#only jam knows this fkdsjlw

[windup-dragoon]

Devour

|| FFXIV write - 2020

|| Prompt #23 - Shuffle

|| Modern AU -- Heart Eater AU 

|| wol x Hien

|| 902 words

|| Heart Eater - A new AU where Kirishimi, a guardian of the Rijin clan, is believed to be hazard to the clan and is promptly sealed away for hundreds of years. At least until Hien’s grandfather passes away, leaving his grandson a puzzle box and a bracelet. After some time curiously studying the box, Hien figures the puzzle out and releases the sealed kitsune. Having sworn revenge on the clan who imprisoned her, Kirishimi makes it clear that she intends to eat Hien’s heart to make herself stronger. But under the protection of the bracelet his grandfather gifted him, the fox is left with no other option; she’s forced to live with him until he slips up.

“Kiri?” A shuffle of blankets caused him to stir from his slumber, squinting against the moonlight that pooled across the room. 

As suspected, his futon was no longer his own. Nestled close but kept separated by the blankets, the kitsune laid her head on a sliver of pillow beside him. In his half conscious state of mind he could have sworn her silvery hair was part of the moon itself, her tails and ears highlighted in a effervescent glow. She looked like starlight given form. Strands of white fell across her features but still he felt her eyes on him. 

He blew out a sigh and carefully rolled onto his side to face her. Even with her face casted in shadow, her back to the window, her two toned eyes were aglow in the darkness. Such fiery red and gentle blue beneath thick lashes. Hien swallowed, forcing himself to look anywhere else but her. At the dark corners of his apartment, to the blinking stars just beyond his window; anywhere but the woman clad in his spare clothing. 

“If you’re here to eat my heart,” Hien spoke softly, just shy of a whisper that had her ears twitch in his direction. “Can you at least wait until after my exams?” 

The fox in return blinked. She wrinkled her nose, nuzzling her cheek against the scrap of pillow she had stolen. “It’s cold...” Her usual gruffness had dissolved, replaced with a snowy softness he hadn’t heard before. Distant, but gentle somehow. 

Her reply gave the young man a smile. “Then turn the AC  off...” 

“But it’s stuffy in here without it....” 

“How did you ever survive before technology?” He hummed, an airy chuckle on his lips. 

“Fresh mountain air in the summer...” She replied in her faraway, thoughtful tone. Perhaps conjuring images of a landscape that no longer existed in this world. He felt a pang of sorrow deep in his gut at the thought, but said nothing. The kitsune at his side inched closer, childishly pulling on a corner of his blanket. “... And heat in winter...” 

Although her answer was far from satisfactory, Hien humored her by lifting his blanket and pulling it over her shoulders. What did she mean exactly by heat? Fire? Blankets? Or... Body heat? He felt his cheeks begin to burn at the thought, the tips of his ears following in suit when her knees bumped his beneath the blankets; her breath hot against his neck and collarbone. She curled in close, her tails sweeping across both their legs. 

“...Promise you won’t get hungry in the middle of the night and eat me?” 

Beneath her lashes he could see mismatched eyes staring up at him in the darkness. “Only if ya’ make more abura-age.” 

“My wallet is crying, you know.” 

“Tell it to suck it up because I want clothes as well. Not yer hand-me-downs.” 

Hien grinned, overjoyed to hear that she wanted to wear clothing at all. It had been a struggle that afternoon just to put her in a spare set of shorts and tank top as she whined about the heat. 

“Fine... Anything is better than the landlord claiming he saw a naked woman in the window.” 

“The one with the tiny spectacles? How on Hydaelyn did he even see me from so far away?” 

“So you were naked in front of the window? Thanks, Kiri.” 

The woman beside him huffed, burying her face against his chest in an absentminded motion. Hien’s heart leapt into his throat as her forehead connected to his collarbone, the tips of her lusciously soft ears at his chin and twitching from his beard. She smelled like a summer afternoon; honeysuckles caught in a rainstorm. The wildfire of color across his cheeks only darkened, threatening to consume him in fluttering heartbeats and dizzying thoughts. 

“If it bugs ya’...” She began softly, a murmur against his chest. Scarcely he could feel the movement of her lips, so close as she was to him, he struggled to swallow. “...I won’t be caught dancin’ in the window again-” 

An abrupt snort silenced Kirishimi and had Hien’s senses finally returning to him. “You were dancing?” 

The woman beside him went rigid. “I- W-Well yes... Maybe! What does that matter?” 

In a hurry she was propped up on her elbow, their shared blanket slowly descending off her shoulder. Her ears were lowered defensively and in the moonlight he saw the pout etched across her face, cheeks dusted with embarrassment as she looked away sheepishly. 

“It doesn’t really. Kinda sounds cute though.” Hien gave the fox a lazy but heartfelt smile. She had been so determined to put on a frightening air for him. Eater of Hearts. The very reason the Rijin clan disliked foxes of any sort. The terrible catastrophe itself... Admitting to dancing naked in his apartment. 

Kiri chewed on her bottom lip, piercing eyes glaring at him. But at last she shifted, throwing herself back down unto the bedding but with her back to him now. Another of many little tantrums the fearsome kitsune threw. 

It was an absentminded action, one he would later blame on his own exhaustion; despite her dismissive behavior, he draped his arm around her and pulled her close. He already missed the invasion of his personal space, so warm and gentle. 

And human. 

As her back met his chest he whispered softly, 

“You’re free to do as you please, Kirishimi.”