The Body

Summary: After the Mist incident, Cecil is presumed dead. However, not everyone believes the news, and Kain is determined to find him. Kain/Cecil.

Author's Notes: Another plot bunny I finally came to write. I always pictured Cecil to be somewhat shy, and since they have to share rooms with other people... Kain and Cecil having sex would definititevly involve someone watching. In this case: Rydia. She's a child, I know, and it's what makes it a bit more interesting ^^. So no, she doesn't get "busy" with them, and not even with herself (though I was HIGHLY tempted). Feel free to give reviews or constructive criticism, makes me happy ^^. Enjoy!

The Body


“We couldn't find his body, sir.”

Kain Highwind stood in front of the three other men, arms crossed over his chest. Some of these soldiers were so dumb. The dragoon shook his head and bit his lower lip, trying his best not to give in to anger. How could three men – weren't they originally four? – miss their own commander? It wasn't like Cecil's armor was made to blend with nature, the dark knight was meant to be seen and scare the crap out of the enemy...

Did they even search?

And then something hit him. “What do you mean, couldn't find his body?”

One of the men took a step forward and gulped. It was supposed to be a secret. “We were sent with the orders of bringing his body back to the castle, sir. His corpse.”

Kain sighed. There was no way Cecil could have died after the earthquake in Mist; especially not if Kain lived through it himself. “The King just assumed he died?” Frustrated, he punched the stone wall, letting the pain numb his mind for a moment. Maybe Cecil had been right all along and something was wrong with the King.

“Tell the King I'm taking this mission myself. I'll go find his 'body'...”

With this, the dragoon left the room. He didn't bother with preparations for a long trip – all he wanted was to find Cecil.

He would never admit it to anyone, but was afraid something had happened to him. And if it was the case, he'd never forgive himself for going back to Baron without him.

~ ~ ~

Fueled by adrenalin, the trek to Mist had seemed painfully long, even though it had been short. A single day is all it took Kain to reach the tiny, now unpopulated village. The dragoon wrinkled his nose at the putrid smell of the already rotting, calcined bodies scattered around – the area was much warmer than Baron. His impression was that of a battlefield, the difference being battlefield implied people fighting. The villagers had stood there, trying to protect their children, their wives, their husbands, their lovers...

Nauseous and exhausted, Kain searched for his best friend. It was almost impossible that Cecil had stayed here; if he had gone anywhere, it must have been Kaipo, a town east of the abandoned village. However, in order to reach Kaipo, he'd have to go through the desert.

All of a sudden, the idea of coming in the area wearing his full heavy armor – dark-colored too – felt silly, if not deadly.

But he'd go through Hell just to see if Cecil was alright.

~ ~ ~

Kaipo had grown around an oasis; the lush green grass and palm trees clashed with the infernal desert outside. A very exhausted yet relieved Kain entered the town, hoping he would be able to find Cecil in the area. If not, the townsfolk probably had clues to where he was heading.

In fact, it took less than five minutes to get the information, as he overheard a man talking about a dark knight from Baron who had settled at the inn earlier that day, carrying a little girl. There was no doubt: it had to be Cecil and the girl he had wanted to spare.

The moment he found the inn, another Baronian soldier rushed out; a marshal. Kain caught hold of the man's arm and tugged, bringing the marshal up to him. “What's going on?” he barked, his blue-gray eyes set on the slightly smaller frame.

“L-L-Lord Cecil... inside... he killed my men... we were s-s-supposed to bring the girl with us b-but he refused to surrender her!”

“I'll take care of that.” Kain released the man from his powerful grip and watched as he ran away. 'And Cecil thinks he's a coward...'

The blond man entered the inn, scanning the room. A few men were dragging the bodies of the soldiers whom Cecil had slayed. He nodded at the innkeeper – a mortified middle-aged, brown-haired man in robes – before waltzing into the next room.

The dark knight stood few meters away, wearing a bloodstained chain mail suit, messy silver hair cascading down to his shoulders; Kain assumed Cecil must've been woken up by the small Baronian troop. His voice was low and soft as he spoke to reassure the child, a big-brother-like attitude he often took with Rosa. The scene lasted a mere five seconds before Cecil turned around, his eyes meeting with his best friend's.

Kain ran to the man and pulled his smaller frame into a possessive bone-crushing hug, his arms securely wrapped around Cecil's upper body.

“You're hurting me Kain... what's going on?” the knight inquired, squirming through the powerful embrace. But the older man wouldn't budge and kept hugging him tight. “Kain...!”

“They told me you died...” he finally uttered, feeling his throat clogging up. No, he wouldn't cry. “I had to see it for myself, Cecil.”

“I'm alive, and you're hurting m-”

The youth wasn't given a chance to complete his sentence. Kain's soft lips claimed his own, his tongue slipping in the warm mouth. He offered no resistance whatsoever and closed his eyes, enjoying the intimate moment.

As if he snapped out of a dream, Kain released him from his grasp for a moment. Taking a step backwards, he reached for Cecil's shoulders again, holding him at a distance to have a better look at him: in one piece, bloody from the previous attack, and slightly dumbfounded. “I'm sorry. I...”

A compassionate smile formed on the pale lips. “Don't be sorry. I wasn't expecting it is all.” The smile widened as he noticed his friend was blushing under the moonlight coming from the window. Kain was known to react on impulse, but it was the first time he “admitted” having feelings for anyone, let alone another man.

But Cecil wasn't feeling awkward about it, and made it clear by moving closer to the blond man, wrapping his arms around the broader shoulders, carefully avoiding the intricate spikes and designs on his dark blue armor. Slowly, he tilted his head and drew his lips closer to Kain's, keeping the kiss clean yet making his point clear as water.

Satisfied, he pulled back and smiled again, his eyes glimmering with mischievousness. “Get rid of that armor, I'll go take a quick shower and wash this off my chain mail... don't want it to fully dry there. Oh, and...” The dark knight marked a pause and turned his head around in the child's direction, his voice dropping to a low whisper. “Watch over her please? Don't want anything to happen to her.”

Kain rolled his eyes. Last thing he wanted was to get clock-blocked by a freaking kid who should've died like the rest of her race. He admitted it was thinking irrationally, and had to mentally repeat that it was a child. And last, that he was a dragoon. Not a babysitter.

“Whatever your own men did to you, they must've given you a concussion or something. Are you insane? I'm not made to watch kids, Cecil.”

The younger man sighed and gave him a long, determined glace with a side of puppy-eye look.

Defeated, the Kain sighed as well and shrugged. “Fine. I'll keep an eye on her.” His reward was a smile as the youth left the room, leaving him and the little girl alone.

Oh the things he'd do for Cecil Harvey! Travel all the way from Baron to Kaipo, only to watch a kid.

Poor thing just had lost her mother. She was what, six or seven years old? Obviously one of the now nearly extinct summoners. Maybe she had family who had exiled themselves in another kingdom, although it seemed less than probable given the number of people who had died in the attack... their own attack.

Then she had to speak. 'You can't make this easy for me right, young lady?'

“You're Kain, right? You were with Cecil when mommy died...”

What in hell could he reply to that? Yeah, in fact I killed your mommy because we blindly followed our King's orders. And I should have killed you too because you're one of them. In fact, want to go join mommy?

But that'd have been more than awkward, and Cecil would have chopped his head off for it. Or at least hurt him badly. Feminine or not, Cecil was a deadly fighter and even though Kain overpowered him physically, if the silver-haired dark knight had his sword... He didn't even want to think about the results.

He would have never killed her, as he had stated before they were split by Titan's earthquake.

'Damnit Cecil! Why did you leave me alone with her? I'm going to make you pay for this,' he mentally threatened his best friend as he sat on the bed next to the girl, avoiding eye-to-eye contact. He was torn apart between completely ignoring her and telling her how he felt about it. The compromise was to apologize, or try to. He too had lost his parents; it wasn't an easy thing to deal with.

After a quiet moment, Kain faced the little girl and rested his arms on his knees in a casual position. “What's your name?” he asked, glancing in front of him.

“Rydia.” She clutched the white sheets as if she was scared, but her eyes remained strangely defiant as she assessed him from head to toe – well, what she could see in the dimmed light. The armor covered everything but the lower part of his face, and his hands.

“Cecil talked about you. You've known each other for a long time right? He said he was worried because when he woke up you weren't around.”

Worried? Since when did Lord Captain Cecil Harvey worry? That ought to be a first. Then again, he had worried for the dark knight as well... not something he did everyday.

Worrying always had been Rosa's job.

“You weren't even born when he became my friend,” he said with a smirk. “But I didn't like him at first. I thought he was a spoiled brat because he was raised by the King. I used to fight with him a lot. But people change, and he became my best friend.”

“And now you love him. I saw you kiss him.”

Kain nodded. He had felt like it before, but he had been scared of Cecil's reaction, especially since he had heard Rosa and Cecil were an item. But that's something else he'd ever admit... maybe to his friend, one of these days. Maybe. “Yeah, I love him.”

The room fell silent again. Still no sign of the silver-haired man, although this time he didn't worry. With the amount of blood on his outfit, it would take some time before he'd come out of the bathroom. Plus, the girl wasn't much of a problem. Compared to what he had been as a child, she was close to an angel. He couldn't blame her about the questions she asked; kids her age were curious.

“I... I'm sorry about your mother, Rydia.”

The words had been blurted out – apologies had never been his strong point. Kain glanced at her again, expecting her to cry.

But no. She sat on the bed, hugging the covers. Her big green eyes watered a bit, but not a single tear was shed. He remembered how much he had cried when his father had died, and frankly, he didn't understand why she didn't cry.

“I'll grow up strong for her. That's what she'd want me to do. I'll get powerful,” she declared, her mind set clearly on the goal. It would be a hard road, but she'd make it.

“You're pretty courageous, you know? Not everyone would react like that after losing their parents. I know I didn't.”

“I don't want to be sad forever. I want to be happy!” Rydia continued, serious. “And to be happy I can't keep crying like a baby. … I'm sleepy though.”

Kain got up and stretched, his eyes locked on the small figure about a foot and a half away from him. “Then you'd best rest, young lady.”

She nodded and let her head fall to the pillow, looking once more at him before closing her eyes. “Maybe I'll dream of mommy. I wonder if she's happy... she's with daddy now.”

“She probably is,” Kain reassured, finally shedding his armor, putting the pieces under the bed.

“I'll make her proud.”

The blond man sighed as he looked at Rydia, who fell asleep fairly quickly. 'Cecil I -will- kill you. I'm getting attached to her now, and you're the one who left me alone with her. Get your ass back here so I can at least have a distraction...' He then let out a frustrated moan and sat on the edge of the bed again, taking the boots off, then his chain mail top.

~ ~ ~

Kain had been dozing on and off when he heard footsteps in the room. The dark knight came and stopped at the bed, eyeing the older man. “That's my bed.”

“Our bed,” he corrected, sitting on the edge of the bed and managing to pull Cecil's half-naked frame onto his. “I need to get paid in some way for what I did there, pretty boy.”

“... Are you serious?” Cecil asked, brows quirked in disbelief. His arms were wrapped around his lover's shoulders. “Kain, there's a child in the room... and what if more people come by? Especially Baron's army, if they catch us we're-”

For the second time, the silver-haired man was cut by lips locking with his own in a deep kiss. Kain's hands were moving from his chest to his hips, tugging on the heavy material covering them. Cecil found himself quietly wiggling out of the chain mail pants, which Kain tossed on the floor, landing in a loud rattling noise.

“Kain! Let's not wake her up if you wanna do this now...” Cecil scolded, raising a hand in the air as if he wanted to backhand the dragoon.

The blond chuckled as he gently pushed the youth away in order to remove his own pants, not forgetting the plain white underwear he wore. Once naked, he pulled the paler body close to his into a warm embrace as they fell on the bed with Cecil on top.

A good minute passed until Kain could utter a word; he had been mesmerized by how gorgeous the younger man looked, towering above him. His hands had been busy mapping the soft, pale flesh, and every now and then he emitted low, pleasured groans. He pulled Cecil closer, forcing the man to lie down over him, enjoying the embrace even more as they were both naked.

The blond man ignited another kiss, this time proving to be dominant. His large hands now roamed Cecil's back, running a finger down the other's spine, which got positive moans of satisfaction and comfort. Kain maintained their position for what felt a long time, his powerful arms preventing Cecil from breaking from his grasp as they continued to kiss.

Gently, Kain pushed him away just a bit, enough to catch a sight of his friend's feminine face. Wiggling three fingers of his left hand, he ordered in an aroused whisper. “Suck.” A grin formed on his lips as the silver-haired man took the fingers in his mouth; Kain had no problem imagining what wonders he could do to his raging hard-on. His blue-gray eyes followed carefully every single movements of the thin, soft lips surrounding his fingers as he coated them with saliva.

He had to admit, he was getting impatient. Once again he broke the tight embrace and removed the wet fingers from the dark knight's mouth, moving them to Cecil's lower back. “Tell me if I hurt you,” he demanded, suddenly becoming serious, although his voice still had a hint of arousal.

The younger man nodded in silent agreement.

“You're so fucking gorgeous...” Kain hissed as he stroke the tender flesh around Cecil's opening, making the man quiver under the intimate touch. He then pushed one finger inside, feeling the muscle contract around it. “I'm not hurting you, am I?”

Cecil shook his head, rolling his eyes at the same time. “I'm not made of glass, Kain. It's not hurting, it's just a tad uncomfortable.”

The older man nodded, and waited until he noticed the pale body stopped squirming to move the finger inside, slowly at first, then picking up the pace. When he felt it was safe to add the second, he quirked his eyebrows, nodded as a warning, and pushed in again. Cecil's mouth opened in a silent moan, his eyes widening in pleasure.

After scissoring, pulling in and out and carefully stretching, he finally added the third finger, once again resulting in a silent moan. By the end, the youth was impaling himself on the fingers, signaling he was ready.

Kain forced him back to his previous position – sitting on his thighs, knees folded – and waited until his friend nodded to grab a hold of his erection, and positioning himself right below the opening. With his right hand, he lowered Cecil on the member, making sure he wasn't going too fast. The other man had to adjust to the sensation... and the size.

If at first, the silver-haired man had seemed uncomfortable again, he quickly got used to the mass inside him. Kain slowly thrust from under, reading a mix of pain and pleasure on his lover's face.

The trip from Baron to Kaipo had definitively been worth it just to see Cecil in such a position.

Kain kept the pace slow, as it seemed to torture his friend just enough to add to his arousal. His fingers crawled on the youth's soft thighs, gradually going higher and higher, until he reached his chest. “You turn me on so much...” he murmured, his hands now holding the lighter frame in place as he kept thrusting. “You're so beautiful. You're feminine, curvy, it looks like you'll crumble if I touch you... but you won't.” He accentuated with a strong thrust upwards, hitting Cecil right in the spot; the silver-haired knight had to bite his lower lip to keep quiet.

“So you like it rough,” he added, determined to have the commander screaming by the end of the night. To tease him, he went back to slow motions, adding strength every now and then. He enjoyed seeing Cecil's lips parting and chest rising as he moaned quietly, the long silver hair bobbing up and down...

When he felt the younger man slowly impale himself, Kain added even more strength, grunting with each thrust. The feeling was far more than amazing; Cecil was so tight and felt so soft under his fingers...

Kain moved his left hand over Cecil's erected member, inviting the other man to grind on it as his body went up and down.

Still not fully satisfied with the louder moans he got, he started ramming in, making sure he was going as deep as possible. And once again, he seemed to have found the right spot as as Cecil's moans became much louder and more frequent.

In order to keep Cecil steady, Kain brought his knees up behind the man's back. He caught on fast and leaned on then, a short scream of sheer pleasure escaping from his lips as the blond's right hand found his balls.

And so it started. Now panting heavily, the dragoon gave everything he could and rammed even harder, his hands busy with Cecil's genitals.

This time, there was no way to escape it: the knight started screaming loudly, his back arched as he thrust as well, into Kain's hand and on his member. It was too much, and he eventually reached climax, releasing his seed over their stomachs. To prevent his friend from falling over him, his right hand was drawn over the other man's chest, as the left one still pumped at the erection.

Everything would have gone well if he hadn't turned his head to the right. He'd have climaxed as well, let Cecil fall all over him, and they would have lulled to sleep quietly.

However, Rydia was awake. The girl didn't look scared; instead, she was frowning. “You're hurting Cecil!” she accused, her eyes locked on the blond man. For a few, short seconds, she closed them, before unfolding her arm in Kain's direction.

A wave of agonizing pain jolted through his body and it was his turn to scream, spasms shaking his arms and legs.

Cecil jumped off his partner and could only watch in terror as Kain's body convulsed. He then flipped around to face the green-haired child, eyes widened. “Rydia! He wasn't hurting me!” was all that he could manage to say, still panting from the orgasm he had been given. The young girl eventually stopped the spell.

He sat up and dragged his attention towards Kain, who was recovering from the shock. He reached for the older man's shoulder, stroking it gently. “Are you okay?” he asked, terrified by the sudden attack.

“I'm fine,” Kain mumbled through clenched teeth, despite not being as fine as he let it sound. His whole body was still hurting badly, he knew his left leg was going to cramp up soon. And worse: he regretted not enforcing his decision to kill the girl. “Fucking brat. It's how babies are made!”

Rydia frowned. Didn't take a girl and a boy to make babies? But Cecil wasn't a girl, although he sure looked like one, and Kain was definitively not one. “But you're both guys... can't have babies...”

Annoyed, the blond man dropped his head on the pillow. “Well there's a reason why I don't want babies. The more I think about it, the more I know I'm suited for homosexuality... Cecil I'm glad you're a man. Trust me.” He groaned again, his leg muscles cramping as he expected. “Learn black magic and you're a dead man.”

Cecil chuckled sadly. Poor Kain had suffered through the spell because of him, and Rydia had seen them having sex. It was embarrassing; even more since he was still naked, exposing his soiled skin and crotch. He reached for the white sheets and draped it over his lower body, finally able to relax. “He wasn't hurting me at all. I was screaming because I felt really, really, really good. But you're too young to understand why. … Anyways you're not supposed to understand why...”

Kain, now lying on his back, was able to move his leg again. “Yeah. Good-bye forever, heterosexuality. As if I ever planned on ever getting a girlfriend. Guys are easier to deal with, and I have two living proofs as to why in this very room.”

“She's a child, Kain...” Cecil added, waving his hand dismissively. “We shouldn't even have bothered with this in the first place. We should have went outside or something...”

However, the dragoon still intended to get back at him for the babysitting job – he wasn't even given a chance to come.

A grin spread across his face as he leaned on his right side, bringing Cecil closer to him in what could have been seem as a normal lovers' embrace in bed. Being in contact with the pale and soft body was almost all he needed to become hard again, along with a few tugs at his member.

He didn't bother doing prepping the youth a second time and slowly inserted his erection in Cecil's opening without any warning.

“Kain... what are you doing?” the dark knight muttered, trying to keep it low.

Kain brought his head closer to Cecil's, his lips touching the man's ear. “Shhh. Don't move.” He drew a few delicate kisses on the neck below him and began thrusting again. It was tempting to ram and have him scream again, oh so tempting! But with the girl awake, he couldn't do it. The only thing left was to stir him up a bit.

The blond man kept grinning as he pushed in and out, pausing between two thrusts to bring the covers back over their whole bodies. Now Kain's hands were free to roam Cecil's skin without feeling too awkward, since Rydia kept watching them. He had his limits after all.

He wished he could see Cecil's flustered face and parted lips as he moaned quietly, not wanting the child to focus on what they were really doing. Then he heard the silver-haired man's bothered voice...

“Rydia... why don't you... try to... to sleep?”

She took a deep breath and sat up on the bed. “I'm not sleepy anymore.”

'Great. Stuck giving sexual education classes to a brat.'

“So why are you feeling so good?”

Kain couldn't see it either, but Cecil's mouth was wide-opened in disbelief. Baron's knight training never involved explaining the mechanics of male homosexual intercourse to children. And with Kain's hand now back on his cock, there was no way he would be able to give a decent explanation. Not that the child needed to know. “You'll see when you're older...” he finally muttered before biting his lower lip again. Kain had hit the right spot, and wasn't about to stop.

The high-pitched voice was heard again. “Can I do it too?”

“No!” Cecil's reply came out in a loud, clear moan. “It's... meant for adults.” His blue eyes kept watching the kid's frame as she shrugged, yet she kept her own eyes on them. It seemed Rydia was bored of this adult thing, yet was captivated by it, much like how Cecil didn't want Kain to stop even if they were being observed in the midst of intimacy.

And Kain would not give up. The thrusts were now powerful enough for the bed to shake, but the blond man didn't care anymore; all he wanted was to claim Cecil as his own. He came with quiet grunts, managing to bring the smaller man into a deep but short kiss before withdrawing from the body.

“Kaaaain...! Ugh!” Cecil whined, still hard. His hand traveled to his own erection and tugged at it feverishly. It took a good minute before Kain decided to help his friend out, and a few more before he climaxed for a second time, staining the sheets once more.

Rydia noticed the men growing calmer, and laid back on her bed.

“I consider myself paid for the babysitting,” Kain stated, a smirk spread across his face as he propped himself on his right arm, in order to kiss a very tired Cecil.

“Babysitting?” The green-haired girl spoke up, squirming to get comfortable again. “I don't need babysitters.”

Kain's smirk grew wider. “Well I still did the job, and since Mister Dark Knight doesn't have money, he paid me back in nature. It's better than gold anyways.”

Cecil rolled his eyes at Kain's comment. “We definitively should get some sleep now, if we want to leave early tomorrow morning.” His strained voice echoed through the room as he wished Rydia a good night, then he turned around to face his best friend to whisper. “She had no need to see this...”

“I did,” Kain replied, his left hand running in Cecil's messy, half-dry silver hair. “You enjoyed it too, I know it.”

The dark knight reluctantly nodded. He would have preferred if this encounter had taken place somewhere else than in front of a child, but he couldn't deny he never had wished for Kain to be his first. “Can we just sleep now...?” he asked, closing the few inches separating their bodies.

“Sure. We still have to run away from Baron's army now, so as you said, better off to leave early tomorrow morning.”

Kain had to push Cecil back again for a second to stretch his tired arms and prop the pillow to the head of the bed, then rested his back on it, bringing the other man in a tight embrace.

~ ~ ~

Cecil Harvey was unrecognizable with his armor on; he looked nothing like the effeminate, pale youth he did fifteen minutes ago. Only his face could be seen; the only reminder there was a human being under the heavy metal pieces.

Rydia wasn't scared anymore. Over the night, she had come to think of them as big brothers who could protect her. Even if she claimed she didn't need anyone, having a strong masculine presence made her feel better about the long trip ahead.

The trio made sure to thank the innkeeper, who had let them spend the night free of charge. The older man seemed happy to see Rydia back on her feet, and gave the two soldiers directions to get to Damcyan. It wouldn't be easy, but they knew they had to get there as soon as possible.

Right before leaving, Cecil turned around and fiddled in his backpack to pick up a few coins, posing them on the counter with a shy smile. “For whoever's taking care of sheets and beds,” he specified, then hurried after Kain and Rydia.

“By the way we're running low on potions... let's go to the apothecary first.”

They took no time to locate the shop, and the odd trio entered the tiny house. Almost no light came in through the small windows, but even Rydia wasn't afraid. She looked around at the different potions, powders and charms on the shelves, keeping her hands to herself not to upset the shopkeeper.

Kain, on the other hand, grabbed everything he could find and held the bottles up to figure out what was in them. Cecil made a smarter move, and walked to the apothecary, asking for potions and phoenix downs.

“This will be four thousand gil, sir.”

Cecil fumbled in his backpack once again, taking some time to find the pouch containing the gold coins. The man behind the counter didn't seem to be in a hurry, and casually watched as the Baronian commander groaned in frustration.

Rydia, who was observing the two men at the counter, walked to them and spoke up. “Kain said Cecil doesn't have money. Maybe he can pay you in nature, like he did with Kain?”

Cecil tensed up and blushed. “...” For a brief moment, he wanted to punch the dragoon for saying such a thing earlier. He spoke through clenched teeth as he finally got a hold of the pouch, under the shopkeeper's puzzled, suspicious glare. “Kain, take her outside, please?”

“Sure. Come with me Rydia.” Kain took the girl by the hand and left the shop, muffled laughter coming from their direction.

Uncomfortable, Cecil handed to the shopkeeper the required money, avoiding visual contact with the man. “Thank you,” he uttered, scurrying outside.

~ The End ~