A/N: University will start this week again, so I won't have as much time to write as I had in the last month. But I'll try to keep gaps between updates as short as possible, but if it takes a little more time than usual, don't worry, I won't abandon this fic, I'm just busy.

Berwald didn't talk much, so we spent the morning mostly in silence. But that was okay; after all we have been through in the last few days, I was glad to have some time to think on my own. I sat in the bed that was not occupied by Tino, leaning against some pillows propped up on the headboard and looked out of the window. I couldn't see much, only a part of the street that went past the inn, but there was still some decent traffic.

Berwald sat on the other bed, Tino's head in his lap and caressing his sweaty hair. It was such a heartwarming sight, Berwalds silent display of love and affection, it made my heart ache for Mathias, although I would never admit that to him. Berwald had put on a fire in the fire place earlier so the room was comfortably warm and cozy.

I returned my gaze to the view outside, just in time to see two men break out into a fight. First they yelled at each other, then they started to shove each other until one finally landed on the floor, the other on top of him in no time. Then they rolled around on the floor, both eager to get the upper hand but neither succeeding. They were broken apart by a bucket of what looked like fish waste dumped over them by one of the merchants who lined the street to sell their goods.

I wrinkled my nose in disgust; to be showered in fish waste was really nothing I would want to experience. Wait, did one of the two just grope the other? No, that couldn't be, I must have imagined things. But the spectacle reminded me that now that I didn't go with Emil and Mathias I had the time to take a long nice bath, opposed to the rather rash cleaning I had done earlier. And maybe Berwald could bathe Tino too; the warm water would surely be good for him.

I pushed back the blanket and crawled out of the bed, proposing my idea to Berwald, who grunted in approval. I then left to use the bathroom in Mathias' and my room, while Berwald went ahead in his to prepare the water.

I winced as the cold bathroom floor touched the raw flesh of my blistered feet, but I gritted my teeth and leaned over to release the warm water. I couldn't wait for the bathtub to be filled, so I climbed in and settled into the slowly pooling water. I splashed some water against the cold tiles before I rested my back against them. It took some time for the tub to fill and I felt goose bumps rising on the skin that wasn't covered by warm water yet. I would have rubbed my arms to counter the cold feeling, but my still hurting hands protested loudly and so I settled for curling into a tight ball of preserving warmth and slowly but inexorable the water closed in on the tub's edge. I lifted my foot to turn of the tap, an action I immediately regretted for the tap poked painfully in one of my blisters.

But then I could finally close my eyes and relax the warm water soothing against my skin and my mind and soon I drifted off into some sort of shallow sleep.

I was woken by the temperature of the water having fallen below the point of comfort and I quickly pulled myself out and wrapped a towel around my shivering body. That was the downside of falling asleep while bathing. I had some difficulties with the towel, my hands were a little stiff and I had problems with gripping things properly, and of course it hurt as hell, but in the end I managed to get myself dry, mostly. I decided to not bother with my hair. I didn't want to dress in the same clothes I had worn the last day, so I would look through my bag to search for a change of clothing. I still had to depend on Mathias clothes though, but maybe I could buy some new things in this city. But I couldn't possibly ask Mathias to give me some money, even though I was sure that he would happily oblige.

I opened the door to the adjacent bedroom, still deep in thought so it took the soft thumping sound of running into someone to make me notice that the door was blocked. Long arms embraced me, pulling me against a warm chest and gentle lips were placed on mine. Mathias had returned.

"Berwald told me you were here." I pulled back to look at him, involuntarily smiling at the brightness in his shining eyes that reflected my own. "You should dry your hair babe; it's not healthy to run around with wet hair in your condition." I felt the urge to punch him for calling me babe yet again, but before I could do that, Mathias had already moved past me only to return with another towel. He then proceeded to rub my hair until he was satisfied with the amount of dryness he achieved.

"Could you please refrain from calling me babe?" I asked when he was finished. "Aww but that pet name suits you." He pouted, which was adorably cute. "Fine." I relented, after all Mathias had done enough for me so that at least I could allow him to call me that stupid nickname. "Awesome babe, I love you." He pulled me in his arms again and ruffled through my still wet hair. I couldn't help but smile and replied: "I love you too you idiot."

"So did you get medicine?" I asked and pushed Mathias slightly away to get some air. "Better" he exclaimed, "we found a doctor who will come and check on Tino later this day, and he can even take a look at you." At his words I felt a weight lifted from my heart, I didn't know was there. Tino's condition hadn't worsened but he had shown no improvement either so knowing that a doctor would look him up was a relief.

"You know babe, you can't blame me." Mathias suddenly said hoarsely, staring at me intently. I was confused. "If you walk around like that," A finger trailed down my stomach and hooked itself under the towel, "I can't help but to want you." With that he pulled and the towel slid down, revealing my naked form to Mathias' hungry eyes. I didn't have time to protest before Mathias had crushed his lips against mine, demanding entrance with his tongue and devouring the cavity of my mouth.

My heart jumped at the wild and passionate assault and I gripped Mathias shoulders for support, ignoring the stinging pain in my hands. His hand was in my neck, pulling me closer into the kiss, his other hand rested on the small on my back. I could feel the heat of his body through his clothes burning against my bare skin.

Mathias broke the kiss, only to push me on the bed and straddling me, once again claiming my lips with his own. His hands wandered over my body, setting the skin on fire and my breath grew more unstable as he teasingly rubbed a nipple. I let my hands roam too, sliding under his shirt and caressing the smooth skin beneath. Mathias pulled back his hands to get rid of his clothes, granting me full access to his well toned body.

Back when I still worked in the brothel I didn't think that there would ever be a time when I would do this willingly without feeling repulsion. But with Mathias it was just wonderful and perfect and couldn't imagine my life without him anymore.

I could feel heat building up between my thighs and knew without looking that my member was hardening in anticipation. Mathias had kissed his way from my face to my chest and his hands wandered downwards along my stomach, circling my navel and then finally around my throbbing erection that begged for attention. I moaned lowly, my hips pushing into the touch and Mathias lips closed around my nipple to gently suck while his hand stroked in a steady rhythm along my length.

The double sensation of his lips around my nipple and his hand around my shaft was almost too much to bear. My hands clenched into the bed sheets and I moaned and panted helplessly. Mathias pinched my nipple with his teeth only to caress the spot with his tongue and then he pushed the fingers of his other hand in my mouth, silently urging me to wet them with saliva. And I obliged, even though it was hard to focus on the fingers in my mouth while he was so deliberately making me feel good.

He eventually pulled them back and I could feel his fingers moments later prodding against my entrance. Mathias chose the moment when he grazed his nails over my length to enter the first digit. I gasped at the feeling, unconsciously lifting my hips, causing the finger to slip in even deeper. Mathias licked his way to the other nipple, trailing his tongue playfully around the nub, while his finger wriggled around in me, soon joined by another and stretching me carefully.

By that time I couldn't wait any longer, I lifted my legs and wrapped them around Mathias waist, pulling him closer. I could feel a smile form against my chest as he followed my silent command and pulled out his fingers and lined his own erection up before my entrance. He leaned in to kiss me, tongue swirling and biting my lip while he slowly pushed his way inside. His other hand was still around my member, leisurely stroking as I groaned in slight discomfort. No matter how often we did this, the first few moments were always painful, Mathias girth was just too well build, but as soon as I had adjusted and he began to move the pain turned into pleasure and my moans became louder and louder.

Mathias was still kissing me, drinking in my pleasure, when he started moving, slowly at first but he soon picked up the pace. He brushed against my sweet spot and I arched my back, meeting his thrusts and digging my nails into his shoulders, the intense pleasure overwhelming me. We had to break the kiss by then; we both needed the air to breath and pant and as Mathias thirsted continuously faster our moans became gradually louder.

But in the middle of it Mathias suddenly slowed down, placing his hands at the sides of my head and pushing himself up to look down at me. "Lukas." He breathed, lust shimmering in his eyes, "I want to take you from behind, please." I didn't know what had brought this on, but I didn't mind complying. So I just nodded, pushed myself up and turned around when Mathias had pulled out, only to slam instantly back into me, the moment I was on my fourth. I cried out in pleasure and soon my arms gave out under me, my head pressing into the cushion, my backside held up by Mathias grip and merciless thrusts.

This position was not new to me, but usually it was accompanied by the feeling of humiliation for the clients would take ma as a dog would take his bitch, but with Mathias it felt entirely different. He could reach even farther into me and each thrust he hit that special spot inside of me and made me scream my pleasure into the pillows. I wouldn't be able to withstand like this for long; Mathias hand was again around my member, pumping it in time with his thrusts and I could hear him panting and moaning almost as loud as I was.

"Ahh… Mathias." I moaned, voice muffled into the pillow, as he kissed along my spine. The heat in my abdomen had become unbearable hot by now and I could feel my climax rise higher and higher until it swept over me, leaving me panting and quivering on the sheets. Mathias slammed into me one more time and came too, with my name on his lips.

I was breathing heavily, my vision still blurry from the recent orgasm. Mathias had caught my release in his hand, so I didn't need to worry about getting sticky when I collapsed down on the bed. But sex was always a sweaty business so I would have to go and clean me up nonetheless. Mathias quickly cleansed his hand with his shirt and then lied down next to me, snuggling into me. He placed a kiss on my forehead and smiled at me.

I felt warm and satisfied, lying there in the arms of my lover. I would have never expected to one day feel so happy and safe. Mathias was truly the best thing that ever happened to me.

"What are you thinking?" Mathias asked as he spotted the smile on my face. I quickly wiped away every trace of my thoughts on my face and answered with a nonchalant "nothing." I could see that he didn't buy it, but he left it at that, instead nuzzling his lips into my hair.

"Where's your barrette?" he wondered, "I love how you look with it." "I took it off before I took a bath obviously." I said and rolled my eyes at Mathias sometimes apparent naivety. "You look cute when you do that." Mathias grinned and kissed my forehead again. I felt a light blush creep up my neck and I decided that now was a good time to get up and get dressed. Mathias could be such a tease sometimes.

"Aw come on babe, that's no reason to pout, although you're cute when you do that, too." I grabbed a pillow and threw it at Mathias head' but he didn't seem fazed at all, so I just ignored him and continued to search our bags for suiting clothes for me. But inwardly I was smiling at Mathias display of affection. I would be damned though if I'd ever let him know, he would never leave me be if he'd knew.

Finally I found something I could wear, although it was fairly too big, but that was better than nothing. I would ask the innkeeper if I could wash our clothes in his washing room later but before that I wanted to talk to Emil. Mathias had followed me out of the bed and searched his bag new clothes; then he followed me into Emil's room like a faithful dog, but not before he put another round of bandages on my hands, lightly scolding me for carelessly leaving the cuts open. I didn't tell him though, that I wasn't worried at the cuts per se, but at the numbness I felt in my hands and the stiffness that was slowly building, preventing me from fully bending my fingers.

Emil wasn't in his room so I went to Berwald and Tino's room where I found him sitting in a chair and petting his puffin. Berwald held a freshly bathed Tino in his arms and seemed to be talking with my brother. They stopped though when we entered, looking up at us and acknowledging our presence each with a nod.

I slumped down onto the other bed, Mathias beside me wrapping an arm around me. "So what else did you do while you were in town?" I directed my question at Emil who had now fed the animal in his lap with seeds he had somewhere in one of his pockets.

"Nothing much, most of the time we were searching for a doctor who could actually be trusted and that took quite a while. We almost got mugged, thanks to your lover." "That's not true!" Mathias exclaimed, "That guy totally could be trusted and I wanted to see his pet bunny." "Whatever." I looked from Emil to Mathias and secretly decided to never let the latter out alone with my brother, or anyone else for that matter. How could anyone fall for that trick?

"Any news on the war?" Berwald asked with his deep voice, ignoring Mathias grumbling under his breath about mean brothers and cute bunnies. "Not much." Emil replied, "Lactan has yet to declare war yet, but they are openly raiding villages at the Western border. The citizens think that it will only be a matter of days until our king will have declared war, in fact they are wondering why he hasn't yet." He threw a side glance to Mathias who had stopped his self-talk in favor of listening. "They say that he is fighting with his council over war expenses and as long as the council refuses to pay for the war, the king cannot afford it."

"And about the Orushians?" I asked, wondering just how we could not be at war, while we obviously were under attack. "Nothing, most people here don't believe that they will participate in a war, even though they are allied with Lactan, the talk is that they can't get an agreement about the war spoils. But they are aware of increase bandit activities in the area, but they are not worried since their wall will protect them."

So if I understood correctly, Lactan provoked us to declare war, so that they could claim to just have attacked in defense or something like that, but our king and his council were unable to come to terms about who would pay for the expenses. And because Orusha and Lactan couldn't get an agreement about war spoils, Orusha was now raiding villages and abducting noble sons in order to get the money they wanted.

I sighed in frustration. Why couldn't they just get along? This was giving me a headache. Mathias was rubbing my shoulders soothingly while he talked to Emil. "So my father has apparently reached the capital and is trying to put a hold to this war, and he hasn't sent for us yet because there is now ar going on yet. And he probably doesn't know about the raids because obviously no one here thinks that they are important and need to be reported to the king."

"So what are we going to do now?" I asked; looking at Berwald who hadn't said much until now, but who was in charge of Tino should have a word about our next plans. Berwald stroke a hand over Tinos cheek and thought for a moment. "We should go to the capital and talk to y'r father." He said, "after Tino's recovered." I nodded that sounded as good as a plan as any. "But I suppose we shouldn't go alone, considering what happened last time. Some sort of merchant's caravan with armed guards would be good." I added thoughtfully, it would be better to not risk anything.

"Perfect." Mathias grinned excitedly, "I can't wait to show you the capital Lukas, its awesome!" A small smiled curled at my lips and I leaned back against Mathias and letting his bubbly voice wash over me, while I thought that maybe finally we could have some peace in our lives.

...