Reperio
Chapter XXXII
by Granate
The next day saw the arrival of two important letters. The first was brought by Quatre shortly after breakfast. Heero was in his office gathering some scrolls when his brother knocked on the doorframe. Heero looked up and Quatre bid him good morning as he entered the office.
"Cornelia sent letters," Quatre said, handing Heero a roll of fine papyrus.
"Oh, so soon?" Heero asked. Had it already been a month? He wondered if he'd gotten a letter out to her since her last one.
"She complained to me that you weren't writing," Quatre said as if he could hear Heero's thoughts.
"I'll be sure to," Heero promised.
"Will you be at the planning meeting again today?" Quatre asked.
Heero had not told his brother he was back on active duty, so Quatre had been surprised to see him at the meeting yesterday. "Yes, I'll be there," Heero replied. He almost flinched under the intensity of the stare Quatre gave him. "They need me for field logistics," he explained.
Quatre was still looking at him. "Well, come and get me and we'll go together," he finally relented and disappeared.
Heero brought the letter out to the peristyle and sat down to read it.
"Doesn't look like work, you're smiling too much," Duo startled him a short time later as he sat down across the table.
"It's a letter from my sister," Heero told him.
"Which one?" Duo asked.
"Cornelia, the second oldest. She lives in Alexandria."
"Alexandria? In Egypt?" Duo asked excitedly. "Your sister lives in Egypt?"
"Yes, she was married to the Regent in Alexandria ten years ago."
"Have you ever been there to visit?" Duo asked. "What's it like?"
"No, I've never been to visit," Heero told him. "She's brought her family back to Rome to visit many times, but I have always been gone."
"So you haven't seen your sister in ten years?" Duo gaped.
Heero shook his head. "I've never seen her boys or met her husband."
"That's a shame, what kind of brother are you?" Duo needled.
"The kind of brother who is on field maneuvers most of the time," Heero reminded him. "As of right now, I've been home for about three months, that's a long stretch for me."
Duo nodded and then asked, "Not going anywhere, are you?"
"Haven't heard anything yet," Heero replied truthfully. It was quiet for a moment until he said, "You know, it really is a shame I haven't seen Cornelia in so long. Last time I saw her, she was sobbing and begging not to be sent to Egypt."
"That's terrible," Duo frowned.
"Oh, she loves it there now," Heero was quick to add. "She fell in love with her husband after all, and she's kept busy with the boys and entertaining all the guests coming through. She's also a patron of the arts and the academic institutions there."
"But she was forced to go?"
"It was a political marriage," Heero explained. "That's simply how it's done. Augusta accepted it, but Cornelia always was the headstrong one. Like Iria, only a lot more confrontational."
"Gave your father a rough time, I bet," Duo grinned.
Heero nodded with a chuckle. "He probably fired whatever rhetoric teacher taught that girl how to argue."
"So what about Julia?" Duo asked of Heero's only remaining unmarried sister. "What will happen with her?"
"I'm sure father is working to arrange something. I just hope she doesn't get any bright ideas after what Quatre pulled not long ago," Heero said. "She's the last daughter, so I think father is sort of saving her for a really good opportunity."
Duo nodded, though he just couldn't wrap his head around treating one's own child like a bargaining chip.
Heero began to read some of what was in the letter out loud to Duo, until Quatre came back and reminded him that it was time to get going.
"Another meeting?" Duo frowned as they stood.
"A shorter one this time," Heero said, gathering his things.
"Don't forget you owe me Greek lessons," Duo reminded him.
"As soon as I get back," Heero replied.
"Is that code for something?" Duo heard Quatre tease as the brothers left.
Duo cleaned up breakfast and spent the rest of the morning practicing a new song and helping Baltus around the house. Heero was home by mid-afternoon and Duo followed him to his office, where he welcomed Heero home with a kiss - a kiss that made Heero drop his scrolls and supplies on the desk so he could wrap his arms around Duo's shoulders. The desk was giving Duo no shortage of sexy ideas as they kissed. He backed up to lean against it and pulled Heero's hips up close to his own. He held Heero's mouth captive as he scooted back on the desk, opening his legs so Heero was standing between them.
After their romp in the tub, they'd fallen asleep yesterday night without seconds. Duo figured he must have been satisfied enough, because he hadn't initiated anything at the time, but he wasn't going to let any more opportunities pass him by. He ran his hands over Heero's butt and pulled him forward so their hips pressed against one another. He didn't know how it was possible, but Heero didn't quiet seem to be getting the idea of what he wanted to do with his legs spread on the desk like this, so Duo slid his hands around front and began to unfasten Heero's belt.
Heero all but jumped away. "We were going to have Greek lessons, weren't we?" he fumbled, "I'll find some books." His attention turned to the bookshelves along the wall, leaving Duo sitting on the desk in shock.
"Heero... " Duo said enticingly and pulled the skirt of his tunic up his thighs. Heero, however, failed to see this because he had chosen three books and was dashing out of the office. Duo huffed as he stood up and followed Heero to the peristyle. Heero was already seated at one of the chairs at the small round table and motioned for Duo to sit in the one across from him. Duo pulled the metal chair around until it was right next to Heero and then sat down.
"Ok, let's get started," Heero said, faltering just the littlest bit when Duo leaned on him. He reviewed a grammar issue that had been troubling Duo and then asked him to read a sentence.
Instead, Duo said in Greek, "I want you," and kissed him. Heero was taken by surprise, but he returned the kiss with the kind of ferocity that made Duo think he was going to get what he wanted this time. Not letting Heero's mouth go for even a second, he moved to straddle Heero's lap. He raked one hand through Heero's dark hair and delved the other into the folds of cloth below Heero's waist. Heero caught his wrists and pulled him away.
"Nnn, enough Duo," he panted, breaking the kiss. "You'll make me want to do it right here."
"That's the idea," Duo replied with a wicked grin.
"Duo, we can't, it's the middle of the day, anyone could come in," Heero said pragmatically. "Quaterine could come running around the corner!"
"Then let's go upstairs and lock the door," Duo whispered as he licked Heero's ear.
Heero knocked over his chair in his haste to stand up. Duo managed not to fall over during Heero's escape, mostly because Heero's hands remained clamped around his wrists. "Duo, please, stop this," Heero beseeched. "I can't go running off with you to the bedroom, I have to be available if someone comes to find me. Zechs told me he'd be stopping by and you never know who else might come over."
"Like Zechs would mind catching us doing it here!" Duo joked.
"Duo," Heero said, tone now a warning. He took Duo by the shoulders and sat him back down in his chair before setting his own chair upright again. "Just sit here, ok? And behave," Heero instructed.
Duo did sit there, and he did behave, but it didn't stop him from pouting.
~
Zechs did indeed drop in later, hand-delivering the second important letter of the day. Baltus announced his arrival that evening as Duo and Mona were preparing supper.
"Ah, Zechs, you said you'd be by," Duo could hear Heero say, followed by the scrape of his chair on the paving stones of the peristyle.
"I bring very good news," Zechs said.
Duo could hear the two sit down and it was quiet for a moment. He curiously poked his head around the corner just in time to see Heero look up from the letter in his hands. "Your sister is getting married next week?" Heero asked. "I thought these things took months of preparation."
"She doesn't have months," Zechs explained. "Marcus was elected a Quaestor and appointed to Crete. Relena will marry him next week and then go with him."
"A very courageous choice on her part," Heero said. "This deserves celebration. Duo," he called, "some wine please."
"It'll be right out!" Duo called back. He found a good quality jar of wine and brought it out on a tray with two cups.
"I know plenty of ladies who would have backed out at such a quick marriage," Heero was saying as Duo set the tray down,
"Well, she likes him. It's a good match," Zechs relayed, "much better than you would have been, I have to admit."
"I'll drink to that!" Heero said as he quickly poured the wine. "Thank you, Duo," Heero said and Duo got the distinct impression that he had just been dismissed. He turned quickly and went back to the kitchen.
"I've always said that there are plenty of better men for her than me," Heero continued. "Marcus is well connected and ambitious. Since our families are already so close, neither of them would have gained much from a marriage between us."
"I suspect that's mostly why you or Quatre were never pressed on the issue of marrying her," Zechs agreed. "And she does thrive on his ambitions. Instead of balking, she's elated that he'll be second in command to the governor of such a rich province."
"That's another thing," Heero said with a shake of his head. "You know I have no political aspirations at all. She would have been bored with my life."
"I'll never understand why you don't want to run for anything," Zechs shook his head. "You could easily be voted Military Tribune alongside your brother. The people of this city would eat out of your hand if you'd only let them."
"It sounds gross when you put it like that," Heero said distastefully before quickly changing the subject. "So is everything going to come together in a week?" he asked.
"The date has been cleared of any bad omens and paperwork is being drawn up. It's really the party that's difficult on such short notice," Zechs told him. "Catering, music, decorations - I'm glad I don't have to think about any of that!"
"It was nice of your family to invite us to such a private gathering," Heero said.
"That's pretty typical between our families, isn't it?" Zechs asked. "I feel like I've been to all your sisters' weddings. Growing up, I remember wondering if the Winners were ever going to run out of daughters to marry off!"
Heero snorted. "Still have one more, even!"
As they chatted, Duo was working in the kitchen, finishing dinner and trying to convince himself not to be angry that Heero had dismissed him like that. Why couldn't he have stayed out there? Zechs was his friend, too, wasn't he? Duo realized that perhaps he was forgetting himself just a bit. Sleeping with Heero didn't change the fact that he was still a slave; it didn't give him any new rights. He should be honored that Milliardo Peacecraft even remembered his name and he shouldn't take friendly exchanges with General Heero Winner Yuy and his peers for granted. It was enough to depress him if he let it.
When supper was close to ready, Duo went out to pour more wine. "Should I set another place at the table?" he asked.
Heero looked at Zechs. "You're more than welcome to stay, of course," he said.
"Don't bother with the third place setting," Zechs winked at them and stood. "I have plans for tonight. Duo, it's always nice to see you, even if it's just your backside after Heero excuses you."
Heero walked him to the door and Duo set the table. Heero returned to the table and took his seat as Duo and Mona brought the food out.
"So there's going to be a wedding?" Duo asked as he sat down across from Heero.
"Yes, Relena is getting married. You remember Marcus, right?" Heero said as Duo sliced the bread.
"Yeah, she introduced him at Lucrezia's party a few weeks ago and he helped at the October Horse, right?" Duo nodded.
"They'll be getting married and moving to Crete," Heero said.
"That's good news," Duo said
"I couldn't be happier," Heero said with obvious relief.
"What are you going to get her as a present?" Duo asked.
Heero thought as he chewed. "No idea," was all he came up with.
"I don't suppose giving her a puppy will work," Duo joked.
"Definitely not," Heero agreed.
"It would be a hassle to get them a thing because they will be moving so soon," Duo said.
"And what don't they already have?" Heero added. "It would be nice to add something to the wedding itself, since the families are having to put it on at such short notice."
"Heero, that's perfect!" Duo said excitedly. "Why don't you offer to let me perform at the wedding? I'll just play some music in the background during the ceremony and the party!"
"That's a great idea, Duo," Heero nodded. "Thank you for offering. I'll tell Zechs first thing tomorrow."
Duo frowned. "Another meeting?" he asked.
Heero just nodded and it was quiet for a little while as they ate.
"You must be mad at me," Heero broke the silence.
"Mad?" Duo asked, looking up. Heero was looking him right in the eye.
"For denying you twice and sending you away while Zechs was here," Heero said.
Duo shifted in his seat. "Oh, it's not a big deal," he shrugged.
"I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings when you... came on to me," Heero said, "and when Zechs was here I simply wasn't thinking. There's no reason you couldn't have talked with us." He was being so earnest, it made Duo smile.
"You'll just have to make it up to me," Duo said slyly. "Want to turn in early?"
"I can't think of anything I'd like better," Heero said honestly
~
"All your clothes are so drab!" Duo complained as he dug through Heero's closet. "You should have gotten yourself something new when we were at the tailor's!" It had been a busy week between Heero's military obligations and assisting in Quatre's campaign, but Heero had made sure to find time to purchase Duo a new tunic specifically for his performance at Relena's wedding today.
"Duo, I don't have time to change, we need to leave soon," Heero reminded him impatiently. He was none too happy about having been dragged back upstairs because Duo disapproved of his clothes.
"No, I'm sick of you walking around looking like you got in a fight with a loom and nobody won," Duo chided from inside the closet. Now that he was in a position to influence some of Heero's decisions, he wasn't about to let Heero go out in clothes that didn't nearly do him justice.
"It really doesn't matter. Can we get going?" Heero asked crossly.
Duo poked his head out of the closet and gave Heero a withering look. "Leaving the house looking like you don't know how to dress yourself makes people say you need a wife," he said.
Heero made a face. "Just pick something quickly," he ceded.
"How about this?" Duo asked, clutching his prize as he fought his way out of the closet. He held a deep indigo blue tunic out to Heero. Duo especially liked the trim on this one, which looked like thin braided strands of bronze.
"That?" Heero asked, making another face. "That's not even mine, Treize made me wear that for some ceremony."
"Gods, everyone is trying to dress you better," Duo clucked. "How long ago was this?"
"A couple years ago."
"Perfect. Put it on," Duo ordered. He retreated to straighten up the closet as Heero changed clothes, thinking that if he watched Heero take his clothes off they might never make it to the wedding. Even so, he found himself unable to resist and turned around just in time to watch Heero pull the brilliant blue tunic over his head. It was definitely an image Duo wouldn't mind replaying in his head all night. He helped Heero wrap a toga around himself and they went to wait in the main house for Quatre, Julia, and Master Winner. Duo smiled smugly to himself when both of Heero's siblings commented on his clothes. Quatre caught his eye and winked, which made Duo smile. Duo took his place at the back of the Winner entourage as they walked to the Peacecraft mansion.
Many hours later, Duo was feeling, honestly, a little bit bored as he plucked his lyre. They were now in Marcus' family home. The ceremony and banquet had taken place in the Peacecraft's home, followed by a procession to the groom's family house. The newlyweds had retired and now the guests were mingling at the after-party. They had left for the ceremony when it was still light out and Duo had been playing through every step of the nuptial rite. While he was glad the Peacecrafts had been so grateful for Heero's "gift" of his talents, he was learning that playing this long got a little monotonous. A few times during the night, Quatre, Zechs, Lucrezia, Heero, or Julia had come over to chat with him, and he'd even been visited by a few guests who remembered him from previous performances, but he was mostly left on his own to play and improvise songs.
At the moment, he was longing to put down the lyre and go attend Heero for a little while, get him drinks and follow him around. It was certainly a night to celebrate, after all, and a little part of Duo wanted to get Heero drunk. He should probably be ashamed of himself for thoughts like that, but he couldn't help imagining all the previous parties he'd been to with Heero, in particular the one during which he'd performed with Stella. Heero had been smiling, relaxed. Duo wanted to see him like that again, take him home, lead him upstairs. Duo was still making up for all the times he could do nothing but fantasize about going to bed with Heero. He honestly didn't know if he'd ever be done making up for that period.
Of course he was watching Heero as he sat there and strummed. It seemed he was a little over prepared for this performance. He'd had a lot of time on his hands in the last week, with Heero being so busy with his work and family, so he'd practiced just about every song he knew. No one at the party was really paying much attention to him anyway, so his mind was free to wander. During the procession to the groom's house, Zechs had walked and chatted with him and it had been all too easy to get the brother of the bride to agree to make sure Heero had a good time. This was a good thing because the longer Duo sat here with a wandering mind, the more things he thought up that he wanted to try with Heero. Duo suddenly thought of something he wanted to sing, and for the first time that night, he added quiet singing to the melody he played.
After a few minutes, Heero extricated himself from a conversation and came over. "Duo," he said, a little smile playing on his lips, "Sappho?"
Duo stopped singing to grin at him. "Of course! She was the tenth Muse, you know," he quipped. He could tell that Zechs had been doing his job tonight.
"I'm just not sure the Greek songstress is exactly... "
"What's more appropriate than Sappho's wedding songs?" Duo asked innocently as he continued to pluck the lyre.
"It's just," Heero said lowering his voice significantly, "if you start singing, no one will want to leave."
Duo laughed.
Quatre came over, too. "He's not trying to stop you from singing Sappho, is he?" Quatre asked Duo.
"I wasn't - " Heero tried to say.
"Really," Quatre chided his brother, "what could possibly be better for tonight than Sappho's wedding songs? Besides, Relena loves Sappho."
"She does?" Heero asked.
"Of course," Zechs said as he joined them, "what educated and precocious young woman doesn't love Sappho? Duo, you should have started singing the Epithalamia during the procession!"
"I was told by the wedding coordinator not to sing," Duo admitted, somewhat sheepishly.
"An outrage!" Zechs huffed. "Does she not know who you are?"
"I think it would be pretty easy to not know who I am," Duo chuckled nervously. It was strange to think of himself as famous and he refused to do so.
"Well, you sing Sappho to your heart's content," Zechs said decisively. "And don't listen to this ogre," he added, jabbing a thumb at Heero, "if it's not battle hymns and epic poetry, he just can't appreciate it."
"That's not true!" Heero protested.
"And don't forget Stoic philosophy, he appreciates that on a regular basis," Duo added with a chuckle at Heero's expense. Both Zechs and Quatre groaned.
"I'd rather forget the Stoic philosophy, if you don't mind," Zechs cringed.
"Stoic philosophy is - " Heero was more than ready to extol stoic philosophy's many virtues, but Zechs broke in.
"Come on, clearly you need to drink more," Zechs said, grabbing Heero's elbow. Quatre grabbed his other elbow. Heero cast a longing glance at Duo as he was hauled away by the two of them. "Oh, you have to meet Marcus' cousin! He's training to be a military engineer," Zechs was saying.
Duo sang all of the Sappho songs he could remember. His friend Thalia had been the one who had taught Sappho's songs and poetry to all the hand maidens (Duo included). He grinned to himself when he realized that even though Heero had objected to Sappho, he had recognized it in minutes, so he must at least be familiar with her works. Though, to be fair, Heero's objections had been weak at best. Really, it sounded like Heero just wanted the party to be over with and Duo, too, began to wonder when the guests would start to leave.
There was a slow trickle of departing guests until Zechs' father decided it was time to leave, which excused both the Peacecrafts and the Winners. Heero came to retrieve him from his stool in the corner, but then Duo had to take his place with the rest of the slaves at the back of the retinue as the Winners made the long walk home. Duo strummed a little as they walked, just for something to do. He plucked the melody for the song he'd written about himself and Heero, wondering if Heero could hear it or if he'd recognize it. Duo had more to add to the song now, but he still would not be able to finish it.
It was Julia who turned around. "That's lovely, Duo," she said. "Here, come walk next to me." Duo took his place by her side and Heero took the opportunity to join them. "Will you play for me when I get married?" she sighed.
"I would be honored," Duo said sincerely.
"That's ok, right Heero?" she added.
"Of course, anything for my darling sister. Just when will this hypothetical wedding take place, and who, exactly, is your hypothetical groom?" Heero teased gently.
"Don't ask me," she said, casting a glance at the father, who was discussing something with Quatre and not listening to their conversation.
"You want to get married, then?" Duo asked.
"Of course!" she answered immediately. "Just because my brothers have bizarre notions about marriage doesn't mean I do! I want to get married as soon as I can!"
"Even to someone you don't know very well?" Duo pressed.
"Well, he won't be someone I don't know. Father will come up with a few choices and get my approval. And engagements are usually a lot longer than Relena's was. We'll get to know each other," she replied.
Duo wanted to ask her about her sister Cornelia, but knew it wasn't his place.
"Didn't Relena look lovely?" Julia continued in a sigh.
"Girls are always intolerable after weddings," Heero snorted.
"Was that a traditional outfit she was wearing?" Duo asked, still plucking the lyre.
"Yes, the white dress and the red veil are traditional," Julia nodded. "Wasn't that veil incredible? It shimmered like fire!"
"It was beautiful," Duo agreed.
"I hope I can find one as gorgeous. Oh, and did you notice the belt at her waist with the intricate knot?" Julia continued.
"Yeah," Duo said.
"That's the Hercules knot. It's tradition that only the new husband can undo it! Isn't that romantic?" Julia squealed.
"Seriously intolerable!" Heero put in disparagingly.
"Just because you have no sense for romance!" Julia tsked back at him.
Duo laughed but didn't correct her. He figured Heero would be less embarrassed having her believe that than having Duo explain otherwise.
They reached the main house and Heero bid goodnight to his family. Duo followed him in through the front door and locked it behind them. It had been hard enough to keep their hands off each other on the way home, but now that they were alone in the house it was a lost cause. Duo grabbed Heero by the back of the neck and pulled him into a kiss. Heero shoved him up against the wall and kissed back hungrily. The lyre made some unmelodious sounds as it was trapped between their bodies. Heero withdrew after a moment and gently took the lyre away. He set it on a hallway table and promptly forgot about it as he caught Duo's mouth again.
"I was thinking about you all night," Duo panted as Heero kissed under his jaw and towards his ear.
Heero grunted in response and pressed heavily on Duo. Duo decided there were too many layers of cloth between them so he pushed off from the wall and started to move them in the direction of the stairs. He managed to pry Heero off of him long enough to put out the light Mona had left on for them but Heero snatched him back up as soon as possible. The house was dark now and their progress to the stairs was slow due to their inability to take their hands off each other.
"I take it you had a good time tonight?" Duo chuckled lowly.
"Zechs kept a drink in my hand all night, so I apologize if I'm - " Heero began to say but Duo stopped his lips with a fierce kiss.
"Don't you dare apologize," Duo hissed when he released Heero.
"What about you?" Heero asked, narrowly avoiding tripping over the leg of a brazier.
"Bored and horny," Duo replied, giving Heero's ear lobe a nip.
That earned a laugh out of Heero and he almost lost his footing again despite there being nothing to trip on this time. He straightened up and looked serious for a moment. "No one tried to mess with you or anything, then?" he asked, just to be sure.
It was Duo's turn to laugh. He had been operating under strict instructions all night that if someone tried to mess with him in any way, this time he should break their nose. "No, no one tried to do anything to me," he assured Heero. "But maybe you can do something about me being bored and horny?"
"I don't know, I'm pretty unromantic. I might not be able to think of anything," Heero answered ambivalently. Heero was smiling and joking, and Duo thought he should remember to thank Zechs next time he saw the man.
"I don't want romance, Heero, I want you upstairs naked," Duo said in all seriousness. His hand slipped into the folds of Heero's toga and down until he got a hold of Heero's hard cock. He had something witty to say about the cure for boredom and horniness, but it was lost in Heero's fevered kiss.
They fumbled up the stairs, kissing and groping. Duo made certain they reached the bedroom, however, because the blowjob he was planning to give Heero was the kind that could be dangerous on a flight of stairs. Heero kicked the door shut and got started right away removing Duo's clothes. Duo, on the other hand, was too busy removing Heero's to be of any assistance. When they'd finally managed to shed all their clothing, Duo pushed them in the direction of the bed. Another good shove landed Heero on his back and Duo wasted no time climbing on top of him.
"I'm surprised you could get up the stairs with this," Duo all but purred, groping Heero's very stiff erection. He kissed Heero before there could be any answer.
"It wasn't easy," Heero mumbled between kisses. His hands rubbed over Duo's butt and thighs. He held Duo's hips and pushed up against him.
"Nnn," Duo moaned into Heero lips, and then Heero's hands here gone from his hips and quickly unraveling his braid. Heero freed the hair and almost immediately rolled Duo underneath him.
Duo had to be impressed by how adept Heero was becoming when they were intimate. He could still count on his fingers the number of times that they'd had sex, yet Heero was more confident and comfortable every time. Duo, however, thought being comfortable was overrated, and he had plenty of ideas up his sleeve to shake things up. So far, they had treated oral sex as a sort of consolation prize. There had been another time a few nights ago that Duo had been too sore for penetration again and they'd exchanged blowjobs for a second time. Heero had not been hesitant about it the second time, though he'd only done a little better at the swallowing part. Tonight, Duo intended to elevate the role of oral sex from consolation prize to foreplay.
There was a slight look of disappointment on Heero's face when Duo got him onto his back once again and made it clear that he was going to suck him off. Duo just grinned and licked his lips.
"Sore again?" Heero asked him, sounding slightly guilty.
Duo shook his head. "Just warming up," he muttered, leaving Heero to guess at what he meant as he turned his attention to Heero's cock. It was dark in color and leaking precome. Gods, Heero got excited so quickly. Duo loved that about him. Not that he didn't have a hard-on to match, but Heero was impressive none the less. He happily sealed his lips around Heero's cock.
For someone who had tried to stop him the first time, it was clear that Heero enjoyed receiving oral sex. Or maybe being slightly drunk made him less conscious about the noises he was making. Either way, doing it was turning Duo on even more. He didn't spare Heero at all, and had him coming in a very short time. He coaxed as much as he could out of Heero and managed to cleanly swallow the majority of it. It was a moment before Heero's eyes opened again.
"That was so fast," Heero panted, obviously a little embarrassed.
"Not your fault," Duo grinned, "I was feeling very intense." All night he had been fantasizing about little more than ways to get Heero off, and Heero's explosive orgasm had not left him disappointed.
"Just... give me a minute," Heero swallowed and his eyes closed again as he continued the effort to get his breathing back to normal.
"Take all the time you need," Duo murmured as he ghosted kisses up and down Heero's stomach and chest. He had further plans for this body tonight, be he wasn't about to tell Heero that yet. He felt Heero's hand find his cock and he groaned as he thrust into the fist Heero made for him. Heero's eyes opened again to reveal that the fire had returned to those deep blue irises. Duo's heart leapt and Heero easily flipped him onto his back. He moaned Heero's name before Heero even touched him. He was sure he was making an embarrassingly needy face right now, but he failed to care because of the way Heero was worshipfully kissing his body all over.
"For the record," he breathed, "you're not unromantic."
Heero glanced up and gave him a funny look. "I can't write you beautiful songs or recite poetry," he said, his voice sounding somewhat dubious.
"That kind of thing doesn't matter," Duo told him. "I knew what was getting into when I started to want you. I would be annoyed with someone too sappy, anyway."
"That's right, you just want me up here naked," he teased before laying a light kiss on Duo's stomach.
"Of course I do," Duo smiled. "But you always give more than that. That's what's important. The way you are and the things you do... you're a very good lover, Heero." Duo couldn't continue beyond that, unable to articulate the differences he felt when he was with Heero compared to his past encounters. Heero had less skill and less experience than his previous lovers, but somehow it was better than it had ever been. How could he possibly hope to explain that? His mouth had started talking before his brain had really engaged, and having said all that left him rather embarrassed.
His confession seemed to embarrass Heero, too, but Heero managed to take it in stride. "Even if I'm not very good at your barbarian sex acts?" he asked.
Duo gave a relieved laugh. "There's only one way to improve at barbarian sex acts," he hinted.
"Ah," Heero nodded, suddenly looking just the slightest bit intimidated. He licked his lips and took as much of Duo's cock into his mouth as he comfortably could. Duo moaned again as Heero got started. It was completely untrue that Heero was "not very good" at this. Unsure of himself and a little awkward maybe, but he was far from bad. He tried hard - he gave - and that truly was the most important thing. Duo's intuition that Heero would be a good lover had been correct, and while there was still a lot more he wanted Heero to give, it would come with time. He was certain of that.
Heero felt a little more comfortable with Duo's dick in his mouth the third time around. He was slowly developing a technique, and Duo's tactful little instructions and generous praise helped him feel like he was doing a good enough job. He didn't know if he'd ever get to really like doing it, but it was something he was willing to do for Duo. Having had quite a bit to drink made him more creative and he could tell that Duo enjoyed the results. He thought he knew what to expect this time, but it became clear that Duo had something else in mind as he got closer to orgasm.
"I'm gonna try something... will you do something for me?" Duo asked in a moan. His eyes were shut tight, so Heero hummed to let him know he agreed.
Duo groped for Heero's hand. "Press here," he requested, and had Heero press his thumb to the underside of the base of his cock. "Ok, I'm almost there," Duo warned with hitched breath.
Heero only had to suck a little longer before Duo began to rock and shout. Heero prepared himself for the flood of come, but it never happened. Confused, Heero kept sucking. Duo continued to writhe under him until he was suddenly pushing him away.
"Ok, stop. STOP!" Duo panted brokenly and all but threw Heero off.
Heero didn't know what to think as he sat up. It had sounded like Duo had reached orgasm, but there had been no come; and then Duo had pushed him away. Had he done something wrong? Not from the look on Duo's face.
"Holy fuck!" Duo whooped. He was grinning from ear to ear, face flushed and damp with sweat. "Well fuck me sideways, I actually did it!" he laughed, chest still heaving. "Shit!"
"What just happened? What did you do?" Heero asked, still greatly unnerved. Having Duo push him away like he didn't want Heero to touch him made Heero more upset than he could really explain.
"Aw, you look like you're afraid you broke me or something!" Duo laughed as he sat up. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he said before giving Heero a short but thorough kiss on the mouth. "Damn, I didn't think I could do it!"
"Do what?" Heero pressed, question still unanswered.
"Orgasm but stay hard," Duo replied. Heero followed Duo's eyes to his still fully erect cock.
"So you did orgasm," Heero said, not really less confused. "But there was no ejaculation."
"Exactly! No ejaculation means I stay hard, which means I can keep playing," he grinned wildly at Heero. "No downtime, no recoup! Ready for more fun right away! Well, in theory, anyway. I think this time I might need to leave it alone for a moment here while I calm down a little."
"Wait, you had an orgasm without ejaculating? A real orgasm? How is that possible?" Heero asked. "Aren't they the same thing?"
"Ahhh, but they're not! Orgasm is all up here," Duo said, tapping his temple, "and ejaculation is all down here," this time he pointed to his cock. "You don't know much about women but they don't ejaculate like we do, and they can have multiple orgasms, one right after another, before they're finished. We men are at a bit of a disadvantage there unless orgasm and ejaculation can be decoupled, because ejaculation ends the fun for us most of the time," Duo told him, talking a mile a minute.
"So you've done that," Heero surmised, still looking troubled.
"I never woulda thought it was possible, but Sara has this crazy technique and she was teaching it to me back at the palace. It's all about concentration and focus. You start by learning to prolong the period of orgasm that precedes ejaculation, and then eventually you can stave off ejaculation all together. I've only managed it a couple of times before, and I wasn't sure I could get it to work since you turn me on so much and completely destroy my ability to focus. Uh, that's why I had to shove you off so rudely," Duo apologized, "you almost finished me!"
"But what's the point of it?" Heero asked.
Duo laughed again. "Well, with the girls, clearly the point was for me to keep up with them," he said as he got to his hands and knees, "but with you it means we can do more right away. You're ready again, right?" He was crawling over to Heero and leering in a very feral way.
"Ready?" Heero stammered as Duo crawled on top of him. "But isn't once enough?"
"Is it enough?" Duo asked. "Listen Heero, sometimes after we've done it and you hold me for a while at night, I can feel you get hard again and I always wonder why you don't want more."
Heero reddened at the mention of his untimely arousals. "But that would be greedy," he said seriously. "It's bad to be so self-indulgent, a man becomes soft."
"I guarantee you, Heero, there is nothing over-indulgent about coming twice in one night," Duo said, resting a hand on Heero's cheek. "And I'm just having fun here, we don't need weird tricks to keep going. We should just do it until we're satisfied."
Heero didn't look convinced, but Duo groped for his cock and found it almost fully hard. "Mmmm I knew you'd be ready again," Duo hummed before kissing him.
Heero rose to his knees and held Duo by the jaw as he took control of the kiss. "You're going to completely deprave me, aren't you?" he growled.
"You need some debauching," Duo countered and bit at Heero's lips.
What Heero didn't need was another invitation. He kissed Duo and tangled his hands in the thick hair that fell down Duo's back. Despite cultivating such rigid self-control, the truth was Heero really would like to have sex with Duo several times a day. He had plenty of fantasies involving desks, bathtubs, chairs, kitchen counters, and other sordid things he knew he should be ashamed of. If Duo was going to be so seductive and willing, his self-discipline was going to come up against a serious challenge. He stroked his hands down Duo's back, over his butt, and down between his thighs.
Duo gasped and Heero could feel a hard cock move against his hip. "Can I touch it now?" Heero asked sliding his hands around front.
"Oh, yeah, it's totally fine now, I just needed a second. I'm ready to go," Duo assured him. "I really am sorry for pushing you off, it's just you get me so wound up..." Duo trailed off then and covered it up with a kiss because he didn't think Heero would really appreciate hearing how erotic it was when he gave Duo head.
"So how am I supposed to fuck you sideways?" Heero asked.
"What?" Duo laughed, mostly sure that was a joke.
"That's what you said: 'fuck me sideways,'" Heero reminded him
Duo hummed. "We can figure that out another time, tonight I was thinking about like this," he said, turning around so he was on his hands and knees in front of Heero.
Heero's heart skipped a beat and he just stared at Duo's presentation for a moment. Duo looked altogether too good this way, it just couldn't be right. His hands came to rest gently on Duo's lower back. There was only one thing missing from such a nice view. "I won't be able to see your face this way," he remarked.
Duo cast him a coy look over his shoulder as he passed the jar of oil back. "Then you'll just have to read my body language," he said.
Heero leaned down to kiss Duo's back as he slicked his fingers, and then straightened up again to prepare Duo. Duo was much more mobile in this position and moved freely with the gentle thrusting motions of Heero's hand. He'd gotten used to doing this now, and it was certainly no chore. Duo's reactions excited him and he enjoyed doing it until Duo told him it was enough. Secretly, he liked to sometimes do it until Duo out right demanded he replace his fingers with his cock. He liked the reminder that Duo wanted him because mere weeks ago, he couldn't even let himself hope he would ever have Duo in his bed like this.
"Enough," Duo finally gulped, "enough fingers, Heero."
Heero withdrew his fingers and used them to spread oil on his cock. Duo was right, he was more than ready again. He wiped his hands before resuming his position behind Duo. He braced himself and carefully began to push inside, watching in awe as his cock disappeared into Duo. He pushed slowly and steadily, stroking Duo's cocky lightly with one hand as he did. Eventually, he pushed in to the hilt and Duo's body jerked.
"Ah! It's deep," Duo gasped out, tossing his head. He let out a shuddering breath and Heero stopped moving to give him a moment.
"Is it ok? I can stop," he said, silently praying that he would not have to.
There was a vigorous shake of Duo's head. "Just start slowly," Duo said, jaw clenched.
Heero gave him another moment, rubbing his palm up Duo's thigh to fondle his balls instead. He took his time withdrawing a bit and gently pushing his oiled cock back in. "You're so tight," he said thickly as he repeated the motion.
"My body went all tense when I came before. Just keep it up just like that," Duo moaned.
It didn't take much before Heero was thrusting in and out more easily. He kept the pace slow but put more power behind his hips. Duo gave a shaky moan and pushed himself back onto Heero's cock. Heero wanted to hear that noise again. He thrust forward hard and let Duo move on his cock however he wanted.
"Faster," Duo moaned.
"Duo," Heero growled as he picked up the pace. He rocked Duo's body forward every time he thrust all the way in. Duo's shoulders rolled and his back arched. He was so incredibly sexy Heero didn't know how he was going to last like this. He clutched at Duo's hips and ran his palms possessively over Duo's back and stomach.
"Nnn, that's right Heero. Gods, yeah, I love your hands on me," Duo groaned, arching.
Heero smirked. Duo's body language was clear enough, and it seemed there would not be a communication problem between them. He fucked Duo harder, enjoying the leverage this position allowed him and Duo's uninhibited movements. He didn't know if he'd ever get used to how incredible this felt. Before Duo, he had not believed that anything could possibly feel this good. This kind of pleasure was completely foreign to him. It was truly overwhelming at times.
"Oh fuck," Duo gasped, clutching the sheets and burying his face. An unsteady hand brought Heero's hand to Duo's wet cock. "Fuck, I'm gonna come again already," Duo groaned.
"Me, too," Heero rasped. He leaned his body over Duo's and began to pound into him. Duo met every thrust, his cries becoming wordless syllables. Heero braced his other hand on the bed near Duo's and Duo immediately clamped a hand around his wrist.
"Fuck, Heero, you better hold on," Duo forced the words out between ragged breaths. He didn't let go of Heero's wrist, but his other hand pulled Heero's hand off his cock. "I'll do this, you gotta hold onto me," he panted.
Moments later when Duo started to come, Heero understood why he'd received a warning. Duo bucked so wildly Heero would probably have slipped out if he hadn't been holding fast to Duo's hips and maintaining something of a rhythm. Heero was in no shape to withstand Duo's onslaught, and a strangled shout escaped him as a euphoric feeling flooded through him. His cock throbbed and pulsed as he came, and he could distantly hear Duo shout his name.
He collapsed onto Duo's back when he'd spent himself. Duo crumpled to the bed and Heero pulled out as he rolled off to the side. He pulled Duo to him, kissing his back and shoulders. Duo's body was still tight as a bowstring and Heero thought he could feel a tremor there. "Did you finish?" Heero asked between kisses.
"Shit, Heero, I came all over the fucking place!" Duo said with a breathless laugh. Duo found his hand and brought it to his softening cock. Heero moved his hand to caress Duo's thigh and finally the rest of him relaxed too, melting back into Heero's arms.
"That's a good position," Heero said, smiling as he buried his nose in Duo's tangled hair.
"Yeah, that was really good," Duo readily agreed. "Though I don't know if I'll be able to walk tomorrow!"
"We'll make sure you get a long hot bath," Heero promised.
"Sounds good already," Duo purred. He cuddled back into Heero and then seemed to pull away. "I think we really made a mess," he chuckled.
It was then that Heero felt how sticky it was between them. "Don't move," he ordered and pushed himself up off the bed. He found some fresh towels in his closet and returned to the bed. Duo had rolled onto his back and he pulled Heero into a long kiss as soon as Heero was within arm's reach. He released Heero's mouth only to kiss his jaw and down his neck. Heero began to gently wipe him off, but it did not seem to deter Duo from kissing his collarbone and shoulders. He coaxed Duo into rolling over so he could lay a towel on the soiled sheets, and then he settled next to Duo and pulled up the blankets. Duo's arms snaked around his waist and he rested his around Duo's shoulders.
"Duo, about your language," he began.
"Yeah, I guess it was pretty crude," Duo snickered. "I really couldn't control myself!"
"I was going to tell you not to hold back at times like that."
Duo nuzzled into his side. "Yeah? You don't mind it?"
"Seems the appropriate context," Heero fumbled in explanation. Really, he just liked to hear Duo go out of his mind. What came out of his mouth was less important.
Duo hummed in assent. "And what do I gotta do to get a little dirty talk out of you?" he teased, squeezing Heero.
"I'm sure you'll think of something," Heero replied wryly.
Notes:
- Some of Heero's sisters (Julia, Cornelia, etc) have names that are actually Roman family names but what's one more inaccuracy?
- Quaestor was a financial administration position and the first rung on the political ladder. (I wanted to make Quatre run for this office, but he's too young. Not that Heero is old enough to be a general, but I'm trying harder to be more accurate than I was when I started writing this.)
- More about what office Quatre is running for next time.
- Epithalamia are Greek wedding songs, not necessarily by Sappho, but she did have a book of them. You can look up Sappho on your own if you don't know who she is!
- If you don't remember who Thalia is, see chapter 16.
- Duo's performance with Stella is in chapter 18.
- For Marcus' introduction, see chapter 22.
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