/the wall/

"Where is it?"

"Where is what."

"You know…the chair. I don't see it."

"I broke it."

"…what?"

"Look out the window if you don't believe me. I got tired of looking at it day after day…empty."

"You really did. How could you do that?"

Gateau didn't reply. He had already answered, anyway. He just slowly unbuckled his belt. He felt the leather snag on one of the belt loops; a quick tug and it slid the rest of the way.

Marron stepped back from the window; saw the belt in Gateau's hands. "And what is that for?"

"You."

"Gateau…"

"Shhhh. Not like that. Watch."

Gateau walked over to the wall facing his bed. Something was different about it…there was a ring there, now. It was one of those rough iron rings you'd find driven into the wall of a dungeon or prison…it was out of place here in Gateau's white, sparsely furnished room. There was a crack stretching down the wall from the base of the ring…it had been ruthlessly forced in until the wall started to give, apparently.

Gateau silently looped the belt through the ring. He started to tightly knot the middle of the belt around the metal, but then stopped, untied it, and pulled first one end of the belt, then the other, watching it slide back and forth over the ring. Marron just stared at the belt ends twisted around Gateau's fists. They were tight against his skin and had turned it white in places. As Gateau tugged on the belt, the white places moved. Marron was transfixed.

For this reason it was quite easy for Gateau to leave the belt hanging on its ring and walk over to grasp Marron's wrists. By the time Marron came back to himself and looked up, Gateau was winding the belt around his wrists. He debated on tying the wrists together, then decided that he had enough room to tie them separately. He made the knots rather tight and he did it roughly. Marron winced.

"Is that too tight?"

"Nnnh."

Gateau stepped back to look at Marron's expression. Apparently tight was good.

"Try and move."

Marron opened his eyes and his gaze became level again. He obligingly tried moving his arms, then his brow lowered and he really struggled with the knots for a moment. In the end, he sagged back against the wall…Gateau's knots held.

Gateau was satisfied. He abruptly turned and walked over to his dresser. There was a mirror on the dresser and he covertly watched Marron as he pulled off his jacket and shirt and folded them. Marron looked annoyed and impatient, and more than a little confused…good. He could damned well wait a while longer. Gateau had waited more than a week, and he didn't appreciate it.

He opened one of the drawers, running his hands over the contents there. Over the past few months he'd done a little collecting. It wasn't hard to find strange things…not if you went to the kinds of strange places they always went. Some of these things Marron knew about…some of them Gateau hadn't shown him yet. Watching Marron shift against the wall like that, though, Gateau felt himself getting impatient. He shut the drawer with a bang. No, no props today.

He walked back over to Marron and ran his hand slowly down from his neck to his waist. Marron liked that, he could tell. Gateau leaned in and Marron tilted his chin up and closed his eyes, expectantly—Gateau drew back again with a smile, leaving him hanging there. Marron opened his eyes and frowned, as Gateau played with his sash.

"Gateau, I want—"

"No. You don't want anything. You don't say anything either...understand?" Gateau suddenly pulled on Marron's sash—hard. Marron was partly wrenched forward and he gasped.

Gateau continued, his voice dangerously quiet. "If you wanted anything, you would have come here earlier. Instead of shutting yourself up all week with your fucking spellbooks."

Marron frowned again. "I had to—the spell I'm working on is—nnh…"

Gateau closed Marron's mouth for a few minutes.

When Gateau drew back, Marron didn't try to talk anymore. He just looked at Gateau, his eyes asking the obvious question.

Gateau repeated it back to him in mocking tones: "What am I going to do with you…I wonder."

Marron lowered his eyes, but he had to fight the urge to smile. Whatever Gateau was going to do, he doubted it would be very creative…he didn't feel threatened, for all Gateau's pretenses of anger with him.

Gateau picked up on this feeling of Marron's and was incensed. Not a threat, was he? Well, then. He turned around, opened the drawer savagely, and took out one of the blindfolds…the one he knew (from experience) wouldn't allow in any light. He didn't bother to shut the drawer again…instead he strode back to Marron and quickly tied the blindfold in place. Then he left the room, slamming the door…and locking it.

Marron listened for awhile, straining to hear if Gateau was actually still in the room. No…he had really left. He let out a sound of complete exasperation. This was really going too far…he hadn't meant to ignore Gateau, after all… Now, who knew when Gateau would come back. Well, at least he had locked the door.

He didn't know how long he waited until he heard the sounds of Gateau's key. The door swung slowly inward, then shut quietly. Something was set down on the floor, he thought. He heard quiet steps around the room, a low sound that must be Gateau shutting his dresser drawer again. He heard the bedsprings whine and wondered why Gateau was sitting on the bed… A sudden, irrational fear stole over him.

"Gateau? That is you, isn't it? Please, Gateau…just answer me…"

No answer. Marron gritted his teeth and struggled with his bonds again. It got him no further than the first time he had done so. Then a hand grasped his chin and swung his head roughly to the right, and hot breath fell on his ear, making his fingers clinch for a moment. "Shhhhh. I told you not to say anything…"

He remembered not to reply just in time, but he exhaled in relief. The body pressed against him now could be no one but Gateau...he flushed suddenly as he realized that Gateau was naked now.

Marron still had everything on, and it was beginning to feel oppressively warm to him. For one thing, Gateau seemed to be radiating heat…or was it him? It was getting harder to breathe. He felt something slide down his jaw, then realized he was sweating.

Gateau had just been watching Marron this whole time, unashamedly pressed against him. He noted how that had affected him, then walked over to what he had set in the corner after coming back. Marron obviously needed cooling down…he selected a large piece of ice and felt it melting in his hand. He squeezed it; cold water ran through his fingers down his arm. Ah.

With his dry hand he undid Marron's collar and the top part of his robe. Long practice made it a fast job. He stroked Marron's neck and side again, noting how Marron moved against his hand. Then he smiled and placed the ice in the hollow of Marron's neck.

"HHNNAAAHHH!" Amazing, really, that the ring held. But Marron was light enough that he couldn't pull it out of the wall, Gateau supposed. He slid the ice up Marron's neck, just under his earlobe, then leaned in and traced it along the rim of Marron's ear. Marron thrashed around, but Gateau moved forward so that his body was pressing Marron against the wall. He closed his eyes and bent his face to Marron's neck, holding the ice there at the same time, licking both ice and skin. Then he inclined his body slightly to leave a little room between them on one side, and dragged the ice down Marron's body. He stopped for awhile at Marron's left nipple, running the diminishing chunk of ice over it in slow circles, making it stand up. Then he rubbed his face against Marron, getting the water everywhere, plastering the hair against his forehead.

Marron continued to cry out as Gateau dragged the ice lower and started to suck on his nipples. Now there was almost nothing left of it. Gateau supposed it was safe. He undid Marron's sash and let his clothes slide to the floor—he'd deal with the ankle wraps in a minute—and cupped his hand around Marron's erection, the sliver of ice in the palm of his hand. He stroked Marron with the ice, stifling Marron's cries with his own mouth, holding him down with one hand firmly around his right side. He knew he wasn't hurting him because he had done this to himself earlier. Marron didn't know it, but Gateau never tried anything on him that he had not tested on himself first.

Now the ice was gone and Marron shuddered as the water smeared all over him rapidly began to evaporate. Bumps stood out now on his flesh. He needed Gateau's warmth next to him again, he strained forward…but Gateau knew this and withdrew, running his hand down Marron's body one more time to torment him.

While Marron struggled and moaned in frustration, Gateau knelt down and turned his attention to getting off Marron's shoes and wraps. He tossed the shoes gently behind him and then started to undo the bandages that Marron always wound so tightly around his ankles. Then he realized that Marron had gotten quieter. He looked up at Marron's strained face, bent down towards him, unable to see him…then looked down at the foot he held gently in his right hand. He smiled and ran his fingertips along the underside of Marron's arch.

"NNNnnnh!" Very nice. He did that for awhile while Marron squirmed and strained ineffectually against the belt, then he got another idea and lifted Marron's foot to his mouth. He ran his tongue back and forth over the tops of Marron's toes, then licked the underside of the arch…roughly. Marron very nearly wrenched the ring out of the wall then…but the ring, and the leather, held. Gateau continued licking and lightly biting Marron's foot as he undid the wraps…then he moved his mouth to Marron's ankle. The skin must be more sensitive because it was always covered so tightly—he lingered there before he moved to the other foot and started all over again.

Finally, he had everything off except for the top half of Marron's robe…he couldn't very well remove that without undoing the straps. That was all right though…he rather liked seeing Marron half in and half out of his clothes like this. By this time Marron was breathing hard…his deceptively fragile-looking frame barely seemed able to support such wild breaths. He was bent as far forward as possible—Gateau wasn't sure if Marron was trying to reach him, or not. He let his tongue run up Marron's thigh and then focused his attentions on what Marron would have considered an "uncreative" place…an hour ago. Now, though, he had lost all sense of his role, and was bracing one foot against the wall, trying to thrust deeper into Gateau's mouth. Gateau didn't mind…he braced his own hand against the wall and took Marron's hip in his other hand, helping Marron, pulling him further…

"Hhhnn—" Marron's chin lifted, he hesitated. Gateau wasn't in the mood for hesitation, and he pulled Marron toward him again, ramming his own face forward at the same time. Marron's entire body curled and he gasped…Gateau kept moving his head, his fingers pressed deep into Marron's flesh. Marron couldn't keep it back any longer, and he threw his head back, hair sliding down the wall.

Gateau's throat swallowed convulsively and he pressed his face close against Marron, not wanting to miss any of it, needing all of it…he stayed there until he was quite sure there wasn't any more. Then he lazily rested his cheek against Marron's thigh and reached for another piece of ice. He rolled it around on his tongue for a moment, more for Marron than anything else—the taste filling his mouth didn't bother him. Then he crunched the ice and swallowed it, letting Marron hear.

Now his mouth was much too cold. He slid up Marron's body, stroked his neck. Marron inclined his head toward him again; this time Gateau didn't step away. He thrust his cold tongue into Marron's mouth and let Marron warm him again. Then he gripped Marron's waist with one hand, and pulled Marron's left leg up to loop around his own waist. They both knew what was next; they both wanted it.

But Gateau's ego wasn't quite satisfied yet. He didn't take kindly to Marron scarcely speaking a word to him for more than a week, and he needed reassurance.

"Tell me you want me."

"I…want…you…"

Gateau's brow was furrowed as he looked at Marron. Should he let it go at that? No. No, that wasn't good enough. He whipped off the blindfold and watched dispassionately as Marron blinked against the light for a few moments. Then he cupped Marron's jaw in his right hand, getting his attention again.

"Tell me…you love me."

Marron's eyes had focused again, and they stared at Gateau in shock. He didn't like to say things like that out loud. Gateau leaned into Marron so that his ear was near Marron's mouth. A moment later his face relaxed; his eyes closed and he smiled triumphantly. Then he pulled back a little and calmly looked Marron in the eyes as he slid into him.

"Nnnnh…" Marron lowered his head and tried to raise his right leg. Gateau helped him, gently drawing Marron's leg up until both legs were crossed over his lower back…now he could go deeper. He looked up quickly to make sure Marron's weight wasn't overstraining the belt or making the leather cut into his wrists…it looked like Marron's wrists were getting a little raw. Gateau quickly moved to hold Marron up, supporting his weight with both hands. Now the pressure on Marron's wrists was relaxed. Gateau closed his eyes and let his chin rest on Marron's right shoulder as he moved into him again and again. Marron pressed his face against Gateau's, his eyes not quite shutting all the way. He felt his back pressed to the wall, sliding against a dark curtain of hair.

After awhile one of Gateau's arms slid around Marron's back, under the robe, and his movements became more desperate. Marron knew from this (and from the sounds Gateau made) that he was very close. He pushed against Gateau as well as he could, and Gateau held him more tightly, wanting to be closer to him…deeper… Marron's breathing became shallow, out of necessity. There truly was nothing between them anymore. Flesh answered flesh; blood beat against blood.

Finally Marron felt Gateau's mouth open silently against his shoulder. Sometimes he was like this…his breath caught in his throat and no sound came out, and all the while he was coming…but Marron knew. Afterwards Gateau generally collapsed onto his side so he wouldn't be on top of Marron…but he couldn't very well do that now. Instead he put one palm out blindly, searching for the wall. He let the wall take his weight instead of Marron, and he half stood and half leaned there, his wet forehead coming to rest against the wall as well.

For awhile he just breathed. He still held Marron with his other arm; after Marron recovered he supposed Gateau might be getting tired, so he tried to uncross his legs. Gateau seemed to understand after a moment, and he helped Marron slide his legs down to touch the floor again. After another moment, he pushed against the wall until he was standing again too.

Gateau was still breathing rather hard, but he controlled his breath and ran a hand through his hair, getting it off his face. Then he wordlessly started to untie Marron. When the straps were off, Marron rubbed his wrists absentmindedly and then almost fell forward. Gateau caught him and carried him over to the bed. Marron looked up at him apologetically, but Gateau just ran a careless hand through Marron's bangs and smiled. They rested for awhile longer, then Marron laboriously propped himself up on one elbow.

"Gateau…"

"Yeah?" Gateau opened one eye.

"What's…what's in the drawer?"

"Things."

"What kinds of things?"

"You don't get to find out…yet."

Marron slid back down onto the bed. "Come on. That's not fair…I really want to know."

"You will know. Just not now."

Marron was about to protest again, but Gateau cut him off.

A few moments later, Marron sleepily murmured something about replacing the chair.

"Yeah, maybe," Gateau agreed. "Now go to sleep." He cast about for the covers and pulled them up. Marron shrugged out of his robe and closed his eyes. Gateau allowed his glance to stray to the window before he blew out the lamp. After the light was out he could see out of the window. Nothing but stars…and somewhere, a broken chair.