Sometimes the World Seems to Shrink to Two People
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Pax probably could have gotten out of the night watch, but it was only fair that he do it when his turn came up just like everyone else. He was no stranger to staying up all night anyway and unlike certain other people, he wasn’t going to slack off while doing it. Pax was not known for slacking off under any circumstances, and the night when nobody could see him was no different. If anything, Pax obeyed rules and regulations more rigidly when nobody could see him. It was a mark of how devoted one was to the upholding of the rules, the determination with which they upheld them when it was only their own conscience keeping them in check. If anyone could see him, they would be very impressed with his dedication to his duty onboard this ship, but since the whole point was that nobody could see him, Pax was left to be impressed with himself.
It was a clear night, and warm. The sky was an explosion of stars reflected against the black of the ocean and the Sparkling Wind was moving gently through that mirror, following the half moon.
Pax may or may not have taken a few moments here and there to appreciate how beautiful it was. Only fools didn’t appreciate nature and nature loved to kill fools.
The ship was dark, lit only by the sky and the one lamp Pax was carrying. And it was silent but for the light wind, the low waves, the creaking of the ship and occasional flapping of the sails and Pax’s footsteps as he walked. There weren’t even birds, which was good. Birds in the dark would be the worst.
It was four hours yet until dawn. Pax looked out at the ocean as he walked, saw nothing that would threaten the Sparkling Wind, which spoke to his abilities as a night guardsman, he thought.
As he made his way back to the helm, Pax went by his cabin door and like always, he resisted the urge to check in on Nate to see if he was still there. Of course he was still there, Nate liked to sleep and besides, where else would he go in the middle of the night? One of the best things about Pax’s life at the moment was that Nate was in it and he always knew where Nate was, and knew that he wasn’t going to suddenly not be where he was meant to be.
It was very reassuring.
Only Nate wasn’t in their cabin, Pax saw as he passed the cabins and approached the helm. Because he was standing at the bow, looking out at the ocean.
Pax blinked, approached quietly. “You should be sleeping,” he said, not raising his voice too much.
Nate smiled, turned around. “I couldn’t. Got lonely.”
Pax sat the lamp on the deck near the wheel and went to join Nate. “You knew where I was,” he told Nate as he joined him, slipping an arm around him. Nate returned the gesture and they stood there watching the stars.
“I know. That doesn’t mean I didn’t get lonely.”
Pax rested his head on Nate’s shoulder. “Me too.” The only downside to night watch was that he had to spend all night alone without Nate. And then had to sleep in the morning by himself while Nate went to work.
“Besides, I was missing this spectacular view being inside,” Nate said, leaning his head to rest on Pax’s.
“It is really pretty, isn’t it?” Pax asked. “It just goes on forever. It makes it feel like it’s just us, sailing through eternity.”
“See.” Nate hugged Pax tighter. “I was just thinking that if you were here, you’d have something to say about it beyond that it was nice to look at.”
“Sorry.”
“It was a compliment. You’re really good with words.”
“Well…” Pax didn’t feel that way at the moment. “Thank you.”
“Come here.” Nate pulled Pax into his arms, breaking their study of the ocean, and kissed him. Pax kissed back and they held that for a while, framed by the moon. “I love you,” Nate said when they broke.
“I love you too,” Pax answered, looking up at Nate.
Pax wasn’t surprised in the slightest when, as Nate kissed him again, his hands wandered downwards, trying to loosen Pax’s belt a little. “I’m on duty,” he reminded Nate.
“You can take a break. There’s nothing out there for us to hit.”
“You know I’m not going to leave my post, Nate.”
“Then don’t,” Nate smiled, tugging at Pax’s shirt. “We can stay right here.”
Pax’s face probably outshone the lamp there for a moment. “Someone could see.”
“Who?” Nate waved around. “We’re out here by ourselves, Pax. Just you and me, sailing through eternity.”
“D-don’t throw my own lines back at me,” Pax grumbled. It wasn’t fair. It had just been a sentence when Pax had said it, when Nate repeated it suddenly it was a pick-up line.
“Is that a yes? We don’t have to.”
“Of course it was a yes, Nate, learn to read signals.” There was nobody to see them and the ship would survive without someone supervising the ocean for half an hour. Pax leaned back up and kissed Nate, hands working now to get his shirt over his head. It was easy enough since Nate hadn’t tucked it in when he’d gotten out of bed.
Nate was wearing the amulet Pax had gotten him, which Pax liked, so he kept that on as he helped Nate out of his shirt. Nate was having a bit of a harder time since he had to get Pax’s shirt untucked and navigate some hidden knives, but somehow he ended up getting Pax out of it in the same amount of time. Very skilled, was Nate.
The belt that held his heavy knife came undone with a click and a thunk as the weapon hit the ground. Nate got through Pax’s regular belt quickly and there was a duller thunk as his pants fell, the weight of his hidden blades dragging them down immediately. Nate smiled into Pax’s mouth. “Nice of you to keep those on. Makes undressing you easier.”
“Anything to facilitate that,” Pax muttered, still working at Nate’s belt. It was haphazardly tied and not hard to get undone. “You’re very fast at this.”
“Undressing you tends to be a top priority. I’ve gotten good at it.”
He had, in fact. Pax was standing there in just a few knife harnesses. “You going to finish the job or should I keep these on?” Pax asked, as he finished with Nate’s belt and gave his pants a light shove to get them down, leaving Nate in nothing but starlight.
“I kind of like them,” Nate admitted, stepping back to look at Pax, who tried not to shy under the attention. “But tonight I just want you.” Pax nodded, and Nate leaned in, started unstrapping the harnesses.
There were only four that Pax kept on his body instead of in his clothes, two on his chest and two on his inner thighs. Nate undid the top two first, each time kissing Pax under where the knife had been before tossing it on the pile of clothes. Then he kissed Pax on the mouth, smiled and got down on his knees to get at the last two.
Hard, quivering a little, Pax watched Nate slowly unstrap the harness on his left thigh, plant a kiss on the inside, toss the knife away. Then he went to the right, unstrapped, kissed. Lingered, for a minute, looking up at Pax, who was transfixed.
“You like me down here?” Nate asked, in a whisper.
Pax nodded.
“Good.” Nate gave Pax another kiss, higher up, then another and more after that, moving slowly up Pax’s thigh until he got right to the top. He gave Pax’s tight sac a kiss, then three on his shaft as he worked up, making Pax shudder and struggle to keep his feet.
The final kiss Nate put right on the head, and, looking up at Pax for a second, he lowered himself right down Pax’s length, taking it all into his mouth in one movement. “Oh, God, Nate…”
Nate held there for a minute, not moving no matter how much Pax might hope he would. Then, finally, he slid back up, licking up the shaft as he pulled off, letting Pax out of his mouth with a small pop.
Nate took Pax’s hands, pulled him down. “Come down here,” he urged, coaxing the shaking Pax down to his knees.
Pax didn’t resist, too weak to stand much longer anyway. Nate lay back once Pax was lower, and pulled Pax on top of him until they were level, face to face, their cocks pressed together, sliding because Pax was wet. Nate kissed Pax again, using his tongue, and Pax kissed back, their bodies grinding together as they touched. Pax could feel the metal of the amulet between them.
Grabbing Pax’s hand, Nate moved it downwards; Pax got the idea and reached for their pressed erections, but Nate stopped him, pulling him down farther, in between their bodies, down between Nate’s legs.
Pax stopped kissing, pulled up. “Are you sure?”
Nate nodded. “Please?”
“Okay,” Pax took his hand back, sucked on his own fingers for a second. Then he snaked his hand back down, kneeling a little between Nate’s legs as he spread them. Pax watched Nate’s face as he slid in finger down the crack, pressing it against Nate’s hole. “Ready?”
“I’m ready.”
Pax nodded, pressed his finger in, slowly. “Mmm, Pax…” Nate closed his eyes, took deep breaths as he relaxed, let Pax’s finger in. They’d done this once or twice before, so Pax knew Nate could handle a few fingers. He didn’t make Nate wait for the second one, sliding it in beside the first and flexing a little, giving Nate time to get used to it. Nate clenched around his hand so Pax waited until he relaxed again to start moving.
“Do you want the third one?” Pax asked, and Nate gave a slow nod. “Okay.” Pax took a breath himself, and slowly started to work the third finger inside, giving Nate time to get used to it but also not relenting, pressing in with determination until it was all the way buried inside Nate.
Pax gave Nate a second to adjust before he started moving his fingers, flexing and wriggling, exploring. He leaned down to kiss Nate again as he did, started thrusting his fingers in and out a little as he did.
A minute later Nate’s hand was around Pax. “I want…more than your fingers…”
Pax stopped, freezing in place. He looked down, looked Nate in the eye, and saw nothing but certainty and want, and knew Nate was seeing the same in him. They’d never done this before, but Pax was ready. “Okay.”
He slowly withdrew his fingers, and Nate let him go. Using one hand to push Nate’s leg aside and the other to guide himself. He was shaking a bit, but he wanted this as much as Nate did, and that made it easier. Pax pressed against Nate’s hole, watching him, taking a breath, pressing inside.
Tingling though his whole body, fire spreading from his abdomen. Pax pushed into Nate slowly, stopping when he encountered resistance. He slid out, gently thrusting in, getting farther with every thrust. Nate started making little sounds and bucking his hips in response, and Pax found himself speeding up.
One thrust planted Pax all the way inside and he gasped, falling forward on top of Nate. He wanted to kiss Nate but couldn’t reach him from here, so he kissed Nate’s neck and chin and chest as he kept going, and Nate kissed his forehead and hair, whispering Pax’s name.
A light breeze blew over them, cool against the sweat on Pax’s back as he thrust into Nate. He didn’t get up too much speed, preferring to go slowly and carefully, and he didn’t hear Nate complaining. Pax could feel it coming already, too soon, much too soon, and with a quiet cry he started to fill Nate, that fire spreading, warming him, warming both of them, and Nate was shooting against his chest. “Nate…”
When they were done, Pax collapsed, panting. He lay on top of Nate for a while, rising and falling with Nate’s breaths, Nate’s arms around him. When he could move again he pulled out, rolled off of Nate and lay beside him on the deck, looking up at the stairs.
“That was amazing,” Nate said, looking up at them.
Pax nodded. “Yeah. It was. Oh God,” he said a second later. “I can’t believe we did that out here. Right in front of the helm.”
“It’s fine.”
“The captain is going to know, Nate.”
“No, she’s not.”
“She totally is.” Natalie was probably just going to kill both of them.
“Who cares?” Nate asked.
Pax thought about that. “I do.” He paused, looking up at the stars. “But I’d still do it again.”
“Good. Now stop worrying and cuddle with me.”
“Okay.” Pax did just that, and together the two of them watched the sky. “I have to go back to duty.”
“I know. I have to go back to bed.” Nate kissed Pax on the cheek. “But let’s just lay here for a while. You and me.”
“Sailing through eternity.”
“Exactly.”
It really was a beautiful thing.
—
How Best to Use a Sword 