The Color of Passion - Part 1
Alright, I'm trying this out on ya'll before I go and post this anywhere else. This was in part inspired by the ending of my previous fic and also by the current prompt which is "Collar" on Loveless100. It won't immediately be apparent where the collar comes in.
Be advised that part 2 will include the explicit sex part but this part definitely is an R. I'm posting this in two parts because I think this works better that way and also because I'm anxious to see what y'all think of this part. ;)
Not putting formal headers on this. It is Soubi and Ritsuka, and it's Ritsuka's 15th Birthday.
A week after Ritsuka's fifteenth birthday, Soubi invited Ritsuka into staying the night with him. His place was warm and quiet and he had birthday presents of his own to give to Ritsuka, not least of which was the one in a small silk pouch embroidered with gold thread.
He became increasingly nervous about it, distracting himself with plans for a meal guaranteed to coax his Sacrifice into eating something that didn't come wrapped in plastic. Earlier in the day, Yuiko and Yayoi had joined them at a local skating rink. Soubi didn't skate; he sat and sketched with smiles for Ritsuka every time their eyes locked and less intimate ones for Ritsuka's friends. He'd been patient for a long time, patience a little longer wasn't going to be the death of him.
Still, there was a sense of relief when the door of his apartment closed on the two of them, alone. Ritsuka was fidgety, though he came at once into Soubi's arms and kissed him softly but thoroughly. Soubi started to shiver just from the brush of their mouths back and forth, the delicate flicks of their tongues together. He remembered their first kisses and each one was cataloged in his memory. This, was one of the best. When Ritsuka pulled back, he was flushed and looked almost as shaky as Soubi felt.
"I love you, Ritsuka," he murmured, then grinned and kissed the tip of Ritsuka's nose. "Food, then presents, then bed," he said firmly, giving Ritsuka ample time to back out. He'd have to face quite a lot of disapproval if they went through with this.
Ritsuka's flush grew deeper but he didn't flinch. "I love you, Soubi," he said, mimicking Soubi's tone.
He sat on a stool while Soubi worked in the kitchen, occasionally snitching a bit of this or that but mainly giving the whole thing a doubtful look. "Why do you always cook for me?" he asked, tilting his head to admire the way Soubi's hair fell from its pony tail down his back.
Soubi smiled to himself, continuing with his careful dicing. "Because you don't eat otherwise. And because I enjoy the craft of it. It's peaceful and you get good food as a result."
He didn't look round but nearly cut himself when Ritsuka's arms slid around him from behind, his head resting against Soubi's back. "You're so beautiful," Ritsuka said, sounding tearful. He could feel something jangling in the bond between them but couldn't fathom it, until he laid aside the sharp knife and turned carefully in the tight embrace.
"Not like you," Soubi said firmly, brushing his fingertips through Ritsuka's dark hair, ruffling the feathery strands and tickling Ritsuka's kitten ears.
"You're beautiful in spite of what you've been through," Ritsuka insisted passionately, tipping his head up so that Soubi could see his dark violet eyes. "I'm just...cute," he finished, looking as if he wasn't satisfied.
"No," Soubi disagreed with a sigh. "You're beautiful. You are. You brought me out of darkness and I love you."
Ritsuka opened his mouth to argue, then closed it again. He leaned his head against Soubi's chest and grumbled, "I should know not to argue with you when you get into your Ritsuka worshipping mood."
Soubi laughed. "Is that what you call it?" He kissed Ritsuka's head. "I do worship you," he confessed in nearly a whisper. I always have, I always will."
"Soubi!" Ritsuka's voice was half-laugh and half-sob. He squeezed Soubi tight around the waist as if he was afraid Soubi might disappear if he didn't hold on with all his might and will. "My beautiful Soubi," he said with a tenderness that made Soubi's heart ache and laugh at the same time.
Reluctantly, Soubi coaxed Ritsuka to loosen his hold with gentle hands, bribing him with a bit of candied ginger root before returning to his cooking. He chose the onions to chop next, needing something to hide his tears. He was fairly sure that Ritsuka knew what he was doing but he didn't push Soubi, just petted his hand once down Soubi's hair then moved away.
Eventually, the meal was ready and it was then that it was revealed that Ritsuka had planned ahead. "I went to Yokohama especially," he said excitedly, looking far more like the eleven year old he'd once been than the near adult he now was. From his pack, he removed two tissue wrapped bundles, and one of them he placed in Soubi's hands. "Your size hardly changed at all," he said, brushing a hand over the tissue.
"Remember that first time, with Yuiko and Yayoi and Sensei? Remember?"
"I remember." Soubi could smile now about how possessive he'd felt over Ritsuka that day.
"I got...I liked how you looked in your tunic. Me too. This is...it's special."
When Soubi carefully tore the tissue back, he saw the tunic he'd worn on that day, or it's twin. His throat closed and his vision grew blurred and Soubi grabbed Ritsuka, pulling him close. Here was his talisman, his sovereign cure and he hid his face in Ritsuka's neck like a child.
"Ritsuka! I...You...I..." For once, Soubi was speechless, stumbling to find something to say. There was nothing and that person would have laughed himself sick if he could have seen it. There was a part of Soubi that wasn't sure that how he felt wasn't laughable.
"Soubi," Ritsuka breathed, doing his best to soothe the storm of Soubi's emotions. His hands patted and stroked, uncertain but willing after all the times they'd touched. "It was a good day," Ritsuka explained in a whisper, kissing the sharp slope of Soubi's cheek. "I was happy that day. With you and everyone, but especially you. I'm happy this day, with you." His young voice shook as he spoke and Soubi understood that he was not the only one with a clogged throat.
Soubi held Ritsuka close for another long moment, then let him go with a brush of lips on his smooth brow. Ritsuka had other ideas though, and he pushed Soubi's fingers aside when he went to remove his shirt to put on the new tunic. With a flushed face and glowing eyes like the darkest part of a purple dusk, Ritsuka carefully slipped the shirt off. He'd seen Soubi this way a few times, caught shirtless, whether because of injury or accident but now he took a moment to thoroughly take in Soubi's bare skin.
Shifting a little, Soubi was sharply aware of every mark, every scar, every imperfection. It hurt suddenly, burned with pain that he was not as fresh and new and perfect as Ritsuka. He looked away, reaching up to slide the clip from his hair and release the silky strands to hide behind, dropping his head. "Ritsuka," he said, more sharply than he intended, reaching for the tunic and sliding his sensitive fingertips over the soft silk.
Slender fingers coasted over his skin, barely seeming to float over his breastbone towards the place where the word B E L O V E D still left him with a sense of shame. "Don't," Ritsuka said, his voice quiet and ...and reverent and very firm. "Whatever you're thinking that's making you so miserable, making you want to hide - don't. I can feel it, you know. Feel how sad you are that you're not...that you don't have ears any more. If you hadn't been through those things...we wouldn't be here now. I'd be...I'd be at Seven Moons."
Soubi did not reply. He would not argue with Ritsuka and perhaps there was some truth to what he said. That didn't take away what he felt.
Ritsuka sighed and reached up to tuck Soubi's hair behind his ear. "I'm sorry, I only wish you could see yourself the way I do." He turned away to shed his own shirt, mercifully giving Soubi time to draw on the soft silk tunic and smooth it down.
Dinner was a quiet affair, spent seated facing each other. Soubi entertained them both with his favorite past time, feeding Ritsuka. Each bite was an opportunity to watch his young Sacrifice's dark pink mouth, the tenor of his thoughts slipping inexorably towards the bed and what they might do there. Soubi himself ate almost nothing. A few bites here and there, but that was all.
Ritsuka noticed and cocked his head to one side. "Come over here," he said softly, those eyes of his gleaming with mischief and a little shyness. Soubi obeyed, slinking around the little table like a large feline of some unknown variety. Ritsuka laughed when he rumbled a purr and nuzzled in against Ritsuka's shoulder.
"Here you, you don't eat, either," Ritsuka said chidingly, petting his fingers through Soubi's hair, scritching at his scalp.
Soubi didn't answer, eyes closing in bliss.
Ritsuka's fingertips offered him a morsel of food and after a brief pause of sheer delighted shock, Soubi opened his mouth. He licked Ritsuka's fingers, intensely blue eyes on Ritsuka and he wondered if Ritsuka felt the same satisfaction and excitement that he did over such an act. White teeth carefully dragged over one finger before he sat back to chew and swallow, watching Ritsuka's fidgeting arousal.
He didn't speak, and let Ritsuka feed him several bites in this way, each one sending delicate flickers of heat through Soubi's body until it nearly hurt with the impossible tension. He was throbbing, a slow steady pulse through his blood that coiled in his groin. Soubi finally pushed Ritsuka back from the table to lean against the sofa, kissing his neck, biting lightly while one hand slid down over his Sacrifice's side.
It was Ritsuka's turn to purr, wrapping arms around Soubi and digging his fingers into Soubi's shoulder. The slender boy seemed as overcome as Soubi himself was, trembling in Soubi's arms and arching upwards until Soubi drew his hand down over the fly of Ritsuka's jeans where he too throbbed. "Soubi! Don't stop, don't stop," Ritsuka cried, grinding himself against Soubi's hand, burning him from the hunger roaring through their bond and the heat between their bodies. Soubi obeyed, longing for the feel of hot flesh in his hand, the heel of his hand pushing sharply against the line of Ritsuka's hard shaft.
"I want you so much," Soubi whispered, the buttons on Ritsuka's tunic giving way so that he could kiss the slender shoulder and collar bones, licking them in a languid thorough swipe of his tongue. "I want to feel you inside my body, the way I feel you inside my heart," he breathed, shifting them both up on the sofa with Ritsuka on top of him. One leg dropped to the side, giving Ritsuka room between his thighs.
Ritsuka didn't ask him if he was sure; that conversation had taken place more than a year before. He was what he was, and Ritsuka, thank any God who was listening, understood. Ritsuka whispered to Soubi instead, hiding his blushes in Soubi's hair, telling him how much he was wanted, craved, needed. He shifted against his Fighter, his lover in all ways but one, grinding against him, drawing soft helpless moans from Soubi's throat.
Lifting his head, Ritsuka looked down on Soubi, his look composed of embarrassment, possessiveness and passion. Soubi's eyes lifted to Ritsuka's, unmistakable pleading in them, the pupils dilated so that his eyes were so dark that the blue was nearly obscured. "Didn't you say something about presents?" Ritsuka teased, kissing Soubi's mouth softly and taking Soubi's groan away with his breath.
"Yes," Soubi answered, lashes sweeping down against his cheeks as he pulled his mouth away reluctantly. "Yes, there's presents. I promised. And there's one that...one that...I'll get it," he offered, though the enticements of Ritsuka's eager passion and slim beauty were difficult to even think of giving up, even for a moment.
Ritsuka stilled, leaning his head back so he could look at Soubi, his purple eyes almost as dark as Soubi's blue ones. His lips were damp, bruised from the force of their kisses. "It's important to you, isn't it?" Ritsuka said and he shifted, carefully, as if peeling himself from his position on top of Soubi was terribly difficult. "Get it," he said, "then we're going to bed." A little of Ritsuka's impatience sang in his voice, irritation prickling down their bond tempered with an abiding affection.
Be advised that part 2 will include the explicit sex part but this part definitely is an R. I'm posting this in two parts because I think this works better that way and also because I'm anxious to see what y'all think of this part. ;)
Not putting formal headers on this. It is Soubi and Ritsuka, and it's Ritsuka's 15th Birthday.
A week after Ritsuka's fifteenth birthday, Soubi invited Ritsuka into staying the night with him. His place was warm and quiet and he had birthday presents of his own to give to Ritsuka, not least of which was the one in a small silk pouch embroidered with gold thread.
He became increasingly nervous about it, distracting himself with plans for a meal guaranteed to coax his Sacrifice into eating something that didn't come wrapped in plastic. Earlier in the day, Yuiko and Yayoi had joined them at a local skating rink. Soubi didn't skate; he sat and sketched with smiles for Ritsuka every time their eyes locked and less intimate ones for Ritsuka's friends. He'd been patient for a long time, patience a little longer wasn't going to be the death of him.
Still, there was a sense of relief when the door of his apartment closed on the two of them, alone. Ritsuka was fidgety, though he came at once into Soubi's arms and kissed him softly but thoroughly. Soubi started to shiver just from the brush of their mouths back and forth, the delicate flicks of their tongues together. He remembered their first kisses and each one was cataloged in his memory. This, was one of the best. When Ritsuka pulled back, he was flushed and looked almost as shaky as Soubi felt.
"I love you, Ritsuka," he murmured, then grinned and kissed the tip of Ritsuka's nose. "Food, then presents, then bed," he said firmly, giving Ritsuka ample time to back out. He'd have to face quite a lot of disapproval if they went through with this.
Ritsuka's flush grew deeper but he didn't flinch. "I love you, Soubi," he said, mimicking Soubi's tone.
He sat on a stool while Soubi worked in the kitchen, occasionally snitching a bit of this or that but mainly giving the whole thing a doubtful look. "Why do you always cook for me?" he asked, tilting his head to admire the way Soubi's hair fell from its pony tail down his back.
Soubi smiled to himself, continuing with his careful dicing. "Because you don't eat otherwise. And because I enjoy the craft of it. It's peaceful and you get good food as a result."
He didn't look round but nearly cut himself when Ritsuka's arms slid around him from behind, his head resting against Soubi's back. "You're so beautiful," Ritsuka said, sounding tearful. He could feel something jangling in the bond between them but couldn't fathom it, until he laid aside the sharp knife and turned carefully in the tight embrace.
"Not like you," Soubi said firmly, brushing his fingertips through Ritsuka's dark hair, ruffling the feathery strands and tickling Ritsuka's kitten ears.
"You're beautiful in spite of what you've been through," Ritsuka insisted passionately, tipping his head up so that Soubi could see his dark violet eyes. "I'm just...cute," he finished, looking as if he wasn't satisfied.
"No," Soubi disagreed with a sigh. "You're beautiful. You are. You brought me out of darkness and I love you."
Ritsuka opened his mouth to argue, then closed it again. He leaned his head against Soubi's chest and grumbled, "I should know not to argue with you when you get into your Ritsuka worshipping mood."
Soubi laughed. "Is that what you call it?" He kissed Ritsuka's head. "I do worship you," he confessed in nearly a whisper. I always have, I always will."
"Soubi!" Ritsuka's voice was half-laugh and half-sob. He squeezed Soubi tight around the waist as if he was afraid Soubi might disappear if he didn't hold on with all his might and will. "My beautiful Soubi," he said with a tenderness that made Soubi's heart ache and laugh at the same time.
Reluctantly, Soubi coaxed Ritsuka to loosen his hold with gentle hands, bribing him with a bit of candied ginger root before returning to his cooking. He chose the onions to chop next, needing something to hide his tears. He was fairly sure that Ritsuka knew what he was doing but he didn't push Soubi, just petted his hand once down Soubi's hair then moved away.
Eventually, the meal was ready and it was then that it was revealed that Ritsuka had planned ahead. "I went to Yokohama especially," he said excitedly, looking far more like the eleven year old he'd once been than the near adult he now was. From his pack, he removed two tissue wrapped bundles, and one of them he placed in Soubi's hands. "Your size hardly changed at all," he said, brushing a hand over the tissue.
"Remember that first time, with Yuiko and Yayoi and Sensei? Remember?"
"I remember." Soubi could smile now about how possessive he'd felt over Ritsuka that day.
"I got...I liked how you looked in your tunic. Me too. This is...it's special."
When Soubi carefully tore the tissue back, he saw the tunic he'd worn on that day, or it's twin. His throat closed and his vision grew blurred and Soubi grabbed Ritsuka, pulling him close. Here was his talisman, his sovereign cure and he hid his face in Ritsuka's neck like a child.
"Ritsuka! I...You...I..." For once, Soubi was speechless, stumbling to find something to say. There was nothing and that person would have laughed himself sick if he could have seen it. There was a part of Soubi that wasn't sure that how he felt wasn't laughable.
"Soubi," Ritsuka breathed, doing his best to soothe the storm of Soubi's emotions. His hands patted and stroked, uncertain but willing after all the times they'd touched. "It was a good day," Ritsuka explained in a whisper, kissing the sharp slope of Soubi's cheek. "I was happy that day. With you and everyone, but especially you. I'm happy this day, with you." His young voice shook as he spoke and Soubi understood that he was not the only one with a clogged throat.
Soubi held Ritsuka close for another long moment, then let him go with a brush of lips on his smooth brow. Ritsuka had other ideas though, and he pushed Soubi's fingers aside when he went to remove his shirt to put on the new tunic. With a flushed face and glowing eyes like the darkest part of a purple dusk, Ritsuka carefully slipped the shirt off. He'd seen Soubi this way a few times, caught shirtless, whether because of injury or accident but now he took a moment to thoroughly take in Soubi's bare skin.
Shifting a little, Soubi was sharply aware of every mark, every scar, every imperfection. It hurt suddenly, burned with pain that he was not as fresh and new and perfect as Ritsuka. He looked away, reaching up to slide the clip from his hair and release the silky strands to hide behind, dropping his head. "Ritsuka," he said, more sharply than he intended, reaching for the tunic and sliding his sensitive fingertips over the soft silk.
Slender fingers coasted over his skin, barely seeming to float over his breastbone towards the place where the word B E L O V E D still left him with a sense of shame. "Don't," Ritsuka said, his voice quiet and ...and reverent and very firm. "Whatever you're thinking that's making you so miserable, making you want to hide - don't. I can feel it, you know. Feel how sad you are that you're not...that you don't have ears any more. If you hadn't been through those things...we wouldn't be here now. I'd be...I'd be at Seven Moons."
Soubi did not reply. He would not argue with Ritsuka and perhaps there was some truth to what he said. That didn't take away what he felt.
Ritsuka sighed and reached up to tuck Soubi's hair behind his ear. "I'm sorry, I only wish you could see yourself the way I do." He turned away to shed his own shirt, mercifully giving Soubi time to draw on the soft silk tunic and smooth it down.
Dinner was a quiet affair, spent seated facing each other. Soubi entertained them both with his favorite past time, feeding Ritsuka. Each bite was an opportunity to watch his young Sacrifice's dark pink mouth, the tenor of his thoughts slipping inexorably towards the bed and what they might do there. Soubi himself ate almost nothing. A few bites here and there, but that was all.
Ritsuka noticed and cocked his head to one side. "Come over here," he said softly, those eyes of his gleaming with mischief and a little shyness. Soubi obeyed, slinking around the little table like a large feline of some unknown variety. Ritsuka laughed when he rumbled a purr and nuzzled in against Ritsuka's shoulder.
"Here you, you don't eat, either," Ritsuka said chidingly, petting his fingers through Soubi's hair, scritching at his scalp.
Soubi didn't answer, eyes closing in bliss.
Ritsuka's fingertips offered him a morsel of food and after a brief pause of sheer delighted shock, Soubi opened his mouth. He licked Ritsuka's fingers, intensely blue eyes on Ritsuka and he wondered if Ritsuka felt the same satisfaction and excitement that he did over such an act. White teeth carefully dragged over one finger before he sat back to chew and swallow, watching Ritsuka's fidgeting arousal.
He didn't speak, and let Ritsuka feed him several bites in this way, each one sending delicate flickers of heat through Soubi's body until it nearly hurt with the impossible tension. He was throbbing, a slow steady pulse through his blood that coiled in his groin. Soubi finally pushed Ritsuka back from the table to lean against the sofa, kissing his neck, biting lightly while one hand slid down over his Sacrifice's side.
It was Ritsuka's turn to purr, wrapping arms around Soubi and digging his fingers into Soubi's shoulder. The slender boy seemed as overcome as Soubi himself was, trembling in Soubi's arms and arching upwards until Soubi drew his hand down over the fly of Ritsuka's jeans where he too throbbed. "Soubi! Don't stop, don't stop," Ritsuka cried, grinding himself against Soubi's hand, burning him from the hunger roaring through their bond and the heat between their bodies. Soubi obeyed, longing for the feel of hot flesh in his hand, the heel of his hand pushing sharply against the line of Ritsuka's hard shaft.
"I want you so much," Soubi whispered, the buttons on Ritsuka's tunic giving way so that he could kiss the slender shoulder and collar bones, licking them in a languid thorough swipe of his tongue. "I want to feel you inside my body, the way I feel you inside my heart," he breathed, shifting them both up on the sofa with Ritsuka on top of him. One leg dropped to the side, giving Ritsuka room between his thighs.
Ritsuka didn't ask him if he was sure; that conversation had taken place more than a year before. He was what he was, and Ritsuka, thank any God who was listening, understood. Ritsuka whispered to Soubi instead, hiding his blushes in Soubi's hair, telling him how much he was wanted, craved, needed. He shifted against his Fighter, his lover in all ways but one, grinding against him, drawing soft helpless moans from Soubi's throat.
Lifting his head, Ritsuka looked down on Soubi, his look composed of embarrassment, possessiveness and passion. Soubi's eyes lifted to Ritsuka's, unmistakable pleading in them, the pupils dilated so that his eyes were so dark that the blue was nearly obscured. "Didn't you say something about presents?" Ritsuka teased, kissing Soubi's mouth softly and taking Soubi's groan away with his breath.
"Yes," Soubi answered, lashes sweeping down against his cheeks as he pulled his mouth away reluctantly. "Yes, there's presents. I promised. And there's one that...one that...I'll get it," he offered, though the enticements of Ritsuka's eager passion and slim beauty were difficult to even think of giving up, even for a moment.
Ritsuka stilled, leaning his head back so he could look at Soubi, his purple eyes almost as dark as Soubi's blue ones. His lips were damp, bruised from the force of their kisses. "It's important to you, isn't it?" Ritsuka said and he shifted, carefully, as if peeling himself from his position on top of Soubi was terribly difficult. "Get it," he said, "then we're going to bed." A little of Ritsuka's impatience sang in his voice, irritation prickling down their bond tempered with an abiding affection.