“You,” Acatl breathed, “are a terrible influence.”
Teomitl grinned at him, unrepentant. “Me? But you were my beloved teacher. If I turned out so badly, isn’t it your fault?”
Since Teomitl was straddling his hips, one hand braced on the mat and the other wrapped around a fistful of Acatl’s loose hair, Acatl was at leisure to drag his nails down his lover’s spine just a little too sharply. As Teomitl shivered appreciatively, he smirked back up at him. “I can’t change a man’s essential nature. And if you had been anyone other than who you are, we wouldn’t be here. I assure you, I never would have thought of any of this on my own!”
“I seem to recall you having plenty of thoughts.” There was a wicked light in Teomitl’s eyes as he rolled his hips; Acatl shuddered in pleasure as he continued, “Unless you’re trying to say you’re innocent?”
He had been, once. Or well, not precisely innocent—you couldn’t be that, not as a priest for the Dead who saw the lowest and worst the world had to offer daily—but certainly chaste. Xochiquetzal Herself had tried to lure him to Her bed, and he hadn’t given in. It had taken him an embarrassingly long time and the sight of Teomitl stretching half-naked in the sun like a jaguar to conclude Xochipilli would have had better luck, but he hadn’t exactly planned to act on his desires.
But then there had been Teomitl. There had always been Teomitl, ready to peel back the layers of his delusions and self-deceptions to get at his raw and beating heart. I don’t love him? A lie. I don’t want him? A lie. I wouldn’t break the world and all my vows for him? A lie.
I wouldn’t crave him on my mat and in my heart, any way he’ll have me? The biggest lie of all. And once he’d stopped telling himself all that, Teomitl had been all too happy to encourage further honesty. Yes, Acatl could spend a few hours venting about his terrible colleagues. Yes, Acatl could openly discuss the possibility of treason. And yes, Acatl could absolutely do what they were doing now, which was to pull the married Master of the House of Darts down for a ferocious kiss and inform him, “Consider yourself my inspiration if it makes you feel better.”
Teomitl’s eyes were very dark and very hungry. “Oh, I’ll be glad to.”
In further evidence for Teomitl’s status as a bad influence, they were both late for their morning devotions to the gods and Acatl’s core muscles were all too happy to enumerate in detail all the ways in which they’d been ill-treated. It was still worth it.
Obsidian & Blood, Acatl/Teomitl
“You,” Acatl breathed, “are a terrible influence.”
Teomitl grinned at him, unrepentant. “Me? But you were my beloved teacher. If I turned out so badly, isn’t it your fault?”
Since Teomitl was straddling his hips, one hand braced on the mat and the other wrapped around a fistful of Acatl’s loose hair, Acatl was at leisure to drag his nails down his lover’s spine just a little too sharply. As Teomitl shivered appreciatively, he smirked back up at him. “I can’t change a man’s essential nature. And if you had been anyone other than who you are, we wouldn’t be here. I assure you, I never would have thought of any of this on my own!”
“I seem to recall you having plenty of thoughts.” There was a wicked light in Teomitl’s eyes as he rolled his hips; Acatl shuddered in pleasure as he continued, “Unless you’re trying to say you’re innocent?”
He had been, once. Or well, not precisely innocent—you couldn’t be that, not as a priest for the Dead who saw the lowest and worst the world had to offer daily—but certainly chaste. Xochiquetzal Herself had tried to lure him to Her bed, and he hadn’t given in. It had taken him an embarrassingly long time and the sight of Teomitl stretching half-naked in the sun like a jaguar to conclude Xochipilli would have had better luck, but he hadn’t exactly planned to act on his desires.
But then there had been Teomitl. There had always been Teomitl, ready to peel back the layers of his delusions and self-deceptions to get at his raw and beating heart. I don’t love him? A lie. I don’t want him? A lie. I wouldn’t break the world and all my vows for him? A lie.
I wouldn’t crave him on my mat and in my heart, any way he’ll have me? The biggest lie of all. And once he’d stopped telling himself all that, Teomitl had been all too happy to encourage further honesty. Yes, Acatl could spend a few hours venting about his terrible colleagues. Yes, Acatl could openly discuss the possibility of treason. And yes, Acatl could absolutely do what they were doing now, which was to pull the married Master of the House of Darts down for a ferocious kiss and inform him, “Consider yourself my inspiration if it makes you feel better.”
Teomitl’s eyes were very dark and very hungry. “Oh, I’ll be glad to.”
In further evidence for Teomitl’s status as a bad influence, they were both late for their morning devotions to the gods and Acatl’s core muscles were all too happy to enumerate in detail all the ways in which they’d been ill-treated. It was still worth it.