'ItCoS 12: Spiral Out'

o_0

The door opened behind Brad, but he didn't turn to look. He heard the near-silent shuffle of steps as Ran crossed the floor, heard the rustle of fabric as he reclaimed his clothes. There was the quiet sound of the door being unlocked and opened, and then of it being closed.

He smiled slightly, raising a hand to graze his fingers across the red mark on his neck as the sun began its ascent.

0_~

Youji smirked as he leaned head back in his seat. Schuldig was driving, and Youji didn't know where they were going, but at the moment, he wasn't too sure he cared. They were going in the wrong direction to go back to his own apartment, and he thought it odd that the German would take him home, but he wasn't about too complain.

His pants were unbuttoned and gaping, and his shirt rode high on his stomach. His right leg was up on the dashboard, his bare foot resting against the cool leather console as they drove in the early morning grayness. It was a little before six, and the sun was slowly rising on the horizon. It looked like a beautiful day, and he wondered briefly what it would take to mar that beauty.

No sooner had the thought presented itself that it was chased away by a hand being placed on his thigh. He looked over at Schuldig, moving his own had to cover the hand touching him. He scanned the other man's face, looking for anything that would give him a clue as to what was going on with the redhead. There was a smug set to his eyes, and a definite gleam in his eyes, but there was no other outward indication of his thoughts or emotions.

'It's not fair,' he sent the thought. 'You get to mind rape everyone you pass by, and I can't get a damn clue as to what goes on inside your head.'

"You wouldn't like it," Schuldig responded verbally. "It's loud." He stopped there, but Youji thought he could detect a train of thought that wasn't completed, and he narrowed his eyes.

'What were you going to say?' he asked, pushing the thought out forcefully. Schuldig winced and glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.

"It was going to be, it's loud except when you're around, but I think you just proved that theory wrong."

'Why do you talk with your mouth? Isn't it easier to just send your thoughts?' he was curious, now. He knew that Schwartz often talked with each other with their minds, connected by the German, and he couldn't understand why the redhead would insist on going about it the hard way.

"Enough talk," the redhead said, bringing the car to a stop. Youji turned to his window and looked up at a large apartment complex. It was a tall building, and he could tell by the gold plating on the entrance doors that it was an expensive place to live. He heard the driver's door open, and reached to open his own, but in a flash, Schuldig was opening his door for him and reaching a hand out to help him out.

"You're a true gentleman," Youji noted, giving in and speaking his thoughts aloud. It helped that even -he- could hear the sarcasm in his voice. "It's too bad you don't have a lady to pamper, hm?"

Schuldig pulled him out of the car and onto the sidewalk, and used the momentum of Youji's body to swing him around until he was standing in the German's arms, his back against the redhead's chest, arms wrapped tight around his torso. "I'd much rather indulge you, and I know many ways to do that."

"Promises, promises," Youji murmured throatily, pressing back against the heat of the body behind him. "Let's get this show on the road, Schuldig-chan."

The hands against his sides slid down, running over the tops of his thighs through his pants. Schuldig turned his thumbs in, making sure that they pressed against Youji's crotch as his hands moved up and down. "We can do this show on the road," he whispered darkly, burrowing against the back of Youji's neck and flicking his tongue out to taste the skin found there.

"You said a soft bed, Schwartz. Don't get lazy on me now," Youji teased huskily, licking his lips in anticipation.

"Soft bed, yes," the redhead agreed, moving forward without ever breaking his hold on Youji. "Maybe some whips and chains," he added thoughtfully. Youji missed a step, his eyes widening. "And we'll definitely have to play with the leash."

"What the-" Youji started, only to be cut off by Schuldig reaching between his legs and cupping his crotch.

"You'll like it," Schuldig said promisingly.

0_0

Omi laughed as Nagi ran a hand up his side, then giggled when it brushed the sensitive spot under his ribs. "Stop that! No fair tickling me, when you won't let me tickle you," he informed Nagi seriously, trying his hardest not to smile and ruin the effect.

"But, Omi," Nagi said crooningly. "You -like- it, when I…tickle you."

"Mm," Omi moaned appreciatively as Nagi moved his hands up his chest, and gripped his shoulders, his body moving to cover Omi's, his eyes staring down into the older boy's. Omi raised his hands and cupped Nagi's face. "I love you," he said happily, all teasing aside. He leaned up and kissed his boyfriend, not waiting for the response.

The kiss started out innocently enough, but quickly progressed, until their tongues were moving deeply in each other's mouths, taking turns to taste each other, to play against each other.

Nagi broke the kiss to press a trail of kisses down Omi's jaw, tracing a path to his neck, where he stopped and suckled. He listened to the other's content sigh, felt the trembling expectancy in his body, and he relished it, relished the feeling that he could elicit so many responses in the boy beneath him. It made him feel triumphant, powerful. It was enough to make him wish for eternity to freeze in that instant, so that he wouldn't lose the rush that was coursing through his blood.

"Nagi," he heard whispered softly, and his whole body stilled. He pulled away so that he could look down at his lover, so that he could see the disheveled brown hair, and blue eyes that didn't belong to…

"Omi," Nagi said softly, smiling gently, despite the turmoil inside. It only lasted a few precious seconds. He couldn't stop the tear that escaped from his eye, the clenching of his fists as he pulled away abruptly, completely, crossing the room and reaching for the door before he could break down completely.

"Nagi!" Omi exclaimed, jumping up from the bed and hurtling himself at the other teen before he could get away. "What is it? What's wrong?" he asked, embracing Nagi and holding him tight.

"You…for just a second, you sounded like…" Nagi trailed off, drawing in a shaky breath and trying to pull away. Omi held on tighter.

"Like her?" he asked softly, closing his own eyes. "It's okay. I understand." He did. He could remember Ouka clearly, his own pain at her loss, and he could not fault Nagi for remembering the girl he'd loved before. It wasn't exactly something he wanted to hear right after they were kissing, but he could handle it. The memories were part of what made Nagi Nagi, and Omi would not ask for him to be anything different, for his memories to be different. "Just please tell me that I don't kiss like her," he said half-jokingly, trying to erase the pain he could see in his lover's eyes.

There was silence for a moment, and then Nagi chuckled quietly. "No, you don't. We didn't…" he trailed off again, and Omi knew that that 'we' didn't include him. "We didn't get far. I only kissed her once," he said sadly. He hunched his body over, almost protectively. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Omi tilted Nagi's chin up and pressed a gentle kiss on his lips. "Never, ever say you're sorry for being in love." Nagi closed his eyes and leaned closer, sealing their lips in another kiss, which Omi deepened.

'Why?' Nagi cried desperately inside his mind. 'Why do I have to lose this, too?'

*_*

Ken shut the door to his room and leaned back against it, his eyes finding and meeting Farferello's glittering orb in the semi-darkness of his room. The tube that Nagi had given him was still clenched in his fist, and he pressed it against his leg, rubbing it absently as his mind whirled. He'd come this far, and he still wasn't sure if he could take the last couple of steps to follow through.

As if sensing his hesitation, or impatient himself, Farferello strode forward, hands going to brace himself against the door as he leaned down and pressed his lips, open-mouthed, against Ken's. The brunette returned the pressure, reaching up to press his hands, one fisted, the other open, against the Irishman's chest, the fingers of his left hand lightly tracing the top of the bandages that wrapped the blond from his ribs to his belly button.

His chest tightened as Farferello's hands caressed his sides, rubbing across his skin as thin arms embraced him, pulling him even closer as the Irishman deepened the kiss. Ken remembered the tube in his hand and pushed the other man away a bit, holding it up between them. "Nagi said to use this."

Farferello looked at it for a moment, then shrugged, dismissing it and its purpose. "Not necessary," he said throatily, leaning back down to claim Ken's lips once again. Ken turned his head, evading the searching mouth.

"If you bleed on me, I won't be hurting God, I'll be hurting you," he said harshly, pushing the other away again. "You want me to hurt God, you tell me what the hell I'm supposed to be doing!" He didn't realize until he saw the smirk on the other's face that that was quite possibly the wrong thing to say. Before he could rephrase his imperative, or even blink, he was flat on his back, body covered by the blond's, his mouth open and invaded by a warm tongue.

He closed his eyes, relaxing into the sensation. His body arched up into a slender hand as it journeyed down his abdomen, stopping at the top of his pants before fingers dipped inside, reaching for the treasure that lay below. He moaned when the hand pulled back only to move over the top of his pants and cupped his erection through his clothes. The sound was muffled by the mouth still covering his, but the tremor that ran through his body was unmistakable, undeniable.

The pressure increased, and Ken's mind slipped further away under the onslaught. His hips bucked, pushing farther into the hand covering him there. As the kissing and petting continued, he brought his own hands into play, pulling the pale body closer, until they were pressed tight together. He held Farferello tighter, his hands searching down his backside until he found his posterior, and pressed their groins together, the blond's hand trapped between them and making the pressure even more unbearable.

Ken groaned, unable to help the needy sound that bubbled in his throat. The hand disappeared, and he nearly whimpered, but Farferello straddled him and pressed down with his crotch to replace the feeling of his hand.

A sound registered in the back of his head, but he was too far gone to recognize or acknowledge it. The Irishman rocked his hips, creating a delightful friction that had Ken arching his back in a silent cry to repeat it.

"Ken!" a far off voice exclaimed. He knew that it wasn't Farferello's, but it wasn't enough to bring him down. However, the blond stopping all movement did. He opened his eyes, blinking foggily. His eyes focused first on Farferello, then on the open door behind him, and finally, they came to settle on the girl at the door way. "Um…" Aya-chan said weakly. Her eyes were wide, her hand pressed to her lips in a gesture of shock.

Farferello stood up quickly and jumped through the window before Ken even had a chance to react. They both stared at the broken glass as it shattered on the floor and into the alleyway.

She buried her head in her hands, and mumbled softly, "I'm sorry."

Ken stood up and straightened his pants, then looked around for a shirt that he could pull on quickly. He found a T-shirt and pulled it over his head. Aya-chan still stood in the doorway, breathing oddly. "It's okay, Aya-chan," he said gently. He thought about patting her back, but decided that keeping his distance would probably make them both more comfortable. "What did you need?"

"Um…" she risked a glance up, dropping her hands to her side when she realized that Ken was covered and that the other man was gone. "Ran isn't in his room, and I can't find him downstairs. I was wondering if you knew where he was?"

Ken looked at her, then shook his head. He had a general idea of where her brother was, but he wasn't exactly sure -where- Crawford would be. "Sorry, Aya-chan. Don't worry, though. He should be back in a bit. He wouldn't leave you alone for long." Now that he thought about it, Ken thought it odd that Ran would leave his sister at all.

She seemed to accept his words at face-value; she turned and left his room, making her way down the hallway and to the stairs that would take her down into the shop. Ken slumped against the door frame, leaning his head tiredly against the wooden jamb. He honestly didn't know what was going on anymore. Every time he seemed to get a grasp on the situation, something ('mostly my own emotions,' he thought self-loathingly) got turned around, and he was left even more confused that he had been.

'I sleep with him, I sin against his god, I go home, and all is good,' he said to himself, retreating back into his room and shutting the door. He looked at the mess of glass on the floor, and sighed. 'Except that anymore, I'm less worried about the physical danger, and more worried that I'm-' he cut that train of thought off, and set about picking finding clothes for the day.

However, he couldn't leave the thoughts behind as easily as the Irishman seemed able to leave him. 'I don't want to feel what I think I'm feeling, but I can't deny it, either.'

In a happy-ever-after world, he would find someone that completed him and he'd run off into the sunset, but that world didn't include being wooed by the enemy, being seduced by a crazy man, being -upset- that he couldn't sleep with a man that exemplified both of those things.

'It's not like it'll hurt him-' he paused, a thought suddenly occurring to him. 'He can't feel pain, he can't be hurt. Does that mean-?'

He closed his eyes and shook his head. "Does he even know what pleasure is?" he asked aloud to his room. It didn't answer.

@_@

Interesting question…how long will it take before Ken receives his answer? What are Schuldig and Youji going to do? Where are Ran and Brad? What is up with Nagi and Omi?

Find out next time, on the exciting continuation of: 'ItCoS: Spiral Down'