"Hurry up, you slow bug!"

Haruka puffed as he tried to catch up to his brother. After having his head handed to him in their last spar, he was a little worse for wear. Rido marched on ahead, climbing one of the many hills of their massive estate to reach his private spot. "Haruka!" He yelled impatiently, tapping his teenaged foot while his young brother trudged up after him. He knew the boy was bright: if only he could improve on his offence (by actually having one!), he wouldn't get beaten so badly whenever they fought. Rido was a little disgusted with his 'talk, don't fight' policy.

But their parents had told him to look after his siblings, and he did so with… well, he really didn't do anything but what he wanted, actually. So long as someone was watching them and they didn't set the forest afire, what else was there? Haruka clambered up next to him and bent to catch his breath. Rido scooted away to give him some space, looking out from his favourite point.

"Look up, idiot. Isn't it amazing?" Haruka tilted his head up to snap back, but almost stopped breathing when he saw what his brother had brought him to watch:

Thousands of stars shot across the sky every minute, it seemed. Quicksilver streaks on a celestial canvas. "Rido…" He started: Haruka loved beautiful things. He would survey in awe their perfection, ever delicate and loving when handling them. Like with Juuri… Rido watched him for a second with a superior look on his face, his smile fading when he noticed exactly how taken Haruka was with the scene. Then, his brother stood and turned to him with a gleam in his eyes,

"I think this is the nicest thing you've ever done for me." Which was no understatement: Rido was damn selfish, and Haruka was very surprised he'd wanted to share this sight, even if did mean showing off. The older boy stared at him for a moment, a bit of a pout on his lips that made Haruka snigger. Rido whacked him over the head and ordered him to sit down.

"The show goes on for a few more hours," he explained. They sat and relaxed into the night, fingers clenching the grass as their excellent eyes picked up colours and brightness others could only ever dream of. It was getting a little cold, being a September night, but both of them were so rapt with the heavenly spectacle they wouldn't know if ice crept over them.

"Rido," Haruka finally said, tracking a comet distractedly. His brother grunted in response,

"What?" moments like this were few and far between, and Haruka gulped as he reached for his question,

"Why did you want to show me this?" Rido froze, not answering for a few minutes, eyes focusing hard as they could on the tails and shines produced by the light show. Haruka gave up and went back to watching, almost startling when the boy spoke to him in the too-low-for-your-age voice.

"Because the next time this happens is more than a thousand years away-we might not even know each other then." Now Haruka was startled: was his brother actually being… brotherly? "Plus," the brunette added, trying not to sound too hasty, "I know you like pretty things and I wanted to make a point to you how useless and hard-to-maintain that is." Haruka gave him an inquiring look and a bit of a glare and Rido glared right back, grin planted firmly on his lips, "You're such a girl, Haruka." He snorted.

Haruka pushed at his shoulder, giving Rido's body a fluid little wiggle. Rido frowned and pushed back much harder. Haruka growled and made to shove him, but Rido pounced and they started fighting again. It amazed the older boy that his brother would spar during such an incredible sight. Haruka must've really been hit hard by that last statement. That made him feel better than any after-sex haze. Especially when he pinned the boy and felt him struggle. Pure bliss, having the young teen trapped like that…

"Rido!!" Haruka yelled, having his older brother pulled back and slammed into a nearby tree. He immediately felt his body grow rigid, unable to move as a tingling pain started in his fingertips. Rido got up and came over in an invisibly fast line. The pain proceeded to hold his arms, and he couldn't even grunt or ask for it to stop as the other boy walked up. Then his eldest sibling slapped him, sending him flying and finally releasing him from the hold. Haruka sprawled on the grass, hiding his face in the older brunette's menacingly dominant aura.

"Don't you ever do that to me." Haruka started to breathe harshly when the other brunette turned and gave him control of his lungs, sweating and trembling as he attempted to gather himself. Rido plopped down a few feet away and continued watching with his brow screwed up. Haruka hid himself behind his rather shaggy hair, hands pulling his shirt tight, finally noticing the chill through the thin fabric.

They sat in silence for a while, the trees surrounding them hiding them well from the rest of the estate, but the height of the hill giving them an exemplar viewpoint of the star shower. Almost all of the bugs were hibernating by this time of year, the only orchestra playing, the hectic nocturnal tune of scurry, scamper, squabble. Haruka systematically clenched and released the grass, fiddling with the dirt and pebbles with superficial concentration. Rido was not unaware of the brief glances Haruka would give him, a small bit of pride bloating his chest at having his brother so disconcerted. But there was a bit of a disappointment lingering in his mind-it had been so peaceful, before. Sure, nothing exciting had been happening, but…

No: no, it had been plenty exciting.

He was here with his brother. Haruka. They always fought when Rido had the courtesy to show up at Juuri's little galas. A splash of wine here, an insult there, some ripped clothes and dismembered guests-it was all so terribly troublesome! And of course Juuri acted like their mother, through it all. She was as much for peace as Haruka, sometimes. The thought sent a strange feeling down his spine, something he would later know to be a mortal chill.

Haruka looked up suddenly, mesmerized by one of the stars. Rido followed his gaze and his jaw hung limp like drying laundry.

"Rido-look!!"

"It's red!" A red shooting star: was it possible? He hadn't seen anything like it before. They leaned in closer together and squinted, murmuring what they saw in a low, constant hum of thrilled twin voices. There it was; tail painted across the sky with a pinkish glare, head shimmering with a vibrant rouge.

"It's amazing!"

"I've never seen anything like it!"

"Do you suppose it'll ever happen again?" Somehow, that question stung Rido. He didn't know what it made him feel exactly, but it didn't seem very good. He looked back at the stars and Haruka's animated face. The night got a little cooler.

Haruka froze up. Instantly. His shocked eyes were still watching the stars and Rido could see those fingers twitching with angry, scared questions. He was trying to fight it… how cute.

He leaned forward, faintly surprised that Haruka had the power left to jolt a bit before their faces came so close. Rido eyed him, searching that face as he repositioned and climbed over his brother. What had made him feel that way? He certainly felt strong, now, if not a slight guilty for using the same trick twice: he liked to be creative in his punishments and tortures. No sense in struggling to take pleasure from the exact thing over and over again, right? Variety is the spice of life.

He pushed Haruka down and grabbed his chin, squeezing it and turning that head to left, then to the right, inspecting that childish face for what had brought on his lapse in… 'Rido'ness? He felt legs shudder under him and frowned, straddling the boy's hips to stop the annoyance. Wouldn't you know it, the boy directed the rogue energy to his face, instead trying to wiggle his head and free himself of at least Rido's cruel grip. Rido sighed temperamentally, letting go but not getting up, still holding the brunette down with a holier-than-thou air. Then he got an idea stuck in his head on how to further scare and discomfort his brother-a constant goal that would, unbeknownst to him in these early stages, seep into everyday life: a pinch of the buttocks here, an eye-'im-up-an'-down there, maybe a few lewd looks and off-colour comments that would make the boy splutter but have Juuri remain clueless. Though, the girl was a lot sharper than he gave her credit. It was why his parents paired them instead of her and Haruka, other than the age thing: Rido wasn't an incompetent peace-grubbing lunatic. Haruka would probably have half his race burned at the stake before facing the humans and battling it out. Some issues, the boy just really didn't know how to handle.

He was a little softer, now. Stroking that chin with his thumb and watching with giddiness and glee as a perplexed fear rose in Haruka's stunned eyes. He leaned in a bit more with lids at half-mast, greatly enjoying the powerful mortification that further stiffened the younger pureblood's already near-paralyzed frame. Their lips touched briefly and Rido thought he might gag, but it was all for the sake of dominance and illusion, so he fed up with it, and made sure he was as soft with his brother as he was with his sister. When he was in that rare, caring, protective mood. That girly shite was more Haruka's thing. Women liked men, not androgynous prettyboys with tendencies to shy away from ever-balancing violence.

Rido drew away at last, making sure to give his brother a lingering look, and then stood to walk away. When he was out of sight, he shot soundlessly up one of the trees and at last released the boy. He wanted to see the payoff, of course. But it was boring-so boring!-to the untrained eye. But Rido, naturally, was expertly trained in these matters, and snuggled into the pine as a hopeful voyeur.

It seemed to take Haruka a moment to register Rido had let him go, and he sat up ever-so slowly. He just seemed to crumple up his body, but Rido caught the finger to the lips beneath the messy mane and shake of silk-sheathed shoulders. When the brunette made to stand, he wobbled drunkenly for a moment, then stared up at the stars in a daze. He was almost like a zombie, a mundane, tired look on his face. Excruciatingly boring, and yet brilliantly exhilarating. Rido loved to play with his prey for a bit, but this was almost like being tickled! When Haruka finally stumbled away after a long look at the stars, Rido didn't take the time to notice the meaning behind the phrase that formed on those pretty lips:

"Rido, you bastard."

- this is what happens when I try to do fluff. It t'ain't pretty. XD - ジョーダン