Yawning Abyss

Charles took Eezo off her leash once the door was closed behind them. Ares walked over to the couch and sat down, lighting a cigarette and opening his omni-tool. Making his way into the kitchen, Charles filled up Eezo's dishes before lighting a cigarillo. He turned, leaning on the breakfast bar and watched Ares for a few seconds. Alone again with the turian, nothing really to distract him, the waves of tension which had been coming and going all day started hitting a little harder.

Swallowing, he pushed off the bar and made his way around it, stopping to kick off his socks and shoes. He was supposed to go into work the next morning, but the thought of leaving Ares made his heart race, his hands tremble, threatened to steal the air right from his lungs. Maybe he'd call in sick, Irene be damned. He took a drag from his cigarillo and went over to the couch, sitting down sideways and drawing up his legs. Grabbing an ashtray from the coffee table, he balanced it on his knee.

"Ares … we're good, right?" He licked his lips and took another drag.

Cigarette hanging from his mouth plates, Ares looked over at him before closing his omni-tool. Nodding, he pulled the cigarette from his mouth and blew out smoke. "Yeah. We're good."

Charles smiled, but some of the tension remained, the whispers of his father still ringing in his ears. He chewed on the corner of his lip and then took a heavy drag from his cigarillo, pulling the smoke deep into his lungs and holding it there for a couple of seconds. "I think I'm going to call in sick tomorrow."

Ares took a long drag, lifting a brow plate. "Why?" he asked, smoke rising from between his mouth plates.

Throat constricting, eyes burning a little, Charles swallowed. "I just want to spend the day with you … unless you had something else you were doing?"

Shaking his head, Ares stood up and walked to the kitchen. "No, not really. Just wondering why you were willing to put up with your bitch of a boss by calling in." He grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator and returned to the couch. "I'm not all that entertaining and really don't care what you do."

"He doesn't care about you, why would he care what you do?"

Charles fought the urge to wince, shoved his father's voice away, and picked at the butt of his cigarillo for a few seconds. "You're entertaining to me. But … maybe we can go find something to do together, then."

"Like what?" Ares opened the bottle of water and took a long drink.

"Mmmm." Charles pursed his lips and shrugged. "I don't know. Go to the theater. Or one of the casinos. Or, fuck, a museum. I don't really care. We can just go shoot at targets if you want. I just …." He sighed, looking down at the ashtray as he twisted the tip of his cigarillo against the glass. "Whatever."

"Okay."

"Yeah?" He looked up, raising an eyebrow as he took a drag.

Ares nodded and blew out wisps of smoke. "Yeah. I'll follow wherever you want to go."

Getting one of those stupid grins on his face, Charles said, "Alright. Good. I'll think of something, then. Try not to make it too miserable for you."

Ares snorted and stretched out his legs, relaxing into the couch after a few fidgets, getting comfortable. He took a deep drag and blew it out before glancing at Charles. "Where are you on your target practice?"

"I kept my paper targets if you want to see them, but Saelus showed me the holographic targets, and I've been using those the last few days. I've got the data readouts on my omni-tool. I can send them to you. I've just been using randomized targets with that lethality thing turned on." Charles paused to take a drag and blew the smoke up toward the ceiling. "Krogan suck. Batarians, humans, and asari are simple now."

Ares chuckled, flicking some ash into the ashtray. "Krogan do 'suck' … but I don't expect you to have an easy go taking a krogan down with a Stiletto."

"I don't think I'd have an easy go taking a krogan down with a shotgun." Grinning, Charles turned his palm out. "Pretty sure I'd just end up on the ground with my skull bashed in, brains splattered all over the place."

Snorting, Ares nodded. "Good thing you aren't a krogan serial killer, then."

Charles huffed, flicking his ashes. "You been following the news?"

"I'm always following the news." Ares flared his mandibles a little. "Especially about murders."

Letting the silence sit for a few seconds, Charles let out a sigh and said, "Mahlia, Cammus, and Acevia have all acted like they need to watch out for me or something because I'm a human male." He snorted, shaking his head. "Mahlia wanted to take me home the other day so I wasn't out and about alone."

"You should let them," Ares said with a rumble. "Resistance is fine, but too much will look suspicious. You want to come across as unbelieving, proud in your ability to protect yourself, but not proud that you're the one killing people."

"Yeah." Charles flicked his ashes again and took another drag. "I had Cammus share a cab with me to put Mahlia at ease. It's just kind of annoying … but I get it, I suppose … it just means they care."

Which was a really strange feeling for Charles. He'd spent the majority of his life feeling like not a single person alive really cared about him after Sarah died. Then he met Ares, and eventually, he came to realize the turian cared about him, but he was still the only one. After Shanxi, though … it was just weird. It made him question how much his lack of friends in the past had been because of his personality faults, and what exactly it said about him to be making friends left and right since he'd taken up the most anti-social past time in existence.

Ares hummed in agreement, taking one last drag from his cigarette before stamping it out in the ashtray. Charles finished his cigarillo, too, and set the ashtray on the table. Moving slow, he pushed forward onto his hands and knees and crawled over the couch, swinging his leg over Ares' thigh and sat on his lap.

He brushed his fingers over Ares' prosthetic plates. "Can you be done hiding from me?"

Ares lifted a brow plate. "What?"

Tapping his fingers against the prosthetics, Charles said, "I don't like these, they don't feel like you. I don't feel like I'm looking at you. Talking to you. It feels like I'm talking to Aelianus, not Ares."

Ares rumbled and flicked his mandible. "I can't take them off with you sitting on me."

"Then maybe in a second," Charles said with a smile, leaning in and pressing his forehead against Ares. He closed his eyes, and Ares thrummed, pushing his head back against Charles'. "I love you," he muttered before swinging his leg back over and crawling off of Ares.

Standing up, Ares finished his water bottle before heading toward the bathroom, stopping to lay his head on Charles' head and dragged the tips of his talons down his neck as he passed. "I'll be a while washing this shit off."

Charles purred at the touch, savoring the affection as he followed Ares with his gaze. "Want some help?"

Ares stopped and lifted a brow plate. "You're willing to try and fight in the shower?"

Charles smirked, lifting both eyebrows. "How'd we go from helping to fighting?" He nodded. "I'm flexible, I'll manage."

Snorting, Ares nodded and left the room, passing by the bathroom to head to the bedroom. "Get the water started, then. I need to grab the adhesive solvent."

Grinning like an idiot, Charles hopped up from the couch and made his way to the bathroom. "You in a cool water or warmer water mood?" He started the shower and stuck his hand under the spray, adjusting the knobs a few times until he thought he had the temperature where Ares liked it.

Ares hummed, stepping into the bathroom and stopping at the sink. "I don't really care. I'm not in any mood, so your choice." He opened the bottle in his hand and grabbed a washcloth, wetting a corner and dabbing it onto his plates.

"K." Charles adjusted the temperature, making it a little warmer so he didn't freeze to death. Turning back to Ares, he stripped off his shirt and tossed it on the floor, leaning his hip against the edge of the counter. He watched Ares for a few seconds and then asked, "What's your favorite color?"

Ares blinked in surprise and glanced over, rumbling in confusion. "Color of what?"

Charles shrugged. "Just in general. What color do you find the most appealing?"

"Black," Ares said, going back to easing the plates off his face and setting them down on the counter. "Black goes with anything."

Humming and nodding, Charles turned back to the shower. He stuck his hand under the water again, feeling the heat level before stripping off his pants and boxers. He stepped under the water and started washing his hair, wanting to get clean real quick before Ares finished with his prosthetics. "Where's your favorite place to go?"

"The Citadel." Ares' answer came quicker than with the color question. He washed the paint off the prosthetics before finally starting to take his clothes off. "And what about yours?"

Charles smiled, running the soap over his body. "Hmm. Well, my first response is wherever you are, but I know you're not going to accept that as an answer. So … I visited this park on Nevos in the Teyolia System of the Silean Nebula when I was like … nineteen? It was fucking beautiful." After rinsing, he moved to the back of the shower, making room for Ares.

Ares stepped into the shower and ducked his head to let the water flow over the back of his neck and fringe. He rumbled as the water washed rivulets into the dark brown paint on his plates, just seeming to take in the feeling of the water. Charles smiled, picking up the jar of cleansing scrub and opened it, scooping some out with his hand. He didn't touch Ares, though, just watched the turian enjoy the shower spray for a moment.

Flicking his mandibles, Ares nodded and straightened himself. "Hand me some of that."

Charles held the container out to him. "Is it going to bother you if I keep asking stupid questions?"

"Would it be bad if I wanted to withhold my answer?" Ares scooped out some of the scrub, chuckling. "I'm sure you could really think up something to challenge me if I said I wouldn't."

Charles snorted. "I'm not trying to challenge you, though. I'm … sating my human curiosity." And trying to prove to himself that his father was wrong, what he had with Ares was real. He wanted to know everything he could about Ares. No matter how small or irrelevant it might seem to anyone else. He waved his hand for Ares to turn around so he could get at his back. "Don't be a spoilsport."

Ares turned, snorting as he started scrubbing his chest. "Alright, fine. What's the next question?"

Grinning, Charles worked the scrub into Ares' back, shoulders, and cowl. "Hmmm. If you could eat anything you wanted, what would it be?"

"As in forgoing the whole levo/dextro thing? Anything I taste that isn't turian or dextro would still taste like how a levo species taste it?" Looking over his shoulder, Ares lifted a brow plate.

Charles nodded. "Sure."

Ares hummed. "Thresher maw."

Charles let out a loud bark of laughter, echoing in the confines of the shower and making Ares cringe a little. Cutting it out, he rubbed a soothing hand over Ares' shoulder and asked, "Seriously?"

"Yeah, 'seriously.'" Ares started rubbing his arms clean. "I heard krogan eat it, and I want to taste what they taste." He huffed and glanced back at Charles. "But if you want something besides that, then …." Rumbling, he glanced up at the ceiling, seeming to think about it. "Ice cream."

"Thresher maw is a perfectly fine answer, it just took me by surprise." Charles rubbed Ares' shoulder again and squeezed. "But yeah, ice cream is pretty damn awesome, if you like sweet."

"And if you also like an animal's secretions," Ares grumbled, barely loud enough for Charles to hear over the sound of the shower.

Chuckling, Charles moved lower down Ares' back, working the scrub against his plates. "What's your least favorite food?"

"I can't really answer the same way, but the only thing I've hated that I've tasted in my life was levo," Ares said.

"Yeah?" Charles glanced up, but Ares was still focused on cleaning his arms. "What was it?"

"I think she called them 'French fries,'" Ares said, making an odd grunt of a sound. "It might taste a lot better for levo species, but I was far from being a fan."

Snorting, Charles muttered, "I love French fries." Then, a little louder, he added, "So, why'd you eat them, then?"

"What did you say earlier? To 'sate my curiosity.'" Ares grabbed some more scrub and started to clean the patches of his face that weren't covered by prosthetics.

Getting more scrub on his hand, too, Charles moved to Ares' waist, hips, and ass. "What other levo foods have you tried?"

Ares shrugged. "Lots of different alcohol, meats." He hummed and paused to duck down and rinse off his face. "I did try a 'cherry' before because there was some human 'thing' about tying cherry stems with your tongue. Couple of friends and me decided to see what the fuck was so special."

Charles snorted. "And were there women there to witness this event?"

"The females had just about as much of an idea about it as we did." Ares shrugged. "One of the guys trying it choked on the cherry, and we had to get him to cough it up, so there's that."

Humming, Charles said, "I should've specified human women. It's a sexual thing, women get turned on by a guy who can tie a cherry stem in a knot because they think it means he'll be good at licking their pussy."

Ares turned his head a little and lifted a brow plate, seeming to consider Charles' statement. "It's more uncommon to find a turian who can't do that."

"I know," Charles said, grinning up at him, "but not a lot of humans can tie a cherry stem with their tongue."

Snorting, Ares smirked down at him. "Probably because you all have such short, fat, little tongues."

Charles stuck his tongue out at him. Scooping up more of the cleanser, he shifted around enough to find the room to squat and started working on Ares' legs and spurs. "You probably had every human woman there having wet dreams about you that night."

Ares snorted and growled under his voice when he said, "I have human women having wet dreams about me every night."

Charles laughed. "That so?"

"Actually, it doesn't always stop at women … or human for that matter," Ares added, smirking at Charles when he glanced up.

Leaning in, Charles nipped at a section of Ares' leg not yet covered in cleansing scrub. "Trust me, I have no doubts." He kissed the same spot. "I'm a lucky man."

"Damn right you are," Ares responded, giving Charles a playful rumble as he ran the tips of his talons over Charles' head, through his wet hair.

Letting out a little purr, Charles leaned into the touch. "I doubt anyone dreams about me." He hummed as he thought. "What's your favorite weapon, besides your rifle?"

"My bare hands and teeth, but I'll admit those are a close tie with my blade," Ares said. "Sometimes it varies on convenience."

"Hmmm." Charles let that sit a moment as he thought of his next question. "When you were a kid … what'd you want to be when you grew up?"

Ares rumbled, seeming to think on it as he mindlessly ran his talons along Charles' scalp. "I just knew I wanted to be military, preferably where I could use my rifle, but the specifics weren't on my mind at the time."

"You never wanted anything else?" Charles finished the backs of his legs and grabbed his hips, urging him to turn.

Removing his hand from Charles' head, Ares turned and let the water run down over the back of his head again. "Not really. I thought maybe I could be good enough to be a general, but that's about it." He shrugged. "Military was a family thing, so I just wanted to be like my dad and his parents and then like his grandfather," he said, trailing off with a wave of his hand.

Charles thought about that for a few seconds while he got more scrub on his hands. What he wanted, more than anything, was to be the furthest thing away from being like his dad as possible. Even considering it left a sour taste on the back of his tongue. He swallowed and pushed the thought away, starting on the fronts of Ares' legs while he searched for another question. "Who was your first crush?"

Ares huffed a laugh, chuckling to himself. "One of my instructors. She was teaching me weapons maintenance."

Charles tilted his head back to look up at Ares, grinning at the sound of his laughter. "Yeah? Did you fuck her?"

Ares snorted. "No. She was old enough to be my mother's mother," he said, shrugging. "I had just hit puberty and just had my plates separate, so I didn't even know how to use it anyways."

Charles chuckled. "That's too bad." He hummed, turning his attention back to cleaning. "First fight? Outside of anything military or relative related?"

"Sidna's boyfriend, you would call it." Ares looked down, pointing to a spot covered in burns on his torso when Charles glanced up. "It's gone now, but there used to be a bite mark here. He and I got into a fight, and he bit the fuck out of me."

Charles winced in sympathy. He felt a little like he'd just tread into dangerous territory, though, hearing Ares' sister's name. "What were you fighting about?"

Humming, Ares' gaze seemed distant as he thought. "I was training, and he and Sidna came out to where I was. He started talking shit—he was older …. I don't remember what led to it, but I said his father was a—what would it be like—a dog? It's basically a Palaven version of a dog." He shrugged and chuckled. "He didn't like that."

Charles laughed, relieved to see the subject didn't seem to be upsetting Ares at all. He moved his hands down over the tops of Ares' feet before standing back up. "How old were you?"

"I think I was around nine," Are said, shifting his head out of the water and grabbing the showerhead from the holder, washing off Charles' hands.

Charles rubbed his hands together under the water and then took the showerhead from Ares, using it to rinse off the turian's legs. "How old was he?"

"Sidna is … four years older than me." Ares rumbled and huffed, sounding amused. "He was thirteen."

Furrowing his brow, Charles said, "Sounds like a little asshole to get in a fight with a nine-year-old."

Ares snorted and shrugged. "It's not as bad as it seems. Guess it's a human thing."

"Probably." He grabbed Ares' hips, nudging him back around. "Where's your least favorite place to go?"

"Palaven," Ares said, turning.

Charles hissed between his teeth. "Besides Palaven?"

Ares hummed as Charles ran the water over his back. "Taetrus."

"Fair enough." Charles rinsed off the backs of Ares' legs, too, before reaching around him to hand the showerhead back. "I can't think of any other questions right now." He could, but he seemed to be steering himself into touchy subjects a little too easily for his taste. He settled his hands on Ares' hips and leaned in, kissing his back before resting his face against him. "Just tell me something else about you."

Ares huffed. "Like what? That's pretty damn vague."

Groaning, Charles wrapped his arms around Ares all the way, clasping his hands together over the turian's abdomen. "I don't know … uhhhhhh. Where was your first mission?"

"Outside of basic?" Ares hummed and set the showerhead back in place. "I was put in a group of higher ranking soldiers. We were sent to investigate a missing weapons shipment." He shrugged. "It was pretty simple and only really had to track the group responsible to an outer colony."

Charles stayed quiet after that, just holding Ares for awhile.

After a long moment, Ares thrummed. "You haven't told me anything. At least nothing that we haven't already talked about before."

Rubbing his face against Ares' back, Charles kissed his cowl. "What do you want to know?"

Ares glanced over his shoulder at Charles. "What are your plans after this? After the Citadel?"

Swallowing, Charles shook his head. "I don't know. I … I just want to be where you are."

"You won't be able to hunt as efficiently while on the move with me," Ares said, flicking a mandible.

"If it's a choice between you and … hunting," Charles said, furrowing his eyebrows, grip tightening on Ares, "then it's you, Ares. Every time. It's you."

Ares rumbled, gaze moving over Charles' face before nodding. "We'll watch C-Sec to determine their amount of evidence on you. You might not have a choice one day."

Charles swallowed again and nodded. Clearing his throat, he asked, "What else? Any other questions?"

Reaching up, Ares hit the command for the shower, turning it off. "I'll think about what I want to know."

Charles smiled, forcing himself to let go of Ares and stepped out of the shower. Grabbing a couple of towels, he passed them over before getting one for himself. He needed Ares to want to know all the stupid little things about him, too. So, if he didn't have anything to ask just then, Charles decided he'd offer him a few things. "My favorite color is blue."

Ares looked at him, confused at first, but then something clicked over in his eyes, and he nodded. "I'll remember that. I hear people like things in their color over others." He started to dry the inside of his cowl. "I'll be sure to find things in blue."

Charles chuckled, despite his father's voice whispering in his ear, telling him that he was just Ares' whore. He rubbed his towel over his hair, making it stand up everywhere. "Okay," he said, telling himself that there was nothing wrong with Ares liking to buy things for him, even if he did go about it in odd ways sometimes. "My favorite subject in school was mechanics."

Humming, Ares reached around to wrap the towel around his back and wiped it off. "Where do you want to go?"

"Like anywhere?" Charles asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ares rumbled and nodded, drying off his chest and waist.

"Another galaxy." Charles smiled as he dried himself. "See what else is out there."

Ares huffed a laugh. "There anywhere in this galaxy you want to go?"

Charles thought about it for a second. "Sur'Kesh."

"Any reason?" Ares sat down on the toilet to dry his legs.

Embarrassed, Charles stayed quiet for a moment before finally muttering, "It just looks really pretty in pictures."

Ares chuckled. "At least you didn't say somewhere with snow. Sur'Kesh could actually feel nice without running the risk of killing me." He draped the towel over his head and rubbed it over his crest and fringe. "Favorite way to travel?"

"Locally? That Esquiran was pretty damn nice." Charles ran the towel over his arms before flipping it over his shoulder and grabbing the other end, pulling it back and forth to dry his back. "Between planets … not in the cargo." He grinned at Ares. "I don't know, I didn't really like being stuck on a really small ship with a lot of different people when I left Shanxi, but otherwise … can't say there seemed to be much of a difference between one ship and the next."

Standing, Ares tossed his towels into the hamper. "Planetside or space station?"

Charles pursed his lips. "I seem to do better in well-populated areas where I can also seclude myself. It doesn't make sense, but it is what it is. Space stations are pretty good for that, but so are big cities on planets. With planets, though, it's a lot easier to get away from the noise for awhile when I need to." He took a deep breath and furrowed his brow. "I do kind of miss fresh air, rain, watching the leaves change with the weather. Going for walks through the woods."

Ares hummed, leaning on the counter to watch Charles. "And what species would you choose? Human? Turian? Asari? … Mixed species?"

Confused, Charles' brow furrowed deeper. "Choose for what?"

"For the planet." Ares waved a hand. "Would you choose a species-specific colony or mixed?"

"Oh." Charles thought about it for a second. "Just to visit? It wouldn't really matter. If I was going to be living there … well, that's one of the things I love about the Citadel. Everyone's here. Well, almost everyone. Not a lot of batarians, krogan, quarians, definitely no vorcha … but I've met someone from just about every species on the Citadel. Never met a drell, though, anywhere." He glanced back up at Ares. "That David guy, the C-Sec report said a drell stopped him from hurting this asari, but I've never seen a drell here."

Ares nodded. "Drell tend to stick to hanar colonies. If one was here, it was probably on business related to their service." He shrugged and stood up straight, grabbing his prosthetics and bottle of solvent.

Charles tossed his towel in the hamper and moved out of the bathroom and Ares' way. "Have you met a drell?"

"I've met one of my handfuls of drell." Ares walked toward the bedroom. "It's better not to see drell. Seeing one tends to mean someone fucked up."

Following him, Charles asked, "What do you mean?"

"Turians aren't the only ones with assassins," Ares said, and Charles snorted at the obviousness of the statement. Ares packed his prosthetics away in the small bag he used for his disguise supplies. "Really, every species has them, but when something seems off, you see something rare, it's usually a bad sign."

"Hmmm." Charles made his way over to Ares, waited for him to finish putting his stuff up, and then wrapped his hands around the turian's waist, turning him to face Charles. "I'll keep that in mind," he said, gaze roaming over Ares without all the crap on him. He nudged Ares back toward the bed, a slow smile spreading over his face. "There you are," he murmured.

Ares snorted, backing toward the bed and holding out his arms. "Well, not all of me."

Grinning, Charles pushed him down on the bed and straddled his lap. "Give me a few minutes, I'll fix that." He covered Ares' mouth with his own, shoving his tongue past the man's mouth plates, hand roaming over Ares' scars before moving down to squeeze his waist. He brought his other hand up and tugged at Ares' crest, breaking the kiss and moving down under his chin to bite his neck.

Ares chuckled, but his voice was low, hinting at arousal. "You bit me earlier …."

Removing his teeth from Ares' neck, he licked the spot before bringing his mouth up next to Ares' ear and asked, "Is that a problem?"

"Yeah," Ares answered, growling. "You bite like a human. With your flat, little teeth."

Charles snorted, turning his head enough to bite Ares' just below his ear in mock reprimand. "Can't help that. That's what you get for bonding a human. I'm sure Travium would love to know you're disappointed."

Chuckling, Ares cupped the back of Charles' head. "Where's that human stubbornness? I give you a problem and you give up?" He pushed Charles' head until his lips touched his hide. "Now show me what you've learned from being bonded to a turian."

Charles laughed. "Who said anything about giving up?"

He tightened his grip on Ares' crest, tugging his head back further and sunk his teeth into the juncture of his neck and cowl, biting down as hard as he could, pressing harder still, even when it felt like his jaw was going to snap. Ares growled, moving his hand down to Charles' hip and pulled him closer. Charles ground his teeth back and forth, digging them in deeper, listening for Ares' reaction to being chewed on.

Ares rumbled deeply and tilted his head away. Running his hands along Charles' ribs, the tips of his talons left the slightest sting. Charles moaned a little, grinding his teeth harder until he tasted blood, making the beast rumble in the back of his mind. Pulling his teeth from Ares' hide, he licked up the blue drops welling up through the marks, rolling the metallic taste around on the back of his tongue before swallowing it down, taking that little piece of Ares inside of him.

Ares chuckled, the sound rough as he shifted back, looking at Charles. "Did those little teeth actually manage to draw blood?" He rumbled and flicked a mandible, licking Charles' lips. "There's hope for you yet, human."

Charles smirked, leaning back over to lap up more of the blood before kissing Ares. Pushing his tongue against Ares' tooth, he pierced it enough to draw a little of his own blood into the mix before brushing his tongue back over Ares'. He growled against Charles and scooted them further up on the bed to sit back against the pillows. Tugging his mouth away, he dipped his head down to Charles' throat to nip and lick him. Charles turned his head, offering his throat to Ares and dropping his hand from Ares' crest down to his shoulder, squeezing his waist with the other. Rumbling, Ares leaned back and ran his talons down Charles' throat and over the center of his chest.

"Sit next to me and give me your hand," he said, letting go of Charles. "I'm going to show you something."

Eyebrows twitching, Charles climbed off of Ares and sat down next to him, giving him one of his hands, palm up. Ares snorted and flipped his hand over, covering it with his own.

"What I show you, you shouldn't do to just any turian." Ares huffed a laugh as he wrapped his other arm around Charles, pulling him in closer to relax against the man's side. "You'll probably be missing a few fingers if you try it."

Guiding Charles' hand to his parted plates, he used the heel of Charles' hand to coax his plates the rest of the way open. Relaxing his grip, he moved to Charles' fingers, rubbing them along his sheath before dipping them inside. Muscles jumping and twitching, he sucked in a sharp breath but ran his hand along Charles' forearm and rumbled. Tight, slick, and warm, it fascinated Charles to feel Ares' cock start to harden against his fingertips, but he also thought the act was incredibly sweet and arousing.

"It's not sweet, it's perverse, and he doesn't give a shit about you." His father's voice grew louder in his head, but he pushed it away.

"I promise not to take any fingers off this time," Ares said, a low growl in his voice.

"Is this painful?" Charles moved his fingers a little, caressing the head of Ares' cock.

Laying his head back, gripping Charles' hip, Ares growled low and nodded. "No worse than squeezing a wound."

"But you like that pain," Charles said.

"Only if I give permission to someone, yeah," Ares said, hips lifting into Charles' touch as he tightened his hold on Charles' hip.

Humming, Charles worked the pads of his fingers around Ares' cock, his own cock starting to get hard. He slowly retreated as space inside became too crowded the more erect Ares got. He kept at it, though, until the tip of Ares' cock started to emerge from his plates. Shifting his hand, he pressed his palm against the underside and slid his fingers up and down Ares' shaft, dipping his fingers back into the seam a little to coax him out further.

Ares let out a low groan, fully erect cock slipping free completely into Charles' hand. He slid his hand up to pull Charles into a rough kiss. Wrapping his fingers around Ares' cock, Charles started stroking with slow but firm movements as he returned the kiss, tongue dancing over Ares'. He brought his other hand to Ares' head, tugging him in closer, and Ares growled, pulling Charles over into his lap.

Charles continued to stroke Ares for a couple of seconds, but the need to feel Ares inside of him battered against his will worse than ever. He shifted up onto his knees, adjusting himself a little before bringing one leg up, pushing his foot into the mattress. Holding Ares to him by the back of his head, Charles dug his fingers into the hide beneath Ares' crest, tongue hungrily searching his out faster and rougher as he lined Ares' cock up with his asshole. Slowly easing himself down, he held his breath, losing track of the motions of the kiss as a hungry, desperate sounding groan filled his throat. Bringing his knee back to the mattress, he settled all the way down on Ares' cock.

Breaking the kiss, Ares snarled and gripped Charles' hips, squeezing a few times as he let out a rough chuckle. "No prep? Someone's impatient, it seems."

"I don't need it," Charles said, his voice thick and cracking. "I just need you." Shifting up, he slid along Ares' length until only the head of his cock remained inside. He brought his hand to Ares' face, pressing his palm against his cheek, holding his gaze for a second before kissing him again. When his tongue met Ares', he slid back down on his cock, shuddering as the turian filled him again.

Growling, Ares wrapped his tongue around Charles', gripping and stroking. He took Charles' cock in his hand, circling his thumb over the tip before slowly stroking him. Shifting his legs, he bent his knees up, cradling Charles, but he didn't thrust or move otherwise, didn't try to make him go faster. Charles picked up the pace a little but not much, savoring the slowness of the moment as something deep inside of his chest relaxed a little, like a knot slowly coming untied, but with it came a horde of emotions and a little ache. He brushed his thumb across Ares' cheek, turning his head a little to deepen the kiss.

Ares gripped Charles' ass with his free hand, moving the other around his cock, keeping with Charles' pace. He flicked a mandible against Charles' hand, thrumming deeply and flexing his hips, lifting into Charles as he lowered himself, pulling a rather loud moan from him. After a minute, feeling vulnerable and exposed as his eyes began to sting, love and hurt, grief and fear and joy waring within him, Charles broke the kiss and hid his face against Ares' neck. He traced the bite mark he'd left there not long ago with his tongue, kissing it before nestling his face down in between Ares' cowl and throat and pressing his chest against the turian.

Using his hand on Charles' ass to guide him, Ares continued to let Charles set the pace, stroking his cock in time with Charles' hips. Shifting slightly beneath him, Ares angled himself so that each time he lifted into Charles, his cock pressed harder against Charles' prostate. Charles let out a soft moan and started grinding a little as he moved up and down, the sensation pushing him to move faster. He brought his legs in closer to Ares', giving him a little more leverage as he lifted higher up on Ares' cock, pushing back down a little rougher.

Ares growled, leaning into Charles and gripping his ass harder. Charles knew Ares wanted him to fuck him harder and faster, he could feel it in the tenseness of the turian's muscles, hear it in the measured, controlled breathing as he fought to keep himself steady and let Charles lead. It only made Charles feel so much more. He needed things just the way they were, needed it desperately, but he'd been so sure Ares would taunt and push him into the more primal fucking they were accustomed to just like he did every other time Charles tried for something softer. He blinked back tears, taking a shuddering breath.

Rumbling roughly, Ares nudged his head with his mandible and cheek. Charles pulled back enough to look up at Ares, blinking again. Releasing Charles' ass, Ares wrapped his hand around the base of Charles' neck and pulled him closer. He pressed his mouth plates to the outer corner of Charles' eye and flicked his tongue softly against the skin, tasting the wetness gathered at the edges of his eyes, thrumming deeply as he lifted his hips into Charles.

Swallowing back a sob trying to rise up in his throat, Charles blinked back more tears, wishing Ares hadn't noticed. He brought his hand up to knead at the back of Ares' head and turned his face to capture Ares' mouth, kissing him as much as an excuse to close his eyes as to taste Ares in his mouth. Ares rumbled into the kiss, hand moving up Charles' neck to lay his thumb on his cheek as he lapped at Charles' tongue.

Charles shifted again, pulling his legs up so his weight rested on the balls of his feet, bouncing up and down on Ares' cock at a much faster pace. Growling, Ares released Charles' mouth and licked his neck, scraping his teeth along his bondmark. Desperation wrapping an iron fist around his heart, Charles shuddered, gasping before sucking in a deep breath, pulling Ares closer. Growling, Ares bit into the bondmark, sinking his teeth in as he stroked Charles' cock with a firmer grip.

Yours.

Like the sudden crack of thunder riding right on the tail of lightning, something snapped within Charles, pushing him over the edge. Tears flooded his eyes, and he let out a loud moan, forcing himself down harder and faster on Ares. The dam opened, and Charles started cumming all over Ares' hand and stomach. Using long, firm strokes, Ares milked Charles until drained completely as he thrummed into his shoulder. Releasing Charles, he licked the blood from the wound.

Taking a few seconds to recover, catching his breath and blinking more stupid tears out of his eyes, Charles wiped his face before he started moving again. It took him a moment, but he built his speed back up. Ares wrapped an arm around him, pressing him closer to his chest as he thrust into Charles a few time before pulling Charles down onto him, grinding and snarling into his shoulder as he came.

After a few moments, Ares relaxed his hold on him and let out a tired rumble, licking the bite mark on his shoulder. Charles stayed there, stroking the back of Ares' head until he stopped licking and looked up again. Sliding his hands back to Charles' hips, Ares leaned back against the pillows, gaze searching Charles' tear-stained face.

Smiling, Charles pulled his hand away from Ares' head to brush his thumb over the turian's cheek instead. There was too much crazy going on inside of him, too much doubt and self-loathing, shame, fear, and frantic desperation to hold onto something he didn't think he deserved to keep. Silently he begged Ares not to ask because he didn't think he could hold it together if he did. He stood on the precipice of a yawning abyss, and although having Ares there with him helped to pull him back from the edge a little, it also broke down what little defenses he had.

And if he didn't hold it together, he'd lose Ares forever.

And it would destroy him.

He leaned in, pecking Ares on the lips and pressed his forehead against Ares' before sitting up again. He eased off of Ares and stretched out on the bed, catching his breath and trying to lock away the emotional spillover, feeling like he was one wrong move away from breaking down completely. Ares rumbled, running the back of his hand along Charles' torso before standing up and heading to the bathroom. Charles waited in the bed, a few more tears managing to slip free, and he scrubbed them away.

As soon as Ares came back, Charles stood up and made his way to the bathroom. He closed the door behind him, sitting down on the toilet and pressing his face into his palms, taking slow, steadying breaths.

Stow your shit, Charles.

He cleaned himself up and then washed his hands, splashing a little water on his face before grabbing the towel from the hamper to dry off. He tossed the towel back inside and made his way to the living room, grabbing his and Ares' smokes from the coffee table. Carrying them back to the bedroom, he crawled up on the bed next to where Ares sat, pillows propped up beside him waiting for Charles.

Ares let out a grateful rumble when Charles handed him the pack of cigarettes and his lighter. Charles pulled out a cigarillo and smiled when Ares held the lighter out after lighting his own. He leaned into the flame, taking in a heavy drag as the cigarillo caught fire. Sitting back, he glanced down at the still healing marks on his leg and pulled the covers up over his lap. Reaching over to the table, he grabbed the ashtray and held it in his palm between him and Ares.

Moving his cigarette to his other hand, Ares tossed his pack and lighter onto the side table and leaned back in the pillows. With his hand free, he grabbed Charles and pulled him against his side, keeping his arm wrapped around Charles. He took a drag from his cigarette and blew the smoke away from them.

Taking a shuddering breath, throat burning as he choked back the tears, Charles curled in against Ares' side. He clenched his jaw, taking slow, deep but quiet breaths, doing his best to ignore the ache in his chest and the frantic insanity screaming away in his head telling him to cling to Ares and beg the turian to never leave him. Beg him to tell Charles that he loved him and needed him as much as he needed Ares.

He took a drag from his cigarillo, letting the smoke seep out of him. Ares made a soft humming sound, setting his chin on Charles' head, mandibles fluttering against his scalp. The gesture brought a soft smile to Charles, tickling a little. He took another drag, letting the smoke drift as he settled his free hand on Ares' keel.

They smoked in silence, and within a couple of minutes, Charles had his shit locked down enough that he felt he could fake it, for a little while longer, at least. He'd keep faking it for as long as he possible. Find a new way to fake it every second of every day if that's what he had to do because he couldn't lose Ares. After a bit, Ares moved away enough to take a drag and blow it out before glancing at Charles' face, the question clear in his expression, but he didn't speak.

Forcing a smile on his face, Charles said, "I'm alright. Just tired. I haven't been sleeping very well."

Ares flicked a mandible, clearly unconvinced, but he didn't push, just shifted his attention back to smoking his cigarette. Charles let the silence linger, smoking and feeling grateful Ares didn't pry. When he finished his cigarillo, he put it out and handed Ares the ashtray. Ares took a few more moments with the last of his cigarette before he stamped it out and set the ashtray on the table.

Charles climbed out of bed to kill the lights, making his way back in the dark. He got back into bed and pulled the pillows down to a comfortable position before reaching over to tug on Ares' hand as he rolled to his side. Rumbling, Ares laid down and situated his pillows before he pulled Charles in against his chest. He hummed as if about to say something, but the words never came.

Swallowing, Charles steeled himself. "What?"

"I'll teach you how to stitch wounds tomorrow."

Charles blinked a couple of times, furrowing his brow, trying to make sense of the turian's train of thought. "Are you planning on wounding one of us for me to practice on?" he asked, willing a teasing quality to his tone, but it still sounded off to him and undoubtedly to Ares, as well.

Ares shrugged. "If I can't find another way to practice. You can't always rely on Medi-gel."

Letting out a soft snort, Charles shook his head against the pillow. "I love you, Ares."

"Because I threatened to cut one of us or because I want to teach you to tend to wounds?"

Charles chuckled a little, sounding a bit more like himself. "Both."

Humming, Ares tightened his arm around Charles. "I love that about myself, too."