[Thread] Tell me it won't always be this hard

[steelninja]

Characters: AU!Fay and AU!Kurogane
Where: A classroom in the school
When: After This, During the love potion plot
Summary: Fay is hiding under a desk. Kurogane stumble upon him and feels oddly protective of the cat.
Warnings: Angst, Language, Fluffish?

Comments

[steelninja]

The thud and yelp made Kurogane stop, a little sorry for startling the person under the desk. Though why someone would hide under a desk was something Kurogane started to think about. The second thud made Kurogane scowl and take another step forward, wanting to know what was going on now. The words made Kurogane's blood freeze. Or rather who was saying them. That was definitely the cat. Or was it Fai? And which part of the cat? It hurt to think that Fye would tell him to go away like that. A sharp pain stuck through his heart and made him draw closer to the other. Clearly the blond under the desk didn't know him well enough to think that Kurogane could walk away when someone he... had deep feelings for was crying and hurt. He was willing to risk it being Fai who'd probably just punch him in the face and then they could both get back to their lives. But if it was the cat...

"... No." Kurogane took two more strides before sinking down to his knees and peering under the desk. The cat ears narrowed it down to two and a flash of blue startled him a little. It had been at least a month since he'd seem the cat with blue eyes. His heart fluttered, not like it did for Fye but... it still fluttered. Kurogane looked down at Fay's knees, wondering if he had fallen. Didn't explain that level of sadness in the other. "... Let me stop the blood at least." That was about all he knew how to fix.

[okinyanko]

He listened to the foot steps getting closer and tired to push himself even closer to the corner, fear splitting through him. His breath stopped as Kurogane got impossibly close, tail fluffing out in warning and his ears flattening on his head when the other said no. "Please! Don't--!!" Then the sound came from inches in front of him and like a cat that was trapped he tried to flatten himself against the wall, hackles raising if the could raise, listening intently and if he could he would also be watching intently for Kurogane's every move. He was very tempted to hiss as him. "I'm fine! Go away!" His face paled and his heart was pounding heavily against his chest as the fear almost made him sick to his stomach. He didn't know which Kurogane this was, the aura's were too similar for him to decipher. He may have gotten better at this, but he wasn't that good.

[steelninja]

Kurogane hesitated at the body language. If the cat was a cat... He sank back towards the wall underneath the board. With a slight ruffle of clothing, Kurogane leaned against the wall and scooted away from the door. There, scared cat had a clear exit. Not that he'd let Fay run off by himself. If he had fallen on the way here enough to hurt himself like that then Kurogane was going to stay close to Fay till he got back in his apartment. But he figured Fay would enjoy having him out of the way of his exit even if he rather the ninja go away. Kurogane unbuttoned his coat calmly and took off his scarf before settling against the wall again.

Why he was doing this for Fay, and why he felt he had to was not clear. Annoyed with that, Kurogane frowned slightly. "Look, I know you don't like me now, but you should let someone clean your cuts, C-" No, shouldn't call Fay that... He didn't want to have a yelling, crying Fay. He did want to get that blood to stop staining the other's clothes. It was unsettling far more then it should have been. These were minor wounds, kid wounds really, yet on the cat they seemed much worst. Maybe it was that they were combined with sobbing?

[okinyanko]

He relaxed as soon as he heard where Kurogane hit the wall, glad to have that escape route in case he wanted it. And he did, but not at the moment. The panic that crushed him lifted but to the only other emotion he was trying to swallow down so hard. He hugged himself and turned his face into the desk wall beside him, tears starting again. This time he did his best to swallow the lump in his throat and stop himself from looking so pathetic. The Kurogane with him mentioned his hands and he gripped himself tighter and shook his head weakly. He couldn't stand Kurogane touching him again. He choked on sob that the idea brought to his mind and swallowed it again, but not without a tremendous amount of effort. "I-I don't want..." It was weak and shaky and broken, so Fay did his best to swallow it all and try to appear stronger then he actually was, "... hurt me. You wouldn't stop!!"

[steelninja]

Kurogane folded his arms across his chest, legs comfortably folded as well. What he wanted to do with the other was unclear to him. It was hard to see why he should put much effort into getting the other out. He could always call the vampire and tell him where Fay was. Fai told him off for being careless with Fye, but why the hell had Fay been able to stumble his way out here and scrap himself up so bad. Kurogane's frown deepened. The sort of muffled crying coming from the cat was painful to listen to no matter who it was from. The cat's new cries just made him blink blankly at Fay, "I... What?" Was Fay confusing him with his counterpart? Or was this something he had done before?

[okinyanko]

The confusion made Fay calm just a little. Stopping to think, he realized that Kurogane the bastard had apologized so he obviously had known what he did and remembered it. Which meant this Kurogane was his Kurogane, kind of. Relief flooded through him so quickly he slid a little down the back of the wall, sighing deeply. Another part tugged at his heart strings sharply and made him bit his lips. Though, that only seemed to make the river of sorrow become more pressing. Maybe because he believed he could still trust Kurogane to see him so pathetically reduced to nothing. Fay didn't want to do that to Kurogane though, and so he took continuous deep breathes to calm his breaking heart, clearing out his mind for a moment. He may make some sudden shaky breathes, but he seemed able to control himself better. He then turned his head to where he thought Kurogane was. "How bad...?" He couldn't feel the injuries on his palm because he was numb, and he certainly couldn't look at them. He curled his hands into fists to see if he could gauge the pain and turn it into radiation and depth, but no such luck.

[steelninja]

Kurogane watched the other calm him self. So... something his counterpart did? There was a familiar surge in him that made him ask himself 'What the fuck?' That sort of feeling at that level was not meant for Fay. That was for people he trusted and liked. Sure, he had sent Fay those seeds for that holiday, but that had just been because... Something didn't feel right about not giving him anything. Ugh. Or maybe he just felt sorry or felt bad for the guy who had lost 'him'. Whatever. It was done. There shouldn't be a surge of protectiveness towards the blond now! But what the hell did his counterpart do to make Fay run off to cry under a desk? And he had been cowering from him when he thought he was the other...

He looked at Fay's hands, "They're bleeding enough to drip... Nothing that won't heal well." Like he noted before, they were like the injuries a kid would get. Kurogane looked at Fay's face curiously, waiting to see if he'd be allowed to clean them.

[okinyanko]

Fay waited patiently for Kurogane's answer, and was silently hesitant for a little while longer. Unfortunately, he did not feel safe coming out from under the desk just yet, so he got as close to the entrance as he would and while looking sheepish held out his hands for Kurogane to take. He felt guilty, for being so horrible towards Kurogane when the other was being so nice to him. And he was angry still, but not really at Kurogane at all. The guilt out weighed the anger now, and the sadness seemed suddenly replaced with a kind of longing that Fay hadn't felt in a very long time. His ears flattened on his head and he waited patiently for Kurogane to help him, still in his little defensive ball. "That's good..." he finally decided to reply with. Idly Fay began to wonder what Kurogane was even doing here, but couldn't bring himself to ask.

[steelninja]

After a short pause, Kurogane moved forward to kneel in front of the offered hands. He let them sit in his own as he looked them over up close now. Since Fay seemed to enjoy his hiding place, going to a sink was not likely. "... Hang on," Kurogane stood up and scanned the classroom for a likely place to keep any first aid kits or anything to clean the scrapes with. The cabinet in the corner seemed likely, and a quick trip to the back of the room proved him right. Kurogane opened the case as he walked back towards the front desk and check to see that it would be enough. He took off his coat and draped it on the desk next to the first aid kit. Kurogane sank down again to his knees. "Here," a slight warning before he took one of Fay's hands in his and started clearing it of blood.

[okinyanko]

He knew Kurogane was there so he didn't flinch when Kurogane's hands barely touched the back of his own hands. He heard Kurogane and nodded silently, resting hie head against the side of the desk and letting his arms fall to hang limply by his side. He listened to Kurogane move about, glad that he finally gotten himself under control but not glad about how his eyes seemed so terribly heavy. And he felt so exhausted... Kurogane was suddenly in front of him, he could feel his presence. The warning was appreciated, enough so that he barely moved when Kurogane took his hands and started to clean it. He flinched though, because Kurogane needed to get rid of all the dirt, and it felt like he would be digging a lot deeper then he was to do so very soon. "... thank you."

[steelninja]

Kurogane stayed silent as he cleaned Fay's first palm. It was a simple thing to treat, and once he had the grime off, Kurogane reached up to the desktop for things needed to dress the first hand. In the back of his mind, invading the front of his mind, was thoughts on what had happened to the cat. It wasn't his business, he didn't want to get involved with people here. Though Fay was coming back to Japan with him and that want to protect was stubborn. As he started wrapping Fay's hand, he asked, "Mind telling me what happened?" If he couldn't have the why he was protective then he at least wanted what he was protecting the other from. Not that he was protecting Fay, still a near stranger... his protective nature wasn't that bad... Not with a feeling like this at least.

[okinyanko]

He had just crushed all those feelings into the back of his mind, and suddenly they were all crashing back. He swallowed heavily and struggled to keep composer, yet again, turning his face a bit to try and hide it. He really didn't want to say it, but he hadn't talked about it much with Fai considering he was upset too. So really he had no one. And now Kurogane wanted to know. He was just a stranger though, he'll just look at him funny and call him pathetic for into defending himself or something. Still, even if his mind tried to convince him these things, he still felt as thought he could say something. His face transformed into something a bit more heart breaking as he pushed it into the desk a bit harder. He hoped Kurogane knew it was hard for him to say what he needed to. "... K-Kurogane... I didn't want him too! I t-tried to stop him! I-I kept telling... I kept telling him no and h-he didn't listen!!" Suddenly he wanted to pull back his hand so he could curl up again. "If Fai hadn't c-come h-he... he probably would h-have..." No. He couldn't say that word again. Instead he finished with a devastated kind of sound. "I don't even l-look at him that way!!"

[steelninja]

Kurogane's careful wrapping of Fay's hand slowed and stopped as the cat started to crumble and spoke. The part of Fay's face he could see was hard to look at. Fay looked too much like Fye (for obvious reasons) and it was starting to get hard to remember this had little to do with the half he knew better. But seeing Fay like that also made the want to hurt the guy who did this even more. That response would be and was universal for him. And once it became clear just what his counterpart had done... Kurogane had dealt with those before, and just to stop someone from looking like Fay did now. "Fucking bastard." His fists had curled in his lap once the cat had pulled away. How the hell did a counterpart of his become like that? How could anyone who came from a family who holds the name 'Kurogane' act in such a way?! Didn't make any fucking sense. He should kill him for dirtying their family's name, even if it was really two different families.

[okinyanko]

Kurogane's anger made Fay feel a little better. Because he finally had someone who would side with him. Not that Fai wouldn't have, but he had his own problems. Fay felt himself quickly starting to shatter and suddenly had such a feeling of deep loneliness that his arms trembled with the effort to reach out for something, anything, that was remotely familiar. And Kurogane, though not the same, was definitely in the remotely. Even if he was a stranger to him. Fay pulled him self to his knees and finally crawled out from under the desk to wrap his arms around Kurogane and hide his face in he larger mans neck. Out of habit, of course, but his scent was comforting to him. No matter how angry he had been at Kurogane before he felt safe here with him. He fisted the shirt by his back and almost tacitly begged for Kurogane to just deal with him. Just once; just for now. He just needed something to cling to for a while until he could stand on his own.

[steelninja]

He was tempted to get up and find his counterpart now, that being the more familiar way to go about helping someone. However, Fay seemed to want the less familiar form of helping. Kurogane was interrupted from his new hatred at his counterpart by Fay moving. That was a good sign, better then curling up in a ball under a desk. Though Kurogane wasn't thrilled about the hugging. He tensed slightly, not sure what to do now. The scent and warmth from the cat was familiar from Fye and yet different. And Kurogane wasn't sure he was happy with the feeling that Fay was hugging who he use to be, 'his Kurogane' or whatever shit Fay was calling the him from before.

Kurogane was not an overly cruel man. He recognized that Fay had gone through a traumatic event and needed something. With that in mind, Kurogane's shoulders relaxed and he brought a hand to rest lightly in the middle of Fay's back. He'd let the other cling or cry or just sit for now. He didn't know the other well enough to know what Fay needed for sure or what he himself could offer the blond.

[okinyanko]

Fay didn't even notice that Kurogane was tense and sure. Instead he let himself collapse, pulling himself as close as possible to the other person in the room. Silently he cried against the others skin, breath shuddering, as he let out all the betrayal that he was feeling. It took a while, but eventually the tears stopped on their own, his tank finally empty. And that left room for some shattering anger. Fay gripped Kurogane even tighter as he tired to stop himself from exploding. That didn't seem to work very well either. "What the HELL was he doing!?" Was among some of things he half shouted. Then he took a mouth of Kurogane's shoulder and just decided to scream for all it was worth, muffling it the best he could.

Eventually that flowed to a stop too, emptying him and leaving a numb looking Fay softly hanging off of the man who he just realized was hugging him back if only lightly. He curled up so that Kurogane's arm was now around his back instead, and he could have been sitting in Kurogane's lap but he wasn't sure. His arms retracted and he set them in his lap, just leaning on Kurogane's chest for now. He felt much better, enough to actually allow a slight smile to grace his worn out face.