oh death.

he'd been given the door code, but even within the crowded hotel lobby, vesper could smell the familiar ghost of cloudhymn on the air. in this state, it was driving him mad—damn, it was too warm for this, too busy, too loud. his tail twitched impatiently. decision made: he'd find his own way in. exiting the building, vess made his way to the back, counting windows as he walked, noting the scaffolding up the wall near enough to the room that should be dan heng's. how convenient.

with more patience, he might have taken the stairs, but instead the hunter jumped up and grabbed the platform's edge, hauling himself up, climbing the scaffolding by hand, floor by floor, rung by rung, an absolutely feral tunnel vision guiding him up the side of the hotel. the sixth floor—room 618, he knew for a fact—held within exactly the man he wanted. he could smell it, the petrichor, the unmistakable scent of his dragon. his. his. his. vess instinctively bared his teeth as he unsheathed his claw blade and jammed it under the window, breaking the lock and throwing it open. pupils constricted, searching the room, and then just as quickly dilated upon laying eyes on him. dan heng, a cool and refreshing scent... vess was inside in the blink of an eye.

"clothes. off. now." he didn't even bother closing the window again, but he did yank the curtains mostly closed to keep his dragon's body to himself. mere moments after, vesper was backing dan heng to the wall, pulling at the belt around that lithe waist, already working on undoing the pants that kept his hips from vess, kept his thighs from vess. he'd been invited, but it had been quite a long time since vess went into rut, so this was unlikely to be what dan heng was expecting from this visit. every ounce of his usual control was slipping through his fingers like sand, like water. water... oh, how he longed to coax dan heng's more natural form from him, to leave a man so naturally stunning, so debauched and ruined instead.

the moment dan heng’s back hit the wall, the cloudhymn fell away in crystal shards instead of the way they used to, swept away in an invisible current. golden horns became visible, solid tail coming to wrap possessively around the hound’s leg. had vess not mentioned the borisin heritage, he might be more alarmed, but not with knee pressed to his hardening crotch, the hands at his belt, vess pressing all of his adamant weight against him. it had been clear immediately, a rut, and so soon around dan heng’s own moonstruck cycle he might trigger it too. maybe he would have cared more, if the insatiable urge to kiss him did not crush every other logical thought.

dilating eyes roved over the solid planes of his lover, wired muscle, wild hair, that gorgeous tail moving about behind him. the impulsive urge to tug on it was replaced by teeth at his neck, coaxing out deep groans as dan heng became reacquainted with intimacy, the feeling of vess’ pulse along his, the warmth of his hands slipping beneath his clothes and against his skin, the exciting spark of them as they moved across parts of him that had not been touched in hundreds of years. he could crumble so easily into that grasp, something like an animalistic growl-purr rumbling from his throat as he, too, fumbled for the waiting hardness in vesper’s trousers, mouth wet with the prominent tease of his cock. ripple after ripple of pleasure moved over his body as it became reacquainted with the wolf’s, instinct guiding the hand at vesper’s nape down so that dan heng could capture those lips in his own.

hot. oh, he was so hot. vess was burning from the inside out, dick aching as he ground his hips against the hand palming him through his pants. it wouldn't surprise him if he'd already been this hard upon entering; the only thing proving more distracting than the throb in his dick, was the dizzying scent of his lover, a trail vess would have followed across the universe.

their lips crashed together, aggressive and desperate, nervousness and heartache and joy all shoved aside in pursuit of each other. vesper's fumbling attempts at undoing dan heng's pants earned a snarl into dragon's mouth, bruising kiss accompanied for a fleeting moment by the loud sound of ripping fabric. he'd gotten frustrated quickly, and grabbed the garment in both hands, forcefully ripping it in half from the zipper, down the main seam of the pants. not only did this expose dan heng, but it left the majority of the piece falling loosely from his hips, providing access for vess' thick hands to slide up under his partner's top, along the warm planes of his waist, and then down, down to slip fingers under the remainders of his jeans, to grab both asscheeks in full and grip, knead, spread—vesper's eager fingers grazed the rim he craved so badly, and it made his cock jump too.

ㅤㅤ𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗖𝗔𝗡𝗢𝗡𝗦ㅤ|ㅤ@vessmarㅤ| ㅤaccepting!

we lightly touched on this, but i genuinely think håkan learns a lot from vesper regarding mechanics and engineering. he is extremely fascinated by how differently vess thinks when considering inventions and explorations, and i can see vess slowly becoming someone that håkan comes to first when he has a new idea. also, håkan tends to shut himself inside his forge when he is highly focused on a new project, but vess would be one of the few people with a spare key to come in whenever! he values his opinion and input a great deal, but i think the moment his eyes sparkle the most is when vess challenges him to think outside the box. even if sometimes håkan may be too stubborn to see it any other way. he will gruff and try to prove himself right, but he knows when to concede. i can 100% see vess smiling silently and knowingly whenever that happens, like. he doesn't even need to say anything. håkan will babble on how yes, yes, he is right, fine, fine!

i can see the two of them being early birds. håkan wakes up early so he can go on flights with toothless, look over berk and check to see if the village is in need of anything. maybe because of anthi, vess also wakes up early? this is a tiny detail, but imagining them becoming early stroll buddies is so cute. the peacefulness of it all, y'know??

håkan absolutely adores anthi, and this may be self-indulgent, but i'd love to believe that anthi adores him, too! every now and then, håkan will offer to babysit her so that vess can do his own thing, or when vesper needs to travel, etc. anthi probably told a lot of vess' "secrets" (i.e, vess' favourite foods or how he sometimes snores when he sleeps, etc) to håkan, and håkan will absolutely take those to his grave. she maaaaay or may not know a few secrets from the chieftain, too.

vess loves to challenge him, because he knows håkan will live up to the task. he knows håkan can do it, and he trusts that even if håkan grumbles, digs his heels in, doesn't want to give up on being right the first time — he will eventually open his eyes more because vess is aware that håkan values the best options more than he values his own correctness. but vess doesn't like to give him the answer, because he also tends to think håkan would feel much more fulfilled if he seeks it out, chases the knowledge, solves the puzzles in the way their minds work differently, and finds the answers himself. genuinely leaves vess feeling pride, the "i told you so" smile is real but oh, how genuinely bright his eyes get when håkan connects the dots. vess knows there are a thousand things håkan knows better than he does, and refuses to consider those "i told you so" moments anything other than meeting each other eye to eye. he hopes håkan will do the same with him.

vess is, begrudgingly, an early bird — but in his adult years he's become more lax, he's like an old man when he wakes, does not like to truly begin his day right off the bat, despite waking up with, or before, sunrise. usually he keeps this schedule simply because it works best for everyone, but he'd likely function better in mid to late mornings, so early morning is spent reading, walking, breakfast for anthi & pets, doing little morning crossword–style brain puzzles to get him started for the day, whatever he's got on hand. morning walks with håkan are quite welcome, he used to wake up early and had no time for grogginess or a meaneering start to his day, so it's nice to fill that time with the slower, kinder presences of håkan and anthi.

anthi does adore håkan !! she really admires his drive to help people, she grows up wanting to do the same, but her help shifts from chores for the villagers, to learning to fight and to protect, she was inspired by håkan's willingness to do whatever he must to keep others safe and well. that said — little anthi absolutely tells håkan vess' secrets, like that sometimes when she goes to vess when she can't sleep she often finds him sleeping on his back with his pillow over most of his face, and his arm slung up over the pillow... and that the first time she giggled so hard when she saw it that it woke him up :)

THIS IS SO COOL, please know that most of vess' like, favorite projects to make are various takes on perpetual motion simple machines, he likes working with metal to make moving parts and you already know he loves working with balance & weight, fulcrums are featured a lot in his work, so i'm certain in one of those competitions håkan gets a scrap metal toothless statuette that balances on the end of a nail embedded in the wood base. big enough to sit on the workbench in his forge, or as a decoration on a shelf. he'll be good though and also make pretty useful birdhouses, i swear!!! fhjkgj