*Disclaimer - I don't own Digimon. Toei/Bandai does.
*Warning: This is an attempt to get Ken and Ryo in bed at least once. So yes that's yaoi, folks. Why? I figure I owe it to Muse-Ryo to write at least one fic where he gets laid since he never does in any other fic I've done, and I had to get this out of my system before it drove me nuts. Any attempts at a plot is laughable at best.
*Other notes: This has nothing to do with my other fics or the Gennai theory, which leaves Ryo at about 14 in this.
*Final note: You'll notice that Ken refers to Ryo as 'Ryo-san', which indicates his respect for and somewhat distant relationship with Ryo. Yes, there's a very good reason I'm actually using Japanese suffixes in this fic.

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Black obelisks thrust sharply into the sky, looking as if they were sewing needles protruding from a pincushion. Or, were he what he once was, he might have fancied it to look like Vlad Tsepesh's forest of wooden stakes just before the Turkish invaders were impaled on them. After all, the Kaiser had a grudging respect for someone who managed to turn away an entire army without going into battle, though Vlad's method was just a bit too messy for his tastes.

But he was not the Kaiser, not anymore. Among those who had defeated him, there was one who wanted him to join their ranks. Part of him had wanted to laugh then, it was so reminiscent of a standard RPG cliche. Defeat the bad guy, ask him to join your party. But not yet, he had... issues to take care of first. One of which was Motomiya's similarity to an old friend.

Friend? No, he didn't deserve to call himself that one's friend. Not after the way he had denounced their friendship the moment he decided he was better than everyone else and deserved so much more. It had happened so quickly. One minute he was asking Ryo-san to come visit from Sapporo in Hokkaido, the next he was annoyed that Ryo couldn't at the moment and preferred to wait a while. The annoyance escalated to anger when Ryo just wouldn't submit to his demands, and he had said things that he now wished he could take back. It was such a silly situation to get mad over too, he knew Ryo's parents rarely ever came down to Tokyo and the other boy was severely limited by that.

Oh, but Ryo would have been such a nice addition to the Kaiser's forces, had he managed to talk the older boy into it. After all, it was the great Akiyama Ryo who had saved the Digital World thrice from the clutches of the evil digimon Millenniumon. Having Ryo at his side would have made them all submit so much faster. But the older boy had refused, and that was the last straw. He had blocked Ryo's e-mail address and refused to talk to the other any more.

What a fool he had been. But he was now trying to make amends for his overall stupidity, a little at a time. Just to the Digital World for now, his personal life could wait until later... if he could hunt down Ryo's online identity again.

Stingmon returned to him then, wheezing somewhat after having struck down several dark towers. He hated having Stingmon do his dirty work for him, but he could hardly knock the towers over by himself, now could he? With the shadow of a grateful smile on his face, Ken uttered his consent when Stingmon asked for a break. The creature devolved, leaving behind an arthropod digimon in its place.

They conversed for awhile of nothing in particular. Wormmon was happy now that he was useful for once, which in turn made Ken regret that he had been so abusive to the creature. Ineffective and cowardly the bug may have been in battle, but Wormmon was loyal and did anything to please him. He didn't deserve to have someone like that as a friend, let alone as a digimon partner.

For awhile things were peaceful. The Digital World's sun was setting, the action painting the sky with warm, vibrant colors. But the towers disturbed the peace of the scenery with their very presence. Someday soon Ken hoped to be rid of them all.

Then the peace was broken again, this time by rustling in the bushes. Startled at the potential threat of intruders, Ken spun around to see what was approaching him. He had just recognized the smirk on a pale face framed by silver hair before something struck him hard in the back of his head.

.~*~.

To say that his head hurt would be a massive understatement. It felt like there were elephants in toe-shoes and pink tutus dancing around drunkenly on his skull. The pain was worse where he had been hit, and with a grimace he rolled over to take the pressure of gravity off of what must be an enormous bump. As if that wasn't bad enough, his mouth now felt cottony and his respiratory system acted as if it had been flooded with some kind of gas he couldn't positively identify.

Just what had happened? All he could recall was seeing Arachnemon, being hit by something, and waking up here. Here being some sort of hospital room with a bed that was a bit larger than the norm. Everything was sterile and white, except for that person that looked to have been thrown into the corner and left there. It was a very familiar looking person too.

The teenager groaned aloud as he woke. Reaching back to lightly feel for the bump that had to be there, he soon winced and pulled his hand away. "Crap, that hurt!"

Ken gazed at the all too familiar figure, unsure of just what to say. There were so many emotions whirling around in his mind, none of which were prominent enough for him to pick that out and stick with it. The Tamer gazed back at him, face completely unreadable. The air itself was thick with tension, yet neither could bring themselves to talk for awhile.

Then the older boy spoke up, every bit as willing to come out with a non sequitur as he was when Ken had last seen him. "I see Spiderlady got you too, right? I had drunken Cossacks dancing and kicking around inside my skull, how about you?"

"Elephants," Ken answered, almost mechanically. He was still too lost in his own emotional whirlwind to respond with much more. Ryo, here. Alone. Could he make it up to the other boy? What he had said back then was inexcusable, he didn't think-

"Ow, you win." And the silence fell again.

Things didn't used to be this way, they used to be able to talk about everything under the sun and then some. Why did things have to change? "So, how's life in Sapporo?"

"Oh, we moved to Fukuoka. Not all that great, but warmer than Hokkaido," the Tamer got out in a rush, grateful for something to talk about that would distract him from his own thoughts on seeing Ken again for the first time in ages. "I'm hoping in a few years I'll be able to convince the parents to move to Tokyo." Now he was just babbling. Really, he'd have to stop doing that to cover up his nervousness someday. "So, um... how're you doing?"

Something within Ken welled up then. How long had it been since someone other than Wormmon was sincerely concerned about him? Not who he symbolized or out of any status acknowledgment, but who he really was. There were his parents, but he had never been as bad to them verbally as he had been to Ryo during the maturing stage of his Kaiser persona. Such a simple question the Tamer asked, and yet... "Horrible," Ken choked as the depression and self-hatred washed over in an attempt to drown him. "I'm sorry Ryo-san... Everything I said to you then, I'm sorry..."

There was a stony pause before Ryo managed to speak. "You know, I can still remember every word. Telling me that the reason I had no friends was because I was never good enough. That the reason no one remembered what I did for the Digital World was because no one gave a damn. I remember you telling me that it was because of my strangeness that no digimon had ever or will ever bond to me. I remember you saying that you deserved someone better than me as a Jogress partner, or as a friend for that matter. There was so much more, but-" Ryo ran his fingers through his hair, more uncomfortable with the situation than he thought he would be. His best and only friend since Osamu had hurt him more than anyone else in his life. "But it doesn't matter anymore. Nothing ever mattered to me anymore since then."

Ken buried his face in his hands, trying to fight the self-loathing and sorrow brought forth by his past deeds. He had struck at Ryo's weakest points and nearly broke the other boy because of his megalomania. How could he have been so cruel? "I'm sorry. I'm sorry..."

It wasn't until he felt a gloved hand rubbing his back reassuringly that Ken looked up. Ryo was smiling at him. Sadly, yes, but it was something. "Don't worry about it, pipsqueak. We all do mean things at some point in our lives. Unless you're a real saint, and those people are boring."

"I don't suppose you would forgive me," the younger boy asked in an almost timid manner.

Ryo shrugged. "I forgave you long ago, and I'm too fickle to hold a grudge for long." With a sudden grin, the Tamer tousled his hair. "Besides, I figured you'd need someone on your side once you came back to your senses, and who better than your old Jogress partner. Right?"

Relieved at Ryo's words, Ken gave a brief smile. That had been so much easier than he thought it would be. He was grateful for the fact that his friend forgave him, but he would be happier if they talked elsewhere.

As if reading Ken's mind, Ryo left the boy's side and attempted to open the one door in the room. A frown crossed the Tamer's face as he jiggled the doorknob with increasing force. It was securely locked and did not budge even when Ryo gave it a resounding kick. Annoyed, the Tamer stalked back to the bed Ken was sitting on.

"Just our luck," Ryo groused, crossing his arms as he did so. "There's no way out that I can see, and the door is locked."

"I suppose we'll just have to wait and see what happens. There's nothing else we can do right now," suggested the younger of the two. It was something new, he couldn't ever remember being caught up in this kind of predicament with Ryo before. They always had their digimon partners around in the event that something like this should happen. Unfortunately, he had no idea where Wormmon was, and Ryo just didn't have a digimon partner at the moment from what he could tell. He did not like this predicament one bit.

For the moment, Ryo looked ready to throw something. However, the Tamer simply gave up and sighed miserably. "I hate being in situations like this, pipsqueak."

"I am not a pipsqueak, Ryo-san," Ken muttered, mildly indignant at being called such a thing. The Tamer rarely treated him like a kid, but when Ryo did, it annoyed him. He didn't want to be considered a child anymore. It had been fine back when he was used to being treated like one, but now...

The older boy cocked his head and looked thoughtfully at him for a moment. Ryo then chuckled softly and unfolded his arms to remove the gloves. "Yeah, in another couple of years you're gonna be taller than I am. Guess I can't really call you 'pipsqueak' anymore."

It was like old times, almost. Ryo's presence always elicited feelings of safety within Ken. His friend was someone he could always count on, even with all they went through together. The Tamer was simply always there... to comfort him, to draw him out of his depressive bouts with a light joke or two, to talk to when no one else could be bothered with him...

Ken's eyes fell upon the Tamer's hands, noting the ragged, pale scars that had been Millenniumon's first parting gift to Ryo. It had happened before he met the other boy, but Ryo liked to tell the tale every now and then. Battle scars were something to be proud of, after all. At least, they were as far as Ryo was concerned, and Ken appreciated the older boy's laid-back attitude about everything they went through so long ago. Do what you have to do and just hope everything else works out for the best. If not, well, c'est la vie.

To his surprise, he watched as one of those hands reached out to sweep a couple of stray locks of hair back behind his ear, the touch lingering on his cheek long after the action was done.

"I don't think I've actually looked at you since then," Ryo muttered, looking somewhat confused as he did so. Ken had been just a child when they were roaming the Digital World together, he had always just considered Ken the little brother he could never have. But the boy couldn't really be considered a child any longer, not after all that happened since they parted ways. And, damn him, he was actually starting to think that Ken had gotten to be quite... pretty.

Too much had happened, he couldn't really consider Ken his little brother any longer. Ken had changed, and now Ryo wondered faintly if that change was responsible for his own deviating perspective of the boy. He'd be an idiot if he denied that Ken was attractive, and he had been so lonely since they parted ways. There had never been a chance for a girlfriend... or a boyfriend for that matter since he was quite happy with his bisexuality. Maybe that might change too?

Why he did what he did next, he couldn't quite tell. Perhaps he felt it was the one chance he had to do something like this. Regardless, Ryo traced the line of Ken's jaw, stopping at the chin to tilt the boy's face upwards.

Ken closed his eyes as his Jogress partner leaned in to kiss him, lips parting in invitation. This was strange, but something within him needed this kind of contact. It yearned to be held, touched, kissed. Most of all, at least for now, he just needed Ryo.

The kiss was almost timid at first, as if the Tamer was afraid of hurting Ken. But the moment he felt Ken's arms drape around his back, he took it as an invitation and pressed his tongue in to meet with Ken's. Their tongues rubbed against each other tentatively at first, then with increasing passion as inhibitions were slowly peeled away. Eventually they parted to catch their breaths.

"Well that was odd," whispered the Tamer as he glanced back at Ken. He had actually liked that a lot more than he thought he would.

The younger boy took offense at Ryo's words, unfortunately, and looked away with an almost sulking expression. "I'm not that bad a kisser, am I?"

"No, you're pretty good! The problem is just with me, that's all. I mean come on, who'd want to make out with a dork like me," Ryo offered and put on a nervous grin in an attempt to reassure his friend. He gave a mental sigh of relief as Ken's expression softened... although Ken was quite cute with that mildly indignant look.

"You are not a dork, Ryo-san," Ken responded. He then paused to reconsider his words. "Well, not much of one anyway. What does it matter?"

Ryo shook his head once, well aware of the fact that Ken's arms were still around him. He adored Ken, but Ken deserved the best. Not someone like him... "It matters because you deserve someone better than me." The arms around him hugged him close then, and much to his surprise, Ken's forehead nestled against his shoulder.

"Who would want me, after everything I did," whispered Ken as he clung to his friend as he had when he was younger. "You were the only one who really cared, Ryo-san."

With another sigh, Ryo hugged the younger boy as reassuringly as possible. He stroked Ken's silken hair with gentle fingers in hopes of soothing his friend. Ken was so fragile now after the years of neglect and all the things they suffered in the Digital World, and for a while Ryo had been the only one to alleviate that pain. At least, he had been until the Kaiser came along to stick a knife in his back. Perhaps he would be able to do so again.

It was time to start over, to make amends. Maybe it might even be time for their tentative relationship to take another path. In a way, it made some bizarre sense to Ryo that this would happen eventually. There had been no one else, and with his rootless nature there likely never would be. Smiling slightly at that, the Tamer pushed the younger boy gently away. "Now Ken, I can't see how anyone wouldn't want you. You're cute, intelligent, sweet, polite, and someone would have to be completely nuts to ignore you."

Perhaps what Ryo expected was a quick rebuttal or a few words of self-deprecating denial. What he did not expect was the feeling of Ken's lips pressed against his once again, this time more demanding than their first. Stunned at both Ken's boldness and the fact that the one person he considered inaccessible was kissing him again, the Tamer merely stood stock-still. It was only when he accepted that this was what his friend wanted that he allowed himself to relax and return the kiss.

The kisses that followed were thick with newfound emotion, and hands that were once hesitant now roamed freely over each other's bodies. Ken's fingers worked gracefully to undo the Tamer's belt buckle, the contact drawing Ryo's attention from a cloud of happiness and back to the reality of what they were doing. Ryo still wasn't sure if they should go where Ken was more than hinting at, but it felt so nice and he had been lonely for so long...

Ken hummed dreamily as he parted from the kiss only to nibble lightly on the skin of Ryo's neck. As a child he had adored Ryo as any little boy would adore a hero. Oh, he thought he had grown out of it, but now these feelings were surfacing once again. This time he considered himself old enough to do something about it and did not hesitate as he continued his attentions on his hero. A fallible hero, yes, but now intentions mattered more than anything else. Ryo at least tried.

The younger of the two paused as his friend's hands clasped around his wrists, then looked up quizzically.

"You do know where this will lead, don't you?"

Smiling at that, Ken pulled his wrists out of Ryo's grasp. It never did take all that much effort to do so, even when he was younger. "Whatever made you think I didn't? I'm not the child I once was."

Ryo opened his mouth to reply with something that would sound rather stupid once he voiced it, but then thought better of it. Ken wouldn't be doing this if he really didn't know what he was doing, right? Shutting his mouth then, Ryo simply resigned himself to going along with the ride. Besides, he wasn't all that innocent himself and this could turn out being kinda fun.

"Yeah, you're not," the Tamer nodded in agreement. He smiled slightly as Ken's hands returned to their original position. Really, Ken had gotten to be quite good looking over the years, and definitely much bolder. Suddenly grinning as a particularly interesting thought crossed his mind, Ryo plucked his friend's hands from his now undone belt and gently pressed Ken back on the bed.

Blinking in surprise at the unexpected move, Ken simply laid where he was. He hadn't really known what he was doing, short of a few clues here and there, but Ryo seemed to know much more than he did, so he would simply let Ryo take care of things. After all, was this any different from the other times they were together? Sure it was a bit more adult now, but Ryo always took control before. Besides, Ryo would never hurt him, not like he had done to Ryo under the Dark Seed's influence. Right?

Ryo's eyes wandered over the mysterious structure of Ken's uniform jacket. Maybe there was a hidden hook or something, and if so it would probably be at the collar. Expression softening as he unhooked the collar, Ryo gave Ken a small kiss on the forehead before finding the tiny tab of the zipper and pulling it down. "Let me know if anything I'm doing upsets you and I'll stop, okay Ken?"

Ken nodded, even though his friend's words were needless. What could Ryo do to him that would be bad enough to upset him? He trusted Ryo completely, and he did quite like the way the Tamer's fingers brushed against his skin once the white shirt he wore under his uniform jacket was unbuttoned. With both the shirt and jacket undone, the Tamer pulled away to let him shrug out of them.

At this point Ryo didn't really, absolutely know what he was doing. It was one thing to wander around online and poke curiously at those weird gay sex sites, it was quite another to be doing this kind of thing hands-on. Not that he minded the opportunity. As he toyed with another thought, Ryo took off his own shirt before sitting on the bed by Ken's side. Giving a reassuring smile as Ken glanced quizzically at him, the Tamer scooted back until the back of his knees came in contact with the edge of the bed and draped an arm around Ken's slender shoulders.

"Remember when you used to sit on my lap when you were younger," Ryo asked in response to the curiosity in Ken's face. The curiosity was soon replaced by dawning realization.

"Oh!" Ken suddenly smirked as he moved to wrap his legs around his friend's waist as he straddled the older boy's thighs. For the briefest second he noticed a slight widening in Ryo's blue eyes before it was quickly masked. "Like this?"

"Well, that's definitely a better position than the one I had in mind," murmured the Tamer. But he did like this quite a lot, even if it was kinda unexpected. With a sigh of happiness at being able to finally do something like this with someone special, Ryo pulled Ken closer in an embrace and kissed him once again.

Ken shivered slightly as Ryo's lips trailed from his own to his left earlobe. The play of Ryo's tongue and breath against the sensitive skin ushered forth a parade of sensations that he never expected would be this good. It just felt so nice being held and kissed like this, and for the first time in years he actually felt safe. But then, Ryo had always managed to make him feel safe.

Ryo's kisses trailed lower to nibble lightly at Ken's neck for several minutes, encouraged both by the feeling of Ken's fingers entwining themselves into his hair and the ever so subtle quickening in the boy's breath. He trailed lower still, pulling Ken away from him just enough to allow him to lean over and brush his tongue against a nipple. This triggered a tightening in Ken's grip, which only encouraged him further. Soon enough, the tissue hardened under his tongue and he sucked gently upon it before bestowing equal attention to the other.

A tiny gasp escaped Ken's lips as Ryo's attempt to pull him away to lap at his nipples inadvertently succeeded in bringing his crotch in contact with something that seemed to slowly be hardening in Ryo's pants. It didn't take him very long to figure it out, for his friend's attentions were drawing the same reactions from him, and it did feel rather good. As the older boy continued eliciting such feelings from his body, Ken began rubbing against his friend's rising hardness in an attempt to return some of the favor.

Ryo had been perfectly happy focusing his attention on a fairly simple task that seemed to work wonders in making Ken happy for the moment, then the boy had to rub against him there and promptly kicked his thought processes into the gutter. Not that he minded it, but the Ken he knew wouldn't have been this bold and this was a definite reminder that his little Jogress partner was very much not a child anymore. Ken was older, and did apparently want this what would come of this, so hopefully he wouldn't screw things up when it came down to that.

Before Ryo pulled away slightly, Ken had been perfectly happy with what they were doing. He blinked in surprise as Ryo gently pulled him from his lap and back on the bed before rising from it with an awkwardness that wasn't normal. Before the Child of Kindness could ask about it, however, Ryo grinned and pressed a finger to his lips. "I'm gonna go get something that we'll need to go further. It'll only take a second."

As the Tamer trotted off to the other side of the room where the worn yellow travel bag laid, Ken quietly rose from the bed as well to shed the rest of his clothes. He didn't quite know what Ryo wanted to get, but it must have been important. A slight smile crossed his lips as he settled back on the bed. This reunion had gone far better than he ever thought it would, and Ryo was every bit as nice as he remembered. How silly he had been to think that it would have gone otherwise.

Packaged food, drink bottles, pup tent, first aid equipment... Ryo frowned to himself as he dug deeper into the bag he carried constantly with him. There was a bottle of lotion somewhere in there. He flipped to an inner pocket and was rewarded by the familiar feel of the smooth plastic bottle coming in contact with his fingers. Grinning in triumph as he yanked it free of its confines, Ryo jerked himself back up from the floor and spun around, only to nearly lose his balance as his eyes fell on a completely naked Ken sitting on the bed and waiting for him. And it was a really, really nice view.

Ken suppressed a slight smirk that rose at the expression on Ryo's face. He'd hate admitting to it, but he liked getting that response and definitely liked how Ryo kept staring at him like a thirsty man would stare at a glass of water. "So you really do come prepared for anything, Ryo-san."

Ryo blinked as the words just barely registered in his mind, snapping him from whatever trance he had been stuck in, then glanced down at the small bottle of lotion before laughing nervously. "Oh, this? I'm fourteen, male, and have internet access. What more do you expect from a teenager?"

Letting out a small laugh at that, the younger boy patted the surface beside him. Thankfully, it didn't take long for Ryo to follow his example, and soon enough Ken found himself lying down and tracing old claw scars that had long since faded into white trails along Ryo's back. He didn't need to ask where those scars came from either, it was too apparent.

Somewhere at the back of his mind was a voice that had been whispering to him that maybe having sex with Ken wasn't such a good idea, but Ryo seemed to have shed that along with the rest of his clothes. Ken's fingers wandered lightly over the scars left by Millenniumon's claws. There would be time for that later, but for now both he and Ken wanted something else. With a gentle smile, the Tamer leaned over the younger boy and kissed his friend with a passion that surprised both of them.

Ken bit back a startled gasp as he felt a hand slicked with lotion lightly caress him where no one had touched him before, spreading the cool liquid along the length of his penis. Any thoughts he may have had were soon washed away by pleasure as Ryo continued to caress him. But, eventually, Ryo's fingers trailed elsewhere.

At this point Ryo was focusing more on trying to remember how those people on those gay sex sites said this was supposed to be done than anything else. He knew this was going to be a little painful for Ken at first, but wanted to make it as painless as possible. His fingers rubbed gently at the tightly constricting ring of flesh before pressing one in to slick as much of the area as possible. Ken tensed against his intrusion, but at this point there was nothing to do but go on or call this whole thing off.

It was hard remaining as silent as he did, even with the initial discomfort of the intrusion. Ken's fingers gripped at the bed sheets as Ryo continued to rub within him, until at last he allowed himself to relax enough for his friend to press in another finger. Ryo's fingers went deeper then, and when they stroked upwards and against one spot he didn't know could feel so good, Ken couldn't help but gasp at the overwhelmingly pleasant sensation.

Smiling to himself at the reaction he finally managed to get from Ken, Ryo pulled his fingers away before coating his own hardness with the lotion. It had been oddly arousing to watch the pleasure flit across his partner's face like that and he definitely wanted to see that again. He allowed himself a few moments to give Ken a quick kiss before situating himself between the boy's legs. As he got into the position he assumed was necessary, Ken's arms wrapped around his back to draw him closer still. Then, slowly, he plunged into the waiting body below.

Ken's nails buried into the flesh of his friend's back as Ryo drove into him, using every bit of willpower he had to keep from crying out from the unfamiliar ache. After all, he knew Ryo too well, and that kind of response was likely to make the older boy completely stop what he was doing and call this off. But no, he wanted this to continue. It was only when Ryo was completely entrenched in him that the ache was washed away as Ryo came in contact with that one place from before that felt so deliciously pleasant.

Oh, wow this was good. That was all Ryo's mind could offer at this point, as his world had decided to center exclusively on what he was feeling the moment he felt Ken's muscles squeezing around him and demanding his complete attention. He was so stuck on trancing out into his happy haze of pleasure that he hadn't really noticed it when Ken's fingernails raked down his back, and it wasn't until he faintly heard Ken's voice begging for more that he yanked himself out of the haze and back to the task at hand.

Nothing Ken had read about or stumbled across online could have ever prepared him for the indescribably pleasure that sparked along his nerves at what Ryo was doing to him. Everything else was forgotten and ignored as his partner's thrusts did nothing but increase those wonderful sensations. One rather deep thrust elicited a moan he could barely suppress, and it was then that he looked up to see Ryo gazing down at him with a mix of lust and something else he couldn't positively identify.

"I love it when you do that," the Tamer whispered faintly as he leaned down, weight propped up by his elbows, to quickly kiss the pretty boy he once knew only as a child. But no, not a child anymore. Smothering his own desire to speed things up, he merely continued his almost leisurely pace. Gods, but it felt so good, and he didn't think he was going to last much longer. But he had to, he was intent on driving Ken's desires before his own. It was only natural, after all. Yet another sweet moan of ecstasy from his partner served to loosen his hold on his own control and speed up just a bit. It wouldn't be much longer at all.

The way Ryo kept stroking against that one spot within him, the way every motion drove his passion higher and higher... It was entirely too overwhelming now and another deep thrust easily sent him over the edge, ripping a sharp cry from his throat as it did so. He clung desperately to his partner as his climax rushed over him, and was just barely aware that Ryo was soon following suit.

Weakly Ryo pulled out of his friend and slumped over to the side. That had been incredible. He had never thought it would be this good. He glanced over at Ken, who was trying to catch his breath, and smiled gently at the boy. Really, he had never expected this to happen with anyone, but it did happen and it was with the one person he had ever really cared about. That counted for a lot.

Sighing as he basked in the warmth of the afterglow, Ken closed his eyes. He would be perfectly content to stay here like this, to let his hero take care of him as he always had. Maybe Ryo would even help him redeem himself and they could travel the Digital World together again. That would be nice. Ken crinkled his nose then as he realized that he had something on his stomach that was starting to feel kinda icky and he should really wipe it off. Before he could reach beside the bed for a pile of napkins that seemed to have been left there for some reason, Ryo reached past him to grab one and quickly wiped away the sticky result of his orgasm.

With Ken now cleaned up, the Tamer pulled his younger friend into his arms in hopes for a little cuddle time. After all, this was likely to evolve into something else and he did want to be able to rebuild the kind of trust they once had for each other. Among other things. Ken curled up into his arms, the action invoking a subtle tug at his heart that he hadn't thought was possible. Yes, other, deeper things might be nice...

Moments passed before either spoke, the silence was so comfortable that there didn't seem to be any need to break it. When it was finally interrupted, Ken's voice was just barely audible. "Do you think we can work together like we used to, before we parted ways?"

"Mmm," Ryo purred into his friend's hair. He was perfectly content, and happier than he had been for a very long time. "If you want me around."

Ken sighed as he settled closer against Ryo. "We used to be a good team. Please?"

Chuckling at that, Ryo squeezed his best friend in a tight hug. "OKOK! Anything for you, kiddo. Now, can we sleep?"

.~*~.

He was warm, comfortable even if the bed was a little harder than usual. Someone was curled up and sleeping soundly in his arms, which was unusual, but he liked the idea that he had finally found someone to share this level of intimacy. Male, female, it really didn't matter to him since he didn't have a preference one way or the other. He smiled to himself as he hugged the other boy close.

Ryo opened his eyes then as he began to wonder just who he had slept with. The images had been blurry at best, probably due to whatever he had taken beforehand. All he could remember was that the sex was really good. Oh, yeah, and there had been some reconciliation with someone...

Eyes widening in shock as he finally realized just what happened, Ryo pulled away from his slumbering Jogress partner as gently as he could. Ken... oh gods, he had actually taken advantage of Ken. The one person he had practically put upon a pedestal and he had to go ruin that by sleeping with the boy. Guilt flooded through him as he gathered up his clothes and threw them on. What had he been thinking, doing something stupid like that?

It would also be stupid to take off without leaving an explanation why. Now fully clothed, the Tamer opened up his travel bag to pull out a pen and rip a clean sheet of paper from his journal. He had barely finished scribbling an extensive apology before the door opened and a silver-haired woman strode in. She paused as she took in the scene, then smirked as he glared at her.

"I knew you would fall into my trap," Arachnemon stated, her voice low and yet thick with amusement derived at the expense of another. "All I had to do was throw you two into a room, provide some incentive, and let you at it. It was really quite simple."

Growling to himself, Ryo resisted the urge to throw something heavy at the evil digimon. "And what, pray tell, was the point of this?"

"I warned you to stay out of my path. And since you weren't being a good little boy, I thought it would be prudent of me to acquire something that would act as a nice little reminder that you really shouldn't stick your nose into other people's business." The woman then pulled out what she had been hiding behind her back: a simple black videocassette tape. She openly gloated as Ryo made a poor attempt to hide the rising anger. "Before you consider attacking me, my superior has a copy of this. Should anything happen to me, I'm sure he'll be more than happy to send copies to both your parents and the police. I do believe your parents won't exactly be thrilled about your orientation. And isn't thirteen the legal age of consent in Japan?"

Ryo let out a single expletive that couldn't possibly describe the intense loathing he felt at that moment. It was directed at Arachnemon for getting him into this position, and at himself for falling into the trap and letting his desires take over. After having smothered out his temper, he scrawled out a postscript on the paper and balled it up after putting away the pen. "Fine, I'll stay out of the war."

"You humans disgust me so," uttered the digimon as Ryo rose to exit the room, dropping the balled piece of paper as he did so.

Out of curiosity, he stopped before her to rip away the shades that hid her eyes. They were quite human and quite pretty. They also confirmed a sneaking suspicion he had developed since the day he saw her. With a sudden smirk Ryo ran his thumb over Arachnemon's cheek. "You aren't one to talk, Spiderlady."

Taken aback by the Tamer's words, Arachnemon took a moment to gather herself for a response. "What do you mean?"

"Ask your 'superior' some time, I'm sure he'll be able to explain," the Tamer said merrily as he pulled back his hand. He had been in the Digital World for so long and worked with so many digimon, he could tell instinctively what this pseudo-digimon really was. Artificial digimon just had a certain aura about them that few could recognize, and this one was far too humanoid to be anything else.

He was ready to step out past the door when he heard another voice call out sleepily for him. He turned to look back at the figure that laid on the bed, feeling somewhat dirty as he did so. He was walking out of his friend's life even after what had happened. A friend who trusted him and wanted to stay with him. And now...

"Ryo?"

Feeling his heart clench at Ken's lack of the -san honorific, Ryo glanced down at the balled up piece of paper, hoping that the other boy would see it once Arachnemon tossed him back to the real world, hoping the other boy would pick it up and find the e-mail address he had scribbled in the postscript, hoping that the other boy would forgive him. "Later, Ken."

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Ajora: Yes, I know I ended this badly, but then happy endings don't happen all the time. I suspect I shall be flamed for this fic.

The title is from the song "Yasashisa Sayonara", which debuted in the anime series "Superdimensional Fortress Macross" as something sung by Lynn Minmei. Yasashisa can be translated as either "tenderness", "gentleness", or "kindness". Given the nature of the lyrics, I thought it was a fitting title.