Warnings: Character death, slashiness, etc. As a second note, the ending really sucks. And I seem unable to make these two non-mushy. So if you want to flame and complain that they're mushy, I ALREADY KNOW. Thanks. -_-;

The tent was dark when he went inside, save for the gentle effulgence of the candle on the makeshift bedside table. It cast a glimmer of warm light over the pallid face poking out from under the covers, rendering the skin a sickly yellow colour. The white sheets moved ever so slightly with each laborious breath the injured man took, his relatively young face altered in pain.

Yuber stepped closer, bending over the sleeping man. His red hair, slightly longer than it had been when last the demon had seen him, lay limply against the pillow, several tendrils streaked a premature silver. The pale face was still smooth and clean-shaven, the jaw more square, yet always delicate. His lips were parted slightly as he breathed, his forehead and neck glistening with sweat.

The blonde reached out and touched Albert�s hollowed cheek, the skin like well-worn leather under his fingertips. The strategist�s eyes began to open, squinting against the candlelight as his eyes focused on the demon. His pale, dry lips parted as he struggled to speak, pink tongue flicking out to wet them.

"Yuber�" His voice was weak, and cracked as he spoke.

"Silverberg," the demon clipped in reply.

The two looked at each other for several moments, neither speaking; Yuber could see, just by the way Albert breathed, how he spoke, that the mortal had little time left. He sat down on the chair beside the bed and crossed his legs, slouching back as Albert turned his head to look at him.

"Why� are you here?" asked the mortal, swallowing hard.

Yuber smirked, inspecting the half-crescents of dirt under his fingernails. "To watch you die, of course." He looked up at the prostrate man, smiling in an unpleasant way. "We were lovers once. I couldn�t not come see you on your deathbed."

"You just want me to suffer," Albert whispered, looking back at the ceiling, his eyes hard. "You loved to see me suffer then� and even now, you�ve come to torment me�"

"But death is release," Yuber said softly. "It�s supreme mercy. The suffering to end all suffering."

"Is that what you think when you�re cutting people down on the battlefield?" Albert asked with as much anger as he could muster. "You think they want to die? You think I do?!"

He began to cough, his body convulsing as blood started to trickle from the corner of his mouth. He breathed again, deeply, before continuing.

"People� people may say they have no will to live�" he murmured, his eyes flickering to rest on Yuber. "But we all struggle on because we�re never ready to die. You think you know what you�re saying, but you don�t understand. You�re just a demon."

"And you�re just a mortal. You haven�t seen death as I have." Yuber stood up, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. "You�ve never seen a soul being sucked from a body, or the repose that follows behind. The blood, the death � yes, that is what I love. But�"

"Yuber."

The demon paused, looking down at Albert. The redhead�s hands were folded across his chest, a small frown creasing his brow as he gazed up at the blonde. Yuber cocked his head questioningly, leaning back on one hand.

"Please hold me� like you used to�" He looked away, his cheeks tinged pink. "After we made love�"

Made� love? Yuber stared down into Albert�s pleading face, repeating the redhead�s request in his mind. His former lover was asking him to be tender with him, when the nights they had shared had been anything but. And the holding he spoke of� it had been nothing but the awkward twist of arms around a slender body, more out of habit than affection.

But something in Albert�s eyes told Yuber that affection no longer mattered. He just wanted to be touched, because he didn�t want to die alone. And though he would have loved to see him suffer, the fact remained that he had once taken pleasure in the redhead�s body, and might have taken still had they not gone their separate ways. It was perhaps this thought that led him to take the strategist into his arms, holding him gently when he cried out in pain from his wound.

Albert sighed, letting his head fall back on Yuber�s shoulder. "Thank you�"

Yuber rested his hand on the strategist�s stomach, feeling stiff bandages underneath his old and fraying shirt. An attempt to save him, no doubt, but a futile one nonetheless. Albert moved restlessly against him, wincing as his actions opened his wound again. A moment or two passed before Yuber could feel the warm dampness of blood under the fabric of his shirt, but said nothing of it.

"You�re� the last person I would have expected to see," Albert said weakly, closing his eyes. "I always thought my brother would come to see me as I lay dying� But�" He trailed off, gathering the strength to speak. "But� it�s comforting to know that I meant something to someone� Even if I was just your toy�"

Yuber remained silent, waiting for the mortal to continue. He could feel Albert�s pulse under his fingertips, slowing as his heart struggled to beat on, like the wings of a butterfly crushed under the palm of a curious boy. He tightened his hold on the younger man when he shuddered, feeling the mortal�s blood slick on his hand as it soaked through his shirt.

"You wouldn�t be here if I didn�t mean something� right?" Green eyes dull with pain turned upward to look at him, futile hope gleaming in their depths. "I�m not like the others� a- am I?"

Yuber stared down at Albert for a few minutes, saying nothing; then he looked away, shaking his head. "You were harder to convince than the rest, at least."

"Was� was I� worth it?" Albert asked, his fingers digging with surprising strength into Yuber�s arm. "�Was I?"

Yuber smiled in recollection, nodding against Albert�s head, though it wasn�t entirely the truth. While Albert had been very satisfying in bed, Yuber would not have gone out of his way to keep the redhead as his lover.

"Yuber�" Albert murmured, clutching the blonde�s arm. "I�m scared�"

Yuber raised a hand from Albert�s abdomen. It was covered in blood, much like the front of the redhead�s shirt. He looked at his glistening palm for a moment, then looked to the weakening man in his arms; then he leaned down and pressed his lips against his ear, closing his eyes as he whispered:

"It�s alright� You can go now."

One smooth hand slipped into his and squeezed gently, a sign of surrender. No more words passed between them, but Yuber knew, even without thinking, that Albert Silverberg was content when he passed away in the demon�s arms.