Oxalis sputtered as he resurfaced, mind reeling. Something from the drunken blur of last night’s festivities tickled at the back of his mind. He tried to clear the fog as he caught his breath.
“You know, your Legion friends talk quite a bit. I’m beginning to think some of their rumors are true.”
“Probably because they are.” Oxalis looked up to find the soldier had stepped closer. The carpenter imagined he could feel the heat of his body through the water. “I like getting fucked in the open. It’d be hard to keep secret.”
Above them, the wind rustled in the trees. A squirrel clambered up a mossy rock face, sending a shower of dirt and pebbles into the water somewhere upstream. Oxalis stared at Helianthus with slack-jawed awe. He hadn’t planned to screw the town hero into next week, not really. He’d thought about it. Wanted it. Even hoped an opportunity would arise eventually. But he never actually expected Helianthus to look at him like he did now. Never expected him to talk with such blunt, naked desire.
Oxalis broke his gaze, looking up to the ancient dam where the old river muscled its way through the cracks and faults. He tried to listen past the rush of water down the old riverbed and the thunder of his own heart. Did he hear footsteps in the soft grass above? Was that rustle in the bushes just another squirrel?
“Ah, I guess I shouldn’t have said that,” Helianthus said with a faltering smile, falling back into a self-effacing slouch. His hands came up to fret with the mats in his overgrown hair. “Things are… different in the Legion. I’ll just-”
Oxalis slung an arm around his neck and pulled him down into a filthy, wet kiss, pressing just close enough to feel the soldier’s erection hot and hard against his hip. He tasted sour as last night’s ale with notes of bitter iron where he had bit his tongue during a midnight raid of enemy camps. The salt of mourning or maybe old jerky mingled with lingering tooth decay. Helianthus tasted of death and the desperation to feel alive in the wake of it. It was a new flavor to the carpenter and he suspected something of an acquired taste. But it thrilled him all the same.
Helianthus returned the kiss with enthusiasm, cradling Oxalis’ head as his work-worn hands drifted hungrily over the hard curves of the soldier’s body. Every grope and grab earned him a helpless, shuddering gasp against his mouth until his attentions fell inevitably to the tender flesh of Helianthus’ ass.
“Please,” The soldier groaned, rutting desperately into him. Oxalis hummed in agreement as a thigh insinuated itself firmly against his aching cock. They moved against each other, driven by the intense need to escape the confines of their own skin into someone else’s.
Passions rose, wild as a forest fire until Helianthus slipped on a mossy stone. They both fell sputtering into the water.
Oxalis stumbled, blind and soaked, towards the grassy bank. The river water burned in his sinuses. Bitter moss stuck to his tongue.
He heard Helianthus laugh between choking coughs somewhere just out of reach. Oxalis couldn't help but join him and soon they were laughing at nothing. Just the absurdity of being.
Tears washed the mud and river water out of his eyes. He could see Helianthus clinging to a dry rock not far off, still doubled over with silent laughter.
"That would've been a bad idea." Oxalis sighed. They were both a mess. Everything was a mess. People were dead. The town was in ruins.
Helianthus nodded, taking a deep breath. A thoughtful expression passed over his face, though interrupted by spurts of involuntary giggling. "Yeah, probably."
"I mean, look at you," Oxalis smiled sardonically. He gestured vaguely at the many cuts and bruises scattered across Helianthus's stunning body as he waded over. "You're in no shape for strenuous activity."
Helianthus shrugged his good shoulder as he leaned against the grassy bank just a few feet away. Just close enough to touch. There was a spark in those honeyed eyes, bright enough to set the river on fire. "Then... be gentle with me?"
Fuck the town, Oxalis decided. Fuck death. Fuck the mess. Fuck it all for a moment of glorious, senseless satisfaction. A smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. "Get up on the bank before we drown ourselves."
They were both too desperate for playful teasing. Too much had happened in the past week for Oxalis to be so cruel as to torture the town’s golden boy until he begged. But he did it anyway until Helianthus was shaking in his arms, then begging, then threatening.
Helianthus caught his breath as he lay tangled in the arms of the carpenter he'd admired so many years ago. The heat of Oxalis' body and breath against his back competed with the all-consuming glare of the summer sun. Skin coated in the clean salt of sweat. Mind blessedly clear of all but the brilliance of living another day. He could believe that this moment was the entire world. Time and responsibility had no place in it.
"Mother of mountains, I needed that." Oxalis laid a kiss on his shoulder, lighting up his raw nerves like dry tinder.
Helianthus mumbled something vague and incoherent even to his own ears. He watched the sun paint vivid patterns on the backs of his eyelids, all else dissolving into meaningless sensation and noise.
"That would be very hard to keep secret," The carpenter sighed into his hair. Helianthus could feel his shit-eating grin as clearly as the tickle of chest hair and the gears turning slowly in his head. "Why in the open?"
Helianthus took a deep breath, pulling his thoughts back into something resembling order. He looked up to the sky, so vividly blue and all-consuming he could practically disappear into it and prepared to do something rare and unfamiliar.
"S' good for morale," He lied.
Oxalis laughed. "No wonder all your Legion friends were so ready to rally behind you."
A cool breeze swept across his back as the Oxalis pulled away. Helianthus hummed questioningly, blinking up to watch the carpenter gather up his clothes. As much as he appreciated how the rich ochre of the other man's form seemed to burn against the mossy rock and bright green grass, he already missed the weight of those work-hardened arms around him.
"The town is in pieces," Oxalis explained, as he scrubbed his clothes against the river rocks. Just like that, the fragile, crystalline moment broke as easily as a soap bubble. "I may not be the only carpenter around, but I am the only good one."
Helianthus pulled himself up. The knowledge of everything that needed to be done hit him full in the face. Every minute that he lay well-fucked in the sunshine became a silly indulgence. His stitches itched, fingers coming away sticky with fresh blood.
"Gods, I guess I wasn't gentle enough," Oxalis grimaced as he pulled his wet tunic over his head. "That looks nasty."
Helianthus waved him off. "It'll be fine. I'll just rest down here awhile."
"If you're sure..." Oxalis said hesitantly, already half-way up the dam when Helianthus nodded.
He unwrapped his arm with a couple of impatient, frustrated tugs. After washing off the aggravated arrow wound, he found the stitches were still intact. If it had gotten inflamed, it wasn't showing the usual signs. As far as he could tell, it just didn't approve of what he did in his free time.
A thin but constant trickle of blood taunted him as he struggled to wash his clothes with one hand. He ripped a clean chunk of cotton out of his already ruined tunic and jammed the bunched up fabric over his arm. Somewhere in the distance, an eagle bragged about her successful hunt. A flock of sparrows bickered viciously a little closer. Just out of sight, a lonely hummingbird called out for his mate.
Helianthus called back as he sat against a boulder, waiting for the bleeding to stop. It took him a few tries to get the rough but high-pitched warble just right but sure enough, the bird appeared. He smiled at the buzz of tiny, sparkling wings as it searched for the one who answered his call.
"I'm sorry, that was cruel of me," Helianthus admitted as the hummingbird buzzed around him, confused. Being stood up must not have been good for the little thing's confidence. "You are very attractive if it's any consolation. I know you'll find someone in no time."
The hummingbird raced off, completely ignoring the columbines growing by the riverside. It seemed Helianthus had company.
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