Guy stepped up on the stool and reached into the back of the kitchen cupboard, which was out of even his reach. He swiped his hand as far across the bottom of it as he could, but could not find the recipe disc that he had misplaced.

"Damn it!" He stood on tip-toe to try and see inside the cupboard but it was still too high. He couldn't imagine why he would have put the disc up there, but he'd looked everywhere else and he hadn't found it.

"What are you doing?"

Guy yelped and immediately lost his balance. He tried to turn so he could at least break his fall with his hands, but instead he came up against a hard body that seemed to immediately wrap around him as his mouth fell against a set of exquisitely soft lips.

Strong arms pressed their bodies together in a way that he had not experienced since he had been paired with Riki and instinct had his mouth opening wider in invitation. Shiao's lips moved against Guy's, either by accident or design and Guy could feel his body react as a surprisingly swift streak of arousal shot through him. It was better than the quick kiss in the bath he had gotten as a reward, better than the one that Shiao had abruptly given him on Avalon when they found each other again. Fuck, it was even better than the kisses he had shared with Riki!

That thought broke the fever that had ensnared him and he felt cold, harsh reality wash over him. Shiao wasn't Riki, he was an Onyx of Tanagura, an Elite. Shiao was an android like Iason Mink, the bastard machine that had stolen away his lover and best friend.

"W…wait," he began and managed to get his hands between them to push at Shiao's impressively impenetrable chest. What was this? What the hell was he doing? How could he have done such a thing?

"Are you okay?" Shiao asked with his usual concern, showing no affect from their kiss.

"I…I…yes, I…" Why was he babbling? "C…can you let go?"

Shiao released his hold and Guy's feet slid down to touch the floor. "What were you trying to do?"

Guy, who had been in multiple fights since he was a child, and often stood toe to toe to fight with Riki the Dark against any and all who rose against them, suddenly felt like a child next to the Onyx. He, who had ignored the warnings of his gang, thrown fear and caution to the wind and attempted to murder a Blondie felt his all his usual bravado flee so quickly that he couldn't even look the Onyx in the eye.

"Guy?"

"What?" Guy turned away and moved to the sink, found that his hands were shaking and to cover it up he grabbed a cloth and started to wipe down the already glisteningly clean counter.

"What were you looking for in the cupboard? Would you like me to get it for you?" Shiao was tall enough to easily look inside the cupboard that Guy had needed to stand on a stool to reach.

"No. It doesn't matter."

"It must have been important for you to have been looking…"

"Forget it, okay!" Guy snapped, dropped the cloth in the sink and ran the water over it. He spun around and tried to get his suddenly chaotic emotions under control. "Why are you here?"

"I live here."

"I know you live here! Why are you here now, at this time? You said you wouldn't be back for hours."

"You are upset with me." Shiao tilted his head. "Why?"

"I'm not upset." Guy turned away again and stalked to the cold food storage unit. "I just have a headache." When Shiao's hand dropped on his neck he slapped it away. "Don't touch me!" He backed up and spun around, horrified at his behavior. "I'm sorry. I'm not feeling well. I'm gonna go lay down."

Shiao moved to intercept him. "I will call for a physician…" he began, surprised when Guy sidestepped him.

"I don't need one. I just need to lay down, okay?"

"Very well." Shiao watched the mongrel disappear through the archway and tried to think what he had done wrong.

Guy stormed into his room and slammed the door. He dropped face-down onto his bed and tried to ignore the feel of his arousal pressed against the mattress. What the fuck was happening? How could he possibly be turned on by Shiao? It was wrong, completely wrong! Shiao was attractive, beautiful even, but he was an android, and it made no sense that Guy would feel any attraction to him.

He wasn't like Riki, he wasn't a pet, he would never be a pet, so why the hell had he reacted like that? Was he sexually frustrated? The last time he'd had sex was in the bathhouse where he worked, and it hadn't even been good sex. It had just been for credits because he wasn't making enough with his regular salary. The special service brought in bigger tips, but it was nothing he actually enjoyed, not like what he'd had with Riki.

A knock at his door made him groan and he covered his head with his pillow as if that would keep Shiao out. Instead the knocking continued until he just couldn't take it anymore. He growled, jumped up and swung open the door.

"What?" he snapped and immediately regretted it when Shiao actually took a step back. The Onyx held up a bottle of lotion and a heat wand.

"I wished to offer you a massage to help your headache."

Guy sighed heavily at his own behavior. Shiao was so oblivious most of the time he probably had already forgotten about the kiss in the kitchen. "No, I'm fine."

"You obviously are not or you would not be behaving so erratically."

"I'm Human! Humans sometimes behave erratically!"

Shiao frowned. "You are angry with me. What did I do to upset you?"

"Nothing. I just want to be alone, okay!" Seeing that the Elite was not going to just walk away, Guy stomped back to his bed and dropped down on it. "Don't you have something else to do? Anything else?"

Shiao entered the room slowly, closed the door and walked to the bed. Cautiously he settled beside the mongrel. "Nothing that is more important than you, Guy. Please tell me what I have done to upset you."

Guy turned sideways and stared at him. "You really don't know?"

"I do not."

"You kissed me!"

Shiao tilted his head. "No."

Guy's eyes widened, was he really going to deny it? "Yes, you fucking did!"

"No, Guy. I did not kiss you, you kissed me."

Guy opened his mouth to protest then let Shiao's words register. "W…what?"

"Your lips moved against mine first, I was simply responding as I had assumed you wished me to, or what would have been the purpose of initiating such an act?"

"So…so what? It was like a…a pity kiss or something?"

"I don't understand that term. What does it mean?"

"That you kissed me because you felt sorry for me!"

"Oh. No, I kissed you in response to your kissing me. There was no feeling involved. Is this why you are upset? Because you kissed me?"

Guy bolted up, shoved his hands in his jeans pockets and glared at the android. No feeling? No fucking feeling at all? He had a hard on that could cut through fucking rock from that kiss and Shiao felt nothing? Fucking Elite. Fucking Onyx. Fucking, fuck fuck!

Shiao could see that Guy was getting more tense and he leaned forward, concerned. "Guy, are you…?"

"I. Did. Not. Kiss you!"

"I have an infallible memory, Guy, and…"

"I fell, you caught me and our lips met, but I did not fucking kiss you!" Why? Why would he do that? He was a mongrel of Ceres, not a pet of Tanagura. He had no reason to kiss Shiao!

"I find no reason to use profanity."

"Go fuck yourself!" Guy spun away, stalked to the balcony and threw open the doors to step outside.

Shiao opened his mouth to advise Guy that even for an Elite such an act was physically impossible, but he sensed his fact would not be well received. He stared at the heeling wand and lotion in his hands, confused, then finally rose and followed Guy onto the balcony.

"I startled you," he admitted quietly, not wanting to anger the unpredictable mongrel further, he stayed behind Guy for the same reason. "I apologize for doing so, but when you overbalanced, I caught you on instinct and our lips met," Shiao waited to see if Guy would lash out at him again, then continued. "When your lips moved against mine, I had assumed that you were initiating a kiss. Did I misunderstand the situation?"

"No! Yes! Look…" Guy turned towards the Onyx, for someone so smart Shiao could be incredibly dense. "That wasn't a kiss."

"Are you quite sure? I have limited personal experience but I have seen others…"

"I wasn't trying to kiss you I was…"

What had he been doing? Guy tried to remember the exact thoughts that had been going through his head at the start of the incident and could find no reason why...Well, okay there could have been a reason. Being held in someone's arms had aroused him, and had made him think of Riki, so maybe that's why his lips had moved? It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that it was Shiao holding him, or that an Elite was kissing him. Could it?

"Guy?"

Guy turned away and gripped the railing beneath his fingers. "It was an accident," he said. "I never meant to do that." And he certainly had not considered that Shiao would kiss him back. "I…I was thinking about Riki."

"I see."

Guy glanced back as he heard Shiao move back into the bedroom, and felt an unexpected stab guilt. Had he hurt the Onyx with his words? "Why did you kiss me back?" he demanded rushing forward and stopping just outside the balcony doors.

"I will leave the wand and lotion." Shiao set both on the dresser near the door. "To help your headache."

Guy's voice caught in his throat as he watched his friend walk out and quietly close the door again. "Shit."