Die: OH MY RA!
Jaden: I know, right?
Syrus: What are you two looking at?
Jaden: Die's Yu-Gi-Oh! GX manga volume 7.
Chazz: What happened to 1-6?
Die: Oh, they didn't have them. I just wanted to get it. Besides, they had Zane, Jesse, Aster, and Atticus in it too!
Chazz: ...
Syrus: ...
Jaden: Neither of the two authors who write this story own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.
Chapter Eight: Holy Acceptance
Chazz was the first to wake up, and when he did, he froze at the scent of holiness in the room. He felt safe in the arms surrounding him, the smooth expanse of neck he already instinctively knew he could label as Bastion's stretching across his sight until he pulled away and looked around. Zane's Cienna was back, which could only mean he didn't rape her. Not wanting her to see him curled up against the other like some kind of weakling, he extracted himself painstakingly from the angel's embrace and crept towards the door, his wings spread as if to support more of his weight against the air to make him lighter somehow.
Bastion sat up, blinking his eyes blearily. "Going somewhere?" He asked quietly, noting his roommate stretched across her bed.
He froze guiltily. "What's it to you?" he hissed in an undertone, refusing to turn around, his wings stiff and shoulders set. "I would think it would please you to know you weren't going to get caught in bed with a demon."
Bastion shrugged. "It was just a question, Princeton."
"And so was mine, Misawa."
He threw a look at the girl on the bed across the room, making sure she was asleep. "Who says I want you to leave?"
That caught the demon's attention, making his head whip around in shock. "You… don't want me to leave?" he parroted incredulously.
The angel shrugged. "It's all right if you stay." He paused. "I... I'd really rather you did."
"Why?"
He flushed. "W-What does that matter?"
"I'm the asshole whose nearly killed you three times. Why the fucking hell would want me to be around you any longer than I force my presence upon you?" Every line of his body was tense, waiting for an answer.
"I... umm..." He flushed. "Well you're... I feel this kind of... I sound like an idiot." He sighed.
"Let me guess. No matter what goes on or what I do to you, you feel a strange magnetic pull to me that simply won't abate and compels you to want to protect me." He stated all that in the same kind of tone he would have used when making a note of the weather outside.
"Well... yeah." Bastion said, in slight awe.
His arms came up to wrap around his chest as his wings folded themselves snuggly against his back. "Just let me go then," he said. "Your instincts are lying to you." And yet, despite his words, he made no attempt to move from his position.
"I don't want to." Bastion replied, moving off the bed and towards the demon. "I want you to stay."
"Would you if I told you I felt the same way? Would you still want me to even if I felt the exact same fucking way the instant I first saw you back at the testing arena?" The very joint of his wing trembled slightly, though his wings remained silent in spite of the extremely slight movement.
"Why wouldn't I?" He moved closer, slow, cautious.
"I could kill you right now if I wanted to. I could wheel around and end your life before you could even notice, let alone think about stopping me."
"You could." He agreed. "But I don't think you want to."
"What do you know about me?" Chazz growled out, feathers bristling.
"Not much," he admitted. "But I know enough to be certain that you don't take any pleasure in killing anyone, even me." The silence hung between them for a long moment, pregnant with the tension before the dark wings relaxed, falling from their sheaths and out the back of the black shirt they hid inside of. Bastion's voice was soft. "Still leaving?"
He shook his head, instead sitting himself down on the bed. "If I can just borrow a change of clothes, I think I'll let Zane stew in his hormones for a while."
Bastion pointed to the dresser across from his bed. "Everything in there's mine." Chazz nodded, leaning back. It wasn't that he didn't want to pick out his own clothes, he did, but he didn't want to abuse the angel's hospitality by taking something the other planned on wearing himself. Bastion couldn't help but smile gently. "So what does all this mean, exactly?"
"I don't know," Chazz replied. "It means whatever the hell you want it to mean… or not, alternatively." The angel fell silent, delving into thoughts of the varying options. "I guess if you think about it," he grouched, catching the other's attention, "it means that I like you, okay?"
He smiled at the Princeton. "I like you too."
"Just don't make me regret it, Misawa," he uttered, eyes narrowed even if they were focused on the pale fingers playing with the edge of a single black feather he'd yanked from one of his wings, the appendages in question instinctively moving a little closer to himself as if to subconsciously protect him from something.
"I don't plan on it." Bastion replied, moving a bit closer to the demon. Chazz didn't bother to reply, instead jerking out another feather from his other wing and tracing the edge lightly with a single finger. The angel was bold, wrapping his arms around Chazz in a hesitant embrace.
At first the demon didn't react, standing there stiffly before he realized what was happening. Tentatively, his arms came out and snuck their way around the other male's lower back. This… is what I've been wanting all along… somewhere I can be that I will always be safe at… but why is it that I feel so safe with this?
Bastion grinned, settling his chin on the other's shoulder. "Is this all right?"
"Be quiet," the demon hissed quietly. "You're ruining the moment."
Though surprised, the angel nodded silently.
This… this is the first time anyone's ever held me just because they wanted to… To you, this is simply showing some affection, but to me… this is so much more. You have no idea how much more it is to me… Slowly, encumbered with a clumsy hesitance that they had not known in a long time, dark wings ventured out from behind him and around the both of them in a larger version of the embrace they shared.
Bastion's smile grew at the sign of acceptance, his own wings sliding around them underneath the black. At the surrounding of white, the demon relaxed completely, leaning slightly into the other male's chest as his strength began to wane. He had fought for so long and so hard that now he just wanted to rest, and this felt like a safe place to do so, safer than even Zane's strong embrace with his soft, muscled wings around them both. The angel stroked his hair, pulling the relaxed demon closer.
It was that action that broke the floodgate in Chazz's mind. He wrenched himself out of the other's arms, not wanting his growing tears to be known where they glistened in his obsidian eyes, for he was not allowed to show weakness, it only led to pain and suffering. If he hadn't given his word that he would stay, he would have fled his surroundings, gone back to Zane and sought comfort in the other demon's heated embrace.
Bastion was immediately caught off guard. "Chazz?" He whispered gently. "What did I do?"
The demon shook his head, refusing to turn around, his wings pulling in close to him. It's not your fault, it's mine. It is not your fault that I am weak.
He moved closer but didn't touch the conflicted male. "Chazz? I'm not going to hurt you."
Dark wings hunched in closer as the demon flinched. That's the same thing they told me, the same lie they uttered with their smiles and their grins… They were the ones who told me I was weak, that I would never amount to anything because I gave in to the needs of others…
Okay, wrong thing to say. "I don't want to do something wrong here, Chazz. I don't know how to do things differently if I don't know what I did wrong in the first place."
It was… unintentional? He wheeled around, eyes wide and pleading, the black reeling with his thoughts almost clearly spelled out in them. You did not mean to make me weak, to let them in?
"Okay." He said quietly, wings fluttering against his back, anxiety evident. "Do I need to do anything differently?"
'So long as you aren't in control, you are weak. Now come, brother, let us show you the price for being weak.' At the words ringing in his head, Chazz flew into Bastion's arms, trembling hard and searching for comfort. His hands fisted into the other's shirt, dark wings flapping agitatedly as they altered between trying to buffet an enemy that was not there and shielding the pair in their embrace.
Bastion pulled the shuddering demon closer. "Shhh." He whispered soothingly. "It's all right. It won't hurt you. I'll keep it away." He was completely guessing, but he had to try.
Chazz relaxed into the embrace again, though he couldn't help scowling at his actions. He was supposed to be the dominate in a relationship, dammit, and with his little display, he had little chance of regaining his position now. "Come on," he said, "we should probably get to breakfast before Yuki eats all the food."
He smiled slowly. "All right." He gestured to his dresser. "Go find something to wear." Across the room, the sleeping form that was Cienna stirred, slowly shifting to her back, rubbing her eyes.
Wings hunched defensively in expectation of a snide remark from the girl, Chazz grabbed a pair of the black uniform pants and a black undershirt with holes in it for his wings, turning his back on them both with a prickling of feathers as he threw the clothes on Bastion's bed.
She sat up, yawning. She threw a look around the room, unsurprised to see Chazz still there. "Morning Bastion. Morning Princeton." She said it simply, as if she was neither shocked nor bothered by the presence of the demon.
The dark-haired male tensed again, disliking the reminder of having an "enemy" at his back even if his movements as he took off his shirt didn't betray his unease any further than a slight shaking of his spidery, pale fingers.
Pushing herself off the bed, she stretched her wings, momentarily forgetting the male who didn't know her secret. Suddenly, Bastion noticed something. Chazz didn't have any reason to be frightened, yet he was shaking like he was back when he had those nightmares. A flash of the male whirling on him with the sword flashed through his mind, and it brought a hypothesis to the forefront of his mind. The demon seemed not to like putting his back to people, which explained why he would always sit so high up in the classroom. Trying to pass it off as shielding Cienna's wings from Chazz's sight, he let his white wings fall between the two, subtly brushing the feathers against the other's back so that he would know who it was behind him. True to his expectations, the demon relaxed some, his hands steadying as he finished changing his clothes out for the ones he borrowed from the angel. Cienna immediately realized her mistake, snapping her wings in close to her back. She moved towards her dresser to begin digging out her clothes.
"Thank you, Bastion," Chazz murmured in a soft undertone, his inky black wings nudging the ivory ones in acknowledgement of the gesture as he moved towards the door. He raised his voice now, obviously intending for Cienna to overhear him. "If you give me five minutes, I'll go grab my jacket and have breakfast with you and Miss Oliver."
The girl looked at Bastion and shrugged. "I have to get dressed anyway so it sounds good to me."
"I'll save you a seat," the angel added, watching as the other walked away. He would have followed too, except that the teachers had stressed that no one visit the Obelisk dorm this week.
Jaden dug into his food happily, even leaning over to steal some from Syrus when he wasn't looking, which most of the time he wasn't since he was a little worried about the others. He and Jaden were never the first ones to breakfast, and yet their table had been empty by the time he'd finally managed to drag the protesting brunet out of their room.
Cienna walked in, throwing a look over her shoulder at Bastion, who trailed behind looking for Chazz. She noticed Syrus and smiled, waving as she grabbed her pancakes. "Morning boys."
Syrus smiled at her in relief. "Morning." Jaden just nodded, still eating his eggs with all the ferocity and table manners of an animal.
"Good morning, beautiful," a suave voice purred, the owner being a brunet Obelisk with gleaming black wings and a playful smile. "And how are you today?"
She turned, eyeing the male. "Who are you?"
He swept her a bow. "My name is Atticus Rhodes, and I must say, you look ravishing today. Five stars for you."
"Thank you." She offered a small grin.
He reached out, intending to cup her cheek since there was no one to stand in his way, but he was blocked by a pair of black wings and a furious glower. "Hey there Chazzy!" the brunet purred. "I thought you'd be in playing with Zaney."
The demon growled, his dark feathers bristling. "Get out of here, Atticus, before I rip your wings off and shove them up your ass."
Cienna held back a glower of her own at his statement. She shifted closer to Jaden, who she sat next to. "Is there anything in particular you want, Atticus?"
A flurry of Chazz's feathers blocked both her and Bastion from view. "Don't encourage him, Oliver," he growled. "The asshole's in heat."
Atticus pouted. "You're so mean, Chazzy," he whined. "I would take away seven stars from you except that you smell so… enticing. Tell me, are you a natural submissive?"
Obsidian eyes narrowed in anger. "I told you to get back to the dorms, Rhodes," he spat acidly.
The brunet smiled flirtatiously. "Only if you come with me, Chazzy."
Cienna was pointed. "Atticus, you're in heat. And you're being rather stupid at the moment. If you'd rather be escorted by teachers, that's fine, but if you don't want me to call the teachers over to make you go to your dorm, I'd suggest you do it on your own."
The brunet demon laughed. "I just love how you dodged the question there, Chazzy. Two stars for you. Wait, make that thirteen, you look like you'd make a good fuck."
Chazz's wings trembled, but he did not lash out. "Leave now, or I swear to gods, Atticus, I'll tell Zane."
That brought a pause. "You wouldn't dare."
A fanged smirk. "Try me."
Cienna looked at Chazz. "What would Zane do?"
Bastion leaned over to whisper in her ear, "Zane is the head of the Obelisk dorm. As such, he's allowed to discipline other demons as he sees fit, and he's been known to give rather cruel punishments to those who antagonize his roommate."
"What's it to you that I take an interest in her, Chazzy?" the elder demon asked.
The pale boy didn't debate like he would have in most situations, smoothly stating, "My mate is at this table and I'd rather they didn't have to see a horny demon in heat until the day comes that they witness my own."
Cienna fought down a grin, fighting down the urge to shoot Bastion a look. "Ah. Gotcha." She looked at Atticus. "Seriously, though, Atticus. I will get the teachers to escort you away if necessary."
"A subordinate with a female… interesting," the brunet mused, folding his wings back. "I guess that information is enough to exchange for going back. Farewell then, Chazzy, I'll see you in bed with Zaney!"
Chazz merely glared at him, following him with obsidian eyes until the doors closed, and even then he still stood there protectively, black wings spread. Cienna turned to her pancakes, throwing a grin at Bastion. "Chazz, you can calm down now. The asshole's gone." The demon nodded in acknowledgement but made no indication of moving from his position. She paused her eating. "You should eat something. I'd offer you my pancakes if I thought you'd actually eat them."
"Not hungry," he growled, almost daring someone to comment over what Atticus had scented and guessed correctly.
"Suit yourself." She dug into her pancakes, eating with surprising vigor.
Bastion moved, silently pulling the bristling demon down onto the bench beside him and pushing a hidden pile of bloody sausages over towards him. "Here. You haven't eaten in at least two days. Get some food into you so that you can give a proper exit to those assholes."
Cienna grinned at her pancakes, unable to help herself. Gabriel and Lucifer were riiiiight! Yes!
When they got to the classroom, Chazz sent a longing look up to his usual perch. He knew that he should likely sit down with the others today, but he did not want to be so low with his back to so many.
Cienna took note of his discomfort, snagging Jaden's arm. "Why don't we sit higher today?"
"Mkay!" the brunet chirped, happily clinging to Syrus's arm.
Cienna grinned, shaking her head and throwing a look at Chazz and Bastion. "Well? Move your asses."
"I'll let you sit down first," the demon replied, settling himself against the wall behind him.
She rolled her eyes, pushing Jaden first, then Syrus, plopping down beside the sky-headed boy. "Your turn, boys."
Bastion sat himself down in the seat on the other side of Chazz's normal spot, having already noticed Cienna had taken Zane's chair. "Come on, Chazz," he called. "There's still one chair left for you."
"I don't know how in the world Chazz and Zane see this far back!" Jaden chirped. "After all, most demons sit in the far back, but come on, this is the fucking back row of the class! No one sits back here."
Chazz tensed at that, his wing feathers spreading slightly.
Cienna slapped him on the back of the head. "Jaden, don't be an ass."
"I'm not!" he protested, clutching the spot and hiding behind Syrus. "I'm just stating an observation."
"It's fine, Oliver," the demon stated when she pulled back to hit the brunet again. "I don't care what he says, really. He is right, after all."
Cienna sighed. "He's still being an ass."
"So am I, Oliver, and you don't hit me upside the head." He pulled his wings back, folding them so that he could lazily groom through the dark feathers since he didn't get a chance to shower that morning.
"Are you telling me to?" She raised her eyebrows.
"If you do, you're getting your arms ripped off and shoved up your ass." He grimaced at a clump of feathers that had something sticky in them, lodged there so that he'd need to either spend easily an hour getting it out or simply rip them out. His hand fisted in the shafts, readying to yank out the poor handsome feathers merely to save himself a little time and effort.
She laughed. "Zane would kill you. And I totally saved your ass from him yesterday, anyway."
He glared at her dangerously, the snap of his head accompanied by the pull on the feathers that ended up being too hard and causing blood to spurt from the area where he'd taken out the clump of feathers.
She sighed. "Don't know why that pissed you off so bad, but I'm sorry."
"I am perfectly able to take care of myself, thank you." He leaned down, trying to connect his mouth to the gushing wound only to discover it was rather like an elbow—impossible to reach but only just, so it makes you try to stick out your tongue just a little further to try to lick it.
The girl stifled a giggle at the sight, straightening her face at the look she received from Bastion. "I'm sure you are. I'm not trying to imply you can't."
The angel sighed. "Come here, Chazz," he murmured, gently pushing the demon from the wound in order to kiss it better like he had the one back when they were swordfighting the week before.
"Thank you," the Obelisk murmured in an undertone, gently plucking a single feather from the mass that was perfect, no doubt one he hadn't meant to pull out. "For you," he explained softly. "A demon's feather carries a meaning of possession, and by holding it, you should easily be able to put off any demons that hope to get you like Atticus did this morning."
Bastion took the feather with a grateful smile. "Thank you."
Cienna's eyes widened some as she heard the information, mind trailing to the feather in her desk drawer. Zane's feather. She felt a warmth wash over her as she set about making plans for how to wear it. She doodled out ideas on the side of her notes.
Chazz blushed, averting his gaze and looking as if he was willing the pink away from his cheeks. "Is something wrong?" the angel asked worriedly.
"No," he answered, ducking his head behind his black wings. "It's just that, usually, giving feathers is something reserved for mates or extremely close lovers. I've never done it before myself."
Bastion smiled softly. "I'm honored."
"Hey Zane?" Chazz asked, closing the door to his dorm and hanging his blue jacket up on hooks fastened to the back of it, "did you ever give Oliver one of your feathers?"
Glad for the distraction, he nodded. "Yes. Why?"
"I was talking to Bastion about the significance of demon feathers today, and she reacted strangely to it." His wings stretched out as he threw his shirt into the hamper, enjoying the lack of clothing brushing up against the tender spot where new feathers were sprouting.
That certainly dragged his attention from the fiery desire he was fighting. "Strange how?"
"I smelled shock, then she flushed, then she started doodling for the entire time she was in class." He was glad the other demon hadn't picked up on him using the angel's first name, something he had done before he'd even thought about it.
What the hell does that mean? The demon thought, a small scowl making him look cross. "I wonder what she's thinking..."
"Hell if I know," Chazz growled in reply, shimmying his pants off as well. "I don't pretend to know how the female mind works, I just know that I like the same thing the straight ones do." Zane sighed, resigning himself to figure out what Cienna could possibly be thinking. The other demon sighed, still feeling hot. "Look at it this way, Truesdale: knowing Oliver, she'll likely be in here before the night's out to ask you exactly why you gave her the damn feather, so you'll be able to figure it out then."
Zane looked over at the other demon. "You're probably right." Chazz nodded, flapping his wings to try to create a draft for himself to cool down. "Starting soon, Princeton?" It was more of a statement than a question.
"What are you talking about?" he asked.
Zane rolled his eyes. "What do you think I'm talking about?" Desire bubbled high in his stomach, threatening to encompass him.
"Oh, right." He shrugged. "I don't know if I am or not. Usually my symptoms are just arousal, and simply being in the room with you gives me that with your pheromones." Zane nodded, losing the fight to his heat at the mention of arousal. He groaned. "Judging by that moan, I'm saying that I must be putting out pheromones too."
Zane nodded, "Yeah. I'd say so."
Chazz struggled to keep his mind off of the expanse of skin he could gleam of Zane's bare chest. "You know, I gave away a feather myself today."
"Oh?" Zane forced his gaze to the wall. "To the half-angel?"
"Yeah. I yanked it out hard enough to make me bleed, and he healed me again. I gave him it as my thanks and explained what it meant." The explanation came up in his mind, and he groaned, one hand falling down to his crotch at the image of he and Bastion tangled up together in a mess of sweaty limbs.
Zane groaned in reply. "Stop making that noise, would you." He growled.
"I can't help it," he growled in reply. "It's my equivalent of picturing Cienna naked and having sex with you." The image of Bastion before him, tanned skin gleaming with his hands moving over his own cock got him feeling even more bothered.
Zane groaned even louder. "Thanks for that image. I hadn't actually thought about that in about a half an hour..."
"What have you been thinking about then?" he asked, gritting his teeth as he ripped his hand away and fisted it in his feathers.
"Trying not to think about that." He hissed back. "Not going so well..."
"It is the way a demon's heat is structured, Truesdale," Chazz pointed out. "You are going to think about sex, especially with someone you already lust after."
"Would you shut up?" Zane groaned.
"Make me, Truesdale." Even in heat, Chazz's attitude and sharp tongue did not leave him destitute.
Zane shook his head, rolling over with a groan. "Asshole."
"Don't you know it." Inwardly, he cursed as the word brought to mind Bastion turning around and letting him fuck the angel for a change.
"We'll both be better off if one of us leaves." Zane said after a moment.. "And it obviously can't be me."
Chazz pouted. "But Zane… it's hard spending heat alone when you're a submissive!" he protested.
"I never said you had to spend it alone." He replied with a small sigh.
"You sort of did because I sure as hell am not letting any of the males here know I'm naturally submissive!"
"Try your half-angel or something."
"Fine," he smirked. "I think I will…"
Die: ... I have officially fallen in love with Chazz's dragon deck.
Atty: Hey, what about mine? *pouts*
Die: *pets him* Aw, I liked your birdies too...
Zane: ... Reviews will get you one of Chazz's feathers.
Bastion: ... *protectively clutches feather close to heart*
Zane: Or an Atticus smile. Whichever you'd prefer.
Die: O.O MINE! *cuddles Atticus*
Atty: *suffocates and blacks out*
Die: NOOOOOOOOOO!