Ral groaned under his breath, leaning back in his chair. He reminded himself he didn't have to be here. He could go back to his lab any time he damn well pleased. But it was hard for him to say no to Jace these days, for some reason. Ever since as far back as the Project Lightning Bug debacle, they'd been on first-name terms. Grabbing coffee together. That kind of thing. Ral would almost go so far as to call them friends.

Okay, so Jace had up and vanished for a good two or three weeks in the middle of all that, supposedly "saving the Multiverse" and Ral's immediate reaction to that was, admittedly, fuck the Multiverse, but Jace had already demonstrated a significantly increased capacity for taking on responsibilities compared to Ral—if not actually managing to pay attention to them, come on, Guildpact, where were you two weeks ago when the Golgari nearly ate the Rakdos alive (literally)?

At any rate, the point was—Ral stalled. He wasn't sure he knew what the point was anymore. Jace had asked him to come to a meeting of this 'Gatewatch' (that was a stupid name. Surely they knew that it was a stupid name?) and what Ral should have said was "I'm far too busy working on science," but what he actually said was, "Um. I suppose I could."

So now he was trying desperately not to yawn as he sat through a discussion of potential interplanar policies, or something of that nature. Lavinia and Gideon were doing most of the talking, and they were mostly talking to each other, while Chandra zoned out with a bored expression, Nissa—Ral could swear the elf was asleep, but she was probably just meditating, and the absolutely stunning woman Jace had introduced as Liliana had a perfect expression of genuine interest on her face that Ral was positive she was faking.

He earned a glare from Lavinia for rocking his chair slightly too hard, so he set himself upright and sprawled forward, chin resting on his arms, and watched Jace, who was starting to get entangled in the debate as well. At the beginning of the meeting, the Living Guildpact had looked cool and unruffled, every hair in place, and Ral found it very entertaining to watch as his illusions gradually dissipated as he got more and more distracted. Jace's face softened slightly around the edges when that happened—he really did like to give himself a sharper chin—and his hair flopped messily over his eyes. There was also an angry flush growing across his cheekbones, which was—cute. Maybe something a bit more than cute, actually.

Mother of rains, Ral mused, he'd like to see what Jace looked like underneath the layers of fabric and illusions. He probably wasn't stick-thin—presumably Lavinia kept him well-fed—and Ral couldn't imagine the mind mage was anything other than soft around the edges. He definitely wouldn't have muscles. Ral bit his lip as a number of hazy thoughts suggested themselves to him, wondering why the image of Jace, leaning back, in nothing but that stupid cloak, was so appealing to him. That same flush high on his cheekbones, hair mussed, voice rising—

Jace's voice stuttered to a halt across the table; Lavinia and Gideon, who were still talking loudly, didn't appear to have noticed. The Guildpact turned suddenly toward Ral, and the blush was spreading right up to his ears.

Oh, hell. Jace, get the fuck out of my head. A sudden, sharp cascade of sparks burst from the area around his gauntlet and showered across the table. Of course Jace had been in his head. What, had he just been eavesdropping on everyone for fun? Ral felt stripped, laid bare. He ought to have been angry, but instead, all he could think was, well, there goes the friendship, and that left him with an unexpectedly hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"I have to go," he said brusquely, sliding his chair back and practically leaping out of his seat. Heads turned to stare. "Uh, just, you know, Izzet stuff." Ral waved a hand vaguely and headed for the door, shoving the jittery, buzzing feeling into the back of his head. He could deal with it later. For now, it was time to leave. It was definitely—it was time to leave.

Groaning, Ral flung himself down into the chair in front of his desk. This was a nightmare. This whole damn thing—he sighed. It didn't matter. It was irrelevant; he wouldn't have made a good addition to the Gatewatch even if he'd wanted to, and he needed to get back to work, or Niv would probably take his head off at their next meeting.

A soft knock on his door earned a breathless snarl of something that might have been intended to be "go away," but Ral wasn't sure he was coherent enough to even understand himself. In any case, it certainly wasn't coherent to whoever was on the other side of the door, because after a moment, the door opened.

"Tanit," Ral groaned to whoever it was. "Please go away."

"Um," said Jace Beleren. "I'm really sorry about, uh…" He waved a hand. "I didn't mean to intrude, I was sort of running on autopilot."

Lightning sparked from Ral's gauntlet to his shoulder, but he managed a shrug. "Apology accepted. Now get the fuck out of my lab."

"I'll go if you want really want me to," Jace said, shifting nervously from foot to foot. "But I thought I owed you something of a confession." Despite himself, Ral's eyes were drawn to Jace's cheekbones, that damn red flush painted across both of them. Jace's eyes were cast down, staring at something near his feet, but after a minute, he looked up and caught Ral's gaze. "You're not the only one who has fantasies," Jace said clearly. "And I'd be—" he took a long, hiccupping breath, fascinating Ral with the movement of his chest, "—more than happy to make yours a reality."

"Of course you're not the only one who has fantasies, Ja—what." There was a slight shimmer in the air, and most of Jace's clothing vanished. He leaned back against the door, biting his lip in a way Ral thought was incredibly unfair. And there were definitely no muscles. Jace wasn't fat, not by a long shot, but he wasn't skinny either. His stomach poked out slightly over his hip-bones, and—yes, he was very definitely soft around the edges. In most places.

Ral swallowed. "Are you fucking with me?" he asked incredulously.

"What? Krokt, no." One hand reached up to scratch at the back of his neck. "No, I—I wouldn't."

"You—really—"

Jace took a step forward, nodding shakily. "I really really." A nervous laugh bubbled out of his throat, and he knelt between Ral's legs. "I really want to, um."

"Did you actually, seriously, walk to Nivix naked to give me a blow-job?"

Bright red. Jace's face was bright red. And, from the shape of his chin, he hadn't remembered to put up any illusions, so the Living Guildpact did absolutely go red from chin to ears when he was embarrassed. "You wanted to see me naked," he said defensively.

"You could have taken your clothes off in my lab!"

Jace's mouth opened and shut. "W-Well," he stammered. "I wanted to surprise you?"

"You're dumb," was what Ral meant to say. What actually came out was a not-at-all-sufficiently-annoyed, "you're cute." Hurriedly, he managed to continue, "And also very dumb."

"Look, do you want a damn blow-job or not?"

"Defensive much, Beleren?"

With a sigh, Jace sat back on his heels. "Let me explain something to you about my romantic history," he said, sounding chagrined. "The first couple of times I just—checked their heads to see what they liked—"

Frowning, Ral opened his mouth to point out that, technically speaking, Jace had just done that exact thing, but the mind mage forestalled him, raising a frustrated hand. "Yes, I know, but I didn't mean to. I did that on purpose, and it was—fine—they liked it, and then they—left anyway. But they liked it. Then I actually lost my virginity to—someone who—didn't actually give a shit about me, but she pretended she did." For some reason, Jace's eyes slid away, one hand reaching up to tug at a stray curl. "And then the next person I was interested in asked me to erase a lot of our interactions from her head. I am not good at this. I was trying to figure out how to say—that—you…" he trailed off. "And then I looked over at a bad time, and then you were running away, and I just—I didn't want this to be another wasted opportunity."

"Goddammit, Jace." But Ral was aware that his voice sounded slightly hollow.

"We both want this, don't we?" Jace was frowning at the ground. "Look, I—I get it if you're not looking for something long term or anything, but there's nothing wrong with, you know, messing around a little, right? I can make it worth your while, even if you don't want me—" he tapped a hand on his forehead, eyes briefly glowing blue.

"Jace," Ral groaned. "Will you let me get a word in edgewise already?"

Jace's shoulders slumped with a shuddering sigh. "Sorry."

"I don't have a fantastic history either," Ral continued begrudgingly. "Something about the possibility of electrocution seems to turn people off." He illustrated by sending a spark popping from his finger to Jace's nose, and the mind mage jerked slightly. "See? Are you sure you want to risk that in your mouth?"

Jace took a deep breath. "Yes," he said, firmly, and Ral blinked at him.

"Wow, okay," he said. "You're stupider than I thought you were." The words lacked force, however, and he found himself reaching down gently to brush his hand roughly through Jace's hair. "Anyways, who said I just wanted a quick fuck or whatever?" he muttered. "I actually tolerate your company. You're less stupid than most people."

A surprised, amused snort. "Less stupid than most people? Thanks, Ral."

"What? You are." His hand was still in Jace's hair, and he tugged at it in frustration. This time the noise Jace made was less amused, and more a half-breathy moan. "Hm," Ral said, and tugged again, with interest. Jace let his head fall back and made another noise, high in his throat, his hands clenching and unclenching, tight at his sides. "All right, then." Ral was grinning but terrified, the hairs on his arms standing up just slightly. "Well, then, Guildpact, show me a good time. And for fuck's sake, don't go anywhere afterwards."

He hadn't actually thought it would work, Jace thought distractedly as he leaned forward. He'd just known he had to try to fix the mess he'd managed to get himself into, and maybe stop Ral from hating him. And now he was trembling and painfully hard, and every careless movement of Ral's hand sent sensation shooting through his scalp. And now he had to somehow figure out how to give someone a blowjob without poking around in their head; that, too.

Somewhere in his memories, there had to be a useful one. Someone in there had to have done this before, but try as he might, he couldn't bring anything to mind except for the extremely uncomfortable image of Liliana giving him—no. Better not to go there.

Logically speaking, the first step was to get access, right? "Let me get your belt," he gasped, and Ral made a groaning, breathless sound above him as Jace leaned in. There were too many buckles, and Jace found himself wrestling with the fastenings in a way that wasn't even remotely erotic. After a minute of this, Ral sighed theatrically, and reached down to undo it himself. Frustratedly, Jace slapped his hand away and used his mind instead. His telekinesis was weak, but it was significantly more intuitive for him this way, and he had the satisfaction of watching Ral's hips twitch when his mental touch brushed against the Izzet mage's erection.

"Fuck," Ral panted, sounding surprised, as Jace reached forward eagerly to loosen the enclosing cloth. And now Jace was right back to square one, because he was staring at Ral's cock, bright red and hard, leaking clear fluid from the end. All right. So he couldn't do this his normal way, but surely he could just—think about what he'd like? Tentatively, he reached out and took Ral carefully in hand, then licked a long stripe along the base to the tip. Ral's hips jerked up, and he gave vent to a strangled obscenity, pulling at Jace's hair again. "Hnf," Jace gulped intelligently, his eyes sliding shut without intent. Ral's free hand brushed against his cheek, and Jace turned his head for a moment, kissing Ral's fingers and then sucking them into his mouth.

"Fuck—Jace—fuck—" Ral gasped sharply, and Jace moaned around the fingers. He'd almost forgotten what having something in his mouth—having someone's fingers in his mouth—what that did to him, and now his hips kept trying to move, his own erection bobbing, the tops of his hips occasionally brushing against it. Jace whined and found himself drooling slightly as he sucked on Ral's fingers. Then a sharp pinprick of strangeness burst in his mouth, and he was sitting back dazedly as Ral cursed a blue streak and snatched his hand back.

"Mother of storms," Ral snarled. "I told you."

"It'th fine," Jace mumbled, probing the inside of his mouth with his tongue cautiously. "Barely even hurt at all." Admittedly, his lips and tongue were tingling slightly, but the sensation wasn't entirely unpleasant anyway. Red-faced, Ral twisted at the dial on his gauntlet and started to pull his trousers back up. "Ral, please," Jace said helplessly.

"I don't want to hurt you," Ral growled angrily.

"And I don't think you're going to, I told you."

"I already did!" Ral threw his hands in the air in irritation. "Goddammit, Jace, I lost control over you sucking on my fingers! What the fuck do you think is going to happen if I come in your mouth?"

Jace stared at him stupidly. Ral was trying to make a point, he was really very sure that Ral was trying to make a point. But all he could hear was come in your mouth, and he'd been so sure he couldn't possibly get any harder, but—

"Krokt, Jace, are you drooling? That is not the correct response!"

Frantically wiping his mouth on the back of his hand, Jace tried desperately to regain the shreds of his dignity. "I like things in my mouth!" he said defensively.

"I can see that!" For a long moment, they stared at each other. Ral was still trembling, his pupils blown dark and wide, the gauntlet on his arm humming with power. He groaned and then grabbed Jace's hair, yanking him up onto his knees, and kissed him hard. Jace moaned into his mouth, deepening the kiss, and grabbed at Ral's knees for balance. Even so, he nearly toppled over forward, but managed to steady himself eventually, though the shifting motion sent hot pleasure spiking through him again, groin to chest.

Despite Ral's misgivings and the tension Jace could still feel in his shoulders and back, he didn't stop Jace this time as the mind mage dragged his lips down the side of Ral's mouth and began nipping his way down the side of Ral's throat. Instead, Ral's hand moved onto Jace's head again, running through his hair, nails scraping loosely across his scalp. "Oh, Krokt, yes," Jace managed breathlessly, and then he dropped back down and took Ral clumsily into his mouth.

There was a strangled noise followed by a sizzling pop as two little sparks dropped onto the back of Jace's neck, and he keened at the sensation, his hand tightening just slightly at the base of Ral's cock.

"Fuuuuuck," Ral managed. Jace's eyes slid shut as Ral's hand moved, and he closed his lips, trying to suck. He could feel saliva trickling out of the corner of his mouth, and he could taste salt on his tongue, and oh god the feeling of his lips and tongue wrapped around Ral; his cheeks were already aching but it was so good, pinpricks of almost-pain in his head where Ral was tugging on his hair, and in his cock, where it kept knocking against his leg as moved jerkily up and down.

For a long moment, they were moving in tandem, Jace rising as Ral did, his hand steady on the base of Ral's erection. Then Jace's leg gave out, and he wavered; Ral kept hitching his hips forward and abruptly Jace was gagging and pulling back, dry heaving for a moment toward the floor. "Shit," Ral said, sounding worried. "You okay?"

"I' fi'," Jace mumbled, swallowing around what was suddenly a mouthful of drool. "Jus' gi' 'e a sec." He smiled up at Ral, already dopey with endorphins. "I'm really not good at this, I'm sorry."

Ral rolled his eyes. "You're fishing for a compliment."

"I'm not!" Jace protested, but the raised eyebrow and grin that Ral shot at him made further heat rise to his already-hot cheeks. "Not much, anyway. As long as you're enjoying yourself."

"No, I'm just thrusting desperately into your mouth because I'm bored, Jace."

This time it was Jace who raised an eyebrow. "Are you telling me you wouldn't?"

Ral grinned lazily. "Are you telling me," he said, leaning forward and brushing his fingers across Jace's lips, "that you wouldn't like me to?"

Jace shuddered, and a mewling noise dropped from his lips before he could stop it. "Oh, Krokt," he moaned breathlessly, and then they were both leaning forward again. Jace braced himself against Ral's leg with one hand, and guided Ral's cock to his mouth again with the other. Ral's hand tightened in his hair, and he grunted softly as Jace tried to start sucking again.

It didn't entirely work. His cheeks and jaw were starting to tire already, and he kept losing track of what he was doing, because he was close enough that at this point he was basically thrusting against Ral's leg. Ral was moving now, as if he couldn't stop, hips hitching up and bumping against Jace's hand where it held the base of his erection loosely. Jace slid himself to the side and slid his tongue across the base of Ral's shaft, and Ral moaned desperately again, hand twisting roughly in Jace's hair. Jace cried out sharply, desperately, his hips snapping forward, and the sensation of Ral's leg against him this time was enough to tip him right over the edge, sudden and almost painful. There was a roaring in his ears.

Very distantly, he heard Ral make a desperate sound as well, "J-Jace—I—" and as Jace blinked back to himself, Ral's hand clenched against him hard, and he climaxed as well. Unfortunately, Jace was still too limp and out of it to know whether he was supposed to pull back or not, and he ended up with a half-a-mouthful of bitter salt as well as a warm splatter across his face and chest.

"Ah, shit, sorry," Ral said after a moment, slumping forward.

Jace swallowed, shuddered at the taste, and laughed shakily. "It's fine," he said. "Do you have something I can clean off with, though?"

"Uh," said Ral. "You realize this is a laboratory, right?"

"Well, yeah, but…" Jace trailed off as he considered the kinds of things any cloth Ral might have around would already have been used to clean up. "Oh."

Ral sighed theatrically. "You really are an idiot. Come on, I'll take you to the showers. Just make sure you keep your illusions up; I don't want people finding about this. I don't need another reason for Niv to be paying attention to me."

"So," Jace murmured, as they headed for the door, "are you still absolutely sure you want me to stay out of your head all the time?"

Ral growled, but he reached down and squeezed Jace's hand. "I hate you," he said and promptly leaned over and kissed Jace's cheek. Jace smiled, a warm feeling rising in his chest. All things considered, it had been a much better few hours than he would have expected from the beginning of the day.