Polarity

Note: I wrote this story the year the game came out, and just now decided to touch it up a bit and let it see the light of day. Please review -- does anyone read Chrono Cross fics any more...?

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Polarity
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The Deva Karsh was an impressive man, with flashing red eyes and a dangerous smile, deep laughter that rumbled like the stormclouds currently gathering on the horizon, and tanned arms that could swing a huge battle-axe with an ease that left a much smaller Porre officer feeling inadequate in comparison.

Karsh was reckless and impulsive, hotheaded to an almost maddening degree, and so drop-dead gorgeous Norris feared he really would be driven to distraction before long.

Good gods, it wasn't as if he didn't have more important things to worry about. He, Fargo, and Serge – still trapped in a feline body – had just defeated the Black Dragon of Marbule, and were taking a break for the night aboard the S.S. Invincible before heading for Sky Dragon Isle in the morning, trying to save the world from something he could scarcely comprehend.

Norris was well aware that his subordinates found him uptight, and maybe they had a point, but he couldn't help it if it was in his nature to like things well ordered. In short, he liked things to make *sense*… and the world, or worlds, had stopped making sense a long time ago.

And now here he was, leaning despondently against the railing, staring out into the grey-violet sea and crushing likea schoolboy over a man who had vanished mysteriously three years ago, along with the rest of the Acacia Dragoons. Norris sighed, pushing off from the railing and heading downstairs, a bit wobbly as he hadn't quite gotten his sea legs yet.

That had been in Norris' own world. Here Karsh was alive and well and wearing a shirt that left his chest bare and inviting –

As he stepped away from the bottom of the ladder the ship gave a little lurch and Norris found himself tumbling face-first into aforementioned bare chest. He inhaled sharply in surprise, the scent of musk and sweat overpowering his senses. “I’m sorry,” he stammered as a blush burned his cheeks. “I don’t quite have my sea legs yet.”

"Don't worry about it," Karsh rumbled. Norris didn't dare look up at the sharp grin he knew had come over the other man's features. "You've been dying to do that for weeks."

"I…" He glanced up, briefly, then wheeled, completely taken aback, unable to face the Deva. "I have been doing nothing of the sort!"

"Ya think I can't tell?" His hand fell to Norris' shoulder and the other man flinched away, unable to comprehend the fact that he was actually having this conversation. Undeterred, Karsh took another step forward, backing Norris against the wall and replacing his hand, broad and heavy. “We’ve traveled together enough for me to realize where you’re looking when we’re not fighting for our lives. Or where you’re trying *not* to look.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Me? You’re the one worrying about propriety when all of reality’s threatening to come crashing down around our ears at any moment.” His hand slid down Norris’ arm, tugging him away from the wall. Norris wasn’t sure why he allowed himself to be lead. Maybe he was in shock. Maybe he just couldn’t quite work up the nerve to deny himself something he’d been wanting for so long, especially since Karsh’s words rang so true.

He entered the bedroom and Karsh shut the door behind them. There were three low wooden beds against the wall, and he stumbled toward the middle one, legs giving out as he reached it. He fell gracelessly to the mattress, and instantly found Karsh’s arms around him.

He may not have been as large as Karsh, but his body was composed of well-trained compact muscle. He could probably hold his own against the Deva adequately, at least for a while. That is, if he'd wanted to.

But Norris knew he had completely lost all willpower as soon as Karsh's mouth touched his skin -- a nuzzle just below the ear that astonished him with its gentless even as a shiver washed over him.

Still, he managed a weak protest. "What if someone finds out?"

"So what if they do? Tell them I took advantage of you, if it makes ya feel better."

"You wouldn't -" His words were interrupted with a gasp as Karsh's large hand cupped the tent in his pants - "You wouldn't mind?"

The words summoned a laugh, that gorgeous rumbling laugh that immediately weakened Norris' knees and tightened his groin. "I don't exactly have a pristine reputation."

This left the soldier's mind reeling as he let Karsh help him out of his shirt. Six years ago, when he'd been a new recruit, he had engaged in a clandestine relationship with another soldier that had been slowly torn apart by fear. Discovery would doubtless lead to a shameful discharge... Soon after the breakup Norris had heard a story of a captain who had been exposed, stripped of his rank and so shamed he had blown his own head off.

He couldn't be sure of the extent of truth to that story, but it was enough to lock him more firmly in the closet than ever before.

And yet now here he was, kneeling on his bed in his underwear, staring into lust-darkened red eyes as Karsh's clothing joined his on the floor. Norris was well aware that he may just be making the biggest mistake of his life. But as he leaned forward to finally taste the planes of Karsh's chest, the sting of salt on his tongue combined with the thunder rolling in sent a wave of rebellion through him.

"I'm sick of it, " he hissed against Karsh's shoulder, shuddering as calloused hands stroked his back. "I'm sick of hiding, of being afraid. I want..."

"Tell me what you want." The rumble of his voice blended easily with the patter of rain lashing at the portholes, and Norris, acting purely on desire now, melded his body against the dragoon's, wrapping arms and legs around him.

"I want you," he murmured as their hips made contact, friction between cloth-covered erections deliciously maddening. "And I want you without any worries."

"Then stop thinking and just trust me."

With every moment it became easier. When their lips finally met Norris' mouth opened immediately, letting in a plundering toungue. He was losing himself in the swipe of tongue on tongue, in the heat of muscled flesh under his palms, in the hard press of fingers on his lower back. Little by little his control was loosening, washing away with the rain, and he let his eyes close and his body relax with the onslought of feeling.

A flash of lightning washed the dim cabin a strange grey-white, and in the crash that followed Norris found himself pushed face down into the mattress.

It wasn't a position he had been in often, exactly, but neither was he unfamiliar with it. The air buzzed with electricity, setting his whole body on edge, sensitized and trembling with anticipation. Karsh's hands slid up the backs of his thighs, stripping off the last bit of clothing; he moved to cover the soldier's slightly smaller body with his own, breathing hotly into Norris' ear.

"You're gonna have to relax... I don't have any lube, and I don't want to hurt you."

Was that real concern in the Deva's voice? Norris didn't have much time to consider as Karsh pushed his legs apart and bent his head to...

"Oh, gods!" Norris' groan joined the thunder as Karsh's mouth worked at his opening. The other man's tongue was actually *inside* him, and the feeling was unlike anything he'd ever known. Hot and wet, and somehow at once hard and soft... He squirmed, not caring to analyze the feeling. Sweaty hands gripped the bedsheets, back arching to drive him in deeper. Norris' breath turned ragged, and unthinkingly he lifted a hand to touch himself-

The tongue disappeared, and he whimpered involuntarily, taking a moment to toss sweat-soaked blond bangs from his face before looking back over his shoulder expectantly.

Karsh had settled back onto his knees. As Norris watched, he spit into his hand, rubbing the liquid on his massive erection, mixing it with the trickle of pre-cum that had already begun leaking out. After repeating the action twice more, he met Norris' gaze and grinned predatorially. The anticipation coupled with the fast crashes of thunder and lightning sent the Porre soldier's heart pounding and his cock throbbing.

The dragoon's hands went to Norris' hips, grip so strong he would doubtless find bruises in the morning. Then he felt Karsh pressing against the opening of his asshole, hot and hard and so unbelievably *huge*...

He couldn't suppress the little grunts of pain that escaped as the tip pressed in. Karsh, aware of his discomfort, reached around to pull at Norris' own erection, and the heat of his callused hand - so big it engulfed nearly his entire length - helped take his mind off the pain.

It had been a long, long time since Norris had last been taken, but he remembered how to push back to make the going easier. Still, it was an unbelievably tight fit; Karsh filled him completely and then some. Norris felt his whole rectum throbbing, and bit down on a corner of his pillow to quiet his choking moans.

It felt strange, painful, uncomfortable -- and somehow amazing.

When Karsh was finally fully seated he paused, hand still working Norris' unflagging erection. The two of them breathed together, growing accustomed to the sensation of being joined. Norris felt momentarily dizzy, as if the entire room was bucking -

Which, he realized vaguely, was because it *was* - the storm was rocking the entire ship.

And then Karsh began to move.

Norris cried out, the sound lost in the storm. Thunder crashed and waves pounded, and Karsh's groaning carried to him under the sounds of the storm. Norris would have called the other man's name but most of his brain seemed to have shut down; all he could manage were incoherent shouts and the occasional cry of affirmation.

His body shuddered and tensed, and as Norris panted on the brink of release he sensed the brink of something else as well, as though he were standing on a cliff about to jump without being sure if he would fall or fly.

The feeling passed as quickly as it had appeared and his release splattered against the sheets. He felt Karsh shoot inside him and the frantic pounding slowed to a stop, both men remaining motionless for a moment, panting hard.

"Karsh." Norris breathed the name as if needing to prove to himself what had just happened.

"Hm?"

"I..." blinking as his vision cleared, "I don't want to lie in this wet spot."

Karsh laughed heartily at that, rolling off of Norris and moving to the other bed. "That's solved easily enough."

Norris joined him, the few steps across the room unsteady with the combination of weak legs and roiling sea. He crawled under the sheets with his back to the Deva, suddenly feeling a little overwhelmed.

*Was* this the start of something bigger? Would this be a regular thing? A relationship? An understanding? Or just the beginning of fear and doubt?

Karsh was soon snoring beside him, but curled in his body heat, in a multiverse of possibilities, Norris found himself feeling terribly small.

The thunder rolled on.