Wow more than a year later. But! Act 2 is over! Much will happen! Let's hope Act 3 comes together faster than Act2 lol. Thank you for your patience!
The Wrath had been wandering the frozen rivers on the borders of the town in an effort to pass the time, waiting for Daiki to finally finish classes. The boy himself had been suspended from his school of white and green for 'uncouth behaviour'.
A girl in his class had yanked his pants and underwear down during recess, so the boy had seen no reason not to spin around and yank at the zipper on her back until her dress tangled in her feet. She had screamed, as they always did, and promptly burst into tears and the children around them began to jeer. Xanxus wasn't afraid of his own nudity, all too well acquainted with the naked bodies of his mother's customers, and simply tugged up his pants.
The teacher came to a group of laughing children and a single, bare girl in the middle, who babbled messily pointed at the street rat who had already covered himself. Of course, the teacher took the young, crying girl's story over his own angry one, and with the commotion she had caused, all the bystanders remembered was 'Xanxus pulled her dress off!'.
Expulsion had been on the table as they had been dragged to the headmaster's office, the girl's parents cooing and caressing her red face and demanding his blood, Xanxus' own mother apologising profusely.
Words were exchanged and his 'home environment' was taken into account, and Xanxus got off with a two-week suspension, that little girl sticking her tongue out at him over her father's shoulder as she was promised ice cream and a new toy for her 'trauma'.
Now, that left the Wrath walking in oversized shoes along the frosted banks of streams in the midday. He liked the sound of the loose silt and soft ice crunching underfoot and imagined them to be the delicate little bones of that annoying girl.
Xanxus snarled and slammed his foot down on a larger slick of ice. His shoe slipped, and the boy had barely enough time to widen his eyes before he was crashing into the thin ice of the stream and plunged into the shallows. Xanxus gasped, his head still above the water but his body thoroughly soaked by Winter waters.
Xanxus was shivering so horribly, he swore he would hear the rattle of his very skeleton. His lips had gone blue and pale and his fingers and toes had long since fallen numb. He gasped as he dragged himself out of the water, kicking off his shoes until they flung into the air, jumping around on the bank to get the blood flowing.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," he hissed, flexing his fingers and wriggling around, refusing to let himself become stiff and unmoving.
Warm. Warm, he had to get warm.
A fire burnt in his core and he ran. The air chilled him as he pushed his ways through the street, heart pushing blood and trying to make himself sweat, heating up as much as he could even as it was snatched away.
Xanxus didn't know where he was going, too cold to make a coherent thought. All he knew was he had to move, and that where he was going was the warmest place in the world.
It shouldn't have been such a surprise to him when his foggy mind cleared and he found himself bundled in the familiar sheets of Daiki's bed, the Sun pressing him down into the mattress and thawing the Wrath with his own body heat. Xanxus' teeth still chattered as he shoved his face into Daiki's collar, trying to get the feeling back into his nose.
"What kind of idiot are you?" Daiki scolded, and another wave of blissful warmth washed over his skin, blooming out from where their skin touched in their core. "It's negative five degrees right now and you decide to take a swim?"
Xanxus gave an unsteady snarl, only vaguely aware of his sludgy clothes discarded in a bucket beside the bed, Daiki's own neatly folded on his desk. He shivered again and wrapped his arms around the Sun, pressing his hands onto his back and leaching as much as he could, Daiki snapping at his ear at the sudden cold.
"Stupid little thief," Daiki sighed, tucking the Wrath's head under his chin and blew warm breath onto his frozen ears.
Xanxus frowned and cuddled in tight, feeling Daiki pull the thick blankets higher and cocooned him against the bed, the very air he breathed heated. He was right, this was the warmest place in the world.
Mao smiled as Daiki kissed her cheek, their hands clasped together as the Watanabe Yakuza partied well into the night. Their announcement of a foreseeable wedding had reverberated through the household and a party had been sparked, the elders of both the Watanabe and Suzuki families drinking happily now that their deal was sealed.
"They're all so loud, huh?" Daiki laughed into Mao's ear, getting the woman to smile sympathetically and lean against his side, his arm around her waist and keeping her safely away from the bustle of the room.
"They're excited, my Lord," she reasoned, putting her hand on his arm. "Let them be. I'm excited too."
"Me too, my firefly," he smiled, nuzzling the gentle curve of her jaw's corner and getting the woman giggling.
"Will you be sending another letter to Lussuria-san and the others in Italy?" Mao asked, responding to the smattered kisses with her own, trying to ignore the feeling of her father's scandalised gaze. It seemed that Daiki's Italian nature had rubbed off on her.
"I think..." Daiki took a pausing breath and let it out with a sigh, "I will have to tell them at the last possible moment."
"They are still against it," she murmured, understanding.
"But I won't let them stop this," he assured, resting his brow against her crown. "Whether they bless it or not, you will be my wife, firefly."
Mao peered at the man from under her lashes before she sighed and relaxed into him, Daiki touching her nape in a manner that loosened her body.
"Would you like to retire now?" Daiki asked as the celebration roared on into the night. "Let them drink themselves into an early grave, I'm in no mood for their shenanigans."
"Yes, I think some rest will do us good. We'll have a lot to plan and work around, my aunt has booked a tailor in two days."
"Then let's go," the Sun smiled warmly and rose to his feet, assisting his firefly up as well where she leant against his side.
Cheers followed them down the halls as they left, their respective Clan elders nodding in acceptance of their timely retreat.
"There's...something we need to do," he murmured, his arm around Mao's waist. She didn't say anything, but she understood.
. . .
Daiki stared into the spare room, phantoms of woodsmoke and whisky scenting the old air. He cast his eyes to the empty chairs, one well worn and the other layered thick with dust.
The door slid shut and the deadbolt closed with a heavy 'clunk'.
Daiki withdrew the key from the padlock and gave it a testing tug; it did not budge. He turned and moved away from the spare room, feeling the warmth leech from his skin, peeled away as if trapped behind that bolted door.
Mao held out her hands as Daiki placed the key of his Red room in her palms. She stayed like that for a moment, letting him look at the hefty key resting on her pale skin.
"Daiki-sama…"
"It's fine, Mao-sama," he assured, tearing gold away from the metal and fixed his gaze upon the woman instead. "This...needed to happen. It's better this way."
"But he will come back," she pressed, even as her fingers wrapped tight and she drew the key to her chest, just out of reach.
"And time will have continued to move. I am older now, Mao-sama, and I need to act like it...I can't keep clinging to a fond memory anymore."
The things Daiki had told her, his 'story', was still fresh and rattling in her mind. It was strange, it was fantastical and borderline unbelievable, but Mao couldn't find it in her to once doubt the man who bared his pasts to her so readily on their bedroom floor.
Xanxus of the Varia will come back. It made her anxious.
The charcoal woman stared up at the cobalt man for a moment, before she let out a breath. She stilled as a hand came onto her shoulder that urged her to attend to the man, who smiled down at her with a kind of softly hidden strain.
"I need to reorganise my priorities. You're here now, firefly," he stressed, touching her cheek with his fingertips. Then he pushed her hands further against her own chest, pressing the key to her heart within her grasp. "And you'll keep my secrets...even from me."
Mao watched as Daiki left the room later to wash up in the baths, the key still tightly held in her hand. The lamps burnt bright as she stood, her shadow cast along the walls.
The pale woman looked to the metal secret in her palm, feeling how heavy it weighed. She turned and opened a large chest in the far corner of the room. Within the chest laid the small treasures of her childhood, the few things Mao had managed to hold onto as slowly over the years her very agency had been plucked from her fingers by her father.
Pushing aside her mother's favourite obi, Mai reached for a soft, well-loved bear, which leant slumped against the corner of the chest. She pulled it out, its felt fur that was once a proud white now a dull beige, and the red bow around its neck merely tethered strips of material.
The woman held it up, the shadow of dusty fondness curling in her heart as its head lolled bonelessly.
Mao remembered her mother giving her this bear when she was only young; it was one of her earliest memories. Every night her mother, with her pretty face and song of a voice, would make sure she fell asleep with the bear at her side. And every morning before breakfast, her mother would come and take the bear to 'keep him company while you wash up, Mao-chan.'
It only took two years before Mao found the little, oblong pills hidden in a compartment in the back of her bear. It took five more years for Mao to realise they were 'morning after' pills. It took two more years to realise why Mao was the only Suzuki child who had black eyes, while all her younger siblings had hazel.
Her father never realised. And her mother took it to her grave.
Now, Mao caressed her old bear and turned it over, folds of material and fluffy fur hiding away one of the thinnest zippers she had ever seen. She slowly pulled down the zipper and revealed the small interior pouch, where she smuggled the Red room key.
When Daiki came back, freshly washed, he saw her hands empty as she knitted Mephistopheles another jacket for the incoming winters, the colours blue and white mixing on her needles. He smiled softly, something final punctuating a long exhale he released as he sat down beside her on the bed.
"Ready for rest, firefly?" he asked, pulling some hair behind her ear.
"After I finish this line, I think," Mao hummed, before smiling as her husband-to-be laid at her side, watching her continue to peacefully knit and purl.
The woman held herself steady as he threw an arm across her lap, his face pressing into her hip. She hummed to herself as he cuddled her, feeling a warmth in her chest and in her cheeks as she finally knitted the last three notches and tucked her work into a basket for later.
Mao lightly tugged on Daiki's arm to let her move and slipped down the bed to lay with him, a soft laugh lurching forth as she was quickly grabbed and dragged into his chest. He held her tight and kept his eyes on her, not once letting his gaze become glazed by red.
"Ready to sleep now?" He urged, tucking her head under his chin until the air she breathed was warm, protecting her sensitive lungs.
"Yes, ready to sleep now," Mao agreed softly, smiling as her brow was kissed.
"Good" he hushed softly, hands finding black hair and feeling the length slip through his fingers. "Sleep well, my firefly."
"Sleep well, my Lord."
Mao looked up from where she laid with her head in Daiki's lap when she heard the man let out a long-suffering sigh. She hummed in concern and peered up at him, his caressing hand doing little to urge her down.
The two were enjoying a quiet afternoon together, with all of Daiki's work done for the day and the man finally free from the bindings of his desk he had jumped at the chance to just relax with his to-be wife. Their pup was chewing rather vigorously on a dental bone off to the side, tail wagging high in the air, but too stopped at his Master's disquieted state.
"My Lord?" Mao asked softly.
"Sorry, Mao-sama," Daiki breathed, finally seeing that no amount of gentle manipulation would settle the woman. "I just think that...I can't put it off any longer."
Mao blinked, then she uttered, "The Varia."
Daiki nodded slowly, eyes cast to the side.
"The wedding, it's in two weeks' time. Everything is prepared, their invitations are still unsent. You don't have long left, Daiki-sama."
"I know," he murmured and her hand came to his cheek, which he lent into readily. "They're just...not going to be all too pleased with me."
Mao gazed up at him before she got up on her knees and wrapped her arms around the man, pressing her lips to his brow in a prolonged kiss. She felt an arm come and slip around her waist, his face burying in her chest.
"When are you leaving?" The woman asked, combing her fingers through cobalt hair.
"I'll book a plane for Thursday," he decided, resting his cheek on her breast. "Will you be okay without me for a while?"
"How long will you be gone?"
"Only four or five days, I think. We're too close to the wedding to be gone for so long and kaa-san will want to help you get ready."
"A sweet mother," Mao smiled, and they shared a silent moment. They both knew she wasn't always that way, that Daiki had worked through his youth to stabilise that woman. "That only leaves you four days once you return...I think I will survive, my Lord."
Daiki sighed yet again as she continued to soothe him, a grumble bubbling from his throat as he nuzzled into her chest, wanting to hide from his responsibilities. He wasn't looking forward to the talk he was going to have with the Varia come Thursday.
The gravel of the circular driveway crunched under Daiki's feet as he stepped out of the car, the usual nausea of air travel still settling in the base of his stomach. He stood and stretched his back, the sky white with a sheet of cotton clouds that cast everything in a soft light, even the imposing structure of the Varia Headquarters.
"You fucking tardy bastard!"
Daiki looked away from the men unloading his sparse luggage to the shout, a huff leaving him when he saw Squalo storming out of the front doors with eyes ablaze and teeth bared.
"And a warm greeting to you too," the Rogue Sun scoffed without malice.
The Rain scowled and dragged the Sun into a rough embrace, leaning heavily against the warm body offered to him. He grumbled as hands came to his hair and began to work on the tangles he had yet to find the time to even consider.
"Took your fucking time to get here," Squalo sneered into the other's shoulder, hearing a soft laugh burst out.
"Yeah, yeah," Daiki breathed, "God your hair is a mess. Let's get inside so I can get this fixed."
Squalo grunted before pulling back and leading the way inside, shouting at a pair of Varia newbies who were gaping at the scene. The doors to the main living room were booted open without mercy and Daiki couldn't help the sigh of exasperation and fondness that fell from him at the familiar behaviour.
"The fucking pretty boy is back!" Squalo hollered into the room and Daiki barely had time to take in who was where before a small body had jumped upon him.
"Ottone~!"
"Hello Bel," Daiki laughed, wrapping his arms around the young Storm and lifting him up to sit on his hip. "Look at how big you've gotten, not such a little Prince anymore are you?"
"Yes, but you still treat him like he's a baby," Mammon scoffed and was met with a smile.
"Belphegor will always be the baby, Mammon."
Belphegor snickered and peered over the room with the great boost of height, his hand reaching out to yank on Squalo's hair only to have the rogue Sun of their Family tsk and slap his hand down. Daiki laughed a bit at the behaviour and fixed the hold before dumping the teen on a couch where he bounced with cackling glee.
The azure Sun smiled as the teen crawled across the couch and wrapped himself around a large teddy bear that was at least a head taller than himself, cuddling into it with a vengeance.
"Oh my cute, baby brother, come to your darling sister!" Lussuria cooed and Daiki sat down beside him on his fainting lounge.
"How have you been, sister?" Daiki smiled, all but squished against the Sun's pectorals, getting a pure, lungful of the tropical fruity scent of the man.
"I've missed you so much! Your cousins were so cute, I can't wait for the next time I'll see them!"
"They miss you too," the rogue assured, before yelping as he was grabbed from behind and Leviathan wailed overhead.
"Thank God you're back!"
"Good to see you too, Levi," Daiki sighed, patting the lumbering man's head before working his way to freedom and crossing the room.
Everyone watched as he glanced at the couch that was dubbed his, still tucked right against the grand chair of the Wrathful Sky. The two places gleamed in the firelight, golden leaf catching hearth shine and winking within pitch wood.
There was a sharp intake of breath through teeth as Daiki walked passed, and instead dropped down beside Squalo who sat stiff as a board. He yawned and stretched wide, trying to shake out the last of the air sickness that hung off of him.
"So," he hummed, ignoring how no one had yet to utter a thing since he had bypassed the couch. "What's happened since my last visit? Anything interesting?"
"...The amount of damage Belphegor has accomplished with your gift is astonishing," Mammon said slowly.
"He fucking takes it everywhere and knocks shit over! He's fourteen, why does he sleep with the thing?!" Squalo hissed, and Daiki just laughed before he tugged the Rain over to sit at his feet.
"I'm glad he's enjoying it," Daiki chuckled as he rummaged through a drawer in the side table and pulled out Squalo's hairbrush. "Okay, here we go."
Squalo grumbled as Daiki began to work at the knots of his hair, pulling with his fingers and guiding the brush. He huffed and let himself relax into it, Rain extending out and brushing up again the multicoloured fires which flickered across the room.
Daiki hummed as he listened to the Family fill him in about all that had happened in the months he was absent from their walls, Lussuria still grieving over the latest 'one who got away' of his high end 'pub crawls'. Belphegor complained about the pointlessness of his homework, but assured his Ottone that he was doing it like he had been told, going as far as fetching his latest report card and boasting a straight line of outstandings. Leviathan barely held back a smile as he explained how he was memorising Daiki's schedule over in Japan, converting the times to Sicilian so he could 'be there in spirit' whenever he deemed necessary, making Daiki laugh and utter a soft thanks to the man. Mammon sniped at how the Varia's funds had been strangled by the Vongola recently, with more and more 'fools' taking the helm now that 'the Nono was weakening with all his sons dropping like flies'.
"Ah yes," Daiki interrupted, lifting his gaze from the smooth sheet that was now Squalo's hair, the Rain near to dozing off. "What on earth is going on with that? Is there some kind of inheritance struggle? Doesn't that only happen when the Boss is getting ready to step down?"
Sawada Tsunayoshi was turning 12 at the end of the year; Daiki had been tense since Winter. He'd enter Middle School in a matter of months.
"The old bastard's just a bag of bones and dust at this point," Squalo sighed, tilting his head to get attention to a place he wanted scratched. "He's long overdue for a succession. Now it's just a matter of who it is."
"Surely one of his sons is alive," Daiki frowned.
There was a long beat of silence.
"Enrico's dead too," Lussuria finally admitted.
"He sleeps with the fishes," Levi added and Daiki groaned.
"I told you not to watch that show," he sighed, rubbing his temple. "You're going to start quoting things like you always do."
"It's a good show," Levi defended.
"Okay, so who's left?" Daiki pressed, "Is there a second line? Nono got a nephew or something?"
Another pause. Daiki could feel how tense they were, could hear the shouts they were choking down that obviously there was, how could you forget about him, why do you pretend-
"There're rumours about a fifth candidate," Mammon murmured, abandoning their stocks analysis and floated across the room to sit on the armrest beside the Sun and Rain. "Some kid with connections that date back to the Primo. His identity and whereabouts are under lock and key, however."
Daiki frowned and let Fantasma tongue at his knuckles in greeting.
"So they had a backup all along, huh?" Daiki uttered raking the brush through the Rain's hair again, letting the teeth lightly scratch his scalp.
"There's some unrest because of it," Lussuria hummed, rummaging through a box of nail polishes and pulling out a hot pink bottle. "People aren't too hot on the idea of an unknown variable taking over the whole plot."
"Understandable," Daiki nodded.
"So, anything from your end, Ottone?" Belphegor grinned, sliding up the other end of the couch to lean against his side, still clutching his giant teddy to his chest. They wanted to shove aside this tense discussion for more bright news, bathing in the dappled sunshine of their Sun-Cloud atmosphere
"My cousins all are waiting to meet the rest of you with bated breath," Daiki smiled, touching the youth's cheek. "And Sora's demanding I buy her a bear like yours otherwise she'll accuse me of favouritism."
"I am the favourite. I deserve it," the teen scoffed, leaning back and falling across the other's lap.
"My little Miphy is getting stronger too," Daiki continued, handing the boy his phone with the Gallery open, encouraging him to swipe and see the photos of the snowy puppy. "You'll love him, he's such a good pup."
Lussuria cooed and drew Daiki's attention, leading them to chat together for a few moments. Then Belphegor made a retching sound and threw the Sun's phone onto the vacant couch and far away from the rest of them.
"What was that?" Daiki gaped, everyone turning to stare at the Storm who pouted and hugged his bear, refusing to acknowledge everyone. "Bel?"
"I saw something gross," he sneered.
Daiki blinked and got up, stepping over the Rain in his lap to grab up his phone and see what caused such a reaction. He unlocked the device quickly, before taking a sharp breath as the face of his Mao took up the screen, Mephistopheles sprawled across her lap in his latest knitted sweater.
'Gross' Belphegor had called it, her smiling face as she knelt beside their snowy pup. Daiki took a moment to retame his temper.
"There is one other event I need to tell you all about," Daiki announced, pocketing his phone and walking across the room to where his hand luggage had been disposed of, unzipping it to reach inside. He took out a small but thick envelope and turned back to the Varia, an expression of displeasure marring his face. "I'm getting married."
"We know," Squalo snapped.
"No," Daiki cut in, then he tossed the thick envelope on the Rain's lap. "I'm getting married next week."
Silence blanketed the room. Then Lussuria sat up from his lounging, followed by Leviathan who bolted to his feet and stood to his full imposing height.
"What?" Squalo seethed, staring at the rogue Sun with an unfiltered enmity.
"I," Daiki responded evenly, unaffected by the deadly atmosphere of seven of the world's greatest assassins. "Am getting married. Next week. To Mao." He loosely gestured to the thick package. "Those are your invitations."
Belphegor sat up and snatched the envelope from Squalo, ripping apart the seal to get at each invitation. He sneered when he saw his own name written in Daiki's careful hand, the cursive Italian sprawling across the page.
Squalo spat suddenly and stormed out of the room, purposefully knocking into Daiki's shoulder. It didn't make the Sun stumble, and probably hurt Squalo more, but the sentiment was there nonetheless.
"I think I'll turn in for the night then," Daiki sighed now that he had fully crushed the homely atmosphere of the room. "I'll see you all in the morning, sleep well."
"Daiki!"
The rogue turned as Lussuria chased him down the hall, a crease of concern to his brow as he caught up and grasped the younger man's wrist.
"Daiki, are you sure about this? Getting married-"
"I like Mao, my sister," Daiki stated. "She is kind to me and we care for each other."
"By those standards, we could get married," Lussuria snorted bitterly.
"And we were engaged, and I have grown to care for her irreplaceably," he continued as if uninterrupted, a soft sound of exhaustion leaving him. "I do want to marry Mao, Lussuria...And I do want you all to be there too. It'll be a special day, my special day and I want to share it with my family."
Lussuria flinched a bit and glanced away. He was already weak for his darling brother, and such a plea wouldn't go unheard.
"Sister, you've met Mao," Daiki sighed, turning to walk further down the hall with Lussuria in step. "You know she's not the villainess everyone here thinks her to be. She does love me."
"...I know," Lussuria breathed.
The two Suns pushed open the door to Daiki's guest bedroom, his light luggage already set up at the foot of the lavish bed. It wasn't as grand or as well adorned as the one Daiki had occupied years ago beside a body of Wrath, but it possessed a sort of passive wealth that fitted a mostly unoccupied room for a vagabond Sun.
Daiki toed off his shoes and dropped himself on the feather stuffed mattress, sprawling across the bed with a soft 'ooft' of relief. He was tired, body and soul.
Lussuria gazed at him for a moment, before lightly setting himself down beside him.
"You haven't greeted the Boss yet," he murmured.
"...I don't know if I should," Daiki responded in an equally as soft voice.
There was a soft glow coming from the lamp beside the bed, the single light in the room despite there being a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. It cast a shadow along the cornices of the room that looked far too much like a hand clawed and ready to grab hold of the rogue and trap him down, Cloudy nature be damned.
"He misses you."
"He misses his freedom to get whatever he wanted," was the scoffed reply.
Lussuria shifted a bit before touching his brother Flame's brow with his fingers, gently caressing their face.
"I'll take you to see him in the morning, my little brother."
Daiki didn't respond as the doors to his room shut softly, leaving him to stare up at the ceiling. He made a noise in the back of his throat before he rolled over and closed his eyes, refusing to acknowledge the heat haze standing in the far corner of the room.
. . .
It was late at night that Daiki was roused from his sleep by the sound of the door's latch coming loose. Footsteps entered his room, a sliver of light coming from the hall, before it clicked shut and they were plunged back into darkness. Daiki sat and waited, knowing the other person was waiting too.
After a moment, they crossed the room, each step slow but deliberate. Boots hit the floor in two heavy thuds, followed by the weighted drop of a jacket, then the jangle of a belt.
Daiki stared at the far wall, his back to the intruder. He hadn't expected them to go so far.
The bed dipped as the midnight migrant knelt on the edge and crawled their way to where Daiki lay in the centre, bedsheets rustling and frame groaning gently. Daiki closed his eyes and feigned sleep, something naive in him hoping that they'd see how pointless this was and give up their ruse.
Hands pressed on either side of the Sun, hair tickling his cheek, before lips laid tentatively on his temple. Hands clenched in a fist, Daiki turned and through the moonlight saw Superbi Squalo looming over him, dressed in only his unbuttoned Varia uniform shirt.
"Hey," Daiki greeted softly, touching the Rain's cheek softly. "What's wrong?"
Squalo put his hand over the one on his cheek before tugging that arm to rest over his shoulder as he bent down and kissed the rogue Sun. Squalo hummed at the touch and turned his head to deepen the kiss-
"Get off me," the Cloudy Sun growled and pushed the Rain back. He sat up in the bed and turned on the lamp on the bedside. "Squalo, explain."
The Varia Vice sneered and sat back on Daiki's lap, anger clear in his face.
"You can't get married," he stated, "Not to that woman."
"I can and I will," Daiki shot back without hesitation, golden eyes ablaze.
"You can't, I won't let it happen. I lov-"
Squalo fell silent as a hand sweltering in Sun Flames wrapped around his jaw, sealing his mouth shut, muscles tensing to near lockjaw.
"Do not lie to me, Squalo Superbi," Daiki warned, eyes absolutely luminescent in the pitch room, two spots of gold peering at him from the darkness with a crushing hate. "You love me, but not like that. Just as I love you, but not like that."
The Rain breathed through his nose, breath laboured and harsh as he held onto the Sun's wrist tight, ready to claw and slash should the grip turn from firm to ferocious. He swallowed thickly, brows furrowed in frustration, before that hand slipped from his face and clenched around his throat.
"I'm not a seat to be reserved, Squalo," Daiki warned, a severe frown on his face. "Nor an item to be traded. Do not treat me as something you can put aside for your Sky."
"Voii! Our Sky," Squalo hissed, exercising his right to speak with his mouth unreined. "Yours as much as mine, don't try to deny it. I could sense it on you since you came out of Boss' room years ago."
"Both or one, I will not be contained by you. Remember this well, Rain, I am Cloudy. The tighter you try to hold, the further I'll drift. I chose who to tie myself to, and I have chosen Mao-"
"You chose Vongola De Xanxus, you chose our Sky!"
"The Attraction was strong and he had been Courting me since we were children," Daiki scowled, backing down slightly. He wasn't able to deny that ten hours upon ten years had rendered his Flames thoroughly allured and his heart well coddled. "It...was instinctual, not thought out."
"But done, nonetheless," Squalo pressed, "Our dual Sun and our Cloud, all wrapped up in one."
Daiki bared his teeth at the Rain but all he got was a self-satisfied, toothy sneer of a grin. Something in that sentence had clicked with Squalo and his Flame absolutely pulsed with it, a purring frequency that curled around Cloudy Sun like an affectionate cat.
Daiki shifted under the touch, his Sun calming down despite how his Cloud knew he should be livid. He was being trapped, literally straddled to a bed - but his Sun cooed at the warmth of a happy Rain, his happy Rain.
His hand slipped from Squalo's throat and dropped to settle on the Rain's waist.
"I'm too tired to fight tonight, Squalo," he sighed.
"Then don't fight," Squalo snapped, "Just accept what I'm telling you."
Daiki frowned and laid back in his bed, staring up at the Rain with impatience.
"I'm finished with this conversation, Squalo."
"Well, I'm not!"
"Then you can talk to yourself, I'm going to sleep," he huffed, and grabbed the Rain off his lap.
Squalo snapped and hissed curses in several languages as he was manhandled with a grip he couldn't fight off. He gave another shout as he was tugged, before falling silent as warm blankets fell over his half-naked body and a chest pressed to his back.
"I won't make you do the walk of shame tonight, though," Daiki murmured, absently playing with long silver hair.
It wasn't the length Squalo was known for quite yet, but Daiki could see that old, dusty memory coming to fruition. Nonetheless, Daiki ran his fingers through it until the Rain stopped bunching his shoulders and slumped against the mattress.
"Boss will come back," Squalo said lowly, "What will you do?"
Daiki hummed and wrapped his arm around the Rain's pale waist, feeling every inhalation.
"Goodnight, Squalo," he uttered.
"You can't sleep the world away."
Daiki closed his eyes, feeling the warmth of his Rain against his skin. He focused on it, the singe of skin-on-skin, and used it as a refuge from the haze that had crawled from the corner to the foot of the bed.
. . .
He had been ignored. Mammon had floated by without even a grunt of acknowledgement. Levi had locked himself in his room. Belphegor had left his beloved bear out in the hall and Squalo had 'accidentally' knocked an entire bottle of red wine onto Daiki's nice, white dress shirt, staining him red. The only one who recognised Daiki's existence in this place was Lussuria, always the dear elder sister, through thick and thin.
Belphegor had crumpled his wedding invitation and thrown it at Daiki as they passed, ugly cuts littering the envelope, but the invite itself relatively unharmed inside. Daiki had sighed and pocketed it without uttering a complaint.
A huff of cold air brushed over Daiki's skin as he walked through the halls, windows disappearing three stairwells ago as the two Suns went down, down, down, deep into the frozen core of the Varia. The stairs had long changed from carpet to polished wood, to stone that clapped resoundingly with every step, a deafening announcement that the rogue had returned.
Lussuria turned from the bottom of the steps. Daiki was still ten steps high, hesitating. The Varia Sun sighed and joined him again, laying a hand on his shoulder.
"I shouldn't go and see him, sister," Daiki said slowly, turning to attend to his fellow Sun.
"You know he misses you," Lussuria murmured, a worried furrow to his brow. "Do you...want to forget him? Forget us?"
"Of course not," Daiki stressed, grabbing Lussuria's arm and holding him firmly. "It's just...He is in my past. And he needs to stay there. Mao is my future and she is waiting for me."
"Baby brother, if one visit is enough to tear down four years worth of trust and romance then we are back at square one: you shouldn't get married." Daiki frowned and for a moment Lussuria scolded himself for being so blunt. He was the Varia's last link with Daiki right now, he had to keep the relationship strong. "Just come and see the Boss, Daiki. Bring yourself some closure."
Daiki glanced up at his sister before he rested his head on the other Sun's shoulder. He turned and hid his face in the tropical smell.
"Okay," Daiki said slowly, "Okay, let's go see him. One last time before I get married."
Lussuria smiled thinly, a soft pain to his expression even as he wrapped an encouraging arm around his brother Sun and led him down those final steps to the room of the stagnant Sky. The Varia Sun watched on as his gentle brother stared ahead at the cage of ice, that familiar ache in golden eyes and the forced apathy of a pinched brow.
The rogue Sun's hands were bundled in fists at his sides, nails biting into copper skin in self-punishment. Daiki knew no amount of self-flagellation would gift him any sort of merciful penance as he stared at vermillion eyes.
"How long are you going to just stand there?" Daiki bit out, high strung, like every nerve was grinding against each other like sandpaper.
No Cloud liked to be cornered.
Squalo was the first to reveal himself, sneering as he stepped out of the dark corners of the room to stand in front of Daiki. Mammon floating into vision on Daiki's left, Fantasma out of sight but audibly slinking about the room. Levi appeared from Daiki's blind spot, a huge, hulking form. Belphegor's grin was wild to the right, wires glinting and floating as they rigged themselves about the room.
Lussuria pressed against Daiki's back, warm hands holding him by the shoulders as gently as his dear sister could.
The Varia were the Vongola's independent assassination squad. It was easy to forget that sometimes, when they were all yelling and throwing random ornamental items at each other. It was easy to forget when they asked for soft toys as gifts, when they asked for help doing their hair, when they tried to hide their homework. The Varia were assassins, debatably the Mafia's best covert killers out there.
Daiki clenched his fists tighter and desperately tried to override his Cloud that lashed and snarled. It urged him to fight, get out, they're planning something to tie you down, they're going to chain your feet, clip your wings, run rogue, run-
"Breathe, brother," Lussuria urged gently, squeezing his shoulders.
Daiki grit his teeth and looked dead ahead, golden eyes glaring at Squalo who stood before the Sky they served.
His shoulders were squared and feet parted evenly, chin held high with pride as he stared down their rogue. Sword prosthetic flashed in the chilled light, and every breath he released through his lips was mist in the air. Squalo was steady.
A feather-light touch to his cheek made Daiki slide his eyes over to Belphegor who smiled bright, looking the most excited he had in months. He was practically vibrating with energy, Storm rumbling under his skin. Belphegor was ready.
An ache in his temples made Daiki turn his attention to Mammon, the walls warping oddly and nearly pulsing with a hammering heart. A vibrant and glowing serpent was coiled around Daiki's leg, eyes redder than wine peering up at him. Mammon was anticipating.
Metal clanked in the furthest reach of Daiki's blind spot and he tilted his head to bring the figure of Levi A Than into view. He was still as a large gargoyle in flesh, but the tell-tale crackle or green and light rode the metallic length of his weapons. Levi was eager.
A chest pressed up against Daiki's back and he glanced over his shoulder with a severe frown as Lussuria looked down at him, eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses. His smile was passionate, edged with a plea. Lussuria was expectant.
Daiki stared up at his dear sister, a horrible tension welling in his stomach. Lussuria smiled wider with the attention and reached into his pocket to show two sparkling metal bands. Daiki looked down at his hand.
Vongola Rings; Sun and Cloud.
"What have you done?"
"We have exactly thirty-seven minutes," Levi uttered with urgency, looking at his watch that ticked nervously.
"Squalo, what have you done?!" Daiki shouted over the chatter and noise.
Doors were slamming around them, Varia underlings blocking off all entrances and keeping out those who would try to halt the plan. Daiki whipped around as Lussuria grabbed him by the arm and worked the Cloud Ring onto his finger, Sun Ring already in place on his own gloved hand.
"Please, Daiki, work with us here," Lussuria urged, as he struggled, trying to close his hand to avoid wearing the Ring.
"You stole the Vongola Rings!" Daiki hissed, "Timoteo pulled his punches for a while, but they won't let you get away with this! Idiots, you'll be killed!"
"Pulled his punches?" Squalo echoed, voice booming and outraged as he clenched his one fist, Rain Ring gleaming on his finger. "He froze the Boss! For six years!"
"We're running out of time," Mammon scolded, "We have to get Boss out and then get the Rings back before anyone notices. Quit your squabbling, we must begin."
"Shishishi, let's go, let's go~!" Bel sang, waving his Ringed hand at the ready.
Daiki bared his teeth in a grit as he was dragged forward by Lussuria, all members of Xanxus' Family standing at the ready.
"How do you intend to break through the Ninth's ice!?" Daiki pressed, hysteria touching the farthest reach of his mind.
"The Vongola Rings can amplify and embody Flames," Lussuria explained calmly, "And with a full set of Flames on our side now, we'll be able to melt through."
"Wait, no-" it's too soon, it's too soon-
"VOI! No more waiting! Everyone, now!" Squalo roared and held out his fist.
Daiki watched as Flames left forth, concentrated spires leaping forth to latch onto the ice that withheld their Sky from them. Trails of pure fire, yellow, blue, green, lavender and red clawing at the frozen cage.
Daiki watched with horror. Daiki watched with longing. Daiki watched with hope.
Slowly, Daiki lifted his hand bearing the Vongola Cloud Ring and let his Flames scrambled through his veins until gold and violet tumbled from the Ring. Two-toned fire lept forth and joined the assault.
Squalo caught Daiki's eye; he was grinning.
"Keep going! This lasted six years, we've got work to do!" Squalo instructed swiftly and everyone doubled their efforts, pushing more Will through to the conductive jewels.
It's too soon. It's far too soon for this. There are so many things that need to be done first; relationships to be established, hierarchies to be settled, paths to be laid. It's too soon for Xanxus to be freed.
Daiki looked down at his feed; water pooled at his toes. It was working.
Xanxus will be freed.
The Sky of Wrath will walk under the sun again.
Daiki took in a breath, the air thick with fire and ice, hot and cold causing wind to snatch at his hair. In the darkness behind his eyes, Daiki saw a pyre of Sun curled around Cloud, both of them dancing wild with use after so long, so long how could you make us sit for so long-
Daiki stood before them, both eager to please, eager to help. Their Sky was waiting, their Sky was on the other side! He's been gone for so long, we need to see him now!
Daiki drew himself up, dragging every memory of vermillion, gold and ebony. Alcohol and smoke stung his nose and body heat burnt his fingers as he threw them on the fire. Emotions melted down and ignited like gasoline, hate, exasperation, apathy, content, affection, lust, love and something transcendent of even that.
Daiki opened his eyes, aware of how they illuminated xanthous in that dark, Arctic basement. He released his breath; Flames ignited.
"Shit!" Squalo howled, glee thick in his voice as the turret hit the ice with enough strength to send droplets raining down on their heads. "You've been holding out on us you bastard! Not just a pretty face!"
"Look at you go Ottone~!" Bel purred, and not to be outdone redoubled his efforts.
Chunks of ice were crumbling away, rivets of water flowing like glacial rivers and welling down at their feet. They took steps forward as the ice shrunk, ripples echoing from their footsteps.
Daiki kept walking, ignoring how his reflection in the water snarled at him, yelling at him to stop, to think. Ten steps. He had walked these ten steps so many times before, when he came to visit, every time it became a little harder, a little more guilt-ridden.
Five steps left; he had to stop, his reflection was shouting. She was waiting for him at home. She was getting her final measurements done, making sure everything fit like a glove. She was practising her makeup, so everything would go smoothly.
Daiki reached out and felt the ice breathe cold against his knuckles, just a touch away. He stared at the frozen visage of Xanxus, just a breath away.
It was too soon. She was waiting. It's too soon.
The ice shattered.
Tsuna was still in Elementary school.
"Boss!" Levi shouted as Xanxus dropped from his point of suspension.
Daiki surged forward and caught him in copper arms. He let his knees buckle under the weight of Sky and reality, pants soaking with icy water as he dragged Xanxus into his lap, holding him close and careful.
"How is he?!" Lussuria fretted.
"Fucking cold," Daiki gritted out, one hand touching Xanxus' cheek and hissing at the pure chill that resided there, colder than a corpse. "Fucking hell, you stupid boy."
Daiki grabbed at tanned fingers and felt a punch of fear at how they struggled to bend, stiff and frozen, white at the tips.
"Frostbite, shit!" Squalo cursed violently. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."
Squalo was panicking. He had plans, but seeing their Sky crumple like a puppet without strings had hit him in the Flame. They were wobbly in the knees, their Harmony hurting like frozen joints.
Squalo looked to Daiki. Daiki thinned his lips at the sight and let out a breath.
"We have to get the Rings back," Daiki snapped, gathering Xanxus up in his arms as he stood.
He was so small, what the hell, when were they ever so small-
"Mammon, Bel, get those Rings back in the Vongola Vault. Don't get caught," he instructed quickly, pushing Xanxus' nose into his shoulder to try and get his extremities warm.
Mammon and Belphegore grabbed everyone's Rings before they fled with speed up those basement stairs. Levi, Lussuria and Squalo hovered close, worry and joy mixing in their expressions as they gazed upon their unconscious Sky.
"Levi, go get the fire started in Xanxus' room. Lussuria I need you to grab thick blankets. Make sure to get socks. Use mine if you have to, they'll be in my bag."
Daiki took off in a jog as he allocated jobs, the air fogging off his lips and urging him out of the room. Everyone followed close, the thunder of their footsteps echoing through the stairwell.
"Got it," Lussuria nodded and broke off at the top of the stairs.
"Come on," Squalo urged and Daiki followed to the room full of phantoms. "There's logs at the side, Levi, quick!"
"Yes!" Levi yelped, grabbing tinder and wood to fill the fireplace before fumbling with his lighter.
Daiki laid Xanxus on his bed, trying to see through the memories and the heat haze. He measured his breath as he stripped Xanxus of waterlogged clothes, thin crystals of ice chipping off the material as he tried to pry open buttons.
"Oh for fuck's sake-" Daiki grabbed the white dress shirt and tore it open.
Daiki froze, eyes wide and hands shaking. He knew this would happen, he knew this was what would come from such an attack but…Daiki reached out and lightly touched the scars that lined Xanxus' body. Burn wounds unattended to for six years had settled in his skin.
Skin colder than a corpse. Colder than Antarctic ice.
"Squalo," Daiki shook himself to attention. "Strip. We've got to get him warm."
Squalo didn't hesitate nor question and started shucking off layers, using his one good hand to free himself.
Daiki continued to attend to Xanxus, the metal of his belt buckle cracking under his assault. Leather boots crunched and split as he worked them off the prone boy, thudding loudly as Daiki threw them aside and peeled off socks to show feet and toes an unhealthy white.
Lussuria ran into the room and started to work thick, woollen socks onto their Sky's feet and blew warm air on Xanxus' hands.
"Don't rub them," Daiki warned as he threw off his clothes, layers joining the pile with Squalo's on the floor.
Rain and Clouded Sun came toward the bed and pulled their Sky under the blankets. Squalo pressed up against Xanxus' back and let the boy steal as much warmth as he could without rubbing his skin. He blew warm air into his ears and pressed his hands along his shoulders.
Daiki pulled Xanxus and Squalo to his chest and took up his frozen hands, breathing sunshine into white skin, watching as with each golden breath they began to blush pink then red. He cupped the back of Xanxus' head and urged his cold nose into his chest, keeping the air he breathed warm.
Lussuria layered blanket after blanket upon the three, trying to encapsulate them and contain any and all heat they created. He fussed about them and brought luke-warm water to the side table.
The crackle of fire sounded out and told the room that Levi had finally brought the fireplace to full capacity. The room began to warm up slowly as the Lightning came to the bedside and peered at the Sky with concern, all bundled up under the blankets with two of his closest Guardians pressed on either side.
"How long will he be asleep for?" Levi asked, wringing his hands.
"I don't know," Daiki answered honestly. "Are there any doctors we can call?"
"No one we can trust," Lussuria sighed, visibly stressed as he came and sat at the foot of the bed.
"We'll have to make do," Squalo gritted out. "Have we received any word from Mammon or Belphegor?"
"No, but no alarms have been set off. If anyone can get the Rings in and out, it's Mammon," Levi assured.
Daiki frowned and blew another wave of sunshine onto Xanxus' hands as Lussuria pressed gold into his feet through the blankets. Those were the worst affected places along with his ears, and Daiki knew they'd be monitoring them carefully.
"I'll go wait for those two," Levi announced anxiously, "Please call for me if Boss wakes up."
"Of course," Lussuria nodded.
The Varia Sun walked over to the loveseat beneath the window and sat there, watching the three in bed. Daiki glanced over his shoulder at his sister who smiled reassuringly, before turning his focus on thawing out the frozen boy's ears, blowing gold into the shell until they blushed red.
"You always managed to completely freeze yourself somehow," Daiki murmured, looking down at his face. He was sleeping blissfully, after years of being caught in a moment of rage, his face was relaxed and his eyes were closed. He hadn't aged a day. "But you outdid yourself, idiot."
"Boss always cranks the heating during Winter," Squalo agreed, and Daiki looked up to see him across the pillows. "Always complains it's not warm enough."
"He's a picky bitch," Daiki snorted. "Needs everything done his way."
"Yeah, fuck, I bet he's gonna complain about so much shit when he wakes up. He's gonna rip through every newbie we got," Squalo realised with a great heave and Daiki let out a soft laugh, before falling quiet when the Rain's forehead pressed against his own. Squalo's pale face was flushed the lightest pink, Rain Flames radiating unbridled joy. "He's back. The Boss is back."
"He's back," Daiki echoed, reassuring him that it was true.
But it was too soon. Much too soon, years too soon. Still so much had to happen. He was still in elementary school, far too young. This wasn't the right time, not enough time-
She was waiting for him. Not enough time. His wedding was eight days away. Mao was waiting for him. He had done this on purpose. Less than a fortnight. He had no time to back out. He had done this on purpose, for her.
Daiki looked down at the boy of smoke and vermillion pressed against his chest. There were no phantoms. No hanging heat haze. No looming presence that draped itself across his shoulders. It all condensed down to their source and vessel, a boy carved from magma and Wrath. Xanxus was free.
He was here in Daiki's arms, too exhausted to shiver. He was cold but his chest rose and fell against Daiki's breast. Xanxus was alive; he was free. Free to take back all he had lost, to hunt and to pillage.
Daiki reached for his phone. He made the flight leave tomorrow morning.
. . .
Belphegor and Mammon had returned not half an hour after their order was given, and not a single alarm had been raised on the Vongola's end. They had been meticulous; down to the dust-outline of the box.
No one knew the Rings had been stolen. No one knew Xanxus was back.
The room of the Varia Sky was filled with the slow cycle of breath, seven bodies curled up around the room. Every Guardian had chosen to sleep beside their Sky, paranoia and aching Flames causing Belphegor to retrieve his giant bear until he curled up on the foot of the bed with Mammon. Lussuria was still slumped on the love seat with Levi leaning heavily against him.
They were all soundly asleep, a Family for the first time in six years. Their Flames jumped around and bonded, Harmony thick in the air and caramel sweet on the tongue.
Daiki tried to stop breathing.
Golden eyes stared at the two faces across from him, Wrath and Pride curled up in sleep. He slowly extracted himself from the sheets drenched in petrichor and sunshine, careful not to disturb those at the bottom of the bed.
Daiki gazed down at Greed and Sloth, the two of them unmoving and quiet. He sighed and carefully picked up the slumbering princeling, the boy too Harmony-drunk to be awoken by his own Sun-Cloud as Daiki tucked him in at Wrath's side. Young Sloth rolled over and grumbled until Daiki gave his sleeping hands his bear. Greed snoozed as Daiki gave them a pillow and blanket. He adjusted their hood, too much of their round face showing at once.
Daiki moved across the room and stood before Lust and Envy on the love seat. He sighed and grasped them gently, leaning both men back against the backboard before covering them both with a thick blanket. Lust's brows pinched for a moment and Daiki quickly scanned him for the source of discomfort, then fished out the item that was jabbing him in the thigh.
A tube of lipstick, metallic and golden like a melted down bar.
Daiki shook his head at Lussuria's taste in cosmetics before picking up his clothes off the floor and shrugged them on. He paused when he felt paper in his pocket; Belphegor's wedding invitation. Daiki gazed down at the neat handwriting, he had chosen to write each invitation by hand but despite that, he doubted any of them actually kept their invite. He had seen Levi throw his in the fireplace, Mammon had slipped theirs through the shredder in the office and Squalo had torn his in a fit of rage.
The rogue Sun let out a long breath that tasted of caramelized Harmony and laid the invitation on the desk. The desk he had spent his final exams cramming on, where Wrath had pressed against his back and urged him to come to bed.
He pressed the invitation flat as he could, and the words stared back at him; the union of Suzuki Mao and Watanabe-Yamaguchi Daiki. Now seven days away.
Daiki wouldn't be surprised if tonight would be his last moment with this family. They couldn't forgive him for this. He didn't want to be forgiven for this.
He leant his hands on the desk and closed his eyes tight. Long ago, Daiki had quietly wished something when no one was watching as he sat alone in his room in the Watanabe. He had whispered a wish into the honey light of a gasoline lamp, letting the fire eat his quiet confession, his silent moment of weakness. Once upon a time, Daiki had wished he had been frozen with Xanxus. Trapped tight in the ice with him, spend eight long years holding him, let copper hands cover vermillion eyes and protect him from the sight of his so-called father sentencing him to stagnation.
But Daiki had made his choice. And now he'd made his choice again. Daiki was twenty-two now, for too old to be crawling into the sheets of someone who barely lived through their sixteenth year.
Daiki pushed off the desk and turned sharply when he heard a soft clatter. Lussuria's golden lipstick laid on its side, glinting in the low light of the fireplace. This would be his last time with this family, his Family. He didn't want to be forgiven, but just like them, he didn't want to be forgotten.
Daiki uncapped the lipstick and carefully applied it to his lips, staring at his reflection in the window that gazed at him with disappointment. He stood straight and walked to Lussuria and Levi, bent at the waist and kissed both men on the cheek, leaving behind gold-leaf imprints of fleeing affection and blessing.
"You are my Envy, why are you so perfect? You are my Lust, your body, your mind, your heart." Daiki uttered idly, fixing the blankets on their bodies.
He came to the bedside and checked on Mammon, pressing a kiss on a rounded cheek beside ever-frowning lips. Mammon would be dealing with so much from here on out, he hoped they'd be well through it.
"You are my Greed, I don't need you to survive but I want you like I do."
Daiki brushed Belphegor's fringe from his face and couldn't help the smile that touched his face, Bel's face was all squished against his bear. He bent at the waist and imprinted gold on the apple of Bel's cheek, glittering and rare as the tiara that sat askew.
"You are my Sloth, when we lay together I never want to get up," he murmured, before looking at the rest of the bed.
Daiki walked around the other side of the bed and ran his fingers through silver, the strands cool to the touch like silken metal. He pressed a warm kiss on Squalo's skin, gold reflecting firelight on alabaster skin.
"You are my Pride, and joy." He whispered.
Daiki slowly stood and stared at the last of the Varia, their Sky still rendered unconscious, his breath slow and shaking. He thinned his lips, in front of him he was six years ago, back when his biggest struggle was his final exams and dragging himself out of bed to preheat the ovens in the bakery.
This was the likely last time he was going to see his Family. They wouldn't forgive him.
"You are my Wrath," he breathed, leaning close enough to taste the burnt sugar and smoke of Harmony. Daiki gazed at his face, youthful and exactly as he remembered it. As begrudgingly handsome as ever. "I hate what you do to me".
Daiki kissed his upturned cheek, close to those molten vermillion eyes, leaving behind a golden mark to match five others. He lingered for a moment, letting the sensation rest in his mind for the last time, before he drew back.
Eyes as red as wine and setting suns stared at him.
Daiki's heart stopped in his chest. His breath caught in his throat, snakes wrapping around his neck and constricting like pythons and hissing in his ears 'where are you going? Your home is here. Lay down, lay down, he's right here'.
Red eyes were unfocused as they looked upon cobalt and gold, an undefined blur of finery and precious beings. Xanxus wanted to reach out and touch, reach out and sink his nails into copper skin and hold his aurelian idol down.
His mind was unclear, full of heat haze and clouded over with honey Harmony. He could barely arrange a thought, Flame-primal urges letting him relish the sensation of bathing in cloud-dappled sunshine that still tingled through his skin.
"I'm going now, Xanxus," came the utterance out of the dark, quiet like a prayer in an empty chapel.
"No, you're not," Xanxus shot back, voice heavy with exhaustion.
There was a long pause. A hand searing hot rested on his cheek and branded him a possession. Long fingers slipped across his face and covered volcanic eyes, dousing him in pitch and darkness until it tugged at his mind to return to Morpheus in the warm and in the soft.
"You say that like you have a choice."
Daiki gazed upon his Family. Lust, Envy, Greed, Sloth, Pride, Wrath all curled together to bathe in their comfortable and gentle sin.
No one woke when the door clicked shut. Daiki was always a Glutton for punishment.