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[chokuto]

UN: 火
𝐓𝐄𝐗𝐓 / 𝐀𝐔𝐃𝐈𝐎 / 𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐎 / 𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 / 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐖
𝟖♣ ( 𝑬𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻 𝒐𝒇 𝑪𝑳𝑼𝑩𝑺 )

Comments

[chokuto]

Claim a reward.

[hallowing]

u may have one (1) kiss. as a treat.

[chokuto]

Just one?

[hallowing]

don't get greedy smh

[chokuto]

You're the one acting stingy.

[hallowing]

maybe you can convince me otherwise

[chokuto]

Fine. I will.

[A sucker for a challenge...

He isn't far from the Vale, which houses the tallest trees in the resort, so it's simple to cut over through the conservatory and descend down into the humid, forested area below. Unless Cy uses his ability he's not going to be able to sense him, but that's okay. He leaps into the first tree he finds; he'll check every single one if he has to.]

[hallowing]

（ cy, meanwhile? is literally just chilling in a tree, comfortably sprawled out. his back to the main trunk, legs crossed and supported along one of the branches — he's got a stalk of grass between his teeth and he is idly whistling in a soft refrain — not loud enough to be heard from far away, but enough that once sasuke's close he'll hear him.

he doesn't want to make it too easy — but he also doesn't want to make it too hard. ）

[chokuto]

[The whistling certainly helps in proximity, but Sasuke does not lack skills in hunting men down, so he follows other signs of trespass in the greenery — Cy had no reason to cover his trail to take a nap in the trees. Perhaps he should have made it harder.

After a short time, he's in range enough to pinpoint the correct branch, hesitating only in the decision of his approach. In the end, he drops down from above — utilizing stealth not to be noticed — weight jostling the branch where Cy reclines.]

Too easy.

[hallowing]

（ cy just gives him a broad grin, shifting the stalk of grass from one side of his mouth to the other as he laces his fingers behind his head. he gives sasuke a once-over, gaze lingering briefly on a hickey of their mutual provenance, and then: ）

I can make it harder if ya' nasty.

[chokuto]

[He crosses the branch with effortless balance, then nudges at Cy's legs until they drop to either side so he can kneel between them. There's a quick shake of his head.]

I'll just take my reward.

[hallowing]

（ he reaches for the boy, palm settling at the nape of his neck as he pulls him in for a kiss. it's sweet and chaste — and ends in a playful nuzzle at his cheek, fingers feathered in his hair. he is also absolutely going to nudge sasuke in all the right places to get him straddling his hips, because that's way more fun than just having him kneel. ）

Welcome to Casa del Arbre.

（ someone tell this man to stop mixing languages, actually. ）

Up to no good?

[chokuto]

[Easily handled, he shifts to fit himself into Cy's lap, right arm draped around shoulders for stability. The kiss causes his chin to tilt up, like he's asking for more — but he's also content to let it be.]

Your languages are all over the place.

[He'd noticed one before that he had never heard, back when Cy was... dealing with the portrait's curse on his own, but given the circumstances he hadn't asked.]

I don't know if you've been to the conservatory recently, but it's overrun with baby rabbits. They're eating a lot of the vegetation. So, I was helping to set up defenses.

[hallowing]

Oh, yeah. This place is spoiling me. If I go back to a place where it's mono-linguistics only, I'm gonna be fucked. I'm getting used to just doing the language grab bag in my brain.

（ he doesn't miss the little tilt to sasuke's chin, but rather than kiss him directly, he leans in to mouth at his throat. ）

Somebody should probably see if we can sterilize them, otherwise the problem's going to continue until someone starts making bunny stew.

（ people gotta eat, but — you know, him and his 'animals tho 🥺🥺' bleeding heart animal vibe. ）

[chokuto]

We'll find a way to avoid that. [The crinkle of his nose betrays that he, also, does not want to consider bunny stew.] We've found ways to quarantine them for now, but yes, it won't resolve the problem.

[The attention paid to his neck is distracting, but — he only nuzzles his head in against Cy's, repaying physical affection without thought.]

How many languages have you learned? Do you know?

[hallowing]

（ he makes a speculative sound that comes out as a low rumble pressed in against sasuke's skin. ）

Eh, a lot of it leaves. If you mean 'how many are you fluent in right now' — I could probably pull a couple dozen languages outta my ass at the drop of a hat. If you chucked me on a planet where a language was dominant in the region and I'd known it previously it would come back to me quickly. But if you mean 'how many have you known in your life'... I usually stay on a planet long enough to pick up fifteen or twenty, not counting things like creoles. I usually do a couple planets a century.

（ he doesn't need to tell sasuke that's about the time it takes for him to outlive someone.

he pulls back enough to drag a hand through his own hair, expression wrinkling in thought. ） Probably about a thousand, give or take? Man, the mathematician in me really hates approximating that shit.

（ a bit of a laugh, wholly self-directed. ）

[chokuto]

[He considers Cy seriously as he speaks, weighing that answer. A thousand.]

Your mind is incredible.

[And before Cy can respond —]

Despite age, and time. If I were you, I don't think that I could have retained as much as you have.

[hallowing]

（ if he were less controlled, perhaps, the earnestness of that compliment might have made a shiver of pain eclipse his expression — instead, it's confined to a slight increase of pressure by his fingers where his hands rest against sasuke's thighs. ）

I think you'd surprise yourself.

（ it's the only thing he can say that isn't please don't talk about you being in my position. ）

[chokuto]

Maybe.

[The squeeze at thighs earns a slight shifting of his weight in Cy's lap. He doesn't notice anything amiss — but his next question comes in French, to demonstrate that, yes, he's still teaching himself. And Cy is a perfect practice partner.]

Comment se passe ta journée?

[hallowing]

（ this time, the emotion — soft fondness and wonder — is allowed free rein. there will never come a time in their relationship when all of those thoughtful things sasuke does don't affect him — and learning a language only because he knows it is certainly right below cleaned his room that one time on the list. ）

C'est mieux maintenant que tu es là.

（ there's a stroke down sasuke's thighs, and then: ）

Do we need to talk about Tseng?

[chokuto]

[He picks up the pieces of that reply, inspiring a bloom of warmth that has him unable to resist leaning forward, cheek tucked in against Cy's throat. A full breath relaxes him in against Cy's body.]

We probably should. Did you speak with him? [And then, more thoughtfully:] How do you... feel about it?

[hallowing]

（ his arms lift almost automatically, curling around sasuke and holding him in close, cheek resting against the side of his head. ）

Yeah, we talked. I'm not gonna say I'm entirely devoid of jealousy, but it's manageable. I think he'll treat you well, and ultimately that's the only thing that really matters to me. I asked him to do a scene, mostly just because I want to see his technique.

（ one hand lifts to stroke at sasuke's hair. ）

But I'm less worried about you than when we first laid down those rules. You're more educated now, and you've gotten better at articulating what you want and need. I trust you with yourself, and if you want to explore BDSM with him you've got my full support.

[chokuto]

[It has become so familiar, the way Cy's body fits against him, the vibration of voice when they're pressed close together like this. The hand in his hair is soothing — his eyes close halfway.]

I'm not interested in Tseng because there's something from you I'm not getting. You're all I need. I told him that you're my dominant, and he knows about our relationship. So — your comfort is the most important thing to me. And if we need to discuss terms again, we can.

[He knows how he would feel if Cy was regularly practicing BDSM with someone else. Handling knives — that jealousy, in particular, well-studied by now.]

I only know how to communicate this way because of you. [A gentle nudge of his head against Cy's.] Anything with pain is off the table right now. I want you there for that. [Not even because Cy first asked for it; he genuinely doesn't know how he'll react to someone that isn't Cy.]

Have you met a man named Embry Moore?

[hallowing]

Let's keep the terms more generally with others, but with Tseng — feel free to navigate that however feels right to you, and we can revisit if there's anything that comes up?

（ if nothing else — he got a good vibe off the guy, and if he's another person sasuke can go to and be safe with, he'd never put his foot down for that. he can't always guarantee he'll be around or available if some new quirk of the house rears its ugly head. ）

We should think about a scene with more structure, then. We could rent a room at Yolk — I know that fucking curse got us tangled up in some things we probably weren't entirely ready for and didn't get a chance to discuss properly, so it'd be a good way to kinda reclaim our agency there. （ this fucking place, actually.

he makes a soft hm of sound. ）

Not that I remember. Why?

[chokuto]

[He nods, mind already veering in the direction of renting a room with Cy at Naked Yolk — and it's impossible not to feel the kindling of arousal as a result. In proximity to Cy, he can't easily temper it.]

I agree. It's not that I don't remember it, but — my mind was muddled during that time. I had no issue with anything we did, [as if he ever would, with Cy] but I'd like to be more clear-headed.

[Leaning back a little, Sasuke considers the man's privacy... and then decides this is something he would want Cy to know regardless, because it's important. So he turns the Watch on his wrist to show Cy their recent conversation about BDSM.]

He's drawn to submissiveness for a lot of the same reasons as I am. Pain, and relinquishing control. But his perspective concerns me.