Date Written: March 12, 2008 (but published on May 23, 2008... eh heh heh…)

WARNINGS! Foreplay! Well, kind of.

Hope you enjoy!

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

It had been nearly six months since Fay had arrived at the palace to be married to the king, and he was still absolutely amazed at the architecture. Every room seemed to have large, impressive mosaics, marble pillars with gold decoration, and statues that looked as if they could reach out and take your hand at any moment. Everything was very detailed and Fay found that he could spend hours staring at the simplest of things. Even the bathing room he was in was exquisite, the tiling resembling the ornate decorations of the thrown room. It was this that he was very thankful for. So long as he was distracted by such beautiful art, he didn't have to think of (or in this case, look at) Kurogane.

His husband was absolutely nothing like Fay had imagined him to be. True, he yelled a lot at very small things, enjoyed fighting to an almost unhealthy extent, and was easy to anger. This was all very clear the first few weeks. He was still yelling at Fay for simply giving him different, and much cuter, names. And yet, as time had passed, Kurogane appeared to grow to actually, somewhat, care for him. It wasn't by much, but it was the little things that you had to look for. Like letting him have the last piece of cake, or asking if everything was okay when Fay got occasionally homesick, or even going so far as to take his hand to help him across a fairly large puddle. Of course, all of these affections were brushed off as having to look out for him since Fay was an "idiot" and unable to do so himself. But the blush on his husband's cheeks always gave away that it was something a bit more complicated than that.

Fay couldn't help but chuckle at the warm memories.

"What's so funny?" a gruff voice asked.

Fay turned his head slightly to look over at Kurogane pushing himself out of the large pool. He quickly turned back around, not wanting to been seen so flustered by the king's nakedness. Even though he was in the same state and they had shared a bath many times, as it was expected of the couple, Kurogane had never been so… relaxed in the other's presence. He always seemed to want to get in and out quickly and not be anywhere near Fay during the entire time. Yet in the past few weeks, he appeared to be less and less demanding of his own space and more inclined to be close to Fay.

Not that Fay was complaining. No, it simply was an overwhelming thought that Kurogane might possibly be attracted to him. Did that mean he loved him, though?

"You're answering me," Kurogane said, now sounding much closer. Fay stiffened at the contact of a cool, wet hand on his bare shoulder and warm breath on his ear. "What's so funny?"

Fay tried to distract himself from the unusually close contact by scrubbing at his arm. "Nothing," he said, normal cheer in his voice. "I was just remembering how cute Kuro-tan is when he's blushing."

Kurogane made a "tsk" sound at this. "I've told you hundreds of times to call me by my real name, haven't I? Or do you have selective hearing?"

"The second."

Fay heard another displeased sound before feeling Kurogane bury his nose in his damp hair affectionately. It sent a shock up Fay's spine to be, quite frankly, cuddled by the harsh king. It was quite obvious what he was wanting to get and Fay was more than willing to comply. However, there was still the matter of his stories. His last one, which he had started two months ago, had finally ended the previous night. He needed to start another one tonight or there was the likelihood of his execution the next day, after Kurogane had sated his needs. The guards were still coming in every morning, asking about Fay's fate, so it was obvious that it was still a very real possibility.

At that thought, Fay felt is necessary to make Kurogane work for it in order to try and keep him interested. By his fighting habits, he mostly enjoyed things that were challenges and so it would be boring to simply let him have his way with no struggle, wouldn't it? At least, for Fay it would. And Fay's thinking had gotten him a much longer spot at the king's side than any other of his previous partners.

Gracefully, he slipped out of Kurogane's touch and into the bath, barely making the water ripple. Looking over his shoulder again, he was met with a very adorable look of confusion from Kurogane.

I wonder if he's ever been refused before? Fay thought.

Not often, it seemed, since Kurogane was soon scowling again and coming in after him. It was all very amusing, seeing such a look of determination from him. Fay couldn't blame him, though. Six months was a terribly long time for abstinence. It had taken all of his might not to just throw himself at the king, but rape would probably send him even faster to his death, unfinished story or not.

Smirking, Fay turned around to fully face Kurogane. "Is there something my Kuro-chuu desires from me?" he asked, not bothering to hide the teasingly sultry tone in his voice.

"Yeah, I desire for you to stop being an idiot for the rest of the night," Kurogane responded. "And that's an order, got it?"

"Of course, dear! However, all night is a long time. I'm not sure I have that kind of… stamina."

"Shut up!"

Fay quickly swam backwards to avoid the king splashing him with a large wave of water. It surprised him that Kurogane would do something slightly childish like that, but at the same time it was endearing for him. Chuckling, Fay continued to slink back in the water while Kurogane dutifully followed him, neither breaking eye contact.

"How many wives have you consummated a marriage with?" Fay asked, no longer trying to rile up his husband.

"Why?" Kurogane asked in return.

"Just something I'm curious about. I think I have a right to know, being your husband and all."

"You're not my husband! You're just some foreigner who…"

"Who you're married to?"

At that, Kurogane lunged himself at Fay. Only, not with the intention of love making, but with the intention of killing him. Fay merely ducked under the water to avoid this and swam under and behind the small water fall.

Upon surfacing, Fay found it to be quite lovely in the small, man made cave. He'd never bothered in the past to go inside of it, since it was just for decoration. Not to mention that the bathing pool was one of the few places Kurogane would not try to kill him since he was always in such a hurry. It was really a beautiful little space. The light from the water reflected all around him in the dark spot and the cascading water in front gave a mysterious secrecy to it. It was rather romantic.

Looking through the water fall, Fay saw Kurogane actually glancing around the pool for him. Thankfully, it seemed he had quickly calmed down and had decided that he didn't want to strangle his husband anymore. If Fay didn't know better, he would say that he actually looked concerned. With a smile, Fay remembered that, according to the king, he didn't know better so therefore, Kurogane was, in fact, concerned about him. It was sweet.

"Kuro-rin," Fay said, just loud enough that he knew Kurogane would hear him.

When he saw his face turn towards him, Fay put one of his hands through the fall and curled his finger as a sign for him to come.

Just like a puppy, Kurogane slowly came to him, coming through the water fall none too delicately, yet somehow still appearing Adonis-like. He leaned over Fay, placing one hand onto the stoned wall beside Fay's head and the other firmly on his hip, causing Fay's breath to hitch slightly at the touch.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kurogane asked.

Fay shrugged. "It's pretty in here, don't you think?"

Kurogane shrugged then moved to rest his head on Fay's shoulder. "Only you would think that something so pointless could be of value." As he said those words, his lips moved against the skin of Fay's neck.

Almost kisses.

The two had never been so close before on purpose like this, and certainly not when they were naked and wet. It was exhilarating and scary, as the situation seemed to fully dawn on Fay what his husband wanted to do after so long. And he wanted the same thing so badly that it almost hurt. However…

"Kuro-sama," Fay whispered.

Kurogane didn't say anything.

"This… reminds me of a story."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

A/N: -hides from pitchforks and torches- I'MSORRY!I'MSORRY!I'MSOOOORRRRYYYY!! I really am! It's just that, I was trying to find a good romance story for Fai to tell and I couldn't and then this wasn't to my liking when I wrote it but now it is and I'M SORRY!! PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF SHONEN-AI, SOMEBODY GIVE ME A GOOD ROMANCE STORY!! Brain is dead.

You know what to do!

Pleas leave a review!

As always, CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is welcomed with a map to the bathing room.