Golden eyes peered up at the Ganmen, stolen so long ago. He remembered the first time he'd stood against this thing. It had been different then. Short and stocky and awkward in the hands of new pilots, but now… Even after all these years, or perhaps because of them, it had gained something like elegance. A toothy grin spread across the beastman's face despite himself. Or maybe it was because the pilots weren't that idiot Kamina… He'd already mourned for a fallen adversary, though it was perhaps not right to do so. He had made his peace. That was something he was learning to do more gracefully, with immortality looming ahead of him…
The sharp sound of footsteps broke his reverie, and he turned. Simon approached, his face uncharacteristically solemn, his gaze fixing on the mech rather than the beastman that stood before it. "What's it like in the cockpit?" he asked suddenly, arms crossing over his chest.
There was something quiet and wise in his face as he peered up at the shining metal. Wise, for a boy who'd so often gone rushing into the fray on the wild words of a man half mad with his own perceived immortality. Too bad it hadn't been true immortality like his own…
"Tch, you've been piloting it for all these years and you're asking me?"
"I've piloted Lagann all these years. Never Gurren… So what's it like?"
Viral looked away from Simon, peered briefly up at the face, then down at his hands, palms spread wide. He closed them into fists, and chuckled. "Like nothing will stop us. There's something of that Aniki of yours in there." He saw the flash of emotion cross Simon's face, but a moment later it was gone again, and he was smiling softly.
"Oh yeah?"
"Don't tell me you haven't ever sat in the pilot's seat on that one…" Viral's smile faded, brow peaking, surprise in his features.
"I…" He looked troubled, then glanced back at Viral. "No, I haven't."
"You don't think that just once you should see the world the way he did from that seat?" he murmured. It had been humbling, somehow, and exhilarating in a way that he'd never felt piloting Enki… Simon scowled, but took a step forward, resting a hand on the shining red leg.
"I suppose you're right." Before Viral could say anything in response he was opening the cockpit, and he froze halfway in, staring down at the seat. Viral climbed up after him. Catching a brief glance from Simon, filled with that fire and stubborn determination that had kept him going for so long, his single eyed gaze followed Simon's movements as he sat down in the seat, hesitating before he took the handholds up. Viral watched his face, expression changing from that fierce determination to a sort of wonder, and then suddenly those dark eyes were filled with an ache that Viral had felt all too keenly himself. The ache of lost comrades and hard battles fought long ago…
"Back then we were on opposite sides. Who'd ever think I'd be teaming up with a monkey like you," he said, grinning at Simon, who was broken from his reverie. His hands released the steering holds, and he sat back, a strange expression entering his face, one that Viral couldn't read.
"You're wrong about one thing. It doesn't feel right. I don't belong here… You do." He stood, sliding out of the seat, and having to crouch over in the compact space. Viral slid into the place instead. The seat was still warm from the human's body. Simon's essence was always burning hotter than Viral's ever had. Sharks weren't built for that sort of thing.
His fingers closed over the grips, comfortable there, and his single eye shifted, his gaze fixing on Simon's face instead. Maybe it was just his nature, or the animal nature of him, to want to please the leader. No matter how much Simon said they were equals, he knew he'd always be second at best. That was exactly what made Simon such a great leader…
All he wanted was to please the man who'd done the unexpected and freed him from prison when he could just as easily have left Viral to rot away. His teeth ground together, jaw clenching. It was infuriating, this need for acceptance and approval. He could lead, it just wasn't in his nature… Had never been in his nature. Always prepared to take orders, and pass them down, seldom making orders of his own.
"You fit better. Anyway, I think he'd be proud to have Gurren piloted by a man like you."
"A beastman?"
"Doesn't make you any less of a member of the Dai Gurren Brigade now." Simon's grin was cheeky, that one he'd worn often as a child, but his eyes were fierce. Like that man that he'd faced so long ago. Viral couldn't help but scoff.
"You sound just like him."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Simon said, still grinning, but he leaned over Viral, closer to his face.
"And if it wasn't?" It hadn't been either, but he was curious for the answer.
"Doesn't matter. Aniki never let anything like that stop him. So I figure I probably shouldn't let it bother me either."
"Always with the Aniki-this, Aniki-that. All of you are like that…" Viral muttered, but wasn't as bothered as he pretended to be. Simon had indeed grown into his own in these past years. Even if Viral had fought against that government he and his Dai-Gurren Brigade had created, he couldn't deny that they'd indeed become quite a presence.
When his gaze rose again from his hands, Simon was jarringly close. His eyes were bright with humor. Viral scowled.
"So what if I did something that he'd never do?" Viral leaned back, away from Simon's face, for lack of a good retort. The human just closed the distance, and more, once Viral had no further to retreat, and his lips had closed over Viral's.
It was the last thing he'd expected, eye going wide, pupil wide and black and almost circular, and he had nowhere to retreat. It wasn't terrible. But it wasn't… Right.
And look where doing the right thing has gotten you so far. Following orders was 'right' until there was no one left to give you orders, so you went and did the 'right' thing by fighting the government and it landed you in that prison. And then doing the wrong thing, starting fights and talking civilly to this human got you here. So fuck 'right' and do what you want to. Go against the grain. Isn't that what got them all this far?
He didn't take his hands off the handles, and he didn't fight it when Simon leaned in further, and hands reached down, shifting legs so he could put a knee on the pilot's seat, between Viral's legs. The beastman's heart pounded, like he was entering a battle. This was no battle. Fingers pried his hands off the pilot's holds, as if Simon thought he might activate the thing without that damn core drill… He would have scoffed if the kiss had broken off. Simon finally pulled back, his expression shifted. It was no longer the playful smirk. It drew a coiling flame to life deep in his stomach, and drew a flush up through his face, a twist of his lips into a scowl the only reaction he could muster, but Simon wasn't paying attention. Fingers pulled at his trousers, and he shifted to allow their removal. This was a side of the other pilot he'd never expected, especially in his direction… Not that he was particularly well versed in amorous encounters himself…
The wide yellow eye grew even rounder as Simon's fingers made deft work of his own pants, and before he realized, teeth were nipping at his skin, warm hands hooking behind his knees, pulling them up around his hips. A breath caught in his throat as the teeth dug into his skin, drawing more of a reaction from him than he'd like to admit. His own hands found Simon's hips, pulling them close, and biting back a soft groan at the first friction. The roll of his hips was almost unconscious, though the sharp exhale against his neck was a pleasant surprise, and a grin settled onto his features as he leaned up, teeth closing over his impromptu lover's shoulder, ignoring the thin fabric of his shirt. As he adjusted, a hand closed around both their growing arousals, holding them against one another as Simon rolled his hips, and Viral's claws dug into skin, not quite hard enough to break skin, but enough to draw a hiss through Simon's clenched teeth, or maybe it was just the contact…
He bit down harder, letting out a moan, and his own hips rolled against the other, and within a minute they'd found a steady pace, the hand not holding them together tangling in Viral's still too-long hair, pulling his head back, away from the shoulder his teeth worried at with every motion, the tangy taste of blood making it hard to stop. It was a shock in itself he hadn't left claw marks in Simon's hips. He didn't try to resume a kiss, probably for fear of what Viral would do… And rightly so. Wanton cries spilled from his lips now with every movement, and he pulled his hands away, claws scratching at the pilot's seat to keep from injuring the other.
The flame that had kindled to life within him burst into a frenzy, and his back arched suddenly, a keening moan sliding from his throat as he came, and a moment later Simon joined him. The weight of the human slumping against him wasn't unpleasant, and he didn't mind the quiet laughter, even joining in a moment later.
Doing the right thing was overrated anyway…