Disclaimer: I don't own them.
A/N: With this and Fayry-go-round, I'm done with the 15 Flames challenge. As some of the entries are pictures (and some are NC-17), to see all 15 entries, look for draconn-malfoy at LiveJournal.
The Black Knight
Fay shouldn't have been wearing black.
This was Kurogane's firm opinion. Who cared that this was the style of the country, who cared that they were supposed to represent the black Chess pieces, Fay shouldn't have been wearing black. The eye-patch was quite enough, and even that he stood only because it would have looked absolutely absurd had it been, for example, pink. Black eye-patch made sense. Fay in completely black clothing did not.
He was the black one, had always been, both in name and appearance. Black hair forming spikes as though to prick anyone who dared too close, red eyes blazing with an inner fire, dressed in black from head to toe whenever he could just help it. On him, black clothes were right. They were meant to be like that. But Fay...
It reminded him of Yama, obviously. There the blonde had also been wearing black – another painful memory. Although Fay had done a great job at hiding his true feelings, like always, he had not managed to entirely mask his inner self. And Kurogane's eyes, always attentive for even the tiniest hints of the mage's true thoughts, had seen the pain in those eyes. Of course, the pain had not – presumably – had been there because of the clothing, but instead it had been a result of the absolute loneliness one could only achieve in the middle of thousands of people none of which understood a word of what he said. The black clothing had simply made the pain even more obvious as it had been so different from the mage's previous attire, and Kurogane had come to associate Fay's pain with entirely black clothes. Thus, he resented the choice of colour.
What this told about his feelings for the mage he did not know, nor did he have the desire to further analyze the implications.
Of course, the mage had often been wearing some black, starting from when they had first met. Half light, half black, his attire had well represented the dual nature of the mage himself – darkness and secrets lurking beneath a cheerful and open appearance. But now it was all black, and Fay was all black, too – yet he still wasn't his true self.
It pained Kurogane more than he could have ever thought possible.
It would change, he kept telling himself. Next they would land in a cute and sweet country where everybody was wearing pink and white, and the mage would turn into his former self, teasing Kurogane about being the only one in black clothes in the land of cheerfulness. Then the stupid meat bun would try to wrap some pink cloth around him, and he'd chase both of the idiots, and –
Except that it couldn't happen. Not anymore. They had all changed too much, he had changed, Fay had changed. Even the stupid meat bun had changed, becoming more serious than anything with such an appearance should be allowed to be.
Maybe in the next world, he would start wearing white instead. It wasn't a very good choice for a ninja, of course, but he wanted something to change before he went insane. If Fay was wearing black, he would have to wear white just to balance it out. He liked red more than white, really, but he couldn't wear red. He had a suspicion it would just remind Fay of his blood.
A finger absentmindedly danced over the band on his left wrist as the ninja's mind turned to self-doubt. Had it been his becoming a vampire that had changed Fay so much? Or did he just resent Kurogane so badly for saving his life?
Either way, it was obviously his responsibility, a result of his choices. Therefore, he really had no right to complain.
But still, Fay should not have been wearing black.