This is a hugely belated birthday present for Ali-san. I'm sorry, I suck :( But! Hopefully you'll enjoy it. And if not, I could always write a sequel :D

Tiny wee spoilers for volume 9 on but that shouldn't make much difference. Hyu's translations are used because Del Rey's make me angry and they've not got that far anyway.

Disclaimer: Characters (c) CLAMP and not me, in case you didn't guess.


Time Alone

By sugahcat

       

Fai walked through the door and chuckled to see Kurogane chasing Mokona around the room. He wasn't quite sure what Mokona had done but it was so easy to anger Kurogane.

"Kurogane's scary!" Mokona wailed as he jumped up to hide in Fai's hair.

"There, there," Fai said, reaching up to pat Mokona.

Kurogane glared at him. "That manjuu-" he stopped himself, perhaps realising that if he told Fai what Mokona had done, Fai would probably do it as well. He rolled his eyes and Fai grinned.

"I told you before, you need to learn to take it eeeasy." Fai flopped down to the couch and Mokona bounced out of the room.

"And _I_ said, that's all you ever do!" Growled the ninja.

"Well, it's not like there's much else we can do in this world," he said, quite rightly. No-one over the age of 20 had been seen in this world and the person who had offered them a place to stay - no doubt fascinated by the two grown-up's - had advised that the guards on the city walls would attack them if they saw them. While Kurogane had been quite willing - perhaps even anxious - to go and start a fight with them, Syaoran had managed to make him stay in the house. It seemed to Fai that cabin fever was starting to get to the ninja already, though it had only been a few hours.

"They'd better find the princess's feather soon, that's all I can say."

Fai tugged on Kurogane's belt, pulling the astonished ninja down to sit beside him on the couch. He smiled brightly as Kurogane yelled at him, telling him not to do things like that to people. Wondering idly if he could find some sweet food in the house and try force-feeding him again, Fai smiled fondly at Kurogane and was happy to see scarlet eyes soften.

They had been sleeping together for a few months, since teasing had turned into something more in Yamano but even though they could now understand each other now neither of them had confessed their feelings. As such, the only way Fai got a glimpse of the way the other man felt about him was through his expressions and Kurogane rarely let his emotion show on his face. Fai could hardly complain; he knew he did the same.

One emotion Kurogane did show was passion and Fai very much liked to see desire in the ninja's eyes. Thinking about that gave him an idea and he smiled at Kurogane.

"You know, Kuro-chii, Syaoran-kun and Sakura-chan being gone does mean that we're alone together." It had been a while since they'd had chance to be alone, and Fai much preferred large double beds to cramped army tents.

Passion flared, burning like a steady flame in scarlet eyes. "Apart from the manjuu," he said.

Grinning, Fai got up and shut the door. "There. Now we're alone." He leaned against the door and smiled his most seductive smile at Kurogane.

The ninja raised an eyebrow and then stood, advancing on Fai. "That door won't keep the manjuu out if it wants to get in."

"Ah," Fai said, looking away with mock-disappointment in his eyes. Playing games with his Kurorin was fun. "Then I suppose we'd best leave it, hmm?"

"Like hell," Kurogane growled, grinning as he pinned Fai to the door. He kissed him roughly and Fai enjoyed the feel of the ninja's hard, toned body against him. "If it wants to watch, let it."

Fai giggled. "You like being watched, eh?" Kurogane silenced him with another kiss, strong arms descending to circle his waist. Reaching up, Fai wrapped his arms around his lover's neck and responded, lips pressing against his, full of need.

"How long do you think the kids'll be gone?" Fai asked breathlessly as he pulled away.

"Long enough," Kurogane murmured, pulling Fai over to the comfort of the sofa. Whatever position he had meant for them to fall into, Fai pushed him down and clambered astride him, flashing a grin before leaning down to kiss him deeply. One of the ninja's hands crept under Fai's top, fingers brushing against sensitive skin making his back arch. The other hand played with Fai's hair. The blond already knew Kurogane liked to play with his hair - time spent alone in Yamano had often involved holding one another and having the ninja stroke his hair, an act that was comforting to both of them. Now, it was less comforting and more sensual as Kurogane's mouth became more insistent, deepening the kiss and pulling Fai's body even closer to his. It was incredibly erotic and suddenly their clothes were very much in the way.

Shirts were soon thrown aside and both of them were now sat, still kissing desperately, hands moving over the naked flesh of their lover's torso. Fai arched his neck as Kurogane moved to nip at it and suckle at the base of it. Leaving a vivid purple mark that was startlingly obvious against Fai's pale skin, Kurogane grinned.

"Marking your territory, Kuro-sama?" Fai asked, smiling the lazy smile of a predator.

"Damn right," he grinned before tilting his head and let Fai do the same to him. As Fai kissed and bit Kurogane's neck, he felt the ninja unbutton his jeans and was happily letting him get into his pants when they heard the front door open. They stared at each other for a moment then got to their feet, exiting the room just as they heard the handle on the other door turn.

Running into their own room, Fai collapsed on the floor in a fit of giggles and looked up to see Kurogane watching him, amused.

"I can just imagine Sakura-chan's face," Fai started to explain but just ended up giggling again. He smiled at Kurogane before pulling himself onto the bed and wrapping his arms around the ninja. As Kurogane held him, Fai smiled. The ninja made him happy, and it wasn't just the hot sex - although that did indeed make him very happy.

Pulling back slightly, Fai looked intently at Kurogane. He had a soft look in his eyes that he would stubbornly resist in showing to the kids, even though Fai knew he cared for them. It had taken a long time for him to fall even for Fai's many charms and look at him that way.

"What are you laughing at?" Kurogane said, annoyance colouring his voice.

"I'm sorry, Kurorin, I just..." Fai trailed off. He knew how he felt. He was just afraid to voice it. Sighing, he took Kurogane's hand in his own and ran a finger down his palm.

"What is it?"

A flutter of nervousness almost made Fai stay silent, but he decided he owed Kurogane the truth. If he rejected him, so be it. At least he would know he had the courage to say it.

"Kuro-sama, I need to tell you something." He caught Kurogane's frown and then was too afraid to look at him again and focused on their entwined hands. "I've felt like this for a while now, but I've not been able to tell you." For various reasons, he had kept his silence. At first because Kurogane would not have been able to understand him, and then because of fear and not having had the chance to be alone together. "And now I'm still sort of scared, but if I don't say it now I'm afraid I never will." He forced himself to look at Kurogane. "I love you, Kuro-sama."

Crimson eyes widened in shock. Whatever Kurogane had expected, it obviously wasn't that. He paused, frozen a minute before giving a relieved wolf-grin.

"Is that- Damn it, you made me think-" Kurogane stopped himself and pulled Fai into an embrace. Fai blinked in surprise, crushed against Kurogane's chest as he was. Wrapping his own arms around his lover, he was relieved to feel Kurogane's grip ease a little; it had been starting to get hard to breathe. "I-" There was a significant silence, the silence of words that were hard to say building up.

Looking at him, Fai tried not to get his hopes up. Kurogane was not the type of man to profess everlasting love, and in his more bitter moments Fai had wondered if he was the type of man to even feel it. Any declaration of positive emotion would be enough.

Crimson eyes glanced at Fai, for a fleeting moment showing his uncertainty and nervousness.

"Kuro-sama?" Fai asked, worried suddenly about what he might say.

Kurogane looked away for a moment and when he looked back, a much more familiar determination was evident.

"I never needed to say it before..." He trailed off for a moment before taking Fai's hands in his, glancing down at their intertwined hands Fai did the same, looking at the contrast between his pale, long-fingered and somewhat feminine hands and Kurogane's strong, tanned and overtly masculine ones. He was so engrossed in comparing them that he almost missed Kurogane's quiet words. "I love you, Fai." Nothing could have been so interesting that he could have missed them. The impact of them made Fai's head swim.

Looking up at Kurogane, he saw that the ninja looked so fragile right now, as if he had just spoken words that betrayed his weakness. Perhaps he had. Maybe Fai was his weakness, but all that meant is that some weaknesses were worth having. Kurogane was still staring at their hands and Fai took advantage of his distraction to kiss him softly.

"Thank you, Kuro-sama. You have no idea how much that means-" Fai stopped himself. Of course he did. He had just been in exactly the same position. He laughed softly and futilely brushed away one of the locks of black hair that always fell into Kurogane's eyes. "So. We love each other. What now?"

Kurogane hitched an amused eyebrow before grinning and pinning Fai to the bed. "You mean besides the obvious?"

"You know, I think the obvious will do quite nicely for now," Fai laughed, pulling Kurogane down to kiss him, never wanting their time alone together to end.

   

Author's Notes: One day I'll write an ending that doesn't suck ¬.¬ Maybe.

Umm... so the gang are in Logan's Run-world because it suited my needs. I'm odd like that o_O


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