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弱肉強食 » THE WEAK ARE MEAT; THE STRONG EAT

Overthrowing a corrupt organization is no easy task, especially when it has the audacity to spread out across the world. The sentinels went out after the scattered pieces of the sun bomb, and that means fighting their way through the hunters protecting it; contrary to what Harvestman might think, their intention isn't simply to slaughter whatever mortals stand in their way.

Just because it works out like that, doesn't make it their fault. Clearly.

Necessity for stealth, and the fact that the sentinels don't really answer to any Master means that no one has much idea of where they are or what they're doing, for several days and nights. It's closing out a full week of radio silence before anyone receives word, and when that happens, it's because half of the sentinels came back.

Arashi is feeling a strange bond with Harvestman at this moment that he can honestly say he's never anticipated: the haven't-bathed-in-days, clothes-held-on-by-willpower kind of bond. His hair is a mess and his makeup is smudged and faded and he's covered in dried bloodstains, but his eyes and skin are bright from healthy feeding, and he can barely stand the thought of getting through even a short debriefing before he can get home, to a bath and his bed and Harvestman, not necessarily in that exact order.

The headquarters of the American coven has relocated fully to the subterranean labyrinth underneath New York for the time being, while they continue to scout for a safe location above ground. When Nicholas hears that Arashi is back, for as long as it takes to give him the appropriate heads up, he instructs someone to find Harvestman and let him know. Arashi beats him to that. The second his phone is returned to him (goddamn Kaleo taking no chances), he sends a characteristically succinct text.

Meet in control room so we can go the fuck home.

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"I think I can agree to that," he mutters, nudging Arashi. "Okay?"

"Fuck, yes. I want to shed my fucking skin right now," Arashi answers immediately, not even bothering to maintain propriety in front of Nicholas anymore. It's been a hell of a week and no one gives a shit, he's convinced of that. He does offer the Master a plain salute, at least, with the hand that isn't attached to Harvestman. "Kaleo will be in touch, I'm sure."

Nicholas nods, leaning on the table. "Thanks again. Both of you."

Wasting no time, Arashi finds the nearest door and turns it into a portal, slipping through with Harvestman still held close. The second he sets foot in his own home once again, he lets out a bone-deep sigh and shrugs a good portion of the tension off his shoulders.

Not all of it, though. "What the hell happened to you while I was gone?"

As much as he wants to curl up against Arashi and forget the world existed, his current state of uncleanliness bothered even him. Maybe the combined effort of Brody and Arashi when it came to hygiene was working.

Or maybe it was the blood.

"Shower," he says mildly. "You need a shower."

"Yeah, I need a shower," Arashi says, grimacing with utter disgust even as he's speaking, "and as usual, you're gonna join me. Come on."

The demanding tone is belied by the careful way he grabs Harvestman's hand, as if he's afraid to pull too hard. Either way, he leads the other vampire down the stairs, toward a bathroom that has seen more than its fair share of odd filth and gore by this point.

He gets no resistance, although Harvestman does treat him with the indignant look of I'm not even that dirty.

He strips his clothes with his usual ease, then moves to 'help' Arashi with his own. There's nothing sexual in nthe contact, just a quiet, urgent need to touch the other vampire.

Not willing to dignify that detail with a response, Arashi nevertheless tugs Harvestman insistently under the spray with him. This time, they don't talk, although Arashi keeps casting lingering glances toward the other vampire, while he scrubs the filth from his hair and skin. The water runs red and brown before long, and Arashi drags his fingernails over his skin as if he could peel off the outermost layer and simply start fresh.

It's a good while before he deems himself clean enough, at a point when he might as well be sparkling. At that point, he grabs the shampoo, and tugs Harvestman closer. This is a ritual that he quite likes. "Turn around."

There's only so much his dignity can take.

"It's not even dirty," he says as he complies, leaning into Arashi's touch. "You got a goddamn clean fetish."

Protests aside, he leans into the other vampire's touch, closing his eyes obediently. He's content to let the silence remain, but Arashi was looking for answers he wasn't ready to give, the words he needed to do so caught up in a tangle of painful emotion.

Instead, he speaks almost too quietly. "Is this gonna worse?"

Arashi doesn't even bother to argue that statement, mostly because it's more or less true. Instead, he enjoys the sensations of shampoo and Harvestman's hair and the false water-warmth of his skin.

Then that question makes him pause, for a moment or two. He resumes threading foam through the dark strands at the back of Harvestman's head before he answers.

"Maybe," he says, his voice soft. "But we're doing our best to make sure that doesn't happen. I don't know what's going to happen next, I don't really care right now. Later."

Despite his protests, Arashi's hands on his scalp was beginning to feel really good. Now that his boyfriend was back, it was so easy to let go of the anxiety that dragged him down deep. Arashi could so quickly drive it away just with his mere presence. He leans into the touch shamelessly, nearly humming.

"What do you want to care about right now?" He murmurs.

"Hmm." Arashi pauses again, this time to slide his arms around Harvestman's waist from behind and lean his chin on the vampire's shoulder. "I care about rinsing you off and taking some O positive out onto the porch. There's supposed to be a meteor shower tonight."

He kisses Harvestman's neck and then guides him further under the water to rinse his hair out.

"I also care about the reason why I came back to find you looking like I'd left you here to die." Arashi leans sideways a bit, to catch Harvestman's eye. "Just saying."

Hendoesnt answer that immediately, letting the shower water run over his skin as if it could wash his emotions away.

"Its not you," he says softly. "Though I don't take well to staying behind while you could be off getting yourself killed. I know you have to do it, I know."

He turns to face Arashi, catching a few wet strands of the other vampire's hair to push back. "I'd rather not talk about it 'til we get settled. Alright?"

It was the most he'd said all night.

Arashi looks at him without answering for a few moments more, searching for more information than Harvestman is immediately offering, but he doesn't press. Instead, he finishes rinsing out Harvestman's hair, and positions himself under the spray once more, just to be sure that everything is washed away.

When they emerge from the shower, Arashi fluffs his hair with a towel and then drapes it around his shoulders, taking more time and care with rubbing Harvestman down, as if he might possibly catch cold. Then he goes to his closet as he always does, but this time he only bothers to slip into a Japanese silk robe, black and stitched with a prowling white tiger. This he ties around himself before pulling out another, white instead of black, which he tugs around Harvestman before the other vampire can protest.

"I always thought you look good in white."

Harvestman inspects his digs with a clear look of amusement, clearly struggling with which smart remark to say first. "You know, I was thinking of getting around to trying on one of these things."

He grabs the comforter from the bed on the way out to the porch, because fuck it, why not. "You sure about the white, though? Its kinda... Misleading."

One eyebrow arches at him, almost daring him to start being a smartass about Arashi's eclectic wardrobe choices, even as he wraps the silk around Harvestman's waist and loops the belt in turn. He detours to the kitchen with Harvestman in tow to retrieve the bottles, knowing exactly which ones in the private store he wants to splurge on tonight.

"Misleading?" It's either very late or very early, but it's night nonetheless, with the moon casting eerie light across the mountains and the stars overwhelming. "Do you think if I look too long at you wearing that, I'll forget who you are?"

"White is for virgins," he retorts. It doesn't take much to get settled - spreading the blanket out and ensuring he was in as much of Arashi's personal space as possible. It would be easy to stay like that, quiet and comforted as Arashi, pours out the blood, watching the silent skies until the sun threatened to chase them back inside.

"My... Double has agreed to leave the coven alone," he starts, slow and almost two casual. "Not that he's got much of a choice, but that makes Nicholas happier. I guess. He's hard to read."

He stops, tucking his arms around his legs. The movement shifts him noticeably away from the akin contact he prefers to keep with Arashi. "You're gonna hear this eventually, so I'd rather it be from me. Sugihara's... Lily. She has cancer. He wants her turned. That's - that's his price."

It was hard to gauge how he felt. His tone was mostly steady, but his eyes never met the other vampire's, and his posture became more hunched and defensive as he spoke. "He wants her to become a vampire."

Arashi lounges back on the scattered cushions, relaxing more quickly than he thought he'd be able to manage. Being home is a relief, being near Harvestman again is a relief. When that relief moves away and starts to curl up into a safety ball, however, Arashi sits up attentively.

If he'd been drinking when Harvestman said that, he probably would not have been quick enough to avoid choking. Arashi stares at Harvestman, eyes wide even if Harvestman won't meet them, silently asking twenty different questions before he finally decides on one.

"....how does she feel about that?"

"Disbelieving, but she'll take it. That's the kind of person she is."

Whatever that meant, he wasn't going to dwell on it. Instead his voice gets more hesitant, his balled form gets tighter. "I had a... Meltdown, kinda, when I heard. I told Ellis I'd kill her first, I - I didn't mean it, I was just locked up in my head and couldn't fucking get out, but..."

His voice grows tight. "I went with Nicholas and his daughter when the made the offer. She... She asked me if she should take it."

"Jesus."

Immediately, Arashi's hand slides across the hunch of Harvestman's back and clutches at him, pulling him back in close, close enough for Arashi to press his head against Harvestman's and leaves it there.

"John, that sounds fucking brutal. I'm so sorry. What was it even like, seeing her?"

"She was sick. She was so sick and she touched me, I could feel it in her blood." He was shaking now, curling into Arashi's embrace, his voice shaking. "And I still couldn't say yes. I couldn't tell her to take it. I knew - I know - it's different for you, it's better, I just couldn't... I don't know why, Arashi. I just don't know why."

"Hey, you know what you know. You don't need to justify it to me," Arashi says, as his hand strokes Harvestman's side, as the other slips into his tightly curled limbs to find his fingers and squeeze them. "You said she'll take it, either way. What do you think of that?"

"Yes, yes I do." He shifts to face Arashi, curling his hand in return in a tight grip. "I've made you - and everyone - think I have something against what you are. I don't, it's all internalized shit. But with Lily, I don't know if it's internalized garbage, or if I just don't want her to live when my wife died."

He stops, looking strickened. "I'm sorry. I asked you to marry a fucking wreck."

"And I said yes, didn't I?"

He leans forward and nuzzles Harvestman's cheek, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth. "Listen," he says, his voice struggling slightly, as if the words are becoming heavier. "If it was me, if it was -- I'd be worse. I know I would, but how could I not? How could you not?" He looks at Harvestman carefully. "There's no way to be prepared for stuff like this."

"I'm only able to do it because I got you." He presses his forehead to Arashi's, eyes closed, and nuzzles him back softly. "I'm only able to do any of this 'cause I got you. You mean everything to me."

He shifts back to look Arashi in the eyes. "I don't know how I'll be in the next few months. She'll... Be around. I know she will. But with you there, I'll be okay."

Arashi snorts fondly, ducking his head. "Give yourself more credit. But I'm not going anywhere."

Sliding his arm around Harvestman's shoulders, he tugs the other vampire in close and rests his cheek against the top of Harvestman's head, silent, just thinking. A few meteors streak overhead, but he doesn't immediately take notice.

"So... you talked to her. What did you tell her about who you are?"

"Nothing," he says, after a moment. "But she'll figure it out. She's not likely to let it go."

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