It was a dark and stormy night at Viper Manor. Once home of the Acadia Dragoons, Miss Riddel had recently had it converted into an orphanage. Riddel and the orphans had gone on an outing to Arni Village that morning, planning on visiting Serge and Glenn. Marcy and Zoah had gone along as an escort. The group was expected back at the end of the week.

Meanwhile, Norris found himself one of the few remaining residents of the house. Karsh was somewhere on the grounds; Norris wasn't sure exactly where, since the former Deva usually tried his hardest to avoid him. General Viper spent most of his time in his rooms these days, and as for the librarian, he never left the library.

Norris was quite fine with being left alone. He'd spent most of the day in the library, reading. When the storm had started, he'd considered it wise to set the collection of horror stories he had been reading aside. After failing to find anything else interesting to read, he'd ended up settling down with a cup of tea and one of Riddel's favorite romance novels. He hadn't expected to be able to put up with the trashy story - which was just an excuse for the numerous sex scenes - but, three hours later, he was still reading, albeit now by the light of a single candle. The librarian had long since retired to his rooms in the east wing.

Needless to say, Norris was very put out when the wind blew the candle out during the twenty-ninth sex scene. He began searching his pockets for matches before realizing that he hadn't left any windows open. The previously warm room suddenly seemed very cold. Worse still was that the romance novel hadn't managed to banish all thoughts of the horror stories from his mind.

He'd just about convinced himself that ghosts were a load of rubbish and that he was simply letting his imagination run wild when an arm appeared from behind his chair and hooked itself around his neck. Norris had no idea that he could scream so loudly or so high-pitched. Neither had his attacker it seemed, seeing as the arm promptly released him.

Norris jumped out of the chair, letting the book fall to the floor. Whirling around and backing up at the same time, he wished that he hadn't left his gun in his rooms. Of course, if his attacker were of an otherworldly nature, a gun wouldn't be much use.

A flash of lighting outside the window illuminated the scene, revealing a very scared Norris backing away from a very smug-looking Karsh. "Boo."

"Karsh, that was not the least bit funny."

"I certainly thought that it was. And it proved to me that the Porre military is full of cowards." The grin Karsh wore was insufferable. Norris really wished that he had his gun, but it might be a good thing that he didn't. He wasn't sure if he would be able to get bloodstains out of the carpet, and Riddel was rather particular about that sort of thing.

Karsh took advantage of the next flash of lighting to re-light the candle. Norris, on the other hand, took advantage of the same flash to make an obscene gesture. Once the candle was lit, Karsh returned it.

It was at that moment that Karsh noted Norris's reading material. He looked at the other man, raising an eyebrow slightly. "Do all Porre soldiers read this kind of trash?"

"I wasn't reading it," Norris lied, his voice cross.

"Oh, then you were looking for pointers, were you? Or perhaps finally learning what sex was?"

"Go to hell, Karsh."

"I'll meet you there."

Norris sighed and turned to leave the library. Karsh grabbed his arm roughly, arresting his progress. "You aren't even going to say goodbye?"

"Goodbye, asshole. Now let go of my arm." Norris tried to wrest the appendage from the other's grip, but Karsh proved to be the stronger.

"Gods, is everyone from Porre this rude, or are you the exception?"

"Do all of the Dragoons forget to bathe, or are you the exception?"

Karsh's punch sent Norris sprawling. Rubbing his cheek, the young man tried to rise to his feet, but Karsh placed a boot on his chest, stopping him. Kneeling down, the silver haired former Deva leered at him. "Do you want me to teach you some manners before or after I beat you?"

Norris opened his mouth for another insult, but Karsh's glare cut him short. It was then that he noticed how little space was left between their bodies. He tried to wriggle away, feeling very uncomfortable. Was it just him, or was the room getting hot again?

Karsh laughed. "What's wrong Norris? Never been close to another man before?" Norris refused to meet his gaze. Karsh was almost, but not quite, sure that a faint blush was rising in Norris's cheeks. If there was, he now knew the perfect way to get revenge on the Porre bastard for almost killing Riddel. True, this Norris had had no hand in the kidnapping, and the other Norris wasn't the most eager member of the Porre army when it came to accepting how Riddel was treated, but he was still a member of the Porre army. And, as such, he was guilty by association.

Norris tried to beat Karsh away from him, but before a blow connected, the other man had grabbed both of his hands and pinned them behind his head. "That wasn't a good idea, Norris," the growling reply came as Karsh moved his body so that he was sitting on Norris's legs. Norris screamed, realizing what Karsh was planning to do. Harsh laughter nearly drowned the scream out. "Go ahead and scream. No one can hear you."

Norris immediately clamped his mouth shut. Karsh was right. There was no one to come to his rescue and screaming would only give the bastard even more pleasure. Pleasing Karsh wasn't something Norris tried to do.

He tried to jerk his head away, but Karsh caught it in his other hand, forcing it cruelly towards him. He bent body, claiming Norris's mouth with his own and forcing his tongue inside. The hand arrested all of Norris's attempts to escape from the kiss. The younger man closed his eyes, as if by doing so he would be able to will Karsh's attentions away.

Karsh removed his hand from Norris's face, smiling into the kiss at the soldier's lack of response. Good. Norris wasn't going to make this any harder than it had to be. Pushing his one hand under Norris's back to lift him slightly off the ground, he released his hold on the other's hands to slide the armored vest off. The blue shirt quickly followed, revealing a pale expanse of chiseled chest.

Norris shivered as the air hit his bare skin, all the while trying to will his mind not to feel anything. It was hard. Karsh's tongue was doing things that caused electric surges of pleasure, and now he was beginning to use his hands to do the same. He found himself groaning involuntarily as Karsh rolled a nipple between thumb and forefinger, which only caused his tormentor to increase his ministrations.

Hearing the groan, Karsh smiled. He broke off the kiss, raising his head slightly, stray strands of hair brushing the other man's face. Norris had his eyes screwed tightly shut, his mind obviously trying to ignore what his body could not. Still toying with the nipple with one hand, his other reached for Norris's belt buckle. The other man tried to resist for a moment, then stopped, realizing that nothing was going to stop.

Oh gods, Norris thought frantically. He's really going to do this. He's really going to rape me. He wanted to fight back, but he realized that it would gain him nothing. The only effect it would have would be to make Karsh angry, which would not play into his favor. Resigning himself to fate, the soldier willed his mind not to feel anything, and once again failed.

The belt was soon cast aside, followed by Norris's pants and underpants. A few silver tears leaked out of the corners of his eyes, but he managed to stop them before more followed. He almost opened his eyes when he felt a sudden warm wetness upon his length, but managed to keep them screwed shut. I don't want this. I don't want this. Oh gods, make it stop. Make him stop. The plea became a sort of litany, repeated over and over again in his mind.

Then, Karsh removed his mouth from the organ, replacing it with a hand. Norris wondered about this turn of events for a moment, but then there was only sudden pain as Karsh entered him. Blood rushed to his head, staining his humiliated cheeks. Despite his best efforts, the tears now began to steadily leak from the corners of his eyes. He grit his teeth together, refusing to scream.

Some time later, he didn't know exactly when, pain had caused him to loose all track of time, it ended. He would have sighed in relief, but he had refused to scream, so he might as well refuse to do this as well. Seconds later, he was unable to do either, as a booted foot caught him in the side, driving breath from his lungs. His body tensed, expecting another blow, but none came.

He cracked open one eye. Karsh was gone. He curled his knees to his chest, hugging them, trying not to think about how much he hurt. He was bleeding rather badly, but that could wait. It would have to. He couldn't do anything about it at the moment.

It was at the point that Norris realized that he wouldn't care if he died. He felt so defiled, so debased that there seemed no point in going on. Only, if he died, Karsh would have won. He vowed to go on living, if only to spite the bastard.

Karsh lay on his bed later that night, staring at the ceiling. It gazed down at him accusingly, reminding him of his earlier actions. He wanted to die. He had no idea as to why; he just felt the desire.

He'd taken a sadistic delight in Norris's pain and humiliation earlier. The rape had certainly satisfied all his desires for revenge. He'd got what he wanted, why did he care who he'd hurt?

I haven't felt this bad since... since...

He found himself unable to finish the thought. Still, he knew the answer, even if he refused to admit it. He hadn't felt this bad since Dario and Riddel had announced their engagement.

But what did Norris and Riddel have in common?