it doesn't take much to stroke aramaki's ego. certainly, calling him the lifeblood of the world helps. h ee mea nt usssâ the voice inside him weakly protests, like a rustle of pine leaves in the deepest part of his core, but the admiral can't help the grin that spreads across his lips from looking a bit too flattered. dark green lashes flutter languidly as he studies varo with a little more interest now, as if he's truly seeing him for the first time. something in the air shifts. aramaki feels it clearly, like a gust of wind rattling his core. his chest heaves rhythmically, miles of tattooed skin and powerful muscles on display, his blood warm with strengthâhis thighs spread like a suggestion. the doctor compliments his control, but there is little of it in the way a vine stretches again, tortuously coiling at the base of varo's ankle and slowly climbing its way up the length of his legs. it strokes his calf, then up to the back of his knees, and though it moves with graceful ease something in aramaki goes taut like a string in anticipation.
maybe it's that magic word, how it sounds.
âhehâsay that again.â it's phrased as a light-hearted joke, but aramaki's leaf-green eyes glint with a keen focus and his eyebrows knit, something in his voice ringing impossibly serious. the praise echoes in every corner of his skull, filling his senses, making him bloom... and not just figuratively, because more flowers sprout at their feet, more grass covering the surgical table. it connects their hands in a way that the admiral is not immediately aware of, and even if he was, the control that varo so sweetly commends fails him. he tells himself to get a grip, but bliss drips thickly inside himâthat fullness soothing his riotous fruit. aramaki's eyes lid as he glances at the blood trickling down varo's pale forearm, his expression lustful as he considers to take just a little more. he can't help biting his lips at the thought.
âhey, don't waste that.â
he snorts. the vine coiling around varo's leg stretches further, climbing all the way to his arm until the tip dips shamelessly into the open wound. the chemicals go straight to brain, and aramaki feels like he's being stroked from the inside out like a good fucking dogâif he had a tail, he would be wagging it anyway. he wants more, the cruel will inside wants more, twisting around the fantasy of varo's hollowed shell when all that matters has been drained out of him. he's not completely wrong, though, because with remarkable willpower aramaki loosens his grip and instead brings the bloody tip to his mouth. it hangs above him like a sweet delicacy as he throws his head back and his greedy tongue rolls past his lips. it morphs, it stretches until that, too, becomes a vineâdark, slick with a mysterious sap that vaguely resembles saliva. blood drips onto it, and the admiral nearly moans.
nearly. he's not a fucking whore.
the leafy tendrils retreat, his tongue morphs back. aramaki grins, a little too pleased with his performance. it's not like he hasn't notice the doctor's hungry stare, the way his res eyes seem entirely too focused on every visible vein in his body. for a split second, he wonders what it would feel likeâto have those fangs breach his flesh, that hungry mouth lapping away his blood. he doesn't doubt his devil fruit would rebel against it, try to heal him, push that intrusion out. but fuck, he's so curious. maybe it's the high of his sated hunger speaking. maybe he's just bored enough that he wants to see what turn this peculiar medical exam will take. and maybe the thought alone makes his pants feel slightly too tight.
âif y'know enough about my devil fruit, you should also know that it wants to be studied.â aramaki's head tilts to the side. âwe like the attention.â