Sunlight filtered into my room through the window, hitting me directly in the eye and making me wake up from my pleasant, dreamless slumber. I cursed the fact that I didn't close it the night before. Sleeping is fun, especially if it's the only refuge you have from the pain wracking your body. I didn't bother getting up after a while, choosing to lay in bed for a while underneath my warm sheets and enjoy the sounds of nature. I contemplated even going back to sleep-
CRASH!
A resounding, "Fuck!" echoed throughout the house.
I smiled wryly to myself as the option of sleeping in eluded me- I'm wide awake now. I sat up, groaning at the tightness of my skin. I looked down at myself and saw that I needed to change the bandages that covered my bare body, already knowing that the burns were most likely oozing. I made a face at the thought. I eased myself out of bed, wincing all the while at the pain of the burns. The pain I was experiencing was, well, a pain, but beggars can't be choosers. If I was any regular person, or deviant for that matter, I would be most likely dead or really burnt up.
I guess I own you for that gift, you bastard, I thought ruefully as I shuffled over to my closet to grab my robe.
I walked over to my nightstand and grabbed my glasses from on top of it before opening a drawer and pulling out a disposable surgical mask. I didn't really bother with my hair for I didn't feel like reaching up to tie my bandanna on and aggravating my burns. Once I was set, I unlocked my door and walked out of my room.
"Uhh... I hope I didn't wake you," Aoba said apologetically from the kitchen as I entered the living area.
"Naah, I was already awake," I replied casually, leaning against the counter-top of the bar that separated the kitchen from the living area, "Hearing you making such a racket just gave me motivation to get up."
The male before me gave a sheepish laugh while rubbing the back of his head. I looked around the kitchen and saw that there were random foodstuff laying about the kitchen; I frowned lightly.
"If you wanted something to eat you could've just knocked on my door and asked," I said airily as I pushed off the counter, lightly cringing at the sudden flair of pain that my actions caused, "I wouldn't have minded much."
Aoba looked at me as if I suddenly grew a second head.
"You're still recovering!" he exclaimed, pointing at me with a scowl, "I am not going to make an injured man cook when I'm perfectly able to do so myself."
Aoba's expression eased up as he looked away from me and crossed his arms, "Besides, you've already done more than enough for me and Noiz-"
"Noiz and I," I interrupted.
Aoba's guilty expression soon turned into one of irritation. I chuckled at the display.
"Anyway," I continued, "I only climbed the mountain and got some flowers as well as give you guys some shelter. Everything else that happened was of my own accord. If anything, I haven't done enough for you two. Besides, I'm the host of the house. It's bad taste to let your guest cook their own meals."
I could practically hear Aeron scolding me for just letting the idea pass through my mind. However...
"Nope," the male before me said stubbornly, "You're going to relax on the couch, read a book or something, and not cook breakfast today."
I pouted, "But-"
"No."
"Come on-"
I cut myself off when Aoba gave me a glare that could kill.
"Sit on the couch and relax while I cook," he said, stressing his words.
I blinked and before I knew it, I was on the couch with a book in my lap. Strange.
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"So Kain, how are you healing up?" Aoba called from the kitchen as he worked over the gas stove cooking breakfast.
I perked up at the statement and put my book The Mechanical Prince down. It was pretty interesting- it was about this young man who's parents was a demon and a demon hunter, making him a warlock. The poor guy then ended up in a weird ass love triangle between these two best friends that were also guys... I opened up my robe and check beneath my bandages. The burns healing up quiet nicely, at least compared to a couple of days ago, they were.
"They seem to be healing up just nice," I replied as I adjusted the gauze on my chest.
I noticed that Aoba was staring at me with a strange expression on his face. I tilted my head at the look at the blue haired man concentrated back on his cooking.
"You was electrocuted a couple of days ago and yet you aren't seriously incapacitate to the point of being paralyzed or hell dead," Aoba said as he flipped whatever he was cooking.
He glanced over his shoulder at me, "How is that?"
I pursed my lips beneath my mask as I looked away from his inquiring eyes. I'm not ready to explain the true reasons why I'm not dead.
"Maybe it's because I'm a deviant," I settled for, inwardly cringing at how my statement seemed to end in a question.
The man in the kitchen hummed at my answer, not entirely buying my response. Not that I can blame him. I picked my book back up and opened it up to where I left off. I was looking at the page, reading the words but I wasn't truly there. To be honest, I've been through worst. If I had concentrated hard enough, I could've gotten out of that situation without any burns or repercussions whatsoever.
"How's Noiz doing," I found myself asking, slouching onto the couch with the book in my lap.
Aoba seemed to be taking the food out of the skillet as he answered, "Since giving him that flower, his infection has been improving. Last night, his fever broke and he's been showing signs of waking up."
I could hear the excitement in the male's voice, making me happy for him.
"It's about time!" I said cheerfully as I slowly stood up from the couch, "I've been wanting to meet this son of a bitch~."
Aoba scoffed at my word choice and began to set the food on the table. I lumbered towards the hallway with the intent of changing my bandages before eating. I could feel the man in the kitchen watching me.
"Do you need help with anything?" he called out as he peeked over the bar at me, watching my awkward shuffle to my bedroom.
"..." I thought about if for a second.
I already know that I'm going to need help changing out my bandages and applying salve...
"...If you don't mind, I would appreciate it if you could help change my bandages again," I said finally, resuming my shuffle to the bathroom.
The footsteps behind me answered my question.
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Kain walked Aoba towards his room. Normally, if Kain was anybody else, the blue haired male would be nervous going into their room, especially after only knowing them for a couple of days, but with Kain, however... Aoba was still a bit nervous, but not terribly so. The deviant pushed open the slightly ajar door and entered the room.
"Excuse the mess," the tall male implored as he skirted around his bed to go to the desk situated on the right corner of the room, "I haven't been about to clean as well as I should with the burns all over my body.
"No, no! It's fine," Aoba assured, while waving his hands in front of him.
It's neater than my room, even on a bad day, he thought as he entered the deviant's room.
Kain sat in the desk chair and began to slip his arms from his robe, taking care not to let it unravel from his waist. Seeing Kain taking off his robe so readily made him happy compared to the first time Aoba helped him. The day after the incident, the burns on his body became blisters and the poor deviant couldn't move without causing himself pain or busting one of them. Swallowing his pride, Kain feebly called out for the only able-bodied person in the house to help him. So for the duration of the weekend, the blue haired man tended to both the deviant and the unconscious blond. It wasn't all that bad, in Aoba's opinion. The only hurdle he had to overcome was Kain's unwillingness for anyone to see his body.
"Kain," Aoba had said back then, exasperated, "We're both guys. What you have, I have. So why don't you want me to see you?"
The hunched over man in question was staring his bedroom wall and everything else but the man in front of him with the burn salve. Despite not being able to see the deviant's face, he could read the discomfort reflecting clearly in his eyes. His grip on his royal blue robe tightened and relaxed repeatedly before he spoke.
"Its just that I'm... Underneath my robe isn't..." Kain garbled over his words for a moment before finally confessing, "My body is um... A bit scarred up."
The tall man never seemed so small at that moment as he waited for Aoba's response.
The blue haired man opened his mouth before closing. This is a critical moment, so replying carelessly is out of the question. After a taking a moment to think of what he was going to say, he finally spoke.
"Then you must be really strong," Aoba said simply, taking a step towards Kain and kneeling before him.
"Hunh?" Kain tilted his head and trained all of his attention on the male before him, making him feel rather unnerved.
"Well, if you have a lot of scars, then it means that you've been through a lot of shit right?" Aoba questioned in which the deviant gave a hesitant nod to.
"Then if you're really scarred up, you're really really strong. You should be proud of that," Aoba continued, "It doesn't matter how you got them as long as you survived."
At this point, the kneeling male will admit that he was sort of babbling- he just wanted Kain not to feel bad about his body. The masked man was silent for a while, mulling over his words. Then, without saying anything, he began to slip his arm out of the robe. Aoba was slightly started and stood up in response, carefully watching the deviant. More of his grey skin was shown to him along with several painful looking blisters that the burns formed into. Like Kain said, there were scars all over his body. The sheer amount of them made the blue haired slightly worried, but with the fact that Kain was alive and well in front of him made him relax a bit. But burns and scars wasn't the only thing on his body. There were also an intricate array of black tribal-looking tattoos on the masked man's body. They were all over his front and seemed to travel on his back and trail onto his lower body as well.
"Ahem..." Kain called out, awkwardness thickly saturated in his voice.
Aoba snapped out of his examination of the deviant's body and began to apologize profusely as he got to work applying the salve. Since then, Kain didn't bother to put on clothing that excessively hid his skin, making Aoba happy that he earned some of the deviant's trust.
"Aoba?" Kain called out, breaking the said person out of his revery.
"Ah sorry, sorry," he said as he knelt before him and began to undo the gauze around his body.
"Anyway," Aoba began breezily, applying burn salve on the burns, "I've been meaning to apologize for putting you through so much trouble these past couple of days. Your help has really helped Noiz and I through a bind."
The blue haired man could feel Kain's chest rumble with a suppressed chuckle from his emphasize on "Noiz and I".
"Really, there's no need for you to apologize or thank me so much," Kain insisted with a wave of his hand, "But I accept it nevertheless."
The deviant gave a closed eye smile as he continued, "My ego is really stroked when handsome men thank me while on their knees~"
A beat passed before a pained grunt filled the air.
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In retaliation for my perverted remark, Aoba made my bandages a tad too tight. But the look on his face was oh so worth it.
The weekend passed without an incident and soon it was the beginning of a new week. A couple of days into it, Noiz finally woke up. I was in the living area on the couch reading the end of The Mechanical Prince when it happen.
"By Thioriginell, you couldn't be satisfied with one, couldn't you Jess," I whispered tearfully as I flipped a page, "You just had to get both of them... I love it."
"Noiz!"
I perked up at the exclamation and sat up on the couch. I started to get up, but I decided to wait and let the duo have their alone time, so I began where I felt off in The Mechanical Prince- After so many years, the now immortal Jess has found his reincarnated lover who evidently remember his past life and his love for Jess.
"Now fuck," I murmured vehemently as I read on.
Oh wait, it's a book for teens. They ain't gonna show that...
"Kain c'mere!" Aoba called from the guest room.
"M'kay," I answered, putting down the book and walking towards his location
Aoba was kneeling beside the now away Noiz when I entered the room. I faltered for a moment and reached up to touch my head- my hair was visible. I glanced down at myself- khaki shorts and a black, sleeveless polo shirt. This is rather revealing compared to what I usually wear. At least I still have my mask. But, still... Having so much showing is now getting to be a bit unnerving. Aoba must've sense my unease and called me closer.
Come on, get it together, I prepped myself, He's just nineteen, so there's no need to be nervous.
I knelt beside Aoba and gave Noiz a closed-eyed grin with a wave.
"Hi," I said simply.
Noiz didn't respond. Instead he settled for staring at me with a rather blank expression. Aoba gave a strained smile and nudged the blonde whispering for him not to be rude and say something.
"For a deviant you sure do seem demure," the pierced teen said after a while.
The image of me in the attire of a housewife popped into mind suddenly, serving tea to my guest...
"Noiz!" the male beside me admonished.
My face became tense as I tried to resist the urge but ultimately I failed.
"Pfftt! Hahahaha~!" I burst out laughing- the mental image was too much.
"I've been called so many things, but demure isn't one of them," I said after catching my breath.
I straightened up with a serious face, "Don't call me that again."
My eyes narrowed.
"I'm manly as fuck."
The duo peered at me with startled faces. Noiz piped up.
"Are you flexing?" he asked pointing towards my bare arms that weren't covered in bandages.
"...Maybe."
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Noiz was a brat, no doubt about it. But I'll have to admit he's a funny brat. The duo was inside the house doing Thioriginell knows what while I was outside practicing my forms. My body was still sore from the burns that I acquired almost a week ago, but compared to anyone else, they healed up rather quickly. Besides, I couldn't let a little discomfort make me flabby. After delivering a combo onto the padded tree before me, I relaxed my stance whist catching my breath. I sat down for a moment, spreading my limbs. I then took a quick glance at the generator.
For obvious reasons, I haven't touched the machinery ever since it malfunctioned; I simply let the generator run itself dry. The gaping hole at the side of it is what bothered me the most. Whoever, or whatever, did that damage had to be super strong in order to pierce the metal and tear out its inner parts with seemingly no problem. And then you have the fact that whoever did it had also taken whatever that tore out of the thing...
(Oh boy... This is just getting more and more complicated.)
"Oh, man… Das wird ja immer komplizierter." I rumbled in my native tongue.
That's when I heard footsteps approaching. I didn't bother to get up for I already knew who it was.
"Sup," I called out to the blonde teen, "Where's Aoba."
(Taking a nap)
"Dann mach ich mal ein Nickerchen," was his reply.
I opened my eyes, when did I closed them?, and looked over to Noiz who was standing beside me.
(So you speak German, hunh?)
"Du sprichst also Deutsch, hunh?" I acknowledge, stating the obvious.
Now that I think about it, he did have an accent whenever he spoke. Funny that I notice it now.
(Obviously)
"Offensichtlich," he replied.
I gave a little smirk from beneath my mask. Little shit.
(So, what is it I can help you with?)
"Also, womit kann ich dir helfen?" I asked as I sat up and crossed my legs.
Noiz was silent for a moment before he spoke.
(Aoba said that you had traveled up the peak of that mountain to help my infection. How in the hell did you manage that?)
"Aoba hat mir erzählt, dass du bis zur Spitze des Berges geklettert bist, um meine Infektion zu heilen," he said offhandedly, "Wie zur Hölle hast du das geschafft?"
(I'm fast as hell.)
I smirked, "Ich bin verdammt schnell."
(Anyway, Aoba said that I should thank you for your efforts... So thanks)
The young man raised an eyebrow at my remark before continuing, "Wie auch immer, Aoba hat gesagt, dass ich mich für deine Hilfe bedanken sollte… also, Danke."
I blinked and gave a closed eyed grin.
(Get on your knees and call me "daddy" and we'll be even~)
"Geh runter auf die Knie und nenn mich "Daddy" und deine Schuld ist beglichen~"
A beat of silence passed. A pained cry resonated in the air, scaring off a few birds.
Still worth it, I thought as I covered my groaned whist laying on the ground.
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I was in the kitchen hunched over a pot of boiling water on the stove when Aoba walked in.
"I'm assuming that you're the reason why Noiz is pouting?" the blue haired man asked me as he leaned against the bar.
I turned around to face him and his eyes zeroed in on the ice pack that I got from the first aid kit pressed against my crotch. He snickered at my predicament.
"I guess you learned your lesson," he concluded.
I gave a weary chuckle as I turned back to the stove. I saw a dumpling rise up to the top and I quickly scooped it out.
"He just can't take a joke," I complained as I continued to fish out the dumplings that were rising to the top of the boiling pot and placing them on a plate beside the stove.
I then slid to the other side of the stove where I was cooking a simple dish of beef tips. I could never make it like Manzo could but I think I could say that I could give him a run for his money. I removed the top of the pot and spooned out a piece of beef. I replaced the top and blew on the meat to cool it before taking a bite. It was nice and tender.
I removed it from heat while exclaiming, "Done!"
"What is?" Aoba asked, looking pass me at the cooked food.
"You'll see~!" I crooned, going into the cabinet and pulling out paper plates and bowls, "Now get Noiz so we can all eat!"
Soon all three of us was gathered around the dinning room table. It was late in the afternoon, so there was a lamp in the middle of the table with several others dotted around the dinning area. I couldn't help but to notice that Noiz didn't seemed too pleased to be in my presence, however; That dude needs to chill- it was a joke after all. Is he homophobic or something?
I narrowed my eyes.
Or has daddy issues?
I shrugged inwardly. I don't think I'm going to find out anytime soon.
"Anyway, this right here," I announced, pointing to Aoba's bowl of beef swathed in brown broth, "Is what you called beef tips. A friend of mine from America taught me this. Usually cook accompany it with rice or noodles, but I didn't have enough rice for everyone."
I pointed to the dumplings on the plate beside the beef tips.
"That right there is a German dish called-"
"Knödel," Noiz finished, already chewing on one of the dumplings.
"Noh-dulu?" Aoba pronounced.
"Knödel is a pretty much a German equivalent of a dumpling," I elaborated for Aoba.
"Did a friend teach you how to cook Knödel?" the blue hair man asked as he tried some of the beef tips. His eyes widened and began to eat more of it, "This is delicious!"
A warm feeling bloomed in my chest at Aoba's approval. I looked over to Noiz and saw that he was eating the beef tips without complaint and a happy smile appeared under my mask.
"Thank you and no," I said, stealthily eating my food while the other two was distracted, "My father taught me that dish. "
My smile dimmed at the mention of my parents. Not that anyone can see it.
"Hunh? Are you German?" Aoba asked, pausing momentarily in eating the food to look at me.
I nodded, "Born and raised."
"When did you come over here to Morinoya?" Noiz asked, this being the first time he spoke to me since this afternoon.
"Well, I didn't come here at first," I said, leaning back in my chair and staring at the empty space in front of me, "I first moved to Midorijima when I was nine."
To be more accurate, abducted.
"I stayed there until I was nineteen and moved here to Morinoya," I continued, sitting up, "I stayed with a friend of a friend there for a year until I moved completely on my own here."
"Midorijima?" Aoba asked as took a bit out of a dumpling.
"Yep! Do you live there or something?" I asked, swirling my plastic fork in my beef tips.
Aoba nodded, "Both my sibling and my grandma do as well as Noiz."
"But I'm originally from Germany as well," the pierced blond tacked on before taking a bit of the beef tips.
Germany... A majority of all my childhood memories are filled with happiness...
I looked down at my food and glanced about to see for any inquiring eyes. Seeing none, I quickly ate my food quietly as I could.
I miss it there. But there's no use in wanting to go back. No one is there for me now.
Feeling someone looking at me, I began to eat my Knödel by sneaking them beneath my surgical mask.
"Why do you keep your face hidden like that?" Aoba asked, "There's no need to hide it if it's just me and Noiz."
I ate the rest of my Knödel, taking my sweet time, before replying with a smirk, "Noiz and me."
He threw a dumpling at my face. I caught it easily and continued talking.
"Anyway, if I were to show my face," I said, my voice growing serious and drawing in the attention of the two male in front of me, "A great calamity will occur."
Noiz and Aoba glanced at each other with doubting looks as I went on with what I had to say.
"People will fight among themselves and many lives will be claimed because..." I trailed off.
"Because...?" Aoba prompted.
"Because they will all want a piece of this sexiness." I finished, clapping my hands above me and making jazz hands.
More dumplings were thrown by both males.
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{AN: DONE! Thank goodness this is finished! I must say, this is by far the longest chapter ever! I spent all day working on this chapter and I must say it is worth eeet~! I hope you enjoy reading it, despite its length because I honestly enjoyed writing it~
Psst! And a shoutout to Lumina13 for helping me in the German portion of the story~! Heehee~
So see you in the next update!