Setting: Late Showa Japan (~1970s-1980s)
Characters: Agni, Sebastian, Tanaka, Ciel
Tags: Established Relationship, Modern AU, 1980s AU, Sickfic, Disabled Agni, Yokai Sebastian, Supernatural Mystery, Slice of Life
The premise: Sebastian is a yokai, but heās kept this hidden. He first met agni 10 years ago, halfway across the world from Japan. Agni was the first human since Ciel to show Sebastian kindness, so he hung around, eventually showing up in human form.
One stormy day, Agniās cafe is empty, and heās contemplating closing early when an absolutely drowned and dripping Sebastian shows up at his door. Not wanting him to catch his death, Agni insists on closing the shop and bringing Sebastian upstairs to his apartment to dry off and warm up.
However, Sebastian back then was not accustomed to humans or how they lived and was baffled why Agni wanted him to shower and get wet *again*, which made Agni laugh and insist that he at least warm up and change while he makes some soup and tea.
And they ended up spending the day together, as friends, and from there, eventually lovers⦠but Agni has a chronic illness, something heās had his whole life, and one day heās hit with such severe pain they end up in the hospital. Heās OK for now, but the scare means he has an abdominal aortic aneurysm, which is basically a dilation/thinning/tearing of the walls of the abdominal aorta that takes blood from your heart to your lower body.
The doctors explain that they canāt say when or where, but it will burst and he will die, and all they can do is keep his blood pressure and heart rate under control, and his stress low, to try and extend his life as long as possible.
Itās an enormous blow, although Agni knew his heart would probably be what killed him eventually, he had hoped heād have more time.
He tells Sebastian that heāll accept the offer for the cafe heād been considering⦠Bc he knew heād have to retire soon; he already is struggling with the pain of standing for long periods, and waking early is becoming harder and harder as his fatigue grows worse and his pain interrupts his sleep. Heās trying to put on a brave face. He realizes heāll have to find a new place to live, too, and wonders if maybe itās time to move on.
To his shock, rather than suggesting they break up, Sebastian says he was planning to find a new place (heād been living in a room he rented from a very sweet cat lady he did cat sitting for), and suggests they find somewhere they can live together⦠Eventually, Seb takes him to Japan, where heās found a doctor who claims he can extend Agniās life and give him better treatment.
The story is focused on their time in Japan, as Agni feels the ever present touch of death and his growing isolation from the world and his lover⦠and a mysterious figure, a neighbor named Tanaka, seems to be ready to help Agni, and yetā¦.
What Agni does not know is that Sebastian is willing to give up his immortality, his very life, to save Agni, bc he lost the human he loved once, Ciel, many years ago. And heās vowed heād never let anything like that happen again.
So thatās the gist of the story!!! I hope someone is interested bc thereās a lot more going on ofcā¦. like the fact that Seb can dispel curses (and curse people too). It takes place during summer, so weāll see Tanabata and Obon play roles in the storyā¦
Agni is extremely tall with long limbs that give him a āfreakishā look to many people, so heās used to being stared atā but Sebastian is the first one who stared but seemingly with only a childlike curiosity and no judgment to maliceā¦
And as a demon, Sebastian is used to being reviled and chased from place to place. Agni is one of the only ones who showed him genuine kindness in both his animal and human forms⦠and enabled him to experience a kind of love he had never known.
Iād love to hear from you if this story intrigues you!!!
@lotus-ignis @moonlithaze