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Ruggie Bucchi is always hungry.
He was born starving, with hanging skin, bare bones, and greedy little eyes that stared through every passerby, believing that they had some food to spare. At a young age he realized that to have was to survive. He had learned how to take before he learned to speak, and once he did learn, he only used his ability to take even more.
But no matter how much Ruggie took, it wasn’t enough. He didn’t have enough. He took away wallets, gemstones, food, and even then, he was left empty handed. Yet Ruggie could not give up. He could not give up on the one thing he knew how to do.
So he continued to take. Snatching, and pulling, and grabbing whatever he could get his hands on, whether it was allowed or not. He stretched out his arms, reaching with dexterous fingers and stole away anything he deemed valuable and even then he was left with nothing. As hungry as he was when he first came to be.
He knew he was going to starve to death. He was born hungry and he was going to die hungry due to his inability to have anything. No matter what he took, it wasn’t his. He had nothing that belonged to him, and that was the most fundamental problem. The only thing he owned was his hunger. Nothing else.
And so, all Ruggie could do was wait. Wait until something belongs to him and him only. Until something that was undoubtedly his was in his hands, waiting for him to consume it. To stave off his hunger for good.
The day, Ruggie was given something.
“Have you ever eaten a person before?”
“...What?”
He turned to look at the young man sitting next to him who was facing forward, watching the sun slowly climb down from the sky. Without bothering to look over, he continued to speak.
“I heard it was delicious. Especially if it’s someone you love, they say you can taste it. The love they have for you. The flavor differs though but…”
Ruggie doesn’t hear anymore, mind fixated on the one word.
Delicious.
He wondered how delicious would taste. Soft? Hard? He feels his stomach rumble like a habit and places a hand over, rubbing it in hopes of soothing. He eyes the young man next to him, painted in hues of orange and red and feels saliva accumulating in his mouth. Ruggie has sworn to not take anymore, it won’t fulfill him anyway. But his stomach growls louder at the very thought of wanting to be given something delicious. Of wanting to eat.
He presses down on his stomach harder and pays attention once more to Kalim who had gone quiet. After a few seconds the man turns towards Ruggie, and though his smile was playful as ever, his eyes did not hold a flicker of innocence in them.
“Do you want to eat me?”
Kalim Al-Asim is never full.
He was born empty, with loud eyes, rosy cheeks, and a smile that made him seem more approachable than he was. He was taught kindness and charity before he was taught how to read and from that, Kalim learned the habit of giving away everything he had. Everyone else always needed something more than he did anyway.
He was loved, not in the way one could call affection, but he grew up receiving everything anyone would wish for. Things he didn't need but others clearly did. Things that left Kalim emptier than ever, and as a solution, he tried to give away.
He threw parties with masses of strangers, shared every bite of his food, jokes, compliments, smiles, anything because he needed none of those. None of them made him feel full.
He gave, and gave, and gave, and yet, the pits of his heart continued to be an abyss of nothingness and Kalim was left as hollow as before. He had too much he didn't need, too much he didn't ask for and didn't desire to consume.
Desperate to fill his aching emptiness, Kalim realized he was going to have to change a few things. He was going to have to take something for himself.
“Huh!? You wanna eat me in return!?”
“Can't I?”
Kalim hung the question over Ruggie’s head like a guillotine, his smile the executioner. He could see Ruggie freeze, his clever brain running through scenarios Kalim couldn't even imagine. He let the man continue to think, letting his mind and eyes wander.
It was by no means a surprise that he wanted to have Ruggie out of everything. With honey blonde hair and scheming smiles, Ruggie had charmed him from the moment Kalim had laid eyes on the boy. He hadn't approached him at first though, being from extremely different worlds he simply hadn't dared. The fear of being pushed away was prevalent.
But bit by bit, Kalim had managed to chip away Ruggie's walls to make space just for himself, and he had dared to ask a question he had been meaning to ask since the very first day.
He watched as Ruggie grew flustered under his stare, probably wanting to say something but hesitating to. He let the man flounder with his thoughts, feigning obliviousness until he heard a low cough.
The flustered man had gone red by now, but he still spoke without a stammer or pause.
“I don't mind…but, are you sure you want me?”
It's a stupid question, but it wasn't as if Kalim could just say that.
“That's a stupid question,” he said anyway, never one to care about socialities. “There's no one else I want more.”
Ruggie is so clearly stunned by his declaration and for once, Kalim gets to watch with delight as the man loses his cool.
“I- uh, okay. Sure you can…you can have…me. But…I can go first, right?”
“Absolutely! What part of me do you want?”
There was an almost nervous look on Ruggie’s face as he stared at Kalim up and down. He felt the gaze burning through him, scanning him so thoroughly as though he was about to be stripped bare on a plate before he could even serve himself.
Kalim had to suppress a shudder when Ruggie finally looked away and hummed to himself.
“I guess your heart.”
It made Kalim blink, and he tilted his head to a side with questioning eyes.
“my heart?”
“Yeah,” he is flashed with a grin, “don't ya like giving things away to people? Give me your heart then.”
The statement was an audacious one, but the greed in the hyena’s eyes could not hide his sincerity. It glimmered beautifully in the stormy grays and blues and Kalim could not stop the shiver than ran through him this time.
He leaned in closer as though his next words were just a secret between the two.
“Okay then. I'll prepare for you, the best way to eat my heart.”
Ruggie wanted to just tell the smiling man that he didn't mind however the heart was prepared. But there was a certain level of affection in Kalim’s voice that made him falter.
“Uh, best way…?”
“Yeah! There's a specific way to prepare it, don't you know?”
Ruggie didn't. Of course he didn't. It wasn't as though he imagined to ever get an opportunity to take part in something so sacred. Especially with Kalim of all people. The question still makes him want to curl up in embarrassment as he shook his head no and it rose when he heard Kalim laugh.
“That's not a problem! Only the heart needs stuff like that anyway.”
“Oh then…” he wanted to ask for another part but words were stuck in his throat. Wasn't it fine? Kalim knew how to prepare the heart anyway, so did Ruggie really have to compromise?
Kalim gave him a knowing smile and slowly began to unbutton his vest and shirt.
“You'll get my heart, Ruggie.”
It was a rather long process, but it was fascinating enough that Ruggie did not get bored for even a second.
It started with a knife.
“Any would do if it's sharp. I think I'll have to grab one from the kitchen, wait-”
“Will this work?”
He pulled out the penknife he carried around. A small but sturdy one that he sharpened meticulously once or twice a week. He handed it over to Kalim who studied the blade for a few seconds before nodding.
He brought the tip of the blade close tk his chest and without a warning, sliced across. Blood began to seep from his cut but Kalim didn't pay mind to it as he carefully carved out a careful circle. Ruggie watched, transfixed, as the young man peeled apart layer after layer. He had to wipe away the drool forming at the corners of his mouth and forced himself to stay patient.
Once they reached the ribcage Kalim pointed at two of the bones in his chest. Ruggie could see it now, his meal, rhythmic and alive behind the cage.
“You have to cut through the fourth and fifth rib to get it out. Want to try?”
He eyed the gaping chest in front of him and the glinting blade in Kalim’s hand before shaking his head no. He refused to risk hurting the white haired boy by his own carelessness.
Kalim laughed at his refusal and brought the knife to his chest again. Much to Ruggie’s surprise, the knife cut through the bone with ease and Kalim removed his fourth and fifth rib with ease. He handed the bones to Ruggie with a wordless smile, not minding the way the beastman put it near him, as though to keep for himself.
“And here- oh…”
Kalim looked down at his own chest with slight surprise. Ruggie did the same, trying to figure out what the problem was when the white haired man spoke up again bashfully.
“It looks like my heart’s a little too big! I’ll have to pry it open a little to take it out.”
“How fitting,” Ruggie murmured to himself. Kalim laughed at his words before carefully wedging his fingers above and below his ribs. It didn’t seem like he was putting much pressure into it, but Ruggie saw bit by bit that the heart was beginning to move forward.
It was a slow process, and felt never ending. Ruggie wasn’t sure how Kalim managed to stay so quiet throughout the whole thing, his expression calm and serene as he dredged his own heart out of his chest to give to Ruggie. It was…the most beautiful Ruggie has seen him.
He held his own heart, a faint beating thing and slowly brought his head up towards Ruggie.
“Here,” Kalim whispered to him as if speaking too loudly would ruin the food, “eat it while it's fresh.”
Ruggie has lived his whole life taking things from others in a desperate attempt to sate his hunger and today, for the first time, he has been given something to do it.
He let Kalim place his heart into shaking hands and tried to come up with a prayer befitting the moment. Ruggie has been patient his whole life, and now with the opportunity placed in his hands by someone else, he does not bother to wait any longer. Sharp teeth bit into the heart and sank into the ripened flesh.
Momentarily, Ruggie is taken back to his teen years. There was to be an orange tree he used to frequent where he would pluck out the ripest looking ones before the owner could catch him. He would take his time peeling them and sink his teeth into the flesh of the fruit just like now. It made his hand sticky and throat tingle from the sweet and acidic nectar that poured down. It left him hungrier than ever, but he could never stop himself from going back.
Droplets of blood trickled down his fingers, hands and arms. The juice was stained around his mouth and he ran his tongue over it to take in even that.
He took another bite and moaned in delight at the taste. He's never had anything like it. From the plush of the flesh and the pulse that slowed down on his tongue before he swallowed it, the taste was tinged with metal, but it was sweeter than anything Ruggie has had in his life.
Delicious. He remembered and repeated to himself.
He felt Kalim’s stare on him, fixated on his every bite. It only served to thrill him more. Ruggie has never considered himself an alluring man, but underneath Kalim’s gaze, he found himself wanting to perform.
With his gaze downcast, Ruggie peeked up at the man through his lashes, mouth still on the half eaten heart. The bleeding chest had dried up now, and Kalim was watching Ruggie with wide, hungry eyes. It wasn't filled with greed, not the way Ruggie was, but a more, ever-consuming hunger that Ruggie has to look away from.
He ran his tongue over the throbbing veins and licked away the spilling blood. He felt his eyes tear up from bliss and took another bite to fill up his mouth. Hearing Kalim gulp sent another rush through his bones and with a slow smile, he fit the rest of the beating heart into his mouth, bite after agonizing bite until there was nothing left for him to intake except the blood on his hands. Fearing that Kalim might look away, he moved to lick that as well, cleaning his hands thoroughly until his stomach, for once, claimed to be unable to have any more.
“I'm done.”
Ruggie's voice was hoarse and filled with disappointment, like a child looking at an emptied plate of dessert. His lashes had teardrops in them, like drops of morning dew on leaves, yet to fall off and his lips, stained with the brightest red, were pulled into a pout. Kalim has to steady his breathing before he could begin to speak again.
“Did you like it?”
He receives a quick nod. Ruggie looked at him with satisfaction, a hand patting his stomach. He gave Kalim a wide toothed grin but the greed in his eyes could not be hidden. Kalim knew he was trapped in Ruggie's wanting nature, and to be the subject of want made his blood sing.
He was busy swooning to himself when Ruggie spoke up.
“Then…do you want to eat me right now?”
He asked so quietly that Kalim nearly missed the words. His head snapped up so quickly that he heard a bone in his neck cracking, but it was well worth it to see the flush across the young man's cheeks painting hesitance and embarrassment.
Yes! Kalim’s mind screamed as he eyed the beauty in front of him. To have a bite, to let him melt in his mouth and hollow him out whole, to consume him as he is. Maybe finally, Kalim will feel full.
“Yes,” he breathed out, shuffling closer.
Ruggie let him put a hand on his waist. It made Kalim daring enough to wrap them around his back, tugging him closer to let their bodies touch. He enjoyed the small yelp that was immediately cut off with an even cuter pout.
“Let me be the first to tell you about how cute you are.”
“You're not the first though?”
Kalim narrowed his eyes, his grip on the other's waist tightening.
“Who was it?”
“Th-That doesn't even matter right now! Just…what part of me…do you want?”
“All of you.”
“Yeah that's not happening.”
He knew it wasn't possible, but it did not stop Kalim from sighing deeply. Oh well, he eyed the bare, smooth neck and appeased himself. He could just enjoy it all slowly as time passed.
“I want your appetite.” He said instead.
“Huh?”
Moving back, he placed a hand over Ruggie’s stomach with a mischievous grin.
“Aren't you always saying a full stomach gives you life? I want that!”
“You…” Ruggie's face could be compared to the sunset from before now, the blazing red vivid to Kalim’s rose tinted eyes. “You're so…”
“Is that a no? Are you saying no to me Ruggie? Please don't.”
“Even if I'm not pretty on the inside?”
“What?”
His playful whines are stopped at the sound of the genuine hesitation in his lover's voice.
“I'm not pretty or cute on the inside,” Ruggie's voice wavered like an illusory ghost, “I'm not like you…it's- I'm not-”
“I don't care.”
He wiped away at a small stain of red near Ruggie's mouth and kept his hand on his cheeks. The young man, usually so fierce, looked at him with the vulnerability of a prey animal. Kalim could feel his nonexistent heart beginning to form again.
“Even if it's ugly?”
“No matter what you look like, inside or outside, you'll still be Ruggie to me! There's nothing more beautiful than that.”
Kalim didn't know what Ruggie wished to hear. He's never been good at empathizing with others so all he could say was his true feelings. His relief was palpable when Ruggie smiled at him, his own relief visible.
“Alright then,” Ruggie removed Kalim’s hand and took a step back, “I guess I'll have to prepare as well.”
“There's no preparations for-”
“I'm preparing.”
Without waiting for Kalim to respond, Ruggie laid down on the ground in one swift motion, revealing his stomach bare for the world to see. The skin, tainted by the constant heat of the sun, was flushed red along with the rest of his body. If Kalim was a poetic man he would have fallen to his knees and sang about the beauty of a predator's submission. But all he could do on his knees was tremble with want.
His eyes roamed over Ruggie's body. From the soles of his feet, his thighs, his midriff, his heaving chest, his neck, and then, his eyes. He had to look away immediately once they made eye contact, feeling inexplicably embarrassed at being caught. He felt heat rush to his face and the temperature only rose when he heard a light chuckle.
“Kalim,” the chuckling voice called out, but he could not bear to look. Not yet. His heart wasn't fully formed yet.
“Kalim.” This time Kalim faced the voice.
Ruggie was staring at him with the fondest expression Kalim had ever seen on the rugged man. A smile splayed across his lips and even through the pink shading his face, there was so much emotion to it. Something far more intimate than greed.
“I'm ready now.”
“Yes you're- wait what did you say?”
A tanned hand pressed against the bare stomach and spoke again, sounding sure.
“Open me up yourself.”
How foolish would Kalim be to refuse?
Slowly, he leaned down, his hands placed firmly on either side of Ruggie's body. He could smell the faint scent of rusted copper and the dirt beneath them. There's nothing alluding to its delicacy, but the sight of the bareness beneath him is enough to make him drool.
He started off by licking a long stripe across the stomach and pressing his lips on it.
“Kalim…”
It is an awfully intimate affair. Kalim knew that. But he didn't stop and instead moved up to kiss another part of the stomach served for him. Ruggie gasped and squirmed under his feather light touches and Kalim let him, enjoying the scent and taste of the worked skin.
Then finally, he stopped at a side, a little above the belly button, and sank his teeth into the tender flesh. Blood seeped from the sides of his mouth, running down as Kalim ripped into the abdomen. He savored every bite and filled his mouth up with everything Ruggie had to offer. He moved back for a second only to lick away the pooling streams of syrup before diving back in again, taking in the whimper he heard. Strong hands held on to Ruggie’s waist, keeping him from trying to move as he gasped at Kalim to slow down.
Kalim didn't hear him, mind filled with nothing but the taste, scent and sight.
More. More. More. More.
Ruggie might be greedy, taking anything and everything given to him, but Kalim was overwhelmingly gluttonous. Even with all of the world at his fingertips, he did not feel satisfied. The need to seek and consume taking over.
He continued to eat. Chewing and drinking everything in the feast laid out for him. Growing up he has seen full spreads on the longest of tables. He has had the most exotic delicacies from all over the world and has had the best chefs prepare food for him personally. Nothing was as filling as his beloved who was laid bare just for him.
By the time he was done, Kalim could not tell who was more of a mess. Both of them were ragged and panting, clothes and hair askew. They stared at each other for a long time, the silence persevering amongst the comforting darkness that had descended over them.
“You're beautiful.”
That wasn't what snapped the stretching silence, but rather it was when Ruggie, who glowed underneath the twinkling stars overhead, began to laugh at the words. It was a low chuckle but it was enough to set Kalim off and he joined in with a heartier roar. Their laughter filled the sky and overtook the silence, all watching to make sense of their strange humor.
They laughed until they ran out of whatever energy they had left and there was nothing more to laugh at any longer. As they came down from their high, Kalim reached out and took Ruggie's hand, smile permanently stuck.
Crimson held crimson and he rubbed his thumb on the side of the hand he held. It made Ruggie grin too. He tried to shift before pausing with a wince and looking down.
“Shit, this is gonna take a while.”
“I'll stay with you!”
“Ya better. I'm gonna be sore to death tomorrow.”
“I'll take care of you.”
His voice comes out choked, filled with hope and desperation for acceptance. Having received everything before he had wished for it, Kalim has never wanted anything this badly before. He wanted…no he needed Ruggie to keep him by his side. He did not dare to look away, praying that his words came through.
Forever. I want to take care of you forever.
Ruggie doesn’t respond to his words. Instead, he tugged at the white haired man's hand and pulled him down to lay beside him. Kalim lets him do so, lying down on his back to stare up at the same sky.
The scent he had been consumed by was stronger now that he was closer to the ground, and even though Kalim was full, he was beginning to crave for more. He wanted to know what else Ruggie would offer to him with teary eyes and a playful grin.
“I can hear your heartbeat again.”
The words bring him back to his blissful reality and he realizes that Ruggie was right. His chest, now closed up, was pulsing once more. Rather loudly at that.
He turned to the other with a teasing smile.
“You want it again?”
Ruggie's eyes lit up with greed before quickly morphing into an embarrassed one. It didn't hide his hunger though as he licked his lips.
“Can I?”
The question was asked so unsure and quietly that it almost made Kalim howl with laughter. The very idea of him denying his Ruggie of anything was unfathomable.
He moves closer and presses his lips against the blonde man's. It's not nearly enough to satisfy him, but the promise it held, the sweetness of the unspoken words will have to do for tonight.
And as Ruggie grabs his neck and pulls him closer, opening his mouth enough for Kalim to slip his tongue in, Kalim had to admit that even this was simply delicious.