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Chapter Ten: What Did You Say?

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"I…..I love you, Dexter…" Mandark murmured quietly, his voice not rising above a shy and hushed whisper.

Dexter continued to stare at Mandark, eyes fixated on the boy that usually commanded so much respect from everyone around him. He was looking at him, sensing every change in his demeanor, and he was starting to…..like…….. what he saw.

Mandark had always seemed like the steadfast and strong willed, but now he was trembling with fear and excitement, waiting for the rejection that he knew would follow. He was so afraid, and so thrilled, that he was shaking, his breathing labored.

Dexter took in a deep breath. He was in control. Mandark was……..vulnerable, something that Dexter had never dared to associate with the Master of Darkness.

Mandark turned his head, accepting his fate, a tear sliding down his face. He had finally lost to the boy that held his heart in the iron grip that Mandark dared to call affection.

Dexter's eyes snapped back to their original luster as he slowly reached out to gently cup Mandark's cheek. "Mandark?"

Mandark's breathing quickened, his heart hammering painfully against his ribs. "Y-y-es?"

Dexter smiled and turned him back around so that they were facing one another. "How long………Susan?" he asked.

Mandark took a sharp intake of breathe at the use of his birth name, eyes moving up to stare into Dexter's soft baby blues. Only Dexter could call him by that name, and, well, get away with it. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. But, Dexter offered him a tender, almost loving smile. The reassurance in that one gesture was all that Mandark needed.

"Just after our first union as partners….."

"Do you mean the day that DeeDee and Lala stole our prototypes for the new humanoid vehicles?"

Mandark nodded. "Yes! That was it..."

Dexter couldn't suppress the gentle laugh that came up. "I remember that…They were fighting over who was the better dancer, and who had the smarter brother……We were forced to take action against them because of the damage they were causing….We must have done something right though…….We did finally stop their fight with our superior skills in the bots."

"But we sure looked ridiculous…….Half a bot from both of our mangled ones…….But it was a thing of beauty. We got that clunker to work-…" Mandark started.

"And by working together we made…….it……." Dexter stared into Mandark's eyes, drinking him in. "…..work……"

Mandark gulped.

"You don't like me in that way….do you?....."

Dexter sighed. "Your right……"

Mandark choked on a sob, turning his eyes away. This was the rejection that he was waiting for.

"Your right…..I don't like you Mandark……" Dexter whispered, turning his body in a way that allowed him to cup Mandark's face again. He pulled him slowly, easing his body to a position where he was turned to face him.

Dexter moved his thumb slowly over the arch of Mandark's cheekbone, up to his eyes, where it gently rubbed away at the tears under Mandark's now red and puffy eyes.

The movement was so soothing, and gentle, that Mandark slowly lowered his guard, another thing that he rarely did. He looked down at Dexter with a look not akin to desperation.

Dexter answered that look by leaning closer to the boy that held his body in his own arms. He sidled closer into Mandark's lap, causing Mandark to blush heavily.

"I don't like you, Mandark…………" he whispered, leaning even closer. Their lips were so close to touching, and Mandark twitched, the feeling of Dexter's breath hot on his neck and chin.

"I love you…….." Dexter whispered, inching closer.

Mandark's eyes filled with tears as he closed the gap between himself and the object of his tender affections.

Their lips met. It was such a tender, loving, short, sweet kiss…..Neither of the boys was demanding, and neither pressed for more. They were mutual in understanding, both of them yearning for that simple understanding.

That kiss held the answer to so many of their questions, and each question was easily and readily quelled. It wasn't passionate, yet it held such molten desire that it left Dexter's lips tingling. And Mandark wasn't so far off from his partner.

The embrace was only a mere matter of seconds in length, but to Mandark it was a lifetime. He felt as if he was making up for all of the hate and guile that he had posed against this magnificent person in his arms. But it wasn't enough.

But there was bound to be many more times to make up for the many lifetimes that he owed Dexter………

They broke apart slowly, Dexter's eyes starting to mist with tears of understanding.

"Mandark…." He whimpered softly, breaking down in the same way that his counterpart had done only moments before.

Mandark smiled and pulled him close, crushing him in a hug. "Dexter….."

Dexter sniffed, looking up at him. "I've been ….so alone, Mandark……."

Mandark nuzzled his head against Dexter's. "Shh….Dexter……. Don't cry. It's alright……." He tried to console, running his fingers through Dexter's soft locks, pulling his torn body closer.

Dexter shook his head. "I've been so alone, for….so long….Mandark. Being as smart as I am….I had no peers…..my closest friends were few and far between……Bullies always picked me out and……Even you……I……"

"That's all….in the past now, Dexter…..I can't imagine how much isolation you felt when we weren't bickering away at each other…..And I can't even recollect the number of times I stood on the side lines, watching as those brutes from school did horrid things to you. I felt as if my heart was being rent in two on each occasion……At that time…I didn't understand the sensation, but-…"

Dexter stopped his speech mid-sentence by placing one of his uninjured fingers to Mandark's lips. "Stop…..you have no need to explain………You know, if it weren't for the Professor…I……"

Mandark frowned, holding him close to his heart. " Dexter……The Professor loves you-"

Dexter gripped onto Mandark's shirt, shaking his head slowly from side to side.

"He doesn't love you!?" Mandark gasped, confused.

Dexter shook his head again. "That's not what I meant!........I meant that the Professor loves me….but only as a father……………..Mandark………..YOU love me in a different way………You…..make me feel……………..complete………" Dexter choked.

Mandark smiled, nuzzling Dexter again. "Dexter……..you complete me as well……….You have alleviated the loneliness in my heart as well………Dexter……..Will you join me……?"

Dexter was confused. "In what?"

Mandark smirked. "In my loneliness……….Lets be lonely……together."

Finally, and for the first time that Mandark could remember since this whole Fusion invasion began, Dexter smiled. It wasn't a smile that he reserved for clients; that little forced smile that always took so much effort to force out. Nor was it the smile that he reserved especially for his old family; that forcibly twisted smile that held no meaning whatsoever. And it wasn't the smile that lit his face when he was with the Utoniums or his sister, Dee Dee; his special smile that was full of joy and hope.

No…….This was a different smile.

It was a smile that was genuine, and full of love. A smile that Dexter now reserved for one person, a smile that he used to use when he completed a masterpiece of metal works, or when he played on his piano.

It was a smile now reserved for Mandark, and only Mandark.

His smile……….

Mandark sighed happily and tugged the garments that were covering himself and his new boyfriend, snuggling the pair closer together to stave off the lingering cold.

But the frigid air was starting to warm over, and the newly joined power couple were soon enveloped by warmth instead of icy cold, for just outside the barrier Dexter's elder sister and the Earth's finest were working to free them from the cocoon of metal.

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