Warnings: Yaoi lemon! PWLP!!! A bit of angst. Some swearing. Evil Lady Une. A bit of Treize bastardisation (but not much. We love him too much!). Did I mention lemon?!

Disclaimer: I hereby freely admit that I do not own any of the g-boys nor do I make any money off of this fic. (Although, it did save me buying a present which a couldn't afford!!)

Pairing: Primarily 13x5x13 with a bit of 6x2x6 thrown in dere.

Author's notes: Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear ShivaKuy! Happy birthday to you! Yes, this is a birthday fic for ShivaKuy, which is a bit late, but finally here! It's… well… a PWLP. There's some plot, but that's just an excuse for sex. ^^' Oh well. Have fun!

~ ~ ~

Though the sun was barely an hour into the sky, it was obvious the day was going to be a bright, clear one. It could be heard echoing through the otherwise silent castle corridors as the serving maids began their cleaning, singing merrily. The sun struck the pale blue of the castle bricks and they shone, the best gold could buy.

After all, the Khushrenada royal family had a lot of it to go around, gold that is.

The only thing that darkened the day was a young oriental man of around 19, who was stalking down one of the corridors with death in his eyes.

"Damn that upstart princeling!" the youth muttered, fingers tightening around the hilt of a sheathed sword. "Damn him to all the hells!"

It wasn't natural for Chang Wu Fei to explode this way, but he'd had one too many of Treize Khushrenada's triumphs over him. And to boot, at the present time, he was sick of the gold shackles around his wrists, and the slender collar of the same colour around his neck. This second looked ornamental, but was far from it. Said collar and the gold bands around his wrists denoted him as a slave. A well-to-do slave, but a slave nonetheless.

He stormed the rest of the way down the corridor and into the slave wing, throwing himself down on a pile of silk cushions to… meditate.

"He kicked your ass again, huh?" came an altogether too-amused voice after he'd sat there for roughly five minutes… meditating.

"Silence. I am meditating," Wu Fei demanded and the voice snickered.

"Sulking more like. He kicked your ass again, huh?"

"You asked that already," another voice pointed out from a little further behind.

"Yeah, but you should see his face. Every time I say it, he gets redder. Watch. He kicked your ass again, huh?"

Wu Fei growled.

"Oh… oh, it does too. What a fine colour, Wu Fei!" the second voice teased mercilessly.

"You can be silent too, Merquis," Wu Fei replied.

"Aww… where's the fun in that? He kicked your ass a-"

"Damn you, Maxwell!" The oriental man finally snapped and he threw himself at the braided slave, tackling him to the ground and commencing a rather violent all in brawl.

Zechs sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as several pairs of feet came running to see what on earth that crash had been, the answer to that being a vase the two young men had knocked off a stand, porcelain now littering the floor.

"They'll be docked for that… Oh gods, that was an expensive vase too…" worried a pretty blonde youth and Zechs looked at him, only shrugging. There wasn't really anything they could do about it.

"They do this on schedule every day… We could set dinner by it!" asserted a female voice, the owner slipping into view almost instantly.

"Hn, for once I think you're right, Hilde," said another, male, coming up behind the woman.

"What do you mean "for once" Yuy?" she asked, and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oh and that's so grown up!" another person giggled.

"I just do it because it pisses him off, Sally!" she replied with a smirk.

"Duo! Wu Fei! What in the hells is going on here?!"

"He started it," Wu Fei accused as they instantly halted and clambered to their feet, Duo sporting an eye that would soon be black and Wu Fei losing blood from his nose.

"I don't care who started it! All of you, get back to what you're supposed to be doing. I don't want this sort of behaviour encouraged."

And all the slaves went or started to.

"Zechs," that authoritative voice snapped.

"Sir?" Zechs asked, turning back to face the man who was younger than him, but his superior.

No one was really certain how it was Trowa was topmost slave and not Zechs. The blonde was older, knew more, had served the Khushrenada's longer and more faithfully than the younger Trowa. They could only surmise that it had to do with Trowa's background – which none of them actually knew – and his natural leadership tendencies.

"Next time, get in the way. You're taller, you're stronger, you could have stopped it."

"Pardon, sir, but they were at it before I knew what was going on and…" Zechs paused and lowered his eyes a moment before bringing them back to Trowa's. "And if I had have caught a misguided fist, the Master would have been pissed. The Mistress' ladies prefer their pleasure unmarked, sir."

Trowa regarded him a moment, then nodded shortly. He may have been strict, but Trowa was certainly fair.

"You're right of course. I'd forgotten," he conceded. "You'd be useless with a black eye or such and the ladies do prefer you and Quatre over the others of your ilk."

Zechs nodded, absently fingering the rose-coloured, slender collar around his neck. He wasn't entirely sure how it was done, but the alchemists could tint silver with colour and the rose of his collar and wristbands marked him as a pleasure slave.

"Sir…?" Zechs asked when Trowa said nothing more for a time.

"Oh, yes. Go on then. I'll deal with these two. Oh, Zechs, Lady Roseania requested your company tonight."

"Sir," Zechs acknowledged with a nod, giving a sarcastic snort within his head at the term "requested". He didn't have a choice. He turned and left, his eyes meeting Duo's briefly.

The braided slave shrugged a bit and winked before Zechs was gone.

"What in the hells am I supposed to do with you two? You're supposed to perform tonight, Duo."

"I can still play, sing or dance with a black eye. It's not like I'm mortally wounded," Duo muttered. His collar and wrist bands were tinted a pale blue, entertainment.

"You don't look too good either, and that's part of your job, to look good! And you! Wu Fei, I thought you had more control than this. Treize will have your head if he hears of this! His personal body slave brawling on the floor? You'll be lucky to live through it."

"Only you will not tell him," Wu Fei asserted, holding a hand to his nose to try and stop himself bleeding on the floor. The gold flashing at his wrist, blood trickling down it a little, marked him as being owned by only one and no other. None could give him orders save his single master, Treize Khushrefuckingnada. Unless, that was, if Treize ordered him to listen to someone else.

Most would kill for the position of personal body slave. Wu Fei hated it at the moment.

"I won't? How do you know?"

"Because slaves "brawling on the floor", as you so delicately put it, Tro, doesn't reflect to good on you either. You're s'posed to keep us under control," Duo answered for Wu Fei, smirking.

Trowa muttered a dark curse and ran his hand through his hair, his wrists surrounded in black. All the slaves answered to him when they weren't under one of the family's or residents of the castle's orders.

"This can't keep happening, you two. Next time, it will be punished…" Trowa muttered, then headed off to attend to a pressing matter.

"Shit!" Wu Fei hissed. "I need to put something on my nose!"

Duo produced a square of cloth out of nowhere and handed it over, gaining a thankful look from his fellow slave.

"So did he?" Duo asked when Wu Fei had managed to dam the flood for the time being.

"Did who what?"

"Treize. Did he kick your ass?"

"Maxwell!"

But Duo was already gone, giggling as he dashed off after throwing something over his shoulder about "seeing to this eye so it wouldn't look so bad tonight".

Wu Fei growled and sat down again to brood.

* * *

 "You just have to bait him and bait him and bait him until he snaps, don't you?" Zechs murmured from the doorway as he watched Duo pressing gingerly at the appearing bruise.

"Can you hand me the powder?" Duo asked, in lieu of answering the question.

Zechs strode into the room and picked up a small tin, handing it to Duo who thanked him before scooping out a liberal amount and beginning to pat it onto the bruise, hoping the stuff would be enough to hide it. Zechs watched him a moment longer before speaking again.

"I don't know why. You always come off the worse."

"Because he doesn't smile enough, dammit. Shit… I'll have to re-braid my hair…"

"I'll do it. Sit."

Duo sat and pulled the slender ribbon off the end of his hair, then began to work it out with his fingers. Zechs pushed his hands aside and finished loosing Duo's hair, then carefully went about brushing it.

"So much for making something of today, huh…?" Duo ventured.

"I wasn't supposed to be serving tonight, but there's guests and-"

"Yeah, I know."

There was silence for sometime as Zechs put the brush aside and began braiding the chestnut waterfall Duo prided above anything else that belonged to him, which, granted, wasn't all that much.

"I'm sorry…" Zechs murmured when he was roughly half way through the task and Duo smiled a little into the mirror in front of him, meeting Zechs' eyes in the reflection.

"It's not your fault. We don't get choices, remember?"

"As if I could forget…" Zechs murmured. "I did ask the Mistress if I could have tonight off and she did agree but… at the time I suppose she didn't know she was having guests and… the Lady Roseania can be very vocal if she fails to get her own way."

"Yeah… Look, don't beat yourself up over it, Zechs. I understand completely. Don't worry 'bout me. I'll probably just come back here and flake it when they let me go…"

Duo was putting on a brave front and Zechs knew it. The younger man was upset about the fact that they wouldn't get to spend this night together…

He finished the braid and moved in front of Duo before he could move, kneeling in front of him and meeting his eyes.

"There is one choice I can make, even here, and I've made it. The choice to love you. And it's a choice I don't regret at all." Zechs said softly, touching Duo's cheek. "I do love you…"

Duo leaned into the caress and smiled gently, though his lashes were damp with tears.

"Love you, too. Do you remember when I first came here?"

Zechs chuckled in the back of his throat, shaking his head a little at the memory.

"Gods, yes. You looked like a drowned rat! Hair all over the place, and soaking wet, along with your filthy clothes. You gave me a black eye and damn near left me impotent to boot while I fought to wash you and get your hair into some sort of order."

"And since it was you who had me under guard at the time, I absolutely hated you. Only I hadn't been able to see you through all the soap and mess and my own hair and I didn't know who the blonde, blue-eyed god was who came into my room the next morning – with a black eye and a tray of food."

"And I barely recognised you now that you were clean and not trying to kill me! I thought I might have died and gone to heaven."

"Aaaaaaaand then it took us, what, two and a half years panting after one another before we got up the courage to actually say something."

"A year ago today. A whispered word in front of the family of all things! And it looked so casual too!"

"I just happened to trip in the middle of a complicated step and happened to fall into your arms and happened to whisper into your ear that I thought you were damn sexy. And I picked the dance straight back up again while you just stared. I was quite chuffed with that if I do say so myself."

"Gods your sexy," Zechs breathed then, bringing his hand up to dip two long fingers into the waistband of the light pants that were all Duo wore, all any of the male slaves wore save their collars and wristbands.

"Not now, Zechs! I've got to practice…" Duo hissed, licking his lips in a mixture of anticipation and guilty fear.

"You already dance and sing and play perfectly…" Zechs replied, leaning up to kiss Duo's jaw-line and then a spot on his neck the blonde knew was a weak point.

"They expect it…" Duo whispered, and slipped out of the chair and away from his lover.

"I hate this," Zechs whispered back, getting to his feet.

"You an' me both, baby," Duo replied, going to embrace Zechs and laying his head on the taller man's shoulder as he felt strong arms go around his own shoulders.

"They say "jump" we ask "how high?"."

"Yeah, but at least we're warm and we get three meals a day and a nice place to sleep and live and a chance at love, hey?" Duo said softly, ever the optimist.

"Perhaps…"

"There's no perhaps about it. It beats living on the streets and begging or stealing or going hungry. Freezing your ass off and certain you're going to die of cold or plague. Trust me. I know. You've been a slave all your life and had warmth and security, even if it came with a price. You can't know how bad it is to be out there, fighting for your life at every turn. Trust me, sexy, it's better this than that."

Zechs only hugged his lover more tightly, then let him go and smiled a bit at him.

"Your eye's showing."

"Aww fuck. Next time, I'm going to kill Wu… Hand me the-"

"Here."

"Thanks."

Zechs only smiled as Duo went about re-applying his "make up".

* * *

Gods above, but the Lady Roseania was boring…

It was the only thought Treize could actually coherently form as her inane prattle drove him into a state of total brain-death. He thought he nodded and smiled and made the right noises at the appropriate times, but there was really no way to be sure because the actual words had long since evaporated into an incessant drone that made his head buzz and his eyes want to close.

At this moment, Treize truly pitied Zechs. If she was this boring to talk to, how boring must she be to pleasure?

But oh, how he wished she would tire of his company and seek that of the platinum blonde slave.

"Lords and Ladies, Your Majesties and honoured guests, it is with great pleasure and no further ado that we present your service for this evening; Hilde Schbeiker, Dorathy Catalonia, Zechs Merquise and Quatre Winner. And not to forget the entertainment! Famed across the continent and beyond, Duo Maxwell."

Wu Fei, from behind Treize's chair, muttered something under his breath that wasn't very nice and was directed at Duo. No one heard, they were all clapping and cheering as he strode in, harp under one arm and an ever-bright smile on his face.

Zechs, Hilde, Dorathy and Quatre were all pleasure slaves, but that part of their work didn't come into effect, of course, until the lords and ladies took to their beds. So as not to be useless, they served drinks, smiling and giving suggestive winks and looks all evening. For the entire purpose of a pleasure slave was to give pleasure and if one stopped performing his or her task adequately, he or she would be thrown out or beheaded. And adequacy was measured in the number of partners over the course of a month.

Of course, Zechs, Hilde, Quatre and Dorathy didn't have to work hard to get their quota, but with so many esteemed guests, it wouldn't do to have second-or-third-rate pleasure slaves serving this evening, only the best. Eyes followed the four of them wherever they went.

Duo gave a flourishing bow and flexed his fingers, then looked around the crowd, his eyes settling on a pretty young lady. He wriggled his brows suggestively, then winked and trotted over to her, perching on the edge of her table. She blushed becomingly.

"Now then, Lady Glorrianna, would you wish a dance or a song, or perhaps my playing first…?" he asked in a voice loud enough that all could hear.

How it was he managed to memorise the name of every guest that was attending every time he performed was as much a mystery now as it had ever been.

Wu Fei tuned out after that, his eyes fixing on some point in the back of Treize's skull. He turned his thoughts to their earlier duel and absently fingered the hilt of his sword, trying to figure out what he was missing. He was easily the better of every man in the castle, all save Treize and it irked him no end.

"Wu Fei…?"

Yes, he'd tuned out everything, but he'd long since trained himself to tune back in again at the sound of Treize's honey-and-chocolate voice. The three punishments he'd received – from Treize's father, mind, and not Treize himself – for being slow had taught him very quickly. He took the three steps to arrive at Treize's side and bent a little, looking politely interested and properly eager to serve. Another thing he'd trained himself, to show what he was expected to show, and nothing more or less.

"Get me out of here…" Treize nearly begged in a hushed whisper and Wu Fei blinked.

"Sir…?"

"If I have to listen to another word of Roseania's prattle I might just have to cause her grievous bodily harm," Treize hissed, lifting a completely blank piece of paper in a white-gloved, long-fingered hand. Wu Fei took it.

"Sir, it's-"

"A message for the stables," Treize cut him off, lifting his voice a little so Roseania could hear him. "Take that to them and bring their reply. Quickly."

Wu Fei started to go, but the soft glove catching his arm, just above the gold wristband, halted him. He bent again and Treize dropped to a whisper.

"Take that out, come back in a few minutes with it and hand it back."

"Sir," Wu Fei acknowledged, and left, absently wondering to himself if his Master had gone stark raving mad.

He judged the best way to give the lie credence and fit to the expected time was to take himself and the blank paper to the stables, wait for the time it would take for them to read a note and write a reply, then return. And to do so at a run, since Treize had ordered him to do it quickly.

So he set off, bare feet slapping on the blue-tinged stone.

Unfortunately, he collided with a high-born lady on the way. They both went to the ground and she was ropable.

"How dare you?!" she cried in a shrill voice once Wu Fei had helped her to her feet. "How dare you touch me like that! Horrid little slave!" She delivered a sharp slap across his left cheek.

"Milady, I did not-" Wu Fei started, but his words vanished in a repeat performance of the slap across his cheek.

"Do not think to talk to me unless I say so!"

"But, Lady, you-"

"Silence!" she snarled and took him by the wrist, beginning to drag him bodily back to the hall.

Oh this was not good… Of all the times to have something so unfortunate happen. Treize would be pissed! Wu Fei sighed and let himself be dragged, the red mark on his cheek, bright from two slaps, stinging mercilessly. And there would be bruises around his wrist from her fingers by the time she eventually let him go. He could feel the bones grating against one another. Where on earth did a lady get so much strength?

"Your Majesties," the lady's voice spoke, cutting through the very middle of a difficult aria Duo was singing. His purple eyes, along with everyone else's, turned to the lady and her captive.

"Well that was rude, if I do say so myself!" Duo cried, properly incensed at the interruption. Though she was a lady and he a slave, he owned the room while he was in it. Every eye was and should be on him and she had no right to interrupt him! Especially not in the middle of that particular song. "What's this?"

She ignored Duo, gaining a further glare from the braided slave.

"Majesties, I apologise for the interruption, but this… this… dirty slave dared to touch me!"

Wu Fei found himself unceremoniously shoved into the centre of the room, crashing straight into Duo. It was only the other slave's quick thinking and strong arms and legs that kept the two of them standing.

"Fuck it, you're in trouble, Wu. That's the Lady Une," the dancer hissed into Wu Fei's ear before setting him back on his feet.

"Wu Fei…?" Treize murmured in disbelief, his sapphire eyes widening a touch.

"Sir, it wasn't like-" Wu Fei started, addressing Treize personally as was proper.

"Damn you! Silence until you are told to speak!" Une demanded.

"Milady, I don't think you get it," Duo said before anyone had a chance to speak. "This isn't just any slave, you know. This is the prince's personal body slave. He doesn't have to listen to you, or anyone for that matter, except Treize. Let him speak."

There was a murmur of agreement from around the room. Everyone knew proper etiquette dictated that Duo ruled the room until the King said otherwise and he hadn't yet. Duo was quite comfortable with running things and he wasn't afraid to step on toes. He was too valuable to let anyone near enough to harm him.

"I just came around the corner and ran into her. I never put my hands on her, except to take her elbow and help her back to her feet. I was on an important errand for my Master. He asked that I make haste. It was my fault I ran into her, but I did nothing inappropriate."

"He lies! He… he touched me… He… he… fondled me!"

"I did not!"

Duo knew it couldn't be true. As did Quatre, Zechs, Hilde and Dorathy. They all knew Wu Fei had no interest whatsoever in women. The braided slave opened his mouth to refute Une's words and support Wu Fei, but Treize beat him to the punch.

"Wu Fei… I am highly disappointed in you… I never thought you would do something like this! You know better. Excuse me, lords, ladies, I must take this slave and see to him. Forgive me my absence and, please, enjoy yourselves…"

Treize bowed low to his parents, then strode out of the room, catching hold of Wu Fei's wrist – the bruised one, which made him wince – and leading him out. The moment they were out of earshot, Wu Fei began to protest.

"Treize," he said, dropping the formalities he was forced to display in public. "Treize, I didn't-"

"I know."

"Then why did you-"

"To get away from the Lady Roseania! Gods above and below, I have never met anyone so boring in my life!"

"So you used me," Wu Fei stated.

Treize stopped and turned to his slave, the uncertain light from the brands burning up and down the hall flickering on his skin and in his sapphire eyes. He frowned a little.

"It was far from that simple, Wu Fei."

"No. No, it wasn't. It was that simple. See what she did to me?"

Wu Fei lifted his wrist into the light where bruises were already starting to appear, and turned his face a little, so the livid red of his cheek also caught the light, showing his pain in sharp relief.

"Oh… oh, Wu Fei…" Treize murmured, reaching out to gingerly touch the red mark.

Wu Fei flinched away and turned his back, absently massaging his sore wrist with his other hand.

"It did not hurt so much as you virtually saying to that entire hall full of high-born lords and ladies that I am a pervert and that I cannot keep my hands to myself," Wu Fei said softly.

"I… Wu Fei, I apologise. I… I should have thought further than my own comfort…"

"Oh, it doesn't matter. I am no more than a slave…" Wu Fei turned obsidian eyes to Treize, shuttered and betraying no emotion. "Remember?"

Treize shook his head and reached out for Wu Fei, pulling the slave into his arms and against his chest. Wu Fei's hands came up to push against Treize, trying to escape, but the prince maintained an iron grip.

"You know," he breathed into the severely-restrained hair. "You know how much more than that you are to me."

"You take me for granted. You order me without even realising it. You use me without even thinking. Maybe even in bed."

"No, Wu Fei! Never then. You mean infinitely more to me than you can know. That's not me using you, that's me loving you, with everything I am, with everything I have. I would give up all this if you asked it of me."

"I would never. You… belong here. You deserve all this."

"Perhaps. But Wu Fei, I am so sorry." Treize dropped a hand to lift Wu Fei's, palm up, and he rubbed his thumb lightly over the bruises marring the smooth olive skin. "She had no right."

"She didn't stop to look at my rank."

"Evidently," Treize said wryly. "Gods, look at your face."

Wu Fei shook his head a little.

"It doesn't hurt anymore. The stinging has gone now."

"Mmn…" Treize purred, then trailed a line of kisses along Wu Fei's jaw to a point just below the slave's ear, which he knew was particularly sensitive.

"Treize…" Wu Fei murmured. "We shouldn't… Not here…"

"Does that mean you want to?"

"When do I not?"

"A good point. Touché. Come, then."

Wu Fei followed along gladly. Yes, at times, he hated being a personal slave, but this… this he didn't hate at all. How could he hate something so beautiful, so gentle and caring, so… male as Prince Treize Khushrenada? There again, Wu Fei amended with a wry smile, after a thrashing in the sparring ring, he rather did hate Treize for a time.

"What am I missing?" Wu Fei asked abruptly when they were about half-way to Treize's rooms.

"Missing? Nothing that I can see…" Treize replied in a dirty purr.

"I meant when I spar with you… You're the only person in this castle who I can't beat at least seventy percent of the time. I can't beat you at all!"

"You lack flair," Treize answered instantly.

"Flair?"

"Yes. You never improvise. I know what plan you have before you even start to execute it. I can predict you, because you stick to strict patterns and precise movements. It is terribly easy to block something when you are aware it is coming ten seconds before it does. You need to surprise me."

Wu Fei mulled over that for the rest of the walk, slipping into Treize's rooms before him and lighting all the brands from the single burning one by the door, then taking a taper and lighting the candles and lamps on a few small tables. Satisfied they could see what they were doing, he blew the taper out and returned it to its place.

"I could have done that," Treize pointed out and Wu Fei blinked at him.

"Force of habit."

"Sit down on the bed and I shall get something for those bruises and that cheek. My gods, Lady Une is for it in the morning!"

"There is really no need to-"

"Shh! Let me mother you, all right?"

Wu Fei had to smile at that, small though it was.

"You look nothing like any mother I have ever seen."

"People tell me I look like my mother all the time!"

"Ha ha."

Treize chuckled as he vanished inside a cupboard, leaning in to see what was at the back of the shelf. He came out with a small jar of salve and a bottle of red wine.

"Perfect," he murmured.

"Something makes me think the wine will do nothing to help either the bruising or the marks on my cheeks, Master-mine," Wu Fei pointed out.

Treize settled beside him on the bed and removed one of his gloves then set about putting some of the questionable-smelling cream on Wu Fei's abused wrist, the long fingers infinitely gentle and tender as he worked.

"Perhaps not, but it will do wonders for your disposition."

"My disposition? My disposition is perfectly fine, thank you very much."

"Mmm, but wine makes you mellow."

Wu Fei shook his head a little, smiling a wryly.

"Only when you force around four glasses of the stuff down my throat."

"You love it," Treize asserted, then lifted the hand that still had a glove to Wu Fei's chin, tilting his head to the side so his cheek caught the light. "Gods…" he whispered. "She must have hit you hard."

"That and twice."

"Twice?! She will pay for this."

Treize rubbed his white-clad thumb over the redness and Wu Fei's eyes slipped shut as a soft sigh escaped his lips.

"It really does not hurt so much anymore, lover," Wu Fei assured him, daring the endearment, which he usually lacked the courage to use.

Wu Fei was by no means a coward, but he was new to what he had with Treize. He'd never had a partner before, let alone a prince. He was always worried he might dare too much or put a foot wrong, or be unwary with his words and Treize would end it. And they had only been more than slave and Master for just over two months, though Wu Fei had been under Treize's authority for a year and a half now.

Treize smiled a little at the word, knowing how afraid Wu Fei was still, even after all his assurances he would never stop loving the oriental beauty. He still remembered the first time he saw Wu Fei, bought at the same time as Heero and Zechs for the same purpose as the tall blonde, until Treize had begged his father to let him have Wu Fei as his personal slave. Heero was a teacher. No one surpassed him at horse riding and horse back combat, so, though he was at first bought for pleasure, once his talents were found out, that quickly changed. He taught the young nobles and family his skills. Treize had bided his time with Wu Fei, not wanting to force him into anything, even though he could have ordered it. He slowly and carefully coaxed the slave into caring for him and wanting him, then slowly began to drop hints and suggestions until Wu Fei came to him willingly, nigh on begged him. But he'd loved Wu Fei since that first day he ever saw him.

"Treize?"

The prince had been lost in his silent contemplation, his thumb still stroking gently over Wu Fei's cheek and the boy was starting to think maybe it had been a mistake to call Treize "lover".

"Sorry, Wu Fei. I lost myself for a minute there," Treize replied, smiling at him,

Wu Fei returned the smile, absently flexing the fingers of the hand belonging to the bruised wrist and it hurt. He winced a little and looked down, having not realised the damage was so bad.

"Damn woman… I think she bruised the bone too… This is going to take at least a week to heal! I won't be able to spar with you."

Treize only just realised it was Wu Fei's sword arm that was hurt.

"Shit," he spat and Wu Fei laughed softly. It was rare to hear Treize use those words. "Damn her to all the hells. She could have done permanent damage!"

"Sally would have been able to fix it," Wu Fei pointed out and Treize nodded.

Sally Po, another slave, was the head doctor for the castle because she had the gift of Healing. The Khushrenadas had found her before she was old enough to manifest the talent and they'd picked her up to be groomed into a personal body slave for one of the Queen's wards. Once she did manifest the gift, however, she was schooled in the use of it and given the doctor's position.

"But that's not the point. If it weren't inappropriate, I'd hit her right back," Treize growled.

Wu Fei smiled a bit and leaned into the hand still rubbing his cheek.

"We didn't come here to discuss the Lady Une, Treize…" he murmured, meeting the prince's sapphire eyes.

"No… no, indeed we did not. The young nobles think she is beautiful, but I think you're far more beautiful, my lover," Treize murmured as he pressed Wu Fei back on the bed, leaning over him to kiss his lips and then his neck.

"You don't like women," Wu Fei pointed out, his eyes slipping shut. "Of course you think I'm more beautiful."

"Mmm… but I think you more beautiful than Zechs, too, and Duo. And more beautiful than Quatre and that lordling whose name I always forget."

"You spent two weeks sleeping with him every night and you still can't remember his name?" Wu Fei asked, then hissed softly as Treize nipped at his collarbone.

"It was only sex. I loved you even then," Treize murmured, pausing only long enough to say the words before kissing his way back up Wu Fei's neck to that point below his ear where he proceeded to let his tongue snake out and tease gently.

"Oh Treize…" Wu Fei purred, the fingers of one hand tangling in the ginger blonde hair at the back of his lover's skull. He shifted delightfully beneath the prince and hooked one leg, slender, but all muscle and strength from his sword training, around Treize's thighs.

Treize smiled and suddenly swooped on a nipple, always having liked the fact Wu Fei walked around shirtless. Not that he gets a choice in the matter, Treize's conscience reminded him, but he pushed it aside, immersing himself in Wu Fei's smell and the sounds he made. The slave was moaning softly at the present time, interspersed with whimpers and hisses as he revelled in the suckling of Treize's mouth. Then his back arched and he whimpered out Treize's name as the prince slipped a hand beneath the flimsy material of his loose pants and found that which gave Wu Fei the most pleasure.

"You are beautiful…" Treize murmured softly, slowly stroking his lover.

"You just… oh… you just say that because – nn! – because you want in my pants! Oh, gods, Treize!"

"No I don't, but is it working? Will I get in your pants through it?" Treize wondered lazily, lapping at a nipple again as his hand worked.

"Oh, yes… Yes!" Wu Fei assured him, burying his fingers in the prince's hair. "Don't stop…"

Treize simply adored bringing the strong-willed, stubborn oriental man to his knees. It was simply delightful to hear him beg. And he loved Wu Fei besides. So he continued to let his tongue dance around on Wu Fei's chest while his hand worked beneath the slave's pants, making him arch his back and whisper Treize's name.

"I love you…" Treize whispered against Wu Fei's neck as he stripped him of the flimsy pants, giving himself better access in order to torture his lover.

"I know. I love you…" Wu Fei replied, then felt the urgent need to get to Treize's skin, stroking hand or no. The single remaining glove was first to go, followed closely by jacket, vest and shirt, Treize kicking his boots off as Wu Fei now pressed him back on the bed.

Treize smiled and licked his lips as Wu Fei dipped a finger in the glass of wine on the side table and began to trace patterns with it over the prince's chest, going back regularly to re-wet his finger. And every so often, he brought the finger to Treize's lips and let him lick the wine from it, smiling. Once he was done with his artistic improvisation, he set about licking it all off, making Treize sigh and shift on the bed, sapphire eyes slipping shut.

"You're too good to me, Wu Fei…"

"You taught me how," Wu Fei replied, smiling.

"Mnn…" was Treize's only reply as his lover finished cleaning him of the wine, then removed the prince's sword-belt before he started inching his fingers beneath the slacks.

"I can have you under my command, Master-mine…" Wu Fei assured him softly as he inched the slacks down and off. "You know that as well as I." Wu Fei hovered, licking his lips and breathing gently on Treize's arousal, watching his face. Elegant lips parted in a soft sigh and eyes squeezed a little tighter, fingers twisting in bed sheets with anticipation of what would come, what Wu Fei wasn't doing!

"Wu Fei…" Treize murmured pleadingly. "Wu Fei, please… Don't torture me like this."

Wu Fei smirked and took Treize into his mouth, doing his upmost to drive the prince insane, which he did fairly skilfully. Treize's back arched and he moaned Wu Fei's name, lifting one hand to twist in the slave's hair, though not so much as to be too painful. Long legs, pale compared to the olive of Wu Fei's, but tanned in their own right, spread a little to give better access, which Wu Fei gladly took, pressing his hand to the top of Treize's thigh to prevent the buck of his hips.

Wu Fei hadn't been lying. Treize had taught him well and he knew how to press all the prince's buttons. He was close, Wu Fei could feel it, and he backed off, licking his lips and snagging the glass of wine to sip from while giving Treize a chance to catch his breath. The prince levelled a glare at Wu Fei, but it lacked conviction and the slave only smiled politely.

"Yes, Master? Is something the matter? I could-"

Wu Fei cut himself off at a rapping at the door and his eyes widened. He knew as well as Treize that this was a very compromising situation for the future king to be caught in. Not only naked with a slave, but a male one at that. He didn't need any telling to gather his pants up and dart into the small bathing room while Treize wrapped himself in a sheet and managed to look regal, even dressed in only the sheet and with an almost painful arousal concealed therein. Wu Fei couldn't keep the smirk from his face at the absurdity of it all.

Treize, as if he knew, turned and mouthed "you'll pay" before going to the door and opening it a crack.

"Your Excellency," a harsh female voice said and Wu Fei cringed at the appearance of the Lady Une in his Master's room as the prince stepped back and allowed her in, politeness and protocol demanding that he did.

"I'm not due that title yet, Lady," Treize said with as much cold formality as he could muster under the current circumstances. "I was taking my rest. Might I ask why you have come here at such an hour and without informing me earlier of your visit? I would like to get back to bed."

Une gave him her best dazzling smile, which only served to send a shiver down Wu Fei's spine.

"I wanted to apologise for making such a scene earlier, sir. If I had known it was your slave, I would have been more discreet."

"As to that," Treize said, barely veiled rage under his words. "I would thank you to keep your hands off my body slave. You have damaged his sword hand and marred his face. And I do believe your accusations were unreasonable. He is not… the type to accost a Lady."

"Nonetheless it remains that he did, your Excellency, but let us forget that, shall we? I thought I might keep you company tonight, if you're not averse to the idea…"

Wu Fei's fingers twitched and his lip curled. It took every scrap of restraint he possessed to keep from flinging himself at the Lady Une as she pressed her body against Treize's.

"I am sorry, m'lady," Treize said as he gently pushed her back away from him before she could realise his present state. "But I must rise early on the morrow and I need my rest this night."

"Oh, too bad… Maybe another time…" she suggested with a smirk, then, with a sultry wink that turned Wu Fei's stomach, left the room.

Treize shut and bolted the door behind her, then collapsed onto the bed with a sigh, the sheet falling from around him.

"Why me?" he wondered to the roof and Wu Fei smirked as he dropped his pants to the floor and went over to straddle his lover, stroking his hands over broad shoulders and well-built chest.

"Why you? I would have thought that obvious, Master-mine," he said before gently tweaking a nipple, which made Treize hiss with pleasure.

"Must you call me that?" the prince asked sharply, more sharply than he'd intended, making Wu Fei flinch and draw his hands back as though he'd been burned.

"I'm sorry…"

Treize sighed and lifted a hand to Wu Fei's cheek, the unmarked one.

"No, I am. I didn't mean for it to come out that way. I just don't like to be reminded of it…"

Wu Fei's eyes fluttered shut and he smiled sadly, but with resignation.

"It's the way things are, Treize. I understand. At least I have three meals a day, a roof over my head, and a very, very warm bed at night. Stop thinking."

Treize smiled a little then, and hissed again when Wu Fei drew a circle around one nipple with his finger.

"So why is it obvious?" he wondered, knowing that if he didn't ask now, he'd soon forget.

"You're beautiful," Wu Fei stated as though he were stupid for even having to ask.

Treize smiled again, licking his lips.

"If you think so, then no one else matters," he purred, pulling Wu Fei down to rub against him like a big cat, making both men sigh with the pleasure of being near to one another.

"I think so," Wu Fei affirmed, kissing Treize's lips.

"Then no one else matters…" Treize whispered against Wu Fei's lips, then kissed him again, deeper this time, his tongue slipping between eagerly parted lips and teeth to dance and duel with Wu Fei's. The oriental slave whimpered and pressed against him, his hands sliding down Treize's already sweat-dampened sides and beginning to inch around his behind.

"No," Treize hissed. "No, you're mine tonight."

And with that, he rolled Wu Fei onto his back and kissed him again, hard and long. Wu Fei didn't protest, only moaned softly and returned the kiss eagerly, relaxing and allowing Treize to take the lead. They tended to alternate rolls depending on what they felt like at the time and evidently, tonight, Treize felt like being the taker.

He brought their arousals into close contact and both men hissed in pleasure, Wu Fei arching off the sheets and Treize clenching his fingers in them. The reaction from Wu Fei and the pleasure it gave him caused Treize to repeat the action, and Wu Fei murmured something under his breath in his native language.

Treize smirked and pinned both of Wu Fei's hands above his head, twining their fingers together as he leaned down to kiss his lover for all he was worth. The slave arched against his grip and purred with pleasure, completely trusting and willing to do whatever Treize might ask of him.

"You're going to beg me before we're done tonight…" Treize promised in a low murmur, right from the back of his throat that sent a tingling bolt of pleasure dancing up Wu Fei's spine.

Treize didn't give him the chance to reply, because anything he would have said was eclipsed by a keening cry as the prince took his lover's arousal into his mouth, lips tongue and teeth combining to drive Wu Fei insane. His hands went down, both curling in ginger-blonde hair and silently encouraging the prince's ministrations.

"A-ah… Treize…" Wu Fei whimpered, arching his back, then nearly screaming when Treize put a long-fingered hand on his hips to control the motion. Ai, but the man was talented! He'd been the one to show Wu Fei the way. He'd taken the slave's virginity, but not until he had his heart. Wu Fei remembered how patient Treize had been, calming and gentling his wild, stubborn nature until he could see beyond his thoughts to his feelings and what they were and for whom. And yes, he felt he had probably loved Treize since the first moment he'd laid eyes on him.

Treize smirked, attuned to his lover enough that he knew when Wu Fei was close to the edge and he back off, moving up to kiss him gently, calm him and back the building pleasure off. And when he was satisfied Wu Fei was calm enough, he did it again. And again.

The fourth time, Wu Fei groaned and tugged almost painfully on the prince's hair, pulling him up to kiss him deeply. Yes, yes, he was trusting and willing. Willing to do anything for his prince. Willing to do whatever he was asked. Except this! Except this! Treize could quite happily keep him here, teetering on the edge, all night if should wish, and Wu Fei didn't want it. He was mindless with pleasure and he wanted more.

"Treize… Treize, please… don't tease me! This is torture!" Wu Fei moaned between kisses, and Treize only smirked again, prying his lover's hands from the ginger-blonde hair and sliding down to take him into his mouth again.

"Treize!" Wu Fei cried mournfully, writhing on the sheets. "Oh Treize… oh please! Please! I want you… inside me… now! Please, please, please!"

Treize lifted his head and licked his lips, a devilish smile curling his elegant lips. Oh how he loved Wu Fei like this. It had taken a long time, to break down his walls and work through his reservations enough that he would beg like this, and Treize simply delighted in it.

"I told you," he murmured lowly and Wu Fei growled at him.

"You did. Now stop talking. I need you…" he muttered.

Another smile graced Treize's lips and with one more lick to the very tip of Wu Fei's arousal, he reached for the small bottle of oil on the table beside the bad and liberally coated his fingers.

Wu Fei licked his lips, watching attentively, then lifted his hips a little when Treize's eyes flicked to his own. He contemplated those eyes, shivering a little as the prince eased his first finger inside. They were a beautiful shade of blue, akin to sapphires, darkened almost to black with passion at times like these. Elegant features and a rakish fall of hair, tamed to neatness with oils and the like all bespoke his royal lineage and Wu Fei thought himself infinitely lucky to have been gifted with his heart. He moaned softly, delightedly when Treize added the second finger and ever so carefully relaxed and prepared him.

The bottle of oil went aside, the fingers were removed, and Treize leaned over Wu Fei, taking a moment for a long, leisurely kiss. He slid a hand down the back of the slave's left thigh, lifting Wu Fei's leg to hook over his shoulder. The other he placed around his hips and positioned himself, then looked to Wu Fei.

"Please…" the slave whispered, and it was all the permission Treize needed.

Ever so carefully, he began to ease inside, his passage made easier by his careful preparation and the fact that Wu Fei was no stranger to this. It wasn't long before he was fully within Wu Fei, and the only sound in the room was their panting breath. Treize bent to brush his lips gently across those of his lover, but Wu Fei claimed a deeper kiss, one that made them both sigh with delight. The movements of Treize's tongue were a promise of what was to come and Wu Fei's eyes slid shut in anticipatory pleasure.

"Alright?" Treize managed, mind spiralling slowly away. He couldn't stop now if Wu Fei said no.

"Yes…" Wu Fei hissed. "Do it…"

And Treize did; slowly at first, but steadily increasing in pace at Wu Fei's whispered entreaties. His lover met his thrusts with easy grace, born out of familiarity. They had done this time and time and time again, until they knew each other inside and out, every inch of the other's body, where to touch and what to do to draw each pleasured sound from the other's lips. But it was never boring. Never. How could it be, when they loved one another so much?

And it was love that carried them up now, mingling with the pleasure, making each moan a serenade to the ears of the other.

When Treize wrapped a long-fingered hand around Wu Fei's arousal, he nearly sobbed with pleasure, arching his back and squirming against Treize.

They touched the sky almost simultaneously, each crying his lover's name, a supplication and an infinite thank you to whatever being had brought them together.

Afterwards, when they could think again, they whispered to each other of love and devotion before slowly giving in to sleep.

They knew outside of this room, no one could know what they felt for one another. Class, rank and gender were all problems they simply couldn't surmount. But here… now… it just didn't matter. They loved one another, and therein lay the joy. It didn't matter what they were.

Slave and Master.

Love and Lover.

Mate and Beloved.

~ ~ ~

A.N: There! Finally done. It's only… what… four months late? ^^' Be advised: if you expect a fic as a birthday present from Kitty, don't expect it on your birthday. Ner. Gomen, Kuy-chan! But at least I finished it, ne? Ne?!