The gunman opened his eyes as the sun crept in from between the curtains and sighed. He knew he wasn't in his own room and also knew very well where he was instead. Not that he could have helped it. At least at some point he had learned to control himself enough that he didn't find himself aching in the morning, and he also could remember passing through the corridors of Valeria Chateau. The rest he couldn't control; at least not much.

He sat up, reaching to draw aside the sheets covering his own naked body - and also someone else's. His green eyes studied the fragile form next to him with regret. He touched the white bed sheets, cursing the fact that there was blood on them in his mind.

The other person lying in the bed - other man - turned to his side, lifting his head a little. His silver hair was fell on the sheets beautifully, the morning sun shining on it.

"Stop blaming yourself, Ashley," Irving said with a stern voice. "You can't help it."

The younger man lay back down, shaking his head. "You always say that. Doesn't mean I have to like it, now does it? Do you really think I like the idea that the damn demon takes control of me and sneaks in here to rape you? I can control that form - Knight Blazer - in battle; why can't I control it when this happens?"

Irving smiled slightly, closing his eyes for a moment. He reached to touch Ashley's face, stroking the younger man's cheek gently. "Young men have certain needs. You're not above that. Even I'm not even though I'd like to think otherwise. You've never done anything with Marina, hmm? The demon gives you power to fight, so I'm guessing it might also have control over some other basic needs..."

"But why..." Ashley closed his eyes, hating himself. "Why like this? Why does it have to come to this? There's blood on the sheets again... I'm hurting you, Irving. I hurt you again last night..."

The silver-haired man sighed. "The demon hates my bloodline. I guess that's why. There's nothing you can do. You have learned to control it better lately, and I'm guessing that as time passes, you might eventually be able to control it so well that you'll stop doing it so violently."

The young gunman pressed his face against Irving's hand, feeling tears in his eyes. "I... still don't want this to happen... I never thought I'd end up sleeping with a man anyway, and now I... I care about you. I care about everyone, and... So why... Why do you let the demon hurt you? You could call for help... Brad's strong enough to drag me out of here, at least. Why then?"

Irving leaned over to place a soft kiss on the younger man's lips then wiped away the tears from Ashley's eyes with his fingertips. He shook his head, lying down next to the other man and resting his head against his shoulder.

"I just said I have needs too, didn't I? Because of my status, I can't exactly go and sleep with just anyone... Not that I was so sure that anyone would like to touch me anyway. You want me the way I am. If it ends up being violent... Don't worry. I've gotten used to it. And it's not like you were just raping me. You can't rape someone who's willing to give himself, now can you?"

Ashley couldn't think of a proper answer, so he just lay there, staring at the ceiling. He did know that feeling the older man lying next to him had a strange, calming effect, and he couldn't deny that in the end, it helped him to control the demon. He knew that he couldn't tell Marina about it; she would have freaked out. And the thought of the demon taking its needs on her... Ashley didn't even want to think about that. At least Irving knew what was happening and didn't mind. The young man shook his head. This meant he had to be bisexual or something, but did he really mind? He considered it and came to the conclusion he didn't; if he had minded, he wouldn't have come to Irving's room on the other nights when the demon wasn't controlling him...

"Besides," Irving continued after a moment. "Might be that I like you, Ashley Winchester."

The younger man turned to look at his partner. "...Like me?"

"Yes. A little more than I like the other members of the ARMS team. Then again, I'm not sleeping with the rest of your team. You really need to stop blaming yourself when the demon takes control. It doesn't hurt the other times, you know..."

Ashley closed his eyes, relaxing. "I know. I still feel bad about it. Guess I like you too, and I wouldn't want to hurt you..."

"The demon's gone. You have the rest of the morning to make it up to me, hmm?"

The gunman could only smile as an answer before leaning in to kiss the young nobleman.

Author's notes:

Random attempt to learn to write short snippets. Not too bad, I guess. Since I couldn't figure out what to write about, picked my favorite WA2 pairing and came up with a random setting. Whee?

- Lady Harken (November, 2003)