The Seduction of Iron Maiden Jeanne
by Apple-chan

Disclaimer: Self-explanatory.

Still rated NC-17 for lots of stuff. Rating will not go down, in case you're wondering.^_^



Two: The Bet


Lyserg glared at Hao. Hao smiled sweetly at Lyserg.

"Hao," Lyserg growled. He prepared to unleash his pendulum.

"Lyserg...kun," Hao greeted cheerfully. He tossed his hair calmly over his shoulder.

"You...you...BASTARD!" The green-haired Englishman unleashed his pendulum and aimed it towards Hao's head.

"Oops!" The long-haired shaman quickly evaded the crystal's projectile and twirled the wire around his arm. "Lyserg-kun, I come in peace," he announced.

"Peace. Yeah right," Lyserg said sarcastically.

"It's true," Hao said with a beatific smile. He unrolled the wire from his arm and tossed it at the other man. "I have long ago abandoned the notion of annihilating all humankind with one flick of my finger. Now, I'm just a simple, pleasure-loving man."

"Hmph." Lyserg rolled his pendulum back and flashed one last glare at Hao. "I'll let you go this time." With a swish of his green checkered overcoat, he turned around and walked away.

"Weren't you waiting for something, Lyserg-kun?" With amazing speed, Hao popped in front of him and grinned.

"I was, but I changed my mind. Go away." Lyserg placed his hand on the man's face and pushed him aside.

"Changed your MIND?" Hao rubbed his face gently and caught up with him again. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Really?"

"Yes, REALLY. Stop bothering me. I'm late for work."

"...Perhaps you intend to come back when I'm not here, yes?" Hao said sweetly.

Lyserg turned around and gave him an irritated glare. "Why would I do that?"

A grin. "To see her take off her clothes, of course." Hao pointed his thumb at the direction of the convent.

"WHAT?"

"Don't try to deny it, Lyserg-kun. I've seen you," Hao said meaningfully. "You come here every SINGLE day just to watch her change from her nightgown to her daily work clothing."

"How do YOU know that?"

"Well...mainly because I do the same thing," Hao answered matter-of-factly.

"WHAT?!?"

"You heard me." Hao smiled sweetly and tossed his hair over his shoulder. "She looks absolutely ravishing in her nightgown, what with all that see-through lace giving you a brief glimpse of everything underneath...of course, she looks wonderful with clothes, too, but you have to admit..." he motioned for Lyserg to come closer, "she looks better without them on."

"You can say that again," Lyserg muttered, his eyes briefly glancing upwards at the second floor, at Jeanne's room. Perfectly shaped, curved in all the right places...seductive as hell, and beautiful as an angel.

"What I REALLY want," Hao continued, "is not just to look at her from afar without the clothes on, but to look at her UP CLOSE without them on," he declared. "And not just look...but a lot of other things besides," he gave the other man a look. "You want that too, don't you?"

"Yeah." Lyserg gave him a surprised look. "You WANT her too?"

"Yeah," Hao replied. "I've wanted her for a long time. A decade or so, I think. It seems you and I share a sentiment here," he commented with a wicked grin. "Who would have thought it?"

"Yeah." Lyserg said grudgingly. "I've wanted her for a long time, too. Ever since X-LAWS...and after X-LAWS."

"What I want to know..." Hao began, "Is this: what do you intend to do about it?"

"I intend to have her. What do YOU intend to do?"

"Same thing," Hao answered cheerfully. "I intend to have her--the whole thing, and I'm not going to let anyone interfere with that. However," he raised his hand up as Lyserg started to get ferocious, "I don't intend to interfere with your intentions, either. So I have a proposition for you."

"Proposition?" A frown. "What kind, exactly?"

"A bet," Hao declared. "I'm challenging you to a bet. You and I--we are going to seduce Iron Maiden Jeanne to the best of our abilities. Whoever she chooses at the very end will be declared the winner." A thoughtful pause. "And the prize will be this: the winner gets to take home the loser and make him his slave for a WHOLE YEAR. Is that fair?"

Lyserg stared at him. In his mind, he was picturing his beloved Jeanne, clinging to him, and kicking Hao aside, letting him know exactly that he was the one she wants and not the long-haired menace to humankind. And in his mind, he was picturing Hao Asakura, running errands for him, doing each and every one of his bidding, as his VERY OWN personal SLAVE...he could feel a slow grin spreading all over his face.

"I know what you're thinking, Lyserg-kun..." Hao remarked in a sing-song voice. "And I see from the looks of it that you LIKE this idea..."

A withering glare. "STOP reading my mind, dammit." No one had a right to interrupt his fantasies, and especially not Hao Asakura, enemy number 1.

He had to admit, though, it was a pretty good idea. He could think of a couple of ways to win Jeanne over--ways that would ensure him victory at all costs. Plenty of ways. In fact, he actually had one already...

Lyserg stopped. He can win this bet. He can DEFINITELY win this.

"So," Hao began, skipping all around the other man like a little kid, "do we have a deal?"

"Yeah." Lyserg answered before he can stop himself. He should think about this some more. Even though he knew that he can definitely win, he should really think about this more.

"Great, then!" Hao grinned. Lyserg groaned mentally. Oh, well. Too late to take back his words now. Besides, there was NO way he was going to back down on something that included Hao as a personal slave for a prize. No way. "Let's see..." the long-haired shaman mused. "How about if we get the ball rolling sometime next week?"

"What? Are we supposed to do this together?" An expression of pure horror was reflected on the Englishman's face.

Hao rolled his eyes heavenward. "No, Lyserg-kun, of course not. I was merely suggesting that we start this bet as soon as possible. I never suggested that we seduce her at the same darn TIME. How do you think are we supposed to do that? I take the upper half, you take the lower half, that kind of thing?" He shook his head with disbelief. "Lyserg-kun, it doesn't work that way." He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "We're gonna have to come up with some sort of...compromise."

Lyserg frowned off into space thoughtfully for a moment. "How about this: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are mine. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays are yours. Morning of Sundays are mine, and evenings are yours." he suggested.

"Hmm...that's a good plan," Hao declared. "And then after a month, judgment comes," he added cheerfully. "We shall ask our beloved Jeanne the verdict...how's that?"

"Perfect." Lyserg grinned. "Monday's mine," he announced with pointed emphasis. "I'll be ready. You can count on that." With a small salute of his hand, he turned around and walked away.

"...And so will I," Hao called out to him sweetly as he, too, prepared to leave.

"And may the best man win." The two men muttered in unison.



TSUZUKU.



End notes:

I enjoyed writing this. I truly did.^_^ Fun, fun, fun!