It had been a while since Carnelian had time to truly relax. Traveling with Berthie was absolutely exhausting and it wasn't often that they could afford to stay at an inn. He supposed he should be grateful for at least having a companion, but Berthie also wasn't the ideal friend to have on a journey.

However, today was different than most days. Today Berthie had surprisingly stopped off at an inn and bought a room. Carnelian was shocked, but didn't dare complain. This was a blessing and he wasn't going to ruin it. On the way to their room Berthie told Carnelian over and over again that they were only staying for a few days and then they would be back on the road.

"Sure, sure," Carnelian said. He couldn't honestly say he was listening to Berthie at all. The only thing on his mind was the comfortable bed waiting for him up the stairs and three rooms down.

"And don't you dare run away like last time!" Berthie said, turning around in the middle of the staircase, pointing his finger in Carnelian's face. "If you run away again you'll be running alone and this time I won't come find you, got it?"

"Don't give me a reason to run away then, Berthie," Carnelian said, wishing all the more for Berthie to move out of the way. The bed was calling his name and he wasn't about to deny it his slender, sleeping body.

The two men stared at each other for a few more seconds before Berthie finally turned around and headed up the stairs. Carnelian was close behind and almost knocked Berthie down as he put the key in the lock and turned the knob. It didn't take any time for Carnelian to jump on the bed and curl under the covers. He relished in the newly washed sheets and rubbed his face into the soft, fluffy pillow.

"The small luxuries make life worth living," Carnelian said lazily. He finally turned away from the pillow to speak to Berthie only to realize he wasn't there. Carnelian found himself alone with only his comfortable bed to keep him company.

"You could have said something," Carnelian whispered to a Berthie who was long gone. He decided not to let it bother him though. Time away from Berthie meant time to relax. He would be back within a few hours anyway; Berthie was a restless type and didn't like to be in one place for too long.

"I'll rest here until he returns." Carnelian had enough of traveling and was perfectly content spending every moment in the inn. He was happy to finally be in a proper bed instead of on the cold ground, and quickly fell into a comfortable sleep.

Carnelian had no idea how much had time had passed since he had fallen asleep. He had woken up twice during his nap, but had fallen asleep again both of those times simply due to the how comfortable the bed was. He now lay in the bed staring at the ceiling, covers wrapped around him like a cocoon. He knew Berthie hadn't returned yet and it bothered him for some reason. He slowly and sadly removed the blankets from his body and stretched. Another quick look around the room told him Berthie really hadn't come back. He rolled his eyes as he stood and walked towards the window, pulling back the curtains to look at the sight. The evening sky was filled with soft pinks and reds and yellows; it was a truly beautiful sight.

"It would be nice to have someone to show this to," Carnelian whispered to himself. Even though they spent almost all of their time outdoors neither Berthie nor Carnelian ever payed much attention to the colors in the sky. They had taken advantage of it and hadn't appreciated it's beauty and now that Carnelian wanted to share the romantic scene Berthie was no where to be found.

Disappointment filled Carnelian's chest, but he knew he would get over it. The feeling wasn't unfamiliar to him due to his rough life and he knew within time he would forget all about it. He slowly turned away from the window and began to think about what he would do to pass the time until Berthie came back. He could go downstairs and converse with the other guests, but that wasn't exactly something he felt comfortable doing.

A groan escaped him as he thought about how alone he was. He never imagined he would miss Berthie's company so much. He hadn't been by himself long at all and yet he was wishing there was someone to keep him company.

"Berthie," he said in a low voice.

He was about to crawl back under the covers when something out of the ordinary caught his eye. On a small dresser across the room sat a lone, but colorful and vibrant cupcake.

"Cupcake?"

Carnelian's eyebrows raised as he slowly walked towards it. There was a card next to it, the word "Carnelian" scribbled on it. A giant smile formed on Carnelian's face as he knew the handwriting could only belong to his companion. Berthie must have returned sometime while the other man was still sleeping and left the cupcake there for him.

Carnelian picked up the cupcake and examined it. The icing was a pretty blue, the color of Berthie's hair, and it was even topped with a cherry! More so than the icing though, Carnelian was interested in the chocolate cake hiding under all of it. It had been so long since Carnelian indulged in the pleasures of sweets.

"What a treat! Berthie isn't so bad someti-"

Carnelian wasn't even able to finish his sentence before something jumped on him and tackled him to the ground. He managed to keep hold of the cupcake; there was no way he was letting that thing go.

"Pounce!" Berthie yelled from on top of Carnelian.

"Berthie!" Carnelian screamed. "Where did you come from? How long have you been here?"

"Under the bed is bigger than you think it is," Berthie said, eyeing the cupcake Carnelian was still clutching. "You must have missed me! You were calling my name and looking out of the window all sad and depressed! It's okay, I'm here!"

Carnelian was about to respond when he noticed Berthie's eyes weren't on him. He followed to where the eyes were staring and immediately got defensive.

"No way, Berthie! No, no, no! You got this cupcake for me!"

"Just a bite!"

"No!"

"That's being selfish!"

"And you're being unfair!" Carnelian crawled his way out from under Berthie and quickly stood. "You bought this for me and now you're going to take it back?"

"I don't want the whole thing! I just want a bite!" Berthie said as he jumped for Carnelian.

"No! It's mine!" Carnelian screamed as he stepped to the side and ran to one side of the bed. He watched as Berthie landed on the bed, eyeing him like a cat eyeing it's prey. "Seriously, Berthie...no, no!" A small smile began to form on Carnelian's face. Surprisingly, he seemed to be enjoying this little fight over the cupcake.

Berthie lunged again only to miss Carnelian by a few inches. He didn't know when the other man's reflexes had gotten so quick. It had to have been because he was protecting his cupcake. There was no other explanation; however Berthie wouldn't miss a third time. Carnelian had run to the other side of the bed and jumped on it to run across it only be caught around his waist by Berthie.

"NO!" Carnelian screamed, kicking his legs as he and Berthie fell back onto the bed. He kept kicking his legs with Berthie holding him close to his chest.

"No, no! I'm so serious, Berthie! No! It's mine!" Though, the seriousness Carnelian claimed to have was contradicted by the hysterical laughter coming out of him. Berthie smiled as he dropped Carnelian next to him and climbed on top of him.

"You need to calm down, cupcake!" Berthie said, making Carnelian laugh harder at his new nickname.

"Leave me alone!" Carnelian screamed through his laughter. "It's mine! It's my cupcake!"

"Someone didn't learn to share as a child," Berthie scolded, reaching for the cupcake.

"STOP!"

Both men immediately stopped moving and stared at each other. The sides of Carnelian's mouth twitched into an even wider smile as he reached for the cupcake with his free hand and removed the cherry from it.

"You can have the cherry!"

Berthie raised one eyebrow as he slowly took the cherry from Carnelian and stared at it. A low sigh escaped his mouth as he started to think that there was a possibility he might lose this battle. Carnelian was serious about his cupcake and he wasn't going to let anyone take it from him, though just when all hope seemed lost an idea popped into Berthie's head.

"I've already taken your cherry once and I have no qualms about doing it again."

Berthie kept his eyes on Carnelian as he slowly dipped the cherry into his mouth. At the same time Carnelian took his first bite of the icing on top of the cake, nibbling and licking it, indulging in it's perfect sweetness. He closed his eyes as he slowly licked off more of the icing and only faltered when he felt something wet against his neck. He then felt hands find their way under his shirt and roam over his chest before Berthie finally got aggravated of the shirt blocking his way to all of Carnelian's skin. He roughly pulled it over the other's head, throwing it to the side before diving down to kiss Carnelian's body.

"Is this the trade off for not letting you have some of the cupcake?"

"Oh, yes," Berthie said as he bit into Carnelian's neck making the other man gasp from the pain. "I'll just eat you since you won't let me eat the cupcake. I'll eat you all up."

A shudder went through Carnelian as he felt Berthie's mouth wander everywhere from his arms to his chest to his neck and back again. "I'm your cupcake then?" he said trying to keep his voice steady, but failing miserably. All of the laughter and giddiness from before had disappeared in an instant.

"Indeed, you are. You're a perfect..." Berthie roughly bit Carnelian's collar bone, "vanilla flavored..." he dragged his tongue down to his naval, "cupcake. You're only missing icing, but not to worry. I'll add the toppings myself."

Carnelian had no doubt in his mind that Berthie would want to cover him in "icing"; however being affectionate was still something completely new to Carnelian. He lay perfectly still, cupcake resting on his lips, as Berthie dragged his tongue along the other's chest. He eventually bit down hard on Carnelian's nipple causing him to gasp loudly. The skin was surely broken, no doubt about it. Carnelian may have been new to the whole affection thing, but he did know that he didn't like being treated so roughly. It was in Berthie's nature to be aggressive and he brought that to the bedroom, but Carnelian wasn't that type of person.

"Berthie, please..." he began saying. He didn't want to tell Berthie to stop. That would be unreasonable; however there had to be some way to get Berthie to treat him a bit more gently.

"Something wrong?" Berthie asked, his face suddenly appearing over Carnelian's. "We've done this before. Are you still scared, my little cupcake?"

Carnelian shook his head, eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights. "It's not that." His eyes drifted to the side to avoid looking at the man in front of him. How was he supposed to tell Berthie that he didn't like the way he touched him or kissed him? He had seen first hand that Berthie did indeed have emotions and that he could get hurt just as easily as everyone else. Just when Carnelian was about to give up and let Berthie do whatever he wanted he realized his saving grace was right in front of him.

"You aren't treating me like a cupcake."

Carnelian had to keep from letting out a small laugh as Berthie's head cocked to the side in confusion. The terrifying man could be pretty cute at times. Using the chocolate cupcake as a visual, Carnelian began to explain what exactly he had meant.

"You called me a cupcake, right? Cupcakes are fragile. If you treat them too roughly then they fall apart." Carnelian lightly squeezed the cupcake in his hand and both men watched as pieces of it fell onto Carnelian's chest. "See? It didn't take much to break it. If I'm a cupcake then you need to treat me like one. Don't be so rough with me."

Berthie stared at Carnelian for only a few moments longer before deciding to lap up the pieces of cupcake that had fallen on him. "You do know that cupcakes get devoured right?" he said as he licked all of the pieces up and moved to nip at Carnelian's neck.

"Cupcakes get savored," Carnelian said, using his free hand to bring Berthie's face back towards his own. "No one but children eat cupcakes quickly. You're supposed to indulge in their taste and relish in each and every bite." With that being said Carnelian slowly licked most of the remaining icing off of the cupcake. He was surprised when Berthie gently stroked the other's face with the back of his hand and then dragged his hand down Carnelian's throat as he swallowed the icing. Carnelian didn't get a chance to see much of the other's lust filled face before Berthie once again dived down to nibble on Carnelian's tender neck.

"For someone without much of a sex drive you have a way of making a man go crazy over you," Berthie said, his voice heavy and husky.

"I assure you that was not my intent."

Berthie didn't say anything more as he moved so he was positioned between Carnelian's legs. He tore Carnelian's pants off and began rubbing between his legs, trying to get a rise out of him. He looked from where his hand was to Carnelian's face, a smirk forming on his lips.

"Do the words I say have to be gentle too?" Berthie asked, ready to tease Carnelian at any given moment.

"If the action will break me in any way then don't do it," Carnelian said simply, finally taking his first bite out of the cupcake. He tried his best to act nonchalant at Berthie rubbing him, but he felt heat rising in his body and urge to moan and gasp was starting to take over. He couldn't help the shiver that ran through him which made him squirm a bit and that was the sign that told Berthie his companion was getting in the mood.

Berthie leaned over Carnelian's long body, making sure to press his arousal against the other's body, and kissed him. He roughly shoved his tongue in the other's mouth before remembering the little cupcake game they were playing. He slowed his movements and kissed Carnelian in a way that was foreign to him. He cupped Carnelian's face with one hand and used the other to gently run his fingers through Carnelian's long hair. The kiss itself was slow and Berthie did his best to not be aggressive. His attempts did not go unnoticed by the other man. Carnelian was surprised, but so happy that Berthie was actually listening to him and treating him with care and tenderness.

"You taste like chocolate," Berthie said as he broke the kiss to drag his tongue down Carnelian's body. He got to his naval and planted small kisses over it. "I really am going to devour you. I'll eat you until there's nothing left, cupcake." He then continued to lick down Carnelian's body and even dragged his tongue along his length, causing the other to gasp loudly.

"Oh, I think that did it!" Berthie exclaimed. He removed his pants, freeing his arousal and grabbing Carnelian's sides, more roughly than he had intended. "I suggest you put the cupcake down before you really do break it."

Carnelian wasted no time in setting the cupcake down on a small stand next to the bed and didn't need to wait long before the still unfamiliar feelings of something penetrating him came over him. He didn't actually expect Berthie to treat him as gently as he had asked him to, so when Berthie moved slowly and sweetly it was quite a surprise. He ran his fingernails along Carnelian's sides, eventually leaning over to kiss his neck. The feelings soaring through Carnelian were wonderful. Berthie was hitting that special spot so perfectly and was being so gentle about it. He was even holding Carnelian like he would never let him go and Carnelian did the same back. This was something completely new to him. No one had ever truly desired him or wanted him or treated him with respect and now here was this man, this crazy, insane, strange man who showed him more love than anyone Carnelian had come across in his lifetime.

"Berthie..." Carnelian whispered breathlessly.

He felt Berthie's arm break the embrace. He whimpered a bit, but didn't have to wait long for the warmth to come back to him. His eyes opened a little, just so he could look at Berthie's face, and it was then that he realized what had occurred.

"What the hell, Berthie!" Carnelian screamed as his hand found the side of the Berthie's face.

When Berthie's arm left his companion it was so he could reach over and take a hold of the cupcake sitting quietly on the desk. He managed to take a good chunk out of it before Carnelian caught him; however he didn't expect Carnelian to slap him then grab the remainder of the cupcake from his hand before flipping him off of the bed.

"Are you serious?" Berthie yelled, sitting up and staring at Carnelian from his place on the floor while rubbing his face where he was hit.

"Are you serious?" Carnelian mocked in a similar way Berthie would often do to him.

"I just took a bite! That's all I wanted anyway!"

"A bite? Berthie, you took nearly half of the cupcake. MY cupcake! You bought this for me! You even scribbled my name on the card with your ugly handwriting!"

Berthie just growled and jumped back on the bed. "Whatever. Let's just finish what we started."

"No!" Carnelian turned away from him and devoured the remainder of the cupcake. He should have known better. Berthie was only holding him so he could reach that damned cupcake. Being affectionate and gentle just wasn't in Berthie's nature. He was a beast, a predator, an uncaring human who manipulated others and and didn't care how he hurt people. The only ounce of love in his tiny heart belonged to...

"Someone other than me," Carnelian whispered as he covered his face to hide the tears trailing down it.

"What was that?"

Carnelian shook his head and laid down, pulling the covers over his body. "Nothing," he said quickly so Berthie wouldn't hear his voice crack. He curled into a ball, wishing desperately he could run away and find a little hole to climb into. How could he have possibly thought Berthie would be affectionate and caring with him? It was like asking a lion to take care of a lamb. Any attempt at tenderness would be futile and the lamb would inevitably get mutilated and devoured.

"I lost it anyway." Berthie mumbled, climbing under the covers with Carnelian. A small gasp escaped Carnelian as he felt Berthie press their bodies closer together. Berthie gently thrummed his fingers on Carnelian's hip while running his other hand through his long hair, planting a few small kisses on his neck. Carnelian lay perfectly still until Berthie stopped kissing him and wrapped his arms around Carnelian's lean body, snuggling close to him.

Perhaps...Berthie wasn't as cold and heartless as Carnelian thought. Perhaps being gentle and affectionate actually was in his nature; he just needed someone to bring it out.

It was at that moment that Carnelian realized he had forgotten something important, something he should have done the minute Berthie pounced on him.

"Berthie?" he said quietly, a small grunt being the response to let him know Berthie was still awake. "Thanks for the cupcake."

A challenge taken up from Kare Uta. ^_^ Although to be honest I challenged her first. You should check out her story Icy Romancer. It's another Berthie/Carnelian and our stories mesh pretty well together! (It was an accident that it happened that way haha!) At least I think they do anyway! ^_^ Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.