Divinitas

015 - I show my love for you...


…with crimson te
~
~ * ~

Annoyed, Phoenix rubbed at his bare stomach. He had the stitches removed last night, quietly surprised at how fast he wounds healed. However, that didn’t mean they were any less itchy and just plain annoying.

Thursday morning. Fifth day without any golden fiend jumping him. Aether’s absence only made Phoenix more nervous though. It wasn’t like the severe soul searing pain he had felt when he left the school completely on the weekend. It was a persistent pining that Phoenix hated even more.

After a quick breakfast where Chima hurried them all along, being excited as he was to get to his horse, they made their way from the castle and to the stables behind it.

Most of the class was already at the stables, and among them was Casi, leaning up against the rails surrounding an arena where a lone rider cantered around the perimeter on a beautiful palomino filly. She wasn’t the only one. The whole female half of their class was watching with intense interest.

Seeing the approaching four scholarship students, she left her post and ran up to meet them, throwing her arms around Phoenix’s neck and hugging him. “Hiya Little Phoenix!” she greeted, grinning up at him with her large aqua eyes.

Phoenix glared. “I’m not little…” he mumbled before taking up a stick and trying to leverage her off him. He made a mental note that would be easier to either run away or hide next time Casi was anywhere near him.

“Wow… That filly is really pretty,” Chima said in quiet awe, walking towards the arena as if drawn by an invisible string.

“That’s Venus,” Casi supplied simply, tilting her heart-shaped face slightly and smiling. “A three year old Arab filly. Well, she’s not purebred… Pure Arabs don’t come in palomino,” she digressed.

Phoenix simply looked a little confused, but followed the others to the boundary of the arena, looking in on the horse and rider. The rider wore a full dressage habit, complete with black jacket andam bam breeches that moulded to his toned calves. A riding hat covered in black velvet hid the features of the rider’s face.

One couldn’t help but admire the perfect seat the rider had mastered, nor how graceful the filly was, silver mane and tail a cascading waterfall in the early sunlight. The girls certainly were admiring something, though whether it was the boy’s riding style could be up for debate.

Beside hihimahima’s face was lit up with delight, finding a simple joy in watching the beautiful animal, bringing just a little envy to Phoenix who glanced down at him. Draco had his head stuck in a book, as he had been ever since yesterday evening when he had made yet another journey to the library. Phoenix feared he was becoming one of those anti-social people who lived their lives through books, oblivious to the world around them. Draco’s near collision with one of the girls didn’t help to disprove Phoenix’s theory either.

“Hey!” Casi called out, waving her arms to catch the attention of the rider. Her sudden movements spoked the poor filly, causing her to shy violently away from the fence. The group of girls cried out in concern, certain that the rider would fall. But to Phoenix’s surprise, the rider didn’t even seem concerned by it, easily reining in the filly and calming her with strokes of his gloved hand.

The fiery boy had little more time to watch the horse and rider though. A pair of soft arms suddenly encircled his neck and equally soft rose petal lips were pressed up against his own shocked ones.

Casi was kissing him. Casi was kissing him?!

Instantly some voice in his head screamed to get the thing off his face, and his body would have reacted instantly to do so… Except for the fact that the said body was rather enjoying the sweet tender kiss Casi was bestowing upon him… Nothing like the possessive and burning one that Aether had forcibly given him. Nothing of the passion, the desperation, the need… But still it was very sweet, Casi’s lips. Like honey melon perhaps.

And then she was yanked away, letting out a loud complaining yelp. “Why’d you have to pull on my plait for?!” she cried, both hands having released Phoenix and were protectively holding the plait she wore on her left side.

The rider had dismounted and was in the process of removing his hard hat, ignoring Casi’s cries of injustice. “Because you obviously wanted me to see you defiling what is mine, waving your pipe-like arms around like a windmill,” the rider said evenly, freeing his golden locks and fixing an angry amethyst eye on Casi. “Aside from that, you endangered Venus,” Aether growled.

“Well, it’s not as if you’ve paid too much attention to him since the Duel! So why can’t I have him if you don’t even bother to take care of him?” Casi snapped back, aqua eyes alive and dancing. Her hands were on her hips, and everything about her stance showed she wasn’t the least bit afraid of the Child of Soul.

“What does it matter? He is mine!” Aether argued heatedly, losing his cool.

“Not by his free will, you cradle robber!”

“He’s always been mine!”

“Don’t you have another argument other than that same old?”

Phoenix just stared at the two conducting a catfight. There wasn’t another word for it. If this was in an anime, both Aether and Casi would have turned into super-deformed kitty cats and be hissing and scratching at one another.

But enough was enough. Phoenix did not appreciate being fought over like some favourite toy between siblings, not to mention the fact that some part of him had leapt for joy at seeing Aether, and then been instantly crushed when the Child of Soul hadn’t so much as spared him a glance. Apparently ownership was more important than anything else in Aether’s point of view. And that really pissed Phoenix off. More so than the fact that he was already owned by Aether.

Without even bothering to even try to stop the row that Aether and Casi were still conducting, Phoenix stormed off to the stables, leaving the rest of the class to watch with interest. Even the company of his bad tempered horse was better that this.

Before he could slip into the sanctuary of the stables, however, Aether’s commanding voice rung out over the open landscape, demanding him to stop. Every cell in his obey cried out to obey. Gritting his teeth, Phoenix turned around and flipped one off at the Child of Soul. Satisfied at seeing Aether’s mildly shocked face and Casi’s wide grin, Phoenix turned around again and went to tend to his awaiting horse.

~ * ~

“Ouch. Ouch. Ouch! Owww!!!” Phoenix yelped and tried to jerk his head away from the nurse’s persistent hands. She had the unwelcomed job of stitching up an ugly deep gash on the boy’s forehead, and would not give him any aesthetic as she calmed that the cut would heal faster without it.

“Solar Flare said he’s sorry,” Chima’s quiet voice spoke up from the side of the sterile clinic where he and Draco waited.

“I’m sure he is,” Phoenix bit out. “I swear that horse was laughing at me all the way back here! Grrr… See if I ever give him another sugar cube!”

Draco was covering his mouth with his hand, trying very hard not to laugh. The fiery boy shot das ats at him, which only made him laugh out loud.

“Keep still,” the nurse scolded as Phoenix twitched again when the needle was pulled through his already very abused flesh. “Really, you boys should take more care! And you,” she said, addressing Phoenix directly, “does the Child who you’re partnered with even know you went riding? I’m sure he\'s worried about you!”

That drew a bitter laugh from Phoenix. “Partnered with?” he echoed. “That implies I agreed to this! And believe me, I was fully against it. Aether’s a total bastard who ought to be shot!”

The nurse, a plump motherly figure, frowned down at him. “You shouldn’t use such language!” she rebuked Phoenix. “Aether’s a lovely boy. You should take a leaf from his book. He’s a very positive influence.”

“Lovely boy? Positive influence?” Phoenix cried out, disbelievingly. “He gave me these wounds in a Metamorphosis match!” His fingers pointed wildly at his stomach and shoulder, despite the fact that there were only faint angry red marks there now, and not the gapping wounds they once were.

“Oh, I said it once and I’ll say it again, that game is no good!” she said disapprovingly. “You should know better than to play it! And I was right, wasn’t I? Told you I would be seeing more of you back here… Really, three times in two weeks! What are you trying to do, break the school record for most injuries in the shortest amount of time?”

“No! It’s not as if I want to get hurt, you know! It’s Aether! He forced me to fight him, and since I lost, I have to wear this stupid collar, put up with his abuse, and damn it, he treats me like a slave!” Phoenix’s outburst was met with silence, and all three pairs of eyes were looking behind the enraged boy. Phoenix heaved a sigh, his shoulders slumping. “He’s standing behind me, isn’t he.”

Chima nodded nervously, and he and Draco slipped out of the clinic, walking sidewards with their backs pressed against the wall until they reached the door. Phoenix snorted. Friends indeed.

“Heo glo gloat, Aether? You wouldn’t be the first. Solar Flare threw me off and had a wonderful time laughing at me,” Phoenix said bitterly, not turning around to face him. One thing Phoenix certainly did not want to see right now was Aether’s piercing violet gaze. And for some reason, Phoenix was sure the gaze would be disapproving… And he felt a pang of guilt?

“You make me out to be a devil, Phoenix,” Aether said quietly with an underlying anger, voice next to Phoenix’s ear, soft flow of breath on his sensitive skin. “Perhaps I should live up to your expectations.” To the nurse, he said with a grateful voice, “Thank you for looking after Phoenix. He’s a good friend who keeps me company.” A charming smile that made the nurse blush.

“Oh, it was no problem, my dear. Just doing my job,” she said with a fond smile. “He’ll be fine. The stitches can come out in a few days.”

Aether stiffened behind Phoenix. “Stitches?” he inquired, laying a forceful hand on the boy’s shoulder. The damn bastard actually sounded worried. What an act, Phoenix thought bitterly.

“It’s nothing to worry about, Aether. Head wounds just bleed a lot, the cut isn’t that deep. Now, get out of here, both of you!” she shoed the two boys outside with a motherly smile.

Phoenix made to head back towards his dorm, but Aether’s hand restrained him, an iron clamp on tender flesh. “No, I want you to come with me.”

“Fine, whatever you say,” Phoenix muttered sarcastically as he walked the boy up the tower towards his room. “What do you intend to do with me?” Phoenix demanded in the silence that fell after his previous words. The Child of Soul remained mute. “Alright, don’t talk to me. I’m too lowly to talk to, am I? Should have expected it… High and mighty, sitting on your throne of power… It sickens me, Aether. I don’t like you.”

Servants on either side of the door leading to his suite of rooms opened them as the two approached. Arrogantly Phoenix sprawled himself onto one of Aether’s chairs, facing away from him.

“Stand up.” A command. His voice was cold, furious. Phoenix wanted to defy him, and forced himself to remain seated, even though his body wanted to obey. “Stand up, and face me, Phoenix,” he repeated, the ice in his voice cold enough to burn.

This time, Phoenix could not disobey. Like a marionette, his body moved, pulled by invisible strings. Phoenix found himself standing face to face with Aether, red eyes glaring insolently at the infuriated amethyst one.

His powerful hand met Phoenix’s face with a thundering clap, sending the boy staggering with a force oouldould have thought impossible from such a graceful and usually gentle hand. Tears stung Phoenix’s crimson eyes, his f sma smarting. But before Phoenix could express his displeasure at being slapped on the face, the same hand grabbed the front of Phoenix’s uniform and flung the boy’s body onto the king sized bed like a rag doll.

Phoenix grunted as he landed roughly on the covers, working his disorientated limbs to turn himself over and face the adversary. But hands with an immoveable grip captured both his thin wrists before another movement could be executed, and forced them above the boy’s head. Cold biting metal replaced the burning flesh as Phoenix’s hands were locked in place above him against the dashboard of the bed within metal handcuffs.

Furious and disbelieving red eyes glared at Aether. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!” Phoenix yelled, thrashing his whole body in a wild and tactless attempt to free himself. “Let me go now, you son of a bitch! Damn it, get off me!” Phoenix kicked at him with both his feet even as the fiend’s hands snatched hisles,les, chaining both of his legs to the end bed posts.

“Be quiet,” Aether said with deadly venom, looking down at Phoenix from where he stood at the foot of the bed. “Don’t you dare leave me as you did this morning… Never turn you back on me, do you understand?”

“I do not fucking belong to you!an nan not, will not be owned, Aether! I admit I belong to you because you defeated me, but that means nothing. My heart, my soul, my emotions… The will never belong to you, you fucking creep!” True anger burned in Phoenix’s voice. Whatever fear he had felt when dealing with the Child of Soul in the past had evaporated, to be replaced by defiant anger. Phoenix would not let the voice of doubt weaken him. Would not let that strange stirring of wanting to belong blind him as to the true nature of this boy!

But even as Phoenix promised himself these things in silence, his heart started to hammer within his chest, pounding away so each and every pulse vibrated through his now trembling body. Aether’s eye was locked onto Phoenix’s, hypnotising the boy almost. Red eyes widened in shock and all words abandoned Phoenix as he suddenly realised Aether was kneeling over his legs, and his hands were on Phoenix’s belt, pulling it free from around the boy’s thin waist. No sooner had the strap of black leather hit the floor were his hands unzipping and pulling down Phoenix’s pants as far as his spread legs would allow.

“You want to know why I’m doing this to you, Phoenix,” Aether told Phoenix quietly, answering the bewildered question that screamed from his crimson eyes. “I am doing this because I need you to understand you belong to me.” He punctated the words by pushing the boy’s boxers down to join his pants and straddling his hips, sending an electric shock through Phoenix’s body as his groin covered with the rough material of his uniform came into contact with Phoenix’s bare manhood.

Every shift of his weight tortured the struggling boy, stirring desires Phoenix forced himself to suppress. Damn it, he would rather be beaten to a pulp than show pleasure at Aether’s violation of his body! Phoenix bit his lips hard enough to draw blood as Aether deliberately rubbed himself against Phoenix’s growing genitals, swallowing the moan that threatened to break free from his mouth.

A soft and satisfied laugh came from Aether, his long fingers nimbly unclasping the House of Fire signature that held together Phoenix’s shirt and pushing the black material to either side. “I think you want me,” he said quietly, the masked anger having dissipated the moment he had come into contact with Phoenix’s trembling body. His fingers brushed against a nipple, forcing a sharp gasp from Phoenix’s lips, and causing the boy to involuntarily arch himself towards Aether’s touch. The Child of Soul let out another delighted laugh.

Phoenix’s heart raced, his mind failing him. He could not think, could not form any words, could do nothing to make Aether stop! A sheen of sweat had already formed on the boy’s hot skin, and his breathing was fast and shallow, betraying the fear and desire Phoenix sought so dearly to keep hidden.

“You do, and you know it. You want me to touch you, to feel you, to make you mine, and you are afraid of that. What you want scares you so much you deny it until you believe it is what you hate.” Another thrust against the boy beneath him, the coarse material tantalizing the overly sensitive skin of Phoenix’s member until he could no longer hold back the groan, and it escaped from his throat in a horrid gasp of breath. “But don’t worry, my Bof Fof Fire, I will help you see the truth, whether you like it or not.” And suddenly his lips were sealed against Phoenix’s in a conquering kiss that seared his soul with its burning heat.

Phoenix felt himself responding, even as his mind cried out for him to stop. But he had no control over his body, no control over his mouth that opened to Aether as he thrust his wet exploring tongue into it, running along the roof of Phoenix’s mouth and feeling his teeth.

Tears formed in Phoenix’s eyes as Aether lifted his lips from his, the lack of their warmth equivalent to having his heart torn from his body. Aether smiled wickedly down at the boy, delighted with Phoenix’s reaction to his kiss. “Pain and pleasure, Phoenix. They are the most effective teachers…” He leaned the upper half of his body back, racking his fingernails down Phoenix’s chest, causing his to squirm underneath him, Phoenix’s head thrown back, bearing his neck. “You will not forget me, Phoenix. Ever. You will never be able to forget me, because every time you look in the mirror, you will see my name carved into you flesh, and you will know you belong to me.”

Even drunk on the pleasure forced upon him, those words struck Phoenix with panic, and the boy lifted his head to stare at Aether, sweat matting his golden red locks onto his forehead and stinging the newly stitched wound. “No,” Phoenix crocked out, his throat constricting as he tried to swallow. “Please… Damn it, Aether, don’t…!”

“That is your first mistake, Phoenix,” he said as if scolding a small child, the evil grin still painted on his devilishly handsome face. “You do not tell me what I can or can not do,” he whispered seductively as he rocked his hips against Phoenix’s throbbing genitals, sending him into another fury of undesired bliss. The fiend took the opportunity to draw an elegant silver blade from somewhere on his body, and pressed its needle sharp tip against the flesh that covered Phoenix’s bare stomach, just to the left of his navel.

A hiss expelled itself from between Phoenix’s clenched teeth, the pin prick of pain spreading like wild fire through to the boundaries of his being.

“Pain is pure, don’t you think?” Aether inquired with a smile. “Physical pain, it’s an art, my Phoenix. Revel in it, feel it, accept it!” The blade pierced Phoenix’s flesh, cutting slowly, prolonging to pain, a form of torture thae boe boy could not endure.

Phoenix’s mouth opened in a silent scream as tears squeezed out from the corners of his burning red eyes, half blinding him. It was so hard, so damn near impossible to keep his quivering body still, that self preservation part of his being shouting that any movement would only make the pain worse, would cause more than superficial damage. And the tears were now flowing freely down the sides of the boy’s face, each stoke of the sharp evil blade causing more agony until it peaked and he could no longer keep silent. Whimpers so pathetic to his own ears began escaping his lips in and endless cycle.

“Hush…” Aether whied, ed, replacing the metal dagger with his fingers, running them along the incisions he had opened in Phoenix’s flesh, slick with flowing blood and sweat. “Tears are beautiful, Phoenix, as is your painful cry. The legendary bird of fire would perish in an inferno, filled with agony, only to be reborn in greater splendour.” He dug his finger tips deep into the wounds, drawing a long scream from the boy’s raw throat.

So many sensations. Feverish pain, sinful pleasure, the hot trickle of blood down the side of Phoenix’s lacerated stomach, the sharp bite of hard metal cutting into his wrists and ankles, Aether’s heat against him, his touch a most potent torture. He was gasping for breathe, on the edge of consciousness, his vision obscured by hated tears. And his erect manhood betraying hist ost of all.

Aether was moving steadily against Phoenix now, rubbing his bulging cloth covered crotch against Phoenix’s in rhythmic strokes. Phoenix’s eyes were squeezed shut, but still the tears streamed from them, born from both the pain of Aether’s fingers digging into the openings he had made in his flesh, and from the wicked bliss that built up to the verge of torture in his groin that he sought uselessly to deny.

And when Aether’s hot wet lips came down upon his slack and open mouth, sealing away the boy’s moans that came unbidden from his throat, and Aether’s agile tongue was thrust deep within, Phoenix could hold back no longer. The orgasm rolled through him, a hot wave of ecstasy that numbed his mind, burned his body, setting each and every nerve ending into a wild and forbidden dance.

Slowly, the wave passed, burning down to a comfortable warmth that left Phoenix feeling contented, as if all was right in the world. His mind registered in a pleasure induced daze that Aether was kissing down his throat, softly, gently, as a lover might, his lips brushing against Phoenix’s collar bone, and then flicking over an erect nipple, before finally beginning to lap up the mixture of blood and semen that had pooled on his chest and stomach.

The pain ebbed, and it seemed like nothing more than a phantom discomfort. In that dreaming state, as Aether’s soft tongue and lips moved over Phoenix’s body, the boy considered Aether’s words from before of his wanting him… Aether. Perhaps… But never as long as he belonged to him as a Sacrifice.

It didn’t matter that Aether had just tortured him. It didn’t matter that he bled onto his black silk sheets even now use use of him. No, that gave Phoenix a satisfaction nothing else had ever given him, and no fear now remained in its wake. But… What did matter was Aether’s claim over him. Phoenix could not belong to Aether. Ever. He must be Aether’s equal before he ever admitted that he felt anything for him other than hate and loathing.

~ * ~

With undisguised fury Phoenix glared at the top of Aether’s head, at the soft locks of dark blond, almost golden, hair. How they fell naturally in light waves, catching the illumination from the overhead fixture, to appear perfect as if from an oil painting created by an angel’s hand.

Phoenix sat stiffly and completely naked in a warm bath full of once clear water, now tinged with red from the name that was carved into the flesh of his poor stomach. The water lapped up to his chest, constantly stinging the fresh wounds that unmistakably spelt Aether’s name.

“I hate you,” Phoenix declared in a somewhat weak voice, made so by his exhaustion and raw throat.

Aether, who had been gently sponging the angry red marks on Phoenix’s wrists that were left from the hand cuffs chafing his skin, looked up. His violet eye masked all emotions, revealing nothing but its highly unusual colour. “Why?” he asked simply, voice conditioned to betray no sadness, or anger, or even sarcasm. “What is so wrong with wanting to hold on to what you want, Phoenix, and never letting go? Why does that merit your hate?”

Phoenix pulled his now freed hand back into the warm water, slightly disturbed at how red it was. “When it refers to another human being, it is wrong,” he said bitterly, staring down at the mixture of blood and water. “At least, it is unforgivable in my eyes when the other has no say in the relationship.”

“Ah. You are one of those people who believes that one should think of others first, that everything can be solved with compromises and co-operation,” Aether stated with a smile. “I am not like that, Phoenix. I believe that if I do not grasp what I want now, when I am able to, that it will slip through my fingers, and deny me happiness. And personal contentment and joy is most important. Or do you disagree with that as well?”

“So your philosophy is to crush everyone to achieve your dreams,” Phoenix muttered, closing his eyes and sliding down into the deep bath until only his head remained above water. “Is that really alright with you, being alone and hated? Never knowing love that’s freely given?”

Aether’s hand brushed the wet locks of hair back from Phoenix’s forehead, a finger gently tracing the gash lying underneath with a feather light touch. The bandana had long been taken off, back at the clinic, and was now in Draco’s capable possession of safe keeping. “I’ve yet to know what true love is, and so I do not pine for it. I have what I want right here, so what does it matter if I’m hated or not?”

“You’re impossible, you know that?” Phoenix asked harshly, swatting Aether’s hand away with a stinging slap, eyes passionate with burning defiance. “But know this, Aether. You’ve given me the dream of being free of you. And in this instance, I will crush your dreams to achieve mine.”

His only answer was a forceful, lip-bruising kiss.

~ * ~

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