Slow Burn

4- Prescription


After leaving the doctor's office, Amon drove Robin home. He knew his partner's moods very well after working with her this long, but he didn't need that to see Robin was a little irritated right now. The doctor had given her a clean bill of health, but insisted she take tomorrow off just to make sure. The doctor's only instructions to Robin were to relax, get some extra sleep. It was already 3:00 in the afternoon, and after the successful hunt earlier that day there wasn't much left to do at the office, so Amon was driving her back to her apartment. After that he would return to Raven's Flat to file his report on Kodachi's hunt and finish up some other projects he was working on.

Robin hated the idea of missing work- she would be stuck at home all day, bored to death. Plus, she would have to wait another whole day to see Amon again. She liked her work as a hunter but the best thing about it for her was spending hours with her partner every day, even if they were only working together.

During the drive he also explained to her about his Craft of telekinesis, or what little of it he knew from his mother's experience, and what his new powers were now. Amon didn't like keeping secrets from her. He had done more than enough of that in the past. He knew she was frustrated about being on medical leave, especially since there didn't seem to be anything wrong with her. She hated sitting around feeling useless. Amon understood how she felt- other than when he was in hiding, Amon hadn't missed a day of work since he'd started at the STN-J, except for four years ago when he'd caught a nasty virus and was out for three days. And if he'd been able to walk even then he would have still shown up, sick and miserable, and stayed until someone finally ordered him to go home. Amon dreaded being home alone, it left him with too much free time to dwell on unpleasant thoughts and painful memories.

"This really isn't necessary, Amon. I'll be fine. Everybody is making too big a deal out of this," Robin complained lightly, somehow still managing to sound gentle and polite. "You don't have to drive me home-"

"Don't worry about it," he cut her off brusquely, the genuine concern in his eyes softening the edge in his voice. "When you come back to work you can get your car, it'll be fine in the garage until then. You're not driving anywhere today." His tone brooked no argument.

"But-"

He shot her a glare that quelled the protest she'd been about to make, but Robin sighed heavily anyway with a mild scowl of her own to let him know she thought he was being ridiculous. She let it drop when she realized how worried for her he must have been when she was threatened by that witch. His anxiety stemmed more from what could have happened, than from the mild injury itself. Knowing that, Robin couldn't stay mad at him. I must have given him quite a scare, she thought with a soft, thoughtful smile. Amon acts so cold, but underneath he's such a sweetheart- at least to me he is, she thought fondly. My own personal guardian angel, my hero. God, I love him so much. It was good to know, as she did now, that he cared so much and that he trusted her enough to give her a glimpse of it.

With one elbow propped against the edge of the passenger window, Robin rested her head in her hand as she firmly rubbed her aching temples between her thumb and index fingers. She shifted a bit in her seat and absently crossed her ankles while pressing her knees together in a ladylike fashion, unwittingly drawing Amon's attention to her impossibly mile-long legs, showcased by her primly tailored, black mid-length skirt. How can she have legs that long and be so tiny? he wondered in silent astonishment. Even in her favorite heeled ankle boots Robin's carrot-topped head was still below his shoulders. Damn, it should be illegal for a woman to look that good without even trying.

He kept his mouth shut to keep from panting like a dog, and switched to something slightly safer to look at that would allow him to pay at least some attention to the road. Robin's copper-blonde hair was still down, strands of it were blowing gently in the breeze that wafted in through his half-open window, ignited red in random places where the sun kissed it. He finally had to force himself to look away from the cluelessly pretty picture Robin made, even grumpy and in minor pain. He strove to preserve his usual cool tone when he told her, "Doctor's orders, Robin. You know the drill- we're all just concerned about you."

"Yeah, I know- it's just so... boring being all by myself at home." Robin omitted the more correct word that popped into her mind to describe that terrible, gnawing feeling of being alone in the silence of her small apartment. Lonely.

She sounded so sad when she spoke, how could he not respond to that? Amon knew the emotion all too well and hated to hear it from her. If it were up to him, he'd make her happy and keep her that way. Preferably with both of them naked in a bed.

"I'll come by after I finish up at work and we'll get dinner at Harry's, how about that? I could pick you up about 7," he tried to make it sound casual, even though his pulse was racing at the thought of "going out" with Robin. They never really sat down to eat together, except for quick lunches on work days. Often it was the whole group, and only rarely just the two of them. Even then the topic of conversation was usually work-related.

But that was just lunch, when you went out to "dinner" with someone there was always a romantic undertone to it. The second the words left his mouth he was imagining bringing Robin a bouquet of flowers, and her answering the door in a slinky evening dress, with one of those charming smiles of hers. The perfect fantasy continued playing in his mind like a scene from a movie- he could see himself having a nice quiet dinner with her at a candlelit table for two at an elegant, softly lit restaurant, carrying on an intimate conversation, clasping her little hand over the table and kissing her slim fingers every now and then. Of course, since this was his dream, it always ended with him taking Robin home and making passionate love to her all night long until they fell into blissfully exhausted sleep. He was getting hard- not again, damnit!- at the mere thought.

Amon drew a deep breath, trying to clear his head of his increasingly sexual daydreams. Relax, he told himself, trying to cool himself down before his pants got any tighter. Thank God his coat was on, and camoflaging his arousal from Robin. It's not a date or anything- just dinner at Harry's cafe. Just a casual meal between friends. We go there all the time.

Then why was he feeling so nervous and excited all of a sudden?

Robin was astonished by his suggestion- and inexplicably giddy. Is he... asking me out? She immediately rejected that idea. No, it can't be. He's just being nice. Probably wants to check up on me later and make sure I'm not in a coma or anything.

"OK," she answered, hoping she sounded normal while her heart was pounding. Oh God, what should I wear? Great, now I'm sounding like Doujima.

Too soon for both of them, they pulled up to Robin's apartment building. Amon wanted nothng more that moment than to reach across the seat and drag her into his lap, devour her kissable mouth, and fuck her right there in the car. Knowing it was way too late to deny his reactions to her, Amon stopped trying to block out the sudden fantasy of those terrific legs of hers wrapped tightly around him, her skirt hiked up around her waist, with his aching erection embedded deep inside her tight, wet sheath as she rode him hard and fast, panting his name...

Amon stifled a groan of pure agony, covering it with a hasty cough. He was almost painfully aware of her in the seat next to him- the rustle of her clothes whenever she moved, the springlike scent of her hair, her quiet yet unwavering voice... His dick was still stiff as a flagpole and his disobedient imagination wasn't helping matters any. Kuso, kuso, kuso! Amon cursed his hormones silently and adjusted his coat again to make sure his desire was well hidden. It took next to no effort on Robin's part to turn him on; the merest glance, a half-smile, the sound of his name on her lips- and suddenly the icy, stoic Amon was hotter than Hades for this demure, inexperienced young woman than he'd ever been with any of his past lovers. How could one innocent girl make him burn like this with absolutely no idea of what she was doing? He couldn't imagine how excited he'd get if Robin actually made a conscious effort to seduce him!

Another wave of heat hit him mercilessly below the belt, and Amon tried to focus on the least erotic thoughts he could conjure to stave it off and protect his young partner's endangered virtue.

Hmmm... Nagira eating with his mouth open, bits of food flying out- good, nice and disgusting.

Touko's clingy grip on my arm whenever we were in public together while we were dating, oh yeah, that was NOT fun. She just had to make sure everyone saw that we were together, as if the appearance of a stronger relationship would have made it happen in reality. Thank Kami that's over, for both our sakes.

Zaizen in a pink tutu- ewww, now that's just plain scary. Amon shuddered with horror at that last one, but it was doing the trick at least. He was definitely feeling colder- down there.

Oblivious to his inner turmoil, Robin opened the door and got out, waving to him. "Thanks for the ride, Amon." He nodded coolly in answer. He waited until she was inside the building before pulling away and regretfully returning to the STN-J, the absolute last place he wanted to be right now. At least by the time he got there he wasn't hard anymore, with Robin safely away from him and cringe-inducing visions of a ballerina-Zaizen lumbering around a stage dressed as the Sugar Plum Fairy still unfortunately swirling in his head, Amon's longings had subsided to a manageable level along with certain parts of his anatomy. That would've been an embarrassing thing for someone to notice.

It would certainly shoot his well-earned emotionless reputation all to hell.

Inside Raven's Flat, Doujima was pretending to read a case file, but really it was the latest issue of Non-No* concealed inside a manila folder. Michael was planted behind his computer as always, surfing the Web, while Sakaki didn't even care enough to fake work. He was just leaning back in his chair staring blankly at the ceiling, about to fall asleep. Karasuma, as the oldest and most responsible of the group after Amon, was honestly trying to be a good example and finish up some work, but she was just as bored as the other three. In reality they were just counting down the minutes until they were released like convicts on parole. Other than Kodachi's hunt earlier that day, the whole week had been like this- Welcome to Dullsville, population 4.

Amon came back into the room from Kosaka's office, after giving his report to the Chief. He sat at his desk and switched on his terminal, but his mind was firmly fixated on his upcoming "date" with a certain ravishing, green-eyed, strawberry blonde, virgin temptress. Amon turned his computer off again, knowing he was far too distracted to get anything done now. He checked his watch for the fifth time in as many minutes. Kuso, it's not even 4 yet! He'd told Robin he would pick her up at 7 so they could go to Harry's, that seemed like an eternity from now. He couldn't even flee Raven's Flat until 5. Or maybe he could... after all, there wasn't much to do here anyway.

Amon was doing a fairly good job disguising his total lack of interest in anything related to witch hunting, but not quite good enough. Even Michael, immersed in his digital world, noticed the normally workaholic hunter constantly checking both his watch and the clock on the wall, and getting increasingly restless as the minutes ticked by.

Karasuma smirked to herself. She could feel Amon's agitation practically rolling off him in waves. It didn't take a genius to know the cause- Robin wasn't here and Amon missed her, wanted her. Badly. Miho had noticed the mutual attraction between Robin and Amon, being as sensitive to emotions as she was. It was so obvious to everyone in the office that the two were completely in love with each other- obvious to everyone but the lovebirds themselves, of course. The sexual tension between them seemed to stretch tighter and tighter every day, Miho didn't see how the two had been able to resist it this long. Clearly, even that was getting close to its breaking point.

Maybe he's finally decided to do something about it, she guessed, her hidden smile widening. I wonder if he'll even show up to work tomorrow. If he doesn't we'll know where to find him!

Yurika caught Miho's eye and grinned wickedly as she inclined her head slightly toward Amon. Although his face betrayed nothing as always, by now their normally calm leader was furiously pacing the room like a black panther in a too-small cage at the zoo, his aura almost visibly crackling with pent-up energy. Every so often Amon would catch himself pacing and deliberately slow down or sit for a minute or two, trying not to draw attention to himself. But he couldn't stay still for long, within another few seconds Amon would be back up again, wearing the same groove into the floor. Apparently Yurika knew what his problem was too. And whatever she knew... Haruto also would. Miho looked to Sakaki, and noticed he was trying not to laugh.

Amon was finally sick of maintaining his own pretense. His own work was done, he had no reason to hang around- and an excellent reason to leave. It was only 3:42 when he scooped up his coat and made a beeline for the elevator and his means of escape. He couldn't remember the last time he'd left work early- had he ever? He didn't care. Screw it, I'm outta here!

"Leaving early today, Amon?" Doujima chirped, feigning innocence. As expected, she got nothing but a neutral "humph" out of Amon in reply.

In the three and a half years she had been with the STN-J, Yurika had NEVER seen Amon leave early, or even taken a sick day or vacation- except for the months he'd spent in hiding of course. He was always the first one to show and the last to leave. She figured he'd probably still come to work on Christmas if the office was open. She had to bite her tongue to keep from giggling. It was funny, even kinda cute, to see the subzero Amon all hot and bothered for a change. It was also reassuring to know that he was human too, after all, refuting the persistent, comical rumors that he had ice water in his veins and slept in a coffin.

"See you tomorrow, Mr. Amon," Sakaki couldn't resist chiming in. He got a thunderous scowl for his trouble.

Yeah, right, thought Miho, hiding her smile behind her hand as she waved goodbye with the other.

Michael looked up from his glowing screen when the elevator doors swished shut on Amon. "I wonder where he's going in such a hurry?" The other three looked at him like he was an idiot. "What?" the young hacker demanded, seeing the looks he was getting.

Doujima rolled her eyes at him and ruffled his hair playfully. "Geez, Michael, you're so naive."

Since the poor guy still looked totally baffled, Miho took mercy on him. "He went to see Robin, Michael," she told him.

"But she said she was fine. Why..." They all saw when it finally dawned on him. "Ohhh," he murmured.

"Hallelujah, he finally gets it!" Sakaki clapped him on the back. They all laughed at the hacker's naivete.

"Ha ha, real funny you guys," Michael was a bit embarrassed but he chuckled along with his friends.

Sakaki was laughing himself silly now that Amon was safely out of earshot. "Damn- Amon's got it really bad! I have never seen anyone so horny in my entire life!" he brushed tears of mirth from his eyes. "I hope he knows about the cold shower trick. He's gonna go crazy in that state."

"Oh, I'm sure he does," Doujima joked. "But I doubt he'll have to do that much longer. Those two are gonna be such a cute couple."

"I sure hope it's soon!" Sakaki declared. "Hopefully, once he's getting laid on a regular basis, Amon will go easier on the rest of us!" Everybody laughed.

To be continued...

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*Non-No is a trendy Japanese fashion magazine that comes out twice a month. I looked it up on the net. What else would Doujima be reading? lol.