I'm on a ParaEmu/EmuPara agenda and I'm taking y'all down with me XD

Anyways, this is just me indulging in my headcanon that Parad actually has fangs and what that means for him and Emu. If anyone wants to see more of this, then please tell me!

Timeline: Two years post-canon

BREATHLESS

The first thing Emu noticed about Parad when they first met (reunited?), was his grin. The bugster had this perpetual impish grin with prominent canines on his face that it always brought a shiver down Emu's spine.

And it wasn't out of fear either. Not that first time.

There was something about the bugster that Emu couldn't place but the sight of Parad and his cheshire grin brought a thrill of excitement through him that Emu only felt before a challenging game. It wasn't until much later that shiver was a response out of fear for the harm Parad brought in his wake. Nevertheless, because Parad had no sense of personal space when it comes to Emu (not that he minds since he's much the same with Parad), Emu became aware early on that whenever Parad whispered threats to his ear, Emu always felt his sharp canines grazing him.

It used to bring a lot of confusing reactions for him whenever that happened. Although, thinking back, that's probably why Parad did it so many times— the jerk.

It got him curious though, since as far as he could see, none of the other Bugsters with humanoid forms had too sharp canines. Not even Graphite, and he was a dragon Bugster. While it's not an important thing to worry about, that part of Parad's feature is always at the back of his mind and sometimes when he lets his mind wander, Emu would ponder if those canines are just simply a trait or something more?

It's not until two years after Cronus' defeat that Emu got his answer.

As days turned to weeks turned to months and finally into years, Emu found himself steadily in love with Parad. It should surprise him. Emu has always been more focused on his career as a doctor and if talked about romance, he's only has eyes for cute women (like Poppy). Then again...Parad has always been the only exception to everything in his life so, Emu supposed that it's only a matter of time for him to find himself in love with Parad, especially since the bond he shares with Parad goes beyond his very identity after all.

Still, when he found out that he's in love with his partner and best friend, Emu ended up collapsing onto his back on top of the hospital's roof and screamed into his hands— hoping beyond hope that he won't mess things up.

It took a lot of pep talk from both Poppy and Kiriya but eventually, Emu managed to gather enough courage to sit Parad down at their living room and finally confessed his feelings to the bugster.

For a long moment, Parad looks at him in shock before it gives way to bright, open hope. It's a sight that's both excruciating and wonderful to see. "You love me?"

"Yes." Emu gives his bugster a bashful smile. "I've always loved you of course, it's just...now I can honestly say that I love you in every way there is to love a person."

Unexpectedly, Parad stands up from the couch until he's in the middle of the room. The bugster shuffles his feet nervously, a canine catching his bottom lip as Parad stares at him. "And you're okay with that? Despite all the horrible things I've done?"

"I told you once, didn't I?" Emu stands and walks over until they're only a foot away. He reaches out to cradle the side of Parad's face. "That I love you because of all the things that happened between us; not in spite of it.

Parad steps closer, leaning into his touch. "Emu..."

"Being in love with you hasn't changed that. Never will too," Emu promises, smiling softly.

Parad leans down to rest his forehead against Emu's, breathing out a shuddering sigh. "I still don't think I deserve you."

He opens his mouth to protest at that— because there is no way that's true.

"But." Parad places a finger against his lips, eyes bright with love and adoration. "Someday, I will be. And well, I'm selfish, y'know? I love you and so stupidly in love with you, that there's no way in hell that I'm gonna let anything or anyone stop me from making sure that you won't regret loving me."

Laughing, he nips at Parad's finger and feels his shoulders relaxing out of relief. "Trust me, I'm never going to regret loving you, Parad."

"Guess that makes me one lucky bastard, huh?" Expression turning serious, Parad gives him an unwavering look. "It's the same for me too. I'll never regret loving you, Emu."

"Guess that makes me just as lucky," he murmurs happily, arms twining around Parad's neck. "Ne, Parad?"

Winding his arms around Emu's waist, Parad grins down at him. "Yeah, Emu?"

"May I kiss you?" Emu asks, bumping their noses together.

Parad lights up. "Only if I get to kiss you back."

"Of course," he says with a chuckle.

Like everything else between them, they meet each other halfway. And then for the next few moments it's nothing but warmth and desire and the slick slide of tongues, until something very sharp pricks his bottom lip.

"Ow!" Emu pulls back, hand to his mouth as he tastes blood. He stares at Parad who, although flushed a healthy glow with lips swollen and pupils blown, nevertheless looks horrified.

"I'm sorry!" A hand slapping over his own mouth, Parad hovers over him in worry. "I didn't mean to!"

Licking at his lip, Emu tries to smile at the increasingly distressed bugster. "It's alright, Parad. What was that though?"

"Ah." Parad curls into himself, eyes darting away with a flush. "I got um, excited with the kiss, so my fangs came out."

"...you have fangs?"

Blinking at him, Parad nods slowly. "Uh, yeah. I thought you knew?"

"I knew that your canines are sharper than most but I didn't know it's because you have fangs." A wide grin takes over his face, staring at Parad in awe. "That is so cool."

Chuckling, the bugster pulls his hand away from his mouth to give Emu a fanged smirk. "Thanks."

"Is it something all Bugsters have?" Emu asks, stepping closer to cup Parad's jaw and brushes a thumb against his bottom lip.

"Nope, just me." Parad nuzzles into his hand, curly bangs sweeping over his eyes and wow, Emu is in love with such a gorgeous creature. "Since I'm the Progenitor, I have features and abilities that other Bugsters don't have."

Emu hums. "And the fangs?"

"Infection or eating," Parad says with a shrug.

His brows furrow at that. "Infection?"

"Ah...now that I think about it, the only time I used my fangs around you, you were out of it," Parad mutters thoughtfully.

"Out of...oh!" It's faint, but Emu thinks he recalls an odd sensation on his neck before he passed out when his game disease broke out. "Do you mean when you saved me after Kuroto-san revealed that I'm Patient Zero?"

"Yup." Expression twisting in disgust, Parad scoffs with a glare to the side. "Still pissed at him for that."

"Same," he grumbles out. Even after all these years, Dan Kuroto still can't grasp the weight of a life. Sighing, he tilts his head as a thought hits him. "Does that mean you bit me when you first infected me when I was a kid?"

Parad nods. "Yeah, don't you remember? You thought a neighbourhood cat bit your finger."

"Well, considering how cat-like you can be, it wasn't too far off the mark," he muses, laughing when Parad bleps at him in response. "Then what about eating? Because I've never seen you use your fangs when you eat before."

"Not with food, no." Shifting, his partner pulls out his console from a coat pocket and bites down on the device. The action causes sparks to dance around the device before Parad pulls back to lick his lips. "Electricity."

Emu gapes, fascinated at the traces of electricity he can see at the edge of a fang. "Is that why you don't need to eat as much as other Bugsters?"

"You could say that," Parad says with a snicker before he sobers in remorse, reaching out to gently run his thumb against Emu's bloodied lip. "I really am sorry, Emu."

"It's fine," he reassures, raising his hands up with a smile when Parad looks at him in disbelief. "Honest."

Huffing, the bugster pouts. "Still, I'll try to be more careful and—"

"No need for that." Emu cradles Parad's face, leaning in to press a kiss on that fanged mouth. "I like your fangs, Parad." Swiping his tongue over a fang, he grins at Parad's sharp inhale. "A lot."

"Oh, yeah?" Parad breathes out, smirking as his head tilts coyly to the side. "How much?"

He swoops in for another kiss in answer. "Very." A lick to the seam of that impish mouth. "Very." An opened mouth kiss with his tongue curling over a fang, Emu glances up at the dazed looking bugster under his lashes with a grin. "Much."

A hitch of a breath, and Parad catches him off guard when he pounces and closes the distance between them to surge in for the kiss. Stumbling, they fall onto the couch and he wraps his arms around Parad's neck, fingers running through soft curls as he hungrily draws the bugster closer to him so that his hips are flush against his own and licks into Parad's mouth, tasting something sweet and spicy under his tongue. Faintly, he can hear rumbling growls when he runs his tongue over one of Parad's fangs before Emu does it over and over again to coax more of that alluring sound.

When they draw back, it's only so they can trade several light, soft kisses across each other's mouths before pulling away; breathless.

Blinking open his eyes, Emu finds Parad smiling down at him, tender and warm with affection as he murmurs against his mouth. "Looks like I've got a third reason to use my fangs now."

"Oh, I don't know." Trailing his fingers across Parad's jaw, he tilts his head to the side and offers his neck with a tentative if suggestive grin. "Maybe it's actually all three into one?"

The heat that flares through the bond is like a supernova and he gasps, breathless and stares up into the dark, dark eyes of his beloved bugster.

Giving a throaty laugh, Parad leans down to nip at Emu's bottom lip with a smirk; fang sharp enough to sting but not enough to cause any bleeding. "And people say that I'm dangerous."

"Oh, you definitely are." Tangling their legs together, Emu grinds down and smirks at the choked growl Parad lets out. "But I would really like a reminder, if you don't mind?"

He feels Parad slipping his hand under his shirt to slide it across his stomach with an answering smirk. "Not at all, but just so you know? I'm gonna devour you whole, Emu."

That impish fanged smirk brings a shudder down his spine and this time? It's for all the right and pleasurable reasons.

"Please, please do."