Like the Demons Do

Author: Darling Fox
Rating: K, I'd think
Warnings: Hiei/Kurama, sex and violence are mentioned
Summary: Five stages of love: Hiei and Kurama. HieixKurama
Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho © Yoshihiro Togashi.

A/N: Inspired by lj community stagesoflove's first round.

Attraction

"Why him?" Kuwabara asks, quite suddenly, and Hiei doesn't have the heart to insult him.

Well, he does, but Yukina is nearby and her fondness for the human forces Hiei to act like a civilized being. "What?"

Kuwabara points at Kurama. "Don't think I haven't noticed the way you look at him. I know it isn't any of my business but I am curious. Why not, say, Touya? He's as pretty as Kurama is, I think."

"First time everything," Hiei mutters under his breath and then answers, "Because he lost."

"Kurama?"

"Idiot. Have you ever seen him lose to anyone?"

Romance

"You know, this is almost romantic."

Hiei looks up from his sword and blinks. "What?"

"Look," Kurama says, gesturing around them. "We're in the middle of a beautiful field…"

"Which is currently covered in blood."

"…just the two of us…"

"And the corpses."

"…the weather is nice…"

"I'll give you that; those are beginning to smell."

"…and the birds are singing."

"The vultures, you mean."

"All we need are presents." Kurama beams, wiping his dirty hands on the back of Hiei's tunic. "Tokens of affection."

"Well, I suppose I could always make you a garland. With or without the rectum?"

Passion

"Hiei! What the hell have you been doing?" The demon in question feels Yusuke's eyes on his bare back and turns around. "Have you fallen into a pond of bloodthirsty leeches? The ones with talons?"

"No." Hiei's voice is muffled by the shirt he's pulling on. "Kurama."

"Kurama fell in- Wait. Kurama did those and you let him?"

"I heal fast."

"Yeah, I know, but man." Yusuke shakes his head, staring at the angry red scratches and darkening bruises on Hiei's pale skin. "I didn't know he hates you that much."

"The opposite, actually," Hiei answers with a wolfish grin.

Intimacy

"Damn it, Kurama, you're hogging the covers!" The unsaid 'again' hangs in the air, as heavy and true as a barrelful of anvils.

"What are you complaining about?" Kurama snaps, wrapping the colourful beddings tightly around him. "You can heat yourself. And me, but I don't see you doing that, you selfish bastard."

"You forbade it the last time I did it." Hiei glares at the redhead accusingly. "Right after you burnt your hand while touching places I particularly advised not to."

"The sheets were smoking! I was trying to wake you up!"

"By grabbing my cock?"

"It did work."

Commitment

"He knew this would happen eventually," Yukina says softly.

"Yes, but I suspect he never really thought what it'd mean."

"Loss is never easy," the ice-maiden replies and Hiei guesses, correctly, where the conversation is going. "You do know that the day will come when you're in his place, don't you? Koenma won't let him escape again."

Hiei watches how Kurama encourages roses to grow through the snow. "We have time."

"Will it be enough?"

"It has to be."

"I'll be there." A small, cold hand squeezes Hiei's fingers, comforting in the middle of the dark, engraved stones.

"I know."

The End.

ETA A/N: The last part was inspired by a speculation of Hiei's age: in this, his (and Yukina's) natural lifespan is much, much longer than Kurama's. Some day he will visit Kurama's grave, just like they're now on Shiori's.