"Look, Lee, I'm not coming! I'll wish you and Ann all the best, but I'm not coming to your wedding! And I'm definitely not coming to the party!" Rei hissed into the phone, tapping his pen angrily on his notepad.
"But why, Rei? It won't be the same without you! You're one of my oldest friends!"
"Lee, I'm twenty, not eighty, and I'm not coming because Yuki'll be there. You know, Yuki? My ex-wife, who I left because I'm gay? And, no offense, Lee, but I know some of Ann's friends, and they are the most royal homophobes! I'll probably end up with no legs if I go! Either that or I'll get my fingers snapped off one by one!"
"Rei, Yuki rang this morning. She's not coming. Please, please, please, come. Please. It would mean a lot to me."
"Hi, I'm gay, let me into your church? Sorry, I don't think the raver-ant, or the pasta, or whatever you call them, will buy that. -You- might be a religious convert, but I'm not!"
"Come to the party, then! Ann said there's someone coming who she'd like you to meet..."
"Is it Elton John?"
"No."
"Is it someone -else- who's gay?"
"Yes."
"Lee, we've talked about this. I might have set you and Ann up, but that doesn't mean you have to try and matchmake me a boyfriend!"
There was an exasperated sigh from the other end of the phone, and some muttering. "Please, Rei. We really want you to come. You don't have to stay long, but please come."
"Will you shut up and let me finish this article if I say yes?"
"Yes."
"Fine then, I'll come. But I'm not staying all night or anything. And if anyone points at me and goes 'he's a bent little shit isn't he' like last time I went out with you and Ann and Tom, I'm leaving straight away!"
"Right. Okay. See you there then. It starts at seven, and..."
"Yeah, I know. It's not formal and it's at the Mercury Club. Right. Bye." Rei put the phone down, feeling as if he'd just done something he'd end up regretting. He went back to his article on veganism in schools, wondering who exactly this 'someone' Ann wanted him to meet was...

"Rei! You came!" "Yeah." Rei smiled at Ann. She looked so happy. "You look wonderful...did everything go okay?"
"Yeah. It was great! Lee, honey?" She called. Lee looked over and smiled. He wended his way through the crowds of dancing people, and hugged Rei in a very manly, slappy kind of way. Rei endured it tolerantly. "Is Kai still here Ann?"
"I wondered how long it would take for you to get round to my mystery date." Said Rei dryly. "So come on then. I'm just -dying- to know who he is."
Ann laughed at his sarcasm. "He's over by the bar. See there- the one in the purple top."
Rei's eyes followed Ann's fingers and found a glare. He looked above the glare, and found spiky, slate-coloured hair. He looked down, and found a tight purple shirt showing off a muscled chest. Lower, and he found shapely legs encased in tight black trousers. Rei's eyebrows raised and he smiled, turning back to Lee and Ann. "He doesn't look too bad. But, judging by that poisonous, poisonous glare, I don't think he likes me."
"No, he looks like that at everyone. Why don't you go and talk to him?"
"Nu-uh. I never said I was going to -talk- to anyone. I just said I'd come."
"But Rei-Rei..." Rei held up his hands, as if warding Ann away.
"No baby nicknames! Or I shall be forced to dance with you!"
Ann stuck out her tongue. "Rei-Rei-chan." Rei shook his head
"You leave me," He grabbed Ann by the waist and swung her onto the dancefloor. "No choice!" As he whirled Ann around, he could see Kai watching. He was still leaning on the bar, ignoring the crowd of girls who were staring at him. Rei couldn't tell if he was staring at Ann, Rei himself, or someone else entirely. After a few sneaked glances, Kai winked. Rei raised his eyebrows, and Kai raised his back. Rei deposited Ann back with Lee and sauntered over to Kai, feigning aimlessness. He stopped at the bar. "I'll just have a coke." He rolled his eyes. "Meet the idiot who came in his car." The barman smiled and nodded. Rei was about to hand over his money when someone cleared their throat. The barman looked up and cocked his head, then turned away from Rei, to another customer. "Um...excuse me?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't you want me to pay for that?"
"He's paying." The barman nodded over at Kai. Rei walked over to him, puzzled.
"Thanks. But do you even know who I am?"
"You're Rei. Ann told me about you." When he spoke, Kai's voice was deep and smooth, with the slightest hint of an accent. "You're Lee's friend, right?"
"Yeah." Rei took a sip of his coke. "I wasn't going to come. This place is a homophobe nest..."
"Well then why don't we have a gay rebellion?"
Rei looked up at Kai, puzzled. "Are you not particularly fond of your legs then? Do you perhaps want to have them broken?"
"No-one here would dare go anywhere near my legs if they know what's good for them."
"And there's one of you and about a hundred of them? See now Ann didn't tell me you were insane."
"I'm not insane. I'm russian. And I'm rich. Besides, I know how to look after myself."
"Oh. Right. So what do you do for a living?"
"Nothing. I'm living off my Grandfather's money. What about you?"
"I'm a journalist." Rei looked over at Kai, starting to quite like this dry russian. "Nothing big-time though." He smiled. "How about a dance?"
"I don't dance."
"I do." Rei touched Kai's arm, and Kai looked down at it, face a blank mask. He leaned over and kissed Rei firmly on the lips.
"Maybe later, when I'm more drunk." Rei blinked, then turned as someone grabbed his shoulder.
He was confronted by a contemptuous glare. "I didn't know Lee's friends were all puffs..." Rei tried to struggle away, but another man appeared, blocking his escape route. They stood in horrible silence for a couple of minutes, then Rei heard a clicking noise behind him. "Do you know about russian roulette? Because what I'm about to do is not play it. I'm about to shoot you in both kneecaps and then in your stupid fat head. So why don't you just go away and maybe I'll think about not killing you."
Kai walked forwards, gun held carelessly in one hand. It was aimed in the centre of the first man's head. He glared, then let go of Rei slowly. He walked away, then Kai squeezed the trigger. There was no noise, and as soon as he'd done it, Kai tucked the gun back into his belt, hiding it under his shirt. "Silenced."
"W-what?" Asked Rei, shocked.
"The gun. That's why you didn't hear it." He looked over at the man, shrugging. "Didn't hit him."
"Did you mean it to?"
"Well I wouldn't have cared if it had." He turned to Rei, leaning back onto the bar. "Now where were we...?" He kissed Rei again, and Rei put down his drink, wrapping his arms around Kai's neck.
"Well you two look like you're getting along fine!"
"Ann..." Began Rei warningly, leaning back from Kai.
Ann giggled and went away again, to presumably find Lee and drag him onto the dancefloor again. Kai smiled softly and kissed Rei again, once, twice, a third time, deepening the kiss every time. "Do you want to...go somewhere else?"
"Yeah." Rei said breathlessly. Something about Kai was intoxicating him. He wanted to press himself up against the russian and be held and kissed, he wanted...he didn't know exactly what he really wanted, but it had something to do with Kai, he was sure of that.
Rei followed Kai outside the room, into the corridor. He stole a kiss, and Kai laughed quietly. He pressed Rei up against the wall, kissing him demandingly, drawing a low moan from the dark-haired man. Not wanting to be dominated entirely, Rei rolled suddenly. Now Kai was against the wall, looking amused. Suddenly his expression darkened and he let go of Rei.
"I thought I'd made it clear that I wanted you to go away." Rei turned, and saw the man form earlier. Of course, this time he was with a crowd of friends, twenty strong.
"We don't like puffs around here!"
Kai flicked his hair back and sighed, pulling out his gun again. He looked at it, then put it back. "You really do amaze me with your stupidity. Do you really think a man worth millions would let himself be in danger, at any time?" He whistled. "Yvan, Zlazyk, Yuri!" Three muscled men approached from the left, looking menacing. "Take care of these...dare I say gentlemen?" Kai took Rei's arm and pulled him away as the three bodyguards set to work. "Kai...am I imagining this or is this all for real?"
"It's real. Does it scare you?"
"I...don't know."
"Would you come to my room with me?"
"Why?"
"To talk, away from this...'homophobe nest' as you put it. Or maybe more...if you want that."
"Okay."
Kai led Rei towrads the lift, smiling gently. Without looking down, he pulled a card from his pocket and swiped it into the door slot. The 'P' lit up, and the elevator started moving. Impulsively, Rei grabbed Kai around the neck and dragged him into a kiss. Kai held Rei close, kissing him back forcefully. With a ping, the elevator stopped, and they walked out. Rei looked around, puzzled. "Are we still in the same hotel?" He asked.
"Of course we are. Just, this is the penthouse suite." Rei turned to Kai, suddenly unsure.
"Kai...why did you invite me up here?"
"Because I like you...but...if you're uncomfortable..." Kai looked away, a hint of sadness and disappointment in his eyes. "You could go..."
Rei hesitated, then took Kai's hands. "I don't think I want to...Kai...do people often leave?"
"No-one's ever stayed before. But I live in hope. Most people think...I only want to have sex with them, but in truth...I'd rather talk."
Rei pulled Kai towards the bed and sat on it, pulling Kai down next to him. "Have you been rich all your life, Kai?"
"No. Before my parents died, I lived with them. We weren't so rich, but I was happy. My...parents died when I was nine. And...I went to live my grandfather. Then I was rich. And everyone...stopped liking me." He shook his head. "Why am I telling you all this?"
"Because I asked."
"Usually I would have lied."
"I can tell when people are lying. Every time. Go on, try fool me."
"My birthday is in November."
"Nope, not a lie."
"My grandfather is called Zorkav Hiwatari."
"Lie."
"I like you."
"Joke?"
"No...I...mean it. I like you. I...trust you, somehow."
Rei smiled. "I wasn't even going to come, you know. I thought my ex-wife was coming. And I didn't fancy braving the homophobic clan. But now I'm glad I came..."
"You have an ex-wife?"
"Yeah. Sort of an arranged marriage. It...didn't really work, me being gay and all."
"That must have been...odd."
"No more odd than me sitting here with you now. But things never work out the way you think they will." Rei stretched up and kissed Kai, folding his arms around the russian and pushing him down until he was lying on top of him. "When I agreed to come tonight...I had a feeling that I would regret it somehow. But there's only one thing I regret..."
"What?"
"Not meeting you sooner..." Rei smiled down at Kai, and found himself pulled down into a shy kiss.
"I've never met anyone like you before..."
"Ditto."
The moon reflected in the window as Kai and Rei lay together, exchanging whispers and kisses as downstairs, Lee and Ann danced.

fin