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Renjun finds Nakamoto Yuta absolutely fascinating and not just because he is the only dark witch he’s met. He is a guest to the coven but he fits right into the banter easily and is incredible at controlling his ability even when surprised or agitated by someone in the house.
He’s remarkably reserved to be so visually ostentatious, preferring to keep to himself and Shotaro when he can, but he’s slowly–too slowly for Renjun’s liking–finding a place in the space left between Sicheng and Johnny. There’s so much comfort to be found there, Renjun’s been finding safety in their arms ever since he was barely higher than Johnny’s knee, and it’s helping whatever is ailing that sad and dark part of his soul that he hides from Renjun whenever they’re in the training room working through the surges in his power.
When Renjun slips out of the house, bear-fur coat wrapped tightly around him to fend off the early January chill, he finds Yuta sitting on the porch swing with coffee in hand and a faraway look on his face. The porch is no stranger to introspection but Renjun clears his throat slightly anyway. Yuta turns to look at him, eyes burning like coals, and the faraway look doesn’t go away but something in the way he holds his shoulders relaxes. “Freezing your nipples off this fine morning?” Renjun asks, trying to cut through the tension that has Yuta strung as tightly as a bowstring.
Yuta laughs, shifting to make room for Renjun on the swing before he considers his mug of coffee. His hair blends into the snow behind him and makes those brilliant eyes of his look even more radiant but Renjun can tell that Yuta does not feel beautiful. “A little. Are you going into the woods?”
“Town, actually. Channie should be coming out soon.” Renjun sits beside Yuta and tilts his head to the woods when confusion crosses his face. “They don’t always make themselves comfortable in the house. They are meant to be in nature.”
Yuta nods, rocking the swing idly. “Can I be...entirely honest with you?”
If it’s about Sicheng and Johnny, I already know what you feel.” Their breath is cool clouds before them and Renjun reaches out to turn one of them pink. “I would have even if we didn’t have to let our auras mingle for training and even if you didn’t look absolutely miserable out here in the cold.” Yuta doesn’t appreciate this read and looks down into his coffee cup with a small frown. It can’t be as easy as Renjun says it is, nothing is ever easy when it comes to Yuta and love.
“I don’t think–”
Renjun silences him with a look, the brown melting out of his eyes to leave them a light shade of pink. “And you’re wrong. But you need time to realize that.”
Yuta sucks his teeth and looks towards the forest again as he sips his coffee, eyes following the slow pace Sungchan walks out of the treeline. “Will they give it to me?”
“Of course they will. They want you, Yuta, they’ll wait as long as they need to.”
“You are so sure of so many things to be so young.” There’s a sense of awe in Yuta’s voice and it makes Renjun’s brow furrow slightly as he considers it. “You have so much knowledge, so much power, but you don’t fear it, do you?”
Renjun shakes his head, pulling his legs up to his chest so that his long skirt shielded them from the bitter winter winds. “No. But I don’t think I was ever given a reason to be. You were.”
Yuta works his jaw slowly and Renjun wonders who, in their right mind, blames a child for having powers they do not understand and are learning to control. Yuta is a man now, powerful and beautiful, but all of the fear that followed him when he was young surrounds him like a mourning cloak.
Renjun wants to rip it away, but not as much as Sicheng does.
“I was. I envy you, little deer. I envy your upbringing, your certainty, your love...”
Sungchan sees Yuta and Renjun on the porch and makes to jog up before catching his gaze and settling back in his space. Is he okay?
Renjun swallows his sigh and turns his head to Yuta with a small smile. I’m not sure but he’s not exactly ‘good’, either.
Fucking yikes.
“Yuta?” Renjun asks, resting his hand on Yuta’s arm and marveling at how the heat of his magic warms his palm quickly. “Have you considered that we were meant to help each other?”
“I’ve considered a great many things since I first got here, Renjun. I’ve seen your micro-coven and watched with nothing short of amazement as it opened up to welcome my little brother in, all of your auras popping and forming the prettiest of complimentary rainbows. I've seen a young witch bound to a young stag who are so powerful together and possibly dangerous when apart. And I've seen a love witch and a great stag, both of whom I want so terribly, but who I think have no reason to want me in turn. and then I look at you here, small beside me with pearls wound between your antlers, and think that maybe you’re so certain about everything because you’re actually always right. I used to be terrified of the end of the world but you?”
Renjun looks at Yuta and squeezes his shoulder. “I’ve seen it. different versions of it and caused a few of them myself. But I am only certain of three things, really. One) that so long as I have Sungchan and his love that there is nothing for me to fear. Two) that even if I seem to be the most powerful being on earth that I am not. I am just Renjun–a witch with a witch’s emotions–and I am fallible. And three) nothing is really certain at all. My visions change all the time.”
“But you are certain of...us. Why? Your sibling and Johnny are so happy without me.”
“Their future has always been a hallway with doors for them to open along the way. There have always been other options for them. Together they are happy, yes, and I want nothing more than for that happiness to never stop, but with you, they are happier.”
Renjun can tell by the look on Yuta’s face that he is finding that so hard to believe. But he knows that all Yuta needs is time.
Sicheng and Johnny can handle the rest without help.
“Do you want anything from town?” Renjun asks once Sungchan makes it up the steps to the patio and smiles at them both, getting up to tuck into his boyfriend’s side. There are handsome vines wound through Sungchan’s antlers and Yuta smiles slightly at the picture they paint in their thick furs and ankle-length skirts. Their bond is something untouchable and he envies it so much that they can both taste it, but he is not the first and he won’t be the last.
“Good morning, Sungchan,” Yuta says instead of answering, finishing off his coffee and setting the empty mug down beside him.
“Good morning, Yuta,” he returns easily before pressing a soft kiss to the top of Renjun’s antler. “But, do you want anything from town?” Sungchan is a stubborn creature, they all know it, and Yuta snorts fondly at him.
“Surprise me?” he asks, tilting his head to the side. They mirror the action and Yuta, despite being fully dressed, feels laid bare before their shared gaze. There's a reason why he lets Sungchan close during training but asks for him not to participate and it’s because he feels a little too seen with both halves of this particular soul in front of him. “I trust you both.” He tacks on before his silence can be perceived.
Renjun hums and tugs Sungchan off of the porch to his pretty little lavender car. for a moment, Yuta wonders if they’re still going to drive with the top down even in the cold, and then he watches a rose gold bubble enclose the open top of the car. It’s a rare chance to see their magic combine visually and he admires it for what it is as they drive off.
He doesn't know how long he stares after the car before the front door opens to reveal Sicheng, clad in a velvet robe with the softest and sleepiest eyes Yuta has ever seen. “How long have you been out here?” They mumble, voice hoarse with sleep as they hug themself to keep warm. “It’s freezing, Yuta.”
“Not long,” Yuta lies and grabs his mug to follow Sicheng inside, careful not to touch them with his cold hands. “Renjun and Sungchan just went out.” It’s hard to resist gathering this sleepy wonder into his arms when he wants nothing more than to coax Sicheng into his arms and let them rest their head on his shoulder to catch just a little more sleep.
Sicheng nods and heads into the kitchen, leaving Yuta to follow them like a lost duckling. They take his mug to clean it and look over at him with a slight tilt to their head. “You’ve been avoiding me.”
For the month that Yuta has known Sicheng, they never have beat around the bush. He shouldn’t expect them to start now. “Not...exactly.”
“Then what, exactly, do you call it?”
Yuta runs his tongue over his front teeth and leans against the counter closest to Sicheng. their aura flutters gently and he realizes that Renjun might actually have a point. “...protecting myself.”
Sicheng puts the mug down and turns to Yuta, hand resting beside his as they step into his space. “From what pain?” they ask, fingers brushing lightly over Yuta’s.
It takes a great amount of effort not to pull his hand away out of nerves. “Heartbreak, I suppose.” He watches Sicheng’s face with nerves coiling in his belly as they tilt their head to look at him. He feels bare in a way he doesn’t when anyone else looks at him and he knows that Sicheng can feel the way his heart is beating like a little bird within his chest.
Their hand comes up and rests there, feeling every fluttering beat under their palm. They do not try to ease him with their magic as he expects but they rub slow circles over his sweater.
Sicheng is so perfectly wonderful and Yuta would be a fool to not fall in love with everything about them. That doesn’t mean that loving them is less terrifying, though.
“We would never hurt you,” Sicheng whispers and for the first time ever when hearing those words, Yuta believes them. “You may feel as if you are not welcome here or in our arms, but I welcome you. I will open my heart to you but only if you will open yours in turn.”
“And Johnny?” Yuta’s voice comes out meeker than intended and he turns his head away to break Sicheng’s gaze. “Is he as welcoming as you?”
“more so, actually. Johnny has so much love in his heart to give. he is offering it to you— we are offering it to you.”
Those words are devastating to hear and when Sicheng pulls Yuta into their arms, Yuta goes willingly. he tucks his face into their neck and inhales the warm mix of Sicheng’s peppery body wash and a thick woodland scent that must be Johnny—he wants to down in it, to soak it into his skin, and let it take him over. “I’m scared,” he admits softly, eyes closing as Sicheng’s hand passes through his hair.
“I know,” they whisper back and press a soft kiss to the shell of his ear. “But we’re here to catch you.”
Yuta slides his hands around their waist and pulls them close, his eyes closing as he is lavished with Sicheng’s attention.
“Sicheng?” Johnny’s voice is sleep heavy and Yuta’s eyes lift up to take the great stag in. He looks warm and sleepy, an open hoodie barely hanging onto his shoulders as he rubs his eyes with one hand. He is hopelessly endearing but then Yuta’s eyes are drawn down to his bare chest and the sprigs of lavender tattooed on his left pec. It’s pretty but Yuta’s eyes travel from it all the way down his chest and abs.
It’s unfair for someone to look that good freshly out of bed and Johnny sounds like sin on top of it.
“Yuta..~” Johnny smiles at him and maybe Yuta’s arms tighten around Sicheng in a physical reaction to his voice said that way. “Are we cuddling? Can I cuddle?”
Sicheng laughs in Yuta’s ear and turns their head to look at Johnny, a low hum of appreciation leaving them. Yuta knows that Sicheng gets more than enough eyefuls of Johnny’s firm muscles but he doubts it’s easy to tire of the sight. “Do you want to cuddle?” They ask, gently patting Yuta’s back in sympathy. “Because he’s finally stopped running.”
Sicheng is so mean to be so pretty and comfortable to lean against.
But then Johnny is coming around and wrapping his strong arms around Yuta and Sicheng and Yuta cannot find it in him to complain anymore. He's enveloped in a warmth he doesn’t think he’s ever felt and he tilts his head back against Johnny’s chest.
Johnny wastes no time in ducking his head down to fit it in the crook of Yuta’s neck. It’s gentle and adoring and Yuta’s melting into Johnny like snow in the springtime. “Can I kiss you?” He mumbles into Yuta’s throat and the surprised little noise he makes when Yuta takes him by the chin to slot their lips together was worth waiting for.
Sicheng’s aura thrums and then they’re turning Yuta’s face away from Johnny’s to kiss him too and Yuta thinks that he might have died, actually. But what a way to go.
Shotaro walks past the kitchen and blinks twice before giggling, hands coming up to smother the sound as the three of them look in his direction. “Congrats, it took you long enough!” he chirps and comes into the kitchen to get himself orange juice.
Johnny laughs but Yuta throws a lazy dark orb at his little brother. Shotaro easily dodges it but the action was satisfying enough. “Mornin’, Taro.”
“You’re a bully,” Yuta adds as if his little brother cares. Shotaro is happily pouring his orange juice and relishing in the fact that his brother has a relationship—two relationships?—now. “Why are you even up this early?”
Shotaro holds up his cup of orange juice with a sweet little smile. “I was thirsty.”
Yuta rolls his eyes as Shotaro offers a salute before heading back up the stairs and Yuta is once again left alone with Sicheng and Johnny. There are words unsaid between them, a tension in the air, but Yuta is not afraid of it anymore. It is comfortable in their arms and when Sicheng’s arms wind around his waist, he does not tense like he would days earlier. “I’m not...ready yet,” Yuta admits softly, head propped against Johnny. “But I am done running.”
“You being done running is far better than what we were doing before,” Sicheng says and gets a light swat on the arm from Johnny. “I’m right !”
“That doesn’t mean you should say it,” Johnny sighs and presses a soft kiss to Yuta’s cheek. “We’ll give you as much time as you need.”
♡♥♡
The house is quiet when Renjun and Sungchan slip back inside around noon, Sungchan’s arms filled with most of the bags while Renjun holds books in his arms. It’s not an unusual sight and Luhan offers them a wave. The older witch looks absolutely haggard with a fussy Chenle in his arms and Sungchan sets the bags down to cross the room and put a little plush deer into the toddler’s arms. Chenle’s quiet in moments and Luhan leans back against the couch in relief.
“You are,” he says slowly and with great feeling, “a lifesaver. Have you considered babysitting—?”
“Chenle is nothing short of a demon,” Sungchan says, tapping the little boy on his button nose. “That’ll be a ‘no’, no matter how much I like him.”
Luhan shrugs and mumbles about it being worth a shot as the boys head upstairs. Most of the micro-coven is curled up in their makeshift study and Renjun sighs when he sees Kunhang hanging upside down off of the couch with a book hovering above his head. Renjun knows he can’t read like that. He knows it. but Kunhang insists on being weird and there is nothing anyone can do about it.
“We come bearing gifts! And snacks!” Renjun announces before sitting daintily on a pillow and setting his books in front of him. Sungchan folds his long legs beneath him beside Renjun and steals a soft kiss as everyone gives various greetings from their sprawled positions on the floor and pillows.
“Welcome back, brothers-in-law,” Shotaro chirps, sprawled across three pillows with Leon on his stomach.
Renjun blinks slowly before covering his mouth as Sungchan laughs outright. “Shut up! They finally stopped being stupid?”
“You say ‘they’ but we all know you mean Yuta.” Shotaro sounds nearly smug as he sticks one of his legs up in a stretch and throws up a playful peace sign. “I caught them kissing in the kitchen!”
In between giggles, Sungchan manages to get out, “he was trying to be nice.”
“In the kitchen? ” Haechan asks, sitting up carefully from Yukhei’s chest to avoid waking him up. He holds his breath and exhales when Yukhei only shifts a little. “They couldn’t get a proper room?”
“I think they probably got one now,” Sungchan replies, turning to lay his head in Renjun’s lap. Renjun strokes over his cheekbones tenderly and he mourns the fact his antlers get in the way of him burying his face in his stomach and sleeping there. It’s very unfair considering actually. “What’s next? There can’t be any more dramatic things that can happen in this house.”
Dejun raises a brow at Sungchan and sinks down to the floor to lay his head in Shotaro’s lap. that’s not news, not really, but Sungchan flips Dejun off anyway. “I feel like you just jinxed us. Now anything can happen and when it does I'm coming right to you and blaming you personally.”
Sungchan rolls his eyes. “You give me too much credit, Dejun. I can’t make shit happen and if it was up to Renjun, nothing would ever happen around here.”
Renjun hums and pats Sungchan’s chest approvingly. “Exactly. I doubt anything drastic will happen.”
Kunhang pulls himself up and looks out of the window. and sits up straighter, bracing his hands on the windowsill. “Uh, don’t look now, but there are bears approaching.”
“I’m blaming Sungchan!” Dejun announces firmly, scrambling off the floor with everyone else to join Kunhang at the window. Sure enough, two bears were coming out of the Western Wood. They didn’t look as proud as everyone was used to and Renjun leaned forward to see if he could guess who they were.
“I...think it’s Jinyoung and Jongin?” He guesses, squinting a little. “We have to get Johnny.”
“Do you think they’re here to cause trouble?” Yangyang asks, voice softer than anyone’s heard it in a long time. the thing is, no one has an answer for him. The bears have always been unpredictable and this seems to be no different.
“I don’t know,” Sungchan finally says and rests his hands on his hips. “But we have to get Johnny regardless.”
“Well, fuck.” Renjun says as he pulls away from the window and crosses his arms over his chest. It's a difficult situation for all of them but none of them have ever encountered the bears. Only Johnny has.
“Well, let’s get it.” Haechan sighs and heads to the door, rubbing his face a little as Yangyang and Yukhei trail after him nervously.
Sungchan doesn’t blame them. There are so many nerves in the room now and Sungchan watches the anxious way Shotaro’s solar system jerks and spins around his head. He pulls his hood up to slow its movement but it simply phases through the fabric to resume its frenetic movement around his head.
He’s still so new to all of this, to the secret drama that moves throughout the forest, and Sungchan can understand his anxiety and nerves.
“Would they be bold enough to come to the house and start problems directly?” Shotaro asks Sungchan as they head down the stairs together, his hands stuffed in his hoodie pockets. “I know they’re kind of assholes but they can’t be that stupid, can they?”
Can they? Sungchan’s not sure. He and Haechan were typically either sent to the coven house or to Doyoung’s herd if the bears started to encroach on the eastern wood so Sungchan has no real reference for what they will and won’t do.
He’s not exactly eager to find out, either.
“I don’t think so, but I don’t have a good feeling about this visit. But we can handle them.”
Shotaro considers Sungchan before he lets his eyes travel to Renjun and his cotton candy soft pink hair floating around as his magic is agitated and encouraged by the presence of the micro-coven. “You’re confident in Renjun’s abilities.”
“Yes, but I’m also confident in my brother and yours. There's power in this house and it’s on the side of the eastern wood. If the bears want to cause trouble, they won’t leave this house alive.” Sungchan thinks of Sicheng’s collection of crystal hearts of three former bear patriarchs and Renjun’s bear fur coat.
Shotaro exhales softly and lets the tension holding his shoulders up flood out of him. “If that’s what you believe, I believe it with you.”
Sungchan just hopes it’s true.
♡♥♡
“A coup,” Yuta says slowly, arms crossed over his chest as he takes in Jinyoung and Jongin. they look exhausted of their leaders, which Yuta fully understands, but he’s surprised that they’re here to not only hand over their leaders to Johnny’s wrath but to ask for clemency. They want better for their forest and they are willing to sacrifice their own people for it. It's admirable but Yuta does wonder what kind of batshit behavior is going on in the western wood to bring them to this point. “Your uncle wants to kill the great stags because he believes their magic will transfer to him with it. Does he have… any proof of this?”
“None,” Jongin confirms, running a hand through his hair. “He’s a fool.”
“You can say that again,” Johnny hisses, arms crossed tight over his chest. “You understand what coming to us means.”
Jinyoung turns his eyes to Johnny and considers his great height and greater antlers. He saw the other stags on their way in and knows that this coven, even without nature’s help, is nothing to sniff out. Giving what remains of his and Jongin's extended family up will guarantee the end of the reign of the great bears of the eastern wood.
Jinyoung does not think this is a bad thing. Jongin thinks it might be the best thing to happen to the woods. “We know,” Jinyoung finally says, turning his head up to meet Johnny’s eyes. “But we don’t want them to do this. I’m absolutely fucking tired of seeing them attempt to destroy the balance of the woods. The time of the great bears is over.”
Johnny’s head tilts and Sicheng’s teacup pauses halfway to their mouth. “You want us to take them out. And you don’t want to rise in their place?” Sicheng asks, lowering their teacup to the saucer in their hand. “You will let your family line die out?”
“It deserves to happen,” Jongin says, holding his hands up. “Take your forest back. Do what you need to do to save it. I don't even care if you do your worst to them. I promise that they’d do worse to you.”
Yuta steeples his fingers together before pointing his index fingers at the bears before them. “They can’t do worse than me,” he says with a smile darker than midnight in the woods. “And I’m looking forward to proving that to you.”
Johnny watches fear play over the bears’ faces and uncrosses his arms to lean back against the counter. His hands hold it tightly and Sicheng reaches over to ease his grip. “Do you swear to never strike against us? If you don’t, you’ll die with them.”
“I swear,” they answer with no hesitation, and Yuta’s lips quirk up slightly in amusement. “Do whatever it is you need to do, I don't care,” Jongin adds and leans back in his seat. “They have it coming to them.”
Yuta would call him cold but he can tell that this isn't easy for them. He can’t imagine the pain of coming to your family’s self-declared enemies and asking them, in not so many words, to kill your family. Even saying it’s for their own good must be painful.
Johnny sighs and tilts his head back before speaking. “We will grant you safety. But your family won’t survive this.”
Jinyoung offers Johnny a half-smile, his eyes filled with regret. “They never were.”