Work Text:
A one-shot inspired by @MsFreakShow (on Wattpad), who felt concerned for the fate of her toes while reading Ghost in the Machine. ^^I think I took it way too far though lolol
Please note BEFORE READING:
!Manga spoilers
!The monster under the bed
!Moderate NSFW content (Fetishism/body worship/bdsm/fluffy sensualnesses)
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
Light crept in from the windows, stealing past the edge of the dark curtains and under my eyelids, prodding me towards wakefulness. I attempted to shoo it away, rubbing my eyes, but consciousness remained. Defeated, I rolled from my back to my side, groping for a familiar warmth in the bedclothes.
“Hm..?” Where I usually found a patient, protective presence waiting for me to wake was replaced by cool air and chilly linen. Most mornings he was there, remaining past the limits of his own rest to avoid abandoning me in my own. My stirrings were typically rewarded with his fingertips brushing over my face and hair, a gaze of warm chartreuse only closing its gates to me as his lips met my skin.
Occasionally, though, some kind of task, some “business” of those in our profession had required his attention, and he would roust himself to see to it without disturbing me. Until he had returned, I never knew whether he had left an hour after I fell asleep or an hour before dawn; in any case, starting any morning without him was rather lonesome, and I pouted in my possessiveness of these hours with him.
There was nothing for it, though, but to get on with it. There were no burials scheduled for that day, but arrangements for a few of our “guests” required some preparation. While I waited for him to come home, I would start by laying out for some tea, heating some water and having a bath. Sighing, I heaved myself up to sit at the side of the bed, dangling my feet to touch the icy floor.
Something shot out from beneath the bed, seizing my ankle. Naturally, I screamed bloody murder fit to crumble the neighborhood to dust.
I wriggled back up on the bed, my scream fading to whimpers as I stared in shock at the bed’s edge. Over my delirious babbling, I heard a familiar, creaky giggle from the floor.
“Oh…heehee…oh my dear, I’m so sorry…” He snickered, peering sheepishly over the mattress at me. “It was funny but oh…gahahaha! I shouldn’t have startled you; I certainly didn’t expect that big a reaction.”
My fright shifted to moderate rage, as I willed my heart to start beating again. “You ass!!” I snatched a pillow and hurled it at his face. “Why would you even be under the bed?! I thought you’d been out…”
He gleefully received the blows of that pillow and several others, combing his hand through his silver hair to restore it to its more usual disorder after I’d run out of ammunition. “I was called out by a messenger during the night, my love, to receive another guest. I returned shortly ago and was just preparing to rejoin you when I dropped my chain off the bed’s edge.” He rose to sit next to me and demonstrated that he’d been removing his chain of memorial lockets from his waist when they slid from his fingers and fell to the floor. “They had fallen just under the bed, and it was in that moment of retrieving them that I conceived of this terrible idea.”
The levity that remained in his voice and smile betrayed that he himself saw this not so much “terrible” as “an amusing success.” He pulled small pranks from time to time, and while he was wary of pushing his luck too much—I was an easy target and one who could easily exact my revenge—he nonetheless soaked up the entertainment he found in these moments. I pouted, as I clearly preferred our usual mornings to anything like this.
“Oh no you don’t—” He chuckled and reached for me, dragging me into his lap. “Don’t you dare, pretty; I’ll make it up to you.” I maintained as fearsome a façade as I could manage with him nuzzling at my ear, as one hand tugged up at the lace hem of my cotton nightgown and stroked his long, black nails lightly down my bare leg. He leaned over to grasp my foot, his latest victim, and squeezed it with a small frown. “I noticed, though…your poor, sweet toes were chilled already as they reached the floor.”
I had given up on my wrath entirely by this point, opting instead to avail myself of his body heat. “You are a fine substitute for a hot water bottle, dearest; please don’t move for the rest of the morning.”
He laughed aloud. “Tempting, but I have a better idea.”
He hooked his arms under my knees and around my back and lifted me as he stood from the bed. I instinctively grabbed onto him, more from a desire for closeness than fear of being dropped. We traveled through our rooms in the back of our shop, passing by the sitting room and the kitchen on the way to the bathroom. The iron stove that served as our hearth had been tended, the fire within warming several kettles sitting atop it. I noted this with appreciation as we arrived in the bathroom, where he gently set me down on the small bench we used for towels and clothing.
“One moment, my love, and we’ll get you sorted.” He stood up and deftly unbuttoned the black tunic jacket he wore over his white cotton shirt before draping it around my shoulders. He crowned my head with a soft kiss and then began filling the bath; it began steaming with heat from the gas-fired boiler attached to its water supply. I looked on, clutching his jacket over my shoulders, as he rolled up his sleeves and added a measure of the rose oil I favored to the water.
The bath filled, he turned off the water and approached me, taking my hands in his in a bid to stand. I did so, answering his wordless gaze with my own as I made to remove his jacket. He stopped me, covering my hand with his.
“I want to.”
No matter how often he had insisted on doing so before, I always felt a rush of shyness when he performed this office for me. If he took any pleasure in the reddening of my cheeks, it was lost in his obvious fascination with my form as he slid his tunic from my shoulders and ran his palms over my bare arms. He kneeled to gather up my nightgown as he stroked my calves, trailing kisses on my knees and my thighs as his hands and the white cloth climbed higher. I ran my own fingers through his hair, giving it a slight tug, until he changed his position to stand behind me, maddeningly out of reach. His touch glided sweetly over my hips and ribs until I was forced to wrap my arms up and back around his head, once again tangling my fingers in whatever I could grab of his locks. My gown and I were all but separated, with him gathering the fabric snug around my wrists to hold me captive as his lips found the side of my throat.
These varied and welcome distractions made me forget a moment how cold a morning it had been, although I still felt the chill of it in my feet. I shuddered lightly; he broke from his ministrations, aware again of our surroundings.
“I’m full of apologies this morning, my lady…let’s get you warmed up.” He released my bonds, draping my gown over the bench before helping me step into the deep warmth of the tub. I sighed appreciatively as he used a small bowl to pour the water over my hair and my back. He returned to his own appreciation of my being, lightly scrubbing over my skin with a cloth.
I leaned back against the edge of the tub as he drew my leg from the water, clasping my warmed foot between his palms. “There now, much better.” My stomach fluttered as he drew it to his mouth and kissed each of my toes in turn, sparing an eternity for each. “All of these dear ones seem quite contented now.”
I squirmed a little, a bit ticklish. “But they’re just my toes; I like having you up here much better.” His attention was doing nothing for my motivation to get ready to open the shop, and I longed to kiss him.
“Ah.” He smiled at me, brushing his fingers over the tips of my toes. “I don’t think you understand, my angel. You are indeed an angel, sent to bring me a little glimpse of the heaven I long for.” He returned my foot to the water and drew the other out. Again, he kissed each toe and pressed a finger to each of their nails, seeming to relish their smoothness. “To me, each of these have a holiness not to be found elsewhere in this world. To be able to worship here, where Heaven touches Earth and blesses it with your goodness, brings a light to my being that I would not otherwise know.”
He was always straightforward with his words of adoration, but I was stunned to find them so deeply and warmly shared, to such an extent that surely would include every cell of my body if I’d asked. My eyes stung with tears, my heart overflowing with his words.
“Oh dear—" He released my foot, moving to dab at my eyes with the cloth. “I trust those are tears of joy?”
I nodded, and reached for him. He leaned into my embrace, willingly sacrificing his dry arms and chest to share my space. Some of his hair dipped into the water, lightly swirling under its surface. He granted my wish despite himself, happy to do so as he blessed my own being with his kiss. At that, I too recalled the spell we had placed each other under, and thankfully clung to my own personal heaven until he pulled slightly back, thoughtful.
“I suppose we need to get ourselves going so we can open shop.”
I shrugged, not hiding my disappointment. “I suppose the neighbors are going to be glad to check in and confirm that that sound earlier wasn’t my murder.”
He chuckled, brushing a wet strand of my hair back from my face. “I’ve never heard you make such a noise.” He paused before grinning wickedly, a flicker I knew well moving behind the yellow-green of his eyes. “Perhaps I could make you sing even more loudly?”
I pretended to be shocked at his candor, but quickly enough, my fingers found themselves at the buttons of his shirt. He smiled against my lips as I worked, and I gave myself over to the feel of my warmed skin against his. “Perhaps you will… dare I say, we may even wake our guests and find they’ve gone home.”
“My dear,” he breathed, now lifting me from the bath, with blatant disregard for how water pooled on the flooring. “In that case, I’d be all too pleased to drive us completely out of business.”
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.