the Jujutsu Kaisen men you’ve been reading about… again.
✦ SUMMARY You accidentally leave your tumblr open… and the Jujutsu Kaisen men you’ve been reading about on Tumblr discover your fanfiction.
✦ NOTE: this is set in a college AU where all characters are 18+
✦ FEATURING: megumi fushiguro and toge inumaki.
✦ CONTENT WARNINGS: mdni. explicit sexual content, x reader, mutual pining, accidental confession, friends to lovers, kissing, heavy petting, oral (f receiving + m receiving), fingering, handjobs, penetrative sex (p in v), unprotected sex, creampie, multiple orgasms, dirty talk, praise, body worship, breast play, nipple stimulation, hair pulling, light choking, spanking/ass slapping, rough sex, possessive affection, dominant behavior, throat fucking, cumplay, overstimulation, squirting, cursed speech used sexually, consensual magical compulsion/body control, forced orgasm via cursed speech, voice strain/blood mention, emotional intimacy, aftercare, fluff, humor, happy endings.
✦ WORD COUNT: 8k words / ~35 mins
author’s note ♡ originally this was supposed to be one giant part two with yuji, megumi, yuta, and toge, but tumblr said absolutely not. so i had to split it into two parts!!
this one is megumi + toge. also yes, you may guess which ones were my favorites based on the word counts lmao. hope you enjoy ♡
MEGUMI ♡ SAY IT
The training grounds ring with the dull impact of Yuji blocking your kick.
He grins behind his raised forearm, barely winded. "Getting faster."
"Shut up and focus."
His grin widens. Then he comes at you again, and you slip into the rhythm of it—dodge, counter, block. Your phone sits abandoned on a nearby bench, screen still lit with Tumblr open. You'd been scrolling between rounds.
Didn't think to lock it. Didn't think anyone would look.
Megumi finishes his last spar with Panda, breathing hard. His shirt is damp with sweat. He grabs his water bottle and sits on the bench, trying to catch his breath.
Your phone lights up beside him. He glances down without thinking.
His attention catches on the image before he can stop himself.
Fanart.
Of him.
His grip tightens around the water bottle.
He looks away. Stares at the sparring match instead. But the image stays in his head—the lines, the detail, the way it was drawn. He glances back.
The tags fill the screen.
#megumi x reader
#megumi boyfriend
#megumi fluff
#megumi smut
He starts scrolling, then stops breathing for a second.
There are dozens of posts. Stories. Headcanons. More art. All of them romantic. All of them explicit. He stops on one title.
"When Megumi finally stops holding back"
His chest tightens. He sets the phone down, then picks it up again. His hand is shaking slightly.
Do you actually read this?
His heart is beating faster than it was during the spar.
"Nice work!"
Yuji claps you on the shoulder as you finish your round. You're breathing hard, wiping sweat from your forehead.
"Thanks. You too."
"Water break?"
"Yeah."
You head toward the bench. Then you freeze. Megumi is sitting there. Holding your phone. His expression is complicated. Your stomach drops.
Oh no.
Oh no oh no oh no—
He looks up and sees you. For a moment, neither of you move. Then he stands.
"Can we talk?" His voice is quiet. Careful.
You can't breathe.
"I—yeah. Sure."
He doesn't say anything else. Just starts walking toward the dorms. You follow, heart pounding.
He saw.
He definitely saw.
This is the worst day of my life.
His dorm room is neat. Sparse. He closes the door behind you.
He just stands there. Then he sets your phone down on his desk.
"I wasn't trying to snoop," he says quietly. "It just… lit up."
"I know."
"I shouldn't have looked."
"It's fine."
"It's not fine." He runs a hand through his hair, clearly uncomfortable. "I just—"
He stops. Starts again.
"Do you actually think I'd act like this?"
You blink. "What?"
He gestures vaguely at your phone.
"The… stories. The way they write me." He's struggling to find the words. "Is that how you see me?"
Your face burns. "I don't—it's not—"
"I'm not mad," he says quickly. "I'm just trying to understand."
You swallow hard. "It's fiction. It's not… it's not supposed to be accurate."
"But you read it."
"Yeah."
"Why?"
You look away. "Because I like imagining you."
Silence.
When you finally look back at him, he's staring at you differently.
"Imagining me doing what?"
Your heart is racing. "I don't know if I can—"
"Please." The word is so soft. So genuine.
You take a shaky breath.
"Touching me. Looking at me like—like I'm the only thing that matters."
He's very still.
"What else?"
"Your hands. Your mouth. The way you'd—" You stop yourself.
"The way I'd what?"
"The way you'd look at me. While you're…"
"While I'm inside you?"
Your stomach flips. "Yeah."
He's closer now. You didn't see him move.
"I think about that too."
"You do?"
"All the time." His voice drops. "I think about how you'd sound. How you'd feel. If you'd let me—" He stops.
"Let you what?"
"Everything."
The word hangs between you.
"I want to know what you want," he says quietly. "I want you to tell me."
"I want…" Your voice shakes. "I want you to stop holding back."
His eyes drop to your mouth, then snap back up.
"I don't know if I can do that and still be gentle."
"I don't want gentle."
His jaw tightens. "You don't know what you're asking."
"Yes I do."
He searches your face. "If I start, I don't know if I'll be able to stop."
"Good."
He closes the distance. The first kiss is tentative. Questioning. You kiss him back and he makes a sound low in his throat.
For a second, he holds back.
Then he doesn't.
He grabs your waist and pushes you backward hard against the door. Your breath catches. His forehead presses against yours, breathing heavy.
"Last chance to tell me to stop," he says quietly.
You don't answer. Just pull him closer. He kisses you again, and this time there's no restraint in it. His hand comes up to cup your jaw, tilting your head exactly how he wants it.
When you part your lips, he takes the invitation immediately. His tongue slides against yours and you gasp into his mouth. He swallows the sound.
His other hand finds your waist, fingers pressing into your skin through your shirt. You grab his shirt, pulling him closer. He kisses you harder, deeper, his body pinning you against the door.
The wood is solid at your back. He's solid against your front. There's nowhere to go. Nowhere you want to go.
There's still restraint in the way he touches you. Like he's afraid of breaking something. You pull back just enough to breathe.
"Stop being so careful."
"I'm trying not to—"
"I don't want you to try."
His expression hardens. Then he's kissing you again, and this time there's less control in it. His hand slides from your jaw to the back of your neck, fingers threading through your hair.
He tugs. Gently at first. You moan. He tugs harder.
"Fuck," he breathes against your mouth.
His lips move to your jaw. Your neck. He finds the spot just below your ear and bites down.
You gasp.
He bites harder, teeth pressing into your skin, and soothes it with his tongue.
His hands are moving now. One still in your hair, the other sliding under your shirt. His palm is warm against your skin. He traces up your ribs slowly. Deliberately.
When he reaches the band of your bra, he unhooks it quickly. His hand slides around to cup your breast, fingers already finding exactly what he wants. You arch into his touch.
"You're so—" He stops himself.
"What?"
"Sensitive."
He rolls your nipple between his fingers and you gasp.
"I've thought about this," he admits quietly. "Thought about what would make you sound like that."
"What else did you think about?"
Instead of answering, he pulls your shirt over your head. Your bra follows. He looks at you for a minute.
"You're staring."
"I know."
Then his mouth is on your breast, tongue circling your nipple before he takes it between his lips.
"Oh—"
His hand works your other breast while his mouth stays busy. When he bites down gently, you thread your fingers through his hair. Your breathing is already uneven.
He kisses down your sternum. Your ribs. Your stomach. When he reaches the waistband of your shorts, he hooks his fingers under the elastic and pulls them down without hesitation. Slides them down your legs. Your underwear is next.
Then you're completely bare in front of him. He drops to his knees, hands gripping your waist. In one rough motion, he lifts you—your legs wrapping around him—and carries you to the bed. He sets you down on your back, hips right at the edge.
Before you can catch your breath, he's positioning your thighs on his shoulders, spreading you completely open.
He kneels, forearms pressing down across your hips, pinning you to the bed. You try to shift but his grip is unyielding.
"Stay still."
The first touch of his tongue makes you jolt.
"Fuck—"
He doesn't ease into it. His tongue drags up your slit in one long, deliberate stroke.
"Jesus Christ, you're already soaked."
He spreads you open with his thumbs. His tongue licks into you, pushing inside, and you cry out. When he drags back up to your clit and sucks it into his mouth, your hips buck violently.
"Oh god—"
He pins your hips down with one forearm. "I said stay still."
His tongue circles your clit, fast and relentless.
"Ah—please—"
"Not until you're shaking."
He seals his lips around your clit and sucks hard. Your hand flies to his hair, gripping tight. He groans against you, the vibration making you shake.
His tongue works you with deliberate focus—broad strokes, then tight circles, then fucking into you—no pattern, just pure need.
You feel his fingers at your entrance. He pushes two inside you without warning.
"Oh—fuck—"
He pumps his fingers in and out, curling them hard to drag against your g-spot while his tongue stays locked on your clit.
"Megumi—I'm—"
"Come on my tongue."
His fingers fuck into you harder, the squelch of your wetness filling the room.
"Oh god—I'm gonna—"
His tongue flicks rapidly and his fingers curl hard until you shatter.
"Fuck—Megumi—"
Your thighs clamp around his head but he doesn't stop. He keeps going, drawing it out until you're sobbing.
"Too much—"
"One more."
"I can't—"
He adds a third finger, stretching you, and the fullness combined with his relentless tongue sends you over again almost immediately.
You scream. Your entire body locks up, back arching off the bed.
He groans against you, working you through it as you gush around his fingers. He doesn't stop until you're shaking uncontrollably.
Only then does he pull back, fingers sliding out. He brings them to his mouth and sucks them clean, eyes locked on yours.
He groans, low and wrecked. His chin is wet. You're still catching your breath. You reach for him, pulling him up.
"Your turn."
You push him onto his back on the mattress. He lets you, though his hands twitch at his sides like staying still is costing him. You straddle his thighs, hands sliding up his chest.
"Off."
He pulls his shirt over his head. You run your hands over his bare skin, feeling the lean muscle, the way his breath catches when you drag your nails down his stomach.
When you reach his waistband, you don't ask. You unbutton his pants and yank them down along with his boxers. His cock springs free, thick and flushed dark, already leaking.
"Oh," you breathe.
He’s bigger than you expected. You barely have time to process it before your hand closes around him and his hips jerk up into your grip.
His jaw tightens.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
His breath catches when your thumb drags over the tip.
“Like you know exactly what you’re doing.”
You try to stroke him slowly but he thrusts up again, harder, taking control.
"Megumi—"
"Tighter."
You squeeze him harder and he groans, hips driving up into your grip with purpose.
"Like that—fuck—just like that—"
He's using your hand, fucking into it with increasing desperation.
"You're so hard—"
"Your fault." His voice is rough. He thrusts harder. "Walking around looking like that—"
You drop to your knees. His eyes go wide.
"Wait—"
You take him in your mouth.
"Oh fuck—"
He fills your mouth. You work him with your tongue, tracing that thick vein before swirling around the head. His hands fly to your hair, fingers threading through it, holding on.
You bob your head, taking him deeper, and he groans low. More pre-cum leaks onto your tongue. You moan around him and his hips jerk.
"Sorry—I didn't mean to—"
You take him deeper in response, relaxing your throat, and his apology cuts off into a broken groan.
"Fuck—"
You look up at him and watch his control fracture piece by piece. His jaw is tight, his breathing uneven, his fingers tighten in your hair.
The intensity of it makes you look away. His grip tightens.
“No.” His voice drops. “Look at me.”
You take him even deeper, until he hits the back of your throat.
"Oh god—"
His grip on your hair becomes possessive. Both hands now, cradling your head. You try to pull back but he holds you there.
"Stay—just—fuck—stay right there—"
He starts moving again, shallow at first. Then faster, more desperate.
“Stay there.”
You moan around him and he groans, head falling back.
“Christ—your throat—the way you—fuck—”
His thrusts become erratic. You can feel him getting closer, his control slipping with every shallow drive of his hips.
“So close—you’re gonna make me—fuck—”
His whole body tenses. His fingers dig into your scalp.
“I can’t—if you keep doing that, I can’t—”
Then he stops. Pulls you off him with a wet, popping sound. You gasp for air, lips swollen, spit still connecting you to him.
"Fuck—now—I need you now."
He pulls you off him and flips you onto your back in one rough motion. He positions himself between your legs, cock heavy and throbbing against your entrance. You're already soaked, and when he slides against you, both of you go still for half a second.
"Fuck, you're so wet."
He notches himself at your entrance. The first push makes you gasp. He's thick—stretching you open inch by inch, burning and perfect as your body adjusts to fit him.
"Oh god—"
He pushes in deeper, slow and relentless. You can feel all of him as he fills you.
"So fucking tight," he grits out. "You're squeezing me so hard—"
"You're so big—"
"Almost there—fuck—almost—"
He thrusts deep one last time and completely fills you, his entire length stretching you open. His forehead drops to yours. His shoulders rise and fall once, controlled with effort. You clench around him experimentally. He shudders inside you.
"Don't—fuck—don't do that yet or I'm going to come right now."
You do it again.
"Fuck—" He groans, hips jerking. "You're not playing fair."
"I don't want fair. I want you to fuck me."
His jaw tightens. He pulls out slowly—you feel every inch leaving you—then slams back in.
"Oh fuck—"
"Like that?"
"Yes—god yes—"
He does it again. Pulls almost all the way out, then drives back in hard and deep. The angle makes him hit that perfect spot and you go rigid, breath catching, mind blank.
"Right there—fuck—right there—"
"Here?" He thrusts again, hitting that same spot.
His jaw works like he's biting back the rest of the sentence. His fingers dig harder into your hips.
"Harder—"
"You want it harder?"
"Please—"
He adjusts his angle, grips your hips tighter, and slams into you hard and deep, making your tits bounce with each thrust, exactly how you asked for it.
The only sounds are his heavy breathing, the sharp slap of his hips against yours, and the wet slide of his cock moving inside you with every brutal thrust.
"Fuck—listen to how wet you are—"
"Don't stop—"
"Not stopping—"
Each thrust pushes you up the bed. He fills you completely—no space left between where you end and he begins.
"Megumi—"
"Say my name again."
"Megumi—"
He slams into you harder.
"Again."
"Megumi—fuck—"
His pace becomes punishing—hips snapping against yours, cock driving into you over and over. Eyes dark, jaw clenched, he fucks you like he's been waiting for this.
He buries his face in your neck, breathing hard, hips never stopping.
His hand slides between your bodies, finding your clit.
"Oh—"
"I want you to come again."
"I'm close—"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah—right there—don't stop—"
He maintains the same pace, same pressure. The orgasm builds fast. Your walls start fluttering around him.
You come hard—body locked tight, thighs shaking, clenching around him.
"Oh—Megumi—"
"That's it. Squeeze me just like that."
He keeps thrusting through it, prolonging every wave until you're gasping. You go limp beneath him, shaking and sensitive, but he's still rock hard inside you.
"You didn't—"
"Not yet."
He pulls out slowly. The absence of him hits almost like pain.
"Turn over."
Your brain is still foggy. "What?"
"On your stomach. Now."
The command in his voice sends a thrill through you. You flip over, still shaking. His hands are immediately on your hips, rough and possessive, yanking them up.
"Arch your back."
You shift, pressing your chest into the mattress, spine curved exactly how he wants.
"Fuck."
His hands slide over your ass, squeezing hard. He spreads you open with his thumbs.
"You're dripping down your thighs. Made such a mess."
He positions himself behind you, the thick head of his cock dragging through your folds.
"You're going to take every inch like this."
He pushes in. The angle makes him feel bigger—stretching you open, filling you so deep you can barely breathe.
"Oh fuck—oh god—"
"That's it. You’re doing so good.”
He doesn't stop until he's completely inside you—seated so deep your body adjusts around him.
"So fucking deep—"
"I know." His voice is wrecked.
He pulls almost all the way out, then slams back in hard. The force pushes you forward into the mattress.
"Fuck!"
His hands grip your hips bruisingly tight and he starts pounding into you, deep and relentless. The only sound is the sharp slap of his hips against your ass with every thrust, your high pitched moans muffled into the mattress and the wet sounds of him moving in and out of you.
"Meg—umi—ah—ah!"
He pulls almost all the way out, then drives back in. Your breath catches, your whole body going tight around him. Each thrust pushes you forward until you’re grabbing at the sheets, face pressed into the mattress.
“Ah—ah—”
His fingers dig into your hips.
“Don’t hide it.”
He leans over you, changing the angle, and your next sound breaks louder.
“That’s it,” he says, rough and close to your ear. “Let me hear you.”
One hand slides up your back, pressing you down into the mattress. You’re completely pinned.
“Still want me to stop holding back?”
”Yes—“
“Good.”
“It’s so deep—”
“I know.” His voice is wrecked. “Breathe.”
The headboard starts hitting the wall.
"Everyone's going to hear—"
"I don't care."
His thrusts get even harder. Reckless now. Like the world outside the dorm room doesn’t matter anymore.
"Oh god—"
CRACK .
His palm connects with your ass—hard. The sharp sound echoes through the room. You clench around him involuntarily at the feeling of it.
"Ah—"
The sting blooms across your skin, hot and immediate.
"Fuck—" he groans. “God—just like that.”
CRACK.
Another spank, harder this time. Your whole body jolts forward.
He slows suddenly. Just for a second. You feel every inch of him buried deep inside you, stretching you open. His hand slides up your spine—almost gentle.
Then he's moving again.
His hand tangles in your hair. He yanks—hard. Your head snaps back, spine arching as he pulls you up against his chest. Your back is flush against him, his cock still buried deep inside you.
He's breathing into your ear—rough and uncontrolled. One arm wraps around your waist, holding you in place. The other hand slides up—
"You want this?" he asks quietly.
"Yes."
His fingers wrap around your throat. He thrusts up into you, grinding deep, and you gasp. His other hand moves to your breast, squeezing roughly, thumb brushing over your nipple.
"You really wanted this?"
"Yes."
"With me?"
"Megumi—"
"Say it."
Your breath catches.
"With you."
His jaw tightens, but his eyes go unsteady.
"You're mine—" He punctuates it with a particularly deep thrust. "Say it."
"I'm yours—"
"Fuck yes you are."
His hips roll up. The hand on your throat tightens. He's shaking. No more restraint. His fingers work your nipple while his cock drives up into you, desperate and relentless.
"Come for me," he breathes. "Want to feel you—"
The pressure builds impossibly fast.
"I can't—"
His hips snap up harder, hitting that perfect spot with every thrust.
"Yes you can. Let go."
The orgasm slams into you. Your entire body goes rigid, back arching against his chest. Your pussy clamps down on him and he groans.
"Fuck—"
You're shaking violently in his arms. You can feel yourself gushing around him, soaking his cock.
"Can't—" His voice breaks. "Fuck—"
His rhythm falters. His hips slam up one final time, burying himself as deep as physically possible. You feel the first hot pulse of his cum flooding into you.
"Fuck—fuck—"
His cock throbs inside you, pumping rope after rope of cum deep into your pussy. He's shivering, groaning brokenly against your neck, hips jerking with each pulse. The hand on your throat tightens reflexively. You can feel it—the heat, the fullness, his cum filling you completely.
Finally, he stills, pressed tight against you, both of you trembling. His hand releases your throat slowly. Both arms wrap around you, holding you against his chest as you both struggle to breathe. You can feel his cock still twitching inside you, his cum hot and thick.
Slowly, carefully, he pulls out. The slide of his softening cock leaving you makes you both gasp. Then you feel it—his cum immediately starts spilling out of you. Thick and warm, dripping down your thighs, pooling on the sheets beneath you.
"Fuck," he breathes, the word rough.
His eyes are fixed between your legs, watching his release leak out of your swollen pussy.
He reaches down, fingers sliding through the mess. Gently pushes some of it back inside you. You whimper at the oversensitivity.
"Sorry—I just—" He swallows hard. "You're dripping."
"Your fault."
"I know."
But he can't seem to look away from the sight of you—thoroughly fucked, his cum still seeping out of you. He gently turns you over. You're completely spent. He lies down beside you, pulling you against his chest.
His hand moves slowly over your back while both of you come down, neither of you ready to break the quiet yet.
"You okay?" he asks quietly.
"Yeah."
"I wasn't too rough?"
"No, Megumi.”
He's quiet for a moment. Then he buries his face in your neck. "I can't believe we just—"
"Don't get weird about it."
"I'm not getting weird."
"You're getting weird."
"Shut up." But he pulls you closer. His lips brush your shoulder.
"I meant what I said," he murmurs. "I've wanted this for a long time."
"Me too."
His hand continues its soothing path up and down your spine. “We should probably—"
"Don't move yet."
"Okay." You feel him smile against your skin. "You're going to fall asleep."
"Maybe."
"We should at least clean up."
"In a minute."
He huffs a quiet laugh. But he doesn't move either. His arms tighten around you. You turn in his arms to face him. His expression is vulnerable. Open. You kiss him gently.
"Thank you for not holding back."
"I don't think I could have even if I tried."
"Good."
He tucks a strand of hair behind your ear. "We should talk about—"
"Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?"
"Yeah. Right now I just want to stay like this."
He considers this. Then nods. "Okay. Tomorrow."
He pulls you back against his chest. His heartbeat is steady under your ear.
"For the record," he says quietly, "I'm not deleting Tumblr from your phone."
You laugh. "Why not?"
"Because now I know what you think about."
"That's embarrassing."
"That's helpful."
"Helpful?"
"Mm. Now I know exactly what you want." His hand slides down to your hip. "And I plan to give you all of it."
Your breath catches. "All of it?"
"Every single thing you've ever thought about."
"That's a long list."
"Good." He kisses your temple. "We have time."
You smile against his chest. "Yeah. We do."
TOGE ♡ HOME
The common room is almost empty. Late afternoon sunlight spills through the windows, warming the couch where you'd abandoned your phone while you ran upstairs to grab a jacket before training.
Toge wanders in quietly. He'd been looking for the rice crackers Panda swore were hidden somewhere in the kitchen.
Instead, he spots your phone buzzing on the coffee table. The screen lights up. A familiar face stares back at him. His own.
He blinks. "…Salmon?"
He isn't trying to snoop. He reaches over automatically, intending to silence the notification before it keeps buzzing.
His thumb brushes the screen. The notification disappears. The Tumblr page underneath comes into view. A piece of fan art. Of him.
His eyebrows lift.
???
Curious despite himself, he glances down. Tags fill the screen.
#inumaki toge x reader
#toge smut
#cursed speech
#toge boyfriend
Then they drift back to the first sentence. His gaze lingers. Just for a second.
You step into the common room carrying a grocery bag. "…Toge?"
He looks up. Your smile dies instantly. His expression is impossible to read—not annoyed, not embarrassed, just quietly focused. Your stomach drops.
"…That's my phone."
He lowers it without looking away from you. "…Salmon."
The single word is calm. Almost amused. He presses the power button. The screen goes black.
Click.
He places the phone carefully on the coffee table. No teasing. No interrogation. Just silence.
You clear your throat. "I can explain."
He closes the distance in two deliberate steps.
"Toge…"
He stops only when he's standing directly in front of you. Close enough that you have to tilt your head back to meet his eyes. You suddenly become fascinated by the floor. A single finger slips beneath your chin.
His touch is gentle, steady, and completely certain.
He lifts your face until you're looking at him again. He holds your gaze, the corner of his mouth curling upward—barely there, but unmistakable.
"…Bonito flakes."
You blink. "…What?"
He taps his own chest once, glances toward the phone, and looks back at you with a raised eyebrow.
So that's what you've been thinking about.
You hide your face in your hands. "I actually need to disappear."
His shoulders shake with a silent laugh.
You groan. "Please don't laugh."
He reaches up and gently catches your wrist, lowering one of your hands from your face.
When you finally look at him again, the amusement has faded. His hand stays around your wrist, light but certain, and he waits for you to understand.
"…Salmon."
You swallow. "What?"
He glances toward the hallway leading to the dorm rooms. Then back to you.
He gives a tiny nod that somehow manages to be both an invitation and the certainty that you'll accept it. Then he turns and walks down the hallway, stopping partway to glance back over his shoulder. He waits like he already knows you're going to follow, and somehow that makes it harder to move.
"…You're really just going to make me follow you?"
He nods once, and you laugh nervously despite yourself.
Is this actually happening?
He just waits.
After a beat, you set the grocery bag down by the door.
"…Okay."
You follow him down the quiet hallway, your pulse refusing to slow as the sounds of the common room fade farther and farther behind.
His door is at the end of the hall. He opens it without looking back and steps inside.
He leaves it open just enough for you to follow. You hesitate in the doorway.
His room is cleaner than you expected—minimal and organized, with books stacked neatly on the desk and soft afternoon light filtering through half-closed blinds.
He waits beside the bed without saying a word. You step inside and close the door behind you, and the click of the latch suddenly sounds much louder than it should.
Then he reaches up slowly, deliberately, and hooks one finger into the zipper of his high collar.
You watch as he pulls it down. Inch by inch. The sound of the zipper is the only thing you can hear besides your own heartbeat.
When it's fully open, he lets the collar fall away from his mouth. The Snake and Fangs markings are stark against his pale skin. He looks different like this. Sharper. More dangerous.
He crosses the last few feet between you. When he's close enough to touch, he stops—close enough that you can feel the warmth radiating from him, that you can smell his cologne. He tilts his head slightly, asking a question without words.
"…Salmon?"
It's a question.
You nod. "Yeah."
His hand comes up to cup your jaw, thumb brushing over your cheek. Then he leans in and kisses you.
His mouth is hot and demanding, tongue sliding against yours with an urgency that makes your knees weak. He kisses like he's been holding back for months, like now that the door is closed he doesn't have to pretend anymore.
You make a small sound against his mouth. He swallows it. His other hand finds your hip, pulling you flush against him. You can feel how hard he is already.
The kiss deepens. He walks you backward until your legs hit the edge of his bed.
Then he pulls back just enough to look at you. His pupils are blown wide.
He's breathing hard, reaching for the hem of your shirt before pausing.
"…Salmon?"
"Yes."
He pulls it over your head in one smooth motion. Tosses it aside.
His hands are on you immediately, sliding up your ribs, thumbs brushing the underside of your bra.
You reach for his uniform jacket. He helps you push it off his shoulders. Then his shirt. This close, you can see the way his chest rises and falls with each breath. The lean muscle of his arms and stomach.
He's beautiful. He catches your wrist and brings your hand to his mouth, pressing a kiss to your palm.
Then he guides it down to rest flat against his chest. You can feel his heartbeat. It's racing.
"…Shake," he murmurs against your hair.
You're not sure what he means until his hands move to your jeans, popping the button open.
Oh.
He wants you to keep touching him. You slide your hand down his stomach as he works your jeans down your hips. His abs flex under your touch.
When your jeans are pooled at your feet, you step out of them. He's still wearing his pants. You reach for his waistband.
He catches your hand. Shakes his head.
"…Okaka."
Not yet. He guides you to sit on the edge of the bed. Then he kneels in front of you.
Your pulse jumps. He hooks his fingers into the sides of your underwear and looks up at you.
"…Salmon?"
"Yes."
He pulls them down slowly. You lift your hips to help. When you're bare in front of him, he sits back on his heels for a moment. Just looking.
You can't look away. "Toge—"
He leans forward and presses a kiss to the inside of your knee. Then higher. Your thigh. Higher. You're trembling.
His hands slide up the outside of your thighs, gripping firmly, and he spreads you open. The first touch of his tongue makes you gasp. He groans. The sound vibrates through you.
His tongue is warm and wet and relentless, lapping at you with a hunger that makes your head spin. He's not tentative about it. Not shy.
He eats you out like he's been thinking about this for months. Your hand finds his hair. He makes another low sound of approval. His tongue circles your clit, then flattens against it.
Your hips jerk. He holds you down with one hand splayed across your lower stomach.
"Oh my God—"
He pulls back just enough to look up at you. His mouth is wet.
"…Shake."
Then he dives back in. This time he slides two fingers inside you. You cry out.
He curls them up, finding that spot that makes your vision blur, and sucks on your clit at the same time.
"Toge—fuck—"
He doesn't stop. Doesn't slow down.
Just keeps working you with his mouth and fingers until you're shaking, thighs trying to close around his head.
He forces them back open. The orgasm builds fast. Too fast.
You're not ready—
"I'm—oh God, I'm—"
He groans against you and that's all it takes. You come hard, back arching off the bed, hand fisting in his hair. He works you through it, tongue gentling but not stopping until you're gasping and pushing at his head.
When he finally pulls back, his chin is wet. He wipes it with the back of his hand, then stands and hauls you further up the bed.
You barely have time to process before he's climbing over you. His mouth finds yours again. You can taste yourself on his tongue. It should be embarrassing. It's not.
He settles his weight between your legs, and you can feel how hard he is through his pants. You reach down to touch him. He catches your wrist.
He pins your first wrist above your head, then the other, holding both in one hand. He looks down at you and his expression has changed—something darker there now, more intense.
"…Takana," he murmurs.
A warning. You swallow.
"What are you—"
He reaches over to his phone on the nightstand and types quickly, keeping you pinned with one hand. Then he turns the screen toward you.
Can I use my voice?
Your breath catches. You know what he's asking. What his Cursed Speech can do.
"Yes," you whisper.
He studies your face, then types again.
If you say stop, I stop. No questions.
"Okay."
His thumb hovers over the screen for a moment.
Promise?
"I promise."
He sets the phone aside. When he looks back at you, his eyes are different now—darker, more intense. There's relief there too. Permission.
He leans down until his lips brush your ear. His voice drops. Lower than you've ever heard it. Distorted. Echoing.
“Stay still.”
The command hits you like a physical force. Your body freezes. You can't move your arms, can't shift your hips. Your eyes go wide. He pulls back to look at you.
There's something almost apologetic in his expression. But also hungry. He releases your wrists. You still can't move them.
He sits back and finally works his pants open, pushing them down just enough.
Oh.
He's leaner than you expected. Defined muscle without bulk. There's quiet strength in him—the kind that doesn't announce itself. He wraps one hand around himself, stroking slowly while he looks at you. You want to squirm but you can't.
"Toge—"
"…Shake."
He's telling you it's okay. He shifts forward, one hand bracing beside your head. The other guides himself to your entrance. He rubs the head through your wetness once, twice, before starting to push in slowly—so impossibly slow.
You can feel every inch. The stretch is intense.
He watches your face as he moves deeper, pausing halfway, breathing hard.
"…Shake?"
He's asking if you're okay. You can't nod. Can't move your body. But your voice still works.
"Yes," you manage.
When he's fully seated inside you, he drops his forehead to yours and stays still, just breathing. Then the command releases and suddenly you can move again. Your hands fly to his shoulders.
"Oh my God—"
He pulls back and thrusts in hard. He does it again. And again. Finding a rhythm that's deep and relentless. The bed creaks under you. His breathing is harsh in your ear.
"Fuck—Toge—"
"…Shake…"
He sounds wrecked already. One of his hands slides down to grip your hip. Hard enough to bruise.
He uses the leverage to pull you into each thrust. The angle changes. He's hitting that spot inside you with every stroke. You're not going to last.
"Toge—I'm—"
He pulls out completely. Flips you over onto your stomach before you can protest. His hand presses between your shoulder blades. Then his voice drops into that distorted register again.
"Arch your back."
Your body obeys before your brain catches up, your spine curving, hips lifting in presentation—you can't fight it, don't want to, can't lower yourself back down.
"Oh God—"
He grips your hips with both hands. Lines himself up. Slams back in. The angle is devastating. He's so deep like this. He sets a punishing pace, hips snapping against your ass.
The sound of skin on skin fills the room. You're making noises you've never made before. High and desperate. He leans over you, chest pressed to your back. One hand slides up to wrap around your throat. His mouth is right by your ear.
His thrusts are getting erratic. Harder. You're so close. Right on the edge.
"Please—Toge—please—"
His hand closes around your throat—light, controlled pressure. You can breathe. You could speak if you needed to. But you feel the weight of his hand there, the reminder of how much restraint he's choosing to use. How much he's trusting you not to make him lose it.
The word comes out ruined and powerful.
"Come."
Your body moves before your brain can catch up.
The command detonates inside you.
Your body seizes—every muscle locking tight as the command drags the orgasm from you. It's not pleasure building and cresting. It's your nervous system hijacked, forced into obedience. Your walls clench rhythmically, violently around him, and then something else happens.
Liquid heat floods out of you. You can feel it—wet and uncontrollable, soaking the sheets beneath you, running down your thighs, dripping onto his cock as he keeps fucking into you. Your brain short-circuits.
Oh God. Oh no. What—
Panic cuts through the pleasure. You try to pull away, mortified, but his command still has you locked in place. You can't move. Can't hide. The orgasm is still tearing through you and you're still coming and you can feel more wetness and—
"Toge—I'm sorry—I don't know what—"
He makes a sound you've never heard from him before. A deep, guttural groan that's almost a growl.
His hips stutter. Then he's pulling out just enough to look down, and you hear his sharp inhale when he sees the evidence of what he did to you. The soaked sheets. Your thighs glistening. His cock wet with it.
Then he slams back in. Harder than before.
You cry out and he does it again. And again. His control completely shattered. One hand slides around to your front, fingers finding where you're swollen and oversensitive, and he presses down.
"…Shake," he growls against your ear. The approval in his voice is unmistakable, flooding through you. Yes. God, yes.
"I didn't mean to—" Your voice breaks. "I've never—"
His hand leaves your front to grip your hip, holding you in place as he drives into you. You can hear how wet you are. The embarrassment starts to burn but he's making these desperate, hungry noises. His mouth finds your shoulder and he bites down—not hard enough to really hurt, but enough to ground you. To tell you without words that this is good. That he's losing his mind over what he just made you do.
His rhythm falls apart when his hand slides back between your legs, fingers finding what he needs, and you understand. He wants to make you do it again.
"Toge—I can't—"
"Come," he rasps. "Again." His voice distorted and rough.
He swallows hard, and you hear a slight rasp in his breathing. His hand touches his throat briefly before returning to grip your hip.
Your body locks up. The second wave crashes through you—harder, deeper—and you feel it, that uncontrollable flood, and you're sobbing now, overwhelmed, while he groans against your neck.
When the command finally releases you, you collapse forward. He goes with you, still inside you, pressing you into the mattress with his weight. His hips continue their slow grind against you before he pulls out. You whimper at the loss, but then his hands are flipping you onto your back—he needs to see your face.
He pushes back inside you and the look in his eyes is almost vulnerable. He leans down and kisses you, softer this time, almost sweet. His hips roll in slow, deep strokes as you wrap your legs around his waist and pull him closer. You reach up to touch his face, and he catches both your wrists, pressing them above your head.
His voice drops into that distorted register.
"Keep them there."
Your arms lock in place. You want to move them but you can't.
"Toge—"
He lifts his head, his voice dropping again.
"Look at me."
The command is barely above a whisper but still distorted. You see him swallow against the strain.
Your eyes lock on his. You couldn't look away if you tried. He cups your face with one hand, keeping you there, held in his gaze while he thrusts deep and slow.
You're building again, impossibly, and you're going to—
The command leaves him rougher this time.
"Come."
Your body obeys before your mind can catch up. It rips through you—harder than the first two. Your whole body locks up, clenching around him. He makes a choked sound, his hips stuttering. It's the first real word you've heard from him—his voice rough and strained.
"Fuck—"
He thrusts in deep one last time and comes with a broken groan, spilling inside you.
His whole body shudders. He collapses on top of you, face buried in your neck, breathing hard. You can feel his heart hammering against your chest.
Neither of you moves—just breathing, coming down. Then he starts coughing, harsh and painful-sounding. He rolls off you, one hand coming up to his throat.
"Toge—"
He waves you off, coughing harder now.
"Where's your water?"
He points to the desk. You scramble out of bed and grab the water bottle, bringing it back to him. He takes it with a grateful look and drinks.
When he lowers the bottle, there's blood at the corner of his mouth, dripping down his chin. The clan markings around his lips are smeared with it.
"Does it hurt?"
He nods, making a face, and you feel a pang of guilt.
"I'm sorry—"
He shakes his head quickly. "…Salmon."
It's worth it.
He hesitates, then points to his desk drawer. You go over and open it.
Inside is a small bottle of cough syrup, throat spray, and medicated lozenges.
He'd known exactly what this would cost him. You bring the supplies back to the bed.
You gesture for him to sit up. He does. You open the cough syrup and give it to him.
"Here."
He takes it and swallows it down, grimacing. You notice a box of tissues on his nightstand. Pulling one free, you gently wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth.
He doesn't look away while you work. When you finish with his mouth, you move to his throat.
You trace the markings with your fingertips. He closes his eyes and leans into your touch.
"Toge…"
He opens his eyes and catches your hand, pressing it against his chest over his heart.
"…Salmon."
He wanted to. Tears prick your eyes.
"You're ridiculous."
He smiles. It's soft. He tugs you closer. You go willingly, letting him pull you down onto the bed beside him. He immediately wraps around you. Arms tight around your waist. Face buried in your hair.
His whole body is pressed against yours. You've never felt so completely held.
He nuzzles into your neck. You can feel his breath against your skin—warm, even, no longer held back.
He's not tense. Not locked down. Not controlling every breath, every sound, every syllable. He's just breathing.
"Toge?"
"…Mm?"
"You're not—you're really relaxed right now."
He pauses, then nods against your neck. He pulls back to look at you—his eyes are soft, completely unguarded.
He reaches for his phone on the nightstand and types carefully, deleting once before trying again. Then he turns the screen toward you.
I've always been afraid of my voice. Around everyone.
With you… I don't have to be.
I can just be me.
You finish reading. Your eyes blur with tears.
"Toge…"
He gently takes your hand. Brings it to his mouth. With one finger, he traces slowly across your palm:
S-A-F-E.
He pauses. Looks up to make sure you're following. Then finishes:
H-O-M-E.
"Yeah?"
He nods. Presses a kiss to your forehead.
"I'm not afraid of you," you whisper. "I never was."
His whole body shudders.
"You don't have to cage yourself with me."
His eyes shine first. Then his face crumples—quiet and helpless, like he hates that you can see it. You run your fingers through his hair, holding him while his shoulders shake, letting him break in a way he probably never has before. You keep your fingers in his hair until his shoulders stop shaking and his breathing steadies. Then he pulls back. His eyes are red, but he's smiling.
"…Shake."
Thank you.
You smile back.
"Yeah."
He brushes a strand of hair from your face, then shifts and pulls you against his chest. He grabs the blanket, wrapping you both completely in its weight—comforting and grounding. You can feel his heartbeat under your cheek, steady and calm.
"This is nice," you murmur.
"…Salmon."
You trace idle patterns on his chest. He catches your hand. Brings it to his mouth. Traces letters on your palm again.
S-T-A-Y.
You freeze.
"Yeah?"
He nods.
You turn your face up to look at him.
"I'm not going anywhere."
The corner of his mouth lifts—just barely. He leans down and kisses you, soft and unhurried, nothing like the desperate urgency from before. When he pulls back, he settles you against his chest, his chin resting on your head. You close your eyes, exhausted and completely content.
"Toge?"
"…Mm?"
"Thank you."
He squeezes you gently. "…Shake."
You smile.
Outside, the sun is setting, bathing the room in warm orange light. You feel him relax even further against you, his breathing slowing and deepening as sleep begins to take him.
So you stay there, tucked against him while the room goes darker around you. His hand settles at the back of your head, keeping you close even as his breathing slows. You press a kiss to his chest.
"I've got you," you whisper.
He makes a small, content sound. You close your eyes. Let yourself drift.
The last thing you feel before sleep takes you is his fingers tracing one more word on your shoulder blade.
It's a dark and stormy night, and a human is with her two monsters. The Reader and Pierrot are ready to finally turn things more physical, but too bad they really have no idea what they're doing. Good thing (or not) that they have a way too smug partner eager to show them the ropes.
Warnings: AFAB! Reader, smut, poly relationship, oral (fem receiving), frottage, slight restraint kink, virgin reader and Pierrot, slight virginity kink if you squint, aftercare
AN: First time writing smut! Or at least the first time publishing it. Falling down a rabbit hole of my new hyperfixation with this game that's not even finished yet.
Cross posted on AO3 at TheGhostInTheKitchen
Rain was beating gently against the window paired with the soft roll of thunder somewhere in the distance. Not that the two of them paid any of it any mind, of course. Pierrot and his darling (Y/N) were much too preoccupied with each other to give the oncoming storm a second thought.
Sequestered in the bedroom of her apartment, the sound of rain was quickly drowned out by the small gasps, moans, and sounds of their kisses. Gently, like handling an antique porcelain doll, Pierrot lowered (Y/N) down to rest on the plush pillows of her bed. He hovered over her, resting on his forearms, caging her in from either side. His back bowed as he leaned down to kiss her again and again and again. Not that he minded their difference in stature at all. In fact, there was something even more tantalizing in the idea that he towered over her.
(Y/N) sighed again into his kiss. His tongue, long and so in-humanly different from her own, pressed into her mouth. Her eyes fluttered open, meeting his glowing canary-colored ones, staring straight through her. Closing her eyes again, she pressed her upper body into his chest, wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him closer.
Pierrot made a sound somewhere deep in his chest and all but collapsed on her. Her chest heaved as she tried to breathe in enough oxygen, her head going fuzzy. “Pierrot,” She gasped between kisses. “I can’t-” Kiss. “Hold my-” Kiss. “Breath-” Kiss. “As long-” Kiss. “As you.” Kiss. “Just-just a second, okay?”
His dazed, blissed-out look snapped back to attention as he almost threw himself off of her. His arms jutted out straight, hands planted next to her head. “My lady, I-I’m sorry. I lost myself and I… I…” He quickly lost his train of thought as he gazed down at her. Hair spread around her head like a halo, eyes glassy, lips swollen, hands clutching desperately at her duvet. Pierrot groaned, catching himself at the last second from descending upon her again.
“It’s okay,” She said. “I think I kind of like that, actually. Umm, do you, I mean, would you want to, I don’t know, do more?” She could feel her face burning in a mixture of embarrassment, anticipation, and leftover buzzing adrenaline from making out seconds ago.
Pierrot made that sound again, somewhere between an animistic growl and a rumble of release. “You would… Let me?” He said quietly. His claws brushed against her hip, sliding ever so slightly underneath her shirt, pulling it up. The exposed skin felt sacred, like he was seeing something he was far too unworthy for.
“Let you?” (Y/N) repeated with a small giggle. “Yeah, I’d let you. I want you to.”
“I-I’ll be gentle,” Pierrot promised her, promised himself.
Pierrot leaned down, pressing open-mouthed kisses against the column of her throat. She sighed, running her fingers through his long, silver hair. His sharp teeth nipped at her pulse point, enjoying the way the beat of her heart thrummed against his tongue.
His hands slid up underneath her shirt until it was finally over her head and tossed somewhere. His large hand gripped her thigh, achingly close to the juncture between her hip and leg. His other hand fumbled along her back until it finally came into contact with the strap of her bra. Not wanting to untangle himself from her, to spend a second away from the warmth of her body, he fiddled with the hooks blindly. (Y/N) yelped as Pierrot accidentally snapped the strap in an inelegant attempt to unhook it.
“You’re doing it wrong,” A singsong voice teased from the doorway.
Pierrot immediately tensed, scowling. (Y/N) laughed lightly as she pushed herself up on her elbows, looking over at the door.
“Hi, Harlequin,” She said. “You’re dripping.”
Harlequin grinned wickedly. “So are you, dear one.”
One of the consequences for (Y/N) having given both of her lovers a key to her apartment, in a fruitless effort to get them to stop from breaking in using her balcony door, was that the two monsters would let themselves in whenever they wanted. Harlequin shook his head, a spray of water flicking from his curls after getting caught in the weather outside. Not paying any mind to his wet clothes, or, perhaps, very aware of them, he strode over to the bed. Unceremoniously, he fell beside the tangled couple. Lying on his side, he posed with one hand on his hip and propping up on his elbow, resting his head in his upturned palm. His grin widened as Pierrot pulled (Y/N) closer to him as if to shield her body from his lecherous gaze.
While the three of them had wholeheartedly agreed to being in a relationship, (Y/N) couldn’t help but feel Pierrot and Harlequin were one wrong move away from turning this cold war hot, and not in a fun way.
“You know, I’m kind of hurt,” Harlequin said, reaching out and curling a finger around a lock of her hair. “You both going along and having fun without me.”
“You have great timing,” (Y/N) said. “I figured you’d show up eventually.”
“He certainly has timing,” Pierrot said. “I wouldn’t exactly call it great, though.”
Harlequin hummed, eyes narrowing. “You know, this is really your fault,” He teased. “Our poor, innocent Pierrot has become sort of a pervert ever since he met you.”
“Don’t listen to him, my dear!” Pierrot yelped. “I’m not-! I would never-!”
“Oh? You’re the one who started breaking into her place in the middle of the night first, remember? Tell me, (Y/N), did you ever happen to wake up with a strange taste in your mouth?”
Harlequin snickered at Pierrot’s flustered stuttering as the latter tried to defend himself from a crime they all knew he was guilty of. (Y/N) had come to terms with that particular detail a long time ago.
“So what’s your excuse, then?” (Y/N) said, playfully shoving Harlequin.
He mock gasped and held a hand to his chest. “Excuse you! I’m not a pervert, I’m a savant!” As if to prove himself, he reached behind (Y/N)’s back and undid the clasp on her bra with one definitive flick of his wrist.
The cups fell from her chest, exposing her to them. Suddenly very aware of her own body and the two hungry pairs of eyes observing her every minuscule movement, she lifted her arm up to cover herself.
Pierrot caught her hand. “Please, don’t. You’re so beautiful, my lady. I want to see every part of you.” He leaned forward, forehead gently touching hers.
Harlequin neatly slid behind her, resting her back against his chest. His hands came around her, one pressed against her stomach and the other just below her breast, twitching to reach up and squeeze. “I want to see everything, too. I bet you make the cutest faces.” He nipped at her neck.
“Pierrot, Harlequin,” She gasped out, eyes closing as she leaned back into the latter's embrace, the former following to press into her.
“Of course,” Harlequin said, not satisfied to just let the moment play out without additional ribbing. “I don’t know how much help our dear Pierrot will be. I said he was a pervert, but I didn’t say he was a very good one. Poor little virginal Pierrot, no idea what to do with his love even when she’s all open and waiting in front of him, huh?”
“Do you ever stop talking?” Pierrot growled.
“I just want to give our darling a heads up, is all,” Harlequin said with fake innocence. “At least one of us needs to make sure she isn’t disappointed with some fumble in the dark.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing either,” (Y/N) interrupted the argument before it could really start. “I mean, I’ve kissed a few people,” she ignored the flash of bloodlust in their eyes. “But I haven’t really, you know, done anything. So if you’re going to give Pierrot a hard time you have to give me one, too.”
The two paused at her confession. Suddenly, the air in the room felt heavier, the rain beating against the windows much louder. Their eyes met briefly as a moment of understanding passed between them. This, this was much more serious than they thought. Their naturally possessive nature seemed to double. The idea of keeping their human so close, having such intimate knowledge before anyone else, being the first, last, and only ones to ever bring her pleasure, and that she would readily let them have access to it, stirred a deep hunger in their gut.
Harlequin, wanting to break the tension, smirked and (Y/N) immediately regretted her choice of phrasing. “Oh,” He said. “I can give you something hard alright-”
Pierrot tackled him.
As they wrestled on the ground, (Y/N) rolled over on her belly, watching them from the edge of the bed, feet kicking up and chin in the palm of her hand. “I have downstairs neighbors, guys,” She said.
They either ignored or simply didn’t hear her. Harlequin’s cackle of victory suddenly turned into a squawk as Pierrot wrestled himself on top of him, hands secure and squeezing around his neck.
(Y/N) signed, watching them duke it out. She wondered if this was how they showed affection, like cats play-fighting. It was a good thing their species, whatever it really was, was so sturdy. Despite all their time together, she still didn’t really know much about their biological differences besides the fact that her two lovers weren’t human. Even with simple make-out sessions like the one before, they insisted that their circus costumes stay on to keep up the illusion of humanity. The farthest she had ever stripped them of was their hats revealing their horns or their gloves to show sharp claws. She remembered the way even Harlequin had gone silent when she had brushed her fingers along the keratin ridges. The tips of Pierrot’s fingers were black, as if stained with ink, fading into the milky white of his skin as it traveled down his hands to his forearms.
“Guys,” She said. At least Pierrot hadn’t brought out his knives yet. “Guys?” Harlequin’s teeth snapped as he managed to get on Pierrot’s back and put him in a choke hold. “Okay then. Drastic measures.”
(Y/N) swung her legs around so she was sitting on the edge of the bed. Lifting her hips up, she undid her shorts, shimming out of them and her underwear. She threw them off to the side, to the same non-important space wherever her shirt and bra and ended up. Taking a breath to steady her nerves, heart loudly beating in anticipation, she leaned back on her hands and opened her legs in what she really hoped was a sexy pose.
“Hey! Am I going to have to take care of myself tonight or are you guys going to help me out?” She internally cringed at how cheesy that line sounded, but hoped it didn’t show on her face.
To be fair, the two clowns weren’t really paying much attention to her face. They froze, still as statues, only their eyes moving to rake over her form. She swore she could feel their gaze like a physical weight. Suddenly more self-conscious than she would want to admit, she rolled her shoulders in to shrink back, knees coming together.
Before she could totally redirect course, Pierrot threw off Harlequin and lurched for her. His large hands gripped her knees, pulling them back apart. “Please,” He said, looking up at her with all the reverence of a supplicant praying to a goddess. “Don’t.”
(Y/N) gulped, pinned down my his stare. “Okay.”
“Being on your knees suits you, Pierrot,” Harlequin said as he slithered back on the bed behind (Y/N). When Pierrot glared at him, and (Y/N) was momentarily worried they’d start fighting again, Harlequin held up his hands in surrender. “I just want to make sure you’re treating our darling with the care she deserves. You don’t want to leave her unsatisfied, do you?”
“No…”
Harlequin smirked and wrapped his arms around (Y/N)’s middle, trapping her against him. “Good. So just listen to the expert and we’ll all have a good time, yeah?” Still pretty annoyed that he would have to take advice from Harlequin for anything, Pierrot nodded once. Harlequin’s grin widened. “Good boy~. Now, start by kissing her inner thighs.” Pierrot pushed her knees further apart. He leaned in, eyes half-closed, gently kissing the soft skin of her thighs. She gasped at each one. “Good,” Harlequin purred. “Now higher.” (Y/N)’s chest started to heave from each breath as Pierrot’s mouth moved higher and higher up her legs, so achingly close to the sweet spot between them. “Aww, look at you two, so well behaved. Do you want a reward? Go ahead, lick her pussy.”
“Don’t be vulgar,” Pierrot said, half distracted. His tongue almost seemed to unspool from his mouth, inch after inch. Long and a dull lemon-yellow, it tapered at the end to a dull point. He slid his hands to the apex of her thighs. Using his thumbs, he pulled apart the lips of her labia. Before either of them could lose their nerve, Pierrot leaned forward and licked a thick trail from the bottom of her twitching hole all the way to the top above her clit.
“Ah!” With a cry, (Y/N) jolted back, slamming into Harlequin’s chest. He chuckled lowly, wrapping his arms around her tighter.
Pierrot looked up with wide, desperate eyes. “Are you alright, my lady? Did I hurt you?”
“No, it was good. R-really good. Keep going. Please.” Pierrot beamed at the praise and ducked back down. Eyes hooded as he focused on his task, he began to lick at her heat with renewed vigor. She let out small gasps and moans, hands clenching the bedspread and legs twitching. She reached one of her hands down touching the back of Pierrot’s. He let go of her leg and clasped hers, their fingers intertwining.
“Try writing the alphabet with your tongue,” Harlequin instructed. “Write your name. Or mine, if you want to do it the right way.” Thankfully, Pierrot ignored the last barb, tracing his tongue in vague letter shapes.
Harlequin ghosted a hand up her stomach, up across her breast, to hold her chin. He pulled her face up to look up him. “Knew you’d make pretty sounds,” He mumbled against her lips. He kissed her, forcing his own long, deep green forked tongue into her mouth. He swallowed her moans greedily. One hand still pressing against her stomach, his other came up to cup and squeeze her breast. She yelped into his mouth, her free hand coming up to grip his cape. “Tell me, dear one, which one do you like more? Like this?” He pinched her nipple between two fingers, slightly twisting and pulling. “Or this?” He flicked it between his long, taloned fingers.
“The – the first one,” She stuttered out. Her eyes were glazing over, face heated and flushed.
Harlequin grinned wickedly, as if he could grin any other way. He switched from groping and squeezing at her breasts to pinching her nipples, enjoying the way she jolted from the stimulation. He began rocking his hips, grinding against her bare ass. She pushed back, trying not to let herself get distracted by the large, hard length she felt.
With his chin hooked on her shoulder, Harlequin looked down at Pierrot between her legs. “Press on her clit with your thumb,” He instructed.
Pierrot looked up, a disappointed and confused look on his porcelain face. “Her what?”
Harlequin snickered as (Y/N) playfully whacked him with the back of her hand. Reaching down, she slid her fingers through her folds, opening them up for him. She twitched at her own touch, combined with Pierrot’s open-mouthed staring in wonder as if he hadn’t been devouring her a second before.
“Right here,” She said, and her voice sounded oddly breathless even to her own ears. She tapped with her middle finger, flinching again from accidental over stimulation. “It-It feels really good.”
Pierrot nodded once, hand sliding up to follow where she had instructed. He pressed his thumb solidly against her clit. (Y/N) cried out, eyes closing and head thrown back against Harlequin’s shoulder. Pierrot rubbed his thumb in small, tight circles around her clit and he dipped his head back down. Harlequin reached one massive hand down to hold her hips in place as she bucked against Pierrot’s face.
The combined sounds of her wetness dripping out of her and Pierrot’s movements with his tongue made an embarrassing squelching noise in the small room. She instinctively tried to bring her knees together again, closing around Pierrot’s head. Instead, he took this as encouragement. Not content with simply tracing shapes anymore, he pressed his tongue into her twitching entrance. His tongue flexed and wriggled, reaching farther that (Y/N) ever had on her own.
“Our dear Pierrot,” Harlequin purred. “Doing so well. Such a fast learner, isn’t he? Maybe you should thank him, huh?”
“Pierrot!” (Y/N) gasped out between moans. “Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you! It feels so good, thank you!”
Pierrot let out that monstrous groan again from deep in his chest. Settled on his knees in front of her, his own hips started to buck in time with the thrusting undulations of his tongue.
One hand still firmly on her hip, Harlequin abandoned fondling her breast with the other. He trailed the edges of his claws down her body, stopping to press down firmly just above her pelvis.
“You feel him in here?” He whispered in her ear. “Feel how deep it goes? Stretching you out all nice? Just wait till it’s our cock. You want that, huh? Want to give us your virginity? Want us to ruin your cute little human body with our monster cocks? Kinky little thing. Come on, Pierrot’s been working so hard for you. Cum on his tongue. I want to see what your face looks like when you do it.”
Head thrown back on Harlequin’s shoulder, she locked eyes with his glowing green ones. Breathless from her gasps and moans and yelps, she leaned forward to put one final kiss pecked against his lips before her eyes squeezed shut and her orgasm washed over her. Her back went ridged and her legs seized, trying to kick out despite Pierrot’s solid grip. Pierrot continued tongue fucking her trembling hole through her release. When she finally came back to herself, twitching from over stimulation, she squeezed his hat where she knew his ivory horns were hidden. He finally pulled back, eyes clouded, tongue lolling from his mouth, dripping with a mix of his own saliva and her cum.
Their eyes met, matched blissed out expressions. For a moment, the sound of the rain outside amplified, matched only by their heavy breathing. It was a moment wrapped in euphoria and anticipation for what was to come next.
Until, of course, Harlequin started to cackle. “Aww, that was perfect!” He said between laughs. “Who knew you had it in you, Pierrot? Come on, tell me, does she taste like you imagined she would? When you were tugging your cock with her panties that you stole, did reality match your imagination? I got to admit, that was pretty good for a first timer. Of course, I could have gotten her there in half the time, but I’ll give you some slack just this once. Aww, look at your face! Hey, hey, tell me, did you cum in your pants? Was it that good? God, your so pathetic it’s adorable.”
Still fuzzy from the high of her orgasm, (Y/N) noticed Pierrot’s look too late. He surged forward, clawed hand snatching up and tangling in the back of Harlequin’s dark, curly hair, and pulling him forward over her shoulder.
“Shut. Up.” He hissed. His mouth crashed into Harlequin’s. Pierrot’s eyes were closed while Harlequin’s were wide open in surprise. Slowly, his shoulders relaxed, and he leaned further into the kiss. (Y/N) watched in fascination with a spark renewing in her belly as their tongues flashed between them in the kiss. She could feel the vibrations of deep purrs coming from both of them. When they finally pulled apart, both panting, a string of shiny silver saliva connected them.
(Y/N) couldn’t help it. She laughed. She pressed the back of her hand to her mouth to try and cover it, but it was hard to hide anything when the two of them were pressed so tightly against her. Harlequin frowned and looked off to the side, trying to act unbothered. Pierrot honestly looked a little hurt.
(Y/N) cupped each of the faces, bringing them closer and kissing their cheek. “You guys are cute,” She said.
Harlequin gave a sharped toothed smile. “Cute?” He echoed. “I’ll show you cute.” Shoving Pierrot off, he hooked his arms under (Y/N)’s so her armpits were slotted against the inner crook of his elbows. His dark green tendrils slid from his back, wrapping around her thighs from hip to knee, and prying her legs as far apart as they could manage. Harlequin stood in one fluid motion. (Y/N) yelped, half-suspended in the air, the fear of falling momentarily flashing through her mind.
“What are you waiting for, Pierrot?” Harlequin said. “You’re reward for doing so well, I’ll let you go first.”
(Y/N) felt her face burn and she looked away, embarrassed about being put on full display with no choice but to accept her position. It made her heart speed up and lower belly clench in a way she loved. Pierrot’s shadow fell over her as he stood back up. She whimper as his fingers trailed along her, settling on her hips. Harlequin’s tentacles squeezed and undulated, as if in anticipation themselves.
“My lady,” Pierrot said softly. “My (Y/N).”
“Pierrot,” (Y/N) answered back. “Please, go ahead. I want this. I want you.”
Pierrot groaned, one hand coming off her hip to fumble at the belt of his costume. Finally, finally, he pulled himself out. (Y/N) gulped hard. She wasn’t really sure what she had expected him to look like, but the sight of his dick still took her by surprise. It was big, of course it was big, look at the rest of him, long and thick. It didn’t have the same anatomy as a human penis with a shaft and head. Instead, the whole thing was one continuous organ. It was almost tear-drop shaped, bulging at the bottom and tapering to a no less intimidating head at the top, with a second knot-like bump in the middle. Her empty pussy clenched around nothing imagining that knot catching inside her. It flushed, twitching and jumping untouched, dark gray at the tip as if dipped in ink, morphing into alabaster white white like his hands. A gob of pearlescent pre-cum clung to the tip.
(Y/N) whimpered at the first contact of his dick against her folds, still tender from her previous orgasm. He ran the tip up and down, collecting the remnants of her release, bumping the head against her clit. The tip caught on her entrance and they both gasped.
“Enough waiting,” Harlequin growled. With a flash, one of his tentacles unwrapped from (Y/N)’s leg and whipped out, wrapping around Pierrot’s cock. Pierrot gave a strangled gasp at the sudden contact. A second tentacle wrapped around his waist, yanking him closer. Working in tandem and not giving either of them any chance to protest, the tentacles guided Pierrot’s cock to plunge inside (Y/N). It unraveled from its hold on him as he sunk into her waiting heat, instead traveling to wrap around his wrist.
Pierrot groaned as (Y/N)’s pussy pulled him in. In a single thrust, he was half way in, the edge of his knot papping against her entrance. (Y/N) let out a sound between a shriek and a moan, body jolting at the intrusion. Even after Pierrot’s attention to help prepare her to take him, there was still a pleasant burn as she stretched to accommodate all of him. Honestly, she wasn’t sure if she would even be able to. But she should have expected that her monsters were going to try anyway.
“(Y/N),” Pierrot choked out. “So tight, so warm, so soft!” His hips pulled back a fraction on an inch, unwilling to be away from heat for even a second, before pushing back forward to stuff more of his cock inside her.
(Y/N) clutched at Harlequin’s shoulders, crying out again.She swore she could feel every inch of him in perfect detail. She clenched down around him. Starting with a stutter then moving to a steady, deep pace, Pierrot began fucking into her. Her feet bounced helplessly suspended in the air. The burn she had felt before melted away, replaced with an almost electric jolt of pleasure each time his hips crashed into hers. The knot rubbed perfectly against her g-spot. She could swear the head was kissing her cervix. She let out an “Ah! Ah! Ah!” with every thrust, matching the plap, plap, plap noise coming from where their bodies were joined.
Pierrot’s tongue lolled out of his mouth as he panted. He didn’t know where to look, from her beautiful face slack from pleasure, to her breasts bouncing with each thrust, to her pussy where his dick was pistoning in and out, in and out, in and out. His claws dug firmer into her hips, indenting the skin and threatening to break. There was something he was supposed to do, right? Wasn’t he meant to be gentle? This was his darling, after all. He couldn’t risk breaking her with their first time, not after she had entrusted her body to him. But, oh, it was too much, it all felt too good. And she was enjoying it, wasn’t she? Didn’t she say she had wanted this? His hips sped up, willing to go deeper, faster, rougher, more, more, more.
“Is he being too rough with you?” Harlequin asked with fake sympathy. “That’s what happens when you lock up a beast for too long. But I think you like the beast, don’t you? Look at how your tits bounce every time he thrusts inside you. You look like such a whore.”
“N-No,” Pierrot said, torn between being lost in pleasure and defending his lady love. “She-she’s not. She’s good – she’s a good girl. So sweet, so perfect, so tight, so, so, so good.”
Harlequin hummed. “A good whore, then. The best whore. Our whore.”
“Harlequin.” (Y/N) whined. They couldn’t tell if it was in protest to his bullying or a plea for him to come closer. Deciding on the second one, Harlequin leaned down and (Y/N) craned her neck up and backward. The upside down kiss was sloppy, but neither of them minded. (Y/N) didn’t think she had enough composure left in her for a smooth, elegant kiss, anyway.
Pierrot was pressing bruises into her hips by this point. Harlequin’s tendrils had to shift to accommodate Pierrot’s increasingly more desperate pace. (Y/N) could swear she could feel the knot pulsing within her.
She pulled slightly back from Harlequin, still sharing the same breath. “Close,” She tried to warn. “So close. Please, want to cum. Let me cum again.”
“You heard the lady, Pierrot,” Harlequin said, breathless himself. “Don’t keep her waiting.”
Pierrot probably couldn’t have given a comprehensive retort even is he wanted to. His mind was foggy, too lost in (Y/N)’s body, the heat that spread through his entire body. Harlequin probably could have said anything to him at that point, hell, a tornado could start raging outside and Pierrot wouldn’t pay it any mind. All that mattered, his entire world, had shrunk down to the warm, soft body in front of him and the pretty sounds he could draw out of her.
One of the tendrils stretched from its hold on her thigh. It reached out, pressing against her clit. That was enough to send her over the edge. Her back arched in the air. Her toes and fingers curled. Her mouth dropped open, releasing one more desperate cry.
Pierrot moaned lowly, his hips stuttering to a stop pressed as far inside her as he could as he came. His cum shot deep within her, quickly filling her up to come out and seep around the base of his cock. It felt like liquid fire within her.
Pierrot’s hair fell in his face, half obscuring it as he leaned over her still suspended body. His tongue dropped out as he panted like a dog in the afterglow. (Y/N) wasn’t much better, eyes closed and head dropped back, pulling in deep lungfuls of air. She could feel his cock twitch inside her, still heavy and hard.
“Think you have one more left in you, dear one?” Harlequin asked. She looked up at him, his glowing green eyes, his sharp smile, his own breathing coming quick from watching the scene that had played out in front of him.
“Uh-huh,” She managed to say, her voice starting to feel rough.
The smile on his porcelain face seemed to somehow grow sharper. He tugged her from Pierrot’s weakened grasp, one arm under her knees and one on her back like a princess in an old fairy tale. Oh, he liked that idea. He was defiantly going to have to play with it later. Should he take the role of the brave knight? The handsome prince come to her rescue? To kiss her awake from a 100 year sleep? Or would it be more fun to be the wicked wizard who placed the curse? The dark ruler from another land, kidnapping the king’s only daughter? The possibilities were endless, but something to consider for another time.
“Pierrot, lay down on the bed, on your back,” Harlequin demanded. His tendrils still wrapped around the red and black clown’s waist, he pulled him over, maneuvering Pierrot how he liked.
Pierrot lay back on the bed, head propped up by soft pillows, legs too long and hanging off the end. His cock still stood at attention, his and (Y/N)’s cum dripping down the long shaft. Harlequin spun around dramatically, his cape whipping around him. (Y/N) laughed at the unexpected movement. Harlequin smiled, something with genuine happiness and contentment, something he hadn’t felt fully in a long time. Stepping back into his role, he took a step forward, guiding (Y/N) to lay atop Pierrot so that she faced him, straddling his middle.
“Hi,” She said.
“Hello,” Pierrot said, bashful. His hands settled on her hips again, in the same spot where bruises were starting to bloom. Harlequin knew Pierrot was going to feel awful once he noticed they were there, sentimental fool.
“Hold her steady for me,” Harlequin said. He slid Pierrot’s hand farther up to her waist, settling his own so he could pull her hips up. One hand settled on her back between her shoulder blades, pushing her chest down so it was flush with Pierrot’s.
(Y/N) turned her head, laying it down on Pierrot’s chest so she could look back at Harlequin. She watched as he reached down, releasing himself from the confines of his pants.
He reveled in the soft sound she made when her eyes darted down. “You have two,” She said, as if saying it out loud would make it make sense.
The were more human-looking than Pierrot’s, but not by much. Besides the fact there were two cocks, stacked atop each other, for one. While not as big at Pierrot’s, they were no less substantial. There had prominent veins, almost glowing with a poison-green hue. A thick line of ridges on the bottom of each. Both heads beaded with pre-cum. A large drop from the top fell to the one below it, sliding down the shaft. And then, (Y/N) noticed, they started to writhe independent of each other. They almost acted as different variations of Harlequin’s tendrils that she was already so familiar with.
He grinned and replied in a sing-song tease, “I do~. Scared?”
She looked back up at his face with something that made his heart stutter. “Of you? Never.”
The corner of Harlequin’s smile twitched, his green, glowing pupils growing larger. He splayed his hand out flat at the small of her back and thrust in. The top cock speared into her, splitting her open, while the bottom rutted from the outside.
“Fuuuuck~” Harlequin let out a low, drawn out moan. His forehead thunked against the bare skin of her back at her shoulder blade. He muttered something in Portuguese. (Y/N) had been trying to teach herself their first language, but she suspected whatever it was he had said wouldn’t have been covered in her Duolingo courses. “I can feel Pierrot’s cum in you. Want me to fuck it in deeper? I’ll give you mine, too, yeah? Riiiight in here.” He tapped his claws on her stomach, right above her navel.
She closed her eyes, mouth falling open as Harlequin started moving. He’d pull out half way before slamming back in. He set a steady, hard pace, just on the fast side, but less desperate than Pierrot’s. His bottom dick pushed her labia open, the thick length of it pressing continuously against her clit. The head bumped against her stomach, leaving a smear of pre-cum at each pass. Her head swam picturing its twin at the same spot within her.
Pierrot drug his fingers through her hair, planting solidly against her scalp in a possessive grip. He pulled her head up, her eyes fluttering open, lost in the over-stimulating feelings coming from her pussy which took over her mind into a perfect almost drunk feeling. They kissed, the whole thing sloppy and uncoordinated in the best way possible.
“You guys are so cute,” Harlequin said from behind (Y/N). “You just have to have her attention even when I’m the one fucking her, don’t you, Pierrot?”
Pierrot glared, still kissing (Y/N). She felt his other hand slide up, brushing her side momentarily before slipping between their bodies. Harlequin’s back arched and he gave an undignified squawk and Pierrot pushed his own cock against Harlequin’s second, holding them both together and starting to move his hand up and down, jerking them off together. Both of them, inside and out, undulated in a spiral rhythm.
Going back to his thrusting pace, Harlequin gave his own half-hearted glare. “You’re a quick learner, huh?” He grumbled. Pierrot smirked.
(Y/N) closed her eyes again, head resting sideways on Pierrot’s chest, listening to his accelerated heart beat. Wait, why did it sound weird? Were there two heartbeats? Whatever, that was something to focus on another time. Right now, all she could concentrate on was how the air was punched from her lungs with every harsh push on Harlequin’s hips against her ass. She couldn’t tell if it was louder or if her heightened awareness created an auditory illusion, but the wet pap-ing sound between them became even more lewd to her ears. She could feel herself dripping onto Harlequin and Pierrot’s still frotting cocks just below her. The fap-fap-fap noise from Pierrot’s hand there added to the clench in her lower belly, the coil of her third orgasm growing tighter and tighter with each second.
Harlequin gripped her chin, roughly pulling her head up into an upside down kiss. Their tongues tangled together, unfocused and desperate for connection. Her eyes were teary, starting to spill over and stain her cheeks when he finally pulled his forked tongue from down her throat and let her breathe again.
“I-” She stuttered out, each word breathless. “I don’t know if I can again!”
“Yeah, you can, pretty girl,” He praised lowly. “One more, give us one more. Come on, we’ll take care of each other, yeah? All together this time. You, me, and Pierrot.”
She whined as he dropped her, face burying her face in Pierrot’s doublet, hands clenched so tight she might have worried about tearing into the fabric if she could form a coherent thought.
“(Y/N),” Pierrot gasped. “Harlequin.” His hand worked faster on their cocks, thumb swiping the heads.
(Y/N) mumbled something into Pierrot’s chest. She repeated the same thing again and again, the vibrations of her words coursing through him like an earthquake. Finally, she turned her head and said it one more time. “Love you. Love you so much!”
Harlequin bit down hard on his lip to prevent what would have been an embarrassingly needy sound escape as he came. Pierrot’s eyes rolled back, not bothering to hide his sounds as he joined Harlequin. (Y/N), trapped between their two impossibly hot bodies, cried out with a noise that sounded terribly pornographic in a way she didn’t think she was capable of.
Harlequin came from both his cocks. The one inside flicked as much as it could while in the tight grip of her pussy, pressing solidly against her cervix to spew out everything he had been holding back, staking a claim on her insides. The cock outside came at the same time as Pierrot, their combined cum splattering on her belly and Pierrot’s hand as he continued moving it rapidly through the orgasm. (Y/N) felt her knees go out as her vision became speckled with black dots.
Her whole body went limp like a puppet who’s strings had been cut. She could feel Harlequin fall against her back, the huffs on his breath hot and heavy, as he tried to keep himself propped up with one arm that was shaking from the strain. Pierrot, with the advantage of already being reclined, lifted his hand up, admiring the way his and Harlequin’s combined cum dripped through his fingers. He scratched lightly on (Y/N) back with the other in senseless patterns.
After a minute, or an hour, who could tell, Harlequin pushed himself up. He wrapped and arm around (Y/N)’s waist, letting them both fall to the side. He nuzzled his face in the back of her neck, gently nipping at the soft skin. Pierrot also turned on his side to face them. He used this thumb to brush away the tear tracks on her face, kissing in the remnants of each one.
“My lady,” He said softly. “My love. You were so perfect. So wonderful. I can never thank you enough for giving me such a gift. Rest easy. I’ll be here for you when you wake.”
“Hang on,” Harlequin cut in. “We’re not done yet.”
(Y/N) blinked at him from over her shoulder. “I don’t think I can go again, Harlequin. Everything feels fuzzy. I don’t think I can even move.”
Harlequin smiled, pushing a lock of hair away from her sweaty brow. “Not that, sweetheart, but I’ll keep that in mind. Come on, Pierrot.”
“But-But-!” Pierrot started to protest, but allowed himself to be pulled out of the room by Harlequin. He gave a desperate look over his shoulder, hand out and grasping. (Y/N) huffed a laugh and wiggled her fingers at him in a little good-bye.
She laid on her back, hands on her belly, eyes closed. She could hear the two of them fussing around in the kitchen, low voices punctuated by Harlequin’s vicious laughter. She frowned slightly and rubbed her thighs together. She swore she could feel the heat of Harlequin and Pierrot’s cum radiating from her belly. She could start to feel everything seeping out of her. What was that called? She knew she’d heard the term at some point, but between the pleasant exhaustion of being absolutely and thoroughly fucked out and the calming beat of the rain was lulling her almost to sleep.
“Oh, yeah,” She said with a yawn. “A cream pie.”
“A lovely term for something so utterly devious, isn’t it?” Harlequin said, returning. Pierrot stood in the doorway, clutching a glass of water with both hands, eyes wide and almost bashful looking, as if he and his rival/frienamy/lover weren’t just rearranging her insides. Harlequin sat next to her, an arm around her back to help her sit up. “Open your legs up for me, dearest. No funny business this time, promise.” He held up two fingers crossed and winked. She laughed lightly but did what he said. She winced a little at the sight of their semi-shimmering white cum trickled from her abused hole, coating the inside of her tights and staining her sheets. Harlequin brought a warm wet washcloth between her legs, cleaning it up. She flinched a bit from over stimulation at the contact, but leaned into him as he squeezed her to his chest. “Don’t just stand there like a lump, Pierrot. Being a whore is hard work. Give the girl her water.”
Pierrot narrowed his eyes, those golden pupils shrinking to pinpricks. Still, he obeyed, walking over and sitting next to her on the bed. He brought the glass to her lips, a finger under her chin to tilt her head back as he poured the water into her mouth. His eyes focused on her throat as it bobbed when she swallowed.
“I told you not to call her that,” He scolded.
“What, a whore? Maybe a fuck-doll then? A cum-dump? Grade-A fuck-meat?”
(Y/N) could feel Pierrot’s grasp on her chin tighten, and she held his hand gently before the taller clown could retaliate. “Thank you. Both of you,” She said. “That was… It was a lot, but it was good. And I’m glad it was with you guys.”
“Of course,” Harlequin bragged. “I’m an excellent teacher. Maybe next time I’ll teach you to take a cock down your throat, hmm?”
“Harlequin,” Pierrot growled in warning, even if in his mind he was already picturing it.
(Y/N) started to laugh at Harlequin’s rude antics again but was interrupted by another yawn. She blinked blearily. Looping and arm through each of theirs, she pulled them down on the bed in a cuddle pile.
“Next time,” She said with her eyes closed. “Let me wait until I can at least walk on my own again.”
“No promises,” Harlequin said. He pulled her so her back was flush against his front, chin pressed over her shoulder and face pressed into her neck.
“Sleep well, my love,” Pierrot whispered. He wrapped his arm around her waist, one of his long legs slotting between hers, kissing the crown of her head.
And there, in the safest and most dangerous place she could be, trapped between two bloodthirsty monsters who adored her more than the tide loves the moon, she fell asleep.
SYNOPSIS Enjin didn’t know you were hiding all that under your somewhat baggy cleaner‘s uniform until one day August gets a new whiff of inspiration to cook you up the possibly hottest uniform among the cleaners yet.
CONTENT nsfw / fluff / sexual tension / porn with plot / resolved sexual tension / mutual pining / slow burn / friends to lovers / coworkers to lovers / service top!enjin / praise kink / submissive reader / cursing / oral f!receiving / fingering / sadist!enjin if you squint
A couple cigarettes. The rush of tearing a trash beast apart piece by piece. The relief of a joint right after. Hitting up his favorite local spots at the end of a workday, surrounding himself with gorgeous women who couldn’t deny the fact that he, too, was quite the specimen himself.
Simple.
Once you joined the Cleaners, he’d been ecstatic to finally share the burden that was being in your twenties while babysitting a bunch of brain-wrecked teenagers.
For the first time in a while, he had room to breathe—time to indulge, and not just in stolen moments.
He could prep joints at night for the next day. Take long baths. Hook up with strangers. Stumble back home high out of his mind at bonkers hours in the morning.
He wasn’t above sharing his pleasures, either. He’d invite his adult coworkers to go out with him from time to time.
Gris usually took him up on it if his day had been particularly rough—especially after some heavy trash-beast ass-kicking.
Semiu, on the other hand, decided on a whim whether she felt like tagging along or not.
As for Zanka, Enjin was already looking forward to the day he’d be old enough to become a potential drinking buddy. Fingers crossed.
He’d even invited you along a couple of times as well, only to learn—pretty quickly—that you were more of a domestic soul. You liked taking care of yourself in your room during your spare time, doing chores, sticking to your own quiet routines and little rituals.
You spent a good chunk of your time tending to your vital instrument. Other than that, you just… existed among the residents. Easy. Steady. Reliable.
He exhaled slowly, letting the tensions of the day roll off him as his thoughts drifted towards the night ahead, an unlit cigarette sitting between his lips. The places he might go, the people he might see, the things he might do.
His steps echoed through the atmosphere of low humming halls. It was easy to slip into autopilot, leave monotone routine behind—as monotone as his job could get, really— and trade it all for the simple pleasures waiting outside.
Enjin had already clocked out in his head. Cigarette, street air, somewhere loud—he was halfway there when August’s voice tore through the hall.
“IT’S DONE! HAHA! I DID IT!”
Enjin stopped. Clicked his tongue. Figures. Nothing out of the ordinary. He put his foot in front of the other.
Then August yelled your name.
The lighter stayed in Enjin’s pocket. Instinctively, he turned back around to watch the scene unfold in front of him.
You appeared like you always did — clothes draping over you like they were just a size too big, hair half-tamed (much like you).
Mildly tired, mildly irritated, yet entirely unbothered by the chaos that was August himself. He leaned back against the doorframe behind him, eyes following the way you yanked the fabric out of August’s hands.
“On my fucking life,” you groaned. “Why’re you yelling? M’right here.”
“Wow, you’re so fun and energized,” Enjin chimed in, as sarcastic as he was relaxed.
You shot him a look — flat, unimpressed. He grinned anyway, like he’d just won a prize, or something. “You asked for a new uniform?”
“Not really,”—you held the clothes up to get an impression—“he just said he’d make me one ‘cause he felt inspired, so I let him.”
He couldn’t help but notice the fabric of the new uniform— or rather, the lack thereof.
Enjin then realized, distantly, that he’d never really thought about what you looked like under your layers of much too oversized clothes.
The sweaters swallowed you whole, the pants hung low and loose, and somewhere along the line his brain had filed you away as safe. Familiar.
Not something to think about.
“August,” you said, turning the scraps of fabric over in your hands, brows knitting together, “are you sure this is for me? This is so not what I’d usually wear.”
Enjin almost agreed out loud. Almost. It didn’t match you—not the way he knew you, anyway.
You were all soft edges and practical comfort, huge sleeves and borrowed pants, a presence that blended into the space instead of demanding it. This thing looked like it wanted to be noticed.
He should’ve written it off right there, should’ve sided with you and moved on. Instead, he found himself staring a second longer than necessary, curiosity gnawing at him in a way that felt unfamiliar. He wanted—unexpectedly—to see it on you.
Wanted to know what August had seen that he hadn’t. The thought settled in his chest, stubborn, yet not entirely unwelcome.
Enjin was a simple man.
“Are you doubting the gear genius?” He teasingly tilted his head.
“Yeah? How dare you?” August scoffed.
You sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose. “I’m not doubting anyone. I’m just saying—this doesn’t really look like something I’d wear.”
August waved you off, already vibrating with confidence. “Just try it on.”
You hesitated for half a second before nodding. “Give me a minute.”
And just like you’d seemed to appear out of nowhere, you were gone again the very next second. The door to your room clicked shut.
Enjin didn’t realize he’d been watching until August lightly elbowed his side, muttering to himself about unique stitching, unmatched genius, and a true artistic vision needing proper time to take shape.
Adjusting his weight against the doorframe, Enjin finally lit the cigarette that had been resting between his lips.
Huh, weird.
He’d seen people change before—hell, had undressed people before, had just been about to go out and find someone to undress again. None of this should have registered.
And yet.
Seconds ticked by, and his mind counted them anyway.
He took a drag. Exhaled. Then did it again. The burned-down bud at the tip of the cigarette fell to the floor in what felt like slow motion.
He shifted again, cigarette now between his fingers, trying to convince himself that now could be the time follow through with his original plan: go out, fool around, return at some ridiculous hour. No obligations. No reason to stick around.
So why weren’t his feet moving?
His gaze drifted toward your closed door. For the briefest moment, he imagined what it might look like. Immediately, he shook his head. He really never thought of you this way.
And yet.
The thought lingered. The thought of you—any way other than your usual comforting, gentle, easy self—refused to disappear. He heard the soft shuffle and toss of clothing behind the door until all that remained was quiet nothing.
He couldn’t lie to himself. He was curious. Whatever pleasures waited outside weren’t going anywhere, and he was entertained enough right where he was—so why force it?
There was no rush. No harm in sticking around a little longer. If nothing else, it gave him an excuse to annoy you about it later.
Another drag. Another exhale. The cigarette was now less than half its original length. A few more inches fell to the floor, slow, unimportant, meaningless.
The lock of your door clicked. And it mattered so much, for some reason.
Enjin’s head tilted, cigarette now forgotten between his lips. He imagined your last couple motions behind that door— a careful tug at a new hem, flatting a creased surface of the fabric, adjusting the fit and drape of certain places. Your hands moving along yourself in a familiar fashion.
Your hands moving along yourself.
And that was new. In spite of all the trouble he usually got up to, he’d never thought of you as a woman before. Not once.
Then, you stepped out.
The uniform fit differently than he expected. On its own, it wasn’t flashy, or anything, but it conformed to your shape in a way that made it undeniable. Attention-seeking. And you…
You made it look effortless.
The seams traced your lines perfectly, moving and folding with you in one fluid motion as if the fabric had been waiting for you.
The uniform was stripped down, tight, and sharp. The skirt hugged your hips, short enough to catch the eye without feeling ridiculous. It was tasteful.
The top clung to your torso in a way that left neither room for more fabric, nor for imagination.
Over it, the cropped jacket—Cleaners’ emblem bold across the back—fit snugly, following your every movement without losing its structure.
And the boots—chunky, scuffed, ready for anything—grounded you in a way that made the whole thing feel both dangerous and effortless.
And what shouldn’t have mattered suddenly mattered so much. Because, fuck… you were hot.
Every little shift you made—a tilt of your head, a small tug at the hem, the way the fabric moved with you—kept catching his attention. He bit the inside of his cheek. Ain’t no way you’d been burying all that under those layers.
And yet.
Something in him knew better. Your figure fit the style of the uniform perfectly. Natural. Balanced. Built in all the right places. That shouldn’t matter. And still, it did. His pulse ticked a little faster, and he kind of hated that he noticed.
What he was most shocked to have to face was the fact that you were pretty much exactly what he imagined whenever he thought of an ideal type.
His lungs tightened. Not from desire—at least, not fully. Fascination, awareness, intrigue—all tangled together. The version of you he’d filed away as “safe, familiar” no longer fit. Something was… different.
You glanced at him, eyebrows raised, waiting for judgment. Approval. Anything.
He exhaled slowly, smoke he’d forgotten in his lungs curling upwards past his curious eyes. “Fits,” he said, voice low and casual, as though he was trying to convince himself he hadn’t been holding his breath for the past couple seconds.
You blinked, then tilted your head to look down at yourself. “Yeah… I guess so.”
Neither of you moved. The hall felt quieter, smaller, like any sudden movement could cause him to bump into you. August had gone silent as well, half inspecting his work, half sensing the shift in the air without caring to pinpoint the energy.
Whether or not you had realized it, that was up for debate.
Enjin took another long drag. Exhaled. Hoping the smoke would create a barrier between him and your form.
It was then, that he realized it wasn’t just the uniform that mattered. It was the subtle shift in you, the way you carried yourself differently, the unfamiliar side of you quietly asserting itself—and him noticing, no pretending otherwise.
Your back straightened, chest lifted ever so slightly—oh, fuck—and the natural sway of your hips whenever you shifted your weight had him chasing after his own breath.
“Honestly,” you spoke, smoothing the fabric of your skirt over your hips, “I thought this would be uncomfortable, but… it’s really not. I do actually like it.”
“TOLD YA! I’M A GENIUS!” August screamed, dancing with wild pride.
Enjin couldn’t help but simply stare. An involuntary smirk grazed his features. “Yeah… you are a genius.”
He was a simple man with simple needs.
─────────୨ৎ─────────
By the time the last trash beast went down, you’d forgotten what it felt like to wear anything else.
Given the nature of your fighting, bruises were inevitable—something you hadn’t even considered when you first received the outfit. Now, black-and-blue marks bloomed along your legs, stretching from mid-thigh all the way down.
It was a sight quite familiar to you, the difference being that—with your new uniform— it was visible to everyone around you as well.
You were going to have to do something about that.
The adrenaline hadn’t quite worn off yet. Your limbs buzzed from all the movement, body feeling hot and fuzzy. You shifted your weight from one leg to the other in pursuit of some sort of relief for each limb.
And in spite of all your movements, the pieces of clothing hadn’t shifted in any unwanted way. No hems to adjust, no creases to smooth over. Nothing. The uniform didn’t just cling to your body—it practically felt molded to your physique.
You hadn’t had to think about it once during the fight, which, honestly, was the highest compliment you could pay to the resident “gear genius” who had so carefully tailored it to your needs.
You glanced over at Enjin, who seemed to be in a similar state as you. Chest heaving, skin dusted with the thinnest layer of sweat and grime.
He leaned back slightly, the ever-present teasing grin tugging at his lips—a feature that somehow only grew more pronounced after a good fight at the edge of the No Man’s Lands.
He put most of his weight onto his dear umbrella as his gaze flickered towards your form. You caught it flicking down for a split second—a questioning twitch in his lip, a curious squint of his eye—and then back up.
“Don’t start,” you said, already anticipating a comment about the state of your legs.
“Wasn’t gonna,” he replied easily, his hands up in defense and then catching Umbreaker just in time before it fell over. Then, after a beat, “You took quite a hit back there, though.”
“Well,” you looked down to properly inspect the spots this time. The bruises blossomed mostly in the areas around and on your knees, though your shins weren’t exempt of the hues of color. Frankly, it looked like it usually did. “Comes with the job.”
“Huh,” his gaze flickered down again, lingering long enough for you to take note of it. “You always bruise like that?”
“Pretty much?” You responded, putting one leg behind the other, as if it was going to do anything to hide it. “Legs usually take the worst of it.”
“Figures.” he responded, lifting a joint to his lips—his habitual celebration joint, as you’ve come to learn about him.
His attention to your legs lingered just a second longer than you’d expected it to, before focusing on lighting the end of the blunt with his lighter.
“You know,” he teased as the fire finally caught, then dropping his lighter back in his pocket, “the amount you bruise in a day feels like the amount I take in like, what, two weeks?”
“Wow, you’re so cool for that,” you shot back—unimpressed, sarcastic. “Is this your way of telling me to be more careful?”
“Nah,” he smirked, taking a drag of his joint and exhaling the smoke, a relaxed groan escaping along with it. “You handle yourself just fine.”
That earned him a look. “High praise.”
“Don’t get used to it.” he retorted, a challenging expression adorning his sharp features.
“Aw, why not?” You finally took a moment to stretch.
Hands pressed together, you reached overhead, trying to ease the tension built up in your back during the fight. Even as you moved, you couldn’t help but notice the hem of your top riding up just slightly—enough to follow your motion comfortably, never restrictive, never bothersome.
It was honestly impressive.
When your arms dropped back to your sides, you caught the faintest flicker of movement out of the corner of your eye—and for a moment, it felt like Enjin’s gaze was still following you. Just for a heartbeat, though.
“What’s up with you today?”
“Huh?” A cloud of smoke tore through his lips. “What do you mean?”
“You’re, like, looking at me all the time,” you said, resting a hand on your hip. “What’s up with that?”
“I’m not.” He scoffed, taking another drag, huffing little smoke circles and watching them disappear into the air.
You rolled your eyes. “You are, though.”
“No, I’m not.”
“You totally are.”
“Yeah,” he admitted, shooting you a hopelessly charming smile, eyes shamelessly flicking down and back up your figure. “Maybe a bit.”
Unfortunately for you, his charms didn’t leave you entirely unaffected.
You couldn’t help it. Anyone with working eyes knew exactly that Enjin was the unfortunate epitome of attraction.
The sharp line of his jaw catching the light as he tilted his head, the way smoke curled lazily from his lips, forming all sorts of organic shapes before vanishing into the air.
The collar of his shirt revealing the ink nestled underneath his skin, curving alongside his neck, giving him this edge that somehow fit that permanent teasing expression he always wore.
You shook your head slightly, trying to tell yourself it didn’t mean anything. But your pulse had its own opinion, quickening with the small, easy awareness of him in front of you.
But no. This guy was more than likely carrying a choker filled to the brim with booty calls. There was no reason for him to be paying you that kind of attention, especially since he usually didn’t.
Something you’d always been painfully aware of, to your dismay.
“Whatever,” you muttered, more to yourself than him. “Can you drive?”
“Why?” he grinned. “‘Cause your legs are busted?”
“You’re so funny today,” you mustered the most obnoxious fake-laugh you were capable of. “No, genius. I’m asking, because you’re high.”
“That would certainly be a valid concern,”—he took another taunting drag—“if you weren’t talking to me right now.”
“Silly me,”you said, not-so-subtle sarcasm yet to unlace from your voice. “No, but really.”
You walked past him toward the off-roader, unable to hide the little bounce in your step—half from the lingering adrenaline still coursing through your veins, half from the excitement you felt at the prospect of returning back to your base—home.
Heavy steps followed you until you both slid into the vehicle, him in the driver’s seat.
“I’ve done wilder things stoned,” he scoffed, playfully rolling his eyes as he inserted the key into the ignition.
“Like what?” You asked, getting comfortable in your seat.
“Wouldn’t you like to know.”
“You’re so insufferable sometimes.” you sighed, shooting him a displeased look. “Just focus on the road.”
He smiled, eyes meeting yours as if to admit guilt. “No promises.”
His fingers moved quickly over the keys, firing up the engine before shifting gears and getting the car rolling.
“Buckle up, princess,” he said. “Just ‘cause your legs are bruised doesn’t mean I’ll be slowing down any time soon.”
The little nickname definitely didn’t go unnoticed by you—as well as the double innuendo, which wasn’t out of the ordinary for him—though you felt too something to really comment on it.
“Don’t you worry about my legs,” you shot back, trying for a casual tone. “Not like I’m made of sugar or something.”
He smirked to himself, taking a last long drag of the joint before flicking it out the window. “Good to know.”
You caught him muttering something under his breath—more to himself than to you—but decided to let it slide. Your pulse still hadn’t quite settled—whether that was from the fight or due to certain body-modded men within your vicinity was something you chose not to worry about— and honestly, you didn’t really feel like picking fights, anyway.
The motor rumbled beneath you as the off-roader stumbled over the uneven ground of the No Man’s Land, gradually leaving the chaos behind. The road began to flatten with each passing mile, though the ride already felt surprisingly smooth—especially considering it was Enjin behind the wheel right now.
You kept your hands folded in your lap. Your gaze kept wandering between the trash-ridden landscape — a rather unpleasant sight — and, of course, him — an admittedly rather pleasant side.
Despite every warning you’d given yourself, despite every attempt to keep your guard up, he slipped past it effortlessly. He didn’t need your consent to get under your skin—and you couldn’t really help letting him, either. He was just good at getting people’s guard down—at least among the Cleaners.
Or maybe it was just you.
Your gaze drifted back to him, more often than you cared to admit. His side profile looked sharper and even more defined against the warm rays of a setting sun kissing his dirt-ridden skin.
It was honestly a bit annoying how attractive he was.
You mentally traced the patterns of the tattoos disappearing beneath the nick of his shirt, wondering about the way they might continue. Your focus drifted towards the flex of his strong hands on the wheel, covered in similar shapes—how did they curl under his sleeves?
You shifted in your seat, throwing one leg over the other, and felt the faint sting of bruises along the length of your legs. Nothing severe, but enough to remind you that your fight hadn’t been gentle.
You flexed them subtly under the skirt of your uniform, partly to stretch, partly out of curiosity, playing a quiet game of “how long before it hurts too much”. Of course, it never got to that point. It’s just some light bruising.
He glanced at you then, out of the corner of his eye, and his smirk widened just slightly, like he knew about the silly game you were playing in your head to entertain yourself. A small quirk of his eyebrow, a tilt of the head—it was enough to make your chest tighten, though you pretended (miserably) to focus on your legs instead.
“So,” he said, voice casual but teasing, “you planning on sitting there looking broody all the way back, or are we gonna talk?”
You let out a soft breath, shoulders sinking into the seat. “I’ll be honest… I’m kind of tired.”
“I was wondering when you’d say that.” His tone softened, the teasing thinning out. “You can sleep, if you wanna. I’ll wake your ass at HQ.”
“Mm,” you hummed, eyelids already heavier than you’d realized. “Sounds good.”
“I’ll wake you up good,” he added lightly. “Get Delmon to hose you down.”
One eye cracked open. “Okay. I’m not sleeping.”
He huffed a quiet laugh. “I’m kidding.” A pause. Then, softer, more genuine: “I’ll wake you up real gentle. Promise. Get some rest.”
The hum of the engine filled the space between you. The road stretched ahead, steady and uneventful.
You shifted slightly, adjusting against the seat, legs stretching out a little more carefully this time. Your head tipped back. The exhaustion wasn’t dramatic — just the slow kind that settled into your bones after a long day.
You felt it before you saw it — his hand adjusting the climate dial so the air wouldn’t blow directly at you. The smallest thing. Almost nothing.
But not nothing.
Your eyes fluttered closed.
The last thing you registered was the faint sound of him muttering under his breath — something about how easily you wear yourself out — and the way the vehicle seemed to move just a little smoother than before.
You were asleep before you even realized it.
─────────୨ৎ─────────
The common area was louder than usual—music bleeding from a battered speaker, empty bottles clustering along the tables, the air thick with smoke and laughter. Someone had dragged out a deck of cards, another group arguing loudly over rules that changed every five minutes.
Enjin fit right into it.
He leaned back in his chair, one arm slung over the backrest, a drink balanced loosely in his hand as he laughed along with the others. Easy. Relaxed. This was familiar territory—post-mission chaos, shared exhaustion, celebration for still being alive. The kind of environment he absolutely thrived in.
His eyes roamed the room in a moment that was supposed to be all about appreciating his weird, little family.
And then, they stopped.
You hadn’t made any sort of announcement. No dramatic pause, no random attempt at drawing attention. You just slipped into the room like you always did— quiet, familiar, reliable.
His gaze flickered down before he could stop himself.
The uniform sat on you as disgustingly well as it always did. Skirt hugged you too well, top accentuated your physique, jacket hung loose over your shoulders, sleeves slinging in the air.
He had just gotten somewhat used to seeing you this way. It was supposed to be safe. It should have been safe.
You chose trouble today.
It wasn’t the uniform that threw him off.
It was what you added.
Dark fabric hugged your legs beneath the skirt, reaching high enough to erase the bruises he knew were there. Practical. Sensible.
That, somehow, made it worse.
He knew why you were wearing them. A part of him basked in the fact that he was probably the only person here that knew why you were wearing them, that this was your attempt at hiding your bruises. And, somehow, knowing what it looked like underneath made it that much more… intimate?
Not to mention the way that the plush of your legs perfectly spilled over the hem of the fabric, which was the best part about these types of socks, anyway.
But this was you. Cozy, unchanging, reliable you.
With a single addition to your work attire, you’d managed to take it from blurring the lines of professionalism to… well, overstepping them entirely. At least, in his eyes.
He couldn’t tell if he minded or not. Or he just couldn’t admit the truth to himself.
The card game, the drink in his hand, the music running in the background—all of it faded as he took his sweet time observing you.
He eased back into the loveseat he was occupying, spreading his long legs like he owned the space, as if waiting for you was the most natural thing in the world.
You greeted a few people, checked on the kids at the children’s table, but never seemed to settle in one spot.
And so, he called your name before he could stop himself.
Your head snapped toward him, eyes locking with his as you made your way to the poker table.
“Hey there,” you greeted, arms loosely crossed.
“Hi,” he replied, flashing that infuriating grin. “Sit down. We could use another player.” He shifted over, leaving just enough space for you to slide in, and you did—probably closer than you’d expected—after greeting everyone at the table.
His hand draped over the back of the two-seater, half-encasing your frame. His legs stretched, one brushing the side of your thigh, claiming the space with casual confidence, yet leaving enough for you.
“So… what are we playing?” you asked, voice light, like you were trying not to notice the proximity.
“It’s called Bluffing,” he said, eyes flicking toward you briefly. “Basically, the deck is evenly split among the four of us and we have to place cards in order of Ace to King facedown. The catch: You won’t always have the right card at the right turn.”
“Ah,” you murmured as you took the drink from his hand and sipped, the weight of his gaze lingering on you. “So—you’re gonna have to bluff.”
“Right,” he replied, brow quirking just slightly. “You can place in multiples, though. If you gotta place an Ace and you have two on your hand, you can place both.”
“I see,” you replied, voice casual and airy. “How do you win? Or lose?”
“Oh, yeah—anyone can call a bluff at any point. If you’re right, the person who bluffed gets the entire pile on the table. If you’re wrong, you need to take the pile,” he responded. “Whoever has no cards left wins. You’ll get the hang of it.”
He leaned back slightly, letting his arm drape lazily over the loveseat, the movement deliberate, stretching closer to you without touching… yet. The proximity was ridiculous, and he knew it, and of course, so did you.
He could feel the subtle brush of your leg against his, hear the faint shift as you adjusted your seat, the way your hand lingered on the drink he’d gotten himself.
His mind did a quick double-take, because… damn. You smelled good. Closer than he’d ever been, and now it was impossible to ignore.
Enjin reached for the full deck on the table, shuffling it, before he split the cards evenly between the four of you, movements smooth and practiced. Cards slid across the table in neat stacks.
“Alright,” he said, glancing around. “Who’s got the Ace of Hearts?”
Everyone checked their hand.
A beat.
“I do.”
His eyes flicked up immediately.
Of course you did.
“Then—you start.”
He leaned back, watching from the corner of his eye as you looked down at your cards. You took just a second too long. Your lips pressed together, like you were holding back a smile.
That was new.
You placed a card face-down.
“Ace of Hearts.”
He didn’t even hesitate.
“Bluff.”
The word came easy. Calm. Certain.
Bro snorted. “Already?”
You turned toward him slowly. “You don’t even know what I put down.”
He tilted his head, studying you openly now. “Don’t need to.”
It wasn’t about the card.
It was the way you sat a little straighter. The way your fingers lingered on the edge of the card a fraction too long. The almost imperceptible satisfaction in your eyes.
You were asking for it, really.
“Flip it,” Delmon urged.
You held Enjin’s gaze for half a second—a silent challenge—before turning the card over.
Six of Hearts.
Bro burst out laughing.
Enjin didn’t. He just smiled—slow and smug—because… well, there it was.
“I knew it,” he said quietly.
“You didn’t know anything.” You rolled your eyes.
He huffed a low laugh. Then, using the arm that wasn't draped casually behind you, he reached down and lightly poked a spot on your leg he knew was bruised. You yelped, just enough to make him grin wider.
Meanwhile, he couldn't help but savor the fact that he was the only one who knew what your legs looked like beneath the thigh highs. It was his way of telling you that—at least in split second—you belonged to him.
“I know you.”
You muttered something under your breath as you took your card back, clearly annoyed—but not really.
“Alright,” he said, settling back again. “Go on.”
You drew in a breath, adjusted your grip on your cards, and this time when you placed one down, your expression was steady. Almost neutral.
“Ace of Hearts—for real this time.”
He watched you carefully.
No lingering. No spark. No tiny flare of pride.
Just calm.
He held the silence for a second longer than necessary—just to make you feel it.
“Alright. Continue.”
Delmon cracked his knuckles. “Two.”
He placed two cards down in a neat stack. No hesitation. No theatrics.
Bro eyed him briefly, but didn’t bite.
“Three,” Bro said next, tossing one card onto the pile with a lazy flick of his wrist.
Stil, no one called anything.
Then it was Enjin’s turn.
He looked down at his hand. The next number was four.
He just so happened to have two.
A small part of him considered holding one back for the next cycle.
He didn’t.
He slid both cards into the center. Calm. Clean.
“Two fours.”
He didn’t look at Delmon.
He didn’t look at Bro.
He looked at you.
Your fingers were still resting on your cards. But he saw it — that tiny shift in your posture. The way your shoulders squared. The way your eyes flicked to the pile and then back to him.
You were thinking. Good.
He leaned back slightly, arm still draped along the seat behind you.
“You gonna call it?” he asked lightly.
Delmon scoffed. “Here we go.”
Enjin ignored him.
His gaze stayed on you—not challenging. Just steady.
He wasn’t bluffing. But he almost hoped you thought he was.
For the most part, you upheld the eye-contact—eyes flicking towards the cards in his hand from time to time, as if questioning the legitimacy of them.
“I wanted to,” you murmured, eyes flicking toward him, wary, “but… now that you want me to call it, I won’t.”
Enjin huffed a laugh.
“Fair enough. Your turn.”
You placed your three cards with a smile. “Five.”
Delmon’s brow furrowed as he eyed the pile.
“Bluff,” he finally muttered, leaning forward, elbows now resting on his knees.
You blinked, keeping your expression calm. “Oh?”
Enjin watched from his spot, leaning back slightly, arm still stretched behind you, smirk tugging at his lips. He didn’t need to see your cards to know what was coming.
“You sure about that?” Enjin asked lightly, just loud enough for the table to hear. His voice carried a teasing edge, though he kept his own cards close.
Delmon hesitated for a heartbeat, then nodded. “What are the odds of having three fives on your hand? I’m calling it.”
You flipped your first card — five. Then the second — five. And the third… five.
It was true.
Delmon froze, eyes widening as realization hit. “Huh?”
You leaned slightly toward the center of the table, a faint, triumphant smile tugging at your lips, sliding the small pile towards him. “There you go.”
Enjin’s gaze lingered on you, amusement and something warmer flickering in his chest. You weren’t even aware of the way you’d slid closer, your side almost fully pressed against him.
He felt a soft nudge against his chest — your shoulder lightly stabbing into him. He didn’t move. He could feel the warmth radiating from you, the faint brush of your side against his, and the subtle weight of your presence.
He looked down at you, catching your eyes before you looked away. The next second, you muttered something under your breath, too faint to carry over the pounding bass from the speakers. Enjin might have only noticed because—well—he'd just been looking at your lips anyway.
An idea struck him.
As if the proximity weren't already enough, he inched closer, letting his body press lightly against yours as he
leaned down, silently signaling that you should repeat yourself.
His arm draped over you more than it did over the seat, head tilted ever so slightly as his gaze locked with
yours, faces just inches apart—a challenge you were doomed to fail. He caught the brief flicker of your eyes
down toward his lap, though you didn't pull back.
He caught your gaze again, right as your pretty lips began to part. “I just asked if we start from ace again,” you spoke, almost in a whisper.
“No,” he replied, voice casual, but he couldn’t help the small smile tugging at his lips. “Next is six.”
You fit against him perfectly, your frame settling into the dip of the cushions at his side, curves aligning just so. You seemed comfortable there, either unaware of how close you’d slipped toward him or simply finding it as natural as he did.
Everyone eyes shifted to Delmon now that it was his turn. He placed one card down. “Six.”
Right after, Bro laid down a seven. Supposedly.
The turn circled back to him.
Enjin looked at his hand. Not a single eight. It was time to bluff. No big deal.
He slid two cards into the pile, careful, measured. “Eight,” voice calm, almost casual. Not rushed, not nervous—just like always. He let his gaze flick toward you out of the corner of his eye. The way you were watching him, that slight narrowing of your eyes.
“Bluff,” you said, quiet, steady, like it wasn’t a guess—like you already knew.
He froze just for a fraction of a second, more amused than concerned.
“You think so?” he murmured lightly, leaning into the seat a little more. Not defensive. Not worried. Just curious what you’d do.
You held his gaze, unwavering. Calm. Confident.
Enjin exhaled slowly, sliding the pile toward himself. “Alright, fine,” he said under his breath, the faintest smirk tugging at his lips. “You got me.”
He was just flattered to know you’d watched him so intently.
“Damn,” Bro sighed, hand on the back of his neck. “You guys are really good at this.”
Enjin hums. “Yeah,” he says. “Something like that.”
Minutes passed, then stretched into what felt like hours. The pile grew steadily, now close to a quarter of the deck, and no one could afford to lose. Yet somehow, bluffs hadn’t been called in forever.
“You’re taking forever,” you groaned, tapping your cards lightly, fidgeting.
“I’m thinking,” he replied evenly, though the tiniest twitch of a smile betrayed him.
“Thinking about what—bluffing?”
“Wanna call it? I dare you.”
He glanced at his cards, then back at you, then back at his hand, before cautiously sliding a ten onto the ever-growing pile.
“One king.”
It was intense.
“You’ve got to be lying, man!” Delmon exclaimed, eyes fixed on the pile as if staring harder would reveal the truth.
“Okay, call it then. See what happens.” His empty threat earned groans all around—Bro rubbing his forehead in frustration, Delmon gripping his knees like he needed an anchor. And you… still. Too still. Still in a tense way, like you were frozen in time.
He didn’t know if it was reflex, instinct, or just a quiet urge, but his hand had started tracing lazy shapes along your shoulder. You seemed to relax into it, even if only slightly, and he was quietly glad to be of some comfort.
It also seemed to distract you from the game, which was a bonus.
It was your turn now. The pile demanded an Ace.
You picked a card and slid it onto the pile, voice even, airy. “An Ace.”
His eyes narrowed just slightly. He could tell.
The way your fingers lingered on the card before letting it go, the tiny pause in your voice, the way your gaze flicked to him and then quickly away—you weren’t enjoying the lie as much as you should have been.
He considered calling it. Just for a moment.
But he couldn’t bring himself to let the pile crash down on you.
He leaned back just slightly, letting his gaze rest on you for a beat longer than necessary, noting the faint lift of your chest as you exhaled, and the subtle tension easing from your shoulders. Not because he needed to, not because he wanted to punish you—just because he could.
Just because he liked it.
─────────୨ৎ─────────
You played round after round after that, the hours slipping by unnoticed. The table shifted, drinks were replaced, the music grew louder and then blurred into the background.
By the time the night began to thin out, he’d walked you through the halls and left you at your door, talking about nothing and everything at once—recent expeditions, Rudo’s progress, who had handled the trash beasts better on the last mission (obviously you). You said your goodbyes like you hadn’t half-sat in his lap just moments earlier.
And you just couldn’t shake the thought of him.
His lingering looks.
That honeyed tone to his voice.
The way his words always seemed to push just enough to see what you’d do with them.
You’ve been trying to catch sleep for a couple hours, but the phantom sensation of his finger lazily tracing circles into your shoulder hadn’t faded. Neither had the warmth of his body pressed against yours, or the image of his sharp, calloused hands working the deck.
You groaned into your pillow, kicking your feet against the mattress (which was dumb, because your legs still hadn’t recovered—it hurt really bad).
This was frustrating.
Even now, your body felt as though it was running just as hot as it had when pressed right against the side of his hard chest. Tingles ran over every bit of skin that touched him. Your thoughts wandered places you usually always tried to keep them from and you were failing miserably tonight.
His naked, inked skin.
His strong, broad frame.
His stupid hot fucking smile.
The way his hands would feel…
You’d usually always been able to handle him, but something was just different this time.
This wasn’t the same old big-ego Enjin. It was him threading himself into your thoughts, somehow playing with the pace of your heartbeat, the temperature of your skin, the electric feeling in your stomach.
Sleeping was pointless. You were lucky you had nowhere to be in the morning.
Maybe you should take a shower.
You begrudgingly lifted your face from the squished pillow and pushed yourself up, heading to grab a change of clothes before shuffling toward the bathroom.
By the time you reached it, your resolve had wavered enough that you didn’t even bother shutting the door fully before peeling off your sleep shirt, carelessly throwing it onto your pile of laundry you had yet to find a day to tackle.
The water felt relieving against your skin. Today felt like the kind of day that justified turning it really hot—which Enjin always hated, since it usually meant a cold, miserable shower for him the next morning. After tonight, you figured he kind of deserved it.
If he was going to occupy your thoughts, you were claiming the hot water.
The sensation of the water running down your body seemed to numb the pain in your legs, but it did little to wash away the feeling of his skin pressed against yours—because of course it wouldn’t. This wasn’t a physical sensation, it was him in your head.
You turned the temperature up a notch.
It burned, but it felt good.
Single droplets pierced you like hot needles—a type of pain you actually welcomed. All the tension of the day seemed to wash off your body, disappearing down the drain along with the water.
You could stay here for hours, maybe even fall asleep like this. All your senses felt cut off from the outside world, with no room for any unwanted thoughts. Just the unbearably hot water, close enough to feel endless.
And then, there was a beep.
You froze. You hadn’t taken your choker off yet.
Someone was calling.
You feared you knew exactly who.
“Enjin, what the fuck? It’s, like, 1 a.m.!” you whisper-shouted, covering the choker as best you could with your hand, as though that was going to shield you in any way.
“Huh? It’s almost 3. And I can hear you,” he replied.
“Yeah, I know, we’re in a call!” you said, exasperated.
“No, like… I can hear your shower,” he clarified, a faint chuckle in his tone.
“And you thought it’d be a good idea to call me in the shower?”
“You picked up, didn’t you?” His grin practically radiated through the call.
What you hated most in this moment wasn’t that he called—it was the fact that you were excited about it.
And the fact that he was right.
“You don’t even know how hot my shower is running right now.” you challenged him, hoping to get him right where you knew it hurt.
“That’s fucked up,” he laughed, like he wasn’t taking you seriously at all. “Just to tick me off? Or you just felt like showering hot?”
“I don’t have to answer that.” you mumbled, reaching for the shampoo bottle.
“And that says so much,” he replied. “Why’re you taking a shower in the middle of the night? Didn’t you say you were tired?”
“I was tired,” you admitted, letting the water cascade over your shoulders. “I just couldn’t fall asleep.”
“Mm, same,” he replied. “It’s kind of your fault for turning on the shower, though.”
“Thats on you.” And you regretted these words the moment they escaped your lips.
“What’d I do?”
Because what were you even going to tell him? That you couldn’t stop thinking about how good he smelled? That you wished his arm had fully encased you? That you actually kind of liked it when he pressed down on your bruises? That just thinking about any of it made your body react in ways you could never, ever admit out loud?
“I just don’t like you.” you muttered, scrubbing shampoo into your hair, trying to keep your voice even.
“I know that’s not true, sweetheart,” he said, his smile as audible as ever through the line.
Again with that pet name.
“I’m just gonna stop talking.”
“You could also just hang up.”
“Why don’t you hang up?
“I don’t want to,” he chuckled lowly. “I feel like you don’t really want to stop talking, either.”
You heard him shuffle on his end of the line—things cluttering and moving around.
“You’re very confident in yourself.”
“Hang up, then.”
You didn’t reply. You didn’t hang up, either.
“Thought so,” he murmured with a faint exhale—was he smoking?—“Wanna come over?”
“What. Now?”
“Yeah. Or, you know what?” The sound of shifting feet, a quiet grunt. “I’m coming over.”
Your fingers clenched slightly around the shampoo bottle, as if it was your lifeline. “I’m in the shower!”
“Well, hurry, my foot’s out the door already.” And the click of his door shutting was, indeed, audible on the other end.
The moment you felt the shampoo rinse completely from your hair, you stepped out of the shower, grabbing the first towel within reach.
“At least wait, like… two minutes,” you said, tugging it tighter around yourself. “Please.”
“But then I’d have to walk all the way back.”
“Our rooms are next to each other!” you shot back, exasperated.
“Yeah… way too far. Damn, you should lock your door.”
“Are you in my room right now?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied, as if that settled everything.
“Just wait—sit down somewhere. I’ll be right out.” you replied hurriedly, dropping the towel after drying yourself off and getting into your giant sleep shirt.
Shutting the bathroom door behind you and quickly shuffling your way back to your space, you find him splayed out on your bed, staring at the ceiling—or perhaps following the pattern of the smoke as it rose into the air.
“Well?” he asked, his focus not shifting toward you quite yet. “You gonna keep me waiting?”
You crossed your arms, trying for irritation. “Do I look like I had a choice?”
Then, he spared you a glance, eyeing your frame for a moment. Then two.
He smiled. “You look good.”
You blinked, caught off guard. “Sorry?” you asked.
“You look good.” He met your eyes after letting his attention wander all over you. “Like… really good.”
You shifted on the spot, tugging at the hem of your shirt. “Don’t start with me, Enjin,” you muttered, though a faint warmth had already started spreading through your chest.
“Relax, I’m just messing with you,” he said, propping himself up against the wall. He made space on the mattress, patting the newly free spot as a silent invitation for you to get comfortable.
He brought the blunt to his lips and took a long, unhurried drag. You could practically see the smoke fill his lungs, his chest expanding before he leaned his head back slightly and exhaled, the haze curling lazily toward the ceiling. The sound he made—low, pleased—had no business shooting right through you the way it did.
You took a short breath, grounding yourself, then crossed the room and settled into the space he’d made for you. You leaned back against the pillows, angling your legs carefully so they didn’t tangle with his, even though the mattress dip made closeness unavoidable.
When you glanced over, he wasn’t looking at you anymore.
His gaze had gone distant, unfocused, like he’d drifted somewhere else entirely as the drug settled in. For a moment, you just watched him—his relaxed posture, the faint rise and fall of his chest, the way the smoke still lingered around him.
The thought that he looked kind of ethereal quietly passed your mind.
Then, with the slightest tilt of his head, his eyes found yours again.
“Wanna try?” he asked, holding the blunt out toward you. You blinked. Once. Twice.
“What—smoking?” you echoed.
“Yeah.” His smile was lazy, unpressuring. “You don’t have to.”
You hesitated. You’d never really felt the urge before—never saw the appeal. Still, curiosity nudged at you, persistent and annoying.
“…If you teach me?”
Something softened in his expression, just briefly, before a faint smile took over.
“Of course, sweetheart.”
He held it closer, waiting. You took it carefully, immediately aware of how little you knew about what to do with it. You’d seen people smoke before, sure—but holding it yourself felt strangely intimidating. For something so small, it suddenly felt like it carried a lot of weight.
And you were supposed to breathe that in?
“It’s pretty intuitive,” he said, watching you with open amusement. “Just don’t inhale too deeply.”
“That’s your instructions?”
“To be fair,” he chuckled, lifting his hands in lazy defense, “you’re probably gonna start coughing anyway. Just a heads up.”
Your eyes rolled on instinct.
You studied the blunt like it might give you some sort of guidance if you stared long enough. Then you brought it to your lips and took a tentative inhale.
Nothing.
Frowning slightly, you tried again—deeper this time.
Instant regret.
The burn hit fast and sharp, ripping the air straight out of your lungs. You sputtered, coughing hard as smoke escaped in uneven bursts, shoving the blunt back into his hand while you struggled to breathe. You were hunched forward, absolutely wrecked, eyes watering.
Enjin was already laughing beside you, completely unapologetic.
“I told you not too deep,” he said between laughs. “I gave you one instruction.”
You wanted to snap back—had a dozen words lined up—but air still hadn’t fully returned to your lungs, and all you could manage was a glare that only made him grin wider.
“Easy,” he said, laughter still in his voice as he shifted closer. His hand came up to your back, warm and steady, rubbing slow circles between your shoulder blades. “Breathe. I’ve got you.”
He guided you gently back against him, your spine settling against his chest.
You coughed again, sharper this time, eyes stinging as you tried to suck in air that didn’t burn. “You—” you rasped, grounding yourself with a hand on his leg. “You’re evil.”
He hummed, clearly entertained. “Yeah, yeah. Deep breaths. In through your nose. Just like that.”
You did as he said, partly out of necessity, partly because the weight of his hand made it easier. The coughing eased little by little, your chest still tight but no longer on fire.
“There you go,” he murmured, closer now, voice lower. “See? Still alive.”
Without really thinking about it, you leaned back, letting your head rest against him for just a second as you caught your breath. “I hate you,” you muttered—though it came out far less convincing than you meant it to.
His thumb traced a lazy line along your shoulder. “Mhm. I can tell.”
You exhaled sharply, shoulders tense. “You absolutely set me up.”
“I warned you,” he said, lifting the blunt past your frame and bringing it back to his lips. “You just didn’t listen.”
That’s when two things hit you at once.
One—you felt it.
Your thoughts began to loosen in a way they never had before. The constant noise in your head softened, blurred, fading into something distant and manageable.
And two—the position you were in.
Your hand resting on his thigh.
Your back pressed flush against his chest.
His arm lazily draped around you, like you just did this all the time.
It was a dangerous combination. With your thoughts dulled and hazy, you didn’t have the energy to filter your thoughts about how much you actually liked it anymore.
He shifted slightly behind you, just enough that the pressure of his chest against your back deepened, and you felt the subtle weight of his attention resting along the back of your head.
“See?” he murmured, more to himself than you. “Knew you’d feel it.”
You frowned faintly. “Feel what?”
“The quiet,” he said, his finger lightly tapping against your temple. “You stopped fidgeting.”
That caught your attention. You‘d usually try to deny it—but you couldn’t. Your thoughts felt slower. Softer.
He sensed it before you even said anything—the way your breathing evened out, the tension in your shoulders easing, the subtleties of the things you didn’t do—like pulling away, or fighting back.
“Look at you,” he murmured, voice low, almost cooing. “So calm… seriously, this might be the longest stretch you’ve gone without barking at me.”
“Shush,” you muttered, cheeks warming. “M’not calm. N‘ I don’t bark.”
“Sure, baby,” he said, that word curling around your spine. “Whatever you say.”
And you didn’t even have it in you to fully process the new pet name.
His hand found the hem of your shirt, tugging it lightly between his fingers, testing the fabric against your skin. Not enough to pull it up, not enough to be overt—definitely enough for you to notice.
You felt the faint brush of his thumb against your side with each little pull, a whisper of contact that made your stomach tighten.
“You’re kind of comfortable.” you muttered, trying for casual as you pulled your hand back—slowly, like you didn’t want to draw attention to it.
“Only kind of?” he asked, voice easy, almost amused. His fingers flexed once against your side, just enough to be intentional.
“Okay,” you murmured, almost to yourself. “You’re really comfortable.”
“Mm, sure seems like it,” he let out a soft hum. “You feeling tired?”
“No,” you replied, letting your words trail just slightly. The warmth of your body pressed into his was dizzying. “M’just very good right now.”
His hand moved lazily along your side, brushing your hip with an absent-minded care that made your stomach twist. “Mm,” he murmured. “Want me to stay?”
You nodded.
“Okay.”
The room fell into a quiet that wasn’t uncomfortable, just… present. No teasing, no jokes—just him and you.
Slowly, his fingers traced the curve of your waist, mapping the gentle swell of your sides as if committing every line to memory.
Each movement was bold in intention yet measured, teasing—like he was daring you to react, and you found yourself holding still, caught between hesitation and anticipation.
The warmth of his touch spread through you in ways that weren’t just physical; it was the attention, the quiet focus of him exploring without words.
His hand was no longer just playing—it was present, outlining the frame of you, leaving you aware of every point of contact, every subtle press of skin against fabric.
His other hand slowly lifted, fingers weaving through your hair. With a practiced ease, he swept it over to one side, letting your thick sleep shirt slip just enough to expose your shoulder. The fabric pooled lazily around the curve, leaving your neck bare to the warmth of his gaze.
A content sigh left your lips.
“You like that?” he whispered, his warm breath brushing along your ear. You already knew he didn’t need an answer—he just wanted to hear it from you.
You complied with a soft hum.
He took one last slow drag of the blunt, the tip glowing faintly in the dim light. You caught the plume of smoke in your peripheral vision as he exhaled, and it curled lazily over your shoulder, teasing your bare skin.
With a subtle flick of his fingers, he sent the finished blunt spinning onto the floor. You were too caught up in the moment to care, letting the tension in your body unravel under his attention.
You don’t think you’ve ever been this relaxed.
The hand that had been tracing your side drifted lower, slipping past the hem of your shirt. It moved agonizingly slowly, skimming over the soft skin of your bare thigh, his thumb drawing lazy, teasing patterns—just a little too far up, just a little too far in.
Just a little too much to pass off as friendly.
He was giving you just enough—enough to make your skin burn—but never enough to truly satisfy the ache that had built up inside you. The moment felt charged, but it wasn’t as simple as just raw intimacy.
His breath skimmed the skin of your neck in slow, even intervals. “You’re really soft.” It almost sounded like a question.
You could feel his attention on you—the hazed focus of his gaze lingering along the line of your neck, the faint feeling of his hair grazing your skin. Then he inched in closer—slow, gentle kisses traced along the length of your neck. And despite all the tension coiled in your body, they weren’t meant to provoke—just soft, unhurried.
He pulled back, resting his head atop your shoulder.
Part of you was relieved he didn’t take it further. Another part of you screamed at the loss of the feeling.
“You’re not telling me to stop,” he whispered into your shoulder.
And, yeah. You weren’t.
You swallowed, fingers curling lightly into the fabric of his sleeve. “Yeah,” you said quietly, words slower than usual, “Should I?”
There was a pause. Not the heavy kind. Just enough to let your words settle.
“Up to you,” he replied easily, his thumb returning to trace an absent-minded line along your side. “I’d be a bit butthurt about it—but, you know. Whatever.”
That made you laugh.
He stuck to caring strokes and gentle touches.
You drifted off to sleep in his embrace that night.
─────────୨ৎ─────────
He was a simple man. At least, he’d always thought he was.
Things just failed to feel simple lately.
Enjin sat at the table, leaning slightly forward as Semiu traced patrol routes on the worn map spread across the surface. Corvus flipped through the mission logs, scribbling notes in the margins with a pencil that had long since lost its eraser.
He answered questions when prompted, offered minor adjustments to the routes, corrected a timing estimate—on the surface, he was engaged.
His thoughts were entirely elsewhere.
They’d gotten stuck with you in your bedroom that night, about a week ago.
The memory lingered at the edge of his mind, pulling his attention away even as Semiu traced the eastern perimeter—and he was fucked, since he couldn’t for the life of him figure out why she was outlining it in the first place.
The scratch of Semiu’s pencil across the map, the rustle of papers, the muted scribbling of Corvus’s notes—they all faded into the background.
He could almost feel your warmth, hear the soft sighs you’d given him, see your eyes closing at the subtle pleasure of his touch.
He understood heat, understood want—the easy kind, the kind you didn’t have to think too hard about. Touch, tension, release. He’d never been precious with it. Never needed to be.
So this—this gentle kind of caution—sat wrong in his chest.
The way his hands slowed before touching you. How instinct kept telling him to pull you closer, but something quieter told him not to rush. Like moving too fast might shatter something he didn’t quite have a name for yet.
That part confused him.
You’d always felt safe. Why did that matter so much right now?
And then that uniform.
It should’ve been the usual—charming smiles, lingering touches, the spark of attraction he knew how to handle. Instead, it had hit him sideways. Like the sight of you had shifted something into place rather than set it on fire. Pride, maybe. Something that settled instead of burned.
The realization crept up on him slowly, unwelcome in how obvious it suddenly felt.
He wasn’t being gentle because he didn’t want you.
He was being gentle because, somewhere along the way, you’d started to feel precious.
And that thought lingered far longer than he wanted it to.
He absently rubbed the back of his neck as Semiu asked about polluted zones by the border of a No Man’s Land near the eastern perimeter.
“Uh… yeah, those are clear,” he said, eyes drifting to the empty chair across the table, imagining you slumping into it, hair damp from a shower, in nothing but that huge shirt you’d worn that night.
Corvus glanced up sharply. “You even paying attention, Enjin?”
He blinked, shook his head slightly, and forced a nod. “Yeah, just… thinking ‘bout the deployment,” he muttered, realizing how transparent that sounded.
He’d like to get deployed with you again.
No. Stop. Not now.
It wasn’t about him seeing you for the first time when he laid eyes on you that day in the hallway. Something in him had been stirred awake, something that had been dormant for quite some time.
Granted, the way you looked definitely didn’t hurt.
He just hated how smitten he felt about it.
Once he realized you’d fallen asleep, breathing slow and even against his chest, he’d chosen to give you space. He’d tucked you in carefully—too carefully, if you asked him—pulled the blanket up to around your shoulders and all that. Left without waking you.
He took a shower after. Cold.
For once, he didn’t even mind that you’d used up all the hot water. He’d planned on it anyway.
He just couldn’t believe the way he was treating you.
Enjin wasn’t selfish—just a bit indulgent. A hedonist in the simplest sense. He liked what felt good and had never been shy about reaching for it.
He wasn’t unfamiliar with want. He knew exactly how far he could’ve gone, how easy it would’ve been to guide you there with him. You would’ve let him. He was sure of that. And he would’ve taken care of you — that wasn’t the issue.
Because, fuck—he wanted to.
So why didn’t he take you?
You hadn’t been tense. You hadn’t been provoking. You’d been safe.
Again, safe.
He was starting to get fed up with safe.
He clenched his jaw. It annoyed him, the way he’d held back. Especially considering the things he could’ve done to you—wanted to do to you. Thinking about making you call out his name like it was the only thing you knew how to say anymore—over and over again.
And yet.
He didn’t.
He replayed it in his head more times than he cared to admit—the way you’d leaned back into him without thinking. The way your voice had softened. The way you hadn’t told him to stop.
You would’ve let him.
That was the problem.
It wouldn’t have taken much. A slight shift of his hand. Turning your face toward his and closing the distance. You were already pliant in his arms, hazy and warm and trusting.
Trusting.
His jaw tightened again.
Of all the things he could’ve done—wanted to do—he’d chosen restraint.
His mouth had found your neck, yes—but only in the softest way. Slow, measured presses of his lips against your skin. It was the one thing he couldn’t quite stop himself from taking.
Even then, he’d been careful.
And when had he ever been careful?
Enjin didn’t do careful. He did instinct. He did desire. He did taking and giving in the same breath. Going with the flow of things.
This time, something in him had paused.
Not out of uncertainty. Not out of fear that you’d reject him.
Out of something worse.
He didn’t want to cheapen it.
The thought irritated him more than anything else. He ran a hand through his hair, exhaling sharply through his nose.
Even here, surrounded by stained papers, pencils, and scattered mugs, the thought of you was impossible to shake.
Seeing you in your uniform hadn’t started this. It had just made it harder to ignore. The way you carried yourself. The way you focused. The quiet competence. It had sharpened something that had already been there.
When had he become so aware of you? Of the way you looked at him differently lately. Of the way his body reacted to even the smallest shifts in your tone.
He wasn’t used to wanting something slowly.
It was unsettling.
Because if this was just lust, he would’ve satisfied it already.
And he was only just starting to realize it.
Semiu and Corvus started gathering their things. Somehow, the word dismissed drifted into his awareness, and before he fully realized it, he was up as well, tidying alongside them—hands moving almost automatically, thoughts still elsewhere.
Moments later, he waved them goodbye and stepped out of the briefing room, moving through the low, humming halls.
The day had passed in a blur.
He’d looked for you briefly, only to be told you’d been cooped up in your room all day, finishing reports you had let pile up and procrastinated—you really hated paperwork.
And he just knew that about you.
At some point, he’d bumped into Semiu in the common area. She had finished her work for the day early and didn’t really have anything left to do—she figured she’d like to use the evening to enjoy herself, or something along those lines.
Enjin had agreed.
That’s how he found himself in a crowded bar—or club—he wasn’t even sure and it didn’t really matter. He was perched at a table, smoking his blunt—as per usual—while Semiu sipped a drink across from him, seemingly enjoying the light buzz in her system.
The music did most of the work in drowning out his thoughts. Around him, people were dancing, some were flirting, touching. Others were getting wasted, a couple were fighting. The colorful light pierced through the clouds of smoke all over the place.
The kind of environment he usually thrived in.
Usually—
Oh. Semiu was talking to him.
“…many prank calls. Like, seriously, it pisses me off,” Semiu ranted, leaning back in her chair, fingers tapping impatiently on the table.
“Totally,” he replied, taking a slow drag from his blunt. The smoke curled around his fingers as his gaze drifted over the crowd, half-present, half-lost in thought.
“I’m too nice on the phone. I bet the hell guards don’t get calls like that,” she continued, voice rising slightly with exasperation.
And he tried so hard—genuinely—to listen to his coworker and friend he held so close to his heart. He really, really did.
“Yeah, seems unlikely,” he murmured, blowing the smoke upward and letting it dissipate into the dim light.
“Enjin. What’s up with you today?” Semiu pressed, leaning forward now, her eyes narrowing slightly as she caught the distracted set of his eyes.
“Hm?” He blinked, realizing she’d actually addressed him, fingers flexing absently around the blunt.
“During the briefing, too. You, like, disconnected from the world or something?” Her arms crossed over the table, resting the weight of them on it.
“Nah, I’m good,” he said, a faint grin tugging at his lips, taking another slow inhale. “Why? You worried about little ol’me?”
“A’ight. Imma take your word for it. For now,” she sighed, shaking her head. “But also only because I’m so fed up by the calls I don’t really have the capacity to listen to you right now.”
“Honestly,” he said, exhaling the last of the smoke from his lungs before flicking the blunt into the ashtray on the table, “works f’me.”
“You’re welcome, boo.”
Enjin felt a dip in the seat next to him.
In his peripheral, a woman, about a head and a half shorter than him. It almost slipped his mind that things like this happened to him more often than not—that he usually waited for them.
“Hey,” she smiled at him, feigning innocence, though they were both well aware of her intentions. “Your name’s Enjin, right?”
Ah. So he’d spoken to her before—somewhere, sometime.
He finally spared her a proper look. She sat upright, legs elegantly crossed, hair cascading over one shoulder like a deliberate portrait. A subtle flush colored her cheeks, softening her features.
And—usually—she’d be just the type of woman he’d go for.
But today was not a usual day.
“Nope.” He popped the p with unnecessary emphasis. “Name’s Goostaf Hurgenskurk.”
The look on Semiu’s face in his peripheral was priceless—her eyebrows shot up, mouth half-open in a mixture of shock and amusement, like she couldn’t quite decide whether to laugh or glare.
“Oh, sorry,” she stammered, stepping back a little. “Must’ve confused you with someone.”
She turned on her heel and hurried away, leaving him with a faint smirk tugging at his lips. He watched her retreat, letting the brief amusement linger before his thoughts drifted back to… well, everything else.
“So,” Semiu said, raising her glass to her lips, holding his gaze deliberately as she took a slow sip before setting it back on the table. “Goostaf.”
“I don’t even know,” he sighed, running a hand over his face. “I was just trying to think of a weird name.”
“Why, though?” Semiu leaned back, tone soft with genuine curiosity. “She’s pretty. You always let a pretty girl take you home with them, no?”
“You make me sound like a manwhore,” he muttered, a defeated chuckle escaping him.
“Well…” Her voice trailed off, insinuating—just letting the thought hang in the air.
Enjin groaned, letting his head fall back against the chair. “I just don’t feel like it today.”
“I feel like,” she said slowly, tilting her head up, a knowing look slipping into her expression now, “you’re just feeling someone else.”
And—however she figured it out—he knew that she was right.
The thought settled heavier than he expected. He’d been circling it all day, avoiding it, dressing it up as confusion or exhaustion. But now, sitting in the middle of a crowded bar with music pounding around him and with his good friend sitting across him, it finally landed.
Properly.
“Fuck, Semiu,” he groaned, dragging his hands down his face before letting his forehead fall briefly into his palms. The realization hit harder than any drink or drug in the room ever could.
Her brows lifted. “Is that what’s been bothering you all day?”
“Yeah,” he exhaled, sitting back again, staring at the table instead of her. “I just—I haven’t really seen her for a week. We keep missing each other at work,” he rubbed at the back of his neck. “It’s rough.”
“You should just stop ogling her every chance you get and man up,” Semiu said, tapping her fingers lightly on the table, eyes fixed on him with quiet insistence.
“Ogling is a kind of a strong word for it.”
“She ogles you too.”
“Yeah, I know,” he let out a short laugh, shaking his head, before letting out a sigh. “I’m losing my mind.”
“No, man,” she said simply. “You’re okay.” A small pause. “Just let her know.”
He looked up at her. “Now?”
She shrugged lightly. “Depends—do you want to tell her now?”
─────────୨ৎ─────────
You. Despised. Paperwork. With. A. Burning. Passion.
Hours had passed since you’d started, and the stack of reports in front of you had barely shrunk. Every form felt the same as the last, every column and checkbox an endless, mind-numbing loop.
Your pen scratched across the page, filling in numbers, ticking boxes, repeating the same information over and over, trying desperately not to make mistakes. Your eyes ached, your back was stiff, and your brain was screaming for even a single moment of entertainment.
You slammed your pen down. Enough. You needed a break.
For a moment, you leaned back in your chair. The room was quiet, the night outside slanting through the window casting a cold light on the mess of papers. You hadn’t moved from that spot all day, and it showed.
Boredom clung to you like a second skin. Attention fractured. Thoughts wandered.
You missed everyone. Watching Zanka train Rudo from the corner of the training yard, hearing Semiu’s voice echo from the common area, even the occasional gruff comment from Delmon — all of it made you wish you could be anywhere else right now.
But you’d told everyone to stay out of your room unless it was an emergency. No distractions. No interruptions. You needed to get through the paperwork, and the last thing you wanted was someone leaning over your shoulder asking questions or chatting.
It was definitely what you wanted, though.
Still, even in the quiet, your thoughts kept drifting. You missed him too.
No. Focus.
You let out a long, tired sigh, shoulders slumping as you rubbed at the ache in your neck. The pen hovered uselessly above the next form.
Your eyes wandered across the room, landing on the stack of completed reports next to you—neat, precise, and utterly soul-crushing. You pushed it away with a flick of your wrist.
Enough of this.
You’d finish the rest tomorrow.
You leaned back in your chair, stretching your legs and letting the tension in your body ease slightly. Somewhere in the corner of your mind, you imagined him there—on your bed, attention drifting into nothingness as smoke swirled gently around him, unhurried and soft—and him looking utterly peaceful. Pretty.
A knock at the door froze you mid-stretch.
Your heart skipped. You’d told everyone to stay out unless it was urgent.
Another knock. Louder this time. Your chest tightened. You hesitated, staring at the door, mind racing through every possible scenario.
Slowly, cautiously, you approached and cracked it open.
To your surprise, it was Enjin.
And as much as he didn’t look like he was about to deliver bad news, something about him had shifted. The air around him felt different.
No performative expression. No mischief in his eyes. No provoking glint. Something much softer had settled over his sharp features—a contrast that made your chest ache a little.
“Hey,” you said, brows knitting slightly. “Did something happen?”
“No,” he answered simply. His voice was calm. Certain. “Not at all.” A beat. “Can I come in?”
You studied him for a second longer, searching his face for anything you might’ve missed. Finding nothing urgent—just your own curiosity—you stepped aside.
He moved past you without another word. Not brushing against you, not lingering—close enough that you felt the warmth of him as he crossed the threshold. The door clicked shut behind him, the sound louder than it should’ve been.
For a moment, neither of you spoke.
He took in your room—the desk crowded with papers, the stack you’d shoved aside, the pen lying abandoned where you’d dropped it. His gaze lingered there briefly before returning to you.
The silence wasn’t awkward.
It was heavy.
And whatever he’d come here to say—you felt like it mattered.
Just that he didn’t say anything. He looked at you, held your gaze as though he had all the time in the world. Like it stood still, right here in this room—with you.
You caught the faintest dip in his gaze—just slightly, brushing over the lines of your shoulders, the skin underneath the collar of your shirt—the smallest of shifts of his irises—before returning to your eyes.
You felt like you were being… scanned. For something. But you didn’t have the capacity to commit your mind to what that could possibly be, because your focus was on something entirely unrelated.
The breadth of his shoulders.
The vivid reds and blacks inked into his skin.
The loose curl of his hair falling near his temple.
He didn’t say anything. Not with words, at least. But you were beginning to understand.
He stepped toward you, slow and unhurried, closing the space without breaking eye contact—which felt like a bit of a crime in and of itself. It was unbelievably nauseating, made you feel powerless, but in kind of a good way.
Had he always been so tall? He really towered over you—couldn’t even look at him anymore without folding your head back.
His hand found yours first, fingers curling gently as he drew you in. You could feel sparks at the tips of your own—and it hurt. It hurt so much, because all the tension in your body seemed to come crashing down on you all at once and it hurt so much it felt good, somehow.
Then, it snaked around your waist, steady, holding you close. You didn’t quite grasp what was actually happening, you just knew you wanted more, but also anticipated possibly throwing up butterflies any second now.
His body was so unbelievably warm and big—the scope of it so up close was a bit hard to grasp. You feel the outlines of his defined body through his thin sweater and you forgot how to breathe for a second.
His other hand came up to cup your face, gently—so unbelievably gentle, like your skin might crack under anything more; it almost made you cry.
His fingers slipped into your hair, careful, slow. His thumb moved back and forth along your cheek, steady and soft. Tender—and you started wondering when you would have ever described him that way.
You were beginning to understand.
Your initial hesitance vanished into thin air along with the ability to think straight.
And all the what-ifs and maybes that had been crowding your mind melted away the instant he pressed his lips against yours
The sound of your heart pounding mixed with the ringing in your ears; you were certain you were about to die, if it wasn’t for the way he was squeezing your frame against his, like he promised to catch you if you were going to fall.
He was slow. Tentative. Testing the waters, as if silently asking for permission you’d already given him a million times over in your head.
His grip on your waist tightened just slightly, almost accidental—trying so hard to hold back, yet his true immediacy shone through the cracks of his performative reluctance.
He had been just as desperate to do this to you as you had been to have it happen.
You felt the butterflies do their thing again—and it was fucked up how easily he’d given them to you, with something as simple as a kiss and a couple touches entirely unraveling you.
Shivers trickled down your spine at the sensation of him, of it all; his warmth radiating through the fabric of his sweater, his lips moving with your own in a painfully—agonizingly—slow tandem.
Then he pulled back—no more than an inch—your soft, warm breaths mingling in the small space between you. A lazy, faint smile on his face.
“Hey,” he exhaled.
A simple word. It didn’t mean anything, really—but it did. And you understood.
“Hi.” Your voice almost ran out. Airy. Barely even there.
His grin widened, before he leaned back in again. Initially soft and merciful touches turned more intense, intentional; a firmer grip on you, a stronger tug on the back of your head, tangling into the strands of your hair at the nape of your neck.
Your body, your mind, your everything seemed to solely focus in on him. There was nothing more important than this, him kissing you senseless and holding onto you like you were going to disappear if he didn’t.
You felt him grow impatient with each passing moment—pulling your body even closer by the small of your back—and you couldn’t help but notice how large his hand felt there. He angled his head just right to deepen the kiss with natural finesse. He was everywhere—filling all your senses, overwhelming your system in ways you never thought possible.
He smelled of faint hints of tobacco, though he tasted a lot fresher than you’d expected—almost minty in flavour. The mix of cigarettes and mint made for a spicy tingle on your tongue and all you could think about was how it kind of fit the man you were holding onto like a lifeline.
Your hands found the nape of his neck, feeling up the short hairs of his sharp undercut.
You were trying to catch a thought—any thought—at least a single word—but you hadn’t taken a proper breath in nearly half a minute, and it was definitely starting to affect your ability to think clearly.
That he hoisted you up by the underside of your thighs with controlled ease a moment later—not breaking away from you for even a second—did not help in the slightest. He took a few steps somewhere—before your back met the hard surface of the wall behind you.
Your legs comfortably tangled around his waist as he pinned you against it with his hips, hard. The hand previously on your cheek joined the other on your waist, fingers digging into your side, abandoning any idea of slow and tender.
Your own hands traveled beneath his collar, nails dragging across bare skin and if he didn’t have this tattoo you were sure there’d be deep, red scratches there.
Groans rippled through him with every drag of your nails, the sound shooting straight through your stomach. It only seemed to provoke him further—pulling you closer by the arch of your back and pressing you against him, his fingers digging in just enough that you knew you’d feel it the next morning.
The kiss turned messy. There was no sense or rhythm to it, only pure instinct and insatiable hunger for the other. No matter how close he was—how deeply his fingers dug into your skin—you still felt like he couldn’t be further away. You wanted him closer, as close as physically possible and more.
He moved on towards your neck and it was nothing like the faint pecks he’d left there that night a week ago. This was him devouring you, moving right on the edge between pleasure and pain. His kisses stung as he bit them into your skin, likely tainting it with red and blue hues. “You feel so fucking good,” he whispered, basking in the way your body twitched—your sweet gasps nothing short of music to his ears.
Once he felt like he was done with one place, he’d continue his assault further down along the blank canvas of your skin, leaving only stinging spots behind, before finally returning to your swollen lips, leaving one single, slow and deep kiss.
“Enjin,” you heaved—the first time you were able to take a long breath in a hot minute.
“Mm?” He hummed, leaving lazy pecks on your lips, eyes entirely dazed. Sometimes, he’d move it to the corner of your mouth, your cheek, your jaw—just peppering you with gentle kisses, taking his sweet time with it.
His grip on you told a whole different story.
His huge hands encasing more of you than you could have ever expected, pinning you against him with little to no effort, like your weight meant absolutely nothing to him. And why would it? He was easily two times your size, if not more.
“I need—“ kiss. “—more,” another kiss. “Please.”
He pulled back an inch or two, a faint yet devilish smile adorning his face. “More of what, sweetheart?”
His head dipped back into the crook of your neck, lips grazing the newly mark-ridden parts of your skin, leaving a couple more soft kisses along their pattern. “More of this?”
And he was well aware that that was not what you meant. You knew he knew that was not what you had meant—and it was frustrating to no end. The ache between your legs was getting more unbearable by the second. “No—want you to touch me,” you whined. You tried to ease the tension by pulling him closer, shifting your hips against him—every attempt in vain.
He had you pinned securely in place, and there was no adjusting it without his help. Without his permission. “Please, Enjin.”
“I am touching you, baby,” he huffed a breathy laugh, before holding his hand out to you, offering it. “Here. Move it to where you want me, sweetheart.”
You held his gaze for a moment, weighing your options. It hurt your ego to have to admit this to him in such a degrading way—and still, a part of you felt so cared for. Your pride urged you to save face, but given the position you were in, there wasn’t necessarily much ego left to save. If accepting his offer meant getting the itch scratched you so desperately needed attention for, then it was simply what you had to do.
And so—without breaking the eye contac—you took his hand in your own and first guided it down the like of your body and underneath the hem of your shirt. His brow quirked slightly, eyes darkening as it met the plush of the inside of your legs.
Ever so slowly, you moved it a couple inches further in and further up, until his fingers finally met the sole layer of fabric separating you from what you’re asking of him.
The smile that grew on his face was something else.
He shifted, properly supporting your weight on one leg while keeping you steady with a hand snaked around the small of your back. Then, without hurry, he tugged the fabric aside, running his fingers along your sore, wet folds.
His gaze tilted down to where his hand disappeared beneath the fabric of your shirt. “Damn, baby. You’re soaked,” he let his fingers dip into you for nothing more than a couple inches before running them up and down again—tracing you. Memorizing you. “Fuck, that’s hot.”
The sounds that left you would have left you feeling quite embarrassed, if you weren’t so distracted right now. The relief of the friction did a lot to sate your desire for a moment—but you could already feel yourself wanting more.
He seemed to have picked up on it as his fingers moved upwards to solely focus on your wanting and waiting clit. Your eyes shut close at the sudden feeling of him finally giving you what you’d needed, gripping at his shoulders for dear life as if you’d fall if you didn’t and whining his name through broken breaths like a personal mantra.
He hummed. You felt his muscles shift beneath your palms, like his head had tilted upwards—like he was looking at you again. “Yes, pretty girl?”
“S’really good,” you exhaled, opening your eyes only to see Enjin already fully focused on you through your hazed vision.
“I know, baby, I know,” he cooed, corner of his lip faintly quirking upwards. “Wasn’t even gonna do this with you,”—he leaned in, eyes falling to your lips before catching them with his in a short kiss—“was gonna come here and tell you how I feel. Wanted to spend more time with you, ask you out on a nice date, do it right this time—but you,” his eyes met your gaze again—this time, more intense.
His previously tender attention towards your clit turned overwhelming in an instant. The pad of his finger moved a little faster and harder now—each deliberate stroke drawing a sharp, involuntary twitch from your body.
You’d never felt so overstimulated, every sensation heightened to the brink, and yet some reckless part of you was completely, helplessly into it.
Soft whines slipped from your mouth, and if anyone happened to be on the other side of the wall you were pressed against, you were certain they’d be able to hear you.
“Looked up at me all doe eyed like that. Said ‘please’ like that.” His fingers dipped into you without warning, two of them filling you more than two fingers ever should be able to, but, of course, Enjin and his blessed, huge hands, took little to now effort to make you see stars. “This what you wanted , sweetheart?”
“Mm, yes,” you breathed, pure instinct taking over as you pulled him back in by the nape of his neck.
It drove you insane—the way you felt his jaw shift against your palm, the slow graze of his tongue along your bottom lip, the steady curl of his fingers inside you, again and again and again.
“Mm,”—he separated from you for a moment—“s’just for you, baby,”—before leaning back in. His fingers curled inside you again and again, brushing that sensitive spot that made your insides tighten and your skin burn in ways no one had ever made you feel before.
He had something about him—some kind of chemistry that felt entirely unique to Enjin. That towering height, those striking features, paired with his addictive charisma that showed in the way he talked to you—in the way he touched you, kissed you.
It wasn’t demanding in a forceful sense. It was unraveling. It was simple. You were willing to hand yourself over completely—without him ever having to ask. Like some sort of spell.
Without breaking away, his fingers slowly slipped from you ever so slowly, drawing a soft whine from you straight into the kiss. You felt the faint curve of his smile against your lips. Then his hands were on you again, firm and sure as he hoisted you up against him and carried you away from the wall.
The edge of your desk met the backs of your thighs as he eased you onto it with controlled care, settling you against the surface. You felt the edges and corners of the sheets of paper you’d just been working on minutes ago right beneath you, itching and poking at your skin.
With one last, teasing bite to your bottom lip, he pulled back from your kiss-swollen lips with a devilish glint in his eyes.
He lifted his fingers to his mouth—the ones previously teasing you beyond measure—and licked them clean of you without breaking his hazy gaze from you. You could tell he was doing it just to mess with you—and it was working unfortunately well.
Your attention drifted to the thing repeatedly pressing against your inner thigh, and a mix of curiosity and anticipation washed over you.
Given the size of him—his body, his hands, his limbs—you had expected him to be a certain… size. And in a way, he met those expectations. But to feel the bulge of him so intimately pressed against you made it hit you all at once—now that your bodies were pressed close to flush against one another.
This man was big.
Your hand reached towards the hem of his pants, almost instinctively, before his own hand caught yours by the thin of your wrist. Looking back up at him you noticed the corner of his mouth curled upwards. “Not now, pretty girl.”
Your head tilted in response. “Why not?”
“Some other time. Jus’ wanna focus on you today,” he brought your hand within his towards himself, leaving a couple of gentle pecks along the inside of your wrist.
“But what about you?”
“I’ll enjoy you, baby,” he leaned back in, pausing just an inch before, a devilishly charming smirk resting on him. “Don’t worry your pretty head about it.”
His lips found yours again, trading a few more heated kisses before drifting to the corner of your mouth, along the line of your jaw, and down to your already tender neck.
He roamed your body with no shame, tracing your every line—from the swell of your chest to the plush of your hips. Groping at your sides and circling your waist with his hands, before pushing you backwards for you to lean against the wall behind you, forcing himself between your legs, casually.
His hands found their way between them again, collecting the slick on his fingers, before lazily drawing patterns over your pulsing, sore clit, drawing all sorts of sounds and reactions from you as passively pumped his fingers in and out of you every now and then, like it was just second nature to him.
His kisses trailed downward—past your heaving chest, along the curve of your stomach, across the warmth of your thighs—before his head finally settled between your legs, where he left a mix of teasing love-bites and gentle, lingering pecks on the insides of your thighs.
“You’re very kissable,” he commented from his position on his knees, looking up at you as he guided your legs to rest atop his shoulders.
The sight was charged—this huge man, both in height and breadth, overwhelming in body mass and bearing the authority of the head of your team, kneeling there in front of you. Something about the commanding way he held himself even in that submissive posture.
It didn’t make him any less impressive—or any smaller—in your eyes. If anything, the juxtaposition only made him more magnetic.
He looked fucking hot.
His hair all messed up, lips kiss-swollen, mirroring your own, skin covered in a thin layer of sweat, eyes dazed with pleasure and radiating the sheer power he naturally carried. His brow was quirked ever so slightly, a faint, mischievous smile on his face.
“Is that why you bit my neck raw?” you asked, looking down at him through your own daze, fingers grazing through the short strands of his hair, not much bite in your voice despite your words.
He huffed a laugh, and your heart skipped a beat.
“M’about to do much worse than just eat your neck, babygirl,” he said lowly, his hot breath traveling past the thin skin of your inner thighs, his gaze traveling downwards.
And with that, his tongue dipped through your folds, dragging a slow lick up your heated, pulsing core. Your breath shuddered, your hand gripping at his hair to anchor yourself as he worked you up.
His hands wrapped around your thighs, your feet resting on his shoulders as he pinned you against his face, tongue dragging up and down through your folds and making a point to flick your sensitive, aching clit in the process.
“E–Enjin… ah—s’ so good.”
You felt him suck it into his mouth, toying with it between his lips before letting it go in a wet kiss and continuing his assault. You felt like the meal of a starving man.
He had no shame in the way he was eating you—the sounds he was making, the way he was practically making out with you. What you’d yearned to feel was finally coming true, and your body and mind seemed to sing with the relief he was finally granting you.
He pressed the flat of his tongue against your clit, rhythmically dragging it up and down. His fingers dug into the flesh of your thighs, holding you against him as to leave no room for escape—at least not until he was done with you.
This man you’d known to be so indulgent in his own pleasure now shifting his focus entirely onto you left an impact that would haunt you for the rest of your life. No one had ever treated you the way he did, touched you the way he had—made you feel the way he was making you feel.
You’d certainly never experienced anyone going down on you of their own free will—let alone seeming to take pleasure in it themselves.
No man, no less.
And yet, here he was, caging you against him, just in case the pleasure he was giving you became too much to handle—which, judging by the way it was building up, it already was starting to feel that way. He definitely wasn’t letting you go.
The friction drove you crazy, made you feel as though you were floating and falling all at once. You couldn’t decide whether to pull him even closer or push him away, but you knew that everything about him felt so fucking good and something was building up inside of you that only he could unravel.
One of his hands loosened its grip on your thigh, sliding down and around it, before two fingers began pumping into you, curling against the spot Enjin had claimed the moment you had guided his hands between your legs.
“Ah—please don’t stop,” you writhed and you whined, eyes shutting close at the overwhelming feeling of him flooding your senses.
“M’right here, baby,” he breathed against you, before turning his attention back to your puffy clit, fingers deep and curled inside you.
Pleasure twisted into an intoxicating kind of pain—the rare kind that made you ache to explore it even more. It burned, it stung, sharp and sweet all at once, and yet you knew with absolute certainty that if he stopped right now you would shatter into a million miserable pieces.
Without warning, he suckled your clit into his mouth again, flicking his tongue over it as his fingers pumped in and out of you with relentless rhythm. Your legs instinctively clamped around his head, trying to shut out the overwhelming sensation, to push him away—to no avail.
Your body reacted on its own, trying to relieve the strain he was putting on you, but your mind wanted nothing more than to keep him as close as humanly possible.
“M‘ gonna… please… s’so much,” you whimpered, forever torn between pulling him closer and trying to escape.
That only seems to edge him on as he raised the intensity, moving harder and faster in every way imaginable and making you see stars and cry his name like a desperate prayer.
“Enjin—fuck, s‘so good, please-”
Your climax crashed over you, leaving you trembling in the wake of it.
Like the good man he’d proven himself to be, he guided you through it, helping you ride the wave, tracing lazy circles over your clit with his tongue while his fingers moved in slow, languid rhythm. Finally, he pulled back with one last, gentle kiss to your now tender and abused clit.
He slowly rose to his full height, hands flat on the surface of the table, encasing your pleasure-drained body, your torso leaning half against the wall.
“If I had known you taste this good I’d have done this a lot sooner,” he smiled, catching your lips in a kiss you couldn’t resist if you tried.
“Mm,” you replied in a haze, returning the pecks he was giving you and tasing yourself on lips tongue. “Can I return the favor?”
“As much as I’d love to see you try, baby,” he smiles, helping you off the desk as he scoops you into his arms effortlessly, making his way to the bathroom with you. “How about we take a hot shower together and I take you out on a date first?”
─────────୨ৎ─────────
PT2 >>> detergent & sweets
CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE :3
thanks to my amazing beta readers @zukunyy and @imjusttrashignoreme
thanks to my boyfriend who helped me write a service top because he just can
and thanks to @pixopix for the dividers :3
A/N: AND THANK U GUYS FOR READING <333 I’m planning a part 2 to this because I need me so dom Enjin and I’m actually more of a fan of oral m!receiving anyway sooo yeah that’s gonna happen hopefully :3 again, thanks for reading—I’d appreciate a reblog if you liked it ・:*+.\(( °ω° ))/.:+ if you have any requests you can definitely lmk
bitable.
۶۟ৎ your boyfriend is very bitable.
— around 800 words, just domestic cuteness aggression. gender neutral reader.
“You’ve been staring at me for a while now,” Dan Heng’s voice is quiet and gentle as always, and it’s accompanied with a slight smile and a soft fondness to his eyes when you look up to meet his gaze. He tilts his head, a small gesture to encourage you to speak. “What’s on your mind?”
When you shrug, he puts down the book he was reading to fully turn towards you—and you are sure he notices the way your eyes follow the gentle way he places his bookmark and closes it to preserve the spine before it is set aside to on the coffee table.
“Speak, please,” Dan Heng rolls his eyes fondly when you shake your head no. “I’m quiet enough for the both of us already.”
“It’s nothing serious,” you reassure once his brow furrows. “I just want to look at you.”
He smiles. “Is that so?”
“Mm,” you nod, admiring the way loose way his hair falls over his eyes, and the domesticity of him in his favorite worn-down tee. “You just look pretty.”
That makes his cheeks pink—compliments always do that, staining him in a soft wash of color while taking his ability to meet your gaze (it’s not that he can’t, but it flusters him so much he looks away to regain his composure, which only makes him all the more endearing). “I’m not any different than normal.” His voice trails off softly before he lets out a small sigh. “Thank you, though.”
“So polite,” you tease, just to be rewarded with a further darkening of the pink on the tips of his ears to a red. “Cute,” he stiffens a little when you croon that and move closer to him on the couch, nuzzling against his side. “So, so cute.”
Despite his shyness, he shifts his arm to let you move closer to him, cheek smushing against his chest while you beam up at him. It’s nice, to be surrounded by his mild cologne and feel his breathing beneath you, to have him let you twine your body with his until you’re all tangled.
Your attention slowly shifts to the arm around your shoulders, the lithe muscles that have gotten just a bit bigger ever since he’s come back from Amphoreus, and the small mole just below the crook of his elbow. He’s pretty, he’s always been achingly pretty, but there’s something about the slight tan, and the sprinkling of imperfections you can see this close, and the flex of the muscles as he mindlessly taps his fingers along the back of the couch that is captivating.
With a quick glance to him—and you are pleased to find his attention is not on your movements, eyes shut in the way he prefers in times like this, where it’s easier for him to fall asleep, lulled into rest from the comfort of your warmth that combats the worst of his insomnia—you turn your head and gently bite his arm, right by the mole.
He flinches a little from the sensation, arm twitching under you, though he makes no effort to move it from under you. “Why are you biting me?”
“Looked yummy,” you muffle out before biting him again, just as gentle and playful, though this time you pick a spot on his bicep.
“I’m not food, love,” Dan Heng sighs, though, despite his words, he curls his arm up and towards you so the muscle flexes and his forearm meets you better—he knows you well, and he knows the way they flex is what catches your eye. It makes you giddy, the semi-headlock and the willingness to let you continue, though you stop biting to instead press small kisses to both marks. He turns you towards him gently, letting his arm fall back to the couch while you grin at him so hard your cheeks hurt.
He squints at you, looking at the light sparkling in your eyes and then the small indents left by your teeth on his skin. Suddenly, before you can ask if it hurt, Dan Heng leans close and gently nips your cheek. It doesn’t hurt, but it is a little uncomfortable, and you blink up at him quickly in your confusion. He snickers at that.
“Not so nice, is it?”
You pout, a little petulant as you huff out, “your arms are yummier than my cheeks.”
Dan Heng pats your head gently. “I’ll let you bite them another time. Let’s just go to sleep, hm?”
At the lightness in his tone, where you can’t tell if he’s messing with you, you extend a pinky towards him. “Promise. Or I’m not moving.”
He laughs and locks his pinky with yours. “I promise. You can bite them later.”
₊˚ ✧ ⊱⋆ cover me. ───── caleb x afab!reader. 5.3k words, hurt-comfort, smut. this fic is part of the youtiful series.
tags: porn with plot, porn with feelings, established relationship, strong portrayals of codependency (reader is very reliant on caleb), emotionally vulnerable reader (going through a rough patch), caleb in kinda a caregiver-reminiscent role, cuddles, kisses, praise and reassurance, fingering, cuddle sex, use of pet names "pips" "pip-squeak" "baby". lmk if i missed any tags!
premise: 4 times caleb takes care of you, +1 time he does a little extra. or—everything feels a little more difficult to you on your off days, but luckily, caleb is around to help you through them.
note: its been kinda terrible for me lately and when it gets like this i *am* the kind of person who says fuck being strong and independent i need to be placed in a 'please care gently' box and doted on 😭🤲 in lieu with how acts of service coded caleb is, i was also thinking that i'm def not the only one out there who finds comfort in him the same way... so this fic is for me, but also for those of you who might identify a lil with it, too <33
You had learned, over the years, that very little escaped his attention—
Especially when it came to you.
This meant that if he walked into your room at this very moment, he would likely notice three things immediately.
First, the mug sitting at your desk. Full, barely touched. You'd gotten yourself coffee earlier; it had long since gone cold.
Second, the pile of clothes by the bed. Work clothes—kicked haphazardly to the side, careless, and messy, and treated simply like an afterthought.
You had better things to do.
Better places to be.
For he would notice—third—
You.
Bundled up in your blanket, messy hair, rumpled pajamas... You were sitting up, sure… but slouched. Staring blankly at the wall in front of you. At the desk, scattered with papers; at the mug, that stared back, almost as if mocking the very fact that you'd barely had anything since you got home at all.
You had learned, over the years, that very little escaped his attention… especially when it came to you.
So you weren't surprised anymore when he'd knocked gently on the door, quietly slipping in holding a plate of your favorite braised chicken wings.
Caleb's specialty.
"Pips, weren't you gonna come out for dinner?"
If the smell hadn't been enough to lift your head, his voice was.
Slowly you raised to meet his eyes, and watched—blankly, almost—as he walked over and sat beside you.
"Not hungry…" you murmured.
You could barely hear yourself. You wondered if he'd heard you at all.
"I know, baby. But you gotta eat somethin' tonight… And didn't you always like when I made these? C'mon."
He nudged you with his shoulder, and the blanket slipped—just a little bit. In that very moment you recalled the fact that he'd be spending the week with you in Linkon, and your throat closed up. Your eyes drew slowly to the plate he was holding.
Caleb rarely got so many days off just to spend time with you. And yet, you…
How had you come home to him and barely said a word…?
You recalled the way you'd trudged in with heavy footsteps, and a heavy heart. Greetings? Barely. Surprise? Barely. You'd gone straight to your room like the world outside had suffocated you, and you'd barely looked in the direction of the one person that you… loved with everything you had.
Loved, but didn't quite show it.
Perhaps in this moment, you weren't even sure if you had the ability to love at all.
And yet, Caleb wasn't questioning you.
He only had a pointed look, eyebrows raised, waiting—hoping—that you'd take him up on his offer.
The food.
You were already being such a terrible girlfriend. And yet, he was so… patient.
So slowly, carefully, you shed the blanket to rest at your waist, reached out for the food and utensils, and slowly took a bite.
Sweet. Rich in flavor.
Caleb always had a way of cooking that made your heart all warm and fuzzy, and now, even like this, even when you could barely be… it still felt the same.
Tears welled up in your eyes a little.
You sniffled, mid-chew, and leaned against him.
"Thanks…" you whispered.
It was all you could say, even if you wished you could say so much more. Thank you. I'm sorry. I love you.
He chuckled, anyway.
"Yeah? You like it? S'good, then. Gotta make sure my girl doesn't skip her meals."
His arm wrapped around you, and he leaned in to place a kiss on your cheek.
"I'll stay and wait. You mind the company?"
"No…"
I like that you'd stay.
And that was one way, that Caleb liked caring for you.
The shower should have helped, because it usually did.
Yet you'd gone in with slow, monotone steps, and came out the very same way.
It dragged—water on your hair, your skin, the sound of the shower running over tiled flooring.
It dragged—the towel thrown carelessly on your body, hair tossed behind your shoulder.
It dragged—
Your feet.
Heavy, gradual steps… A little trail of water…
You'd barely dried yourself off before you shuffled out into the room, and your gaze stayed low. Head bowed. Your eyes could have been fixed somewhere near your feet, but you didn't quite process the carpeted floor, didn't quite process how cold the air was on your skin after your shower.
Static noise.
Your footsteps stopped as you reached the foot of your bed.
And Caleb—he'd been right where you left him, sitting by the bed, concernedly waiting to see if you needed any help…
Caleb had seen you naked several times by now, but this time was different. Even as he stood to pull your towel off, even as he gently turned you to face away from him, even as he held it out and carefully gathered your hair between the cloth and treated your hair with care even you had rarely ever shown it… it was gentle. So loving.
You felt yourself lean back. He was warm, and calm, and safe—and Caleb—
Your eyes closed, despite yourself. The heat radiating off of his body seemed to seep into your own, and it felt nice.
It felt nice.
He hadn't said anything. Didn't chastise you for being helpless, didn't scold you for getting the carpet wet. Caleb wasn't like that.
Instead, he hummed. A soft melody, almost instantly calming the loud thoughts in your head. He rubbed the towel carefully over your hair, up to your scalp, in slow, soothing circles. Treated it as if it were any other day, found joy in the very fact that he got to do this for you in the first place.
Such a simple thing such as drying your hair.
"I like the shampoo you used," he said lightly. He paused, lifted a lock of your hair to his face. "Is it new? Your hair hasn't smelled like this before."
"Oh… a friend recommended it to me…"
"It suits you."
A trace of a smile formed on your face.
"Really…?"
"Mhm. Might be my new favorite."
He'd fixed the towel for you after, picked out clothes for you that he knew you'd find comfortable. You would wait patiently by the bed—pliant, still, and comforted—and let him dress you.
Because that was another way, that Caleb liked caring for you.
Whenever evenings came, the room always stayed quiet. It had been, daily. You preferred it like this, liked sitting in the comfort of the gentle silence of it, much much more than the noise. For in it, you could hear the faint ticking of the clock on the wall, and the quiet breaths beside you…
They were the only sounds. Soft, and steady, and soothing, and grounding.
And Caleb had fallen asleep before you.
He had his arm around your waist. You were pulled against his chest in a warm cocoon of an embrace, and you knew that Caleb had a way of holding you that felt like safety—much like this. Often when he held you like this, he could make you forget everything else that existed in the world… Because he was the only one that mattered, and to you, that was safe.
And so you really could have slept.
Your eyes were already heavy. Your limbs were really drained. You were tired. As much as you had been this week, and as you had been all throughout the day.
And, yet, every time you closed your eyes… the quiet of your bedroom faded only to the noises in your head.
They were louder than the sounds outside.
Louder than honking cars, than chattering crowds… Louder, much louder, than the heartbeat that meant so much to you, no matter how hard you tried to listen for it.
Closing your eyes was dangerous. You could drown.
So your eyes stayed open.
The room was dark except for the faint glow of your nightlight. On the wall, the hands continued to move, and you’d watched seconds—minutes—pass more and more times than you cared to keep track of, because what else could you do? Trying too much made your throat close. Thinking too much made your heart heavy. Even now, with your eyes wide open, you could see in your mind's eye every little mistake you'd made today.
Today—and yesterday—and the day before—and the day before that—
The truth was that you could barely keep anything together.
Already there were voices laughing in your head; calling you dumb, and pathetic, and useless.
How did you get to where you were? Did you even do any of it yourself? Were you even worth anything on your own?
All you do is rely on him. You've been babied all your life, and now you can't do a single thing by yourself.
Not even eat.
Not even dress.
Not even sleep.
You grit your teeth, and your hand curled into the blanket.
These were the thoughts that would hiss at you when you closed your eyes. Louder, much louder, than you could hear them even now.
But you had to sleep. You needed to be up in the morning, needed the energy to begin again—
Caleb shifted slightly.
"Pip-squeak…? Why’re you still up?"
His voice was rough with sleep, barely louder than a whisper, but it worked.
It worked, and you went still.
Caught.
And then his chin brushed faintly against the top of your head, almost in a motion so immediately understanding of the situation that you drew in a breath—he knew you so well.
"Nightmare?" he murmured.
"Mhm…"
A quiet hum into your hair, followed by a little kiss. "C'mere, baby."
Slowly he turned you to him, and face to face like this, you swallowed. His eyes met yours. All purples, and oranges, and the deepest, most beautiful sunset you've ever seen. And you could drown in it. Drown in him.
It would have been better than drowning in the thoughts in your head.
Caleb smiled, a little quirk of his lips before he leaned down to kiss the tip of your nose.
"S'it okay if I kiss you?"
His hand reached up to cup your cheek, weighted, yet grounding, his thumb rubbing in little passes over your skin.
You nodded.
You'd never say no to that.
And like always, Caleb had a way of holding you that felt like safety.
He leaned down, and kissed you— once— twice— just little, light kisses, presses of his lips against yours that felt like love.
"Just close your eyes," he whispered. "M'gonna be right here, pips."
And he would kiss you to sleep.
That, was another way that Caleb liked taking care of you.
But it was stupid that it wasn't enough.
It was enough—
But it wasn't enough.
Caleb had already been spending the entire week taking care of you.
Making sure you ate, making sure you slept well… He did so much, as much as he could. And every day he made coming back home more bearable for you than it would have been, what with every effort he would make just to ensure you felt something.
And you did feel something.
Love, in some sense.
Seen.
Because he never complained when he did these things, never once made you feel like a burden. Instead, he was gentle about it. Patient.
And you wanted it to be enough.
God, you wanted it to be enough.
You wanted to wake up one morning, wanted to feel normal again. You wanted to smile at him, and mean it in your heart—You wanted to be with him, in a way that was whole, and true, and entirely absent of the heaviness that had settled so insistently there in your chest.
Yet, you still just needed so much of him.
So much.
Too much.
You held the broken pieces of the plate in your hands, and your lips trembled—because you were pathetic. All of this, and you couldn't get a single thing right. You would even break a plate.
And you knelt on the floor, let out a choked sob. Nevermind the traces of ceramic left on the floor, nevermind the scrapes you could have on your knees. Tears blurred your eyes as you clutched the broken plate against your chest, almost as if you'd broken something precious.
It became louder, then.
You felt the twist in your chest, your heart splitting open out before you as the sob turned loud in anguish.
Pathetic.
Pathetic.
Pathetic.
Pathetic.
"I-I can't… I can't do it…! I can't…!"
You didn't hear the door open.
Didn't hear the footsteps.
Barely reacted to the arms that wrapped around you, the arms that lifted you up in such a familiar way, and then held you against his chest—
You wouldn't stop shaking. Though you buried your head into your chest, your fist moved to punch, weakly, and tearful sobs broke through even the muffle of how tight his embrace was.
I can't.
I can't.
I can't.
I can't do anything.
And he kissed you on the crown of your head.
He cradled you in your arms.
He held you, rocked you back and forth, gave you all the warmth he could muster… And all that noise in your head—and in your heart, and in your soul—settled slowly to a calm.
Sobs died down into whimpers. Then sniffles. Your hands fisted into the cloth of his shirt, not daring to loosen, not daring to let go, but… you could smell him. That cologne, apples, and wood, and everything you've always loved so dearly. And when you opened your eyes next, and saw him so close to you, your lips wobbled—
Relieved.
Even now, he was still here.
Even now , he would still hold you.
"It's okay, pips," he whispered, "it's okay. I've got you."
You heard his voice clearer this time. No longer the beating of your heart echoing in your ears, no longer the screams of voices yelling at you in your head to be worth something.
Caleb had always been enough—and though more, and more, and more you would want from him, he would give more, and more, and more, and more.
It was enough.
Perhaps the first time that week, you truly, genuinely felt that it was enough.
He was enough.
Caleb’s hand was still moving slowly through your hair, even a moment later. You hadn’t realized how long you’d been sitting there on the counter until the apartment had gone completely quiet again—your breathing had calmed, and you'd stopped sniffling.
But your fingers were still curled into the front of his shirt, not quite ready to be parted.
"Stay…"
You whispered without thinking, as if expecting that he could leave any moment.
As if expecting that you weren't worth staying for.
"M'not goin' anywhere, baby, I promise."
"No, but… but stay… Stay with me…"
You clenched your fist tighter. And in response, Caleb chuckled softly, let his hand slide from your hair down to the back of your neck, steady and warm.
"I am," he said softly.
His thumb brushed your cheek, tilted you up to look at him.
Again. He leaned in to brush his lips into your ear.
"D'you want me closer than this?"
You bit your lip.
Closer?
Something in you stirred—like recognition of the tone he used, no matter the sweet, kind way he'd spoken; like recognition of his hand, sliding down to your waist, squeezing gently.
He was teasing, but there was a little more to it.
Your heart bloomed.
Yes.
You wanted to say it—
Yes, please… Take care of me again.
Closer.
Just like…
You looked at him, big, pleading eyes.
"Could you?" you whispered.
And his hand tightened slightly at your waist.
"…Yeah," he murmured, "yeah. I can."
The mattress dipped softly beneath you as Caleb set you down, but he didn't move away immediately. He kept one hand rested at your waist, the other moving over to swipe your tears away.
"My pretty baby," he cooed.
And your hands didn’t loosen from his shirt. The fabric stayed bunched in your hands, still desperate, still pleading.
"Caleb…"
A quiet, fond huff of breath left him. "You gonna let go, or…?"
"N-no, don't leave! I-I still—"
"Shhhhh."
"I just put you down," he nudged your nose gently with his. "I’m not goin’ anywhere, okay?"
But just as you'd asked, he didn’t pull away. If anything, he leaned closer. One hand came up again, brushing lightly along your cheek, tucking a damp strand of hair back where it had stuck to your skin. You felt yourself lean into it, eyes fluttering closed.
He made you feel needed.
It was something you'd been craving—something you couldn't find yourself believing, and yet he'd been so patient, this whole time. It was he who was needed—he who you needed—yet he'd turned around and gave that feeling to you.
He needed you. He loved you.
You felt it. You really did. After all these days, and it had settled into your heart, and he had been patiently waiting for it to do just that.
And when you opened your eyes again, he was still right there. Closer than before. Close enough that you could feel the warmth of his breath, slow and even now, brushing faintly against your skin.
"You’re… really good to me," you said quietly. The words came out before you could overthink them.
"Hm? You think?"
You nodded again, a little more certain—"I don’t know what I’d do without you."
Caleb chuckled.
"Good thing you don’t have to find that out then, huh?"
And then he kissed you.
Soft, and light—almost like testing, almost like making sure you wanted this, just as much as he did… Well, just as much as he wanted you.
Your chest filled with warmth.
When he pulled back, your hands shifted their hold up to his shoulders, and tugged him back down.
No…
Please. More.
You didn't have to say it.
He smiled, eyes softening with relief, and when his lips met yours, he moved with love—and care—and so much, of everything, all that he'd been holding back. So much of it that you'd been needing.
His other arm slipped around you as your lips parted, and he pulled you in closer, guiding you more fully against him.
I love you…
You would say it through the kiss; he would say it back to you. And every slide of his tongue against yours felt like a promise he was renewing, right there against your mouth, and you made a small, broken sound into him.
One hand slid higher. He rest on the nape of your neck. The other stayed low, dipping beneath your shirt, palm flat—almost possessive—against your spine.
He was anchoring you.
Grounding you.
When you pulled apart this time, the kiss broke with a soft, wet sound that made your stomach flip.
And suddenly the air between you felt thick.
Syrupy, hazy—you couldn’t quite catch your breath, not when everything felt liquid, and warm, and unsteady, and the heat of it made your head spin. Your eyes were half-lidded. Your arms were locked tight around his neck. Your thighs had shifted around his hips without you even realizing, and you felt so needy, your cheeks burned.
You couldn't help the way you chased after his lips, hips moving against him in a quick, subtle grind.
He chuckled. "Hey, easy, easy… I know you're feelin' needy, baby, but relax. I got you."
You buried your face against the side of his throat, embarrassed heat flooding your skin. "I just! I don’t want you to stop…"
"Yeah? I won't stop, then, buuut… if you wanna be a little more specific with what you want from me…" He huffed another gentle laugh against your hair, then tilted his head to brush his lips along your temple. "You know I'm all yours, pip-squeak. Soo, wanna… say it f'me?"
Your cheeks flushed darker at that. Your heart stuttered. You turned your face into his neck again, hiding, but you couldn’t stop a quick little jerk of a nod—
I… want…
"Touch me," you whispered. "D-down… down there…"
Your words came out small and pouty, lips trembling as you said them. You could feel how wet you were already. The mere thought of it made you squeeze your eyes shut tighter.
"Hm? S'that all?"
He leaned in, kissed the corner of your lips.
One.
And then another.
Soft kisses, peppered all over your face, and you could feel the little smile he had as he waited.
And waited.
Caleb was so patient.
You whimpered beneath him, and how could you love him any more than you already did?
"Wanna feel you…"
The words stuck for a second. You had to force them out, voice cracking with embarrassment.
"…Inside."
Caleb hummed.
His hand slid lower, palm flattening possessively over the curve of your ass—
You felt it.
He held you flush against him, the bulge in his pants a loud, and sure testament, of how much his desires seemed to match your own.
"Feel that?" he chuckled. "You and I were never out of sync, pips."
You whined softly, hips rocking once against him before you could stop yourself, and the friction made you gasp.
"A-ah… Caleb, I— I-I want your…"
"Yeah? Go on, baby."
You couldn’t look at him.
You pressed your forehead hard to his collarbone, voice muffled and shaking.
"—Your cock," you whispered.
Please… Inside…
Then he let out another fond chuckle, and placed a kiss into your hair.
"Attagirl," he murmured. "That’s my good girl. I'll give you everything you want. Okay, pips?"
He was true to his word.
His hand drifted lower, past your navel, over the soft mound of your pussy, until his fingers finally settled between your legs. The heel of his palm cupped you gently. He let you feel the warmth, let you settle in the safety of his touch.
You whimpered at the contact.
"Ah, Caleb, p-pleas—"
"Shhh. We'll go slow, baby, 'kay?"
"But…!"
"Do you trust me?"
You drew in a breath, and your lips turned down to a pout.
"…Yes…"
"Then let me make you feel good, yeah?"
You couldn't do anything but nod. Couldn't do anything but moan, as he complied to your plea anyway, and he deftly pushed your panties down your thighs.
Your legs spread immediately.
Two fingers parted your outer lips in such a slow, tender motion—you tried your hardest to behave, to stay still, to let him play with you at the pace he knew you liked best, anyway.
But you were struggling.
Caleb pressed kisses into your hair, parted you wider with his fingers, exposing you to his eyes in the lewdest, naughtiest way, and he grinned.
"Mm… So, so wet f'me."
You could barely take it.
His middle finger slid languidly through your slickness, coating himself in you, letting you feel just how easily you opened for him. Then he'd pause—circle them slowly over your entrance, feel the way your thighs trembled with anticipation.
The wet sounds of it all were embarrassingly loud in the quiet of your room.
And then he finally—finally—slipped inside.
You keened at the sensation, clenching immediately at the feel of his fingers snug in your pussy.
He groaned low in his chest.
"Fuck, baby, listen to her…"
He curled those two fingers the tiniest bit, stroking along your walls in slow, patient come-hither motions. "Clenchin' so sweet already and I’ve barely started…"
"Nnh— i-it's because you, ah…!"
Fingers brushed against that little spot inside you, and you choked on your words.
"Mm, there it is. Nothin' bad about it, pips, y'know? Just let me take care of you. You don't have to worry about a single thing."
And in response, your hips rocked into him before you could stop them. This time—he let you.
You couldn’t run from the sensation even if you wanted to.
Breathing ragged, he pumped his fingers, in and out, following the movement of your hips. Little broken whimpers started slipping out with every exhale. Caleb smiled at it—so fond, so proud, you no longer knew what to do with yourself at the way that he looked at you.
"God, baby, I love you so damn much…"
He kissed the shell of your ear with a groan.
"You gotta believe me when I say everythin' I do for you's worth all the trouble in the world… I mean, fuck, look at you…"
Tears welled in your eyes.
"R… r-really?" you whispered.
"Really really, pip-squeak."
"But I take—mh, fuck—I-I take so much from you, and I… ah, Caleb, I…"
"Yeah? Well I love that you do."
Another deep thrust of his fingers then, and your whole body arched like a bowstring.
"C-Caleb—!"
It was a rush of pleasure. Your nails dug into his shoulders. He sighed against your skin, and though you vision had blurred through your tears, you could feel him smile.
"Yeah… there she is. There's my girl… easy now, baby."
He slid down your body, kissing your jaw—your neck—your collarbone—
Your shirt had ridden up to expose your stomach, and still his lips pressed into your skin, even as his fingers worked meticulously to ride out your orgasm.
Your eyes were bleary.
Your chest rose and fell as you pulsed around him, and though his fingers stilled, you keened at the feeling of still being so… full.
"You still okay, pips?"
Caleb hummed as he moved you over, and settled snug behind you. His face nuzzled into your neck. Arms wrapped around you so tightly, so comfortingly—you let out a slow exhale, and settled back against him.
"Mhm."
"I really love you, y'know."
"Mhm…"
"And I know you've been feelin' bad lately. Just want you to know that it's okay. I won't leave 'til you feel better."
"…Will you always take care of me, Caleb?"
"'Course! I promise. You know I don't break my promises."
You let out a soft whimper then, feeling once more the hard press of his length up against your ass.
"Caleb…"
"M'not done takin' care of you yet… Can I put it in, baby? You asked for my cock earlier…"
He rutted forward, a little jolt of his hips that made you gasp.
"Please, baby…"
And how could you refuse?
You were wet, and swollen—even just the shape of him up against you made you shiver, and frantic hands reached back to tug on his sweats as your head turned to plead back at him with your eyes.
I want it, too.
"It hurts, too…" you pouted, eyes still glassy from the pleasure he'd already given you. "I-I want more… Please take care of me again…"
He shuddered against you.
In the next moment he'd curled protectively around your figure and nudged the top of your thigh forward, and you felt it.
Blunt, and hot, and wet—The tip of his cock settled neatly against your slit, rubbing slightly, smearing itself in the mess of your arousal.
Schlck. Schlck.
"Mnn… C-Caleb…!"
"Yeah… Jus' lemme…"
He didn’t push in right away. He rocked forward in the tiniest motion, letting just the tip slip inside—barely an inch—then pulled back out again.
Slow.
Real slow.
He groaned low when your walls hugged the head of him, all warm and slick and greedy, fluttering around him with a sense of impatience that caught in your voice when you spoke.
"Caleb, please—stop teasing me! I… I want— ah!"
He chuckled—then moaned.
Slowly the fullness of him slid in with a loud, lewd noise, and you gasped, reached out to grasp at the sheets.
His hold on you tightened.
Ragged breaths over your nape.
His hand splayed wide over your lower belly, pressing so you could feel him, so deep, so full.
"Fuck… you always feel like home, baby."
And he felt like yours.
Again the tears seemed to start.
The feeling of it—being so close to him, being one with him… It felt as if every ounce of his love for you—more, and more, and more than he'd already shown—poured into you in waves.
You choked back a sob.
Immediately you covered your face with your hands, and—
There was no holding it back anymore.
You cried.
Helpless, senseless babbles into the palms of your hands before they were pried away, replaced by the soft, soothing kisses he would place all over the side of your face.
"Caleb…!" You sobbed, lips trembling. "Caleb, I… I'm sorry… I'm sorry, I couldn't say it, I love you, I…!"
And still he stayed patient.
Slow rubs on your arm, nuzzles into your hair.
"Nothin' to say sorry for, pip-squeak," he soothed. "I'm right here, and I always will be. N' I love you so, so damn much."
I love you.
I love you, I love you—
I love you.
Thank you.
Sobs of all of that—love, and relief, and everything combined…
Soon they'd turned into sobs pleasure, as slow, steady rocks began to stir the shape of him inside of you. Little rolls of his hips, barely pulling out before sliding back in again... Each one nudged that spot inside you that still felt swollen and sensitive from his fingers, and you keened.
"Nngh… Ah… s-so good, Caleb— so— hnn—!"
Your sobs and cries mixed in with hushed little whispers against your skin.
Good girl.
So good and pretty f'me.
Let it out, baby…
There's my girl I love so much…
He was so sweet to you. So filthy, with the way his hips would rut into yours with a muted slap.
One of his hands found yours where it clutched the sheets; he laced your fingers together, brought your joined hands up to rest against your chest so he could hold you even closer.
You were trembling. Every tiny movement dragged pleasure through you like silk, so slow, so syrupy.
"Mm, love feelin' the way you clench 'round me… Are you close, pip-squeak?" he murmured against your ear. "Gonna cum f'me, pretty girl?"
He kissed the back of your neck. Your shoulder. Your jaw.
"Yes… Y-yes, yes, I wanna cum, ple— mnh, please, Caleb—!"
"Go ahead then, baby. Cum for me."
He would coo into your ear as your pleasure broke. Held you tight, even as you trembled, even as his own hips stuttered at the feel of your orgasm, and his breath hitched against your skin.
That's it, there we go.
There's my good girl.
I love you.
You choked over a sharp intake of breath.
I love you.
And he would repeat it.
I love you.
i love you.
I love you.
You felt the moment he pulsed inside of you, spilling in thick ropes of a warmth that made you melt.
And then he stayed buried. Didn’t move to pull out. For long minutes there was only the sound of your shared breathing, slowing together, your sniffles calming down as the tension eased from your body.
"Caleb…" you whispered, voice hoarse.
"Mh?"
"Thank you for taking care of me…"
He smiled, then, at that. Shifted just enough so that his hand could reach upwards, and then brushed a few damp strands of hair away from your face.
"I like it when you rely on me," he admitted. "So even if I have to do it a million more times… there's no problem at all. I'm always, gonna take care of you, pip-squeak."
He cupped your cheek for a moment, thumb wiping away the drying tracks of tears with the gentlest pressure. It was almost as if he could tell you could cry from his words alone—and he let out a soft, fond little laugh.
"S'cute when you're all needy. C'mon, get some sleep. I'll clean us up in a little while."
That… was another way, that Caleb liked taking care of you.
And you wouldn't have changed it for the world.
fic taglist: @fleur-de-leap @ourlittleuluru @unluckywisher @mochibunnies3 @mephisto-reporting @kingraspberry12-blog @starmocha @unknown-ends
+ honorary tag @farspacedreamer bc i know you like the youtiful series a lot WKJFHKJD HOPE U DONT MIND THE TAG THIS ONE TIME
a/n: i know everyone knows that caleb is frequently surrounded by discourse akfhsjf, but i've also found that because of all the ongoing discourse combined, a lot of people like me who actually find comfort in the somewhat caregiver-ish nature of caleb, tend to be thrown under the bus. which. you know. it's kinda not very fun. 😭 the truth is that in a lot of spaces, wanting a lot of- help, love attention, care... can be viewed as really negatively, often to the point where asking for it and wanting to rest and be less 'independent' for once, makes you perceived as less of a person. and some people want to be spoiled, and some people find comfort in getting that kind of attention, and some people also find it hard to ask for. and ofc other people don't identify with that, and they may prefer and enjoy and can easily put on a stronger, more independent front, and that's okay too! but that isn't me, so i've always found a lot of comfort in the way that caleb always loves caring for mc in the way that he does. so on the off chance that i'm not alone in that, i just wanted to take the chance to write something that maybe,,,,, other people like me could identify with, and hopefully find comfort in, in the process 🤲 if this fic brought you comfort then it means i was successful in that, so for the you who did feel comforted by this fic,, know that i'm holding your hand very gently akfhajd 🥹🤲
marriage of convenience w/ sakusa where you both agree to a fwb type set up and the next day you get a calendar invite on your phone for the month's "dates" -- but by the fifth time, when he's gasping and panting into your neck, your breathy little kiyoomi falling next to his ear, he tells you to delete the rest.
"why?"
you don't want it to end, not yet. not when he's just started to open up to you -
"the schedule's ruined anyway." he flips you over, kicks your knees apart with one strong thigh. he rocks back in with a grunt. "'i won't be done tonight until - " he consults his watch - "well past midnight."
he leans down, presses a kiss between your shoulder blades.
"and that just throws off the rhythm of the week. doesn't it, baby?"
flins saves you and pulls you into a fate . . . far better than death.
cw: chubby fem reader, not sfw. sex pollen, breeding kink, mentions of pregnancy. reader is in danger from the wild hunt. reader and flins are in a relationship. dub-con due to the nature of sex pollen.
this was a commissioned work.
There are still some things in Nod-Krai that you cannot get used to.
It is not that it is so different from your home nation - there are only so many ways that a place can exist, after all - but that there are so many unspoken rules and regulations, so many secrets hidden beneath the glow of the moon, that you cannot quite keep on top of all of them. You have just about gotten to grips with the concept of kuuvahki, though you sometimes struggle to understand what it is that makes it so different from the elemental traces you are more used to - but the other things--
There are many places where it is not advisable to walk after dark. You knew of certain alleyways, for instance, that were always rumoured to be bases for cutpurses and knaves and one should not walk through after nightfall. But even at home, there was nothing quite like the Wild Hunt.
And oh, you know you should not let yourself walk alone. You know you should find yourself a Lightkeeper (your heart swells at the thought that you have a Ratnik of your own, too, one who would never turn down a chance to play protector no matter how busy he is) - but you have done this journey towards his lighthouse a hundred times in the light. It would be an unfortunate piece of luck indeed that the one time you endeavoured to surprise Flins yourself and made your way to his dwelling in the night, you were beset upon by the very things he works so hard to protect civilians from.
So you had packed your bag and thought about Flins' smile when he saw you waiting outside of his lighthouse, knowing that you were to spend the night with him, and you had thought that surely you could make it there without ever coming across the Wild Hunt.
You had even gently wheedled from him the location of the most recent Wild Hunt outbreaks, so that you could plan your route around them! If he had guessed what you were doing, he'd given no indication (you're sure if he had, he would have dissuaded you - but you do so long to surprise him, to give him the same excitement you feel when he shows up at your door with a pretty piece of jewelry he thought you'd like or a book about the history period you two were talking about last time you were together).
You had thought yourself plenty prepared! Your path mapped out, your overnight bag on your arm, your walking shoes upon your feet and the thought of Flins' face at the end of it, coming home wearied from a night protecting Nod-Krai to see you ready to welcome him with a smile on your face and the thought of his bedsheets tangled about the two of you to warm him.
But the best-laid plans of mice and men, and all of that.
For although you had carefully considered the places the phenomenon had been most recently observed, you had forgotten that sometimes life can be cruel and random. Just because one path is safe the night before does not mean it will be safe the night after.
But . . . there are things in Nod-Krai that you do not yet understand. There are parts of it that are little-tread for a reason. A little while into your journey, you realise that the air - that was once evening-cool, with a crisp breeze - has grown hotter and balmier, as if you are in the middle of a summer's day.
The flowers that grow in the grass have changed colour, too; you do not recognise the blooms that decorate the landscape, though you're struck by how bountiful they seem. That they are open despite the evening, turning towards the moon as so many others turn towards the sun. You can sense that they perfume the air with some kind of strange, heavy scent - but you cannot name what exactly that scent is.
Your limbs feel strangely heavy, and you have the slightest headache at the back of your eyes. But you persevere, one foot in front of the other, sure of yourself that you have made the right decision following this little-used path.
But you have not - for more reasons than you yet realise.
And so, far sooner in your journey than one could ever have expected, you had let your foot fall onto grass glistening with dew-drops in the moonlight, and suddenly you had found yourself surrounded by fallen soldiers glowing with an unearthly purple light. Their bodies twisted in their corruption, their faces wiped blank by the abyssal magic of the Wild Hunt - and no thoughts in their head but to attack the strange newcomer who has stumbled into their midst.
(And you have indeed stumbled, you realise; that same heavy perfume that is leaking into the air seems to have robbed you of your balance, your body not following your orders the way it is supposed to. Even taking a breath feels laboured. It is almost like some heavy curtain has fallen over you; your skin prickling, your heart rate slowing, your breath catching in your throat).
You are not a fighter.
You do not have a vision or a moonwheel on your hip to help; you do not have a weapon in your bag. You had been prepared to rely on your careful wits and your planning. And surrounded on all sides by the Wild Hunt, like baying bloodhounds eager to see your life spilling out like so much moonlight over the grass, you do not know what you could possibly do to stop your impending death.
But you are lucky.
You are loved, and cherished, and protected - and it seems that Flins has indeed realised why it is you were asking him with a faux innocent air where he'd found himself most busy these past few nights. Because as you are resigning yourself to the end of your life, you see a lantern cut across the dark and hear a cultured voice murmuring to you;
"Stay back, darling. I'll handle this."
The relief that you feel at the sound of his voice cannot possibly be measured; the hope that flares in your heart is like the blooming of a flower, and you stumble backwards as Flins' figure elegantly cuts across the grass. Your breath catches as his polearm arcs through the air, as his lantern glows with an unearthly light and the figures that were converging upon you are banished back to whatever abyss it is they came from.
You're almost mesmerised, as you watch that graceful arc; he moves like a dancer, like someone hypnotising you with every stretch and lunge. He's beautiful, lit by the feral purple glow of the Wild Hunt and his own Electro, and you feel suddenly dizzy with want for him.
Violence has never before truly excited you in this way, but something about watching Flins be the one to enact it, in this particular situation . . . you can barely keep yourself upright. You stumble towards a likely-looking bank of grass replete with those strange flowers, and sink into it on your knees. You take in a deep breath of the perfume, your gaze not tearing away from where Flins is quickly dispatching the few final members of the Wild Hunt.
He turns to you, and there is no sweat upon his brow; but there's a strange look in his golden eyes, one that you've usually only seen in far more intimate moments. He blinks, as if he's trying to rid himself of an unpleasant thought, but he cannot fully make it go away. Instead, his voice sounding somewhat clipped, he takes one step towards you and whispers in a voice that is full-throated;
"Why did you come here alone? Why not . . . wait for me?"
You cannot help the pout that alights on your face at this. Flins gives a smile to see the pout, but his smile wobbles at the edges.He falls to his knees before you and reaches to your face, his gloved thumb stroking over the soft apple of your cheek.
"I wanted to surprise you," you whisper, surprised by how dry your voice comes out when you manage it. You try to blink back the sticky miasma of desire you're feeling yourself; you don't know what it is about everything that's just happened that has so driven you to your baser instincts! But Flins is all the more handsome in the moonlight, all the more desirable after seeing him quell the abyss for the sake of your safety. "I wanted to show I was . . . capable . . ."
He lets out a soft chuckle of laughter, breathless, and you feel your skin flush in embarrassment. It feels as though you've done precisely the opposite of that tonight.
"But why here?" He asks, pressing onwards. You're all the more aware of his palm against the side of your cheek, of his surprising bulk beneath his Ratnik uniform - and about what you'd hoped would lie at the end of your journey, when Flins returned home to you. You'd envisioned such a thing taking place on Flins' bed, but suddenly the soft grass beneath you does not seem so bad a consolation prize. "Do you . . . not know what you've stumbled into?"
"The Wild Hunt, it seems," you whisper, and Flins laughs again - but there is a darker edge to his laugh. Something hungry. Something full of want. It is a laugh that reminds you that Flins is not merely human - that within his handsome guise lies something that has existed for far longer than you ever will.
"Didn't you recognise the flora?" He asks. "Didn't you wonder why nobody else ever seems to take this path?"
You're embarrassed to admit that you had not wondered such a thing; you had been too proud of your own cleverness in planning this route. You had not asked questions, and you are far from a botanist. You look to one side, to the fragrant pale purple blooms that litter the grass.
"What are they?" You ask him, your throat dry, and Flins smiles again.
"Do you feel that?" He asks you, instead of answering your question. It's a peculiar quirk of his to not enjoy answering straight questions; to like to dance around them and play games with you. You sometimes find it exasperating - but right now, his eyes glowing warm and golden, his hand so comforting on your skin as it slides from your cheek and down your jaw and down your neck - right now, it's terribly endearing. You feel a pang of wanting, deep inside of you. "How warm it is? How much you want me?"
"I--I suppose so," you say, skin going hot. Flins' tongue flicks out, wetting his lips.
"I feel it too," he whispers. "Everything within me is just shouting at me that I ought to pin you down and have my wicked way with you right now, right here on the grass, and damn anyone who gets in the way." You gasp as his fingers slip under the neckline of your shirt - his fingertips are cool upon your heated skin. "My instincts are whispering that I should take you right here; fill you so full up with myself and my seed that you're never again in doubt of who it is you belong to. So that no filthy abyssal creatures would dare touch you, you would smell so much of me. So that you I'd never need to worry about you traipsing off to do something as dangerous as this. All round and fertile and bred, with my child - so unmistakably mine."
You realise exactly what it is that the great flowers are giving off. You've read about it, but you've never once encountered it in real life - usually it's the fodder of those Inazuman light novels that nobody wants to admit to reading.
Something to do with aphrodisiacs in the pollen, making those who breathe in the fumes from the flowers lose their sense of propriety and stimulating the parts of their brain and body that lead to arousal. The particular kinds you've read about are only active at night, when their flowers open - but until then, you and Flins will both be at its mercy.
In other words--
"Sex pollen?"
And Flins laughs, and pulls you into a kiss, and you know that the two of you will not be leaving this particular spot - this particular mound of grass, surrounded by these particular flowers - until the sun rises once again, and the two of you have gotten the spores of pollen out of your system.
He tastes cool, like fresh spring water on a crisp autumn morning; it's a salve to lips that you hadn't yet realised were burning for it. And he kisses you, too, like a man who is starving but still wishes to preserve his dignity; a man with a feast before him who intends to take his time savouring it instead of gorging himself on it. You gasp into his mouth as his teeth - just a touch too sharp to be fully mortal - bite into the soft, plump flesh of your lower lip. He stops just before the pressure becomes painful. Ordinarily, he'd pull back now - check to make sure that you were both happy with the way things were going - but with the pollen addling both of your brains, he does no such thing. Instead, his tongue pushes into yours with a possessive motion that makes the space between your thighs throb, and you find yourself whining helplessly into his mouth.
Your hands come up to tangle through his indigo-dark locks, and Flins - feeling spurred on by the touch - kisses you deeper, harder. His tongue traces your teeth, learns your mouth as though it is something to be studied, and you are powerless against him but to sigh and whine and whimper. You feel heat as it rises into your stomach and tingles to each extremity; to your fingertips and your toes, need in a sense that you've never experienced. You've wanted Flins before - of course you have, this is far from the first time the two of you have been intimate - but you have never before felt as though you might die if you didn't pull him into you. That without the feeling of him on you and in you, taking you and claiming you, you would simply cease to be.
You know it is the spores of the pollen that is muddling your brain so, but you can't bring yourself to care when something so simple as a kiss is capable of pulling forth this depth of feeling in you.
Flins pulls away from your mouth with a wet pop, only to immediately begin to rain kisses upon your cheek, your bare neck. You arch your back for him so he can reach more of the skin there, and you cry out into the cool, dark night as he sucks a love-bite directly into the hollow of your throat. The slight push-pull of the bruising pain is the most intense sensation that you have ever felt, you think - up until Flins' hands reach up and begin to undo the buttons of your shirt, and he's able to drop more and more kisses down your collarbone and onto the plush curve of where your breasts are held in by your undergarments.
Every new love-bite that he sucks into your skin feels like a new plane of Celestia; a new discovery of parts of your body that you didn't realise were so sensitive right up until Flins excavated them, an archaeologist expert in all things you.
(Once, back when you'd first met Flins and you were hesitant when things turned intimate, you had shied away from him and held your clothes closer to you. His voice had been patient as he had told you he would wait, but reminded you that he had seen many great beauties in his wanderings in Snezhnaya and Nod-Krai, and you were still his favourite. You were still the one who haunted his dreams. You hadn't known then, just how old Flins was and how many others he must have seen - but knowing that now just makes his impassioned plea and the warmth of those golden eyes as he had reassured you seem all the sweeter. Of all of the people in Snezhnaya, in all of the candlelit ballrooms and the snow-swirling landscapes and the old merchant's shops and every other place Flins has haunted, you are still the most beautiful. You are still his favourite. Right now, with the hunger that Flins stares you down with in his gaze and the heated feel of gloved fingers running over bare flesh, you would be foolish to think otherwise).
Cool air on your bare skin as Flins covetously pulls your shirt off completely, and then works his thumbs into the waistband of your skirt to pull that down and over the soft valley of your stomach, the curve of your hips and the roundness of your thighs. You're in practical clothing, for the walk you'd intended to take - but Flins still acts as though he is pulling off the priceless jewels of a queen, and under his gaze (no matter how heated and hungry the pollen has turned it) you cannot help but feel like one.
"You're beautiful," he says to you, his eyes caressing every inch of you as if this is the first time he has seen you. Your underwear is plain yet serviceable, much like the clothes you had worn for the journey - but again, under Flins' eyes you feel as though you are clad in strips of ribbon and lace, silk and satin and pearls and jewels. You cannot even bring yourself to care of the grass behind you, where it presses into your skin - it will probably leave stains of mud and leaves and grass tomorrow, but all that seems to matter is Flins, and his body against yours.
He seems to be able to think through the haze of the pollen a touch better than you - though with his physiology, you suppose that is to be expected. Still - he has enough patience to stop there, to look at you and admire you and whisper compliments even though his throat sounds thick. You reach up one hand to cup his cheek, his skin cool.
"You're beautiful," you tell him - and then, because you can barely stand the distance between you. "Please kiss me more. Please touch me more."
A strangled laugh escapes Flins' throat, and his gaze once more roves over you. Soft flesh, all curves and plump spillage - your hips, your stomach, your thighs and your upper arms. They're all places that you've silently cursed and pinched at and frowned at in mirrors, but under Flins' gaze you are entirely transformed.
"Just let me look at you," he says, and you cannot believe his patience. Does he not know that your stomach is roaring? That your chest is beating a rhythm that seems almost unnatural in your breast? That with every shift of your body you can sense the slickness that has saturated through your underwear, the ache of emptiness inside of you? "You're not often presented so . . . exquisitely." The back of one gloved hand trails over your body, and you feel your nipples peak even through the soft fabric of your brassiere, and a shiver runs down your back. "You can't blame a man for liking to look at what's his." A smile quirks the corner of his lips. "Though I suppose I am no man . . . Still. You're so lovely, laid out like this for me."
"You should see how lovely I can be without the underwear," you say, far forwarder than you would normally be - but oh, the pollen! The ache inside of you! Flins had said that the flowers would close when dawn came, but it is still the middle of the night and your need still seems to echo through your bones, a ceaseless chant that can only be quieted by Flins filling the ache inside of you.
Another laugh falls from Flins' lips.
"Yes," he agrees, his voice mild - though you let your eyes stray to his crotch, and you can see that there's a noticeable stiffness pressing against the fabric. You try to make them focus on the rest of him through the hazy gaze of need, and swear that you see, too, the faintest flush high on his cheekbones. The way his pupils are just a touch more blown out than usual. The fact that his lips are slightly swollen, as if he's been biting them as a way to keep himself pulled back. "I rather think I'd like that."
But he still does not hurry himself - though now you're attuned to it, you can see the tremble in his fingers as he reaches behind you to unclip your brassiere. His fingers are tender as they slip beneath the straps, where they dig into the plump flesh of your shoulders. As he lifts it away and your breasts, your nipples hard, are revealed to the same cool air, he takes in a great shuddering gasp of want.
He takes a moment, before he moves to your stockings, to once more make his mark on your now bare breasts. His mouth encircles the nub of one nipple, his tongue lapping across it until it strains and pebbles, before he takes it entirely within and suckles. His teeth graze along the sensitive bud and oh, that sensation is just too much for your fraught body to handle - you buck beneath him, whining, the emptiness inside of you all the more pressing as pleasure suffuses first one of your nipples and then the other as Flins repeats the ministrations.
He is not the kind of man who would leave his work undone; he lavishes both of your nipples and your breasts with attention, the same lick and suck and graze and nibble until you feel utterly helpless and you wonder if it is possible to come just from having your breasts and nipples played with. Flins has always been conscientious about such things, whether it be his jigsaw puzzles or his gems or other things in his collection - and though you should hate the idea of being owned, of being part of such a thing . . . you cannot help but be honoured that Flins wants to treat you in the same careful, thorough way he treats other things that belong to him.
You remember what he'd said, earlier, and a shiver of delight runs through you. You want to belong to him. The idea of being filled with him, of being claimed by him--
Does he not realise how his words have taken root inside of you until you will settle for nothing less?
He works off each of your stockings next, your shoes coming with them - you hadn't even realised you still had them on! It is so easy to forget such banal things when your head is full of the promise of the night, and the touch of Flins' mouth and fingers. As he rolls the stockings down your full, generous thighs he smiles at you and murmurs;
"You have no idea what the sight of this," and he pinches, gently, the flesh of your upper thigh, "over where your stockings dig in does to me. Just the reminder of how . . . ripe you are for the taking. Oh, darling, it's a wonder I get anything done when you're always running rampant in my thoughts. Sometimes when I'm on a long patrol I get myself through it imagining your thighs clamped either side of my head when I get back to the lighthouse--"
Your face goes hot. Flins doesn't often confide his desires in you out loud - this is a new development, no doubt spurred by the pollen on the air taking away some of his exhibitions. Knowing that Flins has thought such things about you, though, when he's supposed to be at work--
"I'll make sure that you're suitably rewarded, then," you manage to get out, breathlessly. "Next time you get home late--"
Flins laughs, and then his hands are on your underwear and he's pulling those down.
You see that a sticky web of your own slick clings to the gusset of the underwear as he pulls them down, unwilling to be separated - but as it breaks, Flins lets out a low groan in the back of his throat that ranks amongst the most animal noises you have ever heard from him. You swear that you feel your insides clench, that you feel another pump of your own slick slide down your channel to web at your entrance.
"I can smell you," Flins whispers, and now when he looks at you those golden yellow eyes seem to burn like fire. "Oh, dearheart. You have no idea what it is you do to me. I fear . . . I fear I may not be a gentleman for much longer."
An exhale into the air. Your eyes meet his. You wonder what they look like in turn - if your own gaze is lit by the same kind of feral fire as Flins', or if your pupils have gone wide and dark and blown.
"Good," you whisper, and you spread your thighs like an invitation. "I don't want you to be a gentleman with me."
When he smiles, once again you see the flash of teeth just a little bit away from being human - but then, he bends, and you see the flick of his tongue, and his tongue is pressing against your sex and you lose the ability to do anything else but enjoy yourself.
It feels as though every nerve ending you possess has had its sensitivity magnified by a hundred, and such a thing is half-pain and half-pleasure but, more than that, it goes some of the way towards easing the ache inside of you that the pollen in the air has created.
Flins knows exactly what he's doing with his tongue - you can see the glow of those yellow-gold eyes if you look down, but you do not have the facilities to look down right now. In fact, all you can do as Flins' tongue licks and sucks at you, his thumbs parting the plump lips of your labia as he works you over so he can learn your sex as thoroughly as he earlier learnt your mouth, is stare up into the starlight-scattered night and gasp and whine and let your eyes roll back into your head as Flins once more lays claim to another secret part of you.
Oh, when he has done this before it has been good - but to describe this occasion as merely 'good' would be to do it a great disservice.
Flins does not start with your clit, though it aches and throbs to be paid attention. He starts with the sides of your sex, kissing and licking, nibbling and grazing his teeth. He swirls his tongue over the hood of your clit and around your entrance, but does not yet breach those most sensitive parts of you. He alternates broad strokes and soft flicks, kisses and rolls of his tongue, until you are so wet between your thighs you can't tell what might be your own slick and what might be his saliva.
By the time he does move onto your clit, you let out a noise that sounds more like a sob at the relief of it all - but he still starts slowly. He pokes at the swollen nub with the very edge of his tongue, teasing you. He rolls his tongue around it, not quite brushing against the pearl replete with the nerve endings that might make you finally tumble over into a bliss that you can feel hovering over you like a physical thing.
Then, he gives one slow, certain lap over your clit and you cry out his name, your nerves feeling as though they white-out. It is not an orgasm, but it is as if a promise has finally been fulfilled, and it's so pleasurable you feel as if you might cry.
He doesn't leave it at that. Once the dam has broken, Flins has no qualms about continuing his assault over your clit, and what started as one slow lap becomes a complicated dance of his tongue, skilful flicks and laps and swirls that have your hands finding purchase in his hair and tugging and your voice whispering out his name like it's a magical spell. You swear that it seems as though Flins does not need to breathe, the amount of time he spends between your thighs, working his magic on your clit (and you realise, later on, you've never thought to question if indeed a fae would need to draw breath). He sucks it into his mouth and works it like it's the most delicious thing he's ever tasted, he drinks down your slick like ambrosia - and when he pulls back, he reaches for your face where it's tipped up to the sky and angles it towards him.
"I'm going to make you come," he tells you, your gaze locked on his. You realise that as he's been working at you with his mouth, he's undone his own trousers - his cock is in his other fist, slender and pale and flushed, as beautiful and graceful as Flins himself. The thought that he has been working himself whilst he's been using his mouth on you makes you go hot all over, that emptiness and dizziness inside of you twirling around one another until you can barely think. "And then," he says, his voice low and throatier than you've ever heard it, a reminder that he was once a nobleman and an aristocrat who is used to having his whims obeyed, "I am going to claim you."
Neither of these things are phrased as questions. They are both orders; certainties of what will happen. But as Flins drops your chin and the hand formerly on your face finds your entrance, his fingers quickly saturating in your slick (at some point he must have taken his gloves off, you realise, for his hand was bare around his cock too), you cannot bring yourself to care.
As one of his fingers pushes inside of you and finally - finally! - the emptiness inside of you is somewhat sated, you drive your hips against it to pull him in, and as Flins' tongue once more finds your clit to suckle at it, you can feel that those nerve endings deep inside of you are sparking with some kind of magic.
You come.
Two of his fingers inside of you, curled, to pet at that special spongy spot inside of you that Flins has always been able to find without thinking about it. His tongue flat against your clit. The soft slick sound of flesh on flesh, as he works his cock (though you do not think he will come. You think that there might be something in the air - in the spores - that prevents you from finding release at your own hand).
It feels as though your entire body is on fire; like you are a wick that has been eaten at so quickly it can barely register and has burnt down in order to set fireworks off. You imagine yourself exploding; you imagine sparks from every finger, every toe. You feel the way that the orgasm takes over you until it feels as though you're not in control of yourself. You feel heat and warmth coil inside of you, and you expect to find some kind of relief when it is over - as though you have finally beaten the monster inside of you that is begging for more.
But when Flins pulls his fingers out of you and his mouth pulls off of you, when you watch him lick his fingers of your arousal . . . you still feel as empty as when you started. Perhaps even more so.
A noise escapes your mouth; frustration warring with desire. Flins smiles at you, his own arousal only sharpening his features - he has not yet even gotten to come once.
"Shh," he murmurs, as he leans over you and takes your hips in his hands. He manhandles you as though you weigh less than nothing, despite the fact that the way his fingers dig into your generous hips proves that wrong. "It won't abate until we've fulfilled the terms it wants."
"Wh-what?"
Oh. He's brought you to exactly the right position to be able to enter you; moved you slightly up on the little hill you've been splayed out on, so that your crotch and his are level. When he moves so that his slender hips are between yours, you feel the head of his cock (silky and wet and red-hot) brush against the bare flesh of your thigh, and you almost lose the thread of your thought.
But Flins - his face lit by a feral need that is mirrored only by the one that you can feel inside of you - smiles at you, even as his cock brushes over your slick sex. You feel the head bump your clit, before he rearranges his hips and it catches on your entrance and your mouth drops open with a gasp. It is just far enough inside of you that you feel the way you open for it - but not yet far enough inside for it to do anything to ease that empty ache.
"When the dawn comes," Flins murmurs, "and you've been thoroughly claimed. When you're leaking my come. When I've fully made you mine."
Your throat goes dry at the same time as you swear you feel your mouth water, Flins' earlier promise coming back to you threefold.
"Please," you say, helpless, needy, wanting. Addled by the pollen in the air and the way he had looked when he was saving your life, by everything you've done and spoken about since the moment you stepped foot in Nod-Krai. For Flins, who is so gentlemanly and handsome and polite, so strange and yet so sweet,- and all of his secrets.
He's pulled out before, neither of you willing to chance it, letting his release spatter over your stomach or your chest. When he'd said it earlier, he must have seen how it had made you react - but now, with his cock almost inside of you, the very real reality of what he's saying hangs over you.
Flins holds himself back, and you realise he is waiting for you to give him your blessing, despite the animalistic lust in his eye and the curl of his teeth that seems to almost hold back a snarl.
You realise exactly what you want.
"Yes," you breathe to him, and you shift on the mound you're laid upon and the head of his cock pops wetly inside of you. "Claim me. Make me yours."
Flins does not need to be asked twice.
It is as if you have given him full permission to finally embrace the animalistic side of himself, and once more you are reminded that you have at least gotten to come tonight, even if it has indeed done nothing to quell the want inside of you. But the way that Flins flexes his hips and his entire length slips inside of you makes you shudder in full-body pleasure.
It is a tight fit, and yet at the same time it is a perfect fit, and he slips into the shape of you as if he was made to go inside. You feel yourself cling to him like a silk glove, and your fingers come up to cling to his shoulders in turn. He is still mostly dressed in comparison to your nakedness, and yet that somehow makes it seem all the better - the difference between him in his Ratnik uniform, lost to his lust, and you in nature amongst the blooms of Nod-Krai shod in nothing but moonlight and starshine.
You cannot express the relief you feel, to be full - but Flins lets out that chest deep groan, his hips still tilted towards you as if he wants to be even deeper inside of you than his not-insignificant length will allow. You wonder how he felt this; if, instead of an empty ache, he felt the need to be inside of something (inside of you) - two halves of a whole.
He moves backwards, though, his cock dragging along the velvety inner sleeve of your sex, and you lose the ability to think. You lose the ability to do anything but revel in the sensation of having him inside of you. You're suddenly aware of his body over yours, the tickle of his hair where it drags against your bare skin, the feeling of cool breath against your heated body. You put an arm around his neck and pull him down to kiss you deep and hungry as he fucks into you, and as your gaze meets his you feel perfectly at peace.
You are meant to be here - and Flins is meant to be here with you. His cock dragging inside of you, his hips bumping against yours, his lips upon your lips. This is perfect. This is what the night has been building towards since the moment you stepped foot into the territory of the Wild Hunt.
Flins groans out your name against your lips as he continues to move his hips in and out of you, as he finally finds a rhythm and slides into it. On other days, at other times, you would call the rhythm 'punishing' - certainly, it's faster and harder than any other time you and Flins have made love. But for this moment, it is perfect. For this moment, with need and want and heat coalescing inside of you and the heavy fragrance of the sex pollen blooms hanging in the air, it is exactly the rhythm that you need him to be fucking into you.
The drag of his cock sets your nerves on fire once again, reawakening the need and desire for orgasm. This time, you realise, it will be quicker - whatever magic is at work within the flora of this area of Nod-Krai is pleased that he is inside of you, and it will reward you with a sooner orgasm. You wonder if you'll get to come again before Flins has come even once - and that leads you to think about where Flins is going to come, and the sensation of being filled with his release when he does reach his peak--
"Perfect," Flins has whispered against your mouth, and he is looking at you with his pupils blown wide. "You're perfect," he says to you, and you feel it. You feel right.
"Please," you reply to him, your voice weak with wanting. "Please, Flins. I want to be yours. I want you to claim me."
And Flins delivers.
He pushes that rhythm further and further, his body fitting inside yours; until it is almost painful, the way that he fucks into you. Your body bounces with each thrust, but under Flins' gaze you cannot find it within yourself to be ashamed of the curve of your stomach or the bounce of your breasts - not when his eyes keep straying to them when they move, as hungry as a starving man can possibly be. You feel his cock inside of you, keep track of the cadence of his breath - and as he fucks you, you lose time.
The moon seems to float across the sky quicker than it possibly can, as Flins continues to fuck into you - you should feel exhausted, you think, for if the movement of the moon is anything to go by it ought to have been hours. But each thrust feels as velvet smooth as before, even in the punishing pace that Flins is using - and you long for it to continue forever.
You think you would be happy here, beneath him forever, with his cock pumping into you and your flesh tingling with pleasure.
But as dawn begins to tinge the air pink instead of lavender, something changes. His breath comes out more as a growl and you feel the way that he loses his rhythm, and you know that his peak is coming.
Your body has surprised you; you have felt as though you were trembling on the edge of an orgasm this whole time, but another has not rocketed through you. You realise as Flins' thrusts become messy and hungry that this is by design - that the two of you were always meant to come together, at the behest of the pollen that clings to your lungs. You are not angry about it.
Flins' mouth smashes hungrily against yours. The quickness of his hips moves to fever pitch - and you find yourself automatically wrapping your full, plump thighs around his waist as if trying to pull him in ever deeper. Flins groans, hungry, wanting - and you whine, your teeth biting into his bottom lip, the fluttering inside of you reaching a fever pitch.
His cock twitches once, twice. You break the kiss to cry out, and it breaks the morning like dawn light.
"Mine," Flins whispers, more animal than you've ever heard him - and then he is coming, and you are coming, and everything seems to be right with the world.
Every experience you have had on this strange night feels as though it could be described as 'indescribable', but the one you have as you feel yourself let go, as your sex constricts and loosens and pulses with the peaks and waves of your orgasm, as you feel Flins' cock inside of you release his seed and fill you up . . . that, perhaps, is the hardest feeling to grasp again.
For you do feel as though you are his. You feel claimed by him in every way, from the pleasure that is emanating through your body to the thick warmth settling inside of you that has issued forth from him. From the lovebites on your throat to the grass stains on your skin. And when you look up at him, your breath coming in slow gasps, your eyes heavy with a sudden tiredness - Flins smiles at you, and for the first time since you breathed in the scent of that strange flora you feel full.
The empty ache inside of you has gone, and it has been replaced by the feel of Flins' release - his claim on you. Thicker than you thought it would be. Warmer. But exactly right.
His hand rests on the soft flesh of your stomach as he pulls out of you, but you do not move just yet lest any of his come should slide out of you. His hand does not move. There is a strange smile on his face; something proud and happy and shy, something almost afraid.
"Do you regret it?" He asks, and his voice is back to normal now; there is no baying desire at the back of his throat save for the desire that is always present when he looks at your body. That golden gaze ruefully travels up to meet yours. "If you do--"
"No," you say, surprised by your own certainty. "This feels . . . right."
Flins is gentlemanly as he gathers your clothes - he does not try to put them all on again, but he pulls your shirt back on as you lay there, and fastens your skirt back around your waist. You do not have his magical physiology; your night of passion has left you gasping and exhausted, but fully satisfied. He does not make an attempt at your stockings.
"Then," he says, and a faint smile plays at the corners of his lips. "You would not object to me . . . staking my claim again? Tonight, perhaps?"
You finally deign to allow yourself to be pulled up onto your feet, and you find yourself terribly glad that none of the come that Flins fucked into you slides down your inner thigh. You imagine yourself, flush and round with child; the heaviness of your breast, the way that Flins would look at you with hungry eyes, the way his voice would pitch lower as he took you to his bed, like the way he had spoken last night describing what he wished to do to you--
Flins wraps his coat around your shoulders to hide the dishevelment of your clothes, the grass stains that have marred the fabric as well as your skin - and you look up at him and smile.
"I would not object at all," you say to him, your own voice low and hungry. "Perhaps you might need to do it twice more. Maybe even three times. Just to make sure that nothing like this ever occurs again."
He laughs, and presses a kiss to the top of your head.
"Believe me, dearest," he says, and though there's the lilt of laughter in his voice you still believe him completely, "every creature in the whole of Teyvat will know who you belong to by this time tomorrow morning."
You think of the warmth between your legs and Flins' body above yours and how full you feel.
"Mm," you say. "Still. Perhaps you ought to stay at it for a while longer. Just to make sure it takes."
» Akaashi Keiji is the image of deference. Of worship.«
------------------------------------
TAGS: friends to lovers, fluff, down-bad akaashi, experienced akaashi x inexperienced yn, "teach me" trope, cunnilingus, penetrative sex, akaashi not knowing how to communicate because hes so smart yet so so dumb
a/n: thank you so very much to the person who commissioned this fic!!! i had a crazy amount of fun with this, you literally have no idea <3333
[commission honee here!]
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akeiji95 followed you!
You stare down at your phone, spoon halfway to your mouth and suspended in midair. Your classmate hums curiously, so you turn the screen to show her the notification.
She gives an interested quirk of her eyebrow. "Akaashi Keiji? The hottest guy in the second-year class?"
You click your teeth, shaking your head. "I don't know if I'd call him that. He's just Koutarou's younger friend." You tap the follow back button quickly, showing her your ambivalence. "See? No big deal."
She just leans into your screen again, clicking on his profile. He's only following two people. "Wanna bet who the other one is?"
You don't need to guess. "Maybe it's a new account."
"His entire class is following him."
"Alright," you say decisively, putting your phone down. "Shut up and eat your lunch."
She just snickers and pushes food around her bento. "When'd you meet him, anyway?"
"Haven't."
Her pursed lips and the little shake of her head say more than she does.
—
"Hey, Y/n!"
You glance over your shoulder, squinting through the sunlight to find the source of your name. It's not hard, Bokuto so big that he actually blocks the sun out for you the closer he gets.
"Hi, Kou."
"You're leaving without me?!"
You roll your eyes. "I never know when you have practice after school — even when you don't, you like to make practice."
"Akaashi and I wanted to get food!"
It's only now that you realize Bokuto isn't alone.
Akaashi Keiji isn't as big as Bokuto, but even when Bokuto shifts out of the sun's path, it doesn't come back to blind you. You crane your neck up as he approaches, staring up at him dumbly. He stares back, just as dumb.
"Oh," you say. "Hi."
He blinks, tugging on his sleeve a little nervously. "Hi. I'm Akaashi Keiji. It's nice to meet you."
You get the sense he's only being so forthcoming because you're older.
Bokuto claps him hard on the shoulder. You take a moment to appreciate that he doesn't flinch under the man's heavy hand. "Y/n is my next-door neighbor!"
Akaashi just nods, his left shoulder weighed down by your friend. "I know, Bokuto. You told me four times."
You smile up at him. "You'll hear it again, don't worry."
The grin he cracks is shy and quickly smothered, but you see it. You see how he meets your eyes and glances away, acknowledging the joke quietly while Bokuto complains about bullying.
"Whatever," the bigger man says eventually, tugging on your sleeve. "Come eat with us." When you glance at Akaashi, curious if he's been informed of this plan, the boy just nods, giving you a polite smile when he senses your attention.
"Okay," you say eventually, falling into place with them, Akaashi in the middle. You notice when he decides to fall back, allowing you and Bokuto to lead.
You don't know what to do with this. All you know about Akaashi Keiji is his Instagram name and his — almost excessive — attention to deference. You're used to shameless pride and an infectious energy. You couldn't compare him to Bokuto if you tried, and it's a mystery they're friends at all.
But it becomes clear soon enough, at the little tented food stall that sits just down the road. Bokuto barges through, beelining for a little table in the corner because it's the last one left. Akaashi chooses to wait, holding open the tent flap for you and bowing his head when you thank him. When you get to the table, Bokuto's already ordering at the counter, his coat and bag the only evidence he'd ever been there at all.
Akaashi sits across from you quietly, eyes trailing the little menu card as though there's not only four items offered.
You clear your throat. "So, did Bokuto make you follow me in hopes of us becoming friends?"
He meets your eyes and looks away. Brushes his hair out of his face. Glances to see if Bokuto's almost done. "Uh, no," he says, and then stumbles to clarify. "I mean, yes. He thinks I need more friends. But he doesn't know."
You smirk, toying with the edge of your own menu card and trying to joke, because the tension is killing you. "So, what makes me the lucky winner?"
He meets your eyes and, to your surprise, gives you a downward grin of his own. "Bokuto never shuts up about you. I figured I'd meet the girl on the pedestal and see for myself."
A flush spreads across your cheeks, and he watches it happen, clearly pleased. So you roll your eyes and return to your menu.
"Hope you have a pedestal empty."
A laugh leaves his body in a breathy exhale, and you catch the hand he rubs down his face to cover his mouth.
Bokuto returns, bringing with him a few girls from another table. "I ordered us a bunch of stuff! I'm starved."
Akaashi groans, muttering to himself but perfectly within your earshot. "He ate half of my lunch — how could he be starved?"
You smother your smile and return your attention to Bokuto, who's gesturing to the girls.
"Some girls from your class wanted to say hi, Akaashi!"
They seem shy, but their interest is obvious, and you can see why. Akaashi is tall, good-looking, respectful, and — shockingly — a bit of a smart-ass. He's as perfect as high-school boys get.
But he just sits there, either ignoring their obvious signals or completely oblivious that there are signals at all.
"Hello," he says plainly.
One of the girls pipes up, gripping her friend's sleeve. "We're in the same class."
The other girl now. "We're not in the same class, but my best friend sits behind you."
The last girl. "We have no connection." She doesn't look embarrassed about it.
Akaashi just stares, as though he's wondering if there's a quiz after this. "Okay. Nice to meet you…?"
The first girl pipes up. "We already know each other. You gave me a napkin once."
You're shocked to realize he's turning to you for help. You don't give it, just staring back.
Bokuto pouts, looking between you and then at the girls. "Aw, c'mon, Akaashi." The boy in question just eyes him, confused. "You need more friends!"
You try not to blush when cerulean eyes flick to you before glancing away.
After they leave, a mixture of disappointed and amazed that Akaashi had spoken to them at all, Bokuto nudges him and starts waxing poetic about interpersonal connections and the joys of friendship. You just eat your food and let them talk, deciding that Akaashi Keiji's interpersonal connections are none of your business.
Until he makes it your business.
__
akeiji95 sent you a message!
It comes later that night, long after you'd said bye to him at the train station and long after you and Bokuto had parted ways at your connected gates.
You click the notification, trying to decide if you're surprised or not.
[9:42 PM]
akeiji95: yn. hi.
you: hi akaashi. what brings you here?
akeiji95: bokuto
you: ah yes. have you selected a potential new friend?
akeiji95: depends.
akeiji95: im still getting my pedestal ready if thats alright
akeiji95: it's a little dusty atm
You'd be hard-pressed to admit that you're lying on your bed with your feet swinging in the air, a grin plastered on your face.
you: im patient, dw
akeiji95: oh good
akeiji95: do i need to wait until it's ready or can i start now?
you: hmmmm
you: i supposed im bored enough to allow some interaction with the masses
akeiji95: is that me.
akeiji95: am i the masses.
you: do you see anyone else here???
akeiji95: wow, yn
akeiji95: youre truly so generous with your time
you: and youre a smartass
akeiji95: only when i deem someone worthy
Okay, maybe you're swinging your feet in the air.
you: oh, im just so glad to be worthy
you: akaashi keiji, giving me attitude?
you: ive been yearning for this day
akeiji95: youre kind of a smartass too
you: how dare you speak ill of me.
akeiji95: pedestal's not ready yet.
you: WOWWWW
you: im telling bokuto
akeiji95: pls dont even joke ab that
akeiji95: he will literally never let it go
you: whats wrong, akaashi? afraid to admit hes got good judgment?
akeiji95: have you met his ego?
You have to muffle your laugh in a pillow.
you: it's pressing down on the walls of my house as we speak
akeiji95: is it mean to admit that i laughed
you: yes!!
akeiji95: then i wont admit it
you: oh well then problem solved
akeiji95: funny AND smart? dusting faster now
you: youre an asshole
akeiji95: only a little bit
akeiji95: only when i like someone
You freeze, your heartbeat racing in your throat. He takes the silence as a bad thing.
akeiji95: i didnt mean
akeiji95: it was a general statement
akeiji95: im mean to bokuto too if that helps??
It takes a while for your heart to come down to baseline, but you throw him a lifeline.
you: i never wouldve guessed this was your personality
akeiji95: ??? what does that mean???
you: in person, youre like
you: how do i say this nicely
akeiji95: a doormat?
you: NO
you: not a doormat!!
you: just
you: polite? kind of,,,
akeiji95: boring?
you: youre choosing evil adjectives on purpose
akeiji95: doormat is a noun, yn.
akeiji95: spreading dust on the pedestal now.
you: im hanging up on you.
akeiji95: WE'RE TEXTING.
You roll over, your face warm and your tummy swirling with excitment.
you: why are you so selective, anyway?
you: you could have plenty of friends
you: youre funny and polite
akeiji95: you forgot smart
you: i didnt forget shit.
akeiji95: youre evil.
akeiji95: i dont have a lot of friends bc im bad at making friends
akeiji95: i have the volleyball team, i guess
akeiji95: but classmates are hard for me
you: youre not bad at making friends
you: is this hard for you?
akeiji95: incredibly
akeiji95: didnt you see me fumble earlier?
akeiji95: im trying very hard rn
you: you dont have to try hard with me
akeiji95: see? i knew i made the right choice
you: dont feed my ego
you: itll compete with bokutos
akeiji95: well we cant have that
akeiji95: you know how he gets
you: that i do
you: you know you should probably tell him eventually
akeiji95: tell him what, yn?
akeiji95: are we friends?
you: idk, akaashi, is my pedestal ready?
akeiji95: stick around and find out
you: youre avoiding the point
akeiji95: very astute observation
You wait, watching as he types, stops, starts, stops again, and then — finally — sends.
akeiji95: i'll tell him eventually
akeiji95: i kind of want this for myself for now
akeiji95: if thats okay
You bury your face in your pillow, barely looking at your phone when you respond.
you: yeah
you: thats okay
akeiji95: okay
akeiji95: i'll see you tomorrow, yn
you: bye akaashi
You put your phone down and roll over, dragging the blanket over your head and trying to calm down. You nearly manage to fall asleep, but your phone buzzes again, over an hour later.
akeiji95: i think the pedestal's ready
akeiji95: goodnight
—
As the months pass and near your graduation, Keiji becomes antsy.
He still hasn't told Bokuto that he has another friend. He can't figure out how — he's sure that "I'm friends with Y/n" would be more than enough, but the longer it takes, the harder it is to say. Bokuto would never overreact. He might whine a little about not being informed, but he'd be happier to learn that his two closest friends have formed a connection, too.
But Keiji doesn't want him to know. He doesn't want to let anyone into this little part of his life. He wants to keep this a secret, because every flick of your eyes to his at lunch and every smile that you hide when he uses a deadpan voice with Bokuto is enough for him to crave more. Crave more time with you, time that only the two of you know is there.
You never see each other outside of school, not without prompting from Bokuto, and even then, you barely interact. But every night — every night, he's a little embarrassed to realize — he finds himself texting you. First on Instagram, and then, through a very humiliating request for your number, over text.
He's not an idiot. He knows he likes you, the same way that he knows the attention from the girls in his class isn't innocent. He told you that he has a hard time making friends, and he does, but the truth is that he knows his classmates don't want to be friends. The girls want more, and the guys are upset that the girls only see him. Even the girls in third year are like that, and it's brought him more trouble than not.
But you don't treat him like that. He feels with certainty, based on how you text, that you enjoy his company and presence, but he can't quite discern if it's more than that. In person, you treat him the way you treat Bokuto, which is to say that you give him attitude and not much else.
He can't say he hates that part, actually. If anything, it makes his mouth dry and his hands itch, watching you roll your eyes and send him the occasional sharp quip.
But that thing he quietly craves doesn't feel attainable. You don't feel attainable. And, given the way you seem to not realize when boys' attention is more than friendly, he doesn't want to try. He doesn't want to fuck this up, because he wasn't lying when he said he was trying hard to be your friend.
So he doesn't do more than this. He just avoids his classmates and takes any opportunity to follow Bokuto when the older man mentions bugging you. He sits quietly while the two of you bicker, and he opens doors for you, and he bows his head when you give him attention, and then at night, he seeks you out, because he wants his alone time with you, even if it's virtual.
And on the one day he's so busy studying for exams that he forgets to text you, you text him first, and he feels such an immense wave of excitement and relief that you might consider him a friend, too, that he pulls up his messages with Bokuto.
Keiji: bokuto.
Bokuto: AKAAAASHI WHATS UP
Keiji: im friends with yn now
Keiji: so you can stop worrying
Bokuto: OMG REALLY?? THATS GREAT
Bokuto: SHES GREAT
He knows that. He definitely knows that. And he's relieved Bokuto knows, but he won't be giving more detail than that, because he still wants to keep some things to himself.
When you graduate, he misses you. He misses Bokuto, too, but he thinks of you more.
You text him often, but college is hard for you, and he's busy with senior exams, so things change. He can only really keep up with you on Instagram, and the only reason he knows you still value his friendship is that you comment on his posts and send him videos when you have enough time to relax. He stays in Tokyo for college, but you're in Osaka, where Bokuto is for the Black Jackals, and he has no time to visit, so he loses track of you after a while.
He gets better at making friends. Still not great, but girls in college don't pay as much attention to his looks, so he's able to make and keep a decent number of friends. He dates and has a few short-term girlfriends, but his studies take priority, so he — ever efficient in his ways — decides that commitment isn't right for him at this point in his life. He does what any twenty-something year old man would do.
He sleeps around.
Respectfully, he might add, but it's all he can afford to give, and he doesn't want to lead anyone on. As long as he's straightforward, citing his workload upfront and how he doesn't have the time for more, he successfully avoids hurting the partners he takes to bed. It works for him.
He graduates college, and Bokuto is still in Osaka, but he doesn't know where you are. It's been a while since you've updated your social media, and at this point it's been so long he feels uncomfortable texting you without a reason.
Until he enrolls at the University of Hyogo for graduate school. It's not far from Osaka, so he meets Bokuto for lunch and they spend the whole day catching up. He remembers the moment he asks Bokuto if you're well, not wanting to ask more, and his friend says something that gives him a reason to reach out.
"Oh, she's working at a company in Kobe!"
You're in the same city as him.
—
akeiji95 sent you a message!
Deja vu is a bitch.
You're sitting in the company cafeteria, spoon halfway to your mouth. Your co-worker gives you a curious look.
"Oh, nothing," you say, shaking it off. "Just got a text from an old friend."
She shrugs, because Akaashi is no longer the 'hottest guy in school'. He's just your old friend.
You open Instagram, finding his message.
akeiji95: yn. hi.
Deja vu is such a bitch.
you: akaashi! hi!
akeiji95: how have you been?
you: im doing alright, what about you?
akeiji95: im okay.
akeiji95: bokuto told me youre in kobe.
you: yes, i am! im working at a tech company.
akeiji95: still smart, i see.
you: i suppose so lol
you: are you in osaka? thats not far!
akeiji95: im in kobe.
You choke on your lunch, only recovering with a rough pat on the back and a cup of water shoved into your hand.
you: really?? for what?
akeiji95: grad school. im at hyogo.
you: bright as ever
you: typical akaashi keiji
akeiji95: you said it, not me
you: smartass
akeiji95: typical akaashi keiji?
you: as long as you know
You sigh, your heart aching a little. Talking to him feels the same. You thought you'd gotten over him.
akeiji95: can we meet?
you: of course
you: id love to
akeiji95: me too.
You're completely, positively, certainly not over him.
—
He's gotten more beautiful. Taller with a confidence that matches his height. More self-assured in his body, his chest and shoulders broader than before. He's got that lifelong student energy about him, his hair and glasses disheveled but his coat and cardigan and slim-fit black jeans completely perfect.
He finds you easily in the crowded cafe, glancing over everyone's heads until he spots you in the corner, staring open-mouthed at him. His smile is shy but comfortable, laced with something familiar. Like being with you feels familiar.
"Fancy seeing you here."
His voice is deeper. His Adam's apple bobs when he swallows.
"Uh-" You can't find your words, feeling like an idiot. "Akaashi."
His eyebrows lift, but he doesn't mention your limited vocabulary, just removing his backpack and taking the seat across from you. "Have you been here long?"
"No, no," you fumble, breaking eye contact. His eyes are prettier, somehow. It's hard to look at him. "I got here, like, twenty minutes ago."
He smiles, tilting his head. You watch how his hair flops gently to the side, entranced. "I wouldn't consider that not long, Y/n."
His comfort relaxes you in the same way it used to. You smile, gesturing to the window. "I work across the street. My lunch hour started at noon." You watch his eyes flick to clock on the wall behind you and then over his shoulder at your building across the street.
"So you've got time for lunch?" he asks, gesturing to the coffee in your hand. "Or was that the plan?"
You purse your lips, your heels sliding across the linoleum as you kick your feet, a little petulant. "I was gonna scarf something down in the elevator after this."
He scoffs and then stands, holding a hand out for you. You take it, warming, and let him help you up.
"Let's go get real food, please."
He takes you just a street over, to a little place he'd passed on the way. You don't mention how much it looks like the place outside Fukurodani, the place where you'd met.
The conversation comes easy, despite never really having any in-person interactions before. He pays for lunch, just letting you rattle off protests with nothing more than a grin. You update him on your life, talking about college and the pains of being a salaryperson. He tells you about his English program, how he wants to work for a publishing company.
He mentions being overworked, but you'd be able to see it even if he hadn't said anything. There are bags under his eyes, visible only in certain lighting but there nonetheless. And he holds himself well but rolls his shoulders unconsciously while talking, betraying the ways his body has suffered in his academic pursuits.
"Have you explored the city at all?" you finally ask, as you're both standing and heading for the tent flap. He still holds it open, the same way he did before, and he still bows his head when you thank him.
"Haven't had the time," he admits, trailing after you. "But-" He makes a concerned noise and interrupts his own train of thought. "Your feet…"
You turn, finding that he'd been looking down. Following his gaze, you realize that he can see the bandages you've put on the backs of your ankles, blood seeping through anyway. "Oh," you say. "It's okay. It's from running around in heels all day, but I can't really feel it anymore."
The scrunch of his eyebrows tells you he doesn't think it's okay. "They make you run around in those for eight hours a day?"
"More like ten, sometimes twelve," you say, a laugh in your voice. He doesn't reciprocate the sentiment. "It's okay, really. It's just part of the job."
"You work twelve hours a day?"
You glance up at him while he walks you to the main door of your company. "Don't you work just as much?"
"Not in heels."
You choke on a laugh, shaking your head. "I'm okay, Akaashi-"
"Call in sick tomorrow."
You stare up at him, eyes wide. "What? I can't just do that."
"Yes, you can. Call in sick. Let's go do something fun."
You shake your head. "This isn't high school, Akaashi. I can't play hooky."
He tilts his head, a teasing grin on his lips. "I never played hooky in high school, Y/n. That's very irresponsible."
"Okay, bye, Akaashi," you laugh, waving him off and turning away. He catches you by the wrist, turning you back to him.
"Call off tomorrow. Seriously. I'll skip my classes."
"What happened to irresponsible?" you laugh. "What are we even gonna do, anyway?"
"I told you," he starts. "I haven't had any time to relax. Let's try some random hobby."
"Whatever for?"
"To find a way to burn off stress. We're both exhausted, Y/n." His argument is dreadfully convincing. "I don't know anyone else in Kobe. Let's hang out."
You examine him, watching how he watches you. His eyes flick between yours, serious and a little urgent, and his hand is still wrapped around your wrist, his palm almost overbearingly warm.
"And… what hobby did you have in mind?" you ask, your voice weak and betraying how close you are to giving in.
His downward grin is pretty as ever. "I don't know. I didn't think I'd get this far."
You laugh, tugging your wrist from his grip. His fingers brush on your skin, almost like he's reluctant to let go. "If you can find a hobby, a place, and a time, I will consider calling in sick tomorrow. And-" you point at him menacingly. "You better not be risking anything by skipping class."
He places a hand on his chest. "I would never. Unlike you, I'm responsible."
"Good-bye, Akaashi." You turn away, heading back to work.
"I'll text you," he says, like a promise.
You lean on the revolving door, calling back to him as you go.
"You better."
—
[8:19 PM]
Akaashi: painting
Akaashi: 11:30
Akaashi: [location attached]
—
You meet him at the little art studio at exactly 11:30, smiling at how he paces anxiously in front.
He looks relieved to see you. "I wasn't sure you'd show."
"You submitted all the requested materials," you say simply. "I had to respect your efforts."
He bites back a laugh and opens the door for you. Bows his head when you thank him. "Let's see what painting's all about, then."
It turns out you're terrible at it. He's not an artistic genius himself, but his final product actually kind of looks like the instructor's. Yours looks like you attended a different class.
He doesn't tease too much, though he does ask if he can keep yours. You vehemently refuse and part ways with him after lunch at a nearby park and a walk to the train station, where he makes you promise to relax at home the rest of the day.
You fall into a pattern with him, one that neither of you addresses head-on, the same way that looking directly into the sun is bad for you.
On weekends (you have to remind him that you do have a job and he does have classes), you meet at the agreed upon hobby location of the week, half chosen by him and half by you.
He's atrocious at yoga, claiming that it only made him more stressed.
You spend several hours ignoring him after he makes you go for a run, of all things, your winded anger overshadowed by his bright laughter as he jogs ahead of you.
He allows you to put him in a corner at a cooking class, because he'd added cumin instead of cinnamon and then almost singed your eyebrows off.
You're not ashamed to admit that you call him a "four-eyed fuckass" when he tries and fails miserably to contain his laughter at pottery class. In your defense, he'd managed a decent-looking vase, where all you'd managed was an out-of-control pottery wheel and splashed clay all over your face and hair.
All in all, the search for stress relief is a resounding failure, so, on the Saturday after the pottery fiasco, you suggest going to a bar and just hanging out.
He gets whiskey. You sip on a moscow mule, grinning mischievously up at him when he asks how you don't find it too sweet.
"Have some whimsy, Akaashi."
"I have the perfect amount of whimsy," he argues, whiskey on his breath and a glaze in his eyes that wasn't there before. "I let you make me do yoga."
"Yoga's not whimsical. It's about core strength and discipline."
"It's about trying not to crack your head open," he laughs. "That's enough whimsy for me."
You stir your drink, sighing quietly. "What're we gonna do now? We haven't found anything that works for both of us."
Part of you hadn't wanted to bring it up. You'd been worried all week that this meant your weekly outings would stop.
He tosses the rest of his drink back. "Well, I've only ever found one thing works for me in short doses, to be honest, so it was kind of a lost cause to begin with." His voice is hinting at something, like he's expecting you to pick up on his unsaid meaning, but you have no clue what he's saying.
"What's that?" you ask, leaning in.
He just stares down at you, eyes widening like he hadn't expected a direct question. "Uh… Y'know…" When you tilt your head, clearly confused, he clears his throat and lowers his voice. "Sleeping… with people…?"
You straighten, your face warming. "Oh!" You stir your drink more aggressively. "Yeah, that makes sense."
He doesn't look much better than you, fingers combed through his hair and gaze cast in any direction but yours. "I mean, you get it, right?" He looks like he's hoping you'll make him feel better about saying something potentially stupid.
Unfortunately, you can't give that to him. "Uhm… not really."
He freezes. You freeze, too.
"Wait…" he breathes, shaking his head. "You're-I mean-" He clears his throat again, Adam's apple bobbing. You follow it and then look away. "I mean, it's not for everyone. That's okay, too."
You just shrug. You know you should shut up, but the mule and your general inability to filter yourself around him has you speaking up. "I wouldn't know, to be honest."
He just stares. "There's no way."
You blink. "No way that what?"
"You know what."
"I really don't."
"Y/n," he starts, shaking his head. "There's no way."
You roll your eyes. "Are you dragging this on just to make fun of me?"
"No!" He looks genuinely shocked, his face flushed a dark red and his eyes wide with alarm. "Of course not. I just really can't believe it."
"I never had the time," you mutter. "I was always busy, and it just never really occurred to me."
"You didn't date?" When you meet his eyes, he lowers his. "Sorry, that's personal, I guess."
"I think we're past that," you laugh, sipping your drink. "No, I never dated. I just… never really thought about it. I guess I kind of think about it sometimes now that I'm an adult with a job, but…" You gesture down at your bandaged feet, and he seems to understand. "You know. Busy."
You don't tell him that the one or two times you thought about it, you thought about him. Against your will, of course, and only really late at night. But it's humiliating enough as it is.
"Well, I-" he starts, swallowing and then looking away. "If you're interested-" And then he stops, because your gaze is flying up to his, shock written across your face. "Oh, my god," he says sharply. "Holy shit." He stands, laughing under his breath. "I'm so sorry, that was so out of line. I should go."
You watch him put his coat on, but you catch him by the sleeve before he can bolt.
"Wait."
It's all you say.
He just stares down at you, coat disheveled, hair messy, glasses half-fogged from the heat in this crowded bar.
"Just wait," you whisper. He stays frozen in front of you, unblinking and blatantly afraid of how you'll react. You struggle to breathe. "I've never even kissed anyone, Akaashi. Would you even want this?"
He seems to stare right through you, only blinking when your grip on his sleeve tightens.
"Yes."
It's all he says. You get the sense that, if he were anyone else, you would need more. More reassurance. More indication that this isn't a mistake. More of anything, really.
But it's Akaashi. And maybe it's your stupid crush or the rush of emotion that's crashing into you or even just the fact that he's still here, despite your humiliating admission. But you believe him.
You believe that this could work.
"Okay."
—
"I like your place," he says quietly, following you into the dark apartment. You don't comment on how he can barely see anything.
"Thanks," you mumble, kicking your shoes off. You start to turn on the overhead lights but decide against it, heading for the few low-light lamps in the living room.
When you look at him, that picture of deference is back. He's standing in the doorway, coat draped neatly over his elbow and gaze cast politely around your space.
It contrasts so painfully with what you now know he does in his free time.
"Uhm," you break the silence, watching his attention snap to you. "Should we… go to the bedroom?"
He blinks rapidly, expression oscillating between blatant embarrassment and fond amusement. "We're not having sex tonight, Y/n."
You still, wondering how you might have misunderstood. "But… I thought-"
"You just told me you've never kissed anyone," he says, leaving his coat on the sofa arm as he crosses the room to you. He hovers over you, his height exaggerated when he's this close. "I think we can take it a little slow."
You try not to let your eyelashes flutter when he slips his thumb across your cheek and then cups the back of your neck. "But… How is this helping you?"
"What do you mean?"
"You said-" It's so damn hard to keep your focus when he's this close. He smells like something spiced, like cinnamon and warmth. "You said this was for stress relief. Isn't this kind of… not that?"
When he laughs, it's low and breathy and laced with whiskey. "You're thinking too hard about it."
"I'm good at that."
"Try to think of it this way," he continues. You're led forward by the elbow, his backwards steps ending in your sofa. He helps you sink into the cushion, his body pressed to yours when he joins you. "Helping you with this…" He leans in, nose brushing across your face and lips brushing against your neck. You shiver and suck in a hard breath. "…helps me, too. More than you know."
You start to ask what that means, but he's lifting his head, his glasses cold on your heated skin when his nose bumps against yours. Whiskey-tinged breath fills your lungs when he asks-
"Can I kiss you?"
You hope you don't look too desperate when you breathe out a flustered-
"Yes. Please."
It's surreal, the feeling of Akaashi Keiji's lips on yours. The realization that it's him.
The kiss is gentle, but the heat of his mouth and his breath and the way he huffs out a shaky sigh when he angles his head and slots his lips against yours better — you never thought kissing would feel like this.
You fall into his rhythm, letting him lead and trying not let your head go fuzzy when he whispers compliments between kisses.
"Good." His mouth is warm, his lips plush and soft and guiding you through the motions gently.
"Tilt your head for me? Perfect." His tongue slides against the seam of your lips, careful but wanting.
"'s okay. Just follow what I do." His teeth nip and catch on your bottom lip, and he spends time running his tongue soothingly over that spot, ever deferent.
By the time he pulls back, your head is swimming and your breathing's heavy and you can barely get your eyes to focus. And, despite his experience, he doesn't look much better.
Face flushed, glasses fogged, lips red and swollen. Breath heavy, forehead pressed to yours, hands shaky on your skin.
"Good," he croaks, swallowing hard. "That was good."
"Yeah?" you laugh, delirious. "'Cause you seem totally fine and unaffected."
He shakes his head, laugh sharp. "Fuck, Y/n."
"What?"
"Just-" He shakes his head again. "Fuck."
When he kisses you again, it's with you on your back and him barely keeping himself propped up over you. His chest is warm and solid against yours, and his knees are prying yours open, your thighs falling limply over his.
"Can I," he tries, swallowing his next breath harshly. "Can I touch you?"
The noise that leaves your mouth is akin to a whine, but you know he can hear the moan under it. You just purse your lips and nod, watching his eyes trail down your body.
"Are you sure?" he asks, one hand hovering over the spot on your waist where your shirt's ridden up.
"You don't have to ask. I'm okay with anything," you admit. You'll be embarrassed about it in the morning, but right now, he looks so amazed by your answer that you can't help but enjoy this. "I trust you, Keiji."
He groans when you say his name, head dropping to your shoulder. "Fuck," he whispers, muffled by your throat. "I'm so fucked."
You don't know what that means, but it feels so familiar to something from before, from so long ago.
You comb your fingers through his hair, heart pounding. "Is my pedestal still empty?"
His body reacts before he does, twitching and slumping over you in defeat. When he finally opens his mouth, his voice is laced with a whine.
Hopeless.
Deferent.
"Never filled it." His hands are shaking on your waist. "Never could."
Your heart leaves your body, and your self-control follows.
You drag him up by the hair, planting your lips on his and trying not to whimper when he shudders and kisses you with renewed force.
Whatever sense you'd had before, it's completely gone. Your head is empty, nothing left but cerulean and whiskey.
When Akaashi slides his hand up your shirt and cups your breast through your bra, your back arches and a low, keening cry leaves you. And in shifting against him, writhing with want and every new sensation, your hips roll against his.
He hisses, moaning into your mouth. You feel him trying to angle his hips away, probably for your sake, but you're not having it. You tense your thighs, still thrown uselessly over his, and cross your ankles at his waist.
His hands fly down to your legs, where he plants them on the backs of your thighs and all but bends you in half just to get some space between you.
"You have to be careful," he breathes. "Please. For me."
You shake your head, tugging him back to you. "Don't wanna."
He only lets you melt his resolve for a few more minutes. A few more minutes of his lips on your skin, of his tongue in your mouth. A few more minutes of his groans, brought out with every roll of your hips and every unintentional roll of his. A few more minutes of your name, pressed urgently past your lips and against your throat and in tandem with his thumbs rolling over your nipples.
You're a mess by the time he relocates his resolve.
"Okay, okay-" he finally says, pulling away from you sharply. "We have to stop." His voice is shaky and breathy and it's clear that he's struggling.
"Why?" you argue, your face flushed from everything but especially now that he's looking down at you, because your shirt and bra are shoved up against your chin and your skirt is bunched up around your waist and you know, even without looking, that he can see the wet spot on your panties.
You know, because he keeps glancing down and then tearing his gaze away like it hurts him.
"We have to," he just repeats, shaking his head. "We can't keep going tonight. It's too much at once."
"Says who?" you bite. You know you sound desperate, but he has a wet patch on his slacks, and you know for a fact it's not from you.
"Says me," he bites back. You don't argue again, just pouting up at him. He shakes his head harder. "We were supposed to take it slow. I don't want to push you."
"Your self-control is annoying."
He laughs, but it doesn't sound like he finds it funny. It sounds like he's trying not to go crazy. "My self-control is a single thread between me and doing terrible things to you."
That doesn't so bad to you.
You start to say as much, but he's already getting off the couch.
"I should go," he says, adjusting his clothes and looking particularly embarrassed when his pants remain tented. "I should definitely go."
You swallow, feeling a little self-conscious. "Akaashi? Was I too much?"
His eyes snap to yours, and that laugh of disbelief follows. "No. Never. But if I stay, then I'm going to be too much."
He helps you sit up, fixing your clothes and your hair for you, and — when your expression is undoubtedly still full of anxiety — he presses a kiss to your mouth, soft and gentle and the complete picture of Akaashi Keiji, deference embodied.
"Uhm," you follow him to the door, unused to this clingy, terrible knot in your gut. "Will I see yo-"
"Next week," he says plainly, stepping close to you once his shoes are on. Another kiss, first against your lips and then against your temple. "Saturday. I promise." He tilts his head, smiling playfully. "Stress relief, remember?"
"More stressed now than before," you grumble, and he grabs you by the shoulders, keeping you close and forcing you to uncross your arms, because your body language is radiating anxiety.
"Hey," he coaxes, a gentle hand tipping your chin up so you can look at him. So he can kiss you again. You wonder if he does this with every girl he takes to bed, or if it's just you. If he kisses every girl three times at the door, or if you're special. "You said you trust me. Right?"
When you nod, he makes it four.
"Then trust me," he whispers against your lips. "'m not going anywhere."
You only manage to breathe normally after he's gone, when he sends you a text not even five minutes after your door closes.
[10:59 PM]
Akaashi: pedestal's still yours
Akaashi: if you still want it.
—
He doesn't text on Sunday. His text from Saturday night is the only thing that keeps you from spiraling.
That's a lie. You're definitely spiraling.
You don't understand what it means, what any of it means. Is this just how Akaashi is, polite and respectful for every girl? Reassuring and kind, warm and self-aware? Had you locked yourself into an impossible situation, asking him for help with this? Would this be as far as you can go with him, nothing beyond?
You want him to know how you feel, but you don't want to tell him. Don't want to ruin this.
But fuck, if this ends up meaning nothing, you don't know that you'll recover.
—
"Oh, you like her."
Keiji groans, running his fingers through his hair and weaving through the swarm of undergrads after class, the sun low in the sky and the lingering winter cold nipping at his fingers.
"Is it that obvious?"
"Why?" Bokuto laughs on the other end of the call. "Because even I can tell?"
Keiji doesn't let him know that that's exactly why.
"So, what happened this weekend, then? Haven't you been meeting her for a few weeks now? What's different?"
Keiji warms. "Uh. Nothing, I guess."
Bokuto's silent on the other end. "Okay."
He knows. He definitely knows. Keiji's ears are practically ringing with heat and humiliation. Bokuto definitely knows.
"Okay, I'm gonna say something even though it's not my place."
"If it weren't your place, I wouldn't have called for advice," he mumbles, finally locating his bike in the crowded bike rack.
"Y/n's a little dumb."
Keiji just laughs, shaking his head.
"I know, it's ironic. But she's going to be the last person to notice you like her. So if something happened-" Bokuto cuts himself short, sighing. "If something happened, don't leave her hanging. Please. She's probably freaking out."
Keiji stands there in the cold. He'd noticed your anxiety last night, but he wouldn't have guessed you'd still be uneasy.
"But she's always been-" What word is he looking for? Calm? Collected? Nonchalant? "And I'm nothing special. I'm just-" Bokuto's younger friend. He'd always known that you'd seen him that way, at least at the beginning.
"Akaashi, if you think this means nothing to her — whatever it is — I'm going to kill you."
Keiji's fingers are going numb. It's not just the cold anymore. "No, you won't. You're a pacifist," he mumbles, weak.
"You're right, I hate violence," Bokuto caves easily. "But I'm definitely going to give you a stern talking to." When Keiji doesn't respond, he clears his throat. "I know you were a player in college-" Keiji's not sure he'd classify himself as a player. "-but I get the feeling that that part of your life was just you denying something else."
Denying something-
"Ah, fuck," he groans, crouching and leaning his elbow on his bike wheel. "Fuck."
"Yeah. Fuck." Bokuto sounds sympathetic, but his voice is firm. "Don't wait until Saturday to see her again. If she calls me freaking out, you're getting the shit talked outta you."
Keiji can only sigh, muttering 'yes, sir' into the receiver before Bokuto hangs up on him.
—
Akaashi doesn't wait until Saturday to see you. He's waiting outside your company on Monday night, which you only realize because your co-worker texts you after she leaves and says there's a 'strangely hot weirdo outside asking for you'.
"What're you doing here?" Your breath is a puff of air in the space between you, your coat wrapped tight around you.
He has a shopping bag in one hand. "Any chance you haven't eaten dinner yet?"
Your stomach growls loudly. "Oh. I forgot."
His laugh is defeated. "Please clock out?"
You smile, unsure what's going on but willing to play along. "Sure. Come inside while I wrap up, you'll freeze out here."
He follows you through the lobby and into the elevator, the ride up the high-rise completely silent. You don't really understand — he'd said Saturday, hadn't he? Not that you're not happy to see him. That knot in your stomach had come back full force yesterday, and it's only now that it's easing up.
He trails after you as you lead him through the office. It's completely dark up here, the only light on the whole floor coming from your cubicle.
"Why is no one else here?"
"I'm usually the last to leave."
He groans. "What do I have to do to get you to quit?"
"Pay my rent?" you joke, but there's a look in his eye like he might be considering it. "I promise I'm alright, Akaashi. The pay is good, and I like my co-workers. It's just the late nights that kinda suck."
He just hovers over you while you file papers away and start closing out tabs on your computer. His fingers toy with the corner of a picture frame, the only one you have — you and Bokuto sitting in your front yard, no more than toddlers.
"He loves you, y'know," he comments quietly, staring down at the photo. "It matters a lot to him that you're okay."
You get the feeling he's not saying something, but you brush it off. "I know. I love him, too. I think you do, too."
Akaashi's smile is muted when he sets the photo down. "How could anyone not love him? He cares so much. About everything."
"That's Kou for you." You sigh, finally logging off. "Okay," you say, spinning in your chair to face him. "I'm ready."
You're expecting him to lead you away, but he just crouches carefully, setting the shopping bag on the floor. From inside he extracts a shoe box and a new pair of socks.
"What-"
"It's 8 o'clock, Y/n." He pulls your foot onto his knee gently, prying your heel off and rubbing at the sole of your foot with his thumb. "I don't want you walking around like this."
You squirm under his touch. "Akaashi, you don't have to do that. It's not clean-"
He bows his head — deference, worship — and presses his lips to your knee. He trails them up your leg while massaging your foot, tongue searing hot on your inner thigh.
"Akaashi!" you squeak, pushing his head away. "I work here-"
He smiles against your thigh and lift his head away. His glasses are fogged up, and his cheeks are flushed red, but his smile is taunting.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did you think we were going to be doing something here?" His head tilts are starting to piss you off. "That's not very beginner-friendly, Y/n."
You try to kick him, but he holds tight to your ankle, the strength of his grip unfairly attractive. "Can we just go, please?" you whine. "Give my shoe back."
"No," he bites, planting another kiss on your knee before returning to his task. With extreme care, he removes your other shoe and then slips the socks on you. When he opens the shoe box, revealing an expensive pair of sneakers, you gasp.
"Keiji!" His eyes flick to your mouth, clearly enjoying the way you say his name, but you ignore it. "How much were those? And how do you even know my size?"
"I told you," he smiles. "Bokuto really loves you."
You give him a suspicious glare. "You didn't."
"He's coming to visit on his next holiday, by the way." His grin is evil. "He was really upset to learn about your working hours, and I was sent on a very serious mission to get you only the best in modern walking shoes." When you open your mouth, he cuts you short. "Don't worry, I didn't let him pay for them."
You smack him on the shoulder. It only makes his smile wider. "That means you paid for them! You're a broke grad student!"
"I said I was overworked, not underpaid." He uses your flustered anger to his advantage, slipping the shoes on you before you can reject them.
You refuse to say aloud that they're the most comfortable shoes you've ever worn, but he can see it just fine in your face.
"Good," he whispers. "Only the best."
You huff, warming. "Let me at least pay for dinner."
"Not a chance." He stands, helping you up. "Shall we?"
—
By the time you make it home, full and flush with warmth, Akaashi's hands are on your waist, and his mouth can't seem to stay away from your neck and shoulders.
"Did you drink?" you laugh, stumbling into the apartment with him.
"Not even a little bit. See?" He plants his lips on yours, letting you taste him. You gasp, surprised by his attitude.
"You're not usually so-" You struggle to find the words, thoroughly distracted by the way he clings to you, his mouth everywhere all at once. "-forward, I guess?"
"Too much?" he mumbles, face buried in the crook of your neck. His hands are tugging at your blouse, working to untuck it from your skirt.
"No," you breathe. "Not too much. Just-" You whine quietly when he starts to grope you through your clothes. "Just wondering if you're like this with every girl."
He freezes, pulling back. Your eyes widen, and your heart drops to your ass.
Had you said too much?
"No," he starts, face shadowed in the dark of your apartment. "No, not at all. I thought that I-" He leans away a little more, and you find yourself holding onto his wrists so he can't pull away completely. "I thought that I was clear last time, but Bokuto said-"
"Bokuto?" You're the one to step away now, confused. "Does-Did you tell him?"
"Not… exactly?" When you only lift your eyebrows, he pushes his hair out of his face nervously. "He doesn't know. He just knows something happened. And he was worried that I wasn't… clear enough."
You have no idea what that means.
"I have no idea what that means."
He laughs nervously, rubbing the heel of his hand against his eye. "I thought that the whole… pedestal thing… was clear enough. I mean — about my feelings."
It's your turn to freeze. "Your what?" you whisper, all the air gone from your lungs.
He takes that as a bad sign.
"Oh. Fuck." He laughs humorlessly, starting to back away. "Oh, fuck. I fucked this up."
"No, no, no-" You reach for him, latching on and forcing him to stay where he is. "You can't just say that and then leave!"
"I thought that I was being obvious-" He shakes his head, starting to close off.
"That wasn't obvious at all!" you argue, grabbing him tighter. "That's not how confessions work!"
"Is it not?" he says, genuinely lost. "I just… y'know…"
You stare up at him. "Oh, my god. Are you actually bad at this, Keiji?"
He swallows. "Apparently?"
You can't help it. You laugh.
"That's not how you confess to someone, Keiji. You can't just make some vague reference to the girl being special and hope that she just gets it."
"But you're not the girl," he mumbles. "You're you." When you just stare, he lowers his eyes. For all that he's gotten more experienced than you in the last ten years, he's still that younger, deferent boy from high school. "And I told you. I couldn't fill the pedestal with anyone else. I tried everything."
Your lungs still haven't returned to full capacity. "Tell me you like me, Keiji. I want to hear it."
His face is burning the most beautiful shade of red when he whispers-
"I hate to break it to you, Y/n, but it's definitely more than that."
—
"Just like that. You're doing so good."
You're covered in sweat and your gut is swirling with nerves, and Akaashi's hands on you feel perfect — perfect in the way that you know no one else's ever could. He's got his knees on the floor and your legs hiked up over his shoulders, and his glasses are lodged carelessly on top of your head, tangled in your hair just like your fingers are tangled in his.
He hums against your clit, groaning when your thighs tighten around his head. "Good girl. You can take it."
"Keiji, please-" You choke on your breath, feeling when he slips a second finger past your entrance and starts to gentle work you open. "Please, I'm ready."
His breath of laughter is hot on your skin, and his tongue follows, languid and torturous. "You have to be patient-"
"Don't wanna-"
"And I dont want-" He turns his head, nipping gently at your thigh with his teeth. You yelp, soothed only by the pass of his tongue over that spot. "-to hurt you. So, I win."
"I have problems with that argument-"
He laughs, nipping you again. You're covered in marks, evidence that you've been told more than once to keep your attitude in check.
"I don't care," he says, tone final. "I'm not letting you rush this."
"Can we rush next time?"
You expect teeth on your skin, but he only groans and laps his tongue between your folds again. You squirm, sweat dripping down your spine.
"Next time?" he mumbles. You laugh.
"Did you think this was a one-time thing? After I said I loved you back?"
He groans again. It reverberates through your bones. "I think I'd take anything from you at this point."
It's at some point in the last hour that you'd realized just how serious Akaashi Keiji had been about putting you on a pedestal. Deference and worship, on his knees at your feet first and then again at the foot of your bed. His mouth expressing the feeling he'd taken so long to put into words.
"You okay up there?" he whispers into your skin. You realize you've gone silent.
Tilting your head, you meet his eyes, flushing when you notice that it's all you can see of him.
"Keiji?"
He lifts his head away from you, eyes wide. "Yeah?"
"Come here? Please?" He looks conflicted, but you just tug on his hair. "Please. I promise I'm ready."
A moment passes where he just stares, and then he's lowering your legs to the bed carefully and climbing over you.
When he nudges the tip of his cock past your entrance, it's with his eyes trained diligently on your face and with your breath lodged in your throat.
You can't lie and say it doesn't hurt. It's uncomfortable, but Akaashi's quick to press his lips to yours, fingers swiping comforting circles over your clit. You whine, shocks of pleasure running up and down your spine, and don't even notice that he's still pushing into you until his hips are lined up against yours.
"Good, good—fuck, you're doing so good." He's mumbling nonsense into your mouth, teeth and tongue and admiration all successful in distracting you up until the moment it stops hurting.
"Oh," you breathe, eyelids fluttering when he rolls his hips. You have no clue how long he's been doing this — keeping you comfortable, making you feel safe — but you know it can't be comfortable for him. "Keiji."
He just grunts, his voice tight.
"Keiji. You can move."
His breath is sharp, like he's been holding it until this very moment. "'re you sure?"
You shift your hips and clench slightly, testing the stretch. He moans, collapsing onto his elbows and dropping his head to your shoulder. He's sweaty, like it's taken a great amount of strength for him to keep control, and you feel the distinct urge to pay him back for it.
So you clench again, rolling up until your hips touch his. "Go ahead, Keiji. 'm all yours."
With a sweaty hand pressed under the crook of your knee, he starts to angle himself, thrusting shallowly and biting down hard on his lip when your body opens up for him.
"Fuck."
You're breathless, feeling every inch of him as he pushes into you. It's slow, and you don't know how long he's at it like this, but you're full of adoration that he would care so much.
And then, without you ever realizing it, he's up on his knees again and your legs are hooked over his shoulders, and he's moaning your name while slamming his hips into yours. You've got one hand up, pressed to the headboard to keep you from smacking into it, and the other is gripping tight to the hand he's using to drag you down onto his cock. His other hand is wrapped around your hiked-up leg, and he's biting hard on your thigh, his moans barely muffled.
Something twists hard under your navel, and you're distinctly aware of the way your body starts to shake.
"Keiji-nngh-I'm-"
"'s okay," he breathes, voice tense. "'s okay, baby, let go. I've got you."
When your back arches off the bed, white noise flooding your ears, you can't feel anything but his fingers lacing with yours and holding tight. And then, distantly, you feel empty very suddenly, warmth spilling onto your stomach and pooling into the dips in your hips. And it's at the same time that you hear his voice, choking on a moan and then your name, low and reverent.
It takes you a while to come down, nothing registering in your hearing or vision. Every cell in your body vibrates, shaken up by the pass of a warm washcloth here and a press of Akaashi's lips there. He kisses up your thighs, whispering your name, and then presses his mouth to your clit, kissing that, too. And when you whine, he kisses up your body and throat, all the way up to your face, where he kisses you properly until you come back to him.
"Hi," you whisper finally. "Hope that was good for you."
"Shut up," he says back, shaking his head. Lips on your throat and under your ear and across your cheeks and nose. "That was the most amazing thing that's ever happened to me."
"Careful." You grin sleepily, leaning into him when he slips both of you under the blankets and holds you tight against him. "I might start saying vague shit that implies I have feelings for you."
His laugh is muffled against your skin, uncontrollable and a little delirious.
SYNOPSIS: You don’t like it when Suguru takes care of you. As your boyfriend, he takes offense to that.
WORD COUNT: 8.2k
CONTENTS: suguru geto x gn!reader, hurt/comfort, early relationship hurdles, reader is unaccustomed to suguru’s self-sustaining brand of caretaking: inner spiral ensues, jealousy and all that good stuff, reader has an established ct. non-sexual nudity. reader is referred to by their name exactly once, but it’s blacked out (<- guy who didn’t want to slam [Name] in there). sugu-typical intensity and yearning; he’s silly and boyish and in love.
A/N: this was commissioned by my dearest @loverducky !! 💗 thank you so much for your patience and kindness ily very much… please enjoy 8k of suguru geto Going Through It <3
When your technique sputters out, Suguru feels a cold wash over his bone-marrow.
It's a warm evening in April, and you're standing in front of a First-Grade cursed spirit: an onryō, if his instincts are on the money, clinging to the presence of a nearby well. Five-yen coins click together in her palms, catching streaks of light with every movement she makes, the rest of her body blotted in shadow. Underneath her bare feet, crushed glass stains the grass crimson.
The effects of her technique aren't physical. It has something to do with the coins— with each clink, a different bone in his body feels out of sorts. Whatever conditions are needed for it to root itself into the innermost parts of him, they've already been fulfilled. Must be connected to these grounds themselves. The crushed glass makes her scream, and the bottom of his throat twists. One coin scrapes against the other, and his limbs feel like lead. Suguru isn't worried, because this cursed spirit isn't as hostile as she could be; lashing out in defense but never making a direct move to kill him. Some vengeful spirits are like that. They want to be left alone.
His curses aren't responding to him properly, though. That's worrisome.
Still, nothing is happening externally.
He thinks that must be why your technique isn't working. He could still feel it until just a moment ago, like a warm blanket over his head, settling nicely in the space around the battle-field. The actualization of luck: the ability to sense where luck will strike and turn it into cursed energy. You still haven't learned how to utilize it properly, so it works best when applied on physical properties. A particular area, a particular body, attacks that you can see with your eye. It might land in a different spot than usual, a gap in momentum may be created, a tree might fall to the ground in front of your opponent and block their escape route…
There are many components to "luck". Your ability lies in reading them. But when applied like this, recklessly, desperately, on an opponent who's attacks you can't understand—
He isn't surprised when your knees buckle.
Isn't caught off guard when he has to catch you with one arm, and sees a trail of crimson running from your nose down your lips.
(Worried, though. That, he'll always be when it comes to you.)
"Stick to the sidelines for now," he whispers above you. One of his smaller cursed spirits, sluggish but still listening, comes to usher you away. "I'll handle the rest."
"Suguru, I—" you swallow dryly. "I can't feel my technique."
"… I know." Suguru sighs. "We'll worry about that later. I've got it, alright? I'll come get you."
He can tell from the look in your eye that you aren't happy. Far from it, hesitance and frustration burrowed into the hazy, dilated pupils of a body pushed well beyond its limits, directed not at him but at yourself. You're too tired to protest, though. Suguru makes sure you're all sorted, led farther into the woods on the back of the serpent-like curse, its tail curled protectively around your body.
Then he turns to face his opponent. She makes no move to pursue you, knowing he's the only real threat. It's a welcome relief.
Thinking is still difficult. It's still difficult to move, watching her flicker, the echo of coins and glass cruising around in his skull. Clean-up missions are always risky— he's sure none of the locals know of this location, the rotten bundle of cursed energy clinging to the well. He already has an idea of its cause. Past disappearances, serial murders, and the perfect hiding spot. That's not his mess to untangle, but it's something to file away for later reports.
Suguru takes a breath. Roots his cursed energy to the ends of his ankles, his feet on the ground, and attempts to get in touch with his senses. The polyester of his uniform is soft beneath his palms. The stench of rotten plum tree hangs heavy in the air. The click, click, click of coins being rustled in a pair of bony palms makes the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. He scans the battlefield, pupils struggling to land where he wants them to; disorienting, like weaving a sieve through muddy waters, but still doable. His curses aren't moving, some of them trembling, others circling the target, seemingly unsure of what their next move should be. They're stuck in a stalemate. Stasis.
Suguru knows this kind of curse: the kind sorcerers get lost in. Their bodies slowly broken down, their minds lulled into dream-like passivity, their corpses found wide-eyed and untouched days later. He finds them especially terrifying. Interesting, too.
But this curse doesn't know what Suguru is capable of turning it into.
All he needs is one clear opening. One good strike, and he can breach the distance she's created. He needs a curse unaffected by mental disarray. Better yet— a curse that can only be properly utilized when in mental disarray.
He summons Kuchisake-onna.
You don't like it when Suguru takes care of you.
This tendency of yours is by no means new to him. You came to Tokyo Jujutsu High as a transfer student two months into his first year, wide-eyed and fawn-legged and late to class on your first day. In over their head, Satoru whispered to him. Not unkind, just stating the obvious. He does that a lot. It's exactly why his jabs sting, but Satoru has no sense for that kind of thing.
Of course, Suguru tuned him out. Half-enamored by the look of you. The smile on your face, how you'd laughed to ease the tension when you admitted to oversleeping and Yaga-sensei pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh, cherry petals in your hair from where you stood next to the opened window. A breath of fresh air. When he was put on duty to show you around the school, the training field, the weaponry— Suguru was pleased.
But he noticed it, during that first hour you spent together. When you insisted on paying him back for the drink he got you from the vending machine; how you'd ask about his own background when he tried to ask for yours, smoothly redirecting the conversation. How you'd stiffened briefly, shifted in place when he held the door open to let you in first.
To the naked eye, that's good behaviour. Standard politeness. Give and get.
Suguru knows better.
Because as much as he knew you were trying to hide it, cover it up with a smile and a laugh, your expression back then wasn't one of politeness. There was only the subtleties of discomfort. You don't like it when the spotlight stays on you for too long, and you don't like accepting favours without giving something back. He gets that. Care is a heavy drug. If you aren't used to leaning on others, it won't come to you that easy. He understands. Really.
It only made him want to get to know you more, though.
(Funny how that works. You were never going to get out of being courted by him; Suguru is a boy who knows what he wants, if nothing else. There's only room for one Tokyo Jujutsu High student in your heart, and it's him. He’s made sure of that.)
… Deep down, he'd assumed it would change once you started dating. That you'd realize he wants to look after you, or that you'd accept the idea if it's coming from your boyfriend. That you'd learn how to ask him for help when you need it. Mutual understanding. Partner to partner. Something like that. The special connection only you two share.
But, even now, you are hesitant to lean on him. It grates at him like nothing else, now more than ever.
Two weeks have gone by since your technique sputtered out in the precipice of battle, but it still hasn't returned to normal. Stale, is how you described it. When I try to use it, it feels like dragging a spoon through mud… Seriously. It's the worst. Suguru absorbed the vengeful cursed spirit before taking you back home with him, so any lingering hex placed by her should have already dissipated. That can't be the issue.
Shoko's theory is that you pushed your senses so far they need to relearn the basics for a while. Spatial awareness, cursed energy control— everything your technique needs to function as it should. That means more training, less missions. More time spent with Yaga-sensei, less time spent with him. He knows you hate that. You get restless if you sit still for too long, and there's nothing you hate more than being left out of a mission him and Satoru are going to. It's a stark reminder of the difference in your capabilities: Suguru doesn't think of it as a bad thing, but you always get so silent with him. Always ask, sheepishly, why they aren't letting you tag along.
Luck isn't always applicable, he says. There are better and worse uses for it. It's nothing more or less than that.
When you hang your head, half-unconsciously, he regrets being honest with you. Wishes there was a way for him to tell you that you don't need to be strong without hurting your feelings. Not all techniques are suited for combat. It doesn't make you less significant. It doesn't make you any less special in his eyes.
(… If he told you that now, he thinks he'd break your heart.)
One, two knocks ring out against the door to your dorm room. Suguru is holding a plate with one hand, a mug murmuring steam towards the ceiling with the other. On the plate is a neatly cut sandwich, well furnished with veggies and meat— bread is all they have left in the pantry, because a certain someone dropped the entire bag of rice down the sink— and slices of fruit from a local market by the train station closest to the school. The owner likes him, so he always comes back with more than he can carry, apricots and plums and perfectly pink peaches.
Today has been a slow day. It's still springtime, edging into summer, but curses have already been found swarming Tokyo's middle schools, appearing in larger packs than usual. He was sent to clear the area with Satoru. An easy mission. He only had to absorb three of them, one of each kind, so the taste didn't linger for longer than the hour-long trip back.
When he entered the dormitory's kitchen lounge, Haibara and Nanami told him you haven't left your room since breakfast. That's why he's here, knocking at your door— bringing the kitchen to you. Selfishly, because he doesn't really want anyone else to see you when you're feeling blue. Wants to be the first to check up on you, make sure you're alright, watch you eat what he brought you. It'll cheer you up, hopefully. Make you smile at him, ask him to hold you. Maybe. If he's lucky.
… Though he shouldn't be greedy, either.
When the door opens, Suguru's heart twists. You're blinking up at him, slowly, weary lashes weighing down and up. Out of sorts, glancing down at the plate with a blank expression. He smiles.
"I brought you lunch.”
As easy as breathing, you step to the side; letting him slip into your dorm room. Built in routine, the kind that makes his heart flutter. "Thanks, Suguru."
"You aren’t skipping meals, are you?” He watches you sit down on the side of your mattress, your bedsheets tangled up and tousled like a kitten had its way with it, one of your pillows sprawled out on the floor. Suguru loves your dorm room: loves how it reflects everything you are. Band posters fastened to the wall above your bed, board games stashed into a corner on the shelf, figurines you've gotten from gashapons in the past. For my technique, you'd tell him after stopping in the middle of the street, hunting for loose change in your pockets. He's learned to keep spare change close at hand for you, though it's not a given you'll accept it. I want to see if I can apply it here…
Fondness blooms in his breast. Even the unmade bed and dying houseplant on the windowsill instill something like endearment in him. It's you, after all. You in your mess, you in your well furnished. You, you, you.
"It's not like that," you reassure him. "I just forgot. I've been studying."
"Studying?"
You nod.
"Not too hard, I hope."
"Nah. Just the basics. Like Shoko said."
… Your tone of voice shifts at the end there. Something pitiful. The way you're seated, the look in your eye; it reminds him of a bird with broken wings. Staring up at the branches of the tree where its nest is.
"Baby." His voice is soft, delighting silently in how the pet name makes you squirm, shy as a fawn. Another thing it seems you can't get used to. "Are you okay?"
You dangle your legs, avoiding eye contact. "I'm fine. It's just boring. And I don't know what to do."
"That doesn't sound fine."
You give a sheepish smile. It doesn't put his mind at ease in the slightest. Suguru raises a firm brow, keen eyes cutting into yours, and you stammer out a laugh.
"I'm… I'll be okay. I just miss going on missions with you, and stuff."
"I know." He misses it too. Missions with Satoru are always exciting, but nothing beats spending time with you alone. "But you need the rest."
"…"
He knows you disagree. You don't need to tell him. Haven't I rested enough? He can practically hear it.
"You gave me a scare back then." He walks towards you and holds out the plate until your fingers come to curl around the ceramic edges, bringing it pliantly to your lap. "I don't want you pushing yourself like that again. Okay?" His smile is kind, but it doesn't make you look any smaller, on the cusp of curling in on yourself. Suguru doesn't like seeing you like this.
At the same time, he…
"… You do too much for me, Suguru."
"Huh?" His gaze snaps to yours. You're smiling somberly, looking down at the peeled fruit cut into slices. He almost wants to ask you to repeat yourself. "What makes you say that?"
"Just… This. And missions." A beat. "And everything, actually. I just don't want you to worry."
Suguru tries not to furrow his brow. How can you say that, when you barely let him do a thing for you? You don't let him carry your bags when your arms get tired, you don't let him do your share of the laundry. You don't let yourself be selfish with his time the way he'd like you to.
That's too much?
"That much is natural," he responds. Trying to keep his voice even. "I'm your boyfriend."
"… But I," you breathe, "don't do anything for you."
"That's not true. You do more than you think." Suguru's lips furl in silent distaste, like he just bit into a lemon peel. "You do too much on your own. I want to help."
He must sound desperate, because that's how he feels. Desperate like a dog. Fiending for scraps, battering its paws against a chain-link fence. Suguru wants to grab you by the cheeks and look into your eyes until you believe him, but he can't let himself be so uninhibited with you— doesn't want to say too much and end up pushing you away.
He just wishes you would take his hand when it's offered to you. That's all.
Your face is framed by strings of shadow, waves of them caressing your cheekbones, down-turned and shut-out. "I want to," he echoes. "You don't let me do enough."
…
Inhale, exhale. He watches your lips part.
"Thank you." You muster a half-smile, meeting his gaze with crescent eyes. They're lacking luster. "I appreciate it. Really. But I just want to be alone right now, to be honest."
Suguru watched you. Fox-eyed, sharp.
Contemplates denying you that isolation.
"… Alright."
Before he leaves, he runs a gentle palm down your head. Ruffles your hair. It makes your lips draw into a smile, flimsy as a sheet of paper, as a talisman waiting to be ripped into shreds. It's better than nothing. Suguru doesn't want to leave. Obviously not. He wants to help you study, help you sleep. His palms itch to do more, but he knows it'll be futile.
You'll just reject it again.
"But make sure you get some rest," he clears his throat. "And eat what I brought you. Okay?"
"Okayyy."
He puffs out a breath. "Good."
When the door to your dorm-room closes behind him, Suguru tips his head back and stares up at the ceiling. The light is broken, giving out faint flickers, burning into his gaze. Dead flies are stuck to the inside of the paper sheet. He closes his eyes and lets out a sigh.
(There's nothing he can do about this helplessness.)
One rainy morning in May, Suguru enters Jujutsu High's library premises with a mission in mind.
He walks past the books on innate techniques, the tombs of history he spent his first few weeks after enrollment scouring through, up the stairs and past the infamous Domain Expansions: To Master Barrier Techniques by an unnamed sorcerer of the Heian era—
and stops by the essays and academic papers written on sense-based techniques.
The selection isn't grand. They have more in Kyoto, he's almost certain. Yaga-sensei isn't the textbook type; if it weren't for the principal and past faculty, Suguru doubts their library would be this furnished. It's enough, though. He flips through a few of the soft-covers and bundles of threaded-together paper, tucking the most note-worthy of the bunch under his arm. Nanami is sitting on one of the tables downstairs, reading through a book on cursed energy application— Suguru reads off the title as he takes the seat opposite of his junior, who looks up only to give his upperclassman a polite nod of greeting. Suguru doesn't mind that Nanami is quiet. It's nice to have that in a school like theirs. With classmates like theirs. No pressure to speak or make small talk.
He leans back, and relaxes his shoulders. Opens one of the smaller essays at page number one.
Suguru's mission is a simple one: help his partner. Recently, you've been wanting to take your technique in new directions. From the ability to sense lucky spots, to the ability to create them yourself. The evolution of your Luck Shall Follow is a Lucky Break: forcing the possibility of luck onto your target, a weak spot for your allies to abuse. You told him last night, mouth full of takeout he brought with him post-mission— half-sheepish, like you were afraid he'd discourage you. But Suguru couldn't have been prouder. And, though you seemed hesitant, he's grateful that you spoke to him about it. The least he could do is his fair share of research. Even if you're too stubborn to ask him for help, he's always been a good teacher.
What you need is an even stronger grasp of what components your technique centers around. To direct luck, you have to understand it; see the full path it travels down. You have to break it down until the pieces couldn't get any smaller. You have good instincts, he thinks. It's the basic understanding that needs honing.
Suguru hums, thumb in between two pages: hunting eagerly for any information he can relay to you later. 'Abilities built around utilizing the senses were, as far as our records show, the foundation of olden sorcery; sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste— and of course the infamous sixth sense. Out of these human traits blossomed sense-based sorcery, not only by utilizing cursed energy to strengthen them for survival, but by sharpening one's innate cursed technique—…' Nothing new. He flips forward, the soothing sound of pages falling. 'The ability to sense what should be unseen is the first any sorcerer gains. Certain sorcerers attain an even wider scope of sight: the ability to view the abstract. Emotions, elements of the human body, and any manner of things. In the Kamakura period, a sorcerer by the name of Shinonome was said to have had an innate technique that allowed him to see people's pasts and futures flutter behind them, reflected in a swarm of broken glass.'
Suguru flips forward. Yet another section.
'… Further development of this technique is said to have granted him mastery of weather currents. He began to use it for directing storm-clouds to the wheat fields surrounding his village, securing a bountiful harvest. The innate ability to sense became the ability to warp reality.'
There.
Just when he's about to continue the passage— his cellphone buzzes in his pocket. It almost makes him jolt. He fumbles for it, inwardly wincing when Nanami gives him a weathered look, flips it open and glances at the contact.
It's Satoru.
Suguru answers. "Hell—"
"Where are you?"
…
A weary exhale. "Greet me first."
On the other end of the line, a thoroughly drawn out sigh. "Hey, Suguru. You're so annoying." Suguru's brow twitches. Before he can tell his best friend off, he continues: "Where? I wanna go to the city today. You down?"
"I can't right now." He continues to idly read through the weather-based section, skimming the contents with his eyes. "I'm reading."
"Reading?! Dude, how do you not get enough of studying?"
"It's not for me. It's for ▇▇.” Suguru tuts. "I'm helping them look into their technique. Ask Shoko to go with you."
"Ohhh. They told you about it?"
"… Huh?" He blinks. Gaze moving towards the phone at the corner of his vision, subconsciously, as if he could find Satoru looking back at him. Suguru tries not to frown. "How do you know about it?"
"They asked me about it. After class." Ah. He remembers. You stayed behind for what must have been at least half an hour, urging him to get lunch without you. (Not that he did.) He'd assumed you were going to talk to Yaga-sensei, though. Not— "I guess they thought I'd have something useful to say 'cause of the Six Eyes. Well, I did try, though. I figured they were keeping it a secret from you."
(… Why would you ask Satoru?)
Suguru bites his inner cheek. Jealousy festers in his gut, hot and oily.
No, more importantly—
"Why would they keep something like that a secret from me?"
"I don't know. Because you're a mother hen?" He can practically see Satoru's careless shrug through the phone line. "They want to develop their technique into something more offensive, right? Something that'll let them fight on their own. Even I thought you'd be a little put off."
…
"Well, good on you, I guess. Maybe you can stop being so overprotective now."
"Satoru," Suguru's voice feels raw in his mouth. "What are you talking about?"
"… Huh?" The line goes silent. "So they didn't tell you? Or did you just not realize what they meant?"
His stomach twists. Satoru's jabs are never meant to hurt as much as they do, Suguru reminds himself. Inhales, for five silent seconds, and exhales: feels his chest lift, then deflate.
"I didn't realize."
"Oh." A beat. For once, his best friend seems to be weighing his words. "I know you might not… love the idea. But it's a good thing, right?"
"Right."
"Weird that they didn't tell you."
"Mm."
"… I'll ask Shoko to go with me."
"Sounds good." Suguru cards through his bangs. Restless hands. Closes his eyes, and looks into the dark of his own skull. "Bye, Satoru."
"B—"
He hangs up.
…
So. Here's what Suguru knows:
1) Your Lucky Break is meant to be an individualistic offensive technique. That's just fine.
2) You were hiding it from him, though.
3) You told Satoru about it before you told him. You asked Satoru to help you figure it out, instead of asking him.
How is he supposed to contend with that?
(Suguru was awake when you first moved into the dorms. He remembers it in perfect detail, down to the thud your bags made when they hit the floor through the thin wall between you. He was lying in bed, unable to sleep, staring up at the ceiling; made sure to get up off the mattress and gently clink the empty cup on his nightstand, just so you'd hear him too.
It felt like a secret between the two of you. Even though he didn't get to greet you until the morning after, you had already met before sunrise. To some extent— Suguru always felt like you were his. He heard you first, felt you first. He knew of you before Satoru or Shoko. Sensei asked him to show you around, because he knew he was the only one suited for it. You're his partner. He's your boyfriend.
… So why did you go to Satoru for help?
Why not him?)
Suguru simmers in the feeling. Waits for it to come to a boil. Not anger, but frustration.
He wants to kick something. Satoru, ideally. Maybe swallow a curse, just to forget about the rotten taste of what he's feeling now.
Has he really failed you this much? You can't even ask him for advice anymore? Do you trust Satoru's judgment more, just because he's been a sorcerer for longer? Because he was a prodigy from birth? Satoru doesn't even know basic history. Satoru didn't know Ryōmen Sukuna was a human being and not a curse until Yaga-sensei held that class three weeks ago. Satoru doesn't know a damn thing that wasn't hand-fed to him by the clan elders——
Suguru closes the book on the table in front of him and stands up from his chair.
"… Are you alright?"
Nanami asks, staring at him from the other seat. Usually he wouldn't intrude like this. It'd warm Suguru's heart if it wasn't so muddied by his thoughts.
"Yes." He turns to his underclassman with a smile on his lips. "I'm fine."
He doesn't believe him, obviously, but that's just as well. Suguru doesn't believe himself either. He walks up the staircase and puts the book back on the shelf where he got it, then walks out of the library with a heavy heart and a vacant expression. Bright-green leaves scatter around his feet, catching streaks of golden sunlight breaking through the cloud-line in the sky. Summertime is almost here.
It's difficult, he thinks. It's difficult to be loved by you when you don't want him loving you back.
How is he supposed to approach the situation?
Suguru chooses force.
It's early in the morning when he knocks curtly at your door. One, two knocks, in rapt succession.
You wake up shortly after 8 AM on most days. An hour or two later on weekends, depending on how hard you worked the day before. (You sleep like a baby on nights after back-to-back missions, two or three in succession. Not even slipping his tongue into your mouth could wake you. Not that that's something he's thought of trying.) He's sure you're still asleep now: curled up in bedsheets, legs to your chest, cheek smushed against your pillowcase. Infuriatingly adorable. If he thinks about it too long, he'll lose his strength of will, so—
Another knock. Sharper.
Behind the door, the sound of rustling. Bare feet meeting floorboards, moving sluggishly towards him. His palm moves on instinct, fingers curling through his bangs.
And the door opens. You're blinking at him as if you're still half-asleep, eyelids drawing up and down like haphazardly closed window-blinds, weighty with whatever dreams you were having before he roused you awake. It makes his heart pang with guilt. Like this, watching your tousled hair and unguarded face, he…
…
No.
This time, he has no choice but to be firm.
Suguru's smile is tight-knit. A crescent moon hung on its side, sculpted by monsoons.
"Good morning, baby."
You blink at him again. Lips parting slightly.
"… Morning, Suguru."
"How did you sleep?" He lets himself in, guiding you seamlessly, his broad palm falling down to rest over your lower back. Voice carefully sharpened. Like a coyote circling its prey.
"Um, I…" you rub your eyes as the door falls shut behind you. "Good. I think. I don't remember."
A breezy chuckle. "You don't remember?" His gaze is fond where it holds yours, sitting down with you on the bedside. Your shoulders knock together. The mattress creaks beneath your shared weight. The lights in your room are off, so Suguru leans back to open the window-blinds until they've let in enough hazy streaks of dawn to illuminate your face. "I guess I woke you up, huh? I'm sorry."
You shake your head. Leaning against him, too tired to keep your head up— it makes Suguru's heartbeat sputter like a marble dropped on ragged concrete. It makes him feel more solid than a brick-wall, softer than the pillows scattered across your bed.
"It's okay."
He watches you silently.
Carefully, after a moment's hesitation, he brings his hand to your face. Cups the apple of your cheek, and lets his thumb ghost the sensitive skin under your bleary eye. Your eyes flutter shut in response— Pavlovian— a dog to a bell-chime, even though you hold the leash to his heart. He wonders if you realize that.
He wonders if he hasn't made it clear enough.
"What did you talk to Satoru about?" Suguru asks, smiling tightly. Only his eyes remain gentle. "After class."
"Oh." Slowly, your eyelids blink open. "We, um… just stuff, you know."
"Stuff."
"Yeah."
"Just stuff," he echoes. Sucking on a laugh. It comes out sharper than he meant it. "For forty minutes?"
The air between you shifts— sparks with the beginnings of unease, blisters on the palms of whatever gravity is keeping you both side by side like this. He can't dull the spike of anger in his voice, and he knows you've heard it when you stiffen beside him. When you try to move your cheek from his collarbone. Which is the very last thing Suguru wants, so he guides you back with a palm on your skull, not firm, but insistent. You melt into it nervously.
"… Suguru," you whisper. "Are you mad at me?"
No, he wants to say. Never at you.
I'm mad at Satoru, and Shoko, and Yaga-sensei. Nanami and Haibara too. I'm mad at everyone who enables your behaviour. Who don't hold the door open for you, who don't ask if you've eaten by dinnertime, who don't tell you to take a break when you're obviously looking to exert yourself beyond your capabilities. I'm mad at whoever made you like this in the first place.
I'm mad at myself.
"No," slips up his throat. The word tastes like ash. "I'm not mad. I'm upset, though."
"Why?"
The word is meek off your lips. It makes him want to lay himself at your feet. But Suguru is mad— just not at you— and he doesn't have it in him not to let it show. Not right now.
"Because you didn't ask me." A slow inhale, air flooding his lungs. "You asked Satoru. Why is that?"
His palm curls against your bedsheets. Forms a fist, white cloth spilling out through the gaps between his fingers, his gaze bleeding gold and ochre. Suguru can't hide the hurt in his voice, and he hates that more than anything.
"Why do you trust me so little?"
Your eyes widen.
Anxiety squirms in the black of your pupils, lips parting around a sound that doesn't make it out of you. You close your mouth again. Then make another move to pull away, maybe to look at him properly, but he won't let you. Doesn't let you move an inch. Petty. His mother liked to call him that when he got silent with her.
(Suguru feels beastial. Like he could eat you. He hates the feeling— desire spilling over itself.)
"Suguru, I didn't mean it like that," you rush to explain yourself. "I just— I didn't want to bother you with it."
"Bother me."
…
This time— Suguru does laugh. It isn't cruel, nor is it sharp. It's…
"Is that how you think I feel?"
(… Exhausted.)
"I don't know what I need to do to make you understand. To make you see things from my perspective. But if you think I've ever," he nearly seethes, only his voice is too quiet now to have that much of a bite, "ever, seen you as a burden— You're wrong. Alright?"
When you flinch against him, Suguru's palm slips from the back of your head. You pull away from him, standing up clumsily. Like a rabbit about to break into sprint, he thinks cynically. Are you going to run away from me again?
"Suguru."
And Ah, he realizes.
You're about to cry. That's why his heart doesn't feel like it's beating anymore.
"I don't…" your gaze falls to the floor, mouth formed around a garbled murmur. The sunlight from the window glides across your face, the dip of your cheeks, the bridge of your nose. "I love you. I really do love you, I just can't—"
A sniffle, barely-there, tugs at the back of your throat. He put it there, he thinks. The confession jabs the blade in his heart deeper; a smack against the handle. It cuts between his ribs.
"I don't know how to do this."
"… Do what?"
You make a gesture with your hands, smiling brokenly. "This. I don't… know how. I've tried."
Your breath is staggered— unsteady in your breast. He watches you worriedly, sure it's showing on his features; watches you take a moment to gather yourself. There's something so fractured about your expression. As if you've been keeping this dam in your throat all this time. That hurts more than anything.
How long have you wanted to speak to him like this?
How long have you been avoiding it?
"I know you want me to rely on you. I'm not stupid." He wants to cut in— tell you that he's never once thought that— But Suguru bites his lower lip to keep himself silent. You need this, too. "But it makes me so uneasy. I promise I've tried, Suguru. It just doesn't…" a breath pulls at your teeth, weather-worn. "it never feels right."
…
"Isn't that," he exhales, "because you aren't used to it?"
The expression you're wearing now is tight-strung. Your features drawn together, set into firm lines. Like you're about to take a leap off a mountain trail, still gathering the courage.
"You don't know how to be taken care of," he summarizes. "If I want to be the one to teach you— is that so wrong? Is it still that scary?"
You wring your hands together. Inner palm cupping the small of your wrist. "… Yeah."
"… Even if it's me?"
"Especially when it's you," you laugh breathlessly. It doesn't sound much like laughter at all. "Because I like you so much. More than anyone. The last thing I want is to become another chip on your shoulder, Suguru." You bite down on your lip. "… You're always taking care of everyone. Not just me. I don't want to contribute to that."
"What? I don't…" his brows furrow. "I've never felt that way about you. And you're not just like anyone else."
"I know that's how you feel, but—"
"No." Suguru cups your jaw. It shocks you out of speaking, makes you focus on him and nothing else. He stands up with you, leaning over your frame, half-threatening, hunting for the eye contact you're trying to flee from. The amber of his eyes is aflame with angered love. "You're trying to give me something that I don't want from you. That I've never asked of you. Who are you to decide that all on your own?"
Your eyes are still wet, unshed tears pooling at the corners. He shouldn't be so rough with you, he knows. Shouldn't be this firm. But it's hard— it's hard when you say things like that, and look at him like this——
"I want to take care of you. I want you to need my help. For everything, ideally." His eyes bore into yours, never letting them stray. He wants you to hear this. Feel this. Thinks he'll go crazy if you don't. "I'm not being polite. That's my own selfish desire. I want you to need me. When you don't, I…"
…
(On the back of his tongue: a sour taste.)
"I feel like I've failed you."
The words ring out like a bad omen. Sorcerers shouldn't be careless with their words: That's the first thing Yaga-sensei taught him, before he even moved into the dorms. Suguru has always taken them to heart. Even as a child, he knew to think before he spoke. Knew words carry weight. That they have consequences.
But now, in this moment— he's letting his greatest insecurities spill out of him. Can't take them back, because they've already splattered on the floor for you to see. If love makes you this careless, he thinks, is it really any different from a curse?
His hand forms a knuckle, the indents of his nails digging crescents into his palm.
"You've… You've never failed me," you frown. "You're always good to me, Suguru. Seriously."
He holds a sigh between his teeth.
"I wish you'd trust me more. That's all." He collects himself; Think before you speak. Reigns himself back in, a bull finding solace in the firm palms at the juncture of its horns, blisters blooming against the ridges. Don't take your anger out on them. It isn't anyone's to bear but you. "I know it's not that easy, but..."
…
"I'm sorry," you mumble. As if there's nothing else to say. Your voice is soft and battered. "I don't know how to fix it. Sometimes it's just… so overwhelming. I want to like it. I do."
Suguru's hand slips from your chin. He shakes his head, after a moment. "I should have been more considerate. Maybe I've been pushing too hard."
"No. Anyone else would love that about you." A beat. "I love that about you. Even when you're a little… intense." Heat gnaws at the back of his neck, nipping at his nerve-ends. Suguru clears his throat discreetly. "I wish it was easier for me. To depend on you like you want me to. Honestly."
"It can be," he tries. "It'll get easier with time."
…
Your fingers curl around the fabric of your shorts. A gentle anchor. Through the window, slathers of rusted gold and tangerine come to cradle your features. The beckoning of a sun late to rise. Suguru doesn't even feel the fatigue anymore, the lead in his sleep-less limbs: all he can do is stare at you, breathlessly, waiting.
"You think so?"
"I know so," Suguru promises. Sharp facial features, broad shoulders accentuated by the sunlight. Eyes soft, always, only for you. "I'll be patient. I won’t force it. But can you try, for me? Even when it's scary? Can you believe me when I say you're not a bother?"
…
After a moment— though it feels like a century spent at your ankle, down on his knees— you nod. Suguru's heart loosens its shoulders, goes limp under the bird-cage of his battered ribs.
"Okay," he exhales. "Good."
For a moment, all is still. Silently, he begins to wipe your unshed tears away: the pad of his thumb rubbing gently at the corners of your eyes. Catching them before they can think to fall, slip down your cheeks, like he's counting rain-drops cruising down a car window. Like he's cupping the innermost parts of you, pressing kisses where it hurts the worst.
"Thank you."
You shake your head, snuggling closer. Still weary, still fragile. So, so very fragile like this. In the dim light, in the crook between his neck and shoulder, whispering so low he has to strain his ears to hear: "Are we… okay?"
"We are." He cradles you closer, tethering you to his chest. His heart beats a lullaby for you. "More than okay. Talks like this will only make us stronger. Better suited for each other."
"… It's scary, though."
"I know," he croons. His palm slips down your spine, rubbing gentle circles into the small of your back, tender eights. "But we'll get through it. We've got luck on our side, remember?"
Finally, you smile. It's weak, but sincere. Suguru lets out a breath he didn't realize he was holding: leaning forward to press a kiss at your temple, relieved that he could salvage this dam waiting to break. Relieved that there's something for his hands to do, and places for his lips to land. This is the first of several challenges you'll face together, but he isn't worried. Not anymore. Not right now, at least.
No one gets to see you like this but him. A wounded bird on his wrist, letting him hold its broken wing in his palm.
It's a start, he thinks. A leap off the ground.
"… Suguru."
He bends his gaze from where his feet are planted, gently untangling his hair from the hasty bun he threw it into this morning. "Yes?"
"Is this…" you shift from one foot to the other, holding a pure-white towel in your arms. It looks good there. Soft. Makes him want to hug you tight. "… really necessary?"
Suguru smiles. His hair falls across his shoulders, across his back, a pitch-black meteor shower.
"It is."
And he turns his back on you. Turning on the shower-head, then stepping away to avoid the downpour, waiting for the temperature to rise. It takes a while for the communal showers. With an exhale, he pulls off his uniform. The black fabric gives way to white, his buttoned-up undershirt. His hands move to unfasten it.
Behind his back, he can practically feel you squirming.
"I won't look," he promises. Unless you want me to. "Just let me wash your back, baby."
"But… why?"
You sound embarrassed.
"To teach you how to lean on me. How to let yourself be taken care of." He turns around, half of his chest bare. Tries not to smile when your gaze drops, then flees all over again. "I'm not expecting you to change in a day, but this will be progress. Does that sound okay?"
A moment passes.
"… If you really want to, I guess."
Another smile; deeper. It carves all the way to the corners of his eyes. "I do." Suguru steps away to fumble with the last of the buttons, until his entire chest is bare: warm skin and a few sun-shade moles smeared like kisses on his collarbone. After he's taken the undershirt off, he drapes it over his bicep. Then steps away to give you space. "You should go in first. Face the wall if you're shy. I won't peek."
"… Okay."
Ah, you sound nervous. It shouldn't make his heart flutter. But as he imagines you, eyes shutting in silent loyalty— imagines you moving your arms, dragging your uniform up and over your head, left in nothing but a tank top, or a t-shirt, or maybe nothing at all— Suguru's mouth waters. This isn't lust. It's not something that can be so neatly defined.
(When he pictures you, the flustered, vulnerable state you're in, physically and emotionally: Suguru thinks to himself that he'd truly do anything for you.)
Darkness. Overwhelming, blanketing darkness. He sees nothing else. Suguru hears only the shuffling of fabric, and finally, the sound of bare feet against the floor. Moving forward, beyond him, coming to a halt. His heartbeat aligns with the rhythm of your steps.
"… I'm done," you call softly.
And Suguru opens his eyes.
He makes quick work of his pants. Leaves his underwear on, with your comfort in mind. Then he turns to where you're standing, your naked back facing him, the lines of your neck and spine already hot with steam and shower-water, and moves until he's hovering above you. Close. Close enough that he feels sheepish. Warmth buds between your bodies. Warmth from the water, warmth from the tender nervosity bubbling in the air.
Suguru knows how much trust this must have took from you. He intends to reward that.
"Is the water okay?"
"Yeah. It's perfect."
"Good."
Body wash, shampoo, conditioner… he even brought you some of his expensive herbal oils. Anything you could need. They're stacked on the shower floor; he leans forwards and picks up the body wash, uncaps the lid and squirts a dollop onto his palms. Rubs them together until it starts to froth and the air begins to smell of honey and lavender. Your shoulders remain tensed-up, like you're waiting for a strike in the back of your neck.
"Are you sure this is fine?" He hears hesitance in your tone. "Nobody will walk in?"
"No one. You have my word." Suguru puts his hands on your shoulders, working his way down your lower back. It makes you squirm, so he remains careful. Slow enough not to overwhelm you. "I locked the door. They'll know not to force it. Nanami does it all the time."
"Oh… Okay."
He digs his thumb into the tender skin under your shoulder-blade. Waits for your body to respond. A twitch, or a shiver, a feathery flexing of your bones. You let out a shaky breath. "Don't be nervous, baby. It's just you and me."
"I know," you exhale. "It feels… nice."
Suguru's lips draw up at that. The branches of a plum-tree, budding into bloom.
He avoids doing too much. Lathering your back, shoulders and collarbone in sweet-smelling froth, all the way down to your forearms. It's fine if he doesn't get all the spots. Your comfort is more important. And the purpose of this runs deeper than just washing. Once he's finished, the shower-head rinsing it away, he changes to the hair products.
It's soothing. Quiet. He works at a slow pace, cradling your scalp with both palms.
"Um. Suguru?"
Like a dog, he responds within a heartbeat. Like he's leashed to the chamber of your voice. "Yes?"
"Is this really… good, for you?" you ask him, shifting subtly from one foot to another. He doesn't hear you well under the patter of water, so he leans closer, his breath ghosting the back of your head. "You like doing this? Honestly?"
…
He can't help it. Suguru leans down, and presses a kiss at the nape of your neck. Water clings to the seam of his lips, his nose pressed against you. He feels you shiver in response, like you've never been touched here before in your life. Like he's the only one who's ever come this close. He can't explain what that does to him. "Honestly." Then, after a moment, half in jest: "I feel like a god."
Just as he hoped, it makes you laugh.
You even turn your head to meet his gaze, the colour of your eyes shining through the steam. "A god?"
"A god," he echoes. Stifling a grin. "Your shower god."
"That's so… silly."
Suguru shrugs.
"I can be silly," another kiss, this time smeared against your shoulder. Hot water in his mouth. Worth it, for this. "For you."
Only for you.
You hum. It sits low in your throat.
"Yeah." He hears the smile in your voice, bleeding honey and gold. "You can."
After that, only silence, woven into the very space between you. You've melted against his fingers now, gone soft and pliant under the weight of the experience. You're like a small animal after a good meal. Docile, curled up with its belly exposed. Suguru keeps rubbing your scalp, washing your hair free of the conditioner. The air smells of lavender and coconut. He breathes it in, hungry.
"Suguru?" you break the silence. He hears that you're weary, feels that you're drowsy. Knows you'll fall asleep standing up before long.
"Yes?"
"I… love you." You say it shyly this time. Almost like a question. Like you're hoping he'll tell you you're exactly right. It's different from before, and better when you aren't close to crying— like you're just now realizing the weight of those words, the reality of what you're signing yourself up for. "I just want you to know that."
Suguru's chest blooms with pride. Warmth. Warmth in abundance, sweltering, his heart melting like candle-wax and dripping down the drain.
"I do know." He wraps his arms around your waist, bringing your back against his chest, skin to skin. His heart beats against you. Now, too, he feels abyssal. Like he could protect you from anything at all. As long as he gets to have you here after long missions, on nights that stretch on too long, mornings that have him struggling to let go of you— he thinks he'll learn to live with letting you fight by yourself. Maybe. "And I love you too. More than you know."
Silently, all to himself, he thinks:
Now that I've said it once, I'm scared I'll never stop. That I'll keep saying it until my tongue goes numb.
You let out a soft, contemplative noise. Something like low-lilted bird chatter. He smiles into your hair, water dripping down his chin, down his chest, down his abdomen. If he drowns here, he'll be happy.
(… Okay. Maybe he does need to work on his intensity. That can wait another day.)
Glimpses of you through Alhaitham's eyes throughout the years...
"Are you really being forced to do something if you say yes?"
Into young adulthood, this was Alhaitham's philosophy. It colored his view of others, including you, tinging that bright laugh you somehow never lost and painting every traitorous curve of your lips in an unpleasant light.
A doormat like you reaped what you sowed. You allowed yourself to be treated poorly, so the outcomes were obvious and expected. He hated your type; you were too eager to please others who would never reciprocate.
But after a chance event pulled you two together, an unlikely friendship blossomed. Years passed, and the closer you grew, the more the dislike was a front put on, a disguise for his thinly veiled concern.
In your time of need, his prior words would come to haunt him.
tldr: Alhaitham changes his mind about you.
word count: 12.7k... I'm so sorry lol please give this a chance if ur willing :') and disclaimer this is only part 1 oops
(cw: abusive parents, arranged marriage; read the tags for all disclaimers/warnings**)
Dear Alhaitham,
Congratulations on your acceptance into the Haravatat darshan of the Akademiya. This was the most competitive year in this darshan in over a decade, with only a select few rising to the occasion. Haravatat welcomes you wholeheartedly and would like to extend an invitation for you to join its ranks.
The crisp sound of paper tearing was the only sound to fill the air. With precision befitting of his character, he cut through the paper so cleanly than the incision was nearly undetectable by the naked eye.
Dear Alhaitham,
Congratulations on your acceptance into the Amurta darshan of the Akademiya. Amurta welcomes you and would like to congratulate you on your efforts.
He wielded the letter opener calmly, each movement purposeful. He sliced open the next envelope in one fluid motion.
Dear Alhaitham,
Congratulations on your–
And the next.
Dear Alhaitham-
And the next, until all six letters had been opened.
He scanned the acceptances calmly. From his first glance at the letters, there wasn't a single flicker of surprise in his eyes. It would have been more absurd if he hadn't gotten in. And yet his expression beheld no satisfaction or joy at the discovery of his success, remaining that blank canvas with just enough sharpness in its edges that it unnerved others.
He collected the acceptances into a neat pile. If one observed closely, perhaps the distant look in his eyes could be detected as he stared at the far wall and absentmindedly began to thumb through the pages.
When he had begrudgingly sent in his applications to the Akademiya months ago, he had anticipated this result. And yet, it was still irritating. The acceptances sung his praises, yet they were empty words. They meant nothing. Neither did the acceptances.
Yet he showed no reaction, no single crease of tension on his face to denote his annoyance. Why anyone was so desperate to receive these letters was beyond him.
A small puff of air left his mouth, the only sign of his displeasure. He wasn't eager to return to the Akademiya, remembering his less than ideal experience from when his grandmother had enrolled him over a decade ago—the whole thing was so irksome that he only lasted half a day. But he didn't plan to withdraw again. He couldn't, not when his grandmother had made him promise to give the Akademiya another try before she passed, and not when it was the most direct way for him to make a livelihood.
Admitted with top marks, he had a clear plan: to keep his head down and focus on his studies to graduate in as little time as possible. He wouldn't know anyone there anyway—his social circle more closely resembled a dot.
Or at least, he hoped he wouldn't know anyone.
-
A few weeks before the term started, he had been making his weekly trip to the market for some necessities. He moved as efficiently as possible, partly as he wanted to get it over with, and partly because he had a book waiting for him at home. He was picking out some Harra fruit when a shrill voice penetrated his eardrums, making him wish he was in Snezhnaya so he had an excuse to wear padded earmuffs. Anything to block out that awful din.
"Oh, my little padisarah is going to the Akademiya this autumn! Aren't you, sweetie? It's just a few weeks away, now!"
Alhaitham inwardly groaned. He recognized that voice. It was your mother, who had a habit of bragging about you.
"With more than one acceptance, too! I'm so proud of my little padisarah I raised to be so smart! Really takes after me, this one."
He physically recoiled at the sound of your mother guffawing at her own words. He turned his head in the direction of her voice, which was so loud that it was easy to locate you two. You stood awkwardly to the side as your mother droned on and on to the worker at the vegetable stand about how you had passed the entrance exams with 'flying colors!' and won a 'hefty scholarship'.
For someone she seemed to cherish you so much based on her praise, there were sure a lot of heavy bags dangling from your arms. And somehow, your mother's own arms were free to gesticulate as she bragged endlessly.
Contrary to your mother, your lips stayed shut. You were stiff, your smile constant and too wide as if sewn on; you were presented like a doll. Unmoving, only you occasionally nodded at something the worker said. Your discomfort was clear, and noticing this, Alhaitham couldn't help but roll his eyes; this was typical of your behavior, persisting through situations you didn't want to be part of.
Perhaps this display would earn a shred of pity from him—he wasn’t heartless or lacking in emotional intelligence—but there were two things. Firstly, he had to take care of himself. That was his priority. It was just him in this life; attachments were variables, and could be costly. Had been costly. And secondly… you were an idiot, because only idiots repeated the same mistakes over and over expecting their life to change.
Admittedly, Alhaitham had known you for a long time. You practically grew up together, your residence just a few doors down from his, but you were never closely acquainted. Nevertheless, Alhaitham knew what to expect when he heard you were going to enter the Akademiya the same year as him.
He was annoyed when he learned of your matriculation, but it was no matter; this information sat on the back-burner, and he practically forgot until he saw you at orientation. It wasn't a significant rediscovery: his eyes passed over you once, a split second flash of turquoise in your vision, before he looked away and moved on with his life. You were really, well, nothing to him, after all.
So when the semester rolled around, he didn't pay you any mind. He was frankly uninterested. When he passed by you in the hall, his eyes never lingered on your form. There was nothing about you that kindled any spark of curiosity in him—and for a person as curious as him, that was saying something. But it wasn't necessarily that you were boring, but he had seen the same planes of your face for years and years and the same wisp of an awkward smile when you accidentally caught his gaze, so there was little left to the imagination.
But appearances held little weight to him. His lack of interest—or really, his aversion to you—stemmed from a personality trait that stuck out like a sore thumb. This trait was far less than ideal in his mind, so he was not inclined to let his attention settle on you.
Alhaitham knew your disposition well enough from years of domestic proximity, and one aspect of your personality was particularly off-putting and often caused him to sneer as you interacted with others. You were quiet, something he actually appreciated in another, and you were agreeable to most everyone you encountered.
But nothing could overshadow the fact that, quite frankly, you were completely and utterly a doormat.
This was evidenced on the daily. You mindlessly pleased others as if it were your life's duty, letting people walk all over you for their own benefit. You were well liked by your peers—how could you not be, when you always did what they asked?
Alhaitham had always known this about you, but he had previously chalked it up to your inclination to pay respect to your elders. At home, you quietly did what you were told, no matter what was asked of you.
"Oh, that poor child. They're always helping out with something," His grandmother had quietly commented once, sighing, as they had passed by your house.
You had been sweeping the path leading to your door, even though it looked to be immaculate. Your mother was watching with crossed arms and a scowl on her face, only breaking her stern posture to point to another spot. You, of course, had scurried over immediately.
As Alhaitham watched, your eyes had met. That's when he had noticed you were smiling.
"Are you really being forced to do something if you say yes?" Alhaitham had wondered aloud, snorting. His grandma hadn't answered, but her firm expression said enough.
This trait never left you, and it was something he couldn't overlook. Your behavior once at the Akademiya revealed that there was more to it than simple obedience—not that he cared. Why should he?
And yet, at every turn, you caught his attention.
There was that time in your second year at the Akademiya, when you and Alhaitham were still distant acquaintances. . .
You had been working quietly in the library in the same corner you always claimed. It was the most remote spot in the House of Daena, far from prying eyes and devoid of any distractions. Alhaitham favored this spot as well, but you had gotten to it first that day. Mildly annoyed by this discovery, he was about to turn away, but a grating voice made him pause in his steps.
"Hey, you have my notes for me?"
Oh, not this again. Alhaitham had seen this unfold too many times, but had never stuck around to gain any clues about why you let it happen. You weren't an idiot by any stretch of the word—much as it pained him to admit it, as your pleasing tendencies would indicate the opposite—so why?
He turned around slowly, chancing a quick glance in your direction. One of your classmates stood uncomfortably close to your workspace, towering over your seated form. This man was your senior of many years—not senior in Akademiya terms, seeing as he still hadn't graduated due to his poorly constructed and flawed theses (yes, plural), but it was obvious you were keenly aware he was your elder. Conversely, this man meant so little to Alhaitham that he couldn't even recall his name.
Alhaitham didn't involve himself in others' affairs by principle, but that didn't mean he neglected to take in his surroundings. He picked up on a lot of gossip—this he tried to filter out—but every once in a while, useful or curious information would reach his ears. This was neither gossip nor useful information, and he knew how it would end, so he should have walked away. Yet he couldn't stop himself from tucking himself into an alcove to witness what would happen next, justifying this action with the fact that there were sources on the shelves he had been meaning to look into.
To give himself something to do, he began examining the spines for anything that drew his interest, but he found himself returning his focus to your nervous laughter. Alhaitham peeked out from his spot, although if anyone saw him it would simply look like he was contemplating what to read. He only had a sliver of vision between two bookcases, but it was wide enough to see both you and the man.
Your older peer—was it Asad? Aman?—was even closer now, within arms length of you, and he continued to inch closer. How could someone be so shameless? Alhaitham frowned, the clear intimidation making his fingers twitch, but he continued observing.
You fidgeted uncomfortably at the intrusion, fingernail catching the edge of the table again and again. You could hardly look at him, and you were subconsciously leaning away. "Oh, Amir, um... I didn't know you'd be out of class today."
Ah, so his name was Amir. This piece of information never entered his long term memory for a reason; this man was to leech to any bright, naive mind. Alhaitham paid him even less attention than he paid you.
"Didn't you notice I wasn't there? And c'mon, you always keep a copy of your notes for me, don't you?" Amir frowned, crossing his arms.
You laughed—if Alhaitham could even call it that. It was a choked, nervous sound.
"I was really focused today. I only drafted one copy..." You said, your eyes flitting between the papers in front of you to Amir. "I'm sorry."
"Ah. So you really have nothing for me?" Amir asked, a sharp edge creeping in to his voice. "You know I need a good grade in this course. Our professor is on my defense jury."
"O-oh, that's right..." You scratched the back of your head, laughing lightly, although it sounded strained. "B-but I only have my own notes this time. Maybe you could borrow them after I finish studying...? But I'm sure you already know all this anyway, since it's your....specialty."
Alhaitham had to hold in a snort. That was an overstatement. Amir had so many thesis rejections that he had become notorious for his lack of knowledge in his own area of study. Many budding Akademiya students had numerous thesis rejections due to the faculty wanting to push them—Amir was not one of them. He was unqualified, plain and simple.
Amir's annoyance with you began to rise, his patience running thin.
"I'm always helping you out, y'know, all the time. Isn't this the least you could do for me?"
If by 'helping you out' he meant intimidating and burdening you, then that was an accurate assessment.
"Next lecture, I'll be sure to make a copy for you, alright?" You tried to negotiate, as if you had any business trying to negotiate with a man-child like Amir when you clearly had done nothing wrong. "I-I forgot this time, I'm sorry."
Amir scoffed, his gaze turning into a glare. But then his eyes moved down, towards the papers your hands discreetly yet desperately tried to cover.
"Are those from today?" He gestured at the papers laid out in front of you, your neat script clearly outlining ideas presented in the lecture. "So you've already been studying them. You shouldn't need them anymore, then. I'll just use those."
You took in a sharp inhale of air as if you were about to protest, but no words came out. Your lips touched and parted, but still you were silent.
Before you could decide to respond, Amir leaned down and began to shuffle the papers into a messy pile, bending and crinkling your painstakingly neat notes. Your hard work was unfairly reduced to being the property of your sloppy senior right before your eyes.
You flinched back as he entirely invaded your space, but still you did not speak. Your eyes followed the stack of notes as they were unceremoniously gathered and pushed into Amir's bag, locked away with an audible snap from the fastener.
Even though he knew better, Alhaitham expected you to snap at Amir, rip the notes out of his greedy hands, or even just voice your displeasure. But that was only wishful thinking. Your behavior didn't make any sense; why were you so still? Why were you so quiet?
Instead, you did something that boggled Alhaitham's mind: you smiled. You smiled, even as Amir strutted away without so much as a thanks, even as your notes left your possession for good, likely never to be seen again.
Alhaitham didn't stick around to see how long that demented expression would stay on your face. There was an uncomfortable heat under his skin, searing through his veins, at how easily you smiled. This wasn't the first time you had given in to others' demands, and it wouldn't be the last.
Alhaitham never eavesdropped on another one of those pathetic interactions ever again. Nothing infuriated him more than those who threw away their self-autonomy to please others.
He couldn't bear this about you, not when your so-called 'friends' only seemed to flock to you when they needed a copy of your notes or to 'take a peek' at your homework. And certainly not when you'd do the literal heavy-lifting for an Akademiya senior, collecting heavy tomes from the library in theoretical exchange for research assistance that you of course never ended up receiving.
As hard as he tried not to, Alhaitham noticed these things. And yet it wasn't in his nature to interfere, especially not with someone he had no real connection to. If you wanted to—no, decided—to be taken advantage of like that, that was your prerogative. He couldn't afford to care about such a careless person.
As a result, he noted your presence like one would notice the same old crack in the sidewalk they walked over every day. That is to say, you were just a familiar face, nothing that ever required his attention. And he treated you like such—never interacting except for a curt nod if your gaze ever lingered on him as you passed by. Not that he felt obligated to—because out of principle, he didn't act out of obligation.
Acknowledging your presence was the furthest he would go, and sometimes he wouldn't even do that. But still your gaze landed on him every time he entered a room you resided in, and although you would quickly look away, he noticed.
You were hesitant and shy, only surrounded by 'friends' because they were playing you for a fool. It wasn't in his nature to pity others, so he didn't. And still that fire burned in his gut, reminding him exactly why he didn't spend energy on people like you.
Three years passed without a single word between you and Alhaitham.
Despite others hounding you and forcing you to interact with them, you were as shy as you had been growing up, your perfectly crafted shell still intact. And Alhaitham was antisocial as ever, only speaking when necessary. There was little intersection between these two habits; thus, no words were exchanged.
That was, until the intersection was forced.
Alhaitham shared an ethics class with you. Your instructor, Dr. Jahan, had many unconventional teaching methods. She was quirky and was the antithesis of the standard snooty, uptight Akademiya professors.
Although her attitude was refreshing to most, Alhaitham didn't always appreciate her creativity.
"Let's see here..."
Dr. Jahan fished her hand into an unassuming open-faced container. She had this smirk on his face that made Alhaitham's face twist in irritation. His fingers drummed on the desk so forcefully that it produced audible thumps, his annoyance seeping into his limbs.
He felt the glare of his desk neighbor, but his fingers continued their rhythm, not caring to placate some random.
His professor's hand reappeared from the bowl, fingers curled into a claw as she slyly withheld the two thin sticks from her class.
Her sharp but playful gaze trailed from student to student, holding the tension of the moment. It was a silly game that only served to irritate Alhaitham. His success this semester was to be determined randomly? While perhaps 'fair', there were many who he could not work well with and would practically be a death sentence to his grade.
But most did not share his thoughts. His peers sat up straighter in their seats, bodies instinctively leaning in as they waited in anticipation.
He held off a sigh. Well, he would be lying if he said he wasn't also curious how this would end.
Dr. Jahan carefully shielded the sticks from view behind her palm, her eyes visibly reading each carefully crafted letter on the stick.
Her mouth opened slowly, drawing out the process even more, as she began to form the first syllable.
"Al..." She read out clearly, but Alhaitham didn't even flinch. So many students' names started with this prefix that it was unlikely to be him.
"...Haitham," She finished.
He suppressed a snort. Of course he would be first.
Hushed whispers filled the air, murmurs coming from every corner. Everybody and nobody simultaneously wanted to work with him, as he was well aware. He was intimidating, had a sharp tongue, and yet he was one of the most brilliant students the Akademiya had ever seen. Who could measure up to his expectations?
That line of thinking was ridiculous, but it played to his advantages. It warded off the attention of others, limiting interaction—but it seems this time, his reputation served no purpose.
Dr. Jahan grinned at the excitement teeming in the classroom—she was living for this.
"And the other student is..." She looked down, eyes slowly tracking the letters written on the second stick.
From the first syllable, Alhaitham knew he had gotten unlucky. The name that fell from her lips was none other than yours.
He grit his teeth. This is exactly what he had feared would happen.
He didn't turn to look at you—in fact he had no idea where you were sitting, or where you usually sat—but he was sure your usual timid, unsure gaze had settled on him.
After the rest of the class had been paired, Dr. Jahan had ended early to allow the pairs to find each other and talk.
Well, Alhaitham had no such intention in doing so. He was going to beeline straight to the library—any free time was allocated purely to himself, more accurately to his current read.
He was gathering his things when a small voice tentatively called, "...Alhaitham?"
Looks like that book would have to wait.
The distinct clack of your footfalls approached his desk. They became more sparse as they grew louder, full of hesitance as you neared him, as if you were waiting for something. He looked up slowly, exhaling loudly. He couldn't hide his displeasure, especially not when only a whisper of your voice reached his ears.
"You're going to need to speak up," Alhaitham stated flatly.
He took a proper look at you, his eyes scanning your familiar form. You had this nervous smile on your lips and you fidgeted with a clasp on your bag, your gaze downcast.
"Oh, um... I was just wondering when you wanted to first meet to discuss ideas for the project?"
It wasn't a question, yet you phrased it like one.
When you were met with silence, you stumbled over your words in your rush to fill the gap. You spluttered, "I-if you want to! I mean, if you want to meet soon. Or, um, if not that would be fine. Just...let me know, then I can start pulling sources for research. O-or you can let me know what you wanted to do..."
You bit your lip, the lines around your eyes crinkling as you inwardly cringed. After all, you weren't really making sense, with words tumbling out of your mouth before your brain could catch up—not the best look for a budding scholar.
Alhaitham, mercifully, didn't comment on your obvious nervous speech.
"What would you prefer?" Alhaitham asked, tone apathetic.
He rose to his feet, pulling together his materials and placing them in the crook of his arm. You seemed to panic at this, as if fearing he were going to walk away.
"W-what I prefer? I..." You frowned, this simple ask stumping you more than any academic question. "I'm not sure... What would you like?"
Alhaitham bit back a huff. Your people-pleasing tendency was rearing its ugly head again. Working together with someone as indirect as you was surely going to be a disaster. How were you going to get anywhere with that ineffective communication style?
"Let's meet tomorrow."
And so you had. It wasn't like you were going to protest, after all, not with that tiresome personality of yours.
Your first meeting was awkward. Your words were stilted and you moved with the fluidity of a robot, reflecting how uncomfortable you were around him. And yet, your smile was constant and you were amiable as always.
Your second meeting was the same. So was the third. Any time he would express any opinion in opposition to yours, you would fluster immediately and quickly dismiss your own.
He began to test the limits of this over time, subtly at first. Would there be any point you would understand the severity of your behavior without any intervention?
You had been meeting regularly for weeks at this point. You had both made good progress, so there wasn't any rush to meet again for some time. Your workloads were picking up—midterms were approaching.
Alhaitham knew you were extraordinarily busy, especially with the extra obligations you mindlessly took on from your 'friends'. However, you had still agreed to meet with him today, even though you had three back-to-back lectures to attend earlier. When he had proposed this time, you hadn't spoken a peep about the inconvenient scheduling. Nor had you complained about the location he asked for: the House of Daena was the furthest library from your last lecture, as he was well aware of.
It was dark outside when your meeting rolled around; the sun had dipped below the horizon some time ago. Alhaitham had been studying in the your shared favorite nook of the library for more hours than he would have liked, and he was ready to go home. He had proposed this meeting time for his curiosity about your reaction, but regret was souring his mood as a dull pain radiated through his temples.
His mood soured further as a bumbling quartet of noise—hurried footfalls, metallic jingling, heavy breathing, and a nasally voice shouting, "No running in the House of Daena!"—rudely forced its way to his ears.
Frustration colored his heavy sigh. Who was being so loud? It was annoying and unnecessary, and reminded him to study at home next time.
The thuds and panting were only getting louder, to Alhaitham's displeasure. His eyes, squinted in annoyance, flicked up as a figure appeared in his peripheral vision: you careened around the corner and hurried into the nook he occupied, almost losing your balance in your haste.
You practically collapsed as you sunk into the chair opposite Alhaitham.
You were too busy putting yourself in order and arranging your belongings to notice his steady gaze on you as he took in your disheveled appearance.
You were clearly waterlogged—you had left a trail of moisture from the corner you had appeared from. Your hair was sopping, thick clumps clinging to your forehead and neck. That couldn't have been comfortable.
And you were still breathing heavily, the pants barely subsiding to deep breaths. Had you run from your lecture?
"I'm so sorry–" You panted, struggling to catch your breath. "The lecture went so late today!"
A pause. A bewildered pause, even if he didn't show it.
Alhaitham's words were curt. "Why are you here?"
He hadn't meant to be so blunt, but there was no other way he could put it. Your presence didn't make sense, not with your present condition.
Your eyes widened slightly, and your mouth pressed into a line. You opened your mouth as if to defend yourself, but you took a cleansing breath and the annoyance lifted from your expression.
The first flash of genuine emotion he had seen from you disappeared just as quickly. You retreated into yourself, carefully pulling on your mask: that plastered on smile.
"Oh, um... you wanted to meet, remember?" You said, smiling still. "So, here I am!"
"If you hadn't noticed, you're soaked," He pointed out. His gaze dropped lower to your upper lip, where a rivulet of red had spilled over. "And blood is pouring from your nose."
Your eyes went wide as your dominant hand flew to your upper lip, where the thick liquid had begun to accumulate. It was clear it had escaped your notice. But you recovered quickly, wiping away the blood with a handkerchief you retrieved from the inside of your coat. You were too preoccupied to notice the glint of concern in his eyes, one he wasn't even aware of.
"That doesn't really matter, right?" You shrugged. "You've been waiting for a long time."
That was true, but his waiting didn't justify your personal suffering.
You produced your bag as you readied yourself to study, dumping some of its contents on the table, revealing limp and damp pages.
He sighed. This was turning into more of an ordeal than he had meant. All he had wanted to do was press your boundary a bit—not this far.
"We should cancel," He decided, closing the book in front of him.
"Oh, it's fine!" You waved him off. "I can just redo my notes later. We're supposed to be researching right now—I was late and all, so... it's the least I can do."
"You take all of your notes in pen," Alhaitham reminded you drily. "They're going to smear if you put it off."
"It's fine," You pressed, even though your brow momentarily creased in concern at his reminder.
At your own insistence, you reached for a book from the pile he had neatly assembled, but his hand caught your wrist.
"Do you want a library fine? You're going to damage the texts," He scolded, eyeing your dripping sleeves. "Let's just meet another time."
You bit your lip, noticeably conflicted. "But–"
A few seconds passed in silence before you were brave enough to voice your thoughts.
"But you've been waiting here," You said, frowning, then your voice dipped lower as you thought aloud. "But if you want to go home, then..."
"Is that the only basis for your decision?" He scoffed. For any of them?
"Huh?" You blinked.
"Do you not consider your own thoughts and feelings a factor in your own decisions?"
"That's..." You laughed nervously, uncomfortable by the implication. But even now, you wouldn't speak against him when he was practically insulting you.
You flinched when he spoke your name, eyes widening as if you were surprised he even knew your name despite being your lifelong neighbor. Your head was hung, uncertainty and shame brewing in your expression, appearing as if you expected to be scolded, as if this were a normal, regular thing. His stomach twisted at the thought.
He exhaled heavily.
"Are you in debt?"
You blinked rapidly, confusion seeping into your expression. "Huh? No... why do you ask?"
"Then you don't owe anyone anything."
You just stared at him. He suppressed another sigh.
It shouldn't have come as a surprise that it would take more than that to wake you up out of this 'living for others' stupor, but he wished it could have been that easy.
His chest tightened, guilt coiling around his heart with sharp thorns, at the clueless expression on your face. By testing you like this, had he become just who he himself despised—those that took advantage of you, stole your time and your kindness for their own benefit?
But, wait, that wasn't correct—it was you he disliked, for letting yourself be subjected to this treatment... right?
"W-well, I'll just have to work on this at home then! So..."
You went to grab the book, but he snatched it with a quick snap of his wrist.
"No, don't. Just go home."
Your lips puckered then flattened into a thin line, following the quirk and smoothing of your brow. He could almost see the questions forming in your mind. His words had come out harsher than he intended, but he wasn't going to backtrack on this.
He wanted to tell you to stop catering to others, but the words were trapped in his lungs, held down by the lump in his throat.
But... why? It wasn't his responsibility to open your eyes. You weren't even friends.
You eyed the book, as if considering arguing. But then you smiled again. "Okay, but next time I'll do double the work."
"If you say so."
You chuckled with a note of confusion. His words were dry: was that sarcasm, apathy, or doubt?
He returned to his books as you nodded in response, lingering awkwardly as his attention slipped from you. Or at least, that's what it seemed like. Perhaps it was apathy after all.
You squeaked out a 'Good night!' and rushed away, your parting gift being a small puddle of rainwater left on your half of the desk. He didn't look up until your back faced him, but then his sharp gaze didn't leave your form until you rounded the corner and disappeared from view.
He dropped the book in his hand, not even caring about the loud thump it made as it collided with the desk. That experiment was very telling. Just what was he going to do with you?
Wait, no, you weren't his responsibility. You made your own poor choices and you would have to live with it. All he was going to do was to get through this project and then part ways so he didn't have to deal with this ridiculous problem that seemed to addle his brain: because why else would he feel those pinpricks of guilt?
At some point, Alhaitham begrudgingly had to admit that he had grown closer to you than he ever anticipated. In fact, he hadn't even wanted to get to know you—he thought you were predictable in the worst ways. But somehow, the initial awkwardness that had been between you eventually dissipated, and your peer-peer relationship had naturally melded into friendship, far outlasting the deadline of the project. It had taken Alhaitham by surprise by how comfortable you two became around each other once you had been coaxed out of your shell.
He had grown used to all your nervous tics and awkward smiles, but your confidence grew the longer he was around you. And slowly but surely, you were no longer just the tentative student who never answered questions in class, but an expressive and—sometimes even loud—friend of his.
As your years at the Akademiya passed, you two grew to know one another well. Both of your circles were quite small—you kept a small group of close friends, and Alhaitham could count his friends on one hand. Even if your meetings were casual and didn't appear 'buddy-buddy' to outsiders, you became one of Alhaitham's closest friends, and him yours.
You were the first person Alhaitham came to after his big fight with Kaveh—the fact he shared it at all surprised you both, as it was not in his nature to rehash conflicts with third parties. He detested involving others in private matters—but, well, your existence overruled the carefully and meticulously crafted boundaries in Alhaitham's life.
Your disarming smiles, that knowing gaze of yours, as well as your natural charisma had made him subconsciously surrender his boundaries nobody else had successfully crossed or even dared to. And he believed that as you continued to open up and lost your shyness around him, that you too had let down your walls.
And yet, after a time, events revealed to him that this didn't seem mutual. In a rare instance of miscalculation, Alhaitham had been mistaken.
At first, it deceptively appeared as if your full self was on display. You often spilled parts of your heart and mind out to him.
"Archons, that man gets on my nerves sometimes," You had gritted out, gesticulating with your mug of tea, nearly splashing it on the marked paper in front of you.
Your gaze honed in on the red ink that seemed to be present in every line of your writing and considerably filled the margins.
You sighed and shook your head, disbelief flashing across your features. "Sorry to complain, I just– a C+?! I went over everything with him before I turned it in—twice, as a matter of fact! And this is the grade he decided to give me?"
'That man' being one of your professors, a professor who despite being an esteemed emeritus scholar, was infamous for unfair (or, in your words, 'unjust') grading.
Alhaitham had barely reacted. The only sound that could be heard was a sharp flick as he turned the page of his book and a quiet snicker. But after being friends for a few years, you were able to decipher the meaning behind his reaction quickly.
"Don't laugh," You had rolled your eyes, groaning. "Ugh, what did you get on it, then?"
You were fixed with those turquoise eyes. His gaze had been unexpected, since once absorbed in a book he rarely drew his attention away simply for others. But you weren't just a peer anymore, slotting into his life in a way he hadn't anticipated.
Not that he would admit it to himself.
"What do you think?" He had asked drily.
It wasn't unusual for you to vent out your frustrations to him like this. And he did the same, especially when it came to his half friend, half thorn-in-his-side Kaveh, but far less dramatically in his mind.
But you didn't only come to Alhaitham to complain—most times, you were so bubbly that it was hard to keep up with your positive energy.
You grumbled, "If you got a perfect score, I'm up and leaving."
Alhaitham shared a small smile with himself, hiding it behind the action of snapping his book shut. He casually laid the offending document in question in the space between you two.
"No," You groaned dramatically, to his amusement. "Ugh! Seriously?!"
You were shaking your head, but you were... smiling?
"Do you always go back on your word?" Alhaitham asked, pointedly eyeing the exit.
You ignored this jab, instead sighing in awe. "Wow, I can't even pretend to be annoyed anymore. How did you do it? Can I read it? Please? I put like, three times the effort into this paper, too!"
Oh. You were happy for him.
He glanced at your paper, quickly analyzing it. He knew your writing style well at this point, so a glimpse was enough.
"Three times the effort or three times the word count?" He raised a brow, eyes flickering back up to yours.
"Psh, well... you know I like to explain everything thoroughly. I don't understand how anyone can be so... precise," You said, making a face.
You were alluding to his own writing. He snorted, the noise barely audible.
"Concise," He corrected, although it was annoyingly matter of fact. "And you tend to overelaborate, as you know."
"Yeah, I know," You frowned, but then your eyes lit up again. "'Haitham, would you let me read your paper? Please? Don't ignore me again."
That unbridled admiration, that spark in your eyes—your genuine curiosity about him, that's what it was—forced him to swallow thickly as an unnamed emotion stirred in his chest. And the way his nickname dropped from your lips so naturally, sounding so affectionate...
He picked up his book, steady as ever, expression as difficult to read as ever.
"No."
"Ugh!"
You kept up the charade for so long, never intending for the mask to slip. But the mask you wore was only so durable; one single crack could spiderweb beyond control. As a result, you were careful and diligent about how you presented yourself. You managed this with a practiced ease, and you were very successful, for a time.
But Alhaitham wasn't just some self-absorbed Akademiya student with his nose always in a book. Well, maybe that was true from a certain point of view, but his thirst for knowledge didn't stem from a craving for power or a burning desire to outperform others to stroke his own ego. First and foremost, he was driven by curiosity. If he wanted to know something, he would find out.
You didn't readily reveal yourself to him even after years of knowing each other. That was frustrating. But, to be fair, he shielded parts of his private life from you as well. He didn't necessarily hide anything, but it was obvious he didn't lay out all the pieces of his life to you. You never pried, and he wondered how he would react if you did. He almost wished you did.
Neither of you pried, but the difference was that Alhaitham wanted to. He knew there was something behind the rehearsed smiles and defensive posture.
Even at his worst, on days where he only cared for himself, that curiosity simmered on the back burner of his mind. Even when you annoyed him.
Even this miserable day, when all he wanted was peace and quiet, and you were the opposite of that.
"You weren't in class. Again."
Alhaitham barely looked up. He knew it was you before you loudly began to pester him; no one else dared to approach him when he was in such a foul mood.
It was a rainy day, him and Kaveh had gotten into another argument, and all he wanted to do was be in bed. He didn't want to see anyone. It was a miracle he was in the library researching at all—a wrong word could set him off and make him abandon the scrolls laid out in front of him. The silence of the isolated nook had been the only thing keeping him sane.
Your chair squeaked loudly as you settled into the seat across from him. The charms on your bag clanked loudly against the wooden desk, the metallic sound grating. He grit his teeth as you hummed happily, oblivious to his displeasure. If you were anyone else, he would have snapped at you right away. The racket you created was annoying. You were annoying. But...
You looked at him, eyes bright and a real smile on your face. Not those awful saccharine smiles you pacified others with, but the same smile he saw when you passed by a pot of blooming padisarahs in the street, the same smile as when Kaveh complimented your outfit in his over-the-top manner.
Slowly, Alhaitham slipped his headphones off, his gaze finally meeting yours.
"Oh really? I didn't notice," He answered, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
"I'm not lecturing you," You rolled your eyes. "I was just... stating an observation."
Alhaitham exhaled a heavy breath, but he wasn't truly that annoyed.
"Kaveh held me up," Alhaitham said flatly, probably the extent of the elaboration (or lack thereof) you were going to get. "That's all."
"Oh, really? Well, I'm just glad something didn't happen... you usually don't skip on days we have a quiz."
You said it casually, but your relief was clear. He watched the tension in your brow release, a hint of your smile returning to your lips.
His chest tightened unpleasantly, air suspended in his lungs. The care you showed—he would lying if he said it didn't strike fear into him. When was the last time he let someone care about him like this?
"Who said something didn't happen?" He snorted, but there was little humor behind his words.
"Well, I know you aren't going to tell me if anything did. And you don't like when people make baseless assumptions—" You started saying, cutting yourself off as you ducked under the desk.
Your voice became muffled, but somehow still finished out your quip, "—and since I don't have anything to go off of, I have to assume that nothing happened. Or at least, nothing significant."
For once, he had nothing to say. The only response you got was a quiet scoff, but perhaps it was partially out of surprise. I mean, you had just disappeared from his sight whilst in the middle of bickering with him.
He raised an eyebrow at a furious rustling and shuffling that ensued as you obviously searched for something in your bag. The silence stretched out for several long moments—Alhaitham was considering cracking open the 'abstruse reading material' he always kept laying around (your words, not his)—but then you let out a noise of satisfaction that alerted him you had found what you had been digging around for.
You resurfaced to the plane of the table and Alhaitham had to hide the quirk of his lip behind his palm at your disheveled appearance. Strands of hair had been strewn over your face, stubbornly staying even as you tried to shake them away. Your brow knitted in frustration as you had to resort to using your free hand to corral them back into place, and that's when Alhaitham finally noticed your purpose in furiously searching your bag.
You produced a lean stack of papers, placing them in front of him quickly. The excitement behind your eyes made his stomach flop, although he immediately pushed away this observation.
It was amusing and daresay endearing how you had suddenly thrown your whole upper body under the table and disappeared from view mid-sentence; you were so comfortable with him that your excitement trumped your need to adhere to social norms. Not that he placed importance in the latter, but he knew you did.
He really should have been thanking you or complimenting you on how meticulously you had organized these notes, but instead—
"...You really need to invest in a notebook," is what left his lips, just because he knew what reaction it would draw from you. "How are you surviving your thesis work with only loose leaf paper?"
You groaned, your lips forming a pout. "'Haitham! Do you always have to complain about something?"
The way you whined out his name stirred something in his chest, but he ignored this too.
"No wonder it took you so long to retrieve them from your bag," He smirked. "You probably had to rifle through a hundred loose papers."
"Not that many... but maybe you do have a point," You begrudgingly admitted. "But does it really matter? I'm still organized enough to get everything done."
"Do you enjoy making life harder for yourself?" He all but scoffed. "Besides, you didn't need to do this."
His skimmed over the first page of your notes, every letter carefully crafted and each point concise—the style was unlike your own and remarkably like his, as if you had catered to his preferences. He was aware of your meticulous nature and your feeling of due diligence towards others, but was this detail really a product of that, or was it something else?
"I know!" You exclaimed happily. "But I could, so why not?"
But you shouldn't have. But how could he convey that in a way you would understand? He had to try, at least.
"I didn't need them."
"Yeah, I know, you barely show up to class as it is. But it helps, doesn't it?"
"Do I look like someone who needs help?" He asked evenly, tone neutral.
"You're my friend. What's wrong with getting a little help from a friend?"
"And you expect nothing in return," He said dryly, almost mocking.
"Friendship shouldn't be transactional," You shook your head. "What are you even saying right now? All I did was write down some notes—just take them! It's fine!"
You were reassuring him as if it was he who needed help, as if his philosophy needed adjusting.
"So you'll come to me when you need help?"
You blinked rapidly and your mouth fell open like you wanted to say something. Then you bit your lip—you did this often when nervous, he noticed—and let out a spluttered laugh as if you were baffled. Or was it that you were cornered?
"Huh? Why are you asking me this? That's... so random."
"We're friends," He repeated your words calmly.
"Yeah... sure, I will. I mean, don't I already? You help me with my essays all the time."
That's not quite what he meant, and you knew it.
"How magnanimous of me," He said dryly. "Editing essays... but I suppose I do work miracles on them. Hm, imagine just how helpful I could be in other areas."
It was a hint. A bait, ready to be snapped up, for you to finally realize what he's been saying all along.
"So you just wanted to brag. I should have known," You chuckled, rolling your eyes. "Heh, as if you wanted me to pour my heart out to you."
He stared at you, displaying a heaviness in his countenance you hadn't noticed before. His turquoise eyes, usually open and carrying that subtle spark of curiosity they always contained, had lost their light and were flickering with an unnamed emotion. His jaw was hard-set, the fist his chin rested on was pale from the effort in tensing it.
You tried not to squirm under his expectant gaze, the one that alerted you that your words wouldn't be glossed over.
"Not that I h-have anything to pour out—I mean, like, I don't have any troubles," You covered up quickly. "Okay, maybe that's a lie, but it's not anything important. Never is, y'know?"
"That's what you think?"
"It's what I know. Compared to the average person in Teyvat, my life is pretty much sunshine and rainbows. Can you really argue with that?"
"You're bordering on dangerous territory now. Do you speak in logical fallacies out of ignorance or did you really think I'd buy that?"
"Well isn't that quite the false dilemma?" You grumbled. "It's neither. It's just the truth. My life is... good. Very good."
He looked at you pointedly. "If so, it wouldn't be hard to tell me when a problem arises, would it, then?"
"If, not when."
"...You're never going to give this up, are you?"
"What's with this interrogation anyway?" You chuckled, a weak attempt at lightheartedly diverting the conversation. "Do I truly seem miserable to you?"
"No."
You smiled smugly, about to snidely remark on how you were right as always, but—
"No, and it doesn't make sense. You never look miserable, but that's impossible when you care so much about what others think. You're always smiling, but you're so sensitive that half of them can't be real. You thank me for crossing out half of the nonsense in your essays. You don't care when I don't greet you in the street. You smile at me, you tell me how your day is, but you never..."
You never let me in.
Although spoken in that measured, neutral tone, it was practically an outburst. The words were curling off his tongue before he could even process what he was feeling. He always thought before he spoke, before he acted, but this time his heart leapt into his throat before his brain could catch up.
The silence stretched on for a moment too long, his last words still hanging in the air, allowing suspicion to creep in.
"What doesn't make sense? I have a good life and few hardships. Can't I be happy?" You hummed. "Is that truly so unbelievable?"
His jaw set, but he made no effort to reply.
"Is there a reason you're asking me this?" You pressed further, suspicion coloring your words.
His grip tightened at the sharp corners of the book in his hands, a subtle action, but he still did not speak.
"Is something bothering you, Alhaitham?" You frowned, head tilting as you observed his expression. "... Are you alright?"
He bit back a sigh, a hand dragging across his tired features. What was he even doing? This wasn't like him at all. If you wanted to remain helpless, to remain a silent victim, then that was out of his control.
"Forget what I said. It's nothing."
"If you say so..."
He begrudgingly accepted your notes as you slid the rest of them over to him. They would go to waste if he refused them so it was only logical to take them, yet it still felt wrong to receive a copy of your hard work.
He read them over while you reviewed your professor's edits to your thesis, falling into your normal rhythm of studying together. The only sounds to be heard were the scratch of your pen and the flick of the flimsy notes in Alhaitham's hands.
This was how your dynamic should be. Existing together, in a comfortable space, keeping the exact right distance between you and him. No lines crossed, no patterns broken, just your safe dance of playful banter and quiet studying. Not whatever just occurred, when his thoughts leaked out without permission.
His physical body shouldn't reflect his inner world, where his thoughts continued to return to what he hadn't been able to clearly convey to you. He should just keep reading your notes as you had intended. You should keep scribbling out your mistakes, evaluating yourself more harshly than you would to any other. He should let you.
And yet his lips parted, preparing to disrupt the delicate balance between you. He called your name, and your eyes immediately darted to his, as if you had been waiting, as if you were expecting.
"Just..." He let himself exhale this time, his frustration now audible. "You should prioritize yourself more in the future. And let someone know when you have a problem. It is human to experience problems. Do you understand?"
You put down your pen, blowing a strand of hair out of your face as you regarded him. Your usual easy smile was absent. And was that a flicker of frustration that crossed your expression?
"I do."
"Good."
You were both proper adults now. Or that's what events around him were trying to convince him of—he was named the Scribe, and you the assistant to the Grand Conservator. It was really just a formality: everyone knew the Grand Conservator was retiring soon and was just showing you the ropes before you took over.
Work was simple. Life was simple, just how he liked it. He still got to see you quite a bit, as he continued to frequent the House of Daena, which was now your place of work.
You seemed content on the whole. You loved your job—he often watched you flit around the library to direct newbie Akademiya students in the right direction, all the while with a smile on your face, but the genuine kind. The kind that made his chest warm. The kind that made him linger over his allotted lunch hour, silently eager to see more.
Of course, your job massively involved helping out others. But as long as you were truly happy as you had always insisted, this was fine, wasn't it?
Your overarching behavior remained largely the same, but it was more subtle now. Others genuinely enjoyed being around you—you had real friends, now, not like those leeches from your Akademiya days. Alhaitham remained your one constant into adulthood, something neither of you would have ever anticipated.
Kaveh and you had also grown close over the past few years, ever since you accidentally learned of his residency. You became fast friends due to your similarities: Alhaitham believed you two to be the same side of the coin, two pushovers trying to search for others' joy rather than their own.
Alhaitham was disgruntled by being surrounded by such naivety all the time, yet every time you asked him with such hopeful eyes to go out, his current reads became five percent less interesting.
"Kaveh! Alhaitham!"
You called out to him, waving your arm furiously as if afraid you weren't visible enough. Alhaitham snorted: as if anyone could miss the sight of you practically jumping up and down in excitement. Your skin glistened under the sun's weakening rays, iridescence shifting this way and that at each of your subtle movements. Bathed in the warm tones of dusk, you looked positively radiant.
"Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes! Is that a new outfit?" Kaveh complimented as he approached. "Don't they look nice, Alhaitham?" Alhaitham had never divulged any interest in you, but it wasn't like Kaveh needed any guidance when it came to emotional matters. He was intuitive and had a keen mind, even if Alhaitham didn't like admitting it.
Alhaitham tried not to stiffen as your attention redirected to him, your curious eyes scanning for a reaction.
"It's only obvious they'd dress well. Most people make an effort to maintain their appearance," He said, then his eyes drifted to Kaveh. "Others do not."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kaveh frowned, his voice finding a sharp edge.
"Bickering already?" You laughed, although you looked eager to defuse the tension beginning to spark. You never liked when they argued—or when anyone did, if Alhaitham thought about it. "The night is still young– don't get mad at each other yet! Then I'll have to hear you complain about Alhaitham's domestic habits the whole night, and watch you sulk and pretend like you're not upset."
Your gaze lingered on them respectively as you addressed them directly, and although you were complaining yourself, Alhaitham didn't miss the touch of amusement dancing in your eyes.
"Alhaitham? Upset? Please, let's not speak in impossibilities," Kaveh scoffed. "I think you're giving him too much credit here. Upset isn't the right word— more like irritated."
Oh, and here it came. Like with any pushback, you would just let your ideas be snuffed out, letting others steal all the oxygen in the room. He already knew exactly what type of smile you were about to wear—the uncomfortable tight-lipped smile where you would nod and agree just to stroke another's ego.
"Actually..." You spoke softly, as if unsure, but even this one word caught Alhaitham's attention immediately. You giggled nervously, shifting from foot to foot as you corrected Kaveh.
"Um... actually, I meant upset," You said casually. You smiled, like always, but it wasn't as cloyingly placating as usual. "But I guess those are pretty much synonyms anyway."
A worry that had been needling his brain for years finally lessened. Those were your own words. That was your opinion you announced to the world—well, okay, maybe just to a close friend, but even that had been impossible for you just a few years ago.
This wasn't an entirely new development if he thought about it, but it still caught him off guard. You didn't absolutely yield to others anymore. You had changed. He hadn't noticed until just now, but even how you carried yourself was different. You were more confident—your chin rarely dipping these days, your hair swept out of your eyes, your style less conforming and more you.
But there were some stragglers, of course; old habits died hard. You were seeking touch like always, your fingers twiddling together, subtly pressing and pulling, as you waited for Kaveh's reaction.
"Oh?" Kaveh blinked, as if momentarily surprised you didn't automatically agree with him, but it faded quickly. "Oh brother, we better not ask the linguistics prodigy."
But wasn't that practically asking?
"They have distinct meanings," Alhaitham answered, not missing a beat.
Kaveh grumbled, "Ugh! You always take their side."
"He does? Really?" You asked, your face lighting up, but then he could visibly see your protective shell forming again. You trapped your surprise (and was that elation he detected?), and buried it underneath like an anchor sinking into the depths. But why?
You restarted, your expression neutral. "I mean... I'm sure that's your own bias talking, Kaveh! Wouldn't it be more likely that he has a bias against you and not necessarily for me?"
"Since when did you talk like that," Kaveh sighed in exasperation, then his voice grew louder. "You've been hanging around this idiot for too long!"
"Why don't we all insult our landlords to incentivize a rent increase? What a great idea," Alhaitham snorted. "Let's cause a housing bubble while we're at it. Then you'll be out of work, too."
"You—!"
You looped your arm with Kaveh's, smiling widely. Apparently, you were finding great amusement in this. "C'mon, stop arguing already! I get it, you guys 'don't like each other'. But you do both happen to like wine, hmm? Am I right, or am I right?"
You were so much more expressive than you used to be. No longer did you wait to see how others reacted while speaking, no longer assuming each word was a misstep on a mine field. Your words and expressions were colorful and full of life, a far cry from the gray monotony you lived through at home with that permanent false smile.
You were finally yourself. You had blossomed, and Alhaitham had been there to see each petal unfurl.
He knew he was staring, but your smile was so bright and real that it made him feel funny inside. You were so radiant today, and so... beautiful...
But that was strictly an aesthetic appreciation. It had to be. There was no way that he had possibly fallen for you, the doormat of the Akademiya... but could he even call you that anymore?
Your bright laughter, now receding slightly as you led Kaveh away, drew him from his thoughts. As Alhaitham watched you trot away with Kaveh on your arm, he wondered why he was sure you would never casually connect your arm with his in that manner. And why that bothered him.
Shaking off his thoughts, he followed you both to the tavern and all of your spirits rose just from the familiar atmosphere. And as predicted, once the wine was flowing, Kaveh was much happier.
"This is the best night I've had in a long time!" Kaveh sighed happily. "We should've done this ages ago."
You rolled your eyes. "That's what I've been telling you, but you always refused once I mentioned Alhaitham."
"Must you speak of him?" Kaveh said as if he weren’t right next to him, nose wrinkling as he took a long sip from his glass.
"Says the one being lent money for these drinks," Alhaitham reminded him, quirking an eyebrow.
"It's the least you could do after what you put me through every day!"
"You guys bicker like an old married couple..." You sighed, shaking your head.
"Please. Me and him?" Kaveh sounded disgusted. "But speaking of couples—ugh, what a terrible segue from speaking about Alhaitham and I!—you promised me you'd start going on dates like a year ago! Has anyone caught your eye? You never really went out with anyone at the Akademiya, did you?"
You rubbed the back of your neck, barely able to maintain eye contact. "M-me? Oh, I..."
Alhaitham maintained his passive appearance, but he was closely observing this interaction. Kaveh gasped, "Don't tell me nobody has asked."
Why did you look so... terrified?
"Not really..." You laughed nervously, eyes going everywhere. "U-um, Kaveh, I don't think I should—"
Kaveh shook his head, exaggerating a heavy sigh.
"This can't do! You have no excuse now that you're out of school and you have a good job. Are you sure nobody in the library has been charmed yet?"
Alhaitham took a sip of his wine to hide his expression. Oh, he definitely had been.
"Charmed? By me?" You squeaked. "Of course not, and... L-look, this isn't a good idea, okay?"
You were fidgeting now, but stilled your overactive hands as you caught yourself. Even so, you couldn't hide your nerves, at least not from him. Kaveh, however, was less observant in this moment.
"But why not? You promised me before! No backing out now—not when I have the perfect person in mind! If you're open to meeting them, that is—what about a little blind date, hm? He's very kind and agreeable," Kaveh said, then his voice dropped in volume. "There was a little rumor he was in an arranged marriage at some point, but I heard he made that up so everyone would stop asking him out so much! Can you imagine that? I—"
You stood up quickly, so fast that your chair wobbled. And that expression you wore was new—wide eyes, mouth ajar, and brow taut. You didn't look like yourself. No—you didn't look like the practiced version of yourself, the doll you formed when every part was perfectly controlled, every cog perfectly in place. This panic in your eyes was real and unable to be contained, or else you wouldn't have let anyone notice it. This was a real part of yourself—a raw part. Now that you had recently forgone that doll-like version of yourself, it was more difficult to mask what you hadn't been practicing.
"Is something wrong?" Kaveh frowned, detecting your unease, but the wine was dulling his cognitive abilities somewhat. "Oh, is it because I said he might be in an arranged marriage? Don't worry, it's not true! If it was, I wouldn't even mention him, since those are nearly impossible to break off in this society."
He reached out to pull your sleeve in an effort to seat you. And yet you didn't budge, staying as rigid as a statue, so unlike how pliable you usually were to another's demands.
"One date wouldn't kill you," Kaveh encouraged. "Just one little dinner!"
"I don't think that's a good idea," You said quietly, expression obscured by your hair as your head lowered.
Kaveh seemed to have misinterpreted your words. "C'mon, don't sound so pessimistic! He's a good guy!"
Kaveh tugged on your sleeve again, also gaining purchase on your wrist, this time pulling with more force than he intended, and you stumbled a few steps toward him. Your head snapped up, and Alhaitham was able to properly see your expression: brows furrowed, lips pressed together, chest rising and falling quickly with shallow breaths. You were frozen, your body rigid yet brimming with nervous energy, your usual smile still absent and replaced by that tortured expression.
This was the one time your lack of a smile unnerved him. For all the times he thought your fake smile demented before, its absence was somehow more disturbing.
When you had been bothered by others in the past, Alhaitham's fingers always twitched as if he wanted to intervene, but he always held back. But one glance at your expression had him standing, reaching out to wrench Kaveh's grip from your wrist.
"Kaveh. That's enough."
His voice was more stern than you had ever heard it, yet you did not react. As Kaveh's fingers fell away, you cradled your wrist to your chest as if burned. Simultaneously, Kaveh twisted around to glare at Alhaitham, completely missing your change in posture.
"What did I do wrong this time?" Kaveh grumbled, bantering as he normally would with Alhaitham, still not recognizing how precarious this situation was.
Alhaitham disliked when Kaveh drank for this very reason. He was oblivious and lacked care in any of his actions.
It wasn't like Alhaitham to beat around the bush, but somehow he didn't know how to respond. It was jarring enough that you hadn't immediately piped up to say, 'Nothing!' or something of the sort to reassure Kaveh. You were silent, your eyes dim and on the whole, subdued.
Alhaitham turned to Kaveh, chastising him. This was the easy bit to address. "Are you so drunk you can't comprehend what you're doing? You need to be more mindful. Couldn't you see you were making them uncomfortable?"
"What? Drunk? No, I'm not, I—" Kaveh argued immediately, huffing.
But after taking a second look at you, he finally came to his senses. He called your name, continuing when you didn't respond, "Hey, are you alright? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to react like that."
The expected reassurance didn't come. It was like you hadn't heard him at all.
"S-sorry guys, I have to go now. I...I think I left the stove on," You said, a distant look in your eyes as if your thoughts were leagues away. You were already backing away as you spoke. "Can't burn the h-house down, can I?"
It was clearly a lie. Even Kaveh could see that.
"Didn't you just come from work at the House of Daena?" Kaveh asked you, growing suspicious. Then, louder, "Hey, where are you going?!"
You had turned your back on them, your eyes set on the exit. Alhaitham watched as you slipped through the crowd, swiftly weaving between patrons and even pushing some out of the way. That wasn't like you; you once cried when you stepped on a stray's foot in the street, and you always apologized profusely when bumping into others.
In your haste to leave, you didn't even say a proper goodbye. You had never left without announcing it first, even for trivialities—not even after Alhaitham had told you to stop telling him when you left to pee.
Something was wrong. That much was obvious to Alhaitham. Your reaction filled him with dread, and although he pushed it down to favor rationality, the gears in his head turned endlessly as he considered all possibilities. He was nervous and he could feel it, in his sweaty palms and tight chest.
It wasn't in his nature to interfere. He wasn't one to dig into another's private life. He should stay and wait until you came to him. That’s what he had told you before—to come to him when you had a problem.
No. That wasn't enough.
Alhaitham always thought before he acted—yet here he was rushing after you, robes flowing behind him as he followed your steps, eyes trained on your back as your form grew smaller and smaller.
"Alhaitham! Not you too! Hey, what about the tab?!"
Kaveh watched his friend push through the throng of people, clearly visible at all times from his stature and eye-catching silver hair. He sighed, wondering what he had missed in you, and how Alhaitham of all people had detected it. And Alhaitham chasing after another out of what seemed to be concern? It was unlikely, yet why else would he be moving so fast? Perhaps Kaveh had been wrong about him all along.
You were faster than Alhaitham expected—in a flash, the door to the tavern cracked open as you darted out. He rushed by a group of incoming scholars, catching the door before it closed and disappearing from Kaveh's sight.
A biting breeze greeted Alhaitham as he stepped outside. There was a chill in the air that wasn't there merely an hour before.
Dusk had been overtaken by nightfall, darkness blanketing the cobbled streets of Sumeru City. Only the feeble flames of street lamps provided light; the usual strings of stars twinkling above were shrouded by cloud, and the moon's delicate rays only peeked through intermittently.
The streets had been bustling during the day, full of street vendors hollering about deals, students hurrying to and from the Akademiya, and mercenaries and merchants hunting for work. But by now, most had retreated inside as the chill of the night air set in, and few remained out.
It was easy to spot you even in the weak light, your back to him as you hurried off—your arms wrapped around yourself since you always shrugged off the coat he tried to drape over you even when you were freezing, your hands swiping at the hair the wind swept into your eyes, the noise of frustration when it happened again—it was unmistakably you.
He caught up to you easily. His arm caught yours—gentler than one would imagine, noncommittal as if giving you the chance to pull away. You stilled, knowing there was no point in running off when he would always be able to catch up.
He was as blunt as ever, yet there was an insistence to his voice you didn't expect. "Something's wrong. Tell me."
You turned to face him, trying to keep your expression neutral.
"I already told you. I left my oven on."
His fingers were still around your arm, as if he were afraid you would bolt as soon as he let go. At your words, he snorted, a sardonic sound you were all too familiar with, but it didn't sound as amused as usual. It was laced with impatience and something like disbelief.
"If you're going to lie, at least make it convincing. You always eat at Lambad's on Fridays, and you had no time to return home after work."
You avoided his gaze, but you could feel him studying your expression. His memory and awareness were too sharp; it was impossible to obfuscate the truth.
"Not every Friday," You mumbled. "...Why can't you just play along and pretend like my excuse made sense? You knew I was making an excuse. The polite thing to do is act like you didn't realize it."
"Ah, yes, because you know how much I love adhering to formalities," He said, a jest that lacked humor, having this sharpness that made his impatience clear.
He stared at you, eyes swirling with an emotion that was hard to pin down. You didn't like that look in his eye—evaluating, calculating, piecing together...
It made you nervous. He was too intelligent for his own good, too intelligent to take any excuse you could possibly make at face value.
"Alhaitham... whatever this is, you can stop. You don't like anything troublesome... you wouldn’t care about this. So you can just be on your way."
"So you admit you have a trouble?" He said in that obnoxious knowing tone of his. As if he already had you figured out. As if he understood anything that was going on. “You’re making quite a lot of assumptions there. Aren't I the one who has asked you before to come to me when you have a problem, or did you already forget?"
You couldn't quell the hot flash of anger that sparked in your chest.
"It's nothing," You said through gritted teeth.
He sighed, still speaking in that knowing tone, as if he knew better. "So you're acting like this for fun? Clearly, it's not 'nothing'."
"Why do you even care?" You gritted out, a feeble attempt at deflection.
He wasn't going to respond to that. He couldn't.
"Only an idiot wouldn't be able to see what's going on. When it's this obvious, I'm supposed to sit back and just watch it happen?"
You stiffened, breath stilling in your throat. Was he bluffing, or did he know?
His voice softened more than you had ever heard it. "Tell me what's going on."
A tendril of hope eased the tension in your body at his words, but the primal urge to protect yourself flared soon after, the brain of a wild animal overtaking any rational thought.
"I said it's nothing!" You snapped at him loudly, the words poisonous and sharp.
Agonizing seconds passed. Your voice carried through the street, echoing to an extent that made you wince.
You had just yelled at Alhaitham. Acutally yelled. You had never yelled or even risen your voice at anyone, much less him... so what was happening?
You stumbled away from him, steps so quick they revealed your lack of intention, a numbing chill crawling through your veins. His fingers were forced to fall away at your sudden action, and they were left twitching by his side.
He felt a strange ache in his chest. You acknowledged his care for you. That meant you knew it was there, that you could feel it, his steady attention that he gave to few others. The concern that he couldn't hold back—that feeling that ran deeper than casual concern for a friend.
And you rejected it. But... why?
He should have feel hurt or offended, but instead that natural curiosity in him burned brighter. He was highly logical—he could see past your sudden flash of anger, the way you pushed him away as if scared, like you were holding onto whatever secret you had so tightly and so desperately that you would lash out at anyone threatening it. Even your best friend.
He knew you didn't mean to yell at him. Your eyes were glossy, widened with surprise and darkened by guilt, and shame curled your shoulders in.
"F-forgive me, I-" Your voice was shaky, your breathing quick. You turned away, concealing your expression from him. "I just... I need to be alone."
A pause. Your posture relaxed slightly, shoulders lowering as if you felt an ounce of relief at his silence. Would he finally stop pressing you?
Then you heard the crack of rocks underfoot, and the scuff of footsteps that drew near. Alhaitham's presence was palpable, his breath fanning on the nape of your neck and his fingers quietly returning to your arm, but he didn’t speak for a few long moments.
"I don't think that's wise."
Your expression crumpled, and you were glad he couldn't see it. Tears stung your eyes, threatening to drop at any moment. Why couldn't he accept your words? Why was he being so difficult?
"You're troubled, and you're letting it fester."
How was it that he was always right? How did he always know everything without even having to ask?
"Please," You pleaded quietly, voice cracking.
He hesitated. Who was he to make you beg? He was someone you could refuse with no consequence, and it had to stay that way. It just had to, after your upbringing forever altered your self-worth, after you gave away every piece of yourself just for another's smile, for another's success.
So his loose grip slackened even further, fingers brushing against your skin for a second longer than necessary as he pulled away slowly.
Before he could say another word, you disappeared into the night, melting into the shadows in a way that was unlike you. The unease lingered as he left the scene, having a sinking feeling about when he would next see you.
part 2
tysm for reading!! <333
Part 2 will come out soon—the majority of it is already written bc i had to split my original one-shot idea into two parts bc it exceeded 20k :(
Not sure this is an entirely accurate assessment of Alhaitham's character, but I really wanted to dive into this topic since it obviously is partially the cause of the rift between Kaveh and Alhaitham in the game
Also holy FUCK this fic is taking way too long to write. I started this draft Oct 4th LMAOOO
Pls feel free to leave feedback :) I haven't written in a while so this feels kinda rusty lol
-
(Important disclaimer: I use em dashes a lot because I LOVE them, NOT because my writing is AI!! I never use AI and never will bc fuck that.)
After living his entire life as a beta, Zanka goes into his first rut at the age of twenty-two.
This complicates his relationship with you—the only omega in all of Cleaners' HQ.
13.8k words of a/b/o romance and smut! nsft tags: solo, multiple orgasms (zanka receiving), piv sex (reader receiving), knotting, shamelessly horny rut sex. warnings: themes of gender-based discrimination, briefly mentions trafficking and pregnancy/fertility (not in a kinky way). a/b/o worldbuilding notes here!
notes: kei urana revealed that zanka smells like incense and within 7 business days I wrote 14k words about it... man.
Zanka should have been an alpha.
His father had never said that in so many words, but he isn't stupid. During his last days at the Nijiku Estate, he could sense his old man’s disappointment with his disposition. Zanka was supposed to graduate at the top of the Academy like Kyouka and Goka. He was supposed to serve in the Hell Guard like Kyouka and Goka. He was supposed to present, at some point between the ages of thirteen to sixteen, as an alpha—just like Kyouka and Goka. Like everyone else bearing the Nijiku name, Zanka had been meant to dominate Kamuatari district in every way possible: as a genius, as a martial artist, as a leader.
As an alpha.
But Zanka never graduated from the Academy, and he never became a Hell Guard, and he also never, at some point between the ages of thirteen to sixteen, presented as an alpha. He ended up a beta and a Giver, and he ran away to join the Cleaners—an organization that is ironically full of alphas. He’s unusual for being a beta, and he guesses he's also unusual for being an all-around mediocre guy surrounded by alphas like Enjin and Tamsy and Semiu. Which should be fine. He's made peace with what he is.
Except you're an omega.
When Zanka first met you, he knew instantly what your presentation was.
Now, you didn't look like the classical image of an omega (fragile, elegant, something meant to be kept in the privacy of a luxurious house or on the arm of a nobleman), but you did have the scent of one. Zanka, himself, couldn't smell you—betas are all noseblind, unable to detect pheromones—but every single alpha in HQ could. To this day, their heads always turn as soon as you enter the room, enticed by whatever honeyed scent trails after you. Some of them openly trail after you, offering little gifts in the hopes of starting a courtship. Even Enjin, who's met far more omegas than most people will ever encounter in their lifetime, sometimes gets distracted by your presence.
“She smells like fresh flowers,” Delmon once told him. “Tuberoses, I think. They're tough to grow—tougher than any other species.”
Zanka understood the attention after that. Flowers are incredibly rare on the Ground, and most species smell foul thanks to the toxicity of the soil and their frequently carnivorous nature. Even the full garden and all the resources of the Nijiku Estate could hardly support more than a handful of lilies. Zanka couldn't tell you what a tuberose would smell like, and couldn't even really tell you what one would look like—but it must be something addictive, with the way you're always turning heads. He can't be sure, though. Zanka won't ever know your scent.
He has no biological reason to look at you as much as he does. No biological reason to be mesmerised by you as much as he is. No biological reason to want you the way an alpha would.
But it's really hard not to want you. Really, really hard. Which is unfortunate, since he has no business looking at an omega.
“You're so old-fashioned about this stuff," you whine at him one day, looping your arm around his and pressing yourself to his shoulder. Zanka’s heart rate ticks up, but he keeps a straight face. Somehow. He distracts himself with your musings. You love to interrogate people about their thoughts on mismatched relationships—alphas with betas, and omegas with betas, and omegas with omegas—and right now he's the focus of your scrutiny.
“What do you mean you’d never date an omega?” you demand. “What don't you like about us?”
Zanka studies your face carefully. You don't look hurt, exactly, but you do look disappointed. He gets it. Exceptionally rare and desirable, omegas have a tough deal in most parts of the Ground. In places like Kamuatari District, you'd have been courted by multiple suitors, then engaged to an alpha soon after coming of age and safely married off long ago; elsewhere, you might have ended up exploited, or trafficked, or worse. It was his old man’s opinion that alphas couldn't be trusted around unmated omegas, and that omegas should be considered a kind of protected class. The rest of Kamuatari district felt similarly; it was unusual for omegas to marry anyone other than alpha suitors who could take proper care of them—except for maybe the occasional beta with enough wealth and rank among the Hell Guard, but those marriages were usually considered a farce. It was also unheard of for omegas to freely talk to anyone without the company of their alpha mate. Zanka’s mother, herself, never left the Nijiku Estate unless it was on the arm of his father, and said that doing otherwise would be “foolish”.
When Zanka first told you about this, you'd balked at him—probably because you seem deeply uninterested in finding an alpha to chaperone you for all your exploits—though you also kind of understood it.
It does make me nervous sometimes that this place is full of alphas, you'd said, seating yourself on Zanka’s lap. He’d tried not to look at your doe eyes or pouty lips, nor the dangerously low cut of your top. That's why I like it when you hold me, you know. You make me feel so safe.
Zanka said he was glad to hear that, and then he prayed to every god in existence that you wouldn't notice his flustered expression or very obvious boner. Just as he is right now, trying to ignore the press of your chest against his arm.
“It ain't that I don't like omegas,” he replies carefully. “But I’d never be able to take care of one as their mate, y'know? Not as a beta.”
“That's stupid,” you say plainly. “What could an alpha do that a beta can't?”
He tries not to splutter. “Ain’t it obvious?”
You stare blankly. “No?”
Zanka wants to die. You have to be playing dumb. But then again, you've never been in a relationship, so maybe you're just astonishingly ignorant about certain mating rituals. He has half a mind to tell you to ask an omega, but then he realises there are none besides you in HQ.
“Like,” he starts, struggling. “We can't scent ‘em so other alphas stay away. Or make ‘em feel protected. Or take care of them during… you know.” During heats, he wants to say, but can't get out. Zanka’s pretty sure that he's already red up to the tips of his ears; if he goes anywhere near the topic of knotting, he’ll probably combust. “Anyway—omegas never pay attention to me. Don't ya think that says something? I'd never be enough for one.”
“I think you’d be enough for anyone,” you grouse. “I wish you'd stop talking about yourself like that, Zanka.”
“Like what?” He gives you a bewildered look.
“Like you’re always looking down on yourself. Saying you’re a mediocrity, or you’ll never be enough, or whatever.”
Zanka shrugs. “I ain't lookin’ down on myself—just sayin’ the truth. Nothin’ wrong with bein’ a beta or a mediocrity, but everyone’s gotta acknowledge their own limits.”
“I think you were raised to believe in too many limits,” you say, actually sounding a little sad. Zanka would hate hearing that from anyone else—his family’s business isn't anyone’s but his own—but he knows you mean well. And anyway, you were probably raised with infinitely more limits than him. You're an omega, after all.
“Doesn’t matter much now,” Zanka tries to console you. “I’m with the Cleaners now, ain't I? And stuff like that doesn't matter to most people here.”
Though it does matter to him. He's not one to forget about his limits. Even if he's fine with being a beta, a mediocrity, a disinherited nobody—he knows it wouldn't be fine for you, eventually. Or at least he wouldn't be fine giving you that kind of life.
Sometimes, though, when you smile too long at him or stare at him in that pretty way of yours, Zanka wonders if that could someday change. After he's different, after he's powerful, after he's more than some failed heir—then maybe he'd have some kind of business looking at you. But it feels pointless to think about it as he is right now.
After all—he's a beta anyway.
Whenever you go into preheat, you ask Zanka for his sweaters and T-shirts. The fabrics of your clothes are so nice, you always say, nuzzling into whatever you've stolen off his body. Makes for good nesting material, you know?
Zanka’s never thought too hard about it. He's always heard that omegas want comfortable nests, after all—it keeps them feeling safe during a vulnerable and sometimes painful time. It's no skin off his back if you want to borrow some old clothes that would make you feel a little better during your heats, especially since yours are so brutal. You're already looking ill right now, before it's even started. Practically shivering on the couch, deep bags under your eyes from all the sleep you've lost over the past couple of days. When he drapes his cardigan over your shoulders, you immediately burrow into it—pull it tight around your body and press your nose against the blue cotton. You breathe in deeply, sighing with relief—something he's seen you do plenty of times.
Zanka’s never quite understood this particular habit of yours. “Why d’ya always sniff my clothes?” he asks. “Is it an omega thing?”
“Kinda,” you murmur. “It's comforting.” You're so tired that you sway a little bit; he allows you to lean against him and rest your head on his shoulder. “Omegas like familiar scents during their heats—don’t you know that?”
“No,” he admits. “Talkin’ about heats was real taboo in Kamuatari District. I know the broad strokes of what happens, but nothin’ else.” Which is probably a good thing: Zanka thinks he’d die if he did learn, in detail, what happened to an omega during their heat. It's a calculated decision when he asks, “Anyway, whaddya mean you like my scent? Betas don't have scents.”
You frown. “What are you talking about? You totally do. It's just very faint.” As if to prove a point, you close your eyes and lean in very close to his nape. He can feel the soft tickle of your breath against his pulse, your lips inches from his throat.
Zanka stops breathing.
Your voice is low, almost velvety, when you speak again: “None of your alpha friends or family ever told you about your scent?”
“N-nah,” he says. He's stuttering and his face is burning, but you don't comment on it, merely staring up at him in a way that’s making him pray—again—that he won’t get a boner. “It was real taboo to talk about scents in Kamuatari District, too.”
You tilt your head. “Taboo?”
“Yeah. Ain't it rude? It's like commentin’ on someone’s body.”
You let out a laugh: faint, tinged with amusement, and maybe derision too. “That’s awfully silly. An omega’s body is already everyone else's business—wouldn’t you agree?”
You give Zanka one of those long, penetrating looks again, leaning into him. He becomes acutely aware of the obvious view down your shirt and tries to think about literally anything else. You always get extra touchy with him during your preheats: you’ve had some downright horrifying experiences with alphas during previous ones, and it eases your anxiety over it when you're physically close to Zanka. It makes him feel extra scummy for checking you out. You're going to him for comfort; he should definitely not be thinking about the way your curves feel against his body.
“Uh,” he replies.
You press your lips to the shell of his ear, voice soft: “Do you wanna know what you smell like, Zanka?”
“Uh.”
You inhale, breathing out a little sigh afterward that has him shivering.
“Like incense,” you murmur. “Sandalwood, I think. It's very pleasant. Calms me down during my heats.”
He swallows. Hard. “Y-your heats?”
“Mhm.” Your hand brushes against his thigh; his heart jumps. “Mine are really bad, you know. It always hurts so much because of how empty I am. But your scent always helps my body relax. Makes me feel better.”
Zanka is going to die.
He knows you're not trying to make any suggestive comments. Incense helps everyone relax; that's why so many people burn it in the first place. And there's no way, biologically, that Zanka’s scent could provide any kind of sexual or physical relief to you during a heat—he isn't an alpha, after all. But holy shit does everything about this moment feel suggestive. He pulls back, face burning, pants mortifyingly tight. Thankfully, you don't look at his lap.
“Zanka?” you ask, blinking. “Is something wrong?”
You look so innocent—and even kind of worried, like you've done something wrong. Guilt floods him.
“No,” he says quickly, trying to adjust his pants as subtly as possible. “Nothin’ at all. You just made me think—aren’t ya uncomfortable right now? Since you're in preheat. Maybe I should get ya more clothes for your nest, and you could get around to making it faster.”
You blink, then smile a little.
“Sure,” you say. “Why don't you help me build it, actually?”
Zanka ends up giving you half his wardrobe and spends most of the evening watching you meticulously arrange and re-arrange a pile of blankets and sweaters on your bed. He can't determine what makes you satisfied with certain parts of your nest and what makes you decide to demolish others, but that's fine since he isn't helping with actually building it. His only role is to rub his wrists along whatever shirt he's donating to your cause, or holding it against the crook of his neck until you deem it ready to use.
“This is how you scent things,” you explain patiently. “You rub your scent glands on it, or you press your whole body against it. Easy work.”
“But I don't have scent glands.”
“Of course you do. How else would you have a scent?” You frown. “Wow, you really don't know anything about mating biology, do you?”
“It ain't like I need to know about it,” Zanka points out, “since I'm a beta and all.”
“It could still come up,” you insist. “Sometimes omegas and alphas will try to mark their beta mates on their scent glands. Almost never takes, but it happens.”
Zanka imagines, almost against his will, the feeling of your teeth and lips on his neck; he can feel his cheeks going pink. “Sure,” he replies, hoping he doesn't sound too affected, “but omegas ain't ever interested in me, alphas don't look my way, and betas don't do any of that. My ex never wanted me to scent anythin’ for her.”
You freeze. “You have an ex?”
“...yeah?” Zanka is understanding, all of a sudden, that he's said something wrong. From the fleeting twitch of your mouth and the way your breath stops, he can tell you're upset. He wonders what tuberose and bitter orange would smell like together; Enjin had once said, when you had shut yourself into your room for three days straight, that it was very easy for him to tell when you were depressed. Zanka had then decided that since he couldn't smell your moods, he'd simply learn your microexpressions instead—and they’re alarming him right now.
“Met her in the city while I was out on a job, before ya joined the Cleaners,” he says carefully. “Didn't last long.”
You relax. “Oh,” you say. “I guess that's fine.”
Zanka isn't sure why his dating history is being judged or the criteria by which you're judging it, but he feels like it's a bad idea to ask. “Anythin’ else I can do to help here?” he says instead, studying your nest carefully. He still can't see any rhyme or reason to how it's arranged, but if he memorises it, he could re-build it for you next time anyway.
You hesitate. “I mean… you could…”
You don't often get shy—at least, not compared to Zanka. It's weird watching you fumble with your words. “I kinda thought… you know, when my heat comes for real… it’s always really tough since I'm alone…”
Oh. Of course. “Is there anythin’ I can get ya?” he knows to ask. He asked Enjin once how to help an omega through their heat, so he knows the basics: “Water? Snacks? Meds? I'll run out and get whatever ya need.”
“No, I've got all of that sorted. But… company would be nice, you know?”
Zanka stares at you for a little bit before he realises what you're asking, and he has to swallow a lump in his throat. “Are ya askin’ me to help you find a heat partner?”
You give him a dumbfounded look. Probably surprised he's already intuited what you're about to ask, given how clueless he is about other mating rituals. “What? Well, I mean—”
“There's a lot of alphas here who'd be happy to help, I think. I could ask one of them for ya, if there's someone you're thinkin’ of?” Zanka tries to sound casual, even though the idea is unsettling to him. Heat partners weren't a thing in Kamuatari since omegas got married so young there, but they make sense out here in East Ward, where omegas tend to stay unmated for longer. Zanka’s not judging anyone for it. The thing is, when he tries to picture you spending your heat with any of the alphas he knows and trusts—Enjin or Tamsy or Semiu—
—he’s realising that he'd want it to be no one other than himself.
Which is stupid. He's got no business looking at an omega. No business looking at you. What could he do to help you through your heat?
Maybe his mood is showing on his face, because your eyes go soft.
“No, I'm not asking for that either. I'm fine spending it alone.”
“But you should have an alpha take care of ya. Nearly all omegas need it.”
“I don't.” Then you give him an uncertain look, which borders on shy, and which makes his heart jump in a way that feels like it might require medical attention. “But it'd be nice if we could talk a little through our chokers, while I'm going through it?”
Your heat runs its course over the next week. You'd ordinarily hole up in your room the whole time, completely alone, and Zanka would have no clue what's happening in there other than the fact that you’re suffering. It always makes him feel on edge. So this time around, it's a relief when you call at night and he hears your voice—even though it's always ragged and exhausted, like you've been completely wrung out by heatsickness.
“Wish you could hold me,” you murmur once, sleepy and wistful. “It always makes me feel better when you do.”
“I don't think I could actually do much for ya,” Zanka tells you, trying to ignore the funny squeeze that his heart’s doing at your words. “Betas are pretty useless for heats.”
“I don't think you're useless,” you say. “And you always do a lot for me.”
Your voice is so small. It reminds Zanka of that one time where things had gone really sideways for you—stranded and alone in the desert due to a trash storm, weak from an early preheat. You were an impossibly good find for the traffickers who came across you: there's nothing on the market more valuable—or vulnerable—than an unmated omega in heat. Zanka, Enjin, and Gris had found you locked up in the trunk of a car, curled into a ball and trembling in pain. Your entire body was burning with fever and fear, and you screamed when Enjin and Gris tried to untie you. You’d been too delirious to recognise their faces or even their scents: all you knew was that there were two alphas trying to grab you, and they could have done whatever they wanted with you.
It was Zanka who'd helped you in the end. He hadn’t had a choice: he was the only beta among them, the only person who didn't smell like a threat. He took you into his arms—carried you, because you were in too much pain to walk—and delivered you to the clinic, your scalding tears pressed into the crook of his neck the whole time. Please don't go, you'd begged, crying against his pulse. I’m scared, I'm so scared, please don't let them touch me. But his mother’s words rang loud and clear through his head—It’s dangerous for an omega to see anyone other than their alpha during a heat—and Zanka had left, in the end, trying not to listen to your wounded pleas.
You hadn't held it against him. If anything, you trusted him more coming out of the whole ordeal: that's when you started getting all touchy with him, clinging onto him because it made you feel safe despite being constantly surrounded by alphas. But he feels shitty about it to this day, and he’s only been thinking of it more since your latest heat.
He thinks that's what’s gotten him into such a bad mood lately. Your heat’s finished up and you're perfectly healthy now—but Zanka feels agitated, somehow, whenever he sees you.
Specifically, he feels agitated when he sees other people near you.
Now, Zanka considers himself pretty friendly with everyone, unless your name is Rudo and you steal Lovely Assistaff and call it a dumb stick. Then Zanka might try to beat your ass. But otherwise, he's never felt badly toward any of his fellow Cleaners. It's confusing, then, how he gets antsy when he sees you talking with Semiu. How he catches himself frowning when you light a cigarette for Enjin. How his eyes narrow when he watches you and Tamsy sparring and you're clearly on the defensive, brow pinched, breath short. He stares at the two of you, hawklike, every muscle in his body tense.
Please don't go. I'm scared, I'm so scared, please don't let them touch me.
You're strung up by Tokushin, wailing at being bound, and suddenly Zanka’s staff has the other Giver trapped against a wall, its spikes dangerously close to his body. Tamsy seems unfazed, whistling—as if impressed. His eyes lose their golden glow; you yelp a little as you fall to the ground, and Zanka’s gaze snaps to you as you land on your feet.
“Zanka?” you ask, running up to him. “What's wrong? What happened?”
Your eyes dart between him and Tamsy. Tamsy shrugs, nonchalant. “Beats me.” He tilts his head, his keen eyes roaming over Zanka’s form. “Did I do something to offend you?”
Zanka realises that he has no answer. He tries to retrace his thought process, but can't come up with anything concrete—it’s like he blacked out between the time you got strung up and this moment, when you ran to his side.
He remembers being worried, though.
“You were bein’ awful rough with her,” he says, voice tight. “Sounded like she was in pain.”
Tamsy hums. “But we’ve sparred a million times, and she always screams like that. You've never gotten so worried before, Zanka.”
There's nothing he can say to that. He feels like a crazy person. He had no reason to attack Tamsy, but he doesn't want to release him—not until you’ve gotten away from him. I'm scared, Zanka keeps remembering. I'm so scared, please don't let them touch me. You weren't just saying that about the traffickers—it was also about Enjin, and Gris, and everyone else in the Cleaners who tried to crowd around you and nearly suffocated—
“Zanka?” you say softly. You touch his arm, and all the tension leaves his body. Anima and rage drain out of his vital instrument; Lovely Assisstaff returns to its original form, fragile and benign. Zanka tracks Tamsy’s movements carefully in his periphery, but stays turned to you.
“Were you worried about me?” you ask, peering at him curiously.
He shifts, uncomfortable. “Yeah. I know it don't make sense, but—”
“That's alright,” you dismiss. “No harm’s been done.” You give Tamsy an apologetic look. “Honestly, I was kinda tired from my heat anyway. Zanka probably just noticed. Let's call it quits and get back to it tomorrow?”
“Sure,” Tamsy says neutrally, then inclines his head to Zanka. “As long as Zanka’s fine with it.”
I'm not, he nearly says, for some reason he can't fathom. Now that he thinks about it, he also can't fathom why Tamsy would ever defer to him in the first place. It's strange, though Zanka's feeling some of the tension leave his jaw, hackles receding. Weird.
He tries to ignore it, turning to you. “Whatever ya feel comfortable with. I just don't want ya tirin’ yourself out.”
“Tomorrow, then.” You tug on Zanka’s arm, leading him away from Tamsy. “Let's get out of here.”
Zanka watches Tamsy the whole time as the two of you leave, tracking the movements of his feet, his eyes, his hands. It's only after the door swings shut behind the two of you that he finally relaxes. He tastes something in the air as you pull him close—sweet, fleeting, foreign. It's gone before he knows it.
It takes Zanka some time to realise that you've started to wear perfume.
“It’s nice,” he compliments you once he does, sitting next to you as the two of you do maintenance on your respective vital instruments. His staff is shiny with linseed oil; its earthy scent layered with your fragrance is pleasant. He finds himself watching you work, his eyes lingering on your nape as you bend over your desk, biting your lip in focus. “Where’d you get it?”
You blink at him. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, where's your perfume from? That stuff’s real pricey, right? S’hard to make.” That's what Enjin told him, anyway: his own cologne was terribly expensive, its ingredients imported from some faraway village. When Zanka asked what was even the point of using it, Enjin said it was just for polish. Then Bro ratted him out and said it was actually for picking up betas.
Zanka hadn’t thought much about it at the time, but now it's making him uneasy. It’d be crazy of you to seek the attention of a beta when you have so many alphas around you, who are much more qualified to mate with you—but then again, maybe that's why you're always so curious about people's stances on mismatched relationships. Maybe you've found a beta you're interested in. You've always been a little unconventional, after all.
He swallows at the thought, thinking back to all the interactions you've had with him. The touchiness, the nesting, the way you seem to long for his presence during your heats. It really wouldn't make sense—not when there’s Enjin and Tamsy and Semiu, not when omegas never look his way, not when you should have been married long ago to an alpha who could take proper care of you—but maybe, just maybe—
“I got it in Canvas Town, from a specialty perfumer,” you say smoothly, watching him carefully. “Can you pick out any notes?”
Zanka frowns. “Not really. I'm not good with noticin’ that type of thing. It just smells sweet to me.”
“Give it a try,” you say. “I'm curious what you get from it.”
You offer your wrist to him, and Zanka studies it, swallowing. He's for some reason mesmerized by the sight of it—staring more openly than he ever has at your legs or scandalously low-cut tops—and his hand almost trembles as he takes it and gently angles your pulse toward his face. He reminds himself that you hug him and sit on his lap and hang off his arm almost every day. It’s not a huge deal to smell your wrist, in comparison. It should be a quick and casual thing.
But then he breathes in and his mind goes blank.
Your scent is fucking heavenly.
Zanka didn't know a perfume could smell so good. Enjin’s cologne is underwhelming to him, as have been most other ones he's smelled. But yours is rich and soothing and beautiful—made from some kind of flower, he guesses. But not one he's ever known. It's strange and overpowering and it makes him feel fucking ravenous—like he wants to drink it all in. Or drown in it.
Zanka only realises he’s pressed his lips against your skin when you make a small noise.
He doesn't know how it happened. It's like he blacked out again—but now that he's awake, he jerks back, as if you’d just slapped him. “Sorry!” he yelps, mortified, because what the fuck did he just do? (Something that was definitely an HR violation, he thinks.)
But you don't look mad. You look… flustered. Your eyes are hazy; your lips are parted, breath heavy. Something shifts, and Zanka glances down to see you pressing your thighs together.
If he didn't know any better, he'd think you were aroused.
Zanka swallows, trying to ignore the thought. But it's hard when you're looking at him like that—eyes hooded by your lashes, pupils blown—and harder still, with how good you smell. You've tugged away your wrist but for some reason he can still practically taste your fragrance in the air—heady and almost cloying, now. Springtime bloom, fresh juice on his tongue. It's painfully distracting.
“It's okay,” you say, clearing your throat. “The insides of my wrists are just a little sensitive. There's a scent gland there, remember? Usually only a mate would touch that spot directly.”
Zanka is going to die. Or he's going to get sued for harassment.
“I’m real sorry,” he blurts out. “I dunno what came over me. I shouldn't have done that—”
“No, it’s really fine.” Your voice is gentle. His panicked breath evens out, and he takes in your new fragrance again: mellow, sweet. He feels himself relaxing, focusing on your questions: “What did you smell, though?”
“Flowers,” he says immediately, “and a couple of other things.”
“Like?”
“I dunno. Honey and fruit, maybe?”
“Citrus?”
He thinks for a minute. “Yeah.”
You give him another one for your long looks. He wonders what you're thinking, but you don't let it on, only nodding to yourself.
“I see.”
Zanka feels like he's going insane.
Whatever new fragrance you're wearing is overpowering. Ordinarily if a fragrance permeated everything like this, it would make him annoyed at best, nauseated at worst. But something about this particular scent—syrupy, heady, the memory of your skin against his lips, the sensation of your pulse beneath his mouth—is driving him toward some dangerous edge. He tastes the air and he thinks of you: fingers petal-soft, eyes citrus-bright, voice honey-sweet. The dip of your collarbones, the soft lines of your body. He feels like he'll fall off a cliff whenever you're around.
It makes him feel so, so scummy—like a real scuzzball. All you're doing is existing around him and it's giving him the worst thoughts about you—thoughts he has no business having.
The worst part is that your scent is ever-present, lingering even when you, yourself, aren't there. It's in the dining hall, in the common area, in the threads of his clothes. It's in the training room, when he's trying to focus on sparring. It's in his sheets when he's trying to sleep at night, hoping he's not gonna have some kind of filthy dream about you—waking up mortified when he does, his cock throbbing and leaking, aching to be inside you. It's even there when he's meditating, trying to focus on the weight of Lovely Assisstaff but thinking instead of how your weight feels on his lap—how it'd feel if you sat there, straddling his waist, moaning pretty in his ear as you ride him.
It makes me feel so safe when you hold me like this.
Man. He really is a scuzzball.
He thinks his guilt over this might be responsible for his bad mood lately. He snaps at people when you aren't in his line of sight. He flattened Rudo during training, the other day, after he spotted the two of you having lunch together. He saw you share a cigarette with Enjin—Enjin! His fucking hero!—and he accidentally crushed the glass in his hands.
Zanka tries to get your perfume out of his clothes, but it's not coming out no matter how much he scrubs things. He's forced to stop trying, because if he wears out the threads then your nests won't be as comfortable anymore. But it's driving him fucking crazy.
He's in the canteen, scowling and sleep-deprived, when Enjin comes upon him and whistles at the piss-poor state he's in.
“Alright,” he says in that knowing tone of his, pulling up a chair. “What's going on?”
Zanka can't respond at first. What the fuck is he supposed to say? I’m smellin’ my friend’s perfume everywhere and it's makin’ me so horny I can't focus? It sounds insane. He feels insane. So he ends up just saying, vaguely, that he wants to get your new fragrance out of his clothes, and it's annoying him that he can't figure out how.
Enjin blinks. “New fragrance?”
“Yeah. I'm sure you've smelled it—it’s everywhere, ain't it?” Zanka wrinkles his nose. “S’nice in small doses, but distracting as hell like this.”
“What do you…” Enjin takes a beat, studying him. Then he smiles. “Yeah, it is pretty distracting. But are you really sure you wanna get rid of it? Lots of guys would love it, you know.”
“‘course I do,” Zanka lies. “I don't want people thinkin’ I wear perfume anyway. Ain't my style.”
Enjin nods. “I get it. Well—perfume like this is hard to rid of, but it's doable. I've done it plenty of times before. You gotta take a really hot shower—scrub your neck and wrists especially. And your hair, obviously.”
“And my clothes?”
“You'll need to go shopping—or use bleach.”
Zanka feels nothing but despair looking at the state of his wallet—being disinherited means he can't spend the way he used to—but he goes to buy new casual wear anyway. He makes sure it's all nice—not only because he's still got the instinct of presenting himself like a noble scion, but also because he doesn't want to loan you anything of shitty quality during your next heat. You should be comfortable.
Enjin’s advice does work. Zanka still tastes you in the air wherever he goes, but at least it's not clinging to him. It's enough to stop his daydreams about you, at least. Most of them. He's still having ones at night, and he's still waking up with raging boners, but at least it's something. He finally has some semblance of nonsexual peace.
The next time you run into him, you freeze.
“Hey,” he greets, waving, “how’d your mission go? You went to Canvas Town, right? I heard that things got kinda—”
You march up to him, ignoring him completely. He squirms under the intensity of your gaze, the tightness of your jaw. You layered a new perfume with your usual one, he notices. The citrus is stronger today.
“Zanka,” you say, “has something been wrong?”
He flushes, because the answer is yes, but he can’t exactly say that his dick gets hard whenever he smells your perfume anywhere—and that he's been smelling it everywhere.
He lies—badly: “N-no…?”
“Are you mad at me?” you ask tightly.
“What? Of course not.” He frowns at the crease in your brow. You're distressed. “What's even makin’ you think that?”
You ignore him—again. “Then are you seeing someone?” you try, and his jaw drops.
“Huh? No! Of course not.” He pauses at his own words—’Of course not?’ Why would it be obvious to you that he isn't? Though it's plenty obvious to him, given that he's been fixated on the thought of you for the past two weeks, and smitten for nearly the past year—but you relax, and he lets it go.
“What’s wrong?” he asks earnestly. “Yer anxious about something.”
You seem to think for a little bit, and then you sigh. “I am,” you admit, voice small, and it sets him on edge immediately.
“What's wrong? Is someone botherin’ ya? An alpha?” He nearly pauses again, because what a weird fucking question. Why would it be an alpha? It's probably more likely all your paperwork for the collateral damage on your missions, which you truly suck at doing. No alpha with the Cleaners has ever given you any issues; Enjin, Gris, and Bro have always made sure of that.
You don't seem to question his suspicions, though. “No, not exactly,” you say. “I can handle it myself, but I've been feeling kind of stressed.”
“What can I do to help?”
You look at him through your lashes, pleading. He realises he'd do anything for you in that moment.
“Can you hold me?” you ask. “Just for a little bit. I just need a hug.”
“Of course,” he says immediately, and you loop your arms around his neck and press your face against his shoulder, hair and breath tickling his jugular. It’s oddly pleasant. He swallows as he's surrounded by that perfume again—pulled in, all dreamlike. He thinks about separating from you, but you take one of his hands and lace your fingers with his. He shivers when your thumb runs delicately along his wrist, lingering on his skin.
His mind feels halfway to fraying by the time you let go. You seem happier. Satisfied.
“Thanks,” you say brightly. “That made me feel better.”
You look content—refreshed, almost. Zanka feels himself relaxing as you wave goodbye, rounding the corner so you can run an errand for Semiu. It's only after you're gone that he’s realising the scent of you is clinging to him again, and he nearly holds his head in his hands.
Back to square one.
After another week, Zanka feels like he's getting close to his limit.
For nearly twenty-one days, he's been suffering from intrusive thoughts of you, most of them wildly inappropriate. And as if it isn’t bad enough to dealing with your new fragrance and the sudden, mortifying spike in his sex drive—he now has to deal with your new wardrobe choices. You have a sudden preference for wearing very tiny skirts, and it’s been giving Zanka catastrophically high blood pressure since you keep bending over and giving him a full view of your ass. He always scrambles to get you to straighten up so he’s not looking up your skirt—and also to stand behind you so that no one else is tempted to do the same.
It’s starting to become a struggle to exist around you—but he doesn't exactly want to avoid you, either. He likes being near you. And he's on edge when he's not. After all—if he, as a beta, is thinking about you this way, what are the alphas around you fantasizing about?
Still. He wishes, at the very least, that you'd stop sitting in his lap and squirming around. It gives him a genuine heart attack every time you do it: what if you notice his dick pressing against your ass? But you seem none the wiser, just rubbing up on him anyway.
It’s torturous. And wasteful. He's running up the water bill with how many cold showers he's taken lately—but he doesn't have a choice. He is not gonna be that creep who jacks off to the thought of his friend, who trusts him pretty much unconditionally even during heats. He’s not a total scuzzball, alright? It's a line he won't cross, no matter how good you smell or how nice you feel or how pretty you are when you smile at him.
Then you return his clothes—the ones you borrowed for your nest—and he finally hits his limit.
You're so nonchalant about it. A little careless, even. “Sorry I didn't get the chance to wash them,” you fret, placing your basket of laundry at the foot of his bed. “I've just been so busy since my heat finished, you know, all these missions and then the paperwork… but you must be running out of clothes, huh? You keep buying new ones.”
Zanka swallows. He hardly wants to admit the fact that he's been trying to smell less of your new perfume—it’d be a dick move, and anyway, it's really nice—so he shrugs and says, “I don't mind it.”
You frown. “I'll pay you back anyway.”
“Nah, don't worry about it.” He nods at the laundry. “Don't worry about this, neither. Won't be a big deal to wash some clothes.”
You smile gratefully. “Thanks. When I get back from this next mission, I'll make it up to you, okay? I'll take you out to dinner. My treat.”
Zanka thinks the last thing he wants to be doing is sitting in public with you, trying to hide his boner under some restaurant table, but he nods. “Let's do barbecue.”
You grin. “You got it.”
He signs in relief after you've gone: your fragrance is a little fainter now in the absence of your body. Just another cold shower later and he’ll be fine—he’ll do it after he gets the laundry started.
Then he actually starts sorting through his clothes, and he almost loses his damn mind.
His clothes are doused in your fragrance, flora and honey permeating every seam and stitch. So sweet it's nearly cloying. So strong it's almost like you're still here with him—breath sweeping across his collar, thumb trailing along his wrist. An omega’s body is everyone’s business—wouldn’t you agree?
He doesn't realise he's buried his face in his shirt until he’s closing his eyes and inhaling—groaning as he does. He nearly throws it on the floor as soon as he hears the noise he's making, because what the fuck is he doing? Zanka absolutely has to stop. But his whole body’s gone hot and his mind has gone foggy and he can't stop breathing in the smell of you—like he's some kind of addict, drunk on just the ghost of your presence.
Then he catches another scent layered into the fabric, and his eyes snap open.
It smells like sex.
He rifles through every piece of clothing in the basket; all of them carry that very specific, unmistakable scent. Like you lovingly built that nest with his clothes and brought someone to bed and let them fuck you in it. Except that doesn't make sense—you hate it when anyone other than Zanka comes near you during your heats, and anyway, he'd have noticed if you'd gotten a heat partner. You spend way too much time around him for him to miss it.
What do omegas do during their heats without a partner, anyway? People in Kamuatari District never talked about it; he’d always assumed they just slept through their discomfort and tried to ignore all the symptoms of heat sickness. He hadn't known enough, at the time, to realise that that wouldn't be very realistic. He hadn't known that heats were so painful until he saw you crying in the trunk of that car, sweating and trembling. Until he picked you up and listened to you whimper against his neck. Until you crawled into his lap two months ago, whispering into his ear: It always hurts so much because of how empty I am, but your scent always helps my body relax. Makes me feel better.
Zanka is a beta. He’s biologically incapable of giving you any kind of relief during a heat. But now he's putting two and two together, your words with your scent, and now he can't help the mental image he's forming: you, in a nest built with his things, panting and filling yourself up to chase away that emptiness. Wet and messy and getting slick all over his clothes. Warm and fragrant as you wear his shirts and take care of yourself with your fingers, crying into his fabrics.
Calling him afterwards, fucked to exhaustion and wrung out by countless orgasms, to tell him you wished he could hold you.
Zanka inhales sharply at the thought. Notices that his cock is fucking aching.
His sex drive has been unmanageable over these past few weeks, but it's still never been like this. His dick is pulsing and twitching and painful, and he can't stop breathing in your scent, and he keeps imagining the little sounds you must make in your nest while you touch yourself, and holy shit he is a scumbag for doing this, but—
—he’s unzipping his pants and freeing his cock.
Guilt wells up in him when he wraps a hand around his length. Shame burns across his face. He’s going to hate himself for this later; hell, he already hates himself. But he's just so hard, already leaking prespend everywhere, and it's only getting worse the more he presses his face into his fragranced shirt. Zanka can't help his reaction when he squeezes his cock and finally starts to stroke himself: he makes a noise that's halfway to a whine, his hips bucking toward his hand. Just the smell of you is making his whole body feel sensitive—almost possessed.
He finally caves with the fantasies. Imagines stuff that would make him die if he actually tried it in real life, but he's now convinced you've been intentionally making him think about: squeezing your curves whenever you sit pretty on his lap in public; rolling his hips against your thighs as you squirm on top of him; bending you over whenever you wear that little skirt around him and taking you like that.
It's confusing. Zanka’s not even really a fan of doggy style. He’s a missionary kind of guy, would want to look at your face and hold your hand if he ever did somehow get to sleep with you. But he’s been thinking nonstop about fucking you from behind lately for some reason, and he's thinking about it now as he fucks his fist and groans into his used shirt, as if drunk on you.
It doesn't take long to finish—he’s been pent up for weeks, after all. His cock is twitching and his hips are stuttering and now he's spilling himself into hand, his whole body burning with shame as he cums to the scent of you. But he's relieved, almost—desperate to be rid of the non-stop tension that's been plaguing him these past few weeks. Finally free of all his fantasies, which he hopes to tuck away and never think of again.
But as his panting subsides, Zanka realises something horrible:
He's still incredibly hard.
After his third orgasm, Zanka reasons that something must be physically wrong with him. He just can't quite figure out what. Did he accidentally ingest an aphrodisiac? Get hit by a weird vital instrument? Went too long without jerking off? He has no idea, and he can't really think well enough to figure it out. All he can focus on is fisting himself toward his next orgasm, face still buried in the shirt that you wore during your heat. He’s already dripping and messy with cum—it’s gotten all over his fingers, his length, and now his abs, after getting rid of his shirt—but somehow he still needs more.
His blood is scalding, his body is aching with tension. He feels like an animal. All he can think about is bending you over and fucking you, and he's glad that you've left on a mission with Follo or else he'd be at risk of going to your room and—
“Zanka?”
His eyes snap open. You're in his room, for some reason—eyes wide, jaw slack. Your gaze is darting between his lap and the shirt he's holding against his face.
Damning evidence.
“What are you doin’ here?!” he yelps. He finally drops his shirt, and fumbles to pull his pants up, face burning. “l didn't want ya to see—”
You do that thing where you ignore him again, opting instead to watch him intently. The door locks behind you with a click, and for some insane reason he can't fathom, you walk over to him and lean toward his neck.
Dread and arousal pool in his gut. His whole body goes stiff; he's trying not to grab you and pull you toward him, which is very hard when he can feel your breath on his neck and smell so much nectar in your hair. He almost can't process it when you look at him and point out, “You’re in rut.”
Zanka blinks. “What?”
“You're going through a rut, Zanka.” Your brow furrows. “Which isn't surprising.”
He gapes at you. “What do ya mean, ‘not surprising’? Of course it's surprisin’, it ain't even possible! I'm a damn beta—”
“No, you're an alpha.” You tilt your head. “You haven't noticed? Most people do, right before they present.”
Zanka’s mind goes blank. He can't be an alpha. He’s a beta—he made peace with being a beta years ago, at the same time he made peace with being untalented, pathetic, a disappointment to his entire family, the laughingstock of Kamuatari: the Nijiku clan scion who turned tail and ran away from the Academy. He’s even come to like being a beta—that’s who he is, even for all the limits it's brought him. And sure, it means he’ll never be enough for you, but at least he doesn't turn into some mindless, aggressive animal over your—
He breathes in your perfume again, and a horrible realization crashes through him.
“You really didn't know,” you say, blinking at his expression. “I thought it would be obvious. Your behavior’s been really odd lately. I wasn't sure if you'd turn out to be an alpha or an omega, but I guess we know now.”
His dick is so hard, he can barely think.
“But I've been a beta my whole life,” he protests—as if you can do anything.
You give him an apologetic look. “Some people just present late. I guess you're going through your first rut, now.” You look at him with those pretty eyes that he's been thinking about nonstop for the past month, and he swallows thickly. Realises that everything adds up. His bad moods, his antsy behaviour when he sees you with other alphas, his sudden fantasies about mounting you.
“Do you want help?” you ask mildly, and Zanka nearly jumps.
“H-help?”
“Yes. Do you want me to help you through your rut?” Your eyes flick downward, where the outline of his straining cock is visible through his pants. “I’ve never been with anyone during their rut before, but I think I could do it. It can't be too different from helping an omega during their heat.”
“No way,” he blurts out, panicked. “If I'm really an alpha”—something that still feels like a lie, even though it's getting harder to deny—
“it ain't safe for ya here, is it? Yer an unmated omega. You gotta get out before I…”
You raise a brow. “Before you do what? Something I've been trying to offer for a while now?” You sound faintly amused. “Besides—it’s not like alphas lose all sense during their ruts. You could turn me down now if you want. I'll leave and lock the door to my room, if you’re that worried.”
Zanka thinks he’ll die if you leave right now—if he's cut off from your scent, your smile, you. Still, he struggles—not only from the pain of his arousal, but also from the mad tangle of his thoughts. Alphas are dangerous for omegas, he hears his mother say. Omegas should be protected, his father echoes. There's nothing more dangerous for an unmated omega than to be near an alpha.
Please don't let them touch me.
“But we aren't mates,” he finally says, jaw clenched, chest torn.
Your eyes soften. “You’re so old-fashioned.”
“I just”—he swallows, suddenly aware of how clammy his hands have gotten and how much he's been sweating—“I just don't wanna mess things up between us. Or do somethin’ we’ll regret. I don't want ya wakin’ up tomorrow feelin’ horrible ‘cause I lost control and knotted you, or somethin’.”
“I don't think I'd mind if you did,” you say plainly, and he chokes. Feels himself going red, a full-body flush. Your mouth curls playfully, and now he's realising that you're a horrible tease. You still have a merciful streak, though: “But we don't need to go that far,” you reassure him. “I think alphas must be pretty similar to omegas—just a familiar scent would probably help a lot, right?”
Before he can reply, you're baring your nape to him, offering him the pretty slope of your neck. It obliterates all thought from his mind, leaves only hunger behind. He's been chasing the ghost of you through your fragrance for weeks; now you're here, in front of him, ripe and offering yourself.
It takes a moment for Zanka to realise that he's pressed his face to the crook of your neck, that his tongue is searing a hot path along your scent gland. You whimper, and the noise goes straight to his cock.
You tug him into sitting on the bed with you, giving him access to every scent gland in your body. He's torn between some animal part of his hindbrain that's screaming at him to pin you down and fuck you, and another part of him that’s too afraid to hurt you. Being rough with you is never something he'd thought of doing before all this. And even with his supposed new, alpha instincts, it feels wrong—this feels wrong. You aren't his mate. He hasn't even courted you a little. He should tell you to leave.
But he's also so horny he could die.
Zanka tries to spend time on your neck, not only because your fragrance is strongest there, but also because he can feel the way you shudder every time his teeth catch on your skin. He sucks gently and breathes you in; your scent blooms beautifully for him. His cock is painfully heavy in his pants, throbbing for you every time you whine.
At some point you must have pulled off your shirt—or maybe Zanka did, eager to access more of your skin. Faintly, he notes that you weren't wearing a bra, for some reason; he's too distracted to linger on it, kissing a trail down to your bare tits, his mouth hungry on them. You cry when he does, back arching as he sucks your nipples. The noise makes him groan, brings back his hindbrain instinct to pin you down and fuck you. But he’s just worried enough to stop himself: afraid of hurting you, knotting you, messing things up.
He starts touching himself instead.
He doesn't notice it until he's begun fisting his cock again, his hips jerking as he continues to mouth your tits. He’s leaked so much by this point—through his boxers, all over his hands, onto the sheets—that there's no point in trying not to be messy. Apparently you don't care much; he feels your hand gently touching his own, trying to palm his cock. He lets you, almost gasping when he feels your thumb playing with the head, teasing him. Then your grip firms up, warm and tender as you slowly start to pump his cock.
He whines.
It's embarrassing. Probably. He’s too desperate to finish right now to really care. Zanka focuses on your touch, on the taste of your skin, on the little noises you're making as his tongue swirls around your nipple. He ends up panting into the swell of your breasts as he climaxes—so hard that his spend ends up covering your fingers and stomach and skirt. He keeps mouthing at you as he cums, littering your honeyed skin with marks.
He only stops when he comes down from his high. Vaguely, Zanka notices that he finally feels better, but not by much. His cock is still weeping, balls heavy even though he's just had his fourth orgasm—his strongest yet. Even though he just got to touch you in a way he never thought he'd be able, something he thought he'd only ever experience in his dreams.
“Sorry,” he pants, “‘m so sorry, I dunno what's wrong with me.”
“It’s fine.” He feels your fingers run through his hair, comforting. “I’m like this during my heats, too. You don't have to feel sorry for what your body’s doing. Just keep going until you feel better.”
The words do something to him. Makes him give up on his self-control, or maybe it's just his alpha instincts winning out over his rational mind. Everything passes in a drunken haze: he's aware of you squirming and moaning as his mouth trails over your body again, as he presses his nose against every inch of you. He smells flowers and incense the whole time, tastes his cum on your skin, licks a path down to your thighs. Desperate to smell more of you, he pushes up your skirt, and breathes a sigh of relief when he sees your pussy exposed and twitching for him underneath it. No panties. Without thinking, he closes his eyes and presses his face against you—nose flat against your clit, mouth salivating against your glistening cunt—and he inhales. Takes one deep, long ravenous breath, then groans. The scent of you goes straight to his cock.
He's not really thinking when he starts to lick.
He's too far gone to use any real technique, guided by pure hunger as his tongue works on you. You react immediately: body convulsing, voice squealing, scent blossoming. Vaguely, he's aware that you're grinding your clit against him, that his hips are jerking against the mattress—humping the sheets as you fuck his face, cock twitching and balls tightening just at the taste of you. He shudders as your fingers tighten in his hair and you pull him closer to you, drenching his face in slick. He licks and sucks at you, drinking it up greedily as be thrusts his hips against the mattress, and he's closer and closer and closer to—
—his vision goes white.
When Zanka comes to, he's vaguely aware of his cock spurting against the sheets, his abs growing stickier as he cums untouched just from the taste of you. There's so much of it. It's fucking unbelievable.
But it's still not enough.
Zanka needs more. He feels like he’ll die if he doesn't get more of you. He keeps eating you out through his impossibly long and messy orgasm, which he's not sure will ever end. He starts sucking at your clit—all instinct, not intention—and you whine and jerk your hips. Your body is so sensitive, pussy gushing with slick. Vaguely, he's aware of you crying his name, thighs squeezing around his head—I’m gonna cum, I'm gonna cum, Zanka, Zanka, oh—
Zanka only takes his mouth off you when you push him away, face pinched and exhausted. He's vaguely aware of you saying something about being overstimulated, but it's neither your words nor the strange quality of your scent that brings him back to reality—it’s the fact that tears have pearled at the corners of your eyes.
“What's wrong?” he says, leaning over you. He rests a hand over your cheek. “Did I—did I hurt ya? Did I—”
“No,” you reassure him. “No, I just—just needed a break.” Your eyes are still shiny, a little wet. Zanka’s never liked it when you cry, but right now it feels agonizing to see your tears, closer to a physical discomfort than an emotional one: as if it's hardwired into his body to fix whatever's upsetting you.
He crawls up and takes you into his arms, allows you to bury your face into his neck. You kiss him there—his scent gland, he guesses, from the way he shivers—and now he can smell the incense in the air changing, somehow. It shifts from sandalwood into something gentler.
“You don't have to worry,” you murmur. “I really am okay.”
“It’s still botherin’ me,” he replies, disconcerted. “I know it don't make sense, but it's freakin’ me out to see you cry even a little.”
“I know,” you reply. “Alphas instinctively can't stand to see their partners in distress. It's the same with omegas. But you'll get used to it. It gets easier to ignore over time.”
He makes a face. “Why would I wanna get used to seein’ you cry?”
You smile at him, looking sly. “Well, most of the crying I do in bed isn't ‘cause I'm sad.”
Zanka feels his brain short-circuit. His concern evaporates, immediately replaced by mental images that fill him with immense guilt, even with the mind-screw of his rut. He can't help it, though—if just his mouth was enough to get you tearing up, then what would happen if he were to use his cock instead? And he isn't going to—he really, really can't—but if he were to knot you—
Zanka inhales sharply. Tries not to let the mental image affect him, but of course he's been throbbing and leaking this whole time anyway. You evidently notice it, rolling your hips against his so his cock is pressed against your abdomen, smearing cum and prespend across your skin.
“You're still hard,” you murmur. “You need more, don't you?”
“I don't wanna bother you no more,” he says. “Yer tired enough already.”
You shake your head. “I'm fine.” Then you wrap your legs around him, adjust your hips and shimmy a little beneath him. “Let me help you, Zanka.”
He has a mind to protest, but his hesitation disappears as soon as you start moving—lining your pussy with his length. You don't push yourself onto him; you just let the head of his cock catch against your folds, warm and sticky for him.
Zanka shudders. He nearly thrusts inside you, but the last thread of his self-control stops him. There's so much cum coating his cock; he'd push it all inside you if he fucked you, and that would be terrible, given how fertile omegas are. Plus there's no way he'd last inside you: he'd cum almost immediately.
“We can't do this,” he grunts out, trying desperately to cling to his senses. “I could get ya…”
“We don't need to,” you reassure him. “We can just do this.”
Zanka doesn't have it in him to resist. He sits up, takes his cock in hand and starts moving immediately—dragging the head back and forth between your soft folds, smearing cum all over your clit. You're so wet that your pussy is making the filthiest noises just from this, squelching with each movement of his length. And somehow, you're getting even more aroused—you whimper as more slick starts to leak out of you, your body unable to control itself.
He can hardly process it. “Omegas really do need alphas,” Zanka says, dazed. “Look at how you're reactin’ just to this.”
You shake your head, voice breathy as you reply: “It has nothing to do with you being an alpha. My body’s just always like this around you.” You gasp as his cock slips inside you on accident; his jaw clenches as he feels your pussy twitching around his tip, and it's all he can do to stay still, panting. Nearly impossible, with how warm and soft you feel. “Even when you were a beta, I was like this.”
His breath hitches. “Y-yeah?”
You nod, looking a little embarrassed. “When I go into preheat and I sit on your lap,” you admit, “I always ruin my panties. And during my heats, when I'm wearing your shirts and smelling you, I end up getting slick everywhere. I can't help it.”
“But I’m—was—a beta,” he argues, even as his cock keeps running between your folds, even as he presses his face into your neck again.
“It doesn't matter,” you say through your panting. “You could have turned out an omega and my body would still act like this. I want you, Zanka—”
Your voice cuts off into a strangled moan. He doesn't fully understand why until he feels your walls squeezing around him, his cockhead pressed up against what must be your cervix. He groans as your slick drips all over his balls, which are now flush against your body.
“Zanka,” you whine. “Zanka, I’m gonna—”
You don't need to finish your sentence. Zanka feels you start pulsing around him, trying to milk him. And he's only been inside you for all of thirty seconds, maybe, but his balls are getting tight and his cock is starting to twitch—and he manages to pull out right as he peaks again, shooting cum all over your body. It splatters all over your breasts and stomach, his scent clinging onto your skin—now stronger than ever, incense and musk—but you hardly react. You're too caught up in your own orgasm, shaking beneath him, covered in his marks and spend.
He's made such a mess of you. He'd be mortified if he weren't being driven mad by his rut—which Zanka is now convinced won't ever end. He's still hard, still throbbing, still needs to be inside you. You look like you're no better off, thighs rubbing together, a puddle of slick beneath your ass. You’re just as delirious as him.
You act on it, too. Zanka’s widen as you roll onto your stomach, then stick up your ass up for him. He doesn't know much about mating rituals but he knows enough to understand what's happening: you're presenting yourself, offering your pussy to him. It's some kind of omega breeding instinct, he faintly recalls. And suddenly he's thinking of all those times you bent down around him, skirt revealing your ass and thighs, lacy panties barely covering your core. It finally hits him:
You've been presenting yourself to him for the past week.
You turn to look at him, eyes glassy, pupils blown. “I want you inside me,” you whimper. “Please.”
Something tickles the edge of his mind. His brow furrows. “But—”
“You don't need to knot me,” you whine, “but I need you to fuck me. Please, Zanka, I'm so empty—I’ve been empty for so long, for so many heats, please—”
The crying does something to him. Again. He needs to take care of you, to make it stop. He’ll do anything.
You whimper when he presses against your entrance again, then moan, loud and guttural, as he pushes inside you. He can't think of anything other than his intense need to fuck you, suddenly: he starts mindlessly rutting into you, his cock splitting open your pussy, wet and filthy noises filling his ears as skin slaps against skin. Zanka’s convinced he's become some kind of beast—unable to focus on anything other than being inside you.
You keen when he noses your neck again, breathes and pants against your scent gland. He can feel your cunt tightening each time he mouths at you like this—your skin between his teeth, fragrance blooming under his tongue. Suddenly he realises he needs to sink his canines into you, his entire body screaming with an instinct he doesn't really understand. There's a distant, human part of him telling him that's a bad idea, but it's drowned out by the boiling pressure of his rut.
Zanka opens his mouth—and he bites.
You cum when he does. Gush all over him, your arms and knees giving out. You're getting tighter and tighter, somehow—almost as if you’re trying to push him out—and it's making him desperate to stay inside you, his thrusts getting aggressive, erratic. He groans when he finally manages to bottom out, cock deep inside you, your pussy impossibly tight. Relief floods him as he finally—finally—spills himself inside you. He collapses on top of you as he does, pumping you full of cum as he licks at the mark he's left on your neck.
Some faint part of him tells him to pull out, but he realises that he can't. Something’s stopping him from moving his hips back, keeping the two of you locked together as he fills you up. He’s got no choice but to lie there, letting his cock twitch and spurt inside you for what feels like forever. He's vaguely aware of you drooling onto the pillow, your eyes glassy, as you're made to take it all.
Zanka's panting and exhausted when he's finally done. Doesn't know much time has passed or how much cum he's given you, but it must have been a lot: his spend leaks out of your overfilled, twitching pussy as soon as he pulls out, and you whine as it does. He flushes at the sound and sight; he doesn't know what came over him, to leave you in a state like this. He’s going to miss being a beta.
Zanka’s so fixated on the sight of you, it takes a moment for him to realise his erection’s finally gone down. The haze of his rut is beginning to recede; he can hear his own thoughts again.
“It finally worked,” he murmurs, relieved.
“Figures,” you mumble. “You needed to knot me.”
This makes him freeze.
“W-what d’ya mean?” he asks, although he's already sorting through his memories of his last twenty—thirty?—minutes. Being locked inside you. His orgasm lasting as long as it did. His sudden, inexplicable urge to bite you: something he's never thought about before.
Then he blanches, looking at the mark on your neck.
“I—” He swallows. “Did I…?”
Every horrible thing he's ever heard about alphas suddenly floods his mind. The things they do to omegas in heat. Taking advantage of them while they're weak. Claiming them against their will. Knotting them and getting them pregnant. Locking them in the back of some trunk, leaving them tied up and crying.
Zanka feels sick.
You seem unconcerned though. You notice the line of his sight and touch your neck where it's still swollen and tender with his bite, wincing. “Oh, this? Don't worry about it. It won't take since I'm not in heat.”
He swallows, still not allowing himself any relief. “But… ain't you worried about bein’ knotted?”
“No—it’s also low risk, since I'm not in heat. And I take meds for this kind of stuff, too.” You smile at him, reassuring. “Promise you won't be a baby daddy in nine months. You can relax.”
But Zanka can't bring himself to, somehow. Now that his head’s clear and his body’s calm, he can't think of anything other than the fact that he's never had any business looking at you—and definitely no business touching you like he has. And it isn't like he hasn't been pining after you anyway—like an idiot—but even in his craziest dreams where he did have a proper chance at being with you, things didn't play out this way.
You must sense his anxiety—maybe in his face or his scent or his body language, he guesses—because you’re frowning at him, now.
“Zanka,” you say quietly. “Do you not like me?”
He stares. “What?”
The question feels absurd. Crazy, even. Zanka just spent a month chasing after your scent and the better part of the evening knotting you. He wonders if you're joking, but you’re looking at him with an expression that can't be described as anything other than hurt.
“You aren't happy about knotting me or biting me,” you observe. “And you've been ignoring my signals for months. Is it that you don't want me?”
The air is starting to change. He tastes citrus now, sharp beneath the sweetness of flowers and honey. Zanka swallows. “That ain't it,” he blurts out. “I—I only didn't say anythin’ for so long ‘cause I thought there'd be no way you'd be interested in someone like me… I mean—you'd be better off with an alpha, wouldn't ya?”
“But you're an alpha now,” you point out, voice small. “Shouldn't you be fine with giving us a chance? Or are you just going to make up some other reason that you aren't going to be enough for me?”
Zanka goes quiet. His first instinct is to argue with you: But you could be doin’ better for yourself. You're surrounded by people who are stronger than him, more talented than him, more than him. You're so sweet and kind. And you're an omega. You could get yourself engaged to any alpha of your choice—not the disappointment of the Nijiku family. Not the noble scion who turned tail and ran away from Kamuatari District. Maybe it'd be different if he’d already overcome all that, like he's trying to do. But as he is right now? Zanka’s got no right to be looking at someone like you.
His jaw tightens. “I ain't makin’ anything up… it’s the truth I gotta be better than what I am. How am I s’pposed to ask you to give me a chance before I make somethin’ of myself?”
You frown. “Is it so hard to accept that I simply want you as you are?” you ask, and every retort that Zanka had lined up dies in his throat.
The air is thick with the scent of oranges; you've pulled your knees to your chest, and you're staring at the door. You're trying not to let it show on your face how sad you are, but Zanka knows every dip of your brow and twitch of your mouth: your heart must be hurting bad.
Zanka sighs. He truly is a scuzzball.
He pulls you in, holds you the way you like during your preheats—with your face close to the crook of his neck. You breathe in deeply, and he feels you shuddering against his body.
“I've been real unfair to ya,” he says.
“You have been,” you agree, and the corner of his mouth twitches.
“I just don't wanna do things half-assed with ya.”
“I know. That's why I was okay waiting for as long as I did.” You look him in the eye, uncertainty in your gaze. “Are you turning me down?”
“No. I'm askin’ if I can court ya.”
Your eyes go wide. You actually look a little flustered: a proper role reversal. “You want to court me? Like—for mating?”
Zanka flushes, probably going bright red. He didn't think this would be such a big deal: it would have been the typical order of things in Kamuatari District. “...well, yeah? You're an omega, ain't ya? And I really like ya. If we do this, I'd be serious about it. I'd make you my mate, if you'll have me.”
You give him a long, disbelieving stare—and then you smile.
“You really are old-fashioned,” you say, sounding endeared. Then you lean up, glowing, and press a chaste little kiss to his lips.
His heart nearly gives out.
Zanka’s eyes go comically wide. His face burns; his pulse ticks up. You blink at his expression, then start giggling.
“Why do you look so flustered?”
His mouth opens. “You just kissed me!”
“Yes—after you fucked me and spent half an hour cumming inside me,” you point out dryly, ignoring the way he chokes. “I thought kissing wouldn't be a big deal after all that.”
He almost splutters. “You know I wouldn't have done that if I weren't in rut!” Zanka frowns as he tries to piece together his scrambled memories of the past couple of hours; the more he recalls, the more he wants to crawl into a hole. The bottom of a well would work just fine.
“...I did this all backwards,” he groans. “This ain't how I wanted things to go.”
You hum, watching Zanka with a glint in your eye that makes him feel wary. You lean toward him, breath sweeping over his mouth, a playful little smile on your lips: “Guess we’ll need to make up for that, won't we?”
For the next twenty minutes, you and Zanka make out like you're teenagers, which actually remains fairly tame until Zanka’s cock starts twitching back to life. He then learns the hard way that ruts can last anywhere from twenty-four to seventy-two hours, and the relief that you can get from knotting an omega lasts maybe thirty minutes, tops. A full hour if you're lucky. His first rut lasts around fourty-eight hours in total; he spends most of those two days inside you, your pussy eagerly warming his cock.
“I'm just trying to give you some relief,” you tell him at one point, voice innocent, and even with his mind absolutely blitzed by rut hormones, Zanka does not believe you in the least.
But you are very good at taking care of him. You make him drink plenty of electrolytes and get Follo and Eishia to bring you both meals. You tell his alpha friends to keep a wide berth from his room, saying vaguely that he'd caught a horrible flu and doesn't want to be disturbed. You drag him to the shower even though all he wants to do is keep you pinned underneath him in bed; you wash his back and hair, trying to kiss the tension out of his shoulders and neck as you do. You take his temperature frequently: it's unusual but not rare for alphas to get fevers during ruts. Zanka dodges this risk, but maybe only because you're letting him knot you so frequently.
Apparently as soon as you’d figured out that Zanka’s presentation was about to change, you’d started “researching” how to care for an alpha during their rut—that is, you asked Enjin and Bro point-blank what you should do. This is probably why, the morning that Zanka returns to work and enters the canteen, Bro gives him a thumbs-up and Enjin mouths a ‘congratulations' at him. Or maybe it's because you're absolutely covered in Zanka’s scent and everyone in HQ can tell that the two of you had marathon sex and that he didn't bother pulling out even once.
Somehow, he manages not to die from embarrassment. But he does come close.
It's not all bad, though. Zanka doesn't mind that people know that he's yours. It calms him down whenever you pass him by and he catches his own scent clinging to you; he'd otherwise be worried about alphas giving you unsolicited attention. When he mentions this to you one day, you blink and give him a little laugh.
“But everyone's always known that,” you giggle. “I've been scenting you for ages. Why do you think omegas have never shown any interest in you?”
Zanka isn't mad about this, exactly, but he’s still surprised. “Did everyone but me know that you were wantin’ me to court ya?”
“Pretty much.”
“Even Enjin and Gris?!”
“The two of them before anyone else.”
His mouth opens, then closes. “Why didn't they tell me?”
“Well, Gris thought we should be left alone to work things out for ourselves, like proper adults,” you say mildly. “Enjin just thought it was funny. And he was wondering how long it would take you to notice.”
Zanka feels like he might die from embarrassment, after all. This doesn't stop him from going to Enjin for advice when you go into preheat though—and Delmon, too, because he's one of the few Cleaners who's been married. The two of them give very good instructions for how to take care of an omega during their heat, and Zanka is endlessly grateful for it. (He does wish that Delmon hadn't yelled it at the top of his lungs, though.)
For several days, he prepares for your heat—the first one you'll ever spend together.
He thinks it'll be fine. Probably. It shouldn't be a big deal. You've had plenty of sex and he's knotted you plenty of times before. You're both on medication so there's no risk of pregnancy. He’s bought enough electrolyte drinks to last a full week. All your favourite snacks, too. He’s also prepped several days’ worth of meals for you—apparently omegas have a weak stomach when they have heatsickness, and the canteen doesn't have any good options for you since HQ is so dominated by alphas. You burst into tears when he got you to taste-test one of his meals, then asked him to claim you once your heat started up.
Zanka is 99% sure that was just your preheat hormones talking, but it still made his entire face go red.
It'll probably be fine. There's no way Zanka could screw this up, right? Taking care of your partner during their heat should be the simplest, most intuitive task in the world. He can't be such a fuck-up that he'd fail you at a time like—
“You don't have to be so nervous,” you say, and Zanka nearly jumps. “It's just a heat. I'll live.”
“Who said I was nervous?”
“I can smell it on you,” you point out. “You smell like cedar-leaf incense when you're upset about something. Sandalwood otherwise. Oh, except when you're horny. Then you smell like agarwood.”
“You can tell when I'm horny?”
“Of course. If not by your scent, then because of your dick. You're really bad at hiding it when you're hard, you know.”
Zanka is going to die. This is one of those moments where he deeply misses being a beta, though not even that would apparently save him from the way his blood rushes to his dick every time he sees you. Truly damning evidence.
He expects you to tease him, but you ignore his mortified expression. Instead, you take one of his hands in yours, your thumb lingering on his wrist.
“It’ll be fine. I promise. I know you'll be a good heat partner.”
You stare at your bed, then, where Zanka has meticulously set up your nest—half made of his clothes, half made from sheets and blankets. He scented every piece of it, of course. He's certain that he did at least this much right, so he's confused when you give him a dubious look.
“Did you make this?” you ask.
“Who else?”
You blink. “But how did you know how to make a nest?”
“From the last time we did it together. I was still a beta, remember—so I couldn't figure out what made for a good nest. I just memorized what yours looked like.” His brows knot up. “I still don't have much of an instinct for buildin’ these things, though. Guess I ain't the best alpha, but I'm learnin’.”
Zanka doesn't expect it when you laugh—nor when you fall into your nest and drag him down with you. You're curled up in his arms, rubbing your face into his neck, when you explain, “That's because alphas don't make nests, Zanka. Alphas can help by scenting fabrics for their omegas—but only omegas do the actual building.”
“Oh.” He runs a hand through his hair, hoping his scent isn't giving away his embarrassment. “See—I still ain't the best alpha. Bet I fucked it up real bad. Let's remake it.”
You shake your head, then place a long and chaste kiss on his mouth. He tastes tuberose and honey in the air, blooming sweetly just for him. You're cradled by cotton and incense, and his heart swells when he studies the lines of your expression: safe, loved, happy.
“No,” you say. “You’re perfect.”
end
thank you for reading all the way to the end, you are truly god's strongest soldier <3 extra notes:
some thoughts on a/b/o and the worldbuilding/themes in this fic
FYI tamsy is actually an omega; he is just pretending to be an alpha. he actually noticed, before everyone else, that zanka's presentation was about to change lol
tuberose is a very commonly used perfume ingredient and is thought to be very sensual
Caleb invites Gideon to spend his birthday with the three of you.
tags: 🔞f/f/m, piv sex, anal sex, double penetration in two holes, voyeurism, fellatio, no y/n. calebmc's usual pseudo-incest, now with gideon flavour.
“I’m headin’ home for the weekend,” Caleb tells Gideon casually. “Want to come with?”
Gideon pauses, bent over his boots, then continues to tighten the laces. “Yeah, sure thing.” Equally casually. His voice doesn’t waver anymore, even though Caleb has always kept his invitation confined to the privacy of their shared dorm room. Still Gideon’s fingers fumble the knot. Sweaty. He has to start over again from the bottom.
“You sure?” Gideon looks up. Caleb is standing over his bed, back turned to Gideon. He’s folding his clothes into his duffel bag. “It’s gonna be your birthday. You don’t wanna visit family?”
“No, they’re travelling for work right now.” And even then. Gideon can never say no to Caleb—or to you, for that matter. The yes is implicit. Taken and given without question; Gideon can tell from Caleb’s tone. Even if he asks he already knows.
“Cool. I’m leavin’ early, so make sure to set an alarm.”
Gideon nods, then smiles a little, rising from his seat to grab his own travel bag. He nudges Caleb in passing. “I didn’t think you’d remember my birthday.”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
Gideon’s smile fades. Caleb gets such an intense look in his eyes sometimes. When he turns that gaze on Gideon there’s no escape—Gideon is frozen still, rooted to the spot. Partly caught in the wonder of Caleb’s full attention, something rare and precious that he really only reserves for his studies and you, and partly a warning from his hindbrain. Freeze. Hold your breath. Submit, show your belly, and hope for the best; this is something stronger than you, and you weren’t built to challenge it.
The moment stretches well past the point of comfortable, but then one corner of Caleb’s mouth ticks up. Gideon’s shoulders untense. “You remembered mine.”
Gideon did. Smuggled you here in secret, one that he doesn’t completely believe Caleb was convinced by, but your brother acted fully surprised when he opened his dorm room and found you sitting on his bed with freshly baked birthday cupcakes. Gideon remembers that Caleb refused to share them with anyone, but handed Gideon one of them when the other guys weren’t looking. Remembers Caleb’s fingers over his more than the taste of them. A little hand-made love letter—written by you and passed to him by your brother’s hand.
“That’s different,” Gideon mumbles. Everyone knows the DAA’s golden boy, after all. Gideon’s just the sidekick. If someone remembers his name it’s to ask for Caleb’s number.
Caleb returns to packing his bag. “Not to me.”
Gideon swallows and looks away, down at his feet. His laces have come loose again.
“Ge!”
Your voice rings out clear and sweet, and you come flying as soon Gideon and Caleb set foot outside the train. Caleb immediately drops his bag, opening his arms wide for you to jump into; a long-perfected drill, one that has been established way before Gideon ever got to witness it. You laugh when he spins you around, clinging to him tightly. Caleb only sets you down after he’s kissed your forehead, and even then he’s reluctant to let go. His hand lingers on your face, stroking over your cheek, head bent low to be as close to you as he can.
The first couple of times Gideon saw this he wondered: which Caleb is the real one? Is the gloomy guy who keeps a gym logbook down to the decimal point really the same person wearing the brilliant smile he does now? Is it possible for someone to go through life so unaffected by anything only to come alive before his little sister?
After a while Gideon decided that it didn’t matter. And as far as he knows he’s the only one who’s been privy to it—both the Caleb that he shows to the world, and the one he shows you. It’s a privilege. A sign of trust. Caleb trusts him. He’s never said it outright, but then he doesn’t need to. He doesn’t allow anyone else to borrow his notes. Gideon’s never seen him tighten anyone else’s flight belt for them, either. Firmly and efficiently, strong fingers pulling on Gideon’s belt loops to make sure it’s secure.
Gideon never says no to that, either, even when his dick strains against his jeans uncomfortably in the cockpit.
“Hi, baby,” Caleb says. He’s smiling at you. Gideon smiles too. It’s impossible not to. Your happiness might exist in a bubble, but standing so close to it it’s impossible for it not to rub off. And then—pop!—you turn to him, and wrap your arms around his neck.
You don’t have to reach as high as with Caleb, and it takes Gideon a moment to remember to wrap his arms around you in response. It surprises him every time, the sudden shift of spectator to participant. He locks eyes with Caleb over your head. Your brother is wearing a fond expression, but his eyes are sharp when they meet Gideon’s. Gideon quickly looks away, feeling embarrassed for no real reason. He inhales your scent—quick and deep; he has to get what he can—and sways you back and forth to make you laugh.
“I missed you,” you say when you pull back. You look between Gideon and Caleb; Caleb takes your hand and locks your fingers together. “Was the trip okay? Are you hungry? I made food at home, so you don’t have to worry about anything.”
“We missed you too, pips,” Caleb smiles. “And dinner sounds good. I could eat. Gid?”
“Yeah,” Gideon says. “Yeah, let’s go.”
You leave the train station side by side. Caleb on your left, Gideon on your right. Two knights. Your hand is safely tucked in your brother’s. Your free one brushes over Gideon’s every now and then, swaying with your step. Gideon burns with it every time it happens. Just a touch, and he burns for you.
Dinner comes and goes. The food is great; Gideon eats his plate clean twice over. Your home is as familiar to him as his own now—the warm wooden ceilings, the plates with their little bird motifs, the small shrine near the entrance burning incense for your Gran. Everything shows signs of being well-loved, but it’s clean and tidy. Cosy. Caleb’s attempt to make your solitude as comfortable for you as possible. He knows you don’t like living by yourself; knows Caleb hates it even more, especially when you call him late at night and he slips out of the dorm room, answering you quietly. When Gideon listens very closely he can hear your tearful voice under Caleb’s soothing one. And when the call ends and Caleb steps back inside Gideon can hear him tossing and turning for a long time.
Gideon wonders if you know that your brother’s side of their dorm room has several screens devoted to little cameras in hidden corners.
“Gideon-ge,” you say, “do you want to do anything for your birthday? Is there somewhere you want to go?”
“Oh,” he says, surprised. “No, uh. Not really. I thought I was just gonna hang out with you guys.”
You smile at him from across the table. You’re relaxed, leaning against Caleb’s side. Caleb’s scooted his chair flush against yours so you can swing your legs over his lap; Gideon can just make out your brother’s hand resting on your thigh. “Okay. Thanks for spending it with us. I promise we’ll make it really nice for you.”
Gideon flushes. “No—yeah. ‘Course.” He clears his throat and rises from his chair, gathering plates so his hands have something to do. From the corner of his eye he can see Caleb’s amused expression, which only fuels the heat in his cheeks.
“Here, let me do that.” Caleb rises too, and together he and Gideon clear the table. You set up Gideon’s usual spot in the guest bedroom upstairs while the guys do the dishes. Despite Gideon’s flush he feels comforted by the routine. He’s an only child, a happy surprise for his parents who had given up on conceiving, and he’s always wished he had siblings. A younger one, preferably. A little sister. This, with you and Caleb, is the closest he’ll ever get to it.
After dinner you settle in the living room. You and Caleb on the sofa, Gideon on the floor cushion by the table. Caleb puts on music while the three of you chat; he has an impressive CD collection, and Gideon curiously watches him handle the old tech. Caleb likes analogue better, he once told Gideon. Likes that he can hold it in his hands.
Gideon doesn’t recognise the songs. Old music. He likes them all the same, though, though maybe that’s just because he likes hearing Caleb hum along. They play on low, curling comfortably around the darkening evening sky. You mouth along with the lyrics every now then. Gideon watches Caleb watching you, eyes lidded, when you wet your lips.
You ask them about the Academy—are they studying hard? Getting good grades? Having fun, too, going to any parties? (What parties? This guy keeps refusing all invitations, Gideon pokes Caleb.) In return you tell them about life here in Linkon. Friends, school, your anxieties about preparing for college. You’re worried you won’t score high enough to be eligible for a scholarship.
Gideon knows that Caleb has been saving up so that you can do whatever you want regardless of the outcome, but he doesn’t say that. Instead he says, “You’re going to do great.” And he means it. You’re smart, like your brother. Butterflies rise in his chest when your expression softens into something shy.
“Thanks… I really hope so.”
“I know so,” Caleb says, ruffling your hair. “I raised a hard little worker.”
“Does ‘raised’ mean ‘bullied’? If yes, then you’re right. You worked very hard to make sure I had no time for anything but studying.”
“Ungrateful little pipsqueak,” Caleb’s hand reach out to tickle your sides and you half-heartedly wriggle away from him, laughing. Gideon laughs too. When you move around on the sofa your knee ends up resting against Gideon’s shoulder. He doesn’t move, and neither do you. It stays there, anchoring him to your little world. A hidden entrance behind the thorn bushes. It’s impossible to remain unscathed in the process of stepping inside, but Gideon has learned to welcome the pain. The thorns burn him so sweetly he thinks he could stay there forever. Even if it’s just on the threshold. Looking in.
After a while Caleb declares it’s bedtime.
Gideon’s stomach swoops as he stands. You hop up from your seat, up on your tiptoes to kiss Gideon on the cheek. “Night-night, Gid,” you tell him, and he dazedly says “yeah” like an idiot until he remembers to add a quick “you too”.
You disappear down the hallway to the bathroom, and Caleb follows. He pauses just before he rounds the corner, turning his head slightly.
“Door’s open.”
Gideon swallows. “Yeah. Got it.”
He brushes his teeth quickly in the kitchen sink before heading upstairs first, keeping a sharp ear out for when the water stops running on the other side of the house. Gideon has just settled into the guest bed—the pillow smells like you, and he breathes in deeply before shuffling onto his back—when a twin pair of footsteps creak over the stairs, then into your bedroom. A door opens, but doesn’t swing shut. Gideon has kept his own slightly open, too, though he knows from experience that putting his ear to the wall works best.
There’s Caleb’s voice, a warm muffled baritone that is too low to catch the words of. Yours is easier to pick up; you’re laughing about something. Teasing. You ask your ge if he grew even bigger since last you saw him.
“Why don’t you go ahead and check?” Caleb’s voice says, suddenly closer to the wall. Gideon bites his lip, hand drifting lower to palm his hardening dick. There’s no talking for a beat, but he can hear Caleb’s groan. It sounds like a yeah, followed by a quiet “open up”.
Gideon’s eyes squeeze shut, and he unzips his trousers. His cock jerks impatiently when Caleb moans, and Gideon quickly spits in his palm. The first few strokes are just to take the edge off, really, but when Caleb keeps making noises it’s just so hard to stop. He’s loud about it too, unashamed in a way that winds Gideon even tighter—when Caleb talks there’s no filter. It’s not hard to imagine what’s happening in the next room over when he groans about your wet little mouth.
Relax, Caleb’s voice says. You can take him deeper. Such a good girl—does his cock taste good? Do you like it when he uses you? You missed this, right? While he was away? Just a little bit more, and then he’ll fuck you. He missed you so much. Did your pussy miss him, too?
Gideon gasps when you whine, his hips jerking up violently. Caleb must’ve pulled you off him, because for a while there’s silence again, intermingled by soft rustling. Then the bed creaks, and you moan. A wet slap follows, and then another, a slow rhythm Gideon matches with his hand.
Caleb is speaking again. Gideon can’t make out the words, but it acts as a steadying undercurrent when the noises you make grow louder. Whines and moans that up in volume as Caleb ups the pace; a yelp when a louder smack echoes, then another one. Gideon can see it when he closes his eyes, the red sting it’d leave behind on your ass. He wants to rub his hand over it and soothe the hurt. Admire the print that Caleb left behind.
He tries to stave off his orgasm while still keeping the pace that Caleb is setting—sweat beading on his brow, stomach tensing, little gasps punching out of his chest. He strains his ears, listening for when your cries start to slur.
“Ge,” you cry. “Gege, love you—”
Gideon hisses, his hips stuttering. Please, he thinks desperately. Please, I can’t hold it.
He comes the second he hears your bitten-off moan. It’s followed immediately by Caleb’s heavy grunt; the creaking loses its rhythm and dissolves into quick rough slaps. Caleb’s voice breaks halfway through a long, drawn-out moan; Gideon’s dick twitches helplessly, despite having nothing left to give. His spend feels tacky on his stomach.
Harsh breaths even out. The room next door quiets. Gideon blinks a few times to make the stars go away, chest heaving. Once he manages to sit upright he cleans himself up with the clean towel you put out for him. Thoughtful girl. He hears your hushed voices speak for a little while, then fall silent. There’s some more shuffling, and then, click—the faint light in the hallway disappears.
Gideon breathes out and follows your example. The dark aftermath makes it harder to be alone, so he turns on his side and faces the wall. You and Caleb are on the other side. Your combined presence is a living thing, one that permeates every breath this old house takes. Briefly, Gideon presses his hand against the wall and imagines he could reach through the faded wallpaper. Who would be closer? Is it you next to him, wrapped in Caleb’s arms? Or would his palm connect with Caleb’s still-warm back?
Gideon sighs and lets his hand drop. He bundles the blanket and hugs it in his arms, and pretends it’s a body curled up against his own.
“Can I open my eyes now?”
“Nope,” Caleb says behind him. “Keep ‘em closed. Move a little to the left—” Two hands on Gideon’s hips, warm and big, and he almost stumbles into the wall. Caleb keeps him upright, chuckling. “I said to the left, not the floor.”
“Fuck you, man.” Gideon is fully red. He knows Caleb can see it too; can hear the amusement in his voice, the dick.
“Just don’t peek.”
“I’m not,” Gideon complains. “If you’d just tell me—”
“Just a little more, Gideon-ge? I’m almost done,” your voice says, suddenly close, and Gideon abruptly shuts up. He has some inkling of what’s happening; the house smelled sweet the moment he stepped inside, sugar and flour mixing with the heat of the oven. He was suspicious way before that, to be truthful. Caleb dragging him around town while leaving you behind at home—he’d never do such a thing without good reason. He didn’t even bother to come up with a better excuse. Gideon knows for a fact that Caleb always buys the same pair of running shoes, and that he doesn’t give a crap about anyone’s opinion save for his little sister’s.
But Gideon went. He sat and waited while Caleb pretended to browse, comparing brands, asking Gideon for his thoughts and then immediately dismissing them. He didn’t dare to assume.
When he knocks into another piece of furniture Caleb laughs at him. “Your sense of direction sucks. How did you ever pass the dead reckoning trial?”
Gideon opens his mouth to say that was totally different. He had his eyes then, didn’t he? And he can handle a cockpit blind. Shuffling about in a house, even if it’s a very familiar house, is a whole trial of its own.
But he never gets the chance to air his grievances. Caleb’s arm wraps around his shoulders, squeezing his bicep. His other hand settles on Gideon’s waist, guiding him to the living room without any more unfortunate bumps. All the words dry up in Gideon’s mouth. When Caleb pushes him down onto the couch there’s no resistance, just a resigned exhale. Part of Gideon is glad he’s not able to see Caleb’s face while he manhandles him. He’s half-hard as it is.
Caleb retracts from him, a brief gust of air, footsteps that recede and intermingle with yours in the kitchen. You’re whispering, too quiet for Gideon to hear.
“Okay,” you say. Your voice has drifted over next to him, somewhere by his knees. “You can look now.”
Gideon slowly removes his hands, blinking against the light. On the low table in front of him candles flicker cheerfully; real ones, not the fake stuff they sell at the stores. Happy Birthday Gideon! the cake says in cursive fondant.
Gideon’s throat closes. He hopes you think the wetness in his eyes is because of the light. “Oh,” he says. “Wow.”
“Happy birthday,” you smile up at him. The candles dance in the reflection of your eyes. You’ve curled up on Gideon’s usual floor pillow while Caleb’s taken a seat next to Gideon, one arm casually thrown over the back of the sofa.
“Happy birthday,” Caleb says. He nudges Gideon gently, wearing that same relaxed smile he only ever shows when you’re around.
“Thanks,” Gideon manages. He blinks rapidly. “This looks—amazing, seriously.”
“Made it myself,” you say proudly. “While you were out. Did I surprise you?”
You’re always the first to congratulate him on passing exam week, right behind Caleb. The first to tell him to be safe when the weather is bad and he has to fly. When he got the flu and spent a week shivering in bed you dropped by the Academy to make him soup from scratch, even though it takes two hours by train from Bloomshore.
Is he really surprised when he knows how thoughtful you’ve always been? No. Not one bit. “Yeah, totally. Didn’t see this coming at all.”
“Liar,” Caleb snorts. “Come on, blow out the candles so we can cut the cake.”
“Make a wish,” you say when Gideon leans in. He closes his eyes. There’s not much for him to want in this moment, so all he summons in his thoughts is the image of you and Caleb, sitting on either side of him, waiting for him to make his birthday wish. Just let me have this for a little longer.
The candles dim, smoke curling up in light wisps. You gently pluck them out of the frosting, then cut out a neat slice. Gideon watches you scoop up a forkful and hold it out to him expectantly. He flushes once he realises what you mean for him to do; he glances at Caleb, who’s watching it all with a relaxed smirk. Go on, his eyes seem to say.
Gideon slowly leans in and lets you feed him. The cake is delicious—not overly sweet, chewy and moist—but you could’ve fed him cardboard and it would’ve registered the same. Your eyes crinkle when he swallows. “Good?” you ask him.
“You missed a spot,” you say, and lean in. Gideon stills obediently, expecting you to wipe it off, but once your hand curls around his cheek you keep going. In the end it’s your lips that touch the corner of his mouth, not a tissue or your thumb. Gideon inhales sharply. You pull back just enough to look at his eyes; giving him a way out, Gideon thinks distantly. But why would he ever want to escape? How could he, when you’re touching him?
When he remains as he is you do it again, rising up from your knees to kiss him more firmly, no longer just on the corner of his mouth but fully over it. Gideon groans, hands hovering awkwardly in the air. He doesn’t know how much he’s allowed. You show him; guiding his hands to your waist, the back of your head. He touches you gently, reverently. Afraid to scare you off. You taste sugar-sweet—or is that just the cake? When you open your mouth and he feels your tongue he whines, high and pathetic. The only thing that keeps him from shrivelling up from embarrassment is that you’re making sounds too; pleased sighs, soft hums. Your hands in his hair, gently scratching over his nape. He shudders.
When you crawl into his lap to straddle him his eyes fly open. He meets Caleb’s gaze from across the sofa, who’s watching intently but making no move to stop any of it. Oh, Gideon thinks faintly when you shift and your thigh grazes his boner. He keeps looking at Caleb while you kiss him, and sees the hunger in his friend’s eyes sharpen to the point of a knife.
“Do you want to keep going?” you murmur against Gideon’s lips.
“Yes,” Gideon says immediately. There’s no hesitation. Whatever it is. “Yes.”
You pull back and smile, looking over at Caleb. Your brother’s already moving—he leans closer, cupping the back of your neck to pull you in. Gideon watches slack-jawed. Caleb doesn’t kiss you; he eats you, slotting his mouth fully over yours. Your eyes flutter shut. Gideon’s cock twitches at the pretty sound you make when Caleb pushes on your jaw and chin, opening your mouth wider. Dazedly, Gideon wonders if he could come just from watching this—you and Caleb making out right in front of him while your hips rock into his own every now and then. He thinks yes.
But that doesn’t seem to be on today’s itinerary: Caleb releases you after a few moments to turn to Gideon instead. Gideon’s long past the feeling of vertigo, but he still feels as though the world turns upside down the second Caleb kisses him. He’s not gentle about it. Caleb’s mouth is insistent and hot, messy with spit, and doesn’t take no for an answer. When Gideon doesn’t open quickly enough for him he bites at Gideon’s lips. Gideon goes slack under him, moaning into his mouth when you add a trail of wet kisses down Gideon’s neck. Yep, fuck, no doubt about it. He’ll come like this no problem.
Whatever clarity of thought remained short-circuits the moment Caleb pulls off and slides down on his knees. You remove yourself from Gideon’s lap, curling up at his side. Your hands slip over his belt, tugging it free with nimble little fingers. Gideon’s panting already—he’s vaguely aware that he must look desperate, but he doesn’t care. Not when Caleb unzips Gideon’s pants and tugs them down his hips along with his underwear. His cock slaps free painfully, smacking against his hoodie and leaving behind a streak of pre-cum.
“Open wider,” Caleb tells him, pushing at Gideon’s knees. “Sit closer to the edge.” Gideon does as told, shaking one leg free from his jeans so Caleb can shuffle in between them. Your brother holds out his hand to you, and you spit in it. It doesn’t do anything to soothe the rough callouses on Caleb’s palm, though, and Gideon whimpers when it wraps around his dick fully.
And then, when Caleb opens his mouth, looking up at him through his dark lashes—Gideon bites the inside of his cheek, desperately summoning images of flight plans and zero gravity chambers. You nudge yourself behind Gideon, legs on either side of him, hands sliding under his shirt and up his torso as Caleb sinks Gideon’s cock in his mouth.
“Oh my god,” Gideon chokes. “Christ. Fuck. You—” he cuts himself off with a hiss when Caleb’s teeth scrape against his sensitive skin.
“Be gentle, ge. Careful with your teeth,” you say. Caleb hums around Gideon in response, sending tremors of pleasure up his spine. He doesn’t know what to do with himself, hands curling into fists on his thighs.
You rest your chin on his shoulder, fingers grazing over his nipples, and Gideon’s hips jerk up helplessly. Caleb grunts but makes no move to pull off; he settles into a slow, careful rhythm, following your instructions. It occurs to Gideon that this is probably the first time Caleb’s had a cock in his mouth. It certainly feels like it, anyway. It’s messy and lacks any refinement, but it doesn’t matter. Just the sight of seeing Caleb on his knees is enough to make Gideon’s balls draw up. His friend’s eyes stay on him, flashing an electric violet; a storm Gideon can’t outfly no matter how hard he tries. He can only give himself over to it. And combined with your mouth on his neck, hands stroking over his stomach, his chest, thumbing over his nipples—
he doesn’t stand a chance.
“Go a little faster, gege. Hollow your cheeks,” you instruct. Caleb makes a noise, shifting on his knees. Gideon moans openly the second he speeds up, head lolling back against your shoulder.
“Fuck,” he rasps. “Fuck, I can’t—I’m gonna cum, please, please, let me cum—”
“Just a little longer, okay?” you tell him sweetly. “I’ll tell you when.”
Gideon lets out a desperate whine, but he nods. “Yeah. Okay. Okay.” He’s trembling, one leg bouncing impatiently. He silently thanks whatever higher being is out there for mercy when Caleb pulls off briefly to catch his breath.
You pet Caleb’s hair. “Breathe through your nose, ge,” you say. “Use your tongue, too, press it against the underside.”
Caleb’s big hands slide over Gideon’s thighs, squeezing at the muscle. He rests his head against Gideon’s knee briefly to give you a lop-sided smile. “Yes ma’am. You havin’ fun bossing me around?”
“Wha—you’re the one who said to teach you,” you sputter. You nuzzle against Gideon’s shoulder. “Doesn’t it feel good? Gid?”
“No, no, it feels good,” Gideon says breathlessly. “Really good.”
You lean back against the couch, pulling Gideon with you. He resists at first, abs tensing—he doesn’t want to hurt you. You tug at his arms. “Put your weight on me,” you tell him. “It’s okay. Just lie back. You can just feel good now.”
When Caleb places one hand over Gideon’s stomach and pushes, what else can he do but obey? He gingerly leans against you, one hand absentmindedly stroking over your leg when you raise your knees on either side of him. You’re soft and warm. Sweet. You nudge his jaw, drawing him into a kiss. At the same time you open your mouth for him Caleb does so too on his cock, and Gideon just barely keeps from crying out. Caleb’s hollowing his cheeks just like you told him; clumsily, sure, but it was already over for Gideon the moment you kissed him. There’s no strength left in him to keep him from melting into you.
“Want to come, Gideon-ge?” you mouth against him. “You did so good. You can come. You’re so good, letting us play with you like this.”
When you take one of his hands and interlace it with yours, fingers squeezing down, Gideon comes with a shout. His hips jerk, and he hears Caleb gag in surprise—he feels bad about it, but unfortunately the sound only makes him twitch harder.
He cracks his eyes open just in time to see Caleb swallow, then immediately closes them again with a groan. When Caleb drags his mouth off him Gideon lets out a weak laugh, hips shying away from the sensation. Caleb rises off his knees and leans over, and for a moment Gideon thinks he’ll kiss him again—but Caleb moves past him, over his shoulder. He can just see you obediently opening your mouth from the corner of his eye. If he could blush any harder, he would. The wet sounds so close to his ear are obscene.
“Hmm,” you sigh. “You taste good.”
Through the haze of bliss it takes a beat for Gideon to understand, but when he does he hides his face in his hands. “This is crazy,” he says behind them.
Caleb laughs a little. “Tappin’ out already?” he teases. “Thought you’d last longer than that.” Gideon scowls at his friend from behind the opening of his fingers. Caleb is grinning down at him. “C’mon. Sit up.”
Gideon pushes himself upright with noodle arms so you can crawl out from behind him. “Can we kiss a little more?” you ask him.
You smile at him, and Gideon’s heart twists. You fit so perfectly into him, mouth soft, kissing him sweetly. You encourage him to wind his hand through your hair, to move you as he likes. He’s thought about doing this so much it’s surreal to actually experience it; Gideon is still not totally sure if he’s dreaming or not. He’s not had this particular fantasy before, but these elements—you in his arms, eager and pliable and sighing his name—star in every one of them.
Your pretty little sounds grow into quiet moans, ones Gideon mirrors. He’s making you feel good. His dick is starting to get hard again.
He’s so gone on the rush of you that he misses the shuffling of clothes—only when you jerk in his arms with a sudden whimper does he think to pause and pull back. Caleb’s worked your shorts off, underwear pulled to the side. When Gideon looks down he can see your brother’s fingers moving inside you. Caleb’s looking at him, though. Eyes all serious and dark again.
“Gid,” you whine when he sits and stares. “Touch me?”
“Sorry, sorry,” Gideon soothes. Your expression has gone a little glassy, and his cock twitches. “Here?” His hands slide up your torso, under your shirt, a little emboldened after hearing your beg for him. For him. Gideon-ge. You’re not wearing a bra, so he’s free to cup your bare breasts. You push into him, moaning quietly when he thumbs over your nipples.
You go liquid under pleasure, Gideon finds out. It’s a discovery that already haunts him; to know that you’re weak to feeling good, to know that this is what you look like when you give yourself over to it. Curled against his chest like a little cat, hips shivering against your brother’s hands, kisses growing sloppier the longer Gideon plays with your tits. The sound you make when Caleb removes his fingers is heartbreaking.
Gideon looks at his friend, waiting for orders. What’s next? And Caleb must be able to read it in his eyes, because he reaches around the sofa and pulls out an unopened box. Gideon just barely manages to catch it when Caleb tosses it to him.
“Since you came when you were told you get a reward,” Caleb says with a slight smile. “Just play nice. No hurting. Only I get to do that.”
Gideon flusters. “I am nice,” he says indignantly, fingers tightening around the condom packets. He’d be whatever you wanted him to. He strokes your cheek and you hum, leaning into his touch. “Can I fuck you?” he asks you quietly.
“Mm-hmm,” you say, nuzzling his hand. “How do you want me? The birthday boy gets to pick.”
Gideon wets his lips, eyes darting briefly to Caleb. Your brother has settled in the big falling-apart chair across the table, knees spread, his elbows on the chair’s arms. The audience waiting for his show.
“Then—” Gideon says, gently pushing on your shoulders. “Like this? Is that okay?”
You go easily, pliantly following his weight as you lie down on the sofa for him. Gideon quickly divests himself of his hoodie—he’s starting to feel sweaty. His pants are fully discarded as well, leaving him in just his t-shirt. Your hands pet over his abdomen appreciatively. “You’re so handsome,” you tell him. “Good-looking Gideon.”
His cheeks heat again, and he ducks his head. “I’m not all that,” he mumbles.
“I think so,” you reply earnestly. “I want you.”
Gideon’s throat feels all funny again. He doesn’t trust his voice and so kisses you instead, pulling up your own shirt so he can trail his mouth lower over your chest. He has half a mind to ask you to forget about fucking you—can you just ride his face instead? For an hour or more, preferably? But when he moves further down you pull at his shoulder, eyes teary.
“Please? I’m ready, I really need it,” you whine. “I need you.”
“Okay,” Gideon shushes. “Okay. You have me. I’m here.”
Had him all this time, really. You and Caleb both. Gideon will give you everything you want. Anything you want. He rolls on the condom, notching himself against your entrance. You’re soaked; Caleb did a good job preparing you, and Gideon likes to think that at least some of it is thanks to him. It was his name you called out, him you arched into while Caleb worked you open. That has to count for something.
Gideon whimpers when he sinks inside. You’re wet and hot and so tight still, clenching against him so good there’s white static in his head for a minute. Gideon pants. His stamina is usually decent, but whenever you and Caleb are involved usual doesn’t apply to the rules. The laws of gravity written anew, bent to Caleb’s hand.
When Gideon glances over he sees that same hand palming Caleb’s dick through his pants.
“Shit,” Gideon groans when he rocks his hips forward. “You feel so—you’re so wet. So pretty. Does it feel good? I’m not hurting you?”
“It feels good,” you beg when he sinks in a little deeper. “More, please.”
Gideon gives you more. He hugs you tightly against him and revels when you cling back just as tight, legs locking around his hips, arms around his shoulders. He presses as much of himself against you as possible and commits it to memory. Once this is over he wants to feel the imprint of you lingering on him. In his mouth, where he kisses you, your wet little tongue stroking against his own; your hands in his hair, scrabbling against his back when his thrusts grow heavier. Your thighs pressed against his hips, soft and strong. Trembling. For him to give you what you need.
When you pulse around him his eyes flutter closed. “Baby—” he starts, then immediately stops, biting his tongue. Didn’t mean to let that slip out. Gideon knows his place. He does. He’s just thought about it so long, his baby, his and Caleb’s, your two hands in theirs. He groans and buries his face in your neck.
You laugh a little, hand stroking over his hair. “What is it? Why’re you hiding?”
“Sorry,” Gideon mumbles. “Not trying to…”
“Come kiss me,” you say in his ear. “Come kiss your baby.”
Gideon moans; his hips move without his say-so, and he pulls back to see your little smile. You’re doing it on purpose, too; he can see the playful glint in your eyes when you tilt your head at him. Gideon fervently hopes you don’t see through him as much as he fears. Caleb’s constant (and accurate) read on him is plenty mortifying, thank you.
Gideon glances at his friend again. Caleb’s lazily fisting his cock, lips slightly parted. His eyes are so dark Gideon can’t make out any purple at all. “Well?” Caleb says when Gideon stares for a beat too long. “What’re you waitin’ for? She said to kiss her.”
Gideon shivers a little, then does as told. You pulse around him again, which makes his head spin. So cute. You’re so cute. He loves kissing you. Loves that you love it so much, too, that it makes you feel good, that it makes you clench around his cock—
“Good?” Caleb’s voice asks. “Push one of her legs up. Hold it down with your hand.”
You cry out the next time Gideon thrusts into you, knee pressed against your shoulder. Gideon’s fingers dig into your soft flesh, pushing your lower leg up and out until it rests on his shoulder. He noses against it, panting, mouthing at your ankle. He’s never been especially into feet, but just now he’s overcome with the desire to lick yours. Has your brother ever done that? Would it be the first anyone’s ever touched you there?
Caleb exhales roughly. “Yeah. Like that. Press down on her stomach.”
“Ge,” you sob when Gideon obeys. “Ge, gege, I’m gonna come, please—!”
Gideon moans. Gideon-ge. Ge. Your baby. Feeling his cock through your stomach makes his head swim, but your voice is what ultimately draws him closer to the edge. He’s trying to hold off, desperate to feel you come on his dick, but you’re not making it easy for him. He grits his teeth when your body seizes against his own, biting his cheek and tongue to keep a clear enough head to watch your eyes glaze over in your pleasure. Your pussy pulses around him sweet-hot, begging for something to fill you up. He wants to give it to you so bad his stomach hurts with it.
Gideon is so gone on the sauce that he startles when Caleb’s hand suddenly settles on his neck. Hadn’t even heard him walk over, too lost in what he thought would only forever exist in his daydreams. “Don’t come yet,” Caleb says roughly. “Pull out for a sec. And lie down on your back.” Gideon whimpers a little at that; pulling out, now? While you’re still fluttering around him through your comedown? But Caleb squeezes his fingers around Gideon’s nape, and makes Gideon look at him instead of your fucked-out expression. “C’mon, puppy. Move it.”
Gideon groans high and needful when he pulls out of you, but with Caleb there’s no saying no. Especially not when he looks like this. His eyes are blazing, jaw tense, and Gideon thinks he almost looks angry. No, maybe he really is angry. It would explain the way he pushes Gideon down, mean and hard. If the sofa hadn’t cushioned him it would’ve hurt.
Gideon tries not to think about what it means that this makes his dick twitch again.
Caleb makes you crawl over Gideon while he fiddles with another mystery box from the spot behind the couch. Gideon hears the shnick of a bottle being opened, but he can’t see anything; you’re kissing him again, and your stomach is warm and soft again his cock. Then, suddenly—you whine, whole body tensing. Caleb shushes you.
“Be good,” he tells you. “You wanna be good, right? Relax.”
“Slowly,” you whimper. “It’s too much. Ge—”
“Stop fussin’. If you keep squirming it’ll only hurt more.”
You bury your face in Gideon’s neck. “Gideooon…”
“You’re callin’ for Gideon now? But he’s not gonna save you.” Caleb smacks your ass. Gideon feels it through you, the jolt of your hips, the breath you suck in when Caleb’s palm lands. “Lift your hips, baby.”
Trembling, you do as he says. Your hair falls over your eyes and partly over Gideon’s; he’s blind, and happily so, but unprepared for Caleb to grab your hips and lift you over Gideon’s cock. He sinks you down on it slowly, and Gideon has to clench his fists and grit his teeth all over again so he doesn’t come in you the second he bottoms out.
Caleb pushes you down against Gideon, one large hand on your back, and Gideon wonders for a moment what he’s meant to do, if anything at all, but then—
Something presses against his dick. Slowly, fed deeper inch by inch, rubbing against his length through a thin wall inside of you. You hiss and whine and dig your nails into his shoulders, but Gideon’s not of much use for comfort. Caleb’s dick is right up against his own inside you, and he thinks he’s going to pass out.
He looks past you, over your shoulder, up at Caleb who’s thrown his head back with his eyes closed. He’s still wearing his clothes, jeans just shucked down far enough to free his cock. He groans when he rocks forward, eyes opening briefly to catch Gideon’s. His cock sinks deeper inside your hole, and Gideon shivers. Who’s really fucking who, here?
“Almost,” Caleb pants. “Almost in, pips, just a little more. Here, lift your—yeah. Just like that, good girl.” One of Caleb’s hands finds its way between you and Gideon. His knuckles dig into Gideon’s lower stomach, back and forth as he rubs your clit without any regard for Gideon’s comfort, and Gideon groans when you clench around him again. The tips of Caleb’s fingers graze the root of Gideon’s cock, and Gideon bites his lip so hard that his mouth fills with an iron tang.
Caleb rocks his hips forward again. Gideon doesn’t need to see it to feel it; the heat of your brother’s body hovering just behind yours, the hands that dictate where your hips go, and the insistent slide of his cock until he’s seated fully in your ass. You’re shivering, clenching and unclenching around the two of them in a desperate bid to stay open and relaxed enough to take it. When Caleb pulls you up to kiss you Gideon catches a glimpse of your eyes. They’re glassy and dreamy, a pretty fucked-out doll with flushed cheeks and sweaty hair sticking to the side of your face. Gideon palms your stomach again. He’s probably imagining it—wishful thinking, because that’s all he’s ever done since he first saw you and Caleb together—but compared to before he’d swear it feels bigger. Fuller. Him and Caleb, one on each side of you, an infinite embrace that loops and skips over the little knot that is Gideon’s hand holding yours.
You squeeze it reflexively every time Caleb moves. He goes slowly at first, kissing the side of your head and pushing the hair out of your eyes while you make cute little sounds that actively eat away at Gideon’s heart. Then a little faster. A little meaner. Caleb looks Gideon in the eye while he frots his cock against Gideon’s. Touching and yet not; it’s a tease, a taunt, one that he knows Gideon won’t back away from but will surrender to, because that’s what he’s always been helpless to do. Sweat beads on his forehead.
“Feelin’ good, baby?” Caleb asks. Gideon’s heart skips a moment, unsure who Caleb is addressing. Your brother’s eyes crinkle when Gideon doesn’t dare to answer. “I know you are.” Caleb kisses your temple. “You like Gideon’s cock, huh? Nice and full? He’s been holdin’ out pretty well. Don’t you think so? Say thank you.”
“Thank—thank you,” you gasp out. “Thank you, ge, thank you—”
“Listening so well.”
Caleb releases you from his grip, and Gideon catches you when you slump against him. He feels desperate. His vision blurs, unable to grip onto anything solid. He’s bursting at the seams, trying to make it last, to be good, to deserve your pretty voice saying thank you so nicely, but Christ—
Caleb snaps his hips forward, fucking your ass and fucking Gideon and Gideon needs to come, he needs to come so badly he doesn’t even need to move, he just needs to lie there and take it. Take whatever you and Caleb want to give him. Anything. Everything. His eyes tear up. When Caleb and you moan in unison at a particularly deep thrust he can’t take it anymore:
“Please,” Gideon rasps. “Please, please can I come? I can’t—please, please—”
Caleb licks his lips and bends down. His rhythm doesn’t falter when his hand closes around Gideon’s throat, but Gideon’s heart does. Skipping wildly, breath catching, balls drawing up and it hurts—
“Not yet,” Caleb pants. “Not yet, puppy, hold it.”
“Please,” Gideon slurs. “Please, sir—”
He’s too far gone for embarrassment, but still his stomach swoops when Caleb laughs. Frenzied and breathless, a little wild and a little strange and Gideon loves him, he really loves your brother and he really loves you and his dick is seriously, actually, genuinely going to explode. Caleb leans down and kisses him again, mean and with teeth, and Gideon can’t hold back anymore. His cock jerks inside you and he comes, hard, pleasure shooting up his spine and buzzing around the back of his skull until he feels dizzy despite lying down. His moans sound loud in his ears, his voice twisted as though it belongs to a stranger’s. Caleb fucks him and you through it relentlessly.
“I’m sorry,” Gideon pants against Caleb’s mouth when he finds his words again. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I couldn’t hold it anymore.”
Caleb smiles, but it’s far from reassuring. “We’ll work on it.”
Gideon doesn’t get the chance to think about the implications of that. The relief of release ebbs away and is immediately caught and strangled in the realm of too-much, wringing his insides out until he’s gasping for breath again. He wants to laugh and groan and squirm away, but there’s nowhere to go: you’re tightening up, close to your own edge, and Caleb’s weight behind you is as sure as a rock. Gideon’s cock twitches weakly. Mercy, he thinks helplessly.
“Go on,” Caleb rasps. He’s pulled back and taken his hand off Gideon’s throat, and uses it to pull your hips against his cock with a wet slap. “Come on Gid’s cock, baby.”
You warble something against Gideon’s shoulder, and he forces his jelly arms to wrap around you. You cling to him, sobbing when your body seizes and you do as your brother tells you to. It’s wonderful. It’s agony. Gideon’s cock feels raw, wet with his own spend clinging to him inside the condom. You pulse around him viciously.
He watches with bleary eyes as Caleb’s jaw sets, his hips finally losing their steady rhythm and slipping into something hard and loose. The animal need of pleasure. Gideon feels it when Caleb comes, or maybe it’s just in his head; Caleb’s seed pulsing inside you, the swell of his cock. The final few snaps of his hips, slow and mindless, making sure you get everything he can give with the same heady groan Gideon heard last night.
Caleb looks beautiful like this. Moreso than Gideon had even imagined, and he’s imagined it a lot. Flushed cheeks and glittering eyes, the faint shine of sweat on his brow highlighting his handsome features. Gideon thinks about licking it off while your mingled breaths slow.
Caleb sighs, pleased. Just got a good workout in, Gideon can almost hear him say. He peels you off Gideon’s chest gently, wiping your tears and drool and kissing you sweetly on the mouth. “Good girl,” he tells you, and Gideon shivers a little at the devotion in his eyes.
You hum weakly. “Mm-hmm.”
Caleb smiles. He pulls himself out slowly, petting your head when you grumble and groan. He’s way too big, you complain. Dummy ge, he almost split you in two, couldn’t he tell? What would he have done then, if he’d had to sew you back together?
Caleb laughs and steps into the kitchen to get a clean towel. “If you keep sayin’ cute things like that I can’t promise I’ll behave any better next time.”
“Stupid,” you sniff. You take the towel and gently rise, petting Gideon’s chest apologetically when he tenses against the drag of your pussy over his cock. “Are you okay, Gideon-ge? Caleb didn’t bully you too much, did he?”
“Yeah,” Gideon wheezes when you fully remove yourself. “Just—just peachy.”
You laugh a little and wipe the cum off his stomach, leaning down to press a chaste kiss to his lips. Gideon is unprepared for it; he blinks and you’re gone, and he kicks himself for not kissing you back. Caleb takes the towel from you and trades it for a glass of water.
Gideon pushes himself up from the sofa. His body feels as though it’s been spinning in antigrav for hours.
“I’ll run you a bath,” Caleb tells you gently. He draws you into his arms and holds you while you drink. “Hungry?”
You nod. “I wanna eat chicken.” You reach out and take Gideon’s hand, drawing him into your half-embrace with Caleb. “What do you feel like having for dinner, Gideon-ge?”
“Oh,” Gideon blinks. His body moves without thinking, arm reaching to wrap around you. It’s as easy as breathing—or maybe it’s just because it’s you. “Chicken is good.”
“Then chicken it is,” Caleb says. He shifts, moving his legs so Gideon can sit more comfortably on your other side. He slings his arm over the back of the sofa again, though this time his hand reaches up to stroke Gideon’s nape. Caleb’s short nails scratch lightly over Gideon’s short hair like they would with a pet’s. You lean your head on Gideon’s shoulder, sighing contentedly, and his heart soars.
It doesn’t come back down until much later, once baths have been had and dinner has been eaten. The three of you ended up having Gideon’s birthday cake for dessert; Caleb fed you, you fed Gideon, and Gideon tried to remember to chew and swallow like a normal person. Afterwards Caleb put his music on again, something slow and warm, and you lit the candles around the living room. You can blow them out later, you told Gideon conspiratorially, so you can get some extra birthday wishes in.
He’d laughed, painfully aware of his heart tripping over how cute you are smiling up at him, and didn’t tell you that today was already a wish come true. There’s nothing else for him to want. But he said yes, of course. Always yes. He’ll blow them out and think of your pretty face when he does.
Gideon closes the tap. He dries his hands and closes the bathroom door, but stops before he enters the living room again. His feet just brush the threshold. You and Caleb are curled up together on the sofa, your head in his lap, and Caleb strokes over your hair while you talk. The low light from the candles throws a warm hue over you, soft light and shadows that flicker with the candles’ breath. Gideon watches it from the dark of the hallway.
He doesn’t want to disturb it, and he doesn’t want to leave. Always caught in this twofold dilemma. Can’t make up his mind, either, neither to leave nor to go.
And then, just when he thinks he’ll quietly go up the stairs, you catch his eye. Maybe the floorboards creaked when he shifted on his feet, or maybe his stare was too intense for you to miss. But your face lights up the moment you see him, and you sit up, one hand outstretched;
“Gideon-ge! What are you doing over there? Come here, we were waiting for you.”
Gideon breathes out, and steps forward.
From wikipedia:
Alpha Centauri is a star system that consists of three stars: Rigil Kentaurus, Toliman, and Proxima Centauri. Rigil Kentaurus and Toliman are Sun-like stars that together form the binary star system Centauri AB. Proxima Centauri is a small faint red dwarf. Though not visible to the naked eye, it’s the closest star to the Sun.
love is real because kiyoomi would fight influenza like it insulted your mother and stole your lunch money.
one second you’re a functioning adult with hopes and dreams and a stomach lining, and the next you’re curled up on the couch under three blankets, your nose clogged enough to qualify as a federal disaster zone. the air tastes like defeat. you swear you can hear sad violins playing somewhere (probably in your sinuses).
the universe betrays you on a random thursday.
sakusa stands in front of you like a dramatic victorian husband seeing his wife faint for the first time. except he’s your real-life boyfriend, not an underpaid actor, and he’s staring at you with the kind of intensity usually reserved for things he vows to protect forever—like hand sanitizer and the last pack of disinfecting wipes during flu season.
“you’re burning up,” he mutters, voice low, brows furrowing in that soft, worried way that transforms your insides into lukewarm syrup. “why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
you sniff pathetically. “because i knew you’d go into crisis mode.”
“this isn’t crisis mode,” he says, dead serious, wiping your forehead with one of his outrageously fancy cooling pads. “if i were in crisis mode, there would be charts.”
you let out a groan that sounds like a dying walrus. “oomi, i feel like my soul is trying to exit my body through my left nostril.”
he presses his lips together, trying (and failing) to hide the tiny twitch of amusement. “drink this.”
you stare at the mug he hands you. “what is it?”
“ginger tea. lemon. honey. a thousand years of love.”
“oomi.”
“i added the honey,” he clarifies.
you take a sip and immediately sink into the couch, the warmth filling your chest like a gentle hug. sakusa kneels next to you with the grace of a man performing a sacred ritual. every few minutes, he adjusts your blanket, fixes your pillows, presses another cooling pad to your forehead, or gives you a sip of water. he even wipes your nose when you get too tired to do it yourself—not because you ask, but because the moment you sway even slightly, he’s already reaching for a tissue like a reflex.
the devotion in his touch is ridiculous. unfair. too tender. it makes your heart ache in a way that has nothing to do with your fever.
“kiyoomi,” you mumble, eyes half-lidded. “i feel gross.”
“you could never be gross,” he says instantly. too instantly. “you could sneeze directly on my face and i’d say thank you.”
you blink. “…that’s concerning.”
he clears his throat. “i take it back.”
“no you don’t.”
“…no. i don’t.”
you giggle weakly, and it sounds frail enough that sakusa leans in and kisses the side of your head like he’s afraid you’ll crumble without it.
he spends the rest of the day tending to you like you’re made of spun sugar and fragile moonlight. he brings you soup (freshly made, because delivery food has “insufficient bacterial certainty”). he massages your temples until you admit you’re sleepy. he reads aloud from your favorite book, voice steady, warm, and so gentle you forget for a moment that your lymph nodes feel like swollen marbles.
at some point, you drift off. when you wake up, sakusa is still there—hair mussed, eyes soft, hand wrapped loosely around yours like he’s anchoring you to life itself.
“how long was i out?” you whisper.
“three hours and twenty-two minutes,” he says, without shame.
“were you… watching me sleep?”
“yes. in case you stopped breathing.”
“oomi, babies don’t get this level of monitoring.”
“babies aren’t you.”
your chest squeezes. “come here.”
he lies beside you, pulling you into his arms carefully—as if your fever might bite him. his hand strokes your spine with slow, methodical tenderness. he kisses your forehead again. and again. and again. until you fall asleep inside the safest place you’ve ever known.
—
miraculously, you wake up the next morning feeling like a reborn deity. the fever breaks. your lungs cooperate. the world no longer resembles a damp tissue.
you fling yourself at sakusa as soon as he walks into the room.
“oomi! i think i’m cured!”
he catches you effortlessly, relief washing over his face like a tidal wave. “finally,” he murmurs, kissing your cheek. “i hated seeing you like that.”
“thank you for taking care of me,” you say softly, wrapping your arms around his neck. “you’re the best.”
he melts. fully melts. like a snowman in july.
but then—tragically, poetically, stupidly—the very next morning:
sakusa kiyoomi, pillar of hygiene, antibacterial warlord, undefeated king of avoiding human contact, is sick.
and not just any sick.
miserable sick.
he’s curled in bed, blanket pulled up to his ears, nose red, lashes damp, hair sticking up in about eight different directions. he sniffles once, and the sound is heartbreak incarnate.
“oomi,” you gasp, cupping his cheek. “oh no…”
his eyes narrow weakly. “don’t you dare say ‘i told you so.’”
“i didn’t,” you insist. “yet.”
he groans, burying his face in your stomach. “this is humiliating.”
“you’re adorable.”
“don’t say that while i am dying.”
you stroke his hair. “you’re not dying.”
“i am,” he mumbles. “i can feel my life force leaving my body. i should’ve worn a mask. or gloves. or a hazmat suit.”
“you kissed me like twenty times yesterday.”
“that was strategic. calculated. worth it.”
you laugh and press a kiss to his forehead, which is hotter than your entire apartment heater. sakusa lets out a small sound—not quite a whine, but dangerously close.
“pour me ginger tea,” he whispers dramatically. “lemon. honey. everything you like.”
“oomi, you’re mixing metaphors.”
“i’m delirious, let me live.”
you become his nurse instantly.
blankets fluffed. pillows adjusted. water refilled. you wipe his nose gently, the exact way he did for you. every time you touch him, he leans into your palm like a sleepy cat.
when you feed him soup, he opens his mouth with the slightest pout, eyelashes fluttering. you swear he’s doing it on purpose to look cute. his voice gets raspy in that unfair way that makes you want to wrap him in ten more blankets and never let him go.
“will you stay with me?” he asks quietly, fingers curling around your wrist. “just… stay.”
“of course,” you breathe.
sakusa nods like he feared you’d say no. he grabs your hoodie sleeve, tugging weakly until you lie beside him. he wraps himself around you with surprising strength, face tucked into your neck.
“you smell good,” he murmurs. “i hate that i can’t smell properly right now but i know you smell good.”
“oomi—”
“don’t move.”
“i wasn’t going to.”
“good.”
you stroke his cheek, tracing the warmth beneath his skin. “you took care of me. now it’s my turn.”
he looks up at you with bleary eyes, expression soft beyond words. “i love you so much it hurts.”
your heart collapses. disintegrates. turns to flower petals.
“i love you too,” you whisper.
he sniffles. “kiss me.”
“you’re sick.”
“i don’t care. i’ll get sick again if it means you’ll keep taking care of me.”
you sputter. “kiyoomi—”
“please.”
you give in instantly.
he sighs into the kiss like it’s the cure to everything wrong in his body.
you spend the rest of the day wrapped up together, trading warmth and whispered confessions. sakusa keeps squeezing your hand, pulling you close, bumping his forehead against yours just to feel you there. he kisses you every time you adjust his blanket, every time you stroke his hair, every time your voice dips into that soft tone that only he gets to hear.
by nightfall, he’s drifting in and out of sleep against your chest. you brush your fingers through his curls, memorizing the way his breathing evens out.
when he murmurs, half-asleep, “stay forever,” you press a kiss to his temple.
“i’m not going anywhere.”
sakusa smiles—slow, small, impossibly tender.
and right there, in the dim light of your bedroom, he looks at you like you’re the cure, the fever, the oxygen, the sanctuary he’d cross oceans for.
a: nighteye and nanami are alike in someways, deceased and attractive.
and maybe that’s what love is—two idiots trading the same cold back and forth because they can’t stop holding each other close.
It’s well past his time that he’s comfortable leaving for practice, it’s tiptoeing past the time he should leave for practice, now it’s creeping up to a time where he needs to leave for practice if he wants to make it remotely close on time.
But you won’t budge. Every time he tries to pull his bicep from under your head, you mewl and curl closer. When he tries to slink his leg out, you’re wrapping your arms around his torso tighter. When he tries to tell you he has to leave, you respond with a swift “nuh-uh,” into his chest, the vibrations of your words tickling against him.
“Baby,” he says, pressing kisses to your head as if to satisfy you. “I have to go. Like, 15 minutes ago.”
“If you’re already late, stay with me,” you mewl.
He sighs and extends a hand to cup your cheek, thumb stroking over the swells, “you know I can’t do that. Especially when I have a brat at home who loves that expensive pastry shop down the street.” He pinches your cheek, and you giggle and shake out of his hold. He smiles as he thinks you’re faltering, but sure enough, when he tries again to get up, you whine and tighten your hold. “Baby, I’m getting up.”
“Like hell you are.”
His brow cocks at your challenge, immediately whipping his body out of your exhausted hold while you groan sadly into the air. He chuckles as you’re quick to immediately get up and reach for him, and he makes a beeline for the bathroom to shower- he’s never gotten undressed so fast, the water is cold from the immediate turn on and jump in, your feet stomping in just three steps behind. At him being wet, you cross your arms.
“Kiyoomi!” You pout. He smirks at you as water cascades down his body. You reach a hand out to paw for him, “let me come in with you?”
“Sorry baby,” he shrugs. “I need to be in and out. But you can shower with me tonight and help me wash my hair.” At his compromise, you put the lid to the toilet seat down and watch him shower, not saying much as he bathes.
You're not happy he's leaving. And in your defense, he's not thrilled to be leaving either.
You stay planted to him while he finishes up, watching him closely, as if soaking in every detail.
Like it's the last time you'll ever see him.
You stay in reach while he throws on his clothes. You're glued as he makes his lunch. You sniff intensely at the nape of his neck, and he hikes up his shoulders and scolds you when you gently try to bite him.
He finally, with you less than two inches behind him, gets ready for the day, he tells you softly to "come here" as to pull you in a tight hug and a kiss to your head. He wondered, briefly, if that would be enough to satisfy your need to be close to him
Unsurprisingly, it's not.
You won’t budge. Standing in your kitchen with your head buried in his chest, fingers twirling the strings of his hoodie, his hands run up and down your back again before pulling back to look at his watch.
“My love-“ his heart breaks as you offer him a swift ‘mhm-nm’ back, your non-verbal cue of ‘no.’ He sighs, “yes, baby. I have to go.”
“No you don’t,” you murmur, shaking your head against him. “You just say that.”
He chuckles and presses a kiss to your head, “you know if I could stay here all day, right here, holding you I would in a heart beat. But,” he finally pulls back, moving a hand to cup your cheek. “I can’t. Not if you want to keep buying from that ridiculous pastry place.”
“Hey,” you huff. “They’re a small business and their stuff is delicious. You know that.”
“I do- and I need money, so we can enjoy those pastries.” He presses a kiss to your forehead and finally, you let him go, moving your arms to hug yourself. “I’ll be home before you know it. I promise.”
You simply nod. He ducks down to give you a kiss on the lips-
Only for you to reel back from the affection.
He clicks his tongue and, immediately, spins you to hold you in his grip, relishing in the giggles you spill. “Don’t be a brat,” he says, peppering kisses to the sensitive spot on your neck. "Don't you ever duck away from my kisses. Never ever."
“I’m won't!” You whine. “Okay! Fine! Go!”
"Give me a kiss," he says. You're smiling now, as you rise on your toes to meet his lips in a kiss. It's quick, Kiyoomi hates how fast it is, but when he pulls back, you're still beaming at him like he used to dream about.
TIGHNARI X GN!READER ┊͙ rated sfw ⸝ comfort ⸝ for the days you feel entirely unlovable ( he loves you, always, regardless of it all ) ݂ ໋. cw for mild angst at the start & deep-rooted feelings of insecurity
It’s moments like this when you wish Tighnari wasn’t always so attentive when it came to you.
“Are you thinking that… just because you’ve had a bad week, you should retreat to your room instead of seeking comfort?” Tighnari observes sharply, ears twitching when he notices the nervous wobble of your lip.
You shake your head, instinctively. “I’m just… tired.”
(You tell yourself that you are not sad. You are not sad now, and you cannot ever be sad, because if nothing else, you at least want to be someone capable of making those around you smile.)
He sighs softly. “Don’t lie to me.”
He’s not smiling.
And neither are you, when you avert your gaze from him and down to your hands twisted in your lap, unsure of where to begin formulating a lie that would convince the only one who sees all of you, to believe you’re merely feeling a bit sleepy.
“Tell me. Am I correct in thinking that?”
You don’t move, because the truth, when spoken, feels so childish you can’t bear to admit it even when he asks you so tenderly. I don’t want you to see me sad, only since I know it will spoil your image of me. I want you to continue loving me, as selfish as it is.
“Hey.” His voice comes out softer now. Unbearably kind, and it strikes you deep inside your heart, your chest clenching.
You never handle kindness well when you’re like this. You much prefer silence, when this horrible heaviness can eventually come to pass without anyone having spotted it or being there to remind you of it.
It’s this tenderness — this deliberate kind of kindness — that always breaks something open inside you.
And so you’ve grown to hate it.
Of course, Tighnari is quick to notice the blur of your eyes, then the pull of your shoulders inward.
“Come here,” he says, and before you can think to hide, his arms are already around you, folding you into the warmth of him. It’s him feeling so incredibly warm and it’s his heartbeat being so steady against you that your tears are able to come out this fast.
“…Sorry—” you try, but your voice breaks. The pathetic sound only forces more tears to fall, and you instinctively press your palms to your face, a futile attempt to keep them from spilling any further than they already have. A last ditch effort to chalk your slip up as something catching in your eye, but he adjusts, one hand coming to cradle the back of your head, his thumb lightly brushing against your scalp.
“Don’t,” he says, softly. “Don’t hide from me.”
You shake your head, unsure of what you’re protesting, but it’s all you know to do. It’s moments like this when you think you might just hate yourself more than anything else in the world — when your voice betrays you and falls too weak to even manage a sentence.
And so you stay like this, small and trembling against him, letting his fingers trace small circles into your back even if you want to tell him there’s no need. Because you’re not sad. You try to prove this with a steady, albeit shaky, inhale to free the tightness in your chest, blinking slowly to fight the—
“Don’t try to hold them back.”
Your tears blur your vision just as quickly as before upon hearing that cursed, familiar tone, and you want to curl up into a ball because he knows. He’s always known.
And still, he stays beside you, holding you like you might break otherwise. You stiffen when you feel him shifting, so that he can see your face, brush a stray tear from your cheek with the side of his thumb.
You don’t dare to look at him.
He doesn’t press you to, either.
“Just how long have you been feeling like this?”
“N…not long.” (You lie, again, because not even someone as gentle as Tighnari can make you fully honest.)
His ears flick once. “You thought keeping this to yourself would make things better?”
You look down. “It’s not fair… to you. At all. To put a… damper on your mood, just because mine is like,” there’s an uncertain pause from you, “…this.”
“So you think it’s a burden on others — that I wouldn’t enjoy being around you as much because of it?”
It sounds completely and utterly ridiculous when he says it aloud, and you almost want to laugh at yourself for feeling this way in the first place. Ridiculous… yes… but true — exactly spot on, actually — and so you nod once. Barely.
He breathes out through his nose. “If I asked you the same thing — whether I would be a burden to you if I were unhappy — what would you tell me?”
It’s almost comical how quickly you straighten when the topic of loving Tighnari arises. “You could never…!”
He’s still. “Would you want me to hide it from you?”
“N-no. I want to help… if that’s okay.”
“I see. Then why,” he asks quietly this time, and your gaze falls back, because you know exactly what will follow, “do you think you deserve any less patience than you’d give me?”
You can’t answer him this time. (Or perhaps, you could, but you know better than to say these thoughts aloud. If you can’t hide your feelings in the end, the only thing left to hide is the knowledge that you, at your core, are entirely unlovable underneath this layer he has begun to so carefully and lovingly peel apart.
You just can’t let him in on this last secret, no matter what.)
He doesn’t seem to expect an answer from you this time, either. His hand traces up your back, slowly, rubbing delicate circles into you. “You’re allowed to be sad,” he says.
(I’m not sad, you want to insist so, so badly.
You’re not sad. You can be anything but sad.
You refuse to admit this, ever.)
“You’re allowed to have days where your thoughts don’t cooperate, just like everyone else. That does not make you any less worthy of being cared for.”
You sniffle against your will, hand clinging to his sleeve. “I just… want to be someone normal… someone who you can find at least a little enjoyable to be around.”
He hums softly. “You are. Even now. Especially now.”
“But… there’s no way this,” you gesture at the soaked tips of your sleeves, “is fun.”
“Well,” Tighnari says, unhurried, “this is part of who you are. And loving someone means being present for all versions of themselves — not just the ones that smile more easily.”
Your chest tightens again, because it suddenly makes no sense when it’s you. You want to believe he’s being honest to you, but at the very end of the day, who, in their right mind, would willingly choose to spend the night beside someone like you — this trembling, crying mess?
You know Tighnari would, and you can’t bring yourself to understand why.
“If there were two of me, again,” he murmurs, thumb brushing your cheek, “one smiling, one frowning — would you love one more than the other?”
You shake your head.
“Exactly,” he says. “So then, why would you think you are any different from me?”
You can’t answer. (You want to, and you think you can, but the words seem meaningless next to the way he sees you. And perhaps, that’s the cruelest part about it all — that he loves you fully, when you yourself cannot even begin to fathom how something like that could be possible.)
So you lean into his chest, sobbing quietly, and he holds you all the same.
(Tighnari knows you don’t believe a word he says. He already knows you’ve convinced yourself to not listen, and that, for some reason, he’ll change his mind once he realizes that you too, are capable of being sad.
That you too, are also entirely human. But it doesn’t stop him from holding you and telling you regardless, because even if you don’t see it yourself, he wants to tell this part of you that it is loved, too.
synopsis: you are the daughter of the man alhaitham brought down, bound to him by the soul mark that feels more like a curse than fate. somehow, one letter at a time, he finds his way into your heart—until you can no longer pretend you don’t ache for the man who ruined your life and saved you all at the same time
word count. ❤︎ 14.4k words—give it a chance. PLEASE I BEG give it a chance and i will venmo u a penny
before you read. ❤︎ female reader ; soulmates au ; somewhat enemies to lovers (it’s a bit one sided) ; reader is azar’s daughter ; reader is a rtawahist scholar and wields an electro vision ; reader is going through it guys. cut her some major slack okay ; YEARNER alhaitham ; soulmarks as the soulmates trope ; sumeru plot is heavily referenced and i hope it’s all accurate it’s been 3 years ; male masturbation ; vaginal fingering ; protected sex (use condoms!) ; praise kink ; getting together ; implied moving in together in the end ; this is not proof read. i am tired and hungry
commentary. ❤︎ read the extended author’s note here
The Akademiya admissions form includes the following overview for Rtawahist:
Rtawahist is one of the Six Darshans of the Akademiya that students may select to study, specializing in illuminationism and the pursuit of truth through the study of the stars. Its scope includes, first, astronomy—the mathematical observation and mapping of celestial bodies—and second, astrology—the interpretation of their patterns as signs of destiny. Students who pursue this Darshan will train in celestial observation, star-mapping, and the interpretation of cosmic patterns, combining scientific precision with philosophical inquiry.
When you fill out your application years ago, you check the box for Rtawahist without even reading the overview. You have no need to do that. You do not bother with listing a second choice, either. You also have no need to do that. Your father will see the application through—that much you already know. Privileged, perhaps, but not unearned. You have every intention of earning your keep.
When the acceptance papers arrive, Rtawahist is stamped as your chosen Darshan. You are not surprised. You are not ungrateful, either. The stars, you think, may have been your first love—you do not take your devotion to them lightly, now any more than you did then, when you studied them.
You have never anticipated that the same stars you devote yourself to could be so cruel, forcing you to watch the man who replaced your father as Grand Sage also be the one who orchestrated his downfall.
You cannot bear the injustice of it.
Your father—who now sits in a cell while the city mocks his name—has been replaced by the very man who put him there. The same man they call a hero. The same man who stripped him of his title, his dignity, and every scrap of respect earned through decades of work and brilliance.
You catch this despicable man just as he leaves his—no, your father’s—office.
“Excuse me,” you hiss, “are you the one they call Alhaitham?”
He pauses, glancing over his shoulder at you. His expression is unreadable, almost bored—like you’re an interruption that he endures. The veins in your head threaten to burst from the sheer insult of it.
“I’m on my break now,” he says flatly, “if you wish to submit an appeal to any funding proposals, please submit an application according to the prescribed format—”
“That’s not why I’m here,” you interrupt, hissing.
His eyes glance over your figure up and down briefly—your blood boils even more for it—and then there is an almost imperceptible shift in his gaze. Curiosity, maybe, or perhaps recognition. Good, you think, he should recognize you—and he should regret it soon enough.
“Then I can’t imagine what business you have with me.”
Your eyes narrow. “It’s about my father.”
“Ah.” His arms cross loosely over his chest, as if the puzzle has solved itself. “Then you’ve come for closure. If that’s what you want, I’m not sure I am the one to turn to.”
You grit your teeth. “Do not talk as though he’s dead. I do not need closure for a man who still lives.”
“I never implied he wasn’t. He’s imprisoned,” Alhaitham replies evenly. “By his own actions. I didn’t decide his actions for him—I only carried out what had to be done when his ambitions threatened the nation.”
“What do you know of his actions?” you snap. “You think yourself to know every detail simply because you were the scribe? Handling a few mere documents does not give you the knowledge and upper hand you think it does—you are still nothing but a scribe with a salary that is hardly applaudable. You think you understand him because you saw a single moment from the outside?”
“I understand him because I saw everything I had to,” he replies blandly. “I don’t have to be more than a scribe with a generous income to know I watched him imprison a god. I also didn’t need a report to see him falsify divinity and use that for his own gains.”
“That’s not true,” your voice shakes, “you have no idea what you’re saying. You’re believing the convenient cover-up story that—”
“It’s the truth,” he interrupts. “You just don’t want it to be.”
Your hands ball into fists as your breath trembles. His composure infuriates you—it makes your grief feel small, your faith in your father feel foolish. It makes you feel inferior to a man who has held a title of authority for less than two days. Your father was a foolish piece in the Fatui’s schemes—this you are certain. There is no other truth you will believe. You cannot stand for the injustice of their plans falling on his shoulders and stripping him of his freedom. Stripping you of his presence.
“He devoted his life to this Akademiya. To Sumeru. To the Archon, weak as he may have felt she was. And you—you sit in his chair and call yourself righteous for tearing him down and stealing his position.”
Alhaitham exhales quietly through his nose, a trace of weariness threading through his voice. “I stole nothing. I sit in that chair simply because someone has to—and the Archon herself has asked it of me. This is a temporary position. I have no interest in leading the Akademiya long-term. If you wish to read the reports detailing your father’s crimes, I suggest finding the General Mahamatra. I’ll have it arranged so you’re granted permission to see the documents, if it’ll ease your mind.” He shifts slightly, a finality to the motion. “Now, if you would please allow me to continue with my rather limited break—”
You flinch. The words land like cold water against your face. How dare he? How dare he speak to you as though you’re a fool—a child, a little girl who is naive enough to believe whatever reports were written by the same insidious people who used your father as a scapegoat for their own gains?
You watch as he turns from you and begins to walk away. To dismiss you once more. To ignore your existence and the weight you are left to carry because of his selfishness.
“Don’t you dare,” you whisper. The words shake from nothing else but fury. And before logic can tell you otherwise, before it can stop you, your hand shoots out. “Don’t you dare turn from me before I am finished, you scoundrel!”
You catch his wrist. And then you regret it. (Perhaps ignorance, as they say, is the ultimate form of bliss. Perhaps if you had never touched him, had allowed yourself to be ignorant of this discovery, you’d have been able to live some semblance of a happy life.)
It happens in a sudden—there is a searing heat surging beneath your palm, sharp and alive, as though something ancient and dormant has been waiting just beneath your skin for this exact moment. A soft, glowing light emits where your fingers meet his skin, and what looks like a thin, golden thread burns into both your wrists before settling into a mark.
You both freeze.
Alhaitham’s eyes flicker down to the mark forming on his wrist, then to yours. The same shape—a sharp V, and from its bottom, points three thin lines branching outward. You recognize the shape almost instantly—a constellation. Aquila. (How cruel fate is, mocking you with a soulmark that mirrors your favorite constellation and ties you to a man you loathe.)
You stumble back a step, your breath catching in your throat. The glow lingers on your skin for a moment longer, pulsing faintly before it fades—leaving behind the familiar, unmistakable shape burned into your wrist.
No. No, no, no—it can’t be. It can’t. You refuse to believe it. You won’t.
Your stomach twists, your skin burns, your eyes sting, and the air collapses in your lungs. You drag your hand away from him quickly—as if scalded by his touch—staring at the mark like it’s something foreign, something monstrous, something hideous.
Alhaitham’s expression doesn’t change—still composed, still maddeningly calm. You hate him for it. For being so unfeeling about something that has all but changed the direction that your world spins and the axis that it is tilted on. He opens his mouth to speak, but you’re already shaking your head.
“No.” The word cracks on your dry tongue. “No, this isn’t possible…it can’t be—”
“It would appear,” he says quietly, “that it can.”
The way he says it makes bile rise in your throat. He sounds like he might be identifying a constellation, not dismantling your entire world. Like he’s merely stating an objective fact that he has read in a textbook rather than admitting to changing your whole life. Again.
You clutch your wrist to your chest, covering any evidence of the mark as if hiding it might undo it entirely. “You…this—” You can’t even form the accusation properly. The words tumble along your tongue, frantic and hurried as you try to string together something coherent. “Undo this! Undo what you did!” you shriek, the words panicked.
Alhaitham freezes, just a fraction, his hand brushing his own wrist where the mark glows faintly. His eyes flicker between your face and the mark, calm on the surface but calculating beneath.
“That would be impossible. I didn’t do this,” he blinks, “nor could I. This…is not in my control. Or yours. And please, lower your voice—people will get the wrong idea if you scream in the halls—”
You shake your head, tears pricking your eyes. “This can’t be real! It can’t—”
“It is,” he says firmly. Louder this time. You blink through your tears and look at him—really look at him, and only now do you notice his pallor. Only now do you notice he subtle tension in his jaw, the faint dig of his nails into his own skin. “This is very real, and it isn’t exactly something either of us can simply ignore. Therefore, it would be wise of you to accept—”
“No!” you shake your head, your voice giving away your horror as it worsens by the second, “No! You can’t be serious. You can’t expect me to accept that the stars would decide this fate for me. They…they would never trap me with…with you! A man so awful, so wicked, so utterly merciless. How could they curse me like this? How could they choose someone as vile as you to be my fate? How could I deserve something as cruel as this?”
“I—”
You turn before you can hear any more words from him. You turn and you run—you run past the halls of the Akademiya, past the streets of Sumeru City, past every vendor and market you know, and you run into the quiet, empty home your father raised you in. The one that is devoid of him now—and maybe always will be. You run from him, from that man and from the mark he taunts you with, from every fragment of happiness he tore away from you and has crushed in his fist.
────────────────────────
They say not even the Archons can come in the way of a soulmate’s bond. It is written and sealed by Celestia themselves—or so the whispers tend to go. You often wonder if that’s just the Akademiya’s way of giving reason to what they don’t understand: linking this inexplicable bond to a power such as Celestia that they find equally impossible to grasp, yet impossible to deny.
If you were not so devastated, you might think it’s funny that you and Alhaitham happen to be a pair. Your visions certainly make for a good dynamic—Dendro and Electro. A formidable combination, as everyone likes to say. The two heighten each other, a sharper and more concentrated source of energy when together than apart. The Akademiya’s been taking advantage of that for years, pairing Dendro and Electro users in Matra units whenever possible.
There was even research once—old Akademiya studies claiming that soulmates who were both vision wielders always shared elements with strong synergy. Hydro and Pyro, perhaps. Cryo and Pyro, maybe. Dendro and Electro—everyone’s favorite in the Dendro Archon’s nation. The reactionary benefits were a popular topic across Sumeru, and being the nation of Dendro, plenty of Dendro scholars happily threw themselves into studying the synergy with Electro.
It spread far enough that even Liyue got involved. A researcher there proposed something new: that some soulmate pairs didn’t have opposing elements at all, but the same one. Their powers, they said, heightened differently—something that is less of a reaction, something that is more of a saturation. A phenomenon they called Elemental Resonance. That theory didn’t last long. The skeptics tore it apart, insisting two vision wielders didn’t need to be soulmates to fight well together. The sages pulled their funding soon after, and the whole thing was left to fade into obscurity.
You have never particularly believed any of it. You doubt the Archons and the gift of their power to you has much to do with your supposed bond to Alhaitham, either. Still, a small part of you almost wonders if those who are divine have a strange sense of humor—what chances that Celestia has decided Alhaitham is your fate, and the Archons have decided that your vision is his match.
Perhaps if your soulmate were anyone else, you might have believed in the divine. You might have even trusted their judgment. You almost wonder if they have made a mistake until you stare at the lines that mark your wrist—and then you know that, however much you want to deny that the divine have power, you cannot.
Aquila. Your mark is the shape of Aquila’s constellation. It is proof enough that Alhaitham is your soulmate just as much as your vision is Electro. There is no denying this truth. You would recognize the constellation in your sleep—a scholar of your caliber from Rtawahist’s darshan would never mistake such a commonly known collection of stars. You have studied the stars for so long. Day after week after month after year, you’ve stared into the sky and wondered if each constellation will guide you to the truth. Your father has always said it would.
You remember it vividly—the first time he’d taught you about the stars and their meanings. Azar was always a doting father. You can still feel the warmth of his arms as he’d sat you on his lap as a child, pointing to the sky and guiding your eager eyes.
That one is Aquila, he’d whispered. But in the Rtawahist, we call it Vultur Volans. It reflects an older astronomical lexicon predating the modernized Aquila, you see.
Well. That one is my favorite, you’d whispered back excitedly. And he’d chuckled—you still shiver when you remember the way it felt. Warm. Safe. Good.
Your father was always good.
And yet, he is sitting in a jail cell with zero contact from the outside world. Even contact from his own daughter requires utmost effort on your part. Official regulatory protocols dictate that you must submit a formal request to the Grand Sage to visit any current prisoners before their trials. Your only options are to follow them—but you don’t expect it to be a yes.
As Acting Grand Sage, Alhaitham alone has the authority to approve or deny any visitation for Azar. No one apart from you will visit Azar—you are the only one who loves him. You know that. You think you may be the only one who even likes him. The thought makes you a little sick.
When you submit your request, you are certain that he will deny you the right to see your father. You think, deep down, you may have just made the submission more to spite him than to visit Azar. But then the reply comes—short, stamped, and neatly folded in an envelope—and his handwriting legibly scrawls: APPROVED.
You can’t decide if you’re relieved by the opportunity or enraged that you were granted his mercy.
But you waste little time. When you arrive, the matra who escort you say nothing. They don’t have to. Sharp eyes and distrustfully downturned lips are something you are growing used to, something you are accepting as yet another piece of your truth. People are not exactly unkind—regardless of where you and Alhaitham stand, he is a hero to the nation, and knowledge of your connection is not uncommon by now. People know better than to mistreat the previous Grand Sage’s daughter for his sins. They know to repay the current Grand Sage’s generosity by extending to you their mercy.
You hate it. All Alhaitham ever seems to offer you is some twisted sense of mercy. Like he is above you. Like his is the one to pass judgment on you while you are helpless to hope it is benevolence. He feels less like your soulmate and more like your superior.
You finally arrive—the door groans open. Metal drags across stone.
And there he is.
Your father is in a jail cell. He is a prisoner. A criminal. A sinner above all. Divinity will not spare him just because he is your father. They see him as nothing more than a blasphemer. Still, you can never see him as anything but your father. Not as the Grand Sage, not as the figure the city whispers about in disbelief and fury, and certainly not as the man whose name has already been stitched into Sumeru’s history as a traitor. Here, in the dim light, he is simply your father.
Azar sits on the narrow bench, hands resting loosely in front of him, posture still and tall. He hasn’t wasted away, you’re relieved to see—of course, it has only been a week, but you cannot help but worry that food and water are not something they spare kindly to a traitor of the Gods. Still, despite being well sustained, something in him looks smaller. His pride, maybe. His dignity. He has always held it tightly, even when you were a child.
You enter, and then his gaze lifts. The hardness drops away at once. His eyes soften—warm and steady and so in love with all of the little fibers of your existence standing in his line of sight. It’s the way his eyes always look when they fall on you. Suddenly, you are a child again. Suddenly, you ache to hold his cuffed hands and look up at the sky once more and hear him speak about the constellations.
But the sky is hidden by stone in his awful prison, and you fear he may never see it ever again. The thought makes your throat constrict, and suddenly every word on your tongue becomes heavy. Like lead. You wonder if you swallow them down, if lead poisoning will consume your bloodstream and kill you. You wonder if you speak them, the bluntness of their force will kill you on impact, too.
Damned if you do. Damned if you don’t. That’s how it feels—so you stay silent.
“Do you eat properly?” He speaks first. “You have always made a habit of skipping meals when you are upset. Who will make sure you drink water now that I am no longer there to notice you are not drinking enough?”
Of course, he breaks the silence first. And of course, it’s to express concern for you, not give you answers. The tears slip down your cheeks like a river washes over stone—unstopping and unthinking. Like a command from the sky, the current does not stop. It does not halt for the world, nor does it slow down for it to catch up. Your tears do not wait for you. They do not slow down in time for you to even decide if they will make an appearance.
Azar is a stain on the cloth that is this nation’s history. You know that.
But Azar is your father. You are his little girl. The blood in his veins is the same retched blood that pumps your heart. You live to a beat of life that was once cradled in his palms. When your legs were not strong enough, his arms carried you through this world, and even when you could stand on your own two feet, those same arms carried away the obstacles from your path and discarded them. No matter the weight, your father bore whatever burden the sky commanded.
How can you abandon a man like that? How can you look away from the face that is a reflection of yours? How can you condemn the eyes that learned the stars for you, so you would never know the struggle of learning every constellation alone?
Your fingers ache to scrub at the stain, to scour it from the fabric, to wash the ugly color out of existence. But your mind knows the truth: no soap, no water, no hand is strong enough to ever clean blood once it’s set.
“You’re asking me if I eat?” You hiss, the words catching on your breath. “They’re saying things, out there. They’re saying you imprisoned our Archon! That you forced the people into dreams and…harvested their energy. That you…that you almost ruined this nation and doomed us all!”
Azar does not move. When you were young, your father was always patient with you. He’d sat through every tantrum, still and calm until the energy it took to misbehave slowly seeped out of you. Only when you grew tired—and only then—would he pick you up and sit you on his lap. His voice would never rise. His hands were never harsh. His eyes were never cold.
Such energy that young body of yours always has. I almost envy it. Will you listen now, my dear?
Yes, father.
He does not move. He sits through every bitter word you throw at him, still and calm now, just as he was all those years ago.
“They’re wrong,” you continue, desperate now, your voice cracking in between pleading syllables. “They have to be wrong. You would never—you couldn’t do that.”
“I could,” he says simply, his voice quiet but firm. “And I did.”
The words feel like a slap to your face.
Your father would never hit you, but it feels like he has struck you with his own hand. Your heart stills, your stomach churns, and for one dizzying moment, you almost laugh. It’s nothing more than a twisted and cruel joke. Your father’s sense of humor has always been a little odd—but he is your father. The man who carried you on his shoulders to see Sumeru’s festival lights, who bought you your first paper book and the colorful sticky notes to annotate within it, who brought home pounds of zaytun peaches because you had briely commented you liked them once, who pointed out constellations and told you their stories so you’d forget the nightmares that frightened the sleep away from your eyes some nights.
“You’re lying to me,” you whisper. Your fingers clutch at your robes, desperate for something to hold onto—you cannot hold his hand. Not when they are cuffed. “You’re just…you’re tired, or you’re confused—yes, that must be it. I see now—they’ve poisoned you against yourself. They are accusing you of someone else’s plot through lies, Father, and you are believing them from your own guilt because you could not have stopped it on your own. You had no choice but to follow along—for your own survival. They may not see that, but I do. Listen to me. You can’t simply give in to what they say.”
Azar chuckles softly, the faintest smile curving his lips. Not cruel, not mocking—only tender. “I see your imagination still runs vividly, my dear. But I fear I am precisely what they say I am,” he tells you, in the same patient tone he once used to explain to your young mind how the stars move across the sky. “The father who loves you more than his own breath and the man who did what was necessary to see his ambitions through. They are two sides of the same coin. They never have been separate.”
Your vision blurs, and you shake your head furiously, but the tears don’t stop. “Stop saying that! Why do you lie? Please. Just…stop. Listen to me,” you beg, “you must tell them—the second of the Fatui harbingers is a terrible man. I have seen his records in the Akademiya, father. He once went by the name of Zandik. If he threatened you into doing his bidding, you have to just be honest—there is no shame in being powerless to a harbinger of Snezhnaya—”
His hand, bound by cuffs, cups your cheek. The rattle of metal sounds so horribly wrong—so sickeningly, nauseatingly wrong. “You are my child—my own flesh and blood. I will never stop loving you,” he says gently. “But I will not lie to you. Not even to soothe you.”
The words may have well ripped away the stars you always believed were hung in the sky by Azar himself. You don’t know what’s worse: the fact that his love has never sounded truer, or that his guilt has never been more absent. You don’t understand it. Cannot process it. It isn’t something he can explain to you patiently this time—how he can allow his love and his sins to coexist with ease when it feels like it tears your flesh straight off of your bones.
“You have consumed forbidden knowledge, haven’t you?” You cry, bordering on hysterics, “It’s caused you to go mad! We can get help. We can move to the desert and live peacefully if you wish—I’ll take care of you. The sky above the desert is the same sky above the Akademiya, I won’t miss this place—I promise! Let’s go, and perhaps your mind will be cleared of all of this nonsense, and we can just forget that any of this has ever even—”
“You are a bright girl,” he interrupts you, “a student I raised, in fact. You know how to find the truth, don’t you?”
You do. You’ve studied the art of truth since before you could even comprehend that there are worlds beyond the sky.
Your father is a criminal. And if, someday, you have children of your own, they will learn of his crimes from the history books. It isn’t a reality you can reverse by spinning the planet backward. There is no undoing this—only moving forward. There is only the future, and what the sky has decided will exist within it.
You will live without your father. And he will rot in a cell. The stars have already decreed it, leaving you no chance to protest. Perhaps even a week ago, you would not have dared to argue with them. It’s funny how one moment can change everything.
“The only truth I know,” you say, blinking through tears as you stand, “is that everything I have ever loved is forever ruined.”
You turn and walk out of the cell, your steps echoing down the corridor. You keep your eyes fixed on the floor, fighting back the sobs clawing their way up your throat. Your vision blurs so completely that you don’t even see the figure ahead until you collide with it. Skin meets skin—and it’s warm, grounding. Suddenly, the ache inside you disappears. For one fleeting second, breathing feels easy again.
Then you look up and see him. And you wish you could stop breathing altogether.
“You’re crying,” he murmurs. Alhaitham is ever the sharp mind—sharper than most in all of Sumeru’s Akademiya—and yet, he is somehow capable of saying something so painfully useless.
“Shocked, are we?” you smile thinly, pulling away from his hands, which have caught your waist to steady you. “Perhaps if you had a little love in your heart, you’d understand why.”
“I understand perfectly well why you cry for him,” he says plainly. “It’s just that he doesn’t deserve tears from someone he’s betrayed.”
“Why did you do it?” Your lips quiver. You search his eyes for answers as though they will tell you before himself—you wonder why you do when he is so cold. Blunt. He would tell you his answer even if you did not want to hear it for yourself. “Why did you take him from me?”
“Do you think you’d be spared from the version of Sumeru he was trying to build?” He raises a brow. Alhaitham is so, so cold, you think—so harsh and cruel with the way he holds a mirror up to your face and forces you to see the truth. How can you bear to look into a mirror ever again? How can you bear to see your eyes and remember they are the same eyes of your father?“Do you really think you’d find happiness in the world he wanted to create? You’d rather he take your life with him?”
“Don’t speak to me about what I would and wouldn’t want as if you know me,” you hiss.
“I know enough,” he says, gaze steady as it bores into you. “You’re my counterpart. I know that whoever I’m bound to by fate could never be someone so different from me. If you weren’t blinded by the fact that he’s your father, would our views really be so far apart?”
“I am not blinded by anything!” you poke a finger into his chest, “if I was, the only thing I would be blinded by is the horror of Celestia mocking me with you and…and that face of yours that haunts me everywhere!”
“And what? You think you haunt me any less?” he fires back—you realize now that you have only ever seen an Alhaitham that is patient. An Alhaitham who has lost his patience minces his words even less. “You think it’s easy to see your face every time I close my eyes? Your face that so closely resembles his? The man that nearly cost me everything I’ve worked for—my position, my achievements, my peace? You really think I believe someone like you—someone who is as capable and intelligent—can be this naive? You’re not suffering because of me. You’re suffering because you ignored the truth long before I ever spoke it out loud.”
You freeze. Your fingers tremble as you grab his shirt and yank him closer until your faces are level, your jaw set. “What do you mean?” you ask, low and dangerous. “What exactly are you accusing me of, you absolute lunatic? Has that knowledge capsule you touched rewired your brain completely?”
“Why do you think the Matra haven’t questioned you?” he fires back, voice firm but level. “As his daughter, you’d be a prime suspect for conspiracy. You studied under the same Darshan. You really think the General Mahamatra overlooks that kind of detail? Who do you think cleared you? Who made sure your name never appeared in the reports when documents detailing Azar’s plans were found in your own home? You expect me to believe that, for months, you never once suspected something was wrong? That you didn’t see it, or worse—you did, and you dismissed it? You think so little of your own father’s intelligence—that he wouldn’t tell me himself that you were innocent? You really think that he was never aware of your doubts that you shoved down blindly from loyalty, and that he wouldn’t beg me to spare you? He did. And I believed him enough to keep you out of all of his crimes. I have done everything I can to help you keep a shred of your dignity and your life as you know it, so that his mistakes don’t cost you. You think I would purposely ruin things for you? You think so little of me?”
“So what?” you whisper, voice shaking as you glare at him. “What…what is it you want? For me to thank you? To thank you for letting me exist at your mercy and witness how generous you are? Is that it? Is that what you want from telling me this?”
“No.” His jaw tightens, the muscle ticking beneath his skin. “I want you to finally see things for what they are, and stop letting your emotions cloud your judgment—”
“So now I’m too emotional?” You laugh, a sharp, broken little sound. “Forgive me, Grand Sage—perhaps being orphaned so young has left you with little knowledge of what it means to be loved, but I have the privilege of understanding exactly what that means. You’d never understand the agony of watching someone you love be subjected to this fate.”
He stills. His shoulders go rigid, the tension in his jaw almost visible.
Too far—your mind screams in sync with your heart. Too far. For a fleeting moment, you almost think you can feel the pain in his chest as if it were your own.
“You have no idea,” he says lowly, his voice laced with a venom you’ve never heard from someone so composed, “what you’re saying. My parents’ status hardly means I know nothing about love—you’d do well to remember that.”
“Or what? You’ll throw me in jail along with my father, is that it? Use that high authority of yours over my head?”
“Funny of you to lecture me about love,” he snaps, “when all you seem to think with is that blinding hatred of yours. I’ve waited so long to find you—did you know that? Since the day I was orphaned and stripped of that love you seem to think I know nothing of, I always dreamt of finding you—just what luck it would be that the one meant to love me would make it seem like such a rotten task.”
He grabs your wrists, prying your hands off his shirt and stepping back. Even now, the motion is painfully gentle—too careful for how sharp his words sound. Then he turns abruptly, boots bluntly pressing against the stone floor as he walks away one step at a time.
You stand frozen for a moment before rushing after him, the echo of your steps chasing his. “I’m not done speaking to you,” you call, practically jogging to keep up with his long strides.
“I am,” he says flatly, not slowing. “I have a meeting to prepare for.”
“I’m sure you can afford a few moments—”
“I can’t.”
“Well, too bad,” you snap, breathless. “You’ll have to find some way, because—”
He stops suddenly and turns. Before you can react, his hand wraps around your wrist again—not harsh, but firm enough that you stumble closer. “You are maddening.”
“Well,” you say stubbornly, “I suppose it’s no wonder we’re bound to each other because you’re the exact same way.”
“Fine then,” he rolls his eyes. He turns, dragging you along with him, “Then you can say what you need to say somewhere private,” he mutters, low enough that only you can hear. His eyes flick briefly toward the guards stationed down the hall.
He doesn’t wait for you to reply. You follow him (without a choice, considering the way his hand pulls you along) through the corridors in silence, your pulse still hammering from the searing heat of his touch. When he pushes open the heavy door to his office and steps aside for you to enter first, you realize that despite it all, Alhaitham is a gentleman. Painstakingly so.
He looks at you expectantly, still so stiff in his posture as he crosses his arms and leans his back against the door. Probably so no one tries to come in, you think to yourself.
“Whatever it is you have to say, best make it quick,” he grunts. “I’m a busy man these days—against my will, if I might add.”
You roll your eyes, scowling. “I’m sorry about that comment,” you mutter. “It was cruel.”
“You’re apologizing?” His brows lift in genuine bewilderment.
You scowl deeper. “Say what you will about Azar, but he raised me with proper manners. I’m hardly above apologizing when I should.”
He studies you for a moment, then nods slowly. “Well…I appreciate it.”
“What exactly is it that’s suspected of me?” you ask bluntly, meeting his eyes. “I want to know.”
Alhaitham sighs, shoulders relaxing. “It’s not that your innocence was ever in question—Cyno and I both agreed that if you were involved, you’d have been more of an obstacle during our plan. But ignoring you in any investigation entirely would’ve been foolish. Your father agreed to cooperate during questioning if you were cleared, so I looked into you myself.”
“And what did you find?” you press.
“Like I said,” he waves a hand, “you’re innocence was never a matter of debate. Whether or not you suspected your father before the rest of us and stayed silent…that’s another matter. One I’d rather not get into the ethics of.”
“I knew he was collaborating with the Fatui,” you whisper. “I saw…letters.”
He raises a brow.
You exhale shakily. “That’s all I knew. And I suppose not digging deeper was my mistake. Maybe I could have talked sense into him. I thought it was about money—or maybe knowledge. The man he dealt with was the second of the Harbingers from Snezhnaya. A man once called Zandik, and a former scholar here at the Akademiya. I read the reports—not that I was supposed to, but I did. I assumed Father’s hunger for discovery had just led him into questionable company. I never thought it would…” your voice falters.
“You would never have changed his mind,” Alhaitham says quietly.
You glance up at him, too tired to be offended. “Ah, is that what you think?” you ask bitterly.
“It’s what I know,” he replies. “If love for his daughter had been enough, he wouldn’t have risked everything in the first place.”
“So the problem was that he didn’t love me enough,” you say, laughing without humor.
“The problem,” he corrects evenly, “is that he loved his ambition most. Enough to let it consume him. No amount of love for you could have undone that. If it’s any solace, I think he would’ve regretted it—eventually. For your sake, more than his.”
“Wow,” you sniffle, voice flat. “I’m comforted.”
“Then I’m relieved,” he hums. “I’m not great at comforting. Means I’m doing something right.”
“Listen, Alhaitham,” you say tiredly, meeting his eyes for the first time without malice. His gaze softens the moment he sees your expression. But even then, you don’t soften the blow of what comes next. “The divine may have bound us together, but it’s clear to me that we’ll never make this work. Not when something so much bigger than us stands in the way.”
His eyes flicker—confusion, betrayal, anger, sadness. And something else you can’t quite name.
“How can you be so sure—”
“I’m not,” you cut in softly. “I just know that I’m tired. I need to make sense of what’s left of my life, and to do that, I have to stop living inside this…mess. You’re a constant reminder of everything I’m trying to move past. I think it’s better if we keep our distance.”
“I disagree,” he says quietly. You close your eyes. “But if that’s what you want, I’m not really in a position to argue.”
“Thank you,” you whisper.
With that, you leave his office. The skin of your mark burns as soon as you put distance between you, but you force your feet in front of each other with every step.
────────────────────────
Grandmother had told Alhaitham once, when he was young, that his parents were lucky with their fate. He’d thought her to be crazy at the time. What was so lucky about dying so young? Of leaving their only son behind before even watching him grow?
The answer became clear when he was a little older. Dying alongside your soulmate, he’d realized, is mercy. He had seen the way Grandmother would clutch her wrist; he had seen the way she would rub at the skin when she thought he wasn’t looking. His mother and father were fortunate—sure, they never witnessed their son grow, and yes, they never accomplished all the things they had dreamt as scholars. But they had each other for the entirety of their life spans since the day their paths crossed.
Grandmother was right. There is no fate that is more fortunate than that.
Alhaitham wonders if he is the most unfortunate individual to exist—how can it be that the same mother and father who were so lucky in their time had produced a son with such terrible luck himself? How can it be that with a soulmate so alive and healthy and near as his, he is still fated to the reality that he will never have you by his side?
Even a mind as brilliant as his cannot come up with any explanation for it. And it seems the more he would like to forget you—forget everything, the more you pop into his mind. Even in his dreams, you show up, haunting him and haunting every part of his mind and soul and body.
You’re soft. Alhaitham is overwhelmed by how soft you are.
Your lips are delicate, your skin is pillowy under his touch, and something about the way you touch him back is just as gentle, too. Your walls are soft as well—despite being as tight as they are, they’re warm and velvety, and they squeeze around his swollen cock so well.
“H-haitham,” you breathe, “please, Haitham—I need more. Please, baby.”
He shivers twice. Once because you call him Haitham, and a second time because you call him baby. He feels a third shiver creep over his spine when he realizes how much he likes your voice when it calls him sweet things like that.
Like a bee, you trickle honey onto his tongue—it’s warm and saccharine and addicting. He tastes it and wants to get closer. Nearer. He wants to feel you so deeply in his system, he would happily mistake the stinger and its venom for your love and your affection.
“Call me that again,” he pleads.
“What?” you smile, cupping his cheek tenderly, “baby? You are, you know—my baby.”
“You’re…you’re so soft,” he pants, groaning as his hips rut into you with a punishing pace—he can’t stop. More. More. More. That’s all he can think. He wants more. More of you and more of your existence bleeding into his. “Fuck, you feel so good.”
“So full, Haitham,” you sob, whining as the thick, blunt head of his cock presses against the sensitive part in the back of your walls. You squeeze around him, and he lets out a helpless moan.
It’s good—it’s so painfully good, and he’s so close, and the pressure in his lower belly feels so close to snapping. There’s an ache that’s building between his legs, right where he connects with you in between yours. A vulnerable place that only you can get close to, where he lets you make him ache.
He’s close. So are you. One more roll of his hips and—
—Alhaitham wakes with a start, his breath caught somewhere between a hitch and a curse. The sheets cling damp to his skin—heat is still crawling through his chest, his pulse hammering like he’s run miles through desert ruins to escape them as their walls close in on him. He almost wishes they had. He almost wishes he were in them right now, and that they’d collapsed on him and taken him down for good under the rubble.
Your voice still rings in his ears—soft, broken, begging. Since when has Alhaitham cared for the sound of your voice begging? He can still feel your hands on him, warm and desperate, the vision so vivid that he can still feel the phantom weight of your touch on his skin. And worse, he realizes, is that he had enjoyed it. Every second of his dream, he’d had his lips on you—on your own lips, on the slant of your jaw, against your throat. Every second of his dream, his hands were digging into your hips as if you were the only thing keeping him alive.
He drags a hand over his face, forcing the images back into the dark where they belong. But the ache low in his body betrays him, straining against the slightly damp fabric of his boxers.
Fuck.
It’s that mark. It has to be. He doesn’t lust over you this way, and the overwhelming truth is that he doesn’t even know you like that. There is no way Alhaitham can be this turned on by a stupid, fleeting image of you under him in his head—he hasn’t even seen you in days. But he supposes that only hurts his case—the longer the days go by without seeing you, the more restless the mark on his wrist has been. The divine must have it out for him. They force you into his senses, into his veins, into his dreams, into his fucking mind, deep in the smallest crevices until even his own body turns into a traitor.
There’s a twitch in his boxers. He covers his eyes with his hand and scrunches them shut with a frustrated groan—this is not a problem that will go away. Alhaitham knows this. He knows that if he gets up and forces himself into a cold shower and somehow manages to evade this problem now, it will only haunt him in his mind again. Even worse, he might just get a vivid image flash in his head in the middle of his work day and make his pants uncomfortably tight—tighter than they already are, that is.
So, with utmost reluctance, he caves.
Slowly, a hand wanders down his chest. It caresses the warm, sweaty skin. He tries to imagine the touch as yours—it’s a sickening thought that if he were a bit more coherent at the moment, he’d be horrified by. Your fingers would be less calloused, of course, but he doesn’t take too much time to linger on that thought.
“Fuck,” he whispers. “Fuck, you’re a headache,” he curses to himself. He’s right. You are. You make his worst migraine possible.
His finger circles a nipple gently, and he lets out a low hum of approval at the feeling. He wonders if you’d appreciate his physique—the planes of hard-earned muscle, the sharp contours carved from years of disciplined training, the toned definition written into every line of his body.
You’re pretty, Haitham, he can imagine you saying. He wants to hear you say it. He feels a little nauseous.
“Don’t tease,” he grits, “we don’t have time for that.”
You don’t care for your job enough to stress over being late—you’re busy against your will, remember? Don’t pretend you care now, he pictures you giggling in response. And you would be right. He doesn’t particularly care for his position. But he has a responsibility for the Akademiya.
His hand reaches for the waistband of his boxers, pulling them down swiftly and kicking them off under his sheets somewhere. He’ll worry about them later—for now, he worries about the thick, strained cock that falls heavy against his lower abdomen.
“You’re insane,” he mumbles, wrapping his hand around his cock and squeezing lightly as he feels a sharp, fleeting pressure of ecstasy run along his length. “You drive me insane.”
Then don’t go insane, he thinks you’d say. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, you know—you’re the one who keeps letting this happen, Haitham.
“You do this to me,” he whispers, arguing back, “it’s your fault.”
That’s rather mean, Haitham. You blame me for everything.
“I don’t,” he breathes—and then his hand strokes his girth. “If anything, you blame me.”
He gasps, eyes fluttering shut as his head falls further back against his pillow. The sheets cover his shame, yet he still feels unbearably bare and open and vulnerable. Touching himself isn’t something new—Alhaitham is like every other human, no matter how much he clings to logic and reason to guide his choices. Granting himself a moment of pleasure is nothing foreign, even if it is rare, given how busy he is.
But touching himself to the thought of you feels like he’s sinning, even when all he really is doing is giving into the fate divinity has designated for him. Perhaps they had always designed him to be in hell.
“Fuck, baby,” he moans, repeating your sweet, affectionate name for him back to you—like you can hear him if he speaks to the air and trusts it to carry the words over to you. “L-like that.”
You like it when I touch you this way, don’t you, Haitham? You’d ask.
“Yes, fuck,” he hisses. Filthy. You make him so filthy with the words he spills on his tongue. “It…it feels good.”
I know, you’d coo, I like it when my Haitham feels good. Because of me.
“Yours,” he agrees, letting out a raspy groan as he tightens his grip and strokes himself faster, feeling the familiar build up in his lower belly as the ache between his legs intensifies, “your Haitham,” he breathes.
My Haitham, he can hear you soothe, all mine. You were made for me, weren’t you? Made to be my love. I love you, Alhaitham.
He cums as soon as he hears you whisper those delicate words in the fragile existence of his subconscious. That place that exists but doesn’t all at once. That place that he can escape to, but never really go as he wishes. He gasps, letting out a quiet whimper as thick ropes of cum spill into his hand and coat his abdomen with heavy twitches of his cock—he tries to imitate how he thinks you’d touch him through his high.
Maybe you’d slow down, teasing him as he bucks into your hand with a frustrated huff. Or maybe you’d quicken your pace, stroking him faster so he’d have no choice but to be at your mercy. (It doesn’t matter, really—he’ll never find out, he’s sure. So he might as well run through every possibility himself and settle on what he likes best as the closest he’ll get to having you.)
Finally, when he slumps against his mattress as he finishes, limbs feeling heavy and tired, he stares up at his ceiling and lets out a shaky sigh as he feels his own erection soften in his grip.
“Same dream again,” he scoffs to himself, rubbing his clean hand over his face tiredly, “you’re depraved, you fool. And you only have yourself to blame—Sumeru dreams again because of your own flawless plan.”
He lies there, wallowing in his own misery and self-pity for a moment before a thought strikes him:
Alhaitham is a linguist. He studies the art of language—its history, its structure, the delicate logic that binds meaning to form. And if anyone knows how to put words together in the language he’s most fluent in, it’s him. He sits up immediately to get to work—and then he is reminded of the shameless mess he’s made and groans. (After this is cleaned, he thinks, after this display of lewdness is cleaned, will be the start of his careful plan.)
So it begins—one letter at a time, he gives you distance. Because physically, as much distance as you ask for within the walls of Sumeru City, Alhaitham will grant it. But linguistically, there is no distance you can create that he will not find a way to close.
—————
Week One:
To you,
I don’t expect a reply. In truth, I don’t even know what I hope to accomplish by writing this. Perhaps it’s a habit I can’t unlearn—the impulse to record, to make sense of what cannot be reasoned aloud by writing them on parchment. Or perhaps it’s because words have always been my preferred method of thinking, and you have become something I cannot stop thinking about.
You told me that space would be most beneficial. I’ve been trying to respect that. I keep my distance. I let you pass without a word, and I make sure my presence doesn’t reach you unless absolutely necessary. Yet language does not abide by the same rules as distance. Even now, as far as I am from you, I find myself turning my thoughts of you into sentences, as if the act of forming them could bring me clarity. It hasn’t.
I used to believe that words were easy tools meant to define—simple to wield as long as one abided by their rules, like grammar. Then you happened, and suddenly, every word I knew became insufficient. It no longer feels easy to use words. I don’t know what to call this feeling. Perhaps there isn’t a word for it yet.
What I do know is that I’ll write. One letter at a time. Not to persuade you of anything, but to preserve these thoughts before they’re lost to distance. Perhaps, along the way, I’ll find the right word for this state of mind you’ve put me in.
— Alhaitham
—————
Week Two:
To you,
Another uneventful day, though I suppose “uneventful” is a luxury in the current state of the Akademiya. Meetings have multiplied ever since I transitioned into leadership. Half of them could be replaced by a single well-written report, but apparently, no one else sees it that way.
The Dendro Archon insists I attend, so I do. I listen, I make my notes, and I watch as words—our supposed instruments of precision—are thrown about carelessly, stripped of meaning by overuse. It makes me wonder how many things in life lose their truth simply because they’re spoken too often. Perhaps feelings are the same. Perhaps it’s better that I don’t speak mine aloud.
Today, someone used the word corrupt during a discussion about administrative reforms. They said it as though it were an objective diagnosis, a simple matter of right and wrong. No context. No nuance. They did not give me a proper explanation for why they came to use that word when I pressed. It bothered me more than I expected. Words like that should be used with care, or they’ll become too easily bent by whoever speaks them.
It made me think about how language fails us when we use it without precision—and how I fail at it, too, when I try to speak about you. I’m still searching for the right word for what you make me feel. Something that isn’t dulled or watered down by overuse. There must be one. It just hasn’t presented itself yet.
So give me time. I’ll find it. Studying words is what I do best, after all.
— Yours, Alhaitham
—————
Week Three:
To you,
I find my days are increasingly occupied by bothersome interactions, though I suppose that is hardly surprising given my current position. Meetings, receptions, consultations—each demands a performance of attentiveness I must forcefully will myself to demonstrate. I am expected to navigate pleasantries, offer guidance, and answer questions I hardly consider worth any depth. It’s exhausting.
Social interactions in a professional capacity, in theory, should not require this much effort. Yet the expectations that are considered proper, such as tone, phrase, and posture, are disproportionately taxing. I suspect that those who set up these standards for the workplace hardly used their intellect when creating the framework for how we conduct ourselves.
Luckily, when I find myself drained, I can seek clarity by writing to you. Perhaps it is because no pretense is required. No careful phrasing to appease or persuade.
And yes, I am still searching for a word for how you make me feel. Even amidst these endless meetings, my thoughts drift inevitably to you. In one of the manuscripts I reviewed today, I stumbled across an archaic word: eunoia. It means beautiful thinking; a well-minded state. For a moment, I thought perhaps this is the word for what you make me feel—a state where every thought in my head is serene and filled with clarity. It then occurred to me that this would hardly be a fitting word—for all the clarity you might bring me, you are also the only person who manages to turn my mind into a hazy, unclear place. I hardly recognize myself when I think of you for too long.
So I continue my search, hoping that someday I will find the word capable of holding the entirety of this state you put me in.
— Yours, whether you will have me or not, Alhaitham
—————
Week Four:
To you,
I spent the last few days in the rainforest—an inspection trip to ensure the withering is no longer a threat. The humidity there was constant, draining enough to make even thinking a tiresome task. And yet, I found myself thinking more than usual.
In the thick of Apam Woods, I saw several kalpalata lotuses. I’ve heard they’re your favorite. The cliffs that they grow along make for a good contrast, blue and green against a pale grey. They’re said to be the origin of all plant life in Sumeru—the beginning from which everything else grew. I suppose that’s poetic, though I’ve never been one for mythic explanations. Still, I couldn’t help but think that if such explanations were real, every branch and every leaf in Sumeru traces back to the roots of a kalpalata lotus.
Every thought I have seems to trace back to you in much the same way.
I’ve had no luck with a word this week. I thought perhaps the change of scenery might help, but nothing suitable presented itself. Maybe the right term won’t come from research or inspiration at all. Maybe it will reveal itself gradually. Until then, I’ll keep searching.
— Yours, if you would honor me with the pleasure, Alhaitham
—————
Week Five:
To you,
I’ve spent the past week cataloging old star charts because I know the stars are what you love most—Aquila’s constellation among them. You’re already aware that the Rtawahist tend to call that constellation Vultur Volans, and you’ve certainly seen it in the night sky. I used to admire its symmetry as a child, as my grandmother had taught me to search for it when I could not sleep on restless nights. Now I can’t look at it in the sky without thinking of the shared version of it burned into our skin.
I’ve never been one to seek meaning from the divine. I believe in consequence, not providence. Yet even I can’t help but wonder what sort of irony governs a world where the person I was fated for is the daughter of the man whose corruption I exposed. There are moments when I think fate must be a cruel scholar, concluding at the expense of those bound within its margins. If it is you with whom I am bound to the margins, then I would not choose to escape them despite the flaws of this design. If you were to ask me whether I regret it, I would say I don’t. Justice doesn’t become less rightful simply because it brings pain. But I wish, more than anything, that it hadn’t been you who had to bear its cost.
I’ve finally found the word—or rather, two. You are familiar with them, I am sure. I know amongst the scholars of Rtawahist, you are one of the most brilliant—a star right here on the ground that I can witness without reaching the sky. The words are aphelion and perihelion: the points in an orbit when one is farthest from, and closest to, the sun. That’s what you’ve become to me: both distance and nearness. Cold and warmth. The center forcefield and the reason I keep moving. Whether you grant me the closest or farthest point of your light, I will always orbit around you. It is in my nature to do so, and it will never stop at any point in time.
If the divine truly intended for our paths to cross, perhaps it was not to bind us together, but to teach me that even a life governed by logic is still vulnerable to gravity. If it is you who will pull me down, then I will choose to fall, no matter the force that will shatter me as I meet the ground.
— Yours, happily so in every world, Alhaitham
────────────────────────
The letters come every week.
Every Monday morning, without fail, a new envelope waits at your door—your name written in Alhaitham’s impeccable handwriting. The calligraphy is always deliberate and elegant, not a single word crossed out, not a single stroke shaky. He is good with words—you’ll give him that much. Week by week, letter by letter, word by word, he carves his way into your heart. You knew he would. You always knew that not falling for Alhaitham was an impossible task. Not because fate demanded it, but because he had been right that day.
Without your father to blind you, you are not so different from him after all.
You read every letter. You drink in every word. You smile when he complains, and you roll your eyes when he’s predictable. You tear up when he thinks of you, and your lips tremble when he reminds you that as long as he can use words as his tools, you will never truly be free of him. You will never truly be alone.
By Sunday afternoon, the day before the sixth letter is due, you decide to pay him a visit.
You knock on his door. When he opens it, he blinks at you in disbelief, eyes flicking from your face to the world behind you as if to make sure this isn’t a hallucination. You blink back. For a moment, the world tilts on its axis the way it always does around him—gravity somehow always shifts and changes, tugging you closer to the ground when he’s near. Like you’re falling.
“You’re…here?” he breathes.
“Hello to you, too,” you snort quietly. “Proper etiquette is to invite guests in. Especially when they happen to be your soulmate.”
“Ah, well,” he says, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “In my defense, my soulmate happens to despise me. That complicates things, doesn’t it?”
“I don’t despise you,” you whisper. “We can talk about that. When you let me in—which you still haven’t done.”
He flushes, coughing as he hurriedly steps aside. “Right. Come in.”
You smile at that. He’s endearing—infuriatingly so. When he isn’t sending your father to prison or dismantling everything you once knew, he is so painfully endearing. And, of course, no one else would see it. You’re sure only you could ever find someone like Alhaitham endearing. Most people at the Akademiya certainly don’t.
When you’re both seated in his living room, opposite ends of the same couch, you whisper, “Thank you. For the letters, I mean. They…made me feel less lonely.”
“Of course,” he says quietly. “Though, I’ll admit, I had some selfish reasons for sending them. But I’m glad they helped. I know the last few weeks haven’t been easy for you.”
“Well,” you manage a tight smile, “Father writes to me too. I’ve come to terms with the fact that he’s responsible for his own actions—it only took a month, huh?”
“It’s not wrong to have faith in people you love,” he says after a pause. “Maybe not to the point where it blinds you, but…it’s not my place to tell you how to come to terms with betrayal.”
You huff a quiet laugh. “You always sound so detached when you say things like that.”
“Detached,” he repeats. “Maybe. Maybe I am—maybe I’m not as rational as I like to think I am.”
“No,” you whisper, “no, if anyone is irrational, it’s me. The facts were always there—I just chose not to see them. You saved Sumeru—and me, by extension, and I gave you a hard time for it.”
“I didn’t save Sumeru because I’m a generous person,” he says quietly. “I did it because there is an order to everything that should be maintained…and I don’t value imbalance to that order. It’s…it’s not about playing a hero.”
“Yes,” you crack a smile, “I forget that being generous is not a fit for that cold image of yours.”
“That’s not what I meant,” he grumbles. You giggle—he lets loose a small, barely-there grin. “I suppose Sumeru’s best interest is not something I stay ignorant of,” he finally admits. “But I’m sure that isn’t why you’re here, either.”
“It’s not,” you agree. “You’ve been writing to me. All this time.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He blinks, startled by the question, as if he can’t understand why you would ask. “Because you asked me to stay away. And I told myself I would respect that. But contact does not have to mean the absence of distance—I wanted to contact you.”
You laugh bitterly, shaking your head as you glance down at your lap. “You shouldn’t have had to do that. If I were worthy of that effort, you wouldn’t have had to fight distance in the first place.”
“I wanted to,” he says simply. “You were the one who needed distance. I didn’t fault you for that. You are worth fighting distance—to me, you are.”
Tears sting your eyes at his words. Alhaitham is good with words. You don’t think it’s because he studies them, though—you think it’s because deep down, he’s a gentle soul that was made to be patient with you. To learn you and what you need when you are unsure of it yourself. To be easy when you are difficult. You know why Alhaitham is your other half—it isn’t just because the divine have said so. It’s because the stars will always guide you to him. It’s because no matter where you are, there is always a way back to him.
He is always waiting for you. Always watching for you. Always searching for you.
You press your lips together. “I didn’t want you far because I hated you,” you murmur. “It was because being near you made it harder to accept that things…were changing. I thought being away from you would make losing my father easier.”
He studies you quietly, his voice soft, “Did it?”
“No.”
A breath escapes him—half sigh, half laugh. “So you continued, why? To punish me for the hell of it, huh? You really are something else.”
You know it’s a joke—still, for old time’s sake, you glare weakly. “Be quiet.”
He smiles fondly. “I knew it would be worth it if I’d waited. That one day, you’d come to me on your own terms. Even if it took months. Even if it took years. I would happily wait.”
“Why aren’t you mad at me?”
“Because you’re here now,” he says—like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “I knew it wouldn’t help to stay apart, but I knew I could never say no to what you wanted. And…I knew we’d never manage to do it for long. You’d have found your way back to me just as I would you. It’s just how things go—the nature of this world. You and I finding each other is in our nature.”
“I wanted to come find you after the first letter.”
“Why didn’t you?” he raises a brow—he almost looks a little hurt.
“Because I was scared,” you laugh—there’s no humor in it. Only a choked sob. Only a tear that runs down your cheek as his eyes quickly change to soften for you. “If I came, what if you decided I was just…too much? And then you hated Celestia for deciding to bind me to you? And then you hated me? And then no one would love me ever again—”
“You really are something else,” he snorts, grabbing you by the wrist and tugging you against his firm chest. It’s warm. Alhaitham is warm. You never want to be cold ever again. For the first time since you arrived, his composure completely slips. His fingers curl into your shirt as his voice cracks and he pleads, “Don’t go again. I’ll never hate you if you never leave.”
“I’ll never leave if you never hate me,” you sniffle.
“I should have known you’d be stubborn,” he playfully pokes your ribs, pressing a kiss to the crown of your head. “Using my own promise against me.”
“I believe it’s because we’re cut from the same cloth or something like that—that’s what they say about soulmates, don’t they?”
“Who knows,” he snorts, “I don’t waste my time reading hopeful fantasies.”
“Yes,” you let out a watery laugh. He wraps his arms around you tighter at the sound. “You took your time reading up to expand your vocabulary, instead. Like a hopeful romantic.”
“You took your sweet time coming to me,” he murmurs, chuckling. “What else could I do with my time?”
You hum. “I suppose I did. And you waited.”
“I would have kept waiting.”
You swallow hard. Then, your hand reaches up, cupping his cheek and making his breath hitch. “You don’t have to wait anymore.”
“Is that so?” he glances at you, amused. Hopeful. Affectionate. There’s love in there, too, in those eyes of his—you see it just as much as you feel it. You don’t know everything there is to know about him yet. You don’t know his pain and his joy and the things he keeps hidden away to keep himself safe. You don’t know what he likes to eat and what he doesn’t. What his favorite genre is to read (though you can guess), and what he hated learning most when he was a student.
But you know you’ll love him. The stars told you so. And you’ll listen—you always do when they show you the truth.
“Are you happy it’s me?” you murmur, gripping his shirt and pulling him closer. His lips hover over yours, and your breath fans across his mouth. He inhales sharply. “Be honest—would you swap soulmates if you could?”
“Never,” he grins, “I could never hand over such a headache to anyone else. It would be unethical.”
“Huh?” you gasp, “where went all your sweet, fancy words? This is not the Alhaitham I came looking for—my letters promised me a very different version.”
“Can you really call yourself my soulmate if you don’t like all versions of me equally?” he hums. And then he leans in, breaking the distance and kissing you. And you wonder, genuinely wonder, how you could have gone so long without ever feeling his lips on yours. Without ever feeling him against you and completing you this way. “I would never exchange you for anything,” he breathes against your lips, “never. Gravity will always pull me to your maddening charm, you see.”
“You must love being insulted then,” you giggle, pecking his lips, “because that is all I’ve done for, hm…let’s see, ninety percent of our interactions.”
“Do you take it all back?” he pouts playfully, shifting you onto his lap, your legs straddling his waist as his hands roam along your hips. He kisses your jaw, and you close your eyes, humming as you pretend to think about it. “I’m sure you do. You’ve probably realized I’m a catch.”
“The lazy, antisocial scholar who has a reputation for being difficult to get along with,” you think out loud, “let me see—hm, no, I don’t see what catch you’re referring to.”
“How shallow,” he accuses, “basing your assessment on rumors.”
“Actually,” you murmur, cupping his cheeks and cradling his face as you admire his face (he’s handsome. You’ve never given it proper thought, but Alhaitham is the most handsome man you have met. Another infuriating advantage he has.) “I have the object of these rumors right here—no one will know if they’re true or not better than me.”
“Yes,” he breathes, “no one will know me better than you. If you’ll have me.”
“I would always have you,” you press a soft kiss to his nose, “you know that, don’t you?”
“I do now.”
And then he kisses you again. Harder. Needier. He kisses you like he’s been deprived of all that he’s been searching for in this life. Like he’s been denied his rights to his peace. Like he’s lost every path that leads him home. You kiss him back. Like he is the answer to every prayer you’ve ever whispered. Like he is the last thing you have left to anchor you. Like he is the only thing that’s truly yours in this world.
It’s a blur from there—wandering hands, hiked up shirts, searing touches. His shirt comes off, and then so does yours. His belt is unbuckled, and your waistband is tugged down. Your fingers trace over the hard planes of his abs, and his fingers trace the plush skin of your inner thighs.
“I want you,” he pants, whispering the words between slow, open-mouthed kisses. “Is…is that okay? It doesn’t have to be—we don’t have to—”
“More than okay,” you breathe. In fact, you add soft, pleading, “want you too.”
He groans, reaching to shove your panties aside to press his fingers into your wet cunt. He takes in the view—dark green fabric dampened by your essence and painted even darker. He grins.
“Did you wear this to see me? Knew it was my favorite color?”
You swat at his shoulder, glaring as he chuckles. “No, you lunatic! I wore these for myself because they happened to be the f-first….oh…”
You trail off, gasping as his fingertips brush against a sensitive spot along your walls, curling into you perfectly despite never feeling your body before this. You whimper, nails digging into his shoulders as he studies your face.
“Seems like I found it,” he hums in satisfaction, “that’s where you want me, is it?”
You glare at him in horror. “How lewd! Your mouth looks a lot better when you silence it, you know!”
“Why not help me with that, then,” he hums, “if you’d like to see it that way so badly.”
You do. You silence him with a kiss as much as he drinks in your soft moans while his fingers work their way into you. In and out. In and out. They stretch you open as they curl and scissor their way into you and glide against your warm, wet walls. You like the friction. His fingers are thicker and longer than yours—they reach parts you never thought about reaching. He fits you and completes you in a way that feels intentional. Like there is a reason why he is bound to you as part of what makes you whole.
“H-Haitham,” you pant—he pauses. His fingers still and his eyes widen for a fraction of a second, and you almost feel like you should apologize based on his reaction until his fingers slam against you with a faster pace, brushing harder against that spongy spot. With more force. More cause.
“Say that again—fuck, say that again, please,” he hisses.
“Haitham,” you whine, “so…so close.”
“Yeah? Are you?” he groans, “then cum. Cum for me, my beautiful girl.”
You do. You feel the way your walls constrict and tighten around his fingers—almost making them impossible to move, but he thrusts them into you anyway, working you through your orgasm. Your head falls to his shoulder, teeth biting the smooth skin as you mewl at the pleasure that ripples through your body—a lead disrupting the calm still of of water and sending waves along the surface.
You slump against his chest as he slips his fingers out, panting for a few moments before you shimmy out of your soiled underwear and shift—the wet heat of your cunt grinds against his leaking tip.
“Fuck,” he curses, gritting his jaw.
It takes only a moment of thought before he wraps his arms around you and stands, carrying you to his bedroom and carefully laying you against his bed. You stare up at him, skin flushed with sweat and marks from his lips, and he feels his cock twitch at the sight alone.
“Haitham,” you breathe, wrapping your arms and pulling him down so that your lips barely touch, “fuck me—please.”
He closes his eyes and lets out a shuddering breath before he rummages through the bottom drawer of his nightstand. You watch with dilated pupils as he slides a condom over the thick girth of his cock, groaning at the friction before wrapping his hand around the base of his length. He guides himself to your entrance, panting roughly as he asks in a low, raspy voice, “Ready?”
“Yeah,” you breathe, “please.”
He pushes the first few inches of his tips past your folds—lets you pull him into a searing kiss as you gasp into his mouth and whine. He’s thick. Thicker than anything you’ve ever taken. You feel the burn of the stretch, and he’s not even fully in you yet.
“S-so big,” you whimper.
“You can tell me to stop,” he says softly, “promise. I’ll still be happy, okay? I’m happy with anything as long as it’s you. You’ll tell me if it’s too much, right?”
You nod. But your eyes are stubborn when they open, and he lets out an amused, defeated sigh. “I want it, you know.”
“I know you do,” he kisses your pout, “my stubborn girl.”
You angle your hips upwards before he can say anything else, taking the rest of him in with a quick movement as he sinks into your cunt. His breath hitches as you gasp, and then he bites his bottom lip and closes his eyes, letting out a shaky groan. You watch as he pants, breath labored, while he holds himself back and gives you time to adjust.
“You’re so pretty, Haitham,” you whisper, “your face is pretty. Know that?”
“Shouldn’t I be saying that about you?” he lets out a strained chuckle, “that’s what you should be hearing. Not the other way around.”
“Well, you took too long,” you say, flashing him a cheeky grin, “so I did it for you.”
Something flashes in his eyes at that—dark and hungry and insatiable as he lets out an amused chuckle. He grabs your ankle, making you yelp as he tosses it over his shoulder and angles himself to press deeper into you.
“My apologies,” he murmurs, nipping and kissing along your jaw as his hips pull him out almost fully and roll into you with a deep, heavy thrust. You let out a soft cry, eyes fluttering shut as he murmurs, “There we go—that’s a pretty view, isn’t it? I knew I’d be speechless, but this is just unfair, sweet girl…you’re breathtaking, aren’t you?”
“S-stop,” you gasp, turning your face away from him shyly. He laughs—it’s a husky, raspy little thing.
“Shy? What’s there to be shy about, beautiful? S’just me…a-and you, yeah?”
His hips roll with punctuated thrusts, angling the thick curve of his cock into you—hitting that same spot his fingers found so effortlessly. Whoever crafted Alhaitham took their time—they made him perfectly curved and muscled in all the right places. Of course, part of that is his own discipline. You know—very well, you know that abs and biceps like that don’t form overnight because genetics say so. But he was made by careful, slow hands that took their time on him. And those same careful hands took their time on you to make sure every curve and angle of you would fit against him. Would mold around him. Would curl into him so well, you would never know where you start and where he ends.
“You drive me mad, do you know that?” he whispers against your ears, “do you know how wicked a woman you have to be—to enter my life so fast and turn it upside down so quickly? Do you know how powerless you have to make me—to come and go as you please, like you did, and possess me that way?”
“I—”
“I’m not done,” he grunts, slamming his hips down and silencing you with a particularly sharp thrust, “you made me sick. Made me some…some shell of myself. Some version I hardly recognized. You turned me insane—more than any forbidden knowledge could have. Corrupted every part of my brain. You have to take responsibility for that.”
“F-fuck,” is all you say, whining as his thumb finds its way to your clit, rubbing harsh circles while the thick head of his cock bullies its way past your folds, sliding the ridges of his length along your folds. You shake from the friction—thighs quivering as you accommodate his punishing pace.
“You have to take responsibility for…for changing everything as I know it. You think you’re the only one who’s scared of change?”
“I’m not…I’m not scared anymore,” you breathe, “not if it’s you—you…you’re good change.”
“Yeah?” he asks—voice shaky.
“Yeah,” you nod.
He kisses you. You kiss back. Your second orgasm crashes over you harder than the first—only this time, it doesn’t break the serene calm of the water’s surface as it's still. This time, the waves are ones you saw coming—ones that bury you under them and pull you deep into the bottom of their depths.
“Haitham,” you whine—and your back arches off of his bed and meets him halfway as he grinds his hips into you with a sloppy, desperate pace.
“Yeah,” he pants, voice cracking, “y-yeah, I know. I know…I…I f-feel it too.”
You feel his cock twitch, and then there’s a flood of warmth against the thin plastic that separates you from him. He stills for a moment before he lets out a deep, throaty groan, burying his face into your neck and riding out the shockwaves of his own orgasm with sharp thrusts that don’t have proper rhythm. Not anymore. Not when he’s so far gone in his own pleasure as it burns through every nerve of his body.
He slumps next to you on the bed—not before he wraps a strong arm around you and pulls you flush against his sweaty chest. Alhaitham is warm. Even when you’re warm, too, you still want to feel his warmth. You don’t mind the burning heat. Not when it’s him.
“Did you mean it?” he whispers.
“Mean what?”
“That I’m good change?”
You look up. Light breaks over your face as you smile at him and trace your finger over his chest. “Yeah. You are.”
“You are too,” he says softly, lips curling into a delicate smile. “You’re everything good for me.”
“Does this mean the letters will stop?” you pout, “no letter tomorrow now that I’m here?”
He chuckles. Looks at you with a look you can’t remember the last time you’ve seen before—maybe it was when your father could still look at your mother. Maybe you’d last seen such a look on his face, all those years ago.
“Do you want them to stop?”
“No,” you whisper, shaking your head as you nuzzle closer, “I don’t.”
“Then they won’t stop,” he says, kissing your head. “Promise.”
────────────────────────
Just like he promised, Alhaitham never stops writing you letters. Even when your house is no longer registered under your name and you have no address anymore, he still writes you his letters.
“You sold your house,” he says quietly. “I saw the papers in the files.”
You pause your fingers from their adventures along his chest. It’s funny to think that some time ago—just a few months prior, even—you’d have stiffened at the words. You would tense at the fact that he knows anything about you and pull away from him. You would tell yourself that you have to pull yourself out of this bubble that surrounds you and throw yourself back into the real world.
But you know now that Alhaitham is the real world. He is under the same sky as you and watches the same stars. You point to a constellation and he looks. He learns it. He remembers it, too. He is part of your world.
“I did,” you murmur back. “I just…can’t keep going back there anymore. It’s not the same.”
“Where will you go? You haven’t bought another house yet,” he raises a brow. You roll your eyes—he thinks you didn’t think this through. You roll them out of slight amusement, though. Not bitter anymore like it once was.
“I’ll find one. I don’t have to move out for another two weeks.”
“That’s highly unprepared. Not a good calculated risk,” he clicks his teeth. This time, you give him a flat look.
If you are aphelion, Alhaitham is perihelion—opposite ends of the same path, always at different ends, yet always tied together by the same sun in the same sky. You are bound to him by the same, never-ending orbit. And he has sworn this to you, thoughtfully written in the letters you keep carefully hidden away in your drawer. For you.
“I’ll be fine,” you huff. “Mora isn’t exactly an issue. Say what you will about my father, but he left me a generous sum.”
He hums, staring ahead in thought. And then, “You know…you can always live here.”
You pause. “Here?” you ask cautiously, “you mean with you?”
He swallows for a moment and looks down. “Yes,” he says quietly. “With…with me. If you want, that is.”
“Your only other room is taken,” you snort, “by your roommate. And I’m not going to evict poor Kaveh—unlike me, he can’t afford a move.”
“This room is just fine,” he says boldly. Still, you can almost hear the way he’s a little hesitant. Scared, maybe. Still clinging to his pride as he delivers it with a shrug. “The windows are big. The mattress isn’t uncomfortable, either—you’d know. The bathroom has two sinks, too.”
“How convenient,” you nod slowly.
“Very.”
“Okay,” you whisper. You pause. He stills, but he doesn’t stiffen. You breathe in and then out slowly for a moment before you say it again, louder this time. “Okay.”
Alhaitham’s eyes brighten at that—but then again, they are always bright. His irises are the sky, and every little streak of color that paints them is vibrant enough that you might mistake them for the stars. You might even wish on them, beg them to tell you secrets and show you the way, and lead you down a path that always takes you to him.
And he’ll always be there. The sun might come out and the stars may disappear from your line of sight, but the stars will always be there. And they’ll always come back. There’s never been a night when they haven’t—not once, not in any chart the Akademiya has ever kept.
He smiles at your answer. It’s barely-there and it goes as quick as it comes, like a shooting star that passes by. But it came, and you have seen it in its fleeting glory.