Chapter Text
The kiss goes as a kiss between two inexperienced creatures would go.
The angle leans more to the uncomfortable side at times, both are shy in how far they can go and for a moment, Wriothesley is worried he will accidentally catch Neuvillette’s lip and hurt him.
Even with that, though, kissing Neuvillette is heavenly.
Up close, his beauty is even more breathtaking, his lips are soft and plush, warm and powerful enough to challenge him into continuing with the kiss despite needing to breathe. Wriothesley’s hand fits perfectly on his slim waist and the other can perfectly cup the back of his head to hold him more securely. It really feels as if they have been designed to fit each other perfectly.
And yes, he’s aware of how cheesy that sounds.
“Was it… acceptable?”
It would be endearing if Wriothesley wasn’t worried about the implications of those words and how that is Neuvillette’s way of saying he’s still scared he’s forcing the other to do it or is worried this will make him change his mind.
“I don’t think this is something that should involve grades,” he says with a faint chuckle. “We’re both inexperienced, but I enjoyed every single part of it.”
A small smile appears on his otter’s face, his hands pressing against Wriothesley’s chest as he takes a deep breath. “I enjoyed it too…”
“Then it’s all set,” he says with a faint chuckle. “All the doubts we had made no sense.”
Neuvillette winces lightly. “I really thought I had ruined everything…”
“You weren’t the only one,” he admits with a tired sigh. “I spent the day moving around like some caged animal thinking I have fucked up everything beyond repair, was even thinking about the best way to save you from the uncomfortableness of being around me.”
“Why did you come back, then?” he asks, pulling a bit back to look at him. “I also thought about giving you space.”
“Because of Sigewinne,” he says with an entertained chuckle. “She seemed to know way more than me and once she understood I avoided the conversation, she all but exiled me from the Fortress.”
Neuvillette’s face turns red as he looks away. “I apologise, I sought her help the day we visited the place for rent, I was unsure of what to do but had the feeling time wasn’t really on my side.”
So it was that.
Wriothesley remembers being confused by all the mysticism surrounding that time he was sent away to buy something, but he’s sure he never thought it had to do with Neuvillette wanting a piece of advice because he was attracted to the human who rescued him.
“No need to apologise,” he says with an entertained smile. “It’s good you told her, in the end, it is she who forced us to talk instead of allowing us to ruin everything.”
“I owe her even more,” Neuvillette says with a small sigh. “She has been helping me all this time while I haven’t done anything.”
“You’re being unfair to her.” Neuvillette looks horified at the idea. “She’s the head nurse, she’s more than used to helping people and I’m sure she enjoys helping more with these kinds of things than bleeding wounds and bruises that is something that happens almost every single day.”
“Still…”
“I already told you, she likes you and if she knew you were the otter she helped with all her heart, she would be through the roof,” he hums, running his hands through the white hair. “She enjoyed travelling around with someone as attentive and curious as you.”
“Maybe I will tell her one day,” he says after a moment of consideration. “You sure she won’t be warded out by it?”
“It’s more than possible she already knows you’re not a normal human, she is not a normal human, after all,” he says with confidence. “You are a natural when it comes to Melusines liking you, so even if you asked for a billion Mora, she would still be more than happy to be around you.”
Neuvillette seems to consider it for a moment but ends up with a weak smile. “I will still look for something to properly thank her.”
“Alright, I won’t stop you,” he snorts. “For now, let’s eat, I can make something tasty for both.”
It still feels surreal and Wriothesley truly needs to take a moment in between cooking to look for Neuvillette and make sure what happened wasn’t just some wild dream. Things couldn’t look worse that afternoon and even that same day during the morning. Neuvillette never straight up avoided him, he was more subtle and experiencing it for the first time made him think there was no way to solve this.
In the end, however, it’s not a dream.
His otter likes him as much as he likes him.
“You can sleep in the bed with me.” He’s slightly proud of turning his ears red, even if that’s surely cruel. “You don’t have to, of course, I want you to be comfortable, but just know it is an option.”
He’s too flustered to reply with words, but the weak nod is what Wriothesley needs to move to get ready for the night and leave the other to do the same at his own pace. In theory, he could be more insistent, making sure it’s the shyness and awkwardness instead of Neuvillette still having doubts, but he prefers to stay silent and give him time.
He can’t keep himself from pressing a goodnight kiss to his temple and even when now his perpetual state seems to be a flustered one, he smiles and wishes him a good night. It is similar to what he says every night, but it feels… different and his heart seems to jump inside his chest.
Falling asleep is, as expected, kind of impossible.
Wriothesley’s mind is filled with so many things he can barely keep his eyes closed for a couple of seconds before needing to open them again and rub his face with his hands because he can only remember about everything that happened and, Archons, he now has a partner.
With the sweet understanding, however, comes the worries and everything that has to do with being good enough, of not messing things up because even when he is inexperienced, he’s supposed to understand humans more than Neuvillette.
With the silence, his brain is free to analyse everything Neuvillette said and holy shit, only heaven know how long he has been alive and yet, Wriothesley is the first one he falls for.
He’s in the middle of coming to terms with the idea of not sleeping at all when the door to his room opens. His eyes expect to find the tall figure slipping inside… but nothing comes, at least nothing he can see from the angle on the bed and before he can take a better look, the door closes again. For a moment he believes Neuvilette regretted it, but then comes a distinctive noise getting closer.
Before he knows it, there’s an otter curled up at his side, and well, maybe he will sleep after all.
“Goodnight, little otter.”
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“See? You needed to talk!”
Wriothesley barely holds back a huff at hearing the tone Sigewinne is using, but there was little he could do when, that morning and after he just walked through the entrance, the nurse was quick to shove him into his office claiming she needed to check on the illness from the day before.
Alone and without the risk of being heard, she was quick to get the information while respecting their privacy.
“You know I’m inexperienced,” he tries to excuse himself. “I mean, there’s a chance I’m dumb and just didn’t notice, but I didn’t know it was that.”
She lets out a quiet giggle that holds no malice behind and a moment later, she’s patting his arm while extending him a cup of tea.
“I’m not judging you, Your Grace,” she hums, taking her usual seat with her milkshake. “I just find it funny that you two couldn’t see how similar you are.”
And well, he can give her that. The two were sure they didn’t have a chance because there was nothing of that kind between them. Neuvillette feared his weird ideas had to do with how long he had been away from humans while Wriothesley thought Neuvillette just wanted to thank him.
“Again, I’m inexperienced,” he mumbles. “We both are.”
Her smile widens and it takes Wriothesley a moment to understand she gave her the reason once more.
“Alright, alright, it’s good now,” she says. “It’s a new experience for both, the least you both need is overthinking, so don’t do it.”
“Guess it’s too late for that,” he admits with a grunt. “Can confidently say we both are thinking about a million things and I’m not sure they are the good kind.”
“As long as you don’t allow it to control everything, then it is understandable,” she says with a quiet hum. “Just trust yourself, Your Grace.”
His chuckle earns him a raised brow, but she ends up shaking her head with a fond look.
“It really will be alright,” she says, tone softer. “Just follow what feels better and it will work out, I promise.”
It is the most reasonable solution but he thanks to her sincerity and, to a certain extent, guidance. “Fine, if I mess up, then I will push the blame on you.”
“So dramatic,” she sighs, shaking her head. “You will learn more about each other in that area the more you spend time together, so you better be with him instead of staying here working extra hours.”
It’s funny that all this time he has been around Neuvillette but now it suddenly feels so much different. “It’s not that I do it willingly… at least not all the time.”
“Unless we have a very urgent and dangerous situation, then the Gardes and everyone else can take care of it,” she hums. “You need to explore all of this!”
And well, yeah, it’s obvious. Things between him and Neuvillette improved significantly and left the awkward stage behind because they got to know each other more, doing things that would be normal between two people who love each other should cement the feelings that are already there, problem is… doing what?
“Any idea will be appreciated.”
Back home, Wriothesley is surprised to see Neuvillette has already taken the initiative.
“I read about…dates,” he starts, his eyes staring at the table ready to receive both. “They are activities both do that help them connect, I read a nice dinner helps but I’m afraid we have already done that, so…I’m hoping this Is good enough.”
And alright. Fuck. It is adorable and just speaks volumes of how committed Neuvillette is to it and how much he wants this to work.
Wriothesley should be called an idiot for not doing the same.
“Dear otter, of course it is good,” he says after shaking himself out of the stupor. “All I have been doing is overthinking.”
“Are you having second thoughts?” he asks after a moment of hesitation. “Doubts, maybe?”
“Good to see I’m not the only one who is overthinking,” he says with a quiet snort, reaching to pull him closer. “I’m not, I honestly doubt I will ever have second thoughts, I’m just worried about doing right, I want to offer the best since we’re each other’s first experience.”
Neuvillette’s ears turn red as he clears his throat. “We’re both learning, I don’t think you are capable of doing something that makes the experience unpleasant.”
It is comforting but it only works in making him feel even dumber for wasting so much time in overthinking instead of preparing something nice for the otter. “Since we’re on the same page, then let’s enjoy the delicious food.”
Neuvillette agrees almost immediately and it isn’t long before both are sitting down with Neuvillette’s food ready, looking and smelling as good as it is common for everything he makes.
“For being our first experience, I dare to say we’re doing quite well,” he comments while picking the last pieces of chicken from the plate. “Don’t you think?”
“I agree,” Neuvillette says with a faint nod, but the way his eyes fall to his empty plate only says something is coming. “Wriothesley… is there a reason why you never had a partner?”
He can perfectly tell the question he wanted to ask was why me, but he understands the change and it takes his mind a moment to come up with a good answer.
“I don’t know,” he admits, for a moment thinking if it would have been better to make something more romantic. “I just… I simply felt it. You’re beautiful, kind, endearing, my mind just decided that it was you. I have never met anyone who made me feel like that.”
Neuvillette seems to take every single word to analyse it carefully and it ends with a small smile appearing on his face. “I don’t think I did something remarkable.”
“It’s not about doing something out of the ordinary, it’s just you being you,” he explains, knowing how cheesy it is. “I already told you I’m not the most social person, I haven’t met a lot of people, but something was special about you since the beginning.”
The way his otter closes his eyes and breathes slowly and deeply makes him look as if he has been moved by it. “I was worried my awkwardness would make me an annoyance.”
“You were never annoying and the inexperience was part of the charm,” he hums. “Besides, you don’t give yourself enough credit, it’s not that you behaved like an otter in the body of a human, you were mostly human.”
“I was trying my best to fit,” he admits. “Many things were different from the time I lived among humans, but I tried to be reasonable about it.”
“Then you’re a natural to fit in,” he says, reaching to hold his chin gently and angle his head up to see him. “It was the combination of everything that made me understand I was in love for the first time in my life.”
It’s more than possible that Wriothesley’s face has turned red, he’s not used to being so open about his emotions, but for Neuvillette he’s willing to do it as well.
“I— Thank you.”
Albeit shy, he’s comfortable and Wriothesley’s response has made him very happy… but Wriothesley’s curiosity is now awake.
“What about you?”
He waits for a moment to make sure he’s not uncomfortable with the question, but after a couple of slow blinks, he smiles, knowing he’s about to see his flustered otter about to admit something else.
“What about me?”
“Yes, how come a beautiful otter never found someone to be with?” he asks, rubbing his thumb down his jawline. “What does someone like you see in someone like me?”
“A kind, caring and generous person,” he retorts with a clear and distinctive annoyed look. “You took your time in freeing me from the net, you didn’t abandon me, you took me to your place and took care of me until I healed… even after discovering I lied, you were never evil towards me.”
Wriothesley’s insides seem to become a bit of a mess after hearing that. He’s not a bad person, it’s not that he’s evil and enjoys treating people poorly, but the words Neuvillette chose aren’t the type people normally use.
“You’re probably one of the few who have seen that part of me,” he admits. “Let’s also get rid of the whole lying thing, you didn’t lie, you were, obviously, wary about trusting humans once more.”
“It was very easy to trust you,” he says, lifting his hand to hold Wriothesley’s. “Little by little, the idea of being safe in this world as long as I was with you got stronger.”
“Had to admit, that was the part that worried me more,” he sighs. “That day, when you asked if you were simply used to my presence, I was convinced that was the case and even when I wanted you to stay, I didn’t want you to end up hurt or disappointed.”
Neuvillette’s shoulders seem to tense for a couple of seconds before dropping once more. “Since then?”
“Yeah,” he admits with a faint wince. “It was fine, though, we weren’t going to say goodbye to each other, if you stayed you were going to be around.”
“I’m sorry it took me so long,” he says after a moment.
“How can you say that when you’re the one who dared to do something about what you felt,” he says with a faint snort. “If it wasn’t for you, I think you would be getting your things ready to move out.”
He’s ready to argue and complain, but there’s logic behind that argument and he knows it.”It still took a considerable time.”
“Again, if it wasn’t for you, you would be on your way out,” he snorts, squeezing his hand. “Even with your doubts and insecurities, you took a step forward, you were braver than me, so thank you.”
“The things you say…”
“It was already fun to mess with you before, imagine how it is now,” he says with an entertained hum.
“Fine… I will allow it.”
Wriothesley finds it funny that Neuvillette is aware that he will stop doing it if he asks him to. “Feel free to do the same, though.”
Neuvillette shakes his head with an amused smile, staring at their joined hands before looking up slowly, almost as if scared. “Do you think I will be alright on my own?”
His first impulse is to say he doesn’t need to worry about it, they have been living together for a long time now and it’s not that he will kick him out… but then he understands what goes behind it.
“You understand I can’t be all the time here, right?” he asks with a weak smile. “You smart otter.”
“I know you took a lot of your free time to take care of me and then to show me around,” he says with a faint nod. “I have thought about finding a job or something similar at the Fortress, but I…”
“I don’t want you there,” he cuts in but hurries to continue to avoid misunderstandings. “Not because I don’t want to see you or something, would be amazing in reality, but I don’t see you as someone who would fit in the underworld.”
“I’m not as incompetent as I look,” he says, of course disliking the implications.
“One, you’re not and you don’t look, two, I’m not talking about that,” he continues, sighing because damn if it is hard. “People down there are different and I don’t want you to be so close to people who could be like the one who traumatised you in the past.”
Neuvillette seems once more ready to argue, probably the trauma part, but eventually goes against it, crossing his arms. “Sigewinne manages just fine, you said it.”
“Well, yeah, but Sigewinne is Sigewinne, you haven’t seen her knock down a rebellious inmate with an accurate dart to the neck,” he says, he can’t blame the otter for looking slightly surprised. “Before you say it, I’m not doubting what you are capable of doing, only heavens know what those abilities you have are, I just don’t think it’s the best place for you to start.”
The understandable need to argue when feeling someone is putting you down is right on Neuvillette’s tongue, but after a moment, he sighs in resignation. “You’re probably right, I’m still far from understanding human emotions.”
It is Wriothesley’s turn to reward him by pressing a kiss to his hand. “I trust you, but I don’t trust everyone else.”
“Thank you,” he replies softly, his smile returning. “I will start looking for appropriate jobs, then.”
“We will find one,” he says reassuringly. “If we can’t find something good enough, you could try becoming the first model who is an otter.”
And well, teasing Neuvillette has become his favourite activity.