Chapter Text
Cassius wasn’t an outdoor person (Spider? Spider-person?), that much was obvious. In fact, now that you were thinking about it the only times you’ve ever seen him outdoors and not in a cave was when he was being dragged there by someone else, usually Spencer. You could call him a homebody, perhaps.
But even still, recently it’d gotten to a point that had you worried.
It wasn’t out of the ordinary for you to not see Cassius in the span of two or three days. He’d often get wrapped up in his research, or even just “hibernate” (his own wording) for a while. After those few days though, he’d emerge at the alluring smell of one of the many home-cooked meals you or Eddie would be making, eyes bleary and hair looking like a bird's nest as he silently stuffed his face. Once he was finished with his meal you’d finally get to ask him about whatever he was doing, and he’d often respond with a full-on info dump about whatever potion-y things he was doing at the time. Honestly half the time you didn’t understand what he was saying, but it was worth it just to see how his eyes lit up.
You’d always been a bit extra cautious about bringing this habit up since, to put it bluntly, you were well aware Cassius’ mental health wasn’t in the best of states, even after the change of coming to live with you and the others. If he was the type to take advice from others maybe you'd try to talk to him about it, but he definitely was not.
So, instead, you kept an eye on him from a distance, sometimes sneaking food and water into his room when he was asleep to make sure he was staying hydrated and fed, all without making him go through the process of accepting help (which you’d come to learn he hated doing and considered himself to be very bad at).
You would be doing that now, too, if it weren’t for the fact that Cassius had locked his door. In fact, his door had been locked for roughly a week and a half, now. Sure, you knew he had a window that he could be going in and out of (being a spider and all) and in fact, your first thought was that he’d just gone off somewhere out the window and left his door locked, but no. After he didn’t come out in his regular span of three days you’d sent Spencer in through the window to see if that was the case, but Cassius was, apparently, still very much in his room and very insistent that he be left alone, judging by how he’d pushed Spencer out of the window when he’d tried to climb in.
And thus was the nature of your conundrum; a member of your household, one you admittedly cared about quite a bit, had locked you and the rest of the world out for nearly a full ten days without a word of explanation. You had no way of knowing if he was eating, drinking, or even how he was going to the bathroom or showering!
So you were worried, worried to the point of deciding you were going to take action!
“What action?” you may be thinking!
You… Had no idea yet. But you were going to do something! Which is precisely why you were currently standing in the hall outside Cassius’ locked door, looking it up and down like it was your one and only true anime rival.
After a bit of contemplating you decided it wouldn’t hurt to start by knocking.
So, treating his bedroom door like the enemy it was you gave it three hard thwacks before calling out to Cassius.
“Hey, Cass? Can you hear me?”
You knew he’d often wear earplugs during some of his more… Reactive experiments as a safety precaution and then forget to take them out, but at the same time, you doubted he had happened to have them in every time you’d come knocking at his door before.
You waited as one, two, four, then seven minutes passed in absolute silence and by then your knees had had enough of standing in the exact same position for so long.
You purposefully sighed loud enough to be heard through the door.
“I didn’t want to have to resort to this, but you give me no other choice…”
You gave him the grace of another minute to change his mind at hearing your threat, but nothing happened. Oh well, he probably thought you were just bluffing anyway. But you absolutely were not, as the cave spider boy was about to find out.
You’d trained for this moment.
You lifted your leg and aimed a powerful kick at the spot right where the knob of the door met the door frame (just as you remembered from the action movies you saw before waking up in this world) and with that one swift movement, the door was swinging open, the latch having broken through the door frame to allow you entry.
Though it was nearly pitch black inside you heard a gasp and the sounds of rapid movement as Cassius was likely scrambling to hide.
Stepping inside, you used the matches you kept on you to light the lamp you knew was hanging by his door, picking it up and taking it with you into the spider den.
Just as you’d suspected, Cassius was conveniently nowhere to be found, but there was plenty else for you to look at. Papers (wadded up or otherwise) littered the floor like a warped interpretation of snow, the layers thickening the closer you got to his desks. That’s right, desks. You’d given each mob boy one to start with when they’d moved in but Cassius had shown a genuine need for more and, over time, he ended up with five in total. So many that he’d taken to having his bed suspended in a small loft so he could fit all his desks on the floor.
Speaking of that small loft, you had a sneaking suspicion that if he hadn’t immediately gone into his spider form and crawled up the wall, that loft was where he would be. You could certainly climb the ladder leading up there to check, but to be honest, his behavior was starting to get on your nerves. He was really doing everything he could to avoid you without so much as a reason!
No, you weren’t going to do him the courtesy of finding him just for him to run again. Instead, you were going to scare him a bit.
You knew the large majority of the potions Cassius created on a regular basis were less than safe, or, y’know, just straight-up lethal! So if you had to bet on an easy way to scare him out of hiding…
“Hm… Guess he ran away. Idiot.”
You mumble to yourself just loud enough that Cassius could probably hear it from up in his loft and wander deeper into his room, making a winding path towards the center of his desks. He was definitely working on something intense, no doubt about it. Even as someone with only a surface-level understanding of potion brewing the amount of equipment laid out alone told you he was beyond what you knew how to do. Cassius really did regularly blow you away with how smart he could be…
And yet he was hiding in his bed from you right now. You sighed.
Oh well, he’ll have to come out in a second anyway. Setting down your lantern you scanned over the roller coaster-looking array of equipment pumping whatever liquids were inside from one place to another, trying your best to travel the path to the end. Eventually, you find it, a bright pinkish purple liquid dripping to slowly fill a glass bottle. It was about a third of the way full meaning it wasn’t finished, you guessed.
“Hm. Is this all he was working on?”
You find a spare glass bottle and swap it for the partially full one. You were courteous enough to not let his work just drip out onto the table, even if he was pissing you off right now. Holding the bottle closer to your face you noticed it had a slight shimmer to it. Perhaps from the presence of glistering melon? Not the most dangerous ingredient…
Taking a whiff from the open top of the bottle was quick to flood your nose with a sweet scent. There was definitely melon and lots of sugar in this. What in the world was he making with sugar and glistering melon? While you wracked your brain for potions using those ingredients he’d mentioned in the past you swirled the liquid absentmindedly. When the potion began heating in your hand at this you raised an eyebrow.
“Blaze powder too? Glistering melon, sugar, blaze powder… Nothing poisonous. A fast-acting physical enhancement potion, maybe?”
You held the potion bottle up to examine it again, only this time you were paying far more attention to the noises around you than the shimmering liquid. There was the shifting of cloth in the loft above and a small wooden creak. Cassius was watching, peaking over the edge of the railing you’d bet.
You put on a big show of shrugging.
“Oh well, might as well see what he’s been working so hard on.”
And you lifted the potion to your lips.
“NO!!!”
A shout and a thud came from behind you as Cassius tumbled down from the loft, clamored to his feet, and made a mad dash to grab the potion from you.
In the meantime, you’d already finished two whole mouthfuls, emptying the bottle more than halfway by the time he finally wrenched it out of your grasp. But you didn’t care.
“Ha! I knew you were up there!”
“Wha- Y-You,” the spider-boy struggled for words looking absolutely appalled.
He was a total mess too, hair wildly strewn in every direction, bloodshot eyes highlighted by heavy eye bags, and the potion he’d just snatched from you dripping down his neck and chest from how he’d violently pulled it from your grasp.
Cassius didn't seem concerned about appearing in front of you all of a sudden though, which hadn’t been quite what you expected. In fact, all he was focused on was keeping the potion clutched to his chest and away from you while he examined you frantically. Was the potion you’d drank actually bad? You certainly didn’t notice anything to hint toward it being dangerous… In fact, the delicious flavor of it lingering in your mouth had you in a strangely good mood, despite the circ*mstances. It was like a summery watermelon co*cktail with a bit of a spicy kick!
“Cass? Why do you look so worried???”
“How much did you drink?!” Cassius nearly shouted, brushing off your question with ease as he glanced at the potion bottle he still held.
“Uhh, like half of what was in there, I think? Why? It’s not poison, right?”
“No! N-No, it’s just, uh…”
He trailed off as he walked a quick circle around you, scrutinizing your stance.
“Do you feel anything odd? Any sort of weakness o-or, um, fever?”
You shifted on your feet, lifting your arms and stretching just to be sure.
“No, I don’t. I’m really not any different, from what I can tell…?”
“Really? You’re one-hundred percent sure?”
You nodded, only to see a brief look of disappointment flash across Cassius’ face.
“Still not enough sugar, then,” he mumbled to himself, grabbing the nearest piece of paper and charcoal stick to scribble down some notes.
“So are you gonna tell me what that was, yet? I assume that potion is the reason you’ve kept yourself locked up in here for almost a week and a half, right? Explain to me what it is! In fact, explain why it was more important than you coming out for meals!”
You huffed, hands on your hips as you waited for a response…
But Cassius just froze. After a bit of silence, you were getting a bit worried until you noticed something… Even in the dim lighting you could see the spider-boy’s pale face slowly flush with color.
“T-T-That, uhhh…..”
In one frantic movement, he snatched up the paper he’d just been writing on and scurried back up into his small bed loft with it and the potion, effectively removing himself and the evidence from your prying eyes.
“It’s nothing! Absolutely none of your business!”
You narrowed your eyes.
It was definitely not nothing. In fact, him denying it was practically an insult to your intelligence! You were going to get to the bottom of this!
"Ten days, Cassius! That's how long you were in here! You can't just leave me to worry without any sort of explanation!!!"
"Well, I'm fine!!! I've been eating beef jerky! And I snuck out and showered two days ago! Y-You can just leave now!"
"Just beef jerky?!"
No response. This boy… He really was going to be the death of you, and himself. If being straightforward like this wasn't going to get through to him then you might as well act up, for his sake.
"U-Ugh, wait…"
You "stumbled" over to Cassius' nearest desk chair, flopping yourself into it at an odd angle.
"You said weakness was a symptom, right?"
Cassius' head popped up over the railing of his loft to look down at you.
"Yes, are you feeling weak?"
You nod.
"I swear I was fine a second ago, but my legs started wobbling just now so… I had to sit down," you mutter, purposefully sounding a bit out of breath.
"Oh. Oh, that's, uh, not good! I-I suppose that means the dosage was enough, and yet the effects were just more delayed than intended…?"
"Yeah, I… I guuueeessssss I'll have to stay here so you can make sure I'm all fine and good~"
You couldn't help the smirk from slipping into your voice and Cassius definitely noticed. He jumped back down from the loft, apparently leaving behind what remained of the potion and his notes to come and squint at you. He circled you once, twice, discerning eyes locked on you tight as a vice.
"Hmm," he paused, leaning in closer to look over your face before tentatively asking "Is it alright if I feel your temperature?"
You simply leaned forward a bit as an answer, offering up your forehead. After a second of hesitating, he brought his cold hand up and gently pressed it to your skin. You were used to Cassius' hands being cool to the touch but this was something else; he felt refreshingly chilled, not unlike sticking your head in a freezer on a hot summer's day. It felt, well, fantastic! Relieving even, since now that you thought about it, you did feel weirdly hot…
When you focused again you found Cassius looking directly at you, red eyes wide.
"You… You're actually feverish. So you weren't lying, but then that means…"
He swallowed hard. You watched the movement very closely for whatever reason, his throat bobbing causing a small drop of the potion he'd spilled on himself earlier to slide further down his neck and gather near his collar. The aftertaste of the potion in your mouth was flooding your senses all of a sudden, it tasted good but… That drop on Cassius' neck looked like it would taste even better.
Cassius waved a hand in front of your face, jarring you out of your trance. What were you thinking of doing just now?!
"Hey, are you still with me? Try to focus, I… I guess I'm going to have to explain now."
Cassius sighed deeply. You watched his chest rise and fall, his lips part and then meet again, a hint of a fang flashing at you as he nervously bit his lip. They were so chapped. He must not’ve been drinking enough water while he was in here. He should drink, and you should too. Yes, you were rather thirsty, you now realized, but your mouth wasn't dry. In fact, you were salivating. And you felt hot. So hot… Why were you feeling like this?
"You better explain! I'm feeling all… Ugh! This is so weird…"
"R-Right, so, the potion you drank was, um… It's intended to increase, uh, fervor? Yeah, we’ll go with fervor, in a…. Specific context… By, um, boosting stamina and general sensitivity to stimuli…"
“Cassius,” you paused to give him a long glare. “Explain.”
Suddenly he couldn’t look you in the face, gripping at his arm tightly with one hand.
“It’s… It’s an aphrodisiac….”
You blinked, your jaw dropping as you processed the verbal bomb that the spider had just smashed over your head.
“Like those things that make you horny??? Why were you making that!?”
Cassius spun to face away from you with a sound of embarrassment (like a mix of a grumble and a whine), shaking his head rapidly.
“I-It’s not important, you really don’t need to know! I don’t have to tell you! It’s really none of your business! S-So,” he trailed off, cautiously peaking at you over his shoulder.
Only to see you glaring at him again. Very. Hard.
He flinched and went back to facing away from you.
“I-I! I just wanted to, okay? I wanted to… Prove I could make it. Spencer was talking about how he claims aphrodisiacs aren’t actually affective, so I got set on making my own. That’s it! Now just… Stop looking at me like that!”
He definitely wasn’t telling you everything, but you could tell you weren’t going to get much else out of him anytime soon.
“So you were in here for ten days… Because, what? You were so super determined to prove Spencer wrong that you couldn’t stop, even to eat?”
You were a bit breathless after saying so much. This strange heat filling your body was making it harder and harder to keep the pace of your breaths even… Was your heart beating faster, too? It seemed like it was.
“Not… Exactly.”
You huffed. Cassius was pacing back and forth in front of his door now. He was definitely panicking about this situation a bit.
“I was testing it as I went, so, I-I couldn’t… I didn’t want to even risk being like that in front of anyone, you know? Especially you. That’s why I locked my door!”
“You were testing it?”
“Yes… On… On myself,” he said, speaking so carefully that you would’ve thought he was stepping through a minefield.
And perhaps he was, with the explosion those words set off inside you.
You felt your body heat tenfold, a tingling feeling creeping through you from the inside out. He was using an aphrodisiac? For the past ten days? Alone!?
And that last part he’d said…
“Especially you.”
You shivered, huffing a bit. The noise was enough to draw Cassius’ attention back to you. He took two rapid steps towards you, paused, then finished his approach even faster.
“How are you feeling?”
“So hot… And, uh… My heart rate is up, too,” you mumbled.
Cassius lifted his hand and placed it on your forehead like before… Only for you to flinch away with a gasp. Why in the world did it feel like that? So overwhelming, like static electricity crackling between every point where your skin met his.
“What, what’s wrong? Did that hurt???”
Bless him for looking so innocently concerned. He wasn’t able to maintain that expression for long, though, as you returned his worried gaze with a heated look of absolute longing. You couldn’t help it; as much as you would’ve normally endeavored to hide such an expression the potion was weakening your will severely. You both held eye contact like that for several moments until you forced yourself to speak.
“I don’t… I don’t think it’s safe for you to touch me, n-now… I mean, unless you want to-” you cut yourself off at seeing Cassius' eyes widen, shaking your head in an attempt to clear some of the fog. “Ugh! Never mind!”
You forced yourself to your feet, wobbling a bit. Cassius hovered his hands over you nervously and followed as you exited his room, leaning against the wall for support as you went.
“What are you doing!? You’re not in a state to walk!”
“Bath… I need to cool off or I’m… I am going to pass out!”
You huffed with effort, daring to take one extra large step, only for your knees to buckle, sending you slamming down onto your kneecaps with a harsh thud. Cassius was quick to come to your side, not hesitating now as he scooped you up, leaning you against him as best he could, one of your arms looped around his neck. Your eyes zeroed in on the spilled potion still on his neck, now starting to dry a bit, leaving his skin sticky and pink.
“Let me help, you’re going to hurt yourself!”
The two of you made it to your bathroom much faster than you could’ve alone, Cassius practically carrying you most of the way while still giving you the dignity of occasionally having your feet on the ground. Having this much contact with him certainly wasn’t making things easier on you, though. Ever since he’d admitted to testing the aphrodisiac on himself you’d felt the insatiable urge to touch him, press your skin to his, bite him, even… And now here he was, inches away from your face and looking absolutely delicious. You didn’t know how long you could stay sane enough to keep holding back…
When you reached the door, as the spider boy had to turn towards you a bit to reach the knob, bracing you against him even more, you knew this was the moment.
You couldn’t possibly stand it anymore.
Like a moth to a flame, you were lured in by the lovely smell of sweet melon and Cassius’ own scent mingling into one. With eyes closed you leaned down to his neck and pressed your open mouth to his skin, lapping at it a bit before biting down slowly with a lewd groan of satisfaction.
It tasted so good.
It was better than anything you’d ever had, beyond the idea of a taste even; there was so much more to it than that. The subtle heat of his skin, the way he shook when you grazed your teeth along his throat, his breathing growing rapid all at once in that moment… Why hadn’t you done this sooner?
“M-Mmm… Hey, at least-” he cut himself off with a grunt when you bit him again. “H-Hold on a second!”
Cassius finally threw the door open and stepped inside, pulling you after him. Then, after shutting and locking the door behind you, he clumsily sat you down on the toilet.
“Just… Stay here for a minute.”
You whined at the loss of his skin on yours. What could possibly be more important than you devouring him!? You wanted to grab him by the collar and pull him right back to your lips, and you would’ve if it didn’t feel like your muscles had turned to jelly.
Instead, you sat back and watched as Cassius scurried around the bathroom like the spider he is. He hovered at the sink to wet a towel, then came back to give it to you to place on your forehead, then back again to the bath to begin filling it with cool water.
“Cass… Cassius~”
Your soft call of his name made Cassius freeze up for a moment before looking at you over his shoulder.
“Yes?”
You held up your arms a bit with a whine, making the cloth fall off your head.
“Cm’ere,” you demanded, pouting a bit. If he’s going to ignore you, why not go all out?
“It’s so hot without you, and you… You taste soooooooo good~ Nice and sweet like candy so… I wanna lick you more! Like a lollipop! Or even, like… Mmm… Kiss you~ ‘Cause I bet that tastes good, too~”
You watched as Cassius’ face once again flooded with red blush while he cleared his throat.
“It’s just the potion effects, don’t get any stupid ideas,” he said, turning away from you to look at his reflection and point aggressively at himself in the mirror.
“Eh, are you… Did you say kissing me is a stupid idea!?”
You huffed and crossed your arms, positively offended. Here you were, so in need of him, and he thinks satisfying you is a stupid idea!? Even if he doesn’t want to kiss you a bit of pity and an full explanation would feel better than this! It was his fault you were like this, anyway…
“That’s not what I meant, I-” he sighed. “Let’s just get you in the bath before you overheat, okay?”
You looked up at him with big hopeful eyes as he approached.
“Can I taste you once we get into the bath?”
“W-What!? No! A-And it’s not ‘we’, you’re getting in the bath! With your clothes still on! You’re… Not in your right mind right now…”
You rolled your eyes but didn’t resist as he slung your arm over his shoulder again to lead you to the bath.
“And whose fault is that, hm? I’m just giving in a bit cause you look so good right now… And taste even better, heh~”
You snuck a quick lick of Cassius’ neck as he finally got you to sit on the edge of the tub, making him shiver and flinch away. You sighed at his reaction.
“Do you not like me?”
Cassius didn’t pause in his work of turning off the running water but still spared you a questioning glance.
“Huh? What are you talking about now?”
“You must think… Am I just totally not your type? This is the worst,” you said, openly pouring out your thoughts as the aphrodisiac overwhelmed the part of your mind that normally gave you at least a bit of a filter.
“Is it 'cause I’m not a spider? Would it be hotter if I had eight legs right now?”
Cassius squinted at you.
“No?”
“Then what is it!? Why don’t you want to kiss? Kiss me, specifically… At least a little? One kiss? I’m not bad at it, I promise! I really want to, but… I guess since you don’t then… Oh! Then at least let me taste a bit more of the potion!”
With a shake of his head, Cassius reached out to grab you, only to hesitate and end up with his hands hovering over your sides.
“No, no more potion! It’s the only reason you want to kiss me so badly in the first place, so the sooner we get you through this the sooner you can just be mad at me…”
You smacked at Cassius’ hands like a grumpy toddler, too weak to really make him move away.
“Wrong! It’s not! To think I always thought you were so smart…”
“Is the fever making you delirious?”
When he reached to place his hand on your forehead again you covered it with your own hands first, glaring at him. This finally gave Cassius some pause.
“I-d-i-o-t! That spells idiot! I’m not… I’m not delirious Cass, I’m hyper-sensitive, overwhelmed, and horny! And you’re hot, dumb, and wrong!”
Cassius flushed again at your brazenness.
“Wrong about what!?”
“The potion isn’t the only thing making me want to kiss you!”
The confused look on Cassius’ face was frustrating enough to rival having to rebuild your entire house from scratch.
“...I think you should just get in the cold water now. These are definitely more intense effects than I expected, perhaps I-”
"I'm not- UGH Fine, look!"
Quickly and unsteadily you slid into the bath, clothes and all, shivering as the cold water enveloped you. It was a bit of a relief though, you'd have to admit. You certainly felt more awake now.
“There. Happy?”
"Yes, now just… Stay there till you calm down, okay? Don't even think about getting out until you're sure you don't feel like kissing me anymore."
"Some cold water isn't going to change that feeling, Mr. Genius."
"Of course it is, don't worry!"
You deadpanned.
“Do I really have to clarify? Talking is hard right now…"
You paused, taking a deep breath as Cassius watched you curiously.
“Y’know what? Screw it.”
With the last of your strength, you reached up and grabbed Cassius by the collar, pulling him down to eye height.
“I’m going to kiss you, okay? Because I want to! Not because of some potion! Got it?!”
Wide-eyed, Cassius gave you only a slow nod in response.
“Good.”
With one last huff, you pressed your lips to his. Now, you’d told yourself you wouldn’t get too into it, show him you had some restraint despite the potion, but…
His lips were cool, the perfect temperature to compliment the heat flooding your body more and more as your lips moved against him. They were chapped, just as you’d seen before, the rough texture making his lips catch on yours more than they would’ve otherwise. And he was leaning into the kiss, hands having finally settled on your sides only to slowly slide down to grip your hips right at the water line. Though you had more contact with cold things than before it seemed that didn’t matter. You no longer knew the meaning of the word “restraint”.
In one surprisingly deft movement you’d wrapped both your arms around Cassius’ neck, forcing him to lean over the edge of the bath at an uncomfortable angle, and yet he still made no move to pull away. On the contrary, he seemed totally lost in the kiss, even daring to swipe his tongue across your lips. How could you resist such temptation? Soon after his daring move your tongue was in his mouth, earning a nearly pitiful whine of pleasure from the spider. He really did taste delicious, similar to the potion but with a nice creamy taste, like watermelon ice cream.
Everything about him was so alluring, so tempting, all you could think about was getting more of him. Without thought, you went to tug Cassius’ body to meet yours…
Only for the sound of Cassius splashing into the bath on top of you to snap you out of it briefly.
“Ah… Oops.”
Cassius laughed dryly, shivering a bit. He was nearly as soaked as you now, water dripping off his bangs onto your cheek as he held himself just a few inches above you.
“Yeah, ‘oops’ indeed.”
“Hmm, but y’know,” you drawled as you ran your hands down from his neck to hold his sides. “It’s not so bad! Now you can help cool me down~”
“Ah, wait! That’s right, we shouldn’t be doing this, w-what if you pass out?”
Cassius went to sit up but you latched yourself onto him, clinging to his torso like a monkey to hold him down.
“I haven’t passed out yet, so you’re not going anywhere!”
“Of course,” Cassius huffed playfully. “You just have to pull something like this when I’m finally trying to be responsible for once…”
You grinned at him widely.
“Yup! View it as your punishment for locking me out and making me worry!”
Cassius’ amused expression fell a bit at your words, instead transitioning into what you could only describe as a sad puppy look.
“That… I didn’t mean to make you worry. I-I was embarrassed and I didn’t… I wasn’t thinking.”
A cold, wet hand gently cupped your cheek.
“I’m sorry.”
You hummed a bit, leaning into Cassius’ touch.
“As you should be, Mr. Genius. You were the only thing I was thinking about the whole time you were locked in there, y’know?”
Cassius ran his eyes over you fondly, a light smile gracing his chapped (and now a bit flushed and swollen) lips.
“And you were the only thing I was thinking about while I was keeping myself locked in there.”
…
A smirk slowly spread across your face as realization flashed across Cassius’.
“W-Wait, no-”
“I knew it,” you declared as you swung Cassius all the way down into the bath, switching your places so you could climb on top of him. “I was right all along! I’m totally your type, you’re super into me! You think I’m so sexy that I was all you could think about while you were making yourself all hot and bothered for days! Ha!”
As you loomed over him, victorious, Cassius looked like he was about to explode from embarrassment, face as bright red as his eyes.
“W-What made you think otherwise in the first place?! You’re, like, the only one I’m this close to! The only one I’ve ever been this close to…”
You bit at your lip, leaning down closer to Cassius’ face.
“Quit saying things that make me want to devour you, I’m trying to innocently enjoy how cute you look when you’re embarrassed~”
Cassius shot you a weak glare.
“I mean it! I-I… You’re special to me.”
You let the teasing smirk on your face soften into a smile.
“Now you’ve done it.”
“Huh?”
“I think you’ve triggered the potion again! I’m feeling… So… Weak…!!”
You “fell” onto Cassius’ chest and trailed a finger up from his collarbone to his lips.
“Uh-oh, looks like you’ll have to kiss me again to fix it~”
And just like that Cassius looked like a deer in headlights again.
“Y-You’re joking, right?”
“Not about you kissing me~”
To your absolute pleasure Cassius could only whine at this, pressing as close to you as he could without directly kissing you.
“C’mon Mr. Genius, how long are you going to keep me waiting?~”
Cassius spared you one last glance before finally giving in, desperately pressing his lips to yours again. Freshly united like a pair of long-lost lovers your lips embraced each other far more thoroughly than before. You weren’t rushing anymore, and Cassius wasn’t hesitant. Instead, he was bold, his tongue invading your mouth to taste you mere moments after your lips first met. You gripped at his hoodie to keep yourself grounded, trying your best to combat the feeling of your head beginning to spin. It was suddenly much harder for you to breathe.
The cold water around you had started to warm, you realized, as you no longer felt cooled by Cassius’ touch. Pure heat was coursing through your veins again, and you had a sneaking suspicion it wasn’t because of the potion anymore.
Finally, you had to pull away to catch your breath, occupying yourself with tugging on Cassius’ hoodie in the meantime.
“Hey… Isn’t that heavy now that it’s wet?”
“Huh? Y-Yeah, I guess so, why?”
You rolled your eyes and simply began unzipping it and pulling it off for him, throwing it onto the bathroom floor with a wet plop before turning back to him to enjoy your prize.
And a prize there was… Cassius wasn’t muscular but his skin was nearly perfect, as pale and smooth as porcelain. Looking at the bit of his bare stomach that his displaced shirt revealed was certainly enough to confirm that to you. But of course, you had to touch it, just to be sure it was as smooth as it looked. It was of course, much to your enjoyment. Cassius seemed plenty pleased with the situation too, judging by the sounds he made as you snuck your hands further upwards and under his shirt.
“Mmm, how do you keep your skin so soft?~”
With a soft moan Cassius arched up into your touch, blinking his hazy eyes as he tried to focus enough to answer your question.
“A-Ah, it’s, mm~ It’s probably all the milk I drink, ha.”
“Milk?”
You spoke close to his skin before beginning to kiss down his neck, taking your time and slipping your tongue out to taste him here and there.
“Y-Yeah, y’know frommm~ Ah,” he paused to catch his breath after you bit him right at the crook of his neck, leaving an already reddening mark. “From, uh, neutralizing all the potions I test.”
“Hm. That explains why you taste creamy.”
“I-I do?”
“Weeeelllllll,” you brought your face back up to meet his eyes, licking your lips. “I could check again, if you’d like?~”
Cassius’ eyelids drooped as his gaze slid down to your lips.
“I would! L-Like that, that is, if-”
You cut him off by smashing your lips to his again, tongue swirling all around his mouth to really taste him, skimming across his dangerously sharp teeth as you went. By the time you pulled away, Cassius was gasping for air.
“Mmm, yup~ Milk and that delicious watermelon potion, check and check! You taste almost like ice cream, honestly!”
At this, Cassius’ eyes shot open wide.
“The potion! I completely forgot!”
Before you could comment he was dashing out of the bath, hurriedly toweling himself down, and then booking it out the door.
You sat there for a few moments, completely stunned. What in the world was that? A rejection? You didn’t think that would happen at this point…
You were about to get out of the bath and go after him right when he burst back in the door, shutting and locking it behind him.
“Welcome back. What in the world was that?”
“Oh, uh,” Cassius turned away from the door to face you, revealing the full-to-the-brim potion bottle in his hand, shimmering bright pink in the low lighting of the bathroom. “I remembered we’d left my brewing equipment going this whole time and went back to shut it off. Wouldn’t want to waste the ingredients, you know?”
You raised an eyebrow.
“So then why’d you bring that here, hm? I thought you were desperate to keep me away from that aphrodisiac.”
“Well, that was because you didn’t know what you were drinking, duh! I didn’t want you doing anything you didn’t really want to because of it, but, uh…”
He slowly walked back up to the edge of the tub, unable to take his eyes off you.
“I-I was thinking… That maybe we could, y’know… Or at least I could! I mean if you don’t want to, then, um…”
“Cass? You’re being vague.”
Cassius just sighed, popping the cork out of the glass bottle and raising it to his lips, chugging over half of it as you watched with your jaw wide open. When he finished he set the bottle on the edge of the tub beside you and lowered himself to his knees.
“Cass, that’s… That was like twice the amount I drank! More than that, even!”
It took him a second to look up, but when he did meet your eyes again his face was flushed, expression vulnerable and needy. You swear you could see hearts in his eyes as he laughed a little.
“T-There, do you get it? I chose to drink it, so…”
He paused a moment to lean in close enough that you could smell that alluring scent of watermelon on his breath, hazy eyes looking right into yours.
“Would you take care of me for a while?~”
Ah, well. It would seem you would be getting a good taste of that potion again, after all.
- • •
