I'm Sure None of You Remember Me, But...

[aoitsukikage.livejournal.com]

I desperately miss writing OP, so I thought I'd contribute, even if it's only a short piece :)

Title: 'Tolerance' is Really Just Another Word For 'Love'
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 300 on the nose.  Go, me :P
Pairing: Lucci/Kaku
Topic: Master
Notes: This takes place after the whole Enies Lobby debacle and kind of slots in with the cover stories of CP9 that were published after the fact.

            “Somehow I get the sense they resent you.”

            “Do you now?  Really?  Where on Earth would you get that idea?”

            “Just a hunch,” Lucci regarded him from across the room, beckoning him over in a move that would have had Kaku rolling his eyes if he hadn’t known just how much pain his partner was in.  “It’s a recurring problem, I fear: you’re young, so therefore you should be lowest on the totem pole, as it were, when in fact…”

            “Jyabura believes that the sole reason I’m second-in-command is because I, as he so deftly put it, am your bed-warmer,” Kaku snorted, crossing the distance quickly and dropping himself onto Lucci’s lap.  “I’m not hurting you, am I?”

            “I’m not made of glass, boy,” Lucci retorted, although the bandages still adorning his body spoke otherwise.  “And you’re second-in-command because you’ve fully mastered rokushiki, nothing more.”

            “I’m not just a bed-warmer, then?” Kaku asked blandly, and while normally it would have been said with a knowing smirk there was just enough hesitation for Lucci to realize it was a serious question.  

            “Boy, if I wanted a bed-warmer, I could get a new one every night.  You’re here because…”

            “You love me?”

            And Lucci was about to answer before he realized that now Kaku was grinning, so he let the remark slide.  “I tolerate you.”

            “Of course,” Kaku bent to kiss him quickly.  “Come with me to tell them that?”

            “I’m…”

            “Injured, I know.  But you have to start moving, Rob,” he said seriously, unfolding his long legs and standing.  “Unless, of course, you’d like me to tell them who’s really in charge in the bedroom…”

            Lucci, predictably, was on his feet instantly, sweeping out the door before Kaku could finish speaking, and Kaku smirked and followed him out of the room.