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Played by Jack Black in the English Dub

Summary:

Graphite's a dragon.

He knows that in other games that they're supposed to be good at kidnapping princesses. He kidnapped that friend of Lazer's once, but she wasn't really a princess. And she escaped, so in the end, he's no better than those other, easily defeated game bosses.

And now, Kuroto wants him to kidnap someone again. Though, this person is probably the furthest from a princess he could possibly get.

But, maybe that's what makes them a match.

Notes:

Honestly a little mad at myself for not thinking of this immediately after the trailer dropped because like??? IT'S SO OBVIOUS.

But on the other hand, the time I got to genuinely celebrate the revival of Bowuigi was really nice. So... yeah, please enjoy this fic, featuring Graphite's monster form as Bowser sized and more dragon-like.

Chapter Text

"Graphite," Kuroto said coolly.

The dragon's lip curled as he appeared next to the human. It was bad enough that Kuroto forced him to take his tiny, inadequate human form when in the office. But now he was making more demands? This had better have something to do with the plan to eradicate humans.

"I want to test something," Kuroto crossed his arms, turning to stare out the window, "Attachments can be troublesome, no?"

Graphite's thoughts flickered to Brave and Snipe, a familiar storm of feelings, both frustrated and fond, started to form in his chest.

He growled in agreement, ready to fight either of them if it came to it.

"Hojo Emu has grown quite attached to one of our other test subjects, hasn't he?"

A slightly unexpected turn, but considering where Genm's mind had been lately, Graphite could see the human's logic in it. It was true. His multiple failures to reveal the truth, every interference from Genm or half-lie from Lazer, should've made him more suspect in Ex-Aid's eyes. And yet, Lazer still seemed to be in his favor.

"What do you have in mind?" Graphite said.


Kiriya spun a pen around his fingers, rolling thoughts around in his head over and over. He took a deep breath, trying to relax and ease away the furrow between his brows that was bound to turn into a chasm at this rate.

He just needed to find a way to get Emu to see the truth about Genm and the bugsters. Taiga, Asuna, Hiiro and the director obviously had their own priorities and set their opinions about him. But Emu was still "fresh" to this whole crisis, despite all the evidence pointing otherwise. Kiriya could still reach him, and get all his findings to him, while conducting his own research on the intern. He really could be the key to everything.

Sighing, Kiriya stopped spinning his pen, then set it down. He leafed through a few piles of documents on his desk until he found the files he needed. He should just scan these and head out. No sense thinking about it more here. He needed to clear his head.

Kiriya spun around in his chair, letting out a yelp and almost jumping out of it at the unexpected sight of someone behind him. Instinctively, he was about to scold them for sneaking up on him. But his blood froze in his veins as he realized it wasn't just any old someone. This was Graphite, in all his draconic glory, on all fours to even fit in the small morgue office with its low ceiling.

Instinctively, Kiriya shrank back as Graphite looked him up and down. The bugster's obsidian eyes eventually locked onto his own and he tilted his head interestedly, leaning further into Kiriya's space.

A shudder dripped down Kiriya's spine, a wave of prickling rolling across his skin as he tried to lean further away. His eyes darted around for anything in the room that could possibly distract Graphite while he brought out his Driver and henshined. It wasn't an ideal fighting space, but at least he'd be alive by the end of the night.

His search was cut short by a flinch as a giant claw raised toward his face. Graphite was preparing to rip it off, Kiriya had never felt more certain of anything in his life.

But surprisingly, instead, the claw tenderly stroked under his chin. Then the point dug in slightly, forcing Kiriya's head up to look Graphite in the eye again.

"Curious," Graphite rumbled, his voice seeming to shake the room. Kiriya swore he could feel it vibrating through his feet and up into his chest.

"You humans are so fragile, and yet you're such a nuisance. Surprisingly hard to get rid of... like a cockroach, is the analogy I believe you'd use?"

"Well, not me in particular, but some people would," Kiriya said, voice shockingly steady, despite the situation he was in.

He swallowed hard, "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of the visit? Is it knowing who's actually wearing the Dark Ex-Aid suit?"

The claw under his chin trailed up, up, up. Kiriya's eyelids fluttered, fighting between staying open to be on guard for what Graphite did next, and wanting to close and just let whatever was coming happen. Graphite's claw played with his hairline for a moment, the razor sharpness of it barely kissing his skin. Then, Graphite gently trailed his finger down from Kiriya's temple, over his cheek, then along his jaw, pressing in ever so slightly behind his ear and dragging. Kiriya hissed as the skin tore, leaving a nick that oozed blood.

"Wouldn't you like to know, little man?" Graphite chuckled.

His claw pulled away, but it immediately swung down and wrapped almost all of Kiriya's body up. The only parts that didn't fit were from the shoulders up and from his knees down, his feet kicking helplessly. But before he could really process what was happening, the dragon before him started glowing and glittering gold and orange. A buzzing bubbled up from Kiriya's stomach, making his whole body feel fizzy like TV snow. And then they disappeared from the office, leaving only the papers he was holding behind, slowly fluttering to the ground and sliding under his desk.

Chapter 2

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

"So, feeling a little more talkative now?"

Graphite huffed and rolled his eyes. For someone who'd been taken hostage and still not reclaimed the next morning, Lazer seemed to think he the one in control of the situation.

Or, at least, he talked as if he was. He'd treated most of his time in captivity interrogating Graphite or talking at him. All his questions had been so mundane and brainless.

"Why'd you take me here?" "Actually, where are we, even?" "What's going on?" "Does this have anything to do with Kuroto?"

As if Graphite would answer any of them. And to think, he'd been so quiet for the first two hours of his capture. If Lazer wasn't alive and well for the kidnapping the other day, Graphite would've believed he was wholly incapable of caring for himself. He didn't seem to be able to put very basic concepts together. Shouldn't the answers to those questions be obvious, given the situation?

"Well, I guess I should've seen that coming. I gotta say though, I kinda expected you to be a little more open. When you kidnapped my friend, she said you didn't even give her a chair. And she was left standing for, what, two hours or so? That's really rude, you know? It's like you've got her working unpaid retail. Now, that's cruel and unusual punishment."

And there it was.

If Lazer wasn't asking asinine questions, he would fill the air with unnecessary quips and commentary. Perhaps his strategy was to annoy Graphite to release him. If that was the case, then his only release would be on pain of death.

Graphite thumped his tail near Lazer's foot, getting the human to jump. The sudden motion rattled the chains restraining Lazer to the cheap foldout chair Genm provided. Graphite growled low in his chest, tilting his head to watch the line of Lazer's throat bob as he swallowed hard. Despite the obvious nervousness in the action and his scent, the human continued talking.

"Anyway, nice hideout you found here. Great place for a treasure horde since no one will ever come looking around this area. Looks like we're the first people to use it in a decade or two. Look at all that moss and rust on the wall."

"Shouldn't you have passed out by now? Don't humans need sleep?" Graphite growled, rolling his eyes and settling his whole body against the floor.

At least the previous human, Lazer's "friend," was quiet.

"Oh, you don't know what you've got yourself into, big guy. I can go for a week without sleep if I need to. And given that you're a known murder virus and I'm hyped up on adrenaline from the kidnapping, I've got proper motivation to stay up."

Graphite grumbled to himself, and whacked a leg of the chair with his tail. Not that he really wanted to take a hostage again. But since he was having to do it, he wished he had the woman again. She similarly kept a wary eye on Graphite the whole time. Even as her legs gave out, with her body held up only by the chains and the railing she'd been tied to, she glared at him. And despite the stench of fear that rolled off her in waves, she kept up that brave face. Graphite could respect that at least.

Lazer on the other hand, seemed a bit worried, but played everything off so casually. As if he were completely unbothered by the situation. Perhaps it was his own version of being brave, but it really made Graphite want to snap his jaws at him or punch him in the face. Especially since he wouldn't. Shut. Up.

Graphite snorted frustratedly, then sighed. He hoped Genm would finish playing with Ex-Aid's allegiances soon. He wasn't sure how long he could last without killing the hostage...

Hold on...

Graphite tried to inhale subtly and quietly. There was something a bit strange about Lazer's scent. Something unfamiliar. But as Graphite caught the scent again, he remembered it coming off the human when he first captured him.

He tilted his head towards the human, but Lazer immediately looked away. Not fast enough to prevent Graphite from seeing how red his cheeks had gotten.

Lazer was... blushing?

Graphite lifted his head slightly, jaw cracking a bit as he shifted it in thought. What the hell was getting the human all worked up?

"What's wrong with you?" Graphite rumbled.

Lazer shrugged, turning his head even further away.

Graphite let another low growl rumble through his chest, lips pulling back to reveal his teeth even more as the blush on Lazer's cheeks deepened.

"Are you sick?"

Had Genm done something to Lazer before they chained him up? Infected him with something that could beat the immunity gained from his compatibility surgery? Graphite hadn't noticed any suspicious movements. Not even a flash of Genm's BugVisor. Lazer dying before Genm finished toying with Ex-Aid wouldn't make any sense either.

"Yeah," Lazer said, voice suddenly a bit raspy, "Can I get some air? It suddenly feels suffocating in here."

Graphite tilted his head. Even if he'd been trying to tell the truth, the human was known for lying. But... he couldn't imagine how the human could fake that kind of reaction and sighed. Graphite got to his feet, then picked up the human, chair, chains, and all in one claw. Lazer let out a choked gasp at the sudden change in elevation, but Graphite ignored him in favor of sliding open the warehouse doors to the outside.

Once Graphite was outside, he frowned at the cloudy skies and still air. It didn't seem like a conducive environment for fresh air. But it's what Lazer requested, and Graphite's only task for this was keeping the hostage intact, and then fighting Ex-Aid. If he even showed up.

Graphite tilted his head skyward, sniffing the air. There was the damp, musty smell of incoming rain, and the slight, cool, clear breath of a breeze accompanying it. With his three empty claws, he scaled the side of the warehouse to get them to the roof.

In the claw still holding Lazer, he could feel the human's breathing pick up slightly.

Graphite's first talon was pressed against Lazer's chest, and if he focused on it, he could feel the tiny pounding of the human's heart against his scales. The human's temperature seemed to increase quite a bit as well.

Curious.

The previous hostage seemed to react in similar ways to being handled. Rapid breathing and elevated heart rate. But Lazer's rise in temperature was quite drastic compared to her.

Graphite's mind flashed to his host. The way the heat seemed to sear through every part of Momose's body, making them dizzy and flushed. If this was anything like his own infection, then getting Lazer cooled off was the priority.

Once Graphite reached the roof, he set Lazer down carefully, his hand still wrapped around the human while he settled in. He curled his body around Lazer, blocking him in on all sides but with enough space to be considered "breathing room." Partially to keep him from sliding off the slightly slanted roof; and partially to keep him from escaping further than that small circle. If he could even manage getting out of the chair.

A faint gust blew across the rooftops, sending Lazer's scent flying right into Graphite's face. And there it was again. That strange scent Graphite couldn't quite place.

Graphite had been around humans (mostly Genm) enough to recognize changes in emotions and hormones could affect their scent. And he'd seen Genm go through all kinds of emotional changes. Enough to be familiar with most of Genm's moods. But, even through all his outbursts, plotting, and manic joy, he'd never smelled like this.

That strange hint to Lazer's scent was a mix of savory and bittersweet that made him seem... appetizing. Not in the way that Graphite would want to tear him apart. No, that was mostly from how annoying the human was. But he found the scent was stirring up a sort of hunger that was beginning to gnaw in his belly and chest. If he wasn't tasked with keeping Lazer completely safe until Ex-Aid arrived, Graphite wouldn't mind taking a bite.

Just to sate his curiosity.

A shudder suddenly ran through Lazer's body. And in that instant, all his bravado and smug grins vanished in the wake of a fear that left him wide-eyed and trembling. Graphite thought it was the growing chill of the roof as the rain approached, but Lazer's expression spoke volumes about it not being the cold that got him shaking. There was a low growl of thunder close by, perhaps the human was—

Graphite flinched. He hadn't even noticed the interested growl rumbling in his chest or the way he'd crept forward, eyeing the human up and down like a meal until their faces were almost flush. Graphite snorted, the rush of air from his lungs ruffled Lazer's hair, and he settled on the roof moodily. Well, he'd almost taken a bite of the all important hostage. Great job, Graphite.

"Alright, what's wrong with you?" He grumbled, "Do you need medical treatment? We need you alive and well for the moment, unfortunately."

Lazer shook his head, as if snapping himself from a daze.

"It's nothing, really. Just feeling warm. Maybe the rain will cool me off."

"Isn't that how humans get sick?"

"I'll be okay. Just let it happen."

Graphite huffed, "If you get more sick before you get taken off my hands, I'm..."

He snarled. There wasn't even a good threat to come up with since he couldn't harm Lazer. Just great.

"Don't." Graphite growled low in warning. "Don't get more sick."

Lazer met his eyes, a confused look in them at first. But eventually, he just nodded seriously and hung his head to hide his next expression.

Graphite wasn't overly fond of the rain, but since Lazer asked for it, he let them both get drenched, waiting for the human to be the one to initiate when to go back inside. And with the rain, Graphite's sense of smell was dampened a bit, so Lazer's strange scent went away. The human seemed to breathe heavily for a while. Graphite almost wondered if he was crying. But when he looked up, tilting his head to let the rain fall across his face, his eyes weren't red or swollen. So he must've just been trying to collect himself.

Perhaps it was the adrenaline from earlier he spoke of, though the medical knowledge from Momose's memories would like to differ.

They stayed like that for a while, Lazer with his face upturned, and Graphite watching him carefully. Eventually, Lazer was able to look at Graphite again. And his face still tinged slightly with red on his cheeks when their eyes met. It had to be Graphite's imagination, but in that moment he swore he caught a hint of that strange scent again.

"What are you feeling right now?" Graphite asked, his tongue moving before his brain could even think to stop it.

Lazer's chest rose with a sharp, silent inhale, then slowly lowered and relaxed.

He opened his mouth, the color deepening a bit more. But then he ended up taking another deep breath through it, letting it close as he breathed out through his nose.

"I think I'm ready to go back inside." Lazer mumbled.

Graphite simply nodded and picked him up once again.

Once they were settled in as they were before their little adventure, Lazer couldn't take his eyes off Graphite.

"Why did you ask that on the roof?"

Graphite shrugged. He guessed he had nothing to lose being truthful.

"I've picked up a strange scent from you sometimes. It usually blends into your scent when you blush. And I thought I picked it up on the roof again, so I wanted to know what you were feeling to make that scent happen."

Lazer's eyes widened and he suddenly averted his eyes.

"If you don't wish to answer, it's no issue. I'm simply here to stand guard until you are rescued or not."

Lazer snorted a laugh, "Funny thing, that."

He smiled, but there was a sharp edge to it that made Graphite wary.

"I'm not exactly princess material."

"This is far from castle material," Graphite countered, "I've been told that dragons should take their hostages there."

"Well, not like you have many options for those around here," Lazer's smile took on more of a teasing edge, "Not unless you want to cause a massive scene."

"I wouldn't mind."

"Yeah, you'd probably like the challenge of breaking into a place like that with a hostage in tow."

Graphite thumped his tail on the ground, lightly this time, a bit amused, "Perhaps it would help me seem more dragon-like to Genm."

Lazer scoffed, "You're plenty dragon-like. Just in a different way from all the usual dragon tropes. Since that's not how your game works anyway, right?"

"I'm surprised you know anything about how my game works." Lazer simply winked at him.

"I do my research."

Graphite smiled slightly, then sighed, "And yet, I'm expected to carry out the role of a 'usual' dragon. I kidnapped a royal from a knight when I was born in a sense. And now I've kidnapped two more people that had to wait until they were rescued."

"Jeez, is that really the reason you were the one who infected Momose? Kuroto loves dramatic irony, then? Since I don't think Hiiro realized yet and probably won't for a while, if ever."

"I'm not entirely sure, but he certainly has a taste for the dramatic."

"So who's the knight Kuroto's set up for me?"

"Who else?"

"Hmm..." Lazer seemed to ponder this exaggeratedly, "Well, since Hiiro and Taiga are already spoken for in a way, I have to assume it's ace."

Graphite nodded once. Now that he was actually engaging with Lazer, he could easily see the air-headed questions he previously asked were only for annoyance's sake.

"Well, ace isn't exactly knight in shining armor material, so I guess this whole situation suits me just fine," Lazer looked him up and down, "Though... Knight is in the title of your game, isn't it? Maybe you should be that for me instead. The knight and the dragon, all wrapped up in one..." Lazer's voice trembled, as if he barely stopped himself from saying something, "...one package."

"I think I'd rather just fight you," Graphite grumbled, and Lazer let out a sharp laugh.

"I don't mind that either, but I think we definitely know who's winning that," He chuckled, "Actually, thinking about it, maybe I do mind, since I'd like to stay alive for a bit longer."

"What would you do if you get out of this alive?" Graphite knew Genm wanted Lazer to leave this encounter alive, but it was a bit fun to keep him on his toes.

"Well..."

As they continued to talk, the conversation somehow turned to Lazer's line of work. He spoke easily and freely of human anatomy, and disease, and murder, and death. Much more easily than Genm or Momose's family and friends had ever managed.

The macabre seemed to come to Lazer as easily as breathing. He talked about calculating travel speeds through the size and shape of drops of blood, studies of decay and of entrance and exit wounds, and how to tell how long ago a person became a corpse based on the tension in muscles, chemical compositions, and temperature, since no one method was completely accurate.

They got so tangled up in conversation that they barely noticed when the rain stopped. And they didn't notice how much time had passed after that. Not until they finally heard the buzz of a moped and faint, familiar voices. Lazer perked up at the sound, and Graphite got to his feet, taking his weapon out.

Ex-Aid and Poppy burst into the warehouse, looking completely dry. As if they hadn't started their search until after the rain had stopped. Graphite somehow felt aggravated by that. He knew that was the whole point of Genm's exercise. To see how long it would take for Ex-Aid to even notice him missing and come looking for him. To see if Genm could lead him astray and how much sway he still held over his little player.

So Graphite couldn't fully place the feeling. All he knew was that the strange scent was back as he stood in front of Lazer, guarding him as Ex-Aid took out his belt to transform. He took a slow, subtle breath in, letting the scent fill his lungs before he rushed into battle.


Kiriya groaned as his head span. He hated sitting up right now since it aggravated his headache, but he needed to blow his nose again, and he couldn't do it lying down.

"Seriously, you let yourself get caught up in a downpour? Why the hell would you do that?" Riko huffed as she fussed over him, "You're lucky you have me and big bro around, otherwise you'd be dealing with this on your own."

"Needed a cold shower, and that was the closest available thing since I was chained up," Kiriya mumbled.

"And why the hell would you need that?" Riko scoffed.

Kiriya blushed, thankful he could pass it off as his fever. No way he'd tell her that the bugster that kidnapped her was the source of it. And more embarrassingly, he could smell when Kiriya got turned on by him? He was already having trouble processing all the feelings the kidnapping had given him, but then realizing that arousal had been one of them. Mortifying.

At least Kiriya's arousal was less... obvious than it would be on most men. But still!!! Embarrassing! And even more embarrassing that it kind of turned him on more! And on top of that Graphite ended up being a great listener just letting him go on about whatever while they were waiting for Emu to come and rescue him?

Kiriya sneezed, hoping it was just the cold he'd stupidly got and not someone talking about him... Although... If it was Graphite and Kuroto planning another kidnapping... he wouldn't be entirely opposed. Maybe he could get something interesting out of Graphite next time. Listen to him talk about an interest he could go on for hours about or hear out his hopes and dreams or whatever. It was only fair he paid the favor back.

And maybe he wanted to see his knight in dragon armor again. Hard to not get attached when they ticked most of his more... unconventional boxes.

Notes:

And here we are at the end of this little experiment. I think there's potential of revisiting this idea since I feel like I didn't exactly hit the vibe I wanted. But that will be in a different fic at a different time. Maybe if there's more Bowuigi subtext in the super mario movie I can draw inspiration from another will come.