This was conjured as I was sitting about moping about Kerry's loss in the presidential elections and listening to an old Queen album, The Game. That's right, I said album, as in one of those big round black frisbee-things that spin about and play music.

--Seph Lorraine (8:12 PM 11/3/2004)

Weiß Kreuz/Glühen does not belong to me, neither does Play the Game by Queen. Reread the name of this website again if you think I am lying.

This fic does contain shounen ai of the RanKen genre, which is awesome.

- - - - - - - - -

Play the Game by Seph Lorraine

- - - - - - - - -

Ran scanned over his last calculations with a skeptic crease in his brow. For some reason the sale profits were not adding up correctly. This was the third time he'd gone over the same list, subtracting the necessary shop expenses to receive some scrambled answer. Each one was different from the one before it.

He muttered darkly to himself, "Something has to be wrong with this calculator." He dropped said device to the counter-top dropping this head tiredly into this hands, his elbows supported by the much-abused linoleum counter. He was positively irritated.

Maths, surprisingly, had never been the storngest point of the redhead at any point in his life. He was not easy to admit it, of course, but it was true. Even in highschool, his strongest subjects had always been literature and history. He couldn't even remember having made a low mark in history.

With his memory, he didn't doubt that he could have spewed off a textbook chapter's worth on Mao Zedong and the formulation of the Chinese Communist Party in 1921.

Unfortunately, Ken knew this, as well. Not the part about the Communism, of course.

"Given up yet?" The brunette smirked as he approached, his apron already hung by the door on it's usual hook. He leaned forward, resting his arms on the counter, looking directly across the counter at his redheaded lover.

"Ung." A noncommital grunt from the older man, not even bothering to look up as he stared blearily at the countertop. He was frustrated and tired, but he would never give up a mission once it began. And his mission was to manage these expenses. "This music isn't exactly helping."

In the background the voice of a long-deceased Freddy Mercury sang across the air-time of some obscure radio station.

When you're feeling down and your resistance is low
Light another cigarette and let yourself go
This is your life
Don't play hard to get

It's a free world
All you have to do is fall in love
Play the game - yeah
Everybody play the game of love
Ooh yeah

Ken rolled his eyes, "C'mon, Ran. Just let me do it, I'll have it done in five minutes."

Violet eyes regarded the younger man cooly as he reached forward, taking a drink from Ran's tall water glass. He did that often, share things without conscious thought. If it was Ran's it was his.

"Why do you do that?" Ran didn't realize he had even spoken until Ken gave him a confused look, setting the glass down with a small chink.

"What do you mean?" The brunette raised

The redhead shook his head and looked away thoughtfully, "Nevermind."

"No... What did you mean?"

"You would have taken it the wrong way. Nevermind it. It wasn't important." The redhead picked up the calculator again, regarding his numbers with an unsteady eye, the weariness seeping into his expression.

A tanned hand reached out, grasping the calculator and pulling it from his limp grasp. Ken shook his head, "You tell me what you meant and I'll do this for you." He pulled the small sheaf of papers and receipts towards him, grabbing a pen from a tin cup beside the register, "I promise not to take it the wrong way."

Ran frowned, moving to lean on just one arm, tapping the other idly against the table. Ken did make a very appealing offer, despite his pride. "Fine."

The brunette nodded, already drifting into some oblivious world where people spent their time solving equations and were happy about it. Nevermind the lot of famous mathmaticians of history that had driven themselves crazy with their work. Quite literally.

"Proceed." Ken's voice wasn't the most attentive, but he had a pen in one hand and it was scrolling itself in numerals all up and down the side of Ran's own ineffective work.

Glancing idly towards the water glass to his right the redhead sighed, "You share things... Like my drinks, my socks, you use my toothpaste, and so on."

Brown eyes looked up suddenly, the pen faultering in it's sweeping numbers, "I didn't know it bothered you--"

Ran glared, "You're not supposed to take it the wrong way."

"Well, what do you mean, then?" Ken's hair, longer now than it had ever been in the past, brushed the tip of his nose when left uncombed, as it did presently.

Unable to contain himself the redhead reached over and brushed away the hair obscuring his view of the other man's face, "I just wanted to know why."

Ken's eyes remained focused on him steadily, something vague settling in his irises, "You want me to stop?"

Taking back his hand, Ran frowned, "I didn't say that-- You said you wouldn't take this the wrong way."

"I know, but if it's something that's bothering you, I want to fix it."

"Why?"

"Because I love you, and you're an asshole when I don't."

Always trust Hidaka Ken to tell it like it is.

"No need to flatter me." Sarcasm seeped into the redhead's voice as he began tapping his fingers again.

"You hate it when I flatter you." The concerned gaze turned blunt and obvious.

A pointed half-glare was directed towards the younger man.

"Well, it's true." The brunette became rather sardonic all at once, "Ran, those jeans are really working for you, today. Make you look real hot, they do. If you're free, we could excuse ourselves for a quick fuck in the--"

"Hidaka." The redhead's voice was low, a warning, though obviously a bluff.

Ken sniggered, turning back to his work, "No seriously. It'd only take a minute, ya know. I can be real fast when--"

Ran reached forward quickly and closed his hand over the other man's mouth as the other man tried to jerk away, though he couldn't resist the smile on his own lips as he did so. Ken was always doing this, and this was one of the few times he had waited until the room was clear to do it. He got hours of hell from Youji over Ken's displays.

The younger backed away from the counter, away from the redhead's reach to finish laughing at his firey lover, only returning to his place when he had settled himself, "You're such an ass."

A narrow glare as the redhead stood to go hang his own apron by the door. He paused as he passed the brunette, "You didn't answer my question."

"Which was...?" Ken was focused once more on the list of expenses before him and didn't spare the other man a glance.

"Why?"

"Why-what?"

"What?" Violet eyes blinked as the brunette continued solving away at his work.

"You asked me why I share things, yet that has a ton of answers. That could be because your stuff is better, because I love you and other such mushy things, because your stuff is always more convenient than hunting around for mine--"

"Well, maybe if you organised it a little better--"

"--or because of sex."

As said before, when asked, thou shallt receive an answer.

Ran stared blankly, "You do it for sex?" He paused as the brunette nodded nonchalantly, pen flying across the page, "You have a one track mind, Ken."

The brunette shrugged, "When there's only one track you can't get lost."

The redhead stalked lightly to hang his own apron on a hook by the door, "Hn."

As he headed back to the counter the brunett lifted himself from his hunched-over position, "Aha! Finished."

Ran blinked.

Ken frowned, "What?"

"You can add."

"And subtract." The brunette looked mock-offended.

"You can do maths." Surprise.

"And you can't." Smirk.

Ran blinked, again.

Ken smirked, shrugging a bit, "I got pretty good marks in highschool. It just makes sense to me, I suppose."

Something heated within Ran. He had been surpassed. His pride stung a bit.

"You can stop acting so surprised, now." The brunette's humour with the situation was obviously abrupt, ending in a slight sense of actual offense. He turned back to the counter with a straight face, eyes humourless, and began to pull together the papers he had been using, stacking them neatly (for once) by the register.

The redhead frowned, kicking aside his already skinned pride and stepped forward, "I didn't mean it like that. It's just--"

When Ken turned back his smile was small and understanding, "You're not a maths-person, and I don't seem like one. I know, I know." Without a second's waste, the brunette closed the gap between them, reaching up to brush his hands over his lover's shoulders and then down over his chest in a single smooth motion. His brown eyes were dark and inviting, and Ran felt himself leaning forward to meet the other man's lips with his own.

The kiss was slow and lingering, not one of urgency or need. Just a reminder of why they were standing there, alone in the flower shop at eleven in the evening, only one small desk light glowing from the counter top to illuminate the room. Ken pressed forward a bit rougher in his motions, rapping an arm around the redhead's neck. It was a while before either dared to move.

Ken's voice was whispered, though mirthful as it mocked, "It'd only take a minute, ya know. I can be real fast--"

"Shh..." Ran leaned forward and met the other man's lips quickly to silence him, "I'm feeling romantic, don't spoil the mood."

The small smirk on the brunette's lips softened lightly. The hand at the back of Ran's neck stilled before running itself invitingly through the redhead's hair. The motion was uncharacteristically gentle of the brunette, "What's that mean?"

A rain of soft kisses drifted gently upon Ken's moving lips, the redhead only stopped to move slowly to the other man's ear and breathe against it in a barely audibly voice, "Candles."

The younger man stilled for a moment, raising a questioning brow, but couldn't maintain his pensivity as Ran started to nibble on his ear, "Even after what happened last time?"

The menstrations stopped as the redhead remembered their last "romantic" evening, "This time we won't set them so near the bed."

Ken grabbed his lover's collar gently and tugged him back to face him directly, leaning into the redhead's lips one more time before heading up stairs, "You know I'm not good at acting romantic, Ran."

"Then don't act. Just do what you usually do and share your body with me." Ran pulled away, and took the other man's hand lightly, guiding him to the door up towards the apartments atop the shop. He muttered quietly, "You know you want to."

"It's sexy when you're all dramatic." Laughing lightly, the brunette followed him upstairs.

Play the game
Everybody play the game of love
This is your life - don't play hard to get
It's a free free world
All you have to do is fall in love

Play the game
Yeah play the game of love
Your life - don't play hard to get
It's a free free world
All you have to do is fall in love
Play the game yeah
Everybody play the game of love

"By the way, Ran... You seemed to be considering something while you were trying to add up our expenses. Is something wrong?"

"Actually, I was thinking about becoming a history teacher."

"...What?"

- - - - - - - - -

"I live so that you are reminded every day that I love you."

Reviews are greatly appreciated. :)