#vday!!

[bastardsunlight]

The following items are left on Wesker's desk....

A small box of decadent chocolates with a red bow on top sits in front of....

Sealed in an envelope is a handwritten note....

Captain, I couldn't resist. I figured these looked the least... Suspicious. Either way... I look forward to dinner tonight. Love, Chris

Sleeping together and he still insists on the title… The thought entertains Wesker as he tucks the note away. The bear does, indeed, look like a joke and along side it, even the expense of the chocolates can be ignored. Chris is known to have quite the sense of humor around the precinct, so this is par for the course.

“Dinner indeed,” he mumbles to himself as he sets the bear aside and opens the box of chocolates. Over the next few hours, he finds himself consuming them, slowly, savoring each one as his pen flies over the paperwork stacked in his inbox.

Nobody inquires about the bear and they’re all kicking themselves for not thinking of chocolates—he has, after all, allowed it to be known that his “weakness” is the bitter, dark stuff.

Playing at being human is easy when one is handed all the tools.

[bastardsunlight]

The second-in-command of the saints threw down a hefty box onto the desk, an outlier from the usual purple present boxes, a bright shade of pink wrapped in ribbons. It was truly the only inoffensive choice- couldn’t let them get the idea that he was dropping his colors, but Gat figured he had to single out V-Day in particular to spice things up. Were the Boss to get impatient and slice the various fixings to the prize, they would find the blooms of roses in the rich royale shade that adorned the walls and floors of their abode. Among the petals were a stylish set of desert eagles and about as many rounds as he could stuff into the box before delivery.

“Well? I got you guns, roses, and plenty of lead to pack the shit with… Now are you ready to fuckin party or what?”

Valentine’s day couldn’t come soon enough. The boss held back as long as they could, but when they could stand it no more, out came a switchblade that was probably a bit longer than necessary and off went the ribbon. Ravenous eyes devoured the roses—they were exquisite, not to put too fine a point on it—and the shining, embossed firearms beneath. The scroll work on the metal was, in a word, perfection; Gat had clearly gone to plenty of trouble to acquire these.

The leader of the Third Street Saints spared one last, long—and longing—look at the guns and vaulted the desk to wrap arms and legs around the one man they knew would always catch them, without fail or question, no matter what.

“Let’s start with a bang, Johnny,” they said as their lips met in a blazing kiss that communicated all the “bang” they had in mind and then some.

[bastardsunlight]

“Kung Lao… Would you like take the next step in our friendship?” The Shaolin do not deal in rings, but they are a people who make the best of all that they are given, and Liu Kang recognizes the valuable gift of a friend, an equal, and a loved one. In his treasured friend’s hands he places a pouch made from his own hand, woven with the characters that made his given name, with a strange revision in the place that formed his family name.

Kang Lao

“I have always loved you, as my ally in arms and my sworn… I would like the chance to give you all that you have given me… More, if you should ever ask.”

The confession is more confirmation than revelation. All the same, hearing it said aloud reinforces its truth and Kung Lao is assaulted with a wave of emotions he had not expected. He wants to hide under he brim of his hat, pretend his eyes are not misty with tears.

"I..." His voice betrays him, breaking over one syllable and he closes his mouth, swallows hard, and breathes deeply. How can he even pretend he has to think about this? Liu Kang will not be fooled. He never is.

The pouch is beautifully-made, crafted with care. Liu Kang does nothing halfway. It is something Kung Lao has always admired about him. Kang Lao, he reminds himself, liking the way it feels inside his mind.

"I love you," he says simply. "I always have and I... I always will." He wraps his arms around his friend then, pulling them together and daring to press his lips to Liu Kang's. For once in his life, he doesn't care who might be watching.

Let them all watch and envy.

[bastardsunlight]

The following items are left on Leon's bedside table...

A small heart-shaped box of decadent chocolates wrapped in a red bow. Sitting on top of the chocolates is....

In a sealed envelope tucked in next to the heart of the bear is a handwritten note in surprisingly elegant scrawl.

Leon, This just.... Screamed you. I knew you needed it. I'll save the romantic part for later, huh? You and me. Tonight. Candlelit dinner for two. Don't be late. Love, Chris

He is a man of expensive taste and Chris knows this. Leon Scott Kennedy is also a man with a horrific sense of humor, so the bear is also right up his alley, so to speak. He picks it up and smiles, blue eyes sparkling. The chocolates are damned expensive ones and for these, he sits up, only the sheet covering his nakedness.

“Naked in bed eating chocolates…” He muses, nodding to himself. “This, I like.”

It makes him forget, for a little while, all of that which has led them here in this life—all the loss and pain and sorrow. Without it, they would not have each other, so perhaps every cloud does have a silver lining.

[bastardsunlight]

In the assassin’s chambers an agent of the shadows in this empire where all eyes report what they see creeps the cloaked princess. Without a sound she slips a folded scroll of old, loved material into a place where Jade is certain to find it, words written in a dying language: one that only they know. Kitana retreats from the light and back into the corners of this castle, already thinking of the next occasion upon which she will catch her friend’s eye and think of things she cannot say in present company, long for the day that she can shout them across the realms. It is then, when Shao Kahn meets his end that they will all hear it just as well as they know it.

“Loved is the girl who laughs in green and strikes wide to the knee, then up to the chin.”

She has grown up alongside Kitana. She is her handmaid, her friend, her confidant—sometimes, in her deepest dreams, her lover. The words fill her with joy, fathomless and unquenchable. She feels a smile on her lips, usually drawn so tight and sharp, eyes hard, seeking treachery, but now only half-lidded and beholding the message of a love long built but never fulfilled.

Not yet.

She pulls up her hood and slips into the darkness of the palace, perchance to meet that love and exchange more than words.

[bastardsunlight]

Typically the wizard didn't usually celebrate holidays, he found no point before, but given he now had someone he could spoil on this particular day. Not that he didn't often try and spoil the Thunder God every day of the year, but today ... well, it was an excuse to do a little extra spoiling. He was pulling out all the tricks and than some for today.

Which started with locating Rayden, which was simple enough when he could sense his unique essence that he had become attuned with. Wasting no time when he did to teleport through the shadows and close the distance, making his appearance know with a passionate kiss against the other's lips. A soft purr escaping at the contact, loving it more than he cared to admit.

Pulling back after a few moments with a smile that was both sultry and loving. Oh, how he adored his Thunder God and it showed.

"Happy Valentine's Love~"

The words purred out and another kiss was planted, this time against the God's cheek.

"I figured we could spend today in luxury...care to join me in the Onsen? I prepared all you're favorites for the evening and a little surprise too~"

There was something wonderfully fulfilling about simple, Earthrealm holidays. This was clearly a fondness he and Aku shared (in company, at least, and perhaps only this one, but who was counting) as the sorcerer appeared through shadows and showered him with affection. He couldn’t help smiling, his handsome features becoming more youthful with the expression as he nodded, listening to all his lover had planned. All of his favorites? Well—that WOULD be impressive. Rayden had plenty of favorites. But there would be time to take a tally later. For now, the hot springs sounded ideal.

“Lead on,” he said, wrapping an arm around one of Aku’s and pulling himself close, pressing his chest to the sorcerer’s shoulder in a teasing, salacious sort of way he knew Aku appreciated and which brought him much entertainment as well. Blue and white robes swirled about him as he moved, contrasting the black, red, and gold of Aku’s. They made quite a strange pair, but they were happy, and after all, what more was there to life? Rayden counted himself lucky that his brother had not married him off to someone who bored him. This was delightful every step of the way.

[bastardsunlight]

Jayce would find someone left a box of eight chocolates, plus one of those novelty Plush Microbes (this one is a crab louse). The card says "Don't be crabby!"

He appreciates the pun, squeezing the plush and smiling to himself. The chocolates will be devoured over the course of the next few hours as he fiddles with whatever new engineering project upon which he has set his young, hopeful sights.

[bastardsunlight]

One who did not know the prince would think he was in great pain with the evident click of his jaw and the frustrated flush gathering about his stern features, and perhaps they would be correct to assume. The hard part was seldom doing, acts were his modus operandi when the moment of self-professed grandeur passed and speech eluded him in all things related to vocalizing sentiments and expressing them without an immediate disavowal to follow.

Vegeta thrust the cut of blossoms toward the Namekian, swallowing around the tightness in his throat.

“Be… my Valentine.” He’d seen Piccolo laying among the brushflowers, admiring what their labor preserved. Broken bones for buds, battered bodies for blooms. Vegeta was not the man to appreciate such things, but Piccolo had seemed… Peaceful. His husband was much more at home with serenity than he, and thus this was the best means to acknowledge that, stems precisely plucked so as not to present him with a sloppy product. His time at Whis’ had taught him much on the value of presentation, but how much precisely was a matter of judgment for the other man.

The sky above was blue, the breeze gentle and warm, scant clouds moving across the vast expanse in no hurry at all. Piccolo had not been able to help himself and had even grabbed a few winks of sleep. He’d awoken when he sensed the approach of his husband of odd circumstances. Sitting up in time for the little man to thrust flowers at him, he smiled, taking them.

“I wasn’t doing anything else today,” he responds, his tone teasing, his fanged grin widening. There was nothing more he loved than tweaking Vegeta’s nose. Before the man could respond or protest, therefore, Piccolo reached out one of his long arms and grabbed Vegeta about the waist, tugging him down and into his lap.

“Take five, your majesty… Training will wait.”