Author's notes: Just a little series of vignettes with Auron and Tidus. Hopefully I'll write them all.

Spoilers: None as of right now, maybe a little for the Braska/Jecht/Auron pilgrimage.

Rating: R for yaoi (male/male) contact that involves heavy petting, etc., and a little bit of sadness (on Tidus' part).

Little White Lies

By Asphyxia

Chapter 1: You Shouldn't Touch Me Like This

~*~*~

It's dark outside, save for the wild flashes of lightning that illuminate the night sky in their few seconds of brilliant life. I am the only one still awake, sitting on the ledge of the open window in my room. My back is pressed to the side of the windowsill, and one leg is dangling out the window. Thunder crashes loudly against my ears, but the sound has never bothered me and now soothes my frazzled mind.

Maybe I'm a madman. By Yevon, I must be, to take comfort in the sounds that reduce the young Al Bhed girl to tears. It doesn't really matter, though, because I'm not crazy.

Yet.

I shift idly and watch another majestic bolt of lightning tear its way through the sky, then strike the Plains with a savage brutality. Seconds later, a resounding clap echoes and a peal of thunder rolls over me. My one good eye closes as a heavy wind whips my unbound hair back from my face. For once, I'm not wearing the dark glasses that hide both my scar and the heavy, sad weariness that I can't erase from my gaze.

I almost don't notice the sudden, sharp intake of breath behind me, but the thunder has faded enough so that I can hear it. It's the sound of someone who has woken from a nightmare. I know the sound like I know my name—I used to make nearly every night after Braska and Jecht departed from me to face Sin. By reflex, I turn…and see something that steals my breath away and renders me helpless.

Jecht's son sits up in his bed, body bare in the faint moonlight. A bolt of lightning bursts outside, and there is enough light for me to see his heaving chest and the sweat-soaked locks of white-blond hair that stick to his beautiful face. My heart jumps sharply when he leans forward, causing the thin white sheet covering him to slide down further. By the fading brilliance of the lightning bolt I can see that he is wearing nothing under the sheet. I feel a heat spread slowly over my face, and I have a nasty feeling that I'm blushing like a schoolgirl. But I'm nailed to this damn ledge by the scene unfolding before me, and I know I couldn't move even if I wanted to.

Tidus lets out a heavy sigh and opens his eyes, the shadows of his lashes flickering on his cheeks like moth's wings. He doesn't seem to realize that I'm watching him, and because of this I feel even more like a voyeur. As he runs one sleek, powerful hand through his swan-down hair, I try once more to move—and once more, fail miserably. He turns his head to me, his sapphire gaze dark. I can't look away from him, and our eyes meet with a force I can feel everywhere in my body. His soft, pale lips open slightly as he continues to look at me with smoldering eyes.

"Auron…?"

His voice is so quiet and innocent, betraying how young he really is. A shudder runs through me when he says my name, making it sound like a prayer. I clear my throat softly and respond. But I can't find my voice, and can only remain sitting as Tidus slides his legs off the bed with incredible grace. He clutches the sheet to his body, and it trails behind him like a wedding gown when he starts to walk towards me. My eyes trail over him, and goosebumps appear out of nowhere on my bare skin. The boy looks like a vision of paradise; like a walking wet dream. I feel my breath shorten when he reaches me.

My kimono is blown open by a gentle breeze, baring my naked upper body to the moonlight. Tidus' eyes are heavy-lidded; our gazes don't move from one another for a second, though we both remain as still as statues. He is the first to move—and we are so connected that when Tidus reaches out for me, I pull him into my lap. His arms encircle my neck, his head lays heavily on my shoulder, and his cool-but-warm body presses completely against me. I can feel his bare legs through the thin fabric of the sheet and through the loose pants I wear. He straddles my hips, letting one leg hang outside the window the way mine is. His breath tickles my neck, and the feathery softness of it sends another wild shudder through my whole body.

We sit there quietly, the moon and lightning and thunder all I can see or hear. The sheet on Tidus slides down more, and his entire back is bared to me. I run one hand over the smooth skin, down to the very base of his spine, and I hear my mind screaming at me. It tells me that I shouldn't allow the boy to touch me like this. But my body—my heart—refuses to listen, and when Tidus presses his lips to my neck, I don't hold back the gasp that escapes my throat. He traces swirling, intricate designs over the skin with his tongue, and the urge to grab his hair, yank his head back and kiss him like a wild thing is only increased as the boy's prominent, heated arousal presses to my groin.

"Tidus…" A harsh, guttural growl tears itself free from me, and he pulls back, sapphire blue eyes dark with lust and an emotion I can't name. He is so beautiful that I have to close my eye to avoid crying at the sight. A hand caresses my face, and I look at him again.

"Don't talk," he whispers, ever-so-softly. "Just…just let me touch you."

The needy, wanting tone in his voice erases all thought from my head, and I act on the urge that's been plaguing me. My fingers sink into his hair and grasp the pale gold strands brutally. I pull his head back sharply, and his face nearly sends me over the edge when I see the look of incredible need in his eyes. Without hesitation I kiss him with a bruising, animalistic ferocity that forces to grab hold of me once more. Tidus returns the kiss with the same savagery that I gave him. His mouth is so hot and wet, and when he moans I struggle to keep my composure.

I break the kiss first, pulling away and instead focusing on the soft skin of his neck. He lets out another seductive moan, and I pick him up the way you would a child, rising to my feet from the windowsill's ledge. Carrying him in the gentlest way I can, I take him over to my bed and place him among the sheets that are strewn around there. His eyes open and focus on me, and he looks so lost and begging that I know I won't be able to take him. I shrug off my kimono and kiss him softly on those swollen lips, letting him know without words of my decision. His face falls, but when I lay down next to him and gather him into my arms, I know that he is happy. He snuggles into me like a child, his breathing growing slow and steady as he falls asleep. I look at his sleepy, beautiful face, and my heart pounds with an emotion that I know, but can't acknowledge. Closing my eye, I press a kiss to his forehead, then pull him closer and let myself drift off to sleep.

A shadow flickers at the window, then turns to its companion. I hope he's happy, it whispers, before grasping the hand of the other and flying off into the moon, leaving behind a single white feather.

~owari~

Wasn't too bad, ne? (Actually…I really like this one. See if you can guess who the two shadows are!)