#dieran

Anyway, there’s a lot more going on with Kieran. But for the relevant background: one night he shows up at the Tibetan hamon temple, in deep need, while being hunted. Inexplicably (to some), Tonpetty lies on Kieran’s behalf and dismisses his pursuers for the time being.

Kieran swears fealty to Tonpetty—he’s the first person to believe in him in a long time, so vows to become a monk. However, up before this point Kieran has been a vagrant living in pure hedonism. He’s got some holes in his memory and not a lot of the right life experiences. So, he’s pretty bad at the whole monk thing.

But, Tonpetty keeps him around. To everyone’s chagrin.

No one at the temple likes him at first, and he doesn’t make it easy. He’s nosy, immature, antagonistic, provocative. He follows his whims, pursues what interests him for as long as it interests him. When the others start to see something more in him, though, Dire’s heart only hardens.

Dire takes care of the group. There is a vampire in their midst, and only he seems to think there’s anything wrong with that picture! Even Will has come to appreciate the harmless vampire, even considering his background! Kieran takes advantage and loves to push

One day, he goes a bit too far. Dire pulls him aside to knock some sense into him. Kieran hits back, and it turns into a brawl with none of the regulations they’d see sparring in a more legitimate sense. Elbows, teeth, hair pulling, anger.

And once they tire themselves out, something feels… better. It’s catharsis. Kieran only has so much patience for being a predator house pet, and Dire’s been at his wit’s end because of the vampire, and getting that violent energy out on each other proves productive.

So, it happens again. And again. And it’s to a point where there needs not even be a conflict between them first, it’s just an understanding, they head out, work things out violently, and that’s that.

There’s a great kind of intimacy in a shared secret, in constant physical interaction. Kieran’s been into Dire the whole time. Dire falls for Kieran, to his bafflement. They’re kind of addicted to each other.

They might settle into something kinder and sweeter with each other. But it’ll take them a bit.