Work Text:
- Genre: Fluff, romance
- Prompt: Fireplace (@flufftober)
- Word Count: 3,586
- Pairing: Reader x P
- World: High&Low
- Warning: Mentions animal abuse but no kitties were harmed ♡
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The cool autumn wind wrapped around you like a blanket, bringing a smile to your lips. The sky was a velvety navy blue, dotted with tiny stars like jewels. The crescent moon was half hidden by clouds. You stood on the edge of the roof, eyes closed as you listened to the sounds of the city below.
Arms wrapped around your waist, a warm chest pressing against your back. “Sorry, I’m late.”
You hummed, leaning back against your boyfriend as you rested your hands over his arms. “It’s okay. You’re here now, that’s all that matters.”
P pressed a kiss to your neck, tightening his grip. “Why aren’t you wearing a coat? You’re going to get sick.”
“I’ll be fine,” you assured him. “You know how I love the cold.”
He clicked his tongue as he pulled away, shrugging out of his green military jacket. “Wear this.”
“No,” you grinned at him, taking a step back.
His eyes glinted playfully under the low light as he took a step toward you. “Wear it.”
“Make me.”
His lips twitched upward and, within the blink of an eye, he was in front of you. You cried out in surprise, the sound morphing into a laugh as you darted away, just barely managing to dodge his hand. He chased you around the roof but he had quite the advantage.
While you had to run around the large air conditioner, he was able to easily flip over it, landing in front of you gracefully. You tried to dodge him but he was quicker, arms wrapping around you and pinning your arms to your sides. You lost your balance and the two of you tumbled to the ground, laughing softly.
“Are you okay?” He frowned down at you, propping himself up on his elbows.
You couldn’t control your grin, reaching up to cup the side of his neck. “Couldn’t be better.”
He chuckled, leaning down to press a kiss to your lips which you happily returned, sliding your hand up to thread through his red locks. When he pulled back, his eyes were sparkling with love and warmth. “Please put on the jacket?”
As badly as you wanted to say no, you couldn’t resist him when he was looking at you like that. “Fine.”
He sat up, pulling you with him so he could place the jacket around your shoulders. It was already baggy on him even with all his muscles, so it was big on you, as well. You adored it, though, allowing the fabric to swallow you with its warmth. The scent of vanilla filled your nostrils and you smiled, breathing in deeply.
P chuckled, shifting so he was sitting beside you, his arm around your shoulders to pull you closer.
“Won’t the others get mad when you show up without your jacket?” you wondered with a frown, resting your head against his shoulder.
“Don’t worry about that, beautiful. I’ll think of some excuse.” He pressed a kiss to your forehead, pulling you closer when the wind picked up.
Despite his reassurance, you couldn’t help but worry. No one knew about the two of you dating, mostly because he was part of the Rude Boys and you were part of Daruma. His group didn’t like outsiders, especially not those belonging to other factions, and you were afraid of how they’d react if they found out.
Smoky valued loyalty and honesty above all else, but P has been lying to his face for months. How many times could he disappear before they stop believing his tall tales? You felt fear every time he returned to Nameless City. You didn’t know them well enough to know whether or not they would hurt him for betraying them.
On the other hand, you knew Hyuga and the Daruma boys well, yet you still couldn’t predict how they’d react if they found out. At the very least, you knew the Babies would be upset that you had lied to their face. They were your best friends, after all, and you usually told them everything.
“Stop worrying,” he spoke softly, hand sliding under your chin to lift your head. Your eyes met his, feeling the breath leave your lungs at the loving look he gave you. “No matter what happens, I won’t leave you. You’re the love of my life, beautiful.”
You swallowed hard, his words tugging at your heart. “And you’re the love of mine, P.”
He smiled, bringing his lips down over yours in a slow, passionate embrace that left you wanting more. Part of you hated that he felt that way, not wanting him to give up everything he had built with the Rude Boys just for you. They were his family and the thought of him losing that just because he chose you –
“Stop overthinking it,” he murmured against your lips, shifting so he could push you back against the ground, his body pinning you there. “Stop thinking about the future. Focus on me, here and now.”
“Sorry,” your hand found its place at his hip, rubbing circles against the exposed skin between the hem of his shirt and pants.
“I’ll make you forget everything but me,” he promised, claiming your lips again, tongue darting across your lower lip. You could only groan as his tongue invaded your mouth.
True to his promise, he was the only thing on your mind for the rest of the night.
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“Wake up!”
“Jesus fucking christ!” you cursed, falling out of bed onto the hard wooden floor. You narrowed your eyes at Futa who stood in the doorway with a smug grin. “Bro, what the fuck is wrong with you?”
“You weren’t answering your phone,” he shrugged.
“Because I was asleep!”
He snickered, folding his arms over his chest. “Did you forget? You and I are supposed to go pick up supplies from the next town over.”
“Shit,” you cursed again, pulling yourself off the ground before rushing over to the dresser. “What time is it?”
Futa tugged his phone from his pocket, pressing the power button. “5:30.”
You groaned, rushing past him toward the bathroom so you could change. You knew that you were supposed to meet with the supplier at 6:30. “Why didn’t you wake me up sooner?!”
He scoffed as he entered the kitchen, pulling a soda from the fridge. “I started calling you at four! I’m not your damn babysitter, ya know!”
You entered the kitchen, fully dressed. “Pretty sure that was in the fine print of your contract.” You grinned, taking the drink from his hand before heading for the door to slip your feet into your boots. “Are we gonna make it on time?”
“Please. I’ve never been late for a meeting before.”
You snickered, heading out into the cold morning. You brought P’s jacket tighter around your body, biting your lip to hold back your smile as you thought of the night before.
“Oi, what are you wearing?” Futa quirked a brow at you as he slid into the driver’s seat of the lowrider.
“What?” You tensed up, trying to act dumb as you got into the car. “Mad that I look better than you?”
“You’re wearing green,” his nose wrinkled in disapproval. “You’re supposed to wear white and red.”
“What Hyuga doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” You turned your gaze away from him, trying to stay calm under his calculating gaze. “I paid a lot for this jacket, so I’m gonna wear it.”
He grunted, backing the car out of its parking spot. “It’s your funeral.”
You knew wearing P’s jacket was risky, but you missed him and wearing his jacket was comforting to you. It felt as if part of him was there with you and that made you feel confident and strong.
With the way Futa drove, the two of you found yourselves pulling up to the meeting spot with five minutes to spare.
You stepped out of the car, eyes scanning the empty parking lot that sat against an old factory building. “Shouldn’t they be here by now?”
“Maybe they woke up late,” he teased, sending you a grin that had you rolling your eyes.
“Are you sure this is the right place?”
“Hah? You don’t trust me?”
“Of course,” you stared him dead in the eye, face blank. “I don’t.”
He clicked his tongue, pulling his phone from his pocket to double-check the address. You watched as his face slowly fell, skin turning pale.
“I knew it! You brought us to the wrong place,” you accused with a scowl.
“Relax, it’s just a couple blocks down. Get in.”
“Idiot~” you called as you slid back into the car. He only made it halfway down the block when you noticed something from the corner of your eye. “Stop the car!”
Futa looked at you in confusion, foot pressing against the brake. Before he could even begin to ask what was wrong, you were already jumping out of the car, running toward the alleyway between two abandoned buildings. “Oi!”
You rounded the corner without slowing down, jumping into the air before kicking a guy in the side of the face. He cried out, dropping what he was holding as he went tumbling back against the ground. Your heart skipped a beat as you fell to the ground, catching the black kitten in your hands.
You released a relieved sigh at catching him, but anger quickly came across your face as you stood up. You covered the creature’s ears, holding him to your chest. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?! Hah?!”
The two males that you hadn’t attacked looked at you in shock, not sure how to react. On the ground by their feet was a cardboard box filled with pitch-black kittens. They were huddled up together, trembling and clearly afraid.
Anger surged through you.
“Oi, what’s going on?” Futa appeared beside you, eyeing the males wearily.
Without a word, you carefully placed the kitten against his chest, waiting until he had a secure hold on the creature before you stepped forward, cracking your knuckles.
“I’m going to slaughter all three of you and feed your remains to your fucking families,” you hissed before rushing toward them, careful of the box as they took off toward the opposite end of the alley. “Get back here, you fucks!”
Unfortunately for them, the opposite end of the alley was fenced off. They tried to climb the chain-link fence but you grabbed the back of their shirts, slamming them against the ground. You proceeded to beat the shit out of them until they curled into balls, begging and sobbing for mercy.
“If you ever put your hands on an animal again, I’ll fucking hunt you down and make you wish you were dead. Do you understand me?!”
“Y-Y-Yes!” sobbed one of the guys, his body trembling.
You huffed out in anger, giving him another hard kick for good measure before making your way back toward Futa. He was kneeling beside the box, having returned the kitten to his siblings.
“The hell was that about?” he frowned, standing up when you returned.
You glanced at the bag they had left behind, seeing a ouija board, candles and, worse, a knife. A new wave of anger rose within you and you had to take a few deep breaths, fists clenching and unclenching. As badly as you wanted to turn around and beat them again, you knew you would likely kill them if you did so.
“Black cats are associated with witchcraft,” you growled out through gritted teeth. “So they are often abused and killed during Halloween by dumb fucks who think they can wish away all their problems with a few magic words.”
Futa frowned as he realized what you meant, brown eyes falling to the kittens. “Oh… what do we do with them?”
“We’re taking them, obviously.” You carefully picked up the box, holding it against your chest. Despite the anger you still felt, your gaze softened as you looked down at them. They were staring up at you with wide eyes, unsure if they could trust you or not.
“Hah?” Futa followed behind you with a scowl. “We’re here to pick up supplies, not cats. We’re already late!”
“Then stop whining and fucking drive,” you snapped, settling yourself in the car with the box on your lap. You didn’t mean to give him an attitude, but you were heated and unable to control your temper.
Futa realized this and sighed, doing as you ordered.
“And put the damn top up, the kittens are cold.”
“Alright, alright. Calm your tits.”
You sent him a look and he snickered, flicking the heater on.
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“Here you go, sweeties,” you spoke softly so as not to scare the kittens, setting a bowl of warm milk and a bowl of cat food down in front of them.
The five kittens were curled up together in front of the fireplace, looking around your apartment curiously. They had stopped shivering and didn’t appear to be afraid, thankfully.
“It’s okay, I won’t hurt you.” You slowly settled down on the floor, keeping enough distance between you and the bowls.
The smallest of the kittens was the one who slowly stepped forward, blinking his bright blue eyes at you before approaching the bowl. He sniffed it for a moment before placing his front paws into the bowl. The first bite was tentative but, as soon as he got a taste, he started to eat as if it was the first time he had ever eaten.
The others slowly gained confidence seeing this, approaching the bowl. It wasn’t big enough for all five of them to eat from at once and when they tried, the bowl tipped over, spilling dry food across the carpet. Thankfully, they didn’t spill the milk which would have been harder to clean up.
You chuckled at how cute they were, a smile on your face. “So cute~”
“Mrow~” The smallest of the group slowly waddled over to you, meowing cutely as if thanking you for the meal.
“You’re welcome!” With a smile, you lowered yourself onto your stomach, arms folded on the ground and your chin resting on them. You hoped you were less intimidating now that you were on their level.
Sure enough, the smallest one came over to you without fear, bumping his head against your arm. You held back your happy squeal, holding out your hand so he could sniff it. It seemed as if you had already earned his trust, though, because he immediately rubbed his head against your hand.
“I promise to give you a safe and loving home,” you told them softly, rubbing your index finger across the top of his head. The other kittens slowly made their way over to you before they started to play, climbing your body as if it were a mountain. Though their tiny claws weren’t very comfortable, your clothes mostly protected you. Though, even if your clothes weren’t acting as a barrier, you still wouldn’t mind.
The cat you had first saved approached your face, his emerald eyes staring into your own before he slowly blinked, a sign that he trusted and loved you. Then he moved forward, his tiny nose bumping against your own.
You bit your lip to hold back your squeal of happiness, watching as he stepped over your arm so he could lie down. You rested your head on your other arm, careful not to hurt him. “This is what true happiness feels like,” you murmured, closing your eyes with a smile etched onto your face.
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P bit his lip as he stood atop the roof, glancing at the watch on his wrist. The usual meeting time had come and long gone, yet you were nowhere to be found. In all the months you’ve been dating, you haven’t missed a single meeting with him and he was starting to grow worried. Had you been attacked? What if Hyuga found out about the relationship and punished you? The thought terrified him.
With cat-like grace, he scaled down the tall building, jumping from one fire escape to the next as he made his way toward your apartment building. Though you had given him a key long ago, he rarely used the door. Why would he when he could just as easily scale the fire escape and climb through your window?
He had told you many times to start locking your bedroom window, but you never listened to him. After all, who else aside from a Rude Boy would be performing dangerous feats just to enter your apartment?
Clicking his tongue, he shimmied the window back and forth until there was enough space to slip his fingers beneath it, allowing him to fully push it up. He called out your name as he slipped inside your bedroom, glancing around the room for you but you were nowhere to be found.
He called out your name again as he stepped out into the hall, the wooden floor creaking beneath his feet. He checked the bathroom, the closet and the spare bedroom before finally checking the living room. What he saw had his heart melting, cheeks dusting with pink.
There you were, asleep on the living room floor, with five black kittens sleeping on or close to you.
The fire had reduced to mere embers so he assumed you had been asleep for a while. Where did these kittens come from? He knew you loved cats but they hadn’t been here the last time he had stopped by. Surely you would have told him if you chose to adopt.
P kneeled beside you, resting his hand against your shoulder blade. “Wake up, beautiful. You’re going to catch a cold sleeping on the floor.”
You mumbled something incoherent, shifting slightly before stilling again. He glanced at the two kittens curled into a ball at the small of your back and he smiled, gently setting them aside so you didn’t accidentally knock them off.
He leaned down, pressing a kiss beneath your ear. “Wake up, my love.”
You shifted again, eyes fluttering open. “P?” you mumbled, reaching up to rub at your eye.
He hummed in response. “Let’s get you to bed.”
You slowly lifted your head, blinking dumbly as you registered where you were. You remembered finding the kittens with Futa, bringing them home and laying down with them. The green-eyed kitten was still asleep against your arm and you smiled as soon as you realized that. When you tried to sit up, you winced in pain, body sore from the position you had slept in.
P picked up each kitten, setting them on the couch with a warm blanket. They simply yawned widely before curling up and going back to sleep, unbothered by the new addition. He helped you up, frowning at the way your brow furrowed in pain. “You shouldn’t sleep on the floor.”
“Didn’t plan on it,” you mumbled, bringing a hand to rest against your back as if that would alleviate the soreness in your muscles. “What are you doing here?”
He quirked a brow at you, stepping closer so his hand could rub up and down your back. “Did you really forget?”
You blinked at him in confusion, mind still foggy from sleep. After a moment, it hit you. “Oh my god, we were supposed to meet tonight!”
“Mhm.” The corner of his lips twitched upward but he held back his amused smile. “I was worried about you, you know? I thought something happened.”
“Shit, I’m so sorry, P. I didn’t mean to fall asleep… what time is it?”
“Nearly four-thirty in the morning.”
You frowned at him, fingers curling around his t-shirt. “I’m sorry, baby. I really didn’t mean to.”
“It’s okay, I know you wouldn’t do it on purpose,” he smiled, leaning down to claim your lips. “I’m just happy you’re safe.”
“I promise I’ll make it up to you,” you replied, tugging at the collar of his shirt so he’d kiss you again.
“I’m sure you will.” His eyes sparkled as he pulled you closer, gaze flickering to the kittens. “When did you get roommates?”
“Today, actually,” you yawned, wrapping your arms around his waist and burying your face against his warm chest. You recalled the tale of how you were working with Futa and how you had found the kittens.
He listened carefully, humming softly as he took in your words. When you finished your story, he joked, “You should have told me sooner that I was going to be a father.”
You chuckled at the comment. “Figured I’d surprise you~ I know it’s morning already, but… will you stay with me for a bit?”
He cupped your neck, pressing a kiss to your forehead. “You couldn’t get rid of me even if you tried, beautiful.”
A smile slid onto your face as you led him toward the bedroom. You slipped under the comforter, shivering lightly as your body touched the cold sheets. He closed the window, took his shoes and jacket off before sliding in beside you, his arms finding their place around your body.
“I love you,” he whispered, resting half his body on top of your own, head resting in the crook of your neck.
Your fingers slid through his soft hair, a tired smile on your lips. “I love you, too, more than anything.” After a moment, you added to yourself, “This is also true happiness.“