Work Text:
Sett stares with wide eyes past the barrel of the ethereal rifle aimed at his head, towards a pair of deep rubies that glow under the light of the streetlamps. There’s a wound on the man’s cheek, a streak of dried blood running down a perfectly sculpted profile that makes the half-vastayan unsure if he should be concerned or turned on.
“Phel?” He calls out, voice almost a whisper. He may be twice the size of the man before him, have more than enough muscle mass to stop a bullet from doing a significant amount of damage to his internal organs, but Alune is aimed at his head. And no amount of muscle mass or vastayan magic can protect his brain against an attack from a Demon Weapon. “Mooncake, it’s me.”
At that, Aphelios furrows his brows together and lowers Alune cautiously. He tilts his head in question.
“Hey,” Sett offers his boyfriend a warm smile as he slowly lowers his hands. “Rough night?”
Aphelios purses his lips and nods hesitantly. He looks down at the rifle, at Alune, and Sett knows that the meister is having a conversation with his sister through their meister-weapon connection. He then lets out a silent sigh and affixes her to his back. With both his hands free, he signs, ‘We’re after a couple of Grimms that’s been causing troubles around this part of town. I was not expecting you to be here, much less this late at night. Sorry for aiming Alune at you.’
Sett’s ears perk above his head, a smile forming on his lips. “Oh! It’s fine, don’tcha worry, Mooncake. I was headin’ home after visitin’ Ma. She made dinner for everyone—” Sett realizes that his hands are empty, and when he looks around, he finds several containers of food spilled on the ground. His ears fall flat. “Oh.”
Aphelios follows his gaze, his face falling at the sight of the mess; several plastic containers strewn about on the pavement, their contents spilled and unsalvageable. He really loved his Ma’s cooking, and ever since Sett’s Ma knew about this simple fact, she never fails to send an extra serving of his favorite menu whenever Sett would stop by.
“Damnit. That Grimm really got a jump on me.”
Aphelios snaps his attention to the taller man, brows rising in question. He places a gentle hand upon Sett’s shoulder, earning his attention, then signs, ‘You got jumped by a Grimm?’
“Uh, yeah.” Sett steps aside, and behind him is what’s left of an evaporating four-legged monster after getting pummeled to oblivion by the Boss himself. “The fucker appeared out of nowhere and landed on my head. Thought it was a cat at first, but when it did that nasty clickin’ sound, I probably dropped all the food and gave it a taste of its medicine.”
Aphelios smiles sadly at him. ‘Sorry. We would have caught the Grimm earlier if we didn’t have to stop Kayn from going off on a civilian.’
Sett sighs heavily at that. Of course. What are they supposed to expect from the other meister if he’s not all bark and bite? His shoulders sag. “It’s fine. I’ll just let Ma know…” He turns to Aphelios, his concern about the food completely forgotten when his eyes land on the wound on his cheek. He raises a hand and cups his cheek, thumb caressing the area underneath the break on the skin. “What happened to ya?”
Aphelios leans into the touch. ‘We caught one. Wasn’t a clean fight, though.’
Sett pouts. “Phel…”
Aphelios rolls his eyes. He knows where this is going. As much as Sett is known to never shy away from any chances to swing his fists, the half-vastayan doesn’t approve of the fact that his boyfriend gets to spend long evenings patrolling the streets as a Reaper chasing after monsters that seem to materialize out of thin air. They’ve had multiple arguments in the past in regards to his profession of choice, with him coming home all wounded and bruised more times than he can count on his fingers and toes. Aphelios understands why Sett is concerned. If their places are switched and if the Huntsman is instead a Reaper, Aphelios would also be worried about his partner coming home with injuries that can put a gorillaphant down.
But who is Sett to make complaints when he has his own version of fighting Grimms in the form of bounty hunting?
‘It’s just a scratch,’ Aphelios signs, ruby eyes looking up to dull turquoise orbs. ‘Alune has a first aid kit with her. She’ll check on it as soon as we’re done for the night.’
Sett doesn’t look convinced with the deepening pout. “Mooncake.”
‘I promise I’m fine—’
His hands freeze in the space between them as Sett suddenly leans down to his height, face dangerously close to his before he feels him lick a trail following the dried blood all the way to the non-bleeding wound. His breath hitches, and he senses Alune yelp through their connection at the foreign feeling.
Sett pulls away just as fast as he licks at his wound, a wide smile plastered on his lips that crinkles his eyes, fangs showing. “There! Good as new!”
Aphelios feels his face flare and curses himself for letting his stoic expression melt away so easily whenever the Huntsman is around him. He’s a professional Reaper for fuck’s sake. He’s seen many deaths and witnessed horrors the faint of heart could never fathom, and he faced them all with a heart of steel, kept his cool and carried on like nothing happened. But with Sett…goddamnit, it’s those fluffy ears, he swears.
‘You do know Alune can sense everything that I can, right?’ he asks, exaggerating his hand movements with the word ‘everything’ to drive the point home to his shameless boyfriend’s thick skull.
Sett’s eyes widen, and Aphelios barely misses the red hue that floods his handsome features. “C-course I do! I–it’s just that…I…ya do know that my s-saliva has healing properties, yeah? Yeah! That’s it! I just sped up the healin’ process—”
He’s not really thinking before he acts, is he? Alune asks through their connection with a hint of embarrassment and laughter. Do tell him that it’s gross though. Urgh. I don’t think I’ll get the sensation out of my cheek for a week!
Aphelios shivers at the thought, which stops Sett from rambling. He signs, ‘Alune says hi. And that she’s…grossed out.’
“ALUNE!!! HEYYYY!! HAHA! HIII!” Sett laughs out loud awkwardly, one arm reaching to the back of his neck. “I-I swear I wasn’t thinkin’ anythin’ nasty! J-just wanted to help! Ya two had a long night ahead of ya and I don’t want Phel to lose more blood in case the wound reopens or somethin’.”
No. Please. No more. LALALA HAPPY THOUGHTS! HAPPY THOUGHTS!
Aphelios couldn’t help but facepalm himself in embarrassment. He manages a weak groan as he shakes his head.
“Well, look at the time! Pretty sure ya both still got stuff to do and I don’t wanna hold ya both for too long,” Sett spares everyone and thank gods because Aphelios doesn’t think he can spare both himself and his twin sister from any further embarrassment. “See ya both back home?”
Aphelios gives him a timid nod. Sett hugs him tight, soft lips against his forehead and Aphelios practically melts. “Love ya, Mooncake.”