Sapphire And Steel: By Instinct (R)
Summary: Sapphire and Steel's work isn't all cold intellect and unseen manipulation. Sometimes they must behave almost like humans.
Notes: The other promised birthday gift for thesilentpoet. Apparently I fail at writing plotless porn for these two. Thanks once again go to sylverice2 for beta-work.
BY INSTINCT
The castle stood for a thousand years in this place. The stones are even older, of course. Our information was correct: the weakness was here.
Unfortunately, it was not in the upper stories. We know how to handle museums, with their unfortunate mixture of old things and new technology. Jet once left me a human newspaper article about a job Steel and I did, an exhibit that had "vanished into thin air." I sometimes wonder if Steel enjoys it, tearing apart the human preconceptions and leaving only mystery behind. Perhaps it's only that he hates answering questions. But the leak of time wasn't in the museum above: it was in the night-club below.
Which meant we couldn't go in. Not like this.
"Why not?"
"We're supposed to work with them," I reminded my partner.
"Hmph. Working with them brings nothing but trouble."
"We're hardly about to work against them."
Steel snorted again, but reluctantly stripped off his suit-jacket and began to roll up his shirt-sleeves. I watched him absently, tapping my finger on my lips and considering my own choices. Black? Red? No, better to stick with blue. Something silky and short. And my hair...yes, like that.
Steel raised one eyebrow at me. "Will this do?"
"Almost."
He glowered down at his slacks, and they changed into denims. Still his favorite deep gray, of course, but one couldn't expect anything different. He transferred the glower to me, and offered me his arm stiffly. I accepted it, and we headed for the door.
It wasn't a bad club, as humans see things. The music was quite tolerable, though very loud, and the floor not so crowded that it was impossible to move. Steel leaned back against the wall, arms folded, still looking very grumpy. Is it here?
Oh yes. Close, very close -- not quite within this room, but only a few yards beyond. Somewhere in the back, beyond the bar, perhaps -- I would need to go look to be sure.
Perhaps I was too obvious in my looking about. In any case, a pretty pale child approached, his eyes flickering over to Steel and then back to me. "Would you like to dance?" He had to half-shout to be heard over the music.
I glanced back at Steel as well. Well?
It's interfering with the mission--
It's an excuse to get closer, to see exactly where the breach is.
A mental 'ha!' from my partner, as if to say, 'then why did you even ask me?' but he extended one hand in half-ironic permission. I took the boy by the hand, checking him quickly -- not quite 18 and nervous because of it, excellent health, untouched by the time breach -- and followed him out onto the dance floor.
One song followed another, while I split my attention between the pretty boy and what my other senses were telling me about that back room. The breach was certainly there, and something had come through, but I couldn't tell how, nor what the key might be. It seemed to be sipping at the energy flows, rather than draining them dry. It moved from one side of the room to the other, its strength pulsing in and out without any sort of rhythm..
No use staying out here with this child. Steel and I must go in there.
My partner is not the sort to sigh impatiently, but his eyes hinted at it. Then the sooner, the better. He took my arm again, more fluidly this time, and began walking toward the back.
It's not that simple, Steel. It's not just a place to retreat for a few minutes of silence.
What?
I reached up and kissed Steel.
To his credit, he kissed me back, although I could feel the startled tremor in his arm. I confess to a bit of smugness: it's difficult to startle Steel. But I did my best to keep that smugness out of my mental voice. It's a place for a different kind of privacy.
Which might be how the breach occurred, my ever-practical Steel pointed out, breaking the kiss and pulling me closer against him. The gleam in his eyes, sadly, was of concentration, nothing else. Old castle, belonging to an old family--
And then this new club, full of new things, new ideas--
But old feelings. Steel lowered his head as if he were nuzzling my neck. Anger, jealousy, sexual urges...very basic, animal instincts.
Of course. And to some of those things that stalk the corridors of Time, strong emotion is meat and drink. I leaned into him, watching over his shoulder through my lashes. No one on the floor appeared to notice us. Can we do it?
Yes. And Steel didn't even hesitate as he slid his hand down my arm, unusually warm against the coolness of the air.
The back room was darker than the club, thick and close with echoes of past and present: maybe if I do this he'll come home with me/oh jeez I can't believe she's letting me/stupid bitch take it and stop whining/oh yes take me, use me-- Steel's arm around my waist helped support me so I could keep walking and not stagger. His voice came clearer than the echoes: Sapphire, are you all right?
Yes, though it was weaker than I would have liked. The emotions -- Steel, there! Did you see it?
In the very back of the room stood a low dais, with a table on it like an altar, and a goblet sitting in the center, a faint metallic gleam in the low light. There was the weak spot, that old goblet placed just so in just this room.
Now we know how to handle the end, Steel said. All we need is the beginning.
We'll need to lure it out.
That won me another long look. I could almost see the familiar sardonic eyebrow, as he murmured, "One of them won't do?"
We'd have to get too close, I said, reverting back to mental communication. This was not a conversation I wanted any human to overhear, and there were two couples already here, closer to the dance floor..
Close?
Physically close. I turned in Steel's arms and brushed a finger over his lips, then down his chest. He caught my wrist to stop me there, but and met my gaze with a wary gleam. I refused to look away. Not only to the thing, but to its bait. Very, very close.
Intercourse.
Yes.
A long moment of silence. I looked away again, toward the goblet. It betrayed nothing to my senses, no feeling of threat or danger. Whatever had come through might be in this room, but it was not there, and it was not active.
Steel had not let go of me. But his hold on my hand loosened. "And there is no other way?"
"It seeks them out," I said. "Strong emotions, animal instincts. And the humans here would hardly allow us to stand over them while they allowed those instincts."
"They don't have to see us, Sapphire."
"The thing might. I don't know how well it can see."
"Is it here?"
"Yes." A faint whisper. "Over in the corner, watching us. Waiting."
"Watching us."
"We're closest. And besides..."
Steel said nothing for a moment, perhaps because there was nothing to be said. The longer we stood here without reason, the more suspicious the thing would become. It was not one of the great terrors, but even the least of the things that stalked the corridors of Time could reason.
Then, abruptly, he moved forward and kissed me again. Like this? He sounded more ironic than like any sort of lover.
We must.
I see. Gentler this time, and his kiss softened as well, so my lips didn't feel as bruised. What must we do?
I hardly knew myself. It is one thing to recognize such things as an observer, and another to experience them. But Steel had asked, so I said, "Touch me," and took his hand and laid it against my breast.
I would sometimes like to forget the next few minutes -- Steel awkwardly learning touch and kiss, myself equally awkward as I was taught how this body reacted. But we did learn. A light kiss against my neck made my breath catch. His fingers tracing the line of my breasts made me moan. My heart sped up, and I caught myself reaching out, not only with my hands, but in other, deeper ways -- the caresses of our own kind, without human constraint. We learned, and I cannot forget it, because he felt me reach for him, and he reached back. His eyes darkened, and he pressed me against the wall by the altar, hand between my legs, rubbing just there while he kissed me, fierce and demanding and unflinching from me. I could feel him with me, not only the deep stirrings of union but the animal erection pressed against my leg, and for the first time I understood the human desire for that act.
I wanted to say so, to tell Steel this and ask him for this thing -- but then orgasm rolled up over me in a great wave, and Steel swallowed my cry of his name. Besides -- ha, there, like a chill against my skin, was the thing we had lured to us.
Steel reached out blindly, without a word from me, and grabbed the goblet from the table, sloshing a bit of the liquid within onto the floor. I wrapped my hands around his on the stem, and pushed, with a strength greater than I had expected. The creature hardly had time for a flicker of wailing surprise before it vanished into the wine, back whence it came. Steel's hands beneath mine chilled, and the goblet shivered in our hands, then cracked as the liquid in it suddenly froze.
"Done," Steel said quietly.
I hesitated a moment, but only a moment Then I reversed our positions, pressing him into the wall, letting the goblet fall where it might. "Not yet."
"Sapphire?" His breath hissed in as I pressed my palm against his erection.
"Your turn," I murmured, and swallowed his groan with my mouth as I reached for him again.
-end-
Notes: The other promised birthday gift for thesilentpoet. Apparently I fail at writing plotless porn for these two. Thanks once again go to sylverice2 for beta-work.
BY INSTINCT
The castle stood for a thousand years in this place. The stones are even older, of course. Our information was correct: the weakness was here.
Unfortunately, it was not in the upper stories. We know how to handle museums, with their unfortunate mixture of old things and new technology. Jet once left me a human newspaper article about a job Steel and I did, an exhibit that had "vanished into thin air." I sometimes wonder if Steel enjoys it, tearing apart the human preconceptions and leaving only mystery behind. Perhaps it's only that he hates answering questions. But the leak of time wasn't in the museum above: it was in the night-club below.
Which meant we couldn't go in. Not like this.
"Why not?"
"We're supposed to work with them," I reminded my partner.
"Hmph. Working with them brings nothing but trouble."
"We're hardly about to work against them."
Steel snorted again, but reluctantly stripped off his suit-jacket and began to roll up his shirt-sleeves. I watched him absently, tapping my finger on my lips and considering my own choices. Black? Red? No, better to stick with blue. Something silky and short. And my hair...yes, like that.
Steel raised one eyebrow at me. "Will this do?"
"Almost."
He glowered down at his slacks, and they changed into denims. Still his favorite deep gray, of course, but one couldn't expect anything different. He transferred the glower to me, and offered me his arm stiffly. I accepted it, and we headed for the door.
It wasn't a bad club, as humans see things. The music was quite tolerable, though very loud, and the floor not so crowded that it was impossible to move. Steel leaned back against the wall, arms folded, still looking very grumpy. Is it here?
Oh yes. Close, very close -- not quite within this room, but only a few yards beyond. Somewhere in the back, beyond the bar, perhaps -- I would need to go look to be sure.
Perhaps I was too obvious in my looking about. In any case, a pretty pale child approached, his eyes flickering over to Steel and then back to me. "Would you like to dance?" He had to half-shout to be heard over the music.
I glanced back at Steel as well. Well?
It's interfering with the mission--
It's an excuse to get closer, to see exactly where the breach is.
A mental 'ha!' from my partner, as if to say, 'then why did you even ask me?' but he extended one hand in half-ironic permission. I took the boy by the hand, checking him quickly -- not quite 18 and nervous because of it, excellent health, untouched by the time breach -- and followed him out onto the dance floor.
One song followed another, while I split my attention between the pretty boy and what my other senses were telling me about that back room. The breach was certainly there, and something had come through, but I couldn't tell how, nor what the key might be. It seemed to be sipping at the energy flows, rather than draining them dry. It moved from one side of the room to the other, its strength pulsing in and out without any sort of rhythm..
No use staying out here with this child. Steel and I must go in there.
My partner is not the sort to sigh impatiently, but his eyes hinted at it. Then the sooner, the better. He took my arm again, more fluidly this time, and began walking toward the back.
It's not that simple, Steel. It's not just a place to retreat for a few minutes of silence.
What?
I reached up and kissed Steel.
To his credit, he kissed me back, although I could feel the startled tremor in his arm. I confess to a bit of smugness: it's difficult to startle Steel. But I did my best to keep that smugness out of my mental voice. It's a place for a different kind of privacy.
Which might be how the breach occurred, my ever-practical Steel pointed out, breaking the kiss and pulling me closer against him. The gleam in his eyes, sadly, was of concentration, nothing else. Old castle, belonging to an old family--
And then this new club, full of new things, new ideas--
But old feelings. Steel lowered his head as if he were nuzzling my neck. Anger, jealousy, sexual urges...very basic, animal instincts.
Of course. And to some of those things that stalk the corridors of Time, strong emotion is meat and drink. I leaned into him, watching over his shoulder through my lashes. No one on the floor appeared to notice us. Can we do it?
Yes. And Steel didn't even hesitate as he slid his hand down my arm, unusually warm against the coolness of the air.
The back room was darker than the club, thick and close with echoes of past and present: maybe if I do this he'll come home with me/oh jeez I can't believe she's letting me/stupid bitch take it and stop whining/oh yes take me, use me-- Steel's arm around my waist helped support me so I could keep walking and not stagger. His voice came clearer than the echoes: Sapphire, are you all right?
Yes, though it was weaker than I would have liked. The emotions -- Steel, there! Did you see it?
In the very back of the room stood a low dais, with a table on it like an altar, and a goblet sitting in the center, a faint metallic gleam in the low light. There was the weak spot, that old goblet placed just so in just this room.
Now we know how to handle the end, Steel said. All we need is the beginning.
We'll need to lure it out.
That won me another long look. I could almost see the familiar sardonic eyebrow, as he murmured, "One of them won't do?"
We'd have to get too close, I said, reverting back to mental communication. This was not a conversation I wanted any human to overhear, and there were two couples already here, closer to the dance floor..
Close?
Physically close. I turned in Steel's arms and brushed a finger over his lips, then down his chest. He caught my wrist to stop me there, but and met my gaze with a wary gleam. I refused to look away. Not only to the thing, but to its bait. Very, very close.
Intercourse.
Yes.
A long moment of silence. I looked away again, toward the goblet. It betrayed nothing to my senses, no feeling of threat or danger. Whatever had come through might be in this room, but it was not there, and it was not active.
Steel had not let go of me. But his hold on my hand loosened. "And there is no other way?"
"It seeks them out," I said. "Strong emotions, animal instincts. And the humans here would hardly allow us to stand over them while they allowed those instincts."
"They don't have to see us, Sapphire."
"The thing might. I don't know how well it can see."
"Is it here?"
"Yes." A faint whisper. "Over in the corner, watching us. Waiting."
"Watching us."
"We're closest. And besides..."
Steel said nothing for a moment, perhaps because there was nothing to be said. The longer we stood here without reason, the more suspicious the thing would become. It was not one of the great terrors, but even the least of the things that stalked the corridors of Time could reason.
Then, abruptly, he moved forward and kissed me again. Like this? He sounded more ironic than like any sort of lover.
We must.
I see. Gentler this time, and his kiss softened as well, so my lips didn't feel as bruised. What must we do?
I hardly knew myself. It is one thing to recognize such things as an observer, and another to experience them. But Steel had asked, so I said, "Touch me," and took his hand and laid it against my breast.
I would sometimes like to forget the next few minutes -- Steel awkwardly learning touch and kiss, myself equally awkward as I was taught how this body reacted. But we did learn. A light kiss against my neck made my breath catch. His fingers tracing the line of my breasts made me moan. My heart sped up, and I caught myself reaching out, not only with my hands, but in other, deeper ways -- the caresses of our own kind, without human constraint. We learned, and I cannot forget it, because he felt me reach for him, and he reached back. His eyes darkened, and he pressed me against the wall by the altar, hand between my legs, rubbing just there while he kissed me, fierce and demanding and unflinching from me. I could feel him with me, not only the deep stirrings of union but the animal erection pressed against my leg, and for the first time I understood the human desire for that act.
I wanted to say so, to tell Steel this and ask him for this thing -- but then orgasm rolled up over me in a great wave, and Steel swallowed my cry of his name. Besides -- ha, there, like a chill against my skin, was the thing we had lured to us.
Steel reached out blindly, without a word from me, and grabbed the goblet from the table, sloshing a bit of the liquid within onto the floor. I wrapped my hands around his on the stem, and pushed, with a strength greater than I had expected. The creature hardly had time for a flicker of wailing surprise before it vanished into the wine, back whence it came. Steel's hands beneath mine chilled, and the goblet shivered in our hands, then cracked as the liquid in it suddenly froze.
"Done," Steel said quietly.
I hesitated a moment, but only a moment Then I reversed our positions, pressing him into the wall, letting the goblet fall where it might. "Not yet."
"Sapphire?" His breath hissed in as I pressed my palm against his erection.
"Your turn," I murmured, and swallowed his groan with my mouth as I reached for him again.
-end-