Fay stared at the ground as they walked through the surrounding overgrowth.

Kurogane sighed. The stupid manjuu had gotten it wrong - again - and the group had been seperated. He and Fay were trudging through some dense forest in some new world, and as for the kid and the Princess...well, knowing they could be anywhere, he just hoped they weren't in any immediate danger.

He gazed back at Fay, who still seemed to be contenting himself with the grass and mud underfoot, apparently counting the number of bugs he saw as he went.

"Idiot mage..." he mumbled, and Fay reacted to this - out of his reverie, he stared back at Kurogane, a very blank stare, as if between thoughts. Kurogane knew Fay wouldn't have understood what he'd just muttered (acting-translator Mokona was absent, after all) but the mage, seeming to remember himself in that moment, grinned a brilliant grin then. Naturally, that pissed off Kurogane, and his face darkened.

Noticing his eyebrow twitch, Fay made a jesting comment at Kurogane, poking him on the nose as he did so: "Hyuu~, Kuro-pon is so cute when he's angry."

While he didn't catch the rest, Kurogane had heard Fay say "cute" enough to pick up on it, and the butchering of his name further added to his increasing anger. "What d'you say?!"

As with Kurogane, Fay may not have understood the exact words directed at him, but he was so used to Kurogane's reaction that he was satisfied he'd gotten the response he'd wanted. He smiled further, before laughing cheerily as Kurogane's red eyes glazed over in fury.

Kurogane made to reach for his sword, eyeing-up the mage dangerously, and Fay, assuming the ninja wasn't being too serious, continued to pass comment, "Hyuu~, Hyuu~, Kuro-pon, Kuro-tan, Kuro-ni, Kuro - " He came to an abrupt halt as Kuropon hit him across the face with the hilt of his sword, causing him to crash painfully to the ground.

Kurogane then felt sick, and why he couldn't quite explain. He hadn't meant to hit the mage so hard, but he'd forgotten that Fay wasn't the largest person in the world - his skinny, lithe figure probably couldn't take quite the beating Kurogane's huge body could. He stared briefly, racked with guilt, at the unconcious Fay lying on the grassy floor, before rushing down to him and taking his head in his arms. He brushed the blonde strands of hair from Fay's face carefully and rubbed his cheek in his hand, shaking him gently. "Fay," he spoke softly, "Fay..."

What if he'd really hurt him? What if Fay hated him for hitting him? What if he didn't wake up for hours, days?

"You really shouldn't be so worried, dear Kuro-pon.."

Kurogane snapped out of it, and stared down at the half-open blue eyes of the blonde in his arms. The relief showed visibly in his face, and Fay smiled at him. The mage placed his hand on the side of his own head, where he'd been struck, and winced slightly in pain. Kurogane slowly moved to place his own hand under Fay's yet over the bruise, rubbing it smoothly.

"Hyuu~, Kuro-tan has a very nice touch for someone so rugged," Fay mused comically at him and, to Fay's absolute surprise, the ninja smiled ever-so slightly back at him. Smiled.

Kurogane, continuing to rub Fay's head, stared down into the mage's still surprised eyes, sheer apology etched in his. "I'm sorry," he said simply, truthfully. "I promise never to do that again."

It was Fay's turn to surprise the ninja. He put his arms around Kurogane's neck, and pulled himself closer. Faces only centimetres apart, Fay whispered "Apology accepted," before planting a kiss on Kurogane's lips.

It lasted a few seconds, and when Fay pulled away he was granted the delight of gazing upon a blushing Kurogane. "I...wha...why...." was all the warrior stammered back, and Fay moved his hand under the material of Kurogane's shirt, rubbing upwards against his toned chest.

Kurogane jerked slightly to the touch, his breathing slightly shaky as he entered this new territory. Fay's hand was so warm, so welcome against his body, and the way the mage's fingers glided and danced over his chest caused him to shudder with pleasure. He thought maybe he should return the favour - he slowly began unbuttoning Fay's shirt.

Fay stopped as soon as Kurogane had began, looking very carefully at his companion. "Should we really be doing this, Kuro?"

Kurogane stared back at him, face expressionless, before he moved in and kissed the mage himself. Unlike the first, Kurogane's kiss was full of fire and passion, one that Fay had to surrender to; he opened his mouth and allowed Kurogane entrance, their tongues exploring each others' mouths as their hands explored each others' bodies. Kurogane leaned back, and Fay followed, lying ontop of the dark-haired warrior, blood surging through each others' veins as they enjoyed the contact and warmth of each other. Kurogane worked his hands over Fay's back, before using them to hold the mage on top of him in a tight embrace, while Fay's hands rubbed over Kurogane's chest, slowly moving down; Kurogane flinched a little as one of Fay's hands made it under his trousers and between his legs. All the while, they kissed.

When Fay finally pulled away, Kurogane knew he was reluctant to do so - if it didn't have to stop, neither of them would have let it. But they couldn't risk much more time. They'd known Syaoran, Sakura and Mokona had to be near by, ever since they'd started understanding one another again.

As Fay buttoned up his shirt, Kurogane got to his feet and stared vacantly into the distance. "This thing we have here..." he started.

"...it has to remain a secret, right Kuro-ni?" Fay finished.

Kurogane looked down at Fay then, and offered him his hand. Taking it, he pulled Fay up and into his arms, holding him against his chest. "It does," he whispered into Fay's hair, before kissing him one final time on the forehead.

Fay grabbed the material of Kurogane's shirt as his head rested against his chest and smiled, a contented sigh escaping him. "Do you love me, Kuro-pon?"

Kurogane smiled once more, tightening his embrace around the small man, and closed his eyes knowing that, were he to fall asleep this very moment, he would never want to wake.