A/N: This is a short and sweet little one-shot that follows 'The Beast That Lies Within' where Sebastian discovers the significance of the metal heart totem that Kurt made. Romance, fluff, supernatural elements, loose interpretations of religious themes.
Sebastian tried to sleep but a shadow in his mind kept getting in the way. He pulled his body closer to Kurt, chasing the warmth of the Scion's body, the soft sounds of his breathing while he slumbered at peace for the first time in too long, and that smell of jasmine and vanilla that reminded Sebastian of warm spring breezes and his beautiful daydreams of being with Kurt, together as friends and lovers, with no barriers between them. Apart from that (though he might not ever outright admit it) even though his job was mostly to protect the Scion, Sebastian felt much safer with Kurt wrapped in his arms, and not for the simple reason that Kurt had learned to tap into the limitless power that existed within him. Sebastian felt that the moment they touched, when Sebastian held Kurt close and they slept side by side, the evil of the world disappeared. It paused, along with time, the rising of the sun, hell even the rotation of the earth, and nothing could touch them or what they had together, as innocent and unconsummated as it needed to be. Though they struggled and fought and ran during the day, the shield of true love guarded them while they slept.
All of these things soothed Sebastian. They always did, but for now they didn't bring him any closer to rest.
A presence lurked nearby that Sebastian couldn't identify.
The metal heart that Kurt had fashioned out of a piece of rusted metal from the old water barrel he had destroyed fascinated Sebastian. No longer a pitted piece of old steel, it was smooth and polished, a luxe-looking gold that gleamed without light. He carried it with him everywhere. The totem seemed to want him to carry it. He wore lounge pants with pockets to bed so he could keep it with him while he slept. It sang to him, and when he held it in his hands and looked at it, it seemed to vibrate with power. The power didn't lure Sebastian to it so much as it simply intrigued him. It reminded him of something that he read when he was young, before he joined the order. No, he didn't read it; his mother read it to him in those days before she died. Sebastian racked his brain trying to remember the title to the stupid book. He vaguely remembered the plot had rats in it, rats that could talk, and there was a stone – a precious, valuable stone with special powers that slept until given to someone with courage in their heart.
The stone slept.
Courage of the heart…
He let his mind ponder these things when he finally drifted away to sleep with Kurt curled up against him until one night his brain stumbled on the answer.
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH.
The necklace in the book…the blood red stone; it held a power that lay dormant. It waited patiently for someone worthy to come along and when they did, it would hear their call. But the totem he held onto was different. He could feel it breathe.
This heart didn't sleep.
It actively, consciously waited.
Sebastian had a feeling it waited for him.
One night, the heart became tired of waiting.
Sebastian awoke to the blue flame in Kurt's skin glowing dimly, pulsing in waves, heating his pale skin. Sebastian felt a crackle of electricity echoing in response, and that echo came from the metal heart in his pocket. Sebastian reached in slowly, half expecting the metal to be scorching hot but it was cool to the touch. It sparked and hissed, and when Sebastian brought it closer to Kurt's skin, an arch like lightning threaded between them.
The heart, Sebastian realized with his jaw dropped in awe, had been infused with Kurt's incredible power.
Sebastian pulled the heart away and the thread of lightning broke, but the heart continued to glow. Kurt's skin grew brighter in response.
"Amazing," Sebastian whispered, looking over the metal object, peering at it intently. Suddenly, his mind flooded with a hundred memories that weren't all his own.
Memories of the day Kurt and Sebastian first met - that painful broken nose he had and how Kurt had fixed it.
The two of them sitting side by side, studying together in class, passing notes when the priests weren't paying attention.
A rainy afternoon spent trying on each other's clothes for no good reason.
Kurt splitting his dinner with Sebastian, giving him half of his chicken Alfredo and Sebastian giving Kurt all his baby tomatoes.
The first birthday cake Kurt taught Sebastian to make and how it tilted precariously to the left, but Kurt told him it was the best cake he had ever tasted.
Sebastian's daydream of making love to Kurt underneath their favorite willow tree, the flush on Kurt's porcelain skin beneath the setting golden sun, and his lips - rosy red and swollen from kissing - begging Sebastian for just one more…
The final fantasy, the most powerful one, the one that struck Sebastian straight through the heart like a hot branding iron, making sure it stayed imprinted there forever, was one of Kurt's.
Kurt and Sebastian on their wedding day...and the intimate details of their wedding night. Sebastian slowly stripping a black tuxedo from Kurt's body, button by button, pressing kiss after kiss to Kurt's skin as Sebastian exposed every creamy inch, threading his fingers through Kurt's walnut-colored hair, the blue eyes that locked onto his with a look of love and trust – eyes that glowed slightly with blue fire.
This fantasy was new.
It was recent.
It was after Kurt learned to control his blue flame.
"Oh my…" Sebastian moaned, his eyes drifting shut, and all of a sudden a stunning heat, not painful but overpowering, shot through Sebastian's veins. It filled every cell of him, from his toes to his brain. He felt whole, complete, overwhelmed.
Sebastian opened his eyes slowly, focusing on the golden heart he held clutched in his hand, unfolding his fingers to get a better look at the object. What he saw was his reflection staring back at him…his own face with glowing blue eyes. The sheets, the bed, the whole room, everything around him, shimmered with its light.
Sebastian was engulfed entirely in Kurt's blue flame.
Sebastian's body shuddered at the thought - the thought of Kurt's power moving through him, inside him. Sebastian could feel him on his body, covering his skin, that smell of jasmine and vanilla warm and potent just beneath his nose.
The idea of it playing in his mind made the flame glow brighter. Sebastian raised his other hand to his face and his eyes went wide. It was consumed completely by a ball of blue fire.
"Holy…and…shit…" Sebastian murmured as he moved his hand left and right, watching the flame shift with the twist of his hand.
"Sebastian," Kurt muttered, turning to face the priest with his eyes still closed, "don't curse so much."
"Uh…Kurt?" Sebastian whispered, not wanting to upset the flame in any way by talking too loudly. "Kurt, open your eyes."
Sebastian saw the glow in Kurt's eyes before he even opened them, his lids illuminating from within in the presence of another blue flame. Kurt peered at Sebastian through narrowed, sleep heavy lids, but when he caught sight of the fire alight on Sebastian's skin, his eyelids popped open.
"Holy…and…"
"Shit," Sebastian finished for him, "yeah. I know."
"But how?" Kurt reached out a hand, fingers dancing in the blue flame, trying to ascertain its origin.
"I think…" Sebastian showed Kurt the metal heart, "that this has something to do with it."
Kurt held his hand over the heart. Thin tendrils of white lightning shot out at him, not in a threatening way, more as if in acknowledgement of where it came from. Kurt plucked the heart out of Sebastian's hand and the flame that covered Sebastian's skin blinked out.
"Try to do that again," Kurt advised, feeling a little bit of his own blue flame recharging the heart in his palm.
Sebastian concentrated on his hand, staring at his skin, trying to get the blue flame to reappear, but nothing happened. Kurt slipped the heart into Sebastian's palm and his hand burst into flames, the fire climbing high with the strength of his focus. Sebastian laughed.
"What…what do you think it means?" Sebastian asked. Kurt sat up straighter and shrugged. He couldn't look away from the fire on Sebastian's skin. He felt a connection to it. It reached out from Sebastian to get to him, and in return, it flowed from him.
"Let me…" Kurt stared into Sebastian's eyes and Sebastian felt a surge, a charge of energy that started from the tips of his hair and traveled in a ripple down his back.
"Interesting," Kurt whispered.
"Wait…what?" Sebastian asked. "What did you just try to do?"
"I…uh…" Kurt ducked his head, looking down at his hands with a sheepish smile on his face, "I tried to set your hair on fire."
"What?" Sebastian laughed.
"Well, I needed to know if this blue fire would protect you…" Kurt swallowed hard, "from me."
"Kurt," Sebastian said, reaching out and touching his hand lightly, sucking in a sharp breath when the fire united, "this fire is you. I was never in any danger."
Kurt bit his lip and stared at their joined hands, the rush of blood in his cheeks visible through the blue flame as a deep purple stain on his skin. Sebastian smiled at the surreal beauty of it all.
Sebastian the priest and the Scion, his protector. It made Sebastian's heart flutter.
"Well, what do you think we should do now?" Sebastian said. Kurt blinked once and extinguished his own flame. Sebastian tried, but he couldn't do it. He didn't have Kurt's skill or finesse. Kurt raised a hand and trailed it down Sebastian's skin. The blue flame followed him, winking and expiring beneath Kurt's hand.
Kurt's lips cocked into a mischievous grin.
"Do you know where we can go buy a pig?"