After the storm, before the flood
Spoilers, I guess ? If you know who Doman is, it’s not a spoiler. Purely headcanon based.
The noise was too much. Gaku knew it was a wedding, knew it was his brother’s wedding, but they were all simply too loud. The moment he’d seen Koga actually try to outdrink Ginnojo, he knew he had to get some air.
Walking through the dark hallway, he stopped when he saw a flash of deep crimson where he specifically knew there wasn’t supposed to be anything in that colour. Ah. Weddings were happy events for almost everyone, weren’t they. Almost. He paused and then, because he had to do something, he carefully placed the saucer with his big cup of still hot tea by the door and after a short thought took down one of the candles on the wall to light it. Better. That was all he could do. Only time could heal some things.
Outside, the forest was both silent and buzzing with life. Quiet life he could feel bubbling right beneath the surface. It was still a bit suspicious when it came to Yura but that was slowly changing. Progress took time.
Climbing on the stone wall, he allowed the full moon to colour the world in silver and ink, and sort his thoughts.
In the end, nothing had been resolved. Not really. Kurahashi had escaped, not even a trace left, and who knew when he would be back to finish his plan ? The man’s Jorōgumo was still around, having suffered no consequences, and while the wraiths had dispersed, there was still evil right under the skin. In was simply human nature.
What was not human nature, on the other hand…
- If my brother sees you here, it will ruin his year. – Not even a sound beside him but he knew the strange blend of earth and fully other energy the Onmiyoji carried.
-You know my opinion when it comes to your brother.
- Don’t … - When no response came, he turned to look. The man beside him was…a stranger. Gaku blinked in momentary confusion. After a heartbeat, he shook his head. Why was he even surprised ? He and Yura had never been human, to begin with, so eternal life had just come naturally. Doman hadn't had that luxury. Still, he had to be sure. – Who are you ?
A soft smile graced the man’s lips. Leaning back to look at the bright night sky, draped in midnight purples and silver, long hair swaying gently in the currents, he was more beautiful than anything Gaku had ever seen. But that still wasn’t answering his question.
- You know who I am. – He turned to him. Pale yellow eyes, two little braids, several earrings. Straps of black around his neck and down his chest…And a fan. He’d been right. - You don’t look surprised.
- Yura mentioned Futaba had met you. That you would demand everything from her in exchange for a little help. – Doman propped a foot on the wall, leaning his chin on his knee.
- Your brother’s opinion of me isn’t very high, is it ? – Gaku waited for a second but it obviously hadn’t been a rhetorical question. Just almost childish curiously. Like Yura had no reason to dislike him.
- Can you blame me ? I warned him. – Doman was obviously getting upset. It was almost amazing how he could recognise the expression on a completely different face.
- It wasn’t his fault. – The other man narrowed his eyes.
- Wasn’t it ? The only reason he’s not here right now is because he managed to force that girl to marry him.
- Watch your tongue. He’s still my brother…
- I warned him. – Now he was being loomed over. Arms crossed, Doman was almost pleading. Gaku sighed and let the change to flow through him. Doman took half a step back. – You told him. – He opened his mouth to say something but the other man shook his head, long hair dripping down his shoulder and chest. – No, listen. I was there. I know you did. I know you tried to make him see what he was doing. And yet he kept clinging ? He’s sick and instead of looking for ways to get better, he sank his claws even deeper.
- Your solution was horrible. – Doman took another half step back, shrugging and squaring his shoulders.
- He had to see what kind of monster he was. That was the easiest way to do it. You think if I do it again, to her, he will see reason ? Second time's the charm ? – Gaku rubbed his face. Doman wasn't serious, he knew he wasn't, but what a mess. What an absolute mess. – If you think I regret it…I only regret your pain right after it bounced back to you. That was uncalled for. Everything else ? He got in my way and I refused to allow someone to try and get between...
- You cast the curse like that. And drop the act. You're not the cackling crazed stalker you're trying to make yourself so stop being such a drama queen. – The other man shook his head and, unless he was mistaken, was getting close to pouting.
- It’s a hex, not the fury of the Old Ones. Everything has a time limit. I thought he would have seen reason for a thousand years. I was wrong. And now he has another obsession. - Doman…smiled. It was the same soft smile from a few minutes ago only…brighter. – You’re free.
- Do you think I can just forgive and forget ? – Doman flicked the fan open with a dismissive wave of one hand.
- I would never ask you for that. I know you might think otherwise, but I am within my right mind. I know how the world works. You being safe is all that matters. – And then he turned back to the forest, obviously leaving. Gaku raised his eyebrows. He would just go ?
- It’s good to see some things never change. – Doman paused, back still to him. – You’ve always been so dramatic. Come here. - A soft rustle of hair as the other man shook his head. – Doman.
- There are rules that need to be followed. Absolution…
- Doman. – That cut the monologue right off. – Are you going to make me ask ?
vA light snort, and then he turned. The movement was so distinctly and smoothly inhuman he had to hide a smile. He would figure out what he’d done to live so long but for now…
With him still sitting on the wall, his face was above Doman’s. The other man stopped right in front of him, a challenge in his light eyes and his arms loose by his body.
Gaku shook his head. Reaching over, slowly, he tangled a hand in that long, long, long hair and tugged. Doman gave no resistance. Pressing their foreheads together, he tried to read his eyes.
- You going to just look at me ? – Another challenge.
Some things never changed, indeed.
There, under the pale moon and dark forest, with the celebrations still colouring the air, he pressed their lips together. A thousand years had been way too long and he couldn’t wait another minute more.
Doman's skin was cool and smooth, and so was his hair. A millennium. A dozen lifetimes. A small eternity, all those without…
He pressed harder. Pulled back. Those beautiful, beautiful eyes, so close to his, tried to read his mind and soul, and he allowed himself to smile. And dive back.
Doman surrendered without a fight. The moment Gaku pecked his lips, asking for permission, the other man relaxed. It was… so familiar. His fingers slid from Doman's hair, both hands cupping his face, and he kept going. Doman tasted like the past, like a lifetime ago, like the air after rain and the Spring twilight. He was still careful, still not pushing, still following. Gaku tugged on his hair again. He was not a youth anymore.
Hands curved up his hips and behind his knees. And paused. A question. Because for all his lack of morals and inhumane views, he had never been once to force. There was always a question and the option for refusal. Gaku dropped his hands on his shoulders and used the leverage to drop from the wall. And that was the permission Doman had needed.
Back pressed tight to the wall, the moon above them and the wedding music locked on the other side, there was nothing else that mattered.
He had waited too long. Way too long. And Doman was wearing too many layers of clothing.
- Take it off. - A low, choked laugh he felt more than heard. - I'm serious, take it off. From all the times you could have dressed up, you had to choose the one nobody would care…
His sentence was cut off because Doman tugged him by the hips away from the wall to pull off his tunic.
- You're one to talk. - He was getting divested of his clothes way too fast compared to Doman and he had to change that.
- My brother's getting married. You came only for me. - Doman paused, eyes wide. Gaku tried to rewind and figure out what he'd said. - What ?
- Okay, first. - He was left cold when Doman stepped back to unlace the intricate hooks and buttons of his own kimono. - Please, never mention your brother while we are in any state of undress. - Gaku reached up slowly and then lightly flicked him on the forehead. The half a second delay between that and his flinch was more than adorable. And something he'd been doing even back when he'd been fully human. - And second...You are absolutely right. - He smiled like a cat with a whole birdhouse of canaries. - I only come for you.
Gaku blinked. And again. And once more.
- You… - He was interrupted, again, by Doman dropping all his clothes at once, ending wearing only his porcelain - white skin and elegantly draped hair as accessories. His own clothes, on the other hand, were getting tight. He'd never been one for flowery words and poetic speeches, no matter how much the vision in front of him made him want to be. He didn't have the heart to speak of beauty and grace, not in a way to make justice to what he was seeing right now. So he didn't even try. There was no need. Doman knew him, after all. In every way possible.
He simply slid his fingers along the smooth line of his shoulder and then down. The flowing layered clothes and the curves defined by his hair made him look deceptively slim. He wasn't.
He was still a bit boney, even in his old body he had never been a big and wide man. But he was an adult now, frame packed with lean muscle and strength obvious in every little detail.
Down his chest and then around his waist. Reaching with his other hand, too, he pet up his spine. And the hand resting on the small of his back went down.
Doman gave off a choked breathy laugh and came closer, flush against him once more.
- How very indecent, Gaku. How very… - Doman's long fingers dipped below the edge of the shirt he'd been wearing under his tunic and around him. - Sinful.
It was dragging and careful, and he really wasn't in the mood for that. Doman was still being deliberately slow, asking without words for permission before every single touch, and Gaku reached the conclusion it was up to him to set the pace. So he dropped both hands and...gave a squeeze. Just a little, but Doman startled and he felt the other man's breath hiccup in the chest pressed to his. Good.
- I am not some delicate flower, Doman. No need to tiptoe.
- I am not hurting you again.
Gaku pushed him away enough to be able to see his face.
- It's not the same. Look, I'm fine…
- You weren't a few days ago. - Well. What could he say to that ?
- Lie down. - Doman paused in the middle of what he really hoped wasn't a search for his clothes.
- What ? - Gaku nodded towards the soft grass.
- Down. On your back. Or front. I want to see your face but we can do that next time. - Doman looked like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. If he had pearls, he would be clutching them. In the lull, Gaku shrugged his shirt off and took his shoes off. Doman had been barefoot. - Doman.
The suspicion the other man leaned to pick his kimono and spread it on the damp grass would be insulting if the situation was different. For now, Gaku waited. Doman had always been a bit odd when it came to intimacy and he had to take that into consideration.
And then he was sitting, knees up and in front of his chest, hair down and obviously trying to hide behind it.
Gaku dropped heavily on his knees, feeling the unyielding ground refuse to cushion his fall, and carded a hand through the moonlit strands. Doman pressed his cheek to his palm in silent... emotion and Gaku sighed.
- Here… - Rising on his knees again, he leaned to kiss. Doman's lashes dropped but his lips were soft and when Gaku licked, asking for permission, the other man met him halfway. Letting his head to drop back, Doman leaned on his hands and gave him more space.
Now almost looming over him, Gaku slowly touched him behind the knee, mirroring the question from earlier. Doman's breath paused and he could feel every little twitch and tremble. He stopped, pressing their cheeks together. Asking.
- This is only one of the million reasons it's always been you. - Barely words against his ear and then Doman fell gracefully on his back. Gaku could only drink him in for a heartbeat. Or three. - You going to do something ?
He was back in his head. Good. Now between his legs, he went down, and down...until they were eye to eye again.
Gaku held his gaze for a moment before dropping his eyes to his pale neck and shoulders. Much, much better. Pressing a little kiss to the curve of muscle there, he stopped...And then bit down. Just a little. Not enough to bruise, not enough to leave teeth marks or even little pink stamps of his presence. He wasn't like that. Some things ran in the family, he and Yura were made of the same tree, after all, but he had never been one for marks. Not on him and definitely not to be the one leaving them. The very thought of being that possessive repulsed him.
But he still enjoyed skin and flesh under his teeth.
Fingers in his hair and suddenly it dropped free down his shoulders and Doman’s chest.
- Pretty. – He felt the low laugh under his lips. – You’ve always been so…
Gaku didn’t allow his to finish. One hand going down his ribs, he carefully curved his fingers around him and Doman lost his words. And breath. Gaku pushed himself up on his other hand, still touching him, and gazed down. Doman’s pale eyes seemed to try to focus on every feature on his face at the same time, a small frown marring his lips. He was looking for an answer and for the first time since they’d met all those lifetimes ago, Gaku didn’t know the question.
- Doman ? – No response. The other man frowned even harder, obviously not finding what he’d been looking for and Gaku was getting worried. – Doman, what’s…
The hand not in his hair pushed at his chest. Not a forceful move by any means, but Gaku took his hands off and sat back on his heels. And waited. Living with his brother had made him an expert of waiting things out until a better time came. Throughout all the centuries he had lived, though, he had never imagined he would use that skill with Doman.
Who seemed to be almost confused. Gaku shuffled further, ending crosslegged on the damp grass, and kept his silence. In the quiet of the forest, Doman managed to find his pants and seemed to be calming down now that he wasn’t fully naked. Dropping on the other side of the fabric, he mirrored Gaku’s pose and met his gaze.
- Better ? – He just reached up to pull out a couple of pins from his hair, letting the two braids slowly loosen up. The result was lopsided, hair on one side curling in tight waves and on the other – still as straight as an arrow.
- What are you trying to achieve ? – The night was growing cold but Gaku wasn’t about to pull his shirt on. Doman was still upset and obviously didn’t share his principles because he’d already pulled the first layer of his intricate outfit on and crossed his arms for warmth. Or…something else. His question, on the other hand…
- You being like that. The curse is gone, you and yours are free to live your lives to the fullest.
- When have I been nice to someone just to get something ? – Doman was…Gaku frowned. Doman’s long slim fingers were tangled in the tips of his pretty hair and were rubbing the pale violet strands with the kind of distracted precision one reached when doing something fully unconsciously. Tics and obsessions. Doman had never been one for those. True, he’s been awkward when they’d been young but nothing like this.
And the more the silence dragged, the more aggressively he ran his fingers through his hair. One hand only, the other was holding his clothes closed at the chest. And his eyes were not moving from Gaku’s face.
- You hate me for what I did to your brother.
- Listen, I don’t know where this is coming from but I want you to drop it. Forget…what happened. It all ended well, we’re fine and all. Just, drop it.
- You don’t hate me for what I did to you, but what I did to your precious big brother cannot be forgotten. Or forgiven. A thousand years of suffering and you along with him, and now you touch me like you mean it ? – The wide-eyed expression slipped from his face, leaving a pretty smile that looked sharp enough to cut glass. – How very sacrificial of you. How noble. – He sat on his heels, attire finally buttoned, buckled and laced up, and smoothed the hair falling like a waterfall over one shoulder. – Would you have let me in your body, too, so I would be distracted or satisfied and not go after the happy couple ? Hm ?
He let the silence drag. Doman had never done well with silences and apparently, and time hadn’t fixed that.
- You done ? – The smile wilted around the edges though Doman was quick to catch himself. – For the last time, and I am being serious, it is the last time, I am not going to forget what you did to Yura. To both of us. But that doesn’t mean I’m not happy to see you or touch you or kiss you. Get it ? It just means introductions will be awkward. That’s all.
- What about my absolution ? My redemption ? How would you live with yourself if you allowed your life to brush against mine ?
- Well, we can’t really change the past so how about we work on the future ? Sounds good, right ? Also, - And here, he had to sigh and hide behind his own fringe for a moment. – if you don’t feel ready for intimacy of any kind, tell me. Or just push me away. Show me how you really feel. – He waved at the sitting figure that was both a step and a half, and a whole ocean away. – I’m not going to push or force you or be disappointed or anything.
- And here is another reason it has always been you.
- Hm ? – But Doman was already standing up, every piece of fabric on its place and every little earring – where it belonged. – Doman…
A hand reaching over. Gaku shook his head and then accepted. The other man pulled him up and smiled. It was the same soft little curl of lips he’d given him when he’d first appeared who knew how long ago.
- Can I kiss you ? – For once, he wanted to make it formal. To make it clear he was merely asking and he would honour the choice no matter what.
- No. – And then Doman was stepping closer, and… And then his chin was raised just so and Doman was pressing their lips together.
Gaku kept his hands to himself though he tilted his head, feeling his own hair down his bare torso, and when Doman opened his lips to let him taste, he followed. And again. And again. Touch, such simple touch, but with this being their only point of contact the rest of his senses were shutting down, leaving only pleasure.
After…indefinite amount of time, Doman pulled back, expression once more without a smile. There was no need to ask what was about to happen. Gaku could read a situation.
- You stay safe, alright ? – And then, with a distinct lack of dramatics, Doman disappeared and Gaku was left following the quick shape of his familiar slither through the tall grass before fully disappearing in the forest.
Progress was a slow thing, he considered while walking back. His shirt was buttoned, his tunic was pristine and everything was dry. Like he had never seen him again. He did his best not to sigh. It was Yura’s night and he had to be happy for his brother.
- That was a sneaky one. – He turned, slowly, to where Koga was grinning at him. Gaku raised his eyebrows in a question. – Who was that guy anyway ? Don’t think I’ve seen him around.
Well. Koga’s smile was almost always friendly and now was no exception. The only time it hadn’t been…that one time he’d threatened Yura with his hand casually on his sword, Gaku wouldn’t be forgetting that one soon, that was for sure. But now he looked genuine.
- Some Onmiyoji guy who slinks around the forest. – Talk about unexpected. They both turned to Kuya who paused mid-yawn to blink at them. – What ?
- You…know him ? – Because it couldn’t have been that simple, could it ?
- No. Obviously. – Kuya looked between them and sighed, apparently accepting they would make him participate in the conversation. – He just is at places sometimes.
- He is at places sometimes ? – A shrug.
- Why do you care ? If you want to meet him, just tell him or something. Not that difficult. Especially since you didn’t have a problem using your mouth in his presence five minutes ago.
Koga’s smile was a bit strained. Gaku, on the other hand, really wasn’t sure what kind of an expression he was making but it couldn’t have been natural. A few seconds of silence later he opened his mouth to say…to defend himself, maybe ? But before he could put the words in order, something caught his eye.
But of course. The only excuse he had for not noticing earlier was because he’d gotten used to thinking of them as their previous lives and this was obviously not the case here. Or, at least not based on Kuya’s very much untucked shirt and Koga’s missing fine ornaments Gaku had definitely seen on his clothes during the ceremony.
- Must be the mood of the event, I guess, since apparently I wasn’t the only one not having problems using my mouth.
Koga’s smile was cracking at the edges and, unless he was mistaken, the man was actually turning red from the collar up. Kuya blinked at him, raised his eyebrows at Koga, shook his head and grabbed his…lover by the sleeve, pulling him to a dark hallway. Mildly interesting but not all surprising.
Him ending alone again made him think back to what Doman had said. To stay safe. That had sounded suspiciously like a goodbye and Gaku was definitely not about to allow that. A millennium apart, he wasn’t going to just sit and wait for another to pass before they met again. And since Kuya had seen him, and obviously noted his habits, it wouldn’t be difficult to hunt him down. Doman was one of the most powerful Onmiyoji ever lived but Gaku had his own nature at his side. And pure stubbornness.
And a piece of paper in his pocket. What…?
The tunic was new and he had been sure there was nothing on or in it that he hadn’t put there when he’d gotten dressed for the ceremony, so what was that ?
The paper unfolded in a square roughly the size of a small napkin. Gaku sighed, barely resisting the urge to find a void to scream at. Was it too much to ask for one contact without the addition of drama ?
He knew it was impossible, Doman hadn’t really changed that much in a thousand years, but to leave instructions in his pocket for a very, very, very simple transportation charm, written on a music sheet in purple ink… There were even little curves and dots sprinkled around his already flowery handwriting.
In its core, the spell’s use was clear – write something on paper the size of the one he was holding, wave above it and murmur three words. And it would find its way to a very specific altar. And that was it. The sigil in the corner was the twin altar, meaning anything could appear on it at any time. Doman was so…himself. Gaku folded it and nodded at Kuya who had come back and was piling his plate with food and then headed for his own quarters. Better to place the sigil now because from all he knew of the other man’s character, he wouldn’t put it past him to do something flashy to disturb the celebration.
Still. A millennium later. A whole dozen of lifetimes. Now was time for one more.
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