Sariel and Aaranath were vastly different. If asked, they would say they have nothing in common. He was an angel, but had defiled his god-given body with piercings, tattoos, modifications, he had little respect for his creator. Aaranath was a demon, studious, courteous, wise and soft spoken. They were opposites, but both regarded as far from normal for their respective origins. This was the cause for their union, which was only a union of habitat. They were roommates, but neither very much liked the other, so they had little to do with each other. It was calm this way, Sariel worked in a tattoo parlor and Aaranath worked in a library, and they just existed together but very much apart. That was until Aaranath found Nami.
Neither was from the mortal realm, but as that was where they resided, they had become used to it. Or so they thought, but when Aaranath saw a woman drop a box off on the side of a highway, he learned that the humans were not as benign as he believed. In the box was a small brown cat. He brought it home, and washed it in the tub, which it did not appreciate, and then debated if he should ask Sariel if they could keep it. As he sat on the couch he felt a hand on his shoulder. Startled, he turned to find a slender boy who appeared to be 18 or 19, with a flop of brown hair, with two cat ears poking out. A brown furred tail moved idly behind him. And he was naked. The door opened and Sariel walked in, freezing at the sight.
"Not in the living room." He said angrily. The boy darted back to the bathroom.
"It's not what you think." Aaranath began.
"I think there was a naked boy in the living room." Sariel said angrily.
"Okay, that's true, but I found him on the side of the road and I thought he was a cat." Aaranath said, which sounded not much better.
"It's clearly a human boy." Sariel pointed in the direction of the bathroom.
"When I brought him home he was in the form of a cat." Aaranath said. "So either he's cursed or it's a shapeshifter."
"So you brought a trickster into our house." Sariel huffed. Before Aaranath could dispute, Sariel was stomping towards the bathroom.
"Sariel wait!" Aaranath darted after the angel, who had stopped in the doorway of the bathroom. He couldn't see around the bulk of Sariel, who was very large with all his muscles, not to mention the big wings on his back. Sariel stepped inside and closed the door. Aaranath heard the click of the lock and felt the dread begin to pile up in his stomach.
Sariel sat on the toilet and regarded the small brown cat that was cowering in the tub.
"Come here, it's not you I'm angry with." His tone was commanding, and the cat did not respond in any way. "I know you understand me, where did you come from?" He asked. The cat's ears went back. "Me too." Sariel sighed. "I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to make sure you're not injured. I saw a cut on your leg." Slowly he stood, turning into the boy Sariel had seen in the living room, and came to stand before the angel. "I may be able to heal it." Sariel reached slowly to the boy's leg and saw a cut on the back of his thigh and a deeper one on his ankle. He healed the one on the boy's thigh, but the one on his ankle was deep, and clearly painful. He couldn't do much to help that, it would need real medical care to be done properly.
"Did they do this to you where you came from?" Sariel asked. The boy's ears went back again. "I'm not taking you back, but I need to know if it was done intentionally." The boy nodded. Sariel frowned.
"They cut our ankles so we can't run when they dump us." The boy said in a small voice. Sariel cursed under his breath, humanity always found new ways to be disgusting.
"I can give you some pain medicine, but you'll need to have a doctor look at it." Sariel said. The boy stood there in silence. Sariel stood and fished some pain meds out of the cabinet and handed two to the boy. "Swallow these. Do you need water?" The boy swallowed them and Sariel nodded. "Are you a shapeshifter?" Again, the boy nodded. "How old are you?"
"Nineteen." He said.
"What happened to your parents?"
"They left me at the-" He caught himself.
"Probably don't tell me where you came from. Matter of fact, don't tell Aaranath either. We'd both...find that behavior...punishable." Sariel tried to sound nonthreatening. "You can stay with us if you want. I'm Sariel, and the one who brought you in is Aaranath."
"I am Nami." He said, eyes downcast.
"We'll get you some clothes and then take you to the doctor." Sariel nodded and opened the door. Aaranath was waiting outside looking sick from worry.
"Did he hurt you? You can't kick him out he's just a boy." Aaranath said urgently.
"Nami can stay as long as he wants, but his leg is hurt pretty badly, so we'll have to get him a disguise so we can take him to the doctor." Sariel said casually, brushing past Aaranath. "Go get him clothes. Something that will cover his ears and hide his tail." Sariel said, walking to the kitchen.
"Who do you think you are ordering me around?" Aaranath straightened his back, and followed the angel with a frown.
"I'm sorry, do you not want Nami to see a doctor?" Sariel looked at Aaranath who sputtered and huffed. "Then what are you still doing here?" Sariel's words caught Aaranath off guard, and the demon left in a huff. Nami hovered in the doorway.
"Sit, you need to stay off that ankle." Sariel said. Nami didn't move. Sariel pointed at the small table and chairs. "Do I need to tie you down?" Still Nami didn't move. Sariel left the pot he'd put on the stove to move towards Nami. Nami came up to around chest level to the massive frame of Sariel. Sariel was tall, broad, and his skin was littered with tattoos, they covered much of him from the neck down and he had one on his right temple. His septum was pierced and he had plugs in his ears and a stud in each upper lip forming angel bites. His wings had been dyed black and had piercings in them as well. He wore a black shirt with the logo of the shop he worked at, black jeans, and big black boots. He was what most would consider an intimidating sight. But Nami, naked and unafraid, stared up at him with a blank expression.
"Just a minute ago you cowered in the tub at the sight of me." Sariel commented, idly.
"Before I realized." Nami replied, tail swishing playfully. Sariel raised a pierced eyebrow. "That you want to have sex with me."
"What would you know about that?" Sariel asked, small smile playing on his lips.
"I can smell it." Nami said, leaning closer to Sariel.
"Can you now? What else do you smell?" Sariel asked.
"My arousal too." Nami looked up at Sariel with a bold stare, how big amber eyes fixed on Sariel, daring him to do something about the naked boy in his path.
"Who are you aroused by, Nami?" Sariel asked.
"You." Nami exhaled the word, quietly. "And Aaranath."
"Both? We're nothing alike." Sariel frowned, turning back to the stove. He put pasta in the now boiling pot.
"You both want me though." Nami said.
"Is that all it takes?" Sariel sounded bitter.
