Polinues Marines, the would be mage.

Chapter 23.
Title: Polinues Marines, the would be mage.

Chapter Title & No.: #23. I promise I’ll be good.

Author: Darkling Willow

Pairing: Non.

Rating: NC - 17
Abuse, Anal, Angst, BDSM, Bi, B-Mod, Bond, Death, D/s, H/C, HJ, Humil, Language, M/F, M/M, Minor, N/C, OC, Oral, Preg, Rim, Spank, Violence, Voy, VS, WD, WIP.

Archive: Originals - misc. > Slash-male/male
Feedback: Yes thank you very much. An author can only improve with criticism. Please rate if you do not want to leave a review.

Disclaimer: This is an original work of fiction. Any resemblance of places and characters to actual persons, living or dead, and places is purely coincidental.
The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.

Authors Notes: For review replies, comments and thank you's go to: http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php/topic/14530-polinues-marines-the-would-be-mage/

Summary: Polinues makes a promise.

---

Chapter 23. I promise I’ll be good.

Polinues stared into the dusky room, breathing deeply the scent of opium and poppies all around him, Leyjen’s arm wrapped tightly around his chest, his hand holding firmly onto Polinues’ shoulder, the much shorter boy spooned perfectly against Leyjen’s tall form.

Polinues wriggled a little, and Leyjen’s chest pressed against his back again, the hot skin a little clammy, but Polinues only smiled wickedly and wriggled again.
This time Leyjen moaned a little, and thrust his hips forward, digging his nose into the back of Polinues’ head.

The night had been horrible.
A nightmare, truthfully, and Polinues felt sick and exhausted, his body drained of emotion, fear, pain and despair thrumming loudly in his nerves.
But this, lying like this with Leyjen, safe and protected within the muscular embrace made it all disappear.

Polinues wiggled his hips again, trying to get the same reaction from his mentor, and succeeded, a throbbing hardness poking him in the backside and Leyjen moaned delightfully.
Leyjen’s left hand slid over the boy’s hip and pulled him closer, the throbbing erection sliding between the two round globes of his ass, nothing between them except for two pairs of thin linen trousers, and Polinues bucked against the sensation, gasping.
This was new, different and wonderfully wicked in some way, and Polinues wanted more.

He wriggled his ass a little more, Leyjen moaning into his ear and thrusting his hips harder against Polinues’ ass, the arm around his chest tightening almost painfully.
Leyjen started grinding his cock against Polinues’ ass, and the boy arched his back into the touch, unable to contain the gasp that burst out of him.
Leyjen twitched, gasping and pulling away from Polinues, the boy clamping his eyes shut to pretend he was sleeping.

Leyjen moaned, grabbing his cock and squeezed it hard at the base, swearing under his breath as he rolled over onto his back and tried to will his cock down.
The boy beside him wiggled closer, pressing his backside against Leyjen’s hip, a small gasp escaping him, and Leyjen pushed his flat palm against Polinues’ back.
Panting, Leyjen tucked his cock down between his thighs, rolled over on his side again, bending his knees a little, to minimize Polinues’ access to the area.

“You awake, bed bug?” Leyjen asked, pushing at Polinues’ back, irritation rising in his throat when the boy feigned waking up, rubbing his eyes dramatically.

“Huh? Yeah, hey, morning.” Polinues’ voice was raspier than usual, broken from the torment he had endured. He stretched his thin arms over his head, arching his back, making his neck creak.

“You up to talking about it yet?”

“Do we have to? Can’t we just stay like this and shut up?” Polinues pouted, fluttering his eyelashes, and cuddling closer to Leyjen, innocence and sweetness in one pretty little package.

Leyjen clamped his eyes shut, and rubbed his face, to get the thought out of his head.

He’s just a little boy! Stop it! Just think about something else! The High Cleric! Fishing! Roganwood! NO!

Leyjen growled inwardly, Polinues’ scent filling his senses, and going straight to his nether regions.

“Are you alright? You’re looking a little funny. Why is your cock so hard?” Polinues touched Leyjen’s cheek with his fingertips, the older novice jerking away from the touch, gasping in shock.

“What did you say?”

“I asked why your cock is so hard. I’ve never seen it like that before. Mine doesn’t do that.” Polinues answered, speaking a little slower, and then peeking under the covers, pulling the front of his trousers open to look inside.

Leyjen grabbed the boy’s hands, steering them away from the opening in the trousers, laughing a little hysterically.

“And it won’t! Not for a while longer at least. It’s absolutely normal. Yours will probably start doing that in a few more years, when you’re about eleven or twelve, maybe thirteen, fourteen. It’s called growing up, and when your cock starts doing that, you can start having sex.”

“Sex? Like kissing and touching and stuff? With girls?” Polinues exclaimed, a slightly disgusted look flitting across his face.

“Don’t worry about it, Polinues. We’ll have that talk in a few more years, alright? Please? I’m not really feeling up for it right now.”

Polinues nodded, looking like he was still trying to shake off the thought of kissing girls.
Leyjen ran his fingers through the tangle of brown hair on Polinues’ head, getting stuck twice along the way, brushing his fingers over the boy’s scarred cheek, and up again, around and around. Studying the face and the grey eye, Leyjen couldn’t help but smile.
The boy was beautiful, in spite of the horrendous scar, he had a tenderness in his brow that was rare, a softness to his eyes that promised such deep emotions that it was almost frightening.
Leyjen felt his heart constrict in fear, what if he failed the boy and he would grow up angry and bitter? That was Leyjen’s biggest fear.

Polinues stared up at the olive skinned face, a shade lighter than it was in the summers, and the faint sprinkle of freckles he had discovered that passed summer was nowhere to be found.
Leyjen’s eyes were soft, almost sleepy, his lips slightly parted, and Polinues took a mental picture of that look.
He stored it in his “Leyjen’s pretty faces” corner of his mind, with all the other pictures he’d taken over the past three years.
This particular look was new, and Polinues really liked it.

It was serene and calm, no stress or anxiety, no worries wrinkling his forehead, and his lips were relaxed and pouty instead of the thin, taut lines they were far too often. The left corner of his bottom lip was a sight redder, chewed down and raw.
This passed year had been very stressful for Leyjen, and Polinues had seen it in the teen, even if he didn’t quite understand it.
He promised himself, once again, that he would stop being so difficult with Leyjen and everyone else, and he’d start being more considerate of the teen’s needs.
Like Leyjen was with him.

“That’s pretty. Where’d you get it?” Polinues asked, making Leyjen jerk away when the small hand brushed across his chest and wrapped around the silver chain Leyjen wore around his neck.
Polinues lifted the warm jewel from Leyjen’s chest and it glittered in the pale light that filtered into the room.
Leyjen made a grab for the jewel, but hesitated, his fingers alighting around Polinues’ hand, and together they stared at the jewel as it reflected light that wasn’t there.

“A friend gave it to me.” Leyjen answered in a low voice, a smile creeping into the corners of his mouth, Polinus pushed a little closer to him, and laid his head on the strong shoulder.

“It’s very pretty. It looks like blood.” Polinues whispered, letting the chain fall back down on the naked chest, as he twisted onto his side, and draped himself over Leyjen’s body, one thin leg snaked across Leyjen’s hips, and somewhat clumsily Polinues dug his nose into the crook of Leyjen’s neck.

Leyjen felt his skin prickle, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end, the boy’s scent driving him wild all over again, and he was certain that Polinues knew exactly what he was doing with that leg across his hips.
Despite all that, Leyjen couldn’t push him away when the boy showed him such deep affection, so he pulled Polinues closer and wrapped his arms around him protectively, kissing the soft brown hair.

“It was that voice again.” Polinues whispered, a slight shiver running down his back, and Leyjen squeezed him reassuringly.

“What happened?” He whispered back, and felt a warm tear fall on his shoulder.

“It kept calling me. It wasn’t exactly the same as before, but it kept calling me, telling me you were in danger. I told the voice to go away, to leave me alone, and that I didn’t care that you were in danger, but then it got angry. It started to torment me with all these visions, of horrible things…”

The boy sobbed quietly, Leyjen stroking his hair asked,
“What sorts of things?”

“No, please don’t make me remember them. They were too horrible… I don’t want to… They tore you apart, alive, and you kept screaming, they did it again and again. And Lanja too, and my little sisters. There was blood everywhere, the whole room was floating in blood. And then they brought you out again, and did it all over again. And you kept screaming for me to help you, but I couldn’t.”

Polinues’ whole body shook with supressed sobs, and Leyjen turned halfway onto his back so he could cradle Polinues as close to his body as possible, soothing him quietly.

“Polinues. Can I ask you something? When I was calling you through the door, did you hear me?”

The boy nodded, tears melting quietly into Leyjen’s skin.

“And did you feel it when I cast that spell through the door?”

Again the small head nodded, and Leyjen bent close to Polinues’ ear.

“When Hylmir and I came bursting through the door, I saw myself. An image of me. Who conjured that up? Was it you, or was it that voice?”

Polinues stopped crying, and raised his face to meet Leyjen’s, a surprised look in his eye,
“You did, Leyjen. You told me that you were there, outside the door, so I started fighting. And I concentrated really hard on the thought that you were there to protect me. First I thought that image was some sort of deamon, that they had conjured up to destroy me. But then I saw its eyes. And I knew it was you. Somehow I knew it was you, even though you had eyes of fire and those terrifying black wings and all.”

Leyjen tried to answer, but he couldn’t find the words, his brain trying desperately to figure out when and where the boy had seen Leyjen in his true form.

After agonizing minutes, Polinues smiled a little, and said,
“I’m sorry if it scared you. I guess that’s just how I imagine you when I think of you protecting me. Like some sort of avenging god.”

Making Leyjen breathe a little easier, even though he felt disturbed by how accurate Polinues’ image had been.

“You were dreaming about the fire again, weren’t you?” Leyjen asked, holding the boy close, a tremor running through the small body.

“Yes. Is that what I manifested? When the voice couldn’t get me to come to it, it reminded me of the fire. It wasn’t full of deamons now. It was just the fire, but I couldn’t get out this time, all the windows were closed and I could hear you on the outside. I could feel it, Leyjen. The fire, I could feel it burning me.”

“I know, Ilithil. I know. I saw the nightmare fade, it looked far too real.”

Leyjen wrapped his arms around the small boy, and drew him as tightly against his chest as he could, Polinues wrapping his arms around Leyjen’s neck, as if they were trying to merge into one being.

Neither of them heard the knock on the door, but Leyjen started slightly when he looked up and saw Tisék standing in the doorway.
He nodded curtly at the teen, but did not manage to hide the look of disapproval on his face, as he noticed the young boy draped over Leyjen’s chest.

“Morning, cleric.” Leyjen hicupped, drawing the covers up over Polinues’ bare back, but realized too late that it only made the situation look worse.

“Morning, novice Shaoir. It is time for breakfast. The prefect told me you two were still asleep. Is the boy alright?”
Leyjen sat up, struggling to peel the boy off him, but Polinues held on with all his strength.

“Yeah, he’s fine. Just a little shaken, he had a very bad nightmare. We’ll be up in a few minutes. Thank you for waking us, Tisék.” Leyjen smiled, and Tisék bowed out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Polinues looked over his shoulder, and shuddered.

“I don’t like him.”

“Who? Tisék? Why not? What did he ever do to you?”

“He didn’t do nothing to me. He’s just sleazy. There’s this feeling about him… And he’s always trying to be close to you. Trying to be alone with you. And I don’t think he likes me.”
Polinues climbed off the bed, and looked about for his robes, but they weren’t there.
Leyjen threw the covers over the bed quickly, and dressed in a hurry, before he took Polinues down to his room and helped him dress.

Swinging his legs back and forth Polinues stared up at the blackboard, and yawned. He had already finished his homework, and the assignment set forth in class, and now he was getting bored.
He was tired, bonetired, and all he wanted was to sleep. His skin itched, and there was an ache in the back of his neck, where the initiation ring was seared into his skin. He knew it was just an after effect of the nightmare, but the ache felt far too real.
Leyjen was working in the Healing Halls, and they would not see each other again until supper.
Polinues had spent most of the day preparing his speech, so when he entered the canteen that evening he headed straight for Leyjen, his jaw set in what he hoped was a determined way.

Leyjen was sitting alone, as usual, one elbow on the table, a hand on his forehead seeming to hold his head up, and the amber eyes were tired, with dark circles under them, the other hand toying with the fork, pushing his food around on the plate, between lifting tiny forkfulls to his mouth.

Polinues was surprised to see Leyjen jump when he cleared his throat, to get the teen’s attention.
Leyjen did not reach out a hand to help him, as Polinues put his tray on the table, then climbed up on the bench beside his mentor.
On his right side as usual, because Polinues prefered seeing who was sitting beside him. That was also why Leyjen always left an epmty seat beside himself, at the end of the bench.

Polinues cleared his throat again, earning a quizzical look from Leyjen, then he started in a low, but steady voice,
“I want to say something. I want you let me finish before you interrupt me, because I’ve been preparing this all day.”

Leyjen smiled but only nodded, and remained quiet.

Polinues cleared his throat again, and looked up at Leyjen as he spoke.
“I want to start by saying I’m sorry. I know that I’m a handful, and I know that sometimes… most of the time, I’m an inconsiderated selfish prick.”

“No, you’re not. It happens, but not most of the time.”

“Don’t, let me finish. I know that I’m difficult, and it’s a challenge to get me to do what I’m supposed to. I ask too many questions, I want to know too many things, and I want everything to be done my way, or not at all.”

“Polinues, I’m not going to sit here and listen to this. You’re just putting yourself down now.”

“No. Stop talking. What I’m trying to say is this. I know that I cause you a lot of grief, and a lot of headaches. I want to say that I’m sorry for constantly getting you into trouble, I’m sorry for all the trouble I get myself into, I’m sorry for the bad dreams and the trouble they cause. I don’t ever mean to. It just happens. I try and try to stay out of trouble, but trouble just finds me. I think I’d even get into trouble if I locked myself in my wardrobe and never came out.”

“I know you never mean to. Not everything is your fault.”

“Please Leyjen, I spent all day putting this speech together, shut up will you.”

Leyjen snickered, but then put on a serious look and stared back at the boy.

“Ok, I’ve told you I’m sorry, for everything. Now. I’ve decided that I’m going to be better. I’m going to stop getting into trouble, and I’m going to stop getting you into trouble. I’ll listen to you when you tell me no, and I’ll start studying better. I’ll stop talking back to the other clerics and novices, and even my father. And when we go back home for Samhain, I promise I’ll do my very bestest to stay out of Arlathi’s way, and even if I can’t, I promise I won’t try to cast nasty spells on him. I won’t even try to kill him.”

Leyjen smiled, the sombre look in the grey eye so heartwarming that he couldn’t help but hug the boy close, and whisper,
“Thank you. Why though? Why this sudden change in attitude?”

Polinues looked up, and startled Leyjen a little when he reached up and stroked the teen’s cheek gently.
“Because I saw how you looked this morning. You’ve been looking that way more and more in the past few months. You’re always tired, you’re always feeling low. You have black circles under your eyes, and I found you asleep in the library a couple of days ago. And last night when I had my nightmare… the you in the nightmare, the one they were torturing, you kept screaming for me to let you go, to let you go to sleep, that you were so tired.”
Polinues hicupped, stopped and buried his face in Leyjen’s chest, small arms squeezing his waist.

Leyjen wrapped his arms around the boy, and kissed his forehead, whispering,
“Yes, I’ve been tired lately, there’s been so much stress. Thank you, Polinues, thank you for understanding, and being so considerate. I appreciate it so much.”

“I was also going to say… you interrupted me, so I forgot, I was going to say, if you need to go out at night, then I won’t stop you. I will stop telling you to be in your room all the time. If I need you, and you’re not there, I’ll just go back to my room and let you be.”
Polinues whispered hardly above a breath, knowing full well that sneaking out at night was strictly against the rules.

Leyjen squeezed the boy a little harder, and kissed the top of his hooded head,
“I’m going to teach you a trick to open my door when it’s locked from the inside. When I leave at night I usually lock the door, so if you come to my room and the door is locked, then you can open it, and get inside, even if I’m not there. Alright? Only promise I want is that you never tell anyone about it, and don’t ask where I’ve been or what I’ve been doing.”
Polinues nodded and with a smile they turned back to their supper.


Leyjen pulled the covers up to Polinues’ chin and kissed him on the forehead, longing for his own bed.
The evening had been long and hard, the Yule tide celebration ending in disaster as usual. Leyjen had felt as if Arlathi had been trying to make up for the arguments and fights that the twins had missed at Samhain.

“Good night, bed bug. I’ll see you on the morrow.” He said quietly, running a finger down the soft cheek.
Polinues’ eyes fluttered open and he grabbed the teen’s hand.

“Don’t go. Not just yet.” Polinues whispered, the corners of his mouth a little depressed, and his chin quivered.

“What is it? Is it your eye? It isn’t half as swollen as we thought it would be. And Arlathi looks much worse. That was one hell of a left hook you gave him.” Leyjen tried to smile, but the sadness in the boy’s face tore at his heart.

“I didn’t mean to break my promise. I didn’t mean to start fighting with him. But he broke my present.” The boy’s bottom lip trembled, and a lonely tear fell from his scarred right eye.

“I know, Polinues. I’m going to try and fix it, but I don’t know the spell that made it work, so it may not fly again. If I can’t fix it, I’ll write to your uncle and ask him to help me. Arlathi is just jealous, he thinks your present is better than his. Please stop crying, I can’t stand it when you cry.” Leyjen brushed the single tear away, and Polinues sniffled loudly.

His small fingers let go of Leyjen’s wrist, and started seperating the numerous leather bracelets Leyjen wore.
He counted seven on the left wrist, then reaching for the other wrist counted five more, ranging from the single strand of oxblood leather, to thick braids, to a tight cuff, as wide as his thumb was long, embossed with a symbol that Polinues did not know. But he knew better than to ask, Leyjen refused to tell him what it meant.

Polinues reached out for Leyjen’s chest, and the teen leaned forward to let the boy study the warm blood crystal on its long silver chain, as well as the braided leather pendant Polinues had given him as a Yule present.

Polinues studied the pendant in silence, then asked shyly,
“Do you really like it?”

“Of course I do. It’s beautiful. It’s made even more beautiful by the fact that you made it yourself. And I had no idea you could write Parsirian that well.”

“Hylmir helped me a little, but it’s my writing. And the stonecutter did an excellent job copying it.” Polinues tried to minimize his part in the pendant, but Leyjen leaned over the boy and kissed him on the forehead,
“No matter who helped making it, this was made by your hands, and therefore it is the most wonderful gift anyone has ever given me. I will treasure it all of my life.”
He wrapped a hand around the cylindrical pendant, and pressed it against his chest.

The pendant was a small cylinder of smooth, highly polished hematite, a quote from an old poem spiralling around it, in the flowing script of the elves, and hung on a black, braided leather thong.

Polinues lifted his arm to look at his own Yule present, a brown braid of leather, that wrapped twice around his wrist, three polished stones woven into the braid. Leyjen had one as well, and had told Polinues it was a token of their friendship.

Polinues had figured out within five minutes that they were amulets.
Protection amulets, but he had decided against arguing the point after he and Arlathi had started trowing punches at the dinner table.

“I like my present too. It’s pretty, and it’s just like yours.” He stated simply, and a smile brightened up Leyjen’s face.

“Oh, crap. I had almost forgotten.” He exclaimed, and jumped to his feet.

Polinues watched him go to the chest of drawers in the corner and pull something out of the top drawer.
Sitting back down on the bed, Leyjen handed Polinues a square package, wrapped in a piece of pale blue linen.

“I didn’t want to give this to you in front of everyone, because I don’t want Arlathi to know you have one. This was supposed to be your real Yule tide present. Happy Yule, Polinues.”

The boy sat up and undid the string in a matter of moments, unwrapping the linen, and gasped aloud when he uncovered the book, bound in dark blue leather, with his initials engraved in silver runes, and a blue ribbon bookmark.
He unwound the cord closure and opened the book, smelling the blank parchment pages. At the front of the book a small quill hung from another ribbon, the title page inscribed with Polinues’ name and date of birth in beautiful calligraphy.

Polinues’ eyes glistened when he looked up at Leyjen, his mouth open, but the boy couldn’t find the words.

“It’s a journal. Like the one I have. You can write down spells you think of, or spells you don’t want to forget. Or do like I do, and record your thoughts into it. It’s yours alone, and you should never let anyone see it. And definitely never let anyone read it.” Leyjen ran a finger down the spine of the book, unprepared for the boy jumping into his arms.

“Thank you, Leyjen. Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Polinues said, his voice shaking with emotion.

“You’re quite welcome. I hope you use it then. It was pretty expensive. Now, go to sleep, and I’ll see you on the morrow.”
Leyjen lay the boy back down, kissing his forehead.
Polinues stuffed his new journal under his pillow, and pulled his covers up to his ears.

Leyjen closed the door behind him and feigned walking away, but stayed near the door to listen.
Sure enough, after a few moments he heard Polinues slip out of the bed and patter on his bare feet across the room to his dressing table, and the scratching of a quill against parchment could be heard faintly through the door.

Leyjen smiled at the sound, his heart warmed by the knowledge that Polinues was happy with his present.
He slipped into his own room, locking the door behind him, and sat down on the bed, waiting. The hidden door in the far wall opened without a sound, and Amraeen walked across the room with quiet grace, stopping infront of Leyjen.
The teen smiled, pulling a leather thong over his head, and placing the pendant on his nightstand, before he rose to his feet and molded his lips against Amraeen’s.