Abyss

Chapter 3: Setting fire

Several days later, they walked through woodland. Ayve bent down to pluck a mushroom every now and again. They were not going to grow much longer. As unusual as the hotness this late in the year had been was the drop of temperature that followed. They hunted bigger animals regularly now to have the material for clothes that would keep them warm in winter.

“Let’s hunt together this time,” Pheus proposed. “I want to see how you do it.”

Ayve looked at him nonplussed. “Why?”

Pheus threw an annoyed glance at him. “Do I always need a reason for everything?”

Ever since summer, since he had first seen Ayve completely undressed, Pheus could not keep from watching him tirelessly. Something about the beauty of Ayve’s body, about the grace of his movements had evoked an interest in the other man that Pheus could not explain. In the wilderness where nobody questioned his motives, however, Pheus did not really worry about such matters. He was grateful for anything that distracted him from the tedious road. Watching Ayve hunt was just another of those distractions.

The fallow deer were in rut for a while now. Fallow bucks were bellowing and at times they found the remains of a fight, a piece of antler, for example, on their way. Pheus suggested secluding one of the animals from the group to hunt it down.

They stalked the group against the wind and silently picked out a young doe they were going to target. The leader just fought against a competitor, and the other members of the group were distracted by that event. Just as they had planned, Pheus came up behind their target and scared up the animal so it took off into Ayve’s direction.

With a few swift movements, his hair flying behind him, Ayve got hold of the doe. It struggled against him. He tried to get it under control with the method Pheus had recommended, but it broke free again, heading in yet a different direction. Unfortunately for the poor beast, however, Pheus had anticipated its move and overpowered it effortlessly.

When Ayve caught up with him and the prey, Pheus had already slain it with a well directed cut into the throat. He found him bent over the deer, his mouth still covering the wound.

“What are you doing there?” Aye asked uncertainly.

It took a while before Pheus slowly lifted his head and wiped a few droplets of blood from his lips. “An old tradition,” he explained. “The one who hunts the animal down may drink its blood.” He detached his eyes from the doe and directed them at his companion. “You had it already. How could it escape?”

“I didn’t have the strength to pull it down the way you said I should. It’s not the way I usually hunt.”

Pheus smirked. “I see.” That was at least a compensation for the disgrace of having been so much more exhausted by the swim – whatever stamina he lacked in comparison to Ayve he could make up with his physical strength. He turned back to the dead animal. “The hide will be useful.”

Had they travelled lightly in the summer, their baggage now had grown considerably. Indeed they had done well to prepare early. The weather constantly grew nastier. Every few days there came up a storm that forced them to seek shelter. Furthermore, the temperature dropped steadily. One morning, when they emerged from the small tent of branches and hides they had erected, a thick snow cover lay outside.

“We should warm up the snow to wash ourselves,” Pheus suggested. He cleared some space and broke twigs off a nearby tree that had been un-rooted by one of the autumn storms. Meanwhile Ayve filled their bowls with melting white.

“You first,” Pheus decided.

Ayve crawled back into the tent, where it was warmer, and removed the layers of clothing he wore. Then he sprinted out naked, shivering immediately.

Pheus laughed and started pouring the warm water slowly over the lean body of the other man. Ayve had closed his eyes as the pure liquid ran over his face, soaked his long, thick hair, and washed over his arms, chest and back. Pheus was fascinated by the way it glided over the skin and enveloped it. A stream of water tumbled over the tip of Ayve’s sex as if it were a cliff over which streamed a river.

Then the water was used up. Pheus stepped back to give Ayve space to shake of the remaining droplets and wring out his hair. He refilled the bowl with snow and placed it on the fire again that Ayve used to dry and stay warm.

Pheus seized the long piece of cloth and helped Ayve re-wrap, something that made Ayve smile shyly.

Then Ayve helped him with the washing.

When they had breakfasted and their hair had dried, they packed their things. The inconvenient fact about winter – beside heavier luggage, the arduousness of walking through snow, the necessity of rebuilding the tent every evening, and the general shortness of the sunlit part of day – was the absence of scents, which increased the annoyance of their smelling so strongly of the fire they needed to keep warm. Their smell and the footprints in the deep snow were much more efficient than shouting ‘Here we are!’ - not the best conditions for hunters.

They marched slowly through the cold winter landscape, until the sun had passed the zenith.

“The clouds are growing heavier and heavier with snow,” Ayve finally spoke up. Both of them had been gazing sceptically up to the sky for a while already. “Perhaps it’s better to erect the tent before the weather worsens.”

Pheus agreed.

They built the tent right next to a tree and then went hunting. The tactic they had been trying before seemed the best, given their strong smell of smoke, only this time Ayve scared the animal and Pheus was the one to catch it. They skinned it right where they had overpowered it so that the scent of the blood would remain there, then rubbed the hide as well as the body off with snow, re-wrapped the animal with its own hide, and managed to hoist it on a tree a few strides away from their tent. This would keep at least a part of the other hunters in the woods off their prey. In winter they were more daring - simply because they were hungrier. That was also why Pheus had insisted on having a big tree next to their tent. He could fight off one attacker if necessary, but if they were surrounded by a pack of wolves, the smartest thing was to flee to a place the beasts could not follow.

Just around dusk, the snow started falling.

At night, Pheus awoke from the cold. With his sharp eyes, he saw his breath freeze in the air. As he turned towards the other half of the tent where Ayve lay asleep, he saw his companion shiver under the two or three hides that were piled up over him. He turned over, pulling his own covers half over his face, and tried to go back to sleep.

An owl was audible as it glided through the night air outside. A thud told him that it had caught something. Another shiver ran over his back. Pheus glanced over to Ayve again. Ayve huddled up in his bed, his hair falling into his face.

Pheus slowly crawled over the line of bowls and other equipment that divided their beds and touched Ayve gently on his hunched up shoulder. Ayve opened his eyes sleepily. It took him a while to adjust them to the darkness.

“Ayve,” Pheus said and immediately a white cloud emerged from his mouth, “would you mind if I joined you?”

Ayve frowned puzzled. “Join me?”

Pheus motioned to Ayve’s bed. “Under the cover. It’s damn cold – I can’t sleep and as far as I can see you can’t either. We could warm each other.”

Ayve looked at Pheus uncertainly. Another shiver ran down his spine. He averted his eyes and shifted back on the bed.

Pheus took this as a silent invitation. He lifted the covers and lay down. Bending over to the other side, he dragged over his own hides. Subsequently, he turned onto his side and pulled Ayve into an embrace.

His companion winced in surprise and snapped his eyes open.

Pheus smirked. They were still dressed; there was nothing indecent about lying like this. He shut his eyes and tightened his embrace. Gradually Ayve relaxed and sank against Pheus’ chest. The warmth slowly crept into his cold flesh. Ayve’s hair moved under his breath. He brushed it aside.

The next morning, Ayve awoke to the soft sounds of Pheus’ breathing. It was sticky under the high mountain of hides. He opened his eyes and Pheus’ neck came into view. A few black strands stuck out from behind his ear. The scent of the fire from the previous morning on him had faded. Ayve looked up into Pheus’ face. He could not remember ever having been this close to another person, except for his father.

When he was awake, Pheus always seemed so distant, inaccessible. Apparently, the only reason to bend the corners of his mouth upwards that he knew was to laugh about Ayve for some reason or the other. Ayve had learned to know Pheus’ taunts for what they were, yet a genuine smile from him every now and again would have made things easier. The serious, stony expression Pheus always wore on his face irritated Ayve at times.

Now, however, Pheus looked relaxed, peaceful. His mouth was slightly open and his lips a little dry. His larynx moved down and up again as he swallowed.

Ayve tried to free himself from the other man’s embrace. For a moment, Pheus’ arm would not move. Then he began to stir. He looked disoriented at Ayve for a moment and finally released him.

Ayve crawled out from under the hides, actually enjoying the cool air that surrounded him. He tried to throw one of the covers of the tent open, yet when he pushed against it, it did not move. He tried harder. Only when he threw his whole body weight against it, it moved far enough for him to slip out.

The snow directly in front of their camp mounted up to his hips. On the other side of the tent, there was a snow drift that nearly reached the tip of their tent. Ayve filled a bowl with snow. Inside the tent, the temperature was high enough to slowly melt it. He withdrew again.

Pheus came up behind him to take a look as well. “We need to free the tent of the snow or it’ll collapse.”

Ayve was already wrapping his feet in animal hide in lieu of shoes. Spontaneously, he emptied the bowl outside again and started to shovel the snow away from their tent with it.

“I’ll try to find some dry wood,” Pheus declared as he came out.

“Where do you plan to build a fire?” Ayve asked him sceptically.

“In the tent. We’ll have to modify it so the smoke can escape upwards.” Pheus held one of the skins that had kept them warm until a few minutes ago high up in front of him and used it as a shield as he started to push through the snow towards a nearby dead tree, evading a huge snow drift on the way.

After Pheus had broken off several branches and fragmented them, he pushed further through the snow to fetch some of their prey. Meanwhile Ayve managed to free their camp of the snow completely and apply the necessary modifications. He collected the wood when Pheus came back with a leg of the deer.

They withdrew into the tent, where Pheus tried to kindle a fire. It had already been hard the morning before, but this time Pheus did not manage to inflame the wood. Usually, a fire was started with a bit of dry grass or leaves that were not available in winter. Pheus made some aggressive noises Ayve did not understand and threw the sticks with which he had tried to kindle the fire to the floor.

“Let me try,” Ayve said in a pacifying tone.

Pheus snorted. “Good luck.” He seized a coat and enveloped himself in it.

Ayve stared at the heap of splinters Pheus had created as surrogate for dry grass motionlessly. Suddenly, it started to smoke. Pheus crept closer. Small flames emerged from the splinters.

“How do you do that?” he asked bewildered.

Ayve broke off some bark and carefully put it into the tiny flames. “It’s a matter of concentration, for me at least. My people thought it was frightening when I made things move without touching them or the like; therefore I have ceased to use that ability. Sometimes in winter, however, I was forced to use it, when the people of my tribe were sitting in their houses and I was out on my own in the wilderness.”

Pheus remained quiet.

Ayve looked up at him and noticed a strange look on his face.

“My father has tried to make me do these things for ages since I once accidentally killed a bird with that power as a child, but I never got the hang of it.”

Ayve looked at him empathetically. “I could try to teach you, if you like. With all that snow outside I guess we have plenty of time.”

Pheus stared at Ayve in a totally different way than he’d ever seen him before. His penetrative green eyes were already constantly catching Ayve’s attention, yet this time Pheus had something almost eerie about him. “Would you?” he asked in his deep, raspy voice. “I’d be grateful.” The graveness in his words left Ayve uneasy.

“I can try,” he replied, eyeing his companion.

“Please,” Pheus whispered insistently. He cupped Ayve’s cheek with one hand and held his gaze to lend weight to his request.

Ayve moved away, taken aback by the touch and Pheus’ whole behaviour, and put some wood on the now healthily dancing flames.

Pheus engaged in cutting the meat with that strange device he carried with him (something like a knife, but Ayve did not know about knifes since his people did not use metal anymore). He nibbled some pieces raw and shoved the rest under the ashes, so it baked through slowly.

Whilst the meat heated up, Ayve made some tea from dried roots he had collected before the cold. By now, even Pheus had grudgingly admitted that the brews Ayve concocted innervated his senses. They were not the complex mixtures of roots, herbs, and dried fruits that were usually consumed in Ayve’s tribe, though. Some of the plants Ayve would have needed for that did not grow in this area; others took too much time to find.

Pheus speared a piece of meat and dragged it through the snow outside shortly to clean it roughly of the ashes and handed it to Ayve. “So, how do you do it?”

Ayve smiled at him. “I told you. You need to concentrate solely on what you want to achieve. Calm down, ban every other thought from your mind and picture what you want to happen. You need to feel the power in you. It shouldn’t overwhelm you, though. To have the feeling that you have the strength and master it is the ideal condition.”

Pheus brooded over this. “Father always tried to enrage me. He thinks the power is somehow connected to feelings, since I first exerted it when I was in a fury.”

Ayve gave a sign that he understood. “It’s true that strong emotions sometimes lead to a burst-out. Nevertheless, it is not very wise to try and provoke such a fit. The power is uncontrolled then. I can only make assumptions, but perhaps your lack of success in trying to use your ability roots in that method. The way I imagine it, your father would give you a certain task, say ‘lift that stone up’ and then enrage you; however he would do that - I have problems imagining that. The crux seems to me that when you are angry at your father, you don’t concentrate properly on the task…”

Pheus let out a sardonic laugh. “Yes. That makes sense.” He turned his gaze to the side, yet it did not seem to be focused on any thing within their camp. Rather, he seemed to be emerged in thought, viewing memories Ayve could not see.

Even without using any of his special senses, Ayve knew that Pheus was aggrieved by something. He inclined his head. “Do you want to try?” he asked with subdued voice, not daring to ask what troubled him but trying to distract him instead.

Pheus frowned. “Later.” His voice sounded subdued. He speared a piece of meat for himself.

They sat in silence for a while.

Pheus pushed a hide slightly open and gazed up at the sky. “Another front of snow clouds. It might take ages until we can move on.”

Ayve produced a high click in agreement. He saw titmice fly over their camp through the gap in the tent roof where the smoke escaped. “How long, do you think, will it take us to get to your people, once the road is free again?”

Pheus lifted a brow. “Perhaps half as long as we’ve already been travelling.”

Ayve put another chunk of wood on the fire and crawled back under his hides. His eyes rested on the flames and he watched the smoke curl up skywards. He felt Pheus’ gaze on him. Eventually, Ayve closed his eyes. The damp wood crackled beside him.

Something that moved against him woke Ayve up. He saw Pheus’ hand withdraw and some wood crash onto the ashes of the fire that had almost burned out. Pheus was pressed against his back. The arm with which he had reached over Ayve now brushed against Ayve’s chest, the hand running over it, and was finally resting heavily on it. Ayve felt a little hemmed in, squeezed so tightly against the other man, feeling Pheus’ hot breath on his neck.

Pheus stirred. His nose brushed against the back of Ayve’s head.

Ayve shivered.

Pheus chuckled, breathing more warm air against Ayve’s neck and into his hair. “I told you that you need to get rid of your insecurity concerning your own body and its contact with others. Relax and enjoy lying here with me while the storm rages outside.” He pushed his leg between Ayve’s from behind.

Automatically, Ayve tensed up more. Then he forced himself to relax as Pheus had told him to. Gradually, he sank back into Pheus’ embrace. Hearing the wind shake the tent, he realised that indeed it was comfortable, somehow, to lie in this safe place and in the arms of a companion. He had spent too much time alone in recent years. Ayve seized another piece of wood that lay right in front of him and threw it into the flames. He closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep.

Some time later, Ayve awoke. He slipped out from under Pheus’ arm, wrapped his feet, and went outside. It was way past midday. The storm had flattened out. It had covered the tent with snow again, however. Ayve hesitated. He could shove it away manually again – that would be safest. Still, he was tempted to try something new.

He started his first attempt on a snow drift to his right. Ayve inhaled deeply, fixed his eyes on the place he wanted to modify, and concentrated on what he wanted to do. A small cloud of snow particles rose into the air. He steered them a few metres to one side and let them sink down again.

Since that had worked, he turned to the tent and portion by portion did the same there. After a few times, Ayve exhausted. He stopped his experiment. For a few moments he just enjoyed the fresh air. Subsequently, he fetched the bowl and shifted the rest of the snow drift by hand.

As he got up from his knees, he found Pheus standing behind him, eyes resting on him. “Will you help me, now?” he asked.

Ayve took a couple of steps towards him. “If you want to.”

“How do we start?” Pheus looked about.

“Perhaps we should begin with something small,” Ayve smiled, “even if you’re itching to learn it as fast as possible.”

-“You are the teacher.”

Ayve looked about as well. A spruce stood nearby. “D’you see the cone over there?” Ayve pointed at one far up in the tree. Pheus came up behind him. “Get it down. A light push should suffice.” He stepped beside Pheus to make free the way.

Pheus gazed sharply up at his target. The concentration was written all over his face. Nonetheless, the cone did not move an inch. Pheus looked at Ayve questioningly.

Ayve brushed a strand of his hair behind his ear. “Perhaps it’s too far away. It’s hard to aim the power exactly.” He looked about again. Suddenly, he trudged back to their camp. When he came back, he carried a splinter of wood on his stretched out hand. “Try to lift that.”

Pheus glared at him for a moment, but then he gave in. Again he fixed his stare on the target with furrowed brows.

“Stay calm. Don’t set yourself under pressure,” Ayve advised him.

Surprisingly, the splinter lifted off, just about an inch, leaving Ayve’s palm. There was a triumphant glint in Pheus’ eyes. “A splinter of all things!” He chuckled dryly. Stretching out his hand, he pressed the floating object back onto Ayve’s palm. There was a faint gratitude, relief perhaps, in the way he looked at Ayve.

They went back into the tent. Ayve addressed himself to the task of patching his trousers. In addition, he could watch Pheus test his newly acquired skill. The other man was eagerly moving all kinds of small objects through the tent. He failed, however, at moving them over a distance of more than two or three inches.

“You need patience,” Ayve commented when Pheus started to get upset. “It’s a power like any other – it needs to be trained to grow.”

Pheus sighed unnerved. “How long do you think…?”

“I’m not sure. I never trained systematically.”

Pheus poked scowling in the renewed fire.

“Why do you set yourself this much under pressure?” Ayve asked his companion worriedly.

The bright flames were reflected in Pheus’ eyes that seemed to gaze at some far away thoughts. “My father…,” he started and broke off. He poked some more in the ashes. “My father is not easily pleased.” Pheus expected Ayve to make some stupid empathetic remark, now.

Instead Ayve reacted pragmatically. “Well, you don’t need to fully develop your talent to please your father. I mean, since he doesn’t know how to apply it, am I right in guessing that he doesn’t have that power?”

Pheus clicked in a high-pitched note.

“I think you could manage the fire-kindling in time. Would that not impress him?”

Pheus glanced up at Ayve. “You think you could teach me that?” He sounded very interested, excited even.

“Yes. I’m almost certain.”

Pheus quit his poking and moved over to Ayve. He knelt down in front of him and pushed his sewing things off Ayve’s lap.

His companion looked at him befuddled.

Pheus cupped Ayve’s face with his hand.

“What are you doing?” Ayve asked confusedly.

Pheus laid a finger on Ayve’s lips and smiled. The way Ayve looked at him saucer-eyed was extremely amusing. Slowly, he bent forward. Ayve shied away slightly; still Pheus brushed his lips sensually against the other man’s. He had never kissed a male before, but the image of Ayve in a river in the heat of that autumn day combined with the overwhelming desire to bind him – the key to such skills – to him led Pheus to wanting the young nymph more than he had ever wanted anybody. What other pastime was there available anyway? It was a little risky – opposed as his father was to such things – but Pheus did not care at that moment.

He had closed his eyes and moved his lips slowly against the full lips in front of him, loving the soft pressure of the touch. His hand had shifted behind Ayve’s head. Ayve still tried half-heartedly to evade Pheus’ touch, clearly uncertain what it meant. Pheus’ fingertips circled on the nape of Ayve’s neck to soothe him. His tongue darted out, eager to taste Ayve’s flesh. It had definitely been too long since last he had felt the warm lips of another person on him.

However, when the pair of lips showed absolutely no response, it made no sense to prolong the kiss. Pheus withdrew, eyes still closed. “Usually people open their mouth and mirror my actions,” he murmured into Ayve’s ear, his hot breath washing over it, at the same time grazing with his thumb over Ayve’s lips. The way the man shivered under his touch made Pheus smirk. He let go of his ‘prey’ and grabbed a well grown chunk of wood to carve something.

Ayve sat rooted to the spot, glancing over to Pheus. His lips still tingled from the touch. What had that been about? He tried to fathom what went on in the other man’s mind. Pheus sat bent over his work, his chin-long hair falling into his face.

Reluctantly, Ayve took up his sewing things again. After a few stitches, he let them sink down on his lap. “Why did you do that?”

There was this oblique smirk of his. “Did you not enjoy it?”

“Enjoy?”

Pheus’ smirk spread over his face. He put his knife down and cocked his head. “Yes, enjoy. That means to like something, to feel that it is good for you.” He got up and moved over to his bed, where he made himself comfortable. “I don’t suppose the concept of enjoying yourself is very widespread amongst your people, is it? The only thing you ever worry about is the well-being of your tribe and the upkeep of your rules.” He eyed Ayve. “But you never were happy, were you?”

Ayve frowned, uncertain if he should give an honest reply. He chose not to answer at all – in the end, Pheus knew that already. “What does that have to do with touching me?”

Pheus chuckled. “Everything.”

“I don’t understand. You said yourself that touching each other was a thing between men and women to produce children. So why would you touch me?”

Pheus crawled closer. “Offspring might be the official reason for that, but a nice side-effect is that it feels damn good, no matter with whom you do it.” He touched Ayve lightly on the cheek. In a whisper he added, “I could show you…”

Pheus let that sink in. He needed Ayve to agree. If Ayve did not want it, too, there would not be much to enjoy. Therefore it made no sense to take Ayve by surprise; he had to consciously make a decision.

Ayve looked uncertain.

Pheus seized a strand of Ayve’s hair and sniffed at it. “Say yes. Give it a try!” His heart beat stronger. His tongue involuntarily darted out to lick his lips. Now that he was so close to Ayve, his desire flared up. The last night with Ayve in his arms, with Ayve’s scent in his nostrils had half driven him mad. Pheus did not know when exactly it had started but during their trip he had gradually developed an interest in Ayve. He still put the blame on his long time of abstinence but he did not truly care about the reason – Pheus simply wanted to touch Ayve, wanted to taste him. His shy manners only thrilled Pheus more.

Locking eyes with the man in front of him, Pheus slowly bent forward. His hands rested lightly on Ayve’s shoulders. He rubbed his nose softly against Ayve’s. The nymph remained motionless, watching Pheus. Light kisses were placed on his lips. The mere idea of going farther sent warmth into regions of Pheus’ body that he knew should better be left out of the game at this point. Pheus intensified his kisses by sucking on Ayve’s lips.

“Open your mouth,” he murmured.

Ayve hesitated. He looked uncertainly at Pheus; then he turned his head away. His grey eyes flickered in excitement. His lips parted.

Pheus was not sure if Ayve followed his demand there or simply tried to clear his mind by breathing in fresh air. He bent over to him and nibbled at his lower lip. When Ayve gazed at him, there was a longing in his eyes that poured into Pheus like hot honey. He wanted that man. He wanted to ignite this man that seemed so controlled, so cool, so dull, wanted to know Ayve in a way no one else had ever known him.

Pheus pushed past the warm flesh of Ayve’s lips into the hot, moist depths of his mouth, pulling him closer with one hand on his neck.

Ayve gave out a moan in surprise.

Pheus explored every single inch in Ayve’s mouth before he paused. Panting, he locked eyes with Ayve, who seemed confused and could not keep his eyes from wandering down to Pheus’ lips. Pheus contemplated how to make him join in. “Your turn,” he said finally.

Ayve looked more puzzled than he had before. He clearly had not expected to be pushed into an active role. His eyes were glued to Pheus’ lips. He hesitated.

Pheus took Ayve’s hand and led Ayve’s fingertips over his smooth flesh. He kissed them and sucked them into his mouth. His looks were a clear invitation.

Eventually, Ayve gave himself a nudge and leaned forward. He still seemed reluctant to touch Pheus. His hands rested on his lap, his shoulders were bent backwards. Not even his nose made contact with Pheus’ face when Ayve pursed his lips to graze them cautiously over Pheus’.

Ayve’s hesitation drove Pheus half mad with anticipation. He wanted to push Ayve down onto the bed, burry his tongue deep inside him, and grind his loins against the other man’s. Nevertheless, he contented himself with waiting for Ayve to gather enough daringness to deepen their kiss. The thrill lay in seducing Ayve, not in overpowering him.

Several of those small kisses landed on Pheus’ lips. It was written all over Ayve’s face that he wanted to go farther but did not dare to use his tongue. Then, after a while, Pheus suddenly felt its soft tip on his lower lip, only for the fraction of a moment. And again. Pheus’ tongue moved out to meet Ayve’s. The nymph cringed away in surprise. Pheus smiled benignly at him, silently encouraging him to go on.

Slowly, Ayve drew nearer to Pheus’ mouth again.

“Close your eyes,” Pheus suggested.

Reluctantly, Ayve did so.

Pheus took Ayve’s face in his hands. He licked Ayve’s lips to stimulate Ayve to stick out his tongue once more. There it was. Pheus’ heart skipped a beat as the tips of their tongues grazed each other lightly. With relief he sighed into their first true kiss.

It was softer than any Pheus had participated in before, but that just matched Ayve. Amongst Pheus’ people, the kind of introversion Ayve showed would have been considered unattractive, yet somehow Pheus had started to appreciate it during all the time the men had spent together. It was nice to have someone around who did not feel the urge to show off all the time because that in turn meant that he did not expect Pheus to show off either. He did not have to prove what a great guy he was, Ayve just respected him for the person he was without questioning him.

Their tongues stroked each other tenderly in a way that excited Pheus’ entire body. Ayve learned fast. He still was very restrained, but what he dared to do was more than pleasant.

Pheus fumbled to loosen the leather strips with which Ayve’s upper layer of clothing was fastened. Ayve broke off the kiss, looking questioningly at Pheus, yet already less averse than he would have been minutes ago. “You’re welcome to do the same on me,” Pheus remarked playfully.

Ayve eyed Pheus’ chest. Hesitantly he reached for the end of his lacing and pulled at it. He pulled the strip out meticulously, eyelet by eyelet, until Pheus’ furry top fell open and revealed his thinner undergarment.

Pheus took the fur off and then helped Ayve out of his. He laid an arm around Ayve and motioned for him to sink back. Because it was cold without the additional layer of clothing and the fire burnt low, Pheus pulled the covers over them.

Ayve lay motionless under him, his gaze carrying curiosity.

Pheus let his eyes move over the other man’s body, as far as it was not covered. Had his loins had any say in the matter, he would not have hesitated a moment. However, Pheus was smart enough to know that he could not just take what he wanted from Ayve; he would have to exert patience. Therefore, he contented himself with resting beside the other man and touching him through the thin fabric that still covered him.

He remembered a ‘game’ his mother had played with him when he had been an infant. Of course, he was going to modify it for his own purposes. “Close your eyes,” he asked Ayve.

The big grey eyes looked at him uncertainly.

Pheus smirked. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to do anything bad to you.”

Reluctantly, Ayve obeyed.

Pheus guided his fingertips lightly over Ayve’s forehead and his cheeks. There was the faintest of sounds from the friction of their skin. When Pheus’ fingers moved along under Ayve’s mouth, the nymph smiled and quivered slightly. He seemed to be ticklish at that place. Pheus had to smile at that.

He let a single finger shuttle between Ayve’s left earlobe and his collarbone, along that line on the neck that he knew from his own experience to be the most sensitive. It was amazing to see Ayve slowly melt away under his simple touch, to see him lose his reserve. He turned his face to the side to expose his neck to Pheus which prompted him to include Ayve’s ear cup in his caressing.

He could already feel what it would be like to use his mouth for the caresses on the tip of his tongue. He bent low and breathed in Ayve’s scent. His nose grazed over Ayve’s skin.

Ayve chuckled. When Pheus’ smooth tongue glided over the same place, he grew still. There was no rejection in his face, however.

Whilst he went on slowly licking Ayve’s earlap, Pheus’ hand slipped under Ayve’s shirt. He felt the muscles under the sensitive skin contract as he moved over Ayve’s stomach. His touch grew firmer as he moved over Ayve’s chest.

Pheus’ mind was already exploring other parts of Ayve’s body. The half-nymph did not know anything about sex – he would not find it stranger to be touched there than anywhere else, would he? Pheus nibbled on Ayve’s neck to distract him when he untied the knot that held Ayve’s trousers together. The hot breath on Ayve’s skin accelerated.

Pheus so wanted to see what he was uncovering, but that might have made Ayve suspicious. Eagerly he moved his hand under the fabric. His mouth, meanwhile, captured Ayve’s. Ayve still kissed reluctantly, but what better distraction was there?! Pheus moved around Ayve’s sex for a while, teasing the tender skin that lined it. When he accidentally grazed the tip of Ayve’s member, the nymph smiled into their kiss. That was all the encouragement Pheus needed.

He seized Ayve’s still limp sex and guided his fist softly forth and back. Pheus noticed how Ayve’s face grew warmer and his breathing sped up. The manner of Ayve’s kissing changed, and most noticeably, he grew hard under Pheus’ gentle administration.

Pheus broke off the kiss.

Ayve opened his eyes. They were glazed.

“Do you feel it?” Pheus asked.

Ayve looked down at himself confusedly. “I feel different.”

“Yet it feels good, doesn’t it?” Pheus dug deeper, at the same time moving his thumb over Ayve’s glans and watching him involuntarily close his eyes in pleasure. “I want that, too.”

Aye opened his eyes and gazed at him again.

“Please help me!” he whispered seductively and looked down at his own bulging trousers to indicate what he wanted.

Ayve followed his gaze. Hesitantly, he moved his hand towards it. He opened the trousers. His eyes glued to the red, swollen member that emerged from it. They moved to his own member that still rested in Pheus’ palm. “It’s so huge,” he murmured.

Pheus grinned, then murmured back, “it feels just like yours. Touch it. Mirror my movements. Please.”

Ayve reached out and reluctantly laid his fingertips upon the hot flesh.

“Please,” Pheus urged him on.

Ayve did as he was asked and started rubbing Pheus’ arousal.

The man moaned hoarsely. He gave himself up to the pleasure - feeling the hard member of Ayve in his hand was only enhancing it. When he opened his eyes for a split second, he noticed Ayve watching him. An arm laid around Ayve’s shoulder, he pulled him close and penetrated his mouth again.

Ayve’s sex started twitching under his strokes. He sped up. Ayve followed suit. When Pheus moved his thumb over Ayve’s glans and received a high pitched moan in turn, he found the favour returned moments later. He tightened his grip, eager to spill his seed. It took him only moments before he came, moaning into their kiss.

Ayve wanted to break off the kiss to examine what had wetted his hand, but Pheus did not let him. He wanted the other man to climax as well. With one hand, he continued stroking his member, with the other he massaged his testicles. It took a while – someone who did not know what he was heading towards, naturally took more time to get there – but then he felt Ayve stiffen in surprise over the feelings that flooded and streamed out of him. Ayve’s hips moved forward involuntarily and he clung to Pheus to find hold.

Pheus used this opportunity to place himself heavily on Ayve, push Ayve’s legs up around his hips, and deepen the kiss.

After a while, when their breathing had normalised, Pheus turned on his back and pulled Ayve to his chest. Seeing Ayve wholeheartedly surrender had flipped a switch somewhere deep within him. He wanted Ayve, wanted to possess him.

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