Sorcerer Hunters Fan Fiction ❯ Perpetual Thoughts ❯ The Initial Seduction, The Influencing Dream ( Chapter 1 )

Arousal faded and events were forgotten. Missions were taken and time passed, and while the problem never proved itself to have gone away, it's evidence was infrequent enough for Marron not to worry about it. As much as his feelings for Carrot had worried him, perhaps a problem like that should also have done, but Marron'd never felt the need to go to his brother and say 'I have a problem like that'... saying he was possibly gay wasn't a comparative problem, but saying that he felt he was no longer capable of orgasm was something different entirely. And besides, it was nobody's fault but his own... the more sadistic side of him suggested that that was his punishment for feeling things so unnatural towards his own blood brother... Marron didn't know whether to be angered by that thought or feel guilty for it. Was it the truth? He didn't know.

 

A few months later, the group returned to Eden once more. They'd just returned from fighting a particularly nasty Sorcerer, and the group were quite tired. They'd received decent pay, and Carrot whining to Big Mama had earnt them a little time off. The group had chosen to stay in Eden, somewhere they could relax; Big Mama didn't mind so much. It wasn't as if she didn't have any other Sorcerer Hunters to carry out her bidding, after all.

 

The threat of the Sorcerer was gone, but the weather still hadn't lifted. No-one knew what the cause was, but for some reason, the weather had just been unbearable the last few weeks around the Facade area... hot during the day, while somewhat cloudy. Occasionally a little rain would fall, but it'd be warm, and not refreshing at all... Marron had persuaded Carrot out of making him aim an ice attack at the bath; it might freeze the water but it might also have destroyed the wall, and Marron was sure Big Mama would not have been pleased with him for that.

 

The nights were the worst. Humid, uncomfortably so. Any nightclothes worn stuck to the body so horribly, and even the sheets of the bed followed suit. No covers or blankets, and even so, it was too sweltering, too sticky. Cold shower upon cold shower was had, but the heavy atmosphere still didn't lift, in Facade or in Eden. It was hot, and it was too much so to attempt sleep of any kind.

 

Glancing across over at Carrot, Marron sighed sharply, signal of his irritation. Why was it that Carrot slept so easily in such a situation? Carrot was currently rolled over, lying on his chest, arms loosely hugged around his pillow. He snored loudly every once in a while. Marron was sat up against his bed, naked like his brother, sheets discarded to the side, and unable to sleep. It was too hot. Maybe another shower? Marron closed his eyes and concentrated a quiet magic spell on himself. The refreshing cool feeling of the healing spell was a welcome one, but it didn't seem to last for long before his body went back to it's usual heat... his hair clung to his skin, and he felt the lack of friction as he wiped his wrist over his brow. It was indeed just too hot.

 

Another healing spell.

 

Everything had a purpose, so Marron liked to think. And though it annoyed him that Carrot could sleep so easily while he himself found it so hard... Marron didn't need to take any time to ask himself what any possible benefit of the situation might be.

 

Marron rolled over and stood out of bed; he walked over to the window for a moment, putting his hand against the glass pane, feeling the reduced temperature of the glass. This too was refreshing for the few seconds of cold it provided, before the heat from Marron's hand warmed it up too much... he walked over to Carrot. He watched him intently, like a hawk with it's prey. Carrot was naked. Carrot was irresistible.

 

Where the moonlight fell, the sheen of sweat was also visible on Carrot's skin. Marron's view of his brother came from between narrowed eyes; Carrot was also unavoidably hot from the weather... Marron just watched him. The heat in the room wasn't an entirely unfamiliar experience. Heat and humidity could be induced by other things, and memories of being trapped between his bedsheets as his mind burnt flames around his body...

 

Perhaps it was wrong to think of Carrot in such ways while he slept so innocently, but Marron couldn't help it. The heat made everything seem that bit more hazy and dreamlike, and Marron so badly wanted to reach out and touch Carrot... it didn't matter where, just the contact of skin and skin would be enough...

 

Marron'd knelt by Carrot's bed and watched him a few moments longer. He grunted in his sleep, snored for a moment. Marron just smiled; things like that didn't matter if it was Carrot. Marron also remembered the healing spells that'd soothed him, even if their effect was only brief... Carrot couldn't be enjoying the heat, even though he slept... seeing no harm and also seeing an excuse, Marron gently pressed one hand to Carrot's forehead, and chanted the spell. His hand glowed a soft blue for a moment, and Carrot's eyes blinked awake... Marron thought to quickly withdraw his hand, but decided against it. Carrot's forehead was warm, nicely so.

 

Carrot blinked lazily up at Marron, "... Whatcha doin'?"

 

Marron faltered slightly, "It's too hot, niisan... I thought you might appreciate a little relief."

 

A lazy smile, "Ah... yeah, thanks, that did feel kinda cooler... shouldn't you be asleep, though?"

 

"I can't sleep..." Marron glanced to the side, "... it's too hot. I'm sorry to waken you, niisan... you seemed so peaceful, sleeping like that... I apologize."

 

Carrot, in truth, still seemed half-asleep. He just shook his head, "Izokay. You should sleep though, be ready for waking up... morning..."

 

Marron recognized the sleepy tone, "... yes, niisan."

 

After a few moments, Carrot snored once more, and Marron was sure that he was now sound asleep. So much for that.

 

Even though Carrot had suggested it, Marron found it difficult to even think about sleep; he felt suddenly so awake... he sat on the side of his bed before he lay back down on it, the sheeting feeling momentarily cold from the sweat which'd been there previously. Marron idly wondered when he could next wash his bed's sheets... in such weather, it was important to do such things with regularity...

 

Marron couldn't keep his mind on such mundane matters. His mind wandered down different paths... paths where Carrot's eyes might open again, and they wouldn't be sleepy. They'd almost glare, but not in an angry way. Marron'd recognize the look, and oblige it... it'd be warm, it'd be hot, but it wouldn't matter... such heat was incomparable to body heat, and the burning between them would be a welcoming one...

 

Or maybe they could shower together. The water'd be cold but their bodies would still be warm, and they could find ways to please each other, other than just letting the water cascade over their bodies...

 

A familiar frustration came to rest in Marron's body. Realising his predicament he hastily found a nightrobe and cast it over his shoulders; he couldn't stay in the same room as Carrot, not for the time being. He'd find himself crying out too recklessly, he was sure... and Carrot had been awake not too long ago, even if only half-awake... Marron didn't want to risk Carrot waking and finding him, not when he was in the mood to be a little more vocal with his thoughts. He wanted to cry Carrot's name, and imagine his own name being said in return... he left the room quickly, hoping to locate one of the empty nearby rooms.

 

Once in said room, Marron discarded the robe again and allowed his thoughts to run rampant. Nobody (as far as he knew) was on either side of the room for at least several rooms, anyone who heard him would have to have incredible hearing... also, the room seemed a little cooler, perhaps for being unoccupied, Marron wasn't sure. The slight drop in temperature was welcome though, and the stimulation he provided himself also. That was better. Imagining the what-ifs and what-might-happens were might more satisfying when he was able to touch himself and really imagine those scenarios...

 

The chair Marron sat on dwarfed him somewhat; It sat between the back corner of the room and the window of the room, and faced the door and front wall. A tall thing made out of some kind of gilded metal, inset with large cushions... Marron didn't particularly care about any of that, pushing himself back against the pillowy material, imagining himself being taken so roughly by Carrot, imagining what it'd be like for his brother to make him come... maybe that thought might lend itself to Marron's body, maybe the dream would let him come, maybe his body would let him come, if he really wanted to...

 

He let out constant cries and groans of frustrated pleasure as he quickly stroked himself further into oblivion (or as far as he could take himself, at least); if someone else were to touch him, ah, that'd be so different. What might somebody else's touch be like? Might another person's touch awaken different feelings inside of him, feelings that could contrast his deep-set magic beliefs, feelings that could allow him to feel that ecstasy?

 

Opening eyes that'd been shut as he threw his head back during one cry, looking forward from the same, Marron realised he was looking at Gateau's wide-eyed and shocked form; said shock shocked him himself into stopping, holding his hand a little away from his body, staring back at Gateau.

 

Gateau gulped nervously, "I, uh... I was just walking along, uh... getting a drink, y'know... um... uh... I heard, like, crying out, stuff like that... sounded like someone was in pain, I wondered if it was you, and, I, er, thought I might check it out... but... you were obviously busy... shouldn'ta disturbed you... s-sorry, Marron... um... y-yeah..."

 

Gateau, a few steps into the room, was quickly edging back towards the door. He didn't turn around though, and while he made to leave the room, his body seemed loathe to do so, his eyes obviously entranced by the vision of naked beauty in front of him. No matter what his mind said was the good and right thing to do, he couldn't help but stare at Marron like that for just a little longer... and Marron didn't seem to be getting angry just yet, at least...

 

On his part, in another situation, Marron might have reacted differently to Gateau catching him naked, catching him masturbating, even. Seemed that Gateau hadn't heard Marron cry out Carrot's name at least, and if he had, he never mentioned it. But in another setting... in most settings, Marron might have grown angry at Gateau, might have thrown an attack at him, though that was usually in exchange for a flirtatious comment. Otherwise, Marron probably wouldn't have minded at all. The human body was the human body after all, and part of having that body was it being naked, after all...

 

Had Gateau made a flirtatious comment, Marron might have been sobered into embarrassment, and lashed out. Gateau's reaction to this situation was quite different, though; he seemed so flustered... in retrospect, Marron wouldn't have been able to place the origin of the thought, but somehow, Marron quite liked that. Seeing Gateau's wide-eyed shock, the slight tremble in his voice... normally Gateau seemed unflappable, but it was a different situation.

 

Even more so, in retrospect, Marron perhaps would never be sure what it was that'd made him stop Gateau before he left the room, but nonetheless he did, and thus, it started.

 

Gateau had been edging slowly more towards the door with each passing second, torn between the desire to stay and his duty to leave. He was close to the door, close enough to touch it with a hand if he so wanted, he reached for the door's handle without checking to see where it was. "Sorry for disturbing ya, I'll, uh, leave you to, uh, get on with it..."

 

"No, Gateau."

 

"A- uh?"

 

"No, don't leave... not just yet."

 

A strange tone in Marron's voice, a strange tone that Gateau couldn't help but notice. The room suddenly seemed uncomfortably warm for Gateau, and deliriously warm for Marron. The humidity again gave the room a hazy dreamlike quality, and for all the annoyance it caused Marron, seemed suddenly welcoming.

 

Clouded by the heat in the room coupled with the heat of his lust, Marron almost saw Gateau in a different way as he stood up, the only sound in the room his body parting with the chair and stepping across the floor... before, Gateau had been a distraction, a vague annoyance, a handy comrade with an unwanted interest in Marron and an unhealthy interest in himself.

 

Now, he was another human being. Someone else who's touch could cause feelings... and might Gateau say no? Given his behaviour, Marron didn't think it very likely. Carrot was Carrot and lay asleep in the other bedroom, and Marron still burnt primarily for him, but... Carrot wasn't standing in front of him at that moment. Carrot wasn't shocked into silence at what he'd just seen, and Carrot wasn't likely to be touching Marron anytime soon. Besides, Marron thought as he continued to slowly walk, were not love and sex two different things? Couldn't he love Carrot as well as have sex with Gateau? And besides, with how his body was, surely it didn't hurt to experiment, just a little?

 

Carrot knew Marron liked somebody. If he thought that person was Gateau, why not play along with those feelings? Why not try and nurture something that could bring them both what they wanted, even if wasn't ideal? Marron wasn't especially looking for love, and he doubted Gateau was either; sexual relief might be welcomed, if not flowers and chocolates on valentine's day. That didn't matter, but lust... lust was powerful, and for the moment, he didn't want to deny it. Marron couldn't help but eye Gateau so salaciously, so suddenly... body obscured by his nightshirt, Marron found that ironic. Why would Gateau hide his body so? Marron stopped a few meters away from Gateau, "Take it off."

 

"Huh?"

 

"The nightshirt. I want..."

 

Marron realised the delicious irony as he spoke, a slight smirk alighting his face as he did so.

 

"... I want, Gateau, to look at you."

 

Gateau just blinked, then did as Marron asked, quickly. A little too quickly. He got partially caught in his nightshirt, but eventually managed to pull it over his head and throw it down, then stood away from it, still aware of Marron's arousal, painfully aware of his own now that he was naked. Marron stood in front of him, his arms folded tightly, his hair catching around him, his erection seemingly forgotten; he looked Gateau up and down with an appreciative eye, nodding, pressing a finger to his lips.

 

"Indeed... quite impressive, Gateau. I apologize for not looking in the past... but then, I didn't know what other things you had to offer..."

 

Marron held Gateau's stare for a few moments, looking intensely into those blue eyes... a darting glance downwards confirmed what he was implying. Gateau couldn't help but frown, "Marron, not like I'm arguing or anything, but... what is up with you? You're acting all kinda weird..."

 

"To be aroused is to be 'weird', Gateau? Am I not allowed to feel desire, just as you do?"

 

"Not that, but... you never even said anything, and you'd get pissed if I hit on you or anything..."

 

"Yes, well. That's an entirely different circumstance, isn't it? You saw me in a way you'd not seen me before, am I right? And you seem so shocked... would you really believe I wouldn't do things like that? Just because I choose not to be as hormonally-driven as my brother, as the Misu sisters, as you are... does that mean I don't have those drives at all?"

 

"Not at all, I wasn't trying to suggest that..."

 

"Might I not want an outlet for my frustrations?"

 

"Uh... yes?"

 

Marron's voice was unintentionally a degree huskier as he closed the final distance between them, "I'm glad we understand each other, Gateau."

 

Feeling a minor tremble of uncertainty, Marron pressed his body against Gateau's. Gateau's body was indeed warm, hot... and his sizeable erection pressed against Marron's stomach, the feeling causing another tremble inside him. A different feeling. The feeling of anticipation of being with somebody else... Marron looked up to meet Gateau's eyes, searching within them, finding what he wanted... Gateau leant down almost nervously, and Marron granted him the kiss; a little more romantic than he might have perhaps been aiming for, but there wasn't any harm in it, and it wasn't as if it was wholly unenjoyable, anyway.

 

Marron felt Gateau's arms around him, pulling him as close as he'd been pushing himself. The initial kiss was soft and searching, and, that foundation now set out, the path was clearer; the second kiss was so much more hungry, and Marron let Gateau control that hunger. Being the object of someone's desire so... it was a heady feeling.

 

The two pulled apart, more on Marron's behalf than Gateau's. Gateau looked at him questioningly, but Marron just shook his head, hands running from the top of Gateau's broad shoulders, down over his well-defined chest, fingers stroking down the indents of his torso, and Marron was down on one knee. He looked up at Gateau, "Perhaps you should sit down..."

 

Gateau felt he knew better than to argue; he did so, letting Marron do what he wanted. He was pushed back a little, and instead of sitting, Gateau felt it better to lie down; he did so, and let out a slight gasp as he felt hands suddenly caressing his arousal, without warning, almost... he glanced up a little, saw Marron lying horizontally across from Gateau's hips, seeming lost in silent contemplation.

 

Marron held his shaking hand against the hardness, feeling it, quietly examining it. It was different to his own, but of course, it would be... undoubtedly somewhat larger, but after all, that part of the body was only another muscle, and didn't Gateau train his muscles to the point of insanity? He was so strong, but Marron couldn't help but wonder, did the appendage come with the training or from the training? What kind of training would one put oneself through for such growth, anyway? Perhaps it was just natural.

 

Gateau didn't seem to mind Marron's studying, and didn't say anything to discourage Marron's actions. So he carried on.

 

It was just a little too thick for Marron to wrap one hand around. Might that not cause pain during sex? Well, he'd just have to ensure that Gateau was properly, properly lubricated. Take the matter into his own hands, if needs be. Literally, even. No doubt Gateau wouldn't mind the stroking feeling...

 

Length-wise, it was definitely longer than the distance from the base of Marron's wrist to the top of his middle finger, and he didn't care to think how much that might be in any kind of measurement. Statistically... it was quite large. That was all, really.

 

Larger, Marron couldn't help but think, than Carrot's. Of course. Other than his own this was the first erection he'd been close enough to to inspect in such a way, but he'd watched his brother's nightly activities enough to catch more than a passing glance... Carrot's hands were probably different to Marron's hands, but could he wrap a hand around his own? How long was it, exactly? Things Marron wanted to know, but didn't want to ask about...

 

He stroked his fingers softly down the length, and listened out for Gateau's reaction... he heard a sharp intake of breath, there it was. Marron continued to touch and stroke, memorizing the feel, the shape, the texture, always silently comparing to what Carrot might be like...

 

In the darkness of the room such things weren't visible, but Marron was sure he could feel the defined rise of a powerful vein beneath the surface. Or several. If he held his hand still and somewhat tightly, he could feel the slight pulse of blood through Gateau's body, but imagined that such a tight hold couldn't serve Gateau's body well if done for too long, so he released his hand, to hear another gasp, or a sigh, or a moan... Gateau's reactions were quite interesting to Marron.

 

Marron's middle finger ran softly downwards as the fingers on either side came in contact with another part of Gateau that caused a moan. The skin was quite soft, and, with a hand holding, quite pleasantly squeezable. Just a light squeeze, and maybe one just a tiny bit tighter, Marron could see Gateau's fists clench, and was pleased. What power he had over this one person!

 

He moved around a little, no longer lying at a right-angle to Gateau's body; he lay alongside Gateau's legs, his face just in front of that which he'd been studying. He leant his elbows on either side of Gateau's hips, and allowed Gateau to wrap his legs around and behind Marron's upper chest; Marron realised what Gateau was more or less expecting, and supposed it had been what he'd been leading to. As he reached out with one hand and his tongue, he thought about how he'd imagined doing such things to Carrot... if anything, this could be viewed as practice for when he... if he ever managed to get hold of his brother in that kind of way.

 

Marron closed his eyes for a moment as he ran his tongue up against the hardness, holding against it slightly with one hand. Gateau's gasps became more frequent and Marron remained at a slow and steady pace, seeing Gateau's lower legs and feet twitch every so often. Marron's eyes softened in warm amusement, and he wondered if Carrot'd react in such a way... well, perhaps. For the time being, he was with Gateau, and there would always be those differences.

 

Leaning up slightly, Marron took the arousal into his mouth, as far as he could manage. This caused Gateau to sit up sharply, "M-Marron!"

 

Marron's eyes flickered upward for a moment, silently questioning Gateau... Gateau didn't have any answer to those dark eyes, and so just leant back on his arms, clenched fists pressed against the texture of the carpet, his chest heaving as Marron continued so slowly...

 

Gateau placed one hand on Marron's head, guiding him up and down. Marron shook at his head slightly, he didn't need any instruction, but Gateau didn't notice that implication. In fact, Gateau's eyes were closed now, his breath still heavy, still moaning Marron's name... it sent a flutter to Marron's lower stomach whenever he heard his name said so desperately, and Marron remembered that Gateau was not alone in his desire... and after all, hadn't Marron originally essentially pounced Gateau in the first place for primarily his own benefit? This was different, after all. This was with someone else, this was good, so maybe it might sort itself out?

 

Moving against Gateau, Marron allowed his whole body to move, pushing back against the floor with his feet; this reminded him more keenly of his own painfully hard erection, pressed against the carpet... he shuffled up, allowing a little space between him and the floor, and moved the hand not wrapped around Gateau to around himself; as he moved with his head so did he move with his body, and the light thrusting was quite, quite maddening...

 

The numb feeling was almost overpowering. Almost. His tongue's movements were soft and Gateau's cries grew louder... his hold on Marron's head grew a little tighter, and, silently, Marron wondered just how close Gateau was... his cries didn't give any clue to that, he just repeated Marron's name, more or less. However, leaning up to say 'So, when are you going to come?' might have ended up being a little too inverse, and catching Gateau out on the moment of his climax... Marron supposed he just had to carry on until something happened, Gateau probably wouldn't be able to last out for so much longer, anyway...

 

Marron was also aware of a kind of tightness in his body, he wasn't sure what to make of that. He could worry about that later - maybe it signalled his own impending orgasm? He hadn't stopped with his hand's strokes, at least. He pulled back just slightly, moving with sweeping licks, moving over the tip, taking it back into his mouth... eventually, this seemed to prove too much for Gateau, and his voice became just a little more desperate than it'd been before, and his hand moved from Marron's head back to the carpet, where it mauled against the short fronds there; he threw his head back, his pelvic thrusts more nervous than they'd been before, and cried out Marron's name as he reached his climax.

 

"Nn... a-... aah-... Ma-... MARRON!!!"

 

Marron leant forward and stroked Gateau with both hands as he heard that cry; he pulled back slightly, swallowing what he could; what he couldn't was easily collected with a finger to be licked away, and Gateau was met with the view of the same a few moments later when he leant up on one arm, still panting heavily. He stared at Marron for a short while before saying anything at all, a little in awe of what'd just - what seemed almost so randomly - happened.

 

"... Marron..."

 

Marron looked up and indicated to his face, "Do I still have any...?"

 

Gateau blinked and shook his head, "N-no, you don't... man, I... heh, it's difficult to know what to say, but, uh... you... you want me to do that to you?"

 

The question drifted across Marron's mind as he assessed what kind of state he was currently in.

 

Originally, he'd been undoubtedly aroused. He'd quietly wandered away from his bedroom in order to at least attempt to release those frustrations, and frustration was definitely what it was... through some kind of chance, Gateau had happened to catch him while he was venting said frustrations, and Marron had more or less inflicted himself on Gateau, though Gateau provided little resistance at all. Marron had done that to Gateau and hadn't minded - it was a new experience, after all - but would that... did he want that?

 

... It didn't hurt to at least try. The atmosphere in the room seemed heavy with desire, and surely at least half of that desire was his own doing? Wordlessly he knelt away from Gateau, gently lowering himself to the floor, leaning on his side and then on his back. Marron glanced up in case Gateau needed any other bidding, but he didn't - he was already moving towards Marron, quietly looking over his body with an appreciative eye... inexplicably, Marron felt suddenly... he wasn't sure. Shy? It couldn't have been that, he'd just subjected Gateau to oral sex with little to no shame at all, so why did Gateau looking at him like that make him feel strange all of a sudden?

 

"So beautiful..."

 

Gateau's voice was quiet, but audible. A whisper that made Marron shiver. Beautiful... he was beautiful? Gateau always said so, but... well, that was it, Gateau always said so. And this was Gateau saying it again. But differently...

 

Marron felt Gateau's hand trace it's way up his leg, over his upper thigh, his inner thigh...

 

He couldn't resist the sudden urge to clamp his legs together; Gateau pulled his hand away, leaning up. Marron caught his glance through one open eye, his heart pounding; Gateau seemed confused, slightly... his voice was somewhat soothing, though.

 

"... You're nervous? You don't need to be, I don't wanna hurt you or anything... Marron, I... I like you a lot, I only want to make you feel good, you know? So... relax a little..."

 

Marron couldn't quite describe to himself the feeling of Gateau's hand wrapped around his erection, but it made him blush. Gateau's words did the same.

 

"... you're beautiful, and I want to make you feel as good as you made me feel... if you're scared at all, we don't have to do anything, I-"

 

"I want to do this."

 

Marron's voice was strangely terse and businesslike; Gateau withdrew his hand, "Marron... I won't make you do anything, not if you really don't want to... and you shouldn't make yourself do anything either, if it's really something you're not comfortable with... I mean, not everyone's gonna like the same things, are they?"

 

At that, Marron leapt up and grabbed the hand that Gateau'd moved away; his hold around Gateau's wrist was just a little too tight to be comfortable, and Gateau was even more confused to note the almost angry look on Marron's face... there was anger in his face, and something in his eyes... Gateau tried to move his arm away, but Marron wouldn't let him.

 

"Gateau, you don't understand... I... I need for you to do this..."

 

"Why? If you're not comforta-"

 

"I want to be comfortable with it." For my brother's sake. One day, even if only in some hopeless dream, Carrot might do the same thing. It'd be different, but... in the meantime, even if only with Gateau, Marron felt he should at least be comfortable with it...

 

"Marron..."

 

"I want to be comfortable with it, and I want, Gateau, to come. I want you to make me come." Because I can't do it myself.

 

Gateau blinked and pointed at himself, "Me? You want me to make you come?"

 

Gateau was obviously presuming, Marron thought, that Marron himself had some predetermination to be taken to climax at Gateau's hand... not quite. For a moment, it went through Marron's mind that it didn't really matter who did it, just as long as he reached that peak... but Gateau was there, and Gateau was willing. Gateau probably wouldn't understand the situation or at least be sympathetic of it at all, so Marron figured it was best to keep things simple. Gateau thought that Marron wanted him specifically to make him come? Let him think that. Marron just nodded, "Yes. I... I need to..."

 

Gateau sighed in resignation, "I don't know how you've kept out for such a long time, to be honest... I mean, before I even came in I guess you were, y'know, and I don't know how long you were here before I was here... and all the time I've been in here..."

 

He smiled, "You've sure got stamina, anyway."

 

Too much so, Marron thought. He just leant back again, "... Indeed. Now, please... if you would..."

Gateau couldn't argue with that, and so did as Marron asked. He couldn't help but notice the strange half-sigh half-cry that Marron let out at feeling that warmth... Gateau felt encouraged. He sucked deeply, caressing Marron's arousal with his tongue like how he'd felt Marron on his own body... Marron's eyes were closed, he almost seemed caught in his own world. Gateau took this also as encouragement, and reached with one hand to touch him once more; the hand on his thigh... Marron's leg moved to the side slightly, allowing Gateau to touch him further. Gateau felt relieved; Marron was obviously comfortable with him now.

 

So he stroked Marron's thigh, watching him shudder and cry in response. He took Marron's balls into one hand and caressed them also... he leaned down with his head, nuzzling against them, sucking on them lightly. Marron bit his lip for a moment in his concentration before crying out once more, sounding quite desperate himself, "AH... Gateau... Gateau..."

 

Gateau couldn't help a slight smirk as he looked up, "You like that, huh?"

 

"D-don't stop..."

 

This could be what it takes, Marron thought.

 

As instructed, Gateau didn't stop. And for once, Marron could feel something building within him... it was something he hadn't felt in a long time, but it was undeniably there... undeniably something that he'd felt before, what seemed like so long ago in the past... and maybe he might be able to feel that feeling once more...

 

... but then there was the matter of the name he always said to himself. To himself. He'd said Gateau's name to Gateau, but... was it really Gateau he was thinking of? In his mind, he could see brief images of he and Carrot engaged in the same, and the feelings he felt multiplied... he had to hold his tongue, though. To say Carrot's name while with Gateau... Marron didn't know what would happen.

 

Still, the feeling was there.

 

The feeling he'd always pushed aside.

 

It'd been triggered by somebody else, but... it was still that feeling...

 

The tightness, the steady aching in his body increased. Surely that feeling should be pushed away, to be thought about later? The connection between mind and body seemed to be confusing itself. This was not what usually happened, was it?

 

Despite the tight feeling in his chest, Marron continued to thrust continually into Gateau's mouth. He moved his mouth so wonderfully, sometimes being teasing and just nuzzling the tip, sometimes taking it in as far as he could, never giving any notice as to what'd he'd do... and it felt wonderful, but somehow... somehow, something in the back of his mind told Marron that that was wrong... that he shouldn't be feeling things like that...

 

"After all, isn't this just the easy way out?"

 

Gateau didn't notice Marron's body tensing, or perhaps mistook the gesture for something else.

 

"Those feelings were always for Carrot... you're just using Gateau, using him for your own pleasure and using him as your test subject... but it's still Carrot you think of..."

 

Marron held his hands behind his head as he tried to shut out his inner voice; all of those points seemed valid and true, but... need was clouding his senses... so what if Gateau wasn't Carrot? In the end, it didn't really matter... just as long as he could have that feeling... and so what if he cried Carrot's name when he came? That could be dealt with when the time came, surely...

 

Marron's voice sounded weak, all of a sudden.

 

"... I... I'm close... G-... Gateau... I want... to come..."

 

The more Marron repeated it to himself, the more it seemed like a lie. He wanted to come? Wasn't that an apparent good against the things that actually mattered? Perhaps it might have been, but that didn't matter, no matter what, it couldn't be denied that he really did want to come. Desperately. For a few moments there, he thought he would, but as he moved his hands away from the back of his head to move them to Gateau's head to ensure he kept the same rhythm, some other impulse overtook his body...

 

"... It's wrong to inflict my own feelings on somebody else like this... the passion that Gateau can't and can never understand... to cry Gateau's name would be to betray my brother... niisan... my brother..."

 

Marron's hands never reached Gateau's head. Instead, still on that impulse, they formed the oft-practiced gesture that preceded most of Marron's spellcastings. This was no different, and he found himself chanting the passage under his breath, almost without realising... the last syllable of the chant was a cry within itself, Marron arched his back through the power that ripped through his body, and pushed Gateau away from him.

 

And then he fell to the floor.

 

Gateau had been stunned at abruptly finding himself against the opposite wall of the room. What the hell had just happened there? He ran a hand through his hair... he'd been with Marron, he'd been happily doing as Marron had requested him to do, Marron had seemed to be enjoying it as much as he could have been, he'd seemed extremely close to his climax, and then... then what?

 

Gateau looked up, trying to work out what'd come after that. He saw Marron, still on the floor, a few meters away... seemed that Gateau'd been thrown quite a distance, whatever it was that'd done it... had Marron done that? Why?

 

Gateau picked himself up, and wandered over to Marron. His back hurt... still, sleep'd probably help with that. Nothing as bad as things Sorcerers had done in the past, anyway. Gateau crouched next to Marron, reaching out to stroke his cheek, check that he was alright. If that'd been Marron's orgasm, than it must have been a pretty intense one...

 

"... Marron? You okay?"

 

There wasn't any response; for a moment, Gateau panicked. What had happened?! Had something bad happened to Marron? He dropped to his knees and checked Marron for a pulse... he felt one, his fear melted away somewhat. Still alive, then. He breathed, but very softly... he looked asleep, almost... but stiller than that...

 

Looking around the room, Gateau located his nightshirt and Marron's nightrobe, pulled his over his head, and carefully dressed Marron. He picked Marron up, and wondered what to do next. Maybe Big Mama could say what'd happened? Maybe it'd been a Sorcerer's sneaky attack, or something! Or... or maybe a Sorcerer had done something to Marron that'd make him do that, like a time bomb, but without the bomb bit, or... well... Gateau wasn't sure, and so many things were racing through his mind, people to go and find, things that might have happened...

 

After a moment's thought, Gateau knew there wasn't any question in the matter; first person to see would have to be, of course, Carrot. Even before Big Mama or anyone else, Carrot'd have to know that something'd happened.

 

His mind made up, Gateau left the room, holding Marron tightly across his arms as he made his way down the corridor. It was late at night and dark, but the moonlight shining in through the windows meant that Gateau could at least see a little of the way. And it wasn't as if the room Marron'd been in was too far away from his and Carrot's own room, only a few doors away at the most... Gateau approached the Glacé brothers' room, and noted that the door was eversoslightly open; obviously Marron had left the room in some haste. He had seemed quite... taken, by his arousal... Gateau paused in the corridor, taking a moment to look at his fallen comrade.

 

Marron's eyes were closed, his head leaning slightly to one side. His face seemed peaceful, his lips slightly parted and his eyebrows raised... a few strands of hair fell over his face, Gateau blew at Marron's face to disturb the hair... it was disturbed, but Marron wasn't. At all. Not even his eyes twitched at the momentary feeling of cold... Gateau looked down at Marron with quiet sympathy. Perhaps he had been forcing himself into doing that a bit too much... but he'd seemed so confident at first, anyway... and there hadn't been any problem there... but it seemed that, once the attention had been turned from Gateau to Marron, he'd suddenly become... almost scared, Gateau supposed. He couldn't pretend to understand Marron enough to explain that, so he supposed he'd just have to deliver Marron back into his bed and tell Carrot what'd happened, perhaps missing out a detail here and a detail there. Gateau wasn't sure how much of what'd happened Marron'd want Carrot to know... but the brothers were close. Anything would probably be discussed between them before long.

 

The door swung open with a single creak, not enough to disturb Carrot, who still slept, snoring loudly. He was also naked, Gateau noticed with a wrinkled nose. Well, it was hot, but... even so... he shook his head, that hadn't been something he wanted to see. Carrot wasn't the important one at the moment, though... Gateau placed Marron down on his bed, and noticed (with vague confusion) that Marron still seemed to have retained his erection from before... Gateau wondered if he should hide that any. He debated over it for a passing second before seeing one of the discarded bedsheets on the floor; it was better than nothing. Gateau reached down and threw it carefully over Marron, tucking it in at the sides... that'd have to do.

 

He looked over to Carrot. Did he really need to be disturbed? Other than the circumstance, Marron seemed to be sleeping quite normally... maybe he'd wake up tomorrow morning alongside everyone else. Though, there was always the possibility that he wouldn't, and then Carrot'd worry even more, and Gateau'd feel guilty for not telling Carrot earlier, Carrot himself would probably get annoyed at Gateau for not saying anything...

 

Gateau sighed as he walked from Marron's bed over to Carrot's bed. It'd probably be the best thing to tell him straight away, while the events were still fresh, and before anything else could happen.

 

Carrot's shoulder, when Gateau reached out to shake it, was warm and clammy. He snored in response, but didn't do anything more... Gateau shook at Carrot a little harder, "Hey, Carrot, wake up!"

 

"Ahn mnmn sehda rau..."

 

"Carrot, what the hell? Wake up already, something's happened to Marron!"

 

"Mrrn asuta yamnzzz..."

 

Gateau grabbed both of Carrot's shoulders and shook them forcibly, "WAKE THE HELL UP!!"

 

"AAAAH!!!"

 

Carrot's eyes snapped open, quickly meeting Gateau's slightly angry eyes; he pulled away from Gateau's hands, holding his shoulders protectively.

 

"What's the deal with waking me up so noisily while it's still dark? Not like Big Mama'd send us on a mission now, is it? Or is she? Damn, I hope not... and it's still so hot... hey, it took me ages to get to sleep, you coulda at least let me sleep a little more, wait until everyone else was ready, I mean, look at you, you're still in your nightshirt even!"

 

Gateau rolled his eyes, "Carrot, stop whining, it's nothing like that at all. Something's happened to Marron."

 

Carrot was immediately concerned, his easygoing sparkle suddenly replaced by worry. He looked to Marron's bed then back to Gateau quickly, "Something's... happened?! Wha-... what do you mean? He's... he's still alive, isn't he?"

 

"Yeah, seems so... but I was, uh... I was walking through the corridor out there 'cause I wanted to get a drink, and I was walking past the sitting room a little down the passage, you know the one? It's a couple of doors down. Anyway, I was walking past there, and I thought I heard Marron's voice, though I couldn't hear what he was saying... so I thought I'd just check it out and all... and I just heard this weird sound, and I went into the room, and he was just lying there... I was worried, I thought something really bad had happened, but he's still breathing, at least..."

 

As Gateau spoke, Carrot got out of the side of his bed closest to Marron's bed, and walked around to the side of Marron's bed closest to the window. He knelt next to his brother's bed, his elbows on the covers... Gateau felt suddenly a little self-conscious on Marron's behalf, the sheet hadn't hidden the shape of Marron's body any... Carrot didn't seem to notice, though.

 

"Jeez... I wonder what happened," Carrot reached out and shook Marron's shoulder, "... I mean, I remember him talking to me earlier, and that can'ta been too long ago... maybe he got too hot, or something? Ya know, like heatstroke or something... I don't get why he was in the other room, though..."

 

"Maybe he thought it'd be cooler in there?"

 

"Perhaps, but if he was that hot, why didn't he just take a cold shower, or something? I wish he'd wake up..."

 

Carrot's voice grew a little softer as he addressed Marron directly, "Hey... Marron? Wake up? It's only me... just wanna make sure you're okay... so, um... otouto? You gonna carry on sleeping?"... Carrot nudged Marron's shoulder softly, a slightly sad expression on his face. "... Guess you want to sleep a little longer... you do that..."

 

He turned to face Gateau again, "Looks like he really doesn't wanna wake up..."

 

Gateau didn't quite know what to say or do... seeing Carrot acting so intimately with Marron wasn't something he was used to, the bond between the Glacé brothers was often more of an unspoken one than anything else... Gateau just stood to the side, nodding his agreement.

 

"Maybe we'll just have to wait until the morning..."

 

"I guess that's all we can really do... damn, I'm not gonna be able to sleep now, knowing that there's something up with him. Maybe I'll go see Big Mama first thing, just to say what happened... though he'll probably wake up. I mean... it's probably just that the heat got to him, right? He just got a little overheated and ended up passing out... don't you think?"

 

Gateau recognized that Carrot was looking to him for support as well as just confirmation. Gateau tried to steady himself as much as possible into being supportive, he nodded.

 

"I'm sure it was just that. We should sleep in the meantime, I guess... wake up early to make sure Marron's okay, and everything... we'll both find it hard to sleep, I suppose."

 

Carrot nodded and sighed, "That's for sure... well, you're right, we should try and sleep, anyway. Doesn't seem like Marron has any problem with that, at least..."

 

Gateau was already at the door, "Y-yeah... I'll come through when I wake up, see how he is, okay? G'night, Carrot."

 

"Yeah... same to you."

 

There was the slight 'click-thunk' of the door closing, then the room was more or less silent once more. Carrot closed his eyes for a moment, thoughts abstractly running through his mind. The situation seemed just a little strange... what had Marron been doing in that other room? Surely every room in Eden was as hot as another? And the noise Gateau'd heard, what might that have been?

 

There were so many questions on Carrot's tongue, and nobody to ask any of them to. Marron didn't seem like he'd be answering questions anytime soon, at least.

 

Carrot brushed Marron's hair aside a little, "Marron..."

 

Marron didn't respond. Again, Carrot sighed, and decided that maybe, he should try and get some sleep. No matter how hard that was. As he'd said to Gateau, he had to wake up early to see Big Mama about what'd happened... maybe someone got into Eden and had done something weird to Marron? Carrot wasn't sure, but the situation worried him. He hoped that Marron'd wake up soon to be able to provide some kind of explanation to what'd happened... but until then, he'd only be able to wait.

 

Carrot headed back to his own bed, sitting on it, sitting against the headboard, still looking over at Marron. He seemed peaceful enough, anyway. His breathing was soft, and a little more audible than it'd been before... not as Marron was snoring or anything, but if Carrot held his own breath, then he could hear Marron's breathing above the silence of the room, and that soft sound comforted him, eventually into sleep.

 

****

 

The morning on Eden was quite bright and, happily to everyone there, quite fresh. There was a breeze in the air for once, and everywhere seemed a little more refreshed because of it.

 

The sunlight streamed into the room directly over and onto the beds, and caused Marron to twitch and let out a noise of discomfort in his state of half-sleep.

 

At realising that the sun was shining so brightly, Marron subconsciously realised that perhaps it was time to wake up; his eyes opened slowly, immediately on guard against the bright light of the room... he rolled over a little, so that he wasn't facing the window. It was still bright, but this time bearably so; his mind picked up that one fact slightly before he really realized it, and once he did, Marron sat up wide-awake in his bed; he was in his bed, but... where was Carrot?

 

Looking from Carrot's bed to the window, Marron wondered what the time was... the sun seemed to be high in the sky to be shining so brightly... this too was strange. Marron usually found himself awake at least in the early morning... he'd overslept? Why'd he overslept?

 

As Marron sat there, thoughts and memories of the night before occurred to him.

 

He and Gateau... they'd...

 

Marron froze in his seated position, the events of the night before seeming suddenly so far away. He and Gateau... he remembered how Gateau had caught him masturbating... masturbating over Carrot, no less... though at least it seemed that Gateau hadn't heard Marron calling out Carrot's name, or anything. That served as slight relief. No, but... there'd been that... then Marron himself had ended up coming onto Gateau, coercing him... not that he needed any persuasion, but... he'd done that, then they'd done... what they'd done, and...

 

Marron frowned to himself. He remembered what he'd done to Gateau, but as for his own experience, or experiences... the situation had come about through Marron's need for climax... had he actually, finally, been able to reach his climax?

 

He fell back onto his pillows as he mulled the situation over. Obviously Big Mama had no missions for them for the day, so there wasn't any hurry to wake up...

 

Had he reached his climax? Was there any way of finding out? Perhaps asking Gateau... Gateau might remember...

 

That was when Marron realised that his location was strange; he honestly couldn't remember going from where he'd been in the room down the hall to his current whereabouts, his usual bedroom. He couldn't have walked there, could he? Maybe he sleepwalked there. Maybe Gateau had taken him there afterwards? Nothing seemed to fit together...

 

Quietly, Marron allowed his thoughts to jumble around in his mind. If he couldn't remember anything then there wasn't any point in racking his thoughts to pick up on anything; maybe something strange would trigger his thoughts and memories.

 

He raised his hand to eye level; he realised he was wearing a nightshirt... he hadn't put that on, had he? Surely it'd been one of those unbearably hot nights, last night... yes, it had been... Marron distinctly remembered that...

 

Then, alongside the heat, Marron remembered. He remembered the tense pain he'd felt within himself... he remembered, vaguely, his inner thoughts... he remembered what it'd felt like to have Gateau touch him in such ways...

 

He remembered casting the spell for a protective barrier. He remembered that, and little else. Nothing else. That, Marron mused, must have been the end of it.

 

Marron sat up again, shuffling backward so he leant against the headboard of the bed. He leant one arm out, his hand holding tightly around the cool decorative orb on the end of one of the sidebars of the headboard. What had last night been all about? He'd really made such advances on Gateau... it wasn't as if they'd slept together, but... what would happen next? How would Gateau react?

 

Marron realised that, when he next happened to see Gateau, he himself wouldn't know how to react. Was there any way to react? Just how did people react to such things anyway? He wished Carrot were around, then he could at least talk to him about the situation, at least have somebody to bounce ideas off of, even if Carrot himself might not know how to act either...

 

Marron was disturbed from his thoughts by the door suddenly opening; he looked up, expecting to see his brother... it wasn't, though. It was the happy face of Milphey, bearing drinks.

 

"Good MORNING sleepy Marron-chan!! Are yooou awaaake yet?"

 

Marron just blinked at Milphey, "Ah... Milphey?"

 

Milphey noticed that Marron was awake, and smiled happily. It amazed Marron how Milphey could remain so bouncy while carrying drinks that steamed gently into the air... surely anybody else would spill them, but Milphey was frequently a law unto himself... Marron just stared for a moment, then remembered the most important issue.

 

"Milphey, where's my brother?"

 

Milphey had walked into the room, shut the door, and was currently placing the two steaming drinks on the bedside cabinet next to Marron's bed. He looked up with a curious noise as he heard Marron speak, "Oh, Carrot-chan?"

 

Marron nodded, "Yes, my brother."

 

"Carrot-chan and the others went on a mission earlier this morning, but you were still asleep... seems that something or other happened last night that worried them all... oh, I can't remember, you'd have to ask Carrot-chan and Gateau-chan about it, but from what I can remember, Gateau heard a strange noise coming from another room last night, and went in and found you unconscious... so he brought you back and you slept right until now..."

 

There was silence as Marron processed that information. Gateau had found him unconscious, had he? No, that wasn't it... Marron supposed that, perhaps, Gateau was embarrassed as Marron, and wouldn't dare speak of what happened to anybody... dealing with that could come later on when Gateau returned, but... the others had really gone on a mission? Without him?

 

Marron frowned as he accepted the drink and sipped it tentatively.

 

"... What time is it?"

 

Milphey glanced up at the window, then back at Marron. He shrugged.

 

"Well, we haven't had lunch yet, but it can't be too far away, so... I'd say about midday? You're usually up at the crack of dawn though, so I guess whatever happened last night knocked you out for a fair while... I wonder what did it? Can Marron-chan remember anything?"

 

"... No, I can't..."

 

The truth, for once, was something Marron couldn't bring himself to say.

 

Milphey just grumbled, "Well, I hope it's not a Sorcerer. Big Mama didn't notice anything, nobody else seemed to, and we don't think anybody broke in... but to get to you, they would have to have been close, right? And, no offence meant, but why would they just attack you? Why not everyone else, or the Haz Knights, or Big Mama herself?"

 

He sighed, "It doesn't make a lot of sense..."

 

Marron just stared quietly out of the window as he quietly drank. Let them think it was a Sorcerer if they wanted...

 

Milphey was sat on the edge of Carrot's bed, also drinking.

 

"Carrot-chan was quite worried about you."

 

Marron paused, "My brother was...?"

 

A nod, "Yeah. He came to see Big Mama as soon as he woke up, and he woke up really early, too... he said about how something'd happened to you, wondered if she knew anything about what'd happened... of course, she didn't, but still... poor Carrot, he seemed so concerned all the time! Once the others woke up and found out, they seemed worried too... Big Mama seemed relaxed, though. She said you'd wake up eventually if it wasn't serious, and if it was serious, well, they'd investigate. Best send them on a mission to try and take their minds off it, y'know? And it seems you've woken up, so you're okay. Right? You are okay, aren't you? Don't feel any pain anywhere, you remember who you are, you don't have amnesia, do you?"

 

Marron paused, setting his drink to the side. Physically he felt as normal as he usually did... and of course he'd retain his memory, but even so, thoughts of the night before did seem so far away...

 

"I can't remember much from last night... otherwise, I feel fine..."

 

That, however, was not what concerned Marron.

 

"... But... my brother... the others... where are they? I trust they're not in too much danger..."

 

Milphey wrinkled his nose, "Nah, they're just on some mission against some Sorcerer, the usual. I daresay they'll cope without you for this one time, Marron-chan! The others are still there to look after him even if you're not."

 

That thought didn't comfort Marron any. He wanted to tell Milphey that it didn't matter if the others were with him, just for his own conscience, he wanted to be with his brother, make sure he was alright... and if the others could take care of Carrot just as well as he could, then what did that say for his own usefulness, his own raison d'etre?

 

He didn't mention any of that to Milphey, though. He just sighed into his drink, "Do you know when they might return?"

 

"I couldn't say, sorry. They've been out for the morning though, so... I guess by the afternoon, they'll be back? I really don't know, but I guess they'll be back before too long. So! You wanna go anywhere? It's a nice day, we could go out to the city, have lunch, I'd pay..."

 

"I'd rather wait for my brother."

 

Marron spoke quite matter-of-factly. Milphey downed the last of his drink, put the cup to the side, and sighed.

 

"Marron-chan, you can't sit in here and mope about Carrot-chan all the time... he'll be okay, you'll see. Besides, isn't he the one who's going to be worried about you? You were the one who didn't wake up, after all... and if Big Mama sent him on a mission, there isn't much of a way he can say 'no', is there? Big Mama is not one to be disobeyed..."

 

Marron felt Milphey's comment talking to his inner thought of 'Why couldn't Carrot have at least stayed here with me, if he was so worried?'... he was staring in the direction of the window, but not looking directly out of it. Milphey was right, though; it was a nice day, and in another circumstance (perhaps with Carrot around), Marron felt that he might have taken Milphey up on his offer... but, for the moment, all Marron could think of was Carrot, and wonder when he might return. He couldn't help but feel angry at himself for staying asleep for so long... but he couldn't help but think, had last night really taken that much out of him?

 

It obviously had.

 

No outer response from Marron. Milphey sighed once more, and stood up. He looked at Marron carefully with sympathy, but Marron didn't return the look... Milphey folded his arms, "Well... if you want to stay here, that's alright. Marron-chan needs rest, doesn't he? I won't be going anywhere. If you do want to go somewhere, I'll probably be in the grounds, okay?"

 

A slight nod from Marron, Milphey realised that was probably the most he was going to get from him.

 

Marron didn't look up until he heard the door shut. He looked up, almost as if he was surprised that Milphey was gone... then he looked down again. So, another day off, one he hadn't been expecting. What to do?

 

The thought of magic studies occurred to Marron. Of course, even days that were free could be used to strengthen and hone his skills... and even if Carrot wasn't around... well, the study would pay it's own way when Marron could use new skills against a form of evil who wanted to harm his brother... indirectly, it was still protecting his brother... yes, that was a decent justification.

 

Marron slipped out of the bed, pulled his nightshirt over his head. He flicked his hair back from where it'd been messed up, folded his nightshirt, and placed it on the end of the bed. He went to find a hairbrush, glanced at the bed, and realised that nobody else was going to make it for him. He went back to the bed and quickly pulled the sheets a little more taught, a little straighter. Marron tucked the sheets in at the edge, and nodded to himself that that was good enough.

 

Carrot's bed was also untidy... usually Carrot crawled into his bed no matter what the state, having little choice in the matter anyway... sometimes Marron made Carrot's bed for him, but he often didn't get the chance. Marron smiled to himself, there'd be no harm in just tidying it up a little...

 

Marron occupied himself with that for a while, eventually standing to the side. He looked to the pillows, realised that perhaps they could be tended to... he picked them up, fluffed them, placed them back where they'd been. That'd be a little more comfy for Carrot, come bedtime.

 

He knelt between the two beds, reaching into one of the drawers of the bedside cabinet. He found a hairbrush, and stood by the window as he ran it continually through his hair. He held it tightly as he forced knots to leave, obviously a product of his haphazard sleeping positions the night before.

 

The sun shone down on Faéade, bright and undisturbed by clouds anywhere at all. Trees outside bowed under a wind that Marron couldn't feel... the day was obviously just a little cooler than it'd been before. Marron smiled, that was welcome. If it meant that the nights would be just a little cooler, then that was also most definitely welcome. It wasn't nice to be cold at night, but the humid, sticky nights weren't too desirable either... well, whatever happened, happened.

 

After a short while of quiet reflection, Marron walked away from the window, pulled hair from the hairbrush, disposed of it in the bin near to the door. He replaced the brush back next to the beds, and headed into the bathroom.

 

Marron stared at the bath for a little while. Did he really need a bath?

 

Thoughts of last night drifted over his mind. Not only had it been so hot and humid, there'd also been... what'd happened with Gateau, so...

 

His mind made up, Marron ran a bath for himself. He left it running while he went back to the bedroom to find something to tie his hair up with; he quickly dealt with his hair, glad that nobody was around to see him. Tying his hair up properly so that it wouldn't get wet at all was always a little tricky, and, as he walked past the bathroom mirror, Marron couldn't help but think that it vaguely resembled a pineapple. Or a jellyfish. Or an octopus. Or anything of that like... he stood in front of the mirror for a moment, unimpressed by his own appearance. He'd bath quickly, just wash himself all over, then go hit the books for the rest of the afternoon. Yes, Marron thought as he walked away from the mirror and lowered himself into the warm bathwater; that sounded like a plan.

 

Marron didn't think of much in particular as he reached for the soap, lathered it between his hands, and rubbed it over his upper body. Keeping clean was important, and baths were refreshing. Sometimes Carrot would sing a song or two in the bath, Marron remained silent. He lifted one leg out of the water as he ran a soapy flannel over that too...

 

He remembered Gateau's hands, how they'd touched his body... where they'd touched his body...

 

Marron lowered his leg back into the bath, soap floated to the surface.

 

A shiver ripped through his body suddenly. Marron frowned; what'd caused that? The water was warm, so it wasn't from that... and the air of the bathroom was warm... and when Gateau'd touched him, he'd felt so hot... and he'd been so close... he'd been so close to his climax, and he could have come, he was sure of it... what kind of person couldn't, after all? In the past, he'd been able to... it was just one of those things that people did, surely?

 

Marron pulled his knees to his chest, shaking his head, disturbing hair from where it tickled his neck. He glared intently at the water in front of him, as if expecting it to suddenly do something... however, it didn't. Marron felt cold all of a sudden...

 

What kind of person couldn't even take themselves to orgasm? Even more, what kind of person wouldn't let themselves indulge in that feeling, even with somebody else?

 

His thoughts reverted to his original sin; what kind of person felt such overwhelming thoughts for their own sibling? Their own brother... what kind of sick, sick person would think thoughts like that...

 

"I would", Marron thought.

 

"I think those thoughts, and I embrace them... and yet I push them away, much as I pushed Gateau away... after I let him touch me... did I hope that his touch could replace my brother's touch? The touch I've so far only dreamed about... his touch..."

 

Marron leant his elbow on the edge of the bath, his cheek on his fist. His thoughts wouldn't leave him alone, and he couldn't prevent that heavy feeling... Marron's thoughts seemed to fall between two camps... the thoughts of his brother, and the thoughts of Gateau. And the two didn't mix easily.

 

Aside from the obvious, Marron felt that his feelings for Carrot were the purest ones he had.

 

Well, 'pure'. Perhaps more 'overwhelming'. The thoughts he had of Carrot fucking him into an incoherent stupor couldn't described as 'pure', not by any means. But the base feelings he had, the feelings of loving his brother... he loved Carrot so wholly and completely, how could acting on that love be wrong? Aside from the fact that they were both men, the fact that they were brothers... but being close... it was better for siblings to be close than to fight, wasn't it? Close... closer... the closest they could be...

 

Marron shivered once more, triggered by his thoughts. Him and Carrot, so close...

 

However, Gateau had suddenly been added to the equation. Marron had only himself to blame, he felt... he was the one who'd approached him, he was the one who'd triggered the situation... but did Marron really want that from Gateau? It seemed that even Gateau couldn't make him come... or at least, Marron hadn't let him make him...

 

If the situation had been with Carrot, would it have been different? Would Marron have let himself? Or was his body just too well trained? Had he inadvertently swapped his sexual drive for his magic power?

 

The thought of monks occurred to Marron. Lots of people in the past had taken up that kind of lifestyle in pursuit of magic, or religion... their beliefs were against that kind of physical pleasure, or they honestly didn't require something like that...

 

Marron frowned. Had he resigned himself to that kind of life?

 

Even with all the magic in the world, that wouldn't turn his feelings. No magic in the world could compare to the imagined feeling of what it'd be like to be tangled with Carrot, limbs entwined, arms wrapped around each other, hands clasping and gripping... magic was magic, but it was such a solitary pastime...

 

Marron leant back in the bath, the cold of the bathtub coming into contact with his back. He remained still for a few moments, letting his body grow used to the temperature, warming the surface slightly.

 

The thought of his predicament being his punishment occurred once more. His brother chased girls endlessly, and Tira and Chocolat whipped the hell out of him for it. That was Carrot's punishment. Tira and Chocolat both loved Carrot, but... Carrot would surely only be able to choose one of them... and given his temperament, would he even choose one of them at all? Their method of keeping Carrot tamed only seemed to make him more eager to escape... and that was their punishment? Gateau always posed and flexed for Marron, but if he got too close, Marron never hesitated to send a fireball in his direction... that was his punishment... and nobody knew of Marron's feelings, so it wasn't as if somebody else could punish him for his feelings... only he knew the truth, the truth he couldn't escape from. And surely those feelings were so totally wrong... so... his punishment...

 

Marron leant both elbows on the sides of the bath, pressing his fingers tightly against the sides of his head. Wasn't it enough that he loved so selflessly? Wasn't that enough?

 

Then again, wasn't that love... selfless as it might seem, wasn't it also a selfish love?

 

Marron honestly didn't want anything to happen to Carrot. He didn't like it when Carrot got hurt, he didn't like it when Carrot was in pain... pain was a universally bad thing, and so wanting to prevent someone from being in pain... that was surely a normal urge?

 

However, the things that came from said urge... his own thoughts... his own emotions... he liked it when he saved Carrot from various dangers, because it'd been he who'd saved Carrot. Alright, so when the others did things to help, then that was them... but when Marron saved Carrot, and Carrot acknowledged that... Marron'd just quietly accept his brother's thanks, play it down... but it warmed him, and he couldn't help but look at the others with different eyes, just for a short while... they hadn't been the one that Carrot'd thanked. They hadn't saved Carrot. They hadn't managed to do what Marron had done.

 

Marron slipped further under the cover of the water, feeling a headache coming on. The selfishness he felt, the jealousness he sometimes felt, the envy of the women Carrot endlessly chased after... all those negative things... was that such a pure love? Surely it'd be best to be happy if Carrot was happy... and if he wanted to chase girls, if he got with a girl, surely it'd be best to wish him the best happiness, and be happy that Carrot was happy?

 

Marron leant back a little too fast, hitting his head on the edge of the bath. That wouldn't help his headache; he leant back on one arm, slightly softer than the hardness of the bath.

 

Even if Carrot was happy, that wouldn't stop he himself being alone. And was that being happy? If Carrot was happy then that was important, but... surely Marron needed happiness of his own... would that happiness ever come from loving his brother so deeply?

 

Again, thoughts of Gateau passed through Marron's mind. Carrot probably thought that Marron liked Gateau; everyone knew that Gateau liked Marron. Happiness with Gateau... was that an option open to him?

 

He remembered his thoughts from the night before; being with Gateau, letting himself go in Gateau's presence... wasn't that taking the easy way out? Wasn't that betraying the one person he felt he loved more than anybody else?

 

One hand still washed over his skin, idly cleaning himself with the wet flannel. Once the thought of such a betrayal went through Marron's mind, he pressed a little harder.

 

Obviously, nobody else would realise it a betrayal. Carrot would likely just be happy Marron had found someone, and carry on as per usual. Same for the Misu sisters. Gateau'd certainly be very happy... and there'd probably be a kind of happiness there, if Marron really could enjoy a sexual relationship with Gateau...

 

Of course, there was more to a relationship than just sex. They, the whole group already had such deep friendships... and Gateau's base morals couldn't be doubted... he was loyal to his friends and deadly to his enemies... he was somebody who could be trusted, he could be a little over-the-top but at least knew how to enjoy himself, and unlike Milphey seemed to be like, Gateau could also be serious... well, Milphey could also be serious, but, Marron thought, Milphey didn't figure into the equation.

 

Marron'd originally fought against his feelings for Carrot in an attempt to tame them. Perhaps cultivating a relationship with Gateau could take that further? A relationship with Gateau... it was more of a 'right' relationship, if there was such a thing. They were still of the same gender, but did anybody really have a problem with that? Even Carrot didn't seem to mind, and if he didn't mind, well... that made it alright. The thought relieved Marron somewhat; if Carrot had truly been against his brother's homosexual tendencies, Marron felt he'd be more uncomfortable with it than he was at current... there was a thin line between pleasing himself and pleasing his brother, and Marron wasn't sure which side of it he'd rather be on.

 

But to he, himself... did he want to betray his brother? Betray the feelings he had for his brother? Betray the thoughts and dreams and daydreams and those thoughts he already obviously counted as wrong for pushing them so far away...

 

... and doing the same things with Gateau was right? What was the difference? What was the difference?

 

Marron's hands clawed at his skin, the small towel separating his hand from his skin, but even so. How could he be like that... how could he be like that?! How could he think things like that about his brother... how could he carry such thoughts, such disgusting thoughts... and he'd touch himself while thinking such thoughts... but of course, they'd only bring him frustration... but betrayal was betrayal, and betraying his brother... that was the worst crime, surely?

 

The places Gateau'd touched him... Marron wanted to somehow remove Gateau's touch from his body. Nobody knew it a betrayal, but in his mind, it was... and how could he escape that?

 

Marron's skin was quite red under the water of the bath, any dirt or dead skin long gone from his body... that didn't matter, though. What was physical wasn't the important thing... was there any way to cleanse his body from the inside, and would he be able to forgive himself? Cleansing his body... cleansing his mind... changing the past... were any of those things possible?

 

A noise from the room next door disturbed him; the door had opened. Was that Carrot returning?

 

From the other side of the wall, Marron heard the muffled voice.

 

"Marron-chan? Marron-chan, are you around?"

 

Marron's mind kicked into gear as he realised who was talking; Milphey'd returned. Maybe he brought news of the others returning? Feeling flustered, Marron called his reply.

 

"Ah, I'm in the bath..."

 

"Oh, alright. I just brought more drinks, so hurry up if you don't want it to go cold. It's hot orange, the key word being 'hot'... do you want me to wait here?"

 

Marron frowned slightly to himself. Why was Milphey so keen to spend time with him? He thought for a few moments to come up with a line of questioning that wasn't brash or rude... asking Milphey why he wouldn't leave Marron the hell alone probably wouldn't please Milphey too much.

 

"Milphey... surely you have other things to do...? You don't need to worry about me, I'm quite alright..."

 

"Hey, you guys are nearly always on missions, we don't see each other nearly enough these days! I like you, I like all you guys, is it wrong to want to spend a little time with you? I mean, look at Carrot-chan and the others, they're on a mission as we speak... so I thought I'd grab the opportunity, spend a little time with Marron-chan, you know?"

 

"I... I see..."

 

Marron heard Milphey's satisfied little laugh from next door. There was a short silence, then Milphey spoke once more, his voice light and flirtatious.

 

"Want me to come through and scrub your back for you, Marron-chan? I wouldn't mind..."

 

"That won't be necessary, Milphey."

 

"Well, should I bring the drinks through? I wouldn't mind drinking them in the bathroom if you didn't mind drinking them in the bath."

 

"Milphey..."

 

"Too late, I'm coming in!"

 

Marron's eyes flickered momentarily heavenward, as if seeking holy strength. He wasn't feeling at quite his most sociable, and couldn't help but hold the gesture as Milphey walked in, saw Marron's hair, and burst into sudden giggles.

 

"HA! Hahaha, Marron-chan's a tentacle monster!"

 

Marron frowned, "Milphey, what? It's just my hair, I have to have it like this so it doesn't get wet and tangled in the bath."

 

Milphey glanced around for somewhere to put the drinks; he lowered the toilet lid, lay the tray on there, and knelt next to the bath. He smiled happily at Marron.

 

"Okay, okay, I didn't mean to make you angry. I usually just wash my hair in the bath myself. Hm, well, Marron-chan looks quite clean to me. Ah, but have you washed behind your neck? Don't want a dirty neck, after all... here, where's the soap..."

 

Milphey's hand dropped into the bath; Marron wasn't convinced Milphey was looking for the soap (which was currently sitting on a soap-holder next to the taps), and when he felt Milphey's hand groping at his leg, he quickly slapped at Milphey's arm.

 

"Milphey, the soap's over there."

 

"Oh, oh, ha ha ha. Well, how am I supposed to see the soap when it's all the way over there? Anyway, let's see. Don't want to get your hair wet."

 

Marron leant against the far wall as Milphey quite gently washed his neck. Admittedly, it didn't feel so bad, even if Milphey's intentions weren't as pure as they could be. Those thoughts were confirmed when Milphey next spoke, though he sounded a little quieter than usual...

 

"Marron-chan has a nice neck."

 

"Milphey..."

"Well, you do! Move over a little, let me get the back... ah see, you haven't washed here have you? It's dry."

 

Milphey massaged his hands against the back of Marron's neck, occasionally dipping the flannel into the water and washing it over Marron's skin.

 

"Does that feel good?"

 

"It's not a question of it feeling good or not, Milphey..."

 

"Oh, but a nice massage can be quite relaxing..."

 

"Where do massages come into it?!"

 

"I could give you one if you wanted me to..."

 

Marron paused for a moment, shutting his eyes.

 

"I'd rather you didn't."

 

Milphey reached over, still cleaning Marron's neck and upper shoulders. He smiled still, watching Marron quietly as he sat there...

 

"Well, if you're sure..."

 

Rinsing foam from Marron's body, Milphey ran his eyes over the rest of it. The water was now somewhat murky from soap, but the shape of Marron's body was still somewhat visible underneath it... Milphey remained quiet as he finished his little task.

 

That touch... Milphey was obviously somebody else who liked him, but was that, Marron wondered... was that also a touch that betrayed his brother? Milphey said he was just washing Marron's neck, but it wasn't as if there wasn't something else there also... what with suggesting a massage, and everything... was that touch a betrayal also?

 

Marron supposed it wasn't, since he hadn't really invited that touch, as such. He hadn't pushed Milphey away, but just a touch like that... something like that wasn't so bad, was it? It was a sensual motion without being overtly sexual. That, he supposed, was alright.

 

Milphey smiled as he leant back, "There we go, you've got a squeaky-clean neck now, Marron-chan."

 

He reached to the warm cups, "Want it?"

 

"... Alright," Marron accepted the cup. "Thank you, Milphey."

 

Milphey sipped at his orange, smiling still at Marron.

 

"So what do you have planned for the rest of the day? Or at least until Carrot-chan and the others return... just going to sit in the bath all day, or...?"

 

"I thought I'd do some of my magic studies later... even if I'm not on a mission, I'd still like to exercise my powers... I thought I'd do that once I got out of the bath. Why?"

 

"Oh, no reason, just curious. You'll do the magic bit out on the grounds, right? Maybe I'll come and watch you. All those sexy poses..."

 

"... What?"

 

"Well, you are. All that glaring, those intense 'you're about to die' stares... and the chanting and the power... even you have to agree it's a little sexy. I mean... hm... well, I was going to suggest someone for you to imagine doing the powerful magic chanting bit, but I don't know if there's anybody Marron-chan likes."

 

A smirk.

 

"So is there?"

 

"... Somebody I like?"

 

"Yes!"

 

A pregnant pause, then Marron spoke.

 

"... No. No, there isn't."

 

Milphey wrinkled his nose, "Shame. Then I coulda waxed lyrical on how sexy the magic thing makes people. I mean... even if Carrot was into it, it'd make him sexy, don't you think? Maybe if he was a little more graceful... if he grew his hair out a bit... we could have magical siblings! Though, I suppose with having the Aranju inside him, that's more than enough for anybody to deal with. I guess he doesn't like having magic already within him, he probably wouldn't wanna learn any to go alongside it. That's more a you thing."

 

Marron half-heartedly washed water down his arm, "... Yes."

 

Milphey just smiled, "Marron-chan's finished having a bath now?"

 

Marron stared at the water in the bath; there wasn't really much else he needed to wash... and his previous mood had been displaced by Milphey's arrival... at realising that, Marron glanced up at Milphey. Milphey smiled warmly back at him... Marron just blinked at him. Milphey didn't realise, didn't realise at all... he couldn't know the turmoil that'd been going through Marron'd mind just moments previous...

 

Milphey's smile was warm, though.

 

And if Milphey wanted to have sex with Marron, what then?

 

Marron shook that thought from his mind, and settled back into a calmer frame of mind.

 

"Milphey, I want to get out of the bath."

 

"Well, go on then, I'm not stopping you..."

 

"I meant, I want you to go into the other room while I get out of the bath."

 

Milphey stood up and went through to the other room, "Aww, you're no fun..."

 

The door clicked shut; Marron waited until he heard that until he was satisfied that Milphey was on the other side of the wall. Of course, there wasn't anything to guarantee that Milphey wouldn't come through while Marron was drying himself, but... that was a risk Marron just had to take.

 

He got out of the bath, pulling the plug as he went. The air of the bathroom was cool on his skin, especially on his lower body, where he'd been submerged. Marks on his legs showed up as being quite pink against his usual pale skin colour... Marron sighed. Well, nobody really looked at his legs, anyway. He noticed the cup of orange Milphey'd left... it was still a little warm. Marron quickly downed it, and located a towel to dry himself with.

 

Marron quickly set about drying himself, then chided himself as he realised he hadn't brought a robe of any kind into the room to change into. Oh well, he thought. He tied the towel tightly around his waist, and let his hair down, catching sight of himself as he walked past the mirror again. His hair felt dry against his skin, unarranged and falling over his eyes. Marron stood in front of the mirror for a moment, brushing a few strands away from his eyes, holding them a few centimetres away from his face, just for a moment.

 

"The face of somebody who desires his own brother..."

 

Marron stared at himself with that thought in mind, then dismissed his mirror image with a scathing glare, going back through to the main bedroom.

 

He emerged into the bedroom to find Milphey sitting on Carrot's bed. Milphey looked up as Marron walked through, "Oh, do you have the cup?"

 

Marron realised he didn't; he went back to fetch it, handed it to Milphey, and set about finding clothes to wear, despite Milphey's presence. As long as Milphey kept his distance, Marron supposed it didn't really mind. After all, last night aside, Gateau'd seen him naked before, hadn't he? And even Tira and Chocolat, in other circumstances... just for a few moments while he changed wouldn't matter.

 

A pile of clothes in hand, Marron wandered back over to his bed, and sat on the edge furthest away from Milphey. He slipped the towel off, and placed it to the side.

 

"Gosh, I'm in the same room as naked Marron-chan..."

 

Marron glanced over his shoulder, but Milphey just winked. Marron set back about getting changed; Milphey rocked on Carrot's bed, kicking his legs into the air.

 

"So, you're going to do magic studies after this?"

 

"Yes."

 

"Do you want any food? It has to be getting close to lunchtime..."

 

"Perhaps later, Milphey."

 

"Gotta make sure someone's looking after you."

 

Marron had his robe over his shoulders now; he'd just tied up the sash around his waist and was currently fastening up the buttons to his neck when Milphey spoke. That sentence seemed strange to Marron; he frowned and turned around on the bed, staring.

 

"... What?"

 

Still just a good-natured smile, "Well, you know..."

 

"No, I don't. What do you mean?"

 

Milphey raised both arms in a stretch, making a play of that for a moment, taking no hurry to answer Marron. He shrugged lightly, then fell back on the bed, disturbing it slightly.

 

"You're always looking after Carrot-chan so much... when you can't protect him, or something happens that you couldn't help, it upsets you... I know he's somebody who's so special to you, but... sometimes you have to take a moment to breathe, okay?"

 

"... What do you mean by that?"

 

Milphey sat back up, "You mustn't wear yourself out... I imagine you're waiting so eagerly for Carrot to come back... well, maybe not 'eagerly', but... you want him to come back, don't you? I'm not saying 'don't worry about him', but... try to make yourself a separate person, do you see what I mean? Do things because you want to do them, not just because of Carrot..."

 

Marron wasn't entirely sure why Milphey chose now to bring this up. His frown was his only answer. Milphey's look relaxed slightly, seeming to sense that Marron was unsure... perhaps the conversation could be lightened, just slightly...

 

"You don't have to spend the afternoon studying magic. You could come out to the city with me, if you wanted to... what would it hurt? We could look at things you wanted to look at, buy some things... whatever you wanted to do. You don't get much time away from the others, do you?"

 

"I'd rather study my magic..."

 

Marron wondered if he sounded too stubborn. His look fell slightly, "I'm sorry, I just... it's something I have to do..."

 

Milphey laughed quietly, "It's not something you have to do, but I know what you mean... well, alright, if you're so set on studying magic, I won't try to stop you. Just wondered if you wanted to get out and about a bit. Well, if you change your mind later, I'll still be around. I don't have anything else to do."

 

He was already heading towards the door. Marron looked up, "M-Milphey..."

 

Milphey looked as he stepped out of the door, "Mm?"

 

"... Thank you."

 

Milphey blinked, and smiled.

 

"It's okay. I know that hot orange is really good, even when it's a warm day."

 

And so, he left the room. Marron glanced down at his lap... he wasn't quite sure why he'd thanked Milphey, but he was pretty sure that the refreshment hadn't been the reason.

 

Perhaps Milphey had realised that also... Marron smiled. He knew what Milphey meant.

 

****

 

The grounds of Eden were quiet and peaceful; the sun shone brightly down upon the capital, and also upon Marron, where he stood. Currently he was below a large tree, standing slightly aside of it's shade, just so the sun fell upon him, warming him... large tomes sat closer to the tree, one kept open by another book leaning on top of it. The wind blew and tried to make the pages turn, but they were weighted down too heavily, and wouldn't move.

 

Marron took a deep breath, feeling the air through his body, fresh and cool. He didn't notice that Milphey was watching him from the inside, sitting inside, looking at Marron from through one of the many windows. Nothing else to do, so watching Marron... there wasn't any reason not to. He was pretty enough to keep Milphey occupied, at any rate.

 

The wind blew at Marron, disturbing his hair. He reached up, tucking it behind his ear... he stepped back, glancing down at the open book. He read a few passages, nodded something to himself, then stepped back to where he'd been before. A large empty space in front of him... he closed his eyes, clasped his hands together, chanted something... a fire attack unleashed itself into the air. It travelled some way, then faded out. Marron watched it as it went; it seemed to have travelled quite a distance, and it did so before it faded out... that was a good sign, that told him that the attack was quite powerful.

 

He stepped back slightly, going through the same process. He did this several times, different attacks flying into the nearby atmosphere.

 

Milphey watched, quite entertained. Marron seemed satisfied also, having let off those attacks... he referred back to the book, then took his stance again.

 

Barrier magic was as easy as any other, but this time he wanted to take it a step further. It was easy enough to create a barrier impenetrable to outside attacks, but more complicated to form a barrier that'd protect from outside attacks yet allow attacks from inside to go through. If pulled off, it'd mean that Marron could stand more or less invincible in battle, letting off attacks while unable to be touched by enemy attack... and of course, maybe Carrot could be sheltered under the same...

 

Marron realised that holding off one magical attack while casting another would place quite a drain on his strength; this was where practice was needed. The more Marron could carry off the attack, the more used to it his body would become... he closed his eyes, focusing on his magic.

 

Milphey watched, still. From through the window, he watched as Marron was suddenly surrounded by something translucent. A bubble around him that shimmered blue; Marron was still visible, just. Milphey leant his elbow against the windowsill, leant his head against his hand. Quite an interesting thing to watch, in a lazy kind of way. He smiled as he watched; Marron was such a serious person... he always chose to do the right thing, always chose to do the important things first... such a contrast to Carrot, but then again, after all... that was what made them so interesting.

 

Milphey wondered what Marron was thinking about. What did people like that think about? He often heard people talking about having to be in the right frame of mind to do this spell or that spell, and not being able to do this or that due to various mental states... Milphey smiled. He too controlled magic, but it was a deeper kind of magic, one closer to his soul. His magic came so much more easily to his fingertips, but... he didn't constantly learn new spells, like Marron always seemed to be doing.

 

Still, it kept Marron occupied. If that was what he wanted to do, Milphey wasn't going to stop him.

 

Inside the barrier, Marron was aware that sound from outside was that bit more muffled than it'd been. Quite a powerful barrier, but that could work to his disadvantage... after all, what if somebody crept up behind him, and launched a spell the barrier couldn't deflect? That, Marron thought, would be something he'd have to work on.

 

A perfect barrier would be an invisible one, Marron supposed. One that didn't tell of it's own presence, one that worked perfectly with the air to allow sound to penetrate, one that didn't allow enemy spells to penetrate.

 

Marron reached up to touch the barrier.

 

One that allowed one thing to penetrate... stopped another...

 

He quickly dissuaded his thoughts. Magic was the important thing. Magic was what he had to concentrate on.

 

Spreading his arms, Marron decided to concentrate on another spell, see how effective it was to attempt casting one spell from inside another at this early stage. He expanded the barrier a little and stepped back; if the barrier was too strong and it backfired, Marron liked to think he had at least a little space to duck into. He pressed his hands together, "Suzaku... kaen... GOKU!"

 

The spell passed, for the most part, through the barrier. Perhaps a little less powerful than it could have been, but for a first go, it wasn't bad. However, it had been tricky to cast... Marron felt a tiredness worm it's way through his body... he felt warm, all of a sudden. Seemed like some of the heat energy from the spell remained inside the barrier... he considered dropping the barrier for a moment, but then decided against it. Dropping it to rid himself of the heat then casting the spell again would only drain more of his energy; a little heat, he could deal with. He'd coped with worse things in the past.

 

The thought occurred, when might Carrot and the others be back? Preparing himself for another spell, Marron idly mused on that. Might he be able to cover another magic spell or two in the time it took for the others to return? Marron hoped they'd be alright. He knew there wasn't really anything to worry about, but... even so, he couldn't quite help but worry anyway...

 

Another spell was cast, and Marron realised he felt, suddenly, quite faint. That wasn't a good sign. The magic attack had launched itself spectacularly enough, but... maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to cast two such spells in such a short time period... though, he wouldn't have the chance to improve if he didn't keep at it. As they said, no pain, no gain.

 

Marron found himself having to work to keep himself upright, though. He held himself tightly, willing himself to stand. He had to stay like that, he had to keep focused, he had to learn the magic in order to protect Carrot... so that he could protect Carrot... Carrot was the most important, and even if Carrot didn't appreciate the time and effort it took to learn magic, that didn't matter, not really... that didn't matter, but the end result did...

 

So hot, though. The effect of the magic casting brought out sweat on Marron's brow, and the outside world seemed quite hazy...

 

It was for Carrot, though. Things like that, it didn't matter. It didn't matter if he hurt, or if he got hurt, because as long as Carrot was alright, then that was fine. And if Marron did hurt, or get hurt... surely that was just his punishment for his feelings? The feelings he held so closely... the feelings for Carrot...

 

In his less-than-attentive mental state, Marron didn't notice the barrier closing in around him. That tightness... that was pain... that could be a punishment too... and if he needed to cleanse himself... cleanse himself of those terrible, sinful thoughts... he needed to be cleansed... he needed to be cleansed of his feelings for Carrot? Or did Gateau's touch still linger on his skin? It needed to go away, it needed to go away... he wanted to make it go away...

 

Milphey had been watching with growing curiosity; did Marron really mean for the barrier to go in like that? When he saw Marron suddenly keel over onto the ground, that was when Milphey had ran from the room. Marron couldn't have meant to do something like that, surely... this was a matter of magic, wasn't it? Milphey ran quickly to the main hall, alerted Kahlua, and the two of them hurried outside to where Marron still lay, below the tree.

 

Indicating down at Marron, Milphey stopped a few paces away.

 

"I was just watching him, suddenly his barrier seemed to... I'm not sure, but I don't think it was something Marron-chan meant to do..."

 

Kahlua nodded, "Alright... do you have any idea what kind of magic he was practicing?"

 

Kneeling down next to Marron, he pressed his fingers to his forehead. The barrier around Marron faded away, but Marron didn't seem to notice. Kahlua frowned, his fingers still on Marron's forehead. He was burning up, his breathing quick... looking over his shoulder, he turned back to Milphey.

 

"Well, do you?"

 

"I'm not sure... he said he wanted to practice magic, but he didn't say what kind... oh, look, there's books over here... let's see. Hm. Well, he was obviously practicing barrier magic... I suppose he just attempted something he wasn't prepared for...?"

 

Kahlua stood up, easily taking Marron in his arms. His usually furrowed brow seemed deeper than usual, "I'm not sure if it's a question of being prepared for anything... this youth, I feel he has power enough for a barrier such as that. I don't think it was his own powers that disturbed him... I think it might have been something else."

 

"Something else, huh? Maybe a bird flew into his barrier."

 

Milphey picked up the books that'd been lying on the ground, "We should take him back up to his room, I suppose. When Carrot-chan and the others get back... I wouldn't like them to worry even more. I'm sorry to call you out over something trivial, but still... you're the one who knows most about magic, I thought I should get you in case it was something I couldn't cope with. We can just leave him in bed and say he slept all day, the others don't need to know, they'd only worry..."

 

The two walked in silence back to the main building. Once they reached there, Kahlua spoke.

 

"Do you know if anything was troubling him at all?"

 

Milphey thought about that, "Troubling him? Well, Marron-chan's always so quiet, no-one ever knows what's going on in his mind. But, if anything was going to be troubling him, I can only imagine that it'd be Carrot-chan..."

 

"In what way?"

 

"Oh, you know how it is. Marron's quite the devoted little brother, he works himself so hard just to make sure Carrot's alright... he only learnt magic to protect Carrot, after all."

 

Kahlua raised an eyebrow, "Indeed? Most learn magic to further their own powers, yet..."

 

"Well, Carrot says Marron learnt magic to protect himself and grow stronger, but why would Marron want to grow stronger in the first place? It could only be to protect his brother. Earlier on, he seemed quite concerned, since Mamu-sama sent the others on a mission without him... he passed out during the night, it seems. I asked him if he'd like to come to the town with me, but he declined... I should have pressed the matter, I suppose. I don't think he's in much of a state to do anything strenuous..."

 

"I see..."

 

"He can be quite stubborn, though. If anybody hurts Carrot-chan at all, Marron-chan grows so angry! Running around, yelling about how he won't forgive those who hurt his brother... quite scary."

 

They approached the Glacé brother's bedroom; Milphey arranged the bed, and Kahlua placed him onto it... Milphey replaced the sheets afterward. Marron had cooled down somewhat for being in the open air, and he looked as if he'd been sleeping in his bed all that time... Milphey smiled, folding his arms, playing with a ringlet of purple hair.

 

"Quite sweet when he's asleep, isn't he? Ah well... I suppose we should leave him... you think he'll wake up?"

 

Kahlua nodded, "I think he's just exhausted. He'd do well to sleep for as long as he wants to."

 

Milphey quietly shut the door behind the two of them. He glanced at it, as if to make to look at Marron beyond it... he looked back at Kahlua, smiling quietly.

 

"I suppose once Carrot-chan and the others return, I should tell them not to disturb him... though, at least for Carrot, that might be hard... as much as Marron worries about him, I think Carrot worries as well, even if it doesn't seem like it all of the time..."

 

Kahlua nodded, distant from the situation.

 

"Well, then... I shall take my leave."

"Yeah. Thanks, Kahlua."

 

Milphey watched Kahlua as he walked off down the corridor. He wondered what to do next. Maybe go and see Big Mama, to see when the Sorcerer Hunters might return from their mission? Or perhaps go down to the city, like he'd suggested to Marron earlier?

 

Quietly mulling over those choices, Milphey quietly walked away from the bedroom.

 

Inside the bedroom, Marron appeared peaceful. The sheets had been tucked around him, and he was bound quite tightly to the bed. Not so hard as to restrict movement, but even so... there being little else to explain it, perhaps it could be said that that situation leant itself to his dream.

 

And oh, how he dreamt.

 

****

 

Trapped...

 

Was he trapped?

 

He wasn't sure.

 

The distance between his mind and his dream couldn't tell him, and the distance of said dream told him that little was wrong with the situation at all... but dreams could often pervert reality so. This seemed to be one of those times.

 

He was naked in the darkness. Well, the darkness... his immediate area seemed to be visible, but only his very immediate area. And his body... moving his hands... he was trapped...? Moving his head from side to side, he seemed to be on some kind of large circular surface, a dias of some kind... spread-eagled on it... his arms and feet seemed to be tied to something unseen, preventing their movement... and when Marron tried to speak, his voice was muffled, almost like he was... no, he was... he could feel something tied around his head, pressing heavily into his mouth...

 

He was tied down and gagged up. Naked, and vulnerable. Just that one light showing anything at all... and all the light seemed to show was the further expanse of darkness beyond him...

 

There-!

 

Was that movement?

 

And again?

 

A touch. A hand slowly stroking Marron's lower leg. The hand itself, and the hand's owner... both of those were invisible to Marron's eye. Attempts to move his leg away were futile... his body shook, he didn't want such a touch! Cries were silenced by the gag, though. That hand moved so slowly... he couldn't do anything about it, moving further up his leg, stroking his thigh, tickling with just the tips of fingers...

 

A voice spoke, a voice that Marron couldn't place. Did it really speak at all? Or had he just sensed the words? He wasn't sure.

 

"You know you want this, really."

 

Did he? Did he really? Marron squirmed. The hand didn't move from his leg, but his view of the light was suddenly obscured by a body crawling over him... he felt someone's hot breath against his neck, hot breath that made him shudder. Then the feeling of those biting kisses... brutal and quick, marking Marron's soft skin, leaving dark bruised marks, invisible to anybody in that place.

 

"You're ours, and we'll do whatever we want to you..."

 

Marron let out a cry into the cloth, a cry that just seemed to excite his unknown captors. A hand held his head to the side, allowing that person to access his neck further. Kissing and licking up his neck, biting and nibbling against his ear... Marron averted his eyes, not that he could see anything anyway. The burning embarrassment inside him seemed to treble when he felt what could only be a tongue replacing where that hand had been. Teeth nipping at the sensitive skin on the inside of his thigh... if they went much closer, they'd...!

 

He pulled his bonds tight as he arched; he felt more touches, more caresses... the figure highest up on his body had pulled the cloth around his mouth to the side, and was kissing him deeply. Marron tried to cry out, but any movement was silenced by a savage pair of lips and a tongue that wished to claim him for it's own; it wasn't gentle at all, Marron felt the kisses all over his face, and his neck... the body was warm against him, so warm... he let out another cry when he felt another tongue over his chest, more specifically against his nipples... again, this one wasn't gentle either. Teeth nibbled and bit, and Marron cried out when he could, when he wasn't being kissed into silence... fingers on his nipples, pinching them, rubbing them, holding them tightly... too tightly... how many was that now? There seemed to be different tongues on each of his nipples, and still that person who kissed him, and... he tried to move his legs away... the hungry mouth that engulfed his hard erection... the person who kissed such sensitive skin and made him shiver... he could feel people stroking his legs, still. Stroking them, stroking his feet, tickling the sensitive underside... and yet, Marron was still unable to cry out.

 

Mind in a haze, Marron couldn't quite comprehend the things happening to him, and the amount of people who were around him... his wrists were tied, but his hands were still free. His hands were currently clenched into tight fists, but he felt them be coaxed out of that state... he felt people suck his fingers so slowly, licking them, seeming to enjoy that... moving away from that, there was something warm Marron could feel, in each hand... feeling quite large, things Marron couldn't quite wrap his hands around... he was encouraged to try, though. Hands held his own hands in place, and he felt those things thrusting in his grip...

 

He closed his eyes as he realised what they were, but made no move to stop that stimulation. Marron's heart pounded... he naturally assumed that his assailants were men, why should they be otherwise? And if they all had intention of laying claim to his body...

 

"Such soft hands! So delicate, he almost has a lady's hand, doesn't he?"

 

The kisses to Marron's face stopped suddenly, and the gag wasn't replaced. Marron paused for a moment, before urged to continue at least the movement of his bound wrists. He heard another voice,

 

"We should like to hear you cry for us..."

 

One of the figures bit against his nipple, Marron cried out. There was a slight ripple of amusement around him, but nothing Marron could immediately place... fingers returned to his nipples, pinching them still. They were so hard by now... hands stroked over his chest, fingernails pressing into his skin, the same fingernails that made him cry out from their rough treatment...

 

Other hands worked their way underneath Marron, grasping roughly at his buttocks, holding them hard enough to mark them, holding them uncomfortably apart. Marron writhed against the cool surface when he felt a finger pressing against his opening... he tried to curl up within himself when tongues moved there also, but the bonds prevented him... he wanted to cry for them to stop, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to even say that... all that seemed to work it's way from his throat were the cries that were so continual they made his throat hurt... tongues teased him, slipping inside just slightly... Marron blushed deeply, feeling uneasy with that kind of act. They didn't stop, though... muscle fought against muscle, and he let out a strangled cry when he felt one go a little deeper, moving quickly...

 

Then, those seemed to stop. The hands holding him open didn't move, but the tongues vanished suddenly. Marron breathed deeply, still obediently stroking the two cocks in his hands, still being licked and kissed all over his body... tongues inside him vanished, to be replaced by slicked fingers. Fingers could effortlessly reach further than tongues could, and the fingers rotating inside him made Marron feel numb. Disembodied voices urged him to relax, while others said it was fine if he was going to clam up on them, it just made it all the better once they did claim him... another finger added, reaching inside as if searching for something...

 

"That's not enough, though... only something ELSE can reach that part of you..."

 

Marron couldn't question the voice, but felt the fingers withdraw themselves. His mind raced; what else could follow that?

 

Something larger pressed against him, something that felt hot, and hard... a moment of blind expectant panic, then his scream when hands grabbed hold of his hips, and pulled roughly. That person was inside him now... as much as the tongues and fingers had prepared him, he still hurt.

 

He shivered and cried continually, those hands holding his hips with no remorse, fingers pressing into his skin, fingernails pressing harder... the thrusts weren't gentle in the least, he was held against and pounded into, and still with those thrusts was the mouth around his own erection, and those two against his hands...

 

The light showed the motion, but not those who caused it. Then Marron saw another figure climb over him, straddling his chest... still his nipples were mauled, but that figure...

 

"We like to hear you cry out, but I'm sure we could put that mouth of yours to another use, right?"

 

Marron barely had time to express surprise before he felt another burning prick push it's way past his lips. He moaned his surprise against it, but was given little chance to do anything else. A hand held his head and guided his thrusts... the taste was something Marron could barely sense, but it felt large in his mouth...

 

"Use your tongue more... yes, like that... heh, he has a pretty mouth, too. Such a little whore...!"

 

The thrusts came deeper, the insult caused Marron to blush and the deepest thrust caused Marron to cry out, muffled as he was once more. Deep as that cock inside him drove itself, Marron could feel it pressing against something within him; the way it roughly pushed in and out sometimes rubbing against that point, and he squirmed against those who held him, feeling wickedly, deliriously violated.

 

"See, he likes it really... getting fucked like this..."

 

A burning sensation spread itself through Marron's lower body as that person reached climax within him. He was distracted enough by that feeling to barely notice the next person forcing himself inside. Marron hadn't yet reached his own climax, but every time he felt that sudden numbing feeling, he knew he was getting closer... though, would that signify any change in the situation? The cock in his mouth reached it's climax, pulling out enough to allow Marron to swallow, to breathe... Marron felt damp warmth on his face, he reached out with his tongue to attempt to clean himself. The taste was salty, eversoslightly bitter, but Marron felt that he was expected to at least attempt to take it all...

 

He felt another tongue on his face, helping him, licking him. Marron could sense that taste on this man's tongue, brutal kiss met by brutal kiss as one attempted to tame, and the other fought back... a strange frame of mind seemed to be coming over Marron, as he felt one of the erections in his hand climax, leaving it's fluids against his hand... another replaced it, lubricated in his hand by the previous one's spendings. A strange frame of mind indeed... his lower body was held up, leaning his rear against the legs of the one fucking him... and he fucked so deeply, and so fast... he moved to a different position, pinning Marron down, letting out savage grunts as he roughly pillaged the soft, yielding flesh. Marron cried out also, perhaps through pain, but... he didn't really mind... those voices had been right... it was such a depraved situation, and he was so helpless, but somehow, he couldn't help but like that...

 

Bodies all around him, Marron wasn't sure how many he'd guided to orgasm with his hands, how many cocks he'd sucked on, how much of their semen he'd swallowed... he wasn't sure how many had fucked him, left their mark inside him and allowed the next to carry on... he didn't know if they were all taking it in turns, or if new men showed up with every climax to abuse and violate him some more... and he didn't care. The thought of being toy to so many people... how exciting! And it was all because of him that they were like this, all these people, all so horny as to take him without caring...

 

He too reached climax several times over, though nobody really seemed to notice. His orgasm would be eagerly awaited by the mouths that tended to him, and once that was over, they'd lick and nuzzle and coax him to hardness once more... of course, it didn't matter if he was hard or not, that didn't affect his captors any.

 

Eventually, after what seemed like both an eternity and no time at all at once, the men, the many men who'd taken and used him, were gone. And Marron was alone once more.

 

He breathed heavily in the darkness. He felt cold suddenly, the sweat on his body having nobody else to react against... he let himself fall slack in his bindings, feeling dizzy.

 

Then he felt hands against his own, against that which tied him down... Marron looked up, curious. The figure moved down once Marron's bonds were untied, reaching for the ones that bound his ankles... then Carrot moved back up, his naked chest against Marron's own, a relaxed, seductive smirk on his face.

 

"You really DO like it, don't you..."

 

Marron's throat felt hoarse, but he nodded all the same, "Ye... yes... niisan..."

 

Carrot hugged himself around Marron's upper shoulders, "We love to do that to you, Marron..."

 

"I love you, niisan..."

 

Then, the dream-consciousness failed, and, with that simple declaration of love, Marron fell into a deeper state of dreamless sleep.

 

****

 

Several hours after Marron initially fell asleep, the other Sorcerer Hunters returned to Eden. Carrot and Gateau had been especially eager to return to check on Marron, but had been met early on by Milphey, who'd suggested leaving him alone for just a little while longer. Milphey told them about how Marron had tired himself out practising magic earlier on, and how he was now sleeping that off up in the bedroom... the Hunters were happy enough to hear that Marron had woken up, but Carrot seemed... almost angry about Marron's actions. He'd stormed away from the others, muttering about how Marron shouldn't always work himself so hard, how he should take care of himself sometimes... Milphey silently agreed with Carrot's sentiment.

 

After a while, Carrot didn't see the point in being denied access to his own bedroom, even if Marron was sleeping in there. After all, as long as Carrot was real quiet, Marron wouldn't notice anything, would he? Especially not if he was sleeping so deeply...

 

Carrot walked into the bedroom; Marron was doing something, at least.

 

Caught in his dream, Marron writhed in his sleep. The sheets were quite tangled around him now, and he kept crying out... Carrot ran to Marron's bedside. Was Marron having a nightmare? Carrot's sleep was often frequented by nightmares, but Marron seemed, in comparison, quite an easy sleeper...

 

"Marron? Marron, are you okay? Marron, wake up!"

 

Marron didn't respond to nor comply with Carrot's questioning. He rolled onto his back, Carrot saw that Marron seemed... well, he seemed quite red in the face. Blushing? Exhausted? Carrot wasn't sure. He leant over to free Marron from the binding sheeting... as he reached over, Marron arched against him, seeming to... was that a moan?

 

Carrot frowned to himself. Was it a nightmare that Marron was having? Marron's body felt hot, pressing through clothes as it was... Marron's hands reached out to grab Carrot suddenly, he over-balanced and fell to the bed and onto Marron with a cry; he blinked at his situation. Marron held him so tightly... actually, that was starting to hurt... Carrot tried to pull himself away, eventually resorting to prising Marron's hands from his shoulders, finger by finger. He stepped away from the bed. That had been weird. But, Marron's cries, Marron's movements, the way he looked... taking a moment to look, Carrot also noticed the state of Marron's body... blushing slightly himself, he walked over to the bathroom, to take a shower, or a bath. Leave Marron be for the time being. Seemed like Marron was having one of those sorts of dreams.

 

Marron's cries were audible over the constant battering of the shower against the floor; Carrot found himself listening with a blush. It was just too creepy, hearing his own brother caught up like that... though, it was obviously something beyond Marron's control, dreams couldn't be helped, and if there was any problem at all then Carrot was ready to bite his tongue and play the role of the supportive older brother. Everyone had to have sexual thoughts, anyway... even Marron, Carrot thought with a wry smile. Carrot wondered what Marron might think about, or who... who or whatever Marron was thinking of, he was quite, quite taken... well, thoughts like that were natural. Just as Carrot had thoughts like that, so must his quiet little brother... another cry came louder. Carrot mentally retracted that statement; mostly quiet little brother. He wondered how he was like when he was caught in a nightmare, and Marron would comfort him... was he himself ever that loud?

 

Carrot's biggest fear was Gateau coming in to find Marron like that; it was alright for Carrot to see and listen and think about, he was Marron's brother, after all. Just a natural thing to happen, and since they were brothers, well, Carrot could deal with his little brother's libido because, well, it was Marron. It wasn't as if Marron hadn't seen similar things of Carrot in other situations, at any rate. However, if Gateau were to come in to find Marron hot and writhing on the bed, well... Carrot didn't want to know what might happen there. But he'd protect his little brother if anything did happen. Not that he thought that Gateau'd really molest Marron, or anything... not really...

 

Carrot let that thought process drop away before images of Gateau molesting Marron while said brother squirmed in dream-and-Gateau-induced orgasm pervaded his thoughts too greatly. What a strange and somewhat disturbing thought to have about his brother and best friend. Idly running hands through his hair, Carrot wondered how long Marron's dream had been going on...

 

Marron's dream...

 

Marron had dreams like that? Thoughts like that? He was only human, but it still seemed, well, a little strange, to Carrot at least. He reminded himself that it was only natural for anybody to think like that, Marron included, but... Marron was somebody who nearly always seemed so calm and collected, he always did sensible things, and always knew the right things to do or say... Marron didn't have dreams like that, did he? Not thoughts that made him like Carrot had just seen him, and made him cry out like Carrot was still hearing him do, despite the shower? Such hoarse cries...! Carrot had a mind to go through and wake him up as soon as he got out of the shower if only to save his brother's voice, no point in straining his throat too much...

 

Carrot supposed that, whatever Marron's subconscious inflicted on him, he wouldn't be able to help. It was still just a little too strange for Carrot to think about, though. There'd been a time or two when Marron had walked in on Carrot only to find him touching himself, and that had been embarrassing, but that was different... it wasn't that Marron wasn't supposed to have a sex drive, Carrot was just bemused at it being displayed so blatantly in front of him so suddenly.

 

Eventually, Marron's cries seemed to reach some kind of peak, and he fell silent. The pattering of the shower was the only sound Carrot could hear; the room seemed suddenly quiet, the shower suddenly overbearingly loud. He pushed thoughts of his brother away from his mind as he finished his shower.

 

He dried himself off, wrapping himself in a bathrobe he'd brought through, walking back into the main bedroom. Marron seemed to be sleeping peacefully now... the temptation to walk over and wake him up was too great. He tied his bathrobe tight around his waist and leapt onto the end of Marron's bed, disturbing it slightly, bouncing as he sat. Marron didn't notice the disturbance; Carrot leant over, leaning against Marron's chest with folded arms. He could feel Marron's heartbeat hammer in his chest, but... well, that was understandable. He ignored that, idly thought about how Gateau'd kill to see and hear what he'd just seen and heard, then pushed that thought away too. Carrot poked Marron's cheek, "Yo! Otouto?"

 

Marron twitched, "Mnmn..."

 

"Lazy... come on, wake up! You've been asleep all day, more or less! You shouldn't tire yourself out so much, it's not good for you."

 

Somewhere in Marron's subconscious alerted his mind to the fact that Carrot was talking to him; subconscious triggered conscious and Marron drifted into the waking world, "... niisan?"

 

Carrot smiled happily at Marron, seeing his younger brother's eyes open; "You're awake at last! That's good, I was starting to worry there for a moment. Though, I guess you were probably caught up with whatever it was you were dreaming about, so I guess I can't blame ya."

 

While speaking, Carrot'd moved from the bed to stand next to the window opposite. Marron himself felt displaced somewhat; his body felt so warm, his breathing so quick, his heartbeat so hard... what'd happened? He remembered he'd been practicing magic... had that had that effect on him? Shifting up in his bed, Marron realised his body felt more sluggish than his mind did. Surely sleep should dispel any sluggish feelings? It didn't seem to make any sense, so Marron decided to concentrate on what Carrot had been saying instead.

 

"... whatever it was I'd been dreaming about...?"

 

Carrot nodded, "Yeah, otouto seemed to be having a pretty steamy dream there, from what I could hear!"

 

Marron blinked. Might that be true? Might Marron have dreamt like that? Marron couldn't really remember, but he wanted to know how Carrot might suspect such a thing... he didn't try to fight a blush as he frowned, "Niisan... what do you mean?"

 

Carrot glanced over his shoulder from where he'd been facing the window, his arms folded.

 

"It's not that hard to work out, I walked in here to take a shower and stuff, and I found you all shifting around on the bed, moaning and panting like anything! Either you were dreaming about running a marathon or having hot sex and I don't think it was the first one. Well, I could be wrong. But hey, I leant over to wake you up and you grabbed me! I'm not the one you should be grabbing... ha ha ha... anyway. Just from me to you, you might wanna change the sheets, or at least wash that robe."

 

Marron looked up at Carrot then down in embarrassment as he realised that Carrot meant; he stared at a section of carpet on the other side of his bed, "Niisan, please... I think we're quite old enough now, I wouldn't-"

 

Shifting in his bed made Marron realise with horror that he had. Laughing good-naturedly, Carrot went over to Marron's bed and pulled the sheets away. He tugged at Marron's arm, pulling him out of bed.

 

"Come on, even though you act like you're fifty years old you've still got a teenager's body, things like that happen. Let's get you into the shower."

 

Still feeling displaced, Marron let himself be dragged from the bed to the bathroom, where he stood awkwardly as Carrot ran the shower to warmth again. His robe seemed to stick to him in all the wrong places, and the mental consequences of what'd happened were more than Marron wanted to think about at that moment.

 

Carrot just looked up with a smile, "It's warm enough now, I think."

 

Marron didn't move, mortification preventing him from looking anywhere near Carrot for a good few moments. Marron caught his gaze momentarily, then looked away quickly; Carrot looked up again, this time with a little more sympathy; he sighed, and went over to Marron, swiftly unbuttoning his robe. He smiled up at his blushing brother, "I think you need to shower..."

 

"... I'm sorry, niisan..."

 

Carrot shook his head, "Don't be, don't be... hey, you're my clumsy little brother, I have to take care of you sometimes, don't I?"

 

His robe fallen to the floor, Marron let himself be quickly guided towards the shower, even though thoughts of "I've already taken a bath today" and "my hair'll get wet" crossed through his mind. He just wanted to get behind the shower curtain before Carrot could see too much of his body...

 

Safely behind the shower curtain, Marron washed himself quickly; Carrot sat on the floor on the other side, quietly watching his brother's silhouette, leaning back on his two hands. He smiled up at the dark shape.

 

"We were worried about ya, otouto."

 

Marron paused for a moment before continuing, "... Niisan?"

 

Carrot nodded, even though he knew Marron probably couldn't see him.

 

"Yeah... I mean, what with you passing out last night, and everything... Gateau was really worried too, he was the one who found you... then you wouldn't wake up when Big Mama was calling us on a mission... then I get home and hear you've been wearing yourself out doing the magic bit, and that you're sleeping again... of course we were gonna be worried about you...! I know you just wanna be powerful and stuff, but you shouldn't push yourself too much. If it hurts, stop for a while, you know?"

 

There didn't seem to be anything Marron could find to say to that. His body now clean, he ran the soaped-up flannel over his body again anyway. His hair clung to his neck and shoulders, Marron tried to sweep it back. The motion was useless, but still... what was Carrot expecting him to say?

 

Carrot picked at the edge of his robe, "I wish I knew what happened, though... with you passing out, and all... we guessed that you probably just got too hot, 'cause it was really hot that night... do you remember anything at all? I mean... if it was anything bad that happened, you should tell somebody. Even if it's just feeling ill, let me know, okay? I'm not a doctor, but I can still, I dunno, do brotherly stuff. You're always looking after me, I feel a bit useless when stuff's happening to you and I don't even know what it is..."

 

Marron felt guilt for causing Carrot's useless feelings; what was there to tell him? About his thoughts? About his inability to guide himself to climax? About what happened with Gateau, about his inability to let anybody else guide him to climax either? How on earth was he supposed to tell Carrot, his loving brother, anything like that?!

 

He just placed the flannel down on the soap holder, "... It's alright, niisan. Nothing bad happened... nothing untoward happened. It's just... yes, I expect that was it. I was too hot, and passed out..."

 

"But you don't remember?"

 

"... No."

 

Carrot frowned to himself; there was just something in Marron's tone... just something about it that made Carrot want to press the matter further; the explanation was adequate enough, it'd been too hot, Marron'd passed out, but... he seemed... quiet. Quiet and evasive. Marron was usually quiet, but...

 

Carrot wasn't sure what it was. He just had a feeling that Marron was lying; one of those things Marron'd always had a problem with... but why would Marron lie about something like that? If something had happened, and Marron wouldn't tell him... didn't that make the problem bigger in itself?

 

Carrot didn't know what he could say to Marron to make him say anything in return, though. He just sighed, standing up.

 

"Well, I'm gonna go catch some sleep now... maybe you should too, once you've dried off and all. I'll take this robe out for washing, okay? Maybe we'll have a mission tomorrow, and I want you rested enough to be able to fight at my side! It wasn't the same without you, today..."

 

"Niisan..."

 

"Okay, sure, we got rid of the Sorcerer, but... well, yeah, it just wasn't the same. We were all worried, so... um... I guess if you're feeling under the weather tomorrow then we shouldn't force you to do anything, not even Big Mama should make you fight if you're feeling ill, but I'd rather you were with us, okay?"

 

"... Yes, niisan."

 

Marron heard shifting, then the door to the bathroom close.

 

He stood there for a moment, letting the water hit his skin, thinking things over.

 

So, when he'd been sleeping... he'd dreamt... he'd had a dream, where... well... thinking about it, Marron couldn't really remember... but a dream that'd made him orgasm while he slept...!

 

He cursed his body for being so weak, for being so strange. No matter how far he pushed himself in his waking life, he could never experience that feeling, it never seemed to want to come to him... but while he slept, that was different, was it? That was enough to make him come, just a simple dream?

 

Though, maybe the dream had been of Carrot... if it'd been a dream of Carrot, then that was at least partly excusable. A dream of Carrot making him like that was much like his own fantasies making his mind like that, except they were thoughts without his bidding... but even so, it was so embarrassing to think that Carrot had caught him like that, had been listening to his cries, had seen him like that... and hadn't he said about how Marron'd grabbed him, or something? Marron supposed that he might have done, if he'd truly been so caught up in his dream, but... what if he'd done something else? Marron wasn't sure what else there might have been to do, but... even so...

 

Marron leant back against the wall, watching the steady cascade of water in front of him.

 

What had he dreamt about? Had it been about Carrot that he'd dreamt? Nothing rose from Marron's mind to say 'yes, it was!'... or Gateau? Gateau, perhaps? Maybe his actions from before had taken themselves into a dream? Again, nothing... had it even been a sexual dream at all?

 

The answer to that could only be 'yes'. Marron stopped the shower and stepped out of it, finding a towel to dry himself with. He did so, still occupied by his thoughts... what might he have dreamt of to make his body react like that? It had to have been a powerful dream, it had to...

 

Walking back through to the other room, clad in a clean nightrobe, Marron fell to his bed, staring at Carrot's currently empty bed; seemed he hadn't come back from taking the other robe away yet. Marron's eyes narrowed as he stared intently at the empty space, trying so hard to remember what his dream had been... he shifted against his bed as he thought. Had it been his brother? His brother and he, sharing a quiet, romantic, passionate moment beneath the stars?

 

The thought was a nice one, but... it didn't ring any bells in Marron's mind.

 

Had it been of Gateau, Gateau and his self-described passionate dangerous body, forcing his body along to another frantic climax?

 

Not Gateau, but... there seemed to be something almost familiar in Marron's mind at that thought. Not Gateau, but... people... more than one person? Had it been... so many people... his own body...

 

Marron frowned. Had he dreamt of...

 

Thoughts of being tied down wandered through Marron's mind. Being tied down, bound and gagged, unable to do anything other than what other people wanted him to do... coerced into those things and crying against their actions, but being so taken by everything, mind twisted into enjoying how those people could abuse him so...

 

Marron froze, his eyes wide. That had been what he'd dreamt about. Being taken over and over again with abandon, unable to fight back or prevent anything... and in that dream, he'd... he'd come, so many times... or at least, that was what he remembered... and the dream had been enough to make him come, his own body finally reach climax?

 

If his sleeping body was capable of such then why couldn't his waking body do such things?

 

Marron was tempted to sit back and let his mind go in a dream and fantasy of what he'd dreamt about... the bondage, the lack of choice, the intense feeling... but Carrot could come back in at any moment. Marron didn't want to risk it.