He'd been here three nights already, watching, waiting for an opportunity to present itself. The first night, he'd decided that he would wait for his prey to return to his rooms before approaching, but that event had never taken place. Lodged comfortably in an obliging tree bough, he had even fallen asleep for a short time, only to wake, with dawn rising behind the hills, to find the object of his surveillance still in his solitary place on the temple floor. Amused, he had met the circumstance with a smirk and wandered off to his camp for a bit of breakfast and the more obliging comfort of his bedroll. He had caught a strange situation, but the next night would bring him what he wanted.

This was not so. His target stayed the next night in the temple, as well. And the next. Thus, here he was, on the fourth night, the waxing moon riding high over the trees, watching what promised to be yet another night of disappointment. Certainly, he could have entered the compound during the day, paid his respects like anyone else...but he wasn't anyone else, and such things didn't suit him. Besides, he wasn't the one breaking routine, here.

The one thing that he had been able to do, during his frustrating vigil, was to ascertain that during the night, no one else entered the temple. Of course, that wasn't to say that they couldn't or wouldn't on this night, but he felt fairly certain that, should he decide to go into the temple to complete his visit, there would be no interruptions. Assuming that no one heard, that was, which was one thing of which he could not be so sure.

He sighed and, having made his decision, started down the hill, toward the temple.

Ukoku rounded the corner on silent feet, having left his geta on the ground at the edge of the walk. Sound carried well in the night air and, though he was quite certain that his presence had been noticed long since, he didn't wish to alert the entire compound to it. That would spoil his plans, rendering several days of camping in the forest pointless and becoming a huge pain in the ass, on top of it. Ukoku was in no mood to indulge such annoyances.

He stepped into the open doorway and leaned casually against the frame. His gaze roamed over the room, taking in the open windows, the candles, the statue of Buddha presiding from the wall directly opposite. Incense hung in the air; the scent and the floating strata of smoke the same as in any temple. On the floor, surrounded by the candles, sat one thing that was not to be found anywhere else. Black eyes looked over the figure there, all pale glow in the flickering light.

"Ah, a shadow crosses my threshold," Koumyou said, amusement in his quiet tone.

Ukoku huffed a little. "You wound me," he retorted, pressing a hand to his heart. He pushed off the doorframe, arms reaching for and sliding the shoji closed behind him. "You have enough light to banish the shadows."

"Stronger light strengthens the darkness that remains."

"Mm, I suppose that's true," Ukoku mused, crossing the floor at a leisurely pace. "I've interrupted you meditations, it seems."

"You have."

"Sorry about that."

"I'm sure," Koumyou replied indulgently.

Ukoku smirked, crossing the floor with leisurely steps. "And upon what do you meditate?" The unsteady light played in Koumyou's hair; now silver, now gold, it made a long fire of the braid down his back.

"This evening, I'm considering the value of occupation and self-control." Koumyou's words were edged with a wry humour. "Would you care to join me?"

Ukoku suppressed the laugh that rose in his chest, forcing it to fit into a smile and a chuckle. "Perhaps," he said, stopping a few scant inches from Koumyou's back, "with a small change in the matter."

"Oh? And what would you suggest?"

Crouching behind him, Ukoku leaned in to murmur in Koumyou's ear, "Desires of the flesh, perhaps." He slipped his palms up and over Koumyou's shoulders, then down his arms.

"Oh, I see," Koumyou replied, his posture softening under Ukoku's touch, leaning back minutely. Ukoku smiled against the soft curtain of his hair, pleased with the ease with which he had accomplished this first step. Approximately half a second later, he understood that he should not have been.

Koumyou had, with almost preternatural speed, ducked his shoulder beneath Ukoku's body, wrapped an arm around his waist, and thrown him to the floor. The other hand had come up to press against Ukoku's armour, serving the double purpose of keeping it from flying about and pressing Ukoku firmly against the floorboards. By the time the full second had elapsed, Ukoku was laying on his back and looking up at Koumyou, who now sat comfortably straddling Ukoku's hips.

Favouring him with a serene smile, Koumyou took off his own breastplate and sutra, laying them aside, the leaned forward to remove Ukoku's as well. The warm weight of Koumyou's body bearing down on his hips was pleasant, sending the tendrils of Ukoku's restrained desire curling up through his body. He smirked back and rolled his hips, which earned him a raised eyebrow.

"All right then," Koumyou sighed, his hands dropping to work the knot that tied Ukoku's robe closed, "I suppose I shall have to indulge you."

Ukoku very nearly grinned at that. Koumyou slipped the sash out from beneath Ukoku's body and placed it on the floor, then turned to his own. The shift and press of Koumyou's movements against him soon had Ukoku hard, aching before he had even really been touched. Damn the man for it, but there was no escaping the effect Koumyou had on him, or the hold that accompanied it. He might wander, stay away for months at a time, but in the end, he always returned to darken Koumyou's door once more.

Reaching up to remove his glasses, Ukoku hissed as Koumyou's hand slipped under the part of his robe to slide up the inside of his thigh. He caught the small, swift smile that graced Koumyou's lips, disappearing as quickly as it had come.

"I see you came prepared," Koumyou teased, lifting himself from Ukoku's body to a grunt of protest. "Hush, now." With quick hands, Koumyou pushed Ukoku's robe aside, revealing his bare legs and the hard length of his erection. He reached out to stroke a finger down from the base to the tip, smiling at the way it pressed up into the minute caress. "Bend your legs."

Ukoku obeyed Koumyou's soft command without hesitation or thought. They had been down that road, and he'd found that compliance was infinitely easier, unless (as had been known to happen) he was in the mood for bruises. It took an unreasonably short time for Koumyou to bind each of Ukoku's wrists to one of his ankles, using the sashes from their robes. When he was done, Ukoku tried and experimental tug at his bonds while Koumyou busied himself with rummaging through the pockets in Ukoku's sleeves. Ukoku discovered that tugging was a bad idea, as it stretched his thighs rather painfully, and Koumyou found the vial for which he'd been searching.

Koumyou fixed Ukoku with an unsettling gaze. "Time to get on with the lecture, then," he said, the corners of his lips twitching up just the tiniest bit. Ukoku watched as Koumyou moved around him to settle between his legs, did his best to accommodate when warm hands pushed his undershirt up. He raised an eyebrow as Koumyou's robe parted, revealing bare legs and a hard cock, but decided that discretion was the better part of getting off, and said nothing.

No time wasted, Koumyou immediately slicked the fingers of one hand, nudging Ukoku's legs further apart with his elbow. Ukoku closed his eyes and sighed softly as Koumyou's fingertips pressed firmly against his entrance, massaging him in small circles that sent shivers of pleasure racing up his spine. He breathed deeply, relaxing into the touch, wanting more but prevented by his bindings from moving to get it.

Caught up in the sensations Koumyou was creating in him, Ukoku was startled by the pool of fire that opened in the flesh above his heart. His body jerked, eyes flying open, instinctively shrinking from the pain and pulling at his bindings. A sharp hiss escaped him as he looked to the already cooling point on his chest. It was white. Ukoku looked to Koumyou, holding the candle from which the wax had dripped.

"All things of the flesh, like the pain from the wax, fade," Koumyou intoned gravely, though the mischievous look in his eyes belied the sound of his voice. He pushed his fingertips harder against Ukoku, eliciting a moan with the delicious mix of pleasure and discomfort that came with that first penetration. It seemed that Koumyou, for all his apparent calm, was as eager as his captive was. He used his fingers to fuck Ukoku in a quick, rough rhythm as he tipped the candle again and again, smiling openly at the sharp sounds and writhing movements it caused.

Ukoku gave up any pretense of control, sinking into simple reaction. The pleasure, the pain, the light, the darkness - his world narrowed to nothing but these, and they mattered not at all. One rose and then faded, replaced by another. The breathless, blinding pleasure overtaken by the biting burn, both transient and leaving him begging, body and voice, for more. Koumyou stroked and stretched him, the sting of more pushing into him, offset by the pressing of fingers against his prostate.

Then the fire ended, and Koumyou's hot, wet mouth enveloped Ukoku's cock. He shuddered helplessly against the onslaught, unable even to cry out with the intense sensation of Koumyou's tongue sliding over his flesh, or the dizzying pull as firm lips travelled the length of his sex. Ukoku's mouth was dry from panting, his body tense and reactive only to the commands of Koumyou's attentions. He couldn't even catch his breath long enough to speak Koumyou's name before he was entirely swept away by the rising wave of his climax.

Ukoku suddenly stiffened and went still, breath locked in his chest, lips parted in a soundless cry as his body hung on the crest of orgasm. Spots of colour exploded behind eyelids squeezed tight shut, and then the rest of him followed, uncoiling in one violent second as he released and began to come into the close heat of Koumyou's mouth. Ukoku's vision darkened as his breath returned, the world fading out and returning with a slow clarity. Koumyou released him, pulling his fingers from Ukoku's body and laying a trail of small kisses up over his abdomen and chest.

When he reached Ukoku's mouth, Koumyou kissed him. His tongue delved deep, and they shared the thick, salty spend of Ukoku's desire between them. Koumyou smiled against his lips as his breathing slowed, watching the return of consciousness. He leaned back on his heels, his movements subtle enough that the still-dazed Ukoku didn't notice them at all, until Koumyou pushed Ukoku's knees up toward his chest.

"Well," Koumyou remarked, as the head of his cock pressed against Ukoku's entrance, "that was your lesson on the transience of desires of the flesh." He leaned forward over Ukoku and entered him in one swift, breathtaking thrust. "Now, I suppose it's time to refresh my memory on the subject."