Fate

Title: Fate
Author: MakaiKitty
Rating: R/NC-17
Category: Original Fantasy
Warings: slash, m/m, sex
Distribution: My website, My LJ and any LJs I posted at, AFF.net, FicWad, and DeviantArt. If you\'d like to use it just let me know.
Status: Complete

Author\'s Note: This hasn\'t been beta-ed yet, I\'m pretty much posting as I write in order to get a feel for reactions, so I\'m sorry for any mistakes you may find. Also, I\'d like to thank everyone who\'s been kind enough to R/R, it really feels good to read the positive reviews. Thanks a Bunch!

\"Fate\"

After breakfast I decided we needed to go clothes shopping. Although Alexis looked adorable in my oversized clothes, I knew that he\'d need clothes of his own eventually. Funny how I never considered the idea of him not staying, how I just started thinking of his being there as completely natural. I\'m not normally a people person, I like being alone, but it never once occurred to me to say to him, Okay, you\'re free. You can go now. We had only met the night before, but already I knew that I liked having him there. Lexi later told me that he wouldn\'t have left even if I\'d told him to because carnelians don\'t do well on their own without a master to serve. Maybe on some level I knew then that that would be the answer, that it would be pointless to ask him to leave. Either way, I never asked him to leave and he never said that he wanted to. It just worked out that way.

I dressed him in the smallest things I could find, and by the time we were out the door he looked nearly presentable. Due, I guessed, to his daemon blood most of the visible cuts and scratches from the previous night were healed, breakfast had added a healthy glow to his skin and he no longer looked so frighteningly pale, and despite the bagginess of the clothes he wore he still looked relatively normal. No one would suspect that I was taking a daemon to the mall with me. Well, maybe his unnatural coloring and his stunning beauty marked him as less that normal, but I still didn\'t think that anyone would see him and think daemon. Not that I really cared what anyone else thought, but it would make things easier if no one knew what he was.

Going shopping with Alexis was interesting, to say the least. As I drove to the mall near my home he kept his eyes tightly shut and his delicate hands had a death-grip on the dashboard. When we stopped in the parking lot I was wondering if I\'d have to pry his hands off the dash. He seemed more than happy to get out of the car though, hopping out almost before the engine had shut-off. The only thing he didn\'t do is get down on the ground and kiss the earth. I don\'t think I\'m a bad driver, but I figured Lexi felt differently. Then, as we entered the mall he grabbed onto the edge of my shirt and wouldn\'t let go. I actually thought it was kinda cute, so I didn\'t make him let go. As we walked past the different windows I saw his eyes get as big a dinner plates. I suspected that he hadn\'t gotten out much with his master, but I didn\'t ask. He seemed so awed by the simple site of the shopping mall that I didn\'t want to dampen the mood by bringing up bad memories. I liked his smile and wanted to keep it firmly in place for as long as I could.

He kept his dazed expression until we entered the first clothing store. I think he had thought I was going shopping and had brought him along, not that we were shopping for things for him.

\"No Master,\" he said, shaking his head side to side so that it made his hair fall across his eyes, \"I don\'t need anything.\"

\"It\'s Shayne not Master. And yes you do. Now go.\" and I shoved him into the nearest dressing room with an armful of clothes. When I had first seen him he looked so small and frail, but I was glad to see that he was actually around 5\'5\", and finding clothes to fit him wasn\'t nearly as hard as I had feared. The circumstances had just made him appear tiny, or so I suspected.

He seemed to be taking forever, so I finally walked over to the stall door and knocked on it. \"So, do they fit or do I need to find another size?\"

\"They fit fine Master Shayne.\"

\"It\'s just Shayne.\" I answered, annoyed. At breakfast and in the car he had stopped calling me Master, but now he was back at it. I wondered if it was a nervous response? I didn\'t think that trying on clothes was a stressful occasion, but maybe I was wrong? \"And if they fit then why won\'t you come out? Don\'t like the style?\"

\"The style is fine Mas ... Shayne. But you mustn\'t waste such fine clothes on me. I don\'t deserve them.\"

Oh, so that\'s it? I thought. That response hadn\'t occurred to me. I thought he\'d be glad to have some new clothes to wear, to finally have a change in lifestyle from how he\'d been previously kept. Well, I decided, he\'s getting new things rather he likes it or not. I only felt mildly guilty for the fact that I was pushing him around, but I wasn\'t going to budge. And I only felt a little more guilty for treating him a bit like a doll, playing dress-up and picking things out for him. Things that I thought would look cute on him. I knew he wouldn\'t pick out anything on his own anyway. After all, wasn\'t I aloud a few indulgences?

\"Stop talking nonsense. Come out here and let me see how you look. Please?\"

After a few moments the door to the changing room finally opened and Alexis came out. I had picked out a teal colored, long sleeved cotton shirt that clung snuggly to his lithe frame, the sleeves falling down over the tops of his hands. The khaki shorts that I\'d chosen probably could have been a bit longer, but it seemed a shame to cover such shapely little legs. So what if I\'m a bit of a perv, at least I was just dressing him up and not feeling him up. I do have some self control, although the delicate blush of his cheeks and the shy way he kept tugging at the sleeves of his shirt, making a point of looking anywhere but at me, was rapidly wearing away at that control.

\"You look good. Here, turn around once.\" I couldn\'t help myself. As he turned in a little circle in front of the dressing room I decided that, on second thought, the snug little shorts were the perfect size.

Mistaking my silence for disapproval Alexis started to turn around and head back for the dressing room. \"See, now you know. They would be a waste on me. I\'ll go change now Master.\"

Before he could make it back into the cubicle I grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him to me, pressing our bodies close. I stopped for a moment, savoring the warmth of his body against mine, the strangely sweet smell of him momentarily intoxicating me. While I held him against me with one hand I let the other wander slowly and smoothly down his back.

\"M-Master? Shayne?\" He ask shakily, his voice barley above a whisper.

His breathy voice did little for my self-control, and neither did the way he looked up at me with his crimson eyes half closed, his full, pouty lips half open. A very inviting site. Very. I had nearly forgotten my purpose in pulling him towards me until my hand reached the small of his back. Letting my hand slide under the shirt I felt his sinfully soft skin with my fingertips, sliding one just under the waistband of the shorts until I found what I was looking for.

\"I think you should probably just wear these out of the store. I\'ll give this,\" I held up the sales tag that I had just retrieved as I slowly backed away from any further temptations the petite little daemon might offer \"to the clerk.\"

It was then that I noticed that we\'d developed a bit of a crowd sometime during the little tag incident, several of the sales girls now peering at us from a nearby counter. I backed away, albeit a little hesitantly, and put a little distance between us. Grabbing the tag off the back of his shirt before completely moving a way I began to walk towards the gaggle of clerks, all of whom were suddenly trying very hard not to look at either of us. I paid them no mind, instead I was silently pleased with myself because of the adorably dazed expression Alexis still wore. I may have lost a bit of my self-control, but he didn\'t seem to mind in the least.

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Before long we were weighed down with bags, Alexis\' wardrobe nearing the size of mine, and it wasn\'t even lunch yet. He hated to see me spending money on him, but I didn\'t mind in the least. About time I put it to good use. I just dragged him from store, dressing up my pretty little daemon as I pleased. Not my fault he wouldn\'t pick anything out on his own. What else was I to do? I even behaved myself for the rest of the trip. Well, except for the playful little nips I kept giving to his ankles as I helped him try on shoes. I couldn\'t help it, he\'d give an adorable squeak and his cheeks would turn the prettiest shade of pink every time I did it. I really couldn\'t help myself. I never claimed to be a saint, now did I?

Right after lunch I was starting to think we\'d done enough shopping, when we passed by the mall\'s only bookstore. I couldn\'t resist showing off and I abruptly dragged Alexis straight towards the store\'s central display.

\"Look.\" I declared proudly.

He just stared at me blankly. Doing that little bird-like head tilt of his and blinking confusedly.

\"Look.\" I said again, picking up the nearest graphic novel off the shelf. \"Look. It\'s mine.\"

\"Yours?\"

\"Yeah, mine. I wrote and drew it. It\'s my work. Cool, huh?\"

\"You\'re an artist?\"

\"Yup.\" I nodded my assent as I watched him begin to flip through the pages. I write about magick and Daemons, so I was interested to see what this daemon had to say about my work. \"It pays the bills. And it\'s way better than sorting animal crackers.\"

He abruptly looked up at me, the comic momentarily forgotten, \"Sorting animal crackers?\"

\"Yeah, sorting animal crackers. Someone has to make sure that there aren\'t any two headed cows in the animal cracker boxes, don\'t they? There must be someone ...\" I had to stop. No one ever seems to get my brand of humor. I really should just give up on it. Maybe I\'ll learn. Someday. \"Forget that! What do you think of my work?\"

\"It\'s wonderful! You\'re a very good artist. I especially love the way you draw torillians.\"

\"Torillians?\"

\"Yes,\" he held out the book for me to see. He was pointing at one of my dragons. \"Torillians. Like this.\"

\"Wow,\" I yelled, probably too loud because a number of the store\'s customers suddenly turned towards us. I lowered my voice a little and started over. \"Wow, you mean dragons are real?! You\'re kidding me. Aren\'t you?\" Here I was talking to a daemon, probably was one myself for that matter, and I was shocked that dragons were real? Go figure.

\"That\'s right, they\'re dragons here. Yes, dragons are real.\"

\"Wait a minuet,\" I was blown away by this information. Dragons? \"If dragons are real then where are they? I think someone would have noticed if there were dragons around. Wouldn\'t they?\"

\"Oh, there aren\'t any in this realm.\" He seemed to find this idea to be ridiculous.

\"This realm?\" I was beginning to feel like I shouldn\'t have started asking questions in the first place. Was the mall really the place for what was obviously going to be a mind-bending discussion? Well, I\'ve never been very good at planning ahead.

\"Yes, this realm. There are several daemon realms, as well as the mortal plane, where we are now.\"

\"How many realms?\"

\"Nine.\"

\"Oh.\" That was all I could think of to say. Nine daemon realms?! Plus ours? I had never suspected. It was ... well, I didn\'t really know what it was. Or what to think. All I knew was that wrapping my mind around the idea of nine daemon planes gave me a headache. When I saw Alexis start to open his mouth to explain further I cut him off before he could get anything out.

\"Some other time.\" was all I could say. \"Maybe when I\'m drunk.\"

Alexis just shrugged his shoulders. Obviously the idea of nine daemon realms didn\'t faze him. Then again, he\'s a daemon. But so am I, aren\'t I? Maybe I\'d get used to it? Maybe.

I was about to suggest that we start to head for home when I saw some guy approach Alexis from his other side. He looked innocent enough, but there was something about him I didn\'t like. It was probably the way he looked at Alexis. It was probably the same way I looked at him, but that didn\'t mean this guy could do it!

\"Pretty color,\" the guy said with a leer, reaching out to touch a lock of Alexis\' crimson hair. Before he could do more than raise his hand I was already in between them and had his wrist in a death grip. He looked from my hand to his, and I think he was about to say something to me when he suddenly paled and looked like he was about to faint. I hear a low growling noise at the same time, and it took me a moment to realize that the growling was coming from me. I\'m not sure what he saw when he looked at me, but the moment I let go of his wrist he turned and stumbled out of the store as fast as his feet could carry him.

I stood stock still for a moment before glancing down and taking a good look at the ring I now wore on my right hand. I had almost forgotten that when I put it on the night before I had become a daemon. At least that was what the guy had said to me. I was starting to believe him. What had the guy seen in me just then to make him go so deathly pale? Was it really me growling? Was I a daemon? I don\'t know how long I stood there before the feeling of Alexis\' hand on my arm brought me back to my senses.

\"Sorry, guess I zoned out for a bit.\" Alexis just looked at me worriedly, as if he were waiting for something to happen. \"Lexi?\"

\"Yes Master?\"

\"Just one question.\"

\"Yes Master?\"

\"Did my eyes glow red or something like that just now?\"

He took a moment to answer, looking down at his feet before answering quietly, \"Yes.\"

I thought about that for a moment, then I started to laugh. \"Cool!\"

I\'m surprised that Alexis didn\'t get whiplash from the speed with which he turned his face up to mine. He seemed so shocked that I couldn\'t help be laugh even harder.

\"Yeah, cool!\" I grabbed his hand and started to walk towards the mall\'s exit. \"You\'ll have to tell me all about what type of daemon I am. I didn\'t know my eyes could glow red! Awesome.\"

It was the truth too. I did think it was kinda cool that my eyes could glow red. I couldn\'t wait to find out what type of daemon I was and what sort of powers I may have developed. It was surprising to say the least, but it was also kind of exciting too. The only thing I found more surprising though was my reaction to the guy in the bookstore. Sure, I hadn\'t liked the way he looked at Lexi, and I really didn\'t like that he\'d tried to touch him, but I was still shocked that I\'d reacted so strongly. Well, Alexis didn\'t seem to mind my new found protective streak, so I figured I shouldn\'t sweat it.

I thought all and all our first outing together had gone pretty well. We\'d found Alexis a suitable wardrobe, I hadn\'t killed the guy in the bookstore, I\'d learned that dragons were real and that I draw them well, and I\'d even behaved myself by keeping my hands mostly to myself despite the delectable little daemon I had at my side. Mostly. Almost totally. Well, except for that little side trip on the way out to Hot Topic where we picked up an all leather outfit for Lexi, complete with studded collar. Like I said, almost totally. Hey, I\'m only human. Or at least I was, anyway.

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By the time we\'d made it home I\'d asked a million and one questions and I knew that I was now a terkarian daemon, our powers being mostly strength based, and if I wasn\'t careful about my temper I might sprout fangs and claws the next time I got pissed. Didn\'t sound too bad to me. Apparently I could now bench-press a small car. Could come in handy someday. Right?

Alexis seemed to think that I would be upset with him or something, but really I wasn\'t. I wasn\'t upset with him, and I wasn\'t really upset that I was no longer human either. I figured, What\'s the big deal? Human, Terkarian, either was fine with me. Besides, what was the point in getting upset over something that had already happened. I was just going to go with the flow and enjoy exploring my new daemon powers. Oh, and try not to growl at overeager bookstore customers. Well, not too often anyway.

After sending Lexi upstairs to put away his new things I set about making dinner for us. Now, despite what most people would assume about me I am a good cook. A very good cook. I\'m just usually cooking for one, so no one knows just how competent I am. Plus, aside from showing off, I also wanted to put some meat on Alexis\' lithe frame. Not that he didn\'t look amazing, but he had a certain underfed look to him that I didn\'t like. I intended to change that.

We ended up having a dinner of seafood alfredo with a side of steamed yellow squash. At first Alexis just picked at his plate Until I had to threaten to tie him to his chair and force feed him. After that he seemed to feel it was okay to eat as he liked and he ended up finishing off two huge platefuls. It felt nice to see him enjoy my cooking so enthusiastically, and I began to plan out in my head the dinners I would fix over the next few nights. I would introduce Alexis to all of my best dishes. I couldn\'t wait. I remember thinking that If I\'d known I\'d enjoy having him around so much I would have gotten myself a daemon ages ago!

The most exciting part of dinner came when Alexis was helping me clean up afterwards. For me anyway. Now, I know that most people assume that all young single guys are slobs who never clean up after themselves, but that\'s not true about me. I like to have the dishes done every night after dinner, and I didn\'t see why that should change just because I wasn\'t alone anymore. If anything it would have been the opposite. Alexis had wanted to do it all himself, but I didn\'t see why he should so we agreed on me washing and him drying. I was going about my task almost mechanically when he suddenly ask me where the dishes were usually kept. I answered absentmindedly, already engrossed in planning out the next evening\'s dinner menu. The tinkling sound of glass on glass brought me out of my thoughts and I turned to see the stack of dinner plates already at home in the cabinet above the counters, but Alexis was still beside me at the sink. That was when I saw the smaller salad plates moving across the kitchen and onto the shelf to take their places next to the other plates. Maybe moving isn\'t the right choice of words. Flying would be more appropriate. Flying! I hadn\'t really stopped to consider what Alexis\' specific daemon powers may be, well other than the power to transform another, but apparently levitating was one of them.

\"You\'re making the dinnerware fly.\"

\"Yes.\" He said, looking for all the world like I\'d pointed out completely ordinary. And to him I suppose it was, but I found it fascinating.

\"They\'re. Flying.\"

\"Yes. I didn\'t think I could reach above the counters, it\'s too high.\" Then he suddenly seemed to realize why I found flying dishes so bizarre. \"Sorry. I forgot.\"

\"Yeah. Previously human, and all that.\" I suddenly felt kind of dumb for not thinking of the obvious answer right off the bat. \"It\'s okay. I just didn\'t know you could do that. It\'s really cool.\" For this complement I received a beautiful smile from the little daemon, a smile that made his stunning eyes shine like rubies. I thought then that if I could see that smile every time I asked a stupid question then I didn\'t mind looking like an idiot. Not at all.

With our chores done I thought it was time to relax. We\'d both had a pretty eventful day, Alexis discovering the joys of the shopping mall and me digesting all the new daemon information that I\'d learned, and a little veg time in front of the television seemed like a good way to end the night. So, with this in mind I steered him out of the kitchen and down the hall into the den. And right to my brand new big screen TV. It was really so much bigger than I needed, but when I saw the awed expression on Alexis\' face I knew I\'d made the right choice. If you haven\'t noticed, I really like to show off sometimes. Maybe it makes me shallow, but it\'s still fun.

I turned down the lights, grabbed the remote, and we ended up settling down to watch a monster movie marathon. I\'m a sucker for those things and Alexis said he\'d never seen a horror film, so I decided it was my civic duty to introduce him to the joys of a real scream-fest. The film started and we soon settled into a comfortable silence as we watched the macabre scenes move across the screen.

Although we had started on nearly opposite ends of the couch, it didn\'t take me long to notice that each time I looked over at Alexis he seemed to be closer and closer. Before very long he was right beside me with his head resting lightly on my shoulder.

\"Can I help you?\" I ask, arching a brow and chuckling slightly at his stealthy maneuvering.

\"I only wanted to be closer to you.\" and then he added, oh so innocently, \"The film is very frightening.\"

\"A likely story.\" I said, even as I slid my arm around his much smaller frame.

The longer we sat there, the less attention I paid to the film. Sitting so closely I couldn\'t help but notice the intoxicating smell emanating from the pretty little daemon by my side. Appropriate to his coloring his bobbed hair smelled oddly of strawberries, and his entire body seemed to give off a sugary sweet smell that easily drove me to distraction. I couldn\'t keep myself from burying my face in the silky strands of his hair, inhaling deeply as I did so.

Mimicking my earlier tone, complete with an arched brow for emphasis, Alexis looked up at me and ask, \"Can I help you?\"

\"No. I\'m fine, thanks.\" And I was. While I continued taking in his scent, rubbing my cheek against his hair all the while, my hands seemed to have taken on minds of their own. With one hand I had drawn him even closer, pulling him nearly into my lap, the other absentmindedly tracing circles on his upper thigh, taking in the feel of his satiny skin as I slowly moved higher and higher.

When our lips finally met I wasn\'t really surprised to find that he tasted as sweet as his scent had implied he would. I also wasn\'t surprised to find that his lips were as soft as velvet, and I was delighted to feel them yielding eagerly to me, Alexis clearly making it known that he was enjoying himself at least as much as I was.

We leisurely explored each other with taste and touch, our hands ghosting over the flesh of our bodies even as our mouths continued to greedily devour one another. I had completely forgotten why I had resisted touching the delicious little daemon all through the day, and Alexis didn\'t seem to mind the change in attitude in the least.

When Alexis suddenly stiffened in my arms as I ran my hand along the lower edge of his ribs, giving a pained little whimper very different from his earlier vocalizations, I was reminded of precisely why I had restrained myself up until now.

\"I\'m sorry. Are you okay?\"

\"No, I\'m sorry. I\'m fine. Really I am, Master. I didn\'t mean to disturb you.\" He said, trying to pull my arms back around him even though it was painfully obvious that he wasn\'t fine at all. Despite the fact that most of his external wounds had healed from the night before I was now certain that not all of the internal ones had.

\"He must have really hurt you.\" It was a statement, not a question. Although we hadn\'t discussed what had happened the night I had found him in the woods, or what had happened before that for that matter, I was relatively certain that I could figure it out for myself. And it wasn\'t pretty. I suddenly felt like a real ass for having forgotten that it was only the night before that I had found him in such a battered condition. Not even twenty-four hours. It had seemed like longer.

\"Is there something I can do?\"

He didn\'t seem to want to answer my questions, instead climbing further onto my lap and seeking to reiterate our earlier kiss. I can\'t blame him for not wanting to talk about it, but I also wasn\'t going to just ignore his pain either. How could I? Did he really expect me to just forget the way he had shuddered at my touch and just go on as if nothing had happened?

\"It\'s fine,\" he whispered lowly into my ear, seeking to distract me from our discussion no doubt, \"you didn\'t need to stop.\"

\"Yes. I did.\" I told him as I took hold of his upper arms, forcibly placing some distance between us. \"You\'re obviously in pain, and I should have realized that you would be after last night. I shouldn\'t have let things go so far.\" Then, more to myself than him I added, \"I shouldn\'t have let them go anywhere, for that matter.\"

\"Why not? I\'m yours now. You want me, so you should take me.\" He said all of this with complete conviction, as if he believed every word of it. And I guess he did. He was looking at me as if I was the one being unreasonable, as if he could make me see the sense in his words if only I would listen. In reality his words just strengthened my resolve to reign in my desires and do the right thing by him, even if my body was wished differently.

\"You\'re not mine.\" Seeing the heartbroken look in his lovely eyes, and looking at the glittering ring upon my finger, I quickly reconsidered my words. I was trying to make things better, not worse, after all. \"Okay, maybe you are mine. But shouldn\'t that mean that I should take really good care of you?\"

\"I said that I\'m fine.\"

\"Not likely. You can\'t fool me.\" I said, pinning him with my eyes. I wanted to make certain that he was listening to me, that he knew that I was completely serious about what I was saying. \"And you may be into pain, although I seriously doubt that, but I am not. Not my pain or my partner\'s. Got it?\"

He nodded once, but then quickly added, \"But carnelians are strong, I should be completely healed in a day or two. Then there won\'t be any problems. Right?\"

Although I wanted to agree with him, I just couldn\'t do it. \"No, I don\'t think so. We just can\'t do this.\"

\"Can\'t do this? Why not?\" Alexis\' crimson eyes had begun to tear up by this time, but I wasn\'t going to be distracted by his tears, not matter how much it hurt to see them. I didn\'t want to be the cause of his pain, but I thought it was really important to set the ground rules now. It was what was best for him anyway.

\"We can\'t do this because it isn\'t right. Surely you must understand why?\" Knowing that he wasn\'t going to give me an answer I pressed on without one, \"It isn\'t right because I would be taking advantage of you. You won\'t say no to me even if you want to. Or am I wrong?\" Looking at him even for just a moment gave me the answer I had expected, \"I won\'t be like that bastard who hurt you last night.\"

Now, before you begin to think I\'m some goody-goody who only sleeps with people he\'s in love with, let me assure you I\'m not. I\'ve had more one night stands than I can remember. I couldn\'t even begin to imagine how many men I\'ve been with because I lost count years ago. Not that I\'m a raging man-slut either, but I do like a good fuck. And there in lies my problem. I didn\'t, and I still don\'t, want Alexis to be just a good fuck. Despite what was obviously in his past there was still something innocent about him, and it would be wrong to take advantage of that. Undoubtedly that was what everyone else had done to him, and I didn\'t want to be in the same category as guys like that. I like being able to look at myself in the mirror in the morning.

\"But what if I do want to be with you? What then?\"

\"But you don\'t.\"

\"How do you know that? I\'m saying that I do.\" He seemed certain of himself as he said this, but I wasn\'t buying a word of it.

\"You don\'t. If I\'m right, and I know that I am, then you just think you do because I\'m treating you nicer than you\'re probably used to. You\'re confusing gratitude with something else. You don\'t want to do this and I won\'t make you.\" And before he could contradict me like I knew he was about to, \"I won\'t let you either.\"

Alexis seemed to think this over for a moment, lost in thoughts, or memories, or maybe both. \"Even if you are right,\" he began, his tone making it clear that he didn\'t agree with me in the slightest, \"who\'s to say that my gratitude won\'t turn to something else? Something stronger? Then what? Would you want me then?\"

Would I want him then? Hell, I already did! Not that I was going to give him that kind of answer. He was already being far more difficult than I had thought he would be. I had assumed that he would be grateful for my restraint, that he would be pleased that I wasn\'t going to be pawing at him at every available opportunity, happy that I was going to respect him as a person (or a daemon, anyway) and not treat him like some life-sized sex doll. Boy was I ever wrong!

\"It doesn\'t matter, because it\'s not going to happen.\" I figured avoiding answering the question would be the best way out, so I chose not to answer him directly.

\"But would you?\" He can be a persistent little shit sometimes.

Seeing that he wasn\'t going to give up, and also glad that he wasn\'t crying anymore but was instead beginning to grin at me in a very mischievous way, I knew that I\'d have to give him an answer.

\"Fine. I suppose, if ... and I mean only IF it was what you wanted, and it was what I wanted,\" I don\'t know who I was trying to kid with that part, it was obvious to any fool that I wanted him bad, \"then I suppose that I would consider it.\"

By the time I finished he wasn\'t anywhere near crying anymore, instead the little brat was giggling at me and bouncing excitedly in my lap! Which wasn\'t doing much for my self-control. Here I was trying to be noble, to do the right thing and treat him with care and respect, and here he was bouncing in lap and laughing at me! I just couldn\'t win. Although, in truth, I was happy just to see him smiling. Not that I was going to tell him.

\"What, might I ask, is so damn funny? Huh?\" I snapped as I tried, and failed, to lift him off of me. \"Or is this just your idea of revenge for my touching a sore spot?\"

\"Oh, it\'s nothing like that Shayne.\" Now he decides to call me by my name? \"I just thought that you were rejecting me. Now I know differently.\" Then he added, with yet another fit of giggles, \"I know that you\'ll change your mind. I\'ll see to it.\"

I couldn\'t take it anymore. His bouncing was driving me crazy, and he didn\'t seem to be planning on stopping anytime soon. I stood up, not caring that I was dumping the laughing little brat onto the carpet at my feet, and started for the stairs.

\"I\'m going to bed. Good night.\"

As I was passing through the doorway I heard Alexis begin to quiet down, his laughter dropping down to the occasional giggle. Before I was completely out of site he called out to me, causing me to stop and look back at him. He really did look stunning all flushed from his laughter, disheveled from his tumble to the floor. That was the real reason that I needed to leave, I didn\'t want to contradict myself after the noble speech I had just made.

\"Lexi?\"

Suddenly sobering completely, all hints of laughter now gone from his face, he simply said \"Thank you.\"

TBC ...