"Hey, mister." The voice startled him, coming out of thin air the way it did. Treize had just stopped and looked both ways to be sure that no one was near the ATM at the drivethru. It must have been easier for him to miss the boy than it should have been. Maybe he'd been paying too much attention to thinking about dinner, or the Sunday Monk-a-thon.
He didn't know *how* he'd missed him, though. Black jeans, yeah, a ragged grey Smallville t-shirt that was half-covered by a denim jacket, but...
But.
He wasn't a boy Treize Khushrenada, electronics genius, would just... miss.
"Hey, mister," the boy said again, moving closer to the SUV. "You deaf?"
No, not deaf, but temporarily mute, stunned by pretty black eyes and tangled onyx hair and a tongue that darted out to moisten lips that seemed rich and bloody in the strange light.
"No," Treize finally managed, raising his brows. God, he was seeing double. There were two of them looking at him, all sweet lust and youth, denim and cotton and faint smiles.
"My brother and I, we're lost," the first one said, the doppelganger dropping his head shyly to hide his face. Treize could feel his skin shiver suddenly, a wild, heady reaction that was horrifyingly like fear. "We're supposed to meet our mom at the Kroger over on eighth street." That was all the way across town. "We need a ride, because we don't know how to get there walking, but nobody's come by..."
So young. So hopeful. How could he tell them no? They were such pretty, helpless looking boys.
"Sure," Treize answered hoarsely, captivated by the extrovert's deep gaze. "Sure. Get in the car."
"Thanks, mister!" They were both *beaming* at him, grinning like little demons. It made Treize feel momentarily tempted to lock the doors and drive off in a rush. He might even have done it if the little extrovert hadn't rushed in front of the car heading for the passenger side as his quiet brother slid in behind Treize.
Maybe... it was a sting operation. Maybe they were both cops trying to entrap him. Maybe they were just happy kids, or...
He caught himself hoping they were naughty nymphos. There was no question they were gorgeous boys, no question that the dark, creamy shade of their skin and jewel-like eyes were attractive. Treize smiled unsurely at them as he repeated, "The Kroger on eighth? How'd you two boys end up way out here...?"
"We were visiting a friend," the talkative one answered, gently buckling his seatbelt. "I hope she's still there. Maybe she got mad and left us. D'you think?"
Treize could see the boy in the back seat shrug his shoulders helplessly, looking at him with giant, hopeful gaze.
Hopeful. What were they hopeful of?
"Well, we'll go find out," Treize offered to them smoothly as he revved up the engine once and then pulled out.
"Thanks, mister," he heard again. "It's real nice of you to pick us up and all. Dangerous place, the world these days."
Yeah, it was. And what kind of idiot was he to pick up two kids that were essentially hitchhikers? There were *two* of them, they outnumbered him... The hair at the nape of his neck had no right to crawl so much in the presence of such beauty, but it did. He hadn't shivered so much since the last time someone had pressed an icecube to the back of his neck. "You two shouldn't be out so late, in a place you're not familiar with."
"We didn't have much choice. His mom came home, and she doesn't like us. She thinks we're foreign or something, and that it makes us dirty 'cause we're not like her," the one beside him explained. "I'm Ian, by the way."
"And your brother's name?" Treize asked. He heard the note of sympathy that slipped into his voice as he glanced up at the boy in the back through the rearview mirror.
"Oh, he's William," Ian replied. "He doesn't talk much. That's why he has me, you see. So that we can make sure the other one's not ever. Um. Left out, I guess you could say."
Mental images crowded into his mind. Left out kindled such thoughts, thoughts that were much more alluring than circuitry designs and the constant mental diagrams he did. "That's good. My name is Treize," he told them as he turned left onto the main road. The Kroger wasn't so far.
"Then we're not strangers anymore, so it's good you picked us up." Ian gave him a sharp little smile, those carmine lips parting for perfectly white teeth to gleam at Treize. Will was also smiling from behind Treize's seat.
Beautiful smiling boys. It was a better than expected way to wrap up the end of his week, wasn't it? Better than dinner and TV, leather seats and exquisite young men. "Good for us all, I suppose. Do you live far from here?"
"Oh, yeah. We live out in Jonaville. It's a pretty far drive." Ian's pretty mouth turned into a moue of distaste. "We don't get to come into town often."
"That is a far drive -- I don't think your mother would've left without you," Treize commented upbeatedly. Maybe the mother thing was a hoax. A ploy to get him to take them home for wild sex.
"She might, if she's mad enough. She doesn't like to wait, and she knows we'll get home." Will was nodding in Treize's rear view mirror. "We always have before, anyway."
"You two hitchhike regularly? You shouldn't. One of these days, you'll get a serial killer," Treize scowled a little as he signaled over two lanes and got into the right turning lane. So, he'd almost hit a smaller compact car; he was allowed to be so intently distracted.
"We're martial artists," William whispered sweetly from the back seat.
"And there are two of us," Ian reminded him. "I don't think they're anything to worry about, really."
He looked sideways at them both for a moment, a flick of gaze to his right, and then to the rear view window. Treize had just hit the ATM -- wouldn't it be a perfect opportunity to mug him? But they were so... sensual. Pursed pretty lips and sleek black hair. "What kind of martial arts?"
"Oh, it's not a kind you'd know. It's traditional to our family, and we're from a very small area of China. If an area like that could be called small. I don't see Mom's car, Will..."
"Uh-uh," the quiet boy in the back agreed.
"What kind is it?" Treize squinted a little, peering out across the mostly vacant parking lot. Though if they didn't see it, it probably wasn't there.
"She's got an old LTD station wagon. You know the kind, right? Pre-SUV and all that. Old. But it runs good, most of the time. Thanks for the ride," Ian told him. "I guess we'll find a way to hitch from here..."
"Wait, hold on." Treize leaned to put a hand on the boy's shoulder, clutching at him. "Don't get out. Just give me directions and I'll drive you out there."
"It's okay. You don't have to do that. I mean, it's really far and everything, and we don't drive yet, so it's hard for us to find it after dark and all. We'll find some place to sleep and hitch in the morning..."
"Come back to my place for the night," he offered, still holding onto the boy's arm through the fabric of denim jacket. "I don't want anything to happen to either of you. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you got out of my SUV and got yourselves hurt."
"Well, I don't know..." Ian began. A little sound from his brother seemed to encourage that he take Treize's offer, and he paused. "If you've got extra room, I guess it can't hurt..."
"The sofa folds out to a bed, if you'll help me move the coffee table." Treize glanced up to the rear view mirror, and smiled at the quieter boy as he guided his car out of the parking lot.
"Sure. We can do that," Ian agreed happily. "We like being invited to stay with people. Especially nice people. Right, Will?"
"Uh-huh."
"You'll have to forgive me if the place is a little cluttered. I wasn't expecting to have company," he smiled slight at them. It had taken long enough, but he was finally starting to relax. Maybe they were just quirky, not dangerous. "How old are you two?"
"Sixteen," Ian said quickly, though not quite fast enough to cover Will's soft answer of fifteen.
"Well," Ian excused, "we'll be sixteen soon."
Just a little suspicious, but Treize decided he could... gloss over it a little. Which didn't make him the most moral of men, but he'd never aspired to that. "Just a couple of weeks?"
"We were born in November. All Saint's Day." Ian nodded firmly. "Mom says that we're lucky it wasn't on Hallow's Eve."
"She thought it'd be an ill omen?" While they talked, Treize drove calmly, cruising the familiar roads. "That's a bit superstitious."
"But we're identical, and born with a caul. Well, both of us, really. She swears we nearly killed her, came out at the same time, all wrapped up in one another."
He laughed a little at that. "Well, I'm sure that happens sometimes."
"Maybe," Ian murmured, and the fascination of those black eyes struck Treize again. Were there even any pupils? He couldn't tell in this light, and sometimes it seemed that he couldn't see any white at all. "But maybe not."
It was getting hard to keep his eyes on the road most of the time, or even some of the time. He couldn't see the gleam of the quieter boy's eyes, but he didn't have to see them. Treize could feel them on the back of his head, peering through him.
"Maybe not," Treize agreed with a nervous smile.
"It doesn't happen often, anyway," Ian said with a nod. "So we're different. We're *special*. We're not like everybody else."
"I suppose being twins would make a difference, yes," Treize agreed as he turned into the complex. "I can't imagine what it's like."
"Complicated," Ian answered with a smile. "You live in a nice place. It looks clean. Well-kept."
"It is. There's a community committee that makes sure that people get their lawns mowed and keep the junk cars in their garage. It's a quiet place," Treize smiled. "Very suburban. I used to live in the city."
"We live in the sticks. We don't even live *in* Jonaville," Ian confessed. "We live out past even there. But it's kind of there. Six miles out, maybe ten. I'm no good with distance."
"So by country standards you live in the city? On a farm, or...?" If he were going to have them staying in his house, he could at least know a little about them. "You can call your mother when we get to my place. I'd prefer if you did, in fact."
"No phone," Will explained from the back seat, a shy, quiet whisper.
"By country standards, we live in a shotgun house," Ian admitted, eyes skittering to the window. "No phone, either. Sorry. She won't worry."
It wasn't often that a simple helpful offer made Treize feel like a cad. He didn't just have a landline phone, but a pda and a cell... So, he was far from under-privileged at the moment; lived in a comfortable house, surrounded by the gadgetry that had made him his money. "Oh -- all right," he murmured as he turned down his street.
"Sometimes she leaves us just because she wants a night alone," Ian explained.
Will's whisper in the back seat was sweet and tentative. "We take good care of ourselves."
"I'm sure you do," Treize smiled in the rearview mirror at the quieter boy. "But it's dangerous, even if the both of you *do* know how to protect yourselves."
"We're really grateful, you letting us stay with you," Ian rushed to tell him. "It's lots better than park benches, or roaming in grocery stores all hours of the night. Hey, you maybe have some soup, too?"
Treize pulled his SUV through one last turn, and then headed into his driveway. "Soup? Oh, I can probably do better than soup. I haven't eaten, either -- so what would you like for dinner?"
"Grill cheese?" Will suggested shyly. It seemed to be okay to talk to him now, for some reason.
"Um. And we like creamy soups," Ian nodded.
"You don't like tomato?" Grilled cheese and tomato was almost like ham and eggs in Treize's mind. He parked as he asked that, just an idle question to make conversation with the two nearly perfect strangers.
Ian grinned at him, a wide, white smile as he reached for the door handle. "Sure. Creamy tomato. But plain tomato's okay, too. Come on, Will. Time to eat."
Time to eat. It nagged at Treize a little, but all sorts of things had been nagging at him about the two boys. They seemed too good to be true, too sweet and sexy, perfectly brash in their youthfulness. He popped open his door and stepped out, waiting for them to get out and close the doors before he locked the SUV.
"We're pretty hungry," Ian excused blithely as he and his twin came to stand beside the older man. "Sorry. It's been a while. Mom brought us to town and we've been here for*ever*. Our friend's mom didn't want to feed us. I think she looks at us like we're stray pets, you know? If you feed them, they'll come back."
Treize smiled at them, both Ian and Will, then locked the car's doors. "I'm horrified to hear that, but don't worry. A good meal will probably help you both."
"Mmmm." Will sounded shy, but desperately hungry, too. Treize couldn't imagine how he said so much while saying so very little. "And tea?" So hopeful.
"I'm sure he's got something, William. We can drink water if that's all. It's okay."
"I think I might have some tea," Treize offered as he headed for the front door, mindful that they were following him. He could just hope that they were two nice young men who were down on their luck and not planning on robbing him. Hope, hope, hope... "Coffee, too, if either of you boys drink it."
"Great!" Ian declared happily as they followed along behind him like little lost ducks. "You're really nice. Thanks *so* much."
It was sweet. Endearing. Treize smiled a little as he unlocked his house. "You're welcome -- it's really nothing. Here, let me get the light..."
"WOW," Ian whispered as he turned on the foyer light. "Your house is *nice*."
"Nice," Will echoed sweetly, darting glances around from beneath black lashes.
The room beyond the door was just his living room; a newspaper on the sofa, plain leather and upholstered furniture, a dinged up coffee table because he sometimes put his feet up on it.
"Thanks," Treize smiled as he stepped aside to let them in.
"Wow, just sleeping on your *floor* would be nice." Both sets of deep, dark eyes roamed curiously over the furnishings and pictures, Will pausing to touch a glossy black table on which Treize usually dropped his keys. Treize waited to drop his keys until the boy had moved on, and just kept smiling at them.
"You don't have to -- you can sleep on my sofa. We'll move the coffee table after dinner. Feel free to make yourselves at home."
"Great!" Ian seemed entirely too pleased with himself, and Will hurried after him. Both boys seemed bound and determined to snuggle themselves in so that Treize couldn't throw them out, taking up a tiny amount of space at one end of the couch, all curled into one another.
It was dangerously sexy.
And maybe they were just... making themselves at home, like Treize had suggested. "You two can sprawl, you know," he promised them with a smile as he ducked into the kitchen.
He could hear them talking together softly as he pulled out cans of soup and inspected the rest of his kitchen. Their words were indistinct, uncertain, but their voices were low and quiet and sweet.
So he didn't bother straining to hear them. Treize moved about the inside of his kitchen with easy familiarity, got a pan to heat the soup in, and another to grill sandwiches on. It'd been too long since he'd made a meal for more than himself.
By the time he was done, their soft voices had settled down into whispers. He smiled to himself, thinking of what they might be discussing as he began to set the table. Bowls, paper plates, spoons. That was the most they'd need, right?
Oh, and glasses.
"Do you boys want juice or tea?" he called to them, careful to stay in the kitchen so they wouldn't startle. If they were going to stay the night, they might as well stay relaxed.
"Tea!" Ian called happily. He could hear them disentangling and coming towards him, and he knew it wasn't just the light when he saw bright black eyes and kiss-swollen lips.
Not with the way that Will was sucking on his fingers, it wasn't.
He *had* lucked out, and it hadn't just been his overactive, hopeful imagination. They were... like two beautiful creatures out of a porn movie. Treize smiled smoothly at them, but he could feel a flush creeping up his body from his groin as he turned away. "I'll put the kettle on -- why don't you both sit down?"
"We could," Ian agreed. "But we could also..." He glanced up from beneath jet lashes, a smirk crossing his face. "Are you sure you're even really hungry now?"
His identical brother seemed to agree. "Mmmmm."
"I..." Treize gave then a smooth, innocent smile as he looked at them -- just to be sure. He didn't want to get himself in trouble, after all. "I'm sorry, but I'm not getting what you're saying."
"How big is your bed?" Ian invited almost sweetly, almost as if he was accustomed to making such invitations. It was a little strange.
But they were so sweet looking. Maybe that had been the purpose of their whole endeavor -- easy sex. Not that Treize was going to...
Yes he was. He smiled back at the sweet invitation. "Oh, big enough."
"We were hoping it might be," Will whispered, looking so much like his more demonstrative brother in that moment that every bit of extra blood flooded its way to Treize's dick.
"Want to show us?"
Treize's moral side wanted to press and make sure they were all on the same page. But wouldn't they figure that out once they got to his bedroom? "Sure. Should I take the soup off?"
"For later," Ian agreed huskily, reaching out and taking Treize's hand easily. "We'll have the soup later. Now, though... Show us."
He grasped at Ian's hand, hardly able to stop smiling as he led him towards his comfortably appointed bedroom. "I think you'll find that there's more than enough space for you and your brother..."
"Good." Will was behind them, catching up. He'd probably turned off the soup, considering Treize's distraction. "We're something of a set, I guess you could say. You don't get one without the other."
"I don't think that's a *bad* thing," Treize told Ian smoothly, pausing for Will to catch up as he turned down the hall that led to his bedroom. "It's good that you're so... close."
"You like it. That we're so *close*," Ian purred, plastering himself to Treize's side. Will was slower to move, but by the time Treize had pushed open the bedroom door, he was carefully sandwiched between the two very pretty Oriental boys.
"I like the two of you being as close as we all are now," Treize agreed softly. It was hard to decide who to kiss first...
Will seemed willing to take that choice away from him, something of a surprise since he didn't seem as if he'd be the more demonstrative of the two. Sometimes people surprised you in the bedroom, though, and it seemed like he was one of those.
They struck him both as such sweet boys -- sweet and hot, and he had seen Will sucking earlier -- sweet lips wrapped around a finger would look so much better wrapped around something else. Treize pulled him closer, deepening the kiss slowly, a swipe of tongue over Will's bottom lip to encourage him for more.
"You're really nice. We really like you," Ian encouraged. His hands were stroking firmly down Treize's back, a temptation of a different sort than Will's sucking mouth and sharp little teeth nipping at Treize's jaw. "So strong."
Treize groaned into Will's mouth, holding him a little tighter before his hands started to roam the boy's upper body, looking for the edge of his shirt. "I can show you how strong..."
"We like them strong." Said together, and if it hadn't been so incredibly fucking hot, it would have been eerie. A sharp nip of teeth sent a violent shiver down Treize's spine even as Ian trilled laughter from behind him.
It was just like a jinx. That was why Ian was laughing... Treize nudged Will towards the bed, hands pulling up at his t-shirt's edge. "You're both so gorgeous, like something out of a painting..."
"You could pretend we are," Will offered. "If it would make you feel better." Warm skin, so soft and sweet. It made Treize shiver.
"Feel better?" He hesitated even as he bent down to kiss at Will's sweet narrow neck. "You're already making me feel *perfect*."
"Perrrrfect..." Ian rumbled, and then Treize felt them.
Teeth.
Nails.
Trying to get at his *ribs*.
It was erotic, at first -- at first. He groaned a little, kissing at Will, sweet Will's neck, before nipping and scratching became *pain* and panic.
Became blood.
Became *crunching*.
Became *worse*.
"We do like you terribly, you know," Will sighed, biting into his throat with a ferocity that belied his act of diffidence.
Treize barely gurgled a scream in response.
And then he was silent.
~~~~~
Faint footsteps nudged the twins from sleep, dark eyes opening slowly in the moonlight. Even the sound of that tread was guilt waiting to happen, and they knew it.
"What," the blond man in the doorway sighed, "have I told the two of you about this?"
"To not do it anymore?" Will asked hesitantly, even as he sat up a little, and then licked at sticky-dry fingers.
"To leave some for you," Ian decided, crunching satedly upon the left navicular with a peculiar enjoyment. "But it doesn't taste as good once you have your part."
"And you *have* to take it first," Will agreed softly as he looked at the approaching man. "If it helps, he tasted good."
With a faint sigh, Zachary shook his head. "You gluttons. You've only left rags. I suspect that you'll be wanting to take a thigh bone home with you, Iantine."
"Mmmrph," the other twin agreed, sucking the faint glimmers of wrist bone into his mouth. "Mhm." He probably wouldn't need to eat for months after the way he'd dined on those ribs.
"There's soup on the stove," Will offered earnestly as he crawled over top of his brother and towards the other wraith.
"Don't worry about me, William. I met the loveliest young man tonight, all hair and big eyes. I've brought him home for you, though I suspect that you aren't hungry in the least, little gluttons." Zachary gave a brilliant white smile. The boy would hold, and they both knew it. He'd only sucked out the fellow's soul, after all. "We can feed him the soup."
That eased Will, who just smiled back at Zachary. "How long will we stay here? It's a *nice* house..."
"And he does have such lovely bones," Ian murmured, patting his belly. It was sweetly rounded, full to bursting.
"I think this is a much nicer location that the one in Jonaville," Zachary decided. "More food. People are less likely to take notice of it. We'll stay for a while, perhaps."
"Good." Will stretched out on the bed width-wise, and reached playfully for Zachary's legs. "It's a big bed -- join us?"
"After I fetch your breakfast," Zachary promised him, and turned away, pausing in the door for a moment. "And Iantine?"
"Hm?"
"Make sure you shake the sheets. I hate sleeping on the shards. It's worse than Will's sticky pools."