"What is this ningen… thing... you've thrown at me, fox?"

"It's a scarf, Hiei. It's used to keep people warm."

"Fox. Kitsune. Baka kitsune. I don't need a fucking scarf. I'm a fire demon. Take it back before I kill you for your stupidity."

"Romance has its place too, you know." Kurama chided softly. "It's alive and well even in the Makai, though I understand you don't run in those circles." He had heard the unspoken sneer. "In the Makai, for example, I once became engaged to an ugly young girl after dropping the fork I was holding on the wrong side side-ways. That was a near miss if I've ever seen one! I pretended I was ill with a few nasty venereal diseases, and finally escaped with my life via the laundry shoot."

"You talk too much. It's a problem. As for the love-love idiocy you're extolling, well... if you want sex, ask for sex. If you want to talk, ask to talk. If you want a fight, ask for a fight. If you want to kiss, ask for a kiss. This ningen/pseudo-ningen romantic gibbering is all just beating about the bush."

Kurama sighed, and smiled his politest smile. "Fine, Hiei. Would you like a bowl of ramen? Yuusuke's stand is right near here."

"Hn."

They strolled in silence for awhile.

"Are you ever going to talk to me face-to-face, instead of mind-to-mind? And are you ever going to walk beside me, on the ground?"

"The ningen-kai has fettered you, kitsune." He glared down at his fox from the roof, stopping himself from admiring the way the lamps lit up the crimson hair.

It took Kurama only seconds to make his way up the wall and next to his diminutive lover.

"Then we'll walk together up here. May I have a kiss?"

Hiei smirked. "Baka kitsune."

Their kiss was not PG. Once it was over, and both their lips were good and bruised, they walked off together, not holding hands and not exchanging quixotic words. Somehow, they loved each other just the same.

Fin.

--

A.N.: I had to write this after I saw a picture of Kurama giving Hiei his scarf. Forgive my weakness in using the entirely fanon 'baka kitsune,' I did it with the best of intentions.

I own neither Hiei nor Kurama. They're properties of several large conglomerates and, of course, Yoshihiro Togashi.