Lunarmercury Presents:

Eudemonia

Eudemonia: n. true happiness

It was nights like this, Kurama reflected, that make him realize how perfectly his life had turned out. Nights where the moon shone its bright, pale light through the window; nights he was snuggled under the covers; nights his petite lover lay next to him, his chest rising and falling slightly, his face snuggled into Kurama's chest, his diminutive form clad in nothing but one of Kurama's silk night-shirts – which, Kurama supposed, was more than long enough to seem at least part-way decent, considering Kurama was nearly a foot taller than Hiei.

Yes, he reflected, fate truly had been kind to him – gifting him with a love beyond what he thought was possible, gifting him with the love of a demon none thought was capable of love, gifting him with friends and family and a second chance. He smiled softly down at his mate, stroking the outside of his thigh, feeling the velvety skin. 'And where for humans that's just prose, for Hiei, it is an honest description,' he mused. It was always incredible to him that his friend's skin was so soft. Callused and scarred as it was, there was no way it should have been soft – yet it was. 'Just like Hiei,' he decided. 'There's no reason for him to open up to new friends. There was no reason for him to forgive me, to continue our friendship, to fall in love with me... but he did.' His hand moved up to brush the bangs away from the closed eyes, accidentally brushing against one of the lids as he did so. This roused his lover's attention, and the incredible rutilant eyes flickered open. He gave Kurama a sleepy smile, reached up and nuzzled noses, then snuggled back into the position he was before (only this time, he snuggled his face into the crook of Kurama's neck), then quickly dropped off to sleep.

The corners of Kurama's mouth tipped up ever so slightly, as he remembered the first time Hiei had nuzzled noses.

It had been very soon after they started "courting" (as Hiei had put it), and Hiei – attention starved all his life – was still a bit shaky in the "physical contact" (read: kissing) area. So when Kurama leaned in for a kiss, he wasn't surprised when he didn't find his lover's lips. He was, however, surprised when Hiei's small button nose gently nudged his own, before retreating.

Kurama had looked at him quizzically, and Hiei offered his brief, simple explanation.

"A kiss is too easily stolen," he had told Kurama, sounding almost as if he were instructing the kitsune in something. "But when others are searching for pleasure – are… are taking it through any means…" his voice wavered slightly here, and Kurama had gently picked up his hand and stroked the back of it with his thumb. "When they are doing this," Hiei finally continued, his voice softer, "they'd never… I don't know what you'd call it."

"Nuzzle?" Kurama had suggested, and Hiei had nodded to show he like the name.

"They'd never do that. It's too tender."

Kurama's smile grew – just a bit – as he remembered that moment. 'Tenderness. Who'd ever have thought Hiei would express tenderness?'And who ever would have thought they'd experience love like this? Love so strong, so unreasoning, Kurama knew it had to last. Even though their feelings, their decisions, contained no reason. Even though it was wild and crazy.

Even though.

Eudemonia – End

Now, I don't particularly like author's notes, but I feel this story needs one. I received, as a present for Christmas, the book called Rare Words from Levenger. One of the words was "eudemonia," and it inspired me to write this story. In this book, after the definitions, it often has a bit of either history of the word or something to help remember the word and its meaning. In this case, it has some history after the word: "According to Aristotle's Ethics, eudemonia results from a life lived according to the dictates of reason." Now, this is very contrary to what we now believe: that love is unreasonable, but that it is a cause of true happiness. This is why I made sure to include in the story the parts about how the love was unreasonable. I felt it was important to make this contrast. It might not have come across well, or, upon reading this note, you might want to skim it again (as it is a fairly short story), just to see what I'm talking about. It might make more sense that way.