FicWad

A week and a half later...

Osaka, Japan

Words could barely explain the sensation of arriving in Japan for the first time. It was part ostracism, part culture shock and adventurous exhilaration. The boys jumped the Pacific Ocean a couple times before, but Calyx could tell that the excitement of being a couple kids from Jersey amuck in Japan hadn't wore off yet. Acting like kids on spring break they raced each other everywhere from the airport, to the train, to the ferry, back to the train, to the local night clubs, and anywhere in between.
Calyx found it impossible to keep up with the television promotions, reporters scooping them up and dropping them off from interviews and a show or two squeezed in at night with all of it spoken in rapid paced Japanese. What was worse was they couldn't assume their handlers knew English, and the translators knew a surprisingly poor amount of English. A few times she opted to remain at the hotel room, and then snuck out on her own to explore at a pregnant pace, and found it to be more relaxing to just be on her own.
Entering the last months of the endurance race, it was becoming more difficult to find a peaceful moment to herself especially surrounded by five young men in their prime to contend with. She tried never letting it show on her face, but a part of her began to fear how much she preferred the quiet moments on the tour bus or being alone with Gerard in their hotel room to the bustle of vacation. In the end though, she convinced herself it was the exhaustion and stress of the last few months creeping up on her, and not -she dreaded- growing up, whatever that meant.
By the third gorgeous day in Osaka, Calyx couldn't contain her curiosity and yearned to take an adventure beyond walking distance of the hotel. Unfortunately, that morning Mikey and Ray ate the Japanese version of an unconventional American breakfast, and succumbed to the undercooked eggs. Doubled over in their beds, they were in no shape to go further than the suite toilet and all the days activates were canceled. Through their moans and groans of digestive rebellion they encouraged the others to make the best of the situation, and secluded themselves in their hotel rooms.
Calyx of course, feeling the mothering instinct kick in on overdrive was reluctant to leave but after plenty of coaxing she lead the charge to the nearest Japanese Rail station into the Shinsaibash shopping district. Before even reaching the surface, they spent at least an hour riding the subway as it barreled through the underworld, making faces at the conservative business men who shied away from the boisterous Americans and taking pictures with dozens of youths dressed in the distinctive Harajuku style.
Walking topside, Calyx felt a surge of bravery walking hand in hand with Gerard down the bustling streets. He kept her from stumbling and jostling the crowd while her eyes raped the banners and signs covering every inch of exposed building. Awnings, lamps, and digital marquis displayed thousands of the intricate kanji and hiragana characters. Finding it all fascinating as well as disorienting, what Calyx found most amusing was that the only places she found roman letters and poorly spelled English words were on Japanese children sporting American t-shirts, backpacks and graffiti plastering the walls. Lost running down alley ways and unbelievably narrow roadways populated by people instead of cars, it wasn't long before Calyx and Gerard became separated from Frank after he darted into an electronics stand.
After searching in futility for him, which was useless considering Frank was short even by Japanese standards, they continued with the original plan a headed for the famous video arcade. Walking amongst the militantly conservative population, Gerard looked like an A-typical rock star wearing his dark Ray bans, his leather jacket and long disheveled black hair. The people were respectful and even if they caught a gaggle of school girls pointing to them amongst the crowd, they never approached. Instead they continued to giggle from behind their hands and text feverishly on their cell phones. Calyx preferred if they just came up to him for an autograph or picture instead of gawking, but Gerard assured her not to pay attention and just smile politely.
Besides the peculiar sensation of being watched, she was a billboard of smiles as they strolled along. Unable to contain her curiosity, she dragged him by hand into every apothecary, market and ticket stall shelling out tens of yen after hundreds filling new bags with presents and oddities never found back home. The colors and lights of the district flashed around them with the cacophonous sounds of Pachinko, a whirling pinball game, motorbikes and taxis, and the Japanese national anthem, which played while they crossed the street, erupting around them.
In the arcade, swarms of children and youths dressed in monotone school uniforms hoarded the Dance Dance Revolution and Taiko instrument games, cajoling even louder than the buzzers and electronic alarms of the machines. Calyx stood back and watched Gerard get beat again and again by a lanky school boy at Tekken. The sounds surrounding them were overwhelming even making the baby toss and turn, Calyx felt, in beat with the music. She kept a protective hand in front of her belly and strained to keep her distance from the crowd with the other.
After his fourth defeat, although he came dreadfully close to winning, he bowed dramatically to his opponent to the crowds delight, and pulled away to find Calyx. His blood pumped warm with excitement and he drank in the sights of the arcade voraciously. Being a comic and game enthusiast himself Japan is his favorite country to visit, aside from performing in London, England. His eyes jumped from game to game, wanting to insert more yen, but through the sea of modest grey uniforms and slick black heads he spotted Calyx's bare shoulders and brightly colored tattoos fighting with a crane machine.
"Hey there, Beautiful!" He swept the dark hair from her neck and kissed it softly, giving her a start, but she smiled brightly when she noticed it was him. She banged angrily on the Plexiglas when her prize, an over sized plush mouse, slipped through the steal claw.
"God damn machine! I never win." He nudged her to his left, making a show of coming to her aid.
"Scoot over, babe, I got this." His first attempt didn't bring him any closer, but on the second try Calyx cursed him in vain when the claw held firm and the blue mouse tumbled into the bin. After briefly punishing him for success, Calyx squealed for her prize. He found her elation irresistible and he even felt his cheeks flush as he pulled her close to him.
It obviously took her by surprise, but she melted within seconds, hugging her new plush. The two of them were learning that being affectionate was the easiest part of the relationship, and would be closely followed by opening up emotionally. Taking it a day, impulse and kiss at a time it was quickly becoming second nature to snatch her up, and for her to seek out his lips when close.
Then literally like an inside joke, she felt the familiar nausea start up as Gerard nuzzled her ear, playfully pretending to search for it, and she couldn't help but laugh under her breath. She quieted the pain in her side by pushing back on what felt like the baby's foot and pulled Gerard down by his lapels to kiss him. After a moment or two, she couldn't tell the difference between little kicks and butterflies. In the chaotic arcade, it was as if the sounds turned down and he could even hear her moan a little, or felt it, his senses were unable to tell.
"Oh I get it; you guys just ditched me so you can make out. What are we sixteen?" Frank chided having successfully found them.
The dynamic of the group definitely changed after Frank arrived, and Calyx took a girl friendly step behind as Gerard and he transformed into boisterous evening creatures. The boys' antics and energy grew unmanageable and the trio earner themselves dozens of turned heads and sneers, and culminated in Frank proclaiming he was Godzilla. At least they were expelled from the street car only a few blocks from the hotel right as the sun sank behind the high-rises and the neon sprang to colorful illumination.
Back in the adjoining rooms, the sickness stifled the room and while Ray's color returned to his face somewhat, Mikey looked more pathetic than that morning. Frank, however, was not concerned with either of their states and convinced himself that the night was the night to make a name for them and took it upon himself to cure them with spirits.
"Come on Toro you got'ta come out, it’s our last night in Osaka! Bob's coming, and even pregnant Pete got the leash off tonight." Frank wagged his hips suggestively while slipping into a clean shirt. He kicked the opposite bed roughly. "Mikey?"
"I'm sick and I'm tired." He grumbled into his pillow. Frank was a man determined. The spit fire bounced upon Ray's mattress and shouted obscenities, refusing to be knocked away by Ray's flailing limbs.
"Drinking is the last this I want to do!" He protested, but he already sat upright unable to fight Frank anymore.
"You're looking better already. All you need is a little sexy sexy to get your blood pumping!" All the commotion and jostling was too much for Mikey, and in a swift flash of sheets he darted to the bathroom to empty the contents of his stomach again. At first the boys heckled from the room, but the sounds of retching were horrific as it went on over a minute and guilt quieted their laughter. Calyx wasn't amused.
"Alright ya'll go have your fun if you need to, but get out of here. You're not making the situation any better, Frank." Her tone cut him harshly and he ceased as if she snapped her fingers, hanging his head shamefully. "Go on, get going!" They quickly filed out of the room single file before they could be yelled at anymore, not even daring to look at the angry woman. On their way out they knocked reassuringly on the bathroom door and said their condolences and goodbyes.
To calm herself, Calyx went about straightening the bed sheets and collecting the pillows onto Mikey's bed. Gerard respectfully approached her as she tied trash in a plastic bag and he gently took it from her, evaluating if he was in trouble with the rest.
"I'll be back early, babe, if that's okay?"
"Fine. Just be careful. I'm sorry I yelled, that just wasn't very nice. Mikey's not feeling well." He took her hand and caught her eyes so she wasn't shying away from him anymore. "Tell Frank I'm sorry I called him out like that."
"It's fine. Look, call me okay, if you need me."
"Fine, go have fun."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, now go." He kissed her warmly. She lingered, pulling him back just an inch actually aching when he pulled away. Being left behind was bittersweet while he went out on the town in Japan, but her thoughts returned to Mikey when she heard the water turn on, and walked Gerard out the door. The boys in the hall sprinted towards the elevator.
"Mikey, Hun, you okay in there?" She tapped gently on the door but got no response. After a moment's hesitation, she heard him heave again and her heart sunk empathetically. She took a minute to phone room service for provisions and warm chicken noodle soup and returned to the door, easing it open to find Mikey's lanky frame curled on the floor around the toilet basin, his hair matted with sweat. "Oh you poor thing!" She cried.
Ignoring the discomfort in her own stomach, she helped him into a sitting position on the edge of the tub and wet a washcloth to wipe his face and neck. He gave her a meek smile for the first time and sighed at the cool pleasant sensation.
"Thanks, Cal." His voice was shaky at best.
"Learned your lesson about foreign food yet?" She was proud to earn a laugh, even if he grimaced as he did.
"I learned it, took the test, and aced it." She felt his clammy brow and the temperature of his cheeks before fingering his blond bangs back along his scalp. She felt him shiver.
"Mmm, can you do that some more?" He whimpered, leaning into her finger nails for relief. The tingling sensation was sheer bliss and momentarily allowed him to ignore the churning in his gut.
"Yeah, Hun, come lay down though. I got room service bringing some soup up for us." He groaned in protest as she helped him onto his long shaky legs and guided him back towards the bed. He barely rested on her, but she still supported him firmly wrapping an arm around his waist. "Aw, come on now, you'll feel better with some real food on top of that poison, I promise. Now, here, lay down and I'll put on a movie. I've got the Star Wars trilogy, that's a good sick movie." Mikey changed modestly into fresh pajamas while Calyx did the same in the bathroom, and instantly dissolved into the moat of pillows she arranged on his bed. When the soup arrived he agreed that the warm broth made his body relax and feel better, thankfully feeling the seduction of real sleep pull on his senses finally.
Calyx crawled in behind him, a full down pillow cushioning her stomach and lay so she could easily reach his scalp and raked her fingers through his hair idly until she heard his breathing change to gentle snores. Being intimate with Mikey for the first time in any sense not simply a motherly one, presented her with peculiar thoughts to ponder while she too succumbed to a warm comfort. She couldn't help but notice his familiar scent, milder than Gerard's, and somewhat peaceable much like the difference in their personalities. In the confidence of the darkened room and with Mikey deep asleep, she couldn't help her curiosity, leaned close to the nape of his neck, and breathed the smell of his overheated skin. Although the scandal of the impulse made her nervous, the familiarity of the scent subdued her anxiety and she felt fond of her illicit moment because she stole it in secret. She made sure to slide further away before completely letting go and sinking into a heavy lake of slumber.
What must have been hours later, her consciousness bobbed at the surface when a brush of cool air caressed her ear sending a thrill down her spine. Still clinging to dream world, she ignored it until she felt it again followed by the warmth of skin brushing her cheek. Then the soft pull of something at her ear, teeth maybe but imperceptibly gentle. After a moment or two she felt them more definably pinch the ticklish flesh and again the thrill sprinted down her spine to nestle between her legs. This time she broke the barrier and took a gasp of cool air, noticing that a hand was slowly working its way along the contours of her body beneath the folds of her shirt. It took a minute for the fog to clear from her mind, but when it did her senses recognized the style and smell of her assailant, and although the pleasure was new and enjoyable she inched away from him.
"Mmnm, Gerard," she moaned. "Not with your brother here." She could feel him smile deviously as his teeth tugged harder on her ear. His hand slid back and forth across, back and dipping beneath the swell of her belly along her waist. When he chuckled, she distinctly registered the sharp alcohol on his breath if his bravery wasn't symptom enough.
"I know. I still had to wake you. Come to bed." One by one his confident fingers worked their way beneath the elastic of her waist band moving dangerously low but where quickly stopped by her own before they enter forbidden territory.
"I'll get in bed, if you go wash up." He tried to continue the journey, but she held fast. Instead he obeyed, and went to the restroom. Drowsily, Calyx dragged a couple pillows from around Mikey's form which was merely an empty receptacle now, its cognizant owner having abandoned it, and slipped between the cool covers of the second bed drifting back asleep.
Again fished from the current that pulled her under, Gerard more persistently now, had slid her waist band free of her broad hips and massaged them firmly. An uninhibited weak spot, her body quickly responded and without thought she arched her back to press against him. She felt a firm prodding against her that sent an instinctual ache throughout her core, and when Gerard's teeth and lips began to suckle at her neck, shoulder, and ear it began to throb. His body was warm and his scent strong and enveloping. He pulled her against him securely, continuing to work with one free hand exploring all the dramatic curves of her body beneath the blankets, each time venturing closer and closer to exhilaration. She couldn't help begging his name and rocking up a couple inches to speed up the process, but then from across the room Mikey let out a muffled cough making her jump.
Gerard, undeterred continued to caress her skin, but now Calyx was unable to ignore the fact of another form in the room, and tried slowly pulling away from his brave hands and the magnetism of his warmth. When she did, Gerard resisted holding fast to her hip.
"Mmmnm," she protested. "Not tonight." She moaned quietly. "Not with your brother here." He ceased for a moment, but then rose up on his elbow and rolled her onto her back, immediately silencing her. The abrupt passion caught her off guard more than his sudden change of behavior. The animal that dwells within every woman awoke and she kissed back roughly biting at his lips. A satisfied wave moved through her as she felt his back arch unable to support himself while he filled her mouth again.
Nevertheless, a nagging reality clawed at her mind, they weren't alone. And another idea increased in urgency, despite the passion and her desire for him and release it didn't seem right. She could still smell the alcohol and inebriation on his skin. She wanted more than impulse in this case, the first time they would be together, well since the real first time, but that was exactly the thought that repeated itself. She wanted more than this, and when Gerard pulled away for a gasp of air she was able to break herself away from the pull. He instead attached to her neck.
"Gerard, please. Not tonight." His shaggy bangs obscured most of his face and if it wasn't for her keen sense of smell she could doubt his identity. But his persistence continued.
"Cal, kiss me-" He urged, trying to nudge her to face him with his chin but she deftly avoided his lips. He groaned in frustration and rolled his hips against her signifying his need. Now, instead of avoiding him she turned to face him directly.
"Not tonight!" She whispered harshly and with a swift burst of anger she buck him off of her and sat up in bed. A different passion coursed through her veins now, and when he reached out to caress her back she flinched away, stomping out of the room and shutting the heavy hotel door a little too loudly, but Gerard finally got the picture. The realization of what just happened began to church in his stomach.
In the hall, Calyx paced angrily even flexing her hands at her sides. She took three long strides down the hall, turned on her heal to go back and give him a piece of her mind but then turned again and tried to make it further down the hall. The door opened again behind her and Gerard sheepishly, shirtless and disheveled hair hanging around his face. She started to snap at him, but when she heard him hush Mikey, who must have woken because of the commotion, she bit her tongue until he shut the door. In the silence of the hallway, he didn't act as confident.
"Cal, I ca-"
"What the hell, Gerard. You didn't hear me?" She cut. He raked his bangs away from his face, but still couldn't bring his eyes to look at her. She waited, watching him expectantly for an answer but the forlorn look on his face softened her and she relented. She approached him cautiously and reached for his nervous hand that fingered his bangs urging him to look at her.
"Babe, I'm sorry."
"It's okay, love. I'm sorry I snapped again." Swinging his hand playfully, she took another step forward and wrapped her arms around his waist, feeling the shared sensation of her firm belly between them. "I do want you, badly, but neither of us are in the right state. Look, I really want it to be something special, and I also can't help but worry about this."
"About what?" Calyx took a deep breath to face this truth.
"Gerard I'm worried about your drinking." His jaw actually dropped shortly but he quickly closed it, instead looking guiltily to the left, and pulled away from her embrace.
"That was just tonight. I overstepped a huge boundary, you're right we should wait, but I don't think I have a problem."
"Gee, please, be real, this isn't the only time you've come home drunk, and I know you have the xanax too. I'm with you almost every moment of the day; I know what I'm seeing." He didn't reply, so she pressed on. "I need to know, when this baby comes, that in a case of emergency you'll be able to take care of us. Worse than that, I'm afraid of what might happen if you do too much. Please, look at me." He obeyed but furrowed his brow.
"Alright, I'll work on it." He seemed upset, and they were already on edge so she didn't press the issue further, but instead leaned in to kiss his cheek affectionately. At first, he held back but once she planted it, he turned to look down at her soft face, her deep brown eyes, the soft slope and blunt end of her nose to her well articulated lips and found her expression complacent and calming. He felt her words of concern in an honest place within him that stirred but where he wasn't ready to go yet. As far as the night was concerned, because he desperately wanted to end the conversation and go back to bed so he let it be, kissed her back reassuringly and persuaded her to the door. She acquiesced.

The next morning, Calyx woke to a quiet hotel room but notably brighter from the day before. Mikey's bed was vacant and there was silence in the room next door, but she heard the tap running in the bathroom and assumed it was Gerard. After a few minutes he slid in behind her again, smelling like soap and cool water giving her neck a sweet kiss.
This time she responded accordingly and even reached around for his hand to bring it around her and up to her mouth. She lightly touched her lips to the tips of his fingers, biting playfully at his index. He readjusted himself behind her, urging her shoulder back so he could nuzzle beneath her ear and then seek out those lips.
Calyx felt the connection she wanted, and surrendered to desire. He was slow, warm and attentive. Although their fight from the night before faded with the morning light, a small concern nestled deep within her, just below the surface. But in the quiet dawn, it hid away, and Calyx felt nothing but sweet indulgence of their embrace. Losing thought in the moment, there was nothing but a young couple moving as one, falling in love.