This was a drabble that got left behind, and now I finished it. Thus, very old and useless.
Expression by Redex
When Kurogane opened the door to his room to find Fai half-wrapped in a silk bathrobe, the second thing he noticed after the half-unwrapped part of Fai's body was the look in his eyes.
He had seen that look in all too many war-torn soldiers to turn him away, and when long slender arms were wrapped around his neck he stepped back into the dark of his room and shut the door with one hand.
If there was anything to make Fai loose his ability to hide, it was sex, the dark ninja thought as he looked down on the pale form below him. Those clear summer-blue eyes dripping with an unresolved pain, a chest heaving with the effort of forgetting. Black tatoos that curled over his shoulder looked like misplaced shadows of his hair that was spilling over the pillows.
And afterwards, there were no more smokescreens, no more masks, no more fake personas to hide behind, so they just lay there in a poignant silence untill Kurogane's impatient nature took over...
"I'm not saying that I haven't done the same before, but I don't appreciate being used as a fucktoy by you."
...And surpassed his ability to think of something tactful, witty and intelligent to say, as it so often did.
"What do you mean?"
The bite behind the shaking attempt at a teasing tone struck Kurogane strongly. He knew a hit nerve when he felt it.
"I hate your smiles. And contrary to popular belief, it's not just because I'm a grumpy jerk with a pole jammed up his ass. For one thing, I'm not going to be on bottom, and for a second thing, they are the worst lie I have ever had to watch being made."
Another silence took over, but it was a pensive one. Kurogane was glaring at the side of Fai's head, waiting for an answer.
Finally it came.
The soft smile deadened by eternally sad eyes, Fai couldn't bear to meet Kurogane's eyes as he murmured, "I couldn't burden..."
Kurogane felt his eternally simmering anger spread to the surface and didn't let Fai finish whatever it was he was going to say.
"That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard you say, you goddamn idiot."
For once, Fai looked surprised, and Kurogane was momentarily struck through his haze of anger on how tightly Fai held onto his emotions, filtering out which ones to show to the world. And then he said something stupid.
"I can't understand how you can make me love you and then say something like that!"
"Kuro..."
He was thankful for the lack of nickname. It saved him from snapping when even he knew he shouldn't.
Heavy lids fell down over those eyes that seemed to brighten a little, but that control was still there, the control that Kurogane had come to detest.
Long pampered fingers came in contact with his face and he almost flinched, but held it back by gritting his teeth. It would do no good to be shrugging off affection at this stage, after he had admitted to having feelings for that mage...
"I have to think about this, but... thank you."
Was Kurogane really blushing? No, he couldn't be. Not this warrior, ninja, master of a thousand battles. Blushing?
Fai smiled a little, truthful smile and Kurogane felt like he had gotten somewhere.
So he grunted as a response and tried not to be awkward and failed, and let Fai snuggle into his side like a kitten.
The next morning he was trying to enjoy a quiet cup of green tea out on the varanda and pretend he was home, away from all this madness, and being surprised at his own lack of comfort at the idea of home when Mokona decided to make his move.
"Kuro-chan, Mokona thinks that maybe Fai-fai is seeming more happy lately? And maybe Mokona thinks that this is because Kuro-chan is spending more time with him. Fai-fai is more happy with Kuro-chan than anyone else!"
"Hunh," Kurogane grunted, flushing a little, but refusing to acknowlege.
Him. And the mage. Happy? Maybe, eventually.
Hum. All my KuroFai seem to have the same theme. Critique? Suggestions?