Aki knows that this is part of the job, that they risk their lives daily for the payments they receive, that eventually one of them was going to go - he just didn't expect it to be so soon, or to be the way that it did. He has pushed himself, doing everything in his power to keep his head on straight, to keep pushing, but the numb feeling of grief inside of him hasn't gone anywhere. It's not made easier by the urge to smoke, an eternal reminder of the person that started him down that road, and the knowledge of her smiles as she died.
She had been one of his best and closest friends, someone who really understood him, and Aki can't help but blame himself. He hadn't been strong enough, fast enough, determined enough to save her or protect her, and no matter how much of his life he offered up it wasn't enough. It makes him feel as though he should have been the one to die in her place, even if he knows he has the responsibility of Power and Denji to keep him anchored to his apartment and to this world.
He's allowed to wallow in grief for a little while, he's sure of that.
It's dark, and he can feel the moment that Power crawls into the futon beside him, her fingers reaching out to find whatever part of his body she wants to play with, and while he is human - a victim to his own reactions, even if it's not really on the list of things he wants to do right now - he shakes his head, reaching out to link their fingers as he turns. Burrowing his face into the pillow is easier, and his voice is muffled as he speaks.
He's making an assumption, but it's the only one he can make with his mind as foggy as it is. ]
she knows that. she's not an idiot — on the contrary, she's much smarter than the usual fiend! it's what makes her different, special, better than them. he lingers around the apartment, he still cooks their meals and makes sure things are (mostly) clean and sanitary. but he doesn't snap at denji. doesn't glare at her over the kotatsu. doesn't yell at them to stop fighting over meals or who controls the remote on the television. hayakawa aki exists — and that's the bulk of it.
and power doesn't have the first idea what to do about it. she tries to imagine the feeling — he had been close to the eyepatch devil hunter, right? she tries to imagine if it were nyako, but comes up empty. because it isn't. and even if it had been, she'd known nyako was alive the whole time and —
ah. except. except that time, when the bat devil had swallowed nyako and power had let herself be swallowed too, because what was the point? why did it matter?
it's that memory that pushes her to do something. she doesn't know what humans might like or what they might need — but she's seen enough tv through windows to make a guess. touch. they like to be touched. there was a commercial, once, a woman standing in the snow crying and a man came up to her and held her hand. it had a very wistful feeling to it, it played over and over in the middle of tokyo until power could remember every second of it. maybe if..
it's dark when she slips into his room; denji's snoring in the other room, stupid as always. there's no hesitation when she crawls in next to hayakawa — it's not the first time she's been in his futon. no hesitation when she reaches under the blanket, trying to find his hand in the dark and —
he shakes his head, something that feels a bit like a slap (why? why does it matter?). his fingers twine with hers, but it's not really the same as the commercial. he's trying to stop her. he thinks that she wants to... )
You don't want to hold hands? ( for once she's not yelling; her voice is almost thoughtful, curious. huffing slightly, she props herself up on the elbow of her opposite arm next to him, her breath ghosting across his cheek and golden eyes glowing in the dark. ) I was sure that was right. Isn't this what humans do?
[ Aki is tired. He's so tired; he can feel it, deep in his bones, an aching thing that has him wanting to sink into his futon and never get up. It's only his sense of duty and knowledge that if he doesn't move Denji and Power would be pretty lost that keeps him going, but even then he knows he is mostly just lethargic. Denji hasn't come in and kicked his ass - or tried to - yet, but Power seems to have decided to take matters into her own hands, in a rather literal sense.
It's hard to turn his head to look at her, hard to lift his gaze to let his eyes drag over to the shape of her body. It's hard to hear her voice and hear his own, the echo of him basically begging her to try and save Himeno, as if his life didn't matter. It hadn't, at that moment, not when he had found his fingers lifting to his sword, not when he had known that he was willing to die with the panic and fear beating in his ears like the sound of his own heart if it meant the others would have a chance to life.
None of it had mattered. Just like before, he hadn't been strong enough to save anyone, and it feels as though that weight is a physical presence sitting on his body.
She continues, and Aki forces himself to turn his head to look back over at her, pensive and thoughtful. He's not entirely sure if he believes that she hadn't been going for his dick, but he's at least willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. If she wants to try and help him then maybe it'll be okay.
Sighing, he blinks up at her, exhausted from the burden of his own emotions. ]
( she can feel his gaze in the dark, his hand clinging to hers. hayakawa has said her name so many times before but never quite like this — in that tone that says he's defeated, he's tired, he doesn't know what to do. overly apathetic, overly empty in a way that makes power want to push and push and push until he finally does something that sounds more like himself. but that wasn't what humans did. humans didn't fight each other when they were hurt, didn't push each other to breaking.
devils did that. fiends did that. only the strong would survive, and they did not have time for moping or crying. in the world she lived in, aki would die if he continued like this; eaten alive by the next strongest predator, or a weaker one who just got lucky.
her hand squeezes his. )
Hmmmm? You want to do something else? (that's a surprise. she's never heard of humans fucking when they're sad, but she's never really bothered to notice. it felt like that was a thing that humans did when they were happy, or angry.
he's thinking about himeno. she knows he is, because of the way his eyes change in the darkness. dark, flat. power remembers that day. the smell of blood — the eyepatch devil hunter's first, then hayakawa's. the katana had moved so fast, and there'd been nothing she could do. was she meant to stay? to die like the rest of them? strong as she is, intelligent as she is, she knows when she is overpowered. the weapon devils, they've always been strong, the fear so potent behind their names that it can practically be tasted. and she is just — )
I suppose we can do 'that' if you want. ( like she's allowing him a great gift, head tipping to one side as she presses closer to him, lips perilously close to his. he likes kissing, doesn't he? or maybe that's just her. ) Humans are so strange.
[ Aki cuts himself off, gritting his teeth. Does it matter what he thought she wanted, when in the end she's doing what she can to ease his grief, in her own odd way? Power isn't like human girls, and maybe she doesn't understand the way he's hurting like another human would, but Aki can appreciate that she is at least trying. She has come here to try and make him feel better, and that's more than most of their team has done.
Makima hasn't said much; Denji has done his best but is awkward with words; Kobeni and the others... Maybe they can't look at him. He was too close to Himeno, close enough that people might look at him and think of her, not being able to see beyond how close their partnership had been. He and Himeno had understood one another, in the end, and while he's angry and miserable that she's gone, he understands.
He would have done the same for her in the end.
Power is right there, next to him, and a part of him feels a little awkward and uncomfortable with the idea of touching her or kissing her when his grief is so fresh and real in his mind, as if he might blink and see someone else in her place, but he knows that isn't how it will work. Power is too different, with her teeth and claws and strange way of acting and speaking that he could never mistake her for someone else, even if he wanted to.
Resting forward, he touches his forehead to hers and offers a small smile. Even if she's gone about it oddly, she is cheering him up. ]
I'd like to kiss you. Just that, for now. If you want to kiss me.
but it doesn't feel like the smile from the commercial, when the human woman had looked up at the man with tears in her eyes. that smile had felt different, even though she doesn't have the words to describe it. aki's smile is .. wistful. sad, still, at the edges. like he's smiling in spite of himself. her hand tightens in his, tips of her nails biting lightly into his skin. a smile is an improvement, right? but he's still... )
I want to. (i want to help. should she say that instead? the words seem stupid, who would say something like that? she ought to be kicking his ass around the room, getting him back to training, making sure he can protect himself for the next devil that comes around and tries to make a meal of them.
(why does she care? she shouldn't care. this is a job. he is a babysitter. there is nothing to care about here.)
pressing in closer, power tangles her legs with his under the blanket, settles their intertwined hands at the top of his hip. turning her head to one side, her nose bumps his as she leans in to close the distance, lips brushing his almost hesitantly. she's never hesitant, never stops to think instead of rushing forward but —
something about aki now makes her think he'll shatter into a million pieces if she pushes too hard. )
[ This is Power's way of taking care of him, and he can accept that.
Aki appreciates that she's trying; he appreciates that she cares enough to want to make sure that he's doing okay. That she wants to try and ease the burden of his grief for even a short time, despite the awkwardness of her attempts, and he feels a little overwhelmed by it. Power isn't human, she doesn't necessarily understand the complexities of human emotions any longer, but that doesn't matter. How could it matter when she is doing her best, and he appreciates that so much.
One of his hands lifts to touch her cheek, to stroke through her hair, and he lets himself relax a little. He can push his sadness aside for a little while to focus on her, to let himself enjoy the sheer pleasure of a mouth against his own. He's not going to do her the disservice of using her body to ease himself, to drown his sadness in pleasure, but he is going to take whatever it is she's willing to offer, as sad and sour as it might be in the morning.
The kiss is just what he needs, and his arms wrap around her properly as he pushes up to return the kiss, his teeth scraping over her lower lip gently. They're being careful, usually, when they kiss, because of the sharpness of her teeth and the way she could bite for blood, but right now he doesn't care. He wants more of her, whatever he can have. ]
( warm, it’s warm. aki is always warm in the way he puts his arms around her and how he kisses her like … like she might actually be human. surely that is what he is thinking, telling himself when he nips at her lower lip and tugs her close. but she’s not — she can’t be. not when she can feel the blood in his veins pulsing with each beat of his heart, not when a part of her remembers how he’d tasted on her tongue and the back of her throat —
he whispers her name and she starts a little, her hand clasped in his twitching. it feels nice, his hand in her hair and his weight heavy against her. mumbling something against his mouth, she presses in closer, tongue flicking against his lower lip and pushing inside his mouth.
he tastes like mint.
the urge to bite him is so strong, so present that she pulls away a bit, eyes heavy lidded gold in the darkness. he seems better, or maybe just different, and she drops his hand to sneak her palm under the back of his shirt to press against his spine. )
I thought you said you wanted to kiss. ( so why is he saying her name like that? )
[ Aki tries not to smile, tries not to let himself fall into the strange comfort that she offers him, but he can't resist the urge. His hands trail down her body, and he tugs at her, trying to get her to climb on top of him properly and rest there. He wants the solid weight baring down on him, wants the comfort that comes from feeling someone surround him properly. ]
I do want to kiss. But I want this as well.
[ He and Himeno had sex, before. Aki doesn't like to think about it, because in hindsight it feels a little weird, a little uncomfortable - but it was nothing like this. Power makes him feel safe, comfortable, at peace in a way that he's never really considered before, and he refuses to dwell on it. Power is a Devil, and Aki... Aki only has a handful of years left to live, losing more and more by the day. One day he'll be gone, and it'll just be her and Denji left behind.
Leaning up, he kisses her again, groaning softly as he lets his hand lift to stroke through her hair, curling his fingers around it without hesitation. ]
( resting both hands on his shoulders, power studies aki in the dark for a long moment and then frowns. there's something ... isn't this exactly what he'd told her he didn't want tonight? humans. huffing a long-suffering sigh that she doesn't mean a single bit, she presses herself up and throws one leg over his hips, settling to straddle him and then rest against his chest. his heartbeat is loud against her ear, and she grumbles something unintelligibly, before lifting her chin to accept his second kiss, tasting the way his groan feels against her skin.
warm. so warm. is that how it is supposed to be, with humans? it always is with hayakawa, even when he's upset with her. she comes here, to this futon, and he presses her back against it like she's something precious and she —
power freezes, fingers tangling in his shirt as she pulls back to stare at him, clearly caught off-guard. just the word sends a rush through her, something in the pit of her stomach that she only really feels when she's fighting devils. )
Oi. Have you lost your mind? ( it's against her very nature to say that, to protest — and the part of her that feels mindless, that feels the way those stupid devils must feel, shrieks in fury. bite him, bite him, bite him, BITE HIM, BITEHIMBITEHIMBITEHIM —
her fingers tighten in his shirt, until she's close to ripping it. nostrils flaring, she licks her lips without even realizing she's doing it, a flash of sharp teeth in the dark room. )
[ Power doesn't weigh a lot, comparatively, but it's enough to ground Aki, to make him feel better from the state of grief and anxiety he has been in for the last few days; it soothes some of the last remaining echoes of his discomfort and gives him something to focus on, which he has been sorely lacking. He hasn't been the best caretaker to her or Denji, but at least he can try a little harder in the future. He has something to fall back on.
Watching her reactions to him has his lips twitching just a little, waiting for her to go through the mental gymnastics of his offer. He can't really deny how good it feels to get bitten, the pain-pleasure of it that makes him want more, and if it makes her feel good as well... Well, Aki can't find it in himself to complain or put it off. He if wants it, and she wants it...
The hand in her hair tightens a little, using the grip of it to urge her down, to chase the taste of her mouth; not hard enough to really hurt, but enough that he can try and catch her tongue before it's done licking her lips, chasing the taste of her before he collapses back into his futon. The little energy he has is focused entirely on her, and it's running low.
He's tired, so tired, but he wants, too. She's inspiring it all in him. ]
Not yet. I have a little bit of sanity left. [ He smiles at her. ] I like it when you bite me, Power. It feels good.
( he pulls her down and she nearly bites him then and there, his mouth lingering on her tongue, lips pressing against hers. the temptation is so strong that she grips his shirt too hard between both her hands — it rips a little, the sound startling her to nuzzle further into his chest as hayakawa collapses back on the futon. 'a little bit of sanity left,' is this what the veterans meant when they talked in hushed voices about the ones who had left public safety? the ones who lived, but didn't go private and just disappeared one day?
she ought to care more. a human would care more. a human would want to know what he means by that, would be unnerved by the fact that he says he likes it when she bites him —
power doesn't care. he likes it, it feels good — and that has her heart jumping, stomach flipping over. she's got enough presence of mind not to bite him on the mouth, or try and tug his lower lip between her teeth; it'd be too visible later, there'd be questions to answer. but his neck is right there, just in front of her nose, and...
she breathes harshly, tongue flicking across the skin of his pulse point. she can smell his blood just below the surface, can already taste it —
when she bites, it's sudden, teeth sinking into flesh where his shoulder meets his neck. a vein would be too risky, even if she could try and stop the bleeding herself. controlling her own blood was one thing, but someone else's took real effort. still, she doesn't have to penetrate deeply to taste him. the taste of aki bursts in her mouth, on her tongue — better than meat, better than anything else.
he tastes different. nothing acrid, nothing bad, but there's a tinge of something she can't quite explain to his blood that she's not used to. pulling her teeth back, she closes her mouth over the wound and lathes her tongue over it, as though savoring the taste. it feels right to rock her hips down against him, to rub her body up and down his chest until the sensation of him in her mouth matches the sensation between her legs, the points of her nipples, everywhere. )
[ Aki watches her as she lets herself think through what is going on, what he is saying, deciding whether this is something she wants to do. Power might like biting, might like the taste of blood, but that doesn't mean that she wants to do it right now. Maybe this is some kind of way for him to pay back his grief, maybe it is a way of self-harming without actually lifting a blade, but... It makes him happy, to know that he could feed her, that his pain might do something good.
He wants this; he wants to feel her teeth sink into him, wants to hear the sounds that she would make when she does it, knowing that it will fuel and arouse her both. He trusts her to control herself enough not to kill him, recognises that she might be able to stem the bleeding before it gets too bad, and maybe... Maybe he'll be able to have some kind of mark and scar to have evidence of it.
Denji would definitely kill him, or at least be jealous enough to rage, but he doesn't care.
The bite does come as a bit of a surprise, a choked off gasp falling from his mouth before he breathes out. It comes with a short, sharp whine, his head tilting back as his fingers comb through her hair with all the tenderness that he can muster. When she starts to lick rather than nip he moans, hips jerking a little. Pain and pleasure as so close to one another, and with Power's body over the top of his... He's only human.
She might not be, but he is. ]
Fuck, Power...
[ His hands drop, gripping her hips, his cock grinding against her a little; he hadn't meant to make this entirely sexual, but it feels too good to ignore. ]
Edited 2024-01-28 22:01 (UTC)
rip sorry mobile posting had me hitting enter early
( in spite of herself, she drinks in hayakawa — the subtle taste she’s come to associate with him cloying in the back of her throat, the noise he makes like she’s caught him by surprise when she bites down, the way his moan drives a shiver down her spine and they rock together with his fingers pressing into her hips. there’s something delicate and fragile underneath the thick bronze taste of him, and her tongue soothes over the bite once more chasing whatever it is that has changed.
he lets out an expletive and she catches one last rivulet of blood on the tip of her tongue before settling back to watch him, her smile triumphant. it’s the most … alive he’s sounded since she came into the room, and hayakawa rarely curses. he’s not like her or denji, letting the words go with relish like bombs. )
You’re weird. ( she says, though it doesn’t sound like an insult. smugly, she shifts her hips until she can feel the length of him pressing against her — then grinds down with a slow roll. the sensation — hard and soft — mixes with the light headed feeling she always gets after tasting blood, and she makes a noise of delight low in her throat. )
Do you ever want to bite me like that? ( maybe it’s a silly question, but she can’t help but be endlessly curious about this part of him — not humans, him. she doesn’t give a shit about the rest of them. but hayakawa… he buys her food. takes care of nyako. cooks.
[ Power is a Devil; Power is a creature that Aki is supposed to hate, is supposed to shun, to fight and kill because it's his job, above all else. When she curls close to him like this, however, when her teeth sink into his neck and give him everything that he could ever ask for. He'd lost all hope and desire for tenderness, warmth and love all those years ago, when his entire family was ripped out of his hands at a young age, but now...
Aki yearns for it, for the warmth of her body, the way she embraces him, her teeth in his skin and her nails dragging along his neck, her mouth against his own. He wants to lean up and kiss her, to taste the metallic tang of his own blood from her mouth, but he has to stop himself from giving into the urge. It feels dangerous and feral, as if it's going to cause problem after problem, but he doesn't think she would mind that much.
He's insane: public safety has always been that way. Aki's squad has always been that way. He's lost his mind and she's right there with him, with her own little boasts of insanity to twin his own, to make him feel less lonely in this strange, twisting world.
Leaning his head back, he huffs out a little noise before he shakes his head fondly. Sure, he's the weird one, says the fiend, so desperate for his blood that she'd do it without second guessing herself for even a moment. The fiend that would be sucking his cock and doing whatever he asked right now if he let her. ]
Sometimes. I wouldn't enjoy it the way you do, though.
[ Sex might make him impulsive, seek out biting, marking and scars, but it doesn't make him as high as it does Power and blood combined. ]
Why? Do you want me to bite you, Power? Do you want to feel it as well?
( for a moment, she pauses (odd for power, who is so often always in motion) and seems to really consider his question. would she want him to bite her? lips pursed in a pensive expression, she trails her fingers over the still fresh bite on him, catching a few drops of blood and then dragging the finger to her lips to press inside and taste him. would she taste like this — like sunshine and a little bit like cigarettes?
she doubts it. )
Mm. It might heal before I'd bleed though — ( she decides, tone pragmatic and cheerful, a smear of his blood on her lower lip. leaning in, she presses her lips against his again, wondering if he can taste himself the way she does. probably not, not with his stupid human senses. pressing her tongue past his teeth, she tries to share the sensation of him in her mouth.
she's panting when she breaks away, traces of his blood gone. )
You can try. It won't hurt. ( how could he hurt her? she healed fast enough on her own, and besides — she's taken worse hits than anything hayakawa could dish out. )
[ Aki is usually pretty good at sussing out what his partners want when it comes to sex - if they want him to be in charge or otherwise, if they're into something a little riskier or if they want something that pretends to be romantic. It's harder, with Power, and he's not sure if that's because he cares about her, or because he's seeped in grief, or if it's something he can't name, but it's still a unique sensation. What would it be like, to truly give over to these feelings?
Idle thoughts, ones that he shoves away.
He's going to die. It's not worth dwelling on.
Leaning in, he nuzzles at her neck, ignoring the sting of his skin as he sighs softly. ]
We can try. If you don't like it, we won't do it again.
[ His lips trail along her neck, up to her jaw where he kisses properly before it drops to her collarbone. It feels natural to open his mouth then, to sink his blunt teeth into her skin, groaning softly. ]
( she’s rarely been bitten — devils, sometimes, when they got past her blood axe to get a little bit of a nibble. she wouldn’t have survived as long as she had without a few scars (not that fiends actually scarred). but she’s never been bit like this, in this context.
his mouth is warm and power can feel the vibration of his voice against her skin. it’s hard to deny him anything with the taste of his blood in the back of her throat, and she nods, winding her fingers in his hair and —
she tugs when he bites down, the movement involuntary and a bit too hard for a human. it doesn’t hurt, not really, but she can tell immediately that he’ll have to bite her harder than she’s been biting him to break skin.
good. the pain curls in the part of her stomach where she associates arousal, mixing with a sudden throb between her legs where his length his nudging her. power shivers, rocks her hips again as he continues to bite. it takes a moment for her to process that she can help him; he’s just about broken skin, so it’s not hard to push some of her blood through the opening and into his mouth.
the sensation of that is overwhelming too; blood has always felt like a part of her and for a second she’s inside him — his mouth, warm and wet, down his throat…
the moan that shatters the air surprises her too. )
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
this took me so long i am so sorry
Aki knows that this is part of the job, that they risk their lives daily for the payments they receive, that eventually one of them was going to go - he just didn't expect it to be so soon, or to be the way that it did. He has pushed himself, doing everything in his power to keep his head on straight, to keep pushing, but the numb feeling of grief inside of him hasn't gone anywhere. It's not made easier by the urge to smoke, an eternal reminder of the person that started him down that road, and the knowledge of her smiles as she died.
She had been one of his best and closest friends, someone who really understood him, and Aki can't help but blame himself. He hadn't been strong enough, fast enough, determined enough to save her or protect her, and no matter how much of his life he offered up it wasn't enough. It makes him feel as though he should have been the one to die in her place, even if he knows he has the responsibility of Power and Denji to keep him anchored to his apartment and to this world.
He's allowed to wallow in grief for a little while, he's sure of that.
It's dark, and he can feel the moment that Power crawls into the futon beside him, her fingers reaching out to find whatever part of his body she wants to play with, and while he is human - a victim to his own reactions, even if it's not really on the list of things he wants to do right now - he shakes his head, reaching out to link their fingers as he turns. Burrowing his face into the pillow is easier, and his voice is muffled as he speaks.
He's making an assumption, but it's the only one he can make with his mind as foggy as it is. ]
Not tonight, Power.
you're valid 💓 also tl;dr
she knows that. she's not an idiot — on the contrary, she's much smarter than the usual fiend! it's what makes her different, special, better than them. he lingers around the apartment, he still cooks their meals and makes sure things are (mostly) clean and sanitary. but he doesn't snap at denji. doesn't glare at her over the kotatsu. doesn't yell at them to stop fighting over meals or who controls the remote on the television. hayakawa aki exists — and that's the bulk of it.
and power doesn't have the first idea what to do about it. she tries to imagine the feeling — he had been close to the eyepatch devil hunter, right? she tries to imagine if it were nyako, but comes up empty. because it isn't. and even if it had been, she'd known nyako was alive the whole time and —
ah. except. except that time, when the bat devil had swallowed nyako and power had let herself be swallowed too, because what was the point? why did it matter?
it's that memory that pushes her to do something. she doesn't know what humans might like or what they might need — but she's seen enough tv through windows to make a guess. touch. they like to be touched. there was a commercial, once, a woman standing in the snow crying and a man came up to her and held her hand. it had a very wistful feeling to it, it played over and over in the middle of tokyo until power could remember every second of it. maybe if..
it's dark when she slips into his room; denji's snoring in the other room, stupid as always. there's no hesitation when she crawls in next to hayakawa — it's not the first time she's been in his futon. no hesitation when she reaches under the blanket, trying to find his hand in the dark and —
he shakes his head, something that feels a bit like a slap (why? why does it matter?). his fingers twine with hers, but it's not really the same as the commercial. he's trying to stop her. he thinks that she wants to... )
You don't want to hold hands? ( for once she's not yelling; her voice is almost thoughtful, curious. huffing slightly, she props herself up on the elbow of her opposite arm next to him, her breath ghosting across his cheek and golden eyes glowing in the dark. ) I was sure that was right. Isn't this what humans do?
no subject
[ Aki is tired. He's so tired; he can feel it, deep in his bones, an aching thing that has him wanting to sink into his futon and never get up. It's only his sense of duty and knowledge that if he doesn't move Denji and Power would be pretty lost that keeps him going, but even then he knows he is mostly just lethargic. Denji hasn't come in and kicked his ass - or tried to - yet, but Power seems to have decided to take matters into her own hands, in a rather literal sense.
It's hard to turn his head to look at her, hard to lift his gaze to let his eyes drag over to the shape of her body. It's hard to hear her voice and hear his own, the echo of him basically begging her to try and save Himeno, as if his life didn't matter. It hadn't, at that moment, not when he had found his fingers lifting to his sword, not when he had known that he was willing to die with the panic and fear beating in his ears like the sound of his own heart if it meant the others would have a chance to life.
None of it had mattered. Just like before, he hadn't been strong enough to save anyone, and it feels as though that weight is a physical presence sitting on his body.
She continues, and Aki forces himself to turn his head to look back over at her, pensive and thoughtful. He's not entirely sure if he believes that she hadn't been going for his dick, but he's at least willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. If she wants to try and help him then maybe it'll be okay.
Sighing, he blinks up at her, exhausted from the burden of his own emotions. ]
You just want to hold my hand?
no subject
devils did that. fiends did that. only the strong would survive, and they did not have time for moping or crying. in the world she lived in, aki would die if he continued like this; eaten alive by the next strongest predator, or a weaker one who just got lucky.
her hand squeezes his. )
Hmmmm? You want to do something else? ( that's a surprise. she's never heard of humans fucking when they're sad, but she's never really bothered to notice. it felt like that was a thing that humans did when they were happy, or angry.
he's thinking about himeno. she knows he is, because of the way his eyes change in the darkness. dark, flat. power remembers that day. the smell of blood — the eyepatch devil hunter's first, then hayakawa's. the katana had moved so fast, and there'd been nothing she could do. was she meant to stay? to die like the rest of them? strong as she is, intelligent as she is, she knows when she is overpowered. the weapon devils, they've always been strong, the fear so potent behind their names that it can practically be tasted. and she is just — )
I suppose we can do 'that' if you want. ( like she's allowing him a great gift, head tipping to one side as she presses closer to him, lips perilously close to his. he likes kissing, doesn't he? or maybe that's just her. ) Humans are so strange.
no subject
[ Aki cuts himself off, gritting his teeth. Does it matter what he thought she wanted, when in the end she's doing what she can to ease his grief, in her own odd way? Power isn't like human girls, and maybe she doesn't understand the way he's hurting like another human would, but Aki can appreciate that she is at least trying. She has come here to try and make him feel better, and that's more than most of their team has done.
Makima hasn't said much; Denji has done his best but is awkward with words; Kobeni and the others... Maybe they can't look at him. He was too close to Himeno, close enough that people might look at him and think of her, not being able to see beyond how close their partnership had been. He and Himeno had understood one another, in the end, and while he's angry and miserable that she's gone, he understands.
He would have done the same for her in the end.
Power is right there, next to him, and a part of him feels a little awkward and uncomfortable with the idea of touching her or kissing her when his grief is so fresh and real in his mind, as if he might blink and see someone else in her place, but he knows that isn't how it will work. Power is too different, with her teeth and claws and strange way of acting and speaking that he could never mistake her for someone else, even if he wanted to.
Resting forward, he touches his forehead to hers and offers a small smile. Even if she's gone about it oddly, she is cheering him up. ]
I'd like to kiss you. Just that, for now. If you want to kiss me.
[ She can say no, after all. ]
no subject
but it doesn't feel like the smile from the commercial, when the human woman had looked up at the man with tears in her eyes. that smile had felt different, even though she doesn't have the words to describe it. aki's smile is .. wistful. sad, still, at the edges. like he's smiling in spite of himself. her hand tightens in his, tips of her nails biting lightly into his skin. a smile is an improvement, right? but he's still... )
I want to. ( i want to help. should she say that instead? the words seem stupid, who would say something like that? she ought to be kicking his ass around the room, getting him back to training, making sure he can protect himself for the next devil that comes around and tries to make a meal of them.
(why does she care? she shouldn't care. this is a job. he is a babysitter. there is nothing to care about here.)
pressing in closer, power tangles her legs with his under the blanket, settles their intertwined hands at the top of his hip. turning her head to one side, her nose bumps his as she leans in to close the distance, lips brushing his almost hesitantly. she's never hesitant, never stops to think instead of rushing forward but —
something about aki now makes her think he'll shatter into a million pieces if she pushes too hard. )
no subject
Aki appreciates that she's trying; he appreciates that she cares enough to want to make sure that he's doing okay. That she wants to try and ease the burden of his grief for even a short time, despite the awkwardness of her attempts, and he feels a little overwhelmed by it. Power isn't human, she doesn't necessarily understand the complexities of human emotions any longer, but that doesn't matter. How could it matter when she is doing her best, and he appreciates that so much.
One of his hands lifts to touch her cheek, to stroke through her hair, and he lets himself relax a little. He can push his sadness aside for a little while to focus on her, to let himself enjoy the sheer pleasure of a mouth against his own. He's not going to do her the disservice of using her body to ease himself, to drown his sadness in pleasure, but he is going to take whatever it is she's willing to offer, as sad and sour as it might be in the morning.
The kiss is just what he needs, and his arms wrap around her properly as he pushes up to return the kiss, his teeth scraping over her lower lip gently. They're being careful, usually, when they kiss, because of the sharpness of her teeth and the way she could bite for blood, but right now he doesn't care. He wants more of her, whatever he can have. ]
Power...
no subject
he whispers her name and she starts a little, her hand clasped in his twitching. it feels nice, his hand in her hair and his weight heavy against her. mumbling something against his mouth, she presses in closer, tongue flicking against his lower lip and pushing inside his mouth.
he tastes like mint.
the urge to bite him is so strong, so present that she pulls away a bit, eyes heavy lidded gold in the darkness. he seems better, or maybe just different, and she drops his hand to sneak her palm under the back of his shirt to press against his spine. )
I thought you said you wanted to kiss. ( so why is he saying her name like that? )
no subject
I do want to kiss. But I want this as well.
[ He and Himeno had sex, before. Aki doesn't like to think about it, because in hindsight it feels a little weird, a little uncomfortable - but it was nothing like this. Power makes him feel safe, comfortable, at peace in a way that he's never really considered before, and he refuses to dwell on it. Power is a Devil, and Aki... Aki only has a handful of years left to live, losing more and more by the day. One day he'll be gone, and it'll just be her and Denji left behind.
Leaning up, he kisses her again, groaning softly as he lets his hand lift to stroke through her hair, curling his fingers around it without hesitation. ]
I know you want to bite me. It's okay. You can.
no subject
warm. so warm. is that how it is supposed to be, with humans? it always is with hayakawa, even when he's upset with her. she comes here, to this futon, and he presses her back against it like she's something precious and she —
power freezes, fingers tangling in his shirt as she pulls back to stare at him, clearly caught off-guard. just the word sends a rush through her, something in the pit of her stomach that she only really feels when she's fighting devils. )
Oi. Have you lost your mind? ( it's against her very nature to say that, to protest — and the part of her that feels mindless, that feels the way those stupid devils must feel, shrieks in fury. bite him, bite him, bite him, BITE HIM, BITEHIMBITEHIMBITEHIM —
her fingers tighten in his shirt, until she's close to ripping it. nostrils flaring, she licks her lips without even realizing she's doing it, a flash of sharp teeth in the dark room. )
no subject
Watching her reactions to him has his lips twitching just a little, waiting for her to go through the mental gymnastics of his offer. He can't really deny how good it feels to get bitten, the pain-pleasure of it that makes him want more, and if it makes her feel good as well... Well, Aki can't find it in himself to complain or put it off. He if wants it, and she wants it...
The hand in her hair tightens a little, using the grip of it to urge her down, to chase the taste of her mouth; not hard enough to really hurt, but enough that he can try and catch her tongue before it's done licking her lips, chasing the taste of her before he collapses back into his futon. The little energy he has is focused entirely on her, and it's running low.
He's tired, so tired, but he wants, too. She's inspiring it all in him. ]
Not yet. I have a little bit of sanity left. [ He smiles at her. ] I like it when you bite me, Power. It feels good.
no subject
she ought to care more. a human would care more. a human would want to know what he means by that, would be unnerved by the fact that he says he likes it when she bites him —
power doesn't care. he likes it, it feels good — and that has her heart jumping, stomach flipping over. she's got enough presence of mind not to bite him on the mouth, or try and tug his lower lip between her teeth; it'd be too visible later, there'd be questions to answer. but his neck is right there, just in front of her nose, and...
she breathes harshly, tongue flicking across the skin of his pulse point. she can smell his blood just below the surface, can already taste it —
when she bites, it's sudden, teeth sinking into flesh where his shoulder meets his neck. a vein would be too risky, even if she could try and stop the bleeding herself. controlling her own blood was one thing, but someone else's took real effort. still, she doesn't have to penetrate deeply to taste him. the taste of aki bursts in her mouth, on her tongue — better than meat, better than anything else.
he tastes different. nothing acrid, nothing bad, but there's a tinge of something she can't quite explain to his blood that she's not used to. pulling her teeth back, she closes her mouth over the wound and lathes her tongue over it, as though savoring the taste. it feels right to rock her hips down against him, to rub her body up and down his chest until the sensation of him in her mouth matches the sensation between her legs, the points of her nipples, everywhere. )
tw: ref to self harm
He wants this; he wants to feel her teeth sink into him, wants to hear the sounds that she would make when she does it, knowing that it will fuel and arouse her both. He trusts her to control herself enough not to kill him, recognises that she might be able to stem the bleeding before it gets too bad, and maybe... Maybe he'll be able to have some kind of mark and scar to have evidence of it.
Denji would definitely kill him, or at least be jealous enough to rage, but he doesn't care.
The bite does come as a bit of a surprise, a choked off gasp falling from his mouth before he breathes out. It comes with a short, sharp whine, his head tilting back as his fingers comb through her hair with all the tenderness that he can muster. When she starts to lick rather than nip he moans, hips jerking a little. Pain and pleasure as so close to one another, and with Power's body over the top of his... He's only human.
She might not be, but he is. ]
Fuck, Power...
[ His hands drop, gripping her hips, his cock grinding against her a little; he hadn't meant to make this entirely sexual, but it feels too good to ignore. ]
rip sorry mobile posting had me hitting enter early
he lets out an expletive and she catches one last rivulet of blood on the tip of her tongue before settling back to watch him, her smile triumphant. it’s the most … alive he’s sounded since she came into the room, and hayakawa rarely curses. he’s not like her or denji, letting the words go with relish like bombs. )
You’re weird. ( she says, though it doesn’t sound like an insult. smugly, she shifts her hips until she can feel the length of him pressing against her — then grinds down with a slow roll. the sensation — hard and soft — mixes with the light headed feeling she always gets after tasting blood, and she makes a noise of delight low in her throat. )
Do you ever want to bite me like that? ( maybe it’s a silly question, but she can’t help but be endlessly curious about this part of him — not humans, him. she doesn’t give a shit about the rest of them. but hayakawa… he buys her food. takes care of nyako. cooks.
touches her like this, too. )
been there
Aki yearns for it, for the warmth of her body, the way she embraces him, her teeth in his skin and her nails dragging along his neck, her mouth against his own. He wants to lean up and kiss her, to taste the metallic tang of his own blood from her mouth, but he has to stop himself from giving into the urge. It feels dangerous and feral, as if it's going to cause problem after problem, but he doesn't think she would mind that much.
He's insane: public safety has always been that way. Aki's squad has always been that way. He's lost his mind and she's right there with him, with her own little boasts of insanity to twin his own, to make him feel less lonely in this strange, twisting world.
Leaning his head back, he huffs out a little noise before he shakes his head fondly. Sure, he's the weird one, says the fiend, so desperate for his blood that she'd do it without second guessing herself for even a moment. The fiend that would be sucking his cock and doing whatever he asked right now if he let her. ]
Sometimes. I wouldn't enjoy it the way you do, though.
[ Sex might make him impulsive, seek out biting, marking and scars, but it doesn't make him as high as it does Power and blood combined. ]
Why? Do you want me to bite you, Power? Do you want to feel it as well?
cw bloodplay (oops i should have warned before)
she doubts it. )
Mm. It might heal before I'd bleed though — ( she decides, tone pragmatic and cheerful, a smear of his blood on her lower lip. leaning in, she presses her lips against his again, wondering if he can taste himself the way she does. probably not, not with his stupid human senses. pressing her tongue past his teeth, she tries to share the sensation of him in her mouth.
she's panting when she breaks away, traces of his blood gone. )
You can try. It won't hurt. ( how could he hurt her? she healed fast enough on her own, and besides — she's taken worse hits than anything hayakawa could dish out. )
you're good
Idle thoughts, ones that he shoves away.
He's going to die. It's not worth dwelling on.
Leaning in, he nuzzles at her neck, ignoring the sting of his skin as he sighs softly. ]
We can try. If you don't like it, we won't do it again.
[ His lips trail along her neck, up to her jaw where he kisses properly before it drops to her collarbone. It feels natural to open his mouth then, to sink his blunt teeth into her skin, groaning softly. ]
a wild post appears!
his mouth is warm and power can feel the vibration of his voice against her skin. it’s hard to deny him anything with the taste of his blood in the back of her throat, and she nods, winding her fingers in his hair and —
she tugs when he bites down, the movement involuntary and a bit too hard for a human. it doesn’t hurt, not really, but she can tell immediately that he’ll have to bite her harder than she’s been biting him to break skin.
good. the pain curls in the part of her stomach where she associates arousal, mixing with a sudden throb between her legs where his length his nudging her. power shivers, rocks her hips again as he continues to bite. it takes a moment for her to process that she can help him; he’s just about broken skin, so it’s not hard to push some of her blood through the opening and into his mouth.
the sensation of that is overwhelming too; blood has always felt like a part of her and for a second she’s inside him — his mouth, warm and wet, down his throat…
the moan that shatters the air surprises her too. )