[Log] Snow, snow, snow [Niou, Twins]

[kisarazur]

Characters: Kisarazu Ryou, Kisarazu Atsushi, Niou Masaharu
Location: Outside. In the Snow!
Time: Saturday, November 24th
Rating: PG-15 since they talk about stuff.
Summary: It snowed. The twins want to go play in the snow. Niou comes along.

Ryou, fully dressed but for his shoes, literally flew down the stairs to Atsushi’s room. Sometimes it really paid to be a mutant, really. Just as he was about to knock on his twin’s door, however, it opened, revealing Atsushi, dressed the same, with the exact look of excitement on his face. “Snow!” they cried out together.

They ran down the stairs to the kitchen and grabbed a couple of bottles of water and some additional food, stuffing it into their bags, then hit the shoe lockers and were out the door, revelling in the clear crisp cold air and all the beautiful, pristine snow that covered the ground. Heading semi-toward the lake they had some serious romping in mind. Snow!

Hearing the commotion of pounding feet and someone knocking at his neighbour’s door, Niou couldn’t help but be intrigued. Especially at the twin chorus of ‘snow!’ from his two favourite tigers. Opening the door just enough to see into the hallway he was in time to witness the two dashing out with big smiles on their faces. “Curiouser and curiouser,” Niou said to himself before grabbing his own winter clothes and slipping out to follow behind them at a more sedate pace. They wouldn’t be hard to track in the fresh snow unless they decided to fly and if that happened he guess he’d call it quits and wait for them to return with hot chocolate ready to go. But he did hope to be able to keep tracking them and see what two very happy twins got up to in the fresh snow.

About halfway to the lake they stopped and considered the footprints they were leaving. “It’s going to be a bit obvious if we’re all of a sudden leaving different tracks,” Ryou said. “Maybe we should fly a bit and then strip down?”

Atsushi nodded. “Shouldn’t have to go very far, though. It would look like we were out having fun, spotted something and then high-tailed it out of here, right?” He took a couple more steps then turned and ran back along his own tracks for a bit, then took off and looped around, coming down again about 10 feet in front of Ryou.

“Clever, my brother, clever!” Ryou said. He duplicated the move, then the two of them stripped off their outer clothes, leaving them in the special jumpsuit they used when doing power practice. They stuffed their clothes and shoes and all into a waterproof bag they’d brought and stuffed it up a tree. Then they grinned at one another and concentrated, changing rather quickly into their larger, furrier counterparts.

Niou followed the footprints at an ambling pace, enjoying the scenery, the snow and the sense of excitement at stalking his prey. Especially since at any moment his prey was likely to become predators and pounce him instead. When he got to extra prints in the snow he paused and gave them thought and then walked to the edge of where the prints ended. “Hmmm curiouser and curiouser once again my dear kittens,” Niou mused to himself and then looked at the footprints in the snow once more. Walking forward, going back and then, Niou jumped from footprint to footprint deciding that they must have gone for a running start to fly. But how far did they fly? Clever tigers, trying to lose their tail.

But Niou wasn’t going to be deterred that easily and decided to keep walking a little further in the direction that Atsushi and Ryou had been heading hoping to pick up the path again. Since the sun wasn’t all the way up yet and the dimness wasn’t that good for picking out footprints, Niou let his eyes glow to provide a light for him as he walked along the path. Fortunately it didn’t take too long before he found some disruptions in the snow that looked like a twin set of footprints that soon turned into a twin set of tiger prints.

Grinning and dimming his eyes, Niou moved as quietly as he could through the snow to find just where the tigers had gone and see what they got up to in the snow.

Playing chase through the new snow is a great deal of fun. When you are a tiger, warm in your fur and secure in your footing, graceful, powerful and with a playmate just like you, it is even more fun. The twins pounced, rolled and frollicked with abandon, knowing they were the kings of the forest and no one would disturb them in their play.

Spotting the commotion, Niou smiled and leaned against a tree waiting to see if they’d notice him. He couldn’t tell them apart in the early morning twilight, especially with them moving around and playing like they were. But Niou couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Atsushi and Ryou doing their thing so freely and having so much fun and felt honoured to be one of the few who knew their secret.

Atsushi stopped in mid-pounce, which is a little odd when you see it, Ryou decided. “What’s up?” he asked.

“I smell Niou,” Atsushi said. His head turned as he tracked the scent. Ryou’s head came up and he sniffed too.

“Over there,” Ryou said. The two of them padded through the snow to where the smell was coming from. It was indeed Niou, leaning against a tree. The two of them shared a look, then split up to come at their friend from either side.

Niou noticed one tiger pause mid-play and then the other and figured he’d been found out. He just continued to rest against the tree, grinning as he was boxed in by the twins. He couldn’t help but grin at becoming the prey to the two tigers he had been stalking earlier. “Having fun, boys?” Niou asked wondering if he’d be pushed over from the left or the right first and hoping that they remembered not to use claws or teeth.

The two tigers rushed Niou, coming up startlingly fast, then stopping at the last moment and barely brushing against him with their muzzles. He smelled delightfully Niou-esque; Atsushi’s nuzzle was perhaps a little harder than Ryou’s was. Then both tigers bumped against the tree, just enough for some of the snow to drift down onto them all. With huffing laughs, they pounced away a couple of feet and waited to see what their friend would do.

Niou had a second to hope once more that the twins would remember to play gentle with their breakable friend when they came to a sharp stop and nuzzled himstead. He laughed and reached out to pet them with gloved hands trying to get a good look at their tails that were partially covered by snow. Still, he thought the one rubbing against him more fully was Atsushi. Before he could say anything though they had bumped against the tree causing snow to fall on them and then run off. “Great... nice one guys,” Niou said looking up as a few more flakes fluttered down from the tree branches to land on his green toque.

Looking back at the tigers who were still nearby and clearly waiting for him, Niou knelt down and quickly rolled up two balls of snow. He stood and tossed them at the same time toward each tiger not sure if he’d have success at hitting either and not if their revenge on him would be fair. But it didn’t make it less fun.

Oh, he wanted to play! That was doable. Dodging the thrown snowballs, first one, then the other ran up to Niou and skidded to a stop, causing a small flurry of snow to land on the boy. Then, they pounced away again and stretched out their front paws in an invitation to play.

Apparently since they couldn’t throw snow back at him they were going to act like mini snowplows and try to bury him in snow. An interesting method of revenge but one that made him want to laugh at how cute it look. Grinning at the two tigers he bent down to grab some more snow before casually walking towards them. When he got closer he dashed towards them, tossing the snow at one of them while going to pounce onto the other tiger. One nice thing about their tiger form was that Niou wasn’t worried about playing too rough with them.

Atsushi batted the snowball out of the air and watched as Niou tackled Ryou. As Niou was smaller and lighter than Kabaji, Ryou refrained from simply rolling over and taking the boy with him. Instead, he stood up and shook himself gently, trying to dislodge Niou without sending him flying too far.

“Oi, stop that,” Niou said as he tried to bear hug a tiger who was rather determined to shake him off. “I wanna see your tail.” Without losing his hold completely on the tiger he was wrestling with, he stroked a gloved hand over the fur to try and clear it of snow and figure out just what twin he was currently pouncing. He’d probably get them confused again if they started playing and moving around but he’d at least know for a moment.

“Hey, he’s being fresh with me,” Ryou said to Atsushi with a laugh. “I think he’s figured out the minute differences between our tail stripes.” He promptly sat down and tucked his tail around his feet, ceasing all movement rather abruptly.

Atsushi found this hilarious and laid down on his side in the snow, watching the two of them. He let his own tail slowly curl and uncurl, temptingly, several feet away. “Oh, really now?” he asked.

“You two talking about me?” Niou asked looking between the two tigers as they made odd cat noises and settled down. He watched as the one he wasn’t half hugging taunted him with a tail slowly moving around and again was thwarted seeing it properly by the snow. At least the light was growing as the sun moved higher along the horizon.

Letting go of the twin that he was kneeling beside, he shifted around and looked at him. “You gonna let me look at your tail or are you just playing with me?” He asked as he reached out to brush snow off of it again. He half expected it to either be moved out of his reach or to be pounced on. The twins had very fun and playful sides to their personalities afterall.

Both tigers huffed in laughter. Oh, they were so going to play with him. Atsushi moved his tail out of Niou’s line of sight, then lunged forward to come nose to nose with the other boy. A little whisker twitch and he was back away from Niou again, acting as though he’d never moved. Ryou, in the meantime, managed to turn away from Niou, still keeping his tail out of sight.

As expected the tail moved away before Niou could get a good look at it. And then he was nose to nose with a tiger, which was a bit startling even when he knew they weren’t going to hurt him. Before he could figure out what to do with a tiger rubbing noses with him, the twin had dashed off and hidden his tail once more along with the other tiger. “You cheeky brats,” Niou complained though if he had to put money down on who was who, he’d guess that the one who just got in his face was Atsushi. But it was more a guess than anything and he’d like to be a bit more sure before he called them the wrong name. So he straightened up and pounced towards the one who had bumped noses with him determined to see his tail despite knowing wrestling a tiger was in vain.

Atsushi let Niou pounce him, wondering if he should pretend to be bowled over or if he should just stand like a rock as the other, weighing a quarter of what he did, trying to budge him. After giving it some thought, and after Niou had been wrestling with him for a good moment or two, he pretended to be overcome. Doing so in an obvious and fake way, just for the fun of watching his brother laugh. After dumping both himself and Niou into the snow, he pulled Niou back up, licked his face clean then went to sit by Ryou to see what Niou would do next.

Niou let out a hearty laugh as the tiger he thought was Atsushi fell over in an overly dramatic way. And he laughed again as he found himself sprawled in the snow, the laughter stopped though when he got another tiger facial. “Ugh, again?” He complained rubbing at his face a little though it was clear to see that he was teasing more than actually upset by tiger kisses. “Wrestling tigers is hard...” He muttered to himself as he knelt down and started balling up some snow. “But I think thumbs are gonna help me win a snowball fight.” Mostly because he didn’t think tigers could make and throw snowballs. Though he had was pretty sure that the two tigers would find some other way to clobber him with snow.

Niou picked up a couple snowballs and threw them at the tigers.

Snowball fight. Well, yes, thumbs would help if you were intending to throw snow at someone. However, if your intention was simply to get close to the other person and knock them into a snowbank, then you just needed to be fast on your feet and outmass them. Dodging the snowballs enough that they hit on their shoulders, not face or sides, the twins both moved forward, jumping toward him, but not touching him at first, looking to make him stumble and fall into the snow on his own.

Niou was rather impressed with their speed and dodging skills but he wasn’t about to give up. He had expected to be bowled over when they dashed at him but they were clearly playing with their prey as they jumped past him. He wobbled a little in the snow but kept his balance and quickly rearmed himself to hopefully get a few throws in before they charged again.

Oh, he didn’t fall. The twins regrouped and reconsidered their options. He was near that tree, however. With a chuffing noise, they set their assault. Again, they dashed past him, dodging the snowballs somewhat, but looking to brush past Niou to knock him off balance. But succeeding at that was not their main objective. Thud. Thud. Twice the tree shook...sending a very large pile of snow down onto one mostly unsuspecting target. Whoomp.

Seeing them coming again, Niou tossed the snowballs at the tigers and let out a laugh as they dashed past him. He wobbled a bit, his arms flailing out slightly but he managed to stay up. And he was just about to taunt the tigers when a pile of snow fell on him from above. Accomplishing what the twins hadn’t on their own, he toppled over onto his butt and sat there in slight surprise as he was half buried under the snow.

Laughing, the twins morphed back into their mostly human forms and came over to dig Niou out of the snow. “Your face was priceless,” Ryou said. “I hope you didn’t get any snow in your mouth,” he added with a wink. He didn’t bother hoping that the other didn’t get any down his back, it was what they’d aimed for, after all.

Atsushi wrapped his arms around Niou. “Do you need mouth to mouth?” he offered, his grin rather wicked.

“I think I got snow everywhere.” And Niou emphasized that in just the way to let them know that it most definitely got into the uncomfortable places, too. He put his arms around Atsushi and returned his wicked grin with one of his own. “Mouth to mouth just might help a little.”

“Mm, can’t have snow everywhere,” Atsushi said, sounding almost sympathetic. “Allow me to help thaw a few places.” He tightened his arms around Niou and gave him a very heated kiss.

Ryou laughed at the two of them and turned to look around the area. Hadn’t Niou been wearing a hat when they’d first seen him?

Niou hummed his approval at the kiss and became thoroughly distracted by it for a time before the melting snow down his back shifted and slid further down causing him to shudder. He pulled back and chuckled a little as he rubbed his nose against Atsushi’s affectionately. “You’re making me melt you’re so hot,” Niou said. It was a little cheesy but didn’t think Atsushi would mind since they were both being a little dorky.

Atsushi grinned back. “That was the general idea. I wouldn’t want you to catch a cold. Have to stay in bed all day, having me bring you tea and those little ginger snap cookies to settle your stomach. Why that would be just awful.” He let go long enough to help Niou to his feet. “Want to play some more or is it time for hot cocoa and some snuggles by the fire, yet?” he asked.

Picking up Niou’s hat, Ryou brushed it off. Not that it did any good, the thing was soaked through. “I’m game for hot cocoa,” he said, smiling at the two of them being all dorky together.

“I don’t know... a cold is starting to sound pretty good to me,” Niou said as he held onto Atsushi’s hand longer than needed to once he got to his feet. Being pampered by his favourite cat would almost make a cold worth it. Especially if it wasn’t that bad of a cold and he could enjoy some of Atsushi’s more thorough pampering.

Niou eventually let go of Atsushi’s hand though to try and brush some of the snow off of his body and then looked over at Ryou who apparently had his hat. He raised a mitted hand to his head and found that he was indeed hatless and then gave his head a good shake to get some of the snow from his hair. “But hot cocoa and a fire sounds good, too. Do I get double snuggles?” He asked thinking that would be a fantastic start to the day.

Ryou handed Niou his hat back and smiled. “That sounds fun. I’m game for that,” he said. He grinned at his brother. “You don’t mind, do you?” he asked Atsushi.

Tilting his head to the side, Atsushi gave Ryou a confused look back. “Why would I ever? He asked for you too. Which is good, because you both totally need some warm snuggles and I am just the person to give them!” He struck a pose, his hands on his hips, looking off to the right. He couldn’t hold it for long, however, laughing as he took Niou and then his brother by their arm. “Come on, fire, cocoa and snuggles await!”

Niou took the hat with a polite thanks but after taking in the state of the poor thing decided not to put it on. Though he did bring it up to his face in hopes of muffling the laugh at Atsushi’s ridiculous declaration and pose. Still chuckling, he was pulled along with Ryou in Atsushi’s wake and back towards the senior dorms. “I’m only going to snuggle with you if you promise not to do that pose again,” Niou threatened while still laughing. It wasn’t much of a threat at all.

“My pose was heroic!” Atsushi said. Gathering up Ryou and his clothes on the way, Atsushi dragged the two others in his wake back to the Senior Dorm.

Stumbling half-dressed into the warmth of the shoe locker area, Ryou shook his head and laughed. Love his brother as he did, he was well aware that the other was a completely silly individual at times...and this was one of them. “I’m with Niou on that one,” he said, shoving his shoes into their home and pulling on his slippers.

Niou took more than a few chances to check out Atsushi’s butt in that tight outfit as he pulled them along but had to stop oggling as he switched his boots for slippers and started taking off his jacket, mitts and scarf. “Maybe I should steal you away from Shishido. You’re definitely the more sensible twin,” Niou said reaching out to pull Ryou to his side, a teasing grin on his face.

Ryou got a bit wistful, thinking of his absent boyfriend. “I’m starting to wonder if he’d miss me if someone did,” he said, rather softly. “I haven’t heard from him since he had to leave, except that he told me he’d be back.” He leaned into Niou for a long moment, then straightened up again. “I’m going to go put my coat away.”

Taking his brother’s coat from him, Atsushi shook his head. “No, you are going to take Niou in and make sure he sits by the fire and gets warm. I’ll go put the coats away and grab the cocoa fixings,” he said firmly, turning his brother and giving him a little push toward the lounge.

“Well we’ve been told,” Niou said and pulled Ryou close to him again as they headed to the lounge where the coals of the embers of a fire were still warming the room. With the odd hours students kept, it meant that the fire was always going in some form in the lounge and was easy to stoke back into a proper fire by adding in a fresh log or two which Niou did easily. He sighed as the warmth started to sink into his body.

Niou helped Ryou pull some cushions and a throw blanket closer to the fire and then settled down with him. “These outfits are pretty sexy. Do you guys always wear them for power things?” He asked poking at Ryou’s chest.

Curling up against Niou with a sigh, Ryou decided to simply relax and let his brother take care of them for a change. “We got them for the power thing, yeah,” he said. “They shift with us so we don’t end up in the nude. Expensive though, so we only have one set each. Makes them not really good for everyday wear, although they work well as extra insulation under our clothes on cold days like today. How are you doing?” He arranged the throw blanket around the two of them as they waited for Atsushi.

Niou gave a soft whistle at Ryou’s explanations of the suits, “Fancy.” He couldn’t even fathom the technology needed to make something that would allow them to shift into their tiger form and back without damaging the clothes. But it also made him wonder if he could find a suit like that as Sakaki had mentioned that ending up naked at some point if his powers failed at some point after he became better at making clothes using them. But that was a thought for another time since he was still quite far away from realizing the dream of making full outfits for himself.

“And I’m good. Thawing out nicely. You?” Niou asked as he cuddled up to Ryou under the blanket.

“Yeah. So far they’ve worked as advertised,” Ryou said. The fire was toasty and Niou was chilly. It was only that combination that kept him from curling up and taking a nap. All that exercise took a lot out of him, especially since he’d been in his tiger form. “Starting to,” he said with a yawn. “Mm...so, got any plans for the upcoming break, Niou?”

“Heading home. Family likes to see me over the New Year. Might try to meet up with Atsushi if we can manage it. You can come hang out, too,” Niou said. He didn’t want Ryou to feel left out of hanging out together, even if he did hope that his plans with Atsushi would lead to more private ones. But Ryou was a smart kitty and would undoubtedly know when it was turning from a day out with friends into something more. Especially since Ryou should have some of those plans with his boyfriend. “You and Shishido going to do anything?” He hadn’t seen the somewhat grumpy guy around on campus lately but it didn’t mean that Ryou wasn’t keeping in touch with him.

“We’ll be home for a chunk of it as well,” Ryou said. “Although Takkun and Mizuki want to go to an onsen that Takkun found over the summer as well. Atsushi would totally blow that off for time with you, though, I’m sure. He likes hanging out with you,” he said with a small smile. “As for me, I...I don’t know,” he said quietly. “I haven’t seen Shishido in about a month. He had something come up and had to go take care of it. He expected to be gone only a little while. I figured we’d celebrate my birthday when he got back. But...” He picked at the blanket, not looking at Niou.

“Atsushi should spend some time with all his friends. And you, too,” Niou said though it warmed him in a way the fire didn’t to know that Atsushi would put him above an onsen trip with those three. Hearing Ryou’s quiet voice and noticing the way he wasn’t looking at him anymore, Niou pulled Ryou a little closer to him and hugged him the best he could in their position. “I guess I didn’t realize how long Shishido’s been away. You doing okay?” He knew that in general it was tough when the person you were dating was far away from you but he also knew that the twins had special needs, a side effect of their feline powers. He was sure Ryou was giving himself some relief or getting some from Atsushi but that could only do so much when he’s gone without sex for nearly a month.

“Not really,” Ryou admitted, curling up closer to Niou. “I’m trying to stay faithful, but...it’s starting to get more and more difficult. I’ve been making do with a lot of cuddles and ear petting, but it’s just getting to be not enough anymore. Right now the only thing really getting me through this is the time I’ve been spending with Atsushi outside.” He smiled at Niou. “I can take out all my pent up energy with him. I am so lucky to have him, you know?” He looked up then as Atsushi came into the lounge carrying a large tray.

“Hello there, beautiful boys!” Atsushi said as he came in. He was carrying a tray with cups of hot cocoa and a couple of packages of meat and skewering forks. “Time for cocoa, snuggles and a little breakfast for those of us who skipped it in favor of the snow this morning!” He grinned at the sight of his two favorite people snuggled up in front of the fire. Walking over, he set the tray down, then slid under the blanket on Niou’s other side, after giving both of the other boys a kiss.

“We’re both lucky,” Niou said making sure to give Ryou some extra special ear scratches even as he watched Atsushi come in with a large tray. He happily made room for Atsushi under the blanket beside him but didn’t wrap his arm around him like he normally would as hot cocoa and the temptation of meat was winning out over double hugs at the moment and he thought Ryou could use some attention more than Atsushi. “Do you think Shishido would be upset if you asked him if you could play with Atsushi and me? We can just use mouths or hands.” Niou thought it quite noble that Ryou wanted to stay faithful to Shishido but Niou also thought it was sort of uncool for the guy to disappear for over a month and expect Ryou to not find any real relief. A bit of hand or mouth action would hopefully be a happy medium to still be faithful enough but would still help Ryou feel less antsy.

Threading meat onto a skewer, Atsushi leaned against Niou and gave his brother a pleading look. “I’ve been doing a bit of that already,” he said to Niou. “Just a little, though. Shishido understood that we are close and never tried to make Ryou choose between us. Even so, your help would be appreciated.” He was noticing that Ryou was getting more and more aggressive. It was little things at first, like raising his hand to answer a question before the teacher was done asking it. But now, Atsushi could see, past the sadness, a wild look in Ryou’s eyes and it worried him. They couldn’t even hunt bears any more. What if Ryou snapped?

Ryou was wondering the same thing as he nibbled on a piece of the meat he was supposed to be threading on a skewer for roasting. Where did he need to draw the line between being faithful to his boyfriend and his own health and the well-being of those around him? “Let me...think about it for a moment?” he asked Niou. He snagged another piece of meat and contemplated some of his options.

“It’s an open offer. Take all the time you need,” Niou said. It’d been a while since he’d last played with Ryou and he thought it might be a little odd playing with both twins again instead of just the one but it would definitely be fun once they got into it. It certainly wasn’t a pity offer. Though he’d see about getting Ryou to brush his teeth or at least rinse his mouth out with something if he wanted to play in the immediate future.

The twins might be tiger mutants but Niou suspected that eating raw meat in their human forms wasn’t quite normal for them. At least all the times he’d eaten with Atsushi the meat had been cooked to some degree. He looked over at Atsushi and flicked his gaze to the skewer he was holding and then back to his face trying to get some insight from him if the raw meat eating thing was worrisome.

Practically thrusting the skewers into the fire to get them to cook faster, Atsushi kept a close eye on his brother. Eating meat raw was quite worrisome, actually. A major sign that his brother’s mental state was rather fragile. “I realize that you made a promise to Shishido, Ryou, but he is not upholding his half of that promise,” he said quietly. “Plus, you know that Niou isn’t going to try to steal you from him or replace him for you. I understand that you want to abide by his ideals and the fact that he’s quite possessive, but this is hurting you. I...I’m worried for you, Ryou.”

Ryou nodded at what his brother said, but didn’t really listen until he looked down and realized that his fingers were bloody from the meat he had been eating. “Oh.” He gave Atsushi a tired look. “I...see.” He took a deep breath. “By putting his needs ahead of my own I have been jeopardizing my health and potentially the health of others, haven’t I?” He wiped his hands on a napkin and stared into the fire. “...yes,” he said after a few long moments more of contemplation. “I do not want you to worry, Atsushi,” he added, looking at his brother. “Even above my own health and well-being, yours is most important. If my actions cause you concern, then I need to reevaluate them. When...and if, Shishido returns, I will deal with the repercussions then. Until then, yes, thank you, I will take you up on that offer, Niou.” He smiled at Niou as he spoke.

“Good,” Niou finally said after having stayed quiet as the twins discussed the issue around him. He gave Ryou’s ears a bit of an extra special scratch, one that he knew went just a little beyond friendly to flirty. He’d become something of an ear scratching expert with all of the time he’d spent cuddled up to Atsushi and it was a skill he wasn’t above abusing. “And we won’t break the biggest rule so he better appreciate our restraint when he gets back.” And he was sure that both he and Atsushi would have words to share with Shishido when he did.

Ryou sighed happily at the fingers on his ears. “It’s been a couple of weeks now. If he’s not back at the end of next week, I think I will reassess that rule, too.” He pouted a little, looking down at his fingers. “I deserve better than this...right?” he asked softly. He was about to ask for a kiss, then realized that Niou might not enjoy the taste of raw meat. “Uhm, I’m going to go brush my teeth. I’ll be right back.” He extricated himself from the blanket and Niou, gave both boys a bow and ran off.

Looking after his brother, Atsushi leaned into Niou with a sigh. “That is the closest to purring he’s gotten in almost two weeks. Thank you.” He gave Niou a soft kiss, then handed him a skewer. “Let’s cook up some of this, shall we?” he asked with a smile.

“I didn’t realize it was so bad,” Niou said, anger tinging his voice a little even as he took one of the skewers from Atsushi to put in the fire. He shifted so he could hug Atsushi close to him in Ryou’s absence and gave him a comforting squeeze. “Can’t believe Shishido would hold him to some stupid promise when he had to know it would start hurting him.” It was one thing to ask for faithfulness when you were around to relieve the pressure but another to keep expecting it when you weren’t and your boyfriend’s mutation turned that sexual need into something more. He felt Shishido was a good guy so he’d refrain from punching him when he returned until he had a chance to explain.

“And you definitely don’t need to thank me for this. I love playing with you and including your brother just adds to the fun,” Niou said stomping down on his anger and forcing a mischievous grin to his face.

“Honestly, I don’t know if Shishido really understands our mutation that well,” Atsushi said, cuddling happily up with Niou. “Ryou hasn’t told him about...you know,” he said quietly, looking around to make sure no one was listening. “They’ve been dating about a month. Ryou was going to come clean, but then Shishido had to take off.” He sighed as he turned the skewer. “Thank Konomi for you, is all I can say,” he said with a grin and a nudge against Niou. “I feel a lot better myself now, to be honest.”

“He doesn’t need to know that to know you two are horny cat boys for a reason,” Niou countered. He got that part long before he hooked up with the two and quickly understood it more thoroughly after being with them for a short time. Maybe Shishido just wasn’t as smart as he gave him credit for or maybe he wasn’t enough of a people person or maybe mutant person to get the twins had special needs. He again tried to ignore his frustration at Shishido and pulled his skewer from the fire to see how they were coming along before putting it back in. “Considering all the effort I put into pleasing you, I should hope so,” Niou managed to tease slightly and even give a genuine smile. “Not to mention all the other guys you have trained to spoil you.” What a kitty wants, a kitty gets afterall.

“You make it sound like I have a seraglio,” Atsushi said, purring against Niou. He did have more than one lover, true, but Niou was his favorite. There was just something about the other boy that made him happy. Possibly it had to do with the way Niou treated him; like he was special. He kissed Niou again, this time a little longer, until his nose told him the meat was done. He looked up as Ryou came back in just as he was sliding the meat onto a plate. “You were gone a while there,” he said.

“Had to wash my hands twice,” Ryou said with a wink. He settled back down on Niou’s other side and picked up one of the skewers of meat and holding it into the fire. He leaned his head on Niou’s shoulder and smiled. “I’m already feeling better, just from making that decision,” he said.

Niou would have protested Atsushi not having a seraglio but that he still had the freedom to enjoy playing with anyone who took his fancy when he was distracted by a kiss and then Ryou’s return. It would be rude to talk about being able to have sex with others in front of Ryou when he was so restricted so focused on his meat instead since his stomach was starting to grumble. “We can make you feel a lot better before class if we eat fast and can find somewhere private,” Niou said and then blew on a piece of meat before popping into his mouth. He gave Atsushi another squeeze and stroked his ear a few times before switching his hands to pet Ryou again. He knew that Atsushi would understand and likely approve Ryou getting a little more attention right now.

“That sounds good,” Ryou said with a slight purr. Really, his brother and Niou were the best. “Is Oishi off to his daily scolding from Ryuuzaki, yet? I swear, I think she’s just using him for free therapy these days.” He popped the cooked meat into his mouth. Mm, much better. “You two can continue your conversation, you know. My hearing is even more exceptional these days, unfortunately, so I know what you were talking about.” He gave his brother a look. “You don’t have a seraglio?”

“I said Niou was making it sound like I did,” Atsushi pointed out. “I never said I didn’t have one.” He grinned at them both, feeling more lighthearted than he had since Shishido had left.

“I was just going to tell him that I don’t mind him having a seraglio if he has one. It keeps the pressure off me in a way,” Niou said. Not only did it mean that he was still free to play with others despite the feelings that he knew was sort of there between them, it also meant he didn’t have to feel bad or pressured if he just felt like cuddles or was busy and couldn’t satisfy Atsushi. “Some days you just feel like cuddles. When others, you desperately, need more.” He nudged Ryou a little at that comment before popping another piece of meat in his mouth. “Little early for Oishi’s lecture but he’s probably off starting the first load of laundry.” If they were fast, they should be able to manage helping Ryou find some relief before classes. They could always play some more at lunch or after school until Ryou felt more balanced again.

That got Niou a sound kiss from the purring kitten to his right. “I’ll be in yours if you’ll be in mine?” Atsushi asked, doing his best seductive voice. “I like the sound of that. I don’t mean to pressure you, you’ll tell me if I do, though, right?” Actually, he had few doubts about that. Niou was not one to mince words or beat around the bush. “Poor Oishi. It’s been months now. If Ryuuzaki is still trying to guilt out his accomplices, I think that boat has sailed. She needs to change her strategy or something,” he said, shaking his head.

Ryou sighed. He really wished he had a seraglio right then. This whole being faithful to one person thing was great for the first couple of weeks, but with Shishido’s absence, it was just one long painful moment after another. He nibbled on some more meat and smiled at his brother’s banter. “Cuddles just aren’t cutting it anymore,” he agreed with a sigh.

“Sounds good. And don’t worry about pressuring me,” Niou said giving Atsushi another kiss before leaning into Ryou to cuddle him a bit. There’d already been a few times he knew Atsushi would prefer sex over cuddles but Atsushi was pretty good about not pushing it. And he had no doubt in his own abilities to stand his ground if needed. “I keep thinking I should just pose as Fuji and confess and put Oishi out of his misery. The guy is a slightly crazy shadow of his former self.” The only problem with that plan is he’d be turning in his best friend and that wasn’t a very cool thing to do. But he also thought Fuji might be sort of amused by it, too. It was Oishi’s fault for being dumb enough to get caught and then being too noble to not turn his accomplices in. Niou would have. Well, he would have after bargaining for a better deal.

The twins exchanged a look. “So it was Fuji!” they said in unison. Ryou shook his head a little, shifting to curl up on Niou’s lap. “I’m not too surprised though. We knew it had to be another student. But why....” He shook his head again. “Never mind. Fuji marches to his own drum as they say. Who knows why he would a) rob a bank and b) let one of his closest friends dwell in abject misery for months.

Sliding a cooked piece of meat off the skewer, Atsushi popped it into his brother’s mouth, then kissed him. “Oishi is more noble than smart. What does he think he’s going to get out of this? His friend’s undying gratitude or something? He doesn’t even get treats snuck in!” He threaded more meat and propped it up to cook as well.

“Maybe he wants Eiji’s undying gratitude,” Niou said with enough of a leer to leave no misunderstanding how he thought Oishi would like it. And he would have felt bad about outing Fuji as an accomplice to the twins but it was hardly a secret. All anyone had to do was look on their journals to find Eiji, Fuji and Oishi planning a bank robbery as a day out in the city. “And that poor guy is definitely more noble than smart. It’d be sweet if I wasn’t worried about him snapping and killing us all. I mean, how do you stop a guy who can stop time?” Maybe get him Dan’d? He pondered that as he continued to pet Ryou’s ears and hair, liking the weight of him across his lap with Atsushi at his side.

“Eiji, huh? Figures Oishi would have a weakness for redheads,” Atsushi said, cuddling close and petting his brother’s hair with his free hand. “If it was just tail he wanted, Eiji isn’t the only game in town, after all,” he said with a wink. “But Eiji hasn’t seemed terribly grateful. Haven’t seen him hanging much around, even. Poor Oishi. If it weren’t for bad luck he’d have none at all.”

“Does that mean he’s into Hanamura?” Niou asked. Poor Oishi would be eaten whole by that much of a woman. Niou ate the last piece of meat in his hand and then reached around to stroke Atsushi’s tail for his cheesey tail comment and wink. “And Eiji’s a hard guy to keep track of since he can just poof in and out.” And he was pretty sure that Eiji did not walk outside at all to get from dorm to class all through winter unless he absolutely had to or wanted to play in the snow. It did make Eiji sightings a bit more rare outside of classes.

“Mm, maybe it’s a combination of tail and hair?” Atsushi mused, wiggling a little at the tail stroke. “Although sometimes she has a tail too. Could be that he just has a thing for the smell of brimstone,” he said with a grin. “Which I have smelled a time or two in your room, so it could be that he’s poofing rather than walking.”

Ryou laid his head on Niou’s shoulder and listened to the two of them chatting. He was so lucky to have a wonderful brother and friend. As brothers and friends went, Atsushi and Niou had to be at the top of the heap, he decided with a smile.

“Who doesn’t find the smell of brimstone sexy?” Niou said and then looked down at the twin resting on his shoulder. “Finished eating?” He asked. He could do with a bit more, but then he could also grab a riceball or some toast before class and be sorted pretty quickly. If Ryou was ready to move on to the next part then so was he. He didn’t want to tease him or keep him waiting any longer than Ryou had already waited.

“Not really,” Ryou admitted. “But I’m not in the mood to eat. Been losing my appetite lately,” he said, looking away from his brother’s knowing eyes. “But I’m sure I’ll feel better by lunch!” He wiggled a little in Niou’s lap.

Atsushi took this as a cue to wrap up the rest of the meat. “Let’s finish up what is cooking, then head back to our rooms,” he suggested. “Niou, you need to keep your strength up too,” he said with a grin, offering what was on his stick to the silver haired boy.

Niou nodded and bit a piece of meat off the offered skewer like a good boy. “Sounds good to me. Just try not to wear me out too much.” Not that he really minded if they did, he was sure they’d make it up to him somehow.

“Define ‘too much,’” Atsushi asked, laying the skewer with the meat and standing up. He offered his hand to Ryou. “Like, a little worn out? Wrung out to dry and needing a nap? Or short coma?”

“I need to get to class.... even if I end up snoozing in it,” Niou said and helped nudge Ryou up to stand before getting himself to his feet. He gathered up the blankets and pillows and tossed them toward the couches. “Let’s go see if poor Oishi is off doing laundry.” Niou nodded toward the stairs that would lead to his room.

“I might need a nap afterwards,” Ryou admitted. “I’ve not been sleeping particularly well, either.” He looked a little shamefaced at this as he walked with them to the stairs. “Would you let the teachers know I’m taking a sick day, Atsushi?”

“I would be happy to, Ryou-nii,” Atsushi said nodding happily. He’d known about the lack of eating and sleeping too. Thank heavens his brother was willing to let them help. Or there might be a more than fair chance of Shishido getting mauled by a desperate Ryou when he returned. “I’ll go put the meat away and meet you two in Niou’s room, since we’re neighbors and all.”

“Don’t expect us to wait for you,” Niou said with a wink trying to turn the mood light again. He grabbed Ryou’s hand and dragged him rest of the way up the stairs planning to keep to his word and not wait for Atsushi before he and Ryou got started. Ryou was in desperate need of it and he knew that Atsushi would appreciate the scene he walked in on no matter what the two of them were up to at the time.

“Oh? Should I take my time then?” Atsushi called after them as he raced up and opened the door to his room, right next to Niou’s. He put the meat and skewers away, then pulled out already cooked meat for a snack later. He didn’t want to delay, but then he did want Ryou to get some quality time for himself. Picking up his brother’s snack, he headed over to Niou’s room, knocking as he entered. “Hello...ooo, nice!” he said as he saw what they were up to and went to join in.