Author's Note: Sometimes we write things. Sometimes things write us. What can I say, I've always loved this pairing! Knight Shade's name has been officially written with and without the space - I used the space here, since I prefer how that looks. Quick warning just to be safe - there's a scene early on in this that could be read as very mild dubcon - just enough to warn for. (I'm not sure it's even that much, but better safe than sorry!) Title is taken from the Pet Shop Boys song "Rent". Enjoy!

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And Look at the Two of Us (In Sympathy and Sometimes Ecstasy)
by Carrehz

He shut the door quietly, taking care not to wake his master. Zeb walked down the empty corridor, his footsteps the only sound audible apart from Erebus' snores, muffled by the door and growing more distant with each step. He hadn't seen the others all day - not that it bothered him. The Roadies were off causing trouble somewhere, he assumed, and Knight Shade was probably holed up in one of the innumerable rooms in the mansion they had appropriated, crying about something-or-other. It didn't really matter to him. In fact, he welcomed the quiet, enjoying having the place essentially to himself, at least for a few minutes. No snivelling pony whining to him about his stupid moral conflicts, no screaming groupies trying to get closer to their so-called 'idol'... right now, the only people around were him and Erebus, and he was currently sleeping in the other room.

He rounded the corner, his shoes clicking softly against the checkered floor tiles as he crossed the large entranceway, finally reaching the front door and walking outside. Zeb had no idea who the previous occupants of the mansion had been, nor how long it had been sitting empty prior to him and Erebus discovering it and moving in; he didn't really concern himself with things like that. All he knew was that it had been empty, and it had been there, and it was comfortable and perfectly suited to his master's needs, which meant it suited him, too. It had been a while since he'd spent more than a few hours there, but Knight Shade's last concert had been unusually successful, drawing in the biggest crowds he and Zeb had seen in months and enabling him to steal a wide variety of shadows, enough so that they could take a few days off from touring - days that Zeb, at least, had spent almost entirely in Erebus' company.

Zeb couldn't lie to himself; he wasn't looking forward to leaving tomorrow. He knew that he should really go and search for the others at some point, get everything packed up in preparation to hit the road the next day, but right now, all he wanted to do was to have a smoke and think about something, anything else. He reached inside his jacket for his cigar case and matches, lighting a cigar and tossing the match onto the growing pile on the windowsill behind him, before leaning against the wall and taking a drag. It wasn't that he didn't like touring, exactly. Well, he could do without having to babysit Knight Shade, but if it meant he could continue supplying Erebus with all the shadows he desired, he'd gladly put up with the pony; it was a small price to pay, really.

He just wished it didn't mean having to be away from Erebus so often.

It was worth it, of course. He collected so many more shadows travelling around Ponyland than if they remained in one spot. Erebus didn't care to travel himself - not that Zeb could blame him - so he had enlisted Zeb to do all the work in his stead, and he'd do it - he'd do just about anything to please Erebus. He leaned against the wall, taking another puff of his cigar, letting his mind wander back to how it had all begun, back to that first night, a few weeks after they'd first started working together...

"How did we do, Zeb?" The wizard loomed over him, a large hand resting on the back of his chair.
He'd laughed and gestured to the generously-sized stack of coins sitting on the table in front of him. "See for yourself!"
"Hm, yes, very good, very good indeed." He leaned in closer, uncomfortably close to Zeb now. "And the shadows? How many of those did you get?"
Zeb blinked, taken aback at the sudden close contact. "Ah- oh, a good few," he replied haltingly. "The satchel's right here under the desk-"
"Very good," the wizard had repeated, his other hand suddenly appearing on Zeb's shoulder. "You've done some fine work today, Zeb."
"Er- thank you, Master." His eyes flickered briefly to the hand on his shoulder, before he tilted his head up to look the wizard in the eyes, confused at where he was going with this.
"Fine work deserves a reward, don't you think?"
"What are you-"
Before he could finish the sentence, before he could process what was happening, Erebus had dipped his head suddenly, his grip on Zeb's shoulder tightening as he kissed him forcefully, knocking his glasses up against his forehead. Zeb felt like his entire body - his entire being - was being engulfed by the wizard as he leaned further over him - it was a bizarre feeling, being smothered by not-quite-solid clouds and smoke - heavy and weightless all at once. He let go of Zeb for a second and pulled back, quickly moving to the side of the chair. Zeb barely managed to gasp out "Master-" before Erebus had rushed forward again, the kisses becoming deeper, more insistent, both hands now clamped onto Zeb's shoulders in a death grip, effectively preventing him from resisting. Not that it had really crossed his mind - he was too shocked to think about much of anything. It felt as though fireworks were going off behind his eyes. By the time he had fully processed what was happening, Erebus had already finished with him, his grip relaxing as he straightened up.
Slowly, Zeb reached up and adjusted his glasses. "M-Master, what..." He trailed off, unsure of what to say.
Erebus had simply smirked. "Goodnight, Zeb." With that, he turned and floated out of the room.
For a few seconds, Zeb had sat there, still stunned, his mind racing as he considered what had just happened. Then he'd scrambled to his feet and rushed after the wizard, catching up to him easily and grabbing him by the wrist. (Erebus had asked him, once, how it was that he could hold things with his hooves. Zeb had pointed out that a cloud man had no place asking such things.)
Erebus stopped, turned slightly, looking down at him. "Yes~?" His tone was playfully questioning, his expression saying he already knew the answer. Zeb grinned.
"Come now, you're not leaving it at that, are you?"
Another smirk. "Fetch me the satchel and we'll see."

They had always been together, after that. They'd never really discussed their relationship - they were too busy discussing things of actual importance, like money and shadows, and how to acquire more of them. At first Zeb had been simply sneaking around pickpocketing people and taking their shadows, which had worked for a while, until one of his marks had caught on and overpowered him. Zeb had dragged himself back to the trailer he and Erebus shared, bruised and bleeding, and promptly collapsed in his master's arms.

"Zeb? Zeb, speak to me this instant! What happened?" Erebus shook him a little; Zeb coughed.
"Picked... wrong guy... mistake.." He winced as a trickle of blood ran from his eyebrow into his right eye. No glasses to act as a shield - they had been smashed during the fight. He was pretty sure his other eye was swelling up - it certainly hurt like hell. Then again, most of him did.
"Did you at least get his shadow?" Zeb coughed again and held one hoof to his right eye, trying to stem the bleeding, before squinting at Erebus irritably. He was aware that Erebus' panicky tone of voice was more out of concern for himself than Zeb, but he didn't have to be so obvious about it.
"Master," he had managed, before a wave of nausea had crashed through his body, his legs collapsing under him. He was dimly aware of Erebus catching him, holding him up, yelling at him in a panicked tone that, this time, Zeb vaguely thought might actually be related to his present condition. Then everything had gone black.
He had woken up the next day to find his wounds cleaned and bandaged, though he still had a splitting headache. Zeb sat up and looked around, his vision blurred somewhat both by his injuries and his current lack of glasses. Erebus was lying on the bed opposite, snoring loudly, looking smaller than he usually did... Zeb frowned, feeling somewhat guilty in spite of the fact that he was the one that had gotten off worse. He hadn't wanted to come back empty-handed. He looked away and spotted a cabinet nearby, bandages and other first-aid equipment strewn all over it, drawers hanging out, and blinked at the mental image the sight painted: Erebus wrenching them open and rifling through them clumsily to find something to help him with. Zeb was surprised he'd even remembered the bandages were there. He pulled himself out of bed slowly, his feet still unsteady, and carefully made his way over to the cabinet, searching through the drawers until he found what he was looking for - his spare pair of glasses. Putting them on didn't help much; a quick glance in the mirror nearby confirmed that he had a black eye, though it hadn't swollen entirely shut as he'd feared it would. Still, at least he felt a bit more normal with them on, he supposed. He walked back over to the bed and sat down on the edge of it, half-watching Erebus sleep as he wondered how long it would take for his injuries to heal, how this would affect things.

Later on, they'd mutually decided that they had to find a new way to carry out their 'work'. Zeb had been relying on luck to keep his marks from spotting him, and it had finally run out - not to mention how difficult it had been to pull off such a scheme in the first place. He wasn't exactly inconspicuous, carrying around the large satchel, and trying to remain hidden while also finding a spot that was well-lit enough to cast shadows in the first place was no easy feat. And Erebus couldn't do much himself - using his powers to subdue their victims would only use up the energy he was taking from the shadows in the first place, making for a vicious circle and putting him right back to where he'd been before they'd first started working together.

He had knocked on the trailer door one night, pushing his way past Zeb when he'd opened the door and ignoring his protests.
"I have a business proposition for you," he'd begun, without preamble. "You see, I need shadows, and someone to help me get them."
Zeb had sputtered, glaring at the stranger sitting in his chair, a large satchel dumped on the floor in front of him. "Who do you think you are? Pushing in here and demanding- what?" He paused, thrown off by the absurd-sounding requests.
"Where are my manners? Let me introduce myself." At this he had gotten up, floated over to Zeb and held out a hand. "My name is Erebus - and who might you be?"
He looked at the stranger suspiciously. "I'm Zeb. What do you want from me?"
Erebus had thrown an arm around his shoulder, shutting the still-open door with his other hand and ushering him over to the chair. Zeb resented being lead around by this interloper, and in his own place no less; still, he sat down. He might as well hear him out - there didn't seem to be any way around it.
Erebus had nodded and started his explanation, drifting back and forth in front of him as he talked. "You see, Zeb, I'm a wizard, and I feed off shadows to maintain my powers." At this he had flexed his fingers slightly, shooting small sparks of something like lightning from the tips. "Stealing shadows straight from their owners takes up far too much energy, so I used my magic to create this satchel" - here, he had gestured at the bag at Zeb's feet - "to do the work for me. However, it turns out I can't use it by myself."
Zeb had started to ask why, but Erebus had held up a hand to silence him. "Furthermore, I need someone to go out and find the shadows for me... there's no point in using up my energy just to get more of it, is there?"
"I suppose not." Zeb leaned a hoof against his face. "So you want me to work for you?" When Erebus didn't answer, he continued, "So what's your end of the bargain, hm? What do I get out of this."
"I'm sure we could come to some sort of arrangement," Erebus had said airily, waving a hand. "So what will it be?"

Zeb had never found out why Erebus had come to him, specifically, that night. He'd never quite managed to figure out why he'd accepted the strange wizard's offer, either, nor why he'd agreed to call him "Master". Erebus had moved in and shown him how to use the satchel, even demonstrated some of his powers, which Zeb had to admit were impressive. And they got on well together, even moreso after their relationship had - well, taken the turn that it had. After a few days, working for Erebus had felt like the most natural thing in the world, as if this was always what his life up to now had been leading up to. Something about it just made sense. The money was nice - very nice - as was the thrill he got from causing others misfortune (he wasn't sure why stealing shadows weakened their owners, but he'd never had much use for other people anyway)... but he found that he also genuinely wanted to make Erebus happy, to keep him satisfied. When it became clear their current approach wasn't working out, they had sat down together, discussing their options.

"I can't have you getting yourself into trouble like this, Zeb." Erebus had put a hand under his chin, tilting it up to look in his eyes. His grip was firm but not ungentle, his fingers carefully positioned to avoid touching the still-healing bruises on Zeb's face. "Clearly we need someone else to do the work of attracting people so you can take their shadows."
"What do you suggest, Master?" He wasn't sure he liked the idea. It was all well and good to have someone else to take the attention off him where their marks were concerned, but there was the possibility of him taking Erebus' attention away, too. Erebus had frowned, clearly expecting him to figure it out for himself.
"Do I have to think of everything?" He rolled his eyes, removing his hand from Zeb's face. "Where did you get the most shadows from before?"
"Ah - well, anywhere that drew a large crowd. Circuses, music halls... People are easier to steal from when they're distracted by a good show."
Erebus nodded. "I see. Zeb! Go out and find some fool we can use. Say you can make him famous."
"So he pulls in the crowds and keeps them amused while I take their shadows?" Another nod. "Splendid idea, Master. I'll get on it right away."

And so he had spent the next week or so flitting from event to event, trying to find some poor sap to trick into doing their dirty work. He had found and rejected several candidates over the course of his search - anyone that seemed too canny, too likely to figure out the score too early, or like they might wind up double-crossing him and Erebus. Zeb had been about ready to give up, when he hit upon a concert hall in a small jerkwater town...

"Our next act is one of our local boys. Let's give it up for Bright Valley's very own KNIGHT SHADE!"
A small amount of unenthusiastic applause followed this statement, dying out as quickly as it had begun. Zeb leaned back in his seat, bored stiff. He'd already sat through three acts, each more dire and dull than the previous one - this was starting to look like another waste of time.
A small white-coated pony with a curly purple pompadour hairdo had stepped out onto the stage and grabbed the mic. "Good evening Bright Valley! How's everyone doing tonight?" he sang out, clearly trying his hardest to rouse the crowd - to no avail; Zeb could practically hear the crickets chirping. Someone in the second row coughed.
"Um, er- I-I'd like to dedicate this first song to my wonderful mother, there in the front row!" the pony had continued, pointing to someone in the audience. Zeb sat up a little straighter at this, scanning the crowd for the old mare - there she was, waving back and cheering already, even though the show had yet to begin.
'A mother's boy, eh...?'
The pony started singing and dancing, the crowd still unenthused, with some even leaving halfway through the performance - but Zeb was now leaning forward, his attention now fully piqued. He had to admit, this 'Knight Shade' wasn't a bad singer, and he definitely had stage presence and a certain charm. He wasn't Zeb's type, but he could definitely see how this guy could be big, if he was just given a little boost, the right marketing spin, maybe some backing singers... and most importantly, there was the mother. It was pretty clear just from the pony's earlier words and his mother's reaction that they were devoted to one another - it would likely be all too easy to use her to keep him in line...
His suspicions were as good as confirmed at the end of Knight Shade's set. By then, the audience was almost empty apart from Zeb, a few horses in the back that he was pretty sure were sleeping, and Knight Shade's mother, still cheering and stomping her back hooves on the ground.
"Uh- um - thank you, Bright Valley... uh, and thanks again to my mother for all her support!" the pony called out to the audience, his voice faltering as he realized how few people remained. As Knight Shade left the stage, Zeb grinned to himself.
"Perfect..."

He had gone back the next night, taking Erebus with him this time, and together they had approached Knight Shade after the show. A few drinks and promises of fame later, and they had him hook, line and sinker - and the rest, as they said, was history. They'd found the Roadies in a bar outside of Muensterville, ranting about how much they hated their cousins for kicking them out of the town and vowing to get revenge. It hadn't taken much for Zeb to persuade them to join him: as soon as he'd suggested stealing the Cheesies' shadows, they were fully on board, in favour of anything that would hurt their rivals. Zeb didn't particularly care for the idea of having even more people around, but it was a pragmatic choice. They couldn't stick around the rapidly-fading Bright Valley forever - aside from the fact that they were fast running out of shadows to steal, Knight Shade had discovered the truth much earlier than either Zeb or Erebus had anticipated, and they thought it wise to put some space between him and his mother. She hadn't been a problem yet, and Zeb didn't want to stick around to see if she would turn into one. (In hindsight, he probably shouldn't have been so quick to steal her shadow - that could have been a useful bargaining chip.)

And if they were going to take the show on tour, they needed an actual road crew - magic could only do so much for these sort of things, and Zeb certainly didn't want to handle it himself - it was bad enough having to play at being the pony's manager. Besides, a bit of extra muscle wouldn't go amiss, and it saved Erebus from having to take care of it himself and tiring himself out. Sometimes Zeb wondered what the point of Erebus' magic was, if it was used up so quickly. Perhaps it was just the thrill of power, which he could understand - heck, he got a thrill out of it himself. Something about the way Erebus talked about it all, rhapsodizing at length about devouring shadows... Zeb couldn't appreciate it on the same level, but he could certainly appreciate what his master got from it.

They hadn't bothered trying to keep their relationship (such as it was) a secret from the others. The Roadies didn't seem to care either way, at most occasionally teasing Zeb about how eager he was to deliver the shadows to Erebus after each tour stop. Knight Shade had been pretty shocked when he'd found out, though - Zeb chuckled to himself as he remembered the look on his face. It had been annoying at the time, but now that he looked back on it...

"Oh, Master..." Zeb gazed down into the wizard's eyes as he kneeled over him, his hooves sinking slightly into the pillowlike body under him. A shiver of pleasure went down his spine as Erebus raised a hand and slowly ran it up his forehead, pushing his hair back with surprising gentleness before suddenly grabbing hard and yanking him down, kissing him fiercely, his other hand snaking up Zeb's back and under his open shirt. His jacket lay discarded on the floor, glasses carefully placed on top. Zeb pressed into his master, tongue moving desperately. Erebus' grip on him loosened, his hand sliding down and resting against Zeb's cheek; Zeb leaned into it, humming happily as those thick fingers brushed against his face. He raised his head a fraction, panting slightly. "Erebus," he managed to gasp, before kissing him again, one hoof moving behind Erebus' head...
"Zeb...? Are you in here? I wanted to dis...cuss..."
He jerked back up at the sound, head whipping round to see who was intruding on them. Knight Shade was standing in the doorway as if he was rooted to the spot, his eyes wide, mouth hanging open in shock. Zeb growled under his breath, displeased at the interruption. Why now, of all times?!
Erebus had glanced over at the pony, his hands not moving from their current positions. "What is it, Knight Shade?" he asked, a bite of impatience in his voice. As he spoke, his fingers flexed slightly against Zeb's back.
"O-oh, uh, um, I, I-I-I-" he stammered.
"Come on, dolt, we're busy here," Zeb spat, wrapping his other hoof around his master possessively. Knight Shade backed up a step.
"I- um, um, uh, it's- I was just-" He shook his head, seemingly trying to clear it. "I was trying to- uh, that is, I wanted to talk to you about tomorrow's concert- i-it's nothing, I'll just- I'll come back later, shall I?" Knight Shade turned around and quickly rushed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.
"Ugh! Can you believe that-"
"Now now, Zeb..." Erebus' hand drifted down the side of Zeb's face, coming to a stop at his jaw, tilting it so they were face-to-face. "Don't be so hard on the boy, he didn't know~"
"But Master, he-"
"Shh." He pressed his lips to Zeb's, silencing any further complaints. Zeb felt himself relax again, his annoyance vanishing as he returned the kiss. When they broke apart, he had all but forgotten what they were even talking about; it didn't feel important any more.
"Mm, you make an excellent point." He swiped his tongue along his lower lip briefly before leaning in again...

Zeb leaned his head back against the wall and exhaled, watching the cigar smoke curl and dissipate above him as he licked his lips idly, tasting the smoke and thinking about kissing Erebus. It was weird - there wasn't really any other word for it. He was a cloud, or, he looked like one, at least. Clouds shouldn't have a taste, shouldn't be able to touch, to do that with his tongue, with those hands. But he did, and they did, and Zeb had never really been able to describe the taste - the sensation - exactly. It was soft and bitter all at once, like nothing else he'd ever tasted and yet desperately craved more of. The closest he'd found to it was cigar smoke, which had lead to him taking up the habit in an attempt to sate his burning need. It wasn't the first time he'd tried smoking, he'd toyed with it on and off over the years, but it had never hooked him like it had now.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been outside. The sky had turned a fantastic mix of colours while he'd been standing there - varying shades of blues and greys, clouds scattered here and there, the horizon a brilliant blaze of bright orange, pink and red tones, all mixed in with the thick, dark haze of smoke that surrounded him. Zeb wasn't generally one to appreciate the beauty in nature, but even he couldn't deny that the sight was striking.
"Zeb? Zeb, where are you...?"
His ears pricked at the distant shout, the sound instantly pulling him out of his reverie. He tore the half-smoked cigar out of his mouth without a second thought and tossed it to the ground, quickly crushing it under his heel before walking back around the corner to the front door, his voice singing out cheerfully.
"Coming, Master!"