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Tenpou's laughter carried over the wall to harmonize with the soft patter of the rain and the chuckle of the small brook that fed the ponds in Gojun's private garden. Someone—not Tenpou—snorted indelicately as the laughter subsided. Curious, Gojun lowered his letter and listened.
"It's not supposed to rain in Heaven." The voice was irritated, bordering on peevish, and Gojun blinked once in surprise. That sounded like … Konzen Douji.
"Some people enjoy the rain, you know—even a rain that lacks the charm of the storms Down Below." Tenpou always sounded perfectly composed on the surface, but with Gojun's sharp hearing, he easily caught the sly amusement coloring the timbre of the marshal's pleasant tenor.
"Only you would think cold water and hailstones are charming, Tenpou," Konzen muttered.
"Ah. But you must admit, they're certainly more invigorating than this Heavenly idea of what rain should be like." Yes, Tenpou was enjoying himself.
"It's still wet," Konzen retorted, "and I don't like it. I'll bet that stupid old hag had something to do with this. It's exactly the kind of thing she'd find amusing." Gojun heard Tenpou let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like a hastily smothered laugh. "I can hear her now: 'Let's have a lovely spring rain! And then I'll send my dear nephew out to deliver a message to the Dragon King of the Western Seas. Maybe the rain will help him bloom! Eh, Jiroushin? Ha ha ha!' Hrmph." There was a scuffing sound—the toe of a sandal scraping across a paving stone. "I'm going back. Now that I'm done playing messenger-boy for that bitch, I'm going to go stand next to her for a while and drip all over her. Maybe— " Konzen's voice took on a slightly vicious, satisfied edge, "—she'll melt."
"I believe that's Western witch folklore, Konzen."
"Like I care. I'll try it anyway; maybe it works just as well on Eastern witches."
"No, that's houses." Tenpou sounded distracted now. "I can loan you the book if you're interested … Ah, yes. Here it is. " Gojun heard the rustle of leaves and the soft thud of knuckles on wood. "There's a private gate here. I'm going in."
"You could have gone in the front door when I delivered the message, you know." Konzen paused as the leaves stopped rustling, then made an annoyed huffing sound. Gojun wondered whether Tenpou had given Konzen one of his "looks." He had often found himself suppressing the desire to huff in irritation when Tenpou looked at him in a particular way. "Hnh. If one of his guards catches you, I'm not helping. In fact," Konzen's voice began to fade, "now that I think about it, I don't even know you."
"Yes, yes. Goodbye," Tenpou called cheerfully. "Go drip on the hag. And please convey my compliments on the weather!"
Konzen's far-off, answering "Ha!" was nearly swallowed by the sound of rain-swollen wood scraping against wet stone. Gojun waited. A flash of white showed through a break in the garden wall, growing larger and larger as Tenpou pushed his way through a few low-hanging branches to finally emerge into the garden.
"Things are a bit overgrown on the other side," Tenpou said. He ran his fingers through his hair so it stuck up in thin, wet spikes at the front.
"It's been some time since you last used that entrance," Gojun replied. He watched as Tenpou stood there in the warm rain, getting wetter. A few of the spikes over Tenpou's forehead grew heavy with water, wilting under its weight until they were once again plastered against his skin. "It's raining, Tenpou."
"So it is." Tenpou quirked his mouth in a half-smile and ran his hand through his hair again before moving into the small resthouse where Gojun sat. Beckoning Tenpou closer, Gojun slid the letter he'd been reading to the edge of his little desk and indicated that the marshal should take a look. Tenpou tugged a cushion from the modest pile behind and around the dragon, then knelt and leaned forward. "What's this?"
"A letter from my brother, about the new general transferring in from the Eastern Army. Fellow named Kenren." Gojun touched Tenpou's sleeve with a claw-tipped finger. "You're wet."
"Hmm …" Tenpou wasn't listening. He was already lost in the letter, no longer aware of what was going on around him. He hunched over the desk, frowning as he adjusted his glasses. They'd begun to fog over from the heat rising from his body, and Gojun inhaled deeply. Tenpou smelled alive—of tobacco and old books, as always, but over that now was the crisp, clean scent of the rain. It filled Gojun's nostrils and sent a gentle wave of warmth down his spine, the sensation distracting but not entirely unwelcome. Still … Gojun cleared his throat, forcing himself to focus on the issue at hand: regardless of the informal setting, they were currently discussing military business. Informality could come later, after they'd solved this … Kenren problem.
"This general seems to be a beacon for controversy," he said, getting back on track. "It looks as though his men respect him for the most part, but his superiors …" Tenpou had removed his glasses, now completely fogged over and useless, and was squinting at him. The color of his eyes was more intimate, more immediate without them, and heat curled out from the base of Gojun's spine to lodge low in his belly. With some effort, he pushed it aside. Business first.
"What? Oh." Tenpou looked down at the letter again and followed the finger that Gojun rested on one particular line.
"He's been an embarrassment for some time, and this latest escapade appears to have been the last straw."
"I see."
Gojun felt his eyes narrow in displeasure as he considered the mess being dropped into his lap. "He's a libertine, a tippler, and a brawler, and it looks as though he was allowed to do as he pleased in the Eastern Army." Tenpou leaned forward again to study the letter anew, and as he did so, a drop of water fell from his hair to land on Gojun's hand. The tiny point of cool wetness sent a tingling jolt racing up Gojun's arm.
"He sounds interesting," said Tenpou absently. He tapped another line of writing, and a second drop of water landed on Gojun's hand. Gojun stared at it, almost transfixed as Tenpou's breath made it tremble slightly in the light reflected from the tiny, pearlescent scales covering his knuckles. Tenpou just ignored Gojun's divided attention and continued. "Not much regard for authority with a laid-back attitude, but until this incident with his commanding officer's wife and the fight, he got the job done. Unconventional, hmm; a bit impulsive and hot-headed at times, it seems … Yes, he sounds interesting." Gojun tore his attention away from the rain droplets and back to Tenpou.
"Does he? Perhaps he does, a little. If you set aside the conduct unbefitting of an officer, on the surface his unconventional, impulsive nature sounds somewhat like yours. But he clearly lacks self-control and a proper sense of duty."
"Like mine?" Tenpou pursed his lips and shook his head once, as though clearing his mind of cobwebs. Water pattered down on his arm, the letter, Gojun. "I suppose. So how are you—" He swiped his sleeve over the bottom of the letter, but he only succeeded in smearing the ink and getting the parchment damp and crinkled. "Oh." He squinted again and picked the letter up, then looked over the top of it at Gojun. "I've gotten your letter wet. My apologies."
Eyes closing, Gojun took in another deep breath of Tenpou: warmth; old smoke; aged paper; the sparkling, heady scent of the rain. He opened his eyes as the tingling heat low in his stomach spread upward and saw that Tenpou was looking at him.
"I've gotten you wet, too." Tenpou's words were apologetic, but the look in his eyes wasn't. He reached out, touched his thumb to the drops of water on the back of Gojun's hand, and slid it slowly up towards Gojun's wrist before bringing it to his lips. Gojun watched avidly as Tenpou licked the moisture from his thumb.
"It tastes like a sea wind," Tenpou murmured, looking down at his hand, "like you."
"I—" Military business and unruly generals be damned! Gojun shoved the small desk away with his foot and grabbed the front of Tenpou's rain-soaked lab coat, yanking Tenpou into his lap. "Like a sea wind?" He curled his hand around the back of Tenpou's neck and tugged gently. "You've never mentioned it. I hadn't taken you for a poet, Tenpou Gensui," he said, almost against Tenpou's lips. Tenpou smiled before answering Gojun with a kiss that left him with a rushing like the roar of the ocean surf in his ears.
"Let me show you." Tenpou was breathless when he drew away, and Gojun could feel the shiver of need running through him where they touched. He waited, forcing himself to be patient as Tenpou sat back to remove his lab coat and tie, the thrum of anticipation growing louder and more insistent until he was almost vibrating with it. He wanted to reach for Tenpou again, to drag him back up into his lap until he could taste the stale smoke-and-sake flavor of Tenpou's kiss while he inhaled the heady scent of the rain on Tenpou's skin, but Tenpou had other ideas. He knelt between Gojun's legs and undid his trousers, tugging the fabric down and gently pulling Gojun's swelling cock out before caressing the soft scales on Gojun's thighs and tracing their shapes with his fingernail.
Gojun threw his head back, letting out a sigh that felt more like a groan as it rumbled through him, and then he gasped, closing his eyes and digging his claws into the plush cushion beneath him. Tenpou was teasing the underside of Gojun's cock with his tongue, moving it in small, intricate patterns until he reached the base before licking his way back up to the crown and down again … and again … and once again. Breathing hard, Gojun lifted his hand and touched Tenpou's cheek. Tenpou flicked his gaze upward, eyes unfocused and dark with arousal, and grazed the sensitive head of Gojun's cock with his teeth. Gojun bit off a thunderous moan, the muscles in his thighs shivering and jumping under the marshal's palms. He curled his fingers in Tenpou's wet hair and sank back into the wonderful heat of Tenpou's mouth, into the pull of Tenpou's perfect suction that was like the inexorable surge of the tide gathering deep inside him. And then, with a long, low growl, he thrust his hips upward as the waves reached their peak and gave himself over to the blinding pleasure crashing through him.
Still swallowing, Tenpou rose to his knees. Gojun felt an echo of his orgasm throb weakly through his groin as he watched the long, smooth muscles of Tenpou's throat work. It throbbed again, a little stronger now, when he noticed the single drop of his come glistening at the corner of Tenpou's mouth. Gojun lifted his hand with some hazy idea of touching it, but Tenpou forestalled him by catching his wrist and thrusting his tongue into Gojun's mouth. Gojun tasted himself there on Tenpou's lips, on his tongue, on his breath: the salt of the Western sea, the sharp bite of the ocean wind, the wildness that was dragonkind—Home.—and underneath it all, the mellow warmth that was Tenpou.
"You see? Just like a sea wind." Eyes half-lidded, Tenpou sat back and licked his lips one last time. He wore a self-satisfied smile that grew wider as Gojun looked down, at the bulge at the front of Tenpou's khaki pants that begged for Gojun's attention.
"I do. Now, show me something else, Tenpou," Gojun said, tugging at the marshal's shirt.
"Hmm." Tenpou unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off. It landed next to the letter, which had fluttered to the floor when the desk had been pushed out of the way. Tenpou glanced at it as he undid his pants and stood to remove them. "If your new general sounds like me on the surface but for his lack of forbearance … Mmh, yes." Naked now, Tenpou knelt once again in front of Gojun, and Gojun felt the heat of his desire returning full force.
"Then show me. Show me your forbearance, Tenpou Gensui," Gojun challenged him. He snaked an arm around Tenpou's waist and pulled at him until the marshal was back in his lap with his spine pressed against Gojun's chest, bent his head to finally taste the last vestiges of the rain mixed with Tenpou's sweat—just there at the sweet curve where neck met shoulder. Tenpou shivered and sighed as Gojun's teeth scraped against his skin.
"Show me your self-control." Gojun wrapped his arm around Tenpou's chest and gently curled his hand against Tenpou's neck—so gently that the pads of his fingers and tips of his claws barely touched Tenpou's skin. With the other, he scratched a delicate path from Tenpou's hip to his collarbone and thrilled as Tenpou gasped and arched against him. He could feel the cords in Tenpou's neck shift under his fingertips as the marshal sucked in a shaking breath.
"Show me." Tracing his way downward along the faint, pink lines he'd left on Tenpou's pale skin, Gojun kissed Tenpou's throat. He could feel the thrum of Tenpou's blood beneath his fingers and the flutter of his pulse against his lips, could taste the scent of Tenpou's arousal in the air as it mixed with the smell of the rain.
"Show me, Tenpou." He ran his hand back down Tenpou's chest and over his ribs, down to his groin. Tenpou's cock was flushed and leaking, beads of precome sliding down the shaft and smearing against his stomach whenever he moved in Gojun's lap. Gojun wrapped his hand around it and rubbed his thumb over the slick crown. Tenpou shuddered and made a small "ah!" sound, then moaned when Gojun moved lower to cup his balls. He covered Gojun's hand with his own briefly before curling it around his cock and stroking slowly, rocking his hips in time with the motion of his fist. The movement made him rub against Gojun's erection, and Gojun drew in a deep breath.
"Show me," Gojun breathed. Tenpou turned his head to the side, lips parted, and Gojun sealed their mouths together in a kiss. Tenpou kissed him fiercely, hungrily, pulling away only when Gojun found his nipple and pinched it gently.
"Ha—aah!" Tenpou's hand had stopped moving. He held the base of his cock tightly, preventing himself from coming as Gojun dragged his claws across the stiff peaks of his nipples and then back again. Gojun smiled, breathing in the delicious scent of Tenpou's rain-damp hair, his sweat-soaked skin, his desire. He kissed Tenpou once more and spoke softly against his lips.
"Show me, Tenpou. Show me your self-control." In answer, Tenpou moaned into Gojun's mouth and began moving his hand again, thrusting into his loose fist and arching into Gojun's touch as the dragon teased and caressed and scratched. Tenpou was panting now, beginning to writhe in Gojun's lap as their combined touches brought him to the edge of release twice more, each near-orgasm leaving him more flushed and damp with sweat, each groan deeper and more ragged than the last. Gojun's own need was growing as his body reacted to Tenpou's—to Tenpou's heat and movements and sounds.
"Enough!" Gojun growled. He palmed Tenpou's cock and began stroking. "Enough."
Tenpou shuddered and thrust with his hips, eyes closed as he rocked in Gojun's lap. The motion caused him to grind more forcefully against Gojun, who clutched Tenpou to him more tightly even as he began to move his hand faster. It took only a few more strokes until Tenpou came undone in his arms, letting out a soft "Nnh—haah!" and pumping ribbons of hot, slick semen over Gojun's fingers.
Gojun held Tenpou there in his arms, waiting for Tenpou's breathing and the racing of his pulse return to normal. Eventually, Tenpou heaved a very satisfied sigh and shifted. Gojun had to stifle a sound as Tenpou's buttocks slid against his still-swollen prick. He forced himself to ignore it as Tenpou turned to look at him.
"And now I've shown you two things, Gojun." Tenpou's voice was soft, near his ear. "If we count that letter, you've only shown me one." He stretched luxuriously and gave a sly half-smile as Gojun stifled another sound, considering. Tenpou was right.
… And it was still raining.
The way Tenpou had smelled—had tasted—when wet with the rain … Gojun found himself wondering how Tenpou's warm, rain-slick skin would feel against his—how the rain would feel, falling gently on his back as he thrust deep inside the marshal.
Military business and unruly generals be damned. The Kenren problem would still be there in an hour. The rain, however, might not.