Way to Go Anubis

Then Happy I, a slashfic in four parts

Rating: NC-17 for graphic male-male sex

Pairings: Anubis/Cye, Dais/Sehkmet, Kale/Ryo, Kento/Sage, Rowen/Yuli

Disclaimer: "The Ronin Warriors," with its related characters and themes, does not belong to me. I make no money from this venture.

Dedication: This slashfic is for Mink and Ewan McGregor and Laura.

Wherein Kento makes an inspirational speech; Dais quotes Shakespeare; and Sehkmet's sort of weird, isn't he?

"Then Happy I" Part Two: Way to Go Anubis

Sage saw Ryo staring out the kitchen window to the backyard. "Something interesting out there?"

"Anubis and Cye are holding hands."

"That qualifies as interesting," Sage admitted, glancing over Ryo's shoulder. Yes, there they were, holding hands. Would wonders never cease. Anubis released Cye's hand; Cye walked toward the back door. When Cye came into the kitchen, Sage said, "Learn anything?"

"Dais' real name is Rajura, Dais and Sehkmet are lovers, Kale likes the sun, Anubis has been alive all of this time and just didn't think that we'd care, he pretended to be dead on purpose for Kayura's sake, and I told them that we're gay and Rowen's bisexual. They're all gay, too." Cye left the kitchen.

"I'm worried about him," Ryo said.

"I'll talk to him," Sage said.

"You will?" Ryo asked, surprised.

Sage gave him the patented "I'm being patient with Ryo" look. "Yes, I will."

"Dais and Sehkmet are lovers?!" Ryo exclaimed.

Sage smirked, just a little Sage smirk.

"On Yuli's bed?" Ryo asked. "They're doing that on Yuli's bed?"

That was one of the very good reasons Sage hadn't said anything to anyone but Rowen. He didn't want to upset Yuli before he had to. The idea of Dais and sex didn't turn Sage off, but it might disturb Yuli to know that Dark Warlords were coming on Yuli's sheets.

Sage found Cye in the basement a few minutes later, pulling clothes from the dryer. "You want to talk about it?"

"Sage..." Cye raised his sea eyes, clutching a pair of Kento's jeans. "I thought that I was over him, honestly I did."

Ah, the direct approach, No evasions or obfuscations, just a complete forthrightness. Sage respected Cye for it. "What made you think so?"

"I knew that I couldn't have him. I accepted it and I let go. When he died I mourned him, but I believed that I..."

Sage waited.

"I'm in love with him," Cye said, "and I don't want to be, Sage."

"Why not?"

"I can't have him. He's too good for me."

"He's not," Sage said quickly, firmly, angry that Cye believed such a thing. "No one's too good for you."

Tears filled Cye's eyes. "Sage... It's easy for you to say that. But I'm just me. I'm not like you, Sage. I'm not perfect. I'm not even close to perfect. He's too good for me."

"Why don't you let him decide that for himself?"

Cye sniffled. "I wish that I were like you, Sage."

"I don't," Sage said.

"Oh, Seiji, what a pair we are." Cye sighed and brushed at his eyes. "Leave me alone or I'll make you help me fold laundry." Sage didn't need to be threatened twice.

"They're having sex in my bed!" Yuli was floored. "They're having SEX in my BED?!"

"Yeah," Ryo admitted.

"Dais and Sehkmet. Are having sex. In my bed."

"Yeah," Ryo admitted.

"I wonder which of them tops," Rowen mused from the sofa.

"You won't hear it from me," Kale said, lounging in the doorway.

"Kale!" Yuli said, startled.

"You know?" Rowen asked Kale, sitting up straighter. "Have you seen them? Or just heard them? Or on those long, lonely stretches of Dynasty night, did-"

"Don't complete that sentence; I don't want to know what you're asking," Kale said. "Yuli, if you don't want them to do it anymore, I'll tell them and they'll stop."

"Wait. Yuli, c'mere," Rowen said. Yuli sat beside him and Rowen leaned in to whisper, close in his ear, "Just think about it, Yuli. Dais. In your bed. On his back. Naked. White hair spread over your pillow. Legs spread. Getting fucked right through his gorgeous body. Coming in your bed, on your sheets."

Yuli swallowed, trying to breathe. "I don't mind," he told Kale weakly. Rowen giggled, actually giggled, in his ear and sat back again. That was when Dais walked in to stand beside Kale. Yuli blushed and looked away.

"Everybody knows about you and Sehkmet," Kale told Dais.

"Anubis told me."

"You're talking to him now?"

"He spoke to me," Dais said. "I wouldn't call my response 'talking.'"

"Strata wants to know whether you or Sehkmet tops."

"Did you tell him?"

"No. It's none of my business what you and Sehkmet do together," Kale said innocently.

"Is that why you-"

Kale put his hand over Dais' mouth. "Not in front of the children."

Dais ducked away from Kale's hand. "You're right; I wouldn't want to confuse or corrupt them."

"Did Anubis get a chance to tell you that Torrent asked about Sehkmet's tattoos?"

"No," Dais said.

"They know. About your name. That you're Rajura."

"Who told?" Dais asked very calmly.

"Anubis."

Dais was silent for a while. "I suppose that since Anubis told Torrent, I won't have to kill anyone."

"You noticed as well?"

"I'm not entirely blind, Kale. Even if I were, every time that Torrent's nearby Anubis gets...weird."

"My, what a rich vocabulary you possess. Do you plan to mention to Anubis that we've noticed his...interest?"

"Not yet," Dais said.

"At least Anubis had the sense to pick the least objectionable of them."

"Had he picked anyone else, I would begin a mutiny."

"I was afraid, for some time there, that he'd pick..."

"Wildfire." They shuddered in tandem.

"Guys? We're still here," Rowen said.

Dais dismissed him with a wave and kept talking to Kale. "As long as it's Torrent Anubis has chosen, I have no protestations."

Kale nodded. "I agree."

"Now all we need is to fix you up with someone."

"As long as it's not Wildfire, Halo, or that Yuli child, I'll be fine."

"That leaves Strata and Hardrock."

"Slim pickings. You're sure you wouldn't like to leave Sehkmet for me?"

"I'm sure."

"Slim pickings!" Rowen objected. "Slim pickings my ass! You'd be damned lucky to get somebody like me, Mr. Corruption and Decay!"

"Let's take this conversation elsewhere," Kale suggested, and left with Dais.

"Slim pickings," Rowen muttered, slouched back on the sofa. "He's just bitter because Kento kicked his ass."

"That Yuli child," Yuli said. "You know, I'm not six."

"Poor us," Rowen said. "Rejected and discounted by a Dark Warlord. And I so wanted to take Kale to my senior prom."

Yuli giggled. "Which of you wears the dress?"

"Kale, of course," Rowen teased. "Don't you think that he'd look simply darling in pink pumps?"

"Oh, Rowen," Ryo moaned, "don't make me picture that, please."

"I'd look good in a tux," Rowen said with satisfaction. "And Kale in a nice strapless pink dress, maybe some satin, and a bow in his hair."

Cye finished the laundry and sat in the kitchen making the grocery list. Sehkmet came in and out, apparently pacing through the downstairs. Sehkmet was just pacing in as Dais came through the back door.

"Hey," Sehkmet said, his voice lower than Cye remembered. Cye politely kept his eyes on his paper.

"Don't you ever do that again," Dais said. "You fucking know better."

"You're right."

"Kale says that the word is out on Rajura."

"Torrent asked..."

"Strata wants to know which of us tops."

"Did you tell him?"

"Fuck no." Cye, through thick lashes, glanced up as the two men stepped closer to each other. He heard a quiet brief murmur and then they kissed, arms around each other. He took one little peek, then raised his head to stare.

Sehkmet was kissing the most beautiful creature. Long white hair like silk, skin pale-pale pink and glowing, lashes so long and lush, skin clear, one sharp high cheekbone, those hands so elegant, that flawless column of neck, that strong jaw.

Soft pink lips, just ready for kissing. Dais drew back slightly, turning just a little, and Cye almost gasped.

Two eyes. Two eyes. Those lush lashes, clear blue - - two of them. Dais had two eyes.

Sehkmet's hand crept along Dais' jaw, back into that thick web of hair, and drew Dais in for another kiss. Cye kept staring, unable to look away from them. The kiss ended and Dais shifted; the patch returned, his hair dulled a little and shortened a little, his skin lost its-

Sehkmet noticed that Cye was staring. Cye colored and swallowed. "Damn it," Sehkmet said. "Don't suppose that we could ask you, of all people, to keep a secret for me, of all people."

"Which is the illusion?" Cye asked Dais. "That's the real you, isn't it? This is just a facade. Why? You're...you're beautiful," he whispered in reverence.

"You shouldn't have seen that," Dais said. "I rarely let go."

"I haven't seen you in too long," Sehkmet told Dais.

"Sometimes I forget," Dais said, "that there's someone else under here."

"But why?" Cye persisted. "I don't understand, why do you hide?"

"Talpa didn't like me to look too good," Dais said. "It offended him. All four of us, we don't really look like this. Would you like to see Sehkmet?"

Cye leaned forward, enthralled, eager, heart pounding. "Really?"

"No," Sehkmet said, stepping away from the two of them. "No, I don't..." He dropped his gaze.

"I'm sure that Anubis would be happy to let you see him," Dais told Cye. Psychically he called for Anubis. "Kale really does have a scar, but it looks nothing like what you've seen."

"Talpa's gone now," Cye said. "Why don't you go back to yourselves?"

"We got used to living with the lie," Dais said. "Every day for a very long time. It came to the point where the truth became uncomfortable."

Anubis and Kale walked into the kitchen. "Sehkmet, could you watch the door?" Dais asked. Sehkmet moved to do so. "Torrent wants to see how we really look," Dais told Anubis and Kale.

"You told him?" Kale asked.

"I thought that good-mannered little Torrent would look away while Sehkmet kissed me," Dais said. "I was wrong."

"Peeping Torrent," Kale said. "I had no idea. Well, go ahead, cast off all illusions!" Dais gave him a look in response, then dropped the illusion. Kale's complexion lightened, his eyes widened, his hair got brighter and thicker, and the ugly scar marring his face shrunk down to a small, intriguing white horizontal line.

"Wow," Cye said.

Kale ran a knuckle beneath his left eye. "If Halo could see me now."

"Ready?" Dais asked.

Kale ran a hand through the soft spikes of his hair. "Sure." And then he was back again, scar and all. It was a shame to have a disfiguring mark there; Cye couldn't believe that Talpa would - - well, after all, it was Talpa, and Talpa wasn't known for compassion.

"Your turn," Dais told Anubis. And then Anubis was there, with petal-soft skin, beautiful dark green eyes, and such a heavy wealth of red hair, and Cye saw a lovely, warm person for one suspended heartbeat, and then it was over and the beauty dulled just enough to break his heart. The three men before him were still attractive, but scarred and hardened. He wondered what Sehkmet really looked like. Anubis hadn't been disfigured as the others had, hadn't been made too terribly different, perhaps because Anubis was their leader. He could think of many psychological reasons that Talpa would do this to them, but not one of those reasons kept him from abhorring Talpa.

"You're all beautiful," he said softly, "so beautiful. I had no idea."

"Don't expect to see it anytime soon," Dais said.

"I won't tell the others," Cye said softly. "I respect your privacy."

Sehkmet entered and said, "Wildfire's coming with Hardrock."

"My real hair never gets split ends," Anubis muttered.

Ryo and Kento walked in. "Hey, a convention," Kento said. "Cye, is it pizza time?"

Cye checked the clock. "All right. How many should we buy?"

Sehkmet smoothed a hand along Dais' jaw. Cye's eyes watered for a moment.

Kale liked pizza. He really liked pizza. Sehkmet ate it slowly. Dais picked off the toppings and gave them to Kale. Anubis ate from Sage's vegetarian pizza. Everyone was lounging around the living room. The Dark Warlords were on the floor in one corner, then Cye, then Yuli, then the other Ronin Warriors.

"More," Kale said.

Anubis shoved the box in Kale's direction.

"How many slices have you eaten?" Dais asked.

"Fewer than Hardrock," Kale said.

"You'll ruin your figure," Dais said.

"Not likely."

"You'll work it off tomorrow."

Kale shoved away the box, dropping his slice. "No thanks. I don't need a Dais exercise torture session. Running, swimming, jogging, sparring, weightlifting, then doing it all over again, and again."

"You forgot meditating, stretching, and positive visualization," Anubis said.

"And rowing," Sehkmet said.

"Faster, Kale, harder, Kale, you're not breathing, Kale," Kale mimicked.

"And then out of nowhere one of those big ugly things jumps out at you," Anubis said.

"In the fucking rowboat," Sehkmet added.

"And all the time he's telling you faster, Anubis, harder, Anubis, you're not breathing, Anubis."

"Mountain climbing," Kale said.

"There is no mountain like that on this entire fucking planet," Anubis said. "Not a fucking one."

"And as soon as you get to the top, he dumps you in the middle of the ocean, and as soon as you get to shore there's some big fucking butt-ugly thing you gotta kill, and then he wants you to jog off somewhere," Kale said. "Concentrate, Kale, think, Kale, sharper, Kale, really focus, Kale."

"And then you have to practice your damned battle cry," Anubis said.

"I said it so many times I forgot the damned words," Kale said.

"Did he ever turn Talpa on you?"

"Oh, yes, was that ever fucking sweet," Kale said. "Blasted that cocksucker right to Hell. Almost fell over and died from fear first, but as soon as I realized that I was allowed to let loose, boy did I. I recall you having a fun time with that yourself."

"Nothing better," Anubis said. "Beat the Hell out of trying to fight five of those red drooling fuckers, remember those, and Dais yelling at me harder, faster, cleaner, sharper, don't bend your elbow, keep your foot forward, forward Anubis, keep your head up Anubis, concentrate Anubis, don't forget the ones behind you Anubis - - as if I've forgotten that while I try to keep the one in front of me from cutting off my fucking head that there are three more of them, what the Hell am I supposed to do about it?"

"But now you know what to do about it, don't you?" Dais asked.

"You let them destroy Talpa?" Cye asked.

"Illusions of him," Dais said. "It's very therapeutic. Terrifying, at first, but positive in the end."

"And he didn't care?"

"For the most part he let me work unsupervised," Dais said. "When he wasn't taunting us and fostering animosity and competition, we were largely neglected."

"Is there some problem with a rowboat?" Yuli asked.

Sehkmet chuckled. "My first near-death experience. Worse than that fucking mountain." Apparently pizza caused Dark Warlords to swear. Three of them, anyway. "I medidated, I stretched, I ran, I climbed the mountain, then he put me in a rowboat, which was fine, except then he decided to give me this fucking ugly black beast thing, and all I had to defend myself with was a set of oars. Damned thing almost drowned me."

"You didn't stop it?" Cye asked, appalled.

"Of course I stopped it," Dais said. "He was never in any real danger."

"I was so fucking sure that Dais would kill me and tell Talpa that it had been a training accident," Sehkmet said.

"He made the mistake of coming after me once he'd recovered," Dais said. "So I gave him a second near-death experience, so he'd know what it's really like to have me try to kill you."

"You're insane," Yuli said, awed.

"Not legally, I'm sure," Dais said. "This all happened right after Sehkmet came to the Dynasty. We were trying to assert our positions. I wanted him to realize that I was in charge."

"Why is Anubis in charge?" Yuli asked.

"I'm underappreciated," Dais said.

"Dais and I have different strengths," Anubis said. "Were I to die for real, he would be in charge. While I was absent from the Dynasty, I trusted him to take my place and lead the Dark Warlords until my return."

"It's just because you have better hair," Dais muttered.

"Oh, Dais, you know we all love you," Anubis said.

"Don't get fresh with me, little boy, or I'll sic one of 'those red drooling fuckers' on you."

Anubis wrapped a seductive arm around Dais' waist and leaned in close. "You know we all love you," he said again, and licked Dais' jaw, nibbling Dais' earlobe.

"Enough, enough," Dais said.

Kale came up from behind him, wrapping arms around him, hugging him to Kale's chest, Kale's thighs spread, knees on either side of Dais. "Oh, Dais, you are our inspiration, our great teacher, the one who showed us the way," Kale said.

"Don't make me hurt you," Dais said.

"Oh, Dais, you'd never hurt us," Anubis said.

"You stick your tongue in my ear and Sehkmet will castrate you," Dais said.

"Sehkmet wouldn't do that," Anubis said.

"What would the Ancient say if he saw you now?" Dais asked.

"Way to go Anubis?" Anubis guessed.

Dais elbowed Kale in the stomach and smacked Anubis in the forehead. "Back off, bitch. Remember your audience and behave yourselves."

"Oh, the Ronins don't care," Kale said. "They think we're perverted, degraded, amoral, evil, and hideous anyway. Besides, I'm guessing they all want to fuck you themselves and would love to watch Anubis do it."

"Do I have to be the mature one again?" Dais asked.

"I'll do it," Anubis said, and turned to the Ronins and Yuli, who were staring. "Dais and Sehkmet are together; Kale and I would never presume to impose on their relationship. Sometimes, when we're getting along, we tease each other. Everyone concerned knows that I'd never actually come on to Dais, and that Kale wouldn't either. Believe me, if Sehkmet felt threatened, he'd let us know about it. Sometime you can ask me about my near-death experiences."

"You are the youngest, aren't you?" Cye asked.

Anubis nodded. "Dais came first, then Kale, then Sehkmet, then myself."

"When did you become the leader?"

"When I frst entered the Dynasty, it was understood that someday I'd lead the Dark Warlords. Dais trained me to fulfill that responsibility. It's thanks to his training that I grew to the strength that I was able to lead the Dark Warlords, and to leave them. Dais doesn't teach only one's body."

"He trained you to usurp him?" Rowen asked.

"Yes. Even though we didn't get along well at all, at first. Eventually we came to respect each other, then we developed a genuine fondness. It's hard to like anyone or anything in the Dynasty. It's a testament to our strength that we were able to develop bonds despite Talpa, who did his best to set us against each other."

"How did you ever come to be like this?" Ryo asked. "You were in the Dynasty, Talpa was trying to make you tear each other apart, you were evil in general, and now you're best friends and lovers and you tease each other."

"We could never trust Talpa," Kale said. "He was using us and manipulating us. We used him and manipulated him right back. We wanted to believe him, we wanted to be Dark Warlords in his awesome reign, but we knew that something was wrong. We had our doubts, but it's hard to walk away from Talpa. When I first came to the Dynasty, Dais and I were the only ones of our kind there - - it was the two of us, Talpa, and the Guy Things. Dais had been there alone for a long time, so he was excited to have someone else there. We spent a great deal of time together. When Sehkmet came, Talpa used that arrival to try to set us up against each other, to make us compete for supremacy. But I kept remembering what it was like before, when Dais and I were friends. I blamed Sehkmet for the intrusion. Dais spent more time with Sehkmet, his new student, and whenever I harassed Sehkmet Dais would harass me. Sehkmet was already set to hate both of us. By the time the three of us settled down, and we started to realize that maybe we could come together, Anubis showed up and fucked up everything. It started to get closer to showtime, and Talpa was getting ready for the new armors to show up, and Talpa started slipping, started to let us know what was really going on, how he was using us. I'm obedience, yes, but I started to turn my obedience to Anubis and Dais, not to Talpa. And Anubis is loyalty, but his ultimate loyalty is to the Dark Warlords, not to Talpa. I remembered how it used to be with me and Dais, and how I'd really come to like Sehkmet, and I saw what a great leader Anubis was coming to be, and I compared all of that with Talpa, and what Talpa had done to me, and what he'd made me do to them."

"Talpa had us completely snared," Dais said. "We needed to believe him. If we didn't believe him, then we had nothing, and we'd betrayed ourselves and each other for nothing, and our lives meant nothing. He knew exactly what he was doing. So we stayed with him, and we tried to believe in Talpa, but deep down we knew the truth. And in the end, as we knew it would be, all we had was each other."

"I didn't leave Talpa to save myself. I didn't leave Talpa to save the five of you. I didn't leave Talpa to save the world. I left Talpa to save Dais, Kale, and Sehkmet," Anubis said. "All of the betrayals, all of the fighting, all of the petty backstabbings, I knew what was lying beneath it. I knew what they were doing and why, because I'd fallen into the same trap. I had to end it. I couldn't let him destroy us any further."

"We've shared a psychic link since Anubis' first near-death experience," Sehkmet said. "When he had his doubts, we knew it. When he left, we knew it. Talpa never knew about our psychic link. He didn't know that it was possible. I'm sure that he'd never guess that the four of us could share anything."

"Sehkmet and I have been lovers since Anubis left," Dais said. "When Anubis left, our hope blossomed. We realized that there might be a way out, and that Anubis was strong enough to find it. We knew that he'd come back to us, or that we'd go to him. We knew that Talpa would be defeated. It was our first real chance. It gave us freedoms. The freedom to love."

"Are you inspired yet?" Kale asked.

Sehkmet smacked Kale's chest.

"Don't imagine," Kale told the Ronins and Yuli, "that we're always like this. We're unpleasant and inconsiderate most of the time, and we fight each other and loathe each other quite openly."

"Since today seems to be the day for spilling all of our secrets," Dais said, "Strata may be interested to know that Sehkmet and I take turns topping."

"Speaking of sex," Rowen said, "Kale, did you decide between me and Kento?"

"I've settled on a life of celibacy," Kale said.

"What?" Kento asked. What were they talking about, and why did it involve him? It seemed quite obvious what Rowen meant, and he didn't like it.

"What about you, Anubis?" Rowen asked, and something unpleasant flashed across his eyes.

"You needn't trouble yourself about me, Strata," Anubis said.

"I'm not asking for your sake," Rowen said. "I was just thinking that as long as Dais and Sehkmet are being open about their relationship, that you should feel free to do the same."

Anubis slowly and gracefully rose to his full height. Rowen stood as well, facing him across the room. "Uh, guys?" Ryo said.

Dais gripped Kale's arm and kept Kale seated. Sehkmet hissed. Cye shuddered in involuntary response.

"Have you something to say, Strata?" Anubis asked.

"I don't care whether you're a Dark Warlord, a monk, or anybody else; you can keep your hands and your eyes to yourself. And you can tell your flunkies to keep their mouths the fuck shut about Cye."

Cye grabbed Kento's arm to ground himself in reality.

Rowen ended up flat on his back, Anubis pinning him down, looking green hatred into his eyes. It really wasn't all that easy to pin Rowen, and he hadn't even seen it coming. The Ronin Warriors lunged to Rowen's defense but found three large, seething men between them and the other two on the floor.

"I would advise you, Rowen of the Strata," Anubis said, "to keep your opinions to yourself."

"You stay the fuck away from Cye!"

"Don't kill him, Anubis," Kale said. "We'll take care of him later."

Anubis chuckled, low and evil, nothing pleasant about it. It sent fear and hatred through the Ronins. Yuli hid behind Ryo, clinging to Ryo's belt loops. Then Anubis rose, tossing back his hair, and strode from the room. The other Dark Warlords eye-fucked the Ronins and left. Rowen stood and said to Cye, "You wanted to help them? For all those pretty reasons you said, or so that Anubis would be so grateful to you that he'd fuck you-"

"Back off, Rowen!" Kento shouted, placing his bulk between Rowen and Cye.

"Rowen, what are you talking about?" Ryo asked. He reached back and put his hands over Yuli's to comfort the boy.

"Ryo," Rowen said, "you heard Kale and Dais earlier today. Anubis wants Cye. That cruel traitor motherfucker wants to fuck our Cye."

"No way," Ryo said. "No way is he getting near Cye. They're out of here."

"But," Yuli said, and peeked over Ryo's shoulder. "But."

"What?" Ryo asked.

"But Anubis isn't... He's not bad anymore."

"He attacked Rowen!" Ryo said. "He threatened Rowen, he's still the Dark Warlord of Cruelty."

"You're just giving up?" Yuli asked.

"Giving up what?" Sage asked, clearly not liking the accusation. Ryo had been known to give up a time or two, but not Sage. Nothing was beyond Sage.

"They're supposed to be reforming and reentering society. We're supposed to help them. We can't just say, 'Oh, well, they're evil' and let them go. We're supposed to show them a better way. I was starting to think that they might just be regular guys. The way they act sometimes I can't tell the difference between them and anyone else."

"Kale threatened Rowen," Ryo said. "He hasn't changed, and he won't change."

"I don't know," Kento said. "I mean, for evil people... It's kind of nice to know that Dais made someone else's life Hell and it's not just me."

"Great," Rowen said. "While Kento and Yuli are bonding with the Dark Warlords, I'm getting my ass kicked."

"They eat pizza, they tease each other, they fight among themselves, they don't like Kayura, they hate Talpa - - they're sort of like you," Yuli said.

"No way they're anything like us," Ryo said.

"Look at them," Sage said.

"I don't like judging someone like that, but Sage has a point," Ryo said. "It's like the evil in them is so huge it's coming out and showing itself. Like that king guy Rowen told us about."

"Richard III," Rowen said.

"You're saying that Kale's evil and doomed for all time because he's scarred?" Cye asked, moving Kento aside to join the conversation. "You know how I see it? I think they've been so damaged and twisted and scarred psychologically by Talpa that that's what's wrong. It's not them, it's what Talpa did to them. I think they're beautiful. I think you're the ones who are cruel."

"Look, I don't want anyone beating up Rowen," Kento said, "and I'm not really fond of these guys, but we said they could stay here, and we knew there'd be problems. Maybe we should stop letting them scare us. Talpa's gone, this is our turf, and they need us. I think they should stay and we should do what we said we'd do."

"I agree with Cye and Kento," Sage said. "So does Yuli. That's four against two, gentlemen."

"And when Kale comes along and kills me?" Rowen asked.

"Maybe you'll learn to keep your mouth shut," Sage said.

"You're supposed to be my friend," Rowen said, angry.

"We're all your friends, Rowen. We're not choosing sides for or against each other."

"Which is the Sage way of saying that you love me," Rowen said. "Fine."

"Don't worry about Kale. You can take care of yourself," Sage said. "If you can't, Kento will do it for you." Which was a delicious Sage compliment. Kento tingled. Rowen relented.

"Cye," Ryo said, "does Anubis really..."

"Spit it out, Ryo." Rowen was back in good humor.

"I can understand a Dark Warlord lusting after you, or something," Ryo said. "But is there more to it than that?"

"Ryo, I don't, I didn't, I never thought that, I'm still not sure that he..." Cye tried to stop stammering. "Do you really think that he likes me?"

"Oh god," Rowen groaned, and leaned on Sage's shoulder for a laughing fit. Sage let him. Kento gaped at Cye.

"You like him?" Ryo asked. "Cye, dude, he's Anubis. I know that he's really powerful and he's done some great stuff to save us, and we owe him a lot, but do you really like him?" He felt, through the psychic link, Cye's response. It humbled him. "Okay. Well, let's see what we can do about it. If you're going to be with Anubis, and he probably isn't leaving the Dark Warlords again, we're all going to have to get along. Rowen, you have to go apologize."

"Apologize!" Rowen's good humor was gone, laughing fit ended. "Ryo, I am not apologizing to-"

"You started it," Ryo said. "You were out of line, Rowen."

"Ryo, he doesn't have to," Cye said.

"The Dark Warlords are going to take their revenge if he doesn't," Ryo said. "We're going to take the first step here."

"The sex," Rowen told Cye, "had better be fucking fantastic," and he left the room.

"Oh dear," Cye murmured.

"I still say that they're evil," Ryo said. "But if we can keep from killing each other, maybe it'll go okay."

"You really meant that?" Kento asked Ryo. "About the evil seeping through so they look as bad as they are?"

"Yes," Ryo said. "I don't mean it for everyone in the world, just them."

"You're wrong," Cye said. "You aren't gorgeous because you're virtuous, and they're not scarred because they're evil."

Kento looked at Sage and tended to disagree with Cye. Perfection on that scale was inhuman and had to come from Sage's inner strength.

Rowen, upstairs, came to the doorway of Kento's room. The four Dark Warlords were there: Kale lying on the bed; Dais sitting in Sehkmet's embrace on the floor, his back to Sehkmet's chest; and Anubis standing before them. At Rowen's arrival, Anubis turned.

"Strata," Anubis said.

"Ryo sent me to apologize."

Kale snorted. "Wildfire." Sehkmet chuckled in derision.

Anubis ignored them and continued to look at Rowen. "We aren't to be banished then?"

"You're good for entertainment," Rowen said. "The funniest thing I've ever heard is when Sage told me about them." He gestured vaguely and rudely to Dais and Sehkmet. A heartbeat later Anubis had to get help from Kale to keep Sehkmet from Rowen's throat. Rowen, laughing gaily, tripped back downstairs.

Kale wrestled Sehkmet to the bed. Dais came over and sat by Sehkmet's head. Sehkmet snarled and tried to push off Kale to go after Rowen, but Dais' fingers wound themselves through his hair. He growled again but stilled, furious but willing to bide his time. He'd get his revenge later. Kale released him and he let Dais pet him. He knew that he'd have Dais' full support in any plan of vengeance, and Kale's and even Anubis' as well, if tacitly.

Cye didn't know what to think as he rested on his stomach. Lying in bed, knowing that he should be asleep, watching his clownfish, he wondered about Anubis. Certainly Anubis had never been rude or mean to him - - concerning the past few days, of course, not back in the war. Had Rowen and Ryo really heard Kale and Dais talking about him and Anubis? Had Anubis responded violently to Rowen because Rowen was speaking the truth? Sage, knowing his feelings, hadn't discouraged him, nor had Ryo. He hadn't wanted to speak the truth aloud, so he'd let his love for Anubis pulse across their psychic link, and he knew that Ryo had felt it. Did it make him a traitor? Anubis once had defended them, even led them in some sense, but now Anubis was settled back among the Dark Warlords. But the Dark Warlords didn't have to be against them anymore; there was no Talpa, no war, only the nine of them and their armor. They didn't have to be enemies.

He felt someone enter the room and turned. "Sehkmet," he said, choking on the name. He sat up in bed, drawing his legs closer. He decided that Sehkmet wasn't here to kill him, so he said, "Please, sit."

Sehkmet sat on the edge of Cye's bed. He was wearing boxers and the T-shirt Dais had been wearing earlier. Cye briefly imagined Sehkmet rising from bed, leaving Dais asleep, dressing from clothes discarded on the floor as they'd stripped each other. Wow. He mentally slapped himself and tried to pay attention. Sehkmet looked at him and spoke. "Strata has threatened Anubis and, though he may not have said as much to you, gravely insulted Dais and myself. I have grown to respect you, Torrent. For your sake I will not revenge myself upon your friend. If you choose to align yourself with Anubis, the Dark Warlords perhaps will need to learn to become slightly more lenient with your friends, as we hope that your friends will learn to relax around us."

"I hope that we all can come to an understanding," Cye said. "The armor does unite us. Talpa's gone."

"As much as he ever will be," Sehkmet said.

"As much as you haunt me, he haunts you?" Cye asked softly, afraid that he treaded too far.

Sehkmet only nodded. "We comprehend Strata's reactions and motivations, Torrent."

"This situation is hard for all of us," Cye said.

"You've done everything that you could to ease it," Sehkmet said. "We appreciate your efforts."

"Does anyone know that you're here?"

"No. I decided to make an effort of my own."

"You're not as terrifying as you used to be," Cye said. "I'm glad that I know you a little better than I once did."

"I assume that you would not mind getting to know Anubis somewhat better as well?"

Cye didn't know what to say.

"You've been placed in an awkward situation."

"Yes," Cye agreed, heartfelt. He was trying to be true to everyone and himself all at once, helping his enemies without betraying his friends, crying himself to sleep, trying to smile through the day.

"Perhaps some of the pain would be worth it if you were to learn that in the end you could keep your beloved Ronins and be with Anubis?"

"Sehkmet, I don't understand. Does Anubis actually want to be with me?"

"Ah, yes, you're trust, not wisdom," Sehkmet said dryly and inoffensively. Cye realized that a Dark Warlord was teasing him, and his world got a little bit easier. "You foolish child, Torrent, of course Anubis wants to be with you. He'd kill me if he knew that I told you so, but he's loyalty, not me, so I feel perfectly free to go behind his back and tell you his deep secrets. During the War he was too busy with his own concerns to notice you, but once the dust settled he kept pestering me with questions about you. I'm afraid that my replies weren't in your favor, but you'll forgive me for not being your biggest fan, especially at the time. At any rate, he's, to put it mildly, infatuated with you. You're not nearly as easy as Wildfire or Strata, so he's held himself back, but now that Strata's rather tipped his hand, you can expect some results."

"Why me?" Cye asked. "Why not Ryo, or Sa-"

"We like you best," Sehkmet said. "I of course loathe Hardrock as best I can, but the others don't mind him. Wildfire, Halo, and Strata we dislike. And that loathsome child. But I won't tell you, since you'll only defend them and we'll argue. Suffice it to say that Dark Warlords in general have decided that you're our favorite little Ronin rodent, and that Anubis in particular is quite taken with you. In inviting us to your home and going out of your way to be hospitable, you've shown a great courage."

"Have I ever," Cye agreed, sighing.

"Ah, Dais has discovered my absence. I'll leave you. Good night, Cye."

Cye smiled. "Good night, Sehkmet." He watched Sehkmet go. He and his greatest nemesis having a heart to heart sitting on his bed. Sehkmet actually addressed him by name. What was the world coming to? This was most definitely a step in the right direction. And if Anubis, that powerful and glorious warlord, actually was attracted to him, he was even willing to forget that Rowen had been up to no good again. Insulting Dais and Sehkmet - - what was that boy thinking?

Sehkmet closed Yuli's door and slid beneath the blanket, moving up against Dais' body. "You're wearing clothes," Dais said. "Take them off. Where did you go?"

He wriggled out of his boxers and tossed Dais' T-shirt on the floor again. "I went to see Cye."

"He's Cye now?" Dais sounded amused. "And what's so important that you're wandering about in the dead of night? Are you leaving my bed for his?"

"Yes," Sehkmet said.

Dais laughed and pulled Sehkmet's naked body into his embrace.

"I'm going to overlook Strata's crimes in the interests of civility. I can't very well expect the Ronins to look kindly upon us if I give them no quarter. And I might have mentioned, in passing, Anubis' overwhelming lust for him."

"You didn't." Dais rolled him onto his back, settling atop him.

He feathered his hand through Dais' hair, his other hand sliding down Dais' back. "And if I did?"

"The proud and mighty Anubis falling in love with cute little Cye of the Torrent," Dais said, dropping his forehead to Sehkmet's chest. "The world is ending."

"At least it's not Wildfire."

"God forbid," Dais moaned. He raised his head. "No, I like Torrent. He's not nearly as objectionable as the others. Our problem is that we'll never convince him to leave them, so we'll be chained to them through Anubis and Torrent's relationship."

"Charming. We can all get together for major holidays."

"If Kale decides to fall for one of them, please let it be Hardrock."

"Never!" Sehkmet rolled them over, putting Dais back flat on the mattress.

"Oh, and you'd prefer that he start making eyes at Strata?"

"No more talking about Strata in my bed," Sehkmet said.

"We don't have to talk. We can do something else. Nighttime visits to Torrent make you horny? Is there anything you'd like to tell me, Sehkmet?"

"Who said I was horny?"

"Aren't you?"

"Dais, I'm in bed with you. You're naked. If I weren't horny, I'd be certifiably insane."

Dais smiled. "Good. As long as you're lying on top of me, why don't you go ahead and fuck me?"

Sehkmet kissed him, groaning, running his hands down to Dais' bottom. Dais' knees rose, thighs hugging Sehkmet's hips, Dais' back arching beneath him as his tongue snaked into Dais' mouth. He raised his head and looked down at Dais. "I want to see you."

"You're sure?"

"It's been so long, and this afternoon when I kissed you, you're always beautiful to me, Dais, but I want to see the real you."

"Well, as long as you're being poetic and romantic about it, I'll indulge you." And suddenly there was a beautiful creature beneath him, fallen straight from heaven, and he kissed it and it kissed him right back, its tongue sweeping his mouth. He was an arrogant Dark Warlord, and he was perfectly happy and willing to know that Dais wanted him, but it was a little hard to accept that Dais in this form wanted him. It scared him. He'd been alone and reviled for so long that he couldn't believe that he was accepted and loved by this. He was strong, and Dais was strong, and their love was strong, and he knew that they'd be together forever, just as he'd known that Anubis would come back to the Dark Warlords, just as he knew that as long as he had the Dark Warlords he would never want for anything. But knowing that the strong, brilliant, deceitful, manipulative, arrogant Dark Warlord of Illusion loved him was different from being allowed to touch the creature now in his arms. This Dais and that Dais were one and the same, and both were gorgeous, and if his love changed depending on whether Dais had one eye or two then he was unworthy of love at all.

He and Dais had made love while Dais was in pure unblemished form, but he'd never entered this creature's body. Dais in this state had fucked him, and on the evening when he'd looked down and seen that the pink tongue wrapping around his cockhead belonged to this pure vision, he'd come so suddenly that Dais had laughed at him, but he'd never actually fucked this body in this state. It seemed like a violation of sorts. But really, Dais was Dais no matter how Dais looked, and he'd made love to Dais too many times to count, so this time should be no different. He'd seen, when Dais in pure form had fucked him, that Dais' entire body was different. Tighter, silkier, flawless pale-pale pink. Even the line of Dais' jaw was cleaner. The transformation was amazing in its details. When his fingers disappeared inside Dais' body, Dais purred and arched, and Sehkmet moaned at the perfection of it. He found Dais' prostate and Dais twisted against him, lips parting in silent plea. He kissed Dais, so sweet and wet. Dais even tasted different. He withdrew his fingers and Dais, clinging to him and kissing him, automatically tilted those slim hips in invitation. He pushed himself inside Dais.

Dais broke away from their kiss instantly, arching, and they gasped in unison. Sehkmet looked down to Dais, who was gazing up at him and panting. He didn't understand; he was always careful to stretch and prepare Dais, and he hadn't made Dais pained or uncomfortable since their first nights. What was wrong? God, it felt so hot, and so gloriously tight. Well, it usually did, but now it felt like Dais was a virgin all over again, like that very first time Dais' muscles had clamped down around him.

The tiny white mark on Dais' collarbone was gone. That had been an illusion? He'd always thought that it was real. Dais truly was flawless.

"Fuck me," Dais panted. Sehkmet shifted slightly for a better angle and thrust in farther. "Oh god, so good," Dais said, shuddering a little. Sehkmet shoved once more and slid himself home. Dais, inside their heads, screamed, two lovely blue eyes rolling back. Sehkmet took a moment to lick that perfect neck, then proceeded to fuck Dais. He managed, in brief seconds of coherency between the blinding flashes of ecstasy, to tell Dais not to come. It had taken long nights for them to be able to manage not to come together. Their psychic link made mutual orgasm practically inevitable. But after hard work, they gained self-control enough that if one of them had a really really really compelling argument, they didn't absolutely have to come at once. So Dais suffered through the glory of Sehkmet's orgasm, and was rewarded when Sehkmet's talented tongue made love to his cock.

Sehkmet licked up all traces of Dais' semen, then settled alongside his lover, who turned to face him, each on his side. He stroked Dais' ribcage and gazed on Dais' beauty. He tried to memorize what he saw. The sweep of lashes, the exact shade of Dais' blue eyes, the curve of lip. He traced a finger over Dais' eyebrow.

"Go to sleep, Sehkmet," Dais said gently, understanding. He took one long, last look before closing his eyes and pulling Dais up against him, wrapping Dais in his arms, never letting go.

In the morning, Sage's sneakered toes nudged Kento's side again. "Wake up, Kento."

"Morning, Sage," Kento mumbled, rolling over to go back to sleep, now facing Sage.

Sage didn't like to repeat himself. He didn't bother to look around; everyone was in bed except Cye, and Cye was busy in the kitchen. He crouched down and said, "Kento."

Kento decided that he wanted to keep sleeping. He guessed that Sage was a lot closer now. He expected Sage to leave now. He didn't feel Sage leaving, though. Curious, he waited, eyes closed, wondering what was coming.

Cye, at this point, would have teased and cajoled Kento awake. Rowen would have tickled him or done something really and truly annoying - - nothing malicious, only good-natured irritation. Ryo - - well, Kento probably would've gotten up on Ryo's first, "Wake up, Kento," certainly the second. Sage, of course, was not Cye or Rowen or Ryo, and Kento wondered what Sage would do. He'd expected Sage to leave, but Sage was still here.

Slender fingers brushed his temple. Sorted through his bangs.

Sage was touching him. Sage was touching him. Half-grooming, half-petting. He stayed perfectly still.

The fingers traced around his ear, graced his chin, trailed down his neck. Abruptly, they were gone, and then so was Sage.

Kento's blue eyes opened. He was most definitely awake. He eased one hand over the front of his boxers. Stupid penis. With any luck, Sage hadn't noticed. Why in the world was Sage touching him? He could imagine Sage touching Rowen like that, possibly Ryo, maybe Cye under extreme circumstances. But him? He was close friends with Sage, he loved Sage, but really they were completely different people. He treated all of his friends differently because they were different, but with Sage he tended to back away in awe. After the war, Sage became less overtly arrogant and more removed, above them all. Kento accepted it completely as Sage's due. He held Sage in some reverence. Around Sage he tried to control himself, not to be too loud or too excited or too big, because he didn't want to disturb Sage, who when in a foul mood made him feel like a bull in a china shop, large and oafish and crude, like someone who couldn't be trusted around nice things. He was aware that Sage, for all the muscles of the swordsman, was rather slender, and that he could snap Sage in half without trying. He felt that it was a fault of his. He never touched Sage as a result.

Cye, in the kitchen, heard nothing from the living room. "Kento?"

"Yeah?"

"You're awake?"

"Yeah."

"Is there a reason that you're just lying there?"

"Is something wrong with Sage?"

"I hope not. What happened?"

"He's acting weird."

"Do you want me to ask him about it?"

"No. I'll go wake up the evildoers." He didn't want to draw any attention to Sage's unusual behavior. Maybe Sage would think that he'd slept through it. Maybe Sage had thought that he was asleep. Maybe, just maybe, he could get Sage to do it again. Before hell froze over.

Yuli and Kento came to the kitchen first, then Sehkmet and Kale. Sehkmet called Cye by name again, which escaped no one's notice. Cye blushed, and Sehkmet chuckled, but it was a nice chuckle.

"What were you and Dais doing last night?" Kale asked Sehkmet.

"How many details do you want?" Sehkmet asked. "And shall I poison your milk or your orange?"

"Can you really do that?" Yuli asked.

"Yes," Sehkmet said.

Kento moved his glass out of Sehkmet's reach. Kale laughed. "Really, Sehkmet. Whatever it was, it woke me up."

Ryo walked in and said, "Hey, guys." Cye set a plate of waffles before him and reached for the milk.

Kento said, "Sehkmet can poison us."

Ryo looked at his plate nervously. "You mean with his venom, like - - I thought that was only with the armor."

"Relax, Wildfire," Sehkmet said. "I'd gain nothing by your death."

"Not today, anyway," Kale said. "Come on, Sehkmet, if you're going to wake me from a sound sleep, I'd like to know why. Does it have anything to do with him not being here?"

"You killed Dais?" Kento asked.

"You wish," Kale said.

"I don't know, he's not at all like I thought," Kento said.

"You're exactly as I imagined," Sehkmet told Kento.

"Wildfire's not," Kale said. "He's worse."

"Hey!" Ryo said.

"Virtuous and caring and generous and loving and always worried about everyone else," Kale sneered. "And so young and flighty and easy."

"Easy?" Yuli repeated.

Kale laughed. "Child," he told Yuli, "you're not his type."

"Hey!" Ryo shouted.

"Although you may have a chance yet, he's such a slut," Kale added.

"Hey!" Ryo, Kento, Cye, and Yuli shouted.

"Temper, temper," Kale murmured, and blew Ryo a kiss.

Cye threw himself between Kale and Ryo. "Kale, will you kindly remove yourself from my kitchen?"

"Your kitchen?" Kale asked.

"If you expect ever to eat in this house again, you'll acknowledge it as my kitchen, and you'll leave when I ask," Cye said, and looked Kale right in the eye.

"Go ahead," Sehkmet advised Kale. "You know better than to insult Wildfire's infamous virtue with this audience."

"I'm leaving," Kale said, "but the next time that your sex life interrupts my sleep, I'm going to come over and fuck Dais myself."

Sehkmet knocked over his chair in his haste to attack Kale. The two men and the chair hit the floor with a thud. There wasn't much room on the floor to fight, but they made the best of the situation anyway. Cye said, "Kento, help me," and waded right in, wrapping his arms around Sehkmet's waist and dragging Sehkmet off of Kale. Kento didn't help. Cye kicked Kale out of his way and hauled Sehkmet to stand, then ducked himself between the two men. "Kale, get...out...of my kitchen." Kale growled and went outside. He turned to Sehkmet. "You're not hurt? Sit and eat." Cye turned his back and went to the waffle iron.

"Wow," Yuli said.

"What?" Sehkmet asked, sitting.

"Cye touched you."

Cye turned around and looked at Sehkmet. "I did," he realized. He'd touched a Dark Warlord. His own personal nemesis. Not on the field of battle, not in anger. He'd put his hands on Sehkmet. If he could do that, he could do anything. It wasn't even scary. Sehkmet wasn't scary. Okay, Sehkmet was intimidating, but as a person, not as some evil monster who'd come to terrorize him. He sat across the table from Sehkmet and said, "I can understand you disliking Ryo. He led the fight against the Dynasty. But why are you casting aspersions on his virtue? Why imply that he's sexually available?"

"You're saying that he's not?" Sehkmet asked. "The way we see it, Wildfire's a whore. If you say otherwise, that's your business."

"How dare you!" Ryo yelled, rising.

"I don't understand," Cye said. "What's he done? Ryo's as chaste as the rest of us."

"Does that mean that you couldn't have him if you tried?" Sehkmet asked.

Cye blushed.

"Halo, he clearly sends out the message of hands off, look but don't touch, and anyone who tries will end up dead. You're so sweet and pretty that it would be wrong to touch you. Hardrock, well, he has some integrity. Strata and Wildfire, they're easy. The thing is, Strata would probably admit it."

"Where did you get this idea?" Cye asked, appalled. "You're wrong, about all of us. Well, not about Kento. But all of the rest of it, you've seen us completely in the wrong light, you've twisted us out of proportion."

"So Halo isn't frigid and Strata's the last bastion of chastity?"

"Now you're just being difficult," Cye accused.

"It doesn't matter to me. I don't plan on fucking any of you."

"Why are you so interested in our sex lives, anyway?" Kento asked.

"I'm not," Sehkmet said. "Kale is. Now that Anubis is going to take up with Cye, Kale has to settle down with one of you."

"He won't!" Ryo shouted.

"He isn't serious, is he?" Cye asked Sehkmet.

"Shall I tell you whom he's chosen?" Sehkmet asked.

"No!" Ryo, Kento, and Yuli cried.

"Yes," Cye said with dread. Sehkmet leaned across the table and whispered it in his ear. Cye sat back in horror. "You can't mean it," Cye said. "Oh, please, you have to stop him."

"It's not up to me what Kale does," Sehkmet said.

"Cye can't keep secrets," Yuli said. "You might as well tell us now."

Sehkmet looked straight at Ryo, who stood as though struck for one horrified moment, then ran from the kitchen to go attack something.

"At least it's not me," Kento said.

"Sehkmet, Kale's wrong about Ryo, he doesn't understand," Cye said.

"Ryo only acts that way around us," Kento said, including Yuli. "It's different with other people. And no way is Kale ever laying a hand on him."

Anubis entered. "Sehkmet, what were you doing last night?"

"Sex with Dais, talk with Cye, sex with Dais, and sleep."

"You two were talking?" Kento asked Cye. "Is that why you're all cosy this morning?"

"Is that why he called you Cye?" Yuli asked.

"What happened?" Anubis asked.

"Sehkmet and I just needed to straighten out a few things," Cye said. "We just had a brief talk to clear the air. Would you like a waffle?"

Anubis looked around suspiciously. He lifted Sehkmet's chin and found fingerprints. "What's Kale done to you?"

Sehkmet removed Anubis' hand. "Cye kicked him out of the kitchen."

"He did, did he?" Anubis seemed darkly pleased.

Yuli asked, "Anubis, is Kale really going to try to have sex with Ryo?"

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Anubis said sternly.

"Do you?" Kento asked.

"Yes," Anubis said even more sternly. Kento was glad; he wanted to see Kale put down. No one treated Ryo like that and got away with it. Kento would have been glad to wrestle Kale again.

Anubis left the kitchen for the backyard. He found Kale leaning against the side of the house, watching Ryo, who was viciously beating an old punching bag that Kento had hung from a tree. Ryo gave one desperate cry and set the thing on fire.

"My, that was mature," Kale said mockingly. Anubis stepped out of view around the house.

"Kale!" Ryo exclaimed, whirling about.

"Cynical, irreverent Kale," Kale mused. "And hot-blooded, mercurial Wildfire. One all cold, darkness, and death, the other full of fire and life and heat."

Ryo often took his temper out on inanimate objects. He never wanted to hurt his friends. But Kale was asking for it, and Kale was not his friend, and he was too upset to think much beyond that, so he ran at Kale. He got in a few blows that would have been disabling, but Kale rallied and slammed him up against the side of the house so hard he almost blanked out. When his vision cleared, he realized that Kale had a hand wrapped in his thick black hair, one hand on his neck, and was standing on his feet to keep him from attacking that way. He brought his hands up to dislodge Kale's hands and debated going for Kale's eyes. The hand on his neck wasn't choking him, only applying a slight, steady pressure.

"You aren't calling for your friends or your armor, Wildfire?" Kale asked, leaning in close to his face. "You don't want rescue? Maybe you like it here. Maybe you like being alone with me. You're a very pretty little whore, aren't you?"

Ryo slammed the heel of his hand up under Kale's jaw with a satisfying crack, his other fist clubbing up right between Kale's legs. Kale went back and down like a ton of bricks. Ryo slammed a foot into Kale's groin for good measure and walked into the house. He passed Anubis, who said, "Nicely done, Wildfire."

"Why didn't you stop him?" Ryo asked, feeling betrayed.

"I knew that you would."

"Tell him to stay away from me," Ryo said, furious. His betrayal had disappeared as quickly as it had come; he was sure that Anubis was on his side in this.

"I'd like to understand his motivation first," Anubis said.

"His motivation is to harass and humiliate me," Ryo said, and left.

Anubis knew Kale better than that.

Yuli and Kento were still in the kitchen with Sehkmet and Cye when Rowen came down to eat. Rowen was dressed but not entirely awake, hair doing its own thing. Cye fed him but generally left him alone, giving him space to awaken. Kento left, deciding that the kitchen was crowded. Yuli stayed, not wanting to leave Rowen, and finding this new dynamic between Cye and Sehkmet to be interesting. Then Dais walked in, coming right up beind Sehkmet and burying his nose in that thick green hair, arms wrapping around Sehkmet's shoulders. Yuli watched in fascination. Dais fitted his chin on top of Sehkmet's head and said, "Good morning, Cye. Yuli. Strata," he added, this last word in a less pleased tone.

"You missed everything," Yuli said, feeling bold now that Cye was in thick with the Dark Warlords.

"How so?" Dais asked.

"Kale was really rude and Cye kicked him out. He's going to try to have sex with Ryo but Anubis is going to stop him, and he and Sehkmet had a fight."

Dais's arms tightened. "A fight?"

"Cye stopped them," Yuli said.

Dais let go of Sehkmet and came around to look at Sehkmet, inspecting for damage. He ran a hand over Sehkmet's ribcage, which Sehkmet suffered without seeming to notice. Dais tilted Sehkmet's face, looking for bruises; his eye fell on Kale's fingerprints. He made a low growl deep in his throat, some primal note of anger. Then he leaned in and kissed Sehkmet's neck. Sehkmet didn't seem to notice or care. Yuli watched with round eyes as Dais sucked hard at Sehkmet's neck and actually bit. Then Dais left, storming from the kitchen, one assumed to go after Kale. Dais had replaced Kale's fingerprints on Sehkmet's neck with his own mark. Yuli was impressed. Only when Dais was gone did Sehkmet smile, lips curving in smug satisfaction. Sehkmet had battled Kale over Dais' honor, and now Dais was going after Kale to avenge damage done to Sehkmet.

"Well, if we keep the four of you busy fighting among yourselves, you won't bother with us as much," Cye said. "It doesn't hurt when he does that?" Apparently Cye had given up all pretense and was just going to wade into a completely free relationship with Sehkmet. Yuli was terribly pleased.

"You'll learn soon enough for yourself," Sehkmet said.

"What happened that made Anubis and Kale wake up?" Cye asked. "Is anything wrong?"

"Something unusual happened between myself and Dais, and Anubis and Kale must have felt it over the psychic link." Sehkmet could mention such things vaguely to Cye, because Cye wouldn't react maliciously.

"Unusual?" Rowen asked, coming alert. "Dare I ask?"

"You'd better not," Cye said quickly, wanting to forestall another altercation. "Sehkmet, do you mind if I ask something else rather personal?"

Sehkmet shrugged.

"When Dais kissed you just now, or rather-"

"When he sucked your neck," Rowen suggested.

"Yes," Cye said, blushing a little, "when he did that, it seemed somewhat impersonal, official even."

"I'm by no means Dais' property," Sehkmet said, "but if anyone is going to leave marks on me, it'll be he. And he does not wish to see another man's bruises on my body. So he's banished Kale's claim with a claim of his own. And I allowed him to make that claim. The bruises will fade quickly enough, but if Dais wants to suck my neck, who am I to refuse him?"

"You're equals?" Rowen asked.

"Yes," Sehkmet said.

"I was just wondering. He's older, and he's your teacher."

"Ryo is your leader, yet he is your friend, and as friends are you subservient?" Sehkmet asked.

"Rowen isn't subservient to anybody at any time," Yuli said.

"I guessed as much," Sehkmet said. "Perhaps that was a poor comparison."

"So we're allowed to like you," Yuli said, "and Anubis, and Dais, but why's Kale being awful?"

"Kale is awful," Sehkmet said. "Very likely within the hour Dais will alienate you, and by tomorrow you'll imagine me to be the most dreadful person alive, or Anubis will offend you horribly. We aren't uniformly pleasant. In fact, we're fairly often unpleasant."

"You? Unpleasant?" Rowen asked. "What's this about Kale?"

Yuli remembered that Rowen had still been asleep when he'd spoken to Dais. "Kale wants to have sex with Ryo."

"You're kidding. Does Ryo know?"

"Yes," Yuli said. "He was really mad."

"Do Dark Warlords rape?" Rowen asked Sehkmet.

Cye and Yuli looked at Sehkmet in horror. They hadn't imagined.

"No," Sehkmet said. "We were trained for world domination and for violence and destruction on a much grander scale. Believe me, if we were rapists, you'd all have been raped. And yes, we're still bad people, but we have no taste for such violations."

Cye was truly disturbed by this news. All through the war, he'd never considered that they could have been raped. He could have been raped. When he and Sage and Kento had been held prisoner, they'd been so vulnerable that any one of the Dark Warlords could have done anything at all. It was only because the thought hadn't occurred to the Dark Warlords that they'd escaped. His entire world would be different had he been violated. And certainly, the Dark Warlords would never have set foot in his home. If any one of the Dark Warlords had dared to touch one of his friends in that way, he would-

"Cye," Rowen said, a hand on his forearm. Cye jerked and looked up into Rowen's eyes as Rowen leaned across the table to him. "You okay?" Rowen asked gently, other hand brushing at Cye's hair.

Cye jumped up and squeezed Rowen. Rowen squeezed him right back. Then Cye hugged Yuli. Then Rowen hugged Yuli. "No," Sehkmet told Cye firmly. Cye laughed and offered his hand. Sehkmet grasped it firmly. That was when Ryo ran into the kitchen.

matthew@matthewtime.com
"Then Happy I" Part Three: Cye, We're Standing in Butter Sauce
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