Series: Beat of Wings||Title: Where I Tell You
Characters: Yuuri, Dennis||Ship: N/A
Chapters: 5-8||Words: 1,257||Total: 5,568
Genre: Friendship||Rated: G
Note: This is the AU where people have wings. Among them is Yuuri, who has demonic/dragon wings. This is how he & Dennis met one another in this world. This takes place about a year or so prior to the interdimensional war. Beware headcanons.
Summary: Certain events require help, like it or not. No one does everything alone. And so Yuuri searches for someone to scratch his wings and does something he didn't expect: makes a friend. Meanwhile, Dennis would just rather not be carded by the notorious sadist.[[MORE]]

Yuuri tilted his wings as he flew, soaring over the island, enjoying the feel of the wind against his scales and blowing through his hair. After two weeks of daily intense care, his new scales finished coming in, and he didn't have to worry about the itch anymore. That made flying just that much better, and he savored being back in the air.

Picking Dennis was a good choice, he mused, circling over and keeping an eye out for other air traffic and the way the air currents flowed. Out here there wasn't much to get in his way but he didn't want to lose his focus and find himself tangled with someone else.

That had happened once. He'd had to card the offender, of course, which had done wonders for his reputation, and annoyed him for days afterward, mostly because people kept staring at him in awe.

And fear. He couldn't forget fear. He'd rather liked that part. Seeing people terrified of him thrilled him right down to his core and he would go out of his way to terrify anyone that he could.

Dennis didn't look like he was afraid of me. He'd been aware of that on a low level ever since the day that they'd met. Dennis seemed wary, of course, which was to be expected, but he'd listened to everything Yuuri had to say and had been focused enough to obey his instructions.

And he really did so well with Yuuri's wings. Really, the best wing-tender Yuuri had ever heard of, and he wasn't going to let anyone else get hold of him. There weren't many others who Dennis could take care of anyway, given that silly allergy. There were perhaps thirty or forty duelists with wings at Academia and the vast majority of them had the traditional bird-like wings of feathers. Those who had dragon or bat wings – like Yuuri – were in the minority, with a few who had fairy wings and one or two with metallic wings.

All of which meant that whatever else Dennis was born to do, he was born to tend to Yuuri's wings, and Yuuri wouldn't ever let anyone who he considered his get away from him.

I don't think I'll need to chain him up, though. Pity for that, almost. He'd somewhat wanted to have a way to test the restraints he had and make certain that his theoretical future possession couldn't get out of them. Dennis was too tricky and far too slick for ordinary manacles to hold him, though.

Add in the fact that Yuuri hadn't ruled out taking a Winged One of his own as his future possession, and since Dennis didn't have wings, he couldn't fully test the bonds. A bit annoying overall but nothing that he couldn't work with. He'd just have to pick a Winged One to test it eventually.

He could do that. There were plenty of them and some of them skimmed the line of failure and success. The Professor would allow him this. He'd been very good.

Yuuri circled, casting his eyes downward to the splashing waves and rolling tides. He didn't often do this, but he did need something to eat. He didn't really want to wait around for the kitchen to send something to him, either, and he wasn't sure as of yet how good of a cook Dennis might turn out to be. All of that boiled down to one thing: he needed to get his own food and cook it himself.

It wouldn't at all be the first time he'd made his own food. He didn't always trust the kitchens to have what he wanted or to get it to him when he wanted it. So now he searched, checking for one of his favorites.

Being able to fly made acquiring certain foods that much easier. He didn't have to wait around with a rod and bait. He spied something long and silvery flashing by under the water and dashed downward, seizing the fish and tossing it to the nearest stretch of dry land. While it flopped and gasped, Yuuri circled and took another turn around, catching two more before he headed in with his prey.

They were very big fish; even after being deboned and the parts he didn't want disposed of, he suspected the three fish would provide enough for at least two people. Or one person and leftovers.

Yuuri eyed his catch for a few moments, then hurried on to his quarters, where he could send a message. He usually didn't mind eating by himself, but Dennis really had done such a good job taking care of his wings. He should get a reward for that. And as much as Yuuri wanted to believe it, just letting Dennis live wasn't a good enough reward.

By the time the knock came at his door, he'd almost finished cooking. As soon as Dennis entered, he drew in a breath and blinked.

"Fish?" Another breath, and he looked a bit more startled this time. "Aji-furai?"

"Yes." Yuuri settled the food on the table, giving it a very proud look. Not only had he caught the fish himself, but he'd grown the cabbage himself as well, and made the sauce personally. "You don't have anything against it, do you?"

Dennis shook his head. "Of course not. I didn't know you cooked."

"You have no idea of what you don't know about me." Yuuri allowed a small smirk at that, gesturing for Dennis to take his place. Yuuri sat in his own chair, one of those made for the Winged Ones, his wings folded up on his back. All those with wings had quarters somewhat larger than the standard, just to make room for their wings. His were even larger than that: he was Yuuri, after all.

He thought he spied a careful look from Dennis. And if that were so, he relished it all the more.

Everything was that much better as Dennis started eating. Yuuri had particular tastes to his food and had taught himself to cook to satisfy those. There were still times he took what the kitchen had to offer but when it came to fish, he preferred his own methods to any other.

Dennis sampled everything with care and caution, until about halfway through the meal, when he really started to eat with gusto, eyes lighting up more with every bit of food down his mouth. Yuuri smiled to himself. He'd never shared what he made with someone else, but if they reacted like this, he might have to consider doing it again.

Or at least inviting Dennis over a little more often. Dennis was his wing-tender. He should get something suitable in return, and decent meals made by Yuuri were more than enough for that.

Almost as soon as he'd finished, Dennis glanced at him, a bit of wariness in his eyes now. "Did you hear? The final plans for the invasion are being sorted out."

Oh, yes, he'd heard. He already had his special assignment: a spy would be sent into the other dimensions and once the spy found those particular people that the Professor wanted, then Yuuri would come along and take them. It sounded a little dull for his tastes, but with the prospects of battle and the potential for finding that toy he wanted, perhaps it could be better than he thought.

"I found out my assignment." Dennis prodded at the remains of his food. "I have to learn XYZ summoning. I'm going there."

To Be Continued

Notes: Aji-furai (or aji fry) involves frying horse mackerel fish in bread crumbs and serving it with raw shredded cabbage and tonkatsu sauce. I couldn't resist having my sadistic cabbage eat cabbage.

Also, doing a small change to the word count/chapter count at the top, mainly so I don't have to go back and edit every chapter once I reach the ending. Eventually I'll adjust the listing on every one of my fics. For now, just the ones I'm regularly updating.