sometimes bitter, sometimes sweet

by highboys

Ryoji feeds Minato seeds, in his dreams.

Title: sometimes bitter, sometimes sweet
Fandom: Persona 3
Characters: Ryoji/Minato

Ryoji feeds Minato seeds, in his dreams, presses bony fingers that tremble against the dry surface of his lips, curls them into a fist until his nails brush Minato's chin, the underside of his jaw. He hides the redness of its skin, the arils sticky with leftover juice, sometimes bitter, and sometimes sweet.

Inside, there is only quiet, and a certainty of things that will not happen, the restless futility that renders them incapable of anything but inaction. Outside, he could be alive. Ryoji knows the possibilities of another reality like he knows the subtle rise of Minato's chest when Ryoji takes another step forward, saying,swallow it, it won't hurt you, I won't hurt you, I promise. There is only the vague realization that his gentleness is his cruelty, but it is easy to forget.

Minato makes a small, choked noise at the back of his throat, but his hand does not withdraw. His stomach tightens and his eyelids flutter, yet he persists with the patience and desperation acquired over years of waiting and forgetting, of reacquainting himself with the nuances of Minato's person with the repetition borne of need and externalities. There's only afterwards, and no end.

You should get used to this, he considers telling Minato, but bows his head, his lips ghosting over the corner of his mouth, instead, the parody of a kiss. Mine, he writes instead on the space between the crook of Minato's elbow, the soft skin of his arm. No one else's.