tammaiya | For Ashie.

Title: Karma
Rating: ...NC-17. What is it with you guys and smut?
Fandom: Original
Pairing: Percy/Gareth
Notes: Okay, um... this is an excerpt from a story about the Arthurian characters reincarnated. This particular part involves flashbacks, and by request, I've included part of Ashleigh's Arthurian story in said flashbacks. Oh, also, there is shameless promotion of a band/song I like. *grin* Blame Ashleigh- she's the one who proclaimed it the Percy/Gareth themesong!
Summary: Percy is 15, and has recently found out he's a reincarnation of one of the Knights of the Round. One of the side-effects to this is the accompanied flashbacks that seem to get set off by everything some days- doing homework when you're in and out of a trance is a total bitch.

Why had he chosen Egypt? Research an ancient civilisation, the teacher said, and he was stupid enough to choose Egypt. He should have chosen Greece or Rome- it would have been easier.

Percy sighed, massaging his temples wearily and fighting the urge to bash his head against the desk. Why had he decided to take history this year? He strongly suspected that research essays were going to be the death of him. Then again, at least he wasn’t in Merlin’s situation, studying the medieval era. It would just be too strange studying the Arthurian legends with what he knew, especially with the flashbacks.
Staring blankly at the library book on Ancient Egypt, he wondered if he should just get this over and done with. Why had he chosen Egypt? Research an ancient civilisation, the teacher said, and he was stupid enough to choose Egypt. He should have chosen Greece or Rome- it would have been easier. Or maybe even China, so he could get Meiran and Kit to help him.
Actually, now that he thought about it, Meiran had chosen China herself.
So. Get on with it then. Percy knew that the longer he left it the more painful it would get, but… starting was a pain all of its own. He kept getting distracted every time he tried to read the chapter on culture, and it wasn’t his fault that the chapter was boring, or that he had a short attention span. He had heard, somewhere, that these things were supposed to be easier with music.
Moving to put his recently acquired Offspring CD in the player, Percy glared at the blank sheet of paper with sheer determination. Right. An essay about ancient Egypt versus modern Egypt, how hard could it be? He paused. How many words was it and did he even want to know?
Grabbing the assignment criteria sheet, Percy skim read the requirements. It was hard, but not impossible, he mused as another track started. Gone Away, according to the case. He’d heard the song once before, and thought it reminded him of something, but he had never figured out what. Thoughtfully, he listened to the lyrics and frowned slightly. It sort of sounded like the time when Gareth had-
Died.
Percy’s eyes widened as his vision began to flicker, and would have groaned if he could. Not another flashback! He had an assignment to do! Somehow, he also got the feeling that this wouldn’t be a particularly fun one, either. Not that they generally were.
The others aren’t here, he realised hazily, right before everything went black. Does that mean this flashback doesn’t relate to them?

*~*~*

It’s pouring rain, and Percival’s hair is soaking, but right now he couldn’t care less. Gareth is gone, gone, and nothing is going to bring him back. He had screamed at Gary, screamed at him to come back, don’t leave me like this, but the dead don’t answer pleas like that. His voice is hoarse from screaming too much, and he’s probably going to catch pneumonia, but he can’t bring himself to care about that either.
He’s down on his knees in the mud, and the choked angry tears have not quite mingled with the freezing rain. Why did it have to happen like this? They were finally getting somewhere, and Gareth had to go do something stupid to get himself killed. He couldn’t decide whether he hated Lance, or Guinevere or maybe Arthur, but if Gareth were alive right now he’d probably try to kill him again. How could he do something so utterly reckless? He must have known Lance would strike out if he felt trapped! He was a bloody knight, it was nothing more than self-defence instincts.
Yet he’d still gone ahead with it. Run off, got himself killed and left Percy behind. Percy started crying harder, though his throat hurt and it felt like he’d run out of tears. Right now, he rather hated Gareth. If they ever met up in the next life, Percy decided grimly, he was going to make Gary’s life a living hell. Just for a while, at least. Because he was fucking pissed off.

*~*~*

Percy, still ensnared in the flashback, was a bit stunned to realise that that little prediction certainly had come true. He had hated Gareth on sight without knowing why, and had done everything he could to annoy the other boy. Despite this, Gareth continued to practically stalk him, which was unnerving to say the least.
Percy wondered why he had been so cut over Gareth’s death. Was it usual to be that angry at the recently deceased? There had been insurmountable sorrow too, of course, but it was closely rivalled by the rage.
It had been a mistake to question that, he decided as another flashback pulled him under again. Who knew how long he’d be out of it with all these flashbacks?

*~*~*

Why was Gareth so pissed off at him? Percy wailed mentally. He couldn’t understand what he’d done to upset his dark-haired friend, even though Galahad seemed to have a fair idea. He wouldn’t explain, either, which was just unfair.
“Hey, Gary, what did I say?” Percy called desperately, chasing the errant knight back to their shared room only to find the door locked. He rattled the doorknob uselessly before speaking again. “Gareth? Gary, look, will you just open the bloody door?”
“No. Go away, I hate you.”
Percy winced. Well, at least Gareth was talking to him, but… damn. Whatever he’d said or done, it must have been rather bad in the eyes of Gary. There was an awkward silence as Percy attempted to think of some way to respond to this. Allowing himself a moment of childish pique, he kicked the door.
“Gareth,” Percy growled, “open the fucking door!” He was starting to get incredibly angry at being locked out of his own room with no explanation whatsoever, but even more, he was confused and upset. What the hell was wrong?
“As I already said- no, I am not opening the door. And if you break it down, you are so paying for it,” Gareth responded sulkily.
Percy stared at the door, vaguely hoping it may melt from his glare before remembering that he currently had Kay’s set of lock picks in his pocket and Gawain’s blessing to use them should Gareth get difficult. However, he’d give it one last-ditch effort the civilised way before breaking in.
“It’s my and ‘Ala’s room too, you remember? If you look around the gloom, I’m sure you can see three beds and three sets of luggage,” he pointed out logically.
Gareth didn’t even bother to dignify that with a response, so with a sigh Percy set about picking the lock. Hearing the satisfactory ‘click’ as the tumblers aligned, he pushed the door open and shut it behind him to discover that Gareth was glaring at him.
“You know, Kay’s a very useful chap to know…and Gawain’s concerned about you,” Percy commented, feeling uncomfortably like he should attempt to offer some sort of explanation to break the silence. Gareth continued to stay quiet, radiating supreme disinterest, and the only sign that he’d even noticed Percivale speaking was the slight inclination of his head.
“Good for him,” Gareth said eventually. Percy crossed the room to the bed, knelt down grabbed Gareth’s chin and gently forced his friend to look at him.
“Gary…what’s wrong?” Percy tried again, wondering if he was out of his depth this time. They had been best friends for a long time now; surely he should know Gareth well enough to know what the problem was
“You called Mordred beautiful,” Gareth said softly.
Percy frowned, perplexed. That was hardly an illuminating answer. “Yeah, I did. What of it? He is beautiful!”
Percy was glared at for his trouble, which only confused him further.
“Go away, then. I hate you.”
Arching an eyebrow, Percy tried to think of a reason why Gareth would be acting so touchy over Percy complimenting his foster brother. Protective sibling instinct? Hah, no. Mordred could more than look after himself, and they all knew it. If anyone needed protection, it was Galahad.
“I’m not going anywhere until I find out why the hell you are acting like…well, a drama queen.”
“I like you,” Gareth said, and looked stunned immediately after he said it. Percy didn’t see why Gareth had to be so damn obtuse. They were friends, and friends generally liked each other, as Percy then pointed out.
“I mean…I don’t mean ‘like’ you in the way that friends like each other…”
Gareth became more unintelligible every time he opened his mouth, Percy decided blankly. “You’ve lost me.”
Percy had about a second to notice the expression of determination on Gareth’s face and feel slight dread at this before Gareth grabbed him and kissed him roughly.
Oh. Oops. The past half hour made a lot more sense, now.
Percy was hardly going to complain about this new development, however, and he had always been more into the action side of things than the thinking. They could sort the details out later- for now, there was something rather more important to think of.
Percy slid his arms around Gareth’s back, pushing them both backwards onto the bed without breaking the kiss. Pulling away, Percy began to trail kisses down the neck of his dazed friend, pausing to slip a hand under Gareth’s tunic before returning to his previous activity. Gareth had threaded his hands through Percy’s hair and was yanking slightly, moaning as Percy sucked at his collarbone.
“You’ve got such pale skin,” Percy remarked breathlessly. “It’s going to mark.”
“How,” Gareth gasped, “can you… ah! … talk at a time like this?”
Percy chuckled lightly, and Gareth squirmed as the breath tickled his sensitive skin. “I can always talk,” Percy murmured.
“Well, shut up and kiss me!”
Percy had no intention of arguing with that, but he was never given the chance. Gareth dragged his head up and kissed him fiercely, hooking his legs around Percy’s hips.
When they surfaced for air, Percy frowned slightly, breathing heavily. “You’re… really drunk,” he gasped.
“Still with the talking,” Gareth complained dizzily. “What does it take to make you be quiet, Percivale?”
“You’re drunk,” Percy repeated stubbornly. “It’s ethi- mora- it’s wrong.”
“Yes, I am,” Gareth said cheerfully. “And I really couldn’t care less. Besides, so are you. Very.”
Percy couldn’t fault this logic, especially since he was in fact too drunk to reason, which almost proved the point. “Right,” he agreed firmly, and hiked Gareth’s tunic up to lick his stomach.
He was rewarded with a very satisfying strangled yelp, and the hands in his hair tightened to an almost painful level. If only I were this sensitive, he thought wistfully. If Gary was reacting this much now, how much more of a reaction would he get later?
Slipping a hand down Gareth’s leather pants, Percy tried to untie the laces with little success. Yanking a bit desperately, he reflected sourly that tying one’s pants in double knots was just asking not to get laid. Or alternatively, it was presenting a challenge, and therefore acted as a means to get laid… Percy stopped that train of logic right there, mainly because it was starting to make his head ache but partially because of a niggling sense of jealously.
Sex now, possible jealousy later.
Gareth almost sobered out of the drunken lustful cloud he was floating in when he heard a suspicious snapping noise at about the same time his pants came loose.
“Percy… did you just destroy my pants?”
There was a conspicuous pause, and Gareth was about to abandon his happy haze to get righteously annoyed. They had been rather nice pants, after all.
Percy grinned sheepishly. Mental note to self: Distract Gareth- NOW.
When Percy’s mouth was suddenly going down on him, Gareth practically shrieked and stuffed his wrist in his own mouth. Percy pinned Gary’s hips down with his arm to prevent him from choking him, and took him as far down as he could. It was more than a little disconcerting to hear Gareth yelling, “Ow, FUCK!” very loudly.
Pushing himself up, Percy blinked. “What the hell?”
“Hey, don’t stop…”
Percy gave him a pointed look until whimpering, Gary proffered his wrist which now had a deep bite-mark on it. Percy studied it carefully.
“Why the fuck?” he said finally.
“I didn’t want to make too much noise!” Gareth snapped, rather frustrated by this extended break.
“Yes, but… why?”
“So we wouldn’t disturb anyone else, you inconsiderate moron!”
Percy shrugged. “They’re probably all sleeping together too.”
Gareth had a decidedly green cast to his face. “After finding out about Gawain and Kay… thanks, Percy, I didn’t need to think about that. Now can we get back to it, PLEASE?” The tone turned decidedly whiny on the last word.
Smirking, Percy crushed his mouth against Gareth’s again. “Sure,” he muttered, when they split apart again. “Got any lubricant?”
Gareth stared at him. “Um, how about no?”
“Bugger, I thought you might say that,” Percy sighed.
“Don’t you have any?” Gareth said crankily.
“No, as a matter of fact, I don’t.” Speculatively, Percy turned to look at Galahad’s area of the room.
Gareth’s eyes went wide. “Please tell me you’re joking,” he said calmly.
Percy grinned. “Hey, you never know!” Jumping up, he padded over to the other side of the room and started riffling through Galahad’s things.
“He’ll kill you,” Gareth told him. “Come back, I’m lonely.”
“Give me a second.” Pause. “Ah-hah!”
“Oh my God. Galahad actually had some?”
“Well, just goes to show, it’s always worth a try.”
“He’ll kill us both.”
“Hopefully he’ll go sleep with Mordred and be too happy to kill us,” Percy said optimistically.
“And pigs might fly, but we can hope,” Gareth replied. “Are you coming back, or do I have to move?”
Percy rolled his eyes. “I’m coming,” he said dryly, ignoring Gareth’s choking noise as he climbed back on the bed. “Lift your legs.”
Wordlessly, Gareth did as he was told, throwing his legs over Percy’s shoulders.
“This is going to possibly hurt and definitely be uncomfortable at first,” Percy cautioned him.
“Duh,” Gareth said sarcastically. “It’s not like this is the first time I’ve done this, idiot. And even if it were, that is so not the best thing to say to a guy.”
Percy didn’t bother replying to that, just coated his fingers in the slippery goo and searched for the right place. There was that slight feeling of jealousy again, which was strange, because he usually wasn’t a jealous kind of person.
“Ah, holy shit, Percy, did you even think of warming it up first?” Gareth yelped.
That could have been a good idea, yes, but too late now.
Deeming Gareth ready, Percy positioned himself and pressed forward, timing it by the catches in Gary’s breath to try to minimize the pain caused.
“Are you alright, Gary?”
“Move,” Gareth ordered through gritted teeth.
For once in his life, Percy did as he was told, and that was the end of the conversation aside from the occasional obligatory “Harder! Faster!” until they had both come and collapsed exhausted and sweaty on the bed.
“Get off,” Gareth complained tiredly. “You’re heavy.”
“Urg,” Percy grunted helpfully.
“I’m going to bruise,” Gareth warned.
“So?” Percy muttered. “You’re already going to have that bite-mark on your wrist, and that hickey on your collarbone.”
“And I won’t be able to walk properly, either, all thanks to you,” Gareth sighed. “People are going to think I’ve been beaten up, and that’ll be the end of my reputation as a Knight of the Round.”
“Diddums,” Percy yawned. “I wouldn’t worry- they’re obvious markings of sex, not a beating.”
“Oh, great. That’s even better.”
Gareth didn’t complain any more after Percy started kissing him again, and it was not much later when they both fell asleep.

*~*~*

Face burning, Percy buried his head in his arms with a muffled keening noise, realising he’d snapped his pencil in half during the trance. That had been by far the most embarrassing flashback he’d ever had. That had explained far more than he’d ever wanted to know, such as why Gareth kept hitting on him in this life. Bloody karma, he thought miserably.
Speaking of Gareth… oh, no. How was he ever going to face the other boy again? He’d blush every time they saw each other! It wasn’t like he could exactly avoid him, either- he’d been trying that in the first place. They had half their classes together, not to mention the whole reincarnated quest-thing. Damn.
The vindictive part of him hoped fervently that Gareth would have to suffer through the same flashback, but then he realised several things. First of all, Gareth would probably not mind it as much as he had. Secondly, did he really want Gareth remembering that?
Groaning, Percy ran a hand through his dark red hair. Maybe he’d wish his uncomfortable memories on Lucas and Damien instead. From the sounds of his past self, Galahad and Mordred had been getting down and dirty at about the same time as he and Gareth.
Did he just use the phrase ‘down and dirty’ in his mind? It must have been the flashback’s fault.
Still, he couldn’t help but wonder what had happened next, particularly if Galahad had in fact killed them, or if he’d been too caught up in the afterglow. He’d also like to know if Lucas was going to hold the theft of the lubricant against him, and if it would be a good idea to buy him some tomorrow.
Maybe not. That would be pretty hard to explain.
Doing his history essay was going to be even harder now than before, Percy realised ruefully as he tried valiantly not to remember any details from the flashback. Noticing the CD had come to an end during his spacing out, Percy flicked it on again, unconsciously tensing as the random play came up on Gone Away again. He’d all but forgotten the first vision in the wake of the second.
Recalling the pain and despair of the Percivale he had been by the grave of the Gareth that died, however… feeling the ecstasy he had gone through before that, seeing Gareth’s gorgeous dark eyes both past and present flash through his mind…
Percy began to suspect that maybe, no matter how hard he tried, there was no way for him to elude karma forever.