Disclaimer – Own this I do not. Alas… lemon drop, anyone?
A/N Yuan and Kratos are soooo cute together. However, should you, the reader, disagree and not like slash then I should hope that you would take this opportunity to escape. On the other hand, you could always try being open minded, read this, and find that Yaoi isn't so bad after all. :)
Summary – After having planned on spending an eternity alone on Derris Kharlan, Kratos is surprised when Yuan shows up the day before he plans on leaving. The burgundy haired Seraph's confusion only grows as Yuan insists on joining him in his journey and causes Kratos to feel so confused inside…
Info – ONESHOT - Kratos/Yuan slash. Post game on the Zelos path. This is a companion/prequel of sorts to "Caught" which is a Zelloyd story.
ConfusionKratos sat alone on the couch, watching as Zelos played a song on the somewhat out of tune Inn piano while Lloyd watched the redhead's fingers run skillfully up and down the keys. The two young men were incredibly close now. After the final events in the Journey of Regeneration, it was as though an almost tangible bond had sprung up between them. Rumors were already spreading that Lloyd and Zelos were lovers.
Now those two just needed to hurry up and make the rumors truth.
While he didn't exactly like Zelos, Kratos knew that his son loved that idiot Chosen and, so long as Zelos made Lloyd happy, the Seraph was willing to set aside his original opinions of the Tethe'allan egomaniac.
Lost in thought, Kratos didn't notice as the Inn's door opened and a bedraggled looking man scurried through the portal. He did notice, however, when the drenched man slammed the door shut and leaned against it heavily. The person was covered in a dark cloak complete with a hood and, had the man not spoken, Kratos would have surely dismissed the person as a stranger. As it was, a familiar voice issued from the cloak. The words were a familiar litany of elvish and angelic curses, the languages blending together to give a seamless, if completely derogatory, commentary on the weather.
"And here I thought you liked the rain, Yuan," Kratos observed, smirking at the figure.
Yuan whirled around and removed the hood from over his head, revealing that his hair was all wet despite his attempt to prevent that from occurring. "Oh, yes, I love the rain. I just don't like it when it starts raining on me in the middle of the night while I'm flying on my Rheaird… which crashed because the rain shorted out it's systems."
The piano playing halted as Zelos echoed the word "crashed."
Lloyd also turned his attention to the waterlogged half-elf. "You are okay, right?"
"I'm fine," Yuan replied dismissively. "The Rheaird on the other hand… if the Renegades was still running, my engineers would be planning my demise." He pulled his cloak all the way off and hung it on the Inn's coat rack before marching over to the innkeeper, who looked somewhat amused by the conversation, to get a room. After stuffing his key into his pocket, he wandered over to the couch and took a seat next to Kratos.
"Are you still planning on going to Derris Kharlan?" Yuan asked quietly when Zelos and Lloyd had returned their attention back to the piano.
"Yes, I am."
"Oh… well, I… I want to go too," he asserted quickly, a faint flush running across his face. "I mean, there isn't really much left for me here and, as you said, it would be better for the world if there weren't anymore angels of Cruxis here…" he trailed off and shrugged.
"I… would appreciate having company up there. The idea of being completely alone wasn't very appealing." Kratos felt his own face try to heat up as a small smile lit Yuan's face. Fortunately he was very good at concealing just about all physical reactions to anything.
"Good…"
"So you're going to transport up tomorrow, too?" Lloyd asked Yuan. "Origin said you might be, and when you showed up he started snickering."
"Origin… you can hear him through the Eternal Sword, correct?" the curious Renegade leader tilted his head to the side as an expression akin to Raine's ruin-mode, though far less dangerous and obsessive, appeared on his face. "Didn't…"
"Yuan," Kratos interrupted quickly, sensing the impending onslaught of questions, "don't even think about it."
"But I'm curious."
"Do I look as though I care? You're almost as bad as Raine sometimes, do you know that?"
"Personally, I think her pursuit of knowledge is admirable."
"There's more to life than books…"
"We're getting weird looks."
"You started it," Kratos grumbled, ignoring the amused expressions on Lloyd and Zelos' faces.
"I'm starting to see family resemblance," Zelos muttered, glancing from Kratos to Lloyd. "Now that's just creepy…" he added as two identical sets of brown eyes stared at him. He turned back to the piano and shut the top over the keys. Then, standing and stretching, he excused himself to the others and disappeared towards the Inn rooms. A few moments later, Lloyd left to join him.
"Are they…"
"Not yet, but sooner or later one of them will finally have some sense knocked into him." Kratos shrugged and reclined into the couch while trying to discern exactly what it was that made him feel… different… now that Yuan had arrived.
"They aren't the only ones in need of having sense knocked into them," Yuan grumbled softly, but waved off Kratos' questioning look. "It has been a long time since the two of us have really talked with one another. I'd rather not do so in a place where we could be so easily eavesdropped on; would you join me in my room?"
"I… sure," Kratos nodded and refrained from stammering too much. As he followed the attractive, blue-haired Seraph to the Inn rooms, Kratos realized that his pulse was running faster without any reason.
--
"Humph," Kratos gave Yuan a mocking smirk. "So mature you claim to have been, yet you were the one who played 'Dude Looks Like a Lady' for two years every time Yggdrasill entered your office."
"He did look like a lady, though. I was trying to help him make contact with his inner woman," Yuan protested. "I was being a good friend."
"Right; sure you were."
"Kratos, what you need to learn is that I'm always right… even when I'm not. Repeat after me, 'whatever you say, Yuan.'"
"Whatever you say… Yuan." Kratos snickered as, with a change in emphasis, he altered the meaning of the words. Yuan glowered at his fellow Seraph and leaned forward. "Seriously, though, I've really missed this."
"What? Insulting one another? We do this all the time…"
"No," Kratos shook his head and unconsciously moved closer on the couch in an attempt to help him convey his meaning. "You and I actually enjoying one another's company. It's been a long time since we've been genuinely nice to each other; there's been so much suspicion between us lately…"
"I've missed this too," Yuan agreed, a hand reaching up to nervously mess with the bangs that fell over his face. "We both really screwed up our friendship, didn't we? Remember when we were kids and we promised that we'd never let anything come between us?"
"Life looked so much simpler back then," Kratos agreed. "I guess we both broke that promise… do you think we can try to keep it again?"
"I'd like that," Yuan breathed, leaning forward slightly.
"I… I've been wondering about something for a while now… why did you save me?" Kratos saw the bewildered expression on Yuan's face and elaborated. "You were set to have me sacrifice myself just days earlier and then you showed up at the Torrent Forest to save my life. I… I don't understand."
"I wasn't really…" Yuan began to stumble over his words, moving on the couch so that there wasn't any space between them. "What I mean is… oh… I-I didn't want you to die! My plan was… to convince you that I was serious about… about getting you to give up your mana… and then I'd give you some of mine anyway. I-I swear, Kratos… I don't know how I could survive a world without you!"
Kratos felt his control slip and his face heat up at the other angel's exclamation. Warmth spread through his chest and snaked through his body as he leaned forward and brushed his lips against Yuan's. Sudden panic roared through him and Kratos began to back away.
Yuan wasn't having it, though. He darted forward and captured Kratos' mouth with his own in a heated kiss that seemed to raise the temperature of the room.
And then the door opened and both Seraphim leapt away from each other as though they'd been burned. Flushed and breathing hard, they both avoided the other's gaze as they looked up at the door.
Zelos stood there, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. "Good morning. Did you know that Lloyd's been looking for the both of you? Fortunately, he taught me how to pick locks… or is that unfortunately? I suppose that's all in your point of view, right?
"Anyway, it's time to head out. I suggest you postpone your romantic interlude until you're alone together on Derris Kharlan," he waggled his eyebrows suggestively and then sauntered down the hallway.
"I can't stand him," the two Seraph muttered in unison and then blushed.
"We should, uh… get going." Kratos stood and fled out the door.
Alone in the room, Yuan closed his eyes and brought a hand to his mouth. For a moment he simply sat, taking shuddering breaths, and attempted to bring himself under control.
--"Unh… oh, Y-Yuan…" Kratos moaned throatily as he tried to sort out the conflicting feelings that seared his veins and clouded his mind. Feather light kisses ran down his neck and across his chest. Fingers ran the length of his torso only to tease him at the waist and refuse to move any lower.
Finally, though, Kratos managed to find enough control within himself, despite the assault on his senses, to pull Yuan up into a burning kiss that left them both gasping for air and groaning in appreciation…
Then everything stopped. Flushed, Kratos sat up and looked around for Yuan only to find the problem was that the blue haired seraph wasn't in the room… and never had been. Well, actually, that wasn't the only problem…
Gingerly getting out of the bed, he tried not to exacerbate the issue by remembering any of the dream, which of course made the entire thing start playing through his mind in bits and pieces. Kratos made his way to the shower and considered the idea that perhaps there was something to be said for taking advantage of his angelic abilities and not sleeping for a change.
--
Kratos, clad only in boxers and a pair of black pants, was toweling his hair dry when he reentered his room. At first, it didn't entirely register that he was no longer alone in there, which accounts for why he closed the door first instead of hiding away in the bathroom.
"Sleep well?" Yuan asked, a smile on his face.
It took all of Kratos' hard-earned willpower to refrain from having his face turn all shades of red. "Fine," he answered in a voice he hoped didn't sound too strangled. "You?"
Unlike Kratos, Yuan did blush and spectacularly so. "I-I… um, yeah. I did."
"We should get started on collecting the Cruxis Crystals and providing the Angelic Army with Key Crests," Kratos asserted, walking over to his dresser and pulling out one of his purple tanktops. With his armor on, it was usually hard for people to realize his shirts were sleeveless, but for now he opted to leave the accessories off. The angels wouldn't attack him as they were and… it was unlikely they'd attack him when they returned to themselves.
A flush finally ran across his face as Kratos realized that Yuan was staring at him as he pulled on the shirt. "Is there something wrong, Yuan?"
"N-no. Why?"
"You're staring at me."
"I am not!"
"So I'm blind now?"
"N-no… I mean, I was just thinking. My eyes were merely gazing in your direction," Yuan hurriedly corrected. "I wasn't staring."
"As you say," Kratos replied after a moment, his tone stating that he didn't believe it for one second.
"Aren't you going to put on the rest of your outfit?"
"Are we going into battle?" Kratos countered, purposely stretching his arms and smirking internally as Yuan's blush confirmed his belief that the other seraph was indeed ogling him. "No, we aren't. My armor would be a hindrance.
"Now, could you hand me my boot next to your right foot?" Kratos asked, sitting down on Yuan's left. He purposefully sat shoulder to shoulder with Yuan and his angelic senses picked up on the suddenly heavy breathing of the blue haired half-elf.
"Uh… huh? Oh, s-sure…" Yuan grabbed the boot and shoved it into Kratos' hands. He tried to stand but tripped on Kratos' other boot, which was right in front of Yuan's feet.
Kratos dropped the item in his hands and shot off the bed in an attempt to catch Yuan before he hit the ground, but they both overbalanced and stumbled backwards. They landed in a heap together… on the bed.
Their eyes had closed during the fall and Kratos was the first one to look. For a moment he thought he was dreaming again. Yuan was straddling his hips and lay against his chest. Slowly, the blue orbs opened and stared into Kratos' eyes.
After a long moment, panic crept into Yuan's eyes and he sat up, babbling apologies. Kratos sat up too, bringing his hands to Yuan's shoulders in an effort to keep Yuan from getting off his lap. "Shush," he admonished while bringing his right hand up in front of Yuan's mouth. "You haven't done anything wrong;" he moved his hand back to the half-elf's shoulder and silence fell over them. Then, without warning, Kratos darted forward, capturing Yuan's mouth with his own in a searing kiss.
Yuan wasn't about to be outdone, however. With a low growl, he pushed Kratos back down and proceeded to kiss his way down Kratos' neck while pushing the recently donned shirt up and off of the dark eyed seraph.
"Unh… oh, Y-Yuan…"
--
Sitting in front of the communicator, Kratos was trying very hard to tell Lloyd about his new relationship with Yuan, but the opportunity wasn't exactly presenting itself. Not that Yuan was making it easy; every so often the blue haired angel would drop a kiss on a spot at the base of Kratos' neck that made thinking incredibly difficult. In fact, Yuan had made Kratos lose the threads of his conversation with his son so many times that Lloyd had asked Kratos if he was all right on several occasions.
Thank goodness the communicator wasn't equipped with a video interface…
When the device turned off, Yuan whispered teasingly in Kratos' ear, "you didn't tell him."
"I couldn't tell him much of anything with the way you keep… mmm…" Kratos trailed off as Yuan provided a demonstration of exactly how distracting he could be.
A/N Originally I was going to do this in multiple parts, but the other scenes I wanted in there wouldn't come out right. I don't plan on any follow up chapters on this because, even though I only meant for "Caught" to be a triad, not only do my reviewers want more of that… I've suddenly got a few more ideas for it. :)
