Work Text:
"Henry! I'm glad to see you, my useful wonderful blacksmith!"
Henry groans and shakes his head before turning around. There he is, Hans Capon of Pirkenstein in full glory, grinning with hands on his hips. The 'blacksmith' knows what that tone of voice means, it's been used against him by anyone who needed his service which didn't only include craftmanship like the title suggests.
And Hans Capon loves using Henry's service, whatever it might be.
Henry just hopes it's not robbing the dead - he's had enough of doing that sin in the recent nights.
"Sir Hans." He does an exaggerated half bow, "how can this mere blacksmith help you today?"
"By sticking the 'Sir' up his arse." That makes Henry breaks his act and grin back. "You shall help me get this book, nice and simple. Except you know, quietly. Very quietly." He drawls out the words. "Quietly."
"Aren't you able to get it as a noble? I thought nobles can get anything they want."
"You would think so!" Hans crosses his arms, muttering in annoyance, "at least I got to question the priest about it, they would just kick a random peasant out."
"What? Priest? What sort of book is it?"
"A good one! And good books are always forbidden." Henry frowns. Is Hans trying to get a book about some demons? The young lord is careless, carefree, and Henry can definitely see him doing that. But then again, his lord is scared of demons. Hans continues seeing the suspicious look, "Oh, don't give me that look. You will benefit from the book as well." He slowly pats Henry's back, friendly in sight and intimate in touch. It lingers and spreads warmth to Henry's blood.
The touch is a reminder of what they really are behind the closed doors. Sinners. Suddenly Henry has another idea on what the forbidden book could be about.
"Aye, alright. Not like I could ever say no to your demands anyway."
Hans smiles and pats Henry again, this time in actual camaraderie. "That's my boy! ...And Henry? Do be careful. You cannot end up on the gallows because of some book."
And that's that. Henry gets to work once he questions Hans where exactly he needs to head to - somewhere outside of Kuttenberg. Pebbles and Mutt seem happy for an outing, both trotting for hours without whining. Henry spends the journey thinking of Hans and what they've become.
He has loved Hans Capon longer than he knew. Hans made the first move in Suchdol, pulling Henry into a desperate kiss and Henry was pushing away afraid, of him and himself, of death, of being wrong his whole life and having to deal with killing innocents for his cause. Yet he could not open the door and leave, it stayed shut. Henry couldn't resist his desire to march back and claim the kiss like it was his destiny. More hungry for Hans than food even while starving.
They spent passionate hours together. Henry on top of Hans, grinding first with braies on then off. Coming undone against each other's mouths.
Hans' hot breath on his cheek as they stain each other's stomachs with come.
Pebbles neighs nearly throwing Henry off. "Easy!" he shouts and dismounts to investigate the disruptance. There is a body of a priest on the road. When he looks back men are standing there with hunting swords and bows. He puts his hands on his hips. "Well shit."
*
Henry gets back with bruises a night later. This book theft was harder than any others, requiring Henry to talk to a dozen men before finally being able to locate it. The black tome has no name scribbled on top and a man prefers sleep than curiosity so he just hopes it was worth it and gallops back.
The Devil's Den looks especially inviting in the moon glow and a tired mind. Henry nearly misses the sight of his lord - if not for the yellow cloth that brightens his presence anywhere. "Sir Hans!" Hans looks up from his beer tankard and smiles.
"Henry!"
Dismounting, Henry hisses at the stab of pain in his leg but Hans is there to grip his shoulder in no time. "Christ! I told you to get me a book not fight a bandit camp!" His blue eyes roam over every visible scrape and Henry laughs, pulling out the book out of Pebble's sack.
"Might as well have told me to do that. The priest that originally had the tome is dead. Killed by bandits who already got rid of the book." Hans helps Henry into the tavern, up the stairs. The noises of drunks and talking drown out Henry's groans of exhaustion. "Didn't even try to sell it, eh, said something about it being horrific or something."
"And...? Did you read it..?"
They're outside their shared room when Henry pauses at Hans' tone of voice. "Should I have?"
The question makes Hans nervous. Henry regrets not reading it beforehand no matter the answer now. Hans coughs into his fist and opens the door. "Not.. necessarily no. But you might find it er, useful. If the content is correct."
It's strange seeing Hans hesitant. Henry looks from him to the mysterious book in his hand. It no longer looks like any black tome but like a secret to unravel. He doesn't think he's ever been as keen to read as right now. But first...
Henry sits down on his bed, heavily, and groans. His joints hurt and he can feel cuts over his body as if they were still bleeding him dry. Sitting down feels like relief. "The content better be correct or this whole book will just be disappointing now. And I will burn it in revenge." That brings Capon's grin back. He snatches the book from Henry and opens it to the first page.
"Aye! It's the one."
Henry tries to peer over but Hans already walked off to the opposite side of the room where his own bed is. He busies himself with the book with wide eyes. Henry is curious but with his body already resting on comfortable sheets he gives up and spreads out his torso on the bed instead, armor still awkwardly digging into his body without a care. He's nearly asleep when Hans slaps his shoulder out of nowhere. He didn't even notice him come back around.
"You can't just sleep with your armor on! Even peasants aren't that dirty."
All Henry answers with is a weak glare. Hans looks flushed which distracts him from the insult and he glances around the room for the reason. Only new object around is the book, now beside Hans' bed. "Fine, I'll bite. What's in the book?"
"It's what I want to try. With you, of course. Apparently it requires preparation with oil but-"
"Oil?" Some remedy?
"Aye."
There is no follow up, even with the silent question up in the air.
Henry stares then finally rises, ready to get rid of armor and see what the mystery is about. He winces at the pain in his joints like an old man but Hans being there for the support makes him feel better. He helps Henry out of the suffocating cuirass. Not as a comrade and definitely not as a nobleman. As something entirely different. He unclasps the belts. The hands on his body make Henry burn. He catches Hans' hand mid action and kisses him.
Hans kisses back.
Everytime they share a kiss, thudding in Henry's heart reminds him of the pistole. Explosion makes itself known within his veins as soft noble lips fit his. The blue and red blood mixes together. Henry feels giddy. When he opens his eyes Hans is already looking at him and Henry smiles.
"Come on, you oaf. Your armor will never come off at this rate."
They spend a small amount of time getting all the metal and suffocating cloth off with practiced motion of men in war. It still shocks Henry whenever the noble Hans Capon who will ask servants to dress him and bring him dinner helps, no matter if the task is easy or not. A sign of growth people always begged Hans to show yet he never did until the recent months.
When they're done Henry is left standing in braies. The relief is palpable in every bone of his body.
Hans, who watches Henry exhale, picks up the book once again but not before his gaze shamelessly lingers. "I've never been with a man before - obviously." The topic is a whiplash. Henry nearly chokes on his spit. "All the wenches I've been with yet I'm still fumbling like a fool with you, it feels pathetic. I want to please you."
The confession is unexpected from a proud lord, it takes Henry aback. "You already please me."
There's beauty in Hans' fond laugh. "Let me continue. I want to please you and be pleased in return. You're not just some bathmaid I pay, I care about you." Hans regains his haughty stance and raises the book up in the air like a trophy. "And I thought there's no better way to gain knowledge than from books!"
Henry finally gets to hold the tome in his hands again and eagerly opens it to a random page. Maybe a demon, maybe a heretic induced text. Instead, he gasps at the blasphemous drawing depicting two men kissing, naked against each other. He can't believe it. "What?!" Hans just laughs at him openly, leaving Henry to string the information together. "The forbidden book- I killed bandits and pretended to be a farmer for- Sakra!"
"Farmer? Oh Hal. At least I can tell you it was all worth it. I've learnt something new."
It sounds like a trap. Henry looks warily from the book at Hans but he is never one to back down from a challenge, "And what did you learn exactly?"
Hans looks satisfied with the question. His suggestive reply is immediate. "I shall show you."
The easy atmosphere around them shifts into the new yet familiar territory of warmth and touches when Hans seizes Henry's lips. Henry lets out a surprised noise, dropping the book but quickly accepts and kisses back with just as much want.
He gets to bite the noble lips and bruise them. He gets to grab the noble hands and squeeze them.
He gets to explore. His hands get to map out Hans' face when he's too busy with their lips to keep watch. When their bodies press together Henry gets to feel he's not the only one struggling in the braies. But Hans still has his hose on. "Take it off." They're both red now, hot and bothered, the drawing representing them all too well in the moment.
"Demanding." The scolding loses its intent when it's said out of breath with slick lips.
"Come on, you enjoy me talking back to you."
"Ha!" Hans doesn't admit it but Henry knows the answer. He does as asked though and promptly tosses his hose and other unnecessary cloths on the floor. "Only because you look like an untaught pup when you do." He lets Henry bury into his neck like one, kissing there and inhaling Hans' musk. So different from girls yet he can't resist. He opens his mouth and bites and Hans groans. Fingers find his hair and pull. When Henry looks up he sees Hans with his alluring looks and half lidded eyes. Looking and liking what he's seeing.
He opens his mouth and calls Henry his love in Latin. He continues, "Mea spes. Meum decus." Warmth spreads over Henry's face from the affection laced in each syllable. He doesn't need to understand Latin to know the love within the words. Normally Henry would still enquire and prob Hans for more but right now he wants to return the favor with pretty words. He hates Brabant but the bastard still taught him something.
'I am dazzled by your beauty' in Italian. Taught right before them and the Devil's Pack had to dress up, pretend to know the language fluently and follow Godwin like bodyguards. It's been a while since then so he just hopes he remembers it right. His tongue feels as foreign in his mouth as the words. "Li tu-a bellezza ma.. abbaglia?"
Hans laughs at him. "Not that blabbering again. Henry, you're lucky to be my bodyguard instead of a scribe." Nonetheless, he rewards Henry with another kiss.
It's strange to be so open with another man. Before Hans, touching a man involved just a pat on the back or a fist in the face. Now they touch and kiss freely. Neither of them need to pretend to be a man they're not, there is no softness there that needs unnessecary toughness.
They maneuver to Henry's bed. The wood creaks and straw rustles as Hans climbs on top, their legs intertwining, his hands sliding over Henry's naked torso making him shiver. In return Henry grips his shoulder and pulls him down, smashing their lips back together. Their tongues meet. Their pricks rub against each other, braies adding nice friction, both grunting into each other's mouths. It reminds Henry of Suchdol except the distinctive lack of overpowering hunger makes it better than ever.
When he speaks his voice is hoarse, "So what are you showing me, Hans?"
"Heaven, can't you see?"
Henry snorts from under him. "Alright. What new thing are you showing me?"
"The book detailed how men actually do it. Together. Like you would with a woman. Apparently.." His hand suddenly wanders down and squeezes Henry's backside. "We can use your arse." He whispers.
"What?" With his body focused more on what's going on down in their braies, Henry needs a moment to comprehend what new revelation he's just been told. "But-.. But that's for dung!"
"Christ.. you really know how to ruin the mood, don't you? It's supposed to feel really good!"
"Then why don't we use your arse eh?!"
Hans pulls himself up, looking offended, "I'm a nobleman. I'm above all... that." He waves in the air for emphasis on whatever the hell he means. Henry is ready to argue but Hans continues in a more vulnerable voice. "I also want to make love to you." Fuck. Against Hans he is incapable of refusing anything. Even if it's something as ridiculous as using his own arse. He flops against the bed in defeat.
That's what he gets for getting with a nobleman.
"Fine. But it better not hurt."
Hans' face brightens and suddenly it's all worth it, the bandits, the book. "Trust me, my technique will make you swoon. You have my word as a nobleman - if it hurts, even slightly, we can forget about the whole thing. Sex is supposed to feel heavenly for everyone afterall." Hanush probably wouldn't approve of Hans using his nobleman word for that, Henry laughs. "Oil?"
"In my pouch."
"Knew you would have it on you. For a blacksmith boy you have everything with you like a witch."
Hans retrieves it by digging through the discarded clothing on the wooden floor. Henry appreciates the view of his lord squatting, almost naked. Calves flexed, bare neck exposed, back muscles on show.. Then he remembers what's going to happen next. "How do you want to do this? Do I.. err.. turn around?"
It takes a second for his question to be answered with Hans so focused on finding the phial. When he finds it he holds it up in triumph and turns back to Henry. "Aye." He picks up the book Henry forgot about dropping and flips the pages until he finds what he's looking for. He turns it for Henry's eyes. "Like this!"
A different drawing this time. It depicted a single man kneeling with his arse in the air and back arched. Each cheek had a red flush spread over it with a shine of an artistic touch. Henry flushes. He was beginning to hate this book. But Henry is a man of steel. He will commit for Hans, even if he has to get rid of his pride and raise his arse to do it.
Hans has enough pride for both of them anyway.
Henry copies the position, mourning the view of naked Hans, the flush refusing to leave his face. His arse is up in the air and he's dizzy from the embarrassment and sudden arousal. Being vulnerable during sex never happened, it was always women on their back letting him please them. And now... Hans sees it all.
Does he look as good as a woman? His body is rough, his arse not soft and round. Will Hans be able to continue? Will he have to look away from Henry to continue whatever this is?
There's movement behind him. A presence. Hans touches his behind and Henry has to crane his neck to look back. He sees dark eyes staring at his body. "Shit Henry. You look so good." The hands wander down to his thighs, squeezing at the tired muscles. "I don't think I've ever wanted someone so bad in my entire life.. fuck. Look at you."
Henry inhales, relief running through his veins. His doubts vanish, leaving him with just want. "Are you planning on doing something about it then?"
"Aye, how could I not?"
Air hits his arse as Hans lowers the braies he's been wearing. The oil bottle pops open behind him and he hisses at the liquid sliding down his hole, down his thighs. "Shit, that's cold." A finger works him open, he shifts at the intrusion.
Hans' voice sounds rough. Like a man suppresing his desire would sound. "How does it feel?"
"Like dung movin' around in my arse."
"Christ." The sigh behind him makes Henry grin. "But it doesn't hurt?"
"No. It just feels.. strange."
Hans hums and enters a second finger, slick noises seeming louder than they are in the quiet room. Henry's surprised to find it doesn't hurt still. While one hand works his hole open the other slides to his prick, stroking the head in lazy movement, smearing the precum. Henry gasps and buckles towards the hand, noble fingers going deeper inside him. His fatigue from before is now completely forgotten in favor of his libido. "Oh tha-" The comment cuts off with a surprised moan when Hans curls the two fingers inside, hitting a pleasurable spot.
He looks back bewildered at a grinning red Hans. "Found it."
It no longer feels as strange when Hans is fingering him, the man was right, it feels damn good. Hans stops stroking him in the middle of it and instead strokes himself and Henry is grateful. He was embarassingly becoming too undone too fast. The groans Hans lets out behind Henry make the whole experience better, both of them hard and leaking. Henry wants more. Henry needs more. "More- Add another." His voice is strained. Like a man on the verge.
Hans lets out a breathy laugh but complies. The third finger makes itself known inside by hitting the spot again. Henry and Hans groan in unison. "I take it you feel quite good now? No more 'dung' huh?" Hans bites Henry's hip, kisses the spot better. "Come on- Turn over. I want to see your face when I fuck into you."
When he does, his muscles thank him for the more comfortable position and his eyes thank him for the sight of Hans with nothing on, just a lustful expression, towering over him. His usually sky dyed eyes now barely contain the blue. Henry needs this noble bastard against him, in his skin and outside it. "You look pretty good yourself, you know." It's an understatement. But Henry knows Hans' ego is too large for this world already.
"Never thought otherwise." Hans haughtily replies.
They share a kiss again, Hans pressing Henry against the bed as if he wanted to meld them both together. Their chests crush each other as their movements grow rougher, teeth crashing.
When their lips part Hans' never leave Henry's body. He kisses down, down Henry's throat and leaving marks in lips wake, down Henry's chest while pinching his nipple, down Henry's stomach. He licks a stripe up Henry's member. Henry moans.
The exhausted body is barely able to keep up with the lord's lips and now when they pull back and grin and say, "Are you ready, mei amores?" his head needs encouragment to formulate the reply.
"Always ready."
The oil phial gets picked up once more with swift hands. Hans coats his cock with the remaining liquid, dropping the empty phial to the floor. Momentarily, his eyes squeeze shut with a single stroke and he groans, no doubt enjoying the sensation of finally getting wet stimulation. Hungry for more. Well, Henry thinks, he's about to have it. He's about to have Henry whole. Their eyes meet and linger, chests squeezing.
Hans hosts Henry's legs up on his shoulders and lines himself up.
It's a weird feeling - something sliding inside Henry, making him gasp and huff. Somehow he likes it, of course he does, since it's Hans. It hits deep into his core, unmaking him. Through bleary eyes Henry can make out his love's expression. Pinched eyebrows and mouth open in pleasure, yet still, eyes never leaving Henry's face. Hans' grip on his thighs will leave marks that later on Henry will look down upon and admire. Purple streaks on the skin that will be a reminder of the new experience, taste of Hans Capon on his skin.
"Christ. You feel so good. So tight."
Henry can't answer, he just gasps, "Kurva." and gets ahold of Hans' face to smash their lips back together where they belong.
Apparently the kiss is all it takes to give Hans the confidence to move, thrusting in and out with testy movements. It's experienced in a way of a man who has been with plenty of wenches yet clumsy of a man who has Henry as his first. Hans is a fast learner though, he begins to hit Henry's inside in just the right way.
Remaking Henry from inside out.
It feels godly.
The noises out of their mouths are beyond Henry. He hears moans for Hans inbetween the wet slaps of the hip connecting with his arse, hears Hans curse and mutter praises that manage to make Henry leak more, closer to release, but it's all beyond him. The main focus is set on the hard cock inside him and the hand on his own - stroking him, adding to the hot pressure in the room, making Henry cry out more.
He registers words like 'pretty', 'bellus' and 'mine'.
He claws at anything like a wild animal searching for purchase in the void, Hans' back gets scraped and Henry's bed tangled.
When Hans seals his lips with his own, stealing his breath and voice, Henry grasps onto his neck and paints their stomachs white. The world stops like white noise. Hans moans deep and guttal and follows Henry suit, filling him with himself. Making Henry full.
They lay there after. Hans on top of Henry. Still inside him. Both gasping for air in the same rhythm.
Henry is the one to break the soft silence. "I'll give it to you, Hans, you were right, it felt damn good." His voice is rough from the earlier moans.
Hans' voice matches. "I knew you'd like it." Hans doesn't lift his head from Henry's broad chest but he doesn't need to for the smug satisfaction to be heard in his voice. He slides his member out of Henry, leaving him weirdly empty. "I don't know what I'd do if you hated it because that was one of the best fucks I've ever had. And I've had plently."
"Don't doubt you there, sir. I've seen your whoring habits myself." The joke earns him a soft punch.
"Oh shut up."
"I might if-" Henry's response is cut off by a fleeting kiss. "You didn't let me finish."
Hans is up in no time, back straight and proud even with semen on his stomach and bare arse. His hands are on his hips and a grin on his lips. "Didn't need to, Hal. Are you coming with me to the baths willingly or do I need to drag you there myself?" He doesn't wait for an answer, disappearing from Henry's view to pick up the cloths dropped on the floor during the earlier passionate moments.
Henry lays there, still spent from his journey and now from Hans' cock. Shit. He won't be walking tomorrow.
But Hans pays no mind to exhaustion, he never does really, he carelessly throws Henry's cloths on top of him and makes himself presentable in the meantime. It takes longer for Henry to pull himself up but war is nothing compared to this, he's been through worse things than having to dress just to undress again later.
Now, they stand by the door, checking each other for any visible bruises from their escapade. Hans pulls a scarf over Henry's head and nods his head in satisfaction at the covered up neck. Henry grins, pats Hans' back and limps out the door.
They spend their evening alone in the baths, relaxing and drinking Devil Den's wine cellar dry. Only later will Henry sleep, snoring in his tousled bed, arse aching as a good reminder.