six kurofai ficlets
i think i may be happy with these. considering the really bad romance writer’s block i’ve been sporting for some time. i'm so, so sorry if it took so long and that they are so few. :/ either way, i hope you like it.
anyways, all for you sweethearts from kuroxfai.
warning: proeminent lack of capitalization.
01: under skin
red | for fieldofclover
the opaque tan on kurogane’s skin had never been much of a nuisance up until the moment fai’s very life depends on what it masks. it’s hard, the coming with terms with something you never asked for to begin with, and it’s something the magician doesn’t take lightly. still, life is life-there is sakura, growing more silent and silent as they win chess match after another, underneath syaoran’s unyielding, protective gaze as his hands drown, drown in blood-red and red and red again, but this one doesn’t satisfy you.
(but no, sakura grows silent and syaoran grows protective; meanwhile, fai is escaping kurogane’s presence while he tries to hold on to his lies and secrets, and his mask is falling off, isn’t it?)
however, as this foreign blood flows to the tempo of his heartbeat-quick, kurogane is looking-fai learns that he must adapt, and quickly. the blue of his eye starts looking for the red in kurogane-he finds his eyes that hold his with confidence that fai knows to be actually worry; the magician knows how to quickly avoid this, and instead he is studying the hydrographic lines scathed by thick veins upon the ninja’s inner wrist as he firmly holds on to his trusted sword. he sees the red underneath the frail veneer of kurogane’s skin, his fingers clench again and again, and in a moment the ninja stares at him like he’s saying, “i know what you’re thinking.”
maybe it’s fai’s imagination, but he just says that. maybe kurogane knows what blood thirst feels like, although for a very distinct reason from fai’s.
either way, kurogane knows exactly what fai is thinking; and later, when sakura’s confined herself to her room and syaoran took some time to go out and fetch information on their next opponents, kurogane’s wrist is at ease. fai doesn’t look him in the red eyes as he walks up to him and brings the ninja’s veins to his nose, inhales, and then licks a pathway that sends shivers down kurogane’s spine. he feels his red eyes on him as he brings up a hand, a sharp nail and draws a red-red, red that satisfies him so, so much-line that must sting until fai sucks on it like a silent minute upon someone’s death.
he’s alive, though. it hurts him.
later, he licks his lips and doesn’t even make a motion to help kurogane heal his scratch. instead, he whispers, “it’s your fault.”
(but you will take it any day, won’t you?)
he walks away as the clear tears well up in his eye.
02: refuge
fai as a ninja/assassin & kurogane’s a commoner that takes him in | for youkohiei_fan
you were dying and he took you in. (what you didn’t see was, the little girl that saw you insisted he used his strength to pick you up and take you inside, and who was he to deny his princess’s wish.)
either way, you were in blood and wounds and he carried you inside, where it was warm and dry and smelled of homemade cabbage soup. you weren’t aware that you knew what cabbage soup smelled like until you realized it was. you struggled to get back to the hole of a place where you laid nest for the mission; you were desperate for your reward to be kept safe underneath the tatami mat under your futon. you struggled and struggled until you gave up and embraced death, maybe, judging by the pain and how you barely feel it now, your blood carried away by the falling rainwater. for a moment, you wished for the clouds above to be burnt into your retina for eternity as you died.
-yes, as the failure you are.
instead, he put your weight over his shoulder, gently, or the little princess might complain and laid you bare and took your death and your liberation from your stupid, pointless existence. you hated him, you hated the little girl as she handed him bandage after bandage and helped him clean up your wounds. just who were they, to judge who dies and who lives?
his hands held you against the improvised bedding as you fought against life and the light it brought with it, he snarled at you, countless times, “don’t be stupid, you’re not going to die.” you heard his words and you wished you had the strength to reply, but you didn’t; instead, he forced cabbage soup down your throat and you had no means to fight back. the girl stared like a curious owl.
one day, maybe, you will say, “thank you, kuropon.”
maybe.
for now, you just sit outside and stay still for as much time as you can so it won’t hurt, and you will wonder about this unfairness to life as you killed countless people and he saved you from death, and maybe then you will tell him how many people you’ve killed and why-maybe he will resent you and take you away from his princess tomoyo; maybe, he will accept you and it will stitch the remnants of your spirit back together. maybe there is hope left for you.
getting there.
03: alright
promise | for fieldofclover .
war unravels all around them; it’s bodies in motion and bodies falling, and they are all alone in this tiny world where the moon is all they see enlightening the angry faces. in here, they survive against people with whom they can’t possibly connect with, the language barrier guarantees that.
it burns, hurts, when fai falls from his demon-steed onto the ground and on his still pink, still tender and sensitive wounds, but he finds kurogane and crawls to him as best as he can.
he’s at the verge of the abyss, but the ninja threads blood-stained fingers through his hair, through the ripped fabric of his clothes and armor, and tries to smile his best with his bruised body. fai doesn’t understand the words he says, but he knows that they promise they will make it through alright and reunite with the kids and mokona.
04: the butterflies in my stomach. (partner to “alright”.)
silence | for fieldofclover .
fai’s warmth pressed against his (it feels like home, even if the thin layer of white linen separates them), his lips on his jawbone; kurogane’s hand tracing dream-like patterns along the blond’s back, and the ninja is in cloud nine. fai’s breath ghosts upon his ear when he leans close, and whereas no words are said-they are strictly unnecessary noise-they speak with each other, silently, cradled between the sheets and structure of the tent while their breaths mingle together in the cold night.
the recent injuries and wounds still bite into his skin, and he grimaces whenever fai presses a little too much against any of them. this doesn’t seem to stop fai from molding his body perfectly against kurogane’s, threading his fingers through messy, inky clumps of hair and through his own tanned fingers and smiling in that stupid, perfect way that invites kurogane’s lips.
the sun comes out. kurogane stretches across the sheets and fai does acrobatic job to maintain his position on top of him. the ninja looks up through the covers of the tent, and the look fai gives him tells that maybe the kids will be here soon, and they will have to stop fighting ashura.
05: but baby, when it’s love.
strip poker where fai cheats but loses anyway | for veryviciousv.
it’s the two of them alone without syaoran and mokona and one of those nights that just seems to stretch and stretch without going anywhere. they are sitting in the kitchen space of their temporary living space in yet another world where they haven’t found trace of the clones. they are sitting around the square table, the plate of snacks they are told to be potato chips have been half decimated by mid night hunger and there is also some-no, a lot of-saké involved, but then again, that’s just tradition. so, when sleepy stupor starts to kick in at around something in the morning, fai suggests they play a little strip poker. they don’t have much clothing to begin with, so fai devises a little strategy to assure the winds of victory favor him instead of kurogane.
…needless to say, he fails.
“you can choose what you want to take off, wizard.”
fai tries his best to keep a straight, nonchalant poker face. and just because kuro-rin can keep his face stuck at the same, solid, unexpressive face for extended periods of time like he’s been born with it (maybe he was), it doesn’t mean fai can, too. so, instead, he sips (read, devours) in more saké and provides kurogane with a sample of his default smile he knows the ninja adores. either way, it’s not like he has much to choose from: it’s the sock that goes out or it is his boxer-briefs. he throws a casual glance at kurogane, which just seems to provide him that, well, he’s still got pretty much the clothing he began with on his body.
oh, well, choices are made, and soon fai is lifting himself from his chair and slips his thumbs into the hem of his underwear while he does his best to hold kurogane’s attention on him. a split-second later, he’s sliding them along his legs-and he gets an arched eyebrow from kuro-pon-as slowly as he possibly can.
“uhh,” kurogane starts as fai works his underwear down his knees, a faint blush staining his face even as he shrugs and does his best to go back to his poker face. “you still have the sock.”
“that’s okay!” fai says as he picks up his underwear from the floor and throws them in kurogane’s general direction, sneering when it hits him on his chest. “you gave me a choice, didn’t you, kuro-rin? i want to take off my underwear.” kurogane picks his boxer-briefs and drops them on the floor. “and it’s like you haven’t seen anything of this before.”
this manages to keep kurogane nicely quiet and get the poker going on. but then again, the ninja flashes him his three of a kind against fai’s measly one pair, and oh man, he’s going to lose his sock. (one day, he swears he’s going to learn how kurocchi did it, really, because there is no way it ends this way.)
before disaster strikes him, fai swiftly gets up from his chair, whispering, “alright,” as his smile turns softer and more intimate, and walks up to kurogane only to hold his hand to take him to the nearest possible laying surface, which happens to be the couch.
he sets a hand on kurogane’s hand and the other on the back of his head, just so he can get a hold of the feathery short locks of hair in there. the rest, well, it’s amazing.
~
later, when fai still has kurogane collapsed on top of him, the both of them too tired and too stupidly dazed to move, kurogane buries his nose into the crook of the blond’s neck, and whispers, “you’re not going to take off that sock.”
fai laughs and pats him on the head for the good puppy his kuro-pon is.
06: waterstorm.
a:tla crossover, kurogane as a waterbender, and fai as an airbender | for mikkeneko.
somewhere, there are people crying. well, maybe not something so dramatic such as crying; but there are definitely people grieving somewhere that the avatar is such a disgrace. or at least that’s what his teacher says, but fai doesn’t believe it and shrugs it off with a smile. after all, he’s just a beginner, he didn’t chose to be the avatar, and no one ever asked his opinion about his being the heir of a long lineage of heroes.
it’s not his fault that learning how to waterbend is so hard, either. it’s water, for crying out loud. it’s too wet.
…and suddenly that explains a lot of things.
like how his teacher insists that they must train in the freezing waters of the northern pole; and fai can’t afford getting into the waters with his heavy clothing prepared just right to withstand the ravaging cold winds, or he just might drown, judging by how much of a water master he is. but that’s not just it. oh, no. there is also the way that he must be half naked in the waters-it will make you stronger-and then his teacher has to bring him blankets too heavy for him to bear.
either way, there are the little good things, how kurogane doesn’t use harsh words to reprimand him most of the time, like he used to do. or how sometimes, when fai catches a fairly lovely blush upon his cheek when he catches kurogane staring at his arrows when he finishes drying himself after water training.
one of these days, fai swears, he’s going to walk up to kurogane and suggest, “have you ever wondered to yourself where the arrow on my back goes?”
but, right now, he has to focus on becoming the best avatar ever.
anyways, all for you sweethearts from kuroxfai.
warning: proeminent lack of capitalization.
01: under skin
red | for fieldofclover
the opaque tan on kurogane’s skin had never been much of a nuisance up until the moment fai’s very life depends on what it masks. it’s hard, the coming with terms with something you never asked for to begin with, and it’s something the magician doesn’t take lightly. still, life is life-there is sakura, growing more silent and silent as they win chess match after another, underneath syaoran’s unyielding, protective gaze as his hands drown, drown in blood-red and red and red again, but this one doesn’t satisfy you.
(but no, sakura grows silent and syaoran grows protective; meanwhile, fai is escaping kurogane’s presence while he tries to hold on to his lies and secrets, and his mask is falling off, isn’t it?)
however, as this foreign blood flows to the tempo of his heartbeat-quick, kurogane is looking-fai learns that he must adapt, and quickly. the blue of his eye starts looking for the red in kurogane-he finds his eyes that hold his with confidence that fai knows to be actually worry; the magician knows how to quickly avoid this, and instead he is studying the hydrographic lines scathed by thick veins upon the ninja’s inner wrist as he firmly holds on to his trusted sword. he sees the red underneath the frail veneer of kurogane’s skin, his fingers clench again and again, and in a moment the ninja stares at him like he’s saying, “i know what you’re thinking.”
maybe it’s fai’s imagination, but he just says that. maybe kurogane knows what blood thirst feels like, although for a very distinct reason from fai’s.
either way, kurogane knows exactly what fai is thinking; and later, when sakura’s confined herself to her room and syaoran took some time to go out and fetch information on their next opponents, kurogane’s wrist is at ease. fai doesn’t look him in the red eyes as he walks up to him and brings the ninja’s veins to his nose, inhales, and then licks a pathway that sends shivers down kurogane’s spine. he feels his red eyes on him as he brings up a hand, a sharp nail and draws a red-red, red that satisfies him so, so much-line that must sting until fai sucks on it like a silent minute upon someone’s death.
he’s alive, though. it hurts him.
later, he licks his lips and doesn’t even make a motion to help kurogane heal his scratch. instead, he whispers, “it’s your fault.”
(but you will take it any day, won’t you?)
he walks away as the clear tears well up in his eye.
02: refuge
fai as a ninja/assassin & kurogane’s a commoner that takes him in | for youkohiei_fan
you were dying and he took you in. (what you didn’t see was, the little girl that saw you insisted he used his strength to pick you up and take you inside, and who was he to deny his princess’s wish.)
either way, you were in blood and wounds and he carried you inside, where it was warm and dry and smelled of homemade cabbage soup. you weren’t aware that you knew what cabbage soup smelled like until you realized it was. you struggled to get back to the hole of a place where you laid nest for the mission; you were desperate for your reward to be kept safe underneath the tatami mat under your futon. you struggled and struggled until you gave up and embraced death, maybe, judging by the pain and how you barely feel it now, your blood carried away by the falling rainwater. for a moment, you wished for the clouds above to be burnt into your retina for eternity as you died.
-yes, as the failure you are.
instead, he put your weight over his shoulder, gently, or the little princess might complain and laid you bare and took your death and your liberation from your stupid, pointless existence. you hated him, you hated the little girl as she handed him bandage after bandage and helped him clean up your wounds. just who were they, to judge who dies and who lives?
his hands held you against the improvised bedding as you fought against life and the light it brought with it, he snarled at you, countless times, “don’t be stupid, you’re not going to die.” you heard his words and you wished you had the strength to reply, but you didn’t; instead, he forced cabbage soup down your throat and you had no means to fight back. the girl stared like a curious owl.
one day, maybe, you will say, “thank you, kuropon.”
maybe.
for now, you just sit outside and stay still for as much time as you can so it won’t hurt, and you will wonder about this unfairness to life as you killed countless people and he saved you from death, and maybe then you will tell him how many people you’ve killed and why-maybe he will resent you and take you away from his princess tomoyo; maybe, he will accept you and it will stitch the remnants of your spirit back together. maybe there is hope left for you.
getting there.
03: alright
promise | for fieldofclover .
war unravels all around them; it’s bodies in motion and bodies falling, and they are all alone in this tiny world where the moon is all they see enlightening the angry faces. in here, they survive against people with whom they can’t possibly connect with, the language barrier guarantees that.
it burns, hurts, when fai falls from his demon-steed onto the ground and on his still pink, still tender and sensitive wounds, but he finds kurogane and crawls to him as best as he can.
he’s at the verge of the abyss, but the ninja threads blood-stained fingers through his hair, through the ripped fabric of his clothes and armor, and tries to smile his best with his bruised body. fai doesn’t understand the words he says, but he knows that they promise they will make it through alright and reunite with the kids and mokona.
04: the butterflies in my stomach. (partner to “alright”.)
silence | for fieldofclover .
fai’s warmth pressed against his (it feels like home, even if the thin layer of white linen separates them), his lips on his jawbone; kurogane’s hand tracing dream-like patterns along the blond’s back, and the ninja is in cloud nine. fai’s breath ghosts upon his ear when he leans close, and whereas no words are said-they are strictly unnecessary noise-they speak with each other, silently, cradled between the sheets and structure of the tent while their breaths mingle together in the cold night.
the recent injuries and wounds still bite into his skin, and he grimaces whenever fai presses a little too much against any of them. this doesn’t seem to stop fai from molding his body perfectly against kurogane’s, threading his fingers through messy, inky clumps of hair and through his own tanned fingers and smiling in that stupid, perfect way that invites kurogane’s lips.
the sun comes out. kurogane stretches across the sheets and fai does acrobatic job to maintain his position on top of him. the ninja looks up through the covers of the tent, and the look fai gives him tells that maybe the kids will be here soon, and they will have to stop fighting ashura.
05: but baby, when it’s love.
strip poker where fai cheats but loses anyway | for veryviciousv.
it’s the two of them alone without syaoran and mokona and one of those nights that just seems to stretch and stretch without going anywhere. they are sitting in the kitchen space of their temporary living space in yet another world where they haven’t found trace of the clones. they are sitting around the square table, the plate of snacks they are told to be potato chips have been half decimated by mid night hunger and there is also some-no, a lot of-saké involved, but then again, that’s just tradition. so, when sleepy stupor starts to kick in at around something in the morning, fai suggests they play a little strip poker. they don’t have much clothing to begin with, so fai devises a little strategy to assure the winds of victory favor him instead of kurogane.
…needless to say, he fails.
“you can choose what you want to take off, wizard.”
fai tries his best to keep a straight, nonchalant poker face. and just because kuro-rin can keep his face stuck at the same, solid, unexpressive face for extended periods of time like he’s been born with it (maybe he was), it doesn’t mean fai can, too. so, instead, he sips (read, devours) in more saké and provides kurogane with a sample of his default smile he knows the ninja adores. either way, it’s not like he has much to choose from: it’s the sock that goes out or it is his boxer-briefs. he throws a casual glance at kurogane, which just seems to provide him that, well, he’s still got pretty much the clothing he began with on his body.
oh, well, choices are made, and soon fai is lifting himself from his chair and slips his thumbs into the hem of his underwear while he does his best to hold kurogane’s attention on him. a split-second later, he’s sliding them along his legs-and he gets an arched eyebrow from kuro-pon-as slowly as he possibly can.
“uhh,” kurogane starts as fai works his underwear down his knees, a faint blush staining his face even as he shrugs and does his best to go back to his poker face. “you still have the sock.”
“that’s okay!” fai says as he picks up his underwear from the floor and throws them in kurogane’s general direction, sneering when it hits him on his chest. “you gave me a choice, didn’t you, kuro-rin? i want to take off my underwear.” kurogane picks his boxer-briefs and drops them on the floor. “and it’s like you haven’t seen anything of this before.”
this manages to keep kurogane nicely quiet and get the poker going on. but then again, the ninja flashes him his three of a kind against fai’s measly one pair, and oh man, he’s going to lose his sock. (one day, he swears he’s going to learn how kurocchi did it, really, because there is no way it ends this way.)
before disaster strikes him, fai swiftly gets up from his chair, whispering, “alright,” as his smile turns softer and more intimate, and walks up to kurogane only to hold his hand to take him to the nearest possible laying surface, which happens to be the couch.
he sets a hand on kurogane’s hand and the other on the back of his head, just so he can get a hold of the feathery short locks of hair in there. the rest, well, it’s amazing.
~
later, when fai still has kurogane collapsed on top of him, the both of them too tired and too stupidly dazed to move, kurogane buries his nose into the crook of the blond’s neck, and whispers, “you’re not going to take off that sock.”
fai laughs and pats him on the head for the good puppy his kuro-pon is.
06: waterstorm.
a:tla crossover, kurogane as a waterbender, and fai as an airbender | for mikkeneko.
somewhere, there are people crying. well, maybe not something so dramatic such as crying; but there are definitely people grieving somewhere that the avatar is such a disgrace. or at least that’s what his teacher says, but fai doesn’t believe it and shrugs it off with a smile. after all, he’s just a beginner, he didn’t chose to be the avatar, and no one ever asked his opinion about his being the heir of a long lineage of heroes.
it’s not his fault that learning how to waterbend is so hard, either. it’s water, for crying out loud. it’s too wet.
…and suddenly that explains a lot of things.
like how his teacher insists that they must train in the freezing waters of the northern pole; and fai can’t afford getting into the waters with his heavy clothing prepared just right to withstand the ravaging cold winds, or he just might drown, judging by how much of a water master he is. but that’s not just it. oh, no. there is also the way that he must be half naked in the waters-it will make you stronger-and then his teacher has to bring him blankets too heavy for him to bear.
either way, there are the little good things, how kurogane doesn’t use harsh words to reprimand him most of the time, like he used to do. or how sometimes, when fai catches a fairly lovely blush upon his cheek when he catches kurogane staring at his arrows when he finishes drying himself after water training.
one of these days, fai swears, he’s going to walk up to kurogane and suggest, “have you ever wondered to yourself where the arrow on my back goes?”
but, right now, he has to focus on becoming the best avatar ever.