(no subject)
Title: Scent Never Lies
Fandom: Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles/Legends of Damador
Characters: Kurogane (TRC), Fai (TRC), Kharavela (LoD), Devlin (LoD)
Prompt: 58. Dinner, 45. We are left standing to face what is left of concrete and honey, 07. Camping
Word Count: 2,340
Rating: T
Summary: After landing in Yasha's lands, Kurogane and Fai are offered shelter for the night by a blond and his strange companion, who knows more about Kurogane than he would like. Spoilers for Shura arc only.
Author's Notes: For ria_chan. Sorry it's a little more serious than you may have asked for, but it does include the requirement of Kharavela biting Kurogane.
Kurogane groaned as he sat up and surveyed the area around him. His head hurt from where he had hit it on the ground, and he gingerly brought his hand to the sore spot. Warm, sticky blood greeted his questioning fingers. The mage was nowhere to be seen; in fact, nothing in the surrounding area looked even remotely familiar. He pushed himself to his feet and staggered forward to rest against a tree. “Oi, mage,” he called. He was answered by rolling thunder, and within moments it started to rain. Cursing things loudly, he started out in search of shelter, assuming the mage, wherever he may be, would be doing the same thing.
After a few minutes of walking, he found a cave that looked big enough to offer shelter, and from the orange glow, he could see the interior was lit by a fire. He stepped carefully inside, looking around for the inhabitants. They might be willing to offer him shelter from the rain. He kept his hand on the hilt of his sword, just in case they were hostile.
A few steps in, he paused and loosened his grip on the sword, surprised to see the blond sitting in the cave, warming his hands over the fire. Well, that saved him the trouble of looking for the man. “Oi,” he said, stomping towards the man and grabbing him by the shoulder to turn him around. He realized his mistake almost immediately. The first clue was that Fai was little, but he weighed more than this man. Then there was the fact that the mage’s nose did not have that small dent in it. The final indication was when something sharp ravaged his spare hand, and the blond he was holding was whisked out of his grasp and to the other side of the fire. He tried to grab his sword, but his hand was not responding. The man who had joined them was glowering at him from across the fire, blood smeared across his mouth as he held the blond close to him. Kurogane decided it was probably best that blond was no Fai, as he couldn’t fathom what type of person would willingly live with a man who randomly bit other humans.
“Kuro-sama,” and what followed could only be perceived as gibberish, but he could recognize the concern when the mage came running up to him and lifted Kurogane’s arm to inspect the wound.
As Fai tore some material from his sleeve and started bandaging his hand, Kurogane kept a wary eye on the strangers, noting the cautious way in which the larger man watched him in return. Kurogane could not see any weapons, but he was not interested in fighting with a crazy man. Gradually though, he seemed to be relaxing his hold on the smaller blond.
“Was the hunt successful?” the blond asked, and Kurogane was surprised he understood that when he had been unable to understand Fai. He could only surmise the white thing was not close, but he still understood some of the native language of this land they had arrived in.
The larger man nodded at his companion before stepping away from him and making his way carefully to the entrance of the cave. Fai had just finished tying the bandage around his wound as the man stalked by them. Kurogane scowled at him and moved his injured hand closer to his sword, but the other man simply walked by and out into the rain.
Kurogane folded his arms across his chest. If there was no storm and if they had somewhere to go, he would have taken Fai and left right then. Those two who he presumed lived in that cave were just too strange for his liking. The one bit people, and the other didn’t seem to mind.
“He’s not always like that,” the blond man said, and Kurogane was careful to note he was not apologizing for his companion. “After all, he did save your friend,” the man continued, indicating Fai. “Unluckily for you, he is very protective of me.”
“I noticed,” he responded, flexing the fingers of his injured hand.
The conversation ended when the man came back into the cave, carrying a deer across his shoulders. “At any rate, we can only offer you dinner and a place to stay for the evening.”
Kurogane knew it was the best offer they were going to receive. Fai stood silently by his side, looking more than a little confused at the words they were speaking. For once, the mage was going to have to trust him. Kurogane watched in disgust as the man threw the deer down by the fire and he realized it was half-eaten, thinking perhaps it was a good thing they would not be staying with these people long. He was a bit uneasy about eating meat that had been dead for an indeterminate amount of time.
“My name is Devlin,” the blond said as he knelt next to the deer and started ripping strips of meat off of it. “My companion is Kharavela.”
“I’m Kurogane, and this is Fai,” he responded gruffly, grateful for the opportunity to introduce himself for once.
“Have a seat,” Devlin said, indicating a few large rocks by the fireplace. Kurogane moved to sit down and Fai followed his example.
While the new blond cooked the meat, Kurogane watched the man he called Kharavela. At first, the other man circled them warily at a distance, making the hair on the back of Kurogane’s neck stand up every time he was directly behind him. Eventually, he was able to relax slightly as the man finally sat down against a wall in a position where he could watch Devlin and the travelers at the same time. Kurogane was slowly starting to get used to the man’s watchful presence, especially since Fai didn’t seem to mind and Fai didn’t trust people easily. He would have to work out the details later once he got to communicate with the mage again, but apparently he had reason to be grateful to the crazy man for safely reuniting him with Fai.
“Here,” Devlin said, offering him and Fai each a third of the meat he had prepared.
“Doesn’t he eat?” Kurogane asked, looking over at the man watching them who had not been offered any.
“He already ate,” Devlin said plainly before taking a bite of his own dinner.
Kurogane looked down at the deer carcass, and his stomach involuntarily revolted. At least the mage did not understand what was going on, but when he looked over at him, Kurogane saw Fai had eaten none of his food. It took a few moments for him to realize Fai was watching him expectantly, waiting for him to eat so that he knew it was safe for him to do the same. Trying to push aside the disturbing mental image of Kharavela eating his hand as a mid-day snack, he bit into the piece of meat provided to him, indicating to Fai he should do the same. It was difficult to eat with someone watching him so intently, but he also knew he had no guarantees of when his next meal would be.
As he was finishing his dinner, he heard a low growling sound coming from Kharavela. His hand moved slowly to his sword at first, but he soon recognized that the man was speaking to his companion. The blond was listening intently, nodding at odd intervals, and Kurogane got a tingling feeling in the base of his spine from the suspicion that they were talking about them. He would just have to hope Fai would be willing to protect them with his magic if it became necessary.
Once Kharavela stopped talking, Devlin turned his attention back to the two of them. “He says you two may stay here tonight, but tomorrow you have to leave. He recommends finding King Yasha and asking to join his service since you two are both strong warriors.”
“How will we find this King Yasha?”
Kurogane was surprised when Kharavela started growling an answer before Devlin had translated. Which meant the man understood the language but was just choosing not to speak it in front of them. He was playing some sort of game with them, but Kurogane couldn’t figure out what. If there was something the crazy man wanted to hide, it was probably best to just leave it be.
“He says tomorrow he will point you in the right direction.”
“Thank you,” he said, pointedly looking at Kharavela to make sure the man knew he was aware he understood their conversation. The man just grunted in response and rolled his shoulder.
“At any rate, it probably won’t stop raining anytime soon,” the blond said, looking towards the mouth of the cave and the rain pattering on the ground. “It’s not safe to travel in this weather.”
Kurogane carefully watched the man as he stood and walked to the back of the cave. When he happened to look over at Kharavela, he noticed the man was carefully watching him and Fai again, but this time with a more thoughtful expression. He grunted and turned his attention back to the blond since he was the only one who seemed willing to communicate with them.
“Here,” the blond said as he walked back over to them. He handed Kurogane a large bundle of folded material. “It’s not much, but at least you won’t have to sleep on the ground.”
As the man walked away, Kurogane took a few steps away from the fire and spread the blanket out on the ground. It looked like it was barely big enough to hold both him and Fai, but it wouldn’t be the first time they had been forced to share cramped corners. It was the first time Kurogane thought he wasn’t going to be able to sleep because he would be too worried about someone eating him in the middle of the night.
When he turned back around, he twitched when he realized Kharavela had rejoined the blond and he had never heard him move. He was now perched on a ledge covered with a blanket against the opposing cave wall. And still watching the two of them carefully, Kurogane noted. He had no idea how he was supposed to sleep if the man was going to be watching the two of them the entire time.
“You should get some rest,” Devlin suggested with a smile. “I don’t think Yasha will accept tired soldiers.” The blond sat down, disappearing into the shadow of the cave.
Kurogane grunted before lying down on his back on the blanket, making a point of turning his face away from the strangers. He didn’t want to know if the larger one was staring at him or not, but he still felt like he could feel that intense gaze drilling into the back of his skull. He tried to pretend it was his imagination. After a few minutes had passed, Fai tentatively laid down on the blanket next to him.
Kurogane tried to sleep, he really did. He could tell Fai had had no problems in that department from the soft snores coming from the mage. Several hours had passed, the rain had stopped, and the fire had reduced to embers. He had done his best to pretend they were staying in that cave by themselves. Besides, he had tried to reason with himself that it would be insane for that man to stay up all night watching him. Still, the back of his head itched, and eventually to satisfy his curiosity, he turned his head to look at the other two.
It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, but he saw that the blond was sleeping on the other side of his companion with his head on his chest, and Kharavela was in fact glaring at him from across the cave. Kurogane received the impression that the strange man could see him better than he could see him in return. From the protective way the man’s hand was curled around his companion’s back, Kurogane thought he could guess why the man distrusted him so much.
“That first time was a mistake,” he explained. “I’m not going to touch your friend.”
Kharavela seemed to have tightened his grip on the other man and narrowed his eyes. “He looks like yours. How am I supposed to trust you?”
“Mine?” Temporarily, he did not understand what the man was talking about, but he looked briefly at the mage sleeping next to him and realized he was talking about Fai. “He’s not mine,” he said, determined that explaining that situation would get the other man to relax.
“But you’ve had him. Two months ago at the longest.” Kurogane gritted his teeth and curled the fingers of his uninjured hand. That strange man had no right to be making assumptions on the basis of appearance. “Your scent lingers on him,” the man continued, rolling his head so he was looking at the ceiling instead. “Or perhaps he had you,” he said with a light chuckle.
“You don’t understand the situation,” he growled, not too loud because he did not need Fai waking up and hearing this conversation.
“You’re right, I don’t. Humans are so complex when it comes to mating.”
Kurogane decided he was not going to think too much on that statement, as he was already skeptical about other factors about the man such as his sanity that he didn’t need to be questioning his humanity as well. At least, Kharavela was no longer watching him, and Kurogane decided he should do his best to get some rest. Tomorrow, they would leave those two, and he wouldn’t have to worry about what else the man could scent about him. With any luck, they would find the kids soon as well. He wasn’t sure he would be able to deal with a quiet Fai who depended on him for everything for very long.
Fandom: Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles/Legends of Damador
Characters: Kurogane (TRC), Fai (TRC), Kharavela (LoD), Devlin (LoD)
Prompt: 58. Dinner, 45. We are left standing to face what is left of concrete and honey, 07. Camping
Word Count: 2,340
Rating: T
Summary: After landing in Yasha's lands, Kurogane and Fai are offered shelter for the night by a blond and his strange companion, who knows more about Kurogane than he would like. Spoilers for Shura arc only.
Author's Notes: For ria_chan. Sorry it's a little more serious than you may have asked for, but it does include the requirement of Kharavela biting Kurogane.
Kurogane groaned as he sat up and surveyed the area around him. His head hurt from where he had hit it on the ground, and he gingerly brought his hand to the sore spot. Warm, sticky blood greeted his questioning fingers. The mage was nowhere to be seen; in fact, nothing in the surrounding area looked even remotely familiar. He pushed himself to his feet and staggered forward to rest against a tree. “Oi, mage,” he called. He was answered by rolling thunder, and within moments it started to rain. Cursing things loudly, he started out in search of shelter, assuming the mage, wherever he may be, would be doing the same thing.
After a few minutes of walking, he found a cave that looked big enough to offer shelter, and from the orange glow, he could see the interior was lit by a fire. He stepped carefully inside, looking around for the inhabitants. They might be willing to offer him shelter from the rain. He kept his hand on the hilt of his sword, just in case they were hostile.
A few steps in, he paused and loosened his grip on the sword, surprised to see the blond sitting in the cave, warming his hands over the fire. Well, that saved him the trouble of looking for the man. “Oi,” he said, stomping towards the man and grabbing him by the shoulder to turn him around. He realized his mistake almost immediately. The first clue was that Fai was little, but he weighed more than this man. Then there was the fact that the mage’s nose did not have that small dent in it. The final indication was when something sharp ravaged his spare hand, and the blond he was holding was whisked out of his grasp and to the other side of the fire. He tried to grab his sword, but his hand was not responding. The man who had joined them was glowering at him from across the fire, blood smeared across his mouth as he held the blond close to him. Kurogane decided it was probably best that blond was no Fai, as he couldn’t fathom what type of person would willingly live with a man who randomly bit other humans.
“Kuro-sama,” and what followed could only be perceived as gibberish, but he could recognize the concern when the mage came running up to him and lifted Kurogane’s arm to inspect the wound.
As Fai tore some material from his sleeve and started bandaging his hand, Kurogane kept a wary eye on the strangers, noting the cautious way in which the larger man watched him in return. Kurogane could not see any weapons, but he was not interested in fighting with a crazy man. Gradually though, he seemed to be relaxing his hold on the smaller blond.
“Was the hunt successful?” the blond asked, and Kurogane was surprised he understood that when he had been unable to understand Fai. He could only surmise the white thing was not close, but he still understood some of the native language of this land they had arrived in.
The larger man nodded at his companion before stepping away from him and making his way carefully to the entrance of the cave. Fai had just finished tying the bandage around his wound as the man stalked by them. Kurogane scowled at him and moved his injured hand closer to his sword, but the other man simply walked by and out into the rain.
Kurogane folded his arms across his chest. If there was no storm and if they had somewhere to go, he would have taken Fai and left right then. Those two who he presumed lived in that cave were just too strange for his liking. The one bit people, and the other didn’t seem to mind.
“He’s not always like that,” the blond man said, and Kurogane was careful to note he was not apologizing for his companion. “After all, he did save your friend,” the man continued, indicating Fai. “Unluckily for you, he is very protective of me.”
“I noticed,” he responded, flexing the fingers of his injured hand.
The conversation ended when the man came back into the cave, carrying a deer across his shoulders. “At any rate, we can only offer you dinner and a place to stay for the evening.”
Kurogane knew it was the best offer they were going to receive. Fai stood silently by his side, looking more than a little confused at the words they were speaking. For once, the mage was going to have to trust him. Kurogane watched in disgust as the man threw the deer down by the fire and he realized it was half-eaten, thinking perhaps it was a good thing they would not be staying with these people long. He was a bit uneasy about eating meat that had been dead for an indeterminate amount of time.
“My name is Devlin,” the blond said as he knelt next to the deer and started ripping strips of meat off of it. “My companion is Kharavela.”
“I’m Kurogane, and this is Fai,” he responded gruffly, grateful for the opportunity to introduce himself for once.
“Have a seat,” Devlin said, indicating a few large rocks by the fireplace. Kurogane moved to sit down and Fai followed his example.
While the new blond cooked the meat, Kurogane watched the man he called Kharavela. At first, the other man circled them warily at a distance, making the hair on the back of Kurogane’s neck stand up every time he was directly behind him. Eventually, he was able to relax slightly as the man finally sat down against a wall in a position where he could watch Devlin and the travelers at the same time. Kurogane was slowly starting to get used to the man’s watchful presence, especially since Fai didn’t seem to mind and Fai didn’t trust people easily. He would have to work out the details later once he got to communicate with the mage again, but apparently he had reason to be grateful to the crazy man for safely reuniting him with Fai.
“Here,” Devlin said, offering him and Fai each a third of the meat he had prepared.
“Doesn’t he eat?” Kurogane asked, looking over at the man watching them who had not been offered any.
“He already ate,” Devlin said plainly before taking a bite of his own dinner.
Kurogane looked down at the deer carcass, and his stomach involuntarily revolted. At least the mage did not understand what was going on, but when he looked over at him, Kurogane saw Fai had eaten none of his food. It took a few moments for him to realize Fai was watching him expectantly, waiting for him to eat so that he knew it was safe for him to do the same. Trying to push aside the disturbing mental image of Kharavela eating his hand as a mid-day snack, he bit into the piece of meat provided to him, indicating to Fai he should do the same. It was difficult to eat with someone watching him so intently, but he also knew he had no guarantees of when his next meal would be.
As he was finishing his dinner, he heard a low growling sound coming from Kharavela. His hand moved slowly to his sword at first, but he soon recognized that the man was speaking to his companion. The blond was listening intently, nodding at odd intervals, and Kurogane got a tingling feeling in the base of his spine from the suspicion that they were talking about them. He would just have to hope Fai would be willing to protect them with his magic if it became necessary.
Once Kharavela stopped talking, Devlin turned his attention back to the two of them. “He says you two may stay here tonight, but tomorrow you have to leave. He recommends finding King Yasha and asking to join his service since you two are both strong warriors.”
“How will we find this King Yasha?”
Kurogane was surprised when Kharavela started growling an answer before Devlin had translated. Which meant the man understood the language but was just choosing not to speak it in front of them. He was playing some sort of game with them, but Kurogane couldn’t figure out what. If there was something the crazy man wanted to hide, it was probably best to just leave it be.
“He says tomorrow he will point you in the right direction.”
“Thank you,” he said, pointedly looking at Kharavela to make sure the man knew he was aware he understood their conversation. The man just grunted in response and rolled his shoulder.
“At any rate, it probably won’t stop raining anytime soon,” the blond said, looking towards the mouth of the cave and the rain pattering on the ground. “It’s not safe to travel in this weather.”
Kurogane carefully watched the man as he stood and walked to the back of the cave. When he happened to look over at Kharavela, he noticed the man was carefully watching him and Fai again, but this time with a more thoughtful expression. He grunted and turned his attention back to the blond since he was the only one who seemed willing to communicate with them.
“Here,” the blond said as he walked back over to them. He handed Kurogane a large bundle of folded material. “It’s not much, but at least you won’t have to sleep on the ground.”
As the man walked away, Kurogane took a few steps away from the fire and spread the blanket out on the ground. It looked like it was barely big enough to hold both him and Fai, but it wouldn’t be the first time they had been forced to share cramped corners. It was the first time Kurogane thought he wasn’t going to be able to sleep because he would be too worried about someone eating him in the middle of the night.
When he turned back around, he twitched when he realized Kharavela had rejoined the blond and he had never heard him move. He was now perched on a ledge covered with a blanket against the opposing cave wall. And still watching the two of them carefully, Kurogane noted. He had no idea how he was supposed to sleep if the man was going to be watching the two of them the entire time.
“You should get some rest,” Devlin suggested with a smile. “I don’t think Yasha will accept tired soldiers.” The blond sat down, disappearing into the shadow of the cave.
Kurogane grunted before lying down on his back on the blanket, making a point of turning his face away from the strangers. He didn’t want to know if the larger one was staring at him or not, but he still felt like he could feel that intense gaze drilling into the back of his skull. He tried to pretend it was his imagination. After a few minutes had passed, Fai tentatively laid down on the blanket next to him.
Kurogane tried to sleep, he really did. He could tell Fai had had no problems in that department from the soft snores coming from the mage. Several hours had passed, the rain had stopped, and the fire had reduced to embers. He had done his best to pretend they were staying in that cave by themselves. Besides, he had tried to reason with himself that it would be insane for that man to stay up all night watching him. Still, the back of his head itched, and eventually to satisfy his curiosity, he turned his head to look at the other two.
It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, but he saw that the blond was sleeping on the other side of his companion with his head on his chest, and Kharavela was in fact glaring at him from across the cave. Kurogane received the impression that the strange man could see him better than he could see him in return. From the protective way the man’s hand was curled around his companion’s back, Kurogane thought he could guess why the man distrusted him so much.
“That first time was a mistake,” he explained. “I’m not going to touch your friend.”
Kharavela seemed to have tightened his grip on the other man and narrowed his eyes. “He looks like yours. How am I supposed to trust you?”
“Mine?” Temporarily, he did not understand what the man was talking about, but he looked briefly at the mage sleeping next to him and realized he was talking about Fai. “He’s not mine,” he said, determined that explaining that situation would get the other man to relax.
“But you’ve had him. Two months ago at the longest.” Kurogane gritted his teeth and curled the fingers of his uninjured hand. That strange man had no right to be making assumptions on the basis of appearance. “Your scent lingers on him,” the man continued, rolling his head so he was looking at the ceiling instead. “Or perhaps he had you,” he said with a light chuckle.
“You don’t understand the situation,” he growled, not too loud because he did not need Fai waking up and hearing this conversation.
“You’re right, I don’t. Humans are so complex when it comes to mating.”
Kurogane decided he was not going to think too much on that statement, as he was already skeptical about other factors about the man such as his sanity that he didn’t need to be questioning his humanity as well. At least, Kharavela was no longer watching him, and Kurogane decided he should do his best to get some rest. Tomorrow, they would leave those two, and he wouldn’t have to worry about what else the man could scent about him. With any luck, they would find the kids soon as well. He wasn’t sure he would be able to deal with a quiet Fai who depended on him for everything for very long.