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The first thing about Atsushi that first stuck out to Ryuunosuke when they first met were his eyes.
The silver shade of his hair was distinct, like the moon on a warm spring evening, but even then it paled in comparison to the bright sheen of purple and gold that mixed together like a sunset, bursting over the city skyline and the ocean.
Ryuunosuke had only faintly taken notice of them when they first met each other in that alleyway, his throat parched and hurting from ragged coughs, and Atsushi’s eyes wide with fear as he approached in the darkness, the smell of blood and fired bullets thick in the air. A peculiar color, certainly, but not enough to stop him from completing his mission.
He remembered how the adrenaline ran through him when those eyes, so strange but still human, turned beastly and animalistic as a tiger burst out of cloth and roared at him.
They’d burned into his skin and he felt thrill.
When he saw those eyes again on that ship that was slowly sinking, he hated them. He wanted to see the light leave them. Maybe then, the gold wouldn’t burn into his flesh and make the hatred that boiled in his blood choke him.
Those eyes started to look at him with hate and anger when they saw each other again on a ship hovering above the clouds. He’d still hated them.
Those eyes looked at him with something that wasn’t hatred and the Man-Tiger who he’d hated so much, who’d taken his place and done him one better-- said something Ryuunosuke never thought he would hear. Something that showed that, however it was possible, the Man-Tiger understood him.
That hatred wavered and the anger and suspicion in those gold-purple eyes ebbed away with time and growing connections.
In time, the Man-Tiger became only Atsushi to him, and Ryuunosuke adored that peculiar, unique shade of his eyes that seemed to glow pure gold under the city lights.
He adored them far more when they smiled at him in tandem with the curve of Atsushi’s lips.
In the dark, Atsushi’s eyes seemed to glow and see all. Just like the beast he’d been gifted with as his ability. Ryuunosuke thought the glow of Atsushi’s eyes were a trick of the light under the moon when they kissed for the first time, the water along the pier gently crashing against the wooden and metal pillars. Ryuunosuke realized it was more than just an optical illusion when, the curtains drawn over the windows to keep any possible prying eyes away, Ryuunosuke drew Atsushi into his arms while in bed and saw that it was not just some flicker of light that made Atsushi’s eyes glow vibrant gold.
It was all still new to him, gently touching another person, having someone else’s complete trust in him as Ryuunosuke pulled Atsushi in close enough that Ryuunosuke could rest his chin on top of Atsushi’s head. Strands of silver hair tickled his lips as Atsushi burrowed into his chest, nuzzling his collarbone with a soft sigh that made Ryuunosuke’s skin prickle with warmth.
Legs tangled together underneath his sheets, Ryuunosuke lightly ran his fingers through Atsushi’s hair and felt the other man smile against his chest. The movement of his fingers was hesitant, almost shy; he’d never done this with another person, after all. Never even contemplated it. But as he had a growing habit of doing, Atsushi blew all of his previous expectations and assumptions out of the water.
Perhaps it was only natural that their once unsteady partnership now lead to this.
Growing braver with showing affection, Ryuunosuke started with a brush of lips against Atsushi’s forehead. Hearing a faint laugh, breathed against his neck, Ryuunosuke lowered his head so that he could better kiss Atsushi’s cheek. His fingers remained in Atsushi’s hair as he finally met Atsushi’s lips in a kiss that could only be described as tender. It was returned with just as much feeling and Ryuunosuke felt Atsushi’s hand cup the side of his face.
His skin was so soft against his own.
When the kiss broke, Atsushi pressed their foreheads and noses against each other, lightly nuzzling him.
How catlike, Ryuunosuke mused.
With some amusement, he wondered if Atsushi could purr, too. But, ah, tigers didn’t purr; they chuffed, he recalled.
Slowly, Ryuunosuke opened his eyes to better look at Atsushi, only to find Atsushi staring right back at him with a soft smile on his lips, completely at ease.
Gray eyes widening, Ryuunosuke’s lips parted and he pushed himself up with his elbow.
Atsushi’s smile faltered and his brows furrowed, confused. “What is it?”
“Your eyes.”
Confusion grew on Atsushi’s face. “..What about them?”
Ryuunosuke pursed his lips. “They’re glowing.”
Just saying it felt silly on his tongue, but there was no other way to describe how the gold sheen of Atsushi’s eyes glimmered in the utter darkness of his bedroom; almost like a nightlight that children had in their rooms to help them fall asleep without fear.
But Ryuunosuke looked at Atsushi and those glowing gold-purple eyes and saw the tiger beneath flesh.
It was spell-binding.
Atsushi gaped at him, eyes wide and confused before it slowly morphed to embarrassment, cheeks coloring red.
Ryuunosuke could only blink and jolt when Atsushi suddenly ducked underneath the sheets, palms pressed against his face to cover his eyes. He curled into a ball underneath the blankets, trying to conceal himself utterly.
Scowl forming instantly, Ryuunosuke grabbed the sheets to pull them down. When Atsushi just curled in on himself further, Ryuunosuke swung one leg over Atsushi’s hip, his hands moving to grasp Atsushi’s wrists. His grip wasn’t hard, only firm.
“Stop that,” Ryuunosuke said firmly.
Atsushi didn’t respond. He just bit his lower hip and pressed his palms harder against his face.
Ryuunosuke exhaled, gripping tightening on Atsushi’s wrists.
“..Don’t hide.”
With that soft murmur, Ryuunosuke gently pulled Atsushi’s hands downward. Once his face was finally exposed, he saw that Atsushi’s eyes were firmly shut, tight.
“Atsushi.”
The silver-haired man twitched and Ryuunosuke felt him relax, if only some. His eyes remained shut.
Slowly, Ryuunosuke lowered down, only inches between their noses. His whisper was soft;
“Look at me.”
And he waited.
He waited until he saw the twitch of Atsushi’s eyelids, and their slow opening. His grip loose on Atsushi’s wrists, thumb lightly rubbing the slender curve of the bone, Ryuunosuke continued to look at him as those glowing gold eyes met his own.
Atsushi’s breath stuttered and he swallowed as Ryuunosuke lifted one hand to stroke his cheek with the back of his fingers.
“Is it weird?” Atsushi whispered.
“No,” Ryuunosuke answered.
A smile, shaky and not quite genuine enough for Ryuunosuke’s liking, crossed Atsushi’s lips. He laughed and it sounded like a shudder. “I’m sorry,” Atsushi breathed, hands reaching up to Ryuunosuke’s shoulders, “I don’t-- Sometimes, I just don’t understand my own body, or why it does the things it does. I never realized that they.. that they glowed.”
Ryuunosuke rubbed a soft strand of silver hair between his fingers. “They remind me of your tiger form. When you transform fully or even partially.”
Atsushi hummed, still uncertain. “Does it really?”
Ryuunosuke nodded and Atsushi looked down, lips pursed tight together. Ryuunosuke frowned and, using his other hand, lifted Atsushi’s face to properly meet his gaze.
“I--” he started, feeling the words fumble in his mouth awkwardly, “I think they’re beautiful.”
He felt his cheeks burn as the words came out, matching the flush that was growing on Atsushi’s face as those gold-purple eyes widened. He was mortified; but he would not take them back, embarrassed as he was.
Because he meant it.
And perhaps, the entire time, he’d thought they were beautiful all along.
“Oh, uh,” Atsushi stammered, now definitely flustered. “I’m--- I’m glad that you think so.”
Too embarrassed to say anything else, Ryuunosuke simply lowered down until he could press a soft, gentle kiss to Atsushi’s lips, letting action speak for him over words; he’d never been especially good at them.
And as always, somehow, Atsushi understood him.
Arms wrapped around his shoulders as Atsushi kissed him back, closing those eyes of his that held Ryuunosuke’s attention from the very start. Ryuunosuke felt Atsushi’s nails scrape gently against his scalp, dark hair between his fingers, like the kneading of an affectionate cat.
He felt Atsushi’s happy exhale against his mouth as Ryuunosuke deepened the kiss, pressing his lips more firmly and gently taking Atsushi’s lower lip between his teeth. The corners of his mouth twitched when Atsushi gave him just as much feeling back.
Atsushi didn’t entirely understand the beast that lived inside of him, the same beast that he was ever so slowly learning more about, its meaning and its power. He didn’t understand its effect on his body; some he could control, others, not.
Ryuunosuke was new to these feelings, the lack of hatred in his heart that’d once burned so painfully towards Atsushi. Now, he still burned, but with something different, something he couldn’t quite put a name to just yet. He didn’t fully understand them.
But he was willing to try.
He couldn’t think of a better person to do it with other than Atsushi.
