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Duke had been in a fair share of fights throughout his life, so, while in no way pleasant, taking a beating from AJ, Crater and Junior wasn't unbearable. AJ was the only one who could throw a punch properly, anyway, so, really, it wasn't even a big deal. He could do this all day long, he'd lived through much worse back when he was a snotty-nosed kid looking for trouble.
He felt a fist strike him right in the middle of his nose. It didn't feel broken, but still, he'd prefer it if they kept their filthy hands off his mug.
"Oh, come on, not the face!" he yelled out, seconds before receiving a hit to the cheek, right below his eye. He knew it was going to bruise. Damn it, he thought. Should've kept his mouth shut.
The leaders kept punching and kicking for two, maybe three minutes more, before one of them spoke up.
"All right, that's enough," someone said, but Duke couldn't exactly tell who. The others, unsurprisingly, didn't stop, and Duke wouldn't expect anything else from some pathetic, common gang leaders. "I said, enough!" the voice commanded again, and this time, they did as they were told.
Duke opened his eyes to see Rayon towering over him, with the other three leaders surrounding him in a semicircle. Of course it was Rayon. Who else would ever take pity on him?
"Scram. I'll take it from here," he said. AJ and Crater didn't have to be told twice, but Junior seemed like he wanted to argue. A simple, displeased look from Rayon convinced him to change his mind, however. Duke smirked. Rayon had that effect on people.
"Oh? Coming to my rescue? How thoughtful." the Duke sneered. Rayon squatted right next to him, gave him a disapproving look and slapped him across the face. Duke groaned.
"You've really pissed me off this time, you know that?" Rayon asked.
"I sure did, didn't I?" Duke replied, way too proud of himself. What could he do? It wasn't his fault that he liked attention, didn't matter if negative or positive. Rayon shook his head and sat next to him, offering a handkerchief.
"You okay? Seemed like they were taking it out on you pretty hard"
Duke averted his eyes.
"Why are you still here, Rayon?" he asked, and was met with a surprisingly long stretch of silence.
"You may find it hard to believe, but I don't actually want you to die. Well, most of the time."
"Could've fooled me" Duke replied. Rayon stared at him, his expression unreadable. The Duke wondered what the other man was thinking about at that moment. He could never tell, Rayon was always so... distant. Kept to himself, mostly. Truly a strange guy.
"I'll leave, if that's what you want," he offered and began getting up, but Duke, almost involuntarily, reached for his wrist in an attempt to keep him in place.
"No, no, it's fine. Stay." he pleaded. It didn't feel right; the Duke never pleads. Yet here he was.
Rayon smirked.
"All right. Whatever you want, your majesty," Duke grimaced at the nickname, which just made Rayon grin ever wider. He enjoyed watching him suffer, Duke was sure.
"You've lost your right to call me that a long time ago, Ray" he snapped. Rayon's expression hardened instantly.
"How have you not changed at all, D?"
"I don't know what you're talking about" Duke lied. Rayon sighed. He always did that when he had enough of Duke's crap. It was like a ritual.
"Are you really that jealous of Chilton? He's just a kid, and besides, he's actually doing some good for this city. Why do you have to give him such a hard time?" he asked. The Duke pursed his lips. He didn't have an answer to that question, not yet anyway.
"Don't know. Guess I just don't like when all eyes aren't on me" he shrugged. He knew that, at that moment, he had at least Rayon's eyes on him and him only. He liked that.
"Guess so. You should try to get over that some day, it's not healthy" Rayon sighed as he began to get up. In a brief panic, Duke tried to do the same, but his injuries wouldn't let him, and he fell back down, painfully.
"Wait!" he cried out. Rayon turned back to look at him, expectant, but Duke couldn't utter out anything that made the slightest bit of sense. So, he settled on a joke instead. "Would you at least kiss it better?" he asked, pointing at the bruise already forming under his eye.
Rayon rolled his eyes, and the Duke was sure he'd just walk off, but instead, he leaned down. For a moment, they just stared at each other, Duke bewildered and expectant, Rayon calculating and serious.
And then, to Duke's surprise, he felt a faint brush of the other man's lips against his skin, right at the corner of his own mouth.
Before he could even process what happened, Rayon was already walking off.
"See ya," he said, then after a few more steps, added: "Wouldn't wanna be ya!" with a laugh.