Kouji stared into his goblet.
The ruby red color of the wine reflected through the glass off onto the hand holding it. If he swirled the goblet a bit, he discovered, it would make the prettiest light patterns across his plate.
Koujikama Shuyoutoshi was pleasantly tipsy.
Tipsy may not have been strong enough a word; he was not drunk enough to fall over his feet or pass out, but his words were obviously slurred and his normally dexterous fingers were not nearly as dexterous as usual.
Apart from being dead drunk, Kouji was also bored out of his mind. Actually, Kouji preferred this option, because in his drunken state, he really couldn't concentrate on the thing that had been plaguing his mind… Naerune.
After the introductions of the Envoys, Kouji had completely tuned out and ignored the introductions of the rest of political nonentities. He was in a combined state of boredom, shock, and drunkenness, and he wasn't very happy. Then there were the toasts. And the speeches. Which were still going on.
Kouji took another long swig of his wine, then another, propping his head on his hand and slumping ungracefully over the table. He hazarded a glance at the man making a speech now -- it was just some crusty old advisor to his father, who he distinctly remembered marching him out of an important meeting, painfully, by the ear, when he and Kanishka had snuck in when they were small.
Kouji sighed in relief as the man stepped down, but groaned to himself as another stepped up.
Oy. Great. Another speech. Which means another glass of wine…
Yet
another gray-bearded and hunched advisor to his father stood at the dais,
saying nearly exactly the same thing the last one had. When Kirati
wasn't looking, Kouji switched wine glasses with her, trading his
now-empty
goblet for his sister's full one. Kouji sipped at the wine, and fairly
soon the voices around him dimmed into a light buzzing.
The redhead hummed pleasantly to himself, downing the rest of the wine in one gulp.
Oh, *finally*. The old and nearly-senile man finished his speech and stepped down.
Maybe that would be all. Maybe they would be allowed to *leave*. He wanted to go up to his bed, and fall asleep, and never wake up again… never see any more extremely hot, sexy, alluring amber-eyed Wanderers that groped him in the marketplace and turned out to be Fae princes…
Kouji surreptitiously switched glasses with Kenji, who was absorbed in a conversation with somebody that Kouji knew, or at least he thought he did… hard to be sure, really…
Mmmm. Wine.
This was good wine, too, not like the bitter stuff you buy downtown. No, this was expensive *banquet* wine, with a smooth texture and light fruity taste. Kouji drank the rest of Kanishka's in three rapid swallows.
Then he heard a voice that made his stomach drop from beneath him. No… way… well, he *was* drunk, wasn't he? Of course he was. Yes, drunk. Drunk, drunk, drunk... Wait, there was someone else talking, and they sounded really familiar, where had he heard that voice before? It was sultry. And deep. And sexy as all Hell.
Kouji tried to focus his drink-impaired eyes on the dais, and took in the figure of the man who had haunted his dreams last night, and his daydreams today. He looked the white-haired man up and down, mouth falling open in a woozy grin.
Ooooh... pretty... that shirt… and those tight pants… mmmmm…
Kouji couldn't concentrate on what the man was saying – all he could do was stare, heavy-lidded, the tones of that perfect voice washing over him like silk. Then the man locked eyes with him, and his voice suddenly deepened. This, by design, sent shivers through the gray-eyed boy, and he leaned his head on both his hands, staring drunkenly and openly.
He just couldn't get enough.
~*~
Several hours passed and the crowd in the banquet hall was still not much thinner. Kenji and Kanaka had carried the twins, nodding, off to bed, but had returned and were having quite the time flirting with anything that moved and was of the right gender. Khavidra, though, had left early from the banquet, struck suddenly by a violent reaction to the shellfish served for the second course.
His parents and most of the Delegates were still sitting just down the table from him, discussing things that Kouji really didn't want to think about, especially not in this state… though, he noticed, not all the Envoys were there. In fact, Princess Asia, Baron Ely'mar, and Crown-Prince Naerune were all rather conspicuously missing.
Huh, wonder where they are… Kouji thought vaguely, giggling delightedly as he discovered an unopened bottle of wine that the stewards had left on the table. After spending a few moments trying to pry the cork out of the bottle, he found himself slowly nodding off…
Koujikama was running across the beach, feet comfortably warm in the churning surf. He ran and ran, but was stopped short by something curling around his leg. He looked down, and it was a bit of seaweed, wrapping round and round and rubbing behind his knee, and it was warm...so warm, and it didn't really seem to bother Kouji that it was dragging him under the water, no, not at all! Wait, this was a dream...if it was a dream, then Kouji could breathe underwater if he wanted, right? The tropical waters closed over his head, and he fought to take a breath.
Oops. Couldn't breathe.
Kouji awoke with a start, realizing the slow caressing of his leg was still going on.
Mmm.
He turned to his right, focusing his eyes, and found himself staring into gorgeous amber ones. "Let me help you with that," came the smooth voice of Naerune Vanda, a cat-like grin playing at the corners of his lips as he gently plucked the wine bottle from Kouji's cradled arms. A quick, deft motion of his hand sent the cork clattering to the table, and he poured a glassful of the wine for Kouji, and another for himself.
The white-haired man had sat down in Kanishka's abandoned seat, and was taking advantage of the lack of interest of everybody in the room (they were all either drunk, preoccupied, or drunk and preoccupied) to shamelessly take advantage of Kouji. He swept a wayward strand of white hair out of his face, tucking it behind the braid at his left temple, looking hungrily at the redhead. Naerune continued the slow ministrations to the gray-eyed boy's leg, angling himself slightly to the left (Kouji's chair had already been pushed to the right in his drunkenness), sliding his foot up until it rested on Kouji's inner thigh.
The young prince threw his head back, whimpering gently and twisting his hands together. The wayward foot moved still forward, so close, so close...then it moved away.
Kouji whimpered in frustration as the foot was removed completely. Naerune now had his chin cupped prettily in his hands, a devious smile flirting around his lips as he leaned towards the redhead. Any onlookers that weren't close enough to see the look in their eyes would suspect that the two princes were merely having a respectable conversation. Thankfully, nobody was close enough, as most of the people in the banquet had now moved out onto the dance floor, and the lights were dimmed. There was nobody at the High Table save the Envoys and the Royals, as well as Kenji and a pretty girl who effectively screened Naerune and Kouji from the sight of the Royals.
"You...you...you're going to be the...the death of me, you...know," Kouji whispered, struggling for a grip on Sober, but failing. However, he managed to get his thoughts to form around one idea. "This is… wrong…" his big silver eyes were almost all pupil, but strangely serious. "It's not… allowed…"
"What isn't?" Naerune whispered back, leaning a little closer and brushing his fingers against Kouji's leg, causing the redhead to gasp.
"This," he forced out. "A guy and a guy… you know," Kouji leaned forward conspiratorially. "It's punishable by death. And we're… princes. We can't… you know, too important…"
Naerune chuckled quietly, although his eyes showed Kouji that he knew what he was talking about. "You don't know how important you are, Kitten," he smiled, but it was with a ghost of sadness. "I know how dangerous this is… but it's important." Suddenly he smiled again, this time in a way that made Kouji blush. "And as long as we're careful… we won't get caught," he winked, but Kouji hesitated, hanging onto his last thread of rational thought. "Don't try and tell me you're not attracted," Naerune whispered throatily.
"N…aaaah," Kouji whimpered as Naerune fleetingly rubbed his finger up and down his chest, eyes lidded. Kouji was so... delicious, with his guard down, with all that soft auburn hair falling in his eyes and around his heart-shaped face. Those same eyes were unfocused from the influence of the alcohol he had consumed, and were quite dialated in the low light, showing only a thin rim of silver around his velvety black pupils. His cheeks were flushed, and so were his lips – they were softly red and pouty and kissable.
"Talk to me… c-come on," Kouji whispered. "I love the sound of your... your voice... it makes me feel all shivery and… warm," Kouji added as a sort of afterthought, blinking slowly with his big eyes fixed on Naerune's. Then, quieter, "I don't know why I'm doin' this, but… just… talk to me…"
"Ah, Koujikama Shuyoutoshi," Naerune said hotly, reaching out to brush the hair from Kouji's eyes, making it look like a careless gesture between friends, but his eyes and his tone spoke volumes. The redhead pushed into the touch, and soon it became a burning caress down the side of his face. Kouji made a whimpering sound deep in his throat, and Naerune felt all the blood in his body rush southwards.
"Just… just call me Kouji," the younger prince whispered. "Go… go on,"
"Do you know what I would like to do to you?" It was asked as if Naerune had just innocently questioned the weather or the date, but the quiet purr behind the words made Kouji whimper softly. He paused in his catlike rubbing against Naerune's hand to fix him in a stare filled with pure, unadulterated lust.
"What?" he whispered hotly.
"Ooooh, Kitten, so eager." Then Naerune grinned devilishly. "It's a secret."
Kouji groaned, still pressing into Naerune's hand. "Why...why won't...why won't you tell me?" Then he grabbed a hold of the hand caressing him with his own, and brought it to his lips. "I would tell you what I want to do to *you*." The redhead slipped out his tongue, rubbing it along the tip of Naerune's finger, then traveling down to swirl around the knuckle.
The white-haired man gasped, eyes growing dark with desire. "Why won't you?"
"You won't, so... so why should I?" said the prince, running burning lips along Naerune's palm. All previous caution had been abandoned in a haze of lust and alcohol, and it seemed up to Naerune to be the watchful one.
Eyes flickering quickly around the dim room, Naerune noticed no eyes in their direction. However, this couldn't go on, not here, not now, as much as he enjoyed it… "Listen…" he breathed heavily, reluctantly pulling his hand away from the redhead. "We can't do this. At least, not here…" He glanced around the room again, before turning back to the gorgeous redhead. "Follow at a distance," he winked. "Left chamber out of the main hall, up the stairs, to the little alcove there…"
Naerune pushed his chair back from the table and disappeared from the room as swift as a ghost. After another glass of wine, Kouji followed after a few minutes, his body not allowing him to wait any longer. He made his way out of the banquet hall, weaving hardly at all, and found his way up to the small, flowered alcove that looked out into the gardens.
"What took you so long?" Naerune whispered. Kouji could barely stand it. The man who had plagued his thoughts for the past twenty-four hours was right in front of him, staring at him with amber eyes half-lidded with arousal. They were alone – gloriously alone. The redhead suddenly leaped forward, grabbing a hold of Naerune's shirt and kissing him heatedly and sloppily on the lips. Both moaned as their tongues slid wetly together, and Naerune suddenly pulled Kouji in to straddle his lap, hands framing the boy's slim hips.
The redhead made that same whimpering, purring noise in the back of his throat that drove Naerune absolutely mad, and the white-haired man let his hands caress down, curling around the backs of Kouji's thighs. "Mmmm... ohhh...Kitten..."
Suddenly a noise down the hallway made them break apart hurriedly, Kouji sliding off of Naerune's lap with a start. "Quick, go!" Kouji whispered, a slightly panicked look in his eyes even though the drunken, aroused haze clouded around him. His hand, however, clutched Naerune's in a gesture of reluctance.
"I'll see you later, Kitten," Naerune whispered, kissing the boy gently and chastely on the lips, prying his hand gently away. "For now, why don't we keep things to the level of…" his voice lowered. "Just friends?"
Kouji gave a wry little smile and kissed Naerune again. "I don't think we could ever be 'just friends,' Prince Consort Naerune Vanda of the Fae," he whispered heatedly.
"I think you're right…" Naerune winked, then took himself away like a ghost into the twilight before his will power failed on him.
Kouji slowly found his way up to his room.
Just before he collapsed into bed, he brought a hand to his lips, smiled, and went to bed greatly looking forward to tomorrow. Alcohol does wonders to dim everything except the pleasure.
~*~
End
Chapter Seven