Yay! I managed to update sooner than I thought, considering how busy I am. This chapter is once again of Degel's point of view.

They are almost there, I think XD.

A grammar note: I know I still don't write some things in English the proper way, and in this chapter I have struggled a bit with the past tense verbs, so please forgive if there are some confusing parts.

Please, enjoy.

xxx

Usually, people would describe Degel as a cold, unattached person. Mostly, they were right. But then again, mostly people had come to know him after the accident. Of course, he had never been warmness in person; he just used to smile more often. He was softer, in Unity's words.

Unity had known him most of his life, so probably he knew what he was talking about where Degel was concerned. They were nearly family; they almost had been by law. Brothers-in-law, brothers in every sense but of blood. What did blood matter, anyway? He never had any experience with blood relatives, everything Degel knew about family he had learned from Unity and Seraphina. Not only about family, about feelings in general.

All in the past.

Then why was he remembering it all, now? It had happened so long ago. Or at least it seemed like. Degel had learned quickly that not keep tracking of time was good to forget the pain.

Wine too was good for that, he pondered as he poured himself a glass. Not that he had ever even bordered alcoholism, but Degel was very fond of the habit of drinking wine. It used to be a glass a night, when he was younger and with lesser responsibilities. These days he kept it to a glass week, usually by Sunday night, to help him meditate on the week that had gone by.

Today was not Sunday, nevertheless he felt entitled to a cabernet sauvignon after arguing with Kardia, again.

"This is very strange. I never felt this necessity when I argued with you." He whispered, looking to a smiling Seraphina in the portrait above the mantel piece "Granted, we never yelled at each other."

Degel was still not sure if they had really yelled at each other or if the words simply had sounded too loud in his ears. Hell, he still was not sure the real reason they had argued this time. He'd like to say it was all Kardia's fault, but in truth Unity had a great deal of guilt in this specific matter.

They had started out being nice to each other, for a change of pace. Maybe their little exchange after Kardia's second crisis two days ago had really left an effect on both of them, maybe it was just that the moon was in the right position to keep their antagonizing for each other at bay. Fact was that on the following day, after a long session of infernal horning, the brute had actually said 'good afternoon, Ice Cube'. The nickname was still there, granted, but the smirk had returned to its first mysterious state. Degel had answered 'Good afternoon, brute.' And everything was fine. When came the time for Kardia to collect the money, Degel offered him a glass of his special juice (no more blushing waitresses, mind you) and the Greek drank it all in front of him – all the time staring him in the eyes, with a provocative glow installed there. The flames were hidden again, but it had been warm enough that Degel had to turn away to hide the blush that crept to his cheeks.

Dealing with Kardia, though, was like riding in a holler coaster.

Then, this afternoon, not only had he arrived late, but also he had been in a bad mood. He horned only once and as soon as Degel opened the door he came in already carrying a box, muttering excuses for being late. Apparently, there had been a small problem in the market. Sensing it was better to let the Greek be for a while, he kept his questions to himself. There was no use in making Kardia's mood worse, especially after the peaceful previous day.

So, Degel spent his fifteen minutes in the kitchen, preparing something cold for him. It had been a hot day and he could see that the other was sweating from all the heavy work. (Now, with his glass of wine, reflecting upon the whole situation, he mused why he had gone through such trouble. He barely knew Kardia for two weeks! Sure, the sweating muscles had been oddly compelling, but… it was not normal for Degel to be this concerned for someone who he had met only few days ago.) Either way, he had taken the opportunity that it was not a very busy day at the restaurant and transformed his special juice into something halfway between a vitamin and an ice cream.

Again, not wanting to count on Marin to serve him, Degel had decided to take it to Kardia himself. Truly he didn't want the girl drooling all over the Greek, the thought that the brute might enjoy her attention bothered him. At the time he internally agreed that it was not better to dwell on such things, not when the sexy man was in his pantry, all alone, taking a small break.

'Brought you something.' He had said, and Kardia had smirked weakly at him, accepting the glass without uttering a word, thanking him with a simple nod.

As on the day before, Degel waited, this time trying to focus on the wild blue hair to avoid the blush that would come if he ventured a look at the other's lips. It was in that moment that he noticed the blood on Kardia's temple.

'You're wounded!' he had exclaimed, moving his hand to carefully touch the wound without realizing what he was doing 'What happened?'

Kardia had jumped at the sudden contact, clearly not expecting it. After a few coughs, he answered while looking at Degel's hand still on his temple from the corner of his eyes. 'There was a fight in the market…'

Degel had simply looked at him, wanting a better explanation, and after a sigh the Greek elaborated better. 'A friend of mine… who works with me, he has a boyfriend. This boyfriend, whose brother owns the flower shop on the left, by the way, stopped by our stand today. Well, a jerk in the market offended their homosexual relationship and things got ugly.'

'That's terrible. I can't believe there are still medieval people living among us.' He had answered, distractedly pulling his apron to clean the blood away. The action seemed to surprise Kardia even more, who took a few steps back and broke the contact.

'It's fine. Aphrodite looked briefly at it before I came running to make the delivery.'

'Aphrodite?' he had inquired, curious at the name and at the appearance of someone who cared enough for the brute to see his wounds, even if for just a moment.

'My friend's boyfriend. He is a nurse. He wanted to water the wound, do the whole deal, but I was already late so I didn't let him.'

'There was no need for that. We have to clean that before it gets infected.'

One more time, taking another sip of his wine, Degel wondered why he cared. Without even waiting for a response and making clear he would not get a negative answer, he had practically dragged Kardia to his private bathroom and proceeded to clean his wound properly.

'Running here without treating the wound first… what nonsense!' he remembered muttering, to what Kardia had smirked and said 'Sorry, mother.'

They had remained quiet during most of Degel's ministrations. Perhaps both had been awkward at the close proximity and at the clear display of… of… well, of giving a damn, if Degel decided to adhere to the brute's vocabulary.

There had been a moment, though, that had made him shiver. He was shivering still, if Degel was decided to be honest. Sometime between the wound cleaning and the hell that broke loose, Kardia had picked his forgotten apron upon the sink and looked at it with something close to reverence in his eyes, there was no mistaking.

'You didn't have to… Now your kitchen clothes are soiled.' The brute had said, clearly avoiding his eyes 'I'm sorry.'

'Don't worry about it. These can be washed anytime.' He remembered himself saying before looking at him from the corner of his eyes 'I think it was very brave of you, defending your friends. Especially in such matter.'

'You don't mind homosexuals, then?' Kardia asked him, this time looking openly at him. Quite intensely, too.

'Why would I? People can love who they will, regardless of the physical body. Also, there is physical beauty in both sexes, why should it be wrong to admire both?'

Kardia had only nodded but they kept staring at each other. The distance between their bodies had not been big, to begin with, yet somehow Degel found himself drifting even closer to the man, half aware that the wound was already clean and treated. His touch on the other's temple had become more of a caress, by then.

'Thank you for taking care of me.' Kardia had whispered, his hand traveling to remove some of Degel's bangs out of his eyes. The Greek chuckled lightly 'Glasses again.'

He had not known what to say in return. Taking care of Kardia had been so… natural, an urge that was impossible to resist. Perhaps, treating Kardia was an expression of his own selfish need of touching that handsome man. That was something that Degel had yet to find out, but his glass of wine had not provided any answers yet.

'Why do you do this?'

'What?'

'Taking care of me? I haven't been exactly a sweet guy.'

'Well… I guess that is a mystery we have yet to solve.' Degel smirked at him, his face inching just a bit closer 'Why do you enjoy hitting on my nerves?'

Kardia had smirked back, his face inching closer as well 'Hn. I guess we are full of mysteries.'

They would have kissed, that was for sure. Degel simply was not certain who would have started it, and if that was merely his desire speaking or if Kardia had wanted it as well. They had continued staring at each other, their faces approaching even more. There had been some reluctance, too, otherwise they would have simply launched at each other's lips. There had been uncertainty in Kardia's eyes, and that had held Degel back.

Because if even the mighty man that was Kardia wasn't sure if he wanted to go further with their strange antagonistic – agonistic, even – relationship, if it could be called that way, what could he hope to do? He, whose heart and sentiment had been buried deep beneath grieve for so long. Even that physical attraction was foreign to him. Seraphina had been the only person he had known intimately. All of that had gone through his mind in the few seconds in which their faces were gravitating close to each but never really touching.

He had felt the warm breath of the other on his face, brushing against his skin, tempting his senses. He had wanted to kiss Kardia, why didn't he? Would it have been so catastrophic to give in to his desires? Once again, the glass of wine was mute.

Then Unity arrived. Oh, Unity, why?

They had been in his office's bathroom, stuck in that position, when they heard the man's voice coming into the office, looking for him. Kardia had immediately rolled his eyes, and even Degel had sighed at the interruption.

'I thought you polite people knocked the door before going in.' Kardia had growled lowly close to his ear, making Degel snort lightly.

'I think we'll have to solve our mysteries later, then.' He had whispered before releasing him and leaving to greet his friend.

'I will hold you to that, Ice Cube.' Was the last thing he heard before going out.

Unity smiled as soon as he came out of the bathroom. Whatever the pale haired man was about to say, though, was instantly forgotten when Kardia came out of the bathroom behind him.

'What is this man doing here?'

The question had killed the greeting smile in Degel's face. Kardia beat him to answer, though.

'I do business here.' The Greek growled back.

'In his bathroom? Together?' Unity looked skeptically and angry at them 'The pantry is the other door.'

'Kardia had a wound, so I was treating it in the bathroom.'

Unity had sighed and moved to the bottle of liquor that he kept in his office for guests, pouring a glass. 'You should not waste your time with him. Any of the waitresses could have dealt with this.'

'And you should not tell me how I use my time, Unity.' That had been the coldest voice he had used with his childhood friend, which took both of them by surprise.

Unity had a stunned expression on his face.

'Degel, I… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to order you around. I just think that you shouldn't let your pity rule your day when this man is present.'

He had been about to answer when once again Kardia beat him to it.

'Degel doesn't pity me!' came the angry outburst from behind him.

'Of course he does, he told me so.'

'Unity!' Degel had exclaimed the same time as Kardia had shouted 'What?!'

Then all of a sudden the Greek's angry glare was directed at him.

'I never said that!'

It had taken only a few seconds, but Degel had seen in that moment the doubt and something close to fear crossing Kardia's eyes before he was overtaken by anger.

'I should have known that with you, rich people, is always like this. You find something broken and then you take pity on it and take care of it so you can sleep believing you're doing something for society!'

'So, we're back to you making stupid assumptions about me?'

'I've just seen it in your eyes!'

'You know nothing if this is what you think you saw in my eyes, brute.'

'I think you have already made it clear what you think of my intelligence.'

The growl in Kardia's voice could have been something frightening to someone less cold than Degel, which also could be true in the inverse position. Not everyone could sustain Degel's chilling glares and cold voice.

'I DON'T need your pity, Ice Cube! If all you do is for pity its better if you do nothing at all! You might as well leave me to die the next time I have a crisis!'

Degel's answer had been a slap on his face. It had been so strong it made his previous wound bleed again.

'If all you can do is yelling these absurdities you might as well leave. Now.'

In truth, Degel saw nothing else after he had slapped Kardia. He had been vaguely aware of the Greek leaving without saying a word and of himself sending Unity away with a few more cold words. There had been no kitchen for him after that. The argument had rendered Degel useless for the day.

At first, Degel put it to the fact that the brute had this unique talent of angering him to the bone. But the wine had done better to his self-analysis. Degel had been afraid. Not of Kardia and his wild growls – Degel feared no beast.

The idea of leaving Kardia to die, however, had struck something inside him that reverberated through his soul. The thought of Kardia's existence ceasing to be… it frightened him deeply. All the times he'd seen the Greek in crisis or hurt he had felt it, just not consciously. There was a part of him that worried about the brute, despite the short term of them knowing each other.

"Then we come to the big question. Why do I worry so much about him?" he muttered to Seraphina's portrait.

Am I falling in love? Degel recoiled at the thought.

That was the one thing he could not say out loud. That frightened him almost as much as his newfound fear of Kardia's death. For one, Degel had loved once and lost – he was not sure if he could bear to love and lose again. Kardia's disease was not exactly fatal if the person took the necessary precautions, but the brute had already proved that he did not take these precautions. And two, what were the chances of his feelings being returned?

Kardia was provocative and exhaled sexiness, surely there were people pining for him in every corner. A chef who had slapped him would not be high in his list of options. Degel was not even sure if he would ever see Kardia again tomorrow.

That too was a bit scary. He needed to apologize as well as making him believe that Degel's actions were not driven by pity.

Bloody Unit! Why had he lied? Degel had never said such thing! He didn't even talk about Kardia with people – it was too much of a private matter.

He knew that the two men didn't like each other. He also knew that Unity had pleasure in annoying Kardia, as his friend often had peculiar behavior at times. Today's display however was totally uncalled for not to mention cruel. Degel wanted an explanation, and he would get one, but for the moment it was better to stay away or he might do something he regretted. Unity was one of the oldest memories he had, his childhood was spent almost entirely with either Unity or Seraphina by his side. Of course, he was aware that there was a certain possessiveness from his friend's part. That had never been an issue since Degel's only girlfriend had been Unity's sister, but now he would have to make things clear. Certainly they could talk about today's instance without exceedingly harsh words.

Another day, though.

For the moment, Degel's mind could only revolve around on Kardia and their encounter on the following day.

xxxx

Kardia did show up on the following day, and on the next and on the next and on the next. It was never the same, though. The exchange of nicknames and rude comments were still there, but the smirks and snorts didn't reach his eyes.

It was rare to even see the Greek's eyes, actually, and when Degel had the opportunity he couldn't find anything. Kardia's eyes were always guarded and the flames were hidden away from him.

He had never thought possible to become colder and more distant from people, yet that was Degel's immediate reaction to the brute's behavior. As soon as he realized that the thing that flowed between them had been severed from Kardia's part, he made a point of raising his cold shell again. Marin had returned to serving him water and most of the times he was accompanied by a friend – for a whole month the two of them hadn't been alone in a room, not that he was counting.

The distancing process, however, expanded through other aspects of his life. His already professional relationship with his employees became more restricted to the cooking hours and Dohko and Shion apart, who worked for a good customer, he barely kept in touch with some other friends from his teenage years. Even Unity was let out.

In name of their long friendship years, Degel had tried to set things straight between them. The first offense uttered towards Kardia, however, had put a stone to his efforts. It was two weeks since he had last seen or heard of Unity.

It was ironic, even, that Kardia – beastly fire and heat – had brought even more cold to Degel's life. Did the brute even care? He probably didn't even know, he barely looked at him in the eyes. No words were exchanged but the nicknames and occasional scorn. Part of him tried to believe that this was a good thing. There was no use in loosing himself in drama and unpredictable feelings when there was so much work to be done.

The restaurant was doing great and with one chef less than the ideal for his kitchen, he had to be main chef and administrator at the same time. The Kido and Solo families were good customers and apparently recommended him to everyone they knew, which was good for business, of course, but Degel needed another main chef. Sisyphus was good enough, yet he didn't have the ingredients to be an excellent main chef and the others were too young.

All of this, plus the day-by-day chores, Degel embraced gladly, for it distracted him from the dull ache in the back of his mind.

Fate, nonetheless, if it existed, seemed to be in disposition to put ice and fire in the same room together. Once again, Kardia had a crisis in his restaurant. This time, however, he was not present and he was sure that if it depended on the Greek he would not have been called.

He was in the kitchen, finishing a few cupcakes when he heard shattering glass. Soon there were hurried steps coming and at the moment he raised his head Marin rushed in.

"M. Degel, hurry! One of the men is having a crisis of sort!"

One single statement was enough to crack his comfortable shell. Kardia was ill again. The fear – that heart-wrenching fear – returned full force, shattering the barrier he had been carefully raising around himself.

Swiftly, yet in some sort of apathy, Degel grabbed his special juice in the fridge and went to the Greek. Marin went along shortly on his heels on the way to the pantry, where he saw the object of his disturbance sitting on the floor with another man kneeling by his side.

When Kardia saw him – Still conscious, good – he swore under his breath and made a feeble attempt to punch his friend in the chest. Of course the brute wouldn't want him around to help. That's when the anger came, hand in hand with the fear now.

"You are very wrong if you think I would ever leave you to die, you ignorant brute!"

Degel never thought he could be so forceful, but apparently that was another aspect that Kardia brought up in him. Ignoring completely the other people in the pantry, he kneeled by his side and grabbed his face. Forcing Kardia to open his mouth, he practically threw the juice in until half the jar was empty.

After that Kardia found some strength and pushed him away, knocking Degel to sit on the floor as well. The two of them remained like that for a moment, the Greek coughing and he panting a little.

"I told them not to call you."

"They called, I came, now I am going back." Degel said, proceeding to stand "I am one chef less than I need. Contrary to your beliefs, I don't waste my time pitying you and running to your needs. However, if the thought of me helping you is so disgusting, I suggest you start taking care of your health instead of walking around with absolutely no nutrient in your system, as I am sure you are now."

On his way out, he stopped in front of a stunned Marin and gave a few orders.

"You, young lady, will serve both of these men a meal and then you will clean this mess of glass on the floor."

"Right away, M. Degel."

Degel didn't return to the kitchen, he couldn't. His hand had been steady as iron, but his gut was trembling. Even though it had been a harsh moment, he had touched Kardia's face. It had been a month since the incident in the bathroom and his fingertips were numb with the memory of the tanned skin under his fingers. And the eyes! He had seen it in his eyes again.

In his office he took big gulps of water. That was just perfect, when he was finally managing to put it all under the carpet that fire demon had to show him a glimpse of the flames again.

Why? Why, why, why, why?! Why did his world have to be turned upside down by that brute?

xxx

I know, the crisis routine must be making you all tired. But from now on, there is material for other things to happen between them. And sooner or later Degel will have to confront Unity. Besides, on the next chapter we'll have Camus job interview!

Thank you all for the reviews! Don't worry, I will finish this story, you just need to be patient with me. Thank you for reading.

seafox