Adult-FanFiction.org : Games

Sandcastles and Fireworks	By : DarklingWillow & BronxWench Category: +M through R > Neverwinter Nights Views: 1524 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: We do not own Neverwinter Nights, nor the characters from it. We do not make any money from the writing of this story. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
- 3
Kansas bounced out of the limousine that had picked them up from the airport, his raven and blue coloured hair flying into his eyes in the cold breeze, but his smile was bright enough to light up the entire block.
“Wow, would you look at that!” Kansas cried out, craning his neck back to look up at the tall hotel, the driver struggling to keep in his smile at the young man’s exuberance.
Satoshi scooted out of the limousine next, looking pale and tired in the grey light of the New York winter, but Kansas imagined that he could see a small light of hope in Satoshi’s eyes again, a light that had been all but extinguished at the end of November when Satoshi had come home with that police officer and told the family that he was going to have himself admitted to the psych ward.
Kansas shook himself quickly to push the thought and the memory out of his mind, and he turned to grab Satoshi’s arm tight as he jumped up and down in excitement. “Look at that, Satoshi, look at it! You’re in New York!” he squealed and Satoshi’s lips moved in a small smile.
“So are you, imps,” Satoshi answered with a faint giggle, and wrapped his hand around Kansas’ wrist to make the youngster stop bouncing.
Kansas took the hint and settled next to Satoshi, his arm tight around Satoshi’s arm as Yuji and Willow came out of the limousine as well. Yuji looked as impressed as Kansas felt, and the youngster grinned his widest up at Yuji, his heart fluttering a little when Yuji smiled down at him in response.
“We’re in New York, Sweets,” Yuji said and squeezed Kansas’ shoulder, then turned to try and help the bellhop and the driver with their bags.
Kansas giggled and followed Willow, tugging Satoshi along as the doorman pulled the door open for them, and Willow led the way into the grand lobby of the hotel. Yuji hovered around the bellhop who had taken charge of their luggage, but Willow turned to grab her husband’s hand and tug him along, making the bellhop nod his head at her in thanks.
“I feel naked,” Satoshi whispered, looking down at his hands, splaying his fingers to look at them as he and Kansas stopped in the middle of the lobby, waiting for Willow’s orders.
“You’re not,” Kansas responded without thinking, then looked down at Satoshi’s hands, and realized what he meant. He giggled softly and poked the large decorative rings that Satoshi was wearing on his index and middle fingers. “You’ve got your big lion ring, and the scary skulls,” Kansas said, then splayed his own fingers out to compare to Satoshi. “But you are right. I feel a little naked without my ring too,” he said, then poked the simple, slender rose gold band that they both wore on their left ring fingers. “But, we’re still wearing each other’s rings, and that’s what matters most, right? You said you wanted to keep my ring on, so we’re doing that. So, you’re not naked. Not even a little bit.”
“You think this is the scary skull?” Satoshi asked, and turned his hand a little to show off the large ring on his index finger, making Kansas giggle.
“He’s a little scary,” Kansas agreed and giggled louder when Satoshi made a funny growling noise and moved his hand like the skull ring was trying to get Kansas. It was the kind of joking that he had missed so much while Satoshi had been in the hospital. “You’ll protect me, won’t you?” he said and tugged on Satoshi’s arm.
“Of course I will, imps, I always will,” Satoshi said and untangled his arm to wrap it around Kansas’ back. “We’ll protect each other, and not fail like I did last time. I’m sorry.”
Kansas pressed a finger to Satoshi’s lips and shook his head quickly. “We’re not talking about that. Never again. I promised, and you promised. You kept your promise, and came home again. So, we’re not talking about that again,” he whispered, his voice shaking a little bit. But then he stiffened and turned to narrow his eyes at Willow. “Who’s that?” he asked in a hoarse whisper, and moved closer to tuck himself under the protection of Satoshi’s arm.
Willow was impressed by the beautiful old hotel, but she hid it well, being used to all kinds of hotels with her numerous travels for her writing career. She had the beautiful invitation in her hands as she entered the lobby, one arm hooked with Yuji’s arm, and her eyes scanned the lobby to find their host.
A tall woman, her shoulder-length white hair loose and tucked behind one ear, waved to Willow, her face brightening in recognition. She crossed the lobby with confident strides, holding out her hands to Willow. “Willow Archer, I am so glad you came!” she exclaimed. “I was so delighted when you confirmed your attendance, but you know, I always worry about anyone coming from so far away. There’s always a last minute crisis, and all sorts of things. It’s a wonder we ever manage to have a proper retreat. But you found us all right? The car was waiting?” She looked at Yuji, her smile brightening. “Hello, my dear. I’m Bronwen McHugh, and I suppose I’m the one responsible for this little jaunt. I’m so glad you’ve come.”
“Miss McHugh,” Willow said, bowing a little, then laughed softly as she tucked the invitation into her purse. “I am so happy to see you again. This is my hus… my pet, Hayashi… sorry, Yuji Hayashi.”
Yuji bowed in the Japanese manner and smiled, his English a little halting as he answered, “Hayashi Yuji. It is an honour to meet you, finally. I have heard a lot about you.” Yuji bowed again, then glanced over his shoulder to check on Satoshi and Kansas, waving them closer.
Satoshi narrowed his eyes a little, but he tugged Kansas closer, the pair of them stopping just behind Willow and Yuji, and waiting for the introductions.
The tall woman laughed again, nodding her head. “Please, I always look around for someone else when I hear my surname. We’re all writers here, and we have enough names in our heads. It’s just Bronwen. And I’m afraid my pets have gotten themselves lost again, but you’ll meet them later when we gather for cocktails before dinner.” She turned back to Yuji. “I’m very pleased to meet you as well. Will you introduce your other companions?” She spoke in fluent Japanese, slightly formal and just a little old-fashioned, but perfectly understandable. “I travel a great deal, and I tend to pick up languages as I do. There are times I confuse myself, but there we are. I’m happy to stick with English, though, since I’m sure most of the guests will prefer that.”
Yuji bowed with a small sigh of relief and laughed a little. “Willow will tell you that I need to practice my English anyway,” he answered in Japanese, then bowed yet again as he switched back to English. “I shall endeavour to stick with English, but it does make me happy that you can understand Japanese. And thank you for the invitation. We are all most grateful for being included.”
Willow let go of Yuji’s arm and turned to let Bronwen see the other two men. “These are my other two pets. Satoshi Mori and Tatsuya Hayashi, also known as Kansas. He prefers Kansas, actually.”
Satoshi bowed deeply, holding his stiff bow for a long moment, then righted himself again without a word.
Kansas on the other hand stared blatantly at the white haired woman, his little nose wrinkling, and his fingers twitched as he felt a tingle run through him, a tingle that made him both nervous and excited at the same time.
“I don’t prefer Kansas,” he said, bowing quickly, then bouncing a little closer to offer up his small hand. “I just like it better, because I chose it. He chose Tatsuya.” Kansas jerked a thumb over his shoulder to indicate Satoshi, who gave a very shallow bow in response.
“I’m very pleased to meet you both.” Bronwen inclined her head slightly, and shook Kansas’ small hand. “Such lovely names. Satoshi and Kansas. Although I will admit my Japanese is a bit rusty. Doesn’t Tatsuya mean something about dragons?” She laughed. “My pets are Vale and Sand. They’re off wandering about, but they are a rather pretty matched pair. Vale is blond, and Sand has the most marvelously black hair. My night and day, they are. Unfortunately, they don’t stay put when I want them to, but that’s elves for you.”
Willow ignored the way Yuji twitched at the word ‘elves’, and he managed to keep in the squeak of shock. “Oh, my, you brought your Vale?” Willow exclaimed, clapping her hands quickly. “I would be so honoured to meet him. After you lent me him for the short story that I wrote for the anthology, I have been dying to meet him. He is such a wonderful character,” Willow said, her smile lighting up her face.
Kansas giggled a little bit and leaned into Satoshi, whispering in his ear, “She knows about dragons. And she brought elves.”
Yuji on the other hand bowed a little to Bronwen and nodded his head. “We write his name with two kanji which mean dragon becoming. There’s a long story behind it, but Satoshi chose it for him.”
“Of course I brought Vale,” Bronwen said. “I knew you would want to meet him, Willow. He’s absolutely delighted to get a chance to meet you as well. He loved how you handled the prompt I gave you, about the righting of an ancient grievance between the elves and the dwarves. He can be just the littlest bit thrilled about his fame, although he mostly ignores it in favor of frustrating me.” She waved a hand in dismissal of her little joke. “Never let your lead character be your muse, that’s all I’ll say.”
Yuji laughed brightly, while Willow sighed. “I’m afraid that is a little too late for her. She uses all of us as her muses, and characters,” Yuji said with a small laugh and a bow.
Willow sniggered softly, and waved a hand in dismissal as well. “Oh, gods, I do hope he was flattered by that silly piece. It just all turned into a bit of a joke, didn’t it, at the end?” Willow said, her cheeks blushing pink, although her eyes sparkled with her own amusement at her own story.
“She knows about dragons,” Kansas whispered to Satoshi again, and poked himself in the lower abdomen with a sparkle in his eyes. His heart was fluttering happily, and he could feel the tingle in his legs that meant that he wanted to bounce some more. But Satoshi still had a tight grip on Kansas’ wrist, which told the young man that he should not bounce, at least not for the moment.
“He was more than flattered. He’s still chuckling over the line about the dwarves. What was it again?” Bronwen paused, and then brightened. “ Oh, yes! ‘I never would have thought dwarf beards could be so coarse. I’m going to be itching for weeks.’ I’ve never seen Vale more tickled. He wanted to know why I never let him have that much fun. I keep telling him it’s supposed to be serious in my novels.”
Bronwen shook her head, and then looked over at the bellhop, waiting patiently by the elevator. “I should let you go to your rooms, and freshen up a bit. I hope everything is to your liking, but if anything is missing, just call down to the front desk and let them know what you need. They’re very accommodating. We’ll meet in the bar, on the rooftop, for cocktails at about half past seven so we can watch the stars. It’s actually quite pretty, more than you’d think, even in winter.”
Willow laughed brightly and blushed a little. “Oh, gods, I’m happy that he liked it. Somehow it just turned into a silly joke. But actually, it was my little Kansas who came up with that line. He and Satoshi were the ones who planted that idea in my head, and then Kansas gave me that line, as a punchline for the joke,” Willow said and turned to wave Kansas forward.
Kansas hesitated, his heart hammering in his chest, but Satoshi pushed him forward, and Kansas wrapped both of his arms around Willow’s arm as he plastered himself against her side and looked up at the white haired woman.
“I like Vale,” he said quietly, blushing pink. “He’s funny, in a very dark kind of way. And he has a sad story, sort of like I do. And Willow said that dwarves are usually such a convenient height for elves. She makes that joke about me and Satoshi too.”
“I hope you’ll like meeting him later,” Bronwen said, her voice warm as she looked into Kansas’ eyes. “But you aren’t a dwarf, or an elf, are you? You’re very special.” Her smile was gentle. “Go freshen up, my dears. We can talk more later. We’ll have wonderful nibbles, a few drinks, and a marvelous dinner to start the week off. I’m afraid the suites only have American style showers, and small Jacuzzi baths, but there’s a pool and a spa with lovely hot tubs downstairs, too. That’s probably where I’ll find Sand. Silly things, those elves.”
“Thank you, Bronwen, we are all tired and would love to freshen up and maybe even take a short nap. The time difference completely screws with our heads, to be honest,” Willow said, and then bowed without thinking. She handed the concierge her invitation when Bronwen waived him over, and then Bronwen walked with Willow to the reception desk to get their keys.
Kansas moved to stand by Satoshi’s side again, and the three of them waited until Willow turned towards the elevator where their bellhop still waited with the luggage.
Kansas decided that he was not going to allow Satoshi’s embarrassment to ruin his fun, so he took Satoshi’s hand and skipped along beside Satoshi, waving their arms happily. For once Satoshi did not try to make him stop it, but he did keep a tight grip on Kansas’ hand to make sure that Kansas did not skip too hard.
“Our rooms are on the seventh floor,” Willow said and held out a pair of keys for Satoshi and Kansas. “I hope that’s alright, Satoshi. We couldn’t get a room on the top floor, I’m afraid, but there’s room for all four of us, so you and Kansas can have your own bed.”
“It’s so high up,” Kansas said with a squeak and inspected his key with a little wrinkle to his nose.
Satoshi took the key with a small bow and stuffed it into his pocket. “It’s alright, Willow, really. Seven’s a good number too.”
Kansas bounced a little on his toes as the elevator operator bowed his head to them, and then closed the door and pressed the button for their floor. The elevator was smooth, but slow, and Kansas grinned when he felt the pressure build slowly in his ears. He realized that the building was a bit taller than it should be for eight floors, but then the ceiling was probably higher than normal. Old buildings like this often had higher ceilings. As the elevator approached the 6th floor Kansas drew a deep breath, then opened his mouth and yawned hard, until he felt first his left ear and then his right ear pop. The yawn ended with a happy little giggle, and Kansas lifted his head to look at Willow.
She resisted for a moment, but then lifted her hand and hid her small, lady-like yawn. She grinned sweetly at Kansas when Yuji looked down and struggled to hide his own yawn. The bellhop shuffled a little at the back of the elevator, turning his head to hide his face between the luggage cart and the wall and then hid behind a gloved hand as he stifled a yawn. The elevator operator did much the same, turning his face towards the wall and lifting his gloved hand to cover his mouth as he too yawned softly.
Kansas grinned his widest, happy with his work, and then he turned to look at Satoshi with a small arch to one eyebrow, and he waited.
Satoshi lifted his head and looked at the little imp, and the corners of his mouth twitched a little as he tried to keep from grinning. Kansas knew that Satoshi was fighting a losing fight, and he laughed softly when Satoshi grinned at him and then yawned too.
The very air in the elevator seemed to lighten and Kansas could have sworn that it smelled a little sweeter when Satoshi ended his yawn with a small giggle, and he reached out to squeeze Kansas’ hand lightly.
“We’re going very high up,” Satoshi said and Kansas nodded, laughing brightly.
“Maybe we’ll get an amazing view,” Kansas said, and bounced again, giggling when Willow reached out to pinch him lightly in the side.
“Our room is on the seventh floor, so we’re not going to be terribly high up, but it’s high enough. We’ll have a wonderful view,” she said, and Kansas gasped as he turned back to Satoshi.
“Did you hear that? We’re going to have a great view.”
“I heard her, Sweets,” Satoshi answered and laughed softly.
The bell dinged and Kansas was the first one off the elevator, twirling in a circle as he looked for a sign to tell him which way to go.
“That way, sir,” the bellhop said and pointed with his hand as Kansas turned to face the elevator again. Kansas jumped and took off with a laugh, his key in his hand.
Yuji and Satoshi followed Willow, and she laughed brightly when Kansas ran past the door to their room, stopped hard enough to nearly topple himself over and then turned back to the correct door. He struggled a little with figuring out the key, but Willow slowed down to let the youngster figure it out, and then she laughed brightly when Kansas disappeared into the suite, his voice rising in a shout of awe and joy.
“He doesn’t go to hotels a lot,” Satoshi said apologetically to the bellhop, and the young man smiled a little.
“No worries, sir. I’ve seen far more exuberant guests. His joy is just, kind of contagious, to be honest,” the bellhop answered in a quiet voice. He parked the cart by the wall and hurried to open the door for Willow and then held it open for the three of them.
“This place is a palace!” Kansas screamed as he came racing out of the bathroom, and jumped up on the beautiful couch, jumping up and down as he waved his arms. “We’ve got a giant bathtub, and there’s a bed in there, and there’s a smaller bed there, and we even have a giant balcony.”
“Sweets, stop jumping on the couch, did you take your shoes off?” Satoshi cried out, waving his hands at the young man, but Kansas just laughed and squeaked happily when Satoshi tried to grab him.
“Of course I took my shoes off, they’re there,” Kansas squealed and jumped over the back of the couch, racing towards the balcony to open the door. But just as he meant to step outside he changed his mind and swung his leg around to go back inside the room. Satoshi giggled a little as he caught the little imp, and Kansas squealed again with excitement as Satoshi lifted him off the floor to make him stop moving.
Yuji turned to the bellhop and pointed to the bedroom. “Please, put the bags in the bedroom,” he said and grabbed the guitar case that rested on the top. “I’ll take these.” Yuji also grabbed Kansas’ backpack and then led the way to the bedroom.
The bellhop put the bags on the luggage racks in the bedroom, then bowed and left them alone, giving Kansas one last happy smile as the little imp bounced on Satoshi’s shoulder and demanded to be put down, Satoshi demanding that he promise he would stop jumping on the furniture before Satoshi would put him down again.
- 1
- 2
- 3
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Sandcastles and Fireworks