Work Text:
~
Somewhere along the years, they became lovers.
The feelings had crept up on Javier like a gust of wind, something that had approached silently for many miles, beginning as a faint whistling in his ears, a tickle against the back of his neck, before finally rushing past him and sweeping him into its disorienting path.
He doesn’t recall when it happened.
Perhaps when Lloyd propped an elbow on Javier’s shoulder and poked his cheek, teasing him, sending him a haughty smirk as he had a thousand times, making Javier’s heart stutter in his chest.
Perhaps one of those tender nights where they rarely dropped their banter and met each other’s eyes, sharing things that no one else knew about them, Javier’s voice catching in his throat as Lloyd listened to him attentively, his face softened with trust.
Perhaps it was when Lloyd turned to him, alive and wired with the victory of some terrible scheme, his face contorted with smug triumph, a terrifying grin that bared all his teeth. Others would recoil at the jagged angles at his face, whispering in fear of a devil, or a mad hatter. Really, Javier thought he looked rather charming.
That should have been the first thing that tipped him off. The day he found himself endeared by Lloyd’s hideous expressions, he had truly reached the point of no return.
Javier was in love with him.
His voice was sharp and piercing like a lark’s call. He was beyond intelligent, with keen intuition that saved Javier more times than he could count. He approached everything with burning hazel eyes, passionate, a steadfast determination that left Javier’s legs trailing after him as if bewitched.
Javier never thought it possible, that life could be filled with so much laughter. Lloyd’s laughter, sometimes hearty chuckles or unhinged cackling.
It made Javier want to kiss him. One day, he finally did.
Lloyd had run up to him, voice brimming with excitement as he threw his weight onto Javier. He was talking too fast for Javier to understand him, something about finally finding a solution to one of his complex designs that still flew over Javier’s comprehension.
Lloyd had leaned in close, smelling like dirt and dust and everything good in the world.
He’d been so carried away that he kept talking even as Javier pressed their lips together, a latent period where he didn’t seem to register it, before his speech trailed off, eyes widening as he stared up at Javier.
“We should marry,” Javier told him.
In hindsight, he probably should have started with dinner.
Lloyd was a terror for months afterwards, so convinced that Javier was pulling an elaborate prank on him. Thankfully, Javier had gained eternal patience for Lloyd’s antics, and they eventually died down once Lloyd realised he was being genuine.
Nothing changes, for the most part.
Javier remains at his side while Lloyd is tossed around the world’s stage on a dime, arguing as they march through construction sites, arguing louder as they face down world-ending entities.
They aren’t very affectionate in public, but it’s an open secret among their workers. Sometimes, as they trade insults back and forth, Lloyd will toss in a random pet name to throw him off, a candid hot-stuff, babe, and on one embarrassing occasion, sweetheart.
Lloyd quickly learns that he can win an argument by kissing Javier to interrupt him. Javier is still working on a counter for it. Unfortunately, when he tries to do the same to Lloyd, it only emboldens the smug man, who will pull Javier close and kiss him harder, until he forgets what they were bickering about in the first place.
Lloyd is a good partner. He’s sweet. Javier has never had someone treat him so gently, more used to being the strongest in the room, the one that others were relying on. It was a welcome, but strange feeling, to finally know that there was someone who would protect him.
He’s gentle when they make love too. He holds Javier close, cradles his face and whispers in his ear tenderly as their bodies shift together. “I love you,” he’ll always mumble softly afterwards, embracing Javier in their afterglow.
They have a good thing going. Javier thinks he could be happy for the rest of his life if things stayed just like this, Lloyd by his side.
Then they arrive to hell, and Javier has some realisations.
“This is hell, my Lord… Shouldn’t you at least ask for my opinion?”
“What? I said we’re going, so you have to go too, even if it’s hell.”
Firstly, he loves it when Lloyd tells him what to do. So much so, that unfortunately, he would do anything Lloyd tells him to do.
“I told you the castle was west. Why are you going east?”
“You were obviously lying to me, you numbskull. Hah--! You like it when I talk mean to you, huh? Perv.”
Secondly, that when Lloyd is mean, it... does things to him.
When he first felt that jolt in his spine, watching Lloyd play with the demons’ feelings, face twisted and cruel, looking down at them as if they were dirt on the bottom of his boot, Javier dismissed it as shock at his lover’s appalling behaviour.
Lloyd’s behaviour was atrocious, the worst it’s ever been. He was running a tight ship for this rail-road project, a true demon among demons.
After all his pain-staking efforts to foster a safe and supportive work culture in the world above, it didn’t take him very long to start verbally abusing their new… employees, if they could be called that. It must be the surprise of it, Javier reasoned.
As they corralled the demons into the railway construction, Lloyd would march among them with his shovel at the ready, kicking any poor soul who got into his way and sneering.
Javier couldn’t stop staring at him, the disdainful way he glared at a worker who took too look, the way he grabs one of them by the scalp and pulls tightly, forcing them to meet his narrowed eyes. Slave, pet, deviant, he would call them, before he dropped his grip with a callous flick of his wrist.
It’s heat pooling in his gut, Javier realises.
He was getting turned on by this, how Lloyd degraded the workers that were so desperately trying to please him. Even worse, Javier could feel that it wasn’t enough, just not quite right.
He didn’t want to watch Lloyd treat others like that. He wants Lloyd to treat him like that.
He wants Lloyd to kick him down, feel Lloyd’s fist grip painfully into his hair and yank him around as he pleased. He wants Lloyd to be rough with him, mean to him. To slap him, push him around and treat him like dirt.
He imagines how Lloyd would stare at him with those callous eyes, as if he barely passed as entertainment, as Javier sat between his legs and pleasured him. If Lloyd let out one of those derisive scoffs and looked down at him, called him worm, he would surely lose his mind.
Indeed, he has a problem. One that Javier will take to the grave.
He would never hear the end of it if Lloyd found out. His smug prick of a lover would surely dance around him with glee, teasing him until Javier went deaf.
Lloyd, of course, makes things very difficult.
“You’re all so freaking pathetic, volunteering to be my slaves.”
The words almost bring Javier to his knees. Lloyd’s voice had no right to be so sinfully pleased. His dignity as a grandmaster is the only thing that keeps him from crawling his way to Lloyd’s feet.
As soon as he gets the chance, he steals Lloyd away and brings them to their temporary lodgings, the large canvas tent over-seeing the railway’s slow crawl up to the reincarnation portal.
“Ah--! What’s gotten into you?” Lloyd asks him, breathlessly, as Javier wrestles the clothes off him.
“How do you want me?” Javier asks as he undoes his trousers. He hopes his motives aren’t too blatantly obvious.
Tell me what to do. Hit me. Call me names--
“Just like this,” Lloyd whispers to him, pulling him close with gentle eyes. His legs wrap around Javier’s hips, his hands card through Javier’s curls as he sighs, as if already sated, “Fuck, I love you. Come here.”
Lloyd pants hot in his ear as Javier pushes in slowly. He lets out gasping sounds as Javier rocks their bodies together, getting louder with every thrust. He wraps his arms tight around Javier’s neck, kissing him deeply.
When they reach their orgasms together, Lloyd cries out, his back arching, his hand tangled with Javier’s. It’s sensual and soft in the most perfect way. It feels just like the first time they made love, intimately, as if they couldn’t get enough of each other.
Javier collapses on top on him, causing Lloyd to grunt. They rest against each other, so close that he can feel Lloyd’s heart pounding against his chest. After a moment, Lloyd tilts his chin up and kisses him lightly.
Javier kisses him back, trying not to think about how screwed he is.
It felt amazing, but it didn’t scratch that itch. The one that Javier’s been feeling ever since they came to this godforsaken place.
Regardless, it’s a bit too late to ask Lloyd to spit on him.
Javier settles into the sheets, playing with Lloyd’s soft brown hair until they fall asleep, curled up in each other’s embraces.
~
With the realisation that this… fancy of his isn’t leaving any time soon, Javier devises a plan.
Talk about their feelings? Javier scoffs. No, to get what he wanted, he would simply align the dominos and tip them over himself.
There was no need to endure the humiliation of asking his lover to degrade him. There was surely irony in that, which Javier refused to acknowledge.
Instead, Javier shows up two hours late to work.
“Where the hell have you been?” Lloyd shouts to him as Javier descends from his flight, his grandmaster’s wings dissolving as he lands. Lloyd strides up to him with visible exasperation. “We’re waiting on more rails! The entire site’s locked up!”
“I lost track of time,” Javier says, keeping his expression aloof and unapologetic. The last time a worker was late, Lloyd strung him up and whipped him until he passed out.
He really is a deviant, Javier realises, trying not to look too thrilled as Lloyd glares at him. He had the black leather whip holstered on his belt loop, something one of the demons had not-so-subtly left out for Lloyd to find. He was a sight to behold when he marched among his workers, whip held loosely in his hand with its long lash trailing behind him.
“Besides,” Javier adds, turning his nose up. “I am a grandmaster swordsman. I will go where I please when I please.”
That will certainly do it. He sees Lloyd’s face go flat. Around them, the demons hush, falling silent and watching with faces twisted in dread, their eyes wide with horror.
“Now, with the attitude?” Lloyd demands, shoving him. “We need those rails, Javier, I thought you got over that schtick ages ago--”
“It seems I need a reminder,” Javier says, leaning closer. He wonders if Lloyd can hear his heart pounding in his chest.
Lloyd stutters, sending him an indignant look. He grips Javier by both arms and shakes him. “You need to be knocked down a peg, you smug asshole. Seriously--”
Javier crowds against him, feeling Lloyd’s breath against his lips. “Very well, master. How many strikes have I earned?”
Javier thought he’d done it, but Lloyd reels back suddenly as if all the aggravation had snapped away like an elastic band.
“Woah, hey,” Lloyd says, eyes focusing on him. His grip releases from Javier’s shoulders as if burned. “I didn’t mean it like that, Javier. I’m sorry. You’ve been doing great.”
“… Thank you, my Lord,” he responds, barely masking his disappointment as Lloyd beams at him brightly.
“At this rate, we’ll finish in record time! You can even take the day off, I can take care of this—”
One of the demon workers lifts his head up, eyes wide with hope. “A day off?”
Lloyd beats him down with a strong stomp of his foot. “Not you, you snivelling worm--!” Then he stomps the demon’s head again. It makes a sickening thunk against the ground. “Interrupt me one more time and I’ll have you flogged!”
The demon practically purrs, rubbing his cheek against Lloyd’s boot. Javier glares down at him, his jealousy so palpable that he feels mana crackling around him.
“Hey, take that break okay?” Lloyd says, pointing a finger at him. “You look like you need one. Go rest.”
Javier nods, trying not to look too sour as he leaves.
“Ah, wait Javier--!”
He turns just in time to catch Lloyd as he jumps into him. Javier supports his legs as he wraps his arms around Javier’s shoulders, staring at him with an easy smile.
“I love you,” Lloyd says, pecking him firmly on the lips. “I’ll see you for dinner tonight.”
“You won’t join me?” Javier asks, rather reluctant to let him go. Lloyd chuckles and kisses him again.
“Nah. I’ll hold down the fort here,” Lloyd says, before his smile turns sinister. “These guys could use a lesson in respect.”
He drops down and sends Javier a lazy salute as he walks away, unfurling the whip as he goes into the crowd of demons, who were now complaining loudly.
“We never get breaks--!”
“How come he gets to leave--?!”
“That’s not fair--!”
Lloyd lets the whip loose with a sharp crack. The demons cower, covering their heads and crawling low to the ground.
“Pigs--! Swine--!” Lloyd shouts, cackling madly. It seems he’ll be at this for a while.
Javier leaves with his jaw set tight, his eye twitching every time he hears the whistle and crack of Lloyd’s whip.
For his humiliatingly childish tantrum, he’d received the day off and a kiss on the lips. The demons complain a little and Lloyd beats them bloody. Life wasn’t fair.
~
Evidently, Javier is being sabotaged by his own status as a grandmaster swordsman.
After years by Lloyd’s side, the work came easily to him like breathing. The projects could vary in design and scale, but he’d long mastered the fundamental skills in common.
It used to fill him with smugness, in the beginning. Lloyd would ask him to do something with pain-staking detail, taking great efforts to describe the specifications he needed. When Javier completed the task with ease, he would freeze in his busy steps, eyes filled with awe as he stopped to watch.
Every time, he would burst into a brilliant smile and teases Javier about his aptitude, more suited for construction than knighthood. When Javier first realised his feelings for Lloyd, it would leave his skin alight for the rest of the day. He worked harder, flashier, for hours on end, hoping to catch Lloyd’s eye again and impress him.
He’s built up too much good-will, and now, Lloyd was too patient with him, too nice.
He needs to be worse at this, Javier thinks, forcing his form into something sloppier. It makes him wince. After years of perfecting his swordsmanship, training out every bad habit as it came, it felt like his body was screaming at him.
He slices his next set of rails unevenly.
“That looks great, Javier!” Lloyd calls, gesturing with his arm for the demons to carry it away. “Next one, move in position!”
Javier watches them carry away his pristine, evenly-cut rails with a frown. This was harder than he expected. He didn’t want to make his mistake too obvious. Lloyd would quickly catch on if he saw that Javier was doing it deliberately. Actually...
“Uh, Javier,” Lloyd calls, sounding confused. “We’re cutting them length-wise… you know, horizontally.”
“This is fine,” Javier dismisses, ignoring the solid blocks of centipede in front of him. “Bring the next one.”
Lloyd’s hand raises, then falters. His mouth flaps open and closed, his brows furrowing as he looked at Javier’s mess, down to his clipboard, then back.
“Uh, are you sure?” Lloyd asks, sounding doubtful as he flips quickly through his papers. Then he pauses, looking at Javier with scrutinizing eyes.
“Yes.”
Get angry, Javier thinks.
Lloyd throws his head back, laughing loudly. “Oh my god,” he wheezes, bending over on himself. He stumbles over to Javier, throwing arms around him and slumping against his shoulder. “You totally had me, hah--!”
This was not the reaction he expected. “I have made a mistake,” he points out.
Lloyd gives him a long, endeared look. “You’re so damn cute,” he says, flicking Javier on the forehead. Then he whirls back around, motioning with his hand. “Alright, enough games. Bring in the next one!”
On the next one, he actually succeeds at cutting the rails as he planned, slightly ever-so uneven. It’s just enough to fall short of Lloyd’s strict standards.
Lloyd purses his lips, holding up a fist to signal for the demons to stop carrying it away. He strides up and pulls out his calipers, meticulously measuring a long rail segment from end to end.
“It’s two centimetres wider on this end,” Lloyd says, shaking his head. “The wheels will catch. Toss it.”
“My apologies,” Javier says as Lloyd passes him.
“Yeah, yeah, we’ll fix it,” Lloyd waves away. “Bring in the next one.”
Javier hones in on the reaction, straightening up. It was finally happening. Lloyd was starting to lose his patience.
On his next set of rails, he swings his sword in a wild, wide arc straight towards the freshly-made rails behind them.
“What in the hell--?!” Lloyd screams, throwing himself to the ground as Javier’s mana blast obliterates the pile into a heavy cloud of metal debris.
“Oops,” Javier says. “I missed.”
Lloyd stares at him, arms still covering his head. “You missed,” he repeats faintly, looking pale.
Perhaps that attempt had been too overt. He’ll cool things down for now.
Javier turns to the demons cowering on the ground, narrowly incinerated by the scorching path of his blast. “The next one,” he orders, readying his sword.
He cuts the next sets flawlessly and in record time, hoping it makes up for the delay he’s caused. He turns to Lloyd, who is still crouched low on the ground and watching him with a frozen expression.
“Enough?” Javier asks.
Lloyd lifts a hand and shakily sends him a thumbs-up.
“Very well,” he says, sheathing his sword. He goes over and picks Lloyd up in his arms. “Now, I will take you back to our tent and make love to you.”
Overall, the day is a success.
~
Javier continues to make steady progress throughout the week.
He acts normally, for the most part. After scaring Lloyd off, he realised that subtlety is key. He needs to be delicate with his mistakes, setbacks that are enough of a headache to leave Lloyd annoyed, but not so critical that Lloyd enters crisis mode and loses focus on Javier.
Even so, he’s still too nice to Javier. Even when Javier narrowly takes off his head, Lloyd doesn’t get angry and start berating him for his shoddy cuts and recklessness. Instead, Lloyd will send him a wide-eyed look, shrug, and move on. Javier’s attempts solicit every emotion under the sun—laughter, confusion, shock, fear—but never anger.
Lloyd can clearly tell that something is amiss, but he is still unable to discern Javier’s motives.
“Morning babe,” Lloyd murmurs against his neck, kissing it tenderly. Then he rolls out of bed and starts getting dressed.
Which means he’s being even nicer now, Javier realises grimly.
He made love to Javier slowly last night, whispering sweet nothings in his ear and holding him delicately, like glass. It was fantastic, but he’d much prefer if Lloyd took a cane and beat him unconscious.
Rather annoyingly, it also seemed Lloyd was taking in all the frustrations caused by Javier, and re-directing his pent-up rage onto the demons instead.
Javier broods, watching with envy as the demons cry wantonly under Lloyd’s brutal strikes. He glares as Lloyd’s arm rears up, all his muscles stretching taut, his eyes vicious as he cracks the whip down again.
They weren’t even pretending anymore that they didn’t like it. The demons were practically lining up for Lloyd’s ire, taking turns throwing themselves at his feet. They were reaping the fruits of Javier’s labour without shame, frothing at the mouths.
Javier stalks into the crowd towards Lloyd. He’s so caught up that he doesn’t even notice Javier until he gets grabbed by the wrist, halting his strikes.
“Enough,” Javier tells him. “We need to talk.”
“Oh,” Lloyd says, blinking at him. “Alright.”
Javier drags him away as the demons rear up around them, crying and calling in dismay.
“Spoil-sport--!”
“You’re ruining the fun, asshole--!
“Master hasn’t hit me yet--!”
Javier whirls around. “You’re just like your mothers,” he snaps, watching them flinch back. One of them coves their mouth with their hands, tearing up.
“Holy fuck, Javier--!” Lloyd cackles, allowing himself to be dragged along.
He’s far more entertained than he has any right to be. As if sensing the storm cloud looming over him, Lloyd seems to startle, finally taking in Javier’s face. He bites his lip and goes quiet, allowing Javier to pick him up.
Javier lets mana draw around him, his wings manifesting in hazy, harried light, and takes flight towards their canvas tent. When they make it inside, Lloyd sits down on the bed and watches him pace back and forth with wide eyes.
“Uh, babe,” he calls. He pats the sheets beside him. “Wanna sit down?”
Javier takes a breath and goes to him. He sits and leans his head on Lloyd’s shoulder, clenching his fists in his lap.
“Look…” Lloyd says. He wraps an arm around Javier’s waist. “I know I was too hard on them today. I’m sorry, I crossed the line.”
“That’s not…” Javier frowns.
Seeing the conflict in his eyes, Lloyd seems to re-evaluate. “Uh, well, the reason I was acting that way is because something’s been bugging me.”
Lloyd pulls back and turns to face him, taking Javier’s hands in his own.
“Javier…” he swallows, then sends him a determined, perplexed look. “Why are you so angry at me?”
“I’m not angry at you,” Javier dismisses.
Lloyd’s lip wobbles, just barely, enough to make Javier freeze down to his bones. “I’m not an idiot. You don’t miss. Not when cutting rails, and definitely not when using mana blast.”
His heart is racing. He wanted Lloyd to notice his behaviour, but not like this. Curse his partner and his attempts at healthy communication. He always decided to be the mature one at the worst of times.
“You’ve been giving me death glares all week. Acting distant, calling me master. You haven’t called me that in ages. You constantly start arguments, sabotage things-- Hell, you’ve been trying to kill me on a daily basis--!”
“You have dodged easily—” Javier protests.
“Oh my god,” Lloyd says, reeling back. “You actually are trying to kill me. What the hell did I do--?!”
“I am not angry at you,” Javier says firmly, squeezing his hands. Lloyd lets out an incredulous laugh.
“Whatever it is, I’ll make things right,” Lloyd says. His lips are still pursed. “I’m really sorry, Javier. I’ll do whatever you want me to—”
“I want you to hit me,” Javier responds, then chokes on his own tongue.
Lloyd blinks at him. “… Huh?”
“I…” He wills his cheeks to stop burning. Even so, he’d rather endure this embarrassment ten times over than have Lloyd think this was his fault for one more second. “I have been trying to get you angry, so that you will hit me.”
“Why… Why would you want that?” Lloyd asks him, sounding lost. “Javier, even if I’m angry, I’d never even think about hurting you--”
Javier resists the urge to slam him face into the ground. He’s really making him spell it out…
“I find it hot. I want you to hit me while we have sex.”
“Oh…” Lloyd murmurs, then his face dawns with comprehension. “Oh--!”
Javier shuts his eyes tight, bracing himself, already seeing Lloyd’s lips tremble upwards.
“You kinky shit--!” Lloyd crows, collapsing on top of him. Javier grits his teeth as Lloyd leans in, wheezing into his ear like a braying donkey. “Pervert! Masochist! Javier’s a--”
“I hate you,” he says, shoving Lloyd away. Undeterred, Lloyd slips under his arm and crowds in again.
“That’s why you’ve been acting so weird, hah? You want your master to punish you?” He asks, grin splitting his face.
Then, at Javier’s sullen huff, he gasps with delight. “You do--!”
“We’ve already established that,” Javier snaps. He rips himself away and stands up. “I will take my leave now—”
“Wait, wait,” Lloyd calls, Javier hears footsteps behind him, then Lloyd throws his arms around him, holding him in place. “Alright, I’ll stop now.”
“You aren’t,” Javier says, watching the chuckles still shake Lloyd’s frame. He allows Lloyd to corral him back to the bed, pushing him to sit down. Lloyd stands between his legs and places his hands on Javier’s shoulders.
“You know I love you, right?” Lloyd asks, still staring down at him with visible amusement.
“Yes…” Javier sighs, reluctantly.
“Good.” He drops heavily into Javier’s lap, making him choke. He grips Javier tight by the scalp and jerks his head up. “Now tell me all the filthy things you’ve been thinking of,” he breathes, hot against Javier’s face.
“I…” Javier meets his eyes, swallowing heavily. “I want you to degrade me, like you treat the demons.”
Lloyd hums and rolls their hips together lazily. He can’t tell if it’s a reward or another way to taunt him. “I want you to string me up and use your whip on me. Hard. I want you to be mean about it, and call me names.”
“Pervert? Worm? Swine?” Lloyd lists, watching his reactions with open curiosity. Javier shrugs. “Slut? Toy? Slave?” Lloyd tries.
Oh… He shivers. Lloyd grins down at him as if he’d fallen right into his trap. “I’ll keep that in mind. Then?” Lloyd hums, pressing wet kisses to his jaw.
“Use me,” he breathes, sliding their mouths together sloppily. “Ride me. Fuck me. Use my mouth. Whatever you want.”
Lloyd moans against him. He can surely feel how hard Javier is, how desperate he is for Lloyd’s touch. “Sounds like a plan,” he whispers.
Abruptly, he stands up. He looms over Javier, his eyes scanning from his panting, wet lips down to the visible bulge in his trousers. It seems to embolden Lloyd, how undone he’s become so quickly.
He steps back and places a hand at the whip. It jostles on his belt loop. Javier’s eyes linger on it, then dart back up. Lloyd is watching his face with an amused smirk, something cocky and teasing that makes Javier’s throat close up.
“This is a good look on you,” Lloyd says, voice low and lilted. He slowly unravels the whip.
Javier watches the movement like a hawk. Lloyd allows the tail to drag on the ground behind him, lazily, until he reaches the far flap of the tent, his hand trailing over that curtain to the outside.
“Now…?” Javier asks, moving to take off his coat.
Lloyd glances back at him, his eyes lidded, that smirk, he wouldn’t really--
“When I feel like it,” he says, before slipping out of the tent.
~
Lloyd spends the next week teasing him.
He presses close to Javier, whispers sultry and low in his ear, then flits away like a bird. He plays dumb, kissing him modestly and complimenting him, kind and calm as he laughs off Javier’s growing aggravation.
He’s become even more of a nightmare to the demons, something Javier hadn’t thought possible. He strolls around with the whip, using any chance to crack down on some pour soul. As they cry beneath him, his eyes will wander to Javier, his lips lifting into the edge of a heated smirk.
On one particular occasion, he shoved one of the demons down and straddled them, his hands wrapping around their neck and choking them roughly. His eyes stared down Javier the whole time, burning with their intensity, making Javier’s mind go blank for the rest of the day, fantasizing about how it would feel for Lloyd’s fingers to dig into his throat.
Yet every night, he pulls himself away from Javier’s heated touches, feigning tiredness as he rolls away to sleep. With their long and rushed work days, making up for Javier’s previous delays, he might have believed Lloyd if not for the way his hands would quickly slip low under the sheets. He would pleasure himself blatantly, moaning, his legs spreading and hips twitching, as Javier remained stock-still beside him, staring at the ceiling.
“Touch yourself and I’ll kill you,” Lloyd would murmur threateningly, his eyes slitted, almost malevolent, leaving Javier burning between his legs. Then he would throw his head back with a gasp, reaching his climax and collapsing loosely against the sheets.
It was cruel, and mean, and exactly what Javier had been asking for.
Forget his plan of getting Lloyd angry. Javier would be driven mad himself if he had to endure one more day of this.
“How long will you drag this out?” Javier asks. He tried to make his voice sound annoyed, but the words come out sounding pained.
“As long as I please,” Lloyd says, barely sparing him a glance as he slices his steak. It seems with his recent foul behaviour, the demons had cooked a particularly luxurious dinner tonight as a thank you.
Javier frowns at him. “I have been very patient.”
Lloyd’s eyes slide over to him. He chuckles, surely noticing the tense way he stands.
“Eager beaver,” he teases, before curling up a finger. “Fine, you pervert, get over here.”
Javier straightens up, walking over carefully as Lloyd slides his chair out from the table.
He leans back, his smirk teasing as he spreads his legs. “Kneel.”
Javier drops between his legs with a sigh, feeling Lloyd’s hand card through his hair, tugging lightly. He reaches for the buttons of Lloyd’s trousers, his fingers trembling.
“Shall I—”
He looks up, eyes flying wide as he sees Lloyd’s hand rear back, his palm raised.
“You take what I give you, slave. Oh shit, sorry, that was harder than I thought—”
Javier blinks, dazed, his cheek burning. Lloyd had slapped him hard enough to knock his head off its axis, leaving him reeling as he turns back to focus on Lloyd’s face.
Javier swallows thickly, shuffling. He could himself getting hard as Lloyd watched him with his mouth parted in surprise.
“Huh…” He says, scanning over Javier’s face. There was a flush working its way up his cheeks. “I wanted to tease you for longer, but…”
He sits back, eyes narrowing as he stares Javier down. “Perhaps I’ll let you try and convince me.”
Javier barely gets the pleasure of five minutes with his face between Lloyd’s legs before Lloyd is crying out and shoving at his head, yanking at his hair as he shudders. His bruised lips pop of Lloyd’s cock, still attached by a trail of saliva. Javier closes his eyes and feels Lloyd’s release hit his face in hot strands.
He moves to kiss at Lloyd’s still twitching hip bone, only for Lloyd to lock his knees around his shoulders and keep him away.
“Okay, okay--!” He agrees, shivering, watching Javier with something akin to terror. “You’re really that excited for me to--?!”
Javier licks Lloyd’s release from his lips, staring back at him unabashed. It was immensely satisfying to finally gain the upper-hand in this endeavour of his.
“Tomorrow night…” Lloyd mumbles, keeping his face shoved deep into Javier’s shoulder as he carries Lloyd to the bed. “You pervert…”
“You will need to be more bold than this,” Javier says, chuckling, kissing him on the forehead.
Lloyd glares at him as he pulls the covers up to his nose. “You need to come with a manual.”
Javier strips his shirt, using it to wipe his face before tossing it in their wash basin. He’d have to find Hamang to ask for water to do their laundry. They were often out with Draggy at this time of day.
“And uh, Javier?” Lloyd calls from the bed. “Bring back some rope for tomorrow.”
~
“How’s that?”
Javier tests the restraints again, and promptly shreds the rope into pieces.
He bites back a smile, seeing Lloyd’s face twitch. It wasn’t often that his lover encountered an engineering problem that gave him so much trouble.
“You’ll just have to pretend,” Lloyd sighs, taking a new cord of thick rope. He meticulously binds Javier’s wrists behind his back. Then his hands roam against Javier’s shirtless skin, feather light. “Try not to flex too much, handsome.”
“I said to treat me like a slave,” Javier reminds him, turning his head around. “You have no issues beating the demons until they scream--”
Lloyd stutters at him, poking his shoulder blade. “Well, excuse me, finding it hard to treat the love of my life like garbage—Seriously, I put all this effort into spoiling you but no, you want to get shovelled like shit--”
Javier turns around and drops to his knees, sighing as he rubs his face agains the rough fabric of Lloyd’s trousers.
“Keep scolding me,” he murmurs, gazing up at him and allowing his lips to trace against the top button of Lloyd’s pants.
“You—” Lloyd chokes off. He takes a step back from Javier, his knees catching against the edge of the bed. He sits back on it with shaky legs, his hands fluttering as if unsure what to do as Javier slides closer. “You’re insufferable--”
“You should discipline me then,” Javier says, humming against Lloyd’s inner thigh. “Although now, I’m unsure if you can manage it.”
That does it. Lloyd frowns down at him indignantly, sitting up straighter. “You are a terrible slave—”
“Perhaps I have a terrible master,” Javier throws back, allowing his teeth to catch on the seam of Lloyd’s pant leg. “A meek and timid one who can’t keep me in check.”
Lloyd’s eye narrow. He grabs Javier by the hair and pulls tightly, enough for Javier’s eyes to flutter closed. Finally.
He feels Lloyd throw a leg over his shoulder, and almost gets excited until he realises Lloyd is detangling himself from Javier, standing from the bed.
“Stay,” Lloyd says, shoving Javier’s head back down when he turns. “Stay right there…”
Javier obliges him, only because he can hear Lloyd unfurling the whip from his belt loop, the smooth slide of the leather as it untangles and drops to the floor. He straightens his posture, knees adjusting on the hard floor and bracing his thighs against the bed frame.
“I know what you’re doing,” Lloyd says. Javier can hear him playing with the whip between his hands, the way it caresses Lloyd’s skin like a kiss. “You’re trying to get me angry.”
“Then get angry,” Javier says, turning to send him a bored look. “We’ll be here all night if you keep fluttering around like this—”
The whip cracks against his back, making Javier’s entire body jolt forward. He swallows, blinking as he feels the lingering sting across his shoulder blade. It surely left a red mark. He hears Lloyd suck in a sharp hiss of air behind him.
“Harder,” Javier says.
“Harder?” Lloyd repeats with obvious disbelief. “Any harder and I’ll break my arm.”
Javier flushes. “I am a grandmaster swordsman,” he grumbles, keeping his eyes fixed straight ahead. “Your strikes feel like a leaf in the wind—”
Lloyd whips him again, making him groan low in his throat.
“What was that?” Lloyd asks. There it was, that smugness in his voice, the coating of faux-innocence used whenever he played with someone. “Still harder?”
He would actually breaking his arm if he pushed himself any further. Javier doesn’t want him to over-do it. It wasn’t Lloyd’s fault that his skin was built like steel--
Lloyd whips him harder. The whistle as it flies by is loud enough that Javier flinches, then groans as the sting settles into his skin.
“Oh god, was that too much—”
He’d used mana, Javier realises, shakily, his lips parting. The lash felt like Lloyd’s mana, unbridled and foreign in its electric current, dancing against his skin and leaving a scorching trail in its wake.
“Keep going,” Javier grits out, feeling the blood start to bead up and drip down his back in warm trickles.
Lloyd does, the whip lashing against his back, punishing, sharp as a blade. Javier clenches his bound fists and braces himself, willing his breaths to stay even with every impact. He’s bleeding in earnest now. He can’t tell how many lashes Lloyd gives him or where they land anymore, his entire back burning.
The pain left his senses blurred, and even better was the way he could hear Lloyd panting behind him, the sound rushing through Javier’s ears. The sharp inhale he would take before each strike, the one cue Javier had to brace himself, knowing Lloyd was readying his arm high. The soft gasps he would let out as each of Javier’s new cuts began to bleed, as if he was enchanted by how the red painted Javier’s pale skin.
“Where’s all that attitude now?” He hears Lloyd call to him, goading.
He was starting to get carried away. He’s barely leaving a pause between his strikes now, reeling back and letting loose in wide arcs of his whip. Javier’s sure if he dared to turn around, he would see that signature sadistic grin, the way the shadows made Lloyd’s teeth sharpen.
There you are, devil, Javier thinks.
He lets out another pained grunt that trails into a low moan, wincing, his groin burning hot as he endures each and every one of Lloyd’s strikes.
By the time Lloyd tires, he’s collapsed against the bed, panting. His whole back in on fire. Even his arms and legs have been caught in the cross-fire, stinging with every shudder of his body.
He hears the clean knocks of Lloyd’s boots against the floor, shivers as Lloyd’s hand grips at the base of his nape.
“What were you saying?” Lloyd hums. “About having a terrible master?”
Lloyd shifts his weight and rests a foot against Javier’s shoulder. Javier has to smother his pained cry. He can barely register how Lloyd trails the whip teasingly along his back.
“I think you’re ungrateful,” Lloyd murmurs, his voice dark and displeased. “I think you’re an ungrateful slave who needs to learn a lesson.”
He pulls his leg back and kicks right into Javier’s spine, and this time, Javier does cry out, his hands clenching together tightly in their binds.
“Forgive me,” Javier grinds out.
“Hm? Forgive me who?”
“Forgive me, master,” he says, shivering. His skin feels flayed. He’s probably getting blood on Lloyd’s shoe. He wonders if Lloyd will make him lick it off. He’s painfully hard in his pants, his groin twitching with every one of Lloyd’s sinful chuckles. “Master,” he groans, his hips jerking.
“Wow,” Lloyd remarks, digging his heel in. “You really like this.” Then he kicks Javier forward, his eyes aloof as he watches Javier keel over.
“Get on the bed,” he orders. He barely allows Javier time to stand himself, shoving him roughly into the sheets.
It’s an uncomfortable position. Javier shuffles. His back chafes against the sheets, the dried blood sticking his skin to the rough cotton. His hands are still bound behind him, digging into the base of his spine no matter how much he adjusts.
He watches Lloyd strip, the way his muscles stretch taut as he lifts his shirt over his head and how his fingers work quickly at the fly of his pants. Lloyd is watching him too, his gaze almost predatory as he scans over Javier’s body, his desire clearly visible between his legs.
It makes him shudder as Lloyd crawls on top of him. Lloyd’s hands grab his heat through his pants, making him choke. He palms against Javier’s cock firmly, then undoes his trouser, reaching in and teasing along his want.
“Will you be good for me?” Lloyd asks, stroking him.
Javier nods, unable to look away from Lloyd’s eyes, the way his lips part, his tongue darting out like a snake tasting the air.
Lloyd straddles his hips. It forced his weight onto his hands even more, pressing deeper at the painful angle.
“Oh fuck,” Lloyd sighs, sliding down onto him. Javier chokes, his vision whiting out as he’s buried in Lloyd’s heat. He was still loose and slick from their foreplay earlier. Javier’s mind stutters, recalling the way Lloyd had sat in his lap and writhed on his fingers while he practiced tying knots.
“Hey,” Lloyd snaps his fingers in front of Javier’s face, making him jolt, focusing back on Lloyd’s sharp features. His pupils are dilated.
“You’re going to fuck me until I come,” Lloyd says. He grabs Javier by the throat and squeezes firmly. “Got it?”
“Yes, master,” he whispers, voice caught in his throat. He can feel his eyes watering as Lloyd clenches around him. He already knows he won’t last that long. Not with Lloyd looking down at him with that scornful glint in his eyes.
He starts to rock his hips, thrusting into Lloyd’s heat as he lets out shaky breaths. It really wasn’t a good angle for him. Every thrust made his shoulders dig into the bed painfully, his abs clenching as he struggles to balance himself, too tilted with his hands bound behind his back.
Lloyd’s hand tightens around his throat, punishing. “Are you even trying?” He asks, glaring down at him. “I said to fuck me, you worthless toy--”
Then he slams himself down on Javier’s cock, causing him to cry out. Lloyd looms over him, his hand still dancing around Javier’s collarbone as he rides him, rough and fast.
“We’ll be here all night if you keep fluttering around like this—” He teases. Then he tosses his head back, letting out a breathless, satisfied laugh, his body still rolling against Javier’s.
It was everything out of Javier’s wet dreams.
Lloyd on top of him, degrading him, laughing at him. Using Javier like an object for his pleasure, riding Javier and seeking his own pleasure, without a care to how every thrust made Javier’s back scream with pain. Lloyd was being selfish, using him—
Just when Javier’s about to tip over the edge, his hips stuttering, Lloyd’s heat clenching around him and driving him mad, Lloyd abruptly sits up.
Javier lets out a wrecked sound, feeling his cock slip out, his groin cooling in the room’s air.
“You think I’m an idiot?” Lloyd asks, looking down at him with those dark, addictive eyes. “I told you to fuck me until I’m satisfied.”
“I’m sorry—”
“I don’t fucking care.” Lloyd slaps him, causing his head to snap to the side as he moans. Lloyd watches him recover from the impact and lets out a derisive scoff, one that makes Javier’s hips twitch.
“We’re not here for you,” Lloyd says. He reaches down and begins to touch himself, grinding back and forth against Javier’s stomach. “Remind me, pet, what are you here for?”
“For you, you,” Javier answers, his groin alight as he watches the early drips of Lloyd’s release smear against his skin. “You, master.”
“That’s right...” Lloyd grunts, his hips jerking. “This is all you’re good for, you fucking slut.” Then he reaches under himself and slides back down on Javier’s length.
Javier cries out, his back arching, his hands struggling underneath him as Lloyd resumes their previous rhythm, hard and punishing as he drops down heavy against Javier’s pelvis.
“I think I deserve an apology,” Lloyd muses, his eyes hooded, grinding down in a way that leaves him seeing stars.
He already apologised, Javier thinks, his abs clenching, toes digging into the mattress as Lloyd rode him. Lloyd was being unfair. Lloyd was being mean, and it made his thoughts blur together.
“Master…” He wets his lips. “Please forgive me—”
“No.” Lloyd slaps him again. The strike is so hard that Javier has to test his jaw, opening and closing it, half-convinced that Lloyd actually managed to dislocate it.
“Oh shit, Javier, should we stop—”
“Do not,” he grits out, shutting his eyes tight and feeling the tears finally slide down his cheeks. Lloyd actually managed to make him cry.
Lloyd laughs breathlessly, that mocking edge to it that makes Javier’s breath stutter. “You’re fucking insane,” he chuckles, rocking their hips together. “Now fuck me, slave.”
Javier digs his fists into the mattress, struggling to find as much leverage as he can to match Lloyd’s brutal pace.
The tears blur his vision and cause his eyes to sting, unable to focus clearly on the gorgeous tendons in Lloyd’s neck, how they shifted under his skin as he threw his head back, moaning loudly and rutting against Javier’s heat.
“Fuck--!” Lloyd’s mouth parts. His hands drag and catch wherever he can grip on Javier’s skin, quivering around Javier’s length and shuddering. He must be close.
Javier wills his muscles not to give out. He thrusts in that fast, rough way that he knows Lloyd loves at the peak of his climax, his back rubbing raw with his movements.
“I want to come inside you,” Javier chokes out. He almost doesn’t recognize his own voice, the desperate, begging way it comes out like a whine.
“Hahn--!” Lloyd’s whole body shakes. Javier watches him lose his composure, the way he trembles down to the core. “Yes, yes, ah, Javier--!” Lloyd cries, his hips stuttering.
He writhes and twists as he reaches his orgasm, rolling his hips flush against Javier’s length. His release shoots across Javier’s chest and hits his chin. Javier fucks him through it, back arching, letting out a low groan as he comes, Lloyd’s heat clenching around him and leaving him dizzy.
Lloyd collapses on top of him panting, legs shaking. “Wow,” he breathes out, shivering, laughing breathlessly as he presses his lips against Javier’s neck.
Javier wearily nods in agreement, his mind filling up like fog.
Distantly, he registers Lloyd talking to him softly. Lloyd pushes him over and unties his hands. When the tension releases, it stretches Javier’s muscles in an unpleasant way that makes him wince. His face eases when Lloyd gently lays his arms out in a more comfortable position, kissing at his wrists and wiping the tears from his face. He never once stops talking.
He’s saying the lullaby, Javier realises, his eyes fluttering as Lloyd’s soothing voice fills his ears. Lloyd peppers his skin with soft kisses between his words, re-arranging the sheets and tucking Javier neatly against the pillows.
He feels Lloyd settle back against him. He guides Javier’s body closer, carefully, mindful of the wounds on his back. He starts to massage Javier’s head, his fingers rubbing in firm circles along Javier’s scalp, scratching gently at the roots.
Javier shifts in and out of sleep, unsure how much time passes before he takes in a deep, slow breath, as if finally surfacing from underwater. He sighs with contentment as he’s smothered closer into Lloyd’s chest.
“Hey Javier?”
He hums.
“I… I really respect and appreciate you.”
Javier bites back his smile. “I know.”
He shuffles, resting his chin on Lloyd’s collarbone. He wraps his arms around Lloyd and squeezes tightly, feeling Lloyd kiss the top of his head.
“We should have a safe word for next time.”
Javier tilts his head to look up at him. “What is that?”
Lloyd flicks his forehead. “You, my love, have no right to act all innocent after the filthy things you made me do.”
“… More scratches,” he demands, closing his eyes again. Lloyd scoffs, hands returning to massage his scalp.
“It’s like a code word. If things go too far, or you don’t like something, you say it so I know when to stop.”
Javier blinks once, feeling his heart flutter. Falling in love was a strange new feeling. Sometimes, even more strange was the feeling of being loved and cared for in return. “Alright,” he agrees.
“And by the way, uh…” Lloyd shuffles.
Still on the edge of sleep, Javier blinks blearily at the nervousness in his tone.
“I think you were on to something, with that… whole marriage thing. It’s the most logical step.”
Javier’s head snaps up. He watches as Lloyd’s cheeks flush a beautiful shade of red, his eyes darting around, landing everywhere except Javier’s face.
“… Your parents will be thrilled,” he responds. “I fear they had accepted you would die alone.”
“Hah--!” Lloyd throws his weight onto him, rolling them over and smiling brightly down at him. “Well, look at me now! I bagged that hot grandmaster everyone drools over. Lucky me.”
“… Bleurgh,” Javier responds, covering his face. He can feel his smile widen until his cheeks hurt.
Lloyd chuckles, pulling his hand away. He leans in and cradles Javier’s jaw, watching him tenderly, as if he was something precious to behold.
“Marry me,” he says, smelling like dirt and dust and everything good in the world.
Javier loves it when Lloyd tells him what to do.
~