Asher's Room

[nathaniel_kitten]

Nathaniel had returned at dawn to find Asher in bed, his hand extended to his empty side of the bed. He'd stood there, smiling. After indulging his desire to drink in every inch of Asher's body, Nathaniel headed into the bathroom, cleaning himself as thoroughly as possible. There's no way he can rid himself of Moon's and Jason's scents utterly, but he doesn't think he really needs to.

Clean, dry, and his hair braided, Nathaniel had crawled into bed with Asher, cuddling close to the cool flesh of his lover. Within minutes, he'd fallen asleep, snuggled under the blankets with his vampire, sated, content, and rather happy.

And it's how Asher will find him with the master vampire wakes for the night, Nathaniel still curled against his side, relaxed and sleeping peacefully.

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[ash-imperfect.livejournal.com]

Asher closes his eyes a moment, enjoying the slide of Nathaniel's fingers through his hair.

"At first, I wished merely to bed him," he admits. "He was..beautiful. So very different to all the others that Belle Morte had chosen." He pets Nathaniel once more, down the length of his spine.

"Despite all that we did, all our mistress asked...there was something different about Jean-Claude. He was as he is now." He kisses Nathaniel's shoulder. "Practical, but not cruel. Innocent, somehow, despite all he had seen." Asher closes his eyes, rests his head on Nathaniel's shoulder.

"And he loved me, cared for me in a way no one else ever had."

[nathaniel_kitten]

Nathaniel is quiet for a moment as he nuzzles into Asher's hair.

"He still loves you, cares for you," he murmurs. "Despite everything, you two..."

He chuckles softly, smiling against the fragrant hair.

"You both love each other like no one else can ever love either of you."

It's a sort of bittersweet knowledge, but Nathaniel will never begrudge Asher that happiness, that feeling.

"You say he is practical, not cruel, and somehow innocent. What of you? What were you, Asher?"

[ash-imperfect.livejournal.com]

Asher slides his arms more fully around Nathaniel, hugging him close.

"And I love you in a way I have never loved any other," he breathes, kissing Nathaniel's shoulder, squeezing him gently.

"I..." he sighs. "I was Belle's plaything. A bright shiny bauble to distract the eye. She taught me how to seduce, how to gain anything I wished from a lover, just with a glance. And I was the perfect student."

[nathaniel_kitten]

Nathaniel's arms snake around Asher's neck, and he shifts so his legs can wrap around his vampire. He has the urge to touch Asher, to soothe and love him as they talk.

"You didn't seduce me," he murmurs. He'd come to Asher of his own accord, stayed because he loved and was loved. "And... you don't take anything from me." Nathaniel chuckles, nosing Asher's ear. "Not that I have anything for you to take."

Byron has gossiped about Asher, as well as some of the older European vampires at Guilty Pleasures. Nathaniel knows Asher has seduced some of the most powerful and wealthy men and women at Belle's order, and for his own amusement. It still baffles him that Asher chose him when Nathaniel is certain Asher could have anyone.

"So Jean-Claude was the practical, more innocent one while you were the ruthless seducer?" he asks, scritching at the back of Asher's neck.

[ash-imperfect.livejournal.com]

Asher bows his head, humming softly as Nathaniel's nails scritch at his neck, a gentle shiver running down his spine.

"In short, yes." It had been more complicated than that, of course, but boiled down facts will do for now.

"And you give me more than you could ever know, cher." Nathaniel has given him trust, love, given him a reason to live. So many heartaches in his life, and Nathaniel is one of the few bright spots.

[nathaniel_kitten]

Nathaniel's hands cup Asher's face, force the blue eyes to meet his own.

"You don't ever look at me when we talk. Why?"

[ash-imperfect.livejournal.com]

"Because it's easier," Asher whispers, bright blue eyes fixed on lavender. "Because I don't have to see what you think of me."

[nathaniel_kitten]

Brow furrowed, Nathaniel's thumbs stroke lightly along Asher's jaw.

"What I think of you," he murmurs, just looking into eyes the color of a winter sky.

[ash-imperfect.livejournal.com]

Asher flinches, though he keeps his eyes on Nathaniel.

"What you think of the things I've done, the people I've hurt." He's under no illusions that Nathaniel has heard at least some of the stories.

[nathaniel_kitten]

"People do things they later regret."

Nathaniel smiles gently.

"It's the price of living. I've been told things, heard things, but they make me more curious about you than anything else, Asher. I try to never judge you and your actions because I hardly come from a past that's pure as driven snow. I have no right to think ill of you and what you've done when I feel I've done the same or worse in some ways."

[ash-imperfect.livejournal.com]

Asher shakes his head, though he's smiling softly.

"Never worse, mon chat. Never worse." He doesn't know all that Nathaniel did, but he knows it could never compare.

[nathaniel_kitten]

Nathaniel allows his hands to slide down to rest on either side of Asher's throat.

"You can't know that, Asher," he whispers. Nathaniel then laughs, but the sound isn't a pleasant one. "I won't argue with you about it. It's a pointless, ridiculous argument."

He sighs, leaning forward to rest his brow against Asher's shoulder.

"I wonder if the next two or three hundred years will be like this," he murmurs, though he doubts he'll even last through his first century of life. "Both of us always hiding, but me always wanting more than I can ask for, let alone take, or if we'll just get tired of it after a decade and go our separate ways."

[ash-imperfect.livejournal.com]

Asher shakes his head. "I will never grow tired of you," he whispers. "And ask me, cher. Ask me anything, and if it is in my power I will give it to you." He pets Nathaniel, slowly and softly.

[nathaniel_kitten]

Warm lips press to the side of Asher's throat.

"I want to know who I fell in love with."

Nathaniel sighs, breath moist and hot against his vampire's skin.

"Do you like movies? Music? Do you like plays or riding horses or dancing? I mean... do you like to do anything?"

[ash-imperfect.livejournal.com]

"It has been several years since I went to the movies," Asher murmurs, his accent making the word sound more than a little odd.

"I rode horses as a mortal," he continues, "but hardly since. Horses were not to be ridden for pleasure, they were merely a method of transport." He smiles softly, sliding his hand up Nathaniel's side, "and yes, I love to dance."

[nathaniel_kitten]

Nathaniel would laugh if the whole situation weren't so depressing. Each small step they make seems hard won, and Nathaniel realizes he doesn't know much more than what he'd started with.

"You would have flunked on the essay questions," Nathaniel says. "We're a mess. We should get dressed. I need to eat something."

[ash-imperfect.livejournal.com]

Asher can feel Nathaniel's sadness, can almost feel him giving up.

"Nathaniel, what is it?" He asks, softly. "What is it you want from me?" He kisses Nathaniel's shoulder, rests his temple against Nat's chest, his head tucked under Nathaniel's chin.

"Cher, talk to me, please."

[nathaniel_kitten]

His fingers stroke through Asher's hair. Nathaniel marvels at the texture, the color. Asher almost never called him 'Nathaniel'.

"I want what maybe can't be," he murmurs. "You're..." Nathaniel smiles fondly at the top of Asher's head. "You're so refined, Asher. You don't go to the movies, you don't go clubbing, you'd never laugh and let loose. Dinner dates make you feel stupid, sitting there watching me eat, and I can't imagine putting you on inline skates or going ice skating with me. Talking makes you uncomfortable, but sex..."

Nathaniel tilts Asher's head up again and leans down, dragging his teeth over the taut flesh of Asher's throat.

"Sex we do well together," he purrs against Asher's neck, teeth nipping.

Asher loves him, of that Nathaniel is sure, and if this is what it was for them, he can learn to take immense satisfaction in it.

[ash-imperfect.livejournal.com]

Asher shivers, but doesn't allow the biting to distract him.

"That we do, mon chat." He smiles, softly. "I am sorry I have not shown you off, taken you out. It's not that I don't want to," he strokes his hands down Nathaniel's spine, letting out a soft noise as Nathaniel nips his throat again.

"I find you too tempting," he jokes. "When I wake with you naked, curled around me, it's exceedingly difficult to think of going anywhere else..."

[nathaniel_kitten]

Nathaniel smiles against Asher's throat.

"Should I start wearing pajamas to bed?"

[ash-imperfect.livejournal.com]

Asher pretends to think about that.

"Hmmm, I think not. I like waking up to your skin, warm against mine." He kisses Nathaniel again, sweetly.

"Come, let us shower, and dress. And then - dinner?"

[nathaniel_kitten]

"Dinner sounds like an excellent idea," Nathaniel purrs, easily shifting from his earlier disappointment to excitement about spending more time with Asher. "However, I get to choose tonight -- from dinner to dessert -- you just have to deal with it."

He gives Asher another kiss, long and deep, before sliding off his vampire's lap.

"I've been craving a strawberry milkshake for days," he says with a laugh.

[ash-imperfect.livejournal.com]

Asher smiles, willing to indulge Nathaniel, give him anything to keep that smile on his face.

"Very well," he laughs softly at Nathaniel's enthusiasm. "As long as it is not vegetarian." Unlikely, considering Nathaniel's lycanthropy, but it's always best to check...

[nathaniel_kitten]

Nathaniel gives Asher a Look as he heads for the bathroom.

"I want a strawberry milkshake, rare lamb chops, and a baked potato." He grins before ducking into the bathroom. "As if I would eat vegetarian food!"

[ash-imperfect.livejournal.com]

"Stranger things have happened, mon coeur," asher murmurs, following his lover into the bathroom. Food, his leopard for company; Asher could not ask for anything more.