Named Protector (Weiss Kreuz, Ran-verse, NC-17)
Moar Ran-verse. Nagi, Mamoru, a little Rex and Ran. Set between "Life Is What Happens..." and "Adventures in Babysitting," in other words after Nagi and Mamoru are pretty well settled into sleeping together but before Nagi realizes who Ran's father is. Previous installments at Archive of Our Own.
Warnings/contains: A reference or two to Nagi's past, pretty oblique, some violence, and some sex at the end. I owe
emungere so much for betaing! ♥
Summary: Mamoru lives up to his name.
Once in a while Mamoru needed to be in two places at once; that was what Rex was for. He'd sat for three interminable hours at an international videoconference on law enforcement while she'd attended the opening of the new exhibition at the Paper Museum with Nagi. He was trying not to resent them too much, but it wasn't easy. But he had been home to put Ran to bed, which was something of its own reward.
He read until ten, then called Rex. "Everything all right?"
"I'm home," she said. "It was fine. I wrote up my report; it's on your desk."
"Thank you," he said, and hung up.
Nagi still stayed in his own apartment sometimes, but he almost always called; and he always checked on Ran. He sighed and wrote a text message: U OK?
The message came back five minutes later: Fine.
There was his answer, anyway. Mamoru shrugged and went to bed.
He woke up again at 1 am, when Nagi came in. "I'm going to sleep in the guest room," he said, and there was something about his voice that told Mamoru not to answer. Instead, he nodded at the shadow byhis bed, and watched it as it disappeared into the other room.
Two hours later, Mamoru woke up again when Nagi's weight hit the bed. "Don't touch me," he warned. Mamoru nodded and tried not to feel impotent. He stared at the wall for a while, listening to Nagi breathe, neither of them coming close to sleep.
The alarm went off at 6:30 like it always did, and Mamoru reached out to shut it off. Nagi's arm was in the way. Nagi was in the way, wrapped around him so tightly it was hard to move. Mamoru sighed. "Nagi-kun," he said. You had to say it gently, or things would break. "I need my hand, Nagi-kun."
Nagi frowned at him, then pulled his arm slowly from Mamoru's side.
"Thank you," Mamoru said, and turned off the alarm. "Sleep in today," he said. "Ran doesn't have school. Take her to the park or something. I'm here all day; you don't need to--"
"I'm not--"
"It's an order," Mamoru said, pulling himself reluctantly out of bed. "I'll see you tonight."
Nagi was asleep again by the time he got out of the shower, and Ran was too. Mamoru decided to skip breakfast; less rustling around to wake them up, and he didn't have much appetite. Rex had coffee waiting for him, anyway. "Good morning," she said, smiling brightly.
"I want a list of everyone who was at that party last night," Mamoru said, realizing he was being too harsh but not really caring. "Service staff, bodyguards, diplomats. Everyone. Every bio you can get. On my desk by noon."
"Y-yes, Mamoru-sama," she said, as he walked past her.
"Thanks for the coffee," he managed over his shoulder.
By noon, he'd managed to narrow things down to three candidates, and had promised Rex the afternoon off for her hard work. He was almost in a better mood. He was thinking maybe he should grab something to eat, or ask Rex to order something, when Ran came bouncing in. "We're here to take you to lunch," she announced. "Nagi-nii says you can't argue, because I'm cute."
"You are cute," he conceded, getting up from the desk. The files would wait another hour.
Of course, like an idiot, he'd left them open on his desk. Nagi's glare would have cut glass. Mamoru did his best to ignore it. "I'll see you after I finish working," he said to Ran, reaching over and giving her a squeeze. "Be good for Nagi-nii, all right?"
"Of course I will," she grinned at him. "Can I go see Rex-san?"
Rex always kept candy in her desk for Ran, these days. "Of course," Mamoru said, and braced himself for Nagi.
To his surprise, Nagi settled for glaring. "Don't," he said. "Whatever you're planning. Don't. Leave it alone."
Mamoru pushed the stack of papers in a pile. "I'm sorry," he said. "I--"
"I know," Nagi said. "I'm an asshole."
"It's not that," Mamoru said. He straightened his desk. He had no idea what to say.
Nagi caught his wrist. "Just leave it alone," he said. "It's over."
"Okay," Mamoru told the desk. "I'm sorry."
Nagi let him go. "You can't fix everything."
"I know," Mamoru said.
Nagi left and Mamoru stared at the stack for a while. He thought about throwing it all into the shredder, but decided to put it in a folder and throw it in his desk for the short term. He didn't have to pursue it, but it might not hurt to have the names on hand, just in case.
At two, Rex buzzed him. "There's a gentleman here to see you, Mamoru-sama."
"He doesn't have an appointment?" Mamoru glanced at his calendar.
"I think you'll want to see him. I met him last night at the gallery opening."
Mamoru looked down at the speaker. "What's his name?"
"Heinrich Wagner," she said.
Mamoru swallowed. His was the third name in the folder in his desk drawer. Definitely connected to Eszett in some way; likely to have served at Rosenkreuz. He took a deep breath and opened his cell phone.
"What?" Nagi asked.
"Wagner," he said, quietly. "He's here. What can he do?"
"Mamoru," Nagi said, which sounded like a threat.
"I didn't do this. He just...showed up. Tell me."
"I"ll come back--"
"Keep Ran away," Mamoru hissed. "Tell me. Rex can't stall him forever."
"Pyrokinesis," Nagi said shortly. "I don't know of anything else. Don't do anything stupid, Mamoru. Let him go."
"I'll be careful," Mamoru said. "Don't bring her back until I give you the clear." He snapped the phone shut. Fire. He could deal with fire.
He still kept darts in his jacket, but that would be far too obvious. Wagner was connected with the Austrian government these days; a suspicious death would cause too many eyes to be focused toward Tsukiyono Castle. The pistol in the filing cabinet was clearly not an option, but....
His eyes fell on the top desk drawer. He couldn't use that one twice, but when would he ever have a better opportunity?
Mamoru tapped the intercom. "Please send Wagner-san in," he said. "I'm delighted to meet him."
He called Nagi with the clear an hour and a half later.
"What happened?" Nagi asked.
"He stopped by. I spoke with him. We'll talk about it when you come back." He put the phone down and closed his eyes for a moment, then closed out his files, shut down his computer, and left the office. He walked to the kitchen and asked the cook if they could have their meal outside, and had she remembered to cook for three?
She had, of course, and she'd already suspected they might want to eat in the courtyard. Mamoru thanked her and hoped he'd be able to at least feign an appetite. It was done, anyway.
Nagi caught him on the way back to the apartment. "What did you do?" he asked.
"Where's Ran?"
"Inside," he said, and Mamoru noticed he was keeping his voice low. "She's fine. Mamoru--"
"Masafumi's pen," he said. His late brother had only one prototype, but he'd left detailed instructions with it. Wagner was filled with poison now; he just didn't know it yet. "He'll be dead within the week. No one will suspect anything but a heart attack."
Nagi sighed. "I didn't want you to--"
The anger he'd been suppressing since last night roared to life. "He walked into my house like a guest, and asked for you back like you were a dog that had run away," Mamoru hissed. "What did you think I'd do? What if he'd seen Ran? What if he wanted to use her as leverage?"
For a moment, Nagi's face was totally unguarded; his face registered shock and a few emotions Mamoru couldn't quite pin down. Mamoru ignored his own heart thudding in his chest and waited while Nagi took a breath and restored his composure. "All right," Nagi said. "Your call."
Mamoru opened the door. Ran was inside, coloring on the floor. "Want to eat outside tonight?" he asked, kneeling down to get her attention.
"Yes," she said eagerly.
"Good," he said. He glanced up. "Nagi-kun--"
Nagi was looking into the guest room, which the maid had carefully made up from the night before. "What's for dinner?" he asked.
"I don't remember," Mamoru said. "It smelled good."
"Good," Nagi said. "I'm hungry."
It was good, and Ran mostly sat at the table and ate, although a few of the butterflies around the patio distracted her. When she finished, they let her run and chase them, when she wasn't busy looking at beetles or picking flowers.
"You like flowers, don't you?" she asked, pushing a grubby excuse for a bouquet into Nagi's hand. "Honda-kun says that boys don't like flowers."
"They're beautiful," Nagi said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and squeezing. "Honda-kun's an idiot."
"You shouldn't call her classmates idiots," Mamoru chided, but both Ran and Nagi ignored him.
"Of course, I'm a grown-up," Nagi said. "Maybe he'll be smarter when he's older."
Ran considered it. "Probably not."
It was probably all in Mamoru's head, the way she took an extra second or two sometimes to consider the future. Mamoru hoped it was. At least if Nagi caught any of the creeping dread he was feeling, he'd write it off to Wagner. He pushed it back in his mind and thought, fondly, of Wagner's impending death instead.
Ran saw a blue butterfly and chased after it; Nagi shot a look at Mamoru. "Do I want to know what you're thinking about?"
Mamoru shrugged. "Probably not."
Nagi turned to watch Ran; she'd given up on the butterfly and was picking more flowers and weeds, probably for Mamoru. "Look," he said. "My lease is up next month."
"Yeah?"
"I'll need storage," he said. "And I'm still pissed about Wagner."
"I know," Mamoru said. "You can have as much as you need." There wasn't much he could do about Wagner.
"I didn't even make it back to the apartment last night," Nagi said. He got up from the table. "I just--" He shook his head. "I'll probably sleep in the guest room tonight."
"Okay."
Nagi touched his hair, just for a second, then went to join Ran in the flowers. Mamoru poked at his rice for a bit longer, then cleared the table out of habit before he called the maid to take the plates away.
Mamoru wasn't an empath, but he'd been raised to study faces and body language, and he'd spent enough time with Nagi to read him better than most people could. By the time Mamoru was changing for bed, Nagi was in better shape, although Mamoru wasn't sure if he'd make it to the guest room or just fall asleep in front of the television.
He came out of the bathroom to find Nagi standing behind the couch, the television off.
"Nagi-kun?"
"Will you--" Nagi swallowed. "Get in bed?"
Mamoru nodded and walked into the bedroom. Nagi followed him in and locked the door.
"I want...." Nagi watched as Mamoru pulled the covers back. "Take your clothes off."
Mamoru nodded again. He sat on the bed and unbuttoned the top button of his pajamas, the silk soft under his fingertips. "You want to watch me?"
Nagi bit his lower lip for a second. "Please."
"Okay," Mamoru said, continuing with the rest of the buttons. Nagi leaned back against the door. He pulled the top off his shoulders; the air felt cool, and Nagi's gaze made his skin tingle. He slid the pajama bottoms off, gently easing the fabric past his erection, and looked up again at Nagi's face. Nagi's lower lip was reddening. Mamoru kneeled on the bed and took himself in hand. Oh.
"You're so fucking pretty," Nagi breathed. Mamoru shuddered and went slower, before things finished too soon. "Touch your chest."
Mamoru put his free hand up and touched his nipple, already hard and sensitive. He closed his eyes for a second; Nagi's face was getting to be too much, too good, just thinking about the things Nagi could do to him with a touch, about the things Nagi had done....
"I can fuck you," Nagi said, breaking through his thoughts. "If you want."
Mamoru came at that thought, his eyes opening to Nagi's flushed face, Nagi's eyes locked on his, as the world shook and the pleasure of release took over his body. When he came back to his senses, Nagi was smiling, and closer. "You want?"
"Whatever you want," Mamoru said, dropping back on the bed and letting Nagi, still fully clothed, kneel over him. "I'm good."
"I'm tired," Nagi said, and unzipped his fly. "Just...stay still, okay?"
That translated to don't touch me. Mamoru kept still as Nagi stroked himself, fast and strong, and came across his stomach.
"Shit," Nagi said, closing his eyes for a second and leaning a bit closer. "The way you look. Shit."
"Good?" Mamoru asked.
"Yeah," Nagi slid off Mamoru. "Thanks." He kissed Mamoru on the forehead and got out of bed. "You need anything? I'll get a towel."
"I'm good," Mamoru said. "Thank you."
Nagi came back, stripped down to his boxers. After they cleaned up, he slid into bed next to Mamoru.
"You sure?" Mamoru asked.
"I'm sure," Nagi said, and slid an arm around Mamoru's waist. "I'm okay."
"Okay," Mamoru said, turning out the light. "As long as you're sure."
Nagi squeezed him. "Quit asking."
Mamoru kissed his ear. "Yes, sir." He closed his eyes. Tomorrow, if Wagner was still alive, he'd call him and ask for a meeting to discuss the terms of 'returning' Nagi in another few days. That would give the poison plenty of time, and would certainly be the end of that.
Everything was going to be fine.
Warnings/contains: A reference or two to Nagi's past, pretty oblique, some violence, and some sex at the end. I owe
emungere so much for betaing! ♥
Summary: Mamoru lives up to his name.
Once in a while Mamoru needed to be in two places at once; that was what Rex was for. He'd sat for three interminable hours at an international videoconference on law enforcement while she'd attended the opening of the new exhibition at the Paper Museum with Nagi. He was trying not to resent them too much, but it wasn't easy. But he had been home to put Ran to bed, which was something of its own reward.
He read until ten, then called Rex. "Everything all right?"
"I'm home," she said. "It was fine. I wrote up my report; it's on your desk."
"Thank you," he said, and hung up.
Nagi still stayed in his own apartment sometimes, but he almost always called; and he always checked on Ran. He sighed and wrote a text message: U OK?
The message came back five minutes later: Fine.
There was his answer, anyway. Mamoru shrugged and went to bed.
He woke up again at 1 am, when Nagi came in. "I'm going to sleep in the guest room," he said, and there was something about his voice that told Mamoru not to answer. Instead, he nodded at the shadow byhis bed, and watched it as it disappeared into the other room.
Two hours later, Mamoru woke up again when Nagi's weight hit the bed. "Don't touch me," he warned. Mamoru nodded and tried not to feel impotent. He stared at the wall for a while, listening to Nagi breathe, neither of them coming close to sleep.
The alarm went off at 6:30 like it always did, and Mamoru reached out to shut it off. Nagi's arm was in the way. Nagi was in the way, wrapped around him so tightly it was hard to move. Mamoru sighed. "Nagi-kun," he said. You had to say it gently, or things would break. "I need my hand, Nagi-kun."
Nagi frowned at him, then pulled his arm slowly from Mamoru's side.
"Thank you," Mamoru said, and turned off the alarm. "Sleep in today," he said. "Ran doesn't have school. Take her to the park or something. I'm here all day; you don't need to--"
"I'm not--"
"It's an order," Mamoru said, pulling himself reluctantly out of bed. "I'll see you tonight."
Nagi was asleep again by the time he got out of the shower, and Ran was too. Mamoru decided to skip breakfast; less rustling around to wake them up, and he didn't have much appetite. Rex had coffee waiting for him, anyway. "Good morning," she said, smiling brightly.
"I want a list of everyone who was at that party last night," Mamoru said, realizing he was being too harsh but not really caring. "Service staff, bodyguards, diplomats. Everyone. Every bio you can get. On my desk by noon."
"Y-yes, Mamoru-sama," she said, as he walked past her.
"Thanks for the coffee," he managed over his shoulder.
By noon, he'd managed to narrow things down to three candidates, and had promised Rex the afternoon off for her hard work. He was almost in a better mood. He was thinking maybe he should grab something to eat, or ask Rex to order something, when Ran came bouncing in. "We're here to take you to lunch," she announced. "Nagi-nii says you can't argue, because I'm cute."
"You are cute," he conceded, getting up from the desk. The files would wait another hour.
Of course, like an idiot, he'd left them open on his desk. Nagi's glare would have cut glass. Mamoru did his best to ignore it. "I'll see you after I finish working," he said to Ran, reaching over and giving her a squeeze. "Be good for Nagi-nii, all right?"
"Of course I will," she grinned at him. "Can I go see Rex-san?"
Rex always kept candy in her desk for Ran, these days. "Of course," Mamoru said, and braced himself for Nagi.
To his surprise, Nagi settled for glaring. "Don't," he said. "Whatever you're planning. Don't. Leave it alone."
Mamoru pushed the stack of papers in a pile. "I'm sorry," he said. "I--"
"I know," Nagi said. "I'm an asshole."
"It's not that," Mamoru said. He straightened his desk. He had no idea what to say.
Nagi caught his wrist. "Just leave it alone," he said. "It's over."
"Okay," Mamoru told the desk. "I'm sorry."
Nagi let him go. "You can't fix everything."
"I know," Mamoru said.
Nagi left and Mamoru stared at the stack for a while. He thought about throwing it all into the shredder, but decided to put it in a folder and throw it in his desk for the short term. He didn't have to pursue it, but it might not hurt to have the names on hand, just in case.
At two, Rex buzzed him. "There's a gentleman here to see you, Mamoru-sama."
"He doesn't have an appointment?" Mamoru glanced at his calendar.
"I think you'll want to see him. I met him last night at the gallery opening."
Mamoru looked down at the speaker. "What's his name?"
"Heinrich Wagner," she said.
Mamoru swallowed. His was the third name in the folder in his desk drawer. Definitely connected to Eszett in some way; likely to have served at Rosenkreuz. He took a deep breath and opened his cell phone.
"What?" Nagi asked.
"Wagner," he said, quietly. "He's here. What can he do?"
"Mamoru," Nagi said, which sounded like a threat.
"I didn't do this. He just...showed up. Tell me."
"I"ll come back--"
"Keep Ran away," Mamoru hissed. "Tell me. Rex can't stall him forever."
"Pyrokinesis," Nagi said shortly. "I don't know of anything else. Don't do anything stupid, Mamoru. Let him go."
"I'll be careful," Mamoru said. "Don't bring her back until I give you the clear." He snapped the phone shut. Fire. He could deal with fire.
He still kept darts in his jacket, but that would be far too obvious. Wagner was connected with the Austrian government these days; a suspicious death would cause too many eyes to be focused toward Tsukiyono Castle. The pistol in the filing cabinet was clearly not an option, but....
His eyes fell on the top desk drawer. He couldn't use that one twice, but when would he ever have a better opportunity?
Mamoru tapped the intercom. "Please send Wagner-san in," he said. "I'm delighted to meet him."
He called Nagi with the clear an hour and a half later.
"What happened?" Nagi asked.
"He stopped by. I spoke with him. We'll talk about it when you come back." He put the phone down and closed his eyes for a moment, then closed out his files, shut down his computer, and left the office. He walked to the kitchen and asked the cook if they could have their meal outside, and had she remembered to cook for three?
She had, of course, and she'd already suspected they might want to eat in the courtyard. Mamoru thanked her and hoped he'd be able to at least feign an appetite. It was done, anyway.
Nagi caught him on the way back to the apartment. "What did you do?" he asked.
"Where's Ran?"
"Inside," he said, and Mamoru noticed he was keeping his voice low. "She's fine. Mamoru--"
"Masafumi's pen," he said. His late brother had only one prototype, but he'd left detailed instructions with it. Wagner was filled with poison now; he just didn't know it yet. "He'll be dead within the week. No one will suspect anything but a heart attack."
Nagi sighed. "I didn't want you to--"
The anger he'd been suppressing since last night roared to life. "He walked into my house like a guest, and asked for you back like you were a dog that had run away," Mamoru hissed. "What did you think I'd do? What if he'd seen Ran? What if he wanted to use her as leverage?"
For a moment, Nagi's face was totally unguarded; his face registered shock and a few emotions Mamoru couldn't quite pin down. Mamoru ignored his own heart thudding in his chest and waited while Nagi took a breath and restored his composure. "All right," Nagi said. "Your call."
Mamoru opened the door. Ran was inside, coloring on the floor. "Want to eat outside tonight?" he asked, kneeling down to get her attention.
"Yes," she said eagerly.
"Good," he said. He glanced up. "Nagi-kun--"
Nagi was looking into the guest room, which the maid had carefully made up from the night before. "What's for dinner?" he asked.
"I don't remember," Mamoru said. "It smelled good."
"Good," Nagi said. "I'm hungry."
It was good, and Ran mostly sat at the table and ate, although a few of the butterflies around the patio distracted her. When she finished, they let her run and chase them, when she wasn't busy looking at beetles or picking flowers.
"You like flowers, don't you?" she asked, pushing a grubby excuse for a bouquet into Nagi's hand. "Honda-kun says that boys don't like flowers."
"They're beautiful," Nagi said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and squeezing. "Honda-kun's an idiot."
"You shouldn't call her classmates idiots," Mamoru chided, but both Ran and Nagi ignored him.
"Of course, I'm a grown-up," Nagi said. "Maybe he'll be smarter when he's older."
Ran considered it. "Probably not."
It was probably all in Mamoru's head, the way she took an extra second or two sometimes to consider the future. Mamoru hoped it was. At least if Nagi caught any of the creeping dread he was feeling, he'd write it off to Wagner. He pushed it back in his mind and thought, fondly, of Wagner's impending death instead.
Ran saw a blue butterfly and chased after it; Nagi shot a look at Mamoru. "Do I want to know what you're thinking about?"
Mamoru shrugged. "Probably not."
Nagi turned to watch Ran; she'd given up on the butterfly and was picking more flowers and weeds, probably for Mamoru. "Look," he said. "My lease is up next month."
"Yeah?"
"I'll need storage," he said. "And I'm still pissed about Wagner."
"I know," Mamoru said. "You can have as much as you need." There wasn't much he could do about Wagner.
"I didn't even make it back to the apartment last night," Nagi said. He got up from the table. "I just--" He shook his head. "I'll probably sleep in the guest room tonight."
"Okay."
Nagi touched his hair, just for a second, then went to join Ran in the flowers. Mamoru poked at his rice for a bit longer, then cleared the table out of habit before he called the maid to take the plates away.
Mamoru wasn't an empath, but he'd been raised to study faces and body language, and he'd spent enough time with Nagi to read him better than most people could. By the time Mamoru was changing for bed, Nagi was in better shape, although Mamoru wasn't sure if he'd make it to the guest room or just fall asleep in front of the television.
He came out of the bathroom to find Nagi standing behind the couch, the television off.
"Nagi-kun?"
"Will you--" Nagi swallowed. "Get in bed?"
Mamoru nodded and walked into the bedroom. Nagi followed him in and locked the door.
"I want...." Nagi watched as Mamoru pulled the covers back. "Take your clothes off."
Mamoru nodded again. He sat on the bed and unbuttoned the top button of his pajamas, the silk soft under his fingertips. "You want to watch me?"
Nagi bit his lower lip for a second. "Please."
"Okay," Mamoru said, continuing with the rest of the buttons. Nagi leaned back against the door. He pulled the top off his shoulders; the air felt cool, and Nagi's gaze made his skin tingle. He slid the pajama bottoms off, gently easing the fabric past his erection, and looked up again at Nagi's face. Nagi's lower lip was reddening. Mamoru kneeled on the bed and took himself in hand. Oh.
"You're so fucking pretty," Nagi breathed. Mamoru shuddered and went slower, before things finished too soon. "Touch your chest."
Mamoru put his free hand up and touched his nipple, already hard and sensitive. He closed his eyes for a second; Nagi's face was getting to be too much, too good, just thinking about the things Nagi could do to him with a touch, about the things Nagi had done....
"I can fuck you," Nagi said, breaking through his thoughts. "If you want."
Mamoru came at that thought, his eyes opening to Nagi's flushed face, Nagi's eyes locked on his, as the world shook and the pleasure of release took over his body. When he came back to his senses, Nagi was smiling, and closer. "You want?"
"Whatever you want," Mamoru said, dropping back on the bed and letting Nagi, still fully clothed, kneel over him. "I'm good."
"I'm tired," Nagi said, and unzipped his fly. "Just...stay still, okay?"
That translated to don't touch me. Mamoru kept still as Nagi stroked himself, fast and strong, and came across his stomach.
"Shit," Nagi said, closing his eyes for a second and leaning a bit closer. "The way you look. Shit."
"Good?" Mamoru asked.
"Yeah," Nagi slid off Mamoru. "Thanks." He kissed Mamoru on the forehead and got out of bed. "You need anything? I'll get a towel."
"I'm good," Mamoru said. "Thank you."
Nagi came back, stripped down to his boxers. After they cleaned up, he slid into bed next to Mamoru.
"You sure?" Mamoru asked.
"I'm sure," Nagi said, and slid an arm around Mamoru's waist. "I'm okay."
"Okay," Mamoru said, turning out the light. "As long as you're sure."
Nagi squeezed him. "Quit asking."
Mamoru kissed his ear. "Yes, sir." He closed his eyes. Tomorrow, if Wagner was still alive, he'd call him and ask for a meeting to discuss the terms of 'returning' Nagi in another few days. That would give the poison plenty of time, and would certainly be the end of that.
Everything was going to be fine.