A DRINK BEFORE BATTLE (MxM)

The best entertaining room in the Aviary was an empty and lonely place tonight.

After a soak in that luxurious bathtub, Sevei had draped himself in a pair of whisper-soft silk trousers and a brocade robe. He now reclined on the overstuffed cushions of the bench with a flagon of very expensive wine, gazing into the dancing flames in the fireplace. Somewhere in the house, someone was playing a gentle and soothing melody on some kind of bowed instrument.

None of this was enough to calm Sevei’s mind. Every creak of the house or sound of movement outside the window caused his heart to lurch and his body to tense, while his thoughts churned the day’s events over and over again – the men crushed under that fallen spire, those burned with ethereal energy, the sight of Meira disintegrating in the air.

He thought of Yeresym, riding away with wagons full of their own dead soldiers without a word or even a glance back at him. Today, he had killed the man who had caused him so much pain, but he hadn’t seemed at all celebratory, even after realizing that Meira had survived. Instead, he’d reverted to that immovable glacier that was General Urskatha, only now he seemed to have been hollowed out, his shell hardening lest it become too brittle.

Sevei leapt to his feet and paced the room. He shouldn’t be here. With Meira and Nal gone, Thelan along with them for now, and even Yanek standing in at the municipal house overnight, Yeresym would be alone in camp without any of his closest people. It wasn’t right. Even if he was holed up in his tent doing his Contemplation, there should be someone nearby, shouldn’t there?

He reached for his clothes hanging on the folding screen. If he could get to the municipal house, there would be an Alchemist who could take him back to camp.

A loud creak out in the hallway sent his outstretched hand reflexively to the sword leaning near the screen. He drew the sword from its sheath as he moved across the room, his body tensing and filling with adrenaline as he pulled the door open.

Even in the dim shadows of the darkened hallway, there could be no mistaking that head of silvery hair retreating back toward the stairwell.

“Oh... hey,” Sevei said, relaxing and lowering his sword. “Did something happen?”

Yeresym turned around awkwardly, and his lips opened in surprise. He shook his head mutely as his eyes swept over Sevei’s form in the doorway. Dressed only in those thin silk trousers and the long brocade robe falling open to reveal his bare torso, Sevei knew what he must look like. He had to clench his jaws to keep from laughing.

Yeresym cleared his throat. “I had to go see Gendaran off,” he said hoarsely. “Then I just...” He shrugged as his voice trailed away.

“Ugh, I’m sure that was fun,” Sevei said with a curl of his lip. Then he stepped aside and opened the door further. “Do you want to come in?”

Yeresym looked through the doorway hesitantly, then nodded and followed Sevei into the room.

Sevei crossed the room to the table, depositing his sword across the tabletop before filling two cups with wine. He turned around to see Yeresym glancing about the room with a complicated expression. He smiled knowingly, then handed a cup over to Yeresym and clinked the two together.

“Good riddance to Gendaran,” he said, turning to lead the way to the bench. He reclined into the corner, draping one arm along the bench’s back.

“He’s not happy with you,” Yeresym responded, settling next to Sevei. “Did you really threaten to ‘turn his nose inward’?”

Sevei’s face darkened. “He called Meira his ‘property’ again,” he explained. “While he was berating me for allowing you to allow her to get killed.”

Yeresym nodded. “That sounds right,” he muttered.

“Let’s drink to more pleasant things,” Sevei said, raising his cup again. “You won. You slew the dragon and saved the lady. How are you feeling about that?”

Yeresym’s face cycled through several different emotions before landing on a sad smile. “We won,” he said. He looked into Sevei’s eyes with warmth and sincerity. “Thank you.”

Sevei smiled with his eyes over the rim of his cup before setting the wine aside. “Does this mean you’re not mad at me anymore?”

Yeresym shook his head. “I’m not... I wasn’t...” He sighed. “I apologize for overreacting today. I should have known that wasn’t really...”

“You don’t have to apologize,” Sevei interrupted. “I thought the same.”

“But I should have known better,” Yeresym countered, shaking his head. “Illusions are just... that’s some very advanced magic. It didn’t occur to me that Thelan could do that, but it should have. I’ve underestimated him...”

Sevei cleared his throat, looking away nervously. “Well, that’s probably an apology due to Thelan, not to me.”

“Yes,” Yeresym agreed. “But I’ll still apologize for taking it out on you.”

He finished his wine and placed the cup on a side table, then sat back with a pensive frown, staring vacantly into the fireplace.

“Thelan and Meira...” he mused. “When did that start? Meira didn’t say anything to me...”

“I think she was trying not to get too involved, since she’d be leaving,” Sevei explained. “But it started when they healed you together.”

Yeresym nodded, and his face flickered with understanding. “Ah...” he said, “yes, that magic would have been quite... intimate.”

He turned his head and his gaze, still lost within his thoughts, traveled slowly up Sevei’s body, pausing at his exposed chest before continuing up to his eyes. He licked his lips, and swallowed.

“I meant what I said this morning,” he murmured lowly. “I don’t want you to think I was just saying it... especially after how I behaved later...”

Sevei’s lips spread into a slow smile. He sat up and leaned toward Yeresym, sliding his arm down the back of the bench. He looked deep into Yeresym’s beautiful green eyes, sparkling in the firelight.

“I meant what I said too,” he purred. His eyes briefly scanned the room. “And we are somewhere else now...”

Yeresym smiled and gave a breathy laugh, his eyes lighting further.

Sevei was starstruck. He held his breath as Yeresym slowly moved toward him, closing the distance until their lips gently met and melded together.

Sevei’s heart began to race, his body almost vibrating with urgency, but he kept still and let Yeresym take the lead.

Yeresym raised a hand to Sevei’s chest, sliding it up over his collar bone to his neck. Twining his fingers into Sevei’s hair, he pressed himself more firmly into the kiss. Sevei moaned softly when Yeresym’s tongue crept between his lips, sending an acute sense of need through Sevei’s body. His restraint beginning to fray, Sevei eagerly returned the slow and sensual caress of that soft, warm, and delectable tongue.

Yeresym’s hand slipped down Sevei’s neck and across his shoulder, under the edge of his open robe. Sevei dropped his arm from the back of the bench and reached for Yeresym’s waist, wanting to pull him closer, but when Yeresym’s fingers found the bandages wrapped around Sevei’s upper arm, he drew back, leaving Sevei’s mouth suddenly empty and wanting.

“Mmh,” Sevei protested petulantly.

Yeresym’s face was flushed, and his breath still trembling, but he pushed the robe aside and frowned at the bandages.

“How is your arm?” he asked. “Still hurting?”

“Nah... one of your people did some healing on it,” Sevei answered. He wound his shoulder back and forth as evidence. In truth, it did still smart quite a bit, but he wouldn’t admit that now. “It’s funny how that ethereal energy has so many different uses,” he said suggestively.

Yeresym looked back into Sevei’s eyes, and the corner of his mouth quirked. “It is rather versatile,” he agreed.

Sevei’s eyes narrowed intently. “Speaking of it... it seemed you nearly exhausted all your energy again today. Shouldn’t you be resting, or Contemplating, or something?”

Yeresym shook his head and looked away. “I did some, but... I’m always restless after a fight...” He sighed heavily. “And this one was...”

“Mm,” Sevei murmured. “I know exactly what you mean.”

He raised a hand to Yeresym’s still heated face and brushed his fingertips over his cheek, then across his lips. Both of Yeresym’s hands balled into fists, tightly gripping Sevei’s robe, tugging at him. Still holding Yeresym’s face in his palm, Sevei brought his other arm around Yeresym’s waist and gathered him close. He leaned their foreheads together, he pressed a soft kiss to the bridge of Yeresym’s nose.

Yeresym’s breath hitched, and Sevei seemed to feel the sound of it in his soul.

“Is that what you’re here for?” Sevei murmured.

So close that their eyelashes brushed, he watched the sunflowers in Yeresym’s eyes disappear behind the black void of his expanding pupils. When Yeresym answered, his voice came in a harsh and desperate whisper.

“Yes.”

[author] Sorry to cut you off right there, but this seemed a good place to pause. I actually think that if I weren’t doing explicit scenes in this book, that would have been a good ending right there. I think there will be two more chapters, the rest of this and then an epilogue. If I’m having too much fun with the rest of this scene and can’t shut up and be concise, then there might have to be three. We’ll see. Thank you so much for reading! 💕[/author]