Story: Waylaid
Nov. 2nd, 2013 11:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
frogs_of_warNow that my boss is back, everyone wants me to learn to be a floral manager. During my brief stint I gained back ten pounds of my hard last weight (and right before my annual weighing. I’m now right on the edge of having to pay nine more dollars a week for health insurance. This time last years I lost four pounds.) Being that stressed out is not good for my health. And I couldn’t even complain about it if I chose to do it.
If someone asks me (the floral manager, store manager, and district manager talked about this while I was at lunch), I’ve decided to tell them to ask again after my first book is published. (The answer will still be no, but they aren’t listening to my current no.) This is the book I’ve been working too much to rewrite. Free time ahead. Please.
On a totally different note, I hennaed my hair Halloween night. The best color is produced by the henna staying in a long time. I’d already mixed the henna with lemon juice to a soft clay-like consistency and let it oxidize over night. I also took the grounds from ten spicy (used) tea bags and mixed them in right before I rubbed it into my hair.
I didn’t make even half the mess I heard tell of, but that could have been because the henna was so thick and my hair is so short. And my daughter was my gopher and cleaned up after me. I wrapped plastic wrap around my head held it together with stretchy box tape then put on my black hoody to keep the crumbs off the sheets. Twelve hours later I washed it out with conditioner and finished off with shampoo. My towel stayed white. The only hard to remove stuff were the parts that dried out because they weren’t covered in plastic wrap.
My head is slightly orange, but not as orange as it was yesterday (that color is supposed to be gone in two more days, but I don’t mind it as it makes my hair look thicker) and my hair is darkening from the bright auburn. I hope it doesn’t get too much darker. I’m at the color I was as a teenager.
My biggest surprise was that I read over and over that henna could only make hair darker. The few brown parts of my hair (edges of my temples and the like) look much darker than the red parts.
The tea was a good idea. Now when my head gets wet it smells like cinnamon and ginger and other spices with just the hint of hay instead of just hay. And the whole process wasn’t nearly as big of a deal as I’d read.
Title: Waylaid
Series: A Balance of Harmonies (Three)
Status: Picture story
Genre: m/m/m romance, fantasy
Rating: PG
Content: hunger, a follower, searching, sadness, sunset, will-o-the-wisp, a beautiful man, compliments, need, worry, longing, screams, interruption, invitation, warmth, greed, another bite, questions, breakfast, answers, home
Length: about 1,800 words
Summary: Evgeni looks for sustenance. Pepik longs for something he can’t have. And Kaelan finds home at last.
Notes: from painting mentioned in chapter 10. This is the picture I first got the idea to write a story about.
Evgeni - (yehv GYEH nee) - incubus
Pepik - (puh PEEK) - fawn
Kaelan - (KAY lahn) – farmer/ beast
Master list
Evgeni surveyed the sleeping humans. He was still hungry. If six strong, virile men couldn’t fill him up with their lust, then who could?
He drifted out of the stone circle. The men would wake in a few hours and gather their clothes and leave without making eye contact if things went as they normally did. But if the men enjoyed each other as much as he’d enjoyed them, why didn’t they play together without him? They might build up their stamina that way, and maybe with greater stamina his hunger would be sated. He’d had to pull back just when he’d wanted to gorge the most or they’d just be corpses now.
Humans were so fragile.
Spirits weren’t any better. He’d kill that shy little fawn who followed him if he laid a hand on him, which was rather sad. The fawn was a sweet little thing and sweet little things were notoriously adventurous in bed.
~
Pepik circled the stone ring and hurried down Evgeni’s trail. He couldn’t lose him, not after following him for so long. Incubuses were hard to track as they had no physical form unless they concentrated. Evgeni went through rocks and thickets Pepik had to find his way around.
He’d lost Evgeni’s trail twice. Once he’d cross it again by accident and last night he’d spotted men headed for a stone circle. They could have been begging for rain or giving thanks for the harvest, but they hadn’t had the proper materials for either ceremony. Pepik followed them in hopes they were on their way to celebrate life and that the incubus who joined them would be Evgeni.
Pepik loved watching Evgeni feast. He was so beautiful and Pepik could imagine that the skin Evgeni was touching was his skin and the mouth Evgeni was kissing was his mouth and the body Evgeni was inside was his body. If he could survive Evgeni’s touch, he’d give himself to Evgeni right now.
Maybe Evgeni’s touch would be worth death.
Pepik rounded a thicket and caught Evgeni’s trail. Just being where Evgeni was, where he had been, was thrilling. Being touched by him would be so much better.
~
Kaelan sighed and chucked on the reigns one more time. He hated the city with all its bustling crowed and he hated market day there even more, but he was in no hurry to get home.
The sky was a thousand colors of pink, purple and orange. Maybe he could climb a tree for a better view. If he put off walking through his front door long enough, all his relatives might be asleep.
He stopped the pony and got out of the cart. The forest was beautiful, like always, but this spot was something special. This was home. He didn’t need to go back to the other place and be harassed by people who used family ties as an excuse to run his life.
Light flicked in the trees. A will-o-the-wisp was calling him. His uncle’s voice in his head said following it could only end badly. Worse than being constantly misunderstood? His family didn’t want him. They wanted someone who conformed to their ideal. He never would.
He stooped below branches, skirted bramble patches, scrambled over rocks, and almost twisted his ankle on some roots before his path led him to a glade of moss and fragrant flowers.
This was where he’s always meant to be. He leaned down and sucked in a huge whiff of a pink and white flower.
A man lounged against a tree on the other side of the glade.
How could Kaelan have failed to spot him? Kaelan’s stomach clenched. He couldn’t breathe. He fell to his knees. “You are beautiful.”
Why had Kaelan said something so idiotic? His uncle would beat him. Only his uncle wasn’t here. The man smiled and stepped closer. “Go on.”
Kaelan’s mouth didn’t even wait for his brain. “Your hair is the darkest waterfall and you eyes are deep and mysterious. Your skin looks good enough to taste.”
The man laughed. “You sweet little thing.”
Kaelan hadn’t been little since he turned twelve and no one had ever called him sweet. “I am a man.”
“I can see that.” The man ran his hand down Kaelan’s cheek. “Call me Evgeni when I make you come.”
Evgeni brought his mouth down over Kaelan’s. Nothing in Kaelan’s life had prepared him for warm lips against his and an urgent tongue in his mouth. He reached out and laid a hand on Evgeni’s chest. The silk of his tunic was so thin, Kaelan could feel valleys and ridges underneath. Kaelan had to see what he was feeling. He had to see Evgeni in the flesh.
The fabric tore. Evgeni laughed. “Sometimes impatience,” he leaned close and spoke with a husky voice, “is a virtue.”
Kaelan growled. He had to have Evgeni. He had to have him now.
Evgeni laughed. Kaelan’s clothes were in the way. He loosened his belt and pulled Evgeni under him.
Evgeni ran his hands up Kaelan’s chest. “Delicious.”
And so was Evgeni.
~
Pepik bit his lip. This wasn’t just any celebration of life. Evgeni was alone with the man, and they were in a fairy ring not a stone circle. This wasn’t a sacrifice or worship. This was simply for Evgeni’s pleasure.
The poor fool of a human. At least he’d die in ecstasy.
Pepik would never even get that.
The human wasn’t flagging. He should be tired by now. He should be exhausted, unable to do more than moan, but he was more energetic than when Evgeni lured him into the glade. He lifted his hip, flipped Evgeni onto his back, tore off the last of Evgeni’s clothes, and then ripped off his own tunic. He growled and leaned over Evgeni.
Evgeni’s eyes were bright and his dark cheeks were pink, but he was no longer laughing.
The human wasn’t hurting him, was he?
Pepik snuck closer. Evgeni gasped, but not like the human was hurting him. How could he like being manhandled like that? The slap of flesh echoed around the glade. Pepik would break if someone treated his body like that.
Evgeni screamed. Pepik jumped. The human roared. He wasn’t human anymore. He was a monster. Pepik had heard about monsters that masqueraded as weak humans. Fawns and other forest creatures only learned the difference once they’d done their mischief. The monster always won in the end.
Evgeni screamed, longer and louder than ever. The monster was hurting him. Pepik grabbed the monster’s shoulder. “Let him go.”
The monster smiled. “A friend to join us.”
He pulled Pepik under him. Pepik struggled. Cool arms encircled him. “My brave little fawn.”
Evgeni kissed Pepik’s ear. Pepik had to get away. He wanted Evgeni’s touch, but Evgeni would suck him dry without even trying.
The monster’s hands moved down Pepik’s chest. “So sweet.”
The gentle hands stopped at his waist. “May I?”
Why was the monster asking?
Evgeni laughed. “Please. I want to see what sex is like when I’m not hungry.”
Pepik twisted to look at Evgeni. “You’re not hungry.”
Evgeni rubbed his fingers across Pepik’s lips. “Sated. Let me taste you.”
Pepik didn’t even try to say no.
~
Evgeni lay in the warm embrace of his human. He practiced Kaelan’s name. He liked the taste of it. He’d never learned a human’s name before. But this one he had to keep. He’d never been this full.
His ran his hand down his little fawn. Pepik shivered. Evgeni grinned. He had to keep this one too. He was greedy. He admitted it.
Pepik looked up with his huge green eyes.
Delicious. “My pretty, was it as good for you?”
Pepik’s cheeks reddened.
So adorable. “Will you help me keep our human?”
“He’s a monster.”
“I noticed that.” Evgeni licked his lips. “And this wonderful monster allows me to taste you.”
Pepik bit his lip.
Kaelan stirred. Evgeni was full, but not so full he couldn’t stand another bite. He twisted his fingers into Pepik’s curls and rubbed his ass against Kaelan. Kaelan was a bright man. He’d get the idea and join in the fun.
~
Kaelan woke to morning sun. He was in a forest glade without a stitch on. Where was he? Where were his clothes? Where was the pony? Had it made its way home safely?
The moss around him was flattened. He must have thrashed in his sleep. Maybe the will-o-the-wisp had given him that wonderful dream. It was too good to actually have happened.
He put on what was left of his clothes. He’d never live this down. And he’d probably get the belt from a man a head shorter than he was and then his cousin would tease him for allowing it to happen as if they didn’t bend over when their father raised his hand.
Kaelan didn’t want to go home.
The bushes on the other side of the clearing rustled and a small figure stepped out. Pepik grinned shyly. He held up his hands. “I brought you breakfast. Evgeni forgets people like us need to eat too.”
“Thank you.” Was last night true? Had he really survived a dalliance with the fair folk? No one would believe him. Maybe that’s why no one ever told such a tale.
The fruit was sweet and the meat was filling. Pepik watched him with big emerald eye. Kaelan licked his fingers. Pepik grinned and his dimples burst into view. Then he blushed and hid his face. Pepik really did have stubby horns among his curls. He had curls south of his waist as well, hiding his treasures, and his short legs ended in small hooves.
“You are a fawn.”
“You aren’t a human.”
How could anyone think that? “Of course I am.”
“No, you aren’t.” Evgeni materialized at Kaelan’s side. “And that’s why you belong with us.”
“But my mother…”
Evgeni shrugged. “Your father?”
Even his mother did not know his father’s name. He’d seduced her during a festival and slipped out of her bed before dawn. “Maybe.”
Pepik leaned against Kaelan’s side. “And that’s good because no one has ever sated Evgeni. We need you.”
“So I can stay here? With you two? Forever?”
Evgeni laughed. He sat in Kaelan’s lap and his clothes just disappeared. “Welcome home.”
Pepik giggled, pushed Kaelan onto his back, and kissed him. Kaelan was home at last.
If someone asks me (the floral manager, store manager, and district manager talked about this while I was at lunch), I’ve decided to tell them to ask again after my first book is published. (The answer will still be no, but they aren’t listening to my current no.) This is the book I’ve been working too much to rewrite. Free time ahead. Please.
On a totally different note, I hennaed my hair Halloween night. The best color is produced by the henna staying in a long time. I’d already mixed the henna with lemon juice to a soft clay-like consistency and let it oxidize over night. I also took the grounds from ten spicy (used) tea bags and mixed them in right before I rubbed it into my hair.
I didn’t make even half the mess I heard tell of, but that could have been because the henna was so thick and my hair is so short. And my daughter was my gopher and cleaned up after me. I wrapped plastic wrap around my head held it together with stretchy box tape then put on my black hoody to keep the crumbs off the sheets. Twelve hours later I washed it out with conditioner and finished off with shampoo. My towel stayed white. The only hard to remove stuff were the parts that dried out because they weren’t covered in plastic wrap.
My head is slightly orange, but not as orange as it was yesterday (that color is supposed to be gone in two more days, but I don’t mind it as it makes my hair look thicker) and my hair is darkening from the bright auburn. I hope it doesn’t get too much darker. I’m at the color I was as a teenager.
My biggest surprise was that I read over and over that henna could only make hair darker. The few brown parts of my hair (edges of my temples and the like) look much darker than the red parts.
The tea was a good idea. Now when my head gets wet it smells like cinnamon and ginger and other spices with just the hint of hay instead of just hay. And the whole process wasn’t nearly as big of a deal as I’d read.
Title: Waylaid
Series: A Balance of Harmonies (Three)
Status: Picture story
Genre: m/m/m romance, fantasy
Rating: PG
Content: hunger, a follower, searching, sadness, sunset, will-o-the-wisp, a beautiful man, compliments, need, worry, longing, screams, interruption, invitation, warmth, greed, another bite, questions, breakfast, answers, home
Length: about 1,800 words
Summary: Evgeni looks for sustenance. Pepik longs for something he can’t have. And Kaelan finds home at last.
Notes: from painting mentioned in chapter 10. This is the picture I first got the idea to write a story about.
Evgeni - (yehv GYEH nee) - incubus
Pepik - (puh PEEK) - fawn
Kaelan - (KAY lahn) – farmer/ beast
Master list
Evgeni surveyed the sleeping humans. He was still hungry. If six strong, virile men couldn’t fill him up with their lust, then who could?
He drifted out of the stone circle. The men would wake in a few hours and gather their clothes and leave without making eye contact if things went as they normally did. But if the men enjoyed each other as much as he’d enjoyed them, why didn’t they play together without him? They might build up their stamina that way, and maybe with greater stamina his hunger would be sated. He’d had to pull back just when he’d wanted to gorge the most or they’d just be corpses now.
Humans were so fragile.
Spirits weren’t any better. He’d kill that shy little fawn who followed him if he laid a hand on him, which was rather sad. The fawn was a sweet little thing and sweet little things were notoriously adventurous in bed.
~
Pepik circled the stone ring and hurried down Evgeni’s trail. He couldn’t lose him, not after following him for so long. Incubuses were hard to track as they had no physical form unless they concentrated. Evgeni went through rocks and thickets Pepik had to find his way around.
He’d lost Evgeni’s trail twice. Once he’d cross it again by accident and last night he’d spotted men headed for a stone circle. They could have been begging for rain or giving thanks for the harvest, but they hadn’t had the proper materials for either ceremony. Pepik followed them in hopes they were on their way to celebrate life and that the incubus who joined them would be Evgeni.
Pepik loved watching Evgeni feast. He was so beautiful and Pepik could imagine that the skin Evgeni was touching was his skin and the mouth Evgeni was kissing was his mouth and the body Evgeni was inside was his body. If he could survive Evgeni’s touch, he’d give himself to Evgeni right now.
Maybe Evgeni’s touch would be worth death.
Pepik rounded a thicket and caught Evgeni’s trail. Just being where Evgeni was, where he had been, was thrilling. Being touched by him would be so much better.
~
Kaelan sighed and chucked on the reigns one more time. He hated the city with all its bustling crowed and he hated market day there even more, but he was in no hurry to get home.
The sky was a thousand colors of pink, purple and orange. Maybe he could climb a tree for a better view. If he put off walking through his front door long enough, all his relatives might be asleep.
He stopped the pony and got out of the cart. The forest was beautiful, like always, but this spot was something special. This was home. He didn’t need to go back to the other place and be harassed by people who used family ties as an excuse to run his life.
Light flicked in the trees. A will-o-the-wisp was calling him. His uncle’s voice in his head said following it could only end badly. Worse than being constantly misunderstood? His family didn’t want him. They wanted someone who conformed to their ideal. He never would.
He stooped below branches, skirted bramble patches, scrambled over rocks, and almost twisted his ankle on some roots before his path led him to a glade of moss and fragrant flowers.
This was where he’s always meant to be. He leaned down and sucked in a huge whiff of a pink and white flower.
A man lounged against a tree on the other side of the glade.
How could Kaelan have failed to spot him? Kaelan’s stomach clenched. He couldn’t breathe. He fell to his knees. “You are beautiful.”
Why had Kaelan said something so idiotic? His uncle would beat him. Only his uncle wasn’t here. The man smiled and stepped closer. “Go on.”
Kaelan’s mouth didn’t even wait for his brain. “Your hair is the darkest waterfall and you eyes are deep and mysterious. Your skin looks good enough to taste.”
The man laughed. “You sweet little thing.”
Kaelan hadn’t been little since he turned twelve and no one had ever called him sweet. “I am a man.”
“I can see that.” The man ran his hand down Kaelan’s cheek. “Call me Evgeni when I make you come.”
Evgeni brought his mouth down over Kaelan’s. Nothing in Kaelan’s life had prepared him for warm lips against his and an urgent tongue in his mouth. He reached out and laid a hand on Evgeni’s chest. The silk of his tunic was so thin, Kaelan could feel valleys and ridges underneath. Kaelan had to see what he was feeling. He had to see Evgeni in the flesh.
The fabric tore. Evgeni laughed. “Sometimes impatience,” he leaned close and spoke with a husky voice, “is a virtue.”
Kaelan growled. He had to have Evgeni. He had to have him now.
Evgeni laughed. Kaelan’s clothes were in the way. He loosened his belt and pulled Evgeni under him.
Evgeni ran his hands up Kaelan’s chest. “Delicious.”
And so was Evgeni.
~
Pepik bit his lip. This wasn’t just any celebration of life. Evgeni was alone with the man, and they were in a fairy ring not a stone circle. This wasn’t a sacrifice or worship. This was simply for Evgeni’s pleasure.
The poor fool of a human. At least he’d die in ecstasy.
Pepik would never even get that.
The human wasn’t flagging. He should be tired by now. He should be exhausted, unable to do more than moan, but he was more energetic than when Evgeni lured him into the glade. He lifted his hip, flipped Evgeni onto his back, tore off the last of Evgeni’s clothes, and then ripped off his own tunic. He growled and leaned over Evgeni.
Evgeni’s eyes were bright and his dark cheeks were pink, but he was no longer laughing.
The human wasn’t hurting him, was he?
Pepik snuck closer. Evgeni gasped, but not like the human was hurting him. How could he like being manhandled like that? The slap of flesh echoed around the glade. Pepik would break if someone treated his body like that.
Evgeni screamed. Pepik jumped. The human roared. He wasn’t human anymore. He was a monster. Pepik had heard about monsters that masqueraded as weak humans. Fawns and other forest creatures only learned the difference once they’d done their mischief. The monster always won in the end.
Evgeni screamed, longer and louder than ever. The monster was hurting him. Pepik grabbed the monster’s shoulder. “Let him go.”
The monster smiled. “A friend to join us.”
He pulled Pepik under him. Pepik struggled. Cool arms encircled him. “My brave little fawn.”
Evgeni kissed Pepik’s ear. Pepik had to get away. He wanted Evgeni’s touch, but Evgeni would suck him dry without even trying.
The monster’s hands moved down Pepik’s chest. “So sweet.”
The gentle hands stopped at his waist. “May I?”
Why was the monster asking?
Evgeni laughed. “Please. I want to see what sex is like when I’m not hungry.”
Pepik twisted to look at Evgeni. “You’re not hungry.”
Evgeni rubbed his fingers across Pepik’s lips. “Sated. Let me taste you.”
Pepik didn’t even try to say no.
~
Evgeni lay in the warm embrace of his human. He practiced Kaelan’s name. He liked the taste of it. He’d never learned a human’s name before. But this one he had to keep. He’d never been this full.
His ran his hand down his little fawn. Pepik shivered. Evgeni grinned. He had to keep this one too. He was greedy. He admitted it.
Pepik looked up with his huge green eyes.
Delicious. “My pretty, was it as good for you?”
Pepik’s cheeks reddened.
So adorable. “Will you help me keep our human?”
“He’s a monster.”
“I noticed that.” Evgeni licked his lips. “And this wonderful monster allows me to taste you.”
Pepik bit his lip.
Kaelan stirred. Evgeni was full, but not so full he couldn’t stand another bite. He twisted his fingers into Pepik’s curls and rubbed his ass against Kaelan. Kaelan was a bright man. He’d get the idea and join in the fun.
~
Kaelan woke to morning sun. He was in a forest glade without a stitch on. Where was he? Where were his clothes? Where was the pony? Had it made its way home safely?
The moss around him was flattened. He must have thrashed in his sleep. Maybe the will-o-the-wisp had given him that wonderful dream. It was too good to actually have happened.
He put on what was left of his clothes. He’d never live this down. And he’d probably get the belt from a man a head shorter than he was and then his cousin would tease him for allowing it to happen as if they didn’t bend over when their father raised his hand.
Kaelan didn’t want to go home.
The bushes on the other side of the clearing rustled and a small figure stepped out. Pepik grinned shyly. He held up his hands. “I brought you breakfast. Evgeni forgets people like us need to eat too.”
“Thank you.” Was last night true? Had he really survived a dalliance with the fair folk? No one would believe him. Maybe that’s why no one ever told such a tale.
The fruit was sweet and the meat was filling. Pepik watched him with big emerald eye. Kaelan licked his fingers. Pepik grinned and his dimples burst into view. Then he blushed and hid his face. Pepik really did have stubby horns among his curls. He had curls south of his waist as well, hiding his treasures, and his short legs ended in small hooves.
“You are a fawn.”
“You aren’t a human.”
How could anyone think that? “Of course I am.”
“No, you aren’t.” Evgeni materialized at Kaelan’s side. “And that’s why you belong with us.”
“But my mother…”
Evgeni shrugged. “Your father?”
Even his mother did not know his father’s name. He’d seduced her during a festival and slipped out of her bed before dawn. “Maybe.”
Pepik leaned against Kaelan’s side. “And that’s good because no one has ever sated Evgeni. We need you.”
“So I can stay here? With you two? Forever?”
Evgeni laughed. He sat in Kaelan’s lap and his clothes just disappeared. “Welcome home.”
Pepik giggled, pushed Kaelan onto his back, and kissed him. Kaelan was home at last.
