Archive of Our Own

If you were to ask Piers right how he’s feeling, he would tell you that he was feeling a little blue.  You know, a little anxious for no particular reason, a little sad that he should feel anxious at his age, a little self-conscious anxiety resulting in non-specific sadness.  A state that he calls blue.

The band is on break since the drummer decided to start her maternity leave three weeks before her due date.  They all decided that the timing was perfect because they haven't debuted anything new in awhile.  This hiatus gives Piers time to work on fresh material.  Marnie is gone on a trip to the Isle of Armor with Gloria, leaving Piers home alone with fewer distractions for two whole weeks.  All of which would have been fantastic if he weren’t experiencing a creative roadblock.

Piers groans and drops his head onto the desk, pen clattering mid stroke on yet another doodle since words have been alluding him.  

When Piers is feeling blue, there is only one thing he can do.

Piers put on his comfy zigzagoon pajama pants, and an old, oversized, and very worn (which means super soft if not a little holey) Team Yell t-shirt.  He shuffles to the kitchen and puts a kettle on before grabbing a plate and digging in the fridge for some supplies he had splurged on the day before.  He cuts up pieces of smoked gouda, horseradish cheddar, goat cheese, stilton, and double creme brie, arranging them onto a plate.

The kettle whistles and he turns off the burner and adds some loose tea into his tea ball.  As the tea is steeping, he throws some sliced salami and crackers onto his plate of cheese and takes it to the living room, leaving it on the coffee table.

Back in the kitchen, he removes the tea infuser from the pot and takes it, and his favorite tea cup (he’s a heathen and doesn’t need a saucer or tray, thank you very much), to the living room and pours his first cup before getting comfy on the sofa, wrapping himself up in a cozy throw.  

Putting a piece of cheese and salami on a cracker and popping it in his mouth, he picks up the remote and hits play on the show he already had queued up on Netflix.  He grabs his tea and sits back just in time for the theme song to start playing.  

Moon Pride
Anata no chikara ni naritai

Namida wa hoho wo tsutai hitomi wa akaku moeru
Inazuma no you ni hageshiku dare ka ga ai wo sakebu
Tatoe donna kurayami demo hitori janai yo ne?
Watashi tachi wo terasu Moonlight

Piers is singing along, and even though the show is English dubbed, he loves that they left the theme song in Japanese. 

Ah onnanoko ni mo yuzurenu kyouji ga aru
Sore wa ouji sama ni unmei nagezu
Mizu kara tatakau ishi

Shiny Make-up kagayaku yo hoshizora wo atsumete
Tada mamorareru dake no kayowai sonzai janai wa

Piers is bouncing on the couch as he sings and he’s already beginning to feel a tiny bit less blue.

Without commercials each episode is just over 20 minutes long.  He makes quick work of four episodes before he pauses to make more tea.

After preparing a fresh pot, he settles back into his little blanket nest and hits play.  

He’s halfway through episode six when he sighs, holding his hand to his chest.  The love story between Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask is just so beautiful and tragic.  Mamoru knows Usagi is Sailor Moon, but Usagi doesn’t know that the masked man she’s been pining for is actually Mamoru, the boy who has been antagonizing her.  She is righteously angry when Mamoru makes fun of her hair, but she blushes when he walks away.  

It’s during episode seven when she finds out that the boy that makes her blush and the masked man she yearns for are the same.  Piers feels like she should have felt a little foolish for not noticing, but… 

A little intrigue, romance, destined love!  Oh, he knows that he hasn’t gotten to that episode yet, where the girls find out about why they were chosen as Sailor Guardians, why Usagi feels like she’s being pulled to Mamoru.  

Full from his snacks and warm from the tea, he’s paying attention less to what is happening in the current episode he’s watching, and more to the daydream blooming in his mind instead.  

He would be an amazing Sailor Guardian! 

He is Piers, a (somewhat) normal school boy to most, but he has a secret.  He is in love with a boy, though he doesn’t know who he is.  He goes by the name Dragon Fang, with his one elongated incisor and his deep blue and purple scaled eye mask that brings out the brilliance of his cyan colored eyes.  He was helping Tuxedo Mask, but now the evil Queen Beryl has him, holding a knife to his neck.  

Piers jumps up and wraps the throw around his waist.  He grabs his abandoned pen off of the coffee table and climbs up onto the couch, holding it up high. 

“Dark Star Power, Make Up!” he shouts. 

His other hand shoots up and his fingernails preternaturally paint themselves hot pink.  Sparks shoot off around him as his body begins to glow and black lightning shoots out of his transformation pen, swirling around him.  Ribbons materialize around his body, transforming his everyday clothes.  His Sailor uniform is white, his bow is black as are his boots to match, and his skirt flares out in the perfect shade of fuchsia.  His hair plaits into a long braid down his back, hot pink streaks weaving into his black and white hair.  His head is bowed back as a glyph of a black star blinks into existence in the center of his forehead, before fading out, replaced by his golden tiara with a hot pink stone in the middle. 

“I am the pretty guardian who fights for love and for the beauty found in the shadows.  I am Sailor Dark Star! Queen Beryl, If you hurt ‘em, I will make ya pay!  Let Dragon Fang go now!” he says dramatically, pointing his pen at…

“Babe?”

“...”

Piers looks at Raihan standing in his entryway, his hoodie actually off, hanging over his forearm instead.  He watches as Raihan shifts his eyes between him and the television and back again.

“Oh, babe.  Are you saving me from the bad guys?  I am Dragon Fang, right?”

“...”

Piers is still standing on the couch, pen pointed at Raihan, and he feels his face flush.  He is sure his cheeks match his imaginary Sailor Guardian skirt right now.  Raihan has a huge smile on his face and his eyes are sparkling.  Piers isn’t sure if he’s mocking him or not.

“Fuck.”

His arm drops, as does his head, but he continues to stand there.  He doesn’t know what to say.

“Oh, Sailor Dark Star,” Raihan says quickly as he drops his hoodie and rushes forward to jump up on the couch with Piers.  He stands behind him, his legs spread wide to bring his height down, and he wraps his arms around Piers' waist.

“Use your power to vanquish the evil doer,” he whispers in his ear.

Piers pauses for a moment, but the gentle stroking of fingers on his sides and the soft breath on his neck calm his nerves.  He lifts his pen back up again.

“Dark Star Gravitational Blast!”

Raihan makes a grunting sound before theatrically sweeping Piers into his arms, lowering him onto the couch, covering him with his body. 

“That was a powerful attack,” Raihan says, gently pushing Piers' hair out of his eyes.  “You have successfully knocked me off of my feet.” 

“You takin’ the piss?” 

“Never.  I love that I got to see this playful side of you.  I didn’t know you were a fan,” he says seriously, even as the corners of his mouth quirk into a mischievous smile.  “What brought this on, anyway?”

“I was feelin’ blue.”  

“Blue?”

“Yeah, ya know.  A little anxious for no particular reason, a little sad that I should feel anxious at my age, a little self-conscious anxiety resultin’ in non-specific sadness.  A state that I call blue.”

Piers watches as Raihan’s eyebrows shoot straight up at that mouthful.  

“And Sailor Moon helps?”

“Every time, but I kinda got carried away.  I blame the caffeine from two pots o’ tea.”

“Babe, you don’t have to make excuses for having fun.”

“No?”

“No, never.”

Piers’ cheeks start burning hot again, but for a completely different reason this time.  Raihan never judges him, or makes him feel less than.  He never thinks he’s weird for his strange trains of thought he has when he’s in a creative zone.  He's always accepted his quirks.  Why would he think Raihan wouldn’t support his coping mechanism for when he is feeling out of it?  He appreciates him so much and he opens his mouth to tell him just that.

“I fuckin’ love ya,” is what he says instead.

“I love you, too, Sailor Dark Star.”

Piers just smiles and pulls Raihan down into a kiss.

Piers locks his legs around Raihan’s waist, fingers threading into his hair.  Their tongues press into each other’s mouths, back and forth in a practiced dance that never fails to leave them both breathless.  Piers just begins to slide his hands up under Raihan’s shirt, feeling his heated skin, when Raihan breaks the kiss.  

“So, um, what does your Sailor Guardian outfit look like?”