Under the stars.
Summary: It wasn't girls that he particularly liked, it was beauty. Yuri x Raven. One shot.
(x)
Sky lit with stars, Raven leaned against the railing, the cool iron sending a chill up his spine. He ignored that, though. All he cared about was the giant behemoth in the sky, entangled and warped and ominous. They had to do something about it, and fast, or everything in the history of their race would have all been in vain. Just the thought of that made his heart race, and pound in his chest.
That wasn't good for his health, though, he quickly realized. He clutched at his chest, eyebrows furrowed, eyes squinted.
"You alright, ol' man?" Came the groggy voice of Yuri, his vest removed, shirt opened. The swordsman was staggering towards the archer, one of his hands carding through his tussled hair. Even when he was half-conscious and disgusting from sleep-sweat, the younger male was still so beautiful. When Raven first came to this conclusion, days, weeks, maybe even months prior, it had scared him, but now he simply accepted it as a fact.
It was only recently that Raven had noticed the bags forming under his leader's eyes, and he felt a bit sorry for the kid. Growing up too fast was never fun, even if he was already an adult. In Raven's eyes, Yuri was still someone that needed protecting, but that could have just been his knightly side showing.
"Yeah, just, admiring the view." He chuckled, mostly to himself. It wasn't often that he got to have a civil conversation, considering how their group consisted mostly of kids and off-limit females. They wouldn't have any of his antics, he quickly learned.
"It really does take away from the beauty of the sky, huh?" Yuri came up to rest beside him, arms on the iron bar, head hung low, shoulders hunched. Heliord's inn really did have the most breath-taking view out of any inn, but only just in time to be smeared by the monstrosity more commonly referred to as the adephagos. It was really quite a shame.
"Most certainly." He said, voice low. Taking a hand up to run through his hair –which had been taken down for the night- he realized just how messy and tangled it had become, compared to his years as Schwann.
"You like beauty a lot, don't you?" Yuri started, his voice wavering, almost uncertain. It was odd for him to sound like anything short of arrogant –save for in battle when he was simply hollering with battle morale and murderous glee- and it made Raven shoot him a careful glance.
"I suppose, yeah. Beauty really is the most wonderful thing." A smile came to his lips, resting there for a few moments before disappearing into a line.
"Is that why you chase girls?" Curiosity tinted his voice, only being overweighed simply by how tired he sounded – a tough day of fighting and training was always tough on the body. He cocked his head to the side, looking up to the older male with grey eyes that glistened under the star light.
"Hmmm. I guess so." Raven spoke, breath steady. He was never good at giving straight answers, but he felt it was necessary. After all, who was he trying to impress?
"Wow, an actual answer. I was expecting something dramatic like 'of course, who do you think I am?" Now it was his turn to chuckle sadly.
"I suppose." He closed his eyes, bringing his hands up to rest his chin on them.
"So, what're you thinking about?" Inquisitive grey eyes met with pensive blue for the briefest of moments, holding their gaze, even when Raven averted his.
"Beauty." It wasn't often that the brunette was honest about anything, let alone this open. It was almost like he was trying to search within himself to find the most pure, untainted part of himself that he could, simply to expose it. He wanted to show that part of himself to Yuri, and even if he didn't fully understand it himself, he had a definite hunch as to why – Yuri was beautiful, without any doubt, so he wanted to show that he, too, had some beauty in him.
"Beauty?"
"Yeah, it's such a wonderful thing that we take for granted. Lots of things are beautiful, the stars are beautiful, the ocean is beautiful, you're beautiful." It may have been a fact he accepted, but Raven had never once voiced that opinion of his. He immediately shut his mouth, eyes going wide and face turning red.
"Y-you think so?" Even though Raven expected him to be revolted, or even insulted, the black-haired male simply stammered and appeared abashed. The tan male had never expected, or even thought of a way, that his thinking Yuri was beautiful would ever be exposed, but if he had, he would have probably hoped for something like this. This wasn't immediate rejection, or even awkward denial.
This was real.
"I do." A calm smile made its way across Raven's face, his tone easy and his body language calm. Internally, though, he was freaking out and praying that he wasn't saying the wrong thing.
"I'm not sure what to say, Raven." The way he practically breathed out his words only strengthened the archer's opinion. Eyebrows drew up, curious, and a smile reached up his lips. In the star light, he looked absolutely stunning, and not even the most voluptuous woman could even hope to compare. Even with his hair tussled, and bags under his eyes, and a few scabbed cuts on his face, he was still so amazingly beautiful and so very real.
"Can I… kiss you?" He had never asked permission before, since it was always so natural, and so very fake, but this was real, and this was so very new. A bead of sweat rolled down his neck, and he suddenly realized just how much he had been obsessing over this, without even realizing it.
Yuri simply nodded. If the older male could assume anything, it was that the swordsman didn't trust his voice to not betray him.
Slow, so very slow, Raven closed his eyes, pressing hips lips to Yuri's. Innocence was somehow prevalent in the kiss, and even with all of his years of experience of lost love and brothel bitches, this was a kiss in a category all on its own.
It was… beautiful. Just so elegant that it nearly choked him.
Somewhere in the romantic gesture, Yuri had placed one hand on the older male's shoulder, and the other laced fingers with Raven.
'Just like dancing' Raven mused to himself, and might have smiled at the thought, were he not lip-locked with the single most beautiful human being he had encountered in his life.
Yes, Casey had been beautiful, without a doubt she had been gorgeous, but she had been so stubborn to stay by the side of the one she cherished. She had been just as forsaken as she had been fake. Nothing about the memories Raven had of her felt real. Everything seemed to simply happen, without his own will acting. No, he had only been on pleasant terms with her, even when she sacrificed herself to save a man who died anyway. That was all in his last life. That wasn't real, to him.
Yuri, however, was so incredibly free to do what he pleased, not tied down by moral obligations, or knightly duties. Everything he did was on his terms, and if it wasn't, he found a way to change it. Almost everything about him was under control, but always unexpected –so unnatural, and so incredibly real.
He was real, and he was beautiful, and he was pulling away for air.
Tussled hair, red lips and cheeks, and half-lidded eyes; this male was the image of beautiful, to Raven. To emphasize this, he placed a gentle hand on the swordsman's cheek, rubbing his thumb in circles. Much to his delight, Yuri closed his eyes and practically melted into the touch. Scabbed cuts ran under his tough, calloused hands, and all he could do to not get the bandages was gaze at just how blissfully peaceful he looked.
In fact, he never looked this way, even when he slept.
"You really are so very beautiful." Yuri opened his eyes at this comment, and it was now his turn for his face to turn red. If Raven didn't know better, he might have thought that Yuri was embarrassed by his comments.
"Guys aren't supposed to be beautiful, though." Perhaps he actually was a bit embarrassed, not that he would ever admit it. His eyes looked away, averting his gaze to the horizon – the ocean coming up in the far distance, after the urban development and jungle sprawl. However, not even that could avert the brunette's gaze from Yuri.
"But you really are. It isn't fair."
"It isn't… fair?" His eyebrows furrowed, head tilting just the slightest.
"You're the most beautiful person I've ever seen, even though you're not a girl, and I can't help but, but want you." Somewhere along the conversation, his usual slur had stopped, and he had regained a bit of the elegance he possessed when he was Captain. It wasn't so much uncomfortable as it was new –it speak proper while still being perverse.
"You –Raven – I –" With such a bold confession, it wasn't any wonder that Yuri was tongue-tied. Though, considering that he was still so very close, and hadn't removed his hands from the taller male's shoulder and hand, all indications were that he was taking it well.
"It's alright, you don't have to accept. I just felt that –" Before he had a chance to finish –his eyes were turned away for the briefest of moments- he was swiftly cut off with a hasty kiss, mostly passion, and somewhat sloppy. The hand that had been resting on his shoulder was now curled around his neck, lightly fisting his long, brown hair.
In half a heartbeat, Raven's free arm was wrapped around Yuri's waist, pulling him closer. He was certain that, with the moon shining so brilliantly in the sky, they were practically glowing – the perfect picture of elegance.
Tongues became a part of the equation, Yuri attempting to obtain dominance, but was quickly reminded who his senior was, with an expert tongue shoved into his mouth. Greedy and perverse, he lapped up the older male's taste, a pleasant combination of natural musk and citrus. Even if Raven wanted to, he couldn't complain about Yuri being an inexperienced kisser –simply the way he handled himself screamed that he had done this before, and on several occasions.
However, now was not the time to ask about that.
No, right now, he was simply going to enjoy himself and all of his lack of concerns until he had to break the kiss to ponder their relationship. With the hand around the smaller male's waist, he groped a bit south, hitting the jackpot when Yuri practically moaned into his mouth at the touch.
Apparently, he hadn't done this kind of thing before, though.
Just as Raven was about to continue on, though, Yuri hastily drew back, breathless and disheveled.
"We can't do that now, not with the group here." Even though he was greedy and perverse, above all, he was considerate, and he would not expose Karol, Estelle or Rita to something they weren't old enough for, yet – well, Estelle was technically old enough to know, but he preferred to not give her any weird ideas about his sexuality. Even if they were asleep, he knew that there was always the chance of some noise waking one of them up.
"So, we'll do it later?" Raven was uncertain, but hopeful that the swordsman wasn't simply turning him down.
"Yeah, I suppose." He chuckled, cheeks becoming rosy at the implication.
"This isn't going to be a one-time thing, though, right?" There was always the very real possibility for something like that, especially with his track record. Raven was at his wits end with one-night-stands leaving before dawn would break through. He was sick of waking up disgruntled, sweaty, and alone. He was so very sick of being alone.
"I- well, I would feel bad to simply turn you down without at the very least giving you a chance." He shrugged, face appearing apologetic, like it was almost a terrible thing to say. Raven didn't mind, however. If anything, he appreciated the young man for his initiative at honesty.
"How about the next time the group goes out shopping, or collecting Synthesis materials, we stay behind and see where this take us?"
"I'd like that very much."
Tan, calloused hands twined with thin, ivory ones, and he couldn't help but feel like everything was overwhelmingly real.
Under the stars, everything worked out just as it should.
(x)
So, I've recently played Tales of Vesperia, and I've got to say, I fucking love it. Raven is, without a doubt, my favorite character from it, and him and Yuri together is just mmm mmm MMMMMMM yes puhLEASE. Needless to say, homobutt shipping is happening. Also, I don't like Flynn's existence, so he will not be a thing that shows up, hardly ever.