As Celly stared at the door, she realized that she could hear *something* from inside the room. Celly frowned and, letting curiosity get the better of her, she pressed her ear against the door and strained to make out the muffled words.

"... She used to cry when I came home late/ She couldn't buy the lies I told/ All she wanted was to be needed/ Someone she could call her own..."

Celly frowned as she listened to the words. Ugh. Country music... the music of pain. Since when did Dion listen to country music? He normally avoided it like the plague. Celly leaned up against the door to listen some more, when the door gave, swinging open. Celly caught herself before she tumbled to the floor. She viewed Dionysus' quarters critically. The lights were very dim, and with the door open, the country music was blasting. She made her way carefully through the dimmed room.

"... The love I know I took for granted/ Till she walked out of my door/ Too little too late to say I'm sorry/ She's not crying anymore..."

Celly scowled. "I have *got* to find that CD player and shut this damned music off." As she cast about blindly, Celly happened to trip on something. She felt around the floor and finally pulled up an empty bottle. She squinted in the dim light. "Cutty Shark... Blended Scots Whiskey... 110 proof..." Disturbed, Celly crouched down and searched along the floor. Pulling up an empty can from a pile, she read the label. "Foster's... Australian for Beer... Dion's... drinking?" she wondered out loud.

"Ce-ko?" a slurred voice asked. Celly snapped towards the voice and managed to make out the form of Dionysus sprawled across the couch. "Ce-ko? Izzat *hiccup* Izzat you?"

"DIONYSUS!" Celly shrieked in equal parts dismay and anger. What the hell was he getting drunk for?!?

"Owww..." Dionysus moaned, holding his head. He pulled himself up and staggered over to Celly, grabbing her shoulders for support. "Man... this is really good stuff. It's like you're really here."

"I am here, baka! What are you doing!?"

Dionysus waved her off and grabbed another bottle, taking a long swig. "Whazzit look like I'm doin'? You want some too?"

"Absolutely not!" Celly exclaimed and wrenched the bottle out of his hands. "You've done some stupid things in your life, Dion, but this has got to be--"

"Do you love me again?"

Celly stopped abruptly. "Nani?!?"

"D'ya love me again? Izzat why you're here? Didya forgive me? Ya called... ya called... *hic* me ‘Dion' ‘stead ‘o ‘Dionysus.' D'ya love me again?"

"I... no... that's not why I'm here... I..."

"Then why are you here, Ce-ko?" Dionysus' voice was steady this time. Sober sounding. Celly didn't know how to answer. He had caught her too much off guard.

"I'm here... I'm... argh! This is impossible. I shouldn't have even come!" Celly abruptly turned around and stalked towards the door. But, like a flash, Dionysus was there, blocking her path. Celly frowned. "Get out of my way, Dion... ysus."

With a recklessness born of either drunkenness or stupidity (possibly both) Dionysus held his ground. "No."

"Get out of my way."

"Not until you tell me why you came here."

Celly bit her lip. Dammit, she thought to herself. I forgot how fast he can focus when he has too. Well, I don't have much else to lose to Dion. "I came to let you explain yourself. But obviously, you have other things to do. I honestly didn't expect to see you getting hammered out of your mind. Now, if you'll excuse me." Celly deftly pushed Dionysus out of her way and towards the door.

But fate wasn't going to let her off so easy.

Dionysus grabbed her arm, whirling her around. Celly, shocked, raised her hand to slap him, but he caught that arm in his grip as well.

"Let me go, Dionysus," Celly spat out angrily.

"No, I'm never going to let you go."

"Do you really think you can keep me here? I could break out of your grip any time I want."

"Then why don't you?"

Celly stopped struggling. Why didn't she? Why didn't she just use her powers to get away from Dionysus? Because you don't want to, a niggling little voice in her head said. Shut up! she snapped at the voice.

"Well?"

Celly looked straight into Dionysus' silvery-grey eyes. She nearly gasped when she saw the emotion reflected there. Anger. Love. Possession. Sorrow. She broke their eye contact yet again. "You know why I don't break free, Dionysus," she admitted in a small voice. Then she looked back up with a smug look. "I'm waiting for you to admit how stupid you are and fall on your knees before me."

She could read the looks of shock, amusement and vexation as they crossed Dionysus' face. It finally settled on exasperation and Dionysus pushed her away. "Che. I don't have time to play games with you, Ce-ko."

She had pissed him off.

Good.

"What?" Celly asked in mock innocence. She put her hands on her hips and couldn't keep the mockery out of her voice. "I thought you were so hellbent on keeping me here."

Her eyes widened when she saw Dionysus' eyes scan down her figure, and a blush rose to her cheeks. "Don't tempt me again," he said in a husky voice. He picked up an unopened bottle and was about to open it when Celly frowned and hastily grabbed it out of his hands. He raised an eyebrow and plucked the bottle out of her hands. Their hands brushed together briefly and Celly noticed how warm his were. "I warned you," he growled.

Celly couldn't help but feel a shiver go down her spine. Dionysus' voice was something between a gruff purr and a low growl. She had only heard him use that sort of voice in one occassion before. Stop it! Stop it! she told herself sternly. Getting all giggly and stupid isn't going to help. Of all people, Dionysus was the only one who could keep up with her rampant mood swings and emotions. He was normally so calm and collected... the perfect counterpart to her. But, she knew that he could match her own volatile temper easily. She was treading on dangerous ground. Despite his calm and seemingly sober exterior, Celly could tell that Dionysus was trying to stolidly hold his emotions in check. One wrong move...

But that was the way she liked to play.

Dangerously.

Celly shook her head. "This isn't getting us anywhere, Dionysus."

"I had no plans on going anywhere. You're the one who came here."

"That's not what I meant. I came so that you could explain yourself."

"Explain what? Don't you normally jump to conclusions and pass judgement first?"

Celly felt her temper start a slow boil. "Don't you start with me! You were the one who said all those awful things!"

"You're the one who broke our bond!"

"You're the one who was lying to me!"

"You're the one who took everything out of proportion!"

The two were now standing, yelling into each others faces.

"Don't try to blame me! You're the one who admitted to tricking me! You're the one who used me! You're the one who doesn't love me!"

"How do you think I feel!?! I never liked working behind your back, but the Moderator made it my job! How in the hell could you ever think that I didn't love you?! Maybe if you would just listen to me for once instead of blowing up, maybe you could get all the facts straight!"

"Shut up! You were using my weaknesses! You--"

"You, you, you! What about me?!? Don't you think this whole thing has torn me up too? Can't you see how hard it is for me to be here when you hate me?!"

Celly took a step back. He thinks I hate him? she thought bewilderedly. "I... I don't."

"But no! You just keep going and going, not even letting me--what did you say?"

"I don't hate you."

"But... you said you would kill me. You kept ignoring me..."

"Of course I did, baka! You don't love me anymore! Why in the world would I throw myself at you if you don't want me?!"

"Don't want...? What the hell ever gave you that idea?"

"You... that day... you said..."

Dionysus ran a hand over his face and took a deep breath. "I didn't know how much of that conversation you heard, Ce-ko. I was blowing off some steam. It's called ‘sarcasm.' I believe you've heard of it?"

Celly was poleaxed. Realization struck her. Like a runaway frieght train. On fire. Oh, kami-sama... she thought. This has been all my fault after all... I can't believe... I was so sure... She cast a tortured look at Dionysus, who was staring at her in concern. I actually... actually doubted... I messed up... all this pain... because of a misunderstanding...

"Ce-ko?"

With a wordless cry, Celly bolted from the room, too fast for Dionysus to catch her.

"Shimatta!" he exclaimed, and took off after her.

TBC...