Spaced Out - Spike Spiegel

Spaced Out - Spike Spiegel

notes - I watched cowboy bebop and found my type in spike spiegel. i need him carnally, so i thought i'd start with something fluffy for now before it gets angsty. plus ive been cleaning all day and needed to take a little break. I think I for sure want to do a part II, so let me know if you wanna be tagged in it <3 word count - 1165 genre - fluff

“She’s not waking up.” you heard a deep voice say as you slightly came to consciousness.

“I’m not blind, Jet. Think she died?” you heard another voice pitch in. It sounded playful, but deep; just not as deep as the first man’s voice – Jet.

“Nah, I don’t think it’s that bad… hm…”

You felt your eyes try to open, but it wasn’t working. You wanted to stretch, do anything that would signal that you could hear what was happening around you, but nothing was working.

“How’d she even end up here?” the second voice asked.

“You know that bounty I was trying to catch?”

“It’s her?!”

“No, no, she was just nearby when I was trying to catch the guy… She got wrapped up in all of it and the asshole knocked her out.”

“No shit.” the second voice chuckled and you heard the sound of a lighter and smelled cigarette smoke.

Somehow, that got you to feel a little more alive and you were able to slightly open your eyes. A groan came out of you as your eyelashes fluttered open.

“She’s waking up!” Jet said. When you opened your eyes, you saw the man, who had a metal arm and a very concerned expression on his rugged face.

“Well, would you look at that?” the other man puffed at his cigarette and chuckled.

“Spike, come on, be nice. She could really be hurt.”

When you were able to get your eyes to open with ease, you turned to look at the other man – Spike – and you felt like this was all suddenly a dream.

“Where am I?” you managed to say. The slur in your voice was embarrassing.

“Don’t worry,” Jet said. “We’re not here to hurt you–”

“Or kidnap you.” Spike spoke up.

“Shut up, Spike.” Jet turned to you and grabbed both of your hands softly. “Do you know your name?”

You nodded. “y/n. It’s y/n.”

“y/n,” Jet said softly. “I’m Jet.”

“Nice to meet you.” you tried. Your voice sounded tired and it felt like you were still drifting in and out of sleep.

“Do you live nearby?” Jet asked.

You looked around the area you were in, but it looked to be the inside of a ship. A little messy, but comfortable.

“How would I know if I’m on a ship?” you chuckled.

Jet’s face turned bright red. “We-We’re not kidnapping you, I am so sorry, uh…” He looked frantically around him and Spike chuckled, putting out his cigarette on a metal table next to him.

“y/n, can you walk?” Spike asked.

You looked down at your hands and they looked as though they were spinning. You were incredibly dizzy, so there was probably no chance.

“I don’t think so.”

“You wouldn’t mind if I carried you, would you?” Spike leaned in strikingly close to your face and you had to move back a bit.

“Uh…”

“Spike, don’t scare the poor thing!” Jet pushed Spike back and apologized on his behalf.

“I wouldn’t mind… I don’t think. I don’t really know if my brain is working properly, to be honest.” you laughed.

“See, Jet, the little lady doesn’t mind.”

“Spike, don't.”

Spike walked over and wrapped his long arm underneath your knees. He whispered a light apology under his breath and picked you up with ease. You wrapped your arms around the back of his neck and looked away from him with a red face. You couldn’t tell if it was from being unconscious and still being barely a human or the truth, but Spike was really good looking. “You ready, my dear?” he asked.

You nodded and looked over at Jet, who looked upset.

“Oh, quit pouting, Jet. I won’t be out long. And who knows, maybe I’ll catch the man you couldn’t.”

Jet huffed while Spike left with you in his arms. When the two of you stepped out of the ship, it was night and the sky was full of bright stars. The last thing you remember was going shopping around midday, so how long were you out?

“Know where you are?” Spike asked.

You looked at your surroundings, even if a little dizzy. Immediately, you recognized the port where Spike and Jet parked their ship.

“I live in town.” you told him. “Not too far from here.” You lazily pointed to the town just outside the port and Spike began walking that way. He took it easy as to not make you dizzier than you already were and you appreciated that.

“So you’re a bounty hunter?” you asked. Your voice sounded less slurred, so that was good.

“Yeah, somethin’ like that. What about you, love?”

You could feel yourself blush and were thankful for the night sky. “I used to be a bounty hunter.”

“Shit, really?”

You nodded. “I don’t do it much anymore. Wanted to settle down. Now I sell info.”

“You make good money that way?”

“Great money. Lots of people looking for info around here, so it makes my job easy.”

“Sounds nice. Settling down.”

“It’s all right.” you admitted. You felt yourself dissociating and getting much too tired, but you continued. “Sometimes I miss running around and trying to live in the stars.”

Spike hummed, but left it at that. It was as if he noticed you weren’t quite there.

“Sorry.” you mumbled.

“For what?”

“Getting you involved.”

“I should be saying that, silly. You must be real tired.”

You smiled and closed your eyes. “Something like that.”

“Well, hey, no falling asleep yet. Which one’s your place?”

“Two more rights. Then a left. The one with the blue door. There should be a key under the mat.”

“All right, sweetheart. We’re almost there.” Spike picked up the pace until you two made it. He squatted down and fished for the key, which he luckily found. When he opened the door, you were hit with the smell of your own home.

You felt Spike’s arms leave your body and instead felt the plush couch beneath you.

“Do you live with anyone else?” Spike whispered.

You shook your head. “Just me.” your eyes were still closed, so all you could feel was Spike’s warm, cigarette-scented breath on your cheek.

“You gonna be okay?”

“I think so.”

“You need a hospital.” Spike tucked your hair behind your ear gently.

“Do I?”

“I think so?” Spike chuckled. “I dunno, I’ve been shot a dozen times and end up fine.”

“Same.” You curled over on your side.

“Please be safe.” His voice was soft.

You turned to look at him in the dark of your living room. He looked like a beautiful silhouette.

“Why?” you asked.

“I want to see you again.”

You smiled even though you knew he couldn’t see it.

“You will.”

“Promise?”

You nodded. “Yeah.”

You could see in his shadow that he shoved his hands in his pockets. “I expect a date next time. You know, for saving your life.”

You laughed. “Whatever you say, space cowboy.”

~~~~~

cowboy bebop masterlist | pinned post

2024 @tonberry-yoda – do not repost or claim ANY of my work as your own! likes, reblogs, and comments are not only welcome, but appreciated

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hi! i'm F, and i must be on my third tumblr reincarnation at this point. this time i'm not going to spontaneously delete everything and then my account (hopefully). since i've done this multiple times, i still have fics that were up on my old accounts, which are lost otherwise, as well as some newer stuff. all of it needs editing (considerably) before i post it, but i would like to post it! please check my list of characters and fics out, and maybe make a request for one or two fics you want me to edit / write for you! also, feel free to send asks or messages, i wanna find people as worryingly obsessed with fictional characters as i am..

lots of love and dreams about your favourite characters..

F <3

toji fushiguro masterlist

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drabbles:

baby daddy toji drabbles

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sukuna - a deal with the devil pt. 3/3

{a good old-fashioned timeskip. where do you and the king of curses stand a year after your alliance?} 3.6k words

part one + part two + part three

notes: he's even softer, definitely OC sukuna at this point but who cares i'm delusional

warnings: cursing, nudity (no smut)

tags: @missroro + @doodle-cat16

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"Guess what day it is today."

Sukuna glanced over at you. He was working out on the lounge floor while you were on the phone. He'd figured out a few minutes ago that you were talking to Satoru. 

"What? No!" You laughed. "It's mine and Sukuna's anniversary!"

Sukuna stopped at the peak of a push up, eyebrows furrowing. For a split second, he was unsure if he had missed some social cue along the way that should have told him he was courting you. In this modern age, relationships moved much faster than he remembered from during his lifetime. Not that he'd had much experience courting back then, either. He was too busy murdering everyone he saw to bother with anything more personal.

"Our meeting-a-versary!"

Sukuna sighed and went back to his push ups. Phew. He was grateful for that. Not that he would have minded that revelation all that much. He doubted it would change much about your relationship anyway.

"Our dynamic is not weird, 'toru."

Sukuna sat up and leaned back on his hands, chest rising and falling as he caught his breath. Your dynamic kind of was weird, though. He knew you knew that. Both of you tried pretty hard not to think about it. There was more leniency from the others with him, but not very much. You were still expected to be together all of the time. That meant that, apart from the rare occasions you'd managed to convince Sukuna and someone else to coexist for a few hours so you could go do something private, you had just been together. Sukuna knew you better than people that had known you for years, and you knew things about him that nobody would ever know.

"Ugh, do you have t- No, we don't!" You crossed your arms, pouting at your phone as though Satoru could see you through it. Sukuna watched you with a tiny smile. "What? Well- No, I mean, we do still share a bed, but- No, it's not-" You let out a groan. "Satoru, if you say one more thing about 'kuna, I'm going to hang up the phone." There was a brief pause. Then you leaned forward and hung up. You scowled.

Sukuna cleared his throat. He always liked how he could get your attention so easily now. Not because it made him feel powerful, but because it confirmed that you did care for him like he cared for you, despite the singularity of your situation.

"More questions?" He asked, as though he hadn't been eavesdropping the whole time.

You hummed. "Yeah. They're all so nosy. You'd think by now they'd have.." You trailed off, unsure of how to finish that sentence. You knew why people had so much to say about your relationship with Sukuna. So did he.

"Learned not to ask?" Sukuna supplied.

You nodded, standing up and pulling a water bottle out of the fridge. "Exactly. Even if they do think it's weird, it's our business, right?" You walked over to him, dropping the bottle in his lap.

Sukuna opened it and chugged half before he stuck his hand out. You helped him up. It was more of a symbolic help because you couldn't shift his body if you tried with all your might. You didn't mind, though. He let you do it and that meant something.

He nodded in agreement to your words, sauntering towards the bathroom. "Should tell them all to fuck off."

You laughed. "Why is that your solution so often nowadays?"

"Because I got him to lower his infinity one time and you still won't let me near him." Sukuna shot you a pointed look, one that was meant to say 'let me beat him up' but really said 'you should stick up for yourself more.' And then he was closing the bathroom door.

You walked into the bedroom, changing into your pyjamas and then settling into the pillows. Satoru's words weren't anything new, but they still rattled around your brain. 

You knew it was strange for you and Sukuna to have never stopped sharing a bed. His funds had been in your bank for a long time now. The number was so high that you literally couldn't fathom it. You could've bought a bed. You could've bought a million beds made of gold. Sukuna should've insisted on it; he was the King of Curses, he shouldn't have been sharing a bed with a mere sorcerer. Especially not because of an agreement that was made all that time ago, which barely crossed your mind nowadays.

But you still woke up every morning intertwined. Usually, he was on top of you, his body draped over yours in a way that was simultaneously pulling you closer and keeping anything from disturbing you. And you liked the closeness, just like you knew he liked it, even if neither of you had ever said so.

Sukuna finished in the shower and dried himself off, padding into the bedroom in his robe. He turned off the light and climbed into the bed without a word. He rolled onto his side, reaching out until his hand found your body. His fingers dug into your waist and he gave you a tug towards him.

"Mm." You hummed and shuffled closer, letting him pull you flush against him. His body shifted so that he was partly covering you. You fell asleep.

Nothing disturbed him until the middle of the night. Sukuna opened his eyes enough to see that it was still dark and then snapped them closed again, moving to pull you closer. When he realised his arms were empty, a genuine sense of panic set in.

He took a deep breath, barely stopping himself from lashing out at the closest thing. Blind rage wasn't his style these days. He slowly rose to his feet and made his way through the house, eyes roaming the darkness until he saw you.

You were sitting on the couch, very still. You were nestled into the corner and you looked dazed, but clearly upset. Sukuna walked over and sat beside you.

For a moment, he was unsure of what to do. Even after all this time together, those few minutes before and after sleep were the only ones that held any kind of physical affection. Besides hitting each other, neither of you ever really showed it. Even then, it was usually him hitting you. He liked it, because he liked how you always reacted and he liked the reminder of how he'd learned to soften himself a little so that he could be playful with someone.

When you shuffled over to him and curled into his side, he was surprised. Surprised that he hadn't had time to think of what he was going to do, surprised that it was you that initiated the contact. Surprised that you wanted it.

His hands found your hips and he effortlessly lifted you up, resting you in his lap. His strong arms wrapped around you. He felt you stiffen for a second, just as taken aback as he was by his actions. Then you nestled your face into his neck and held him back.

Sukuna held you in silence for a while. He knew that quiet contact was what you were seeking, so he let you have it. He found himself strangely grateful that he could offer this comfort to you. Knowing someone intimately enough to know what they needed wasn't something he'd ever seen for himself before he knew you, let alone being trusted enough to actually implement it.

"What's wrong?" Sukuna murmured in your ear after a good few minutes had passed.

You sighed, leaning back so that you could see him but stay in his lap. "I can't sleep."

"Why?"

"I found out there's a secret execution out for both of us. I-I was going to tell you in the morning."

Sukuna very nearly laughed. Almost. "That's it? That's all it is?"

You looked at him completely seriously. "I'm not worried that you're going to die, I'm not stupid."

"What, then?" He asked.

You hesitated, then muttered, "I'm scared that they're going to turn their backs on us, and then all of this won't be worth anything to you, and you'll toss it all aside- toss me aside- and I'll lose you. That the agreement won't be important anymore and then none of this time together will matter."

Sukuna was stunned. Genuinely stunned, just like he had been on that very first day he'd met you.

You really cared that deeply about him? And he'd really doubted that you did?

He forced himself to mutter some normal responses.

"I'll kill anyone that tries to touch you, let alone harm a hair on your head. You are stronger than those pathetic sorcerers that would dare to do such a thing. I will split the world into pieces before they get the chance. The entirety of the jujutsu world is nothing compared to the power that you and I hold. You have the force of an empire at your behest, because I will not turn my back on you."

Normal responses for him, anyway.

You listened to him quietly, looking at him as he spoke. Sukuna's words were always slightly alarming, but you'd learned to see the comfort in them. He never lied. You knew that, to him, his strength was the greatest thing he could offer you. And so it was the greatest comfort when he goes on his little murderous tirades the moment you present him with a new target.

In the face of your attentive quiet, Sukuna found himself drifting away from the topic slightly. "It truly astonishes me that, after all that you've done for the jujutsu world, it could still turn its back on you. You have sacrificed so much. I told you it wasn't worth it and that they didn't deserve your energy, yet you continued to prioritise their collective welfare over your own. This is the price that you get for that goodness." His voice grew an edge as he grew more and more angry. "You should be good. I admire that you're good. It infuriates me when that's thrown in your face. It's something I would do, why are those self-righteous sorcerers doing it?"

A look of genuine anger crossed your face. Sukuna stopped talking, unsure of what he said that would make you mad.

"No, 'kuna, that's not the kind of thing you would do," you frowned. "You would never do that. You'd be more inclined to kill me directly. You wouldn't stoop to that low of throwing my effort back in my face, by encouraging people that I know, friends, to kill me."

And then Sukuna was getting angrier. "Don't say that," he growled. "Don't you dare use words like 'kill' and 'you' in the same fucking sentence when you're speaking to me."

Both of you glared at each other like petulant children. Slowly, the silence lengthened and then shifted as you realised that neither of you were angry for an actual reason anymore. Your eyes met his and you realised that he'd come to the same realisation.

You cracked first. You always did when it came to things like this. Despite your best effort to keep pouting, a giggle broke free.

At the first sign of your smile, Sukuna's anger completely disappeared. He was so obviously delighted to see you happy that it made your heart hurt. His arms wrapped around you and he held you close, chin resting on your shoulder.

He was so grateful. Grateful, grateful, grateful.

Your arms wrapped around him too, as tightly as you could. Sukuna always liked it when you held him. That was why you always woke up with him in your arms.

But he only had to pull back slightly to know that you were still upset about the execution. He gazed down at you for a few seconds, and then made his mind up. He would love you. That would make you feel better, if he could just figure out which demonstration of his love was the right one.

When Sukuna thought about how he loved you, he didn't think about telling you in some romantic gesture: I've always loved you, my darling angel. He didn't think about sweeping you off your feet with a kiss, holding your trembling body against his as he pulled soft gasps from your lips. Both thoughts made him smile.

No, that wasn't what Sukuna's love looked like.

He had hold of your hips again. He stood up, with you still attached, then set you on your feet. His hand slid into yours and he pulled you into the kitchen. Without an explanation, he pottered around the small space, pouring out your current favourite drink.

Then, when it was safely in your hands, he found the phone and started to play your music, the songs that he'd noticed you listening to most recently. He watched you like a hawk as you gratefully sipped your drink. But, when you smiled at him, he shook his head.

He turned and switched the oven on, found the cookbook, and tugged you over.

"Bake."

You looked taken aback, but you could see that he was serious, even if you didn't understand why. Dutifully, you began to mix a cookie batter. Sukuna hovered behind you the entire time. When you slid the cookies out of the oven, he switched into his true form, giving you no time to adjust to something you'd only seen a few times in the whole year you'd been together, and sat down on the floor. You were pulled firmly into his lap so that you could comfortably eat your cookie near the heat of the oven.

He watched you, even when you finally noticed how fierce his gaze was and looked up. He let you feed him a piece of your cookie, letting out a pleased hum of approval. Sukuna smiled when that soft interaction made you more happy than the whole process of baking had.

But you weren't better yet.

Sukuna stood up, changing back into his normal form, but keeping you in his arms. He carried you into the bathroom and started to pour out a bath. When he noticed you looking for the soap, he caught your wrist and tugged you to his side.

"Don't do anything."

You were confused, but you did as he asked, watching curiously as he pulled out a small box from the top of the linen closet. "What's that?"

"I was saving it," he murmured, opening it and letting you see inside.

It was full of special shampoos, conditioners, soaps, and bath bombs. He was saving it only partly because he knew a time would come for them. Mostly because he had never figured out quite how to explain that he knew your favourite smells and what would work in your hair or with your skin.

He was so busy checking that everything was fine that it wasn't until he turned to you to ask you to check the water temperature that he realised you were looking at him with something in your eyes that he didn't think he'd ever seen before.

You didn't give him a chance to ask about it. You stepped up to him and gave him a tight hug. He could tell that you were putting as much force into it as you physically could, so he didn't laugh when he effortlessly held you tighter. He held you close until you tipped your head back to look at him.

"Will you help me?"

Sukuna nodded, fingers sliding to your collar. He unbuttoned your shirt deftly, then slid it down your arms. He folded it and put it on the nearest surface, then gently pulled your shorts down your legs. He set that down too. Then he was inhaling the scent of your hair as he leaned over you, his fingers unclasping your bra. He was bending slightly so that he could hook his fingers in your panties and pull them down.

In the back of his mind, it registered that this was the first time he'd ever seen you this exposed. It was the first time he'd touched you here, seen you there. But it didn't really feel like a first time. It felt like this was normal, like it wasn't a big deal for him to do this. Like you had always been his in this way, and he had always been yours in this way.

His warm hands were on you as you climbed into the bath. One on your hip, feeling the curve of your waist, and the other on your wrist, both making sure that you were safe and not in any danger of slipping. 

He might have nearly laughed at the prospect of a secret execution coming close to harming you, but the idea of you hurting yourself normally plagues him every day. There've been hundreds of times that he's insisted he use his RCT on you for little scrapes that you've gotten. Hundreds of times that you've had the same discussion where he's insisted that you're careless with yourself and you've said you're just clumsy and he's called you a stupid idiot and you've shut him up with a bright smile and an I've got you to help, though, right?

Sukuna watched you warily as he let go of you. He waited as you slid all the way under the water, staying under for a few seconds before sliding back up. His hands were on your face before you even had a chance to lift your own, thumbs swiping away the water from your eyes and brushing your hair out of your face. When you looked up at him, face clear of water, Sukuna finally looked relieved. This was the thing that helped, then. This was the part of his love that would make you happier and less stressed.

But that wasn't enough for him. He wanted happy, not happier.

He pushed his robe over his shoulders, letting it hang around his waist. Then he walked around behind you, sinking to his knees on the tiled floor. Without a word, he reached for your head, silently insisting on doing your hair for you. Neither of you spoke for a while. He ran the shampoo and conditioner through, then began to brush your hair. 

"You've gotten so good at managing it," you mumbled, eyes closed happily.

Sukuna grunted. "Managing what?"

"Your force. It doesn't hurt when you're doing something like brushing my hair, but it used to hurt when you even laid a hand on my arm."

He smiled, glad to hear you say it. He'd already known he had improved a lot, but it felt worth so much more to hear it from your lips.

He finished with your hair. The next step seemed obvious, but he had the awareness that, no matter how intimate this all seemed, he couldn't go further without murmuring something.

Quietly, he said, "I'll bathe your body now."

"Okay."

That soft, mumbled agreement made his heart swell. He rose to his feet and found your hand under the water, pulling you to your feet. You let out a soft protest as he made you stand up in the bath. His warm hands on your skin eased the chill almost right away.

Sukuna focussed incredibly hard. He had to make sure that he did this right, that he treated your body with the reverence he believed it deserved. That his soapy hands graced every part of your soft, blemished skin. That nothing he did hurt you.

And his intense concentration meant that he failed to notice the way that you were watching him again. This time, because you'd recognised the look in his eyes, and you were admiring the way that his hands looked against your skin.

"Happy?" You chuckled after a while. Your teasing voice broke him out of his reverie.

He looked up, smiling slightly. "Yes. Are you?"

"Mhm." You slid back into the water, letting out a content sigh. 

Sukuna wasn't really surprised when your hand found his wrist and tugged. Nor, when your pretty lips parted with a soft question.

"Will you get in, Sukuna?"

He nodded. His hand slipped out of yours so that he could loosen his robe and let it fall completely. He nudged you forwards and then climbed into the tub behind you. Sukuna rested his hands on your hips, but he let you be the one to decide whether or not you slid back or not. When you did, he wrapped his arms around your waist and rested his head in your neck.

"D'you want me to wash you?" You asked.

His reply came out like an admonishment. "No, foolish woman. You're the one that needed comforting. Stop trying to do things for everyone else all the time. Be selfish. Have you no self-respect?"

He was lucky that you knew him and his favouritism well enough to just smile over your shoulder at him.

All of the times he'd thought oh, shit to himself converged. He stared at your content smile, at the soft way you looked at him. And everything aligned in his mind and, this time, he just said it out loud.

"Oh, shit."

You looked at him in confusion, then laughed. "What?"

"You're beautiful," Sukuna stated simply. "You fill the gaps that I can't fill myself. You're the one that's meant to be by my side."

When your smile broadened and you leaned back into him again, he didn't mind that it took you a while to reply. He didn't feel nervous. Sukuna knew for certain that you understood him and you understood the weight and sincerity in his words. He didn't have any fear that you were something he could lose this way. The only thing he could lose you to was death, and he'd already begun making sure that wouldn't happen.

When your reply came, it was all he'd really wanted to hear.

"'Sukuna?"

"Mm."

"I love you."

"I know. I love you."

"I know."

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he's softer than melting ice cream but i can't help it I LOVE HIM SO MUCH!! i hope you guys don't mind sappy sukuna, i'm planning to write something a little less OC soon. that's the final part to this series!

sukuna - a deal with the devil pt. 2/3

{in the aftermath of your agreement with the king of curses, you find your alliance becoming more personal than either of you expected} 5.8k words

part one + part two + part three

notes: kind of OC sukuna because he's way too lenient and soft with you

warnings: cursing

tags: @missroro

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Sukuna sat down on the concrete, one leg propped up. You sat down opposite him, leaving a healthy amount of space between you. The two of you needed to figure out how this arrangement was going to work, and that meant being open with each other. You started.

"In the jujutsu world, I'm not exactly as much of an insider as my friends are," you told him honestly. "I try to follow their moral code, but it's no secret that I don't agree with a lot of it. I cross lines pretty often, get into trouble with the higher-ups. I think, if I didn't associate with the people I did, I'd probably have been executed a long time ago." You looked down at your hands. "I wasn't meant to actually... help you. Just manipulate you enough and provide just enough benefits to win you over. But I don't want to do that, because it doesn't have to be done like that. And I- I think that you recognise that, too."

Sukuna listened in silence. Up until then, he hadn't been able to identify what it was about you that kept catching him off guard. Now, he knew. It was your sincerity. When was the last time someone was sincere to him? Even Uraume wasn't entirely sincere, because of their stifling obsequiousness. So the last time someone had looked at him and spoken completely honestly and sincerely was probably never.

When you finished talking, Sukuna didn't argue. He took his turn fairly.

"Before I was incarnated in this form, I was a sorcerer, like you. Stronger, much stronger. The Heian era was a much harsher world than the one you live in, so my strength increased rapidly. Then I died. Then I was a cursed spirit. And now I'm me again." His expression shifted in a scowl as he continued. "During your foolish attempts to antagonise me, you mentioned my four arms, which I still retain. My true form is still present if I wish it to be, and so are my cursed techniques." He paused, then looked you dead in the eye. "If I see fit, I will kill you in an instant. A binding vow will not stop me from doing that."

He didn't know what response he expected, but the nod he received wasn't it. And he couldn't stop the thought that ran through his head: He knew for certain that he was not going to kill you. Ever. He didn't know exactly why, but he knew that with conviction.

"Okay." You inhaled, then exhaled. Then you turned your palm up, as though you were offering him something. "We have to determine the kind of dynamic we're going to have."

"I will maintain absolute power."

"I don't think you will, though."

"Sorcerer, you should watch your tone when you address me, or you may find yourself without a tongue to backchat with."

"King, you might think I'm an idiot, but I'm not so much of an idiot that I don't realise that this is a mutually beneficial situation."

"Your death would be mutually beneficial."

"What would be mutually beneficial would be an equal partnership."

"I must admit, I'm a little impressed that you said that with a straight face."

The bickering made you sigh and you leaned back on your hands. "The other sorcerers aren't going to let you out of my sight regardless. What I should really be suggesting is that I hold the power, but I'm not stupid. Equality is the fairest way to do it."

He stared you down for a long few moments. Then he let out a huff, turning his head and looking down the road. "If there is an instance where violence is necessary, it falls into my jurisdiction."

You were just as amazed as he was that he had just agreed to that, but you had the sense to talk before he could change his mind. "If there's negotiation, then I should get to do it."

"I don't want to talk to juvenile, weak sorcerers, anyway." He sounded petulant. He looked it, too.

"We should share information back and forth," you added, "to make sure this works properly."

Sukuna looked back at you. "Currently, we're establishing a structure of co-dependence." He waited for you to argue. When you just nodded in acknowledgement, he carried on. "The usual barrier to co-dependence is a lack of reciprocity."

"So, we need a sort of constant flow between us," you nodded. "A continued stream of back and forth."

"Information, opinion, and intention," he nodded.

You held his gaze for a moment, then rose to your feet. "I think we should go and talk to the others. Before they come looking for us."

Sukuna stood too. It was going to take him a while to get used to someone using 'we' and 'us' in reference to him. "I suppose there's nothing they could say that would allow me to massacre every one of them without breaking our agreement?"

The genuine surprise on your face at what you were ninety percent sure had been a joke irritated him. He didn't follow it up with anything. You led the way towards the more populated area of Shibuya. Or, you did for about ten seconds.

"This must be part of your act, sorcerer," Sukuna commented.

You looked at him in confusion. You didn't need to say anything for him to realise that it wasn't.

"Oh, for-" He cut himself off, jaw ticking. "This is ridiculous. You would move faster without legs."

And, before you could even register what was happening, one of his strong hands was grabbing hold of the back of your shirt, bundling it up in his grip. Sukuna lifted you off the ground effortlessly, keeping you roughly upright as he moved. He couldn't actually fly, but his speed and jumping height meant that he might as well have been able to. 

"Where?" He barked.

You were on the brink of letting out an embarrassing squeal, your feet coming far too close to a rooftop for your liking. You managed to point in the direction of a junction, where you could see Kento and Suguru exorcising a cursed spirit. Sukuna dropped you back onto your feet. Neither of you mentioned it. You smoothed down your clothes and hoped you didn't look too stunned. He tried desperately hard to excuse that act of service as him avoiding an irritating wait.

Suguru and Kento had caught sight of the two of you now. They both looked incredibly wary. It wasn't until you saw Kento reach for his blade that you glanced over at Sukuna and saw the way he was walking.

"You-" You cleared your throat, then lowered your voice. You put it as neutrally as you could. "I think that passivity, or at least the appearance of it, is going to be the best strategy."

He looked at you. For a second, he genuinely looked like he was going to lean over and bite your had off. Then his expression shifted and he looked abruptly less threatening. His face still looked thunderous when he looked towards your friends, who had grown in number as the others joined them, but you knew any degree of softness was something to value.

You didn't have to tell him to fall back. Sukuna walked a pace behind you. He looked casual, but you were close enough to see his jaw ticking as you approached your friends. You shot them a small, tight smile.

"Hi."

They all listened in dead silence as you outlined roughly what had happened and what you'd agreed with Sukuna. He was quiet too. He made mental note of everything you missed out: the time you'd spent sitting together discussing the truth about yourselves, the equality in your partnership, the benefits you'd told him. It wasn't until you'd finished and then paused to make sure there was nothing else you wanted to say that you added,

"And he's under my protection."

That comment was the one that broke the dam. Kento sat up in his chair. Suguru's eyes flicked from you to Sukuna. Satoru laughed and then mumbled something unintelligible that sounded a lot like, 'oh, fuck.'

"Well, we need to remedy this," Kento said once everyone had settled down.

Suguru leaned forwards. "The prison realm is a viable option."

Kento nodded. ""Imprisonment or some method of limiting his cursed energy are the safest options."

A frown worked itself onto your face. Then, to Sukuna's amazement more than anyone else's, you shook your head. "No. No, none of them are options at all."

Satoru's eyes narrowed. "What?"

"The objective of the plan was to get him on our side so that we could ensure his strength isn't used against us." You gestured beside you. "He's on our side. He's not killing anyone. We got what we wanted from him, so why would we continue to treat him like a monster?"

Suguru cleared his throat. "It may have slipped your mind, but the King of Curses is literally a monster."

You crossed your arms over your chest, firmly standing your ground. "Well, you all told me to align myself with this 'monster.' This is the result of that. Those are not options."

Sukuna stared at you. 

Oh, fucking shit. Shit.

Humans and sorcerers were fucking stupid. They were weak, and pathetic, and fickle. He was above them. He'd proven that time and time again. People like this didn't deserve to step foot in the same city as him, let alone stand a few paces away and discuss how they were going to restrain him.

But you. You were standing in front of the most powerful people in the jujutsu world. In front of your friends, your allies, the only people that had your back. And you were defending him. 

It wasn't like you were some fierce, strong-willed sorcerer that feared nothing. He could tell that you were anxious about it. Your hands were trembling, that was why you had crossed your arms. Your voice was a little shaky, that was why you were speaking in short sentences. You didn't like having to be confrontational, especially against them. But you were doing it anyway. For him.

Sukuna took a step forward, so that he was properly standing beside you instead of slightly behind you. They all moved quickly, about to throw everything they had at him. Smoothly, Ryomen stuck his hands in his pockets and let out a soft, almost bored huff.

"If that's all you people have to say, I'm going to take my sorcerer and we're going to go do something more useful with our time. I am above this."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw you straighten up, surprised by the fact that he was speaking, then by his words. Technically, he was breaking the agreement of participating in the negotiation. But he knew you wouldn't mind. To him, this was part of the agreement, too. He was defending you, like you'd defended him.

When all of your friends stood in silence, Sukuna spoke again. "Unless you would prefer for us to remain? There are plenty of civilians left in this part of the city. I'd be more than content to pick a few hundred off while you continue to-" 

"No, no, no," Suguru interrupted. "No."

Sukuna hummed with false interest. "Oh, you don't want that?"

Kento's jaw ticked. "No, of course we don't want that."

Sukuna's hands came out of his pockets. Suddenly, he looked like he'd grown a foot. He looked genuinely furious, enough that even Satoru's eyes widened a little. "You better stand the fuck down then, hadn't you, pathetic sorcerers?" Your lips parted. "Back off and leave her alone, hm? She's done exactly what you've asked her to. It's not her fault that it doesn't look how you intended."

He glanced over at you as he realised how his intention to defend you had become a little more obvious. The look on your face wasn't hugely obvious, but he saw it anyway. You were surprised, despite everything. A little pleased. And...grateful. It was exactly the look his face had worn a few moments ago, when you had spoken up for him. Because it felt nice to have an ally, to know someone had your back.

--

Unsurprisingly, nobody tried to stop the two of you from leaving Shibuya. Sukuna lifted you again, with a little more care this time. You pointed him in the right direction until you reached your house. You couldn't think of anywhere else to take him, and both of you were more tired than you'd care to admit.

He set you down in the middle of the road. Both of you walked in an alarmingly comfortable silence. Sukuna didn't comment on anything or show even a hint of interest until you were pushing open a small gate and pulling a set of keys out of your pocket. 

Then he blinked, looking up at the building in front of him. There was no doubt in his mind that this was your home. And, despite the snarky voice in the back of his head that wanted to mock your human dwelling place, he couldn't stop thinking that this was a little intimate, a little familiar. He didn't feel like he should be standing behind you while you fiddled with your keys. He didn't feel like he should have been the one that made sure the gate was closed behind him. 

He didn't feel like he should be acting like this version of himself here.

"Show me your dwelling place, then, woman."

You dropped your keys. Sukuna glanced at you. The action itself didn't amuse him, mostly because it irritated him that even dropping the King of Curses act didn't mean you weren't scared of him. What did amuse him, though, was that you didn't bend over to pick them up, you just rested your hand over your face and groaned.

"Sorry," you muttered, "that really took me by surprise."

Sukuna watched you, watched the back of your hand. Then he bent down and picked up your keys. It took him a few tries to figure out how exactly to work the lock, but he did it. Your hand fell away from your face at the first clink of metal on metal, and you watched him until he pushed the door open.

"Thank you." 

He looked at you, surprised by the weight of your words. Then he nodded slightly. He looked away, because he didn't like the way that made him feel.

You took the keys back, dropping them into the dish. Then you turned on the living room light and stepped into the house. Sukuna didn't step in.

"May I step over the threshold?"

You looked at him in surprise, already midway through taking off your shoes. "Oh- Yeah, come in. I guess you'll be here for a while." You hesitated and he could almost see you dropping an act, too. Not as big of an act as his, but an act nonetheless. "Um- I hope that it's okay. It's no... palace, or whatever a King of Curses lives in."

He shut the door behind him, taking off his shoes as he looked at you. "I don't live anywhere."

Your eyes bored into his for a long few seconds. And then, when you smiled, it was a genuine smile. "It's step up from that, at least."

"Yes, I suppose it is." Sukuna nudged his shoes out of the way, then rested his hands on his hips. "I told you to show me your abode, didn't I?"

You nodded. "What do you mean, though? A.. Like a tour?"

"Show me everything," he said simply.

You were silent for a moment. Then you led him through the house, towards the bedroom. That seemed like the safest bet, since you couldn't see how a bed and a wardrobe could have changed too drastically. 

You pushed your bedroom door open and flicked on the closest lamp. "This is my room," you told him, stepping aside so he could walk in too.

Sukuna didn't clash with the room as much as you had expected. Especially when he casually walked over to your drawers and started tugging them open. You watched for about three seconds before registering that he was rifling through your underwear.

"Wh- That's-"

He glanced at you as you approached him. "Don't tell me that you're a weak sorcerer and a prude."

You scowled, but his words didn't sting much at all now. "It's my underwear."

"You're a prude," he retorted. But he shut the drawer. "Explain the blinking lights."

You looked at him. "What?"

"The lights that you non-verbally command," Sukuna elaborated. When you still looked clueless, he waved at the lamp. "Foolish woman."

You hummed. "Oh, lightbulbs. Um... electricity."

"An overwhelmingly helpful response."

You walked back over to the lamp, lifting the wire. "It's a current of energy, kind of, and it flows through wires and into things. And then you can switch it on or off. And you can die if you touch the current directly."

"Why are you handling it with such nonchalance, if you may die at any second?"

"Because it's protected by the wire." You dropped it anyway, suddenly struck by the fear that you would get electrocuted. It was stupid, but he sounded so confident that you half-expected your body to start convulsing. "Anyway, that's all there really is in here."

Sukuna didn't respond. He made his way around your room, inspecting everything. He spent a while looking at your posters and photos. It was pretty obvious that he had no idea what to make of them, but he didn't say anything. Once he was done, he pointed towards the door.

"Reveal the next room to me."

You showed him the bathroom. He had the basic understanding of what things were, even if they were much more advanced now. He flushed the toilet three times before he noticed you were trying to suppress a smile. Still, he couldn't help marvelling at all the small elements of human life that he'd never experienced before. He pointed at things and you told him what they were, and he seemed pretty content with the activity thus far.

"That."

"Toothbrush."

"That."

"Vitamin supplement."

"That."

"Rubber duck."

"That."

"Shower- No, no, no-"

Sukuna leaned forwards and turned the shower on. His eyes widened as water shot straight at him. You gasped, leaping over to try and help. His hand was still over the knob, so you had to lean into him to tug it off.

"No, you have to turn-"

"I am turning, your shower is broken-"

"It's not broken, you're turning the wrong-"

"It is not the wrong-"

"The shower-"

The stream finally stopped. You leaned back, soaked through and a little breathless. You looked at Sukuna. He was soaked too, his robe clinging to his skin. His pink hair was darkened and heavy with water. Then, before you could stop yourself, you were laughing. Sukuna let out a soft huff, but he couldn't hide his smile.

He knew he should be warier of you than he was. Nobody had ever gained his trust, let alone this quickly. He didn't like anybody, but he was catching himself feeling a strange fondness as he watched you. And you knew that he could kill you on a whim, regardless of the binding vow. But neither of you can help it.

"Maybe we should change before we continue the tour?" You suggested after your laughter died down.

"Yes, I agree."

--

Sukuna changed into one of your biggest oversized shirts and a pair of sweatpants that were just about baggy enough for him. He swiftly forgot about his new human clothes, though, because he stepped into the living area and saw you wearing your pyjamas. You were wearing little shorts with a simple oversized shirt. Something about it was so domestic and sweet that he actually stopped walking for a second, having to force his feet forwards.

"Rise, woman, and show me the next room."

You turned, eyes lighting up at the sight of him in your clothes. You held back any comments, though. You rose to your feet and showed him into the kitchen.

Sukuna interrogated you about every single appliance, from the fridge to the coffee maker. You answered them all patiently. There was no laughter now. That amusement had faded into something else. Neither of you were acknowledging it. It felt heavy, like the air between you was weighed down by something. Both of you were too wary of what it might be to actually turn around and mention it. You weren't even addressing the easy comfort of what you were doing right now.

"And this is the lounge," you finished, arms spread out.

Sukuna watched as they fell back to your sides. He prowled around the room, inspecting everything. "What's the black box?"

You reached for the remote and turned the television on. "Television."

"Its purpose?"

"Uh, entertainment, I guess. You can watch stuff or play games on it." You turned the television off.

Sukuna sniffed a candle, then glanced at the couch. It looked comfortable, and he was getting tired. But he didn't know what the protocol was. He didn't want to offend you, not now. He kind of liked that you trusted him, and he didn't want to fuck that up. So, like he had earlier, he asked.

"May I sit, woman?"

He absolutely hated the look of surprise on your face as you looked at him, but he loved the way you smiled at him, nodding. Your hands were clasped together as you watched him sit down. He made sure to sit comfortably, even though he was unsure if you were watching him like that because you were worried about his comfort, or if it was something else. When he was comfortable, he glanced up. You were sitting down beside him, cross legged. 

It felt right.

"Why did you let me catch you in your domain? The second time?"

He was taken aback by the sudden question for a second. But then he saw your curious face and he realised you'd probably been wondering that for a while now. He thought about it for a while. Then he hummed.

"There's not a deep answer to that."

"I don't mind if it's not deep. Just the truth."

He shrugged slightly, resting his arm along the back of the couch. "I got bored."

You looked at him. You weren't really surprised by his answer. You were friends with Satoru, and although he wasn't as strong as Sukuna, you knew that being that overpowered wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

He continued. "I'm strong. I've done more than your measly brain can fathom. Lived multiple lives. I'm fucking bored."

"Oh, I understand that," you nodded. "I'm no King of Curses, obviously, but it does sound familiar in a way."

Sukuna looked at you. You were right, you weren't a King of Curses. You didn't have his power running through your veins. But he was starting to wonder if he'd been wrong to take that to mean you were any less strong than he was.

And, as you looked down at your hands, thinking about his words and clearly thinking about your own experience, he realised that he already knew you enough to guess at what was stopping you from speaking further. What had you said to him when you were goading him into the trap?

'Because you can ease your inferiority complex.'

You looked like you felt lesser, too. Maybe you weren't having a whole millennia-long thing about it, but he could see the insecurity there. Sukuna wanted to see inside you. In the same way that you had revealed your home to him. He took a breath, then told you so.

"Your secrecy irritates me. Reveal your thoughts."

Maybe it came out harsher than he meant it too, but he still said it.

You looked at him for a second. Then you turned to face him properly, hands resting in your lap. And you told him.

You told him about the stupid worries. About how you were terrified of spiders, about the random and irrational fears you had. You told him about the tiny hiccups in your everyday life. About that lady on the bus last week that gave you a funny look. About how a friend of yours owed you a dinner because you'd let him sleep on your couch again. About how you were always worried about something or other, even when there was nothing to be worried about. About how you always scuff your shoes because you focus on not looking at the ground but then get distracted by the sky or the trees or the birds.

And then you paused, self-conscious about how long you'd spoken for and who you were saying it all to. But then you realised that he was listening like this was important information. That he cared so much that it was shining through even though he was trying to pretend otherwise.

He raised his eyebrow slightly. "Did I ask you to stop talking?"

You hesitated, then opened your mouth again. "And I have a lot of stupid insecurities, too. About stuff that I know doesn't matter and that nobody else probably thinks about so hard."

"Like?" He prompted impatiently.

And so you told him that, too. Stuff that you hadn't told anybody, that you'd only admitted to yourself properly in the last few years. It was so surprisingly easy to tell him. He didn't seem like the King of Curses anymore.

Sukuna listened to every word you said, storing it carefully away in his mind. He wanted to laugh. He wanted to ridicule you for your stupid, petty concerns. Demand why you care about the look you'll get from a stranger if you wear a skirt that's a few inches shorter than usual, when there are bigger things to be concerned with.

But he found himself paying close attention to you as you spoke. And he started to want to murder that store owner that looked at you funny with you dropped your card. And he kind of wants to take you out and spend an infinite amount of time helping you try on clothes until you figured out what you felt most comfortable in. And he wanted to take you to get those two cats you've been wanting for so long and let you decide whether they really will solve so many of your problems.

Because they're stupid concerns. Things that never have and probably never will enter his head. But, the more he listens to the lilt of your voice, the more he notices the little expressions that cross your face and that little habit you have of getting side-tracked but coming swiftly back to the point, the more he kind of does understand it.

Sukuna did have his concerns about how he's perceived. They're mostly rooted in whether or not people are frightened of him, sure, but they're there nonetheless. So he kind of got that part of it. And he was sure that, if he made a fool of himself in front of some lowly humans, he'd be thinking about it weeks later, too.

But he didn't think you should. 

Your self-conscious laugh interrupted his thoughts. He focussed on you as you started to speak again.

"Sorry, I know you probably think those are just... stupid, petty human concerns."

Sukuna didn't so much as crack a smile. He looked you directly in the eye and asked, "How would I generate human currency?"

You blinked at him. "Uh.. Wh-"

"How would I generate human currency?" He repeated.

You were silent for a long moment. Then you got over your surprise and offered a useful response. "Do you have any assets?"

Sukuna nodded. "I possess several estates and a few temples, both of which contain many artefacts. I asked you about human curre-" He cut himself off, staring at you in surprise. You looked back at him with wide eyes.

"Oh my god."

Sukuna raised his eyebrows. "What?"

You laughed. "Maybe I should help you sell all your properties and then steal half your money, since you have no bearing of the value of human currency." Even while you're joking, you're in disbelief. It made sense that he would be rich, but that rich? He was laughably wealthy.

Sukuna still didn't smile. "Why would you need to steal from me?"

You blinked. "Wh- I just mean because you must be very, very, very wealthy in terms of modern money."

"Most likely. I was wealthy in my era. Again, that isn't what I asked you." Sukuna's eyes flicked between yours. "I have no use for money. You can sell what assets I possess and take the money for yourself."

You looked at him for a second, then burst into laughter.

The arm that Sukuna had resting along the couch extended slightly. He hit you on the shoulder. "Don't fucking laugh at me, mortal."

You stopped laughing abruptly. "Oh my god," you say again.

"Will you stop saying that without due cause?" Sukuna snapped. "What is it that you're 'oh my god'ing about?"

"Do you- Do you not realise how much money that would be?" You asked him.

He shook his head slightly. "Enough, I imagine. How much?"

You're silent for a moment as you try to think of a way to quantify it. "It would be... millions and millions."

"Is that worth a lot?" Sukuna questioned. "You forget that this has no meaning to me, sorcerer."

"It would buy you, like... like, you could buy a whole castle. Multiple."

"Again-"

You shook your head. "I don't think there's any way of quantifying it. It's an obscene amount of money. Genuinely."

"Is it more than you currently possess?"

You laughed at that. "If money were animals, you would be, like, a humpback whale, and I'd be a fish. No, not even that. A crustacean. Maybe a barnacl-"

"I understand," he interrupted, "please end your nautical metaphor before I feel obligated to hurt you." You dutifully closed your mouth. "You will take the money. I have no use for it."

You shook your head. "No, I can't do that."

"I'm telling you to."

"But I still can't take it."

"I am the King of Curses."

"But we're equals."

"Tch." Sukuna glared at you for a second before he sighed exasperatedly. "If you are not being misleading about the value of my wealth, you would no longer have to even consider money. You could freely purchase your felines, new clothes, explore the worlds of your various hobbies as you'd like to. You could move to a quieter place. You could leave your permanent job as a jujutsu sorcerer and pursue only what you wish to."

As he spoke, you realised just how much attention he had been paying while you were talking. He hadn't just listened to your words, he had catalogued them, storing them away as though they really did matter to him. And now he was presenting a solution.

Why hadn't anybody just tried to talk to the King of Curses?

Why did he always kill everyone that got close, if he had so much attention to give?

Why were you the exception to his rule?

Sukuna finished talking and looked at you. He registered that you were just staring at him. He looked right back at you, waiting for the inevitable moment when you noticed that you were making eye contact and looked away, pretending not to have been staring.

But you didn't. Your eyes focussed on him and you swallowed, but maintained eye contact.

"Thank you, Sukuna," you said sincerely, voice warm and softer than it had been before.

He was quiet for a moment. Then he nodded. "You are welcome."

You smiled slightly. "Okay."

"Okay." He nodded again, and realised that he was well and truly fucked.

A silence fell over the two of you. It was a tense one, one that came because you'd both gotten a little too close to acknowledging that unspoken thing. You broke the silence.

"So, here's a problem that the King of Curses has never encountered-"

Sukuna interjected, mostly because he felt like he needed to remind you that he wasn't some soft best friend or something. "That is a bold and foolish assertion to make, foolish woman."

You laughed with a hint of nervousness. "Maybe, but I have one bed, and we agreed that we were equals, so.."

Sukuna looked at you. And he said nothing. You cleared your throat, but he still didn't speak. He just looked at you in complete silence for an uncomfortably long amount of time. And then, abruptly, he rose to his feet. He walked briskly down the hallway towards your bedroom.

"Hey..." You protested weakly. Ultimately, if he decided to take your room, it wasn't like you could stop him.

But Sukuna was turning around, arms crossed. "Are you coming, or not?"

You blinked, then stood up, stumbling after him. Sukuna was already in your bedroom. When you joined him, he pointed at the bed.

"There's enough space. We will share." At the first sign that you were going to protest, he raised his hand. "No, I will not accept argument."

"Okay, we'll share," you agreed, with not as much reluctance as you felt like you should have had.

You took a few steps towards the bathroom. Sukuna's hand snapped around your wrist and he forced you back.

"You dare walk away from me?" He growled.

You blinked at him, then reached down and slid your hand into his. The gesture clearly surprised him because he didn't yank your hand away. "I was going to brush my teeth, actually." You walked towards the bathroom, silently amazed when he let you pull him after you.

You let go of his hand and reached for your toothbrush. Then you found a spare in the cupboard, handing it to him. Sukuna had seen a few forms of tooth hygiene during his time, from blackening to using willow brushes. The minty fluoride you were brushing your teeth with was entirely unfamiliar. But he trusted you in your little human endeavours, so he mimicked you.

"Oh, shit."

You looked at him in surprise. Sukuna had just finished brushing his teeth and he was wearing an expression of pleasant surprise. "What?" You mumbled through a mouthful of toothpaste.

"Had I been incarnated for longer, my breath would have stunk."

You couldn't help laughing at that. "Would you not have done it at all?"

"I wouldn't have known what the modern equivalent was," he replied. He glanced at you, then muttered, "I have you to thank."

You giggled. "Well, I'm glad I could show you the wonders of modern tooth hygiene."

"I didn't mean just about that."

You looked at him more seriously, recognising that he was trying to be sincere. Then you smiled. "I'm still glad."

★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★

that's part two! i hope you enjoyed an arguably OC sukuna. he is going to get a lot softer in the next (and final) part.

obsessed with sukuna who’s inexplicably fascinated by the way you sleep. <𝟑

he does watch you from time to time but you never realize it. not in a creepy way, but more in a curious one. he mostly wonders why you seem to feel so relaxed in his presence, considering he strikes fear into the soul of anyone he comes upon— but not you. there’s something about you. something deeply annoying.

you’re cutely tucked between his sheets, a little drool dripping from your lips to the pillow. you’re completely relaxed, one naked leg sticks out of the covers while the sound of gentle little snores grace sukuna’s ears. defenseless and completely at his mercy but he finds nothing better to do than to stare.

he hasn’t touched you nor does he wish to disturb your sleep. it’s almost a whine of disgust that escapes his lips when you turn in your sleep and snuggle the pillow which smells just like him. you’re so insufferably adorable. sukuna’s fascinated by the way your rested cheek against the pillow makes your lips puffier and the way your breath follows a particularly peaceful rhythm in unison with the movement of your chest.

little did you know, he’s been staring for hours. watching you unintentionally scratch your hair or tighten your grip around the pillow you’ve been hugging tightly against your chest. your hair’s a mess but it flows beautifully with the messy covers of sukuna’s bed and your mouth opens when you’ve finally reached a deeper state of sleep. he has watched every single one of your movements carefully and still cannot pinpoint the reason why he cannot stop staring.

maybe it’s the fact that you’ve confidently assured him hours prior that you’d never sleep in the company of someone like him. failing miserably when the softness of the sheets overcame your stubbornness. or maybe it’s the way you’ve tried reaching for him even through the night. he had every intention not to allow you to touch him, but the time finally came when he was asleep and your hand found its place on his chest, following the breathing of his burning heart.

remembering how careless you both were disgust him. allowing you to touch him is one thing— because, yes, he allowed you, but to occupy his every thought every since you met him is infuriating. he couldn't even catch a break when you were sleeping. there’s a reason why he felt the need to stay and, of course, he’d refuse to ever admit that he had gone soft on you.

no.

he wants you to be terrified of him. he wants you to fear his name and worship the ground he walks on. he wants to feed on your tears and delight himself on your cries.

does he, though?

"’kuna.."

here it is again. you’re mumbling his name in your sleep and it takes every fibre of his being not to shut you up. an irritation. an itch in his plan. that’s what you were. a nuisance he needed to take care of. his hand moves on its own towards your neck, pointy nails ready to tear your skin apart but seems to stop just over your jaw. an hesitant groan almost wakes you up before you’re lulled back to sleep with long digits simply grazing your cheek.

"shut it, woman."

and before you know it, he’s caging you in his arms, breathing pattern slowly synching with yours while his other hands cover both of your bodies under the warm blankets of his comfortable bed. he won’t let you go until he’s rested and the king of curses does need a exaggerated amount of sleep with you snuggled against his chest.

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