A Measure of Control

“Gwendaaal!”

“Not now, Gunter. I’m in the middle of a meeting.”

“But you promised we’d go out for a picnic.”

Gwendal stiffened. When did he say that? His memory sifted through days of avoidance from Anissina and settled on last week’s surprise encounter with Gunter inside the main courtyard. Gwendal had just returned from intensive leadership training with the Demon Army and paused to watch Gunter practice a variety of blade and magic techniques. Gwendal thought it was a pity that the man was retiring to mentor the new Demon King. During his revelry Gunter had approached him and invited him to a picnic of all things.

“You’ll have to wait until I’m finished.”

“But Gwendal, the sun is going to set soon and the last time we watched the sunset was back in the hayloft, but I could only see part of it because you were on to-

Gwendal cleared his throat loudly and grabbed Gunter’s arm to lead him out of the room. “Meeting adjourned. We’ll discuss further strategies and tactics tomorrow afternoon.”

“Must you always be so rough,” Gunter said as his arm was grabbed.

“Must you always bring up that incident in the hayloft,” Gwendal said. “We were barely charting the waters of adolescence.”

“On the contrary,” Gunter said with a sparkle in his eye. “You were quite the able commander back then.”

Gwendal fought back a blush and folded his arms. He clamped his mouth shut, rather than try to deign a coherent reply or sputter a flustered response. He had sparred with Gunter in their younger years and knew the man could parry any attack sent his way.

They walked in silence until Gunter guided him to the picnic spot. He spread out the blanket and food, before he turned to Gwendal and said, “I’ve never forgotten that evening.”

“I have,” Gwendal said gruffly. He sat rigidly at the edge of the blanket, scanning the assorted sweets that rested on the fabric.

“Oh really?” Gunter sat beside him. “Have you really forgotten the sweaty palms, desperate whispers, hurried kisses? The way we explored each other? The curiosity of seeing another man naked?” He ran his fingers through Gwendal’s hair, “the way the hay stuck in your hair and helped to hide us away from the world.”

Gwendal closed his eyes at the gentle touch and shook his head as he inched away. He remembered that night as clearly as if it was yesterday. His mind rationalized it as a youthful indiscretion. His body on the other hand demanded the touch from that night, destroying rationalization with a swell of desire.

“What are you so afraid of?”

“This.” Gwendal turned and pressed Gunter to the ground for a kiss. His tongue tasted a decade of longing that threatened to override his senses. He pulled away, wiping at his mouth in shame.

Gunter breathed heavily on the ground and took a moment to smooth his robe before he sat up. “You’re holding so much more in. Why? You know that all the other soldiers act on their desires, regardless of status. As their commander, are you really so different?”

“I am different.” Gwendal stared into the distance. “I’m not like my mother. Unlike her, I will maintain a sense of decency. I am also not like the soldiers. Pleasure is a weakness that distracts a man from achieving strength in battle.”

“Pleasure can be strength,” Gunter said. “You can maintain control despite its chaotic nature.”

“I require a demonstration of such a feat,” Gwendal said.

“Then let the demonstration commence,” Gunter said with a happy clap. He ignored Gwendal’s skeptical eyebrow. “Tap into your magic and pool it into your root.”

Gwendal closed his eyes and a halo of energy surrounded his form to slowly descend to his center.

“Now strip.”

“Excuse me?”

“We must both be in a natural state for the pure magic to do its work,” Gunter said.

“Fine.” Gwendal warily stripped and tried not to stare at Gunter as the man tossed back his hair and settled into a very meditative, very naked pose.

“Do you trust in my abilities?”

Gwendal licked his lips and nodded. “Yes.” He gasped when Gunter reached out a hand and his magic caressed against his masculinity.

“Hold still,” Gunter said, “and do likewise to me.”

Sweat beaded on Gwendal’s brow as he reached out his magic toward Gunter. A moan from the other man caused him to harden and he felt the magic thicken in response.

“Allow the energy to revolve around the area,” Gunter said. “Stimulate it as you would a sword in battle. Do not release your grip. Shield the area from other interference and concentrate on the pulses of energy that are transferred between us.”

Gwendal felt his skin tingle at Gunter’s energy-laden touch and he felt himself rise with the energy. The air felt electric between them as they kindled the energy with their individual magic.

A stab of pleasure stabbed at Gwendal’s resolve and he bit back a grunt.

“Hold until my signal,” Gunter said.

Gwendal swallowed and intensified his magic as he dampened his arousal. A yelp from Gunter made him smirk and like a good solider, he poked at Gunter’s most vulnerable point.

“Re…ah…lease!”

The energy erupted between them as their orgasms blended into one, doubling the strength of their respective pulses of pleasure. Static lace edged their combined consciousness as they sank into gratified darkness.

The afternoon waned and bled into sunset’s caress before Gwendal stirred. He waved irritably at a moth that tickled his chest and crawled over to Gunter. Errant blades of grass pierced his hair, like the hayloft from years ago. He pulled an extra picnic blanket around his waist and wet a pair of gloves at the nearby stream before pressing them against Gunter’s forehead.

He cleared his throat to gauge the sword master’s attention.

Gunter sighed contently and smiled to Gwendal as he awoke. “Well, were you satisfied with the demonstration?”

Gwendal stretched and the blanket shifted off his waist. “I confess myself satisfied with the display.”

“Good,” Gunter curled against him, pleasantly sated by the energy.

“But, tell me,” Gwendal said as he leaned down to whisper, “is there a more hands on demonstration?”

Gunter’s shiver made Gwendal stiffen in response.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said with a gleam in his eyes.

A measure of control over such responsively chaotic energy overrode any past perceived indiscretions.


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Author's Note: My first fic in this anime series. This was done as a challenge to 'springkink' over on livejournal.