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The yeasty smell of beer washed over Sylvain as he entered the bar. He’d call it a tavern but the food here was only edible if you were incredibly drunk; really it was just a place to drown your sorrows in a deep cup. Usually the mood this early in the afternoon was somber, only the truly desperate out drinking this early. But now it was lively, that obnoxious laughter that Sylvain recognized ringing out.
“And then, I told him—”
Sylvain slipped in between Lorenz and the man sitting on his left who was definitely not interested in hearing how Lorenz’s story ended.
“Hey, buddy, let’s set that down.” He pushed the half full cup from Lorenz’s hand down to the bar, grimacing as the cup stuck to the bartop for all the spilled beer that had gone un-wiped.
“How dare you, Sylvain! I am sure this gentleman is very interested in hearing how—” Lorenz leaned back to see if the gentleman in question was hanging onto his every syllable and nearly fell off the barstool. Sylvain grimaced as he caught Lorenz’s hip and pushed him back onto the barstool.
“Yeah, no, he’s gone. Like we should be. Let’s get you home.”
Even as Lorenz stood, swaying, he smirked. “Trying to get me drunk and take me home? Really, do you have no shame, Gautier?”
“First, I didn’t get you drunk, and second, I wouldn’t want to take you home, Lorenz. In fact, I was coming to tease you for getting rejected so soundly earlier.”
Lorenz seemed so jovial, Sylvain figured it would be fine to tease him about getting shot down so viciously by a daughter of a minor Adrestian lord. As usual, Sylvain was wrong. A hurt look twisted its way across Lorenz’s face, wrinkling his alabaster forehead and scrunching his long nose. Sylvain didn’t pause to think about how he just thought of Lorenz’s babysoft skin as alabaster.
“Sorry, that wasn’t very good sportsmanship. I thought your approach was perfectly fine. I just figured you’d catch on that Adriene Lochin played for the other team,” Sylvain said as he ushered Lorenz through the door of the bar.
Lorenz swayed as he pulled himself from Sylvain’s grasp and straightened his uniform jacket before squinting as if he had unexpectedly found himself in the late afternoon sunlight instead of having just stepped across a threshold. “I know she is from Adrestia, Sylvain. I’ll thank you to keep a civil tongue; my mother was Adrestian, for your information!”
Sylvain gently turned Lorenz’s shoulders so he was walking towards the Monastery instead of away from it. “No, I meant… you know what, never mind.”
Lorenz snorted, an undignified sound Sylvain had never before heard him make. “No no, please. Speak your piece. It’s so unlike you to keep from saying whatever floats in that head of yours.” As he said head, Lorenz flicked a spike of hair from in front of Sylvain’s eyes, startling a laugh from his sober companion.
“She prefers the company of the fairer sex?” Sylvain offered, looking up to see if Lorenz understood.
“It would make sense that the majority of her friends are also women.”
“She prefers to wield the lance herself?”
“Lady Adriene is a white magic user. Really, Sylvain, you should pay more attention if you want to get ahead in this competition.”
Sylvain rubbed his hands across his face, dragging down his lower eyelids and groaning.
“She’s a lesbian, Lorenz. We were on weeding duty at the same time once and when I tried to introduce myself, she said she pulled more pussy than I did, that talking to me was beneath her.”
Lorenz pulled a face at Sylvain’s crass language but it was worth it to watch the realization slowly dawn on him.
“You are saying that my approach failed not because I was being too arrogant or erudite, but only because she doesn’t like men? Although, I’ll have you know, Mr. Future Margrave, that I have been told by many that I would have made a beautiful and elegant woman should the goddess have wished it. Just look at my delicate features!” Lorenz bat his eyes at Sylvain, a prim but somehow coy smile teasing at his lips. Sylvain’s stomach flopped and he tried to ignore that sensation. Luckily, Lorenz broke into laughter and leaned against Sylvain, giving the redhead time to exhale slowly and calm himself. It was a fluke, just nerves. That’s all.
Sylvain hoped that Lorenz would be too drunk to pursue the topic. Of course he wasn’t. Asking the goddess to make drunk Lorenz not ask for compliments was like asking her to give his warhorse wings. Technically possible, but still not going to happen.
“Many might think that delicate features are not attractive on a man, but I would disagree and not just because I have delicate features. You think I’m handsome, don’t you, Sylvain?”
Sylvain grunted instead of answering Lorenz’s question, hoping he would move onto a different topic.
“Of course you agree with me, even if you can’t admit it out loud. You wouldn’t have instigated that ridiculous gambit between the two of us if you didn’t feel threatened and intimidated by my good looks and noble bearing.”
That stupid bet between the two of them. That was the cause of all of Sylvain’s confused feelings. If only he had never challenged Lorenz to a flirting competition.
***
Two months earlier
“You think you can get a date with more women than me? Really, Sylvain.”
“I didn’t say a date. I said get more women. You know, in bed. But I bet you haven’t even kissed a girl yet, have you, Lorrie?”
“I would never presume!” How dare he, the egotistical, arrogant, pompous bastard! Lorenz immediately flushed at his coarse language. There was just something about Sylvain that got under his skin. Normally, he would just ignore people who didn’t get him; there was no need to make both parties suffer if it wasn’t necessary. But there was something about Sylvain that made Lorenz want to prove himself. Obviously, he was better than Sylvain. He didn’t use his position to get into bed with women and then leave them after getting what he wanted. He wasn’t a reckless flirt. He took his duty as the eldest son of a Count very seriously. Sylvain didn’t take anything seriously.
“You’d never presume or you never got close enough to a girl for the thought to even spark in your mind?”
Sylvain was close enough now, and his words filled Lorenz’s head with unwanted thoughts. Thoughts of pushing Sylvain back against a building wall and kissing him until Sylvain melted under Lorenz’s touch. Of shoving his thigh between Sylvain’s legs until Sylvain was a whimpering, needy mess, and then walking away without a second thought. Of sticking his tongue down Sylvain’s throat until Sylvain choked on it. Lorenz quickly brushed those thoughts away; they were unfitting for one of his own position to entertain. Not because sexual thoughts were inherently wrong, but because these were thoughts of sexual intercourse as violence, and that was never appropriate.
Apparently, Lorenz’s blush and silence confirmed for Sylvain what Lorenz had not wanted to admit.
“I knew it! You are going to lose so badly. I almost feel sorry for you. I can give you some pointers, if you like.”
Turning his shocked expression into a sneer, Lorenz leveraged his extra inch over Sylvain for all it was worth. “I do not think I need lessons from you; your pickup lines drive the ladies away quicker than your infidelity. I’m not surprised you only attract women because of your crest.”
Recoiling as if he had been slapped, Sylvain’s smarmy smile turned into a snarl. “At least I attract women instead of scaring them off by being a total creep. You know, most people don’t like to be approached for their breeding potential.”
The anger in Sylvain’s voice cracked at the end, his words sharing something more personal than perhaps he meant to share. Shame and remorse flooded Lorenz’s chest, emotions he never thought he’d feel because of Sylvain Gautier of all people.
“That’s not—” Lorenz cleared his throat, “That was overstepping. I apologize.”
It wasn’t enough, Lorenz knew that words wouldn’t be enough to make up for the damage that words spoken in the heat of the moment had caused.
“Put your body where your mouth is, Lorenz. If you can get a girl in bed by the end of next month, I’ll announce to the entire academy that you are a better noble than me.”
“No.” Lorenz surprised himself with how quickly he gave that certain remark. Perhaps if he had not spoken so churlishly a moment ago, he would have considered it. Of course, he knew he was a better noble than Sylvain was, but making Sylvain admit it would have been worth a fair amount of humiliation. But this, this bargain would cost some poor woman and Lorenz’s own moral core. He didn’t know if he’d be able to look at himself in the mirror ever again if he slept with a woman just to get Sylvain to acknowledge him.
Sylvain looked surprised as well.
“I’m not going to use some poor woman just to get you to embarrass both of us in front of the entire student body, Sylvain.” Lorenz’s brain caught up to his words and he realized the game Sylvain was playing with him. “I’m not going to go against my own code and prove to you that I’m just like every other unscrupulous noble who will use his position and power over those who cannot protect themselves. If I take someone to bed, it will be because I want to share an experience with them, not because I want accolades or acknowledgement from my peers.”
Putting his hands behind his head, Sylvain whistled. It was a practiced move, one that Lorenz had seen Sylvain use many a time. It showed off his slim waist, his strong arms, his delicate chin. “Damn Lorenz, you do have a brain in that thick skull of yours. Fine. We’ll see who can get the most tea dates in the next month. Or is that against your principles too?”
“Are you sure you want to go toe to toe with me using tea, Sylvain? I didn’t know you could name more than two blends.”
“Oh, you’re on. I was gonna go easy on your rose petal-loving ass.”
The expression put other pictures into Lorenz’s head, ones he did not want to dwell on, so he just reached out his hand for Sylvain to shake. “The loser has to host a tea for the winner, and it has to be to the winner’s taste.”
“Hope you have a nice bergamot blend in stock then.” Sylvain didn’t shake Lorenz’s hand before storming off. That was okay, Lorenz told himself. It was because he was intimidated. Lorenz had this in the bag.
***
One month and one week ago
Lorenz did not have this in the bag. Sylvain must have been playing dirty, spreading rumors about him and poisoning his reputation. Lorenz even brought this up to Byleth when they called him into their office to talk about some complaints they had received. Lorenz assured them the complaints were thoroughly unfounded but he didn’t out Sylvain as the source of the conspiracy against him. That would bring up more questions than Lorenz was willing to answer, such as why do you care what Sylvain thinks?
Instead, after that meeting, Lorenz went straight to the source. Sylvain was leaning against one of the stone pillars outside of the Knights hall, probably tempting fate and trying to pick a fight with Prince Dimitri. Lorenz didn’t know much about the personal relationships between Sylvain and the rest of the Blue Lions, but he did know that politically Gautier was very important to Faerghus.
As Lorenz rounded the hedge to see exactly who Sylvain was wooing, he was surprised to find it was not a woman but was instead the silver-haired archer from the Blue Lions classroom. Lorenz didn’t mean to eavesdrop, it was just the shock of seeing Sylvain leaning over his much smaller ex-classmate.
“You know he’s not mad at you, Sylvain. You need to stop punishing yourself over the choice you made. And if you want to come back, you know no one will hold it against you.”
“Yeah, right.”
As their conversation drifted over, Lorenz realized Sylvain didn’t have his smarmy flirting expression plastered on. It was a pained expression. The two were closer together than Lorenz wanted to think about.
Lorenz couldn’t see the archer’s expression, but he liked to think he was frowning for how he put his hands on his hips.
“Fine, Felix might have a little bit of a grudge, but that’s only because he misses you too. We all do but we are also happy knowing you are doing what you want, for once.”
Flushing, Lorenz realized he was genuinely being a creep at this point so he cleared his throat and started walking towards Sylvain. He still intended to give the redhead a piece of his mind. Sylvain noticed Lorenz first and straightened up, that facade of a smile plastered onto his face at the sight of his rival as he pretended to ignore Lorenz.
“Hey, thanks Ashe. I appreciate it.”
The archer—Ashe, apparently— looked over his shoulder and took a half step away from Sylvain, putting distance between himself and the flirtatious noble. It wasn’t like Lorenz was going to assume that the two of them were flirting, goddess above. No, Sylvain was a cad, but he knew his noble duty and still only sought after women, as far as Lorenz knew. It didn’t matter what either of their preferences might be. Lorenz’s preferences were women anyways, he scolded himself as he tried to catch up on whatever the commoner was saying.
“— I mean it, Sylvain. Lorenz.” Ashe nodded respectfully in Lorenz’s direction and then took off.
“I’m sorry, I did not mean to intrude,” Lorenz offered. Sylvain was scrubbing his face with his hand and he shoved his floppy bangs back before they fell right back into his eyes. Lorenz wanted to run his fingers through that unruly mop just to see if he could straighten it, style it properly for once.
“What do you want, Lorenz? As you can see, I’m really not in the mood for whatever bullshit you want to start up.”
If Lorenz wanted to be offended, that hurt died away as he saw just how tired and frustrated Sylvain looked. He thought about what Ashe said, about Sylvain punishing himself. What if he hadn’t come here to goad Dimitri into fighting, but to goad Dimitri into dealing some sort of punishment?
The more Lorenz thought about it, the more everything made sense. Sylvain wasn’t stupid. He got excellent marks on many of the subjects they learned, and he was surprisingly good at black magic. Better even than Lorenz, who had studied at the magic school in Fhirdiad. He was surprisingly competent at playing politics, even if he just did it to annoy those who cared about their noble standing. He knew that each time he cheated on a woman or acted like everyone knew it was supposed to be a one night stand, it would cause conflict and pain. And from what Lorenz now knew, Sylvain wasn’t a total asshole. He did care about hurting the people around him, he just didn’t care if it hurt himself worse.
His gut twisting with a sick feeling he couldn’t really name, Lorenz turned to Sylvain, suddenly dumbstruck.
“What?” Sylvain’s voice was still hard with hatred but it was tinged with something else. Tears, maybe. It sounded like he wanted Lorenz to walk off the face of the earth so that he could go cry somewhere without anyone knowing.
“It doesn’t matter any more. I just— I wanted to call off our bet. I’ll host tea for you.”
“What, the pompous Lorenz finally admitting that I’m the better lady’s man?” Sylvain didn’t look victorious, he looked tired and maybe even a little defeated still.
“No, I just— I’m uncomfortable continuing to pursue these women only to prove myself to you. It seems inauthentic. The purpose was to meet women who might be good matches for Gloucester.”
“Ah, yeah, noble Gloucester, the most important duchy in all of Fodlan.”
“It’s a county, though I suppose you knew that and are just rubbing your superior status in my face. I was just trying to be nice for once, perhaps you might wish to try it as well.”
“I’m plenty nice, Lorenz. You’re just not the kind of person I like to be nice to.” Sylvain made a face to convey exactly what he meant and Lorenz frowned.
“If you are only nice to people you want to sleep with, I worry about the state of your march. Good day, Sylvain.”
Lorenz turned on his heel and marched away, convinced he had done his good deed for the day. He was surprised when he heard a running gait catching up with him.
“Wait, Lorenz,” Sylvain said, putting a hand on Lorenz’s shoulder to stop him. The touch made Lorenz’s skin tingle and for a moment, he wondered what it would feel like to have that broad, warm hand cradle the back of his neck or run up his chest. Preposterous, Sylvain had already said that Lorenz was not his type, which was ridiculous to need to think about, because Sylvain wasn’t his type either. This stupid bet between them had just charged the air with too much sexual energy.
“Yes, Sylvain?” Lorenz hoped his words were as guarded as he felt.
When he turned to look at Sylvain, at least the redhead looked back to his normal, cocksure self. “I just wanted to see what day you wanna serve me this fancy tea.”
He smirked, but that smirk turned to confusion when Lorenz returned it.
“Tomorrow?”
“You think you can have something ready that quickly? Something that would satisfy me?”
Choking back a laugh, Lorenz tried to look snide as he sniped, “Please, Sylvain, I could satisfy your standards with five minutes notice. Probably that quickly, as well.”
Lorenz turned on his heel and stomped away, face flushing at his double entendre. Even if Sylvain didn’t pick up on it, Lorenz couldn’t stop blushing at his own forward words. Perhaps Lorenz needed to see Manuela or another healer to see if he was running a fever; that was the only thing Lorenz could think of that would cause him to behave this way. Besides, he couldn’t be getting sick; he had a tea to plan.
***
Two weeks ago
After having tea together, Lorenz noticed that the air between himself and Sylvain had shifted. Now, instead of an uneasy tension, there was a feeling of camaraderie. Sylvain didn’t complain when paired with Lorenz for lancework, and he even sought him out sometimes to work through reason homework together.
It was one of those occasions when they were out on the archery training fields one day after classroom hours trying to figure out the motions for Sagittae when Sylvain proposed another scheme.
“I hear from a large titted birdie that you are quite good with romantic poetry and turns of phrase when there aren’t actual women involved in your compliments.”
It was an innocent enough observation, but something about the way Sylvain said it—beyond the rude language referring to Manuela—made the hair on the back of Lorenz’s neck prickle.
“I do not see how that helps us figure out this wrist gesture.” Lorenz was staring firmly at his hands, hoping Sylvain would take the hint.
He did not.
“It has been pointed out to me, by more than one party, that my pickup lines could use some revision. I thought maybe you’d want to work together. My practical sense with your theoretical sense!”
Eyes closed, Lorenz threw his head back and exhaled. “You want to, let me make sure I understand this, you want me to workshop pickup lines for you to use on unsuspecting women to get them into your bed once or twice before you move on? No thank you, Sylvain. That doesn’t seem very noble of either of us.”
Lorenz didn’t dare mention the gnawing pit that formed in his stomach every time he thought of Sylvain in bed with a faceless, formless woman. He didn’t want to admit to anyone, especially to himself, what that might mean.
“Oh come on Lorenz! You know me better than that by now!”
Lorenz certainly did. He knew that Sylvain always looked grimmer after staying out all night with a conquest than he did when he left. He knew that this was just another way Sylvain punished himself for being born a noble with a crest. That he viewed his position as a burden, not as an opportunity. That there was something he didn’t say to anyone, not even to their professor.
“Come on Lorrie, just listen to this. ‘Would you please take my hand? I want to tell my friends I know what it’s like to touch an angel.’”
Lorenz snorted.
“What about this one? ‘If I had a gold piece for every time I saw a person as beautiful as you, I’d have one gold piece.”
When Lorenz groaned, Sylvain grinned and kept going. “‘I didn’t know they were serving Me ‘n you in the dining hall today!’”
That one stumped Lorenz. Sylvain just kept repeating “Me ‘n you” until Lorenz covered Sylvain’s mouth, rage in his eyes and his heart fueled only by the fondness that had somehow sprouted there.
“Menu? Really Sylvain? That’s terrible!”
Sylvain’s eyes were dancing and he tried to wrestle away from Lorenz’s grasp but Lorenz held tight. Suddenly, Lorenz was very aware that if Sylvain said any more of his ridiculous, stupid pick up lines, Lorenz would have to admit to himself and to Sylvain that those obnoxious words coming from that asinine mouth would be enough to get Lorenz in Sylvain’s arms as well.
As if sensing a weakness, Sylvain’s eyes danced with mischief as his tongue snaked between his lips, tracing a line of spit down the crease in Lorenz’s hand. Lorenz jumped back, his heart hammering in his chest, his breath hitching at the other thoughts that coursed through his mind, other places Sylvain could lick.
Sylvain must have missed the panic that Lorenz experiencing because he crowed in victory before taking a quick lap around the archery range. By the time he returned, Lorenz had composed himself again, though he glared daggers at Sylvain while continuing to wipe his hand on his school uniform even though all trace of saliva was now gone.
“So, are you going to help me or not?”
“Fine, just keep your tongue to yourself from now on.”
Sylvain wagged his tongue at Lorenz suggestively and Lorenz tried to look affronted despite the fact that he was weak in the knees. Lorenz made the motion for Sagittae and both he and Sylvain jumped when the spell hit three feet away from Sylvain.
Chagrined, Lorenz turned to Sylvain to apologize, but Sylvain had his hands behind his head and was studying Lorenz appreciatively. “Damn,” was all Lorenz got from Sylvain but it was enough to satisfy the hunger in his chest.
***
Last night
“What about ‘When I prayed for a star to guide me home, I didn’t know I’d find it in your eyes?’”
Raising his eyebrows, Sylvain seemed to consider the line before rejecting it with a shake of his head. “Nah, remember Lorenz, I don’t want to promise them a future or anything like that. I’m just seeing where it goes.”
Lorenz rolled his eyes. He knew exactly where it went. Directly to their bed, or Sylvain’s if they were married or had an overprotective parent or brother, and then that was it. Lorenz had almost convinced himself it might be worth it for one night with Sylvain if it got him out of Lorenz’s head. It was a lie, of course. Besides, he wasn’t that deep in Lorenz’s head.
“Fine, what about this?” Lorenz took Sylvain’s hand, staring into his eyes lit only by the candlelight in the library, “‘I apologize for staring, there must be something wrong with my eyes. I just can’t take them off of you.”
Sylvain snorted but he didn’t pull his hand out of Lorenz’s, and his cheeks seemed rosier, though that might have just been the candlelight.
Everything in Lorenz was screaming that he should stop messing around, that he should stop flirting with Sylvain, because that was what this was. It was Lorenz tormenting himself with Sylvain in the opposite way that Sylvain tormented himself with women he had no actual interest in.
Lorenz shifted the hand that was holding Sylvain’s, entwining their fingers. “Would you look at that, your fingers fit in the spaces between mine perfectly.”
Everything seemed frozen in silence, though maybe that was just the normal state of the library so late at night that there wasn’t even a monk around perusing the shelves and keeping teenagers out of trouble. Lorenz leaned in as Sylvain did, just a hair's breadth away from kissing him. At the last moment, Lorenz realized what he was about to do and jerked away. He knocked over the chair he was sitting in, his motions were so uncontrolled. Everything felt wrong, like his whole world was spiraling and everything was wrong .
“I’m sorry, I—I have to go.”
He ran out of the library without even standing up his chair or attempting to return the stack of books the two of them had been working through together. For once, Lorenz Hellman Gloucester did not care who saw him or what they thought.
***
Sylvain dumped Lorenz on his bed, grateful to finally be free of the physical weight of Lorenz, even if he still weighed at Sylvain’s mind. He was strangely soft to touch, despite how thin he seemed. The way he leaned against Sylvain as if he fit against the curve of Sylvain’s body, his haughty laugh as he teased Sylvain for looking too long.
Lorenz was a good noble son, which was just another way of saying he was a bastard. He was pretty, with his delicate features and his thin waist which he showed off at every opportunity. He knew he had it all on his side; money, position, beauty. And he flaunted it everywhere he went, looking for the perfect little wife to have his perfect little babies. And Sylvain had hated him for it. For accepting this life so easily.
Sylvain had originally set out to trap Lorenz, to make him fall for Sylvain so Sylvain could turn him down in the end. And now, here he was, desperate to be back out on the road so he’d have an excuse to catalog how Lorenz felt when Sylvain turned his head just a bit to inhale the scent of that rose perfume mixed with watered down whiskey and ale.
Teetering wildly, Lorenz was sitting on the edge of his bed, trying to pull off one boot. He was also giggling and Sylvain was furious that it was kind of adorable. Briefly, he hoped Lorenz fell on that perfect face. Then he relented, kneeling next to his friend.
“Need a hand, buddy?”
“No, my own is perfectly good enough!” Lorenz looked affronted, but then seemed to realize that Sylvain had his hand on his boot, not his, what? Dick?
“Fine, you can help me. Just don’t feel me up.”
“Excuse yourself!” Sylvain shot back. “Just cause you think you are pretty doesn’t mean I do.”
As Sylvain tugged at Lorenz’s boot, he glanced up at Lorenz’s stupid drunk face, which was now screwing up in a hurt, confused expression.
“Why don’t you? Even if you only like women, I could be pretty like a woman for you. But I don’t think you do.”
“I don’t like women?” Sylvain asked, keeping his tone and face neutral. Lorenz was drunk. He wouldn’t remember saying any of this tomorrow.
“I don’t know, maybe you do. But you like men more. That’s why you don’t sleep with them.”
Sylvain sat back on the floor as he finally pulled Lorenz’s boot off. He couldn’t let Lorenz know how right he was. “You have me all figured out, huh?”
“Yes,” Lorenz said, very matter of fact as he stuck out his other leg for Sylvain to tackle that boot as well. “You do things to make your father mad. Sleeping with men would make him doubly angry, because then at least there wouldn’t be the chance of you having a crested heir, and we all know a crested bastard heir is better than no heir at all.”
Lorenz put his finger to his chin, like he was thinking. It would be adorable if not for the fact that he was eviscerating Sylvain while doing it. “So what would make you not sleep with men? Could be that you don’t like them, but that’s never stopped you before. You sleep with women you don’t like because it hurts you. So not sleeping with men must hurt you more than you think sleeping with men will hurt your father. See, my logic is impeccable.”
“Your logic is drunk,” Sylvain said, trying to push Lorenz to lay down on his side.
Before Sylvain could stop him, Lorenz had wrapped his arms around him, pulling Sylvain down close. “Kiss me.”
It was a request and a command all at once, both given at the same time in the way only Lorenz could do. Sylvain tried to wrestle free. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, buddy.”
Lorenz pouted but it gave Sylvain the ability to break free from his grasp. “You ran away from kissing me last night. Don’t do something you’ll regret just cause you are drunk.”
“Don’t do something you’ll regret just cause you are sober,” Lorenz shot back, and Sylvain couldn’t help but chuckle at how Lorenz’s expression looked so pompous and yet so sleepy.
“Tell you what, if you still want me to kiss you tomorrow, I will. Deal?” Sylvain asked, taking time to line Lorenz’s boots up at the corner of his wardrobe.
“Will you stay with me until I sober up?” Lorenz’s voice was small as he asked, and Sylvain couldn’t say no to a plea so plaintively given.
“Fine, but I’m not sitting on the bed. You’ll probably try and put your feet on me or like, say more stupid pickup lines.”
“You did give me a bunch to remember!” Lorenz crowed and Sylvain regretted his entire life up until this moment.
***
When Lorenz opened his eyes, his mouth felt like it had been stuffed with cotton, and his head too. Everything ached. At least it was dark and quiet out and—
“Morning, sunshine!” The voice was loud and painful and annoying and of course it belonged to Sylvain Gautier. The reason why Lorenz had panicked and tried to get a date with a woman to prove to himself he still could and then got drunk because that was better than thinking about Sylvain fucking Gautier.
Lorenz scrunched his eyes closed. Maybe if he couldn’t see Sylvain, he’d go away. Just in case, he added, “go away, Sylvain.”
“No!” Sylvain declared brightly, poking at Lorenz’s face.
Somehow, the touch made it feel like Sylvain was boring lances made of fire directly into Lorenz’s skull, so Lorenz tried to push his hand away and pull the blanket over his head. Just then, the bell tower chimed midnight and the change of the watch. Twelve full bongs later, Lorenz glared at Sylvain.
“You planned that.”
“You are the one who woke up, sweetcheeks.” Sylvain pinched Lorenz’s cheek and if he wasn’t flushed with sleep, Lorenz knew his face would turn the shade of an unripe Morfis berry.
“Please, Sylvain. Just let me die.”
Sylvain set a metal cup down on the bedside table. “Nope, no dying on my watch. Drink this, you’ll feel better.”
Lorenz eyed the contents of the cup warily. It seemed thicker than most beverages, and it was from Sylvain. Both very good reasons to be suspicious. “What is this?”
“Faerghan hair of the dog! Don’t worry, it will help with the hangover.”
Lorenz frowned, swirling the cup to try and separate the contents. “But what is it?”
Sylvain frowned and dropped to a seat on the bed, jostling Lorenz and almost spilling the contents of the chalice onto the bed. “Do you trust me or not, Lorenz? I’ve been nursing you through your drunken stupor, don’t you at least owe that to me?”
Sylvain bat his long eyelashes at Lorenz and immediately Lorenz knew he would. First, he took a tentative sip. It was positively foul. It’s texture was slimy and there was the yeasty taste of a low quality beer that was quickly overpowered by something bitter and medicinal. Lorenz gagged but Sylvain mimicked drinking a cup til it was upside down so Lorenz tossed back the drink, gagging again when it was finished. However, the effect was almost immediate. The headache faded back until it disappeared and Lorenz’s limbs slowly felt less heavy.
“What was in that? It was amazing!”
Sylvain shrugged. “You know, just the normal stuff. A raw egg, some beer, lemon juice, some grass I ground up with a mortar and pestle. Oh, and, yeah, now I remember, a vulnerary!”
Lorenz lunged for his rival turned friend turned mortal enemy, pinning him to the bed.
“You are disgusting!”
Sylvain laughed, waving his hand in front of his nose. “Not as disgusting as your breath. You reek, Lorrie!”
“It’s all your fault,” Lorenz grumbled, struggling to keep Sylvain pinned. “Why would you do that?”
“You know why,” Sylvain shot back playfully, but his eyes were serious, searching for something Lorenz couldn’t put his finger on yet.
“I really do not know. In case you forgot, you had to practically carry me back, I was so lost in the swill of cheap liquor.”
“That’s part of it. The other part is how you kept touching me,” as Sylvain spoke, the hair on the back of Lorenz’s neck started tingling and he felt his heart turning to lead and sinking to his boots. Had he committed some impropriety? Accosted Sylvain in some way? Sylvain continued, “flicking my hair out of my eyes and leaning closer to me as I dragged you up the stairs. You begged me to stay with you, you know, and tried to get me to kiss you.”
Lorenz could feel the heat from his face radiating off his hands which were currently pinning Sylvain to his bed as Sylvain spoke as if they were just standing in the hallway, not lying in this compromising position.
“I’m so sorry—” Lorenz started as Sylvain shrugged. “I had half a mind to let you.”
“What?”
“What?” Sylvain shot back, eyebrows up.
“You were going to kiss me because I asked? Why?” Lorenz did not want to be having this discussion, but he couldn’t imagine walking away when he had the opportunity to figure out what Sylvain was really up to.
“I dunno. You asked and it seemed like it would be the easiest way to get you to stop asking. And because you kept picking away at my psyche and it felt like being dissected and studied for sport.”
“If I insulted you or your parents or anything, I do sincerely apologize!”
Lorenz moved back so Sylvain could sit up, thoroughly embarrassed.
“Nah, it was nothing like that. You just claimed that I don’t sleep with men because I’m actually attracted to them.”
“Oh.” Lorenz was silent for a moment, looking intently at his cuticles before turning his eyes back to Sylvain curious.
“What does it matter?”
“It matters to me if I am right.”
Now it was Sylvain’s turn to look at his nails. “Of course it matters to you, you know-it-all. But what about you? You obviously like men and you still only pursue women. Badly. So badly, Lorenz. It’s painful watching you try.”
Everything clicked into place for Lorenz. Of course he liked men. Of course chasing women felt awful. Not because it was expected of him, Lorenz loved living up to standards set for him. No, because he wasn’t attracted to them. Maybe that was what had drawn him to Sylvain, both of them hurting themselves because of their noble status but in very different ways for different reasons.
Lorenz turned to Sylvain. “Kiss me.”
Sylvain looked less like the heartthrob he tried to be and more like a deer realizing it was at the end of a hunter’s sight. “Why?”
Careful not to pin him in, Lorenz tried to open his posture to Sylvain. “Because I want to kiss you and you want to kiss me. Let me set us both free from these unattainable noble expectations for just a moment, Sylvain. Please.”
Tentatively, Sylvain leaned forward until he was able to press his lips against Lorenz’s. Lorenz was not about to admit that this was the first romantic kiss he had ever given or received, so he just pressed back, trying to emulate the same pressure. It was not life-changing, but it was satisfactory. Then Sylvain’s left hand snaked behind his head, teasing at his short-cropped undercut as Sylvain turned his head so he could pull Lorenz’s bottom lip into his mouth, nibbling slightly before sucking at it. Fireworks went off behind Lorenz’s eyes and before he realized it, he was laying back in bed and Sylvain was straddling him, tonguing into his mouth. Lorenz sucked at Sylvain’s tongue until Sylvain was giggling. Confused, Lorenz paused just long enough for Sylvain to lick the roof of his mouth once before pulling back, sitting up slightly.
“Satisfied, Lorenz?”
“No,” he admitted, struggling with his buttons as he continued, “no, I am not Sylvain. Make love to me.”
***
Sylvain thought it would be simple. Give Lorenz a quick peck on the lips so they could both move on. And now Lorenz was under him, struggling with buttons and propositioning Sylvain in the most Lorenz terminology possible.
“You might still be drunk, Lorenz.”
“I assure you, I am not. I am fully sober when I say that I want you to make lov—”
Sylvain put a hand over Lorenz’s mouth. “Please, don’t say it like that again. Please. It’s weird. You know we aren’t going to work out. Eventually, we will have to marry women, either for money, or for an alliance, or to have little crest babies so we can fuck them up too.”
Lorenz shrugged, twisting his neck so he could speak freely. “I have younger siblings. They can carry on the line. Gloucester has money and is a good choice for a political alliance. You don’t want children, I doubt even if you had a wife, you’d have children. Besides, I’m not asking you to marry me, Sylvain. I’m asking you to m–to fuck me.”
The crass words in Lorenz’s polished tones made Sylvain’s dick throb even though it was still flaccid. Fuck, Lorenz was right.
Lorenz took Sylvain’s hand that was still covering his cheek and kissed the pad of each finger before kissing his palm, making eye contact the whole time. It was so annoying, how romantic and natural Lorenz was when he seemed to actually be attracted to the person he was trying to romance. “Please, Sylvain. Even if I have to marry someone for procreation some day, please. I want my first time to be with someone I love. An experience—”
“You share, yeah yeah.” Sylvain leaned forward until his head was buried in the crook of Lorenz’s neck, which was now freed from his jacket and shirt, just soft pale skin that had never been kissed. Even waking up from a drunk nap, Lorenz smelled like roses and musk.
“Fuck, fine. Your sweet words got me into your bed, Gloucester. You fucking win, are you happy?”
Lorenz squirmed some so he could kiss Sylvain’s cheek. “Yes, I’m very pleased with myself. And even more than that, I am happy you said yes, Sylvain.”
Sylvain sat up to unbutton his own shirt. He had discarded his jacket long ago when Lorenz was snoring and he was bored of snooping through Lorenz’s desk. He felt Lorenz’s eyes on him, but the adoring, lusty gaze didn’t stab at him the way it usually did. It had gotten so bad that lately, he had stopped taking off his shirt. Now, he couldn’t imagine having anything between himself and Lorenz. He wanted to give Lorenz rug rash from all his chest hair, give Lorenz something to remember him by.
“May I?” Lorenz asked, his hand tentatively rising towards Sylvain’s chest.
“Yeah, but stop asking. It’s weird.”
Lorenz hummed in disagreement but carded his fingers through Sylvain’s burnt red chest hair, enjoying the texture of it.
“It’s softer than I expected.”
Sylvain shrugged. “Maybe I’m softer than expected in more ways than one.”
Lorenz let his hands trail down til he could give Sylvain’s cock a cheeky squeeze through his pants. “I hope not in all ways.” His voice was sultry and the way he looked up at Sylvain, both pleased and embarrassed with himself, made Sylvain almost moan with pleasure. It wasn’t supposed to be this good. Lorenz wasn’t supposed to make him feel this good.
“I’ll show you if you show me,” Sylvain said, licking his lips in anticipation. Lorenz fumbled with his placket for long enough that Sylvain just growled and pulled Lorenz’s pants down to his knees, pulling his underwear with them. As Lorenz protested, Sylvain just let himself enjoy looking at Lorenz’s prick. It was an average length, on the slimmer side, and the head just barely peeked out from his foreskin. It was already hard, the tip shimmering with precum from just their first kiss.
With a greedy grin, Sylvain went down on Lorenz, licking around the tip before swallowing him as deeply as Sylvain dared. Lorenz keened, his legs straightening as all his muscles clenched. Sylvain ran his tongue around the head once more, trying to coax it out, before popping off the cock, the salty, sweaty taste rich on his lips.
“Shush, Lorenz. You’ll wake the whole monastery!”
“Don’t— don’t do that without warning! I might—”
“Might what? Cum in my mouth? That’s kind of the point.”
Lorenz was red all the way down to his sternum, and it was a pretty look on him.
“I don’t want it to be over that quickly,” he complained, twisting his body to try and hide away from Sylvain.
“Trust me, even if you cum, that doesn’t mean it’s over. But I’ll go slower, for you.” Sylvain was all bravado, though. He knew the sorts of things men could do together, had thought about it enough. He just didn’t have the experience with cock like he did with pussy. But he wasn’t about to admit that to sweet, virginal Lorenz.
Instead, he kissed his way up Lorenz’s body, enjoying the way Lorenz flinched with delight with each press of the lips to uncovered skin. Lorenz’s hand wandered too, exploring Sylvain’s body with wild abandon. When he brushed over Sylvain’s nipple, it hardened instantly in response. Curiosity written across his face, Lorenz rubbed it again with his thumb and Sylvain shuddered with pleasure that rippled through him. He was adept at playing with his partner’s tits, but they rarely reciprocated, and he usually didn’t want them to. But now, he shuddered and trembled and moaned as Lorenz rubbed and tweaked and pinched at him until his own cock was leaking in his pants.
Sylvain tried to distract Lorenz by kissing him, but Lorenz was a quick learner and was very good at moving his mouth and hands independently. As Sylvain moved to kissing and sucking at his neck, Lorenz’s hands scrambled against his back and Sylvain reveled at the touch. Blunt nails scraped down his back and Sylvain leaned into it, moaning as he left a hickey on Lorenz’s neck. He was mostly sure Lorenz could hide it under his collar if he wanted to. Mostly.
Then Lorenz’s hands were on Sylvain’s waist, then on his pants placket. Apparently, he was much more nimble at taking off Sylvain’s pants than his own. Sylvain tried not to read into it too much beyond the pride that he could at least make Lorenz that desperate for him. Sylvain was adding a second hickey to Lorenz’s neck, this time closer to his collarbone, when Lorenz finally got his hand down Sylvain’s pants. Sylvain had been given handjobs before, but this was something different. Lorenz stroked at the tip, then smeared his palm against the head before gliding his hand down the shaft, smearing precum. After a few strokes, Lorenz reached under his pillow, pulling out a small vial of lube.
Sylvain broke off from this kiss to tease. “I knew you were a pervert!”
“It’s not perverted to want to avoid chafing,” Lorenz answered primly, pouring a fair amount in his hand before continuing, “now kiss me while I stroke us off together.”
Sylvain wanted to disagree, wanted to tease more, to prolong the moment, but he also desperately needed to get off. So he kissed Lorenz again, fucking into his mouth with his tongue, enjoying how Lorenz moaned around him. As Lorenz took both of them in one of his large, strong hands, Sylvain let himself imagine for a minute fucking into Lorenz’s mouth, the way Lorenz would look up at him with both disgust and lust, the way only Lorenz could, would frown at Sylvain’s over-eagerness before swallowing him down and bringing him off with that obnoxious, perfect, pretty mouth.
Sylvain rutted against Lorenz’s dick as Lorenz held his hand still for both of them to fuck at their own pace. Now, instead of kissing, they were just panting into each other’s mouths, and it was all Sylvain could do to hold himself up enough so that he had leverage to fuck Lorenz’s hand. Every time he rubbed against Lorenz’s dick, a thrill rushed through him, a kind of freeing giddiness that coaxed little spurts of precum here and there. Each time, Lorenz would shudder and whimper. After a few moments, Sylvain could feel Lorenz starting to sag, but he still hadn’t cum.
“Not having fun, Lorrie?” Sylvain was pleased to feel Lorenz’s dick throb against his at just his voice, so he continued, “don’t you want to make me happy by cumming all over me? Just paint my chest with all that pent up cum I know you’ve been saving for me.”
Lorenz was groaning, his hand now a hair too tight and moving too fast as his hips snapped up in a stuttering rhythm.
“Come on, baby, you’re doing so good for me, making me feel good. If you cum first, I’ll give you a special treat.”
Lorenz moaned again, this one deep and guttural as he came, most of it splashing against his own chest instead of Sylvain’s. Still, he didn’t stop jerking Sylvain off, dropping his own dick even as his shoulders relaxed and his eyes drifted close. It was a pretty picture, Lorenz all soft and relaxed under him even as he continued to pump his fist. Sylvain bit into Lorenz’s shoulder as he came, adding his spend to Lorenz’s. When he finally let go of Lorenz’s shoulder and sat up a bit, Lorenz motioned to his chest.
“Was this my treat?” He sounded incredulous and grossed out. Sylvain was going to gross him out even more.
“No, of course not, baby.” Sylvain began to lick up the mess, the taste tangy and slightly bitter. He didn’t swallow though, gathering all of it up on his tongue. Then he slid up Lorenz’s body and kissed him. Lorenz opened his mouth automatically and Sylvain spit all the mixed cum into Lorenz’s mouth, then kept kissing him as Lorenz swallowed it all down.
When Sylvain finally pulled away, Lorenz opened his mouth to show off that it was all gone. Sylvain’s spent dick throbbed. Fuck, Lorenz really was erotic.
“So what treat do I get for swallowing it all, Sylvie?”
Sylvain couldn’t help it. Lorenz’s deep, sultry tone, his lidded eyes, his roving hands, all of them combined coaxed another pathetic spurt of cum from his softening dick.
“Fuck!” Sylvain cried as Lorenz kissed his neck, giving him a sucking bruise to match the ones he had left on Lorenz.
“I’ll be expecting a real treat tomorrow, Sylvain,” Lorenz warned, wrapping his arms and legs around Sylvain in a crushing hug.
“I don’t usually sleep with people I’ve slept with,” Sylvain muttered.
Lorenz wobbled his head around sassily before smarting back, “well, you’ll have to make some changes. I’m a selfish, snuggly asshole.”
Lorenz’s crass language pulled a barking laugh from Sylvain as he wriggled into a more comfortable position, his cheek against Lorenz’s neck. “I’m rubbing off on you, Lorenz.”
Suggestively, Lorenz thrust his hips twice. “I certainly hope you will one day. Maybe tomorrow. Good night, love.”
Sylvain’s heart stuttered at the term of affection. But for once, it wasn’t a painful, searing stutter, like thoron coursing through his body. No, it was pleasant. Like a tug of arousal but this time, it was affection tugging at his heart, not lust tugging at the root of his dick. It was dangerous to get used to this, but if anyone could figure out how to make this work, it would be Lorenz.