Admiration


The night air was tense as Lon'qu took a deep breath. He had been standing outside Khan Basilio's tent for a good hour now, alternating between opening the flap and going in, and leaving in a huff to try again another day. The Myrmidon breathed a frustrated sigh, and held his head in his hand. This had been going on for about a week or so, which was an unusual sight to the people in the camp. Usually, Lon'qu held no hesitation when wanting to speak to the West-Khan. But as of late, every time Basilio was around, he acted very cautious. Not because he was afraid, but because of a feeling much deeper than that.

Lon'qu turned his head and surveyed the camp around him, the embers of the dying fires were floating about in the wind before eventually going out themselves. Most of the Shepards had already gone to bed, with the others out and about on patrol. Most nights, Lon'qu was the first to volunteer to secure the perimeter around camp. It used to be just about obeying orders, but lately it was about avoiding the West-Khan during down time as much as possible.

Again he sighed to himself and shook his head. 'So pathetic…' he thought to himself. Behavior such as this was foreign to him. He wasn't sure how to handle it, or rather, he didn't know how to handle it. Gods, if Basilio, or anyone saw him acting so wishy-washy right now, he would never live it down!

He closed his eyes and took a deep, long breath. He straightened his posture, and prepared himself mentally to speak with control, but his nerves betrayed him.

"K-Khan Basilio? It is I, Lon'qu. May I request p-permission to-"

"Gods, what's gotten into you, boy?! Quit that babble, you can enter!"

The West-Khan's thunderous voice easily breached the cloth wall of the tent, which in turned caused the Myrmidon to wince sharply. Not even ten seconds in, and he had already made a fool of himself. If he were any weaker, he would have given up and gone back to his tent, forgetting this disaster ever happened. But no, he steeled himself the best he could, and opened the tent flap.

'It needs to be said…'

As Lon'qu walked into the dimly lit tent, the distinct scratching sound of Basilio sharpening his axe rang loud throughout his ears. He walked over with a brisk pace to face his Lord who still remained sitting, not bothering to look up until he deemed his trusty weapon sharp enough.

Basilio gave his axe one final stroke before he laid it down beside him and crossed his arms, looking up at his former champion. A small frown laid plainly upon his face.

"So, you've finally decided to stop giving me the cold shoulder, eh boy?"

At that Lon'qu took a sharp breath. So he noticed. Then again, how could he not? Several times during the past week, whenever Basilio walked into the mess hall, he dodged out of the room. Whenever they were traveling, Lon'qu always made it a point to stay at the rear, when Basilio was near the front. From the Khan's post of view, it must have looked utterly disrespectful. That notion however, never crossed Lon'qu's mind.

He took a deep breath, and looked directly into his superior's eye.

"Why did you send me away?"

Basililo blinked slowly out of disbelief. Well THAT certainly wasn't what he was expecting to hear. At first he thought Lon'qu was kidding, but the expressionless look on his comrade's face said other wise. Whatever was about to happen next, Lon'qu didn't expect either.

"HA!" The larger man chortled, slapping his thigh as he stood up. He brought his giant hand down on Lon'qu's shoulder, which caused his body to shake. "Is THAT what this about, boy? You know why, you lost a match fair and square! An' besides, it all worked out in the end right? Ha ha!"

Although the answer was obvious, Lon'qu felt his heart sink, and tightened his fist as Basilio removed his hand to bring it back across his chest, still chuckling.

"Y-yes, well, in the end, things worked out ideally, however I thought you would be more…"

Lon'qu trailed off and turned his head, his eyes shifting from the Khan to the floor. Basilio turned around and put his hands on his waist.

One eyebrow raised. "More? Be more what?"

Letting his fists relax, the Myrmidon focused his sight once again on the larger man. This time a small blush accompanied his cheeks.

"…More…more hesitant."

He looked toward his Lord to see if he had sparked any reaction, taking a small step forward as he continued, the red in his cheeks becoming more fluorescent.

"You could have just ignored me, passed me by that day. But you took me in, because you admired my skills, as I have admired yours. But the longer I fought for you… as your champion, you…I came to realize that I admired you in your entirety…and not just your skills. When-when I lost that match…I wasn't expecting to just be…given away or be treated as a sellsword! While it might have been for a good cause…I was hoping, maybe foolishly so, that I meant something more to you…"

Lon'qu once again searched his superior's face, looking for something, anything that could possibly be read as confirmation. While his own was the most vulnerable it ever looked.

Basilio's response was silence, and began walking towards his former champion. With every step that Basilio took, Lon'qu began to feel more and more foolish, and turned his head away, not being able to bear looking at the man he so dearly admired, shunning his confession with utter emptiness.

As the West-Khan approached him, Lon'qu opened his mouth to say "Forgive me", but he was never even given the chance. The larger man gently grabbed his chin and turned his head to face him, and proceeded to give Lon'qu his real response, which took him utterly by surprise.

Lon'qu moaned slightly as Basilio placed his mouth onto his, cupping his tousled hair with firm hands. While Lon'qu's own hands tensed up at first, they soon relaxed, while slowly reaching up to place them on the Khan's sturdy arms for support.

After a short amount of time, the larger man pulled away, grinning down at his comrade, whose face was as red as can be. Lon'qu was shocked, but no doubt happy at much welcomed response.

Basilio could only smirk. "How's that for hesitant, boy?"

Given no time to react, the Khan swooped down for another kiss. Reaching for the Myrmidon's red sash, he swiftly undid it and tossed it to the floor, grabbing the coat next, he began to lift it up, push it down, and threw it on top of the sash.

The warm kiss was again broken when Basilio pulled back to remove Lon'qu's shirt, causing him to gasp as he caught his breath.

"K-Khan Basilio, I-"

The fabric was lifted over his face, cutting him off briefly. As soon as the rest of his shirt was pulled off, the darker skinned man came in close, breathing into his ear as his hands worked on unfastening Lon'qu's pants.

"Heh, formalities don't really go hand n' hand with these type of situations, wouldn't you agree?"

"B-Basilio!"

"That's more like it!"

Basilio removed the last bit of clothing from the pale man's body, leaving him completely bare, with the exception of his armguards. Light scars were found all over his upper chest, reflecting his years as a champion. He pressed his heavy lips onto Lon'qu's neck, pushing him into the nearest table, which resulted in an audible 'thud!'

Lon'qu moaned louder, his cheeks flushed as his superior kissed his upper body, not even noticing that the rest of had been pushed into a rough edge for support. The Khan's lips left his neck, and started to trail downwards, his hands not too far behind.

Almost immediately, one hand lifted up Lon'qu's hardened length, which Basilio took as an invitation to kiss. He placed his lips on the base and worked his way up, which directly caused Lon'qu to gasp loudly, that then evolved into moaning.

A traditional smirk worked its way onto Basilio's lips as he continued to kiss his partner's shaft. The hand that was holding it up brought it down, allowing him to place his mouth at the tip, and started to move forward. The result sent what felt like shocks up and down Lon'qu's spine.

"Ah! A-ah! Basilio! I- AH!" He couldn't even complete his sentence as superior's pace quickened, lasting for a few moments that seemed like hours. Eventually Lon'qu's back straightened swiftly, and yelped as he felt a warm fluid leave him. Now a heavy scarlet flushing in his cheeks, he peered down, watching his Lord swallow all of him with no delay.

As Basilio finished, he grinned not in a smug way, but a in reassuring way. He did so as he stood up, unfastening his own pants and tossing them aside. In almost one complete motion, he took the remaining white fluid from Lon'qu's arousal, rubbing it on his finger as he picked him up for better access. Slowly, Basilio's finger entered the Myrmidon, gently easing into him. Lon'qu winced loudly in response, his hands shooting forward to latch onto the Khan's back for support.

He kept his head facing down, eyes shut, with his breathing picking up in pace. "Ah-Basilio! P-Please!"

Basilio chuckled softly in response. He found a small bit of humor in the man who spent nearly all his life seemingly emotionally distant, is now here with him, emotions pouring out of him, begging to be closer.

He removed his finger slowly, and went on to place a firm grip on his buttocks, lifting his entire body to position him onto his own hardened member. With the other hand he guided it to Lon'qu's entrance, letting him hover before slowly pushing him in, causing Lon'qu to take a sharp intake of breath, moaning louder and louder as Basilio ventured deeper and deeper. It didn't take long for him to be fully inside, so he repositioned his hands to firmly grip Lon'qu's hip, and slowly began to pull out, only to push back in a second later.

The West-Khan picked up the pace as he rapidly began moving back and forth, causing him to slightly grunt with each thrust. Lon'qu threw his head skyward and moaned with passion in rhythm with his Lord. His hold on Basilio's back tightened as his body was entered over and over with such intensity and passion by the only man he ever wanted.

Basilio's brow furrowed as his back straightened, grunting as he let his release flow into Lon'qu, who in turn let loose his final yelp.

The larger man, while still inside him, set the Myrmidon down on the table, letting both of them catch their breaths, which were shallow and ragged. After a moment, Lon'qu raised his eyes to look at Basilio, who met him with one eye back.

"I didn't just take you in because I admired your skills, boy. I loved the whole package."

Lon'qu's face lit up, causing the glow in his cheeks to shine even brighter. "Kha-…Basilio, you… love me?"

Basilio placed his forehead against Lon'qu's disheveled hair, genuinely smiling as he did so.

"Heh…I guess I do."