nathaniel_kitten | (no subject)

He'd dressed again after his run, putting his socks, shoes, belt, and jacket back on. Nathaniel can smell Asher through the door, and he lingers outside, brow pressed to the wood.

It hurts his heart to think his lover -- oh, he had trusted Asher -- had used him. Paid him for sex. Paid him for what he would have willingly given for free now. Paid for that small piece of himself that had been no one's until Asher.

Nathaniel sighs softly, the fury having bled from him with the run, and he finally turns the knob of the door, walking into the room without knocking. He didn't need to knock. Asher would have heard his very heartbeat through that door.

He's dressed in black from head to toe, the only thing not leather is the shirt tucked into his trousers. His hair is unbound, a little wild from the forest, and he shuts the door, leaning against it as he stares at Asher.

Everything about his posture, his scent, the shadows in his eyes, speaks to not be touched. If he could, he'd have this conversation without being looked at either, but he knows that is impossible.

When he speaks, he can't seem to help the sharp edge to his words, a hardness coming to his eyes as he looks at that beautiful, perfect face he loves so much. "Was I worth it?" he asks. "Worth every penny you paid, or should I be offering you a belated refund?"

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"I love you," Asher whispers back, inwardly trembling and unsure and terrified of making another mistake, even as he appears utterly composed on the outside.

He leans in, kisses Nathaniel's forehead softly.

"Come, mon chat," he murmurs. "Come to bed with me." He very much wants to curl up with Nathaniel, share body heat and comfort, nap with his arms around Nathaniel.

Nathaniel rises to unsteady knees, taking a few moments to brush his teeth and rinse the sour flavor from his mouth. He quietly follows Asher to bed, his heart aching, and curls up on his side of the bed. His eyes are large as they follow every motion of Asher's in silence.

He wants to be kissed.

He wants to be held.

He wants to be promised so much, but he keeps it within himself, only seen in the shadows of his eyes.

Asher turns off the light, sliding into bed beside Nathaniel, hesitating a moment before lifting his arm, carding fingers through long hair.

"Would you like me to comb your hair?" Asher whispers, blue eyes glinting in the darkness.

"If it would make you happy," Nathaniel murmurs, blinking slowly.

Asher slides closer, kissing Nathaniel's temple.

"Tomorrow, perhaps," he whispers. "I want to hold you." He kisses Nathaniel's cheek, his lips, sliding his arm over Nathaniel's waist.

Nathaniel quickly curls against Asher, his body feverishly hot this close to the full moon.

"Tomorrow I'll be a leopard for the night," he murmurs.

Asher smiles, his body cool next to Nathaniel's scalding flesh, drinking in the warmth, burying his face in Nathaniel's hair, breathing in the soft scent of vanilla.

"Come and find me, when you have hunted and run to your content," murmurs Asher. He's quite happy to curl up with Nathaniel in his leopard form, offer scritches and pets and wordless company.

Nathaniel lifts his head and captures Asher's lips in a fierce kiss, his hands tangling in the golden hair for the duration.

"I'll come find you. I'll be your kitty."

"Mon chat," Asher agrees, threading fingers through Nathaniel's hair, gently kneading his scalp, down to the nape of his neck.

He kisses Nathaniel again, slowly gentling it, still petting his leopard gently.

It is exactly what Nathaniel needs, what he's been craving. He tangles his legs with Asher's, his lips parting for his vampire, and he can vividly recall how these hands had once touched him, coaxed sounds from him he'd never heard before. His fingers trace over Asher's cool throat, and soon his purr begins, hesitant and quiet as he pushes against the hand that pets him.

"You were the first person to make me come during sex," he whispers in the darkness. "And you're the first person I've taken because I wanted to, not because I was told to."

Nathaniel says no more than that, cuddling under the blankets with Asher, his soft purr resuming. He can be a good cat, please his master, and give that master no reason to be unhappy.

"Je t'aime," Asher whispers quietly, stroking and petting a little more firmly, his heart swelling at the soft purr.

"There are times when Asher wishes he could undo his past, undo the choices he's made. While Nathaniel is settled now, the last few days definitely qualify. He's come so close to losing Nathaniel, for his own pigheadedness and cowardice.

Brushing his lips against Nathaniel's forehead once more, he settles down, his touches soothing Nathaniel into sleep.

The purr continues for several minutes, Nathaniel's arms remaining tightly around his vampire, until the emotional exhaustion claims him utterly. His drifts off, the purr slowly, but surely, dying out, just as his arms relax. In the silence following that, only Nathaniel's soft breathing -- even and deep -- can be heard.