No Matter How Busy Your Schedule, Always Make Time for a Nighttime Tryst Now and Again
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Isaac knew that it wasn’t the best idea for him to wander around outside at night, but he was choosing to take seriously Oliver’s belief that nobody would attack him in the middle of the academy. It was finally nice enough out that there wasn’t a risk of freezing to death at night, and even though he knew Lee’s exam wasn’t a big deal, thinking about it was making it hard for him to sleep at night.
And besides, he’d promised a certain nocturnal visitor that he’d take walks at night to raise the chances of them running into each other again.
It hadn’t happened yet, but tonight was Isaac’s lucky night; just as he was headed back to the dormitory after a circuit of the grounds, he heard a hissing sound from a strand of bushes near a wall. “Pssst. Isaac. Isaac. I’m over here. Isaac. Don’t ignore me.”
Isaac laughed a little to himself as he turned, peering into the bushes and not seeing much, but heading over there anyway. “I wasn’t ignoring you,” he said into the bushes.
“So you say,” Jacob’s voice whispered out, and Isaac pushed his way through the leaves and found the thief sitting there in a little clearing, looking annoyed in the moonlight. “But I’ve been waiting all night for you. I mean…” Jacob broke off, looked away. “Not all night. I have work, you know. Better things to do than wait around for you. I’ve only been here for a minute or so. I was thinking about leaving because I assumed you weren’t coming.”
Smiling, Isaac settled beside him. “Sorry. I wasn’t sure where you’d be hiding.” He leaned in and kissed Jacob on the cheek. “Hi, Jacob.”
“Hi,” Jacob mumbled, picking at his sleeve. “I’m not hiding. I’m waiting. Only cowards hide.”
“But not thieves?” Isaac asked. Jacob nodded. “Well, you’re the expert.”
“Damn right I am, and it’s about time you acknowledged that.”
“Do forgive my impertinence.” Isaac channeled Yancy a little bit there.
“I guess I could be moved to try,” Jacob said, shifting. “It’ll cost you.”
“Can I pay in kisses?” Isaac asked with a grin.
“Well, I guess if that’s all you’ve got on you, sure, but…” Anything else Jacob might have said was cut off by Isaac’s mouth on his.
Jacob was a noisy kisser and Isaac was pretty happy to encourage that, not that he had to do much to elicit little gasps and moans and mewls. Mewls, like a cat, and it was the cutest thing. It made Isaac never want to stop kissing Jacob, which he suspected was a plan that would be met with agreement if he asked.
They ended up flat on the ground at some point, on their sides facing one another, holding on to each other, before they finally came up for air. “Your…” Jacob panted, hands firm on Isaac’s shoulders. “Your apology is accepted.”
“I’m glad,” Isaac said, also catching his breath. Jacob tasted like mint. “I missed you.”
“Sorry that it took me so long to come back,” Jacob murmured, his hand wandering down to clasp Isaac’s.
“It’s okay; you’ve got work.” Isaac smiled at him. And then a thought came to him, and Isaac paused.
Jacob didn’t seem to notice. “I feel bad. You weren’t really out looking for me every night, were you?”
“I told you, I take a lot of walks,” Isaac told him. “I kept my eye out but I wasn’t rending my clothes and tearing out my hair in grief when you weren’t here.”
“You should have been,” Jacob told him. “I think I’m worth the price of a new shirt, don’t you?”
“If you’re worried about it, why don’t you tell me when you’re coming back?” Isaac asked him. “Then I could meet you.”
“Wow, I never said I was worried.” Jacob shifted and didn’t manage to make eye contact. “I don’t really keep a firm schedule. It depends on, you know, things.”
“Right, of course.” Isaac took a breath, closed his eyes for a second before he was ready to speak again. “Jacob, I need to ask you something.”
“What is it? If I were to help you study for an exam, that would be cheating, you know. You shouldn’t cheat, Isaac.”
“It’s not that.” Isaac looked Jacob in the eye now. “What are you here to steal?”
For a moment there was silence, and Jacob just looked at him as if worried. “Why do you…”
“I’m not interested in stopping you,” Isaac said, hoping that was true. “I don’t care much about the academy. But I need to know.”
“Nothing important.”
“It is important, Jacob. The last person who tried to rob the academy also tried to kill me. I really like you, but I really need to know that you’re not working for that person.” Jacob wasn’t a wraith, from which Isaac took comfort. But at the same time, wraiths hadn’t worked and what if his mysterious attacker was trying a more mundane approach this time? Isaac was a little worried that he’d never thought about this until now. Maybe he shouldn’t be keeping Jacob’s break-ins a secret.
Jacob stiffened a little, eyes going a bit wide. “Someone tried to kill you? Are you okay, are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” Isaac assured him, touched at the sincerity. “It was a while ago.”
“I’m not trying to kill you, promise.” Jacob paused. “I’m pretty sure my boss isn’t either. And I’m pretty sure he’s never tried to have someone break into the academy before now. Because he’d have had me do it, so…”
“Okay.”
“All I’m after is some stuff that the archmage has. I don’t even think I need to break into the Vault, which is good because I think that’s impossible even for me, and I’m pretty good at this. It’s nothing dangerous, or anything. I think it’s mostly politics? I don’t follow politics much actually but I’m pretty sure…did you say okay?”
“Yeah.” Isaac nodded, and he kissed Jacob again, quietly. “I trust you. I just had to make sure.”
“We’ve only met three times,” Jacob chided, but his tone was fond. “You shouldn’t trust someone you’ve only met three times.”
“You trust me, don’t you?”
“Yeah, but you’re not dark and mysterious.”
“How do you know?” Isaac challenged.
“I know dark and mysterious when I see it.” Jacob nodded to himself. “You’re not that. You’re sort of…cuddly.”
“Cuddly?”
“Shut up.” Jacob squirmed. “That’s not what I meant to say.”
“What did you mean to say?” Isaac asked with a bit of a giggle.
“I think we should stop talking and kiss some more. You’re wasting my time with all this chatter and I’m too important for that.”
“Fair enough.” Isaac squeezed Jacob’s hand. “Plus I think I promised to put my hand down your pants.”
“Yeah, you should get better at keeping your promises.” Jacob paused for a second. “Um. Only if you want to, I mean. I’m not forcing you or anything.”
“I know.” Isaac disengaged his hand from Jacob’s and let it wander downwards, where he started undoing Jacob’s belt with a little awkwardness.
He got his hand inside and grabbed what he was looking for. Jacob hissed a little. “I bet you thought a lot about this,” Isaac muttered, giving him a stroke.
“Not…really,” Jacob tried, squirming. “Totally forgot all about it, actually. I get so many people offering to…oh, God.”
“Well, in that case I guess we don’t have to,” Isaac said, making as if to pull back.
“What, no, wait.”
Isaac smiled. “You shouldn’t lie to the person with his hand in your pants, Jacob. Bad form.”
“S-sorry,” Jacob strained, and he sounded it. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot, really. Too much, probably.”
“I thought so.” Isaac leaned in and kissed Jacob again. “See, now don’t you feel better telling me the truth.”
“God…”
“You’re confusing me with someone else.” Isaac wasn’t totally sure where he’d come up with this side of himself, but he was enjoying it. “Did you forget my name again, Jacob?”
“No…” Jacob was getting wetter in Isaac’s hand, and he was starting to tense up.
“Say my name, Jacob.”
“Isaac…” Jacob came in Isaac’s hand, making more of those mewling noises as he did. Isaac kissed him on the forehead as he did, and patted Jacob’s head with his free hand until he was through it. “You’re surprisingly sadistic.”
“Are handjobs considered sadistic where you’re from?” Isaac asked with a smile and another kiss. “Still think I’m cuddly?”
“Yes,” Jacob murmured, panting. “You made a mess in my pants.”
“The natural consequence of having my hand down there.”
“I feel the need to retaliate.”
“Consider me at your mercy, roguish intruder.”
“Mercy is for cuddly people.” Jacob’s hand found its way downward, and he deftly undid Isaac’s pants and wormed his hand in there. Untying Isaac’s pants proved to be the deftest part, but it was clear as Jacob took hold of him and started working that he was trying very hard. His expression, what Isaac could make out of it, was focused, and the entire way he held himself laying there in the dirt betrayed his concentration. He kept his other hand on Isaac’s shoulder.
Isaac was pretty sure that Jacob had never done this before, but he was doing a good job and after a minute Isaac felt himself starting to get there, and gripped Jacob’s arm as he did. “Jacob…” he whinged as he came.
“Ha,” Jacob said as Isaac recovered. “I didn’t even need to force you to say my name.”
Isaac flashed his teeth. “I wouldn’t make it a contest if I were you.”
Jacob withdrew his pants and made as if to move away, and Isaac moved into the gap and cuddled up against his side, clearly surprising Jacob a little. But Jacob settled in and put an arm around Isaac’s shoulder. “See? Cuddly.”
“Cuddling is nice,” Isaac retorted.
“Yeah, it is,” Jacob admitted, sounding hesitant. “Um. Was it good? I mean…”
“It was good,” Isaac interrupted, Jacob a kiss on the cheek. “You did a good job.”
“Of course I did.” Jacob scoffed, but then he demurred a little. “It was good when you did it too.”
“I’ve had a lot of practice.”
That hung in the air a moment. “Really?”
“Yeah. It’s fun.” The silence went on for another second. “It wouldn’t be fair to not tell you.”
“So, you, um. With other people?”
“Yeah.”
Jacob thought about that for a second. “Okay. Monogamy’s not all it’s cracked up to be anyway.”
“That’s what I think too.”
“But…I’m your favourite, right?”
Isaac smiled. “My favourite thief.”
“Fine.” Jacob frowned down at him. “I’ll accept that for now. But I’m going to keep going until you admit I’m the best out of everyone.”
“What if I never do?”
“Then I’ll just keep trying forever, I guess.”
“Aw.” Isaac kissed him again. “I like you too, Jacob.”
“Good. You should. I’ve put a lot of work into getting you to like me.”
They lay there for a while, looking up at the sky. “You didn’t need to put a lot of work into making me like you.”
“Now you tell me,” Jacob grumbled, holding Isaac a little closer. “I wanted to, though. I’ve never really met anyone I really wanted to like me before. Not like that, anyway. I mean.” Jacob tensed a little. “I know we’ve only met a few times, and stuff. But I really…”
“I know.” Isaac nodded against Jacob’s shoulder. “I’m glad you tried to get me arrested that time.”
“I’m glad you chased me.” Jacob seemed to be contemplating the stars. “Hey, Isaac?”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll be back in three days.”
Isaac lifted his head and looked at Jacob. “I thought you didn’t have a fixed schedule?”
“I changed my mind.”
Smiling, Isaac leaned in for another kiss. “I’ll wait here for you.”
“Good.” Jacob shifted as if uncomfortable, but he sounded happy.
They lay there for quite a while, just watching the stars.
—
How Best to Use a Sword 