Our Loved Creation

Bad News

When you wake up, you're faced with the back of Vesper, the slight crack in the curtains allowing sunlight to hit his frame in a diagonal line, lighting his hair up so the black locks shine a little. You look at the exposed stumps on his back now you can see them a little more clearly. They're not very big, standing about an inch out of his back, and just as rough as the rest of his body from the look of it.
Curiously, you trail your fingers gently over one of them, which makes Vesper shudder a little. You freeze, grimacing as you half-expect him to have woken up from the touch, but when a couple of moments pass and he doesn't say anything or move, you assume that he's still asleep, and reach for it thoughtfully again.
It's always surprising how rough his scales are in comparison to how smooth you remember Shuichi's scales to be.

This time Vesper groans a little, the sound rumbling through the room as he twitches in his sleep, and you withdraw your hand again, spotting Takagi stir a little at the sound from the corner of your eye.
Sure enough, Takagi sits up, rubbing his eyes as he yawns, and your shoulders drop a little when you see fresh cuts on his side, the morning light exposing them to you in a way you hadn't seen the day before.
The second he meets your eyes, his expression turns into a shit eating grin, and you shake your head, holding a finger to your lips to practically beg for his silence.

"Holy shit!" He says anyway, shaking Keiko who'd been curled up asleep next to him.

"Don't!" You hiss.

"Geddoff." Keiko murmurs, swatting at Takagi.

You glare at Takagi, not that he seems to care, snickering as smoke seems to come from Vesper's face.

"Shut up, Akito." Keiko says grouchily, kicking him and turning her back to him.

"Star and Vesper got it on." He whispers back, smiling even wider when Keiko shoots upwards, alarming Hana enough to wake her up with a start, too.

"She's fully dressed you fucking idiot." Keiko bitches, slapping Takagi over the back of the head like she usually does.

"Maybe she's shy." Takagi retorts playfully, not put off by the slap. "Not everyone's a pro like you, babe."

Keiko gives him a dead-eyed look and returns her attention back to you both, frowning a little. "Why's he smoking?"

"Maybe he's having a nightmare." Hana yawns, sitting up as well.

You sit up slowly to peer at his face. There's definitely smoke leaking from his nostrils, and he seems to be clutching the blanket tightly. When you go to move a little more, you're suddenly aware of a weight constricting around your ankle, and you realise he must have wrapped the thinner end of his tail around you at some point during the night.
You gently try to move some of his hair from his face to see if he looks troubled as he sleeps, but his eyes open and slide towards you.

"Somethin' wrong?" He asks drowsily.

"You're smoking." You reply, pointing to your own nose. "Are you okay?"

Vesper blinks a couple of times, as though he's waking up properly, his green eyes becoming clearer, and his tail unwinding from your ankle. He lets go of the blanket with one hand to rub his eyes carefully, but still holds the blanket up with his other hand so it's covering his body even when you move to sit up properly, crossing your legs.

"Ves, make us breakfast, yeah?" Takagi teases, throwing a random item of clothing at the back of Vesper's head.

"Yeah, yeah, in a bit. Let me wake up." Vesper grumbles back, looking embarrassed for some reason.

You look at him curiously as the others all start waking up properly, Keiko stretching out her arms and back and Hana talking excitedly, her tail swishing over the end of the bed.