and a half

The suite Kurogane was given in Clow castle was opulent, at a minimum. It had wide, open windows and a wonderful view of sunset over the desert; it had beautifully designed furniture, and a neatly engraved ceiling that kept Kurogane diverted for all five minutes.

"I'm fine," he said, not for the first time, and Fai rolled his eyes. He looked worse than Kurogane, long bandages wrapped over his face, and he was too pale; privately Kurogane thought it was unfair that he was being forced to rest when Fai wasn't, just because of his missing arm.

The healer Sakura's brother had commanded merely pushed up his glasses and fixed Kurogane with a withering look that managed to convey just how much he didn't care what Kurogane thought. "Three weeks," he said, shortly. Kurogane gaped at him while Fai began to laugh, an incongruously soft noise at odds with his battered face.

"I can't - it's not even like I just had the fucking thing cut off! What am I meant to do? If I'm stuck with this idiot I'll go mad," Kurogane protested, horrified. Fai had to turn away, a hand clamped over his mouth and his shoulders shaking, and somewhat petulantly Kurogane groped for the apple Sakura had left next to his bedside and threw it at the mage. It bounced off his shoulder, which made Kurogane growl; he had been aiming for the idiot's head. Maybe he had lost more blood than he thought.

"Three weeks," the healer said again, implacable. "I'll talk to the kitchens, you need more sugar to replace the blood you've lost. Until then, you stay here. I'll be telling the princess that, too," and Kurogane groaned, knowing now how sad Sakura would look if she found him wandering.

"You'll be out of here by day eight," Fai said after the man had gone. He had picked up the apple, and now placed it gently on the table next to the bed. "Kuro-tan was never the staying type."

"Shut up," Kurogane snarled. Fai chuckled quietly and took the seat the healer had vacated, pulling it closer to the bed, but didn't immediately respond. Kurogane scowled and lay back in the pillows, his eyes fixed firmly on the ceiling.

When Fai didn't talk after several minutes had passed, Kurogane marked it down as one of his rare victories and let his eyes drift shut; they had begun itching halfway through the healer's poking at his truncated shoulder. He was almost completely asleep when the wizard said in a small voice, "Kuro-sama?"

"What," he said, not opening his eyes. Fai didn't say anything, and frustrated, Kurogane turned his head to see the wizard watching him. He had one leg over the other, and his face was cupped in his hands. His blue eyes seemed intent on Kurogane's face. Alarmed now, Kurogane pushed himself to sit upright; his stomach muscles yelled at him, and several long cuts along his torso ached warningly. "What? Wizard," he said again, and Fai huffed out a breath through his nose.

"This," he said, his mouth curving into the most fascinating smile Kurogane had seen yet, one that carried to his eyes and made them spark, and before Kurogane could get over it, Fai had one knee on the bed, a hand on his chin, and was tilting his face around. For a split second his muscles tensed, instinctive response to another human in his space, and then he forced them to relax.

Fai kissed him.

It was sloppy and eager, driven more by want then skill. Fai's lips were rough and chapped and though the vampirism had faded, lost with the gain of an eye, his canines were sharper than a human's should be and scraped over Kurogane's bottom lip. Kurogane found himself swaying, caught by surprise and yet heavy with want; he tried to lean over, to raise his hand to pull Fai closer, but he had forgotten his missing arm and when he leaned to his left he lost his balance, his mouth slipping free of Fai's and their foreheads colliding.

For a moment they stared at each other, Kurogane horrified that he had ruined this, ruined this that they had been building towards for so long, and then Fai grinned, his lips quirked and his teeth brilliantly white. "Shut up," Kurogane ordered, mortified, and Fai snorted in amusement and scooted off the chair and onto the bed proper.

"Make me," he said as he inched closer, as immaturely as humanly possible, and Kurogane snarled and reached out with his hand, balancing himself with his chest against Fai's side, and ran his fingers through that pale blond hair, turning Fai's head towards him. Before he could change his mind he gently cupped the back of Fai's head, threading Fai's long hair through the gaps between his fingers, his palm following the curve of the wizard's skull, and pulled the wizard toward him again, directing his head with the pressure of his thumb. Fai mmmd happily.

He forced some control into the kiss this time, biting Fai's lower lip sharply in warning when the wizard tried to hurry it along. Fai's mouth tasted of wine and honey; Kurogane ran his tongue over the tops of the wizard's bottom teeth, and then pushed it further in, touching it to the roof of Fai's mouth. Fai's hand on his chin tightened convulsively, and Kurogane realized the wizard's other hand was tangled in his shirt; Fai was leaning into him as he was leaning into Fai, both of them dependent on the other to keep them upright.

Briefly he nuzzled their noses together, then used his hold on Fai's hair to tilt his head back, licking his way out of Fai's mouth and to the corner, and then down; a wet line that only ended at Fai's adam's apple. He planted a kiss there, for reasons he didn't understand; Fai's breath hitched and his fingers tightened their grip on Kurogane's shirt.

"I... wanted this," he murmured, into Fai's skin. His ear was close to Fai's mouth; he could hear the speed with which Fai breathed, feel the warm air.

"Me too," Fai said quietly, his words barely whispers, his lips tickling the shell of Kurogane's ear. Kurogane scraped his teeth over Fai's throat in memory of the time Fai had fed this way and Fai gasped, a breathy, shocked sound that made Kurogane growl happily, possessively. He licked his way up the underside of Fai's neck and bit his jaw, sharply; his skin was soft and velvety under his tongue, and Fai hitched in a breath. "Kuro-sama," he said, sounding dazed, and his cheeks were red and not with embarassment.

"I want you closer," Kurogane said quietly, and that seemed to bring Fai back to earth. He tipped his head back down, jaw sliding against Kurogane's cheek, until they were forehead to forehead.

"Okay," he said, and kissed Kurogane on the mouth again, a warm, chaste kiss that made Kurogane lean jerkily into him for more. He pulled away too soon and, keeping a careful hold on Kurogane's face and sleeve, closed that last half foot between them, sliding neatly into Kurogane's lap. His thighs were trembling. "Okay," he said again, his voice a little more controlled, and gave Kurogane a lightning fast nip on the tip of his nose, to which Kurogane flinched; it had never occured to me that his nose, of all things, could be a desireable area to be bitten.

Fai raised his hands and slid both of them across Kurogane's cheeks, his cold fingers splayed out behind Kurogane's ears and his thumbs following the line of Kurogane's cheekbones. He was grinning, lazy and satisfied, and when he leaned forward to cross the gap between them Kurogane could feel his heart pounding. Fai's weight against his chest, the warmth of him, burning like a furnace; his eyes, flashing blue in the light from the big bay window - Kurogane wanted him more than their clothes would let them.

"Hey," he said, uncertainly. Fai nipped his bottom lip, drew it into his mouth and gave it a casual suck, and Kurogane swallowed shakily. His hand had, unbidden, found the back of Fai's shirt and now he slid it those last few inches, questing fingers finding the hot, smooth skin of Fai's back. Fai raised his head and grinned wolfishly, a flicker of canine and mischief.

"Kuro-wanton has a hunger now," he said, in a quiet, teasing tone, and Kurogane bared his teeth in silent indignation. Fai just laughed at him and darted forward to lay a brief kiss in the hollow of his jaw. When he broke off they were both breathing heavily; Fai sounded almost breathless. He reached for Kurogane's shirt and began pulling it over his head, his hands hurried and unthinking; Kurogane hissed as the shirt scraped over his wounded shoulder, flinching away.

"Fuck," he snarled. It felt like the wound had opened again; the bandages felt cloying and slick.

Fai said, miserably, "You're bleeding again."

"I know," Kurogane said tightly.

Fai groaned and gently lowered the shirt back into place. "I'm sorry," he said, and would have said more if Kurogane hadn't interrupted him, lunging forward to shut him up with another quick, short kiss.

"Don't," Kurogane said, quickly, when they parted. "It's fine. Just. Not now, I guess." He sighed heavily. "I hate being injured," he added, and Fai's warm snort of laughter was much better than the guilty tone he had been using.

"Well, the healer did say three weeks. If Kuro-bored can manage to be patient for that long..." Fai raised an eyebrow.

"Eight days," Kurogane reminded him, and Fai grinned.

"You'd better," he said, and kissed Kurogane's forehead. "You should start now."

Kurogane huffed out a breath, grumpily, and threw back the covers. Fai writhed over to the edge of the bed, and Kurogane was struck, suddenly, by an urge. "Stay here," he said, and could have bitten his own tongue when Fai looked back at him over his shoulder, incredulous. He plunged ahead, determined. "Stay here. With me. Please."

It turned out when Fai smiled, really smiled, he dimpled.

-fin

despondent, distracted,
you're vicious and romantic;
these are a few of my favorite things.
all of those flavors and
this is what you choose:
past the blues, past the blues,
and on to something new
Taking Back Sunday