Title: No Choice
Chapter: 1/1
Pairing: Peter/Edmund
Rating: PG-13... I guess. MAYBE light R. VERY light.
Disclaimer: I do not own. Though I'm in the market for a Pevenslie brother, if you're selling.
Summary: A walk in the woods, a conversation, and a delicate subject. Thank goodness we've got no choice.
Warnings: manlove, incest, pevenslove, beautiful men. Be aware.
A/N: Not edited. I need a beta, if you're interested at all.
Edmund regretted his decision to join Peter on a horseback trip as soon as he'd saddled up. It wasn't because Peter was going to say something annoying, or try to be the father and teach Ed about sex or something, he'd gotten all of that back when he was fourteen. No, today he regretted joining his older brother because Peter Pevenslie was in a mood.
Now, as a rule, Peter was a happy-go-lucky kind of guy. Usually he was the one finding a way to cheer Ed up, be it through telling him an old story or a lame joke, or giving him a brother-to-brother hug, which Ed enjoyed more than he should have. Usually it was Edmund who was depressed and feeling like a loser, so he had really no idea what he was doing and he galloped the forests of Narnia with his brother at his side.
Edmund didn't like to admit it, but his affections for his brother had grown far from brotherly in the past seven years. Seven years before, he'd been ten and still found girls gross. Today, he at seventeen and his brother at twenty, he still found girls kind of strange. He suspected it was because of the White Witch, but a part of him knew that it was simply who he was.
Edmund Pevenslie was downright gay. And he couldn't admit it, though it was likely that people would be more than accepting here in Narnia. He was the king, after all... maybe he'd make gay men out of every one of his subjects. But he didn't really want that. Because he knew that as soon as he did that, his family, and especially his brother, would distance themselves from him. And family was almost all he had left these days.
It wasn't normal, it was anything but normal, but he could live with it. Just as long as nothing changed. Especially Peter. Yes, he'd admitted it to himself months before, only a little after discovering that he really was gay. He was head over heels in love with his only brother.
The young king cast a glance at his older brother, riding only feet away from where he sat on his horse, urging it faster, away from the problems that the kingdom faced. He wanted to disappear into the forest with his brother, never come back. He wanted his brother to want the same thing that he did.
They rode in silence for over an hour before Peter silently signaled that they should slow down and stop.
It was a place that Ed had only heard about from his brother before. Peter liked to talk about the little spring he'd discovered, where he would swim or fish or do whatever young kings did when at a pond alone. He was actually flattered that his brother had finally decided to share this sanctuary with him. "This is it, then? The place you're always talking about?" He asked, sending his brother an almost uncertain smile. He didn't know how to make Peter feel better when he was down. He simply didn't know what to do. Distraction was his only plan for the moment.
Peter gave a distracted smile in reply. "This is it. I thought it was time I showed it to you." He said, sliding gracefully from his horse and swinging the reins around a nearby tree trunk. "Come on, though, I want to talk to you." He said, beckoning for his brother to follow him on a path that led off to the south of the pond.
Peter's younger brother followed, aprehensive as to what he was getting himself into. Ed didn't want to have to spend that much time alone with his brother... but at least he hadn't wanted to go for a swim. "What did you want to talk about?" He asked after a long moment of silent walking.
The blonde let out a sigh. "Can you answer me honestly?" He asked.
Ed nodded.
"You're... gay, aren't you?" Peter stuttered, looking down at the path instead of at his flabbergasted younger brother, who nodded in silence once again. "I wasn't sure. I was hoping you wouldn't be insulted."
"N-no." His brother managed to gasp. What had he done? He'd been careful to hide every sign of affection he had for his older brother that went beyond brotherly love. He never hugged him in public, he never stared too long. He resisted the urge to touch his older brother, almost all the time... what had happened?
Peter sighed. "Susan thought you were, and I wanted to ask myself. I felt bad, gossiping about you." He explained, glancing up at his brother. "But... I have another question too."
Edmund gave an almost relieved burst of laughter. "Shoot." He said. The thing he'd been afraid of showing was in the open, and his brother didn't seem to care half as much as he thought he might... maybe Peter just wanted to confirm it.
His brother was silent for almost a minute. Ed was afraid he wasn't going to continue the conversation. "How did you know?"
Peter's voice was little more than a whisper, Edmund had to strain to hear him. He wasn't sure he'd heard at all, until Peter asked the question again, louder. Even after hearing the question more clearly, though, the young king still had no idea how to answer. "Well... I looked at the people I was close to, the relationships I had with friends, and who I was closest to." He explained. "I discovered that most of my friends were women, because around men, I tended to feel awkward. That's all it was at first, just feeling awkward. I got over that, and finally admitted to myself that things were only awkward because I was attracted to the men." He admitted.
The high king didn't speak for a moment. "There aren't many men in Narnia." He stated.
Oh, God. Ed hadn't thought of that. Now that Peter mentioned it, there were only two men in Narnia. Himself, and his brother. What had he done? He was just trying to help his brother out, answer his question. Instead, he'd done this. "That's true." Ed admitted. "Why all these questions, Pete?" He asked after a moment of silence.
He watched Peter's face turn pink.
Edmund took in a gasping breath. "Do you..." Pause. Breath. Heart pounding in his ears, muscles tensed. "Do you think you are?" The words spilled from his lips before he had the chance to think about what he was saying. Ed's lips clamped shut, and he had to fight the urge to cover his mouth with both hands.
Peter turned toward him, his blue eyes searching and his full lips in a full-on pout. Ed loved it when Peter pouted without realizing it. "I don't know, Ed." He sighed after a moment. "I mean, I'm not awkward around some men... even some of the ambassadors from Archenland and Surda, who you must admit are quite good looking." Peter chuckled as Ed hummed in agreement. "But others..." Peter's eyes swept over his younger brother's face. "With others, things have become very awkward."
The younger boy understood exactly what Peter meant, and he jumped in front of his brother to stop him walking away. "It doesn't have to be awkward." Ed insisted. "I- I know, it has been, but we can change that." He insisted.
Peter gave an almose malicious grin. "Can we, Ed? Can you forget, after I've told you that I've... that I've gotten off to the thought of you? I've dreamed about you, Ed. I've thought about you for days on end, walked around for an entire day with a hard-on that just won't die." He whispered, taking a step toward his younger brother, then another, and another, until Edmund was backed against a tree. "I've thought about you naked and sweating and writhing beneath me. Of your lips-" Peter licked his own. "Wrapped around me."
Ed's breathing was harder now. He could picture all of these things as well... Hell, he'd pictured them too. But hearing his brother say the things that he'd always thought about, and with that predatory look in his eye... Edmund could feel the response of his groin, and no doubt Peter could too. "Pete, stop it."
"What, Ed? Too awkward for you? Just like I thought?" Peter murmured into his brother's ear before grinding his hips into his brothers and nipping at his ear at the same time.
"Peter." The younger Pevenslie groaned, his head falling back as he wrapped his legs around his brother. "No. Not too awkward." He managed to gasp out before looking his brother in the eye again. "Not enough."
Peter, who obviously hadn't expected such a response from his brother, raised an eyebrow. "Really." He replied in a hoarse whisper. "Well, we are the only men in Narnia."
"It's not like we each have a ton of choices." Ed finished for him. They stared at each other for a long moment before their lips crashed together, teeth colliding painfully and tongues everywhere at once.
Peter pulled apart long enough to get a single word out before his younger brother reclaimed his mouth. "No." He waited until Ed's lips had trailed down his neck to continue. "It doesn't look like we have any choice at all."
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There it is! Hope it was worth all my time and energy... usually these pieces take about twenty minutes to write. This one was a good half hour or longer.
Comments are loveeee.