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“What are you doing?” Aresh asked suspiciously.
The figure slumped on the cobbled ground in the alleyway barely reacted. He only clutched a trembling hand over his mouth. His hair was dark and he wore the uniform of a civil servant.
This area was frequented by civil workers and knights who went to the nearby apothecary called Metron for tonics. Aresh had yet to see a vagrant but the man groaning on the floor was beside a few shattered bottles.
Aresh stepped deeper into the alleyway and gripped the man’s shoulder. “Hey, can you answer me?”
The stranger’s head canted towards him weakly and his hand lowered. Aresh immediately recognized the otherworlder.
It was the otherworlder who was collapsed in the alleyway. Smallish. Frail. Foreign. He quietly moaned, bony hands clenched in his shirt. His already pallid pallor became ghostly in a matter of heartbeats. It appeared to be some form of overdose.
Aresh had been beyond the reaches of the kingdom before keeping beasts at bay with his advanced magic and swordplay abilities. He had comforted men in their last breaths and recognized the reality of this moment. This was truly a matter of life and death.
There was no time to think. Aresh wrapped his arms around the smaller man, quietly dismayed by how little of him there was. He seemed, even through his clothes, particularly underweight. Aresh cast the healing incantation methodically, wanting to ensure whatever ill coursed through the otherworlder would be healed. They were too far from the medical bay for it to be anyone else.
As the spell ended Aresh sat alongside the other man and cupped his cheek. His breathing evened out as his skin warmed. Aresh held the man’s wrist seeking, and finding, a strong heartbeat.
The man’s colour rapidly improved, a rosiness appearing in his cheeks. Focus returned to his eyes. Until they locked with Aresh. Aresh knew he should let go and have the man go on his way but he hesitated. They’d met multiple times now, always by accident. Perhaps for the first time he could acknowledge that the otherworldler was not unattractive.
“Hey,” Aresh said quietly, “Can you answer me?”
“Huh?” the otherworlder asked. He was finally lucid.
For a moment, Aresh was struck by just how guileless the otherworlder could appear. He was usually consumed by work. Like this, his eyes were wide and innocent. And he was deeply flushed. Before the moment could become more awkward Aresh realized the man was too flushed.
The otherworlder winced. “It hurts,” he groaned as he became even hotter to the touch.
Aresh’s brow quivered in confusion.
This can’t be—! Magic sickness!
The otherworlder’s state had gone from bad to worse. Things began to make more sense. He was an otherworlder and had no resistance to the magic of this world. Similar to a newborn. But he didn’t have the elasticity of a babe’s constitution. And the methods for magic acclimation for an adult were undoubtedly intimate.
Aresh took another look at the frail man in his arms. The dark hollows beneath his eyes spoke of his perpetual exhaustion. All the effort and labour this stranger put into his profession. He worked tirelessly, and to what end? This wasn’t the sort of thing one recovered from. And he didn’t deserve for this to be his end.
Urgently, Aresh rose while lifting the man in his arms. There was an inn not too far from where they were. It had been a bad idea for him to involve himself with an otherworlder. Hopefully the man wouldn’t hate him after what he was about to do.
#
The inn was simple but it was an establishment that promised privacy. A large bay window overlooked a private garden of manicured flowers and foliage. The room itself was made up of beige walls and sturdy wood furniture. The centre of the room had a large, sumptuous bed as well as a study desk and low chair.
Aresh gently laid the otherworlder onto the bed. Then, he pulled off the man’s shoes and tossed them towards the corner of the room. He straddled the smaller man as he waited for him to wake up. With enough physical contact, even if it wasn’t all skin to skin, that should be enough to rouse the otherworlder.
Aresh had never embraced another man before but it could not be that different compared to a woman. He waited, and within a few moments the otherworlder woke up. Without his glasses the man seemed younger. How old was he?
Aresh explained things in terms as simply as he could. “You almost died from an overdose after you drank that tonic. So I cured you with magic.”
The man blinked up at him, dazed. “I see.”
“But you’re an otherworlder and you can’t handle the intensity of my magic. You’re vulnerable and— you need emergency treatment. I have to acclimate your body to magic. If I don't, the fever you have will get worse and rupture your organs. You will die a torturous, painful death.”
Real fear blanketed the man’s features. He didn’t seem to realize his lips were moving. “I don’t want to die. I have so much to do.”
“Do you consent to my treatment?” Aresh asked softly. He was not a gentle man but knew this would be a lot to ask of anyone. Especially an otherworlder.
His voice was feeble but his gaze was steely. “I consent to the treatment.”
Something unrecognizable flared in Aresh’s chest. He tore off his shirt and then deftly took off the otherworlder’s. His movements were stilted and awkward as he let himself be manhandled.
The otherworlder was pale, almost ghostly. The pallid plains of his chest and arms displayed how bony he was. Dear Abran, when was the last time this man had a proper meal? What sort of impoverished kingdom had he hailed from?
Aresh splayed his hands over the man’s warm skin. Slowly, he trailed his fingers down the man’s body. From his shoulders, to his arms, to the outlines of his ribs. Aresh slid his fingers over the otherworlder’s pointed, pink nipples and the man’s breathing hitched. Every inch of skin was as hot as sauna coals. Aresh knew he had to hurry.
“Open your mouth,” Aresh said tersely as he swiped his thumb over the otherworlder’s oddly plump lower lip.
He had a skittish expression on his face even as Aresh coaxed a kiss out of him. He was slow to react and even slower to kiss back. But Aresh only plunged his tongue into the otherworlder’s mouth to deepen the kiss. He explored his furnace of a mouth methodically. Until the otherworlder’s sluggish tongue slid against his own. Realistically, Aresh knew the more contact they had the better so he encouraged the mutual exploration.
When Aresh pulled back the otherworlder only stared at him with lips now a little more plump. His eyes were doe-like and slick, incredibly vulnerable. Aresh’s heart panged.
“We’ll have to do much more than this,” Aresh said in an effort to comfort him.
The otherworlder nodded dutifully. As if he were a penitent soldier or a hopeless martyr. Aresh knew he was saving the man’s life but he felt vile. If he could at least bring the otherworlder some pleasure then this wouldn’t have to be so painful.
Aresh was not a talkative man but suddenly he wanted to explain himself and beg for forgiveness all at the same time. Despite the circumstances, he did not have to encourage himself to hardness. His member was ramrod hard and aching.
Despite the otherworlder’s smaller frame, and his frailty, Aresh was now courting a fascination that was morphing into some sick, inopportune attraction.
Aresh kissed the otherworlder again, until his whining had turned into mewls and his pants had turned to moans. Aresh slipped a hand towards the otherworlder’s hips and found his cock equally hard, equally wet. All from their kisses.
A kernel of pride blossomed in his gut. At least, Aresh would make him feel good.
Aresh rose from the bed slowly and the otherworlder sat up. His hair was mussed and his blush was deep. Already, he looked debauched, the pink tip of his cock pearling with preseed.
“I can— I can handle it,” he said quietly, eyes hitching on Aresh’s erection.
Aresh gave him a sardonic grin. “Not dry, I hope.”
The otherworlder blinked. “Can’t you just magic it or something?”
Aresh shook his head. “Can you get on your hands and knees?”
The lithe man moved slowly. From the back the knobs in his spine seemed especially prominent, his hips bony and thighs slender. But still, the gentle curve of his ass was inviting.
Aresh gripped the man’s ass cheeks to reveal his hole. The otherworlder tensed, a fine tremor taking over his frame.
“I can handle it,” he said in a small voice.
And there was a tender part of Aresh that wanted to soothe this stranger. To kiss his too warm cheeks and too slender hands and tell him it would be okay. That he would be there for him. That he would be responsible for getting him through it.
But they were strangers. And this was medicinal.
Aresh lowered his head and licked a stripe across the otherworlder’s pucker. His initial spells had cleaned the both of them appropriately but this was still new. His ring was concerningly tiny and distractingly pink. He actually yelped and attempted to pull away. Oh Abran.
“Don’t move away, otherworlder,” Aresh murmured.
“Kondou.”
“Hmm?”
“My name is Kondou.”
“My bodily fluids will help acclimate you, Kondou.” Aresh explained. He spread the man’s small rump before he, again, started to lick into his tight starfish.
Aresh was thorough, gently nibbling on the tight ring and then pressing his tongue into Kondou’s tight heat. He was like a resistant vise. Had he ever been embraced by a man before? What was customary in his parallel world?But soon Kondou’s body began to yield and something in him relaxed.
He moaned softly, his hips wriggling attractively. Aresh replaced his tongue with his fingers and slowly stretched the man. He started with two fingers and then moved to three.
“Tell me if it hurts,” Aresh said. It was torture to go slowly, to watch the otherworlder’s tight ring begin to relax and not be able to press himself inside.
But this wasn’t sex. It was medicinal.
Kondou looked at him from over his shoulder, eyes bleary and mouth slouched open. Even his hair was mussed and he looked startlingly debauched. Like an ailing prince, still beautiful despite his fragility.
Aresh shook his head to chase the thoughts away. But they were like pests and they lingered. Especially when Kondou gazed upon him like that.
Aresh reached for the small bottle of oil by the bedside and uncapped the bottle.
“What’s that?” Kondou said dreamily.
“Something to ease the way,” Aresh assured him. And there were no magicules in the lubricant either.
The lubricant was viscous and slippery, faintly smelling of honey. Now, everytime Aresh smelled anything remotely like honey he would think of this. Of the otherworlder’s writhing frame beneath him. His bleary eyes and feverish skin. Of his moans. How his fingers twitched. The fall of his hair. His steely determination in light of the unknown. His unending desire to persist in spite of it all.
Aresh managed three fingers in the otherworlder’s now sopping hole. He sought out that nub that made some men go wild and then Kondou really began to squeal.
“That’s— that’s — I—” Kondou stammered before he froze. Then he let out a moan so low and so lewd Aresh’s cock twitched. Aresh pulled his fingers out of Kondou’s hole and sought the other man’s cock. Like the rest of him it was slender. And although he was rapidly hardening again Aresh could tell he had climaxed.
Aresh wished he could have seen the otherworlder’s face. But he bunched some pillows below his hips and arranged him easily. Kondou was more pliant now, boneless from his recent release.
Aresh, on the other hand, burned. Even though this was meant to be medicinal. His body didn’t seem to know the difference. It saw the vulnerable curve of Kondou’s back and wanted everything.
“Tell me if it hurts,” Aresh grunted.
And then he cloaked his body over Kondou’s, careful not to lay over him. He would be easier to take from the back. Aresh clutched one of Kondou’s ass cheeks astounded by how he’d stretched already. The small ring of his heat drooled a bit of lubricant.
Aresh pressed the tip of his cock inside and continued slowly. Kondou was too still.
Aresh pushed in slowly, the heat in his cock nothing like the heat of Kondou’s hole. He was feverish inside and out. Like a sodden, suckling glove, his body a forbidden playground.
“Does it hurt?” Aresh nearly whispered.
“Just full,” Kondou mumbled. “And hot.”
Aresh gritted his teeth. He wanted to plunge and pillage the otherworlder as he saw fit. But this was medicinal. And he couldn’t make this worse than it already was. Especially when Kondou was being so pliant.
Aresh sealed his body against Kondou’s, until the entirety of his front was pressed up against Kondou’s back. For a moment it was too strange for Aresh to continue. They were so close they were practically one. And yet they were complete strangers to one another.
“It’s okay,” Kondou said softly. “I can handle it. Please, keep going.”
And that was the beginning of Aresh’s end. He’d said please. As if asking for his own defilement.
Aresh kept their bodies sealed together as he thrusted in and out. It was too slow but it was all he could manage not to ram into that tight heat over and over again.
Every time he nearly pulled out Kondou mewled as if mourning the loss. And every time he bottomed out Kondou moaned. Was he enjoying it? Did he hate him yet?
Kondou’s eyes were squeezed shut as he clutched the sheets under his chest. And even though he seemed tense his body took him so well.
Aresh was close. His spine tingled with heat as he lost his own restraint for a moment. He slammed in on his next thrust and Kondou let out a wanton keen. His hole tightened enough that Aresh realized something.
“You came?” Aresh growled.
Kondou groaned. “Mhmm,” he said lazily.
And…seemingly Kondou did not need to be treated as the delicate flower he was. Aresh slammed in and out without hesitation, the slap of their bodies lewd and slick as sweat married their forms together. Aresh did not know anything could feel like this.
And when he finally came he felt as though he lost a piece of his soul with him. He thrusted a few more times before tilting them sideways on the bed. From the side Aresh could trail his fingers over Kondou’s chest or even play with his cock.
“Did you—” Kondou asked.
“Yes.”
“I suppose you should stay inside for a bit. So I can acclimate as much as possible,” he murmured.
It was an honest observation but it sounded so lewd all Aresh could do was grunt in acknowledgement.
Before much more conversation could be had the otherworlder fell asleep. And in short order, Aresh pulled out.
He was still achingly hard, his cock cloaked in seed. And based on Aresh’s check, Kondou was now acclimated to his magic.
The otherworlder had a healthier cast to his skin and he was breathing evenly. Aresh noticed a few blossoming bruises on his hips. It was good that he’d left his mark on the other man. And he hated how possessive it made him feel.
Kondou was something of a flower. He did need to be coddled. Aresh, who had never been particularly dedicated to anything before, began to consider a great many things.
The kingdom was not taking after the otherworlder. His boarding situation and the way others sneered behind his back said it all. His poor acclimation to this world should have been noticed by now. If Aresh hadn’t passed that alleyway he would have become a nameless corpse. Just the deceased tagalong of the saintess.
Aresh shook his head slightly. No. Kondou would become Aresh’s responsibility. It was only suitable. It was only right.
And Aresh ignored the way his cock twitched as he looked upon the nude otherworlder. He only drew his blankets up and watched him sleep.