Some are loyal because they know no other way to be.

0o0o0o

Yao had a hard time sleeping. He lay awake thinking about his prodigy, trained to replace him in case anything went wrong. He thought about Kiku's seizure of power in his court, and how he seemed to be an entirely different person from the young man who wished him fate and luck, hoped things would all end well for him not so long ago.

May the stars come together for you.

He rolled over and stared at the ceiling, and quietly wished Kiku the same before finally falling asleep.

Barely an hour later, there was a knock on Yao's door, jolting him out of sleep.

'Hold on, Kiku!' he shouted, grabbing for something to cover himself with. 'Just because you won over my advisors doesn't mean you can interrupt me any hour you want, honestly.' He shrugged into a simple robe and opened the door, finding himself facing someone much larger than Kiku.

'Hello, Yao,' Ivan greeted. 'What's wrong with your advisors?'

'Nothing,' Yao snapped. 'What do you want? I have at least five hours before I need to wake up, and since you've interrupted them-'

'My fleet leader has decreed that we must be accompanied at any time,' Ivan said. 'I have come to talk to you in private. However, if word somehow is released about how I was here…' His violet eyes gleamed. 'I will hurt you.'

Yao stepped back, pulse racing, fumbling for the short knife in his belt and coming up empty-it was in his other clothes!-and then a heavy book, a paperweight, anything, and Ivan grabbed his arm.

'You do not have to fear me now, Yao,' he said. 'I am here, and so you will not tell. The moment I leave your rooms is the moment you should start keeping secrets.'

Yao met Ivan's gaze and shuddered at what he saw. A deep, dark kind of interest that went beyond the normal attention of the ambassador.

'Come in,' Yao finally said. Ivan closed the door behind him.

The fleet leader let him sit down on his bed before speaking.

'What have you come for?'

'Did you get my gift, Yao?'

Yao distractedly waved a hand towards where the sunflower bud lay in a cup of water. 'Yes.'

Ivan stood and picked it out of the water, cradling it in his hands. Yao watched warily. 'I wonder what it could have come to on it's own if it wasn't forced to bloom so soon,' the larger man said offhandedly, tracing a finger almost tenderly along the yellow petals. 'It was so hard to coax open. So many spines and layers.'

'You could have waited,' Yao ground out.

'I wanted to see it.' Ivan placed the flower back in it's cup of water, gently propping the drooping head against the side. 'Before it dies. It was cut from its roots, after all, and a weak imitation of that will not sustain it for long.' He reached for Yao, but this time, his oddly warm fingers brushed Yao's palm instead of his arm. The fleet leader flinched but forgot to pull away. Ivan stilled, violet eyes laser-focused above a shark's smile. 'Would you like to hear about Earth, Yao?'

Yao met Ivan's eyes and a shiver went up his spine.

'Yes.'

'Then I propose an alliance of our own,' Ivan said. 'An alliance of...interest. Of information. You want Earth, do you not?'

'I do,' Yao breathed.

'If I give you Earth…' Ivan shook his head. 'I want something in return, of course.'

'What do you want?' Yao forced out. Ivan laughed, high and dangerous.

'I've told you, Yao. I want you.'

Yao dazedly wondered how much he would give for a chance at Earth and with a twist of a smile, thought that he'd give his limbs.

'First,' Yao impulsively commanded in a rasp, suddenly painfully aware of how close Ivan Braginsky was, of the odd scent of his scarf and the colour of his eyes, 'tell me if the rumours are true. About your breathing.'

'They are,' Ivan assured.

'Prove it.'

Ivan leaned in, fascinated with the challenge in Yao's amber eyes. The fleet leader nodded once, terrified and impatient all at once.

Ivan smiled as he unwound his scarf, revealing metal and salvaged skin inch by inch. Yao's breath caught in his throat. Ivan felt more than saw slender fingers hovering above the quietly humming mechanism replacing the front of his throat. He impulsively took Yao's hand and pressed it to the warm metal and plastic, the unfamiliar feeling making him shudder.

'Do you see, Yao?' he murmured. The vibrations ran up Yao's arm and resonated in his chest.

'You're-' Yao broke off, searching for the right words. Ivan was terrible and breathtaking and was interested in him, the untested fleet leader, and he really, really did have violet eyes. 'Beautiful,' he finished, because Ivan was beautiful, but like the deadly nebulas were.

Ivan hummed, and Yao spread his hand against the smooth metal, tracing the line where it met his skin in ripples and scars. The job seemed messy, hurried, desperate, done as a last resort to stop him from dying. How much of him had been torn away by Earth?

'Yao…' Ivan's voice was almost hesitant. Yao's fingers drew fish tails and dragon wings on his destroyed skin, brushing the collar of his coat.

'Show me, Ivan.'

Ivan tipped his head back and sucked in a long breath, searching for a handhold in the cloud in his head. Slowly, hands made clumsy with adrenaline and anticipation, he unclasped his coat and suddenly Yao's hands were tugging at his undershirt, pushing it off and running feather-light touches over his skin.

Ivan's chest was a chaotic puzzle of metal and plastic and skin, humming to keep him breathing. How much would it have hurt to rip out his chest and put it back together?

There were so many scars, and surely not all of them came from the machines allowing him to live. Ugly, huge gashes, gaping patches where he hadn't healed right. He was a patchwork of everything it took to survive. This was what Earth had done to him, and yet some part of Yao still wished he'd seen it himself.

'They had to cut the lesser diseases out of me,' Ivan said, words strained. His breathing quickened as Yao outlined a particularly large scar, and under the nobleman's hands, the machines purred faster. 'After I caught the coughing disease, I bargained my life on an untested procedure. And now I can-I can no longer be affected by the virus that nearly killed me. There is nothing inside of me that the disease can take any longer.'

Yao's hands paused, and he looked up. His amber eyes were conflicted and overbright.

'Ivan Braginsky,' he said quietly. 'Are you invincible?'

When Ivan leaned closer, so did he, and his lips parted to accept the kiss.

Ivan smelled of metal and flowers and his hands were soft and warm against Yao's cheekbones for a single second after they broke apart.

Yao stared, drinking in the sight of violet eyes and flesh replaced by metal. He almost felt victorious.

'No,' Ivan said. The bed creaked as he got up, and he caught Yao's eyes one last time before the door swung shut behind him.

0o0o0o

When Yao woke up in the morning, Kiku had left him a message that he was to meet with the Russian fleet to discuss the coughing virus. Yao felt that his rooms were strangely quiet without him.

'You are to have a new ambassador in addition to my brother,' Natalya said as she sat down across from him. 'Did you hear?'

'Only this morning,' Yao said honestly. Natalya studied him for a long moment.

'Who is it?'

Yao frowned. 'What do you mean?'

'Well, they're not from our fleet,' the woman said delicately. Yao's heart sunk just as Kiku walked in, head held high. Natalya looked at Yao with a practiced eye. 'You're saying you didn't choose him? Or you didn't know?'

'I let my advisors elect,' Yao lied, and turned back to the meeting as Kiku sat down on his right.

'I will be accompanying you,' the slight man said unnecessarily. Yao nodded, still searching for a spark of recognition in Kiku's brown eyes. They weren't friendly by any means, but held to him out of what Yao knew to be fleet loyalty. It was enough.

'Yao.'

The fleet leader stiffened at the voice behind him, but it wasn't until he turned and met Braginsky's eyes did the memories crash in, sudden and suffocating.

'Ivan,' Yao said, praying his voice didn't shake. Ivan smiled at him before directing his attention to Kiku.

'You must be Kiku,' he said. The slighter man did not shrink back or respond. Yao elbowed him.

'Hey! Say hello.'

'Kiku Honda,' Kiku said stiffly, bowing slightly without breaking eye contact. Yao sighed and leaned back in his chair. At least the boy was polite and wouldn't cause a scene in public. All the worse for when they were alone, of course.

'I call us to attention here to discuss the coughing virus affecting both our fleets!' a kind-looking woman called, waving for quiet. 'The alliance of the Middle and Russian fleets will hopefully be able to combine with the efforts of the United States and EU to eradicate the disease.'

Yao rose on cue. 'I am Yao Wang, the leader of the Middle fleet. My people are affected greatly by the coughing virus. My advisors have recently caught wind that the virus may have mutated into a new strain.'

'This obviously causes problems,' Kiku interjected. 'Since the only known prevention of the virus is prior exposure, we come to the dilemma of whether or not to allowing the public to be exposed to this new strain without knowing if it is deadly yet.'

'You mean you do not know?' Ivan asked. Kiku gave him a cold glare, but the taller man seemed unaffected.

'Of course not. We would not test it on people without being able to assure them they would survive.'

'Remind yourself of that when the new virus spreads and destroys your people anyways,' Ivan said, smile fixed. Yao blurted the first thing he could think of to remedy the situation.

'Kiku, it is most likely lethal,' he said, before addressing the conference. 'We should make moves to contain anybody showing early signs.'

'And do what with them?' Kiku hissed, suddenly close behind him. 'Let them die?'

Yao turned in shock. Kiku was never this rash. The younger man's eyes were cold, and Yao realized too late he'd taken Ivan's side in the argument. Hands shaking, he slid into his seat, suddenly terrified of what his prodigy would do in his anger.

'Kiku,' he whispered. 'Kiku Honda.'

'I apologize, I don't want to talk,' Kiku said, voice eerily flat.

'I know, I just-'

'I don't want to talk to you,' Kiku spat, uncharacteristically venomous. 'Go back to your ambassador.' Stunned, Yao sat back. A hand touched his arm and he shivered.

'Yao?' Ivan smiled slightly and directed him back to the meeting, where the kind-faced woman from earlier was continuing.

'Luckily, the new strain doesn't seem to have any additional symptoms, just being stronger and more resistant than before. And of course, being equally incurable…' She trailed off, eyes guiltily flicking to where Ivan sat with his humming machinery and his immunity and his barely-concealed satisfaction.

'Incurable, yes,' Ivan echoed, and slowly, the tension diffused and the discussion began again. Ivan smiled while they talked about what had nearly killed him.

0o0o0o

When the meeting was over, Kiku gave Yao a last disdainful look before disappearing. Yao ran after him.

'Kiku!' he shouted, grabbing onto the man's sleeve. 'Kiku, please.'

Kiku stopped. 'Yes?' he said, the shade of hurt in his voice betraying his false indifference. Yao realized with a start what his actions must have looked like and felt a rush of shame.

'I'm sorry,' he pleaded. Kiku stilled and turned to him, wary but willing to listen. Yao took it as a sign and continued. 'I know what I've done and I know I shouldn't have. I'm trying to do what's best for the alliance-'

'The alliance?' Kiku asked. For a second, all his emotions were displayed for Yao to see, hurt and hopeful and longing all at once. Yao wanted to reach out to the younger man, return to their easy friendship before he had even heard of the Russian fleet. Kiku gave the smallest of smiles. 'Promise me the alliance is between the Middle and Russian fleets and not you and Ivan Braginsky,' he whispered, voice raw and tender with rare emotion. Yao opened his mouth to agree, the words that would heal the rift between them buzzing on his tongue before he remembered.

The memory of Ivan's lips against his came back unbidden, and Yao froze. The warmth vanished from Kiku's eyes.

'You…' The understanding and the betrayal in Kiku's voice cut Yao to the bone. The brown-eyed man shook his head in denial, desperation replacing tenderness. 'Tell me you haven't. Tell me you do not...love him, Yao.'

'I do,' Yao said. Kiku stepped back, tearing his sleeve from Yao's grasp.

'You love him,' Kiku repeated. Yao stared into his fearful eyes and felt the deep weight of regret in his stomach.

'I love him.'

They held the gaze for a single second more, but it was more than enough time for Yao to see the betrayal in Kiku's eyes before the younger man turned and rushed away.

'Kiku!' Yao started to run after him, but Kiku did not look back. 'Kiku, I'm sorry!' His foot caught on something and his hands collided hard with the ground. He stared helplessly after the retreating figure disappearing into the distance and felt a lump in his throat.

A hand closed around his arm, and Yao looked up numbly into a pair of violet eyes. The ambassador pulled him to his feet and cupped his face, looking amused. Yao snarled with all the pent-up anger and fear and defeat and fisted a hand in Ivan Braginsky's ashy hair to pull him down and kiss him hard.

Ivan's mouth was soft and burning and pinker when Yao pulled away, panting.

'This alliance is on my terms, Braginsky,' he threatened, and kissed him again.

0o0o0o

Some are loyal because of want or debt. Those bonds are weaker, for hearts change but rhythm rarely does.

:: Running so hard your breathing scrapes your throat