Catch-22
Welcome back!
Considering the number of times I’ve broken my own promises about our update schedule, I’m going to try not to make any solid specific ones anymore. :D; But I definitely intend to finish posting Catch-22 this year before you all get thoroughly sick of us. I’ve edited this chapter well in advance to save myself some work later, and hopefully from now on we won’t go longer than a month or two between each new post at the worst.
The fairy tale in this chapter is paraphrased/adapted from a version written by Colette Chooey on the Chinese Tea Stories website. There are many different versions of this folk tale; we have merged the story as Ms. Chooey relates it with part of the version my co-author was told growing up.
As always, thanks for your feedback, guys — it makes everything worth it!!
Ch. 17. The Moon Lady
A few more days quietly came and quietly went, with Linali as Komui’s only constant visitor aside from brief visits by Johnny and Tapp. Jerry came by when he could tear himself away from the kitchen. 65 even managed a single visit before he burst into tears and had to be excused.
Reever did not come by.
As far as Komui knew, anyway. Reever would come, would stand in the waiting room and pace around. He would get as far as Komui’s hall before realizing he still had nothing to say and was as helpless and useless as he had been the day before. Then he would leave again and drink and wonder what he could possibly do for Komui now. Every night the conclusion he came to was absolutely nothing, but every morning he resolved to try again.
Reever had still not made it inside when, one day, Komui awoke to find a bottle of red wine with a heavy rosary looped around the neck sitting on his bedside table. The room smelled faintly of cigarettes.
Komui had taken his glasses off to sleep; but the image in front of his eyes when he opened them again was unmistakable. Expressionlessly, he stared at the wine bottle for a long while, turned just a little on his side, before at last reaching out to pick up the spectacles lying next to it with one bandaged hand.
“Welcome back,” he murmured quietly to the air as he slid them on.
The far wall shimmered briefly as though fog was lifting, one chair leaned against the stone bleeding away to reveal a familiar face. Cross brought a new cigarette to his lips and lit it, smiling faintly as he did. It was against hospital policy to smoke in the infirmary. Then he lifted his gaze to study Komui, glance over the bandages on the younger man’s arms and chest. He breathed out the smoke in his lungs and lowered his cigarette to his side, lips drawing into a thin line.
“Stupid boy,” he muttered. “I can’t leave you alone at all, can I?”
Komui just laid there for a little while longer, taking in the sight of him. The familiar form that had invaded his dreams for weeks after he’d come back, still came to visit occasionally when his guard was down… the man he’d longed for to guide him, to own him, to–
…he couldn’t… do this again.
He might never come back.
but he– he– he wanted –
needed–
he was–
he couldn’t–
…His arms hurt.
“Zhu ren,” he whispered helplessly, in a small sad voice.
Cross stood as the other spoke, and then all at once he was at Komui’s side without really seeming to move at all. In the bat of an eyelash, he had been there and now was here. He took one of Komui’s hands in his own, turned it over to the side with the healing cuts he knew were hiding beneath the thin layer of bandage.
“Look at what you’ve done, Little Bird,” he commented softly, running his fingers down the length of Komui’s arm directly over the wound. “You’ve hurt one of my things. There are consequences, you know. For hurting what is mine.”
He hadn’t meant to, barely remembered doing it, but that didn’t make it any less Komui’s fault. He was the one who’d taken up the scalpel. He was… well, probably the one who’d had the thought. He was…
“I’m sorry,” he murmured. Stared at Cross’s hand. Shivered a little as fingers pressed against still-healing flesh underneath the bandages.
“You were right,” he continued tonelessly. The way zhu ren was always right.
“I’m useless. I let everyone down.”
It was almost a relief to be able to admit it to someone. A weight off his shoulders.
“Oh?” Cross asked lightly. “You are rather a glorious little disappointment, aren’t you? Well, how did you manage it this time?” His voice was gentle, soft. Soothing almost.
“I–”
She’d been such a cute little baby girl.
Komui’s legs curled up closer to his body under the bedsheets. His gaze went straight through Cross’s hand.
“I don’t… remember very well,” he confessed in a whisper, vaguely mortified by the thought. He should be able to — to tell zhu ren everything–
“They put me on a classified project… Working with Innocence and non-compatibles… testing a theory about– about infants–”
He was shaking all over. The room reared up in his mind’s eye as if he had never left — cold and white and silent, the shelves and the hard metal and all the–
“There were–” He kept speaking shakily without really knowing what he was saying. “They collected — unauthorized — there were so– So many– They were so small and, and they…” There were tears in his voice as he trailed off, breathing ragged, feeling it all in his head again, the children, all those tiny perfect precious little children
please feed us play with us love us — let us go home… please– it’s so cold—
What… what had Reever said? That children… that they didn’t care. Better… better dreams?
But they — he–
Komui’s hand spasmed a little and he curled up further, chest aching with the movement, shivering violently. It wouldn’t– go away– he couldn’t make them–
zhu ren, please–
“They were already dead,” Cross sighed indifferently, bringing his cigarette to his lips. He took a long drag of it, let the smoke soak into his lungs. He lazily released his breath. “Drowned, suffocated, illness, stillborn, accidents… take your pick. They were all already dead.”
He was lying. The infants had all been carefully screened and selected to provide a solid control group for the experiments, but Komui didn’t need to know that. And if Cross wanted to get technical about it, they had all been dead before being brought into the Order. Sofia had quietly had them all killed shortly before being brought in, had them under the scalpel while their little bodies were still fresh. It was a little bit like being an almost-vegetarian, Cross imagined. Sofia and her lot could eat the beef as long as they didn’t have to look the cow in the eye before slaughtering it. But he didn’t really care about any of that. It simply didn’t sit well with him to see Komui hurting from anything that he had no personal hand in. Komui was his. No one was allowed to harm what was his except for… him.
“B-but– They were–”
Komui laid there on the bed and shook and… and tried to think of something else. Their tiny little bodies–
The — the room. The darkness, the cloth under his bare legs.
The little bow in her hair–
The wine bottle. Faint light from the window, glinting off the rosary. The sharp smell of zhu ren’s tobacco. His hand.
He couldn’t — couldn’t quite make the shaking stop. They were — he was — cold. It was cold in here… He huddled underneath the bedsheets, his movement pulling at the wounds across his chest with a very faint whimper.
Cross let out a long, weary sigh. He put out his cigarette against the hospital wall and dropped what remained of it to the floor, then reached out and took both of Komui’s hands firmly in his own.
“Stop,” he ordered, seating himself at the edge of Komui’s bed. “Are you going to stop for me, Little Bird? You’re fine. Quiet for me, Komui. Everything’s fine. What’s done is done.”
Zhu ren — zhu ren wanted him to–
The suddenly-barked order brought him back to awareness with a jolt, and he stared up into Cross’s gaze a little wide-eyed, stilling at last, ragged breath gradually starting to calm. He uncurled slowly as he turned to stretch out mostly flat again.
Once Komui had managed to calm somewhat, Cross let go of the other’s hands and carefully slid his arms under Komui’s waist instead, lifting him enough to slide behind. Cross pulled Komui into his lap, held him close with a little sigh as he ran his fingers through Komui’s long hair.
“Nothing else matters right now, Komui. I’m here. What worries or sorrows could a beautiful little doll like you possibly have?” he murmured against Komui’s ear.
“I–”
A little shudder went through Komui’s body again, but for a very different reason.
“I’m not– I–”
He didn’t… know how to say it. The words — they wouldn’t quite — come out–
“Please… I… Please don’t…”
Please don’t do this anymore. The words wouldn’t come. But he didn’t — he didn’t want to — he couldn’t just–
Zhu… zhu ren was here. Zhu ren was back. Master, owner, lover, teacher. He knew Komui and hurt him and led him and made him–
but the others were– Linali and Reever and– and–
He shivered again as he leaned into zhu ren’s touch.
Reever. Linali.
What worries or sorrows could a beautiful little doll like you possibly have?
“I…”
He trailed off helplessly.
“Exactly,” Cross answered with a quiet little laugh before he claimed Komui’s lips in a hard, possessive kiss. When he pulled back, he brushed the back of his hand against the side of Komui’s face and smiled affectionately. “None. None at all. I will tell you what should make you happy and what should make you sad. Rejoice, Little Bird, for I am here with you again. And I love you.”
…he was happy.
Admitting it, even in his mind, just made Komui hate himself more. But he was. He was happy.
He’d wanted to see zhu ren again so much. Needed him to be close… How had he ever forgotten this feeling…?
“…I missed you,” he choked out, voice wobbling a little, and hated himself for saying it — for being incapable of not saying it — for meaning it so, so much.
“I missed you too,” Cross admitted softly, unable to help the fondness in his voice to hear the unsteadiness of Komui’s voice, the conflict, the complete devotion. “But you disappointed me while I was gone, Little Bird. You suffer… so breathtakingly beautifully. How could you deny me this?” Cross accused very gently, kissing the inside of each of Komui’s bandaged wrists.
Komui shivered a little as he looked downward. His suffering… zhu ren liked it very, very much…
“I– I shouldn’t have,” he whispered thickly, feeling guilty all over again. “I didn’t mean to…” To do it at all. To do it when zhu ren wasn’t around to enjoy it. A little of both, perhaps.
“I forgive you,” Cross answered lightly as he wound his arms around Komui’s waist and simply held him. “I’ll always forgive you, Little Bird, but I’ll still have to punish you. You understand, don’t you? Otherwise you might never learn. But you are always glad to do anything I ask of you, isn’t that true?”
Komui took a deep, unsteady breath–
if it wasn’t painful enough he wouldn’t learn his lesson
–and the words wouldn’t come out and–
He pressed his face against zhu ren’s chest and shakily nodded.
…He shouldn’t have been so relieved to be forgiven.
“Good boy,” Cross crooned, stroking Komui’s back and hair. There were a few precious moments of silence as Cross thought about what to do next, then slid two fingers beneath Komui’s chin, lifting the other’s gaze up to meet his. “You love me, don’t you, Komui?”
Komui stared at him for long moments and began to tremble again.
“I…”
Zhu ren’s deep dark eye. The wild beautiful hair framing his face. His scent. His strong hands holding Komui steady. His…
His place inside Komui’s mind… his hole inside Komui’s chest… his pain… his control.
–but he couldn’t — he– Reever was–
under the moonlight, in the flower garden– his smile– his laugh– curled up together in the morning– the rain–
He was–
“…I do… I love you, zhu ren,” Komui murmured despairingly.
“Then belong to me forever,” Cross whispered softly, arms tightening marginally around Komui’s waist. “Never need another. I’ll take you somewhere far away from here someday, and you’ll never hurt for anything but love of me again.”
“But…”
…far away.
Komui’s gaze turned downward. He felt guilty, in spite of himself. His voice was a murmur still.
“But Linali and…”
He didn’t say the second name. Zhu ren would be upset.
“You don’t need them,” Cross insisted very gently, absently nuzzling Komui’s neck. “And honestly, they would probably be happier without you.”
…Linali was afraid to say her boyfriend’s name because she thought Komui would kill him.
Reever drank when he was unhappy. Because of Komui. He’d been so scared, so completely inconsolable…
…It was true.
Well, zhu ren had said it. Of course it was true.
Komui whimpered quietly. Slid his arms just a little bit around zhu ren’s waist, loosely, stiffly, as much as he could bear to move them. Seeking comfort instinctively.
“See? I know what’s best for you, Little Bird. Trust me.” Cross shifted in response to cradle Komui closer, cuddling him gently, lovingly. He was quiet for a little while before a slow smile spread across his face and he turned his gaze to the ceiling.
“…how has Reever been, Komui?”
“U- upset. Because I…” Komui blinked a little and swallowed where he lay, dark head leaned against Cross’s shoulder again. “Because of what I did.”
He paused briefly, uncertainly. “Because– because you were coming back.”
“I’m honored,” Cross laughed rather wryly, shaking his head. “Were you leading him on again while I was gone?”
“It wasn’t–”
The words slipped from Komui’s mouth immediately and he paused, taking a deep breath.
“…leading him on. H– He…”
I love you, Komui.
“What was that, Little Bird? You weren’t? What about him, now?” Cross asked innocently, pressing Komui for a response. He threaded his fingers through Komui’s hair, then twisted his hand into a fist, pulling Komui’s head back. Gently. “He what?”
Komui met his gaze unsteadily.
“He–”
He wanted me. He needs me. He loves me. He…
“He helped me,” Komui said quietly. Because it was true and he didn’t know what to say and he… was afraid.
“He helped you, and so you did to him exactly what I did to you all those years, Komui?” Cross mocked with a dark little smile. “Why, I think I’m almost proud of you.”
“No–” Komui sucked in a breath, eyes going wide with horror as he instinctively tensed. “I could never–”
He did it to himself, some part of his mind whispered. For you. Because of you. Everything that’s happened to him in the last three years…
“But that’s exactly what you did, Komui. Let him think that everything was going to be okay when you knew full well that you would be taking it all away from him again,” Cross continued, as merciless as he had always been. His grip on Komui’s hair tightened. “You made him fall in love with you all over again. Are you waiting for him to break, Komui? I could help you with that…”
One hand pulled away from Cross and rose, shaking with emotion and the faint pain of movement, to cover Komui’s mouth as he continued to stare at Cross with utter horror. Slowly, shakily, tugging painfully against his hair where it was held tight in Cross’s fist, he shook his head.
“No… please… no…”
“Oh, so you think you’re doing a good enough job all on your own?” Cross asked lightly. He jerked Komui’s head back further, if only for the sake of hurting him. All of that emotion, all of that love for Reever. Cross hated it. “That could easily be true. That number you did on him with all this… A little more should do it, don’t you think? Be careful not to kill him, though. I’m not certain how much more his liver can take. Though, dying would be a bit of a mercy for him, wouldn’t it?”
Komui let out a sudden gasp as his balance was torn backward, his own weight suddenly jerking at the wounds on his chest. The pain made it a little hard to breathe. He was still shaking as he stared at the other man, wide eyes gleaming wetly in the darkness.
God. Oh, god. It was true. Reever. Everything he’d suffered… If Komui had just never gotten him caught up in this to begin with — tried to tell Linali no somehow… hadn’t kissed him that first time…
God.
This wasn’t the first time he’d thought this.
When would he ever learn.
“Go on then, Komui,” Cross encouraged, giving Komui one last harsh shake before he cast him away, refusing him any further comfort. “No one knows I’m here. Go give him the illusion of happiness a few more days. Wrap your chains tighter, if that’s even at all possible at this point. Give him further to fall and more to lose. I won’t stand in your way.”
Komui just stared at him for a little while longer, chest spasming slightly as he tried to breathe.
“He–”
He stopped. Breathed again. Oh, god, that hurt.
“He probably won’t… come see me…” Komui mumbled at last, shakily. Turned his gaze away. Felt traitorously guilty. A few tears slipped from his eyes as he blinked, welled up from the pain and the.. the…
Zhu ren was unhappy.
“Not… since he knows y– you’re coming.”
“I’ll go then,” Cross offered without missing a beat. “I can find things to do in town. Women. Good food. Wine. Call my golem when you’re done tormenting that poor boy. After all, he’s what you want right now, isn’t that right?” He began to rise from the bed much more carelessly than he had climbed in, expression flat and cold.
“Zhu ren–”
Komui thought of the empty room without zhu ren in it and suddenly it was even harder to breathe.
“Please–” He couldn’t make himself sit up right now, but he stretched out one bandaged arm, weakly. Heard the desperation in his voice and hated it, and himself, and still couldn’t help the way he felt.
“…Please don’t go away,” he begged, childlike, voice wavering.
“You can’t have everything, Komui,” Cross scolded, though something about his expression softened. Just a little. “Are you going to sit there and whimper about Reever if I stay with you?”
Komui shook his head, breathing gradually coming more easily. He didn’t need to– If he just didn’t have to think about–
…as long as zhu ren was with him.
“Pl… please…” he begged quietly, swallowed, hated himself more. Was it even possible to hate himself any more?
“…I need you.” His voice was still shaking.
Cross lingered a moment before he relented with a sigh, reaching out to cup Komui’s cheek.
“That’s better, Little Bird,” he murmured. “I’ll stay as long as you are faithful to me. Do you want me to hold you again?”
Komui shivered a little. Thought of Reever, of Linali. Wanted to cry rather terribly.
He slowly nodded.
“I want to hear you,” Cross commanded quietly. “Your voice. Tell me, Komui. Do you want me to hold you again?”
“…please,” Komui forced out. Shuddered again. Looked up at Cross with wet black eyes, instinctively nuzzled his hand. Just as he’d done for Reever.
“Please hold me… zhu ren.”
Cross melted a little at that. He would never, ever — even if his very life depended on it — have admitted such to anyone, including himself, but… he let out his breath in a not-entirely-steady sigh and crawled back into bed with Komui, drew the other carefully into his arms.
“…you are a good boy, Komui,” he sighed again, shaking his head. “I’m sorry. It’s not your fault you’ve forgotten some of the rules. I’ve been away a while and you’ve had a hard time without me.”
Komui swallowed against his tight throat, just laid there a little limply in the other man’s arms. He was tired.
He… he had. It had been so hard at first…
“I didn’t know what to do, without you here…” he mumbled into Cross’s shirt.
“I know,” Cross soothed, cradling Komui close. “I remember. I wouldn’t have gone if I’d had a choice. But I’m back now, Komui. I have no intention of leaving you again.” Komui’s words relaxed him, made him feel completely at home with the other in his arms. They reminded him that this was exactly where he wanted to be, the only place he wanted to be.
And right now, saying those words to Cross felt… so unbelievably good.
Komui wanted to cry.
But he was too tired; so he settled for curling up a little more against Cross, as best he could manage with his injuries; pressing his cheek to Cross’s chest, dark head nestling against Cross’s neck. He stared away into the darkness; thought about, maybe, closing his eyes.
Sensing the other’s weariness, Cross smiled a little to himself before reaching down to draw the sheets over Komui, then kissed him lightly on the lips, briefly seeming… completely normal. Someone far from who he really was.
“Go to sleep, Komui,” he whispered softly. “Rest. I’ll still be here in the morning.”
Komui couldn’t decide whether it sounded more a promise or a threat; but as always, he obeyed.
Zhu ren’s body next to him was warm. He leaned closer to the other man instinctively as he drifted off to sleep.
Cross tried, as he often did, to stay awake with Komui the night through and watch him sleep; but for once he was completely unable. Listening to Komui’s steady breaths, feeling his warmth, his heartbeat, everything…
Within the hour Cross was peacefully asleep himself.
- – -
Over the next week or so, Komui continued to make a steady recovery — at least physically — and Cross continued to stay by his side, keeping a low profile about the castle. Komui’s visitors dwindled a little with the relative absence of Reever; Linali continued to stop by often, but it was so tiring to keep up his Big Brother face for her with Cross lurking around that Komui began, to his great horror, to dread her daily appearances just a little. Quite apart from the goings-on in his mind, however — the wounds under the bandages gradually closed up; stitches came out; his blood replenished itself and his color continued to improve. And eventually the day came when it was time for him to be discharged.
He hadn’t seen Reever once since Cross had returned. He wondered idly as he lay awake that morning whether the other man would even hold him to the threatened two weeks of bed rest. Whether he would come to see Komui at all.
The hole inside his chest gave a rather pitiful throb.
However, it was the morning Komui was due to be released from the hospital that Reever had a small epiphany.
He had been dreading Cross’s return and all that it would do to Komui so much that he had been wasting what precious little time he had left. Instead of cowering in his office, he should have been helping Komui more, reminding him of everything he was when Cross wasn’t around. Being there for him. Between bouts of self-loathing, Reever managed to get himself cleaned up, dressed, and down to the medical wing to help Komui get back to his room and settle in. Strap him to his bed if necessary, to make him take those two weeks of bed rest.
Reever arrived just in time to see Komui’s discharge papers being signed, a little bit out of breath and a little flushed with embarrassment or shame or both.
“Um, hi, Komui,” he called with an awkward little smile. “I came to… take you back to your room. Sorry I… sorry about not being around more. Just… work, you know.”
Never mind the growing pile of papers outside the Supervisor’s office that was beginning to disrupt traffic.
“Reever–”
Komui stared at him for a long moment from where he was sitting, in a wheelchair next to the reception desk, a couple nurses on hand. (He’d wanted to try his hand at walking out, but they’d insisted.)
Reever– Reever didn’t know yet.
Somehow he managed to compose himself, and… smiling warmly over at the other man wasn’t so hard, he found. He had missed Reever. Even if he knew he was a horrible excuse for a human being and should never have caught the man up in his twisted personal life, he… he still…
…It was good to see him. And Reever would expect him to act a certain way so he should just… try to focus on that.
He wondered where zhu ren was hiding.
“Hi,” he murmured, still smiling, leaning back against the wheelchair seat and feeling even more tired. “Don’t… don’t worry about it. It’s just good to see you now.”
“I think the medical staff likes you too much,” Reever laughed quietly with a shake of his head. “Were they going to make you wheel yourself out when you only just got better? Clearly they’re just trying to keep you longer.” Moving over, he leaned down and, rather shyly, gave Komui a brief kiss on the cheek.
“Come on, I’ll wheel you to the elevators. And if you’re nice to me, I might even be convinced to take you as far as your room.”
…it was… nice.
Reever was nice. So very…
Give this up? Komui didn’t… didn’t want– he couldn’t– he…
even if it was only going to keep hurting the other man, he–
God, he was so pathetically selfish.
His smile widened reflexively at the kiss anyway.
“That would, uh, be nice,” he said with a slightly uneasy grin as Reever circled around to take the wheelchair by the handles. “I still get a little lightheaded if I’m standing up too long and all.” He supposed it was really just as well he hadn’t pressed the point of the wheelchair. It was just… embarrassing.
“I feel like an invalid, though,” he confessed with an approximation of his usual pout as they headed toward the door.
“Ah, well, at least that’s a valid excuse for skipping work,” Reever teased as lightly as he could manage, starting down the hall because he was more than ready to leave the hospital behind. “And besides,” he added rather mischievously, “I rather like you with no way to escape. If I wanted to practice my opera singing on you, for example. Face it, Komui. You’re completely at my mercy.”
“Were you an aspiring opera singer? Why Reever, how could you have kept something like that from me all this time?” Komui’s reply too was as light as he could manage, and he glanced back at the other man to bat his eyelashes dramatically. “I am a great patron of all the fine arts, you know~” Which was patently untrue; he’d slept through most of Wagner.
“I keep saying I need to change jobs, don’t I? You just haven’t been listening enough,” Reever accused good-naturedly, giving Komui his absolutely fondest and most doting smile. He felt almost dizzy with relief that everything was so… normal.
“You know. We should just drop everything, run away, and open an opera house in Paris. What do you say to that, Komui? As soon as you’re on your feet again, we pack Linali in one suitcase, Jerry in another, and head for the hills. Watch the Order crumble without us from afar.”
That earned a genuine, if quiet, laugh from Komui. “Linali can dress me up like a diva to her heart’s content and I can pretend to know how to sing. And you’ll be what, the MC? Or the dashing star tenor?”
“…I’m sorry, Komui. Did you say something? I was too busy imagining you in a feather boa,” Reever teased, unable to help the mental image of Linali dressing Komui up in elaborate costumes. Why, if she had her way Komui would probably eventually end up in a miniskirt. It was only fair.
“You would never catch me in something so tacky!” Komui sniffed. Then paused to sigh mournfully.
“…unless Linali gave me the puppy eyes.”
He wondered where zhu ren might be right now, as they headed down the hallway toward the service elevator. Could he be watching them this very moment? Surely he…
…perhaps it was better to just not think about it.
“I’m going to buy Linali some jewelry and bribe her to puppy-eye you into a feather boa,” Reever announced with a very broad grin as they reached the elevator, happily pressing the ‘up’ button.
Komui just gave him a very horrified look in return.
Before long they’d made it up the few floors to the men’s dorms and over to Komui’s suite; he fumbled around in the bag the medical wing had sent him with until he managed to find his keys, and handed them to Reever to let the pair inside. He was doing his best to act the same as he always acted around the other man — hopefully Reever would attribute any slips to Komui’s continuing fatigue, rather than anything that might upset him like… zhu ren.
“I am really ready to get out of infirmary clothes,” Komui declared with distaste, shouldering the little bag a little stiffly. Not only would he be a lot more comfortable in his own familiar things, if he wore long sleeves he wouldn’t have to look at the bandages all the time… they weren’t to come off for at least a few more days. “Guess I’ll take it from here…” He planted his feet on the floor and made to rise.
“As if I’d let you,” Reever scolded, catching Komui by the arm. Thus far he hadn’t picked up anything in Komui’s behavior that he found particularly suspicious. It wasn’t all that hard to go over his head, actually. He had no baseline for what was normal for Komui’s behavior anymore, not after everything that had happened. He was just glad that Komui seemed mostly okay.
For now he busied himself with helping Komui to his feet, then reached behind Komui to pick him up off the ground.
“Reever–!”
“All that shelving,” Reever mused with a grin, “is really paying off, you know. Don’t mess with librarians. They’re stronger than they look.” He carried Komui over to his bed, set him down again, drew the sheets up around him, and then Reever planted his hands on his hips, peering down.
“Now are you strong enough to undress yourself or are you going to need my assistance, Supervisor?”
“I could have walked five feet over to the bed,” Komui pouted at him. “I’m not completely helpless here. And… I can change my own clothes.” Most likely. He hoped. It was true his arms were still giving him a good deal of trouble. It was extremely frustrating to think that he probably wouldn’t be able to use a pen properly for a while longer.
“That may very well be true, but when will I get this excuse to treat you like a damsel again?” Reever demanded cheerfully. “Pity about the clothes, though. I was going to consider that a fringe benefit.”
“I–”
Komui looked at the other man for a second, went faintly pink, and felt a prickle of guilt. If Reever wanted… …. but zhu ren might…. but, Komui kind of…
He’d just… he’d make it up to zhu ren later, if he was angry. Somehow.
“…I guess it wouldn’t hurt to take it easy,” he allowed, glancing away and scratching at his nose a little. This was all… really confusing. And embarrassing. He didn’t like feeling so… weak.
Reever stopped when Komui looked away from him, frowned a little. Felt increasingly unsettled.
“H-hey,” he forced out, scratching the back of his neck before shrugging a little awkwardly. “If… if you’d rather do it yourself, just tell me to shut up, okay? You won’t hurt my feelings or anything. I’m just… I guess I get it from my ma. Take care of people. Don’t let me be overbearing or anything.”
“Oh, no– I– I appreciate it, honest. Thank you. Sorry to be a pest.” Komui smiled at him a little awkwardly, but sincerely nevertheless, and proceeded to mention the one issue that was…. well, slightly more comfortable to mention. “It just all… feels a little weird, you know? Like I can’t take care of myself very well… Which, uh, I guess I can’t…” His smile grew a little wider and more uneasy as he looked away with embarrassment again, trying not to fidget — he’d just make his wrists hurt.
“Don’t worry about it,” Reever smiled, feeling marginally reassured. He reached out to brush some of Komui’s hair back. “I like taking care of people. Why do you think I spent eight some years talking about changing jobs but never actually doing it? I liked running around after you, almost as much as I liked complaining about it.”
Komui leaned back against the headboard of the bed a little, grinning rather helplessly.
“I don’t deserve you, Reever,” he said (and meant it rather sincerely). “So, um…” He nodded toward the armoire across the room a little and proceeded to look vaguely apologetic. “Could I ask for a sweater and a pair of pajama pants maybe?”
“Not the skimpy negligee?” Reever teased rather brightly as he headed for the armoire to fetch what Komui had requested. “Well, let’s see… you have white, or white, or white, or white. Let’s go with the… white, shall we?” Rather indiscriminately, he selected a light sweater and loose pants that at least felt comfortable to the touch and brought them back to Komui, setting them on the bed.
“Now, how should we do this…” he mused mostly to himself, rather worried about hurting Komui.
“Here, the pants will be easier…” Komui swung his legs over the side of the bed and rose carefully, pulled his pants partway down, and then sat again to finish the job. At least he could take a few seconds of standing up and still feel okay, he thought with a slightly discouraged sigh as he reached for the pajama pants.
After Komui had pulled those on, Reever reached out and pulled the loose hospital shirt over Komui’s head, gently helping Komui get each of his arms out of the sleeves with as much care as he might have used handling the broken wing of a bird. He let out his breath in a relieved sigh when he managed to get it off without horribly mangling Komui in some way or another, then gave a nervous smile as he held up the sweater.
“Ready for this?” Because he certainly wasn’t.
Komui’s answering smile was… a little bit strained.
“Actually, um… maybe something that buttons up the front would be better…”
“You know, I’ve always liked you better shirtless,” Reever offered, setting the sweater back down. He smiled back, because smiles masked horror rather nicely.
“Um…”
Komui leaned his side against the headboard a little and smiled again in return, awkwardly, as the pain began to lessen.
“You could just get out a cheongsam? I’d kind of, um…” His gaze drifted downward, voice quieting a little. “Like to… not have to look at it for a while.”
He gave another quick, tight smile.
“Not happening,” Reever answered quickly with a shake of his head. “Have you seen those things? They button all weird and I can’t figure them out. How about a nice… huh, I could go get one of my dress shirts that I wear to work? I promise you they’re well-slept-in.” Still smiling.
“I have button-down shirts in there,” Komui insisted with a toss of his head toward the armoire, smile turning a little more sincere. “But if you just want me to wear your clothes…”
He trailed off looking amused, and maybe a little bit shyly pleased as he glanced down again.
“If we’re going to talk you in my clothes, I’d rather you be in my pants… but we can’t have everything, now can we?” Reever sighed as he turned away so he could drop his smile and look properly mortified. He took in a few deep breaths, walked over to his sack of clothes.
“Here we go, this one is the one I routinely nap in and I think it’s the one I tried to wear with my suit but decided it looked too old, so I’ll bet you it even smells like me. If it doesn’t, let me know and I’ll spray you with my cologne,” Reever offered cheerily as he turned back to give the shirt to Komui.
Komui accepted it, shook it out a little, and obligingly held it up to his nose. Shit, that still hurt. But…
……oh, zhu ren was going to be so angry at him. He was going to be punished… but he–…
“It does smell like you,” he said with a quiet, fond smile, letting his hand fall back into his lap along with the shirt. “…I’ll sleep better tonight,” he added after a moment, smile widening into a slightly embarrassed grin as he glanced to one side.
And… he would, too.
…was he leading Reever on? It didn’t… He didn’t think…
It didn’t feel like that, but, he–
“You’re saying that like I’m not going to camp out here like a sentry,” Reever grinned back, leaning down to rather shyly kiss Komui on the lips. Or at least that was what he’d meant to do. He missed, kissed Komui on the nose instead. Blushed a little. Then he picked up the shirt again.
“Let me help you with this, yeah?”
Komui nodded, still looking rather fond and embarrassed as he held up his arms a little, allowed Reever to slip him into the shirt and button it up with minimal assistance from Komui. When that was done, he maneuvered himself back into bed on still slightly-aching arms, sitting back against the headboard with a sigh.
“Um, is there… anything else you need? Desire? Passingly want?” Reever asked after a short moment of silence, feeling rather awkward and useless to just be sitting there.
“Um…”
Komui’s gaze turned on him again after a moment, looking perhaps faintly distant, as though his thoughts had gone elsewhere.
“Maybe, um, a book?” He glanced toward the pile sitting on the window-side table at the other end of his room. “For later… I don’t mind which one,” he murmured.
He– what he felt for Reever… he didn’t know what he…
…was it really fair for a person like Komui to–
What worries or sorrows could a beautiful little doll like you possibly have?
None. None at all.
Reever moved over to the pile of books and sifted them around until he found one with a cheery-looking cover. He had no idea what it was because it was entirely in Chinese, but it looked happy and that was exactly what Komui needed right now. And so he brought it back with a smile, holding it out.
“How’s this one, Komui?” he asked. “I tried to find the Science Department’s swimsuit calendar but apparently we haven’t published it for next year yet.”
Komui accepted the book with a very amused grin on his face as his eyes passed over the title.
“Can you read this?” he wondered.
“If I had a dictionary handy and the next month or so free,” Reever admitted sheepishly with a shrug. “But feel free to read it to me. Is it good?”
“Well, I actually just meant the title.” Komui’s grin widened a bit.
“It’s a book of fairy tales. I used to read them to Linali when she was little…” He couldn’t quite remember how long it had been sitting there in the pile. Maybe since before he left three years ago… at some point he supposed he must have been feeling nostalgic. “Did you want me to read you a fairy tale?” he wondered, with a single quiet laugh.
“Hm?” Reever blinked, then began to laugh himself. “I wouldn’t say no. You’ll have to read really slow, though. I think my Chinese is… slightly less fluent than your average five year old.” He actually really did want to hear Komui read a fairy tale, once he got to thinking about it. He’d always lurked outside back when Komui had still had to put Linali to bed each night, had always been rather fascinated by the sort of brother Komui was versus the sort of brother he himself had been.
“I can handle that.” Komui looked cheerful as he glanced down at the book again, opening it up and thumbing through the pages thoughtfully. “You should grab a chair.”
“I’m not invited on your bed?” Reever pouted, but sportingly grabbed a chair all the same. Feeling a little nostalgic himself, he swung it around and straddled it like the delinquent he had once been, contentedly leaning against the back of the chair. “Okay, all ready. Start any time, ge ge~“
But rather than obligingly beginning the story, Komui pouted over at the other man.
“Reeveeeeer. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you innocently set out to call me ge ge,” and he pronounced the word the way Linali always said it, holding up a finger seriously as he continued pouting, “and not to nefariously cast aspersions on my malehood. But don’t call me thaaaat,” he whined.
“Call you what?” Reever blinked, suddenly covering his mouth with his hand, silently vowing to never speak Chinese again. “W…what did I actually say this time?”
There was an incident in Linali’s childhood, where Reever had intended to ask Linali about her mother and instead had inquired about her horse. He still hadn’t quite lived that down.
“You called me princess.” Komui’s pout, if possible, got even poutier.
“…I–”
And then Reever collapsed against the back of the chair with a fit of laughter.
“I– I’m sorry, ge ge. I’m sure it was just a– a– subconscious slip,” he managed between his laughter. Tears were practically streaming from his eyes. And, again, he had (rather intentionally this time) called Komui ‘princess’.
Komui gave a long-suffering sigh, and wondered for a moment if he shouldn’t just have been a girl. It would have made life much less embarrassing.
“I’ll have you know that mean people don’t get stories read to them,” he said with a disdainful, rather pointed sniff, tossing his bangs in a way that did not help the comparison at all as he cracked the book open again. “Or don’t you want to hear about…” He flipped through at random, settling on one that he and Linali both liked. It was a rather famous legend. “The lady who lives on the moon?”
“Someone lives on the moon?” Reever asked curiously, instinctively glancing out the window even though it was the middle of the day. “Must be awfully lonely.” He settled down at that and nodded, batting his eyelashes at Komui.
“I’ll be good, big brother. Tell me the story.”
“All right then,” Komui said with a small grin. “And I’m sure it is lonely. But she gets to see her husband once every year, during the Moon Festival in the autumn,” he went on cheerily, eyes turning down on the page. “Let’s see…”
He began slowly.
“Once upon a time, there were ten suns in the sky…“
- – -
One summer, however, the suns were burning so brightly that it caused all the plants and rivers in the land to dry up. Life became unbearable for the Emperor and his subjects.
At a loss, the Emperor summoned the great archer Hou Yi, and commanded him to shoot down all but one of the suns. Taking nine magic arrows to his bow, Hou Yi did exactly that and brought prosperity back to the people. The Emperor rewarded Hou Yi with great wealth, which Hou Yi took to marry the love of his life, the beautiful Chang Oh.
Later on, the Emperor called on Hou Yi again, this time to ask him to build a new palace. Hou Yi was as great an architect as he was an archer, and a lavish and grand castle was built for the Emperor. Impressed, the Emperor rewarded Hou Yi with a small bottle containing an elixir of immortality, but warned him not to drink the entire bottle. It was meant to be shared between Hou Yi and his wife.
Hou Yi rushed home to share his reward with Chang Oh — but in her excitement, she accidentally drank the whole bottle. Suddenly, the room felt as though it was spinning wildly around her, and Chang Oh began to float toward the sky. As she floated away, she grabbed desperately for something to anchor her, but only managed to hold onto her caged white rabbit as her husband watched helplessly on.
Chang Oh became trapped on the moon, immortal and alone save for her white rabbit. Apart, both husband and wife wept so bitterly for each other that the gods took pity upon them. They created a bridge which would appear each year for a single night, to reunite the lovers for a brief moment of happiness.
- – -
By the time Komui was finished with the story, Reever was staring at him open-mouthed in fixated horror.
“…that’s a children’s story?“
“…um. Yes.” Komui blinked at him and grinned a little again. “They pretty much all end like that. Or worse. Chinese storytellers aren’t known for their love of happy endings.”
“No kidding,” Reever managed, still looking at the book in Komui’s hands just a little bit like the way one would look at a rabid jackal. “Way to teach kids optimism. They should just start passing those out to the Finders. ‘Life is shit, but hey, at least you’re not stuck being these people.’” Reever scooted a little closer, peering at the pages.
“Are there any pictures in there?”
“I was just about to ask if you wanted to see,” Komui replied, smiling as he turned the book around to hand to Reever. There were several different illustrations of Chang Oh and her husband, their adventures, and her life in exile on the moon, beautifully detailed and lavishly colored.
“Oh, wow,” Reever breathed as the took the proffered book, eyes widening slightly. He had never expected the book to be hiding such elaborate illustrations. “She’s… beautiful. Actually…” Reever trailed off to frown thoughtfully to himself, reaching out to brush his fingers against the bangs that framed Chang Oh’s face. There were pearls and jade beads and flowers woven into her hair, but somehow, especially when she was sad and staring longingly down at the Earth…
“…she looks like you.”
And then Reever slipped into a stunned, troubled silence.
Though Komui registered the other’s sober expression, he couldn’t help but go a little pink. It wasn’t every day that one got compared to the beauty of the lady in the moon.
“…Still not a princess,” he sighed and pouted a little again, because he didn’t quite understand what was bothering Reever now. He might as well try to keep the mood happy.
“I– um,” Reever blinked his thoughts away and managed a little smile. “Yeah. I know. Don’t worry, Komui. I’m, ah, the last person to forget that you are very much not a princess. I’m very well acquainted with your not-princess aspects.” The words were a little forced. Reever couldn’t stop his thoughts from wandering.
Komui stared at him for a second, growing uneasy with how distracted the other man seemed. It — it was just a story…
“…did I…” He stopped, frowned slightly, started again. “Is something… wrong?”
“No,” Reever insisted, a little too quickly. Then he groaned and pressed his hand against his face, grimacing at himself. “No, it’s just– The story, you, me… I just. Haven’t been getting enough sleep. I don’t know. Drank too much. My thoughts don’t make any sense. Don’t mind me, Komui. Why… why don’t we read another or something?” Because he didn’t want to talk about this right now, or ever. Didn’t want to own up to the thoughts buzzing around his head. He was too ashamed of them, too guilty for even thinking them–
“Um…” Komui hesitated, smiled at him uneasily. Turned his face down toward the book again. “Sure…” He flipped through the pages, trying to find another good one.
It was just as Komui seemed to settle on a story that there was a loud, desperate knock on their door.
“Supervisor! Uh, Reever! Are you in there?” It was Johnny’s voice.
“Johnny?” Reever called back. “It’s open! What’s up?” The door slammed open immediately after Reever spoke to reveal a rather panicked-looking Johnny standing in the doorway.
“There’s smoke pouring out of lab six! Come on! We have to go do something!”
“Oh of all the–” Reever swore, standing up from his chair. “I’m, I– god damnit!” He looked down at Komui. “Will you be okay if I go take care of this?”
“I’ll be fine,” and Komui sighed impatiently, “now hurry up and go.” His gaze included Johnny as he added, “Be careful, you two!”
Reever lingered a moment as though to say something more, but the words stuck and Johnny was tugging on his sleeve with an expression that plainly read ‘Lab. On fire.‘ Reluctantly, Reever forced himself to head out of the room.
There were halfway down the staircase when they met up with Tapp, who was running up to meet them. Reever could already smell the smoke and that worried him. Lab six was home to all kinds of sensitive storage equipment. The worry didn’t last, though, as Tapp was wearing a big, sheepish grin when he finally got to them.
“False alarm, Supervisor! False alarm! Someone just tried to heat their dinner over a bunsen burner. We got a couple char marks on the table, but it’s all okay. You can go back to taking care of the, uh, Supervisor. Supervisor.” Tapp then shrugged a little helplessly and tried to smile encouragingly in the face of Reever’s extremely flat, unimpressed expression. Without another word, Reever turned and headed back up the stairs.
Reever hadn’t been gone very long; but the castle’s stairways were tall, the service elevator too far away to be convenient. It took a while to get anywhere. By the time he walked up to Komui’s door again, it was nearing half an hour since he’d stepped out. Who knew what Komui thought about how long he’d been gone–
A little pained noise came from the other side of the door.
Alarmed, Reever pushed the door open without knocking, heart hammering in his chest.
“Komui, are you–”
The words died on his lips as he came to a sudden stop just inside the door. Everything just– Stopped. His breath, his heart, his words, his thoughts. Everything. Stopped. Komui had undone the top half of his shirt and managed to get one arm out and was working at doing the same with the other. His face had gone very white with pain. For a moment, Reever didn’t know what to do or think or–
He dug his pocket knife out of his pants and wordlessly walked over to Komui, cut the shirt away from him. He pulled what was left of it harmlessly off of Komui’s torso.
“…what are you doing, Komui?” His voice was soft, gentle, calm. He was quietly pleading for Komui to give him a reason, any reason, not to be terrified out of his mind about what he had just walked in to see.
Komui looked up at him wide-eyed for a moment, before glancing away, guiltily.
“I–…”
Stopping to breathe a second, expression still pained, he leaned back heavily against the headboard and stared straight downward.
“I didn’t know… how long you’d be gone… If…”
He drew his arms in toward his body, just a little bit. As much as he could stand.
“If zhu ren came in… he wouldn’t…”
Komui trailed off. Merely invoking that word would be enough, he supposed.
Reever would… would go away now.
He should be happy about that. Probably. Maybe. He didn’t even know.
“…how long has he been back?” Reever asked, voice even quieter than before. He could barely get the words out. Suddenly, everything hurt. Stung, really, as though Komui had just struck him sharply. He had been… so sure everything was okay today. Not great, but okay. But… it seemed the only thing that had really changed was that Komui had gotten better at lying to him. He briefly glanced down at what was left of his shirt and felt suddenly glad that he had ruined it. He never wanted to see it again.
“Were you just… waiting for me to go away?”
Reever blinked slowly, felt his lower eyelids weighed down by tears. He tilted his head up a little, unwilling to shed them.
“No.”
Komui’s voice, too, held a telltale unsteadiness as he stared at Reever in horror.
“I — I was — happy you were here… you’ve been… I mean–” He looked away and pursed his lips, smiled a little, shakily and apologetically with his eyes gleaming too-wet. “It’s okay if you don’t want to… be here… I– I don’t… A–anyway it’s all right.”
He felt… so much more tired all of a sudden.
“You shouldn’t… have to be here anyway…” Komui mumbled, gaze slipping further downward. The very thought of looking at Reever right now was terrifying. “I know I just make you miserable.”
Reever felt a painful stab right in his chest, and gave a brief sigh. After a moment’s hesitation he took Komui by the shoulders, grip more firm and reassured now; Reever simply held him there, looked him dead in the eyes.
“I want to be here, Komui. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be. I want to be with you, and be able to take care of you and love you and just… be near you. I love you.” Reever said each word slowly, wanted to make sure Komui understood. “But I don’t know if I can do this again, Komui. I can give you everything I have to offer and I still wouldn’t be a saint. If you need him more than me, I– I can help you, Komui, but I can’t fight you every step of the way.” Then he released Komui, reached up to cup his cheek.
“…you asked me to stop you. I want to. But even I have a breaking point, Komui. You can’t keep giving up on me like this.”
Komui looked up at him and took a deep breath, and blinked very fast.
“I don’t– I– I was– … it was okay today… wasn’t it?” He stopped and smiled a little, shakily, excruciatingly. “I was trying to… to not… …that is…” To be the same. For Reever’s sake — to see his smiling face. Not to be different or strange or… Not to change.
Zhu ren hadn’t wanted him to change.
His gaze trailed downward.
“But I don’t… know what to do…” he confessed in a terrified whisper. Paused for a second, smiled another brief painful smile. “I mean I guess that’s obvious since if I– if I had then none of this would’ve happened in the first place or even– but– I…”
When he talks to me… touches me… when he’s even just in the same room I… I can’t– Every thought in my head is just– …
He swallowed.
“I want you to be you,” Reever murmured, sitting down next Komui on the bed. He held out his arms for permission, offering Komui a very faint, tired smile. “I know it’s not easy, Komui. I can see… the things he does to people. But you have me. I’ll do anything, whatever it takes, for you. So…” He swallowed, briefly closing his eyes. His voice caught in his throat.
“…stay? I– I can’t really promise you anything, except that I’ll do everything I can.”
The split second of silence that filled the room was unbearably tense.
“…I want to stay.” Komui’s voice shook a little. He shifted to lean slightly against Reever’s shoulder.
“I want… to stay with everyone… But when he’s around me I can’t — can’t think and I just… he takes over and he– The whole world is just — him…”
He didn’t know how he was managing to say so much, but just… if Reever could… could understand a little bit…
…it wasn’t going to make it easier. Nothing was going to make it easier.
It was about that time that Komui came to the conclusion he was damned.
“…half the time when I’m doing something I don’t even know if it’s… me or if I’m like that because… that’s how he wanted me to be…” he mumbled in a small voice, staring down at his lap with dark hair obscuring his face.
“Remember our night under the stars,” Reever whispered. There was a hint of desperation in his voice. “We can be okay, the way we were then. Better. I know we can. You love me, don’t you?” He loosely wrapped his arms around Komui’s waist, kissed the side of his head.
“As long as you love me, well… I’m sure he never wanted you to do that.”
Komui gave a single quiet, ragged laugh, leaning his weight on Reever a little more.
“It’s true. I–…”
He cut himself off and swallowed again, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment, trying to keep as calm as he could manage.
So you did to him exactly what I did to you all those years, Komui?
He took another deep breath.
Why, I think I’m almost proud of you.
“…Reever, am I… Do–…” He frowned, looking nervous and rather frustrated at himself.
“Is this really… okay?” Komui’s voice grew smaller, timider. “Do you ever… resent me?”
Reever’s eyes widened slightly and his arms went tense, half of him wanting to hold Komui tighter and the other barely able to hold back from pushing him away.
“I–”
The thoughts came back. About that stupid story. About them. About Chang Oh who couldn’t resist temptation and caused her husband such misery. About how Reever thought, somewhere in his deepest and darkest places, that Komui didn’t fight Cross enough, gave into him again and again because he was in the habit of doing so. They were terrible, terrible thoughts. Reever knew that. He knew well enough to be ashamed of himself, but that didn’t make the thoughts just disappear. He knew it wasn’t Komui’s fault. He knew that. But sometimes, more often lately, when the bad times seemed to far outweigh the good times, when he wasn’t sure if Komui really did love him or simply needed him as an anchor or a crutch… he couldn’t help a little, secret resentment. It made him sick, made him hate himself for not being above blaming Komui for things that were out of their control, but… Reever couldn’t deny that it was still there.
“I…”
Lie, goddamnit, Reever. Just lie.
“I… It… It’s not your fault, Komui,” he finally managed to force out in an unsteady voice. “None of it’s your fault. What kind of person would blame you for something that’s not your fault? It’s okay. Everything’s okay.”
…it wasn’t really a lie. As though that would somehow help Reever sleep at night.
Komui looked up at him contemplatively for a moment. Shifted, just a little, to leave a brief fleeting kiss featherlight against the scratchy jaw.
“It’s okay,” he murmured, laying his head against Reever’s shoulder, eyes half-lidded. “I must be very hard to live with. I really don’t deserve you,” he said, for the second time that day.
“You’d be surprised at the market value of a middle-aged, scruffy Australian who makes a living as a semi-glorified secretary,” Reever managed to joke, finding one of Komui’s hands with his own.
“But besides that, Komui. You can’t put a price on love. You deserve me as long as I say you deserve me. Which I do, I might add.”
A faint smile curled across Komui’s face, and for a moment he made no reply.
“You’re not middle-aged. You’re not even thirty yet,” he remarked quietly after a moment, raising an eyebrow, his voice a little lighter than before.
“You’re just saying that because you don’t want to feel old,” Reever teased, feeling better himself. “It’s okay, Komui. You can be honest with me. You look younger than me, besides.”
“That’s just because I look like a girl.” Komui sighed mournfully. “And it’s not like you look old. You’re… handsome.” He sniffed a little, sounding faintly embarrassed. “…And scruffy and cute.”
“I don’t think you looking like a girl has anything to do with it,” Reever commented, sounding very cheered-up and just a little bit flattered. He rubbed his nose with the back of his hand. “But it’s true, I think. Flattery will get you everywhere. Next time I’m trying to convince you not to build a giant robot, tell me I don’t look a day over twenty and I might be persuaded to look the other way.”
Komui’s expression turned… very thoughtful.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he promised brightly.
“…you’re going to play me like a fiddle, aren’t you, Komui?” Reever accused with a touch of horror.
“Why, of course not. I would never take advantage of your weak spots to slip a new project by you.” Komui’s smile was twitching a bit wider. “How could you even suggest it! I’m shocked.“
“…I’m going to go now, Komui. I’ll be back as soon as I’ve put in an order to the nearest quarry that we need several tons of stone bricks,” Reever sighed in defeat. He kissed Komui’s cheek once more, snuggled up with him, and proceeded to calculate how much of the Order’s budget he could set aside for another reconstruction project. Ah, how we hurt the ones we love.
