Dark whispered a curse under his breath as the true form of the Black Wings opened his maw and blue flame erupted out. They shot straight through the light blue barrier and as they did it flickered out. He sent a wave of his own purple magic out to bring it down and it cracked and shattered like glass, spilling out over the concrete floor. But the shock wave from the barrier shattering caught the thief completely by surprise. He threw up a barrier of his own, a black and purple shield and was thrown backward into the wall.
"Augh-!" He hit it in the worst way- his spine first and head last so it was whiplashed against the solid concrete. He slid down, clutching his head and felt wetness in the roots of his hair. Inside his head he felt Kyo flicker out into unconsciousness. Ah, shit… His own head dropped forward and his mind fell into the blackness; his last sensation was the boiling heat of Aisoku's flames. The two bone-white feathers around his wrist flared to life with golden light and deflected the heat with a hiss. As the flames curled around the scientist the only thing that passed through the man's mind was … How? He was reduced to blackened flesh first, and then bone and finally nothing except ash, what was left of his body leaving a mark on the floor.
The animal shook his body out and took a few steps, his large horse-like nostrils snuffing the floor to make sure every last trance of him was gone.
The whiskers drew lines in the single last bits of ash and the creature sneezed and brought its narrow head up to sniff at the ceiling. He didn't want to be in this dark room anymore – there was hardly any good air left because of his blast and his brain still realized he was far too large to fit through the small hole in the back of the room. He'd have to make his own exit. Before that though… He followed the other strange human scent to near where the door was and nudged the unconscious thief.
He didn't move. The Black Wings dismissed him as a threat and turned around, any part that would have recognized Dark no longer present in his mind.
He reared up and back slightly and his neck made a graceful s-shape, similar to the neck of a swan. When he opened his muzzle again you could see it was filled with large wolf teeth, embedded in pink and ringed with black lips. As he let the flames loose a second time the fire reflected in his eyes and across his countless scales. It was white-hot and after a few moments the cement began to buckle downward and then drip in long white and blue strands down onto the floor.
Krad didn't waste any time as soon as he saw the barrier clearing- he took to the air and called out to Dark to ask what was going on.
Dark? …Dark? You're not funny you know that? Answer me, idiot. He felt the barrier he'd set around Dark suddenly drain him of a good chunk of magic and dropped a few feet, and gritted his teeth together. What had the fool gotten himself into now? DARK! Back inside the building Dark's hand twitched and with considerable effort he grabbed the door handle and opened it. It let in just enough oxygen for the thief to clear his thoughts. First priority-get out of this room. Second- a crack appeared beside the hole Aisoku was making in the ceiling and began branching out to the other side of the room with alarming speed. Yep, he definitely should get out of this building too. He blinked repeatedly as he maneuvered around the door and answered Krad with,
Stop yellin' at me would you… as he tried to clear his vision. He could feel the door handle and sort of see the outline of his arm …and the floor and walls… He went out into the hallway and used the closed door to lean on as he shut it.
The hell…? He did his best to hide his confusion from Kyo but his tamer caught on anyway. Dark, what's going on? He could feel the wall cool under his fingers, and smell the smoke from Aisoku's remodeling, and hear the ceiling beginning to collapse. As if Kyo's prodding wasn't enough Krad interjected, What's going on? Have you been able to get Aisoku- Dark interrupted as he felt his way down the hall, Could you both be quiet for a second? I'm having some trouble. His head pounded with the worst headache he'd ever experienced and his depth perception was totally off- he was bumping into doors and walls that seemed to jump out at him on his left side.
Trouble with what? He covered his left eye and looked down the hall- shapes and blurred colors. He switched and covered his right eye. Nothing. Not one thing-not even grey. And his left eye was definitely open and moving.
I think… Never mind. Just get over here fast. I think he damaged the support cables in the building. It will probably come down if he manages to blast through to the roof. Dark had never been one to be afraid of things but right here and now he felt about as helpless as a little kid, feeling his way down the hall like an idiot. Somehow after what felt like an eternity he managed to make his way to the stairs. As he did however he heard a frustrated roar from Aisoku and suddenly the building started to collapse underneath him. Apparently Aisoku'd managed to blast through sooner than Dark had expected. Shit shit shit shit- He chanted in his head as he sprinted up the stairwell and Krad snapped, Why don't you just fly?
Because I can't fuckin' see-
Krad's connection within Dark's head broke off like a wire snapping and he flinched. Dark? Not good- the thief definitely wasn't coming back anytime soon. He swept his wings back and gave two sharp strokes and sped up, ignoring the way the speed made his eyes water. He could see smoke rising from the building and as he drew closer he realized what it was. More accurately he saw an enormous blue-white flare of flame fill the sky and afterwards hear a dull roar that seemed to shake even the sky he was poised in. Aisoku…
The Black Wings had spotted Krad and was following him with his eyes. His scales glittered against the light of the snow, each one a different shade of blue and even a few pure ebony scales mixed in. He sat perched proudly on two of the remaining metal reinforcements of the pile of rubble that was once a building with his two front legs straight and his back legs beside- like a dog.
He shifted his position as Krad came closer- unwrapping a long whip-thin tail from bird talons and opening his leathery wings slightly. They had completely shed all feathers and now were the same Prussian blue with an overtone of silver as most of the scaling on his body. As his wings opened Krad caught a hint of the patters along the inside of the wing- black strips. The only thing Krad could relate the pattern to was the irregular blotches on coy. Within the black sections he could barely see silver orbs like the spots on a black jaguar. The Black Wings shook out the appendages and crouched down, then launched himself into the air with a huff that pushed smoke from his fleshy nose. Before Krad could properly react the Black Wings was almost upon him.
His mouth was wide open ready to snap Krad up like he'd seen Dark tackle a ham sandwich.
"Ah!" He snapped his wings in and dropped like a stone to the last place Dark had spoken- the stairwell. Unlike the rest of the building it had been double reinforced with cables and traditional steel and had not collapsed, thought he roof was cracked and sections had fallen onto the stairs, letting in dull light.
In his mind Kiryu gave a frightened shout- Krad hadn't opened his wings yet and they were seconds from plowing onto what was left of the roof. Krad! Krad grit his teeth and waited until he heard the Black Wings give a roar of frustration and pull away. When he opened his wings the force of them catching the wind sent him into a painful landing- head over wingtips. But he stood up and ran down into the darkness of the stairwell without paying mind to his stinging knees and hands. He knew he only had precious few seconds to get Dark out of there before the Black Wings came around a second time.
He gave a little hiss of irritation and turned on his own 'headlights', glancing around as he descended the stairs. He hoped the thief wasn't too far down otherwise Aisoku- The Black Wings. He corrected himself- could simply stick his head in and turn them both into toast.
His eyes caught a glimmer of black feathers and crouched down next to his other half. At first he didn't understand why the thief was unconscious but a sheen of blood near his neck caught Krad's eye. Gingerly he wrapped a hand around the back of the thief's head and felt upwards until a bump on the phantom's head became apparent- it was nearly the size of a goose egg. Some rubble must have fallen directly onyto his head. As he did Dark winced and let out a small groan but made no move to open his eyes. But seeing as he moved his head Krad could tell his neck was alright. He sighed and with some effort hauled the thief into his arms by looping one arm underneath his knees and the other under his arms, trying to get his head not to roll back too far. The last thing he needed was to harm Dark more.
He shot back up the stairs his more than human hearing gave him a half second warning – he was able to smash both himself and the thief flat against the cement wall just as Aisoku's head overshot him by only a few feet, the spiraled black horns sprouting from his temples digging into Krad's hip and pinning him. "Au-ugh!"
It was times like this he wished he had a bit more fat to protect him from these kinds of things. He put an arm over the Black Wing's horn to ease the pressure; it was easy to do considering it was almost four and a half feet long and ridged. The animal growled and Krad could feel the vibration in the dragon's jaw and down its thick neck. The smell of fire clung to the creature as well as the strange tickle of magic humans couldn't detect.
As he moved he was able to catch a glance into the eye of the beast. It was nearly as big as a dinner plate and the pupil was one long ice-white slit, ringed with yellow that streaked out into electric blue. An insane thought came to Krad. Perhaps it isn't anger fueling this after all. In fact he thought he could feel tremors running along underneath the scales, causing them to flex in waves. I think its fear… Just for a moment he felt the connection with his son flare up again and his entire body was flooded with the emotion, confirming his suspicion. Aisoku was terribly afraid- afraid he'd never be able to get back to his human body, afraid that he couldn't control this monster at all- afraid he was going to hurt the two people who cared the most about him.
Aisoku- The beast roared and rotated his head, trying to scrape Krad off before pulling his head out of the stairwell but he held tightly and somehow managed to drop the thief by the doorway before being flung into the air as the Black Wings tossed its head.
Damn. Obviously the creature was happy about being free and didn't want the White Wings interfering with its host. His stomach dropped into his shoes as the black wings continued shaking its head. He wasn't afraid of heights in the slightest but being flung around aimlessly with no idea which direction was up or down…And he didn't dare open his wings. It had been made obvious it was no effort for this creature to out-fly him.
And Dark's down for the count- His thoughts were snapped off as the Black Wings decided to try a different tactic.
It slammed him into the ground, using the flat part of his skull between the eyes to pin Krad to the steel skeleton of the building. He tried to scream and realized the impact had knocked the wind out of him. Krad made a pathetic choked sound and couldn't manage anything more powerful than a few tentative, shallow breaths. He knew it would take a few minutes to get it back but also knew he had only seconds until the Black Wings turned him into soot.
His magic had been almost completely depleted thanks to a combination of the hellhound's seal, the protective spell around Dark, and the fact he hadn't slept in two days or eaten since yesterday morning… He only had enough to dive into this artworks mind once. Krad would only get one chance or Aisoku might remain like this forever.
A horrid scene flashed through his mind- the Black Wings chained in a cage, wings bound, steel gantlets around its legs. No.
No! He'd never let his son experience that hell. He'd rather die by flames here and now. Krad reached up as the artwork's head came down a second time and grabbed onto the horn, yanking his large head down enough to run his hand down between the two eye ridges where Aisoku's mind lay dormant. His hand lit up with golden light- the beast tried to jerk back but Krad managed to hold it still just long enough to dive into its mind. The both of them, a human body and a dragon's, froze up and then lowered into the rubble as if in a kind of trance. Both eyes closed.
The first thing he noticed was the silence. The blonde opened his eyes and pulled himself to his feet, no longer weighed down by an overly-abused human body. He felt extremely exposed in this soul-form and it certainly brought back unpleasant memories but he pushed them aside. … Krad? Where are we..? His tamer asked uncertainly as they looked around. Krad could feel his boots against the floor but everything else was obscured with a grayish-black fog.
It was impossible to see what lay ahead, behind or above him. We're inside Aisoku's mind, master. Now all I have to do is find him. The White Wings turned around slowly until he felt the faintest flicker of Aisoku's presence. It was clearly being muffled by something… no, someone. Yellow eyes narrowed as he headed off at a quick clip and his boots thudded softly against the hard floor.
He would not tolerate any more … interference. If the Black Wings had managed to somehow manifest its own 'soul' it would be a bit of a bother taking care of it. But the artwork was incredibly young and inexperienced…It was like handing the keys of a Porsche to a three-year-old. He might have some idea of what to do with the magic and if he figured it out all of them could be in deep trouble. Krad made an irritated 'tsk' by letting out a rush of air through his teeth. The real problem was the Black Wings was one of a kind, impossible to compare with any other artworks he'd encountered thus far.
As he walked a figure began to appear in the darkness so fast that Krad almost bumped into it before he could stop.
His wings gave a startled flap and he took a step back, his shoulders rising. The figure before him was definitely not Aisoku. He was taller for one and the wings on his back were bat like, made of soft blue skin and not feathers. The hair on his head was blue as well and matched the shade in his eyes.
His outfit was a combination of blue, accented with black and white and Krad stated quietly, "So, you're more than just a dumb beast after all."
He paused as movement caught his eye and his hand instinctively reached out, snatching up whatever it was behind the Black Wings.
"Ouch!" The Black Wings tried to yank it out of Krad's grip but failed and the blonde turned the thin object around in his hand with interest. The scales were dry, warm and smooth on the black Wing's tail and it curled defensively. Actually- to correct himself, they gave off the impression of being warm and smooth. Nothing here was tangible, after all. Krad's hand had just managed to catch the place between inch-high black spikes that protruded from each of the vertebra down his tail, getting smaller until they disappeared a few inches from the end. "So where is Aisoku?" To Krad's surprise the Black Wing's gave a childish pout. "You're really no fun are you?"
"I'm not one for games." The Black Wings opened and stretched the leathery appendages attached to his back, showing off the soft silver orbs hidden in the black patterns. "Well… I'm not sure I want to give up control just yet." He crossed his scaled arms and looked off to Krad's left and the blonde growled.
It was as he suspected- Black Wings had access to an almost unlimited amount of magic but didn't know how to use it, otherwise he would have attacked already. Also, Krad could sense his magic and although it was powerful it was unfocused.
Krad picked him up by the scruff of his neck and brought their faces inches apart and the Black Wing's tail curled up between his legs like a puppy.
"Listen up you overgrown salamander." He forced golden light into his eyes and his pupils became black needles of anger in yellow glass. His wings flared up and around the Black Wings and crackled with magic. "Mommy's pissed. I'm going to count to three and if he is not right in front of me by the time I get to three you are going to get it. Understand?" He emphasized the last word by pressing his forehead against the younger boy's.
"One…"
The tail thumped angrily against the ground as the Black Wings vented, "Oh the first time I get out in twenty years and the first thing you do is-" waving his arms just like a certain phantom when he was distressed.
Krad couldn't help but roll his eyes and mutter "You definitely don't get that from me. Two." giving the little artwork a shake as he did. "Alright, alright! Just…put me down first." Krad had the evil urge to just shake the creature until his son appeared but did let him down.
"You will teach him, won't you? How to use the power so I can pay you back for this later?" Krad nodded. The Black Wings straightened with a sigh and he tapped his sternum. "He's in here." Fire flared up around the Black Wings and expanded and Krad took a few steps back in alarm as the boy within blurred into nothing, then something again. By now the fireball was a few feet above his head and roaring like an angry waterfall. In fact the only reason the blonde wasn't backing up farther was the fact he felt no heat from these flames. He reached out and let his fingertips into the tongue of one green flame.
Krad! What are you doing! Kiryu quieted down as the flame passed over Krad's fingertips painlessly with a feeling like hot water.
It is alright. These are just a manifestation of Aisoku's confusion. He felt Aisoku's presence near the middle and entered the fire tentatively. It engulfed his body instantly in a blur of color- green and purple but predominately orange, the color of fear. Finally the flames parted to a small clear area in the middle, no larger than Krad's body and wings. He noticed a section of the flames was a different color than the others, a faint blue, and it seemed to hold the shape of a boy. "Aisoku?" It didn't seem to understand and he used his thought-voice quietly, Aisoku? The shape flickered and the color intensified slightly.
Dad? Dad I can't get back to my human body- I can't change back! Krad held out his hand palm up. Yes you can. Here. Take my hand. A section of fire detached itself from the mass and reached out and settled into Krad's hand. The connection the White Wings had to his son flared up stronger than ever and he closed his eyes, enjoying the way it spread out from his chest. I remember exactly the way your hand looks. Can you see it?
He brought up a memory of the boy's hand to the front of his mind and heard Aisoku's surprised. …yeah. The fire in Krad's palm suddenly reshaped itself into a small human hand. And your arm, and body and legs and wings…
He went through it section by section until nothing was left and opened his eyes again. His son was there, looking shaken and tired as heck but relieved. His blonde hair, so like Krad's own, even looked a bit singed on one corner and he had ash smeared on the middle of his face. He was wearing something nondescript, some kind of white tee shirt and pants. For a moment Krad hesitated as his throat closed up from emotion.
"Um… hi dad."
Krad dropped to his knees and before he could say or do anything more his consciousness was forced back into his exhausted human body.
He lay very still and listened to the fluttering of his human heart, the stretch and relax as his chest rose up and down slowly. He could hear birds and the rush of the wind as it reorganized his bangs. The tiniest speck of snow landed on his nose and melted instantaneously. He wanted to just dissolve into the ground, he was so tired. He lifted his head half an inch and could see the body of the great dragon shrinking like an over stretched slinky, down and down until he had to sit up in order to see Aisoku properly. He stood up, his legs shaking like a newborn foal and made his way over to his son.
Aisoku still had the leathery bat wings, covered only by a velvet layer of blue fur. It wasn't a good thing considering it was beginning to snow- he needed to get Aisoku and Dark someplace safe where they could rest, as well as himself. He sat down next to Aisoku and ran a hand through his soft blonde hair, leaned down and hissed his forehead. Aisoku's eyebrows drew together in confusion, "Hn?" then smoothed out as he realized who was sitting near him. He was wearing the Black Wing's clothes. There was a short blue trench coat with white stripes across the shoulders and down the sleeves, pants that morphed into shoes somewhere around his ankles, and a shirt underneath with the Hikari cross emblazoned from his collarbones to his waist.
Krad also noticed the boy seemed to have aged a few years- he looked about fourteen now, his chin coming closer to the same shape as Dark's.
He didn't need to say anything.
He simply scooped Aisoku up into his arms and hugged him, tucking his blonde head under his own, half-curling his warm wings around the boy's smaller body. He felt Aisoku's arms wrap around him and dig into what was left of the thick coat Dark had picked out for him at the beginning of the trip.
"You should pull your wings in." Krad murmured into his ear. "I don't want you to catch a chill after all this." The boy did. "I'm really sorry for all of this…"
He began to look around at all the rubble. How could he have possibly done all of this? He'd completely demolished a two-story building single-handedly. "Krad…" He said softly. "Did I … kill anyone?"
Krad's eyes became like burnished brass.
"Only the scientist two put that…device around your neck." He touched Aisoku's neck and was pained to see the bright red stripes where the collar had lay against his caramel flesh. But he didn't even have enough power to lesson those wounds yet. Aisoku swallowed and noticed a shadowed figure walking towards them through the rubble. "Dark?" Krad stood up and let Aisoku go to embrace his other self. But as Aisoku came closer Dark's wings flared up and back- he couldn't tell exactly where his son was. Hell, he could barely see him. "Hold up for a second!" He managed and put a hand out and Aisoku paused in confusion as he saw the look on the thief's face. If he didn't know better he'd almost say the phantom looked scared.
"Dark? What's wrong?"
A snippet of their last conversation flicked across Krad's mind- Because I can't fuckin' see- and his heart jumped into his chest. How bad was it?
Krad thought it had only been temporary, a side effect of being hit so hard on the head, twice. He made his way over to the thief too. Aisoku took a few careful steps forward and let Dark's hand rest against his chest so the phantom could at the very least feel where he was.
"Are you okay?" Something was different about his left eye. Aisoku reached up to touch his cheek and the moment his fingers made contact with Dark's skin he flinched again and threw his head back."I'm fine! Just don't…just…" He took Aisoku's hands up to his chest and said quietly,
"I can't see all that great right now, okay?" Aisoku's eyebrows drew together.
"Is it going to get better?" Dark's eyes flicked over to Krad before reassuring his son, "Yeah, I think so." and putting one arm over Aisoku's shoulders to bring him into a brief hug. Luckily his eyesight wasn't so bad close up, although he still couldn't see anything from the left eye.
"Huh. You're a bit taller than I remember." He patted the boy's blonde hair and for the first time Aisoku noticed the change in his own appearance.
"What? Oh!" Automatically he drew a line from the top of his head to Dark to see how much he'd grown. He still only came up to the thief's collar.
"Not much, apparently." He said with a sigh and Dark chuckled evilly. "Well you'll probably catch up… eventually. You know, like when you're thirty."
The boy gave him a halfhearted punch in the arm but a grin spread across his face. "You're gonna regret all those snide comments when I do."
Dark snorted and looped his hand into Aisoku's, "C'mon let's go." and he brushed the thin layer of snowflakes that had settled on his hair out of his precious wine-colored locks. "Oi, Krad! Guess I missed the whole fight huh?" Krad ruffled his wings and said stiffly, "Indeed, Dark. You were even less of a help than I thought you would be." He was busy looking down into the empty parking lot, a feeling something akin to dread blooming in his chest. He had hoped that at least on car had been left behind and that perhaps someone had carpooled in the rush to get out of the building but no such luck.
He knew that personally the hour-long flight back to their useless car for shelter was going to be really pushing the envelope as far as his human body went. Even standing was taking some effort and the muscles in his legs spasmed with exhaustion. There was no magic left in him now.
In fact he was even having trouble keeping this form under his control as it kept urging him to return to Kiryu's form and rest. "Well excuse me for getting two severe blows to the head and passing out!" Dark snarled, his lip curling. "As least I got inside the building and was able to get that barrier down, unlike you!" He reached back and scratched his head, too tired to say much more. "So... what was our plan for getting out of here?" Krad brushed aside Dark's surly comments and rubbed his eyes.
"Your guess is as good as mine. Although trying to fly back to the rental would probably be too taxing on these forms." There was an awkward silence between the three of them. After all they had been through to perish in some tiny snowstorm seemed like a ridiculous and humiliating way to end. "Hey." Aisoku pointed down the long lonely stretch of road that led to the building.
"What's that?" Through the snow they could see the warm haze of two yellow headlights. "If it's the coppers I'm out of here." Dark muttered and Krad ventured, "I hardly think their response would be that fast, especially considering everyone who worked here isn't informed of the incident yet." As the vehicle came closer, its black tires streaked with snow and steaming Krad suddenly recognized it.
"That's… isn't that the Hikari's van?"
But even as he said it he knew it was true- there was no way he could mistake that cool, calculating aura as anyone else even before Satoshi got out of the van and gestured for the two of them over. "Oho! So it is!" All three of them opened their wings and landed a few feet away from the van, their wings making the dusty snow flare up into little mini dust devils. Aisoku's landing had been a little sketchy and Dark had let out a rather unmanly giggle, earning him a slightly harder punch form his son and a glare from Krad. "Satoshi sama." Krad said with a nod of his head and banished his wings, letting Rai curl his small fox like self around his shoulders. Dark did the same with Wiz before clambering into the back seats of the car and exclaiming,
"For once I'm actually glad you managed to track us down, Satoshi!"
He promptly spread himself out on the backseat like a lazy cat, "Well goodnight everyone!" and closed his eyes. Krad shook his head but couldn't keep a corner of his mouth from twitching slightly as Aisoku snarled and poked Dark in the ribs, "I have to sleep here too you know! Scoot over."
Dark opened one eye lazily and smirked. "Oh yeah? Make me."
Krad made his way around the hood of the van and sat gently in the leather seat, pulling the door closed against the harsh wind and snow. The flakes of snow in his long blonde hair began to disappear. Behind them he could still hear Dark and Aisoku arguing like two children and he closed the van door for them with a disapproving shake of his head.
Satoshi switched the stick shift into drive and soon they were off down the blindingly white road, Krad holding his hands out in from of the heaters to capture their warmth for himself. Again his body urged him to give up his form for Kiryu's and he gritted his teeth in irritation. He didn't have much longer. He felt like he could sleep for days. "What did you do?" His eyes flicked to the former commander and then back to the road and his hand stroked Rai's fur once. "Rescued Aisoku of course." A pale hand tightened on the steering wheel but as usual he let no emotion override his next clipped sentence.
"With Kiryu, I meant." The blonde noticed the ruckus in the back had gone quiet and turned around to see that the both of them had passed out.
Aisoku was stretched out to one side of Dark, his hand still around the phantom's neck but his head buried in his chest. Dark had one arm around Aisoku's back, no doubt to fling him off. But as Krad watched the other went around Aisoku's head gently, holding it steady against Dark so it wouldn't snap back if the van hit a bump or curve.
And he saw that same faint, smug grin on Dark's face that overtook him whenever he'd just captured another Hikari artifact and stolen it away.
Only this one was somehow warmer…
"I shall let you talk with him." Krad said evenly and surrendered to the pull of his human bodies' needs. His hair shortened back to a soft brown and his eyes lost the feral yellow for a tame blue. Rai crooned and buried his head on the crook of Kiryu's neck. He gave the animal a tired pat and smiled in relief at his father. Satoshi took one hand off the wheel and put it over his son's hand. "I'm glad you're alright."
He put his hand back on the wheel and said quietly, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you more about Krad earlier. But… I thought I would have time."
He gave a small sad smile. "I didn't want you go through what I did." Kiryu moved the familiar from his shoulders to his lap. "Dad, he's… he's different now. I mean, I think that someday he and I will be able to come to an understanding." Krad listened in the back of his mind, doubtful at the boy's words.
"Did he force you to transform?" For the first time since he'd been in Kryu's mind his tamer pulled that same black, cool face as his father and answered calmly, "No. A few of them were strained but that was only because the both of us were in such a hurry."
Through Kiryu's eyes Krad gauged Satoshi's reaction. There- an almost unperceivable tightening and relaxing of his eyes.
He knew that Kiryu was lying and was slightly confused as to why his son would defend the White Wings. Krad was even more so.
"I see." However, he could feel that Kiryu couldn't interpret Satoshi's emotions as well as he and thought his father had swallowed the lie. Satoshi glanced up into the rearview mirror. "It looks like those two have finally settled down." Kiryu glanced back again and felt a rush of emotion from Krad which the blonde quickly suppressed, but not quite fast enough. It certainly wasn't the kind of emotion Kiryu was expecting from the ice-cold angel.
Aww… Krad flinched in the back of his mind and crossed his arms.
What. His tone was as cool and velvet as ever, betraying nothing.
Oh nothing. He chuckled and the blonde colored slightly. "Hmm?" Satoshi asked and Kiryu quickly shook his head. "Oh, it's nothing."
He covered a yawn with his mouth and snuggled down next to the window, using the edge of his seat as a pillow. " I think I'm going to sleep too." Satoshi nodded. "When we get back to Japan I'll tell you about him, if you want to know." Rai crawled up from his lap and onto his chest and his big blue eyes blinked twice. "Alright dad. Goodnight." The truth was he didn't want to know any more about the White Wing's past, or what he'd done to his father.
He just wished there was a way could give Krad his own body to do whatever he wanted with it. Although... setting Krad loose in Azumano...
… a kind but useless thought. He heard his other self say. It cannot be done.
You're depressing sometimes, you know that? Kiryu answered. Things change. Before you and Dark thought that having a son was impossible, and now he's asleep in the backseat. There was a silence from Krad and after a few moments he murmured, You should get some sleep master. This body is beyond weary. He felt his tamer grin a little.
If you change the subject does it mean I'm right?
Krad glared and ran a hand through his hair. No, it means that if you don't go to sleep I will force you to sleep before this body breaks down completely!
He finished the sentence by imagining up a luscious golden four-poster bed in Kiryu's mind and collapsing down on top of it, his wings splaying out lazily on either side. He didn't even bother changing his outfit.
My poor, tired, grumpy little Kraddykins. Kiryu laughed before slipping into sleep and Krad covered his face in his hands.
Where in seven hells had Kiryu picked up-? Oh.
Oh.
He knew connecting his mind to the phantom thief's had been a risky idea but he certainly hadn't imagined Kiryu would use that connection to pick up all of Dark's embarrassing nicknames for himself.
He crossed his arm underneath his head, unconsciously imitating the way Dark slept and closed his eyes, the golden light from the sheets catching on his white eyelashes.