The Anime Nirvana | home
BBBD-6
Blue Bottled Belly Dancers, and other fine myths<part 6>
By Cs
A shower cleared up most of my hangover and headache, and food helped
it disappear completely. Three hours after I woke up from my strange
dreams, I was feeling nearly normal again. Though, I did wonder. If
the bite had been real, what else had been? And Heero wasn't exactly
acting normal, whatever that was. As a matter of fact, he was acting
more unusual then his usual unusual behavior. What better way to try
and forget everything, then to go out and act like a tourist? So,
that's what I did.
Slipping into an old pair of jeans and a tank top, I grabbed my Djinn
and headed for the Topkapi Palace. It's a large, extremely complex
structure built on the edge of the Bosphorus, The Golden Horn, and
the Sea of Marmara. For about five dollars, you can get a tour
through it, and for three dollars more, you can visit the Harem.
Though no one lives in the palace anymore, it was still utterly
fascinating.
How to sum up a place that magnificent in just a few words? Tiles,
wealth, opulence, gold. Because everywhere you looked, this place
showed those things with each turn and twist. I think I enjoyed the
Harem rooms most though. While standing and looking at the complex
tile work of one of about a hundred rooms, I suddenly had a strange
vision. It was like a memory of something that had never happened.
I was listening vaguely to chatter around us, admiring the structural
design and space of the room. Heero was standing off to one side, and
I glanced at him. He'd changed his outfit some, and now wore dark
jeans and a dark shirt to match, the colors blending in with his
equally midnight hair and making him appear all in all, like a shadow
with golden skin. He didn't appear to be paying attention to anything
but his own thoughts, and it felt familiar somehow. Like déjà vu only…
different.
I sidled up to him, poking him in the side and smiling when he
frowned at me over the top of his sunglasses. I had to make him wear
them; his eyes were just too startling for the average person. "You
look like you're thinking too hard. What's occupying your thoughts so
much, hmm?"
It was the same far off look he'd had when he was looking out the
window at the hotel. That aura of history that crawled over him at
those times.
He didn't answer right away, instead staring at the intricate tile
work without seeing it. Our tour group was leaving the room, and I
lagged behind, finding the sharp angles of Heero's features much more
interesting then any tour could ever be.
Without thinking, I reached out and trailed my hand down one of those
flawless cheeks. "What do you think about when you get that look? Are
you remembering things? Are you just…going faraway?"
He looked startled for a moment, jerking his head back from my
touch. "You ask too many questions." He growled.
"Maybe I do, but isn't it part of my wish that you tell me about
yourself? Don't you have to? So tell me what I want to know." I
grinned at him, showing my teeth a little too much. I was feeling
angry I admit. I knew he'd messed with me somehow, and I didn't like
it. He hadn't said anything to me about those dreams, if they were
dreams, and I wasn't going to ask. But that didn't mean I wasn't
going to ask other questions. In a way, it was my try at getting back
at him for it all. "So tell me what you think about when you get all
quiet like that."
He glared at me for a while; I think he was trying to intimidate me.
I kept smiling. Smiling, can be such a good defense against things,
it can melt hearts, or make people think you know something you
don't, it can make you feel confident in the face of the enemy, or
make you a popular friend to have. So, I smiled at him, and he
cracked.
"I think about the many dawns I have seen, the cities I have seen,
and the person...people I have known."
Now that had been an interesting slip. What person? He'd changed it
to people, but there had been someone, someone he'd really loved.
Curiouser and curiouser. I tilted my head and raised an
eyebrow. "There was someone you just can't forget huh?"
It made me jealous to think about it. The idea that he'd loved
someone so much, that over the centuries he couldn't forget this
person. I glanced around the beautiful room, it must have been for a
special concubine of the harem, the tile was everywhere, gold and
green. For a moment, it seemed familiar somehow, and then the
sensation was gone. More déjà vu, and I couldn't explain why.
"Let's get out of here." I said finally, feeling an unaccountable
shiver go down my spine. "Lunch is calling my name."
When I looked at him, his eyes were half lidded, and contemplative.
He snagged my arm and tugged me close, and I got the feeling that he
towered over me again, even though we were nose to nose. "What do you
see when you look at these rooms? Do they look familiar? Do you feel
as if you have been here before?" His voice had a note of urgency in
it that was unfamiliar coming from him.
Without warning another vision swarmed over my mind, and I saw myself
draped in silks and filmy gauze lounging in this room, gesturing to a
shadow to come closer. There was a golden collar around my neck and
the emerald silks that slid over my skin matched the greens of the
tiles. I shook my head and it faded, melting into the back of my
brain like… a memory…or a dream.
"I've probably just seen it in pictures, I've never been here
before." I shrugged, trying to remain nonchalant in the face of this
sudden feeling of familiarity. "Let's go get some lunch, I think your
Djinn self is feeling homesick or something."
I took advantage of the hand he still had on my arm, and tugged him
from the room. Trying not to break into a run as we left it.
***
"Heero do you sleep?" We were sitting on the plaza steps, watching
the crowds and listening to the tumult of the people around us. I'd
paid about one American dollar for a giant kebab of fish and
vegetables, and sat nibbling bits of it off. Heero had gotten a
pastry baked with cheese and herbs.
"I sleep, but I do not have to."
"Do you ever dream when you sleep?"
He choked and started to flush a dull red behind the tan of his
face. "No, no I never dream." He said quickly, and took a large bite
of his pastry, turning his head to watch a veiled figure walk past.
I smiled at his profile, and then outright grinned. "You know Heero,
you don't have to admit anything. I know you had something to do with
whatever happened last night." I watched as his eyes went wide behind
the oval lenses of his sunglasses, and nodded at him. "I'm not
stupid, and you're not as unknowable as you might imagine."
I scooted closer to him until our hips touched, then leaned over and
whispered in his ear. "I don't know why you did it, and I don't care.
But if you ever mess with my head like that again, I swear to god
I'll throw that bottle with you in it, into the darkest, deepest pit
I can find." I leaned back and beamed at him, taking another bite of
my kebab. He had a horrified look on his face that made me want to
laugh. I'd gotten to him that time, and it felt great.
"You are the first human who has ever seen through the illusion to
the reality behind it all." He said softly, and looked like he was
nearly in awe.
Unable to control it, I laughed. Patting his arm and leaning close
once again. "I promise I'll try not to startle you so much, if…"
"If what?" His eyes narrowed.
"If you give me a bite of your pastry, it looks really good. I'll
even share my kebab if you do."
He smiled at me then, and I knew we were finally coming to understand
each other.
***
By the time we had walked back to our hotel, my feet were killing me.
I like to walk, just not for eight hours at a time. After lunch, we'd
gone for a stroll along the one of the main thoroughfares, talking
occasionally about the architecture or people as we passed them by.
The sun began to set and I had realized just how long we'd been
walking.
The relief of taking off my shoes when we got back to the hotel was
so great, I felt like moaning. I collapsed back onto the bed, rolling
around for a moment and stretching. It was so nice to be, if not
home, then at least comfortable. Heero sat down on the foot of the
bed, and I smiled at him. "Would you do me a favor Heero?"
He nodded and my smile widened. "Get me a cold, wet washcloth from
the bathroom, please? My feet are aching like there's no tomorrow. I
think it was that last mile that did it."
While he went off to do that, I closed my eyes, and thought of that
harem room again. Why had it looked so familiar? And why was that
disturbing? Most importantly, how had Heero known what I had felt in
that room? My left foot was picked up and lain down again on a warm
lap. I opened my eyes to find Heero grabbing my other foot and laying
it beside the first. "You don't have to...aaahh…"
There is nothing better then a cold, wet washcloth rubdown on tired,
sore feet. I nearly purred when he dug his thumbs into my arches,
sending a jolt of pure pleasure and pain straight up my spine. In
some ways, a decent foot rub is better than sex. Judging by the
expert handling of my feet, Heero knew that. I couldn't help the
steady stream of little moans I gave as he deftly stroked all the
pain from my aching feet, gradually he moved up my legs, his hands
feeling so good, I couldn't have stopped him if I tried.
When you're in this kind of situation, it's hard to concentrate on
things you should and shouldn't do. It's especially hard to focus on
the things that come out of your mouth when someone is rubbing all
the will to move out of your muscles. So when he started asking
questions in a soft, almost lilting tone of voice, I answered.
"What did you think of the Palace?" He murmured, grinding the palm of
his hand deep into the back of my calf.
"Mmm, very nice, lots of gold…oohh, right there…" His fingers
manipulated the tendons running up the back of my legs for a moment.
I was melting into the bed, turning into a puddle of satisfied master.
"What did you think of the harem rooms?"
I squirmed for a moment as his hands worked their way back down my
legs. "Aahhmmm…Nice…opulent…"
He rolled me over onto my stomach and slipped his hands up under my
shirt, the protest dying on my lips as his fingers found every nerve
and hit them all at once. I moaned loud and long, loving every minute
of it. People would pay a couple hundred bucks an hour for massages
like this.
"Do you wonder why you recognized that room?"
I groaned as his hands found another sore spot and worked at
it. "Yeah…I wish I knew …why it…Ahh...looked so familiar…" His hands
stopped moving and I moaned in displeasure. It took a few moments for
my mind to catch up with what I'd just said. "Oh no…"
"You're wish is my command."
I turned just in time to see the triumphant smile on his face, right
before the hotel room vanished from around me.
***********
