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There was something about the library. Maybe the way it seemed alive, humming with magic old and new from ancient tomes and scholarly visitors and newly spelled equipment. Maybe the way it smelled of paper and leather and his own ever present mug of ginger and turmeric tea. Maybe it was the glimpses of the cat that wandered the stacks in search of better places to nap.
Whatever it was, despite his constant glower and distinct lack of… tact with the clientele, Katsuki loved the library. Really, he did! He just… sometimes didn’t like dealing with the people in the library.
“I looked there and I didn’t find it,” the blue haired witch in front of him bitched. The top of his head reached the bottom of a shelf Katsuki had to stand on his tiptoes to pull books from, which was unduly aggravating. “Are you sure you didn’t just put it in the wrong place? Look, it’s not here, and I need it for a project. The deadline is in two days and-”
Then you should have started sooner, Katsuki wanted to snap. Instead, he reached forwards and pulled out the tome in question. “As I told you before,” he hissed through gritted teeth, “this particular volume chooses who can and cannot read it. It’s magic older than you, older than this library. You’re free to check it out, but if it’s decided you can’t read it, there’s nothing we can do.”
He shoved the book out just to watch the blue haired witch flail as he tried to grab its invisible (to him) edges. “Well, unlock it! What kind of library has books that can’t even be read!”
“All of them,” Katsuki seethed. “They’re called archives. This book is out because there’s nothing stopping you from reading it besides the book itself. As I said, we can’t do anything about the magic.”
“Obviously you can’t,” the witch sneered, hands closing uselessly around the book and trying to snatch it away from Katsuki. Katsuki didn’t let go. “Get me someone with magic. There’s a librarian, isn’t there? Who owns this place?”
“I’m the librarian,” Katsuki snapped. The book in his hand snapped with him, closing harsh and unapologetic around the witch’s fingers. “This book was in the hands of the Committee of Unstable and Possibly Dangerous Artifacts for nearly a decade and no one was able to undo the spell without destroying the book. If you need the information, I suggest finding a friend who is more likable than you to come try their luck.”
The blue haired witch sputtered and stammered like he was fighting between cursing Katsuki out for his customer service skills, cursing Katsuki out for being a powerless waste of space, or cursing the book out for biting him. Katsuki had no patience for any of the three options, but thankfully the library didn’t seem to either.
The stacks began to shift, moving across the floor with big, heaving groans and creaks, closing around Katsuki and the blue haired witch with only one clear path out. Katsuki, well accustomed to the library’s closing dance, just set the troublesome book in question back in its spot and tilted his head towards the exit. The witch, decidedly not used to the library, visibly panicked as the massive bookshelves began to move, shrinking the massive library down to a single, vaguely threatening corridor.
“It appears that we’re closed,” Katsuki drawled. “The exit’s that way.”
It didn’t take long for the witch to take off at a very respectable not-quite-run that Katsuki definitely didn’t laugh at, leaving Katsuki once again alone as the stacks relaxed and slunk back to their places, satisfied that they would be left alone for the night.
From a darkened corner at the other end of the stacks Katsuki was between, a little piece of shadow worked itself free from the rest and started towards Katsuki. As it got closer, it took more of a shape: small triangle ears, a long, fluffy tail. Katsuki glared as the black cat approached lazily, waving his tail behind him like he had anything to be smug about after a busy ten hour day full of napping.
The cat followed as Katsuki started back towards his counter, straightening books as he passed and patting the stack’s smooth wood as he exited. The library had done a good job of emptying out any lingering patrons that didn’t know better than to leave before closing time, and Katsuki didn’t need to check after it. He could tell by the quiet, satisfied hum of the magic settling that it was just him and the cat and the stacks left.
His tea was still warm where he’d left it thanks to the library, its magic encasing his mug and keeping it just shy of hot no matter how long it sat. He grabbed it gratefully as he collapsed back into his chair, the cracked leather shockingly soft and comfortable, even though the old wheels squeaked and skidded as the chair rolled back with the sudden force. The cat jumped onto the counter as Katsuki scooted himself back in.
“You know, you could stand to do a little work around here,” Katsuki grunted, watching the cat flop onto the counter. “It’s your library. And if any more of those witchy bastards try telling me I’m unqualified because I can’t pull bunnies out of hats or whatever, I’ll ban them for life. You won’t be able to stop me.”
In any other job, maybe Katsuki’s lack of magic would have been a detriment. In a world of witches and creatures and magic, to be born without any at all was… Not a death sentence, not in their day and age anyway, but certainly a disability. But the library was different.
Katsuki may have… omitted the truth when he’d applied for the position, but he’d been to the library enough times to know there was a good chance he’d be perfectly capable. After all, the librarian’s job was just to deal with the people, maybe clean up here and there. Mainly just give the library some attention. Everything else, the library’s magic was more than strong enough to handle.
There was a warping of shadows and light, and suddenly the cat was replaced by Aizawa Shouta, the library’s owner, sprawled casually across Katsuki’s counter with a lazy grin on his face, two fuzzy black ears poking out from his inky hair, and that same long, fluffy tail waving behind him. He was also butt naked.
“Why would I need to do that?” he asked, his voice rough and raspy and calm, “That’s what I have you for.”
Katsuki hated that that shit worked on him. Hated that Shouta had sniffed out his lie within a day or two of hiring him and had kept him anyway, shrugging it off like it didn’t matter that Katsuki had no magic. Hated that he’d spent his whole life fighting to be seen as capable, useful, enough (even as his only friend, the only person like him he’d ever met, had been gift magic, had left him behind-), and Shouta just did it like it was nothing. And every single time, every time Shouta proved it, no matter how much of a pain in the ass he was about it, Katsuki felt himself… soften a little.
There was just something about knowing he was useful, knowing he was good at what he did, good enough to be relied on. It was nice. It was more than fucking nice, and the worst part was that Shouta didn’t even say things like that to keep Katsuki agreeable (at least, not totally), he just meant them.
But still! Maybe the rest of the world could look down on Katsuki, but Katsuki still had his pride, especially here in the library. He might not have magic, but he did have power. The library listened to him, liked him. The ancient, mysterious magic of the place bent to his whims without him needing to do anything at all. Like now.
Katsuki didn’t will it per se, but his feelings were enough. The magic prickled at his skin as it acted, turning the counter soft under Shouta and making him sink into it like a plush bed. Before Shouta could get comfortable, ribbon-like shadows peeled off the counter and twisted themselves around him, securing him firmly to the surface.
“Oh my,” Shouta drawled, one ear flicking absently. He didn’t look bothered by the sudden predicament at all. “What was that for?”
Katsuki shrugged and sipped his tea, doing his best to keep his eyes anywhere appropriate. “If I had to guess, maybe the library’s pissed that you’d rather sleep all day than do your job and take care of it. Maybe it wants a little attention.”
Shouta’s chest (broad and soft and dark with hair- or was it fur?) rumbled with a laugh-like purr of amusement. “Is that right?”
Katsuki shrugged a single shoulder. “I wouldn’t know, I’m not the library.”
“The library’s never been so needy for my attention before,” Shouta hummed, wiggling around in his shadowy ties, seemingly just to get more comfortable. “It must be very worked up.”
“Must be,” Katsuki muttered into his mug, eyes flicking down and then pointedly away. The library’s magic seemed to caress his hands, the exposed nape of his neck where his sweater slouched a bit low, stretched from wear.
Shouta yawned—the audacity of him, after sleeping the day away while Katsuki labored!—revealing sharp canines and a rough tongue before his expression smoothed back out into something far too attentive for its sleepy facade.
“You know, if you wanted attention, all you had to do was ask.”
“You’re the one who’s lying naked on the counter,” Katsuki retorted, ignoring the way his ears warmed slightly. “If anyone’s desperate for attention, it’s you.”
“Who said anything about desperate?” Shouta asked. “Besides, I’m a little… tied up right now, I don’t have much of a say in the matter.”
He did, and they both knew it. If the library seemed eager to fulfill Katsuki’s wants and needs, it was twice as obedient when Shouta needed something from it. It didn’t play to his whims the way it seemed to do with Katsuki, curling around him like and attentive dog trying to predict its master’s next move; with Shouta, the library listened like a well trained soldier. Shouta didn’t ask it for much at all and the library wasn’t proactive with him the same way (though Katsuki thought there were one too many secluded windows with soft pillows in their sills and sunbeams that lingered in one place a little longer than they should), but when he gave an order, the library reacted with a speed and ease that Katsuki hadn’t even tried to urge from it.
That aside, Shouta was magic, and plenty strong enough to free himself from a trap as silly as this. If he wanted to get loose or get dressed or do anything at all about his current situation, he wouldn’t even have to say a word for it to happen.
Instead he just laid there as content as if he were still a normal cat, belly up in a deceptive plea for pets. He was… infuriating.
Infuriating and a nuisance and- and also very much Katsuki’s type. Not that he’d really had a type before, not even when he first met Shouta, but what his type had eventually developed into as a result of being subjected to Shouta in large quantities, repeatedly, over a long span of time.
There was the tan skin, as if he spent all those cat naps tanning, and the thick muscle, as if he spent all those cat naps actually doing anything, and, of course, the long black hair that matched his ever present ears and tail and the hair that covered his arms and legs and torso. The lazy, watchful look in his eyes, yellow as a cat and black as his fur as a human, and the silver scars that painted themselves across his skin. There was all of that, to be sure, but that wasn’t enough for Katsuki.
Shouta could be big and strong and soft and gorgeous all he liked, but Katsuki wasn’t the kind of person to fall for a body and a pretty face. Not alone, anyway, and that was where he’d struggled for the past twenty-three years.
Katsuki wanted someone who saw him as a person, not just as deficient. He wanted someone who trusted him to hold his own, who didn’t look down on him because of his lack of magic, who didn’t look at him and see that before they saw him. Shouta did all of that. And more.
Shouta pushed him to do better, to step outside of his comfort zone and try things he didn’t know he’d be capable of. He didn’t doubt Katsuki’s ability to stand up for himself in situations like today’s with the blue haired witch, but Katsuki knew he was always around, an invisible safety net should Katsuki ever fall. He made Katsuki laugh (to himself at least, even if he wouldn’t give Shouta the satisfaction) and let him joke back even though Katsuki’s jokes were dry and sharp-edged and sometimes off the mark.
He made Katsuki feel comfortable and welcome in this library that had become a haven to him, and- and maybe Katsuki was a little desperate for some attention. But who could blame him?
He didn’t think he’d imagined the way Shouta looked at him sometimes, his eyes following Katsuki around the library, trailing over his stretched out sweaters and baggy trousers. He definitely hadn’t imagined the way Shouta followed him around the library as they closed together, Katsuki making sure everything was orderly and clean while Shouta checked over spells and wards and refreshed the library’s magic with his own. He hadn’t imagined the way Shouta always lounged around him, comfortable as anything whether he was in human or cat form.
There was a chance, maybe, that Shouta was a little desperate too.
Katsuki set his mug aside, the counter firming up beneath it, and leaned forward a little, invading Shouta’s space and pretending he wasn’t just a few centimeters away from the dick that he’d definitely never peeked at after any transformations. “That’s too bad,” he mused, reaching out to touch the tie holding Shouta’s right wrist. It felt a little like smoke, a little like the dark wood of the counter. Odd, but not unpleasant. “Maybe the library wants you to learn your lesson about parading around naked.”
Shouta rumbled again, a gravely sound that didn’t frighten Katsuki even though Shouta’s purr was awfully growl-like. He’d heard him actually growl before and the sound was much more terrifying than this. Despite Shouta being quite a bit larger than Katsuki, like this he was almost kitten-like, content and self-satisfied as Katsuki paid attention to him.
“The library will have to try harder than this for me to learn anything,” Shouta said teasingly. Katsuki’s pulse sped up.
This was what he thought it was, wasn’t it? He wasn’t being too subtle was he? Wasn’t reading into things that weren’t there? Shouta was watching him, his dark eyes lidded, his lips tugged into a barely there smile at the corners. Katsuki had the urge to… push a little.
“What,” he asked, his mouth dry, “would it have to do?”
Shouta’s grin grew a little, a hint of teeth peeking between his lips. “Depends,” he said. “Does it want to listen?”
The magic around Katsuki was almost palpable, as thick as his throat felt when he tried to swallow. “Depends,” he replied, “on what you have to say.”
Shouta laughed, quick and low, and Katsuki felt it down to his core. “First of all, punishment doesn’t really do anything,” he drawled, tail swishing slowly across the counter. “Cats, you know how we are. A little positive reinforcement, though…”
“Positive reinforcement doesn’t work if you don’t do the thing,” Katsuki reminded him. “If there’s nothing to reinforce, you don’t get a reward.”
“If all you need is attention, I can give you that,” Shouta conceded easily, and Katsuki flushed at how easily he dropped the pretense, at how the magic seemed to sigh and tingle around him. He wondered if Shouta felt it the way he did. “Come here.”
Katsuki didn’t know how close Shouta wanted him, considering he was already leaning over the counter, nearly eye level with Shouta’s bare chest. He rolled his chair up anyway, closer to Shouta’s face. Shouta’s grin turned crooked.
“Perfect,” he crooned, and Katsuki did not blush. Shouta chuckled at him anyway. “Katsuki,” Shouta said, seemingly just for the sake of it. Katsuki shivered. “You should have kicked that witch out earlier for talking to you like that.”
Katsuki frowned, not expecting that turn of conversation. “Do you even know what my job is? I can’t kick people out of your library. Besides, the library closed, it didn’t matter.” The library’s magic sizzled and sparked invisibly against Katsuki, like a reminder that it was perfectly capable of handling itself.
“Hmm,” Shouta dismissed. “You can now.”
“If you had such a problem with it, you could have done something too,” Katsuki huffed under his breath, still not sure why they were talking about this. He’d been pretty confident in where this had been heading just seconds before, but now he was feeling decidedly less clear about it all. “You’re the boss. You own the place, you have magic.”
Shouta’s tail flicked behind him, the only sign that he felt any way about that. His eyes were sharp and watchful on Katsuki, but his face still wore that distantly amused expression. “I didn’t think I needed to,” he admitted easily, as if he hadn’t just been telling Katsuki what he should have done better. Katsuki rolled his eyes hard, but Shouta wasn’t done. “I just like watching you.”
Katsuki’s exasperated huff caught in his throat. He peeked at Shouta’s smug face. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You wanted attention didn’t you? You always have it. The library’s. Mine. We both pay attention to you. So,” he pulled lazily against his ties, “do I get a reward?”
Katsuki felt the library hum as if pleased with itself, and felt momentarily betrayed that the old place seemed to be on Shouta’s side right now. But at the same time, even if it agreed with Shouta, it was still mostly on Katsuki’s side. It was keeping Shouta tied naked to the counter, after all.
“I- I guess,” he managed to mutter. “What do you want?”
“I get to pick?” Shouta asked, sounding pleasantly surprised, and this time even Katsuki had to admit his cheeks heated.
“How am I supposed to know what you-” Katsuki cut himself off, looking away from Shouta’s face and immediately regretting it when that shifted his line of sight down the long expanse of Shouta’s body and down towards the- the mostly soft cock at the apex of his solid thighs.
“Fair enough,” Shouta drawled with just too much of a purr to his voice.
He wasn’t laughing at Katsuki, but he was certainly having his fun. Katsuki supposed he couldn’t really blame him for it. He had a feeling he was making himself something of an easy victim with his reactions, even if Shouta was the one who was bare and bound between the two. Katsuki should have had all the power, and yet he found himself on the metaphorical (not literal, not yet) edge of his seat as he waited for Shouta’s answer.
“A reward… hmm…” Of course Shouta would fuck around and take his time. Katsuki should have seen that coming, honestly. “Since we’re training,” Shouta finally offered with an idle grin, “why don’t we do a little back and forth. I pay attention to you, and you reward me for it. Say, for example… ‘Katsuki, you blush like a virgin.’ Or, hmm. Maybe something a little more positive. ‘Katsuki, you’re so handsome when you look at me like that.’ Better? And then, my reward.”
Katsuki, unexpectedly affected by hearing his name and virgin out of Shouta’s mouth, nodded a little dumbly. “What’s the- Uh. What’s the reward?”
“Cats love being pet,” Shouta offered, twisting a little to be more on his back and less on his side. “Go ahead, wherever you want. I’m easy to please.”
“You hate being pet,” Katsuki muttered, because Shouta (the cat) was notorious among library regulars and newcomers alike for being impossible to get so much as a finger on. The only time Katsuki had ever seen him let someone touch him was a young witch who was clearly having a hard time, overwhelmed by the size of the library and the strangers around her and whatever else. Just when it’d looked like she might start to panic or cry, Shouta had strolled in from whatever sun-warmed corner he’d been napping in, jumped into her lap, and sat there patiently as she held and pet him until she calmed. Even Katsuki had never pet him; not that he’d ever really tried. Petting his boss would have been weird enough when they didn’t know each other well, but he’d already seen the way Shouta avoided errant touches and he wasn’t one to overstep a boundary like that.
But Shouta surprised him once more with a rumbly laugh and a shake of his head. “I love being pet,” he corrected. “I hate entitled strangers with no manners putting their grubby hands on me.”
Fair enough.
“Since I pay attention,” Shouta added, “I happen to know that your hands aren’t grubby at all.”
Katsuki did have impeccable hygiene, that was true.
“And while you’re a spoiled brat at times, you’re not entitled or a stranger. We’ll ignore your manners for the sake of the argument.”
The library’s magic trembled as if with laughter, but Katsuki honestly couldn’t blame it. He did have the manners of a cornered fox, but that was a product of being backed into enough corners that it became instinct. Not his fault.
“In other words,” Shouta continued, “it’s the perfect reward. Something I like very much but don’t get often.”
Good, Katsuki thought without meaning to. Good why? What was that supposed to mean? Katsuki wasn’t happy that Shouta didn’t have someone else at home petting him or something ridiculous like that, right? That’d definitely be overstepping even the lines that they weren’t crossing now with all of- all of this.
He shook his head to clear it and eyed Shouta warily. It was actually reassuring to know that he was tied pretty restrictively, at least at the wrists. Katsuki knew how cats could be, and even when Shouta was human, he had plenty of instincts. He also had some pretty threatening claws that Katsuki had seen on a few occasions (once as the world’s most unsettling letter opener, once with a finger under someone’s chin and a growl so deep it made the library shiver), and he really had no desire to feel them tested on his skin. Well- No, not now.
Since he was close and Shouta still had his head down against the squishy counter, Katsuki started there. He reached up, slow and cautious, and pressed his fingertips to Shouta’s jaw.
Instantly, as if to prove a point, Shouta’s purr grew in volume. His scruff was prickly against Katsuki’s fingers, coarse like human hair, not soft like cat fur like Katuski had wondered if it might be. He wondered if the thicker, longer hair on his chest and stomach and- and lower was the same, or if it switched somewhere the same way his fur covered ears poked out from a head full of hair.
It was… odd, touching Shouta like this. Touching anyone like this, really. Katsuki wasn’t used to this kind of intimacy, not by a long shot. He hooked up with people now and then, but it was always strangers, always with the casual distance of knowing they were nothing more than a brief, (usually) pleasurable interlude in each other's lives. He’d never once caressed any of their faces, much less while they looked at him with hooded eyes and upturned lips.
The intensity with which Shouta was watchinghim was, admittedly, a little distracting. Katsuki tried to focus on the shape of his jaw and the rough scruff that dusted it, but most of his attention was on the prickle of Shouta’s eyes watching him.
“Not enough for you?” Katsuki asked, though it came out more of a mumble than he’d intended. He was following his own fingertips, the blunt curves of his nails scratching softly at the edge of Shouta’s jaw and the soft meat of his cheek just above. His fingers were so close to Shouta’s lips, but Katsuki didn’t touch. Not yet. He watched, instead, as those lips parted to speak, flashing needle sharp canines within.
“You’re the one wanting attention, not me.” It was a lie and they both knew it, but Katsuki didn’t offer more than an exasperated huff in response. Shouta continued as if he hadn’t heard it. “It’s my turn anyway. Katsuki, you’re very organized, but you need to stop putting The Book of Colors and God’s Other Creations in Theology, the library likes it in Biology and you know it.”
Katsuki looked up in flustered shock. “That’s not -!”
“You wanted attention,” Shouta said casually. “I’m showing you I pay attention.”
Katsuki gritted his teeth. “Fine. Next time, you can put that damn book back wherever you want it since you’re right there wasting time, apparently.”
“Watching you is never wasting time,” Shouta purred, and Katsuki needed an escape from his dark, warm eyes, so he ran his hand up from Shouta’s jaw to his temple, and then combed his fingers back into that wild mess of hair of his. He ran into something solid and soft that flicked under his touch, and realized it was his first touch of Shouta’s fur. His ear, perfectly cat-like, fine and furry under Katsuki’s touch. Katsuki sucked in a breath even as Shouta leaned into the touch.
“Don’t be shy now,” Shouta murmured, rough and cloying. Katsuki pinched two fingers lightly around the edge of his ear, wondering at its thinness, so inhuman, so delicate in a way that should be at odds with the rest of Shouta but was so perfectly synonymous with him in Katsuki’s mind. The thin fur was velvety soft, tufted at the very end like a little lynx.
So cute, Katsuki thought, but wouldn’t stoop so low as to say out loud. If Shouta wanted his ego stoked he’d- he’d have to ask for it too! Not that Katsuki was doing a particularly good job of keeping his face as stoney-blank as he’d like. He could feel the way his eyes had widened at the first touch of Shouta’s ear, the way his whole expression had softened with wonder as he stroked it. Shouta could undoubtedly see it too.
After a few seconds, Shouta spoke again, deeming his reward sufficient. “I like the days you wear makeup,” he said, and Katsuki turned an alarming shade of red.
He really hadn’t thought Shouta paid that much attention to him. He always used a light hand: brown eyeliner on his upper water line, the faintest, smudgiest wing, more of a shadow than anything; a little blush; maybe some of that lip oil he liked that made his lips look soft(er) and pink(er) and smelled like cake batter. Nothing he’d expect most men to notice at all, especially not a man like Shouta who was 1) a cat and 2) asleep most of the time they were together.
“You have such pretty eyes,” Shouta continued, “and I like that you know that. I like watching every sucker who walks in try to get your attention just so you’ll look at them with those pretty eyes.”
Katsuki was pretty sure Shouta had some kind of vendetta against him. That was the only excuse for how he kept jerking Katsuki this way and that with his stupid observations, as if he got off on not letting Katsuki find his footing. But pride be damned, Katsuki was fucking liking it too. He liked… the way Shouta had been observing him. He liked that Shouta hadn’t just noticed things like Katsuki’s blush or the way he did his makeup, but he was glad Shouta had noticed those things too.
He wanted Shouta to pay attention to his looks, wanted him to think Katsuki was handsome and pretty and attractive, but that wasn’t all. If Katsuki wanted someone who just thought he was hot, he could change out of his librarian outfits and go to any bar. He liked that Shouta noticed things like how he did his job, the things he liked and disliked. Him, as a person. Who he also found attractive.
Katsuki met his eyes as he gave Shouta’s ears one last gentle pet before pulling back. Shouta watched him, blinking slowly, as he deliberated where to pet next. It had been a nice observation, even if it had caught Katsuki off guard, so maybe he deserved something a little… more.
He let his fingertips touch Shouta’s skin as he dragged them down: temple to cheek, the barest brush over the corner of his mouth, a lingering stroke across his jaw and down his throat. He finally answered his own question: the black hair on Shouta’s chest was wiry but soft, definitively human but not unkempt like some other men Katsuki had touched before. He settled his palm over Shouta’s sternum for a moment, feeling the rise and fall of his breath, the steady thump of his pulse, the vibration of his purr.
Shouta seemed utterly relaxed with Katsuki’s hands on him. Even with his limbs tied down to the counter beneath him, even with his own nakedness, he didn’t seem at all uncomfortable. Katsuki steeled himself to take advantage of that.
It turned out that, the same way petting a cat (or touching a lover) might be, stroking his fingers over Shouta’s body was oddly calming. Relaxing in an unexpected way, considering the state of him. It wasn’t that Katsuku no longer felt aware of the tension between them or of the fact that Shouta was naked and tied up (partially because the library seemed to have been… anticipating Katsuki’s desires), but that touching him felt just as important, if not more so in the moment.
It helped, of course, that Shouta had a very distracting chest. Large. Plush. Very pettable. Gropeable, even. Not that Katsuki was groping, of course, but if he were to be groping anyone’s chest, Shouta’s would certainly be up there on the list. As it was, Katsuki was just… getting a feel for it. Testing the give of the soft muscle under his fingers, feeling the roughness of hair, the faintly raised scars that Katsuki didn’t ask about. Not today.
There was also the way he felt more than heard the way Shouta’s purr rattled to a brief stop for just a second when Katsuki’s hand accidentally brushed past a dusky brown nipple. It picked back up, maybe even stronger than before, so the next time Katsuki let his hand brush past, it was purposeful.
He didn’t know how long he lingered there, taking full advantage of Shouta’s exposed chest, admiring the way he shifted and arched ever so slightly at the touches, ignoring the way the library’s magic seemed to weigh on him more and more by the second. It didn’t feel like a crush of gravity, but more like a deep kind of pressure from all sides, hugging around his ribs, each his fingers, the nape of his skull. Like he was sinking deeper and deeper underwater, only he could breathe perfectly fine.
Eventually, though, Shouta grew impatient. “Katsuki.” Katsuki looked up, barely managing to tear his eyes away from the paleness of his own hands against the tan skin of Shouta’s chest, darkened further by the shadow of his hair. “You don’t need an excuse to be here. You don’t need to organize the shelves or dust the tables or do repairs just to stick around. You can come whenever, stay whenever. The library won’t kick you out. I definitely won’t.”
Katsuki was guilty of all of those things. Sometimes he spent his day off metaphorically kicking rocks around his apartment, waiting for night to fall so he could sleep and wake up for work. He loved the library. He wasn’t just there because it was his job; it was only his job in the first place because he was there so much. But he never wanted to overstay his welcome, not without some excuse.
“Don’t you ever leave?” Katsuki asked, because he didn’t like the idea of Shouta lingering around, waiting for him to go so he could head home to something else. Something more, maybe, than the library or Katsuki could offer him.
Shouta just snorted. “Sure, I go home to sleep in my bed. My home, upstairs.”
Katsuki blinked. “Upstairs?” The library didn’t even have stairs as far as he was concerned, it was strictly horizontal in its maze-like vastness.
“Upstairs,” Shouta confirmed, and the library’s magic shimmered invisibly in something like mischievous satisfaction. Once again, Katsuki felt a little betrayed that it had left him in the dark about something like this, even though he knew he had no more of a right to know than anyone else who stepped foot in the place. “I’d show you,” Shouta explained, “but I’m still a bit-” He tested his restraints once more. “Besides, we’re in the middle of something, and I think it’s time for my reward.”
Katsuki just nodded. His hands moved down, unthinkingly, to Shouta’s stomach. Soft to the touch, with a deceptive firmness beneath the surface. A trail of black that cut down the center of his stomach, growing thicker as it went. Katsuki touched it and was astounded to find that somewhere along the line, the human hair became silky black fur, denser and richer than the rest. He didn’t dare follow it to its end, not yet.
They continued, back and forth like tennis at a cliff edge: Shouta dismantling Katsuki in a simple sentence, revealing over and over that Katsuki was important to him, valued; Katsuki rewarding him (was it even a reward? This directionless teasing, the way they were both dragging this out so much longer than it needed to go?) by trailing his hands from one part of him to the next, avoiding what they both knew was coming for reasons he couldn't explain.
From Shouta’s stomach, Katsuki went to his arms, felt the muscles flex and tense as Shouta shifted against the shadowy ribbons binding him. Then he went back up to his face, exploring everything he hadn’t before: the curve of Shouta’s cheekbones, the bump of his nose, the faint wrinkles between his brows. He let his thumbs rest on the corners of Shouta’s mouth for a long moment, staring and breathing as Shouta stayed still beneath him. He pressed one thumb down on the center of Shouta’s bottom lip, and found out that when his mouth was simply open, his purr was nearly twice as loud.
From there, Katsuki went down to his legs, keeping his eyes firmly away from the place where they met. It was impossible to not see the way Shouta had grown hard from the touches, but it was just as impossible to ignore the way Katsuki himself was probably soaking through his pants, though he at least had his pants and the edge of the counter to keep it out of sight, if not out of mind.
He spent longer than he should have on Shouta’s thighs, but he went until Shouta decided it was his turn, and then, after running out of body to explore, he looked up and met Shouta’s eyes across the expanse of his naked body. Shouta blinked once, long and slow. His proof of attention had been simple. “Your hands are soft,” he’d purred when Katsuki’s blunt nails dug in a little too hard to the meatiest part of him.
Now, he watched Katsuki hesitate, his hands resting on the bones of Shouta’s hips, his eyes wide and cautious. They both knew where the next touch would be, both knew what was coming next, but it felt different now that it was time.
“Do it,” Shouta instructed lowly. “Touch me.”
Katsuki pushed his hesitation aside. It was easier when Shouta told him, just like that, what to do. It was easy to pare back everything else. Katsuki sucked in a deep breath, and with magic pulsing at his skin, molding around his limbs like liquid, he reached up and took Shouta in hand.
Shouta’s purr rattled around his broken sigh, and Katsuki couldn’t help the way that did things to him. He was watching his own fingers the way he had been this whole time, but now his fingers were wrapped around Shouta’s cock, firm and dark with want, nestled in a nest of silky black fur. It was thick, smoother than Katsuki would have expected, wet and red at the tip that peeked out from his foreskin. It was Shouta’s, which only made it that much more appealing. Katsuki wanted more.
It was Shouta’s reward, in whatever capacity they were pretending this was still a game and not just the collapse of their restraint, but Katsuki found himself moving because he wanted it. Shouta’s raspy purr pushed through his open mouthed groans, egging Katsuki on as his slow exploration reached the tip of Shouta’s cock, circled it roughly with his palm, and twisted its way back down and up again.
Katsuki himself had to squirm in his seat, the stickiness of his briefs growing unbearable. But even so, he didn’t focus much on that, on his own arousal. The same way he’d been enraptured by every other inch of Shouta’s body, touching him here was enough to distract from the rest.
It wasn’t just touching him, feeling him twitch and pulse in his grip, reaching full hardness now that he had a hand on him, it was the way he reacted. His noises, but also the way his hips shifted, the way his back arched and his thighs tensed, unable to do more while the library was holding him down. Fuck, and the library-
Katsuki was always at least vaguely aware of it, of its magic, whenever he was within its walls, but this was ridiculous. It felt like it was curled around him, invisible hands on his own, the softest, guiding pressure, as if it wanted this. He could feel how… satisfied it was, content. Which was—or should be—insane! What possible stake could a thrice damned library have in his- in their sex life? But the why of it was negligible; what mattered was that it was urging them on and Katsuki couldn’t bring himself to mind.
But then, just as he started shifting from careful, exploratory touches to something hungrier, something greedier, Shouta opened his mouth again.
“You- You should be nicer to those kids that come in. The loud ones who-”
Katsuki knew who he was talking about. A small but annoying group of witches around his age, three boys: a beefy redhead, a twinky looking blond, and a black haired one who looked like he fucked; and two girls: a pink-haired, pink-skinned one who must be some level of demon, and one with dark purplish hair that looked like it had been cut with a pair of safety scissors. They came in maybe twice a week, got some books that they flipped through with exceeding slowness, no doubt because they spent ninety percent of their time being loud as fuck. He had no idea why Shouta was bringing them up now of all times.
“You should have some friends,” Shouta kept going, pouting a little when Katsuki’s hand slowed to a stop. “They’re loud, but they treat the books well, they read them even if it takes them a while. The library likes them. You should try.”
Katsuki blinked dumbly up at him, his hand stuck in a loose fist around the base of Shouta’s cock. “And this- This is relevant why? I have my hand on your dick and you’re worried about me making friends?”
Shouta just tilted his head ever so innocently. “I pay attention,” he said. “Your best friend is the library. You need people.”
“You’re a person,” Katsuki observed wryly. He had not missed the first part. Shouta paid attention. Shouta wanted a reward, more than Katsuki’s hand on his cock.
“Sometimes,” Shouta said with as much of a shrug as he could manage at the moment. “I’m also not even close to your age-”
“I don’t care,” Katsuki blurted, annoyance building in his gut.
Shouta continued like he hadn’t spoken at all. “And you should have people who you aren’t around for at least ten hours a day because of your job.”
“You said,” Katsuki started with barely restrained frustration, “that I could be here whenever I wanted. That I don’t need an excuse.”
“You can and you don’t,” Shouta confirmed, “but you shouldn’t only be here because you have nothing else. I’m only saying you should think about giving them a chance. They know you don’t have magic, you know? They’ve never looked at you wrong. They seem… nice.”
They seemed fucking insane, is what they seemed. They seemed like Katsuki would end up in all kinds of trouble if he ever gave them a chance. They seemed… nice. Fun, if Katsuki allowed it. It scared him, and he didn’t want to think about that right now. “I’ll think about it,” he managed through gritted teeth, feeling distinctly like the mood had been ruined. Even the library had settled around him, its magic more of a soothing roll over his skin than the insistent pull from before. “Is that all?”
Shouta blinked at him. “My reward now.”
The demanding little shit- Katsuki scowled at him. “And what would you like, your shitty majesty?” He still had his hand on Shouta’s cock, after all, it wasn’t like he’d just been tracing letters onto his belly.
Shouta was a shameless fuck, though. “Your pretty mouth on me,” he said without a trace of remorse.
Maybe Katsuki had been wrong about the mood. It seemed to be very much alive and well.
It was impossible for- for that to happen in their current arrangement, so Katsuki let go, pushed his chair back, and stood. His briefs clung to him uncomfortably, wetter than he cared to think about, but he did his best to ignore them as he set his hands on the counter (which once again grew solid at his touch) and pulled himself up.
Shouta grinned (evilly, Katsuki thought) as he watched Katsuki situate himself. Shouta’s legs were fastened closely enough together that there wasn’t space for Katsuki between them, but that was fine. He swung one knee over the Shouta’s and leaned forward, balancing himself with a hand by Shouta’s waist as he settled in, straddling Shouta’s legs and looking down at him.
It felt… a little odd, being fully dressed while Shouta was so naked beneath him, but Katsuki only bothered to grab the hem of his sweater and tug it over his head, tossing it towards the chair he’d been in and not caring if it landed there or not. It still left him in a thin white undershirt tucked into his baggy trousers but it bared much more skin than before, and he felt Shouta’s eyes trailing across the revealed skin of his arms, soft with relaxed muscle.
“This isn’t for paying attention,” Katsuki told him firmly as he scooted back a little and bent low. “This is for knowing when to mind your fucking business.”
And with that, he took Shouta’s cock back in hand, pressed his lips to the tip in a chaste kiss, and then swallowed it down.
Shouta’s body tensed, pulling at the ties with just enough restraint to not break them like he so easily could. Neither of them was going to be the one to break this moment, even if it meant pretending that the library’s little shadows could truly hold Shouta back. Somehow, it was even more thrilling knowing that Shouta was only taking whatever Katsuki gave him because he wanted to.
Katsuki, thanks to… a decent amount of practice, was quite comfortable with a dick in his mouth, and although Shouta was definitely on the larger end of what Katsuki could handle, it only took a little more effort than usual to push a little deeper, ignore his limits, and take him into his throat.
Shouta cursed, but he hadn’t stopped purring since this whole ruse began. Katsuki could feel the vibrations on his tongue, against his lips where they pressed briefly against Shouta’s fur. Katsuki didn’t linger there, he pulled back before Shouta could enjoy it too much and the next time he lowered his head, it was only about halfway, focusing instead on the pressure and slick friction of his tongue against the underside of Shouta’s cock as the head pressed against his soft palate.
Katsuki bobbed his head there, his lips slick and tight around Shouta’s shaft, and paid attention to every one of Shouta’s reactions, noting every little thing that made him purr a little louder or made his thighs tight under Katsuki’s chest, or made his inhale sound sharp like a hiss.
When Katsuki pulled off to catch his breath, the wet pop of his lips was accompanied by a shameless groan from Shouta. Katsuki sucked in air, his body once again prickling with the presence of the library’s magic. He didn't stay away though, didn’t really want to. Even as he caught his breath and calmed himself he kept his head low, mouthing at the soft skin of Shouta’s cock, lapping at the slit, teasing the foreskin back to tease the sensitive glans beneath.
Katsuki knew he did this well, and it didn’t take long at all to find a rhythm, a pattern of everything that made Shouta moan, and get comfortable. And then, just as he was interrupting his teasing to feel Shouta pulse against the back of his throat again, Shouta worked up the audacity to speak again.
“Your hair better be as soft as it looks when I get my hand on you,” he crooned, closer to a growl than any other noise he’d made so far. Katsuki, not prepared for words, blinked up at him through wet eyes, his mouth full to the brim with… well, dick. Shouta’s smile was a smirk more than anything, and Katsuki had the sudden thought that he’d played very willingly right into his hands. “I know you take good care of it, you look like a fucking dandelion. Does that count?”
Katsuki made a vaguely confused sound around his mouthful of cock and watched Shouta’s eyelids flutter lower.
“Do I get a reward?” Shouta clarified, the patience in his voice sounding about as genuine as a sitcom laugh track.
Katsuki finally pulled off, his throat closing harshly in Shouta’s absence and tears springing from his eyes as he coughed wetly. “I’m sorry, was me choking on your fucking dick not enough for you?”
Shouta looked incredibly cat-like in that moment, his expression seemingly asking is anything ever enough? Unapologetic, unashamed, absolutely entitled to whatever he pleased. “No.”
Katsuki was in the middle of staring at him, fully taken aback (and ignoring the fact that he probably looked utterly wrecked, spit and pre dripping from his parted lips, wet eyes wide and dazed, cheeks flushed red) as he tried not to tussle with Shouta’s spoiled brat attitude, when the library’s magic suddenly decided to get a little more involved than it already had been. And by a little, Katsuki meant way too fucking involved.
One second, Katsuki was sitting there, his briefs messy and gross against him, his trousers pulled to their limit as he straddled Shouta, his tank top clinging to his skin where he’d begun to sweat. The next second, he was exactly as he had been, but as naked as his fucking boss.
They both froze, Shouta’s eyes widening slowly with delight as he took in the view, and Katsuki in shock as he suddenly felt the prickle of magic on his bare skin in places where he certainly had not been expecting it.
“Well,” Shouta drawled, his eyes lingering between Katsuki’s too-spread legs where his cunt was slick and shiny from the mess he’d been making of himself in his pants for the past however fucking long they’d been at this. “That’s certainly a good reward.”
“You old pervert,” Katsuki gritted out, but it was half hearted at best. He could feel his skin pebbling at the sudden chill, and just as quickly, the magic warming him, washing over him like a warm high tide. He couldn’t help, under Shouta’s hungry gaze and the library’s soothing magic, but feel horribly admired.
“Katsuki,” Shouta murmured, his voice low and calm, but his tone unbending. “Come here.”
Once again, Katsuki listened. He scooted up, knowing exactly where that’d put him, and stopped when his legs were straddling Shouta’s hips instead. He could feel the warmth of Shouta’s arousal, the slickness Katsuki himself had put there, the pressure of it and the way it twitched as he lowered himself against it. He ignored all that and curled down over Shouta, one hand pressing to the counter above their heads.
“Give me a kiss,” Shouta purred, and Katsuki did it.
Shouta’s lips were dry, but that didn’t last long once Katsuki started kissing him. His own mouth was a mess that he didn’t bother to clean before pressing his lips to Shouta’s, not that it would have mattered once Shouta coaxed his mouth open and curled his tongue against his own.
Shouta’s tongue was rough and thinner than a normal human’s, which of course would be something Katsuki was newly into. Shouta also kissed with an experience Katsuki should have expected but for some reason hadn’t prepared himself for. He kissed good, and Katsuki was already feeling far too exposed and used in the best of ways to handle a good kiss and not want more.
“Tell me something,” he found himself begging, tearing away from the kiss only enough to press his plea to Shouta’s lips. “C’mon, say- say something.”
It took Shouta a minute to understand what he wanted, but Katsuki could hardly blame him. After all, the barely-there grinding he’d been unwittingly doing against Shouta’s heavy cock was enough to distract even the strongest willed of men. When he put it together, though, his purr really did become a snarl for a bone-rattling second, and Katsuki had to fight back a moan and the way it shook through him from every point where their bodies were pressed together.
He had just enough time to fleetingly wish that he could have Shouta’s hands on him before Shouta was talking, his voice like the low roil of thunder in a distant summer storm. “If you forget to bring an umbrella next time its raining, I’m fucking keeping you here,” he said, a threat more than an observation, not that Katsuki minded in the least. “Get on your knees and fuck yourself, Katsuki.”
Okay. Katsuki could do that.
His legs were already trembling as he pushed himself up and situated himself, raising up enough to get a hand under him and position Shouta where he needed him. The magic helped though, pressing around him like an invisible support, not solid enough to really do anything, but bolstering him just enough to make it easy. Easy as he held Shouta’s cock against his slick folds, easy as he jerked his hips forward, unable to resist, and easy as he finally sunk down.
He kept himself supported with a hand on Shouta’s stomach, firm under his touch, but it was sheer force of will that kept him from giving in to gravity and dropping straight down. That and the fact that he hadn’t been touched nearly enough to make it anything less than embarrassing if he came so quickly just from getting filled up.
Shouta’s purr faded down to something barely audible, nothing more than the faintest vibration of his stomach under Katsuki’s hand. With the way he was staring at Katsuki’s cunt as it stretched slowly over his cock, every muscle in his body tense, his- his claws peeking out over his fingertips where his hands were tied, he reminded Katsuki more of a panther lying in wait than a lazy house cat getting a treat. Even though he was the tied up one and Katsuki was the one on top, free and in control (physically, at least), Katsuki had the distinct feeling that he was the prey in the equation.
He also found that he didn’t mind that one bit.
Katsuki was gasping for air by the time his ass finally hit the top of Shouta’s thighs and he gave himself a moment to just sit there and catch his breath, his body adjusting at its own leisurely pace, choosing instead to linger in the pleasure shivering up his spine.
Shouta was still, terrifyingly still, but he was not silent. “Even when you wear you hide behind your counter and glare, people still watch you. You’re too handsome to scare people off with your attitude. Ride me.”
Katsuki hiccuped a moan as he forced himself back up until the head of Shouta’s cock was stretching his cunt ever so slightly, and then dropped back down, utterly graceless. It may as well have struck him like lightning for the way it left him trembling, hunched over his own body, but he didn’t falter. He forced his body up again, the magic warm and steady against him, and up again. Over and over, lifting himself up just to let his legs fail him at the top, slamming him back down again with enough force to have them both hissing out puffs of air in the shape of moans as the pleasure rose.
Katsuki was honestly impressed, somewhere in the back of his mind, with the fact that Shouta had lasted so long. He knew his own talents, and after the blowjob he’d given, most people would have been shaking and begging by now. Not Shouta, though. He looked hungry; he looked like the ties on his wrist would simply unravel themselves if he deigned to so much as look in their direction. He looked like he’d devour Katsuki before he finished.
Katsuki, on the other hand, who’d barely been touched other than a few minutes of sloppy grinding against Shouta’s even sloppier cock, was feeling… far too close. There was just something about being astride Shouta like this, staring down at him, holding him down with his weight on his hips, his hand on his stomach. Something about the way he stared at Katsuki, and the knowledge that he couldn’t do anything- No, that he wouldn’t do anything. As long as they were playing this game, Shouta would lay there and take it, take whatever he told Katsuki to dish out.
Katsuki slowed down. He wanted to make it last, He wanted to test the limits of Shouta’s restraint, see just how long he could drag this out.
Shouta, bastard that he was, let him. His hands tightened into clawed fists for a brief moment, but then his whole body relaxed a bit and his purr finally picked up some volume again as Katsuki began to rock gently. Back and forth, back and forth, Shouta’s cock buried as deep as it could go. For Shouta, there was next to no friction with how slick and soaked Katsuki was, but for Katsuki, Shouta’s cock was rubbing incessantly against his most sensitive spots, his fur just rough enough to tease Katsuki’s swollen clit as he ground down harder.
Shouta didn’t seem to mind, though. His gaze was heavy on Katsuki, matching the pressure of the library’s ever-present magic, and Katsuki felt almost like he was putting on a show. He felt attractive with Shouta watching him like that, even though he knew he was a fucking mess, knew that sucking his cock had started a job that he’d finished for himself by fucking himself on it and milking that pleasure for all it was worth. But even with a flush that covered his bare chest and shoulders, even with his pale hair sweat-slicked to his forehead, even with spit wetting his kissed-red lips, Katsuki felt like he was the prettiest damn thing in the world.
He had to be, if Shouta was watching him like that.
When his pace picked back up again, his greedy rocks turning back into hungry little bounces as Katsuki grew impatient, it wasn’t on purpose. Katsuki was just reaching the end of his rope, his body tight with need, and his desire to drag it all out had been replaced with a desire to be there already. He wanted to feel good, wanted Shouta to feel good because of him, wanted this to end so Shouta could touch him.
“Katsuki,” Shouta said once again, and Katsuki tensed on instinct, hips stuttering. He knew now what to expect. He met Shouta’s dark, gleaming eyes. Shouta smirked, his teeth white and sharp and- “I know you read porn on the clock. You wiggle around and get this look on your face when it gets hot.” Katsuki felt fiery indignance start to build in him, but just as quickly, it was doused with Shouta’s next words. “I want to see you. Come for me.”
Katsuki fell apart just like that, a string of curses caught in his teeth, his cunt clenched tight around Shouta’s cock, his nails digging uselessly into Shouta’s skin, Shouta’s purr loud and rattling under his hands.
“Reward,” he hissed as his body shook. “Come inside.”
Shouta snarled, loud and greedy, and came, his body pulling against his restraints but never past them, never using his magic or the library’s to free himself. It wasn’t over till it was over, and it wouldn’t be over until Katsuki was full and satisfied and ideally face first in Shouta’s chest, which was looking more and more tempting by the second.
Thankfully, the first condition was quickly being met, Shouta’s hips flexing against his ass, and the second was following quickly as Katsuki came down from his own high, easing back from the knife edge of pleasure into something softer, more comfortable. The last one followed when Shouta let out a long, rough exhale, and Katsuki knew he only had a second or two tops to make it happen before Shouta was freed either by the library (its magic comforting like a blanket around them now, cooling and refreshing against Katsuki’s too-hot skin) or by his own brute force.
Katsuki collapsed with no regard for Shouta himself, humming in satisfaction at the huff of air forced from Shouta’s lungs as Katsuki dropped against his hairy fucking tits. The next second, Shouta’s purr resumed, softer and steadier than it had been until now, and a second after that his thick arms that Katsuki had spent so long admiring before were wrapping around Katsuki’s back.
Hell yeah. This was what Katsuki wanted.
With the library’s magic keeping them comfortable, it was easy to start to drift off in the ensuing silence, but Katsuki didn’t let himself fall asleep yet. After all: “Where the fuck are my clothes?”
Shouta’s chuckle shook Katsuki’s head where it laid over his heart, and his tail swished against Katsuki’s feet, still tucked under his ass (he hadn’t bothered to move, not even to get off Shouta’s cock, and he didn’t really plan to). “I’m guessing the library put them somewhere where you could get them when you need them.”
Katsuki peeked open an eye to glance at the chair he’d left abandoned. It was empty, not even his sweater over its creased leather surface. He frowned. “I’m not going on a scavenger hunt for them. Where?”
“My guess?” Shouta offered, one hand tangled in Katsuki’s hair (just as soft as anticipated), “My closet.”
Katsuki flushed. “And why would I need my clothes in your closet?”
“So you can get dressed tomorrow, probably. Unless you want to come to work naked? I wouldn't have any complaints, but you might find yourself a bit… bothered by our lovely clientele.”
“I see,” Katsuki mumbled against Shouta’s plush pectoral. “And I suppose I have no say in this?”
“Sure you do,” Shouta told him calmly. “Do you want to walk up, or should we go the easy way?”
Katsuki didn’t bother lifting his head to glare. “... The easy way.”
The next thing he felt was a sweet stroke of familiar magic down his spine as the library bid them farewell, and then they were on something even softer and more comfortable than the temporarily squishy counter. A bed, most likely. Shouta’s bed, in Shouta’s home, just above the library.
Katsuki lifted his head now, curiosity beating the cushiony give of Shouta’s chest.
Sure enough, they were on an unnecessarily massive bed (though knowing Shouta’s penchant for sleep, maybe it was necessary) in what looked like the most comfortable bedroom Katsuki had ever visited. Opposite the long window that covered most of the upper half of the wall to their left were shelves of well-loved books lining the opposite wall. There were plants here and there: hanging from the curtain rod over the window alongside the gauzy cream curtains, in the corner between the nightstand and the wall, interspersed amongst the books on the shelves and littered over the dresser facing the foot of the bed.
There were a surprising amount of frames on the walls: an old art poster here, some smaller prints and paintings, and, of course, pictures. Katsuki couldn’t make them out from this distance, not in the relative darkness of the room, but if Shouta was serious about keeping him here til morning, he’d have the chance to study them in the light of day. Maybe after sitting on the cushioned bench under the window and watching the sunrise with a warm mug of tea, or something cheesy like that.
“Nice place,” Katsuki mumbled, dropping back onto Shouta’s chest.
“It’s just the bedroom,” Shouta rumbled in amusement, but he accepted the compliment nonetheless. “Give me a minute, I’ll give you a tour.”
“No thanks,” Katsuki said with a yawn. “Staying right here until I wake up.”
“Quick nap,” Shouta settled for. “Then bathroom. Then food.”
“Mm,” Katsuki hummed, because food sounded tempting, and he did vaguely have to pee. “Fine. You just- Stay here.”
“Yessir,” Shouta agreed with a wide yawn of his own. For reasons Katsuki would absolutely not be examining, that made him lift his head and scoot up enough to get his lips on Shouta’s before they’d even closed over the sharpness of his canines. Shouta grinned softly into the kiss, returning it without rush.
Maybe it wasn’t a nap, but it distracted them for long enough that after a few long minutes passed, Katsuki’s vague need to pee had become much more urgent. He pulled back, wrinkling his nose in annoyance. “Bathroom,” he muttered, wincing as he slipped off Shouta’s soft cock. “Where?”
Shouta grunted as he forced himself up into sitting and freed himself from underneath Katsuki. He offered Katsuki a slightly clawed hand to help him up, and Katsuki was not so stupid as to refuse holding hands, so he took it. Shouta led him out of the bedroom and to the first door in the hallway, briefly pointing out where kitchen and living room were at the other end, and explaining how the hot water of the shower turned on and which of the identical bottles was shampoo versus conditioner.
“Do you want your clothes after?” he asked before letting go of Katsuki’s hand, and Katsuki made a face.
“Obviously not. Bring me something soft.” Shouta’s purr followed him out the door and back to the bedroom, leaving Katsuki alone to do his business.
After relieving himself and taking a quick but thorough shower, Katsuki emerged to a large black t-shirt and a pair of boxers folded on the counter for him. They were both exceedingly soft, made him feel quite small, and also smelled vaguely of Shouta, which was, naturally, another thing Katsuki shouldn’t be into but was. There were also a pair of slippers on the mat by the sink, and Katsuki slipped them on as he left, heading in the direction Shouta had pointed out earlier.
Shouta was already in the kitchen, clean and damp like he’d also showered in a bathroom that didn’t have Katsuki in it (which was mildly annoying, but they could discuss that later). Katsuki took a moment to admire the large, imposing shape of him in front of the stove: broad shoulders and solid limbs, his dark hair collected in a messy up-do, his ears soft and attentive, his tail waving lazily behind him.
Mentally, Katsuki high-fived himself for pulling a truly impressive lay.
One of Shouta’s ears twitched back his way and he knew he’d been made, so he shuffled to his side, peering over his arm to see what he was cooking. “Dinner?”
“Yakimeshi,” Shouta told him, lifting his arm enough for Katsuki to duck under and settling it over his shoulders. “Good enough?”
Katsuki’s stomach rumbled in response and he didn’t even bother being embarrassed by it as he nodded and Shouta laughed.
“Good. I’ll save the good stuff for breakfast then.”
Katsuki bit back a grin. He’d never had breakfast at anyone’s house; not in this kind of context, It was sort of thrilling. He nodded again, and when Shouta released him with a firm pat on the ass, scurried away to the table where there was already a mug of ginger and turmeric tea waiting for him, the library’s magic still lingering over the surface, keeping it warm.
This wasn’t so bad, Katsuki though, taking a slow sip. Being here was like being in the library almost, feeling the distant hum of its magic, its pulse around him. Shouta’s steadying presence always nearby, always paying attention, just in case. Yeah, Katsuki was pretty sure he could get used to this.
The next morning, Katsuki woke shortly after the sun, as always. Shouta was sound asleep beside him, but there were hours still until the library opened, so Katsuki didn’t mind. In the kitchen, as if it was routine by now, there was a mug of tea, and Katsuki took it silently, his heart warming at the touch of magic.
He’d always envied it: that ability witches had to have whatever they wanted at their fingertips, to skip the small efforts and yield the big rewards. He’d never have that, not really, but the library made him feel like he’d never have to. Even with something as simple as this: his tea, warm and ready for him first thing in the morning. It was nice, actually, to think that even if the magic wasn’t his, it seemed to have… taken him on.
It didn’t belong to him, but he did belong to it, just a little. He thought of Deku again, gifted magic, and for the first time, didn’t find any anger in himself. He’d been gifted the same, in a different way. Izuku had his own magic to do with what he pleased; Katsuki had the magic of the library to take care of him the same way he took care of the library.
And, of course-
Two strong arms wrapped around him from behind, distracting Katuski from the view outside the window. Shouta curled around him, burning his face into Katsuki’s fluffy hair with a muffled groan and a soft kiss.
Not that Katsuki needed him, but he was pretty certain he had Shouta now too. His magic, should he need it; his strength; his attention. Maybe more, though Katsuki would wait to push that. This was enough for now. Attention, affection, an intimacy Katsuki wasn’t yet used to. His favorite tea in one hand, a scarred, gentle hand in the other.
“Good morning,” Katsuki murmured, not in the mood yet to break the silence. “‘M surprised you’re up.”
“Had to make sure you weren’t running off.” It was said jokingly, but from the tightness of the grip on him, Katsuki was pretty sure there was some truth to it.
He huffed a quiet laugh and leaned back against Shouta’s chest. “Go back to sleep,” he directed teasingly. “I’m not going anywhere.”