Echos of a fateful meeting

[Feleti Eidothea]

His expression drifted to a slightly confused smile. How could bastian think he wasn't special when he was.....so clearly different. Batian wasn't like anyone leti had ever met before. He was mysterious, and a hardened soldier and...handsome.
There was an air about bastian that set him apart.

"you don't mind?" He laughed "which part? Being disrobed? or being called special?"
It felt to Leti like there was something looming in the air, that he was dancing around admitting something. Though whether it was to bastian or himself he didn't know yet.
Slowly as he gained back his composure in their playful banter his hands returned to bastian's chest. In a way there was something he felt while healing bastian that he didn't usually feel. He felt connected to bastian, as he always did when he used his gift to heal, but with bastian the connection felt stronger. Maybe it was because he had literally held bastian's thinning life in his hands as he fought to keep bastian breathing. Or maybe it was something else entirely.

[Sebastian Arcturis]

Son of the king or not, Sebastian had had special treatment only so far as the kind to reinforce to him how not special he was. How that secret of his birth was important only to him. Bastian believed quite strongly that Allarick had only disclosed his parentage to him to ensure the loyalty of a son's bond to his father. Perhaps the man cared more than he let on, but the warden only counted on being a valued asset, not a loved one.

Maybe that lack of attachment was what made this moment so...hard to understand. Bastian didn't know what being close to someone was supposed to feel like. He didn't know what someone being close to him was supposed to feel like. But he wasn't so oblivious to not realize he had an...attachment to the young man. Leti had saved his life. But there was more.

"Both," he said, almost sounding surprised by his own answer on both accounts. But it was more than not minding. He knew he was handsome. But...no one had told him he was special. It was nice. He tried to think of a way to explain but he was quiet with the realization as Leti touched him again. The contact was relaxing for a lot of reasons, not just the healing.

Bastian let his eyes drift half closed, watching Leti. He owed the guy a lot and considered him a friend. His eyes closed again, partly enjoying the moment, partly tired and as he did, he lifted a hand to press it against Leti's hand on his chest.

[Feleti Eidothea]

Bastian's reply surprised Leti but not in the way that caused him to pull away as before. Instead he felt strangely endeared by that little admission. It felt comforting to leti knowing that his strangely strong affections weren't completely rejected.

The warmth of bastian's hand against his seemed poignant somehow. It was a small gesture but it seemed so intimate and so.....important. He knew that likely it was just part of bastian's reaction to the poppy, but it still made his heart skip a beat. He leaned in closer as if to have more skin to skin contact. His gaze drawn to bastian's half closed eyes. For a moment he simply shared a quiet moment. His face now much closer to bastian's as he let the feeling of being connected linger.

[Sebastian Arcturis]

Bastian wasn't sure what to do about those...affections? but he preferred to be as honest as possible with himself, especially since he couldn't with other people. As for whether Leti felt anything...well, the guy seemed to think he was funny, which most people didn't. And he did seem to care. But he was a healer. Odds were good he cared about a lot of people.

I don't have that habit with just anyone, Bastian, he had said. That didn't fit. He was almost too tired to make it fit either so maybe it was okay to just...be there. He was enjoying the bath and trying not to think about anything else and maybe it was the drugs but it was even easier than normal to simply...be. To enjoy the moment. He noticed Feleti move closer and he enjoyed that too.

He'd probably fall asleep shortly.

[Feleti Eidothea]

Maybe it was the strange dream he had last night but for some reason he couldn't draw his eyes away from bastian's face. He found himself with a confusing and overwhelming urge. He wanted to meet their lips as they had done in the dream. He knew that it wasn't ....normal...to want such a thing. Or at least he had never heard of such a thing. Even then romance had always seemed like something that happened to other people. It was the village boys playfully chasing the girls on mayday or princes and princesses in fairy tales.

Even then he wondered would bastian, hate him? He knew that bastian didn't dislike him, or well he sort of had to like him considering he was a healer. There was also the poppy, was it fair to think that the poor guy could even respond if he said these sorts of things.

As Bastian began to slowly slip into sleep, Leti moved forward and met their lips. He softly pressed their lips together in a gentle act of boldness. Perhaps a bit misplaced in the idea that once bastian came down from the drug he might not remember, or might think it was something else.

[Sebastian Arcturis]

If Bastian had never really thought about women in a serious romantic setting, he certainly hadn't thought about any level of anything with another man. That sort of thing was rather unheard of and to a degree, frowned upon where he was from.

The man hadn't quite drifted off entirely, his hand not quite falling away from the other man's. As Leti moved in to kiss him, he could feel the man's closeness somewhere between awake and a sleep, between a dream and realty. And then Leti's lips were on his and Bastian blinked back to more awake. His eyes flew open but he wasn't entirely capable of stiffening. His heart raced in alarm and then... He couldn't exactly get away, stuck in a tub, tired, drugged, he couldn't avoid it. And he didn't want to.

Bastian stared up at Leti for a long moment, however long the man wanted their kiss to last, and in that time, Bastian gave in. Very few people had ever kissed him before. In fact, no one had ever kissed him first before. His grip on the other man's hand shifted to his arm and he pulled him back, closer, deepening the kiss on impulse.

[Feleti Eidothea]

For a moment Leti let himself truly revel in the kiss, closing his eyes and melting into it. Then he felt bastian pull him in and he felt his heart begin a frantic beat. The deepening kiss felt like spiraling into bliss. He could still taste the remnants of the theriac on bastian.

All too quickly it was as if the reality of what he was doing hit him and he pulled back with a gasp. The expression on his face a mixture of confused fear and guilt. He seemed at a loss for words and struggled at an attempt to speak several times.
"Bastian....I...I-" He couldn't explain why he had done it. He only barely had begun to understand his feelings himself.
The words hung in open air. Leti knew that he had stepped over a line of some sort.

[Sebastian Arcturis]

Leti seemed to realize what was going on (physically anyway, hell if either of them understood their emotions of the moment) at the same time as Bastian. He felt...embarrassed and confused with himself for a moment, mirroring the look on Leti's face. His own heart slammed in his throat, a giddy feeling mixed with uncertainy and the need to make the world make sense.

And then, in that moment, regardless of anything else before and anything moving forward, Bastian acknowledged that he liked the man. Emotionally for sure. Sexually, at least. Considering the very physical reaction he had while kissing him. Romantically...well, he still didn't understand romance and likely wouldn't for a while.

It was Bastian's turn to shush Leti. He perfectly understood that most people were not like himself. That his processing was much simpler and faster and cleaner. It was organized. He didn't like confusion he liked knowing, liked riding that shifting wave of personal understanding. Leti had crossed a line and Bastian was desperate to include everything.

"Relax," he mumbled and managed a smile. Like nothing happened. Well...except clearly it had.

He couldn't bring himself to look away from the white haired man. He was handsome. Fit. Tall. Special. Attractive. Those feelings had to be okay. He just...wasn't sure what to do with them. With a woman, he did, this would be easy but... Not to meant he couldn't move much. He was awake now though.

[Feleti Eidothea]

Feleti was unsure how to take bastian's reaction at first but being shushed helped him calm down. Seeing Bastian not look at him with disgust, but a smile helped him not crumple.
Not only was there a smile but bastian was still looking at him in a way that made it impossible for Leti to break the gaze. Bastian's thick dark hair, his deep sharp eyes, and his chiseled features. Feleti realized that his patient was naked in a very different way to before.
This lead to some conflicted feelings, he had already crossed a line and opened a new territory. Now that he had done that it seemed impossible that he wouldn't step further into it. Still he too wasn't sure what those steps were.
For now he hesitantly reached out to place his hands on bastian's chest. This time Leti wasn't sure, was it to heal him? to make sure bastian would be okay with the touch so he could bandage him? or just because Leti wanted to feel the heat of bastian's skin under his palms once more.

[Sebastian Arcturis]

Drugs or not, he was lucid enough now to keep his thoughts to himself while he tried to figure out where this new door lead. He had already passed over the threshold. Going back wasn't an option. Bastian didn't have room for guilt or remorse or shame. He owned that he kissed Leti back. But that next step...he wasn't sure where it would land.

At least, not until Leti stepped up and took it for both of them, touching his chest again. Bastian blinked in surprise, suddenly realizing then that Leti had liked him this whole time. Why else would he need an excuse to touch him so much? "So...that's why you like touching me so much," Bastian observed, not joking or teasing. As far as Bastian had been raised, Leti was overly affectionate. But...just like his realization that no one had ever moved to kiss him first, Bastian decided he actually liked being close to the man.

He flashed another awkward smile at the new contact and relaxed into the man's touch like he had before. Admitting it out loud was still...not something he was prepared to do but certainly it was clear his body wasn't about to say no.

[Feleti Eidothea]

The healer seemed taken aback by that observation. He hadn't really noticed how much he had touched bastian really. For him it was something he had done on instinct. To him he had only been doing what was needed to care for the man....but then even he had to admit that he probably treated bastian differently. He hadn't been raised in an overly affectionate home but as a healer perhaps he was more open to touching a stranger.
Maybe it really was caused by this feeling of connection.

"no, I, It's ...." He stumbled with a shy expression but seeing bastian relax under his touch helped. He shook his head and returned the awkward smile "maybe...we should finish applying the bandages." He prompted bastian to climb out of the tub. Feleti would help him with doing so. There was an odd tension he felt in the air with the new context around touching his handsome friend. There was a pink tinge to his face as he helped bastian.

[Sebastian Arcturis]

Perhaps part of him had said it to purposefully fluster the other man. But he wasn't entirely sure why. Hearing Lwti stumble over his words and seeing that slightly pink tinge was at once cute an unattractive. Bastian found confidence attractive. Like Leti ordering they get fresh bandages.

Bastian sighed heavily, and while he managed the deep breath it still felt a little odd. The healing and the medicine for the pain was working. Bandages. And maybe clothes. He groaned faintly as Leti helped him up, more out of reluctance than pain.

He didn't struggle so much with the awkwardness as he was helped out of the tub. Maybe he should ha e all things considered. Likely some of that was still the poppy. Even then, Bastian didn't like letting things bother him or running away from something. Maybe that was why he was attempting to embrace the moment and face the uncertainty.

Leaning against his attractive counterpart, Bastian decided he wanted to do more than simply see where that moment would go. Before Leti could help him sit or do anything else, Bastian used his newfound ability to tolerate a few steps (and immediately learned than he had no such ability but he swallowed the flash of sharper pain) to press the other man against the wall in an attempt at a much more passionate kiss. One hand on the wall, one around Leti's waist. Well, provided the man let himself be overpowered considering Bastian wasn't as capable as he wanted to be in his current state. But he was very interested in making the tension go away.

[Feleti Eidothea]

Leti did in fact let himself be overpowered. Partly out of surprise, partly because he didn't want to hurt bastian by acting out of shock and partly because it had made his heart skip a beat. His arms wrapped around Bastian's waist as he melted into the kiss and then returned it with the rush of feelings he hadn't known he had.

He clung to bastian kissing him desperately, meeting his lips with ferocity.
All too soon he came to his senses as he broke away to catch his breath. Leti shook his head and reluctantly put on a stern face. "You!" He wasn't even sure which admonishment he wanted to say. That his heart was going to explode, that bastian was going to overdue things, or that he was going to fall over if he lunged about like that while under the theriac.

He took bastian by the shoulders and encouraged him to sit on the side of the tub. He began focusing on the bandages because at this rate they were never going to get the wounds covered. He quietly wrapped the new bandages but his eyes kept flicking up to bastian's face, the spell of being pushed down not quite broken. His fingers nimbly pressing and tying the the linen as he knelt just between bastian's knees.

Once the wounds were properly bandaged it was as though there was no excuse to slow what he himself had started. He realized just exactly where he was kneeling had placed him. His eyes turning back to gaze at bastian with a intense fire and mischeif. He lowered in his kneel and placed a suggestive kiss on the inside of bastian's thigh.

[Sebastian Arcturis]

He shared the ferocity of Leti's lips against his, letting the other man's desire overwhelm his awkwardness. It felt good. Leti's arms around him felt good too.

Bastian sucked in a desperate breath of air that he almost hadn't wanted, dark eyes meeting the healer's grey ones and watching the man attempt a stern expression. He almost succeeded except for the blush. Him? Leti had taken advantage and kissed him first, the soldier was returning the favor. Bastian would certainly prefer he be admonished for overdoing it than Leti's heart stop working. The longer he was standing and moving, the less stable he felt. As such he was quote willing to take Leti's direction and sit on the edge of the tub.

It was almost teasing, where Leti ended up kneeling. He tried not to equate the physical contact anything more than what it was but he was finding that exceedingly difficult. Part of that being having Leti examine and care for him was easily one of the nicer things anyone had ever done for him. His gaze never left Leti's face while the other man worked, studying his sharp cheeks and soft nose and the thoughtful focus that kept slipping away from him.

He gripped the side of the tub tightly, adrenaline wearing off again along with his balance and coordination. The focus returned after the bandages did and Bastian smiled back only a little uncertainly. The kiss still surprised him and he gasped but pulled the smile back. He was entirely aware of the implication. Bastian was also alarmed how much he wanted it.

[Fade Out]

[Feleti Eidothea]

[fade back in after a an exhausting romp for the boys]

Leti slowly and hesitantly rose to a sitting position and stretched. After a moment he stood to drench a rag in the bath water and towel himself off before donning his pants and robe. He watched bastian nearly fall back asleep where he lie on the stone floor as he tied up his robe. He almost didn't want to move the poor guy but he knew that he couldn't do that for multiple reasons. So tired as he was he draped bastian's robe over him and carefully hoisted the man into his arms.
He carried the man to the now familliar bedroom without jostling him as much as possible. Once again bastian was returned to the sheepskin bed. THey really seemed to be following a two steps forward one step back healing process.
Leti laid a drenched rag over bastian's chest almost apologetically.

Bastian would almost certainly regret what they had done once the drugs wore off, if not emotionally then physically. Leti once again placed a hand on bastians chest and let his magic form a connection. He concentrated in silence for a few moments knowing that if he didn't try to offset some of the strain bastian had just put on his body then likely bastian might find it hard to breath sooner rather than latter.