After Something Dramatic, It’s Good to Spend A Few Quiet Minutes Together
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Ron?
Yeah?
You can hear me?
Of course I can hear you, James.
Good. That’s good. I need you to do something, okay?
Of course. What do you need?
I need you to wake up.
Ron blinked his eyes open, reaching up to rub his face. He was in a wood hut, leaves hanging down from the ceiling, on a bed of…moss? Maybe. “Morning,” he said to James, whom he couldn’t see. “I…”
The cave. The demon, the faeries. Right, the stone. James. Oh. “James!”
Ron started, trying to sit, but a hand—James’s hand—held him in place. “It’s okay, you’re okay,” James told him, coming into view. “I’m here. I’m fine.”
“You’re…” Ron sat up when James’s hand moved, but slowly. He was sitting there beside him, a little pale but fine like he’d said. He’d been stabbed, but… “You’re okay.”
James nodded. “I’m okay. You healed me.”
Ron…remembered that. The forest filling him up, becoming part of him, or making him part of it, maybe. He could still feel it. “How? What happened?”
“I’m not totally certain,” James admitted, holding Ron’s hand. “I was unconscious, so this is second-hand from Estelle. It sounds like you channeled the forest’s power to heal me, and to heal the barrier around the creature inside that stone.”
Ron would have thought it would be second-hoof, but maybe that was racist. His throat was dry, but before he could even say that, James handed him a wood cup with water in it and he drank deeply. “That…sounds a lot more like something you’d do than something I’d do. Seeing as you’re a witch and I’m not.”
James held Ron’s hand in his, looking into his eyes. “I’m not sure that’s true anymore, Ron.”
Ron wasn’t either, and he swallowed, feeling the music inside him. “Because of when you healed me.” James had poured the forest into his soul, he’d said.
“That’s my guess. I can’t be sure.”
“I didn’t know that was possible. To just turn someone into a…into a witch.”
“Neither did I. I’ll talk to Grandma about it, and Cameron.” James took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I should never have done something that big to you.”
Ron shook his head, squeezing James’s hand. “I’m not that upset. It’s great. It’s…something else we’ll have in common.” It was something that brought him closer to James. It meant that he was, in a deeper, more tangible way, connected to James, through the forest.
“Okay.” James was holding in a smile. “I…I think so too. I felt bad, but I also remember, when I felt you healing me, I was so happy. I was so proud of you.”
“I don’t even…know what I did. I was just scared.” Ron had been so scared. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.” James had almost died because he hadn’t been close enough.
“But you did protect me,” James insisted. “You did. I would have died without you. And I’ll teach you about what you did.”
Ron smiled now, a chuckle forming in his throat. “Great. Me and Isaac can be students together.”
“I’m sure he’ll like that,” said James, reaching up and tugging at a lock of Ron’s hair. Ron blinked.
“When did my hair get down there?” He reached up to feel it, felt it almost halfway down his back.
“I guess when you were channeling the forest. It’s pretty. All woven through with flowers.”
Ron blushed, wondering what it looked like. “I’m not sure I want to have long hair.”
James nodded. “We’ll see about cutting it when we get home. We’re going to have to stay in the hamlet for a few days.”
“Right.” Ron swallowed. Esteban was dead, he thought. “Is Estelle the chief now?”
“Yes. Well, not yet. She was unanimously selected right after we got back, from what I hear, but they can’t formally name her until after Esteban’s funeral. The faeries who were in the cave with us are okay as well. Daffodil’s friend was hurt quite badly, but Spike thinks he’s going to be okay. It’s hard to kill a faery.”
Ron nodded, glad for that, and feeling a little bad that he hadn’t thought about them until now. “He’s the one who used the ice magic, right? He basically killed the demon by himself.”
“Yes. It’s good to know someone can do that,” James agreed. “I want you and I to go back to that cave once we’re up to it. I need to check on whatever that thing is, make sure it’s properly sealed. Not because I don’t think you sealed it properly,” he added, before Ron could speak. “But because I’m worried about what the demon might have done to it that we didn’t notice.”
“I’m sure I didn’t do a very good job,” Ron said, not worried about that. Well, worried that the thing might escape and kill them all. But not that he might not have been a very good witch after two minutes of being one. “You’ll have to clean up after me.”
“We’ll see.” James was still playing with Ron’s hair. “I should go out and tell everyone you’re awake.”
Ron nodded, keeping hold of James’s hand. “Don’t go yet?”
“I won’t,” James promised, and Ron knew he didn’t want to either. “While we’re in here, would you like me to put your cage back on?”
Ron swallowed. Of course James had known what was in the back of his mind. “Not yet, if that’s okay? But I should take off my clothes?” Ron asked it as a question on purpose.
James nodded, and he helped Ron out of his shirt, untangling his hair from it when it got stuck, and then getting him out of his pants.
Ron watched as James stood up, slowly dressing himself completely, already hard. Ron kept his mouth a little open, just in case James wanted a blowjob, but James just crouched back down, then got in Ron’s lap, directing Ron to hold him in place. James put one hand on the back of Ron’s head, tugging his hair a little, and one hand around both their dicks.
James kissed him, gentle and long, tongue in his mouth, and he started stroking them together, the hardness of his dick rubbing against Ron’s, a huge contrast to the feel of his hand, strengthening everything he was feeling. Ron started to leak fluid, making the whole thing sticky too.
James stopped kissing him for a second. “When was the last time you came?”
“It was…” Ron had to think for a bit. “Not that long ago. The night we did the ritual.”
James nodded. “Okay. You can cum if you want. But then no more until we get home. If you can hold off, I’ll let you have as many orgasms as you want tonight. Your choice.”
“Okay,” Ron whispered, and he kissed James again, pulling him closer, sliding one hand down his back to hold him under the butt. James pulled Ron’s head a little closer and kissed him more aggressively, but still mostly slow. He didn’t pick up speed with his hand.
Ron felt warm all over, like he was being touched everywhere. The music of the forest, of James, was swirling around them, filling him up, reacting with everything they did, and Ron wondered if this was how James felt all the time. He could feel James just as strongly as himself, as if they were the same person.
He didn’t need to be told that this ended when James came, one way or the other. Ron had already made his choice. As appealing as the idea of multiple orgasms tonight was, he wanted this moment. He wanted James, he wanted to be together with James and the forest and everything, right now, for as long as it would last.
He did hold it in for a minute when it came, however, because he felt it, and he wanted it to last, and last, and he wanted to cum at the same time as James. And so when he felt James starting to build—felt it just as strongly as he felt his own—Ron let his own control go, and what he was feeling and what James was feeling became the same, and they both orgasmed, both had the same orgasm, one powerful blast racing through both of them, carrying them away into a sea of music for a few minutes.
It took a while to pass, but when it did, music returning to normal, James kissed Ron one more time, resting his head against Ron’s shoulder. “I’m glad you chose that.”
“Me too,” Ron said, holding him there, shaking a little. “I am too.”
James nodded, eyes closed. I love you.
Ron heard that, in his chest rather than in his ears. I love you too. He could feel James smiling all around him. “How did you do that?”
“How did we do that,” James corrected. “The forest is inside both of us now. That’s how.”
“That’s really nice. Is this how you feel all the time?”
“No.” James hugged him. “Or at least it didn’t used to be. It’s changed since we started taking care of each other.”
The warmth that sent through Ron resonated through the room like a bell. “Thank you.”
“You did the hard part.” James sighed. “We’re going to have to tell everyone you’re awake. They’re worried.”
Ron nodded. “But we can wait a few minutes, right?”
“Yes,” James said, holding him in place. “We can wait a few minutes.”
And Ron relished that time, those few minutes before they had to go back outside, those few minutes spent alone with James and the forest.
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How Best to Use a Sword 