In The Dark

Gray returned home late that evening. He went into the main dining area of the inn and sat down at a table. Cliff’s head peeked out from the kitchen, and he couldn’t hide the look of delight on his face. He disappeared, but reappeared a moment later with two plates of curry, one of which he set in front of Gray. Gray started eating, trying to hide the smile which was trying to erupt all over his face. Cliff just looked at him with moony eyes.

“I can’t believe we’re finally alone,” he breathed happily.

“Yeah,” Gray sighed contentedly. “No more retard Kai.” He took another bite of food, then his expression darkened. “I swear to the Goddess that I would have had to murder him if the season had lasted just one more day.”

Cliff waved his hand airily. “Well, he’s gone for good now.” Gray started to say something, and Cliff slumped a little and spoke again. “I know, I know. He’ll be back next summer. But it’s a long time until then.”

Gray swallowed his food. “Besides, maybe it might not even be an issue. Grandpa says I’m almost done with my apprenticeship. I could get my own shop somewhere else, and not have to ever see Kai’s face again.”

Cliff stared at him, expressionless, then a look of devastation started to creep out. Gray paused in his chewing. “What’s wrong with you?”

“You’re going to leave Mineral Town?” Cliff asked in a small voice.

Gray snorted. “Yeah, one day. Good riddance.”

Cliff looked more devastated. His eyes became red around the edges. He stared down into his plate. Realization washed over Gray, and he sputtered. “Stupid! I’m not going to leave you behind! You can come with me.”

Cliff looked up, relief washing over his face. “Oh, thank goodness…” He began eating again.

Gray chuckled. “You’re so silly. Like I’d go anywhere without you.”

He finished eating and headed upstairs, getting into the shower. He was absolutely filthy from his hard day at work, and he couldn’t wait to get clean. Cliff slipped into the shower with him a few minutes later. Gray grinned at him. “Oh, would you like me to wash your hair again?”

Cliff backed away a step. “N-no, no thank you.”

Gray just grinned wider. “Come on, I’m really good at it.” He picked up the shampoo bottle, and waved it at Cliff menacingly. “It’ll feel soooo good. You know you want me to.”

Cliff started to squeak as Gray’s hands came down on him, pushing him under the flow of the shower and wetting him down. “No! No!” Cliff protested as Gray started to open the shampoo bottle. He kneeled suddenly, grabbing at Gray’s manhood and putting it in his mouth.

Gray gasped and laughed brokenly. “Oh, trying to distract me, huh? Well, it won’t work!” He continued opening the bottle, and squeezed a large amount on the top of Cliff’s head. His hands massaged the soapy liquid into Cliff’s long hair, tangling it up horribly. Cliff looked up at him, squinting. “I’ll bite you,” he said, his mouth still full of Gray’s rapidly hardening member.

Gray backed away, pulling himself out of Cliff’s mouth. “You crazy bitch!”

Cliff stood up, rinsing his tangled hair out. “You’re the crazy bitch!” He started laughing, and Gray couldn’t help but laugh too. He pulled Cliff in close and kissed him deeply.

“All right, all right, I won’t wash your hair. But, uh, how about…?” He pushed on the back of Cliff’s head, urging him to continue pleasuring him. Cliff happily complied. Gray groaned with pleasure, then spoke up. “No biting!” Cliff raked his teeth lightly on Gray’s skin, making him squeal. “I can…still reach the shampoo from here…” he warned Cliff. Cliff stopped using his teeth, purring innocently as he sucked softly at Gray. “That’s more like it…” Gray moaned happily, leaning back into the wall. He climaxed a few minutes later, bucking his hips into Cliff’s mouth in ecstasy. They finished up their shower and got dressed for bed, snuggling happily into the same bed for the first time in ages.

About a week later at work, Gray was hammering away when he heard Saibara drop his hammer with a loud clang, and make a strange noise. Gray wheeled around sharply, gasping when he saw his grandfather clutching at his chest. “Grandpa, what’s wrong?”

“It’s my heart, boy…” Saibara managed to wheeze out.

“I’ll go get the Doctor!” Gray cried out, and he barreled out the door and towards the Clinic. Doctor was inside, talking to Elli, his nurse, but quickly took off with Gray when he quickly explained what was going on. However, when they arrived at the blacksmith’s together, it was too late.

“I’m sorry, Gray. He’s gone.” Doctor said softly, as he rose from examining Saibara’s body. Gray just nodded mutely, his face a mask of stoicism.

The next few hours were very unpleasant. Zack arrived to help, and Saibara’s body was transported to the church, where he would be buried the next day. Gray trudged back to the inn after everything was taken care of. Word had already spread all over town, and patrons at the bar murmured as he entered. Ann hurried up to him. “Oh, Gray, I’m so sorry about your grandfather.” Gray just grunted, brushing her aside, and went upstairs.

He pushed his way into the bedroom, collapsing down onto Cliff’s bed. He lay still, feeling nothing but utter exhaustion. He heard the door creak open softly a few minutes later, and the click of it locking once more. The bed squeaked as Cliff laid down behind him, wrapping one arm around his waist and pressing his lips firmly on the back of Gray’s neck. He didn’t say a word, just laid with him and held him tightly.

Gray started to feel like he couldn’t breathe, and his eyes burned as tears began to fall. Sobs started to rack his body, and Cliff just kept holding him, still not saying anything. After a while had passed, Gray stopped crying. He gave a dark laugh. “Why am I even crying for that mean old bastard?”

“Because you’re human,” Cliff whispered. They laid together for while longer, then Cliff urged Gray to sit up. He kissed his tear stained cheeks, then helped him out of his clothes. He led him by the hand into the bathroom, where he turned on the tap and guided him under the water. Cliff soaped up the washcloth in silence, washing Gray’s muscular body off slowly. Gray just closed his eyes and tried to relax under the warm water. He sighed heavily, and Cliff pulled him in for another hug.

When the shower was over, Cliff dried both of them off and guided Gray back into the bedroom. He selected some clean boxers for Gray, who took them and pulled them on. Gray laid down in his own bed, getting under the covers, while Cliff turned off the light. He then approached the bed and urged Gray to lay on his stomach. He straddled him, rubbing his hands over Gray’s tense muscles. Gray sighed, relaxing into the bed with the massage. Exhaustion finally got the better of him, and he fell asleep deeply while Cliff was still massaging his back. Cliff squeezed into the bed with him, and snuggled up close.

The day of the funeral went by as a blur. No one even batted an eye as Cliff stayed close to Gray, patting his arm soothingly and looking up at him. Gray didn’t care either, because his grandfather was the only one he was hiding his relationship with Cliff from. It was either that the townspeople didn’t dare judge Gray while he was grieving, or that they just thought that Cliff was a devoted “best friend.” Whichever it was, Gray didn’t really care anymore. He and Cliff were together, and he didn’t give a fuck what anyone else thought about it.

The next day, Gray got dressed for work, feeling a little strange. He figured that he had to open the shop after all. Since his grandfather was no longer alive, he would have to take over all the work. He let himself in, having taken his grandfather’s keys the day before. He looked around the quiet shop for a while. This was all his now, he supposed. He wasn’t particularly thrilled about it, but this town needed a blacksmith. He would have to step up to the task.

He thought of something, and wandered into the other side of the shop. One half of the building was where Saibara had lived. Gray had rarely gone in it, as Saibara was even more anti-social than Gray himself. He pushed open the door leading to the residence side. He flicked on a light, and scowled. It was filthy. Dirty dishes were piled up, stacks of newspapers littered the floor. Gray sighed, looking it all over. He could ask Cliff to help him clean it up.

Something wonderful suddenly crossed his mind. This was all his now. Meaning that he didn’t have to stay at the inn any more. Meaning that he AND Cliff didn’t have to stay at the inn anymore. He started to feel a lot happier as he sifted absentmindedly through the junk. The living space was actually rather nice if you looked past all the clutter and filth. There was a small kitchen and dining area, a decent sized bedroom with a queen sized bed, a bathroom with both a shower and a large tub, and a laundry area.

He walked back outside, hanging up the “Closed” sign on the door. He chuckled to himself when he realized that it was Thursday after all, so he didn’t need to open the shop anyway. He hurried back to the inn, stomping up the stairs and rousing Cliff from bed. “Hey, I need you to help me clean up my grandpa’s place,” he whispered at him. Cliff didn’t hesitate to get dressed and go down there with him.

Cliff was good at that kind of stuff, and quickly set to work cleaning. Gray took over the heavy tasks, like hauling out all the junk and clutter, while Cliff did the actual cleaning. He stripped the bed, washing the sheets along with all the towels he found in the bathroom. The musty smell that had permeated the place before quickly gave way to the smell of bleach and soap.

At the end of the day, they were exhausted, but looked over their work approvingly. The place looked completely different. Now, it actually looked like somewhere that people would want to live. Gray grinned down on Cliff. “Aw, you got it all shiny and it smells like flowers and sunshine now!” Cliff just laughed, and they headed back to the inn together. They went up to the room. Cliff started to strip to get into the shower. Gray raised an eyebrow at him. “Why don’t you wait until we get back home to do that?”

Cliff just stared at him, puzzled. “We are home.”

Gray straightened up. “No, we’re going to live at the shop now.”

Cliff’s eyes widened. “You and me?”

Gray grinned. “Yep, you and me.”

Cliff squealed happily, pulling his shirt back on and rushing up to Gray for a hug. They happily packed all their things together, and they headed downstairs.

Gray cleared his throat, approaching the counter. “We’re checking out, Doug.” Doug just stared for a moment, not understanding. “We’re going to stay at the apartment inside the shop from now on.”

Doug gave a sad smile. “Well, I’m sorry to see you boys go. You were such good guests.” He nodded at Gray. “That’s really generous of you, Gray, letting your best friend come live with you.” Gray snorted. Apparently, Doug belonged to that group that was utterly clueless.

Cliff piped up. “Don’t worry, Doug. I’ll still come by to help out.”

Doug looked relieved. “Good. I was actually starting to worry a little there. I’ve come to rely on your help. If you could come by in the mornings, say from 9 to 12, that would be great. Since I won’t be providing you room and board any more, we can work out a salary, instead.” Cliff just nodded, and Ann came out of the back room just then. Doug quickly explained the situation to her, and she smiled at the two of them slyly behind his back. Gray blushed a little, and then he and Cliff headed towards the shop together.

They unpacked their stuff, and Cliff sat on the bed, bouncing up and down on it a little. “Wow, this bed is huge! I’ve gotten used to us being crammed in a twin bed! What will we do with all this room?”

Gray chuckled, advancing on Cliff and pushing him back. “I can think of a few things…”