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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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"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."

"Mmm." Arashi toys with Harvestman's hair again, to idly comfort both of them. "Well, that should be fun for us."

He looks up at the sky in time to catch another meteor, followed shortly by another. "Can't wait to meet her."

Arashi might miss the somewhat incredulous look Harvestman makes to both statements, but in a moment it's gone, and he's leaning back to watch the crashing starsa.

"You know, I didn't exactly ask if you would marry me. I asked if you wanted to get married."

There is a brief silence as Arashi mentally backtracks to the conversation in question. Then he blinks, and arches an eyebrow sideways at Harvestman. "Uh, all right... Should I have been more specific about who I wanted to get married to, when I said yes?"

"No," he says. "Just pointing it out. I've asked a lot. To date, to move in. Maybe you should be the one to properly propose."

He's smiling and his tone was teasing, but there was something about the very slight way his voice caught on the word 'propose' that might say otherwise.

"Hmmm." Arashi hums the sound almost dismissively, but his fingers are shifting a bit sluggishly on Harvestman's skin, and eventually he shifts a bit, as if he's going to move.

"Okay then, give me the ring. Now I have to hold it hostage until you say yes."

"You already gave it to me," he points out, but the look of genuine delight keeps flickering across his face as he struggles to keep it straight. The ring he removes slowly, and with clear reluctance, placing it in Arashi's hand as if it was as fragile as glass.

Arashi takes the ring just as carefully, and this time he does move, to put himself in front of Harvestman, on one knee. He makes a show of positioning himself just right, fixing his damp hair, smoothing down the front of his robe, before he meets Harvestman's eyes again, and it's difficult to keep the smile off his lips.

"John Sugihara," he says, very deliberate, "Two years ago, I told you that I wasn't gonna be just another fuck to you. Obviously I was right. We... have fucked, a lot, and fought, also a lot, and cried more than I care to admit and laughed more than I thought I remembered how. We hate the same people and mock the same things, and you just... you fucking light me up inside."

It stopped being a joke, somewhere along the way. There is an earnestness in Arashi's eyes now, bright in the blackness. "I know you don't believe in eternity, and honestly... neither do I, not really. But what I know, what I know is that I haven't had this much fun in three hundred years. I want to chase that feeling with you, for as long as we get."

Arashi holds up the ring, the corner of his mouth quirking upward. "I hope you want this back, John, because no one else can have it. Will you marry me?"

Harvestman had wanted this more than he could ever admit, even to himself. But now that the words have been said, his own are locked in place. For one of the rare times of his life, he's speechless. He's barely surprised when his eyes well up and the tears slide down, nearly laughing.

"I love you," he manages to say, wrapping his arms tight around Arashi's neck. "Yes."

Anything that came after that was going to have to wait until he was done kissing the other vampire. It was going to be a long wait.

The kiss is a bit lopsided at first, because Arashi can't figure out how to stop smiling. His arms go around Harvestman in return and kisses him passionately, wholeheartedly, one hand carding through his hair, and they only break apart long enough for Arashi to take Harvestman's hand and slip the ring back onto his finger, where it belongs. Those little trailing tears are brushed away.

"I love you," he says right back, the last syllable nearly lost in Harvestman's mouth as he picks the kiss up where they left off. The blood is forgotten, the stars forgotten. There isn't a damn thing in the world more important right now than this.

His hands, free now, stroke up and along Arashi's arms and back, curling around the collar of the vampire's robe to pull it looser. Harvestman breaks the kiss to slide his mouth down to Arashi's neck, sucking on where his pulse should be.

"You're amazing," he murmurs into the vampire's skin. "You're so beautiful and hot and amazing. Remember when we used to be terrified of each other, remember that? Remember when you thought I wanted to fuck your coworkers?"

With a chuckle, he presses against Arashi's shoulders and pushes him down, leaving biting kisses down to his collarbone. "As if there'd be anyone out there better than you."

Arashi's pleased hum becomes a laugh, and he goes easily down to the wood of the porch, winding his legs around Harvestman's waist so that he doesn't have the option of going anywhere.

"I remember." Maybe he should be embarrassed... well, all right, he is. A little. Except that all seems so long ago, and distant, like it happened to different people. Maybe that's not far off.

"Better than me? You did this to me." He grabs Harvestman's shoulders and drags him back up for another kiss, hard and fast. "You... I don't fucking know. You woke me up. I wouldn't be here, I wouldn't be this if it wasn't for you."

Harvestman chuckles, kissing every inch of skin he could find. "Fair trade, you fucking saved me. You made... You made everything worth it."

He shifts to look Arashi in the eyes, his voice getting soft and serious. "I was in so much pain before I met you. I don't know how the fuck I lived. But you..."

He presses their foreheads together, nuzzling him. "You're everything to me."

There's a pause. "And I'm never gonna be able to suck your cock with you holding on so tight."

The nuzzle is peppered with kisses, and finished with another nice, long one. "Likewise."

Then he grins at Harvestman, and responds by weaving his arms around the vampire's neck, squeezing as if he doesn't intend to loosen up anytime soon. "You better figure it out, because I don't have to let you go unless I damn well want to." He traces the fingertips of one hand over Harvestman's cheekbone and down his jaw. "Which I do not."

"Mmmn." Harvestman runs his hands along Arashi's sides, still frustratingly covered by most of the robe. "How the hell am I gonna prove how good you look while fucked? Not that you aren't so fucking hot right now."

His gaze lingers appreciatively on the folds of the vampire's robe, and he trails his mouth along Arashi's jaw, leaving soft kisses with the hint of teeth up to his ear. "I want you underneath me, I want to hear all those delicious sounds you make when my cock's inside you. Don't you want that, baby? Don't you want my mouth on you, my cock in you?"

Arashi lets his head fall back with a breathless laugh that trails right into a shivering moan. "God damn I love it when you talk dirty to me." His fingernails rake down Harvestman's back, inside the robe that the other vampire is likewise still wearing. He in no way indicates a desire to fully undress either one of them, however. That's on Harvestman.

"I'll make whatever sounds you want," Arashi purrs, his palms sliding back up and into Harvestman's hair, his legs drawing up invitingly against Harvestman's hips. "I want you to write your name on me with your teeth and tongue."

Harvestman chuckles, a wicked little sound that vibrates against Arashi's throat. Using that flexibility and grace he kept hidden so well, he pulls the two of them upward, shifting so that Arashi was now in his lap. He fists the collar of the vampire's robe and yanks it down partway, exposing his chest, and pulls it tight to trap Arashi's arms to his sides. He had no intention of taking it off entirely; Arashi looked too damn hot in it.

"Will you?" He presses them closes, sighing at the sensation of the dogtags pressed against his skin. Then he trails a line of savage kisses from Arashi's neck down, pausing only to speak. "Tell me how you wanna get fucked, Arashi. Tell me how bad you want it, how hard it makes you."

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