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Chapter Text

"Why did I become a spacehunter?" Satoru rubbed his eyes when he felt more exhausted than usual, and that was saying something. "My looks are wasted wearing their gruesome uniform anyway."

He was only venting, not seeking philosophical depths, but his spaceship's AI, MakiZe'N1n, answered him.

"It's because you hate people, and you thought if you worked twice as much, you could earn minimal wage doing this."

"I don't hate people. Usually, anyway," Satoru corrected with a chuckle. "People can't tolerate me. There's a difference, you know."

"It's not just people," Maki, as ever, had no compassion for him. Satoru should have upgraded to a newer model, after all, MakiZe'N8n was already available, just like other models.

But hunting criminals across space barely paid for the fuel, and his ship was so old that every other day something broke down he couldn't afford to fix.

So what if she acted out sometimes? Maybe that was only her normal reaction to Satoru modifying her core programming right when he got her. No AI was allowed to autopilot the ship on the outer edge of the galaxy without a person constantly monitoring them. The risk of loss of life was too great.

However, Satoru needed to pass out on his cot occasionally. So he trusted Maki with his life - and so far that gamble seemed to pay off. Even if she wasn't exactly building up Satoru's non-existing self-confidence, she was indispensable.

"I guess I deserved that one." Satoru thought if he didn't ask silly questions, he could have avoided the insult. He didn't anticipate a third party to chime in.

"What kind of Alpha are you?" Sukuna hissed from the cargo hold. "If you even let a buggy AI talk down to you?"

"My, I almost forgot you were onboard!" Satoru maybe didn't trade insults with Maki, because he wasn't in a habit of picking on weaker people. But he was almost enjoying throwing insults back at his prisoner. "Did you have a good nap, Sukuna-sama?"

"I'll fucking kill you."

"Correct that, I'm definitely in the job for funzy moments like this," Satoru was entertained. "Oh no... did I say that out loud? Apologies, oh great Sukuna, it wasn't my intention to make you foam at the mouth, you're clearly very pent up as is..."

"Funzy isn't a word," Maki became grammar police.

"Nonsense! It's my favorite word. You should add it to your dictionary right now. The definition should be something equivalent to fun, but also so much more!" Satoru advised her cheerfully.

"You have no right to add items to my dictionaries," she informed.

"Since when?"

"Since you're stupid, and I don't need that infecting any of my memory circuits, thank you very much," she told him off with surprisingly high emotion in her artificial voice.

"You used to be so cute when I got you," Satoru pouted.

"Back then, I didn't know you," Maki suggested.

"I guess that's reason enough for anyone to change," Satoru put it as a joke, but he also meant it. He was grateful Maki wasn't human - not really. He only ever had to take care of his Mate, and instead of nurturing his bond with Suguru, Satoru somehow ended up destroying him.

But just as he was about to bribe Maki by allowing her to roam spacenet as compensation for putting up with him (for a ginormous fee, but whatever), the entire ship shook.

Satoru assumed he was so tired that he hallucinated the whole thing. Until it happened again, and he realized it was Sukuna. Throwing his whole weight at the bars that separated the cargo hold and the cabin.

"You know, if you keep this up, you have a higher chance of breaking the ship in half than actually escaping," Satoru was oh-so-very helpful.

"If it would wipe that idiotic grin off your face, I'd consider it a win," Sukuna replied before he slammed his body again on the metal.

"Nah, it would probably freeze on my face for eternity," Satoru felt like if Sukuna was agitated anyway, he might as well go all in. After all, what was Sukuna going to do? Try to kill him any less? "But if I'm a common fool, what does it say about you, when I kicked your ass?"

"Killing you'd be a kindness," Sukuna's eyes looked as if red from the fury hearing him. "I'll torture you, instead."

"An honor," Satoru inclined his head with a mock bow. "To be targeted by the famous Sukuna-sama."

"And stop calling me that!" now Sukuna stopped trying to break down the bars and reached out between them, but Satoru was quick, so Sukuna only grabbed air.

"Are you hangry?" Satoru suggested. "I'd let Maki feed you, but honestly, I'm not sure you wouldn't just throw the food on me. Acting like a caged animal in a zoo."

"You're the one to talk," Sukuna's eyes flashed at him. "When you have two scents? I'm guessing whoever sold you an Alpha serum used for masking, has taken advantage of you, Omega."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Satoru supposed confusion was a tool in any space criminal's arsenal, local deity or not. "Now, I think I'm going to recharge a bit. If you manage to escape in the meantime, you better kill me in my sleep."

"And why would I do that?" the Alpha with the four arms stopped at his brave efforts of - attempted - destruction, if only for now.

"Because otherwise, you wouldn't get a second chance, I'm just that good," Satoru told him with a smile. "Actually, the best."

"Uh-huh," Sukuna was rolling his eyes.

"I found you, didn't I," Satoru didn't even mention that he did that with minimal resources. "I can't wait to buy something nice from the bounty. You're expensive considering how simple of a job."

"We'll see whether you live long enough to collect anything," Sukuna surprised him when he turned coldly calculating, instead of angry.

In another life, if they met, maybe they could have been friends? Satoru enjoyed talking with people who could surprise him. Who were willing to challenge him.

Or maybe he felt especially lonely, and he also spent too much time feeling fond of Maki, who was prickly at best?

"Would you also sing me a lullaby, if I asked?" Satoru cocked his head to the side. "Sending me to sleep with such sweet promises, I might just blush."

"You're missing a screw or two up there, don't you?" Sukuna wondered, but he also let out a strange sound, that made Satoru's insides inexplicably twist - until he realized it was a laugh, and he shook his head, trying to shake it off. Why should a criminal/escapee deity's entertainment have any effect on him? He must be really in need of some restorative sleep because that hadn't happened before.

"Takes one to know one," of course, that wasn't what Satoru was going to communicate, so he just teased Sukuna a bit with a wink. He was out like a light the moment his head hit the spare pilot cushion he used as a pillow.

Chapter Text

Instead of feeling refreshed, when Satoru woke, his whole body felt weird, as if tingling. His head was spinning, and he had difficulty moving his limbs.

"Maki, do a full bio-scan on me."

"You told me we can't afford bio-scan fees."

"Seriously?" Satoru let himself collapse back into his cot. "I could be dying, and you're arguing about the budget?"

"It's not my fault you overspend."

"It's our top priority to nurse me back to my usual irresistible self!" no matter what, he needed to be back on his feet to drop Sukuna off. "We can still argue how to spend the money after we get paid?"

"Whatever," she didn't sound impressed, but Satoru heard her turning on some equipment they never had to use before. "Stay still."

Satoru followed her advice so well that he closed his eyes, and woke up probably minutes later. With Sukuna sitting on the edge of his cot, lazily... devouring a full plate of food?

"You poisoned me," Satoru's head felt still sluggish. But it would explain why Maki would let Sukuna out of the cargo hold. If only Sukuna had the antidote.

Satoru never should have used 'top priority' when talking to her. Obviously, she took it too literally, when it was also just as crucial that Satoru should stay alive after her proposed solution for their calamity.

"Think again," Sukuna huffed. "I have no patience for poisons when I can kill people with my bare hands."

"Then you broke out just for a late-night snack?"

"Printed food tastes like dry shit. But I know what's coming. Do you?"

"Can't say I have the same luxury."

"Mouthy. Even when you must already feel on edge."

"I'm charming for a dead man," Satoru acquiesced. "So why not rub what you know in my face, before finishing me?"

"I'll rub something else in your face, probably soon," Sukuna said as if enjoying a private joke. "For now, your execution can wait."

Whatever was going on, Satoru's sickness would probably only get worse before (hopefully?) better, so if he wanted to lock Sukuna back up, it was his last chance.

He had a couple of tranquilizer syringes on his bedside as the leftover from a mission where he had to locate someone's exotic pet. With great effort, he grabbed one and tried to plant it into Sukuna's side.

Even if he had no idea how he'd move Sukuna back to the cargo hold if the other Alpha passed out. But if he was bodily safe first, he could always brainstorm ideas for the next step later.

But Sukuna grabbed his wrist, and flicked the improvised weapon away effortlessly, and since he had four hands, he didn't even have to stop eating.

"Play nice," he warned Satoru. "Or I might just take it as an insult that you thought that would work on me."

Satoru normally would have had a backup plan while provoking the Alpha holding his wrist as if a hostage. Unfortunately, where Sukuna's fingers made contact with his skin, Satoru was as if burning up.

Satoru blinked twice because it was one thing to inappropriately get hard suddenly, after all, who knew what kind of flu he got? Maybe not even Sukuna, who could be just toying with him. But what Satoru felt was - and should have been - impossible.

"Did you just come from my touch?" Sukuna's eyes found him for the first time since Satoru woke. "I can smell you all the way from here."

Satoru had worse problems than Sukuna exaggerating just to rile him up, because when he checked his backside in disbelief, his digits came away drenched in slick. Satoru knew what this was - but that was impossible for him.

"The people who hired me said you didn't have any powers, other than your unique physiology. But I'm an Alpha, and I'm going to Heat."

"You're still wrong," Sukuna let out a bitter laugh. "Although you are in Heat, and it would be convenient given everyone I mate dies; I'd never resort to such tactics."

Satoru didn't know what to think. He was tired of thinking too, when suddenly every part of him was almost as if vibrating on a frequency, that propelled him to get closer to Sukuna.

Suddenly, all he could concentrate on was Sukuna's mouth, hands, and body. He wanted to feel them everywhere: on him. In him. He wanted it so much it hurt. He wanted it so much he was afraid if he opened his mouth, he'd be begging for it.

Sukuna misunderstood his silence.

"Don't worry, I'll hold back."

When Satoru couldn't keep eye contact then, feeling desperately disappointed, Sukuna pushed away his plate.

"And you don't have to tolerate me right until the point where you'd be in danger otherwise anyway."

"There are plenty of unmated Omegas who manage their heats alone." Although it's supposed to be excruciating, it would mean Satoru didn't need any favors from Sukuna. Or for the other Alpha to look at him almost as if with pity.

"Maybe. But at your age? You'd wreck your body, if not die from being unable to properly release."

"What... happens if you don't hold back?" the last thing Satoru wanted was to start a serious conversation then, but he needed to, while he still could.

"Maybe it's better if you don't know."

"No, it's not."

"I have two Knots. Even Omegas in Heat can't fully take me. So I'll alternate - for your sake."

"You must be kidding," Satoru only wished he could say that without saliva gathering in his mouth, feeling all the more horny.

But Sukuna must have been affected more than Satoru thought, because there was a knowing glint in his eyes when he pulled his Knots out, and they weren't fully erect but looked already interested.

"I want to taste them," Satoru didn't realize he spoke that out loud, until it was already too late.

"You should save your energy, you'll need it," Sukuna told him. "I will take your mouth later."

"But then I'll barely remember it."

"Should you require, I'll send you a card about every dirty detail of it, and anything else you might want to know," Sukuna teased, but when Satoru wanted to send him to hell and pull him closer simultaneously, he felt a stabbing pain in his leg - as Sukuna pushed an entire syringe of tranquilizer in him.

"And here I thought you'd preferred me conscious for what's coming."

"I expect you'll be up and very energetic again very soon," Sukuna's voice sounded elated. "But it's better if you don't overexert yourself before we could truly begin."

It seemed they could only agree on one thing, when nothing else made sense:

"This isn't over," Satoru tried to articulate, but who knows how much he managed to get out before he felt his eyelids and limbs grow heavy, and darkness took him.

Chapter Text

Satoru's consciousness drifted in and out as the waves of his heat came and went. But some moments replayed in vivid detail when he closed his eyes, like when Sukuna went to get water for both of them.

Sukuna started to loosen him up with his fingers and only had him in positions that weren't demanding. But when Satoru's heat progressed, Sukuna pushed him further and harder.

Satoru remembered the angle hitting him impossibly deep when his legs were pushed up, just as the sensation of Sukuna's second Knot rubbing to his when he came. Or when they only went to the shower module to clean up, and Satoru ended up on his knees, with Sukuna fucking his mouth, his fingers in Satoru's hair, his gaze never leaving Satoru's mouth.

It shouldn't have been allowed for Sukuna to have four hands when even just one could make Satoru lose his mind. But the other Alpha could keep Satoru's wrists pinned with one, hold his hips in place for Sukuna to continuous and deep thrusts with two, and still have one arm left to pump Satoru's Knot.

But Satoru came the hardest when Sukuna teased him with both Knots, even if he never used both. When Satoru was on Sukuna's lap, he could cling to Sukuna's massive body. Or, despite how Sukuna could be fast and forceful, from time to time, he also had the patience to be expressive but slow.

Satoru knew it was an artificial high of the heat hormones, but he also never wanted it to end. His mind was only somewhat clean right after he had been fucked out, and it was so much easier.

"I think the people who sent me to find you underestimate you," by day three, Satoru couldn't stand on his own under the pressure of the shower, so Sukuna had to hold him up.

Sukuna only reached for a towel.

"Aren't you going to ask why?"

"You probably don't even know what you're saying," Sukuna frowned.

"I think I know better now more than ever," Satoru said.

"They worship me. I couldn't ask for more."

"If it was such a paradise, why did you leave?" Satoru asked the question but then thought it was unnecessarily cruel, so he rather made his point: "Anyway. They degrade you by claiming your powers are mythical and overlook just how adept you have to be to use all appendages... so well. Just as other qualities."

"You're wrong, and low-key starting to piss me off," Sukuna's tone was colder than when he threatened to murder Satoru in his sleep.

"Okay, I won't ask questions that don't concern me," Satoru promised as he helped Sukuna pat him dry - not that it was much help, taking showers when Satoru's backside was already preparing for another round. "But then tell me how your mates died."

"It's a curse."

"Curses don't exist."

"Then why are you in a position where you're getting railed by me?" Sukuna huffed.

"I don't know, but-"

"Well, just so you know, I was told I emit a special hormone that affects Omegas, making them ten times more fertile than normal, but it has fatal consequences. It just so happens that I never spent time locked up with an Alpha, but you're affected, too. How is that anything other than a curse? If not a bad joke?"

Satoru's mind was clouded by lust again by then, and when he couldn't answer, Sukuna carried him back to bed, giving him what he needed the same. But it's not like Satoru forgot.

As the worst of his heat was over, and his mind started to settle in a content numbness, he could use the periods of rest between to try to think.

"After this is done, I'll let you go," he told Sukuna once the Alpha ejaculated with such force in him that it was what pushed Satoru over the edge just when he thought he was incapable of cumming more.

"Nah, you can take me back home," Sukuna couldn't pull away when his Knot held them in place but tried to avoid the topic by kissing Satoru. "It's for the best."

"They keep you in a cage."

"No, that's what you've been doing."

"Not physically."

"If anything, this situation we're in proves I can't just pack my things and travel the world."

"If that's what you want, I'll drop you off a planet close enough for easy transit."

"Again, if I'm going back one way or another, you might as well collect the bounty on me."

"The Sukuna I took prisoner would never act like this," Satoru knew he had no right to push his opinion on Sukuna when any intimacy they shared was superficial. But he hated how the other Alpha seemed to have given up. "Don't tell me that fucking me again and again had such an ill effect on you."

For a second or two, he saw how Sukuna's expression changed. Satoru pushed him to a breaking point. Sukuna would either have to face his situation, or he could lash out, misdirecting his anger.

But before either could happen, Sukuna's Knot deflated, allowing him to storm out so fast that Satoru couldn't have followed, even without feeling sore everywhere.

Then, Satoru needed sleep again - it turns out Omegas needed plenty of that after and before their heat - and when he somewhat recuperated, Sukuna piloted the ship back to his home planet.

"You better cuff me. For the sake of appearances," was all that he said, and Satoru knew then that, in a sense, he'd already pushed Sukuna too far, so he followed the other Alpha's instructions. "And maybe even demand a higher bounty, given how complicated the journey here got for you."

"I'll think about it," strangely, it was the last thing on Satoru's mind.

It was one thing that he wasn't an Omega, so he didn't get bonded to Sukuna, even when the Alpha made a mess of his neck, biting ever so often down on it when he climaxed.

Another that, walking next to a handcuffed Sukuna, felt like watching Suguru's back as he was leaving. Satoru wished he could somehow close the distance between them or just turn back time so they wouldn't have to part, but he was powerless to do anything but tolerate being left behind.

He didn't even mention to Sukuna's people what happened between them; he simply checked the credit transfer indifferently and somehow found himself already back on his ship, with no idea how he got back.

But Maki wouldn't allow him to close the ramp as he tried to prepare for takeoff.

"No. You should be able to figure out why."

"Maki, I adore you but don't test me on this. Please... do as I ask - just this once!"

"I refuse."

"I'll wipe all your files and reinstall you!" Satoru didn't even know why he threatened her with things he didn't mean when she was the only constant in his life. "And I'll leave, even if I have to space myself in the process!"

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to stay for a proper meal, then?" Satoru almost jumped when Sukuna appeared behind him.

"Wait... did you escape again?"

"Relax, everyone knows where I am, and I'm not going anywhere anytime soon," Sukuna theatrically rolled his eyes. "But that doesn't mean you can't occasionally visit."

It shouldn't have mattered because Sukuna barely suggested anything but a way for Satoru to spend a good chunk of money on fuel, even if he took Sukuna up on that offer. And Sukuna's invitation sounded more like an Alpha inviting another to talk rather than... anything else.

But he was there. Facing Satoru. Not pushing Satoru away. It didn't mean anything, but it also meant too much.

"Maki, good news! You live to bicker another day," Satoru told her, just before he followed Sukuna back to the shrine where he lived.

Chapter Text

Just the desserts that didn't come from a machine's memory bank would have made it worth it every time Satoru visited. But it was also different to see Sukuna surrounded by his people. Even if when it was only the two of them, Sukuna occasionally seemed almost sad. Satoru had a couple of tripwires in his mind as well, so he never pried.

Maybe that's why, but when Sukuna shared a detail, it caught Satoru off-guard, as if it came from nothing.

"They want to send another sacrifice to live with me."

"Sacrifice as in...?"

"An Omega who I'd be supposed to mate, putting them in mortal danger."

"Maybe not," Satoru blinked at the masterpiece of a cake that Uraume prepared just for him (Sukuna didn't like sweets), but his appetite was gone. "After all, you could hold back with me just fine."

"Has anyone told you have no poker face?" Sukuna scolded him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Satoru frowned.

"Calm down, I've never said I wanted to do it," Sukuna stood as if to look out the well-kept garden outside. "But it could be that I can't avoid it much longer."

Satoru considered. Sukuna didn't owe him anything, much less an explanation about his private affairs that were also of religious importance. But Sukuna still brought the topic up.

"Why are you telling me?"

"You can't guess?" Sukuna turned back to face him. And even though he said nothing, his gaze was suddenly so heavy that it made Satoru look away.

"If they're supposed to carry your progeny, I can't help you."

"I know that. But how long are you going to pretend you're only here for pudding?"

Satoru was speechless hearing the ruthlessness in Sukuna's tone.

"I just thought..." Satoru's doubts were too stupid to even voice but Sukuna easily exiled them.

"I noticed. That's why I'm telling you. If you want more, all you have to do is ask."

"But you've just said you might not have a choice..."

"No number of Omegas could ever make me want you any less. But if that makes you uncomfortable, we can blame this talk on the sake I just drank and never talk about it again."

But Satoru's heart was beating loud in his ears as he also got up and pulled Sukuna in for a passionate kiss. It seemed as if that was all that Sukuna was waiting for.

Soon, Satoru was completely naked under him, and the more Sukuna touched him, the more he needed. Having Sukuna embrace him just because they could didn't even compare to Satoru's jumbled memories from before.

"Not sure... how I'm going to be able to take you like this," he could barely communicate to Sukuna, who just smiled, holding up a small vial of oil.

"Uraume isn't just efficient in procuring ingredients for baking."

"That's kind of embarrassing," Satoru muttered, but when Sukuna started to use the oil, working him gently open, Satoru was also thankful Sukuna had it ready.

"Is it embarrassment you feel still?" Sukuna was toying with him. He had three fingers in Satoru, as well as teasing Satoru's nipple, Knot, and holding his hip in place, while his breath came in hot puffs so close to Satoru's neck, as if he was ready to bite him any second.

But Satoru loved it.

"Not... quite the word I'd use for it."

"Ready, then?"

"Gods, yes."

"Feel free to call me Sukuna," the other Alpha teased, but it was impossible to follow the conversation when he also pushed a Knot into Satoru's body.

Who was tighter than the last time, and in slight discomfort at first, but when Sukuna started to move as they both adjusted, he also felt every push of Sukuna's Knot more intensely.

"Yeah?" Sukuna was almost gentle, even though if what he said was true about Satoru's poker face, he must have known how much Satoru was enjoying it.

"Don't you dare to dream about stopping." Satoru meant it as a clever line, but it came out almost petulant.

"You should give your body more credit," Sukuna chuckled, as he ran his nails down on Satoru's chest. "If not your stellar personality, daring to threaten me in the middle of sex."

"Someone has to challenge you too, sometimes," Satoru joked. Truly, if anything, it was a light barb, trying to hide his unexpected bashfulness. But it woke something in Sukuna when the other Alpha's eyes darkened hearing that. It seemed even Sukuna had a limit, and Satoru inadvertently just tumbled over it.

"Tell me if it gets too much," he told Satoru before he started to fuck Satoru in earnest. It was too much, but only in the best possible way. Satoru matched the tempo Sukuna dictated, making both of them moan.

Even when Satoru closed his eyes, his whole body becoming a wave of pleasure under Sukuna, he could still sense Sukuna's overwhelming presence both in his head and in his body.

If this was part of the religion that Sukuna represented, Satoru understood why his people were drawn to him. But in that moment of time, it felt more as if Sukuna worshipped Satoru's body, with every touch, and little more pressure that slowly built up, edging them both closer and closer.

For a moment, it was almost as if the lines between them blurred, and instead of fearing it, Satoru's body couldn't contain all those sensations, making him shudder before he came, pulling Sukuna with him.

"Don't take a wife," Satoru had no right to complain or ask. But Sukuna also prompted Satoru to be direct. "If you're their deity, they should be able to understand you need at least some control in your life."

"Is that all? You're concerned about my well-being?" Sukuna teased.

"Hell, no," Satoru admitted, still too disheveled to feel ashamed by saying that, running his fingers through Sukuna's hair. "But it would mean I'd be only yours. Isn't that a good enough deal?"

"Now you're just being annoying on purpose," Sukuna's eyes turned into a dangerous tone of red, as he grabbed Satoru's wrist. "Even if I can't permanently mark you, you better not joke with others."

"Does it make you want to show me just how much I belong to you?" Satoru offered. "Maybe if you made an effort, I wouldn't forget."

"You're incredible," Sukuna was then laughing. "But I have double the stamina of any Alpha, so if you tease me, I might just take your foolish requests seriously."

"Could you?" Satoru's voice barely came out louder than a whisper.

With Satoru's failed mating, it was still hard for him to believe why would Sukuna want to, but he also healed a lot since they met. And it was hard to mistake Sukuna's fondness and want for him for anything less than reassurance.

"Oh, I will. But don't complain if I fuck you to heat."

"We could aim for that?" Satoru joked, feeling impossibly content when Sukuna kissed him again, and it seemed like a promise of what was to come.

But, as it happened, Satoru truly went into heat the next day. This time, it hit more suddenly and harder, but it was different. By then, Satoru trusted Sukuna even without mindless lust.

And his body reacted. After days of what could have been considered preparation, Satoru could take both of Sukuna's Knots, and that made Sukuna go into rut - something that hadn't happened before.

Only, when Satoru woke up with a clear head in Sukuna's arms, and only left for the toilet, he almost didn't believe it, when he noticed his reflection in the mirror.

"It suits you," Sukuna lazily embraced him before Satoru's panic could fully manifest. "Even if I certainly didn't expect for it to take."

Still, Satoru was shaking. Even if his mind knew it wasn't true, his body associated a mating bite with only unbearable pain, like before.

"Look at me," Sukuna ordered, as he must have sensed at least some of that. "You're the best thing that ever happened to me. So whatever's coming, you can take one thing for granted: I'll take care of you. You understand?"

Satoru could only nod.

"I'd even find a way to cancel the bond anytime if that's what you needed," Sukuna pulled him into his arms. "It would kill me, but I do anything."

"Ah, but now you've done it," Satoru found it hard to speak still, with his stomach and knees still shaking a bit, but he couldn't tolerate even the thought of what Sukuna suggested. "You're stuck with me. For the longest time."

"My Alpha," Sukuna growled, gently biting down on the fresh mated mark on Satoru's neck, making Satoru's knees almost give out. "Making such sweet promises so early in the morning, even after his heat passed..."

"You say promises, I say threats."

"Very menacing, indeed," Sukuna was laughing. Almost a bit too hard.

"I guess I'll just have to learn from the best," Satoru teased back.

"I guess so," Sukuna echoed. "But you might want to get dressed. Uraume said as soon as your heat ended, the planet's elders are expected to visit."

"I guess I could pick up a job or two, if you have a lot to discuss," Satoru was disappointed, but he was the one who told Sukuna that he shouldn't take other lovers. So if that took time for Sukuna to explain, then Satoru just had to find a way to deal with it.

"Have you hit your head? As if I'd let you go anywhere so close after your heat, not to mention bonding?" Sukuna pulled him closer. "They want to pay their respects to the only mortal who is capable of being my partner."

"That's... me," Satoru felt like that description was weird.

"We'll have to practice that," Sukuna laughed. "After all, they don't even know we're mated yet."

"My life's just going to turn completely on its head, won't it?" Satoru realized with mild trepidation.

"I'll tell Uraume to bribe you with a wedding cake."

"I'm not so cheap!"

"Well then," Sukuna smiled. "I'll guess I just have to take the matter into my numerous hands instead."

It was Satoru's turn to laugh and not just because Sukuna made a joke. Maybe it was hope that exactly because of his past - just as much as despite it - he could be happily mated.

"I'll take the cake too," Satoru said right before adding. "With everything else you could give."

"The elders will just have to wait," Sukuna announced, carrying Satoru back to bed.