The paths of love

**Authorian Notes:
Chiku is all mine, but Ivan is a friends character. Decided to do this after a particular scene in the rpg where both characters are. In the rpg they fall for different people, but Ivan’s creator thought it would be better if Chiku and Ivan got together, and I felt the same way. So, here it is, I hope everyone likes it. Ivan’s creator is working on doing a piece herself, so keep a look out.
Also, if I get enough nice reviews, I might continue from this. What do you think, want to see what happens to Ivan and Chiku as they start a new life? Let me know!**



Ivan stared at the walls in his room, his entire soul felt sad. He wished for a window to look outside but at the same time he wished to be outside. Wished to be far away from the well lit room, far way from the castle. But such things are futile, useless. He sighs and lays down on the small lump of material he calls his bed, and curls into a ball. The small room seems suddenly smaller with every moment that goes by. And though the room is brightly lit, leaving no room for shadows, he feels scared.

He had disobeyed his Master and had been locked away. Tears fill his eyes as he remembers, the pain, the loss.

Chiku, another in his Master’s service, and he had become friends. When no one had been looking they would talk about their pasts, Chiku’s life before their Master. Ivan didn’t have a past, he had been created, but Chiku did. Chiku had had parents, older brother’s. Ivan just had a mad scientist to call ‘father’.

They had been caught together on several occasions, and punished, but this last time their Master had went crazy, beating both of them. Chiku had managed to escape, though Ivan had practically begged him to run, to leave the place. He deserved better.

“Chiku…”

Ivan whispers and shivers, he wouldn’t be able to take the light for long, soon it would destroy him as surely as the sun would destroy Chiku were he out in it. With Chiku gone his Master had continued to beat him, then put him in his room, lighting it with a spell. He knew that Ivan is apart of the shadows, had created him that way. Ivan’s Master knew that being in complete light, without his shadows, would kill him slowly. And it’s working, with each moment that goes by Ivan feels weaker and weaker.


****


Chiku storms through the castle, killing anyone that gets in his way. He doesn’t even take time to feed as he moves, he had fed well before planning his attack. He had spent most of the night seeking out prey and fed well on them. It hadn’t mattered if they were innocent or criminals. He would need his full strength to free Ivan. Since being under the rule of Marin, after his own vampire master sold him, he had been allowed very little blood, merely enough to get by on. Now there is more than enough blood flowing in his veins.

With his powers he searches for Ivan until he finds a faint pulse further into the castle. Everything is a blur to him as he practically flies to where he senses Ivan is. He breaks down the door to the room, not even bothering to try it the old fashioned way.
He stops dead in his tracks when he sees Ivan laying on the bed, light surrounding him, bound to his wrists. Still clad in his torn and bloodied cloths, no more than rags. Chiku knows that his master purposely did that, knowing that having no shadows around would kill Ivan. He curses his master to the deepest bowels of hell as he goes over to Ivan.

“Ivan…”

His eyes flicker open a moment and he smiles softly.

“You… came back…”

“Of course, I couldn’t be free without you.”

Carefully Chiku picks him up and holds him close as he makes his way back through the castle. He had to be quick or their master would find them and destroy them. A mad man is far more powerful then two friends will ever be. Amazingly, Chiku makes it out of the castle with Ivan and not one person tries to stop them.

Chiku doesn’t stop running until their miles away from the castle, then he takes them to a cave he had discovered during the day as he was seeking out blood to revive himself. The cave is almost hidden, with bushes and tree’s in front of it, the fact that it’s within a hill helps to hide it as well.

Within the cave it’s dimly lit by glowing stalactites and is damp feeling but warm. There is space enough for two people to walk abreast through it but the height cannot be more than six feet, which means Chiku has to bend over to walk inside. After several yards it bends to the right, that’s where Chiku plans to go. Behind the bend he has set up blankets and cloths for them.

All of it he had stolen from a local village. He had learned a lot from years being a vampire and one of those things was that you never let your victims possessions go to waste.

Gently he lays Ivan down on the blankets, watching as the shadows descend upon him, covering him, comforting and healing him. Ivan feels life suddenly come back to him with a jolt and opens his eyes to find Chiku standing over him. He felt the shadows move around, and through, him, filling him with life. He smiles tentatively and mentally checks his wounds.

The shadows hadn’t been able to heal everything, but the more important injuries and most of his bruises had been taken away. He was still sore, and worn out.

“Where are we?”

He asks, looking around him in awe, never before had he seen anything like this. His master, his father, had kept him locked up in the castle his whole life. He had never gotten to see what things looked like on the outside.

“This is a cave, we’re a good five miles away from the castle.”

Chiku kneels down and touches Ivan’s arm reverently. He had feared the worst when he had fled. He had not wanted to leave Ivan alone, afraid that their master might destroy him. He had nearly succeeded in it, though, evident in the worn look in Ivan’s eyes.

“I was afraid I wouldn’t make it back in time to save you.”

“I’m glad you did come back, though you shouldn’t of. He could of caught you and killed you.”

Chiku leans down, placing his hand against Ivan’s head.

“But he didn’t, and we’re both free now.”

Ivan looks away as a tear escapes, he couldn’t ever truly feel safe until he knew that his master was dead. He would never live in peace without that knowledge. Because his master would find them and he would kill them. Slowly and without mercy.

“He’ll find us, find us and make us wish we hadn’t of left. I know him, he won’t stop searching until he finds us. He won’t he able to let it go.”

“Ivan…”

Chiku takes his other hand and frames Ivan’s face, forcing him to turn his head.

“I don’t care, it was worth it, every moment of peace that we do get, every moment away from that castle will be worth it. No matter what happens. No matter if he does find us a kill us, at least we had a moment of happiness.”

“Did you truly mean what you said, before…”

Chiku smiles, and through the dim lighting Ivan can see it, how it lights up his face.

“Yes, I meant every word of it. I love you.”

He leans down and kisses his lips softly, shocking the other man. Chiku notices and pulls back quickly. Moving his hands to his side as well.

“I’m sorry, if you don’t want me to…”

“No, I just wasn’t expecting it. Please, kiss me again. Tell me how much you love me, it makes me happy to hear it.”

Chiku knew that Ivan had never known love before, his master a cruel man and his creator. Chiku is more than a little honored, and pleased, that he can be the first love for Ivan.

“I love you, Ivan.”

Chiku leans down and carefully kisses each of Ivan’s eyes as his hands framed his face once again.

“I love your eyes, the way each color seems to sparkle with life, love the fact that their so drastically different. They give you character.”

Ivan’s left eye is a mixture of brilliant blues and purples, all mingled together so they looked like one color yet were also obviously different, his right eye was the same, only the colors were deep greens, some of them bright as emeralds, others nearly black. Chiku had been shocked the first time he had seen them, but had grown to love them. Chiku\'s own eyes were black, as black as his own waist length hair. Ivan\'s hair falls to his ankles in glorious waves of fiery orange.

He kisses his nose, then his lips, tracing the outer edge with his tongue.

“I love everything about you…”

He trails his kisses down Ivan’s neck, then to his ear.

“Will you let me show you, in every way, that I love you?”

Chiku whispers in Ivan’s ear, even as he kisses it and trails down it with his tongue.

“Yes,” Ivan gasps out, feeling suddenly short of breath.

Chiku moves his kisses back down Ivan’s neck, pulling at the rags he’s wearing until he’s torn away what was left of his shirt. He kisses down to his chest, moving to tease his nipple with his tongue, to graze it gentle with his teeth. Then he moves to the other nipple, feeling Ivan shudder beneath him.

His hands move down, along his side, his waist, to remove the remnants of his pants, leaving Ivan nude beneath him. Chiku pulls back a moment to look at Ivan, his vampire vision letting him see as if in the light of the afternoon. He looks upon Ivan as if one bespelled, causing Ivan to blush a light pink

“So beautiful.”

He murmurs as he places his hands on Ivan’s ankles and slowly moves them up his legs, to his hips. Ivan’s breathing races as his heart pumps wildly, he’s enjoying this, every moment of it as Chiku touches and kisses him. Chiku moves his hands lightly over Ivan’s penis, causing his eyes to flutter in the back of his head

Chiku chuckles softly, huskily, and leans down to plant a kiss at the tip of his penis, slowly slipping it inside his mouth. Ivan goes crazy at the sensation, his mind reels at it, trying to put names to it. Chiku takes it all into his mouth, sucking lightly on it before moving back. He stops when just the tip is in his mouth then goes back down. He moves against Ivan like that, building up an even rhythm until he feels Ivan tense up beneath him and spill out.

Chiku pulls away and kisses Ivan, putting his all into the kiss. Letting Ivan know how much he cares, how afraid he was when he ran away, how angry he was when he came back for him. So many emotions all at once, so strong that it seemed as if he were trying to climb inside Ivan through his mouth.

When he pulled away they were both gasping for breath.

“That was… That was amazing!”

Ivan says, between breaths. Chiku smiles as he discards his cloths and lays back down, snuggling up to Ivan. Even if today was all they got, Chiku would die happy. It had been a long time since he had loved, or been loved back, and he planned to enjoy every moment of it.

“Want to try some more?”

Ivan turns on his side, his bruises healed even more than before.

“Can we?”

Chiku just nods his head and kisses him softly. Chiku could feel the sun rise outside, he would be weak for the next few hours and unable to travel well, so that’s how long they had to each other before running again.


****


It was a couple hours before sunset when they finally laid down to rest, holding each other close.

“I want to cut my hair.”

Ivan says softly, breaking the silence. He didn’t want any reminders of his master, his father, and the castle that he had lived his life in.

“No! You can’t, Ivan. It’s so beautiful, why would you want to destroy it?”

Ivan rolls onto his side, giving his back to Chiku, and closes his eyes.

“I don’t want to remember anything, I don’t want to look at my hair and remember how I lived before.”

Chiku places a gentle hand on his shoulder, understanding him now. He didn’t want to remember his time at the castle, but he had good memories to fall back on, Ivan didn’t. Ivan had been created by his master, born in a lab and raised in the dark castle. Chiku couldn’t even begin to imagine what it must be like, to live your life with no good memories, without love.

“Then let us make good memories. But don’t cut it off, it would be giving him something more. You can be you and still live on after all this. I’ll be here for you as long as you want me, Ivan, it will take more then one man, or even an army, to remove me from you. Your having long hair doesn’t change any of that.

Actually, I think I rather like it.”

Chiku moves his hand up, to Ivan’s neck, into his hair as he pulls it close. He lays his cheek against the softness of the hair, inhaling it’s scent of strawberries and dewy spring nights. Ivan turns around, his hair moving through Chiku’s fingers.

“You mean it?”

Ivan looked so lost, the way his eyes were a little too wide and his complexion paler than normal. He wasn’t sure what to say, or do. He had never had anyone show him kindness until Chiku had come into his life. He had never known love until Chiku came into his life.

Chiku releases his hair and moves to cup the side of his face, giving Ivan the gentlest of smiles.

“I mean it. I love you, Ivan, and in doing so I love everything about it. I won’t stop you if you truly want to cut your hair, but I will put up an argument because I really do like it on you.”

He kisses the tip of his nose, then his mouth, and Ivan snuggles closer, allowing himself the faintest hint of a smile.

“What was it like having a real father?”

Ivan’s question took Chiku completely off guard and it took him awhile to recover and answer him.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“No, it’s all right, you just surprised me is all.”

Chiku kisses his forehead and lays his head down next to Ivan’s.

“My mortal father was a wonderful man, he was honorable and looked up to at our village. He taught me so much growing up, taught me how to be a man. It hurt when the vampire came that changed me, I had to leave everything behind. To stay and let my family know I was still alive, but not human any longer, would of dishonored them greater than anything else.

My family held honor of oneself above everything else, honor and love for family. My immortal father, the vampire who made me a vampire, had no honor. He didn’t even understand the concept of honor. Their have been days when I have felt that I have no honor left. There is no honor in this… This masquerade of death.”

Ivan wraps an arm around him, seeing the watery look in his eyes and hearing the shakiness in his voice.

“You do have honor, Chiku. You came back for me, after all, not just anyone would of done something like that.”

“I was merely being selfish, I wanted you with me.”

Ivan just smiles a knowing smile. He would let Chiku believe what he wanted to, but he know that Chiku had honor, more then plenty of honor. Now, Ivan wasn’t certain if he had any, he had never been tested. Ivan snuggles closer to Chiku, closing his eyes as he does so.

“I’m tired…”

Chiku strokes his hair as he lets lethargy take over and bring him into the world of dreams and nightmares. As they sleep, Ivan’s hair moves around them, effectively hiding their bodies from the elements, keeping them warm with an unnatural heat.