Chapter Text
"So it is you."
Atsushi paused in his rummaging of his duffle bag, blinking up at the man who seemed to appear out of the mist that bordered this garden constantly.
He glared down at Atsushi, like he was nothing but a mere speck of dust on the man's dark as night boot.
"You are the one who has been running through this garden, determined on causing mischief?"
"I'm not causing mischief." Atsushi frowned, straightening from his crouch.
He truly wasn't, he was here to take care of the small garden that he had found in these woods.
Chuuya had gone missing a year ago in these very woods. Atsushi's heart aches each and every day that he was gone, and he had searched the woods through and through for his older brother.
He had found nothing.
It was as if Chuuya never existed after that day.
"A very likely story." The man sneered. "Something all people who pass through here say. And no doubt that bag at your feet is not filled with that distilled swill that you men love so much."
Atsushi raised an eyebrow, and backed away from the bag, motioning to it. "Look through it yourself then." He challenged the man.
A small niggling thought in the back of his head. He would keep his guard up.
The man stepped forward, opening it, and freezing. He pulled out tool after tool, muttering their names under his breath.
"Trowel. Spade. Hand rake. Hand hoe." He paused when he came across a bottle. "And this?"
The accusation was back in his voice.
"Read the bottle." Atsushi would admit that his voice was slightly mischievous, but the man had accused him of things he would never do.
Chuuya had loved to drink, but Atsushi couldn't bear to touch the stuff. His nose was far too sensitive to stand drinking alcohol himself.
"Liquid fertilizer." The man whispered, tracing the letters. "Then. . . It is you? You, are the one who has been caring for my garden?"
Atsushi nodded.
The small clearing they were currently in was something that Atsushi had stumbled across when he had been searching for his brother in the early days of his disappearance.
It was filled with flowers that bloomed in the dawn and dusk, the twilight mornings, and at night. Morning glories, moonflowers, gardenias, night blooming jasmines, and Atsushi had even found some evening primroses.
This garden had quite the variety.
But no gardener.
Atsushi, with more time on his hands than ever because his brother was missing, had more time to kill. Had more time to waste. Had time to care for the small garden he had found out here.
"I apologize for trespassing." Atsushi said sincerely. "However, when I saw such a beautiful garden was falling into disrepair because of the lack of a gardener-"
"No, I am the one who should apologize." The man straightened to his full height again, stepping away from Atsushi's bag and towards the night jasmines. His black coat swirled around his ankles, as if the mist itself brought it to life. "True, you should not have been trespassing. But my garden had fallen into disrepair because I have been busy, before you started taking care of it. I thank you for stepping in when I was busy with other things and caring for my garden."
Atsushi smiled, and crouched again for his bag, pulling out his hand rake.
"Tell me, did you plant the mock oranges?" The man asked as he touched the leaves of the night jasmine, likely feeling for the plant's health.
Atsushi felt his cheeks flush. "A friend gave it to me. However, I had no place to plant it, and this garden had so many blooming flowers of the night- I can remove it, if you wish-"
"There is no need." The man shook his head. "It brings a better ambience, a lovelier scent, to my garden. Thank you."
Atsushi smiled, returning to caring for the soil under the evening primroses.
"Can you give me your name?" The man asked. His voice curled around Atsushi's head like incense, trying to coax it from him with the alluring cadence.
Warning bells, like the Sunday church bell that sat high in the belfry, sounded loud and clear in Atsushi's mind.
The man had not given his own yet.
Atsushi could not seem to hesitate, but he could not give his name to this- this man?
But he also didn't know how to answer properly.
However, something in Atsushi whispered that it would end rather poorly for him.
So he would at least have to sacrifice something.
"It's Atsu."
A fraction of the power, but still some power over Atsushi.
"And what is your name?" Atsushi countered, sitting back on his haunches to face the. . . Being in front of him.
"You may call me Dragon." The being's eyes softened. "Now, what may I give you for your help? You saved my garden from disrepair. You cannot get nothing in exchange for something, Atsu."
Atsushi was not going to allow himself to be in debt to something that was not human. If he accepted something from this being, they may come to call later.
"I do not need anything." Atsushi said, clearly.
"Are you certain?" The being, Dragon, arched a thin brow. "Surely there is something I can give you. My garden was in such disrepair after all, and you saved it from such a fate."
Atsushi shook his head. "No, I need nothing. However, if you want, I'd be happy to help you."
Perhaps if he offered this being, Dragon, his help, they would help him find Chuuya?
A smile curled Dragon's lips. "I would be a fates damned fool to not take you up on that offer, Atsu."
Atsushi returned to tending to the flowers, more than likely enchanted.
He would have to be careful to wash his hands of the pollen later.
"Has your family always had this garden, Dragon? Or have you been the only tender?" Atsushi asked, to pass time. He did not like how the being's eyes bored into the side of his head.
"Oh, this land has been passed through my lineage for. . . As old as time itself, it seems." Dragon stated.
Atsushi believed him.
"I was the one who planted the garden, in my youth, but unfortunately, it fell into disrepair as I grew busy with my work." Dragon sighed. "It will indeed be nice to have help."
Atsushi made a noncommittal noise, trying not to promise a lifetime to the being beside him.
"What brings you to these woods in the first place? My garden is not easy to stumble upon, and you have been taking care of it for a while at least."
Atsushi's shoulders dropped as he remembered his brother. "My older brother disappeared in these woods a year ago. When I tried to find him, I could find nothing."
"Perhaps the fae took him?" The being beside him offered a solution.
"Maybe, but what use would they have for him?" Atsushi was careful not to say Chuuya's name. He did not want to accidentally bring his brother into servitude to Dragon if his brother was simply elsewhere in the world. Even though Atsushi doubted it.
"Their rules are different from human's rules." Dragon pointed out. "They look for other things. You yourself should be more careful."
Atsushi had to laugh. "What use would the fae have for me!?"
"Their rules and what they look for are different." Dragon simply insisted upon.
It was then that he noticed the sun's position in the sky, and Atsushi stood, packing his things away.
"Leaving so soon?" The being asked.
"I need to, if I wish to be back at the village before nightfall." Atsushi said plainly.
"Ah, then." Dragon said, standing and walking to the corner that Atsushi rarely had to touch. "At least take a cut of one of my flowers."
"I couldn't-" Atsushi began to protest.
"I insist." Dragon refuted. "I will not have you leave empty-handed. Here." He returned, a bloom of a lily that Atsushi had never seen before in his hand.
"I've never seen anything like this flower before." Atsushi whispered, cradling it gently in his hands as Dragon placed it there. Perhaps, if Dragon was willing to share such a beautiful creation, he wasn't so terribly bad of a being?
"I imagine you would not. They are a special variety of Casa Blanca Lily that I have cultivated to grow in my garden." The being boasted slightly. "I dare say you would be able to grow more blooms from it."
Atsushi marveled at the flower in his hand.
"It is hardy enough to survive winters, and its fragrance is sweet enough to make one's head spin, if they breathe too deeply. Try it." The being urged.
Atsushi froze, not wanting to even dare. Who knows what it would do? All nice thoughts of Dragon flew out the window.
"Try it, Atsu."
It was an order, with the name he had given attached.
Even though it was merely a fraction of the name, the fraction of the power that this being had over Atsushi, it was enough to make Atsushi lift the blooming lily to his face and breathe the scent of the flower in deeply.
"See? Quite lovely, is it not?" The being, Dragon, was smiling, smirking. Atsushi could tell.
Even though he had more important things to worry about right now. Namely, the fact that Atsushi could practically feel the pollen settling in his airways, clogging them. The magic seeping into his body.
"Still, it pales in its beauty to you, my dearest Moon-blossom."
Atsushi's head was spinning alright, just like Dragon predicted. His breath was growing heavy and his eyelids felt like there were weights attached to them. His legs felt like they could buckle under him at any moment. His mind was fogging over, trying to blanket his thoughts and smother them.
"Hmm? Whatever is the matter, Dearest Moon-blossom? Ah, could it be, that your mind is growing hazy, and your head is spinning?" Dragon sounded amused. Sounded like he was pleased with himself.
He grabbed onto Atsushi's shoulders, steadying him when Atsushi started to list to the side.
"Let go of me." Atsushi whispered. It was hard to speak. His tongue didn't want to move.
"No. I do not believe I will." Dragon refuted immediately, only drawing Atsushi closer to him. More unique features came into clarity, the red lightning etched along the dark coat, the tracing, spiraling mist-like patterns on Dragon's skin. The sharper teeth Atsushi saw when Dragon opened his mouth to speak. "I have waited for you. Far too long, in my opinion, but I waited for you, and finally, I have you. So I will not be letting you go."
Atsushi swallowed, his throat dry. Things around the garden grew more and more hazy, then grew into clearness. There was a- there was a house, a manor of all things, bordering the garden they were in. "Am I dreaming?"
How could he have missed it?
"No, in fact, you are finally seeing for the first time." Dragon chuckled.
"What are you?" Atsushi whispered. His legs were starting to buckle, and they finally collapsed under him.
Infuriatingly, Dragon guided him down, resting Atsushi in his lap and resting his head on Dragon's shoulder.
"Oh, I believe you know what I am. You simply will not allow yourself to believe it quite yet. But you will."
Atsushi shook his head.
"A word of advice though, my Moon-blossom? Do be careful when you give out your name. You never know what someone, or, something, will do with it." Dragon chuckled. "Although, you will not have that problem soon. Not with what I have planned for you."
Well wasn't that ominous. Atsushi thought bitterly. Atsushi bit his tongue. He needed to stay awake.
"It is quite impressive that you are still awake, my Moon-blossom. But you needn't worry, you shan't be hurt if you sleep." Dragon soothed. "So sleep. Sleep Atsu. Sleep."
Atsushi was pulled under.