Chapter Thirteen: Bellicose
/ˈbeləˌkōs/
Adjective: warlike in nature
""Sofdu unga ástin mín," murmured Elijah as he brushed back Niklaus' hair.
Niklaus closed his eyes and smiled as he felt sleep coming swiftly. He was emotionally and physically drained.
"I love that song," said Niklaus softly, "You used to sing that to us when we were young."
Elijah kissed Niklaus forehead. So much had changed, but not everything had to. Elijah started to hum, a deep reverberating sound, as he searched for the old notes lost in his memories.
"Við skulum ekki vaka um dimmar nætur," sang Elijah slowly.
Let's not stay awake through dark nights.
"Það er margt sem myrkrið veit."
There is much the darkness knows.
"Sofdu lengi, sofdu rótt, seint mun best ad vakna."
Sleep long, sleep tight, it is best to wake up late.
"Maedan kenna mun thér fljótt, medan hallar degi skjótt."
The hardship will teach you soon, while the day turns to night-
"Ad mennirnir elska, missa, gráta og sakna."
-that people feel love, loss, sadness and mourning.
"Sofðu lengi, sofðu rótt, Sofðu unga ástin mín, sofou."
Sleep long, sleep tight, sleep my young love, sleep.
The last notes hung in the air as Niklaus breaths became even and deep. Peace fell like a gossamer sheet, and Elijah dared not move for fear of breaking this stillness. He watched and waited until Niklaus' eyes began to shift and dance under his eyelids, watching what Elijah's prayed to be sweet dreams. Niklaus' lips parted as his sleep cycles deepened, and his body finally let go of the last of its tension. With Niklaus now essentially unable to woken – the heavy sleeper that he was – Elijah slowly retreated from the bed with hardly a creak.
Elijah set up watch in a sherpa fleece armchair across the room. He wasn't tired, but he promised to protect Niklaus, and he would keep that promise. Elijah watched from afar as Niklaus shifted ever so slightly. The ruddy red bite wounds on Niklaus neck became visible. Elijah felt the front of his pants tighten as his erection pressed taunt against rough fabric. He felt like a young lad again, as easy as it was for his arousal to rise to the surface these days. Elijah took a deep breath. He was thankful for the distance between them now, feeling a new sense of impropriety in sharing a bed with his younger brother.
They had known each other's bodies, yes, but Elijah was still torn between the roles of protector and lover. In his mind, he felt that he could not be both, and so he waited and watched until the sun started to sink beneath the mountains. Niklaus had slept the day away under Elijah's vigil gaze, and Elijah hoped that Niklaus was well rested. He stood from the armchair, cracked his neck and his knees, and reached out to lightly move Niklaus' shoulder.
"Good evening," whispered Elijah with a soft smile and warm eyes.
Niklaus blinked drearily to see Elijah struck golden by the light the setting sun. He felt that no time had passed, and that only the lighting had changed.
"Was I dreaming?" he croaked through parched lips.
Elijah bent forward and pressed his lips to the corner of Niklaus' lips.
"Please tell me you don't regret anything," he implored.
"I regret not showering," said Niklaus as he smiled against Elijah's chaste kiss.
Elijah pulled away with a breath of relief. His eyebrows unknotted.
"Nothing else?" he asked, and Niklaus shook his head.
"I feel…unburdened," said Niklaus, "And famished."
Elijah extended his arm to help Niklaus sit up.
"I'll make dinner. You can shower and dress if you would like," said Elijah as he made his way to the door. He turned before exiting and said, "In case you were wondering, I don't regret anything either."
Niklaus smiled and brought the plush white blanket to his mouth – hiding his smile from the universe so that the gods wouldn't catch on to his happiness. He hopped out of bed with a new spring in his step and made his way to the bathroom vanity. Niklaus craned his head back to look at the healing bite marks on his neck. He brushed his fingers over the wounds so as not to disturb their perfection. He felt around for the bite at the top of his spine, and he smiled. Niklaus stepped into the scorching hot shower and shifted his hips to feel the ache in the muscles of his entrance. It was a good ache. A healing ache.
Niklaus hardly dared to let this thought cross his mind, but he couldn't stave off that bubbly feeling. He may have – possibly, potentially, perhaps – felt even the tiniest, minutest hint of true happiness for the first time in years. Still, there was something nagging at the back of his mind, something unfinished. Lathered in soapy, chamomile suds, Niklaus looked down at his painfully neglected erection. Niklaus quickly rinsed himself, wrapped his hips in a soft white towel, and went to find Elijah to fix his nagging problem.
On his way to the kitchen, he smelled what might have been waffles and smoked salmon with a hint of AB blood. Niklaus passed the living room first and saw the wreckage that Elijah had inflicted upon the poor, innocent, lodge. To Niklaus, it had displayed Elijah's love and strength, and this only spurred him on more quickly to the kitchen.
Once Niklaus spotted Elijah behind a tall stack of waffles, he couldn't help but smile a toothy girn.
"That smell amazing," said Niklaus as he took a waffle and a glass of blood from the counter. He took the smoked salmon, wrapped it in the waffle like a pinwheel, and took a gigantic bite. He mmmm'ed, and Elijah chuckled.
"I'm happy you like it," he replied as he washed his hands and sat down to make his own plate of food. "You showered quickly. Did you miss me?"
"You cooked quickly," said Niklaus.
"You're eating quickly," said Elijah as he took his second bite and watched Niklaus scarf down a third waffle and second glass of blood.
"Well I have a lot to get done today," said Niklaus through a mouthful of food, and it was hardly intelligible but Elijah got the gist.
"Things you want to do quickly?" asked Elijah with one raised eyebrow and a crooked grin.
Niklaus nodded curtly, removed Elijah's half eaten waffle from Elijah's hand, and pulled Elijah out of the kitchen. He led them back to the living room, full of toppled books, broken glass, and freshly dried blood. The energy was intoxicating, and Niklaus finally met Elijah's gaze imploringly. Niklaus wanted more than he had received last night, but the request wouldn't pass his lips.
Elijah smiled bemusedly at Niklaus' stubborn silence, and he stepped forward to close the gap between them.
"I still feel guilty touching you like this," murmured Elijah into Niklaus' blond curls as his hands searched Niklaus' lower back and hips.
"That didn't stop you this morning," said Niklaus into Elijah's neck. He nuzzled his nose and took in Elijah's smoky and buttery scent from his work in the kitchen.
"Should it stop me now?" asked Elijah, and Niklaus shook his head.
"No," he said softly, "don't stop this time."
Elijah's hands cupped Niklaus' bottom through the damp towel around his waist. Elijah wanted nothing more than to tear that towel away and have his way with this beautiful, lithe body for the rest of the evening.
"Only if you ask me to," said Elijah as he hooked a thumb around the edge of the towel.
"Don't stop this time," repeated Niklaus firmly.
Niklaus looked up for the first time with a set and determined gaze. He wanted this more than he wanted autonomy. He wanted to feel owned. He wanted to give Elijah exactly what the others had taken – a 'fuck you' to the men who had come before him.
Elijah, on the other hand, doubted very much that he would continue if he felt he were pushing Niklaus over the edge again, but Niklaus' plea was seductive and tempting. With a flick of his wrist, Elijah undid Niklaus towel and let it fall to the floor. Elijah picked Niklaus up, and Niklaus wrapped his naked legs around Elijah's fully clothed body. The rough fabrics scraped his inner thighs as Elijah set him on the edge of the sofa. Elijah pressed their lips together as he fumbled to reach for the jar of oil that had rolled under the sofa eight hours ago. He unzipped his too tight jeans and applied the oil quickly to his throbbing erection. Elijah wanted – needed – to feel Niklaus' tightness again, but he wanted to go just a tad bit slower this time.
"What are you waiting for?" breathed Niklaus as Elijah trailed kissed across his collarbone.
Elijah hummed over the bones in response as he coated his fingers and pressed one finger against Niklaus' entrance. Slowly, he pressed against the taunt muscles until Niklaus gasped and gave way.
"You don't want to stop this time, so I'm going to make sure you're ready for me," said Elijah.
He added a second finger, perhaps prematurely, but Niklaus had identified himself as a masochist and Elijah couldn't help himself. Elijah twisted his fingers as he pushed past the first knuckles to scissor Niklaus open. This earned more than a few moans and writhes as Niklaus adjusted to Elijah's inhumanely large fingers.
"Ready?" asked Elijah as he slipped his fingers out.
"Don't ask," begged Niklaus impatiently. He didn't want another breakdown; he wanted to be fucked.
Elijah lined his cock up with Niklaus' entrance for the second time that day – a miracle, really – and slowly pushed until the pressure overcame Niklaus' natural defenses.
Niklaus gasped and jumped, instinctively trying to get away from this intrusion, but Elijah continued forward. If anything, Niklaus struggling around his cock made him harder than he ever thought possible. He was sure he wouldn't last very long at this point. And yet, the seconds crept by until Elijah was completely buried in Niklaus' ass. Niklaus' breathing had become erratic as he tried to cope with the unyielding of fullness. It felt familiar. If felt different. Niklaus wasn't sure if he was going to have a debilitating panic attack or an earth shattering orgasm at this point.
Then, Elijah lifted Niklaus' chin. His eyes were stern, with heat raging behind those blown out pupils.
"Right now, no one else matters," he said in low tones, "You belong to me, and only me."
And in that moment, Niklaus felt those words to me true. He simply nodded, muted and content under the severity of Elijah's tone and gaze.
Without warning, Elijah pulled out to the tip, and thrust back in completely.
"Fuck," he growled as he buried his fangs in Niklaus' neck.
Elijah repeated this slow, agonizing motion until he felt Niklaus loosen ever so slightly and begin to accept him as a part of his body. Then Elijah increased his pace, all the while staying anchored at Niklaus neck.
Niklaus groaned as he began to feel lightheaded and sore. Elijah was relentless, and it was everything that Niklaus needed to get lost in the moment and let his troubles melt away. The quick slap of Elijah's thighs against his own thighs became a lullaby of white noise. The sharp and deep thrusts began to carve light out of the darkness, and Niklaus began to feel new again.
"Harder," he demanded. More pain. More intensity.
Elijah obliged and lifted Niklaus' hips for a deeper, more punishing angle. He settled into a more brutal pace, and Niklaus cried out in a swirl of pain and pleasure. Niklaus hardly recognized these cries and screams as his own, and Elijah barely heard them either. They were both lost – Niklaus in an ocean of sensation, and Elijah in an insurmountable need to claim Niklaus' body. Nothing seemed to be good enough. Elijah snarled and bit harder into Niklaus' muscle. He heard Marcellus' infuriating laughter. He saw Mikael's iced over glare. He could feel their marks on Niklaus' body.
Rage and lust built in Elijah until he wasn't thinking anymore. He hardly realized that he held Niklaus' throat in a crushing grip – nearly on the verge of collapsing his windpipe. Niklaus' chest seized as he tried to suck in air, but he was starting to black out, and he liked it. Elijah wanted to go deeper. He hooked Niklaus' knee over his shoulder. The joint popped out of its socket instantly. Niklaus would have produced an earsplitting yell, but Elijah's grip around his neck prevented a single sound from coming out. Niklaus saw stars as the edges of his vision turned dark. There was only a tunnel of light. His eyes lulled to the ceiling as the pleasure in his body was overcome entirely by agony.
Elijah growled as his thrusts became uneven and erratic. His balls tightened, his stomach coiled, and relief flooded out of him as he came deep inside of Niklaus. He grunted and huffed as ropes of semen shot out, and Elijah flexed his hips forward as if to send them deeper into the man he was trying to claim. The last burst of ejaculate left his body, and his fangs receded from Niklaus' shredded flesh.
Ghostly soft touches brushed over the back of his hand and his shoulder. Suddenly, he was aware of the odd angle of Niklaus' leg and the ache in his hand that was crushing Niklaus' throat. Elijah let go suddenly and Niklaus suddenly started to cough and wheeze as oxygen returned to his lungs. Elijah watched – horrified with himself – as Niklaus' blue lips returned to their neutral pink tones. Elijah looked down and winced at Niklaus' dislocated thighbone.
"I'm sorry," he choked out as he relocated Niklaus' leg with one sharp, quick movement.
Niklaus yelled in pain and shifted back quickly enough to cause Elijah's softening manhood to slip out of his ass. Looking down, Elijah saw white semen and light red blood seeping from Niklaus abused entrance. Elijah had seen this before – that fateful night that he arrived just a little too late – Marcellus had gotten there first – Niklaus was broken and beaten with blood in places their shouldn't be. Elijah started to hyperventilate. Then, he felt long fingers running through his hair and he looked up remember where he was. He was with his dearest Niklaus, and Niklaus was smiling lazily with a hazy gaze and flushed, glistening skin.
"You've forgotten what you told me, my noble Eli," said Niklaus easily, "No one else matters right now."
Niklaus fingers wrapped around shocks of Elijah's silky black hair. With a quick jerk, he pulled Elijah's lips to the base of his cock where those lips instinctively began kissing at the soft blond curls.
"I didn't mean to hurt you that much," said Elijah regretfully.
"I liked it, but you can make it up to me now," said Niklaus. He was still heady and lost in his lust and desire for relief.
"I've never done this before," confessed Elijah, having never pleased a man in all of his long life, but eager to do so now as an informal apology for the dislocated thigh joint.
"You'll figure it out," murmured Niklaus as he let his head hang back in bliss. His fingers were still tightly woven in Elijah's hair, and he lifted Elijah's head up to the tip of his cock. "Don't be shy."
Elijah hesitated, took a deep breath, and decided to wing it. After all, it was the least he could do. He licked the underside of the head – earning an eager bucking of Niklaus' hips – and that was all the motivation Elijah needed. He took Niklaus' head in his mouth, swirled his tongue around the tip, and obliged as Niklaus pressed Elijah's head further down onto his raging erection. Feeling free and careless, Niklaus held Elijah still as he started to gently thrust up into the other man's mouth.
"Do you like not being able to breathe?" asked Niklaus breathlessly as he thrust deeply and held, "Because I loved it."
Elijah gagged and pulled back. His face was flushed as he refreshed his lungs. If Niklaus were teaching him the proper way to use a man's mouth, then Elijah would surely remember this lesson for a later point in time. For now, though, his only goal was give Niklaus what he needed.
Niklaus chuckled and said, "you swear you've never done this before?"
Before Elijah could reply, Niklaus pulled him back down onto his cock. Niklaus released his grip on Elijah's hair and relaxed into the airy cushions as Elijah took over. The effort – as opposed to the beginner's technique – drove Niklaus over the edge. His hand found Elijah's hair again and he bucked his hips into Elijah's mouth. He arched his back up off the cushions as waves of pleasure and irrevocability coursed through his cock and his veins.
Elijah sputtered as he tried to swallow the gushing liquid, but it spilled down his chin. He thought a small amount of the salty liquid might have even gone up the back of his nose based on the way it burned in his sinuses. Then, when Niklaus was spent, Elijah wiped his chin and bent forward to press their foreheads together. Niklaus caught Elijah in a kiss and almost laughed.
"You look handsome covered in white," murmured Niklaus.
"I could say the same about you," said Elijah before pulling away and helping Niklaus sit up.
The blissful, peaceful, carefree moment came to an end as Elijah's eyes became shadowed.
"Sincerely, Niklaus, I didn't mea – " he started, but Niklaus shushed him.
"I told you, I liked it," he said simply before popping off the couch and heading towards the kitchen to devour more waffles, salmon, and blood.
Elijah watched Niklaus float away seemingly emotionally unscathed by the experience, perhaps even lighter than ever. Elijah bit his lip. Blood and semen trailed down Niklaus' thighs, but it seemed that his brother had not a care in the world. Elijah didn't like this side of himself, but he surely liked this side of Niklaus – brazen, unabashed, and perhaps a bit wild. It reminded him of the man he had lost six years ago, and for that, Elijah would do anything. Slowly, he got up off of his aching knees, and joined Niklaus in the kitchen to finish his half eaten dinner.
They ate in happy silence until pings and buzzes disturbed their peace.
Niklaus' brow furrowed in confusion, but then he remembered the existence of those new fangled things called cellphones. He had forgotten to unpack the phone from his suitcase, but it was just sitting in the living room buried in useless items. Niklaus retrieved the incessant object and opened up a group text from Freya, to himself and Elijah.
Freya: URGENT. H&H are in here. Come back ASAP.
Color drained from Niklaus' face and Elijah stood from the bar stool with a clatter.
"What's wrong?" he demanded.
Niklaus reread the message three times before sputtering out a response.
"Hayley and Hope returned home, but I think something's wrong," he said, "We need to leave. Now."