Sorcerer Hunters Fan Fiction ❯ Perpetual Thoughts ❯ The Brotherly Trip To Facade, Those Three Little Words ( Chapter 4 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Tabi
The happiness of the night before leads to a peaceful morning for Marron. Problems with Gateau can be set aside in the face of a peaceful trip to the city with his brother, surely? So the brothers visit the city, unaware that Gateau, in his determination, seeks Marron for his own ends. Despite the things that Gateau sees, the unease that begins to set in, he is still determined to tell Marron what is on his mind. How might Marron react to this? What will come of Salad's suggestion of a trip to the beach?

Anime/Manga: Sorcerer Hunters Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Hentai / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 08.29.2005 | Pages: 26 | Words: 28.5K | Visits: 258 | Status: Completed

The next morning was another gentle sunny day in Eden. Opening his eyes to observe his brother's bed, Marron noted that Carrot was gone already... somehow, he didn't mind. Last night had been... well. Memories filtered back slowly, and they seemed quite embarrassing, but... more than those things that had been embarrassing, there was the fact that Carrot had said...
 
Marron recalled that memory with a happy sigh. Carrot had said he loved him. Of course, he only meant it in a brotherly way, but as Marron snuggled back down into his pillow, he decided that that didn't really matter, not really, not for the moment. Love was still love, after all. And it was closer than some people got, anyway.
 
Sitting there with his eyes closed but not quite sleeping, Marron realised that the shower was on in his and Carrot's bathroom. Silently he acknowledged that his brother was in the shower.
 
It was a nice feeling to know where Carrot was. And the relaxing feeling of the morning gave Marron more scope to be imaginative... he could only hear the noise of the water splashing around through there, but he could easily picture his brother under the stream of that water, maybe running his hands through his hair, soaping his body down... hmm, and it'd be so slippery like that.
 
The thought of sharing a shower with Carrot was a nice one, but Marron couldn't think of an appropriate excuse for doing so. "I just wanted to" probably wouldn't quite work with Carrot, and surely any way Marron managed it, Carrot would think it weird... well, it was best not to focus on the reality of the idea. Just fantasizing was enough to keep Marron's mind happily ticking over... so what if Carrot wouldn't react in the "Hey, come share my shower, Marron!" kind of way in real life? He did in Marron's dreams, and while Carrot was happily oblivious next door, Marron let his thoughts run away with him.
 
Nothing too sexual about those thoughts, not enough to cause problems, at least. There was something undoubtedly erotic about the thought of he and Carrot, naked together in the shower, glistening and sparkling under the neverending patter of the water... the touches they'd share likely had little to do with the purpose of cleanliness, but again, that didn't matter. It would just be the closeness Marron liked. The warmth of Carrot's body. The feel of his skin. That sort of thing.
 
Marron sat there for as long as time allowed, just quietly thinking about his brother's naked body, what they might do together in the shower... ah, but it felt refreshing to think about Carrot in such a way. No thoughts of Gateau to pervade or pervert those thoughts. Just the pure thoughts Marron had always focused on. He felt suddenly so tranquil...
 
After a short while, Marron heard the sound of the shower stop, and Carrot moving around in the other room; Marron shifted on his bed so he was covered by the sheets and sitting up - he didn't want Carrot to presume he was sleeping and just walk on somewhere without him, after all. Today, Marron decided, he wanted to do something with Carrot. He wasn't quite sure what he wanted to do with his brother, but anything was alright, Marron supposed. Just as long as it was time spent together, surely it'd be time that was valued.
 
Of course, there was always the risk that, wherever Carrot went, the Misu sisters would follow. On that note, Marron was also quite aware of the risk of Gateau following him wherever he went, but... both of those were risks that had to be taken. Maybe if the two of them left early enough, then nobody would notice, and nobody would be able to follow...
 
The door eventually opened, and Carrot emerged, wearing a towel around his waist. He looked up and noticed that Marron was awake, he smiled.
 
"Oh, g'mornin', Marron. Sleep well?"
 
Marron summoned the warmest smile he could muster, "Oh, yes, niisan. Wonderfully."
 
"Well, that's good. So, whaddaya wanna do today? Got any plans? Don't think Big Mama's got any work for us, else she'da said something already. Gonna go down the town with Gateau, or something?"
 
Memories of the little 'date' he and Gateau had shared occurred to Marron; he remembered that, and remembered his thoughts from before. He wanted to do something like that again, but this time, he... he wanted to do so with... with Carrot...
 
Marron gathered his sheets up around him, "Ah, niisan, I didn't have anything planned, but... ah..."
 
"What is it?"
 
Glancing to the side, "I... I was wondering if perhaps... you and I could go somewhere? I- I mean, just you and I. Perhaps away from Gateau, away from the Misu sisters, even...!"
 
Marron tried to stifle his blush from both the subject matter and the fact that Carrot had dropped his towel to find clothes to wear for the day. The way Carrot was bent over like that, leaning over to a drawer, finding garments... Marron found his eyes transfixed a little too much on his brother's rear before looking away, not bothering to attempt to stifle the blush. Never mind that.
 
Carrot looked up, "Just you and me? Well, sure, I'm not doing anything else. What brought that on, though? Normally you wanna hang around and study magic and stuff, don't you?"
 
"Ah... I'd rather just spend some time with you today. I... I mean, we don't get to... spend a lot of... ah... time together, and... um... niisan, this is starting to sound a little strange, I'm sorry. I just want to... I just want to be with you... is that... strange?"
 
Pulling his clothes on, Carrot thought about it. The way Marron was putting it, it did sound a little strange... but also, he'd seemed so different the night before, the way he'd been masturbating so frantically, then when he'd spoken of being lonely... Marron didn't say things like that, surely? It was also a little strange to hear Marron talking like that, too. Marron showing some human emotion, huh...? So he wasn't concentrated entirely on the destruction of Sorcerers and the studying of magic. And the protection of his brother. Because of course, that was as much a part of Marron as living or even breathing was, so...
 
Even though the way he phrased it was strange, Carrot supposed it wasn't, not really. Marron was always so concerned about Carrot's wellbeing, and it was true that they maybe didn't spend as much time together as they could. Especially compared to people like Tira and Chocolat, most days when they weren't on a mission they'd spend it down in Facade. Often this was in the company of Carrot, but often too it wasn't, so Carrot had a feeling that they'd go there no matter what, as long as there was the time to do so...
 
They acted like the best of friends as well as being sisters, Carrot supposed... was that what he and Marron were like, best friends and siblings? Threading his belt around him, he wasn't sure, and that thought perplexed him. Girls seemed so much more adept at all the deeper feelings type crap, so being friendly through that was likely easy for them, but best friends...?
 
"No, it's not strange, Marron. S'fine."
 
Best friends... they were all his best friends, really. Tira and Chocolat, Marron and Gateau... nobody would question the deep bond they all shared. They were all best friends, Carrot didn't want to question that, but while Marron was so entirely devoted... did Carrot really know him at all?
 
Of course, Marron was an enigma and a mystery to the people who knew him best, let alone to the people who barely knew him, but while Tira and Chocolat were happy enough to be around Carrot, and Gateau and Eclair were content to pose and pose and flex, what kinds of things made Marron happy?
 
Maybe if they spent the day together, Carrot felt he might get some kind of insight. That seemed like a great idea. He smiled up at Marron as he pulled his tanktop on.
 
"I'd like to spend the day with you."
 
"Ah...?"
 
"Nothing wrong with that, is there? Brothers bonding together and all of that. Don't think we've done that for ages, huh? I haven't spoken to you for ages. So let's go do something together!"
 
Finding a clean robe in another one of the drawers, Carrot threw it over at Marron. Marron caught it, looking up at Carrot curiously.
 
"... Niisan?"
 
"Come on...! If we don't hurry then we'll end up with everyone following us. You wanted to be just you and me, right?"
 
Marron got quickly undressed then dressed while Carrot spoke, "Y-yes, niisan... but surely you'd find that strange..."
 
"Not really. Hey, I know I mean a lot to you, right? So you probably just wanna make sure I'm alright all day, hm?"
 
Well, there was that, but that didn't stop, even if Carrot was just going down to the town with the Misu sisters, Marron always felt a certain small kind of emptiness, wanting to know what was happening to Carrot, wanting to know that he was definitely alright... it was confusing, though. Carrot knew he meant a lot to Marron... to help him hurry up, Carrot helped Marron do up the buttons on his robe while Marron tied up the sash. If that was the case, then... what more was there to tell him, really? If Marron ever got the chance. Carrot knew Marron loved him. Carrot knew Marron thought the world of him. Carrot knew that Marron would do absolutely anything, give absolutely anything to ensure his brother's safety and survival... and if he knew and accepted all of that, surely, maybe, 'I think sexual thoughts of you too' couldn't follow too far behind that? It was as natural as anything else Marron found himself thinking, he couldn't help himself but think of Carrot like that.
 
But if Carrot knew about that, then... how might he react? Might he just accept that as another Marron sort of thing? Would he get angry? Upset? Might his feelings have run along the same path, but they never realised it?
 
Marron didn't know, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know. Almost dressed for the day, Carrot looked around for Marron's shoes. He found them, and handed them over.
 
"Okay, we ready now?"
 
"Oh, niisan, but I need to wrap my ankles first..."
 
Carrot glanced over, "We're only going down to the town, Marron. You don't need to have those things on all the time, do you?"
 
"It's just something I'm used to niisan, I'm sorry. It'd feel a little strange to go without..."
 
Carrot sighed as he went over to the bathroom, "Fine, fine..."
 
"Niisan-!... If it was going to be a problem, then... then I don't have to..."
 
A few moments later Carrot returned, bearing one of the rolls of bandage Marron kept in the bathroom. Like his ofuda parchment, another one of Marron's little essentials.
 
"No, it's no problem. C'mon, sit down, I'll do it."
 
"Niisan... are you sure...?"
 
Knelt in front of where Marron sat on the bed, Carrot gazed sardonically up at his brother, bandage still in hand.
 
"It's nothing difficult, is it? You just wrap and wrap and wrap and wrap then tuck it up until it's tight enough, right?"
 
"Y-yes, but there's a certain way I like to..."
 
"Show me, then."
 
So Marron did. That also seemed a strange thing... that the two of them would get so flustered about something so simple as wrapping up Marron's ankles for the day... Carrot listened to Marron's instructions and obeyed them easily enough, wrapping this fold over that one and tucking the next one over the previous, then wrapping around so it was tight and looked undisturbed... he followed the instructions quietly enough, but Marron didn't know why he felt so strange giving those instructions. It was only the same thing he did every day, after all... just, this time, he was getting his brother to do it.
 
He wasn't sure what those strange shivers he got when he felt his brother's fingers against his naked ankle near the start were. Silly incapable human body... silly incapable human mind... there was nothing sexual to be read into it at all, surely? It was a normal part of getting dressed...
 
... and even though Carrot continued so diligently, Marron couldn't help but quite wonder what it would be like, if maybe... perhaps... Carrot were to stop what he was doing, and just touch Marron's ankles some more... so light, it'd be like a tickle, wouldn't it? It'd be hard to laugh, though. Perhaps a whimper, though. Or a moan. And maybe Carrot would realise, and lean down, and perhaps, just gently, his tongue... his teeth... licks, nibbles, touches...
 
Carrot sat back once he was done, "There! How's that?"
 
Marron snapped back into reality, rotating his foot around to feel how the bandage felt around his ankle. Perhaps it wasn't as tight as he usually tied it, but it was tight enough to be adequate. He nodded, "That's wonderful, niisan. Thank you."
 
"No problem. Let's go!"
 
Ignoring - or perhaps not even noticing - Marron's blush, Carrot grabbed Marron's wrist, and dragged him off into the general direction of the city. Marron let himself be dragged, seeing no reason to insist otherwise. He let his thoughts carry on as they quickly walked, trying to get somewhere before other people found them.
 
Was he really so strange that the smallest of things about Carrot had the potential to turn him on? It was a totally normal part of getting dressed, Marron told himself. It was something he did near enough every day. The ankle wasn't an erogenous zone, was it? No, surely not.
 
Though, if it was Carrot touching him there... surely that was different... but if it was Carrot touching him anywhere, then...
 
Marron realised that his brother had stopped; he looked at Carrot, "Niisan?"
 
"Hey, we're downtown now, Marron. Where do you wanna go? Was there anything you wanted to buy, or anything? Or anywhere you'd wanted to go?"
 
Marron paused, while Carrot looked eagerly around at the town that was in it's process of waking up. Shops were opening and setting themselves up, and the streets were just starting to become occupied by the residents of Facade. Marron wondered to himself, how long would it be before Carrot got his eye distracted by some pretty girl and raced off after her? Marron didn't want that to happen, but he was almost sure that it would... Carrot smiled at him, Marron realised Carrot was probably expecting some kind of decision by that point. He faltered.
 
"Oh, ah... I'm not sure, niisan. Wherever you want to go, that's alright with me."
 
"You sure?"
 
"I don't know what would be open at this time of the morning..."
 
"I'm sure we could find somewhere to eat breakfast, right?"
 
"If niisan knows anywhere he wants to go."
 
"Okay then! Let's go toooo... that place there!"
 
Carrot pointed out a small cafe that looked like it'd finished it's opening up for the day. A couple milled around outside it, and a few people walked in. Carrot smiled up at Marron, "That place okay? Me and Chocolat and Tira go there sometimes when we come down here."
 
"Ah..."
 
Marron let Carrot lead him inside. Inside it seemed quite dark from the morning sunlight, but the view from outside had shown an upstairs balcony; sandwiches and drinks ordered and ready, Marron followed Carrot upstairs to the balcony; one of the outside tables was already taken, near the corner... Carrot chose a table a little closer to the door, right next to the bars of the balcony.
 
He smiled at Marron as he approached, setting the food down.
 
"See? It's kinda pretty from here, you can see all the things that are going on down below. Though Tira and Chocolat never let me sit here 'cause they think I'm gonna jump off the balcony after a pretty girl, or something."
 
Marron nodded in expected agreement as he sipped slightly at his drink. He was still feeling a little dazed... it all seemed to have happened so quickly, he'd been in his room, he'd asked Carrot to go out with him, Carrot agreed... all of a sudden, they were at that cafe...
 
He crossed his legs underneath the table, feeling the wrappings of his ankles rub together slightly. He shivered a little with the memory, and set his feet apart.
 
Not noticing that at all, Carrot set his drink down, and looked from where he'd been looking out at the morning down back to Marron; he smiled.
 
"So! You wanted to spend the day together... was there any reason for that...?"
 
"Niisan? A-ah... no, not especially..."
 
Carrot hung his arms over the arms of the chair and slipped down a little, looking up at the sky.
 
"Well, I guess with you there wouldn't be. You'd follow me to hell if you had to, and all the way back again..."
 
Unsure of what to say to that, Marron set his own drink down, "Niisan?"
 
Carrot glanced at Marron through the corners of his eyes, looking and sounding just a little too relaxed as he was, sprawled over the chair. Quite a difference to Marron's posture.
 
"You don't have to, ya know."
 
"Niisan..."
 
"I mean... you're always risking life and limb for me and stuff, why? You don't have to always do things like that. You can relax a little if you want to, Marron. If I get a bit hurt, then I get hurt... not that I like it or anything, but you or Tira can always heal me... you don't have to try so hard for me. I'm not worth it."
 
He spoke the last sentence to sound humorous, but Marron didn't feel it. How could he say things like that... of course he was worth it! Doing things other than protecting Carrot... there didn't seem to be any other way to be, not that Marron could see... maybe it wasn't something Carrot could easily understand.
 
Marron wasn't sure what to say to that, "... nii... san..."
 
Carrot looked up, noting Marron's quieter air... he smiled, "Don't let it get to you or anything, I just don't understand it, I guess. You'd give your life up in a heartbeat if it meant protecting me... but I'd rather you didn't decide that quickly..."
 
He closed his eyes, "... I'd be lonely without you."
 
Marron frowned, "Niisan...? What do you mean?"
 
"Exactly that."
 
Carrot still had his eyes closed, "I guess... I was just thinking that it's kinda weird. I mean, Gateau and Eclair are always running around and throwing poses together, doing all their macho punches and weird little rituals and that... Tira and Chocolat are happy enough to go shopping for the day, but we... we never seem to do any of that, Marron!"
 
Marron's face softened with slight amusement, "You'd want us both to act like Gateau and Eclair do, niisan?"
 
"Well, okay, maybe not like that. But... you know what I mean! I suppose I realised I don't really know you. Kinda. I mean... I know you, but... I don't know know you... like... the stuff we just ordered. Is that your favourite sandwich to eat? Is that your favourite kind of tea? What kind of things do you like doing?"
 
Carrot jumped up to lean across the table, "You get what I mean?"
 
"... The things that I like, niisan?"
 
"Well, yeah, stuff like that."
 
"I'm not sure..."
 
Marron seemed deep in thought at that. Carrot noted Marron's sudden thoughtful intensity, and laughed good-naturedly.
 
"You don't have to hurry anything, I just mean I wanna get to know you better. I wanna know what kind of person you are other than somebody who's always trying to protect me, that's all."
 
They fell into a kind of comfortable silence.
 
Meanwhile, back in Eden, Gateau had woken up and got dressed and prepared to ask Marron out perhaps for another date, only to find him strangely absent. Carrot also. Nobody waking up around Eden had seen either of them, but it could only be supposed that they'd gone out somewhere... Gateau felt at a loss. Last night he'd thought about his feelings for Marron, and he wanted to tell Marron about them before his feelings had any chance at all of changing! So why was it that Marron was suddenly absent when he'd decided such a thing? Typical...
 
The balcony area of the cafe was starting to fill itself out with people, as was the street down below... Marron and Carrot happily watched the people going by, occasionally commenting on this or that... and even if they did fall silent, it didn't really matter... the silence just filled the time between the next moment of speech.
 
After a little while, the sun grew higher in the sky, and a tableful of girls sat opposite where Marron and Carrot were sitting. Naturally, Carrot noticed them.
 
"Uwaa, Marron! Have you seen those girls sitting behind you?!"
 
Marron glanced over his shoulder, "What about them, niisan?"
 
"They're hot!"
 
Marron didn't really feel the need to respond to that. He hoped desperately that his brother wouldn't abruptly go to chase after them, or even walk up to their table and act stupidly... but the next move that was made was from, strangely, the table of girls.
 
"Hey, hey, Marron, one of them's walking this way-!"
 
"Hiiii!"
 
The girl stood by the table, smiling at Carrot and Marron, more at Marron than at Carrot. Carrot drooled openly, Marron just looked calmly up at her.
 
"Can I help you with something?"
 
"I was just curious, what's your name?"
 
"My name? I'm Marron Glacé..."
 
The girl took a moment to process that, then nodded happily.
 
"Right! Cool. Well, see, me and my girlfriends over there couldn't help but notice you, and some of us were saying about how attractive you were and stuff, so... how about you come eat with us for a bit? We'd pay! Do you have a girlfriend, or anything?"
 
Carrot seemed to want to make it obvious that he didn't have a girlfriend but that he'd happily take her and any number of her girlfriends up on the offer, but she generally ignored him. On that last question, Marron just smiled, "I'm sorry, but I'm already with somebody, thank you."
 
The girl seemed to stiffen somewhat, glancing from Marron to Carrot, then issuing an "Oh." with a kind of disgust and presumed realisation... with that, she went back off to her table.
 
Once she was gone, Carrot looked at Marron with pleading eyes.
 
"Marron, didn't you see that?! She was interested in you! Her girlfriends were obviously interested in you! Hey, d'ya think she meant they were all lesbians? Oh my god, what if they wanted to have a huge lesbian orgy with YOU in the middle!? Holy crap, that'd be HOT!!!... Why'd you turn her down?"
 
A momentary sip of tea, "Whatever she chooses to do is her own business."
 
"And what did you mean, saying you were with somebody?!"
 
"I'm with you, am I not?"
 
"No, but she meant..."
 
"I'm perfectly aware of what she meant, niisan."
 
Carrot sighed, still not understanding why Marron hadn't just taken the pretty girls up on their offer, downing the rest of his drink, finishing what was left of his sandwich. He waited until Marron had done the same, then smiled at him, the past event forgotten.
 
"So, ready to go?"
 
"I suppose, niisan. Where would you like to go?"
 
"Um... I don't know. Tira and Chocolat always tend to drag me round the clothes shops, so I don't wanna go to those places..."
 
Marron felt his eyes narrow just slightly at Carrot mentioning Tira and Chocolat, again...
 
Of course, their adoration for Carrot was fairly obvious. And the amount of times the three of them would go out like that... it'd taken a lot, Marron felt, to ask Carrot to do something like that... and Tira and Chocolat just did that as if it was their right... no doubt Chocolat would be pulling her normal stunts, all her comments to try and get Carrot to bed her... and probably Tira would get pissy all the time, whack Carrot around a bit... often Carrot would come home with bruises and cuts from what Tira and Chocolat had most recently done to him. Marron didn't mind healing Carrot up, but that was not the point.
 
It was the times Carrot came home unscathed that earnt Marron's concern. When Carrot came home perfectly happy, when he'd talk happily with Marron, then sleep quietly... Marron would always watch him, and wonder what exactly had happened that day... the thought of his brother with the Misu sisters on that cafe balcony just sitting and talking and eating easily was enough to make Marron's chest tighten. What kind of things did they talk about? When they weren't getting angry and violent with each other, what did they do?
 
Marron was almost tempted, as they walked somewhat aimlessly, to ask Carrot about the Misu sisters. What he felt for them, if he had any preference, the things that might have happened... but, Marron thought to himself, did he really want to know? If Carrot came out and said "Yes, I lost my virginity to Chocolat", or "I love Tira more than anybody else in the world", how would Marron react? There wouldn't be anything he could do, but... it'd hurt, so deeply...
 
The two of them walked past a fountain as they started towards the less tightly-packed areas of Facade. The shops and the houses grew a little less frequent, heading towards the fieldlike outskirts of the city. Carrot smiled, walking with his hands behind his head.
 
"I guess we're going somewhere quiet, huh? You've been quiet too. Talk to me, Marron!"
 
"Oh, um..."
 
Marron felt as if Carrot was expecting him to say something, but he wasn't entirely sure what. Idle smalltalk had never been quite his forte.
 
"... the weather's nice today..."
 
"I guess. It's been kinda sunny all week though, hasn't it? Though I guess that's okay, it's better than it raining all the time, or anything. And at least it's not real hot like it was back then, ya know, when it was really hot! Ya remember?"
 
"I remember, niisan."
 
A time like that was impossible to forget.
 
On a tip-off from Milphey, Gateau had decided that the city was the most likely place to find Marron; he hadn't been anywhere around Eden, taking a bath or reading or studying magic or anything... besides, Carrot was gone and the Misu sisters had still been around, last time he'd noticed. So the two of them were obviously somewhere in Facade. But where...
 
Carrot and Marron eventually reached a small parklike area, on the edge of some houses. Lofty trees provided cool shelter from the sun... somewhere to the side, some children were playing some kind of childlike game, chanting something and clapping their hands as they did so. Marron took a seat underneath one of the trees facing outward, Carrot noticing and sitting next to him. Carrot smiled.
 
"You like to sit in parks?"
 
"Well... it's somewhere that's peaceful, at least. And it's easy to watch all the people who go by... it's relaxing, niisan."
 
"I guess you like things that are relaxing, huh..."
 
"Quite."
 
"Mmm... I'm glad we managed to get outta here before any of the others. I dunno if I could face Gateau after what I saw him doing last night."
 
"What you saw him... doing..."
 
Marron was about to ask just what that had been, but in the middle of asking the question, remembered and realised what his brother was talking about. Of course. What he'd seen Gateau doing... what he'd caught Marron doing... Marron felt fortunate that Carrot hadn't made a connection. But indeed, what kind of connection was there to make? Both he and Gateau had just happened to have chosen to partake in a little self-pleasure at around the same time on the same night, and it just so happened that they'd both been caught by the same person. Sometimes things like that just happened, after all... not often, but obviously sometimes...
 
Carrot leant back against the tree, "Yeah. Pretty scary! I guess it's my fault for walking in on him and all, at least he didn't realise I was there, 'cause that woulda been embarrassing!"
 
Marron's voice was painfully quiet, "... you caught me..."
 
Blinking at Marron's expression - suddenly sad, almost - Carrot just patted his brother heartily on the shoulder, "Hey, hey! That doesn't matter, that's different! That's between you and me, and it's a secret. B'sides, we're brothers, it's likely we're gonna catch each other doing that. God knows, you've caught me enough times, haven't you?"
 
"I'd rather not talk about it, niisan."
 
The conversation wound to an abrupt halt at Marron's statement. Carrot had been about to happily say one thing or another, but when Marron closed his eyes and said that in just a slightly forceful tone, Carrot forgot what it was he was going to say, stopped in his tracks, and leant back against the tree from where he'd been leaning forward.
 
"S-sorry... I was talking a bit excitedly..."
 
At that moment, the children who'd been playing to the side happened to kick a ball over, it hit against the tree with quite a thwack just aside where Carrot's head had been a few seconds previous. Carrot looked up in shock, then leapt up happily, "I'll get it! I'll get it!"
 
Marron just watched happily from underneath the tree as Carrot retrieved the ball and kicked it back over to the children. Who then kicked it back at him. He started up quite a little game with them, and that was nice to watch... Carrot doing something so innocent... he laughed out loud as he kicked the ball around, occasionally calling over to Marron to look at this one trick he could do, or another... Marron would just smile calmly and watch. As long as Carrot didn't want him to join in, that was fine. Ball games had never quite attracted him, somehow.
 
The game came to a halt after a short while, when one of the rougher kids kicked the ball squarely into a smaller one's face. He'd fallen down and ended up crying, Carrot had yelled at the kid who'd kicked the ball, and Marron was called over for an impromptu healing session, at Carrot's request.
 
"It huuuuuuurts..."
 
Carrot nodded, "I know, I know. But, Marron can make it all better! Right, Marron?"
 
"... Yes, niisan."
 
Marron quietly bent down slightly in front of the child, placing his hand over his face. His fingertips touched the child's forehead, and the child stopped crying for a moment to stare wide-eyed at Marron.
 
"Watchu gonna do?"
 
"Just hold still for a moment."
 
His voice was calm, then his hand glowed... Marron muttered some kind of healing spell under his breath, and then pulled his hand away. He smiled a small, warm smile, "Did that help?"
 
"Uwaa... Mister... are you a Sorcerer? Cuz you haven't got a Contrary Triangle..."
 
"Ah, no, I'm not a Sorcerer. Quite the opposite."
 
Carrot couldn't help be amused at the sight of his brother standing waist-deep in a small crowd of smaller children all suddenly fascinated by the thought that somebody who wasn't a Sorcerer could in fact use magic. Marron had never struck Carrot as being exactly paternal, and he seemed just a mite flustered by all these small people crowding him.
 
After a few moments, Carrot supposed that Marron likely needed to be rescued a bit, so he walked back towards his brother, "Okay, okay, stop hassling him! Maybe if you're reeeal quiet and reeeal still, he might summon an animal or something!"
 
Marron glared across at Carrot, "Niisan, if you're suggesting I summon a hoard of Gaki in front of these children..."
 
"Just do something pretty, they'll like that."
 
"I'm not sure, in such a public place..."
 
"C'mon, look at their faces!"
 
Indeed, Marron was being gawped at by about twelve wide-and-shiny-eyed children. He coughed self-consciously to himself, before taking a stance more suited for summoning something, then, aiming as much to the empty sky above as he could, Marron summoned one of his Suzaku attacks, letting it fizzle off into the atmosphere to the tune of "Ooooh"s and "Aaaaah"s from the children. They applauded happily, Carrot leant against Marron's side with his arm slung over his brother's shoulders.
 
"See? They love ya."
 
The two of them just watched as the children ran off and around the park, happily caught up in their make-believe worlds of throwing large fiery birds at each other.
 
A few street rows away, Gateau walked out of one of the shops only to see something that could only be one of Marron's attacks roaring off into the sky... he frowned. Why would Marron - or indeed anyone - be letting off an attack? Nobody else seemed to have really noticed, likely nobody else really knew what that had been, as quickly as it'd appeared, it'd disappeared... maybe something was happening over in that part of the town? Trying to keep himself inconspicuous, Gateau hurried over to where he presumed the attack had originated from.
 
Marron and Carrot sat back against the tree, not really seeing any reason to go anywhere else, or do anything else... Marron was sat upright against the tree, Carrot leant against it also, also leaning against Marron's shoulder a bit. He yawned loudly, then fell unceremoniously into Marron's lap.
 
"Nii-niisan?!"
 
"It's easier this way, I don't have to sit up so much. I could go for a nap right now, you don't mind do you?"
 
"If it's what you want to do..."
 
"Cool. Just wake me up whenever you wanna go anywhere."
 
With that, Carrot shifted around against Marron's upper leg and his robe, eventually resting so he lay in front of Marron, his head back against the small canopy of Marron's robe pulled over the space of his crossed legs.
 
Marron just stared down at Carrot. He hadn't had any arguments at all with doing something like that, if it was somewhere that was comfortable for him to sleep then obviously he wouldn't mind... the thought wandered through Marron's mind, did Carrot do things like that with the Misu sisters? Would he randomly take naps in their laps?
 
Perhaps not. No doubt either sister would get jealous about such a thing... Marron pictured it in his mind, he couldn't quite picture Chocolat sitting calmly and letting Carrot rest on her lap without at least making some kind of comment that'd make Tira scream and yell and wake Carrot up... Tira would be more likely to sit there quietly and stroke Carrot's hair or whatever, but would Chocolat let her do that?
 
More to the point, would Carrot let Marron do that either?
 
Holding his breath for a moment, Marron just watched Carrot. He'd been so energetic when he'd been playing ball with those children, but now he lay there and looked so peaceful... peaceful and upside-down, but that didn't matter. They were in the shade of the tree above them, light and shade danced along Carrot's form as a light wind shook the branches of that tree... he made a few soft 'Nnn' noises, shifting slightly, but becoming settled after a little while.
 
One of Carrot's hands was across his chest, the other curled into a slight fist against the grass next to Marron's right leg. Marron bit his lip, feeling torn somewhat. If it was no surprise to Carrot that Marron loved him so wholly and completely then perhaps he'd be a little more forgiving, but even so, sitting there holding Carrot's hand and stroking his hair was a bit of an incriminating position.
 
Maybe he wouldn't mind if Marron stroked his hair a little. If he woke up, Marron decided to tell Carrot he'd had a hair over his nose, or a bug crawling on his eyebrow, or something. Carrot would probably be able to tell that Marron was lying, but even so, such opportunities were rare...
 
Haltingly, Marron placed his hand over Carrot's forehead, feeling its warmth. A slight mumble from Carrot was enough to make Marron retract his hand quickly, but at no other reaction, Marron wondered if it was alright to replace his hand... he did so. No reaction that time, except for Marron's warm smile.
 
He moved his hand further up a little, ruffling Carrot's hair... he shifted his hand, letting his hand thread through his brother's hair... for all it's spikiness, it was softer than it'd initially seem, and Marron felt (with a heavy feeling in his chest) that the touch of his skin against his brother's hair was something he could easily, easily get used to. A guilty little pleasure.
 
Slightly boldened by Carrot's lack of reaction, Marron reached for Carrot's hand. He pushed his fingers between his brother's fingers, holding his hand tightly, but not tight enough to be uncomfortable... Marron didn't know if it was just a reflex or what, but he couldn't help but blush at feeling Carrot's fingers close in around his own.
 
Marron took a moment from looking at Carrot to look at the tree above him... just a regular green-leaved tree. He smiled wryly to himself as he looked back down at Carrot; no, that wasn't right. Surely it'd fit much better if the tree above them was covered in pink blossom, it'd rain down gently upon them, the wind carrying it... of course, there wouldn't be anybody else around, either. Maybe they'd be on top of a hill, or something...
 
Absently stroking his brother's hair, Marron entertained his little daydream. Him and his brother, all alone, on a hill, underneath a cherry blossom tree. Maybe with soft, romantic music in the background. Marron almost laughed, that was going a little too far. Still, even if it was a bit romantic, it was still a nice thought.
 
Anyone would have been able to notice the tenderness on Marron's face, staring so intently and so calmly at Carrot like that. Approaching the park, sure that that was where the attack he'd seen earlier had originated, Gateau spotted Marron almost immediately. He was about to call out and ask what'd happened, but as he reached the part of the path where stone became grass, Gateau wondered if that was a moment that perhaps shouldn't be disturbed...
 
Ignoring the easygoing atmosphere of the park around him, Gateau stopped still as he just watched. He wasn't close enough to be noticed, but he was close enough to see...
 
It was because they were brothers, Gateau told himself. It was because they were brothers that Marron was sitting there so calmly with Carrot's head in his lap and stroking his hair and holding his hand and that smile... smiling so calmly like that... had he ever smiled at Gateau like that? Gateau wasn't sure, and the thought made him sad. Getting a little closer... that really was a tender look on Marron's face, wasn't it? So that must have been where Marron and Carrot had got to, at least. For whatever reason, they'd gone off by themselves... not that that was a crime, they were perfectly entitled to do that if they so wished...
 
Looking at the scene in front of him, Gateau couldn't push away one memory of a night previous... when he'd tickled Marron so suddenly, and Marron had said the name - or the title, anyway - of his brother... Gateau had thought it back then as he still thought it now, there'd been more to that cry than it initially seemed. That kind of... desperation... had Gateau imagined that, or had it really been there?
 
And if it had really been there, then... what did that mean?
 
Walking a little closer, still he wasn't noticed. He saw Marron's lips move, presumably saying 'Niisan...' or something similar, but whatever Marron said, it was too quiet to hear.
 
That kind of absolutely whole-hearted love... Gateau felt in awe and hopeless at the same time. Marron really did love Carrot, for whatever reason, with all his heart, didn't he? Everything Marron did seemed to compliment that fact. Fighting battles, getting hurt in battles, learning new magic, strengthening his old magic... everything about Marron was such a force of 'I must protect my brother', Gateau wondered, was there really anything about Marron that was Marron at all?
 
... Well, obviously there was. Marron consenting to a relationship with Gateau... surely that wasn't anything to do with Carrot, was it? There was the secrecy surrounding that just for the moment, but... directly, it wasn't connected to Carrot at all.
 
Or at least, to Gateau it wasn't, anyway.
 
But looking at Marron taking care of Carrot so affectionately, so warmly... did Marron show that degree of warmth to anyone or anything else? No. He didn't. Would he ever show such warmth to Gateau?... Gateau wasn't sure, and that thought stabbed at him.
 
Part of Gateau didn't want to disturb the mood, but it was either Gateau saying something or Marron looking up and realising Gateau had been there for all that time, and Gateau wasn't sure which was worse... trying to put on some kind of air of happiness, Gateau made forward as if he'd been naturally walking along, and waved his hand.
 
"Hey, Marron! Carrot's asleep?"
 
Marron froze on hearing the voice address him. He looked up to see Gateau, all happy and smiling, approaching... the feeling of being caught in the act once more occurred to Marron, and he quickly moved the hand stroking Carrot's hair to his side; he tried to move the hand holding Carrot's hand, but Carrot was holding on just too tightly for that... unable to destroy all the evidence, Marron smiled with the exact same degree of sincerity Gateau was using to smile back with.
 
"A-ah, Gateau... y-yes..."
 
Gateau sat down to Marron's side, "Not disturbin' ya, am I?"
 
Marron fought back the urge to tell Gateau he was, incredibly so, and just smiled still, hoping his smile wasn't too false.
 
"No, not at all."
 
"I wondered where ya were. Was gonna ask if you wanted to come down here with me, but when I was awake you were already gone, Carrot too... kinda figured you'd gone somewhere together."
 
"You were looking for me..."
 
"Well, yeah. I just wanted, uh..."
 
Gateau trailed off. Now he was sitting there next to Marron, still seeing Carrot sleeping so peacefully on Marron's lap like that, their hands latticed together... it was hard to make the words form, suddenly. And surely it'd sound so strange, saying it suddenly like that...
 
Marron looked at him curiously, "You just wanted...?"
 
Gateau leant back on his hands, surveying the park in front of him as he did so. He'd promised to himself that he would so he wanted to keep his promise, but despite the strange relationship the two of them shared, it was still just a little difficult...
 
"I just wanted, uh, to say, well... kinda like... I love you, really. I was doing some thinking last night,"
 
I bet you were, Marron thought.
 
"... And I figured that out, like I didn't know it already... so... I decided the next time I saw you, I'd tell you that. Even though, um, you were obviously, uh..."
 
Gateau never said what it was Marron was obviously doing, and Marron wasn't given a chance to make any kind of response before another voice spoke, addressing the three of them.
 
"Arara! Carrot-san! Carrot-san, Carrot-san's friends... is that you?"
 
On hearing the voice, Carrot was immediately awake and rushing towards the female speaker; Carrot's warmth remained on Marron's hand - he clenched his fist so as to not lose that warmth, and Gateau noticed the gesture. He didn't understand it's meaning, but he saw the gesture... which again spoke of a kind of desperation, to Gateau. He was starting to wonder if he wanted to know just what all of that meant...
 
He looked up to see who'd spoken. Indeed, the speaker was female, and Mrs Salad Chips was being nearly accosted by Carrot. Marron sighed, "And he went for so long without chasing a girl..."
 
"Oh really?"
 
Salad walked over, "I'm happy to see you three! I didn't think I'd see you at all, but... I'm happy I did!"
 
Marron smiled up at her standing figure, calmly ignoring Carrot drooling to her side.
 
"It's lovely to see you, Salad-san. Did you have a reason for wanting to find us?"
 
"Well, something like that... you see... you know how fun it is when we all go to the beach together?"
 
Memories of past trips to beaches were never quite what Marron would have referred to as 'fun', most of the time they ended up with Carrot getting hurt in one way or another, and if not that then at least he'd constantly be chasing after any and every girl on the beach, and that was never something Marron relished... he was sure Salad wasn't referring to any of that though, so he just smiled.
 
"Yes... had you something in mind?"
 
"Mm, mm! You see, Potato and I were going to go to that western beach, oh... I've forgotten the name, but you've probably been there before. And I was just sitting there, and I thought, wouldn't it be nice if I could invite Carrot-san and the others along with me? They always brighten the place up!"
 
Carrot nodded enthusiastically, "Sure, we'd LOVE to go with you! Right? Right?"
 
"Oh, I am glad! And... those two girlfriends of yours, the redheaded ones... might they come along as well?"
 
Carrot's face fell, "... Uhh... I guess... they'll probably find their way along..."
 
"I'm sure Potato would love it if they came along too!"
 
"I'm sure he would..."
 
Salad blithely ignored Carrot's sudden bad temper, and smiled happily at the three Sorcerer Hunters.
 
"Alright! I was thinking of going to the beach sometime later on in the month... is that alright for you?"
 
Gateau nodded, "Yeah, sounds fine to me... I'm sure if Big Mama gave us a mission it wouldn't last the whole day, anyway."
 
"I'm glad! Thank you, you three! I'll see you closer to the time to tell you when it is we're going... please, look forward to it!"
 
They blinked at Salad as she ran off, presumably back to her home, wherever that happened to be. Marron looked across at Gateau, then up at Carrot, "I... suppose that means we're going to the beach, then?"
 
****
 
The weather warming up nicely meant that, by the time the weekend rolled around, the weather was almost sure to be nice. The Sorcerer Hunters were quite sure of it, at least... Chocolat seemed to be looking forward to the upcoming trip the most, and even Dota asked if she and Sirius could come along too... Eclair said she was going to go even if somebody tried to stop her, so it was decided that Sirius and Dota could come along too.
 
In the end, it seemed it'd be quite the outing. Salad, Potato and likely Jeeves, along with Carrot, Tira, Marron, Gateau, Eclair, Dota, Sirius, and Milphey, who'd also invited himself along. Most of Eden was looking forward to the trip.
 
However, as that day drew itself to a close, Marron couldn't help but think about what'd happened just before Salad had turned up. Gateau had appeared, and seemed quite ill-at-ease... and he'd said he loved Marron, and that seemed awkward to him... and maybe that'd been because Carrot had been so close by, even in sleep, but as Marron lay on his bed and stared at the ceiling, he couldn't quite get it out of his head.
 
So Gateau had seen him tending so carefully to Carrot? The way they'd been sitting there like that, there wasn't any way he couldn't have noticed... had that made him uncomfortable as well? Marron sighed softly. Likely it would. And he'd said that afterward...
 
After that, of course, Carrot had been awake, and so Gateau hadn't said anything more. Carrot had asked when Gateau had shown up, Marron said it'd been while Carrot had been sleeping... the three of them had headed back to Eden, and while Carrot got berated by the Misu sisters for disappearing so suddenly without their knowledge, even while Carrot was occupied by that, Gateau still didn't say anything more to Marron. Not about what he'd said before Salad arrived.
 
Maybe it was something that was difficult for him to say? Marron wasn't sure, but he was starting to wonder if he should perhaps just go see Gateau, while it was still on his mind.
 
Or, to put it another way, Marron didn't feel he could sleep until he'd seen Gateau. No matter which part of the bed he rolled to, he still saw Gateau's face, still heard his voice, even with his eyes so tightly closed... closing his eyes tighter just seemed to intensify the image... Marron glanced over at Carrot, who was peacefully asleep. Lucky for some.
 
Sighing a louder, more irritated sigh, Marron clambered quickly out of his bed. If it was going to keep him awake then he felt he might as well see Gateau right away, find out just what he meant by the 'I love you' thing, then just sleep again already. Marron was quite convinced that Gateau wouldn't mind being woken up, not if it was by Marron.
 
The floor underneath his feet in the corridor felt cold, Marron wondered if he should have put some shoes or socks on, or something. The image prickled in the back of his mind, or Carrot could wrap your ankles again... Marron tried to ignore that image, but it wouldn't quite go away. Marron pushed it as far away as he could as he stood outside of Gateau's bedroom door. He felt he could either knock, or walk straight in... still, at such a time, what else would Gateau and Eclair be doing than sleeping? He didn't want to unnecessarily wake Eclair, or rouse anybody's suspicions... and it'd be suspicious enough if Carrot woke and found Marron gone, and waited for him, and he was gone for a long time... Marron decided to himself, he'd just quickly talk to Gateau. Clear the air between them, and then sleep. Yes. That sounded like a plan.
 
As quietly as he could manage, Marron turned the doorhandle. Opening the door, it squeaked just slightly, but not enough to wake Gateau nor Eclair, who were both fast asleep. The room was so dark, and even the curtains were drawn... a little moonlight still shone through, though. Enough for Gateau's outline underneath his covers to be somewhat visible, Eclair's less so. Gateau's snores were a little more prominent than Eclair's, but hers were still audible... still, Marron thought, even Carrot snored. Ignoring that, Marron padded across the carpet to Gateau's bedside. He knelt carefully by the bed, reaching out to shake Gateau's shoulder, covered by the sheets as it was.
 
"Gateau... Gateau!"
 
Marron's voice was a whisper, attempting to dare to be just loud enough to wake Gateau up somehow... Gateau twitched a little in his sleep, but other than that, said or did nothing.
 
"Gateau... wake up...!"
 
"Mmhhn..."
 
Marron's eyes flickered to the ceiling in his annoyance. Would nothing wake Gateau up, short of shouting in his ear and waking Eclair up too? How was he supposed to wake Gateau up, anyway? He pulled away from his kneel and stood by the bed, hand on his chin, wondering what he should do.
 
Perhaps... just go back to bed and try to sleep?
 
No, but that would be impossible...
 
While Marron stood there thinking, Gateau shifted on the bed, rolling over so he was lying on his back, still dead to the world. Still thinking, a vague idea crept through Marron's mind...
 
Just for a moment, the idea occurred to him. Just for a moment. Even so, it was long enough for the thought to stick there in his mind... Marron subconsciously supposed that it'd go away as soon as it came to him, but... no, it didn't... Gateau, just sleeping there like that, so unaware, so... so inviting...
 
Marron shook his head to himself... no! He was here to wake Gateau up, and to ask him what earlier had been about. Not to do anything else. Not to do anything like that. Besides, things like that... surely those were the sorts of things that kept him awake at night, thinking about them, thinking against them... the sorts of things that... he wouldn't stop thinking about... that he couldn't stop thinking about... he... he and Gateau... maybe... just the two of them... maybe... no, but Carrot... Carrot was... he and Carrot... he and Gateau... maybe... perhaps... it wouldn't matter if...
 
Ah, but something like that, something like that would be so shameless! That was more something Milphey might do to Carrot, or Chocolat might do to Carrot, or... well, it just wasn't the type of thing he did, though his rational mind argued that almost seducing Gateau in the first place hadn't quite been a him thing. It'd just happened. That had just happened, and this also, would just happen.
 
Carefully, quietly, Marron climbed atop Gateau's bed, crawled over Gateau's body, and sat there, straddling Gateau's lower body. Now what? Gateau still didn't seem to be responding...
 
Before he could really take the time to think about it (and decide against it), Marron slowly pulled the sheeting on the bed away from Gateau. Surely he'd notice that, notice that and wake up... though, he didn't, so... Marron continued. Pulling away revealed Gateau's naked shoulders, naked chest, naked torso... slightly curious, Marron gazed over Gateau's body. Gateau likely slept in his thong or something, Marron supposed.
 
A little further revealed that even that was too much for Gateau, and he wasn't actually wearing anything at all, in bed. Interesting.
 
Gateau was, Marron thought to himself, quite attractive. That couldn't really be argued with. He was loud and he could be brash, and such an attention-seeker, and maybe Marron didn't like to give in to that... encouraging him would only make him carry on, ignoring him seemed to have the same effect... but... while Gateau was sleeping like that, he was... quite... attractive... the moonlight on him, just slightly... sometimes Carrot was like that too, and Marron would watch him... he'd never really seen Gateau like that, though. Gateau, asleep... so peaceful.
 
Kicking the sheets away so they gathered at the end of the bed, Marron snapped out of his reverie and crawled back over so he was straddling Gateau's body once more. Placing his hands over Gateau's chest, moving like that in the first place, even lightly fingering his nipples seemed to do little...
 
Another thought occurred to Marron.
 
If he'd really gone that far and Gateau hadn't woken up at all, then... just how far would he be able to take Gateau, while he still slept?
 
Marron couldn't help a smirk. That thought... it seemed so wicked, but... Gateau, just lying there, all motionless and sleeping and naked... and yes, Eclair was just in the next bed, but she was facing away from Gateau's bed, she was dead asleep also, and Marron could only see the top of her hair peeking out over her bedcovers... Eclair probably wouldn't disturb his little game.
 
Feeling quite thrilled, Marron wondered what he should do first. Obviously, the longer he spent doing anything, the more likely it was Gateau would wake up in the middle of it... Marron had an irrational longing to bring Gateau to orgasm before he could even realise it. Marron wasn't sure why, it just seemed more fun that way. Besides, doing so would prove that he could, and if he was sleeping, Gateau wouldn't insist on Marron's own orgasm, would he?
 
Marron shifted his hips back and forth, just a little. Hoping that maybe that might stir Gateau into some kind of stimulation. He reached down, feeling between Gateau's legs... he was limp at the moment, but maybe if...
 
A slight sigh, nothing was too shameless in such a situation, was it? He shifted around on the bed, over Gateau, so he was now more lying parallel to Gateau, though the opposite way up. Moving his foot to the side he could feel Gateau's hair to the side of his foot... he leant over, leaning down, licking quietly, quietly...
 
"Uhhnn..."
 
Marron's ears pricked at hearing Gateau's moan... so, were his ministrations starting to have an effect? He could feel Gateau becoming harder beneath his mouth, his tongue, his lips, his fingers... ah, this was what had scared Carrot so, was it? Of course, Carrot hadn't expected to see Gateau's proud erection, quite unlike Marron, who momentarily welcomed the sight... the light wasn't brilliant and he could only really sense the outline, but, reaching out with his hand to stroke his way from the tip to the base, that didn't really matter. It felt so hot... so close to Gateau's body Marron felt he could smell him, a warm, earthy, Gateau-y sort of smell... he pressed his head to Gateau's upper groin, licking his skin, inhaling his scent. And glancing up, that erection stood tall, waiting for Marron's touch...
 
Almost eagerly, high on the power he felt of being able to dominate Gateau so without his even knowing it rather than the power of his own arousal, Marron took the erection with his two hands, assaulting Gateau with his mouth suddenly, licking with a tongue so soft and then taking it into his mouth with sucks so hard... Gateau would moan a little louder, and his hips would shudder in small spasms... how much longer might it take, Marron wondered?
 
"AHHHN...!"
 
Gateau's exclamation was just a little too loud for Marron's liking. He moved his foot over, feeling his ankle against Gateau's mouth. If anything was going to wake him up then blocking one of his major air passages would, but it was either that or he'd cry out some more... Marron shuddered as he felt Gateau accidentally suck in against his ankle, he'd forgotten about his little sudden ankle thing... then he felt Gateau push at Marron's leg, and sit up suddenly.
 
Damn. He hadn't managed it, not quite.
 
Gateau blinked, staring down at Marron, not quite able to see him, but able to feel him... who else would have hair that long and soft against his skin, and, more to the point, who else would be attempting to suck him off in the middle of the night?
 
"... Ma... Marron?!"
 
Marron's voice was an insistent whisper, "Sssh, Eclair's still sleeping."
 
Gateau's voice dropped to a whisper, to match Marron's volume.
 
"Marron... Marron, what... what the fuck?!"
 
Marron's voice gained a slightly distant tone, "I was trying to wake you up, but you wouldn't wake up, though I kept whispering your name and pushing at you... so I wondered how far I could take that..."
 
"Marron... wh- why...?"
 
Gateau's arousal still seemed to be clouding his mind; Marron looked up, his tone of voice perfectly serious.
 
"I thought it might be... fun."
 
Gateau blinked. Marron would do something like that for fun?
 
"... And was it?"
 
"It was until you woke up. However, I suppose you desire your climax, so..."
 
Marron made as if to continue, but Gateau reached down and stopped him. Marron looked up with a curious noise, Gateau just shook his head.
 
"Please, not with my sister in the room. Let's go somewhere else, and quickly...!"
 
Gateau slipped out of bed, Marron moving to let him do so. Gateau sat on the side of the bed for a moment while Marron knelt there - Gateau turned to look at him, just looking for a moment... he couldn't really see him, but... even so, Gateau blushed and turned away. He walked off to find a nightshirt to wear while they walked around, Marron got up to wait by the door. Gateau was eventually ready, they left.
 
The silence as they walked to one of the nearby bedrooms was an uncomfortable one, at least to Gateau. He kept glancing to his side to see if Marron would look at him at all... Marron didn't, though. He just carried on walking forward calmly, occasionally lit by the moonlight shining through the windows they walked past, then darkened again... Gateau wondered if Marron was aware that he was being watched so closely... maybe. Maybe not. Unable to say anything, they carried on walking, Gateau letting out slight frustrated noises as they did so. Why did that nightshirt seem to rub so much...
 
"Here will do."
 
Marron's voice was quiet, but Gateau had been waiting for him to speak for so long, he heard him quite clearly. Gateau nodded, "Y-yeah..."
 
The door was held open for him, he walked through. Seemed they were in one of the other bedrooms... Gateau headed quickly over to the bed, sitting there and pulling his nightshirt back over his head, looking over to where Marron was... the light was brighter in that room, the moon shining in brightly through the window... Gateau leant back on the bed, looking over to Marron, who was pressed against the door.
 
"Marron... please..."
 
Staying still for a moment, Gateau felt desperate. He needed Marron so badly... it made him shiver to think that Marron had been doing things like that to him while Gateau had been sleeping... he'd been sleeping, and... just thinking of Marron crawling in with him... touching him...
 
"... I need you..."
 
Marron looked up, still against the door.
 
"You do... do you?"
 
That look... Marron was looking at Gateau through his hair, but his eyes still seemed to shine, through that... Gateau's question still hung in the air, but Marron didn't make any movement. Gateau shifted back slightly, wondering what Marron was waiting for... was he shy? Neither to confirm nor deny that, Marron spoke again.
 
"Gateau... why?"
 
"Uh... huh?"
 
Marron brushed his hair away from his eyes, then resumed staring at Gateau.
 
"You need me... why do you need me?"
 
Gateau faltered, "Uh... 'cause... 'cause I'm horny, Marron! I mean... w-well, you know, you were the one who... who did this... this is because of you, Marron! I'm like this because of you... for you... so, uh... please, I... I need you to carry on..."
 
A trace of amusement, "I didn't exactly require you to beg me in that fashion, Gateau... but is it just because you're aroused? That's the only reason you need me...?"
 
Marron was walking over to Gateau now. Gateau's mind was clouded, but seemed to realise that Marron was questioning him on a deeper level than he'd originally thought... he didn't know what his answer should be, so he just sat there, letting Marron push his legs apart as he knelt between them.
 
"... That's not what you said earlier, Gateau."
 
Gateau's hands closed around the bedsheets as Marron's mouth enveloped his erection. So warm...! No... so hot... and his mouth so soft... moving up and down like that... Gateau glanced down to his lap, seeing the young mage moving so intimately against him... he let out a cry, "Aaahnnnn-... Ma-... Marron...!"
 
He couldn't even respond to what Marron had just said, Marron actions were proving much too distracting. Looking at him, though... seeing him like that... this, Gateau thought, was something he could definitely, definitely get used to. He did something like that so easily... and Gateau was still bemused by the fact that Marron'd pretty much jumped him while he slept... would Marron let him do something similar? What would have happened had Gateau been the one pouncing? Gateau wasn't sure. Oh, maybe Carrot. If Gateau jumped Marron while he slept, then probably Carrot would wake up. Nevermind that.
 
Pulling the sheets towards him, Gateau cried out a little louder. Did Marron realise just what he did to Gateau?
 
Probably so. It wasn't as if it wasn't painfully obvious, after all.
 
It wasn't just what he was doing, though. Obviously, that was nice... but it wasn't just that... the fact that it was Marron doing that was also a large factor also... oh, he was quiet, oh, he seemed reserved, and maybe a little cold, but... no, that wasn't true at all. Maybe to others he was, but... then there was the whole oral sex bit, nobody would really suspect that, would they?
 
Gateau cried out once more as Marron continued. Marron confused him so much... it seemed that Marron didn't mind things as long as they were things that he wanted to do, but... once they got closer to going that bit further, he'd suddenly freeze up and stop... though, that was probably him being nervous. He probably wanted to experiment around a bit before he gave in to that... that didn't matter. If Marron just wanted to play, then Gateau didn't mind playing around with him.
 
Marron was enjoying Gateau's reactions. So flustered like that... he hadn't even replied to Marron's questions, but perhaps now wasn't the best time... Marron moved his head quickly, hoping to bring Gateau's orgasm on... he'd wanted to talk, and now he'd ended up doing that... still, it had been his own fault. He could have just tried to continue to wake Gateau up, maybe if he'd called his name a little more... he'd had to try such a stupid stunt, hadn't he...
 
Eventually, Gateau's moans became a little more halting, and one hand reached for Marron's head... he pulled back and then fell back, Marron not letting go of him, leaning forward as Gateau gasped against the bed, thrusting up, reaching his climax... he yelled Marron's name, and Marron quickly swallowed Gateau's come as best he could. He knelt back, and watched quietly as Gateau panted on the bed.
 
"Ma... Marron..."
 
Supposing that now was a better time to initiate conversation, Marron stood up, and sat next to Gateau on the edge of the bed. Gateau looking up at him, only seeing the back of Marron's head... he reached out, but Marron was sitting just a little too far away, and Gateau didn't quite feel up to sitting up, not yet.
 
"... Marron..."
 
Marron hugged himself, waiting for Gateau's harried breath to rectify itself. Give his mind enough time to free itself of the trappings of ecstasy. Let him come back to himself a little.
 
Not let him fall asleep in the meantime.
 
A few moments passed, then Marron glanced over his shoulder, "Are you ready to talk now?"
 
"... Talk? Marron... what?"
 
Marron sat a little further back on the bed, leaning against the far wall, staring down at Gateau. He brought his knees to his chest, and held them there.
 
"Just that, to talk. I originally wanted to wake you up for the purpose of talking you, but... it'd seem we got somewhat distracted. I trust you enjoyed that?"
 
"Of course, but... what did you wanna talk about...?"
 
Gateau half-wanted to say 'It's not about anything bad, is it?', but was scared of what the answer would be... what if Marron said he wanted to break it all off? No, but... if he'd come to talk to Gateau with that in mind, surely he wouldn't have started the encounter with something so overtly sexual as that... but what else would Marron want to talk about?
 
Marron glared evenly at Gateau, "Earlier you told me you loved me. Tell me what you meant by that."
 
His voice was strangely (to Gateau) terse. Mind racing back, Gateau remembered. Of course, when they'd been in the park, and Carrot had been there, just before Salad had shown up. He'd promised himself he'd tell Marron he loved him, and so he had. Was this Marron's reaction? Gateau wasn't sure what to say.
 
"Uh... what I meant? Well, uh... just that, I guess. I... I love you. I wanted to say that, but I wasn't sure if I should with Carrot around and all... but... what I meant by it? How do you mean?"
 
Marron fell onto all fours, slowly crawling over to Gateau.
 
"There are many different kinds of love, Gateau. Love, lust, friendship, want, need, desire... so many kinds of love and so many things that can be mistaken for love... do you love me because we're friends? Or because you lust after me? Do you need me, or do you only want me? You said earlier that you needed me, because of your arousal... that was then, and obviously you were so desperate, but I've granted you that now, Gateau. Do you still need me?"
 
Gateau frowned, "I... I don't understand..."
 
"Is your love for me only a shallow one, Gateau?"
 
"It can't be as deep as my love is. No other love can. No other love can be as wrong, or as overtaking. Do you dare to compare yourself to that love...?" Were the words that Marron didn't dare to say out loud.
 
Marron had crawled over Gateau in the meantime; he hovered over his prey, not quite pinning Gateau down as such, but still with his hands pressed against Gateau's shoulders, his legs crossed over Gateau's legs... the two stared at each other for a length of time that could have been any time at all from Gateau's reckoning... he didn't know what to say and Marron didn't seem to want to say anything... Marron's stare was entirely more intense, though. There seemed to be so much in those eyes, and Gateau didn't know what to make of that.
 
What was going on behind Marron's eyes? What did he mean by that stare? It almost made Gateau nervous... he requested that Marron look at him often, but never like that... why did Marron's eyes suddenly make him feel so intimidated?
 
Maybe it wasn't just Marron's eyes, but also that strange little smile he had... almost as if he knew something Gateau didn't. What might that be, Gateau wondered...
 
Without saying anything at all, after however long the two just stared at each other, Marron ducked down for a kiss.
 
The force of Marron's kiss was surprising, to Gateau. Passionate and bestial, Marron was the one making claims... and at that moment, Gateau felt that, should Marron wish to lay claim to his body, he really wouldn't be arguing... whatever Marron wanted to do, that was fine. Just as long as he did something...!
 
Marron pulled back, Gateau half-gasping as he did so.
 
"Ma-Marron-!"
 
"... Does lust cloud your mind, Gateau? Is that what you're thinking of at the moment...?"
 
"I-..."
 
Gateau wasn't sure what to say to that. Of course his mind was formulating all kinds of lovely things that he and Marron could do together if they so wished, but something in Marron's tone told Gateau that this was a bad thing... he didn't know whether he should tell an obvious lie or state the obvious truth, and fell into an uneasy kind of silence.
 
Marron leant down again, as if to kiss Gateau once more... he hovered a few millimetres away from Gateau's lips, close enough to feel his own hot breath mingle with Gateau's small gasps, but he had the willpower not to press forward.
 
"Don't you dream of that, Gateau?"
 
"Y-yes...! I... I can't help it..."
 
"I don't blame you for your libido, Gateau. Honestly... my thoughts often wander in your direction also. Wondering what it'd be like if we did do such things... however, my thoughts tend to run deeper than just that... there are other things I have to consider. Do you consider such things? Or do you simply see my body as some kind of outlet for your libido?"
 
"Ma-Marron..."
 
"You said you loved me. In what way do you love me? Physically? Mentally? Both? Neither? Something else?"
 
Gateau took a few moments to consider Marron's questions. He was acting strangely, to Gateau's mind... had Gateau's earlier confession put Marron at some kind of unease?
 
"Marron... I... I'm sorry if saying I loved you made you nervous or anything, but... we're a couple now, I figured it'd be okay..."
 
"I don't mind you saying that, Gateau. I just wish to know quite what you meant by it."
 
"I don't know what I meant by it! Did I have to mean so many things by it... it's not easy to explain! Can't I just say 'I love you' and mean it in a friendly way? You'd probably easily tell Carrot you loved him, or he'd say he loved you, would you suddenly leap on his back and demand he tell you what he meant by it?"
 
Marron froze in the position he'd been in, lifting his head up a fraction. If he and Carrot exchanged such phrases, then that would be in the brotherly sense, of course... with Carrot, it could never be anything else... no matter how much Marron desired it, it could only be like that...
 
And... leaping on Carrot's back...?
 
Mentioning Carrot didn't set Marron in the best frame of mind.
 
"Gateau. My brother and I... there'd be no confusion with a confession like that... he and I are brothers. Such a declaration would be nothing more than that which two brothers would share... as if with you and Eclair also, I would imagine. However, this is different, Gateau. We are not siblings. Other than our position as team-mates and the later course of friendship, there is nothing to bond us together in a loving fashion, therefore... the way you love me, it cannot be like that. I need to know how it is."
 
"Well, um... of course you're beautiful, I mean... you know that, right? Me always saying that... it's true, though. You're damn fine, Marron. But... it's not like it's just that, 'cause, I mean... you're beautiful, Tira's gorgeous, Chocolat's sexy... even Milphey's attractive, Dota's good-looking, Sirius has that intenseness to him... most people around here, I find attractive, Marron. You and more or less everyone else. But, it's... it's different with you! It's not just about looks, if that's what you're worried about...!"
 
Marron crossed his arms over Gateau's chest and leant his head down against his wrists. He gazed lazily across at Gateau, just slightly unable to catch Gateau's eyeline.
 
"No? Then what is it about?"
 
A question rose to Marron's mind, "... If I resembled my brother, would we still be here like this?"
 
"If you looked like Carrot? Uh... well, he's an unbeautiful idiot... but if it was like, your personality and his body? Well, I dunno... I dunno if I'da been attracted to him... or you... whoever, in the first place, if it was like that... though, if it was his personality in your body, then he'd... no, wait, I mean... your personality in his body, then... I'd probably have been attracted to his personality in your body - would it work like that? - but he'da probably freaked out, I mean, you know how he gets with Milphey... but... 'cause I know you better than that, Marron... it's not just about looks! You're very beautiful, but it isn't just that!"
 
"If it's not just that then tell me the other things it is."
 
Gateau's mind was floundering. Anything he said, Marron seemed to fight against... he didn't know what to say anymore. The whole deep emotional thing didn't sit easily on his shoulders, and he didn't really know how to say the things Marron seemed to be expecting him to say...
 
"... I... I don't know, Marron. It's just... it's just you, I mean, all of you... 'cause if something about you was different, anything, then it'd be not you, it'd be someone different... and I love you like you, y'know? Because you're you... that's all I can express it as...! If you were someone else then I'd probably love you differently, but you're you, so I love you because you're you, and... well, yeah. It doesn't have to be complicated, does it? I mean... like this, you... you agreed to be... in a relationship, right? So... you... you gotta have feelings for me too, right?!"
 
Marron didn't say anything, Gateau continued.
 
"... Can I ask what those feelings are...? You're all nervous 'cause I love you... but... I can't help but be a bit nervous, 'cause... I don't know if you... love me..."
 
Marron stopped himself before he came out with a "Me?! Love YOU?!" kind of outburst. Of course, that was something perfectly natural for Gateau to assume, wasn't it?
 
On Marron's half... did he love Gateau? He wasn't sure. Not in the same way he loved his brother, not by any account. He loved Gateau as much as he loved the Misu sisters, as friends and comrades... and it also helped that Gateau was there and had the potential to help Marron with his sexual frustration, but the practicalities never seemed to work that way...
 
Wasn't he using Gateau?
 
Ah, but that seemed such a callous word... Marron preferred the term 'experimenting'... but either way, neither seemed to be working so far...
 
But love?
 
No, not really.
 
Not like that.
 
Purposely ignoring Gateau's wondering statement, Marron leant back over Gateau once more. Again with the staring into the eyes, just enough to make Gateau seem to squirm... his eyes seemed to hold such power, enough to make Gateau blush and try to look away so quickly... Gateau seemed caught between staring back into Marron's eyes, and looking away... his eyes danced from Marron's stare and away from it continually, still feeling unable...
 
"The kind of love you feel for me, Gateau... is it the kind of love... that overtakes everything else?"
 
"Uh..."
 
"The kind of love where... where if anything were to threaten that love, you'd fight to the end to protect it, or die trying?"
 
"Marron..."
 
"Is it the kind of love where you build your whole life around that person, for better or for worse?"
 
Gateau was starting to see shades of another relationship he was aware of in Marron's line of questioning, but didn't dare say anything in the fear of incurring Marron's wrath...
 
"Marron, you don't have to-"
 
"Is it the kind of love where you would happily sacrifice your own happiness to ensure that person had happiness in hi- their own lives?"
 
"-say things like this...!"
 
"Is it the kind of love where you would selflessly sacrifice yourself so the other might live, no matter what the situation nor consequence?"
 
"Yes."
 
"... You're lying."
 
Gateau spoke so firmly in answer to Marron's question, and that shook him. Gateau's hands were wrapped around Marron's upper arms, and he was leaning up and forward... ignoring Marron's quite angry statement, Gateau leant up and softly kissed Marron's lips.
 
"I love you, Marron. Don't fight it."
 
"You're lying...!"
 
Gateau shifted to roll over slightly, moving so he and Marron lay on their sides, Marron staring wide-eyed at Gateau. Feeling some kind of responsibility for the situation, Gateau allowed his facial expression to soften, seeing an opportunity to rectify the situation. Marron seemed so unsure all of a sudden... Gateau wanted to help him be sure.
 
He reached out, stroking hair away from Marron's cheek, feeling the soft, smooth skin... he smiled.
 
"Marron... I'm not lying. I love you. I love you. I love, you. I... those things you were saying... that... if that's... if those are the sorts of things you'd do for Carrot, then good for you having such a keen sense of duty over that sibling of yours... I can't be you and you can't be Carrot, though. You were saying it earlier about the brotherly thing... that's an absolutely separate thing, isn't it? If it's a whole and total love you have for Carrot, great, lucky for him. But... this... this is a more adult love..."
 
Marron frowned, "Adult... love?"
 
"Yeah... you loved Carrot all through childhood and stuff, right? I'm not saying you should suddenly stop, or anything... but that's still the innocent kind of love, isn't it? The things that you and me would do together... they'd be so different to anything you'd do with Carrot, so... if you'd just let yourself, we... we could explore that adult world... together...!"
 
The sudden mental image of this 'adult world' Gateau seemed to be talking about as a physical place occurred to Marron's mind. A kind of fenced-off place, that Gateau was trying to take him through the gate of... but Carrot was still there on the outside, looking lonely and alone, and even if it meant being a child forever in the view of that other world then Marron didn't care, he'd love his brother alone, and if Gateau couldn't cope with that then that was his problem. And he and Carrot would do all the things the people in that adult world did. Even if they weren't in that world, they didn't need it, did they? They'd create a world of their own. A world of just them. And what a world might that be like...
 
No. Gateau was wrong. Loving Carrot like that... that wasn't... the way Gateau made it sound, it sounded like Marron was fearfully clinging to his childhood, not wanting to give way for adulthood... but that wasn't it at all, was it? The feelings he felt for Carrot were far from being pure or innocent, not that Gateau could ever understand that. Marron didn't feel his childhood was any issue at all, so why was it suddenly annoying him that Gateau had brought up the subject?
 
Gateau just continued to stroke Marron's cheek while he thought so deeply. He didn't want to hurry Marron, after all...
 
After a few moments of silence, Marron shook his head, "... No."
 
Gateau abruptly stopped stroking, "... What?"
 
Marron pushed away suddenly, jumping slightly over Gateau and standing next to the bed.
 
"You... you can't love me and I can't love you! That... that's something that's impossible... my feelings... your feelings... they... n-no... they CAN'T!"
 
Gateau sat up, suddenly concerned by Marron's change of tone.
 
"Marron? Marron, you're suddenly so angry... I... I didn't mean to make you angry or anything, you-"
 
Making a reach for Marron's shoulder, Marron swatted Gateau's hand away, stepping back.
 
"Don't touch me... you, saying you love me... that... that's a lie...! That... I can't accept that...!"
 
Marron suddenly hurried towards the door, and had left the room before Gateau could do or say anything about it. Suddenly unsure and confused, Gateau quickly tried to find the nightshirt he'd brought to the room (amidst frustration, this was not the time for shirts to be lost, but it also wasn't the time to be wandering around Eden buck-naked)... having found it and put it on, Gateau hurried out of the room also.
 
In the outer corridor, Gateau wondered where Marron might have gone... the only place Gateau could think of was Marron's own bedroom, and if he wasn't there then Gateau didn't know where he'd find him... feeling desperate, Gateau hurried to the Glacé bedroom.
 
Standing outside the door, Gateau supposed it'd be rude to barge in suddenly... he didn't want to risk waking Carrot up, either. So he went to quietly open the door, just at least to see if Marron was around... but the door handle fought against him.
 
Of course. The door was locked.
 
Sighing, Gateau closed his eyes. What more could he do? He knocked against the door quietly, whispering Marron's name, hoping that he might hear...
 
"Marron? Marron! Marron... please, come out...! I... I'm not angry with you, or anything... are... are you angry?... Marron!"
 
No response.
 
On the other side of the door, Marron lay in bed, staring with eyes that didn't blink at the unlit lamp on his bedside. He heard Gateau knocking on the door, he heard Gateau's whispers all too plainly, but he was determined not to respond... he just hoped that Gateau would give up before Carrot woke up, but that wish wasn't granted.
 
To Marron's side, Carrot mumbled in his sleep. Gateau's knocking continued, the noise stirring Carrot out of sleep... he made a sound of confusion, wondering who'd be knocking on the door so late into the night... or early into the morning, even... Marron closed his eyes in a wince as he heard Carrot wordlessly jump out of his bed, and head towards the door.
 
"Okay, OKAY, I'm coming, I'm coming..."
 
Carrot yawned loudly as he came to the door, went to open it, and found it, as Gateau had done, locked. Carrot didn't question that, but he didn't remember locking the door either... maybe the lock had fallen against itself? That happened sometimes, and it required picking at the lock to open it again... maybe Marron had locked the door? Trying the lock to see if it'd been purposefully or accidentally locked, Carrot found it clicked open under his fingers. So someone'd intentionally locked it... Marron had? Why would he have done that?
 
Opening the door, Carrot found himself staring at Gateau. He blinked, "What is it?"
 
"Um... is Marron there?"
 
The question sounded stupid in Gateau's mind and even more so once it'd left his mouth. Of course Marron was there... the door was locked, he'd run off suddenly, where else would Marron be? Still, if Marron had gone anywhere, then now was the time to alert Carrot about it...
 
The question also obviously sounded quite bizarre to Carrot. He frowned curiously at Gateau, turning around, checking over his shoulder. Of course, Marron was still there. Not asleep, but Carrot and Gateau weren't to know that. Marron still winced; of course, Carrot wouldn't know not to tell Gateau anything...
 
"Yeah, why wouldn't he be?"
 
"Uh... y-yeah... can I speak to him?"
 
"Can't it wait until the morning? He's all asleep and stuff. I was asleep too, you woke me up!"
 
"It's... kinda important."
 
Carrot sighed impatiently, "Okay, okay, though if Marron gets pissed off at you for waking him in the middle of the night, don't say I didn't warn you. He likes to maintain a delicate balance of sleep and being awake to keep to his busy schedule! You're putting all of that at risk!"
 
Gateau was tempted to tell Carrot to shut his fucking mouth and stop talking out of his fucking asshole, but he figured that wasn't quite the time or the place. He remained quiet as Carrot called over to Marron, "Marron? Maaaarron, wake up! Gateau's here, he wants to speak to you!"
 
No movement from Marron, who was keeping intentionally still. He hardly dared breathe, but he supposed that that would be as suspicious as anything else... still, he held his breath while he waited for the situation to play itself out. Maybe they'd accept that he was sleeping and leave him alone already.
 
"Marron?"
 
Marron bit his lip. Maybe they'd stop now...?
 
He heard Carrot's footsteps on the floor (or at least, he assumed it was Carrot, he doubted Gateau'd barge into the bedroom without saying anything, not if he'd stood quietly by the door until that point), and cursed inwardly. Not over yet...
 
Carrot shook at Marron's shoulder, "Marron? Marron, wake up?"
 
Marron feigned a tired noise, "Nnhn?"
 
"Gateau's here, he wants to talk to you."
 
Carrot's voice had been loud and ratty while addressing Gateau, but while he spoke to Marron, he was as quiet and undisturbing as he could make himself. The calmness of his voice tempted Marron into opening up... he could only tell the truth, after all. Especially to his brother.
 
"I don't want to see him."
 
Carrot frowned, "Marron?"
 
"Please, niisan... I just want to sleep."
 
"Okay, okay."
 
Carrot walked back over to the door, wondering if Gateau'd heard any of their whispered conversation. Gateau just watched with his arms folded, noting that Marron still wasn't moving at all... he looked from Marron's raised form on his bed to Carrot, "Well?"
 
"He said he doesn't want to see you..."
 
Carrot sounded as confused as he looked. Gateau paused for a moment... such a reaction was expected, but still... there was now the problem that, of course, Carrot's suspicion was now likely aroused... what would Marron tell him of the situation? Would he tell his brother anything at all? It seemed a suddenly difficult situation... but there wasn't anything he could do, not for the time being. He just nodded at Carrot, "I... I see. Sorry for waking you up."
 
He walked off before Carrot could say anything in reply to that.
 
Carrot watched the empty space where Gateau had been for a few moments. That had been weird. Gateau'd seemed all worried and preoccupied about something... and Marron hadn't wanted to see him... and he'd just walked off so quietly? That wasn't like Gateau, not at all. The whole situation was just confusing to Carrot... he sighed, closed the bedroom door, and turned back to look at Marron. Was he asleep at all?
 
"... I guess you locked the door, huh..."
 
"Yes, niisan."
 
The speed and clarity of Marron's response told Carrot that Marron wasn't - or hadn't, even - been asleep at all. Feeling even more confused, he headed back over to his bed, letting the springs creak under his weight as he bounced slightly after his impact.
 
"Uh... Marron?"
 
"What is it, niisan?" Marron's voice was even.
 
"What... was all that about?"
 
"I'd rather not talk about it, niisan."
 
Curious yearnings fought against the will to respect Marron's wishes. Carrot felt unsure, suddenly... had Marron and Gateau had some kind of fight, or argument? What kind of things would Gateau do to make Marron not even want to see him?
 
What kind of things...
 
Several sorts of things occurred to Carrot's mind, each one worse than the last. He didn't want to say anything to Marron at all, not in case he was entirely off the mark and ended up angering his brother, and Marron probably just wanted to sleep... surely if it'd been anything really bad then Marron would have surely woken Carrot up and said something about it... and if it'd been something painful, maybe Marron'd cry about it, and Carrot would end up comforting him...
 
No, but maybe he wouldn't. Maybe Marron would just end up bottling up everything inside, like when they were kids, and Marron'd get picked on, and he'd just run off and cry on his own... that memory randomly rising within him made Carrot feel even more uneasy. Even if it wasn't something Marron wanted to talk about... if it had been something bad, then...
 
"Marron, there's... nothing you want to talk about, is there? I- I mean..."
 
"Niisan, I'm feeling quite exhausted, I'd appreciate it if you allowed me my rest."
 
"O-oh, okay..."
 
No, but it wasn't... what things might have made Marron exhausted? The more Carrot thought about it, the more it worried him. What might Gateau have done to his little brother? What if he'd... done things Marron didn't want him to do?!... No, but Marron was stronger than that, Marron wouldn't let anybody do anything like that within his power, not even Gateau. And Marron was certainly capable of blasting Gateau into the stratosphere if he really wanted to, Carrot knew that, but it still didn't bring him any relief...
 
Tossing and turning on his bed, Carrot couldn't sleep at all. Marron obviously wasn't going to tell him anything... if he went to see Gateau, would Gateau tell him anything? If anything had happened, and it'd been bad... Gateau'd had the audacity to come find Marron afterwards, and had even spoken calmly to Carrot... so either it really hadn't been that bad, or Gateau was one hell of a bastard...
 
Carrot closed his eyes, trying to banish his frantic thoughts, trying to fall back into the easier world of sleep. Maybe he'd dream about some cute girls, maybe he'd have a hot fun kinky sexy dream, and...
 
... kinky sexy...
 
... kinky...
 
Carrot jumped out of his bed, closed the distance between his and Marron's bed, then unceremoniously leapt onto his brother's bed; Marron, who'd finally been drifting off to sleep, let out a loud "UMPF!" of surprise, before trying to work out what the hell had just happened... what the hell had just happened, anyway?! He doubted Gateau would have come back into the bedroom after what'd happened before, so that could only mean that he'd been jumped by...
 
"Ni- niisan!?"
 
"He didn't touch you, did he? Or make you touch him? Or do uncomfortable things? Did he try to see you naked? Did he make you look at him naked? Did he touch you in your private places? Marron, if he did, it's okay, it's not your fault, it's not your fault at all, you were obviously overpowered and confused and he took advantage of that and-"
 
Hardly able to comprehend what Carrot was suddenly babbling at him, Marron snapped a little too sharply, "Niisan, be QUIET!"
 
"... Marron, I know you're probably feeling a bit fragile now... I-... I mean, if something like that happened to me, I don't know how I'd react, but-"
 
"Something like what...?"
 
"Well, like, uh, uh, being, uh, raped!"
 
Marron blinked pointedly at his brother for a moment. Carrot had raised his head from where he'd been what he thought was supportively snuggled against Marron's shoulder. Marron was too busy feeling rattled to treasure the feeling, though he knew he'd probably regret that later. What was Carrot saying?! What did he think had happened...?!
 
"Niisan, it's... that's... ... ... what are you talking about?!"
 
"You! Gateau! Damn, that bastard had some nerve though, coming right back here to torture you some more... hasn't he already done enough?! He's shamelessly stolen your virginity and then he came back as if nothing had happened at all, not even guessing you'd still be upset and angry about it! I won't forgive him! Even if you do like men, that's no excuse! I'll cut off his balls and feed them to... to... to a dog... um... yeah! He WON'T get away with this!"
 
"Niisan... my virginity... what?!"
 
Marron's sleepy mind was still having problems working out just what it was Carrot was on about. He frowned an irritated frown up at his brother, who just looked down at him, concerned.
 
"I know you're probably in a lot of shock now Marron, so it's okay if you're all dazed... um..."
 
Carrot leant down and quickly pecked Marron's cheek, something that made Marron's eyebrow raise, as if on a connected reflex.
 
"... you're probably gonna need a lot of love to get through this, so even if you don't want anybody else to know about it, we'll make him pay, okay? I'm here for ya. Let's see, what did I hear about that... sometimes people get all scared of physical contact and stuff after that, right? Oh, do you want to take a bath or anything first, wash anything away...?"
 
"N-no, I'm alright, niisan..."
 
"Okay. If you need anything just say, okay? Hmmm... oh yeah. People get scared of physical contact and think it's wrong to be touched and stuff like that even if it's just a hug, I wouldn't want a bastard to end up scarring you like that, sooo..."
 
Carrot rolled off the bed, stood by it, quickly lifted Marron's sheets, and dived underneath them. Feeling an overwhelming need to comfort his younger brother in this obvious time of need, Carrot threw his arms around Marron and one leg also, hugging him with a tight squeeze in a warm full-body hug.
 
"See, this isn't bad, is it?"
 
"No, it's... it's wonderful, niisan...!"
 
"I'm glad."
 
Marron couldn't fight a blush as he felt Carrot's head nuzzle against his neck, leaning on his shoulder. Whatever strange ideas Carrot had got into his head now, maybe for the time being they didn't really matter, not if this was the kind of effect they had. What had Carrot been on about before? Marron still wasn't entirely sure, but Carrot seemed to want to be all cozy and loving now, so... no, he didn't want to argue with that. Not at all.
 
Carrot hugged Marron tightly still, "Don't you worry, in the morning, we'll make sure Gateau gets his. I won't forgive him for this! It's okay if you don't want to do anything, I'll be the one punishing people for hurting you for once. Maybe you'll wake up tomorrow and this'll all be like a bad dream, right? For the moment, all that matters is that you're okay. Okay? If we wake up and we find Gateau's run off or something, we'll just get Big Mama to find him and kick his ass. He won't live without the full judgement of heaven on his guilty shoulders!!"
 
"Right, niisan."
 
Marron hadn't been listening to anything specific Carrot had been saying, happy enough just to sit and listen to the sound of his brother's voice, talking like that. What a nice position that was, Carrot pressed against him so tightly, hugging him like that... and the way Carrot's leg still trapped Marron's two, that was... interesting...
 
Marron sighed deeply, pressing back towards Carrot, just a fraction. Didn't they behave in such confusing ways, sometimes?
 
"Marron, are you asleep?"
 
The question amused Marron. If he was, then how was he supposed to answer?
 
"... Almost, niisan. What is it?"
 
"Uh... just wondering if you're alright..."
 
Despite the lovely feeling of Carrot hugging him, Marron couldn't help but feel a vague tingle in his lower leg. If he carried on like that, he'd probably get pins and needles... he was a little curious, though. What might happen if he moved onto his back?
 
He quietly did so, "I don't want my leg to fall asleep, niisan..."
 
Carrot laughed softly as he shifted over so he was mostly on top of Marron, his head nestling against Marron's neck, "Not your leg but the rest of you, right? If I'm too heavy, just say so."
 
Marron rubbed at his eye with one finger; Carrot saw that, "Marron? Are you crying?"
 
"I thought I had an eyelash in my eye, niisan. It's gone now."
 
"Oh..."
 
Marron quietly kept himself attentive, just in cast Carrot said anything else.
 
Thinking back to the previous events... why did they seem suddenly so far away? The time with Gateau, with what they'd done, the things Gateau had said, the things Marron had thought about... maybe they'd made Marron feel angry, and maybe he'd felt that his thoughts of his niisan had been threatened, and... had Gateau been calling him a child, with those things he'd been suggesting? He might as well have been. Making Marron out like some sheltered little child who'd rather live in a contained world and not explore outside it, that 'adult' world...
 
Carrot didn't move as Marron nervously brought his hands up around the top half of Carrot's back. His fingers felt the cloth of Carrot's nightshirt, sensed the warmth just a little beyond that... he tightened his hold just slightly, then a little more, and Carrot still didn't object. Marron latticed his fingers together over the centre of Carrot's back, letting them hold together. That was nice.
 
... If this was what he had to give up to enter the adult world, Marron was tempted to just forget about it. An adult world meant to give up all your feelings from the past? Just because those feelings were from a time long ago, did that mean that they weren't as deep, as moving, as meaningful? If time was any measure... Tira and Chocolat had known Carrot for most of their lives, they loved Carrot, didn't they? Nobody questioned that, that was quite natural for them...
 
Marron supposed it was just a case of Gateau not knowing all his facts. He assumed that Marron was happy enough to cling to a nice innocent brotherly love forever, obviously... Gateau couldn't know quite what that brotherly love entailed. He probably never would, not if Marron had anything to do with it. Well, Marron decided. Whatever Gateau wanted to think.
 
Still, Marron hadn't quite heard it all put like that before.
 
He let Carrot's breathing lull him into a more hazy state of consciousness for a while. Carrot was probably asleep now, he wasn't saying anything at all, and his breathing was so regular... and Marron could feel it against him, Carrot's breathing, Carrot's heartbeat... Carrot's body, just as warm as in any of Marron's dreams, but unimaginably hotter for being reality...
 
Marron fancied his idea of the closed-off world versus the other one. That little scenario from before. He pictured he and Carrot in his imagination, happily walking off into that world... ah, and the things they'd experience. There was a whole world he wanted to explore with his brother by his side, even just the world that was his brother... Marron didn't feel shameful for looking upon Carrot with such tender eyes, at that moment. Carrot was so important, wasn't he? He probably didn't realise that importance, he probably didn't think of it at all, but... Marron didn't really care. It was nice to hide within a secret love for a while, and find pleasure in the little things that people took for granted.
 
He couldn't help a smirk. Wouldn't their position upset so many others in the building? Chocolat and Tira, wanting Carrot to be on top of them... Gateau, wanting Marron to be beneath him... that didn't matter to Marron's mind, though. Whatever it was that they wanted... Marron wanted Carrot, and, even if it was only in a platonic and misunderstood sort of way, for the night, he had him.
 
Even if every moment had lasted for an eternity, Marron wouldn't have minded. An eternity of feeling his brother's warm body on top of him was enough to please him, even if his mind suggested more and Carrot's feelings would probably reveal less... that didn't matter.
 
Much as fatigue crept through Marron's body, he fought it for as long as possible. Sleep was the enemy... sleep would steal him away from his precious eternity, and after too short a time, morning would arrive, and take away the special heartfelt moments and replace them with the awkwardness of being unsure... all too soon, sleep overtook both the Glacé brothers, and they slept together and undisturbed for the remainder of the night.