Sighing, Sehun leant against the window. Behind him, Tao’s breathing rose and fell rhythmically, the deep reverberating bass tones of sleep.. The rain was still falling outside – dampened now, but still drizzling down from the clouds that covered the moon, filling the sky in tarry grey; trickling in despondency past the window panes. Sighing again, he breathed over the glass, dewing a misty circle, before tracing his fingertip through it. Maybe there was….

Well, he sure as hell couldn’t –

‘…Sehun…?’

‘..Ah!! Sorry, did I wake you…’

‘Ah…. No… what’re you doing, it’s sleeping time.. even though it's night…’

‘..Ehehe, donkey, we sleep during the night, ya know~’

‘Yeah, so why aren’t you?‘

‘…I am….’

‘S..ehun??! Why are you sleeping in the chair again, c’mere.’

‘No!....er….. Ahh.. I mean… I’ll sleep here, kay? You go on back to bed…’

‘… by..yourself?’

‘…yeah…. ‘

‘….oh….okay…’

With a disgruntled groan, Tao heavily rolled over, noisily pulling the covers around himself – every drip of sound echoing through the dark room broadcasting his disappointment and pouting puzzlement.

Ah, crap.. he’s upset again…

Of course, he is…. He hates being away from me.. and I’ve been..

They’d been going round in circles all day… and yesterday.. and the day before…

Ever since that night they’d spent…well…making out…. and the morning after playing around; they’d gone to the batting cages, so Sehun could teach Tao how to play - how to hold a baseball bat, how to swing from the hips… he had had to stand on his tiptoes to reach around the demon, to grab the bat and demonstrate from behind – he was so much taller than him- not to mention, so much broader… and as for his stupid tail, it kept wiggling about to try and grab hold Sehun, to , to tickle him and prod him and make him lose hold, make him giggle so hard he fell to his knees below the ing mystic warlord with ing herculean muscles who swung the bat so hard he smashed a hole right through the back wall, sending the ball soaring into the next building…

And that trip back home, when he’d finally – after a whole week of beggin’, managed to convince the Creature from the Bottomless Pit to make him invisible too – and then, of course, they’d just had to take a detour!!

They had the most fun couple of hours freaking people out at the Plaza – convincing an entire clothing store full of people the hoodie section was haunted [which, technically, it kinda was, by a Demon and a Dark Magic Practitioner, at least][The Dark Magic Practitioner felt they ought to get some sort of super discount at the end of it – their spectre-ing sparked off a huge sales day for the shop from all the Goths who flocked to it]; tripping up people who were walking by the giant glass-fronted wall [it was kinda fun when they were girls in skirts]; sneaking ice creams and slurpies and cotton candy from Sehun’s classmates who had taken advantage of the holiday to invade the mall [waiting for the 4 hour movie marathon at the Cinema in the basement level; some of them commenting about how boring Sehun had become lately, he hadn’t been goin’ out hanging out with anyone in ages!]; and plotting – and perfectly executing – grand schemes to embarrass the douches near the fountain [who were being even bigger than usual for the benefit of the pretty girls in summer dresses across the square] - and then, to make the morning even more perfect, the demon had piggybacked his Summoner all the way home, his hands tight about his thighs, bouncing him merrily as he ninja-ed through the streets – jumping through the air as Sehun squealed in glee, hopping from electricity pole to billboard and racing at breakneck speed along the wires…

After that afternoon of goofing around fighting over which pizza toppings to order; Tao having gotten enamoured with the idea of anchovies despite all of Sehun’s arguments against it – till they ended up wrestling each other over the phone for a good hour, wrapping round and about, the dumbdumb fouling unrepentantly with his stupid tail – it was like he had five limbs! -  ‘You octopus!!!!! This is so unfair!!!’

‘Say bagel!’

‘….what!??’

‘Bagel!!! Say bagel and I’ll let Sehun up’

‘Hello!! Good Afternoon, Sir, may I take your order??’

‘…uncle!!!’

‘…excuse me, sir?’

‘Ah! Not you – sorry, erm, yes, Good Afternoon, I’d like to order a Large Deep Dish-‘

‘……ANCHOVIESS!!! – Hu– Ooooh whoa!’

‘Muuahahhahaha!! Ha…ahh..ahh…, my side hurts – you slammed it into the floor when you sat on me with your 500-pound , you – Ughhhf –stupid Tao~ you say uncle!’

‘…why would I wanna do that?’

‘coz its ‘uncle’ you squid face, not bagel! Ha! See, how do you like that~~ how do you like that~~’

‘Hello??!! Sir??!!’

‘Ah! -ah!! Ah – sorry, sorry – erm.. one large deep dish with mushroom mix and –‘

‘Anchoooviiesss~~~’

‘ Pepperoni!!’

‘……erm.. yes, of course, Sir, That’s one large-‘

‘Sehun the Cro-Magnon man~~ You’re stupid, you don’t know nothin’ ’

‘….Ha!! So I do know something- ah!

Stupid banana head says what~~’

‘…what??????’

‘Ehehehheee~~degenerated worm brain says what~’

‘What!??’

‘Muhahhhaaaaaahhhaaaa – ohh- ou- ou- iuudhff-  OUCH!!! you- gettof!!’

They’d ended up even forgetting all about the movie they were watching, as they fed each other bits of stringy cheese… off the bits of pepperoni that fell over their skin as they jostled and nudged each other, roughhousing over the pie..

‘Stoppit!!’

‘You stoppit!!’

‘Monkey!!’

‘Donkey!!!!’

‘Beetlehead!!’

’Birdbrain!!’

’Oh.. you’re getting rather good at this~~’

‘Yes, aren’t I~ ehehe~’ playfully, Tao nipped a bite from his slice, just to hear him curse at him even more and call him a thief – only -

‘Stupid banshee!!’  ‘how- you- wah- ………. Omgg!!!’ gasping, Tao had gaped at him, scandalised. ‘How the hell do you know that!!?? I thought you humans didn’t know about the Other Side… Oh Sehun, you take that back!’

‘…whoa..is that something bad?’

‘…… Yu-huhh!!! Calling.. calling someone a banshee….it’s like..it’s like…’

‘Like??’ grinning Sehun had teased.

‘like saying this is wilting~’ With just as naughty a smirk on his lips, biting a corner into a sharp fang, he’d pushed his tail out – between Sehun’s legs to curl about….his….

‘Flks-askja-TAO!!!’

‘Wha~~at’ Teasingly, Tao leaned in – his tail tightening ever so tightly, making Sehun gasp – and gasp again, unable to catch his breath…. -

a sharp-fanged smile creasing all the way up to his eyes as he reached in…

The warm smouldering scent, musk and pine cones and chocolate and …Tao…

‘Un!’ His eyes smarting with the effort to keep Tao in view, Sehun’d moaned as he leaned in even more..just a hair’s breadth away…

Then closer…

His long wet tongue gleaming.. hot.. soft…. As he had reached in to a bit of cheese off his lips … just grazing lightly.. too lightly, for the heat fizzing into being deep in Sehun’s bones….

Before he slid it in deeper… past his lips…

☲☲☲

Groaning against his dewy skin, Sehun had his hands into his hair – pushing him back against the low table, to angle his taller frame better… cupping his jaw, trailing his fingers down his neck, his shoulders.. chest…. As they broke off their kiss, to take a breath – snapping playfully at each other’s lips and nose, Sehun had slid them over his pecs… before he’d latched onto Tao’s lips again, pulling them between his teeth, then ling it – the abrupt shift from the sharpness of his incisors to the wet softness of his tongue eliciting a wrenching groan of pleasure from the fanged wonder – making Sehun grin smugly as he pressed his palms into his stomach, enjoying the caress of his muscles under them… then lower, hooking his knuckles into the bottom of his shirt, pulling it up….. shifting languorously against the pressure of that tail tightening against his swelling…  -

When he’d snapped back.

Abruptly pulling himself away, tearing his body out of Tao’s hold, gasping, scrambling away so hard he almost took an inch of skin off his palms –

Swallowing convulsively, Sehun had stared at Tao – who was looking at him in befuddlement, his eyebrows quirking in sharp angles – totally surprised…

A clammy chill had suddenly run through him, and weakly, he had laughed, trying to wave it away.. pretending  he couldn’t see the bewilderment and the slight blade of rejected hurt swelling in his eyes as he reminded him of the movie they were supposed to be watching….

Aahhh

Ever since that day, two days ago, Sehun hadn’t known what to do – or how to do it..  He couldn’t get too close to the demon, he couldn’t let his guard down, he had to stay vigilant.. and he had to stay away.

Coz he’d just realised it then – like a light bulb exploding in between his eyes – the sudden clarity ripping through him in that split second he’d felt his own fingers drop to Tao’s waistband, itching to…

He’d suddenly understood, what they were heading to.. was what he’d wished for..

What he’d Wished for…

And once they were…done…. That would mean he – Tao – would…

Leave.

From across the dark, still room, a sniffle sounded out, interrupting Sehun’s reminiscing – then another…

And another…

Aahhh crap.

Caught up in all his efforts to keep away- and keep a cool head, he hadn’t really thought about the other person who was as involved as he was – for two whole days, he’d basically avoided getting anywhere within two feet of the overly attached denizen from the underworld, thinking only about how difficult it was for him – and apparently, he’d unwittingly crossed some demon-kitty limit.

‘Tao…’

‘sniff….. sob…’

‘Tao..c’mon man..’

‘sob…sobsob’

‘Fine. Fine!’ Pulling himself out of the chair, Sehun heaved up his pillow and blankets, dragging them behind him to the bed. ‘Move over.’

‘Go away!!!’

Aahhh I knew it.

‘Tao..’

‘Go away!!!’

‘No! This is my bed!! Now move over!’

‘Fine!! Then I’ll go sleep in the chair!!’

‘No! You’re my demon, and I’m telling you to move over!’

‘…I don’t think you have a good grasp on how this stuff works, human!’ Sitting up, Tao snapped at him – his red eyes glowing in the dark of the night before they were masked by a scintillating pool of dew, sniffling deeply between words. ‘All you can order me to do is your wish!! If I ever listen to you outside of that, it’s out of the ing goodness of my heart!!!! I could rip you out and burn your guts to a crisp before you could even draw a breath  - and you’re telling me.. telling me??!!??!!’

‘…..well, why don’t you, then!! Go ahead, burn me!!’

‘…….. …………….. ………………. Why are you being so mean!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sehun !!! I hate you!!!’ Almost screaming the words, Tao slammed a pillow at him – his aim shaken by the sobs he was biting down, so it flormped uselessly at Sehun’s feet.

‘..Well…well, I hate you too!!’

‘I know that!!! Dya think I’m stupid!?? You’ve been ..avoiding me all day – yesterday too, and the day before… you don’t even come close to me, you don’t wanna do …anything ..together with me!! You don’t let me bathe with you or sleep with you, and you don’t even let me go to school with you!!! So I know that – and let me tell you something, mudworm, I don’t wanna be here anymore than you want me to be – so tell me your ing WISH!!! I’ll.. I’ll grant it, and get the hell out!!!’

‘…..you’re right! I hate you!! That’s why I’m never gonna tell you!! So you can never go home – you’ll be stuck here forever!!!!!!!’  Incensed at himself, at the lump that was rising in his throat, and the tears pricking his own eyes, Sehun angrily threw himself, covers and all, onto the bed – wrapping his arms as tight as he could around Tao, his momentum pushing them both down. Shoving his face even deeper into that warm chest, Sehun tightened his grip. ‘You’ll never be able to leave – ever.’

‘……Se….hun…..???’

‘Go to hell!!!!’

‘…..I don’t live in Hell, that’s just the government agencies and ministries and those Non-Profits and stuff…’

For a long moment, there was silence – Sehun’s head still enveloped in Tao’s unyielding stiff chest..

Then –

‘You !!!’  Both of them yelled simultaneously at each other – 

before they burst out laughing so hard they almost bust their guts, punching and kicking at the other.

‘you turd!!’

‘You bovine!!!’

‘….. cow?’

‘…I.. think so…’

‘you cow!!’

‘YOU are!!! Sehun started everything, with no reason at all, just being mean to me-‘

‘Coz… you’re a dumbhead! Everything isn’t about you!! I was..concerned about something – that had nothing whatsoever to do with you, and you just went…getting upset on your own!!’

‘Oh, did I!’

‘Uh….hu-yeah!’

Oh DID I!?’

‘Yes.’

‘Ohhhh Diiidddddd I~~~!’

‘..wrofo-ofof- Stoppp- hahahhhaaeee-oghh- stop stop – Tao  -wrfffoooojhahahhhahhaaaa!! –Tao

Tao

Haahhhehhee –

Gerrof!!!!

Tao –

I..haa…can’t…hahahaaa…. breathe….’

‘Tell me the truth n I’ll stop!! Tell me why you were being mean – and tell me what you meant by that – that you won’t tell me your wish!’

His chest heaving as he panted, Sehun looked up at him – Tao had pushed him under himself at some point while they were wrestling about, and now he was looming above him in the dark, his features indistinguishable, save for the slight gleam of his eyes… yet even that dark shape, even just the feeling of ….just… touching him again, being touched by him – just this, feeling his body beside him, feeling his breath over him in puffs of exertion from holding him down, feeling his skin under his fingers…

Grinning to himself, Sehun both his hands out – wrapping them tight about him and pulling him downwards so he collapsed over him, his weight driving the air out of him with an ‘oomph!’. Uncaringly, he rubbed his feet against his, letting his shoulder blades sink into the mattress, settling in comfortably under Tao as he nuzzled his face into his neck. ‘What, you don’t even speak human now? I meant exactly what I said, birdbrain, I’m never gonna tell you, so you can never ever ever leave me. That’s all.~~’

‘….se…..Sehun!!!! Bu…wha… Sehun!!!!!’

‘What, I’m tryina sleep here.’

‘SEHUN!!!’

‘Shuttup~~ You’re just my big warm cuddly toy, and toys don’t speak, so shuttup.’

‘Sehun!!!’

‘Whattt!!???’

‘I….. I……….ho…. Sehun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wanna go home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’

‘Tough.’

‘SEHUN!’

‘Go to sleep!!!!!!!!!! God!!’

‘do- kjash- hjdkjasl – WHY ARE YOU THE ONE USING THE ‘G’ WORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’M THE ONE WHO’S UPSET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’

‘…………. ………………………...’