~*~*~*~*~*~

I put my hand upon her knee and she said - Do you want to see? I put my hand upon her breast and she said - Do you want to kiss? Gently, gently, Johnny Gently, Johnny, my jingle Gently, gently, Johnny Gently, Johnny, my jingle I put my hand upon her thigh and she said - Would you like to try? I put my hand upon her belly and she said - Do you want to feel me? Gently, gently, Johnny Gently, Johnny, my jingle Gently, gently, Johnny Gently, Johnny, my jingle I put my hand upon her knee and she said - Do you want to see? I put my hand upon her breast and she said - Do you want to kiss? Gently, gently, Johnny Gently, Johnny, my jingle Gently, gently, Johnny Gently, Johnny, my jingle

~Sneaker Pimps, "Johnny"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sprawled blissfully on his bed, Otaru closed his eyes with a murmur. Work was so arduous these days; being home like this was heaven on earth. His eyes cracked open and squinted at the sunlight reflecting off of the white ceiling as the twang of a guitar wafted in from the other room, its isolated, oddly sharp hum slowly dissolving into something far more melodious. He relaxed again. The soothing idea of falling asleep to the sound had just begun to take hold of his senses when a very familiar voice burst into song from where the source of the guitar was located. He sighed a little. The suggestion of sleep when Hanagata started singing in the next room was a moot point. Granted, he was getting better, but...

He slid open the door, leaning lazily against the frame. "Don't you have a book to write or something?"

Hanagata smiled brightly up at him, fingers still idly plucking the strings. Otaru didn't mind terribly. No longer was he singing; that was all that mattered. "I can't write a book when there's a song in my heart! I was swept up in inspiration, Otaru-kun�"

"Get swept somewhere else, will ya? I'm tired," Otaru yawned, shooting a halfhearted glare back in response.

"Hmph. You have no artistic appreciation, do you? Cherry likes it." "I'm sure. Where are they, anyway?"

A little shrug, accompanied by a rather happy glint in Hanagata's eyes. "Lorelei wanted to spend some more time with them, so she dropped by to pick them up. Female matters, I would guess. I can't say I mind that much…" "Hey, if you don't like it, go back to your own apartment."

Resisting a smile at the miffed look on the blonde man's face, he shook his head. Both of them had grown up considerably in the three short years since the return of the marionettes. No, not marionettes. They were girls now. Otaru was twenty now, Hanagata approaching twenty-one. The girls- his girls- were three already. He smiled. They had been returned to him in a more beautiful way than he could ever have wished for, granted the childhood they had never been gifted with before. They had yet not grown accustomed to knowing him as "daddy". Bloodberry still craved cheap sake, Lime still ate like the world would end, and Cherry still indulged in fantasies of her "Otaru-sama", distressingly vivid for one so young. Perhaps it was for the best that they didn't.

Hanagata had changed as well. The decidedly awkward rich boy had grown up more within than without, and that alone rendered him visible in a far more respectable light, capricious as he continued to be in demeanor. Otaru supposed it was a timeless attribute. His pale hair had been allowed to reach far down his back, normally tied back with a wine-colored ribbon, his style of dress matured into something far less garish. His advances toward Otaru had lessened considerably over time, and he imagined it had something to do with the lack of rivals. Well, there was Lorelei, who expressed a sort of fondness toward him that could easily be construed as more than strictly platonic. It may also have had something to do with the brief kisses Hanagata sporadically stole from his lips, which he had not rejected in the slightest, yet he had, thus far, remained steadfast in his unwillingness to go beyond languid caresses in his darkened room long after the girls had gone to sleep. His cheeks flushed imperceptibly in memory.

He jumped as he felt the warm breath of the other boy tickle his ear, his perceptions previously dulled by the haze of thought around his mind. There was a light, golden edge of laughter to Hanagata's voice as he set down his guitar and pulled him into his arms. "You're unusually quiet today." Otaru peered up at him, offering a feeble grin before turning away to the door of his room. "I'm tired."

"You know, Otaru-kun," The taller boy watched him enter and flop down on his bed again, taking the open door as an invitation to follow. He knelt next to him, making no effort to disguise the smoldering look in his eyes. "Lime and the others are out. We'd be fools not to take this opportunity!"

His answer was a tired murmur from under the pillow that covered Otaru's face. "What opportunity?"

The dry tone that denoted the other man's knowledge of exactly what this opportunity meant went right over Hanagata's head as he dropped to the floor to crawl onto the futon next to him. His arms slipped easily around him, lips hovering close to his ear. "I love you."

Otaru blushed a little, but allowed himself a soft little hum in response to the slight tickle of Hanagata's breath. "Hey, now, let's not get ahead of ourselves."

The other man pouted a bit. "I don't think we're getting ahead of ourselves at all. I just know that the others are out and won't be back for a few hours, and we could really enjoy ourselves, if you felt up to it."

Otaru felt warm lips graze over the juncture of neck and shoulder and suddenly knew precisely where Hanagata was coming from, a vague feeling of desire slowly pooling in his belly. He began to wonder, as the man surreptitiously slid a hand into his shirt to massage the firm muscles of his chest, if it wasn't about time he stopped ducking around the facts and feelings that were clearly before him. Turning his eyes toward the soft blonde head on his shoulder, he let a small, shy smile tug at his lips. "I guess there's no more avoiding it, huh?"

He blinked upon hearing a low growl from Hanagata, who promptly looked up, fixing him with an intense stare. "I've been waiting four years for another chance like this."

"I remember." That was quite an understatement. Memories of that particular night still kept him lying awake during evening thunderstorms… "Sorry about that."

"Apology most certainly accepted, Otaru-kun." Hanagata relaxed visibly, exchanging his lusty half-glare for a warm smile.

"Mmm."

Taking the small sound as one of encouragement, Hanagata gently pushed Otaru on his back, pausing in his own journey down to look upon the beautiful creature below him, every detail of his strong, sinuous form colored a deep bronze in the fading light, gracing the room with a shy, angelic smile. No longer able to resist being any amount of distance from the boy- no, not a boy, for he was more of a man than Hanagata could ever dream of being- he lowered himself to rest at his side, his arms winding around him without further delay.

He buried his face against Otaru's neck, breath soft and warm against his skin, and voiced no less than his most truthful thoughts. "I love you, Otaru-kun. I love you, and I love Lime and Cherry and Bloodberry, and I… I want to be by your side when they grow up again. Things will be different between all of us, Otaru-kun; no more fighting… And I'll take care of us all… Won't it be great, Otaru-kun?"

Looking up, he was immediately met with a pair of soft, sweet lips against his own, finding himself pinned against the futon after scant seconds. Hanagata pulled back instinctively, surprised, only to meet Otaru's gaze, a torrent of emotion evident in his eyes.

"Hanagata, thank you."

Otaru truthfully couldn't think of much else to say. All he'd ever really desired was to reside in a world free of material worry with his loved ones by his side… and now Hanagata was willing to give his all to make that aspiration a reality. Such a measure of love and care had eradicated all doubt of the extent of Hanagata's feelings for him, and he found himself with nowhere left to go but forward.

And this was, perhaps, the reason why he crawled atop Hanagata's slender form to rest his head against his chest at that moment, reaching up to trail gentle fingertips along his cheek, struggling a few seconds with his words. "Hanagata, listen..."

"Yes, Otaru-kun?" A warm smile was his encouragement.

He swallowed, eyes inexplicably misty, cheeks unexpectedly flushed. "I'm bad at this, but..I, um... I love you. I do. Don't ever think otherwise."

Darkness had fallen upon the room so gradually that neither took notice until no light was left but the placid glow of the moons in the sky. There was no more need for sound between the two save for hushed whisperings of affection, delivered with a delicately budding urgency, and the quiet rustle of clothing. It was then that Hanagata paused in his movements and stopped his breath from joining the rest of the air in the distinctly warmer room, eyes desperate to take in every minute detail of the gloriously nude form that lay next to him, terrified that any other sensory input might impair his ability to forever burn the image into his eyes.

A tentative smile broke him from his reverie, enticing him to take the man into his arms, the unfamiliar whisper of skin against skin proving to be music to his ears. He released a small sigh as his hands began their journey down Otaru's back to rest on bare, rounded flesh, biting his lip as the profound intimacy of such inimitable conditions passed over him like feathers cast to the wind. He laughed softly upon receiving a light pinch of his shoulder in facetious protest, closing his eyes with a hum of satisfaction as Otaru leaned over to press his lips firmly against his.

A small struggle for supremacy ensued as the two playfully wrestled atop the sheets, which Otaru easily won, for Hanagata had neither the physical strength at the moment nor the will to resist. Seized by a rogue flare of desire, the younger man wedged a leg between Hanagata's thighs as the attentions of his mouth fell to his neck, relishing in the soft gasp and the rush of color that flooded the writer's cheeks. However, the victorious sentiment was fleeting as he squirmed minutely, the sudden awareness of hot flesh pressed insistently against the juncture of hip and thigh drawing a tiny murmur of near wonder from his lips.

The two exchanged a smoldering look before Otaru succumbed to the temptation to touch, reaching below Hanagata's waist to wrap around the sensitive organ and gingerly slide his hand up, then down, a smile gracing his face as his lover's- yes, he was his lover now, wasn't he?- breath hitched a bit, clinging to the angel above him.

"Otaru-kun!"

Otaru nuzzled his cheek, the hand between his legs offering a small squeeze as Hanagata held him securely in place, the blonde man's touch dropping lower to reciprocate upon Otaru's vaguely shivering body what he, himself, received. The fog of desire that wound its way around his head birthed a heady intoxication that guided his hand to move harder, faster, in a steadily more frenetic stroke, punctuated by the soft cacophony of quiet moans and erratic breathing. For a moment, Hanagata felt as though he had become an extension of Otaru's body, joined through a fervent embrace, the sensitive skin of his nipple between his lips, and the hot, slick flesh he held below his line of sight, seemingly feeling every tug he bestowed upon the panting, squirming creature above him, suddenly finding himself gathering the strength to push him onto his side so he might better access the secrets his body held.

Otaru's kiss was soft to the point of making Hanagata briefly wonder of its existence, the sweetly delicate tickle of his lips bringing him aware of the heat that flooded his cheeks when a spasm traveled through the hand encircling him, an unexpected little cry breaking from Otaru's throat as he delved into that warm, hungry mouth once more. As Hanagata's will wore thin, he softly sobbed out the only lucid fragments of thought he could piece together.

"Ah! I-I love you!!"

Their breath mingling in the cool evening air, a ragged exclamation burst forth from the blonde as Otaru felt liquid heat spill over his hand, pumping wetly for a few more seconds before closing his eyes in an effort to fully enjoy the pleasures he continued to receive. Hanagata sighed once his sex-fueled delirium subsided and began to concentrate on drawing whatever sounds of passion his beloved Otaru was capable of producing out into the open.

Playing upon his body as though he were an instrument, for he was making lovely music, after all, he altered his touch to a slow, deliberate pace to softly cater to Otaru's passionate approach to the threshold over which he was so near. At his side, Otaru labored excitedly, beautifully, arms tightening around him as he initially choked on a long, low, hushed groan, shivering against him as his body began to relax, a glowing warmth spreading throughout his body.

Minutes passed. After a yawn and catlike stretch, Otaru shifted slightly, only to wince at the suddenly cold, wet sensation on his stomach. "I could use a bath."

Hanagata immediately leapt to his feet, pulling him up, energy fully replenished. "Well, then, why not go now? I know of some fun ways to get clean, Otaru-kun."

He got an incredulous look from Otaru, who turned back to look at him as he walked unsteadily out of the room. "Again?!"

"Once was enough for you?" Hanagata stared, equally dubious.

As the two made their way to the bathroom, one with very lascivious intentions, the bedroom door slid shut. Watching Otaru slide into the warm water, an expression of contented elation lighting his face, Hanagata mused that he really didn't want to finish his book tonight.

~fin