After the credits rolled, they left the theater in relative silence. Vesper looked over at Imite, "What do you want to do, now?"

"Can we go home?" Imite asked quietly, "It's getting late..."

Vesper stared up at the darkening sky and nodded, "Alright. Want to fly? It's still a nice clear, cool night."

Imite followed his gaze and nodded meekly. Vesper grinned, but instead of just taking off as he usually did, he held out his arm. Imite looked at him curiously.

"Well, come on. I want you to be able to keep up this time," The mantis teased, and Imite stuck out the tip of his tongue at him as he slipped his thin arms around Vesper's much stronger limb.

He'd barely gotten a good grasp on the arm before Vesper leapt into the air, his wings buzzing to life. Imite yelped and beat his wings furiously to keep up, and soon they were soaring over the city. Vesper grinned back at the moth hanging onto his arm, and laughed into the wind, turning around and slipping his arm out of Imite's grasp, holding his hands instead. "We've been sitting around all night. Let's at least make the trip home fun, eh?"

Imite's hands were locked with Vesper's, a vice-lock grip inspired by fear. His hair whipped in his face, and he dared a look downwards - they'd ascended rapidly, the lights of the city twinkling far below. He looked over at Vesper with a horrified expression, but the mantis just grinned reassuringly.

"Nice view from up here, huh?" Vesper laughed, and pulled Imite into a loop-de-loop. The moth gasped and closed his eyes as tightly as he could, squeezing his friend's hands painfully.

Vesper led Imite on a series of terrifying whirls, wheeling through the starry sky. Exhilaration finally overcame the moth's fear, and he started laughing along with Vesper, letting himself be twirled around in a strange, wild dance through the sky.

"H-hey, I think I see the orphanage!" Imite spied their neighborhood out of the corner of his eye, and the two paused, panting to catch their breath. Vesper glanced down at the street. The mantis flashed him a sharp-toothed grin, and he suddenly went into a dive, taking Imite with him.

Imite's eyes widened, and he nearly shrieked at the sharp drop, while Vesper laughed, their hair flying in their faces and the wind whistling over them.

The concrete sidewalk rose up to greet them quickly, and Imite closed his eyes tightly, latching onto Vesper's side and burying his face into the blue shirt, certain death was coming.

Vesper flared his wings and slowed to a still in the air, looking down at the clinging, shaking moth. He frowned guiltily, remembering his friend wasn't nearly so comfortable in the air as he was, and he gently hugged the limp moth to reassure him, pulling him close and holding him up, since the moth was no longer flying under his own power, just hanging on to Vesper.

"It's alright, little one. I'm not going to let you go, see?" He murmured, leaning down to nuzzle the frazzled, feathery antennae and hair, running one of his hands through the latter to smooth it back down.

Imite blinked and looked up from where he'd stuffed his face against the mantis's chest, his heart threatening to pound right out of his ribcage. His breathing and heart rate slowly returned to normal, and he looked up at Vesper with a scowl, "Y-you!"

Vesper grinned innocently, and Imite punched his upper arm weakly, but didn't seem too eager to move his cheek from where he'd nestled it into Vesper's shirt. Vesper slowly lowered the two of them down to the lone tree planted in the backyard of the orphanage, sitting himself and his precious bundle in its boughs.

"We're home," Vesper announced gently, nodding towards the orphanage. Imite nodded, but made no mood to move from where he was seated - practically on the mantis's lap. He was too busy relishing the warmth and softness of his friend's embrace to care.

Vesper stared down at him as they got comfortable on the branch, and Imite's antennae perked slightly. He could detect a faint rumbling from beneath the fabric. The moth closed his eyes. He couldn't explain why, but tonight he felt much closer to Vesper than usual. Never had he ended up in the mantis's arms so many times, in public, nonetheless. And now, here they were, alone in a tree during the dawn of night.

Imite felt the mantis's claws roam to his neck and start kneading it slowly. His back arched involuntarily, and a content 'mmm' sound escaped his lips, edged with a groan. He felt something else slip against his neck, and opened his eyes a sliver to see what it was.

The tip of Vesper's antennae had slid into the soft fuzz of his neck, caressing the skin beneath. Its touch sent a shiver down Imite's spine, and he swallowed, reaching up to clutch the tip of the antennae with his hand and nuzzle his cheek into it.

"You don't need that stuff, you know."

Vesper's quiet voice roused Imite out of his trance, and, slightly flustered, he lifted his cheek away from the antennae, but didn't let go. "W... what stuff?"

"Perfume," He replied softly, reaching up and running a thumb over Imite's cheek, and examining the slight powder that came off on it, "Makeup, either. Your natural self is... wonderful. No need to cover it up."

Imite's eyes widened with horror, cheeks flushing with humiliation. The nausea that had haunted him all night struck him full force, threatening to evict the salad and candy from his stomach. His flight instincts kicked in, and he started to squirm, "I-I, I didn't, it was, ohgod, was just a little bit, and I... I'm such a freak..."

But instead of the reaction Imite expected, Vesper pulled the panicking moth to his chest firmly, capturing him in an embrace and bringing him up to eye level, holding the moth's small chin and forcing him to look him in the eyes.

Imite stared at him, tears threatening, nearly hyperventilating as his heart rammed against his rib cage repeatedly. Vesper's face was only a few inches away, and those sapphire eyes practically glowed in the dark, boring into him even though their gaze was gentle and concerned. There was something else in them, too, something Imite couldn't quite identify. Somehow, that gaze managed to reach into his body, to still his furious heart and steal his breath, striking him silent.

"You are not a freak, mariposa... You.. I..." Vesper's eyelids drooped. The image of the moth's delicate face right there in front of him, Imite's thin, shivering body in his arms, was too much. Some other part of him took control, a part that'd been threatening to overwhelm him the entire night he'd spent with his friend.

He closed his eyes completely and leaned his head forward, and before he knew it, he was tasting Imite's lipstick.

The moth's eyes widened to their maximum as the mantis's lips pressed against his. His heart really did stop this time, his entire body freezing and going rigid. He managed to let out a squeak.

The sound cut through Vesper's haze, and his own eyes snapped open when he realized what he was doing, abruptly pulling back and sitting up, all but dropping the moth. It was his turn to gasp for breath and turn red with horror and embarrassment, quickly letting Imite go and scooting away from him on the branch. He was babbling apologetically in Spanish, and looked even more terrified than Imite had when his use of makeup and perfume had been found out.

Imite closed his eyes and fought to regain his breath again, putting a hand to his chest, trying to calm his now fluttering heart. He swallowed, pulling his bangs out of his face to glance up at the mantis in confusion. However, Vesper had his back to him, and was getting ready to leap out of the tree.

"Vesper... A.. Adriano, w-.. wait.." Imite took a deep breath, reaching out and grasping Vesper's pants leg.

Vesper looked down at the moth, who was clutching the cuff of his jeans with a shaking hand. Imite had never called him by his real name before, "I-Imite, I, I can't, I have, I've defiled you, I gave in, I've done wrong, I've let my attraction to you take control -"

Both small hands clutched his cuff now, and the moth whimpered, staring up at him with pleading eyes, "Don't leave me.. Please.. Please don't, don't run away from.. from my first kiss."

Unsteady and slow, Vesper sat down stiffly, looking shamed. Imite smiled with relief, but resisted the urge to cling to the mantis. They couldn't quite bring themselves to look each other in the eye, though, so they stared at their feet, a platonic amount of space between them.

"You're..." The moth finally managed to speak, his shy voice scarcely above a whisper, "You're attracted to me?" He asked meekly, glancing out of the corner of his eye at Vesper's side, before quickly returning his gaze to the ground.

Vesper sighed and sagged, hunching over and closing his eyes, his face flushing at what he was about to say. "Imite, I can not be around you lately without fighting off tightness in my pants. I got that when I first saw you, too. You were beautiful. I could not believe you were male, and that was the only thing that kept me from asking you out right on the spot." Vesper's antennae drooped - he'd already kissed him. He might as well confess everything.

"There is lust, yes.. Times I want to hold you, kiss you up and down, pin you to the wall, the floor, the bed, anything, to take off your clothes so I may see naked beauty I saw that one night again.. That night.. The night I realized you had not once, not for one moment, stopped being as beautiful to me as you were when I first saw you, male or not."

He could not look at the moth, so he didn't see the red creeping over his friend's face - nor the slightly lurid look that glazed those violet eyes as the painfully honest confessions tumbled out of Vesper's mouth, tantalizing the part of Imite's mind that had only dreamed, in the moth's most secret, most denied dreams, of hearing such things from the mantis.

"Yes, there are times I want to taste you, inside and out, to mate you and take you, to sleep with you, on you, in you.. I just wonder what it would be like, but I've never fantasized of any other male, but lately, no females, either.. Only you, my mariposa. I.. am ashamed in saying so. At first I felt disgust with myself for thinking of another male like that, but now, I feel it for degrading my little one in such a way in my head - I should not even be talking of you as though you were a thing of mine - I am no better than Slat.."

Imite was rendered silent, looking up to stare at Vesper as he confessed. The mantis looked pained, angry at himself, his hands balled into fists and white-knuckled. But he also looked frightened, as well.

"I am.. I'm scared. I have not felt like this before. I have had lust many times - certainly there were times I found girls attractive and wanted to do to them some of the things I want to do to you in my fantasy - but.. there is more, too, and I never even knew there could be more. I think you are beautiful, but it's more than your body - it is the way you move, the way you talk, the way you act, the way you are smart and naive at the same time, the way you smile and laugh, the way you cry, and the way you seem just as scared and confused as I do, but still think me strong enough to seek comfort in my arms..."

The moth edged closer to Vesper's side, who remained unaware, his eyes closed tightly. Imite swore he could even see tears threatening at the corners of the screwed-shut eyes.

"It is the fact you seem so different, so unlike any other male, or female, I have ever met, and the way we are so close, the way we got so close without realizing, as though it were completely natural... The way you remain so innocent in such a dark life when so many others would become bitter and sick. I think you are beautiful... your body, your mind, and soul. I cannot imagine how one like me I managed to get so close to one like you, because I am honestly humbled in your presence.. Sometimes I feel sick at life, that it is so unfair that an angel like you would be trapped in such an unworthy place, a place where someone like me would be.

"I am sorry, mariposa.. I wish I could right whatever wrong put you here with me, and I wish I was good enough to at least treat you well, and not defile you with my lust.." At this, he did start crying, covering his face with his talons and trying to restrain the choking sensation that welled up in this throat.

"Vesper..."

Imite moved to the mantis's side, snuggling against it and reaching up with his free hand to caress the sobbing face. "Vesper.. Please don't cry."

Vesper looked down at Imite, his vision distorted by tears. The moth nuzzled his head into Vesper's shoulder, looking up at him with concern. With another strangled choke, the mantis turned, lowering himself and grasping to Imite's shoulders like a child, tears staining the black material of Imite's clothes as he cried. Imite blinked down at him, but simply moved his arms to hug him, and cradle his head close, nuzzling the hair as he gently removed the elastic band binding it. He closed his eyes and ran his fingers through the mantis's faintly curling mane.

"If you're no better then Slat, then why..." Imite murmured into the hair, near the base of Vesper's antennae. He swallowed and inhaled slowly, voice wavering, "...why.. why do I love you so much?"

Vesper's blue eyes stared up at him, looking astonished beyond the sheen of tears. Imite smiled shyly at him, brushing Vesper's bangs out of his face, as the mantis had done with the moth's own forelock so many times.

"You're not the only one with fantasies, either.." Imite glanced away, but had to smile a bit, "I.. didn't really allow myself much, no, but.. I slipped, from time to time. Especially in the lonely morning hours, when I was half awake. I've had dreams, too.."

Vesper continued to stare at him in disbelief, "But.. you were raised so proper. You were shown what sex was, a horrible, disgusting thing.. I grew up, and saw male after male ruin and break my mother further, even more than the drugs did. I can even tell you that myself, mariposa, in the past, it always left me feeling sick, used, and guilty. It feels good, yes, but that makes it worse. And that was with normal girls. With you, the very thought of it is like rape, heresy, a horrible crime.."

"Vesper.. I know that's what I use to think it was. I was too scared to even imagine the details, which is why I got flustered so easily by pictures, movies, public displays of affection. It was some terrible, unknown thing, and knowing it would make me terrible, too. By now, most twelve year olds probably know more about it than I do." Imite shook his head.

"But.. when I saw that scene in the movie, Vesper, I realized what they were doing wasn't any sort of crime.. It wasn't anything disgusting. It seemed more than just carnal and sinful, it was.. Love. Beautiful." He sighed.

"Maybe I'm just a romantic, but I've always had this idea of love I probably got from movies. I never really saw it for real.. I know my mother may have loved my father like that, but he was too scared of emotions to return it. And you would think I would give up on the idea after I was disowned.. And I did, on a conscious level. But in my subconscious, I longed for it. You can't know how many silly things I've done, like discreetly check a sappy romance novel out with a bunch of research books at the library..."

They lingered in silence for a while, Vesper slowly sitting up somewhat and rubbing his eyes with his sleeve. He kept his other arm around Imite, though.

"There are so many things I want to say to you, mariposa, but I feel foolish - my English feels too poor to say them well, but I'm not so certain I could even say them that well in Spanish, or any other language."

Imite smiled at Vesper evenly, his eyelids lowering. "Vesper.. I don't think my English is good enough to say the things I want to say to you. I don't think anyone's English is good enough. But.." A tentative finger stroked the length of the forelock dangling in front of Vesper's face, violet eyes wandering to sapphire ones and locking with them, "We don't have to use words.."

Vesper blinked at the moth who sat beside him in the tree. His head tilted to the side, his sapphire eyes finally clear of tears. They, too, closed slightly, then closed entirely as the mantis leaned forward again, closing the space between them gradually.

This kiss started off just as light as the last, uncertain, even though the aggressive lips were experienced ones, emotion made them as feeble as they had been the very first time they'd ever touched another set of lips. And for Imite, that was this time for him, truly - he closed his eyes and accepted it, his hands and breathing wavering, but he held on to the mantis. The kiss unleashed a tide of emotion, breaking a dam Imite had blocked a multitude of feelings and thoughts with - as it flooded his mind, he slowly relaxed, a quiet, muffled sound of contentment rising up from his throat.

He willed himself to allow this experience, to accept it, to embrace it as much as his arms embraced his friend, and now, more than friend - the wave of emotion crashed down over the walls and barriers the years had formed, demolishing them one by one and leaving only love in its wake.

Vesper's own fear and uncertainty were washed away by the same sea, and he settled into the kiss. Though he could say he'd kissed and been kissed countless times before, he made sure this one was different - not the lustful face-sucking it often was, but a commingling of lips, of feelings and souls. For as he was embracing the kiss, on another level, he was embracing the love he felt for this little moth, despite Imite's gender, despite his own.

At the end of the kiss, Imite had ended up leaning back against the trunk of the tree, with Vesper lounging out along the branch and holding Imite too him tightly, the moth's arms wrapped around his neck, the two nearly in a horizontal position. Vesper was rumbling a purr so deep and rich, rolling with his breath, that Imite practically felt it in the pit of his stomach.

He set his head on Vesper's shoulder, leaning it against his neck and smiling, his breathing elevated. Never before had he felt so content, so needed and wanted. He ran his fingers through Vesper's long mane and over his back, kneading it through the denim of the mantis's shirt.

Vesper was mumbling against Imite's neck and kissing it softly. The moth blushed faintly, smiling languidly - he couldn't understand what he was saying - heck, he wasn't even sure the mantis was speaking English, but the tone in the murmuring and the sensation of Vesper's lips against his throat were enough to make his cheeks warm.

I guess you were right, Dad... I did end up with a boy, Imite thought to himself, closing his eyes and nestling his head into Vesper's hair, But I don't care anymore.

Aloud, he gathered his courage and whispered, "I love you, Vesper..."

Vesper lifted his head to rest his chin upon the moth's crown, holding him close. "I love you, too, my little mariposa."

Imite smiled widely and squeezed Vesper, then tilted his head curiously, "You know, you never told me what that meant."

"Mariposa?"

"Yeah."

"I thought that was obvious, little one," Vesper smiled back at him, reaching down and gently lifting the pendant that rested on Imite's collar bone, the one he'd given him for Christmas. Imite still looked up at him expectantly, and the mantis chuckled.

"Butterfly."