A/N: I barely made it, oh my god. Last day of September. But I really tried hard to get it out today, even at the expense of me having to stay up late to study for my midterm. So I hope you all enjoy, it was longer than I thought it'd be. Consequently, a scene I've been waiting to write for a million years will wait until next chapter, since it would've changed the mood of this one completely. So it's all for the best.
Chapter title from the song by Jill Tracy. Poor Jack, so conflicted, so torn, and presented with such a temptation.
11th Arrangement: Sell My Soul
Marked. All over his skin, he was marked, tarnished with the touches of countless bodies pressed to his. Without Jack realizing the extent of his actions, he forced those marks to touch Glen as well. And by the time Jack did pull away, face hot, heart as frozen and skittish as a deer, he knew he'd done something terribly, irreversibly wrong with Glen. And all over him, screaming from his very core, was, Whore! Whore! Whore!
What had happened hit Glen as well. He put Jack at arm's length, not looking at him. "I'm going to extend an offering for Arthur and Isla Yura to stay at the castle overnight."
Was that to change the subject, or to ask for Jack's opinion on the matter? His pants were still feeling uncomfortable, and his cheeks were still burning. He nodded, if just for Glen to leave. His eyes fell to the shine of the king's black boots, how they pointed in his direction before stepping further off to the side, hesitated, then moved one in front of the other out the door.
In the empty room, dust-filtered sunlight buzzing in his ears, Jack slid down to the floor, all traces of desire dissipated. The space Glen had left in his abandonment was to wide and the noise of all the words that didn't need speaking were pounding against the walls.
Glen really was no different, wasn't he? Jack had the suspicion from the beginning, but it had disappeared, forgotten beneath the calm of his eyes and the sincerity of his words and kindness. But today, it was quite plain, wasn't it? Glen desired Jack, in that same way Jack was so used to being desired.
Of course he could admit wanting Glen too. But he'd ignored it. Pretending the time he made himself come as he thought of Glen made him a shameful person - when Glen just wanted to touch him too. Even as he forced the blame of his drowning spirits on Glen, Jack realized as he remembered those glimpses of emotion in those pools of purple, that the lust didn't cancel out the fact that Glen did help him out. He went so far as to offer Jack and his siblings a place here in the castle.
Could a person possibly desire Jack and be so kind to him as well? Were those two aspects allowed to be together? If Glen wanted him, he should've just touched Jack straightaway; Jack would've taught him how to have sex with a man. And if Glen didn't, then he never should've let Jack seduce him. Why was this so complicated? Jack had never been so frustrated in his life!
Too much had happened, and the day was barely halfway done. Jack stared dully at his thighs, still exposed as his trousers were fallen to his knees.
He needed to lay in the streets where he belonged already.
By the time Jack had arrived down the corridor where Oz's room was located, he saw another figure clad in black emerge out from it. As he suspected from the thick waves of black hair and tall stature, it was Gilbert who had apparently just paid his brother a visit.
He looked surprised to see Jack, if not alarmed. "Ah."
In a far greater mood to get on someone else's case than his own, Jack stopped walking, blocking Gilbert's path. "Did you just come out of Oz's room?"
To his credit, Gilbert kept his eyes aligned with Jack's. "I did. That is, I heard you were at a meeting and your sister was taking her nap, so I thought he might want some company."
"Rest is what he needs. And if it's company he rather wants, well, I'm here now." Jack gave a decisive nod, then holding his head a little higher. "Why are you concerned if he's lonely or not?"
"Well, I..." Although he was firmly holding his ground, there was a hesitation that Jack didn't think Gilbert would give in to. "I heard of his condition, and it just...sounded awful. You see, I...I had a younger brother once too. He was sickly, like Oz. And the kind of life we had didn't make his condition any better - until one day, he..."
Jack's expression softened with each word Gilbert spoke. He hadn't expected such a heartfelt answer to expose itself to him. For now, he chalked it off as Oz's influence that calmed Gilbert's heart enough that he felt he could share one of its burdens with Jack.
Gilbert waved his hands dismissively. "Excuse me, that wasn't meant for me to imply that Oz would die!"
The panic was rather cute on Gilbert, almost like a child as he worried about Jack's feelings. It was very different from the Gilbert he'd become acquainted with. But Jack certainly wasn't going to complain. He offered a smile, clapping a hand on Gilbert's chest.
"It's fine." He gave a small nod before walking off toward Oz's room. He wasn't quite ready to just give permission to Gilbert to come visit all willy-nilly. He could still remember the look he first gave Oz, after all.
Jack entered the room alone, closing the door behind him and offering a smile to his younger brother. Oz still laid in bed, looking much better than before. The color had come back to his cheeks and his eyes held less weariness. Those were good signs. The potion Sharon had made for Oz seemed to be working.
Oz returned the smile. "How do I look?"
"Better." Jack went to his side, saw that the cup on the nightstand was freshly filled with water. He frowned at it as Oz made room on his bed for Jack to sit down.
"Gilbert told me that you were at a meeting with the king." Oz said it without any hint of accusation, but Jack knew he had to be full of questions. The thing was, he wasn't sure how much Oz should know. It used to be that Jack could be quite open with his younger brother, but nowadays, the things he was keeping from him were piling up.
I seem to be doing that with everyone lately though. Jack kept his emotions even in the face of Oz's words and took a seat. "It's true, I was."
"What as it for?"
So Oz was going to be straightforward with this. He reached out to tousle his hair. "Nothing of concern."
To his surprise, Oz slapped his hand away and gave him almost a glare. "I'm not as young as Ada. I won't just stop questioning things just because you tell me to and then pat my head."
Jack froze. It was the first time Oz had gotten so aggressive with him. Was it the fever? Or the curse that Sharon mentioned that was bringing out the change in persona? Jack knew without thinking too hard that it was neither of those things. He knew from the beginning that Oz was smart.
"How much did Gilbert tell you?" he asked carefully.
"Not enough. That's all he said to me." He raised his brows and crossed his arms. "How much are you going to tell me?"
"I'm just helping the king with something." It wasn't a lie, but of course Oz would know there was something more. Jack's area of expertise was the conventional sort of helping, and he already told Oz before that he wasn't having sex with Glen. Even counting the events of earlier, it wasn't untrue.
Oz nodded. "With what? Why are you doing it?"
"He's paying me," Jack said. There was no shame in admitting that, was there? "He gave me half of it beforehand, and is giving me the rest after the job is done. That's why I'm doing it. Could you please not ask anymore than that?"
Oz's eyes narrowed at him in contemplation. "You said you weren't doing /that/ with him though."
"I'm not."
"Then you're lying to him."
"I am." Jack's voice was quieter at the second word, a strained pause in between them. But there was little point in denying it when Oz was being nothing but honest.
Oz's lips were left slightly parted, his eyes widening a fraction. Maybe he hadn't expected Jack to outright admit it. "He doesn't know." It was neither a question or a statement, as if Oz was just repeating it to himself. But when he regained himself he leaned toward Jack, face flushed. "You're lying, Jack. To the King of Sablier. Do you realize he can use magick? Don't you know the trouble you can get in for that kind of lie?"
"I know," Jack said lowly, offended Oz would think he hadn't considered the consequences.
"I mean," Oz went on, "I know he doesn't seem the violent type, but still, there's a lot he can do. Whatever lies you're selling him, what is he going to do when he finds out?"
The vivid, painful image of rutting his hips onto Glen's intruded his mind and Jack grabbed Oz's shoulders. "He's not going to find out," he said, heart hammering. "He's not. The only ones who know are me and you. And..." Jack was bloodless.
Oz frowned. "There's someone else?"
Jack's hold on Oz relaxed, and then a weariness came over his body, weighing it down as he glanced away. "My...most persistent client. He's here in the castle, helping out as well. For some odd reason, he didn't out me, even though Glen was right there..."
"Jack..."
He had never felt ashamed of the things he did to make a living. It wasn't an honest living, but if he could support himself and what was left of his family, then wasn't that fine?
Letting out a slow breath, Jack broke away. "I'm sorry. Look," he said in a tone that was to console more Oz than himself, "look, I won't involve you and Ada if I can help it. This will just be a dream later." He thought of Glen's offer for them to stay at the castle, for the dream to continue for his siblings, but if Jack allowed that, he'd only ruin it.
My life isn't allowed to be so easy. And Oz and Ada suffer for it. I say things like I mean well, but in the end...
"It's going to be over soon. And then, things will be better than ever before. Just you wait." He managed a smile as he said it, actually allowing himself to escape to that belief for the few seconds that Oz kept their gazes mirrored. But then their connection was broken, and the shambles of the situation caught up to Jack once more. The sunlight seemed the slightest bit less colorful.
He searched for another topic. "That Gilbert Nightray... Was that his first time visiting you?"
"No, he's been around every so hours." Oz laughed. "You'd think he was my nurse with the way he keeps checking in."
Jack tried hard not to make a face. "That so? He's quite taken with you, I think."
Oz laughed again. "What? No way. We're both boys."
"Oz, I know that look in someone's eyes. And well, maybe Gilbert isn't like that, but he's still fond of you."
Oz hummed. The calm, almost impassive way he looked off into space gave Jack the impression that Oz wasn't actually bothered that another man could be developing feelings for him. Would Oz just let it happen then? Didn't he care about who gave him that look? Gilbert was no Isla Yura, and Jack generally got the impression that he wasn't a pervert, but still...
There was a knock at the door, and the two turned their attention to the click of the knob being turned. A maid peeked her head in, hovering over Ada who was stepping into the room. She rubbed at her eyes, walking sluggishly toward her brothers who both offered her kind smiles.
"Hi there, princess. Did you just wake up?" Jack opened his arms to her and picked her up, nodding in thanks to the maid who then left.
Ada gave a small noise of agreement, nodding. "I wanted to see Oz. And you're back too, Jack." She smiled and curled up in his arms, blinking her eyes to more awareness.
"Yeah." Jack nodded, kissing the top of her head. "We're all together now. It's been awhile, hasn't it?"
Ada made another sound of agreement, this one heightened with a whine. "I missed you."
"I'm sorry." He kissed her head again and Oz poked at her cheeks to get her to giggle. "We'll be together like this more soon. Just wait and see."
Oz was still smiling, but it didn't match the look he gave Jack. Somehow, Jack got the gist of the accusation in those large emerald eyes.
How many years have you been saying that?
Probably longer than he thought. Jack's life was probably some big lie from the beginning. It didn't start here with helping Glen. It just got more apparent, to the point where Jack had to face himself for the first time.
And all he wanted to do was turn away.
By the time night came around, Jack was not in the highest spirit when Glen came walking down the corridor. Jack couldn't even pretend he hadn't been seen, and instead closed the door to Oz's room and waited.
Glen took his time coming over, paused a few feet away to gaze out the tall window, as if his whole purpose for wondering was just to find a patch of moonlight to stand in. Then, his voice gently parted the silence.
"We should discuss the events of today."
Maybe the weight of the day was just sinking to him. Jack feel back on that habit, his tongue naturally moving along to feign innocence. "I don't know what I could contribute. It'd probably be better to relay everything to Gilbert. I ran into him earlier today and he didn't-"
"I'm not talking about those events." Glen cast his gaze straight to Jack, and there was no way he could hide the fact that he recognized the meaning of those words.
Jack was fairly certain that despite the intimacy shared between them, his position was secured. Which meant that those weren't the consequences Glen wished to discuss. Which meant that there would be actual sitting down, and actual explaining going on. If there was a more opportune time to just get it over with and kill their desires now, Jack wasn't going to wait for it. He nodded and followed Glen right into his bedchambers.
He expected servants of some kind to be inside. Jack didn't entirely know what to expect Glen's room to be like, but he didn't think it would be so empty. It was a large space, of course, with a high ceiling and chandelier hanging down. A single bed that was easily more than twice the size of Jack's was at one wall, a gossamer, red canopy of silk hanging gracefully over it. Some bookshelves and dressers were pressed against the wall, but other than that, there was little else to cover up the empty spaces. A small ball could very well situate itself in the room.
Jack looked around, finding little for his eyes to take it. He supposed he should've figured Glen to be a man will little need for personalization. As Glen stepped decisively in the room, Jack gave him a glance. "You don't have servants around? Or guards?"
"My chambers are warded, along with the rest of the castle," Glen reminded. "My guards are assigned to look after only themselves, unless such a time comes when the defenseless here need their protection."
That couldn't have been an easy thing to convince them to do. For quite a few years after the Tragedy, Jack remembered all ranks of protectors, from esquires to pages, filling the streets and around the castle. Up until maybe a year before Ada was born, a veil of darkness lingered over Sablier, a heavy reminder that there could be a repeat of what happened. Jack couldn't even imagine what close guard Glen had been under during that time.
Glen went to his bed, draping his cloak over the end board of his bed. He sat down on it and looked expectantly at Jack. He followed, plopping himself into the cloudlike bed a foot or two away. Here he was then, right in the king's room like he thought he'd be the moment he was brought to the castle. Ironic they were the circumstances that led him here in the end.
Glen sat casually, leaning forward, arms on his knees and hands clasped. "I'm sorry," he said. "I fear I've made you feel uncomfortable."
True, discontent had been knocking inside Jack's head since the incident at the garden. But he didn't think Glen would apologize for it.
Jack bowed his head. "No, you didn't. What I did this afternoon was far worse than the...kiss." He forced a sardonic laugh. "It's almost cute in comparison. So please, I'm the one that's sorry. For ever getting involved."
"Are you leaving?"
"No. I'm going to stay. I really have no choice in that, considering I'm...quite involved now." He ran a hand over his thigh, the tattoo that he shrugged off for years, had hardly paid it a second thought. It was just a part of his body. Or...was it really his body anymore? Had it ever been his body? Ever since he got into the cabaret business, he'd been claimed again and again. And now, there was something far more ancient inside him. How laughable.
Glen's hand reached out, froze, then withdrew. "You must be terribly frightened."
Jack barked out a laugh - what an understatement. "It just suits me, you know? I'm cursed. My brother's cursed. My mother died giving birth to Ada." Jack rolled his lips over his teeth, and shrugged. "It just suits everything else. Even when I try to make things work, something out there twists everything all over."
"You're not cursed." Glen said it lamely, probably realizing how little consolation it was.
"Well, and then you're here. Trying to offer me everything in order to make it all better." Jack blinked a few times to get rid of his swimming vision. Glen was giving, but Jack was taking too much. "I should never have met someone like you. I'm just...I've already ruined so much. I'm sorry for touching you like that. I'm sorry for letting that kiss happen."
His voice was beginning to crack. Had he always been this fragile? The years of acknowledging he was being used and using people were things Jack thought made him above being broken down. But now he was seeing how tiny and pathetic his world was.
Glen gathered his hands, holding them tight. "What are you saying about ruining things? Is there another reason for you regretting what happened today?"
Another reason? Jack felt a tear slide down his cheek, but ignored it. "What did you believe my reason was?"
"I thought..." Glen let go like Jack's hands were hot coals, and he glanced away. "Misplaced as my attention is, I thought it had to be you didn't reciprocate the want for affection that I have developed for you. But then this afternoon, when you did that, I thought - hoped, perhaps - that I was wrong."
"So you are a lover of men. That's why you never showed an interest in marrying."
"I never thought honestly about it. I simply was not interested, even if you took aside my preoccupation with Lacie." Glen ran a tired hand through his hair, brushing back the long tresses before they fell back into place. "I notice women are beautiful, and men are handsome. But I never felt a need to form romantic bonds. But then I kept thinking about you."
Me too, Jack thought. You were always in my head.
Just as fast as the thought entered his mind, Jack shook his head. "You're not allowed to pursue someone like me." Nor I for you. So just stop all this already. Stop making me think about wanting you.
"There is no place where that is written. It is not a law for me to marry a woman." Glen stopped, closing his lips, then running a hand through his hair again. Realizing his nervous movements, he firmly set his hands on his lap. "My apologies again. I fear I'm being too insistent. I would never force anything more on you than I already have."
And Jack thought it could be left at that. The relief that whatever had been forming between them could just be buried allowed him to breathe clearer than before. He offered a smile of thanks and laid back on the back, body feeling incredibly tired.
"What are you doing?" Glen asked.
"Just resting a bit." Jack closed his eyes as he said it.
"Don't you want to sleep in your own room?"
His own room. If he did that, he'd be alone, wouldn't he? That was definitely the one thing he did not want to be while Isla Yura was in the castle. No, he really didn't want to go back to his room.
Glen wasn't moving beside him. After a lengthy silence that was filled with Jack's fearful thoughts, he realized that Glen wasn't speaking. He opened his eyes, and jumped when he saw that Glen was laying down too now, his hair fanned out on the blanket.
"Did you want to stay here tonight?" Glen stared up, his Adam's apple bobbing with his speech.
Instead of answering, Jack kicked off his shoes and started undoing the plait of his hair. Glen noticed, and also sat up to start undressing.
"I won't do anything untoward," he promised.
As Jack brushed his hair over his shoulder, he nodded. "I know you won't."
Within the next few minutes, Glen was changed into his sleeping clothes, another set being borrowed by Jack. The two sidled together in the bed - there was plenty of room for them, but still they both moved closer to the middle, close enough to easily reach out if they wanted.
Jack wanted to. But he laid there, a small part of him telling him to leave immediately. But a larger part, more tired from the very moment Jack entered the castle, curled him beneath the blankets as he was surrounded by the sweet, fanciful scent in the sheets, the clothes, the man next to him.
"What are we going to do now?" Jack asked in a murmur. "About Lacie? I heard what Isla Yura said before I left. Do you think the reason Abyss wanted Lacie was because she was like me?"
Glen's gaze lowered from the ceiling. "I wouldn't be able to say. After all, you've gone through your life without incident, haven't you?"
"That's true." He would surely remember a relentless character like Abyss popping up in his life. Did that mean Lacie was indeed Abyss' vessel after all? "Still, what's our next move?"
"I told Gilbert about the meeting today. I told him about you. We'll see tomorrow if there's a plan of action."
In a surprisingly strong voice, Jack said, "I hope so."
The corner of Glen's lips twitched, and the frown on his brow relaxed. "Yes. I do too. This is the closest I've ever been to getting her back." He turned his head to look at Jack. "It started once I was able to find you. Thank you, Jack."
"It's Arthur and his connections that have led us forward."
"But that's not all of it. I would've never approached the Barmas. Or rather, the one I would've spoken to I learned was removed from her family."
"You mean Miranda."
Glen nodded. "You're familiar with her."
In a deeper way than Glen knew. But Jack only nodded too and let Glen believe what he wanted.
"You still done much," Glen said, looking up again. "Watching what you've done for Lacie, and your own siblings, it reminded me of my own resolve. Over the years, getting her back is all I've wanted, but the fire behind it... I think I felt as if I were dying every anniversary."
"Glen..."
"But then you came, and you're just...so different from anyone else I've ever laid eyes on. At the same time, seeing the love in your eyes when you're with Oz and Ada, it reminded me of myself and Lacie. You'd do anything to protect them, just as I would for her. Yet back then, I..." Glen took a breath. His words had started pouring out just a little faster, and his pause made the silence loud.
Jack felt the pull to touch him. Not sensually, no, he didn't want to provide that kind of comfort. He wanted, for this moment, to reach out with his heart, and wrap Glen in it, small and pathetic as it was. Uncertainly, his fingers brushed against Glen's arm. He sounded so lonely just then. He never really thought about how deeply the Tragedy must have affected him, because never before had such emotion spilled out so openly.
"Glen," he said again.
His chest rose with a rousing breath. "That's not my name." He shook his head. "That's not it. I changed it, after she was taken. When I heard my name, I could only remember how she screamed it before disappearing into darkness. I wanted to dispose of that me that couldn't protect her. That me that...did nothing for her."
"That's not true." The words were out before Jack knew his mouth was moving. But they were gone, and Glen was looking at him with wide eyes, and the expression in them pulled painfully at Jack's heartstrings. None of Glen's calmness remained, and only the primal memories of pain and fear filled those pools of purple. For that time they held gazes, Jack knew he wasn't speaking to the same Glen, but the "person" he was before.
"That's not true," he said again, holding Glen's shoulder. "You were only a child then. What are we expected to do then?" He thought of the nights he stayed up, realizing he'd have to look out for his siblings and be their parent even though he was still a child himself. "You did what you could. You played with her, made music with her, showed her magick just to make her smile, right? Maybe you were powerless then, but you certainly aren't now! You're older, bigger, more experienced! Just look how close you are now. She...she can be so close right now."
The wild emotions in Glen's eyes clouded over again the more Jack spoke. His lips were slightly parted, and once more that controlled visage came over his countenance. Jack put his palms to Glen's cheeks.
"No, don't do that." He shook his head, brushing the hair out of Glen's face. In the moonlight, he could see the fine contours of it, he seam of his lips and glimmer of his eyes. He'd never seen someone else in pain before, usually so wrapped up in trying to pretend his didn't exist. This is what pain looked like?
Jack pressed their noses together. His heart was hurting too again. He'd been relieved to put everything that happened between him and Glen behind them. But it didn't stop their breaths from mingling, and Jack wondering if it was really alright for them to forget again.
"I'm a dirty person," he told Glen. "I was alright with how my life was before meeting you. I feel even dirtier next to you."
"I don't want to make you feel that way at all," Glen said, still under Jack's touch.
A shaky breath left Jack. "Yeah, I know you don't. You're just surprising. Maybe naive. You haven't personally given parts of yourself to anyone else since Lacie, while I...I've given away all the superficial things."
"The superficial things?" Glen's voice was so low Jack could barely feel the words caress him.
"Remember when I said I don't deny myself pleasures?" Jack let out another shaky breath, forcing a quiet laugh to steady his shivering heart. He was starting to quiver now, hair falling onto Glen's face, curtaining them. When he got on top of Glen, he wasn't sure, but the sort of desire he usually felt was mixed with something entirely different. Jack's first guess aside from fear was love. Was it supposed to feel like this? He wanted more but at the same time didn't know what to do with it.
It was supposed to end. But neither of them were moving.
"I'm a dirty person," he whispered again to Glen.
"I'm not going to make you do anything," he reassured Jack.
Jack hummed in agreement, swallowing. "Tonight I want you to." He pressed his lips to Glen's, rubbing his thumbs over his cheeks, heat spreading through his body. Now that he was acting on purpose instead of being caught off guard or driven by confused lust, Jack felt better prepared for their contact. His chest beat against Glen's, his thighs trapping his hips.
At first, Glen didn't react. Jack placed several long kisses, starting to think Glen was being true to his word not to act, when pressure pulsed against his lips. Jack's heart rate increased again, and he undulated his lips more earnestly, his tongue peeking out to swipe at the seam of Glen's mouth. Before he could thrust his tongue inside, Glen pulled them apart, just enough for him to speak.
"I can't," was the regretful murmur. "Not when you're leaving."
Was this a bribe? No, it didn't sound like it. Glen was truly just like the women in books Jack read, the ones who married for love, who wouldn't so much as let a man kiss her unless he reciprocated her affections honestly. He truly is naive. Jack could never fathom being so innocent. But, he supposed he did see how unfair he was being.
"But you're alright with me touching you if I wasn't?"
"That's not it."
Jack pulled back a little more to see Glen's face. "This is the only way I know how to connect with a person. I don't...know if I fully reciprocate your affections. I can't even begin to know how sincere or deep it may go. But this is the only way I know to show you how...how you occupy a greater part of my mind than anyone else. Probably...more than anyone else ever will." As I thought. I can't say it. The words froze on my tongue.
But then they were getting stolen away. Glen was kissing him again, his tongue readily pushing on Jack's and stealing all those unspoken words from him. The ones he couldn't say, the ones he didn't know how to form. Their weight was relieved from him with each kiss. The press of Glen's hands on his body were a balm, and every touch Jack knew before these caresses seemed to burn away. Their breaths grew heavier by the minute, Glen releasing small grunts between kisses.
Clothes began to get strewn on the floor. Jack's name was murmured into his ear, his throat, heating him up from the inside out. His cock brushed against Glen's, and they both shuddered out moans, and Jack could swear he never heard something so rich and sweet.
Jack stayed under the blankets, still aware of the prostitute's mark even as Glen's hands rubbed inside his thighs, fingers brushing against the hardness between them. He moaned Glen's name, nuzzling into the silky strands of raven hair. He remembered how Glen had said he didn't know how to lay with a man, and Jack started preparing himself.
Glen kissed Jack's cheek as his hand ran over his cock, his palm soft and warm and large, sending Jack into quick ecstasy. The fingers he was putting inside himself only spurred his pleasure on further, and he moaned louder. As the wet sounds traveled in the dark room, Glen followed the movements of Jack's hand, cheeks filling with a dark red when he felt the slick ring of Jack's entrance.
"So that you can go inside, like you would for a woman. You don't have to if you don't want to," breathed Jack. "We can stop here." He never stopped before, but he wouldn't do anything else if Glen didn't want it.
But it looked like he wouldn't have to. Glen's finger nudged in beside Jack's, and Jack bit his lip. It'd been too long since someone else had touched him there. Just with his two fingers and one of Glen's, he felt his entrance trying to accommodate. Within a few seconds though, he loosened up, allowing himself to be penetrated deeper.
"H-haa..."
"It feels tight. Would it fit?"
Arching his brows, Jack kissed Glen fully. "Mm, shall we see?" He pulled his fingers out, but still Glen probed inside curiously, making Jack sigh in pleasure. He reached down to pull Glen's trousers down his hips, just enough for his cock to come out. It laid hard and thick against Glen's stomach, probably one of the most impressive sizes Jack had seen. Well. It looked like he would be facing a challenge after all. He grabbed the base, stroking up and down and squeezing just beneath the head.
A frown creased Glen's brow, struggled breaths coming from his parted lips. "Nngh... Hhh, Jack..."
"Have you been touched like this before?" Jack licked his palm and spread his saliva over Glen's cock. It would be rough, but his entrance was wanting, and he was relying on that to try to keep their movements slick.
Glen's hands moved over Jack's hips. "Once. It is a rite of adulthood for me to lay with a woman. But since then, I've not shared my bed with anyone."
So even kings have to deal with such matters. Jack pushed his hips down, the tip of Glen's cock pressing onto his entrance. "Well," he said, wriggling his hips. "I'm no woman, but..." Inch by inch, Glen entered him, and Jack moaned, eyes fluttering closed as his cock twitched from the stimulation. So delightfully was he being spread by Glen's girth, his hole filled nearly to his limits like he hadn't felt in so long. But the strain was something Jack loved. He relished the burn, knowing he'd think of this initial connection between them for days to come.
Below him, Glen was shivering. His cock throbbed inside Jack, pressing heat further inside him. And then Jack started moving.
You know, Glen, I thought about it. I allowed myself that temptation of thinking about it - the two of us, together.
"Jack," whispered Glen, voice strained and husky. Jack undulated his hips, quickly able to fall into a steady rhythm of bouncing on Glen's cock. His grip tightened on Jack, holding him down but then letting go, his own hips starting to thrust up. "Jack, Jack...!"
At first, I tried to pretend I didn't want it, because I shouldn't want it. But I thought about me living here with you. Maybe Lacie would be here too. Maybe you wouldn't want to discard me after you reunited with her. Maybe you'd want everyone you loved under the same roof - and that would include me.
Already, sweat was beginning to cling to their bodies. Glen's scent was all around him, followed by the musk of their arousal. It felt good, so good that it was enough for Jack to imagine that they were just to people with no past and no titles. A certain weightlessness filled him at the thought as he continued shoving Glen's cock in and out of him, rubbing his inner walls so well. It was almost enough for Jack to think it was okay to love Glen, and for Glen to love him too.
"Glen... A-ahh, ooh, that's-!" A powerful shudder ran through his body as Glen moved on his own, holding Jack in place as he thrust at an erratic pace. Jack braced himself on Glen's naked chest, lightly digging his nails into his pale skin. "Glen, just like that- Haa! Aah, f-fuck, yes, mmn!"
There was a word gasped out under him, just under his unbridled moans, that sounded suspiciously like, "Beautiful."
Aah... I think maybe, in some other life, I might've been happy with you. Maybe I wouldn't be so horrible. Maybe I wouldn't betray you. I wouldn't know. So right now, I will do what I do best, and take advantage of my situation. I am, after all, a selfish person.
He really was out of his game. Already the stimulation was enough for Jack's cock to ache for release. Pre-cum dribbled out desperately from his tip, running down his length and dripping down to Glen's stomach. Jack held out a little longer, waiting until Glen was close...
It wasn't long. Glen was breathing harder, tossing his head back and gripping Jack harder than ever. Jack followed in that wave of orgasm, letting every bit of Glen's heat and touch imprint itself on his body. It would be different from all the other ones, different from the possessive tattoos. Jack wanted Glen's to last forever. Even if someone else touched him, they wouldn't be tainted. Like a starving man, Jack took in Glen's climatic groans, swallowed them up with kisses and clenched around his cock to milk out the come filling his insides. He tasted him, inside and out, hitting his deepest spots, and licked up his name falling from Glen's lips. And then with one last shove of his hips, Jack came too, harder than he ever remembered.
So for now, just for now before I hurt you and leave...
I want to at least be able to dream what being lovingly held by you feels like.
"Tell me what you told him."
He was pacing back and forth, steps measured and long. He wouldn't even spare her a glance, eyes tracing over invisible designs of his soon-to-be triumph. Jack was already in place, and soon Lacie would be too.
Miranda Barma sat in one of the chairs set out for some abandoned dinner party. Her lipstick was smudged, and hair disheveled; he'd torn her away in the middle of her servicing a customer. Although abrupt in his arrival, Miranda hardly put up a fight. It had to be proof of her powers as a seer.
When she didn't answer, he turned to her, eyes narrowing. "I said tell me what you told him."
One corner of her lips curled up in amusement. "Nothing you don't already suspect, I'm sure." She sat primly, back straight against the chair and hands over the waves of her dress. "Although I didn't quite know your identity then, so unfortunately I couldn't tell him who to look out for. But really, for it to have been you..." She laughed.
"You're not answering my question." He hissed it, picking up a knife and stabbing it into the wood of the table.
Miranda didn't so much as flinch at the action. "I told him that he was right about Abyss being what took Lacie. That night at the ball, I pulled him aside to tell him that." She leaned back on her chair. "Of course, also that Abyss would return to his life. Around that time, yes... I believe that's when you found your vessel. I felt your power, and had to leave before I could say more. When he reached out for me, wanting more information, those that the ball misunderstood the situation. Well, I suppose I can't completely complain about my life. I hated my family anyhow, they never appreciated my psychic gift."
"I didn't ask for your life story."
The amused look in her eyes pissed him off. It annoyed him that a mere mortal thought she could play with him like this. Well, that wouldn't be too much a matter - he had experience, and knew many practices of torture should she become too much to handle. He had but one more question.
He got on top of the table, walking over to her and squatting down. "Did you tell him where Lacie is?"
Miranda's eyebrows raised, recognizing what he must be after. "I'm sure you know as well as I how impossible a task locating her is. That girl is smart. As soon as she escaped you, she set powerful wards to cloak herself." Her lips spread in a grin. "She truly does hold the spirit of one of those elusive children in her, hehe. Her Baskerville blood certainly helps."
Resisting the urge to carve out her tongue, he gritted his teeth noisily and grabbed a fistful of her hair. Her short gasp and pale column of her neck as he pulled her head back reminded him of the tortured look Lacie had once given him.
He'd had her, he'd had her in his grasp, and she escaped. Always slipping through his fingers, those damn brats, those damnable twins he'd never forgive! This time would definitely be the last. No longer would they be smoke in his hands. This time, he'd trap them once and for all. And he wasn't going to be patient in obtaining that.
"You know, don't you? Tell me!" He banged her head on the wood of the chair.
Miranda winced, lips twisting in discomfort. But the next second, she was smiling. "Impatient," she scoffed.
Bam!
"You should know!" she growled, slapping his hands away. Her chair clattered to the floor, her eyes glaring daggers at him. "If you were truly so desperate, surely you would've noticed."
"Noticed what?" He narrowed his eyes, and cast out his net to the realms, scanning for Lacie as he'd done many times over the years. But instead of coming up empty, a crimson pulsation returned to him, like a fly on a web. His rage and impatience shattered, fixated on that familiar, ancient soul that cried away from him.
Miranda noticed his change of expression. "Her ward grew weak, near non-existent. There's only two reasons that could've happened - she's either dying, or..." She straightened up, smoothing down her hair. "She's given childbirth."
Reasons didn't matter. He locked onto that aura and memorized its location. Without even sparing a glance to Miranda Barma, he left the room in a daze, going down the dark corridors to seek out Victoria. The calmness he'd had before cracked with each step until he was running down the halls, cackling loudly with glee.
This time! he thought madly. This time, I'll make sure you two never get to elude me again!
Ending A/N: Errhghghgh, I do hope the quality of the fic hasn't dropped. I might come back and edit later but for now I just wanted to get it out. I'm trying to do my best with the time constraints I have. I'm sorry if anything looks bad or rushed, but hopefully it's still as believable as possible, especially the development of Glen and Jack's relationship. It was always bound to be a complicated one. And oh gosh, Jack. He used to be such an upbeat, cocky shit. And now he's going through so much turmoil AND HE'S SO SAD AND CONFUSED UGH. Poor Jakku, I'm sorry for doing this to you. (Also, did y'all like the nab at canon I made during the sex scene, hahaha -shot-)
Hope to see you all again soon!
