Author: Chauni

Email: ChauniMaxwell@mechpilot.com

Website: http://www.geocities.com/asukalangley2nd/

Warnings: Yaoi, Language

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own much, really. Not even my car yet. So, it's pretty safe to say I don't own Slayers or Orgy's remake of "Blue Monday" (why the Orgy version? I believe it fits with the fic more).

Notes: I find myself being really proud of this fic, though how accurate it is, I'm not sure. Of course it's of my favorite pairing (Xel x Val), and takes place after Try, quite awhile after Try, actually…Val's all grown up, again! Feedback craved like…things that are massively craved!

Extensions of the End

            How does it feel to treat me like you do?
                                               When you've laid your hands upon me
                                               And told me who you are




Curled into a fetal ball beneath the blankets and the night, he shifted slightly as he pulled knees tighter to his warm chest. Fingers fisted the sheets, until small blossoms of roses appeared, tainting their crisp, perfect whiteness from the jagged cuts spread out across his palms. Lips parted, moist from the tongue that bathed them, and ignorant whimpers slid out, free and unbidden.

Again, it was the assault on his subconscious, that thing that ruled the night over its waiting and complacent court of subjects. Nightmares, too real to be just dreams, too hazy to be memories, flooded him as the tide of sleep rushed over again, uncontrolled.

He knew what he would remember when he finally awoke, knew the one lingering, yet rapidly disappearing thought that would sit behind his eyes and dance mockingly.

Violet.

Fields and fields of just violets, mixing up with a sunset battleground sky, and waters that were so deep they were but another shade of the plum color.

What significance this had over anything, he never knew, and promptly forgot after lashes peeled back from buttery eyes that shone in the gray morning birth, but during the night...

He was prey to that color, helpless.

Once, as the memory lingered enough to see someone during breakfast the next day, he had muttered something about it with his mouth full of slightly charred toast. He could have sworn he saw his surrogate mother's shoulders twitch and pull up tight, as her golden tail rose off the ground.

"I hate that color," Filia growled, flipping an egg over as steam slipped high into the stifling kitchen air. "It was just a dream, Valtier; nothing more."

But repetitive as it was, and with his mother's mingled reaction, he grew curious. The question, the symbol of it all, mocked him, teased him, and he hated it, despised and loathed how it devoured his thoughts every early morning, only to be burned away with sunshine.

"You are not meant to remember," his "mother" said upon a second inquiry. "It's for a reason, for your benefit. Now, let it go."

However, as he went to bed that night, curled up between the blankets and the pillows, fighting off the vampires and the shadows with sleep, he didn't even think twice on such things; at least, not until they were happening once again.




                                                I thought I was mistaken
                                               I thought I heard your words
                                              Tell me, how do I feel
                                              Tell me now, How do I feel



Sitting balanced on the open window ledge, he stared through the hanging dark tendrils of night and noted the unchanged, boring aspect of the room. Plain and subdued, the wooden floors and walls gave it the impersonal feel of an Inn room, without the small pleasantries, such as curtains, flowers, and a rug, perhaps. A tall dresser stood against one wall, filled with painstakingly perfect folded clothes, while a table was off in the opposite direction, strewn with a couple closed books. It was all moot though, all brought to nothing, as he looked to the bed.

A large rumple in the blankets caught his attention, and leaping silently down onto the floor, he strode across it with a casual ease, making no sound whatsoever. Violet strands brushed the back of his neck, a small tickle sensation he was quite used to, while lids slid up mere millimeters to reveal the very hint of darkened lagoons beneath. Gloved fingers, contrasting with the darkness of the room, reached down and tugged the blankets away, with a bit of resistance from the curled body beneath.

Val sure had grown.

There wasn't much he could say on the matter, not on this one, not on any one that concerned the other. Even curled up into the ball and relaxed by sleep, he could see the outline of muscles along his arms and naked chest, and marveled at the waterfall of aqua hair that shimmered in mercury moonlight. Hm, he had decided to grow it out this second time around, and truth be told, it was actually becoming on him.

Cloth-encased digits slid along the boy's side, from his hip to his shoulder, both chaste and seductive all in one movement. Shaking his head, the usual smile cold and absent from his lips, he curled his fingers around the blanket and pulled it back up over the boy, leaving only his head exposed, even as the boy whimpered gently through the familiar thick dreams. Predatory, he began to pace, silently, with hands linked at the small of his back.

Filia was in the next room, sleeping and strewn across her bed, like usual; he surveyed his scene rather closely for weeks now. Being as it was midnight, no one was below in the pottery shop she had set up, and he knew, knew, how easy it would be to steal the boy in the bed and just leave.

But that would ruin the fun of it, wouldn't it now?

No, he'd make the reborn dragon desire him, need him, become obsessed with him every single piece of him, and make him come of his own free will. Not only would it mean a fun endeavor for him, but it would be a swift, brutal kick to the prissy Filia's ego as well.

Killing two dragons with one spell; how perfect.

Making his way back over to the slumbering boy, he leaned over, the ends of violet slipping forward to brush against the pale cheeks that were caressed by crystal moonlight. The smile resurfaced, the malevolent one that was sadistic in every sense of the word, and slit eyes closed tightly as he pressed a gentle, breezy kiss to one high cheekbone.

"Mine."

And then he was gone, as if he never born unto this world at all.

Lava eyes became wide in the darkness as breath stopped in his lungs, shoulders trembling slightly. The word echoed through his head, endless chasm of sound, and he wanted to drive it out forever, just like the burning touch of the other.

But it was too familiar to be rid of, so it remained, deep and beginning to sprout roots that would soon slide through every vein within his lithe body.





                                                Those who came before me
                                               Lived through their vocations
                                              From the past until completion
                                             They'll turn away no more




Reality didn't strike him until he felt the sharp yank of his hair, dragging his unwilling head upwards until he was staring into the narrowed hurricane eyes of one Golden Dragon. Lips parted slowly, enough to wet them with his tongue and begin to speak, but she silenced his greeting with a January glare and pulled him from her charge's room by the hair.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Filia hissed as she dug the Mazoku towards her bedroom.

"Why, just saying hello to an old friend," Xellos purred out, the slight traces of mocking condescendence weighing down every syllable. "I thought someone like you would know about proper manners."

The rage filled her cheeks, pronounced and bright, though she managed to take a deep breath and moved to take a light seat on her bed. Muttering a few words under her breath, a sphere of pure incandescence floated lazily behind her, illuminating the fall of butter tresses as the ends rested along crumpled sheets. She looked almost humbled, sitting there in a pristine cotton nightgown that swept below bent knees, though her eyes held their ground, unwavering, tough.

"I see you gave him his old name again," the violet one idly brought up as he eyed some pointless bauble on a nearby dresser.

"He isn't 'Valgarv' any longer," she hissed, watching his movements with a trained eye. "That part of him is dead and buried, exactly where it should be."

"Buried, perhaps, but never dead." He replaced the trinket back to it's home, before turning to smirk at her.  

"I want you to leave him alone, Xellos."

He made no movement; neither breath nor sound escaped his lips. He had expected as much, had known she would never allow him to set foot with the town they were residing in. Stealth and luck had gotten him this far; from here on out it would be a sheer work of determination, which he was never lacking in.

"Why?" the Mazoku inquired as he leaned his back against the nearest wall. "I do believe he would be rather happy to see me, wouldn't you?"

"Not particularly," muttered the dragon under her breath. "If you don't recall, he didn't care for you too much in the past."

"The past has been replaced with the present and will transcend to the future," he replied, waving one hand nonchalantly before him, knocking away all that drifted from her full lips. "Besides, I have something he might want."

The bed shifted softly, legs drawing up underneath her as she kept smoldering eyes upon him, studying. "And that would be...?"

"The one thing you kept from him." Panther movements pushed him from the wall he leaned against and he stalked to her, shadows shifting like breathing creatures in the dark. Encased gloves swept down her cheeks as he smirked above her, watching the way her nose wrinkled and she shivered so delightfully. "I'll give him the truth. I'll tell him everything he's ever wondered about, everything he ever questioned. I'll tell him exactly what happened, how it happened, and why it happened."

Rage and fear battled for dominance, and mingling together, they achieved the scream that locked in her throat and burst through her lips like an injured animal. "You can't!"

"You are getting mighty clichéd, Filia," he tittered, patting the top of her head as he toured the room. "It's rather easy, just have to open my mouth and let the words tumble out. I've been working on a speech; would you care to hear it?"

"Of course not!" In a typhoon of golden sunbeams and white, she clambered to her feet and stomped to him, fighting to keep her voice hushed and low. "Are you truly that selfish to actually ruin the only happiness he has ever felt?"

Stopped by her presence a mere foot in front of him, he crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head to the side, blanket of violet lying gently across one cheek. The eyes opened slightly, some cryptic emotion whirling down below in the obsidian pupils, and he stared at the woman. "What makes you think you are the only one that can make him happy?"

"I think it's pretty obvious!" Filia growled, leaning forward to set a raging gaze upon him. "You are nothing but a filthy Mazoku; you don't even know the definition of the word 'happiness'!"

Silence reigned for a moment, destroying any idea of sound, as he did nothing, moving not at all. The words struck some well inside of him, threw a rock that sent ripples over dark waters, and he slowly took a step back. The calculating look was slowly replaced with a languid, lazy grin that slid onto his lips with a crafted ease and forced amethyst eyes to be shielded by lids once more.

"Happiness, noun, derived from the word, 'happy'. An agreeable feeling or condition of the soul arising from good fortune or propitious happening of any kind; the possession of those circumstances or that state of being which is attended enjoyment; the state of being happy; contentment; joyful satisfaction; felicity; blessedness." Raising one finger, he pressed the tip to her nose, and smirking, phased out of the room, leaving her there to stand alone, blinking, while the ball of light fizzled out behind her.




                                                And I still find it so hard
                                               To say what I need to say
                                              But I'm quite sure that you'll tell me
                                             Just how I should feel today





A new night settled down a month later, no different than the other thirty-two that had passed since that run-in with the overprotective female dragon, aside from the molten eyes that were attached to him as he entered the room.

Even the dust hung suspended in the reflection of the sliver of a moon, and the Mazoku's breath wouldn't come. Waiting for a response, for some reaction, he sat on the window ledge, violet lashes coated in mercury lighting parted and the plum hues lit upon the smooth body of the boy sitting cross-legged on the bed.

"Why?" Valtier finally managed to growl out under the controlled breaths.

"Why what?" the Mazoku questioned as he leapt from the window and strode across with no real purpose other than to move. He chose his words carefully, with his usual skill that seemed not to be there to most people, and dwelled on the fact that this was the first conversation he had had with the boy…since…. "I am not a mind reader, you do realize."

Another few moments passed with no sound other than the hushed swipes of Xellos' feet on the floor as he smoothly paced. Valtier seemed to physically struggle with his words, hunting down the phrases that eluded him. "Why me? Why have you been bothering me?"

And how could the Mazoku tell him the truth, that Valtier was the one that got away, the one who wouldn't fall, the one he couldn't beat on his own? How could he explain it was a pride issue, a festering wound that refused to let go of his being all these years, leaving him to be bitter over the entire situation?

"Because you are fun."

Dumbstruck at the simplicity of the answer the sheer shock of that matter-of-fact tone of voice, he stared, wide-eyed at the pacing Mazoku. "Fun?" he hissed. "Tormenting me is fun?"

"I would hardly call it tormenting," he replied, moving to sit upon the bed beside him. "That's such a harsh word, really. I call it "spicing up a rather boring life'."

"First off, Mazoku," the dragon growled, awash in the energy of the other as he sat so close to him, "I don't need you deciding if my life is boring or not; it's none of your damn business. And second, our ideas of torture are obviously different! I haven't been able to sleep in months!"

"Hm, and why would it be automatically my fault?" Xellos inquired innocently.

One hand reached up, diving into violet locks and fisting them tightly. "Because purple is all I see. Because you were standing in my window. Because...because I know."

Unable to wrench away, lashes parted and stared at the hand which was latched so tightly in his tresses, rooting him to the spot. Breaking free would have been simple, but such an idea had not even crossed his mind as the slow, knowing smile seeped like acid across his lips. "All you see, hmm?"

The reaction was immediate and rather red, the blush filling his cheeks as if someone had flipped such a switch, while the hand immediately released its hold on the hair. "I-I didn't mean-"

"Of course you didn't," the other purred, leaning back as he placed on hand onto the bed. "I never said you did, but obviously you were thinking that by how red you are. Why, whatever was on your mind, hmm?"

The accusing look seared into him, illuminating the flush a notch deeper and forcing his eyes to seek refuge to the left. Muttering some curse under his breath, he waved one hand across the front of his naked torso as if to dismiss him utterly. "You are nothing but a pervert."

"I'm a bit more than that," he whispered, shifting forward to put his lips beside the other's ear. "My name is Xellos, Valtier. I know it's something you won't forget."

The dragon whirled around, sunbeam eyes wide in both anger and disbelief, arm swiping through nothing as he went to push the other away, even though the Mazoku was long gone. Closing his eyes slowly, he felt a slowly resurfacing emotion that tickled the edge of his consciousness.

"That name," hissed the boy as he squirmed softly to lie in the bed. "Why does it sound so familiar?"



                                                I see a ship in the harbor
                                               I can and shall obey
                                              But if it wasn't for your misfortune
                                             I'd be a heavenly person today




"Why did you come here?"

Golden eyes shifted to the side, glaring at the small blades of emerald that appeared so inviting to lie upon. Hands curled into fists, so tight that veins strained against the confines of his skin, and he managed a small, irritated growl. "Because, I have to know why."

"So, you sought me out, hm?" The cloak shifted across the grass as he rose from his lounging position in the most languid of fashions. A perpetual smirk danced along the corners of his lips, slit eyes calculating the totality of the other. "No other reason than curiosity? You don't seem to be the type to be ruled by something as trivial as questions."

"I'm not!" The words echoed off the small chasm they stood upon, the sea crashing relentlessly beneath them. Deep breaths pulled salt bitterly into tightlipped mouths, even at their heights, and the wind brought soft noises of restless water to ears that were focused on warring words. Snorting softly, one hand waved back and forth as the glare struck the Mazoku. "I'm curious and bored."

"We both know that's not true."

"Think whatever you want," the other growled, narrowing the shimmering hues to a relentless glower that the violet ones completely shrugged off. "You will anyway."

"Aren't we especially grouchy today, Valtier?" One leg moved behind him, and slowly, he turned to face the drop of the cliff, wind pulling the hair back from his face as if some invisible lips were pursed and could not cease blowing on him. "What's wrong?"

One hand swept in front of his body, angered, enraged, cutting through the quiet conversation of the sea with its malevolence. "What's wrong, you ask me?! You! You're what's wrong! You torment me even when you're not there! You're in my dreams, my thoughts, even when I close my eyes. What the hell did you do to me?!"

"There comes a point in everyone's life when they have to make a decision, though it's different for everyone," the other replied after a weighty moment of personal silence. "For some it's concerning a lover, for many more, it's concerning a job or family, and for others, it's life and death. You can't remember your decision, Valtier, but I know it and hold it all in my hands. Some piece of you realizes this, knows just what I have, and so now you're stuck making another decision: to know what happened before or to live in your own little make-believe world of ignorant bliss."

Golden eyes flashed in the sunlight, shimmering like the beams that fed the grass, never leaving the back of the Mazoku, while eying the way the cloak fluttered in the seabreeze. "Why me?"

"Because," Xellos muttered, "you were the one that got away."

"So, what, this is all about a pride issue?" growled the dragon as his eyes narrowed.

"Does it really matter?" The other turned, cocking his head to the side as the wind fluttered through it, catching the gleaming light and turning such strands of violet to a pure pale lavender. "I hold a key for you, something no one else will give you."

"What do you want in return?" Valtier held the almost nonexistent gaze of the other, before turning his eyes to the ground. "What's the catch? I know there is one; there usually is with people like you."

Soft footsteps crushed gentle grass beneath his feet as he moved toward him once again. "You know, words like that hurt my feelings."

"Mazoku don't have feelings, you bastard."

The gloved hand that had begun to raise fell to his side from whence it came, resting there without any muscle in the arm. "Oh, how foolish of me to forget! You wanted to know the catch; fine. Just swear yourself to me, loyalty, heart, spirit. I won't damage you, won't kill you or anything like that; just let me know that you'll forever be mine."




                                                And I thought I was mistaken
                                               And I thought I heard you speak
                                              Tell me how do I feel
                                             Tell me now, how should I feel





Under different circumstances, perhaps the look upon the aquamarine boy's face might have been comical, and perhaps the smirk at his wide-eyed expression was not the most appropriate reaction, but Xellos bit his tongue as much as could be expected.

"You have got to be kidding," the dragon stated, saying it as if to curb the other's desires for such a demand more than reassurance. "You are an idiot if you think I'll-"

"Of course I don't think of you as an idiot," Xellos replied, his hand waving back and forth. "But I'm smart enough to know that you've thought about me rather strongly if you came all the way out here. I know it just wasn't for answers, whether you want to admit it or not."

"Damnit!" the other screamed, the cords on his neck standing out in rage. "Quit being so goddamn presumptuous! I came here because I wanted to know, so just tell me already!"

The smirk wavered for a moment as lashes parted enough to make known the lazy movement from the tips of the turquoise hair to the grass that slid beneath him. "Just tell you everything you want to know, the one thing that no one else will divulge to you, and without expecting anything in return? Giving up my trump card? I hardly think that would be very in-character for me, wouldn't you say?"

The words of being a "pain in his ass" slammed against the blockade of Valtier's lips, but he kept quiet for a moment, and instead curled both of his hands into dangerous fists as he glared at him. "If you don't tell me, I'll-"

"What? Kill me?" the violet enigma sat back down, the wind blowing the tips of his hair upwards. "Then you'll never know, right? Really, you should learn to control your temper."

"I don't need your advice!" he screamed, voice cracking. The rage had grown to capture the gold of his eyes, icy tendrils sliding over their brilliance and turning them dark. "Damnit, tell me what else you want, but I will not lower myself to becoming someone else's slave!"

"Slave?" Plum lashes pried open as the shocked amethyst stared up at him and the sneer that rode his lips so high. "I never said that! You jump to conclusions a bit there, don't you?"

The violence retracted from his eyes a bit as the fingers uncurled, leaving crescent moons engraved in the calloused flesh of his palms. "Then what do you want, Mazoku?"

"Your willing loyalty, not mindless agreeable worship." Gloves found the ground as pushed himself up once more and slowly paced along the edge of the cliff as the strong breeze whipped his clothes away behind him. "There is a difference, you know. Frankly, slaves bore me, with all their 'yes, Master' and utter compliance. Blech. It leads to a rather boring relationship."

"Relatio-" Eyes widened as the color drifted from the dragon's face, aside from the two prominent splotches of red high in each cheek bone. "What do you mean?"

"Relationship. You know, the interaction between two people," he answered while the now open eyes sifted down into the depths of azure below. "Why? Is there something you wished it be? Something...perhaps more intense?"

"No! Of course not! I-"

"You what?"

"Shut up!" Whirling around, flustered and angered over his inability to grasp the words that danced beyond the reach of his tongue, he let his shoulders slump down as his back was now to the other. "Why are you doing this? I was content."

The sound of footsteps on the grass brushed his ear, just as a set of lips did less than a heartbeat later. The dragon shivered as the arms wound around him tightly, one cinching the narrow waist while the other moved up and leashed diagonally across the chest with the tips of his fingers playing with the ends of his hair. Whatever force of will he bore, whatever need to break free and scream at the intruding interloper in his peaceful life, dissipated and he was left trying to keep his thudding heart from bursting from the confines of his chest.

"Oh, please! Content living some lie they all made up for you? Content wasting away everything that might have been, should have been, could have been?" The Mazoku's voice was husky, low, borderline purring, and in all essence, seductive in not only the obvious way, but in the promises it offered, the object it dangled. "Ignorance is not always bliss; it can be torture when the entire picture is staring you in the face and you're just trying to ignore it."

Golden eyes slid shut as he fought all the tremors that threatened to overtake his captured form. "What the hell do you know?"

The slick tongue ran against the gentle slope of the younger's ear, a split second, though it caused the tremors to win and ran rampant down his rigid spine.

"I'm here, aren't I, Valtier?"




                                                Now I stand here waiting...
                                               I thought I told you to leave me
                                              While I walked down to the beach




Hours later found tangled limbs and soft slumbering breath, while a pair of amethyst eyes stared across the water as it turned indigo with the deepening slaughter of the sun. Fingers, ungloved, long and graceful, slid through the aqua hair slowly as the other unconsciously moved closer to him, burring his head underneath the Mazoku's chin.

Are you trying to lead to a repeat of the past, Xellos?

I'm not all bad, you know, Filia. I actually find there are benefits in his knowing, and perhaps you would as well, if you weren't so afraid of losing him.

Benefits?! Don't turn this around onto me, Namagomi! You're the one who can't leave well enough alone! Can't you put your despicable Mazoku needs aside for once and let him find some semblance of peace in this life?


Uncurling himself from the other, he stood, making his way across the small clearing, and sat down with his naked feet hanging off the edge of the cliff, swinging back and forth. The wind was colder now, harsh with it's stinging backhand, yet he pushed all sensation to the side as the stars began to burrow out and make themselves known in the darkness.

The sound of rustling from behind him made him cast a curious look over his shoulder, but he wasn't surprised to see it was just the dragon turning over, still caught up in the dreams of violet that had plagued him for several months now. It didn't matter, didn't matter much at all really as he closed his eyes and turned his face upwards.

It wasn't that he was breaking his promise, but just that he had a change of heart. After all, this was all extra-circular activity, done without the acknowledgment of Beast Master, all on his own time. So, what did it matter if he whelched on the deal and didn't tell him? What did it matter if he left before the other woke up?

It mattered because of his reasoning, the motivation behind every action.

I can't believe that she's making me think twice on what I'm doing.

Bare feet kicked back and forth, with the breeze feeling like solid ground beneath them, driving the thoughts to wrap around him with unyielding arms.

No, not her words, but the words themselves. Big deal, so I want to spare him a lot of pain this time around. So I want to let someone go without twisting their lives to an unrecognizable pulp. He has strong feelings for me; I suppose my decision is going to get some of the original desired reaction, after all. So, in the eyes of many, it's not a complete waste.

"I should have let sleeping dragons lie," he muttered to himself, bringing his feet up and underneath him to help find his balance as he stood up once again. Waving one hand, the clothes that were scattered across their little spot immediately found their home on his body once more, though the same could not be said to the other creature.

A real pity. This might have been fun if...if I hadn't felt something. Compassion? Concern? For the world? Never. But for him...damn! Hm, perhaps all those emotions aren't dead after all, just a bit rusty. I wonder if BeastMaster will make me come back and finish what I stopped. Always a possibility.

With the liquid crystal light raining down from the frigid reflection of the sun, he stood above the other while imaginary fingers blew the wind from his surprisingly even face. Crouching down beside him, he pressed a small kiss to one exposed temple, then tucked a few strands of violet beneath one ear.

"I suppose you still are the one that got away." Straightening himself, he began walking towards the shadows of the forest until the tendrils devoured him from conventional sight. "Don't worry though; I swear that you won't hold that title forever."




                                                Tell me how does it feel
                                           When your heart grows cold




Cruel radiance forced the comforting blanket of violet dreams away, compelling the lashes to peel away and blink hatefully at the sun that beamed strong high above. Sounds of gulls drifted to his ears from below, with the surf following seconds later, and the night before washed over him as surely as if he had been standing down below on the beach.

The warmth of the body close to his, in the fashion that he never could have dreamed of, and the addicting smell of the sex that hung in the air surrounded him for a moment, intoxicating and making his head light. Who knew a Mazoku could be so war-

"Xellos?"

Eyes that were the imitation of the sun above glanced around the empty clearing quickly, then almost frantically. Panic over the dawning realization slid it's daggers through the deeper recesses of his locked consciousness, and he couldn't help the almost predatory gleam in his eyes. Hands clutched at the scattered garments, throwing them on with a hurried clumsiness, before cupping his hands to his mouth and trying again.

"Xellos?"

A few minutes passed without a reply, and glaring now, the rage began to fill him, teasing the ventricles of his heart before consuming it completely. He was mocked; he was made a fool of, and the Mazoku was off somewhere laughing at the current outcome of this.

Laughing and feeding off the twitches of pain that pulsated through him from being so horribly betrayed and used.

"You son of a bitch! I will kill you; do you hear me, Xellos? I will fucking kill you!"





Underneath the overhang of that fateful cliff, naked feet left prints in wet sand, while the salty water lapped hungrily over perfect toes. The tongue of the sea wiped all traces of the previous indentations in the beach, just as it would the new ones, never satisfied, never completely sated. Wind turned into a messenger as it swept the promised words of revenge down to his ears, and turning his face upwards, the plum strands brushed beyond his shoulders.

"Ah, promises, promises, Val-chan. Promises, promises." Gloved hands found the spot behind his head, and weaving and locking the fingers, he idly strode down the beach as if all was forever right in the world.

The End