Once A Tale (MXM, BXB)

The Tale of Yamata no Orochi: Bonus Short II

 "All right," Jinnosuke declared one beautiful winter's day, "we're building you two a house."

"Yesssssssssss," the fearsome Yamata-no-Orochi, coiled around Rikimaru from behind as much as possible to leech his body heat, hissed loudly. Rikimaru, on the other hand, stared at his father with bewilderment, his eyebrows hiked up and severe eyes wider than usual.

"There's only so much of that," Jinnosuke said, gesturing at the monster-turned-man, "that I can stand seeing, you know. You two need your own space."

"Yessssssssssssssssssss," muffled this time, as Orochi buried his head in Rikimaru's shoulder and rocked him back and forth in his arms happily.

"Are you sure?" Rikimaru asked with a frown, ignoring his lover entirely. "What if you fall and break your hip when I'm not in the house with you?"

"I'm not that old, you brat."

Rikimaru shrugged, but there was a telling, unrepentant quirk to the corner of his lips. He was idly fending off a couple of the long black snakes that grew from the ends of Orochi's hair as they attempted to kiss his face with their little tongues, obviously reacting to Orochi's delight. He was so very, very transparent.

"At last," Orochi said, lifting his face with a triumphant expression, "a house to call our own."

"All of the hinting the past two months was getting tiresome too," Jinnosuke said dryly, levelling a look at Orochi, who stared blithely back at him.

"I wasn't certain you'd heard me," he said with dignity.

"I heard you. Every single time, Yama."

Orochi frowned at the nickname, then shrugged his shoulders in a gesture that mirrored Rikimaru to a T. "Either way," he said smoothly, "thank you in advance, father." Jinnosuke's eye twitched but he shook his head tiredly and stood up.

"I've got some men coming to help," he said, "so don't you come outside, got it? We're clearing some land this afternoon."

"You're working fast, Dad," Rikimaru said.

"Naturally." And with a "you two are really annoying, after all", Jinnosuke excused himself outside, leaving Rikimaru gazing after his back.

"Our own house," Orochi was singing softly under his breath. "A palace fit for Yamata-no-Orochi and his esteemed lover." He trailed off into happy little hmhmhms and nestled his head back into Rikimaru's shoulder, his snakes thrashing and squirming with excitement. Rikimaru placed one hand onto the scaled back of the hand on his stomach, smoothing his thumb over some such scales and felt more than heard Orochi's surprised intake of breath.

"It's not going to be much of a palace," Rikimaru murmured. "Will you like it anyway?"

"Of course! Lest you forget, I used to reside in a cave. I've grown quite fond of being in houses," Orochi said. "And our home will be the best."

Our home.

Rikimaru leaned back into the tall man behind him. Orochi's grunt of surprise was short and quiet, then his arms tightened and he rubbed his forehead affectionately against Rikimaru's shoulder. His excitement was truly endearing, Rikimaru thought, and it made him want to turn around, cup his cold face in his hands and kiss him. But, closing his eyes and considering it further, he knew Orochi would immediately not be satisfied with just a kiss and his father and men would be working outside, upping the potential of being caught...

On the other hand, they would be busy and perhaps they wouldn't catch them if he chose to initiate something. Rikimaru considered this solemnly as Orochi, utterly oblivious to his thoughts, was just happy to be cuddled.

"Dad's going to make us do all the work this spring," Rikimaru realised abruptly. "There's no way he'll just build us a house with us not having to do anything. We're going to have to plant all of the rice by ourselves."

Orochi was silent for a moment, then he groaned pitiably in protest.

"You'll have to step up, Yama," Rikimaru told him, tilting his head backward to look up at his petulant face. He watched his nose scrunch and smiled.

"Is this my future?" he grumbled. "If I must, I must, as a proper husband."

Rikimaru turned suddenly and did take that chilly face between his palms. Orochi's eyes went wide, his snakes all stilling at once, blinking rapidly at Rikimaru's sudden closeness and presence. Rikimaru swept his thumbs over sharp cheekbones, over scales, then leaned in, breathing warmly over his lips.

"Is that a proposal?" he asked softly.

Orochi's eyelids fluttered and his gaze, slightly panicked, darted from side-to-side before back to Rikimaru's. He took a breath, drew himself up slightly, and smiled, flashing sharp canine teeth. "Of course. I will be the most exceptional husb—"

He was about to be cute, in that puffed-up Orochi way, but Rikimaru pulled him by his cheeks into a kiss. He nibbled at cold lips until they warmed, until Orochi was wrapping his hands around Rikimaru's wrists, clinging on in a way he would never, in all his ego, call clinging. He huffed and surrendered when Rikimaru darted his tongue over where he'd bit, melted backward as Rikimaru combed fingers through his hair and sucked his tongue so hard it ached.

When he refocused, Rikimaru watched him from a breath away as Orochi turned his head slightly, realised he was laid out on the tatami floors.

"Oho," Orochi said and grinned.

Rikimaru pulled the front of his robe apart with one hand, tapped the index finger of his other to his lips and said, firmly, "Make sure you're quiet."

"Hmph." Though Orochi frowned, he quickly capitulated when Rikimaru kissed his chin. "As you wish."