Two of a Kind

It had been a while since Zitao and Kris had gotten some quality snuggle time in bed together—usually they ended up snuggling on the tiny couch, because they were already there and couldn’t be bothered to move, and hugging while sleeping didn’t count because, well, they were asleep, or too tired to really enjoy the moment.

Zitao sat on the end of the bed and crawled backwards to reach the pillows, Kris hovering over him. Zitao’s heart was pounding in anticipation, he could have cut the with a knife. He could feel Kris’ eyes on him, the weight of his stare only adding to the moment.

“You are so beautiful,” Kris said reverently, cupping Zitao’s face in his hands. “God, I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” Zitao said with a laugh, “We just went over this, now kiss me.”

Kris eased himself onto his elbows, Zitao leaned back onto the pillows to accommodate him. The kiss was gentle, slow, almost like the way their very first kiss had been, cautiously exploring. Zitao dragged his fingers through Kris’ hair, pulling him closer. They were so close that Zitao could feel Kris’ eyelashes fluttering over his cheek. Zitao nipped Kris’ lips and grinned when he gasped.

“I’ll get you for that,” Kris vowed, barely pulling away. He kissed Zitao again before he could come up with a response. Zitao moaned, his breath caught in his chest. His face felt warm, he absently pressed a hand to his cheek, almost poking Kris in the eye by accident.

“Oops,” he laughed, opening his eyes.

Kris hummed, kissing Zitao’s cheek. “So beautiful,” he said again, kissing down to Zitao’s jaw.

Zitao let his head fall back, eyes half closed as Kris continued to kiss down his neck. Kris’ hands were under his shirt, palms tracing the flat plane of his stomach and the sharp ridges of his hips. Zitao’s fingers were tangled in Kris’ hair, his legs wrapped around Kris’ own. He moaned as Kris on his collarbones, gasping each time Kris’ teeth brushed his skin.

Kris groaned against Zitao’s neck. “We should do this more often,” he panted. “It’s been too long.”

Zitao mumbled an agreement, closing his eyes once more as Kris tugged the collar of his shirt down to expose more skin. After a moment Zitao tugged lightly on Kris’ hair to get his attention.

“Kris?”

“Hmm?”

“I don’t think…I don’t know how far you wanted to take this but, I don’t think we should have .”

Kris leaned up a little and kissed Zitao gently on the lips. “Okay, love. We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” Zitao protested, pushing himself up on his elbows. “I don’t want you to think that I don’t want to.”

“It’s okay,” Kris said gently, “I don’t mind. I think we can take our time now, our first time was a little rushed, right?”

Zitao nodded, relief filling his chest. He was so glad that Kris understood. “I liked it though. I don’t regret it, but maybe we should just…hold off, for now.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Kris agreed. “We won’t go any further than this, okay? In fact,” he smirked and before Zitao could even gasp, Kris had flipped their positions so that Zitao was leaning over him. “Why don’t you set the pace this time, love?” Kris suggested.

Zitao’s heart was pounding, and he laughed breathlessly. “Okay you, but just remember you gave me permission. Unfold your wings for me.”

Kris obeyed eagerly, his wings flopping open against the bed. Zitao dug his fingers into the feathers and Kris moaned loudly, arching his back.

“Oh, it’s definitely been too long,” he said, “You’re so good at this—” He cut off with a groan as Zitao gently rubbed his nails between the feathers.

Petting got Kris riled up for a few minutes, but he soon calmed down, gasps easing into slow, even breaths as he struggled to keep his eyes open. For a while Zitao was content to sit on Kris’ thighs, able to watch all the changes in his expression and the slight twitch in his fingers, the way his wings would flutter against the mattress when Zitao brushed a sensitive spot. Eventually Kris grabbed at Zitao’s shirt and tugged weakly.

“You’re too far away,” he slurred. Then his voice turned almost whiny. “Come snuggle with me.”

“I’m right here,” Zitao laughed, sweeping his fingers down the edge of Kris’ wings. “I’m not going anywhere.” But he laid down anyway, nestling his head in the crook of Kris’ neck. It meant he could really only pet one wing, but Kris didn’t seem to mind; he loosely wrapped the other wing around Zitao’s shoulders, and Zitao shivered as the feathers tickled his arm. Never mind that it was summer and he’d probably get hot quickly, it felt so good to be wrapped up in Kris’ wings like this.

The curtains were open, as time wore on Zitao was able to see the sun setting and he stopped petting Kris’ wing, knowing he’d need time to recover and they’d have to get up soon. Angel needed to be fed, Zitao was getting hungry himself, and he needed to get ready for work tomorrow, make sure his uniform was washed…but he didn’t want to move.

“You know,” Zitao said, not even sure of Kris was awake, “I don’t think anyone realizes how wonderful love is until they find it for themselves. Maybe that’s why Krystal has such a hard time believing me. I should have told her about how lonely I was before you came along. Of course I didn’t realize it until suddenly I had someone to come home to, just like I didn’t realize how precious moments like these are. Just being held…it’s so wonderful, I wouldn’t give this up for anything or anyone.”

“I hope you never have to,” Kris murmured, turning his head to kiss Zitao’s hair. “Ugh, come up here so I can kiss you properly, I can’t move.”

Zitao stifled a laugh as he inched up to meet Kris’ lips. They kissed for several moments until a loud wail from the kitchen made them jump.

“Oh, that cat,” Zitao growled. “You’d think she was being murdered.” He turned back to Kris. “How do you feel about pizza and a movie?”

“I’m down for that,” Kris said as he stretched his arms out. “You go ahead, I need another minute, you really did a number on me.”

Zitao laughed as he sat up, giving Kris one more kiss before he left. “Take your time,” he called over his shoulder.

As soon as Zitao got to the kitchen Angel was at his feet, weaving in and out of his ankles and mewing at him pitifully.

“Oh hush, you,” Zitao said. “No matter what you think you’re not starving, I promise.” He picked up a can of tuna-flavored cat food and upended it over Angel’s dish. He hadn’t even pulled his hand away before she had her face shoved into the dish, gulping it down like she hadn’t eaten in weeks.

“Don’t puke,” Zitao warned her. Funny how he had another human being in the house with him and yet he still talked to his cat as though he expected her to talk back. Though considering the fact that he had a winged boyfriend sleeping in his bed, maybe talking cats weren’t so unfathomable.

Shaking off that weird image, Zitao called his and Kris’ favorite pizza place and ordered a large Hawaiian pie, with extra pineapple. It would take about half an hour, he was told, and Zitao decided to use that time to clean up a little. Kris did a good job of keeping the apartment clean, but Zitao decided that even though they were just having pizza, he wanted to make the meal a little fancy. He cleaned off the coffee table and pulled it closer to the couch, arranging it so that he and Kris could lean against the couch while they sat in front of the table. Then he set up some pillows on the floor for the pair of them to sit on, and took out some of the nicer plates that he owned, setting them up on the kitchen counter. At the last second he put out the glass candle holder—the only one he had—and dug through his closet for a candle. He knew he had some somewhere…

“Oh, rose scented,” Zitao said when he found them. “Perfect.”

Maybe pizza wasn’t the most romantic dinner in the world, but damn it all Zitao could make it seem like it was! After lighting the candle Zitao set up the DVD player with Kung-fu Panda 2—not the most romantic movie in the world but he’d just gotten the DVD and they hadn’t had a chance to watch it yet, though both he and Kris had loved the first one.

Kris must have heard the delivery man knock on the door, because he came out of the bedroom just as Zitao was bringing the pizza into the kitchen.

“How are you feeling?” Zitao asked as he cut up the pizza and put two slices on each plate.

“Very relaxed,” Kris said with a grin. “You?”

“Hungry,” Zitao said. “Come on, let’s go eat.”

Kris stopped in tracks when he saw the set up Zitao had prepared in the living room. “This is so cute!” he gushed.

Zitao blushed. “It’s nothing really,” he mumbled, though he was pleased that Kris seemed to think so.

“It looks like a movie set,” Kris went on. “No, it feels like a date.” He turned to Zitao, excited. “Is this a date?”

Zitao grinned at his enthusiasm. “Sure, this is a date.”

It was adorable how happy Kris was to hear that. The two of them sat down, shoulders just brushing. Once they were settled, Zitao grabbed the remote and hit play. The two of them managed to finish their pizza within the first fifteen minutes of the movie and quickly moved up onto the sofa—it was better for cuddling anyway.

In Zitao’s opinion, the second movie was almost better than the first one. The chase scene through the market had him in stitches, and though he found the “Who am I Really” plot a little cliché, he thought the director did a good job of making it work. Then came the scene where Po’s mother placed him in the radish box and said goodbye. He felt like crying, but his sadness turned quickly to surprise when he realized that Kris was actually crying.

Zitao paused the movie and handed him a tissue. “Are you okay?” He asked, now realizing what a touchy subject family was for Kris.

Kris nodded frantically, trying to smile. “I’m okay, I promise,” he said, his voice breaking.

Zitao Kris’ hair, trying to comfort him. “We can turn it off if you want.”

Kris shook his head. “No way, I want to see what they do about that pissy little peacock.” He took a few deep breaths, calming himself down, and took the remote, pressing play.

Zitao managed to keep himself from thinking about the event until the movie was over, but once it had ended he couldn’t help but feel a little sad. He knew Kris had outlived his parents and all his siblings, though now that he had a mate he would age normally. Zitao had never really thought about what that would be like, to stay young while all the people you loved grew old and passed away. Kris must have been so lonely—Zitao would never know that feeling, no matter how lonely he’d felt before, at least he had friends and parents.

“Kris,” he said hesitantly, “If you ever want to invite friends or family over, you can. We can set them up in the spare bedroom if they need to spend the night, we have the room, and really, I can guess you haven’t seen your family for a while. I don’t want you to feel like I’m keeping you away from them.”

Kris looked shocked. “I would never feel like that,” he said fiercely. “I’ve only lived with you for what? Five weeks or something? The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind, it would be rude to just start calling people up and bringing them into your house—”

“But that’s just it,” Zitao interrupted. “This is your house too.”

Kris froze for a moment. “Oh,” he said quietly. “I didn’t mean it like that…I don’t mean to sound like I’m not invested in this place too.”

“It’s okay,” Zitao reassured him, “But really, I think I would like to meet your family. You’ve met mine after all.”

Kris smiled at him. “I would like you to meet them too.” He brightened. “You know, I have a cousin who lives in Incheon. His name is Lu Han, he’s about the same age as me. I could call him up, if you want to meet him.”

“I would love that,” Zitao said brightly. Hopefully Kris’ friend would be more welcoming than Zitao’s friends had been.

Kris’ cousin was delighted at the invitation, and asked if he could bring his mate along. Kris hadn’t known Lu Han was mated and immediately congratulated him, and Zitao said that of course his mate was welcome.

“This will be great,” Kris later told Zitao, “Apparently Lu Han’s been mated for something like a year now, so you’ll get to hear about what it’s like from a fellow human.”

Lu Han was due to arrive at noon that Friday, but Kris confided that he had a terrible habit of showing up way earlier than he was expected—sometimes even an entire day early—because he was horrible at figuring out how much time he actually needed to travel, so Zitao made sure the apartment was clean by Thursday morning.

“Lu Han wouldn’t care if you lived in a cave,” Kris huffed as he watched Zitao fuss over some new candles that he’d gotten specifically for the occasion. “He doesn’t care if the place is clean or if it smells nice.”

“I want to make a good impression, is that so bad?” Zitao demanded. This was, after all, probably the closest he would come to meeting Kris’ parents.

“Good thing I didn’t invite the head of the clan,” Kris sniffed.

Zitao almost fell over. Okay, so maybe Lu Han wasn’t the closest he’d come to meeting Kris’ parents. “Who’s the head of the clan?”

“His name is Yixing, he’s a ditz,” Kris sighed, rolling his eyes. “Kid can’t tell his right hand from his left ear most of the time, always got his head in the clouds. But he’s surprisingly wise when he wants to be. You should hear the kinds of things that can come out of that kid’s mouth, he sounds like a scholar sometimes. Even when he was a baby—”

“You’ve known the head of the clan since he was a baby?” Zitao interrupted. “Hang on, are you the oldest member of your clan?”

Kris hesitated. “No, I’m not the oldest…but I am one of the older ones.”

“How come you’re not leading?”

“These things go by bloodline.” Kris laughed a little. “To be honest I don’t think I’d want to be leader. I don’t envy the kid.”

Zitao nodded, secretly wondering what it would be like to meet the leader of Kris’ clan. Then he got a dust cloth and started wiping down the fan blades in the bedroom.

Kris and Zitao were woken at 7 AM on Friday morning by the doorbell buzzing relentlessly, which Zitao mistook for a raging bee in his half-asleep state.

“GET IT AWAY FROM ME,” He cried, falling out of bed.

“LU HAN!” Kris roared, leaping from the bed, feathers standing on end in anger. “I’ll get you for this you little monster!!”

Once Zitao had calmed down he quickly changed into something presentable and frantically tried to make sure that his hair wasn’t rumpled from sleep. He couldn’t get to the bathroom to brush his teeth without being seen, so instead he chewed a stick of gum for a few seconds. It took three minutes for him to make sure he looked presentable, and in his mind that was three minutes too long. He should have been ready for this, what would Lu Han think of him? He could hear voices in the living room, he hoped Kris was telling Lu Han that Zitao was usually more prepared than this.

Zitao spat his gum into the wrapper and tucked it into his bedside table, making a mental note to throw it out later. Then he fixed his hair one more time and hurried into the living room. Kris seemed to be in a better mood, he was smiling at any rate, and he had a large cup of coffee. Zitao didn’t have time to ask where he’d gotten it, because in the next second Lu Han was in front of him—or at least he assumed it was Lu Han.

“Oh my gosh!” Lu Han cried, and he started jumping up and down, wings unfolding from his back (yes he definitely was Lu Han) and flapping a little in his excitement. “You must be Zitao! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! You are so adorable! I can see why you’re Kris’ mate, you’re exactly his type, you’re so cute! Can I hug you?”

A little bewildered, Zitao nodded and he was promptly swept into Lu Han’s arms—and wings. Lu Han had a very strong grip. Zitao grunted a little as his chest was constricted.

“You’re choking my boyfriend,” Kris grumbled.

“Sorry,” Lu Han said, loosening his grip and pulling back a little bit. He was very handsome, and he gave Zitao a bright smile. “I’m so glad to meet you! Huang Zitao, my favorite cousin’s mate, oh I am so happy for the two of you.” He suddenly turned serious. “Hey, this dude hasn’t been making a fool of himself by any chance, has he? Do you have any blackmail material on him?”

“Lu Han!” Kris yelped.

“I have loads of it, if you need it,” Lu Han went on, “Oh god, I have pictures of him from the eighties, let me tell you that hair—”

“Zitao, meet Sehun!” Kris said quickly, grabbing a pink-haired boy from seemingly nowhere and shoving him at Zitao’s chest. The two collided with a grunt and Kris promptly started pushing them towards the guest bedroom. “Okay, you two go talk while I have a nice little chat with my favorite cousin.”

Kris’ tone left no indication of anything good happening to Lu Han, but before Zitao could say something to him, Kris had managed to shove the two younger boys into the room and close the door. Zitao heard him stomping back to the living room and a pained yelp from Lu Han.

Zitao turned to Sehun. “I think my boyfriend is about to kill yours,” he said in a strangled tone, his hand on the doorknob.

Sehun waved his hand. “Aw, who cares? Lu Han’s an , he deserves it.”

Zitao blinked rapidly, wondering if he was still asleep. “What?”

Sehun stepped back and sat on the bed. “You heard me, Lu Han deserves it. Just leave them be, they’ll be fine.”

Zitao stepped away from the door. “That’s not very nice,” he chastised.

Sehun shrugged. “It’s true.”

“But he seems really nice,” Zitao protested. “Kris—”

“You think that because he fussed over you,” Sehun said with a smile. “Lu Han is nice but make no mistake, he’s a devil in disguise. He’ll make you believe he’s the sweetest thing in the world, and laugh at you behind your back while you fall for it, and then when you least expect it, he’ll sweep the rug out from under you and reveal his true self.” Sehun’s grin turned into a smirk. “I’ve been told that I’m his total opposite, so we work well together.”

Zitao sat opposite Sehun on the bed. “So, you make people think you’re mean when you’re really sweet?” He confirmed.

“Yep,” Sehun nodded. “Lu Han says it’s a defense mechanism, keeps me from getting hurt.” He shrugged again. “I suppose it’s true.” Then Sehun straightened up. “So, I’m supposed to tell what it’s like to be mated to a Pet. Oh,” he laughed when he saw Zitao flinch. “You don’t like the name?”

“It sounds so…primitive,” Zitao said hesitantly. “I don’t like it.”

“You don’t have to,” Sehun said quickly, “Lu Han gets a kick out of it.” Sehun blushed and cleared his throat. “But um, yeah. Any questions?”

Zitao hesitated. “How long did you know Lu Han before you…before you knew you loved him?”

Sehun seemed surprised. “Oh,” he mumbled. “Um…kind of right away.” He smiled shyly, and it was a shock—his earlier smirk had made him seem so mischievous, like the devil he swore Lu Han was, but this smile made him look so young and soft.

“Wait, how old are you?” Zitao interrupted.

“I’m seventeen,” Sehun answered. “I was fifteen when I met Lu Han.”

Zitao wasn’t very good at hiding his shock—Sehun laughed at his expression. “I know, I was really young, but I didn’t even talk to him until after I turned sixteen.”

“But you know you were in love,” Zitao said, “So how did that work out?”

Sehun twisted his hands in his lap—probably a nervous habit. “Well, I knew him because he was always at my bus stop on my way home from school. He was in college, I was in high school, but he just happened to get out of class at the same time as me. For a while I thought I just liked him because he was handsome. He started to talk to me and I thought, oh, he’s just talking to me because he’s nice, it doesn’t mean anything, but of course that didn’t stop me from feeling—” He stopped himself, blushing again. “I’m saying too much.”

“No, no!” Zitao said quickly, “Please, I’d like to hear about it, if you don’t mind telling me, and then I’ll tell you how I met Kris.”

Sehun hesitated, and then he blurted, “I only realized I loved him when I looked back on it. At the time I thought I was being stupid, having a crush on someone I barely knew, I didn’t realize what it was. Lu Han knew the whole time, but he also knew I needed my space, and he let me have it, he let me come to him. I had just…had my heart broken, actually. I had a crush on a senior student in my year and he…well he wasn’t who I thought he was. So I was still reeling from that, and then there was just the fact that Lu Han was older than me, and to him I was probably just some kid. We knew each other for a year before I finally said something to him. He asked me to go over to his house, and that’s when he showed me the wings and told me what was going on.” Sehun grinned. “It was kind of a relief, knowing that I wasn’t weird, that we were supposed to happen.”

Zitao nodded. “How strange though, that you met him at such a time in your life.”

Sehun laughed. “Well from what I gather, that’s a Pet thing. They find their mates at a time when one of them needs it most.” He eyed Zitao curiously. “So, what was it like for you?”

“Oh,” Zitao laughed, “Kind of the opposite from you—I knew about the Pet and mating thing before I even really knew Kris.” He recounted the story of the bullies, seeing Kris on the ceiling (“Ugh,” Sehun groaned, “Freaks me out when Lu Han does that.”), their first two chaotic meetings and the slow buildup to what they were now, and then he hesitantly told Sehun about his parent’s reaction, and then his friend’s.

“Ouch,” Sehun winced when Zitao finished telling him about his retreat from the restaurant. “But I see where your friend is coming from. If you had been in her position, meeting her boyfriend or girlfriend, who she was living with, but this was the first time you’d met and she’d never spoken about him before, what would you think?”

Zitao laid back on the bed, arms splayed out. He blinked back frustrated tears. “Probably that she was in an abusive relationship,” he said. “But I’m not, and I want them to love Kris, but they’re so suspicious of him. And I don’t know what to do, because they have good reason to be suspicious, but not for the reasons they think, and I can’t tell them the truth—”

“Or Kris will be exiled,” Sehun finished. “Damn, that’s quite a quagmire.”

“A what?”

“Quagmire,” Sehun repeated, “It means dilemma.”

Zitao huffed and threw his arm over his eyes. “Yeah, I guess it is.”

I hope liked the surprise appearance by HunHan! And I hope you understand a little better now why Krystal freaked out the way she did. She basically thinks that Zitao's in an unhealthy relationship. Don't hate her please ;; she means well, I promise!

(PS I changed my username, in case you didn't notice)