WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER IS PRETTY RAUNCHY FOR ARTSY SLASH. BE AWARE.
I'm so sorry I've taken so long – I've hit a snag. I have more to this, but I figured you'd all want INSTANT RESULTS LOL so I just decided to give you guys the best part of the chapter.
Nothing is deliberately said but only a moron wouldn't know what's going on (generally, of course). I'm not very good with lemons, so it's pretty vague... Promise I'll make up for it later with two other fics I'm writing at the moment. So, yeah, short chapter, but delicious. Read on, and be prepared for massive plot next chapter. Or maybe not-so-massive plot. Whatever.
Amarant reaches the inn in almost half the time it would normally take him. His head is clear, and he realizes he hasn't had a drink in almost a week – that'll change soon but that's okay. After tonight, he has a feeling he won't care if he never sees another ale again. They tend to have the opposite effect on him than on others – instead of opening up, he gets even more reclusive, and that's been the problem this whole damned time.
The inn's lights are dimmed and the "closed" sign hangs over the door handle. He shakes his head – Lani doesn't seem to get that the inn can't just close any time she wants it to. Then again, the old man who owns the place tends to be withdrawn enough so that he probably wouldn't notice if the whole world disappeared.
The door is unlocked and he swings it open, rolling his eyes at the uncleared tables – Lani doesn't know what the hell she's doing.
He looks around, and frowns when he sees what he was actually expecting to see – Kuja, leaning over Blank and making a vaguely passionate plea with his mouth. His tail is, however, calmly waving, and Amarant knows exactly what that means. He licks his lips and then stalks over to them.
The bounty hunter reaches and grabs Kuja's tail – softly, he doesn't want to hurt him. The Genome gasps and pulls away from Blank, who's eyes widen briefly. The actor glances up and sees Amarant, suddenly flushing and looking rather scared. He must look pretty violent.
Once there's enough space, Amarant loops his arm around Kuja's waist and practically lifts him off the ground. "You want direct?" he asks Kuja, who looks at him, dazed. "You want straight forward, no double meaning? Fine." He glares at Blank, baring his teeth, "Mine."
"Ama-"
"Now, you can keep playing your little hard-to-get game, or you can let me play my own game." He smirks, and the monkey-tailed man blushes, "And I can promise you my game will be a lot more fun."
Kuja's tail thrashes quite suddenly, and Blank notes the movement with a sort of resigned acceptance.
"You've been wonderful," Amarant drawls sarcastically, "But I think I'll take him from here."
The actor goes to the door, then frowns, looking back at them, raising an eyebrow. "You know, you're a lot like this one guy I knew," he says to Kuja, "I struck out with him, too."
He leaves and then they're alone downstairs.
"I didn't think you'd actually..."
"What?" Amarant asks, raising an eyebrow, "Did you think I wouldn't come?"
"I didn't think you'd get so possessive, so suddenly." Kuja blinks, and then his lips curve into one of the sexiest smirks Amarant has probably ever seen. "Now then..."
The Genome leans flush against the bounty hunter, and with all of the bluntness of a blow to the head, forces his lips against the other's.
Amarant grinds against the other and pushes him against the wall, hands on his shoulders. He feels Kuja's tail wind around his leg and arms wrap around his waist; the other is so small he has to lean over in order to kiss him. Not that he minds; not anymore. Kuja makes a noise and the bounty hunter reaches down, unwinding his tail from his leg. "Don't bruise me," he mutters into the other's mouth, and then tugs – softly, again, if he hurts the other...
Kuja cries out and pulls away from Amarant's mouth, gasping for air. The bigger man smirks, and runs his hand along the tail, which thrashes violently against him.
"A...ahn!"
Kuja gasps and his nails dig into Amarant's skin, leaving welts that will last a very long time. "Oh, oh..."
"Mmm," Amarant licks his lips, "There we go..." He leans in and licks the other's ear, earning another soft moan. "I wonder, just by touching your tail..." He tugs gently and caresses the tip, "How hard could I make you come?"
Kuja gives the bounty hunter a look that makes his blood burn, but says nothing. Instead, he reaches out and wraps his hands around one of Amarant's, looking at the stairs. The bounty hunter catches this and nods, smirking, pulling the other with him.
They ascend the stairs in half the normal time, nearly hitting the wrong door until they find Amarant's room – the bounty hunter pushes the Genome against the door, kissing him roughly and fumbling around for the key. Kuja presses back against him, and he slips the key into the lock – click, twist, the door falls away and Amarant slips a hand against Kuja's back, drawing him against himself and backing into the room with him.
It's absolutely pitch black, but Amarant can see fine. He can tell by the sudden tightening of Kuja's grip that the Genome can't, and takes great pleasure in slowly leading pushing him backwards, until Kuja hits the bed and falls back on it.
Amarant puts a knee up on the bed, and leans down, pinning Kuja to the bed and staring for a while. It's always seemed strange to the bounty hunter that the Genome's skin could still glow, even in what seems like pitch black – but he doesn't pay it any attention now, not with silver hair fanning out behind him and pale blue eyes half-lidded; not with his face flushed like that.
"...A-Amarant?"
Good god, his voice shakes and Amarant licks his lips. "Hm."
"You're absolutely menacing."
"I know. Would you rather me not be?"
Kuja grins and laughs, "Would it matter?" But Amarant looks at him seriously.
"I wouldn't have asked if it didn't."
Kuja looks at him and then sighs, shaking his head. "You're really a piece of work." He reaches an arm out, and Amarant leans in, turning his head to kiss the palm of his hand.
"Is that good, or bad?"
The Genome sighs and pulls Amarant down for a kiss, and the bounty hunter accepts the move easily, pressing against Kuja and rocking with a calm, uncaring sense of need, deepening the kiss and sliding a hand along the other's side. Kuja's hands slide under his shirt and trace scars that he's memorized by now, dragging the shirt up in a agonizingly slow way.
They part long enough for the shirt, along with Kuja's, to be removed, and meet again. The movements between them are more urgent now – hands slide against hipbones and shoes are kicked off with the least amount of care they can afford to give anything. Amarant pushes against Kuja, shifting and allowing the other room to move. The Genome follows his thoughts and slides back so that he is entirely laying on the bed, pulling at Amarant's shoulders and drawing him in for a deep, lip-bruising kiss. The bounty hunter hooks his thumbs onto Kuja's pants – for once in his life, he wears pants, not a skirt, what are the odds? – and pulls; they slide off with only the minimum bit of resistance.
Kuja's tail slides against Amarant's back, fur warm and firm against the small of his back. Kuja groans and arches his hips; Amarant licks his lips and pulls away, fumbling with the damned pants that will take forever to get off.
Kuja's smile is sultry and his eyes are dilated – Amarant gets the pants off in half the time they took to get on. Kuja wastes no time; he sits up and pushes Amarant to the side.
"Now what?" the bounty hunter grumbles.
"You're crazy," the Genome responds, and gets up. Amarant smirks and admires Kuja's form – in the dark, no, especially in the dark, the monkey-tailed man is... well...
"You're fucking beautiful," the redhead mumbles, feeling incredibly foolish. Kuja slinks into the bathroom, tossing a look over his shoulder that tells him the compliment is highly appreciated. "Fuck, I'm not drunk enough for this..."
"Don't start that," the Genome rasps, fumbling through the cupboard. "You need to be drunk to want to sleep with me?"
"I didn't mean like... like that," he sighs, and sits up, refusing to look anywhere other than the bathroom doorway. "The lotions are behind the razor and soap," he adds.
Kuja makes an affirmative noise and comes back into view, walking forward like a goddamned dancer, one foot in front of the other, hips swinging, tail swinging. Amarant doesn't regret a damned thing he's about to do, and grins, reaching out a hand and pulling the other into his lap.
The Genome straddles him efficiently, and the tiny bit of space between them disappears. Kuja loops an arm around the other's neck and rocks his hips – Amarant growls deeply and tilts his head back as the other's hand slides between them, slick with lotion. "Fuck," he rasps.
Kuja smiles and tilts his hips forward. Something snaps Amarant out of his intoxicated state and he suddenly leans forward, hand on Kuja's hip. The Genome looks at him, frowning and looking a little annoyed.
"I don't..." Amarant frowns as well. He doesn't care – Amarant Coral, goddamn it, doesn't give a shit if the fucking monkey in front of him hurts himself just because he's got a goddamned libido –
Who is he trying to kid?
"I don't want to hurt you."
Kuja smiles, looking relieved. "Is that all you're worried about?" the other asks. He nods, and the Genome tilts in, kissing his neck. "Don't worry. Don't worry."
Amarant fucking Coral doesn't worry about goddamned bedmates.
He keeps trying to remind himself of the fact. Keeps reminding himself even when Kuja's lotioned hand takes his hand – even when he slides Amarant's hand along his hip, even when the other leans his hips forward and then back –
"Fuck," Amarant tries to get his breath back.
Kuja bites his lip and closes his eyes tightly, and Amarant wants to tell him he doesn't have to –
"Fuck!"
Kuja moans against Amarant's chest, rising up only to come back down slowly, fucking agonizingly slowly and the bounty hunter makes a noise he swears isn't anything remotely high pitched.
"Are – you okay...?"
"Fine," Kuja gasps, "Fine, god, just, go, please god go..."
Amarant puts a hand in Kuja's hair and shifts; the other pants against his chest and moves with him. Amarant twists around so that Kuja is under him, and the bed groans beneath them; the Genome's legs wrap around his waist and he braces himself against the bed, hand grabbing the headboard.
He shifts and then pulls out, slowly, god, don't hurt him, and then starts thrusting, slowly now...
"A-Ahn!"
Amarant shivers and leans his head down, thrusting against the other, faster now, god, "So, fuckin'..." He bites the other's shoulder and then licks the mark – Kuja mewls and one hand pushes against the headboard as well, the other carving perfect half circles into Amarant's back.
"F-Fuck!" Kuja cries, softly, he's always worried about other people –
"Goddamn it," Amarant whispers, voice gone. He thrusts hard and whispers, "Come on, Kuja... Come on, stop being so fucking quiet..." He licks the other's neck and then, "You're so pretty when you swear, come on..."
Kuja's covered in sweat and he kisses Amarant hard, panting and making noises into his mouth – not into the air. Amarant wants to hear the Genome.
He pulls back and looks down at the other, who's flushed and panting.
"W-Wh-... D-Don't..."
The bounty hunter licks his lips and pushes back, viciously, embedding himself as deeply as he can and drawing a hoarse, passionate scream from the Genome.
"Oh, there," Amarant whispers, "That's perfect."
Kuja cries out again as Amarant thrusts against him, and each sound makes Amarant's blood rush and brings him that much closer...
"C'mon," Amarant rasps against the other's neck, "God, fuck, fuck, I want them to all hear you," and he does – he wants there to be no mistake in who Kuja picked. He wants everyone to know what he has, what they don't –
Kuja screams his name and comes, falling against the bed and writhing against Amarant. The bounty hunter growls, low in his throat, when he comes, and slows his movements, pulling away from Kuja and looking down at him.
"God," he rasps, and leans down, kissing the Genome's neck, curling his arms under the other.
Kuja's eyes are closed and his face is flushed, and he smiles against the other's chest. "Mm..." His eyes crack open, just enough for blue to look up at Amarant, "You're an asshole."
"Hey," the bounty hunter mumbles, laying on his side and pulling Kuja against him, "What do you expect, roses?"
"And chocolate," the other replies, sounding tired, "Maybe something slinky, too."
"It'd never work," the redhead whispers into the other's ear, grinning and feeling... sated. "I don't look good in slinky outfits."
Kuja mumbles something against his chest and his tail winds around the other's arm. Amarant feels his muscles moving and goddamn, is he smiling? For real? Nothing to change it?
"You're a fucking piece of work," Amarant tells Kuja, who's too asleep to say otherwise.
He wakes up a good few minutes before he opens his eyes. He spends the time feeling sunlight on his face and arms around him in a bear hug that, a night ago, he thought he'd never be in again.
Kuja opens his eyes slowly and looks at the window, which is propped open and letting warm light in. He sees the remains of a bit of galenas on the windowsill and rolls his eyes, smirking – of course Amarant would be the kind of person to smoke after sex.
He hears mumbling beside him, and rolls over, propping his head on his hand and looking down at Amarant. He's surprised at the sudden softness that the other's exuding; in the months they've traveled together – three, four, five? – the bounty hunter always had a sort of wall, or at least a few barricades, propped up between them. But now – he hopes that he isn't imagining it – the other seems content to sleep with his arms around the Genome; content to just be around. And, for once, he's slept in past sunrise, which is a miracle within itself.
Amarant groans and his eyes squeeze shut for a moment – Oh, he's awake now. The sun must've gotten to him.
Brown eyes open and stare up at Kuja blankly for a moment, and then he sighs and closes them again. "What time is it?"
Kuja rolls his eyes, "How should I know?"
"I don't know, you're a know-it-all. We should've been up by now."
"I don't think anyone's expecting us," the Genome drawls, smirking.
"I'm surprised you still have your voice," the other counters, earning a blush that he doesn't see. Kuja remembers, suddenly, just how vocal they were, and bites his lip. "Don't bother worrying," Amarant grumbles, arms loosening as he opens his eyes and sits up, "If you woke anyone, it's too late to take it back."
"How do you know I'm worried about that?" Kuja snaps, with no malice.
"You're pretty easy to read sometimes." He rubs his beard and stretches his arms.
"Really, now?" Kuja mimics him and then slides out of bed, tail curling around his waist. "God, I feel so dirty."
"That's a good thing, so far as I'm concerned," Amarant chuckles, and reaches out, grabbing Kuja's arm. "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to take a shower. I feel absolutely filthy." The bounty hunter gives him a look and the Genome rolls his eyes, sending a glance over his shoulder and padding over to the bathroom.
He hears the bed creak with Amarant's disappearing weight and smirks.
T-Minus Two.