Trouble was brewing in the Tangled Shore. Uldren Sov, Awoken Prince and Master of Crows, had received a report of unusual Eliksni activity in the Reef. There was an old abandoned outpost on the Tangled Shore that a rogue group of Eliksni had apparently tried to take as their own, attempting to establish a foothold in the area. It was up to the Crows to investigate this rogue Eliksni group and Uldren decided that he would look into it personally, with a little help from a close friend.
Jolyon Till the Rachis, a highly admired Crow, had been close with Prince Uldren for years. The two were partners in the field because they knew each other so well and worked together even better. He of course would be joining the Prince on this mission; he wasn't even asked, it was just obvious that he would be coming along at this point. In truth, he was looking forward to it for a few reasons.
"Sleeping already?" Jolyon joked as he closed in on Uldren, who was laying down on the ramp leading into his Galliot. It was early and Uldren never slept well before big missions like this, which of course Jolyon knew.
"Already? I never really woke up in the first place." The Prince scoffed light-heartedly. Jolyon extended his hand to help Uldren to his feet and the Prince took it, pulling himself up with Jolyon's help. As soon as he was on his feet Uldren pulled Jolyon in closer to him. They held on to each other's bare hands, which were positioned in between their chests, for an elongated period of time. Each of them staring into the others eyes, begging the other to make the first move. A smirk crossed Uldren's face, issuing a challenge to Jolyon to cross the line first. Jolyon hesitated for a second too long and Uldren chuckled as he pulled away and make his way into the ship. "You coming?" He shouted back to Jolyon who was now stunned into stillness.
"Yeah." Jolyon responded absentmindedly before finally walking into the ship. For the past few weeks the two of them have had hundreds of moments like this; moments in which they both clearly wanted something more but neither of them took the extra step towards acquiring it. For Jolyon, his hesitation was a matter of fear. He didn't want to cross a line with Uldren due to misreading the situation. It would kill him to have an unrequited love situation negatively affect the partnership they had spent years cultivating. For Uldren it was a matter of finding joy in pushing Jolyon to make the first move himself. He loved the thrill of the game, first and foremost, but watching Jolyon squirm was an added bonus.
"What's the matter, Jol?" Uldren teased as Jolyon made his way toward the cockpit. "Ahamkara got your tongue?"
"No, just mentally preparing myself to spend the day with you're exhausting personality is all." Jolyon grinned at the Prince who glared back at him.
"Alright well I'm piloting today so how about we keep the boring discussion to a minimum. I really don't want to die because I fell asleep at the wheel due to yet another lecture on Awoken architecture." Uldren walked to the pilots seat and began preforming some routine checks.
"Oh, my apologies your highness. What is an appropriate topic for me, your humble servant, to discuss today?" Jolyon put on a phony, high-society accent as he walked over and bowed to Uldren before sitting in the copilot seat.
Uldren chuckled as he threw his head back, pocketing his tongue against his cheek before muttering, "You're really making this difficult."
"What was that, your majesty?" Jolyon jokingly asked as he turned his seat to face Uldren. To his surprise the Prince met his gaze there and placed his knees on the outside of Jolyon's. The Prince ran his lithe hand up Jolyon's thigh, keeping his intense amber eyes on Jolyon's soft blue eyes the entire time. Jolyon's breath caught in his throat as his cheeks turned a slightly darker shade of blue. Uldren's face twisted into a seductive grin before he broke into laughter. He patted Jolyon's thigh and turned back around to start the ship's engines as if nothing had happened. Jolyon paused, once again stunned by Uldren's brazenly flirtatious gesture.
It was silent for a time as they took off towards the Tangled Shore. Eventually they got to talking about something meaningless, just passing the time until they arrived at their destination. They were a few miles away from the outpost they were meant to investigate so they grabbed their gear and started walking. Once their boots touched dirt there was total silence. This was typical, given that they were both more or less professional in the field. Uldren hoped he had given Jolyon enough to think about as they walked, which pleased him to no end. He absolutely loved seeing Jolyon so flustered.
Jolyon was of course in a panic. He knew damn well what the Prince was doing and had yet to decide if he wanted to play the game or just pull Uldren into a kiss next time. Why did I have to fall for such a cocky bastard? Jolyon thought to himself with a smile. As if he'd actually want it any other way. Honestly, Uldren's cocksure attitude was high up on his list of turn-ons.
As they approached a valley containing the derelict structure where the group of Eliksni was hiding out, Uldren held his hand up and then pointed to the ground. They happened to be on a short cliff which overlooked the valley, giving them a good view of the place from a safe distance. Jolyon swung his sniper rifle around and laid flat on his stomach, getting a good view of the structure through his scope. It was surrounded by Eliksni, just like the report stated.
Uldren laid down next to Jolyon and peered through his own scope which wasn't connected to a gun. He was prone, like Jolyon, but had hitched his knee up to his side and pressed it against Jolyon's thigh. Jolyon sighed, looks like the game is still on.
"This looks like the place." Uldren whispered. Jolyon kept his eye pressed into his scope and simply nodded. Challenge accepted Uldren thought as he rolled onto his side, propping himself up with his elbow.
"Get down, idiot. They'll see you." Jolyon whispered.
"Make me." Uldren grinned. Jolyon huffed in annoyance, laying his rifle down in front of him before turning to see Uldren giving him that same seductive stare as before. Jolyon hesitated, too many thoughts rushing through his head all at once. "Clock's ticking."
"Fine." Jolyon grunted as he lunged at Uldren, pinning him down on his back while straddling him. Uldren was breathless and surprised, a sight that thrilled Jolyon. Without further hesitation he decided to give up on the stupid game and kiss the damned fool before he got them killed. However, just as he leaned down his gesture was cut short by a wire rifle shot nearly hitting his head.
In an instant both men sprang into action. Jolyon rolled over and grabbed his sniper rifle again, aiming down the sights, and picking off the Eliksni who had ranged weapons. Uldren brandished his hand cannon as he slid down the slanted cliffside, running directly into combat as soon as he hit the bottom. The Prince worked his way through the Eliksni in front of him as Jolyon picked off the scattered enemies around him one by one. This was why they made such a good team, they didn't even have to speak or call out positions. It was as if they could read each other's minds. Jolyon adjusted to accommodate Uldren who in turn did the same for his partner. A 'perfect duo', as others called them.
"That's all of them." Jolyon spoke up through his earpiece. Uldren placed his hands on his knees and sighed. "I'm coming down." Jolyon slid down the front of the cliff and jogged over to meet Uldren. "You hurt?"
"I'm fine, it's nothing." Uldren's voice trembled slightly from the rush of adrenaline. It didn't help that he expected the moment before all the shooting started to lead into something a bit more stimulating.
Jolyon noticed a small cut on Uldren's cheekbone and brought his gloved hand up to delicately wipe a small drop of blood away. This put them in a familiar position, only this time it was different. They were close, face to face, but Uldren wasn't smiling that arrogant smile of his. He looked more gentle than usual as he leaned into Jolyon's hand, which was now simply resting on the side of the Prince's face. It became painfully clear to Jolyon in that moment that he had never misread the situation. Uldren wanted the same thing that he did. Jolyon started to lean in and finally plant that kiss on Uldren's soft, blue lips but was distracted by the sound of Eliksni shouting in the distance.
"Raiding party?" Uldren's eyes shot in the direction of the noise.
"Most likely. Let's get inside." Jolyon replied, pulling Uldren along with him by the hand as he ran into the structure. Once they were inside they realized that this building was much larger than they had previously thought. The place was packed with gear and supplies for at least 5 raiding parties, none of which happened to be in at the moment. The Eliksni they killed out front where just a fraction of what was usually here, by the looks of it.
"There's no way they didn't call for help when they saw us, Jol. They have to know we're here."
"What do we do then? We can't go back out or we'll be staring at 100 angry Eliksni." Jolyon's jaw tightened in frustration.
"You know, we could have avoided all this if you had just gotten on me faster." The Prince said pompously.
"Really? That's where you're going right now?" Jolyon scoffed and brought his hand to his forehead. "You're unbelievable."
"You have no idea." Uldren winked at Jolyon who was now beyond frustrated. "Oh, relax. You're so uptight. Look, we need to find another way out. Come on." Uldren began leading them further into the structure hoping to find a rear or side exit. They passed through a few rooms before they heard the racket of the raiding party closing in on them from inside. They needed to move fast to stay ahead of the enemy. Soon they found a hallway leading towards what they assumed was the back of the structure, maybe an exit, but they couldn't reach it in time before they were caught. The Eliksni had closed in on them faster than they thought.
Jolyon saw a tight corridor to the side, something barely noticeable and unlikely to accommodate Eliksni due to it's size. It was a perfect hiding spot. Uldren saw it too and he looked to Jolyon before they both sprinted over and crammed into the corridor just as the Eliksni pushed into the room. It was clearly not the entire raiding party who had followed them, but enough to be dangerous nonetheless.
The enemy passed by them and both men breathed a sigh of relief. Uldren looked over to Jolyon and felt an unfamiliar warmth against his body. He looked down and saw Jolyon's hand gripping firmly onto Uldren's hip. The Prince instinctively reached up and slowly splayed his fingers over Jolyon's ribcage while their spare hands clasped together. He clenched onto Jolyon's hand, fingers interlaced with Jolyon's though leather gloves, as his breathing grew heavy.
One might think that they were just grabbing on to each other out of fear, or maybe because of the rush of adrenaline. However, they both knew that wasn't the case. Uldren had been yearning for Jolyon's touch for so long, and Jolyon ached for his in return. Their minds were now racing with carnal thoughts of each other. It was like everything they had been doing since they first met years ago was leading up to this.
The Prince licked his lips as his desire-filled eyes came to rest on Jolyon's. Just like that they were on each other with reckless abandon. Tongues ran across teeth before intertwining together as they pushed back and forth, licking into each other's mouths. They breathlessly panted against each other, biting and sucking on each others lips in between chaotic kisses. It was sloppy and it was rough but it was perfect. The looming fear brought on by the enemy Eliksni had been replaced with smooth lips, grasping fingers, and the grinding of hips.
The intoxicating scent of sweat, blood, and gunsmith oil invaded their noses, seeming to only heighten their state of arousal. Uldren drank in each and every gasp that escaped Jolyon's mouth as he grabbed on to anything he could get his hands on, the leather of his gloves creaking as he gripped tighter and tighter.
Jolyon backed away enough to look Uldren in the eye was met with a rare sight. He half expected to see that stupid, familiar smirk on Uldren's face but it was nowhere to be found. Instead, he saw lidded eyes laced with desire and desperation. Uldren wasn't normally the type to lose control like this and it spurred Jolyon on. If the Price was going to relinquish his dominance then Jolyon would gladly take it for himself.
Jolyon was normally so calm and collected but right now he looked at Uldren like a wild animal in heat, his gaze hungry and full of want. He dug his fingers into the Prince's hips and used this grip to pull him against his body. Uldren bit his own lip as a small, almost imperceptible moan slipped out of him. If Jolyon hadn't been up against him he probably wouldn't have even heard it. But he did, oh god he did.
Fire burned in Jolyon's gut as he slammed Uldren against the wall, nipping at his jaw before moving down to the Prince's neck. He sucked on Uldren's soft, blue skin and left little marks that would lay claim to the Prince for days to come. The act sent shivers through Uldren's body and elicited a sharp groan of pleasure from him. This may have been a new experience but he'd be lying if he said he didn't crave so much more from Jolyon. The Prince threw his head back with a gasp as Jolyon reached down and palmed his hard cock through his pants. Uldren shifted to position his knee in between Jolyon's legs, allowing him to grind against it. Jolyon moaned softly against Uldren's neck as he rubbed his dick against his thigh.
It didn't take long for Jolyon to grow hungry for more. He dropped to his knees and aligned his face with Uldren's hips before quickly undoing Uldren's belts. Once he got them off he urgently pulled his own gloves off with his teeth, as if he was on some kind of time schedule. In a way he was, who knows when the group they initially hid from would pass back through and he wasn't about to miss this opportunity for a third time due to some fucking Eliksni. Jolyon had been waiting too long for this and so had Uldren.
He finally freed Uldren's cock from his pants and licked along the length of it, base to tip. Uldren melted as soon as Jolyon's mouth wrapped around his cock. He was forced to brace himself on the wall in front of him with one hand to keep from falling over. He brought his other hand down to Jolyon's head and interlaced his fingers within the man's soft, white hair. Jolyon backed away to kiss the tip of Uldren's dick, being sure to lap up the pre-cum that dewed there before deep-throating the entirety of it.
Uldren gasped out a curse at the sensation. He looked down to see Jolyon pull back for a moment and spit in his palm before reaching down to wrestle his own dick out of his pants. He promptly went back to worshipping Uldren's cock with his mouth while jerking himself off. Uldren pulled on Jolyon's hair, biting his lip to keep quite. He was so close, he could feel it in his gut and he wanted it so fucking bad. It wasn't just that he wanted to come, he wanted Jolyon to be the one to make him come.
Jolyon felt Uldren's cock twitching as he desperately fucked into his mouth. Uldren's length reached the back of Jolyon's throat and Jolyon swallowed around it, causing Uldren to moan his name along with a few more curses. The Prince's body suddenly tensed up as he came in Jolyon's mouth with a shiver. Jolyon worked the Prince through his orgasm, swallowing every last drop of cum while stroking himself to completion. He came shortly after, spilling his load onto the floor.
Uldren leaned back against the wall, panting heavily as he tucked himself back in his pants. Jolyon stood up after a moment and promptly rested his forehead on the Prince's shoulder as they both steadied their breathing. He wrapped his arms around the Prince and to his surprise Uldren embraced him back. They stood like this for a few moments, just holding each other. Uldren's body was shaking as he gripped onto Jolyon's back, holding him firmly in place.
It was a tender gesture, one that Jolyon wasn't accustomed to receiving from Uldren. This whole thing was something he wasn't used to doing with Uldren though, so it fit the bill. The Prince wasn't usually affectionate with anyone but Jolyon. He was a different person entirely around Jolyon: softer, friendlier, more kind. He smiled around Jolyon while keeping a straight face around everyone else. Jolyon got to wondering how long this... well, whatever this is, had been brewing between them. Was it always there or was it a recent realization?
He wanted to talk about it, he wanted to ask Uldren how he felt, and to kiss him again. Suddenly a loud bang rang out somewhere across the room, causing both men to instantly shoot upright. They peeked out around the corners of the tight corridor, scanning for enemies before their eyes snapped back to each other. Uldren's gaze was initially intense but as his eyes met Jolyon's they became soft and needy. Jolyon took a second to gently push aside a strand of black hair that was stuck to Uldren's forehead with sweat. "We should go." Jolyon whispered as he reached down to grab his gloves off the floor and quickly put them back on.
"I agree." Uldren said quietly, readying his hand cannon. They ducked out of the corridor and made their way to the back of the structure through the hallway they saw before. After dipping in and out of a few more rooms they eventually made their way outside and saw that the coast was clear for now. However, they both knew they'd have to double back around the structure to get to where Uldren's ship was. This meant they'd most definitely run into and untold amount of Eliksni and most likely be vastly outnumbered.
Uldren paused for a moment, contemplating how the hell they were going to get out of here without getting spotted. He looked over to Jolyon for an answer and saw him looking around nervously, obviously still searching for an answer himself. The Prince took a deep breath and just ran with the only thought he had. He grabbed Jolyon's hand and booked it, running around the side of the building and towards a cave he had seen on the map earlier. It was valiant but also extremely shortsighted, bordering on idiotic. Definitely Uldren's style.
Jolyon only had his sniper rifle on hand, having forgotten his bag by accident on the cliffside they were on earlier. He grabbed a grenade off of Uldren's belt and threw it, allowing the men to use the smoke as cover to duck into the cave Uldren was leading them towards. The cave had another opening at the back, so all they needed to do was make their way through it and they would be near the cliff they were on earlier. From there, the ship wouldn't be very far.
Jolyon was able to retrieve his bag, slinging it over his should as they began running towards the ship. After making sure they weren't being followed they slowed down to a walk with Jolyon taking lead. Silence filled the air around them again as both of them waited on the other to be the first to say something. Truthfully, neither of them even knew where to start.
"Hold on." The Prince finally broke the silence. "This belt is buckled wrong. It's driving me crazy." He spoke barely above a whisper and Jolyon could hardly hear him from where he was a few steps ahead. Uldren stopped and started fidgeting with his belt with shaking hands.
Jolyon walked back to him and pushed Uldren's hands aside to fix the belt himself. "You wear too many of these stupid things."
"I don't wear enough." A nervous chuckle escaped him as Jolyon finished with the belt and grabbed one of his hands.
"Why are you shaking?" Jolyon asked kindly, being sure the Prince knew he was now being attentive and not sarcastic. Uldren looked up to him with desperate eyes as his lips parted, attempting to speak but failing utterly. He settled for grabbing the back of Jolyon's neck and pulling him into a kiss. This kiss wasn't as chaotic as before. This time they took their time with it, drawing it out slowly. They wanted it to be something they could both grab onto for clarity. Jolyon melted at the feeling of Uldren's lips on his, the warm heat of his breath as he pushed his tongue into his mouth.
Uldren pulled back briefly and caught a glimpse of his ship on the horizon. "We shouldn't stay here. Come." He reached his hand down and grabbed Jolyon's again, holding it tightly as they made their way back to the ship.