Author note: Wow, I'm really churning these out recently, aren't I? We'll be updating every Sunday, but possibly sometime during the week as well.
Warning: Sex, prostitution, pole dancing, bad language, and Kurogane actually being NICE.
Pair: Kurogane and Fai
Disclaimer: Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles is not mine, nor has it ever been. It belongs to CLAMP.

Kurogane tried not to move. He could see Syaoran and Sakura across from him, doing exactly the same thing. They kept perfectly still, keeping their breathing slow and steady, pretending to sleep. Fai, the reason for this strange behaviour, was curled up on the windowsill, sobbing quietly into his arms.

The mage had woken them all with whimpers and gasps in his sleep, until he too woke. He'd immediately silenced himself, and moved away from them to sit on the ledge. The moonlight streamed down around the blond as he tried to stay quiet while he cried.

The younger travellers exchanged glance, worried. Syaoran made eye contact with the black-clad warrior over Sakura's shoulder. Kurogane sighed, and nodded once, before sliding out of bed silently. He moved so lightly that it wasn't until he wrapped his arms around Fai that the mage knew he had even woken.

"Sorry I woke you." Fai sniffed, wiping away tear tracks. "It was just a bad dream. A really, really, bad dream."

"Stupid." Kurogane lifted him off the ledge in a bridal carry. Fai squeaked a little, and clung to his neck until Kurogane sat back on his bed cross-legged and put the blond in his lap. "Make the most of this. Don't want to wake the kids."

"Thanks, Kuro-rin. I really didn't mean to disturb you." For once, Fai's mask was missing – his eyes were shining with tears and the remnants of whatever had distressed him.

"You don't have to be so strong." Kurogane looked away, running a hand through his hair. "It won't kill the kids to see you break down once in a while, but I don't think they could take knowing just how little you trust them."

"It's not that I don't trust them." Fai disagreed.

"It's that you don't trust anyone."

"It's that I don't trust myself." The mage sighed. "I can't go back to what I was before all this, but I don't think I can go forward alone either." He admitted. They sat in silence for a moment, tears still streaking down Fai's cheeks.

"I'll take you." A tense silence fell across the room. Fai was so shocked he stopped crying. Kurogane turned red. "I meant you won't have to go it alone. I'll be with you, and so will the kids." Across the room, Sakura snuggled deeper into Syaoran's arms, almost entirely asleep again as the archaeologist's body heat comforted her. Syaoran smiled slightly into her hair, trying to force down the violent blush on his cheeks from Kurogane's words.

"Then why say it like that?"

"I was thinking about what you said in Outo Country, in that bar. You said you understood Oruha's sentiments; that you were waiting for someone to take you away from it all as well."

"You're quite the romantic, aren't you?" Fai smiled sweetly, reaching up to cup Kurogane's jaw. The warrior scowled. He was acutely aware of not only Fai's weight on his lap, but also the sleepy hazel eyes still watching from the other side of the room.

"No. I just don't forget stuff as quick as you do."

"Who says I forget?" Fai asked softly, leaning against the warrior's chest, tired from his earlier mental and emotional exertion. "Let go, Kuro-pon. You know me well enough to know you need to let me go... unless that's what you want." Kurogane was silent, running a hand slowly over Fai's side comfortingly. During the lengthening silence, he became aware of Syaoran drifting back to sleep.

"Maybe I do." Wide blue eyes met red. "Just tonight wouldn't hurt, right? It'll make you feel better, and I could do with some stress relief." Fai chuckled weakly.

"Nice to know where I stand. You're right though. We're both adults, aren't we? I don't see why we couldn't..." he smirked up at the warrior, then slipped off the other man's legs, and leant between his spread knees provocatively. "You'll get to take me after all."

"Fai." Kurogane held him still, pulling the mage up until their eyes met. "You say we're both adults, but how old are you?" the blond flushed.

"Old enough to know what I want, and to do it legally in my world." Fai smiled, wide and empty. "How old do you think I am?" Kurogane shrugged, letting go of Fai's shoulders.

"About my age, maybe a bit younger? Twenty two, twenty three?" Fai dropped the smile, looking vaguely offended. "Did I guess too high?" Fai turned red, and climbed off his lap.

"That's kind of mean, Kuro-pu." The blond lay down on his side, and tugged Kurogane down with him. "Another time, I guess. I don't think either of us is really in the mood. "

"You should be tired. Get some sleep." Kurogane lay behind the blond, allowing him to curl up comfortably before laying an arm protectively over his waist. Their shared body heat and the arm protecting him made Fai feel safer than he had in a while, and lulled him into a deep, thankfully dreamless, sleep.

TBC