The palace was quiet. Too quiet.
Dain had learned long ago to read the silence around him like a second language. Tonight, it carried weight, heavy and deliberate.
He turned from his place at the balcony just as the first blade sliced through the curtains.
Figures stepped out from the shadows into the room, cloaked in black, faces masked, daggers glinting in their hands.
Assassins.
Ever since the Guide had used his energy to resonate with him the storm inside Dain had felt quiet. It was unusual, unfamiliar, he was not used to the silence.
'Too bad it did not last long enough.'
Dain smiled aggressively. "Finally, the cowards stop hiding."
The storm in him surged. He didn't fight it this time. He let it roar free.
Air split with a crack like the heavens breaking open. His power slammed outward, hurling the intruders against the walls. Stone cracked beneath his feet, silver light spilling from his veins.
The assassins screamed as gravity twisted, as the storm lashed, tearing weapons from hands and bones from sockets.
And Dain lost himself in it. Drowning in the storm brewing around him.
But then a voice cut through the chaos, raw and desperate.
"Dain!"
Elion.
The Guide should have been locked in his cell, but there he was, yet again, half-chained and guards nowhere in sight. His chest heaved and his golden eyes blazing with something that wasn't just defiance anymore.
Fool. He'll die.
The storm lashed out, aimed at everything and at him.
But Elion didn't run. He stumbled forward, his body getting battered, skin split open by flying shards of marble.
His lips moved, speaking words Dain couldn't hear over the thunder.
And then Elion grabbed his face, dragged him down and pressed their lips together.
The world around him shuddered.
Resonance burst between, not sharp and jagged like the last time but searing, all-consuming.
Elion. He was guiding the Esper
His storm screamed, then choked into silence, pulled into that point of contact between them.
Dain's knees buckled.
He clutched Elion's shoulders, his nails digging in as power burned down the thread between them. Too much. Too fast.
Elion gasped against Dain's mouth, trembling, coughing out blood. His body shook with the strain, but he didn't let go. His lips pressed on Dain's again as he poured himself into the Esper like someone throwing themselves against a tidal wave. "Just...A little more..."
For the first time in his life, Dain felt quiet. Again.
And then, Elion collapsed.
Dain caught him before he hit the floor. His storm flickered an the stilled.
"Vanlow!" His voice cracked, raw, unrecognizable.
The Guide's eyes fluttered close, lips split and skin pale.
Dain held him as he went limp.
Stepping out and past the shattered hall, past the corpses of assassins crushed under his storm, past the wide-eyed guards who didn't dare breathe.
"Clear the fucking corridors," Dain barked, voice sharp and low. "Now!"
No one argued.
He didn't take Elion back to the prison cell. Instead, he walked right into his own chambers, laying the unconscious Guide carefully on the vast bed draped in black and silver.
For a moment he stood there, chest heaving, staring at the broken boy before him.
He should have called for a healer. He should have locked him away again. Or punish him for breaking out of his cell again.
Instead, Dain stripped off his gloves and fetched a basin of water himself.
He wiped the blood from Elions's mouth and arms.
Pulled away the ruined tunic and revealed more scars across his torso, carved into him like brands.
Dain's hand trembled as he pressed the cloth to them.
"You fool," he whispered.
Elion stirred faintly, his lips parting as though to answer. But no words came.
Dain sat on the edge of the bed, cloth still in hand. The storm in his veins was quiet. He didn't understand it, he had enough Guides, high ranking one, from anywhere he could pick and yet no one achieved what his one had.
He only knew that he hated the sight of those scars.
And he hated how much he wanted to erase all of them from his skin.
...
Elion awoke to the feeling of warm skin on his back and a pair of awkward hands massaging his shoulder.
He let out a soft moan, not entirely sure where he was or how he got there at first. But then he remembered.
'That fuck face lost control again', and before he knew what was happening with him, Elion had already broken the cell bars, running yet again to the one man he shouldn't.
And then, Dain. And assassins.
They had finally resonated again
A sense of accomplishment washed over him, followed by a wave of exhaustion.
And darkness again.
The next time he opened his eyes, he found himself on a giant bed.
The Esper was nowhere to be seen, but Elion could still feel his presence in the room. The air was thick with tension and Elion couldn't help but feel drawn to it.
Just then, Dain returned to the room, carrying a bowl of stew. When he saw Elion awake and sitting up, annoyance flashed across his face.
"Lay down." he growled, setting the bowl down on a nearby table.
Elion smirked, rubbing his stomach. "Uh, no? I am hungry," he said, reaching for the bowl.
Dains frown deepened, sitting down on a chair next to the bed.
"Care to tell me what happened?" Elion asked, taking a spoonful.
"No. Eat and fuck off back to sleep." Dain snapped back.
"Actually, I think I remember. I saved you again. I'm like a war hero now. I want a medal. Oh fuck-" Elion hissed, winching in pain as the bruise on his chest throbbed.
Dain picked up the cloth in silence and started wiping the area around it.
"Did you injure your head or something?" The Guide asked in a mocking tone, "No way the all mighty honourable Prince would wipe me down. Ouch!!" he hissed when Dain pressed hard against the bruises.
"You should get on your knees and thank me." he hissed, wiping gentler "If not shut up or you're going back to the cell."
"Shit alright, I'm joking fuck.." he mumbled, finishing the whole bowl as Dain continued to wipe his chest in silence.
"You know," Elion started with a chuckle, "I don't think you're supposed to do it like that."
Dain stopped, glaring at him. "What?" he asked warily.
Elion set down his bowl and leaned back against the pillows. "I mean, it's kind of weird watching you do it like this." He paused, grinning mischievously. "Why don't you try something different?"
Dain pulled away the cloth, a frown on his face.
He had never done anything like this, 'Is there a different method to treat his bruises?'
"And what exactly do you have in mind?" he asked, suspicion clouding his eyes.
Elion sat up straighter, trying to hide his smirk.
"Well," he drawled, "I was thinking maybe you could sit on my dick while you clean me up, it'll definitely heal me faster and you seemed relaxed after last time, just saying."
He laughed as Dain's eyes went wide in shock before turning into a glare of pure hatred.
"You're disgusting," Dain spat, throwing the cloth at the Guides face.
But something inside Elion snapped. He lunged forward, grabbing Dain by the hips and pulling him onto the bed. Before the Esper could protest, Elion was straddling his hips, pinning him down on the warm sheets.
"I thought you wanted me to guide you," he whispered in Dain's ear, his voice soft and teasing. "We found a way to do exactly that, so..."
"Fuck off! You think you're in a state do anything right now you pathetic dog!?" Dain hissed, trying to push him off but the Guide wouldn't move.
"You took care of me while I was asleep, no? I feel fine." he whispered against the other man's lips.
Without another word, Elion leaned down and captured Dain's lips in a brutal kiss, pushing his tongue past the Esper's defences.
As they wrestled for control, their clothes starting to rip and tear. Rubbing their naked skin against each other in a frenzy. Their lips meeting repeatedly. Both melting into the other.
"Get on my dick," Elion moaned, switching their positions "Ride it nice and slow hm?"
-CUT-
He could feel the Esper's walls crumbling around him, surrendering to his touch. And then he felt Dain join him, their combined release shooting through them both like lightning.
For a moment, they remained locked together, Dain leaning on Elions chest, panting heavily as they came back to reality.
And then, as they calmed down, Dain started pulling off Elion's spent length.
Elion grabbed his arm before he could, pressing the Esper into his chest as he still tried to catch his breath.
He looked over at the other man, his face flushed and sweaty but masked with his usual frown.
"I think we might have found a way for me to guide you properly, to control our resonance," he said softly, wrapping his arms around Dain, like the man might run away if he didn't.
Dain didn't respond, but Elion could feel his heart beating faster. And no storm or surge of thunder around.
They lay there together for a while longer, their bodies still connected, their hearts beating in unison.
To be continued...