In Times Like These

DISCLAIMER: Warning, this story contains shounen-ai and later yaoi. For later chapters it will
conatin lemon and lime conatining minors (ages 15 and under), much later will contain rape.
These characters are copyright me and may not be used without my permission, thank you. Now,
you have been warned. Don't go blaming me for anything you read.

Chapter One: Of Meetings

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The weather was horrible that day. Absolutely devoid of sun light of any type. It was also
becoming steadily darker, the sun was setting over the horizon. The grey-black clouds hung
ominously, and one could simply sense the heavy storm approaching. Winds howled and chilled
to bone. A very unforgiving situation to place a child orphan. Even if this child orphan was not
human.

 

 The child's parents were obviously dead, killed. The boy's mother, a fair haired women and very
kind. Beautiful she was, thin with ivory white flesh, rather tall and locks of darkened gold. She
was killed by her husband when the orphan boy was a mere five years of age. The father had a
certain beauty to him that most mortal men never possessed. He most defiantly could not pass
for female, however. With silver-black hair that hung to his shoulders, and deep black orbs, he
made for a rather pleasant site. He was killed by his own son when the boy was seven, and for
highly justifiable reasons.

 The boy now was twelve. Still fairly short at a height of five feet. He possessed brilliant
sapphire blue eyes, suited with slit feline pupils. He'd taken after his father in the instance of
black hair. It was short, barely past small, pointed ears. No, he wasn't an elf, not even close. This
young boy was a demon. As were his mother and father. His mother a wolf, his father a panther.
And again, he'd taken after his father. He too was a panther, in true form.

 The winds now grew increasingly harsh and ever more cold. The orphan boy now hugged his
clothing tighter to his thin frame. He hadn't much to wear; a simple blue tunic and a thin black
cloak. The hood was up, barely covering his iridescent sapphire eyes. Those falsely innocent
pools, glazed over from blinding cold, and if you looked close enough, scarred by a tumultuous
past. Those tragic eye's, as pained as they may be, looked about the world before him with
optimism and hope, even in such abysmal conditions.

 Though lying behind all of that, the hope, the optimism, the pain, the tragedy..and the despair..
was a dark secrete. One he thought no one should know. One he thought should be burried
deeply within himself for only him to see.

But as of that particular moment, his 'tiny' secrete was as far from his mind as possible. His only
goal was to find a kind citizen, and hopefully beg, or work, his way into a room. He needed out
of the open. Al he wanted was warmth, was that so much to ask? Apparently, he thought
somewhat bitterly, there is nothing to spare for an orphan. With a long whithered sigh he trecked
forwards, head bent down looking at his feet, then took a right into an alleyway, hoping for at
least some protection or shelter from the bitter winter cold.

 He hadn't gotten ten paces into that alley before he'd head on ran smack into someone. He'd
been walking, the other however, was not. The boy presumed the other had been running, from
the force of the impact. "Ouch..!" he muttered, gently stroking his temple.

 Meanwhile, the other boy had been knocked down to the dirt, flat on his rump. "Oww..I'm
sorry.." he said, getting up slowly whilst brushing the dirt off his tunic. There seemed to be
copiouse ammounts of gravel, dirt, ash and other various grime covering the boy. Though this
boy didn't seem to care much, he simply shrugged it off, a smile on his face. "Sorry, again, for
running into you, I was sort of in a hurry.." he said cheerfully, though panic oozing its way into
his voice.

 This caused the small orphan boy to look up at his assailant. After all, it would be rude not to.
"It's okay, I wasn't watching, it as much my fault as yours," he said, attempting to add emotion
into his voice. It had been so long sense he'd spoken at all. "You look, and sound for that matter,
a little worried about something? Why were you running down an alley, anyway?" He asked
curiously, as a kitten would, "Oh, and by the way, my name is Loki,".

 The other gave a friendly smile and replied, "Nice to meetcha, Loki," he said pleasantly, "My
name's RazorFang. And I'm running from the villagers," he quickly stole a glance behind him. It
would simply be wonderful if the villagers had caught up right then. "And well, you should start
running too,". Again he gave a paranoid glance behind his back.

 

 Loki considered this for a moment. It only seemed to confuse him. The other boy looked normal
from all the he could see of RazorFang. Red hair that must've gone past his shoulders tied back
loosely. At closer inspection Loki noticed RazorFang was stark white, much like himself.
RazorFang's eye's were black..claws..fangs..pointed ears. All normal, he thought, ...wait- maybe
not. "You're a-"

 

 "-a demon. Yes, yes so are you and that's why we have to run," he stated quickly, grabbing Loki
by the arm and bolting down the alleyway. Much faster then any mortal. "You see," he began,
searching fo words, "these people don't like demons. They don't understand us," he continued
voice dropping a tone, "they hate us because they don't know what we are They think we'll hurt
them, destroy their lives and kill them,". To this RazorFang gave a wide smile, "which is fairly
true if you think about it," then the grin faded, "but we're kids, aren't we? not much harm, right?".

Now he was confused. Razor had been talking mto qto quickly, and too quietly to understand
very well. So, as an improvisation, he simply nodded and said 'yes'. Though he had caught
fragments of the phrase. Something of the villagers hating demons, and that he understood quite
well.

 "Hey-!" Loki shouted, perhaps louder then necessairy, "where're we going?". At this point all he
was trying to do was steady himself while running with Razor. Balance in said case wasn't easy,
even for a feline demon. "And could we by any chance slow down?!" he yelled, nearly stumbling
over himself and pulling the other child with him.

 Razor stumbled slightly, but did not lose his footing.He then rubbed the ear which Loki had so
courteously yelled into. "Not so loud, kid," he glanced back at Loki, reassuring him with a
friendly smile.

 And sure enough, the little demon slowed down enough for the other. Loki nodded his head
twice, and muttered an abashed "Thank you," and kept running along with Razor hold his arm.

 Razorfang led the both of them past random, unimportant places and people. Loki couldn't even
really see where they were going. Everything, buildings, people, animals, they all seemed like
blurs. There was the occasional animal or person that seemed to be in slow motion, however, he
simply presumed them to be other under-worldly creatures.

 Finally, after what could have been forever, Raorfang turned once into a back alley street, and
stopped. Both demons panted, quite out of breath. What took place next was silence, and only
the sound of there breath filled the calm air.

 Several moments passed by in utter silence, and then it was Loki who finally broke the silence. "
What are we doing here? Of all places you chose to hide, why a back alley?" he asked, voice
mo
most sounding annoyed.

The other demon looked at Loki with complete amusement. He smiled brightly and simply
beamed. "We're not hiding, my friend. We're just taking a quick break. Needed to find some
place where there aren't too many humans," he said this as though it was the most obvious thing.

 

 He quirked an eyebrow, confused now. "Taking a rest?" he said with incredulity. He then sat
down, crossing legslegs, and crossing his arms across his chest. "Some nice place to rest,
Razorfang. You know, this is a dead end alley. If we go out, even on either sides we'll be
caught," he stated, a drop of fear oozing its way into the boy's voice.

 Hearing the smaller demon's words caused Razor to laugh. Polite, quite laughter thought it may
have been. "Oh don't worry about that," he said, "we're not going left or right. We're going up,"
Razor stated whilst pointing his index finger into the vast blue abyss above them.

 After stating such, the demon stripped himself of his greyish-blue tunic. The buckles unclasped,
the ribbons untied and it fell into the demons' hands. He then tossed it in Loki's direction,
knowing the boy would catch it. Razor simply smiled, fear etched in his eyes. Next all you heard
was sickening cracks and the sound of flesh being torn. It all happened rather quickly. Bones in
the forms of wings escalatirom rom the young demons shoulder blades. The bones broke, and
reformed to shape them corectly. Skin tore to make room for the skinless and bony wings. Blood
trickled from the wounds unto the compact dirt. The crimson bile seeped into the already dirty
clothing, leaving a blood stained hem. A black snake-like skin then began to cover the newly
forming wings as blood continued to pool at his feet.

 It all took no more then two minutes for the wings to form and cover completely. The blood
flow disapated as the wounds began to heal with amazing speed. Though the boy had fallen unto
all fours, quivering in pain, as small, salty droplets fell from his eye's unto the moist earth.
Taking a deep, shaking breath, he clambered slowly to his feet. "Ow.." he said, wiping away the
tears on his face. He then looked up and smiled at the other.

 The scene Loki witnessed rendered him in awe and speechless. The boy's eye's musve nve nearly
doubled in size watching Razor pull out his wings. And his jaw was hanging open, he knew that.
It was only then that he realized that he was holding his breath. "Are you alright?" he breathed,
almost shaking. How could he have just said 'Ow' to that? He swallowed hard and quickly
stumbled to his feet. He realized that he'd been clutching onto Razorfangs' tunic sense the little
scene had begun.

 Razorfang smiled broadly and gave a small cntednted laugh. "I'm alright, you don't need to
worry," he closed his eye's, and sighed. "I've done that enough times that I know what to expect.
It hurts.. but it's necessary," he opened his his eye's, revealing black pools still shimmering with
tears. Again, he took a deep breath to fill his lungs. "C'm'ere," he said warmly, smiling still.

 He took what the other had to say into his mind, and accepted that as a sufficient answer.
Though he may have even hesitated in complying with Razors' wishes, he did agree to that as
well. He took a cautious first step closer, and then the rest fell rather easily."Here you are," he
said in a small voice, feeling uncharacteristically shy as he held out Razorfang's tunic.

 He grinned looking down at Loki, finding the demon's statement amusing. "You hold onto it,
please?" he asked, wrapping his arms around Loki's waist. He batted his wings, stretching them
out, then took a giant leap into the air, and took off, still holding Loki. "After all, I have to hold
on to you, don't I?" he said smil tho though blushing a darkish pink.

Loki yelped out something of a surprised sound when Razor took off. It had took him so much
off guard that he actually had jumped in Razors arms. He nodded at Razor's question, turning a
darker shade of red then he thought he would, "I guess so..." he said, now clutching Razors' shirt
in one hand, and Razor himself in the other hand. And with one look at the down, all the colour
drained from his face, including the blush, leaving him a starker white then normal. "Don't drop
me!" he said almost panicky, digging his claws into Razors' arm.

 Razor flinched as the smaller demon dug his claws, but smiled none the less and tightened his
grip. "Don't worry, I won't drop you," he said, simply letting Loki cling, not quite minding the
claws after all. "How old are you, Loki?" he asked, trying for a quick change of topic while he
flew.

 He gulped, unsure whether Razor was telling him the truth or not. But, he accepted it, because
what else could he do? He let loosen his grip, knowing it must have hurt the other demon, and
muttered a "I'm sorry," and sighing quietly. He soon began to relax, sort of liking the feeling of
flight.. and having someone hold him. It made him feel safe. In fact.. the question Razorfang had
posed nearly went straight over his head. "Huh? Oh..." he stumbled with his words a little,
momentarily forgetting his tongue. "My age? Well... I'm.. I guess.. twelve.." he spoke shyly,
feeling so much lke a little kid. "What about you?" he asked.

 "Twelve, eh?" he said smiling. "Don't worry, I'm not much older then you are," his voice
sounded shy unto itself as well. After that, Razor sort of went quiet for several moments,
seeming to think, and the only sound was his wings beating in the air, pushing them forward to
an unknown destination. A few moments later, he sighed, and broke the silence, "Yeah, I'm
about thirteen," he smiled, "see? not too much older then you are,".

Loki smiled and nodded. It made him feel a bit better knowing that he wasn't something similar
to ten years younger then his friend. Then again, Razor didn't exactly look all to much older in
the first place. He sighed, just letting everything quiet down, enjoying the silence of flying.
Being so far from city life enthralled him and excited him. He couldn't hear the bustle of the
people in the city, and it felt so strange for him. He'd been near people all his life, in the city, not
necessarily that one, but in a city his entire life. He'd never heard it so quiet.

 It took not fifteen minutes to fly from that disheveled back alley street to a forest clearing nearly
fifty miles from the city. The rest of the trip had taken place in utter silence between the two.
The only sound was when they landed, and their feet touched the ground and the leaves rustled
from the wind caused by Razors' wings. The clearing was nothing special. Just a patch of
greenery surrounded by trees, a couple large boulder, and a few hedges scattered about. The sun
was setting over in the horizon, giving the clearing a calm, sleepy feel to it.

 Razorfang then unwound his arms from Loki's waist, smiling at the boy while he did, though not
saying a word. He the went through the ordeal of replacing his wounds from whence they came.
And again, the tearing of flesh, the breaking and reforming of bones. And the blood. The copious
amount of blood which fell from the wings, and the wounds to which they inflicted. And again
came Loki's astonished face, and his worried eyes daring to glance at the scene.

 This time was different from the last, however, as Razor seemed to be in more pain then when
he'd taken them out. This time, He actually yelped in pain, and gave out small, quivering sobs.
When the wings were put away, and the scene was all over, did he collapse on all fours,
quivering slightly as he went. He began to breath deeply, desperately trying to calm himself.

 Loki witnessed this, and, in his mind, began to panic. What should he do? With an ounce of
bacbone, he wandered over to the curled up form of Razorfang, and placed a small, gentle hand
on his shoulder. Then, feeling a little more comfortable with it, he wrapped his arms around the
other demon's neck, embracing him with the utmost carefulness.

Very slowly did Razor's quivering cease, and his sobs discontinue. He leaned into Loki's hug,
and sighed shortly. "Thanks," he whispered softly, sitting up and returning the friendly embrace.
"I appreciate it... " he smiled, and hugged the little Loki closer, sort of like a comforting pillow.

 He nodded slowly, barely taking anything in. "You're.. welcome.." he whispered back, sort of
dazed, sleepy. A small smile spread itself across Loki's face, and his eye's shut themselves,
seemingly on their own. He curled up then, bringing his knees to his chest, and settling himself
in Razor's lap. After several moments of resting like that, the young demon's breath grew deep
and even, heart rate steady. He fell fast asleep.

 

 Ah, and lucky Razorfang hadn't even noticed. Not until twenty minutes later, when the sun had
completely gone below the horizon, and the moon was shining brightly in the newly dark sky,
and he became chilled without his tunic and asked for it back. When he got nothing in response,
he tried shaking the boy, and not even that worked. Figuring Loki asleep, he simply hauled the
both of them up, and decided to search for some shelter. For now he'd ignore the cold and allow
Loki to cling to his tunic.

 To his surprise, it barely took a walk of twenty minutes to find a, seemingly, abandoned barn
house. He saw the house as he approached, but seeing as no lights were on, he pressed forwards.
And quietly he approached. The last thing he wanted was to get caught and have to run from
more angry people.

 Getting to the barn, he heard random animals, such as horses, sleeping and snoring. A wave of
gratitude washed over him that he went the way he did and found this shelter. And, in a tense
moment while pushing open the gate, relief. Relief that no one was in there, checking the
animals, or for some other reason. He let out a sigh and entered the barn quietly, making sure to
be extra iousious as not to wake up the animals and stir a raucous.

He stepped over a smile pile of hey, and made his way over to a large stack of the stuff. He
sighed, and placed Loki on the large pile of hey, and watched as the boy's arms sort of fell limply
to his sides. It made him smile, though, for some reason. Razor quickly turned 'round, to close
the barn door, and keep the place slightly heated. He stepped over the same small pile of hey,
and closed the gate. Then made his way back to the sleeping Loki. It was then he decided they
needed a blanket.

 and so, wandering around the barn quietly, briefly, searching for anything resembling a blanket.
He climbed a ladder to a second level, and discovered a wide variety of things. A dozen or so
large, woolen blankets, several pillows stuffed with plumage, a lantern or two, and a great deal
more hey. With a smile spreading across his face, he grabbed a wool blanket and a couple
pillows, and brought them back down the ladder, and across the barn to where the sleeping Loki
lay.

 He almost stopped dead, seeing him there. Sleeping. Looking so peaceful and innocent. "As if
he didn't look peaceful and innocent before...and.. cute.." he whispered to himself, smiling in the
most pleasant manner. He shook his head, ridding himself of certain thoughts, and walked to
Loki, whom was still clutching Razor's tunic. He then set the pillows down, lifting Loki's head to
allow him to place it underneath. Razor sat down, absent mindedly stroking the other's hair.

 He reached for his tunic, and surprisingly he was able to claim it without waking the poor boy.
He smiled, perhaps stroking the boy's hair had loosened his grip? In any case, Razor slipped the
tunic on, and clasped the buckles, tied the ribbons, and then lay down beside Loki. He placed a
soft hand on the side of Loki's face, and, leaning forward, placed a gentle kiss upon the boy's
forehead.

The kiss lingered not more then a few seconds, but none the less, it woke the sleeping boy up.
He blinked a few times, rather confused, then went a shade of crimson similar to Razors hair
color. And when Razor pulled away, he simply looked at the demon, utterly confused. He
noticed Razor go white, and he decided that the kiss wasn't intended to be caught. "What.. what
was that for?" he asked before he could stop himself.

 Razor sighed, and then smiled at Loki. "Nothing really," he lied, "a goodnight kiss, that's all," he
said, giving the boy a hug. He then grabbed the blanket and slung it over the both of them.

 He smiled back at Razor, and nodded, returning the hug. "Okay," he said, as though nothing had
happened, and then yawning widely. The boy then curled himself into a ball again, though
clinging to his friend with what seemed like a vice-like grip. "Good.. night... Razor.." he said
sleepily, shutting his eyes. Moments later the boy was more then fast asleep.

 Razorfang sighed, relief grasping him. "Good night, my little friend," he said, with a smile. He
returned the embrace Loki gave, not minding the smaller ones grasp in the least. Razor only now
realized how truly exhausted he was. His eye's drooped, and fell, and before he knew it, he
himself had joined Loki in his slumber. Breath steady, an fast asleep, he dreamt.