i put socks on my feet

[rottings]

[ hades himself isn't much one for social pleasantries, but he there's great importance to dinners like these, and watching their interactions really is fascinating. the meal is already winding down, but the poet who's been declaiming for the better part of an hour is still going strong.

hades is mostly ignoring him and picking at his food, humming occasional acknowledgement to when people talk to him, as head of the house. most of the slaves waiting on them are positioned around the perimeter of the room, while hades has left mitsunari largely to his own devices. ]

Comments

[rottings]

Ah... a part of it.

[ hades tilts his head to the side slowly, as if considering something again. the sword is still between them, obstructing part of their eye contact. after the pause, he reaches up to grip it with his bare hand, tightly enough for him to move it to the side. if his hand is cut, he doesn't even glance at it.

he leans in closer, keeping eye contact until their foreheads are almost touching. hades gives him another smile before pressing his mouth to mitsunari's. it might merely be physical contact, but there is no heat in hades' skin. he feels cold and too unyielding. ]

[outforblood]

[he watches hades' movements closely, frowning a bit when hades grips the blade like it means nothing. he doesn't move back, doesn't flinch away from the closeness.

he does start a little when hades' mouth meets his. partly out of surprise that it happened at all, partly because of the chill. mitsunari knows that isn't exactly normal - but what of hades has been, ever?

he isn't certain what's intended here. it doesn't quite feel like a kiss, so he doesn't return it. if hades pushes, he'll respond, but for the moment he intends to err on the side of uncertainty.]

[rottings]

[ at first, hades doesn't move at all. then there's a soft sound—a quiet laugh—and he's opening his mouth slowly to mitsunari's. despite taking the initiative first, he subsides almost immediately after, letting mitsunari do as he will.]

[outforblood]

[that is an answer, in its own way. mitsunari hesitates for a moment again, this time more out of something deeper than his natural wariness, before he returns the movement, pressing his mouth a little more against hades, parting his lips.

it's inexpert and more forceful than would probably be expected, though by no means harsh. his grip on his sword lessens just slightly, lowering it carefully even against hades' own grip.]

[rottings]

[ the body that hades moves about this world is not real, precisely, but it's corporeal enough, and it bleeds. mitsunari's movement of the blade pulls the sharp edge along his palm; red trickles from a small pool in hades' hand down his wrist and to his elbow. still, hades doesn't loosen his grip.

while mitsunari doesn't kiss particularly well, hades seems pleased enough. he smiles against mitsunari's mouth, humming a little and running the tip of his tongue over his bottom lip. he presses the palm of his free hand against mitsunari's stomach lightly, fingertips teasing as he moves his hand lower. ]

[outforblood]

[he doesn't realize he's cut hades until he smells the blood, and mitsunari almost draws back at that, eyes flicking over to where he can see it running along hades' skin. his lips move in the beginnings of an apology, but when hades doesn't let go, doesn't flinch back or seem bothered in the slightest - when he smiles instead against the kiss - mitsunari relents, but now keeps his arm rigidly still so as not to do that again.

he tries returning the kiss as best his inexperience knows how. his breath hitches a bit when hades' hand finds his stomach, but otherwise he doesn't step back, his free hand curling into a loose fist at his side.]

[rottings]

[ for what it's worth, hades isn't judging. saying that he "likes" something is impossible, because it wouldn't be the truth.

he seems pleased, anyway; hades moves his hand in a small circle before cupping mitsunari gently through the front of his clothes. he pushes harder, taking a small step forward to nudge him against a wall. ]

[outforblood]

[complying with the movement, mitsunari nonetheless breaks the kiss again to take a sharp breath at hades' touch. he stops paying attention to his own movement long enough that his back does hit the wall. hades' intentions are fairly clear, for once, and he doesn't intend to dissuade him.

... though the body lying mere feet away does put an edge on things. nonetheless, he makes no objection, only tightens the grip on his blade and tries to speak against the kiss.]

-- permit me to sheathe this, so I don't bring you further harm.

[rottings]

Hm. [ hades curls a hand briefly around mitsunari's hip before letting go of both his body and his blade and making a little space between them. ]

There is another blade—to be sheathed.

[ ah, bad dick jokes, an old form of humor, and hades is about a billion years old. ]

[outforblood]

[and as can be expected, it goes right over mitsunari's head as he carefully resheathes his sword and sets it against the wall just within reach.

maybe he'll get it later.

for a moment his gaze rests on hades' bleeding hand, at the blood dripping to the floor, the shadows pooled beyond that. then he looks back up at hades again, still except for his breathing, which is just shy of steady.]

[rottings]

[ when mitsunari looks at hades' hand, hades turns his head slowly to look at it too. the injury itself doesn't look real up close; there's no fat or flesh revealed under the skin by the cut. it's a surface wound that only exposes more skin and blood. ]

Hmph. [ he turns his hand over and closes the distance between them. ] Well?

[ he's not smiling now. the shadows around them on the floor will feel heavy and solid to mitsunari like there are weights on his feet and on his shoulders. ]

[outforblood]

[the weight doesn't deter him, doesn't make him hesitate. he watches hades, aware that something is expected of him here. the wound is evidently of no importance, and so he puts it out of his mind, and when hades closes the distance between them mitsunari leans in again to resume the kiss.

his hands move, one finding a hip, the other against hades' chest, the touch light as if uncertain they're allowed there.]

[rottings]

[ hades stays utterly still as mitsunari makes a move, not shutting his eyes, just watching as mitsunari leans in and kisses him. he still doesn't move when mitsunari places tentative hands on his body, but his mouth curves into a slight smile.

he moves in response, finally, placing his cut hand on the wrist of the hand mitsunari has on his hip, curling his fingers around it and holding it in place. ]

[outforblood]

[he relaxes when hades moves and the hand curls around his wrist, though there's still a fair amount of tension in mitsunari as he fights the weight on his shoulders and the building heat in his own blood.

his grip gets firmer. he doesn't move away from the wall at all, doesn't push, but he leans in closer, his actions a little more urgent. so long as hades permits, he continues - the hand on hades' chest curling in the robe, reaching for the neckline to pull along the edge and find where it parts (if it does). he doesn't deepen the kiss, but as his desires burn hotter, it does lose any tentative nature.]

[rottings]

[ like the rest of hades' possessions, his clothes are made of valuable fabrics, heavy with embroidery and dye (god of all things under the earth, of course, includes the precious things as well as the dead). they open in the front, tied in place by a few cords.

hades hums softly against his mouth and presses forward. with the wall at his back, mitsunari has nowhere to back away to. hades slides a leg between his thighs gently. ]

[outforblood]

[mitsunari's shoulders tense a bit when hades moves, but his hand doesn't hesitate as it shifts to find the ties and undo them. one at a time, a little awkwardly, but above all carefully, to ensure he doesn't do any kind of damage.

he can't back away any further but his own actions distract him from the kiss a bit, loosen the grip on hades' hip. once enough is pulled away to bare skin he breaks it completely to lean his head down and kisses the skin on a bared shoulder, though there's more teeth and tongue to it than the first.]

[rottings]

[ hades' clothing falls open when the ties are undone, revealing skin that is both pale and cool to the touch. the texture, at least, isn't similar to that of a corpse.

his gaze follows mitsunari. it's an inelegant kiss, to be sure, but it's a gesture he... recognizes, if not appreciates. ]

So. [ he shrugs a shoulder, just enough to make the robe slide off and pool around his elbows. ] Is it what you wanted?

[outforblood]

[the question catches him off-guard. mitsunari glances up, expression confused. there's a lot hades could mean by that. his hands, however, don't move away; one stays right where it is on hades' hip, the other carefully following the line of the robe down to hades' elbow so it stays.]

Is ... this? [a pause. or does he mean - ] Or the work you have set me to?

[rottings]

Hmph. [ hades doesn't move to shake off mitsunari's touch. in fact, he presses his hand harder to his hip, encouraging him to grip more tightly. ] It isn't neither.

[outforblood]

[the answer is about as vague as could be expected, but that doesn't seem to throw mitsunari off any more than the question did. his mouth tightens for a moment; then he lowers his head again and speaks lowly before returning his attention to hades' neck and shoulder.]

Then yes. To ... both.

[his grip tightens when hades' does, fingers curling into his hip, thumb sliding lower. his other hand pushes aside the robes further, until all the ties have fallen free, and lets that hand run tentatively down the bared skin.]

[rottings]

[ his robes open at the front, the last tie at his waist exposes another layer of light fabric wound around his hips. hades looks at mitsunari without blinking, his breathing soft and even. (a little too even, actually, as if he's counting.)

finally he makes a move to help mitsunari along. he undoes the tie of the lower part of his tunic, letting it fall from his narrow hips to the ground. fortunately, there's not much blood there. the shadows, though, start climbing up, formless and weightless on mitsunari's legs. ]

[outforblood]

[mitsunari hesitates at the shadows again when he sees them out of the corner of his eye. they aren't right, but he doesn't ask what they are. hades is unconcerned, so he should be, too.

so again he tries to ignore them, and lets his hand move further down to carefully grip hades, his touch warmer than might be expected. he listens for any hitch of breath, any indication he can remember that draws pleasure from hades. his other hand finally moves away from the shifted robe to rest on hades' shoulder.

he grazes his teeth along the skin, moves to another spot, his uncertainty allayed by the fact that he has not been told to stop.]

[rottings]

[ hades' breathing stays perfectly even, his eyes still fixed on mitsunari. he doesn't look any more pleased than he usually does. ]

Yes. [ he is trying encouragement for once. ] Go on.

[ hades finally moves a hand to touch the side of mitsunari's face, running a thumb over his bottom lip. ] This is... yours. And mine.

[outforblood]

[verbal encouragement is as good as any physical indication to mitsunari; there's a moment where his breath catches before he continues, his hand gripping more firmly and starting to work hades with care.

he only breaks away from hades' shoulder when the hand grazes his face. hades will probably feel a faint shiver in him, but he doesn't respond - out loud, anyway. his expression is accepting, completely. he doesn't disbelieve hades for an instant.

the hand on hades' shoulder tightens just slightly, not hard enough to hurt (would he even notice, mitsunari wonders?) but on its way there. he almost asks for what to do next but cuts it off, instead choosing to press his lips to the heel of hades' hand, as close as it is.]

[rottings]

[ it's a nice motion, an old gesture of devotion. hades allows it. ]

Well?

[ he leans forward and kisses mitsunari first, keeping the pressure light. he's getting harder, despite the lack of heat from his skin, and he starts pushing into mitsunari's hand with slow rolls of his hips. ]