“how about a hug, hm?” Klaus and Apollinaire
Apollinaire opened the door of the oven to check the cooking. The pigeon skin was starting to get a beautiful, golden color. Just five minutes more, and it would be perfect. He looked at the peas, which were quietly simmering on the stove. Everything was almost ready. He thought about calling Camille for dinner, but their never-ending argument about the origin of the food was starting to tire him. Okay, it was a little… weird, to get up and find a dead animal first thing in the morning. But Apollinaire had been used to weird things way before knowing Klaus and his… seducing techniques, and after the initial chock of a spirit leaving him “food”, he found it quite… cute. In a strange way.
There was a noise behind him, a definitly non-Camille noise, and Apollinaire turned around to discover, as usual, the crocodile spirit in his kitchen. He didn’t know how he could enter in his place without opening any window, door or vent covering, but that didn’t matter much, after all. When you learnt that spirits existed, you didn’t question such trivial matter !
He approached Klaus, earning himself a growl, but it had been a while since Apollinaire had been scared by it. Klaus may look scary, with huge fangs fit to crush the hardest bones, yellow eyes with split pupils and a steady gaze that gave him chills, and weird scales around the edges of his face and along his back, arms and legs. But he never tried to harm Apollinaire, or Camille that one time. He just tried to scare them away (which didn’t work at all). And of course, brought dead animals to the table.
Which reminded him of the one currently roasting. He carefully pulled it out, admiring the perfect color. It looked delicious. Behind him, Klaus was stretching to see over his shoulder. Apollinaire took the time to put it in the plate and pour the peas all around it. Then he proudly presented his work. The spirit looked at it at different angles, sniffed it a bit, and asked :
- Well, there’s only one way to know, don’t you think ?
Klaus hesitated a bit, then sat at the table where Apollinaire set the plate. He didn’t look at ease at all, and the human quickly served the food. Between them, they didn’t leave a single pea. When Apollinaire got up to clean, Klaus jumped on his feet and immediatly went to the window, probably to disappear in the night. Apollinaire grabbed him by the arm and said with a smile :
- Thank you for the food. As you could see, it was delicious.
- Hm. Don’t mention it. You made it better anyway.
- But still, can’t I thank you for it ?
- How about a hug, then, hm ?
And before Klaus could tell him that hugging him was dangerous, what with him being a crocodile spirit and such, Apollinaire hugged him. It… Wasn’t very comfortable, the human had to admit, with the scales stretching the rough material under his cheek, but at the same time, it felt… good. Even better when after a moment, Klaus’ large arms closed around him, the claws resting just under his hairline. It felt comfortable, warm, a little dangerous. A bit like staying in the eye of the storm. It was everything Apollinaire had ever wanted.