A/N: Right, so…here I am again. It's funny; I feel almost obligated to say something here but, at the moment nothing comes to mind. Not that anyone cares about my senseless jabbering anyway. I'm not quite sure how well my idea for this oneshot fits the prompt but this is the story that came to my mind when I was trying to think of something for this challenge so I guess we'll just have to see how it turns out. Just to clarify, the bits in italics are flashbacks.
Class
Fai locked up the door to his shop and leaned up against it, sighing his exhaustion. The white steam of his breath on the cold night air would have clouded his vision momentarily had his eyes not been closed. He knew that he should be happy; after all, it was almost Christmas and his store always did exceptionally well during this time of year. Ironically, however, it was always during this season that he felt the emptiest and most disappointed. Perhaps it was the expectation that people would be kinder to each other at Christmas that always caused him to be so let down when he opened his doors in the morning and watched as his customers pushed and shoved and wrestled and snapped at each other in their attempt to snatch the most popular toys on his shelves for themselves.
And yet as he rang up their purchases, his smile plastered flawlessly on his face despite their impatience and sometimes downright cruelty, he couldn't help but envy them. The fact that they were here buying toys from him meant that they had someone special in their lives to give the toys to. Fai had no family; they were all dead. And the fear that someone would ask about his family's fate kept him from making friends.
He watched his feet distractedly as they crunched through the snow. It wasn't entirely true to say that he had no friends. There was this guy who started hanging around his shop about six or seven months ago. Since his store wasn't especially busy during the rest of the year, Fai had figured, once he realized that the guy seemed to have no intention of going anywhere anytime soon, he might as well try talking to him.
The blond allowed himself a small sardonic smile; "talk at him" was more what he did. His "friend" never seemed especially eager to converse with him. Aside from the fact that his name was Kurogane, Fai knew almost nothing about him. Kurogane, for his part, spent more time cussing him out and snapping at him to shut up than anything else. Fai might have been more acquiescent to his friend's requests if he wasn't so much fun to tease. He always got so angry when Fai called him silly nicknames or joked that Kurogane was mean to him. But Fai could sense almost from the start, even through the taller man's gruffness and quick temper, that there was a sweet and almost shy nature about him. Perhaps that was why Fai was so drawn to him.
He checked to make sure that the way was clear before crossing the street. The thing about Kurogane that puzzled him the most was why he even decided to start spending his time at a toy shop in the first place. Kurogane was clearly not the type to be interested in toys and since he was always angry at Fai, he couldn't imagine that he was there simply to enjoy the pleasure of his company. At first it had really bothered him but after a while he decided that he was so glad to have someone to talk to when business was slow that he didn't really care anymore.
Even so, he still couldn't help but wonder sometimes. Aside from the fact that Kurogane was not the type to be interested in toys, it seemed pretty clear to Fai that even if it were the toys he was interested in, he couldn't have afforded one anyway. Kurogane's clothes weren't in the best of shape and the first few times that Fai offered him food, although he would always refuse it at first, he gobbled it down hungrily as though he hadn't had a proper meal in days. To tell the truth, Fai was a bit concerned by it so he made it a habit to make a big enough lunch for the two of them to share.
"I don't need your damn charity," Kurogane mumbled embarrassedly.
Fai's eyes widened in feigned innocence. "Who said anything about charity? I just made a little too much food, that's all."
Kurogane grudgingly accepted then, although he claimed it was only because he hated it when people were wasteful. Fai watched out of the corner of his eye as his friend devoured the food. It made him happy to see someone enjoy his cooking so much.
"Do you like it, Kuromin?"
"It's not completely disgusting," he admitted. Then he looked up at Fai, his brow furrowed in irritation. "But I thought I told you to stop calling me those stupid names."
"Tell you what," Fai said, grinning. "I'll call you by your name when you call me by mine."
"Tch. Why the hell would I wanna do that?" Kurogane growled.
"'Kuropin' it is, then," the blond smirked.
"Bastard," he grumbled, taking another bite of the bread Fai had given him.
There was a moment of silence between them as they continued to eat. Fai didn't like silence when he was with another person. Whenever there was silence between him and Kurogane, he felt as though his friend's sharp red eyes were analyzing him. That was the last thing Fai wanted: to be analyzed. In a desperate need to fill the quietness, Fai asked Kurogane the first question that popped into his head.
"Why do you spend so much time here, Kurochii?"
Kurogane tensed visibly but Fai continued in spite of himself. He had been wondering for quite a while and now that he had started, he couldn't seem to stop the next question from tumbling out of his mouth as well. "Don't you have a job that you have to go to?"
Kurogane glared at him for a moment. "None of your damn business," he snarled eventually, though he seemed to be refusing to meet Fai's eyes as he said this.
Fai immediately felt guilty, realizing that he had committed a rather serious and (in his case) ironic faux pas. After all, wasn't his deepest fear when interacting with others that they would pry into his personal matters?
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you, Kurotan…I just wondered if perhaps you… wanted to work for me?" the blond offered in an effort to redeem himself.
Kurogane's head snapped up at this question and he stared at Fai for a moment as if unsure whether he was serious. When the dark-haired man realized that he had been staring, he quickly looked away but didn't reply, seemingly having some sort of painful internal conflict. After a long while, just when Fai had started to think that he wasn't going to be getting an answer, Kurogane finally replied.
"…Fine."
Fai looked at him, his surprise increasing when he noticed the slight blush on his friend's cheeks. The blond smiled, genuinely glad that the other man had accepted his offer.
"Yay! I'm so happy!" he cheered, clapping his hands. "You can start tomorrow, ok, Kurokuro?"
"Whatever."
"And I expect you to call me 'Boss', ok?"
"LIKE HELL I WILL!!"
Fai smiled to himself at the memory as he left the shopping district and entered the more residential part of town. He wasn't sure why employing Kurogane had made him feel so good; it just had. Somehow they seemed to become a little closer after that, though nothing had really changed between them aside from the fact that Kurogane now helped with the work rather than simply watching Fai do it by himself all the time. The dark-haired man had complained a bit about the uniform (black dress pants, a bright, cherry red shirt and a green carpenter's apron) but Fai noticed that he took very good care of it, always changing out of it as soon as he was finished with his shift and folding it neatly in his tattered bag.
Of course, having Kurogane as an employee in such a place had its drawbacks; for one, while Fai certainly didn't see him as intimidating, it seemed that the customers did. They always kept a decent ways away from him and made sure to come to Fai if they had questions about any of the toys. Kurogane seemed to scare the children too. The younger ones would sometimes start to cry when they saw him.
This posed something of a problem, until Fai came up with the idea to have Kurogane carry lollipops in the front pocket of his apron to give the children when they entered the store. Kurogane needed quite a bit of persuading in order to be talked into this but eventually he caved in, though he claimed it was only because he was annoyed by the crying.
Whenever Kurogane would give a child one of the lollipops, Fai made sure to reach up and pat his head and tell the children "See, he's a nice doggy. He looks scary but he won't bite." This always earned him a glare from Kurogane, but it did the trick as far as helping the children warm up to him. But apparently not all of his customers were afraid of Kurogane. Fai remembered one day in particular when a group of four young teenage girls came into his shop…
Fai looked up from the display he was arranging when the bells above the door jingled to announce the arrival of a customer. Four young teenage girls entered, their eyes glittering in delight at the playful, inviting atmosphere of the toy store. When he cheerfully greeted them, the girls giggled and shyly returned the greeting. Kurogane, of course, said nothing in response to their arrival.
"See, Kuromyuu? This is what I mean when I say we need to work on your people skills," Fai scolded lightly, poking his employee's shoulder playfully. "When a customer comes in, you're supposed to say hello!"
"What for?" he growled. "You said it already."
"This is why people are afraid of you, Kuropii! Because you're rude! Now say hello or I'll make you put dresses on the dollies again," the blond smirked. "I seem to remember that being your favorite job."
Kurogane snarled at his boss and gritted his teeth. "Hello…"
The girls, who had been watching their whole exchange, were practically beside themselves with joy at this.
"Look, you bastard! They're laughing!" Kurogane snapped.
Fai started to laugh too. "Now, now, girls; please don't laugh at Kurokuro," he reprimanded jokingly. "Even though he seems mean, he's actually pretty shy."
"I'M NOT SHY!!" Kurogane insisted, his hands balling into fists.
The girls, still giggling, disappeared amongst the shelves and left the two of them to their argument. Fai wasn't surprised when he saw them head for the build-it-yourself teddy bear section; those were always popular with teenage girls. Although they all examined the choices of teddy bear patterns carefully, Fai noticed them throwing frequent furtive glances at him and Kurogane. When they saw Fai or Kurogane look in their direction, they would blush and go back to sifting through the teddy bear kits. Finally, they all made their decisions, paid and left the shop. Once they were gone, Fai sighed contentedly.
"Girls sure are cute, aren't they, Kuropiko?" he gushed. "And they all bought teddy bear kits! That surprised me! They seem too young to have boyfriends already, don't you think?"
Kurogane frowned. "What does buying one of those things have to do with having a boyfriend?"
"Hmm? Kurowanko doesn't know about it?" Fai marveled. "The idea is that you put the bear together yourself, putting a slip of paper with your name on it into the stuffing before you sew it shut. Then you tie a ribbon around its neck and give it as a present to the person you love. If that person chooses to name the bear after you, it means that you two will be together forever. Isn't that romantic, Kuromu?"
"Hmph," Kurogane replied indifferently.
"I always feel kind of sad when I sell one of those, though," Fai admitted, with a small sorrowful smile.
"What the hell for?"
"I don't know… maybe I'm jealous that no one's ever given one to me."
There was a brief silence between them and it made both of them uncomfortable.
"But you'll give me one someday, right Kurowanwan?" Fai grinned.
"Shut up," Kurogane grumbled.
Fai was so lost in his memories about that day with the teddy bears that he forgot to look both ways before starting to cross the next street, forcing an oncoming car to swerve to miss him and honk angrily at him for his inattentiveness. He waved a hand at the driver and grinned apologetically, then returned his attention to his thoughts.
A pang of misery hit him as he recalled the way Kurogane had seemed so much more interested in those teddy bear kits after Fai had explained their purpose to him. Fai had caught his friend looking through them thoughtfully more than once. And although the blond always put on a smile and teased Kurogane about being a closet romantic when this happened, it actually hurt him rather badly. The exact reason for this had eluded him until fairly recently but he had been aware of the pain immediately. Even as he thought about it now, Fai's hand absentmindedly drifted to his suddenly aching heart.
Kurogane was looking at the teddy bear kits again. That was the third time Fai had noticed him doing it that day. He really wished he wouldn't; the thought of Kurogane giving a bear to someone he loved caused Fai an inexplicable amount of pain. It was a different kind than the pain he felt when he sold one; this pain was sharper and more intense. Fai stepped out from behind the counter and crept up on his employee. Kurogane was so immersed in his study of the teddy bear kits that he didn't even notice.
"What are you up to, Kurochuu?" Fai asked, peeking curiously around Kurogane's shoulder, grinning mischievously.
The dark-haired man jumped guiltily and his face turned bright red. "I-! N-nothing! I'm not doing anything! Jeez, what the hell is your problem?! Don't sneak up on people, you bastard!"
"Are you sure you're doing nothing?" Fai persisted in a sing-song voice. "You're acting awfully suspicious for someone who was just doing nothing, Kuropun. Were you looking at the teddy bears again?"
"Why the hell would I be looking at those damn things?!" Kurogane spat.
Fai shrugged. "Usually when people look at the teddy bears, it's because there's someone they want to give one to. Is there someone you want to give a teddy bear to, Kurowanwan?"
"Tch! Yeah right! Don't be a dumb ass!"
"Wai! Kurosama's getting all blushy! How cute!"
"SHUT UP!! I'M NOT BLUSHING!! AND I SURE AS HELL AM NOT CUTE!!"
"I had no idea you were such a romantic, Kuromin!"
Kurogane whipped off his carpenter's apron and threw it on the ground. "I QUIT, DAMMIT!!"
"Nooo! Come back, Kurochii! Come back!"
Fai was able to forget about Kurogane's suspected poverty because he got used to seeing him in his well-kept work uniform all the time and sharing a lunch with him, and for a while everything seemed both hunky and dory. But as time passed, the seasons began to change and the weather outside began to grow chillier. It was then that Fai remembered the shabby clothes that Kurogane used to wear all the time and the way he used to gulp his food before Fai started giving him lunch on a regular basis. He began to worry about whether his friend owned a coat that would keep him warm enough in such weather. But Fai had been paying him pretty well for his work so he was sure that there was enough for him to buy one. Plus Kurogane worked every single day of the week from open to close. Surely he would be fine, right?
To his relief, when he arrived at work the next morning, Kurogane showed up shortly after and was wearing a brand new winter coat. Fai's mind was put at ease for a while, but not for long. About two weeks later, Kurogane caught a cold that just refused to go away. Naturally, the dark-haired man tried to hide this as much as possible but his stubbornness could only get him so far. Kurogane would get angry when Fai fussed over him so the blond contented himself at first with keeping hot tea, cough drops and tissues available at all times. He was relieved to see that at least Kurogane accepted this amount of help from him, as long as Fai pretended to have made the tea for himself. But when Kurogane's condition didn't seem to be improving the toy shop owner could no longer turn a blind eye to the matter.
Fai was unsurprised to see Kurogane waiting outside the store when he arrived that morning to unlock it. Before it had started getting cold outside, Kurogane would always arrive a few minutes after Fai, but recently the employee had been showing up earlier and waiting for Fai to get there. Although the blond had promised himself long ago that he wouldn't pry in Kurogane's personal life anymore, he still couldn't help but wonder what had brought about the sudden change.
"Good morning, Kuropyon!" Fai said cheerfully.
"Yeah, whatever…" Kurogane grumbled, pushing past his employer in order to get inside more quickly once the door was unlocked.
Fai frowned slightly as Kurogane brushed against him on his way in. "How come your hair and clothes are all wet, Kurosama?"
Kurogane blushed, avoiding Fai's eye. "…I passed this asshole shoveling his driveway on my way here and he threw snow on me because he wasn't paying attention."
The blond wasn't convinced but he remembered his decision not to snoop in Kurogane's business and said nothing. He watched the dark-haired man worriedly out of the corner of his eye as he began to heat the water for the usual tea in the back room and got down cups for both of them. Kurogane had been sick for almost a month now and he didn't seem to be getting any better. In fact, he seemed to be getting worse; Fai noticed today that as Kurogane was putting the new shipment of toys on the shelves that he kept having to steady himself against the wall as though he were dizzy and the shadows under his eyes suggested that he hadn't been sleeping well.
Fai sighed and turned his attention back to preparing the tea. Maybe he should call a doctor to come in and look at him. He knew perfectly well that Kurogane would never allow Fai to take him to a doctor's office and if he was having financial trouble then he probably wouldn't be making any appointments for himself. Fai was sure that Kurogane would be angry with him if he had a doctor come to the toy shop to examine him but at this point he didn't really care anymore as long as it helped him get better. The blond rubbed his chin thoughtfully, seriously considering the idea. He was startled out of his reverie by the sound of Kurogane sneezing several times. Fai poked his head out of the back room.
"Still not feeling well, Kurochan?" he asked with a sympathetic smile as though he were just now noticing.
"I already told you, I feel fine, dammit," Kurogane growled through the handful of tissues he was using to combat his relentlessly running nose.
Fai approached him and gently laid a hand on his shoulder. "But you're shivering, Kuronpu. And…" he moved his hand up to his friend's forehead, "you have a fever."
"I'm…Ah choo! I'm not sick!" Kurogane insisted, blowing his nose again.
"I think you need to go home, Kurowankoro," Fai said firmly. "Where do you live? I'll walk you home, alright?"
The taller man blushed. "That's not…going to help anything…"
The blond was silent for a moment. "Well, at least come and lie down on the couch in the back room, ok? You can drink some tea and sleep for a little while. How does that sound, Kurobun?"
Kurogane stared at him in bewilderment. "Why the hell do you care so much?"
Fai smiled at him as he took his arm and led him towards the back room. "Because I'm worried about you, Kuropipi. You've been sick for such a long time."
Kurogane allowed himself to be pushed down onto the couch and watched as Fai got the two mugs of tea from the counter and brought them over to where he was sitting. He pushed one cup into his employee's hands and set the other down on the coffee table so that he could retrieve a blanket from the top shelf of the storage closet. Fai returned to Kurogane's side, draped the blanket around the broad, trembling shoulders and sat down next to him. Kurogane would have protested to this treatment but he simply didn't have the energy so he obediently sat and drank his tea.
"I really wish you would take better care of yourself, Kurochii," Fai said seriously. "It makes me so sad to see my Kurotan sick like this that I lie awake at night worrying about you."
"Don't be a dumb ass," Kurogane mumbled. "I don't belong to you. Anyway, what's the point in worrying? That never did shit for anyone."
"I know, but… I just can't help myself when it comes to Kuropiko."
Fai smiled softly to himself as he watched Kurogane finish off his tea; he could tell that it had made him very warm and sleepy and that it was taking every bit of self-control that he possessed to keep from putting his head in his employer's lap and going to sleep. In spite of the dark-haired man's stubbornness, he was fighting a losing battle. Fai gently took the cup from him and pulled him close, allowing him to rest his head against his shoulder. Kurogane was out like a light after that.
For a long time, Fai just held him and stroked his hair as he slept. It was then, as he cuddled and warmed Kurogane in his arms, that he realized why it always hurt him so badly when he saw him seemingly contemplating the purchase of a teddy bear kit; Fai loved him, and he couldn't stand the idea of his friend's heart belonging to someone else. Without thinking, Fai gently pressed his lips against Kurogane's burning forehead. Then he pulled away uncertainly, wondering if he dared try that again or, more daring yet, eventually let him know how he felt about him.
He wanted so badly to kiss his lips but he abstained; it would be foolish to kiss a sick person that way. Fai caressed Kurogane's face lovingly. Perhaps he was just being quixotic but it also seemed wrong to steal a kiss from him when he was helpless to stop it if it wasn't what he wanted. Fai contented himself by kissing his companion's feverish cheek instead. That was when the bells above the door jingled, announcing the arrival of a customer.
"Hello, anyone here?" a voice called.
Fai sighed reluctantly before calling in a forcedly cheery voice. "Just a moment!"
Very carefully, he wriggled his way out from beneath the sleeping body that rested against him and gently helped Kurogane lie down all the way. Then he made his way into the showroom where his customer was waiting.
"Hello, how can I…" Fai stopped abruptly when he recognized the visitor, his professional attitude slipping just briefly to reveal his shock before he hitched his well-rehearsed smile back into place. "Good morning, Your Majesty," he said, bowing politely. When he straightened up again, his smile had gained a noticeable bitterness. "This is an unexpected delight…To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"
The king smiled coolly back at him, his smile not entirely friendly either. "How nice to see you again, Fai. It's been a while, hasn't it? Six…seven years now, I believe?"
"So it has... To tell the truth, I expected that you would have shown up much sooner than this. Surely your delay wasn't because you didn't know where to find me?"
The king laughed, and the sound of it made the hairs on the back of Fai's neck stand on end. "Of course not. We both know that I have eyes and ears everywhere in the kingdom."
"Then, if you don't mind me asking, what made you choose today to stop by?"
"A little bird told me you finally hired someone to help out in the shop. I was rather hoping to meet this new addition and see for myself just what kind of person he was, but…" the king looked around curiously, "he doesn't seem to be here at the moment."
"No…" Fai said slowly. "He's not."
The king looked him calmly in the eye, searching the blond's gaze carefully. "You always were a terrible liar, Fai."
Fai shrugged. "I don't know about that, Your Majesty; I manage to fool most people. It was only you who always saw through me."
The king smiled coldly again, bringing a hand to Fai's cheek. "Of course I can. I did raise you, after all."
"Yes… you always have been very possessive of what you considered to be yours, Ashura Ou."
Ashura ignored that little jab. "So where is this employee of yours? I must admit, I'm quite eager to meet him." His eyes narrowed as they fell on the partially open door to the back room and he began walk toward it but Fai cut him off just before he could reach it.
"Now's not a good time; he's not feeling well, I'm afraid," Fai said firmly.
Ashura studied his eyes again quizzically. "Is it customary among commoners to make your employees come to work even when they are in poor health? I must admit, I've never quite understood the practices of you lower class people."
"I don't make him do anything," Fai said coldly, though he continued to smile. "He is here of his own accord, I assure you."
"As his employer, it is your responsibility to send him home if he doesn't have the mental capacity to take care of himself," Ashura replied. "I know you were born in the cesspool of humanity, Fai, but I would have thought that I taught you better than that."
Although the blond's outer appearance was calm and composed, inside he was seething. He knew that there was little point in arguing with Ashura over this; whatever he said would just be answered with another insult about his social status. Ashura's eyes narrowed again as he realized what Fai was doing by trying to remain silent. The king wasn't going to let him off the hook that easily.
"My sources tell me that he's nothing but common street trash," Ashura said quietly, his eyes colder and harder than ever. "Tell me it's not true."
"Hmm, how unusual… I've never known Your Majesty's sources to be so grossly misinformed," the toy shop owner answered lightly.
Ashura was getting visibly angry now. Though all he did was ball his hands into fists, to Fai it was as obvious as if he had punched him in the face. Bad things tended to happen when Ashura got mad; Fai knew this better than anyone. But at the moment, he himself was so angry that he hardly cared what happened to him.
"Why do you even bother lying to me, Fai?" the king breathed dangerously, though his lips still retained a slight smile. "I always know; I can always tell."
"Why does Your Majesty bother asking questions when he knows that my answers will be lies?" Fai countered.
Ashura's sardonic smile widened. "I don't know… perhaps it's because I wanted so badly to hear that my sources were wrong this time."
"It was Your Majesty's senses that were wrong this time," Fai said. "I wasn't lying."
"No?" Ashura asked, totally unconvinced.
"No," the blond repeated. "I may not know much about his personal life, but I do know that there's nothing common about him and he certainly isn't trash."
The king stared at him for a moment, then threw back his graceful head in bitter laughter. "You're in love with him, aren't you?"
Fai's cheeks flushed ever so slightly but he said nothing and met Ashura's gaze unwaveringly.
Ashura shook his head slightly in disbelief. "Unbelievable…What does that filthy urchin have that I don't?"
"Your Majesty's problem was that you always got so caught up on social standing," the blond said seriously.
The king was dumbstruck for just a moment before a look of grim determination replaced his shock. "I can bring them back, you know. Your family. Come back to the palace with me and I'll use my power to bring them back."
Fai could hardly believe what he was hearing. It was all he could do to keep himself from attacking the king. "That's impossible. You and I both know that."
"But people can be brought back by the person who killed them. I can teach you the spell."
"You're not the only one who can detect lies, Your Majesty," Fai said sharply. "I'm not so naïve as to believe something like that."
Ashura was silent for a moment, staring bitterly at the floor. When he finally lifted his gaze again, Fai could see the regret in his eyes, in spite of his smile. "Imagine, a king being turned down in favor of street trash…"
"Now I'm afraid I must ask you to leave."
Fai walked over to the front door and held it open, his cheerful, professional smile reappearing once more.
Ashura stared at him blankly.
"You have successfully insulted everyone I have ever held dear. Now you will leave before I am forced to do something I will regret."
The king paused for another moment before leaving without another word.
Fai slammed and locked the door behind him, sliding to the floor as his knees gave out from a mixture of relief and grief. He put his face in his hands, trying to collect himself and keep the tears that were brimming in his eyes from falling. A sudden, overwhelming need to be held swept over him and he staggered back into the back room. Kurogane was still sleeping peacefully on the couch, completely unaware of the pain that his employer had just suffered on his behalf. Fai dropped his knees at the dark-haired man's side and hesitantly ducked his head under Kurogane's arm.
He was so preoccupied by trying not to cry that he didn't even notice his friend's eyes opening slowly. Kurogane looked down at the mop of fair hair, momentarily disoriented. It came back to him gradually, where he was and what had happened before he had fallen asleep. Finally, he recognized the person nestled up against him as Fai. He wasn't sure what Fai was doing, kneeling at his side like this but his shoulders were shaking. Kurogane didn't move or make a sound, not only because his muscles were still so fatigued and sore due to his sickness, but also because he was afraid that Fai would notice that he was awake and be scared away.
After a while, Fai's trembling slowed to a stop and his breathing became deep and even. Kurogane could tell that he had gone to sleep. A rare, small smile spread across his lips. He wanted to pull the blond up onto the couch next to him but found he simply didn't have the energy to do so. Besides, what if it woke him? After softly kissing the top of Fai's head, Kurogane closed his eyes again and went back to sleep himself.
Fai blinked, suddenly noticing that he was standing before his own front door and wasn't sure how long he had been there. He shook his head slightly, trying to clear the fog of memories from it before fishing the house key out of his coat pocket. It had been about three weeks since that incident with Ashura and Fai was glad for every day that pushed it further into the past.
But Ashura's visit had done at least one helpful thing; thanks to what the king had told him about his informants' findings, Fai was able to finally confirm something that he had been wondering for quite a while; apparently Kurogane didn't have a home after all. That explained a lot; his shabby clothes, his initial ravenous hunger, his refusal to be sent home that day… It also explained Kurogane's unusually persistent cold and why his hair and jacket had been wet that day when he had brushed against Fai: because he had to sleep outdoors.
When the two of them had locked up the shop that evening, Fai had dug out his spare key to the store and let Kurogane see him hide it under a loose shingle on the low overhang that stuck out above the door. When Kurogane had looked at him suspiciously, Fai had cheerfully told him that he thought it would be a good idea to have a spare, just in case, and that Kurogane should use it if he ever got locked out. The real reason Fai had put it there was, of course, so that Kurogane could use it to let himself in after hours and thus have a warm place to spend the night. Fai never caught Kurogane using it or saw him inside the store before it was time for it to open but he did notice that the taller man was slowly but surely regaining his health.
Fai had just opened the front door to his house to let himself in when he sensed someone standing behind him. He whipped around and found himself face to face with Kurogane. Fai's breath caught in his chest. He was surprised and slightly relieved to see him there since he hadn't come to work today. Fai had been a little worried that something had happened to him.
"Ku-Kurosama," he stammered. "You…you didn't come to work today. I was worried… What are you doing here?"
Kurogane snorted and looked away and Fai thought he might have seen him blushing but it was really too dark for him to be sure. "I came to see you, you idiot. Why else would I be here?"
"Why, indeed," Fai agreed distantly. Then he shook himself again. "Would you like to come inside?"
He shrugged. "Fine, I guess."
Fai let him in and closed the door behind them.
"Please, sit down, Kuropii," the toy shop owner offered. "I'll get us something to drink. What would you like?"
"Got anything with alcohol?" Kurogane asked.
Fai grinned. "Of course!"
He disappeared into the kitchen to get the drinks and Kurogane took a deep breath to calm himself and undid a few of the buttons on his coat. Fai reentered the living room with two glasses of an amber-colored liquid in his hands. He gave one to Kurogane then sat down in the chair opposite from him and took a drink.
"So, what brings Kuromyuu here on this Christmas Eve?" Fai asked with a smile. "Were you lonely and in need of some company?"
Kurogane rolled his eyes. "Tch. Yeah, right."
The blond tilted his head curiously, waiting for his employee to explain himself. Kurogane took a drink before continuing.
"You didn't tell me you knew the king," he said eventually.
Fai's smile became small and sad. "You didn't tell me you didn't have a home."
The employee's frown deepened. "Yeah, well… I chose that for myself. Anyway, it's none of your damn business."
"I guess that make us even, then, hmm?"
Kurogane sighed and ran a hand through his hair, looking slightly irritated with himself. After a moment, he reached into his coat pocket.
"I brought you something."
He pulled out a handmade teddy bear with a red ribbon tied around its neck and pushed it into Fai's hands. Fai stared at it in stunned silence, turning it over in his hands. He noticed the somewhat clumsy stitching and looked up at Kurogane questioningly.
Kurogane blushed. "That's why I didn't come to work today; I was finishing this damn thing. I hope you're happy, you bastard."
"K-Kurochuu…" Fai breathed, looking up at him with shining eyes.
"Look, don't get the wrong idea," he said quickly. "I'm only giving it to you because you said you wanted one and I was sick of seeing you get all sappy every time you sold…"
Kurogane was cut off as Fai launched himself at him, threw his arms around his friend's broad shoulders and kissed his lips almost desperately. Kurogane hadn't been expecting this so it took him a moment to respond but when he finally got over his shock he wrapped his arms around Fai's slender waist and deepened the kiss. When they eventually pulled apart, Kurogane was lying on his back on the couch with Fai on top of him.
"Thank you, Kurochan," Fai breathed, his lips grazing the dark-haired man's neck softly. "It's the best Christmas present I've ever gotten."
"What are you gonna name it?" his friend asked.
Fai pressed his lips against his one more time before answering. "Kurogane."
A/N: Well, thar she is. I was gonna give them both back stories and explain why Kurogane was homeless and why Fai had been raised by Ashura and all that but no matter where I put them, they just seemed awkward and unnecessary so I just got rid of them. It felt weird, putting Kurogane in this kind of role. I even started writing a version where Kurogane was the toy shop owner and Fai was the homeless one but I decided that there were plenty of stories like that and maybe I should try something a little different. I hope Kurogane didn't come out too OOC. And I'm sorry if Ashura was a bit OOC, too; I've never read anything else with him in it so I really don't know much about the way he acts.
Anyway, the next prompt is "bloom". Stay tuned!
