serpents and sons | taekook

The Blood

****

Jeongguk's eyes crack open with the rising of the sun, squinting as the details of the room become visible, vision clearing slowly. There's a pressure over his chest, his arm tingling from numbness, and his nose wrinkles from the hair that tickles his face. Taehyung blinks up at him as Jeongguk wets his lips, a smile on his own face that rivals the light breaking through the curtains.

"Are you watching me sleep, weirdo?" Jeongguk mumbles, tongue heavy in his mouth, and Taehyung's smile only widens. He pushes himself up on one arm and any thought of how gross Jeongguk feels disappears with the kiss he drops to Jeongguk's lips, fingers gently brushing Jeongguk's hair from his eyes.

"Simply admiring the view," he says cheekily, but even half awake Jeongguk can hear the fondness in his voice. Taehyung drops another kiss to his nose and Jeongguk's face scrunches. "It's quite the honor to wake up beside you."

A number of comebacks sit on Jeongguk's tongue but he swallows them all back, content to lose himself in the light in Taehyung's eyes. They've never done this before, waking up in each other's arms, and Jeongguk quite likes it. He says as much, his words quiet in the morning light, and Taehyung's smile softens.

"I didn't think we'd ever get the chance," he admits, gaze finally dropping as he buries his face in Jeongguk's chest. The human's breath stutters with the skip of his heart and he wraps his tired arms tight around Taehyung's shoulders. Holds him close, chest tightening with every second that passes.

"...I was always going to come back," Jeongguk eventually whispers. Taehyung's grip tightens like a vice around Jeongguk's waist and Jeongguk can feel his breath against his chest, the soft touch of his lips through his shirt.

"I don't... I don't know how you've viewed this thing between us, but I think I love you, Tae. I don't think I'll ever love someone the way I love you. I wake up and the first thing I think of is you. I go to bed wondering if you are too. Every second has been this crazy whirlwind of just, one thing after another and I don't know if I could ever even consider going back to how life was before you came in."

"It was always going to be you," Taehyung says after a beat. He pushes himself up onto his hands, leaving Jeongguk's arms just to crawl closer; nose to nose to see Jeongguk's eyes widen at their sudden closeness. "It was only ever you, and it will only ever be you."

It is the security of Taehyung's tone that reminds Jeongguk of why he had even come by in the first place, the predicament that had led to their separation and rather... explosive reunion. "Can you say that even knowing I'm just... human?" He whispers, and Taehyung's expression pinches in pain, lips pursing and eyes closing for a moment.

Jeongguk can see his throat flex around a swallow, hear the leather creak beneath his hands as his fingers curl into fists.

"The one thing I've desired most, in every world, is for someone to see past the lies that have been draped over me," Taehyung - Loki - says, and Jeongguk's heart aches for the pain in his voice. "To see past the titles I have been unfairly given, the hate I receive. The stories built around me to paint me as the boogeyman of the realms. And you-," Taehyung sighs, leaning down and pressing another kiss to Jeongguk's lips, one eagerly returned. "You see the me I've always wanted to be. The version of myself I've never been allowed to be."

Jeongguk's eyes water as Taehyung gives a little self-deprecating laugh, noses brushing. "I see you, Tae," he whispers, and Taehyung's eyes burn. "I see you."

"I know, my love," Taehyung whispers back, and Jeongguk sniffs.

Then there's a crack and a violent burst of light that makes them both flinch. "Ah, I had thought you would be alone."