title: a Quiet Lunch
author: trixie
disclaimer: not mine
summary: Ryuuki's curious and pushing buttons
notes: for prikliuchenie, for
this request on fic on demand. some reference to ep 18, and what happened in court during that episode. er, takes place after episode 18, but before 19, i guess, and some details of courtly functions might be fudged a bit.
~*~
He liked it when it was quiet best. Given who his best friend was, and other… factors of his life, quiet wasn't something he got everyday. Or even every week.
They had just completed an audit of the entire government, so while the past few weeks had been hell for him, he had been able to pass that hell onto all the other departments. Incompetent fools, trying to sneak by him with bags of money up their sleeves. Well, except the Civil Administration Department. Reishin had no reason to accept bribes, and Kouyuu was too responsible. They had only minor corrections to make, which Kou felt were necessary just because it would be impossible to tell Reishin that he'd done something perfectly. It was hard to find errors, though.
Since Yuuri was actually still distributing the corrections to the departments, he had a blessed respite, which would probably only last for a short time. He had cleared his desk entirely, and carefully set out his tea set and lunch. A peaceful, quiet lunch was precisely what…
"May I come in?" an altogether too cheerful voice asked. Accompanying the voice was an altogether too cheerful Emperor, with an altogether too wide grin plastered across his face.
Kou Houju felt his heart drop.
"Your majesty. And to what do I owe this auspicious visit?" he asked, trying to maintain a sense of decorum along with his dread.
The foolish Emperor laughed happily, and came in with his hands behind his back. "Auspicious? There's nothing auspicious about this. We just thought we would come by and see how you were doing. We know you've been working very hard lately correcting budgets; is it strange for an Emperor to visit his Chamberlain like this?"
"Perhaps it is simply because you never have before," Kou said dismissively. The Emperor wanted something, and he had a fairly good idea what.
"If we've been remiss, then we have even more reason to rectify the situation," the Emperor replied pleasantly.
Fantastic. He'd given the fool a reason.
"So this is the time that the Chamberlain eats his lunch," the Emperor noted, shifting around until he found a chair to pull up. Kou purposefully kept no chairs near his desk so that anyone coming to see him would have to stand. "If you'd be more comfortable, you can remove your mask. We do not mind."
"I'm sure you don't," Kou grumbled dryly.
"Ah, what's this?" a new voice wondered. Kou closed his eyes. The stars were against him and his quiet lunch. Reishin unfolded his fan, and covered the lower half of his face. "Am I interrupting a private lunch between the Emperor and his Chamberlain?" His tone of voice clearly suggested that he felt that there was nothing that could be going on between the two of them that he could 'interrupt,' and that there was no possible chance that the Emperor could ever lay claim to that particular Chamberlain.
Kou scowled behind his mask.
"Ah, is Reishin-sama going to join you for lunch?" the Emperor excitedly asked Kou. "Luck~y! It's so good to have such close, trusted friends in the palace."
"Indeed," Reishin agreed, his voice dripping with disdain. "Do you not have friends you could go and play with?"
"Mm," the Emperor considered, ignoring Reishin's antagonism. Honestly, he was single-minded. "Kouyuu and Shuuei are having lunch with Shouka-san and Shuurei in the archives. It would be nice to join them, but a few other shinshi are there, and it would not be seemly for us to show favoritism, so we've been told." He sighed heavily, and looked forlornly from Kou to Reishin. "But we see that we are in the way here; perhaps this was intended to be a romantic time for you two. We will go. Perhaps it will be all right for us to join them in the archives; we might even get to eat some of Shuurei's manjuu." Looking determined, he stood up, and bowed to them briefly.
Smiling behind his mask, Kou admired the Emperor's native cunning. No wonder this brat survived the struggles between his older brothers. As he passed, not unexpectedly, Reishin reached out and grabbed his arm. "Sit," he grumbled, and Reishin went to get another chair. "We shall enjoy our lunch together."
"Thank you, Reishin-sama!" the Emperor said happily, sitting down.
Kou looked mournfully down at his lunch, which was not big enough for three. "So glad you two decided that."
The Emperor looked at Kou quizzically. "Mm. We know you do not need to remove your mask to eat, but… surely, if it is just your closest friend and your Emperor, it would be acceptable?"
Reishin snorted, hard. "So transparent. The last thing this country needs is for its Emperor to be any more addled in the head than he already is; you are too young to see anything that shocking."
"Aw!" the Emperor pouted, sticking his bottom lip out. "That's cruel. We don't accuse you of being addled, and you see his face everyday. Isn't it wrong that he should have to hide it? We would find it lonely."
"With your face, it's not a concern," Reishin replied snidely.
"It's fortunate it is not Reishin-sama who must wear the mask," the Emperor replied wearily. "Undoubtedly, it would mysteriously become a fad to don a mask before leaving the home." Kou chuckled appreciatively. Perhaps the Emperor wasn't quite as foolish as he seemed. "We do not understand why it should cause such a fuss, anyway. A face is a face, is it not? The Chamberlain doesn't hide his beautiful hair, or toned figure." He propped his chin up on his hand, and sighed audibly. "We think people must just be very shallow."
"What a fortunate country we live in, to have such an enlightened Emperor," Reishin sneered, reaching across to steal one of Kou's favorite potstickers. "Are you really trying to convince us that you are not swayed by beauty?"
"Mm," the Emperor considered. "We think that beauty is not something that is easily seen with just the eyes."
His voice was quiet and serious, but he smiled brightly when he was done. Actually, in that manner, he reminded Kou a bit of Shouka, which wasn't too surprising, since Shouka had actually had a hand in raising Ryuuki. At least, that was what Reishin said. Kou never paid Ryuuki the slightest bit of attention until his Imperial father was on his deathbed, and begged Ryuuki to inherit the throne. No one did. It was just what Ryuuki wanted.
This idiot Emperor might not be without his merits. Reishin was still trying to squabble with him, though. It was taxing. Kou sighed heavily, and started to untie his mask.
"Ah!" Ryuuki cried out. "You're going to take it off!" He actually bounced in his seat with childish glee.
"Houju!" Reishin whined.
"It's tiresome," Kou grumbled.
"You wear the mask everyday! All day long!" Reishin countered.
"Not the mask; listening to you two." He pulled the mask away from his face, reflexively holding his breath. He was a bit hesitant to look at Ryuuki. Of course, he was used to every reaction under the sun to his appearance, as he'd seen it all in his life, but.
It would be a terrible waste to be disappointed just when he was starting to have expectations of the Emperor.
He turned to look at Ryuuki, and he found that he was mere inches from Ryuuki's face. The young Emperor was leaning over the table, looking at Kou's face closely, his eyes wide and his mouth in a little 'o.'
"Well?" Kou prompted testily.
Ryuuki smiled from ear to ear. "We would like to sleep with you sometime."
"What?" Reishin jumped to his feet. "And after all that about beauty being more than what you can see. You're shameless on top of being a liar!"
"What?" Ryuuki pouted innocently. "We sleep better when we are not alone. Is that wrong?" he asked, turning to look at Kou.
"Are we expected to believe that you are just lonely? Honestly. You have the subtlety of a child. This is no way to seduce a man!" Reishin grumbled.
"Ah? Does Reishin-sama intend to teach us how to seduce men?" Ryuuki asked, brightening. "We will place ourselves in your care, then!"
"Sh-shut up!" Reishin exclaimed, aggravated. "If you are really so lonely, then who has been keeping you warm, mm? Or do you not sleep at night for lack of a body to curl up to?" Reishin leaned his cheek on his hand, and opened his fan, waving it with annoyance.
"Mm, well, we slept quite well for a while…" Kou smiled, noting Ryuuki's intelligence to neglect to mention who was the warm body that allowed him to sleep so well for 'a while.' "Lately, we have been limited. We have been told not to do things that might reflect badly on our person. It's annoying! But, sometimes, Kouyuu stays with us, or else Shuuei. Shuuei has cold feet, though."
Reishin leapt to his feet and grabbed the Emperor by the collar, dragging him to his feet, too. Kou raised an eyebrow. How interesting this all was. He wondered if Reishin was even aware of how Ryuuki was playing him.
"Just what exactly have you been doing with my Kouyuu?" Reishin demanded.
"Slee~ping," Ryuuki said slowly. He looked sheepishly at Kou. "Didn't we say that already?"
Kou chuckled. "Be careful, Reishin. Even for you, manhandling the Emperor is a bit much, don't you think?"
"Ah! No, no, it's fine!" Ryuuki quickly interjected. "No, even if we are Emperor, we wish to be on good terms with our advisors! We trust you both so much! We wish to be trusted by you as well, if possible!" He looked fiercely into Reishin's eyes.
Reishin sighed heavily, whining. "Oh… stop it already. You don't even know what you're doing!"
"Is that your answer, then, Reishin?" Kou asked. "Your Emperor is earnestly asking for your good regard. Are you going to reject him out of hand? Kouyuu has accepted his purple iris, after all…" he trailed off.
Reishin narrowed his eyes.
"Kouyuu has such a caring father," Ryuuki said quietly. "We are so glad. Though, we are not surprised. Someone of his fine character cannot have come from a hole, after all."
Reishin's eye twitched. Then, he sighed, resigning himself. Then, he threw Ryuuki down onto the desk.
"My lunch!" Kou objected.
"Reishin-sama is surprisingly aggressive!" Ryuuki said with pleasure.
"Be quiet," Reishin huffed, and he tore open Ryuuki's clothes. "Mm. It's true that you aren't ugly…"
"Are you complimenting us?" Ryuuki eagerly asked.
"Of course not," Reishin shot him down. "I'm used to finer sights than these," but he continued to strip Ryuuki bare.
On Kou's desk.
Right in front of him.
"Am I supposed to be doing something?" Kou asked, idly.
"Anything you like!" Ryuuki answered as Reishin glared at him. Chuckling, Kou reached out to touch Ryuuki's skin. Not bad.
"I'm preparing a new lunch for you," Reishin haughtily corrected Kou. "So stop complaining."
"Am I lunch?" Ryuuki asked, sounding like an excited puppy. "Are you going to eat me all up?"
Kou put an errant potsticker in Ryuuki's mouth. "Lunch should not speak."
Reishin had Ryuuki's cock in hand. "I'm doing quite a favor for you here. So, from now on, you should do me a favor, and keep your hands off of my Kouyuu."
Ryuuki tried to protest, but he was still chewing the potsticker. Kou reached out and wrapped a strand of Ryuuki's hair around his finger. It was nice. "Don't try to argue with him; this all makes perfect sense inside that diseased brain."
"Who's diseased?" Reishin said scornfully. "Anyway, are you eating?"
"Mm," Kou wondered. "I am still hungry." He leaned over, and kissed Ryuuki, taking back the remains of the potsticker.
Yummy.
"That sauce doesn't have any peppers in it, right? Could you pass that to me," Reishin asked.
"Since you asked so politely," Kou replied, passing him the sauce. Reishin had opened the lower half of his clothing, his hand reaching down to stroke the insides of the Emperor's thighs.
Lovely.
"Um, excuse me?" Ryuuki asked, dazed. Kou licked the tip of his thumb and rubbed it over Ryuuki's lips.
"I think I should find a good use for this mouth. Really, Reishin, you have no self-control. There's a couch right over there, you know." He leaned down, and tasted those lips again.
Actually, the boy wasn't a bad kisser. Whatever Reishin was doing to him, he was moaning beautifully, too. All in all, Kou had to admit, this was a diverting lunch. He stood up, and slid his hand down Ryuuki's neck, to his chest. He turned Ryuuki's face so he was looking right at Kou. Ryuuki moaned needfully, and reached up to run his fingers through Kou's hair, and grab onto it. "Please…"
Then, he cried out.
Kou looked over at Reishin, who seemed to be pretty involved with what he was doing. He had the tip of Ryuuki's cock in his mouth, and his fingers were buried in Ryuuki's body. Kou licked his lips, and met Reishin's eyes.
"See? I said I needed to find a use for that mouth. If you keep crying out like that, someone will come and see this. Do you want that?" Ryuuki whimpered, and Kou grinned. He got up on the desk, and straddled Ryuuki's chest, opening his clothing. "Have you done this before?" he asked, caressing Ryuuki's cheek.
Ryuuki nodded, reaching up to grab onto Kou's hair, and he begged again, "Please?"
Kou pulled out his cock, and bounced the tip on Ryuuki's bottom lip. The young Emperor seemed to be eager to take it into his mouth, so Kou leaned over him to allow it. He held back a bit, though, looking into Ryuuki's eyes. "No matter what Reishin does, don't bite." Ryuuki's eyes widened, and he grunted in agreement.
He slipped his cock into Ryuuki's mouth, and Ryuuki hungrily started to suck on it, taking him in deeper and deeper. He panted, a bit unprepared for how skillfully and how enthusiastically Ryuuki was taking him in. He could feel Reishin starting to thrust into Ryuuki's body; with each thrust, Reishin was pushing Ryuuki's mouth to take him in deeper. By the time Reishin has his rhythm going, Ryuuki had Kou deep throated. Even Kou was gasping with pleasure, so he looked over his shoulder to see what Reishin was looking like. He had Ryuuki's legs in his hands, and his headpiece had falling off, his hair disheveled as a result. His eyes were squeezed shut, and he was biting his lip to keep from making too much noise. Kou almost wished he'd just make as much noise as he wanted.
He was unbearably sexy.
He returned his attention to Ryuuki, who was gripping onto him hard enough to leave marks on his porcelain skin. Reishin would dislike that, but Kou actually… he thought that might be…
He started to pull back, knowing he was going to come, but Ryuuki didn't want to let him go entirely. He pushed Ryuuki's head down, and turned himself around. His hair was all over the place, all over Ryuuki's skin. He looked Reishin in the eye, and as Ryuuki put his lips on Kou's cock again, Kou took Ryuuki's cock in his mouth.
He wasn't sure who came first or what noises were made or what was happening. He knew that while he was still swallowing down Ryuuki's ejaculation, Reishin grabbed his face and pulled him up for a kiss. He crawled off the desk, and helped Ryuuki to sit up, and kissed him, as well.
They were a mess.
Kou turned his back to them to straighten out his hair and clothes, and reaffix his mask. Ryuuki was the most out of sorts, but remarkably, Reishin actually helped him to put himself together. When Kou turned around again, Reishin was fixing Ryuuki's hair. While Ryuuki put his clothes back on, Kou returned the favor for Reishin, although Reishin complained that Kou pulled too hard on his hair as he tied it up into the headpiece.
As always.
When they were all recovered, Kou sat down, and grimaced at his desk. Ryuuki smiled brightly at them, and asked, "May we join you for lunch again sometime?"
"Don't push your luck," Reishin scowled, but he was licking his lips and looking Ryuuki over with a bit more approval. "Does the Emperor really have this much time in his schedule for dalliances? I must speak to Kouyuu about increasing your workload, then."
Ryuuki meeped, somewhat adorably, and scurried away. Reishin shook his head, and then opened his fan, covering the lower half of his face.
"Did you have a good lunch, Houju?"
Kou just leaned his chin on his fist, and sighed.
"I had wanted a quiet lunch."
~*~
end