Again, no time for editing. Forgive meeeeee!

"Stop that!"

Yusuke glanced at Kurama, and found he couldn't wipe the cheesy grin from his face. The light and laughter in his lover's voice were things he hadn't heard in a very long time, and it was good to hear them again.

It was even better to know that he was the cause.

"What?" he asked. "I can't help it."

"I can endure the smirk, Yusuke, but not the strut," Kurama still sounded amused, and his expression was tranquil – making his words somewhat less than convincing. "I confess, I thought you above macho posturing. Need I fear the tales you will tell when you next find yourself in a 'locker-room' type situation?"

"You better believe it!" he laughed. "I just wish there were more people out and about right now."

" 'Out and about'?"

"Shaddup. I just mean that it's pretty obvious, you know, us coming back late…alone…disheveled."

" 'Disheveled'? Why, Yusuke, I do believe I am having a positive influence on your vocabulary!"

He bumped his shoulder playfully against his friend's. "I just mean," he said again, "That I'm pretty proud of myself. You can call it 'macho posturing' if you want to, but I want everyone in this camp to know what I just got to do. If I didn't think it'd piss you off, I'd call the whole camp out to give them a play-by-play account."

"I doubt they'd be very impressed," he sighed. "I'm known to be rather easy, you see, and few, I think, hold me in as high regard as you seem to."

"Will you shut up? Ass."

"Ah. Yes – that's quite legendary, as well."

Kurama was teasing him. Yusuke tucked his hands into his pockets and grinned at him.

"I don't doubt it," he shrugged.

Kurama laughed and slid both of his arms around him, embracing him even as they continued to walk. It should have made progress awkward, but he did it without missing a step.

"I do believe you've worn me out," Kurama murmured in his ear. "I suddenly find myself quite tired."

"Ah. You want us to go to bed."

"No," he pressed his lips to Yusuke's neck. "I want me to go to bed. I want you to attend this evening's meeting."

"But…"

"One of us needs to be there," Kurama stated, moving away from him. "I you like, I shall endeavor not to fall asleep without you. Whether or not I succeed, however, is entirely another matter…"

Yusuke's argument died on his tongue as something new occurred to him. "You're that tired?" he asked. "Really?"

"Exhausted. And now that you've seen to it that my body is properly…relaxed…I think I will find it will take no effort whatsoever to get some rest."

"Well…okay," Yusuke relented. "As long as you try not to actually fall asleep without me, then I guess I don't mind. Go get your stupid rest."

"So generous, Yusuke!" and with a light laugh and a flirty kiss, Yusuke left him.

After a few minutes on his own, Yusuke realized that his goofy grin and stupid strut weren't nearly as much fun without Kurama there to be annoyed by them. In fact, they were causing some of the other demons to give him looks that greatly disturbed him.

By the time Yusuke slipped into the meeting tent, not only was his good mood suddenly verging on 'pissed-the-hell-off', but he was beginning to wish that he had insisted on a nap, too.

As his eyes adjusted to the dim light of the tent, he found himself momentarily frozen by a furious, ruby-eyed stare.

"Urameshi!" Kuwabara was waving him over to the side of the tent his people had decided to take over. Yusuke spared a moment to scowl at Hiei – he usually enjoyed the whole rivalry-thing, but he was definitely not in the mood for it today – and moved to join his friends.

"Everyone made it away from the Shift all right?" he asked as he sat down.

"You and Kurama are the last to check in," Kuwabara answered. He grinned broadly. "Battle today couldn't have gone better if we'd tried."

"You damned well better be trying," he growled.

One of the other demons leaned into the conversation, expression full of haughty curiosity. "Did I detect a limp while you were walking in, Urameshi?"

"Number one – mind your own damn business, Shishiwakamaru."

"And number two?" he raised his eyebrows coolly.

"Mind your own damn fucking business is number two!"

"Kurama's not going to be joining the meeting?" Toya asked.

Suzuki nodded knowingly. "It's usually the pitcher that gets tired," he said.

"Awfully mean to make Urameshi sit in on the meeting while fox boy naps," Jin snickered. "If you be needin' t' stand up for a while, no one'll think the less of you."

"Hey – fuck all of you!" despite himself, Yusuke felt his face grow red. "What the hell makes you think that I'm the one - ?"

"It's glaringly obvious," Shishi stated.

In his mind, Yusuke promised eventual pain for the other demon for being the one to start the conversation.

"It ain't, cause I'm not!" Yusuke insisted. "Kurama's the one - !"

"Okaythat'senoughyoucanstopnowkaythanks!" a lobster-red Kuwabara belted quickly. He grew even redder when Yukina, sitting near him, turned her head to look at him.

"They're only curious," she said, blinking guilelessly at him.

He sputtered.

Youkai, Yusuke had to remind himself, did not have the human squeamishness when it came to talking about sex. There wasn't the stigma of 'wrong' or 'dirty' about it in any of their many diverse cultures – or so Kurama once told him. They found a very hard time, he'd also once said, understanding that it made humans uncomfortable to discuss such personal matters. Sometimes their curiosity simply refused to be sated.

He was surprised when it was Mukuro who came to his rescue.

"Sickly fascinating as some of you may find it," she stated coldly, "We are not here to discuss the sexual habits of the detective or his fox."

Yusuke wondered, embarrassed, how loud the 'discussion' had gotten. He had, after all, been raised human. Despite his teasing of Kurama, too much personal detail did make him uncomfortable. He wanted everyone to know he'd had sex, not how he'd had it.

Laughter filled the tent, and stopped only when Mukuro glared.

"I have charge this discussion," she stated, taking her seat.

"Today," Yomi said, as if reminding her, albeit in a good natured way, of the rotation schedule in place. They had been picking at each other with sugary politeness for weeks, and it was only a matter of time before one of them did something outright hostile. Still, with so many different factions in the Camp, it was important that no one person be seen as having too much power. Rotating who led the meetings was one way to ensure that this didn't happen. It was a delicate, but incredibly important balance.

"Today," Mukuro amended stiffly. "Now – who has the current camp numbers?"

While some were content to let the group spend the meeting times arguing over what should or should not be done, Mukuro was the only one to consistently insist that their time not be completely wasted. It was more boring when she was in charge, but today Yusuke was grateful for it.

Initially.

"Four hundred…ma'am," a demon answered quickly. He was one of Yomi's. The horned youkai was the one who insisted on accurate records and information gathering, but he was much less willing to share it with the rest of the camp. It was unclear whether Mukuro choosing to announce his discoveries every time she hosted a meeting was due to a real belief that the information needed to be made public, or if she simply wished to get under his skin.

Yusuke felt himself jerk in surprise at the figure.

"Four hundred?" he repeated.

"Today," the demon added, glancing at Yomi.

"Four hundred joined the Camp…today?"

"Our numbers have been increasing steadily ever since Kurama came to join the camp," Mukuro's smile was more like a grimace. "I doubt that it's his reputation alone which has caused the shift, however."

"Then what is it?" Yomi asked softly.

"Fear," it was Hiei who answered, his eyes closed, his lips smirking. "With me, the fox, the detective, and the oaf all dedicated to the cause now…"

"Hey!" Kuwabara objected to the unflattering name.

"They're frightened," Hiei finished, ignoring him.

Yomi laughed, earning the smaller demon's glare. "The gang's all together again, so Janus and his cause are doomed?" he asked mockingly.

"You would think, with the size and number of your ears, that you would have heard by now what they think of us," he snapped.

"What do they think?" Yusuke asked.

Hiei looked at him, blood colored eyes burning with their usual furious fire.

"Your so-called team is legendary now," Mukuro answered instead. "They sing songs. They…think that there is something otherworldly…magical…that occurs when the four of you are all together."

"You're willing to put everything on the line for the sake of foolish superstitions?" Yomi demanded.

"Of course not!" she snapped impatiently, "But I am willing to take advantage of them!"

Yomi scowled, falling silent.

"You promised you wouldn't go to sleep!"

The bundle in the bed shifted slightly at the sound of his complaint. After a moment, one tired, green eye blinked at him from underneath a gap in the blankets.

" 'M not sleeping," the foggy voice that answered made the words a complete lie.

Yusuke snorted, quickly stripping down to his boxers. "Well, you sure as hell better be naked," he complained as he kicked aside his jeans. "It's the least you owe me."

"I'm afraid I'm not." Kurama warned, sounding a little more awake as he made room for Yusuke to crawl under the covers.

"Bastard," he grumbled, busying his face against Kurama's hair.

The fox laughed – a warm, comforting sound. "What happened at the meeting?" he asked.

"What? So now you're awake?"

"Yusuke. Please."

He tightened his hold on the fox, sliding one hand under the silky nightshirt to rest against the skin of his abdomen.

"What happened at the meeting? You mean besides everyone suddenly announcing that they think I'm your bitch?"

"Hm?"

"Yeah – seriously. What the hell? Right? You're the girly one."

Kurama laughed softly. "And yet you would make such an adorable submissive."

"Don't talk like you already know, damn it!"

He laughed again.

They were silent for several long moments. Yusuke shifted again, the sweet rose scent of Kurama's hair dulling away everything unpleasant in Yusuke's world.

"You probably already know everything else we discussed," Yusuke muttered at last. "Did you know that there are demons who think if all four of us are working on the same mission, we become some kind of super team destined to win?"

"I hadn't quite heard it in those words."

"The camp's gonna get hella big."

"Fortunate," Kurama yawned. "Perhaps then we will actually be able to get something worthwhile done."

Yusuke kissed his shoulder, then smiled. "I really made you this tired?" he asked cheekily.

Kurama sighed. "Do you want me to tell you that you have," he asked, "Or shall I inform you that I was tired before our little impromptu romp?"

"Hm…"

"Are you actually thinking about it?"

"You're the one who gave me options."

Kurama chuckled and turned in his arms, tucking his head under Yusuke's chin and returning his embrace.

"Fine. Your manly prowess has left me utterly exhausted. Does that make you happy?"

"Gods," Yusuke laughed. "I love you, Kurama."

The fox's arms tightened around him, but he did not answer. Yusuke grinned in the silence and closed his eyes.

"I totally exhausted you," he decided.

"Go to sleep!" Kurama laughed.

As if making an effort to please Yusuke, Kurama had still been in bed when Yusuke had woken. He'd kept his eyes closed and feigned sleep, allowing Yusuke all the opportunity he could want to drink in the sight of him – admire each sharp, pretty plane of his face, the play of shadows along his smooth, pale skin, the stirring contrast of that skin to the deep black of his long lashes and the bright crimson of his hair.

Kurama was breathtaking – but Yusuke had never had much patience just looking. Yusuke, as his mother and his teachers had so often told him, was the kind of person that made it necessary for museums to put works of art behind glass, for expensive stores to up signs that read 'you break, you buy', and for carefully cultivated parks to request that visitors Keep Off the lawn.

Yusuke liked looking well enough, but after a while he wanted to touch.

Kurama grunted and gave a surprised laugh when Yusuke shifted suddenly and rolled on top of him, planting fast, light kisses all over his pretty face.

"Yusuke!" still laughing, Kurama placed his hands on his shoulders and gently pushed him away.

"What? You weren't really asleep." Yusuke tried to lean down again, but his mirthful lover refused to cooperate. "It's not like I woke you or anything!"

"True," the fox chuckled, "But first thing in the morning?"

"I've watched enough TV to know that morning sex is a rule."

"I need a shower – and I haven't even brushed my teeth!"

"Shoulda' thought about that before you left yourself vulnerable," he pointed out with a shrug. "Besides…maybe I want you dirty."

"Yusuke!"

He grinned down at him and waggled his eyebrows. Privately, Yusuke was swelling with pride. There was no sign of the secretive, heavy darkness that had previously weighed so heavily on the beautiful man. Kurama's eyes sparked with life and light, his laughter unrestrained and honest.

Kurama was truly, unreservedly happy.

Yusuke had done that.

"I haven't had my coffee yet!" Kurama protested as Yusuke broke his hold and managed to lean in to him again.

He kissed him, and there was no reluctance at all in Kurama's response.

"I'm better than coffee!" Yusuke growled when the kiss ended.

Kurama nodded, and pulled him back to him.

By the time they broke the second kiss, though, something had occurred to him. Suddenly serious, Yusuke pulled back.

Kurama frowned, concerned that their play had so suddenly halted.

"Yusuke?"

"Maybe we better hold off…just for long enough to have some breakfast."

"Breakfast?"

"Yeah," he nodded, decision made, and rose.

Kurama sat up, watching him as he threw on whatever clothes he could find.

"You're hungrier than you are horny?" he asked, amused and disbelieving.

"Nope!" Yusuke shot him a mad grin. "And don't you dare get up. I'm gonna run out, grab us something, and be right back. You aren't allowed to get up…and if you get dressed, you're getting your clothes shredded."

Kurama rested his head atop his knees, watching him as he continued to dress himself. "I'm afraid you've lost me," he confessed.

"Well," Yusuke's grin widened. "I exhausted you yesterday, didn't I?"

"You aren't going to let that one go, are you?"

"Didn't I?" he pressed.

Kurama sighed, shrugged, and rolled his eyes. "Sure," he answered. "I suppose so."

"Well," Yusuke zipped up his jeans with a dangerously reckless flourish. "I'm tryin' t' be responsible."

"Responsible," Kurama repeated flatly.

"Make sure you eat. Keep your strength up."

Kurama sighed loudly. "You are impossible!"

"Impossibly sexy?" his voice was slightly muffled as he pulled his shirt on over his head. "Impossible to resist?"

"Simply impossible."

Yusuke's head emerged from his shirt, and Kurama laughed at him.

"At least brush your hair before you go out!"

"No time!" Yusuke hopped up and down on one foot as he tried to force the other into a shoe. "I'm being responsible, not stupid…sooner I get you fed, the sooner I get to feed somethin' else."

"How cleverly subtle you are."

Yusuke grinned at him, then, as he realized it was one of Kurama's shoes he was trying to force on – the wrong foot, and a size too small – he tossed the offending article away.

"Screw it," he decided. "My feet are goin' commando."

"Don't forget coffee!" Kurama called as, barefoot, he hurried from the tent.

tbc

Response to unsigned reviews:

Katia-chan - I always look foward to your reviews - even when you're lacking in sleep (grins). No apologies necessary.

kit-kit - (coughs) I'm actually an avid fan of Uke-Yusuke...so...soon.