A week had passed. A tormenting, lonely and way too long week. Ivory hadn't seen Sin at all during that time span. He hadn't even caught a glimpse of Chandler, Sin's little demon companion who probably could have been able to tell where Sin is. The obliviousness was perturbing Ivory's mind. Was Sin alright? What if something had happened to him? It was a justified thing to fear about since Sin was living a dangerous life as a mercenary. Worry and longing hand in hand, together they caused Ivory to feel stressed. In fact, he had become so anxious that he hadn't been able to sleep well. That, of course, caused him to feel even worse. Why did being separated from the one you love had to hurt so much?

Ivory had spent some evenings in strolling a bit around the town, hoping to find his beloved one. In the previous page of his life, when upset and in need for love, he would have sought a company of someone and had sex with them, male or female, it didn't matter. But now, things were different. He had decided that Sin was his only one from now on. He belonged only to him. His heart, soul and body… everything. Those meaningless relationships were only a memory and Ivory didn't miss them.

Like some former nights, Ivory was once again walking on the dim streets. He had been checking out some bars, hoping that he would find Sin from one of them. Sin had mentioned once that he used to visit bars when he was trying to find some female company for the night. He had slept with many women, but never with men. Not before Ivory. He was Sin's first male and also first serious relationship and frankly speaking, Ivory was proud of that, in some strange way.

Ivory had visited two places already but had not seen any trace of Sin. But third time's a charm. And this time, Ivory finally got his reward for pursuing his significant other so determinedly.

He stepped inside the building. It was rather shadowy inside and Ivory could smell the alcohol and the smoke from a cigarette. Because the bar was poorly illuminated, Ivory didn't spot Sin right away. It also didn't help that Sin wasn't wearing his usual clothes. But when Ivory recognized him, his heart got overflowed with joy. Finally… finally he had found him. And Sin was okay. He was sitting right beside the counter, his back to the door and appeared to have currently a casual conversation with some woman. No flirting, just having a talk. Then, Ivory called out his name. Sin turned around instantly after hearing this familiar voice, and their eyes met. Ivory could have sworn that there was something soft in Sin's gaze as an opposite to his common cold stare. At that moment, he was sure that Sin was happy to see him, just like he was happy to see Sin.

Sin excused himself to the woman, got up and walked to in front of Ivory. Ivory couldn't help himself – he just had to capture Sin in a tight hug. He knew that Sin didn't like to show tenderness in public places, but Ivory thought that he deserved this little endearment. Sin didn't hug back, but that didn't matter. Ivory just was so happy that he could be close to him once again.

After a moment Sin started to squirm in discomfort and Ivory did let him go.

“Where have you been?” Ivory asked.

“I've been busy”, Sin replied. “Job after job, Chandler hasn't let me rest. This is the first night I can relax a little.”

“I was worried about you”, Ivory said. “And I have missed you.”

“There's no need for you to worry about me.”

Ivory didn't really agree with that, but the strange softness in Sin's eyes caused him to be silent about it. The main thing was that he was safe and sound.

“Anyway… Would you like to spend the night with me?” Ivory inquired, smiling lovingly.

“Gladly”, Sin answered.

And so, together they left the bar. Street lamps illuminating their way, they walked in silence through the town. Ivory didn't live far from that certain bar where they had just had their reunion – it took about twenty minutes to arrive at his place. After Ivory unlocked the door, the two men stepped inside his home.

It wasn't Sin's first time visiting Ivory's residence and definitely wouldn't be last. But still, he found it to be a bit odd place. It was like a private art gallery. No matter where you would go in that house, paintings were keeping an eye on you. Ebony, the previous owner of the house, was very skillful and professional artist and had painted most of the artworks you would find under that roof. She was also the creator of Ivory. The last painting she did was of Ivory and when she committed suicide, her life energy somehow got sucked into the artwork of him, resulting in him coming to life. A bit strange story, but in the end, the power of souls can do miracles. Also, Ivory did inherit Ebony's skill in making art, so some of the paintings in the house were made by him. Nobody really knew it, but Sin was in fact an appreciator of good art. Whenever he was visiting Ivory's home, he would admire the paintings – but of course, he would hide this fact.

Almost as soon as the men had entered the house, Ivory grabbed Sin's hand and said: “Let's go to the balcony.”

Sin didn't really have time to respond when the other man was already dragging him to the direction of stairs. Why Ivory wanted to go to the balcony at this time of the day, Sin had no idea. It would have been understandable if it was a moment before sunset or something, but well, Sin decided to shut up about it and tag along.

They climbed the stairs and arrived to a corridor. Because of the nighttime, it was dominated with darkness. Some windows were trying desperately to shed some light into the corridor, but in vain. There were also glass doors that were equally failing to bring any light to the house. And that was exactly were the two men were heading to.

Ivory opened the doors, causing the chilly night air hit the men in the face. It was a round balcony with a white, thick railing. It had some beautiful carvings on it: it was a piece of art and did fit perfectly to the house of paintings. It was quite empty, though, the only furniture being a simple, white bench. A perfect place to chill. That was where Ivory dragged Sin and they both sat down.

“It's a beautiful night, isn't it?” Ivory stated and gazed at the sky to admire the stars.

“I suppose”, Sin muttered silently. He wasn't very romantic person, but Ivory didn't mind that. It was kind of cute in its own way.

For a little while, they just sat in silence while watching the night sky. Ivory trembled a little bit from the cold, and Sin noticed this. He carefully inched towards Ivory, wrapped his arm around the smaller man and caught him in an embrace. Ivory leaned on his body, letting out a happy sigh. In that moment, everything was fine in their world. They had each other and nothing could separate them. Ivory was happy that Sin, that grumpy and cold man, had become fond of him... And only him. Sin still had trouble showing affection, but Ivory was sure that one day, Sin would feel comfortable enough around him to show how much he cared about Ivory.

“I love you”, Ivory almost whispered.

Sin didn't answer. Not with words. However, his hold of Ivory became tighter. It was the only response that Ivory needed.

Together they spend a good while cuddling on the bench, under the stars.

And it was a perfect tender moment.