessman. If I am not there, he is not overly polite to Kimiko. Baka yaro."

[sweetsalome.livejournal.com]

When the screen goes black, she walks around the chair and straddles Hiro's lap. "A complete idiot, huh? She's actually really nice, and very beautiful, it's a shame that some men still talk to women like their idiots." Smiling she lets her fingers gently glide down the outline of his face and over his lips.

[powered-otaku.livejournal.com]

"Chauvinism is still a problem at home. They do not respect women as much as they should." He kisses her fingers. "I am sorry for racing out so abruptly. I had forgotten the meeting." He puts his arms around her.

[sweetsalome.livejournal.com]

"Yes, well we have that here too, so don't worry." Smiling a little, she continues to explore his face, letting her finger tips trace every single line. "I figured that's what happened, don't worry. What do you want to eat?" She seems very invested in her exploring though, her fingers moving over his eyebrows.

[powered-otaku.livejournal.com]

Hiro smiles up at her. "Some of my family is rather old-fashioned. Oneesan and I are considered quite the scandalous pair with her running the company and the fact that I let her. And she dates a lot of gaijin and I am betrothed to one." Her fingers feel good, stroking over his skin. "Do you want to see what is in the kitchen?"

[sweetsalome.livejournal.com]

"You two are just rebels, behaving like that. It all makes sense, I am just your little gaijin trophy." She teases him, grinning before she nods at his question. "I did but weird things were starting to sound good to me, I thought I would let you pick." Leaning forward she slowly slides off his glasses and sets them side before kissing each eyebrow.

[powered-otaku.livejournal.com]

"I think we got it from otosan. That is right - you are my trophy wife. I will put you on a shelf and polish you every weekend." His eyebrow goes up at the thought of weird combinations in the kitchen. He sighs as she kisses him, releasing the last of his tension.

[sweetsalome.livejournal.com]

"Well, at least I'll get some once a weekend," her voice is light, but she shudders at the thought. The worst thing is just to be set aside only to be used when someone wants a play thing. Salome continues to keep her kisses light, brushing her lips over his eyelids and then his cheek bones. "You're so beautiful."

[powered-otaku.livejournal.com]

"Mmm, you will get more than that. I will build you a shrine and offer you flowers and food and make sure that it is in a place where the sun shines all day upon you so you are never cold and never hidden. I want you to shine." He blushes a little at her compliment. He's getting better at accepting them.

[sweetsalome.livejournal.com]

For a moment she is silent, her lips slowly working up the curve of his throat to his cheeks. "Will I be gold plated, will you still love me and hold me? That's all I really want." Pulling back, she smiles and runs her fingers through his hair. "I just want you, your laughter and eyes. The way you grin that always makes me smile, and the way you touch me after we've made love. You are handsome and perfect, and I love you, I always will."

[powered-otaku.livejournal.com]

"I would never cover you. You are meant to be seen in all your beauty. And I could never just keep you in the shrine; I would always have to be touching you. Selfish as I want to be, you belong out and about in world, but if I can be the one you return to, I will be happy. I love you, sun goddess, everything about you. Even your darkness because it shows me that you have a strength that you need to handle what the world may throw at you."

[sweetsalome.livejournal.com]

Lightly she puts her hands on his cheeks and looks into his eyes, beaming as she feels her heart racing in her chest. He always says the most amazing things to her. "You always take my breath away, Hiro, I don't know what to say." Leaning down she kisses his mouth, slowly and tenderly before her mouth opens and her tongue passes over his bottom lip.

[powered-otaku.livejournal.com]

His tongue strokes hers encouraging her to explore his mouth. His eyes are still open, gazing into hers with a dreamy haze. His arms go loosely around her waist, mindful of the bruises. "I only speak the truth, sun goddess. I speak from my heart when I talk to you."

[sweetsalome.livejournal.com]

She lazily explores his mouth, enjoying his taste and the soft feeling of his tongue under hers. Pulling back slowly she gives him a goofy grin and readjusts herself in his lap. "I speak from my heart when I talk to you too, and from my heart I say that I would be honored if you would bake cookies with me."