Title: Elevator
Authors: tenshiforgotten and Kay-chan15
Pairing: Kurogane/Fai
Fandom: Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE
Theme: #3 jolt!
Length: 2163 words
Disclaimer: Neither of us owns Tsubasa RC. We merely worship its greatness.
Note/Warning: Shounen ai, no spoilers. Cookies to anyone who recognizes the minor crossover cameo Tell me if you do XD

This new world they had appeared in was busy and loud and big. Even the buildings were enormous. Usagiya Takayuki, a boy they had met and who had been helping them (with them once again under the pretense of being foreigners), had explained that they were called skyscrapers, and explained some of the modern equipment installed in most of them, giving them weird looks the entire time he was answering their questions. Obviously even people from foreign lands were expected to know these things, it seemed.

One of these things had been elevators. He had mentioned them in his explanations, only to be interrupted and asked what they were. After having them explained, they had all nodded their understanding before promptly pushing the strange devices out of mind, and hadn't yet run into one.

Until now.

The group had split up to search this huge city for either information of anything in peculiar going on or a feather itself; Syaoran, Sakura, and Mokona going one way and Fai and Kurogane going another. They had all agreed not to go beyond a certain point, so that the two wouldn't lose the ability to understand each other due to going too far away from Mokona, and were to meet up at their starting point in a couple hours' time.

The two older men had eventually ended up inside a quiet building, one of those skyscrapers they had heard so much about. Immediately spotting the elevator, Fai's face lit up with a grin and he dragged Kurogane over to it.

"Look, Kuro-myu! One of those strange elevator things. Let's try it!" Without even waiting for an answer, he leaned forward and pressed the button labeled with an 'up' arrow.

"What the hell? You don't know where this thing goes!" Kurogane glared at the wizard from behind. To be honest, he was a bit curious to see what these 'elevators' were. If anything attacked them though, it was gonna' die.

Fai turned his head to look back at him over his shoulder. "So? You're curious too, right?" Just then there was a small beep before the doors sprang open. "Come on Kuro-rin!" Fai pranced merrily inside, then turned to face the front and looked at him expectantly.

Kurogane looked it up and down at first, before slowly moving inside the small room. He turned abruptly when the doors shut by themselves.

Fai laughed. "Calm down, it's not going to eat you."

He walked over to the panel of buttons and peered down at it thoughtfully. "Hmm... These are numbers in this world, right? Let's choose..." He hesitated another moment before quickly pressing one of the buttons, "This one!"

Kurogane wanted to hit the wizard, or something. It wasn't like 'elevators' were normal for him either. He almost jumped as the elevator jumped itself, then started going in a slow motion upwards. Ah, a moving room. No, this was not normal.

Fai leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, staring at the closed doors. "This is interesting. I wonder how it works, hm?" he mused quietly.

"Magic. How else would something move without someone pushing or pulling it?" He didn't think there was a way, but then again, he'd seen weirder things, traveling to different worlds like they did. The elevator jumped again, before it kept on going up.

Fai turned his head to smile at him, "Maybe you're right, though I don't really think there's magic in this world, much anyway. Maybe--"

He was cut off as the elevator suddenly screeched and lurched, the lights flickering before going off completely, only to return a moment later. But the elevator had stopped moving; there was no more of the strange moving sensation they had been feeling earlier.

Fai blinked, then stood up straight again from where he had slid sideways a little from the bump. "It seems we've stopped."

"... What the hell is that supposed to mean?" They'd stopped? They'd stopped? As in they were friggin' trapped inside the small room and didn't know where the fuck they were? No, no, no. That simply wasn't going to work. Kurogane took a step forward, intending to break open the doors and get out of the damn moving room.

Sensing what he was planning, Fai reached out and quickly grabbed hold of his arm with a strong grip that most people wouldn't expect from someone of his slight frame. "Don't, we don't know what's out there," he cautioned, voice unusually serious.

He quickly ruined the effect though, by bringing his grin back full force and saying, "Besides, is this so bad? You're here with me, after all!"

At the last sentence from the wizard, Kurogane tried to lurch towards the door. No way in hell was he being stuck with him for who knew how long in a small room that could decide to kill them at any moment. Nope.

Fai pouted and tightened his grip even more around Kurogane's arm, not allowing him to escape. "Geeze, Kuro-chan, am I that horrible?"

Kurogane paused. Did he really need to answer that?

With a sigh, Fai let go of his arm and walked over to the panel of buttons again. "Wonder if there's anything here that could help..." He reached out and let his finger swing around the panel for a moment before choosing a button seemingly at random and pressing it. Nothing happened. "Well, what about this?" He pressed another, and again nothing happened.

A few buttons later and them still no further along in progress, he turned away in resignation and announced, "Well, that didn't work. Any ideas, Kuro-han?"

"Blow up the door." Kurogane said, intent on doing just that.

"Think about this, Kuro-ko. Assuming we are being held up by magic, then don't you think we're probably just being suspended in midair somewhere? I suggest we wait until the wizard or whoever is in charge of this contraption comes and finds us and gets us out. Until then..." he leaned back against the wall again, looking up at Kurogane, "I suggest we relax and make ourselves at home." He smiled at him disarmingly.

Kurogane had to admit, the wizard was right. They had no idea where they were. But if they really were suspended in midair, it wouldn't hurt to have a bit of a view, right? Then again... they could still understand each other. That was a sign Mokona wasn't too far away.

He sighed, before leaning on the opposite side of the wizard. "Don't do anything stupid while we're stuck in here."

"Me? Do something stupid? Whatever do you mean, Kuro-chan?" Fai asked innocently.

"Just that. So, quit talking. Don't touch me. And finally, don't call me any weird names!"

Fai peered up at him another moment longer, seeming to be thinking about something, before looking away from him so that he was just staring at the closed doors again. "Fine, if you say so, Kurogane."

And so they were quiet for a while. Very quiet. Just leaning against the walls, though Fai soon moved to sit on the floor, Kurogane shortly following him, remaining silent. Not doing much of anything... Damn! When the wizard finally shut up he'd rather have him friggin' talk?

Fai seemed oblivious to his discomfort, and was merely silently glancing around the small square room, tapping his fingers methodically on the floor beside him.

Damnit, damnit, damn! Kurogane looked up at Fai, noticing for the first time that Fai actually seemed rather... normal, while being quiet. Funny. Most people hid things by being quiet, yet Fai hid his problems by acting like a freak of nature that belonged in a damn zoo.

Another couple of silent minutes slowly passed, Fai settling back even more and now just staring into space at some random point in front of him. He seemed to have completely forgotten Kurogane's existence right beside him.

"Oi," Kurogane said, not really wanting to tell him to talk. That'd be like... hypocrisy or something.

Fai blinked and then turned his head to look up at him, tilting it to the side questioningly but still not saying a word.

"Damn it! You can talk, just don't start in on the stupid nicknames!"

Kurogane hated the fact that he'd given in so quickly. But either way, he did not enjoy the wizard's chatter. It was just... better than the never ending silence.

At that, Fai smiled brightly, then chuckled. "I was wondering how long you'd last."

"Shut up!" First thing out of his mouth and Kurogane was already changing his mind.

"Make up your mind already, Kuro-pun! Quiet or loud, which Fai do you like best?"

Though the question was said nonchalantly other than the slight trace of exasperation evident in the wizard's voice, it almost seemed to hold a larger importance within the words.

"How am I supposed to know? They're both annoying as hell!" Kurogane fumed, his eyes flashing. "One minute you're being sad and depressed which is stupid! Get over whatever happened already! Then you're so happy you're bouncing off walls but it's so obvious you're lying to everyone around you! I hate people like you the most!"

Fai just sort of stared at him for a minute, eyes blank and expression unreadable. Then he looked away and down at his legs sprawled out in front of him. He smiled again, though this time it wasn't the usual bright one, but instead much sadder seeming. "You hate me, huh? That hurts, Kuro-kun. But I am surprised that you've seen all that about me."

Kurogane kept looking at Fai, almost, almost considering apologizing. But for what? All he'd done was say the truth. Kurogane moved more towards Fai, not completely sure why. He wanted to look into the wizard's eyes, to see what had happened to Fai. But hadn't he already told Fai to fucking protect himself instead of waiting for some white knight in a shining suit of armor? Somehow Kurogane didn't like that much anymore.

Suddenly, Fai's hand was on his own, just resting lightly on it. "Thanks, Kuro-pipi, for telling the truth at least. At least one person here does. Ne?" He looked up now and smiled at him.

... He'd said no touching hadn't he? Kurogane twitched, resisting the urge to move his hand. Besides, it wasn't so bad... Not really anyway. Actually, Kurogane wouldn't mind... if... maybe... Damn, he was crazy. He let his other hand move up to cup Fai's cheek, his eyes just staring at the wizard's face.

Fai's eyes were genuinely surprised now. He had expected to be pushed away again, and yet... "Kuro-pon?" he asked cautiously. "Something wrong?"

Kurogane went close, and he could swear he could feel the warmth coming off of Fai. Their faces were so close... And then, Kurogane cursed and pulled back, a shiver running down his spine. Had he seriously almost kissed the wizard?

Fai was looking at him strangely. "You know, Kuro-tai, sometimes I think you're the one who acts differently."

"You're just..." Kurogane stopped. He was about to say... No. Never mind. When the hell was the dumb elevator thing gonna' move?

"I'm what, Kuro-wan?" And Fai was suddenly very close to him, talking in a lower voice than he usually used, leaning closer and closer to him until...

The elevator suddenly jerked and the lights flickered again. When they came back on, Kurogane found himself with the wizard sprawled forward across his lap.

Kurogane twitched again. Fucking hell! He was going to kill something, soon.

Fai twisted around so he was able to see his face. "Heheh, oops?" He pushed himself up off of Kurogane and straightened his clothes. "Such bad timing so many things have..." he mumbled. Then he looked up at the ceiling. "But it seems we've begun moving again. Maybe we can finally get out of here."

Thank god, Kurogane thought, waiting for his life to be saved by the opening of the doors.

Only... What exactly had happened in there anyway?

Fai stood as the doors opened and then walked out; ignoring the strange looks they were receiving from the people waiting outside to enter.

Kurogane glared at some of them as he followed Fai. Where the hell were they? There were... toys... and... the walls were... pink... with butterflies... and animals that looked like Mokona.

"Aw, how cute," Fai commented, looking around. "But where ever this place is, I don't see any sign of a feather, do you?" he asked, looking at Kurogane again. To be honest, he was pretty eager to just get out of this place already, and as long as nothing came screaming out at them, that was enough cause for him to dismiss it.

"No. We're leaving. Now." Kurogane didn't like pink. Or bunnies that looked like Mokona. Or little girls who kept staring at him from the other side of a big, colorful box with holes in it.

"Okay, Kuro-ru. Shall we take the elevator?"