loredump o2 — Auguste (FFXIV)
Jan. 30th, 2020 08:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
paintedfoothills05.10.2019 (the bakery AU)
“Did you see?” The office is already abuzz with gossip and it wasn`t even noon. The boys around Perci`s cubicle couldn`t shut up about the new bakery that just opened up around the corner. On it`s opening day last weekend, they made a valiant attempt to go inside, but were frozen in place with just one look from a pair of beautiful green eyes.
They had chickened out and gone running right out the door as though they were a gaggle of twelve year olds once more. But this time, or so Perci overheard as he shuffled through the afternoon`s paperwork, they planned that they would definitely go inside and talk to the beautiful girl that owned the shop.
It was an early lunch kind of Friday, and he had plenty of time to kill. It wouldn`t hurt to try this new place rather than the usual packaged sweets from the convenience store.
Perci packs up his suitcase before turning the corner, passing a quaint flower shop and right to the newly occupied bakery that had fresh pink chalk ground against the welcoming board. It listed today`s special, fresh apple danish. He caught his mouth watering at the scent and was drawn inside as though a siren beckoned him to sugary oblivion.
The tiny jingling of the bell seems to alert someone inside, and Perci catches the nervous glance of the shopkeep who twirls around. They`re wearing a frilly pink apron and a loose fitting knitted sweater, and a pair of owlish eyeglass frames seem to tilt to one side in shock.
Perci feels his heart freeze in place as the second coming of the ice age is set upon him.
Those heterosexual morons! That`s not a girl, that`s the most beautiful boy I`ve ever seen!
The owner tilts his head to the side, biting his (pretty, pouty) lower lip.
“You`re not going to leave too, are you…?”
“Wuh?” Perci responds very poetically.
“A group of men from around the block always look like they`re going to come in, but they always leave,” the boy sighs. “And I just opened the store, too…”
“Well I`m here now, right?” Perci thumps his chest, the solution to this pink haired angel`s problems. “I read the sign. I`d like your daily special, please!”
Auguste`s eyes light up, and Perci is grateful for the counter nearby lest he fall over. “Sure thing!”
[...]
“Would you like a coffee with that?”
Perci nods as though he drinks coffee every day of his life rather than retch at the mere thought of acrid bean water.
Since Perci continues to nod and give no prompting, Auguste assumes he takes it black and produces a decorative paper cup beside the pastry.
“You must be a real connoisseur, then.”
Oh right, he`s expecting me to drink this, isn`t he?
Perci gulps, allowing a single sip to pass his lips before he doubles over the lace covered counter. Auguste can`t hide a snort as Perci quickly attempts to recover, claiming that the coffee was just so good he couldn`t help but spit it right back up (that`s how it works, right?)
“If you don`t like coffee you can just say so,” Auguste smiles at him shyly and Perci senses a soft chorus of angels echo in his ears.
“I didn`t want to be rude.” Perci coughs to mask the sheepish look on his face.
“You`re not rude,” Auguste smiles and pours a fresh cup, this time mixing in a creamy liquid. “Here, this might make it a little more palatable.”
The drink is sweet and warm, but Perci finds his heart palpitating from something other than the caffeine.
✽✽✽
“Ah, I put them too close together,” Auguste chuckles at his rookie mistake.
“What do you mean?” Perci watches as Auguste points to two cookies that have merged into an oblong shape of an eight.
“They`re kissing, see?” He giggles and pries them apart, offering the other one to Perci. “The best part about baking is eating the mistakes.”
Perci stares in awe as pink lips are coated in cinnamon sugar, wishing he was the one doing the kissing instead.
✽✽✽
Perci emerges from the bathroom in a waft of lavender smoke, enjoying the bath salts Auguste kept well stocked. He felt like someone wrung out all his tension and put him through a fluff dry, and now he was a brand new version of himself.
“Come here,” Auguste beckons, hair pulled back by a fluffy ribbon. It kept stray locks from falling into his seaweed honey mask.
“Are you giving me a spa treatment?” Perci teases as he takes a comfortable seat in Auguste`s lap, allowing himself to lean back against his sweet smelling shoulder. Auguste went right to work filing his nails and pushing back his cuticles in fluid motions.
“I just like taking care of people,” Auguste responds warmly, winding his arm even tighter around Perci`s middle.
“But who takes care of you?” He blurts out, and the two pause. Perci quickly regrets how much he mind vomits, especially in front of someone who actually thinks before he speaks, but he feels Auguste shift underneath him.
“I...well, I get by.” Auguste`s voice is more pensive this time as Perci takes it upon himself to snuggle closer this time. In this pretty hideaway, he was all alone with no one to share it with...and that gave him an idea.
“Say, why don`t I come by tomorrow?” He turns around just enough to see Auguste, but not to mess up all the hard work put into his nails.
“You always come by, silly.” Auguste chuckles.
“No no, I mean to help around the house. It must be exhausting taking care of the shop and keeping everything up here so pretty.”
Auguste is grateful Perci`s back is to him, hiding the blush on his cheeks.
“I just like keeping things clean, but…I...” he takes a deep breath. “Mm. I would like that.”
See, was that so hard?
As he puts a glossy coat on Perci`s accent nail, Auguste admits to not getting many visitors. “You`re the first one to come by, actually.” He admits quietly, belatedly realize that such a fact must make him seem so unappealing.
“Really?” He waits for Perci to berate him as he observes the pristine space filled with fairy lights and potted plants. This really wasn`t to impress anyone, was it? It was nothing but his little rabbit hole away from the world, a place of true comfort. And Auguste had been so gracious as to let him inside the only safe space he had.
“...then I feel special.”
“You are,” Auguste chuckles, gently booping his nose before leaning Perci back onto his chest.
[And then I wrote a not so brief masturbation scene but that`s for ryusei only :9]
✽✽✽
“And what are you laughing at, huh? Huh? Is it your booo~yfriend?” Kaoru hounds his friend who's at least two feet taller than him, standing on the counter to get a better look.
“No shoes on the counter!” Auguste retorts before melting back into his phone. “Perci keeps sending me memes of rabbits and he says ‘look, it’s you!’”
“Wow.” Kaoru scoffs.
“You’ve got it bad.” Fray echoes.
“Please don’t talk in tandem like that..” Auguste nearly has a heart attack since Fray tended to blend into the background. “And it’s cute! Why shouldn’t I be happy?”
✽✽✽
“I do yoga every other day during the weekdays, and I try to go biking on the weekends,” He shakes out his ponytail now that long waves of pink hair are out of his face. “It`s good for the environment, you know.” Auguste smiles as he plucks a banana from his counter and begins to peel it.
“Yeah, tell me about it,” Perci nods numbly as he watches Auguste put the banana in his mouth. He could think of one other thing that was good for the earth.
✽✽✽
“I`ve been thinking about it more often lately,” Auguste stirs his coffee, watching as Perci waters the plants on the windowsill. “You know, maybe...you should...move in?” He watches the patterns the creamer makes on the surface.
“Oh.” Perci stills, putting down the watering can. “That`s...a great idea! isn`t it? And it would help you save on rent--”
“Perci.” Auguste laughs into his cup. “You know that`s not why I`m asking.”
“Because...you love how much I help around the house?” Perci tries this time, but it`s clear his excuses are growing weaker and weaker.
“You know why I want you to move in, Perci.” Auguste sighs as he finally rises from the kitchen table and goes over to hold his boyfriend in a headlock.
“Everything you could want is here, you know. A warm bed with my 800 thread count sheets, access to the bakery, and all the leftovers.” Auguste tries to persuade him.
“You forgot the most important thing that`s here though.” Perci flicks Auguste gently on the forehead.
“You mean my bath salts you`re always taking?”
“No, silly! Although the bath salts are a bonus, I`m not gonna lie.” He clears his throat and squishes Auguste`s cheeks into a fish face. “It`s you.”
05.18.2019
“I’m home!” Perci called out excitedly, setting his sickle against the doorway. He wiped his boots on the mat and the sweat from his brow, expecting Auguste to greet him from the kitchen. With a flutter of sweet green eyes, he would be enveloped by the heady scents of lavender and sugar.
He’s met with a heavy lump rubbing against his leg, purring away as their child rolled over onto her back, fixing Perci with a gaze that expected many pets. He smiles and leans down to scratch behind her ears before looking for his beloved.
His steps slow as he sees a familiar head of hair fanned out against their pillows. When they first met, Auguste would wake at the sound of a pin dropping. But ever since he lay rest to the Dragonsong war, he would sleep like the dead most nights from sheer exhaustion.
And as of late, he’d been helping with reparations in the Lochs. He’d been working to the bone lately, and in true Auguste fashion, he still managed to keep his white clothes pristine from head to toe.
In sleep, Auguste had shifted onto his back, his filmy shirt riding up to reveal the valley of his hip. In his time as the warrior of light, tough sinew had built over his frame, but he always carried a slim elegance that showed in the prominence of his hip bone.
Perci’s eyes raked over long legs, covered by a thin pair of socks up that traveled up to the thigh (of course he was wearing short shorts. Of course). The silken fabric bit into supple skin, causing the skin of his smooth inner thigh to puff out just slightly, just begging to be bitten,
The sheets crinkled with his weight as Perci climbed on top, parting Auguste’s legs ever so slightly.
06.07.2019
“It’s my fault, all my fault…”
Auguste held his face in brittle hands, tangled hair falling in waves over his shoulder.
“Auguste…” Kaoru clicked his tongue, unsure of how even to begin. Instead, he grabs his wrist and leads them to the sofa where his Elezen friend, at least twice his height is forced to sit by a tiny young hyur.
He begins by brushing his hair.
Auguste’s beauty was always something important to him. But his skin was dry, lips cracked and bitten, hair devoid of shine. Kaoru gingerly rubbed at Auguste’s shoulder.
“You can’t hold it all in you know. You need to tell him.”
“I can’t,” Auguste weeps, his shoulders crumbling once more. “He’s already hurting so, I cannot burden him even more with my stupid-- “
“It’s not stupid,” Kaoru could have yelled or been frustrated, but he says it so quietly Auguste stills and looks back at him.
“You’re hurting so much, and it makes me sad.” He says plainly, gently touching Auguste’s cheek.
“It’s...it’s not right. And it’s what I deserve,” green eyes shimmer with tears, downcast. “For wanting revenge, for wanting their blood, for everything I did to get him back— “
Kaoru silently wraps his arms around Auguste`s middle and holds his cheek against his chest. The thump is steady, and Kaoru smiles. He thinks of the words that once brought him comfort from the one person he loves the most.
“You’re still a good person.”
08.08.2016
Instead, he locked himself away in Fortemps manor, gazing at the fireplace. He wished Haurchefant were still here. He would tell him to buck up, give him a hug, and give him all the courage and strength in the world.
Haurchefant had been the strongest man he knew. And here he was, weakly nursing an aching heart over a boy, like a fool. His heart and head were waltzing around in circles, going over the same thoughts again and again. His need is as vast as the stars but as simple as a single breath.
Yet he refuses to say it aloud, his feelings that feel so small and insignificant. He wants to be loved in return, and it’s such a silly want, a silly need.
“I thought I`d find you here,” a familiar voice pipes up, where Auguste would usually melt, he finds himself tensing. He hurriedly wipes the tears from his eyes so Perci wouldn`t see.
“I-- hey, are you okay?”
“Yes, of course I am.” He offers a plastic smile, difficult for most people to discern, but one that Perci could see through almost instantly.
Please, don`t, don`t ask for the truth.
I don`t even want to face it myself.
“Auguste…? Au-chan?!”
The room goes black.
✽✽✽
His eyes remained shut despite a full night’s rest.
“His vital signs seem to be fine, no sign of temperature, no cuts or bruises...he was showing no other symptoms?”
“No vomiting, no stomach aches, he seemed fine otherwise...”
He watched as Aymeric reached out and held Auguste`s hand. With his other, he smoothed back wisps of pink and kissed his forehead, whispering how he wanted his beloved to get better soon.
He admitted it so easily, so readily. Perci was never jealous of Aymeric, holder of a piece of Auguste`s heart. What he envied was the strength to admit something so terrifying.
It`s not that I don`t want to tell you, I do, but…
He felt the words in his heart and on the tip of his tongue, but the moment he tried, his throat threatened to close and his chest felt like it was going to burst. It was terrifying, like being told that you`ll be caught in a gentle embrace despite stepping off a cliff above the ocean.
He didn`t want to fall, to be hurt, the mere notion that he might hurt Auguste in return.
But it was clear as day to him how much pain Auguste was in even like this.
Then the answer is easy, he remembers Tataru saying. All you have to do, is do something!
He must look inside for the answer.
He leans over Aymeric`s shoulder, whispering something in his ear. He agrees to watch over Auguste as Percimont treks back to Fortemps manor.
09.04.2019
Auguste rolls over with a groan. One by one his devices float back into his consciousness.
It feels like his stomach is where his heart is, head in the clouds, nose buried in the pillow that retained the salty ocean scent of his lover, and hips far too sore to think of doing anything but sleeping the morning away with the man who was responsible for it.
He glances over to catch Perci coming back in from the loo having finessed the need for underwear, manhood cheerfully on display with the suggestion he might be up for round two. The carefree smirk on his face causes Auguste`s heart to flip back into his chest cavity, using his stomach as a springboard.
“If I make you breakfast, will you come back to bed?” Auguste murmurs into the frigid morning air, reaching across the sheets for Perci`s hand. He prefers to make the subject ‘the bed’ rather than ‘me’ where it truly belonged. Perci was wont to go wherever he liked after their pleasurable nights, but lately, Auguste was tripping over goodbyes and Perci was running out of excuses for needing to leave.
His emerald eyes glitter with his plea, and the way he bites his bottom lip whenever he really wants something causes Perci to surrender himself wholeheartedly.
He falls back into bed, crawling on top of Auguste as he tried to hide a smile against his cheek.
“No need.” He answers honestly, lacing their fingers together. “I wasn`t planning on leaving anyway.”
✽✽✽
The sound of chopping is so seamless it resembles the hum of a magitek engine. Auguste works at the slices of carrot over the low hum of a simmering stove. With a sprinkle of salt and a little bit of oil, Auguste glides through the kitchen humming a cheerful tune, bending low to find another frying pan under the counter.
He is blissfully unaware of a figure in the doorway wiping the sweat from his brow, wiping the dirt from his boots, laying his pickaxe to the side. Perci begins to make his way downstairs before stopping cold, a smile slowly blooming as he observes such a beautiful display of domestic bliss.
The sudden hand on Auguste`s behind makes him yelp, but he had felt this enough times before not to reel up in shock (and have the back of his head make best friends with the bottom of the cabinets). Auguste wiggles his way out of the cabinet, rubbing his ass right into Perci`s crotch.
“Trying to rile me up, are you?” Perci murmurs low in his ear, reaching up to undo Auguste`s ponytail and let long pink locks flow freely over his shoulder, threading his fingers in comfortably. Instead of responding, Auguste plays coy and merely smiles, turning around so he can properly wrap his arms around his beloved as he leans in for a kiss that was a little more friendly than “welcome home”.
“If I run out to the market place to pick up dinner, will you let me?” Perci mumbles as he slides his hand up Auguste`s thigh.
Auguste fumbles, reaching behind them clumsily, knocking over the tiny egg timer contraption he had received from Cid as a wedding gift. He manages to extinguish the flame as Perci`s hands make their way up Auguste`s home-knitted sweater, reaching up to his angel bones where scratches still remained from last night`s escapades. Auguste giggles as those hands make their way round again, settling on his tummy and those ticklish hip bones.
“Well?” Perci hums deep in his throat. “The deal is on the table.” He backs Auguste up against said object, as if to suggest that he too could be on the table if he`d like.
“I say you`ve got yourself a deal, Ser Laviere-Vanrieux.” Auguste laughs against Perci`s lips.
“Why thank you, Ser Laviere-Vanrieux.” Perci responds before heaving Auguste into the air, causing him to yelp and clamp his legs around Perci`s middle lest he fell.
The two couldn`t even make it to their bed, opting to fall right onto the sofa instead.
✽✽✽
“I said, where is he?” Auguste whispers coldly. “You`re being oddly protective of this door.”
“If you make it worth my while, I might be inclined to tell you.” A blade glimmers in the pale moonlight as a hand grips his thigh, and Auguste grits his teeth, weighing the scales. “I`d say you don`t have much of a choice, lest I let everyone else on patrol know you and your little friends are trying to sneak by.”
He swallows hard, thinking of Kaoru and Lyse. But at the same time, his hands worry at the ring concealed under his glove.
I have to get out of here alive.
I have to save him.
“…Fine.” Auguste relaxes, convincing this supposed captor that he will be docile and sweet. He slowly begins to discard his gloves, giving him the illusion that the rest would follow. Thankfully, the lad was too thick to realize that the man under the hood was the Warrior of Light. He relinquished the grip on his knife long enough to forcefully push Auguste against the wall of the quiet alleyway. Painful, yes, but nothing compared to what his beloved must feel right now.
His white magic wouldn’t save him now. His black magic would take too much time.
The only weapon he had left was the agony in his heart. He could recall his dearest friend`s voice telling him something like this, that this pain could be his greatest strength.
So Auguste called on each and every ounce of hatred and sorrow that boiled underneath his flesh and rammed his knee into the rogue`s gut. As he leaned in to retort with his knife, Auguste sent him backwards with a fist to the face.
The high heel of Auguste`s boot stomped against his crotch, debilitating him long enough for Auguste to make quick work of tearing the hem of his white linen robe into a gag.
He hurriedly gathered the rogue`s hands behind his back, as Auguste cursed and praised the twelve above under his breath that Kaoru insisted on teaching him the sort of things that would get them arrested if they weren`t the bloody Warriors of Light.
Auguste had never done something like this before, even when liberating his own people from their centuries long hatred of the dragons. His breath caught in his throat in near hysterics as he pulled out his cane with shuddering hands.
“I have a better deal for you,” Auguste hissed, the flames licking his staff so keenly with anger that steam nearly rolled off his tongue. “I don`t kill you where you stand, and you tell me where Percimont is.”
The indent of his diamond wedding ring made a clear imprint on the man`s face, a stain of blood dripping from the glinting silvery band.
I`m too late.
He`s going to die.
Thoughts like frigid steel stabbed through his chest, a chilling reminder of a moment where Auguste had already failed this test.
Wrong, wrong, wrong, sound the church bells in their solemn judgement.
He nearly trips, footfalls echoing off the high ceilings, angry saints staring down at him, weighing his soul with every step. He feels his tendons screaming in pain as he rights himself, scrambling up the stairs to find Aymeric bleeding at the hands of the clergy. Someone unsheaths their knife and goes at him from the rear.
“Aymeric!” Auguste cries out, throwing himself body and soul in front of him.
And it was about to happen all over again.
“Hey, that stings,” Perci groused as Auguste absentmindedly soaked his wound with a cloth.
“Ah? Oh, I`m sorry…”
“Don`t apologize. How`s your back doing?”
“Better than yesterday,” Auguste nods, remembering Perci`s lecture of stop saying you`re fine when it’s not fine and admitting that it did, indeed, still hurt.
A lot of things still hurt. Very much so.
He feels the sheets shift underneath him as Perci leans back and smiles, observing Auguste in his natural nursing habitat.
Everything still hurts, but perhaps “love” is the magical elixir that alchemists have been searching for.
“But more importantly, how is your–”
“Are we really having a contest? One of us took a sword for the Lord Commander and the other got a poisoned knife in the belly.”
Auguste can`t help but laugh as Perci always had a way of making the most dire situations sound just a little better than they were. They were likely one of the few couples who could lay claim to having matching wound dressing with bandages wrapped round their middles.
“You`re right, you`re right,” Auguste nods firmly as he wraps the gauze around Perci`s forearm. “It`s in my blood to worry, you know? You`ve met my mother, after all, and everyone says I take after her the most.”
Perci continues to watch as Auguste`s clever fingers work quickly with his first aid kit, humming a soft tune to himself.
“You know, when we first met, you couldn`t stop stuttering. You couldn`t even look me in the eye, for that matter.” He muses, gently grasping Auguste`s chin and tilting it up so that sea green meets ocean blue.
“And now look at you.”
Auguste`s first instinct is to look away, but he swallows hard and meets Perci`s gaze head on. His beautiful blues were practically sparkling, and Auguste`s free hand natural reaches to intertwine with Perci`s.
“When it comes to you, you know I can`t help myself.” Auguste sighs as this single instant stretches into an eternity for the two of them in their own little world.
Perci feels his chest tighten as he watches this angel before him in the soft light filtering from the setting sun. He feels like he could spend the rest of his life just gazing at his beloved, be it in this hospital bed, in the Fortemps manor, on the battlefield - anywhere, anywhere.
“…Say, Aucchan. What do you think about The Goblet?” Perci pipes up suddenly. “Some nice houses, huh?”
“Oh, I`ve been there.” Auguste`s entire expression lights up instantly. “It`s so warm, and there’s lots of beautiful flowers.”
I knew you`d say that.
“Say, Aucchan.” Perci traces two fingers up the side of Augustes arms, like a pair of legs going for a walk on the sunny avenue that`s Auguste pale arm, until he arrives at the ticklish crook of the elbow that makes Auguste laugh.
“Hmm?” He smiles and glances down at Perci`s ticklish fingertips, ready to answer a question about their friends or perhaps what`s for dinner.
“How do you feel about living with me?”
08.22.2019
Auguste ponders over his look, brushing his hair out as it washes over his shoulder in waves. He was letting it grow on purpose ever since Perci remarked his long hair was gorgeous all those years ago, but this time around was mostly due to things falling on the wayside in the First.
He wanted to clean up, start something fresh.
When he wore his hair down all those years ago, he was accustomed to having his hair covering a blushing face. People paid less attention to his stutter the more they couldn`t see his expression.
Perci gazed rapturously at Auguste`s expression, wondering what was different. He often wore his hair down to bed, or lazily tied it up in a loose bun.
But this was purposeful, a clear look at lovely green eyes.
“You`re not hiding your face anymore,” Perci murmurs against Auguste`s lips.
12.02.2019 (from 01.24.2019) (nsfw)
The rain made his shirt cling to the dip of his collarbone, his chest heaving with breath.
“Alright, I give, I give!” He gasped breathlessly. “You win.”
“What do I get for winning?” Perci gave him a wolfish grin.
Had this been a few months earlier, Auguste would have stuttered out a half baked thought, nervously twirling his hair.
As things were now, he offered a soft, innocuous smile rather than an answer. He allowed Perci to give pause for a moment as he wondered what he was up to this time. When he finally opened his mouth to question, he was tugged in roughly by the collar.
The first kiss was neat; that was something about Auguste that would never change. Prim, proper, and soft - perfect words to describe him.
The next kiss was more like Perci. It was sudden, the shock of teeth biting his lower lip that made him shudder. Auguste’s fingers tangled in lavender gray locks, licking at lips in a demand rather than a request.
Perci was all hands, glancing over the ticklish spot under Auguste’s chin that always made him shudder. His buttons were slicked by the rain, leaving Perci huffing slightly into the kiss as he settled for popping them off. He broke apart momentarily to look behold his handiwork, leaving Auguste licking at the saliva left over on his lips.
“I’m not sure who has the oral fixation here.” He chuckles, nipping at Auguste’s lips. Perci is fixed with a coy smile before an unceremoniously shoving of fingers in Perci’s mouth, earning him a delighted hum.
He lavished them in attention, drooling over Auguste’s long fingers, swirling his pink tongue over the tips before pulling off with an audible pop. He tucks a strand of hair behind his ears before pushing himself to the knuckle, moaning around his fingers and dragging a tongue along the underside.
Not one for being subtle, he left little to the imagination as he ground into Auguste’s hips. He prized them apart with a whine of objection, just long enough to pull his pants off and free his cock.
Auguste pulls the bottle of salve he’d placed in Perci’s pocket (just in case I need it for healing, or so he claimed). “This really is for all occasions,” he smirked against Perci’s lips as he slathered it on his fingers.
Perci settles for his neck and collar as curious fingers set to work. He leaves a mosaic of hickeys, biting at his nipple when long fingers brush against a particular spot.
Broken moans escape his throat as he drools onto Auguste’s chest. “Please, no more…” he whines. “Put it in. Please, pretty please?” He bites down on kiss bruised lips. “For me?”
A low sigh escapes him as he’s filled. Auguste bites into his shoulder to smother the groan at his tight heat, so welcome in the pouring rain.
[and then they engage in RAPTUROUS LOVEMAKING]
For once, even Auguste was too spent to clean up properly. Stripped of their clothes, Perci managed to button up half way as Auguste borrowed a sleep shirt, discovering far too late it was on backwards. and huddled into bed for warmth.
✽✽✽
His vision is hazy, something he merely chalks up to fatigue. He rises gingerly, making sure not to awaken Perci, although he would have to sit directly on him and bounce up and down to accomplish that.
His legs wobble slightly, making his way to the kitchen. His first though, as always, is to prepare a nice breakfast. But for some reason, the ingredients take awhile for him to think of. Let’s see, I need milk and eggs and...what’s that white stuff…right, sugar. Not salt. That would be bad.
He leans down to open the refrigerator door and quickly loses his balance.
A soft thump sounds as he lands on the floor, his sweaty skin relieved by the cooling sensation. A little nap suddenly sounds like a much better idea than cooking...
✽✽✽
Auguste wasn’t the type to dine and dash, so to speak, so he was definitely here somewhere.
Normally the view of Auguste laying on the ground without his underwear was a good thing. But something was definitely off. Perci hurried over and noted the spilled ingredients around his feet. It definitely wasn’t like Auguste to leave a mess.
“Auguste? Hey, are you okay?” Perci reaches out to touch his cheek and gasps at how hot his skin is.
“Hey Tataru, are you there? Listen, I think Auguste is dead…!”
“Dead?” Her already high pitched voice becomes a bat signal, rendering Perci immobile. “What do you mean? How on earth could he have died!?”
“Heck if I know! But he’s burning hot, and he’s collapsed on the floor, and he won’t move no matter how much I shake him, and—”
“You’re getting ahead of yourself!” She interrupts before Perci can babble any further. “Listen, touch his chest.”
That was something he didn’t object to, but in the context of things, it was much more clinical than the usual groping.
“He’s breathing, isn’t he?” Tataru prompts.
“Y-Yeah...I guess so.” The rise and fall is slight, but there.
“Good. Dead people don’t breathe, so he’s probably got a fever.”
✽✽✽
“Thank you for taking care of me,” His voice is a feather light whisper.
“Of course, silly. You think I was going to leave you on that floor?” He smiles. “Well you did look pretty cozy so I was tempted.”
“Well, there’s no use crying over spilt milk.
There’s so much to do...I have to get better soon. Look, your room is a mess!”
“I am a fully grown man you know.” Perci scoffs.
Auguste laughs. “I know. It’s just become a habit of mine now.”
Which habit? Cleaning, or being with him?
01.29.2020 (from 07.25.2019)
“Your mother isn`t feeling very well today,” the maid gently pet Auguste on the head as he dried his eyes. “Now be a good boy. We must pray for her to get well soon.”
Auguste truly was a good boy. He always listened to what the adults had to say, always obeyed them. But this time, he wanted to throw himself to the ground and have a fit. It made no sense; she looked perfectly fine last night! She tucked him into bed, same as always.
Maybe it had something to do with the noises Auguste had awoken in the middle of the night. A single voice crying out in the darkness, something he thought he was just imagining.
“Mama doesn`t feel well…” He mumbled to himself, legs swinging on the lacquered chair where he sat in the kitchen all by himself. He looked curiously at the bowl of fruit before him as he sipped the cup of tea the maid had given him a cup of tea to settle his morning oatmeal.
Whenever he didn`t feel well, Mama made him warm beet soup and sang him lullabies. He sat up straight, nearly knocking the teacup from the table. Surely he could do that much for her!
✽✽✽
“My father wouldn`t have wanted this!” Auguste gestures desperately to the crowd of angry faces that have formed around him, rioting over the wounded body of the dragon looming over head.
“Would that he could tell you how wrong you are to your face, boy. Think of who`s responsible for that!” His words cut like icy daggers, and Auguste is at a loss for what to say in return. Because the worst part is, he`s right.
“That`s enough,” Aymeric shields Auguste with his arm and ushers him back to the platform. He hears murmurs of dissent towards “the lord commander`s obedient lapdog.”
✽✽✽
“It`s fine,” Auguste sighed and rubbed his shoulder absentmindedly. His head was full with the words of the crowd begging for Nidhogg`s blood spilled on his hands. He wanted to deliver his people from a thousand years of rage, yet at the same time they glared at him behind his back, angry whispers of “the lord commander`s bitch” working to consort with the enemy yet again.
He lets out a breath. Exhale all of the anger, draw in the healing aether…
Yet it just wasn`t working the way it should. Where his wounds should stitch together with a pleasant tang of mint, he feels nothing but pain.
“Auguste.” Perci snaps him back to reality, turning his head to his beloved resting in his hospital bed. The color was coming back to his cheeks, but he still looked very tired. “Shouldn`t you be sleeping?”
“I should...but I didn`t get to see you today.” He rarely got to spend time with Perci anymore since he was on bed rest, and he was being pulled hither and thither through the forelands, being prostrated before dragon and man, both holding him with equal promise and scorn. He was so, so tired.
“I`m clearly not going anywhere,” Perci jokes, managing to wrench a tiny smile from Auguste`s lips. “What did I tell you before?” He shakes his head, lips turning into a grim line as he regards how sallow Auguste`s cheeks had become. “Please, listen to me, Auguste.” When he said his name, that`s how Auguste knew he was serious. Right, they had this conversation just the other week. He takes another deep breath, steeling himself for what comes next.
“I... I need…”
Why is it the hardest word to say?
One more breath, you can do this.
“...A hug.”
Perci quickly pulls him in, already one step ahead. He waits expectantly, knowing that Auguste wasn`t done judging by how stiff he remained.
“...Please, hold me.” Auguste`s voice breaks as he buries his face in Perci`s shoulder. He absently feels his head being cradled as his gives himself over to the sorrow that had taken root in his veins, blossoming into bouquets of tears.
Much of what happens next is a tender lullaby of contentment. He sleepily recalls soft murmurs in his ear, a whisper of ‘I love you’ before falling into a blanket of warmth, the sweet succor of darkness. Auguste hadn`t slept much the last two weeks, but in Perci`s arms he finds peace to relinquish control and allow himself to fall.
As the dawn crept through satin curtains, a door creaks open, disturbing their rest. Auguste moans softly in his sleep, eyebrows knit as he curls up closer to Perci`s warmth.
“I swear to Halone above,” Perci hisses venomously, “if you wake him up, I`ll--”
The chirurgeon hurriedly raises their hands in a gesture of defeat and runs back out the door.
Perci would do anything to dry those tears and make his beautiful pink smile blossom once more.
“Just tell me what you need,” he murmurs and Auguste lets himself be held close as he considers. He’s a simple man, he doesn’t need much in this life. The warrior of light is the title of glory and riches yet all he wants is…
“A kiss.” Auguste whispers and taps his cheek. Perci gladly obliges, pressing one to his left, his right, his forehead, his ear.
“Wait, wait, I just said one, Perci--” He’s silenced by a kiss to his lips, feather light and gone like morning dew as he stares in shock at Perci. He`d always been a shy kisser, so he knows how much this means to him. Auguste crushes him (as gingerly as he can in deference to both of their wounds) in a hug.
“Oh, Perci…”Auguste whimpers.
“I know, Au-chan.” Perci tangles his fingers in long, silky hair.
“I love you so much.”
“I love you, too.”
✽✽✽
Truthfully, Perci was vexed he couldn’t join Auguste, but Auguste was privately relieved. If anything happened to him, Auguste could never forgive himself.
When he saw Perci wounded with poison, he thought of his Mother sighing in the window, holding the last token her beloved left behind. Was Auguste only doomed to repeat history?
He wanted to break the cycle.
Auguste presses his palm against Perci`s heart. Perci smiles, cupping Auguste`s hand protectively.
“Feel my heart beating, only for you, Auguste. Take it and be filled with love, and go forth.”
“I`m coming back, Perci. I promise.”
“I know you will.”
“Did you see?” The office is already abuzz with gossip and it wasn`t even noon. The boys around Perci`s cubicle couldn`t shut up about the new bakery that just opened up around the corner. On it`s opening day last weekend, they made a valiant attempt to go inside, but were frozen in place with just one look from a pair of beautiful green eyes.
They had chickened out and gone running right out the door as though they were a gaggle of twelve year olds once more. But this time, or so Perci overheard as he shuffled through the afternoon`s paperwork, they planned that they would definitely go inside and talk to the beautiful girl that owned the shop.
It was an early lunch kind of Friday, and he had plenty of time to kill. It wouldn`t hurt to try this new place rather than the usual packaged sweets from the convenience store.
Perci packs up his suitcase before turning the corner, passing a quaint flower shop and right to the newly occupied bakery that had fresh pink chalk ground against the welcoming board. It listed today`s special, fresh apple danish. He caught his mouth watering at the scent and was drawn inside as though a siren beckoned him to sugary oblivion.
The tiny jingling of the bell seems to alert someone inside, and Perci catches the nervous glance of the shopkeep who twirls around. They`re wearing a frilly pink apron and a loose fitting knitted sweater, and a pair of owlish eyeglass frames seem to tilt to one side in shock.
Perci feels his heart freeze in place as the second coming of the ice age is set upon him.
Those heterosexual morons! That`s not a girl, that`s the most beautiful boy I`ve ever seen!
The owner tilts his head to the side, biting his (pretty, pouty) lower lip.
“You`re not going to leave too, are you…?”
“Wuh?” Perci responds very poetically.
“A group of men from around the block always look like they`re going to come in, but they always leave,” the boy sighs. “And I just opened the store, too…”
“Well I`m here now, right?” Perci thumps his chest, the solution to this pink haired angel`s problems. “I read the sign. I`d like your daily special, please!”
Auguste`s eyes light up, and Perci is grateful for the counter nearby lest he fall over. “Sure thing!”
[...]
“Would you like a coffee with that?”
Perci nods as though he drinks coffee every day of his life rather than retch at the mere thought of acrid bean water.
Since Perci continues to nod and give no prompting, Auguste assumes he takes it black and produces a decorative paper cup beside the pastry.
“You must be a real connoisseur, then.”
Oh right, he`s expecting me to drink this, isn`t he?
Perci gulps, allowing a single sip to pass his lips before he doubles over the lace covered counter. Auguste can`t hide a snort as Perci quickly attempts to recover, claiming that the coffee was just so good he couldn`t help but spit it right back up (that`s how it works, right?)
“If you don`t like coffee you can just say so,” Auguste smiles at him shyly and Perci senses a soft chorus of angels echo in his ears.
“I didn`t want to be rude.” Perci coughs to mask the sheepish look on his face.
“You`re not rude,” Auguste smiles and pours a fresh cup, this time mixing in a creamy liquid. “Here, this might make it a little more palatable.”
The drink is sweet and warm, but Perci finds his heart palpitating from something other than the caffeine.
✽✽✽
“Ah, I put them too close together,” Auguste chuckles at his rookie mistake.
“What do you mean?” Perci watches as Auguste points to two cookies that have merged into an oblong shape of an eight.
“They`re kissing, see?” He giggles and pries them apart, offering the other one to Perci. “The best part about baking is eating the mistakes.”
Perci stares in awe as pink lips are coated in cinnamon sugar, wishing he was the one doing the kissing instead.
✽✽✽
Perci emerges from the bathroom in a waft of lavender smoke, enjoying the bath salts Auguste kept well stocked. He felt like someone wrung out all his tension and put him through a fluff dry, and now he was a brand new version of himself.
“Come here,” Auguste beckons, hair pulled back by a fluffy ribbon. It kept stray locks from falling into his seaweed honey mask.
“Are you giving me a spa treatment?” Perci teases as he takes a comfortable seat in Auguste`s lap, allowing himself to lean back against his sweet smelling shoulder. Auguste went right to work filing his nails and pushing back his cuticles in fluid motions.
“I just like taking care of people,” Auguste responds warmly, winding his arm even tighter around Perci`s middle.
“But who takes care of you?” He blurts out, and the two pause. Perci quickly regrets how much he mind vomits, especially in front of someone who actually thinks before he speaks, but he feels Auguste shift underneath him.
“I...well, I get by.” Auguste`s voice is more pensive this time as Perci takes it upon himself to snuggle closer this time. In this pretty hideaway, he was all alone with no one to share it with...and that gave him an idea.
“Say, why don`t I come by tomorrow?” He turns around just enough to see Auguste, but not to mess up all the hard work put into his nails.
“You always come by, silly.” Auguste chuckles.
“No no, I mean to help around the house. It must be exhausting taking care of the shop and keeping everything up here so pretty.”
Auguste is grateful Perci`s back is to him, hiding the blush on his cheeks.
“I just like keeping things clean, but…I...” he takes a deep breath. “Mm. I would like that.”
See, was that so hard?
As he puts a glossy coat on Perci`s accent nail, Auguste admits to not getting many visitors. “You`re the first one to come by, actually.” He admits quietly, belatedly realize that such a fact must make him seem so unappealing.
“Really?” He waits for Perci to berate him as he observes the pristine space filled with fairy lights and potted plants. This really wasn`t to impress anyone, was it? It was nothing but his little rabbit hole away from the world, a place of true comfort. And Auguste had been so gracious as to let him inside the only safe space he had.
“...then I feel special.”
“You are,” Auguste chuckles, gently booping his nose before leaning Perci back onto his chest.
[And then I wrote a not so brief masturbation scene but that`s for ryusei only :9]
✽✽✽
“And what are you laughing at, huh? Huh? Is it your booo~yfriend?” Kaoru hounds his friend who's at least two feet taller than him, standing on the counter to get a better look.
“No shoes on the counter!” Auguste retorts before melting back into his phone. “Perci keeps sending me memes of rabbits and he says ‘look, it’s you!’”
“Wow.” Kaoru scoffs.
“You’ve got it bad.” Fray echoes.
“Please don’t talk in tandem like that..” Auguste nearly has a heart attack since Fray tended to blend into the background. “And it’s cute! Why shouldn’t I be happy?”
✽✽✽
“I do yoga every other day during the weekdays, and I try to go biking on the weekends,” He shakes out his ponytail now that long waves of pink hair are out of his face. “It`s good for the environment, you know.” Auguste smiles as he plucks a banana from his counter and begins to peel it.
“Yeah, tell me about it,” Perci nods numbly as he watches Auguste put the banana in his mouth. He could think of one other thing that was good for the earth.
✽✽✽
“I`ve been thinking about it more often lately,” Auguste stirs his coffee, watching as Perci waters the plants on the windowsill. “You know, maybe...you should...move in?” He watches the patterns the creamer makes on the surface.
“Oh.” Perci stills, putting down the watering can. “That`s...a great idea! isn`t it? And it would help you save on rent--”
“Perci.” Auguste laughs into his cup. “You know that`s not why I`m asking.”
“Because...you love how much I help around the house?” Perci tries this time, but it`s clear his excuses are growing weaker and weaker.
“You know why I want you to move in, Perci.” Auguste sighs as he finally rises from the kitchen table and goes over to hold his boyfriend in a headlock.
“Everything you could want is here, you know. A warm bed with my 800 thread count sheets, access to the bakery, and all the leftovers.” Auguste tries to persuade him.
“You forgot the most important thing that`s here though.” Perci flicks Auguste gently on the forehead.
“You mean my bath salts you`re always taking?”
“No, silly! Although the bath salts are a bonus, I`m not gonna lie.” He clears his throat and squishes Auguste`s cheeks into a fish face. “It`s you.”
05.18.2019
“I’m home!” Perci called out excitedly, setting his sickle against the doorway. He wiped his boots on the mat and the sweat from his brow, expecting Auguste to greet him from the kitchen. With a flutter of sweet green eyes, he would be enveloped by the heady scents of lavender and sugar.
He’s met with a heavy lump rubbing against his leg, purring away as their child rolled over onto her back, fixing Perci with a gaze that expected many pets. He smiles and leans down to scratch behind her ears before looking for his beloved.
His steps slow as he sees a familiar head of hair fanned out against their pillows. When they first met, Auguste would wake at the sound of a pin dropping. But ever since he lay rest to the Dragonsong war, he would sleep like the dead most nights from sheer exhaustion.
And as of late, he’d been helping with reparations in the Lochs. He’d been working to the bone lately, and in true Auguste fashion, he still managed to keep his white clothes pristine from head to toe.
In sleep, Auguste had shifted onto his back, his filmy shirt riding up to reveal the valley of his hip. In his time as the warrior of light, tough sinew had built over his frame, but he always carried a slim elegance that showed in the prominence of his hip bone.
Perci’s eyes raked over long legs, covered by a thin pair of socks up that traveled up to the thigh (of course he was wearing short shorts. Of course). The silken fabric bit into supple skin, causing the skin of his smooth inner thigh to puff out just slightly, just begging to be bitten,
The sheets crinkled with his weight as Perci climbed on top, parting Auguste’s legs ever so slightly.
06.07.2019
“It’s my fault, all my fault…”
Auguste held his face in brittle hands, tangled hair falling in waves over his shoulder.
“Auguste…” Kaoru clicked his tongue, unsure of how even to begin. Instead, he grabs his wrist and leads them to the sofa where his Elezen friend, at least twice his height is forced to sit by a tiny young hyur.
He begins by brushing his hair.
Auguste’s beauty was always something important to him. But his skin was dry, lips cracked and bitten, hair devoid of shine. Kaoru gingerly rubbed at Auguste’s shoulder.
“You can’t hold it all in you know. You need to tell him.”
“I can’t,” Auguste weeps, his shoulders crumbling once more. “He’s already hurting so, I cannot burden him even more with my stupid-- “
“It’s not stupid,” Kaoru could have yelled or been frustrated, but he says it so quietly Auguste stills and looks back at him.
“You’re hurting so much, and it makes me sad.” He says plainly, gently touching Auguste’s cheek.
“It’s...it’s not right. And it’s what I deserve,” green eyes shimmer with tears, downcast. “For wanting revenge, for wanting their blood, for everything I did to get him back— “
Kaoru silently wraps his arms around Auguste`s middle and holds his cheek against his chest. The thump is steady, and Kaoru smiles. He thinks of the words that once brought him comfort from the one person he loves the most.
“You’re still a good person.”
08.08.2016
Instead, he locked himself away in Fortemps manor, gazing at the fireplace. He wished Haurchefant were still here. He would tell him to buck up, give him a hug, and give him all the courage and strength in the world.
Haurchefant had been the strongest man he knew. And here he was, weakly nursing an aching heart over a boy, like a fool. His heart and head were waltzing around in circles, going over the same thoughts again and again. His need is as vast as the stars but as simple as a single breath.
Yet he refuses to say it aloud, his feelings that feel so small and insignificant. He wants to be loved in return, and it’s such a silly want, a silly need.
“I thought I`d find you here,” a familiar voice pipes up, where Auguste would usually melt, he finds himself tensing. He hurriedly wipes the tears from his eyes so Perci wouldn`t see.
“I-- hey, are you okay?”
“Yes, of course I am.” He offers a plastic smile, difficult for most people to discern, but one that Perci could see through almost instantly.
Please, don`t, don`t ask for the truth.
I don`t even want to face it myself.
“Auguste…? Au-chan?!”
The room goes black.
✽✽✽
His eyes remained shut despite a full night’s rest.
“His vital signs seem to be fine, no sign of temperature, no cuts or bruises...he was showing no other symptoms?”
“No vomiting, no stomach aches, he seemed fine otherwise...”
He watched as Aymeric reached out and held Auguste`s hand. With his other, he smoothed back wisps of pink and kissed his forehead, whispering how he wanted his beloved to get better soon.
He admitted it so easily, so readily. Perci was never jealous of Aymeric, holder of a piece of Auguste`s heart. What he envied was the strength to admit something so terrifying.
It`s not that I don`t want to tell you, I do, but…
He felt the words in his heart and on the tip of his tongue, but the moment he tried, his throat threatened to close and his chest felt like it was going to burst. It was terrifying, like being told that you`ll be caught in a gentle embrace despite stepping off a cliff above the ocean.
He didn`t want to fall, to be hurt, the mere notion that he might hurt Auguste in return.
But it was clear as day to him how much pain Auguste was in even like this.
Then the answer is easy, he remembers Tataru saying. All you have to do, is do something!
He must look inside for the answer.
He leans over Aymeric`s shoulder, whispering something in his ear. He agrees to watch over Auguste as Percimont treks back to Fortemps manor.
09.04.2019
Auguste rolls over with a groan. One by one his devices float back into his consciousness.
It feels like his stomach is where his heart is, head in the clouds, nose buried in the pillow that retained the salty ocean scent of his lover, and hips far too sore to think of doing anything but sleeping the morning away with the man who was responsible for it.
He glances over to catch Perci coming back in from the loo having finessed the need for underwear, manhood cheerfully on display with the suggestion he might be up for round two. The carefree smirk on his face causes Auguste`s heart to flip back into his chest cavity, using his stomach as a springboard.
“If I make you breakfast, will you come back to bed?” Auguste murmurs into the frigid morning air, reaching across the sheets for Perci`s hand. He prefers to make the subject ‘the bed’ rather than ‘me’ where it truly belonged. Perci was wont to go wherever he liked after their pleasurable nights, but lately, Auguste was tripping over goodbyes and Perci was running out of excuses for needing to leave.
His emerald eyes glitter with his plea, and the way he bites his bottom lip whenever he really wants something causes Perci to surrender himself wholeheartedly.
He falls back into bed, crawling on top of Auguste as he tried to hide a smile against his cheek.
“No need.” He answers honestly, lacing their fingers together. “I wasn`t planning on leaving anyway.”
✽✽✽
The sound of chopping is so seamless it resembles the hum of a magitek engine. Auguste works at the slices of carrot over the low hum of a simmering stove. With a sprinkle of salt and a little bit of oil, Auguste glides through the kitchen humming a cheerful tune, bending low to find another frying pan under the counter.
He is blissfully unaware of a figure in the doorway wiping the sweat from his brow, wiping the dirt from his boots, laying his pickaxe to the side. Perci begins to make his way downstairs before stopping cold, a smile slowly blooming as he observes such a beautiful display of domestic bliss.
The sudden hand on Auguste`s behind makes him yelp, but he had felt this enough times before not to reel up in shock (and have the back of his head make best friends with the bottom of the cabinets). Auguste wiggles his way out of the cabinet, rubbing his ass right into Perci`s crotch.
“Trying to rile me up, are you?” Perci murmurs low in his ear, reaching up to undo Auguste`s ponytail and let long pink locks flow freely over his shoulder, threading his fingers in comfortably. Instead of responding, Auguste plays coy and merely smiles, turning around so he can properly wrap his arms around his beloved as he leans in for a kiss that was a little more friendly than “welcome home”.
“If I run out to the market place to pick up dinner, will you let me?” Perci mumbles as he slides his hand up Auguste`s thigh.
Auguste fumbles, reaching behind them clumsily, knocking over the tiny egg timer contraption he had received from Cid as a wedding gift. He manages to extinguish the flame as Perci`s hands make their way up Auguste`s home-knitted sweater, reaching up to his angel bones where scratches still remained from last night`s escapades. Auguste giggles as those hands make their way round again, settling on his tummy and those ticklish hip bones.
“Well?” Perci hums deep in his throat. “The deal is on the table.” He backs Auguste up against said object, as if to suggest that he too could be on the table if he`d like.
“I say you`ve got yourself a deal, Ser Laviere-Vanrieux.” Auguste laughs against Perci`s lips.
“Why thank you, Ser Laviere-Vanrieux.” Perci responds before heaving Auguste into the air, causing him to yelp and clamp his legs around Perci`s middle lest he fell.
The two couldn`t even make it to their bed, opting to fall right onto the sofa instead.
✽✽✽
“I said, where is he?” Auguste whispers coldly. “You`re being oddly protective of this door.”
“If you make it worth my while, I might be inclined to tell you.” A blade glimmers in the pale moonlight as a hand grips his thigh, and Auguste grits his teeth, weighing the scales. “I`d say you don`t have much of a choice, lest I let everyone else on patrol know you and your little friends are trying to sneak by.”
He swallows hard, thinking of Kaoru and Lyse. But at the same time, his hands worry at the ring concealed under his glove.
I have to get out of here alive.
I have to save him.
“…Fine.” Auguste relaxes, convincing this supposed captor that he will be docile and sweet. He slowly begins to discard his gloves, giving him the illusion that the rest would follow. Thankfully, the lad was too thick to realize that the man under the hood was the Warrior of Light. He relinquished the grip on his knife long enough to forcefully push Auguste against the wall of the quiet alleyway. Painful, yes, but nothing compared to what his beloved must feel right now.
His white magic wouldn’t save him now. His black magic would take too much time.
The only weapon he had left was the agony in his heart. He could recall his dearest friend`s voice telling him something like this, that this pain could be his greatest strength.
So Auguste called on each and every ounce of hatred and sorrow that boiled underneath his flesh and rammed his knee into the rogue`s gut. As he leaned in to retort with his knife, Auguste sent him backwards with a fist to the face.
The high heel of Auguste`s boot stomped against his crotch, debilitating him long enough for Auguste to make quick work of tearing the hem of his white linen robe into a gag.
He hurriedly gathered the rogue`s hands behind his back, as Auguste cursed and praised the twelve above under his breath that Kaoru insisted on teaching him the sort of things that would get them arrested if they weren`t the bloody Warriors of Light.
Auguste had never done something like this before, even when liberating his own people from their centuries long hatred of the dragons. His breath caught in his throat in near hysterics as he pulled out his cane with shuddering hands.
“I have a better deal for you,” Auguste hissed, the flames licking his staff so keenly with anger that steam nearly rolled off his tongue. “I don`t kill you where you stand, and you tell me where Percimont is.”
The indent of his diamond wedding ring made a clear imprint on the man`s face, a stain of blood dripping from the glinting silvery band.
“Or else I`ll raze this godsdamned place to the ground!”
09.15.2019
I`m too late.
He`s going to die.
Thoughts like frigid steel stabbed through his chest, a chilling reminder of a moment where Auguste had already failed this test.
Wrong, wrong, wrong, sound the church bells in their solemn judgement.
He nearly trips, footfalls echoing off the high ceilings, angry saints staring down at him, weighing his soul with every step. He feels his tendons screaming in pain as he rights himself, scrambling up the stairs to find Aymeric bleeding at the hands of the clergy. Someone unsheaths their knife and goes at him from the rear.
“Aymeric!” Auguste cries out, throwing himself body and soul in front of him.
And it was about to happen all over again.
“Hey, that stings,” Perci groused as Auguste absentmindedly soaked his wound with a cloth.
“Ah? Oh, I`m sorry…”
“Don`t apologize. How`s your back doing?”
“Better than yesterday,” Auguste nods, remembering Perci`s lecture of stop saying you`re fine when it’s not fine and admitting that it did, indeed, still hurt.
A lot of things still hurt. Very much so.
He feels the sheets shift underneath him as Perci leans back and smiles, observing Auguste in his natural nursing habitat.
Everything still hurts, but perhaps “love” is the magical elixir that alchemists have been searching for.
“But more importantly, how is your–”
“Are we really having a contest? One of us took a sword for the Lord Commander and the other got a poisoned knife in the belly.”
Auguste can`t help but laugh as Perci always had a way of making the most dire situations sound just a little better than they were. They were likely one of the few couples who could lay claim to having matching wound dressing with bandages wrapped round their middles.
“You`re right, you`re right,” Auguste nods firmly as he wraps the gauze around Perci`s forearm. “It`s in my blood to worry, you know? You`ve met my mother, after all, and everyone says I take after her the most.”
Perci continues to watch as Auguste`s clever fingers work quickly with his first aid kit, humming a soft tune to himself.
“You know, when we first met, you couldn`t stop stuttering. You couldn`t even look me in the eye, for that matter.” He muses, gently grasping Auguste`s chin and tilting it up so that sea green meets ocean blue.
“And now look at you.”
Auguste`s first instinct is to look away, but he swallows hard and meets Perci`s gaze head on. His beautiful blues were practically sparkling, and Auguste`s free hand natural reaches to intertwine with Perci`s.
“When it comes to you, you know I can`t help myself.” Auguste sighs as this single instant stretches into an eternity for the two of them in their own little world.
Perci feels his chest tighten as he watches this angel before him in the soft light filtering from the setting sun. He feels like he could spend the rest of his life just gazing at his beloved, be it in this hospital bed, in the Fortemps manor, on the battlefield - anywhere, anywhere.
“…Say, Aucchan. What do you think about The Goblet?” Perci pipes up suddenly. “Some nice houses, huh?”
“Oh, I`ve been there.” Auguste`s entire expression lights up instantly. “It`s so warm, and there’s lots of beautiful flowers.”
I knew you`d say that.
“Say, Aucchan.” Perci traces two fingers up the side of Augustes arms, like a pair of legs going for a walk on the sunny avenue that`s Auguste pale arm, until he arrives at the ticklish crook of the elbow that makes Auguste laugh.
“Hmm?” He smiles and glances down at Perci`s ticklish fingertips, ready to answer a question about their friends or perhaps what`s for dinner.
“How do you feel about living with me?”
08.22.2019
Auguste ponders over his look, brushing his hair out as it washes over his shoulder in waves. He was letting it grow on purpose ever since Perci remarked his long hair was gorgeous all those years ago, but this time around was mostly due to things falling on the wayside in the First.
He wanted to clean up, start something fresh.
When he wore his hair down all those years ago, he was accustomed to having his hair covering a blushing face. People paid less attention to his stutter the more they couldn`t see his expression.
Perci gazed rapturously at Auguste`s expression, wondering what was different. He often wore his hair down to bed, or lazily tied it up in a loose bun.
But this was purposeful, a clear look at lovely green eyes.
“You`re not hiding your face anymore,” Perci murmurs against Auguste`s lips.
12.02.2019 (from 01.24.2019) (nsfw)
The rain made his shirt cling to the dip of his collarbone, his chest heaving with breath.
“Alright, I give, I give!” He gasped breathlessly. “You win.”
“What do I get for winning?” Perci gave him a wolfish grin.
Had this been a few months earlier, Auguste would have stuttered out a half baked thought, nervously twirling his hair.
As things were now, he offered a soft, innocuous smile rather than an answer. He allowed Perci to give pause for a moment as he wondered what he was up to this time. When he finally opened his mouth to question, he was tugged in roughly by the collar.
The first kiss was neat; that was something about Auguste that would never change. Prim, proper, and soft - perfect words to describe him.
The next kiss was more like Perci. It was sudden, the shock of teeth biting his lower lip that made him shudder. Auguste’s fingers tangled in lavender gray locks, licking at lips in a demand rather than a request.
Perci was all hands, glancing over the ticklish spot under Auguste’s chin that always made him shudder. His buttons were slicked by the rain, leaving Perci huffing slightly into the kiss as he settled for popping them off. He broke apart momentarily to look behold his handiwork, leaving Auguste licking at the saliva left over on his lips.
“I’m not sure who has the oral fixation here.” He chuckles, nipping at Auguste’s lips. Perci is fixed with a coy smile before an unceremoniously shoving of fingers in Perci’s mouth, earning him a delighted hum.
He lavished them in attention, drooling over Auguste’s long fingers, swirling his pink tongue over the tips before pulling off with an audible pop. He tucks a strand of hair behind his ears before pushing himself to the knuckle, moaning around his fingers and dragging a tongue along the underside.
Not one for being subtle, he left little to the imagination as he ground into Auguste’s hips. He prized them apart with a whine of objection, just long enough to pull his pants off and free his cock.
Auguste pulls the bottle of salve he’d placed in Perci’s pocket (just in case I need it for healing, or so he claimed). “This really is for all occasions,” he smirked against Perci’s lips as he slathered it on his fingers.
Perci settles for his neck and collar as curious fingers set to work. He leaves a mosaic of hickeys, biting at his nipple when long fingers brush against a particular spot.
Broken moans escape his throat as he drools onto Auguste’s chest. “Please, no more…” he whines. “Put it in. Please, pretty please?” He bites down on kiss bruised lips. “For me?”
A low sigh escapes him as he’s filled. Auguste bites into his shoulder to smother the groan at his tight heat, so welcome in the pouring rain.
[and then they engage in RAPTUROUS LOVEMAKING]
For once, even Auguste was too spent to clean up properly. Stripped of their clothes, Perci managed to button up half way as Auguste borrowed a sleep shirt, discovering far too late it was on backwards. and huddled into bed for warmth.
✽✽✽
His vision is hazy, something he merely chalks up to fatigue. He rises gingerly, making sure not to awaken Perci, although he would have to sit directly on him and bounce up and down to accomplish that.
His legs wobble slightly, making his way to the kitchen. His first though, as always, is to prepare a nice breakfast. But for some reason, the ingredients take awhile for him to think of. Let’s see, I need milk and eggs and...what’s that white stuff…right, sugar. Not salt. That would be bad.
He leans down to open the refrigerator door and quickly loses his balance.
A soft thump sounds as he lands on the floor, his sweaty skin relieved by the cooling sensation. A little nap suddenly sounds like a much better idea than cooking...
✽✽✽
Auguste wasn’t the type to dine and dash, so to speak, so he was definitely here somewhere.
Normally the view of Auguste laying on the ground without his underwear was a good thing. But something was definitely off. Perci hurried over and noted the spilled ingredients around his feet. It definitely wasn’t like Auguste to leave a mess.
“Auguste? Hey, are you okay?” Perci reaches out to touch his cheek and gasps at how hot his skin is.
“Hey Tataru, are you there? Listen, I think Auguste is dead…!”
“Dead?” Her already high pitched voice becomes a bat signal, rendering Perci immobile. “What do you mean? How on earth could he have died!?”
“Heck if I know! But he’s burning hot, and he’s collapsed on the floor, and he won’t move no matter how much I shake him, and—”
“You’re getting ahead of yourself!” She interrupts before Perci can babble any further. “Listen, touch his chest.”
That was something he didn’t object to, but in the context of things, it was much more clinical than the usual groping.
“He’s breathing, isn’t he?” Tataru prompts.
“Y-Yeah...I guess so.” The rise and fall is slight, but there.
“Good. Dead people don’t breathe, so he’s probably got a fever.”
✽✽✽
“Thank you for taking care of me,” His voice is a feather light whisper.
“Of course, silly. You think I was going to leave you on that floor?” He smiles. “Well you did look pretty cozy so I was tempted.”
“Well, there’s no use crying over spilt milk.
There’s so much to do...I have to get better soon. Look, your room is a mess!”
“I am a fully grown man you know.” Perci scoffs.
Auguste laughs. “I know. It’s just become a habit of mine now.”
Which habit? Cleaning, or being with him?
01.29.2020 (from 07.25.2019)
“Your mother isn`t feeling very well today,” the maid gently pet Auguste on the head as he dried his eyes. “Now be a good boy. We must pray for her to get well soon.”
Auguste truly was a good boy. He always listened to what the adults had to say, always obeyed them. But this time, he wanted to throw himself to the ground and have a fit. It made no sense; she looked perfectly fine last night! She tucked him into bed, same as always.
Maybe it had something to do with the noises Auguste had awoken in the middle of the night. A single voice crying out in the darkness, something he thought he was just imagining.
“Mama doesn`t feel well…” He mumbled to himself, legs swinging on the lacquered chair where he sat in the kitchen all by himself. He looked curiously at the bowl of fruit before him as he sipped the cup of tea the maid had given him a cup of tea to settle his morning oatmeal.
Whenever he didn`t feel well, Mama made him warm beet soup and sang him lullabies. He sat up straight, nearly knocking the teacup from the table. Surely he could do that much for her!
✽✽✽
“My father wouldn`t have wanted this!” Auguste gestures desperately to the crowd of angry faces that have formed around him, rioting over the wounded body of the dragon looming over head.
“Would that he could tell you how wrong you are to your face, boy. Think of who`s responsible for that!” His words cut like icy daggers, and Auguste is at a loss for what to say in return. Because the worst part is, he`s right.
“That`s enough,” Aymeric shields Auguste with his arm and ushers him back to the platform. He hears murmurs of dissent towards “the lord commander`s obedient lapdog.”
✽✽✽
“It`s fine,” Auguste sighed and rubbed his shoulder absentmindedly. His head was full with the words of the crowd begging for Nidhogg`s blood spilled on his hands. He wanted to deliver his people from a thousand years of rage, yet at the same time they glared at him behind his back, angry whispers of “the lord commander`s bitch” working to consort with the enemy yet again.
He lets out a breath. Exhale all of the anger, draw in the healing aether…
Yet it just wasn`t working the way it should. Where his wounds should stitch together with a pleasant tang of mint, he feels nothing but pain.
“Auguste.” Perci snaps him back to reality, turning his head to his beloved resting in his hospital bed. The color was coming back to his cheeks, but he still looked very tired. “Shouldn`t you be sleeping?”
“I should...but I didn`t get to see you today.” He rarely got to spend time with Perci anymore since he was on bed rest, and he was being pulled hither and thither through the forelands, being prostrated before dragon and man, both holding him with equal promise and scorn. He was so, so tired.
“I`m clearly not going anywhere,” Perci jokes, managing to wrench a tiny smile from Auguste`s lips. “What did I tell you before?” He shakes his head, lips turning into a grim line as he regards how sallow Auguste`s cheeks had become. “Please, listen to me, Auguste.” When he said his name, that`s how Auguste knew he was serious. Right, they had this conversation just the other week. He takes another deep breath, steeling himself for what comes next.
“I... I need…”
Why is it the hardest word to say?
One more breath, you can do this.
“...A hug.”
Perci quickly pulls him in, already one step ahead. He waits expectantly, knowing that Auguste wasn`t done judging by how stiff he remained.
“...Please, hold me.” Auguste`s voice breaks as he buries his face in Perci`s shoulder. He absently feels his head being cradled as his gives himself over to the sorrow that had taken root in his veins, blossoming into bouquets of tears.
Much of what happens next is a tender lullaby of contentment. He sleepily recalls soft murmurs in his ear, a whisper of ‘I love you’ before falling into a blanket of warmth, the sweet succor of darkness. Auguste hadn`t slept much the last two weeks, but in Perci`s arms he finds peace to relinquish control and allow himself to fall.
As the dawn crept through satin curtains, a door creaks open, disturbing their rest. Auguste moans softly in his sleep, eyebrows knit as he curls up closer to Perci`s warmth.
“I swear to Halone above,” Perci hisses venomously, “if you wake him up, I`ll--”
The chirurgeon hurriedly raises their hands in a gesture of defeat and runs back out the door.
Perci would do anything to dry those tears and make his beautiful pink smile blossom once more.
“Just tell me what you need,” he murmurs and Auguste lets himself be held close as he considers. He’s a simple man, he doesn’t need much in this life. The warrior of light is the title of glory and riches yet all he wants is…
“A kiss.” Auguste whispers and taps his cheek. Perci gladly obliges, pressing one to his left, his right, his forehead, his ear.
“Wait, wait, I just said one, Perci--” He’s silenced by a kiss to his lips, feather light and gone like morning dew as he stares in shock at Perci. He`d always been a shy kisser, so he knows how much this means to him. Auguste crushes him (as gingerly as he can in deference to both of their wounds) in a hug.
“Oh, Perci…”Auguste whimpers.
“I know, Au-chan.” Perci tangles his fingers in long, silky hair.
“I love you so much.”
“I love you, too.”
✽✽✽
Truthfully, Perci was vexed he couldn’t join Auguste, but Auguste was privately relieved. If anything happened to him, Auguste could never forgive himself.
When he saw Perci wounded with poison, he thought of his Mother sighing in the window, holding the last token her beloved left behind. Was Auguste only doomed to repeat history?
He wanted to break the cycle.
Auguste presses his palm against Perci`s heart. Perci smiles, cupping Auguste`s hand protectively.
“Feel my heart beating, only for you, Auguste. Take it and be filled with love, and go forth.”
“I`m coming back, Perci. I promise.”
“I know you will.”
