Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade.

Gorilla

"Did he really?"

Robert nods as he accepts the tumbler of brandy from his lover. "My grandfather felt the gorilla would be better suited to be the Jurgen crest and he had possible designs for the reworked crest drawn up."

Bryan takes the chair across from him. "And how did that go over?"

Smiling Robert stretches his legs out. "He was senile at the time so the family just let him talk about it. Although he did write a five page essay on why changing from the gryphon to the gorilla was a good idea. His arguments were surprisingly sound."

"I'm glad it didn't go through. I really can't see you as a gorilla." Bryan smirks at the look on his lover's face. "You should have known I would say something along those lines."

Robert's smile is soft. "Yes, I should have. I do however, find gorillas to be majestic animals that should be preserved."

Bryan grins. "Make that the fundraiser for your next charity event. You know how your compatriots are."

"I knew there was a reason I kept you around. You have some good ideas."

Bryan smirks. "I'm not all good looks."

Lustrous

The silver collar around Bryan's neck is lustrous and Robert rubs his thumbs over the metal. He'd feared the silver would look bad with Bryan's colouring but it pops against the pale skin and he loves it.

He drags his thumb along the hairline above, smiling at the shiver it draws from the big body. "You've taken well to the collar."

Bryan turns to look at him, but not broken. "Only because it belongs to you."

The low rumble of Bryan's voice sends a wash of heat through him and he bends down to kiss his pet. He'd had no intention of being anyone's dominant again but Bryan had been lost and needy and had called to him on a primal level.

Robert curls his fingers through Bryan's hair and presses his head down to his knee. The weight is reassuring and Robert traces his thumb between skin and metal. "Perhaps I should have a platinum collar made for special occasions. It would be beautiful."

Bryan rubs his cheek against Robert's thigh. "Whatever you think is best."

"Perhaps a wing pattern, something reflecting the freedom you gained from Biovolt."

Bryan grins and closes his eyes. "I like that idea."

Robert tugs gently at pale strands. "I'll get work started on it tomorrow."

Grappling

Bryan tugs at the dangling rope, satisfied when it doesn't move. He turns at the sound of his lover's steps, smiling at the sight of Robert in garb he rarely wears anymore.

Drawing on his gloves Robert looks up the wall. "Is the grappling secure?"

Bryan nods as he pulls his own gloves on. "Do you want to go first?"

Robert smiles as he adjusts the hang of his sword across his back. "Are you hinting I'm not capable of this anymore?"

Smirking Bryan catches his lover's shoulders and draws him close, kissing him hard before releasing him. "Never. And especially not with the way you laid me out this morning."

Robert's grin is quick and fierce. "I always warn you about your right side."

Before Bryan can reply his lover has the rope in his hands and is on his way up. Grinning Bryan follows his lover up the rope. Even though Robert hasn't taken an assassination in nearly two years his skills are still without equal.

He swings over the ramparts and Robert is crouched there, a dagger in his hands.

Bryan removes the grappling and wings the rope around the hook before stashing it away.

Robert reaches over and catches Bryan's hand and smiles, squeezing his hand before disappearing down the stairs.

Bryan draws his long knife and heads opposite his partner. He has an hour to find his target and get back.

Ambush

Bryan curls around Robert, turning so his body is between his lover and the ambush. There's a line of heat and blood across the back of his bicep.

He can hear his men yelling as they work to counteract the ambush. A bullet strikes perilously close and Bryan is glad he put his bulletproof vest on before they left.

Robert squirms and Bryan holds him closer. "Stop fucking moving!"

Still Robert turns his head until it's tucked under Bryan's chin. "I apologize."

Bryan gets a signal from Malenkov and he shifts, drawing his own gun, his other arm curled around Robert's shoulders.

A pair of boots rounds the end of the car and Bryan levels his gun.

Their attacker comes around, rifle held low and Bryan drops the man with a single shot to the knee.

Smirking Bryan stands and draws Robert up with him. "Make sure he gets treatment and is willing to talk." He grimaces at the steady throb of pain in his arm. "And Robert and I will be at the hospital getting this stitched up."

Robert touches Bryan's arm. "Leave the vest with Malenkov. We hardly need any more weird looks from the hospital staff."

Bryan grins. "But I love the looks they give us."

Voyage

Hands clenched around the ship's railings Robert looks out over the heaving ocean. He never imagined growing up, that he'd be forced to make this voyage, fleeing his home land for something beyond his control.

And then he'd met Bryan, a new footman in service to his father. It had started as quick fumblings in the closet to something deeper that cost them everything but their lives and the small fortune his mother had managed to give him, all in small, gold trinkets.

There are footsteps on the blanking behind him and then a lean body is against his back, arms framing him in. He relaxes, letting his lover take some of his weight.

"We'll be there soon."

Robert nods. There is a country where this type of relationship isn't heresy, a place neither of them have been before. "I'd rather never make another voyage like this."

Bryan nods and dips his head to kiss the back of Robert's neck. "We won't. Once we're there, nothing is going to drive us out."

Robert smiles as he moves his hand to cover Bryan's on the railing. His lover is one of the most stubborn men he knows and if Bryan says it isn't going to happen, then it won't.

He sighs. The voyage is almost over.

Scream

Bryan stares at his captor, mindful of the blood running down the side of his face. The man has been trying to get him to scream for the last two hour and how he's losing faith in his skills.

Smirking Bryan leans forward against the bonds holding him. "You might want to try harder."

The man looks flustered, turning a circle as he surveys the tools at hand.

With a slow breath Bryan closes his eyes. The pain is pulling at the edges of his awareness, hot and bright and ignoring it is getting difficult, but better him than Robert.

His lover is safely tucked away in a safe house, unaware of his blight.

There's a snap of flames and Bryan opens his eyes, unsurprised to see flames in the small brazier in the corner. He swallows and taps the part of his training where pain is just a lesson.

It peters out and he isn't surprised at the hot brand coming towards him. Fire is always the last resort because it hurts the most.

Fingers curling around the arms of the chair he locks his jaw before the brand even touches the skin of his arm. The first touch is bare a kiss of hot metal and he glowers at the man. The next touch is longer, burning skin and the muscle underneath and he bites back a scream.