"I stays...I always stays for you, Pickle..."
"Wahht?"
"I..." Toki stared at his fingers. There really was no point to what he was saying anymore. "I's in loves with you...I always stays...I wants you to know..."
Pickles just blinked.
"I's sorries w-when I make y-you angry," his voice trembled. "I promises...I won'ts mess ups again!"
He looked close to tears. Even though Pickles wanted to, he couldn't stay angry at Toki.
Funny the way things turn out. His family - his other family - abandoned him. Toki did not. And though he'd never admit it to anyone else but Toki, he liked that he stuck with him.
Toki knew how to make Pickles feel regret.
"We shoulda done dis a lahhng time ago," he muttered, breathing into his ear. Before, he never looked beyond his blue shirt and brown jeans. But now he saw him: hair spilling like angel wings, eyes twinkling, desirable...and beautiful. Pickles had never really thought of anything as beautiful before.
He smiled sleepily. "I's imagined dis for a longs times..."
"Were ya pleasantly suuurprised?"
"Naturallies."
Goddammit, hethought, to think what I could have had all these years…
"Wanna make up for lost time?" Pickles asked.
"Please, Pickle..."
He'd never regret this.
Toki knew exactly where and how to touch him, his tapered fingers dancing over his body, like brushstrokes, until Pickles' skin tingled and he wanted to yell at him for teasing him, in that delicate way of his. Pickles was rough and Toki was gentle and sometimes they tried it his way, other times Pickles' way. He'd never admit it, but Pickles loved being lazy and slow. Slow and soft drew it out. Toki was a man who definitely knew how to satisfy someone.
He kept running after Skwisgaar, Nathan and Murderface, who were trying to find a way out of the burning Mordhaus.
His stomach lurched. Toki. He didn't know if it was too late. The Tribunal had reached its final judgement. He thought of his lover.
If I die, I'll have died for you.
Nathan was suddenly running backwards, in the direction of where he suspected Toki would have been. Skwisgaar called after him; so did Murderface. But Pickles remained silent, almost crying when Nathan yelled that he was going to look for Toki.
Skwisgaar and Murderface followed him.
"Pickle...what happeneds when Magnus lefts the band?"
"It was strange," Pickles sighed. "Nat'en told us to go someplace important, see if we could find anyone dat looked good enough. Stoopid, really – you'd think we could jest hold auditions. But after I dropped everyone off, I realised. It's naht dat stoopid. You've gatta have sam-thin' personal with yer bandmates. A relationship ya can't explain, it can't be broken. So I went, and looked at dat shop where they sell all da heavy metal guitars. It was empty. And I thought, damn, jest who the hell am I gunna find, dat's good enough fer Dethklok?"
Toki stayed silent, waiting for him to continue.
"...then I saw you."