A/N: From my research prior to writing this: 'Man there's no point even trying to be accurate' on the subject of how much interaction Beerus and Shin have had up to this point. Also I have guessed at the end of the Tournament of Power. This fic is dedicated to me who couldn't be satisfied just writing the sfw version.
Hold on to Me
Beerus sat there tapping on the table, enjoying the sound of his nails hitting the marble as his mind whirled.
"Do you have to do that?" Whis asked, voice laced with annoyance.
"Hm?"
"Tapping."
For a moment Beerus stopped, but quickly decided it was too quiet without the noise. "You don't have to be in here."
"This tank won't clean itself," Whis huffed. "Maybe you'd like to help if you're bored."
"I'm not bored. I'm thinking."
"Well then, air your thoughts to me if it'll stop that incessant tapping."
Beerus didn't want to share, but he didn't have many others to talk to. "How many coordination meetings have I attended with the current Supreme Kai?"
That was an unexpected question. "Several thousand?" Whis guessed. "I wouldn't like to guess the exact number, but certainly over 5000 based on his 'ascension' to the position of sole Supreme Kai. You'll have to forgive me for forgetting if he attended previous ones. Why do you ask? Another one isn't due for a couple of centuries."
"Just wondering. I feel like I never really saw him until recently."
Whis laughed. "It's not as if you ever really paid attention in those meetings. I feel like you'd have sent me as a representative if I didn't force you to attend."
"I certainly would have. But I've been thinking that maybe we should have a proper conference after all that has happened recently. To think I've almost been indirectly killed by that Majin Buu twice without batting an eyelid. Who knows what other dangerous activities my little friend has been participating in? I need to start looking out for me a bit more, don't you think?"
"Certainly, my lord. I'd be rather bored if you died."
"Oh, Whis. I'm flattered. I love you too. Give me a lift once the tank is sparkling."
"As you wish."
The coordination meeting was more like a coordination monologue, in which Beerus laid down some rules about what his life-linked kai should and should not be doing. He essentially said that Kibito was doing a bad job and that Whis should step in – at which point both attendants tried to explain that Beerus didn't understand their jobs. To end, he gave Shin express permission to call anytime and wake him. All in all, he thought the meeting went fantastically. There seemed to be no objection to increased protection measures.
Eventually Shin called on Beerus, in person, to discuss Beerus's end of the link.
"I think it's unnecessary for you to worry about me so much. In these millions of years I've only been in life-threatening situations a handful of times. But you put yourself out there all the time, so shouldn't I be imposing restrictions on you too?" Shin asked.
"Me? There's no one that could destroy me. I need not worry."
Shin coughed. "Your brother could, I'm sure."
"Champa?! You do me an injustice there. I'm far superior to him. Although I suppose it's true that together we could achieve mutual destruction."
"You and Goku almost did the same not too long ago."
Beerus looked a bit sheepish at the way he was being called out like this. "So I get a little carried away sometimes… But you know, Whis is an angel. He always stops me from going all the way. I guess if it wasn't for him I'd have destroyed the universe several times over."
Shin frowned. "That's rather worrying on my end. You're basically saying that I'm trusting your attendant to not get me killed rather than you."
"Aha…think of it this way – if I destroy myself I'll probably destroy the universe in the process, so it's everyone's loss."
The kai sighed in defeat.
The sound of people popping into existence filled the air.
"Oh! Hi, Supreme Kai!" Goku beamed. "Eh? Wait – Lord Beerus is this a special treat? Are we going to fight Supreme Kai?"
"What? No! Can't a pair of gods have a chat without some loudmouth mortal butting in?" Beerus turned back to Shin. "You know, I think this guy is more likely to get us both killed."
Shin eyed up Goku and knew that he couldn't honestly disagree with that.
"Hey, I can hear you!"
"Your 'friendship' with Grand Zeno is going to get us killed, or poor Shin here is going to die from a heart attack next time you call him Zen-chan."
Goku laughed. "He said it's fine, so no need to worry so much. Can we fight now?"
Beerus sighed. "Whis, entertain them will you?"
Whis marched Goku and Vegeta down to the lake and began to give out instructions.
"Stay and watch if you want," Beerus offered. "It can be quite a sight to behold."
After the Tournament of Power, Shin was intrigued to watch the pair. It was one thing to see Goku defeat Jiren, but Jiren wasn't Vegeta. Unlike Jiren, Vegeta was under no rules about killing. As much as he liked to believe the saiyans were friends, he had no doubts that Vegeta would go that far if it assured him victory.
"Come on, Kakarot! Show me that ultra instinct!" Vegeta egged him on.
"I thought that he mastered it?" Shin asked.
"We've been having trouble getting it out of him without raising the stakes," Beerus explained.
A blast of energy came hurtling towards them, and Beerus grabbed the kai out of the way just in time.
"HEY! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE AIMING!" Beerus yelled.
Whis floated down beside them. "Could I offer you some protection for this round?" Beerus knew he was only offering for Shin's sake.
"Keep your students under control and we'll be fine," Beerus said, pulling the kai into his lap. "I think you'll need to get involved if we're to see any progress today. Vegeta still needs to improve before he gets that rise out of Goku." He wrapped his arms around Shin's waist and held him there.
Shin sat there awkwardly, looking for a way to escape this strange position he'd found himself in. He shifted as if in discomfort, but Beerus didn't seem likely to let him go.
"How's this?" Beerus asked after shifting again to give the kai more space.
Not wanting to offend, Shin decided against saying that he wasn't comfortable being so close to the destroyer. "Yes, this is fine. But…is it necessary?"
"Not many people get this level of personal protection from me."
"Well, as long as you know you won't get hurt in the crossfire. After berating me about putting myself in danger, I come here and see you sitting feet away from this as if it's a fun show."
"These saiyans are the most fun I've had in years, you know. Besides, I can handle whatever they're throwing around and Whis is right there keeping it all in check."
They lapsed into silence and Shin had to deal with the fact that Beerus was holding onto him and even resting his chin in his hair. Beerus, on the other hand, was quite enjoying this novelty of having something to hold. Whis wasn't small enough to hug like a teddy bear, but Shin was. And, unlike Whis, Shin didn't seem the type to make a run for it, or tell him that his fun was over.
"Say, are you scared of me?" Beerus asked. The question came to him as he thought about the way the other Supreme Kais and Destruction Gods had interacted during the Tournament. Not that the pair of them had looked particularly different to the others, but once safely back in their own universe, Shin had reverted to his shy self around him.
"I think anyone who doesn't fear you is a fool. Even Goku fears you in some capacity, not that you can always tell."
Beerus smirked. What a neat answer – Shin was full of them. "But logically, the only person who shouldn't fear me is you. And Whis – but that's different."
"I didn't think you were the type to seek out someone who doesn't fear you."
"I'm not saying to stop fearing me – not that you explicitly said you did – but just lighten up a little, will you?" Beerus gave him a friendly punch on the arm.
Shin rubbed the area, wondering if Beerus knew what kind of force was considered to be 'friendly.' "I'm afraid I'm naturally quite serious, unlike some of your new friends."
Beerus grabbed Shin's shoulders and massaged the muscles between them. "I know. You're very proper, a shining example of how a Supreme Kai should behave. But. You're very tense. Just relax a little. Maybe lean back and say something without thinking too hard."
Shin took a deep breath, but before he was able to exhale Beerus had darted several meters to the left with him in tow. The stump they had been perched on was gone.
"THAT WAS MY FAVOURITE STUMP YOU ASSHOLES!"
It took a moment for Shin to catch his breath. "Somehow I think I'll find it hard to relax with these two flying around. Maybe we should meet again under different circumstances – say over lunch?"
Beerus cocked a brow. It sounded strange to him to hear the Supreme Kai ask the God of Destruction to lunch. "I'll treat you to the best fish in my aquarium."
This time, when Shin tried to get up, Beerus let him go. With an awkward wave goodbye the kai disappeared.
Beerus laid back on the grass. What a strange day this had been so far.
Once Goku and Vegeta had become exhausted with training daily for a week, Beerus sent them away and began to butter up Whis.
"Which fish do you think you cook the best?" he would ask. "Do you think that fish will be good to eat in a week? I really love how you cook swordfish with basil and mint." Truthfully, Beerus liked every way that Whis cooked. After millions of years Whis knew exactly how to please the god.
"Could it be that you want something, my lord?" Whis asked one evening. "You haven't taken such an interest in my cooking for some centuries."
"I may have invited someone for lunch. And I wanted you to make something fantastic." Beerus said it as if Whis might refuse.
"Oh? Who would that be?"
"Well, Shin kind of invited himself for lunch. Although I guess I was the one who offered our fish."
Whis smirked knowingly.
"Hey! What's that face about?!"
"I'm glad to see you two finally getting along after all this time. Don't think I didn't notice you two last time he visited."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Beerus peered at him.
"Nothing," Whis waved it off. "But it's not often I see you enjoying someone's company. Anyway, yes, I will make lunch for you both. For a moment you had me worried you'd invited a small army."
"Oh – one more thing. Have you ever feared me?"
Whis laughed. "Nope."
"Good."
Beerus left everything in Whis's capable hands. Shin arrived precisely on time and proceeded to praise the interior décor of his home.
"I must admit, I expected something different based on the exterior," he admitted. "Less polished, more earthy."
"As if. I wouldn't spend my years living in anything less than the finest luxury. I am a god after all."
"Some of us prefer simpler surroundings."
Beerus rolled his eyes. "I feel like this has something to do with the fact you were born from a tree."
"Purely based on our roles in the universe, I would say that I am far more connected to nature than you."
"I'm trying really hard to like you, but sometimes you just can't say 'yes, you're right' or 'how dare you bring up the fact I came from a tree.'"
Shin looked confused. "Well, it is a fact."
Beerus sighed. "I'm trying to say you're a smartass."
"I…I'm sorry?" Shin frowned. "I'm always being told that I don't know enough about my universe and that I'm not doing my job properly. I don't consider myself to be smart."
"Let's just drop this," Beerus said. Who knew it could be this hard to have a bit of banter with a Supreme Kai. He picked up a bread roll to occupy himself.
The silence didn't last long as soon enough Whis arrived with food, describing the dishes as if to a master chef. Shin was delighted with the variety of things to choose from. But it turned out that this was just the starter. A main course followed. And when Whis mentioned dessert, Shin thought he would die of overeating on the spot.
"If you can't eat it all, I'll have your share," Whis offered.
"Hey! This is our lunch. I get first dibs." Beerus reached over for the ice cream first.
"Excuse me, I made all of this." Whis reached for the cake.
Shin wanted to laugh at their exchange, but it hurt, and he regretted trying to eat so much out of politeness. "I don't know how you do it."
"I'm a professional." Beerus licked his spoon clean. "You look like you could use a lie down."
"Yeah… I don't think I can move for a while."
"Whis, you carry him, you're more careful with these things."
It turned out that Beerus had several plush bean-bags in the room on the other side of the aquarium that he used exactly for this purpose. The destroyer threw himself onto one, arms thrown out on each side. Whis gently lowered the kai into another and quickly left; they could see him through the tank cleaning up the table and scoffing any remains.
"So, how was lunch?" Beerus asked, eager to hear Shin sing his praises in choosing the dishes.
"It was great. Did you just pick everything?"
"What? No. I spent all week picking the best ones."
"There sure are a lot of 'best ones.' I didn't even get to try the dessert."
"You'll just have to come back when you're not so stuffed." Beerus leaned over and prodded the kai's stomach.
"Hey! I'm too full for that." Shin tried to turn on his side, but that made him feel worse.
Beerus found the whole thing quite amusing, but it seemed he'd gone too far and couldn't have any fun. "Tell me what your favourite dish was. We'll just have that next time and then dessert."
"The broccoli."
That stopped Beerus in his tracks. "A vegetable? Really?"
"I largely live on a vegetarian diet, you know."
"Oh. Your loss. The lobster was great! Whis really outdid himself today. But sure, if want the garnishes then we'll have that. More room for cake and ice cream and chocolate!"
"Do…do you mind if I have a nap here? I think it might speed up my recovery."
"Of course. I love napping. Probably my favourite thing after destroying."
They lapsed into silence, and although he hadn't intended to actually fall asleep, Beerus began to snore lightly.
When Shin awoke he found that Beerus was attached to his side, head nuzzled into his chest. He decided that it was probably best not to nap here again. Carefully he picked a place to tap – an arm seemed good.
"Lord Beerus, wake up."
There was no response. He gave the destroyer a light shove. "Lord Beerus." Nothing again. He tried to stand, but Beerus held fast, was rather heavy, and too big for this to be easy.
Shin took a breath and readied himself before shouting Beerus's name. Then he heard a snigger from the other side of the room.
"You'll have to be a lot louder than that," Whis said. "And a sterner tone would help."
Yet Whis did not seem to be offering assistance with his predicament. Shin tried once more, but once again to no avail. He began to wonder if Beerus was pretending to sleep through it.
Shin decided to change track. He decided to untangle himself piece by piece. The hand on his shoulder would not just be lifted away, so he slipped his own hand under and found that now Beerus clung to that instead. This hadn't worked out…now he only had one hand to work with. A stroke of luck came next as Beerus's other hand let go of his clothing in order to itch his nose. Now his upper half was free, he only had to free the leg caught between Beerus's. He believed he could do it, but his imprisoned hand was making it difficult to launch himself away as planned. With his other foot he began to push Beerus's knee away. It took some time, and he was aware of Whis watching his every struggle. After all, he didn't actually need to wake the other, merely free himself. Soon enough he found himself kneeling beside the sleeping Beerus, hands still entwined.
A strange idea occurred to him about how to resolve this. He couldn't be sure it would work, but it seemed bizarre enough that it just might. He pulled their hands towards him and carefully placed a kiss on Beerus's hand.
Immediately an eye cracked open and for a moment Shin froze in fear as he perceived the anger in that stare. But then the moment was over and Beerus let go.
"Oh, that was cute. No one's dared try that on me before."
Whis coughed.
"Whis you're like exempt from all my examples because you've done everything. I would say 'no one, including Whis' if I really meant no one. But it's not like I often find myself napping with someone in my arms."
"I should get going. Kibito will be worried."
Beerus gave a half-assed wave. "Yeah, yeah. Tell me when you're ready for dessert."
Shin disappeared with a kai-kai and breathed a sigh of relief to be home and far away from his life link.
"So, you have a new toy?" Whis asked.
"Maybe. He still needs some work. You should be able to play with a toy any time, after all."
"I think that might be a little too much to ask of your other half. He has a job to do too."
ooo
It didn't take too long for Shin to get back to him about dessert.
"Why'd you bring him along?" Beerus asked when Shin arrived with Kibito in tow.
"I thought Whis might appreciate some assistance," Shin said. After Whis being less than helpful during their last lunch date, Shin had brought his own aide to help him should any personal assistance be necessary.
Beerus almost took offence to the idea that maybe Shin thought Whis incapable, or that Whis wouldn't be able to do every last thing they asked. But deep down he wondered if there was another reason. Did Shin not trust him?
Dessert was not nearly as difficult as lunch had been. Beerus now wondered if Kibito was here purely as another mouth Shin could give his share to. Not that it mattered too much; dessert was wonderful in that the whole cake need not be eaten right then. It wasn't going to go cold, and could certainly be stored and eaten tomorrow. The variety of Earth chocolates were wrapped and could stay that way for another day.
Beerus was beginning to realise that his plan for a nap after stuffing Shin wasn't going to play out this time. He considered asking if Shin would be his pillow for a while, but he would surely die of shame if Shin said no and Kibito had witnessed it all. Instead he decided to offer a walk around outside to show off the wildlife he kept.
"Is everything okay?" Shin asked as they walked. Whis and Kibito were chatting away some feet behind them.
"Yeah? Why?"
"I don't know…you seem less thrilled at my visit this time. I fear I've come at a bad time. It's difficult when you can't read someone's mind sometimes."
"I thank Grand Zeno that you can't do that to me. I think it'd drive me nuts. I guess I'm just tired." Yet this small piece of information he had overlooked got his brain turning again. Perhaps the reason Shin was so awkward with him was because he relied so heavily on reading everyone else when interacting with them?
"Do you always nap after lunch?"
"You bet. If I have the time, it's the perfect time of day to do so."
"Have I made you cranky by disrupting your routine?"
Cranky?! Is that how he was being viewed right now? This wasn't going right at all. The whole day was a disaster in his eyes now. "I'm not cranky. I just – I had plans."
"Plans?"
Beerus realised his mistake. "Yeah – plans. Whis is meant to be fetching Goku and Vegeta soon. Err, but I didn't want to be a bad host and all. So, yeah, I'm trying to juggle it all." Would anyone actually buy that lie?
"Oh, well, if this was an inconvenient time you should have let us know. We have all the time in the world, after all. I'll let you get on." Shin motioned to Kibito and they left in a matter of minutes after thanking the pair for everything.
Whis cocked a brow. "That was an abrupt end."
"I panicked. I said we were having Goku and Vegeta over."
"Are we?"
"No. I…" Beerus put his hands on his head. "It all went wrong, okay? I'm going to brood on this." He walked off and found his favourite stump (recently replaced) to perch on.
"Just so you know, I'm here to talk," Whis called after him.
Beerus waved him away. No, he needed to replay this scene out several times and consider what could have changed to give a better outcome. Not that it mattered now, but still, he had to find his faults and berate himself for them so he wouldn't mess it up next time.
Eventually he sauntered back to his room, deciding sleep would give him a fresh outlook. He tossed and turned, unable to get comfortable.
"Whis!"
The angel appeared promptly and Beerus grabbed him and pulled him down.
"My, my, what's all this?" Whis asked as Beerus tried to spoon him. It just wasn't the same as holding onto the small kai.
In answer to the question, Beerus merely mumbled into Whis's back. Whis tried to turn to face Beerus, but was forcefully pushed back into the original position Beerus had ordained.
"No."
"'No' what? You're acting awfully odd, my lord."
Beerus groaned as he thought about all the things he wanted to say, but wouldn't dare utter so casually.
"Is this about earlier?"
"Sort of."
"Is it about the Supreme Kai?"
There was a pause before Beerus answered, "Yes." He couldn't deceive Whis in a million years.
"You do seem to have grown rather fond of him recently."
A noise that sounded like agreement came from Beerus.
"But you couldn't get him to lay with you like this, so you're using me instead?"
"Maybe. I also didn't want to talk to you about it face to face. This is better."
Whis laughed. "Is it really? I can feel your heartbeat in such close proximity."
"Whatever. Tell me, how do you ask someone to stay with you like this?"
"With words," Whis said. "You know, you could have asked me rather than just pulling me down with you."
"Okay, but how do I ask that without sounding like a right old sap?"
"I would say just be yourself. If you ask as you would usually in your confident manner, the Supreme Kai might not even realise you feel so odd about it."
"Maybe you're right, Whis."
"But tell me, is there an end goal here? Or is this a passing fancy?"
"I genuinely want to have better contact with my life link, but anything else? I'm not sure myself. I guess I'm trying to get us to the point where he'll actually call on me if something goes wrong." Beerus pondered that thought a little more. "Say, what if I got someone to attack him – all a ruse of course – to see if he would?"
"It sounds like a good plan, but I would advise against it at this point," Whis said, the voice of reason. "If he found out it could really damage the relationship you've been building recently. And I wouldn't like to underestimate the Supreme Kai's ability to find something like that out."
"God, I hate waiting. Guess I'll have to play this out the long way."