(no subject)
Title: The Still of the Night
Pairing: Ohno Satoshi/Ninomiya Kazunari (with mentions of Ohno Satoshi/Matsumoto Jun and Aiba Masaki/Ninomiya Kazunari)
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Harem AU, light hurt/comfort, mentions of branding and past enslavement.
Word Count: 8548
Notes: Reveals were posted on the comm, so reposting ahoy! The world here is a mix of Arabian and Japanese living. There is no harem without an Arabian setting, but it seemed silly to take a bunch of Japanese boys and plop them into the desert, so when you notice the weird inconsistencies between building structure and living style, that’s why. And there is porn. In fact it is mostly porn. ‘Cause this was written for a porn fest, you see.
Today is November the 26th. Tonight you will be seen by the Emperor.
They were the first words that Ninomiya had heard upon waking.
Today is November the 26th. Tonight you will be seen by the Emperor.
They’d echoed through his head all day, from the morning meal to the start of his lessons with the Master of the Scrolls. None of the other boys had spoken to him beyond cursory greetings if they passed in the courtyards or hallways of the harem - a few had actually been shushed with a quick, sharp word from one of the guards and turned in the opposite direction. Even his lessons had been shorter than usual; and when it came time for his midday meal and the afternoon rest he’d been taken to a room apart from the others.
Ninomiya stared at his hands underneath the bath water. He’d been in the bath for nearly three hours now, having undergone a nearly vicious scrubbing from head to toe - twice - and then left to soak in a marble tub behind a golden gate that he hadn’t known existed, let alone been to. Joshima Shigeru, known simply as Leader, had gone to fetch more salts for the water, leaving him alone with his thoughts.
Today is November the 26th. Tonight you will be seen by the Emperor.
Tonight was the night he would be presented to the Emperor - a birthday present from the Queen Mother. Ninomiya had heard little about the presentation night, mostly hearsay that had been pieced together by odalisques who’d never been through the presentation themselves, and likely never would be. He didn’t put much stock into all that he heard, but what he did believe was a piece of information that said that each boy was presented according to his strengths; and it worried him. He had only been in the harem for a span of barely three months. He didn’t know what his strengths were.
Ninomiya cupped his hands and lifted them, splashing hot water over his face and scrubbing at his cheeks, trying to ignore how his fingers trembled against his skin. Despite knowing the purported order of events, he had no idea what would happen tonight. He knew only that it would inevitably decide the rest of his life here.
With a clanging of the gates that had Ninomiya nearly jumping clear out of his seat, Leader returned. The Chief Eunuch knelt by the side of the tub and upended a small silk pouch, pouring the bath salts into the water.[1] From his robes he removed a small vial of what was more than likely scented oil and set it aside. Then he smoothed the tips of his fingers over Ninomiya’s shoulder. Ninomiya relaxed marginally under the touch - he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding himself so stiffly.
“You’ll not do yourself any favors if you stay tensed like that, Kazunari,” Leader murmured. “The Emperor will expect you limber in his bed, not straight as a flooring board. If you are not pleasing, you will be demoted, perhaps.”
Ninomiya managed not to flinch, which he was quite proud of. Hearing that name was too new for him to be comfortable thinking of it as his. Kazunari still felt like someone else. He inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, trying to force himself to relax completely.
Leader sighed, placing both his hands on Kazunari’s shoulders and massaging gently until the boy leaned back against him and the tension slowly drained from his face. He smiled a comforting smile, looking down. Then he sighed pointedly, vaguely annoyed by the boy’s cheekiness. Imagine closing one’s eyes and taking a nap when you were about to receive good advice!
“You have a way with people,” he said anyway. The boy opened his eyes, though he clearly saw nothing. Leader pressed on. “They are drawn to you, but you don’t take advantage of them. You respond to their moods and adjust easily - that will please his Highness.”
Kazunari looked doubtful.
Leader clucked his tongue. “The Emperor is not made of stone, nor is he an ungracious man. He is as human as you are. I have seen you give yourself freely to Masaki. Tonight be as you are with Masaki, and the Emperor will find no fault with you.”
Ninomiya chewed on his bottom lip. He wondered if something like that could be reproduced. Masaki was as bright as the sun, but he didn’t burn. He was beautiful and safe and had taken care of Kazunari since he’d arrived. Kazunari wasn’t like Masaki was - he could let Masaki coax him out, but he couldn’t be the coaxer.
Leader directed his head back to the ledge of the tub, taking up a comb and dampening it with the scented oil from the vial, drawing it through Ninomiya’s hair. Ninomiya closed his eyes again, trying to calm his nerves. He drew handfuls of water over his shoulders while Leader worked, the warmth soothing and delicious - the air outside became surprisingly cold in the winter months.
When he finished with the comb, Leader helped Ninomiya out from the tub. Ninomiya waited, his arms held to the sides, while he was dried with careful pats of a linen cloth. He closed his eyes when Leader applied the scented oil to his shoulders and cheeks, and dusted a golden powder over the oil. The point of this was apparently that the gold would drip invitingly down his chest and back and jaw when the oil succumbed to gravity.
There was a short pause while Leader set aside the vial and produced a small bottle of gum resin and a pouch of small jewels that were the common decoration for most of the boys and girls. Leader tilted Ninomiya’s head to the side and applied two drops of resin to the corner of his eye - a single small blue jewel was applied on top of each resin drop and held in place to set. Leader moved a step back, looking at Nino with a long practiced gaze, and finally tilted his head to the other side, repeating the treatment with two more blue jewels. Another drop of resin kept a much larger blue jewel held in his belly button.
“All right. Let’s get you dressed,” Leader said quietly.
Ninomiya followed him into the marble and dark pine changing room, where several choices of outfit pieces waited on the benches. Leader immediately selected a white under robe with wide sleeves, tucking the long folds left over right and slipping a long thin length of pale yellow silk loosely around Ninomiya’s hips, twining the two ends once to keep it in place. He tugged the white linen this way and that, pulling the collar down at the nape of Ninomiya’s neck, making sure the slit sides exposed Ninomiya’s leg properly.
When he was satisfied, Leader stood and hummed to himself as he pondered the choices. Finally, to fit over the white linen he chose an phthalo blue and dull gold sleeveless robe - the hem of which fell barely to Nino’s hips. He looked Ninomiya up and down, tapping his chin thoughtfully.[2] After a moment’s thought, he chose a thin silver band for each of the boy’s wrists and two anklets with draping chains for his feet. He applied another smear of oil to the tops of his feet and dusted the gold powder over them, then stood and swept Ninomiya’s hair this way and that - until it looked like it been blown about in a free breeze. He dusted the powder lightly through the boys hair, admiring the way it shimmered in the bathhouse light.
“There,” Leader said, nodding his satisfaction, “That’ll do nicely.”
Ninomiya tried a tiny smile and worked very hard not to pull at or fidget with his clothes. Leader led him from the baths and to the Hall of the Presented that connected the New Palace to the Old, where the Emperor’s quarters were. The whole length of the hall, as far as Ninomiya could see, was latticed with tightly carved patterns; the holes barely enough to allow the fading sunlight through. He wondered why. No man was allowed to gaze upon the Emperor’s women, but that same taboo didn’t exist for the boys.
He supposed it didn’t really make a difference in the end.
Maruyama was waiting for him, kneeling at the hall’s portico. Ninomiya gave a start when he stood: He hadn’t noticed the eunuch was there, focused so intently on the end of the hall. Maruyama slid a length of cloth over Ninomiya’s head and tucked it around his face, hiding it. Then he smiled and held his arm out; a gesture for Ninomiya to proceed.
Ninomiya swallowed, listening. From somewhere within the Old Palace, a hundred bells on a long chord rang twice, their clamor echoing through the grounds. Ninomiya bit down on his lip and started down the hall, walking slowly behind his eunuch. Maruyama kept his head down, leading the way to the Imperial audience chamber at the junction of the New and Old Palaces.
------
When they arrived, the doors were drawn aside by two fully armed guards - two more stood to either side of the entrance within the room. The Imperial audience chamber was a wide room with an opening in the ceiling to let in the day light, though now it was lit with many oil lamps. The floor was an intricate mosaic of marble and colored stones, the patterns of which were matched along the walls.
There was very little furniture; courtiers sat on thick, embroidered and bejeweled cushions on the floor. At the Eastern end of the room there was a single raised dais, positioned neatly under a roof of sorts - a concave arch of gilded tile that was supported by equally gilded wood columns. There the Emperor sat upon a low throne of dark lacquered oak, richly carved and inlaid with mother of pearl and gold.
Beside the dais was another platform. It sat slightly higher than the one on which the Emperor sat and was heavily screened with several layers of loosely woven silk. Ninomiya could see that at least three women sat behind the protection of the screens.
The Emperor didn’t appear to have been holding court - in fact there were only a handful of others in the room besides the women. The other occupants were a few men who looked to be about the Emperor’s age, all dressed so richly that they couldn’t be anything other than the Emperor’s advisors or perhaps even friends. They were all looking at him.
Ninomiya felt cold. The Emperor looked bored and the night had not even begun.
“The boy Kazunari,” said a smooth, soft female voice. “For your birthday, my darling son.”
Ninomiya swallowed, hoping he could not yet be seen, standing in the dim light of the hall as he was.
“Is that so?” the Emperor drawled, resting his cheek upon his fist. He sighed heavily. “Well don’t just stand out there, boy Kazunari. Come in and let the guards close the doors. You’re letting in a draft and I hate to be cold.”
“Satoshi,” said the smooth voice, even as the other two women hid smiles behind their hands (at least Ninomiya assumed they did by their movements) and the other men chuckled. Ninomiya stepped into the brightly lit room, leaving Maruyama behind, and the doors were closed behind him. He moved forward until there was barely a meter of distance between him and the roofed dais.
There was a long silence while the Emperor looked Ninomiya up and down. Ninomiya thought the Emperor might have sat up a little straighter, had perhaps taken a bit of interest in him, but whatever Ninomiya thought he’d seen on the young man’s face was quickly forced away. It made Ninomiya wonder for the first time if being raised as royalty wasn’t as trying in its way as being raised as a peasant. Such composure and an almost emotionless bearing didn’t come naturally.
The Emperor looked towards the screen after a while. “The boy Kazunari. And what marvelous skill does he bring to me, mother?”
“Perhaps you should find out for yourself,” the smooth voice said. She didn’t make note of the sweet sarcasm of her son’s voice, though nobody could have missed it. The young man sighed heavily as if put upon and turned back to face the harem boy.
“Well? Do you play, boy?”
Play? Ninomiya knew he must be performing a fantastic impression of a scared animal, if the expressions of the other men were anything to go by. What on earth was the Emperor asking for? He swallowed thickly, trying to find his voice.
“Play, your Highness?” he managed at last.
“Yes, play. Do you play?” the Emperor repeated.
“I’m afraid I must beg clarification of the question, your Highness,” Ninomiya said cautiously. “There are many things that may be played.”
“An instrument, of course.”
The man was definitely getting testy. Ninomiya chewed the inside of his cheek nervously, looking down. “Ah, of course, your Highness,” he said softly, differentially. “I am trained to play the tanbur and kemence, though likely not to the satisfaction of any who might hear it.”[3]
“Do you sing?”
“I could make no guarantee that I would not alarm the palace dogs, your Highness.”
Ninomiya got himself a smile from several of the Emperor’s companions then, but he couldn’t relax. Not when the Emperor merely rolled his eyes and tapped his long fingers against the arm of his throne.
“Well what can you do to make you worth my time?”
“That would be for your Highness to decide,” Ninomiya said softly.
“Supposing I find that such an effort is a complete waste and have you removed this instant?”
“Assuming your Highness means ‘executed’ when you say ‘removed’, I don’t believe you would.”
There was a long silence. Ninomiya’s stomach knotted and twisted and his chest felt cold. How could he have spoken so brazenly to the Emperor? Leader might have said to be open, but he would never have condoned this.
The young man stood from his throne. “Follow me, boy.”
Ninomiya looked carefully at the ground as he obeyed.
------
Satoshi stood silently, watching the doors to his chambers as they were pulled shut behind himself and the harem boy who was to be his birthday present: Yet another of his mother’s attempts to keep him occupied and divided in his affections. He stared at the bowed head, small tufts of black bangs peeking out from under a white veil.
At a quick estimation, they were about the same height, but this boy was built skinny and somehow fragile looking. This was doubtless the reason he’d been chosen, Satoshi thought with a cynical curl to his lip. His mother had always thought the vulnerable ones were more likely to capture his attention.
“Lift your head, boy Kazunari,” Satoshi ordered.
The harem boy did so obediently, but his eyes remained lowered. Nothing out of the ordinary; none of the brazenness that had gotten him into the chamber in the first place. The young Emperor pursed his lips in annoyance, giving the slim form a second cursory inspection. He paused when he reached the boy’s thin face. Kazunari had eyes surprisingly light in color, like dark honey instead of the black that were most prominent among the residents of the palace.
“Remove the veil.”
Kazunari raised his hands slowly - his fingers were short and his nails clean and neat - and removed the length of cloth that covered his hair and the lower half of his face. He held onto the veil with one hand, letting his arms fall back to his sides, and waited. His hair was prone to slight curls and sticking together in untamed wisps. It had been mussed by even the bare movement of the veil’s removal.
Satoshi reached out slowly, his dark eyes fixed onto the harem boy’s much lighter ones. The boy waited patiently - that was good. If he were trained at all he wouldn’t presume to know what his Emperor wanted of him, and well he shouldn’t.
Satoshi didn’t want anything of him.
The young Emperor had told his mother many times that he didn’t care for this sort of gift, but still she persisted, convinced that it was unacceptable that he should have only two wives and a single favored concubine in Jun. Nonetheless, He had turned away every other boy and girl that had been made a gift to him in the years following Jun’s introduction to the harem, and he had no intention of changing his pattern.
Satoshi lifted his hand up along the boy’s side, up along his shoulder and neck, his fingers barely skimming the fine silk cloth. He watched the light eyes become slowly half-lidded and wondered idly if this skinny thing thought he was being seductive. Surprisingly, Satoshi found himself disappointed. For a moment he’d thought the boy and his impertinence would be amusing. With a careless gesture, he brushed a bit of stray hair back from Kazunari’s forehead. Light eyes opened fully again, confusion written in them despite the attempt to keep his face composed.
The Emperor smiled thinly. “Your hairstyle was askew. I’ve fixed it.”
He turned away from Kazunari as if to dismiss him entirely - but he paused before he could tell the boy to be gone. For that moment in the chamber Kazunari had been so refreshing; Satoshi couldn’t remember the last time somebody had spoken to him without the trappings of refined court speech. The shock of hearing plain speech had sparked his interest, and now ... the young man sighed. He was surprising himself tonight: He thought he’d known better than to be disappointed when Kazunari turned out to be just like the others.
When his Highness turned away but said nothing, Ninomiya tried very hard to stamp down panic. He didn’t know what to do or what sort of test he was being put through. He just knew that the Emperor was waiting and for what Ninomiya couldn’t have said. In the end he could think of nothing but to continue in the vein of his hair.
Unfortunately, all he came up with was: “The point of the style was to be mussed, I believe, your Highness. So really what you’ve done is make a mess of it.” And immediately his insides froze. He’d certainly gone and put his foot in his mouth now.
The Emperor turned on him slowly; Ninomiya only hoped he’d at least be allowed to say good-bye to Masaki before his death. But the Emperor’s lips were quirked upwards ever so slightly, and for just a moment his eyes sparked with something other than the affected boredom that had been his only expression in the audience chamber. Ninomiya allowed himself to hope that he wouldn’t be executed with the dawn.
“Come,” said his Highness, “Sit. We’ll have tea.”
The Emperor turned on his heel and swept to a low day bed before Ninomiya could think to move. By the time Ninomiya got his feet working under him, the older man had draped himself luxuriously over the length of the day bed: The colorful silks of his robes pooled around him and hung carelessly down from the sides, creating an aura of sheer power.
At the foot of the day bed there was a tray with a tea pot and a set of cups that Ninomiya hadn’t noticed before - in fact there was a lot about his room that he hadn’t been given time to notice. He moved quickly, kneeling at the older man’s knees and taking the delicate tea pot from the tray, holding it carefully as he filled the Emperor’s cup. He held the cup even more carefully when he presented it to the older man: It wouldn’t do to spill over his hand.
For a long while the Emperor didn’t move, but Ninomiya kept waiting, holding the cup steady. He hoped that his gritted teeth didn’t show in a visible way. The pot must have been sitting out for a while - the tea wasn’t boiling hot and for that Ninomiya was eternally thankful. It didn’t stop the rebellious spark of anger that was coiling in the pit of his stomach at being treated such.
Satoshi waited until the boy’s eyes closed against the heat of the cup before he finally took it from Kazunari’s small hands. “You may pour for yourself,” he said with a lazy wave of his own hand, so different with long fingers and nails, taking a sip.
Ninomiya obeyed, pouring tea into the second cup on the tray, but he left the cup to cool, moving closer to the Emperor’s knee and gathering up a white sleeve. He hadn’t been told to drink and he figured it best to be attentive to the older man and to be ready to clear away any spilled drops. That was, after all, what he’d been made to do by the Second Wife when he waited on her tea - why wouldn’t he do so for the Emperor?
He was so busy watching the Emperor sip slowly from his cup that he wasn’t prepared for the older man’s long fingers to thread into his hair. Even so, Ninomiya moved easily under the tugging guidance to rest his head on the Emperor’s knee. It earned him a soft, drawn out chuckle and a bit of petting that didn’t feel particularly fond.
“Well, aren’t you so very cute.”
Ninomiya bit his lip. What did one say to a statement like that, when it was said mockingly? Accepting implied insults graciously was not part of his education in the harem, though he’d thought since his arrival that it really ought to be. In the end he settled for, “Thank you, your Highness.”
The Emperor snorted softly. He didn’t sound pleased. “And so agreeable, too.”
“I will be as you wish me to be.”
“Would you now?” Satoshi asked, edging his words in mocking surprise. “You would go that far to differentiate yourself from every other boy in the harem?”
Ninomiya bit his tongue and frowned at the Emperor’s knees. Did every harem boy put up with this man’s tongue, all for the hope of a second glance from him? Well he wasn’t going to have it. “No, your Highness, I would do it so my head might remain attached to my shoulders.”
There was a short silence during which the Emperor’s fingers were still on his head. When he spoke again, his voice was soft and not as mocking. It was almost contemplative. “Then, if I bade you stay still and accept pain? If I wanted to hurt you to derive my pleasure?”
“I would not enjoy it.”
“But you would not protest.”
“... No, your Highness. If that is what you wish for, I am here for you.”
He should have been ready for it, he knew what he was asking for by giving such an answer, but it came as a painful shock nonetheless. In his hair, the Emperor’s long fingers tightened and pulled up in a sharp yank, holding the fistful at such a painful distance that Ninomiya’s eyes watered. Ninomiya bit down on his bottom lip as hard as he could forcing himself to concentrate on that pain instead. He was fairly sure the Emperor wouldn’t really hurt him - after all he’d spent a fair amount of time talking back to the older man and he hadn’t been ordered killed yet - and he had agreed not to protest. It seemed like ages before the fingers finally loosened. Ninomiya’s shoulders slumped in relief.
“Drink your tea,” Satoshi said quietly, looking down at the young man at his feet.
Kazunari sat up straight and reached for the cup with a shaking hand, though he’d made no sound of pain. He brought the cup to his lips and paused, his eyes flicking to Satoshi’s foot and then to his face, and back to his foot. Satoshi realized that he was waiting for the cup to be knocked out of his hands, perhaps even into his face, and he frowned slightly. Who had done something like that often enough that Kazunari would expect it to happen?
When the Emperor did nothing to stop him or knock the cup from his hand, Ninomiya drank a sip as quickly as he could. Then he set the cup down and returned his head to the Emperor’s knee. This time long fingers were gentle when they stroked down his neck and shoulder. Ninomiya closed his eyes and released a breath. The older man was silent for a long time.
“... If I didn’t know better,” he said at length, “I’d say you liked being with me.”
“You know better only because this is the first time we’ve met, your Highness.”
If he kept speaking the way he was, Ninomiya knew, he’d be punished for all the borderline rude things he’d said, and he was ready for that. He just couldn’t - wouldn’t - let the Emperor think he was seeking favors. For one thing, given the Emperor’s attitude, he had no doubt that trying would be fruitless. For another he was not interested in the grudges and hate that seemed to come attached to being in the eye of the Emperor. That was better left to those who knew how to deal with it, like Matsumoto-san. Ninomiya simply wanted to get through this night alive.
The Emperor barked a sharp laugh and scratched his nails over the nape of the boy’s neck. He dug small crescent welts into Kazunari’s skin and watched him flinch. “What are you looking for, boy? What do you think I will give you for your flattery?”
“I am not looking for anything, your Highness,” Kazunari said. He looked up, just shy of meeting the older man’s eyes, and there was something raw in his tone. “I am nothing more than a gift from your mother - one that you didn’t want. Just... use me for tonight and decide what will become of me in the morning.”
Satoshi’s fingers faltered over the boy’s skin.
A hundred things he could use against this boy to see him punished - or even killed. This boy could be the perfect example to force his mother to stop meddling in his life and cease her constant flow of ‘gifts’. Only Satoshi was slowly coming to find that he didn’t want him to be that example. This gift, this Kazunari, spoke in strange patterns and was a study in contradictions that piqued his interest - one part of him was submissive and the other sought to challenge authority. And if the eunuch spies he employed in the harem were worth their salt, Kazunari simply liked to be with people.
Satoshi hadn’t ever had anyone like that in his bed; not even Jun had come to him as baldly honest. And this one was pretty besides. Now standing so close to him, Satoshi decided that Kazunari was not fragile so much as he was dainty. He was fairly sure it wasn’t the make up, which was light and artful and not enough to over shadow Kazunari’s natural features.
The young Emperor stood, taking the boy’s elbow and pulling him up alongside. Light honey eyes looked back into his and blinked once. The tiny blue jewels resting at the corners of them gleamed when the movement caught the firelight. Satoshi wrapped his fingers around the gold dusted neck and pulled the boy close.
Warm lips met his softly, almost hesitantly, which made the Emperor pause uncertainly for a moment. He had never before needed to guide a kiss. With a soft sigh, Satoshi nudged at Kazunari’s lips with his tongue until they parted for him, then slid his tongue into the warm pockets of the boy’s mouth, tasting jasmine tea and spices. He kept the kiss deep and lingering, holding Kazunari close to his chest. When he pulled away, barely far enough to be considered away, he let his gaze take in the slender face. Kazunari’s cheeks were flushed and the tips of his ears pink. His eyelashes smudged half-moons against his pale skin. The Emperor swallowed, finding himself nervous for the first time in years.
Kazunari was a virgin in every sense of the word.
He didn’t have the skill or the same, patiently trained suaveness to his kissing that the other gifts had come to Satoshi with, and he wasn’t as pointedly inviting in his body language as the other boys had been. And Satoshi didn’t know what he was supposed to do. A virgin was one thing. A virgin who lacked all the training and manners of the harem was entirely different. The silence stretched on, and Kazunari shifted. His eye lids fluttered, about to open.
Satoshi drew in a shuddering breath and rasped, “Get onto my bed. Up by the pillows.”
Ninomiya swallowed nervously. He stepped back from the older man, getting onto the bed as bidden. He sat seiza style, placing his hands behind him and leaning back, arching his back into a bow while the Emperor moved. The older man came in close, running graceful and careful fingers down from Ninomiya’s neck to the first frog of the blue and gold robe, and from there undoing the rest deftly.
The robe slid from Ninomiya’s shoulders under the Emperor’s hands; Ninomiya inhaled sharply and tensed. The material pooled at his wrists, but he didn’t move to free himself of it. The Emperor leaned in, kissing the taught column of Ninomiya’s neck, peppering the soft touch over all the warm skin his lips could reach. Ninomiya swallowed - and he would have sworn that his Highness smiled in response. The older man definitely did nip under his chin and along the line of his jaw. Ninomiya sighed out softly, leaning back a little farther as he relaxed. Maybe this wouldn’t be so horrible.
Satoshi nosed at the lobe of his ear and felt more than heard the soft noise Kazunari made. He ran his hands down the younger man’s chest, over the soft white linen of his second layer, pausing at the yellow sash that held it closed. A moment of thought had him passing it by entirely in favor of skimming his hands over the leg bared by the white robe’s slit: It was soft and warm under his fingers. He moved the slit of fabric from between Kazunari’s legs, tossing it carelessly to the side, then dipped his hands down, feathering his finger tips along pale thighs.
Kazunari spread his knees just a few inches - enough to invite a more thorough touch if Satoshi desired it but not enough to really know what he was doing. The Emperor reached for the yellow sash and undid the loose tie slowly, pulling the length of material away from Kazunari’s slim form. The harem boy looked up then, opening his eyes slowly. His eyes were a shade darker than they had been twenty minutes ago and his bottom lip was stuck firmly between his teeth as he chewed on it.
Satoshi brushed his thumb over the bitten flesh. “I can’t hear you if you do that.”
The bitten lip popped out under the Emperor’s thumb - more from surprise than anything else, and Satoshi could tell by the look on Kazunari’s face that he hadn’t thought the Emperor would be interested in hearing him. Satoshi let his eyes trace the curve of the boy’s lips, and the younger man flushed.
“I’m sorry.”
Satoshi kissed aside the apology, cupping the back of Kazunari’s head and tilting his own to press in close. The harem boy’s lithe body melted into his. Kazunari parted his lips and slid his tongue over the Emperor’s bottom lip, a hint of playfulness accompanying the action. That hint made Satoshi smile softly and part his lips just wide enough to be teasing, making the young man work to gain access to his mouth. Once it was there, Satoshi let Kazunari explore to his satisfaction and only when the younger man’s tongue traced the contours of his own did the Emperor press back, dueling his way back into Kazunari’s mouth.
Feeling utterly relaxed and yet completely foolish with his arms hanging at his sides like useless lumps, Ninomiya wondered what he should do. Participating in the kiss was one thing, but surely there was more - perhaps he was supposed to touch, or maybe begin to undress himself. In the end he lifted them from the bed and wrapped them around the Emperor’s shoulders.
The older man froze. Ninomiya did, too, realized exactly what he’d done - how stupid did he have to be to touch the Emperor without permission - and slowly lowered his arms again. Now he was certainly in for it.
He looked up briefly - the Emperor was regarding him solemnly, the demand for an explanation written in his gaze. Ninomiya flushed bright red and he looked quickly off to the side. But his Highness didn’t let go of the back of his head, keeping him firmly in place, and he had no escape.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to - I didn’t...” he murmured at last, “I just thought - I wanted -”
He cut himself off and bit his lip.
The Emperor waited, nudging the boy when the silence went too long. “Just wanted?”
“To hold you,” Kazunari said quietly enough that Satoshi almost couldn’t understand him.
When he figured out what the slender man had said, Satoshi felt warmth spread through his chest. He pulled Kazunari close to him by the small of his back, his fingers sifting through the soft, gold-dusted hair. “You can.”
Kazunari moved slowly, watching the Emperor carefully to make sure he still had permission this time. Satoshi nodded once, slightly, and the younger man wrapped his arms around his shoulders once more. He rested his head against the Emperor’s cheek, nose tucked into the crook between the older man’s neck and jaw. The warmth that had been in Satoshi’s chest spread through his body when Kazunari sighed contently, small fingers playing with the collar of his stiff silk robes.
“I like your smell,” the boy murmured against the Emperor’s skin.
Satoshi blinked, then chuckled. “Thank you. ... I’m still going to take you.”
“That’s all right. I didn’t think you wouldn’t.”
Ninomiya kept his loose hold on the older man’s shoulders even after his Highness let him go in favor of finally pushing aside the white linen robes. And then he was totally bared to the gaze of the older man. He released the Emperor to allow the last impediment fall away from his body, ducking his head shyly as he was looked over. It was better than watching the Emperor watch him - he felt less inclined to blush when he couldn’t see the older man’s dark eyes fixed intently on his body.
He was still looking down when long and delicate fingers trailed down his chest to the blue jewel resting in his belly button, tracing circles around it. His muscles tightened under them; the light touch made him shiver down his spine. The Emperor’s hand splayed almost possessively over his abdomen; his other tipped up Ninomiya’s chin. He leaned in for another kiss - this time Ninomiya was ready for him.
Ninomiya let the Emperor part lips for a deep kiss, returning it enthusiastically. The hand left his chin to join it’s counterpart in moving all over his body. Ninomiya’s whole body felt warm - he wondered how much of that translated to his Highness’s touch. The younger man lifted his hands slowly, moving them along cool silk, letting them hover by the Emperor’s face without touching him, waiting for permission to touch, to stroke, to be allowed the intimacy he’d always associated with actions instead of words.
It took him a moment to realize that while Kazunari’s hands had lifted, they hadn’t necessarily settled. Satoshi broke the kiss to search for them. When he found them, the Emperor rolled his eyes. His head bent to Kazunari’s earlobe, and he nipped.
“Didn’t I just give you permission?” he whispered, amused, into the delicate shell.
“You told me that I could hold you,” came the rejoinder.
Satoshi sighed and nipped the point of Kazunari’s ear. His hands roamed the slender path of the boy’s sides, feeling warm and impossibly smooth skin shudder and jump underneath his fingers. “You may touch me.”
So Ninomiya’s pressed his hands lightly to the Emperor’s cheeks, cupping the older man’s cherubic face, his thumbs trailing a path of barely an inch under the Emperor’s eyes. When he had touched the older man’s face long enough, he slid his hands down and dipped his fingers under the collar of Satoshi’s robe. There he moved them carefully over the nape of Satoshi’s neck and then further down along his clavicle.
Meanwhile his Highness had dipped long fingers between his legs, working a path slowly up, touching lightly the raised lines of his brand where his thigh met his pelvis, tracing the crest forever burned into Ninomiya’s skin. The back of the Emperor’s hand brushed Ninomiya’s half-hard cock - he gasped softly, unable to swallow back the sound.
Satoshi brushed his hand along Kazunari’s cock, feeling it grow harder, heavier against his skin. He turned his hand over, cupping the warmth in his palm, massaging gently. Kazunari moaned softly, closing his eyes tight, leaning in and pressing his face into Satoshi’s shoulder.
But he didn’t bite his lip.
Satoshi pressed back on the younger man’s chest, urging him to lie down. It was a bit awkward and Kazunari nearly kneed him in the stomach while trying to get his feet out from under him, but then he was laid out on the Emperor’s sheets, hair mussed and eyes even darker than they had been, erection hidden under the cover of Satoshi’s fingers. Even if he hadn’t already been aroused, Satoshi was sure his cock would have sprung to attention. He crawled over Kazunari’s body, covering the slender body almost completely as he bent down to kiss him again, hungry and demanding. His fingers wrapped around Kazunari’s length and stroked.
Ninomiya responded to the kiss right away, purring and keening into the older man’s mouth as he wrapped his arms around Satoshi’s shoulders. The weight above him was pleasant and solid - Ninomiya felt it without feeling like he was being crushed, like an anchor tying him to reality when the night around them had to be some kind of a dream.
The Emperor stretched and shifted above him, reaching somewhere over his head, Ninomiya couldn’t see where. The kiss broke when the older man pulled back and fumbled with a small jar - Ninomiya assumed that was the object Satoshi had been reaching for.
“You’re still clothed,” he whined, tugging lightly on the folds of the Emperor’s stiff robes. “That’s not fair.”
“It could be, if I say it is.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“You’re suddenly confident.”
“That is to say I think you wouldn’t,” Ninomiya amended. “You’d have a much harder time of it yourself if you left your clothes on, and by making it fair nobody would try to divest you of them.”
Satoshi laughed softly. He set the jar aside just far enough that it wouldn’t fall and pulled the younger man upright, sitting back himself. “Since you are so insistent, you may do the honors of divesting me of my clothing.”
The look on the younger man’s face told Satoshi exactly what he thought of being given that honor, but he laughed and leaned forward to begin his task. “I think, perhaps, that you’re just incapable of undressing yourself, your Highness.”
Satoshi knew he should be, on principle offended. It was within his power to call everything to a halt and have Kazunari dragged off, to have him become the example for those who dared to insult their Emperor freely. Had it been anyone else he more than likely would have. But the young man wasn’t trying to insult. He spoke so brazenly because Satoshi had implicitly allowed such freedom - responding to Kazunari’s inherent playfulness in equal measure, even as the Emperor before his court. If he had Kazunari punished now, he’d break that unspoken trust, and his chest clenched at that thought.
Satoshi couldn’t remember the last person who’d been so free with him - not even Sho allowed himself to be. So he stroked the nape of Kazunari’s neck and kissed him lightly instead. “Bite your tongue, boy,” he said, and laughed softly. He took Kazunari’s kiss-bruised bottom lip in his teeth and tugged on it lightly. “I just like having someone do my work for me.”
Ninomiya grinned against the older man’s lips, removing the stiff robe from his shoulders. The silk under robe went next, and finally the Emperor was naked and Ninomiya had to gulp at the sight of his erection. The older man smiled, reaching for the jar of oil once more.
“Straddle my lap,” he instructed, spreading his knees wide enough that the young man would have to open his legs to comply. He oiled his fingers while Kazunari scooted up, his knees to either side of Satoshi’s, and pulled the younger man in close with his free hand. “Now relax. This will burn at first, but I won’t hurt you.”
Ninomiya smiled and leaned forward to kiss the Emperor, who held the small of his back and reached behind him with his oiled fingers - Ninomiya hissed into the older man’s mouth when a fingertip pressed against his entrance and whimpered when it pushed in, but his body didn’t tense and he didn’t appear to be in pain. If anything, Satoshi thought, he grew harder, his warmth pulsing between their stomachs. He reached in deeply, swirling his finger around until he felt the tight muscle loosen enough for a second. The boy did tense this time, and the Emperor stopped immediately, two fingers pressed to the second knuckle in him.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m sorry,” Ninomiya gasped. “It’s just... it’s s-strange.”
The Emperor smiled and petted the small of Ninomiya’s back soothingly. He moved his fingers in slowly until they were as far as they could be. He waited for the younger to relax again, then spread them out, scissoring lazily. Kazunari whimpered, flexing his fingers and clenching them around the Emperor’s shoulders. His lips parted slackly, allowing his breath to come in light pants. Satoshi waited just long enough for the harem boy to catch his breath before he started to roll his fingers languidly. He was trying to be patient, trying to give the boy a proper first time, but it was getting harder to ignore his own needs.
When Ninomiya rolled down onto his fingers, Satoshi added a third finger to the tight heat, twisting the three about without pausing as he had before. Ninomiya moaned softly, jerking against his chest. The older man smiled and pressed his fingers in deeply, and he must have touched something in the boy because he cried out and bucked down hard.
“Ah,” Satoshi murmured, smiling smugly, “I’ve found it.”
Ninomiya whimpered. “Please, your Highness... don’t draw it out any longer.”
“Are you certain?”
The younger man pressed their lips together heatedly, so much that their teeth clicked together. The Emperor withdrew his fingers from the Ninomiya’s entrance, spilling oil over his cock and stroking it lazily, nudging pale hips higher up on his thighs. He positioned himself at the slender man’s entrance.
Ninomiya sat down on instinct as Satoshi pressed up, hissing softly in pain - the hardness pressing up into him burned like nothing he’d felt before, not even during the branding. His body felt like it was being split in two. He clenched his eyes tightly closed, panting, trying to get himself to relax.
Satoshi wrapped his slick hand around Kazunari, working it gently, rocking his hips as he pressed up into the boy. The farther in he slid, the more the boy relaxed around him, and finally the tension drained from his lithe form as he whimpered more in pleasure than in pain.
“All right?” Satoshi asked softly, nosing at his jaw.
“Y-yes. I’m all right.”
“Don’t lie.”
“I’m getting there. You can move.”
The Emperor did, rocking his hips enough to be felt, pushing more of himself into Kazunari and not stopping until he was completely buried to his balls. His hand kept working the boy’s erection, sliding his nails fleetingly over the vein and reaching back down to tease Kazunari’s perineum. It was the harem boy who moved first after that, lifting himself up and sitting back down, slowly figuring out a rhythm by which to ride Satoshi’s cock.
When he had it down, the Emperor moved his hands to support the boys hips, helping him to move. He moaned quietly, capturing Kazunari’s lips with his, kissing him deeply, holding him close with one arm. Kazunari’s small hands threaded into his hair and held him steady, answering the kiss affectionately as they moved together. The older man sighed into Kazunari’s mouth thrusting up into the younger man in one smooth movement to bury himself fully, rolling back just slightly - gravity brought the rest of him down, stretched out on the bed with Kazunari still straddling him.
Ninomiya blushed down the length of his body, his eyelids lowering to hide his gaze from the Emperor. He had only felt naked before: Like this he felt exposed. He wasn’t sure that he was ready to feel like that with the older man, but it was also clear he didn’t have much choice. He placed his hands over his Highness’s shoulders, holding himself up while he rocked his hips, gasping softly, holding his breath tight in his chest without meaning to. The sensations were so much different when he moved like this, no less fulfilling but somehow less intimate; perhaps because the Emperor was watching, rather than kissing him.
Then the older man arched up and thrust up into Ninomiya, and he moaned, throwing his head back. The change in angle had the Emperor’s cock pressing against that spot inside him once again, sending bursts of white across his vision. Ninomiya raised himself again and sat back down, letting out a noise of something that might have been the Emperor’s name - even he wasn’t sure. There was a soft touch to the back of his hand in response.
“Satoshi. I don’t care for titles in bed.”
Ninomiya rolled his head forward, letting it hang so he could look the older man in the eyes. He smiled, though he didn’t talk, riding the Emperor’s cock faster. The Emperor’s eyes became half-lidded and glazed, and he thrust up to keep the pace.
“A-ah... Kazunari...”
Ninomiya drank up the sound with a flush of pleasure, lifting himself over and over, until, to his embarrassment, he could feel his legs start to grow weak. His thighs started to tremble with the effort to keep pushing his body up, and though he didn’t want to stop, his movements grew slower.
“S-satoshi...” he murmured hesitantly (how strange to call the Emperor by his name!)
The older man looked up at him, brushing his fingers down his arm from elbow to wrist. “What?”
“M-my legs...” Ninomiya whimpered, blushing, “I can’t...”
The Emperor laughed softly, smiling fondly at the young man. He placed his hands on Kazunari’s thighs, feeling his muscles trembling, and massaged them gently. “Stop for a moment. Lay back.”
He watched Kazunari as the harem boy lifted himself off his cock, and sat up. Kazunari laid back on his bed, his dark hair curling over the white silk pillows. Satoshi reached for the oil, grabbing it up and slicking himself, trying not to linger on the head of his penis, moaning softly. He shoved a pillow under Kazunari’s hips and stroked the backs of his fingers over the flushed cheeks. Kazunari leaned into his touch. Satoshi aligned himself to the boy’s entrance - as he pressed in the boy’s legs spread and wrapped around his waist, his wrist lodging firmly over his eyes as he moaned.
Satoshi snapped his hips to make Kazunari moan again. Kazunari thrashed his head. That set the Emperor off; he leaned down and fused their lips together, kissing the young man hungrily as he pounded into the tight heat. He was gratified to hear Kazunari keen loudly and feel the small fingers weave into his hair. Satoshi reached between them, wrapping his hand around the harem boy’s erection and stroking firmly.
Ninomiya keened, arching up into the Emperor’s chest, holding onto him tightly and panting into his mouth, muttering his name amidst his heavy breathing and moans. Satoshi smiled against his lips and twisted his wrist, circling his thumb over the head of Ninomiya’s penis. Ninomiya came undone, crying out as he came, shuddering almost violently.
Satoshi drank in the younger man’s cries, managing to thrust even through the spasming heat, slamming their hips together. Then Kazunari did something that made his whole body clench tightly and envelop Satoshi completely and the Emperor couldn’t hold himself back, coming into Kazunari and gasping his name.
He lay on top of the younger man for a long while after that, feeling Kazunari’s heart beat frantically against his skin; both their chests heaving as they tried to regain their breath. Kazunari’s hands stroked gently up and down Satoshi’s spine. Finally the Emperor regained enough presence of mind to pull out of the younger man’s body, flopping bonelessly next to him. Neither spoke for a very long time. Then Satoshi reached slowly to the side and pulled on a heavy chord that hung by the bed.
Ninomiya turned his head to the side, watching the older man, and blinked, realizing he hadn’t noticed it before. He wondered what it was for, and if he’d be expected to leave now - maybe his Highness was calling for Maruyama to come collect him.
“Come, we’ll bathe,” the Emperor murmured.
“Yes, your Highness,” Ninomiya murmured.
It was awkward going, getting up, because his back burned and pinched, and his legs felt like they were made of jelly, but Satoshi was there to help him, supporting him to the baths with a firm arm wrapped snugly around his waist. A eunuch poured scented oils and a handful of plain salts into the water, and Satoshi helped Ninomiya in. The tub was surprisingly like the one in the harem’s bath - large and marble and guarded by golden gates.
Ninomiya sighed softly in pure enjoyment. He reached for the soap that rested on the edge of the wide tub and dipped it in the water, lathering it with the intent to wash the Emperor’s back. His fingers touched Satoshi’s skin tentatively, growing slowly more sure as the older man relaxed back into him.
“You’ll stay tonight,” Satoshi said softly as Kazunari massaged his shoulders.
Kazunari smiled at him. “As you wish.”
“And I will call on you again. I want to hear these strings you play with no skill.”
Kazunari laughed softly. On impulse he wrapped his arms around Satoshi’s shoulders and leaned forward, kissing the older man’s jaw softly, confident that the gesture would be well received. “Any time you call, I will be happy to come.”
------
[1] I’m a horrible, mean person. BUT TELL ME IT ISN'T THE BEST JOB FOR HIM.
[2] Phthalo blue looks like this.
[3] Not, I’m sure, that anyone cares, but a quick review of the tanbur and the kemence can be found linked from this article.
Pairing: Ohno Satoshi/Ninomiya Kazunari (with mentions of Ohno Satoshi/Matsumoto Jun and Aiba Masaki/Ninomiya Kazunari)
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Harem AU, light hurt/comfort, mentions of branding and past enslavement.
Word Count: 8548
Notes: Reveals were posted on the comm, so reposting ahoy! The world here is a mix of Arabian and Japanese living. There is no harem without an Arabian setting, but it seemed silly to take a bunch of Japanese boys and plop them into the desert, so when you notice the weird inconsistencies between building structure and living style, that’s why. And there is porn. In fact it is mostly porn. ‘Cause this was written for a porn fest, you see.
Today is November the 26th. Tonight you will be seen by the Emperor.
They were the first words that Ninomiya had heard upon waking.
Today is November the 26th. Tonight you will be seen by the Emperor.
They’d echoed through his head all day, from the morning meal to the start of his lessons with the Master of the Scrolls. None of the other boys had spoken to him beyond cursory greetings if they passed in the courtyards or hallways of the harem - a few had actually been shushed with a quick, sharp word from one of the guards and turned in the opposite direction. Even his lessons had been shorter than usual; and when it came time for his midday meal and the afternoon rest he’d been taken to a room apart from the others.
Ninomiya stared at his hands underneath the bath water. He’d been in the bath for nearly three hours now, having undergone a nearly vicious scrubbing from head to toe - twice - and then left to soak in a marble tub behind a golden gate that he hadn’t known existed, let alone been to. Joshima Shigeru, known simply as Leader, had gone to fetch more salts for the water, leaving him alone with his thoughts.
Today is November the 26th. Tonight you will be seen by the Emperor.
Tonight was the night he would be presented to the Emperor - a birthday present from the Queen Mother. Ninomiya had heard little about the presentation night, mostly hearsay that had been pieced together by odalisques who’d never been through the presentation themselves, and likely never would be. He didn’t put much stock into all that he heard, but what he did believe was a piece of information that said that each boy was presented according to his strengths; and it worried him. He had only been in the harem for a span of barely three months. He didn’t know what his strengths were.
Ninomiya cupped his hands and lifted them, splashing hot water over his face and scrubbing at his cheeks, trying to ignore how his fingers trembled against his skin. Despite knowing the purported order of events, he had no idea what would happen tonight. He knew only that it would inevitably decide the rest of his life here.
With a clanging of the gates that had Ninomiya nearly jumping clear out of his seat, Leader returned. The Chief Eunuch knelt by the side of the tub and upended a small silk pouch, pouring the bath salts into the water.[1] From his robes he removed a small vial of what was more than likely scented oil and set it aside. Then he smoothed the tips of his fingers over Ninomiya’s shoulder. Ninomiya relaxed marginally under the touch - he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding himself so stiffly.
“You’ll not do yourself any favors if you stay tensed like that, Kazunari,” Leader murmured. “The Emperor will expect you limber in his bed, not straight as a flooring board. If you are not pleasing, you will be demoted, perhaps.”
Ninomiya managed not to flinch, which he was quite proud of. Hearing that name was too new for him to be comfortable thinking of it as his. Kazunari still felt like someone else. He inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, trying to force himself to relax completely.
Leader sighed, placing both his hands on Kazunari’s shoulders and massaging gently until the boy leaned back against him and the tension slowly drained from his face. He smiled a comforting smile, looking down. Then he sighed pointedly, vaguely annoyed by the boy’s cheekiness. Imagine closing one’s eyes and taking a nap when you were about to receive good advice!
“You have a way with people,” he said anyway. The boy opened his eyes, though he clearly saw nothing. Leader pressed on. “They are drawn to you, but you don’t take advantage of them. You respond to their moods and adjust easily - that will please his Highness.”
Kazunari looked doubtful.
Leader clucked his tongue. “The Emperor is not made of stone, nor is he an ungracious man. He is as human as you are. I have seen you give yourself freely to Masaki. Tonight be as you are with Masaki, and the Emperor will find no fault with you.”
Ninomiya chewed on his bottom lip. He wondered if something like that could be reproduced. Masaki was as bright as the sun, but he didn’t burn. He was beautiful and safe and had taken care of Kazunari since he’d arrived. Kazunari wasn’t like Masaki was - he could let Masaki coax him out, but he couldn’t be the coaxer.
Leader directed his head back to the ledge of the tub, taking up a comb and dampening it with the scented oil from the vial, drawing it through Ninomiya’s hair. Ninomiya closed his eyes again, trying to calm his nerves. He drew handfuls of water over his shoulders while Leader worked, the warmth soothing and delicious - the air outside became surprisingly cold in the winter months.
When he finished with the comb, Leader helped Ninomiya out from the tub. Ninomiya waited, his arms held to the sides, while he was dried with careful pats of a linen cloth. He closed his eyes when Leader applied the scented oil to his shoulders and cheeks, and dusted a golden powder over the oil. The point of this was apparently that the gold would drip invitingly down his chest and back and jaw when the oil succumbed to gravity.
There was a short pause while Leader set aside the vial and produced a small bottle of gum resin and a pouch of small jewels that were the common decoration for most of the boys and girls. Leader tilted Ninomiya’s head to the side and applied two drops of resin to the corner of his eye - a single small blue jewel was applied on top of each resin drop and held in place to set. Leader moved a step back, looking at Nino with a long practiced gaze, and finally tilted his head to the other side, repeating the treatment with two more blue jewels. Another drop of resin kept a much larger blue jewel held in his belly button.
“All right. Let’s get you dressed,” Leader said quietly.
Ninomiya followed him into the marble and dark pine changing room, where several choices of outfit pieces waited on the benches. Leader immediately selected a white under robe with wide sleeves, tucking the long folds left over right and slipping a long thin length of pale yellow silk loosely around Ninomiya’s hips, twining the two ends once to keep it in place. He tugged the white linen this way and that, pulling the collar down at the nape of Ninomiya’s neck, making sure the slit sides exposed Ninomiya’s leg properly.
When he was satisfied, Leader stood and hummed to himself as he pondered the choices. Finally, to fit over the white linen he chose an phthalo blue and dull gold sleeveless robe - the hem of which fell barely to Nino’s hips. He looked Ninomiya up and down, tapping his chin thoughtfully.[2] After a moment’s thought, he chose a thin silver band for each of the boy’s wrists and two anklets with draping chains for his feet. He applied another smear of oil to the tops of his feet and dusted the gold powder over them, then stood and swept Ninomiya’s hair this way and that - until it looked like it been blown about in a free breeze. He dusted the powder lightly through the boys hair, admiring the way it shimmered in the bathhouse light.
“There,” Leader said, nodding his satisfaction, “That’ll do nicely.”
Ninomiya tried a tiny smile and worked very hard not to pull at or fidget with his clothes. Leader led him from the baths and to the Hall of the Presented that connected the New Palace to the Old, where the Emperor’s quarters were. The whole length of the hall, as far as Ninomiya could see, was latticed with tightly carved patterns; the holes barely enough to allow the fading sunlight through. He wondered why. No man was allowed to gaze upon the Emperor’s women, but that same taboo didn’t exist for the boys.
He supposed it didn’t really make a difference in the end.
Maruyama was waiting for him, kneeling at the hall’s portico. Ninomiya gave a start when he stood: He hadn’t noticed the eunuch was there, focused so intently on the end of the hall. Maruyama slid a length of cloth over Ninomiya’s head and tucked it around his face, hiding it. Then he smiled and held his arm out; a gesture for Ninomiya to proceed.
Ninomiya swallowed, listening. From somewhere within the Old Palace, a hundred bells on a long chord rang twice, their clamor echoing through the grounds. Ninomiya bit down on his lip and started down the hall, walking slowly behind his eunuch. Maruyama kept his head down, leading the way to the Imperial audience chamber at the junction of the New and Old Palaces.
------
When they arrived, the doors were drawn aside by two fully armed guards - two more stood to either side of the entrance within the room. The Imperial audience chamber was a wide room with an opening in the ceiling to let in the day light, though now it was lit with many oil lamps. The floor was an intricate mosaic of marble and colored stones, the patterns of which were matched along the walls.
There was very little furniture; courtiers sat on thick, embroidered and bejeweled cushions on the floor. At the Eastern end of the room there was a single raised dais, positioned neatly under a roof of sorts - a concave arch of gilded tile that was supported by equally gilded wood columns. There the Emperor sat upon a low throne of dark lacquered oak, richly carved and inlaid with mother of pearl and gold.
Beside the dais was another platform. It sat slightly higher than the one on which the Emperor sat and was heavily screened with several layers of loosely woven silk. Ninomiya could see that at least three women sat behind the protection of the screens.
The Emperor didn’t appear to have been holding court - in fact there were only a handful of others in the room besides the women. The other occupants were a few men who looked to be about the Emperor’s age, all dressed so richly that they couldn’t be anything other than the Emperor’s advisors or perhaps even friends. They were all looking at him.
Ninomiya felt cold. The Emperor looked bored and the night had not even begun.
“The boy Kazunari,” said a smooth, soft female voice. “For your birthday, my darling son.”
Ninomiya swallowed, hoping he could not yet be seen, standing in the dim light of the hall as he was.
“Is that so?” the Emperor drawled, resting his cheek upon his fist. He sighed heavily. “Well don’t just stand out there, boy Kazunari. Come in and let the guards close the doors. You’re letting in a draft and I hate to be cold.”
“Satoshi,” said the smooth voice, even as the other two women hid smiles behind their hands (at least Ninomiya assumed they did by their movements) and the other men chuckled. Ninomiya stepped into the brightly lit room, leaving Maruyama behind, and the doors were closed behind him. He moved forward until there was barely a meter of distance between him and the roofed dais.
There was a long silence while the Emperor looked Ninomiya up and down. Ninomiya thought the Emperor might have sat up a little straighter, had perhaps taken a bit of interest in him, but whatever Ninomiya thought he’d seen on the young man’s face was quickly forced away. It made Ninomiya wonder for the first time if being raised as royalty wasn’t as trying in its way as being raised as a peasant. Such composure and an almost emotionless bearing didn’t come naturally.
The Emperor looked towards the screen after a while. “The boy Kazunari. And what marvelous skill does he bring to me, mother?”
“Perhaps you should find out for yourself,” the smooth voice said. She didn’t make note of the sweet sarcasm of her son’s voice, though nobody could have missed it. The young man sighed heavily as if put upon and turned back to face the harem boy.
“Well? Do you play, boy?”
Play? Ninomiya knew he must be performing a fantastic impression of a scared animal, if the expressions of the other men were anything to go by. What on earth was the Emperor asking for? He swallowed thickly, trying to find his voice.
“Play, your Highness?” he managed at last.
“Yes, play. Do you play?” the Emperor repeated.
“I’m afraid I must beg clarification of the question, your Highness,” Ninomiya said cautiously. “There are many things that may be played.”
“An instrument, of course.”
The man was definitely getting testy. Ninomiya chewed the inside of his cheek nervously, looking down. “Ah, of course, your Highness,” he said softly, differentially. “I am trained to play the tanbur and kemence, though likely not to the satisfaction of any who might hear it.”[3]
“Do you sing?”
“I could make no guarantee that I would not alarm the palace dogs, your Highness.”
Ninomiya got himself a smile from several of the Emperor’s companions then, but he couldn’t relax. Not when the Emperor merely rolled his eyes and tapped his long fingers against the arm of his throne.
“Well what can you do to make you worth my time?”
“That would be for your Highness to decide,” Ninomiya said softly.
“Supposing I find that such an effort is a complete waste and have you removed this instant?”
“Assuming your Highness means ‘executed’ when you say ‘removed’, I don’t believe you would.”
There was a long silence. Ninomiya’s stomach knotted and twisted and his chest felt cold. How could he have spoken so brazenly to the Emperor? Leader might have said to be open, but he would never have condoned this.
The young man stood from his throne. “Follow me, boy.”
Ninomiya looked carefully at the ground as he obeyed.
------
Satoshi stood silently, watching the doors to his chambers as they were pulled shut behind himself and the harem boy who was to be his birthday present: Yet another of his mother’s attempts to keep him occupied and divided in his affections. He stared at the bowed head, small tufts of black bangs peeking out from under a white veil.
At a quick estimation, they were about the same height, but this boy was built skinny and somehow fragile looking. This was doubtless the reason he’d been chosen, Satoshi thought with a cynical curl to his lip. His mother had always thought the vulnerable ones were more likely to capture his attention.
“Lift your head, boy Kazunari,” Satoshi ordered.
The harem boy did so obediently, but his eyes remained lowered. Nothing out of the ordinary; none of the brazenness that had gotten him into the chamber in the first place. The young Emperor pursed his lips in annoyance, giving the slim form a second cursory inspection. He paused when he reached the boy’s thin face. Kazunari had eyes surprisingly light in color, like dark honey instead of the black that were most prominent among the residents of the palace.
“Remove the veil.”
Kazunari raised his hands slowly - his fingers were short and his nails clean and neat - and removed the length of cloth that covered his hair and the lower half of his face. He held onto the veil with one hand, letting his arms fall back to his sides, and waited. His hair was prone to slight curls and sticking together in untamed wisps. It had been mussed by even the bare movement of the veil’s removal.
Satoshi reached out slowly, his dark eyes fixed onto the harem boy’s much lighter ones. The boy waited patiently - that was good. If he were trained at all he wouldn’t presume to know what his Emperor wanted of him, and well he shouldn’t.
Satoshi didn’t want anything of him.
The young Emperor had told his mother many times that he didn’t care for this sort of gift, but still she persisted, convinced that it was unacceptable that he should have only two wives and a single favored concubine in Jun. Nonetheless, He had turned away every other boy and girl that had been made a gift to him in the years following Jun’s introduction to the harem, and he had no intention of changing his pattern.
Satoshi lifted his hand up along the boy’s side, up along his shoulder and neck, his fingers barely skimming the fine silk cloth. He watched the light eyes become slowly half-lidded and wondered idly if this skinny thing thought he was being seductive. Surprisingly, Satoshi found himself disappointed. For a moment he’d thought the boy and his impertinence would be amusing. With a careless gesture, he brushed a bit of stray hair back from Kazunari’s forehead. Light eyes opened fully again, confusion written in them despite the attempt to keep his face composed.
The Emperor smiled thinly. “Your hairstyle was askew. I’ve fixed it.”
He turned away from Kazunari as if to dismiss him entirely - but he paused before he could tell the boy to be gone. For that moment in the chamber Kazunari had been so refreshing; Satoshi couldn’t remember the last time somebody had spoken to him without the trappings of refined court speech. The shock of hearing plain speech had sparked his interest, and now ... the young man sighed. He was surprising himself tonight: He thought he’d known better than to be disappointed when Kazunari turned out to be just like the others.
When his Highness turned away but said nothing, Ninomiya tried very hard to stamp down panic. He didn’t know what to do or what sort of test he was being put through. He just knew that the Emperor was waiting and for what Ninomiya couldn’t have said. In the end he could think of nothing but to continue in the vein of his hair.
Unfortunately, all he came up with was: “The point of the style was to be mussed, I believe, your Highness. So really what you’ve done is make a mess of it.” And immediately his insides froze. He’d certainly gone and put his foot in his mouth now.
The Emperor turned on him slowly; Ninomiya only hoped he’d at least be allowed to say good-bye to Masaki before his death. But the Emperor’s lips were quirked upwards ever so slightly, and for just a moment his eyes sparked with something other than the affected boredom that had been his only expression in the audience chamber. Ninomiya allowed himself to hope that he wouldn’t be executed with the dawn.
“Come,” said his Highness, “Sit. We’ll have tea.”
The Emperor turned on his heel and swept to a low day bed before Ninomiya could think to move. By the time Ninomiya got his feet working under him, the older man had draped himself luxuriously over the length of the day bed: The colorful silks of his robes pooled around him and hung carelessly down from the sides, creating an aura of sheer power.
At the foot of the day bed there was a tray with a tea pot and a set of cups that Ninomiya hadn’t noticed before - in fact there was a lot about his room that he hadn’t been given time to notice. He moved quickly, kneeling at the older man’s knees and taking the delicate tea pot from the tray, holding it carefully as he filled the Emperor’s cup. He held the cup even more carefully when he presented it to the older man: It wouldn’t do to spill over his hand.
For a long while the Emperor didn’t move, but Ninomiya kept waiting, holding the cup steady. He hoped that his gritted teeth didn’t show in a visible way. The pot must have been sitting out for a while - the tea wasn’t boiling hot and for that Ninomiya was eternally thankful. It didn’t stop the rebellious spark of anger that was coiling in the pit of his stomach at being treated such.
Satoshi waited until the boy’s eyes closed against the heat of the cup before he finally took it from Kazunari’s small hands. “You may pour for yourself,” he said with a lazy wave of his own hand, so different with long fingers and nails, taking a sip.
Ninomiya obeyed, pouring tea into the second cup on the tray, but he left the cup to cool, moving closer to the Emperor’s knee and gathering up a white sleeve. He hadn’t been told to drink and he figured it best to be attentive to the older man and to be ready to clear away any spilled drops. That was, after all, what he’d been made to do by the Second Wife when he waited on her tea - why wouldn’t he do so for the Emperor?
He was so busy watching the Emperor sip slowly from his cup that he wasn’t prepared for the older man’s long fingers to thread into his hair. Even so, Ninomiya moved easily under the tugging guidance to rest his head on the Emperor’s knee. It earned him a soft, drawn out chuckle and a bit of petting that didn’t feel particularly fond.
“Well, aren’t you so very cute.”
Ninomiya bit his lip. What did one say to a statement like that, when it was said mockingly? Accepting implied insults graciously was not part of his education in the harem, though he’d thought since his arrival that it really ought to be. In the end he settled for, “Thank you, your Highness.”
The Emperor snorted softly. He didn’t sound pleased. “And so agreeable, too.”
“I will be as you wish me to be.”
“Would you now?” Satoshi asked, edging his words in mocking surprise. “You would go that far to differentiate yourself from every other boy in the harem?”
Ninomiya bit his tongue and frowned at the Emperor’s knees. Did every harem boy put up with this man’s tongue, all for the hope of a second glance from him? Well he wasn’t going to have it. “No, your Highness, I would do it so my head might remain attached to my shoulders.”
There was a short silence during which the Emperor’s fingers were still on his head. When he spoke again, his voice was soft and not as mocking. It was almost contemplative. “Then, if I bade you stay still and accept pain? If I wanted to hurt you to derive my pleasure?”
“I would not enjoy it.”
“But you would not protest.”
“... No, your Highness. If that is what you wish for, I am here for you.”
He should have been ready for it, he knew what he was asking for by giving such an answer, but it came as a painful shock nonetheless. In his hair, the Emperor’s long fingers tightened and pulled up in a sharp yank, holding the fistful at such a painful distance that Ninomiya’s eyes watered. Ninomiya bit down on his bottom lip as hard as he could forcing himself to concentrate on that pain instead. He was fairly sure the Emperor wouldn’t really hurt him - after all he’d spent a fair amount of time talking back to the older man and he hadn’t been ordered killed yet - and he had agreed not to protest. It seemed like ages before the fingers finally loosened. Ninomiya’s shoulders slumped in relief.
“Drink your tea,” Satoshi said quietly, looking down at the young man at his feet.
Kazunari sat up straight and reached for the cup with a shaking hand, though he’d made no sound of pain. He brought the cup to his lips and paused, his eyes flicking to Satoshi’s foot and then to his face, and back to his foot. Satoshi realized that he was waiting for the cup to be knocked out of his hands, perhaps even into his face, and he frowned slightly. Who had done something like that often enough that Kazunari would expect it to happen?
When the Emperor did nothing to stop him or knock the cup from his hand, Ninomiya drank a sip as quickly as he could. Then he set the cup down and returned his head to the Emperor’s knee. This time long fingers were gentle when they stroked down his neck and shoulder. Ninomiya closed his eyes and released a breath. The older man was silent for a long time.
“... If I didn’t know better,” he said at length, “I’d say you liked being with me.”
“You know better only because this is the first time we’ve met, your Highness.”
If he kept speaking the way he was, Ninomiya knew, he’d be punished for all the borderline rude things he’d said, and he was ready for that. He just couldn’t - wouldn’t - let the Emperor think he was seeking favors. For one thing, given the Emperor’s attitude, he had no doubt that trying would be fruitless. For another he was not interested in the grudges and hate that seemed to come attached to being in the eye of the Emperor. That was better left to those who knew how to deal with it, like Matsumoto-san. Ninomiya simply wanted to get through this night alive.
The Emperor barked a sharp laugh and scratched his nails over the nape of the boy’s neck. He dug small crescent welts into Kazunari’s skin and watched him flinch. “What are you looking for, boy? What do you think I will give you for your flattery?”
“I am not looking for anything, your Highness,” Kazunari said. He looked up, just shy of meeting the older man’s eyes, and there was something raw in his tone. “I am nothing more than a gift from your mother - one that you didn’t want. Just... use me for tonight and decide what will become of me in the morning.”
Satoshi’s fingers faltered over the boy’s skin.
A hundred things he could use against this boy to see him punished - or even killed. This boy could be the perfect example to force his mother to stop meddling in his life and cease her constant flow of ‘gifts’. Only Satoshi was slowly coming to find that he didn’t want him to be that example. This gift, this Kazunari, spoke in strange patterns and was a study in contradictions that piqued his interest - one part of him was submissive and the other sought to challenge authority. And if the eunuch spies he employed in the harem were worth their salt, Kazunari simply liked to be with people.
Satoshi hadn’t ever had anyone like that in his bed; not even Jun had come to him as baldly honest. And this one was pretty besides. Now standing so close to him, Satoshi decided that Kazunari was not fragile so much as he was dainty. He was fairly sure it wasn’t the make up, which was light and artful and not enough to over shadow Kazunari’s natural features.
The young Emperor stood, taking the boy’s elbow and pulling him up alongside. Light honey eyes looked back into his and blinked once. The tiny blue jewels resting at the corners of them gleamed when the movement caught the firelight. Satoshi wrapped his fingers around the gold dusted neck and pulled the boy close.
Warm lips met his softly, almost hesitantly, which made the Emperor pause uncertainly for a moment. He had never before needed to guide a kiss. With a soft sigh, Satoshi nudged at Kazunari’s lips with his tongue until they parted for him, then slid his tongue into the warm pockets of the boy’s mouth, tasting jasmine tea and spices. He kept the kiss deep and lingering, holding Kazunari close to his chest. When he pulled away, barely far enough to be considered away, he let his gaze take in the slender face. Kazunari’s cheeks were flushed and the tips of his ears pink. His eyelashes smudged half-moons against his pale skin. The Emperor swallowed, finding himself nervous for the first time in years.
Kazunari was a virgin in every sense of the word.
He didn’t have the skill or the same, patiently trained suaveness to his kissing that the other gifts had come to Satoshi with, and he wasn’t as pointedly inviting in his body language as the other boys had been. And Satoshi didn’t know what he was supposed to do. A virgin was one thing. A virgin who lacked all the training and manners of the harem was entirely different. The silence stretched on, and Kazunari shifted. His eye lids fluttered, about to open.
Satoshi drew in a shuddering breath and rasped, “Get onto my bed. Up by the pillows.”
Ninomiya swallowed nervously. He stepped back from the older man, getting onto the bed as bidden. He sat seiza style, placing his hands behind him and leaning back, arching his back into a bow while the Emperor moved. The older man came in close, running graceful and careful fingers down from Ninomiya’s neck to the first frog of the blue and gold robe, and from there undoing the rest deftly.
The robe slid from Ninomiya’s shoulders under the Emperor’s hands; Ninomiya inhaled sharply and tensed. The material pooled at his wrists, but he didn’t move to free himself of it. The Emperor leaned in, kissing the taught column of Ninomiya’s neck, peppering the soft touch over all the warm skin his lips could reach. Ninomiya swallowed - and he would have sworn that his Highness smiled in response. The older man definitely did nip under his chin and along the line of his jaw. Ninomiya sighed out softly, leaning back a little farther as he relaxed. Maybe this wouldn’t be so horrible.
Satoshi nosed at the lobe of his ear and felt more than heard the soft noise Kazunari made. He ran his hands down the younger man’s chest, over the soft white linen of his second layer, pausing at the yellow sash that held it closed. A moment of thought had him passing it by entirely in favor of skimming his hands over the leg bared by the white robe’s slit: It was soft and warm under his fingers. He moved the slit of fabric from between Kazunari’s legs, tossing it carelessly to the side, then dipped his hands down, feathering his finger tips along pale thighs.
Kazunari spread his knees just a few inches - enough to invite a more thorough touch if Satoshi desired it but not enough to really know what he was doing. The Emperor reached for the yellow sash and undid the loose tie slowly, pulling the length of material away from Kazunari’s slim form. The harem boy looked up then, opening his eyes slowly. His eyes were a shade darker than they had been twenty minutes ago and his bottom lip was stuck firmly between his teeth as he chewed on it.
Satoshi brushed his thumb over the bitten flesh. “I can’t hear you if you do that.”
The bitten lip popped out under the Emperor’s thumb - more from surprise than anything else, and Satoshi could tell by the look on Kazunari’s face that he hadn’t thought the Emperor would be interested in hearing him. Satoshi let his eyes trace the curve of the boy’s lips, and the younger man flushed.
“I’m sorry.”
Satoshi kissed aside the apology, cupping the back of Kazunari’s head and tilting his own to press in close. The harem boy’s lithe body melted into his. Kazunari parted his lips and slid his tongue over the Emperor’s bottom lip, a hint of playfulness accompanying the action. That hint made Satoshi smile softly and part his lips just wide enough to be teasing, making the young man work to gain access to his mouth. Once it was there, Satoshi let Kazunari explore to his satisfaction and only when the younger man’s tongue traced the contours of his own did the Emperor press back, dueling his way back into Kazunari’s mouth.
Feeling utterly relaxed and yet completely foolish with his arms hanging at his sides like useless lumps, Ninomiya wondered what he should do. Participating in the kiss was one thing, but surely there was more - perhaps he was supposed to touch, or maybe begin to undress himself. In the end he lifted them from the bed and wrapped them around the Emperor’s shoulders.
The older man froze. Ninomiya did, too, realized exactly what he’d done - how stupid did he have to be to touch the Emperor without permission - and slowly lowered his arms again. Now he was certainly in for it.
He looked up briefly - the Emperor was regarding him solemnly, the demand for an explanation written in his gaze. Ninomiya flushed bright red and he looked quickly off to the side. But his Highness didn’t let go of the back of his head, keeping him firmly in place, and he had no escape.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to - I didn’t...” he murmured at last, “I just thought - I wanted -”
He cut himself off and bit his lip.
The Emperor waited, nudging the boy when the silence went too long. “Just wanted?”
“To hold you,” Kazunari said quietly enough that Satoshi almost couldn’t understand him.
When he figured out what the slender man had said, Satoshi felt warmth spread through his chest. He pulled Kazunari close to him by the small of his back, his fingers sifting through the soft, gold-dusted hair. “You can.”
Kazunari moved slowly, watching the Emperor carefully to make sure he still had permission this time. Satoshi nodded once, slightly, and the younger man wrapped his arms around his shoulders once more. He rested his head against the Emperor’s cheek, nose tucked into the crook between the older man’s neck and jaw. The warmth that had been in Satoshi’s chest spread through his body when Kazunari sighed contently, small fingers playing with the collar of his stiff silk robes.
“I like your smell,” the boy murmured against the Emperor’s skin.
Satoshi blinked, then chuckled. “Thank you. ... I’m still going to take you.”
“That’s all right. I didn’t think you wouldn’t.”
Ninomiya kept his loose hold on the older man’s shoulders even after his Highness let him go in favor of finally pushing aside the white linen robes. And then he was totally bared to the gaze of the older man. He released the Emperor to allow the last impediment fall away from his body, ducking his head shyly as he was looked over. It was better than watching the Emperor watch him - he felt less inclined to blush when he couldn’t see the older man’s dark eyes fixed intently on his body.
He was still looking down when long and delicate fingers trailed down his chest to the blue jewel resting in his belly button, tracing circles around it. His muscles tightened under them; the light touch made him shiver down his spine. The Emperor’s hand splayed almost possessively over his abdomen; his other tipped up Ninomiya’s chin. He leaned in for another kiss - this time Ninomiya was ready for him.
Ninomiya let the Emperor part lips for a deep kiss, returning it enthusiastically. The hand left his chin to join it’s counterpart in moving all over his body. Ninomiya’s whole body felt warm - he wondered how much of that translated to his Highness’s touch. The younger man lifted his hands slowly, moving them along cool silk, letting them hover by the Emperor’s face without touching him, waiting for permission to touch, to stroke, to be allowed the intimacy he’d always associated with actions instead of words.
It took him a moment to realize that while Kazunari’s hands had lifted, they hadn’t necessarily settled. Satoshi broke the kiss to search for them. When he found them, the Emperor rolled his eyes. His head bent to Kazunari’s earlobe, and he nipped.
“Didn’t I just give you permission?” he whispered, amused, into the delicate shell.
“You told me that I could hold you,” came the rejoinder.
Satoshi sighed and nipped the point of Kazunari’s ear. His hands roamed the slender path of the boy’s sides, feeling warm and impossibly smooth skin shudder and jump underneath his fingers. “You may touch me.”
So Ninomiya’s pressed his hands lightly to the Emperor’s cheeks, cupping the older man’s cherubic face, his thumbs trailing a path of barely an inch under the Emperor’s eyes. When he had touched the older man’s face long enough, he slid his hands down and dipped his fingers under the collar of Satoshi’s robe. There he moved them carefully over the nape of Satoshi’s neck and then further down along his clavicle.
Meanwhile his Highness had dipped long fingers between his legs, working a path slowly up, touching lightly the raised lines of his brand where his thigh met his pelvis, tracing the crest forever burned into Ninomiya’s skin. The back of the Emperor’s hand brushed Ninomiya’s half-hard cock - he gasped softly, unable to swallow back the sound.
Satoshi brushed his hand along Kazunari’s cock, feeling it grow harder, heavier against his skin. He turned his hand over, cupping the warmth in his palm, massaging gently. Kazunari moaned softly, closing his eyes tight, leaning in and pressing his face into Satoshi’s shoulder.
But he didn’t bite his lip.
Satoshi pressed back on the younger man’s chest, urging him to lie down. It was a bit awkward and Kazunari nearly kneed him in the stomach while trying to get his feet out from under him, but then he was laid out on the Emperor’s sheets, hair mussed and eyes even darker than they had been, erection hidden under the cover of Satoshi’s fingers. Even if he hadn’t already been aroused, Satoshi was sure his cock would have sprung to attention. He crawled over Kazunari’s body, covering the slender body almost completely as he bent down to kiss him again, hungry and demanding. His fingers wrapped around Kazunari’s length and stroked.
Ninomiya responded to the kiss right away, purring and keening into the older man’s mouth as he wrapped his arms around Satoshi’s shoulders. The weight above him was pleasant and solid - Ninomiya felt it without feeling like he was being crushed, like an anchor tying him to reality when the night around them had to be some kind of a dream.
The Emperor stretched and shifted above him, reaching somewhere over his head, Ninomiya couldn’t see where. The kiss broke when the older man pulled back and fumbled with a small jar - Ninomiya assumed that was the object Satoshi had been reaching for.
“You’re still clothed,” he whined, tugging lightly on the folds of the Emperor’s stiff robes. “That’s not fair.”
“It could be, if I say it is.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“You’re suddenly confident.”
“That is to say I think you wouldn’t,” Ninomiya amended. “You’d have a much harder time of it yourself if you left your clothes on, and by making it fair nobody would try to divest you of them.”
Satoshi laughed softly. He set the jar aside just far enough that it wouldn’t fall and pulled the younger man upright, sitting back himself. “Since you are so insistent, you may do the honors of divesting me of my clothing.”
The look on the younger man’s face told Satoshi exactly what he thought of being given that honor, but he laughed and leaned forward to begin his task. “I think, perhaps, that you’re just incapable of undressing yourself, your Highness.”
Satoshi knew he should be, on principle offended. It was within his power to call everything to a halt and have Kazunari dragged off, to have him become the example for those who dared to insult their Emperor freely. Had it been anyone else he more than likely would have. But the young man wasn’t trying to insult. He spoke so brazenly because Satoshi had implicitly allowed such freedom - responding to Kazunari’s inherent playfulness in equal measure, even as the Emperor before his court. If he had Kazunari punished now, he’d break that unspoken trust, and his chest clenched at that thought.
Satoshi couldn’t remember the last person who’d been so free with him - not even Sho allowed himself to be. So he stroked the nape of Kazunari’s neck and kissed him lightly instead. “Bite your tongue, boy,” he said, and laughed softly. He took Kazunari’s kiss-bruised bottom lip in his teeth and tugged on it lightly. “I just like having someone do my work for me.”
Ninomiya grinned against the older man’s lips, removing the stiff robe from his shoulders. The silk under robe went next, and finally the Emperor was naked and Ninomiya had to gulp at the sight of his erection. The older man smiled, reaching for the jar of oil once more.
“Straddle my lap,” he instructed, spreading his knees wide enough that the young man would have to open his legs to comply. He oiled his fingers while Kazunari scooted up, his knees to either side of Satoshi’s, and pulled the younger man in close with his free hand. “Now relax. This will burn at first, but I won’t hurt you.”
Ninomiya smiled and leaned forward to kiss the Emperor, who held the small of his back and reached behind him with his oiled fingers - Ninomiya hissed into the older man’s mouth when a fingertip pressed against his entrance and whimpered when it pushed in, but his body didn’t tense and he didn’t appear to be in pain. If anything, Satoshi thought, he grew harder, his warmth pulsing between their stomachs. He reached in deeply, swirling his finger around until he felt the tight muscle loosen enough for a second. The boy did tense this time, and the Emperor stopped immediately, two fingers pressed to the second knuckle in him.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m sorry,” Ninomiya gasped. “It’s just... it’s s-strange.”
The Emperor smiled and petted the small of Ninomiya’s back soothingly. He moved his fingers in slowly until they were as far as they could be. He waited for the younger to relax again, then spread them out, scissoring lazily. Kazunari whimpered, flexing his fingers and clenching them around the Emperor’s shoulders. His lips parted slackly, allowing his breath to come in light pants. Satoshi waited just long enough for the harem boy to catch his breath before he started to roll his fingers languidly. He was trying to be patient, trying to give the boy a proper first time, but it was getting harder to ignore his own needs.
When Ninomiya rolled down onto his fingers, Satoshi added a third finger to the tight heat, twisting the three about without pausing as he had before. Ninomiya moaned softly, jerking against his chest. The older man smiled and pressed his fingers in deeply, and he must have touched something in the boy because he cried out and bucked down hard.
“Ah,” Satoshi murmured, smiling smugly, “I’ve found it.”
Ninomiya whimpered. “Please, your Highness... don’t draw it out any longer.”
“Are you certain?”
The younger man pressed their lips together heatedly, so much that their teeth clicked together. The Emperor withdrew his fingers from the Ninomiya’s entrance, spilling oil over his cock and stroking it lazily, nudging pale hips higher up on his thighs. He positioned himself at the slender man’s entrance.
Ninomiya sat down on instinct as Satoshi pressed up, hissing softly in pain - the hardness pressing up into him burned like nothing he’d felt before, not even during the branding. His body felt like it was being split in two. He clenched his eyes tightly closed, panting, trying to get himself to relax.
Satoshi wrapped his slick hand around Kazunari, working it gently, rocking his hips as he pressed up into the boy. The farther in he slid, the more the boy relaxed around him, and finally the tension drained from his lithe form as he whimpered more in pleasure than in pain.
“All right?” Satoshi asked softly, nosing at his jaw.
“Y-yes. I’m all right.”
“Don’t lie.”
“I’m getting there. You can move.”
The Emperor did, rocking his hips enough to be felt, pushing more of himself into Kazunari and not stopping until he was completely buried to his balls. His hand kept working the boy’s erection, sliding his nails fleetingly over the vein and reaching back down to tease Kazunari’s perineum. It was the harem boy who moved first after that, lifting himself up and sitting back down, slowly figuring out a rhythm by which to ride Satoshi’s cock.
When he had it down, the Emperor moved his hands to support the boys hips, helping him to move. He moaned quietly, capturing Kazunari’s lips with his, kissing him deeply, holding him close with one arm. Kazunari’s small hands threaded into his hair and held him steady, answering the kiss affectionately as they moved together. The older man sighed into Kazunari’s mouth thrusting up into the younger man in one smooth movement to bury himself fully, rolling back just slightly - gravity brought the rest of him down, stretched out on the bed with Kazunari still straddling him.
Ninomiya blushed down the length of his body, his eyelids lowering to hide his gaze from the Emperor. He had only felt naked before: Like this he felt exposed. He wasn’t sure that he was ready to feel like that with the older man, but it was also clear he didn’t have much choice. He placed his hands over his Highness’s shoulders, holding himself up while he rocked his hips, gasping softly, holding his breath tight in his chest without meaning to. The sensations were so much different when he moved like this, no less fulfilling but somehow less intimate; perhaps because the Emperor was watching, rather than kissing him.
Then the older man arched up and thrust up into Ninomiya, and he moaned, throwing his head back. The change in angle had the Emperor’s cock pressing against that spot inside him once again, sending bursts of white across his vision. Ninomiya raised himself again and sat back down, letting out a noise of something that might have been the Emperor’s name - even he wasn’t sure. There was a soft touch to the back of his hand in response.
“Satoshi. I don’t care for titles in bed.”
Ninomiya rolled his head forward, letting it hang so he could look the older man in the eyes. He smiled, though he didn’t talk, riding the Emperor’s cock faster. The Emperor’s eyes became half-lidded and glazed, and he thrust up to keep the pace.
“A-ah... Kazunari...”
Ninomiya drank up the sound with a flush of pleasure, lifting himself over and over, until, to his embarrassment, he could feel his legs start to grow weak. His thighs started to tremble with the effort to keep pushing his body up, and though he didn’t want to stop, his movements grew slower.
“S-satoshi...” he murmured hesitantly (how strange to call the Emperor by his name!)
The older man looked up at him, brushing his fingers down his arm from elbow to wrist. “What?”
“M-my legs...” Ninomiya whimpered, blushing, “I can’t...”
The Emperor laughed softly, smiling fondly at the young man. He placed his hands on Kazunari’s thighs, feeling his muscles trembling, and massaged them gently. “Stop for a moment. Lay back.”
He watched Kazunari as the harem boy lifted himself off his cock, and sat up. Kazunari laid back on his bed, his dark hair curling over the white silk pillows. Satoshi reached for the oil, grabbing it up and slicking himself, trying not to linger on the head of his penis, moaning softly. He shoved a pillow under Kazunari’s hips and stroked the backs of his fingers over the flushed cheeks. Kazunari leaned into his touch. Satoshi aligned himself to the boy’s entrance - as he pressed in the boy’s legs spread and wrapped around his waist, his wrist lodging firmly over his eyes as he moaned.
Satoshi snapped his hips to make Kazunari moan again. Kazunari thrashed his head. That set the Emperor off; he leaned down and fused their lips together, kissing the young man hungrily as he pounded into the tight heat. He was gratified to hear Kazunari keen loudly and feel the small fingers weave into his hair. Satoshi reached between them, wrapping his hand around the harem boy’s erection and stroking firmly.
Ninomiya keened, arching up into the Emperor’s chest, holding onto him tightly and panting into his mouth, muttering his name amidst his heavy breathing and moans. Satoshi smiled against his lips and twisted his wrist, circling his thumb over the head of Ninomiya’s penis. Ninomiya came undone, crying out as he came, shuddering almost violently.
Satoshi drank in the younger man’s cries, managing to thrust even through the spasming heat, slamming their hips together. Then Kazunari did something that made his whole body clench tightly and envelop Satoshi completely and the Emperor couldn’t hold himself back, coming into Kazunari and gasping his name.
He lay on top of the younger man for a long while after that, feeling Kazunari’s heart beat frantically against his skin; both their chests heaving as they tried to regain their breath. Kazunari’s hands stroked gently up and down Satoshi’s spine. Finally the Emperor regained enough presence of mind to pull out of the younger man’s body, flopping bonelessly next to him. Neither spoke for a very long time. Then Satoshi reached slowly to the side and pulled on a heavy chord that hung by the bed.
Ninomiya turned his head to the side, watching the older man, and blinked, realizing he hadn’t noticed it before. He wondered what it was for, and if he’d be expected to leave now - maybe his Highness was calling for Maruyama to come collect him.
“Come, we’ll bathe,” the Emperor murmured.
“Yes, your Highness,” Ninomiya murmured.
It was awkward going, getting up, because his back burned and pinched, and his legs felt like they were made of jelly, but Satoshi was there to help him, supporting him to the baths with a firm arm wrapped snugly around his waist. A eunuch poured scented oils and a handful of plain salts into the water, and Satoshi helped Ninomiya in. The tub was surprisingly like the one in the harem’s bath - large and marble and guarded by golden gates.
Ninomiya sighed softly in pure enjoyment. He reached for the soap that rested on the edge of the wide tub and dipped it in the water, lathering it with the intent to wash the Emperor’s back. His fingers touched Satoshi’s skin tentatively, growing slowly more sure as the older man relaxed back into him.
“You’ll stay tonight,” Satoshi said softly as Kazunari massaged his shoulders.
Kazunari smiled at him. “As you wish.”
“And I will call on you again. I want to hear these strings you play with no skill.”
Kazunari laughed softly. On impulse he wrapped his arms around Satoshi’s shoulders and leaned forward, kissing the older man’s jaw softly, confident that the gesture would be well received. “Any time you call, I will be happy to come.”
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[1] I’m a horrible, mean person. BUT TELL ME IT ISN'T THE BEST JOB FOR HIM.
[2] Phthalo blue looks like this.
[3] Not, I’m sure, that anyone cares, but a quick review of the tanbur and the kemence can be found linked from this article.