Tainted But Beautiful

Part 3: The Renegades

24. Faith

Pairings: AkuZeku, Zemyx, AkuRoku, AxDem, minor onesided VexZex, XemSaix

Rated: M

Warnings: Vampires, vampires, vampires...uh, YAOI, AU-ish-ness, abuse, noncon, rape, GRAPHIC SCENES, character death, overall weirdness.

Summary: Axel is a powerful vampire slayer who's captured Zexion, a vampire, as his pet. What Axel doesn't bargain on is Demyx, his former student, developing a strong attraction to Zexion...

Notes: Another update! Joy and hallelujah.

Not much plot-wise happens in this chapter, but it's an important character chapter...and a smutty one as well. XD I think this is actually my favorite smutty scene I've ever written for this story. Even though I did sort of run out of steam at the end. Anyway, enjoy this because it's going to be the last sex scene ever in the story.

And it's long too, which means there's more goodness to enjoy until my next sporadic update.

"What the hell do you want?" snapped Axel the instant Zexion pushed open the door to his room. The slayer had taken a break from stomping around and swearing to flop like a dead fish in a chair, his face flushed and arms dangling limply over the sides of the chair. He fixed Zexion with a stormy glare.

Zexion didn't see fit to respond to this. He stepped further into the room, his steps muffled by the thick carpet. Axel shrank back against the chair, a scowl dragging his face downwards.

"Seriously. Why the hell you'd come barging in here? Goddammit, get the hell out of here, don't you respect something called privacy?"

Zexion bit back an insult or two or three; as much as he'd have loved to get into a shouting match with Axel, it wouldn't end in as satisfactory a manner as it would if he followed the plan he'd already formulated on his way to the room. It is the ends that matter more than the means.

This he told himself, while offering Axel a blandly pleasant smile and saying, hands clasped demurely behind his back, "I cannot simply want to...ahh...make friendly conversation?"

Axel snorted derisively. "You gotta be kidding me. Friendly conversation? What kind of shit is that, vamp?"

My name is Zexion, Zexion wanted to shoot back, but swallowed his pride and went on. "Come, now, it isn't as if I have anyone else to speak to..."

"That's not true," said Axel. "I bet cute little Dem-Dem would happily bend over backwards for you."

Zexion bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from wincing at the heavily derisive tone Axel was using. No...he didn't want to think about Demyx. Not now. It wouldn't do to act with his mind clouded with anger.

Slowly, as he approached Axel, closing the distance between them with quiet step after quiet step, he began unleashing his powers. Not letting them loose in a single onslaught like a deluge, because Axel would definitely notice then and he'd quickly put a stop to Zexion's plan. He let them creep up gradually, like rain dripping from eaves, letting them seep slowly through the room through the cracks of Axel's consciousness...by the time Axel noticed it would be too late...

They seemed to be already working, because when Zexion sank to one knee before Axel, taking the slayer's chin between his thumb and forefinger, Axel didn't protest in any way except going slightly stiff. Zexion, encouraged, leaned even closer to Axel, breathing in the slayer's distinct smoke-and-cinnamon scent.

What the hell are you doing? screamed a tiny voice in the corner of his mind--the only real rationality he had left. Don't you remember--don't you remember what happened last time?

He did, of course, no matter how desperately he tried shoving it aside. The last time he'd tried seducing Axel--the first time he'd met him--had ended in a complete failure. Had ended in Axel suddenly turning the tables on him, pinning him to the bed with such force that his head rang and he couldn't figure out what was happening until it was too late, until Axel had already torn through his clothes and began biting at his neck, until Axel had already begun moving inside him, laughing cruelly all the while--it had been the beginning, the beginning of the end and his long and painful fall--the first time of ten and twenty and too many too many times Axel had "mastered" him--

No. Stop it, he hissed inside. He would--not--lose himself in the memories. This time would be different. He'd be on his guard, and Axel would be too angry and upset to catch on to what was going on, at least not initially...

Even as he told himself these reassurances, he knew they sounded false and empty, mere platitudes meant to prop up his already wavering confidence.

Too late now, the internal voice snapped. He leaned closer to Axel so that their faces were only inches apart, tightening his grip on the slayer's chin, feeling the roughness of the unshaven skin beneath his fingers. To his encouragement, Axel leaned slightly closer to him, so that Zexion could feel the slayer's hot breath puffing against his face.

"Come, now," he said, lowering his voice to his most sultry whisper. "What's wrong with wanting someone to talk to? I figure that the two of us have gotten off on the wrong start..."

Which was one way of saying it, he supposed.

"Wrong start, huh?" said Axel, a wry smirk twitching up the corner of his mouth. "Whoa--hey--"

He leaned back, his body going stiff, when Zexion climbed into his lap--but then relaxed and draped a cautious hand over Zexion's back. It was all Zexion could do to keep himself from flinching under Axel's familiarly warm and heavy touch. He had enough self-control--and experience with doing this--to resist the urge, though, and returned the gesture, wrapping his arms around Axel's bony back, feeling the slayer's taut muscles through the thin material of his shirt. Again, doubt trembled in Zexion's mind, but again, he shoved it back. He twisted sinuously around, pressing his lips against the shell of Axel's ear.

"Hey! What're you up to?" demanded Axel.

"Like I said," whispered Zexion, "I wanted to have us a friendly talk."

"Friendly, huh?" said Axel, his voice coming encouragingly ragged and excited. "Nice idea of friendly, little slut."

Zexion cringed inside, expecting Axel to stand up and then slap him, having seen through the charade--but there was no hint of rebuke in Axel's voice at all, merely something light and lilting, which took Zexion a moment to understand: teasing.

The realization flooded him with relief. Emboldened, he nipped on Axel's earlobe. Axel responded with a short laugh and dug his hand deeper into Zexion's back, almost to the point of painfulness.

"Little slut," he repeated, with another cavalier laugh. "Won't Dem-Dem be upset you're cheating on him?"

"I doubt he'd appreciate it if you addressed him as such," murmured Zexion, bringing one hand up so that he was now teasing the short red hairs dusting the nape of Axel's neck.

"Ha ha, you think?" said Axel, delighted. "Still, I can't help but see him that way--as a little kid. I know he's grown up lots. Gone crazy, too; I mean, a relationship with a vampire..."

"He is sincere..." mumbled Zexion.

"Sure he is," said Axel, laughing again. "What a fucking retard."

Zexion rather thought that Axel was calling the pot the kettle black, but didn't voice the thought aloud. Instead, he diverted the conversation from Demyx (a thoroughly uninteresting topic, anyhow), and said, "What about you?"

"Huh? What about me?" said Axel, sounding disinterested. He'd moved his other hand to Zexion's back and was now massaging his skin through his shirt, sending shivers coursing up Zexion's spine. He maintained control--as he always did--and took advantage of Axel's rising interest to press himself even closer to the slayer, so that he could feel the steady thump-thump of Axel's heartbeat and was surrounded by the slayer's overpowering warmth, surrounded by the scent of brimming passion...

He allowed himself a slight, self-satisfied smile. It was working.

"Well, I was under the impression that you and Roxas...well..." said Zexion, drawing his words out carefully. "Well...you have a little...something, do you not?"

"A little something?" Axel frowned. "Well, I suppose so...but whatever, what's it matter to you?"

A defensive note had slipped into his voice--Zexion quickly steered the conversation into safer waters.

"Nothing," he said delicately, leaning up to plant a kiss on Axel's stubble-roughened chin. "'Relationships'...none of that means anything to me."

"'Course it wouldn't," said Axel, digging his fingers even deeper into Zexion's back--Zexion was sure he was leaving bruises. "Slutty little incubus that you are...not that I mind."

Zexion laughed out loud, delighted, at Axel's words. So it really was working--he could breathe easily now. The laugh turned into a surprised squeak when Axel slid one hand to Zexion's lower back and in a single neat motion stood, carrying Zexion with him.

"What--what are you doing?" he choked, alarmed.

"What's it look like?" said Axel, winking roguishly at him. Zexion blinked, quite sure Axel had never behaved in such a fashion with him before. "Giving us more room to work."

More room to--ahh!" As Axel deposited him rather roughly on the bed. Zexion didn't have time to gain his bearings before Axel sank on the bed above him, straddling him and resting a hand on his shoulder, gently but insistently pinning him down.

Shit, a tiny part of him thought, worried that what had happened last time was repeating itself--namely, that Axel had taken irrevocable control of the encounter--but he only had to look up and into Axel's eyes to see that it wasn't true. There was none of the cold, icy intention there'd been last time, hardening Axel's eyes like frozen emeralds; instead, their green surfaces were clouded like mist shrouding a forest, ablaze with unabashed, animalistic lust. Zexion allowed himself to breathe easier, content that he still had Axel under his control. Once he removed the thinking part of the slayer's mind, he had nothing to fear--the visceral part of Axel's self was all too easy to manipulate, as he'd learned to his great joy that time in the study when he'd called Axel out on the man's truly monstrous nature.

Axel was now running his free hand through Zexion's hair, tugging on the delicate slate-colored locks and mussing them up between his fingers with a sort of absent-mindedness that wrenched at Zexion's heart though he didn't know why--not until he realized that it reminded him of Demyx. He grit his teeth and unleashed more of his powers, determined to cast Demyx to the darkest corners of his mind so long as he had this task to perform.

"Say, Axel..." he said as casually as he could, as Axel's fingers ghosted down his chest, their touch warm through the thin material of Zexion's shirt.

"Hmm?" said Axel distractedly. One hand had moved to the front of Zexion's shirt, undoing the buttons with a gentleness that starlted the incubus; he couldn't ever remember Axel being gentle in bed with him before. Zexion scrambled to reciprocate the gesture, taking the hem of Axel's T-shirt and rolling it up slowly, exposing the man's lean, muscular torso. He prodded the skin, so much darker than his own, with a claw; Axel, for some bizarre reason, snickered.

"I have a...an...ahhh...request of you," he said, trying to keep the anxious tremble out of his voice. Don't hesitate. Don't fear. That's why you failed the first time, because you hesitated. He leaned closer to Axel, pressing his bare chest against the slayer's, feeling the slayer's powerful heartbeat pounding at too fast a rate; less like a steady thump than racing footsteps.

"Request?" said Axel, running a hand through Zexion's hair, again with uncanny tenderness. Zexion forced back his revulsion and leaned closer to the gesture, resting his head on Axel's shoulder. Bizarre as this behavior might be...if Axel wanted to play it "sweet and gentle", then Zexion would have to oblige him. This state of control was fragile, after all. If he acted too contrary, Axel would soon see through the act and then--

Zexion bit back the panic. "Yes...well...maybe a suggestion...if you'd listen, of course," he added coyly.

"Mm, I'm listening," mumbled Axel; his cooperation was perhaps helped along by Zexion delivering him a gentle nip on the neck. "So what's this request-slash-suggestion? Maybe...'blow me, Axel'?"

Zexion couldn't help his derisive snort. Then, to patch over Axel's perhaps injured feelings (he didn't know if Axel would be offended or not, but then again, the slayer had an ego as big as a hot-air balloon and just as fragile), he quickly said, "Well, perhaps not now--"

"That's perfectly fine," said Axel with his familiar cavalier laugh, ruffling Zexion's hair (and annoying him quite a bit). "Like I'd ever wanna kneel to anyone, let alone you. But hey, I wouldn't mind if you did me the favor, got it memorized?"

Zexion struggled mightily against the urge to curl his hand into a fist and slam it square in the middle of Axel's stupid smirking face.

"Maybe later," he whispered, as soon as he trusted himself to talk without his voice shaking in rage. "Right now, though...tell me, Axel...what is the main reason you do not want to fight the Coven of Thirteen?"

"Can't believe you're still pursuing this tangent, don't you ever get bored?" growled Axel, the grip on Zexion's hair tightening. Zexion exhaled sharply, though more out of relief than pain--this was a more familiar, more easily manageable Axel.

"Tell me." He lowered his voice into a cajoling, seductive whisper, tracing the curve of Axel's jaw with a finger. To his encouragement, Axel leaned closer. "Tell me why, Axel..."

"I've already told you," snarled Axel, yanking on Zexion's hair. "I don't think we stand a chance in hell, got it memorized? C'mon, look at us--there're only four of us and you can't say most of us are very strong fighters--"

"But," whispered Zexion, excitement spiking within him as he played his trump card, "what if there were more?"

This, unfortunately, didn't get its desired effect. Axel scoffed and shoved Zexion slightly away from him. "Aww, come the hell on. You can't be serious. You really believe the old fart when he says he has associates besides that one little girl?"

Ah; Axel had misunderstood the question. Quickly, Zexion amended: "No, I do not mean any shadowy...'associates'...of DiZ's that may or may not exist. I completely agree with you on that count."

Admitting that he agreed with Axel almost physically hurt him. Worse was Axel's reaction: the slayer through his head back and laughed. "Now that's a first!"

Much to Zexion's surprise, he found he no longer wanted to punch Axel--no, he now wanted to castrate the slayer with his claws.

As much poetic justice such an act would be, he knew it wouldn't be the wise choice--he'd come to Axel with a goal in mind. And come hell or high water, he was going to achieve that goal, never mind how stupid and boorish Axel might be.

"No...what I was thinking of...was...mm..." Zexion twined his body around Axel's, probing the tip of Axel's earlobe with his tongue. Once again, Axel snickered; Zexion decided that this was just the sound Axel made when he was happy while a normal person would gasp or moan. Then again, it fit Axel's character much better...

"What were thinking of? Go on," said Axel, his breath hitching as Zexion began nibbling on the cartilage of his ear. "Ahh--fuck, you're good at this."

Of course I am, given what I am, thought Zexion, feeling slightly exasperated. "I was thinking," he said, "that perhaps...we should get more professional help. You, after all, are not the only vampire slayer in existence..."

"Huh? What the fuck are you going on about?" growled Axel.

You idiot, do you need it spelled out for you? Zexion wanted to retort, but kept his cool and said, "I mean to say...why not recruit the other vampire slayers to help? I am sure they would be eager to end the source of most vampiric attacks..."

"Don't be an idiot--yeah, that hits the spot--" as Zexion swirled his tongue into the hollow where Axel's neck met his shoulder. "But come off it, the old fart said--"

"Honestly, Axel," said Zexion, with a low chuckle (not a snicker, he wouldn't descend there yet), meeting Axel's eyes. "What do you care what the 'old fart' says?"

Axel laughed out loud; Zexion was pressed so close to him that he felt the vibrations of Axel's laugh, as an uncomfortable thrumming in his chest. He resisted the urge to pull away, and leaned even closer to Axel so that he was almost drowning in the slayer's fiery presence.

"You're right," said Axel after his laughing fit had subsided. He'd resumed absently running a hand through Zexion's hair. "So, slut...what do you want me to do?"

Zexion blinked; if he wasn't mistaken, Axel had--for the first time ever--asked him for advice. He hung in the slayer's arms, disoriented for a moment. This had never happened before and he didn't know what to do, feared the moment would slip away like a minute hand moving away from the hour, before he could do anything with it.

He snatched at the opportunity. Grabbing Axel by the shoulders, he summoned all of his strength to turn the slayer over so he was on top--element of surprise helped him more than anything. He bent over Axel, straddling him and smirking; a smirk which, strangely enough, Axel returned. Heartened, Zexion bent down and pressed his lips against Axel's briefly, tasting the slayer's familiar smoky cinnamon flavor. He didn't let Axel deepen it, though, drawing away and gazing into Axel's eyes.

"Listen carefully," he said in a husky whisper, bending so that he and Axel were so close their noses were touching and he saw nothing but the misted-over green of Axel's eyes. "I will only explain this once..."

When he left Axel's room, he was feeling incredibly satisfied with himself. No, not for sleeping with Axel--he'd have loved to do without that part, but he'd survived by repeating ends before means, ends before means in his mind--but for having accomplished his goal. He'd done it, sold Axel on the plan he'd brewed on the fly, and best of all had come out of it unscathed save the unavoidable hickeys and love-bites.

He'd proven that what Axel and Demyx had said about him--that he was a poor manipulator--wasn't true. No doubt, now that the euphoria induced by Zexion's powers had worn off, Axel would be cursing himself in his room (though not right now, he'd fallen asleep), a thought which gave Zexion a wonderful sense of smugness.

He didn't want to think about what would happen after Axel woke up and stopped sulking...about what Axel would do to him...

Demyx will protect me, thought Zexion, but found himself remembering the argument they'd gotten into only hours ago. He shook his head angrily to dislodge the memory. It didn't matter, he didn't have to depend on Demyx for anything...

As he made his way down the hall, a familiar scent greeted him. He relaxed when he breathed it in--Demyx's comforting sea salt and ocean breeze scent, but stiffened only a second later. There was something...something different about the slayer's scent. Something sharper and sour, something that caused Zexion's stomach to turn. A faint forboding feeling descended on him...surely Demyx couldn't have found out...

But then again, he thought sourly, why should it matter to Demyx? Anyway, he'd done a good thing; Demyx couldn't argue with that...

Demyx rounded the corner only seconds later. He stopped when he saw Zexion, his arms falling stiffly by his sides and his face hardening. Despite himself, Zexion felt a tremor of apprehension--he'd never seen Demyx so...so...disapproving...before. He'd seen an upset Demyx and a whining Demyx and an angry Demyx, but never Demyx glaring at him with eyes harder than sapphires and his set in a firm line of disapproval...

It was perhaps worse than being yelled at.

"Demyx," he said quietly, breaking the silence that settled heavy and oppressive over them, like the humidity before a thunderstorm. Demyx didn't acknowledge him, though his eyes only grew harder.

Zexion clamped his mouth shut; suddenly anything he was going to say seemed pointless, the words nothing but empty sounds falling forcelessly through the air. His logic struggled against this thought--didn't he live under the belief that there was no more powerful weapon than a word? Yet here he was, forced into silence by a glaring human. The thought alone was enough to make him choke. Especially since he hadn't done anything wrong; he was the one who should be upset at Demyx, not the other way around.

Emboldened, he took a step closer to Demyx. Demyx didn't move from his spot, except to cross his arms. Zexion didn't want to admit how much more ominous the gesture made Demyx seem.

"I know," said Demyx, speaking for the first time. Zexion reeled on the spot, shocked by how cold and taut Demyx's voice was--he'd never heard the happy-go-lucky slayer like that before. He knew Demyx's voice bubbling with joy, sulky in annoyance, rough with anger, but never, never so hard and icy. Never.

"Ex--excuse me?" Zexion managed, ashamed at how weak his voice was coming out. "Know wh-what, exactly?"

"I know," said Demyx again, his voice ringing with strength from anger, "what you were doing with Axel."

Demyx advanced on Zexion, his steps ringing abnormally loud in his ears--but not nearly as loud as the violent throbbing of his heart, almost drowning out all other sounds. He could barely think above it, but most of him didn't want to think. Most of him wanted to act. Wanted to grab Zexion in the collar and shout in his face, for being an idiot and a slut, for hurting Demyx not once but twice, all within the space of the same hour--

Zexion had gone slightly paler when Demyx spoke, but he fought to get himself under control. When he spoke, his voice was perfectly bland and neutral, and his face blank as a white wall. "What do you mean by that? I was not doing anything, except paying him a visit--"

Disgust knotted in Demyx's stomach. Did Zexion really think him so stupid he'd throw out a blatant lie like that? "You know, I have eyes and ears."

Zexion arched an eyebrow. Demyx went on, pointing a shaking finger at the red and blue marks dotting Zexion's pale neck, most of which he'd been trying to hide by turning up his shirt collar. "Don't think I'm so blind I can't see those. And don't think I'm so deaf that I couldn't hear you two go at it."

Zexion stepped back as if he'd been slapped, but regained control of himself in time. Still, when he spoke there was a harsh edge to his voice that hadn't been there before. "How much...how much did you hear?"

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure Roxas and DiZ and Namine didn't, if that's what you're worried about." Demyx laughed sourly. "I was in my room. Listening to every word."

The words tore from his throat like chunks of barbed wire; his chest tightened with every syllable he spoke. Painful as it was, though...he couldn't just let Zexion not know. Not realize just what he'd subjected his lover to...

"Well, then," said Zexion, still making a desperate stab at his usual clipped indifference, "you should know that I was doing a good thing."

"What?" Zexion's words threw Demyx for a loop, and for a moment all of his arguments slipped out of his mind to be replaced by a startled blankness. How the hell could anyone call cheating a "good thing"? He'd long doubted Zexion's sanity; this seemed to prove that the incubus had finally lost his mind.

"I was," said Zexion. "If you heard, then you must know what I have gotten Axel to agree to."

"Uh--well--" Truthfully, Demyx hadn't been paying attention to what Zexion and Axel had been saying, since he'd been too focused on the other sounds--the grunts, moans, low snickers, gasped curses...

"You cannot argue that what I have done is not for the better. Axel, once he awakens I'm sure, will call together a council of some of the most renowned vampire slayers and werewolf hunters in the world. With their support, we should be able to bring an end to the Coven of Thirteen--and Xemnas--once and for all. Do you not agree that is a welcome development?"

"Well...I...ahh..." Demyx's hands were shaking and his throat felt hot, constricted. "Okay--all right--maybe it is!"

Zexion smiled quietly, looking satisfied.

"But," shouted Demyx, advancing on Zexion, "that doesn't make what you did to get it right, dammit! You--you seduced Axel, you--"

"In this case, the ends justify the means."

"I don't want to hear that! I don't want to hear that sort of shit!"

"What, so you would rather have me not do it? What do you think I should have done--tried to logically persuade Axel to lend his help? Have we not been trying to do that? I've saved us days of fruitless attempts. I have gotten results. You cannot possibly object to that--that is, if you have a rational thought in your head."

Demyx remembered how before, when he and Zexion had been arguing over the gift of the immortal, he'd wanted nothing more than to strangle Zexion. Now, he felt that strangling wouldn't be violent enough. A tiny voice in his head--maybe his conscience--rebuked him for wanting to use violence on Zexion, but he just told it to STFU. Anyway, he randomly found himself remembering a song (from a musical? He'd forgotten) that went "The more you love someone, the more you want to kill them".

Truer words could not have been spoken.

"Listen, Zexion, you don't get it," he snarled when he'd regained his voice. "When you--when you're in a relationship with someone, you don't just sleep around with whoever you like, doesn't matter why. It's called being faithful."

Zexion's eyebrow twitched, but otherwise he didn't react to Demyx's words. "Do not be a fool. I am an incubus, I do not have any use for your human ideas of monogamy."

"I don't care," shot back Demyx, struggling to keep his voice from rising with hysteria. "That's what love is, Zexion. Something between two people, something special--that act is something special. Something you only do with that one person--"

Much to Demyx's consternation, Zexion laughed out loud, the harsh, high-pitched peals of his laughter slamming into Demyx like physical blows. "You idiot! You clearly have no understanding of anything. This is the way you are, isn't it? Always clinging to your human ideals, unable to see that the world is not as simple as you would like to make it. If you really believe that vampires are monsters, that a relationship should be monogamous, then why would you ever have to pursued a relationship with me in the first place?"

"I--I--" Demyx was shaking insanely, his mind whirling. Zexion's words hurt, with a dragging physical pain deep in his heart--because they were true. What else could he have expected, falling in love with an incubus in the first place? "I thought--I dunno--that you could--that you'd understand my feelings, that you'd change--"

Zexion's expression hardened and he unleashed a long, low hiss that raised the hairs on the back of Demyx's neck. It was such a...a vampiric...sound. Then again, what could he have been expecting? Zexion was a vampire.

"Is it not strange that I am the one being asked to change--to give up what makes me me--while you can happily remain the way you are? Why should it not be you making the sacrifices?"

Demyx understood perfectly well what Zexion was getting at, and it twisted in his gut. "Listen--I don't believe that. That you're defined by being a--by being--by sleeping with other people. I thought, I mean, you can't object to that. Being with one person only. I thought that's what you wanted, too..."

"Perhaps I want it," said Zexion quietly, turning to the side and gazing at the wall. "Perhaps I do not. What I want is immaterial. What I am decides everything for me. You--you do not understand. An incubus is not--is not one of your made vampires, is not like other purebloods--we cannot get sustenance from blood alone."

"What?" whispered Demyx, his blood running cold. "What are you--"

"Don't you understand? I need to engage in that act in order to survive. To you, sex is--something you choose to do, whenever you feel like it. For me--I have to do it. Or I...I die."

He gazed levelly at Demyx, an emotion the slayer couldn't quite identify trembling in his eyes. Demyx trembled too, inside; everything Zexion said made perfect sense in the most terrible way possible. He remembered Axel's words, from that lesson so long ago: Incubi and succubi, above all, are parasites, not predators. Don't think of them as regular vampires, who need to hunt humans--they take a human's energy, siphon it away whenever they fall into bed with a human. They need that energy to sustain themselves. Got it memorized?

"But...but...but why do you have to sleep around?" he said. "You can't just--isn't it enough to just have me?"

Zexion shook his head mutely. "There comes a point when I become too used to the--the victim, the more visits I pay them. Then I can't take any more energy from them. I--I have already reached that point with you, Demyx. I reached it long ago."

He lowered his head--Demyx knew why. To hide the dark circles lining his eyes, the angular jut of his cheekbones. Demyx couldn't believe he'd been so dense as to not notice--he'd just attributed it to Zexion being hungry. But with DiZ, Zexion was drinking blood every day and yet the haggard look hadn't left him. He understood why now, and it trembled in his chest, made him feel sick and terrible. Like scum.

Scum because he understood--but he didn't want to let Zexion go. He knew, logically, that everything Zexion was saying was true. But his logic no longer ruled him, hadn't ruled him ever since he and Zexion had first spoken. Don't you understand? You--you staked your claim on me all that time ago. You put a little bit of yourself in my bloodstream, lodged a little bit of yourself in my cells.

I can't let you go now. I just can't. I want you to be mine, and mine only.

"I...I...I don't want to.." he whimpered, shaking and hating himself with every word that fell from his selfish lips. "I don't want to--don't want to let you--you belong to me--"

A weary smile spread across Zexion's face at Demyx's last words. "Say as much of that as you like. It will not change reality."

"I don't--I don't want to let you go--" He could feel a sob swelling in his throat, tears stinging the backs of his eyes. "I know, I know I should, I know what's logical and right and all that but I don't want to. I want us to really--to really be together--just you and me and me and you, that's all, no Axel, no one else, I want to know--when I'm with you at night--that no one else has claimed you--"

Zexion exhaled sharply and pinched the bridge of his nose in a weary manner. "Idiot."

The insult didn't hurt. Demyx went on, rambling to keep himself from crying. "And I'm still mad at you. I'm mad and I know I shouldn't be. But I am. Because--I don't think I wouldn't be so mad if it wasn't Axel. I mean, you hate him and he hates you and that's clearer than anything, but you still slept with him--that--it just--it pissed me off--"

"Then..." said Zexion slowly, not meeting Demyx's eyes. "Then...if you are still upset with me...punish me."

The words echoed in the dim silence, ringing in tune to the surprised ringing in Demyx's head. His hands were shaking again, but he sensed dimly it wasn't because of nervousness anymore, and heat spiked in his blood, bringing with it the dimmest flickers of anticipation--

You damned pervert, snarled the voice that he thought was maybe his conscience. Demyx shoved it back and straightened, gazing at Zexion, who gazed levelly back. Yet there was the slightest hint of a smirk at the corner of his mouth...

"Punish me," repeated Zexion, a teasing edge to his voice. The smirk had become more pronounced, accompanied by a slight twinkle in his visible eye.

Demyx found it wasn't hard to return Zexion's smirk with a shark-like smirk of his own. He crossed the remaining distance between the two of them, seized Zexion by the forearm, and turned the incubus around so they were eye-to-eye. He bent towards Zexion and tilted his chin up with his free hand, whispering a single breathless word:

"Okay."

Zexion laughed out loud, a brief sound as wonderful as a butterfly suddenly flitting into a dark room. Demyx smiled to himself, a bit amused at how Zexion was treating this as a game--let his amusement last as long as it could. Which, if Demyx had his way, wasn't going to be very long.

He led Zexion into the nearest open door, shutting it securely behind him. They'd entered a spare guest bedroom, much to Demyx's relief; he didn't want to deal with the hassles of trying to do the dirty deed in a closet or a bathroom.

Zexion moved to the bed of his own accord, but before he could get down on it, Demyx grabbed him by the shoulder and pressed him into a kiss. Zexion stiffened at first, but then relaxed with a sigh and leaned into the kiss, letting Demyx into the warm cavern of his mouth. How long they remained together, arms wrapped so tightly around each other that Demyx had difficulty telling whose were whose, he didn't know, and didn't much care anyway. All he knew was Zexion, the slim body in his arms, the taste of violets and coffee--

Then he broke away from Zexion, somewhat reluctantly, but he had business to get down to. Zexion gazed back at him, still smiling playfully. "What do you want me to do now?"

It was useless trying to tell himself that Zexion was just toying with him, that the submissive softness in his voice wasn't sincere. He took a perch on the edge of the bed and unzipped his pants; his half-erect length sprang out, quivering in the chilly air. He was surprised by how hard he'd already gotten, but hell, it was enough just being in Zexion's presence, seeing Zexion's dark blue eyes glowing with that strange emotion he still couldn't identify, Zexion's pristine pearly skin...everything about Zexion. His Zexion.

"I see." Zexion chuckled slightly, as if enjoying a private joke. Demyx frowned slightly but decided it wasn't important. He beckoned Zexion; the incubus gracefully sank to his knees in front of him, his head lowered so his mop of slate-colored hair was hiding his face.

And then he took Demyx's cock inside his mouth.

Demyx moaned louder than he'd care to admit, digging his fingers into the bedsheets. He felt a pleasing tickling sensation that he realized was Zexion chuckling again, before the incubus started ducking up and down the length, sucking with almost frenetic eagerness. Demyx arched his back, gasping and swearing his pleasure to the ceiling--dammit--Zexion's mouth was so warm, so wet--what was even better was when he scraped the sensitive skin with his fangs, causing electric jolts of pleasure to stab through Demyx's groin.

"You--you're fucking good at this, aren't you?" he panted as Zexion darted down his length ago, thoroughly coating it with his saliva and setting Demyx's every nerve on fire.

Zexion laughed again. Demyx could have came right the and there--but he had more self-control than that. With a snarl at once reluctant and angry, he seized a fistful of Zexion's hair and dragged the vampire's head backwards, parting him from his cock. Demyx almost sobbed from the ache that stabbed up his length when Zexion's sweet mouth slipped away, but he held himself in check, telling himself there were greater pleasures ahead...

"What the fuck?" snarled Zexion, glowering at Demyx. "What was I doing wrong?"

Demyx offered him his hugest grin. "Nothing, Zexy dear."

"Then why--ahh--" as Demyx dragged him to a standing position with the hand still clutching his hair.

"Take off your pants," said Demyx, more impatiently than he was usually given to--but the throbbing between his legs was demanding a solution, and soon. He snapped his fingers to drive home the need for speed. "Hurry it up, all right?"

"What exactly is running through your mind?" said Zexion darkly, though he obeyed, reaching for waistband of his slacks. Demyx watched in eager anticipation as Zexion slid the zipper down, playfully as a striptease dancer would. The anticipation started to turn to impatience, though, when Zexion began hooking a finger into his waistband and snapping it in and out. He was just teasing Demyx, reveling in torturing him...

You're diabolical, thought Demyx appreciatively, but aloud he snapped, "Hurry up and cut to the chase, all right? I don't want a strip show."

"So impatient." Zexion smirked. "I assume you inherited that from Axel."

Anger flooded through Demyx, almost dissipating the haze of pleasure. "Don't--don't you fucking talk about him, dammit--"

"Ah, of course." Zexion sounded contrite enough, even lowering his head deferently. "Do forgive me."

It was all Demyx could do to keep himself from cursing out Zexion...or following through on his urge to strangle him. Clearly, he wasn't taking this seriously at all...but soon he would. Demyx would have make sure of that.

He wondered where this sudden strong urge to make Zexion feel his anger--to make Zexion hurt--had come from, and in a way, it scared him. But all he had to do was think about Zexion's teasing smirk, about him so callously calling Demyx an idiot for wanting to hold on to what made him human...and then it didn't seem so wrong anymore.

Zexion had by this point obeyed his order, dropping his pants so they gathered in a dark pool around his feet. Demyx couldn't help the grin that spread across his face by the sight of Zexion's body--his perfect pale skin, his shapely legs, his rapidly-hardening cock....he smirked to himself, but the smirk vanished when his eyes landed on the dark, finger-shaped bruises standing out starkly against the ice-white skin of his hips...

Axel. If his resolve to punish Zexion for whoring out his body hadn't been strong before...now it increased tenfold.

"So?" said Zexion, spreading his arms wide in an inviting gesture. "I'm yours for the taking. What do you want to do?"

Aww, dammit... Zexion knew exactly how to get at him. But soon he'd snatch the upper hand away from the incubus. Flashing Zexion an impish grin, he allowed himself to fall backwards to land on the soft bed wiht a gentle whump, so that he was lying on his back. He snapped his fingers to get Zexion to step closer; Zexion stepped out of his pants to approach.

He stopped slightly from the bed, his eyes widening and his face blanching even paler than its usual shade. "You...you have got to be kidding."

Demyx fought down the irrational urge to fall off the bed laughing. "Hey, I told you this was going to be a punishment."

"You son of a bitch," growled Zexion, a surprisingly masculine sound coming from him. "You know that is my least favorite position--"

"Oh, I know," said Demyx, still with much more delight than was probably polite. Then again, he didn't care about politeness, not when his cock was hardening uncomfortably in the chilly air. He couldn't wait around forever to get off...

"Son of a bitch," repeated Zexion.

"What? What do you want?" snapped Demyx, feeling suddenly annoyed. "Hey, why don't you tell me how Axel fucked you, so I can do the same if that's what you want--"

"Shut up!" Zexion flushed bright red momentarily. "I--I hate you--"

"You don't mean that, Zexy," said Demyx. Strangely, he didn't feel offended at all by the insult--maybe because he already knew it wasn't sincere. "Come on. We haven't got all day."

Zexion looked like he was ready to spit another curse at Demyx, but then shook his head in a resigned way and climbed on to the bed, positioning himself over Demyx. Demyx bucked his hips upwards to help Zexion along, and was rewarded when he felt his cock bump against Zexion's entrance.

Zexion stiffened when he felt the contact, and he opened his mouth slightly as if he wanted to make a protest, but Demyx spoke before he could, his tone terse and warning. "Zexion..."

The incubus swallowed hard and lowered his head deferently, though he couldn't hide the faint trembling that had arrested his body. Demyx, overcome with a sudden feeling of pity, reached out and delivered Zexion an encouraging squeeze on the arm. "It's okay, Zexy. Relax. The tenser you are, the more it's going to hurt."

"Don't--don't give me advice on how to do this," hissed Zexion. But then, in a quieter voice, "I...I'm happy to know that you still care."

"Zexy--" began Demyx, but his voice vanished into a half-gasp, half-moan, as Zexion impaled himself on his dick.

He squealed aloud as he felt Zexion's warm tightness envelop him, even tighter than usually because the incubus hadn't prepared himself in any way. He gazed at Zexion through the bleary haze of his pleasure, and could have died right then and there, what with his dick halfway up Zexion's ass, and Zexion groaning, supporting himself with his arms pressing into Demyx's stomach.

"Start moving," he grunted, trying to inject the word with the severity of the order, but failing, perhaps because he was panting too hard. "Up and down. Like doing pushups."

"I know what to do, idiot," growled Zexion, and as if to prove the point, he slid down, taking even more of Demyx inside him. Demyx moaned again, unable to help it. He'd only done this position once with the incubus before, having respected Zexion's wishes afterwards, because for some reason Zexion claimed to hate the position ("too much work," he'd sniffed when Demyx had asked). But it felt so damn good, hearing Zexion grunt as he lifted himself up and down on Demyx's length, his pace quickening, feeling the incubus's muscles tighten around his cock on the downward thrusts and the aching loosening of the upward thrusts. They panted and moaned in tandem, their ragged voices tainting the crisp autumn air inside the room.

"Ah--dammit--Demyx--" Zexion was half-gasping, half-sobbing, as he sank so low Demyx's cock disappeared entirely inside him. Demyx gazed into Zexion's bleary, tear-filled eyes and decided right then and there he loved no one as much as Zexion and never would love anyone more. That look of pure pleasure-from-pain on Zexion's face...Demyx could have came right then and there.

"Good boy--" he gasped, thrusting his hips upwards now to get more of his cock inside Zexion. "Good boy, Zexy, Zexion, Ienzo--"

"That--ahh--is not--nngh--my name--" retorted Zexion. "Idiot--"

Only Zexion could make that word sound like music, thought Demyx with a delighted giggle. The giggle turned into a laugh as he saw Zexion remove one of his hands from Demyx's stomach to begin toying with his own cock, running his delicate fingers up its twitching length. "Ah--Zexy--you feel amazing, did you know that--so fucking tight--"

"Ahh--'so fucking tight'--to me--is--'hurts like fucking hell'--" hissed Zexion in response, but the wild moan his voice descended into, and the way he began quickening the pace, rising and descending at a much faster pace up and down Demyx's now-slick cock, betrayed his true feelings. "Demyx--"

He was so beautiful, thought Demyx as he began speeding up the bucking of his hips in tandem to Zexion speeding up his thrusting. His head thrown back, sweat-soaked hair floating in front of eyes screwed shut in pure pleasure, tears tracing paths down the silky skin of his cheek, saliva glistening on soft lips--and his voice, ragged with pleasure, rising into wildly high mewls and cries, descending into throaty moans--it struck Demyx suddenly that Zexion wouldn't have a half bad singing voice; he certainly had an impressive vocal range...

"Fuck, Zexy, I'm gonna--" he groaned at the same time that Zexion screamed his name, and delivered his cock a firm squeeze.

They came at the same time, Demyx shooting everything he had to offer into Zexion's tight confines, and Zexion's semen splattering onto his stomach in great globs. Demyx pressed his head back against the bed, unleashing every curse he knew as he thrust several more times inside Zexion, marveling at the wetness that splashed out with his every movement. Zexion helped him along with a few more thrusts, still stroking his cock, sputtering staccato phrases in a language Demyx didn't recognize--probably his native French.

"You're an angel, Zexion," moaned Demyx, squeezing his eyes shut. "An angel of love."

"Ange de l'amour," echoed Zexion in a low mumble. "As if. You know what I am...a demon and whore..."

He had slid off Demyx, inciting a whined protest on Demyx's part. He felt strangely naked now that he didn't have Zexion's warmth surrounding him--but Zexion descended on the bed beside him, burying his face into the crook of Demyx's neck. Demyx rolled over to face Zexion, surprised by the incubus's sudden affection, but didn't mind it. He wrapped his arm around Zexion's back, feeling the thin shoulder blades through the sweat-soaked material of his shirt, and drew him closer. Though Zexion's skin was as familiarly cool as always, warm semen--both his and Demyx's--mingled on their stomachs and lower bodies, creating a comfortable warmth.

"Love you, angel," mumbled Demyx, letting his heavy eyelids drop. "How do you feel?"

"Irritated. Stop calling me what I am not." A pause, and then he added, more hesitantly, "And sore."

"Mm, that's no one's fault but your own," said Demyx. "I imagine Axel was rough on you first?"

"Shut up." With surprising strength, Zexion threw off Demyx's grip and rolled to the side, breaking the comfortable contact between them. Demyx sighed but made no move to close the distance.

"You're not sorry at all for what you did, are you? Even after I punished you."

"No, I am not." Defiance entered his voice. "I did the right thing."

Demyx groaned and buried his face into the pillow. Some things just weren't worth it...

But he thought, remembering the glow of pure pleasure he felt, the pleasure he'd seen blazing in Zexion's face--the tightness inside Zexion, the warmth as they held each other--

Some things were.

Sorry to all you people looking for make-up sex, but I had to address another hurdle in Zexion and Demyx's relationship (the last one being the whole immortality issue)--namely the fact that Zexion is, well, an incubus.

Hope you enjoyed this long chapter...I had a lot of fun writing it, in part because of the vaguely humorous/sardonic vibe that kept popping up, especially in Axel's interactions with Zexion. I don't think any of you will be having any more doubts over how much I hate Axel.

Lastly, if you can name the song and musical from which the line "The more you love someone, the more you want to kill them" comes from, then you get a free e-cookie. Yaaay.

Preview for chapter next, called "Council", and actually plot-important, yay...as well as introducing (and reintroducing) a few characters you'll probably all be interested in seeing:

Demyx's heart was pounding a mile a minute as he entered the sitting room. Feeling sick, he swept his gaze over the men, all looking much more comfortable in business suits than him, sitting in a circle of chairs and intently conversing while they sipped at mugs of coffee. There was Marluxia of the Florez family, smiling haughtily and occasionally adjusting his salmon-pink tie as he discussed the World Series with Xigbar, slovenly in a gray suit, and lounging casually against his chair. There was a slayer Demyx didn't recognize, with spiky blond hair and a sharp black suit, watching the conversation silently while resting one hand on a giant sword by his side. Sitting to his left was another young man Demyx didn't know, with long-ish dark brown hair and a scar over his face, wearing a brown suit and talking with Axel. And Axel...Demyx couldn't help the way his attention instantly slid to Axel--out of all the gathered slayers, Axel sat with a lazy confidence that was all his, smirking resplendently, his scarlet tie a brilliant flash in the muted colors of the sitting room. It couldn't be clearer that he held the real authority in the room.

Keep it up with the wonderful reviews...I'm only ten away from 300 (This is...SPARTA!!!)! You people are the best.