Author's notes: I needed a break from editing the next chapter of 'Kiss Kiss', and so I actually decided to write the first of my Tetheus x Kai-stern ficlets for the 30kisses challenge. Unlike 'Kiss Kiss', these are all separate stories and will not be connected in anyway or even posted together as one fic. Also unlike 'Kiss Kiss', these are all being posted as they are being written. The theme for this story is Overflow.
Overflow.
And they kiss.
Warm, hot. Demanding. It is always like this. Sometimes, it seems as though it has to be like this. They're not sure how to do this any other way.
So, they kiss. And it isn't gentle or nice, but it is far better than either of those could possibly ever be. It is possession and ownership, all the while masking as nothing more than casual, everyday lust.
They don't do this everyday, although that would be nice. But there are too many things – too many people – that have to be dealt to and with, although not quite in the same way they 'deal' to each other. Tetheus thinks Kai-stern has the mind of a 13 year old sometimes, and he's probably right.
But even if it would be nice, and even if there weren't other people and things to do, they wouldn't do this everyday. Certainly not in an abandoned corridor or in an empty stairwell, certainly not in either of their rooms – although they have never ventured into that territory before, so that last thought is redundant. Taverns and bars and random holes that pretend to be accommodation but really are just the outdoors with a couple of planks masquerading as floors and walls, those they frequent often enough.
Personal bedrooms, however, are out of bounds. Beyond those doors lie not merely beds that are actually comfortable and ensuites with running water, but permanence and promises. Which is what neither of them wants. Flings are meant to be fickle and fruitful, but rarely all that fulfilling. Well, fulfilling between the sheets or against a wall, perhaps, but not in the sense that any true emotional attachment will ever come about.
Relationships only make sex complicated. And this was never meant to get complicated.
Not that it is. Complicated.
There is nothing complicated about kissing, which is perhaps why they're both so very good at it. Slightly moist lips – Kai-stern isn't quite sure how they got that way – that part and participate, hands that wander and hold. Legs that buckle, shoulders that tense. Kissing has long since stopped being a mere meeting of mouths and turned into a full body contact sport.
And, yes. They're both very, very good at kissing. But they're even better at what comes next. Buttons are teased before falling forgotten to the side, belts playfully pattered before slowly unbuckled. They could draw this out forever, and it would never even begin to bore either of them. Whether they had intended to test that theory right then will never to be known, as voices filter through the corridors, the echoing nature of stone providing fair warning for those who wished to be caught with their trousers up and their tunics properly in place. There is, even then, little time to properly right oneself, especially given the fussy nature of Tetheus' shirt. They end up in a nearby storage room instead, Tetheus pressed against the door and Kai-stern pressed against Tetheus. Breathless, breathless. They wait until the two voices pass. It is only once quiet reclaims the halls that they notice that the belt that Tetheus has half clenched around his fist is also half dangling on the other side of the door.
Kai-stern finds it amusing, far too amusing to not respond to, and he ducks his head against Tetheus' chest in an attempt to muffle his chuckles. Tetheus snorts, but in Tetheus language that is really a laugh, and strong arms wrap around Kai-stern and draw him closer as he desperately attempts to gain control over his snickers, least someone else comes by and enquires over what a janitor's closet could find quite so humorous.
It is one of those bad moments that they try never to have. Gentle and warm and horribly familiar, it holds no place in their strictly sex, strictly lust relationship. Kiss, fuck, sleep. Be gone before the other wakes in the morning. Simple and uncomplicated, but more importantly no hopelessly fragile emotions involved. Emotions can shatter and destroy, and when there is an eternity to live and a kingdom at stake, broken bonds of professionalism are potentially far too destructive.
Tetheus drops his head slightly so it rests gently on Kai-stern's, a smile there even though only the darkness can see it.
And Kai-stern could do this everyday. But they can't.
They shouldn't.
So they don't.
They kiss, and it means everything.