Marijuana Mishaps

by Jaded Expression of Euphoria

Sho and Kei find something interesting in the warehouse of their latest gang raid and Sho decides to keep it, against Kei's better judgment of course. Chaos ensues of course. But then Kei remembers something he didn't even know he forgot. Sho/Kei OCs (Edit: Don't read. It's pretty crap. I'm not kidding. Totally cringey. For the most part. Also, discontinued.)

22. Loving A Demon

Chapter Title: Loving A Demon

Rating: NC-17/R

Chapter: 20/probably 30-ish

Warnings: OH HOLY SHIT THERE IS A HUGE SMUT UP AHEAD! IF YOU ARE OFFENDED BY PORNY WRITING OR TWO GUYS FUCKING LEAVE NOW. I'M NOT FORCING YOU TO READ THIS AND IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, YOU CAN SHOVE IT. There, I think that's warning enough. (Also there is explosive fighting, drama, cussing, confusion, creature-feature dreaming, dubious-consent which leads into consent, heavy D/S, and just so nobody freaks out, things get smutty when Sho goes home. So skip it if you want. Just skip the entire last section and know that Sho and Kei hook up when Sho goes home.)

Disclaimer: Gackt owns Moon Child. (Doesn't that mean he owns Kei too?)

Pairings: Kei/Sho, Lindsay/David

Jaded's fore-words: Writing takes patience. Patience that I don't have sometimes. Finished my room, stabbed myself in the thumb with a razor blade, added a new horror movie to my favorites and decided I want to single-handedly save the horror-film industry, baked a shit-ton of cupcakes for my little brother and sister's birthday party, burned myself on the same hand as my thumb-stabbing, did awesome things in my classes and watched a lot of DIR EN GREY concert footage. Also, *evil grin of superior evil* you claimed to have high expectations. I believe I have not only stepped up to the plate, but have actually hit a home run and am now running mocking circles around the bases.

*darkly* Enjoy.

---

He dreams of a demon. A pretty little demon with honey skin, downy locks of sunlight falling into his eyes - streaked with crimson and obsidian, and deep brown eyes hiding slitted pupils in their dark, dark depths. This demon hovers above him while he sleeps, his head tipped back and too heavy to lift, leaving his neck vulnerable, ink-dipped claws trailing down it, drawing polished rubies to the surface of his taut skin before they melt and slide down the side of his neck only to leave scarlet trails behind. He dreams of a glittering smile splitting petal-soft lips glistening from a thick, nectarous wine, revealing ice-tipped fangs in a chilling grin. He dreams of soulless pools of sadism, swimming with gore, excitedly watching him.

As he is held down, helpless by unseen bonds.

In his sleep… He's awake, and that demon watches him. Wantingly….

And he is helpless.

Sho sighs as he flips his cell phone open again, staring blankly at the LCD screen, a slight slant to his eyebrows. He hits the speed dial number for David's phone and contemplates calling him for the twenty-seventh time that day. He's sitting on the steps of Toshi's flat. The man himself is at work and Sho hasn't heard from him since noon.

It's been a week since David had kicked him temporarily out and besides Sho's initial phone call, neither had spoken to one another the entire week. There was so much going on in his head, he would want to call David on a whim - to speak to Kei maybe, to ask a question, to tell David something on his mind - but then as soon as it came it was swept away to the hidden recesses of his mind by a worry or a doubt, and he would be back to flipping or fidgeting with his phone.

He hated how conflicted he was. He had always been sure about things, his whole life. He never thought about anything too much. He made a decision and stuck with it, almost as stubborn as an ass to the point of death in some cases. His life was risky and he had just gotten used to it. In the orphanage it had been hard, since he was always beat up and pushed around for being feminine-looking and too skinny, and Shinji would stick up for him, getting in fights with the other kids. Then Shinji proposed they leave and Sho followed him, stuck with him. Together they found Toshi stealing from unattended purses and jackets around restaurants, his tiny hands making it easy for him to slip in and out unnoticed. At once he was stuck with them by glue, Shinji becoming their leader.

Sho had religiously followed Shinji, until Kei. And Sho had incorporated Kei into their lives, even though Shinji actively resisted and fought Sho on it, he couldn't be swayed. Kei was, is, and will. Sho continued to stick with Kei when Shinji parted ways with him, forcing him to choose. And he chose Kei. It had hurt for both of them, but he stood by it. As he grew up with Kei, he learned the street better than anything else he had ever known.

He decided on guns, gangs, and thrill with ease. Just as he had easily decided on everything else in his hard life. He stood his ground for whatever he picked. But since David, things seemed to have gotten more complicated.

Which led him to this point. He was kicked out of his own home, his best friend was in agony because of him, he was having weird dreams and nightmares, he was confused about his relationship with Kei, and with everything going through his head at once - confusion, guilt, sadness, fear, and an odd fleeting feeling too mixed with everything else he couldn't identify it - it appeared to be impossible to make any type of choice. How could he decide on something, when he didn't even know what he should be deciding on? Did he even have to make a decision? To act? What was he supposed to do? Besides sit around with too many things flitting around in his head constantly, what else was there to do?

He hit the back button on the phone and opened a new text instead, entering Toshi's number from his contacts.

"Going on a walk. Probably will still be out after you get off." He hit send and stood up, jumping off the steps, looking down one side of the street and then deciding on the other way.

He hadn't been walking long before his phone buzzed with a new text. He flipped it open and read.

"Okay? Want anything for food later?"

Sho responded shortly, feeling oddly unattached to his hands as he did. It seemed that Toshi had picked up on his slightly off behavior. Easy enough for him, since they had been sharing the flat for a week now and Sho had barely talked to him.

"Pizza n beer ?"

He shoved his phone into his jacket pocket after that and forgot about it, choosing instead to only focus on not thinking and distract himself with the sights and sounds around him. It was this mindset that had him wandering into the park where Yi-Che had been painting her mural. There was a large waterproof sheet drawn over it for when she wasn't working on it. As he meandered closer to it Sho noticed that it was billowing and moving around oddly for a day with no breeze.

The closer he stepped to it, now walking with a curious-suspicious purpose, the more he could hear. A familiar hissing noise had him flipping the sheet into the air and grabbing two black hoodies, flinging two adolescence onto the ground away from the mural where there was half of the word "bitch" tagged in black and red across the legs of the woman Yi-Che had been working tirelessly on for months. The tentative revealing ceremony date had been scheduled a week from yesterday but now it would have to be pushed back again so Yi-Che could fix what the two dumbasses had done.

He turned to the two boys picking themselves angrily up from the ground, dusting off their pants and hoodies (probably newly stolen even though both kids looked like rebellious teens whose parents had enough money to buy them anything they wanted).

"What the fuck man?" One of them said in Japanese, probably thinking he was so slick because he had misjudged Sho's own roots, not understanding that Sho could understand him.

"Seriously, did you have some kind of fucking sympathy for that mute cunt?" The other, slightly taller boy huffed arrogantly in Cantonese, directly addressing Sho now.

Sho's lips pressed into a thin line and tense, burning, rage exploded to life inside of him. He grabbed the nearest kid and threw him into the fresh paint they had just sprayed onto the mural. The other kid, the shorter one, made to advance on him but in the next instant Sho's gun was on him, pressed to the punk's forehead to stop him dead in his tracks. The other boy he had pressed face-first into the red paint of the "t."

You think you're so fucking cool, destroying shit just because you fucking think you can," Sho hissed to the kid he was pinning. "Think you're so badass because your parents don't give a shit about what you do and you don't do your homework. You think this-" Sho rubbed the kid's cheek around in the red spray paint for emphasis. "-makes people respect you? You think you're going to grow up and be some big bad ass mother fucker in a gang pulling this weak shit. Think you got the balls to be in a gang? To take a bullet?"

The kid at gunpoint made to take a swipe at Sho's gun, thinking he was distracted. In a flash, Sho had the safety off and his finger on the trigger, giving the kid a death-glare.

"Stop playing around and get your fucking lives together. You're both too fucking punk-ass and weak to shoot a gun or take a bullet. Get your asses home and rethink your fucking lives or one day you will find yourselves bloodied and full of bullets from my gun."

With that he jerked the paint covered kid away from the mural and threw him in the direction of his friend, the kid stumbling and just barely being caught by the other boy. Sho put his gun away, as they continued to stand there, dumbstruck and staring at him in awe.

"Go on! Get the fuck out of here," Sho demanded, angrily waving his hand. "And if I ever see this shit happening again, I'll fire off your second warning into your leg."

The shorter kid accidentally dropped his friend and scrambled back, realizing Sho was dead serious. His friend stumbled to his feet, finding it difficult due to his pants being somewhere around his knees, and ran after the other boy, glancing fearfully back at Sho.

Once they had left his sight somewhere down the street and around a corner, Sho turned back to the mural with a heavy sigh and decided he should probably call Yi-Che to deliver the bad news.

At least he got to release some pent-up frustration on those punks.

---

Hours later Sho found himself standing outside of his brother's shop, staring up toward the roof where it was most likely he would be. Through the open door he could hear a radio playing quietly and the humming of fish tanks. A woman shuffled around inside, probably bored out of her mind with nothing but watching fish swim and guarding a nearly empty cash register occupying her time. Breathing heavily, Sho entered the small shop and the woman looked up from a magazine she was reading behind the small counter near the wall.

"Hey Sho," she greeted tiredly in Mandarin and yawned. It was obvious she was bored.

"Hello, Luli," Sho said back in Japanese, stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets and meandering to the counter. Then in Mandarin asked, "Things moving slow today?"

The random switching between languages was something they did to each other constantly, trying to confuse one another. So far they had used Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, English, a little Korean, and once a little horribly mispronounced Spanish. Sho would have tried french by now, but the fucking language was insanely complicated to speak in that the vowels never rolled off his tongue right.

"Yeah… Even the fish are hardly swimming," she stated before flipping a page in her magazine. Sho hummed but said nothing more. Luli looked up at him suspiciously, waiting for a teasing remark or mocking comment. When none came her frown of suspicion melted into one of concern.

"Are you okay?" She bluntly asked in Japanese, startling Sho who had spaced out, watching a tank full of fish lazily flitting about. He flinched and stared at her confusedly for a long moment before averting his gaze.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Nothing's wrong," he said casually, wanting to hit himself once the words had left his mouth. He'd overdone it. He was obvious now. He should have just left it at "I'mfine." What now? Change the subject.

"Is my bruhhh… Shinji up-" he motioned toward the ceiling with his hand still in his jacket pocket. "-there?"

Luli nodded in affirmation and Sho nodded back, walking toward the stairs in the back that led to the roof. He had one foot on the bottom step when Luli's voice stopped him.

"Hey Sho?"

He turned slightly to look over his shoulder at her.

"Uhm… Fish… are uh, great listeners you know. They just swim around and never say anything back… Feel free to talk to them if you uohhm feel the need," Luli said quietly to him, glancing at her feet several times. Sho nodded once in understanding of what she implied, too far lost in his own head to even be aware of the fact that it was normal for her comments to be usually biting and mean. He would never take her offer but… At least she had cared enough to offer. Which was a little weird considering how they didn't like one another.

She nodded back once, and then she was gone, tending to fish or back to her magazine. Sho didn't know, he couldn't find it in him to care either.

So he ascended the rickety stairs, rolling things over in his head again, forgetting for a second what he was doing. Then he was at the top of the staircase and Shinji was in front of him, sitting at a table, getting high and absently rubbing the thigh of his bum leg with a hand as he exhaled pungent smoke from his lips. Sho wrinkled his nose and thought of Gabe. At least what she smoked smelled better, he couldn't help himself from thinking.

"Nii-san," Sho called quietly and Shinji twisted around, surprised. A smile stretched across his lips and he heaved himself to his feet. Sho walked toward him and was met three-fourths of the way there by Shinji pulling him into a brotherly hug.

"Sho, it's been a while. I thought that maybe you had forgotten about me. . .or that monster had finally turned on you," Shinji said amicably even though underneath it poison tinted his words with venom brewed in his hatred for Kei. Sho's lips pressed tight and he wanted to lash out at Shinji and defend Kei but he held back, hoping that this encounter would not end like most did. And Shinji was right; it had been a while. Sho didn't want to spoil this by fighting tediously with his brother.

"How are you Nii-san?" Sho asked instead, his tone friendly and light so as to not reveal where his thoughts had been moments previous.

Shinji smiled and limped back to his seat, motioning for Sho to take the other, rarely used, chair also at the table. As Sho slowly lowered himself into the seat Shinji began speaking, telling Sho that things were good, that he hadn't had any trouble for a while, and that he was getting along pretty damn well monetarily without the harassment of the gang he often found himself in debt to.

Sho listened only with one ear, his mind other places still, scattered in the wind and drifting like the smoke from Shinji's mouth had done. He wondered if he would be able to return home soon. And he wished Kei was doing better. Hopefully not in as much agony as he had been when Sho had first seen him. Maybe David would let them speak soon. Everything was up to him recently. Which Sho might have found funny - considering David's age - but didn't for obvious reasons.

Shinji seemed to have noticed Sho's mind was elsewhere for he had fallen silent and was now staring angrily at Sho, lips pressed into a thin line and his eyes squinting behind his sunglasses (which were actually sunglasses this time). The silence slowly brought Sho closer to earth.

"He's done something to you," Shinji stated flatly, rage barely held back behind that dead frown he was directing at his little brother.

That caught Sho's attention and he came around quickly, practically glaring at Shinji.

"Who's done what to me?" He asked quietly, dangerously.

"That monster," Shinji spat like he was trying to rid his mouth of a toxic sludge.

"He has a name and he's not a monster," Sho stated calmly, but his eyes told his brother he was anything but.

"Why can't you see he's just going to turn on you and come back to being my brother beforehedoes!" Shinji yelled at Sho and the younger man flinched. Not because the words stung but because of the sheer volume of Shinji's voice.

"I've always been your brother, Shinji," Sho grit out, clenching one fist on his knee, trying to stay civil, hoping that maybe their conversation could be saved (while knowing in his heart it would end like it always does).

"No, you haven't!" Shinji exclaimed, practically throwing himself onto his feet, wobbling from a mixture of his bum leg and being doped up. Sho nearly wanted to reach out and steady him but inside he knew he couldn't - shouldn't - because he would be showing a weakness that he didn't want Shinji to see in him.

"You chose him! You ran off with him!-" Shinji continued, scowling at Sho full of self-righteous anger. Sho was on his feet in a second, throwing his hands down onto the rickety table - surprised it didn't snap and collapse from it.

"Excuse me!" Sho screamed at his brother, true rage shining in his eyes. Shinji actually looked taken aback. "You ran away! You! You made me choose!"

"And you shouldhave chosen me! I'm your brother! Family sticks together. We're all we've got." Shinji seemed to deflate a little as he spoke. Sho almost pitied him, but another part of him demanded that they finish what Shinji had finally brought to the surface of their constantly tense relationship.

"You're wrong, Nii-chan. I'm all you have. Me and that shit you poison yourself with to forget your pain. IT has been a bigger part of your life than I ever was. And now I have other family. I have my friends. I still have Toshi. And I have Kei because YOU made me choose."

Sho's voice was low and level and biting, like the edge of a concrete foundation for a building, much like he was currently speaking of the foundations of the strained relationship they had. Shinji's shoulders had hunched and he glowered at Sho, angry at his brother for ripping into his very core, proving those sad, doubting voices in the back of his head right.

"You could have tried harder," Sho finished with in a defeated way, his previously rigid posture relaxing. His soft brown eyes shimmering and shaded with hurt and regret. Regret that they turned out this way, regret that he had visibly hurt his dear brother with the truth he hadn't said for too many years.

"Why?" Shinji finally croaked. "Why him though?"

Sho opened his mouth to retaliate and discovered he had nothing to say. His eyes narrowed in confusion. This only seemed to upset Shinji again. His whole body began to quiver and his mouth twisted into a grimace of fury.

"Just tell me why you chose him," Shinji demanded, his voice raised but even for once, only the quiver as he said 'him' gave away how angry he was becoming again.

"I don't know!" Sho shouted at Shinji. In the next second the table was uplifted and flung to the side with a clamorous clatter, accompanied by the smashing of glass. Shinji had broken his bong and all Sho could cynically think was, And it's only now that I'm more important than pot.

"DON'T BULLSHIT ME, SHO! I know you know why," Shinji roared, placing his good leg forward toward Sho in a lunge. Sho instinctively stepped back, a monster rearing up inside of him before he was snarling back at Shinji.

"MAYBE IT WAS BECAUSE YOU CARED MORE ABOUT GETTING HIGH THAN ME! MAYBE IT WAS BECAUSE YOU STOPPED BEING MY BROTHER WHEN YOU STARTED THAT FUCKING BULLSHIT! MAYBE-"

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT FUCKING SHIT, SHO! JUST TELL ME THE GODDAMNED FUCKING TRUTH AND STOP 'MAYBE'-ING ME!"

Shinji pushed himself up into Sho's face and shoved him angrily, seriously trying to knock him down, wanting to cause harm.

Sho halfheartedly shoved back, still unable to actually hurt Shinji, but Shinji just shoved him again harder. Then something inside of Sho's chest tensed and his impulses took over completely, a monster rearing up, fed up with his brother. His hands flew up and he knocked Shinji's arms to the side and thrust Shinji away from him.

"I CHOSE HIM INSTEAD OF YOU BECAUSE YOU TURNED INTO THE FUCKING MONSTER AND I WAS FUCKING IN LO- …ove… w-with… ….him….."

Shinji stumbled backward as though Sho had hit him in the face with a two-by-four, dumbstruck and dizzy. Sho's face wasn't far from looking the same, except his eyes were pleading, wondering, and confused all with one look into Shinji's eyes through his sunglasses.

"I-" Sho started to say as Shinji started with "You-"

A fragile silence fell between them.

And then Shinji's face distorted. He sneered in disgust, and he puffed up like a dragon.

"Get. Out." He whispered in a dead calm and Sho's mouth opened to apologize. For what, he wasn't sure; he just needed to do it. At the last second he stopped and Shinji was ready.

"LEAVE. I CAN'T BELIEVE- I WON'T-" He bellowed, not sure how to say the enraged things caught in his throat, swirling around in his head in a tempest. His fists clenched and unclenched at his sides as though if he had something to throw at Sho he would. Breathing deeply, heavily, he tried again, practically spitting the words. "I could handle you being a fag, but- But- BUT TO LOVE A FUCKING MONSTER LIKE HIM!"

"HE'S NOT A FUCKING MONSTER! YOU DON'T EVEN FUCKING KNOW HIM! YOU NEVER FUCKING TRIED!" Sho yelled back at him, his voice coarse with how simply violently enraged he was. Oh how he wished he could throttle his older brother.

"I KNOW HE KILLS PEOPLE, SHO! I know that he's going to turn on you, and kill you too!"

"YOU'VE KILLED PEOPLE TOO, YOU GODDAMNED HYPOCRITICAL FUCKING ASSHOLE! AND IF YOU'RE SO FUCKING SURE, WHY HASN'T HE DONE IT YET?"

"GET OUT OF MY FUCKING SHOP! GET THE FUCK OUT RIGHT NOW, SHO OR WHATEVER GOD OUT THERE SO FUCKING HELP ME-"

Sho grabbed the chair closest to him and flung it in Shinji's direction with murderous intent, clenching his teeth in vehement fury.

"I'm so fu-cking done with all your Goddamned bull-shit all the fucking time," Sho bit out at his brother who panted motionlessly, eyes locked onto his younger brother, waiting to see what would happen next. "Grow the fuck up and get over yourself."

And with that Sho stomped back over to the stairs, not looking back until he had one foot lowered onto the first one.

When he did, his gaze was hard and black.

"And don't expect to see me again until you do."

With that he disappeared down the staircase, his feet creating the most obnoxious racket he could before he left the shop with a slam of the open front door for emphasis. Luli came running from a room off to the side, worriedly watching him viciously drive his hands back into his pockets and stomp off. She had heard the whole fight and when Sho had started down the stairs she hid, figuring it would be the best idea to make herself scarce.

She sighed and rubbed the heel of her hand up her forehead.

Shinji was an idiot.

---

"…moshi…?"

"You knew, didn't you?" Sho interrogated flatly into the microphone of his phone. He was leaning against another cold wall outside - this one made of bricks - about four blocks from Toshi's apartment. This wall belonged to a convenience store.

"Sho?" David rasped into the phone tiredly, a yawn following immediately after. Sho knew he would most likely be waking the teen, as it was about five in the morning, but he had to call. After his fight with Shinji he had wandered around until about midnight - when Toshi's shift ended - before slowly making his way back to his friend's flat. He remembered that Toshi was bringing food back for him right before he entered the apartment at one and he wasn't sure he was really that hungry, what with the alarming discovery he had made that day - and Shinji's response to it. But when he opened the door and the smell of warm pizza hit his nose, his stomach decided to let him know it was practically eating itself in hunger.

Toshi hadn't asked him anything, although Sho knew he knew something was up. He hoped Shinji hadn't called him and told him; no matter how unlikely that actually was, Sho still worried. He had shared the pizza with Toshi in silence, along with a couple cold beers. They watched TV and then Toshi turned in for the night. Two hours later and Sho was still wide awake, too much filling his head for him to sleep.

Now the world around him was dark, the sky a blue-black, and there were few people around as he stared off into space, the silent phone pressed to his ear. Then he heard muted whispering and a distinctly Lindsay-sounding mumble, and even though he knew he should be pissed off just because it was Lindsay, he couldn't find it in himself to care.

"Sho? Are you still there?" David quietly asked, his voice more awake than it had been before.

"Yeah…" Sho responded and fell silent again. Secretly, Sho's favorite time of day was the time between four-fourty-five and five-fifteen in the morning. He liked it the most because it was the only time ever that everything in Mallepa slowed down to a near standstill before racing off again. If time were a roller coaster, this would be that initial climb to the top of the highest hump in the beginning of the ride right before the first plunge that left your stomach in your throat.

Sho heard the easily recognizable sound of rustling sheets and then David's voice filled his ear again.

"Sho…?"

"You knew, right?" Sho asked again, tired in a way he couldn't even comprehend through the numbing fog of his mind.

"Knew what?" David asked and Sho head the whoosh and clinking jars of the refrigerator door being opened. The pop-hiss of a can being opened and Sho responded.

"That I was in love with Kei. That's why you…" What had David done exactly? "Kei's in love with me, isn't he? And. . .you knew about that too."

David said nothing, but sitting on the kitchen counter sipping a mango flavored Rockstar he listened intently, waiting for Sho to get to the real point of why he was calling. Sho needed to verbally sort his thoughts out.

"You knew and… Why didn't you just tell me that from the beginning?" Sho questioned, lost and waiting for an answer. David gave none and Sho sighed.

"I- I had a fight with Shinji to- Yesterday. And we were shouting and I blurted out that when Shinji left I chose Kei because I loved him. That was when I was fifteen, that Shinji left I mean. Do I- …Do I really still love him? I know at one point I practically worshipped the ground he walked on. Can't that be considered love in some form? Is it truly love then? Have I ever really loved Kei or… Or is it all just some kind of delusion I've always had? Some kind of puppy love I never got over?"

Sho paused and breathed deeply in exhaustion. With every word he let out, he could feel the fatigue of the day finally wearing on him.

"Think about it Sho, do you really love Kei? Is this something you believe is true, something you know deep down but might have never been able to admit?" David asked softly, his voice soothing Sho into deflating even more.

Sho breathed silently as he truthfully asked himself if he loved Kei. The immediate, definite answer from a recess deep inside of his very core of existence was yes,hedid. No doubt about it, no more questions asked.

"Yes," Sho whispered meekly, succumbing to the hard inner truths he never even knew he was denying.

David breathed out a gentle huff of a laugh.

"Well, there you go," he said and yawned, his eyes barely staying open. Fucking metabolism burning through half a can of Rockstar as though it were water. He should have eaten something instead.

"I- …I want to come home," Sho breathed nearly inaudibly into the microphone of his cell. David sighed.

"You can't, Sho. Kei's already on the upswing. If you came back now, he'd be like a heroin addict barely recovered and injecting again. It wouldn't be pretty and you could become seriously injured," David explained in patient tones.

"Oh," Sho uttered, defeated. "But-"

"Don't worry about it, Sho," David reassured. "If things continue like they are, Kei should be fine before the week is out."

"But-"

"Just trust me, Sho. If you can trust me for the rest of this week, everything will work out. I promise."

Sho nodded in spite of the fact that he felt an almost uneasy trepidation, though he had no reason to, as David's voice was open and pacifying.

"Alright. I can do that," Sho stated with a deep breath.

"Okay. If that's all you needed…" David trailed off in case Sho had something more to say but after a short pause Sho remained silent. "I'm going to head back to bed. You should go back to Toshi's and get some sleep."

"How did you know I was-"

"I can hear the cars," David cut in briskly, eager to get back to his comfortable bed. Then he smiled as he spoke softly again. "Good night, Sho."

"Yeah, nite."

David hung up after that and Sho flipped his phone shut, shoving it back into his pocket before breathing in a deep lungful of cool, fresh morning air.

Back at the apartment, David sighed and set the phone on the counter next to him, staring at it tiredly without comprehending that his hand was still holding it. He jerked when he felt a hand brush his and remove the phone in it before slipping his Rockstar from his other hand. He blearily turned his head upward to look at Lindsay and managed a quirk of his lips.

Without a word, Lindsay dumped the Rockstar down the drain and tossed the can away. David yawned long, almost dislocating his jaw. It was interrupted when an arm slid under his knees and pulled him sideways off the countertop into Lindsay's chest, the blonde's other arm wrapping around his upper back. David's arm flew up lightening quick for someone as dead tired as he was, wrapping around Lindsay's neck while he glared halfheartedly at him. He hated being picked up and/or carried.

A second later it didn't matter though because his eyes fluttered shut as he began slipping away. He barely noticed when he was placed back into his bed, his body slowly slipping into nothingness along with his brain. Lindsay carefully climbed in next to him and sleepily brushed his lips against the corner of David's before settling down and returning to the world of the unconscious with David.

---

Two nights later Sho dreamed of his demon feasting from his neck, one hand wrapped around his ribs under his shirt, claws digging deep into his back so he felt the warm blood from the punctures dribbling down his back and soaking into his hiked-up shirt. The demon's other hand was wrapped tightly around the side of his neck, inky claws scratching pleasantly over the nape of his neck and scalp. And Sho could do nothing but sit in the same chair from each dream of the same, and let the demon consume him while in the very center of his essence he felt a yawning, unfathomable yearning need he absolutely couldn't describe in words.

It was aching. It was a cinching, expanding pressure in the base of his throat. It was tightness in his chest, directly in the center. It was tingling at the base of his skull. It was the little hairs on his body all standing on end at once, his skin chilling. It was a ravenous thirst he felt on his tongue and in every other cell of his body in a dry scorch consuming him. It was not having enough air, drowning in the sky, floating high.

Caught deep in the tendrils of sleep, Sho shivered.

He was turned-on, aroused, lustful and yet there was not a single stir in his pelvic region. He was basically numb there even as the rest of him was hot, hot, hot and bothered.

When he woke up in a cold sweat that had him burning, he drank three ice-cold glasses of water and every muscle in his body refused to stop trembling. The aching need didn't disappear but seemed to retreat into his bones, hiding there, easier to ignore as the days wore on.

And ignore it he determinedly did. Ignoring it so well that by the time the second to last day of the week came and a sudden call from David's phone surprised him, he had completely forgotten of its existence.

"Moshi moshi?"

"Hey… Sho," Kei's voice rasped brokenly on the other end.

"Kei?" Sho questioned excitedly, sitting up straighter on Toshi's couch causing the other man to look at him funnily.

"Anooo… Yeah."

"You don't sound too excited about talking to me," Sho commented blandly, if a bit worriedly.

"….oh… I- …..It's just a bit strange for me really. And quite difficult, to- to be truthful," Kei told him slowly, seeming to choose what he was saying carefully.

"Does this-… What does this mean exactly?"

"I'm not sure. David just. . .handed me his phone while it was ringing…" Kei explained to a very tentatively hopeful Sho. "Uhm, here I'll let you talk to him now."

There was a bit of whispered rubbing over the microphone as the phone was traded hands and then David's voice was in his ear.

"Hey, Sho," he greeted casually and Sho muttered a quiet "hey" in return. "From what I've observed this past week and from this conversation… I can knowledgeably state that you will be returning home tomorrow. Feel free to celebrate… -Now!"

The dial tone met Sho's ear and he pulled the cell back to stare at it in confusion. Toshi was also staring in confusion, but his gaze was fixated on Sho more than the phone. Having only heard Sho's side of the conversation he could safely say that he had even more of absolutely no idea what was going on.

---

That night Sho dreamt.

He dreamt he was walking along the pavement to his apartment and there were large tanks and humvees being driven in processions down the road in the opposite direction. Jogging behind them were men in camouflage carrying heavy looking assault rifles and wearing helmets, as though they expected to be attacked at any moment. They were there because the king was negotiating the tense terms of a peace pact with a neighboring city-sate. The men were somewhat frightening as they passed by but Sho was unconcerned.

There was a circus in town and he had been one of the few lucky people in the city selected to house a member of the circus. In fact, he was actually going to be playing host for the creature-keeper, the man who took care of the creatures featured in the circus.

In no time at all he was standing outside his flat, unlocking his front door to enter his apartment, not sure what he was going to see on the other side upon swinging the door open.

Of everything he could have expected what he didn't expect to see was a large cage in the corner of his apartment - which was remarkably similar to his real flat, only bigger and with a partition in the living room made only of colored glass. And he didn't expect to see David, wearing knee-high, startling emerald-green combat boots with white laces covering black riding pants, over which hung a ripped and slashed white shirt, red stains edging some of the rips. A dark purple tailcoat that shone blood red as he moved, topped the outfit. David glanced at him, stroking a curled mustache evilly while he studied the animal pacing inside the enormous cage. A second later David hurried over, rolling a black top-hat up his arm to be placed skillfully back on his head of raven blue hair.

"Step right up, sir, step right up and see the newest edition to the freakiest traveling circus in the world, Dark Days." David grabbed Sho's arm and tugged the frozen man closer to the cage.

"He arrived just today. Isn't he beautiful?" He was once again stroking his mustache with an almost sadistic gleefulness.

Sho looked, and truthfully examined the creature in hesitant curiosity.

The creature had stopped pacing when Sho was dragged over and instead had made its way to the back of the cage, curled into itself near a corner.

"It's a Lewdextus," David whispered, and the creature's tail flicked in an almost annoyed fashion. Sho couldn't even really see what it might resemble. The thing was hidden entirely in the shadows.

"I've decided to call him Kei," David went on and Sho glanced at him staring at the creature in fascination. The animal's name roused it, its head jerking around to glare at them with menacing gold eyes, the pupils reflecting incandescently in the dim light, like a cat's.

The next thing Sho knew, it was rushing forward, low to the hay-strewn ground, crawling like Gollum with its four humanoid appendages sprawled out. In seconds it was upon Sho, grabbing the bars of its cage with menacingly clawed fingers, growling and hissing threateningly at David. Sho was able to get a good look at the creature then, in all its terrifying glory.

Honestly, Sho was a little frightened staring at the creature in awe. It looked just like Kei, the vampire. It was physically humanoid, with exceptions, and short like Kei. Also, the face - though covered in a tarnished gold fur that was short and growing shorter the farther down his face it went - was Kei's. His terrifying, pure gold eyes were bright and made brighter rimmed in soft bristles of black fur in a fashion similar to a cat's.

He snarled at David, his lips peeling back and displaying a wicked set of one-inch long, needle like teeth that curled inward slightly. Then he pushed back off the bars of the cage like a large, feral tiger, darting farther back in his prison, angrily pacing in a circle through the shadows. He crawled skillfully on his clawed hands and toes, appearing demonic and alien. Behind him a long tail resembling that of a male lion's flicked back and forth behind him, showing his displeasure. The dark golden fur of Kei's face continued in the same manner as his face along the back of his body. Near his spine and down his tail his fur was longest and thick, but as it spread toward his stomach, encompassing his body, it became shorter until it was just a peach fuzz. Large, leopard-like spots covered his back, also decreasing in size as the fur did. The closer to his spine they were, the more spots were haloed in a platinum color that contrasted greatly with the tarnished color of his fur.

Next to Sho David snickered and flicked a whip off to the side, cracking it noisily. Kei froze misstep and slowly swung his head to glare at David a single, pointed, humanly-shaped ear on the side of his head twitching. He hissed in warning and David smirked, cracking the whip on the bars of the cage this time. The Lewdexus growled and spun around to face David head on in challenge, his fur bristling. A platinum stripe surfaced from his top lip to the end of his tail, which was black. It was pointed and thin as it touched smooth skin but grew wider as it traveled over his head and down his spine. His gold eyes flashed dangerously.

David made mocking, clicking noises at Kei with his tongue on the roof of his mouth. Kei hissed again. David cracked the whip.

The creature was on them in nanoseconds, swiping a clawed hand through the bars at David. Standing so close to the creature-keeper, Sho was not unaffected and three claw marks surfaced on his stomach, splitting the skin and oozing blood. David had five across his chest and he seemed unresponsive, only the corner of his lips twitching in some form of sadomasochistic way. His eyes were gleaming foreignly in excitement, a deranged gaze fixated on Kei.

Kei only smirked and licked one inky finger right up to the razor-edged claw with a mostly human-looking tongue; it was longer and seemed to rasp like a cat's.

He stiffened then, his whole body rigid. The brightness of his eyes flickered before his pupils blew up wide and there was more luminous dark green than glowing gold. His nose twitched as he sniffed the air curiously. Then his gaze flickered over to Sho and he smiled widely, wicked teeth revealed slowly. His body suddenly took on a predatory stance and David muttered an "oh shit" reaching to push Sho back but was too late.

Kei was at the bars in less time it took to blink halfway. He had Sho's arm pulled through the bars, claw tips digging into his bicep securely. Sho was bent over awkwardly and the Lewdexus was standing upright, grinning at him with an extreme tilt to his head. Sho's heart was thundering against his ribs and sternum so hard it hurt and pure terror had a strangle-hold on his throat. He tried to swallow unsuccessfully several times as he was faced with eyes full of unknown intent.

Absently, another part of him (somewhere in his brain detached from the rest of the situation) noticed that thick dark fur was reaching up from Kei's groin, narrowing into a thin line that jumped his navel and stretched up his chest, nearly to his collarbone.

Sho jerked back futilely as the sound of his shirt being shredded open reverberated in the quiet stillness. He wondered where David was and why he wasn't helping him.

The Lewdexus leaned forward slowly, keeping his eyes on Sho's as he stretched out his tongue and lapped up the blood he had drawn across Sho's stomach. Sho gasped just before Kei reared back with the shriek of a demon, releasing Sho, who stumbled back and fell on his ass. Standing at the bars of the cage, David was smiling at Kei with a rapier in his hand dripping blood from the tip, his whole expression screaming UNHINGED.

Kei snarled and growled in the same moment, his body hunching and his mouth opening as wide as it could. His tongue retreated to the back of his mouth as more rows of teeth than a shark started to pop out of the soft tissue in his mouth. Blood pooled between them before dripping over his bottom lip and spilling to the floor in fat drops.

He hissed and growled viciously before springing into the air toward them.

Sho wrenched himself awake, nearly hyperventilating as his heart raced. His whole body was covered in sweat, his pajamas sticking to his skin like a second one and his hair plastered to his neck and face. His eyes darted around the dark living room of Toshi's flat while fear induced adrenaline buzzed through his veins.

---

Later that day a little after noon, Sho approached the flat he lived in but had temporarily vacated the premises of on foot the action terrifyingly similar to his dream the night previously. The closer he got the more he saw of what was going on near his apartment and that left him wondering what a large flatbed truck was doing parked outside of it. As he meandered closer to the truck he was a little confused and shocked to see Gabe standing on one of the back wheels securing large, thick, flat, metal something-or-others on the back of it with heavy duty, orange, vinyl straps.

"What are those?" He asked her once close enough, curious and stalling before he had to face what might be inside, his nerves jittering around under his skin and in the lining of his stomach, making him a bit queasy. He blamed his nightmare-like dream.

"Bank safe walls," Gabe answered simply, tugging on the recently secure strap, throwing her weight into it to check its strength.

"Bank safe walls? How did you get those?" Sho interrogated incredulously. Gabe jumped down and faced him.

"I bought them," she stated matter-of-factly.

"From where?" Sho pursued, wanting to know exactly where a random teenager might buy bank safe walls. Since the request itself would be odd and bound to have bad repercussions, just for asking.

"The bank, of course." Gabe said flatly, a sense of "duh" entering her tone.

"How? With what money?" Sho really wanted to know how this would work now.

"Money from the bank."

"You robbed the bank?" Oh shit.

"No. I robbed the robber robbing the bank."

"…" Sho's jaw fell a little as he stared at her, an eyebrow raised and an eyelid twitching, uncomprehending.

"Don't worry. You don't have to understand it. Just let it happen."

Sho continued to stare at her in shock as she turned and headed inside his apartment, leaving the door open for him. He spun to follow her, getting his foot up onto the first step before he remembered why he had started the conversation with her in the first place.

His skin prickled with an unsettling chill and he peered up into the open doorway with trepidation, similar to what one might do if they were in a horror movie waiting for something to jump out and get them.

What would he find when he reentered his home? Would everything be trashed? Would it look normal? Would Kei be locked up in a cage as a wild animal like in his dream or would everything be just fine? Well, assuming the bank safe was what used to be Kei's cage, Sho was going to take a deep breath, relax, and conclude that it was fine.

If it was fine, why was he having so much trouble putting his other foot on the next stair?

"Your psyching yourself out. Just… Go." Sho told himself, trying to mentally get himself to take the next stair.

"Sho! What are you doin' out there? There aren't many roses to smell in Mallepa. Get your ass inside," David yelled from somewhere in the apartment. Apparently Gabe told him that he was home.

That served as enough of a push to move Sho forward and he climbed the few steps of their stoop and entered the flat, flicking the door shut behind him.

His eyes immediately sought out Kei who was leaning casually back on the wall of the partition, watching him out of his peripheral vision with his head turned down the hall where David was leaving his bedroom with Gabe trailing behind, the two speaking in hushed voices. Sho couldn't hear what they were saying but Kei obviously could as his gaze flickered to them and he frowned.

"You finally made it into the apartment," David commented with a mocking smile.

"Hey," Sho said flatly, unamused. Then he realized something. "Where's Lindsay?"

"Work," David brushed off and Gabe poked him in the side. "Right, so we-" David motioned between himself and Gabe with his thumb. "-need to go return the bank safe. Now, Gabe tells me that Kei is in control enough that this-" David pointed at the two, swinging his arms in front of him, crossing and uncrossing them. "-won't be a problem while we're gone. We also need to stop at a store somewhere that sells modern furniture to replace Kei's bed, si~ince he trashed his in a horny rage."

Silence met the end of this statement.

"Aaa~aaeeenyway, we'll be leaving, play nice, be safe, pay attention to Kei's eyes, Sho. If they start to look a little yellow, or you know, even gold, then maybe back off a little. Get it, got it, good?"

Sho nodded and Kei stared at the floor and made a noncommittal noise.

"Alright, we'll be back later kiddies."

He waved goofily as he followed Gabe out the front door with a dopey smile. The door was slammed and they heard the roar of the truck's engine as it was stomped to life. Seconds later it was gunning off down the street noisily, leaving Sho and Kei standing awkwardly in the living room, silence thick and heavy around them like an Antarctic blizzard. Sho shifted his bag over his shoulder, not sure if he should put it away and try to talk to Kei or just drop it where he was standing. What if he went into his room and came back and Kei had locked himself in the bathroom or something to avoid him?

Shifting his stance he decided he might as well take his bag to his room, since it was sunny out and locking himself in the bathroom was the worst thing that Kei could do.

When he came back, Kei was sitting on the couch, staring blankly at the wall.

Ignoring him.

Sho sighed, running his fingers through the mop of short hair on top of his head.

"So, this is how it's going to be then?" He asked dejectedly.

Kei barely twitched one shoulder up in a sad excuse of an attempt at shrugging.

"Can't you say anything to me? Can we please talk or something?" Sho questioned earnestly, feeling put out by Kei's lack of response. Kei didn't even glance at him. He sighed and retreated to the kitchen. Absently he opened the cupboards, looking for nothing, just needing something to do.

He wished they could talk. After his enlightening week of discovering that he was in love with his mentor/older-vampire-best-friend and the subsequent mulling over this new information, he discovered that being so distant from Kei hurt a lot more than he was admitting for a long time. It was actually why they used to end up in so many fights before David came along. The distance between them after Kei had let Sho in, let him close, the sudden brooding and desire for distance worming its way from Kei, pushing Sho back, constantly holding him at bay. And when that gap was physical the past two weeks, things had been nearly unbearable for Sho, especially with the worry for Kei's wellbeing added on.

Before now, he had never thought he had become so attached to the blood-sucker he saved from committing suicide.

He opened the fridge, wondering if he was possibly thirsty.

With how much Sho loved him, for how long he had, after saving him, it almost seemed unfair that Kei should give him the cold shoulder, what with how much Sho worried about him and felt horribly guilty for being the cause of Kei going into heat. Kei loved him. He had kissed Kei. If he hadn't kissed Kei, the blonde probably would have kept those feelings hidden and not gone into heat. Then Sho wouldn't have found out he was also in love with Kei and they wouldn't be in this mess.

Sho found it a little difficult to believe everything would be okay as David said.

He wanted to be with Kei, be close to him, love him. He wanted Kei to stop brooding about being a vampire and take better care of himself. He wanted Kei to be happy. And he wanted to be happy with Kei. Kei loved him, and he loved Kei. If Kei hadn't been in heat, they might have been able to be together, but since Kei was just out of it they couldn't because it was "too dangerous."

Which was bullshit. Sho faced bullets for a lifestyle.

You know what, fuck that. Kei loved him. He loved Kei. Kei might possibly not know he loved him, so fuck it all. Sho held the all the cards in his hand now and he was going to fucking do something about this stupid avoiding of one another, afraid to set Kei off.

He savagely slammed the fridge shut - almost breaking a couple glasses - and turned on his heel, exiting the kitchen. In the living room he found Kei still sitting on the couch, still staring at the wall. For a short moment his mind flashed back to what David had told him about Kei being in heat but he determinedly pushed it aside and made his way over to Kei.

Kei was unresponsive, lost in his thoughts and ignoring him still. He stepped in front of the vampire and invaded his personal space.

"We need to talk," he said darkly, the tone of his voice leaving no room for an argument.

Kei slowly raised his gaze up to Sho's and he glared weakly.

"Not now, Sho. I'm not in the mood," he said quietly and raised up, stepping around Sho.

But the brunette was having none of that. He barred Kei's escape with his arm and pushed the vampire back onto the couch, Kei landing angrily with a bounce.

"We're going to talk now, whether you're in the mood or not," Sho demanded and Kei really glared up at him.

"Sho," Kei drawled warningly but the taller man returned his glare with an resolute one of his own.

"Look, I'm sorry about kissing you. I didn't mean to hurt you by doing it and that is the only reason I'm sorry. I love you and I may not have known that when I kissed you but I know it now and-"

"Sho!" Kei snarled, suddenly on his feet. Their eyes met and Sho noticed little flecks of gold sparkling in the short, blonde's gaze. For a split second he felt remorseful for pushing Kei but that was swiftly slaughtered by his resolution. He was tired of tip-toeing around Kei's problems.

Kei irritatedly brushed past him, heading towards the hallway where he might decide to take refuge in one of the bedrooms (probably David's) or the bathroom. Sho would have none of that though and he went after him, seething.

Before Kei could even make it past the kitchen doorway Sho grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him back, actually causing Kei to stumble, having not expected such a thing.

"Sho, goddammit," Kei cursed as he wrenched his shirt free and he faced the taller man.

"We're not through-" Sho growled, balling his fists at his sides in anger.

"We're not doing this now-" Kei stated darkly.

"When then?" Sho demanded. "When you're in the mood? When you're not brooding? When you can stand to be near me again? I'm so sick of all the fucking tip-toeing around you. I'm sick of being afraid of pushing you too far."

"You don't have to worry about me, Sho," Kei muttered flatly, everything about his expression except his eyes becoming dead.

"But I do. Because I love you," Sho stated simply, earnestly.

"Sho," Kei snapped, voice hushed, dangerous. "Stop saying that."

"Why? It's the truth-"

"Just stop!" Kei practically shouted, turning away from Sho to leave their argument.

Sho grabbed his arm this time and threw him back toward the living room. Kei stumbled for a step then turned to Sho, lips a thin line and ire in every line of his body.

"We're going to have this conversation now, even if I have to beat you into it," Sho threatened and Kei's glittering eyes narrowed.

"Don't goad me, Sho," Kei warned and Sho glowered.

"Or what?" Sho enunciated furiously. He stepped toward Kei and pushed him back toward the wall, the same wall Kei had been leaning casually against when Sho had arrived home earlier.

He knew Kei could crush his body with his bare hands. Probably crumple him up like a ball of paper if he so wished. He knew the only reason Kei hadn't already let himself be goaded into it was because he loved Sho and was close to him. That was the only reason Sho was able to continue to push Kei and he briefly wondered when Kei would snap.

"You'll go hide in the bathroom or David's room? You'll run away? You'll won't talk to me?"

By this time Kei was hovering just in front of the wall, silently stewing in the rage Sho was inducing in him. Sho saw a chance and grabbed his shoulders, shoving Kei back into the wall and holding him there, crowding Kei so the vampire would physically have to remove him if he wanted to get away.

"I'm done walking on eggshells around you. I'm done watching you starve yourself because you can't just accept what you are. I'm done watching you pine for a past that's gone. I know you blame yourself for what happened with David and Luka. But you have David back now. Also, I'm done watching you push him, your son, away like you pushed me away.

"This isn't a game I'm going to let you play anymore. You can't decide when you're going to let me be your friend. You can't pick and choose. You can't push me away whenever you feel like I'm getting too close, making you feel too much, hindering your escape by just being here."

By this time, Sho's tone had taken on a pleading note. Still angry, only more begging.

"I love you and I want to see you happy. Not wallowing in unhappiness only because you choose to be unhappy."

"Leave me alone, Sho. It's none of your business," Kei mumbled disconsolately, his already glittering eyes even more so with collected moisture. But this only enraged Sho again. He tightened his grip on Kei's shoulder and slammed Kei's back into the wall.

"IT IS MY BUSINESS BECAUSE I'M YOUR FRIEND AND I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU!" He yelled angrily. The next thing he knew he had pulled Kei to him and buried his face into Kei's neck, his grip crushing although Kei probably felt little of the pain of it.

For Kei this was very nearly agony. When Sho had first said he loved him, the little voice inside Kei had whispered little encouragements to him to claim what was his. And then when Sho had grabbed him he nearly snapped there. But oh gods, having his face so close to Sho's neck, breathing in the deliriously delicious scent of Sho's hot, delectable, spicy blood. He never wanted to taste his blood so bad in that moment. And then he felt the heat overtaking his body, a slow burning making his skin prickle pleasantly. And he knew soon the rooted desire he had harbored for nearly two weeks would be back, screaming at him to take, claim, mark, possess.

Sho felt Kei's hands on his sides and thought for a second that maybe the blonde would hug him back. In the next second he was being aggressively thrust away from Kei, stumbling and nearly tripping onto his ass. But he regained his footing and gave Kei a black look. Kei was panting and frowning at Sho in pain, as though expelling Sho from him had been the most difficult thing he had ever done and he wanted to be angry at Sho for making him do it.

"Stop, Sho. Please, just stop," Kei implored of him, his voice shaking with restraint. "You don't know what you're doing."

Sho purposefully stepped back up in front of him.

"Yes I do," he whispered heatedly. "I just don't care anymore."

And with that he grabbed Kei by the satiny blonde locks at the back of his head and jerked their lips together in a simple kiss.

Kei grabbed him by the biceps, his fingernails digging painfully into Sho's flesh with the surge of heady desire zipping through him. The kiss lasted all of five seconds before Kei was able to force Sho back enough that their lips detached. He ducked his head to avoid Sho's intents, his eyes screwed shut and his breathing shockingly labored. He was trying to concentrate on regaining his melting control, trying to smother the sudden, sharp arousal settling in.

Inside, Sho was praising his own boldness, because without it, Kei would not be still holding onto him after a short, sweet-to-his-addiction kiss and instead Kei would still be pushing Sho away from him.

"Just… Stop, Sho. D-Don't-"

Sho chose to ignore- nay, not acknowledge Kei's desperate pleas, instead dipping down and tilting his head to capture the vampire's lips again. Kei twisted his head just enough at just the right moment so that Sho's kiss landed on his cheek and not his lips. Kei's entire body shuddered as he grappled with every fibre of his being for control over himself, his only weapon in this crusade, his weakening will.

"Stop," he was barely able to whisper despairingly as Sho's lips slid over his cheek and brushed his.

And with the tingling sparks in his lips, a passing thought of Kei's in that moment was that to lose control, to give in and let go, and truly kiss Sho - take him, claim him, dominate him - would be frightening and liberating and so very divine. Every cell in his body agreed. His mind was definitely partial toward it. But his soul was fighting tooth and claw the both of them, attempting to sway the others with morals they couldn't care less about and deflated logic, as in the very core of his very essence Kei was hopelessly needing this.

Sho's lips closed around his bottom one, suckling gently. A white-hot jolt zapped down Kei's spine from this, pummeling his already weary will. He inhaled sharply, quietly, with a shiver. Oh, if only he could just…

Why can't you?

"You won't be able to just push me away this time, Kei," Sho rasped against his lips and Kei shuddered from equal parts arousal and self-restraint. A whimper of resignation almost escaped him.

Oh, yes, why couldn't he?

To keep himself in check he began mentally listing them.

Sho was human. The most difficult problem, as Kei would not, could not, should not, change Sho for his own selfish needs. The life of a vampire was miserable.

Sho nipped at his lip, distracting him as he seemed to know what was going on in Kei's head.

They were more than a century apart in age. And-

Sho's lips brushed his jaw, heading for his sensitive ear.

And they were friends. Kei's mind had barred and locked the way to thinking of any of his friends like that since he hit his teen years way-back-when. (Like it helped in this situation.)

A stream of hot air in the center had Kei jerking his head unsuccessfully sideways, thwarted by Sho's palm on his cheek, cradling his jaw before gripping his chin between one curled finger and accompanying thumb, holding him in place.

Not only were they friends, though. Kei had- Kei had raised-

Sho's hot breath puffed against his lips and Kei dared not open his eyes in case he lost himself in Sho's.

"Sho… please…" Kei begged whiningly in a whisper, at this point not sure what he was begging for. Did he want Sho to stop still? Did he want Sho to kiss him again? And liberate him from his own bonds?

Their open mouths met again, Kei resignedly welcoming the kiss. He felt the exact moment his willpower failed, cracked, snapped and shattered like a too-old sword in its last battle. He felt it happen inside his chest. Felt the very moment when the too-taut chord within holding him together popped apart in the center, curling back like broken guitar strings. Only instead of exposing the sound hole, it was freeing a feral, caged beast that had dangerously laid awaiting its freedom, growling lowly in the shadows.

In the span of an inhale, their positions were reversed and Sho suddenly found himself pinned to the wall, his legs unable to hold him up as Kei literally devoured his lips with a fervent hunger, one hand slapped on the wall next to Sho's head, the other tightly gripping the back of his neck to hold him in place. The blonde kissed him sensitized - all moist lips and nipping teeth and light panting, until he had melted entirely against the vampire, all his senses yearning toward Kei. His head was swimming in a fog when Kei pulled back to let him truly breathe before diving back in, slipping his tongue into Sho's all too willing mouth, enticing Sho's own tongue to play with him, sliding and pushing and twining together in a way that had Sho clinging to Kei's shoulders, hungry for more.

Kei pulled back with a sigh, a thin string of saliva connecting their bottom lips, and Sho's eyelids fluttered open when he heard an odd snap near the back of his head. His unasked, dazed wondering was answered with his braids briefly brushing against his neck before Kei's hand was gripping them tightly, using his new handhold to tilt Sho's head at the perfect angle to expertly plunder Sho's mouth, tickling the roof of it with the tip of his tongue before teasingly withdrawing before diving back in for superficial brushes and curls of their tongues, leaving Sho whining in wanton displeasure, unaware that he was even doing it.

A sudden gasp parted his lips when Kei slipped between his awkwardly parted legs and he found his growing erection pressed almost embarrassingly against Kei's lower stomach. That is, until he felt Kei's hard-on skim over his thigh when he suddenly slipped on the wall, Kei's free hand on the bare skin of his hip, steadying him in a possessive, bruising grip that had a lusty heat sweeping through Sho. Then his groin was once again being pressed into Kei's stomach and when he moaned lowly in his throat he found himself with a mouthful of Kei's talented tongue, making him dizzy. Kei tugged slightly on his braids and Sho jerked, squirming against Kei to get away from the strange fizzle of pleasured pain in his scalp, leaving after-tingles erupting down his spine.

Before he could recover from this new discovery (he had never had his hair pulled in a moment like this before) Kei's fingers were sliding up his black t-shirt, trailing light caresses up his sensitive side causing a weird, quivering jump in the muscles of his pelvis. His pants were tighter after that and he ground his erection into Kei's stomach, desperately wanting friction. Kei growled against his lips at this. Sho shivered, his whole being turned on from that one noise from Kei and he whimpered in response to it, clutching Kei closer by the shoulder and the back of his neck.

Kei's lips left his with a wet smack and Sho had a second of clarity where all he could feel was Kei's hard body pressed against his, his erection pressed frustratingly against Kei's stomach as the vampire's brushed his bottom as stands of silk fluttered against the backs of his fingers. Kei's lips found his neck then, sucking savagely on a wondrously hypersensitive area of skin just under his jaw near his carotid artery. Sho's fingers found themselves buried in platinum silk, his body arching into Kei's as a moan fell from his lips. Sparks were going off all over his body under his skin, like fireworks in his flesh.

Kei trembled against him and the next instant Sho was stumbling into a more upright position by the front of his jacket, which Kei had open and was gripping in both hands. Dazedly he wondered what was going on before Kei was jerking his favorite white jacket off of him, tossing it aside without a care. Then Kei had ahold of his braids again, using them to pull Sho down to his level. He nipped Sho's ear before huskily growling one word into it that had Sho shaking in anticipation and wimpering in agreement, too horny to even consider anything else.

"Bedroom."

And Sho was steered in the direction of his bedroom, stumbling slightly along the way as he kept leaning down to steal breathy, open-mouthed kisses from the blonde, hot desire demanding he taste those lips as much as he possibly could. Oh gods, he severely wanted Kei in that moment and wished they were in his bedroom sooner.

The next thing he knew he was flat on his back on his bed, Kei standing between his open legs, hovering above him. Their lips were fused together for the next minute as Kei wrestled his shirt up as far as it could physically go with him laying down, Sho bringing a booted foot up to brace on the edge of the bed, using it as leverage to help Kei. When his shirt was bunched under his arms Kei broke off their kiss and dove down for Sho's stomach, his tongue flat against the edge of his leather pants in a long, promising lick. Nimble fingers worked his them open, making Sho tremble. Kei licked at him again, tongue leaving a cool, wet trail of saliva from the first short curls of pubic hair peeking from the top of his unbuttoned pants all the way up to his collarbone. Sho shivered and then Kei was latched onto his neck again near his Adam's apple, sucking with serious force and making all kinds of pleasurable sensations in Sho's body that had him grabbing onto Kei's biceps, wanting more.

Sho's pants were wrenched open and Kei's lips left his neck, his hands tearing Sho's shirt over his head. Sho's naked chest was heaving, everything going so fast he had no time to catch his breath. His skin prickled in the cool air, goosebumps erupting in a wave across his skin. Kei's lips found his again and Sho's hands were buried in his hair as his pants were savagely worked off his hips, his erection springing free and brushing against Kei's stomach. Sho's hips twitched upwards in search of friction but Kei pulled away, panting and jerked Sho's pants down to his knees. Sho tried to sit up to help him remove them, his boots still on being the main problem, but Kei had him flat on his back again with a hand on his chest and a warning growl. Sho shuddered, his groin throbbing hotly from the noise.

He nearly wouldn't have heard it but since he was extremely focused on Kei he did, and he almost sat up, a protest on his lips, when Kei snapped the laces on his boots, too impatient to untie them. But then Kei had yanked his boots off one at a time and tossed them aside and his pants were at his ankles, dragging his socks off with him, so Sho was completely naked under Kei's black, predatory gaze. He startled at that, fear actually shivering cooly in his chest as he had only ever seen Kei's gaze that dark when he was so starved the bloodlust had taken his mind. He was barely able to wonder why Kei's eyes were so black before the vampire was at his lips again, and Sho caught a brief glance at them before his own were falling shut instinctively. Pupil dominated Kei's optics, the molten gold Sho had invoked was only a thin halo around black.

Sharp canines skimmed his bottom lip and Sho gasped through his nose, surprised and yet, not really. He was wrenching his mouth away from Kei's in the next instant as Kei's clothed hips were pressing into his, rough denim rubbing his sensitive erection. It felt so fucking delicious, and Sho wanted more, more, more friction against his needy cock, even as little pain registered amongst all the pleasure. He panted softly, his hips undulating against Kei's, so caught up in the feelings of his body he sought to take as much of it as he could, hazily wanting an end to the wonderful tension.

Kei hovered above him on straight arms braced on either side of Sho's torso, caging his prey in so he couldn't escape, even if he wanted to. Which he obviously didn't, he chuckled in his mind. He was quite glad to just stand there and let Sho cling to him, hands fisted in his tight, long-sleeved white shirt, and legs locked around his waist as he rutted into him. Kei studied Sho's closed eyelids, his barely-parted, panting lips, and the frown of pleasured concentration creasing his brow ever-so-slightly. The constant mantra in his mind of claim-claim-take-take-take-claim fading into fuzz as he took this moment to watch his soon-to-be mate use him for pleasure, a satisfied smirk on his lips letting his elongated canines peek out.

He shifted his stance, angling his hips so Sho was grinding more than just his erection into his jeans. Sho stuttered a moan into the heated space between them and Kei delighted in it and the accompanying darkening of the light flush that had gathered in Sho's cheeks. The chanting returned, stringing his body up toward it like it was his puppeteer. All at once his body went rigid and he bared his teeth, fighting off the demanding need to bite Sho. His want warred with his need and he breathed harshly as he forced the urge back, promising it soon.

And really, he wanted it sooner, rather than later. He wanted to see Sho even more desperate. He wanted to see him absolutely needing only Kei to be delivered salvation from his raging desire. He wanted to inject Sho with his own burning lust, the one that had been seething inside him for two weeks, circling its forced cage, biding its time and becoming more enraged. He wanted to truly let it out and bind his mate to him forever with it. He wanted to own Sho with it, so Sho would never part with him. Sho was his, and he would mark him as such, ensure that none would take what was his.

Kei gathered Sho's wrists in one hand and removed them from his shirt with a tug. His other hand went to one of Sho's legs where he hooked it behind the knee and pinned it to the edge of the bed. Sho whined in displeasure, his eyes flickering open as he pouted unhappily at Kei. But a single glance at the almost furious, intent expression on Kei's face had him holding his breath, watching him warily with wide eyes, unknowingly playing the part of Kei's prey wonderfully well.

When Kei disconnected their hips he whimpered quietly, suddenly realizing that he was the only one naked. A sudden desirous need for Kei to be equally naked took him and he attempted to wiggle a hand free so he could divest Kei of his shirt. Kei's gaze snapped to his and Sho froze, finding that he was unable to move with that black look pinning him, capturing him just as effectively as Kei's hands. His leg remaining wrapped around Kei slid down and landed on the bed, his foot propped on the edge.

His trapped hands were pressed to his chest and held there as Kei carefully slid his knee up onto the edge of the mattress, hooking the bend of Sho's leg around his thigh, hiking the man's leg farther up onto the bed and straining muscles in it that had Sho wincing in discomfort. Held like this Sho realized he was trapped, open and vulnerable, this point made when Kei leaned down the slightest and the bulge in his loose jeans pressed briefly into the area below his balls.

Sho's whole body flinched and he gasped, panic spiking the lust coursing through him like poison. The situation was suddenly very real and the full extent of what Sho had pushed himself into hit him like a bucket of ice-water. This did nothing to douse the fire in his blood, though. If anything, it was intensified and his whole body throbbed from want. Which scared him the slightest.

Kei's fangs flashed in a knowing, satisfied grin. He had Sho cornered and he was reacting sublimely to it, his pheromones giving off the scent of arousal and fear to Kei in equal amounts, creating a heady mixture in his head. Anticipation. Kei could smell it in these two from Sho and it caused his mouth to water. He tasted the venom of his soon-to-be bite pooling in his mouth, no longer uncomfortable and unappetizing. Now, it was tangy and sweet, and when he swallowed a mouthful of it, it was an aphrodisiac to his body. Oh, how he wanted to bite Sho and claim him, take him and assert the fact that he was his.

But he harbored a gratifying anticipation also and he refused to let his demanding urges botch what he so sweetly wanted. A shudder claimed his spine and he raked his eyes lasciviously over Sho's body, trapped and his to seize. Another predatory, sexual smirk parted his lips.

Sho's breathing trembled and his groin throbbed almost painfully at the look Kei was giving all of him. The smile, the black look, the locks of blonde hanging just so over those dark orbs, it all dangerously was close to the demon in Sho's nightmares.

Kei released Sho's hands and lowered his face down to the crease where thigh met groin and he teasingly scraped his fangs over the skin hiding away Sho's femoral artery. Sho shivered and whimpered, Kei's lips following his teeth in a teasing, tantalizing touch so close to where he so wanted Kei's lips to actually be in that moment. The ache that had been hiding away in the very core of Sho's being teased and mocked him, returning the surface at Kei's coaxing. Sho's hands went to Kei's shoulder, shaking as they grabbed his shirt and pulled coaxingly on it.

"Kei," he whispered lowly, wanting to get the vampire's attention but fearing retribution of some sort for speaking. Kei had not hurt him so far and Sho doubted he would, but David's warning the first day of Kei's heat rang back to him from some recess of his mind again. A vampire in heat is dangerous. And Kei had been denied. Now that he had Sho… Who knew what would happen? Sho almost wanted to moan in desperation at trying to get himself into this situation, and actually succeeding beyond what he expected.

Kei glanced up at him, not removing his lips from Sho's skin, licking them tauntingly, letting Sho feel the wet brush of his tongue. Kei was going to devour this man. He would drain him. When he was done, Sho would be a mess, and wonderful, writhing mess, all his.

Sho nervously licked his lips, the pleasurable tension in his body becoming tighter from just this small action on Kei's behalf.

"Please, Kei," he whispered now that he had the vampire's attention (not that he had ever not in this encounter). "Please. . .touch me."

The flush on his cheeks flared darker and the beast in Kei purred, satisfied.

Deciding to indulge Sho in this, since he had asked so nicely, Kei stood up and, watching Sho watch him, he stripped himself of his shirt using the bottom hem. Sho swallowed a whimper of want as Kei dropped his shirt to the ground. Then Kei's hands were at the fastenings of his pants and Sho's hand grabbed the sheet at his side. But all Kei did was pop the button before smirking at him below a fringe of blonde.

Sho's world was flipped then as he suddenly found himself face down on the bed - his arms barely able to catch him - with his hips pulled up by Kei. His knees were only barely on the mattress and he buried his face in his arms, knowing just how exposed he was at that moment.

Kei's tongue was on him then, licking in one broad stroke from his perineum to his tailbone. His erection twitched and he moaned softly into his arms. Kei, liking this reaction, did it again, wanting to string him tight and destroy Sho's own control. Kei wouldn't bite him until he was tighter than a drum and begging him, a deep-rooted ache torturing him for release from this hell Kei created for him. The bite would put Sho in this state to begin with but Kei wanted more than that. He wanted Sho to be just a body of unadulterated, unrestrained reactionwhen he bit him. The thought caused Kei to shiver pleasantly as goosebumps erupted on his skin from the base of his skull.

Sho whimpered when he felt Kei's tongue at his entrance, lapping at it and making him mewl, his cock now leaking from this pleasurable sensation he had never known before. The tip of Kei's tongue wiggled inside of him and he whined pathetically into his hand, trying to smother the noise he was making.

Kei took his time doing this, his hands powerfully gripping the back's of his thighs. Using just his tongue he opened Sho's body to him and stretched Sho tauter than pulled rubber, making it difficult for the man to swallow half the sounds he made. Sho was shaking uncontrollably when Kei retracted his tongue, delighting in the taste of Sho teasing him. His body thrummed in anticipation of tasting his blood on his tongue finally. He very nearly moaned at the thought of it sliding down his throat.

Deciding he had had enough, Kei stripped his pants, dropping them to the floor and letting his angrily flushed erection free from its confines. He breathed a sigh of release before pushing Sho onto his stomach. Instinctively Sho rolled onto his back and gasped when he saw Kei completely naked before him, crawling onto the bed above him.

Sho scrambled back until he was properly on the bed and then Kei was gripping his hips with bruising force, holding him still. Sho made a short noise of pain that wanted to be a whimper but was killed off before it could be. His legs were parted and Kei made himself comfortable between them, not quite touching Sho but so close all the man would have to do was loop a leg around the vampire's hips to bring them together.

Lips found their way onto his neck and he was breathing heavily as they closed around the flesh there and applied a delirious suction that had Sho arching into Kei and squirming. He didn't know whether to offer his neck more or pull away from it. Not that he could as Kei's fingers found his braids again and were tilting his head back, pulling on them and causing pleasure to zap and fizzle under his skin, pain commingling with it to make a biting, sharp sensation he found he craved more of.

Kei's lips were all over his neck, sometimes brushing teasingly, sometimes latching on with force to leave behind hickeys that would be purple later. And Sho was incoherent with sensation, his hips straining toward Kei's, his hands convulsing on Kei's shoulders, and quiet noises of pleasure escaping him without his consent. With every slow, taunting kiss to his neck, Sho wished with every cell in his body that Kei would just get on with it already. Touch him, fuck him, give him something, anything. Release if he was charitable.

Fangs scraping over his ear had him jerking away from it, pulling his hair again to create that weird fizzling pleasure in his scalp and down his spine, swirling with the already aching pleasure in his groin. He whimpered as they continued teasing his ear, Kei's tongue slipping out to tease the edge before he nipped the earlobe and sent a hot stream of air right into the center.

"Kei~," Sho whined, hoping the vampire would take the hint and just fuck him, because now it was something he was pretty sure he couldn't go on without getting here, and now.

But of course, Kei had goals he couldn't ignore. One of those being that he would have Sho a hot mess beneath him before he bit him, and he definitely wasn't going to take the man before he claimed him. He wanted his bite to be somewhere people would know about it, somewhere he could access any time he pleased. If he bit Sho while they were fucking he would botch it, and that would make him quite angry.

His tongue found the hollow at the base of Sho's throat and he licked it once before brushing his lips along Sho's collarbone all the way to his shoulder. Moisture had collected on Sho's skin in a thin sheen and he licked his lips to taste the man. His tongue found a slight dip just below Sho's collarbone and he laved it with attention, and he decided that this such place would be perfect for his mark. Any shirt with a low collar would display it and it was so easy to get at.

Slightly upset that he couldn't yet stake his claim on the man that was his, he moved farther down Sho's chest to a pebbled, carmel nipple. He scraped his teeth lightly over it and rubbed it slowly with his tongue, back and forth. Sho squirmed, pushing his hips up into Kei's stomach, still seeking friction on his now painful erection, hoping that Kei would just let him reach his climax at that moment.

Kei pushed his hips back into the mattress with his one hand and pinned them there as he moved his attention to Sho's other, neglected nipple, the hand in Sho's braids pulling hard enough to bow Sho's back and make the man's eyes water.

"Oh, god, Kei, please… Just-" Sho tried to articulate in a keening voice, pleading slightly. Kei let up on the pressure he was forcing onto Sho's neck and back, letting the man relax slightly. He bit down on Sho's nipple though, careful of his fangs and of drawing blood. He was waiting, pushing Sho, trying to hit his limit and break him into begging.

A low growl escaped Kei as Sho bit his own hand to quiet whatever was attempting to get free. He abandoned Sho's chest, snatching up Sho's wrists in his hands and pinning them viciously to the bed, snarling instead. Sho shuddered and writhed under him and Kei realized his was pressing his thigh into Sho's erection. So, he swooped down and brutally attacked Sho's mouth, aiming to make Sho delirious and incoherent before he slid his leg up farther on the mattress and pressed his thigh right against Sho's balls. Without prompting Sho began grinding against it, mewling into Kei's mouth as his tongue curled just so to have him twisting his wrists against Kei's hands acting as manacles, impossible to free himself from.

When Kei pulled away from Sho's mouth, the man made to follow and Kei pulled his thigh back from Sho's groin. Sho groaned in frustration, a dark flush on his cheeks and chest. His eyes were watering from his aching, painful, full-body arousal.

"Oh, Kei, please!" He groaned, hips still straining for Kei. Kei's inner-beast was growling in satisfaction. He was so close to the mess that Kei wanted.

"Please~. Please, Kei, please. Fuck- Just-" Sho begged, unconsciously writhing against Kei's hold on him. Kei watched on impassively, only the dark gleam in his black eyes giving him away. "Please! …please…"

Sho finally collapsed on the bed, legs falling open from where they were clamped onto Kei's hips, arms going boneless in Kei's hold. He stared up at Kei, chocolate eyes openly begging as he licked his lips.

"Please," he whispered, honestly begging.

Kei smiled down at him, his first true smile since Sho had started this. He kissed Sho's lips softly and hope expanded in Sho's chest as he believed they were finally at the end of this …thing.

Then Kei detached their lips and moved them to a dip just under Sho's collarbone where he had been laving delicious attention to previously and Sho's heart fell.

"Kei?" He asked uncertainly but a chokingly sharp inhale caught him and his whole body jerked into Kei's, trembling with strain. Kei's teeth were buried in his flesh there, blood dribbling from where his lips were attached to his skin, and Sho had never felt such agonizing arousal in his life, seconds before not able to compare even in the slightest.

"O-o-ohhhh~" He stuttered, keening the simple breath of a word, surprise painting his expression. His hands were twisting in Kei's hold again, fisting so tightly that his blunt nails were digging into his palms.

He jerked his head to the side, squeezing his eyes closed and writing under Kei, every single part of every single cell in his body being pulled toward Kei, wanting to press into him and never be parted. The ache before was nothing compared to this scorching inferno of painful arousal consuming him, all expanding and coming from where Kei's mouth was attached to his shoulder.

Kei jerked back from him, panting harshly, eyes glazed as he stared into Sho's desperately desperate ones. Sho's lips were moving but no sound was coming forth, he couldn't hardly breathe. Red stained Kei's lips and Sho couldn't tell what he wanted more. To kiss Kei, to have him bite him-claim him again, or for Kei to be in him, taking him so hard he couldn't see straight.

Kei's thoughts seemed to be in the same place because he licked his lips quickly and let go of Sho's wrist, his hands grabbing Sho's sweat-slick thighs and yanking them up so his leaking erection was sliding against the cleft of Sho's ass. Sho's free hands flew up around Kei and clawed his back as he struggled to breathe, pulling himself as close to Kei as he could. He felt the tip of Kei's erection at his entrance and his whole body trembled, a high keen coming from him in desperation.

Then Kei was sliding into him with a growl and Sho threw his head back, Kei filling him the only thing he could focus on as he forgot to breathe. His thighs were impossibly tight in Kei's hold, the muscles shivering from strain. This was salvation, heaven and hell all in one, and Sho could only want more of it. Kei held shakingly still, panting against Sho's collar as his senses were awash with everything Sho. In this moment, he could feel, taste, and smell Sho better than he ever could, ever. And Sho tasted and smelled of spice and sweat and yearning and fire, his hot blood calling to Kei to take, take, take what he needed from him.

And take Kei did, adjusting his hold on Sho, one hand staying on a slick thigh, his other arm going under Sho's lower back to cradle him at the perfect angle to get exactly what he desired from this man.

Then he was pulling out and thrusting back into Sho, hitting his prostate and making Sho cry out his name. His next thrust came without falter and Sho was thrashing his head back and forth, his hands sliding on Kei's sweaty back, clawing for purchase in this tempest of insane pleasure. His body rocked and undulated with Kei's onslaught, noises leaving him unimpeded as he lost himself entirely. His balls were impossibly heavy and tight without him already hitting his climax and he didn't care how long he held on, just that when he came, he would feel Kei doing the same deep inside him, binding them in this exchange.

Kei panted into Sho's collarbone, knowing the end was near as Sho tensed and whined, his body instinctively trying to hold out and wait for him. The slick muscles of Sho's insides were gripping and convulsing around him so deliciously he wouldn't be able to stop taking his mate, even if the end of the world were to fall on them. It wouldn't be much longer before they were cumming together; Kei had strained their bodies too far for anything long and slow.

Kei grit his teeth and gasped before jerking Sho upward and sitting back so Sho was riding him in his lap as he leaned back on his knees. He slid his tongue between his teeth and bit down hard, flooding his mouth with hot blood that dribbled down his chin. With one hand on Sho's hip steading the man, his other fisted Sho's hair and smashed their lips together for a sloppy, wet kiss, Kei's blood passing between them. Kei groaned when Sho suckled his tongue as much as he could while still trying to breathe.

Sho swallowed the collection of fluids in his mouth and gasped feeling Kei's blood burn his esophagus like a potent alcohol.

He shook, his toes curled, and then he was cumming harder than he ever had before, fingers digging into Kei's back hard enough to leave bruises on the vampire. A cry cut off as he lost the ability to breathe again, his whole body clamping down on Kei. Kei's teeth latched onto his nipple, drawing more of his blood free as he came just as hard in Sho, his cock milked by Sho's spasming muscles. He very nearly fractured Sho's hip with his grip there as he rode his orgasm.

Sho whimpered when he could breathe again, Kei's teeth around his nipple ecstasy and torture to his hypersensitive flesh. He didn't even register the dull ache of Kei leaving nearly black bruises on his hip.

They both trembled as they slowly descended from their shared orgasm. Sho was boneless against Kei, lethargically wondering how they were still upright after something as explosive as that. Sho was very nearly convinced in his slowly fading mind that he had completely losthismind when he came. He was sure it had short-circuited and died on him.

He was so out of it, oblivion calling to him, that he barely noticed Kei laying them down on their side with the utmost care. Then Sho was unconscious, Kei not far behind him, their bodies still connected, neither feeling any want nor need to part as they left the living world.

---

Jaded's after-words: Excuse me while I go throw myself into a three-foot snow drift outside my house in my back yard.

So there you have it. 16,069 words spilled out here for your pleasure. I demand HUGE fucking reviews. By the way, I've already started on the next chapter. If I don't get those HUGE FUCKING REVIEWS, than you shall not get another chapter. Yes, I am withholding from you now. So humor me here, I think I went above and beyond Pluto's expectations here.