[Fic] Kiss From A Rose
Characters: Kenchi, Tetsuya
Pairing: Yokosuka pair
Rating: G
A/N: A long-overdue birthday fic for aoi_nahani, who I'm pretty sure will want to personally murder me (whether from the story/writing quality or content, I'm not sure) after reading this. This takes place alongside Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. A little backstory, if you would. And no, this story has absolutely nothing to do with Batman.
===================
They had met at the Fair.
He had been curious about the festivities, and it was difficult not to be, for it was a grand event, attracting people from the entire county. He had climbed a tree for a better vantage point of the gaiety below, watching the snaking queues in front of the stalls, families and friends gathering in the spaces available, all bustling about, chatting amongst themselves.
His mouth salivated at the aromas that wafted up to where he sat, cradled in the crook of a sturdy branch and the tree trunk. Toasted nuts. Freshly baked rolls of bread. Warm fruit pies, all buttery crust laden with sweet seasonal fruit.
He however, had always preferred his fruit tree-ripened and freshly picked, the morning dew glistening on their glossy surfaces adding a touch of subtle flavour to his meal.
He licked his lips, eyes settling on a stationary cart that bore a full load of apples.
He had always liked the bright red of this fruit, and its sweetness only added to its appeal.
He wanted one.
Figuring that it would be faster if he crossed through the fairgrounds rather than around it, he had slipped into the crowd, weaving through the throngs of people with ease.
He approached his target, noting with glee that the owner of the wagon was engaged in friendly chatter with a woman loosely holding hands with a young boy, who was seemingly distracted by the ongoing haggling at the store behind him. The horse tethered to a nearby tree lifted its head to glance at him, before giving a small snort and returning to the patch of grass it was nibbling on.
None of the humans around him even glanced at his direction.
He sidled up to the cart, peering at its contents before selecting one, picking it out of the pile and turning it over in his hand, checking for flaws.
Just as he turned to leave, a sudden shout pierced the air, prompting a backward glance to see the young boy’s finger pointing accusatorily at him, brown eyes flashing indignantly.
He fought off a flash of confusion and panic, nonchalantly slipping the apple into his pocket. The confused look on the cart owner’s face and the worried look (not quite masked by her indulgent smile) on the lady’s told him that he was still shielded from their sight.
Could it be…
He had given that boy a cheeky grin and wave, before sauntering back into the woods, an action that (he hoped) hid the racing of his mind, which was exploring all situational possibilities. All this while, the child in question was trying to explain himself to the adults present, frustration bleeding into his voice with every repetition of his account.
He wondered if he would ever meet him again.
===================
It turned out that the boy would be the one to find him instead.
To be fair, he had simply been mulling over the encounter for the past week, trying to decide on his next move in this elaborate game of chess.
He had been doing exactly that at the small stream, lazily swishing his bare feet in the cool waters. Lost in his musings, he did not hear the odd rustle of leaves, only starting when a twig snapped right behind him. He reacted on pure reflex, spinning around to face the newcomer, feet drawn below him and knees bent, fingers crooked into claws and lips peeled back in a snarl.
The boy had hastily stepped backwards, hands raised placatingly in front of him.
“You.” Tense muscles relaxed as he settled into a more comfortable position, brushing off imaginary dust from his clothes.
“Yes, me,” a brief hesitation, “You’re real aren’t you. I’m not imagining things. I know I’m not!”
“If I’m not real, my reply would be moot either way.”
A wry chuckle. Hands raking through short hair. Eyes cautiously studying him.
“You seem real enough.”
“Then I’m real.” Concluding that the boy meant him no harm, he had turned back to the stream, dipping his feet into the clear water once again. The silence between them had turned awkward, prompting the boy to blurt out his next words.
“My name’s Tetsuya. Tsuchida Tetsuya. Pleased to meet you.”
A small jolt of something raced through his spine as his eyes widened.
Freely giving away his Name like this?
“And you are…?”
A rare opportunity indeed; he might as well take full advantage of this fool.
“You can call me Kenchi,” he had drawled, picking up a stray stick near him, twirling it around before holding it out towards the other. “Say, how do you write the characters of your name?”
As the human boy happily scratched out the words in the dirt, he felt a triumphant warmth bleed through his chest.
===================
Tsuchida Tetsuya would find him in the forest almost every other day.
It was not as if he minded; the additional company was always nice. It was one of his games, really: he would hide himself in the greenery whenever he felt that familiar energy approaching, watching the human boy with barely-concealed amusement while he searched high and low for him.
He would occasionally sneak up behind the boy for the cheap thrill of startling him, or allow Tsuchida Tetsuya to find him. (But only if he felt like it. His mistake at the Fair, which resulted in him being seen by this boy with the Sight, should never be repeated.)
However, he discovered that he was rather partial to simply watching the human go about his day, be it in town, or in the forest itself.
Alone up in the canopy, eyes trained on the small figure below him, he found himself rolling the words across his tongue, savouring the taste of the Name on his lips. Meanwhile, his fingers had idly sketched out the characters on the branch.
“Tsuchida… Tetsuya.”
A mere whisper, filled with power. The boy had stopped in his tracks, hand frozen halfway in reaching for the ear on the other side of his head, as if he had no idea what he had intended on doing.
He thought then, that he might just make a game out of this boy.
===================
Autumn passed, and the ground was covered in a fresh dusting of white powder.
He was sprawled out on a sturdy branch, contemplating his newfound… acquaintance.
It wasn’t so bad talking to this human, he mused. He had taken care to limit the locations where they would meet “accidentally”, such that the boy would only associate him with that particular forest dell. Apart from his Sight, there seemed to be nothing particularly special about him. Like so many of his kind who had the ability to see him, the boy proved to be young and impressionable, with aspirations that were probably too great for him to handle on his own.
This boy also had his quirks, one of them being a strange fascination towards his skin.
He had only found out earlier that day, when Tetsuya had ceased openly staring at him with that thoughtful look on his face, moving to trail an innocent finger along the length of his arm. His response was to jerk away from the unexpected touch, reprove dying on his lips when he noticed the oh-so-curious stare that was directed at his limb.
He stretched his hand up at the crescent moon, looking thoughtfully at his own hand.
Catching his thoughts straying, he chuckled wryly and clenched his outstretched hand into a fist, watching the pale moonbeams reflect off skin with the pallor of slate.
===================
Despite what he had heard about humankind, he sincerely doubted that Tetsuya would be as they described: dull, easily tricked, only good for a round or two of self-amusement. It was frustrating, not being able to pinpoint exactly what it was that had captured his attention, made that face haunt him endlessly through the days and nights.
He did not know when he had begun to liken Tetsuya to a rose. A red rose, to be exact.
The boy had protested vehemently when he had voiced out his thoughts, claiming that the analogy was too feminine, and accusing him of flattery through the association to the special produce of his family’s store.
Tetsuya had stilled when he had whisked a long-stemmed rose out from behind his back. A long minute had passed before those slender fingers reached out to accept the flower, placing themselves carefully in the spaces between its untrimmed thorns.
“Ah,” his voice was laced with a wry undertone, “so this is what you meant.”
===================
The first time he actually used Tetsuya’s Name, it had been out of pure reflex, motivated by a purely selfish desire.
The boy had grown up rather well, losing his baby fat to reveal a sharp and surprisingly angular face. Helping out at his family’s florist did wonders for his body, for it had been toned to near perfection.
He had also grown up into one of the most obnoxious flirts in the county.
It had started off innocuously enough, him making small talk with the ladies who passed by the stall, enticing them to purchase bouquets with honeyed words and an all-too-natural quirk of those thin lips.
Then he had thought it a good idea to practice this newfound skill with every single human who wore a skirt.
Whenever he met up with the boy, he would always make it a point to comment offhandedly about how terrible Tetsuya’s pick-up lines were, and how surprised he was that none of the girls had retaliated thus far, save for laughing really loudly. Tetsuya would always return with a friendly punch, some landing harder than others, depending on the nature of the rejection.
He really should have known better than to dismiss all of that effort.
Something had tightened in his chest when he spotted Tetsuya leading a giggling girl (tall, sharp faced, svelte figure) into the tavern, even holding the door for her. She had paused in the doorway, giving him a chaste peck on the cheek before disappearing inside, laughing gaily at the embarrassed grin spreading across Tetsuya’s face.
Before he knew it, his finger had sketched out the familiar characters, the Words murmured into the breeze, an undertone of his Will added to it.
Even from this distance, he saw Tetsuya’s expression smoothen out into an indifferent mask, heard the clear dismissal (“Nah, just kidding.”) punctuated by the sound of the tavern door shutting. Tetsuya had then turned around, and strode purposefully towards the forest dell - their forest dell - without a second glance behind.
He had smiled grimly when the enraged shouts of the jilted girl pierced the air.
===================
He would have been a fool not to meet Tetsuya at their clearing after that.
He did not know who had initiated physical contact, or why.
All he did know for those long, precious minutes, was the sweet, sweet pleasure of his thorned rose, and the reciprocation that he had bestowed upon him.
===================
He had heard his people give warnings about the creatures known as “humans” ever since he was young, about how they were a strange and contradictory species, capable of both the greatest kindnesses and the cruellest atrocities. They whispered, some with awe and others with fear, that although humans were inherently stupid and slaves to their basal instincts, they were still capable of holding power over his kind. But only if they themselves were foolish enough to give out their Name.
He had thought it silly that anyone would willingly give out such precious information, and vowed never to tell anyone, much less a human, his true Name. He had remarked offhandedly that the reverse would be true as well, that even he could wield absolute power over a human should he have said human’s Name.
Give and take.
He remembered one of his elders chastising him for that train of thought, for should he (or any of his foolhardy friends) use any human’s Name, or remain in the presence of humans for a prolonged period of time, they would increasingly gain human characteristics, which would replace their own natural ones.
True enough; after that incident with Tetsuya, he noticed that the underside of his fingers had turned the palest shade of pink.
===================
Just the day before, Tetsuya had told him excitedly about a band of gypsies that had set up camp at the forest clearing.
The boy’s enthusiasm had piqued his curiosity, prompting him to engage in some surveillance of his own that very night. He had seen a ragtag congregation milling about a central campfire, socializing amongst their own people.
Then a lute was strummed, and the murmur of voices fell silent. He saw the humans’ attention fall on a young girl with long wavy hair, whose cheeks turned the slightest pink before she obliged the crowd with a song.
Her clear voice sounded through the glade, painting the night in a myriad of colour. A drum sounded in accompaniment, and soon, a few in the audience started moving along to the beat. He found his eye drawn to one man, who was moving to the rhythm with particular enthusiasm and grace, sinuously weaving through the crowd and encouraging more of them to dance.
His eyebrow rose when the impish grin of this man widened, shortly before he sashayed towards the edge of the gathering and pulling a very familiar individual closer to the light of the fire.
Tetsuya.
He noted that even though he had been dragged into the centre of throng, the boy seemed to be enjoying himself as he danced along with the gypsy. But humans tire easily, and before long, the group broke apart to continue their respective activities, and Tetsuya had joined the ever-smiling man by the fire, sipping at a cup of proffered ale.
He was too far away from the duo to hear the words exchanged, but not far enough to see the expression on Tetsuya’s face change: from sudden epiphany, to outrage, to stony calm.
Just as Tetsuya excused himself and headed to the shadowed path leading back to town with tightly drawn lips, the gypsy man had looked straight at him with a knowing, yet sad, smile.
He saw the glint of otherness in the gypsy’s eyes; just a touch, but it was there nonetheless.
He felt his heart sink.
===================
Wanting to get the impending confrontation over and done with, he had met Tetsuya halfway at their dell.
Tetsuya had directed a cold glare at him when he had strolled into view, his clenched jaw working as he unsuccessfully tried to control his temper.
He had settled for an enigmatic smile when the dam finally broke, Tetsuya railing on about his newfound knowledge of him and his kind, punctuating his sentences with accusations of manipulation.
Not entirely unfounded, if he were to be honest with himself.
Tetsuya had paused to catch a breath, eyes gleaming with the embers of his spent indignance and breathing hard from the exertion of his tirade. Without warning, the light in his eyes had suddenly dimmed, his hand gesturing between the both of them almost hesitantly.
“So, how much of this was real?”
He had kept his smile carefully blank, but not without effort.
“What do you think?”
The frustration was back in those eyes, the renewed sparks of anger making them even more dangerously beautiful than they originally were.
“None, if at all.”
“If you say so, then it must be true.”
Tetsuya had stalked off after that line. Listening to the fading sounds of crunching snow and the occasional broken twig, he had slid down to the frozen ground, for he had found that his legs had given out on him. He caught sight of the spreading patch of flesh-toned skin on his palm, and he rubbed at it ruefully with his other hand.
It was about time he ended this unhealthy obsession, anyway.
===================
His resolve wavered, and he found himself lurking in the shadows of the small town, monitoring that human whose face haunted him through the days and nights since their previous meeting.
He had watched silently as Tetsuya entered the tall man’s house, laughing and pressing close to him.
His mind had gone blank when the shorter man had pushed the other against the wall, before tugging his head down and fusing their lips together.
Red had clouded his vision when the human’s lips moved tentatively against the other’s.
How dare that man touch what was his.
How dare he, when he was already spoken for?
It would be so easy to wrench Tetsuya away with a soft whisper. But no. That man had to pay the price for his insolence.
He had slipped away to the apothecary, whispering words of doubt into the ear of the boy (He was a boy, wasn’t he? All of them were so young compared to him.) behind the counter. He had smiled grimly when the human froze, his cheerful demeanour replaced by self-doubt, shortly before he strode purposefully out of the small shop.
There was no need to follow. He knew exactly where that boy would be going.
===================
He had helped the shopboy craft his letter, made it so that the requested tasks were impossible, made it so that that imbecile would never regain the affections he had once enjoyed.
However, he did not expect that tall human to seek help from his cousins.
“He was so desperate!”
“The stench! It filled the air so!”
“Oh, but this! He gave this to us!”
He could not help but stare uncomprehendingly at the lock of dark hair held out in the pixie’s hand.
Humans are just. So. Stupid.
“The Queen would be so thrilled!” The pixie puffed up with pride, stowing the hair away carefully in the cloth bundle over her shoulder.
But this sort of foolhardy mission that the man had embarked on…
“Don’t you think,” he began slowly, “that our fellow cousins should also know about this piece of good news?”
“Oh most certainly!”
“Perhaps they, too, can gain from his fruitless endeavour!”
“Indeed, everyone should know!”
He had watched the group of pixies disperse with no small amount of satisfaction, the image of those thin lips moving against Tetsuya’s surfacing, unbidden, at the forefront of his mind.
That man had brought this upon himself.
He just needed to give things a little push here and there.
===================
He had followed that man across the county with minimal direct participation in the proceedings, preferring to watch the events unfold right before him. The old salamander who had made its home in the mountain had been too easy to anger, and he had escaped from the maze of tunnels with just a light singeing of his tunic. The human had not been as lucky as him, however, for he had to contend with the rain of fire that ensued. Afterward, he had remained in the shadows, marvelling inwardly at the human’s barters with the dwarf and the merpeople, grudgingly approving of his quick thinking when situations were simply not in his favour (his aquatic cousins were positively mercenary in their dealings).
He had finally left the bedraggled man when he had escaped from the fearful mob, figuring that he had had enough entertainment at his expense. That man’s journey back to the small town would be long; long enough for him to locate the apothecary boy (two villages south from here), for him to whisper the news of the tall human’s homecoming into his subconscious (“Make haste, for he will be there by Samhain.”).
He witnessed their separate, yet similarly apprehensive, return to the place where it all began, watched the shop assistant’s heartfelt (yet useless) apology, inhaled the tall man’s utter relief that permeated the dusty interior of the apothecary.
It had been interesting at the start, when his thirst for vengeance outweighed everything. However, he attributed his earlier perseverance to his desire for closure, for things had become boring after time’s passing.
Unnoticed, he slipped out of the building. Although the bitter, yet fragrant, smell that drifted from the alleyway was unfamiliar, its source most certainly was not. The fully-grown human was staring straight at him, before those familiar downturned lips parted, issuing forth a quiet query.
“Where the hell have you been all this while?”
===================
It had turned out that while he had been away, Tetsuya had been busying himself with this new thing called “coffee”.
Which, quite frankly, tasted like liquefied unripe fruit, which had somehow been torched beyond recognition.
He tried to focus on that acrid taste, tried to use it as a distraction from his realization that the longing for this individual, his thorned rose, had never really disappeared, even after all these years.
His thoughts distracted him, so much so that he never saw Tetsuya approach him, only realizing that the distance between them was closed when a pair of soft lips met his hesitantly, almost on the verge of wariness.
He did not pause to think, simply curling his free hand around the back of Tetsuya’s head and returning the kiss threefold.
===================
“Your hands aren’t grey anymore.”
Even though Tetsuya was slurring sleepily, he still had the presence of mind, the astuteness, to make that small observation.
“Sleep.” A soft murmur into his hair, ending with a tender kiss to the top of his human’s head.
He watched Tetsuya’s eyes flutter shut, heard his breaths even out. He knew that the day would come, where the boy - no, man - would ask him for details. Where he had been, what he had been up to, if he had any interesting stories to share.
He figured that when that day came, he would tell Tetsuya everything.
When that day came, he would tell Tetsuya his Name.
Pairing: Yokosuka pair
Rating: G
A/N: A long-overdue birthday fic for aoi_nahani, who I'm pretty sure will want to personally murder me (whether from the story/writing quality or content, I'm not sure) after reading this. This takes place alongside Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. A little backstory, if you would. And no, this story has absolutely nothing to do with Batman.
===================
They had met at the Fair.
He had been curious about the festivities, and it was difficult not to be, for it was a grand event, attracting people from the entire county. He had climbed a tree for a better vantage point of the gaiety below, watching the snaking queues in front of the stalls, families and friends gathering in the spaces available, all bustling about, chatting amongst themselves.
His mouth salivated at the aromas that wafted up to where he sat, cradled in the crook of a sturdy branch and the tree trunk. Toasted nuts. Freshly baked rolls of bread. Warm fruit pies, all buttery crust laden with sweet seasonal fruit.
He however, had always preferred his fruit tree-ripened and freshly picked, the morning dew glistening on their glossy surfaces adding a touch of subtle flavour to his meal.
He licked his lips, eyes settling on a stationary cart that bore a full load of apples.
He had always liked the bright red of this fruit, and its sweetness only added to its appeal.
He wanted one.
Figuring that it would be faster if he crossed through the fairgrounds rather than around it, he had slipped into the crowd, weaving through the throngs of people with ease.
He approached his target, noting with glee that the owner of the wagon was engaged in friendly chatter with a woman loosely holding hands with a young boy, who was seemingly distracted by the ongoing haggling at the store behind him. The horse tethered to a nearby tree lifted its head to glance at him, before giving a small snort and returning to the patch of grass it was nibbling on.
None of the humans around him even glanced at his direction.
He sidled up to the cart, peering at its contents before selecting one, picking it out of the pile and turning it over in his hand, checking for flaws.
Just as he turned to leave, a sudden shout pierced the air, prompting a backward glance to see the young boy’s finger pointing accusatorily at him, brown eyes flashing indignantly.
He fought off a flash of confusion and panic, nonchalantly slipping the apple into his pocket. The confused look on the cart owner’s face and the worried look (not quite masked by her indulgent smile) on the lady’s told him that he was still shielded from their sight.
Could it be…
He had given that boy a cheeky grin and wave, before sauntering back into the woods, an action that (he hoped) hid the racing of his mind, which was exploring all situational possibilities. All this while, the child in question was trying to explain himself to the adults present, frustration bleeding into his voice with every repetition of his account.
He wondered if he would ever meet him again.
===================
It turned out that the boy would be the one to find him instead.
To be fair, he had simply been mulling over the encounter for the past week, trying to decide on his next move in this elaborate game of chess.
He had been doing exactly that at the small stream, lazily swishing his bare feet in the cool waters. Lost in his musings, he did not hear the odd rustle of leaves, only starting when a twig snapped right behind him. He reacted on pure reflex, spinning around to face the newcomer, feet drawn below him and knees bent, fingers crooked into claws and lips peeled back in a snarl.
The boy had hastily stepped backwards, hands raised placatingly in front of him.
“You.” Tense muscles relaxed as he settled into a more comfortable position, brushing off imaginary dust from his clothes.
“Yes, me,” a brief hesitation, “You’re real aren’t you. I’m not imagining things. I know I’m not!”
“If I’m not real, my reply would be moot either way.”
A wry chuckle. Hands raking through short hair. Eyes cautiously studying him.
“You seem real enough.”
“Then I’m real.” Concluding that the boy meant him no harm, he had turned back to the stream, dipping his feet into the clear water once again. The silence between them had turned awkward, prompting the boy to blurt out his next words.
“My name’s Tetsuya. Tsuchida Tetsuya. Pleased to meet you.”
A small jolt of something raced through his spine as his eyes widened.
Freely giving away his Name like this?
“And you are…?”
A rare opportunity indeed; he might as well take full advantage of this fool.
“You can call me Kenchi,” he had drawled, picking up a stray stick near him, twirling it around before holding it out towards the other. “Say, how do you write the characters of your name?”
As the human boy happily scratched out the words in the dirt, he felt a triumphant warmth bleed through his chest.
===================
Tsuchida Tetsuya would find him in the forest almost every other day.
It was not as if he minded; the additional company was always nice. It was one of his games, really: he would hide himself in the greenery whenever he felt that familiar energy approaching, watching the human boy with barely-concealed amusement while he searched high and low for him.
He would occasionally sneak up behind the boy for the cheap thrill of startling him, or allow Tsuchida Tetsuya to find him. (But only if he felt like it. His mistake at the Fair, which resulted in him being seen by this boy with the Sight, should never be repeated.)
However, he discovered that he was rather partial to simply watching the human go about his day, be it in town, or in the forest itself.
Alone up in the canopy, eyes trained on the small figure below him, he found himself rolling the words across his tongue, savouring the taste of the Name on his lips. Meanwhile, his fingers had idly sketched out the characters on the branch.
“Tsuchida… Tetsuya.”
A mere whisper, filled with power. The boy had stopped in his tracks, hand frozen halfway in reaching for the ear on the other side of his head, as if he had no idea what he had intended on doing.
He thought then, that he might just make a game out of this boy.
===================
Autumn passed, and the ground was covered in a fresh dusting of white powder.
He was sprawled out on a sturdy branch, contemplating his newfound… acquaintance.
It wasn’t so bad talking to this human, he mused. He had taken care to limit the locations where they would meet “accidentally”, such that the boy would only associate him with that particular forest dell. Apart from his Sight, there seemed to be nothing particularly special about him. Like so many of his kind who had the ability to see him, the boy proved to be young and impressionable, with aspirations that were probably too great for him to handle on his own.
This boy also had his quirks, one of them being a strange fascination towards his skin.
He had only found out earlier that day, when Tetsuya had ceased openly staring at him with that thoughtful look on his face, moving to trail an innocent finger along the length of his arm. His response was to jerk away from the unexpected touch, reprove dying on his lips when he noticed the oh-so-curious stare that was directed at his limb.
He stretched his hand up at the crescent moon, looking thoughtfully at his own hand.
Catching his thoughts straying, he chuckled wryly and clenched his outstretched hand into a fist, watching the pale moonbeams reflect off skin with the pallor of slate.
===================
Despite what he had heard about humankind, he sincerely doubted that Tetsuya would be as they described: dull, easily tricked, only good for a round or two of self-amusement. It was frustrating, not being able to pinpoint exactly what it was that had captured his attention, made that face haunt him endlessly through the days and nights.
He did not know when he had begun to liken Tetsuya to a rose. A red rose, to be exact.
The boy had protested vehemently when he had voiced out his thoughts, claiming that the analogy was too feminine, and accusing him of flattery through the association to the special produce of his family’s store.
Tetsuya had stilled when he had whisked a long-stemmed rose out from behind his back. A long minute had passed before those slender fingers reached out to accept the flower, placing themselves carefully in the spaces between its untrimmed thorns.
“Ah,” his voice was laced with a wry undertone, “so this is what you meant.”
===================
The first time he actually used Tetsuya’s Name, it had been out of pure reflex, motivated by a purely selfish desire.
The boy had grown up rather well, losing his baby fat to reveal a sharp and surprisingly angular face. Helping out at his family’s florist did wonders for his body, for it had been toned to near perfection.
He had also grown up into one of the most obnoxious flirts in the county.
It had started off innocuously enough, him making small talk with the ladies who passed by the stall, enticing them to purchase bouquets with honeyed words and an all-too-natural quirk of those thin lips.
Then he had thought it a good idea to practice this newfound skill with every single human who wore a skirt.
Whenever he met up with the boy, he would always make it a point to comment offhandedly about how terrible Tetsuya’s pick-up lines were, and how surprised he was that none of the girls had retaliated thus far, save for laughing really loudly. Tetsuya would always return with a friendly punch, some landing harder than others, depending on the nature of the rejection.
He really should have known better than to dismiss all of that effort.
Something had tightened in his chest when he spotted Tetsuya leading a giggling girl (tall, sharp faced, svelte figure) into the tavern, even holding the door for her. She had paused in the doorway, giving him a chaste peck on the cheek before disappearing inside, laughing gaily at the embarrassed grin spreading across Tetsuya’s face.
Before he knew it, his finger had sketched out the familiar characters, the Words murmured into the breeze, an undertone of his Will added to it.
Even from this distance, he saw Tetsuya’s expression smoothen out into an indifferent mask, heard the clear dismissal (“Nah, just kidding.”) punctuated by the sound of the tavern door shutting. Tetsuya had then turned around, and strode purposefully towards the forest dell - their forest dell - without a second glance behind.
He had smiled grimly when the enraged shouts of the jilted girl pierced the air.
===================
He would have been a fool not to meet Tetsuya at their clearing after that.
He did not know who had initiated physical contact, or why.
All he did know for those long, precious minutes, was the sweet, sweet pleasure of his thorned rose, and the reciprocation that he had bestowed upon him.
===================
He had heard his people give warnings about the creatures known as “humans” ever since he was young, about how they were a strange and contradictory species, capable of both the greatest kindnesses and the cruellest atrocities. They whispered, some with awe and others with fear, that although humans were inherently stupid and slaves to their basal instincts, they were still capable of holding power over his kind. But only if they themselves were foolish enough to give out their Name.
He had thought it silly that anyone would willingly give out such precious information, and vowed never to tell anyone, much less a human, his true Name. He had remarked offhandedly that the reverse would be true as well, that even he could wield absolute power over a human should he have said human’s Name.
Give and take.
He remembered one of his elders chastising him for that train of thought, for should he (or any of his foolhardy friends) use any human’s Name, or remain in the presence of humans for a prolonged period of time, they would increasingly gain human characteristics, which would replace their own natural ones.
True enough; after that incident with Tetsuya, he noticed that the underside of his fingers had turned the palest shade of pink.
===================
Just the day before, Tetsuya had told him excitedly about a band of gypsies that had set up camp at the forest clearing.
The boy’s enthusiasm had piqued his curiosity, prompting him to engage in some surveillance of his own that very night. He had seen a ragtag congregation milling about a central campfire, socializing amongst their own people.
Then a lute was strummed, and the murmur of voices fell silent. He saw the humans’ attention fall on a young girl with long wavy hair, whose cheeks turned the slightest pink before she obliged the crowd with a song.
Her clear voice sounded through the glade, painting the night in a myriad of colour. A drum sounded in accompaniment, and soon, a few in the audience started moving along to the beat. He found his eye drawn to one man, who was moving to the rhythm with particular enthusiasm and grace, sinuously weaving through the crowd and encouraging more of them to dance.
His eyebrow rose when the impish grin of this man widened, shortly before he sashayed towards the edge of the gathering and pulling a very familiar individual closer to the light of the fire.
Tetsuya.
He noted that even though he had been dragged into the centre of throng, the boy seemed to be enjoying himself as he danced along with the gypsy. But humans tire easily, and before long, the group broke apart to continue their respective activities, and Tetsuya had joined the ever-smiling man by the fire, sipping at a cup of proffered ale.
He was too far away from the duo to hear the words exchanged, but not far enough to see the expression on Tetsuya’s face change: from sudden epiphany, to outrage, to stony calm.
Just as Tetsuya excused himself and headed to the shadowed path leading back to town with tightly drawn lips, the gypsy man had looked straight at him with a knowing, yet sad, smile.
He saw the glint of otherness in the gypsy’s eyes; just a touch, but it was there nonetheless.
He felt his heart sink.
===================
Wanting to get the impending confrontation over and done with, he had met Tetsuya halfway at their dell.
Tetsuya had directed a cold glare at him when he had strolled into view, his clenched jaw working as he unsuccessfully tried to control his temper.
He had settled for an enigmatic smile when the dam finally broke, Tetsuya railing on about his newfound knowledge of him and his kind, punctuating his sentences with accusations of manipulation.
Not entirely unfounded, if he were to be honest with himself.
Tetsuya had paused to catch a breath, eyes gleaming with the embers of his spent indignance and breathing hard from the exertion of his tirade. Without warning, the light in his eyes had suddenly dimmed, his hand gesturing between the both of them almost hesitantly.
“So, how much of this was real?”
He had kept his smile carefully blank, but not without effort.
“What do you think?”
The frustration was back in those eyes, the renewed sparks of anger making them even more dangerously beautiful than they originally were.
“None, if at all.”
“If you say so, then it must be true.”
Tetsuya had stalked off after that line. Listening to the fading sounds of crunching snow and the occasional broken twig, he had slid down to the frozen ground, for he had found that his legs had given out on him. He caught sight of the spreading patch of flesh-toned skin on his palm, and he rubbed at it ruefully with his other hand.
It was about time he ended this unhealthy obsession, anyway.
===================
His resolve wavered, and he found himself lurking in the shadows of the small town, monitoring that human whose face haunted him through the days and nights since their previous meeting.
He had watched silently as Tetsuya entered the tall man’s house, laughing and pressing close to him.
His mind had gone blank when the shorter man had pushed the other against the wall, before tugging his head down and fusing their lips together.
Red had clouded his vision when the human’s lips moved tentatively against the other’s.
How dare that man touch what was his.
How dare he, when he was already spoken for?
It would be so easy to wrench Tetsuya away with a soft whisper. But no. That man had to pay the price for his insolence.
He had slipped away to the apothecary, whispering words of doubt into the ear of the boy (He was a boy, wasn’t he? All of them were so young compared to him.) behind the counter. He had smiled grimly when the human froze, his cheerful demeanour replaced by self-doubt, shortly before he strode purposefully out of the small shop.
There was no need to follow. He knew exactly where that boy would be going.
===================
He had helped the shopboy craft his letter, made it so that the requested tasks were impossible, made it so that that imbecile would never regain the affections he had once enjoyed.
However, he did not expect that tall human to seek help from his cousins.
“He was so desperate!”
“The stench! It filled the air so!”
“Oh, but this! He gave this to us!”
He could not help but stare uncomprehendingly at the lock of dark hair held out in the pixie’s hand.
Humans are just. So. Stupid.
“The Queen would be so thrilled!” The pixie puffed up with pride, stowing the hair away carefully in the cloth bundle over her shoulder.
But this sort of foolhardy mission that the man had embarked on…
“Don’t you think,” he began slowly, “that our fellow cousins should also know about this piece of good news?”
“Oh most certainly!”
“Perhaps they, too, can gain from his fruitless endeavour!”
“Indeed, everyone should know!”
He had watched the group of pixies disperse with no small amount of satisfaction, the image of those thin lips moving against Tetsuya’s surfacing, unbidden, at the forefront of his mind.
That man had brought this upon himself.
He just needed to give things a little push here and there.
===================
He had followed that man across the county with minimal direct participation in the proceedings, preferring to watch the events unfold right before him. The old salamander who had made its home in the mountain had been too easy to anger, and he had escaped from the maze of tunnels with just a light singeing of his tunic. The human had not been as lucky as him, however, for he had to contend with the rain of fire that ensued. Afterward, he had remained in the shadows, marvelling inwardly at the human’s barters with the dwarf and the merpeople, grudgingly approving of his quick thinking when situations were simply not in his favour (his aquatic cousins were positively mercenary in their dealings).
He had finally left the bedraggled man when he had escaped from the fearful mob, figuring that he had had enough entertainment at his expense. That man’s journey back to the small town would be long; long enough for him to locate the apothecary boy (two villages south from here), for him to whisper the news of the tall human’s homecoming into his subconscious (“Make haste, for he will be there by Samhain.”).
He witnessed their separate, yet similarly apprehensive, return to the place where it all began, watched the shop assistant’s heartfelt (yet useless) apology, inhaled the tall man’s utter relief that permeated the dusty interior of the apothecary.
It had been interesting at the start, when his thirst for vengeance outweighed everything. However, he attributed his earlier perseverance to his desire for closure, for things had become boring after time’s passing.
Unnoticed, he slipped out of the building. Although the bitter, yet fragrant, smell that drifted from the alleyway was unfamiliar, its source most certainly was not. The fully-grown human was staring straight at him, before those familiar downturned lips parted, issuing forth a quiet query.
“Where the hell have you been all this while?”
===================
It had turned out that while he had been away, Tetsuya had been busying himself with this new thing called “coffee”.
Which, quite frankly, tasted like liquefied unripe fruit, which had somehow been torched beyond recognition.
He tried to focus on that acrid taste, tried to use it as a distraction from his realization that the longing for this individual, his thorned rose, had never really disappeared, even after all these years.
His thoughts distracted him, so much so that he never saw Tetsuya approach him, only realizing that the distance between them was closed when a pair of soft lips met his hesitantly, almost on the verge of wariness.
He did not pause to think, simply curling his free hand around the back of Tetsuya’s head and returning the kiss threefold.
===================
“Your hands aren’t grey anymore.”
Even though Tetsuya was slurring sleepily, he still had the presence of mind, the astuteness, to make that small observation.
“Sleep.” A soft murmur into his hair, ending with a tender kiss to the top of his human’s head.
He watched Tetsuya’s eyes flutter shut, heard his breaths even out. He knew that the day would come, where the boy - no, man - would ask him for details. Where he had been, what he had been up to, if he had any interesting stories to share.
He figured that when that day came, he would tell Tetsuya everything.
When that day came, he would tell Tetsuya his Name.