Joe woke up with a massive headache and freezing. The last thing he remebered was Fuuya telling him that he needed to lie down, and then nothing. Fragments of Joe's dream returned to him, of Fuuya undressing and thrusting into him. He shuddered at the thought, attributing it to the fever. Perhaps Fuuya had been right when he said that there had been something wrong with him.
Easing himself onto his feet, Joe slowly made his way to the main room. Fuuya glanced up at him and smiled smugly as he went back to cleaning some herbs from his garden and putting them away. That smile bothered him, and it felt as though a large lump of ice had settled deep in Joe's stomach.
"You've been asleep for nearly two days, Cartwright-san," Fuuya stated calmly, focusing on his task. "I was begining to get worried about you."
"Where's Adam?" Joe wanted to know.
"Gone," Fuuya told him, not bothering to explain. The lump of ice got bigger in Joe's stomach, and he feared that he might throw up. Illness forgotten, Joe slung the sliding door wide open and ran bearfoot into the street. He could only hope that the disconnected, dillusional memories were only some terrible nightmare.
"Adam? Adam, where are you?" Joe yelled, ignoring the disgusted looks that the locals gave him. He continued to dash through the steets, calling out for his brother until he was nearly horse. As Joe leaned against the wall of yet another unfamiliar house, panting, he yelled once more for his brother.
Across the street, a door slide open. Adam stood in the doorway, glaring at his younger brother.
"What do you want?" He seethed, the anger in his eyes sparking like lightening in Joe's direction. Joe stumbled across the way to the door where his brother stood.
"Why did you leave without me?" Joe wanted to know. Adam continued to glare at him for a moment before muttering something to the effect of "as if you didn't know" and going back inside. Joe, refusing to be put off so easily, followed his brother into the house.
"I don't recall inviting you in," Adam stated in deathly calm sort of way. Joe sat across from him at the table where Adam had situated himself for breakfast.
"Would you mind tellling me what you're so upset about?" Joe wanted to know, craddling his aching head in his hands. Adam stared angrily, showing no intention of saying a single word to Joe.
"I get sick so sick I hallucinate for two days straight," Joe continued when Adam said nothing. The thought of delusions he had made Joe shudder before he finished with, "And when I wake up, you're gone."
"Hallucinate? Joe, what I saw you doing with Fuuya was no hallucination," Adam declared, slamming his cup down on the table. Joe swallowed hard, tensing at Adam's words. What he had been doing with Fuuya... The thoughts ran through his head, and Joe knew what he had dreamt was no dream, and yet didn't want to believe. He could feel the blood draining from his face, and he felt even colder than he had when he woke up that morning.
"Adam, please tell me you're lying," Joe whispered horsely, his eyes fixed on the table between them. "Tell me that it was all a sick, dilluded dream caused by my high fever, and that it never really happened."
"Joe, what are you talking about?" Adam queried, his anger begining to give way to confusion. "I walked in to find Fuuya buried inside of you--" If Adam had intended to continue, he was cut of abruptly by Joe's groan. The younger man was now looking nauseous. It didn't take long for him to run to the door and attempt to empty the contents of his already empty stomach.
"Joe..." Adam murmured, realizing his mistake. He hurried over to his hurting brother, rubbing Joe's back until Joe quit retching. Pulling the small frame into his arms, Adam murmured soothingly as he planned how to get revenge on Fuuya for hurting his brother.
"Adam-sama, it is an honor--" Fuuya began, covering his nervousness excellently.
"Save it, Fuuya," Adam cut in angrily, grabbing Fuuya by the throat and holding him against the wall. "Joe just told me what you did to him. If you weren't an old man, I would kill you now."
"Then why don't you?" Fuuya choked out, a satisfied grin on his pained face.
" What you did to Joe, you did it to me too, didn't you?" Adam demanded. Fuuya's face gave it away before he said a word.
"Very perceptive, Adam," Fuuya answered calmly, despite his situation. "But you're brother was much more satisfying." He stiffened as Adam's grip tightened threateningly.
"You sick bastard," Adam growled through clenched teeth, before releasing Fuuya. "I'd kill you now, but the boat to China leaves in an hour, and I don't have the time to do it properly."