Disclaimer: I own very little.

A/N: This was originally posted on Tachibana's birthday. Written for a massive fantasy AU I'm working on. The AU itself has literally dozens of pairings; this fic, however, is just Beauty Spot Pair.

Basically, King Nanjirou's army consists of five Guards; Silver, Black, Green, Blue, and Red. Tachibana's the captain of the Black Guard, Atobe of Silver. Most (but not all) Tenipuri boys serve under them or one of the other captains -- Minami, Tezuka, and Aoi.

Gambles

One of the absolutely worst things about staying in the capital, Tachibana decided as he marched down the corridor, was the boredom. Nothing much ever happened; aside from the constant training, there wasn't much to do. Of course, there was always the temptation of wine and parties, but being responsible for his men, he hardly could set such a bad example. Which meant he was bound to get bored.

Unless, of course, the day was like today. He could only barely resist the temptation of whistling happily as he walked forward briskly, coins cheerfully jingling in the purse on his hips. Oh, yes, today was definitely a good day.

While the boredom caused by lack of battles was indeed a threat, he also had to admit there were some advantages to the capital. Advantages like having his own room in the soldier barracks. His own room along the same corridor the other captains inhabited. Which meant getting into the said other captains' rooms unnoticed was fairly easy.

Knocking on a particular door, he gave Kabaji a quick nod and smile before stepping in, not waiting to be invited in.

He wasn't entirely surprised to find Atobe working on some papers. The Silver Guard's captain's room was rather similar to his. The papers on the desk were in a better order, granted, and the bed in the corner was made just a bit more neatly, but otherwise it was all the same, just like the other captains' rooms – though perhaps a tad cleaner. Tachibana often found himself wondering just how neat and well-ordered Atobe's office in the castle had to be, if his room in the barracks looked like this.

"You've been gambling." The distaste in Atobe's voice was clear.

"Oh?" Tachibana gave Atobe his best innocent grin, already knowing he wasn't fooling anyone. "What ever would make you think so?"

"Quite simple." Atobe raised his eyebrows. "For one thing, that stupid grin on your face. For another, your heavy purse. You never carry that much money with you unless you've been gambling."

"Aw, you know me far too well." Tachibana chuckled as he walked to Atobe's desk, leaning over it with a self-confident smirk. "You know, your men miss you in their games. They say nobody else can get the dice to stop rolling just by glaring at them."

"…Ore-sama does not gamble." Atobe's posture was rather stiff, his voice cool.

"Not anymore, no," Tachibana admitted. "Which is a pity. You used to be the second best, didn't you? Right after… myself." He grinned teasingly.

"Exactly." Atobe threw him a cold glare. "Ore-sama wonders why he doesn't play anymore, indeed."

Tachibana shrugged. Unlike the ordinary soldiers, he knew very well just what had caused Atobe's present distaste for gambling. He also wasn't about to share the story with anyone. It hit a bit too close to home, one might have said. "It's still a pity."

"Blame yourself." Atobe raised his eyebrows. "Now, if you'll excuse me, ore-sama has some business to attend to. Unless you actually had something important to say, aside from bragging with your gambling prowess?" The blue eyes were fixed on him, scrutinizing him as though he were a mere bug about to be crushed under Atobe's heel. Too bad for him such gazes hadn't worked on Tachibana in ages.

With a grin, Tachibana leant a bit closer. "Well… I could say quite a bit about those pretty eyes of yours."

Atobe snorted. "Stop playing around, Tachibana. Ore-sama doesn't have the patience today."

"Oh, is that so?" It didn't take much further for him to catch Atobe's lips with his. To his satisfaction Tachibana noted Atobe didn't pull away.

Breaking the kiss after a moment, Tachibana got around the table with a few long strides. Reaching out his hand, he then pulled Atobe up into yet another kiss. Atobe's lips were smooth against his, almost cold against Tachibana's heated mouth – truly living up to the name of the Ice King.

A hand slowly slid up his arm, up to his neck, entwining itself with the blonde locks there. Tachibana responded by reaching his arms around Atobe, pulling him just a bit closer. "Should we lock the door?" he murmured against Atobe's lips.

His answer was a slightly arched silvery eyebrow. "Kabaji certainly knows better than to let anyone else in while you are here," he got as a response before Atobe sealed his mouth with another meeting of lips.

Holding Atobe close, Tachibana started slowly walking towards the bed, doing his best not to break the kiss just yet. Soon enough his legs hit the edge of the bed, Atobe's other hand on his shoulder pushing him down to sit on the bed as Atobe climbed into his lap, not pausing for a second in the kiss.

Tachibana allowed his hands to wander around Atobe's slim waist, fighting to open the belt for a second before pulling it away. Opening the fastenings of Atobe's grey jacket one by one, he grinned against the smooth lips as he felt a pair of confident hands doing the same to his own clothing.

Soon enough they had discarded both their jackets and the simple grey shirts underneath. Pulling Atobe closer once again, Tachibana let his hands travel over the other's muscular back, enjoying the feeling of Atobe's bare chest pressed against his. In his opinion, there could never be too much direct skin contact. Speaking of which…

Letting his hands slide down enough to push his fingertips under Atobe's waistband and receiving merely a soft, approving hum in response, Tachibana sent a rare, wordless prayer of gratitude to whatever deities watched over him that he still continued to win his greatest of gambles, over and over again.

As he later gathered his clothes from the floor, feeling Atobe's eyes intent on his backside even as he pulled on his pants, he merely thanked his luck there was one little game Atobe still showed no sign of growing bored of.