A DRINK BEFORE BATTLE (MxM)

Sevei cradled his forehead in one hand, propped on his elbow, and rubbed his temples. He gave a long-suffering sigh to the mess of ledgers spread over his desk. The war had lasted five more years and now that it was over, packing up this camp was more of a headache than any of the fighting had been. In all that time, it had become something of a semi-permanent settlement.

For the most part, life here had been as peaceful as he had predicted so long ago. Once in a while things would get particularly heated and Loranar would send a few troops over to test the border defenses, but it was never anything like those first few battles again. In the end, Loranar had been defeated, and at this very moment a treaty was being negotiated in the capital city of Caedra.

Sevei inked his quill and began to scribble a few more notes when his tent flap gusted aside. Yanek swept through it and flung himself unceremoniously onto Sevei’s bed.

“Why are you here?” Sevei asked, leaning back in his chair for a stretch. “Aren’t you on leave to pack up your house?”

“Gerna threw me out,” Yanek groaned. “She said I was getting in the way. Then she said she doesn’t want to move to Valesk anymore. Then she said she doesn’t want to see my face today.”

Sevei squinted at him thoughtfully.

“Last time she threw you out...” he mused. “Could she be...?”

Yanek bolted upright in a panic.

“No!” he shouted. “No... we were careful... but there was that one night...”

Sevei chuckled under his breath.

“It’s easy for you to laugh,” Yanek complained, “you don’t have that problem...”

“No, don’t!” Sevei said irritably, pointing at him in warning. “I’m trying not to think about him.”

He turned back to his ledgers, and Yanek flopped back into the pillows.

“I don’t know why she gets so mad about it,” Yanek whined. “It’s not only my doing. She’s like a ravenous beast, Vei, and it’s not my fault I’m so gorgeous.”

Sevei snorted with laughter.

Yanek and Gerna had married four years ago and had two children already, who were the most adorable creatures Sevei had ever seen. Thank the Gods they had both been endowed with Gerna’s graceful beauty, although their son was beginning to look more and more like Yanek as he grew.

Sevei fondly recalled their wedding – how happy they had looked standing side by side with wreaths of flowers on their heads, how beautiful Gerna had looked in the dress Kyrzhan had made for her. The feast had been a simple affair in a countryside barn. There had been a lively circle dance, and Sevei had actually gotten a slightly inebriated Yeresym to join in. Those had been good days...

He shook his head to clear those thoughts away and glared at Yanek.

“Well, if you’re here then go find something to do,” he groused. “They’re tearing down the outbuildings in the west quarter today. You could go supervise that.”

Yanek stood and gave Sevei a salute. “Yes, General!”

Sevei stood as well and closed their distance to clap Yanek on the shoulder.

“Just a few more days, then it’s your turn,” he said with a smile. “How does it feel, General Yanek?”

Yanek grinned foolishly. “Feels pretty good, Brother. Although I’m nervous about the ceremony. I’ve never been to the palace before.”

“You’ll do fine,” Sevei assured him. “It kind of goes by in a blur.”

Yanek’s smile became pensive. “The army’s gonna be a lot different without you, though.”

“You’ll have to come visit my new Academy, then,” Sevei said proudly. “Send some of your officers to train with me.”

“Definitely!” Yanek’s voice had gone a bit hoarse, and his eyes were gleaming ever so slightly.

“And just give Gerna a day or two. If it’s what we think, she’ll come around. She loves those kids more than anything. And she’ll certainly not miss your confirmation. Now, go get to it – unless you’d like to help with all that.” Sevei waved a hand towards the pile of paperwork on his desk.

“Oh, no, no,” Yanek laughed as he hurried to leave. “I’ve got a few more days until that’s my job.”

When he’d gone, Sevei leaned over the front of his desk and turned a few ledgers around – lists of inventory and calculations of how many wagons they’d need to transport it all. As he leafed through the pages, the air behind him suddenly shifted and sizzled in a way that brought up the hair on the back of his neck. He froze, then practically melted as a warm body draped over his back, arms encircling his waist and wet lips nuzzling the edge of his ear. Heart pounding, he narrowed his eyes and glanced sideways, feigning indifference.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in Caedra witnessing the treaty?” he said.

“It’s done,” Yeresym murmured into his ear. A faint fragrance of wine drifted past Sevei’s nose. “They’re all at the banquet now.”

“Are you drunk!?” Sevei exclaimed with exaggerated shock.

“Not nearly drunk enough to stay at that dinner. It was boring...” He squeezed his arms around Sevei. “And I missed you.”

“Won’t they miss you?”

“Nnn...” Yeresym shook his head against Sevei’s shoulder. “I said I had a headache... the Ambassador told me to rest.”

“Aww,” Sevei cooed, turning around in Yeresym’s arms. “Did you come to me to cure it?”

He almost choked on his own breath at the sight that met his eyes.

Yeresym wore a black silk tunic with wide, draping sleeves, every edge of it trimmed in silver and gold embroidery. His hair had been loosed from its usual tieback, then expertly combed and pressed, waved ends falling in soft curls around his shoulders. A simple ring of silver encircled his forehead.

His alabaster cheeks were blushed with pink, probably from alcohol, but the smoldering glint in his eyes spoke of another possibility.

Of their own accord, Sevei’s hands delved into Yeresym’s clothes while he leaned close to his lips.

“And just which head is it that’s aching?” Sevei murmured as his hand made its way into Yeresym’s trousers.

Yeresym’s eyes fluttered shut and his head lolled back. “Ah... yes, that’s the one,” he groaned.

Sevei caressed him teasingly, and sighed.

“For two months,” he said sternly, “you’ve left me here to toil away all on my own...”

Yeresym reached for Sevei’s belt, working it open while he glanced down at the desk. “Paperwork is hardly toiling...” he said defensively.

“...while you’ve been flitting about playing diplomat. Then you show up out of nowhere, looking like this... do you really think you’re being fair?”

Yeresym leaned forward and kissed him lazily. He tasted like sweet wine and smelled like flowers, and Sevei began to feel that he may be a bit drunk himself.

The belt fell onto the ledgers behind him and Yeresym started on his trousers.

“You’re right,” Yeresym purred softly. “I do owe you...”

The trousers fell, and Yeresym sank to his knees. The silver fillet flew off of his head and bounced with a soft thud on the carpet.

Sevei was suddenly enveloped in Yeresym’s warm, wet mouth. His knees buckled, and he leaned heavily back onto the edge of the desk with a barely suppressed moan.

“Well, that’s a good start,” he wheezed.

Yeresym’s lips and tongue played over Sevei’s sensitive flesh with a precise and dedicated skill, even in his slightly drunken state. He had become quite the expert at this particular activity over the years.

Quickly disintegrating into an incoherent mess, Sevei almost didn’t hear the sweep of his tent flap.

“Dear Gods, Vei, would it kill you to tie your tent!?” Yanek shouted irritably. His boots clodded heavily on the ground outside as he stomped away.

Yeresym jumped, but Sevei only laughed breathlessly and laced his fingers through his hair, urging him to continue.

“Don’t mind him,” he gasped. “He’s having a bad day. I, on the other hand, am suddenly having a very, very good day.”

Yeresym’s enthralling green eyes glared up at him. Then he extended his tongue and ran its tip slowly up the entirety of Sevei’s length. Tiny sparks of ethereal energy followed in its wake.

Sevei’s eyes flew open.

“You...”

Before he could form a sentence, he was lost to the oblivion of ecstasy.

“So unfair...” he managed with much difficulty.

Yeresym had tried to teach Sevei to conjure his energy, but despite his best efforts, he never could get the hang of it. Yeresym, on the other hand, had only become increasingly adept as time went on... not to mention increasingly creative.

Before Sevei could fall back onto the desk, Yeresym caught him and hauled him to the bed, throwing him down before clambering on top of him. Sevei wrapped his arms around Yeresym and held him tightly.

“Calm down,” he panted. “I may need a few minutes to recover from that.”

Yeresym stared at him bleary-eyed for a moment, then nodded and rolled to the side. Snuggling against Sevei’s body, he threw an arm and a leg over him and rested his head on Sevei’s shoulder.

“That’s fine,” he mumbled, yawning suddenly. “This is all I really needed.”

Sevei kissed his forehead and tried to smooth down the lovely hairstyle that had gotten mussed in the tumble.

“I missed you, too,” he whispered. “Did you see Meira while you were there?”

“Mm... Thelan bought her a house. It’s beautiful.”

“Oh! Did she get the job with the Caedran Crown, then?”

“Of course. Chanters are in short supply. Thelan could work anywhere she wants to... although why she’d want to be a Royal Alchemist...”

Yeresym shrugged, then raised up onto one elbow to look down at Sevei.

“Speaking of houses,” he said excitedly, “I think I found one for our Academy. A small fortress in Yldratha. Plenty of land for training grounds and stables. The building needs some cleaning up, but it’s been kept in good repair. The living quarters are beautiful... huge windows all over... and there’s a garden, a bit overgrown just now, but...”

Sevei laughed delightedly.

“We’ll go see it after Yan’s confirmation,” he said warmly.

They’d been making these plans for years. If there was one thing this war had illustrated, it was a need for Martial Alchemists and the regular military troops to work together efficiently and cooperatively. Now there would be an Academy where Martials and soldiers could train together under the tutelage of Valesk’s two most celebrated Generals, who had led the defeat of the notorious Balan Ghed, depriving Loranar of a likely victory – General Zarayan Sevei and General Yeresym Urskatha.

In this quiet moment, though, as the afternoon sun glowed orange through the white tent canvas, General Urskatha began to snore lightly against General Sevei’s shoulder.

In the spirit of cooperation, Sevei breathed a deep, contented breath and let his own eyes close.

Yeresym fidgeted in his arms and lifted his head again.

“I love you, Zarayan,” he whispered.

His lips fell very gently onto Sevei’s, and a wisp of ethereal energy popped like static electricity between them.

Sevei opened his eyes at the shock, to find Yeresym gazing at him adoringly. He sighed.

“I love you too...” he answered, licking his numbly vibrating bottom lip.

“...weirdo.”

THE END

[author] Well. There it is. I am now an official author of a work in that noblest of English literary traditions - the novel. I would love to turn on the caps lock right now and squeal and swear, but as the author of a novel, I must henceforth comport myself with the decorum and the dignified gravitas, and OMFG I WROTE A WHOLE FUCKING NOVEL!!!! AND IT HAS A SOMEWHAT COHESIVE PLOT AND EVEN SOME THEMES AND HUMAN CONDITION AND ALL THAT FUCKERY AND I FINALLY USED MY BULLSHIT ENGLISH MAJOR FOR SOMETHING!!!!

Ahem. Apologies. I’m sure you won’t be offended, though. You did just read my novel, so you already know what kind of person I am.

Thank you so much for coming on this ride with me. Those of you who have been here through the writing have been the fuel that has kept me going, and I can’t express how grateful I am.

This story is now complete... pending some possible extras in the future. If that interests you, make sure you have notifications turned on in your Complete folder, or follow my profile and I’ll make an announcement when there’s a bonus chapter.

That will be awhile, though. My plans for now are:

1. Finish Salvage

2. Start editing this one whenever I need a break from Salvage (there won’t be any major changes, mostly fixing things like how I neglected to describe Thelan and Yanek at their intros. Oops.)

3. Start on something new and write extras for both ADBTW and Salvage whenever I need a break from that and never have two whole things going at the same time again (heh heh).

Before you go, please enjoy this mug shot lineup I did for just about everybody (Commander Bhari is missing because I can’t get her to look right. Maybe by the time there’s an extra I’ll have a good picture for her.)

Thanks again, and if you miss me, come read Salvage! 💕[/author]