Disclaimer: Junjou not mine. Also, in case you haven't noticed, short chapter is fucking short. And nothing happens in this chapter. Also Romantica rhymes with erotica. Go figure.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?!"

"Ritsu calm down!"

"DID YOU FUCKING SEE THAT?!"

"Ritsu you need to calm yourself."

Takano wrapped an arm tightly around his first mate's shoulders as the other stood there, gapping over the side of the balloon's platform, eyes wide and face drained of blood.

"THEY WERE EATEN! DID YOU SEE? THEY WERE FUCKING EATEN BY A FUCKING GIANT CENTIPEDE!"

"I saw it Ritsu, I did, but you need to get away from the edge. You're going to fall."

"I DON'T FUCKING CARE?! MY UNCLE WAS JUST EATEN BY A FUCKING INSECT!"

"And there's nothing we can do. Out rudder has been blasted to smithereens and we have a leak. We have to wait till we land." The brunet took a deep breath and backed away from the edge.

"So there's nothing we can do."

"I didn't say that."

"What then?"

"Well that depends on you."

"…" Ritsu continued to train his eyes on the verdant jungle below. Miles had passed swiftly beneath as they, meter by meter, nearing the leafy canopy. In a few hours they would reach the ground, but the automaton didn't want to think about that. Images of ripping canvas and long falls through the trees flitted across his mind but they were brief. Instead the images that filled his mind were of a great tearing of earth as the burning forest erupted and the metal beast reared its goliath head. There had been no time to blink, his uncle gone in an instant with the author. He shuddered.

"Your word, Ritsu. It's all we need. We have the resources, you know that." With a sigh the first mate turned, meeting the eyes of his captain.

"We'll do it. We'll go to war."

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Misaki's hair was windswept. More than usual that is. Akihiko ran his hand through it, the strands catching, still knotted and damp from sweat. Emerald eyes, hazy, tranquil, and soft with an honest love, shut as the boy leaned into the touch from where he was sitting next to his lover. All Akihiko could do was lie next to him, mesmerized by the vision before him. He had woken but a few minutes ago to find himself pressed against Misaki's thigh, the automaton sitting poised, a small hand resting on his cheek as half lidded eyes watched to the door. Misaki's scent filled him, the acrid smell of sweat was strangely not that overwhelming, the same with the stale musk of sex. He figured he probably smelled the same. Or maybe since it was Misaki he just didn't mind.

After a moment his hand fell from the other's hair in favor of hooking around the back of his neck. There gazes met, and held as the valet allowed himself to be pulled down into a soft kiss. Eye contact did not break as they drew away and they did not speak. There was no need for words. Already they had said all that was needed, and done what needed to be done. All that was left was for them to wait.

Misaki's gaze returned to the door and Akihiko pushed himself further into his lover's thigh. It was warm. He couldn't remember ever being so warm in his life.

Apparently now that the author was up there was no need for him to keep quiet, and reaching over Misaki picked up the violin. The song that came was quiet and soothing, filled with long drawn out notes. It only took but a few moments for Akihiko to return back to Morpheus's lands, knowing Misaki was watching over him.

When next he awoke it was to Misaki shaking his shoulder gently while waving a plate of food beneath his nose. Groggily he eyed it. Two meat pasties, each with a small chunk missing from them. Misaki smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry. I was a bit hungry and ate a bit of your share before I could stop myself." Akihiko eyed him before returning his gaze to the food once more. He was ravenous, sex does that to a person, and he thought no more before grabbing one. The dough was stale and the inside filled with more than its fair share of grizzle. He tried chewing through it, his upbringing preventing him from spitting the pieces out. Misaki, who had been watching him while he ate, something Akihiko had once found disturbing but now regarded as a comfort, chuckled.

"You're allowed to spit it out you know. There's no one here to see it but me."

"Ah, but who else would I wish more to impress with my table manners than you." Misaki snorted.

"I just let you stick your fingers up my arse. Your spitting out grizzle is not going to in anyway detract from your cause."

"Charming." Akihiko sighed and spit out the inedible food, flicking it to the corner where the hole that served as their toilet was situated. He stretched onto his back, allowing his arm to flop into his lover's lap. "Have you been awake this whole time?"

"…maybe." Slender fingers, their tips calloused from work and violin, grazed over the contours of his forearm and carefully skimming around the bruised that stood out like heliotrope blossoms on the creamy skin. Akihiko frowned before bringing his hand up to Misaki's cheek and pushing slightly. The automaton complied only to realize he was being pushed into the noble's relaxed body, and instead of falling onto him managed to maneuver so that they lay side by side, facing each other. Akihiko's other hand brushed down over a slender waist and boney hips until with a stretch he reached the other's knees. He pulled these towards him. Misaki preferred to sleep curled in on himself, and this was Akihiko's way of prompting the other to do so.

"I don't want to sleep."

"Obviously, and though I admire your will power to stay awake after such a spectacular use of stamina, we have both been taxed to extremes. Sleep." Still the elder protested.

"But who will watch?"

"Do you not trust me to watch over you?" Misaki sputtered, not expecting his words to come back to him in such a way.

"I-I didn't say that! Of course I trust you!"

"Then sleep." Akihiko smirked. "And maybe when you awake, we'll both be up to another round." Misaki blushed as the other's large hand came up to cup itself over his eyes. Giving in he allowed his exhaustion to sweep over him. Akihiko watched, almost in wonderment as the smaller's breathing evened out and in the blink of an eye the brunet was asleep. Guilt filled him for his selfishness. There had been no hint of fatigue in the other's features, just as, he now realized, there he been no hint of pain. For him to engage in such acts so soon after…after being raped. Pain would be inevitable.

Once again he had taken without giving back. From anyone else he would not care, but he did not want to take from Misaki, and yet that was all he seemed to be doing. He wanted to blame the other for the way he would hide his pain but he knew this was unjust. No matter how hard he himself would hide a discomfort, Misaki wouldn't even have to ask to know how to alleviate it.

Tightly his hand formed into a fist, ragged nails biting into his skin, before he forced himself to relax. Gently he ran his hand over the soft skin of his counterpart, tenderly massaging the boy's hip. Misaki moaned before curling further into himself, at the same time nuzzling his face against Akihiko's neck. Said man pulled his lover close. When they were back home, (for they would be returning home) Akihiko was going to wait on Misaki like he was a god damn king. He would cater on hand and foot to the automaton's every whim, in bed or out. He was going to make Misaki the happiest person in the whole of the British Empire and beyond.

With that resolution he settled himself into to watching the door, trying to make as little noise as possible. Misaki was, after all, too light a sleeper for his own damn good.

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This underground transport system was far too sluggish for the doctor. He drummed his fingers on the plush velvet of the chair's arm. Gold filigree accentuated the interior of the cabin, adding light to its interior, and marble added to the charm of the dark wood liquor cabinet to his right. There was a finely carved book shelf to his other side, its perfection matching the carvings on the side table. The light source itself was hidden behind great stretches of stain glass that lines the walls, all in the now vogue art nouveau style. But Cornel found no interest in this. The hours he was stuck in this windowless shuttle were hours he could otherwise be in his lab, measuring out chemicals and taking notes on his many experiments. He despised splendor and luxury. It made no difference to him the year of the fine wine that had been presented to him, nore what karat the gold surrounding him was. People who put worth in such things were people he loathed. Like that devil Usami, and his bastard son.

In a sense one could almost call Doctor Cornel an egalitarian. In his eyes all men and women were equal. Big or small, rich or poor, he treated them the same. He was not one to discriminate just who fell under the blade of his scalpel. All beings on this earth deserved his special attention.

And they would fall. Every last one of them. Of this he was sure.

And so he settled back into the plush upholstery and forced his finger's to still. They were on their way to the underground base of the Heart. And once he was there Peter Pan would be waiting with Wendy in tow. And then the real fun would begin.

This chapter has come out because I am bored. Don't expect anything else until I figure out how one can crash land in a jungle without dying. If you are, by chance, (probably not) interested in the sewing/cooking I've been up to, my tumblr is filled with the steampunk.

Little announcement. For those of you looking for a nice pocket watch and don't want to have to concede to the outrageous prices of Dracula Clothing, (even if those happen to be the sexiest watches I have ever seen), not to mention there shipping. Ebay seems to have all these pocket watched that start bidding at a cent and then go up. Shipping is free. I was looking 'cause my watch, which I have worn faithfully for six years and got at the very first Steamcon, broke. So while I may have enough expertise to fix music boxes, clocks are way beyond me. So I got a new one for 25 cents. And it is very, very sexy. All shiny and sleek. So if you're looking for that one finally piece to complete your outfit for Steamposium, or just like to fancy yourself as a smartly dressed gentleman like me, then there you go.