Author: Malebranche
Date: 03/14/04
Contact: xxxdre4merxxx@hotmail.com
Genre: Slash/Yaoi, AU, romance, angst, supernatural, series.
Comments: PG-13. If you can't handle slash, go away. BxS. Lime. Mangled personalities. This story has not been beta-ed, barely even proofread. I'm deeply sorry for any mistakes.
Disclaimer: Weiss Kreuz and all its characters are properties of their respective authors.
Autumn to Ashes: Jupiter a Deux
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/*The metronome was wrong again,
my heart has surely gone and skipped a beat.
Now the rhythm is all right,
and I can understand your point of view.
Jupiter this city is so bright,
the kind of light that spots your eyes with white.
Jupiter your beauty doesn't mind,
to be the center of my universe.
Jupiter you're seemingly so right for me.*/
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A sleepless night had increased the already impressive amount of tension to an unbearable level, causing a minor disagreement between the two men to escalate into a full-blown argument.
"Why did you go in when you already knew something was wrong?!" said Brad, irritation in his tone.
"I don't know."
"That...isn't an answer at all!"
"It's the only fuckin' answer I've got! You want me to tell you that I ran inside because I was so pissed off and terrified by the voices in my head, that I was hoping that when I confronted whatever the fuck was inside my house, it would go away?!" Schuldich said, his voice rising, fury coloring his words.
"Do you want to know that I thought I was out of my mind, hearing voices and replying to them?" Schuldich continued, losing his anger as his voice dropped to a whisper. "Did you know...that they taunt me, they know my most personal secrets...? I can't stand up to them, Brad. I..."
He found himself enveloped in a Brad's strong arms, the other man's scent filling his nostrils even as Schuldich pulled himself away.
"I don't need your fuckin' pity. If you're going to send me off to a shrink or something, go on ahead. Do it now." Schuldich bit out.
"I'm...I'm not going to send you anywhere. I'm sorry for being so irritable." said Brad, his brown hair falling into amber eyes.
"You can't possibly think I'm sane...I hear goddamn voices. This isn't a damn movie. Things like this don't happen to normal people, Brad. You were never meant to be there."
Brad bit the insides of his lip. /His argument makes sense. But it's so sad...because if I act like he's expecting me to act, I'd be leaving him all alone. No doubt he'd quit his job. What will happen to him then? I just...can't leave him alone like that./
"No."
"'No.' what, Brad? Are you in denial already?" Schuldich's bitter voice sneered.
"No, I'm not leaving you."
Schuldich's anger flared up again "What the hell are you going on about? I don't need you here."
/Liar./, Schuldich thought.
"I don't need to be here. I want to be here. I want to help you." said Brad softly.
Schuldich was dumb with surprise, his emerald eyes widening slightly as Brad approached him slowly, as if trying to calm a wary beast. This time, when he was enclosed into a tight hug, he did not pull away. He did not scream and shout his anger, did not feel misunderstood. An aching in his chest that he hadn't known existed eased, his eyelids sliding shut. Schuldich could feel the light warmth of Brad's breath against his ear and neck, making his stomach flutter in a way that it hadn't ever done before.
"It's okay. They aren't here anymore. Only I am. I'll keep you safe. I promise." Brad asked, the gentle waterfall of words cascading over Schuldich.
For several long moments, they stayed in the same position, Schuldich's pulse slowing down to a normal rate.
Brad's voice cut through the comfortable silence like a serrated knife through solid bone. "I have to go back to Los Angeles."
The words struck Schuldich like a sledgehammer, his body tensing in Brad's embrace. Already he felt betrayed. /Didn't...he just promise he wouldn't leave me alone?/
"You're coming with me. It's not safe here." Brad voice brooked no arguments, as if he expected one from Schuldich.
A soft exhalation of air through the nose. Brad turned to Schuldich, only to find himself lost in a suspiciously wet set of green eyes that quite frankly took his breath away. Schuldich's handsome face was framed by strands of sanguine hair, the long lashes dusting his cheeks even as his eyes trembled beneath them.
"Okay." said Schuldich, a small smile creeping up on his face.
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"So...what do you think?" Schuldich questioned, pivoting on his toes slightly as he showed off the outfit he complied from scrounging around in Brad's clothing. He wore a cream colored suit with a tea green dress shirt. On his feet were leather shoes; shiny, but not glaringly so. It might have been intensely stylish, were it not for the fact that his yellow tie clashed horribly with both his outfit and his hair.
"It looks great but...Schuldich...the tie..." Brad started, uncertain.
Schuldich grinned. "I don't want to look too much like you, Braddy. Gotta be a little tacky in order to express myself, you know?"
Brad chuckled, shaking his head as he resigned himself to be curiously inspected by the public eye because of his choice in friends. He packed the remains of his clothing after Schuldich's terrorization and called the front desk for his luggage to be brought to his car. Then he moved towards the window, watching the dusty blue sky standing out against the steel grays and blacks of the city itself.
"I...am going to miss Berlin." said Schuldich softly, sitting down on the leather sofa. "I lived my whole life here...I made friends here. To move so suddenly...what will I say to them?"
Brad moved his gaze from the cityscape outside the hotel window to Schuldich, his eyes settling on the other's mans hands. The pale digits on his left hand were tapping against the man's lap absentmindedly whilst the right hand clutched a mug of coffee. Schuldich, staring into the pool of dark liquid as if it held the answers to the universe, had his long legs crossed and feet bare.
Brad smiled a secret smile, slightly alarmed by the affection he felt for Schuldich. He had, after all, only know Schuldich for a day.
/It's insane. I've felt less for the men I've dated./ Brad thought, eyes moving from Schuldich's fingers to his lips.
"So Brad, when are we leaving?"
The voice shook Brad from his reverie. He was slightly embarrassed. /Did he notice...?/
"Hey, don't give me a blank look. When are we going to LA?" said Schuldich, an eyebrow cocked.
"Oh. Anytime soon, actually. Would you like to make some goodbyes?" Brad said, covering up his preoccupation with nonchalance as he strolled over to the divan across from Schuldich, taking a seat.
"...No. I don't think I will." said Schuldich slowly, planting his eyes back on his coffee cup. "I wouldn't know what to say. I hate goodbyes."
"Alright. Shall we leave then?"
"Yes."
Neither of them moved. After a while, Schuldich peeled his eyes from the cup, feeling Brad's gaze on him. "Well?"
Brad smirked. "You don't expect me to pick you up and carry you to the car, do you?"
Schuldich's mouth quirked. "Would you? If I promised you a kiss?"
The quirk of his lips turned into a toothy grin as Brad walked around the coffee table and lifted Schuldich up with ease.
"What," said Brad, his voice husky, breath tickling Schuldich's ear "exactly are you promising me?"
Green eyes flicked to his own amber ones, their depths full of hesitation.
"I promise," Schuldich started. "I promise..."
Giving up on words that were beyond his reach, he leaned forward and gave Brad a long, wet kiss. Brad exhaled slowly, his heart beating a mantra inside his chest. He sat down on the sofa Schuldich had previously occupied, and plunged into sweet oblivion, losing himself within Schuldich's scent, his warmth, his touch. They were breathless, hungry animals that ravaged each others' mouths with a surprising paradox of aggressive tenderness.
"Schuldich..." said Brad, tracing his finger over the line of Schuldich's jaw. "I'll always be there for you. Always..."
/Always./, thought Schuldich.
The voices didn't bother Schuldich for a long time.
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The flight to Los Angeles was uneventful, and the pair was able to relax knowing that, suspended five thousand feet above in the air, they were safe from whatever demons they had left behind, literally and figuratively. Schuldich's head rested lightly on Brad shoulder as he gazed out the window, watching as the landscape crawled by as though they were moving at no more than fifty miles per hour. Brad himself was reading the newspaper he picked up right before they boarded the plane. The main story was about a politician being caught for a scandal of some sort. /So what else is new?/ snorted Brad.
Schuldich looked at Brad curiously. "What's up?"
"Politics...wish I could just kill all of those politicians...Bang!" grumbled Brad shooting an imaginary gun with his right hand.
"Gee...you don't have any love for them, hmm?" drawled Schuldich, stretching his lithe figure, arms pulled high above his head.
"Uh...no, not particularly..." murmured Brad, distracted by a tantalizing strip of skin that was revealed by Schuldich's movements. "My father is a politician. I hate him."
"Ah. I sort of wish I had enough family left to hate, you know?" said Schuldich carelessly, words slipping out before he had time to think about the implications.
Brad turned away from Schuldich and suddenly seemed very interested in the in-flight movie.
Realizing his slip of tongue, Schuldich tugged Brad's sleeve. "Come on, Braddy...I didn't mean it that way. I just...said it without thinking at all. Sorry..."
The lines of tension on Brad's body softened a little, but when he turned he didn't meet Schuldich's eyes. Schuldich drew Brad in for a searing kiss, unmindful of the other patrons in the cabin. Amongst the murmurs of shock, exclamations of disgust, and sighs and giggles that filled the atmosphere, Brad smiled at Schuldich and kissed Schuldich again.
"Idiot..." Brad said affectionately.
"Just gimme another kiss. Don't give me that look, do you really think I give a shit if people are staring? C'mon!" said Schuldich.
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December 2000, Berlin
"Noir!" Rubeus cried, tackling the white-haired man who was sitting on the edge of a polished cherry table.
Deftly adjusting his balance, Noir landed gracefully back on his feet just as Rubeus skidded across the gleaming floorboards and crashed into an eight foot bookcase, making it rain tomes of knowledge.
"What is it?" snapped Noir irritably, flicking off nonexistent dust particles from his impeccably clean leather jumpsuit. The scaly texture caught the light and accentuated the flat panes of his chest as he sat back down on the table.
Rubeus scrambled up, running a hand through his already messy hair. "Schuldich and that other guy - they've left!"
"I'd already known that," said Noir, boredom dulling his silken voice.
"Why the hell didn't you tell me then?!" Rubeus fumed, "You could have saved me a big headache. Damn. My ass hurts now."
"Oh really? Let me help." said Noir as he pulled Rubeus by the arm, planting him on his lap. Noir licked a line up the ridge of Rubeus's ear, drawing a shudder from the red-haired man.
"Mmm. I should get hurt more often." he growled, placing his legs on either side of Noir's body. Rubeus reached up to Noir's neck to pull the silver zipper down Noir's leather-clad body, revealing pale skin dusted with white-silver hairs.
"I'm not going to fuck you every time you get hurt," said Noir, sounding annoyed.
"You're such a hypocrite. Look what you're doing to me...ah...now." Rubeus said, voice shaking as Noir ground up into him.
Sucking avidly on Rubeus's tongue, Noir said "Consider this an exception to the rule, then."
"Ah...oh shut up and concentrate already, Noir."
"Heh."
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Author commentary: Smuggle Guns Through the Gates of Heaven
1. I like Rubeus and Noir :). They're fun to write about.
2. Uh...did I cross the PG-13 line? Hmm.
3. Warning: The next update might be late, since I have midterms coming up, along with a couple projects which require me to donate many long hours.
4. To Hele: To be honest, I completely forgot that part of vampire lore. Shows how much research I put into this, hmm? :(.
5. Thanks to all reviewers! You guys are awesome. ::Showers you with cookies::