A/N: This chapter may be read first or towards the end, depending on your preference.

-

He looked into the room, careful not to open the door more than a gap, and looked back over his shoulder. “Is he ready?” Lancol checked the board again to appease him and glanced at his watch.

“He should be. Ready or not, you know...”

Brogan nodded but looked back in. Lancol held in a sigh.

“He’ll be happy to see you one way or another. Don’t take him so seriously.”

The man almost shut the door on that remark but squared his shoulders and pushed it further open. He stared into the room. “I’ve got two hours with him. That means no knocking.”

“If you need anything, just give us a call at the front desk.”

He locked the door behind him, muting the click with his palm, and looked around the room. All he’d seen from the hallway was the sofa and the contours of the bed beyond it. He took off his coat and put it over the back of the nearest chair. Already a small frown started across his face. It wasn’t nice coming into a room that felt empty. Where was the warm welcome?

“Vedrun?” he called softly. In time there came a noise, faint clattering like a marble in a wooden cup. It was the bell on Vedrun’s waist. He emerged from a dark pocket of the room, looking at Brogan cautiously before recognition set in. His face brightened and he scrambled over to greet him.

“Brogan!” he squealed. Brogan’s hands skimmed over the bare curves of Vedrun’s back and ribs as the boy threw himself forward. He caught him up close and bowed his head to breathe in the perfume in Vedrun’s hair. It was sweet and heady, a warm citrus pulp.

“Are you all right?” Brogan asked. He pulled Vedrun up by his arms and met the boy’s wide, joyful eyes with his own. “You missed me, didn’t you?”

“Oh, yes,” Vedrun said. His body trembled with ill-contained excitement. “Brogan, I missed you! Is it going to be tonight? Are we going to-”

“Not so loud,” Brogan hushed him. “Someone might be outside. Let’s sit down. I want to look at you.”

They bypassed the sofa to go where Vedrun had been lying moments prior. Next to the bed on the floor was a pile of pillows. There were places to sit and recline all over the room. Vedrun climbed over the pillows and sat down cross-legged. Brogan descended after him and adjusted the pillows around himself until he was comfortable. He looked at Vedrun. The boy braced his hands on his knees, returning Brogan’s gaze eagerly.

His hair had been washed and combed, and his eyebrows shaped. His upper torso was naked until the waist. Vedrun had on one piece of clothing, a simple cloth tied shut with a chord and, of course, the wooden bell. He had no sandals or shoes. All fingernails and toenails were cut, filed, and polished. Brogan could see clearly that he was eating well and taken care off. He smiled and gestured for Vedrun to come closer. The boy’s face lit up once more for passing his inspection and obediently crawled over the pillows to approach Brogan again.

Vedrun showed no shyness in putting his arms around Brogan and resting his head on the man’s chest. He could just complete the embrace if he reached hard enough. Brogan stroked his hair and slipped the glossy strands through his fingers repeatedly, then kneaded at his nape and around the backs of his ears.

“You had your hair cut,” he commented. The last time he’d seen him, Vedrun’s hair was brushing past his shoulders. It scarcely met his chin now. He continued playing with it as Vedrun pressed his nose against him, nuzzling briefly in his pleasure.

“I didn’t want to,” Vedrun mumbled. “They did it for me.”

“I like it when it’s longer,” Brogan said.

“I know. That’s why I wasn’t happy, before.”

“Yes, it’s all right. It’s going to grow back anyway.”

“Yes,” Vedrun said. He unclasped his hands to relax his hug around Brogan. “Then they’re going to cut it again...”

His fingers inch-wormed down across a shoulderblade. “They won’t have a chance to if we escape.”

Vedrun stirred, raising his head and smiling at him, the excitement renewed.

“Are we going tonight? Brogan, I can’t wait-”

“Not tonight,” Brogan said. Some of the glee in Vedrun’s eyes dimmed and he continued smoothly to preserve it. “I’m making progress, but it’s still going to be a while. We’re going to escape together, one day. I’m going to take you home with me, you’ll see.”

“I wish it was now,” Vedrun said. His expression was pleading as he tried to smile again. Pulling his arms from around Brogan now he braced against the man’s legs and Brogan let him. “What is your home like? Tell me everything.”

“I’ve told you before,” Brogan said.

“Please,” Vedrun started to whine. He pushed at Brogan’s lap ineffectually, drawing his own legs beneath himself in a kneel. Just talking about escaping made him restless. “Where will I sleep? I want to know.”

Brogan took him by the arms, not pulling him off yet. He gently squeezed at the tensed muscles holding Vedrun upright. They didn’t exercise him too much, but his limbs had some substance to them. He spoke in a low voice, calm with practice.

“You’ll sleep with me, in my room. I have a bed big enough that you can lie any whichway you want to.”

“Does it have a canopy?” Vedrun asked.

“Yes, with a curtain that goes all the way around. The sun won’t wake you up in the morning because it can’t get in through the curtain. We’ll be served breakfast in bed by my servants.”

“What else is there?” Vedrun pressed, his eyes focused intently on Brogan’s face.

“There’s the dining hall, and the sitting room, where you can try the piano if you like. And the study,” he said, drawing it out slightly longer than the others, “where all my books are. Novels and plays, encyclopedias. There’s the aviary also, where all my birds are.”

Vedrun was so entranced, Brogan could almost see the flipping of pages across the boy’s wide eyes, the fluttering wings. He glanced down from Vedrun’s face and rubbed up and down the boy’s arms, feeling how the skin warmed readily to his touch. Light goosebumps prickled up his arms until a small shiver worked out of his shoulders. Brogan could see the effect of it all over his body. His eyes rested on the boy’s chest where his nipples, in their rosy rings, had started to stand out, but Vedrun didn’t seem to notice.

“You can read a book in the aviary,” Brogan said. “Listen to the birds sing, let them land on your finger.”

“It all sounds wonderful,” Vedrun murmured.

“Every night,” Brogan said, “we’ll trace the constellations outside from the gazebo. And when we’re done, I’ll take you out to the brook. There are fireflies every season. There, we’ll make love.”

“Oh,” Vedrun said, “do you mean it?”

“Of course,” Brogan said. His rubbing hands found their way up to Vedrun’s shoulders and squeezed. He leaned in, bowing his head. “I’m not going to take you until we escape. We already decided that.”

Vedrun tilted his head back and closed his eyes, accepting the soft kiss Brogan pressed to his forehead. They wouldn’t kiss for real until he escaped, either. When the pressure left his brow he pressed forward against Brogan’s hands to rest against him.

“I wish we could now,” he said. Brogan hummed and rubbed his back with soothing circles, his fingers sliding gradually lower down his spine.

“I know. Just be patient. These things take time.”

“It’s been so long already,” Vedrun said.

“It only seems that way. You aren’t giving up, are you?”

“No, it’s just-”

“Do you love me?”

“Yes,” Vedrun said immediately. He grasped at the sides of Brogan’s shirt and looked up at him. “Of course I do, Brogan, forever.”

“You can say it easily enough,” Brogan said. “Every day I’m not here, though, you’re making love with someone else.”

“But I don’t want to,” Vedrun said. Brogan’s hands had stopped moving and were resting on the small of his back, just above the waistband of the cloth. When Vedrun leaned back from him it brushed the wooden bell against Brogan’s fingers. The man cupped his waist and fondled the little bell so that it wouldn’t make any noise.

“You love me more than any of those people, don’t you?”

“You’re the only one I love,” Vedrun said.

“I don’t want to hear it,” Brogan said gently, “I need you to show it.”

Vedrun stared up at him for a few seconds before he could understand. When it set in he lowered his eyes. Brogan let the boy back out of his hands and maneuver amongst the pillows. As Vedrun lowered himself Brogan started untying the front of his pants. He touched Vedrun’s hair and combed through it. Vedrun kept still a moment to let Brogan pet him before he went down.

-

He left the room more relaxed than when he entered, Lancol noted. Brogan fixed his jacket and patted it down to see if anything was missing. Lancol flipped over a few pages on the board, checked his watch, and offered Brogan a pen.

“Right on time,” he said. Brogan grunted something and took the pen. He scribbled his name down. “Should we be expecting you next month?”

The man stalled in answering. He stretched out his arms and sighed deeply before making up his mind. Even then he didn’t meet Lancol’s eyes. “No. I don’t think I’ll be coming back anymore.”

“Did something happen?” Lancol asked. “Is he not performing adequately?”

“It’s not that,” Brogan said, waving a hand. He looked down the hall. “Any longer and he’s probably going to catch on. I think it’s time for me to go elsewhere.”

“We have many other clients,” Lancol said. “Perhaps you’d be interested in seeing a different one?”

“Maybe,” Brogan said. He turned away from Lancol. “I’ll have to think about it.”

“Very well. You can pay on your way out. If you decide in our favor, you have our number.” Brogan grunted again. Lancol let him walk away a couple yards as he fixed the board, then looked after him. “Oh, but in any case, about Vedrun?”

Brogan paused but didn’t turn around.

“What would you like us to do about the roleplay? He’ll be expecting you.” Brogan thought about it and eventually shrugged.

“Just tell him I was caught or something. He won’t be seeing me anymore.”

“Very good. Thank you for your patronage.”

Brogan nodded, but now he was hesitant to leave. “He got awfully attached to me. I hope this doesn’t effect any other guests.”

“Don’t worry,” Lancol said. “You won’t be held responsible in this case. Even if he gets a little melancholy, I’m sure he’ll get over it.”