This was clearly not Satoshi’s night.

Dark had gotten the pendant he came for, which didn’t surprise Satoshi at all, and Satoshi had stayed right on his escape trail this time. He’d found out that all that meant was that all the traps Dark set off came that much closer to catching Satoshi himself.

And now both of them lay on the floor of the museum attic, panting, having scrambled past what was left of the stair up, and Satoshi would pounce on Dark any minute now, really, just as soon as he got his breath back.

"You’d make a great thief, you know," Dark laughed, gasping. "How about it, Commander?"

"Of course I would," Satoshi grunted, levering himself up. "But that wouldn’t get me what I want."

For a moment Dark’s smile lost its brashness and turned old and inhuman. "What do you want?"

"Peace."

He really must be more tired than he’d thought, Satoshi told himself a moment later, to let that answer be startled out of him. He looked away, at the stacks of old frames and the light glinting on broken display cases.

It was Dark’s sigh that pulled his head back around. Dark was fishing in his pocket and Satoshi tensed when he held up the pendant he’d stolen, expecting Dark to do something typically irritating like throw it out the window. Instead Dark murmured softly to it. Satoshi caught only the German for "sleep" and "time".

And then Dark strolled over and tossed the chain over his head.

"What…?"

"It won’t last long," Dark interrupted. "Probably not more than a day and a night. But it should put Krad to sleep for a little while."

Satoshi’s eyes widened. It shouldn’t be possible to use the pendant that way. This was stretching even Dark’s ability to sweet-talk other artwork. But he could feel the tension, the ache of holding off those white wings, subsiding.

This time when he spoke it was a whisper. "Why?"

Dark’s mouth quirked. "Your family didn’t make me to have mercy. You probably know that better than most. But," he shrugged, "three hundred years dealing with Niwas and their idiot chivalry will do things to a man."

Satoshi couldn’t quite stifle a snort of laughter. One year of dealing with a Niwa, not to mention Dark, had certainly done things to him. He wasn’t sure which of them he had more sympathy for.

"Hmmmm."

Dark was looking at him, now, with a rather worrying light in his eye.

"I wonder…"

Satoshi was hard put not to gape as Dark’s fingers closed on his chin. "What do you think you’re doing?"

"There are a lot of different kinds of peace, you know." Dark grinned.

"Have you completely lost your mind?" Satoshi tried to step back, but Dark’s hand on his lower back stopped him.

"Krad’s asleep," Dark pointed out. "You won’t get many chances like this, you know."

"I trust not," Satoshi returned in his iciest tone. It was going to be difficult to extricate himself, though, given how worn out he was from the chase and how warm Dark’s hands were.

…he had not just thought that.

It was true, Dark was warm, but they’d just been running all over a building, surely that wasn’t any surprise. And warmth was dangerous, it brought Krad out.

Of course, Krad really did seem to be sleeping right now.

And Dark’s hands on his back were gentle, careful not to touch his shoulder blades, where he was always sore these days.

Satoshi wanted badly to pound his head on Dark’s shoulder a few times. Since Dark’s hand was cupping his head and Dark’s mouth was on his—and how had he managed that?—Satoshi could only make a soft, confused sound.

"It’s been tried you know," Dark murmured against his mouth. "Coldness. In three hundred years, everything’s been tried at least twice. It never works. So why not take this while you can have it?" He chuckled. "I’ve lived by that for centuries."

"I noticed." It was less repressive and more husky than Satoshi had quite intended.

"Oh come on. You’re Hikari. I’m an artwork. What’s strange about you taking pleasure from me?"

Satoshi jerked back, at that. "I’m not like them! I won’t be like them!" He glared at Dark, hands pushing against his chest.

Dark didn’t let go. "I know." His mouth tilted. "I’m offering."

Satoshi relaxed warily, because Dark’s smile was old and strange again. He admitted, it was… tempting. To know warmth for just a little while.

And Krad already wanted to kill Dark; it wasn’t as though he could put Dark in any more danger.

Dark drew him back and kissed him again, and Satoshi let him. Dark made a pleased sound and Satoshi hmphed at him, but he did relax with Dark’s hands when they kneaded over his lower back. It felt good.

He wondered how long it had been since he last felt good in his body.

His hands tightened in Dark’s shirt when Dark’s fingers flicked down the buttons of his own. He didn’t really know where this was going, and he wasn’t used to that.

"Easy," Dark murmured against his ear. "I know what I’m doing."

"That," Satoshi managed without sounding too breathless, "is what worries me."

Dark just laughed and lifted Satoshi’s shirt off his shoulders. At Satoshi’s sharp look, he grinned and obligingly stripped off his own, tossing it over the nearest worn picture frame. His hands felt different on bare skin and his skin felt different under Satoshi’s hands and it was all very distracting. Satoshi was distantly pleased when Dark casually kicked over a stack of display drapes and eased him down into the muddle of plush and velveteen. At least he didn’t have to concentrate on standing upright anymore.

He swallowed a sharp gasp as Dark’s mouth moved down his throat and over his chest. "Ahh—" Dark made a smug sound, though it softened when Satoshi’s hands closed hard on his shoulders.

"Easy, there, Commander." The teasing voice was soothing now. "It’s just feeling. It won’t hurt you."

Satoshi’s laugh was harsh. "Shows what you know." Dark’s hands rubbed gently over his lower back, thumbs stroking Satoshi’s ribs.

"For tonight, it won’t hurt you." A grin crept back into Dark’s voice. "Come on, you know you want to put one in Krad’s eye."

Satoshi snorted softly, but he also relaxed. He supposed he should be worried by how well Dark knew him, but, really, it was old news. What was new was how careful Dark’s hands were, and how amazing the slow, wet heat of his mouth felt on Satoshi’s skin. And this was all his, something he felt with a body that belonged to no one else. He leaned back into the plush curtains with a sigh.

Dark made approving noises and his mouth slid further down over Satoshi’s stomach. Strong hands supported Satoshi as he shivered, back arching under the sensation. The lap of Dark’s tongue over his stomach made his breath catch again and again, and he was glad when Dark’s fingers undid his slacks. He might not know exactly how all this went, but he did know he wanted more.

Large, gentle hands eased his pants down off his hips and Satoshi’s fingers dug into Dark’s shoulders as Dark’s lips brushed low over his stomach. "Dark…"

"Shhh. Easy." Dark’s voice had softened to velvet in the light-striped darkness. "It’s all right."

Satoshi was dizzy with sensation, with how right and wrong this was, and he couldn’t find the words to say exactly how. And then he couldn’t find words at all, because soft heat was surrounding his cock, slow and wet.

He was breathing in long gasps, when he remembered to breathe, and he was distantly grateful for Dark’s hands, curved around his rear and back. He knew how to deal with pain. Pleasure was stranger and more difficult.

"Mmmm." Dark’s lips slid slowly up his length and brushed against his head when Dark spoke. "Just feel. It won’t hurt you. Not tonight."

Satoshi moaned, soft and harsh, as Dark’s mouth closed around him again and Dark’s tongue caressed him. It felt so good, so intense and immediate after years of holding his own senses off at arm’s length. So good he didn’t know if his skin could contain it all.

Even so, the end came as a shock.

Pleasure tightened fiercely around every nerve and rushed out of him in deep tremors that wracked his whole body. He thought he might have cried out; his throat felt raw. And through it all, Dark held him carefully.

Satoshi stared up at the ceiling, panting for breath as Dark delicately buttoned him back up and eeled up his body to lean over him.

Grinning, of course.

Satoshi mustered a faint sniff.

Dark laughed low in his throat and leaned down to kiss him; Satoshi blinked at how soft and light it was. "Don’t close the world out, Commander," Dark murmured in his ear. "It won’t work. Try the other way around, instead."

And then feathers brushed over Satoshi’s bare arms and Dark was gone.

After a while, Satoshi stood up and pulled his shirt back on, brushing dust off his clothes as well as he could. He would take the fire escape down to the ground again and disperse the police. He’d have to tell them Dark had taken the pendant, because explaining why he had it and why there was going to be another fight for it tomorrow night would be… complicated. He didn’t want more complication right now.

And perhaps, when he got home, just this once, he would take a long, hot bath.

Dark winged through the night, grinning. Daisuke was one huge, hot blush in the back of his mind.

I can’t believe you did that, his Tamer wailed. How am I supposed to look Hiwatari-kun in the eye ever again?!

"Well, you know, you don’t have to look him in the eye if you kiss him," Dark pointed out logically.

The blush-feeling heated up several degrees and Dark laughed. Daisuke freaked out so easily. Of course, sometimes this was a good thing; like when he needed to shock Daisuke enough that they wouldn’t transform. But it was all in a good cause.

"You know, Daisuke, for someone with such a big heart, you don’t have a lot of brain to go with it sometimes. I’m just doing my part for the happy ending."

Confusion. What?

Dark sighed. Children; the older he got the stranger this was to go through life after life. "He cares for you," he explained patiently. "You’re the one who makes him change. And you care for him, too."

More confusion. Dark rolled his eyes.

"Daisuke, track me, here. If you and your ‘holy maiden’ love each other, I sleep again and the curse waits another generation. It’s completed love that matters, right? If you and the other Tamer love each other…"

Shock vibrated through his head like a gong-stroke. But Riku…!

"Well, yeah, her too." And probably Risa if Dark was reading the situation right. Just as well; it would keep that little firecracker Riku from feeling outnumbered by the boys. Dark sighed at Daisuke’s sputtering, and repeated with heavy emphasis, "For someone with such a big heart…"

After a long silence Daisuke asked, hesitantly, Would that really work. I mean… for good?

It was Dark’s turn to be silent for a while. "You remember what I said about everything being tried twice? This hasn’t been tried."

Not successfully, anyway. He buried that thought as deep as he could.

All right. Daisuke’s determination was like a fire catching. We’ll try.

Dark’s grin turned wry. He doubted they’d have to try hard; Daisuke and the Hikari were more than halfway there already.

Hey, Dark?

"Yeah?"

I thought you didn’t like boys. When I drew that picture for you…

"What? You expect me to let a little thing like the truth to get in the way of teasing you?"

Daaaark!

End