The Dreamland Collection

A/N: Back with the third adventure. (I know, took me long enough.) Liera, thanks for the reviews. It’s good to know someone likes these stories. I was surprised to find out somebody actually likes Ianto (Yes, it’s an I. And it’s pronounced like ‘Yawn-tow’). Confidentially I like him too, but that’s only because I know of a little detail about him that is really shocking and heart breaking. It was going to be a big feature in the squeal story to If Only in my Dreams. I’ve already hidden clues to it in the stories. Feel free to speculate if you like. ^_^ Anyway, I glad you like him, cause he’s gonna be playing bit of a bigger part for now on. On with the show.

Legend of Lothario’s Lagoon By: boysluvcraft
Part one…

It was a dark and stormy night-- actually it was in the middle of the afternoon, but it may as well been night. The storm clouds hung so thickly. The wind was howling with such a force that the two adventures could scarcely keep their feet upon the road. And for that matter they could barely see the road through the dark and the torrential down pour of rain. It was hard to believe that just hours ago the day had been clear and bright. The storm had rolled in that quickly.

“It should just little farther ahead, Hornbell Manor,” Ianto shouted over the waling of the wind.

Yusuke could hardly hear him-- and they were only at the edge of the storm. It was moving in quickly and Yusuke could already hear the thunder claps in the distance. It sounded like it was going to a nasty one. He dearly hoped they could reach this Hornbell Manor before the worst of it reached them.

Suddenly a flash as lighting slashed the sky and for a moment the land was lit up like a bright, clear day. For a brief second, Yusuke saw the great grey edifice, perched on top the next hill like some emaciated gargoyle. Lines of flying buttresses projected from the tall external walls, looking much like the ribs of a starved creature. The high skinny towers were like horns and the colonnades along the front of the edifice looked like the teeth of a grinning skull. But there were lights on, proving there to be inhabitants.

With the cold, wind and the rain, it seemed to take forever to reach the doors of Hornbell Manor. When they did, Yusuke pounded on the door, yelling “Hey, anyone in there?!”

Being cold, wet, and tired Ianto didn’t bother to tell his companion that the servants of the house would never here his shouts over the storm-- then again Yusuke could shout awfully loud. Instead, he took it upon himself to find and pull the chain that would ring a series of bells in the servant’s chambers, alerting them that there were guests at the door. Only a few moments later a cadaverous man with thinning silver hair answered the door.

“Ah, I see,” he said in a high nasality voice. “Travelers, caught in the rain and seeking shelter, I presume.”

“That’s right,” Ianto answered before Yusuke could say something smart that could potentially cause the door to be shut in their faces. “If we may be so bold.”

“Of course,” the butler nodded and stepped aside to let them through. “The rains come and go so fast in this season so it is not uncommon for us to receive visitors like you. The master has ordered us to take in any who come to our door. The master is very generous man.”

At that moment a piercing cry came from somewhere above. Then a woman rushed out of one door bearing a tray of steaming drinks. She was young; no more than her mid-twenties, yet her face was drawn and showed some premature wrinkles around her eyes and mouth.

“Janet, can you not quiet them any faster!” The man admonished her.

“Sorry sir, we were out of herbs in the kitchen, so I had to run down to the cellars and grind more,” She apologized.

“In the future be sure to check the supply. The kitchen should never run short during the rainy season,” he told her tersely. He dismissed her and then turned back to Yusuke and Ianto, “My apologies. Come, I’ll show you to your rooms where you can get out of those wet clothes. Later, I’ll send up a maid to draw you hot a bath.”

“Uh, what was that screaming?” Yusuke asked.

“It was only the inmates,” the butler told them, as he led them through the foyer. “They tend to get tad agitated when the storms roll in. That‘s why we keep a good supply of nerve calming herbs on hand.”

“Inmates?” Yusuke frowned.

“As in the inhabitance of an asylum,” Ianto told him tactfully, “Now don’t look at me like that Yusuke.”

“You brought me to a nut-house,” Yusuke accused.

“I brought you to a place with a roof and a warm hearth,” Ianto defended, “Besides it’s only partly a nut-house. The owner of Hornbell takes them in. He’s apparently some sort of humanitarian.”

The two adventures winced as another blood curdling scream raked through the air. The servant led them out of the foyer and down an arched corridor. To Yusuke it felt like they were walking down the throat of some great beast. The place was creepy. And so was the butler, Yusuke thought, friggen Riffraff impersonator. They stepped out into a sprawling room. It was bright with the walls covered in tangerine colored silk, decorated with tapestries showing pastoral scenes of herders and picnickers, as well as other pretty bric-a-brac. There where heavy green velvet curtains over the windows and red carpets covering the floor and snaking up the twin green marble staircases that spiraled down into the room. Yusuke nearly stumbled from shock. He had been so impressed with creepiness of the outside that he had not expected it to be so pretty on the inside. So much was his surprise, he didn’t notice the man who was descending the stairs, until he spoke.

“Ah, so I’ve heard correctly. We have visitors.” the man spoke in a smooth cadence that implied education and breeding.

“May I present you to Count Flint,” the butler donned, “Master of Hornbell Manor.”

Count Flint was not anything like Yusuke would have pictured. For a man who lived in a creepy nut-house, Flint was a relatively young man, not much older than Yusuke himself, and he was attractive. Some may say beautiful. He was slim and tall-- for Dreamland standards that is-- maybe five eleven. He was a native, which was plain to see, for the slightly distant gaze that held his murky green eyes. His hair was a little over shoulder length, black as a raven’s backside, and tied back in a neat ponytail at the base of is neck with red silk ribbon. His skin was pale, but not in a way that denotes sickness. It was smooth and free of marks, save for a dot just below the corner of his left eye. Yusuke wouldn’t have called it a blemish. It seemed to add to his beauty rather than detract.

“And these men would be?” Flint promoted his butler.

The man sniffed, “I, ahem, haven’t gotten their names yet.”

“Yusuke Urameshi,” Yusuke introduced himself and indicated his blond haired companion, “And this is Ianto, uh… Do you have a last name, Ianto?”

“Very pleased to meet you, Mr. Urameshi-- or might I call you Yusuke?” The count didn’t even glace at the blond, but immediately moved forward and took Yusuke by the hand. “My you are freezing!”

“Uh, yeah. It’s raining,” Yusuke told him with a ‘well-duh’ tone.

“Of course.” Without taking his eyes off Yusuke he ordered, “Nelson, take Mr. Urameshi to the west wing, green room. And you may put the other one in room 42-A. And Nelson, be sure our guests are given some warm, dry clothes.”

Shortly, the butler whose name was apparently Nelson, led the two cold, wet and tired adventure’s down a series of corridors until they arrived at a beautifully carved door. He opened it and Yusuke could see why they called it ‘the green room’. Everything in it was green or had some green on it, the rugs, the curtains, and the dressings on the delicately carved four poster bed were all rich and green. The wall paper was mauve with green crests stamped on it. Even the velvet rope on the bell pull was green. It was tasteful however and not at all over done. Yusuke stepped into the room.

“Whoa, check out these digs,” he looked around.

Ianto blinked and said to the butler, Nelson, “You weren’t exaggerating when you said the count was generous.”

Nelson muttered, “Well yes, the master seems… taken with his present company.”

“Seriously, man,” Yusuke said, “We would have been happy sleeping a barn, but this-- this is awesome!”

Nelson nodded, “Indeed. If you would like to go ahead and disrobe, a maid will be up soon to draw you hot bath and lay out some suitable clothes. I’m assuming the master will want you at his dinner table tonight.”

“Yeah, sure, you just call me when it’s time to do The Time Warp again,” Yusuke joked.

“As you say, sir. Now, Mr… Ianto, if you will follow me. I shall show you to your room.” Nelson closed the door on Yusuke’s room and started walking down the hall.

“Is it far?” Ianto asked nervously.

“Your room is in tower A,” the man told him. “That is where we typically house travelers-- don’t worry about the inmates. We keep them in towers C, D, and F, well locked down and guarded of course.”

“I wasn’t worried about that. It’s Yusuke,” Ianto told him, “I… well, I just don’t like being too far from him.”

“I assure you, your Mr. Urameshi will be fine so long as he is within the walls of Hornbell Manor,” Nelson told Ianto definitely.

He took Ianto through a long series of halls. So many Ianto wondered if he’d be able to find his way back to Yusuke’s room if he needed to. As they drew farther and farther from the west wing, the halls became less and less ornate. There were no more hanging pictures or vases of flowers on antique tables. The wall paper looked older, faded and peeling in some places. There were also other places where that the paper bulged in oddly vein-like shapes, as if there were something growing underneath it. Finally they came to a plain door made of time hardened wood plank, lashed together with iron bands. Nelson turned a key in the lock and opened the door to let Ianto in.

The room was far less luxurious then Yusuke’s had been. The walls were bare save for the dark wool curtains over the windows. The plaster on the walls and ceiling was badly cracked and discolorations told Ianto of the places that leaked. Seeing this Ianto would have thought the place would smell like mold and mildew, but oddly enough it smelled more like freshly turned sod. The cold stone floor was covered with a straw mat and the only stick of furniture was the simple bed with plain cotton sheets and a wool blanket.

“I’m afraid there is no bathtub in this wing, but I will have a girl bring you a basin of warm water to wash up with, along with some clothes.” Nelson told him before leaving the blond to his humble quarters.

Yusuke didn’t have to wait long for the serving girl to deliver the promised bath and clothes. The bath was just heavenly. Yusuke couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a hot bath-- no scratch that, he remembered. How could be forget? It was at King Yama’s palace, Hiei and Kurama where there, and they were naked. Ah, he would never forget the sight of Hiei’s perfectly sculpted muscles, shimmering from the steam of the bath. Kurama wasn’t half bad either. Ha! That was putting it lightly. Yusuke wouldn’t have been surprised if he looked up the word ‘sex’ in the dictionary and found a picture of Kurama’s taut little ass. That was the one and only time Yusuke had the pleasure of bathing with the two other demons. Hiei let him wash his back-- okay, Hiei let him grope him, but only above the waist. And then Kurama kissed him. That was good. Confusing, before that point he’d not considered Kurama in a romantic sense, but it was good. Those memories stirred things inside of Yusuke and he wondered if it was considered bad form to masturbate in someone else’s home.

He decided not to chance it and put his warm memories aside as he stepped out of the tub and proceeded to dress himself in the clothes the maid had brought him. They were more formal than he was used to, but that was apparently considered the proper dress for dinner in Hornbell Manor. Nelson had been correct when he assumed Yusuke would be invited. The outfit was dark forest green with just a touch of gold piping. It was cut like a matador’s costume, with the close fit jacket that ended promptly at his waist, and the trim, high waisted slacks that showed off his ass and package a bit more than he was comfortable with. He cupped his pretty bulge and though, Maybe I should have jacked off before getting out of the tub. Ah well, he’d just have to avoid sexy thoughts. He could do that… couldn’t he?

After he was dressed and had his hair slicked back, he exited his room where he found the butler Nelson waiting out in the corridor to escort him to the dinning hall. There were quite a few people there, a lot more than Yusuke had expected. But then again what had he been expecting? That the entire household was comprised of only a few servants, their master, and a legion of unseen lunatics?

Almost as soon as he entered the room, Count Flint was before him, “Yusuke, so pleased to see you could make it down. Ah, and I see these clothes fit you marvelously. I just knew they would suit you.”

After that the count led him around the room introducing him to his fellow diners. There where a number of Lord This’s and Lady That’s, all distant cousins and courtiers who had no place better to be. There were also doctors and specialists of various fields and respects, and one Abbot. Yusuke got a bit of a chuckle out this one because of the way he involuntary shuttered when Yusuke shook his hand. Guess it’s not every day a man of the cloth shakes hands with a demon. There were also a number of trade merchants there. They didn’t seem like friends.

“Business associates,” Count Flint told him, “We run a book bindery here at Hornbell Manor. The work gives the inmates a sense of accomplishment and the proceeds from selling the goods help fund the running and upkeep of the asylum. It’s a tidy little system that’s served us well these years.”

Other than the brief encounter with the Abbot, it was rather dull; people he didn’t know talking about things he didn’t know about. He might have been able to follow better if-- speak of the devil. At that moment, Nelson walked into the dinning hall with his constant companion, Ianto in tow. He was wearing a stunning white shirt with delicate white lace at the cuffs and collar, and the teal colored leaves printed over it. It was long and flowed down to his mid-thighs and belted around his hips with a studded calfskin belt which matched his boots. His slim legs where wrapped in pale blue leggings. They were good colors on him. They complimented his long yellow hair and highlighted the slight sun kissed undertones of his skin. He paused inside the door, glancing around and looking adorably lost.

Unmindful of his manners, Yusuke abandoned his host to bound over to Ianto. He greeted him “Hey, buddy. Man, am I glad to see you!”

“Why? Have the Bourgeoisie been abusing you?” Ianto gave him the poor-baby look, “Do I have to-- what is it you say? Slap a bitch?”

Yusuke snorted a laugh and clapped Ianto the back, “Man, you know just what to say to cheer me up.”

“Yes. Yes, I do,” Ianto agreed smugly.

“You look nice and your hair…” Yusuke ran his fingers through Ianto’s long blond locks. The usual braids the staggered throughout his hair were all undone, leaving his hair smooth and loose about his shoulders.

Ianto brushed a stray lock behind his ear, “Oh that. I didn’t have time to dry, brush and re-braid it.”

“Two out of three ain’t bad-- not bad at all,” Yusuke grinned, tugging gently at a yellow forelock, “Ya ought to wear it like this more often.”

“Yeah. That’s some outfit they’ve got you in, Yusuke, ” Ianto noted, fingering a line of piping on Yusuke’s collar, “Do they plan on having you slay a bull later?”

Meanwhile across the room Flint noticed the two adventures standing close to one another, laughing. He dismissed himself from a conversation and went to have a word with his butler. “Nelson, I do not recall inviting the blond one to dinner.”

“My apologies sir,” Nelson bowed his head, “It was miscommunication with the serving staff. But if I may say, I think it was a good thing it did happen.”

“And why is that?” Flint demanded.

“I spoke with that one and from what I’ve gathered he and Mr. Urameshi are quite… attached,” Nelson informed him.

Flint glanced over at the two travelers and saw Yusuke fondling the other’s hair, unmindful for the bemused glances he was receiving from the surrounding courtiers. Flint gave Ianto a quick appraisal; cute, but nonetheless common. He shouldn’t prove much of an obstacle.

Dinner was uneventful. The company was unobtrusive and the food was fair-- though at one point Ianto whispered to Yusuke that his cooking was better. After dinner they retired to their separate rooms. Ianto made no mention how his accommodations differed from Yusuke’s. When Yusuke woke up the next morning, there were fresh clothes laid out on the settee and a steaming basin out water on the washstand. The clothes today where not as formal as the suit he’d worn the night before, but no less fancy. The shirt was yellow silk, embroidered in green-- Dang! How they know green was his favorite color?

When he was finished and opened the door to his room, he was not too surprised to find the butler Nelson waiting for him. Nelson told him in his nasally tones that the master wished invite him to breakfast. Yusuke followed the old man, expecting to be shown to some big elaborate hall where a bunch of social climbers where stuffing themselves with pancakes or something. But no, Nelson showed him to a pair of double doors that lead outside to a garden patio all made of white marble and whitewashed stone which made the lush greenness of the grounds pop. Everywhere, on the ground, tangled in bushes, climbing up walls and pillars where the brightest most vivid pink flowers Yusuke had ever seen. A cough drew his attention from the garden, back to the patio where Count Flint was seated at an iron patio set. It was just him and a couple of covered dishes.

Yusuke glanced around as if he thought there would be more people hiding the bushes. He asked, “Uh, where’s everyone else?”

“Well, it’s lovely to see you too, Yusuke,” Flint gave him a shrewd smile.

“Oh sorry,” Yusuke said remembering his manners and scratching the back of his head, “Morning Count.”

“Don’t be so formal, Yusuke, call me Gerald. That is my name after all,” he told Yusuke, “And as for the others… they typically take their breakfast in their rooms, whenever they see fit to rise.”

“Oh,” Yusuke nodded, noting there were only two place settings at the table; one for him and one for the count. “Is Ianto not coming?”

“Oh yes your friend,” Flint said flippantly, “He was still asleep when Nelson went to fetch him. The two of you had such a hard time with the storm last night, he thought it best to let him to let him rest. But don‘t worry, the staff will be sure he’s fed when he wakes.”

“That’s weird, Ianto’s usually a light sleeper, but then again I slept pretty hard too,” Yusuke scratched his chin.

“Lets, not dell on silly things,” the count gestured for Yusuke to sit down next to him. “How’s about after we eat I take you on a tour of the grounds?”

Meanwhile in room 42-A Ianto was slowly waking up. He had had trouble sleeping the night before, until that creepy butler, Nelson, brought him a cup of tea. After that he just slipped off. He rolled over, reached and patted the bed next to him. His eyes sprang wide open when he failed to find another’s body there. He sat up, looking around.

“That’s right,” he muttered to himself. Yusuke was sleeping in a different room. He and Yusuke had slept in the same bed for so long it seemed almost alien to wake up with out him. He had grown accustomed to the extra warmth and the weight on the bed. He was almost even used to the boner digging into his backside everyday!

There was a fresh set of clothes draped over the foot of his bed, a clean white tunic, a pair of grey breaches, and a rust colored vest. He figured the staff was having his and Yusuke’s clothes cleaned, so he changed into the outfit. He went to leave the room, but the door… it wouldn’t open. He pulled mightily on the handle, but it wouldn’t budge. It wasn’t just jammed, it was locked!

“Hello, is there anybody out there?!” He rapped on the door. He could have sworn that he heard footsteps out there, but no one was answering. It was like they were ignoring him.

Minutes before in the garden, Yusuke and Count Flint had finished their meal and were in the process of touring the gardens. Flint had to be the friendliest lord Yusuke had ever met. Then again, the lords he had met before were lords of the demon world, where the titles were not necessary inherited, but earned by kicking ass and lots of it. Yusuke, himself, owned one of those titles. He had inherited his from his demonic ancestor, Raizen. But he earned the right to keep it by kicking ass! His friends Hiei and Kurama both were considered lords in Makai as well. He felt a touch of sadness as his mind lighted on his absent friends.

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen these kinds of flowers before,” Yusuke told Count Flint as he touched a hot pink bloom that hung down from a vine, clinging to the side of the garden wall, “I have a friend that would love them. He‘s really into… gardening.”

“He would have to come here to see them,” Flint said reaching out to touch the flower Yusuke was fondling, consequently his fingers brushed against Yusuke’s when he did this. He explained in what was a little more than a sultry whisper, “They’re called the Gneiss Blossom and they only grow here on this estate, nowhere else in Dreams.”

“Wow, that’s like ultra rare, right?” said Yusuke.

Flint chuckled, “That’s right. Though, the grounds keepers persistently beg permission to eradicate them from the estate.”

“Why would they want to do a thing like that?” Yusuke cocked his head.

“Well you see; it is of the creeper variety of plant, and an aggressive one at that. You see over here,” Flint placed his hand on Yusuke’s arm and led him over to a bed of daisies. “You see here how the Gneiss grows up the other flower’s stock, twining around it. It will eventually strangle the life out of the other plant. That’s why the gardeners hate the Gneiss so. They can’t keep any other plants alive with it around.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Yusuke crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.

“I think it’s worth the sacrifice,” Flint told him, plucking a daisy from the bed, “to kill a common flower in favor of a rare beauty. Don’t you agree, Yusuke?” He grinned, ghosting the flower across Yusuke’s cheek.

At that very moment up in room 42-A, Ianto had given up yelling at the door. He was sure now that there where people outside and that they could hear him, but they were ignoring him. He moved to window and threw aside the curtains. Bars! There were bars on the windows. It made sense, this was a sanitarium. However the mortar holding the bars looked to have been weakened from some creeper plant’s roots that had infested the wall. He tested the bar. It was loose. Ianto briefly considered if it would be rude to break his host’s window? At moment as he gazed out the window, he spotted two figures down in the garden. It was Count Flint and Yusuke, and they where standing close to one another, very close. Flint’s hand was resting just as pleasantly as he pleased on Yusuke’s hip. His other hand was lazily caressing the other man’s cheek with the petal end of a flower. With each pass it seemed the distance between their bodies was closing.

Yusuke’s personal life was none of Ianto’s business. The blond told himself this, but still the sight of this man so intimately close to Yusuke made Ianto’s blood boil. Gnashing his teeth, Ianto dashed for his satchel where it hung on the bedpost. After a quick inventory, he removed the leather strap from his satchel and took out his machete. Back at the window, he strung the leather strap around two bars and tied it in a knot. Then he took the machete, still in its sheath, and slipped it under the band of leather and turned it, so that the leather twisted on itself. It drew tight about the bars. Ianto gave a strong turn on the sheathed blade. The bars squealed and bent. Another turn, the mortar cracked and he was easily able to pry the bar free.

In the garden, Flint was telling Yusuke, “The flowers are named after the Countess Gneiss, the former owner of this estate whom followed her husband into infamy. Not being from these parts I’m sure you’re unaware of the history of this estate. No? Its quiet a story and I assure you worth the time.

“The former Count Gneiss was a man of great and bizarre lusts-- or so it is said. After the Count’s demise a secret room was found in the bowls of the castle, a sexual torture chamber-- or so rumor has it. But I get ahead of myself….

“At the time nobody had a clue as to Count Gneiss’s… hobbies. He was a good man with a good wife and a good family. But then one day the count took ill with an infirmity that neither doctors nor priests could identify. He grew weaker until he could no long leave his bed. There the illness seemed to spread to mind as he ranted and gibbered about divine retribution. Then one day when his madness was waxing, he confessed to have kidnapped, tortured, rapped, and killed more than three dozen maidens from many places. He hid them there,” Flint paused and pointed.

Yusuke’s eyes followed the direction in which Flint was pointing, down the hill to a swampy looking area, where a still pool of water the diapered under a tangle of cypress trees and floating muck. The side of it that was facing the castle was cleared of brush and neatly manicured. There was a white stone bench down there and a statue of a stately woman. If it had wings Yusuke would have thought it was an angel. Those pink flowers hung in profusion around the statue and in the trees there.

“After Count Gneiss had his fun with a girl he’d hide her body under the murky waters of that lagoon. That area has come to be called Lothario’s Lagoon. ” Count Flint continued, “But here’s the twist, when asked why he did it, he replied; ‘for his wife’s sake.’ He said that his wife was too good and pure a woman to sully her with his deviant appetites. That he killed and disposed of his conquests to spare his good lady the shame of his infidelity should anyone find out about his dalliances. You see, he loved her, more than anything.

“The very next day the count was found, stabbed through the heart. At his side was the countess, dead by her own hand. With them was a letter written by the countess, confessing that she had discovered her husbands activities some time ago, but for love she could not bring herself to reveal him. Instead she began poisoning him to keep him from leaving the house. But upon hearing his confession, she knew that justice demanded his life to be forfeit and hers as well for having been the thing that inspired his wickedness. Later the family buried the count in unhallowed ground, saying that he could walk to Zura for all they cared. They would not have his likes buried long side them in the family cemetery. The countess however was treated more kindly. That statue down there, by the lagoon, marks her grave. They buried her down there so that she would be kept company by the other woman whose lives were stolen by the count. It was shortly after that that the flowers appeared. Some believe that all these vines and blooms are part of one massive plant whose roots are found at the countess’s grave.”

“Creepy,” Yusuke responded slowly, “Now, you paid how much for this place?”

Flint laughed, “Money is no issue for me, Yusuke.”

“Yeah, but still, bodies in the backyard, secret S&M dungeons… it’s freaky,” Yusuke shrugged, “I’d ask for a discount.”

Flint laughed again, leaning closer to Yusuke. Yusuke reflexively stepped back, bumping his back against the wall behind him. Flint moved even closer, brushing his hand from Yusuke’s hip to his ribs. He said “Has anyone ever told you, you have a refreshing wit?”

Flint leaned his face closer to Yusuke’s quizzical face, very close. Just then an object came soaring out of nowhere and hit Flint on top of the head, adequately breaking the mood. Yusuke looked down on the ground, where the thing had landed; a shoe? He looked up, and there was Ianto clinging to the wall about ten feet above them.

“Whoops, clumsy me,” Ianto called down, “I suppose next I scale a castle wall, I should were more practical shoes.”

“What are you doing up there, Ianto?” Yusuke half laughed.

“There seems to be something wrong with my door. It wouldn’t open and no matter how loud I yelled, nobody seemed able to hear me,” Ianto said it lightheartedly with a smile, but still Count Flint heard the implication there.

Yusuke called, “That sucks. Come on down from there. Here, just let go and I’ll catch you.”

“You sure?” Ianto asked.

“Just drop,” Yusuke snorted.

Ianto let go of the wall and fell the remaining ten or so feet to land light as feather in Yusuke’s arms. Ianto laughed, “That was fun.”

“Fun?” Yusuke grinned, “What’s gotten into you today?”

“You don’t like it?” Ianto pouted.

“No, I like it,” Yusuke said as set Ianto down on a low stone that may have been part of a wall at one time. He retrieved Ianto’s shoe. “Just never though you were that… athletic.”

“I keep up with you don’t I?” Ianto countered, holding his bare foot out to Yusuke.

“I suppose ya do.” Without a second thought Yusuke kneeled on the ground and took hold of Ianto‘s dainty foot. “You’ve got a scrape.”

“Huh?” Ianto looked down at the thin bleeding cut, which ran from the knuckle of his big toe to the top of his instep. He scoffed, “Oh, that’s nothing.”

“Maybe, but at least let me clean it,” Yusuke said before leaning down and running his tongue slowly over the wound.

Ianto gasped at the surprising contact. Yusuke was just cleaning the wound, Ianto knew this. Demon saliva was highly antiseptic and it contained unique enzymes that would even make his cut heal faster. All that in mind, but still Yusuke’s warm, wet tongue was sliding over his skin, tickling at the sensitive places between his toes and his instep. It felt... funny. He felt the blood rising in his cheeks.

Count Flint’s cheeks were red as well, but his color wasn’t born of embarrassment and unfamiliar sensations. Flint was fuming that the little blond bug could so easily still Yusuke’s attentions. He coughed, “I suppose I will leave the two of you to explore the grounds. I do have work to do in the bindery. Oh, and I‘ll have Nelson take a look at your door.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Ianto managed to find his tongue. “Yusuke and I won’t be staying long. We’ll be on our way as soon as our clothes are returned to us.”

“Leave?” Flint whirled on the blond. Then he coolly pointed out, “If you leave now you will find yourselves in the same predicament you were in last night. Do you not see those dark clouds in the distance? Another downpour will be here within the hour. Please, I insist you stay.”

Yusuke had finished cleaning Ianto’s cut and looked up at the sky. It was true there where clouds darkening the sky. “I guess we’re staying,” Yusuke said idly as he slipped Ianto’s shoe back on him.

Flint was right, within the hour rain started to fall. The storm lasted through out the afternoon and into evening, seeming to gain in strength as the night wore on. The rains were joined by winds that howled around the towers, like banshees screaming in the night. It was almost loud enough to drown out the sounds of the irate asylum inmates. Almost, but not quite. Yusuke was actually kind of glad when the serving staff administered whatever drug it was to calm them down. Their silence did a lot to settle his nerves.

Yusuke wasn’t sure why he felt so apprehensive. Sure the house was full of madmen, but he was a friggen demon. Even if his powers were greatly diminished, he believed he could still handle himself against a bunch of half-witted humans. And for that matter there was no reason for him to believe there’d be anything to handle. The place seemed well in order and the inmates under control. Shoot, Count Flint even had them making books.

That was another thing, Count Flint-- or Gerald, as he insisted Yusuke, but nobody else call him. Yusuke knew that Dreamlanders were generous and friendly, but… Flint was a little much. Back in the gardens, he’d been standing really close to him… and those touches. If Yusuke didn’t know any better he’d think the man was hitting on him.

Just then Yusuke was startled by a bang that was not thunder. He hopped up from where he’d been sprawled on his bed. It came again, a light rapping at his door. It was followed by a familiar voice, “Yusuke it’s me. Open the door.”

“Ianto?” Yusuke crossed to the door and opened it. The blond stood on the other side. His hair was in one thick braid, pulled over his shoulder where he nervously stroked it. He was wearing pajamas that must have been at least two sizes too big for him. All and all, Yusuke thought he looked like a little girl in her father’s nightclothes.

Yusuke laughed, “What are you doing here?”

“There’s a draft in my room,” Ianto told him, glancing over his shoulder. That wasn’t exactly true. His room did have a draft, but he was used to being cold. The reason he’d quit his own room for Yusuke’s was because he feared their generous host’s might try to lock him up again. Or at least that was the reason he told to himself. “I was, um, wondering….”

“Get in here,” Yusuke smiled, pulling the blond into the room and toward the bed. He said, “Ya know, it hasn’t been the same sleeping without ya there anyway.”

Yusuke pulled back the covers for Ianto and the blond climbed into the bed. Yusuke slipped in behind him, reached over to pull the blankets up over his partner’s body. His palm happened to glance across the bear skin of Ianto’s forearm where his sleeve had ridden up.

“Gods, you weren’t kidding about that draft. You‘re freezing,” Yusuke gasped and reflexively snuggled closer to the blond to warm him up. But when he felt Ianto stiffen in his arms, he asked, “Sorry, am I making you uncomfortable?”

“Oh, um, no,” Ianto quickly said, half turning his head, “I was just surprised is all-- heh. I don’t know why. We’re going wake up in this position anyway, right?”

“I guess so,” Yusuke muttered, “But you don’t like--”

“Sleeping hasn’t been the same without you too,” Ianto cut him off. He buried his face in the covers, to hide his blushing. After a long stretch of silence Ianto said, “What’s he like?”

“Who?” Yusuke asked.

“Hiei,” Ianto said. You mention him all the time, but you never really talk about him. Not to me.”

“I didn’t think you’d be interest in that.”

“Well, I am. Can you tell me?”

“Sure, but….”

“Why don’t you start with what he looks like,” Ianto prompted.

Lying in that big cushy bed, with Ianto curled up in his arms, Yusuke told him about Hiei. That he was man of even more diminutive proportions than Ianto, himself. Of the great strength hidden within that tiny frame and the terrible powers at his disposable. Yusuke told him about when they met. Hiei and Kurama where thieves and enemies. He met them again at a place called Maze Castle, where they became his allies. Yusuke went on to tell of all the battles and trials they‘d faced together; their fight with the Toguro brothers and the dark tournament; the fight against a powerful human psychic, Sensui, which resulted in Yusuke’s death and rebirth as a demon; their separate battles in the demon world…. Somewhere between the battles, Yusuke had come to trust and depend on the other two demons.

The conversation lasted well into the night, nearly until the early dawn. Though the sky was still dark from the rain that refused to let up. During the course of the conversation, Ianto learned things about Yusuke he didn’t know before. For instance, he had not known that Yusuke was not born a demon. He also learned things that he was sure that Yusuke didn’t even know.

“I think that you may love Kurama as well as your Hiei,” Ianto told him boldly.

Yusuke squirmed, “Yeah, I’ve… been kind of confused about that for a while now.”

Ianto began to laugh.

“What the heck is so funny about that?” Yusuke demanded.

“It’s not that,” Ianto tried to get himself under control. “I was just remembering the day we met. You said that you made most of your friends over a fist fight. It makes me wonder if you’d be in love with me too, if I’d punched you that day.”

Yusuke snorted, “You’re not the violent type.”

“I suppose not,” Ianto yawned, exhaustion finally setting in.

Yusuke didn’t think too much on that last point. A yawn had buoyed its way up his throat as well. They both slept fitfully until Ianto was awoken up in what had become the usual manner for him. That is, by having Yusuke’s morning wood-- or in this case, mid-afternoon wood-- grinding relentlessly into his rear. Yusuke was moaning and muttering incoherent sweet nothings into Ianto’s hair. His hot breath flowed down the blonde’s collar, causing him to shiver. Meanwhile, Yusuke’s hands kneaded at his hips, moving forward and downward to a place that Ianto desperately needed touched. But not like this, with Yusuke asleep and doubtless dreaming that it was Hiei in his place. Ianto couldn’t pull out of Yusuke’s grasp, it was too firm. So he rolled over in his arms, so that his front faced Yusuke. Yusuke’s hands landed firmly on his ass. The impropriety was still there, but less than if Ianto had allowed Yusuke’s hands to continue on their path toward his groin.

Yusuke groaned and squeezed his ass, pulling the other man’s body firmly to his. Ianto gasped as Yusuke’s rock hard member came in contact with his own. Yusuke’s hips pressed against his adding more pressure between them. Yusuke let out an unrestrained moan of pleasure. Ianto shivered. It felt good. And it felt even better knowing that Yusuke was the one doing it to him. Yusuke; the man who’d hijacked his entire life, gave his life some excitement… and purpose. Even if said purpose was to return Yusuke to the lover he truly desired.

“Ah, Hiei,” Yusuke breathed in his sleep as he lazily moved his hips against Ianto’s.

Hiei was four foot nine. Ianto was five foot nothing. Realistically that’s only three inches difference, hardly noticeable while lying down. Ianto wondered if that was why Yusuke was wont to mistake him for his lover in his sleep. Or was it simply because he was there? Would Yusuke hump a pillow and call it Hiei if that was all that was available? These thoughts were only half formed and fleeting. Ianto was having a considerable amount of trouble thinking while Yusuke was rubbing against him so.

“No no,” Ianto protested, gripping Yusuke’s shoulders, “Ahh.”

“Ah, yesss, fuck me,” Yusuke hissed. Then abruptly he rolled onto his back, carrying Ianto with him so that the blond wound up sitting astride his hips. Yusuke’s hands slipped free of Ianto’s person, falling limply at his sides. But still he muttered form his heated dreams within Dreams, “Oh fuck me, Hiei….”

Ianto was starkly aware that Yusuke’s hands were no longer holding him, that this was his opportunity to escape, but he didn’t move. He couldn’t move. He sat there as if spellbound, astride Yusuke’s hips. That thick erection pressed firmly under his rear. Unmindfully, he shifted his hips, Yusuke gasped and that firm rod throbbed pleasingly beneath him. He moved his hips again, this time, he couldn’t deny, it was on purpose. He was rewarded with the same reaction. He moved again and again, fascinated with the feeling Yusuke’s body gave him. He was enthralled by those firm muscles that twitched under his finger tips, where they rested lightly on Yusuke’s chest; mesmerized by those panting lips, swollen and pink with passion; and completely transfixed by that full rod that pulsated between the cleft of his ass…with that heat. Even through both their bedclothes Ianto could feel that heat as a red hot poker on his skin. But he’d never thought a red hot poker would register this pleasurable. If not for the clothes between them he might take that heat into his body and let it spread throughout his being until it chased away the permafrost that infested his bones.

“What am I thinking?!” Ianto jumped away form Yusuke, “What am I doing?” He back up off the bed and kept backing away until his back hit the door.

On the bed, Yusuke groaned. His eyes started to flutter and Ianto feared that Yusuke was waking up. His eyes only half opened, though, a quirk of a body that was still mostly asleep. Yusuke groaned again; a sound of half pain, half passion. One hand lifted from the bed, clumsily tugging at his waistband. The drawstring came loose and Yusuke was able to reach inside and free his manhood. He sighed, almost as if relieved when his member was free and standing in the open air. It was soon followed by a procession of gulping and gurgling noises as his hand stroked the swollen flesh.

Ianto clasped his hand over his mouth to prevent the sounds that tried to escape his lips. He watched wide-eyed as Yusuke pleasured himself. Ianto had seen Yusuke exposed many times. This was not even the first time he’d seen Yusuke masturbate. But never before had he cognitively recognized just how beautiful he was. All tawny flesh over toned muscle, so raw and masculine, so powerful. He was a demon. He was a sexy, fucking demon and Ianto wanted to touch him.

Unable to bear these thoughts any longer, Ianto fled the room. He dashed through the halls of Hornbell Manor. Mercifully, he was able to avoid running into any of the serving staff. That is, until the he was but a foot fall from his own door, then he was assailed by the maid called Janet.

“There you are,” she bustled up to him, “I was worried when I didn’t find you in your room this morning-- My goodness have you been roaming the castle all night in your bedclothes?”

“Uh,” Ianto tried to concoct a lie for where he’d been, but was unable to. Thanks to Yusuke, the majority of his blood was no longer flowing to his brain.

Janet glanced around and leaned down, whispering, “You see anything… interesting, while you were about?” Before Ianto had time to question however, the sound of foot falls came from down the hall. She muttered, “Later then. Your clothes are in your room.” Then she scurried off.

He was just thankful she was gone. He was also thankful for the long shirt tails that hid embarrassing state his lower regions were in. He ducked into his room and slid the deadbolt into place. He dropped to his knees. Images of Yusuke’s rock hard phallus flashed through Ianto’s mind as he fumbled to free his own from its fabric prison.

“Ohh,” He moaned as the length came into his hand and he began to stroke it with desperation. It had been so long since he’d felt release. How long had it been since he’d done this? He may well have been a Don Quan in his waking days, for all he could remember. But in Dreams, sex had always been a low priority thing. At some level he may have even shied way form it. But now that was all past, thanks to Yusuke and his damned roaming hands, his beautiful sexy body, and that god damn endearingly impetuous personality. Thanks to him, Ianto-- cool, no non-sense Ianto-- was crouched on the floor, pants pooled around his knees, jerking at his overly excited member.

He was so a shamed of himself. Yusuke was asleep, he didn’t know what he was doing, yet he took pleasure in it. He enjoyed those rough hands as they massaged and touched him in places they had no business being. He was so aroused looking at Yusuke touching himself… that cock, so hot and alive. What would it have felt like to have it inside of him? Ianto shuttered and came.

He lifted his hand to his face, looking at the sticky white mess he’d left there. As stinging tears began to fall from his face, he hissed, “Disgusting.”

TBC…

*The two adventures Janet was talking about would be Elden the Wanderer and David Hero ‘of Dreams’. Characters from Brian Lumley’s Dreamland series.(Hero of Dreams; Ship of Dreams; Mad Moon of Dreams; Iced on Aran)

A/N: Once again I’d like to say thank you Liera for your review. I had been debating whether or not I should introduce any attraction between Yusuke and Ianto. But then you said you liked them together-- that was ad good a giving me permission. We’ve got the juices boiling, but it won’t come to a head until the Otherworldly Occupant of O’Coil Springs. But first lets finish this sucker. Next time!