Written for the prompt D never learned to knot a tie himself, given to me by Lumelle. The title is a reference to a specific style of knot used to tie a tie. Apparently it's discreet and slightly asymmetrical, which just says "D18" to me! Derp.

"Kyouya?"

"What is it?"

Dino's fingers slipped through the knot he was tying, successfully restraining him for a good half-minute before he managed to free himself. "I'm scared."

"How weak."

"Nervous?"

"Pathetic."

"Concerned?"

Kyouya didn't answer, and Dino took that as acceptance of the chosen terminology. At the same time, his concentration lapsed and his fingers slipped so quickly that there was no chance of saving the progress he'd already made. The resulting knot was decidedly messy and inelegant; Dino sighed, unknotted the large tangle he'd put in the fabric and picked up the two ends of the tie, intending to start again.

"You never learned to do that correctly, Bucking Horse?" Kyouya questioned from his place by the window, eyes narrowing minutely for every single fumble and mistake that Dino made until they were practically shut. Dino ignored him in favour of making another vain attempt at knotting the tie. Perhaps the most preferable option for Kyouya was not watching the display at all; Dino knew if there was anything more irritating to Kyouya than him being useless without his men, it was his habit of becoming overwhelmed by matters that Kyouya considered to be small. Kyouya had once told him that he had a tendency of letting his every feeling and thought run over his tongue and through his lips in a non-stop display of herbivirousness when he was concerned with small matters.

But regardless of what Kyouya said, this matter was not small to him.

"Kyouya..."

"Yes?"

Dino's only response to Kyouya was to walk over and pull him against his chest with a far-too-practised caress of the curves of his hipbones.

Kyouya shut his eyes, apparently trying to remain calm. It didn't seem to be working too well. "Cavallone, if you don't stop acting like a petulant brat..."

"I'm sorry, Kyouya," Dino murmured, cutting the other man's thinly-veiled threat off cleanly. "I know it doesn't seem like a big thing to you, but to me..."

Dino shifted, and the black silk tie slid from around his neck and fell at Kyouya's feet. The Cloud Guardian removed himself from the embrace with a practised ease, and without reciprocating.

"Cavallone. You do not need childish comfort and overindulgence so much as you need to be reminded of your own convictions."

"Kyouya?"

"Go and stand by the dresser. Take the tie. And if you grab me like that again, I'll be forced to demonstrate the correct knot on your wrists before I tie it around your neck," Kyouya said, a definite spark of amusement in his eyes. "Or perhaps using your neck would help you to learn at a faster pace?"

Both options apparently sounded equally as threatening to the Cavallone Boss, and Kyouya looked pleased that Dino did as he was told after only a brief moment of shock. Apparently, he was learning to read Kyouya's moods at quite the tolerable rate.

Kyouya held out his hand as he approached Dino, and it took Dino only a second to realise that Kyouya was silently requesting the tie in his hand. Once he had handed the tie to him, Kyouya popped Dino's collar so quickly that it muffled his shout of surprise.

"Idiot Horse," Kyouya purred with a self-satisfied smirk as he began to knot the tie. "You've faced much worse than this."

"I know that," Dino said around the corners of his shirt collar. Kyouya's nails grazed along the side of his neck just a little too sharply for it to be accidental, but he managed to disguise his wince as a badly-feigned cough.

"Then stop being such a herbivore and face the problem."

Dino sighed, and managed to avoid a finger that looked suspiciously like it was aiming for his eye. "It's not that simple, Kyouya. It goes against every tradition, every regulation. Heck, it goes against the law."

"Nearly everything we do goes against the law, Cavallone," Kyouya replied shortly, fingers slipping over the black silk with delicacy Dino could only dream of at this point in time. "You knew there would be opposition. If you didn't want to do it, you shouldn't have gone to the trouble of doing everything you've done up to this point."

"Kyouya..." Dino said, well aware of the whining tone in his voice. That was the moment that made Kyouya's limited patience run out, and the Cavallone Boss found himself pinned to his own dresser with Kyouya's teeth and fingers brushing dangerously over his throat.

"Herbivore," Kyouya hissed. "How disappointing."

Dino knew better than to reply, and he felt Kyouya smirk his approval against the line of his jaw.

"If you make up such pathetic excuses in your own mind, you won't be able to persuade them to do anything. Show them the strength of your resolve. They will not submit to a coward, Cavallone. And neither will I."

Kyouya finished knotting Dino's tie with a rough tug of the delicate silk. Dino took what felt like his first breath in the past twenty-four hours. Kyouya's familiar smirk once again played across his lips, and he smoothed down the Cavallone Boss's collar in a gesture that came across as surprisingly tender after his earlier actions.

"Do not waste my time if you are not sure of your own feelings, Bucking Horse."

Dino clenched his fists, licked his dry lips and nodded once in response. Kyouya's smirk faded from his face as he turned to retrieve Dino's suit jacket from its place on the bed, but Dino could tell he was pleased. Kyouya was right, of course. Kyouya was rarely ever wrong, and when he was you still had to figure out if it meant more to you to be right or have full use of all your limbs the next day.

The Cavallone Boss stifled a chuckle at the thought. The fact that he could laugh at the thought of Kyouya's murderous rage instead of being overwhelmed by it made him more confident in his own decision, and of his feelings for Kyouya.

After Kyouya offered him the jacket, Dino shrugged it over his shoulders and gave himself one final look in the mirror. He looked the part of a man who was sure of what he wanted. No, he was a man who was sure of what he wanted. He'd been sure for a long time, and he was more than willing to defend his own decisions and choices.

"I'll be leaving now, Kyouya. I'll call you once Romario and I have talked to the consigliere about us."

Kyouya gave Dino an even, determined look and reclaimed his place by the window. With a final silent wave and smile, Dino left his bedroom and shut the door behind himself.

Once Kyouya could see Dino in the gardens from his chosen vantage point, he permitted himself a small smile and crossed his arms across his chest. The thin silver band on his left ring finger felt lighter now that he was getting used to its constant presence; it felt less like a shackle and more like a string one might tie around his finger to remind himself of a task or a promise.

Now he was sure of the strength of Dino Cavallone's convictions.

End.

Comments are always appreciated.