a place in my heart (for you), Marcus/Esca, PG, 3/3aramleyJuly 5 2011, 15:32:49 UTC
Marcus sees to the horse while Esca goes in to warm himself by the fire, and when Marcus returns he's already stripped and wrapped up in a thick blanket, petting Madoc's ecstatic head. Marcus should be angry with him - about the horse, about doing anything so stupid as travelling in a storm that bad - but Esca looks small and he's shaking, just a little, and Marcus can't bring himself to feel anything other than a kind of enormous gratitude that he's here. It used to disturb him, the strength of the feelings that Esca inspires. It is un-Roman to think so much of another person, to have one's happiness linked so inextricably to their presence. To love. But they carve out new spaces between them that are large enough to encompass the contradictions of British and Roman, and in these they build things that are the more than the sum of both.
Esca turns to look at him, brushing strands of wet hair out of his eyes. He says, playfully, "Am I going to get my lecture now?"
Marcus shakes his head, taking a seat opposite Esca at the hearth. "I think you've probably been through enough punishment for one day."
"I can take care of myself," Esca says.
"So can I," says Marcus. "Why did you come back today? You didn't trust me to take care of the farm?"
"Why else would you come all this way back here in that storm?"
Esca watches Marcus for a moment, solemn and thoughtful at first, softening into something approaching a smile.
"You'll laugh at me if I tell you," he says.
"Try me," says Marcus, narrowing his eyes at Esca. The effect may be lessened by the way that his gaze lingers along the pale curve of Esca's bare neck where it disappears into the folds of the cloak.
Esca picks up Marcus' little carving from the floor where he left it. He smiles properly, turning the horse this way and that, although the carving is still rough and half-formed.
"Who's this for?" he asks.
"Rufilius' son, in town," Marcus says, and, "Don't imagine I'm so easily distracted."
Esca laughs then, putting the horse down carefully. "I was worried about you," he says, finally.
"About me coping with the farm?"
"No," Esca says, fixing Marcus with a soft, half-amused look. "About you. About - I imagined the most terrible things. Floods and mudslides. Lightning strikes, I don't know. I can't ever remember a storm like this, and you can't be used to this kind of thing back in Italy. So."
Marcus can't help laughing. "You thought I was going to get swept away in a mudslide."
"No," says Esca. "But, well. I thought I ought to check. If I ever met a person who could get swept away in an autum storm, it's - " but Esca can't continue, because Marcus is too busy kissing him.
-
Esca's skin is still cold, his hair still damp when Marcus drags him into bed and folds him close. Esca's eyes are too heavy-lidded and his kisses too languid for Marcus to try anything more than to chase away the lingering chill with the flat of his palms across Esca's arms, his shoulders, the curve of his spine. Esca presses close, unashamed, mouthing sleepily at Marcus' neck when he can't muster up the energy for anything else. After his starved years of slavery he's still touch-hungry, but it's a weakness he relents to only when his control slips, which means only with Marcus. Marcus loves these unguarded moments, and curls tighter around Esca, glad of being bigger if it means he can cover Esca with his body and warm him that way. Esca sighs out a long hot breath against Marcus' collarbone and settles into the easy rhythm of sleep, one hand still fisted tightly in Marcus' tunic.
Outside, the storm dies away, softening until it's a sound buried beneath the sweeter sound of Esca's slow breathing. In the main room, Madoc snores contentedly. Esca shifts closer in his sleep and Marcus lets himself drift in the shared warmth of their bodies, their home.
Re: a place in my heart (for you), Marcus/Esca, PG, 3/3riventhornJuly 5 2011, 15:46:39 UTC
Yay! I'm so glad you joined in because this is just brilliant--I love your descriptions of their farm and their relationship. There are so many phrases that struck me--like Madoc "belying his ancestry" by crawling into Marcus's lap or Esca "touch-hungry" after his "starved years of slavery." Such evocative writing. And that Esca comes back because he's so worried about Marcus :)
"No," says Esca. "But, well. I thought I ought to check. If I ever met a person who could get swept away in an autum storm, it's - " but Esca can't continue, because Marcus is too busy kissing him.
Re: a place in my heart (for you), Marcus/Esca, PG, 3/3aramleyJuly 5 2011, 17:54:09 UTC
Thank you so much! I always get SO NERVOUS posting fic in a new fandom, so I'm glad you enjoyed it :) And thanks for hosting this challenge too, there can never be enough Happy Gay Farmers fic in the world ♥
Re: a place in my heart (for you), Marcus/Esca, PG, 3/3bunnJuly 5 2011, 21:06:55 UTC
This is fabulous, thank you so much for writing and sharing it. I just went back to see if I had a favorite bit to mention in this comment and it is ALL my favorite bit!
Esca turns to look at him, brushing strands of wet hair out of his eyes. He says, playfully, "Am I going to get my lecture now?"
Marcus shakes his head, taking a seat opposite Esca at the hearth. "I think you've probably been through enough punishment for one day."
"I can take care of myself," Esca says.
"So can I," says Marcus. "Why did you come back today? You didn't trust me to take care of the farm?"
"What? No," says Esca, frowning. "Don't think that, it's not true."
"Why else would you come all this way back here in that storm?"
Esca watches Marcus for a moment, solemn and thoughtful at first, softening into something approaching a smile.
"You'll laugh at me if I tell you," he says.
"Try me," says Marcus, narrowing his eyes at Esca. The effect may be lessened by the way that his gaze lingers along the pale curve of Esca's bare neck where it disappears into the folds of the cloak.
Esca picks up Marcus' little carving from the floor where he left it. He smiles properly, turning the horse this way and that, although the carving is still rough and half-formed.
"Who's this for?" he asks.
"Rufilius' son, in town," Marcus says, and, "Don't imagine I'm so easily distracted."
Esca laughs then, putting the horse down carefully. "I was worried about you," he says, finally.
"About me coping with the farm?"
"No," Esca says, fixing Marcus with a soft, half-amused look. "About you. About - I imagined the most terrible things. Floods and mudslides. Lightning strikes, I don't know. I can't ever remember a storm like this, and you can't be used to this kind of thing back in Italy. So."
Marcus can't help laughing. "You thought I was going to get swept away in a mudslide."
"No," says Esca. "But, well. I thought I ought to check. If I ever met a person who could get swept away in an autum storm, it's - " but Esca can't continue, because Marcus is too busy kissing him.
-
Esca's skin is still cold, his hair still damp when Marcus drags him into bed and folds him close. Esca's eyes are too heavy-lidded and his kisses too languid for Marcus to try anything more than to chase away the lingering chill with the flat of his palms across Esca's arms, his shoulders, the curve of his spine. Esca presses close, unashamed, mouthing sleepily at Marcus' neck when he can't muster up the energy for anything else. After his starved years of slavery he's still touch-hungry, but it's a weakness he relents to only when his control slips, which means only with Marcus. Marcus loves these unguarded moments, and curls tighter around Esca, glad of being bigger if it means he can cover Esca with his body and warm him that way. Esca sighs out a long hot breath against Marcus' collarbone and settles into the easy rhythm of sleep, one hand still fisted tightly in Marcus' tunic.
Outside, the storm dies away, softening until it's a sound buried beneath the sweeter sound of Esca's slow breathing. In the main room, Madoc snores contentedly. Esca shifts closer in his sleep and Marcus lets himself drift in the shared warmth of their bodies, their home.
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"No," says Esca. "But, well. I thought I ought to check. If I ever met a person who could get swept away in an autum storm, it's - " but Esca can't continue, because Marcus is too busy kissing him.
This is so them! Awwww, boys :)
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Your writing is vivid and evocative and the imagery is lovely, and you captured their characters really really well.
♥
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I hope you will write more!
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