A/N: Whoops, I wrote a long one _. I've been recovering from some surgery (had a hysterectomy), which apparently puts me in a mushpot mood, so prepare yourself for fluff. Lots of fluff. And bad karaoke. And possibly narcotics-induced typos.
Part 49: Outbid
"Yup! No, let her know we'll meet you guys at the karaoke place," Risa smiled into the phone. "I'll see you both tonight. Okay. Okay...bye!" She slipped her phone down into her pocket, and got the sneaking sense someone was with her, a little too late.
Tanned arms braced around her, sudden but gentle. "Almossst!" Dark smirked, swaying her back and forth a bit to gloat.
"I definitely noticed you that time!" she defended, spinning her head to nip him on the nose.
"Arg, it bites!" the angel swore, freeing his prey. He danced a step back with his eyes twinkling.
Until he took one more step back, and hit a tripwire. Dark's expression tensed and his wings swung out, but it wasn't enough to save his fall. He went down on his back, and Risa was right there over him, pinning his chest merrily with one bare foot. "GOTCHA!" she gloated.
The thief blinked. It took a minute for him to process the situation. A sly smile started on his lips. "Very nice," he purred. His hands clutched her foot from his chest and twisted, bringing her down next to him in a giggling heap.
"I'm sure you didn't know, but these types of things get me...excited," the angel murmured, curling over top of her.
"What? I had no idea." She canted her head innocently to the side.
"Sure," Dark laughed, his breath caressing her ear as he leaned down chest to chest against her. His fingers ran through the soft hair at the base of her neck.
"You have some weird turn-ons," Risa teased. She was very aware of his lithe frame pressing against hers, his violet hair tickling her cheek. His gaze was bright and alert, like some wild creature. He smiled slightly and pressed his lips to hers. The ground fell out from under her. She still hadn't gotten used to this, even a little. It felt like she might burst from this one simple contact. When his lips left hers to trail down her neck, she shivered. "Oh, God, how do you do that."
"I should ask you the same thing," he rumbled softly in her ear.
She switched to their link, because things tended to get across to him better this way. *I might be willing to explain it to you,* she wove a hand up his shirt, *if you tell me where this bandage came from,* she added. Her fingers slid to his side pointedly.
He blinked at her, realizing he was trapped between her arms. *I, uh…*
*Uh huh?* her fingers traced the edges of the patch he'd stuck over his left ribcage. She worried that touching it might hurt him, but it just made his breath rush out in a half moan. Oh, that voice… She reminded herself that just because he was sexy didn't mean she could let him off the hook. *How did the job go?*
Dark rolled to his side next to her, looking a little more guarded. She met his gaze and waited patiently while he decided what to tell her. "I got to the necklace. Looked like it already possessed its new owner's wife, though."
"Goody," Risa muttered. "Did she have time to hurt anyone?" The necklace was called the Jealous Pearl for a reason. It possessed its wearers, and caused some pretty terrible results. It had been locked in a private collection for the last few decades, but had recently changed hands.
"No," Dark confirmed. "I noticed as soon as the necklace woke up. She wasn't possessed for long."
Risa tried not to look as fascinated as she felt. These things had been normal with Daisuke, and she wanted Dark to feel like he could discuss them with her, too. "How did you know it had a new owner?"
The angel lifted up a long black feather between them and gave it a self-explanatory twirl. "I felt it. We're all slightly connected. I just had to research where she was."
Risa wasn't sure she liked the idea of Dark lumping himself in the same category with a cursed necklace. But he was a Hikari creation; that much would be silly to argue. "Did you steal it?"
Dark's head took on an innocent tilt. "Not exactly. It doesn't count if her husband begs me to take it, right?"
She thought about that and shook her head. "Technically, I guess not. But how'd you get hurt if he wanted you to take it?"
He showed her a rueful smile. "There was a little failsafe worked into the craftsmanship. I set it off when I went to seal off the necklace. It had claws. He fingered his ribs. "Sharp ones."
He met her eyes again. It seemed like he was watching her reaction. She wondered if he was expecting her to scold him or something for running into danger without anyone else even knowing where to find him if he got hurt. She wouldn't, but she still wasn't quite sure what her reaction was. Just because Dark was outed to society didn't mean that Hikari art would just stop going berserk. He was what he was for a reason. "Do you have to do these things by yourself?" she finally asked. "Can't you bring Daisuke for backup?"
Dark lowered the feather he'd been twirling. As Risa had expected, the faint glow of his soul in the back of her consciousness winked out at the mention of Daisuke. Lockdown, huh? The thief's expression spread into a fake smile. "Sidekicks aren't cool, anyway," he joked.
It hurt to look at that smile. Every time Daisuke came up… "I know things have been different between you two, but if you could forgive him, I really think he'd-"
"I do forgive him," Dark cut her off. "I just don't need a partner."
Liar. She could read his warning to back off, even though she didn't like it. "Is it… is it something I could do with you?" she offered carefully.
"Risa…" He smiled, carefully but for real this time. The angel took her hand up in his, clasping it between them. "Listen… Daisuke was trained, from childhood, to deal with heists, to keep up with me, to avoid traps and obstacles. When he wasn't in school, that was his life. He hated it." Dark looked at her, eyes pleading for her to understand. *And to make you ready, I'd have to train you until you hated it, too.*
He closed his eyes and allowed her to see inside him. He didn't want her to hate any of their time together. He didn't want to reduce himself to her trainer. She wasn't a thieving partner. She was...everything else. Everything.
She was in awe as he let her into his mind. It was the first time he'd shown her something so vivid, and the first time she saw for herself what she meant to him. The feeling held its hand out to her soul and asked it to dance. His thoughts were so certain, so pure. Her insecurities were absurd in comparison.
If she could learn to share like this, if she could just give this feeling to him, douse out his uncertainty, maybe it could take away that rift she could feel in the back of his soul. But no sooner did she start to try, than his mind drew quietly separate again.
"Dark," she smiled softly, her throat knotting. Don't run yet! Teach me what you just did! For an instant, she'd been able to see him so clearly. That look on his face, the thoughts behind those eyes… The Dark she'd chased as a girl was just a cardboard cutout of the warm, breathing being lying so real next to her. He was playful and passionate and a little broken. He wanted to be wild, and he wanted to be secure. He was all of it at once, and she was finally starting to truly understand him. He probably couldn't keep it from her if he tried, with the link being what it was.
And that was why she knew, whether he said it or not, that there was a corner of his world that kept crashing down no matter how hard she tried to hold the rest of it up. "Dark," she offered softly. "I think you should talk to someone."
The angel arched his brows curiously. Only their connection betrayed the quick jolt of surprise he felt.
Going to deny it, eh? "Something's wrong," she said. "You're struggling, and it seems like it's not something you can talk about with me."
"What?" He blinked, a pang of guilt coming through their link. It was all the confirmation she needed, and they both knew it.
"I'm guessing, you can't talk about it with Daisuke either." She could see his expression wrinkling in suspicion. "No, you didn't talk in your sleep again," she assured. "Though please keep doing that, it's adorable. I'm only guessing at whatever's happening with you."
Dark rolled to his back, arms loose on either side of his head, and stared at the ceiling. "I may be thinking a little too much," he allowed, and then added sharply, "In a rugged, manly way, not in a lame sad way."
"Mm hm," she smiled, and he grinned back. "Can you do this newbie wing host a favor and let someone hear you out? It doesn't need to me."
"Who on earth else?" Dark asked honestly.
That made her glow, inside and out. But it seemed like this had to do with Daisuke, and Dark needed someone he could talk to without worrying about hurting her feelings. "How about someone who can comprehend what you're going through? Maybe someone who's had experience with this sort of thing?"
Dark smirked. "There's only one other person in the universe like me, and I'm not about to call him up for lunch."
"Why not?"
The angel's gaze turned incredulous. He gave her a pointed look. "Hm, let's start with: We stabbed each other to death."
"I thought you two were at a ceasefire? You saved the whole city together," she pointed out. "And you've known each other longer than anyone else."
Dark's frown was evidence of how difficult it was to imagine what she was saying. Was the idea that crazy? When they'd been trying to save Dark, Krad had almost become like part of the team. Maybe she'd normalized him too much.
Dark placed a big hand on top of her head. "Let me get this perfectly clear. You think Krad Hikari and I should just...what? Have a tea party?"
"I think," she arched over him, smiling. "That it's very alluring when a man confronts his emotions." Her lips brushed his. "And if you let yourself talk to someone about this, I'd be very impressed." Each word was a promise carved into his flesh.
He swallowed. "That isn't going to just keep working every time, you know."
"It's not?" she grinned evilly, running her fingers along the arch of his wing.
"He's my enemy! Or was," the angel choked back a moan. Her touch was incredibly precise. Perhaps he shouldn't have let her feel everything the other night. "I won't rule it out. Okay?"
She just smiled.
He was so screwed.
ooooOooooOooooOoooo
"Does it feel any different this time?" Nakamura asked.
The blonde stood across from her over the lab bench, frowning. He was wearing a helmet-like device that could supposedly follow his neural activity. "No."
Between them was a vial of Krad's blood mixed with an ionized compound, set under a microscope. Well, it had been ionized a moment ago, anyway. Now, after a few moments of focused attention from the blonde, the measurements suggested it was fully restored to its stable molecular structure. At this point, the phenomenon was no longer miraculous to the scientist. She'd spent the last three days trying to find a way to reproduce the reaction without Krad's help.
"Maybe if I expose it to a stronger current at the same time," she murmured. "It would destroy normal blood, but yours might pull through it."
He rolled his eyes. "For the last time, I'm the one doing it, not the blood. A human cannot replicate this. What is so interesting about fixing these atoms, anyway?"
She waved a hand at him. "Answer this: Where are the balancing electrons coming from, hmm? Your magic has stabilized every ion we've tried, without affecting the environment around it. You're creating things out of thin air." One look at Krad's mirthless expression proved how little he appreciated what she was saying. "You're eschewing conservation of energy and a half dozen other core principles of chemistry."
"Hikari power exists for creation. It's only natural that it restores things to their proper state." Krad abandoned the idea of reasoning with her and glanced at the clock. Nearly six. In a few hours, he could go back to Satoshi. He hated it here.
She wrote something down and stared at it, tapping her eraser against her lip. "If we learn to reproduce this kind of behavior, it opens all sorts of possibilities." Then she turned and went to the supply cabinet on the other side of the room. When she came back, she was holding a small brown bottle. She unscrewed it and used an eyedropper to withdraw some of the liquid. "When I say start," Nakamura checked the focus on her microscope, "apply your power as before."
The angel grimaced at her casual application of his magic. For the thousandth time, he reminded himself that he'd chosen this. He waited while she positioned the eyedropper over the vial.
"Start," she said, releasing the chemical into the solution. Krad raised two fingers to focus, and targeted the vial.
This time, though, it was like something in his target reached back out and flicked at him. It was a strange and subtle sensation. He quickly wondered if he'd imagined it.
Nakamura was looking at the projection from the microscope. The screen was facing away from Krad's line of sight. "A little more," she murmured.
Krad wondered what she was up to. She hadn't asked for him to sustain the spell more than a few moments before. This time, she gestured for him to continue. Two minutes later, still gazing fixedly at the screen, she finally said "Enough. Good," and leaned back to scribble in her notebook.
The angel released his focus and crossed his arms. He was so sick of this. Actually, he literally did feel kind of sick. He thought about taking a cold shower when he got home, and then remembered that Satoshi had a surprisingly strong objection to them. The thought dragged in the memory of his wing host's lips on his cheek. He exhaled, no longer thinking about the lab or Nakamura.
"...hydrochloric acid."
"What?" he snapped to attention.
She frowned at him critically for drifting off. "I said, that was undiluted hydrochloric acid. And your blood cells," she turned the screen so he could see the projection of the microscope slide, "Just healed themselves while the acid burned them."
He tipped his head, curious enough to look at the screen. The healthy cells were rapidly deteriorating now that his power had stopped running through them. As he watched, the acid killed his blood sample in a matter of seconds.
"You should really treat those more carefully," he sighed. "If you keep wasting them, I'll stop giving them to you."
She was still looking at the microscope image as she said, "I will arrange for some more dispensable tissue samples. Go home early for today. I have a few ideas to work through before you come back tomorrow."
The blonde did not need to be asked twice. He removed the helmet sensor and dropped it on the metal lab bench like it was a soiled rag.
"Hey! That's expensive," the scientist snarled. Krad cast her a defiant glare. She frowned, but also retreated a step. Krad snorted and strolled out of the room.
Nakamura didn't watch him leave. She stood there studying the dead blood sample on the screen. She reached for the mouse and scrubbed the video recording backwards to the experiment. She was going to figure out how the angel did that, even if it took her all night.
oooOooooOooooOooo
Krad beat his wings and closed his eyes. The early evening air felt good against his skin. Flying felt good. He was pleased. With the early dismissal, he would probably arrive home shortly after his wing host. He hadn't seen Satoshi much lately, thanks to the way their work schedules overlapped. By the time he got back, the boy was usually getting ready for bed. In the morning, Satoshi was gone before he even rose.
Not that he really had anything particular in mind to do once he got there. Before the research project, he and Satoshi had basically just done their own separate things between the same walls when they were both at home.
The angel's mood buoyed upward at the thought. They would both be home. That was enough. He let the invisibility shield fall away as he alighted on Satoshi's balcony railing. The sun hadn't even set yet. He took a deep breath and let the lab, and all the tension that went with it, roll loose from his nerves. The desert hues stretching across the horizon boosted his efforts. The sunset sky looked like a painting.
Krad slid open the balcony door and let himself in. He walked to the center of the apartment, at the border between the common room and kitchen area, and hesitated. He didn't sense his wing host's presence. "Satoshi," he said, turning once. He didn't bother looking in the bedroom; he could tell no one else was home. Krad guessed the boy must have stopped to do something on the way back. The angel perched on a stool at the kitchen island and got his phone out. He set the device on the countertop and looked at it.
It would be ill-conceived to call him. What would he even say? He traced the edge of the device with a long finger and drove off the temptation to be disappointed. So what if Satoshi wasn't back? It wasn't like he had nothing to do. He glanced to the half-formed painting on the wall, and instead found himself remembering the feathery touch of Satoshi's lips on his cheek. Crap. He pressed a hand to his chest and took a deep breath. He was sure Satoshi wouldn't want him to attach these feelings to his wing host's gesture from the night before. Satoshi had only kissed him as a sign of approval for saving the kid. But every time Krad thought about it, something inside him caught on fire.
He closed his eyes and fought off the feeling. He could paint. Satoshi would be back soon enough. The angel changed into an old shirt and got out his tools. He mixed several gradients of green and blue, cleaned a detailing brush, and set about laying fine, near-calligraphic lines over the base colors he'd already created. He wasn't really sure what he was painting. He just lay the strokes out on instinct, slow and precise, one at a time. Seconds flowed into minutes. Twenty.
Fifty.
Sixty.
Ninety.
The angel paused, lifting his brush mid-stroke. Frustration welled up in his gut. He turned once again to look at the clock. It had been almost two hours, and Satoshi hadn't returned. Annoyance had chewed its way into concern. There couldn't be something wrong, right? Nothing would happen to him simply returning from work.
Krad set his jaw and put down his tools. He crossed back to the counter and looked down at his phone. Hadn't Satoshi gotten this so they could contact each other without the link? If so, Krad was justified in using it to call him, was he not? He still felt foolish as he picked it up and worked through the clumsy process of unlocking the screen. Maybe this was a test to be sure he knew how to use it? The boy was trying to force him to check in? The theory raised a wave of anger in him as he found his wing host's number and hit the call button.
"Hello," the boy's voice greeted him across the circuit. His tone was cheerful, like he'd stopped to answer the phone mid-laugh. Wherever Satoshi was, there was a lot of background noise. It sounded like someone was singing, and badly.
Krad wasn't sure what to say. It stopped the angel's heart for a second, hearing that pleasure in his wing host's voice. "Where are you?" was all he could manage.
"Krad?" the boy sounded different over the phone. His voice was relaxed, and perhaps a little bit slurred.
"You're up, Satoshi!" a male voice called in the background. Krad recognized the voice of Dark's wing host.
"Nope, I do not sing." Satoshi replied smugly, speaking away from the microphone.
"Hey now! The rest of us made fools of ourselves, so you're not escaping without singing too!" Risa Harada laughed. She sounded even more slurred than Satoshi had. It occurred to Krad that they were probably drinking. Some sort of party?
"Need some more liquid courage, Sato?" Riku chuckled.
"Any more courage and Dark's gonna have to fly him home."
"Hey, I'm not a taxi service," Dark's unmistakeable voice answered the others over the loud music.
Dark was there with him. Krad managed not to drop the phone, but he came close. Something was crushing down against his heart. "Satoshi?"
When the boy finally spoke into the mouthpiece again, he sounded distracted. "Krad, we're celebrating Riku's acceptance to Tokyo U. I'll probably head back soon. Sorry I forgot to leave a note. I thought we'd be done by now."
The blonde winced. "Do what you want," he said, and ended the call. He lowered his hand with the phone to the counter. The angel stared at the countertop in a daze, replaying the conversation in his head.
He'd never heard Satoshi use that easy, relaxed voice at home. The boy was in some noisy bar, with his friends, with Dark, and he sounded happy.
Krad realized he hadn't asked when the boy would be home. How would he react if Dark actually flew Satoshi back here? Jealousy stabbed at him. Then it morphed into self-disgust. Who was he to take issue with any of it? Satoshi sounded happier in that shitty club than Krad had heard him in weeks. Conversely, Krad had jeopardized his job, drawn reporters to his home, and compromised his privacy. More often than not, the boy seemed tense or worried even though he was in his own apartment. The blonde touched his cheek where the boy had kissed him, and an empty pang rattled through him. What did that mean? What was Satoshi getting out of any of this? Because from where Krad was standing, it sure looked like he was ruining his wing host's life.
It was a little over an hour later when a thump on the balcony drew Krad's head up from the counter. The blonde scrubbed a hand over his face. He didn't remember falling asleep.
"For godsake, I can walk," Satoshi's muffled voice complained on the other side of the glass. Krad jerked upright and glanced over his shoulder in the direction of the noise. He was at the balcony door in moments, and slung it aside to find himself face to face with Dark. The black angel had one strong hand around Satoshi's upper arm. Krad stared. He felt like he was paralyzed.
"I said I can stand up fine!" Satoshi was complaining. He gave his arm a tug, which was not successful. He wasn't completely wrecked, but he was definitely a little wobbly.
Dark was smirking and looked like he was about to crack a joke at his intoxicated cargo's expense. Then he looked up and noticed Krad's expression. Dark's face went slack. It was the first time they'd seen each other since their battle against the Black Wings, and...Dark had never seen the blonde make that expression before. "What the hell?" he breathed, and froze. He hadn't meant to say it until it was already out of his mouth.
Krad met his eyes with an instant's flash of anger, but it fizzled out. Satoshi seemed oblivious. The boy shook free of Dark's hold so he could go inside. Dark released him, and Krad took a step back to let Satoshi through the door.
"I've gotta pee. No fighting," Satoshi ordered, shoving a finger into Krad's chest as he passed. He cast them a backward glance before stumbling a little on his way to the bathroom.
Krad watched after the bluenette without moving from where he stood. He could feel Dark staring at him. Something about the thief seemed off. He turned back toward Dark, arching a brow. "You've brought him. Now leave," the blonde said, sliding the door shut between them. He was about to latch it when his brain placed what was bothering him. He slammed it back open, eyes boring into Dark's chest. "What's wrong with you?" he demanded.
Dark pretended to clutch his heart. "Hey, that's not very nice," he smirked.
Krad pressed closer to the doorway, eyes scouring his counterpart like he might find some visual symptom of what had caught his attention. He sent a testing pulse of energy out over the thief.
"Hey!" Dark stiffened. The energy flowed over his skin, passing around him, and then returned to its owner.
Krad tilted his head as he read the spell. The thief's magic had answered him, but it felt changed. Unfamiliar. "Why don't you feel like a Niwa?" he demanded.
Dark drew back a step. It put him up against the balcony railing. He half intended to jump over it to avoid getting into this discussion with his counterpart. Hadn't Satoshi told him anything?
"Because I'm not, anymore," he smiled angrily. "And if you probe me like that again-"
"Like hell you're not!" Krad's sharp golden eyes were fixed on him now. The blonde glanced back at the closed bathroom door and then stepped out onto the balcony with Dark. It was the closest they'd ever been to each other without throwing an attack, and both angels instinctively moved to opposite corners of the narrow balcony. "Your magic signature's all screwed up. What did you and that Niwa brat do?" The blonde was staring at him, through him, trying to determine if anything else was noticeably different about his counterpart. Dark's aura was off, but this was definitely still him.
Dark glanced away. He seemed to be fighting to keep his expression level. "He's not my wing host this time. I think...the kid just needed out." He peered at his counterpart as if he expected Krad to sport amusement at this revelation. The blonde didn't laugh. Dark went on slowly. "Risa Harada formed the link with me, somehow. If she hadn't…"
Neither of them had to say it. The Gorudo fiasco had proven beyond doubt what would happen to either of them without a soul link. But for the Harada girl to link with Dark… "How is that even possible?" Krad murmured. "She's not male, or a Niwa."
Dark leaned back against the railing and crossed his arms. "When the Black Wings fell apart, and we reformed...I think the blood links reset. By will this time, not bloodline. If Risa hadn't chosen this, I'm not sure I would have woken up." His expression faltered. "Though she might regret it once she realizes what she got herself into."
Krad didn't respond at first. It was extremely strange to have this conflicted, struggling version of Dark standing before him instead of the usual cocky thief. Dark's wing host had just...chosen to end the curse? Krad had never palled around with his wing hosts the way Dark did. He'd looked down on it, even resented it as a weakness.
But now, he was no better. He wasn't fool enough to think Satoshi was the same as the others. The loss Dark was talking about hit too close to ignore. It also made no sense. Krad had destroyed his wing hosts, but Dark had held back. He'd sacrificed and emotionally invested in them. Niwa wing hosts wouldn't turn on Dark Mousy. Krad turned his thoughts to the Harada girl. He remembered her sitting next to him in the back of that van, clutching the marble that linked her to Dark like it was the only thing left in the universe.
"From my interactions with her," Krad muttered, "That woman does nothing half-heartedly. Particularly when it comes to you."
Dark shook his head, and smiled. "Yeah, she's something else."
Krad met his gaze. "Idiot. That kid didn't reject you. He probably got outbid."
"Outbid?" Dark swallowed hard and stared at him. Krad flushed. He really hoped his counterpart wasn't going to cry or something. Why the heck was he trying to make Dark feel better? The thief looked as confused about it as he was.
Dark was quiet for a full minute, processing what Krad had said. Krad was clueless as to what went on in that lovesick fool's head, but the thief finally looked at him and stood up a little straighter. "Look… I know this isn't our usual thing but, hell. Nobody else would have gotten any of this. So, thanks." He glanced inside the apartment. "Also, I know you weren't wild about the way I brought Satoshi home, and I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to mess with you or anything."
Krad frowned. He felt like he wanted to bolt from this entire situation, but he held his ground. "Sure," he murmured.
Dark watched him a moment, and raked a hand through his hair. "Look, if you have shit to get out, I'll listen too."
Krad smiled ruefully. "Talking all the damn time is your thing. Not mine."
Dark chuckled. "Fair enough." He put his hands on the railing and stretched his huge black wings up against the darkness.
Krad turned for the door, and stopped. "Do you think it was the same with Satoshi?"
Dark had been just about to take off. The thief turned back to look at him in confusion.
Krad drew a breath. "Was this his choice?"
The thief turned and stared. Probably trying to figure him out. Krad bit his tongue and endured it, and tried not to look as desperate as he felt about the answer. "Yeah," Dark acknowledged quietly. "Maybe it took him a while to be sure, but I believe it was Satoshi that brought you back, whether he knows it or not."
Krad looked at the ground and processed the thief's answer with a muted "Oh." Back in the apartment, the toilet flushed. He looked over his shoulder in a daze.
"I'll leave you guys in peace. Might want to make sure he drinks some water," Dark winked as he hopped up onto the railing.
Krad got hold of himself and scowled at his counterpart. He didn't look back at Dark's stupid smirk as he slid the door shut behind him. Satoshi chose me? All night, he'd been thinking about all the ways he was wrecking the boy's life. All of them were predictable, maybe even inevitable side effects of living with him. Would Satoshi have actually chosen this screwed up lifestyle? The angel drew the blinds across the balcony door and turned to see Satoshi standing just outside the bathroom, looking back at him.
"Anyone dead?" the bluenette asked, still tipsy.
Krad smirked. The boy was being sort of cute. "I didn't kill your taxi."
"Oh, well," Satoshi snickered and trekked to the sofa. "Taxi drivers should not sing," he added firmly. "None of us should sing." He plopped down on the center cushion and reached for the remote.
"What are you doing now?" Krad mused, walking further into the room so he could eye the TV.
"Watching a movie before you fall asleep all over my sofa." The boy wrinkled his nose a bit.
The blonde blinked. Satoshi didn't usually watch a lot of TV, or stay up late, but maybe that was because of him? "Do you not have to work tomorrow morning?"
"I'm not tired. Are you watching the movie, or not?" the boy sighed.
Krad froze. Satoshi wasn't just watching a movie… he was inviting him to watch a movie? The blonde willed his legs to cooperate and walked slowly to the sofa. His wing host was on the center cushion, one long leg tucked under him and the other stretched out on the rug. That left nowhere to sit but directly beside him. Krad folded his wings tightly and lowered himself to the cushion, both hands resting on his knees. He watched the boy scroll through options on the screen until he found something and picked it. "Seen this yet?"
Krad was looking at Satoshi, not at the screen. "I don't know any movies, Satoshi," he pointed out. The boy must still be drunk. Satoshi frowned at him like he was ready to start a fight if Krad didn't state an opinion, so the blonde shot a look at the screen. "That one's fine."
That seemed to mollify him. Satoshi hit a button, and the beginning of what looked like some cop movie started up on the TV.
Human actors chased each other in cars, shooting and yelling. Satoshi was warm and real next to him, his body heat noticeable even though they weren't touching. The wing host settled deeper into the cushions, relaxing into the activity like this was some normal thing they did together.
Krad stared at the screen without really watching it, his posture tight. He felt so...happy. He wondered if there was even a chance that Dark was right, and Satoshi had chosen this. Wanted this. Wanted him.
"You think you can just disappear again, and I wouldn't feel anything? You think I can lose you a third time?!" the boy had screamed, the night he'd awakened. "Damn you! I thought I was going insane. I thought, any moment now, there would be nothing left of me." For the first time, Krad really let himself hear those words and try to grasp their meaning.
Satoshi didn't make it long into the movie. About half an hour in, his eyes drifted shut. He wilted gradually over onto the angel's side of the couch, until his head touched the blonde's tricep. "Satoshi?" Krad checked quietly. The boy didn't respond. Any further, and he was at risk of slumping into the blonde's lap.
Part of Krad wanted to stay right there anyway. But then, he doubted the boy would appreciate waking up in his lap. Satoshi may have pecked him on the cheek, but he did not seem comfortable with Krad's body lately. The angel slid carefully off the sofa and looked back at his sleeping wing host. Sure enough, Satoshi slumped to his side across the cushion Krad had been seated on.
He listened to the boy's quiet breathing. After waiting a few minutes, Krad finally turned off the television. It looked like he was out of a bed, tonight.
To be continued...