FicWad

Title: Unexpected Places
Author: MakaiKitty
Rating: PG-13/R
Category: Original Fantasy, "Unexpected Places" storyline
Pairing: Garrett/Kinder, slight Aviann/Lisbet
Warnings: Slash, M/M, angst, H/C, daemons, language, implied (past) violence/child abuse, implied (past) Non-con
Distribution: My website, My LJ and any LJs I choose to post at, AFF.net, FicWad, and DeviantArt. All of my accounts are under the user name MakaiKitty. If you'd like to use it just let me know.
Disclaimer: The characters, daemon realms, and situations in this story are all original and belong solely to MakaiKitty. Please don't steal, borrow, take, or otherwise use anything from my fics.
Updates: Just join my YahooGroup to be informed of any updates to this or any of my other fics - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/makaikittyfics
Word Count: 18,979 words
Status: Complete

Unexpected Places

It had been nine days and still the rains did not let up. It was driving Garrett insane. What was more, something was bothering the would-be-king to no end. And not just the fact that he was wasting valuable time stuck in a cave instead of being out hunting the verzacht.

"I know that you've said that you don't want to talk about how you got here," he'd tried to breach the subject before, but with little to no luck, "but shouldn't someone have come looking for you, even with this unnatural weather? I mean, /surely/, someone must be missing you by now?"

"No one is missing me." Kinder answered dispassionately, hoping that his curt answer would end the conversation before it had begun. Not that it had worked with Garrett on the other occasions that the warrior had tried to wheedle information out of him. The man was maddeningly persistent in all things, as he had learned over the past week, but the navy haired daemon tried to dissuade him all the less.

"The other night you certainly seemed to think that someone might have been looking for you." They had been asleep beside the dying fire, the two of them sharing Garrett's lone bedroll, the two men huddled close together to mingle their body heat in the hopes of staving off the bitting wind that accompanied the storm outside. Garrett had been drifting between sleep and wakefulness, his mind running in circles but at the same time oddly soothed by Kinder's smaller form nestled at his side, the other's steady heartbeat slowly lulling him back into dreams. Then a sound at the mouth of the cave had caused both daemons to stir, and when a shadow had crossed the mouth of the cave Kinder had uttered a strangled "They've come." before they had both realized that it was nothing more than a mountain havela out on his nightly hunt. Garrett had relaxed back onto the bedroll almost instantly, laughing easily at his own unease, but Kinder had been unable to settle back down for the rest of the night. "Not that you seemed too happy about it."

"You wouldn't be either." Kinder grumbled under his breath.

"You must have a family." Garrett pressed, intent on finding out something about the mysterious daemon who shared his unconventional prison. And, if he were to be true with himself, it was more than just a mild curiosity or a desire to pass the time. He had come to care for the other man over the past few days and he wanted very much to know why he had found him in the state that he had and why the mere mention of someone hoping to find him seemed to put fear into Kinder's dark eyes. "Someone? Anyone? I mean, I lost my parents when I was young, but at least I have my sister Lisbet. And Aviann is more a brother to me than any man bound by blood could be."

"That must have been hard on you, to lose your parents and be left to care for a young child all by yourself." It didn't answer his question, but at least Kinder was talking. The last time he had just sat staring at the fire while Garrett asked questions, never once acknowledging them with so much as a mumble or a shrug, until Garrett had given up and suggested that they play a game that they had invented to pass the time involving the small pebbles that littered the ground of the cave.

"Sure, it was hard losing them, but raising Lisbet wasn't really all that hard." He shrugged his shoulders and made the seriousness of the situation seem like it was no big deal. "Our village is small and very close knit, so our neighbors and the village elders helped me to raise her. Hell, they'd helped even when my parents were still alive. It's just our way."

"Must be nice."

"I take it your village isn't the same?"

"My people are... not so kind." There was an old pain in Kinder's eyes when he finally looked up into Garrett's face. "Not to their neighbors nor their children."

Garrett seemed about to say something, but upon seeing the utter lack of comprehension in the depths of the man's pale green gaze Kinder shook his head and pressed on. "I see that you, a man willing to give his very life to his people, could never understand." The smile on his lips held no humor, his tone bitter and regretful. "Our worlds are so different."

"But that's not your world anymore, is it?" Garrett guessed. He hated the pain, regret, and sadness that was radiating off of his companion, but Kinder was right, he couldn't comprehend the type of life of which the other man spoke. "You're not like that."

"I'm not allowed to be of that world any longer."

"Not allowed?"

"I was banished."

Golden brows shot up at this. Banishment was serious among all of the daemons of the realms, reserved for only the most serious of offenses. Looking at the frail gray daemon across from him, a man who in the past weeks had been nothing but kind, if a little timid, he could not imagine him doing something worthy of banishment.

Kinder heaved a sigh, knowing that his words had only given Garrett more questions. "My people are very," he seemed to search for a word that would adequately describe his people, but his tone when he finally spoke said that there were many more, less pleasant, words that he wished to attribute to them, "/superstitious/. The elders rule by watching the stars for signs."

"My elders watch the stars as well." Garrett assured him.

"But do they allow the celestial movements to overrule their better judgement and common sense?" When Garrett didn't say anything Kinder had his answer. "I thought not. I have seen members of my clan executed all because someone saw a message in their morning tea leaves saying that the Gods wished it."

"And you?" Garrett was almost afraid to ask.

"I was unfortunate enough to be born under an unlucky star." In Garrett's village every birth was considered a blessing, so Kinder's words made no sense to him. He had a strong suspicion that even after the other daemon had told his tale that he still would not. "I was a few weeks early, I should have been born just in time for the Marvorian Moon and the celebrations that go along with it's coming, so imagine my mother's disappointment when she went into labor while the malheureux tenez still rode high in the skies. The hunt was bad that year, the winter especially cold, and the clan blamed my parents and a few others for allowing their children to be born under a bad omen. They never let me forget that disgrace either." Kinder was lost in memories for a long moment after that, his eyes having a far away look that pained Garrett to see, and he had a strong urge to approach the other daemon and put his arms around the smaller frame. When Kinder at last began to speak again it was in such a dispassionate voice that it left Garrett all the more distressed. "They kept me around for a few years, venting their anger on me and using me to tend the house and the animals, but I guess that I wasn't useful enough because after a while they got tired of the other villagers blaming me for their ill luck and they had the elders banish me. I was eleven. I've been on my own ever since."

"They banished an eleven year old child to the wilderness?"

"And now you know why I say that no family of mine will come looking for me. Ever."

As was so often the case Garrett was at a loss. He was a man of action, not of words. He could not imagine what sort of a life Kinder had led, either before his banishment nor since, and what was more he did not know what he could say to ease the pain that such a life must surely have caused.

The silence stretched on between them for what seemed like an eternity, neither man uttering a sound, until Garrett couldn't take it any longer. He opened his mouth, about to say something, not caring if the first thing out of his mouth was wrong or not, when he noticed Kinder wrapping his arms tightly about himself. Garrett knew that he wasn't cold, the fire was still raging in front of them, but he suspected that the other was protecting himself from a chill that had little to do with the dampness of the cave.

Deciding that it had worked for him so far in his life, Garrett stood up and moved over to Kinder, sitting down beside him and putting his arms around the other daemon despite the sudden flinch that he felt from the gray skinned man. He held on tightly until Kinder ceased to struggle and relaxed into the embrace, smiling to himself as he realized how short lived and half-hearted the fight had been, delighting when Kinder eventually placed his head on Garrett's shoulder with a contented nuzzle to his neck.

"I'm sorry." It hardly seemed adequate, but when he felt a slender arm wrap around his waist, pulling him closer, Garrett thought that it might just be enough for the time being.

They sat that way for a while, the silence much more comfortable than it had been before, Garrett's hand rising to idly stroke at the satiny strands of Kinder's long navy hair. The other daemon didn't seem to mind, and Garrett found that he liked the sensation very much, so he allowed his hand to become bolder as he sifted his fingers through Kinder's hair, occasionally stilling to rub soothingly at his scalp or the base of his willowy neck. Garrett imagined that he could almost hear Kinder purring, and the thought brought another smile to his lips. It felt oddly right to have the other man in his embrace.

Then things changed.

Even as he did it a voice in Garrett's head told him to stop, but his hands seemed to grow bored with just touching Kinder's hair, and soon he found his fingers curled around the other man's chin, gently tipping his head up so that he could look into his dark eyes. As though in a dream, the entire world moving slower than it should, Garrett brought his face closer to Kinder's. He could see the other's lips parting in a surprised sigh, his eyes gone wide, but he seemed too shocked to actually move.

Garrett could feel the other daemon's breath ghosting across his lips, feather light and infinitely enticing, and he was imagining how sweet he would taste just a moment before he suddenly found himself sprawled on the ground with a quivering Kinder standing above him.

"No." He heard the other man whisper, his voice trembling and his eyes too wide and moist. "I won't... I can't... Not to you."

"Kinder, I-"

"No." Kinder jumped back as if burned when Garrett reached for him, and before Garrett could stop him the smaller man had turned in a flurry of navy and disappeared out into the raging squall outside.

Garrett pounded his fist into the ground, cursing his own stupidity at having frightened the already skittish Kinder, growling as he heaved himself to his feet and ran out after the other man. "Dammit!"

TBC ...