Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters end up in. Everything else belongs to someone else and that's the way of it.
No Man Was Allowed
While he didn't consider him the type to deliberately hurt or make someone feel less without a good reason, Blake was willing to acknowledge that it was like him to deliberately act like a little shit sometimes for his own amusement. And while he didn't general play jealousy games he also wasn't beyond flirting or appreciating another man's appreciation even when he was taken. He didn't cheat, just to be clear, but he liked making sure that whoever he was seeing realized that Blake had other options, and therefore treating him well was always in his boyfriend's best interests.
In this case though, Blake got straight to the point with brutal honesty.
"He's like a quite often annoying little brother to me. There's nothing romantic or sexual about our relationship, and never will be. He's gorgeous, but not my type. You have my word." In truth he was sorta Simon's type, in that he understood Simon and his quirks and accepted them, but the younger man had never tried anything with him, and if he had Blake would have turned the boy down for the age difference alone back then.
"Odd that he made no move to touch you, if you are family."
"Simon isn't big on touching people. Plus I would imagine he knows he'd need your permission, right? Now that I'm your Pet." In truth he was one of the few people Simon was okay with being touched by, but Simon almost never initiated contact.
Bane's eyes were cold and final. "No one is to touch you. Unless you're trying to escape or fighting them."
"I understand." Moving closer, and thinking to soothe while copping a bit of a feel, Blake ran his hands up Bane's chest, thinking the thin, long sleeved shirt ridiculously inappropriate given how fucking cold it was in this hellhole. And admiring the man's muscles in the more lust fueled corners of his brain, because they were right there, after all.
Apparently Bane didn't find the action particularly soothing, though, since the alpha's response was to firmly grasp his chin to insure their eye contact as he warned Blake that trying to use his charms to get free would not end well for him or his would be lover.
"I got it. I'm Anck-Su-Namun without the gold body paint and backstabbing tendencies."
Though he did appreciate bald men too, obviously.
And okay, he could only not be a smartass for so long, especially when faced with someone with no sense of humor like Bane. The man needed to lighten up and get one soon. Sarcasm had always been one of his shields and weapons of choice.
"Are you referring to Ankhesenamun, the third of six known daughters of Pharaoh Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti, who grew up to become the wife of her half-brother Tutankhamun?"
"Ah….no. I was referring to 'The Mummy' franchise. Anck-Su-Namun was the mistress to the pharaoh, who was made to wear basically netting and gold body paint so that no one could touch her without it being smudged. An interesting way of keeping your lover honest, you gotta admit, even if it didn't work. The pharaoh died at the hands of her side piece. And okay, I should have come up with a better analogy, but there's this line from the movie 'No man was allowed to touch her', and that's what popped into my head when you were doing your staking your claim thing."
"Body paint?"
"I could rock it. But no." A onetime thing to spice things up a little, yes. Full time, no way in hell. Not to mention the idea brought to mind that Bond villain who killed a woman by way of skin suffocation. So not a good way to go.
Shaking his head, possibly in exaggeration, Bane dropped his hand away. "I have other duties to attend to before we leave tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? And…uh…how are we getting down these mountains, exactly?" They'd kept him blindfolded, drugged, and tied up, so he had more impressions than memories of how he'd gotten here in the first place. But Blake did have some idea where thanks to Bruce's stories and the fact that he could feel the difference in altitudes. And this time around Blake was fairly sure that he wasn't going to be out of it for the trip…and he was not a nature person. Or a winter person. Or a comfortable climbing down a fucking mountain person.
And those were understatements.
Which Bane seemed to know, given the hint of amusement he thought he could see in those grey blue eyes.
"I will not let you die."
"Reassuring. But accidents happen. Especially where ice is concerned." Death by ice, whether falling through or slipping on it, were also not Blake's ideas of good ways to go.
"It will be a short distance to a place a helicopter can land."
"Oh thank you, God."
Again with the hint of amusement, thought with the mask on it was hard as hell to really get a read on the man. He was used to being able to look for more tells. Not that Bane's eyes didn't give little clues, Blake decided, if you were paying enough attention, but it was hard to form an opinion when one's eyes were naturally drawn to the butt ugly mask clinging to the alpha's face.
Speaking of which…
Keeping his movements slow, just in case, Blake reached up and over to touch the mask in question, running questioning fingers over the edges while Bane gave him a look that made it clear an attempt to fiddle or remove it would be met with painful repercussions.
"Wayne said you had this originally for medical reasons, or at least that's what Talia told him. But that even after you didn't need it anymore you've kept it. Why? It's not like you need to look scary to demand respect. It feels like it would cut into your face horribly, it's so tight."
"The mask stays on."
That really wasn't an answer, but Blake didn't see the point in pushing it giving the 'don't ask' vibes Bane was giving off. At least for the moment. Or at least not much. "I suppose that means I won't be kissing you before you go off to work every day like a good little househusband?"
Surprise flashed in Bane's eyes for a couple heartbeats, and then when he stated that he didn't kiss there was definitely a moody undertone to the words.
"Pity. Because I'm excellent at it."
"Just saying." Blake added, when Bane gave him a censoring look. "Don't you have underlings to terrorize somewhere in this icebox, by the way? Or were you looking for me to warm you up?" Blake fluttered his eyelashes for emphasis.
"You would be wise to think before you speak."
"So I've been told. Many, many times."
"I will see you after dinner. Behave."
"As you wish, Master."
The sound Bane made in response made Blake think the man knew sarcasm when he heard it. Which was a good thing, now that they were stuck together for the next little while.
Sarcasm was one of his specialities.
)
Meanwhile
Barsad was not a people person. Not by a longshot. He preferred his own company whenever possible, and only truly enjoyed conversing with his leader. People lied, destroyed, and acted above all in their own self-interests, with little concern for the cost or consequences unless they were made to pay for it. Ergo, for the most part, when he chose to interact with people it was with the purpose of learning them well enough to insure that their actions didn't affect him, Bane, or their men negatively, and to understand who they were so as to manipulate and anticipate them when necessary.
Now here he was, with the most blank faced boy he'd ever met, and Barsad was getting nothing from him.
He didn't think the boy stupid. That wasn't the vibe he was getting. Rather Kei, or Simon, as he'd been named at birth, reminded Barsad more of a creature who was the sort to camouflage himself, staying still and unassuming for as long as it took for its prey to come to it. And yet that didn't seem right either, since Barsad didn't get the sense that Kei was dangerous. Was instead someone more used to being prey than predator. And yet he had been willing to attack Bane in the cop's defense, despite knowing how that would end for him.
Speaking of which…
"What language is Khaleesi?"
"Dothraki."
Dothraki? Barsad knew a great deal about the world and its languages, but that didn't ring any bells. "From what part of the world does that tongue originate?"
A hint of a smile. "The Dothraki Sea, in Essos, I think."
It took a moment, and then Barsad understood. "It's a fictional language. One created for a book or film."
A nod.
"What does khaleesi mean, in the language of the Dothraki? Keeping in mind of course that I can look it up later, once we're off the mountain."
"I'm not a liar." Was the alpha's response, Kei's gaze suddenly very direct and penetrating, before his gaze shifted straight ahead once more. "It means queen."
"Queen?"
"In the book series, which is also a television show, the Dothraki are a nomadic group of warriors who travel throughout the land raiding people. Their leaders are called khals, whose wives are referred to as khaleesi."
Barsad waited for some explanation as to how any of that applied to Blake's use of the term, and why it had first relieved and then so amused Kei, but the young man remained silent, as though the conversation was over. And while he could understand why Bane, and their men by extension could be compared to a nomadic race of warriors, Barsad sensed that he was still missing the point. And that was a feeling he was not comfortable with.
"The detective is not Bane's wife."
"No. He's his Pet."
"Then why would he tell you to call him Khaleesi?" It was like pulling teeth. Was this what he was like when he didn't want to answer their nosey questions about Bane?
"To tell me he's alright."
"And how does calling him a queen translate to him being alright when he's a Pet? Bane's Pet." Not that Barsad thought that Bane would mistreat the cop unless circumstances forced his hands, but Bane did have a reputation and Kei didn't know Bane well at all, having had little to no contact with him. And why wasn't the boy even entertaining the thought that perhaps Blake was just saying things to make the younger alpha feel better about the fact that he would be no match for Bane? Could he be so naïve…or did he know something about Blake that they didn't?
Damn Talia's men for fucking that up so royally.
"Just because someone starts out as something, doesn't mean they stay that way."
The rather philosophical response surprised and intrigued Barsad. "Oh?"
"Yes." Was Kei's simple answer. "I was considered very odd looking when I was a boy. I had to grow into my face, one of my social workers said. Then I did, and now people tell me I'm very handsome or even gorgeous. Now they call me odd, not odd looking."
"And do you think you're gorgeous?" Barsad was curious to find out if Kei was vain.
It took a moment for Kei to answer, the boy's attention having been caught by the sight of his adopted father off to the side, watching them but not approaching. A silent message seemed to pass between the two, and then Kei was giving him his full attention once more.
"I'm not my type. And I've never cared what people look like. The prettiest people are often the ugliest inside. And would you do me a favor? Would you tell John to call me Kei from now on? It upsets my father, when he's reminded that I was once someone else."
Seeing no reason why he couldn't, Barsad nodded his head. He had enjoyed his time under Hitachi's instruction as well.
"Thank you. I should go now."
Nodding his head politely, Kei took a couple steps towards his father and then stopped, looking back at him, his voice very matter of fact. "In case looks matter to you, I like your face. Most men don't look good with beards, but I like yours. Goodbye."
And leaving Barsad more confused than when they'd started their conversation, Kei wandered off to join his father, the two leaving together without once glancing behind at him.
)
Having built up the fire in Bane's room to the best of his ability, and hadn't that just been a fun, educational process that had nearly caused him to set himself on fire a couple times, Blake sat huddled up in front of it as close as he dared. He was wearing his clothes, ones he'd snitched from Bane's drawers, and had wrapped himself up in the pathetic blanket from the bed that Bane was going to have to pry out of his cold, dead fingers later. Well, unless Bane was willing to let him cuddle with him again, since Bane was his own furnace, lucky bastard.
And okay, not out of his cold, dead, hands, since he couldn't die and leave Simon here to fend for himself. The fact that the kid had managed it this far was a hell of a shock, though he'd managed to get some information from Barsad when Bane's sidekick had dropped off some dinner or him.
Ugh. He didn't even want to think about that dinner. Or what might have been in that 'stew' thing.
It had been hot, but that was the best thing about it, Blake thought darkly, shuddering at the memory of the weird textured meat in it. And he was a man who ate hot dogs on a regular basis, so it wasn't like he was squeamish, generally, at the idea of eating weird meat.
But back to Simon, who he was going to have to start thinking of as Kei, apparently, at least for the time being. Because of some old man who considered Simon his son even though Blake was well aware of the fact that Simon's father was currently serving year seven of fifteen at Riker's in New York. Simon had been stuck here since al Ghul had tried to take out Gotham, and that had been all that he was all he'd been able to get out of Barsad which was frustrating, but then the other man had been rather subtly pumping him for information about Simon, which he hadn't been about to volunteer either. Knowledge was power, after all, and Simon more easy to manipulate than most, if you knew how to go about it. Not to mention it was clear from a couple of the questions Bane's second had posed that if nothing else, it wasn't common knowledge what set Simon apart from the average person.
He wouldn't change that unless Simon okayed it.
Most important though was the fact that any escape plan he formulated would have to include getting Simon out. He was not leaving the boy behind. No fucking way. He'd find a way even if adding the boy to the equation would probably seriously up the chances of getting caught. With his looks Simon stood out too much even in a crowd, not to mention the fact that the alpha had quirks that tended to be remembered if someone paid attention.
If Simon wanted to stay here because of his 'father'…that could be a problem too. Not just because Blake wasn't about to leave the boy behind, but because if he did everyone was sure to blame Simon for his escape even if he kept his former roommate completely in the dark about his plans. Bane knew that they knew each other, were close, and that would be enough reason for them to assume, correctly, that at the very least Blake would never leave without saying goodbye.
And there was really no point in trying to plan things out since there were too many questions he needed answered, not to mention the fact that he wasn't going to attempt an escape until he was off this godforsaken mountain range. All the metaphorical stars had to be in alignment before he tried anything, and the fact that he was like ninety nine percent likely to die if he tried to get down by himself was a damn good reason to wait until they were in a more hospitable climate. Not that he'd fare much better in a desert climate either, but at least there was less to trip and slide on.
Regardless, it went without saying that he would only have one shot at this, two if he was lucky and Bane caught him so easily the first time that he was willing to let him live. Third chances…Blake was betting not.
Hearing the door creak on its hinges Blake bent backward to confirm that it was Bane and not someone come to kill him for shits and giggles. Yup. It was Bane. And he was alone this time, which meant he didn't have to pretend and could just be a toned down version of his usual self.
And that being the case Blake straightened and went back to warming himself since it wasn't like he could kiss the big lug hello. Though…
"Hi, Honey. How was work?"
"What are you doing?"
"Staying warm. It's sort of necessary for my survival."
The sound of footsteps, and then Blake could feel Bane looming over him even before he tipped his head back to meet the large alpha's gaze. "Hi."
"You will have to toughen up." Was Bane's response, his tone commanding. "I will not have such a weak Pet. You are not an omega. To your feet."
Finding humor in that statement for obvious reasons, Blake kept his amusement to himself as he got to his feet as ordered, though he kept his death grip on the blanket as he turned to face Bane. Hell if he was giving it up before he had to.
"Are you…wearing my clothes underneath that?"
"Yup."
