A/N: My new favorite point-of-view song for Krad in this story is Stone Sour - Song #3. Go listen to it and reinforce my nerdy excitement over this! Lol

Thank you guys for reviewing, you made my day! The surgery went fine and I'm all healed up, just sleepy.

Part 50: An Experiment

The morning sun was brighter than usual through his window. Satoshi squeezed his eyes tighter against the light, not ready to get up yet. A dull throb answered the movement in the base of his skull. Right... he'd been drinking last night. He rolled lazily to his left, meaning to bury his face in the pillows. Instead, he came up against a hard boundary, and the texture of upholstery against his cheek.

This wasn't his bed. Or his bedroom. The bluenette blinked his eyes open and brought the back of his sofa into focus. The previous night slowly trickled back into his memory. He loosely recalled being dragged back here by Dark, and sitting down to watch Bad Boys 2. Wow, he really must have been drunk to put that on.

Wait, Krad had been with him. He remembered drunkenly ordering the angel to sit next to him on the couch. Embarrassment barraged him. He'd even deliberately sat in the center to force the blonde closer to him. Losing his inhibitions was dangerous.

The couch… If he was on the couch, what about Krad? He eased flat again on his back and looked around. The angel was sitting on the floor against the opposite end of the sofa. His back was twisted so that his head rested pillowed on one arm near Satoshi's shins. It didn't look particularly comfortable, but the angel's face was placid and still. Looking down also brought his attention to the blanket that had been draped over his form.

He was really awake now. Krad had gotten this from the other room and covered him? How had he slept through that? It was hard to imagine Krad noticing his coldness or caring enough to fix it. Then again, he recalled, Krad had once blanketed him with his wing when they were both injured. This time, the angel had gone and gotten a blanket from somewhere else. For a split second, he regretted that Krad hadn't taken the chance to use his wing again this time. He knew it was unreasonable. Even if the angel had wanted to, he'd promised not to touch him, mentally or physically.

Until Satoshi asked. The bluenette's gaze swam back to the blonde's sleeping expression no matter how hard he tried to look away. That position really didn't look comfortable. And it was only a few days since he hurt his back. Satoshi stretched a hand down to the angel's elbow and squeezed it gently. Krad's skin was always so warm. Honey-colored eyes cracked open to look at him.

"Hey," the bluenette whispered, not wanting to jar him awake. "You're on the floor."

He looked around himself slowly. "Yeah," he agreed, still half asleep.

Satoshi warmed into a smile. How strange, to have a groggy, impossibly beautiful work of art curled by his feet. "I'm sorry. You could have taken my bed."

"This is fine," Krad murmured. He rested his head back on his arm, watching him. A pale triangle of exposed chest peeked out beneath the blonde's loose collar.

"Thanks for the blanket." Satoshi sat up. The movement made his head throb. His back complained as well, achy and stiff. He'd slept in sleeping bags in the woods that were more comfortable than this couch.

And Krad slept on it every night.

Satoshi noticed the opposite wall, and sucked in a breath. A koi dragon stretched diagonally, swimming across the wall. Its face and neck were alive with a winter wind of blue, white, and gray, while the rest still looked like foundational linework. It was breathtakingly good. "Krad…" he murmured, frozen in his examination of the painting.

The angel rotated so that his back was up against the couch, and followed Satoshi's eyes. "I got back early," he explained, as if he'd done his taxes and not created an impromptu masterpiece.

"You did?" Satoshi looked back at him, connecting dots and remembering the phone call. "If I'd known you were home…" he trailed off. He was about to say he would have invited him to come with them. But would he have? Satoshi trusted him now not to randomly kill anyone, but Krad still didn't seem very comfortable with the human world outside this apartment.

That said, Satoshi knew he hadn't done much of anything to help Krad adjust or feel like he had a place here. He'd been too busy waiting for it all to fall apart to hope for anything more. Nothing would ever get more normal unless he started to let it. He fought back his accelerating heartbeat. "Can we try the movie again, tonight? I promise I won't pick Bad Boys this time. Or fall asleep on you."

The angel looked surprised, but nodded. His eyes drifted to the window, and he added, "I do not mind if you fall asleep on me."

Satoshi's face went hot. Krad had taken the figure of speech literally...and besides that, he also didn't mind? The mental image of falling asleep against the blonde was more than he was prepared to process. Wait…

"Is that what I did last night?" he asked, horror lining his voice.

Krad's expression drew taut. "I got out of the way," he clarified. The softness of his voice was gone, and he sounded reserved, tight. Satoshi could have punched himself. That reaction again… Every time Satoshi acted averse to Krad's touch or their link, the angel faltered like this. And yet he kept doing it to him. At first he'd been sure he was imagining it, but it was getting easier to believe every time that pain flashed through the stoic blonde's expression. And that was so, so far from what he wanted.

He reached out and touched Krad's cheek, drawing it around so he faced him again. The blonde went still under the touch and stared at him. Satoshi panicked. He'd moved his hand without thinking, and now he felt the impulse to jerk it back. Don't. Don't you dare do it to him again. The moment tumbled onward clumsily while the angel observed him. His expression was so graceful, so uncertain. Satoshi's resolve hardened into a nail in his mind, and he drove it home. "Actually," he announced, sliding his hand from Krad's cheek to a lean shoulder, "Get dressed. We're going out right now."

It was the angel's turn to look shocked. "Where? You have work today."

"I'm calling in sick." Satoshi rose to his feet and had already produced his phone from his pocket before Krad could say anything further.

"Satoshi-sama, your situation there is already shaky. You-"

"I don't care," the boy ordered, putting the device to his ear. "I want to spend some time with you. Your job's not until noon, isn't it? That's not for another four and a half hours. Yes, hello? Tetsuya, let Chief know I'll be out today. I'll see you tomorrow. Yeah. Thanks." He ended his call and dropped the phone on the counter. The boy looked at Krad, who was sitting up alertly now, studying him. "Is that what you want to wear? I'm going to change, I've been wearing this since yesterday." He ignored the angel's perturbed stare and strode into his room to get out of yesterday's clothes.

Satoshi's heart rattled dangerously as he closed the door behind him. He was too warm. His fingertips remembered the touch of the other man's skin beneath his hand. This feeling… he undid his fly, freeing his reaction to the blond. A low sigh of relief parted his lips as the pressure eased. For a moment there, the way Krad had looked at him had kindled his nerves into a bonfire. Satoshi had no idea what he intended to do about this, but he sure as hell wasn't going to work. He neglected his slowly receding arousal and tore free of his old clothes. The air in the room felt electrified somehow as he worked through his closet for something decent to wear. Krad had left him no room to doubt him anymore. Cards were on the table. Today, Satoshi was going to meet the blonde head-on.

ooooOooooOooooOoooo

"What do you think of it?" Satoshi asked, cradling a brown paper cup with a domed lid while he watched Krad across the table.

The blonde peered at the matching cup in his own hands, and raised it to his mouth in another testing sip. "I can't tell if it's bitter or sweet," he muttered.

Satoshi smirked. "Exactly. That's what's so good about cappuccino." He took another sip of his own drink. "Wakes you up, too."

"This is a popular place," Krad noted. He took a deeper drink from his cup. It made Satoshi bizarrely pleased that he seemed to be enjoying it.

"That it is. People like their caffeine." The coffee shop around them was so busy with the morning rush of customers that the pair almost blended in. Men with wings were cool and all, but apparently not so much before you'd had your morning coffee. Satoshi was intrigued to see the angel slowly relax in the seat across from him. They'd taken a booth near the front corner of the shop, up against the window. "This place also hosts live music on Friday nights. They serve decent soups and sandwiches, too." Satoshi watched the blonde look around the room, absorbing everything his wing host said.

"Do you come here each morning?" Krad asked.

"Ha. Not on my paycheck," Satoshi smirked. A glance at the blonde told him that wasn't quite the answer he'd been looking for. Was he asking to know more about his normal routine, then? "I usually have the coffee at work. It's battery acid, but it's free. The first hour at the station is basically a caffeine ritual until everyone's awake enough to function. Unless something big happens, of course, but most bank robbers have the courtesy to wait until after ten."

Krad smirked. "Bank robbers?"

"Little anticlimactic after chasing Dark, I'll admit," Satoshi shrugged. Krad laughed. The sound set the bluenette's mood aglow. "We get other stuff too, of course." He told Krad a little more about his routine at work. The angel attended to him as though details about his life were rare and vital information. Krad was surprisingly focused and intent when he was listening. Satoshi had never really noticed, since they'd been in the same body up until a few weeks ago. Never mind that, he wasn't sure they'd ever actually had an extended conversation before.

The observation made him realize that this whole time, he'd just been talking about himself. "How's your job going lately?" he suddenly asked.

Krad eased back against the booth. "I suppose it's going well. They seem happy enough."

Satoshi didn't miss the ambiguity in the blonde's response. "But you're not happy with it?"

The wary look in his eyes was answer enough. "I meant it when I said you don't need to work, Krad. If the job's getting to you, you can quit. There's no reason to push past what you can handle right now."

Krad set the cup down and threw him a challenging look. "Afraid for my unsuspecting colleagues?" Krad asked.

Satoshi's mind went blank. Things had been going so well. "It's not that, Krad-"

He was cut off as two women appeared beside their table. They were both dressed fashionably with well-applied makeup, each holding their morning beverage in front of them. They must have just come from the line.

"Excuse me… Krad?" the taller one asked. She had brown curls corralled into a clip at the back. The other girl, sporting bobbed red hair, held just a tad back from her friend, staring at the blonde from her shoulder.

Krad cast them a distracted frown. "Yes?" His tone had "make it quick" written all over it.

"Wow, it's really you," the redhead murmured, gawking at his wings.

"We're fans," the tall girl explained. "You're just...amazing."

"Hey, are you doing anything right now?" the first added, emboldened by her friend's words.

The angel squinted and tilted his head at the question. "Yes," he answered. If Satoshi hadn't been so annoyed by the women, he would have found the blonde's confused honesty amusing.

The brunette hesitated at the matter-of-fact reply, and proceeded to smile. "Oh. Of course," she smiled, blushing. "Are you two together?"

"No," Satoshi snapped, annoyed with them. Shoot. That came out wrong. He'd said it too harshly. He peeked at Krad, but the angel's expression bore no reaction to the denial.

"Oh! Then when you're done, would you like to spend some time with us? The city's new for you, right? Want us to show you around a little?"

The blonde's wings fanned out slightly, something Satoshi recognized as defensive agitation. The girls took it differently.

"I guess you'd probably rather fly," the redhead noted, resting her hands on the wing that had extended toward her. "God...it's soft," she blushed.

Satoshi's body locked straight in his chair, rigid with anger. He knew what touching Krad's wings meant to him, both the good and the bad, and this total stranger had just taken it upon herself to grab one without permission. Protective fury rose up his throat, and he didn't know if he wanted to scream at her or guard her from Krad's inevitable reaction. If Krad lost his temper here, attacked two women in the middle of a crowded coffee shop…. Satoshi almost wanted it to happen, he was so angry with them. "Don't touch him," he said coldly, looking ready to stand and make her.

The red-haired woman looked startled. She stared at him, and nerves made her clutch the wing tighter toward her despite Satoshi's order.

That was it. Satoshi's eyes frosted over as he started to rise from his seat.

"I'm flattered," Krad said, withdrawing his wing, "but I'm not interested." He ignored the women and turned to his livid wing host. "Thanks for the drink. I'm going to head to work. It's getting busy here."

Satoshi nearly gaped. He hoped it didn't look like a gape, but it sure felt like one. Krad's fans seemed sufficiently spooked by Satoshi's mood and the angel's rejection to back off. The bluenette leaned in across the table as the disappointed girls retreated. "Are you okay?" the boy whispered. "Do you need somewhere to calm down?"

Krad's cool gaze met his. "I'm fine." His voice was perhaps a bit distant, but calm. Satoshi felt a pang of alarm. Krad just had a strange human touch him, and he wasn't upset?

Why did that make him so uneasy? Nothing Krad did lately fit with his understanding of the blonde. It was slowly dawning on him that he knew next to nothing about the angel across from him. He should have used this time to try to talk with him, not babble on about work. And now Krad said he was going to his job, when it didn't start for another three hours. Had he messed something up?

"Krad..." Satoshi wished he could stop him from leaving like this, but couldn't think of any reason to force him to stay. The angel paused and looked back to him, brows raised. He didn't seem angry. Satoshi tried to sound casual. "Still movie night tonight?"

The blonde nodded, and met his eyes searchingly for a second, like he was trying to make sense of the desperate undertone in his wing host's voice. "Oh, here." Like an afterthought, he took an envelope from his pocket and slid it in front of Satoshi. "It's my first one. Do what you want with it."

Satoshi stared at the blonde, and then the envelope. "A paycheck?" he asked, astonished. "Krad, this is yours. You should spend it on something you want."

The blonde looked irritated by this concept. "Alright. From now on," he rested a long finger on the lid of the boy's cup meaningfully, "no more battery acid." He walked on past his speechless wing host and let himself out of the cafe.

The restaurant slowly went back to normal, while Satoshi sat clasping the envelope between his hands. His fingers numbly parted the flap and turned out its contents. The payee was just an account number - no name for his employer. The back was already endorsed with Krad's flowing signature. Satoshi's vision slowly blurred as he stared at it. Krad had earned this money doing something he hated. And when told to spend it on something he wanted, he'd given it to him. There was no way to misconstrue a gesture that simple. Why was Krad doing this for him? Even though he'd questioned his promise. Even though he'd cast the blonde aside in front of perfect strangers.

Why couldn't he even buy the angel a coffee without screwing things up? And the sting hadn't even shown this time, because Satoshi was pretty sure the angel was getting used to it. His angel had grown used to being doubted and rejected, because of him. Shit. He swiped moisture from his eyes, not caring if someone noticed.

ooooOooooOooooOoooo

The bluenette pushed the door open and stepped into the ramen shop amidst a jingling of bells. His eyes scanned the room, and spotted Risa waving at him from a booth in the back. A few other eyes had caught onto him as well, but he was beginning to expect it by now. It was weird that so many total strangers recognized him from the news.

He crossed the room and plopped down across from her. "Hey."

"Hey," she smirked. "You don't look too hung over."

"Ha, ha," Satoshi pinned her with a glare.

She smiled. "How are you? It's rare for you to ask to go to lunch on a workday."

"Yeah," he acknowledged. "It's been an interesting week."

"Anything you want to talk about?" she curved her head sideways curiously. When Satoshi didn't have a response and started to blush, her eyes lit up. "Oh, it's something juicy!"

The bluenette settled the fingers of both his hands on the edge of the table, like he was preparing to use it as a lifeboat.

"It may not be appropriate, given our history," he faltered. "But you're the only other person who has experience with the angels…"

"Experience?" she asked.

He flushed. "Being together, I mean," he rushed.

"Daisuke's been a wing host before," she smirked knowingly. When Satoshi stiffened in embarrassment, she softened her tone and said it for him. "But Dai and Dark didn't have that kind of relationship."

"I'm not saying I… I'm not like that with Krad-" He fought back mortification as her gentle grin returned.

"...Yet?" she offered, finishing his thought.

Satoshi sighed and put a hand over his face. "God, is it really this obvious?"

"No, Sato," she reassured. "It's just an educated guess."

The bluenette took a breath and put his hands back on the table. "I'm not sure about it. Nothing's happened yet. I've been messing things up lately, and I don't want to make anything worse. I just..." his head felt like it was melting. "We have plans to watch a movie tonight."

She crossed her arms on the table, leaning in to keep their conversation discreet. "Do you want something to happen? I mean, can you even swing that way?"

There it was, the million dollar question. "I...think so, yeah," he muttered. Whew, it was hot in here. His eyebrows knit together. "I've never felt that way about guys before. I don't think so, anyway. But when he kissed me-"

"He kissed you!" her eyes widened. "How did you react?"

Well, the first time I slapped him, and the second time I talked like I was going to evict him, he thought grimly. "In hindsight, I may not be very good at this," he hedged.

"Well, you were never shy with me," she said, waggling her eyebrows. His stomach pitched nervously, but she didn't seem uncomfortable discussing it, so he slowly relaxed. "So," Risa said gently, "the only question here is whether you can deal with his man bits."

Satoshi choked on his coffee. "You have a way with words," he heaved.

"Sorry, I'm not teasing you, promise." She thought for a minute. "But if you really were to get intimate, that would be part of the equation. Have you tried maybe watching anything with two men in it?"

He loved her a little bit for being able to discuss this. Risa had always been pretty at ease around this type of subject. He knew she wouldn't judge his answer or laugh at him. He nodded. "I went online and...watched some of...that kind of thing, to see how I felt about it."

She didn't bat an eye. "And? Could you visualize actually doing any of that with him?"

He swallowed, and surprised himself by admitting, "Yes." He raised his gaze carefully to hers, heartbeat thundering. "I'm pretty sure."

"So, where's the 'but'?" she tilted her head.

She acted like it was so simple. "There's the matter of who he is, and our history, and whether I even trust him. And just because he kissed me doesn't mean he understands or wants what comes next."

She leaned back and crossed her arms. "Why wouldn't he understand what comes next?"

"He's not human. He might have no idea. He's only had one intimate experience that I know of, and it was against his will."

"Krad?" She set her spoon down slowly. "Who the hell-" she tensed. "Oh… oh, no…. Satoshi… No!"

Satoshi watched her understanding slowly click into place like a three-digit lock. She knew all about the Midnight case. But the rigid set of her jaw suggested she now knew just a little bit more. Satoshi felt surprisingly glad that she was accepting enough of Krad to grow angry on his behalf. Just thinking about what he'd seen in the angel's memories made his stomach burn.

She closed her eyes for a moment and visibly swallowed back her emotions. When she opened them again, her gentle gaze settled on him. "Okay. First of all, Dark has those drives, so Krad almost certainly has them too. Second, Satoshi, if he were upset, you would feel it a mile away."

Satoshi tensed. This topic. "We're still not really…"

The confused worry in her expression made him remember Daisuke's reaction the other day. Was it that weird to keep his mind to himself? He could see the question forming in her eyes, so he headed it off. "We don't link at all."

"How is he handling it," she tiptoed, "not having the link."

He needs it, and I'm hurting him. "He told me he would go at my pace. That he wouldn't touch me, or my mind unless I asked."

Risa looked concerned, but she just brought her hand to her chin, absorbing. "Well," she finally said, "I guess that makes things pretty simple."

Satoshi stared at her.

"Krad's given you permission, and he's not going to touch you back. He never said you can't touch him. Doesn't that mean you can experiment a little? See how you both react?"

The image that proposal conjured raised goosebumps on his arms. Just ask Krad to let him one-sidedly touch him? It couldn't be that easy. Could it? "I don't know if that would make him uncomfortable."

"I don't think that matters. It sounds to me like he's trying to make you comfortable."

That was a thought. Satoshi's imagination was already struggling with the mental image of such an impossible experiment. He didn't realize he'd mentally checked out until Risa waved a hand in front of his face. She smirked as he noticed her and sat up straighter. "Sato, maybe you shouldn't think about it so hard. Maybe just move with confidence and make sure to be kind. Just like you did with me."

The reminder of their sexual rapport was a strange one, but it was oddly comforting. Lovemaking was among the few things Satoshi had gotten right in their relationship. He knew how to touch someone; he could do that much, quite skillfully if he was giving himself credit. Even if his partner had never been male, or a literal angel, he doubted he'd be totally lost.

If he could at least give Krad one thing to show he was taking this seriously. Some proof that he didn't hate his body. That he was learning to trust him. That he didn't want to be separated.

Oh, God, he thought. I'm falling in love with him.

ooooOoooOooooOoooo

To be continued!

Sooooo….Whatcha guys think?