Curled Horns

11. Jewellery

When Mingi lingered insecurely in his seated position, Yunho swooped down to pick up his legs under his knees. Mingi yelped when he was turned around as if he weighed nothing, and Yunho lifted his legs on the mattress as well.

"Wait!"

With a chuckle, Yunho glanced down at Mingi. They were so close now, close enough that Mingi could smell Yunho's soap on his skin. He squirmed, exposed to the tall demon by his side.

"I don't mind if your hooves are dirty, we can just clean that off."

Again, that was not it. And Mingi's hooves were clean, as always when he visited Yunho's chambers.

"Now, breathe deeply and unclench your stomach. Can you open your shirt for me?"

Mingi needed a moment, battling the urge to hide behind his hands. As he breathed deeply, Yunho leaned next to Mingi against the bed. Only when he deemed Mingi as composed, he plucked up his tools again. He held both in front of Mingi's face.

"I have tweezers here to pinch the skin between," he began. He imitated closing them around the air, leaving the holes within both metal fingers aligned. "Then, I will pierce your skin with the needle. It will hurt a bit, but only for a moment. Your wounds heal fast, after all." He demonstrated and jabbed the needle through the tweezers. With a gulp, Mingi nodded. His anxiousness was met with an even softer smile on Yunho's lips.

"And then I will insert the ring and it's finished. Any doubts now?"

Stubborn, Mingi shook his head. His trembling fingers reached to tug his shirt from his pants and unbutton it. It was intimate, their proximity and the setting sending Mingi's thoughts spiralling and his heart into a frenzy. Once he was exposed to Yunho's dark eyes, Mingi's hands fell into the sheets, carefully grasping onto them.

Yunho adjusted his stance. One of his hands came down to settle on Mingi's quivering flank. Warm and large, it rested against his skin. Mingi swallowed his panicked whimper.

"Unwind," Yunho breathed once more. His voice had dropped. Clenching his eyes shut, Mingi pressed his head into the sheets until his horns throbbed warningly. The pain distracted him.

A gentle touch of metal to his navel had Mingi's breath stop. Tense, he held his air.

"Mingi, I need you to look once more. From your angle, is this position correct?"

Mingi peeked down, at the patch of skin pinched between the tweezers. It looked centred to him, but he had little experience, and frankly, he was too overwhelmed to care much.

"Looks good," he just squeaked instead and dropped back once more. Yunho chuckled at him charmingly.

"You can hold on to my shoulder if you need it."

Instantly, Mingi's hands shot out. He had few inhibitions about his claws but still paid attention not to dig them into Yunho's skin too hard. Warm and muscular, Yunho's shoulder anchored him as he took his hand from Mingi's side to reach for the needle.

"Breathe in and hold your breath. I'm doing it," Yunho warned one last time. Mingi tensed, locking up entirely so he wouldn't tremble at the wrong moment. The moment the sharp metal penetrated his skin, he bit his lip with a whimper.

It was over within a second. Mingi felt the cold steel in his skin and he grabbed onto Yunho tighter.

"Just a bit longer, you are doing fantastic," Yunho rained praise on him. Metal clinked and Mingi felt a tug as he slid the needle through and the connected piercing slipped into place. For a second, his hands were gone. Then, uncomfortable pain zapped through Mingi once more as Yunho adjusted the piercing to attach the little ball on top to keep it in place. A moment later, Yunho's fingers left the hurting spot and returned to Mingi's sides. Mildly, he massaged Mingi's tense skin.