Chapter Text
The cottage is quiet a few days later, the only sound is the crackling of a roaring fire and the occasional quiet snip of a pair of scissors. Kaveh sits on the plush armchair, feet tucked up under him, nose buried in one of Neuvillette’s particularly old books. He had a pretty decent collection of novels that Kaveh had discovered and was slowly making his way through. The vampire himself stood a few feet away behind Wriothesley, the wolf perched on a chair from their kitchen, foot propped in another one. Wriothesley hums lowly as Neuvillette runs long fingers through his hair, snipping away at it. Kaveh fe;t relaxed, as he leans over the book - a lock of his own blonde hair falls in front of his eyes - he blows it back only for it to fall forward again. A pout settled on his lips.
A sweet chuckle sounded from across the room and he looked up to see Wriothesley was watching him, his head leant forward to allow Neuvillette to trim the hair at the nape of his neck “yours is getting long, pretty boy.”
That was a new nickname of Wriothesley’s. One that regularly had his blood pounding. He quickly shoots the conversation back to the wolf “says you, you only had Neuvillette cutting it a week ago.”
The werewolf just glances towards the calendar hung on the wall “it tends to grow faster the closer to the full moon we are, and it’s in a few days.”
“Really?” Kaveh asks curiously, folding the book in his lap over his thumb to keep the page.
“Yeah.” he shrugs, eyes following where Kaveh plucks the bookmark from beside him, closing over his story and leaning forward to place it down on the coffee table “the lines between human and wolf tend to blur a bit on the run up, and then I involuntarily shift into wolf during the full moon.”
“You can’t change back?” Kaveh inquires, tilting his head - watching Neuvillette brush at the hair falling down his neck.
Wriothesley shrugs “not until the moon passes, every month is different just like every lunar cycle is different but yanno, I tend to get the same symptoms - unless the moon is in certain retrogrades”
“I never knew it was so complicated.” Kaveh’s brows draw together a little. Wriothesley opens his mouth to reply but it cuts into a little yelp.
“Ow!” he jumps in his chair. Kaveh immediately sees what was wrong, distracted - Neuvillette had accidentally nicked the soft skin at the nape of his neck with the scissors. Kaveh watches as a crimson drop of blood oozes from the small cut. His eyes drift to Neuvillette, his expression is slightly pinched.
“Oh, I’m sorry, sweetheart.” he sighs, his voice was just as calm and even as always despite the downturn of his lips. Kaveh's face flushes bright red as he watches Neuvillette lean down, his tongue darts out - licking up the single drop of blood.
“You did that on purpose.” Wriothesley laughs airily
Neuvillette laughs hollowly “Ah, I wish, my lovely - but you know I always ask.”
Kaveh finally tears his eyes away, his cheeks burning hot - feeling like he had stumbled into an extremely intimate situation.
“Okay, all done.” Neuvillette sighs and Wriothesley jumps up happily, grabbing the mirror from Neuvillette.
“Much better.” he smiled, brushing a hand through salt and pepper hair “it was getting in my eyes.”
“You look very handsome.” Neuvillette finally smiles, leaning over to press a chaste kiss into Wriothesley’s lips who grins wildly in return. Kaveh felt a little bit like a lemon, sitting in his chair - not looking at the display of affection going on in front of him.
“Maybe you should cut Kaveh’s hair too.” Wriothesley chuckles, throwing himself down on the arm of the chair Kaveh was in. He jumps, finally looking up again as Wriothesley leans his head over him, throwing an arm around his shoulders. This did nothing to help how flustered he was.
“I don’t know.” Neuvillette hums, Kaveh looks over at him just in time for Neuvillette’s hand to brush through his long hair. He is smiling down at him and Kaveh has to swallow down the lump in his throat, Wriothesley’s tail swishes against his lap. “It’s so beautiful long, and it suits your features so well.”
Wriothesley sits up properly to look at him and hums thoughtlfuly, Kaveh’s brain malfunctions as Wriothesley trails a warm hand into his hair to tuck that same strand behind his ear at it fell forward again “you’re right, it’s so cute long.” nods.
“I… thanks …”
“Are you blushing, blondie?” Wriothesley laughs again, it's the easier one. Less brash than his usual.
“No!” he said defensively but he can feel his pulse spike.
“How fast your heart’s beating begs to differ.” Neuvillette mutters, wandering away to the kitchen. Kaveh frowns a little at the words but doesn't have time to question it before Wriothesley is clapping his hands together.
“Let me brush it!” Wriothesley suggests, a wide grin on his face as he leaps up from the chair, tail practically wagging behind him “I can braid it for you.”
“You know how to do that?” Kaveh chuckles, letting Wriothesley help him up into the kitchen chair in front of the fire; a little surprised at the revelation.
“Yeah.” Wriothesley sighs sweetly “I learned for Neuvillette, when he first grew out his hair is was such a mess”
Kaveh chuckles quietly at the mental, allowing Wriothesley to run a comb through his hair. He hums at the feeling. He is so gentle, image, picturing a mop of white hair. He holds Kaveh’s head gently as he pulls out the little knots and tugs in Kaveh’s otherwise pristine hair. He feels himself relax back into the chair, the gentle stroking of the comb through his hair and the warmth of the fire nearly sending him straight to sleep.
His eyes snaps open when he feels Wriothesley’s fingers run into his hair instead of a comb, nails scratching back over his scalp in the same fashion he returned in wolf form. Kaveh groans lowly, his heart rate picking up as he blushes at the intimacy but it felt good as Wriothesley ran fingers through the lengths of his hair and then on to his nape.
The serene atmosphere was broken by Neuvillette “can you keep your pulse in check.” it's about as close to a snap as Neuvillette’s soft voice can muster, but it still shoots an icy feeling through Kaveh’s chest. His eyes widen, smile crumbling at the words. Wriothesley notices the way his face fell immediately.
“Ignore him.” Wriothesley shoots back irritably, stroking Kaveh’s nape, fixing Neuvillette with an annoyed look “he’s just grumpy because he hasn’t gone out hunting yet.”
Neuvillette sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, tongue darting out to wet his lips. Kaveh still couldn’t help but picture the way it gently ran over the back of Wriothesley’s neck a few moments before. He takes a few moments to collect himself.
“I can’t help him since he fed from me a week or so ago.” Wriothesley adds, his hand now absently stroking through Kaveh’s long hair.
“It’s fine!” Neuvillette smiles, very clearly forced “you know I can last.”
“Why don’t you feed from me?” Kaveh blurts before he could stop himself.
Neuvillette freezes. The silence that followed was only for a moment but Kaveh feels like it was years until Wriothesley spoke sternly.
“No.” He states, shaking his head “If you’ve never… don’t worry, Kaveh, he can go out and hunt later. He’s gone longer with less.”
“Wriothesley’s right.” Neuvillette is suddenly at his side again. Kaveh hadn’t noticed him move. He was looking at Kaveh with soft eyes now but he did look tired, a little sullen “that’s very sweet of you to offer, but it’s okay. I apologise for snapping at you, I’m just a little worn out and you… smell good.” he shakes his head “forgive me?”
He reaches out, running a couple cold fingers along Kaveh’s cheekbone, curling a strand of blonde hair around his index “Okay.” Kaveh manages, swallowing the lump in his throat. Neuvillette’s smile is soft, warm. Turned genuine from earlier, flashing sharp incisors at him.
“Good.” he stands up “you should get to bed. It’s late.”
“Come on, blondie.” Wriothesley speaks, standing up from the table “let’s redress my leg and you can get some rest.”
🐺
“Kaveh looked like you’d kicked him.” Wriothesley starts, he’s tucked into the soft sheets of their bed, Neuvillette sat beside him book perched on his lap.
Neuvillette groans, hiding his face in the pages of the book at the sudden conversation. The room had been blissfully quiet until them, both of them going about their evening routines silently before slipping into bed.
Neuvillette turns to him with a pained expression “his pulse kept spiking and god when you started brushing his hair he smelt… mouth watering. I was trying not to grab his wrist and just bite…”
Wriothesley chuckles, reaching over to brush some of Neuvillette’s white hair back. His face is tired looking, little dark circles under his eyes. If he slept he might suggest he needed a nap. “go out and eat before you do.”
Neuvillette smiles, pressing a kiss into the palm of Wriothesley’s hand before looking at him. He seems to slowly think over his next sentence before he says it. “I’m kinda fond of him. Kaveh.”
“Me too.” Wriothesley nods, dropping his hand to Neuvillettes. Their fingers link automatically “do you think… he would stay after I’ve healed?”
“I don’t know, darling, I hope he will.”
“Yeah…” Wriothesley trails off, seemingly mulling over the idea “anyway, go on and hunt. Be careful, though , you know the hunters are deep in the territory.”
“It’s why I haven’t been able to hunt much, they keep scaring off the wildlife.” he sighs, getting up from the bed. Wriothesley just gives him a sympathetic look, letting Neuvillette lean down to press a sweet kiss into his lips before he slid from the room.
Neuvillette smiles at the sight that greets him in the living room, Kaveh is curled up in a ball on the couch, all the blankets tucked neatly around him. Neuvillette threw on another log, not quite sure if it was needed but wanting to keep Kaveh as warm as he could. He brushes gently across Kaveh’s head before he slips through the front door.
A few hours later Kaveh stirs on the couch, his face twisting as he turns over on the couch. His nightmares weren’t often, but frequent enough for him to still let off a cold sweat. His body writhing in an attempt to wake his mind. With an aborted little shout he finally startles awake, sitting up immediately off the couch.
His whole body was covered by a layer of sweat, the cottage was still warm from the dwindling fire - the log added by Neuvillette waning into ash. Kaveh just breathes into the quiet for a few moments, watching as it breaks apart into smouldering pieces and trying to calm his racing heart. A few seconds later the door to the bedroom bursts open, he flinches at the sound - eyes raising to see a wild looking Wriothesley in the doorway; holding one of his crutches like a weapon His top half is bare, Kaveh eyes immediately dropping to the scarred skin of his chest.
When he sees that Kaveh is apparently in one piece and not being harmed, his expression smoothes and he lowers the crutch. “I heard you yell - I thought…” his face is sheepish now, smiling gently at Kaveh “are you… alright?”
“Nightmare.” is all Kaveh supplies with a dismissive wave of his hand. Wriothesley hovers in the doorway, concerned “I’m sorry I woke you.”
“It’s fine.” Wriothesley puts down the crutch, using it on his bad side to hobble over to the couch “but you didn’t answer my question, are you alright?”
Kaveh shrugs, the cold ebbs of dread still clinging to him “yeah… yeah .”
“Not very convincing, blondie.” he sighs, it's silent for a moment before he speaks again “well, I’m awake now I think I want tea.”
Kaveh snorts at that, a little smile worming its way onto his face. He chooses to ignore the cold pit in his stomach to watch Wriothesley hop over to the kitchen. The distraction of watching him work pulls him into the present, Wriothesley’s back facing him as he places the kettle over the stove. There’s a particularly large scar that runs from his right shoulder blade all the way down to his left hip, Kaveh’s eyes drift over the little dimples just above the line of his trousers, tail swishing from a perfectly tailored pair of pyjamas. He tries to count the moles that dotted his back to keep his mind in his head. It’s not like he could ever remember the nightmares, but they tended to stick with him for days after. Creeping in the corners of his mind and unsettling him. He’d picked up a few techniques to keep him from drifting away when it happened.
A mug of chamomile tea being held out to him drags him back again, he can smell the gentle flower sweetened further by honey drifting up from a cute little floral ceramic. The couch dips as Wriothesley settles beside him, blowing on his own mug before taking a long sip.
“You wanna talk about it?” he asks, swallowing the mouthful before glancing at Kaveh. He feels the way Wriothesley's tail brushes against his leg, it’s soothing - like a little deliberate caress.
“Not really.” Kaveh answers honestly, fixing the wolf with a shaky smile before taking a sip of the tea. The warm liquid helps, curling around the pit in his stomach and making it smaller. “I get the same one, every month or two. I never remember it though, it always slips away when i wake up…”
“That doesn’t sound pleasant.”
Kaveh snorts “it’s not, no.”
Wriothesley takes another sip, Kaveh mirrors him. The heat in his hands is welcome, and he swirls the cup - watching the little ripples. Wriothesley’s tail brushes against him again and he smiles, not really thinking it through before he drops his head onto the other’s warm shoulder. Wriothesley tenses for all of a millisecond before he sinks into the couch, letting Kaveh rest against him. He can feel the scorching heat of his bare skin against the whole left side of his body, Wriothesley’s breath moving around his hair - gentle sound of the fire crackling. It’s enough to finally wash the ends of the dream away.
“Thanks, Wriothesley.”
The wolf frowns, he can feel the way his skin shifts against the crown of his head “the hell for?”
“The company.” he shrugs and Wriothesley sighs against his hair, warm breath trickling across it.
“Course. Any time.” They sit in silence for a while longer, Kaveh watching the embers of the fire die, taking long sips of the tea slowly going cold in his hand. Wriothesley seems content enough to sit there with him, eventually dropping his cheek to lay against the crown of Kaveh’s head “you think you can get back to sleep?”
Kaveh hums “probably not, but it’s fine.”
Wriothesley hums “Well, I’ll just sleep out here with you then.”
Kaveh frowns at that, Wriothesley untangling himself from where they were sitting. He goes to remove his trousers, shooting Kaveh a look who's looking away quickly. A moment later an expulsion of air has Kaveh closing his eyes completely for a second, reopening them to see a wolf where Wriothesley stood a moment before. He pads over to the fireplace, stalking in a circle a couple of times not unlike a domesticated dog before he settles down in a comfy looking ball.
“You don’t have to…”
Wriothesley lets off a little growl from the back of his throat and that has Kaveh chuckling. He still claps his hands to relight the fire and Wriothesley practically purrs, humming low in his chest as he settles in to sleep like that.
“Good night, Wriothelsey.”
The wolf gives him a little snuffing noise of agreement.
🐺
"Wriothesley."
The soft hush of his name spoken was the first thing to draw him from sleep. Wriothesley groans automatically, his nose scrunching against the early morning light.
"Wriothesley…" a cold hand touched his shoulder. The voice Neuvillette's, he must be back from hunting.
"What?" Wriothesley all but whines, still not opening his eyes. He’s warm, the bed feeling a little harder than usual… but oh so comfortable.
"Are you aware you two are not in bed?” Neuvillette whispers, an amused lift to his voice. Wriothesley opens one eye in confusion and sees immediately what he means, the night before flooding back all at once. Kaveh is curled up on the floor opposite him, all his usual blankets taken from the couch, half off which are thrown over Wriothesley’s hips. He is sound asleep, a long lock of hair falling in front of his face and moving back and forth with every quiet breath he takes. His hand is curled around Wriothesley’s, having obviously curled up beside him while he was still in wolf form. Wriothesley snorts fondly.
"He must have come over during the night." he mutters “he… had a nightmare so I came to sleep out here. Do you have the heart to wake him?"
"Are you kidding? Look at him, I'm not that cruel." Neuvillette gives him a serious look. He looks significantly better than the night before - colour back in his face and dark circles gone. Wriothesley chuckles quietly and Neuvillette just smiles "scoot over."
Wriothesley does as he was told, finding himself blushing a little as he moves closer to Kaveh. He could feel the warmth radiating from his skin. Kaveh snuffles in his sleep, stretching out a little before settling again. Wriothesley feels Neuvillette's cold arm slip around his waist as he gets into the makeshift ‘bed’ behind him. Wriothesley gingerly reaches out, brushing the hair that was falling all over Kaveh's face neatly behind his pointed ear. The boy hums, his face relaxing as he leans unconsciously into Wriothesley's touch.
Wriothesley feels his heart beat pick up, Kaveh was unfairly pretty. His face serene as he slept, golden hair splayed over the pillow like a halo. Wriothesley feels a stab of guilt, knowing full well Neuvillette could hear his heart pounding in his chest because of Kaveh.
"It's okay." Neuvillette whispers "me too."
✨
Kaveh feels… warm. Sleep clings to him as he slowly wakes up. Everything around him was soft and fuzzy; there was something warm in front of him, gently tickling his nose. His eyes flicker open, then widened as he realised the situation he was in. Wriothesley was tucked into his chest, curled up and fast asleep. The fluffy thing being one of his ears. As Kaveh’s eyes focus properly he realises he’s looking directly at the lavender haze of Neuvillette’s. There was a cold hand resting on the dip of his waist, Neuvillette’s thumb slowly stroking back and forth.
“Good morning.”
“I had a nightmare!” Kaveh blurts and Neuvillette is laughing softly, shushing him as Wriothesley shifts in his sleep between them
“It’s alright, don’t explain yourself.” Neuvillette hums, his voice the usual calming, low tone “you're welcome to sleep with us, so to speak. As to say you can use the bed, if you wish.”
Kaveh’s face explodes with heat, dropping his gaze and mumbling “what about you?”
“I don’t sleep, Kaveh.” Neuvillette shakes his head “plus I know Wriothesley can get cold at night, and I can’t help much there.”
As if to make it worse, Wriothesley snuffles, his arm tightening around Kaveh, both ears twitching in his sleep. Neuillete just chuckles at his shocked expression “he does tend to sleep like a koala, however.” Neuvillette’s hand moves from the dip of KAveh’s waist to gently stroke down the back of Wriothesley’s unruly hair “let him sleep a little longer, he’s not got a good night's sleep in a while. I’ll make you two breakfast, okay?”
“Al.. alright.”