About Last Night ......

[almost_russell]

Russell yawned as he stretched lazily, and snuggled up behind Beregond, still dead to the world. His eyes opened a little, and the first thing he saw was the angry bruise on his lover's neck. With a sharp intake of breath, the previous night's events came flooding back

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[guide_beregond]

Beregond slowly lifted from deep dreams, the kind that seem so clear and real while you're in them, but vanish quickly as you awaken.

Through his sleepy haze, he felt something on his back. Something very, very nice. He smiled, and managed to get his eyes halfway open. Russell was kissing the small of his back now. He reached one hand back, searching for his lover's hair, and brushed his fingers through it. He didn't want Russell to stop what he was doing, but he wanted to turn, see his face, hold him. It was a quandary.

And then he smelled coffee, and was that food, too? His stomach won out. He stretched, and turned towards Russell. "Morning. Or is it?" He squinted towards the window, wondering if it was morning or night. "Did I sleep long?"

[almost_russell]

Russell smiled against Beregond's back, shivering as his hand ran through his hair. He placed a kiss on his hip as he turned over, then moved up his body to find his lips. He pulled away after a long, slow kiss, smiling. "It's way into the afternoon, and we both slept for nearly 12 hours."

He sat up on the bed, handed his friend a coffee, and put the plate of pastries on the bed, feeling a little deja vu at the thought that once again, he was fully clothed while Beregond was naked. Another reminder of last night.

"How are you feeling?" He asked casually.

[guide_beregond]

Beregond sipped his coffee, taking a mental inventory of how he felt. Less achey that he would have expected after last night, but he did have some sore spots. As he raised his cup to his lips, he was shocked to see the state his wrists were in. He didn't want Russell to feel bad about that - Beregond didn't regret a moment of their evening, as intense as it was. He set the cup on the nightstand, and tried to casually slide his hands under a turn of the blanket.

"I'm feeling in love. That's what matters."

[almost_russell]

Russell watched Beregond carefully, and his breath caught as he saw his lover try and hide his damaged wrists. He shook his head and looked at him, eyes soft with concern. "That's not all that matters."

He reached out, and took Beregond's hands in his, resting them on top of the blanket. "If you're really okay with what happened last night, please don't try to hide anything."

His thumbs moved in gentle circles on his friend's palms. "I love you too much to ever make you do anything against your will. Tell me you don't want this, and it stops right here, right now, no regrets."

[guide_beregond]

Beregond nodded, and relaxed his hands under Russell's relaxing touch, trying to choose his words carefully.

"I'm fine with what happened last night, and I'm sorry I tried to hide this. But, you have to know I was hiding the bruises for an entirely different reason than you think."

He looked up at Russell, staring into those dark, clear eyes, and held his gaze.

"I don't want you to stop. And I don't want you to feel you need to hold back, at all. Bruising heals. I don't regret one second of what we did, and I want more. I'm a soldier, love, I can take this, and more. And Elbereth... I want to, if it's from you."

[almost_russell]

Russell stared back at Beregond, a shiver running down his spine at his friend's words. He would never have tried to take control of another person, it just wasn't in his nature, but have control freely given to him was another thing entirely. He suddenly needed to be closer. Pastries forgotten, he shrugged off his clothes, and slipped under the blankets. He lay propped up on one elbow, their legs tangled together, his fingers playing over Beregond's chest.

"I don't want to stop." It was a strangely hard admission for him to make. "And I do want to take it further." There was that shiver again. "But I don't want to lose what we have now. I want to laugh with you, get stoned with you, make love with you, and sometimes .." He picked up Beregond's wrist, and kissed it lightly ".. I'll want this from you."

[guide_beregond]

Beregond smiled. "I want all those things too. In fact, taking these pastries down to the river and working up a nice case of... what do you call them, oh right, the 'munchies' before eating sounds appealing. And should do a lot to ease out the aches, too."

Beregond leaned closer, nudging Russell until he could speak against his lips. "We won't lose what we have. I think we've just made an agreement to give ourselves even more of each other. I want this too, more than I think you know. I'll just have to prove it to you as time goes on, if you're willing to not hold yourself back."

[almost_russell]

Russell smiled, kissing Beregond before running his hand through his hair, looking deep in his eyes. "I won't hold back. I'll give you what you want, and I'll take what I need." An agreement, yes, they had an agreement.

"But for now, I think I think a trip to the river with breakfast, lunch, whatever it is sounds good to me. A couple of hours lazing around in the sun is just what we both need." His smile turned into a broad grin, "and I'm sure I can find something around here we can use to conjure the munchies!" He stole another kiss.

[guide_beregond]

"Lazing in the sun sounds good. Just the thing to ease out the muscles." Beregond smiled back, relieved to have this talk resolved, so that they might simply get on with the matter of living - and when the time came that Russell needed another scene like last night, most likely Beregond would already have been fantasizing about it for a while. He felt satisfied with this.

"And if the sun doesn't quite do the trick, I think you'll need to dig in with those fingers again." Beregond gave Russell a wicked look and a slow wink.

"Just because I'm in full agreement with you doesn't mean I won't play this up for all the side benefits I can get."

[almost_russell]

"Well, if we want sun, we'd better go now, and then I can show you exactly how good these fingers can make you feel." He ran his fingertips down Beregond's spine, smiling at the gasp he drew from him.

"Side benefits? Why doesn't that surprise me?" Russell grinned, shaking his head and moved to the side of the bed, looking for his jeans. He glanced back at Beregond, trying to look serious. "I suppose older guys just need more care and attention to keep them active!"

[guide_beregond]

Russell was asking for it, and this time, Beregond let loose a quick smirk, and reacted with rather impressive speed.

Beregond managed to move more quickly than Russell may have expected, but it's easy to surprise someone when you've been trained to take your enemies as much by surprise as by strength.

A few seconds later, Beregond stood over Russell, who lay flat on his stomach on the floor, one bare foot resting lightly on his back. Beregond chuckled.

"Now, then... what was that you said about older guys?"

[almost_russell]

One second Russell was looking at his jeans lying on the floor, the next he landed with a oof, face down on top of the jeans, Beregond's foot on his back. It took him a minute to get his breath back.

He grinned against the carpet. "Older guys? Er, I think I was saying that they should be given back rubs whenever they feel like it!" He turned over, smiling and grimacing at a couple of new aches, holding Beregond's foot as he did so. "But maybe I should have mentioned that if you throw younger guys around like that, you might break something vital! Might even lose the use of my fingers!" He slipped one hand around Beregond's ankle, and the other around his foot, thumb moving in firm lazy circles on the arch for a few minutes, then he stopped and grinned. "You gonna help me up anytime soon?"

[guide_beregond]

Beregond grinned down at Russell, in no hurry considering what was being done to his foot. But the thought of continuing this a little later, laying in the grass, sounded very appealing. He reached down and grabbed Russell's hand, pulling him up to his feet.

"Can't have you losing the use of these." Beregond took up one hand, and slowly sucked on one of Russell's long fingers. "We'd better get dressed or there's no telling what trouble an old man might get into."

[almost_russell]

Russell's grin as he was hauled to his feet was replaced by a glazed expression as he watched and felt Beregond take his finger into his mouth, felt him suck gently as his tongue swirled around it.

"Dressed?" Russell looked puzzled for a moment. "Oh yeah, grass and ... grass and pastries." He reached out, and pulled Beregond to him. "Man, if you ever want to leave this room, you gotta stop distracting me, or I'll never get my clothes on, and you'll never get the chance to lie on the grass and get your toes sucked." Russell winked at him, and went in search of his jeans.