Author's Note: This is set during Quant and Lero-Ro's trek from the Floor of Test to the 77th Floor.

Quant sighed after losing his video game, lifted his arms over his head and glanced over at Ro, hunched over his lighthouse. This search of his had often seemed hopeless, but it seemed especially so tonight. It had been three years since they'd left the Floor of Test; alternatively since Ro quit in protest, and Hansung Yu fired Quant along with him for kicks.

Everyone knew The Wing Tree had headquarters on the 77th Floor, and that it was both hell and hell to get there, but what that hell was was up for grabs. So far, they'd heard a lot of rumors, guesses, and had ran into a lot of dead ends trying to figure it out. And every now and then a little something interesting, just enough to keep them going.

Quant early on asked his family what they knew. Turns out nothing, along with just about everybody else they'd asked, wandering around hotel to hotel, floor to floor. Just that he was nuts to go there, and to leave it alone.

What could it be? They just kill you right when you show up? Right after knocking on the door? Or they put you through some wringer of a test, see if you're worthy? Obviously not everyone who went there died, because The Wing Tree had members – and power to rival the 10 Great Families.

He'd never thought about it much before, and if he'd had it his way, he never would have. The only reason he had was because of Ro. Quant had hoped he would have dropped it by now, but here they were.

Whatever it was, it kept eating at him, what happened on the Floor of Test. Quant wasn't really sure why – because Ro was the overseer? Because he's the one who told that kid from the Khun family about going to the administrator?

The whole thing was shady, there was no question about that. Ro only told him all of it after they'd left. Some conspiracy to have that kid Baam taken out? For being an Irregular?

It didn't sit well with Quant either: yeah, the kid was a monster, but he still deserved a chance, not to get taken out when he'd barely begun.

Ro had plenty of clues, but he couldn't piece it together, and Quant now watched him lean back and splay his fingers across his face.

"Come on, Ro. Take it easy, would ya?" Quant called out to him from the couch. "You've been on that thing for hours."

"… Alright." Ro conceded.

They went out, got something to eat, walked around, but Quant worried about him, this long hunt of his going nowhere fast.

It was weird, Ro had always been a complicated guy, but generally, Quant was pretty good at reading his moods – knowing why Ro was in them was a different story – but now Quant just… wasn't.

Ro had a lot of masks he wore. One was playing dumb like it was nobody's business – it was always hysterical to watch him go at it: smiling and winking and saying the most ridiculous shit he could think of, and everybody falling for it.

They'd used that to their advantage so many times, along with Quant playing up his family's reputation – of pyromania, basically – and everyone just assumed they were idiots.

But they weren't, at least Ro wasn't. That's partly why Quant teamed up with him. Ro kept him a little bit calmer, smoothed out some of his crazier edges. That's what a lot of people in his family had done – the successful ones anyway – when they climbed.

Nice guy was another one. Responsible. Kind of bland, really. Downplayed a lot of his talent – he was their team leader climbing, a great light bearer, a decent wave controller, Evankhell's right hand man on the Floor of Test – but you'd never know it.

The mask he'd had on lately was sticking to his guns, his morals, come hell or high water.

But there was always a lot going on under the surface with Ro. Even when he got mad. Especially when he got quiet.

But the thing that was really throwing him off was their timing. When they talked, they interrupted each other, when they walked around the hotel room they kept crossing paths. Walking in a crowd together was damn near impossible. And that was weird.

They'd always been able to walk, run, fight in close proximity and rarely step on each other's toes. Another reason why they'd teamed up. Hell, they'd even bunked together when money was tight and were fine.

Now, Ro seemed flat, and that was about all he could get. Then again, Quant was watching him a lot; it was just the two of them. No teammates, no jobs, and no plan. He wasn't used to having this much time on his hands.

Maybe he was overthinking it.

On a night Quant couldn't convince Ro to go out, he went out by himself. Went to some bars. Talked to some people about the 77th Floor, why not. Saw a woman eyeing him across the way. Smiled and eyed her back. They got to talking.

Felt that tension, that pull and tug, that back and forth, will we or won't we. And decided they would.

Went back to her room and had at it.

It was fairly typical for him. It was a good outlet, he liked the passion of it, the movement. Sometimes it was casual, sometimes it wasn't. Sometimes he was dating a woman, sometimes he was dating a couple of them. Never two timing anybody – he let them know. Generally it wasn't a problem; they were dating other people too.

He still enjoyed it, and so did they.

So when he felt that tension, that pull and tug, that back and forth, that will we or won't start up with Ro, he knew what it was. What he was going to do about it?

Not so much.

Just that somehow, somewhere, that coffee addict was laughing his ass off.

Quant had had a few guys make a pass at him. He'd turned them down, but it didn't bother him much. 'Never hurts to ask,' was his philosophy, but he never thought he'd be thinking about it himself. But hey, guess anything's possible, if you live long enough, and if all his partying had taught him anything, it was you don't control who you're attracted to. He'd been around stunning women; hadn't felt a thing.

And Ro… he wasn't bad looking. The height difference was a pain, but for all that height, Ro wasn't a lot bigger than he was.

It wouldn't be a problem.

Not that he was ready to make a pass at Ro.

Not yet, anyway.

It started with a magnetic pull to get in Ro's space, which he did. Then to put his hands on him; he did that too.

Nothing over the top. Gripping his shoulder if Ro was sitting, holding onto his arm, a hand on his back. Little things. Feeling this out.

Ro knew something was up. Kept sending him confused looks when he thought he wasn't looking.

Quant knew it'd been awhile for Ro, since he was with anybody. When you lived together, it was hard to hide this stuff.

Sometimes, climbing the Tower when they were in one place for awhile, Ro had dated. Always women and he was always a gentleman about it.

Ro knew about him too. He never gave him trouble over it, and Quant didn't tell Ro to get out more.

They'd understood that about each other.

Would they understand this new thing about each other too? 'Cause however well they moved together, talking, at least off the battlefield had never been their strong suit. They'd had plenty of misunderstandings, arguments, downright disagreements. Different ways of doing things.

Quant wasn't a patient guy, but he was willing to wait a bit to find out. He and Ro had been friends a long time. They'd had each others' backs like nobody else, and nobody was guaranteed passage up to the top, but he and Ro weren't anybody's bet. They'd crawled their way up by the skin of their teeth to get where they were, and this would change things. No doubt about that.

Basically, he didn't want to rush this, even with Ro's eyes lingering a little too long on him, when he walked out without a shirt – partly to see what Ro would do, but mostly 'cause it was damn humid where they were at the moment.

'Cause he cared about Ro a lot, and if they started something, there was no way it was going to be a casual thing. They'd been through too much for that.

Even with Quant's eyes lingering a little too long right back, even when Ro was doing something as dull as staring at his lighthouse.

Quant was really starting to hate that lighthouse.

But it was hard to deny, night after night. It was just the two of them, and after all, Quant wasn't a patient guy.

Something had to give, but so much for waiting. Ro was withdrawing even more into this search of his. More like an obsession at this point. He just wouldn't stop. Hour after hour. Day after day. He skipped meals, didn't sleep. Nothing Quant said made any difference to him, and Ro always ended up with the same result: nothing.

Ro even stopped sending him those confused looks, his eyes stopped lingering on him. Rarely looked at him at all.

So that was it? This was the end of their dance? 'Cause Ro had to know that's what it was, right? Maybe this was Ro's way of telling him to stop, that he didn't want it.

Quant could respect that. He'd had his doubts about the whole mess, too. If Ro wanted this kept under wraps, he'd go with it. It was a whole lot easier to go out than try this with a friend.

And that's what he did, after another failed attempt to get Ro off his lighthouse.

Out to those bars and clubs. Talked a bit, saw a woman, felt that pull. She felt it too, and they went for it. What a relief.

They had a nice time too. She was funny, they hung out into the morning, got some breakfast, then parted ways.

Then he went back to the hotel and found Ro out on the balcony – odd, because he'd expected him to be right where he left him, on the lighthouse, or maybe out trying to talk to someone – and then Ro was talking to him, which should have been nice but it was freaking him out 'cause Ro was actually trying to pull his dumb act on him, of all people. The cheeriness, the smiling.

He was about to say something, just to get him to stop when he figured it out – why – there it was. Tiny, a little quiver in his voice that Ro just couldn't hide, when he asked Quant how his night was. 'Cause he knew where Quant had been, what he'd been doing. Just like they'd always known about each other.

Guess this dance wasn't over. Guess they were already way past casual.

And part of Quant was furious. How was he supposed to know that this was still game on? Ro hadn't given him any damn sign he still wanted this. He was just working himself to death over something that wasn't his fault, wasn't his business. What was he thinking he could accomplish here? Bring justice to the Tower? Be a hero?

And Quant still didn't know what Ro wanted between them. But he felt lower than filth, he really did, 'cause even though he was mad at Ro for not saying anything, he hadn't said anything either; 'cause he hadn't been able to figure out what he wanted either.

And it had been easier to just move on.

But Quant got his karma for that, and karma can be a real bitch.

He and Ro were talking with a guy who claimed to know where on the 77th Floor The Wing Tree's headquarters were, and maybe he did, but Quant didn't trust him.

Real smooth, slick, dressed to the nines. In an office full of expensive crap. Then walking around the building he owned filled with even more expensive crap.

But Quant's main problem was watching this guy put the moves on Ro. Leaning in too close to him, flowery speech asking them to eat at the restaurant he owned later tonight, of course he would tell them what he knew, all in due time, but why not enjoy themselves first.

And Ro didn't even know. Honest to God. Oblivious to both this guy's intentions and to Quant's actual physical agony watching this. The only upside was it eliminated any doubts he'd had, about how he felt about Ro, what he wanted with him, and what he would put up with.

Really, it felt like being stabbed. And he'd been stabbed.

But Ro kept throwing him irritated looks, silently pleading with him to calm down.

How the hell could Quant calm down, when Ro was so desperate to get answers he couldn't even see what was going on right in front of his face? He had vivid visions of ripping out this guy's eyes and burning him alive – for staring at Ro's lips, his hips, his ass – which was the only thing that stopped him from actually doing it.

Quant restrained himself, probably only 'cause this guy didn't go so far as to actually touch Ro – though he ran his hands through his hair plenty of times, his eyes had that gleam to them, he lined his steps up with Ro's – but Quant didn't calm down after they left, Ro having said something stupid like of course they would see his restaurant, eat whatever overpriced crap they were dishing out there. Didn't calm down as they walked back to their hotel in silence, Ro obviously frustrated with him. For messing up his search.

Didn't calm down in the elevator ride up, Quant tapping his foot in anticipation. Enough of this bull-shit, of not saying it. Go ahead, Ro. Ask what that was all about. I dare you.

And Ro did, after he'd closed the door behind them. "Quant, what happened back there?"

'Cause I'm ready for you.

Ro sounded genuinely confused too. It could have been cute, if it wasn't so infuriating.

"Oh, I don't know, Ro. It was probably the fact that that guy wanted to fuck you." Quant answered carelessly.

A heavy pause, but Quant didn't let off it. Didn't say anything more, not till Ro responded first.

"...Quant?" Ro asked, a little fear in his voice, his face going a little pale. He was still confused, he still didn't get it, he just couldn't put the pieces of this together, just like he couldn't put any of the pieces together, about what happened on the Floor of Test, about the little clues Quant had left for him. That was alright though. He had a way to clear this whole thing up:

"Yep, that was definitely my problem with the whole thing. And do you get why that's my problem?" Quant continued, his tone getting progressively darker.

And Ro was staring at him, silently pleading with him again, not to say whatever it was he was about to say. But it was too late; Quant was still seeing red.

"No? Not even a guess? Come on, Ro. That's not like you. But if you really need to hear me say it, here it goes: it's my problem because I want to fuck you." Quant finished, practically snarling.

… Not one of his better pick up lines – Ro looked like he'd been slapped – and not how Quant imagined this going down in calmer moments; this was about way more than fucking. But he had let it go too far. Normally Ro kept him steady, but his natural temper was bleeding out. Still, he'd check it just enough; Ro deserved a little more romance than that:

"I've wanted you for months. Stop wasting time. Get in bed with me."

And Ro… it was almost like looking at a ghost. Like he couldn't figure out whether to stay or go. Stay or disappear. He went even paler, started to shake a little bit, but when he met Quant's gaze, Quant knew he was there.

And, "Only me," was his answer, and Quant couldn't think of another time he'd ever heard Ro so vulnerable, seen him so openly sad, as he mussed up his hair, looked down at the floor, then jerked his head back up to him, pain all over his face, and repeated.

"Only with me."

Quant appreciated that Ro had was skipping the terrible wrap job and going straight for the goods, but that was fine by him. That's the only way he ever saw this going.

"Only you," Quant called back, easy. "You too. Only me."

Ro shoulders dropped, and Quant took a sigh of relief too, this little valley they were in, regrouping before they started climbing. Who knew where they hell they were going, but that wasn't anything new for them. They'd been climbing a long time now.

"Only you." Ro said back to him, then he slowly reached out a hand to him, and Quant saw a completely different red.

Quant got over to him fast, grabbed his wrist and off they went.

Kicked his bedroom door closed – not that it really mattered, but he figured Ro would want the extra privacy. Let go of him to close the drapes, then called out to Ro if he had any attachment to his clothes to get 'em off now, all the while slinging his own shirt off, getting rid of his pants, getting rid of everything, 'cause why not, till he was standing there buck naked.

Ro had managed to get his shirt off in that time, but that was it. The thing had a lot of buttons on it, but Ro was going too slow for his pace, so Quant decided to take over for him, pushing him back onto the bed then jumping on after him. They landed low so he grabbed hold of Ro's belt and hauled him up, got him where he wanted him. Batted Ro's hands away when he tried to undo his belt before making short work of it himself.

He was sick of this distance between them, as he flung the belt onto the floor and got a grip on Ro's waistband, got the waistband of whatever the hell he was wearing underneath too and pulled them both right off, past his hips, paused at his knees because he liked the sight of it, legs together and up in the air. Also liked the instant flush that started on Ro's torso when he did it, but Ro was in some half sit-up, wasn't lying down all the way and Quant wanted him to, wanted to him to lay back on his own, wanted that gesture from him, and decided he'd hold them here until he did.

Made sure Ro was looking at him while he was at it, not that damn lighthouse, not some bastard giving him false hope about The Wing Tree, and Ro did, did look at him, so Quant got to see the blush working it's way up his throat, his cheeks, this stand off of theirs, but he still wasn't lying back, hell he still wasn't even letting Quant support the weight of his legs – not that Ro's legs weighed all that much, legs for days but thin as anything.

Tightened his grip on Ro's knees and gave a shake, but growled when Ro misunderstood and tried to kick his pants off – long past the point of speaking in sentences or even words. Saw when it finally clicked for Ro what he wanted, saw that blush go up his ears, and when Ro started leaning back, Quant grinned for him, baring his teeth and started leaning forward, letting Ro know he got it right.

He stopped when Ro stopped, and Ro did stop, but Quant kind of liked this, liked they were understanding each the way they had always understood each other best: body language. And with that body language, he got what Ro was doing. Testing, making sure, syncing.

Kept his eyes on Ro's as he got closer and closer, until Ro's back was flat on the bed, made a show of pulling his pants off the rest of the way, noticed how Ro looked down and to the side when he did, kinda shy, and it only heated him up more – he should have done this long before that bastard back there made eyes at him – as he straddled him, then finally, finally, leaned down and crashed his lips into his, and then he couldn't tell where one of them ended and the other began.

Lost track of time, lost track of where they were, almost lost track of who they were, just that they were right were they were supposed to be. A lot of indistinct memories starting coming through: relief after close calls; waiting around at hospitals; meals; hanging out, talking about whatever; joy after passing a test; the crazy joy after becoming Rankers.

Now this, and suddenly he was hungry for more, pushing his tongue into Ro's mouth, running it along his teeth, the roof of his mouth, wanting Ro to feel him here long after he was gone.

Ro tentatively reached up to wrap his arms around Quant's shoulders, and though Quant knew Ro was tired – had seen how pale he'd gotten, dark under his eyes – now he could feel it, how drained he was, could feel it in the weakness of his grip, the slight tremor under his fingertips and it pissed him off: Ro was always trying so damn hard, did when they were climbing, even did on the Floor of Test, where a lot of the administrators half assed it. Tried so damn hard with his search, and he wanted Ro to stop, stop trying – even now in bed, he was trying but he had nothing left – wanted Ro to just be here with him, so he locked his fingers with his and pinned them down.

And Ro let out a funny little noise when he did that, one he'd never heard, that made Quant move down to his neck, drag his teeth across his pulse, not to hurt, but to send him a message.

Let me take the lead.

Maybe there wasn't anything wrong with their communication after all, 'cause Ro lifted his legs up, hooked them around Quant's waist, and really let them rest there. Still didn't weigh anything, but Quant felt the difference.

He'd have to let go of Ro's hands to move any lower, and he wasn't ready to do that yet so he dropped his hips, made contacts with Ro's, pressed down.

Ro shuddered, lost his grip with his legs, but that was alright. Quant had other goals in mind, wanted more than a shudder – because he was damn tired of seeing Ro damn tired, hunched over, eyes bleary, worrying about this shit – so he did it longer, harder, until Ro cried out – it was good to hear his voice, he'd been quiet lately. He wondered if he could get more out of him, as Ro curled his fingers against his and bucked up into him, so he kept at it, again and again, till Ro's breaths turned to sobs, and he knew he was close, he was fighting it – why the hell Ro was fighting it, Quant didn't know, but he was – and Quant leaned down, lined their lips up, pressed down on him there too, wanted him to know it was okay – just let go, let it happen – until Ro finally did, his grip on Quant's hands going slack, felt him relax underneath him onto the bed.

But Quant didn't feel like moving, not with how much it took to get here, so he stayed right where he was, even with Ro's eyes closed and his head rolled to the side, trying to catch his breath. Just waited for him to come around again.

When Ro eventually opened his eyes they were out of it, unfocused till they locked eyes, and Quant didn't think Ro's flush could get any darker, but it did, when he realized Quant was looking at him, that he had been for awhile. Their fingers were still linked, and Ro slowly gripped his again, whispered something too, but this happened sometimes with the translators, couldn't always get the gist of what somebody was trying to say, took it too literally, 'cause what Quant was getting was something about trees and roots and branches. Criss-crossed, blocked, stuck? No, that wasn't it. Intertwined. Immoveable. Inseparable.

Soul mates.

'Course they were.

Then he leaned down and kissed him, 'cause what else was he supposed to do. Rolled them over, threaded his fingers through Ro's hair, held him steady above him by gripping his hips with his knees. Ran his hands along Ro's shoulder blades, his ribs, the dips of his spine, followed the curve of his ass, the back of his thighs, continued with his mouth, his neck. Wanted every point of contact burned into their memories.

Then flipped them back over when Ro couldn't hold himself up anymore and did it all over again.

Quant woke up, looked over at the clock, it was late, or early, depending on your schedule. Still dark outside. They'd passed out for awhile, and he looked over at Ro, who was stirring too, the guy had sensitive hearing, it was easy to wake him up, but there was a moment of awkwardness. What do you say after that? It wasn't… like he could just lay it on thick, sweet talk him, Ro would think he'd gone nuts. Quant would think Ro had gone nuts too if he tried it, wouldn't, couldn't buy it from him, knew him too well, but he wanted to say something, too casual was just as weird.

He tried for tongue in cheek sweet.

"Morning, sunshine."

"...The sun isn't out, Quant." Ro answered back, voice quiet, a little… bashful maybe, but a little confused too.

"No, it's… you know, 'sunshine'," Quant started to explain, "I'm calling you, 'sunshine.'"

"… Because of my hair?" Ro asked, trying to understand.

"No, it's, what, your people don't say that?" Clearly not, Ro wouldn't be asking this, he probably could have figured it out if he weren't so sleepy.

"It's... a term of endearment! Yeah!"

"Oh… Thank you."

Yeah… that didn't go the way Quant was expecting, he'd wanted it to… sort of put them at ease a little, try to smooth out some of the weirdness, but now Ro sounded uneasy. Quant reached over to turn a light on, get a look at him, go from there.

He was still laying down, under the blankets, looked real tired, real out of it, hair mussed up, and… what the hell, he still had the dark circles under his eyes, Quant thought that would have cleared it up for him.

"Are you getting up?" Ro asked.

"Was thinking about it, yeah."

"Do you… want to do this again?"

The question surprised him, thought he'd made that pretty clear, but they hadn't really done a lot of talking last night, and Ro probably wasn't doing a whole lot of thinking himself at the moment. Still, it made him sad, made him wonder if somehow Ro's side of that felt a lot different than his, or that he couldn't read Quant well enough to know whether he was enjoying himself, that Ro wondered if maybe after he'd had a test drive he wouldn't want to take the car.

Knew it wasn't the time to talk to Ro about it, he looked like he was going to pass out again.

Instead he just leaned down, kissed him, stayed just enough, to get his point across, waited till Ro kissed him back, just enough, then pulled away.

"Go back to sleep, alright? We'll talk later, I just… gotta get up, go out, move a bit, okay?"

"Okay."

Geez, Ro really was out of it, laid his head back down, shut his eyes, and really did just fall right back asleep. If he was with anyone else, he'd have made a joke about that, really tired you out, huh?

Not Ro, though.

"Hey, Ro, I'm back. I'm gonna hit the shower, be out in a minute." Quant rolled in later, when the sun was actually up. He'd eaten, honestly, sex burned up a lot of energy, he'd been starving, then ran around a bit, worked out, and now was basically ready for round two.

Ro was sitting in the front room with… his damn lighthouse when Quant came out. Ro smiled, but there was something… off about it. He looked kind of pale, his eyes looked a little red, sad, so damn sad.

"Were you crying?" Quant burst out with in shock.

Ro paused, looked away. "It was nothing, just a misunderstanding."

"What misunderstanding?" Quant demanded.

"I… thought you'd left."

"What, we talked, you don't… oh dammit." What a surprise, Ro didn't remember that stupid conversation in the middle of the night.

"We talked quick, but it was dark, you were pretty out of it... 'Sunshine?' Ring any bells?"

Ro paused a moment, could see it on his face when he remembered, he looked embarrassed, but amused, echoed the line he'd said.

"'The sun's not out, Quant.'"

Quant smiled, crossed his arms over his head. "Yeah, you got it," but the moment didn't last long, was still heavy, uneasy. He really didn't like that… Ro thought he'd left, but yeah, it was… bad timing, their first time, should have left a note or something, started eyeing the bedrooms, they looked pretty inviting.

"Wanna get back in bed?" Quant offered.

"Quant, it's okay, I just… overreacted, I'm sorry." Ro replied, flustered.

"Ro?" Quant paused, waited for Ro to look at him.

"...Yes?"

"I'm asking 'cause I'm asking. Besides," Quant paused to pull his shirt off, "It's easier to just jump right back into it, less nerves that way, am I right?"

Ro looked surprised, but… could tell he was thinking about it, it's not like they had anything they needed to do, nowhere to be, just right here, was happy when Ro nodded at him.

They went back to Ro's room this time, wasn't sure how they decided that but they did, maybe for different reasons, Quant's was he didn't like the visual of Ro waking up in there alone thinking he'd left, maybe Ro just wanted some fresh sheets, but they walked in there, and it really shouldn't have been any different, they were just in a hotel, these weren't really their rooms, Ro's was exactly the same as his, but it was different, this being Ro's room and not his. Had a different feel to it.

Could see Ro was confused how to how to approach, and to be honest, so was Quant. Last night, he'd had that barely contained fury, fueling the fire, a huge urge to stake a claim, make his mark. Sort of sped things along, but it was more toned down in here. He walked over to the bed.

Ro watched him, but didn't move just yet.

"You coming over here?" Quant called, throwing up the sheets, sat down, realized they were doing that thing they were doing last night, Ro waiting, wanting to make sure, kept that in mind for when Ro came over, that'd he'd probably want to do that some more, probably even more than he did last night, really make sure it wasn't a fluke, now that he knew Ro was worried about that.

Ro didn't walk over, but he did take his shirt off, it was just a t-shirt, wasn't anything underneath, then to Quant's surprise, he got rid of the pants too, was just some loungewear, had some underwear on but it was... kind of erotic really, couldn't really call it a strip-tease, Ro's version maybe.

Ro wasn't… anybody he'd ever call his type, wasn't sexy in the way he typically thought as sexy, the clothes he was doing this with weren't sexy, wasn't doing any exaggerated motions like he could be, but Quant had forgotten what a turn on it could be, when you're with someone you really care about, because that's what turned him on the most about this, that Ro was letting him look at him from a distance, especially with how reserved he was, thought it was maybe… some kind of trust thing actually, that distance, but then realized it… was kind of that, but it was also, trying to see if Quant appreciated this, making sure they were both on board, and Quant was, did very much appreciate it.

They'd been in bath houses together, various locker rooms, he'd seen it but this was different, way different than just changing your clothes, taking a bath together. Ro… was alright, in those situations but sometimes he'd seen Ro self-conscious, for one reason or another, he'd hike his shoulders up, hunch, and could tell Ro almost wanted to do that now, he'd start to curl, then he'd straighten himself out, pull his shoulders back.

Quant saw it last night obviously, but he'd been in a mad rush, was more the feeling of Ro's skin against his he was looking for than the actual looking, and he wondered if Ro'd actually go all the way, get rid of it all, and he did, paused to look at Quant, started to blush, it came on quick and strong, Quant gave him a nod then those were off too, left in the pile with the rest of it.

Really hoped Ro would make his way over now, 'cause his hands were starting to itch, jaw starting to clench, knew Ro had to come over on his own, that was part of the dance, and he did, slowly, or maybe it just seemed that way to Quant, it only took him a few steps, Ro moved gracefully, got on.

Let Ro kiss him first, he was graceful about that too, but that itching was getting worse, stopped momentarily when he felt Ro's hands on his belt, but he lost it when Ro got to his waistband, felt kind of bad about it too, but he just didn't have the patience anymore and flung them off so they had a complete set of clothes on the floor, then got his hands on Ro's torso, got him to lay down, but once he was down, Ro started to sit up again, a little, just like last night. Guess Ro was uneasy on his back.

He didn't want to do what they'd done last night, had another idea, and wondered if Ro would go for it. Decided to give it a try. Grabbed his hips and slide him back down again, then moved his hands to the small of Ro's back, he wanted to see if would Ro to arch his back on his own, and Ro looked at him, trying to figure out what he was doing, so Quant leaned down, found the bottom of Ro's sternum, kissed him there, stayed awhile, pressed up from below, not enough to push him, just to let him know what he wanted, see if Ro would go with him or not and he did cautiously, arched a little, was still kinda rigid about it, wouldn't relax on Quant's hands, so he tried it again, moved his hands a little lower, kissed him a little lower, pressed in harder when he could feel Ro's heart kick up.

Ro arched pretty high when he got near his belly button, made a little sound, felt him tense 'cause he did. He hadn't had much of a plan when doing this, but yeah, he was making his way lower.

Hadn't done this with a guy, but knew what it felt like getting it. Wanted a condom though.

"Be right back." he said quickly, sprinted off to his room, grabbed one and came back and Ro had sat up, what a shock, looking at him.

"Quant?"

"Thought I'd go down on you."

"...You don't have to." Ro looked embarrassed, looked away.

"Want to."

"...You do?" Ro looked back.

"Yeah… Let me."

"…Okay."

Quant smirked about that sunshine line again, laying here now. Ro had closed the curtains, but there was a sliver of light coming in, kind of wished it hit Ro's hair but it didn't, hit the floor instead, because it was the only thing lit up in the room. Whole place was kind of dull, duller with the dim light, all neutral tones.

Was getting damn tired of hotels, but he had to admit this made it a whole lot easier. Seemed like Ro read his mind though.

"Quant?"

"Mmhmm."

"… I know all this has been tedious, this search. I… was surprised, when you said you would come with me."

"...I'm not, remember? I'm just… walking you there." Quant replied, still trying to wake up.

Ro smiled, because it was pretty ridiculous at this point, then continued, "I wanted to spare you, I know it's dangerous, and I don't know why, but I felt – I still feel – like I have to do this, like I can't rest, but when you were with me, I didn't want you to leave, and I was worried you would, because I kept coming up empty-handed. I knew you were frustrated, and I thought… if I could just find something, maybe things would get better, between us.

"But I didn't find anything, and yet I couldn't stop, and I knew you were hurting. It felt hopeless. Then when this started… I didn't think you were interested; I thought it was just me. I thought… maybe I could make it go away, if I just focused on something else."

Ro stopped, lost in thought, and Quant sighed. He'd been so sure Ro knew what was happening, but he'd just seen it, how oblivious Ro could be and if Quant had actually taken the time to think about it, he'd seen it before – people sending Ro appreciative looks – and he rarely noticed.

"It wasn't just you," Quant replied. "And I'm not going anywhere, especially not now."

Maybe he should have been paying more attention during that conversation though, because… well basically, not immediately, but basically, the same thing kept happening. Ro kept searching, kept not finding anything, they kept wandering around, and it was damn tedious, damn boring, damn dull.

Even the sex wasn't going that great, hadn't been going good for awhile now, and that too, if he'd been paying more attention at the beginning, he probably could have seen coming: Ro tiring himself out with the search, but wouldn't relax in bed, kept fighting. It was frustrating, really frustrating.

That Ro could be right there, and yet… not. Knew why Ro was doing it but it didn't help. Whole thing felt like a struggle, building, coming up to a breaking point, just like it had last time, but Quant didn't know what to do about it this time, they were already having sex, wasn't a secret like before.

He'd taken to strolling nights again, just like before, but tonight he caught himself looking longingly at a club, he'd been walking by them a lot, just told himself it was no big deal, just… feeling out the energy of the place, that's all, no harm, no foul, but not tonight, he finally caught himself red-handed, wanted to go in.

Then got himself the fuck out of there.

Got himself back to the apartment, made it clear to Ro he wanted to get in bed right now, but it didn't matter, wasn't working, temper was rising, no matter how hard he pressed, how much he pushed to break Ro out, maybe just break him down at this point, anything but this stalemate, but Ro kept trying to slow him down – didn't he get it, they'd been going too damn slow already – fought him, avoided him, wouldn't let go and dammit, Quant had had it, leaned his knee in Ro's groin, put his weight on him, then leaned down, got his teeth on Ro's earlobe and gave it a tug.

It ended the stalemate, Ro gave in, came, Quant won, but he instantly regretted it, because Ro was scared, shook, could see it in the wideness of his eyes, the set of his mouth, it wasn't pleasure, not really, he'd just been startled into it, Quant got off him fast, watched Ro sit up, touch his ear, bring his hand into sight, but he already knew it, had felt the blood on his fingers, on his ear, watched Ro bite his lip, like he didn't know what to do, and why would he, even Quant didn't know what to do, and he was the one who'd done it, hadn't meant to draw blood, but he did, he had.

Watched Ro slowly get up, walk himself over to the bathroom, heard the shower start up. Pretended he couldn't hear Ro crying over the sound of the water, because otherwise he'd go in there, and he felt kind of crazy, like he'd do something else he'd regret, like try to get Ro in bed or something, just do the same thing he'd just done, so he did the best he could, wrote Ro a note, and got himself the hell out of there for awhile.

Came back a couple hours later, head cooler. They been sharing a bed since this started, but he wondered if Ro would be okay with that tonight, knocked, asked if he could come in, Ro said yes, he was laying down, and when Quant laid down with him, he was shocked when Ro moved to put his head on Quant's chest.

Ro perched himself there, wasn't really resting, though he did put his ear over Quant's heart, Quant always thought that sounded damn weird even with regular hearing, couldn't imagine what Ro heard, but he was so damn grateful Ro hadn't electrocuted him on sight that he didn't say anything, just got his fingers in Ro's hair, started running them through.

"Quant?" Ro asked, after awhile.

"Yeah?"

"…I don't like it that rough." Quant took a deep breath, steadied himself, somehow that was even worse, that Ro felt like he needed to explain that, in case that was somehow in question.

"It won't happen again." he answered simply.

Because Quant already knew that, and he meant it. He'd learned his lesson, again. Either figure this thing out with Ro or… break it off, or see other people or something. Had one other idea though, before that. Wasn't sure if Ro would go for it, but it was worth a try. They were at the bottom of the barrel anyway.

"Come home with me."

"… Did something happen? You need to go?"

"No, it's… let's just get away for awhile. Go to my place."

Get away from this shit, see if that does anything.

"When do you want to leave?" Ro asked, considering.

"Tomorrow."

"Sounds goods to me."

They were quiet a minute.

"Ro?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry."

Ro didn't say anything right away, but he relaxed right away, adjusted himself, stopped perching, folded his arms down on Quant's chest, really laid down.

"It's okay." he whispered.

Had to admit, it felt good to be home, with the sun and the sand and the beaches and all. It was his family's land, and they had a lot of it, granted a lot of it was desert, but a lot of it was nice too. His family owned some resorts too, lot of people just stayed there, when they came home to visit, but Quant had a place of his own. Being one of the family's Rankers had some perks.

He showed his face around, said hello to people, Ro came along sometimes. His family had basically accepted Ro at this point, but when they first teamed up, they weren't too happy about it, thought Quant could do better. Yeah, Ro might not have any family ties, at least none that the Tower respected, but he was still a Ranker, and more powerful than most of Quant's family, so they'd basically left him alone after that.

So people knew he was around, and he wasn't really expecting anyone, but wasn't too surprised when a visitor showed up.

"Hey Quant! Heard you were around, thought I'd say hi. And hello to you to Lero-Ro, looking handsome as always."

He smiled despite himself. Chanda was an old girlfriend of his, they'd never really settled down, but they'd seen each other on and off over the years. Ro had met her plenty of times.

"What are you doing around here, Chanda?"

"What kind of response is that? This is why we never made it as a couple, Quant."

"Still didn't answer my question." He said relaxed.

"Fine, fine. I did come to see you, alright? Heard you were around and wanted to talk to you about something, that's all. But if you're not interested, I'm sure Lero-Ro and I could figure something out…"

He didn't get the sense Chanda wanted to hook up, but he couldn't be sure, and he wanted to know Ro was okay with it, looked over to him and Ro nodded.

"Alright, let's go out later."

"Looking forward to it. Give me a kiss while you're at it."

Probably should have expected that, Chanda always liked greeting people with a kiss, right on the lips, but it actually calmed him down – it confirmed what he thought, this really was a casual visit – she wasn't kissing him like she wanted to get together.

She pulled away, walked over to Ro.

"Lero-Ro, crouch down would you?"

He did, she kissed him on the cheek, then walked to the door, turned back to wave.

"Alright, see you later!"

Met up with her at one of the resorts. Dressed nice, but why not, she did too.

"So, what's up?"

"Well, actually I wanted your opinion on something, don't faint, but I'm thinking of getting married!"

"Yeah?"

"Yep."

"Well, that's great. Congratulations, but what, you gettin' cold feet?"

"Not exactly, but… I don't know, I mean, don't get me wrong, I love a good romance but… sometimes I envy you, you and Lero-Ro."

"How come?"

"Seems nice, if you can find one, to just have your partner be platonic, if you can swing it that way, because, doesn't sex just mess everything up sometimes? Make it all way too complicated? I mean, you and I were friends for awhile, I still think of you as a friend, but… it's weird, yeah? It was great too, but…"

Quant sighed. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

"But this guy I'm with… I really love him, you know? I think it's worth it, to make that commitment, it's just… different for me. And… you and me, we're similar like that, so I wanted to know what you thought, before I tie the knot."

Quant paused, really thought about it. Chanda looked okay to him, looked good with it. "Sounds like you already know what you want." he replied.

Chanda paused too, looked off to the side, watched the bustle of the crowd, then turned back with a smile.

"… Yeah, I guess I do, don't I?"

They had dinner, it was nice. Chanda kissed him goodnight, he could tell she was thankful, and he was too, cleared a lot up for him too. He did have a question though.

"Hey Chanda, how come you never try to kiss Ro? Because you and I were together?"

"No, I'd have tried it if I thought he'd go for it – sorry to disappoint you – but a guy like him, you don't kiss on the lips unless you mean it. Some people they're just… more exclusive, who they want to do that with, can tell just by looking at him. Whoever it is, is lucky, I can tell you that though. Say goodbye to him for me, would you?"

"Yeah, I'll do that. Good luck, Chanda, with everything."

"You too, love."

Went back to his place, feeling happy, happier than he'd felt in a long time, was looking forward to seeing Ro and… he wasn't there. Neither was his stuff. Just a note, saying he was going home for awhile, that he knew things wasn't working out well, and he wasn't holding Quant to that promise anymore.

Knew Ro had worded it vaguely just in case someone else saw it – Chanda for example – but it wasn't what Ro thought.

Looked like he was making a trip to Ro's hometown.

God, he hated Ro's hometown. It was dark, damp, dank. Always drizzling, smelled like stuff was rotting constantly. Sound didn't travel far around here either, wasn't sure why.

There was a city, stone roads, stone buildings, canals, a river ran through it, a castle in the center. Ro used that as his permanent residence, but it wasn't like he had to fight anybody for it. This whole place was abandoned, had been for a long time. Something happened to it after Ro entered the Tower, some curse? Quant forgot, but they practically gave Ro this place, all of it, when he came back as a Ranker showing interest.

Yep, Ro owned a goddamn ghost town.

He checked the castle first, Ro wasn't there. Had already tried calling him, but Ro wasn't answering. Guess he'd have to find him the old fashioned way, but hey, Quant wasn't a scout for nothing.

Headed out into the swamp land that surrounded this place. Could have gone up in his air ship, but decided to go on foot instead. All looked the same after awhile, but the trees were catching his eye, giant, gnarled things, their roots exposed at the bottom, wondered how they held on with all this water, remembered what Ro had said to him, their first night. Saw a clearing, a little patch of an island, and there he was, sitting down on the ground, reeds around him, his legs dangling in the water.

"Ro!" he shouted to him, equal parts relieved and irritated.

"Quant." Ro acknowledged slowly, but that was all he said.

"How long you been out here?" Quant tried.

"Awhile." Ro replied, slow again.

"You get my messages?"

"No."

"Nothing happened between me and Chanda."

Ro sighed. "It's not that I didn't trust you: I wanted to let you go."

"Could have asked me first."

"You looked happy with her, it was so… obvious, why you dated, how at ease you were together, not like you and I."

"She's getting married. That's what she wanted to talk about."

"Good for her."

"Ro-"

"It's the same thing as before Quant. I… can't stop searching, it's not going well, we're just running around. I know you're not happy, you're bored, we had good jobs on the Floor of Test, now we're nowhere, but really the most damning thing is… I knew this would be a problem, I knew how important it is to you, I thought…"

Ro stopped paused, looked down at the water, Quant couldn't tell at first because it was raining, like it was always raining around here, but there were tears, quiet, red eyes.

Ro started talking again, but there went the translator again. Some bird, birds, mating birds? Goddammit – instinct, sort of, attraction, out of your power, brought together, physical – oh, sex, he was talking about sex:

"We don't have good sex."

Yeah, Quant had thought it plenty of times, been frustrated, downright furious about it, but could tell Ro was gearing himself up for one more thing, so he waited, watched Ro tap his chest, his heart, indicating himself, then look up one more time to say, "I'm sorry."

Then he really started crying, broke Quant's heart so bad he started crying too, and what the fuck was Ro doing sitting out here anyway, it was cold, his shirt was see through, sticking to him, his hair was matted down, his pants were a mess, but he… kind of had a moment, after hearing what Ro said.

Yeah, they didn't have good sex, and maybe that was the problem and the solution. Just like what Chanda and he had talked about, they both had a difficult time committing to someone, used to that variety, that freedom, and just being with one person, but one person you really cared about, wasn't the same, but it did satisfy something, it was a different experience, and this phrase was out of use, not something anybody said much anymore, but it described the difference.

"Let's make love, then."

Ro looked at him, looked hopeful for a split second.

"Lock and key?"

Would have cursed the translators again, but actually, Quant got the gist of this.

"Yeah, lock and key."

Ro's rooms weren't bad, were pretty nice actually. Lot of rugs, tapestries, what else you gonna hang on stone walls, lot of heavy wood furniture, a four poster bed, a fireplace Quant got going.

But his opinion was probably swayed being in bed with Ro here, and it was going well, good, even better than their first night. Even though he didn't like this place, he remembered how much better he'd felt, being home, in his own place, not some used hotel room where, he realized, Ro could probably hear every conversation on the floor if he wanted to, no real sense of privacy for him there, but here? Was nobody but them, the water and the trees.

He'd never heard Ro use that slang before, "Lock and key." Did have a certain poetry to it, lot of people used that, I've got the key to your heart, sort of thing, but lock and key did give another visual, something you do behind a locked door, and it was quite the visual, and he was sure it was all implied.

Despite his bold opening line, they'd never tried it. Neither of them had even brought it up. He'd done it this way with women, but he doubted Ro had, really doubted he'd received it, wasn't even sure Ro wanted to, and with all the trouble they were having in the bedroom already, Quant hadn't wanted to risk a bad experience. Really, it was more than a bad experience, he was worried it would hurt – that it could hurt a lot – if they didn't do it right.

But right now? Things seemed different, Ro was relaxed, could tell, they had a good rhythm going on, so he pulled away, smiled when Ro leaned back down, Ro was on top at the moment, stayed awhile, why not, waited until the next lull. He didn't want to go all the way right now either, just wanted to do some prep work, see if it could work, try with his fingers first, he'd had it done to him, felt confident enough to do it to Ro, but was trying to figure out how to say this so it would get across, couldn't be blunt, had to keep the rhythm right.

Moved his hands, got 'em on Ro's back, slid them down, just slow enough so Ro would know what he was doing, brought them down, opened his palm, brought it right down the middle of the curve, held it there, even sent a little heat, to his palm, didn't always have to set stuff on fire, but Ro got it, paused an instant, kissed him one more time, then rolled them over.

Quant steadied himself, was surprised when Ro reached up, put his hand along the side of his face, even more surprised when he spoke softly:

"So handsome."

Grinned, couldn't help it. "Yeah?"

Ro nodded, smiling softly.

"Lock and key, huh?" Quant asked.

"That's what my people would say, when they wanted to be romantic."

"I like it. Has a nice ring to it."

Grabbed lube, grabbed a condom too, wanted this to be as comfortable as possible, even if he was just feeling it out, Ro gave him the go ahead, but gripped his shoulders hard as Quant pushed his way in, he didn't think it was so much the sensation of it, one finger wasn't a lot, no, it was more the intimacy of it, waited, made sure Ro was okay, then found the spot he was looking for, made sure Ro was still okay, knew it was sensitive, kissed him, keep him relaxed, really didn't have to do much before Ro came, it surprised them both, but Ro especially, blushed like crazy, looked totally embarrassed.

"Sorry." He said flustered, but Quant shook his head.

"Was kind of the point, Ro."

Tried it a couple more times while they stayed here – why the hell not, nothing else to do – until Quant felt they were ready to go all the way, just had to figure out what to do with the legs for days, 'cause he already knew he wasn't doing this from behind, thought they were long enough Ro could hook them on top of his shoulders, he was flexible, Ro cried out a little when he entered and he knew there was some pain in it, along with everything else, knew it was different, no matter how much lube he used, went slow, told him he was doing great, and he was, it was great, thought of what Chanda said to him and she was right, he was one lucky bastard to get to do this with Ro and he knew it. Knew he was a lucky bastard to have met him, knew Ro put up with a lot, was lucky Ro stayed with him all these years, and he'd always hated this place, but now he had a new appreciation for Ro's hometown, how could he not, was where they finally figured it out, or at least started to, and it gave him Ro in the first place.

He'd been too caught in the heat of the moment their first time, to respond to what Ro had said to him, about the trees and branches and roots, but in this afterglow – after Ro breathlessly told him he loved him, eyes shining, knew he meant it, could feel it, had known it all along – this time Quant could say something back, besides that he loved him, which he said too.

Quant's people naturally had many expressions about fire, used it to describe all sorts of things. And yeah, a lot of people thought of fire as scorching, destructive, out of control, and though members of his family had a reputation for being all of those things, it was hard to describe to outsiders how to them fire was life itself. Not some temporary thing that flares up and goes out, but the heat that keeps everyone's hearts beating, that gives off light. Though nobody in his family had actually seen them, they'd heard about the real sun and the stars, those celestial fires that burn on and on, and maybe this wouldn't translate that well either, but Ro was a smart guy, he'd figure it out.

"Fated stars."