(no subject)

[thewidewideworld]

{From here}

Sinric's room hasn't changed, much even if it's owner has. The bed is larger with a soft Indian cotton spread of rich blue instead of the winter furs.

He fetches a towel down from the cupboard and hands it to Emcee, offering him the neat little ensuite bathroom.

"I'll be here if you need anything at all." He soothes, giving Emcee's room.

Comments

[i_am_your_host]

He breathes out a stiff chuckle.

"Fighting back was never my strongest suit," he says wryly, and he sighs.

"When he was writhing on the floor in agony, I managed to get up. I grabbed my coat-- and his trousers. And I ran out of there, as fast as I could. He'd taken me to a cheap hotel so he had no other clothes. He couldn't follow me."

He stifles a grin.

"I actually used to do that when I was younger. Run off with someone's trousers if they treated me badly or didn't pay, then I'd dump the pants in the gutter. Tonight I was just too busy running. I turned down an alley and through a gate, and then here I was. Still with his trousers in my hand."

A pause.

"I'm going to chuck them into the fireplace later."

[thewidewideworld]

"Old habits die hardest." Sinric can't help but smile. "In your fury, you found a way to punish him."

[i_am_your_host]

"I've never physically lashed out like that at anyone before," he muses. "But perhaps everyone has their breaking point."

[thewidewideworld]

He nods. "I think... I think maybe that's how I reached Kamino. By passing the point I could no-longer suffer. By breaking taboos that I should not have broken."

[i_am_your_host]

He turns his head toward him with a questioning frown.

"Breaking taboos?"

[thewidewideworld]

"I touched him." Sinric explains simply. "The Imperial family are referred to as those above the clouds. They are seen as living gods, descended from gods. And none may touch their skin without being sanctified and purified by the high priests. He was taking me to those priests when he-" He cuts himself off, not wanting to give name to the abuse. "When he was with me, it was always clad in silk or fine leather, not part of him touching bare skin. He even wore a false manhood of jade to take me."

"But when I could bear it no more, I slipped my hand under his armour and touched his cheek, skin to skin. I think, looking back, no-one had ever touched him like that. Perhaps that is what broke him from his rage."

[i_am_your_host]

Again he listens quietly, making no judgments, not pressing him to say what he doesn't want to.

"I had no idea such practices existed," he murmurs, still frowning.

"But I am glad you found a way to take control by seemingly the simplest gesture possible."

[thewidewideworld]

"I had heard rumours of such things. In the Sino Empire, it was consider proper that chosen lovers were checked for signs of illness before being allowed to become imperial consorts but in Nippon, that precautions, like many things, were taken to extremes of law."

"In truth, I didn't know it would work. I just... couldn't bear to submit to suffering any further."

He looks up at Emcee and smiles softly. "He asked me to keep it, you know - his phallus of jade. I carry it amongst my things. He... found pleasure in me using it with him." He bites his lip, imparting the words as a secret. "As did I."

[i_am_your_host]

"All that matters, then, is that it did work, and it set you free-- the both of you, apparently," he says. And he smiles faintly with the one corner of his mouth that isn't painful. "A jade phallus is certainly a very precious and intimate gift."

[thewidewideworld]

"Would you like to see it?" He asks softly. He wouldn't normally show anyone but Emcee isn't anyone. Emcee is someone who understands.

[i_am_your_host]

His eyes widen a little and he blinks at the offer.

"You would show it to me?" he says, surprised, but his tone just as soft. "Yes-- yes, I would very much like to see it."

[thewidewideworld]

He nods and slips off the bed, reaching for the little pouch he usually wears at his hip. It seems very small to hold such things. Sinric opens it and slips his hand inside, vanishing almost to the mid-forearm.

A moment of searching he returns with a lacquered box in black and gold.

He carries it to the bed and lays it down, opening it and unwrapping the silk covers. Inside is beautiful phallus of deepest green jade, swirled with veins of milky white. Very clean and well cared for, he offers it to Emcee on its silk cloth. The surface is carved with patterns of lotus blossoms, dragon scales and bamboo; the edges carefully smoothed. The body is no more than a few millimetres thick, almost translucent at the lower points of the patterns.

The base flanges out, designed to sit against the pelvis and held in place with a fine leather belt.

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee's eyes widen again at the magic pouch. Because magic. But also, Milliways. People can get anything magically out-of-the-ordinary here.

But then he watches as Sinric unwraps the phallus, and he takes it when offered.

"It's beautiful," he murmurs, holding it up to eye level, and running a fingertip over the intricate carvings. The jade is cool but warms to his touch. "I have never seen anything like it in my life."

He's seen a few unusual dildos, of course, but this is something on a whole other level.

[thewidewideworld]

"The work of a great craftsman, no doubt. The Nippon people are the most focused I have know. They devote themselves utterly to perfecting their art with a dedication I have never seen." He nods to the phallus. "Such a thing may have taken years to make and many iterations to perfect. I was very honoured by the gift, both for the beauty of the thing itself and the meaning behind it."

[i_am_your_host]

"It is indeed incredible, a work of art in its own right," he says, turning the phallus over and around just to admire every literal inch of it. Then, carefully wrapping it in its silk covering, he gives it back to Sinric.

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric stows it again with exacting care. "It was strange to me, to discover how much I enjoyed it, playing the dominant role."

[i_am_your_host]

"Much like you enjoyed fucking my brains out during Cubefall?" he teases wryly.

[thewidewideworld]

Sinric blushes warmly and ducks his head. "I'm... very glad of your guidance that night. It helped me immensely."

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee would grin warmly if not for the pain, but the warmth and gentle amusement is in his eyes as he holds his hand out to Sinric to draw him close again.

"It was my pleasure-- and yours as well," he adds with good-humor. "But I think we both learned a thing or two about each other and ourselves."

[thewidewideworld]

"Just so." He settles back, closes against Emcee. "It was wonderfully enlightening."

He pushes Emcee's hair back softly. "You seem tired, my mirror. Will you rest here awhile?"

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee sighs.

"I am exhausted on every level, darling," he says, deflating even more even as he says the words. Physically, mentally, emotionally. He's not particularly spiritual, but if he were, he'd be spiritually exhausted as well.

"I-- I would like to stay the night, thank you. If it isn't too much trouble for you?"

[thewidewideworld]

"I very much hoped you would stay." Sinric answers, pulling the covers up around them.

[i_am_your_host]

"Thank you for taking me in."

Emcee would kiss him, but instead, as they settle down together, he pulls him closer, drawing up one of Sinric's hands to rest on his chest. Over his heart. He covers it with his own hand, stroking the finely boned knuckles with his thumb as he tries to get some rest.


[ooc: head for a wrap?]

[thewidewideworld]

"You're always welcome, my mirror." He kisses Emcee's cheek, his fingers moving gently against Emcee's as they both fall asleep.

{ooc: Lovely, thank you!}