10-June-2004

Title: Degrees of Separation
Chapter: 8
Authors: bonnejeanne and Laekin
Series: Chaotic Alliance
Fandom: Yami no Matsuei
Archived at: Currently at Love and Gundams and will also be at Katcom: http://katcom.squidkitty.org/
Pairings: Muraki x Watari, Tatsumi x Watari, Muraki x Oriya
Genre: Drama, Dark Angst, Psychological mindgames.
Rating for this Chapter: NC-17
CMA: Not intended for under-age readers.
Spoilers: None in this section.
Disclaimer: These characters are not ours. We seek no money from this endeavor, just having a bit of fun in the sandbox.
Feedback: positive feedback welcome
bonnejeanne@yahoo.com and/or seregill@aol.com.

Warnings and Author's Notes by Laekin:
Greetings! Well bonnejeanne and I ride again!!!! This time in the Yami no Matsuei universe. The following fic was collaborated on between us with Bonnejeanne handling Muraki, Tatsumi and a special guest star to be revealed later. I am responsible for Watari and Oriya.

Like "The Doll" this is a very dark fiction. It is psychologically complex, it deals with difficult situations as well as complex issues and it will not be to everybody's tastes. We ask, respectfully, that if you do not feel you can see Muraki as a three-dimensional character who is tragic in his own way, you pass over this fic. No need to explain why, we understand! Some may find the content, the emotions and the implications disturbing. If you are one of those who can be disturbed by such things, you've been warned. Any after effects are not our responsibility.

Bonne's Note: Muraki Friendly Fic, so skip if that's not your thing, no hard feelings.

Degrees of Separation: Part Eight

On this second occasion of Watari 'sleeping over', Tatsumi seemed remarkably comfortable with his guest. He put out the same pair of pajamas on the foot of the bed, and, after removing his coat and tie (and shoes, of course, replaced with slippers) and rolling up his sleeves, he left Watari for a little while and went into his small kitchen.

Watari was more than content to remain companionably quiet as they retired to Tatsumi's small (but to Watari's mind cozy), home. He politely took off his shoes, leaving them by the door, and followed Tatsumi as the Secretary laid out the pajamas and reminded him where the bathroom was. Grinning affectionately at his partner, Watari stood quietly for a couple of minutes, then with a nod moved to pick up the pajamas and walk to the bathroom.

In the bathroom, he was undressing and neatly folding his clothes when he reached for the zipper of his trousers and pulled them down and was suddenly reminded of his small silky passenger.

"Err..." Watari said quietly, chewing on his lower lip.

Wiggling his way out of his trousers, he peered down at the ribbon, reaching to tickle one loose end. "Um... just... stay put okay?"

Suggestion given, Watari gave the edge of the ribbon a rub with his fingertips and then set about getting into the over-sized pajamas. Like the last time, it made him chuckle softly as he contemplated rolling up the sleeves, but let them alone to fall over his fingers. Picking up his clothes, he stepped out of the bathroom and carried them into the bedroom, setting them neatly off to the side as he had on the other night he'd stayed with Tatsumi.

Done, he poked his head around the doorframe to the kitchen, asking curiously, "Do you need any help, Seiichirou?"

As he spoke, something curled around his genitals, perhaps a bit put off with being tweaked and told to behave, began slowly circling in a figure 8. Under his balls, around, then crossing over, up, around the base of his cock, back down, across, under his balls...

"No, thank you, Yutaka."

It was a good thing that Tatsumi hadn't taken him up on his offer because Watari suddenly had a death grip on the doorframe. He nodded and squeaked out some sort of response before quickly retreating out of sight till he was resting against the wall and silently begging his little passenger to settle down.

He didn't dare try to say anything until it did. His voice would come out as a squeak!

~Please, please please please... settle... settle!!~

The symbiot in question slithered around a little more. Then he felt something he couldn't quite tell what... then it settled. After giving him a nice little squeeze.

Tatsumi came into the room a moment later carrying a tray. It had a proper tea pot on it, two cups, and a plate of sliced fruit along with some small snack items. He set it on the small table. "Did you eat dinner? If not, I can probably find something more than this."

Giving the symbiot a silent thank you and then taking a couple of breaths in order to try to calm his slightly aroused body back into submission, Watari jerked a little as Tatsumi came into the room but quickly recovered himself and straightened.

He looked at the tea and the fruit and smiled a warm, slightly boyish expression that reached all the way into his amber eyes.

"The fruit will be fine, thank you, Seiichirou." Taking a couple of steps towards the table, he paused, waiting to see if Tatsumi wanted him on any particular side and grinned ruefully. "I apologize for coming to the table in pajamas, but they are... comfortable."

"I'd rather not stand on ceremony in my bedroom," Tatsumi said dryly. "The ceiling's too low." He took a piece of fruit with his fingers and slipped it into his mouth before picking up his pajamas and going back into the bathroom where Watari could hear the sounds of evening toiletries being done.

After a blink, the younger shinigami laughed, a rich full sound, not his high energy cackle that frightened people but a genuine gentle laugh at Tatsumi's joking.

"Point taken."

Watari then settled himself close to the tray and after Tatsumi had his piece of fruit, began the delicate art of picking out a slice for himself. Then he reached for the tea pot and poured himself a cup. He kept an ear on the bathroom, listening without trying to pry into Tatsumi's privacy but keeping enough of an ear on the man's actions that just before Tatsumi was ready to resurface, Watari called out.

"Do you want me to pour you some tea?"

"Thank you, that would be fine."

Watari shot the closed door a bit of a wry look. Tatsumi might say he wasn't going to stand on ceremony but it still wasn't easy for his old friend to completely relax it seemed.

Pouring tea into the other cup, the blond set the pot aside and picked up his own cup, wrapping both long-fingered hands around the delicate porcelain. As the fragrant steam rose from the liquid within the cup to tease his nostrils, Watari couldn't help letting his mind wander over the events of the evening and what Tatsumi had asked him to do and why. His expression became pensive as he blew softly on the tea, licking the rim of the cup, preparing to take a sip.

Tatsumi returned, wearing the comfortable black silk pajamas. He found the cup Watari had poured for him and picked it up, then instead of sitting on the chair, he sat on the side of the bed where he had slept on the previous occasion, and crossed his legs, lotus-fashion. Removing his glasses for a moment, he ran one hand through his hair and then slowly drank some of the warm tea.

Watari had taken a couple of soothing sips of his own tea when Tatsumi's movement caught his eye. He looked up over the rims of his own glasses and grinned as Tatsumi removed his spectacles and brushed a hand through his hair.

"I think the only times I've ever seen you remove your glasses, are when you're gearing up to drop a shadow on me, worried about Tsuzuki, or going to sleep."

Tatsumi's eyes moved to Watari, more specifically, to Watari's neck, exposed by the open collar of the pajamas.

Reaching up with one hand, Watari brushed his fingers lightly across his neck. It hadn't even occurred to him, since he was occupied with the ribbon, to realize just how much the low comfortable collar of the pajama's exposed the marks.

Eyes lifting to meet Tatsumi's, Watari smiled ruefully.

"I... err... could sleep in my turtleneck?" It was a genuine offer, a way of acknowledging the marks and what they meant.

Tatsumi's eyebrows lifted. "Sounds uncomfortable," he said briefly. Putting his glasses back on, he sipped more tea. "You know, Tsuzuki came to me this evening and asked me if you were all right. He said something had upset Hisoka. Something to do with you."

Whatever had initially been on the blond shinigami's lips was wiped away by a quick inhale of breath and the young man's relaxed expression disappeared beneath obvious concern.

"Tatsumi, I've tried my best to stay far away from Hisoka, I promise. I didn't want to risk upsetting the Kid while I was investigating and... umm... wrapped up with Muraki. I just... he was in Bullpen when I dropped off the reports to your office, but I didn't go near him."

There was genuine concern now in Watari's face because he had been making an effort not to distress Hisoka by being anywhere near the boy.

"As sensitive as he is, I don't think just staying a few feet away is going to do much good. He carries similar markings, Yutaka... they may even have some way of interacting with each other. You've studied his... have you taken what you learned into account when dealing with your own?" Tatsumi sighed briefly, a sound Watari had not heard before. "Of course you probably haven't had time, if you really didn't know about them before this afternoon."

In fact, Watari hadn't had time to put the two pieces of that particular puzzle together. His mind had been focused on the rather difficult task of reporting out everything he'd done to date with Muraki and how the details of their carnal interactions tied back into the investigation... and of course the emotional blow of admitting to Tatsumi that he loved him.

Very, carefully and deliberately, Watari set the tea cup back down on the tray lest he risk breaking it and he scooted back till he was tucked against the corner made by the bedroom walls. Drawing his legs up to his chest, he rested his forehead on his knees and closed his eyes, forcing himself to look at what Tatsumi had just pointed out to him. Forcing himself to push aside his feelings of humiliation and guilt when it came to Hisoka and look, logically at the evidence.

His voice was muffled when it came from behind his legs.

"As I understand it, Hisoka's marks were fashioned somewhat differently than my own but as they come from the same originator it would not be outside the realm of possibility that they might effect each other. Though I felt no effect from being in the same room with Hisoka... still... I'm not an empath and even if I were, I'd certainly be nowhere near his sensitivity level. Though, given the previous interactions with Muraki, I'd theorize that this is a by-product and not the main purpose of the marks. For the most part, Muraki seems to have forgotten about Hisoka, except for when the Kid gets in his way when it comes to Tsuzuki."

Surfacing from behind his knees, his glasses pulled down off his nose so they dangled from the tips of the earpieces hooked around his ears, Watari set his chin on his knee and stared fuzzily at the end of the bed.

"Hisoka's marks... we've always seen and studied them more from the angle of a curse, the curse which killed him... though if Muraki was trying to keep hold of him while he studied Yatonogami the first time around, they might have binding properties, not unlike my own."

Watari continued to ramble, his voice falling into a pitch and timber which indicated he'd completely forgotten he had an audience and was just talking to *taste* his own thoughts.

"I think it would be a mistake to assume Muraki has forgotten anything or anyone," Tatsumi said, his tone a compromise between coldness directed at the doctor, and a slightly softer note in concession to Watari.

Watari seemed to pause and then he exhaled a breath and nodded. "You're right."

Ducking his head back down behind his knees for a long minute, the younger shinigami suddenly unfolded his long limbs and began to scramble to his feet.

"I should go down to the lab and pull up Hisoka's file. You're right, I didn't take this into account when I was studying the marks on my neck."

Watari's voice was a soft growl, directed at himself, a researcher's ire at having missed an important, and obvious, part of the puzzle.

"Tomorrow is soon enough for that. You need sleep to function without making mistakes," Tatsumi said, every inch the Secretary. His eyes, however, seemed just a little sad.

Had he not happened to look over and see the barest hint of sadness in Tatsumi's eyes, Watari probably would have bucked at the Secretary as gleefully as he ever bucked at the Secretary. However, Tatsumi's eyes caused him to pause and he exhaled a deep breath before turning to walk over to the side of the bed where his partner sat.

Sitting down beside Tatsumi, Watari pulled his bare feet up till he could once again hug his knees.

"I don't know that I agree with you about 'soon enough'. I've made the mistake of thinking I have 'time' in this whole situation and it keeps coming up to bite me on the ass. Everything has been moving so damn fast, Seiichirou, I know I'm not keeping up, I just keep scrambling."

Laying his cheek on his knee, his head was turned so he could smile gently over at his long time friend.

"You don't have to agree with me, you just have to do as I ask," Tatsumi said sternly. "You're under my protection tonight. And I don't plan to get dressed again, so you are staying put."

Elegant gold eyebrows, slightly winged at the ends, lifted and a bit of fire sparked in Watari's amber eyes.

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure we've met. Yutaka Watari, free spirit and resident pain in your ass." Watari held out his hand as he spoke, his expression softening the words because they both knew that while Watari would obey a life or death order from Tatsumi, he also had a pretty solid record of weaseling his way around Tatsumi's orders.

Lowering his hand on the bedspread next to Tatsumi's, the moment of humor left as quick as it had come and Watari sighed softly.

"I should never have missed that connection... damn it."

"Yes, you are a pain in my... ass," Tatsumi said quietly. "It's not the way you do exactly as you please regardless of procedures. It's not the way you blow up things on a regular basis, filling the office with obnoxious odors. You are a pain in the ass because you will not let me help you."

The younger shinigami smiled affectionately as he listened to Tatsumi list out his key sins but the smile softened and became something a little wondering as Tatsumi listed out the last and key reason he felt Watari to be a pain in the ass.

Reaching around, Tatsumi took Watari by the shoulders and turned him, giving him a little push so that Watari found himself on his back on the bed, blond hair spread out around him.

"You aren't going anywhere. Understand?"

Still a little surprised, Watari was tumbled easily enough onto his back, head shifting automatically to settle his hair comfortably about him, but his eyes never left Tatsumi's face. Still framed by the lenses of his spectacles, their amber depths traced along the handsome features of the Secretary's countenance and a thoughtful expression came over Watari's face.

Reaching up with one hand to trace the way Tatsumi's aristocratic cheekbone angled his face, the scientist tilted is head a little to the side before speaking.

"I guess... it's not easy for me, but maybe not for the reason you think. I've watched you, for years, taking on the burdens of the department, hell, just taking on Tsuzuki's burdens, and I guess I made a promise that I wouldn't let myself lean on you... even though you've always offered the support selflessly. I'm sorry, Seiichirou. I know this isn't easy, for either of us."

He paused, took a breath and then grinned ruefully. "Ah... in other words... *understood*." Gently acknowledging his habit of talking too much.

Tatsumi shook his head slightly as Watari could not refrain from having what amounted to the last word. Leaning down, he took off the scientist's glasses and placed them on a side table. Then he placed his own there. Bending down again, he brought his lips down over Watari's mouth.

Watari might have had the last verbal word but Tatsumi definitely had control of the argument. It was wonderfully, deliciously quiet in the comfortable bedroom. Even when Watari stayed the night at the lab there was always some machine humming or the birds chirping between themselves, but Tatsumi's home was peacefully silent and Watari felt wrapped in that quiet and in warmth as Tatsumi's mouth covered his own.

Exhaling a small breath, the younger shinigami closed his eyes and soaked up the warmth of his partner's mouth. Tatsumi's kiss felt good and soon enough Watari's lips moved lightly against the shadow-master's mouth, nibbling at the sensual curve of Tatsumi's lips.

Tatsumi allowed Watari his measure of return before lifting his head, looking down. Without the glasses, his look was incredibly direct.

"I do not take on Tsuzuki's burdens," he said, in a no-argument tone. "I do not take on the 'burdens' of the department. I do my job. That is all, and it is more than sufficient. However, when you insist on seeing things in such a romantic light, you interfere with my job. Very odd, for a scientist."

Laying back, stretching a little on the bed, Watari listened to Tatsumi and a corner of his mouth quirked upwards.

"Alright, I'll concede that perhaps in some areas I see things in a romantic light but I still maintain my stance that you will tie yourself into knots when it comes to Tsuzuki. You like to make the people around you happy, Tatsumi, that's not a bad thing but you also like to keep your motivations to yourself, which doesn't give those of us who care about you a good chance to return the favor."

"If I liked to make the people around me happy, I would give Tsuzuki long lunch periods every day," Tatsumi said dryly. "I do not tie myself in knots." He leaned on one arm over Watari. "What happened at the Kurosaki home was... an aberration, not a trend. And I think you made too much of it."

The young scientist's expression became sad and he reached up with one hand to touch the side of Tatsumi's handsome face. Rubbing his thumb gently along the older man's jawline, Watari shook his head slightly, his tone quiet but resolute.

"No. I'm sorry, Seiichirou but I don't agree with you and if it's one thing I don't regret in this whole ... *situation*... it's that decision and my reasoning for it. We can agree to disagree about it if you wish but I do not believe I... 'made too much out of it.'"

Tatsumi watched him without answering for a few seconds.

"If it makes it easier for you to live with yourself, then I won't insist. If you persist in taking similar actions or justifications... you will simply destroy any chance that we will... be able to continue a relationship as something other than co-workers."

His expression said that if such were the case, he would regret it, deeply. But it also said, these were the terms.

Watari lay quietly on his back and considered Tatsumi's words. He was quiet for a long while as the first sentence stung him a little bit and he needed a minute to think about what Tatsumi was asking for. Equality, which was all Watari himself had ever wanted, equality in the relationship. His far away gaze slowly came back and he refocused on Tatsumi's face, a boyish, slightly abashed smile on his own countenance.

"I suppose, after 20 some years I should know you better, though I guess... we still have a little learning to do."

Nodding his head slightly before laying it back on the bed, Watari closed his eyes, resting them behind his eyelids as he continued, "I hear what you're saying and I understand what you mean."

"What I mean is that we will need to work together. There is something happening that is upsetting the balance of things as I understand them here in Meifu. Such events happen, but when they do, those of us on what is essentially the bottom level of the hierarchy have to be lucky, or powerful, or smart, just to survive," Tatsumi said firmly.

Amber eyes sharpened, with a worried expression as Tatsumi explained about the shift in the balance of power in Meifu. Usually, Watari kept as far away from the politics of the 'bosses', preferring to continue his existence in relative obscurity. Not powerful enough to blip on the radar of the likes of Enma Daioh at least, not without work.

Tatsumi looked down at Watari, his eyes intense. "And I intend to survive. And not alone."

Leaning down, he kissed Watari again. This kiss was slow and thorough. The Kagetsukai wanted no misunderstanding about what he meant.

Watari was taking a breath to ask questions but those questions were quickly wiped away by Tatsumi's mouth closing once again over his own. The thoroughness of the kiss pulled a soft groan out of the blond and the hand which had been on the side of Tatsumi's jaw slid slowly around to cradle the back of his head, fingers playing in the short, chestnut hair.

Evidently the time for conversation was over, or at least suspended, in Tatsumi's mind. The kiss lasted a good long time, and when it ended naturally, Tatsumi brushed Watari's hair back and nuzzled his ear. His hand trailed lightly from Watari's shoulder along his arm and side, to settle around the blond's hip.

There were so many questions but in a rare moment of clarity, Watari realized he was in no condition to try to ask them, or to listen clearly to the answers. Besides, Tatsumi's kiss was intoxicating and it was easy to loose himself in the caress, returning it, tasting his partner with gentle eagerness up until the kiss came to its natural conclusion.

The nuzzle to his ear made his shiver slightly within the older shinigami's hold and his lips twitched in a smile. His hand trailed down from the back of Tatsumi's head to press lightly between the Kagetsukai's broad shoulder blades, massaging there gently as the scientist turned in towards the warmth and strength of Tatsumi's body, wrapping his other arm loosely around the shadow-master's waist.

Tatsumi's head lifted and he looked down, taking in the picture that Watari presented on his back, hair around him, skin just starting to flush a little. The hand resting on Watari's hip loosened and slid around to begin opening buttons, one by one, on the scientist's pajama top.

Watari found himself caught in the intensity of Tatsumi's sapphire eyes. They really were the most amazing color of blue, even without the preternatural enhancement of his shinigami state. Soaking up this new side of Tatsumi, Watari didn't realize what the other man was up too until the shadow-master almost had the pajama top undone.

Licking his lips, totally wrapped up in Tatsumi, Watari slid his hand tentatively around the Secretary's waist, trailing long slender fingers up under the loose pajama top his partner was wearing. The old, well worn silk was warm from its contact with Tatsumi's body and the combination of the silky fabric and the satin-like skin of the Kagetsukai's abdomen drew a low, appreciative noise from the scientist and caused Watari to shift slightly, restless beneath the hand undoing his own top.

As the last of the buttons was opened, Tatsumi pushed the two sides of the top apart, running his sensitive fingers along the contours of Watari's shoulders, chest and stomach, slowly, learning every inch of the scientist's well made form.

It was a touch that Watari had dreamed about years, decades ago. A touch that he had given up on ever feeling and a touch that he relished in that moment. Arching gently, he shifted beneath Tatsumi's hand; if he were a cat he probably would have been purring softly. His own hand slid down and out from under the shadow-master's pajama top and the scientist moved to undo the buttons, letting the fabric hang open, the edges teasing his own skin along with the touch of Tatsumi's fingers.

Sliding his hand up over Tatsumi's shoulder, he began to rub the powerful muscles near the Secretary's collarbone, stroking the line of Tatsumi's throat with his thumb.

His arms were forced to bend as Tatsumi leaned down, and began following the lines his fingers had traced with lips, and tongue. Moist trails were left in his wake, cooling as the air touched them.

The younger shinigami couldn't hold back the soft moan and gentle shudder that the feeling Tatsumi's lips and tongue on his skin pulled from him. His arms bent but for a moment all he could do was knead against the shadow-master's strong shoulders as pleasure and fantasy rolled into one.

And under the concealment of silk pajama bottoms, something... shifted.

An innocent enough movement, but the fantasy was shattered as Watari remembered his little passenger. The moan of pleasure turned into a tormented groan and he cursed softly, reaching down to cradle Tatsumi's head but to pull his partner back up towards him.

Lifting his head at Watari's urging, Tatsumi looked down inquiringly. His deep blue eyes were slightly unfocused but sharpening rapidly.

Watari wanted to kick himself. Why, why had he revived the ribbon? He looked at Tatsumi, feeling his heart kick in his chest as he enjoyed the slightly unfocused expression on his partner's face but he had just promised equality and not to keep things from the other man. Besides... better Tatsumi see it now than get a surprise when they both were really too wound up to think straight.

"Ahum..." Watari began, his voice low and husky. "The doll wasn't the only gift Muraki left in his wake."

Exhaling a deep breath, not knowing any other way to communicate with the ribbon and knowing there was no *good* way to make the introduction, Watari lifted his head and peered down the length of his body.

"I know you're... erm... awake. I ah... could use a hair tie?" It was weak but it was what the ribbon had done the last time, when he and Muraki had gotten physical and a little ribbon had needed to move.

Tatsumi blinked and regarded Watari for a moment or two with a slightly blank expression.

The symbiot in question gave Watari's cock and balls a little squeeze but otherwise stayed put.

"What... gift?" Tatsumi said, leaning back, the beginnings of a thundercloud starting to form on his forehead. The doctor couldn't have.... given Watari a... disease, could he?

How he could have gone from the height of passion to feeling like he just wanted to slide under a rug in the span of thirty seconds, Watari didn't know. He looked at the thunderous expression growing on Tatsumi's face and felt a lump lodge itself in his chest. Peering back down in the direction of the ribbon he growled.

"I could have left you in the box... it would have made my life a hell of a lot easier... now... would you please get out here and introduce yourself?"

He said please!

He got another little squeeze as an answer.

Tatsumi's expression shifted back to the slightly blank one. "Why... are you talking to your..."

Watari lay back and groaned, resting his arm over his eyes.

"I want it to go on the record that I had a much more ah... passionate and romantic unveiling in mind in my many fantasies about you, Seiichirou. However..."

Grumbling, Watari reached down and caught the waistband of his pajama bottoms. He realized that he could have just coyly called an end to their play and kept his secret, but then he remembered what Tatsumi had said, and equals meant no secrets. Even if he was blushing with what could be seen as humiliation. Pushing the bottoms down over his hips he exposed himself, slightly erect in response to Tatsumi's nearness and what the shadow-master had been doing and also wrapped up like a Christmas package by a red, silk-looking ribbon.

"Ah, it's a symbiot. Muraki *gave* it too me at the Kurosaki house."

As Watari glanced down, he realized that... the bow was back.

Watari stared at the bow and muttered peevishly, "I should have left you in the box."

Tatsumi was not a man often caught by surprise. However, having his would-be lover jerk down the bottoms of his pajamas to reveal a neatly gift-wrapped set of family jewels was outside the scope of his admittedly extensive experience.

He goggled.

Then he recovered, mostly, and the goggle was fast, but definitely there and one for the record books.

Watari's eyes then slid up to Tatsumi's face and slender eyebrows arched as he took in the *goggle* expression on the normally stoic and contained Secretary. The situation was almost worth it just to see that expression. It was cute... actually it was rather adorable but Watari quickly stamped down on those emotions least he exacerbate the situation further.

"A sym..." Tatsumi stopped in mid-word. "You mean that thing is... alive???"

Clearing his throat, the younger shinigami sat up slightly, leaning his weight on his elbows and peering down at the rassafrakkin bow.

"Ah, well... it's animated but much in the same way my toucan is animated, in that it was once an inanimate object that has been brought to *life* through magical means... at least that's what the book said and so far the book seems to be right when it comes to...*it*."

Tatsumi tore his eyes away from the... bundle... and back to Watari's face. "And you've been... walking around... like this... since..."

Watari took a breath and just lay back down. The situation was about to go from surreal to absurd. "Mmm, not quite. I had it with me through most of the Kurosaki case and in Tokyo but it ah... moved to my hair that night and when I got home I put it in the box with the doll. Then... I read up on it and... when I got home this morning I took it back out and revived it, at which point it err..." He couldn't say so he just motioned with his hands.

"Actually, it wanted to curl around my neck, this, um, 'location' was sort of a compromise. See, it likes pulse points."

The young scientist took a breath as if to explain further then seemed to decide that the hole was just getting deeper and that maybe he'd best stop shoveling for a minute.

"You... revived it. ...Why?"

One arm lifted and covered his eyes, the loose folds of the pajama top falling across his slender chest. Shaking his head from side to side, Watari gave the honest answer.

"I don't know... because it was a curiosity... part of the puzzle... because I have a soft spot for breathing life into inanimate objects... it is my *specialty* after all."

Tatsumi was silent, and since Watari had covered his eyes, he couldn't see expression.

Which is why he wasn't prepared when the ribbon around his genitals suddenly gave him a serious squeeze.

"Aahhhh!" That brought the blond's arm down as he quickly turned onto his side and curled. Even dead and basically immortal, there were some *pains* a man never outgrew and given the position of the ribbon, Watari felt better safe than sorry.

"What the Hades..." he asked, peering down at his little passenger who had never hurt him in such a manner before.

Tatsumi cleared his throat a trifle... guiltily.

Curled on his side, aware but uncaring that he probably looked completely ridiculous, Watari shifted his gaze from the ribbon to Tatsumi, blinking at his partner.

"Tatsumi?" he inquired.

"I... ahem... attempted to touch it... I was hoping I could remove it..."

Tatsumi happened to be looking intently at the far wall as he said this.

"Ah, well... yes... it seems to have a mind of its own and it's a little persnickety." Watari kept his thought to himself but he also figured it was Muraki's construct and probably hardwired to be *persnickety* by default. Like Master like... ribbon?

Watari chuffed softly at the thought and in his curled position reached down a hand towards the ribbon, stopping short of actually touching himself. He felt like a damn fool but he figured he couldn't look any more foolish than he already did so he began a conversation.

"Alright, a deal... you can come up and hang out around my neck at night but it's under the clothes during the day. Deal?"

The ribbon did not seem receptive to this deal. It slithered around his cock and balls as if to emphasize its right of ownership by possession.

Tatsumi cleared his throat again and tried looking at the ceiling.

Watari felt like beating his head into the mattress. The first arguments that came to mind were quickly discarded because they were rather presumptuous as to Tatsumi's intentions for the evening. Then an idea came to him.

Laying on his side he said, in a tone that was not threatening, merely matter of fact, "If I go back to Earth and settle myself into the spirit form, which is rather useful for sitting in on lectures... long... long lectures... I would remind you that I will effectively cease to have a *life-force*. So, I offer again, a reasonable request I think and one which will keep both of us content."

There was a sense of... consideration. If the thing had really had a sense of self preservation, it probably wouldn't have allowed him to take it off in the first place but Watari could probably be forgiven for overlooking this under the circumstances.

As if to demonstrate its wonderful uses, the ribbon began... stroking him.

Tatsumi could not keep his eyes on the ceiling and looked down at Watari.

Watari was not easily embarrassed and had a high tolerance for the peculiar but this was peculiar even for him and he groaned, hiding his face in the neatly spread comforter on Tatsumi's bed.

Shifting his hips, he reached down and pulled the silk pajama bottoms up over himself, covering up the ribbon's actions and though the silky touch was pleasurable, at the moment the twin emotions of creepy and humiliation won out and kept his cock flaccid within the ribbon's touch.

Face still pressed into the fabric of the comforter, voice muffled Watari mumbled. "Sometimes my afterlife is too absurd even for me. Of all the hurdles we went through to get to this point and I'm flummoxed by fabric."

The ribbon, disappointed with the lack of appreciation for its efforts, perhaps, ceased its movement. Almost dejectedly, it slithered slowly from around his genitals, out from under the pajama bottoms and found his wrist. However it continued up his arm and settled after ringing around his bicep a couple of times.

Still sort of laying half on his front, half on his side, Watari lifted his head and grabbed an edge of the pajamas, lifting them so he could peer down his arm at the ribbon.

"Thank you," he said simply, but sincerely enough, before lowering the edge of the fabric and slowly sitting up.

Watari's long, honey blond hair was disheveled and the already oversized pajama top hung down off one smooth shoulder. He pulled his bare feet up and sat cross legged on the bed, blinking owlishly at Tatsumi. A wry little smile lifted one corner of his lips and he made a slight gesture with his hands.

"I solemnly promise there are no more surprises of this ah... nature... lurking about."

Tatsumi had seen and read about it all at this point. The doll, the reports and now the ribbon...

~I really need to think up a name for the silly thing.~

Tatsumi regarded Watari, his expression once again... blank. "Just say, none that you know of," he corrected almost absently. His eyes narrowed slightly. "Your... apparent truce notwithstanding... it might be possible to get the thing off..."

Watari winced a little at Tatsumi's well-spoken point about what he did and did not 'know' of. At the second comment, the scientist was still for a long moment, then his shoulders slumped a little and he shook his head listlessly from side to side.

"Honestly, Tatsumi...I won't say it's impossible but I don't know that I'm up to weighing my way through all the pros and cons and arguments for and against it. At least not right now."

Taking a breath he peered up at the shadow-master from under his lashes. "I honestly don't know why I felt compelled to revive it, Seiichirou. It certainly isn't making my life any easier at the moment but... you were in the field, you know how the instincts work. Sometimes you do something that seems *foolish* but which turns out to be useful down the road."

Tatsumi's eyebrows lifted slightly. "Ahem. Yes, but useful to whom?"

Then he shook his head. "I think that brings us back to my original purpose for having you stay." A slight, odd smile touched his lips for a moment and then was gone. "Which was to have you get some rest."

Getting up, he let his open pajama top stay open and picked up the tea tray, taking it back into the small kitchen, and returning. "Let's turn down the covers and get some sleep."

As Tatsumi stood and walked into the other room with the tea tray, Watari groaned, a low frustrated sound and curled forward so he was still sitting cross legged but his torso was stretched out on the bed. Mentally he cursed... long... loud... and vigorously. He cursed Enma, he cursed himself, he cursed Muraki, hell he even threw in a few choice words towards Yatonogami, fists clenching on the bedspread and giving it a little pummel the way a two-year old might have a tantrum on the floor.

But it was a quick indulgence in frustration and temper and he was sitting up almost immediately as Tatsumi walked back into the room. Nodding, still not quite ready to trust his voice, he pulled the top of his pajamas together and began to button them back up, rolling off the side of the bed to help Tatsumi turn down the covers. He couldn't bring himself to look at Tatsumi, almost half naked. It was the first time he'd seen that much bare expanse of his partner's chest and it made something in his own chest ache.

Tatsumi waited until Watari slipped back into the bed and then lifted his hand in the direction of the light. As before, darkness answered. The darkness was so complete that Watari only had his senses of hearing to detect he wasn't alone, and his sense of touch to feel the bed move as Tatsumi joined him.

The darkness should have been unsettling because it left the scientist at a definite disadvantage but even with everything going on around and between them, Watari trusted Tatsumi almost at the instinctive level and he recognized that this particular darkness was Tatsumi's darkness and not to be feared.

Exhaling a long breath, he settled against Tatsumi's powerful body, feeling the incredible warmth of his partner's bare skin and making the decision that *resting* that evening meant lying quietly and just enjoying the feel of Tatsumi's naked skin.

And then his sense of touch reported that Tatsumi's hands found his shoulders easily, and pulled him against the Kagetsukai's bare chest. Settled him there. And then one hand proceeded to open the buttons that Watari had re-buttoned.

At first Watari couldn't quite figure out what he was up to, then he realized what Tatsumi was doing and with a soft shudder, he curled even closer to his partner's bare torso. One slender hand slid tentatively up under the open edge of Tatsumi's pajama top to curl around the older shinigami's ribcage, slender fingers sprawled along the bones, as if counting them.

Tatsumi's mouth found Watari's in a deep kiss, another of the Secretary's thorough, skillful kisses that lasted quite a long time.

To look at the normally reserved Secretary, one would not expect that the man could kiss with a thoroughness that could steal one's breath, but Watari found himself experiencing that slightly dizzying sensation that came with having the oxygen stolen from his lungs. He let Tatsumi lead the kiss but returned it, eagerly, welcomingly, the tip of his tongue darting out to taste the Kagetsukai's upper and lower lips. The hand on Tatsumi's ribcage trailed, first down, then lightly back up, following the well defined planes of the older shinigami's abdomen and pectoral muscles.

Tatsumi's hands were not idle either. While one arm supported and held Watari against him, the other roamed, sliding across Watari's chest, settling over his pectoral to thumb one nipple gently but insistently.

The young scientist couldn't help but arch into that touch, the sensitive flesh tightening responsively to the shadow-master's touch. Turning a little more towards Tatsumi, Watari tangled his long legs against the other man's lower body, his hand pressed, palm downwards, just over the upper ridge of Tatsumi's chest, long fingers playing along his partner's collarbone and the hollow of his throat.

Lifting his mouth, Tatsumi took several deep breaths, replenishing his own oxygen. Then he bent closer and Watari could feel the brush of soft, dark hair against his skin, as the thumb moved aside as Tatsumi took the nub he'd been teasing into his mouth and suckled on it.

Even at the height of his initial infatuation with the Kagetsukai, Watari had been careful to temper the details of his fantasies, least they get the better of him and cause problems between himself and his co-worker. Yet he knew that the sensation which shot through his body as Tatsumi's mobile lips closed around the sensitive flesh could never have been done justice by a mere fantasy. Stifling a soft cry by biting his lips, the blond panted a couple of much needed breaths, the motion of his own hand stilling as he lost himself to the sensual touch of the man he loved.

Lifting his head after a while, Tatsumi licked the now engorged and sensitive nub soothingly a few times. He nuzzled the slight dip at the center of Watari's chest and then his lips sought and found the matching nub on the other side of the blond's torso. Once again, he feasted, sucking and licking until this one was as tender as the first.

Watari's hand slid upwards a little until he could curl his fingers over Tatsumi's shoulder and grip it almost bruisingly as his partner continued to deliciously torment his chest. Using his hand for leverage, the scientist began to shift and writhe in response to Tatsumi's skillful caress, and Watari's free hand moved restlessly along Tatsumi's arm, tickling the sensitive skin of the shadow-master's inner elbow with light touches through the silky fabric of his pajama top.

Lifting his head, Tatsumi shrugged out of the open pajama top, baring his upper body completely. Then he lifted Watari enough to slide the matching piece of clothing off his body as well.

The scientist was more than willing to help Tatsumi shed the pesky pajama top, tossing the well worn black fabric aside and then helping to shrug out of his own top.

Turning Watari in his arms, Tatsumi settled the blond on his side, facing away, and spooned his own body up behind, pulling Watari close.

At first Watari's desire fogged brain couldn't quite figure out what the other man was up to but then he was being snuggled back against his partner's broad chest and held in the Kagetsukai's arms.

Tatsumi kissed the skin below Watari's earlobe and then murmured, "I don't want to disappoint you, but it might be better to wait for a more complete sharing until you are a bit less encumbered. Forgive me?"

Watari did groan at Tatsumi's words. He couldn't help that. His body had been starting to hum, as had his heart and his mind and he felt a bit like he was crashing back down to the ground, crashing back down to the mess he'd somehow made of his afterlife. Reaching up to rub his fingertips lightly along the forearm encircling him, Watari sighed deeply and his soft, good-natured chuckled filled the intense darkness.

"I won't lie, " he began in a whisper soft voice, "and say I'm not disappointed. But, your logic is something I find endearing about you... and *logically* I know you're right."

Watari fell silent then, his eyes open even though he couldn't see anything in the inky blackness, his expression thoughtful in his passion-flushed face.

He felt Tatsumi's face rub softly against the side of his own.

"Try and imagine how *I* feel," the Secretary said, his voice low and tinged with more than a touch of frustration. "I have a beautiful, willing blond in my arms. I'd really prefer to do something about it than not."

He shifted, and Watari could feel through the thin silk of the two pairs of pajama bottoms that something warm, heavy, and very firm was pressing into the cleft between his buttocks.

Watari groaned, a low deep sound full of arousal, and he shifted, rocking back automatically against the heat he could feel through the layers of silk.

"I imagine..." he began, having to stop and pointedly clear his throat. "That you might feel something like I do, sharing the bed of a man I have desired for decades, tasting his touch and being held in his arms but kept apart by... what is it we're holding back for again?"

Curling his body slightly allowed Watari to bump the underside of Tatsumi's forearm with the silk covered, firm blunt head of his own erection.

Tatsumi growled softly.

His arm and hand moved down and the next thing Watari felt was his pajama bottoms being pulled down to about halfway along his thighs, baring him in front and back.

Tatsumi's hand then sought the soft nest of curls and secured a grip around Watari's erection.

The move surprised the scientist who had expected to draw perhaps a chuckle and the logical statement from his partner in response to his own frustration driven words. The last thing he had expected was to be bared and then touched by one of those strong, long fingered hands.

Somehow managing to both arch back against Tatsumi's own heavy, still concealed cock and at the same time press his very hard, throbbing flesh into the other man's hands, Watari's fingers curled almost punishingly around the Kagetsukai's forearms and the blond gasped out his partner's name.

"Seii...Seiichirou."

"Hush." Tatsumi's soft order was countered by his fingers, tightly gripping Watari's cock, as they began to move up and down its length, stroking him firmly. At the end of the stroke, he paused as his thumb ran lightly over the head of Watari's erection, smearing the beading drop of fluid there and using a little of it to give the rhythmic stroke a bit of easement.

Watari briefly wondered if Tatsumi was out of his mind. Asking him to hush and then touching him so intimately, so skillfully. Still, the scientist, for once, tried to follow the soft order and bit down hard on his lower lip in an attempt to muffle his soft sobs of pleasure as the Kagetsukai worked his aching flesh. Eyes closed, Watari wasn't even aware of the warm moisture beading at the corner of his eyelids as he squirmed and shuddered in Tatsumi's arms, his breath coming in quick pants.

It felt so good... too good and the scientist sucked in a quivering breath, praying the dream didn't end before he reached completion in Tatsumi's hold.

As he felt Watari squirm and rock in his arms, Tatsumi smiled against the blond's cheek and then flicked his tongue against Watari's ear, tracing the contours of it with his tongue tip and then sucking the earlobe into his mouth to teeth and suckle as he moved his hand faster, gripping a little tighter, working to bring Watari over.

It was like being surrounded from the top of his head to his toes by Tatsumi, and Watari briefly wondered how he'd managed to make himself give up on ever feeling anything so blissful in his afterlife. He nearly drew blood from the sensitive skin of his lower lip as he bit down and tried to hold out but the delicious sensation of his partner's tongue and breath against his ear melded with the intense pleasure radiating from his groin and Watari couldn't stop himself.

Releasing his lip he turned his face towards the pillow to muffle his low shout of his partner's... of his lover's name, his fingers bearing down hard on Tatsumi's forearm as the flesh in the Kagetsukai's other hand gave a heavy throb and pulse, and Watari was coming hard in Tatsumi's hands.

Tatsumi held him securely, feeling Watari's body shudder in his arms and the warm thick fluid spill over his hand. He milked the spasming flesh for all it could give then gently released it, collecting a generous handful of the stuff.

Then he slid than handful around and between them, smearing much of it into the crevice between Watari's buttocks. The rest was slipped under the edge of his own pajama bottoms as he pushed them down with the back of his hand, freeing his own throbbing erection.

Shifting, he guided himself to the opening he sought, and using Watari's seed as his lubricant, he began to penetrate his lover carefully, but inexorably.

And the dream kept unrolling and though his muscles were relaxed in the aftermath of climax, Watari moved back against his lover, knowing Tatsumi in the pitch dark even though he'd never shared such intimacy with him before. Releasing the Kagetsukai's forearm with one hand, Watari threw that arm out towards the bed to help brace himself, pressing back against his lover's careful penetration, feeling Tatsumi's heat breaching his body, knowing it as Tatsumi despite the darkness, despite the rawness coming from the normally calculating shadow-master.

"Seii..." Watari whispered, almost wonderingly as he arched his back with a low hiss, shifting his legs to help give Tatsumi access.

Tatsumi held Watari securely, pulling him back just a little, as he was fully sheathed in the velvet heat that stretched around him.

Watari could feel the warmth almost rolling off Tatsumi's body in the darkness, could feel the throb of his pulse, faster that usual but not rapid, strong and steady. The blond felt Tatsumi's lungs fill completely, pressing his chest against Watari's back like a large, efficient bellows, powering his body.

For several long beats, he simply held the two of them there, fully joined, body against body, skin to skin, his breath moving against Watari's ear and neck.

And then Tatsumi began to dance.

It could be called nothing else, though they were lying on their sides, though the bed was beneath them, so perfectly rhythmic was the movement, not with a mechanical precision but with an artist's instinct. Tatsumi danced inside Watari's body, and pleasure spread from their joining in waves of sensation.

Again, Watari welcomed the darkness. He didn't need his eyes to *see* Tatsumi and at that moment, drowning in waves of sensation the added stimuli would have detracted from the pleasure of touch, sound and even smell.

He could feel Tatsumi's large body curled up around his, feel almost every muscle in the powerful chest which rose and fell against his back, feel the curve of hipbone where it was mated to his own, the powerful thighs tucked up against his own slender legs, helping to lead him in the dance. And the arms, Tatsumi's arms which Watari wanted to loose himself within and never come out.

He could hear the Kagetsukai's breath against his ear. Not quite a pant, but deep breaths growing with the strain of the dance. He could hear the soft whisper as their skin, slightly damp, moved across the sheets and the soft noises he was trying to muffle against his pillow, least he risk breaking the perfection of the spell woven around them at that moment.

Watari felt wrapped in his lover's scent. His face against the pillow, he could smell the unique freshener that Tatsumi used, as simple, yet as elegant as the cologne the shadow-master wore, the cologne which touched the air around them as their bodies worked together.

And then there was the sensation of feeling his partner fill him, stretch him and possess him. That alone caused the scientist to moan, a sound that came from the depths of his soul, and with Tatsumi he was able to pick up the rhythm of the dance immediately. Watari rocked his hips with the same grace and fluid motion that he would have shown on a dance floor, his internal muscles seeming to keep time to unheard music which set the pace of the shadow-master's thrusts, and though he'd already reached his own climax, the excitement rose in the scientist, his body responding completely to Tatsumi's possession.

At some point in the midst of it, Watari had wriggled free of his pajama bottoms, they were just too damn warm. The freedom allowed him to move his leg just a hair to assist Tatsumi's thrusts... and he was rewarded when Tatsumi's engorged cock brushed against the bundle of nerves that pulled a cry, muffled by the pillow and long blond hair, out of the scientist.

It lasted just as long at it needed to and not a moment more, nor an instant less. The feeling between them grew as they moved together, the action of Tatsumi's hips became tighter, a bit faster, and towards the end, just a little ragged, along with his breathing. But he'd found the place inside that sent showers of pleasure through the contact into Watari and as the blond began to shudder with his second climax, he was caught and swept into Tatsumi's, the last few movements sudden as the crest overtook them and spun them out of control.

Within the shadow-master's arms, Watari shuddered and arched as they came closer and closer to the edge, his whole body drawing taut as a bow in those last moments, the crest crashing down over him and tossing him willy-nilly. The younger shinigami wondered if he might not have been lost, had Tatsumi let him go but the Secretary's hold was secure and Watari felt safe in loosing himself for those brief moments when pleasure was at its peak.

And then they were lying quiet, breathing hard, perspiration soaking into the sheets as Tatsumi's fingers spidered gently against Watari's skin.

Slowly, Watari came back to himself. Came back to his deliciously damp, slightly aching body. Came back to the sensation of Tatsumi's hand spidering against his skin. Still breathing deeply, Watari took the arm which was still banded about his chest and lifted Tatsumi's other hand up till he could gently kiss the palm, wrist and each of the long, sensitive fingers.

Tatsumi's lips moved against his cheek. "Yutaka..." It wasn't a prelude, it wasn't anything but a simple speaking of his name.

The Kagetsukai reach up and began combing the sweat dampened hair back from Watari's face and neck.

Watari was usually ready with a quick return to almost any spoken encouragement but at that moment he was almost afraid to speak, afraid to break the bubble of perfect serenity he felt encased in. Wrapped up warm, safe... cared for in the blanket of the darkness and his partner.

He did respond to Tatsumi's voice by pressing a hard kiss once more to the shadow-master's palm before he curled his head to rest his cheek against the other man's hand. Eyes still closed, he smiled against that hand and perhaps the fingers brushing his long, damp, slightly tangled hair back from where it had gotten pulled across his face and shoulders could also feel the content and relaxed curling of his lips.

"Oh, Seii," Watari finally whispered and though he didn't repeat the words from earlier in the day, the emotions were loaded into those two simple words.

A soft kiss was pressed to Watari's cheek, then his hair. "Let's... sleep."

There was a part of Watari that didn't want to sleep. Didn't want to wake up and face the reality of the morning. But that part was easily silenced by the gentle reminder that when morning came, he wouldn't be facing it alone. The man holding him, his partner, would be with him to help him find the answers.

Taking a deep breath, Watari nodded, a nuzzle against Tatsumi's palm, before he released the Kagetsukai's hand and laid his head back down on his pillow. His arm remained wrapped lightly across Tatsumi's arm where it lay across his torso.

"I..." he began and then smiled gently into the dark. "I like the way you think."

TBC

Degrees of Separation - Part 9

Love & Gundams