Shion stood silently with his extinguished lamp in one hand and the hilt of his sheathed knife in the other. He blinked to acclimate to the darkness.

Suddenly, Rat was right next to him. As always, he moved soundlessly. Rat whispered in Shion's ear, "You really think you could hurt me with that toy?"

"I don't want to hurt you," Shion said softly.

Rat pulled back. Shion's eyes had fully adjusted now, and he saw Rat's look of disdain. "Didn't I tell you we'd be enemies someday? You should have had your knife drawn from the moment your flimsy alarm went off. What if I had come here to kill you?"

"Then do it," Shion said simply. He dropped his hands down to his sides. The lamp clattered to the ground.

Rat blinked at him in confusion.

"If you came here to kill me," Shion said, "go ahead. I won't fight back. I won't hurt you."

Shion noticed that he was taller than Rat once more, and he couldn't help but smile. It was the first time he had smiled since saying goodbye to Junior and Dogkeeper, however many days ago that was.

"It's a weird time to smile," Rat said.

"Are you going to kill me or not?"

Rat laughed. "So direct. No, I didn't come here to kill you."

"Then – ," Shion stepped forward and embraced Rat. "Welcome home."

Rats arms were stiff at his sides with Shion's body encircling him. But he didn't push Shion away. The two stood there silently for a few minutes.

"This isn't home," Rat finally said, staring over Shion's shoulder.

Shion kept holding him. He breathed into Rat's neck, "It's our home."

Rat didn't respond, but lifted his arms and embraced Shion.

"Why were you gone for so long?" Shion asked. "...I wanted to see you."

Rat dismissed Shion's vulnerable question offhandedly. "Didn't I say I would come back? I wrote you, didn't I? Don't be greedy."

In response, Shion took Rat by the hand and led him to the couch. Once Rat sat down, Shion kissed him deeply. Rat reciprocated naturally. When Shion pulled back, he removed Rat's scarf and put it on the couch so he could stroke Rat's cheek. "Did you notice?"

"What, that you've gotten better at kissing?"

"Thanks, but no. I meant that I'm taller than you again."

Shion leaned in to kiss Rat again, but Rat stopped his lips with a finger.

"Don't you want to know why I'm here?"

"There's no guarantee of 'later.'"

"I don't care."

Shion pushed Rat's hand aside and kissed him again. Rat relaxed and kissed him back. In an awkward motion, Shion climbed on top of Rat. He opened his legs to sit more comfortably on Rat's lap. Shion held Rat's waist tightly as they kissed. Rat was getting hard under him. Shion rubbed his hips against Rat, never breaking contact between their lips. Rat made a soft sound of pleasure. Shion smiled and pulled back just a few inches. He could see some emotion in Rat's eyes, though he wasn't quite sure what they were expressing. Shion reached his hand between Rat's legs. He quickly unbuttoned Rat's pants and pulled them down to his knees. He touched Rat and heard another soft noise. Shion stood up.

"What are you doing?" Rat breathed.

"I said I wanted to see you. But that's not it. To tell the truth, I… also want to have sex with you."

Rat didn't respond. Shion disrobed, opened a drawer, retrieved a small bottle, and climbed back on top of Rat. Shion applied the liquid to his hands and started penetrating himself with his fingers. Rat's mouth fell open. He watched Shion's face as Shion touched himself.

"That's pretty alluring. But I can do it better."

Shion kissed Rat and handed him the bottle.

Rat applied the lubricant to his hands and grabbed Shion's hips. Still kissing Shion, Rat put one finger inside of him and enjoyed the sound Shion let out. A few moments later, Rat inserted a second finger. He felt Shion's body tense up around him, then relax. Shion's naked body rubbed against Rat's, leaving wet patches all over Rat's shirt.

After a while, Shion pulled away. He put his hand on Rat's hips, and positioned himself on top. Slowly, Shion guided Rat inside of him. Rat threw his head back and bit his lip to keep from crying out. Shion also bit his lip in concentration. It hurt a little, but mostly it felt good to be with Rat. More than anything, it felt good to think about nothing but this for a moment. Shion kissed Rat on the lips and moved his hips up and down, keeping Rat inside of him the whole time. He pulled away only briefly to take off his shirt. When he learned forward again, Rat began to kiss his chest. Rat's hands grabbed Shion's hips and pulled him closer. He sucked on Shion's nipple, and Shion leaned forward and grabbed the back of the couch. Shion kept moving his hips, his movements getting increasingly hard to control as he got closer to orgasm. He could feel that Rat was close, too: Rat's breathing had become labored and erratic. He had to pull away from Shion's chest for a moment to breathe a few times, but he always returned his attention to Shion's nipple shortly after. Shion gasped with pleasure.

Rat held Shion tight as he came inside of him. Once Shion felt Rat fill him, Shion came, covering Rat's shirt in cum. Shion collapsed on Rat's shoulders with Rat still inside him. He kissed Rat's face, neck, and shoulders. They were both breathing heavily. Eventually, Shion lifted his hips to climb off of Rat, and Rat couldn't help but let out one more moan. Shion sat down next to Rat on the couch and leaned his head on his shoulder.

"Well?" Rat said mildly.

"Hm?"

"Was it what you wanted?"

Shion looked over at Rat. He couldn't tell what Rat was trying to say. Suddenly, Shion was filled with doubt. Had he done something wrong? Had he misunderstood? Did Rat think of this in a different way? Damn it, just another thing Shion had done wrong.

Rat saw the concern in Shion's eyes. "If you're thinking I'm treating you like a client, don't worry, I'm not. ...Actually, believe it or not, that was my first time, too."

"What do you mean, 'too'?"

"Usually, when someone comes to me, they want to fuck me, or they want me to suck their dick. There have been a few women as well who wanted me to fuck them. But mostly I'm the one getting fucked. I've never — done what we just did. And anyway, it feels different with…" Rat trailed off.

Shion cocked his head to the side. "I knew what you meant by it being your first time, but why did you say it was your first time 'too'?"

Rat stared at Shion. His eyes widened slightly as he tried to hide his surprise. "Are you saying — ?"

Shion smiled, saying nothing.

"I guess I underestimated you," Rat muttered. He felt stupid for having thought Shion would wait for him. He had thought Shion was just a naïve boy. But of course, eight years had passed, and Shion was an adult now. Though it was totally unjustifiable, since he had been the one who'd left and he'd had sex many times since then, he felt jealous of anyone who had been with Shion in the meantime. It was stupid to come back here and think that nothing would have changed. After all, Shion had seemed too familiar with the whole thing — Rat had been too aroused to notice at the time, but it was obvious now. Of course Shion had done this before.

Shion laughed. When was the last time he had laughed? "I'm just kidding. I wanted to see how you'd react. Apparently, it really bothers you."

"You —"

"Consider that your punishment. That's not too bad, considering you left me alone for eight years."

Rat stood and pulled his pants up. "You're terrible."

"Am I? You seemed to be enjoying yourself."

Rat ignored Shion's comment and lit the lamp that had dropped to the floor earlier. The storm continued to rage outside. Rat's hair was still wet. With Rat fully dressed, Shion felt self-conscious sitting naked on the couch. He reached for his shirt, but Rat pulled it away. "Why don't you stay like that for now?"

Shion put his hands down and met Rat's eyes. His self-doubt disappeared for a moment. Slowly, Rat kneeled down in front of Shion. He kissed Shion's thighs, and felt Shion get hard again as Rat's mouth moved towards Shion's torso.

"Rat…"

Rat looked up at Shion. Holding eye contact, he kissed the Shion's tip softly. He used his tongue and watched Shion tremble in pleasure. Then Rat closed his eyes and took Shion's entire shaft into his mouth. This was something he was more comfortable with. He had given lots of head in his life, and he knew he was damn good at it. And since Shion couldn't see his face, Rat was free to enjoy himself without worrying about what his facial expressions might reveal. He held Shion in his mouth, sucking as he moved his tongue in circles.

Rat had been dreaming of this day for years. Though he had tried to avoid thinking of Shion, Rat had longed to return to this room and be close to him once more. But he couldn't come back until now. He knew that once he came back, he'd never be able to leave again. There would be no temporary visit. He couldn't leave Shion again.

But Rat couldn't say that out loud, so he tried to put all of his feelings into his actions. Every time it seemed like Shion was about to finish, Rat pulled back for a moment and kissed Shion's thighs softly until Shion stopped shaking. Then, he took Shion back into his mouth and repeated the cycle. Shion couldn't take much more of the teasing, but he didn't want to beg for Rat to allow him to orgasm. He still had some pride. Perhaps realizing that Shion wouldn't beg, the next time Shion seemed ready to orgasm, Rat put his hands on Shion's hips to hold them down while he moved his head up and down between Shion's legs. Shion yelled as he came in Rat's mouth. Rat waited a moment before pulling himself up. Then he looked into Shion's eyes and swallowed. Shion gulped as well.

"So, you — also wanted…," Shion said.

Rat scoffed and moved back to sit on the couch. "As if you could make me do anything I didn't want to do."

"I just meant... I wasn't sure you felt the same way."

Rat stared at Shion. He couldn't believe how dense this guy was. Did he need everything spelled out for him?

Once again, Shion realized that he was naked while Rat was clothed. He pulled his pants back on as quickly as he could and grabbed his shirt from where Rat had dropped it on the cushion next to him.

"Are you embarrassed now?"

Of course he was embarrassed, but he didn't want to say that. Shion pulled his shirt over his head to hide his blush.

"Well," Shion pushed himself off the couch suddenly. "It's time for Hermia's dinner."

Rat paused for a moment, then rubbed his forehead. "You gave the dog that name?"

"Yep. It's from A Midsummer Night's Dream — "

"I know that."

Shion shrugged and walked to the kitchen and served some leftovers into a bowl for Hermia. Hermia wagged her tail and sat obediently until Shion told her she could eat.

Rat leaned on the bookshelf and watched. He recited, "If we shadows have offended,

Think but this, and all is mended,

That you have but slumber'd here

While these visions did appear."

Shion reflected, He's the same. That was a comfort. Hermia had finished eating, so Shion picked up her bowl and washed it.

"Are you wondering if this is a dream?" Rat asked casually.

"What? Oh," Shion turned around to face Rat, leaving the bowl to dry on the counter, "of course not. Wow, you used to be better at guessing what I was thinking." Shion was joking around. He didn't remember when he last felt like making a joke. Of course it was Rat who could make him feel something again. It was pathetic how dependent he continued to be on Rat. As soon as he showed up, Shion fell right back into that old pattern of following him around. He couldn't do anything for himself.

"Don't look so surprised," Shion continued, "I'm not saying I never dreamed about you. Of course I did. But in my dreams, I didn't know what you'd look like after all this time. I didn't really know what it would feel like to be with you. It was different. So I know this isn't a dream."

How can he say that kind of thing without any embarrassment? Rat wondered.

"Anyway, are you hungry?" Shion asked. "I'll serve you some food."

"You'll grace me with the same leftovers you serve to your dog? I'm flattered."

"I can serve you something else, if you want. I have some bread. I ate earlier," Shion lied. He had made food for Hermia, not for himself.

"No." Rat changed his shirt and sat back down on the couch. He hadn't realized how hungry he was until Shion offered him food. Shion handed him a bowl. "Thanks."

They sat in silence. When Rat had finished eating, he stood up and washed the bowl. Most things in this room were the same as eight years ago. It really was like coming home. That was a stupid thing to think, but he couldn't stop himself.