The Dreamland Collection

WTF Warning: The following document contains certain materials that may confuse and challenge the continuity of existing plots. So yeah. Just hang in there and enjoy the ride. It will all make sense in the end.

The Otherworldly Occupant of O’Coil Springs By: boysluvcraft

Ianto paused and looked up from the book he was reading. He had a funny suspicion he was being watched. A quick glace at his surroundings didn’t reveal any voyeurs, only trees, shrubs, and the quant little cottage where he lived. Brushing it off, he tucked his book under his arm and stood with the intention of heading inside. Lunch would have been nearly ready anyway. He had only traveled a few steps, however, when a sudden rustling of the bush alerted him to his mistake. He was being watched and now his watcher emerged from his hiding place to pounce on the blond.

“Aa--” Ianto’s cry was cut short when the other’s mouth fell on his, forcefully and heatedly. With a low moan vibrating in the back of his throat, Ianto’s had reached up to grasp at the shoulders of his assailant and pull him closer.

The other’s hands moved down along his sides, slipping under his shirt and then caressing upwards. He removed his mouth from the breathless blond and smiled down on him, “Hey Blondie.”

“Let it never be said you‘re not an interesting lover,” Ianto returned with a wary grin, “Yusuke.”

“I just came out to tell you lunch was ready,” Yusuke informed. Then wiggled his eyebrows, “Or would you like to play before we eat. Right here, right now.”

“Tempting,” Ianto drawled, “But I am on the grass here and I’d rather not become lunch to whatever insects happen to inhabit our front lawn.”

Yusuke sat back on his heels, allowing the blond room to get up. He crossed his arms with a pout, “Spoil sport.”

“I said I didn’t want to do it on the lawn, Yusuke,” Ianto flashed Yusuke an enigmatic smile, “I never said I didn’t want to at all.”

With that he gave Yusuke a quick peek on the lips and then dashed off into the house. Yusuke sat on the law dumbfounded for a moment before his brain caught up with him and then he, too, was running for the house. Inside he found his Ianto leaning against the doorframe leading to their bedroom.

Ianto chuckled, “Well, hello stranger. What kept you?”

“Come here you minx,” Yusuke grinned as he advanced on the blond, scooping him up on his way into the bedroom.

Yusuke carried the man into the room and then dropped him unceremoniously on the bed. The springs creaked in protest to the sudden weight. At the same time, Ianto giggled at the playfully rough treatment he was receiving. Yusuke didn’t pause for even a beat, but immediately kneeled on the bed in front of his lover, claiming his lips again. Ianto obligingly tipped his head back and parted his lips slightly. Yusuke naturally took the invitation, tentatively slipping his tongue past the other’s lips and tenderly exploring the cavern within.

Meanwhile, his hands slipped down Ianto’s body. He marveled at the feel of his lover’s body. Looking at Ianto with his clothes on, it’d be easy to assume he’d be soft and girlish, but that simply wasn’t true. Sure he was thin, willowy even, but his muscles were nonetheless tight, springy, and very male. Yusuke seized the hem of his shirt and lifted it off. Yusuke had to break the kiss in order to fully remove the garment, but once it was out of the way his lover rejoined him with the favor of a man coming out of the desert and into the oasis. Yusuke pressed Ianto back onto the bed sheets. Ianto let him. Yusuke’s hands went to Ianto’s waistband. Ever cooperatively, Ianto lifted his hips and Yusuke peeled away the last of the blonde’s clothes.

“Gods, you’re beautiful,” Yusuke took a second to admire his handiwork. Ianto blushed a bit at the compliment. Yusuke thought it was cute; stark naked and ready to get fucked, yet the word ‘beautiful’ made him blush.

Ianto coyly asked, “What’d you make of lunch, by the way?”

“Tortillas with steamed vegetables and fried rice,” Yusuke answered.

“It’ll keep then,” Ianto sighed pleasantly. “Take your time with me.”

“Mmm, you bet,” Yusuke moaned against the tender flesh on Ianto’s throat. Yusuke didn’t have to be told twice. In fact there was nothing he’d rather do than waste away an entire afternoon holding his lover in his arms.

He kissed his way down the blonde’s chest. Ianto’s skin had already taken on a chill from the open air. That was one of the drawbacks of living up in the mountains, Yusuke supposed. The natural hot springs in that region kept the surrounding area lush and green, but still there were the cold mountain winds to contend with. Yusuke shrugged these thoughts off with a grin as he reached for the jar of oil they kept in the nightstand. His Blondie would be warm soon enough.

Yusuke dripped his fingers in the oil. It was a thick concoction with a spicy smell. Yusuke shivered in anticipation as he caught the warm scent and felt its slickness as a stray bead of the stuff rolled down the back of his hand. He slipped his hand down between Ianto’s legs, past his balls and down until his fingers probed the cleft between his ass cheeks. It was Ianto’s turn to shiver now. Nonetheless, he spread his legs wider to allow his lover room to work. He whined low in his throat as Yusuke’s oil slicked fingers circled his entrance. When the first finger pressed its way inside, he hissed.

“Shh,” Yusuke hushed. He brought his other hand up to play for a moment in the little golden curls that adorned his love’s pelvic region. (Oh yes, the carpets matched the drapes.) Then Yusuke moved his hand to grasp Ianto’s length. The next sound out of the blond was a pleasured sigh.

Yusuke stroked him slowly and torturously as his finger worked in and out of the blonde’s rear entrance. The blond still needed more preparation before they could move forward. Yusuke shifted over the blond, bringing his mouth down to Ianto’s jaw. There he bit gently at the delicate flesh. Ianto gasped and arched his body. Yusuke took advantage of the distraction to add another finger into is lover’s rear.

“Ahh, Yusuke,” Ianto muttered while wriggling as if his body was unsure whether it wanted to escape from those questing fingers or impale itself even farther down on them. That was when Yusuke re-angled his fingers so his next thrust brushed against a spot inside Ianto that caused him to decide on the latter.

“You like that,” Yusuke growled hungrily. He thrust is fingers in, again hitting that sweet spot.

“Ha-ahh,” Ianto moaned, fisting his hands in the bed sheets.

“Yeah, that’s right. Hold on tight, baby,” Yusuke grunted, “cuz, you’re going for a ride.” He forced a third finger into his lover.

Ianto hissed like bacon hitting a hot frying pan. The pain was quickly overshadowed by pleasure as Yusuke’s finger’s continued there onslaught against his sweet spot. One of Ianto’s hands abandoned the sheets to tangle itself in Yusuke’s thick raven hair. He pulled the demon’s face back up to his, where he swiftly claimed his lips. Soon Ianto’s movements became desperate and Yusuke had to admit he couldn’t wait much longer either.

Yusuke pulled back, completely removing himself from his lover. Yusuke backed up off the bed. Ianto sat up on his elbows to watch as Yusuke and began to remove his clothes; a thing he’d failed to do until that point. Yusuke pinned the blond with a sexy stare and a grin as he pulled his shirt off over his head, revealing the gorgeous rows of muscle that constructed his stomach and chest. He let his hands fall down across those muscles in a self-caress. The sight made Ianto groan and bite his lip. Yusuke chuckled. It was great thing, knowing that your lover is just as hot and horny of you as you are for them.

Yusuke hooked his thumbs under his waistband, pushing his pants down to his thighs. At that point gravity took over and the material fell off. All that was between him and his lover now was the thin sting-bikini-like underwear that Yusuke wore. It didn’t do much to conceal, however. Yusuke’s arousal was more than evident. He reached down to pet at the pretty bulge.

“You want this,” he said teasingly to his lover.

In retaliation, Ianto pulled his knees up to his chest, showing Yusuke everything he had to offer. He licked his lips and smiled sweetly at his demon lover.

“Oh, you win-- this time,” Yusuke growled as he climbed back onto the bed and between his lovers legs. He didn’t even pause for a moment before he sunk himself into the body beneath him.

“Oh, yes… Yusuke,” Ianto whispered as Yusuke filled him. “Ngh, don’t stop. Please, keep going.”

“Sure?” Yusuke husked.

“Yes.” The blonds reply was little more than a sigh.

Yusuke did as asked and moved. Ianto moved with him. They moved together in a way that only two people who love each other, and have loved each other many times, could move. By time they both found completion, Ianto in Yusuke’s hand and Yusuke deep inside of Ianto, their lunch that was waiting in the kitchen had long gone cold. But that was alright, those particular dishes are good eaten cold. Yusuke knew so, that’s why he made them.

“Ya know it’s funny,” Yusuke told Ianto latter as they cleaned themselves up and dressed, “No matter how many times we do it, you’re still tight as a virgin.”

“Would you rather it like throwing an Ultharian sausage down the halls of King Kuranes’ palace?” Ianto said with a blush coloring his cheeks.

“Hey, I am NOT complaining,” Yusuke held up his hands in innocence. “I was just saying… Like how long have we been together? It’s been years right.”

“Years?” Ianto tilted his head, “Yes, I suppose it’s been… four years.”

Yusuke nodded, “Right four years of us boning like three or four times a day, and ya can still squeeze my dick as tightly as the first time I crammed it into ya.”

“I can’t tell if you’re trying to complement me or if you’re just being crude,” Ianto snorted.

“Awe come on, Blondie, I was just trying to make a point,” Yusuke pouted. It only took a sideways glance from his partner to make Yusuke throw up his hands and say, “Okay, I guess I didn’t have much of a point to make in the first place.”

“Uh-huh,” Ianto agreed.

“You mad at me?” Yusuke cooed, taking a strand of Ianto’s long yellow hair into his hand and petting it.

“Nuh-uh.” Ianto snatched at the hand and kissed it on the third knuckle. He said, “I knew you were an idiot the day I fell in love with you.”

“That’s a little unfair,” Yusuke laughed, “Ah, but I love you anyway, Blondie.”

Ianto flashed Yusuke a smile, “So lover, are you going to help me clean out that storage room tomorrow?” Ianto asked. It would have seemed an out of the blue question, but Ianto had been talking about them cleaning out that room for weeks.

“Course, I’ll help ya,” Yusuke snorted, “I helped with the garden shed last week didn’t I?”

“If by ‘helping’ you mean moving a couple of boxes and then having your way with me on the workbench,” Ianto drawled, “Then, yes, you helped.”

“What, you didn’t enjoy it? It didn’t seem like you had a problem with it at the time. ‘Oi, yes Yusuke. Yes! Harder, deeper, more! Fuck me demon boy. Fuck me!’” Yusuke impersonated Ianto’s brassy cadence.

“That is not fair,” Ianto pointed, with a red face, “You know I’m not thinking straight while you’re inside me. And besides that part wasn’t the problem. It was after. You fell asleep and left me to finish the job by myself-- and with a sore backside no less.”

“Okay then,” Yusuke tilted his head to nibble at his lover’s neck. “If I start getting frisky this time, why don’t you just tell me to knock it off?”

In response, Ianto blew air out his nose and pouted. Yusuke couldn’t help but laugh at how cute he was. Of course, Ianto wouldn’t tell him to stop. As far as Yusuke could remember his blond lover has never passed up an opportunity to touch him, kiss him, or make love with him. In fact, Ianto always jumped on those chances, however odd it may seem considering his conservative, even shy personality. It was very surprising, in deed, how wild and desperate the blond could be-- not that Yusuke was complaining. Still, the level of ravishment and abandon that they experienced when they held one another close… it was as if they somehow expected that time to be their last time. But that’s just how love is. Isn’t it? Yusuke really didn’t have much to compare his relationship with Ianto to, having never been in love before-- not that he could remember at least.

His life before Dreams, before Ianto, was a complete blank. Not that it worried the demon, it was common knowledge that dreamers forget their life’s before Dreams. And what could there have been for him before Dreams that would be worth remembering? Dreams were good to Yusuke. He had home where he lived a peaceful, happy life with the man he loved more than anything. He wouldn’t change a thing--Well okay, maybe there was one thing he would change, the location of their home. It was so isolated up on that mountain, nothing all around but friggen nature. He hated nature. Given the choice he’d rather live in a city where you go places and buy things. Ianto didn’t like the wilderness either. He liked libraries and crowds of people telling stories. Why the hell did they decide to live up on a mountain anyway?

“Yusuke?” Ianto interrupted he demon’s train of thought, “Are you alright.”

“Huh?” Yusuke jumped.

“You looked… pained, there for moment,” Ianto was eyeing his lover with a worried frown.

“No, I was just thinking.”

“What about?”

Yusuke paused and looked as though he was trying to make out the shape of a far away object, but couldn‘t. He muttered, “I forgot.”

They both let it go, it didn’t seem important. And in any case they did have lunch waiting and their stomachs were starting to grumble. They ate their lunch at what Ianto commonly referred to as “that oddly short table”. It was only a traditional Japanese styled table, but then again Ianto was used to more western styled furnishings that were more common in Dreams. The style of their home; the furniture, the wood floors, the sliding doors, even the red clay tile roof, was very eastern. Almost like a temple, but on a much smaller scale. Yusuke liked it. It reminded him of someplace. Though he couldn’t quite recall it, it was a place where he must have spent a lot of time and felt at home.

Back to the here and now, Yusuke had insisted, as he often did, that Ianto sit in his lap and allow the demon to feed him his lunch. And as usual the blond complied, but not until after a good deal of bristling and blushing.

“Was it good?” Yusuke asked blabbing his lover’s cheek with a napkin.

“Wonderful. But then again you always do it so well,” Ianto told him. Then he added, “Oh, and the food was good too.”

Yusuke snickered, “I ever tell you how cute it is when you try to be dirty?”

“Hm, I can’t quite recall.”

“Well ya are,” Yusuke told him with a laugh, “It’s cuz you’re not good at it.”

“Oi,” Ianto barked his customary sound of indigence.

“I said it was cute didn’t I?” Yusuke lifted his lover and set him on the table, “Hey now that we’re all feed, how’s about we play Jason and the Argonauts?”

“Jason and the Argonauts?” Ianto tilted his head.

“Yeah. I’m Jason and I’m gonna hunt me some golden fleece!” Yusuke howled before he tore open Ianto’s robe and buried his face in the blonde’s pelvic region.

“Ahh, Yusuke!” Ianto cried out in surprise as the demon’s wicked tongue licked up the underside of his cock. His breath hitched when Yusuke swirled his tongue over his tip and then sucked him in. “Ngh… Yusuke… oh, why are you always so horny?”

“That a complaint?” Yusuke said before placing a hot kiss on Ianto’s cool belly.

“Not at all,” Ianto moaned. A few more minutes of this treatment from Yusuke and the blond would be bent over that table practically begging Yusuke to take him. It was a fact. And it would have been so, but then at that moment there was a knock at the front door. The two engaged lover’s stopped and looked at one another with puzzlement clear in both their eyes. It was so unusual for someone to be knocking at their door-- in fact, it never happened before-- they nearly didn’t recognize the sound.

The knock came again, this time followed by a voice calling, “Hello! Is anyone there?”

“Shit there’s someone at our door!” Yusuke jumped up.

“All the way up here in the mountains?” Ianto frowned closing his robe.

Yusuke hopped up and down, “What do we do? Answer it?”

“That would be the sensible thing to do,” Ianto drawled. “But you do it, I’m not properly dressed.”

Yusuke went to the door and opened it.

“Oh, um, hello,” said the smiling girl on the other side. She was average height, average build, and sixteen years old at the least. She was pretty too, not extravagantly beautiful mind you, but still attractive with a small straight nose and a pleasant mouth. Her large, round eyes were a sort of golden brown and very lovely to look at. They were framed nicely by a fringe of light brown hair which at its longest point fell down to her shoulders.

“Um, hi,” Yusuke replayed awkwardly, “Um, can I help you with something.”

“I hope so. My name’s Kuyokiekami, Arumi Kuyokiekami,” she introduced herself. “I was passing over these mountains and, well I sort of slipped and took a fall, you see….”

Yusuke looked down at the girl’s ankle where she indicated. It was bare from where she had removed her shoe and apparently been unable to get it back on for the swelling. Yusuke didn’t believe it was broken, though he would have to take a better look to be sure. It was sprained at least. She would have to stay off of it for several days, maybe even a couple weeks. Yusuke showed her in and to the couch.

“I thought I was in real trouble. It really was a miracle that I found this house all the way out here,” she said, “Thank you so much for letting me in.”

“Hey, Blondie we got company!” Yusuke called to the blond in the other room. Then to Arumi, “I couldn’t just leave ya out there. By the way, what‘s a girl like you doing up in the mountains all by herself? Dreams are dangerous to travel in alone, ya know.”

“So I gather,” she muttered.

“Heh, I guess I should introduce myself. Gee, where are my manners?” Yusuke scratched the back of his head.

“I wasn’t aware you had any,” Ianto’s voice came from the open doorway leading into the hall. He was dressed now, in a clean grey tunic over a pair of pale blue slacks. Yusuke also noted that the blond had taken the time to tame his long hair into a smooth ponytail.

Yusuke smiled at him, and then turned back to Arumi, “I’m Yusuke Urameshi and this stunning creature here is the love of my life, Ianto.”

“Ianto what?” Arumi asked.

“Huh?” Yusuke didn’t understand the question.

“Ianto,” She clarified, “Does he not have a sir name?”

“Uh, well, I erm,” Yusuke stumbled.

“He is the ‘love of your life’, yet you don’t know his sir name,” she said with an absent smile.

Yusuke cleared his throat and said, “Well, if I had it my way, his sir name would be Urameshi as well.”

“Pardon?” Ianto lifted a pale eyebrow at him.

Yusuke quickly dropped to one knee, taking Ianto’s hand in his, he said, “Will you marry me?”

Ianto pursed his lips and lowered his eyelids, in a expression more often seen on the faces of un-amused cats. He snorted, “Way to save face, lover.”

Yusuke put his arm around Ianto’s waist and grinned like an idiot, “But you still love me, right? I‘m off the hook?”

“Okay, sure, why not,” Ianto sighed into his hand.

“And since we have a house guest, I guess we won’t be working on cleaning out that room tomorrow,” Yusuke pressed.

“Wrong,” Ianto crossed his arms, “I’ve been on you about that room for weeks, and I’m not going to let you get out of it now. We do need that space.”

“I’m sorry,” Arumi cut in, “But do you not have any spare rooms in this house?”

“I’m afraid not,” Ianto shook his head, “We’ve only this common room, the kitchen, a few closets, our bedroom and one extra room which is currently filled with junk. But don’t worry I’m sure we can put you up here in the common room. Yusuke, do you know where that roll-up-bed-thingy is?”

“It’s a Futon, and yeah. I’ll get it out for her before bed.” Yusuke nodded. “Don‘t worry about crowding us either, this place is more spacious than it looks. You see that entire back wall there folds up and slides out of the way so the common room can be open to the garden on nice days.”

“My, that is impressive,” Arumi said, “This home of yours very different from the conventional homes of Dreams.”

“Is it?” Yusuke mused, “I guess it is different from most houses in this world. I guess I never thought about it much cuz it reminds me of some houses from back home in the Waking World.”

“It’s nice,” Arumi said politely, “Did the two of you build it yourselves?”

Yusuke nearly choked on his laughter, “Us build something? Ha, that’ll be the day. Could you picture Blondie here trying to haul lumber and nails?”

Ianto added, “And and could you imagine, this thick headed lummox, attempting to read and comprehend a set of blue prints?”

“Touché,” Yusuke muttered. “No, I guess we just sort of found the house like this.”

“You just happened to find a house, in the middle of nowhere that just happens to be just like those from your home land?” Arumi frowned skeptically.

Yusuke and Ianto frowned, too. Even though they had lived in that home for years they’d never really stopped to think about how they came by it. And now that Yusuke was thinking of it, he found it very difficult to remember those first days of their residency. He couldn’t recollect actually finding the house or there moving in. He had no memories of unpacking their belongings or cleaning out the old house-- surely they must have had to clean it. A house standing empty for years would at least gather dust. He just had the knowledge that it had happened.

Yusuke put the whole thing aside in favor of going into the kitchen and making the girl something to eat. But still, it lingered there in the back of his mind. It was just a feeling, but it continued nag at him throughout the evening and after he and Ianto said goodnight to Arumi, and retired to their own bed.

“You seem distracted,” Ianto said kissing him on the chin.

“Huh?” Yusuke snapped to attention. “Oh, um, sorry.”

Ianto smoothed his hands down Yusuke’s chest and pushed himself up and away a bit. He said, “If you’re not in the mood tonight--”

“What?” Yusuke squawked, “When the hell have I ever not been the mood? Damn it Ianto, you stop and I’ll tan your hide.”

“Oh, sweet talker,” Ianto couldn’t help but laugh. “But seriously, you don’t seem into it tonight. Is it because the pace is too slow?”

Yusuke denied it with a shake of his head and put his on his lover’s hips, gently guiding him to continue his movements. Ianto’s eye’s squeezed shut as a shaky sigh escaped his lips.

“God that’s soo…” Yusuke murmured. “Hey, Ianto, can I ask you something?”

“Anything,” The blond responded with an absent breath.

“I know that it’s normal not to remember things that happened before going into Dreams,” Yusuke started, “But is it normal not to remember things that happened in Dreams clearly?”

Ianto paused, giving Yusuke a funny look, “Odd time for such questions, Yusuke.”

“Answer me,” Yusuke demanded gently as he ran his fingers through Ianto’s hair.

“Well, it is the nature of men from the Waking World to forget things that are either repetitious or unimportant.” Ianto mused, “And it is a standing theory that living in Dreams increases the affect. Why, does it feel as if you’re forgetting something important?”

Ianto’s question was innocent enough, but something about it shocked Yusuke to his very core. Something important. Then for some inexplicable reason he felt a prang of guilt which only got sharper as his glazed at the body posed above if him. Ianto, who had always been so prudish about his dress before he and Yusuke had become lovers, was naked. Every inch of fair skin and willowy muscle was on display. His legs were thrown to either of Yusuke’s hips. In that position Yusuke could see clearly where his thick member disappeared into his lover’s trembling body. But what really got Yusuke was the blonde’s face, flushed with passion and shimmering with sweat. Even though his skin was chilled he was still sweating. His lips were swollen and pink and his eyes… his eyes were like two shining pools of water. Yusuke could see himself in those eyes, swimming in a lake of pure adoration.

Yusuke felt guilty. He could not fathom why. Guilty for his love for Ianto or guilty for betraying that love to remember whatever it was he’d forgotten? Both were absurd. Why would he even think that? Yusuke licked his suddenly dry lips and muttered, “It must not be important.”

“Oh?” Ianto tipped his head, “How do you know that, if you can’t remember what it was?”

“Cuz the most important thing in my world is right here,” Yusuke whispered as he wrapped his arms around Ianto’s narrow waist. He rolled over the blond and finished making love to him.

By the next morning, Yusuke was completely refreshed and the only dilemma on his mind was whether he wanted to wake Ianto up with the smell of breakfast being cooked or with his dick rubbing circles around his sweet little hole. It may sound lewd and unromantic on Yusuke’s part, but the truth was that Ianto actually enjoyed having his ass drilled the moment he gained consciousness. Were they made for each other or what? However, taking in consideration that Ianto was probably still sore from the long, slow lovemaking they’d had the night before, and that Ianto planned on doing house work that day, and that they had a house guest whom may or may not be awake yet. Yusuke opted for the former and went to make breakfast.

Coming out of the bedroom, tying his rarely used housecoat over his rarely worn pajama’s, Yusuke noted the futon he’d given Arumi to sleep in was rolled up and resting against he wall. He only had to wonder briefly where she was. She had not gone far at all, she was still in the common room, standing just around the corner of the hall, staring very intently at the blank wall directly next to were the hall opened. For some reason, Yusuke did not think to look at where she was looking, but only looked at her face. Her brow creased in concentration, almost frustration, but in spite of that she seemed… familiar somehow.

She didn’t seem to notice him walk in so he made his presence known, casually saying, “Morning. Sleep well?”

“Oh,” She snapped out of her trance, “Good morning… yes, I slept very well. That futon thing is more comfortable than it looks.”

“I’m sure, it feels like a queen’s bed after sleeping out in the woods with all the rock and sticks and friggen bugs,” Yusuke stated.

“You sound as if you’ve done a bit of sleeping outside yourself,” Arumi pointed.

“Yeah, Ianto and I used to have to sleep outside a lot back when we where traveling,” Yusuke said heading toward the kitchen. He gestured that she could follow.

“So you and Ianto used to travel together. Where to?” She asked.

“We went to a lot of places, did a lot of things,” he told her, “But Barharna was out ultimate destination.”

“Oh? What’s in Barharna?” She asked.

Yusuke paused, “I… don’t know. We never got there.”

“Why not?” She put her hand over her mouth, “Sorry, am I being too intrusive?”

Something about the girl’s demeanor made it very hard for Yusuke to get irritated with her. It was like she reminded him of someone. He said, “Not at all. The two of us never got to Barharna cuz we settled down here. We’re real happy together, so why go to Barharna?”

“Wow, so you two really are happy. It’s funny I wouldn’t have pegged the two of you as lovers,” She said absently.

“What do ya mean?” Yusuke pulsed and glanced over his shoulder as he fetched down a cooking pot.

“Just that the two of you are so different,” She told him.

Yusuke shrugged to that, “You now how the saying goes; opposites attract.”

“Yes, opposites on the same spectrum attract, like the positive and negative sides of a magnet,” she said, “But the two of you don’t seem like you’re even in the same category. It’s like comparing apples to horses.”

In spite of the fondness Yusuke had for the he couldn’t help but feel a touch of offence to her comment. Ianto was the man that he loved after all. Then again, he could see what she meant. He and Ianto were creatures from two totally different worlds. Yusuke was fighter, at home in the ring with only the fiercest opponents. Ianto was… a scholar, Yusuke supposed. He did know a lot about a lot. And he did seem in his element when he was around books and stuff. Yes, truth be told, a man like Yusuke and a man like Ianto would never have met had it not been for the singular circumstances of Dreams. Apples to horses; it was an apt comparison.

“That may be. But you forget,” Yusuke grinned, “horses really like apples.”

“Point taken,” Arumi waved her hand dismissing that chapter of the conversation.

With a minor expletive, Yusuke noticed that he didn’t have any celery in the cupboard and excused himself to go fetch some from the garden. He had only been out the door a few minutes when Ianto came striding into the kitchen. Ianto quickly took note of the boiling pot and the half prepared ingredients on the counter.

“Celery?” Ianto asked. Arumi nodded an astounded affirmative. Ianto shrugged, “He said he was going bring some in yesterday. He gets… distracted and forgets things.”

“You’re a very sharp person,” Arumi said gravely, “It’s amazing that you haven’t figured it out yet.”

“Figured what out?” Ianto asked half distracted by the things on the kitchen counter.

“That Yusuke doesn’t really love you,” she said as matter a fact.

“Excuse me?” Ianto whirled on the girl. She had his full undivided attention now, not to mention his annoyance.
“He doesn’t love you,” she continued, “Pete’s sake, he doesn’t even know you. He doesn’t know your hobbies, your interests, not a thing about you. He doesn’t even know you’re name. Nor does he even care enough to try and find out. Your lives are just full of holes and blank spaces. Doesn‘t that seem wrong to you?”

“Oi, who do you think you are?” Ianto spits in a rare moment of outrage.

“A shadow,” she replied darkly, “Or maybe more accurately a reflection. Even my name is a reflection. Now reflect on his, Ianto. You‘re angry, but is that anger because I‘ve offended you or is it because I‘ve made you see something you didn‘t want to see. Something like a door in your house that you refuse to look at or a room you refuse to go into. Something that’s right in front of you. You know it‘s there, but you just don’t what to acknowledge it.”

“What the hell are you on about?” Ianto was just confused at this point.

Suddenly she smiled brightly, “Oh nothing really, I’m just making inane observations, as usual. Say, breakfast is going to take some time. I think I’m gonna go walk around outside a bit, loosen up this bum ankle a little.”

Yusuke came back into the kitchen at the same time as Arumi was leaving it. When Ianto was sure she was gone he said, “She’s… a little odd.”

“Arumi? Yeah, she asks a lot of questions,” Yusuke replied as he took his freshly harvested celery to the sink to wash.

“She also makes statements,” Ianto mused, “Odd statements.”

“Did something happen while I was gone?” Yusuke glanced over his shoulder.

“I’ll let you know once I figure it out,” Ianto muttered, “just to be safe, why don’t we lock up all the sharp objects before we go to bed.”

Yusuke chuckled. He thought he was kidding. Ianto choose not to enlighten Yusuke as to the particulars of his short discourse with Arumi, because, frankly he didn’t think much of it. Really, it could be something as simple as a crush that the girl had developed for his demonic lover and all of that talk was just a juvenile attempt to come between them. If was the case, it was actually kind of sad for her. Ianto had never known Yusuke to show interest in the opposite sex. However, some of the things she’d said were just pain odd. “I’m a shadow or more accurately a reflection.” What the heck is that supposed to mean?

These things persistently buzzed in the back of Ianto’s mind even latter that afternoon while he was working on cleaning out that storage room-- alone. Yusuke noticed that they were low on firewood and was suddenly worried that they may hit a cold snap, so he went out to look for more in the forest, the lazy devil. Ianto chucked a broken basket into a crate containing other bits of rubbish that needed to be taken out and disposed of. Underneath he found a small flat box. He pulled it out and opened it.

“My old travel notes,” he muttered to himself, pulling out the worn notebook inside. He flipped through the pages and saw in his own tidy handwriting descriptions of Yusuke and his adventures before they settled down at the O’Coil Springs. He found a rough drawing he’d made of the banished Deep One’s whose plan’s they’d spoiled at the mystic pond of Pnok. He found notes on the time they discovered just where the daughters of Dalshore were disappearing to. And then there was that unpleasant incident at the asylum next to Lothario’s Lagoon.

Ianto had written about some wild times in that notebook. Of course he had quit writing after they settled down. If he wrote about the sort of things he and Yusuke did now, it would be nothing more than a documentation of depravity. It seemed like all they did these days was eat, sleep and have sex-- not that Ianto was complaining. Still, looking back on their traveling days, Ianto had to wonder why they stopped-- and for that matter why had they done it in the first place. It seemed like they had a reason at the time, a good one. But now… Ianto couldn’t seem to remember.

Arumi had been right about one thing, his and Yusuke’s lives had too many blank spaces in them. Thinking about it, though made him feel very uncomfortable, so his mind switched to something else. Arumi had said something else odd about being a reflection, “…even my name is a reflection.” Refection? Like a reversal or reversed spelling? They discovered the truth about Pnok Pond that way. It wasn’t really a serious thought, but Ianto did take out a pen and write the girls name on a blank page. ARUMI KUYOKIEKAMI. Then he wrote it backwards IAMKEIKOYUK IMURA. Into frowned and looked at the words again. It read I AM KEIKO YUKIMURA. Why does that name sound familiar?

“Hey, doll how’s it going,” Yusuke showed up as if on clue.

“Does the name Keiko Yukimura mean anything to you?” Ianto asked abruptly.

“Uh,” Yusuke paused as if he’d just walked into a brick wall, “It should. That was my ex-girl’s name, from the Waking World, ya know.”

“But Yusuke, I thought you didn’t have memories of the Waking World,” Ianto frowned.

Yusuke frowned too and scratched his head, “I didn’t think I did, but then you said name… I guess it jogged a few memories. Seems almost funny that I forgot her, I knew her since we were seven.”

“That’s a long history.”

“Yeah, and it ended in a damned messy break up, too”

“Oh?”

“I never told anyone about it before, cuz it’s was kind of embarrassing.” Yusuke licked his lips before continuing, “Ya see, after all those years of lewd comments and roaming hands, I finally got a shot at her in the sack and guess what happened; nothing. Not, clear enough for you? I couldn’t get it up! At least not when I was with her. I had no problem getting a stiffly when I was asleep and dreaming. And... apparently she wasn‘t the object of my dreams.”

“Let me guess,” Ianto cut in dryly, “You moaned someone else’s name in your sleep, a male name?”

“Yeah, I think it was something like that,” Yusuke confirmed, “Hey, how’d you know?

Ian shrugged with a furrowed brow, “I… guessed, I suppose. Do you happen to remember what she looked like?”

‘Well,” Yusuke concentrated, “She had brown hair, brown eyes and she was really pretty-- and you know what she was a dead-ringer for Arumi when she was younger. Uh, why do want to know?”

“Are you aware that Arumi’s name, Arumi Kuyokiekami, is I am Keiko Yukimura spelled backwards?” Ianto said, “I brought it up because the name sounded familiar, though I don’t know when I may have heard it.”

“Maybe I was talking in my sleep again. Here does this sound familiar, ‘Ah Keiko, stop hitting me! I’ll behave, I promise.’” Yusuke laughed and flailed his hands like he was defending himself.

“Yusuke don’t you think it’s strange that the only house guest we’ve had in four years happens to look like your ex-girlfriend not to mention the name,” Ianto pointed.

“You are so cute when you make that face,” Yusuke cooed as if he hadn’t been listening to a word Ianto had said.

Ianto protested, “I’m being serious.”

“So am I,” Yusuke wrapped his arms around his lover’s waist, “Ianto, you’re adorable. Let’s fuck-- right now.”

“But… These things can’t be pure coincidence,” Ianto sputtered.

“Fine we’ll kill her later tonight, whatever makes you happy,” Yusuke drawled before licking a solid line down Ianto’s neck.

“I… I didn’t say I wanted to kill her,” Ianto stuttered. His focus was rapidly diminishing.

“I need you,” Yusuke’s hot breath fell across Ianto’s ear, blowing away the last of the blonde’s reason. His body went limp, allowing the demon to scoop him up and carry him across the hall to their bedroom. They stayed there for the rest of the evening. Each time they finished Yusuke would find something else that made his lover irresistible to him. And of course, Ianto could never resist Yusuke. They never did finish cleaning the storage room, and they never got around to talking about Keiko or Arumi. They made love until the point of exhaustion. Even after that, Yusuke gripped Ianto’s hips in his sleep.

“Yusuke,” Ianto smiled and chuckled.

Yusuke’s hands tightened on his hips as he opened his mouth, moaning out a name. Ianto heard the desire and pure passion that lived in those syllables. The problem was that name… it wasn’t his.

Ianto didn’t recall jumping, but he must have jumped or made some sudden movement because Yusuke stirred as if disturbed.

“Hm, what is it Blondie?” He mumbled half asleep. “Did I forget to give you your goodnight kiss?” He pulled the blondes face to his and placed a sweet, sleepy kiss on his lips.

“I… I love you, Yusuke, so much,” Ianto nearly choked on his words.

“I know,” Yusuke flashed a cheeky grin and then started to drift off.

“Yusuke--”

“I love you too, ya ninny,” Yusuke grumbled as he sat up, “Now go to sleep.”

“Where are you going?” Ianto asked.

“Gotta go take care of something,” Yusuke stretched, “Go on to sleep. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Ianto closed his eyes as Yusuke pulled on his housecoat and stepped outside the bedroom door, sliding it firmly shut behind him. He became fully alert as he stepped into the common room, where the girl who called herself Arumi was seated on the floor, her legs crisscrossed in front of her, looking intently at the wall next to the open hall.

“I see you’re ready to face the facts,” she said not looking at him.

“You’re not real, are you,” Yusuke said cutting right to the chase.

“I’m as real as anything else in this place,” she replied, “though I don’t suppose that says much.

“I ought to warn you, I don’t do well with vagueness,” Yusuke started.

Arumi laughed, “I know full well your dislike for vagueness, cryptic remarks, or anything else that’s unnecessarily mysterious. I swear I would be clearer, if I, myself, had a clear picture of what‘s going on here. And speaking of, when did you finally start to see that ‘here’ is not what it seems to be?”

“I started getting a weird feeling around breakfast, after you asked all those damned questions,” Yusuke grunted, leaning against the door frame, “This house is just too perfect. It reminds me of home and everything I could possibly what is here. I think remember somebody once said, ‘If it seems too good to be true, it usually because it’s evil and wants to kill you.’”

“Well not everything, you want is here,” Arumi pointed out, “But you don’t remember that yet, do you?”

“And what would that be?” Yusuke crossed his arms.

Arumi shook her head, “It‘s right in front of you, you just can‘t see it, like a door in your house you don‘t want to look at and a room you refuse to go in. If you want to get back what you lost, you’ll have to look at that door and step into that room.”

“I thought we‘ve been over this cryptic shit,” Yusuke started.

“Listen,” she snapped, “I can’t just out and tell you, cuz it’s one of those things that you really can’t accept it until you’ve discovered it for yourself.”

“I…” Yusuke hesitated, because frankly it sounded really stupid in his head. The idea was so fantastic, it couldn’t be true. He didn‘t want it to be true. And saying it would make it true.

“None of this is real, is it Yusuke?” a voice came from behind Yusuke.

“Ianto,” Yusuke gasped, “I- I thought you were in bed.”

“You’re not the only one to notice these… inconsistencies in our lives,” Ianto told him. “I‘m not sure what we’re going through here, but whatever it is I want us to be able to go through it together.”

“Ianto,” Yusuke folded him in his arms, “You should have run from me the day we met.”

“All those years ago?” Ianto laughed softly.

“Not years, months,” Yusuke corrected the wide eyed blond, “We’ve only known each other for a little under a year now, and we’ve only been in this house for a few days-- heh. I guess that’s why your ass is still tight as virgin’s. I’ve only been laying it into ya for a half a week. It’s a wonder I haven’t hurt ya the way we’ve been going at it. But man your so fucking good, especial when you‘re about to come and you squeeze--”

“Oi!” Ianto interrupted the derailed demon.

“Oh sorry,” Yusuke chuckled at Ianto’s red face. “Anyway we don’t live in this house, it doesn’t exist. It and everything in it was like plucked out of my brain and put here. Exactly how it happened is another thing. I haven‘t quite figured it out yet. Any more questions lover?”

“Um, who’s…” Ianto bit his lip, “never mind. What about her, Arumi? Is she plucked from your mind as well?

“Something like that, but I think the term ‘escaped’ is more accurate.” Yusuke told him, “Now stay me, she‘s not Arumi Kuyokiekami, nor is she Keiko Yukimura. In a sense she’s me-- or at least the part of me that tells me that I’m being an idiot and I need to get off my ass and put things right.”

“Which explains why she looks like your ex-girl friend,” Ianto said in an ah-ha tone.

“Yeah I know I‘m a sick puppy and Dreams are weird as shit,” Yusuke drawled.

“Yes and you obviously know more than you know,” Ianto said warily looking at Arumi, who was once again staring intently at the wall.

Yusuke frowned, “What is she looking at?”

The last syllable was nearly lost in a crash like a crack of lighting. Arumi was gone… back to depths of Yusuke’s imagination. Both the men jumped and faced the direction the crash had come from. It was the blank wall that Arumi had been so interested in. It was not so blank anymore. There was a door there, a door that had always been there, they just never looked at it before.

“Heh- I guess she wasn’t just being metaphorical about that door business,” Yusuke grinned weakly.

“She was you,” Ianto shrugged, “So I suppose like you she’s literal as hell.”

“Do we… go in?”

“Your call, Yusuke,” Ianto squeezed his hand, “I’ll follow you anywhere.”

Slowly, Yusuke turned his head face Ianto. He whispered, “I love you so much,” and then kissed him on the lips. Still holding hands, Yusuke lead his lover through the open door.

Beyond the door frame was nothing but bright purple tinted light, which blinded Yusuke to anything that lay beyond. On he trudged through the light. The air felt charged as if by electricity. He felt weightless, yet crushed like he was walking under water. He kept a firm grip on his lover’s hand. He couldn’t imagine anything worse than loosing the blond in this place.

Then all at once, like stepping out of a fog they stumbled out of the light and found themselves in a room the size of a large bedroom. The walls were covered in a crawling irradiant purple slime. And at the center of the room was a thing. At first glance it looked like a tree, in shape and size, but it had no leaves and its branches moved and writhed like the tentacles of a great squid. Its skin was translucent like a jellyfish, so the two could see the simple and slightly luminous organs on the inside. On second evaluation it did seem more animal than plant.

But the most stunning revelation was lying beneath the thing. Yusuke and Ianto, they saw themselves, lying beneath the thing. Yusuke was peacefully slumped up against its trunk. Ianto had his head rested lightly on the demon’s shoulder. They looked to be asleep. The thing’s branches were wound about their necks as the tips gently brushed over their brows.

“Freak get your… whatevers off us!” Yusuke howled and launched himself at the creature. It seemed unconcerned as Yusuke fazed right through it. He rolled on the floor and cursed, “Shit, I can’t touch it! Ianto what the hell is this thing?”

“This is a new one on me,” Ianto shook his head, “If we can’t touch it, maybe we can talk to it?”

“I’m not talking to that thing,” Yusuke huffed, “Besides how the hell would we do it, it doesn’t even have ears.”

“Just think at it,” Ianto suggested.

“What?”

“It’s tapped into your mind,” Ianto pointed out, “So send a message.”

“Alright,” Yusuke placed two fingers on each temple, “Hey creepy thing, what the hell do you want from us?”

“I see you’re taking the diplomatic approach,” Ianto said dryly, “Oh, it‘s moving!”

The thing’s trunk stopped its gentle swaying and stood erect. Then two branches shot out perpendicularly, both pointed back the way they came.

“I think it wants us to go back to the house,” Ianto guessed.

“Well we ain’t doing it,” Yusuke yelled at the thing, “You’re gonna drop this bullshit dream world and gonna let us the fuck go!”

The thing did not take kindly to his words. Quick as a flash a tentacle tightened around the sleeping Ianto’s neck. The Ianto that was standing gasped and dropped to his knees, choking for air.

“No, stop… stop it!” Yusuke screamed at the thing, swinging his fist at it as if he could injure it through sheer persistence. He begged, “Let him go. Please! Don’t take him away! I love him!”

That was the last thing Ianto heard before darkness closed in on him. He didn’t know that he’d survived until a warm tongue lapping at his neck caused him to wake. He shot up in bed. He was back in their bedroom, in their little house up in the mountains by the O’Coil Springs.

“What? Where? The room…,” he sputtered.

“The storage room?” Yusuke murmured against his neck, “We can finish cleaning it tomorrow. I think there are more… pleasurable things we can do this evening.”

Yusuke hot breath on the back of the blonde’s neck made him shiver as did the hand that was steadily creeping down his stomach toward his waistband. Ianto’s mind was quickly fogging from the thoughts of the things Yusuke was going to do to him with that hand.

“Just relax, you had a bad dream, but I’ll make it go away,” Yusuke purred heatedly into his ear.

“A dream?” Ianto repeated absently. Was all that a dream? No, like hell was! He pushed Yusuke away, “Oi! Don’t bullshit me!”

Yusuke bit at his lips and looked down, “We can’t leave this place, Ianto. I… I thought it’d be easier for you if you didn’t know--”

“Too bad I’m not stupid,” Ianto snapped.

“Don’t be like that,” Yusuke petted his hair, “I love you so much. I don’t know what I’d do without you, so I caved. But is it really so bad? We’ve got everything we want is right here; food, shelter, each other. There‘s no reason why we need to be out there, roaming around dreams.”

“A reason!” Ianto gasped as the tumblers in his mind fell into place and the jig-sawed pieces of his memory fit together. “Of course, you haven’t said a thing about… That’s how it keeps you, by keeping you happy. You‘ll never leave if you have everything you want. And if what you want is something you can’t have, it’ll make you forget you wanted it.”

Yusuke chuckled, “What are you talking about lover?”

“I am not your lover!” Ianto’s voice cracked, “You don’t want me, or need me. For what I am to you… I could be replaced by decent atlas!”

Yusuke hand fell on a will of its own, slapping Ianto across the face, “What the hell are you saying? I love you.”

“No, no you don’t,” Ianto told him, “You don’t love me, Yusuke. You never will. But I do love you, Yusuke… with all my heart. That’s why…why I have to crush your happy little dream.”

“Ianto?” Yusuke gasped as the blond wrapped his arms around his shoulders. His eyes widened as somewhere inside him, Yusuke registered just what it was Ianto was about to do, “No, I love you. I can’t--”

Ianto hushed him, “Shh… When you wake this won’t even be a memory.”

“How--” Yusuke started to ask, but then Ianto whispered a word in his ear, a short, but oh so familiar word whose home rested in the deepest bowels of Yusuke’s soul. He had forgotten it until then, but once he’d heard it the memories came flying back to him, the true memories. At that moment he knew that his happy dream could not longer exist, because there was something he needed that this dream could never give him. It had been such a nice dream though. He mourned for its loss even as it was ripped from his consciousness and thrown into oblivion to never be seen again.

And so the dream was gone faster than the word could die on Ianto’s lips, “Hiei.”

Yusuke opened his eyes; he wanted to close them again. The sun was so bright. He moved his stiff shoulder, subsequently jostling the blond who was resting there. He yawned, “Man, what a nap I feel like I’d slept of days…. Uh, Ianto?” He called to the blond when he didn’t respond.

“Oh, sorry, Yusuke,” Ianto startled, “I, uh, was just reflecting on a dream I was having.”

“Was it a good dream?” Yusuke wiggled his eyebrows.

“Most of it,” Ianto replied with a blush.

“So, was she hot?” Yusuke teased.

Ianto snorted, “It was sexiest ass I’d ever seen.”

Yusuke’s face went blank. It was not the sort of answer he’d expect from Ianto. The blond laughed, clearly amused by Yusuke’s shock. It was fair payback though for all the times Yusuke used the blonde’s embarrassment as entertainment.

In a few short minutes the travelers were ready to move on. Yusuke stepped out from behind a bush, where he had just emptied his bladder, and called out to his companion, “Hey, Ianto what ya doing over by that tree? Let’s get going.”

Ianto stood up from his crouch and dusted off his hands. While Yusuke was watering the bushes, he had found a bunch of toadstools, crumbled them up and scattered them around in a circle under the tree they had slept by. Ianto couldn’t be sure if the tree was host to… whatever that thing was, but if it was, a fairy circle should keep it in check and prevent it from taking any other wayward travelers. Though, the fact that it had taken them in the first place was puzzling to him. It hadn’t been feeding on them. It didn’t seem like a game. And then it let them go as soon as it became difficult to hold them. It was like… like it was just stalling them.

“Ianto, ya coming buddy?” Yusuke called again.

“I’m coming,” he called out to Yusuke.

In a couple days they’d be out of the mountains and coming down near the coast of the Zak continent. From there it was only a ferry ride to the city of Barharna. There they might find a clue to the whereabouts of Yusuke’s friend, and possibly his future lover, Kurama. After that….

The Otherworldly Occupant of O’Coil Springs-- END
A/N: Sad isn’t it? Though if you’ve read If Only in my Dreams you already knew Ianto and Yusuke weren’t going to be together. However if you go back and re-read that story it’s like OMG poor Ianto, especially like those parts when Yusuke and Kurama are getting on real loud in the next room. When I wrote those parts I actually didn’t have it in my head that Ianto might like Yusuke, but still… I kind of feel like I should apologize to him. Or I could just blame Liera/Xiana for having encouraged me on taking this path. Coming soon, the final chapter in the Dreamland Collection, The Wizard in White.