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yrae
Title~ Wine
Authors~![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
annarti and drazzi
Warnings~ Gay. But they keep their pants on, promise.
Notes~ This takes place two years or so in the future. Sallie made Kurae a boyfriend, yay! Sebastian's a Llayan chef who opened a restaurant in Ni-Yana about a year ago because his lord and lady and their family in Llayad were PICKY eaters and he HATED that so he came to somewhere a little more open :D Kurae makes a point of going to the grand opening of any new restaurants, so he met Sebastian there. Three years later, this happens :D
Also this thing has more false endings than Return of the King. IT WAS FUN, DAMNIT.
~ ~ ~
Wine
Kurae did not like wine. He was not at all partial to it. He had tried once or twice in restaurants, he had even bought a bottle from the markets in Kazin and, upon the recommendation of the merchant, cellared it for a good eight years before uncorking it. It hadn’t worked.
This wine, though, this was different. This one came with the recommendation of one who not only drank the stuff, but made a point of knowing about it, too. As Sebastian had promised, after several minutes of coaxing and, Kurae had to be honest, spouting worthless prose about the vintage, it matched perfectly with the slow roasted nira. The nira, Sebastian had reminded him, had been marinated in the very same beverage, and was it not one of Kurae’s favourite things on the menu?
‘I can’t smell any chocolate or burnt berries,’ he said with a shrug, ‘but I’ll drink it.’
Sebastian folded his arms over his chest, straightened his spine and for every effort looked very much like a peacock for a moment. 'But I'll drink it', Sebastian had learnt, in Kurae-language was high praise.
"Excellent, if you will drink it, then the meal will only be enhanced so well that even your dull palette will be awakened."
The chef reached for the wine bottle's neck and then paused. "Perhaps the bottle should be left?"
Kurae looked at him with his eyebrows knotted in confusion, then he drained the last of his glass. He reached for the bottle, knocking Sebastian’s hand away to take hold of the neck and splash some more into the glass.
‘In here,’ he said, gesturing to the tables with the neck of the bottle, ‘nobody ever leaves a drink half-drunk.’ He set the bottle back on the table and swilled the dark red liquid in his glass. ‘Very rude.’
Sebastian rolled his eyes, "Of course. How silly of me to forget that in Raykin rudeness is polite, and vice versa."
That said, he still had to smirk, the dimples in his cheeks deep. He had won a battle, Kurae was drinking and liking wine. Sebastian had just known he would, it was the only reason he had bothered importing five bottles of the vintage over.
To think Florien had called it a waste of time and money to bring it over for uncultured palettes. Ha! It had more than proven its worth now.
He had to push his luck, that was simply how things went. "Do you see how with the correct alcoholic accompaniment, one doesn't need extra spices?"
The swordsman nodded slowly, conceding his point. Red wine would not match well with Kurae’s favourite Kazinian spices. Nothing fitted them better than a big, cold glass of beer.
He sipped again at the wine, pushing it between his teeth as Sebastian had told him but having no idea what he was supposed to gain from the action. ‘It doesn’t suit the desert, but,’ he said, interrupting Sebastian’s protest before he could voice it, ‘I could get drunk on it.’
Sebastian wrinkled his nose, "You Raykinians are..." He shook his head, before reaching up and trying to secure the hair that had dislodged in that motion. "Sebastian will take that as the praise it is intended to be," He conceded begrudgingly.
Kurae raised his glass to accept victory, then took another swig. ‘What else have you got?’
Sebastian held up a hand. "If you like this one, I would stay with it. I know better than to tempt fate around your tongue."
A crooked smirk briefly graced the swordsman’s lips before he drained the rest of the glass. ‘You’d better go and grab it, then.’
Sebastian gave a short but flourished bow, “As you wish.” In normal circumstances Sebastian wouldn’t fetch, carry, play waiter or even sommelier to any clients, however it had long become a tradition with Kurae. For starters, it stopped his wait-staff acting like star-struck fools; secondly it gave Sebastian a chance to banter with someone who considered themselves a purveyor of fine – or at least different - foods.
The coolness of the wine and beer cellar, dug beneath the kitchen, was pleasant on his exposed skin, although the sun was setting and the air in Raykin was starting to relax. He passed past the barrels of beer with barely a disdainful glance at them, finding the coolest corner where he had placed his few bottles of Shiraz that Florien’s money had thankfully imported.
“Sebastian knew you were a winner,” he informed the bottle, before returning through the quietening kitchen and equally slowing down dining room. He uncorked the wine expertly, smirking at Kurae, “Sir’s favourite, as requested.” No, he really was not going to allow this victory to be forgotten soon.
Sebastian had trained his wait staff well—a clean glass had been produced at the moment the head chef had disappeared into the cellar, and with only minimal conversing with the celebrity.
The wine glugged pleasantly as Sebastian poured it, the dark liquid playing with the fire and fading sunlight.
Kurae nodded as Sebastian twisted the bottle with a flourish, not spilling a drop onto the polished wooden tabletop. ‘Get yourself a glass,’ he told the chef.
With a glance around the restaurant Sebastian decided he wasn’t currently needed as such. He plucked a clear imported wine-glass from an unused table, spinning it right-side up and pouring a smooth half-glass of the wine. He pulled out the often unused second-chair of Kurae’s standard table, and sat down in a relatively proper but relaxed manner.
“To think, it’s only been perhaps… a year and a half or two before awakening your lethargic sense of taste,” Sebastian replaced the wine bottle, then scooped up the glass between his fingers. He cradled the bowl with his fingertips, the stem dipping down between his knuckles. “I’m far ahead of schedule; although it will probably take three times as long to do so with any of your colleagues you sometimes bring in.”
Kurae lifted his own glass, still somehow managing to hold the delicate stem as he would a tankard of beer, and pointed an accusing finger at the chef. 'Tell any of them I don't mind a bottle of...' he glanced at the label, realised it was all in a language he'd failed at. '...Wine and I'm never coming again.' It was a bluff, he knew, but he had to keep something of his reputation intact. It wasn't as though he actually really liked it as yet, but he could see it creeping up on him over the years until he found himself picking out the coffee and black current undertones Sebastian was so fond of.
Sebastian gestured loosely with his wrist, making the red liquid swirl around his glass carefully. "Oh, don't worry. I promise that as a lowly chef I would say nothing to damage whatever reputation you have acquired by being able to lift a sword."
The Own rider shrugged modestly. He never liked to make a big deal of his position himself, but that didn’t mean he would ever escape a ribbing for it from Sebastian. ‘Much appreciated.’ He sat back comfortably in his chair and eyed the contents of the table.
Only the two bottles were left now, one empty, the other minus two glasses. Their labels faced him, scrawled with flowery Llayan writing Kurae couldn’t hope to decipher. He could read the year, though.
‘4045,’ he murmured, almost to himself. That was a while ago. Had he really been in the Own for ten years now?
Sebastian heard though, even above the noise of the restaurant being cleared, final coins being passed and last minute chatter. He was tuned into Kurae and his mumbling. "A good year, so I'm told. Well, clearly. This is what it produced." He lifted his glass with a smile, then took a polite mouthful of it, closing his eyes as he enjoyed the flavours.
"But this wine is a law unto itself. See, here..." Sebastian moved his chair around towards where the swordsman sat, then gestured at the writing he knew very well that Kurae had no hope of understanding. Well, Sebastian had educated his palette, he could try and do something for his mind. He ran his finger along some Llayan script at the lower half of the label. "Here it says that the wine should be left for a minimum of five years. Normally that's the maximum for this type of wine."
Kurae stared wordlessly at the bottle, then held his glass up to look through the liquid. The sunlight had faded, though, and the firelight was too orange to make out the burnt colour that Sebastian had said marked a finely aged wine.
Llayan cuisine required an inordinate amount of patience. It hardly surprised him that wine needed half a decade to mature. He’d found pickling recipes that required two years before they were edible, fruit trees that needed a decade before they’d produce anything decent, and an intriguing candied chilli recipe that took a good six months to leech out the heat. Still, he supposed, if it was only the nobility who ate it, then clearly they wouldn’t be cooking it. They wouldn’t care about the hours, the years of preparation that went into one meal.
‘What’s the point?’ he asked, then realised Sebastian probably hadn’t been following his train of thought. ‘All the time and preparation for people who don’t appreciate it.’
The words struck a particular chord in Sebastian, and momentarily the smirk fell from his lips and he replaced his glass on the table, his mind momentarily on his elder brother; on the time and efforts Sebastian tried to shower on him and often received seemingly little back from Florien. He closed his eyes, pressed the side of his index finger to his top lip and released a quick breath from his nose, pushing aside those thoughts. He would look after and deal with his brother soon enough, for now he was having a moment of understated revelry.
"Well," he said slowly, trying to find a good Raykinian wording for what he wanted to say. "The mother nira protects her children from the world, she prepares them for it, and they don't show her appreciation when she is done; but she'll do it again and again until time stops. Some things people don't do for appreciation. Some things you do because they are inside you to do."
Sebastian tailed off realising he had wandered to perhaps a whole other subject; then rested his elbow on the table and his chin on his hand, smirking again. "Shall Sebastian give up and just say that 'good things improve with age'? Even if Kurae does not appreciate the wine, he can understand that."
Kurae had been watching the firelight playing on the dark liquid in his glass as Sebastian explained this. Needlessly in-depth for cooking, he thought. He wondered if it was just a Llayan thing, the passion Sebastian so liked to talk about, or if he’d struck on something more personal. If it was the latter, Kurae didn’t want to pry.
He drank his wine more carefully all the same. Whether personal or not, ten years had gone into its making. He owed Sebastian that much.
He buried his nose in the bowl-like glass, trying to grasp the complexities the chef spoke of, but it was still just fermented grape juice to him. He shook his head. ‘I’m still not getting it,’ he admitted.
He listened as Sebastian patiently—by the Llayan’s standards—explained again how to sniff and taste wine. He talked about tannins and mellowing, black pepper and smoke, dry years and south-facing slopes.
By the time the restaurant had cleared, three empty bottles lined the end of Kurae’s table. He was glad, at least, that the sensation of being drunk on wine differed little from what he was used to.
Only one waiter and the sous-chef were lingering, unsure if they should leave before the restaurant was completely empty, but Sebastian waved his hand loosely to gesture their freedom. He could more than close up the restaurant alone, particularly when there was only one patron left.
His finger pressed against the bottle's neck, smearing down a drop of wine that had caught, tracing it over the label. It was fair to say most of the three bottles had ended up in Kurae, Sebastian was technically working and thus had to pace himself. Besides, he certainly didn't drink heavily by Raykin standards. Raykinians and their beer... it was a law unto itself.
"It seems that all the jobs of the kitchen are done now," Sebastian pointed out. "If you're unable to pay for this fine meal and finer wine, I have no way to make you pay by doing my dishes." He smirked at Kurae, knowing well by now that members of The Own could afford most of the better things in life. Still, Kurae was far from flashy, down to earth as a rhino, so Sebastian could be forgiven for the teasing.
And he did so enjoy teasing—or trying to tease—Kurae.
A light smirk played over the swordsman’s lips. There were only dregs left in his glass, which he had by now learned he wasn’t supposed to drink. He swilled them, watching the tiny black specks of sediment settle at the bottom of the glass. ‘How much was one of those?’ he asked, not really caring what the answer was.
"Shall we say..." Sebastian tilted back one of the bottles, observing it and thinking of the time it took to make, to bring here and how happy it made him that it was the right choice. "Nine gold per bottle, because I like you."
That was true enough. At first glance Kurae may have looked like the type of man you didn't want to meet down by the river when you were alone, but his company was more than enjoyable and Sebastian enjoyed the quiet 'celebrity's' visits.
Sebastian drank the last of his second half-glass of wine, watching Kurae watching his glass. "Or maybe nine each and cleaning the wine glasses."
Kurae shook his head, noting how his vision took a moment to catch up with the movement. ‘You can’t like me that much, then, if you’re making me your kitchen boy.’
Sebastian gave a short but honest laugh, weighing up his options in a short moment and then leaning forward towards Kurae's seat. "I like you enough to give it to you on the house if you'd rather." His eyes flickered momentarily from Kurae's eyes to his lips and then back, again measuring up his options before deciding he might as well see if the deities of luck and good fortune were still on his sides. He closed the distance between them with a quick movement, like a desert cat leaping on its prey, pressing his wine-stained lips against the swordsman's.
Kurae’s brow furrowed and his lips parted a little in surprise. He lost his grip on the wine glass, pressing his palm instead against the polished wood of the table. Sebastian’s hair brushed against his jaw and tickled his neck, so close was he to the swordsman.
Kurae’s eyes slipped closed in the warmth of the younger man’s touch. Sebastian was kissing him, he realised then. More astonishingly, Kurae wasn’t pulling away.
It was the better reaction Sebastian could have hoped for - really getting forcibly removed hadn't been unknown to him in the past. He pressed in closer, leaving his own chair completely and gripping the sides of Kurae's for balance as his tongue teased light as a snakes against Kurae's lips.
Kurae’s thoughts were meticulously lining themselves out in his mind. He was being kissed. Sebastian was kissing him. Sebastian was a man. Something sparked through the alcohol fog of his mind.
His head jerked back. Sebastian’s face was still right in front of him. He swallowed. ‘You just kissed me.’
"Sebastian did," he agreed. The Llayan didn't move back, not yet feeling the situation had turned fully sour - and if it had, his palette would definitely pick up on it. "Kurae didn't object to it," he pointed out.
Kurae shook his head. He could feel the chef’s breath as he spoke. He could smell the wine on it. That meant Sebastian hadn’t moved. ‘I’m still not,’ he realised.
"Well, that's promising," Sebastian smiled with amusement. Tired of standing in the awkwardly bent position he had put himself in, Sebastian parted his legs and straddled Kurae's thighs, lowering himself onto the Own rider's lap.
The adrenaline had cleared Kurae’s mind somewhat, but it wasn’t yet sharp enough to know how to react to the situation. He didn’t shift uncomfortably or push Sebastian away, but he wasn’t entirely relaxed. His fingers were still tingling, and he recognised the heightened nerves that came before a mission. He could feel the same expression on his face, the stony determination. With his face this close, Sebastian could probably see the fear, too.
Sebastian couldn't exactly consider it a wholly positive reaction from Kurae, but he still didn't see it as being negative. He settled his hands on Kurae's shoulders, interested in the feel and texture of the man's skin. All Sebastian handled most days was raw meat, torn carcases and his brother, which were all decidedly different from Kurae's skin, weather beaten and scarred, stretched taut over working muscles.
It was far from unpleasant.
Still, there was that hesitation, and Sebastian was better knowing why it was there. "Kurae is taken?"
The Own rider shook his head again. ‘No,’ he said, not sure why he needed the verbal clarification. ‘Just…’ His brow furrowed. Confused? Uncomfortable? Scared? He shook his head again. ‘Aeia…’
Sebastian nodded, mentally checking that off the chef's list in his head. "Kurae just... doesn't like Sebastian?" Another important point to remove doubt about, but Sebastian was pretty sure that wasn't the reason. He really couldn't have gotten this far if it was.
Kurae swallowed, hesitated, and twitched his head in a motion that could have been a nod, but he ducked down from embarrassment before he could admit to himself that it had been. Sebastian’s fingers worked lightly on his shoulders, far from the vigorous massages he got at the palace, but somehow better. Lin’s blood, quael, don’t make me talk.
‘I don’t know,’ he mumbled, lifting his head again. His eyes scanned over the Llayan’s face, the shadows emphasising the worry he saw there. ‘This is… new.’
"Ah," Sebastian said, quite simply, not judgemental at all. However that one short sentence had been enough to put a cross by all boxes in his mind, list seen to, no need to worry about pushing forward.
He smiled, those dimples on his cheeks deepening slightly. "I thought you liked trying new things," he taunted.
The relaxation in that smile helped to ease Kurae’s mind. His eyes fell on those lips, remembering the taste of them, stained with red wine. He nodded again, still not entirely sure, but not trying to hide it this time, either.
"Well then, consider it a new dining experience." Sebastian looped one arm around Kurae's neck, his other hand's fingers still tracing over tense, firm skin as he closed the distance between them again. It clearly wasn't a new experience for him, he knew where what he was doing when it came to initiating a kiss.
Kurae closed his eyes as their lips once again made contact. It took all he had not to shake his head away. Instead, his hands released their grip on the table and moved to awkwardly rest on Sebastian’s hips. He relaxed his jaw and parted his lips again, ready now for the Llayan’s new experience.
Again Sebastian's tongue traced over Kurae's lower lip, then snaking past that relaxed, opened barrier into the other man's mouth. The metallic tang of saliva mixed with the tones and richness of wine was more than enjoyable to the chef, made him only want to press that kiss deeper - but slowly so. A new experience had to be savoured after all. He twisted his fingers into the shapeless strands of Kurae's hair at the nape of his neck, humming a little pleased tone in his throat.
Kurae’s scalp tingled as Sebastian’s fingers pulled at his hair. His hands nervously held the Llayan’s hips, fingers twitching in readiness. The feeling of the other man’s tongue in his mouth was entirely foreign, but not at all invasive. He slipped his own tongue against his lips, against Sebastian’s and briefly into the chef’s mouth.
Sebastian was pleased with that tentative response, his lips curling into another smile against Kurae's more stony expression. His tongue curled around Kurae's, encouraging the explorations, massaging in some probably new, hot, slick way.
He took the kiss shallower, so they could both breathe, his lips kissing at Kurae's like he was speaking silent words or massaging the skin there. His fingers slipped down from Kurae's shoulder, curling around the neckline of Kurae's shirt, fingernails just digging into the skin - oh deities, that skin. So unusual to anything else he normally had to handle, Sebastian thought he might just love it.
Kurae flinched momentarily as Sebastian’s fingers bit into his skin, but they were the nails of a chef, cut short and neat. He took the breath Sebastian’s pause allowed him and bent forward, the chair creaking as he did so. His chest pressed against Sebastian’s as the other man’s lips seemed to nibble at his own. He wanted Sebastian closer.
Able to read that wordless cue, Sebastian slid himself over Kurae's lap until their chests and stomachs almost crushed together. He hummed another short noise in his throat, almost like a purr, as he licked Kurae's lips and then sucked just briefly on the man's lower one before pulling back a half-inch.
"I think you can just have the wine on the house, quael." Sebastian had to roll his eyes slightly and part his lips in a silent laugh just because he knew the Raykinian term sounded as awkward coming from his lips as it did in his mouth.
Kurae opened his eyes. Sebastian’s grinned honestly before him. Kurae’s hands brushed up and down the chef’s shirt. ‘You might not need so many of them next time.’ He realised just what he had said and tried to hide it, lunging forward to catch Sebastian’s lips again. His brow creased as he hungrily explored Sebastian’s mouth. There were no consequences, he realised. Sebastian wanted this more than Kurae did.
And there was Sebastian thinking he would have to be taking all the initiative tonight - it turned out he just needed to embarrass Kurae to get him to make an additional move. It amused the Llayan to have seen a moment where Kurae didn't think before speaking, where more than five words had actually tumbled out of his mouth. He rewarded Kurae's momentarily lapse by responding to the kiss with the passion he was given, leading sometimes, playing passive others.
His hands wandered less passively though, butcher and chef fingers sliding beneath Kurae's shirt where they could, skimming over that skin he was definitely coming to being addicted to and massaging any muscles he came across.
Kurae gave a quiet hum of approval as Sebastian’s fingers kneaded at his muscles. He could smell oregano, garlic and thyme rise from the warmth of his touch. He licked Sebastian’s tongue to better taste the chef’s flavour, opened his mouth to take a breath and delved deeper.
His hands pressed against Sebastian’s back, pulling him closer. For something he’d never wanted before, had always shied away from, Kurae wanted more. He tugged at the shirt, pulling it easily from the waistband of Sebastian’s pants and running his rough hands over the chef’s skin.
It was as if that oppressive Raykinian heat, that had dissipated with the sun was locked under Kurae's skin. The kind of warmth Sebastian despised when working in the kitchens, but very much enjoyed at moments like this. He pushed his torso into Kurae's touches, tangling his hands into Kurae's dark hair, approving how the heat or wine was now bringing out something in Kurae.
He always managed to get the best out of his ingredients though.
Kurae could hear his heart beating in his ears over his and Sebastian’s short, hot breaths. The wine and the heat in his face made him light headed. He enjoyed the feel of those fingers through his hair, tugging and massaging, needing him. He liked the softness of that tongue and the roughness of that fine layer of stubble that had grown over the course of the day. Kurae would never have noticed it if he hadn’t been so close. He enjoyed being this close.
‘More,’ he found his lips murmuring. The shiraz had all but dissolved the filter between his thoughts and his mouth. ‘More.’
"Sebastian agrees," the chef muttered beneath his heavy breaths, forgetting his Raykinian pronouns for the moment in favour of other things. His hands slid down the swordsman's sides, grabbing the edge of the man's shirt - usually tucked into his belt but now long askewed from Sebastian's wandering hands - and pulling back enough that he could remove it entirely from Kurae's person.
Then he almost desperately pressed forward again, bare chests pressing hard against each other, Sebastian's mouth crashing against Kurae's with a wordless noise that said a lot more than more words could. His hips rocked forward against his own real awareness, getting more lost in the heat and wanting some friction.
Kurae flinched at the movement. He liked Sebastian’s hands in his hair, he enjoyed kissing and the physical contact, but the realisation of the other man’s genitals and the sensitivity of his own… He held one hand on Sebastian’s shoulder, the other pushing back just lightly at his hip. His forehead rested against the chef’s, breaking the kiss for just a moment as he shook his head. That was too much so soon.
He stole Sebastian’s lips again, moving his hand from the chef’s shoulder to his jaw by way of apology.
Sebastian smiled against Kurae's lips, taking the silent cues as read - yes, fair enough. He had gotten a little too overwhelmed and ahead of himself, and he would pull back. Sebastian was actually quite pleased with how well he was reading the near silence; Kurae was usually a man of few words. Which was a good thing really, because if he rumbled anything in that deep voice while Sebastian was this close... well, that would just be too much, probably.
It was a new experience though, something to savour. Sebastian always strove to do his best to accommodate his guests. He shifted his position, so their faces, shoulders and chests were still chrushingly close, but his hips were angled back where they could do no apparent harm. His lips and tongue traced Kurae's lips, then jawline, then fingers and then back to his mouth, happy to settle for more kisses.
Kurae obliged, his fingers running a line along Sebastian’s jaw, down his neck and back over his shoulder. He followed with a line of slow kisses, tasting the salt on Sebastian’s skin as he went. His was a raw, real taste, lightened with the mix of Llayan herbs that seemed to permeate the chef’s being. He paused as his lips fell on Sebastian’s neck. He could feel the chef’s rapid heartbeat against his tongue, as demanding as his own. He held Sebastian’s pulse in his tongue for a long moment. He’d never been so close to anyone before, let alone one who felt so right.
Sebastian was more aware of his tripping heartbeat as Kurae lingered over his pulse. It made him more aware of how light-headed he felt, more dizzy than any good glass or two of shiraz could make him. One of his hands coiled around the back of Kurae's neck, not forcing the swordsman on, but definitely letting him know that any more action would be appreciated. Meanwhile his free hand wandered down the man's chest, tracing through thicker body-hair than his own, wandering over sinew and muscle and of course slick, tight scarred skin.
Kurae took the hint, glad to find it was not only himself enjoying his proximity to Sebastian’s heartbeat. He drew his tongue out, licking long and slow from Sebastian’s collarbone to his ear. The light wash of evening stubble on a normally clean-shaven face excited him, and he drew his tongue again over Sebastian’s jaw, enjoying the prickle of it. The chef’s pulse quickened further, so he repeated the action on the other side of his neck, sucking lightly at the skin as he did.
The chair creaked again as he tried to shift into a more comfortable position. The chair was awkward, in the way. He slid his hands down Sebastian’s back to take a more confident grip on the chef’s hips, then stood with him. The chair scraped noisily against the stone floor. With their footing level, Kurae was aware he still had to crane his neck back to maintain contact with the Llayan’s face. He planted one more deep, hungering kiss on Sebastian’s lips, then returned his attention to the more accessible neck.
Sebastian reached back and gripped the edge of the table behind him just to help in case those attentions to his neck made his knees too weak to hold himself up. He tilted back his head, pushing his neck into those wet licks and hungry kisses. He bit his lower lip, his hazel eyes sliding shut as his other hands massaging grip slid to Kurae's hip. The sound of the chair echoing through the empty restaurant made Sebastian aware just how far he would like to do right then and there. Really, he must have been in Raykin too long for such thoughts to even cross his mind, especially after being told very clearly that things had to move slow.
And going slow meant not pulling Kurae too close right then, he managed to remind himself.
Releasing a hitched breath, the Llayan drew his hand back around Kurae's torso, fingers rubbing into the small of the swordsman's back. He tipped his head down, pressing lips to the other man's cheek, jawline and earlobe, hot and wet but as controlled as could be.
Kurae shivered as Sebastian’s fingers kneaded at the small of his back. He felt his knees weaken, and gripped the edge of the table with one hand to keep himself from collapsing. His lips lost contact with Sebastian’s neck, and he rested his head instead against the chef’s shoulder as Sebastian continued to press his fingers into his spine. He turned his head to the side as Sebastian’s lips ran along his jaw.
His other hand rubbed in circles over Sebastian’s hip. His little finger slipped below the waistband, then the next, sliding around to the other man’s back. A third finger slipped down, tight under Sebastian’s belt.
He snatched them back as conscious thought took over. His eyes clenched shut and he dropped his forehead against Sebastian’s shoulder as he shook his head to himself.
‘Sorry,’ he breathed against Sebastian’s skin. He knew exactly what the other man wanted, but the mere thought of it gave Kurae uncomfortable shivers. His fingers ran up and down Sebastian’s spine, knowing he couldn’t give Sebastian what he wanted.
Sebastian gave a wordless amused noise between his breaths, not laughing exactly, more gentle and encouraging. His fingers raked through Kurae's hair to add further evidence that he wasn't disappointed or annoyed.
"New experiences should be taken over time," Sebastian pointed out, filling his chest with the salty smell of being so close to another man and then exhaling slowly in an effort to calm down. It was probably best to calm down. This was probably as far as a comfort point went.
Kurae nodded and lifted his head from Sebastian’s shoulder. It was so much more than a new experience for him. It was one he had been strongly denying to himself his whole life. Old habits died hard, and one night wasn’t going to shatter such a wall so easily. Even now he found himself blaming the wine, the silence, the solitude of the restaurant, not least of all Sebastian himself. The man knew just what to do to make him not recoil, to instead melt into Sebastian’s touch.
He kissed Sebastian again, strong and hard as he pushed him back against the table. The chef’s fingers twisted exquisitely through his hair. Sebastian knew the swordsman better than Kurae knew himself. He wondered then how long Sebastian had waited for this night.
He took a breath, pushing his tongue past the Llayan’s teeth and appreciating every second of it.
He wondered if Sebastian had known Kurae wouldn’t turn him away in disgust, even when Kurae didn’t know himself, or if it had been a huge gamble for him. He wondered how much else Sebastian rightly guessed about him, how long it would take him to go further.
He withdrew his tongue from Sebastian’s mouth, licked his lips and nipped briefly at the chef’s. ’Thirty-eight years to get this far,’ he reminded Sebastian. ‘How patient are you?’
Thirty-eight years, that was almost cute. Certainly something to take pride in, if after that long it had been Sebastian to worm in there, even just for an evening. Although those words seemed to be implying more than that.
"Seb-" the chef paused, giving that dimpled smile again. "I am known for my patience. I won't suddenly go Kazinian on you."
Settled back as he was against the table, propped up on his elbows, it was easy enough for him to glance at the wine bottles beside him, thankfully they hadn't fallen to the floor. "Patience is quite a virtue when one might have to wait another ten years for this wine to come back in," he pointed out with a slight smirk before brushing his lips against the swordsman's again.
A light breath of amusement pushed out through Kurae’s nostrils. His lips nipped again at Sebastian’s in teasing kisses. He liked the sound of them in the darkened dining room. ‘So Aeia-damned Llayan,’ he said between nips. ‘How long have you waited for this?’ Apparently, the brain-to-mouth filter was still dulled by alcohol.
Sebastian rolled his shoulders upwards in what might have been a shrug if he wasn't mostly flat back against the table. It was a difficult question to answer right away, not least because of those lazy but so nice kisses every few seconds they were sharing. It wasn't as if Sebastian had been waiting for an opportunity consciously. It wasn't as if when the opportunity had presented itself tonight he hadn't thought he was misreading non-existent signals.
"Several months," the chef settled on at last. "Sebastian came to enjoy Kurae's company more several months ago.’
Kurae held Sebastian’s lips a moment longer after his response. ‘Did you—’ He broke off and kissed Sebastian again. That certainly didn’t need asking. ‘I hadn’t noticed,’ he said instead.
"Seems you didn't," Sebastian smirked. Not that he could say anyone else ever had in the past either. His sister and brother might have suspected, he supposed, but they said nothing about it. He canted his head and rubbed his jaw against Kurae's, enjoying the roughness a moment before kissing again.
Kurae fell back into silence, enjoying this quiet moment. He lifted his hand from the table, confident now that his legs could hold him, and ran his fingers through the tail of Sebastian’s hair. He teased the ribbon from it so he could rake his fingers over Sebastian’s scalp, as he’d been doing to Kurae all evening. He pulled gently at the nape of his neck, the chef’s long hair tickling his forearm.
Sebastian hummed a contented sound, resting his cheek on Kurae's shoulder as the other man toyed with his hair. His lips could press against the slick heat of the skin of Kurae's neck from that angle, mouthing lazy kisses against the pulse there. His fingers lightly traced up the muscles of the swordsman's arms.
Yes, he'd been quite patient given that it had been several months that he had first known his own affections, but for moments like this Sebastian could definitely stand to continue to be patient.
Unfortunately though, there was a nagging in the back of his mind, a knowledge he had really pushed his luck far enough already. Florien was waiting for him upstairs, Sebastian knew that, and much as he didn't want to break off now, he was going to have to take initiative again.
"With much regret, Sebastian is going to have to close up for the night now." He traced his fingers over Kurae's collarbone as he spoke.
Kurae felt himself tense at the words, reminding him there was a world outside the restaurant, outside this night. The reminder made him feel ashamed once more, as though that outside world had been watching him the whole time. But still, his fingers remained tangled in Sebastian’s hair. Maybe, if he pretended he hadn’t heard, he could stay a little longer. He didn’t know what state his mind would be in once the wine’s effects had faded. He might never want to come back.
He lifted Sebastian’s head from his shoulder, then took his lips in another deep kiss. The chef couldn’t speak if his mouth was otherwise occupied, and Kurae wanted to remember as much of Sebastian’s taste as he could. Come morning, he wanted this to be a good memory. He wanted to come back.
For a man who was self-confessed 'new' to this experience, who had apparently done nothing of this sort for some thirty-eight or so years, Sebastian had to peg Kurae as a fast learner. He was eternally grateful to many Deities for the solid table mostly supporting him, because he knew that rush that came with the deep, intimacy of that kiss made him far too light headed to keep upright alone.
Maybe it was more likely to think the Swordsman was better at pretending to be naive than think he was a fast learner though.
Not that Sebastian cared either way. He coiled both his bare arms around the man's neck and shoulders, fingers tangling deep into the eternal darkness of black hair as he melted into and responded to the kiss.
Kurae’s spine tingled as Sebastian drew him close. He was aware of his own desperation and didn’t try to mask it. Both hands and mouth clung to Sebastian as though he were about to lose him. It could be true, too. A thousand things had conspired at the same moment for Kurae to shed enough of his inhibitions to bring him to this point. He couldn’t be confident the same would happen again. He didn’t know how his sober mind would look back on tonight. He expected it would be so ashamed he’d never want to see Sebastian again, let alone kiss him as he was now.
He licked inside the chef’s mouth, exploring as much of it as he could. The lingering taste of the wine had long dissolved. All that was left was the raw taste of Sebastian.
Sebastian's tongue curled around Kurae's, sucking lightly at it and lips as he rode that slow, intense desperate memorisation of a kiss. Something loud in the back of his head told him this was utterly wanton and reproachable behaviour to be exhibiting on top of a table he would be serving food on tomorrow. However something equally loud in his chest, crotch and other side of his mind informed himself that he didn't give much of a damn right then and there.
Considering how things could have gone when Sebastian had moved in moments before, this was definitely the better reaction. Crass though it perhaps was.
When finally permitted to break off the kiss and catch his breath, his lips hot and wet, barely inches from Kurae's, his breathing mingling with the other man's, he caught Kurae's dark eyes with his own and smiled. Part of him wanted to comment that he supposed the swordsman wanted to take the final bottle of shiraz home with him, but he felt a little too relaxed to actually vocalise that joke, and so that content smile was all he had.
Kurae returned the smile with dark, thoughtful eyes. He swallowed, knowing what needed to be said but worried he might frighten Sebastian by saying it.
‘I might not be back,’ he warned. He gave Sebastian another light kiss, partly to show it wasn’t his ideal choice, partly to stall for time. ‘I’m drunk. Tomorrow morning, I might…’ He swallowed again, brushed his lips against Sebastian’s and closed his eyes. Maybe if they weren’t right there in front of him, it would be easier to say. ‘I might regret tonight.’
Sebastian doubted the words completely. He had no reasons to believe that a man who chose to live and die by the sword would really ever let himself be troubled by regrets. Besides which he doubted Kurae would allow some minor embarrassment to keep him from what he obviously considered good food; he kept that thought from reaching his lips. Was it only five years in Raykin and their humour had permeated his skin? It simply wasn't acceptable in this situation.
"Well," Sebastian drew his fingers through Kurae's hair, drawing that style-less mass back from the man's face. "Such is the risk one takes when he takes a chance because a moment feels right." His eyes traced over Kurae's features, somewhat softer now, not so hard and somewhat blank as usual, definitely just as attractive to the Llayan. "You may have my apologies if that eventuality occurs."
Kurae shook his head and creased his brow, not allowing Sebastian’s teasing fingers to distract him. He held Sebastian’s carefree eyes with his own, smoothing a thumb over one of the Llayan’s carefully shaped eyebrows. He didn’t want to regret this. He wished he could be as easy about the whole situation as any other Raykinian in his position, but he couldn’t change how he lived his life in one day.
‘I know myself,’ he said, then realised how that sounded in his current position. ‘When sober,’ he added. ‘If I don’t come back, I’m in the thirtieth district on the banks of the Ra-Lin. Close to the markets.’ He closed the minimal space between them for a moment. ‘I don’t—’ He cleared his throat, his lips brushing against Sebastian’s as he spoke. ‘I don’t want to regret it.’
Then don't, seemed to be the obvious answer, but Sebastian knew better than to say that. He closed his eyes briefly, pressed his lips gently to Kurae's in case the man was about to do the unthinkable for him and actually ramble on.
"Worry about the morning in the morning, quael," Sebastian suggested with a smirk.
The Llayan was more relaxed than the Raykinian. Kurae shook his head at himself, then gave that smirk a strong kiss. ‘Stop mangling my language,’ he said against Sebastian’s mouth, then allowed himself his own smirk, ‘Thebathian.’
"Ugh..." There was no filter Sebastian could apply to himself to stop that, but the way he rolled his eyes showed it was in good humour. It was actually maybe not so bad when Kurae lisped his name. He pressed his forehead against Kurae's, "I speak your language better than you speak mine."
Kurae shrugged, watching Sebastian’s grinning hazel eyes. ‘I failed Llayan. Never saw the point of it.’
"If I had not already chosen to dedicate my time to teaching your tongue flavours, I might have to teach it Llayan." If things turned out the way Sebastian was hoping they would, the chef had a feeling Kurae might regret something. It was terrible when a partner could talk about you in another language, after all. He gave a short silent sigh, "Although Raykinians are so stubborn and set in their ways... such lessons would merely be frustrating."
Kurae lifted his eyebrows. He knew he could stoop to the obvious comment there, but even his wine-clouded mind wouldn’t allow him that. Instead he levelled his gaze with Sebastian’s and pushed him slowly back, flat against the table. Apparently, the Llayan had forgotten his earlier comment about needing to close the restaurant. Kurae didn’t intend to let him remember it.
The swordsman took Sebastian’s mouth in his own once more, demonstrating just how much the Llayan had taught his tongue already.
Sebastian was dead certain that any moment he was going to hear his brother calling or that infernal bell summoning him. He wished he wasn't so certain of that, he wished he could fully immerse in the feel of the swordsman atop him, of that purely decadent hot, wet and deep kiss. He wanted it to last, and that's why his fingers tightened at Kurae's shoulders, clinging to the moment as long as the nagging thoughts in the back of his head allowed.
Besides which he had just calmed his breathing and heart, it was utterly unfair for Kurae to set them off again.
"Really," he managed to whisper when the deeper kiss broke off into more shallow ones. "Closing up... family matters... regrettable as it is to part right now."
Kurae could feel Sebastian’s discomfort as easily as he could hear it in his voice. The chef was tense, his fingers tight on Kurae’s skin.
He nodded, lightening his kisses against Sebastian’s lips as he drew the other man back to his feet. He’d already stolen several extra minutes. ‘If I don’t… come back… you know where to… find me now.’
He picked his shirt from where Sebastian had dropped it on the table and quickly threw it over his head, straightening it even as he pressed his lips to Sebastian’s again. ‘Bring a shiraz.’
Sebastian relaxed a little, although he did glance over his shoulder towards the kitchens momentarily. He returned the short kiss, finding his feet and standing from the table as elegantly as he could. "If you are so sure I'll need one, I shall."
Kurae nodded as he tucked his shirt back into his pants. ‘If you’re the one finding me, then yes.’
He combed his hair back from his face with his fingers, then glanced towards the bar at the back of the restaurant. ‘How much do I owe you?’
Sebastian shrugged on his shirt, fixing it back into place over his frame. He glanced at the bar as he started fixing his hair. He would not be forgiven if he allowed so much expense to merely be drunk away, he knew that much.
He smirked, tilting his head to the side to help recapture his hair in its side tail. "Settle your tab next time you come in," he told the swordsman. Giving Kurae yet more reasons to have to come by couldn't be a bad idea.
Kurae froze for a moment, then shook his head with a crooked grin. ‘You’re really sure I’m coming back,’ he said. He hoped he wouldn’t disappoint, but Lin’s blood, that was asking a miracle.
"Consider Sebastian an optimist as well as patient, perhaps," he replied simply. Kurae may have doubted his feelings, but Sebastian felt fairly confident in them. The evening wouldn't have gone the way it had otherwise. Sebastian had been violently pushed back enough times to know that.
"Sebastian thinks perhaps Kurae is... how is it said? 'A sucker for punishment'?" Sebastian smirked, more naturally than Kurae's grin. "You'll be back to have my amazing food and be belittled for not appreciating it."
Kurae’s grin broadened a little more. ‘I hope so,’ he said honestly. ‘But in case I’m not…’ He bent forward again, taking one last, sensuous kiss from the chef. One hand cupped the Llayan’s smooth jaw, brushed with the finest layer of evening stubble, before teasing back into his hair. He would remember that tang, that perfect taste of Sebastian. He watched Sebastian’s eyes for a moment longer before pulling away.
‘Thank you,’ he murmured over his shoulder, and strode purposefully towards the door, hands shoved into his pockets.
The chef followed the other man, his own boots echoing the heavier sound of the swordsman's footsteps softly. He leant his shoulder against the doorway, one hand on the door as he watched the man leave.
"Come again," Sebastian said softly, smiling before he closed the door firmly again and turned back to his finally empty restaurant.
Authors~
annarti and drazziWarnings~ Gay. But they keep their pants on, promise.
Notes~ This takes place two years or so in the future. Sallie made Kurae a boyfriend, yay! Sebastian's a Llayan chef who opened a restaurant in Ni-Yana about a year ago because his lord and lady and their family in Llayad were PICKY eaters and he HATED that so he came to somewhere a little more open :D Kurae makes a point of going to the grand opening of any new restaurants, so he met Sebastian there. Three years later, this happens :D
Also this thing has more false endings than Return of the King. IT WAS FUN, DAMNIT.
Wine
Kurae did not like wine. He was not at all partial to it. He had tried once or twice in restaurants, he had even bought a bottle from the markets in Kazin and, upon the recommendation of the merchant, cellared it for a good eight years before uncorking it. It hadn’t worked.
This wine, though, this was different. This one came with the recommendation of one who not only drank the stuff, but made a point of knowing about it, too. As Sebastian had promised, after several minutes of coaxing and, Kurae had to be honest, spouting worthless prose about the vintage, it matched perfectly with the slow roasted nira. The nira, Sebastian had reminded him, had been marinated in the very same beverage, and was it not one of Kurae’s favourite things on the menu?
‘I can’t smell any chocolate or burnt berries,’ he said with a shrug, ‘but I’ll drink it.’
Sebastian folded his arms over his chest, straightened his spine and for every effort looked very much like a peacock for a moment. 'But I'll drink it', Sebastian had learnt, in Kurae-language was high praise.
"Excellent, if you will drink it, then the meal will only be enhanced so well that even your dull palette will be awakened."
The chef reached for the wine bottle's neck and then paused. "Perhaps the bottle should be left?"
Kurae looked at him with his eyebrows knotted in confusion, then he drained the last of his glass. He reached for the bottle, knocking Sebastian’s hand away to take hold of the neck and splash some more into the glass.
‘In here,’ he said, gesturing to the tables with the neck of the bottle, ‘nobody ever leaves a drink half-drunk.’ He set the bottle back on the table and swilled the dark red liquid in his glass. ‘Very rude.’
Sebastian rolled his eyes, "Of course. How silly of me to forget that in Raykin rudeness is polite, and vice versa."
That said, he still had to smirk, the dimples in his cheeks deep. He had won a battle, Kurae was drinking and liking wine. Sebastian had just known he would, it was the only reason he had bothered importing five bottles of the vintage over.
To think Florien had called it a waste of time and money to bring it over for uncultured palettes. Ha! It had more than proven its worth now.
He had to push his luck, that was simply how things went. "Do you see how with the correct alcoholic accompaniment, one doesn't need extra spices?"
The swordsman nodded slowly, conceding his point. Red wine would not match well with Kurae’s favourite Kazinian spices. Nothing fitted them better than a big, cold glass of beer.
He sipped again at the wine, pushing it between his teeth as Sebastian had told him but having no idea what he was supposed to gain from the action. ‘It doesn’t suit the desert, but,’ he said, interrupting Sebastian’s protest before he could voice it, ‘I could get drunk on it.’
Sebastian wrinkled his nose, "You Raykinians are..." He shook his head, before reaching up and trying to secure the hair that had dislodged in that motion. "Sebastian will take that as the praise it is intended to be," He conceded begrudgingly.
Kurae raised his glass to accept victory, then took another swig. ‘What else have you got?’
Sebastian held up a hand. "If you like this one, I would stay with it. I know better than to tempt fate around your tongue."
A crooked smirk briefly graced the swordsman’s lips before he drained the rest of the glass. ‘You’d better go and grab it, then.’
Sebastian gave a short but flourished bow, “As you wish.” In normal circumstances Sebastian wouldn’t fetch, carry, play waiter or even sommelier to any clients, however it had long become a tradition with Kurae. For starters, it stopped his wait-staff acting like star-struck fools; secondly it gave Sebastian a chance to banter with someone who considered themselves a purveyor of fine – or at least different - foods.
The coolness of the wine and beer cellar, dug beneath the kitchen, was pleasant on his exposed skin, although the sun was setting and the air in Raykin was starting to relax. He passed past the barrels of beer with barely a disdainful glance at them, finding the coolest corner where he had placed his few bottles of Shiraz that Florien’s money had thankfully imported.
“Sebastian knew you were a winner,” he informed the bottle, before returning through the quietening kitchen and equally slowing down dining room. He uncorked the wine expertly, smirking at Kurae, “Sir’s favourite, as requested.” No, he really was not going to allow this victory to be forgotten soon.
Sebastian had trained his wait staff well—a clean glass had been produced at the moment the head chef had disappeared into the cellar, and with only minimal conversing with the celebrity.
The wine glugged pleasantly as Sebastian poured it, the dark liquid playing with the fire and fading sunlight.
Kurae nodded as Sebastian twisted the bottle with a flourish, not spilling a drop onto the polished wooden tabletop. ‘Get yourself a glass,’ he told the chef.
With a glance around the restaurant Sebastian decided he wasn’t currently needed as such. He plucked a clear imported wine-glass from an unused table, spinning it right-side up and pouring a smooth half-glass of the wine. He pulled out the often unused second-chair of Kurae’s standard table, and sat down in a relatively proper but relaxed manner.
“To think, it’s only been perhaps… a year and a half or two before awakening your lethargic sense of taste,” Sebastian replaced the wine bottle, then scooped up the glass between his fingers. He cradled the bowl with his fingertips, the stem dipping down between his knuckles. “I’m far ahead of schedule; although it will probably take three times as long to do so with any of your colleagues you sometimes bring in.”
Kurae lifted his own glass, still somehow managing to hold the delicate stem as he would a tankard of beer, and pointed an accusing finger at the chef. 'Tell any of them I don't mind a bottle of...' he glanced at the label, realised it was all in a language he'd failed at. '...Wine and I'm never coming again.' It was a bluff, he knew, but he had to keep something of his reputation intact. It wasn't as though he actually really liked it as yet, but he could see it creeping up on him over the years until he found himself picking out the coffee and black current undertones Sebastian was so fond of.
Sebastian gestured loosely with his wrist, making the red liquid swirl around his glass carefully. "Oh, don't worry. I promise that as a lowly chef I would say nothing to damage whatever reputation you have acquired by being able to lift a sword."
The Own rider shrugged modestly. He never liked to make a big deal of his position himself, but that didn’t mean he would ever escape a ribbing for it from Sebastian. ‘Much appreciated.’ He sat back comfortably in his chair and eyed the contents of the table.
Only the two bottles were left now, one empty, the other minus two glasses. Their labels faced him, scrawled with flowery Llayan writing Kurae couldn’t hope to decipher. He could read the year, though.
‘4045,’ he murmured, almost to himself. That was a while ago. Had he really been in the Own for ten years now?
Sebastian heard though, even above the noise of the restaurant being cleared, final coins being passed and last minute chatter. He was tuned into Kurae and his mumbling. "A good year, so I'm told. Well, clearly. This is what it produced." He lifted his glass with a smile, then took a polite mouthful of it, closing his eyes as he enjoyed the flavours.
"But this wine is a law unto itself. See, here..." Sebastian moved his chair around towards where the swordsman sat, then gestured at the writing he knew very well that Kurae had no hope of understanding. Well, Sebastian had educated his palette, he could try and do something for his mind. He ran his finger along some Llayan script at the lower half of the label. "Here it says that the wine should be left for a minimum of five years. Normally that's the maximum for this type of wine."
Kurae stared wordlessly at the bottle, then held his glass up to look through the liquid. The sunlight had faded, though, and the firelight was too orange to make out the burnt colour that Sebastian had said marked a finely aged wine.
Llayan cuisine required an inordinate amount of patience. It hardly surprised him that wine needed half a decade to mature. He’d found pickling recipes that required two years before they were edible, fruit trees that needed a decade before they’d produce anything decent, and an intriguing candied chilli recipe that took a good six months to leech out the heat. Still, he supposed, if it was only the nobility who ate it, then clearly they wouldn’t be cooking it. They wouldn’t care about the hours, the years of preparation that went into one meal.
‘What’s the point?’ he asked, then realised Sebastian probably hadn’t been following his train of thought. ‘All the time and preparation for people who don’t appreciate it.’
The words struck a particular chord in Sebastian, and momentarily the smirk fell from his lips and he replaced his glass on the table, his mind momentarily on his elder brother; on the time and efforts Sebastian tried to shower on him and often received seemingly little back from Florien. He closed his eyes, pressed the side of his index finger to his top lip and released a quick breath from his nose, pushing aside those thoughts. He would look after and deal with his brother soon enough, for now he was having a moment of understated revelry.
"Well," he said slowly, trying to find a good Raykinian wording for what he wanted to say. "The mother nira protects her children from the world, she prepares them for it, and they don't show her appreciation when she is done; but she'll do it again and again until time stops. Some things people don't do for appreciation. Some things you do because they are inside you to do."
Sebastian tailed off realising he had wandered to perhaps a whole other subject; then rested his elbow on the table and his chin on his hand, smirking again. "Shall Sebastian give up and just say that 'good things improve with age'? Even if Kurae does not appreciate the wine, he can understand that."
Kurae had been watching the firelight playing on the dark liquid in his glass as Sebastian explained this. Needlessly in-depth for cooking, he thought. He wondered if it was just a Llayan thing, the passion Sebastian so liked to talk about, or if he’d struck on something more personal. If it was the latter, Kurae didn’t want to pry.
He drank his wine more carefully all the same. Whether personal or not, ten years had gone into its making. He owed Sebastian that much.
He buried his nose in the bowl-like glass, trying to grasp the complexities the chef spoke of, but it was still just fermented grape juice to him. He shook his head. ‘I’m still not getting it,’ he admitted.
He listened as Sebastian patiently—by the Llayan’s standards—explained again how to sniff and taste wine. He talked about tannins and mellowing, black pepper and smoke, dry years and south-facing slopes.
By the time the restaurant had cleared, three empty bottles lined the end of Kurae’s table. He was glad, at least, that the sensation of being drunk on wine differed little from what he was used to.
Only one waiter and the sous-chef were lingering, unsure if they should leave before the restaurant was completely empty, but Sebastian waved his hand loosely to gesture their freedom. He could more than close up the restaurant alone, particularly when there was only one patron left.
His finger pressed against the bottle's neck, smearing down a drop of wine that had caught, tracing it over the label. It was fair to say most of the three bottles had ended up in Kurae, Sebastian was technically working and thus had to pace himself. Besides, he certainly didn't drink heavily by Raykin standards. Raykinians and their beer... it was a law unto itself.
"It seems that all the jobs of the kitchen are done now," Sebastian pointed out. "If you're unable to pay for this fine meal and finer wine, I have no way to make you pay by doing my dishes." He smirked at Kurae, knowing well by now that members of The Own could afford most of the better things in life. Still, Kurae was far from flashy, down to earth as a rhino, so Sebastian could be forgiven for the teasing.
And he did so enjoy teasing—or trying to tease—Kurae.
A light smirk played over the swordsman’s lips. There were only dregs left in his glass, which he had by now learned he wasn’t supposed to drink. He swilled them, watching the tiny black specks of sediment settle at the bottom of the glass. ‘How much was one of those?’ he asked, not really caring what the answer was.
"Shall we say..." Sebastian tilted back one of the bottles, observing it and thinking of the time it took to make, to bring here and how happy it made him that it was the right choice. "Nine gold per bottle, because I like you."
That was true enough. At first glance Kurae may have looked like the type of man you didn't want to meet down by the river when you were alone, but his company was more than enjoyable and Sebastian enjoyed the quiet 'celebrity's' visits.
Sebastian drank the last of his second half-glass of wine, watching Kurae watching his glass. "Or maybe nine each and cleaning the wine glasses."
Kurae shook his head, noting how his vision took a moment to catch up with the movement. ‘You can’t like me that much, then, if you’re making me your kitchen boy.’
Sebastian gave a short but honest laugh, weighing up his options in a short moment and then leaning forward towards Kurae's seat. "I like you enough to give it to you on the house if you'd rather." His eyes flickered momentarily from Kurae's eyes to his lips and then back, again measuring up his options before deciding he might as well see if the deities of luck and good fortune were still on his sides. He closed the distance between them with a quick movement, like a desert cat leaping on its prey, pressing his wine-stained lips against the swordsman's.
Kurae’s brow furrowed and his lips parted a little in surprise. He lost his grip on the wine glass, pressing his palm instead against the polished wood of the table. Sebastian’s hair brushed against his jaw and tickled his neck, so close was he to the swordsman.
Kurae’s eyes slipped closed in the warmth of the younger man’s touch. Sebastian was kissing him, he realised then. More astonishingly, Kurae wasn’t pulling away.
It was the better reaction Sebastian could have hoped for - really getting forcibly removed hadn't been unknown to him in the past. He pressed in closer, leaving his own chair completely and gripping the sides of Kurae's for balance as his tongue teased light as a snakes against Kurae's lips.
Kurae’s thoughts were meticulously lining themselves out in his mind. He was being kissed. Sebastian was kissing him. Sebastian was a man. Something sparked through the alcohol fog of his mind.
His head jerked back. Sebastian’s face was still right in front of him. He swallowed. ‘You just kissed me.’
"Sebastian did," he agreed. The Llayan didn't move back, not yet feeling the situation had turned fully sour - and if it had, his palette would definitely pick up on it. "Kurae didn't object to it," he pointed out.
Kurae shook his head. He could feel the chef’s breath as he spoke. He could smell the wine on it. That meant Sebastian hadn’t moved. ‘I’m still not,’ he realised.
"Well, that's promising," Sebastian smiled with amusement. Tired of standing in the awkwardly bent position he had put himself in, Sebastian parted his legs and straddled Kurae's thighs, lowering himself onto the Own rider's lap.
The adrenaline had cleared Kurae’s mind somewhat, but it wasn’t yet sharp enough to know how to react to the situation. He didn’t shift uncomfortably or push Sebastian away, but he wasn’t entirely relaxed. His fingers were still tingling, and he recognised the heightened nerves that came before a mission. He could feel the same expression on his face, the stony determination. With his face this close, Sebastian could probably see the fear, too.
Sebastian couldn't exactly consider it a wholly positive reaction from Kurae, but he still didn't see it as being negative. He settled his hands on Kurae's shoulders, interested in the feel and texture of the man's skin. All Sebastian handled most days was raw meat, torn carcases and his brother, which were all decidedly different from Kurae's skin, weather beaten and scarred, stretched taut over working muscles.
It was far from unpleasant.
Still, there was that hesitation, and Sebastian was better knowing why it was there. "Kurae is taken?"
The Own rider shook his head again. ‘No,’ he said, not sure why he needed the verbal clarification. ‘Just…’ His brow furrowed. Confused? Uncomfortable? Scared? He shook his head again. ‘Aeia…’
Sebastian nodded, mentally checking that off the chef's list in his head. "Kurae just... doesn't like Sebastian?" Another important point to remove doubt about, but Sebastian was pretty sure that wasn't the reason. He really couldn't have gotten this far if it was.
Kurae swallowed, hesitated, and twitched his head in a motion that could have been a nod, but he ducked down from embarrassment before he could admit to himself that it had been. Sebastian’s fingers worked lightly on his shoulders, far from the vigorous massages he got at the palace, but somehow better. Lin’s blood, quael, don’t make me talk.
‘I don’t know,’ he mumbled, lifting his head again. His eyes scanned over the Llayan’s face, the shadows emphasising the worry he saw there. ‘This is… new.’
"Ah," Sebastian said, quite simply, not judgemental at all. However that one short sentence had been enough to put a cross by all boxes in his mind, list seen to, no need to worry about pushing forward.
He smiled, those dimples on his cheeks deepening slightly. "I thought you liked trying new things," he taunted.
The relaxation in that smile helped to ease Kurae’s mind. His eyes fell on those lips, remembering the taste of them, stained with red wine. He nodded again, still not entirely sure, but not trying to hide it this time, either.
"Well then, consider it a new dining experience." Sebastian looped one arm around Kurae's neck, his other hand's fingers still tracing over tense, firm skin as he closed the distance between them again. It clearly wasn't a new experience for him, he knew where what he was doing when it came to initiating a kiss.
Kurae closed his eyes as their lips once again made contact. It took all he had not to shake his head away. Instead, his hands released their grip on the table and moved to awkwardly rest on Sebastian’s hips. He relaxed his jaw and parted his lips again, ready now for the Llayan’s new experience.
Again Sebastian's tongue traced over Kurae's lower lip, then snaking past that relaxed, opened barrier into the other man's mouth. The metallic tang of saliva mixed with the tones and richness of wine was more than enjoyable to the chef, made him only want to press that kiss deeper - but slowly so. A new experience had to be savoured after all. He twisted his fingers into the shapeless strands of Kurae's hair at the nape of his neck, humming a little pleased tone in his throat.
Kurae’s scalp tingled as Sebastian’s fingers pulled at his hair. His hands nervously held the Llayan’s hips, fingers twitching in readiness. The feeling of the other man’s tongue in his mouth was entirely foreign, but not at all invasive. He slipped his own tongue against his lips, against Sebastian’s and briefly into the chef’s mouth.
Sebastian was pleased with that tentative response, his lips curling into another smile against Kurae's more stony expression. His tongue curled around Kurae's, encouraging the explorations, massaging in some probably new, hot, slick way.
He took the kiss shallower, so they could both breathe, his lips kissing at Kurae's like he was speaking silent words or massaging the skin there. His fingers slipped down from Kurae's shoulder, curling around the neckline of Kurae's shirt, fingernails just digging into the skin - oh deities, that skin. So unusual to anything else he normally had to handle, Sebastian thought he might just love it.
Kurae flinched momentarily as Sebastian’s fingers bit into his skin, but they were the nails of a chef, cut short and neat. He took the breath Sebastian’s pause allowed him and bent forward, the chair creaking as he did so. His chest pressed against Sebastian’s as the other man’s lips seemed to nibble at his own. He wanted Sebastian closer.
Able to read that wordless cue, Sebastian slid himself over Kurae's lap until their chests and stomachs almost crushed together. He hummed another short noise in his throat, almost like a purr, as he licked Kurae's lips and then sucked just briefly on the man's lower one before pulling back a half-inch.
"I think you can just have the wine on the house, quael." Sebastian had to roll his eyes slightly and part his lips in a silent laugh just because he knew the Raykinian term sounded as awkward coming from his lips as it did in his mouth.
Kurae opened his eyes. Sebastian’s grinned honestly before him. Kurae’s hands brushed up and down the chef’s shirt. ‘You might not need so many of them next time.’ He realised just what he had said and tried to hide it, lunging forward to catch Sebastian’s lips again. His brow creased as he hungrily explored Sebastian’s mouth. There were no consequences, he realised. Sebastian wanted this more than Kurae did.
And there was Sebastian thinking he would have to be taking all the initiative tonight - it turned out he just needed to embarrass Kurae to get him to make an additional move. It amused the Llayan to have seen a moment where Kurae didn't think before speaking, where more than five words had actually tumbled out of his mouth. He rewarded Kurae's momentarily lapse by responding to the kiss with the passion he was given, leading sometimes, playing passive others.
His hands wandered less passively though, butcher and chef fingers sliding beneath Kurae's shirt where they could, skimming over that skin he was definitely coming to being addicted to and massaging any muscles he came across.
Kurae gave a quiet hum of approval as Sebastian’s fingers kneaded at his muscles. He could smell oregano, garlic and thyme rise from the warmth of his touch. He licked Sebastian’s tongue to better taste the chef’s flavour, opened his mouth to take a breath and delved deeper.
His hands pressed against Sebastian’s back, pulling him closer. For something he’d never wanted before, had always shied away from, Kurae wanted more. He tugged at the shirt, pulling it easily from the waistband of Sebastian’s pants and running his rough hands over the chef’s skin.
It was as if that oppressive Raykinian heat, that had dissipated with the sun was locked under Kurae's skin. The kind of warmth Sebastian despised when working in the kitchens, but very much enjoyed at moments like this. He pushed his torso into Kurae's touches, tangling his hands into Kurae's dark hair, approving how the heat or wine was now bringing out something in Kurae.
He always managed to get the best out of his ingredients though.
Kurae could hear his heart beating in his ears over his and Sebastian’s short, hot breaths. The wine and the heat in his face made him light headed. He enjoyed the feel of those fingers through his hair, tugging and massaging, needing him. He liked the softness of that tongue and the roughness of that fine layer of stubble that had grown over the course of the day. Kurae would never have noticed it if he hadn’t been so close. He enjoyed being this close.
‘More,’ he found his lips murmuring. The shiraz had all but dissolved the filter between his thoughts and his mouth. ‘More.’
"Sebastian agrees," the chef muttered beneath his heavy breaths, forgetting his Raykinian pronouns for the moment in favour of other things. His hands slid down the swordsman's sides, grabbing the edge of the man's shirt - usually tucked into his belt but now long askewed from Sebastian's wandering hands - and pulling back enough that he could remove it entirely from Kurae's person.
Then he almost desperately pressed forward again, bare chests pressing hard against each other, Sebastian's mouth crashing against Kurae's with a wordless noise that said a lot more than more words could. His hips rocked forward against his own real awareness, getting more lost in the heat and wanting some friction.
Kurae flinched at the movement. He liked Sebastian’s hands in his hair, he enjoyed kissing and the physical contact, but the realisation of the other man’s genitals and the sensitivity of his own… He held one hand on Sebastian’s shoulder, the other pushing back just lightly at his hip. His forehead rested against the chef’s, breaking the kiss for just a moment as he shook his head. That was too much so soon.
He stole Sebastian’s lips again, moving his hand from the chef’s shoulder to his jaw by way of apology.
Sebastian smiled against Kurae's lips, taking the silent cues as read - yes, fair enough. He had gotten a little too overwhelmed and ahead of himself, and he would pull back. Sebastian was actually quite pleased with how well he was reading the near silence; Kurae was usually a man of few words. Which was a good thing really, because if he rumbled anything in that deep voice while Sebastian was this close... well, that would just be too much, probably.
It was a new experience though, something to savour. Sebastian always strove to do his best to accommodate his guests. He shifted his position, so their faces, shoulders and chests were still chrushingly close, but his hips were angled back where they could do no apparent harm. His lips and tongue traced Kurae's lips, then jawline, then fingers and then back to his mouth, happy to settle for more kisses.
Kurae obliged, his fingers running a line along Sebastian’s jaw, down his neck and back over his shoulder. He followed with a line of slow kisses, tasting the salt on Sebastian’s skin as he went. His was a raw, real taste, lightened with the mix of Llayan herbs that seemed to permeate the chef’s being. He paused as his lips fell on Sebastian’s neck. He could feel the chef’s rapid heartbeat against his tongue, as demanding as his own. He held Sebastian’s pulse in his tongue for a long moment. He’d never been so close to anyone before, let alone one who felt so right.
Sebastian was more aware of his tripping heartbeat as Kurae lingered over his pulse. It made him more aware of how light-headed he felt, more dizzy than any good glass or two of shiraz could make him. One of his hands coiled around the back of Kurae's neck, not forcing the swordsman on, but definitely letting him know that any more action would be appreciated. Meanwhile his free hand wandered down the man's chest, tracing through thicker body-hair than his own, wandering over sinew and muscle and of course slick, tight scarred skin.
Kurae took the hint, glad to find it was not only himself enjoying his proximity to Sebastian’s heartbeat. He drew his tongue out, licking long and slow from Sebastian’s collarbone to his ear. The light wash of evening stubble on a normally clean-shaven face excited him, and he drew his tongue again over Sebastian’s jaw, enjoying the prickle of it. The chef’s pulse quickened further, so he repeated the action on the other side of his neck, sucking lightly at the skin as he did.
The chair creaked again as he tried to shift into a more comfortable position. The chair was awkward, in the way. He slid his hands down Sebastian’s back to take a more confident grip on the chef’s hips, then stood with him. The chair scraped noisily against the stone floor. With their footing level, Kurae was aware he still had to crane his neck back to maintain contact with the Llayan’s face. He planted one more deep, hungering kiss on Sebastian’s lips, then returned his attention to the more accessible neck.
Sebastian reached back and gripped the edge of the table behind him just to help in case those attentions to his neck made his knees too weak to hold himself up. He tilted back his head, pushing his neck into those wet licks and hungry kisses. He bit his lower lip, his hazel eyes sliding shut as his other hands massaging grip slid to Kurae's hip. The sound of the chair echoing through the empty restaurant made Sebastian aware just how far he would like to do right then and there. Really, he must have been in Raykin too long for such thoughts to even cross his mind, especially after being told very clearly that things had to move slow.
And going slow meant not pulling Kurae too close right then, he managed to remind himself.
Releasing a hitched breath, the Llayan drew his hand back around Kurae's torso, fingers rubbing into the small of the swordsman's back. He tipped his head down, pressing lips to the other man's cheek, jawline and earlobe, hot and wet but as controlled as could be.
Kurae shivered as Sebastian’s fingers kneaded at the small of his back. He felt his knees weaken, and gripped the edge of the table with one hand to keep himself from collapsing. His lips lost contact with Sebastian’s neck, and he rested his head instead against the chef’s shoulder as Sebastian continued to press his fingers into his spine. He turned his head to the side as Sebastian’s lips ran along his jaw.
His other hand rubbed in circles over Sebastian’s hip. His little finger slipped below the waistband, then the next, sliding around to the other man’s back. A third finger slipped down, tight under Sebastian’s belt.
He snatched them back as conscious thought took over. His eyes clenched shut and he dropped his forehead against Sebastian’s shoulder as he shook his head to himself.
‘Sorry,’ he breathed against Sebastian’s skin. He knew exactly what the other man wanted, but the mere thought of it gave Kurae uncomfortable shivers. His fingers ran up and down Sebastian’s spine, knowing he couldn’t give Sebastian what he wanted.
Sebastian gave a wordless amused noise between his breaths, not laughing exactly, more gentle and encouraging. His fingers raked through Kurae's hair to add further evidence that he wasn't disappointed or annoyed.
"New experiences should be taken over time," Sebastian pointed out, filling his chest with the salty smell of being so close to another man and then exhaling slowly in an effort to calm down. It was probably best to calm down. This was probably as far as a comfort point went.
Kurae nodded and lifted his head from Sebastian’s shoulder. It was so much more than a new experience for him. It was one he had been strongly denying to himself his whole life. Old habits died hard, and one night wasn’t going to shatter such a wall so easily. Even now he found himself blaming the wine, the silence, the solitude of the restaurant, not least of all Sebastian himself. The man knew just what to do to make him not recoil, to instead melt into Sebastian’s touch.
He kissed Sebastian again, strong and hard as he pushed him back against the table. The chef’s fingers twisted exquisitely through his hair. Sebastian knew the swordsman better than Kurae knew himself. He wondered then how long Sebastian had waited for this night.
He took a breath, pushing his tongue past the Llayan’s teeth and appreciating every second of it.
He wondered if Sebastian had known Kurae wouldn’t turn him away in disgust, even when Kurae didn’t know himself, or if it had been a huge gamble for him. He wondered how much else Sebastian rightly guessed about him, how long it would take him to go further.
He withdrew his tongue from Sebastian’s mouth, licked his lips and nipped briefly at the chef’s. ’Thirty-eight years to get this far,’ he reminded Sebastian. ‘How patient are you?’
Thirty-eight years, that was almost cute. Certainly something to take pride in, if after that long it had been Sebastian to worm in there, even just for an evening. Although those words seemed to be implying more than that.
"Seb-" the chef paused, giving that dimpled smile again. "I am known for my patience. I won't suddenly go Kazinian on you."
Settled back as he was against the table, propped up on his elbows, it was easy enough for him to glance at the wine bottles beside him, thankfully they hadn't fallen to the floor. "Patience is quite a virtue when one might have to wait another ten years for this wine to come back in," he pointed out with a slight smirk before brushing his lips against the swordsman's again.
A light breath of amusement pushed out through Kurae’s nostrils. His lips nipped again at Sebastian’s in teasing kisses. He liked the sound of them in the darkened dining room. ‘So Aeia-damned Llayan,’ he said between nips. ‘How long have you waited for this?’ Apparently, the brain-to-mouth filter was still dulled by alcohol.
Sebastian rolled his shoulders upwards in what might have been a shrug if he wasn't mostly flat back against the table. It was a difficult question to answer right away, not least because of those lazy but so nice kisses every few seconds they were sharing. It wasn't as if Sebastian had been waiting for an opportunity consciously. It wasn't as if when the opportunity had presented itself tonight he hadn't thought he was misreading non-existent signals.
"Several months," the chef settled on at last. "Sebastian came to enjoy Kurae's company more several months ago.’
Kurae held Sebastian’s lips a moment longer after his response. ‘Did you—’ He broke off and kissed Sebastian again. That certainly didn’t need asking. ‘I hadn’t noticed,’ he said instead.
"Seems you didn't," Sebastian smirked. Not that he could say anyone else ever had in the past either. His sister and brother might have suspected, he supposed, but they said nothing about it. He canted his head and rubbed his jaw against Kurae's, enjoying the roughness a moment before kissing again.
Kurae fell back into silence, enjoying this quiet moment. He lifted his hand from the table, confident now that his legs could hold him, and ran his fingers through the tail of Sebastian’s hair. He teased the ribbon from it so he could rake his fingers over Sebastian’s scalp, as he’d been doing to Kurae all evening. He pulled gently at the nape of his neck, the chef’s long hair tickling his forearm.
Sebastian hummed a contented sound, resting his cheek on Kurae's shoulder as the other man toyed with his hair. His lips could press against the slick heat of the skin of Kurae's neck from that angle, mouthing lazy kisses against the pulse there. His fingers lightly traced up the muscles of the swordsman's arms.
Yes, he'd been quite patient given that it had been several months that he had first known his own affections, but for moments like this Sebastian could definitely stand to continue to be patient.
Unfortunately though, there was a nagging in the back of his mind, a knowledge he had really pushed his luck far enough already. Florien was waiting for him upstairs, Sebastian knew that, and much as he didn't want to break off now, he was going to have to take initiative again.
"With much regret, Sebastian is going to have to close up for the night now." He traced his fingers over Kurae's collarbone as he spoke.
Kurae felt himself tense at the words, reminding him there was a world outside the restaurant, outside this night. The reminder made him feel ashamed once more, as though that outside world had been watching him the whole time. But still, his fingers remained tangled in Sebastian’s hair. Maybe, if he pretended he hadn’t heard, he could stay a little longer. He didn’t know what state his mind would be in once the wine’s effects had faded. He might never want to come back.
He lifted Sebastian’s head from his shoulder, then took his lips in another deep kiss. The chef couldn’t speak if his mouth was otherwise occupied, and Kurae wanted to remember as much of Sebastian’s taste as he could. Come morning, he wanted this to be a good memory. He wanted to come back.
For a man who was self-confessed 'new' to this experience, who had apparently done nothing of this sort for some thirty-eight or so years, Sebastian had to peg Kurae as a fast learner. He was eternally grateful to many Deities for the solid table mostly supporting him, because he knew that rush that came with the deep, intimacy of that kiss made him far too light headed to keep upright alone.
Maybe it was more likely to think the Swordsman was better at pretending to be naive than think he was a fast learner though.
Not that Sebastian cared either way. He coiled both his bare arms around the man's neck and shoulders, fingers tangling deep into the eternal darkness of black hair as he melted into and responded to the kiss.
Kurae’s spine tingled as Sebastian drew him close. He was aware of his own desperation and didn’t try to mask it. Both hands and mouth clung to Sebastian as though he were about to lose him. It could be true, too. A thousand things had conspired at the same moment for Kurae to shed enough of his inhibitions to bring him to this point. He couldn’t be confident the same would happen again. He didn’t know how his sober mind would look back on tonight. He expected it would be so ashamed he’d never want to see Sebastian again, let alone kiss him as he was now.
He licked inside the chef’s mouth, exploring as much of it as he could. The lingering taste of the wine had long dissolved. All that was left was the raw taste of Sebastian.
Sebastian's tongue curled around Kurae's, sucking lightly at it and lips as he rode that slow, intense desperate memorisation of a kiss. Something loud in the back of his head told him this was utterly wanton and reproachable behaviour to be exhibiting on top of a table he would be serving food on tomorrow. However something equally loud in his chest, crotch and other side of his mind informed himself that he didn't give much of a damn right then and there.
Considering how things could have gone when Sebastian had moved in moments before, this was definitely the better reaction. Crass though it perhaps was.
When finally permitted to break off the kiss and catch his breath, his lips hot and wet, barely inches from Kurae's, his breathing mingling with the other man's, he caught Kurae's dark eyes with his own and smiled. Part of him wanted to comment that he supposed the swordsman wanted to take the final bottle of shiraz home with him, but he felt a little too relaxed to actually vocalise that joke, and so that content smile was all he had.
Kurae returned the smile with dark, thoughtful eyes. He swallowed, knowing what needed to be said but worried he might frighten Sebastian by saying it.
‘I might not be back,’ he warned. He gave Sebastian another light kiss, partly to show it wasn’t his ideal choice, partly to stall for time. ‘I’m drunk. Tomorrow morning, I might…’ He swallowed again, brushed his lips against Sebastian’s and closed his eyes. Maybe if they weren’t right there in front of him, it would be easier to say. ‘I might regret tonight.’
Sebastian doubted the words completely. He had no reasons to believe that a man who chose to live and die by the sword would really ever let himself be troubled by regrets. Besides which he doubted Kurae would allow some minor embarrassment to keep him from what he obviously considered good food; he kept that thought from reaching his lips. Was it only five years in Raykin and their humour had permeated his skin? It simply wasn't acceptable in this situation.
"Well," Sebastian drew his fingers through Kurae's hair, drawing that style-less mass back from the man's face. "Such is the risk one takes when he takes a chance because a moment feels right." His eyes traced over Kurae's features, somewhat softer now, not so hard and somewhat blank as usual, definitely just as attractive to the Llayan. "You may have my apologies if that eventuality occurs."
Kurae shook his head and creased his brow, not allowing Sebastian’s teasing fingers to distract him. He held Sebastian’s carefree eyes with his own, smoothing a thumb over one of the Llayan’s carefully shaped eyebrows. He didn’t want to regret this. He wished he could be as easy about the whole situation as any other Raykinian in his position, but he couldn’t change how he lived his life in one day.
‘I know myself,’ he said, then realised how that sounded in his current position. ‘When sober,’ he added. ‘If I don’t come back, I’m in the thirtieth district on the banks of the Ra-Lin. Close to the markets.’ He closed the minimal space between them for a moment. ‘I don’t—’ He cleared his throat, his lips brushing against Sebastian’s as he spoke. ‘I don’t want to regret it.’
Then don't, seemed to be the obvious answer, but Sebastian knew better than to say that. He closed his eyes briefly, pressed his lips gently to Kurae's in case the man was about to do the unthinkable for him and actually ramble on.
"Worry about the morning in the morning, quael," Sebastian suggested with a smirk.
The Llayan was more relaxed than the Raykinian. Kurae shook his head at himself, then gave that smirk a strong kiss. ‘Stop mangling my language,’ he said against Sebastian’s mouth, then allowed himself his own smirk, ‘Thebathian.’
"Ugh..." There was no filter Sebastian could apply to himself to stop that, but the way he rolled his eyes showed it was in good humour. It was actually maybe not so bad when Kurae lisped his name. He pressed his forehead against Kurae's, "I speak your language better than you speak mine."
Kurae shrugged, watching Sebastian’s grinning hazel eyes. ‘I failed Llayan. Never saw the point of it.’
"If I had not already chosen to dedicate my time to teaching your tongue flavours, I might have to teach it Llayan." If things turned out the way Sebastian was hoping they would, the chef had a feeling Kurae might regret something. It was terrible when a partner could talk about you in another language, after all. He gave a short silent sigh, "Although Raykinians are so stubborn and set in their ways... such lessons would merely be frustrating."
Kurae lifted his eyebrows. He knew he could stoop to the obvious comment there, but even his wine-clouded mind wouldn’t allow him that. Instead he levelled his gaze with Sebastian’s and pushed him slowly back, flat against the table. Apparently, the Llayan had forgotten his earlier comment about needing to close the restaurant. Kurae didn’t intend to let him remember it.
The swordsman took Sebastian’s mouth in his own once more, demonstrating just how much the Llayan had taught his tongue already.
Sebastian was dead certain that any moment he was going to hear his brother calling or that infernal bell summoning him. He wished he wasn't so certain of that, he wished he could fully immerse in the feel of the swordsman atop him, of that purely decadent hot, wet and deep kiss. He wanted it to last, and that's why his fingers tightened at Kurae's shoulders, clinging to the moment as long as the nagging thoughts in the back of his head allowed.
Besides which he had just calmed his breathing and heart, it was utterly unfair for Kurae to set them off again.
"Really," he managed to whisper when the deeper kiss broke off into more shallow ones. "Closing up... family matters... regrettable as it is to part right now."
Kurae could feel Sebastian’s discomfort as easily as he could hear it in his voice. The chef was tense, his fingers tight on Kurae’s skin.
He nodded, lightening his kisses against Sebastian’s lips as he drew the other man back to his feet. He’d already stolen several extra minutes. ‘If I don’t… come back… you know where to… find me now.’
He picked his shirt from where Sebastian had dropped it on the table and quickly threw it over his head, straightening it even as he pressed his lips to Sebastian’s again. ‘Bring a shiraz.’
Sebastian relaxed a little, although he did glance over his shoulder towards the kitchens momentarily. He returned the short kiss, finding his feet and standing from the table as elegantly as he could. "If you are so sure I'll need one, I shall."
Kurae nodded as he tucked his shirt back into his pants. ‘If you’re the one finding me, then yes.’
He combed his hair back from his face with his fingers, then glanced towards the bar at the back of the restaurant. ‘How much do I owe you?’
Sebastian shrugged on his shirt, fixing it back into place over his frame. He glanced at the bar as he started fixing his hair. He would not be forgiven if he allowed so much expense to merely be drunk away, he knew that much.
He smirked, tilting his head to the side to help recapture his hair in its side tail. "Settle your tab next time you come in," he told the swordsman. Giving Kurae yet more reasons to have to come by couldn't be a bad idea.
Kurae froze for a moment, then shook his head with a crooked grin. ‘You’re really sure I’m coming back,’ he said. He hoped he wouldn’t disappoint, but Lin’s blood, that was asking a miracle.
"Consider Sebastian an optimist as well as patient, perhaps," he replied simply. Kurae may have doubted his feelings, but Sebastian felt fairly confident in them. The evening wouldn't have gone the way it had otherwise. Sebastian had been violently pushed back enough times to know that.
"Sebastian thinks perhaps Kurae is... how is it said? 'A sucker for punishment'?" Sebastian smirked, more naturally than Kurae's grin. "You'll be back to have my amazing food and be belittled for not appreciating it."
Kurae’s grin broadened a little more. ‘I hope so,’ he said honestly. ‘But in case I’m not…’ He bent forward again, taking one last, sensuous kiss from the chef. One hand cupped the Llayan’s smooth jaw, brushed with the finest layer of evening stubble, before teasing back into his hair. He would remember that tang, that perfect taste of Sebastian. He watched Sebastian’s eyes for a moment longer before pulling away.
‘Thank you,’ he murmured over his shoulder, and strode purposefully towards the door, hands shoved into his pockets.
The chef followed the other man, his own boots echoing the heavier sound of the swordsman's footsteps softly. He leant his shoulder against the doorway, one hand on the door as he watched the man leave.
"Come again," Sebastian said softly, smiling before he closed the door firmly again and turned back to his finally empty restaurant.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-13 11:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-13 11:12 am (UTC)