FIC FOR MAAYACOLA (part 2)
For: maayacola
From: scorch66
Title: Found My Way
Pairings/Characters: Nakamaru/Kame
Rating: PG
Warnings: nada
Notes: Hi maayacola <3 I read 'wacky!AU' in your sign up and I thought, what's whackier than a canon-inspired AU? I hope you enjoy this. =)
Summary: AU. Nakamaru is a dentist for a clinic that serves magical creatures. He has regular patients and a regular routine, and then his new client arrives. Things change.
part 1 || part 2
~*~
Access to the archive room is strictly staff only but Nakamaru can't refuse Kame's pleads, especially after he had given in once previously. He doesn't know why anyone would want to partake in such a mindnumbing activity but he's greatful for Kame's company all the same. It makes the reading less dull, makes the hands of the clock move faster.
Muffled giggles blend in with the rustling of flipped pages and his curiousity now finally reaching it's limit, Nakamaru turns to the side.
"What?" Kame points to the file in his hand and Nakamaru leans over to see nude figures that would have been indecently explicit if they weren't anatomical diagrams. Nevertheless, he finds his ears heating and he pulls back with a haughty cough. "You're such a child."
"Prude," Kame says with a laugh.
"Pervert."
"Oppa."
Nakamaru rolls his eyes and returns to his own file, the sounds of aged paper monopolizing the room once more. The file is useless just like the dozens before it and he places it onto the No Help Whatsoever pile before reaching for the next one. This one is thicker and far more interesting and Nakamaru finds himself humming.
"What?" This time it's Kame whose curiousty has been piqued.
"It's a file outlining the fundamental rules for vampires. I guess everyone has their own laws, huh?" He skims the list. "One: vampires must uphold the secrecy of their kind and not expose themselves to the knowledge of humans."
Kame snorts. "Well that's one law already broken."
Nakamaru continues. "Two: vampires should not drink to kill and must stop when the prey has lapsed into slumber. Three: vampires may sire a maximum of three individuals within their lifetime," he pauses to glance at Kame. "Why three?"
"Well, we wouldn't want too many vampires roaming around. It would lead to more competition and in-fighting. That's partly why my clan moves around so often. The more the merrier doesn't always work," Kame explains. "It's safer for everyone if there's a few of us."
"Makes sense, I suppose." Nakamaru nods and begins to read again. "Oh, this one is interesting. Four: interbreeding is prohibited. Vampire blood shall not be tainted by human weakne-"
The file is ripped from his hands so fast that Nakamaru fears paper cuts.
"That's a stupid rule," Kame hisses and tosses the file in the No Help Whatsoever pile. "Stupid archaic gibberish."
"O-okay," Nakamaru stutters. "I just didn't realise the dead were capable of reproducing." Aren't you all dried up down there?
Kame fixes him with a piercing stare and when he scoots his chair close, there's no doubt in Nakamaru's mind that he's managed to somehow read his thoughts.
"I can always show you a demonstration, sensei," he whispers all too close and enticing and-
Enticing.
Nakamaru's mental faculties screech to a stop at that thought and his body follows along, jerking and sending the stacks of files flying off the table. As Kame groans and bends to scoop them up, Nakamaru pointedly looks away from the jut of his Adam's Apple and his curved behind. His very not-enticing curved behind.
When Kame returns, Nakamaru gets up and moves to the opposite seat.
He ends up migrating to another table altogether when he feels a socked foot creeping up his leg (I was only stretching, sensei! All this reading is tiring). Everything goes downhill from there on out.
~*~
One day, when they're leaving the Magical Maladies For Monsters And Myths Center, Kame grabs his wrist. His hand is pleasantly cool.
"Let me take you somewhere?"
Nakamaru agrees. He lets Kame lead him through town and while Nakamaru is familiar with the darkened streets, everything looks oddly different. There's another dimension added to all the shapes and stores and trees lining the sidewalks. He's only ever walked along them alone before.
They talk about Nakamaru's family and how Kame came to be a vampire. Kame tells him about a man named Kimura who saved him when he was a boy on the verge of death. There's a strong affection laced in his voice and Nakamaru is so hooked that he doesn't notice that they've veered off the sidewalk.
When Kame finishes his story, Nakamaru finds himself standing in a wide pasture closed off by a ring of trees. The grass is tall and lush and Nakamaru feels as if he's walking on a giant green cushion.
"Um, Kame?" Nakamaru says. "I hope we aren't here for dinner. I'm sure sheep blood has a high nutritional value and tastes wonderful to your tastebuds but it's-"
A single, small finger presses against his lips.
Nakamaru releases a shaky exhale, eyes locked to the pair just inches from his. Kame's stealth is something he'll never get used to, but his faint smile is another story.
"Sit," Kame says before he drops to the ground himself. Feeling like a wonky scarecrow, Nakamaru follows soon after.
"Are we waiting for-"
Kame shakes his head. "Just look."
The field is empty, not a cattle or sheep in sight. Nakamaru considers it for moment before giving in to lie on his back, his arm brushing against Kame's. The grass pillows his head comfortably and his coat is thick enough to ward away the little cold that hangs in the still air. He gazes up at what is probably the biggest, clearest slice of sky he has ever seen, star studded and eternal.
Nakamaru gasps when he realises it.
He feels more than hears Kame's amusement as his arm shakes.
"Wood fairies," Kame explains and Nakamaru widens his eyes to take them all in, the moving stars that aren't stars at all but twinkle just as brightly.
"What are they doing?"
"Dancing...?" Kame ventures. "I never really understood fairies."
But dancing sounds appropriate to Nakamaru. He watches them fly about like silver fireflies, graceful and carefree.
"I've always wished I had wings."
Nakamaru doesn't realise he has spoken outloud until Kame turns to him, laying on his side. His hair is moved off his forehead and it's the first time Nakamaru has seen all of it, open and close. It's better, more beautiful, than he had imagined. At this point, he doesn't bother denying the thoughts about Kame that float into his mind, unbidden and setting up a tent in the center of his focus.
"Where would you fly to?" Kame asks.
"I don't know." Nakamaru laughs. "It's stupid, but I'm afraid of heights. I haven't been able to face them since I was a kid. Maybe... If I had wings, maybe I wouldn't be so scared."
Kame grabs his hand and Nakamaru lets him.
"Nakamaru is the bravest person I know," Kame says and the conviction in his words is more startling than flattering. Which says quite a bit because Nakamaru can feel himself blushing.
"You're the weirdest v-" it doesn't matter, he thinks; vampire or not, Kame is the oddest of oddballs, "person I know."
Kame squeezes his hand gently. "Good weird?"
Nakamaru turns back to the sky before he lets the truth climb its way out into the clearing.
"Yeah."
There's a warm press at the corner of his eye, fleeting and soft.
A heartbeat and Nakamaru intertwines their fingers.
~*~
Nakamaru has a routine and somehow, Kame has nudged his way into it, quick and seamless like stitches fading away to leave wholesome skin. After searching through more files in the archive room-it's a fruitless effort but Nakamaru doesn't mind so much anymore-they walk to the pasture. Kame's footfalls are deathly silent and Nakamaru would think he was walking alone if it weren't for the fact that Kame walked so close to his side, so close that their arms brushed with every step.
There are moments when their hands find each other in the darkness. Kame grabs hold before Nakamaru can move back with a stuttered apology.
Sometimes, Kame leads him inside the clump of trees lining the pasture where they sit on a fallen log and watch gnomes roam about, harvesting berries from magical plants that bloom only under the moonlight. Nakamaru has been long familiar with the fantastical faction of the world but this is different; before, he only knew about the medical aspect-rots and disease and cavities. Nothing that differed from the human world. But now... it's as if Kame is introducing him to the real magic, unfolding each beautiful secret with every nighttime stroll through town.
Other times, Nakamaru is the one to lead. When his stomach grumbles, he takes Kame to a restaurant, only it's more of a diner than a restaurant, Nakamaru explains sheepishly. Kame looks thrilled either way and Nakamaru is more than impressed by the way he blends in among the plastic chairs and checkered table tops.
"This is takoyaki," Nakamaru says and swings the skewered dumpling.
Kame's gaze flickers from the dumpling to Nakamaru's face and Nakamaru knows what he's going to say just by the twitch of his lips.
"I see no diff-mphh!"
Nakamaru pulls his hand away, laughing as he drops the empty skewer onto his plate. Kame's pout is less effective when he has a dumpling stuffed in his face. Less effective but still heart-clenchingly adorable.
He doesn't even try to deny it anymore.
~*~
Koki drops by with the stray cat again and Nakamaru blinks when he sees the tiny pink tutu wrapped around her waist. He doesn't comment on the oddity of a werewolf playing dress up with a kitty but he is pleased to see her improved condition. The cat can stand now, even as her steps are hobbled and her balance is thrown off. She rubs her nose against Nakamaru's palm and he smiles.
"You've been taking good care of her," he says and Koki replies with a pleased laugh before hesitation takes over. "What is it?"
"It's just... The full moon is approaching soon and I'm beginning to get a bit twitchy..." Koki looks at the cat and his face falls as he scratches her ear to elicit a deep purr. "I don't want her to get hurt."
Ah. Nakamaru sighs out of habit, not feeling the weight of a burden at all. It's the least he can do for a friend.
"Leave her with me, then. She'll be taken care of."
"Really?!" Koki beams at him and Nakamaru dodges the hug. "I promise I'll be back as soon as the moon starts waning again. And Nyan-nyan is a good kitty. She won't give you any trouble."
Wait. "Nyan-nyan?"
Koki bristles and looks away, his face coloring spectacularly. "It's the vampire's fault."
Nakamaru snorts out a laugh. At least he's not the only one being subjected to Kame's embarrassing nicknames.
~*~
There's a call from the receptionist's office that sits down the end of the lobby telling him that the appointment he had booked with the ogre sufferring from tooth rot has been cancelled. Nakamaru says his thank you and glances down at his schedule. The root canal procedure was set for a couple hours and now he finds himself free for a good chunk of the afternoon.
Nakamaru considers heading to the archive room to get a head start but squashes the though as soon as he realises Kame won't be there, whining by his side and making everything somewhat bearable. He glances at Nyan-nyan; she's curled up in a box-made-bed, mewling soft snores.
It's a sunny day and Nakamaru figures he might as well take a little stroll.
~*~
He reads the familiar sign and adjusts his necktie nervously, his mind catching up to the destination his legs had taken him to on autopilot. He doesn't have a reason to land on Kame's doorstep again and he hopes he doesn't need one. Kame can't possibly mind after constantly intruding on his personal space ever since the day he arrived in town.
Nakamaru thinks of a cover story just in case. He's here to ask Kame out-no. Not ask out. This is not a date, Nakamaru tells himself. He's here to invite Kame to a friendly dinner at a pasta restaurant. And he had to ask now in order to make reservations. Reservations for their ultra platonic non-date. Yes. Good.
Nakamaru fiddles with his tie once more before pushing through the door, not wanting to rouse suspicion by being caught knocking on a decrepit warehouse which everyone believes to be abandoned.
He walks through the entryway and peeks through the doorway he had been pushed into during his last visit. A slow scan of the room tells him that it's empty, not a vampire tot in sight. Nakamaru frowns, disappointment weighing down his shoulders. It was still early; maybe they were all sound asleep in their coffins. Nakamaru is making a mental note to ask Kame about the coffin myth when he catches hold of a sound.
A moan to be more specific.
A string of guttaral notes.
Nakamaru has heard them before.
He follows the sound through a doorway on the opposite side of the hall and then through another. He's thankful for the concrete flooring and the soft soles of his shoes that absorb his footfalls. The sounds are louder now, wet sounds with breathy sighs and needy groans and Nakamaru would rather not see it, would rather turn back and remain ignorant because he knows that voice and-
-he looks.
There's Kame. And a man. Taller, with long, flowing hair and a breathtaking face. His eyes are closed and his head is tilted back as Kame has him shoved against the curtained wall. Nakamaru is thinking they're locked in a kiss when the tall man's head shifts and Nakamaru gets a clear view.
Goosebumps rise along Nakamaru's arms just as he spies a pair of fangs sinking into the man's neck. His eyes fixate on Kame, Kame with his closed eyes that do nothing to hide the want on his face, the desperation as he latches and sucks, throat trembling with every swallow of blood. It's a tortuously sick feeling to be reminded of just how beautiful he is-how unworldly.
There's a movement and Nakamaru's heart lurches to a stop.
The man's eyes are open, piercing straight into his, and the tinge of red swirling within the black tells Nakamaru that this is no ordinary man. There's a sharp smirk and the man lifts his hand, settling it into Kame's thick brown hair and gripping hard to make the signal clear. He's mine.
Kame's head is pulled away, his eyes still clamped in satiated bliss and his fangs slowly shrinking back as the man licks at the trail of red trickling from the corner of Kame's lips.
Nakamaru jerks his eyes away and runs, his heart throbbing with every slap against the pavement.
He has just found his way back to the entrance when he collides into a hard chest and stumbles back. It's the man with the red velvet eyes. Twin punctures ooze droplets of blood down his neck and he swipes at them before raising his thumb to his mouth and licking his own blood clean. For a minute, Nakamaru thinks this is the end; he's going to die inside a vampire nest.
And then the man speaks, voice heavy and dark and drippig with power. Nakamaru has heard it before, too, weeks ago, on the night he was rescued by a vampire. A voice cutting through the darkness and calling Kame away.
"Doctor Nakamaru, I presume?" Kimura asks and Nakamaru knows there is no conjecture involved. Kimura watches him as if he knows everything about him, down to the color of his pink argyle socks. "My apologies that you arrived at such an inconvenient time. I assure you we are better hosts than this but a vampire's cravings are hard to ignore. Kazuya's especially, but I'm sure you know that."
The smile is cruel and Nakamaru averts his eyes, blushing like a colossal fool.
"However, I would advise you not to come here again. It's not that we don't welcome you after all you've done for our kind, but as you know from experience..." Kimura trails off into a pause until Nakamaru glances up. "This town is already infested with vampires who we bear no pride in calling our brethren. Humans leave a scent and after already chancing upon yours once before, it would be troubling if they followed yours to our den. I would like to avoid a fight at all costs, Doctor. The well-being of my vampires always comes first so I hope you will excuse my impudence."
Nakamaru hadn't thought of that; he hadn't been thinking at all, really. He had only wanted to... Kimura really was something, to be able to ask someone to never show their face again in a way no one could object to. Kame's admiration was well justified.
"S-sorry. It won't happen again." Nakamaru bows and walks to the door as fast as he can manage without full out running.
"One more thing, Doctor," Kimura drawls just as Nakamaru pushes it open, a beam of sunlight skating through the door. When he looks back, the shadows of the warehouse appear even darker and he has to squint to see the faint smile. "I believe you now realise that what you were hoping would come to pass..."
Nakamaru swallows painfully.
"I wasn't hoping for anything."
He lets the door swing close with a creaky finality and stands under the sun's glare, feeling cold to the bone.
~*~
Kame knows something is off when he says oppa and all he receives is silence. No resignated sigh, no snort, no chuckle. He doesn't even get an eye roll. He tries it again. Nothing. He uses every trick he's learned during the past weeks to cause a rise from Nakamaru but nothing works. Nakamaru's face is blank and impassive.
A drop of worry settles uncomfortably in Kame's belly and begins to pool. Kimura had told him Nakamaru had visited their den yesterday, after he had passed out from over-snacking; just recalling it makes Kame's blood warm. It's embarrassing how Kimura's blood still makes him weak and heady.
"Sensei came over yesterday?" Kame says when Nakamaru passes by his chair while getting everything ready. "I was sleeping but I wish someone had woken me up."
He doesn't miss how Nakamaru stills.
"You were sleeping?"
Kame nods before grinning. "Did you miss me, sensei?" There's no flustered sputtering, just a half-hearted shrug. Kame frowns. "Did sensei want to tell me something?"
Nakamaru walks over to him, drill in hand. "I just wanted you to know that we won't be needing to use the archive room anymore."
"Sensei, y-you've found the cure?" Kame gapes, his heart shrinking in panic. Does this mean he won't get to see Nakamaru in his reading glasses anymore? It's too soon; he doesn't want to leave the clinic. "How amazing!"
"Mhmm," Nakamaru hums and taps his cheek. Kame opens his mouth obediantly. "Don't move," Nakamaru warns and there's something hard in his eyes when he turns on the drill. It takes a minute for Kame to realise that the angle is different, the drill starting from the top of his teeth instead of the tip-and the realisation is all too late.
The drill turns off just as Kame feels the plaster slip off his teeth and into his lap.
Nakamaru grabs it before him and the silence is crackling and awkward as he watches Nakamaru inspect the false fangs.
"Uwah! You cured me, sensei!" Kame tries and his smile dies when Nakamaru look at him, not a flicker of the usual, indulgent warmth lining his face. "Sensei, I can-"
"How long were you planning on toying with me like this?"
"I wasn't toying! Sensei. Nakamaru," Kame pleads and there's a low whine in his voice that he can't keep out because he's not above begging, not if it will make Nakamaru listen and spare him any hurt. "I did lie about my fangs. I was always able to retract them-but I didn't do it as a joke! I just wanted some of your attention. I wanted to be with you, sensei."
Nakamaru stares at him, evaluating his sincerity for what feels like an eternity, before he deposits the fake fangs in his lap and goes to his desk.
"They're well-made," he says, voice monotonous and empty. "I've been studying teeth for years but they managed to fool me. Repeatedly."
The dry chuckle scrapes at Kame's insides and he slips off his seat, moving to the desk with the fierce need to revive Nakamaru's eye-crinkling smiling.
"Sensei, that's-"
"I'm cancelling all our appointments. I have real patients to look after. You should leave."
Kame stops midstep. Nakamaru is shuffling the papers on his desk and pointedly not looking at him.
All our appointments.
Kame knows that includes outside office hours as well, just as he knows that if he leaves now, everything will wash away like broken shells carried away by the tide with no hopes of return.
"No," he grits out and he wants to take the paper weight on Nakamaru's desk and fling it against the mirrors, make their surroundings splinter into pieces in hopes of keeping things between them intact.
"Please go."
He stares at Nakamaru's bent head, his insides caving in at the sound of Nakamaru's weary request. It's the second time now. Kame's already been forgiven once and that was already more than what he had been expecting. Nakamaru is the kindest person he knows-he wouldn't love him so much otherwise-and he hates himself for taking advantage of that knowledge. Kame has always believed that intentions matter just as he has always believed that certain limits should not be breached.
He makes himself leave before history repeats itself and he ends up hurting Nakamaru even more, intentionally or not.
~*~
Kame doesn't enter the clinic anymore and it's both a disappointment and relief even as Nakamaru tries to convince himself that it's the latter. He finds Kame lingering outside the doors of the medical center instead, waiting and begging with a dozen explanations falling from his pouty lips. Nakamaru doesn't believe a single one. He ignores the vampire and walks along the route leading to his house, pretending not to hear the footsteps skittering to keep up with his long strides. It's the first time Kame's feline stealth has failed.
Kame follows him up to his doorstep and freezes, blocked by an invisible wall. His eyes are wide and imploring in a way that hurts, waiting for an invitation that Nakamaru can't bring himself to give. Time and again, Nakamaru closes the door on Kame's face, his lips still working in an apology.
The quiet sound of the door clicking shut sets off an avalanche in his gut, pieces of him tearing off and crumbling apart, crushing his heart in the process and it doesn't make any sense at all because his heart is above, quaking in his rib cage and he has to breathe and remind himself that nothing makes sense because it's Kame and-Kame lied.
And yet.
That's not why Nakamaru is mad at all.
One day, Kame stops showing up all together and Nakamaru tells himself that it's okay because Kame has always been a creature of the shadows and this hardly makes a difference. It was as if he was never there in the first place. But that too is a lie because there's now a Kame-shaped imprint in his life. Much like a dental mold without the filling, Nakamaru muses as he lies in bed, counting wood fairies when counting sheep fails.
The heartache keeps him awake.
~*~
The world continues spinning and Nakamaru clings to his routine like a drowning man paddling to stay afloat. He wakes up at 7am sharp, eyes bleary with fleeting dreams about dumplings with fangs, jogs five laps around the block before seating himself in front of a bowl of Cheerios, a newspaper in hand. He absorbs nothing and soon tosses it away, forgoing the orange and heading to the clinic early with Nyan-nyan in his arms.
Like every morning, Ueda angles through the door and tracks in fairy dust everywhere.
"You know, sugar plums are really fattening," Nakamaru scolds as he adjusts the chair to the proper height, Ueda's barefeet now dangling in the air. "Carry on like this and you won't be able to fly either."
Ueda pffffts his concerns away as usual, bangs that would once flutter up with his breath now gone. He had cut off his hair a couple weeks ago, claiming that the wind tousled the orange strands and made it impossible to see when flying.
"I never get fat." Ueda smirks and pats his flat belly. Point proven. Nakamaru huffs and begins to the clean out the cavities. There are two this time and he whispers a silent prayer for the rest of Ueda's teeth. When it's done, Nakamaru moves to wash the equipment and Ueda throws a question at his back. "So... where's your vampire?"
A metal toothpick-like rod slips through his fingers and into the sink. Nakamaru fishes it before it can filter down the drain and burst the pipes. He turns to look at Ueda who watches him with intrigue.
"My vampire?"
Ueda shrugs. "You know, the one who you're always flirting with."
"W-what. No. There's no flirting," Nakamaru sputters before realising the sink is beginning to flood. He hastens to close the tap and nearly slips, his coat soaked with soapy water. "This is a professional setting and he needed dental help." Or so he had thought.
Ueda shamelessly laughs at his face and Nakamaru dares not tell him about their nighttime strolls and Kame's wandering hands. When Ueda uses up all the amusement that comes from Nakamaru's drenched form, he squints and fixes his gaze onto Nakamaru's neck.
"Hmmm," Ueda hums before settling back with a satisfied smile. Nakamaru stares at him. And then stares some more. At last, Ueda cracks a grin and says, "He hasn't tried to bite you yet. It must be true love."
The room erupts in a series of gurgling noises as Nakamaru desperately tries not to choke on air. It takes him several minutes to recover while Ueda sits back and watches his stranded fish impersonation in quiet fascination.
"How do you even know about this?!" Nakamaru heaves, voice still embarrassingly squeaky. And then he adds quickly, "I mean, not that it's true."
"Fairies know everything," Ueda returns with a smug smile. Nakamaru steps towards him, eyes narrowed and a lecture on dental health ready to be released.
Ueda understands the warning and jumps off the chair with a laugh. When he gets to the door, he sends a smirk over his shoulder. "The wood fairies are the worst gossipers."
And then he's gone, leaving Nakamaru dumbstruck and fire truck red.
~*~
The clock strikes six and so many days have gone by that he doesn't even glance up anymore. By now he knows that there's no knock coming, even as his heart twinges painfully. He makes sure the office is in oder before he locks the door and steps out of the clinic. The evening air is cold with the approach of winter and Nakamaru is gathering his coat closer when his phone buzzes.
It's an emergency line only and so he immediately knows who is calling.
"Which bridge are you stuck under now, Akanishi?"
"It's not a bridge this time," Akanishi says over the phone. "I... I'm stranded in the middle of a lake."
A lake. How.
"Explain," Nakamaru says with a groan, swiftly changing his route. There's only one lake near town and unfortunately, it's on the opposite side of the woods. His fingers numb as Akanishi goes on about a mermaid with the prettiest scales and smallest shell bra he had ever seen, a mermaid who had lured him in with the prospect of skinny dipping fun and then swam away with all his earnings, leaving him clinging to a stray barrel in the middle of the lake.
"She was such a slutch," Akanishi says brokenly, sounding traumatized and on the verge of tears, "and now I'm going to die. No one loves me."
"You're not going to die. Just keep holding on to that barrel and I'll be there soon," Nakamaru assures and quickly hangs up before he can suffer through Akanishi's sobs. Nakamaru likes to think he would never deny anyone help, but if he was forced to listen any longer, he can't say for certain that he wouldn't turn back and let the troll drown. The hollow space in his head alone would lend him enough buoyancy to swim to shore at least.
Eventually, a clump of thick trees signaling the beginning of the woods cuts off the path and Nakamaru shivers. The last of the sunset is bleeding into nightfall and the woods appear dark and threatening even under the moonlight. Nothing for it though, he tells himself and steps inside. The dirt is compacted and hard, making up for the roots that fold above the ground and catch his foot every now and then.
He's collecting himself after an undignified stumble when a tremendous howl resounds between the trees, carried by the wind that seeps through his jacket and freezes him to the spot.
Nakamaru glances up through an opening in the thatch of branches and swaying leaves, dread filling his lungs.
In the sky, the moon hangs like a pearl pendant, round and beautiful. Full.
He has just enough time to turn in hopes of sprinting back out when there's a crack of wood being split. He looks to the side to see Koki stepping out of the trees. There's a snout where there used to be a nose, gigantic paws where there used to be hands and feet; he's ten times larger but Nakamaru would know that shade of blond anywhere.
"H-hey, Koki. It's me, Nakamaru. Your f-friend."
He takes a slow step back with every word until there's a wide tree trunk at his back. There's no recognition in the werewolf's eyes. Koki growls and bares his teeth but Nakamaru isn't duped by the sight of his blunt canines. He's more concerned by the paws that move closer, claws the size of a single hand digging holes into the dirt. He's only two meters away now and Nakamaru swallows thickly.
"Why are you always getting yourself into trouble?"
The voice comes from above, shrouded in leaves, and the next thing Nakamaru knows, Kame is jumping out from a tree, landing right onto Koki's back. The werewolf begins to thrash in an instant, snarling over its shoulder with paws swatting the air in vicious swings.
"Kame!" Nakamaru yells, fear shaking his limbs. "Don't hurt him! It's Koki."
"I know!" comes the returning shout even though Nakamaru can no longer spot the source. Everything is a blur of fur and fangs and fear. "I know you're delighted to see me but" -a sharp hiss breaks through and Nakamaru gasps in a worried cry- "can you please start running now?"
Nakamaru's heart is hammering and while he's always been a coward, he's never been a traitor. He remains rooted to the spot, mind reeling for a way to help but he can't think straight. Sheer terror is jamming his thoughts, blinding him so that he doesn't see the errant arch of a heavy paw swinging at him.
Kame jumps forward and takes the blow.
The fear that floods his veins is insurmountable compared to fear he felt just moments before. Heart in his throat, Nakamaru moves to assure himself that Kame is alive and okay, only to get his hand pushed away.
"Go!" Kame screams. The splotches of red polkadotting the white of his shirt are the last things Nakamaru sees before he turns and runs through the trees, leaving Kame to fend off the werewolf before Nakamaru costs him another injury.
When he breaks through the woods at last, he inhales a sharp lungful of icy air and hurls into a bush.
~*~
With Nakamaru out of harm's way, it's only a matter of time Kame has Koki lying on the forest floor in a tired, panting heap of fur. Over the decade, what he had learned about werewolves was that it was far easier and much more beneficial to exhaust them versus fight them head on and get shredded into bloody pieces in the process.
The long gash across his chest, courtesy of murderous claws, made things a tad complicated and painful, but it was a superficial wound, nothing his body couldn't heal, and didn't slow him down much. And in a way, it was fair to have a disadvantage just as Koki did with his baby teeth. He had led Koki on a long goose chase through the woods, swinging tauntingly in the branches in loops and figure-eights until all the turns and twists made the werewolf collapse in dizzy fatigue. A peaceful ending to what could have been a blood war.
Feeling tired from all the acrobatics himself, Kame swings from a tree and pets the werewolf's huge upturned belly. The werefolf twitches and manages a meagre growl before his eyes snap shut in bliss, a long pink lolling out of his open jaw.
"Well aren't you easy," Kame laughs. "Your muscles are going to kill when the full moon ends, ya'know. This is what happens when you go after my sensei. Nyan-nyan would be disappointed."
The werewolf huffs through his snout and rolls around. Kame jumps back to avoid the awful dog breath and with a final pat at Koki's furry behind, he says his farewell.
He
clears his way through the trees and smiles in surprise at the sight of stiff, bony shoulders shaking in the cold.
"Sensei waited for me. I'm touch-"
He's attacked by roaming hands within a second. Soft, gentle hands with long, graceful fingers that graze his forehead, his chin, down his neck and across his shoulders, skating down his arms and over his chest. With every touch there's the dispersal of uncertainty but Nakamaru's eyebrows never smooth out from their worried folds.
Kame basks in the attention, his heart singing. "Well this is different. My hands aren't the lonely ones this time, sensei," he whispers. "If I had known earlier that this is what it took to-"
"You'd what? Lie and stage a fight with a werewolf and potentially get yourself killed?" Nakamaru snaps, eyes frosting over once more. "Don't you dare."
"Or else?"
Kame knows he shouldn't be taunting Nakamaru again, not when pushing at the man's boundaries has already backfired on him once before, but he needs to know. He needs to know how far Nakamaru is willing to go for him, needs to know where he stands in Nakamaru's heart.
The dentist gives him a long, steady look and in a blink, Kame finds himself being kissed.
Hard.
He clutches back frantically, a low groan transferring itself from his throat to Nakamaru's mouth as Kame kneads his lips open with his own. The want explodes in his chest and he steps closer, lifting a leg around Nakamaru's waist in an effort to merge their bodies together. And that's when the warmth is replaced by cold.
"Sensei," Kame whines, voice still husky with desire as he makes to grab Nakamaru again. "Come back. It's cold and my nipples hurt."
Nakamaru bats his grabby hands away. "If you ever want more of that again, don't even think of doing something so stupid."
Kame pouts, clutching his abused hand. "I'm not the one strolling through the woods in the middle of the night during a full moon, sensei," he retorts, genuine anger simmering underneath. There was simple naivety and then there was dangerous stupidity.
"Hey! I wasn't strolling. I was on my way to help a troll."
Kame gapes, astounded once more.
"A troll. The same troll? Even after what happened last time?" he asks incredulously. "I'm grateful, I truly am, but how is sensei still alive?"
Nakamaru mouths wordlessly for several seconds before pointing a finger at his chest.
"This isn't about me; this is about you."
Kame snorts, a reply on the tip of his tongue when he senses a familiar presence.
"Kazuya, come. You've breached enough rules at is," Kimura calls and Kame flinches at the hardness in his voice coupled with the shadow of disappointment carried underneath.
Before Kame can reply, Nakamaru answers for him, grabbing his hand and tugging him close.
"He can stay if he wants to," Nakamaru says and Kame stares at him unbelievingly. The kiss was an incredible and superbly splendid surprise of its own but he could never ever have imagined Nakamaru-sweet, bashful and ever patient Nakamaru with his soft sweaters and and gentle hands-staring down Kimura with a steely frown in the dead of night.
"Y-you know who he is?" Kame asks, feeling his world tilt slightly.
"We've met before," Nakamaru answers, hand still firmly gripping Kame's own. "He's your sire, isn't he? Kimura."
"When-"
"Back when I last visited." Nakamaru's eyes flicker to him briefly before training back onto Kimura. "You were feeding on him."
O-oh. So Nakamaru had seen it, seen him feeding like a bloodsucking monster. No one wonder he had been so upset. Something thick and murky slides down Kame's gut like a clump of cold sludge and he turns to Kimura. "You lied to me."
Kimura's face remains as smooth and handsome as always; it's something Kame has admired since he was young and infatuated. Now, even as the admiration hasn't faded, it's coupled with a tinge of annoyance at how unnervingly perfect the man is.
"It was a white lie, Kazuya, something you're not above using yourself." And it's like he's being scolded by a parent in public. "Cruelty is not something I take pleasure in as you well know, but if you want to keep this man, then you'll have to turn him. There are some laws which cannot be broken."
There are a thousand arguments lobbying in the chamber of his throat but Kame swallows them back down. This is a negotiation he has to have in private. He squeezes Nakamaru's hand and slowly slips his fingers out of his grip.
"What, you're just going to leave with him?" Nakamaru asks. "Just like that?"
Kame shakes his head and gives him a searching look. "It'll only be for a bit. Don't leave, okay? I'll be back, I promise."
~*~
Nakamaru waits. And waits. Then wonders why he's waiting at all. A promise can only mean so much. He stands shivering in the cold, cloaked by darkness and his thoughts taking even darker turns with every passing minute. There's one image that remains in the forefront of his mind, however. He remembers the intimacy shared between the two in the dim lights of the curtained room, a bond built over centuries of walking side by side. He remembers Kame's focus, how Kimura's presence was the only thing that registered in his mind even as Nakamaru stood just several feet away.
Why was he even trying?
Nakamaru ends the torture by turning his back to the woods and leaving.
~*~
He walks under the moonlight and arrives home, cold and bereft. He turns to close the front door of his house and nearly suffers a heart attack when he finds Kame standing on his doorstep. Of course it could never be as simple as walking away, he thinks with a sigh.
"You left," Kame says with a frown.
"You left first." It's childish but it's also the truth.
"I asked you to wait."
"Maybe I didn't want to freeze to death."
"You kissed me," Kame reminds and Nakamaru blushes. Overwhelming levels of adrenaline due to near-death experiences could make you do crazy things, he reasons to himself.
"Kame, look-"
"I know why you're mad," Kame interrupts and he looks desperate and lost. "I... I know vampires like me... We must look scary to humans, huh? But you have to understand that I would never ever do that to you-"
"Kame-"
"I don't see you as a food source-"
"Kame!" It's Nakamaru's turn to interrupt. "That's not... I've never been scared of you."
"Never?" The hope in Kame's swelling eyes does something odd to his heart.
"Never," he assures.
"Then... why?"
He knew the question would come but Nakamaru still can't voice the answer; it's something he's never felt before and it's almost shameful to admit. Instead, he settles by answering with a dismissive shrug and feels as bratty as Kame as he does so.
"Sensei," Kame pleads, "tell me. Whatever it is, I'm sorry. I don't know what Kimura told you but-"
"He didn't need to say anything. Seeing it was enough," Nakamaru mumbles and averts his eyes. It takes Kame a few minutes but the realisation sets in soon enough. Unfortunately. Nakamaru feels his face heat under Kame's wide-eyed stare.
"Kimura sired me," Kame says slowly. "We're not. That would be incest, sensei."
Nakamaru shrugs again.
"You two looked really intimate. And he suits you. You're both pretty." The petulance is apparent even to his own ears and he wants to crawl under his bed covers and never wake up again.
"Sensei, invite me in."
Nakamaru looks up and the determined set of Kame's lips makes him nervous. "W-why?"
"The invitation first, please."
Nakamaru mulls it over. If he refuses, who knows what Kame will resort to; it'll probably something stupid and crazy that'll wake up the neighbours and provoke mortifying questions. On the other hand, Nakamaru is sure he has already maxed out on any mortification he can possibly feel tonight.
But there's Kame with his blood-soaked shirt billowing in the chilly wind and when has he ever been able to challenge that pout for more than a few minutes? Nakamaru sighs.
"Come in, then." Kame leaps through his door in an instant and Nakamaru swings it shut. "So?" Nakamaru asks and regrets the question when a wicked smile unfurls across Kame's face. He backs up, pressed against the wall, and Kame follows after. Even with the smell of the outdoors caught in his clothes and hair, Nakamaru can still detect a hint of sweet vanilla.
"Allow me to show you what real intimacy is, sensei," Kame whispers but he pauses just millimeters away from his lips. It's a choice, Nakamaru realises. He can move, simply turn his head, and that'll be that.
Nakamaru chooses to close the distance between them instead.
~*~
Koki looks horrible, his clothes are torn, there's dirt clumped under his nails and there are patches of his hair missing. He looks wild and dangerous but the smile that blooms across his face when he comes to pick up Nyan-nyan is anything but. The differences between the werewold and the human are stark and clear and Nakamaru much prefers the Koki that dissolves into coos at the sight of anything cute and furry.
"She's completely healed now," Nakamaru tells him and it's the biggest joy of being a doctor to be able to relay such news. "Just don't make her run around too vigorously for a month or so, but other than that, she's good to go."
"Thank you so much, Doc'," Koki says wetly with a sniffle or two. Thankfully, he directs his hug to Nyan-nyan and Nakamaru is spared.
"How did the full moon go?" Nakamaru asks anxiously.
Koki shrugs. "Like usual, except it feels like I've pulled every muscle in my body. I don't know what kind of demonic rabbit I was chasing after for me to be so sore, but I hope it got away. Bunnies are too cute to eat."
Nakamaru decides not to comment. All's well that ends well.
~*~
At six in the evening sharp, there's a knock at the door.
Nakamaru gets up form his chair and rounds his desk. When he pulls it open, he finds Kame standing on the other side, wearing a smirk and a grey argyle sweater vest. Nakamaru blinks.
"Stop going through my closet."
Kame wriggles his way inside, making sure to press against the entire length of Nakamaru's body as he moves through the door.
"I was cold."
Nakamaru follows him to the high chair. "That's for real patients," he scolds, "not vampires with fake dentures."
"Oppa is so mean," Kame laughs. "And after all we've been through. I'm hurt."
Nakamaru rolls his eyes even though he knows he's walking into Kame's ploys.
"Yeah, well. That's me. Your ordinary human."
Kame tilts his head, squinting at him in honest befuddlement. Nakamaru reaches up to brush the bangs off his face because it's now after office hours and, well, he simply can. Kame smiles up at him and it's all sorts of dazzling. He feels his heart pump in erratic bursts.
"From the first night I met you," Kame whispers, "I knew that you were pretty extraordinary for a human. And now... I think you're too extraordinary to be one."
Nakamaru doesn't know how he's still standing and not swooning into Kame's arms yet. He thanks his legs nevertheless, even as his face resembles a glowstick. He coughs to dislodge the ball of emotions clogging his throat.
"You've caught me," he says dryly. "I'm really an ogre in disguise."
Kame laughs, eyes disappearing and his entire face glowing to match but in a way that's breathtakingly beautiful.
"I'd love you anyway."
And there goes his heart again, pitter-pattering to anything Kame does or says. It's getting quite ridiculous, actually; it's like he's carrying a drum solo for Kame in the cavity of his chest but it's a tune only he can hear. He can't help but fall more deeply with every note.
"Even after all the toothache," Nakamaru asks jokingly but the crack in his voice betrays everything. Kame grins at him, a smug smile firmly in place as he yanks at his tie.
"Sensei's treatment is always a pleasure."
As Nakamaru succumbs to the tug at his neck and sinks into the promise in Kame's eyes, he feels that the joy is entirely mutual.
<- part 1
From: scorch66
Title: Found My Way
Pairings/Characters: Nakamaru/Kame
Rating: PG
Warnings: nada
Notes: Hi maayacola <3 I read 'wacky!AU' in your sign up and I thought, what's whackier than a canon-inspired AU? I hope you enjoy this. =)
Summary: AU. Nakamaru is a dentist for a clinic that serves magical creatures. He has regular patients and a regular routine, and then his new client arrives. Things change.
part 1 || part 2
~*~
Access to the archive room is strictly staff only but Nakamaru can't refuse Kame's pleads, especially after he had given in once previously. He doesn't know why anyone would want to partake in such a mindnumbing activity but he's greatful for Kame's company all the same. It makes the reading less dull, makes the hands of the clock move faster.
Muffled giggles blend in with the rustling of flipped pages and his curiousity now finally reaching it's limit, Nakamaru turns to the side.
"What?" Kame points to the file in his hand and Nakamaru leans over to see nude figures that would have been indecently explicit if they weren't anatomical diagrams. Nevertheless, he finds his ears heating and he pulls back with a haughty cough. "You're such a child."
"Prude," Kame says with a laugh.
"Pervert."
"Oppa."
Nakamaru rolls his eyes and returns to his own file, the sounds of aged paper monopolizing the room once more. The file is useless just like the dozens before it and he places it onto the No Help Whatsoever pile before reaching for the next one. This one is thicker and far more interesting and Nakamaru finds himself humming.
"What?" This time it's Kame whose curiousty has been piqued.
"It's a file outlining the fundamental rules for vampires. I guess everyone has their own laws, huh?" He skims the list. "One: vampires must uphold the secrecy of their kind and not expose themselves to the knowledge of humans."
Kame snorts. "Well that's one law already broken."
Nakamaru continues. "Two: vampires should not drink to kill and must stop when the prey has lapsed into slumber. Three: vampires may sire a maximum of three individuals within their lifetime," he pauses to glance at Kame. "Why three?"
"Well, we wouldn't want too many vampires roaming around. It would lead to more competition and in-fighting. That's partly why my clan moves around so often. The more the merrier doesn't always work," Kame explains. "It's safer for everyone if there's a few of us."
"Makes sense, I suppose." Nakamaru nods and begins to read again. "Oh, this one is interesting. Four: interbreeding is prohibited. Vampire blood shall not be tainted by human weakne-"
The file is ripped from his hands so fast that Nakamaru fears paper cuts.
"That's a stupid rule," Kame hisses and tosses the file in the No Help Whatsoever pile. "Stupid archaic gibberish."
"O-okay," Nakamaru stutters. "I just didn't realise the dead were capable of reproducing." Aren't you all dried up down there?
Kame fixes him with a piercing stare and when he scoots his chair close, there's no doubt in Nakamaru's mind that he's managed to somehow read his thoughts.
"I can always show you a demonstration, sensei," he whispers all too close and enticing and-
Enticing.
Nakamaru's mental faculties screech to a stop at that thought and his body follows along, jerking and sending the stacks of files flying off the table. As Kame groans and bends to scoop them up, Nakamaru pointedly looks away from the jut of his Adam's Apple and his curved behind. His very not-enticing curved behind.
When Kame returns, Nakamaru gets up and moves to the opposite seat.
He ends up migrating to another table altogether when he feels a socked foot creeping up his leg (I was only stretching, sensei! All this reading is tiring). Everything goes downhill from there on out.
~*~
One day, when they're leaving the Magical Maladies For Monsters And Myths Center, Kame grabs his wrist. His hand is pleasantly cool.
"Let me take you somewhere?"
Nakamaru agrees. He lets Kame lead him through town and while Nakamaru is familiar with the darkened streets, everything looks oddly different. There's another dimension added to all the shapes and stores and trees lining the sidewalks. He's only ever walked along them alone before.
They talk about Nakamaru's family and how Kame came to be a vampire. Kame tells him about a man named Kimura who saved him when he was a boy on the verge of death. There's a strong affection laced in his voice and Nakamaru is so hooked that he doesn't notice that they've veered off the sidewalk.
When Kame finishes his story, Nakamaru finds himself standing in a wide pasture closed off by a ring of trees. The grass is tall and lush and Nakamaru feels as if he's walking on a giant green cushion.
"Um, Kame?" Nakamaru says. "I hope we aren't here for dinner. I'm sure sheep blood has a high nutritional value and tastes wonderful to your tastebuds but it's-"
A single, small finger presses against his lips.
Nakamaru releases a shaky exhale, eyes locked to the pair just inches from his. Kame's stealth is something he'll never get used to, but his faint smile is another story.
"Sit," Kame says before he drops to the ground himself. Feeling like a wonky scarecrow, Nakamaru follows soon after.
"Are we waiting for-"
Kame shakes his head. "Just look."
The field is empty, not a cattle or sheep in sight. Nakamaru considers it for moment before giving in to lie on his back, his arm brushing against Kame's. The grass pillows his head comfortably and his coat is thick enough to ward away the little cold that hangs in the still air. He gazes up at what is probably the biggest, clearest slice of sky he has ever seen, star studded and eternal.
Nakamaru gasps when he realises it.
He feels more than hears Kame's amusement as his arm shakes.
"Wood fairies," Kame explains and Nakamaru widens his eyes to take them all in, the moving stars that aren't stars at all but twinkle just as brightly.
"What are they doing?"
"Dancing...?" Kame ventures. "I never really understood fairies."
But dancing sounds appropriate to Nakamaru. He watches them fly about like silver fireflies, graceful and carefree.
"I've always wished I had wings."
Nakamaru doesn't realise he has spoken outloud until Kame turns to him, laying on his side. His hair is moved off his forehead and it's the first time Nakamaru has seen all of it, open and close. It's better, more beautiful, than he had imagined. At this point, he doesn't bother denying the thoughts about Kame that float into his mind, unbidden and setting up a tent in the center of his focus.
"Where would you fly to?" Kame asks.
"I don't know." Nakamaru laughs. "It's stupid, but I'm afraid of heights. I haven't been able to face them since I was a kid. Maybe... If I had wings, maybe I wouldn't be so scared."
Kame grabs his hand and Nakamaru lets him.
"Nakamaru is the bravest person I know," Kame says and the conviction in his words is more startling than flattering. Which says quite a bit because Nakamaru can feel himself blushing.
"You're the weirdest v-" it doesn't matter, he thinks; vampire or not, Kame is the oddest of oddballs, "person I know."
Kame squeezes his hand gently. "Good weird?"
Nakamaru turns back to the sky before he lets the truth climb its way out into the clearing.
"Yeah."
There's a warm press at the corner of his eye, fleeting and soft.
A heartbeat and Nakamaru intertwines their fingers.
~*~
Nakamaru has a routine and somehow, Kame has nudged his way into it, quick and seamless like stitches fading away to leave wholesome skin. After searching through more files in the archive room-it's a fruitless effort but Nakamaru doesn't mind so much anymore-they walk to the pasture. Kame's footfalls are deathly silent and Nakamaru would think he was walking alone if it weren't for the fact that Kame walked so close to his side, so close that their arms brushed with every step.
There are moments when their hands find each other in the darkness. Kame grabs hold before Nakamaru can move back with a stuttered apology.
Sometimes, Kame leads him inside the clump of trees lining the pasture where they sit on a fallen log and watch gnomes roam about, harvesting berries from magical plants that bloom only under the moonlight. Nakamaru has been long familiar with the fantastical faction of the world but this is different; before, he only knew about the medical aspect-rots and disease and cavities. Nothing that differed from the human world. But now... it's as if Kame is introducing him to the real magic, unfolding each beautiful secret with every nighttime stroll through town.
Other times, Nakamaru is the one to lead. When his stomach grumbles, he takes Kame to a restaurant, only it's more of a diner than a restaurant, Nakamaru explains sheepishly. Kame looks thrilled either way and Nakamaru is more than impressed by the way he blends in among the plastic chairs and checkered table tops.
"This is takoyaki," Nakamaru says and swings the skewered dumpling.
Kame's gaze flickers from the dumpling to Nakamaru's face and Nakamaru knows what he's going to say just by the twitch of his lips.
"I see no diff-mphh!"
Nakamaru pulls his hand away, laughing as he drops the empty skewer onto his plate. Kame's pout is less effective when he has a dumpling stuffed in his face. Less effective but still heart-clenchingly adorable.
He doesn't even try to deny it anymore.
~*~
Koki drops by with the stray cat again and Nakamaru blinks when he sees the tiny pink tutu wrapped around her waist. He doesn't comment on the oddity of a werewolf playing dress up with a kitty but he is pleased to see her improved condition. The cat can stand now, even as her steps are hobbled and her balance is thrown off. She rubs her nose against Nakamaru's palm and he smiles.
"You've been taking good care of her," he says and Koki replies with a pleased laugh before hesitation takes over. "What is it?"
"It's just... The full moon is approaching soon and I'm beginning to get a bit twitchy..." Koki looks at the cat and his face falls as he scratches her ear to elicit a deep purr. "I don't want her to get hurt."
Ah. Nakamaru sighs out of habit, not feeling the weight of a burden at all. It's the least he can do for a friend.
"Leave her with me, then. She'll be taken care of."
"Really?!" Koki beams at him and Nakamaru dodges the hug. "I promise I'll be back as soon as the moon starts waning again. And Nyan-nyan is a good kitty. She won't give you any trouble."
Wait. "Nyan-nyan?"
Koki bristles and looks away, his face coloring spectacularly. "It's the vampire's fault."
Nakamaru snorts out a laugh. At least he's not the only one being subjected to Kame's embarrassing nicknames.
~*~
There's a call from the receptionist's office that sits down the end of the lobby telling him that the appointment he had booked with the ogre sufferring from tooth rot has been cancelled. Nakamaru says his thank you and glances down at his schedule. The root canal procedure was set for a couple hours and now he finds himself free for a good chunk of the afternoon.
Nakamaru considers heading to the archive room to get a head start but squashes the though as soon as he realises Kame won't be there, whining by his side and making everything somewhat bearable. He glances at Nyan-nyan; she's curled up in a box-made-bed, mewling soft snores.
It's a sunny day and Nakamaru figures he might as well take a little stroll.
~*~
He reads the familiar sign and adjusts his necktie nervously, his mind catching up to the destination his legs had taken him to on autopilot. He doesn't have a reason to land on Kame's doorstep again and he hopes he doesn't need one. Kame can't possibly mind after constantly intruding on his personal space ever since the day he arrived in town.
Nakamaru thinks of a cover story just in case. He's here to ask Kame out-no. Not ask out. This is not a date, Nakamaru tells himself. He's here to invite Kame to a friendly dinner at a pasta restaurant. And he had to ask now in order to make reservations. Reservations for their ultra platonic non-date. Yes. Good.
Nakamaru fiddles with his tie once more before pushing through the door, not wanting to rouse suspicion by being caught knocking on a decrepit warehouse which everyone believes to be abandoned.
He walks through the entryway and peeks through the doorway he had been pushed into during his last visit. A slow scan of the room tells him that it's empty, not a vampire tot in sight. Nakamaru frowns, disappointment weighing down his shoulders. It was still early; maybe they were all sound asleep in their coffins. Nakamaru is making a mental note to ask Kame about the coffin myth when he catches hold of a sound.
A moan to be more specific.
A string of guttaral notes.
Nakamaru has heard them before.
He follows the sound through a doorway on the opposite side of the hall and then through another. He's thankful for the concrete flooring and the soft soles of his shoes that absorb his footfalls. The sounds are louder now, wet sounds with breathy sighs and needy groans and Nakamaru would rather not see it, would rather turn back and remain ignorant because he knows that voice and-
-he looks.
There's Kame. And a man. Taller, with long, flowing hair and a breathtaking face. His eyes are closed and his head is tilted back as Kame has him shoved against the curtained wall. Nakamaru is thinking they're locked in a kiss when the tall man's head shifts and Nakamaru gets a clear view.
Goosebumps rise along Nakamaru's arms just as he spies a pair of fangs sinking into the man's neck. His eyes fixate on Kame, Kame with his closed eyes that do nothing to hide the want on his face, the desperation as he latches and sucks, throat trembling with every swallow of blood. It's a tortuously sick feeling to be reminded of just how beautiful he is-how unworldly.
There's a movement and Nakamaru's heart lurches to a stop.
The man's eyes are open, piercing straight into his, and the tinge of red swirling within the black tells Nakamaru that this is no ordinary man. There's a sharp smirk and the man lifts his hand, settling it into Kame's thick brown hair and gripping hard to make the signal clear. He's mine.
Kame's head is pulled away, his eyes still clamped in satiated bliss and his fangs slowly shrinking back as the man licks at the trail of red trickling from the corner of Kame's lips.
Nakamaru jerks his eyes away and runs, his heart throbbing with every slap against the pavement.
He has just found his way back to the entrance when he collides into a hard chest and stumbles back. It's the man with the red velvet eyes. Twin punctures ooze droplets of blood down his neck and he swipes at them before raising his thumb to his mouth and licking his own blood clean. For a minute, Nakamaru thinks this is the end; he's going to die inside a vampire nest.
And then the man speaks, voice heavy and dark and drippig with power. Nakamaru has heard it before, too, weeks ago, on the night he was rescued by a vampire. A voice cutting through the darkness and calling Kame away.
"Doctor Nakamaru, I presume?" Kimura asks and Nakamaru knows there is no conjecture involved. Kimura watches him as if he knows everything about him, down to the color of his pink argyle socks. "My apologies that you arrived at such an inconvenient time. I assure you we are better hosts than this but a vampire's cravings are hard to ignore. Kazuya's especially, but I'm sure you know that."
The smile is cruel and Nakamaru averts his eyes, blushing like a colossal fool.
"However, I would advise you not to come here again. It's not that we don't welcome you after all you've done for our kind, but as you know from experience..." Kimura trails off into a pause until Nakamaru glances up. "This town is already infested with vampires who we bear no pride in calling our brethren. Humans leave a scent and after already chancing upon yours once before, it would be troubling if they followed yours to our den. I would like to avoid a fight at all costs, Doctor. The well-being of my vampires always comes first so I hope you will excuse my impudence."
Nakamaru hadn't thought of that; he hadn't been thinking at all, really. He had only wanted to... Kimura really was something, to be able to ask someone to never show their face again in a way no one could object to. Kame's admiration was well justified.
"S-sorry. It won't happen again." Nakamaru bows and walks to the door as fast as he can manage without full out running.
"One more thing, Doctor," Kimura drawls just as Nakamaru pushes it open, a beam of sunlight skating through the door. When he looks back, the shadows of the warehouse appear even darker and he has to squint to see the faint smile. "I believe you now realise that what you were hoping would come to pass..."
Nakamaru swallows painfully.
"I wasn't hoping for anything."
He lets the door swing close with a creaky finality and stands under the sun's glare, feeling cold to the bone.
~*~
Kame knows something is off when he says oppa and all he receives is silence. No resignated sigh, no snort, no chuckle. He doesn't even get an eye roll. He tries it again. Nothing. He uses every trick he's learned during the past weeks to cause a rise from Nakamaru but nothing works. Nakamaru's face is blank and impassive.
A drop of worry settles uncomfortably in Kame's belly and begins to pool. Kimura had told him Nakamaru had visited their den yesterday, after he had passed out from over-snacking; just recalling it makes Kame's blood warm. It's embarrassing how Kimura's blood still makes him weak and heady.
"Sensei came over yesterday?" Kame says when Nakamaru passes by his chair while getting everything ready. "I was sleeping but I wish someone had woken me up."
He doesn't miss how Nakamaru stills.
"You were sleeping?"
Kame nods before grinning. "Did you miss me, sensei?" There's no flustered sputtering, just a half-hearted shrug. Kame frowns. "Did sensei want to tell me something?"
Nakamaru walks over to him, drill in hand. "I just wanted you to know that we won't be needing to use the archive room anymore."
"Sensei, y-you've found the cure?" Kame gapes, his heart shrinking in panic. Does this mean he won't get to see Nakamaru in his reading glasses anymore? It's too soon; he doesn't want to leave the clinic. "How amazing!"
"Mhmm," Nakamaru hums and taps his cheek. Kame opens his mouth obediantly. "Don't move," Nakamaru warns and there's something hard in his eyes when he turns on the drill. It takes a minute for Kame to realise that the angle is different, the drill starting from the top of his teeth instead of the tip-and the realisation is all too late.
The drill turns off just as Kame feels the plaster slip off his teeth and into his lap.
Nakamaru grabs it before him and the silence is crackling and awkward as he watches Nakamaru inspect the false fangs.
"Uwah! You cured me, sensei!" Kame tries and his smile dies when Nakamaru look at him, not a flicker of the usual, indulgent warmth lining his face. "Sensei, I can-"
"How long were you planning on toying with me like this?"
"I wasn't toying! Sensei. Nakamaru," Kame pleads and there's a low whine in his voice that he can't keep out because he's not above begging, not if it will make Nakamaru listen and spare him any hurt. "I did lie about my fangs. I was always able to retract them-but I didn't do it as a joke! I just wanted some of your attention. I wanted to be with you, sensei."
Nakamaru stares at him, evaluating his sincerity for what feels like an eternity, before he deposits the fake fangs in his lap and goes to his desk.
"They're well-made," he says, voice monotonous and empty. "I've been studying teeth for years but they managed to fool me. Repeatedly."
The dry chuckle scrapes at Kame's insides and he slips off his seat, moving to the desk with the fierce need to revive Nakamaru's eye-crinkling smiling.
"Sensei, that's-"
"I'm cancelling all our appointments. I have real patients to look after. You should leave."
Kame stops midstep. Nakamaru is shuffling the papers on his desk and pointedly not looking at him.
All our appointments.
Kame knows that includes outside office hours as well, just as he knows that if he leaves now, everything will wash away like broken shells carried away by the tide with no hopes of return.
"No," he grits out and he wants to take the paper weight on Nakamaru's desk and fling it against the mirrors, make their surroundings splinter into pieces in hopes of keeping things between them intact.
"Please go."
He stares at Nakamaru's bent head, his insides caving in at the sound of Nakamaru's weary request. It's the second time now. Kame's already been forgiven once and that was already more than what he had been expecting. Nakamaru is the kindest person he knows-he wouldn't love him so much otherwise-and he hates himself for taking advantage of that knowledge. Kame has always believed that intentions matter just as he has always believed that certain limits should not be breached.
He makes himself leave before history repeats itself and he ends up hurting Nakamaru even more, intentionally or not.
~*~
Kame doesn't enter the clinic anymore and it's both a disappointment and relief even as Nakamaru tries to convince himself that it's the latter. He finds Kame lingering outside the doors of the medical center instead, waiting and begging with a dozen explanations falling from his pouty lips. Nakamaru doesn't believe a single one. He ignores the vampire and walks along the route leading to his house, pretending not to hear the footsteps skittering to keep up with his long strides. It's the first time Kame's feline stealth has failed.
Kame follows him up to his doorstep and freezes, blocked by an invisible wall. His eyes are wide and imploring in a way that hurts, waiting for an invitation that Nakamaru can't bring himself to give. Time and again, Nakamaru closes the door on Kame's face, his lips still working in an apology.
The quiet sound of the door clicking shut sets off an avalanche in his gut, pieces of him tearing off and crumbling apart, crushing his heart in the process and it doesn't make any sense at all because his heart is above, quaking in his rib cage and he has to breathe and remind himself that nothing makes sense because it's Kame and-Kame lied.
And yet.
That's not why Nakamaru is mad at all.
One day, Kame stops showing up all together and Nakamaru tells himself that it's okay because Kame has always been a creature of the shadows and this hardly makes a difference. It was as if he was never there in the first place. But that too is a lie because there's now a Kame-shaped imprint in his life. Much like a dental mold without the filling, Nakamaru muses as he lies in bed, counting wood fairies when counting sheep fails.
The heartache keeps him awake.
~*~
The world continues spinning and Nakamaru clings to his routine like a drowning man paddling to stay afloat. He wakes up at 7am sharp, eyes bleary with fleeting dreams about dumplings with fangs, jogs five laps around the block before seating himself in front of a bowl of Cheerios, a newspaper in hand. He absorbs nothing and soon tosses it away, forgoing the orange and heading to the clinic early with Nyan-nyan in his arms.
Like every morning, Ueda angles through the door and tracks in fairy dust everywhere.
"You know, sugar plums are really fattening," Nakamaru scolds as he adjusts the chair to the proper height, Ueda's barefeet now dangling in the air. "Carry on like this and you won't be able to fly either."
Ueda pffffts his concerns away as usual, bangs that would once flutter up with his breath now gone. He had cut off his hair a couple weeks ago, claiming that the wind tousled the orange strands and made it impossible to see when flying.
"I never get fat." Ueda smirks and pats his flat belly. Point proven. Nakamaru huffs and begins to the clean out the cavities. There are two this time and he whispers a silent prayer for the rest of Ueda's teeth. When it's done, Nakamaru moves to wash the equipment and Ueda throws a question at his back. "So... where's your vampire?"
A metal toothpick-like rod slips through his fingers and into the sink. Nakamaru fishes it before it can filter down the drain and burst the pipes. He turns to look at Ueda who watches him with intrigue.
"My vampire?"
Ueda shrugs. "You know, the one who you're always flirting with."
"W-what. No. There's no flirting," Nakamaru sputters before realising the sink is beginning to flood. He hastens to close the tap and nearly slips, his coat soaked with soapy water. "This is a professional setting and he needed dental help." Or so he had thought.
Ueda shamelessly laughs at his face and Nakamaru dares not tell him about their nighttime strolls and Kame's wandering hands. When Ueda uses up all the amusement that comes from Nakamaru's drenched form, he squints and fixes his gaze onto Nakamaru's neck.
"Hmmm," Ueda hums before settling back with a satisfied smile. Nakamaru stares at him. And then stares some more. At last, Ueda cracks a grin and says, "He hasn't tried to bite you yet. It must be true love."
The room erupts in a series of gurgling noises as Nakamaru desperately tries not to choke on air. It takes him several minutes to recover while Ueda sits back and watches his stranded fish impersonation in quiet fascination.
"How do you even know about this?!" Nakamaru heaves, voice still embarrassingly squeaky. And then he adds quickly, "I mean, not that it's true."
"Fairies know everything," Ueda returns with a smug smile. Nakamaru steps towards him, eyes narrowed and a lecture on dental health ready to be released.
Ueda understands the warning and jumps off the chair with a laugh. When he gets to the door, he sends a smirk over his shoulder. "The wood fairies are the worst gossipers."
And then he's gone, leaving Nakamaru dumbstruck and fire truck red.
~*~
The clock strikes six and so many days have gone by that he doesn't even glance up anymore. By now he knows that there's no knock coming, even as his heart twinges painfully. He makes sure the office is in oder before he locks the door and steps out of the clinic. The evening air is cold with the approach of winter and Nakamaru is gathering his coat closer when his phone buzzes.
It's an emergency line only and so he immediately knows who is calling.
"Which bridge are you stuck under now, Akanishi?"
"It's not a bridge this time," Akanishi says over the phone. "I... I'm stranded in the middle of a lake."
A lake. How.
"Explain," Nakamaru says with a groan, swiftly changing his route. There's only one lake near town and unfortunately, it's on the opposite side of the woods. His fingers numb as Akanishi goes on about a mermaid with the prettiest scales and smallest shell bra he had ever seen, a mermaid who had lured him in with the prospect of skinny dipping fun and then swam away with all his earnings, leaving him clinging to a stray barrel in the middle of the lake.
"She was such a slutch," Akanishi says brokenly, sounding traumatized and on the verge of tears, "and now I'm going to die. No one loves me."
"You're not going to die. Just keep holding on to that barrel and I'll be there soon," Nakamaru assures and quickly hangs up before he can suffer through Akanishi's sobs. Nakamaru likes to think he would never deny anyone help, but if he was forced to listen any longer, he can't say for certain that he wouldn't turn back and let the troll drown. The hollow space in his head alone would lend him enough buoyancy to swim to shore at least.
Eventually, a clump of thick trees signaling the beginning of the woods cuts off the path and Nakamaru shivers. The last of the sunset is bleeding into nightfall and the woods appear dark and threatening even under the moonlight. Nothing for it though, he tells himself and steps inside. The dirt is compacted and hard, making up for the roots that fold above the ground and catch his foot every now and then.
He's collecting himself after an undignified stumble when a tremendous howl resounds between the trees, carried by the wind that seeps through his jacket and freezes him to the spot.
Nakamaru glances up through an opening in the thatch of branches and swaying leaves, dread filling his lungs.
In the sky, the moon hangs like a pearl pendant, round and beautiful. Full.
He has just enough time to turn in hopes of sprinting back out when there's a crack of wood being split. He looks to the side to see Koki stepping out of the trees. There's a snout where there used to be a nose, gigantic paws where there used to be hands and feet; he's ten times larger but Nakamaru would know that shade of blond anywhere.
"H-hey, Koki. It's me, Nakamaru. Your f-friend."
He takes a slow step back with every word until there's a wide tree trunk at his back. There's no recognition in the werewolf's eyes. Koki growls and bares his teeth but Nakamaru isn't duped by the sight of his blunt canines. He's more concerned by the paws that move closer, claws the size of a single hand digging holes into the dirt. He's only two meters away now and Nakamaru swallows thickly.
"Why are you always getting yourself into trouble?"
The voice comes from above, shrouded in leaves, and the next thing Nakamaru knows, Kame is jumping out from a tree, landing right onto Koki's back. The werewolf begins to thrash in an instant, snarling over its shoulder with paws swatting the air in vicious swings.
"Kame!" Nakamaru yells, fear shaking his limbs. "Don't hurt him! It's Koki."
"I know!" comes the returning shout even though Nakamaru can no longer spot the source. Everything is a blur of fur and fangs and fear. "I know you're delighted to see me but" -a sharp hiss breaks through and Nakamaru gasps in a worried cry- "can you please start running now?"
Nakamaru's heart is hammering and while he's always been a coward, he's never been a traitor. He remains rooted to the spot, mind reeling for a way to help but he can't think straight. Sheer terror is jamming his thoughts, blinding him so that he doesn't see the errant arch of a heavy paw swinging at him.
Kame jumps forward and takes the blow.
The fear that floods his veins is insurmountable compared to fear he felt just moments before. Heart in his throat, Nakamaru moves to assure himself that Kame is alive and okay, only to get his hand pushed away.
"Go!" Kame screams. The splotches of red polkadotting the white of his shirt are the last things Nakamaru sees before he turns and runs through the trees, leaving Kame to fend off the werewolf before Nakamaru costs him another injury.
When he breaks through the woods at last, he inhales a sharp lungful of icy air and hurls into a bush.
~*~
With Nakamaru out of harm's way, it's only a matter of time Kame has Koki lying on the forest floor in a tired, panting heap of fur. Over the decade, what he had learned about werewolves was that it was far easier and much more beneficial to exhaust them versus fight them head on and get shredded into bloody pieces in the process.
The long gash across his chest, courtesy of murderous claws, made things a tad complicated and painful, but it was a superficial wound, nothing his body couldn't heal, and didn't slow him down much. And in a way, it was fair to have a disadvantage just as Koki did with his baby teeth. He had led Koki on a long goose chase through the woods, swinging tauntingly in the branches in loops and figure-eights until all the turns and twists made the werewolf collapse in dizzy fatigue. A peaceful ending to what could have been a blood war.
Feeling tired from all the acrobatics himself, Kame swings from a tree and pets the werewolf's huge upturned belly. The werefolf twitches and manages a meagre growl before his eyes snap shut in bliss, a long pink lolling out of his open jaw.
"Well aren't you easy," Kame laughs. "Your muscles are going to kill when the full moon ends, ya'know. This is what happens when you go after my sensei. Nyan-nyan would be disappointed."
The werewolf huffs through his snout and rolls around. Kame jumps back to avoid the awful dog breath and with a final pat at Koki's furry behind, he says his farewell.
He
clears his way through the trees and smiles in surprise at the sight of stiff, bony shoulders shaking in the cold.
"Sensei waited for me. I'm touch-"
He's attacked by roaming hands within a second. Soft, gentle hands with long, graceful fingers that graze his forehead, his chin, down his neck and across his shoulders, skating down his arms and over his chest. With every touch there's the dispersal of uncertainty but Nakamaru's eyebrows never smooth out from their worried folds.
Kame basks in the attention, his heart singing. "Well this is different. My hands aren't the lonely ones this time, sensei," he whispers. "If I had known earlier that this is what it took to-"
"You'd what? Lie and stage a fight with a werewolf and potentially get yourself killed?" Nakamaru snaps, eyes frosting over once more. "Don't you dare."
"Or else?"
Kame knows he shouldn't be taunting Nakamaru again, not when pushing at the man's boundaries has already backfired on him once before, but he needs to know. He needs to know how far Nakamaru is willing to go for him, needs to know where he stands in Nakamaru's heart.
The dentist gives him a long, steady look and in a blink, Kame finds himself being kissed.
Hard.
He clutches back frantically, a low groan transferring itself from his throat to Nakamaru's mouth as Kame kneads his lips open with his own. The want explodes in his chest and he steps closer, lifting a leg around Nakamaru's waist in an effort to merge their bodies together. And that's when the warmth is replaced by cold.
"Sensei," Kame whines, voice still husky with desire as he makes to grab Nakamaru again. "Come back. It's cold and my nipples hurt."
Nakamaru bats his grabby hands away. "If you ever want more of that again, don't even think of doing something so stupid."
Kame pouts, clutching his abused hand. "I'm not the one strolling through the woods in the middle of the night during a full moon, sensei," he retorts, genuine anger simmering underneath. There was simple naivety and then there was dangerous stupidity.
"Hey! I wasn't strolling. I was on my way to help a troll."
Kame gapes, astounded once more.
"A troll. The same troll? Even after what happened last time?" he asks incredulously. "I'm grateful, I truly am, but how is sensei still alive?"
Nakamaru mouths wordlessly for several seconds before pointing a finger at his chest.
"This isn't about me; this is about you."
Kame snorts, a reply on the tip of his tongue when he senses a familiar presence.
"Kazuya, come. You've breached enough rules at is," Kimura calls and Kame flinches at the hardness in his voice coupled with the shadow of disappointment carried underneath.
Before Kame can reply, Nakamaru answers for him, grabbing his hand and tugging him close.
"He can stay if he wants to," Nakamaru says and Kame stares at him unbelievingly. The kiss was an incredible and superbly splendid surprise of its own but he could never ever have imagined Nakamaru-sweet, bashful and ever patient Nakamaru with his soft sweaters and and gentle hands-staring down Kimura with a steely frown in the dead of night.
"Y-you know who he is?" Kame asks, feeling his world tilt slightly.
"We've met before," Nakamaru answers, hand still firmly gripping Kame's own. "He's your sire, isn't he? Kimura."
"When-"
"Back when I last visited." Nakamaru's eyes flicker to him briefly before training back onto Kimura. "You were feeding on him."
O-oh. So Nakamaru had seen it, seen him feeding like a bloodsucking monster. No one wonder he had been so upset. Something thick and murky slides down Kame's gut like a clump of cold sludge and he turns to Kimura. "You lied to me."
Kimura's face remains as smooth and handsome as always; it's something Kame has admired since he was young and infatuated. Now, even as the admiration hasn't faded, it's coupled with a tinge of annoyance at how unnervingly perfect the man is.
"It was a white lie, Kazuya, something you're not above using yourself." And it's like he's being scolded by a parent in public. "Cruelty is not something I take pleasure in as you well know, but if you want to keep this man, then you'll have to turn him. There are some laws which cannot be broken."
There are a thousand arguments lobbying in the chamber of his throat but Kame swallows them back down. This is a negotiation he has to have in private. He squeezes Nakamaru's hand and slowly slips his fingers out of his grip.
"What, you're just going to leave with him?" Nakamaru asks. "Just like that?"
Kame shakes his head and gives him a searching look. "It'll only be for a bit. Don't leave, okay? I'll be back, I promise."
~*~
Nakamaru waits. And waits. Then wonders why he's waiting at all. A promise can only mean so much. He stands shivering in the cold, cloaked by darkness and his thoughts taking even darker turns with every passing minute. There's one image that remains in the forefront of his mind, however. He remembers the intimacy shared between the two in the dim lights of the curtained room, a bond built over centuries of walking side by side. He remembers Kame's focus, how Kimura's presence was the only thing that registered in his mind even as Nakamaru stood just several feet away.
Why was he even trying?
Nakamaru ends the torture by turning his back to the woods and leaving.
~*~
He walks under the moonlight and arrives home, cold and bereft. He turns to close the front door of his house and nearly suffers a heart attack when he finds Kame standing on his doorstep. Of course it could never be as simple as walking away, he thinks with a sigh.
"You left," Kame says with a frown.
"You left first." It's childish but it's also the truth.
"I asked you to wait."
"Maybe I didn't want to freeze to death."
"You kissed me," Kame reminds and Nakamaru blushes. Overwhelming levels of adrenaline due to near-death experiences could make you do crazy things, he reasons to himself.
"Kame, look-"
"I know why you're mad," Kame interrupts and he looks desperate and lost. "I... I know vampires like me... We must look scary to humans, huh? But you have to understand that I would never ever do that to you-"
"Kame-"
"I don't see you as a food source-"
"Kame!" It's Nakamaru's turn to interrupt. "That's not... I've never been scared of you."
"Never?" The hope in Kame's swelling eyes does something odd to his heart.
"Never," he assures.
"Then... why?"
He knew the question would come but Nakamaru still can't voice the answer; it's something he's never felt before and it's almost shameful to admit. Instead, he settles by answering with a dismissive shrug and feels as bratty as Kame as he does so.
"Sensei," Kame pleads, "tell me. Whatever it is, I'm sorry. I don't know what Kimura told you but-"
"He didn't need to say anything. Seeing it was enough," Nakamaru mumbles and averts his eyes. It takes Kame a few minutes but the realisation sets in soon enough. Unfortunately. Nakamaru feels his face heat under Kame's wide-eyed stare.
"Kimura sired me," Kame says slowly. "We're not. That would be incest, sensei."
Nakamaru shrugs again.
"You two looked really intimate. And he suits you. You're both pretty." The petulance is apparent even to his own ears and he wants to crawl under his bed covers and never wake up again.
"Sensei, invite me in."
Nakamaru looks up and the determined set of Kame's lips makes him nervous. "W-why?"
"The invitation first, please."
Nakamaru mulls it over. If he refuses, who knows what Kame will resort to; it'll probably something stupid and crazy that'll wake up the neighbours and provoke mortifying questions. On the other hand, Nakamaru is sure he has already maxed out on any mortification he can possibly feel tonight.
But there's Kame with his blood-soaked shirt billowing in the chilly wind and when has he ever been able to challenge that pout for more than a few minutes? Nakamaru sighs.
"Come in, then." Kame leaps through his door in an instant and Nakamaru swings it shut. "So?" Nakamaru asks and regrets the question when a wicked smile unfurls across Kame's face. He backs up, pressed against the wall, and Kame follows after. Even with the smell of the outdoors caught in his clothes and hair, Nakamaru can still detect a hint of sweet vanilla.
"Allow me to show you what real intimacy is, sensei," Kame whispers but he pauses just millimeters away from his lips. It's a choice, Nakamaru realises. He can move, simply turn his head, and that'll be that.
Nakamaru chooses to close the distance between them instead.
~*~
Koki looks horrible, his clothes are torn, there's dirt clumped under his nails and there are patches of his hair missing. He looks wild and dangerous but the smile that blooms across his face when he comes to pick up Nyan-nyan is anything but. The differences between the werewold and the human are stark and clear and Nakamaru much prefers the Koki that dissolves into coos at the sight of anything cute and furry.
"She's completely healed now," Nakamaru tells him and it's the biggest joy of being a doctor to be able to relay such news. "Just don't make her run around too vigorously for a month or so, but other than that, she's good to go."
"Thank you so much, Doc'," Koki says wetly with a sniffle or two. Thankfully, he directs his hug to Nyan-nyan and Nakamaru is spared.
"How did the full moon go?" Nakamaru asks anxiously.
Koki shrugs. "Like usual, except it feels like I've pulled every muscle in my body. I don't know what kind of demonic rabbit I was chasing after for me to be so sore, but I hope it got away. Bunnies are too cute to eat."
Nakamaru decides not to comment. All's well that ends well.
~*~
At six in the evening sharp, there's a knock at the door.
Nakamaru gets up form his chair and rounds his desk. When he pulls it open, he finds Kame standing on the other side, wearing a smirk and a grey argyle sweater vest. Nakamaru blinks.
"Stop going through my closet."
Kame wriggles his way inside, making sure to press against the entire length of Nakamaru's body as he moves through the door.
"I was cold."
Nakamaru follows him to the high chair. "That's for real patients," he scolds, "not vampires with fake dentures."
"Oppa is so mean," Kame laughs. "And after all we've been through. I'm hurt."
Nakamaru rolls his eyes even though he knows he's walking into Kame's ploys.
"Yeah, well. That's me. Your ordinary human."
Kame tilts his head, squinting at him in honest befuddlement. Nakamaru reaches up to brush the bangs off his face because it's now after office hours and, well, he simply can. Kame smiles up at him and it's all sorts of dazzling. He feels his heart pump in erratic bursts.
"From the first night I met you," Kame whispers, "I knew that you were pretty extraordinary for a human. And now... I think you're too extraordinary to be one."
Nakamaru doesn't know how he's still standing and not swooning into Kame's arms yet. He thanks his legs nevertheless, even as his face resembles a glowstick. He coughs to dislodge the ball of emotions clogging his throat.
"You've caught me," he says dryly. "I'm really an ogre in disguise."
Kame laughs, eyes disappearing and his entire face glowing to match but in a way that's breathtakingly beautiful.
"I'd love you anyway."
And there goes his heart again, pitter-pattering to anything Kame does or says. It's getting quite ridiculous, actually; it's like he's carrying a drum solo for Kame in the cavity of his chest but it's a tune only he can hear. He can't help but fall more deeply with every note.
"Even after all the toothache," Nakamaru asks jokingly but the crack in his voice betrays everything. Kame grins at him, a smug smile firmly in place as he yanks at his tie.
"Sensei's treatment is always a pleasure."
As Nakamaru succumbs to the tug at his neck and sinks into the promise in Kame's eyes, he feels that the joy is entirely mutual.
<- part 1