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{from here}

Sin leads Athelstan outside, hand in hand. The sun has just set and the first stars are coming out. Sin draws him gently to an out of the way corner where the grass is soft and there's a view of the sky over the lake. "Here, lay down with me."

He stretches out on the grass, his white blouse riding up to reveal creamy flesh framed by his low slung jeans.

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"Please, be my guest." Sin rolls onto his back, leaving his chest open to Athelstan's touch.

"More or less. I have heavier jewellery that I can change out when I need it. They provide a kind of constant low level stimulation that distracts me."

He'll move on to Sin's chest in due time, but first he lifts his wrist in delicate fingers.

"The people in the town weren't diverting for you?"

Sin hadn't realised Athelstan's meant his scars but let's him touch and see without complain. Three even cuts, each deeper that the last, scars almost silver in the moonlight.

"I knew no-one there, I was just passing through when the storm hit and closer the roads for the winter."

"The Icelanders are a gentle, pragmatic people. They readily accept eccentricities but are not always quick to engage with those outside their idea of normal. They keep themselves to themselves, preferring a stability communities like that must need to survive."

"Olaf was... an exception to that rule, not that you would have known it from the outside."

Edited 2015-07-20 00:35 (UTC)

He raises the scarred wrist towards his lips, slowly, giving Sin time to pull it away.

"Olaf was who did the piercings?"

Sin doesn't pull away, his eyes fluttering with a warm sigh as Athelstan's lips brush the spot.

He hums an affirmative. "He made his living as a builder but his passion was for body modifications and photography. He took the most amazing series of studies of me during those months. I'm told he sold three to the Tate Modern."

"Maybe you've helped him, then", Athelstan suggests. "It's hard to make money from art, but if they're buying from him, he's made his name."

"I hope so. I don't think I would have seen the sun again without his intervention."

"And what a waste that would have been", Athelstan murmurs, and lets go of Sinric's wrist to move closer to him.

"Everything happens for a reason. Beginnings and ends." He pulls Athelstan close and kisses him. "You know you're the first person I've told that story to."

"Not even Ragnar?"

He presses a kiss to Sinric's jaw.

He shakes his head and strokes Athelstan's hair, head tilted back to offer Athelstan his throat. "He hasn't asked and I haven't told. Ragnar is a wonderful, caring man. For all he might come across as a scoundrel, he likes to protect people, more than he lets on. If he knew, he'd want to shelter and protect me. And I'd end up hating him for it."

Edited 2015-07-20 03:30 (UTC)

That lovely throat is very tempting, and for once he doesn't resist.

"Because he'd want to keep you with him?"

Sin nods, moaning softly as Athelstan kisses his neck. "I can't be kept. I won't be kept, not again."

He pauses, lips still on Sin's neck, then asks very gently, "Again?"

"I was owned once. Never again."

"Nobody should be owned", he says with uncommon fierceness. "Not ever."

Sin guides him up to look him in the eye before kissing him slowly and deeply. "Thank you."

When the kiss ends, he makes a sort of 'think nothing of it' gesture.

"Look what you've done for me."

He still can't quite verbalise the fact that he's gay - or bi? Who knows, he certainly doesn't yet - but they've made a start.

Sin laughs and hugs him. "Oh beautiful Athelstan, I didn't do this to you. I've been accused of turning men queer before it was never than for you. All I did was open the cage. Flying free is all your own doing."

"I never met anyone before tonight who tried to - open the cage." He smoothes his curls down again self-consciously. "Or thought I was beautiful."

"You are beautiful. So very, very beautiful." He kisses Athelstan again.

"The trouble is most people don't see the cage because it's here." He presses a gentle hand over Athelstan's heart. "And here," He smoothes the soft curls at his temple. "Those locks are open now. Freedom can be terrifying at first but it's so much better than the alternative. And with Ragnar watching over you, you won't have to face it alone."

Even with his shirt off, he hasn't let Sinric see his back. This is for a reason. The marks are old and fading and don't feel like much, to a hand touching without looking, but they're there.

"He can protect me, if... if they try to bring me back in."

Even without seeing the marks, Sin seems to sense the anxiety in and behind Athelstan's words.

His eyes blaze hotly. "Him, me and the armies of people we know between us. No-one will take you anywhere against your will." It's a promise and a solemn promise.

"Thank you", he whispers. "If they knew I was giving in to these sinful feelings... they might just cut me off."

Edited 2015-07-20 10:43 (UTC)

"Athelstan, look at me." He waits till he had Athelstan's eye. "Tell me, does this feel wrong?" He cups his cheek again and kisses him sweet and slow.