Tangent

Summary: Some thank-you's are hard to come by. Or not. –set in Nihon, chapter 167 after the punch, assumes that princess Tomoyo left

Pairing: KuroFai, TRC (and very slight KuroTomo if you squint, based on one sentence)

Rated T for Kuro-puu's mouth and this being Shounen-Ai

A/N: Shamelessly unbetaed. Also please note that English is not my first language, so this here is as 'polished' as it gets. (More notes at the end.)

"What?"

Kurogane tried to keep his voice level but didn't quite succeed. He was getting impatient with the magician, who just kept staring at him without saying a word. The expression Fai wore was oddly questioning, and therefore unsettling, as if he was looking at a new species he had just discovered and was wondering if it warranted further inspection or immediate disposal of, lest it were dangerous.

"I'm trying to decide," Fai said after a while, "whether you are brave or simply inexperienced and somewhat immature," he paused, frowning slightly, "or just plain stupid."

Now it was Kurogane who stared, startled into momentary speechlessness. "What?" he repeated, brows furrowing into the beginnings of a scowl. Fai's words may have held no malice rather than simple curiosity, but they felt insulting all the same.

Fai seemed unperturbed as he sat down, smoothing out his kimono. "It is a tough choice, you see," he said and sighed audibly.

The scowl on Kurogane's face only deepened. "What's that supposed to-"

"Kuro-sama," Fai interrupted, giving him a serious look, "I was wondering; just how impartial are you to the concept of 'thought before action'?"

Kurogane didn't answer. He didn't trust himself to speak, in fact, so made do with his scowl and his hand fisted in his robes. He hadn't exactly expected a thank you – granted, he hadn't expected the punch either, but found he didn't mind that much, not when it was coupled with a nickname and that smile – but the direction this conversation was taking was nowhere near what he had imagined.

The nerve the magician had to treat him like- like a child.

He could take the fake-smiles and endless teasing, put up with the silences and the passive-aggressive anger, and by now he well understood Fai's motivations for each one. It was not his place to judge, never had been, and he had made that more than clear, on several occasions. But he definitely expected to not be judged in return, and to be treated with the respect he both offered himself and thus felt he deserved as well.

Not like this, though. Not after everything that had happened.

Frankly, for Kurogane, this conversation was over.

"Fine." He huffed. Lifting himself rather ungracefully with one arm, he stood and looked at the other man, clenching and unclenching his fist. "If you're just going to sit there all day, thinking you can insult and berate me for my actions, thinking you can judge me, after all that I've-" He stopped, shaking his head, took a deep, steadying breath. "You know what, I have better things to do," he said finally and made for the door.

As he walked by, Fai caught his wrist. Too angered still, Kurogane tried to wrench himself free of the other man's grip, but almost lost his balance in the process and steadied himself just in time. He tried staring Fai down instead, but was surprised when he found a genuine, warm smile on the magician's face. Fai blinked up at him, something like adoration dancing in the depth of his single remaining eye. His grip on Kurogane gradually lessened, fingers eventually sliding from the warrior's wrist to lace themselves with his and effectively join their hands. Involuntarily, Kurogane felt his own features softening into a questioning look.

"I'm sorry, Kuro-sama," Fai whispered, "I didn't mean it that way. I'm sorry."

"Then what did you mean?" Kurogane queried, not bothering to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

Fai broke eye contact, looking at the hand in his lap instead. "I just wanted to know if you really thought this through to the end. Since Kuro-sama always says that he means what he does, even though I think he can certainly be a bit of a hothead and therefore too rash in his actions sometimes."

Kurogane slipped his hand out of Fai's to grab the man's wrist and forcefully pull him up. Fai gasped, stumbling before he stood, then looked up at the warrior with his eye wide and his mouth slightly agape.

"What do you take me for?" Kurogane asked, trying not to bark the words at him. "Do you think I cut my arm off for kicks? Do you think I would do that for anyone? It may have been a rash decision, but I don't regret it. I don't regret anything."

Fai blinked. "Good," he said, swallowed, then repeated with a weak smile, "Good."

Kurogane waited. "Is that all?"

Fai's hand squirmed in his grasp, so Kurogane let go, albeit reluctantly, and a moment of silence fell in which the magician averted his gaze. "You have a nice home world," Fai said eventually, quietly.

Kurogane frowned. "I know," he said slowly, paused. "It that all?" he repeated. He wasn't quite sure himself what he was asking for, only that it was important. Maybe he felt that he deserved that thank you after all.

Fai chuckled nervously before he continued. "I like it very much." His gaze was all over the place, everywhere except on the man in front of him, who was growing more impatient by the second, not bothering to try to hide the fact anymore.

Kurogane huffed. "Oi, don't change the subject, mage. If you've got something to say, then-"

"The accommodations Tomoyo-chan has given me are very nice, too," Fai rambled on, seemingly oblivious to Kurogane's queries. "Very luxurious, I must say, although probably a bit too large for me..." He trailed off helplessly.

Kurogane sighed and decided that it was time to finally make good of his promise from before. Curling his hand into a fist, he gave Fai a light knock on the head. The magician yelped in surprise. "Don't call her Tomoyo-chan," Kurogane chided as Fai rubbed his head and threw him a slightly reproachful look. "And that's good for you, I suppose, but you didn't answer my question."

Fai was silent for a second. "They are," he paused briefly, thoughtful, "close by, you know. My accommodations, I mean." He arched one eyebrow, waited a second before he added, "And she gave permission to call her that. Even told us to."

Kurogane scowled but said nothing. He didn't know what to make of Fai's words, couldn't even begin to fathom why the magician was talking about the beauty of his country – not that he was wrong – or the extravagance of the room he had been given. In fact, sensing that the conversation was derailing more and more, Kurogane felt very much in danger of developing a headache. He pinched the bridge of his nose in silent exasperation, then said, "Can you just- will you please stop avoiding the subject already?" He threw Fai a glare through his fingers for good measure. "And have some fucking respect, will you?"

Kurogane startled as he looked at Fai then. His latest outburst had earned him the widest grin yet, one he hadn't been treated to by the magician in months. Despite himself, Kurogane felt something tight uncoil in his chest, irritation making way for a massive wave of gratitude and relief; the way he had felt when he first woke up in Nihon and finally found his princess smiling down at him.

"What I'm saying, Kuro-tan," Fai said, and the smile somehow found its way into his voice as well, "is that I think I will like it very much here, very much." He paused deliberately, busying himself for a moment by smoothing out the hem of Kurogane's kimono against the man's chest and letting his hands linger there. "After everything is over, that is," he finally added for clarification.

Kurogane was silent for a moment. "Good," he said after a while, cleared his throat. "That's good." He frowned, whether at himself or the other man, he wasn't quite sure. "Was that what this was all about? You staying here?" he asked incredulously.

Fai shrugged. "I just wanted to make sure that Kuro-sama knew what he signed up for." His tone was nonchalant, but Kurogane could see the lingering hesitation in his eyes, the silent question.

Kurogane snorted. "You're too late for that, mage. I knew back in Tokyo, months and worlds ago." He thought for a moment, then decided to add, "And I'll have you know that I'm perfectly fine with that." And he was.

Fai's eye widened momentarily, then he smiled brightly, brilliantly. "Oh, good," he chirped, "Because Kuro-rin is st~u~ck with me now. You saved me. You freed me. It was your own decision, or so you keep saying." His smile widened impossibly. "So now, there's no going back. You will never ever get rid of me again." And the smile turned a bit devilish at the edges. "Ever," he finished, and looked Kurogane straight in the eye, as if daring him to disagree.

Kurogane didn't.

In fact, Kurogane wasn't fazed at all, and very much wanted to make that fact known. "I'm fine with that," he reiterated, meeting Fai's eye and pronouncing every word very clearly and very carefully. "If it's what you want, then it's fine. And once we get your magic back, and you're no longer a vampire, if it's still what you want, then that's fine, too. I am fine with that." He felt he was being redundant, but with Fai one never really knew. Better to make it as clear as possible, he thought, and then some. "As long as it's what you want. As long as you want to live," he paused briefly, and finished, "here."

Silence fell as Kurogane gave the other man a moment to let that sink in. Feeling satisfied, and maybe a little bit smug, he watched Fai go through the motions. The magician did not respond, just kept staring back unblinking, some unknown struggle seemingly taking place in him as he opened his mouth, closed it again, and repeated the action two more times.

Deciding that it was never a good idea to spoil people too much, least of all this very man before him, Kurogane added after a while, "And besides, I'm probably the only one who can handle you at this point." Fai's eyebrows arched up at that. Kurogane grinned. "Tch," he continued, "You and your roundabout way of addressing your insecurities. Just ask, for heaven's sake, is that so hard?"

He hadn't meant for the question to be answered, so didn't mind when Fai remained silent. Instead, Fai busied himself again with Kurogane's robes, running his hands along the length of the hem, his eye following the movement thoughtfully. It seemed clear that he didn't know what else to say, or didn't want to, so Kurogane simply caught one of his wrists, silently demanding attention, and when Fai looked up he said, "Come on, let's go see the kids." He half-turned to go but felt resistance and a gentle tuck on his kimono, bringing him back around. Kurogane looked down at Fai. "Something else?"

"Yes," said Fai but fell silent, looking up at the warrior with an unreadable expression on his face. Kurogane waited. It seemed that the magician was struggling again – with himself, with words, it didn't matter – so for once, Kurogane waited patiently. "There's one more thing," Fai said after a while. He took a deep breath, twisted his one hand free of Kurogane's grasp, then slowly, very slowly reached up with both and gently cupped Kurogane's face. Smiling, Fai stood on his toes and pressed a tentative kiss to the warrior's lips, lingering for just a moment. "Thank you," he whispered adoringly.

Kurogane stayed silent.

Fai was still smiling as he sank back down on his heels, his hands falling to his side. He stepped around Kurogane, turned back to him and held out a hand in invitation. "Come," he said, face alight with laughter and amusement, "we don't want to keep the children waiting."

Kurogane kept silent, but he took the hand offered. And if he smiled a little, too, Fai didn't comment on it.

A/N: Just one of the many, many scenarios for this (supposedly) missing scene from chapter 167 (and I'm only just 7 years too late, hurray!). May have turned out a bit generic and the ending is, true to fashion, sappy, so I apologise.

I really like it when people talk past each other, and these two here are just a goldmine for awkward conversations that go all over the place, only to circle back to what was originally the point. Sort of. The title was chosen simply for the expression 'going off on a tangent'. (Also it doubles as a synonym for 'touching', so that's nice, too, I guess.)

Fai wasn't meant to be this insecure, but it suited the fic much better than what I first imagined. I hope the OOC'ness isn't too apparent or distracting.

There's a lot of wrist-grabbing here... (I don't know why.)

Reviews are welcome; concrit may be secretly worshipped.

Cheers.