Here is the first of the shorts I'm doing to help me with my writer's block. It's not so good, but at least it's something. After finishing this I realized that I might be watching too much Supernatural. Lol. I know that I asked for stuff for smutty drabbles, and this fic has absolutely no smut in it, but God damnit, I like it. And really, the point of all this is just to get me writing again. So, sorry for the no sex, Maya. I tried but it didn't want to happen. It's not exactly like your prompt either, but thank you so much for coming up with something that got me writing again! I will write you some Shika/Neji smut eventually.
Incubus
Shikamaru turned the key in the lock. The metallic click of the tumblers was outrageously loud in the silence surrounding the large estate. The wood was supposed to be teaming with life was it not? There should be sounds of owls hooting or crickets chirping or something wasn't there? Why was the forest silent?
Giving the dark path behind him a quick glance over his shoulder, Shikamaru pushed open the door and slipped inside. The large foyer of the English style manor house spread out in front of him like the mouth of a great sleeping dragon. The electricity had not yet been turned on, so as Shikamaru made his way through the foyer and past the large solarium, he made himself stare straight ahead and not into the dark and forbidding rooms to his left and right.
He reached the spacious living room and immediately dumped his backpack on the floor. He unzipped the front compartment and pulled out a lantern and a small, Ziploc baggie.
"You're not gonna throw me across the room this time," he growled under his breath as he lit the lantern.
Pulling a large piece of white chalk from the baggie, Shikamaru knelt and started drawing symbols he had memorized over the past week on the hardwood floor. When he had surrounded himself with the white lettering, he pulled a stone bowl from his pack and set it on the floor in front of him. Combining sage, lotus, and an assortment of other grave goods, Shikamaru crushed them with a pestle and lit the mixture with his lighter. He sat back, breathing in the musky, earthy scent.
He felt the air around him shift. A burst of wind hit him on his right side, but it was not powerful enough to move him. Not like last time.
"That's right, bitch," Shikamaru snickered, "Came prepared for you this time."
The smoldering herbs in the bowl snapped as if in response and Shikamaru pulled one last thing from his pack: an old, leather-bound book with the words Os Adjurator written on the cover.
Shikamaru opened to a page marked with a red ribbon and smirked as the air shifted again. It was angry, he knew it. It knew Shikamaru was going to summon it and kick it out of the house and there was nothing it could do about it.
"Serves you right, asshole," he murmured.
The wind picked up as Shikamaru stood. He held the book in front of him with a lazy smile and recited the words he had found earlier that day.
"Spiritus ostende te! Sta ante me!"
There was a flash of light and the wind abruptly stopped. Shikamaru glanced around the room, searching for the disembodied spirit that had taunted him so cruelly the last time he had been inside this house, but there was nothing.
"What the hell…"
Shikamaru turned at the sound of that smooth baritone. He took in the sight of the spirit standing at the edge of his circle and his breath caught.
Shit… it wasn't supposed to be pretty…
The spirit was a young man in his early—perhaps mid-twenties. He looked Japanese, maybe Korean, with long dark hair and extraordinary violet eyes. He wasn't transparent like Shikamaru had expected, and he didn't float. He really just looked like a normal person, well, minus being exceptionally attractive.
Shikamaru smiled superciliously and tucked the book under his arm. He slipped his hands in his pockets and tilted his head to the side.
"Well, not so scary now that I can see you."
The man's eyes widened. "You can see me?" He glanced down at his hands and stared at them like he had never noticed them before.
Wanting to get right down to the point, Shikamaru growled, "So what the hell happened last time I was here?"
The man's beautiful eyes turned back to Shikamaru and he made a face. "I don't know, when was the last time you were here?"
"Last week," Shikamaru deadpanned. "I was having a nice first night in my new house, finally found some peace and quiet, and then you start throwing shit around the room and slammed me into the bookshelf!"
The man glared at him. It was a very exceptional glare. He shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot and his eyes left Shikamaru's face. He stared intently at the jacket Shikamaru couldn't remember putting on as he had left the hotel that afternoon.
"Oh, yeah…" the man said softly. "I didn't mean to throw you across the room. It just sort of happened."
Shikamaru sighed and dropped the book on his pack. "And what was all that before you threw me? What was all the… touching and stuff?"
The man shrugged. "I just… hadn't seen anyone in such a long time. I didn't think you'd feel it. No one else feels me."
It was Shikamaru's turn to make a face. "You molest all the people that come through this house?"
"No! I mean I tried to touch people at first, like the guys that came by to fix the roof, and the lady that rehung the curtains, but no one ever noticed me."
The man looked so sad that Shikamaru found it hard to stay angry.
"What's your name?" he asked.
The man looked at him again, his eyes brightening. "Neji."
"How long have you been… uh, here?"
"I don't know. What's the date?"
Shikamaru pulled out his phone. "September 9th, 2011."
Neji blinked. "Four years… and about a month."
Shikamaru slid his phone back into his pocket. He watched Neji's face fall again, his posture slumping as the loss of years weighed down on him.
"Why are you here?" Shikamaru asked carefully. "Did you die in this house or something?"
Neji shook his head. "No. Car crash on the highway. I have no idea why I'm here."
They stood in silence for a minute or so. Shikamaru watched Neji run his hands over his hair and twist it over his shoulder. He really was attractive. It was really a shame.
"You own the house now?"
Shikamaru was startled out of his thoughts. "Uh, yeah. Inherited it from a great uncle."
Neji nodded and glanced down at the chalk writing and burned herbs. "You some kind of ghost hunter or something?"
Shikamaru chuckled. "No, but a poltergeist threw me across my bedroom and broke a fifteen thousand dollar bookshelf. I learned fast."
Neji smiled. Shikamaru hated to admit it, but he really liked that smile. "I really didn't mean to. You just woke up and… reacted, so… I'm not sure what happened."
Shikamaru put his hands on his hips and sighed heavily. What was he supposed to do now? It wasn't like it was some horrible vengeful spirit that was trying to kill him in his sleep. It was actually a very lonely, very sexy Korean guy. Was this really such a bad thing?
Glancing at the floor, Shikamaru swiped his foot through the chalked symbols, breaking the line and smearing the incantation. Neji reacted immediately. He gasped and took a step backwards.
"Oh," he breathed, "Wow, I can move again."
Shikamaru nodded and grabbed his pack. "I stopped the spell. You can move around the house now if you want. I don't think you can go invisible again though, but that's a good thing for me."
Neji stood frozen for a minute as Shikamaru moved back through the foyer and started up the stairs.
"Wait!" he called. "Wait, what are you doing?"
"Going to bed," Shikamaru muttered. "I've been doing nothing but occult research for the past week and haven't gotten much sleep. You're welcome to join me if you want."
He heard Neji sputtering from the bottom of the stairs and couldn't stop the smirk from pulling at the corners of his mouth.
"Wait, join you? I barely know you!"
"Didn't stop you from sticking your hands down my pants last time."
He heard Neji stop and sputter again and almost laughed.
"That was… a different situation," Neji growled.
"Oh, I see." Shikamaru reached his room and threw his pack on the floor. "So you'd rather rape me in my sleep than take it when it's offered."
"Stop twisting my words around!" Neji cried.
Sighing again, Shikamaru pulled off his jacket and shoes. He turned to Neji and started unbuttoning his shirt. "Look, I had a plan to deal with you once I figured out what you were. Unfortunately, I thought that would involve finding your body and salting and burning it. If you died in a car crash out on the road, that means you're in a cemetery somewhere and it's gonna be too damn troublesome finding you tonight."
Tossing his jeans on a nearby chair, Shikamaru stood before Neji in just his boxers. He put his hands on his hips and huffed. "I promise I'll find you and help you cross over or whatever tomorrow, but for now, tonight, I'll let you touch me as much as you want."
Neji's eyes grew very large at the proposition and his tongue ran absently over his bottom lip as he took a long look at Shikamaru's body.
"Are you… really?" he whispered.
Shikamaru nodded and held out his hand.
"Yes… come here and finish what you started."
END
Notes:
"Os Adjurator" is loosely translated "Bone Animator". It's a sect of necromancy that is mentioned in the Bible and several other Christian religious texts.
"Spiritus ostende te, sta ante me" Is Latin for "Spirit show yourself, stand before me".