It felt bizarre having his eye open for this long. Though it had been years seen there had been an organ there for him to see with, part of his brain had never been able to process it to be normal when the socket was open and his left half still be completely black. Nor did it help in any way with how fixated Keaton was on the void in his skull. Niles's one eye was keeping track of the wolf's movements, noting him slowly hunching forward, closer to him as well as his hands twitching from his hips. The look on Keaton said it all: that he was fascinated with the display despite Niles's growing discomfort. It almost felt like he was no longer being viewed as a human being the longer it dragged on.
"Can I…" Keaton's tone was calm, yet there was still a hint of eagerness in his voice as he raised both his hands from his own body to hover between them. The attempt of self control was always a struggle of one such as he, who could any abnormality from wrinkles on a paper to shards of a dinner plate to be worthy of his praise and fascination. Trash: that's all it was. Yet to him it was gold. But this, Niles's vulnerability, the chance to see him without his eyepatch was like a diamond discovered among rubble. "…can I touch it? Or- around it, I mean?" His nose twitched, anticipating a hopeful, approving response. Yet Niles didn't answer immediately. Instead he just stood there with the patch in hand, holding to only so far away from his face, ready to put it back on at any moment. He was uncomfortable, and the more he noticed more than just the eye socket, the clearer it was to Keaton that he had caused it. "Err uh…I mean…- it's okay if you don't want me to! I was just real cur- "
"You can," Niles finally piped up before slowly lowered the hand holding his patch. "Just…mind your claws. It's a sensitive spot." There was still a clear ring of nervousness in his tone even if he was giving Keaton permission to touch him. He would push through it, to allow the wolf a chance to see a piece of him he normally kept hidden, if only from sight. It was obvious that Keaton meant him no harm, nor judgment, or condemnation for anything that had caused the eye to ever be removed so many years ago to begin with. The sooner he allowed him to examine it to his heart's content the sooner he'd never feel obligatory or pressured to display himself like this again.
On the other hand, now Keaton felt like he had backed his friend into a corner. Yet still curiosity itched at him like the fleas he had prior to being given a bath and skin treatment the previous week. The point of his fangs pinched down on his lip, tail aimed high until he finally couldn't contain himself any further. "I promise," he said. Keaton's hands operated slowly in the removal of his gloves, hands shaking as the air touched his skin. It was exciting to him, getting to see something like this up in close in person, but even more so from someone whom he had been spending so much time with. It felt like this was a way for him to connect with Niles on a different level, seeing him this uncomfortable yet still willing to open up like this for him. Keaton would have to be as controlled as possible….
First, he pressed his thumb lightly against Niles's cheek bone. He paused.
Had Niles's skin always been this…dark? Keaton really hadn't noticed the contrast between to two until he saw his own hand make contact, stating the contrast between his pale hand against Niles's brown face. A part of Keaton wanted to roll up his sleeve and press his until arm against the archer standing in front him as that would somehow make it even more clear or reveal some kind of unknown reasoning for something that otherwise was nothing more than a harmless fascination. Niles was a human, a human had may play dirty and step on his toes and invade his personal space, but he was also a man who displayed no fear, always had time to play, who gave him treasure to hoard, and allowed the wolfskin to touch his most private of area…and his skin just happened to be darker than his own.
When Keaton finally snapped back to reality he couldn't help but lean his own face in slow, cautiously and sniff the other's face where his thumb was touching. It…didn't smell any different than he had expected beyond maybe a little less dirt or sweat, but there was a distinct uniqueness to Niles that no one else had that couldn't immediately be identified. He sniffed at the archer once again , this time causing his nose to twitch yet still he couldn't put into words what it was. All he knew was that it wasn't a bad scent, only different than anyone else's. Keaton pinches his brows together out of slight frustration until he felt it difficult to breathe. His mouth was hot and lips wet. Tail and ears spiked into the air when he realized that in his distraction Niles had closed the gap between then and was stealing a kiss.
Keaton's face burned as he back away, removing both his face and his hand from Niles as the other man just began to laugh at his embarrassment. "W-What was- y-you can't just go and start kissing me like that!"
"You can't just go and sniff me like that and leave your mouth unprotected," Niles teased with his signature smirk back on his face. "I invited you to examine my eye; not to touch me or identify me like you did. It's an even trade, don't you think?" It was a baited question, and one that Niles knew the kind of answer he'd get. His one remaining eye leered with a patient yet begging look in it for Keaton's response.
"Hell no! That ain't far at all. It'd be fair if I let ya touch my teeth or something else similar but a kiss doesn't equal a sniff or touching your face!"
"Splendid. Then you wouldn't mind letting me do so when you're done touching my eye socket, would you? Since it is only fair, after all…."
It had been a trap from the beginning…and Keaton had fallen for it. His angry expression quickly melted into a pout, frowning and baring the point of the very fangs in question, now. He should have known better than to expect Niles to give this kind of opportunity without asking anything in return. However, unlike Niles, Keaton didn't find it all that personal to let anyone touch him so long as they were tugging at his tail or his ears. Fangs? That was almost laughable. He could stomach letting someone put their finger in his mouth for a few seconds. "…fine. You can touch my fangs after you let me see you eye up close."
Niles simply nodded and stepped forward once again.
With his thumb back at the archer's cheek bone, Keaton made sure to not let his claws poke or scrap at any skin. Slowly he felt up along until he reached the socket ring. The eyelid was flat due to the proper organ not being there to create the raised area needed to guide his thumb around the sensitive area. Instead…it felt hollow, able to be pressed in so easily. He tapped along the rim of the socket, feeling for. Try edges within the skull up around the brow, and down along the nose until he had made a full circle. His thumb pressed with the sensitivity a mother would give her newborn cubs, using only her paws to bat at the time and never once a point making contact.
He could hear and feel Niles holding back how uncomfortable this was making him, breathing in short but heavy pants. The breath gazed over against the side of his own face as he continued feeling around the socket until finally his thumb floated over the center of the closed lid. When it made contact to the flat surface they both shivered. It was squishier than Keaton had imagined it would be he dare not apply any pressure for fear of hurting the other. He held his breath, keeping his movements in check as he gently started to drag the eye lid open to reveal…
Keaton blinked. He had expected it to be like a dark void of nothing, no light, no substance, nothing at all. Instead there was flesh and tissue, red and pink beyond recognition of any sense of belonging. It almost didn't make sense to the wolf. Then again, any insides to a human he had seen in the paste had either been on his dinner plate or a bloody mess on the battlefield. Seeing any insides perfectly together like this was what was making it feel so foreign, he figured. This time, he'd not dare venture any closer of an encounter than from the lack of distance his face already was.
As seconds passed, Keaton began to find it more fascinating. What exactly must it be like for Niles without the organ that once used to call this hole a home? How did it feel to have the lid open yet still only see black in half of his vision? Was it more challenging? Did waking up and seeing things different serve as an eternal reminder of his past mistakes? Did he know just how unique this made him? The more he questioned it the more interesting the sight before him became, despite its off-putting appearance. When all had been seen and questioned Keaton could only pull himself away from Niles and smile. "Not bad," he chimed. "It wasn't as scary as I thought it'd be. Kinda…neat, actually."
Niles's smirk was slightly less predominant now, indicating shyness and nerves. He rattled his shoulders in attempt to appear as though his was brushing off Keaton's comments as nothing more than an inconvenient buzz in his ear until he had simmered down his own mental state. "Oh really. In that case I suppose upholding your end of our little deal won't nearly but as much of an issue will it?" He was calm as he spoke, and even a tad more reserved with the way he wasn't so quick to grave around Keaton's mouth without warning. Niles was still recovering from the whole experience….
Keaton just smirked and nodded. "Yeah. It's no problem. A deal is a deal, after all." There was arguing, no protest, no complaining. It was just his teeth in the end. "Go right ahead. I promise I won't bite down on ya." He opened his jaw wide and lifted his upper lift for all his rangers to be on full display, ready for Niles to touch whenever he wanted.
Niles was slow on entry, but proceeded. "Really now, you won't stab me? Are you sure?" He teased as he began to slowly stroke and pinch around one of the two primary top fangs. "You sure there isn't another body part you'd rather stab me with, pierce my insides?" Overall, they didn't feel that much different from his own teeth, minus their slightly longer length and sharp points that would easily tear away his flesh if he bit down at anytime. "Be warned…bite me and you'll learn that I do bite in return…."
It didn't last very long. Niles had really only demanded this trade off the sake of toying with Keaton a little. Yet it was enjoy an experience he didn't regret having. It was rare for any human to get get close to a wolfskin without getting mauled to death, let alone be around to touch their fangs. Who knew how many humans the very fangs his fingers were touching had massacred beyond recognition. It mattered not to Niles at the end of the day. He knew that he had already experienced a rarer touch; he had gotten his hands on both Keaton's ears and his tail without even having to force himself on the other. This was just the icing on the cake to him.
"Not bad….Not bad, either," he said when he removed himself from Keaton's mouth. "I'd like to put something much bigger than my finger in there next time."
"Why are you so disgusting?" Keaton's tone was not one of disgust or discomfort, but instead one returning jest and tease. "Try it and you'll find whatever goes in there won't be coming back out."
Niles only chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest again. "Really now, since when did you become so quick witted?"
"Around the same time I learned what you're always implying." Keaton's face glowed with a smug grin. "You know, when you're out of tricks to pull you aren't such a bad guy to be around."
"Hmm…thanks, I suppose. You aren't such a bad dog, yourself." As he spoke, Niles reached a hand up casually to scratch at his friend's ear like he had done time and time again before. It had become an almost regular part of their interactions with each other, but in addition Niles found the act of petting Keaton's fur to help ease his nerves. Plus, how could he not take to opportunity when Keaton supposedly never let another human hand out such playful affections. Nails scratched deep around the wolf's eats, parting fur and get the scalp. He could tell the other was enjoying it, given the wagging tail behind him the obvious giveaway. "Yeah…you're a good boy, Keaton."
Before he knew it, Niles was losing his balance to Keaton pressing up against him, hunched over and rubbing the side of his body into the archer's. He whimpered and panted softly before finally pinning Niles down onto one of the cots their shared tent, face red with eyes big with contentment. All hairs were standing up, as were his tail high in the hair. One gloved hand and another naked hand were at Niles's shoulders as the rest of his body lay over him, wagging back and forth until now he was able to come to his sense due to now Niles no longer able to provide good head scratches.
"Sorry. I uh- I got excited, I guess." Keaton slowly began to collect himself up and climb off Niles until he was tugged back, an arm around his upper body. He collapsed into his fellow of arms with a heavy thud yet was in no hurry to get away…and it was clear Niles didn't want him to go anywhere for the time being as his fingers just started to go back and form from toying with stray hairs on his mane to scratching around any body part there was in arms reach and…it felt good. He hated to admit it, but Keaton would gladly lay there and let Niles scratch him like this for the rest of the evening if all he had to do in exchange was let him stroke his fur once in a while. The wolf just cooed out softly and curled up, this time not on the floor, but instead right over Niles's body.
Niles just watched his little play thing, amused by how docile such a wild animal could be with just a little bit of affection. He smiled, and then shook his head as Keaton began to close his eyes. There they were, without an eyepatch, without their guard up, without anything holding them back. Niles just continued his actions as best he could, petting away until he felt completely calm once more. "Good boy," he whispered. "Good boy…."