He paced the length of his little room in agitation.  Sean’s infuriating face haunted him, with his bothersome, intense eyes and smug mouth, his full, perfectly formed lips always curved into a smirk.

Donovan stopped, and feeling nauseous, rewound that thought.  He carved another indention into his wall with his claw, but the image of Sean’s long, shimmering hair and delicately sculpted muscles would not leave him.

He carved a slash over his first mark, making an X, but it only served to remind him of Sean’s scar.

“Fuck,” he muttered, and stalked out.

Leliel, hearing Donovan’s heavy boots, called out to him, “Where are you going?”

“None of your business, woman,” he growled back.

“Oh, Donovan, don’t be that way.”

“I just need to maim something,” he said, thinking “If you don’t watch out, it’ll be you.”

“That’s all?  Have fun then!”

Donovan smiled inwardly. “I will.”

At Claris’s house, Sean was in a similar state, unable to think of anything but Donovan and his chocolate brown hair, always so expertly trimmed but just mussed enough to fall seductively over his honey gold eyes.

“What the hell am I thinking?” Sean said to himself, prompting Claris, who was sitting next to him, to ask, “I dunno, what are you thinking?”

Unnerved, he grumbled, “Nothing, you wouldn’t understand.”

Claris pouted, “Fine!” and flounced off.

Cadmiel and Tialiel ambled by, holding hands.

“Something wrong?” Cadmiel asked airily.  The two stopped in front of the kitchen table where Sean sat.

“Nothing,” Sean said, observing in mute horror as Cadmiel’s hand slip up Tialiel’s spine, causing the other man to giggle and squirm.

“Oh, Jesus,” Sean said, “I need air.”

He decided to do Claris a favor, not that she deserved it, and get the mail.

But as he reached into the mailbox, he felt a hand crush his shoulder.  A hand with jointed claws attached.

“Donovan!” Sean tried to turn, but Donovan’s fingers dug deeply into the bone.

“Son of a bitch,” Sean kicked backwards, hitting Donovan’s shin, causing his grip to loosen just enough for Sean to escape.

“I’ll kill you,” Donovan leapt onto Sean, straddling him and pinning him to the gravel.  He pressed his claws to Sean’s throat.

“How dare you sneak up on me!” Sean cried, squirming. “Get off.”

“Only when you’re dead,” Donovan sneered, his claws drawing blood from Sean’s throat.

He smiled at Sean’s sharp intake of breath, even as he observed Sean’s smooth, bronzed neck.  He stroked the cuts he’d made with his thumb, then licked the blood off his fingers.

Sean’s eyes widened in disgust, both at the sight and at the realization that it aroused him in a special place.

“Y-you bastard…” he muttered.

“You know, Sean,” Donovan said, still stroking Sean’s silky throat with his thumb, “You’re really in no position to call me names.”

He leaned in close, his lips moments from Sean’s.

“I’d say I could do whatever I wanted.”

Sean bared his teeth, writhing furiously, his skin flushing from the head of Donovan’s breath.

“Keep doing that…” Donovan murmured.

He crushed his lips against Sean’s.

He was a little surprised when he tasted Sean’s tongue, sliding past his teeth, and felt Sean’s hands grip his dark hair.

They pulled apart, gasping.

“That was unexpected,” Donovan said breathlessly.

“Shut up,” Sean grunted, pulling Donovan’s head down to meet his lips again.

They were still rolling around on the grass when Lucius found them.

“Wow!” he dried. “Are you guys okay?”

He eyed Donovan’s jacket, now carelessly thrown on Claris’s driveway, on top of Sean’s pants.

“Go away, Lucius,” Donovan panted, as Sean fumbled with the zipper of Donovan’s cargos.

“But I thought you guys hated each other?”

“We’re expressing our aggression in a positive way,” Sean said, between groans.

“Okee dokee,” Lucius wandered towards the house.  He rang the doorbell, and was answered by Metatron.

“You!” Lucius hissed, fire igniting at his fingertips.

What have I ever done to you?

“Silence, foul villain!”

Metatron held up his hands.  Can’t we talk this out?

“No!” Lucius hurled the flames at Metatron. “You don’t have any vocal chords!”

Metatron extinguished the fire easily.  Please don’t hate me…

Lucius felt Metatron’s sadness and sincerity, resonating in his synapses.

“I…” he mumbled, “I don’t hate you.”

Metatron turned away.  He sighed.  Do you really think I’m a freak?

“Yes,” Lucius said.  He moved closer, wrapping his arms around Metatron’s slim waist.  “But it’s not your fault.”

He played with Metatron’s thin ponytail.  “Also, your hair is pretty.”

Metatron held Lucius gently. I’m glad you think so.

He cupped the smaller boy’s chin in his hands. Let’s go somewhere…quiet.

Lucius purred, “Okay!” and followed Metatron to Claris’s room.

In the kitchen, Tialiel and Cadmiel didn’t hear Claris’s door shut because they were busy taking each other’s clothes off.  In the pool, Necavi and Alistair were skinny dipping, furiously.  But this didn't really strike Claris as unusual.

However, she was a bit disconcerted by the first pair.

“What are you guys doing?!” Claris shouted at them.

“I’m tired of showing my affection with meaningful talks, sweet glances, and thoughtful gestures,” Cadmiel said. “I want something more substantial than the knowledge that we’ll always be here for one another.”

“We need to show our deep, everlasting love by having hot sex on your kitchen table,” Tialiel agreed.

“Um…” Claris muttered. “as long as you clean up afterwards, I guess.”

She closed one eye as Cadmiel’s hands worked Tialiel’s bare chest, and covered her ears to drown out Tialiel’s moan.

Deciding she would just read quietly in her room until things calmed down, she opened her door to find Lucius and Metatron snuggled together in a position she never wanted to think about again.

“Oh my God!” she shrieked, slamming the door shut.

She heard Lucius sigh, “She just doesn’t understand our sudden, unfounded attraction.”

Head aching, Claris went back downstairs, making a mental note to burn her sheets later.

When she saw Sean and Donovan on her front lawn, she turned around and started walking down the street. “Time for a walk.”

Ten minutes after she rounded the corner, Shateiel landed on her driveway.  He boggled at Sean and Donovan, unsettled by their growls and low, guttural noises, until Anael found him.

Anael slid his arms around Shateiel’s neck.

“Hey baby,” Anael said.  “You and I have hardly exchanged two words, but that doesn’t mean we have no unresolved sexual tension, right?”

Shateiel looked deep into Anael’s eyes, eyes he had scarcely noticed in time past.

Then he shrugged.
“Yeah, probably.”

As they fell in step with the two men already on the ground, Claris continued walking far, far away.

But soon she got the feeling that she was being watched, and she paused on the side of the road, frowning up at the tall trees beside her.  Suddenly, Leliel’s darkly clad body jumped down from the branches.

“Hey,” Leliel gave her a ruby red smile. “Looks like the boys are busy.”

“Y-yep,” Claris stammered, fixated on Leliel’s skintight bodysuit.

“I don’t think we should let them have all the fun,” Leliel said softly, holding Claris’s face by the cheeks. “Do you?”

Claris licked her lips.  “No.”