negromanzia | A Debt and a Gift

A Debt and a Gift

The realm of Cocytus was a cold, dark, barren little island in the midst of a river, which made it quite to the taste of the god-thing that owned it and not at all to the taste of anyone else. Cocytus made certain to meet her guest upon the shore, welcoming the senior deity who was not quite her liege.

"Ereuvir," she said, in a voice reminiscent of things that bubbled in the dark depths of caves. Her rags fluttered as she performed a slow bow. The gray, tattered hood that covered her head served also to conceal her face and the elegant, swollen, contorting blisters that her guests found so strangely unpleasant. Cocytus simply could not understand the universe's lack of appreciate for her beauty and wonders. "Welcome. I have such a thing to give you."

A gift that was not quite a gift. Cocytus owed a debt after all, which was not the sort of thing that Cocytus liked, and recently she had come into possession of something else that she did not like. Cocytus liked suicides, and she liked them to be as self-loathing or as depressive as possible. The particular despair that came from those who had turned violence upon themselves was a vintage sweeter than any Cocytus had ever found, and the rest of the gods were happy to let her collect her little tragedies. Except that one of those tragedies, lately, was proving to be such a thorn.

Well enough, then, that Cocytus was expecting a visitor, and one with very different taste. Debt and thorn could be bundled up together and handed over to Ereuvir, and Cocytus could go back to basking in the soothing misery of her precious island.

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There's a deep satisfaction in this, more than the physical, both in staking a claim, but also in turning such a picky, rather petulant individual into a complete mess like this. There's no derision in the thought at all, which is possibly why he doesn't voice it, at least not in this moment, isn't playing games of humiliation or thinking that way at all. It's more accomplishment, that Ashley would talk and whine and protest, but get him like this and he's barely able to form words.

The type of possessive and power-driven Ereuvir is, it's a perfect match.

He moves his hand from Ashley's neck, but it's just so he can grip his hips with both hands, lift him up and back almost off his feet, to get that last little bit deeper. The pace speeds, there's no way even he can go on like this for a long time, and it's only a minute more before he's coming inside Ashley for the second time in as many hours.

He doesn't do anything specific in assisting Ashley in doing the same, but if he's still waiting, he doesn't intend to keep him waiting long.

Ereuvir lifts him further, so that Ashley barely has his toes on the ground and none of his weight, and he yelps, then gasps with each thrust as Ereuvir slides in deeper, harder.

He’s already on edge and overstimulated, needing barely more than a breath to knock him over the edge, but it’s all so much in just the right way to amp him up farther without giving him that release. Whimpering with devastated pleasure, Ashley trembles in his grip. When Ereuvir starts fucking him in earnest, it finally knocks Ashley over the edge. His orgasm is deep, slow waves that pulse through him, merciless enough as to be almost painful with pleasure.

Incoherent with sensation, Ashley moans, pressing his face into his arms and surrendering fully to it, knowing that he’ll be taken, overstimulated and trembling, for as long as Ereuvir pleases. When Ereuvir finishes within him, all Ashley can do is pant softly, trying to catch his breath. He’s too overwhelmed even to think.

There's a bit of a mess to deal with, but that's what magic is for, when he feels like using it for such a thing. Right now, though, there's barely a thought to it. He just drags Ashely off the desk to the floor in his arms in the aftermath and he wasn't wearing a cloak before, but there's one now, his usual one for his official office for no reason other than he's summoned it with the absolute least amount of brain power and this is the one he's most familiar with.

It's perhaps a bit heavy for a rest on the floor of his study, but the weight is comforting and he doesn't want Ashley to be cold. It will take longer than they'll likely need it to get stifling under it anyway.

He curls Ashley close and pets through his hair, fingers expertly weaving tangles out of it, though Ereuvir is almost dozing, himself. He doesn't intend to sleep here (he rarely chooses to sleep at all) but there's no more thought to moving for several minutes than if he had been a mortal man.

Ashley nestles close as Ereuvir settles them on the floor, just focusing on catching his breath and regathering his senses. He’s sore and filled with Eruvir’s seed, and very pleased with the situation, all the more so when Ereuvir begins to play with his hair. Ashley makes soft, pleased little noises as Ereuvir caresses him and combs through his hair.

“I liked that,” Ashley murmurs at last, voice quiet but warm with pleasure. “Ereuvir,” he says, enjoying the name on his tongue and saying it with affection and a little bit of reverence.

Ereuvir is not a man easily or lightly won, but Ashley's doing a damn fine job of it, all the same. The little pleased sounds, the affection and also slight amount of worship in his voice, the way he's both shameless and forward but also compliant in turns, almost desperate to be so. Ereuvir likes all of that. They are very well suited and he's beginning to think that he certainly got the better end of this trade from an old friend.

"I'm glad. I did as well," it seems a bit silly, both the words and the sharing of them, but it also feels right at the same time. Certainly, he did like it. And he likes this as well, arms wound around an exhausted, sated lover, warm against his body. There's very little like it and it's a pleasure he has far too rarely. "I should let you choose more games to play."

"You should," Ashley agrees, shifting in Ereuvir's arms just to enjoy being held, with Ereuvir solid against his spine and Ereuvir's cloak shielding them both. "And I look forward to what games you will concoct, also." Ashley suspects that he'll be getting in well over his head with any games Ereuvir suggests, but that's how Ashley likes it.

He hooks a lock of Ereuvir's hair with his finger, giving it a light tug and then twining it idly around his finger. He can't reach much and he's far too comfortable to do anything more than toy idly.

"Are you ever warm?" Ashley asks, noticing that even now Ereuvir is only barely warmer than the room.

Ereuvir chuckles softly,

"I think you might like mine less than I like yours, but I certainly wouldn't want to bore you. Just remember you said such a thing when I do propose one," right now, though, it's an idle threat. He's got his mouth pressed warm against Ashley's neck, mouthing a little kiss there from time to time, just enjoying this. He chuckles again at the question,

"No, not really. And neither are you, though I wouldn't be surprised if you can't tell the difference," Ashley's dead, after all, and while neither of the two of them are particularly corpse-like in any way (Ashley can still feel his heart beating for a start, can hear Ereuvir's if he cares to listen) there are certain things that have changed. Death leaves it's mark, even if Ereuvir himself has the power to make those marks more subtle than they might otherwise be.

And then, a question for a question,

"You never told me why it is that I should be looking for your brother." It's really idle curiosity at this point, though he previously did say that he was amenable to looking, if Ashley had a reason for it.

Ashley considers his hands, front and back, at the suggestion that his body is no longer his own and he might not recognize the difference. He's intrigued about this and also loathes it. He's never liked being cold.

"We had other priorities," Ashley points out, though he's more willing to answer questions now. "Arkady Raventon. The only person on earth I care about. He promised he'd come back to me, but he didn't. Death would be the only reasonable excuse for breaking his promise. He belongs here. I belong here," Ashley's meaning is a little more precise on the latter. Arkady belongs in the underworld. Ashley belongs in Ereuvir's arms. "Besides, you might find him interesting."

The cold isn't something internal, which is why he might not have noticed. Ereuvir rarely feels cold and Ashley will find that it certainly takes a lot more to get him that way, so he might consider it something of a boon, actually. Ereuvir laughs,

"Well, you had other priorities, certainly," although the plug isn't in him, there's an odd sort of a ghost-pulse when he says that as though it is. It's there and gone in a flash though, no more present than trailing hands or a quick kiss. He does, after all, want to keep the attention on the conversation this time.

Ereuvir considers this information, reads some things between the lines and likely misses some others,

"And what will you do, if he is either passed into my sister's realm, which is forever closed to you, or still lives? I can bring him here, or you to him, if he is still among the living, but if he is a better soul than you," he shrugs, "I can do many things, but defy fate itself is not one of them."

"I won't do anything," Ashley says, with a little shrug. He wiggles around in Ereuvir's arms, studying his eyes. "And I'm not asking you to do anything, either. I'd like to know where he is. That's all I'm asking."

What Ashley will do with the information is as yet undetermined, but he doesn't believe that Arkady would end up in Heaven, and he wants to know Arkady's fate even if it can't be changed. Ashley's never been much inclined to fight fate, but he does like knowing the entirety of a situation.

Hm. That's an unexpected reaction.

"You've just said he's the most important person on Earth to you, yet you would not ask me for anything regarding him beyond just information? I find that curious. Why would you choose not to?" He can think of several reasons, but no good ones, which only increases his curiosity.

"If he lives and chose to betray or abandon me, then let him live or rot, I doni't care," Ashley says, stretching lazily in Ereuvir's arms as he considers the options. "If he's in your sister's realm, which is implausible, then I'm no longer interested in him. If he's in your realm, then, well." Ashley tilts his head to consider it, because if he's in Ereuvir's realm then Ashley could ask for what he wants without much difficulty. But Ashley's desires have never been simple, straightforward things.

"Then I'd be interested to see what you would do with him." Ashley decides. "Interesting things are so much better than good things, after all."

"Perhaps you are right, but the two aren't mutually exclusive, either. There is something you want, here," it's not hard to guess that, though he's not sure what it is, yet. "You'd risk getting what you want on nothing more than my whim?"

Of course, all of it is really at Ereuvir's whim, but he's proven remarkably easy to entertain on that front, in some ways moreso than a human lover might be, as there's little ego to get in the way.

"It is an interesting game and I do enjoy those, but you do understand that it need not be one. I will not say for certain I can or will give you what it is that you desire, but I can vow I would not refuse simply out of spite or a lack of regard for you." He has no idea how much Ashley might or might not be aware of how those words bind, here, but for him to say as much is to make it true. Still, he's not really expecting Ashley to change his mind, he just wants him to understand he need not make everything into a game just because he is particularly fond of a chessmaster.

Ashley considers that, intrigued by it but not entirely sure what to do with it. He doesn't know what he wants, and doesn't think he will know until he knows Arkady's fate. The question of whether Arkady abandoned him is crucial to Ashley's feelings, after all. "I just want to know his fate," Ashley repeats. "If I want something else once I know, I'll figure that out once I get there."

Winding his arms around Ereuvir's neck, Ashley cuddles close. "And I want you. That I know no matter what."

"Fair enough," he says to the first and then, warmer, to the second, "A far easier task for me, certainly, and likely more pleasant," it's teasing, but it's also likely gratifying, to know that Ereuvir does consider it so.

He does shift a bit more though, in preparation to leave the floor, though he doesn't quite fully move yet,

"Do you want to walk, or shall I carry you back to bed?" it's another soft bit of teasing, either answer perfectly fine. He doesn't intend to not leave the bedroom for long on most days, but there's already been travel and many new things since Ashley has slept and, while he may find over time that he needs less (or no) sleep, as someone fresh to the underworld, it's still a psychological necessity, even if perhaps it is no longer a physical one.

"Carry me," Ashley requests, nuzzling at him with a pleased smile. He likes being offered such things, and generally being pampered and cherished, so he cannot resist the chance to be carried.

His request has been made, and Ashley feels no particular urgency toward it. Whatever Arkady's fate, Ashley can find it out tomorrow, or the next day. He's waited this long, after all.

"My pleasure," it's low and pleased and he does gather Ashley up a moment later, with a token effort to get the robe back around or at least over him, though he leaves the heavier cloak on the floor. He leaves the plug, but then, his servants have had to clean up far worse on occasion and it's the work of a thought to at least clean the room back into some kind of propriety.

Ashley is, of course, carted off back to Ereuvir's bed, rather than his own, but then, while his rooms are his own, it's unlikely he'll stay much in them unless he really wishes too, at this point.

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A Debt and a Gift

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