AJ was steadier on his feet than he had been earlier, but just barely so. The nap had helped, as had the bath. His lips curved lightly as he thought about what they’d done in the bath. That had helped too. Quite a bit. Sex, if done right, and if done between two who loved, and especially two who were bonded as they were, was quite a strong bit of magic on its own. They not only joined mines and bodies, but energy and magic as well. That, more than anything else, had given AJ the energy needed to walk toward King Cursha’s house.
He held Brian’s hand lightly in his. Their tattoos touched, intensifying the connection as it always did. With the faint afterglow of sex still in their system, they shared a wonderful mood as well as a lightheartedness that had been missing lately. Their eyes still held a faint glow from the aftermath, as did their skin.
A small amount of Brian’s old shyness was still in him, which left him vaguely embarrassed at the idea that anyone with eyes would be able to tell what they’d done. Anyone with magic in their blood would be able to feel what they had done. It both amused and pleased AJ. He was enough elf, as well as his own person, that he didn’t care who knew what he had done. He liked seeing that that part of Brian was still there. Sometimes he missed the easy blushes.
“Shut up, Alex.” Brian mumbled, looking at him sideways. That tiny blush was in his cheeks. He could guess AJ’s train of thought by the feel of the bond.
Seeing that blush stain Brian’s cheeks put even dirtier thoughts in AJ’s mind. He did love it when his lover blushed. He bit his lip, looking over at Brian’s face. He knew Brian could feel his reaction to it, just as he felt Brian’s embarrassment increase, as well as his arousal. That was one side effect of the bond they hadn’t anticipated.
Something like arousal was felt by one, but also by the other, across the bond. Like when Brian was turned on, AJ felt it, and it actually turned him on, feeling Brian turned on, which in turn made Brian’s passion stronger and…well, it was a big circle. One that could get out of control if they weren’t careful. They were at the start of it right then. Brian’s eyes were on him, and AJ could feel the heat in that gaze, and see the glow intensify slightly.
“Damn it, AJ, knock it off.” For the first time in a long time Brian actually called him AJ.
The corners of AJ’s mouth quirked. “You being forceful again, Bri?”
“Knock it off before I walk in there and embarrass myself!”
“Mm.” AJ spun suddenly, wrapping an arm around Brian’s waist and pulling him close, and back into a space between two houses. “Really?” He knew the look in his eyes, and saw it spark the same emotion in Brian’s. But Brian still resisted it. He put his hands against AJ’s chest to attempt to push him away. “Alyck Tuian, I swear, you behave yourself.”
Leaning in, AJ nipped at the bottom of Brian’s ear. “This new forceful side of you is interesting, Bri.” He whispered as he nuzzled just under where he’d nipped. “Why don’t we head back to the house for a while, and you can just show me who the boss is.”
The hands that had been pushing at AJ’s chest were now sliding up to his shoulders, pulling him in for a kiss. When they broke apart, both were breathing heavier. “God, Alex, we can’t. We’re supposed to get over there.” Brian moaned out. He didn’t sound all that convinced of his words. “The King is expecting us…”
AJ sighed as reality slid back in. He took a deep breath and blew it out. “Why do you have to be right?” he grumbled, taking a step back and letting go of Brian. If they were going to cool off, touching wasn’t a good idea at the moment. His body was ready to go. One look at Brian showed that he, too, was ready. AJ had to force his eyes up, toward the ceiling.
“How many times I gotta tell you? I’m always right.”
“Fuck. In your dreams, gorgeous.”
Brian sighed out a breath of his own. “Trust me, I dream about better things than being right. I don’t have to dream about that; it’s a reality.”
One look told AJ that they were both decent enough to move from between the houses and start their trek forward again. He refrained from taking Brian’s hand, though. Right then the passion wouldn’t take much to reignite. Touching, most especially tattoo to tattoo, would just set it off. But the banter was helping. He did love to bicker and banter with Brian. “You live in a fantasy world, Bri.”
In response, Brian raised his hands and gestured around them, one eyebrow quirked. AJ couldn’t help but laugh. “Ok, ok, bad choice of words, I admit. But you have to admit, you’ve been wrong before.”
“Not when it’s important. On piddly things, sure, but not the big stuff. That’s where I prove my superior intelligence.”
“Superior? Please, Brian. You’re killing me here.”
“As if that’s possible. Don’t be jealous Alex, it’s ok.”
AJ scoffed and shoved at Brian’s shoulder. “Oh, whatever, you little freak. I am not jealous of you.”
“You totally know you are. But you don’t have to be. I love you anyways.” Brian put on a mock serious face. “I’m resigned to being the brains in this relationship. It’s my lot in life.”
Laughter bubbled up from AJ’s belly. “The brains? Fuck, Bri, I have millennia of knowledge compared to your paltry years. You haven’t even hit half a century yet!” He turned them to the left, taking them up the hill toward Cursha’s. “I’ve learned more things in my life than you even know exist.”
“An yet who usually wins these arguments?” Brian was quick to point out. He gave AJ a grin.
AJ rolled his eyes and bumped their shoulders together. “That’s cause you cheat.”
“Cheat?”
“Yeah! You distract me!”
Brian’s laughter echoed off the walls of the cavern, sparking an answering grin on AJ. He couldn’t help it. It made his heart happy to hear Brian in such good spirits. There had been so much death earlier, and AJ had to keep reminding himself that this was Brian’s first battlefield. His first time caring for the wounded. Though it still hurt AJ to this day to see the wanton destruction of life, he had learned long ago how to take that anger, that pain, and channel it into other things. To use it to feed his resolve. Brian didn’t have that skill yet.
“How on earth do I distract you?” Brian asked innocently. They had reached the top of the hill, directly in front of Cursha’s house. A mischievous light entered AJ’s eyes. Cursha was sitting outside, and AJ knew that if Brian had been paying attention, he never would have asked that question with others present. But he had, and AJ intended on answering. “With all that sexiness. You bat your eyes at me, and smile, and my brain gets scrambled. It’s a failing of mine I have to live with. I can’t resist that face of yours.”
Cursha’s laughter filled the air, and that hint of a blush came back to Brian’s cheeks. He shot AJ a glare before dropping his eyes to inspect a small stone in the ground. Chuckling, AJ sent love along the bond with his humor, and felt Brian’s love in return.
To be kind, he turned to Cursha and sought to change the topic and spare Brian more embarrassment. “King Cursha, your preparations are coming well, I presume?” He asked cordially. There was still a sparkle in Cursha’s eyes, but he allowed the chance for teasing to pass, which was rare for a dwarf. They were surprisingly sexual, vocally sexual, people.
“Things are going as planned. The ceremony you spoke of is in a little under six months. When do we need arrive?”
“If at all possible I’d like you there no later than a month before. There’s much we need to work on to make sure that all is as safe as possible. There are a set of caves in the seawall near the Elves home. You can make your home there. I assume you would be more comfortable that way.”
Cursha nodded, seeming pleased by the idea, and that AJ had taken the time to think of it. The dwarf had no idea how much thought AJ had been putting into all of this. With all the races they would be working with, and not all of them getting along, he had to plan things accordingly. Carefully.
“We will be there, trulion. Our people will do their part in preventing this atrocity. As you and your loved one have done your part today, for our people. We are in your debt.”
“There is no debt.” AJ was quick to reassure. Those words were not idle words to a dwarf. They firmly believed that if a debt was owed, a debt was paid. Some ways that they paid debts were gruesome, even for AJ’s standards. “This is what we are, what we do. We seek to fight this battle so that none may be oppressed. For the greater good of all races, I strive for peace. In that aspect, might I speak with your magician of the house? I would show him something for him to do that should help at least warn of more Krutas coming.”
Cursha clapped his hands, and a small dwarf that had been standing by the door scurried inside. A moment later he returned with a dwarf that was shorter than most, with a beard and hair that were so long they touched the floor. That was a sign of his trade. A magician. AJ offered him the traditional greeting, extending both hand and magic so that their hands and magic would touch, and show that no ill will was meant.
Once they had shook, AJ reached and pulled out his blade. He held the hilt in one hand, and rested the point in the other. “I have not cleaned all of this yet so that you might take some of the blood of both the magician as well as the Krutas. With those, I trust you remember what I once taught you on creating alarms?”
“Yes, trulion.” The magician said reverently. He pulled two glass bottles from the pockets of his robes and held them up. AJ lifted the blood off the sword as carefully as he could and put one in each bottle. “Then take those and do so, that your home might be safe when the rest head to war.”
Now that his sword was totally clean, AJ inspected it, as was habit. He knew that it wouldn’t dull or break, but old habits die hard, and he was used to taking great care with a blade. Gripping the hilt in his fist, his eyes turned towards the battlefield. Without realizing it his grip tightened. Yet again Roth was the cause of needless slaughter. All in the pursuit of his goal. Too many had died. One was too many. But he would make sure this man paid for it. That he paid for every drop of blood shed.
Something sparked in the bond, pulling AJ’s attention from the battlefield and back to the present. He heard the magician and Cursha speaking about defenses, which left him free to turn his eyes to Brian. His lover was standing there, admiration in his eyes, and lust obvious in the bond. With a grin, AJ realized where Brian’s eyes had been. Another benefit of these types of trousers, in his mind. They actually made him look like he had an ass.
While the other two talked, AJ couldn’t resist running his eyes up and down Brian’s form. Thankfully they’d had changes of clothes from Flreu in their packs, so they weren’t forced to wear their bloody and torn clothes. Brian was dressed in pants of such a dark blue that they looked like the darkened twilight sky, and a loose shirt that was as white as the clouds. His hair was slightly longer than it had been, those curls having just a little more body to them.
AJ’s slow perusal had that flushed glow back in Brian’s skin. He felt the heat of AJ’s gaze and couldn’t stop the feelings it created inside of him. It emboldened him, so that his eyes returned the stare, looking AJ over as well. From his bare feet, up the brown trousers with the simple leather lacings and the wide forest green belt he wore, which was just a wide piece of cloth wrapped around his waist, up over the sculpted chest, and the hair that was getting longer with each day, and which AJ had braided behind him at the moment. It hung to his shoulders, starting to reach past them barely.
The glow started under AJ’s skin as well, a light glow, almost as if a small light was barely showing. They could control it, and managed to do so. Body glowing wasn’t all that common. It only happened when one body and soul met their perfect match. The other half of them. Only then did the skin glow as the eyes did.
AJ watched Brian lick his lips as his gaze traveled back down the same path. Sweet God. His brain melted a little at the shared passion between them. That circle he had thought about earlier was starting, and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to get it to stop. If it didn’t, well, he’d sweep him and Brian up and they could disappear for a while. Burn it out. He didn’t mind that prospect, but it would embarrass Brian some, and he’d be bothered by just dashing out before a king.
He hadn’t realized how much of this was radiating from them until he heard a gasp from the magician, and turned in time to see the dwarf sink to his knees, his eyes glazed. Against all odds, AJ felt a chuckle in his throat. Well, hell. They’d managed to effect the magician pretty strongly. Whoops. He reached a hand out to help the dwarf back to his feet, but when their skin touched, the magician gasped again and dropped down to all fours this time, panting slightly.
It took everything AJ had not to laugh at the situation. He knew that his mirth danced in his eyes.
Cursha looked from his magician, up to AJ. “What is wrong with him?” he demanded.
Biting his cheek for composure, AJ made sure his tone was apologetic. “After strong magic such as we’ve done today, it leaves you with lots of energy and tension. Some work to burn this off. Others will practice weapons until it fades. My lover and I, we prefer the more fun route.” AJ heard Brian’s soft groan behind him and had to resist laughing again. “But apparently we didn’t burn out enough, so it’s still in our minds, and its radiating off our skin. To put it simply, we accidently gave your magician a pleasure overload.”
Durga stepped up from where he stood by the house, surprise and humor on his face. “This can be done?” he asked them. At AJ’s nod, his grin grew wider. “So one such as he would feel like this around you two right now, because you had sex and want to have more?”
The blunt way he spoke had a flush building in Brian’s cheeks, which made AJ have to work at controlling himself all over again. Gods, but they were going to have to go get this out of their system, or they were going to be useless. He fought down another wave of desire. Soon. They would have to do it soon. “Not just one like him. He feels it just by being in our presence. Others would feel it by touching our skin.”
Now Durga’s face was skeptical. Amused by this, AJ lifted one hand, palm up, and quirked an eyebrow. He looked at the King, at Durga, and at any others present. “Any who wish to test it are more than welcome.” He offered.
Not surprisingly Durga stepped forward. AJ stopped trying to tone down his thoughts for a second; instead he looked over at Brian again and saw his blush. That always put in mind of the things he could do that had Brian flushing over his whole body. God, he loved being able to do that. He’d get Brian flushed and warm, and then those little shivers would start. Delicious shivers.
As those thoughts took off in his mind, Durga touched just a finger to AJ’s palm. His eyes widened, and he managed only to stay on his feet by locking his knees. But he pulled his hand back quickly, and his eyes were bright. “Magic does this to you? Is it that strong for you as well?”
“It’s stronger for us, actually, as it’s in our bodies that we feel it. But it’s not just our magic. It’s part of being elvish. Add on that I’m an elf of the earth, the most natural sub race of elves there are, we’re know to be a lot more sexual than most elves. For isn’t sex, at its core, just another part of nature?”
“You two must shake the foundations of the world when you’re together, with that much built up inside of you.”
Right about then Zee came running up the hill, their packs on his back, breaking off the conversation and saving Brian from any further embarrassment. AJ ran to meet the Pegasus, throwing his arms around his neck and laughing for joy. All other thoughts were pushed aside for that simple moment. He spoke softly in elvish as he ran his hands over Zee, making sure that he was hale and hearty.
Cursha rose from his seat and stepped forward. “I had him sent when I knew you were up. Slowly, so that we might have time to talk. But I assumed that you would need to leave quickly and continue to spread the word of this coming war.”
Since AJ was distracted with Zee, Brian stepped forward and spoke for them. “You assumed correctly, King Cursha. We need to be off, moving on to the next race, the next people. Our time is limited to gather those to us, and to return home and prepare.”
In the way of the dwarves, Cursha did not draw out the goodbyes. He shook both their hands, and wished them safety and peace on their journey. As AJ and Brian mounted, all the dwarves dropped to one knee, reciting the pledge again.
AJ didn’t waste time. He knew that this was their form of goodbye. To say anything else would be a dishonor. He gave a soft command to Zee, and they were off into the air.