Animal Sanctuary
AfuHiru Month - 22.08.19 Day Five_ Animal Sanctuary Rating_ Very light, very softies. What’s in here?_ another first contact between the blondies of my heart, reptiles and rodents, obnoxious friend Ao3 here, folks (Prompt List) by Nene~
He has never loved animals.
Animals were all his life until that point.
He was scared of them, cats were too subtle, dogs too loud and messy.
He loved every kind of animal. Each one was different and they deserved food, a warm or cold place to live, a lot of petting and a bunch of love.
Animals didn't like him, anyway. They've avoided him for all of his life.
Animals loved him. Since he had memories to remember, they felt the love and looked for him.
That's why he had no animals in his life.
That's why he had an animal sanctuary.
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Hiruma had no love for animals. It's not like he hated them, he didn't have any interest in them. They were like aliens, he didn't understand them and he preferred to be far away from them for both of the parts' sake. Dogs were too loud, too messy and too consistent, and attention-seeking. Cats were too subtle, too independent, too cold. And he was a little bit uncomfortable with cats. Birds and rodents... and if he was a little afraid of feathers, lovely furry little friends were afraid of him. So both of them were a nope. Anyway, his life was full enough even without a pet by his side. He had just got his bachelor and was looking for an apartment in the city, tired of the common ground of the campus. But not even to say, prices were out of his league. He was looking for a room, then, and he found some nice accommodations; the first was with no windows and near the airport and the railway, the second had mold everywhere and the third... the third was totally fine for its price, the only problem was the flatmate. Her name was Anezaki Mamori, she was the owner of the place and her passion was cooking. This means he had a very little space fo his things in the kitchen and that the kitchen could have been full of noise even in the night, but Hiruma couldn't care less. The room was big, nice, clean, and with a private bathroom. Perfect. The second passion of Mamori was being obnoxious, but he found out this detail later. After a while, they clicked with each other and eventually, they became friends. At least, they spent a lot of time arguing over nothing important just for fun. Animals were one of their favorite topics. She insisted so bad about Hiruma and his indifference because she believed he just didn't have found the right species for him yet. Hiruma always laughed at her thesis until one day she looked in his eyes and "We are taking a pet with us." And Hiruma was "Not a chance." "The house is mine." "I pay my rent!" "You can choose." "That's like I'm taking a pet. No." "Come." "Where?" "To the Sanctuary." "To what?" "The Animal Sanctuary. Shut up and come. And take the coat! There are 8 degrees in the street, you can't go out with just a shirt!" And rolling his eyes, Hiruma went with her. And his coat. Even if a coat was unnecessary because he was always hot like Hell.
Hiruma was expecting a cottage, a chalet, a zoo, a church maybe, but- He wasn't expecting another apartment, sixth floor of a normal residential building. When they arrived he looked at Mamori and she shrugged her shoulders. "You'll be surprised by the number of abandoned animals we have right here in this city." No other words, she rang the bell. After a second they heard a voice screaming "I'm feeding the baby ferrets, one second!" Hiruma looked at Mamori and he saw a smile he didn't like so much. He felt like he was trapped. And he was ready to left and went home when the door opened and he saw a man standing in front of them. "Oh. Mamori, how could I have forgotten your visit." "Nah, I've nothing for you. But I have a friend and he is going to take home one of your needy friends~" "Mamo- no- absolutely, I'm not here to adopt, I'm sorry, but animals hate me an-" "Animals can't hate." The tone of voice was candid but dangerous. "Well, they avoid me very often and I don't have... interest. Mamori made up this thing but-" Afuro shook his head with a kind smile. "Don't worry, you've come this far. Come in, both of you... even if I've told you to bring only conscious people!" And he looked at Mamori harshly. Hiruma thought his eyes were powerful and scary at the same time. And they were red. A strange color. He entered the room and he finally was able to take off his coat with a sigh of relieved, and quickly to follow the flow and hanging it over a hook near the door like Mamori did right before him. Then he turned around and he was completely astonished by the vision. The entrance of the house was full of shelves and every shelf was full of cages with every possible kind of rodents you could think of and possibly more. "Oh." He has never seen anything like that. But like always, the rodents in the room started to squeak a bit and Afuro instantly noticed it. Not a single of his little friends were looking at the new human. Strange enough to make him frown; they were always happy to see new faces. It was sad. It wasn't hate. It was fear. "Let's have some tea, shall we?" And he pushed the new guy in the next room, followed by a chuckling Mamori. There were few cages, but isolated one to the other and covered with dark drapes. Hiruma was strangely uncomfortable by the exact moment he was in. "What-" "Nocturnal. Almost birds of prey, you know. They are waiting for another Sanctuary to be accepted, they are here just for a stall, I don't have the space to treat them well enough." He seemed really sorry about that and Hiruma didn't pry more. But that room wasn't the final destination. The door after was the final one. A nice kitchen, with three chairs and a round table in a corner by a big window. It was cozy, warm, and... "That's a-" "A fox. She is good, don't worry. Her name is Pollon. She is a softie by heart." "I've never seen a fox. Live." "Go ahead, then." Hiruma was surprised again, when could you see a fox in such a random moment of your life? He approached her gently and Pollon smelled him for a moment. Like some serious shit was going on. Then, she simply retreats. Fast. Hiruma was a bit hurt by avoidance, but he accepted it. He knew it. Afuro was freaking out inside. He looked at Pollon, she was already following Mamori, who was in charge of the tea like always, hoping for a snack. Oh, poor- wait. What was his name? "I'm Afuro Terumi, owner of this Sanctuary. Yes, I rescue animals for a living. Take a seat, the maid will be here soon with the tea." He said out loud and the hissing of Mamori was perfectly audible from where they were. Hiruma laughed and sat, looking at the fox. What a pity. "I'm Hiruma Yoichi. Friend and flatmate of the maid." "I can hear you." Afuro smiled, looking at him like he wanted to know his deepest secret. "Happy to finally meet you, then. Mamori says you are a pain, but a funny one." "I hope so or I should ask myself why she hadn't evicted me yet." Afuro was... nice. He left the impression of a confident person, gracefull, even dangerous but with a golden heart. Hiruma liked him like a bee could like a colorful flower. Or like a mosquito could like the blue light of the death. Afuro asked him about animals. He asked about his attitude towards them and with some unmotivated shame, he apologized for his fox behavior. Hiruma laughed. It was fine, nothing new. If animals couldn't hate, they couldn't offend too. But Afuro was offended by the universe. How could a man scare animals so much? And how dare his animals to fear such a nice young man? He was nice, gentle. Yeah, ok, he had sharp teeth, pointy ears, but he had met scarier people who were loved at 100% by his fox. He was the exception he didn't want to know about. The maid and their teas arrived and the talk about life in general for a while. Then, Hiruma asked about his animals. Only rodents, a fox and some occasional stalls? He was ironic, Hiruma was thinking that much was more than enough but Afuro's eyes widened in surprise. "Of course no! Mamori... do you tell him about the reptiles? You know I don't want to have people who don't know..." "Ops. I forgot." Hiruma was looking at them. He wasn't scared of reptiles in general. He hadn't seen one in his life. "Yes, I rescue rodents and reptiles." "Can I meet them or...?" Afuro looked at him. He hesitated. After the weird reaction of the others... but he used the word "meet" and not the word "see". He liked that. A lot. "Yes, of course. Follow me." Afuro returned in the rodent's room and opened a door leading to... it was amazing. Snakes. Even some salamanders, iguanas, chameleons, frogs, but- Snakes. Hiruma walked through the door and his mouth fell open. Afuro had a nice smile on his face, while he was going straight to the nearest glass-case and starting to explain something Hiruma didn't hear at all. There was something strange going on. Like he was looking at them, they were looking back. At least thirty pairs of eyes were following every move he did. With their nose pressed on the glass, their eyes wide opened like they were really interested. Afuro noticed it after some seconds and his mouth fell open as well. "They- they've never reacted like this." Hiruma took a few steps until the first glass cage. Mamori had a strange smile on her face when he lowered his face to look in the eyes of the snake. He was a ball python, a pretty common one. They glared at each other like they were having a conversation, then the python gently booped the glass with his head. Hiruma smiled. Mamori went straight to the point. "I told you. You hadn't met the right one yet." Afuro was already next to Hiruma, watching by himself at what was happening. "You hypnotize them?" He was speculating, with a soft voice. "She is Narnia. She likes to abscond under the fridge." "And what about that?" Hiruma was looking a bit higher, now. "He is a Cobra named Zen. He sleeps most of the time and he is an aggressive son of a- mh... Not with you, it's miracle." He whispered the last part because that situation was too abnormal: Zen wasn't in combat mode, he was almost waving at the finger Hiruma put on the glass. Insane. Afuro did it once to see the reaction and he didn't even want to remember it. Talking about his snakes, he described them to Hiruma until he stopped by the glass of a black python. It was the newest, found in a box not far from there five days before like it was a kitten. "And about...?" "He doesn't have a name. He's a Coulbert constrictor, I think. I can't say if he is young or aged, it's only thirty centimeters, but some of his kind only reach the fifty centimeters." Afuro shrugged, looking at Hiruma furtively, by little glances. His expression was pure gold. He felt a bit for it. "If you want you can hold it." For the first time, since Hiruma stepped into the room, he looked at Afuro instead of a snake. "Can I?" But Afuro was already on a chair, removing the little one, who immediately strangled his wrist. "Being a constrictor he is going to strangle you. Don't make it go to your throat. He can't kill be it can be annoying, ok?" Hiruma was already staring at the constrictor and he just accosted the hand to the snake, but at last... it wasn't necessary. The black one was ready. When that hand was near enough, he crawled with a little hiss around the palm and then the wrist of Hiruma, who chuckled a little. "It's cold." The snake, by the way, seemed to have found his paradise. And Afuro could see why. He accidentally touched Hiruma's skin and he was hot. Really hot. Like ha had a fever, but he was fine all the time, so... The constrictor rolled up against his arm and Hiruma dared to boop his head. He was a little confused, maybe, the fact is he saw the shirt of Hiruma and he decided to run away, right through the gap between the buttons. Hiruma laughed, letting him do whatever he wanted e Afuro, once again, was surprised by the confidence the snake had with that guy. And vice-versa. "Maybe because you are so hot?" Another guessing, just some words he didn't think he was saying out loud. Hiruma looked at him and started laughing. "What kind of hot?" Afuro blushed a little. Maybe every kind of hot. "I mean, your temperatures." He touched the forehead of Hiruma like he wanted to see if he had a fever. "At least 37 degrees. Maybe 38. Of course, he loves you. You are hot." "Only this kind of hot? It's a shame." But he was distracted by the snake, he was on his back, crawling up straight to the shirt collar and Hiruma turned his head to face him with a smile. What a stupid and vacant look he had, he was funny. Hiruma, with firm hands, took the little guy and it crawled to strangle his wrist lying his head on his palm. He hissed quietly. But he was put again in his glass cage and the two guys talked a lot about snakes, about their habit in captivity and in the wild, about what every one of them liked to eat. Hiruma listened to Afuro, at some point, caressing a boa named Bliny. She was long around three meters and her weight was at least thirty kilograms. Afuro told him the previous owner was forced to gave her away when he had to return to his hometown, in Russia. Bliny is, of course, the name of some traditional crumpets. Hiruma started with Bliny on his shoulder until she crawled all around his body, trying to undress him for being in contact with his skin. Hiruma struggled a bit, then he nervously accepted and took off his shirt. Afuro, inside, had a bit of a heart attack, because the vision was almost erotic. The dark greyish scales of Bliny on the white skin of Hiruma were hypnotizing. He liked it. Hiruma was thin but strong. He had Bliny on his shoulder for almost an hour and he was still standing like it was nothing. Afuro could feel the warm Hiruma was emanating, staying next to him. Then, Hiruma gently moved Bliny to her glass box, and back to the door, he dared to ask. "Can I touch Zen?" Afuro glace at him. "He is a fucker. And he is venomous." "He seems adorable." "I don't want a corpse." They changed the subject of the conversation and Afuro was so relaxed he forgot about Mamori. And by the way, Mamori had left them alone ages before, going to read a book in the kitchen. Nobody cared enough to notice and Mamori was ok with that. Hiruma was taking home a little friend, she knew it. She was happy to stick around for a while. Pollon was on her lap to keep her company. What else could she ask? But eventually, Afuro noticed her absence and leaving Hiruma alone, he did go to find her, like the nice host he was. After some words, he returned to the reptiles and he held back a cry. Hiruma was the most inconsiderate person on the planet. He had Zen in his hands, out of the case, he was talking to him with a calm voice and Afuro thought, and not for the first time that day, that he would love to have sex with Hiruma. But- "Put him down, please." Soft voice, but both Hiruma and Zen looked at him. And Zen wasn't happy to see him, because he hissed and his hood popped out in a matter of seconds. Hiruma was so surprised he whispered an "oh" and Zen turn toward his face with another hiss. Hiruma smiled and... Afuro was done. "HOW DID YOU DO THAT." Because Zen was snuggling against Hiruma's neck like a dam cat. "I don't know!" And Hiruma, caressing him like he really was a kitten, put him back in his little glass house, safe and sound. When the risk was off again, Afuro frowned and went to Hiruma looking pretty angry. "God, I don't know if you are lucky or talented, but I know you are an imbecile! What the heck did you think?" "Nothing happened, right?" "That's not the point!" "Yeah, well, I just wanted to see if- ok, your snakes, you know them. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done it." ...but he was clear he wasn't sorry at all, with that obnoxious grin on his face. Afuro sighed, be he wasn't so angry about it. Hiruma was thrilling. He was probably a natural. "Since you like them so much, you should come again to help with the feeding." "Oh yes, please." The instant reply was pleasant. But it was just for the snakes or...? "I mean, I don't want to bother you." "Not at all, I like your presence here. And they like it too, can't you see?" Afuro was smiling at him and Hiruma suddenly reminded himself he was half-naked. He reached for his shirt and put it on. "We should exchange our numbers" he suggested with a cunning smile. "It seems like a good idea." ...maybe it wasn't just for the snake. The smiled at each other and just in time, Mamori was at the door, yawning. "I'm going. Afuro, this is your free evening, right?" "Yes, well, Suzuno and Nagumo should be here in less than an hour. Why do you-" "Then you should come to our house, Mamori made a pretty decent lemon cake." Mamori muttered and frowned because her lemon cake was perfect, not only decent, but Afuro was happy just looking at the snake whisperer. "Why not, then?" They ignored Mamori and went out of the house even before her, laughing when she complained about the fact that she didn't exist for them. But inside, Mamori was happy. At last, Hiruma took home a needy one, right?
