Kou leaned his chin on this folded arms and watched shadows curl below him. This balcony was a good place for thinking and he felt a need to think today.

He was getting much more comfortable, here in shadow, since he'd let himself accept that Shirogane was his king. It was a relief to feel Shirogane's power in him; it was familiar and comforting. And that was starting to worry him.

Kou didn't realize he was humming until Lulu leaned over the back of the couch, positively smirking. "You're looking more like yourself lately, Chibi. Did something good happen?"

The shadow world could be kind of boring, Kou had decided. At least now that there weren't any crazy kings around stirring it up. And he certainly didn't wish Homurabi back, but with only two people around to talk to, and neither of them Akira, he was definitely feeling out of sorts.

Fortunately there was a solution.

Kou hauled himself up from the bed, wincing a little. "You're a real bastard, you know that?"

"A fine way to talk to someone who just finished healing the wounds your own idiocy bought you," Shirogane observed, pulling his gloves back on.

Kou supposed he should have expected it to happen eventually. He and Shirogane had been having their tug-of-war, or at least tug-of-Ryuuko, for a long time. And they'd kept, as it were, walking their hands up the rope to get a better grip. Maybe it wasn't surprising that they'd eventually leave off the rope and just tug on each other.

Or something.

Akira lay in Shirogane's arms and wondered if humans, or shin for that matter, could purr. He felt like he wanted to try. The sun had gone down, but the air was still clear and warm with spring, and Shirogane's hands were just that comfortable bit warmer as they slid up and down his back and over his shoulders.

"The shadow in you is thinning," Shirogane murmured against his hair.

"I'll take care of it. Watch what I do, so you can learn it."

Now Kengo frowned, stubborn. "I should do more than that. I can do more than that, I know it."

Echoes of the past twitched at Shirogane's nerves and he told himself firmly that Kengo was nothing like Homurabi had ever been. "In time."

"All right, you said you found something," Lulu said, settling on Kou's best chair. "So what is it?"

Kou blew out a stream of smoke. "Think it's the king you want. You'll never believe who it is, though." He certainly hadn't.

"Hah! Take that!"

The screen flashed with colorful explosions and Akira tossed his controller down in disgust. "You're even a demon in games."

"Mm." Kou hadn't looked away yet. "So you're not worried he'll be pissed off if you just show up unexpectedly?"

"Probably will be," Akira allowed. "So what?"

Kou choked on a swallow.

"Sometimes he needs something he doesn't want to admit to." Akira shrugged. "So I should know how to go."

Kou laughed through his last few coughs. "Yeah, you're you all right." He leaned back, mouth quirked. "And totally in love too, aren't you?"

Akira jerked upright. "I am not!"