A/N: Sexytiems ahead! This is a slightly edited (aka censored) version of this chapter. You can find the original version on AO3 (I am Kirathaune there, too.)

Gen didn't think sleep would ever come.

The distraction of their surprisingly enjoyable evening of cards was gone, and the comfortable numbness of the liquor he'd imbibed had worn off an hour or more ago. Now Gen lay in the narrow bunk he shared with Gadget, and he listened to the rhythmic hum of the Hakuryuu's engines while sleep continued to elude him. Beside him, Gadget was quiet and still, but Gen couldn't tell whether he was asleep or not. He stared at the curved bulkhead above him in the semi-darkness, and tried to calm the roiling thoughts that were clamoring in his head.

So much chaos in such a small space of time. Had it really been only six days since he had been in the vineyard, trimming vines and inspecting bunches of plump, ripening grapes? He could remember his father standing in the fields, wearing his ridiculous straw hat, waving at him with a pipe in his hand as he called him in for dinner. Later, they had watched the sun had paint the fields in shades of red and gold while they'd talked of the coming harvest, both of them excited because the new hybrid grapes that Komou had created would be ready by then. Gen had gone to bed looking forward to another day of sun and earth.

But in the dark of night he had awoken to fire, death, and madness that had yet to stop.

Komou. Gen shut his eyes, trying in vain to keep the memory of Komou's death from replaying in his mind.

If what Kai claimed was true, then more than half of his life was a lie. He was a lie. He was nothing more than a copy of another person, with implanted memories, and the father he was grieving for wasn't his father. Komou was the man who had created that lie. Gen opened his eyes, and he held up his hand and stared at the dim outlines of his fingers.

What was real any more?

"Are you okay, Gen?"

Gen turned his head to see Gadget watching him, his eyes luminous and solemn. "It's just that... I remember everything so clearly, " he replied. "I remember playing find-me in the wine barrels as a child, running races through the vines, and my fath—Komou and I stomping grapes at harvest. I have all those memories… and he was in them with me, doing all those things with me."

"He was your father, you can call him that."

Gen's lip curled, and he glared at the shadowy ceiling. "He was my creator. A scientist who made me from someone else's genetic material, and I was just another crop, like all those grapes."

The mattress dipped as Gadget shifted to face him. "You're wrong. I mean, you're right that he created you. But... he didn't leave you in stasis, like the other clones that died in the fires. When he left, he took you with him, to live with him. You were his family—his son."

There was a wistful note in Gadget's voice, and it made Gen remember their first conversation in the dark, only a few short days before. "You never knew your parents at all?"

Gadget shook his head. "Nope. I only remember a dark, dirty orphanage, with way too many kids and a bunch of old ladies that took care of us. Some of the ladies were nice, but most of them weren't, and I ran away after they locked me up one too many times. I lived on the streets after that." He tucked an arm under his pillow. "From what Kai said, you were probably made ten years ago, right? So that means that a lot of your memories are real—just not the ones from when you were little. It was probably easier on him to age you up."

Gen didn't reply, but the knot in his chest loosened a little.

"And you know what's cool? He cared enough about you to give you memories of a happy childhood, and he put himself in those memories. He let you grow up with him, even if it was only in your mind."

Gen rolled onto his side to face Gadget. "What a load of sentimental crap," he said. He didn't want to admit that the thought warmed him considerably.

Gadget's teeth flashed bright in the semi-dark. "Sounds a lot better than your sorry-ass crap."

Gen snorted and shook his head. "It's all crap. This whole thing is fucking unreal."

Gadget's grin faded. "I'm real," he whispered. He reached over and touched Gen's chest. "And so are you."

Gen felt the warmth of Gadget's fingers seep through the thin fabric of his borrowed sleep shirt, and he watched the shadows on Gadget's throat move as he swallowed. His gaze then focused on Gadget's mouth, and when the tip of a dusky tongue darted out to moisten parted lips Gen felt heat flare in his groin.

He wanted to taste that mouth, and feel those lips under his.

Gadget was more than willing to meet him halfway. They exchanged rough, heated kisses, and Gadget shifted closer and tangled his fingers in Gen's hair. His tongue slipped into Gen's mouth, sloppy and wet and sexy as hell, and Gen was encouraged by the strangled sounds that escaped Gadget's throat when he broke off their kiss to run his tongue along the angled edge of Gadget's jaw.

"Oh, yeah," Gadget said, tilting his head to allow Gen better access. "I've been wanting this for awhile."

Gen pulled back and squinted at Gadget's shadowed, smiling face. "Awhile? We've known each other for what, four days?"

Gadget's smile widened. "I've wanted you since you walked out of my washroom wearing nothing but a towel."

"Pervert." Gen kissed him again, reveling in how Gadget arched against him in response, and the way Gadget's breath hitched when Gen's mouth moved along the ridge of his collarbones. Gen reached under Gadget's sleep shirt to trace the knobby line of Gadget's spine, trailing his hand down to slide over Gadget's shorts and cup the curve of Gadget's ass.

He was rewarded with a husky, colorful curse and a playful nip at his ear.

Gadget tugged at Gen's shirt, pulling it up and over his head. His hands roamed over Gen's chest, callused fingertips brushing over taut nipples before moving lower, lower to press against Gen's stiffening erection. Gen groaned and took Gadget's mouth in a hard kiss, and when Gadget's hand slipped beneath the waistband of Gen's sleep-pants Gen forgot all about assassins, clones, and political plots.

This was the only thing that mattered right now; Gadget's warm hand, the velvet rasp of Gadget's tongue sliding against his, and the delicious noises Gadget made when Gen took hold of Gadget's hardened length. Their hands bumped together, their panting breaths intermingling while they pleasured each other, slowly at first, and then faster as they brought each other closer to climax.

After a quick clean-up with Gen's discarded sleep shirt, they shucked off the rest of their clothing. Gen rolled onto his back, his pulse still pounding in his ears, and while he caught his breath he enjoyed the aftershocks of pleasure that continued to spike through his body.

Gadget settled in next to him and pulled the sheet over their twined bodies. "Tell me that wasn't real," he murmured against Gen's shoulder.

"Mmm." Gen worked a hand under Gadget's waist and pulled him closer. "Yeah, it was."

He felt Gadget's mouth curve in a smile.