Disclaimer: I do not own Cirque du Freak/ The Saga of Darren Shan.

Warnings: Gavner/Kurda pairing, possibility of OOC, and awful writing. Enjoy!

Mapmaking

He would have taken pity on the vampire, but after broadcasting his private nickname, he decided to go through with the torture. After all, they needed to spend more time together. Long nights and short days made it impossible for them to do much else aside from sleeping together. It was beyond excellent, but Kurda preferred to know who was making love to him.

While gathering all of the tools needed for mapmaking, Kurda glanced over at his companion. Gavner kept still against the wall, waiting for him to finish. His eyes, though, kept darting over to him, or rather to his ass. Things like that made Kurda wonder about how serious their relationship was.

Straightening up, Kurda tossed a bag containing spare mapmaking equipment over to the vampire. Although vampires like Gavner had great hand-eye coordination and could easily catch something thrown at them, he missed. The bag fell to the floor, making Kurda's eyes light up in amusement. Gavner cleared his throat before bending down to pick it up.

"I wasn't paying attention," he admitted, color filling his face.

Smiling with silent laughter, Kurda nodded. "It's obvious, Gavner," he said as he packed his own materials in to his bag. "Well, that's all we need. Are you ready to go?" he asked joyfully.

Gavner's shoulders sagged as he groaned. "You know, Kurda, couples do fun things. They leave this mountain and travel, for example. Why stay and map out tunnels? After all, no one uses them!"

"We can't exactly leave right now. You know there's too much going on for us to travel," he explained, turning down the idea at once. "Besides, there's nothing wrong with mapmaking! It is helpful to vampires like me, and to those who wish to expand our living arrangements. Not to mention, they help us keep everyone here safe. We've found several openings that could have easily been used against us by enemies or wild animals."

Walking to him, Gavner put his arm around him. His hand gripped his shoulder tight, making the bruise he had gotten from their lovemaking ache. "Maps are for humans," he stated, repeating what the majority of the vampires thought. It did not surprise him to hear Gavner use that expression.

Sighing, Kurda shook his head. "You all say that until you actually need them." Raising his hand, he gently took hold of Gavner's. "Amuse me?" he pleaded, eyes glittering with pretend sadness.

"How the hell do you do it? You can get me to do whatever you want," the older vampire muttered. Gavner leaned in and kissed him. "Can it last an hour at the very least?" Clearly, the man thought he was not going to enjoy himself.

"An hour," Kurda consented before giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Are you happy with that?"

Grasping Kurda's face with his rough hands, Gavner gave him a proper kiss on the lips. "Now I am," he answered before slipping his tongue inside Kurda's mouth. In an attempt to prevent a more heated situation, Kurda pulled away.

Smiling at his boyfriend, Kurda began to walk out the room. The pat his butt received let him know Gavner was right behind him. "You don't like holding hands, but you love to keep your hand on my ass, don't you?" The only answer he received was a squeeze. "Quit it," he ordered as he pulled away. Although no one was around to see them, Kurda knew his face was beginning to redden.

They arrived at the tunnel he had picked out for them. Like all the others, it was dark and easy to map, as long as they had light and paid careful attention. "We should ready ourselves out here, before we go in," he told the other vampire. "It'll be easier for us."

As he began to take out the tools, Gavner began to wander about. His eyes squinted, as if trying to capture the tiniest of details around them in his mind. "It doesn't look like much, Kurda," he commented. "Are we starting off easy?"

"We certainly are. It hardly makes sense for us to start off with something complex when you haven't mapped out anything." Noticing the lines bearing down on the vampire's face, he released a short breath. "You don't wish to begin at an easy level?"

Passing his hand through his hair, the vampire general shrugged. "It's a vampire thing, Kurda. Do not worry, I will go along and do this. I mean, mapping's hard enough, right?" Sticking to his words, he took out a pencil and a sheet of gridded paper. "So what's first, teacher?"

"Well, I should explain-"

Laughter overwhelmed Kurda's words, reducing him to silence while he and Gavner shared a look. The boisterous noise neared them, which did not leave them with a chance of speaking. Kurda's eyes lingered on Gavner, wondering what explanation he was going to use this time. While their relationship was not disgusting to their fellow vampires, some of them still teased Gavner for it. They never said much to Kurda about it and he knew why.

One could look at Kurda and suspect that he might not be straight, and among his clan, it was okay because they did not shun him. That, however, was what bothered Kurda. When people looked at Gavner the thought of the vampire being bisexual or homosexual vanished. He was manly, a fighter, and had interests that no gay poster boy could ever be thought of having. The basis for their mockery was image.

Gavner was a step ahead of him in acting detached. Without trying to be discreet, Gavner distanced himself from his boyfriend. Pretending not to notice, Kurda straightened up as he saw the pair of vampires come into view. Closing his eyes, he held in a breath before resuming to normal breathing. When he opened his eyes he saw Vancha March and Seba Nile greeting them with smiles.

Within him, a piece of him began to swell with joy. Out of all the vampires, the pair in front of them never gave them any trouble, except when they walked in on them kissing. That had earned them both some teasing from Vancha and a lecture on safety from Seba. Those things they could live with.

It did not take long for the pair to question what he and Gavner were doing there by themselves and so far away. Opening his mouth before Kurda, his boyfriend answered truthfully. "I'm taking a lesson on mapping from the master himself," he said as held up the unmarked piece of paper. "We were about to start when Vancha's annoying laugh interrupted us. What about you two?"

Seba frowned. Before Vancha could take a verbal jab at Gavner, he spoke. "Forgive us for disrupting your lessons. Gavner, I did not think you had such interests. You always appeared to have disliked maps and such things. There is no one else here who can surpass Kurda's talent for the craft. You found yourself an incredible teacher."

"A handsome one, too!" chimed in Vancha with a short laugh.

"You need to find a woman soon, Vancha," Gavner said as he shook his head at the vampire prince.

Doing his best to look casual, Kurda flashed them all a smile. "You needn't worry about it, Seba. Nothing vital was interrupted, and your visit is always welcomed." His voice was rich with warmth, so much that Vancha appeared to have calmed. The act worked on one of them, which was more than he had hoped. "What brings you both here?" he asked before anyone could say anything.

After clearing his throat loudly, Vancha shrugged. "We met about twenty minutes ago and began to talk. I am not sure how it happened, but our feet took us here. Seriously, we didn't know you love birds would be here!"

"Now that you are here, how would you like to try your hand at mapping?" Gavner proposed.

Both Vancha and Seba shared a look. The former noticeably glanced over at Kurda, who smiled benignly. "Why not try it? It's a helpful skill to know," he added. "Well, Seba already knows, but Vancha, you could learn something new."

While the elderly vampire looked as if he was going to decline, Vancha did the opposite. "You make a convincing argument, Kurda. I've got time to kill, for once!" he laughed as he yanked away Gavner's own paper and pencil.

"Unfortunately my schedule is filled, so I must decline the offer. The three of you should do well without me holding you back," Seba said, smiling.

Shaking his head, Kurda returned the smile. "Seba, you wouldn't be holding us back. Most likely, you will be the one ahead of everyone. Maybe you'll join us next time?"

Pausing before speaking, Seba dipped his head. "Perhaps I will. Thank you for your consideration," he answered. After briefly gazing at Gavner, he turned to Kurda once more. "Enjoy yourselves," he told them before turning his back on them and leaving.

A handful of seconds trickled by before Vancha spoke up. "So how does this work?"

Before Kurda could begin to explain, he noticed Gavner tensing up. Walking over to Vancha, he pretended not to notice when Gavner placed himself in between them, keeping his body close to Kurda. Part of him grinned with delight over the act, but the other wanted to slap himself for being so easily pleased. Jealousy offered very little to be so thrilled over.

"It's simple. We are going to work to a set scale, as you know. Every so often you'll have to draw a line according to the scale and the tunnel," he began.

"This sounds complicated already," uttered Vancha, eyebrows low. "Is this a good hobby to have? Don't you ever think that picking up a spear might prove to be better?"

Gavner snorted. "Kurda's good enough with a spear. It is his life, you know. Besides, learning this might actually make us look smarter, even if it doesn't do a damn thing about our intelligence."

Laughing loudly, Vancha relied on the rock wall behind him to keep him steady. "I guess the clan's right about you two!"

Silence, aside from Vancha's quieting laugh, overcame them.

"What does that mean?" Both Kurda and Gavner looked as if they were going punch the laughing vampire.

Raising his hands up, Vancha took a step away from them. "It's nothing awful. Some vampires think Gavner will become smarter. Kurda, they think you will stop being a pacifist. You're both good to each other, no matter what anyone says."

Stepping forward, toward the prince, Kurda frowned. "What are they saying? Why is our relationship anyone's business? It's something personal that only Gavner and I have any right to talk about." Crossing his arms, he waited for a response.

Passing a hand through his hair, Gavner sighed. "This would be a perfect time to remind you, Kurda, that he's a prince. If you keep talking like this we'll land ourselves in trouble, isn't that right, sire?"

"I never really cared about that," replied Vancha. Snatching a hand from each of them, he arranged them so their fingers intertwined. "You're right, Kurda. This bond in front of me is not mine to gossip about. As long as you are together the clan will continue to talk about you two, you should understand that. Your relationship his hotter than Larten and Arra's was. If you two aren't ready to accept that and all it comes with, you'll easily break."

Looking away, Kurda closed his eyes. He knew the prince was right. "Gavner?" he whispered.

"I'll leave you both alone," muttered Vancha, not looking back as he moved away from the pair.

Together their hands remained, but Kurda felt his boyfriend's hand slip just a little. Mustering up a little nerve, he pulled Gavner close to him and kissed him. Their lips met with ferocious intensity. Pulling away was almost heart wrenching. Their moment in Paradise lingered in their eyes.

Raising his arm, Gavner pulled him until their bodies met as close as they could. Kurda lowered his head and embraced him. Beating hearts sped as they shared another kiss, a gentler and forgiving one. It was more loving than the first.

"Do you want to continue?" Gavner asked.

"That depends on you."

"Mapmaking isn't easy, Kurda, especially for someone like me…" Gavner kept him in an embrace, looking into his eyes. "There are several obstacles, but I know I can handle it. Can you stand teaching someone like me?"

Giving him a third kiss, Kurda nodded. "A teacher can only teach a student who's willing to learn. We can do this," he replied.

Taking his hand, Kurda pulled Gavner away from the tunnel. Their tools and bags remained as they were. Alongside each other, they walked back to Kurda's residence. Gavner's hand remained as strong as ever on his.

End.