#knuckle

You weren’t the only person who’d decided to take advantage of the nice weather, the sidewalks filled with people gathering whatever sun they could get in a single day, the forecast already having promised the gloomy weather to return quickly. Some had even dragged some seats outside to sit in front of their homes, a cheerful sight, though it did get a little cramped. The park was no less busy, and you hoped the training you’d given your little girl was strong enough for her to withstand temptation with all the picnic baskets. 

Polly trotted ahead on the path, her tail wagging furiously as she took in the scents carried by the gentle breeze. The park was alive with the sounds of laughter, the chirping of birds, and the occasional bark of other dogs. You smiled, feeling the warmth of the sun on your face and the simple pleasure of being outside.

Holding the leash in one hand and a nice cup of coffee you'd gotten on the way here in the other, you continued to walk, enjoying the vibrant greenery that had flourished from the recent rains. Polly's excitement was contagious, and you found yourself relaxing more with each step. As you rounded a bend, your eyes automatically caught sight of an abnormality in the picturesque scene. 

A man in the distance, standing in the middle of the grass field. He was training, going through a series of exercises with an intensity that was hard to ignore. It wasn’t necessarily the training which made him look abnormal, there being plenty of people working out around the park, but rather the entire scene. He was dressed as if he was a punk from the 80’s, and was being circled by around ten dogs. 

Curiosity piqued, you slowed your pace to observe him. The man was tall and muscular, his dark hair styled into a pompadour. He was wearing white pants, a few golden rings only accentuating how out of place he seemed here. You couldn’t help but be impressed, since even though you didn’t know anything about martial arts, even you could tell his form was impeccable, each punch and kick executed with precision and power. As you got closer, the path naturally taking you close to him, he broke out of his concentration and seemed to notice you staring. You hadn’t meant to be staring so much, but there was something cool about seeing someone move so fluidly, with so much power. 

His eyes met yours and he froze entirely. His expression, which had been a frown depicting his focus, broke as he now stared as intently towards you as you had towards him. 

Ah, had you been staring that noticeably? Best to seem friendly then.

You smiled, your eyes crinkling, and waved. 

There were a few things you’d expected him to do. Wave back, ignore you, return to his exercises. All were fine, as long as you didn’t have to feel weird about breaking him out of his concentration. What you hadn’t expected was for the man to stay frozen for a good few seconds, making you freeze in turn, feeling like you waving had angered him or something. You lowered your hand in confusion, before immediately seeing what was happening as the man grew as red as a tomato within mere seconds. 

Polly tugged on the leash, and you went with her, sending one more amused smile to the blushing man, who seemed to nearly die on the spot in response. 

Ah… that was really cute. 

You continued your walk, Polly happily trotting beside you. As you moved away, you couldn’t help but glance back at the peculiar man when you reached a safe distance, his presence lingering in your thoughts. The scene replayed in your mind, his intense training juxtaposed with his sudden, almost bashful reaction. The contrast was both amusing and endearing.

Polly led you to a shaded area beneath a large oak tree, where she eagerly began sniffing around. You sat on a nearby bench, taking a moment to enjoy the vibrant atmosphere of the park. Families were picnicking, children were laughing and playing, and other dogs were running around, their owners chatting amiably. Despite the crowd, your mind kept drifting back to the man with the pompadour.

You watched him from your spot under the tree, noticing how he resumed his exercises but with a slight distraction. His movements, though still precise, seemed to lack the same intensity as before. Every now and then, he glanced in your direction, a hint of color still lingering on his cheeks. At least, you hoped he was glancing in your direction. 

Perhaps he was just warm, perhaps you had food stuck in your teeth, perhaps you reminded him of his long lost enemy. But, you having been out of the dating scene for a while now, secretly hoped that he had been so impressed with your outfit today (you were wearing a new sundress, and your coworkers this morning hadn’t noticed, so you were taking any compliment you could get) that he’d fallen in love on the spot. 

Polly, sensing your distraction, nudged your leg with her nose, reminding you to stay present. You smiled down at her, giving her a reassuring pat. "Alright, girl. Let's keep moving."

You did not return to the park two days later, the weather having let up again for long enough to make it worthwhile, just because of him. 

And even if you had, he wasn’t there, so it was a moot point regardless. 

Shut up.

A week later, he was back. 

Once again surrounded by dogs, once again half-naked and exercising in the sun, and once again staring at you when you walked past. It was doing wonders for your self-esteem, you had to admit, to feel a man’s gaze on you so intensely. In the back of your mind, you wondered whether he was just looking at Polly since he seemed to have so many dogs himself, but that didn’t stroke your ego, so you decided not to believe it.

You returned to your spot under the oak, the perfect place since it was nice in the shade, you had a view of the man exercising, and Polly could walk around the bushes. It was also just a bit off the main-path of the park, so there weren’t too many people constantly rushing past. You brought a book, not because you wanted to spend the rest of the afternoon here per se, but just in case. 

Just… in case. 

After trying to read for three minutes and deciding you were probably illiterate right now, you put away the book. There was a time and place for Dracula, but today was not the day. You didn’t want to sit here on your phone, so you looked around in the bag you brought to see if you brought something else to occupy yourself with. With a victorious noise, you pulled out a small ball. 

“Polly? Come here girl.” 

Your baby girl sprinted your way after spotting the toy, jumping up and down at your feet at the prospect of playing a bit of fetch. She was horrible at it, though, grabbing the ball but never eager to return it to your feet, so you probably had to wrestle it from her or pick it up yourself. Nevertheless, you stood up from your seat and threw the ball, smiling to yourself when Polly immediately went after it, her ears flopping adorably. You were careful not to throw it too close to where the man was, knowing one of those dogs would probably go after the ball too if they wanted to play too. 

You watched Polly dash after the bright red ball time and time again, her little legs moving as fast as they could. She reached it, picked it up in her mouth, and bounded back to you with uncontained enthusiasm, each time you having to trick her into giving it up again. Laughing, you took the ball from her and threw it again, delighting in her joy. The two of you played fetch for a while, the simple game a balm to the stresses of your week.

At one point, you wound up for a particularly enthusiastic throw, aiming high to give Polly a good run. However, your aim was a bit off, and the ball sailed higher than intended, lodging itself in the branches of a tall tree. Polly skidded to a halt beneath the tree, barking up at the ball, her tail wagging in confusion and excitement.

“Uh oh.” You mumbled to yourself, from your position able to see the ball stuck in some branches high up. “Whoops.”

You started walking towards the tree, deciding to assess the situation there and hope there was a large branch nearby to push out the ball. If not, you’d have to buy a new one, since there was no way you were climbing up a tree in a short sundress (another new one, though you’d received ample compliments on this one). 

Yet when you were around half-way, you stopped walking, seeing the man stop his exercising and look towards the same tree you were looking at. Without looking at you, he walked towards it, and being way closer than you, he reached it in no time. Without saying a word he seemed dedicated to getting out the ball for you.

Oh…

But that meant he’d probably hand it to you, right? 

You’d have to say thanks, and smile, and maybe push back some hair if he was as attractive as he seemed from a distance. 

Not that you were into him or anything, since you would’ve been fine never talking to him ever. It would’ve been amazing even, since that meant you could keep your fantasy non-existent romance, without any possibility of him ruining it by saying the wrong thing. 

And then he jumped into the tree, an easy ten feet right into the air, and you watched incredulously as he plucked out the ball from the branches, jumping right back down when he had it in his hands. 

“That’s actually pretty impressive.” You mumbled  while walking to meet him half-way, taken off guard by how quickly he’d jumped up into the tree. You thought you’d spoken quietly, but when he came down, the ball in his hand, he was grinning widely, chest puffed out. 

He walked toward you, and having determined that he was just as attractive as he’d seemed from a distance, you stood still. Despite his initial bravado, he got increasingly nervous as he neared you. Watching him approach, you just amusedly watched him grow increasingly red, his cheeks completely scarlet by the time he stood in front of you. 

“Ah, you, uhh, lost this?” 

“Thank you for grabbing it for me.” You said as neutrally as possible, suppressing the urge to smile at the nervous wreck in front of you. It was so flattering, you thought, never having had someone so infatuated with you they’d lose their nerve like this. “I probably wouldn’t have been able to get it myself.”

“It isn’t a problem.” There was a harsh edge to his words, the man clearly used to speaking much more bluntly. Well, if he looks like a punk and talks like a punk, he probably is one, you reckoned. “Really, don’t mention it.”

You laughed. “Haha, sure. I will try not to throw anymore in there though.”

“I wouldn’t mind… getting them back down, ya know…”

“Are you sure?” It was easy to speak to him, you decided, since he seemed much more nervous than you, which did wonders in suppressing your own anxiety. “You must have better things to do this friday afternoon than jumping up trees.”

'Ask me out, ask me out, ask me out.' You repeated mentally, hoping the sheer volume of your thoughts would reach him.

His posture straightened and he blinked profusely. “I- uhh, am just here to feed the strays today. And train a bit.”

“Those aren’t yours?” You exclaimed, looking past him to see the twelve dogs that were excitedly playing in the space the man had come from. Last time there’d been around ten. “Huh. I assumed you were dog sitting them or something.”

“Definitely not, they just show up, and I guess someone’s gotta feed the muts.” He looked up bashfully, frowning deeply before he turned around abruptly. “I gotta go, very important plans I have to be on time for, yes.”

“Good luck.” You laughed softly, pushing down your own disappointment while waving him away, before calling Polly to go back home.

“Damn, you weren’t kidding. The guy’s real,” Kath said, shading her eyes with her hand as she squinted in the direction of your somewhat-maybe crush, who was currently petting one of the many stray dogs surrounding him.

“You were doubting me?” you replied, a hint of amusement in your voice as you twirled the straw in your drink, more for the enjoyment of the swirl than for any further stirring.

“Sorry, but a ‘dog-loving delinquent is creeping on you at the park’ sounds so weird,” Kath said, shaking her head.

“He’s not creeping!” you protested, trying to keep your tone light but unable to hide a hint of defensiveness.

“No, no, no, of course not. He’s just staring continually at you and jumping into trees whenever you throw a ball wrong. Very normal. What’s he even doing here?” Kath’s skepticism was evident, her eyebrows raised as she observed the mystery man with a critical eye.

“Training. And he’s feeding the strays.” You gestured towards the cluster of dogs around him. “There’s three more since last time. He keeps yelling at them to go away, but they all continuously follow him regardless. It’s kind of sweet.”

Kath turned to you very slowly, a serious expression on her face. “Yo, I know online dating’s been going shit, but if you start going out with delinquent homeless people, I’ll call your parents.”

“Pfft!” You laughed, surprised by the earnest expression thrown your way. “Says the one going out with a DJ convinced music is the only way to undo the brain damage done by cell phone signals.”

“Boo! Easy shot.” Kath slumped against the bench, head thrown back and eyes closed, looking like a cat lying in the sun. “Claude is cute so he’s allowed to be stupid.”

You chuckled, watching as the man played with the dogs, his rough exterior softened by his gentle interactions with the animals. “I think he’s cute enough to get to be stupid.”

Kath looked at you.

You looked back at her. 

“I’m going to hit you.” Kath announced. 

Pursing your lips, you nodded.

“I understand.”

The entire situation went on for way too long.

You made going to the park a part of your routine, and while at first the man did nothing more than blush and throw back rogue balls whenever you threw one (your throws had always been this bad, don’t think too much about it), things started to change over time. At first, it was just a nod of acknowledgment or a brief wave. Then, he began to linger nearby, occasionally commenting on Polly’s enthusiastic fetch sessions.

One sunny afternoon, after you had once again launched Polly’s ball into an unreachable part of the tree, he not only retrieved it but also walked over and sat down on your bench. He was tentative at first, his eyes flicking nervously between you and the dogs, but you smiled warmly, inviting him to stay. You started feeding the strays together, your bags of treats mixing as the grateful dogs gathered around.

To his credit, he didn’t stutter anymore, his posture a tad more relaxed compared to last week. He was still rosy red, but if you hadn’t been watching out for that specifically, you’d have attributed it to the warm weather. 

“I was wondering if you-” He swallowed and looked away. “Would be interested in ever- you know- going out, maybe? If you want?”

Oh, damn, he’d really gone for it. For all your thinking about the man, you’d not really figured out what to say in this situation, having expected it to never occur. Kath’s words resounded in your mind, knowing what she’d say. ‘Fuck no! You don’t go out with random park people!’. It was hard to find fault with her logic, both out of safety concerns and out of the knowledge that while the man had been rather cute to watch stumble around and you had wanted him to ask you out, you were now unsure whether that would be a good idea. 

“I’m afraid I’m forbidden by my best friend to go out with strangers in parks.” You said slowly, the expected rejection flashing across the man’s face just as uncomfortable as you’d imagined it being. “Rather dangerous to just go with someone like that.”

“Ah… I see.” Despite the hurt you’d seen on his face, for some reason, he didn’t sulk and walk away without another word, instead forcing a large cheerful smile on his face. “That’s fine! It’s good advice. I just thought I’d give it a try. You probably haven’t noticed, but I’ve liked you for a while now, and I need to leave tomorrow for a job, so it was now or never.”

With any other, the words would’ve sounded a tad bitter or dejected, said in a quick attempt to save face. Nothing wrong with that, of course. With the risk of asking someone out, rejection was always an option, and not everyone managed to deal with it as gracefully as they would want. The man stood up, turned around, his head held high, proud with himself, and your heart squeezed painfully at the sight. 

Dear god. He was really…

Really sweet.

Before the Kath that lived on your shoulder could interfere with your actions, the words had already left your mouth.“So, what’s your name?”

“Huh?”

“What’s your name? Then you won’t be a stranger anymore, won’t you?” 

“She’s called Polly.”

“Heh. That’s cute.” 

“What do you do for a living beside jumping in trees?”

“Oh, I’m a hunter.”

You stopped petting Polly and looked his way, disbelief written across your features.

“Fuck off.” 

Okay, you’d been right. 

Knuckle was sweet, outrageously so. Every time you’d nervously sat too far away from him to not look like a stalker seemed stupid now in retrospect, the man combusting when you so much as held his hand. He was incredibly funny, listened, and was up for anything, a quality you enjoyed, since it allowed you to choose silly date locations and activities, something different from a drink and dinner, a combo that had been kind of ruined by many bad experiences. You’d wanted Knuckle to be something new, and he’d been exactly that.

But, and you weren’t saying this to complain, it was a bit… much. 

“Yes, I know you’re working, so I don’t want to disturb you, but-” You looked at your desk, the computer not visible underneath the absolutely gargantuan bouquet of flowers that had been delivered, the third one this week. From where the landline confined you, you could see a card facing out, the multiple hearts and swirls confirming to you that the contents were probably alike in intensity to the previous notes. “I thought I told you not to send me flowers anymore… I can’t store them anywhere and my neighbors won’t take them anymore.”

“I forgot! Sorry!” It was silent on the other line for a few seconds. “Uhh, in that case, I have nothing to do with the flowers in front of your apartment. Must’ve been some other guy.”

“Hmm, sounds about right.” It was hard to be annoyed by something this well intentioned, even if you’d outright scowled at the sight of the flowers initially. “Other guys sent me flowers soooo often.”

“Hey! Don’t joke about that.” He yelled through the receiver. “Not when I’m not there to beat those guys up!”

“What did you say? Couldn’t hear you over all those dates I’m going on.” You chortled at your own joke, the indignified cry on the other side funny enough to send away any bit of agitation you’d felt. Not wanting to tease him any longer, knowing he’d get pouty if you did so, you got a bit more serious. “Everything going good on your end?”

“Yeah, don’t worry. I’ll be back Monday probably.” 

“Fine, fine. Text me when you get back. And no more flowers.”

“If you insist.” He didn’t seem that dedicated to the notion. “See you Monday.”

Despite knowing he was a hunter, you could admit to yourself that you’d not taken Knuckle all that seriously after finding out the softie that resided underneath all that bravado. Having deemed him harmless, you’d been sweeter with him, softer, and you liked that version of yourself, even if at times you heard yourself be a little belittling, placing yourself in a more ‘mature’ perspective than the man who’d managed to get through the hunter exam and live. 

It occurred naturally, and you didn’t mean to do it. The realization often came to you in quiet moments, like now.

“Wooh! I’m hungry now, heheh.” He chuckled to himself from the other room, and you didn’t have to see the stupid grin to know it was there. “It’s a bit late to make dinner. I’m gonna order some pizzas. What kind do you want?”

You laid on the bed, a blanket half covering your naked body, your mind completely blanking as you stared at the ceiling. The dim light from the bedside lamp cast a warm glow over the room, highlighting the cozy disarray of clothes strewn about and the scent of sex lingering in the air.

Knuckle. Your sweet ‘grows red while holding hands and grows bashful at every nice thing you say to him’ guy. The one that had already put a picture of the both of you as his phone background. That guy. He’d, and you could scarcely believe it-

Completely blown your back out. 

When you’d invited him back to your place, you’d mentally decided to offer for him to stay the night, but you’d also prepared yourself to handle it a bit more delicately than a standard hook-up, having assumed him to not have any expertise in the area considering how anxiously his first attempt to kiss you had gone. 

(He’d called your name while watching a movie, and when you’d looked his way, a set of puckered lips had been the sight that greeted you. You weren’t proud of it, but seeing him exert himself that much had made you laugh, which had embarrassed him greatly. Luckily, you’d managed to redeem yourself plenty that night.)

You’d planned, if things were to go as far as sex, to raise the idea of you riding him, so the pressure wasn’t as much on him to perform, and you could ease him into it. Things had gone as expected, at first, with him growing increasingly more bashful and loud as the night progressed. 

You’d kissed him, asked him if he was interested, and after nearly shouting ‘yes’, you’d led him to your bedroom. All going accordingly, you’d undressed, watching him grow more bashful by the second. You found it endearing, and there was something very arousing about taking the upper hand in these situations, so you’d talked to him gently, explaining your plan to him, straddling his waist and kissing up his neck while doing so. 

And then he’d interrupted you. 

“It’s not that I’m complaining,” He mumbled, his voice low and measured as he watched you pull back from placing open mouthed kisses against his jaw, his expression a lot more serious than you’d been expecting. “but you’re acting like I just need to lie back and let you handle it.”

“Hmm,” you placed your arms around his neck, smiling coyly, straightening your back somewhat so your ass pressed into his bulge ever so slightly. “You don’t like that?”

Despite your actions having been intended to fluster him, he remained remarkably in control, a quick intake of breath the sole reaction you got. He frowned deeply. “I don’t want you to look at me like that.” 

“Like what?”

“Like I’ll break if you don’t treat me gently,” He put a single hand on your ass and stood up from the edge of the bed, lifting you up entirely with just a single arm. With eyes widened, you felt your back hit the wall, Knuckle staring down at you with eyes burning with conviction. “I want you to take me more seriously than that.”

Feeling your pulse increase, you felt at a loss for words. He wasn’t wrong, you’d been in this with the idea to take things easy for him, so you didn’t know what else to say but the truth. “Don’t think I’m insulting you, love. It was my idea, so I was just trying to take responsibility.”

With a grin tugging at his lips, this time he was the one to lean forward and press a kiss against your jaw, the entire gesture both teasing and telling. “Responsibility, huh? Don’t think that’s right. If you were to take responsibility for every time you’ve tried to get my dick hard, we’d be here for a while. D’you like seeing me stutter? Grow red? Tense up? Huh?!”

What was happening. 

“...I do.” You said honestly, for the first time feeling the roles reversed. Every word he said, every squeeze to your ass, every inch he closed, pressing his crotch against yours, and worse, every inch he didn’t close, his self-control only showcasing your lack in the same regard. “It’s really sweet.”

“Sweet, huh?” He repeated, the word sounding different coming from him, less adoring, like how you meant it, and more like the delinquent you’d seen him as when you met him. You kind of liked it. “We’ll see about that, punk.”

He jumped on top of the bed, his face appearing right above you. “Yo, you doing okay?”

You turned to your side, arm reaching out for him to lie down next to you. Without much force needed, he acquiesced and laid down next to you, allowing you to lean against his chest and wrap your arms and a single leg around him. With a sigh, you closed your eyes, comfortable in your exhaustion. 

“Babe, I can’t fall asleep just yet, the bath is still running.”

“Heresy.” You mumbled, finding the heat flowing off of him too comforting to let him go. You still needed to mentally process the evening and his insistence on it not being close to time for bed meant you probably had to do it now, with him being right there. You raised the hand you’d wrapped around him and playfully pretended to droop his eyelids. “Shhhh, shhh, go to sleep.”

“...Did your head hit the board or somethin’?” 

Being called crazy by Knuckle was taking the cake, but you weren’t really sure how to respond, recent events repeating in your mind’s eye. How he’d grinned and pushed you back into the mattress after your back had arched off of it, silently scolding you for being unable to take it. How he'd jack-hammered into you, taunting you all the while for not taking him seriously enough. How he'd marked up your entire neck with enough hickeys to necessitate you wearing turtlenecks to work for weeks.

The memories resurfacing made you nearly combust with both arousal and embarassment, remembering how confidently you’d entered the situation and how quickly he’d pegged you down a few notches. 

“Can’t a girl be happy and tired?” You looked up at him and smiled, and as if the past three hours had been merely a hallucination on your part, he flushed and looked away. Your smile widened and you decided having this go unspoken would make you go crazy, better to discuss it, even if you just hid it under a layer of humor. “I can’t even feel my legs, and I’m not kidding about that.”

“Wait, what? Seriously?” His head snapped your way. “Did I hurt you?”

“No, I mean it in a good way.” You sighed dramatically. “But however will I make it to the bathtub with you? If only I had a strong, chivalrous man to carry me…”

You’d expected to be laughed at, or to see his worry fade away, but instead you were, within the span of a few seconds, lovingly hoisted up into the air and taken towards the bathroom. You didn’t even feel him flex or exert any effort in holding you, which made you wonder just how strong he really was.