[Talk Like a Pirate Day] Chapter 4: "Shot Across the Bow"
As promised, hot off the proverbial presses. Sorry for the delay, but it was necessary.
STORY TITLE: "Talk Like a Pirate Day"
CHAPTER: 4 - "Shot Across the Bow"
SERIES: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, xxxHoLic, X/1999, Tokyo Babylon
DISCLAIMER: Everything in the CLAMP Megaverse was originally created by CLAMP. They are entirely to blame for creating a system of crossovers that do not easily disclaim. Characters have been adapted without authorization or approval, and I am making no profit from their use.
PAIRINGS: Kurogane x Fai D. Fluorite (main). References made to: Doumeki Shizuka x Watanuki Kimihiro, Aoki Seiichirou x Kasumi Karen, Li Syaoran x Princess Sakura, Sakurazuka Seishirou x Sumeragi Subaru, Clow Reed x Ichihara Yuuko, Ashura-Ou x Fai D. Fluorite (this list may not be exhaustive for future chapters)
RATING: R, for sex, violence, and/or sexual violence.
WARNINGS: 1) Pirates. 2) Ninjas. 3) Gratuitous sex. 4) Light, fluffy bondage. 5) My very responsible beta, sumeria, tells me I should also warn for Dubious Consent (though I wish to assure readers that, in what I write, actual consent is non-negotiable).
SEQUEL TO: Rum & Popcorn
SUMMARY: Long ago, in a universe slightly askew to this one, circumstances beyond anyone's control led to a fierce and bitter rivalry between Pirates and Ninjas... but Kurogane doesn't care about that. His only concern is to retrieve Princess Sakura and Syaoran from the Pirate King's ship.
Previously...
1: Ahoy, Matey!
2: Drivelswigger
3: Jolly Roger
Shot Across the Bow (n) a warning shot to another vessel, used as a convention before proper hostilities begin
Trouble wore a lot of guises, Kurogane had learned over the years, and today it was lithe, blond, and pretty, with clear blue eyes. He was in prison here, just as sure as Syaoran and the Princess were in the brig. The only difference was that he wasn't meant to notice. His warden seemed to hope that his natural gifts would distract Kurogane from that fact. The man would have to suffer some disappointment.
He watched his watcher out of the corner of his eye as he shaved, using his reflection in the porthole that graced the tiny cabin. The odds were high that the entire little charade in the officers' mess had been put in place for the captives' benefit, to protect the one biggest secret of the entire Pirates' Guild, but they'd made a mistake when matters hadn't gone according to their plan.
How many captains took their cues from a joking cabin-hand? Sora the Hatless might be light-hearted, but that was going too far. Not to mention the question of how many cabin-hands kept a room to themselves on a sailing ship like this. For all that it was narrow and gave them both no more than the minimum of space needed to move, it was a room for someone of rank. A crew cabin would never have a desk. Another berth, maybe, up to two or three if both spaces were bunked. And then there were certain unconscious clues the body could suppress but never fully erase. Once they were off this ship, he'd have to see if Syaoran had noticed the way each pirate lord had subtly straightened up and gone on guard when their supposed servant had walked by.
Not that he could blame the boy for being preoccupied under the circumstances.
But unless Kurogane's instincts had failed him, the Pirate King had decided to keep an eye on him personally. It might have been a whim, or perhaps another move in the same unknown gambit that had led to kidnapping the Princess in the first place, or -- Kurogane hated to admit -- his cover might have been made. All that remained was to determine which it was before he made a break for where the boy and Princess Sakura were caged.
"Room for two with a squeeze, you say?" Kurogane finished his shave and stowed his knife while he examined the bed and the man sitting on it straight on. "Looks cramped to me. I'll be fine with the floor." Best to make it clear wouldn’t be seduced into a weaponless stupor so that a particularly dangerous enemy could lead him around by the cock-and-bull.
"I think you'll regret that," the man answered with a pout. He turned in his seat and faced Kurogane, splitting his legs to hug the support pillar that mounted the berth to the floor and ceiling. The buttons on his cuffs were the first to come undone in what Kurogane was certain would be quite a show. "The waves can toss and turn quite powerfully at night. You won't find the walls to be nearly as accommodating as I am."
Kurogane leaned up against one of those inconsiderate walls and took a good look at the offer he was getting. He'd done worse, that was for sure, but there was a fine line between enjoying oneself in the line of duty and getting played. He didn't want to cross it. "Are you this accommodating with all the shipwrecked sailors who wash up on your decks?"
"Just the tall, dark, and mysterious ones," the fair man shot back. "When they keep staring at me like you do, anyway."
Well, games had two players. He strolled up to the berth and leaned against the pillar while he traced the man's chin with his thumb. "Was I staring?" Kurogane asked. That coaxed a little smile out of him -- a coy, triumphant little smile, and a wicked sparkle in his eye.
"Watching me like a hawk."
"So you didn't just want to save that ninja you've got in the brig from overcrowding?" He dropped his hand to the man's collar and pulled loose the bow that held it shut. The blond had been hiding some fine collarbones underneath the light ruffles edging the laces. The tiny motions of breathing drew Kurogane's eyes all over the kissing hollows they made at the base of the man's slender throat. "And you won't clap me in irons the minute there's space down below?"
Delicate fingers that he wouldn't have guessed had seen years at sea tested the muscles running up the back of his thigh. "Oh," the pirate sighed as he shifted further back on the bedding. "I'm sure if you ask nicely, something could be arranged. But for the moment, I just want to see what you're made of."
What he was made of? The real question was what his sparring partner meant by that. If Watanuki's intel was trustworthy, a roll in the sheets wasn't out of the question for someone who wanted to test if he were really a pirate or was just a man in boots and a conspicuous coat, and he certainly couldn't hesitate if this were a test. Taking half a second to toe off his boots, Kurogane climbed onto the berth with his knee and shoved the pirate down roughly by the shoulder, pushing his tongue into his willing mouth for a kiss without pausing for formalities. The narrow bed was just as tight a fit as it had looked, but -- as promised -- there was room for two.
...As long as they fit like sword and sheath. The wooden joints that held the berth to the wall creaked under the weight of their bodies pushing together. The frame of the ship made the same complaints about the force of the waves, but this was no slow roll on a calm ocean. His warden had spirit, and a gift for navigating the tight space. He was pressed so close that Kurogane could feel the force of it through all his body at once, but he had all the access he could ask for. Their limbs twined and his hands could maneuver under cloth to find the body that was teasing him; and below him, a cunning lover was learning fast how to stir his blood by tracing his scars with his fingertips.
It was rare for a pirate to have such a pleasant, silky touch to his skin. Usually the harsh winds whipping through the rigging and the sails left it dry, and the labor made it hard. But under Kurogane's hands and on his tongue, the only trace of salt was the faint savor where the ocean's spray had dried on his neck. A temptation that had probably brought more than one man to his knees if his companion was so sure it would work again, and potent in combination with the way he was moaning against Kurogane’s ear. Even he might lose his head in that if he weren’t careful. Kurogane broke for a moment to tear his shirt off his back -- and to clear his head -- and took a long, considering look at the man gazing up from the bedsheets. He couldn't take this lightly; the pirate was playing for higher stakes than Kurogane cared to lose.
It was an odd thrill, thinking he could lose. It sent a shiver to the base of his spine as he tugged on the lacings holding the blond’s pants closed. One just hard enough to untie the knot, one hard enough to rip the cord out completely -- drawing a rough gasp and a smile from the pirate. Every grin, every sparkle in his eye, was like a dare. One question hovered in the narrow space: which way would he go? It seemed like he knew every move his enemy could make and like his enemy was saying he knew the same. But whichever direction he took, he knew he’d go all the way, and the man offering his bed wouldn’t stop short, either. It was in every trembling moan when Kurogane slid his hands further along his rival’s skin. Whatever schemes the pirate was putting on, he wasn't faking that. He said he'd read desire in a ninja’s eyes, and maybe the pirate could, but however much he wouldn't deny a certain visceral thrill at the thought of riding deep in a lover like that, he could tell from the shine on the pirate's eyes -- Fai, someone had called him -- that when he opened himself, it was to satisfy more than curiosity.
He moved fast. Almost too fast -- Kurogane could feel the push as Fai rolled on top before he realized they were shifting, and rolled with him by instinct. The lamplight caught on the smooth lines of his shameless smile. He'd looked lean in his clothes -- slight, with a strength only betrayed by his movement before, and now by the oil-lamp that traced the flat rise and dip of the sculpture of his chest. The golden key hanging from the long chain on his neck swung free and cast dancing lights all around their bodies and the small berth.
Kurogane slipped a hand back inside Fai's pants as they dropped loose around his hips, and another traced the long lines of his chest, snatching that gleaming form back down to meet him.
"Well, don't hold anything back on my account, lover," the pirate murmured through bites and kisses that kept the ninja wondering which kind of thrill the next instant was going to bring.
He loosened his belt while the devil's tongue traced down from his neck, down his chest, down... a slow retreat with Kurogane's fingers tangled in his hair. It would have been easy to lose his head in the rush of his blood, but he always kept control. Sometimes, he wondered what it would be like to hold a man like that in his arms without needing to strive for anything but the moment -- but a man like that would always be too dangerous to take the risk. The most beautiful temptations were the predators, and he would not be made prey.
The feel of the pirate unbuttoning his trousers with his teeth and nipping at the tender skin on his abdomen, a smooth cheek brushing against his hardening cock, made him shudder, but he wasn’t so far gone that he’d miss the next play. The sharp bite down by his hip was no tooth, he knew -- not deep, but made by cold metal. Even as Fai started to lap the well of blood from a skin-deep slice, Kurogane knocked the pirate's wrist against the wall hard enough to make him drop the knife he'd pulled unseen, but not to make the grin drop from his lips. If anything, he looked like he couldn't be happier. Damn him for a jade. "Let's leave the toys in the box for now," the ninja hissed. His pleasant companion was dangerous enough in bed unarmed.
"Oh, don't you trust me?" the blond asked with a mock pout.
"Not a chance in hell."
The pirate stretched up to reach a low hanging rafter while he chastised Kurogane for the comment with a click of his tongue. From here, the ninja could see a gleam that might be a weapon resting on top of the beam -- one far more serious than a knife. At least the cut on his hip felt just like a simple cut. No burning from an acid poison, no symptoms to tell him he'd been drugged.
"That's mean, you know," Fai told him, like a mockery of a school teacher, hovering debauched and disheveled above him. "After all, I trust you." The predatory smile bloomed on his face again as he added, "... Ku-ro-ga-ne."
The clatter of wood and cutlass echoed loud through the cabin as he whipped the pirate down and they fell together to the floor. The man was stronger than he looked, and it wasn't easy to subdue him, but Kurogane took every advantage he had over the slender pirate in a grappling match. By the time they’d hit the floor and rolled into the wall, he'd managed to take the pirate and pin his wrists crossed behind his back. In a fraction of an instant, he'd tied them together with the sash at his belt and the blond had stopped struggling in favor of laughing, as if being taken prisoner didn't mean a thing.
Kurogane wouldn't be surprised at all if he could escape from most bonds without trouble, and he wasn't taking more chances with the pirate than he had to. His belt came off next, looped around Fai's neck. The ninja held the buckle in his teeth and threaded the end through, pulling the length of the belt down his captive's back to where he could use the hanger for his dirk to sturdy his knots; but as he was securing it tight, listening to the pirate’s low, sensual laughter in response to the stiff collaring, the door flew open wide.
"What's going on?! I heard --" Kurogane recognized the voice as the first mate, and turned his eyes to the door as high on alert as he'd ever been. Two pirates at that level could be too much. But Death Shirou wasn’t attacking. He was standing still now, longsword drawn and an eyebrow twitching, while he let out a pained sigh. "Oh, god."
"We're fine here, thanks," Fai answered. You could hear him smiling brightly, just from the tone in his voice.
The first mate shut his eyes tight before he sheathed his sword and answered, "Right. Leaving now." As the door closed, Kurogane could have sworn he heard the man mutter, "Must you?"
The ninja didn't waste another second in butterflying loops around his captive's elbows to lock his arms in, anchoring all the knots in his sash to the hanger on his belt. Fai didn't make any sign of struggling further. No doubt he trusted himself to escape when Kurogane wasn't looking, and trusted the situation and his sex appeal to keep him alive that long. "Talk," he ordered the pirate, pulling at the belt to let him know his bonds could get tight enough to hurt if they had to.
"Oh, well..." The blond turned his head over his shoulder with an innocent blink. "Actually my nose itches a bit. Would you mind getting that for me?"
He slammed the pirate's shoulder to the floor, face and neck pinned, instead of answering.
"Thanks." There was a faint line of red on the pirate's cheekbone now, more an abrasion than a cut. "And if you want to know when I made you, it was when Arashi brought you out. I've seen you fight before, Kuro-tan, and you're really quite distinctive."
"The hidden identities go both ways, though." He hauled the man back upright to whisper in his ear. "You didn't think you'd fool me?"
The pirate rolled his eyes with a toss of his head. "Let's skip the part where I know you know, because I know you know I know you know." He paused and repeated his words to himself to check what he’d said. "Yes, that’s right. Get on to the good parts, would you?"
"So you are the Pirate King." He fisted his fingers in his captive’s hair to force his head around and stared down the gleam in his eye, focusing away from the tempting way he licked his lips.
"And it is, it is a glorious thing to be a Pirate King." He gasped out loud as Kurogane pulled an arm roughly and made his back arch with the strain. The pirate laughed again, then, and added, "But you can call me Fai."
"What do you want with the Princess Sakura?"
"Time, that’s all. And I’ll answer all of your questions, Kuro-pii. You only have to ask nicely."
"I doubt you’d answer them straight."
Fai let out a long sigh and tilted back his head so that his pale neck was back in reach of Kurogane’s breath. "Oh, I have a firm policy of not doing anything straight."
With a growl, he switched questions. If he could get the Princess away, there would be time to find out what his plot was. What he needed to know now was what he was facing. "Tell me about the ‘Dragon of Earth’."
"What’s to know?" The light strain against his bonds looked like he was trying to shrug. "She’s a ship."
"Not just any ship. And I’d say the Sumeragi would agree, wouldn’t you?"
The pirate shook his head with an over-dramatic sadness, not minding the tightening bonds on his arms pulling his wrists into a wrenched lock. "Poor Subaru," he sighed. "His reasons are personal, I’m afraid, nothing to do with the ship itself."
"No games." He didn’t hold a knife to the pirate’s throat, since he had to assume Fai would know it was an empty threat. He wanted information, at the moment, not blood. He’d haul the man back home and take his time asking rather than kill him here. Instead, he forced him down to the floor and leaned on an arm, not quite enough to break it. "Answers."
"Answers?" His captive laughed with half-manic glee. "Tell me, Kuro-rin... Do you believe in demons?"
Well, he’d believe that if any men would be called demons, they’d be the crew of the ‘Dragon of Earth’, but the pirate wasn’t the one asking the questions. "Why don’t you tell me some more about that, your majesty?"
"Hmm." After a moment, Fai shook his head as best as he could against the floor. "There are things that men weren’t meant to know, lover. It’s too late for me, but I think I’ll spare you." Every second made it clearer that each moment trying to make the pirate talk was a moment wasted, when he could have been getting his comrades and his prisoner off the ship. But another low chuckle rolled out of the pirate’s throat after he’d paused slightly too long. "Was that all you wanted to know, or have you decided that’s all you can get? Because I’ll tell you one thing for free." He pushed up with his legs and shoulders, riding against Kurogane as his trousers pooled around his knees revealed more of the smooth, pale thighs the pirate clearly trusted to tease his captor. "You can still have what you really want. A little bit of bondage isn’t a deal-breaker for me."
Kurogane studied the man’s slim hips and thighs, hearing the challenge in the Fai’s voice. The pirate thought he would balk, but he’d learn otherwise. A hint of surprise showed under the bliss in the man’s expression and in his moan when Kurogane teased his opening with a knuckle. "You mean this? Pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you? But maybe I won’t give you the satisfaction."
"Ooh, so you like it when people beg. Shall I say ‘please’? Pretty please, Kuro-sama. Put me in my place. Make me scream... if you can. I promise you’re not going to do it any other way."
From a knuckle to two fingers, he pushed his way inside, forcing a loud cry out of the pirate’s throat when he hit the right spot. The sound rung in his blood. He was going to take that body -- the thought beat like a song in a low, heavy rhythm. Every groan from the fair-haired man doubled over underneath him promised that. This time, he’d call the pirate’s bluff. He’d make Fai come so hard he’d want to scream -- need to scream.
All night, he’d had nothing but games from the blond, and the moans when he stroked his captive’s erection didn’t sound any different from the ones that had tempted him in the narrow bed -- but the next time the man on the floor panted, "Please!" he wasn’t playing a game. There was no guile left in the sinuous arch of his back. He thrust down on Kurogane’s fingers, begging for more. Well, he would make sure Fai got all the more he wanted.
He had already pressed the head of his cock into the pirate before the thought flickered through his mind that it might have been more polite to have found some kind of lubricant. Then his mind went blank, erased by the shudder of the blond’s body tightening and releasing around him. A moaned word sounded through the cabin that he couldn’t hear over the rush of his blood, but he knew exactly what it meant. He thrust further in; the creak of the floorboards under them raced to a higher tempo -- the only sound not drowned out by the touch of skin and leather or the harsh cries of ecstasy from a voice he was certain he wouldn’t forget.
The ninja could feel the tremble as Fai’s legs gave out and pulled him up by the shoulders before they both tumbled to the floor. He sat back, the blond crashing against his chest with a gasp of pain from the wrenching of the bindings followed hard by a trailing moan. And he held the man there while he pushed himself all the way inside. There was no snap from the bone in his arms, not that Kurogane knew anymore if that would have stopped him. Not that he knew if the pirate would have wanted him to stop, or would have liked it all the better for that. He breathed in the scent of sweat, tasted the back of his neck one more time, listened to the way cries had made his throat raw from close enough to feel him panting. He had just enough reason left to think about bringing the man off and pulling out -- not leaving him with the thought that he had what it took to make the ninja come.
He could have stopped, could have gotten himself down, he was sure of it. But something in the shudder of Fai coming over his hand and the sound of the scream he’d been after... Something in the blood-stained, panting mouth and the long, fiendish gleam in those blue eyes...
He thrust deep into the man, shaking with a thrill he couldn’t contain. It was over in a flash of blinding fervor, but at the same time, it wasn’t over. He looked at the quivering, bound man falling out of his arms and rolling to the floor -- giggling softly like a madman, wearing only the ninja’s belts and a euphoric smile -- and Kurogane knew this was anything but over. Another day, another week, another year. They all flashed before his eyes in that slow moment after the rush. All the times this man would get away from him, tease him, and come back for more.
At least, he’d try.
Kurogane took to his feet, masking any shaking that was left in his limbs -- bound up his pants, went to look for his shirt. He left Fai on the floor, and the blue-eyed pirate was staring at him as if he, too, had seen that neither of them would get out of this so easily. "You know, if you leave me here, I won’t be waiting when you get back."
Picking up the cutlass and stowing it back on the rafter, then tucking the dagger into his sleeve, Kurogane let out a heavy sigh. That wasn’t an empty threat. But he wasn’t going to fail in his mission because he’d gotten distracted by a comely blond. That had been the pirate’s plan from the beginning.
He slung his jacket over his shoulder and stepped into his boots, tossing the sheathed dirk at the floor by the Pirate King. He didn’t have the belt for it anymore, and with his cover blown, he could summon Ginryuu should he need a blade. "Call it a head start," Kurogane said, then knelt to trace some of the sweat off of Fai’s arm. The stroke of his hand had been an impulse, nothing more, but he took his time to consider before he pulled the man up by the elbow and kissed him fair -- soft and gentle, and everything they hadn’t been since they’d walked into this room. He liked the confused suspicion in the pirate’s eyes when he pulled away.
Just maybe, when next time this man came looking for him, the blond wouldn’t be holding all the cards.
continued in...
5: Batten Down the Hatches
6: Athwartships
7: Futtock Shrouds
8: Hornswaggle
9: Well, Blow Me Down [ full - explicit/ edited - PG 13]
10: Davy Jones
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AUTHOR'S NOTE
******************************************
This fic made possible by:
Heroic beta efforts on the part of sumeria, who valiantly prevents me from publishing unclear, florid drivel.
The loan of a belt and a few expert opinions from putsoneinmind, assuring me that Fai would not have choked in the above encounter. Much appreciated!
Hakuouki, with its clear and accurate pictures of a person in realistic restraints.
Tic-Tac-Toe.
And the generous contributions of viewers like you! All your comments are much appreciated.
beltenebra, please look for the thrilling (I hope) conclusion of this plot round-abouts your birthday. I sure hope this much lived up to the hype. Happy holidays! You get your Fai all tied up with a bow.
STORY TITLE: "Talk Like a Pirate Day"
CHAPTER: 4 - "Shot Across the Bow"
SERIES: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, xxxHoLic, X/1999, Tokyo Babylon
DISCLAIMER: Everything in the CLAMP Megaverse was originally created by CLAMP. They are entirely to blame for creating a system of crossovers that do not easily disclaim. Characters have been adapted without authorization or approval, and I am making no profit from their use.
PAIRINGS: Kurogane x Fai D. Fluorite (main). References made to: Doumeki Shizuka x Watanuki Kimihiro, Aoki Seiichirou x Kasumi Karen, Li Syaoran x Princess Sakura, Sakurazuka Seishirou x Sumeragi Subaru, Clow Reed x Ichihara Yuuko, Ashura-Ou x Fai D. Fluorite (this list may not be exhaustive for future chapters)
RATING: R, for sex, violence, and/or sexual violence.
WARNINGS: 1) Pirates. 2) Ninjas. 3) Gratuitous sex. 4) Light, fluffy bondage. 5) My very responsible beta, sumeria, tells me I should also warn for Dubious Consent (though I wish to assure readers that, in what I write, actual consent is non-negotiable).
SEQUEL TO: Rum & Popcorn
SUMMARY: Long ago, in a universe slightly askew to this one, circumstances beyond anyone's control led to a fierce and bitter rivalry between Pirates and Ninjas... but Kurogane doesn't care about that. His only concern is to retrieve Princess Sakura and Syaoran from the Pirate King's ship.
Previously...
1: Ahoy, Matey!
2: Drivelswigger
3: Jolly Roger
Shot Across the Bow (n) a warning shot to another vessel, used as a convention before proper hostilities begin
Trouble wore a lot of guises, Kurogane had learned over the years, and today it was lithe, blond, and pretty, with clear blue eyes. He was in prison here, just as sure as Syaoran and the Princess were in the brig. The only difference was that he wasn't meant to notice. His warden seemed to hope that his natural gifts would distract Kurogane from that fact. The man would have to suffer some disappointment.
He watched his watcher out of the corner of his eye as he shaved, using his reflection in the porthole that graced the tiny cabin. The odds were high that the entire little charade in the officers' mess had been put in place for the captives' benefit, to protect the one biggest secret of the entire Pirates' Guild, but they'd made a mistake when matters hadn't gone according to their plan.
How many captains took their cues from a joking cabin-hand? Sora the Hatless might be light-hearted, but that was going too far. Not to mention the question of how many cabin-hands kept a room to themselves on a sailing ship like this. For all that it was narrow and gave them both no more than the minimum of space needed to move, it was a room for someone of rank. A crew cabin would never have a desk. Another berth, maybe, up to two or three if both spaces were bunked. And then there were certain unconscious clues the body could suppress but never fully erase. Once they were off this ship, he'd have to see if Syaoran had noticed the way each pirate lord had subtly straightened up and gone on guard when their supposed servant had walked by.
Not that he could blame the boy for being preoccupied under the circumstances.
But unless Kurogane's instincts had failed him, the Pirate King had decided to keep an eye on him personally. It might have been a whim, or perhaps another move in the same unknown gambit that had led to kidnapping the Princess in the first place, or -- Kurogane hated to admit -- his cover might have been made. All that remained was to determine which it was before he made a break for where the boy and Princess Sakura were caged.
"Room for two with a squeeze, you say?" Kurogane finished his shave and stowed his knife while he examined the bed and the man sitting on it straight on. "Looks cramped to me. I'll be fine with the floor." Best to make it clear wouldn’t be seduced into a weaponless stupor so that a particularly dangerous enemy could lead him around by the cock-and-bull.
"I think you'll regret that," the man answered with a pout. He turned in his seat and faced Kurogane, splitting his legs to hug the support pillar that mounted the berth to the floor and ceiling. The buttons on his cuffs were the first to come undone in what Kurogane was certain would be quite a show. "The waves can toss and turn quite powerfully at night. You won't find the walls to be nearly as accommodating as I am."
Kurogane leaned up against one of those inconsiderate walls and took a good look at the offer he was getting. He'd done worse, that was for sure, but there was a fine line between enjoying oneself in the line of duty and getting played. He didn't want to cross it. "Are you this accommodating with all the shipwrecked sailors who wash up on your decks?"
"Just the tall, dark, and mysterious ones," the fair man shot back. "When they keep staring at me like you do, anyway."
Well, games had two players. He strolled up to the berth and leaned against the pillar while he traced the man's chin with his thumb. "Was I staring?" Kurogane asked. That coaxed a little smile out of him -- a coy, triumphant little smile, and a wicked sparkle in his eye.
"Watching me like a hawk."
"So you didn't just want to save that ninja you've got in the brig from overcrowding?" He dropped his hand to the man's collar and pulled loose the bow that held it shut. The blond had been hiding some fine collarbones underneath the light ruffles edging the laces. The tiny motions of breathing drew Kurogane's eyes all over the kissing hollows they made at the base of the man's slender throat. "And you won't clap me in irons the minute there's space down below?"
Delicate fingers that he wouldn't have guessed had seen years at sea tested the muscles running up the back of his thigh. "Oh," the pirate sighed as he shifted further back on the bedding. "I'm sure if you ask nicely, something could be arranged. But for the moment, I just want to see what you're made of."
What he was made of? The real question was what his sparring partner meant by that. If Watanuki's intel was trustworthy, a roll in the sheets wasn't out of the question for someone who wanted to test if he were really a pirate or was just a man in boots and a conspicuous coat, and he certainly couldn't hesitate if this were a test. Taking half a second to toe off his boots, Kurogane climbed onto the berth with his knee and shoved the pirate down roughly by the shoulder, pushing his tongue into his willing mouth for a kiss without pausing for formalities. The narrow bed was just as tight a fit as it had looked, but -- as promised -- there was room for two.
...As long as they fit like sword and sheath. The wooden joints that held the berth to the wall creaked under the weight of their bodies pushing together. The frame of the ship made the same complaints about the force of the waves, but this was no slow roll on a calm ocean. His warden had spirit, and a gift for navigating the tight space. He was pressed so close that Kurogane could feel the force of it through all his body at once, but he had all the access he could ask for. Their limbs twined and his hands could maneuver under cloth to find the body that was teasing him; and below him, a cunning lover was learning fast how to stir his blood by tracing his scars with his fingertips.
It was rare for a pirate to have such a pleasant, silky touch to his skin. Usually the harsh winds whipping through the rigging and the sails left it dry, and the labor made it hard. But under Kurogane's hands and on his tongue, the only trace of salt was the faint savor where the ocean's spray had dried on his neck. A temptation that had probably brought more than one man to his knees if his companion was so sure it would work again, and potent in combination with the way he was moaning against Kurogane’s ear. Even he might lose his head in that if he weren’t careful. Kurogane broke for a moment to tear his shirt off his back -- and to clear his head -- and took a long, considering look at the man gazing up from the bedsheets. He couldn't take this lightly; the pirate was playing for higher stakes than Kurogane cared to lose.
It was an odd thrill, thinking he could lose. It sent a shiver to the base of his spine as he tugged on the lacings holding the blond’s pants closed. One just hard enough to untie the knot, one hard enough to rip the cord out completely -- drawing a rough gasp and a smile from the pirate. Every grin, every sparkle in his eye, was like a dare. One question hovered in the narrow space: which way would he go? It seemed like he knew every move his enemy could make and like his enemy was saying he knew the same. But whichever direction he took, he knew he’d go all the way, and the man offering his bed wouldn’t stop short, either. It was in every trembling moan when Kurogane slid his hands further along his rival’s skin. Whatever schemes the pirate was putting on, he wasn't faking that. He said he'd read desire in a ninja’s eyes, and maybe the pirate could, but however much he wouldn't deny a certain visceral thrill at the thought of riding deep in a lover like that, he could tell from the shine on the pirate's eyes -- Fai, someone had called him -- that when he opened himself, it was to satisfy more than curiosity.
He moved fast. Almost too fast -- Kurogane could feel the push as Fai rolled on top before he realized they were shifting, and rolled with him by instinct. The lamplight caught on the smooth lines of his shameless smile. He'd looked lean in his clothes -- slight, with a strength only betrayed by his movement before, and now by the oil-lamp that traced the flat rise and dip of the sculpture of his chest. The golden key hanging from the long chain on his neck swung free and cast dancing lights all around their bodies and the small berth.
Kurogane slipped a hand back inside Fai's pants as they dropped loose around his hips, and another traced the long lines of his chest, snatching that gleaming form back down to meet him.
"Well, don't hold anything back on my account, lover," the pirate murmured through bites and kisses that kept the ninja wondering which kind of thrill the next instant was going to bring.
He loosened his belt while the devil's tongue traced down from his neck, down his chest, down... a slow retreat with Kurogane's fingers tangled in his hair. It would have been easy to lose his head in the rush of his blood, but he always kept control. Sometimes, he wondered what it would be like to hold a man like that in his arms without needing to strive for anything but the moment -- but a man like that would always be too dangerous to take the risk. The most beautiful temptations were the predators, and he would not be made prey.
The feel of the pirate unbuttoning his trousers with his teeth and nipping at the tender skin on his abdomen, a smooth cheek brushing against his hardening cock, made him shudder, but he wasn’t so far gone that he’d miss the next play. The sharp bite down by his hip was no tooth, he knew -- not deep, but made by cold metal. Even as Fai started to lap the well of blood from a skin-deep slice, Kurogane knocked the pirate's wrist against the wall hard enough to make him drop the knife he'd pulled unseen, but not to make the grin drop from his lips. If anything, he looked like he couldn't be happier. Damn him for a jade. "Let's leave the toys in the box for now," the ninja hissed. His pleasant companion was dangerous enough in bed unarmed.
"Oh, don't you trust me?" the blond asked with a mock pout.
"Not a chance in hell."
The pirate stretched up to reach a low hanging rafter while he chastised Kurogane for the comment with a click of his tongue. From here, the ninja could see a gleam that might be a weapon resting on top of the beam -- one far more serious than a knife. At least the cut on his hip felt just like a simple cut. No burning from an acid poison, no symptoms to tell him he'd been drugged.
"That's mean, you know," Fai told him, like a mockery of a school teacher, hovering debauched and disheveled above him. "After all, I trust you." The predatory smile bloomed on his face again as he added, "... Ku-ro-ga-ne."
The clatter of wood and cutlass echoed loud through the cabin as he whipped the pirate down and they fell together to the floor. The man was stronger than he looked, and it wasn't easy to subdue him, but Kurogane took every advantage he had over the slender pirate in a grappling match. By the time they’d hit the floor and rolled into the wall, he'd managed to take the pirate and pin his wrists crossed behind his back. In a fraction of an instant, he'd tied them together with the sash at his belt and the blond had stopped struggling in favor of laughing, as if being taken prisoner didn't mean a thing.
Kurogane wouldn't be surprised at all if he could escape from most bonds without trouble, and he wasn't taking more chances with the pirate than he had to. His belt came off next, looped around Fai's neck. The ninja held the buckle in his teeth and threaded the end through, pulling the length of the belt down his captive's back to where he could use the hanger for his dirk to sturdy his knots; but as he was securing it tight, listening to the pirate’s low, sensual laughter in response to the stiff collaring, the door flew open wide.
"What's going on?! I heard --" Kurogane recognized the voice as the first mate, and turned his eyes to the door as high on alert as he'd ever been. Two pirates at that level could be too much. But Death Shirou wasn’t attacking. He was standing still now, longsword drawn and an eyebrow twitching, while he let out a pained sigh. "Oh, god."
"We're fine here, thanks," Fai answered. You could hear him smiling brightly, just from the tone in his voice.
The first mate shut his eyes tight before he sheathed his sword and answered, "Right. Leaving now." As the door closed, Kurogane could have sworn he heard the man mutter, "Must you?"
The ninja didn't waste another second in butterflying loops around his captive's elbows to lock his arms in, anchoring all the knots in his sash to the hanger on his belt. Fai didn't make any sign of struggling further. No doubt he trusted himself to escape when Kurogane wasn't looking, and trusted the situation and his sex appeal to keep him alive that long. "Talk," he ordered the pirate, pulling at the belt to let him know his bonds could get tight enough to hurt if they had to.
"Oh, well..." The blond turned his head over his shoulder with an innocent blink. "Actually my nose itches a bit. Would you mind getting that for me?"
He slammed the pirate's shoulder to the floor, face and neck pinned, instead of answering.
"Thanks." There was a faint line of red on the pirate's cheekbone now, more an abrasion than a cut. "And if you want to know when I made you, it was when Arashi brought you out. I've seen you fight before, Kuro-tan, and you're really quite distinctive."
"The hidden identities go both ways, though." He hauled the man back upright to whisper in his ear. "You didn't think you'd fool me?"
The pirate rolled his eyes with a toss of his head. "Let's skip the part where I know you know, because I know you know I know you know." He paused and repeated his words to himself to check what he’d said. "Yes, that’s right. Get on to the good parts, would you?"
"So you are the Pirate King." He fisted his fingers in his captive’s hair to force his head around and stared down the gleam in his eye, focusing away from the tempting way he licked his lips.
"And it is, it is a glorious thing to be a Pirate King." He gasped out loud as Kurogane pulled an arm roughly and made his back arch with the strain. The pirate laughed again, then, and added, "But you can call me Fai."
"What do you want with the Princess Sakura?"
"Time, that’s all. And I’ll answer all of your questions, Kuro-pii. You only have to ask nicely."
"I doubt you’d answer them straight."
Fai let out a long sigh and tilted back his head so that his pale neck was back in reach of Kurogane’s breath. "Oh, I have a firm policy of not doing anything straight."
With a growl, he switched questions. If he could get the Princess away, there would be time to find out what his plot was. What he needed to know now was what he was facing. "Tell me about the ‘Dragon of Earth’."
"What’s to know?" The light strain against his bonds looked like he was trying to shrug. "She’s a ship."
"Not just any ship. And I’d say the Sumeragi would agree, wouldn’t you?"
The pirate shook his head with an over-dramatic sadness, not minding the tightening bonds on his arms pulling his wrists into a wrenched lock. "Poor Subaru," he sighed. "His reasons are personal, I’m afraid, nothing to do with the ship itself."
"No games." He didn’t hold a knife to the pirate’s throat, since he had to assume Fai would know it was an empty threat. He wanted information, at the moment, not blood. He’d haul the man back home and take his time asking rather than kill him here. Instead, he forced him down to the floor and leaned on an arm, not quite enough to break it. "Answers."
"Answers?" His captive laughed with half-manic glee. "Tell me, Kuro-rin... Do you believe in demons?"
Well, he’d believe that if any men would be called demons, they’d be the crew of the ‘Dragon of Earth’, but the pirate wasn’t the one asking the questions. "Why don’t you tell me some more about that, your majesty?"
"Hmm." After a moment, Fai shook his head as best as he could against the floor. "There are things that men weren’t meant to know, lover. It’s too late for me, but I think I’ll spare you." Every second made it clearer that each moment trying to make the pirate talk was a moment wasted, when he could have been getting his comrades and his prisoner off the ship. But another low chuckle rolled out of the pirate’s throat after he’d paused slightly too long. "Was that all you wanted to know, or have you decided that’s all you can get? Because I’ll tell you one thing for free." He pushed up with his legs and shoulders, riding against Kurogane as his trousers pooled around his knees revealed more of the smooth, pale thighs the pirate clearly trusted to tease his captor. "You can still have what you really want. A little bit of bondage isn’t a deal-breaker for me."
Kurogane studied the man’s slim hips and thighs, hearing the challenge in the Fai’s voice. The pirate thought he would balk, but he’d learn otherwise. A hint of surprise showed under the bliss in the man’s expression and in his moan when Kurogane teased his opening with a knuckle. "You mean this? Pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you? But maybe I won’t give you the satisfaction."
"Ooh, so you like it when people beg. Shall I say ‘please’? Pretty please, Kuro-sama. Put me in my place. Make me scream... if you can. I promise you’re not going to do it any other way."
From a knuckle to two fingers, he pushed his way inside, forcing a loud cry out of the pirate’s throat when he hit the right spot. The sound rung in his blood. He was going to take that body -- the thought beat like a song in a low, heavy rhythm. Every groan from the fair-haired man doubled over underneath him promised that. This time, he’d call the pirate’s bluff. He’d make Fai come so hard he’d want to scream -- need to scream.
All night, he’d had nothing but games from the blond, and the moans when he stroked his captive’s erection didn’t sound any different from the ones that had tempted him in the narrow bed -- but the next time the man on the floor panted, "Please!" he wasn’t playing a game. There was no guile left in the sinuous arch of his back. He thrust down on Kurogane’s fingers, begging for more. Well, he would make sure Fai got all the more he wanted.
He had already pressed the head of his cock into the pirate before the thought flickered through his mind that it might have been more polite to have found some kind of lubricant. Then his mind went blank, erased by the shudder of the blond’s body tightening and releasing around him. A moaned word sounded through the cabin that he couldn’t hear over the rush of his blood, but he knew exactly what it meant. He thrust further in; the creak of the floorboards under them raced to a higher tempo -- the only sound not drowned out by the touch of skin and leather or the harsh cries of ecstasy from a voice he was certain he wouldn’t forget.
The ninja could feel the tremble as Fai’s legs gave out and pulled him up by the shoulders before they both tumbled to the floor. He sat back, the blond crashing against his chest with a gasp of pain from the wrenching of the bindings followed hard by a trailing moan. And he held the man there while he pushed himself all the way inside. There was no snap from the bone in his arms, not that Kurogane knew anymore if that would have stopped him. Not that he knew if the pirate would have wanted him to stop, or would have liked it all the better for that. He breathed in the scent of sweat, tasted the back of his neck one more time, listened to the way cries had made his throat raw from close enough to feel him panting. He had just enough reason left to think about bringing the man off and pulling out -- not leaving him with the thought that he had what it took to make the ninja come.
He could have stopped, could have gotten himself down, he was sure of it. But something in the shudder of Fai coming over his hand and the sound of the scream he’d been after... Something in the blood-stained, panting mouth and the long, fiendish gleam in those blue eyes...
He thrust deep into the man, shaking with a thrill he couldn’t contain. It was over in a flash of blinding fervor, but at the same time, it wasn’t over. He looked at the quivering, bound man falling out of his arms and rolling to the floor -- giggling softly like a madman, wearing only the ninja’s belts and a euphoric smile -- and Kurogane knew this was anything but over. Another day, another week, another year. They all flashed before his eyes in that slow moment after the rush. All the times this man would get away from him, tease him, and come back for more.
At least, he’d try.
Kurogane took to his feet, masking any shaking that was left in his limbs -- bound up his pants, went to look for his shirt. He left Fai on the floor, and the blue-eyed pirate was staring at him as if he, too, had seen that neither of them would get out of this so easily. "You know, if you leave me here, I won’t be waiting when you get back."
Picking up the cutlass and stowing it back on the rafter, then tucking the dagger into his sleeve, Kurogane let out a heavy sigh. That wasn’t an empty threat. But he wasn’t going to fail in his mission because he’d gotten distracted by a comely blond. That had been the pirate’s plan from the beginning.
He slung his jacket over his shoulder and stepped into his boots, tossing the sheathed dirk at the floor by the Pirate King. He didn’t have the belt for it anymore, and with his cover blown, he could summon Ginryuu should he need a blade. "Call it a head start," Kurogane said, then knelt to trace some of the sweat off of Fai’s arm. The stroke of his hand had been an impulse, nothing more, but he took his time to consider before he pulled the man up by the elbow and kissed him fair -- soft and gentle, and everything they hadn’t been since they’d walked into this room. He liked the confused suspicion in the pirate’s eyes when he pulled away.
Just maybe, when next time this man came looking for him, the blond wouldn’t be holding all the cards.
continued in...
5: Batten Down the Hatches
6: Athwartships
7: Futtock Shrouds
8: Hornswaggle
9: Well, Blow Me Down [ full - explicit/ edited - PG 13]
10: Davy Jones
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AUTHOR'S NOTE
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This fic made possible by:
Heroic beta efforts on the part of sumeria, who valiantly prevents me from publishing unclear, florid drivel.
The loan of a belt and a few expert opinions from putsoneinmind, assuring me that Fai would not have choked in the above encounter. Much appreciated!
Hakuouki, with its clear and accurate pictures of a person in realistic restraints.
Tic-Tac-Toe.
And the generous contributions of viewers like you! All your comments are much appreciated.
beltenebra, please look for the thrilling (I hope) conclusion of this plot round-abouts your birthday. I sure hope this much lived up to the hype. Happy holidays! You get your Fai all tied up with a bow.