Waking Up
Chapter 2
Author's Notes: I truly, honestly did not plan on continuing this. But . .
. it's hard for me to turn down a request. Besides, I have a weakness for cookies.
Muse: You're hopeless.
Author: I agree. Please review. I apologize in advance if it's exceedingly Vague.
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Hiei had to admit that he'd done some self-destructive things before, but he'd never thought that getting Kurama drunk would turn out to be one of them. It had been surprisingly easy to do, actually - the fox had seemed to find no problem with the fact that his glass never seemed to empty. Kurama's mind had obviously been elsewhere.
"Remind me next time to curb my curiosity," Hiei muttered under his breath, tucking his hands behind his head and stretching his legs out on his chosen tree branch. He'd honestly thought it would be fun to get the kitsune drunk - just to see what he'd do, or say. Unfortunately, it went from fun to disturbing much too quickly for Hiei's tastes. The kitsune had turned out to be a brooding drunk, and he had said very little. But what few things he did say . . .
It wasn't the fact that he kept thinking about it that kept him awake. He was awake because he wasn't tired. The memory of unfocused green eyes and a slurred, drunken-earnest "Hiei . . ." had absolutely nothing to do with it.
Right.
He felt the sudden need to kill something. Burn something. Anything - if only it would get his mind off of its current subject for a precious moment. Trying to sleep was only making it worse.
Lightning flashed distantly, and he closed his eyes briefly, noting with satisfaction the change in air pressure as the storm approached. The leaves above him began to stir, ever-so-slightly.
He could only hope that the fox would take his advice and never mention it again. But somehow, he knew he hadn't heard the last of it. When Youko Kurama wanted something, he got it, by whatever means necessary. There was no doubt that Kurama had wanted something. The look in his eyes had definitely convinced Hiei of that, if nothing else. Whether or not it had been meaningless sex, he didn't know. Nor did he particularly care to think about it. He could have taken full advantage of the situation - even if it might have been more, he was sure that Kurama's confession was at least a not-so-subtle attempt to get him into bed.
Regardless, if sex was all he wanted, Kurama could just as easily find it elsewhere. Hiei would have nothing to do with it. Their relationship could have been called many things, but 'casual' was definitely not one of them. Hiei had never trusted anyone to such a degree. But to put it simply, he didn't trust himself. It would be so easy to make assumptions, and so easy to be hurt because of it. Kurama spoke in shades of truth, which Hiei had trouble interpreting even now. What he'd said seemed clear enough - but had he really meant it . . . the way Hiei wanted him to mean it?
A raindrop chose that moment to fall on the tip of his nose. He opened his eyes and crossed them, glaring at the offending droplet of water.
* * *
Kurama was lying on his bed in the dark, staring at the way the lightning was playing on the ceiling. He'd left his window open, and the curtains fluttered in the humid air. As he watched languidly, a shadow fell across the room.
He sat up to meet the slightly annoyed eyes of Hiei, who was perched on the windowsill.
"Hiei." Peering closer, he noticed the way his dark hair was plastered to his head. "Is it raining?"
In answer to his tongue-in-cheek question, the storm caught up to the drenched youkai and the heavens outside Kurama's house opened up.
* * *
A kitsune's nature was not to offer assistance - it was to give it. So Kurama, in true spirit-fox fashion, didn't just hand Hiei a towel - he draped it over his head and started vigorously drying the irked fire youkai's hair.
Hiei snatched the towel away and backed up a few steps. "Is that really necessary?"
Kurama didn't try too hard not to look hurt, but smiled inwardly. "What, I'm not allowed to touch you anymore?"
"You're not just touching," Hiei growled, glaring.
Kurama sighed dramatically. "Why do you keep drawing lines, Hiei?"
"Why do you keep crossing them?" A legitimate question, though Hiei was pretty sure of the answer. Stupid fox probably thinks that's what lines are for, he thought.
From the look on the kitsune's face, Hiei knew that was exactly what he was thinking.
"I'm leaving," Hiei announced irritably.
A smile touched Kurama's lips. "Am I boring you?"
Never, the fire demon thought cynically. "What of it?"
"I'm making you uncomfortable," Kurama observed, taking a step closer.
Hiei made a harsh, dismissive sound in the back of his throat, his eyes darting to the window. He would have to get around Kurama to get to it.
"Is it because of what I said when I was drunk?"
Hiei unconsciously took a step backwards. "You were drunk," he said.
"You don't even remember. Why should I take something like that seriously?"
"It's still bothering you, though," Kurama said, stepping closer still.
"That's assuming it meant something to me."
Kurama winced inwardly at the harsh edge of those words, but reminded himself of who exactly he was trying to corner. He would be lucky if he escaped unscathed. But oh, would it ever be worth it . . .
"You don't even want to discuss it?"
"There is nothing to discuss," the fire youkai said irritably
There was a long silence, during which Hiei kept his eyes fixed intently on the open window, and the stormy night beyond. "Isn't there?"
Hiei looked up abruptly, and belatedly realized that Kurama had trapped him against the wall. What is he going to do? Try to kill me? His eyes widened as the fox leaned closer, and pure panic raced through his veins. No, he realized. Worse. He's going to kiss me.
Kurama hadn't meant the kiss to be anything more than an innocent peck, more to prove his point than anything else. He'd forgotten that as little as a spark, given the right conditions, could burn whole worlds, whole lifetimes of harsh restraint, to ashes.
Surely, surrender had become their only option.
Their heated kiss ended much too soon, and for long moments, the only sound was that of their labored breathing and the rain outside, which seemed to be slowing. Gradually, their grip on each other loosened, and the kitsune took a step back, putting some much-needed distance between them.
Kurama's soft voice broke the stunned silence first. "Leave."
Hiei looked up, startled, but Kurama refused to meet his eyes. "What?"
"Leave now, and I'll never mention it, ever again."
The implied, if that's what you really want' was not lost on Hiei. Sometimes, they understood each other perfectly.
Hiei wondered, not for the first time, what it would be like to be loved, how he would handle it, and if he really wanted it in the first place.
Though now, it had become less a matter of if, and more a matter of why.
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