Kirei throws the dead weight of Kariya's unconcious body on the couch. He looks down at the man, listening to his uneven breathing. His arms feel tired.
"Exploring your limits with necrophilia?" he hears the voice of Gilgamesh as he suddenly appears in the room besides him.
"What would your mentor say if he knew about this?" Gilgamesh says sitting down on the futon.
"Pour me wine." he commands as a golden chalice materializes in his hand along with a bottle of wine. Kirei slowly approaches him, takes the bottle in his hands and pours its contents into the chalice.
"You can pour yourself too." Gilgamesh adds sipping on his wine and a second cup materializes on the table.
"I've always enjoyed the company of priests and scholars. I found them most entertaining."
"No appreciation for artists?"
"Artists? What could artists know of the desperate struggles to reach out beyond the mortal limitations of the soul? Do they realize how misplaced their sense of self-entitlement is when they invest fortunes in exotic dyes to adorn the statues of their own making with pretty colors? Do they suffer self-denial when they arrange their flashy displays of singing and dancing? It's all dull foolishness worth only the interest of goat herders and prostitutes." Gilgamesh says as Kirei makes a face downing the contents of his cup.
"Watching you drink such exquisite wine one could think you're drinking vinegar." Gilgamesh laughs.
''I apologize. It must be my goat herder tendencies." Kirei retorts bitterly.
"Surely." Gilgamesh makes a toast to him. "You need to learn to enjoy yourself more." he adds as Kirei pours himself wine.
They're both startled when the air is pierced by a sudden cry from Kariya. Kirei comes up to the man and looks into his contorted face.
"Aoi, please..." Kariya moans, thrashing around restlessly as if caught up in a nightmare of some sort. Kirei hesitates, sits down, and brings his palm to the other man's forehead brushing his hair away.
"You sure have an eye for the grotesque." comes the voice from behind Kirei's back.
"He must be around my age." Kirei says with a note of disbelief in his voice, looking at Kariya's aged wrinkled face and gray hair.
"Pathetic." Gilgamesh declares. "Shall we end this?" a bronze dagger materializes in his hand and he brings it to Kariya's throat but Kirei stops him, grabbing him forcibly by his wrist. Gilgamesh raises his eyebrows and gives Kirei a sharp look. Kirei's face is slightly flushed, in contrast to his cold eyes, gleaming strangely in complete detachment, deeply dark as if drawing all the light from the already dimly lit room.
"Something's on your mind?" Gilgamesh asks with a smile recognizing that peculiar expression of Kirei's as the man lets go off his wrist.
"Maybe." Kirei swallows taking his eyes off Kariya's face to look up briefly at Gilgamesh with a haunting smile. He closes his eyes.
"Tell me." Gilgamesh says taking Kirei's chin in his hand, closing the distance between them, whispering in his ear. "Tell me everything."