7author's note: For those of you who don't follow me on tumblr, an explanation is probably in order here. MalikxFourier is my very special crack pairing; I hinted at it veeeery briefly in "futatsu boshi," but thanks to some urging from my followers, I ended up writing out some fics for them and gosh are they doozies. It's by no means canon (I think they exchange maybe two lines of dialogue in the game?) but I CAN'T HELP MYSELF, OKAY? THEY ARE JUST SO COMPATIBLE.
Anyway, two important notes: one, this takes place in the same universe as my HubertxPascal fics, which is why you will see Fourier mentioning Pascal "turning to Strahta" (so this happens after "negai"). Second, because this website is so ridiculous about MA content, I have a three chapter sequel to this written and already published on my writing tumblr. So if you don't get scared off by this bit and actually want to read more, check my profile for a link, and look for the fanfiction index when you get there to make things easier.
And now, without further adieu...
hurricane
"Just how long do you plan on following me around my lab like a lost puppy?"
If there was one thing Malik admired about Fourier - and there was really very little - it was that she always, without fail, cut right to the chase.
"I'm not exactly following you."
"And I'm not exactly convinced you aren't."
Malik folded his arms together, looking down at the Amarcian who stood before him, feeling a frown make its way onto his face. He'd been leaving one of the observation rooms in the Fendel Research Lab, minding his own business, when Fourier had unexpectedly burst in through the door and nearly collided with him. At that moment she faced him, standing in the doorway, blocking his exit. Although he was nearly two heads taller and had at least a hundred pounds on her, he had a feeling any attempts to push past her would have resulted in his injury - not hers. "Look," he began, "I'm just trying to do my job."
"You aren't telling me anything I don't already know." She lifted an eyebrow at him. "I get it. Your assignment is to be the chancellor's lapdog, and you're doing a fine job at it. But why do I find you lurking about in each and every room I attempt to enter?"
"I was - "
"I'm not finished." She waved a gloved hand at him. "I'm also curious to know why I'm not the one being asked to submit my own reports. I am fully capable of speaking to him about the status of the eleth extraction experiments. In fact, I'm all but certain that your reports are muddled and innacurate descriptions of my work."
He sighed. A mere three weeks of reporting daily to Fourier's lab and working a position that fell somewhere in the middle of an assistant and a silent observer had driven him half-mad. He'd been looking for something new to do, and he supposed he'd been granted his wish. After spending six months as Fendel's delegate in Strahta, the two nations had reached an agreement, rendering much of his duties unnecessary. And in the time of peace that had settled down across all of Ephinea, there wasn't much need for a man of his nature to train knights - especially because his single attempt to return to the Knight Academy in Barona had resulted in a fallout between he and Victoria that seemed largely impossible to recover from.
Sensing his unease, the chancellor had finally assigned him to watch over Fourier. The Amarcian continued to work for Fendel in secret, but Eigen had claimed that her reports had grown infrequent and lacking in detail. The chancellor wanted to know exactly what she was doing... and Malik had been curious as well. But three weeks of lurking around the Amarcian's massive and nearly-empty lab had been almost too much for him to take.
Dealing with Fourier hadn't seemed like it would be any kind of a challenge. Malik had been certain that dealing with Pascal had prepared him for her older sister, a woman who was her polar opposite. He'd known Fourier to be highly intelligent and serious, and not at all silly like her younger sibling. But he'd found right away that the woman was sulky, violent, and emotionally unstable. She'd reacted to the presence of another person in her lab with a full four days of screaming at him each and every time they were in the same room. The fact that he'd taken up living there as a matter of convenience had only made things worse. He'd wanted immediately to quit, but...
But on the fifth day he'd woken earlier than usual, had gone quietly down the hall with the intent of taking a shower, and had found himself face-to-face in the bathroom doorway with a very angry Amarcian clad only in a towel. She'd screamed and accused him of all kinds of perverted things, and he'd learned very quickly that Fourier was able to punch extremely hard. Any other man would have run screaming from the lab in response, but he'd been ... intrigued. It hadn't occurred to him that there might have been an attractive woman hiding underneath her shapeless clothes.
Fourier suddenly snorted, bringing Malik's thoughts back to reality, far away from the topic of half-clothed Amarcians. She crossed her arms, leaning against one side of the doorframe as she stared up at him. "I wonder," she began, "if Eigen won't hear me personally because I'm a woman?"
"It's nothing like that."
"Isn't it?"
"Don't be a fool." He narrowed his eyes at her. "The chancellor is fighting off the same paranoia he's been battling for the past twenty years. He's suspicious of you because your written reports dropped off. That's the only reason I'm here. And," he added, "the sooner he feels assured that you aren't doing anything behind his back, the sooner I can stop monitoring you so closely."
"I wonder if it's because my little sister turned to Strahta..." She heaved a loud sigh, shaking her head. "He probably expects me to do the same."
"As long as you don't give him good reason to doubt your loyalty, and my reports continue, you have nothing to worry about. He was able to stand the loss of one Amarcian, even if it was Pascal."
"Hm. Fine." She paused, studying his face. "Now would you care to tell me what you were doing in here?"
"I was - "
"Oh, never mind." She abruptly straightened, brushing past him as she made her way into the observation room. "As long as you didn't touch anything, I suppose it doesn't matter."
"... fine." He turned to watch her, his eyes following her figure closely - probably too closely. She proceeded to a control panel against one wall, lifting her head to stare up at the piece of fire eleth that floated in a containment tube filled with some kind of gas. He had planned to leave, to spend the rest of his afternoon walking to Zavhert to deliver his report to Eigen... but now that she was working on the very thing he had needed to give an update on, it made more sense for him to stay. "Don't start shrieking at me again," he remarked, taking a few steps in her direction, "but now that you're here, I'm going to take some notes."
"If you must." She waved a hand at him without looking. "I'll try to remember to warn you if there's a risk of explosion."
"How thoughtful of you." He crossed the room, pulling up a rolling chair and settling into it with a grunt. "Do you always show such consideration for visitors to your lab?"
"You act as if it's normal for me to have meddling government spies looking in on my progress."
"Point taken." He rolled his chair closer to where she stood, lifting a well-worn pad of paper and a pen from their resting place on one side of the structure that held the controls. "Will you ever come to the point where you don't find fault with my presence here?"
Her response was cheerful. "No."
"At least you're honest." He chuckled. "I can appreciate that."
"I don't want to hear you talk about appreciating anything I do." She paused to press several buttons on the panel in front of her, her amber eyes shifting from the controls to the floating piece of eleth, pale eyebrows drawing together in a frown. "If you must be here, watch this process carefully and take notes. But don't start... appreciating anything." She turned to wrinkle her nose at him. "I've seen how you look at me when you think I'm not paying attention. As if I'm some piece of meat waiting to be taken advantage of."
"Oh?" He swallowed. She was more observant than he'd expected. "You must be mistaken. You are the last woman I would want to be with."
"Somehow I doubt that. But while we're on the subject..." She glanced back to the controls. "I suppose I should be thankful that you haven't yet brought one of those... girls... back to my lab. But could you please not spend so much time wooing them while I'm trying to enjoy a drink?" Her voice hardened. "I only agreed to go out drinking with you so I could make some attempt to relax in your presence. Yet all you've done each and every time is hit on women who are probably half your age."
He chuckled again. "You're about half my age."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing. It's just an observation." He lifted his pen. "Am I distracting you?"
"... bastard." She huffed at him, moving back to press buttons on the panel. Malik decided to take that response as a "yes." He watched her carefully as she proceeded to begin a series of quick tests on the eleth in the chamber, most of which he was already rather familiar with. Over the course of the last few weeks, Fourier had been attempting to continue her younger sister's research into fire eleth, as ordered by Chancellor Eigen. She hadn't been fully successful as of yet - but, as Malik had noted in his last report, she was making progress. The only problem...
He raised an eyebrow as he heard a low rumble somewhere in the room. "It's exploding already?"
"Not quite." She tapped a finger to her chin, watching the fragment carefully. "It's the same thing I saw a few days ago. Somewhere in this process, there is a complex chemical reaction that causes the molecules of fire eleth to break down as a result of interaction with the oxygen around it. Normally, the interaction of fire and oxygen is the exact opposite, in that the oxygen improves the - "
He cleared his throat. "In English, please?"
"... meaning," she started again, casting a sideways glare at him, "it's not working."
"Helpful." He lifted his pen to the paper. ""Not working." I'm sure Eigen will be delighted to hear that."
"Why did you not write down what I just said?"
"Because I told him that, word for word, the last time this happened. He scratched his head and shrugged and told me to come back here." He glanced up at her. "I have a sneaking suspicion that you've already forgotten where you've succeeded and failed."
"I haven't forgotten anything."
"I'm not so sure." He tapped the end of his pen against the notepad. "Have you been sleeping well lately?"
She looked away from the panel, gritting her teeth. "Yes. I am not forgetting anything."
"Well - "
"Shut up and watch." She slammed one hand into a button on the panel, and the low rumble that had since ceased returned, causing the eleth fragment to vibrate in its chamber, first slowly, then at a more rapid pace. Fourier's expression gradually shifted from irritation to curiosity, and she raised a pale eyebrow before carefully pressing a different switch. Nothing appeared to happen, at first - but then the eleth began to glow, and the Amarcian sighed heavily. "Get out of the way..."
"Again?"
"This isn't the first time this week I've destroyed a containment tube, you know." She sauntered casually away from the control panel, and Malik slid his chair back, lifting his pad of paper to cover his face as the rumble returned, grew louder than before, and then came to a head with the sound of breaking glass. From her new place at his side, Fourier heaved another sigh, shaking her head as she shrugged. "Increasing the oxygen density doesn't appear to have helped after all. All it did was make the molecules break down at a faster rate."
He lowered the paper, looking at the broken glass that covered the floor in front of them. "So what you're saying is that it still doesn't work."
"Essentially. But I would beg you to report more detail than that to the chancellor."
"I really don't think he's interested in the details." He twirled his pen around in his fingers once. "Although he did ask me why your equipment budget has increased tenfold in the month."
"Did he?" Her head snapped to the side and she glared down at him. "Shouldn't you be telling him that it's a result of the fire eleth experiments he's been having me do?"
"Is that why?"
"Of course that's why! You - " She huffed. "You've been here the entire time. Surely you should be able to see a correlation between my equipment requirements and the experiments that you have been telling me to continue."
He chuckled. "My job isn't to explain your expenses. It's only to tell the chancellor what I see."
"Then you aren't doing a very good job of watching, are you?"
"I'm doing a fine job." He grinned despite knowing it would result in her getting angry. "Aren't you the one making mistakes here?"
"You insufferable - " She turned toward him, fury blazing in her amber eyes. "I have had just about enough of your attitude. It is bad enough that you have taken up residence in my lab, freeloading here as you please, but for you to sit here and question me..."
He chuckled again, pushing his chair further away from her, glad it was on wheels. "I'll just sit over here."
"You..." She followed him, slowly, and he heard a threatening tone make its way into her words. "Do you really think I can continue to tolerate this?"
"You don't hate me that much, do you?"
"As a matter of fact, I do. Everything about you makes me want to wring your neck." Her voice darkened as she crept close, her amber eyes fixed on his. "Shall I count the ways?"
He watched her, the smile slowly leaving his mouth. "You have a list?"
"Yes. I have a list." She spat the word at him. "You play loyalist to a man who you once rebelled against. You willingly go to him, reporting on my behalf, and I highly doubt that what you say to him is accurate. You follow me around my lab as if I'm some errant child that needs a babysitter. And you're so obsessed with forgetting your apparently horrible past that you drown your sorrows in alcohol and women." When she came close enough, she seized the notepad in his hand and threw it aside, hard, his pen clattering loudly to the floor as it slipped out of his grasp. She reached the edge of the chair and pressed one of her knees into the space between his legs, a gloved hand seizing him by one shoulder. "My life hasn't been easy, either. But you don't see me sleeping with every pretty young thing in Zavhert under the guise of healing my broken heart."
He narrowed his eyes at her, feeling her breath hot on his face. She smelled faintly of some sweet fruit - strawberries, he thought - and there was the faintest sheen of gloss on her pink lips, one side of her hair tumbling down against her cheek. Up close, she was unexpectedly pretty - and it was a direct contrast to the words that she had spoken, words that had made him angry. "Don't presume to know me," he growled. "What I do on my own time is none of your business."
"It is my business. You are reporting to Eigen on my behalf. If you're going to see him with anything on your mind, it should be my work."
"I am perfectly capable of keeping my personal life and my obligations to Fendel separate - "
"Are you?" She leaned close, her knee pressing into his thigh. "Shall we challenge that?"
"... what are you suggesting?"
"I want to see exactly what you report when your mind is focused on something else." The corner of her lips turned up in a sly smile. "I'll make you a bet, Captain. We'll both go to Zavhert right now and speak to Eigen. You'll give your report, and then I will give mine. And we'll see exactly how much you get wrong."
He frowned. "And just what will that accomplish?"
"With any luck, it will get you kicked out of my lab, and thrown back onto the streets of Fendel. I could care less what happens to you after that."
"And if my report is accurate?" He stared hard into her eyes. "... which it will be."
"Then I suppose I'll just have to get used to you trailing behind me wherever I go. But there is no doubt in my mind that I will rid myself of you sooner or later." She shrugged, her hand moving from his shoulder to his chin, lifting it slightly. "Now let's just see how well you can focus on your duties when all you can think about is something else."
"What are you - " he started, but never had an opportunity to finish his sentence. Fourier's lips crashed into his with a surprising amount of force, and Malik felt his heart jolt as she kissed him, his eyes growing wide. Her own eyes closed as she pressed her body tight against his own, her breasts snug against his chest. His first instinct was to pull away - and to ask her what the hell was wrong with her - but then one of her hands raked through his hair and she deepened the kiss, her tongue forcing its way into his mouth. He fought hard to keep back the groan that rose into his throat, surprised by how much he enjoyed the feeling of her lips against his, her soft skin on his own -
He drew back, abruptly, remembering to be angry. "What the hell are you doing?"
"I just told you. I'm making sure there's something else on your mind." She smiled wickedly. "Can you really make an accurate statement about my work when you're only able to think about that?"
"You..." He stared at her, bewildered. "You kissed me!"
"And I could just as easily do more, if I felt it was necessary." She ruffled his hair, laughing in a delighted way that made his blood boil. "But you seem to be shocked enough as it is. Unlike you, I don't have a difficult time staying calm in situations like this."
"Fourier..." He gritted his teeth. It had been a long time since he had been angry at a woman - a long, long time - and he felt a strange hatred at how easy it seemed to be for her to take advantage of his weaknesses. He had found himself harboring a strange attraction to her... and she was right in saying that it was difficult for him to keep calm in her presence, much less after having been kissed by her. He felt his hands begin to shake and swallowed, his mind racing. He knew that with the right amount of time, he would be able to collect his thoughts and give the chancellor an accurate report. But now that she had done such a thing...
A thought came to him and he seized it, acting as quickly as he could. He reached up and grabbed her hand, hearing her give a short gasp as he used it to yank her forward. He slid his other arm tight around her middle, and as she came close to him again he kissed her this time, forcing his mouth over hers. She made a noise that sounded something like a squeak, drawing away - but by the time she pulled back, his lips had fallen to the top of her neck, pressing to the sensitive skin there. "I'd like to see you stay calm now," he remarked, listening to her make another noise. "Can you really do it?"
"What - " She inhaled sharply, the pitch of her voice rising. "What are you - doing to me - ?"
"Sabotage," he muttered darkly, his mouth moving to her throat again. She attempted to escape but he held her closer, tighter, his lips making their way down the curve of her neck, nudging aside the collar of her high-necked undershirt. He felt her shudder, squirming in his grasp, a soft noise - something that sounded like pleasure - escaping from between her lips. "Are you really immune to this?" he asked, running his tongue across her skin. "Because I don't think you are."
"Let - let go of me!" She pounded on his back with her fist, attempting to pull her captured hand out of his grasp. "Stop this at once!"
"No."
"Malik!"
"Turnabout is fair play." He smirked against her skin. "Should I go on?"
"I am going to kill you, you - you pretentious, disgusting pig - "
"You really don't mince your words, do you?" He lifted his head, fixing his eyes on hers. "Neither do I."
The anger in her face seemed to die in a moment. "Wh... what?"
"I'm only going to say this once." He leaned forward, his lips barely a breath from hers, keeping their gaze intact. "I don't enjoy what I do. If I had any real choice in the matter, I would have settled down a long time ago. But the woman I loved got herself killed, and since then, it's a challenge for me to feel anything." He saw the look in her eyes change, and he pressed on, his voice hardening. "I distract myself with women so I don't think of her, or Kurt, or the students I've failed. Believe it or not, I live a far better life that way." He released her wrist but she didn't move, instead standing still, allowing him to complete his thought. "You can doubt my reports if you like, but they're as accurate as they need to be. All I'll ask you to do is tolerate me being here until I find a way to leave. Then you will never have to see me again."
"I..." She blinked. "I didn't realize."
"Of course you didn't. You've been too busy thinking of yourself since the day I met you." He unwound his arm from her waist, frowning. "No wonder Pascal had such a difficult time with you. All you do is complain about how much other people have wronged you, or how unfair your situation is. It must be so hard for you, being a genius with a giant lab and absolutely no obligation to help anyone but herself." He slid his chair back, away from her, and stood. Her eyes followed him, and for a moment they merely stared at each other, one towering over the other. "There's a reason I liked traveling with your sister," he continued. "She never once complained about our situation, or threw some kind of childish hissy fit when things didn't go her way. I could rely on her for anything I needed. You, on the other hand, wouldn't do a single thing for another person, not even out of the kindness of your own heart. Assuming you have a heart, that is." His voice was thick with anger. "And I don't think that you do."
"How - " Her eyebrows began to crease. "How dare you - "
"Forget it. I know you aren't going to listen to me." He turned from her, glancing once at his notepad and pen on the floor before starting in the direction of the door. "I'm going to Zavhert to talk to Eigen. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Wait."
"I have better things to do than listen to you yell at me, Fourier, believe me - "
"Malik. Wait." Her voice was commanding now, but there was something else in it - something... desperate. He stopped mid-stride, looking over his shoulder, and saw her walk slowly toward him. "Neither of us are perfect, obviously," she remarked quietly. "I realize that I am not easy to reason with - "
"That's an understatement."
" - but what you just said..." He saw her glance away as she drew close, one of her hands lifting absently to her mouth, fingertips touching her lips. "That's the most honest thing that anyone has ever said to me. And as furious as I am with you right now, I can still appreciate that."
"Hm." He grunted. "Can you?"
"Contrary to what you may believe, I do have a heart." She folded her arms loosely together, watching him as he turned to face her. "I believe I see the problem with our situation. You are miserable because you feel as if Eigen is holding you here against your will. And I, obviously, doubt the accuracy of your reports to him. But you need a job, don't you? As it turns out, I need something, too."
"What's that?" he asked, immediately reluctant.
"I think we can work together, you and I." A slight smile turned up one corner of her mouth. "I will make my own reports from now on. You can play delivery boy if you so desire, but the words that meet Eigen's ears will be mine. In the meantime..." She held up one finger. "You will be my lab assistant."
"Your assistant?"
"You need a job, don't you?" Her smile turned wry. "You may not realize this, but there's quite a bit of heavy lifting to be done around here. Also, someone who is willing to be so honest with me might be beneficial, when it comes to my work. And I suppose you could assist with the more... risky experiments."
He began to frown. "I don't know about this - "
"Hush." She wagged a finger at him. "Just do what I say and everything will turn out just fine for you. There are benefits to keeping yourself on my good side, Malik."
He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, and then opened it again. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"You'll find out in time." She took a step toward him. "Do we have a deal?"
"I'm reluctant to agree to anything you suggest." He lifted an eyebrow, watching her draw close. "Not after you just threw yourself at me in the name of sabotaging my position with Fendel."
"Now, now. Don't hold that against me. I only did what I thought I had to."
"I don't think I like hearing you say that." He frowned. "If you start thinking you have to do something rash like that a second time..."
"I'll behave myself. I promise." She leaned up to tap her fingertip against his bottom lip, causing him to recoil instantly. "That is, as long as you want me to."
He took a step back. "I have no interest in - "
"Fine, fine." She waved a hand at him, brushing past him on the way to the door. "If you say so. Now are you coming?"
"Coming where?"
"To Zavhert, of course. Where else?" She tossed her hair over one shoulder. "That report isn't going to make itself, and I'm certainly not in any state of mind to do this on my own. Since you saw fit to wreck my plan..." She laughed. "Well, come on. I'm certainly not going to look like a fool in front of Eigen by myself."
He watched her go to the door, still frowning, his mind working faster than he felt comfortable with. In a matter of minutes he had gone from furious to intrigued... and this thought seemed to sum up the entirety of his relationship with Fourier. He wondered if he could trust her - and although he doubted it, he'd seen a dramatic change in her attitude as a result of the words he'd spoken to her. He could have chalked it up to another dramatic moodswing, but...
But, he thought, his eyes fixed on her, maybe they could work together. If she was willing to keep herself from strangling him, or not throw herself at him in an attempt to sabotage his reports to Eigen, the position of her assistant might have value. ... although, he couldn't deny that he'd found a certain kind of thrill in her actions, because they hadn't been far from what he would have done in the same situation -
"Are you coming or not?" She looked back at him, rolling her eyes. "Or should I tell the chancellor you were devoured by a wolf on the way to Zavhert?"
"... that wouldn't be far from the truth, would it?"
"WHAT?"
"Let's go." He moved across the room to join her, and although she spent the next several minutes eyeing him with clear contempt, Malik found a strange kind of comfort in thinking that he had finally found an equal match in Fourier. And maybe, just maybe, there was more to admire about her than he'd first thought.
