Pandion (Genera #1)

Chapter 16

K agesawa lay on his bed, waiting for Satoru to return with the beer. He wasn’t in the mood for another, but he’d missed the chance to decline the offer. Oh, right. Does this work? Forget the beer, he tried.

“Oh? Should I take it back?” Satoru appeared at the door.

“No, leave it. Sit down. I want to say something.” He’d neglected to say a lot of things, but one thing stood out above others as something he probably should have said long ago. He waited until Satoru sat down.

“What is it? Did something happen?”

“No.” The most important things were always the most difficult. “I wanted to thank you.”

“Ah, Takazaki said the same just now. There’s no need. I’m glad that thing is out.”

“No, not that.” He’d heard the gist of the conversation. “Well, I’m thankful for that, too. But I mean, thanks for the kind words. They mean a lot to me. I don’t think I’ve had anyone be this supportive before.”

“That’s a bit sad, honestly. I feel like I haven’t even done that great of a job.” Satoru lay down next to Kagesawa, the both of them with their backs on the bed and feet still on the floor. The ceiling sure was interesting when you were avoiding looking at someone. “In the spirit of trying to do better, I want to make it clear that yes, they did call me in for a review. Yes, it was about something you did. They didn’t give me the details, so all I have to go by is my gut. I don’t know you all that well, yet, but I want to trust you. What I do know is that the way the EA is conducting their business disgusts me. They installed malware into my port, for crying out loud! I…” Satoru swallowed audibly, then gritted his teeth. “I don’t care what happens to my career.”

“Oh? Really?” Kagesawa couldn’t resist a chuckle.

“I’m trying to be serious here.”

“I know, I was just surprised, is all.”

“Fine, I care about it, but not as much as before. What I’m trying to say is that other things are more important to me right now, like…”

“Like?”

“Like, uh, like making this link work. Seeing where that takes us.” Satoru waffling over it was a little cute. It was almost as if he were trying to gather the courage to confess his feelings. Kagesawa chuckled before he could stop himself.

“What’s so funny?” Satoru sounded hurt, so Kagesawa tried to school himself to take the conversation more seriously.

“I’m sorry. It sounded like you were about to ask me out.” He held in the laughter but couldn’t help the smile. When for a while there was no reply, he was forced to take a look. Satoru had his eyes fixed firmly on the ceiling. His expression was grave.

“That’s not what this is, right?” Kagesawa asked.

“No,” Satoru said. “Of course not.” Something about this statement seemed off, so Kagesawa was forced to press it.

“It’s OK if that’s the case.”

“It’s not,” Satoru insisted. Not literally, anyway.

“I’m sorry I laughed. You have to admit, it sounds kinda absurd.”

“You could have just turned me down and not be an ass about it.” Satoru sat up, presumably to leave. Kagesawa instinctively grabbed him by the wrist.

“I wasn’t going to turn you down. I thought you preferred to keep this casual, but it’s all fine with me, whatever works best for you.” He’d never made an effort to define a relationship before. With all of these incorrect assumptions under his belt, he was starting to realise his usual tactic of merely waiting to see what happened might not yield the result he was after. Satoru looked annoyed.

“I don’t need you to humour me. It’s an inconvenience, right? Fine. If the link gets better, we can take advantage of that all you like. The sex is good. We can leave it at that.” He shook his hand free. The link hadn’t revealed much to begin with, but it was now completely silent. He had probably dampened it to make sure. Kagesawa re-grabbed the hand.

“What if I said I don’t care about the link?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Satoru snapped back at him.

“What if the link remains like this? What if the sex is shit? What if this is all there is? You’re young. You could do better.” Kagesawa didn’t feel like an old geezer, but a decade did make some difference.

“What the hell? What do you mean ‘if the sex is shit’? How could it be shit? You think I can’t make it good without relying on the beer and the feedback loop?” Satoru squinted like he’d sniffed a gigantic turd. Kagesawa felt the hair across his forearms rise, and he shivered.

“Can you?” A risky question for sure, but Satoru looked back at him, ready to take up the challenge.

“How dare you,” he said in a low and deliberate tone.

Kagesawa eyed him defiantly. He’d heard that tone before. It made his throat dry and his heart beat faster. The feedback loop and Satoru expressing his needs unrestrained were a delicacy, however…

“Can you?” On a whim, he made himself add, “Please?”

Satoru was still staring at him, but his expression changed from confident annoyance to confusion and further on to mounting frustration.

“Are you fucking with me?”

“No. I want you to fuck me.” It felt horribly embarrassing to say out loud, but in this context, the humiliation only made it sweeter. “Please fuck me.” No one was forcing him to say it, but it felt forced, if not outright involuntary. It was admittedly much easier to get carried away in some of the previous, more uninhibited circumstances, but having to struggle to voice his urges didn’t feel too bad. There was a very distinct, sharp flavour to this.

Satoru bit his lip. “Shit, I thought I’d dreamed up this bit.”

“I’m getting hard just thinking about it. Do me. You can be as rough as you’d like. You were holding back before, but it’s OK, I love it rough. I love it when you thrust—”

“That’s enough!” Satoru leapt forward and covered Kagesawa’s mouth with his hand. “I didn’t think you’d be this talkative without the, uh… shit, you’re really hard? Already?”

“It is admittedly more challenging this way.” Kagesawa couldn’t remember having a compulsion to debase himself in any of his previous relationships. Something about the combination of watching Satoru react to it, feeling humiliated and the prospect of an ample reward of physical pleasure made it more exhilarating than usual. “Could you at least rub me off, please?”

Satoru sitting on top of him made it worse, or better, whichever way he looked at it. “Do you want me to beg? I’ll beg for it.” It was his own suggestion, yet he blushed. This was ridiculous. He wanted to kiss Satoru so much it hurt.

“I didn’t think I’d be all that into this but could you? I kinda want to hear it.” Satoru grinned.

“Please. Please, at least kiss me.” Kagesawa reached for Satoru with his hands trembling. When Satoru lowered down close enough to allow a kiss, Kagesawa tried to bite his lips.

“No biting.”

“Huh? Why not? But I want to… please?”

“No biting. And no tongue. Yet.” The restrictions were frustrating, but Satoru pressing him down by the wrists with his whole weight was anything but.

“You’re going to obey me?” He seemed surprised. Kagesawa nodded. “Good. I’ll reward you if you’re a good boy.”

That was certainly something, Harumine thought. He lay in bed, still catching his breath. Kagesawa lay next to him on his side with his face right by Harumine’s ear. His breath was steady but warm.

“You can do that to me anytime.” Kagesawa had said it before, but this time he sounded delirious.

“Shut up. I already did it twice.”

“Third time’s the charm?”

“Give me a break.”

“Is five minutes enough?” Kagesawa’s lips were tickling Harumine’s earlobe. It made him shiver.

“How are you like this? How does it not start hurting after all that?”

“You’re being gentle with me. I can tell.” Kagesawa snuggled closer. “That and the copious amount of lube helps.” He laughed.

Harumine groaned. “You really want me to go harder? Don’t you have any sense of self-preservation?”

“Could you?”

“Stop that.”

“Please?”

“Did you break when you yanked off your port? Is this what’ll happen to me a month from now?”

“Don’t worry, I was broken long before any of that.” Kagesawa inched closer. “If it’s truly annoying you, I’ll stop, but” I want you to hold me down, *** your **** **** against me, into me, feel every inch of my skin with your fingers—

Harumine covered Kagesawa’s mouth again before realising how useless it was. Kagesawa nibbled on the fingers so conveniently offered to him and continued almost seamlessly, your tongue and your lips, bite me and make me yearn for more, use me until I’m spent and breathless, fill me up to the brim, and make me beg for you to stop—

“ How can you stand being this shameless?”

“It’s not that I’m shameless. I just want it, a lot.”

“Again? Wasn’t it enough?” Harumine was teetering between feeling dissatisfied by his implied unsatisfactory performance and annoyed that Kagesawa was being unreasonably demanding.

“Hmmm.” Kagesawa seemed to be considering it in earnest. “No.” He buried his face into the sheets and made a funny half-grunting, half-whimpering noise.

“What’s with you today? I can’t seem to recall you being this needy before.” They had certainly taken their time, but it hadn’t felt this physically demanding, and Kagesawa most certainly hadn’t been this vocal. “Oh, right.” Harumine realised the obvious difference: the goddamn monster of a link.

If that thing had been working the way it had before, Harumine probably wouldn’t have stopped until they were both exhausted and satisfied. He’d wondered why he’d had such an unusually strong urge to keep going.

Wary and a little apprehensive, he released the link. Kagesawa resurfaced from the sheets to look.

“I thought you were a bit less into it today,” he mumbled. “You all right? Do you want me to do something? I’ll do pretty much anything you want.” It may not have been as strong, but the general vibe through the link was unmistakable and highly infectious.

“Actually,” Harumine couldn’t resist a tease. “Maybe I’ll turn in for the night.” The consequent despair made Harumine grin inwardly.

“Really?” Kagesawa’s response was a mere breathy wail.

“Yes, I’m really rather tired.” Harumine faked a yawn and stretched his arms wide. “But I guess I could give you one more kiss good night if you’d like?” He leaned closer and pressed Kagesawa down to keep him from squirming. Kagesawa was easily stronger than him, but because the man was in a slightly awkward position with his arm twisted under him, the disadvantage was enough to level the difference.

Harumine made the kiss a touch too gentle and half-hearted to mess with Kagesawa’s pace, and as soon as Kagesawa started to adjust, he pulled back with impeccable timing.

“A—!” Kagesawa looked despondent.

Harumine held him out of reach so that no matter how much he tried, their lips only barely brushed in passing. “Good night, Tsuyoshi,” he whispered right by Kagesawa’s ear—for maximum effect.

“Please don’t go,” Kagesawa pleaded and grabbed a hold of Harumine’s shirt, looking like he might cry.

“Hmm, maybe I could be persuaded to stay, if—”

“If?” Kagesawa perked up instantly.

“If there’s suitable entertainment.”

“What kind?”

“Well, I’m tired, so—”

“So?”

“Stop interrupting me when I’m talking.”

“Sorry. Please continue.”

“I’m tired, so how about I watch?”

“What do you mean? Watch what?”

“You do you.”

“Uh, what?” Kagesawa frowned. Harumine lay back down on the bed beside him.

“Shouldn’t be difficult for you. There’s nothing to be ashamed of, and even if there were, you’re beyond shame, right?” The panicked confusion through the link was like a refreshing beverage, sweet on Harumine’s tongue.

“But it’s not the same.”

“Of course it’s not. I can leave if you’d rather not,” Harumine offered, confident that Kagesawa would not take him up on the offer.

It was fun watching him writhe, unable to make up his mind and even more fun seeing him awkwardly slide his hand onto his junk when he finally did. This could be educational if the man had preferences he’d not yet revealed. Harumine waited with great scientific interest.

Kagesawa was about to start stroking himself when Harumine interrupted him mostly just to disrupt his pace further.

“Don’t rush it. Take your time. Entertain me.”

“But how?”

“Make it good.”

“It’s my hand. It’s boring.”

“Still. Use your imagination.” Harumine could tell Kagesawa was struggling, almost losing interest in the task at hand. Almost. Now that the link was unrestricted, it provided a convenient peephole through which to check that none of the demands were a step too far.

Harumine traced Kagesawa’s lean abdomen with one finger to test if this slight interference would make a difference. Kagesawa trembled under his touch. The previous excited neediness had waned somewhat, but as Harumine toyed with an errant lock of hair by Kagesawa’s ear, brushed the side of his neck and collarbone with his fingers, swept gently over his chest and moved lower down, it was back on the rise.

I wish you would pin me down and dig deep into me. As Kagesawa said this, a surge of raw lust funnelled its way through the pathetic excuse of a link. That could have been a great source for a feedback loop, but alas, not as effective at present.

“I won’t.” Harumine feigned complete nonchalance. “But do go on with the daydreaming if it helps.”

“Can’t you at least do it properly,” Kagesawa whispered and closed his eyes.

“Of course not.” Harumine smiled. He’d never imagined he could have this much control over another person before. He certainly wouldn’t have had the confidence to continue with the harassment without sensing exactly where Kagesawa drew the line between serious torture and challenging but pleasurable discomfort.

Now that he was granted such a juicy opportunity, Harumine wanted to squeeze every last drop of enjoyment out of it to see if there really was no limit to Kagesawa’s submissive tendencies.

“I didn’t realise you had such a mean streak.” Kagesawa used his forearm to cover some of his face.

Harumine deliberately moved the arm aside to take in the view. He’d seen that face enough times to have grown used to it, either in intense concentration or relaxed, with a slightly apologetic smile—those were the two expressions he wore most often. Kagesawa was flustered now, and his eyebrows, compared to normal, were practically doing acrobatics the way they were crunched by his continuously shifting frown.

“Is it really that difficult?” Harumine tried to smoothen the wrinkled forehead with his finger.

“I don’t know how you did it, but I feel incredibly self-conscious and exposed right now.” Kagesawa tried to laugh it off as per usual, but that had never been very effective.

“I get the feeling you’re still enjoying yourself.” But, for the briefest of moments, Harumine sensed a hint of fear through the link. It was enough to give him pause. Kagesawa’s mental health was more important than fooling around, but if he’d imagined it and called it quits too soon, all the build up would be for naught.

“I trust you,” Kagesawa said, clearly more to convince himself.

“You’ve stopped though,” Harumine noted, referring to the hand that was supposed to be busy.

“I— For a moment there, this reminded me of something… It’s nothing. I’ll continue.” The nasty hint of fear flared up.

As fun as it was to tease Kagesawa, if it was triggering something unpleasant, it wasn’t worth it. Harumine set his hand on top of Kagesawa’s.

“I think I need to earn that trust.” He moved into a better position and put his tongue into good use. As Kagesawa released his hand to give way to Harumine’s mouth, any fear he’d felt was gone in an instant.

“Ahh, Sa— Satoru… what, why?”

I don’t want you to have to fear I’d do anything to hurt you. Next time I’ll savour it a while longer, but for now, I feel like it’s more important that you know you can trust me. Projecting a heart-felt speech with a dick in his mouth was a bit of a feat, especially when it was gaining some size in the process.

“Ahh a— you’re— Ah, gonna have to repeat that to me— Ahhhh, later, mmmmm, haah, a— ahhh!” Kagesawa gripped the sheets and groaned like he was about to shapeshift into a crazed bear when Harumine massaged his perineum and slipped a finger into his anus. Having fit another part of himself in there not that long ago using what was probably a ridiculously exaggerated amount of lube, Harumine’s two fingers slid in without much effort.

He was no Kagesawa, but Harumine had always prided himself for being a proficient multitasker. Using one hand to tend to the bottom and the other, together with his mouth, to take care of the front was no problem at all. While less was often more and prolonging the enjoyment usually made it better, this was none of those times. Harumine could tell Kagesawa wanted to be overwhelmed to be satisfied. He’d had nothing but dry orgasms all evening and wouldn’t mind releasing his load.

A bit higher… higher, there… there… more… It was impressive that Kagesawa had the capacity to project in his state, but there really was no need. Harumine could tell where to aim without being told. The link wasn’t as good as before, but—

“Uh?” Harumine could feel it. “Aaa… ahhhhhh—” He ejaculated. He stared at Kagesawa who was still in after shakes, then at himself in dismay. “Ah, haah… what the hell…”

Kagesawa burst out laughing.

“You came from fingering me?”

“It’s definitely improved.” Kagesawa sat at his desk and browsed through the diagnostic data.

“That’s a considerable increase,” Satoru agreed. Any amount of synchronisation exercises wouldn’t have produced these results in such a short time.

“All right, well, I’m up for a repeat of that any time. For professional reasons, of course.” Kagesawa grinned.

The evening’s exercise had not only improved the link between him and Satoru but also eased connecting to the BCI. It wasn’t at its previous level but came close.

From Satoru’s side, the difference was probably even more stark. The look on his face when he’d cum without so much as touching himself had been priceless. Thinking about it gave Kagesawa the warm fuzzies.

“You don’t have to be so smug about it.” Satoru shoved him, but instead of being upset or sulking, he lowered his chin onto Kagesawa’s shoulder and nuzzled against his neck in a way that sent shivers down his back.

“Swift revenge, I see.” Unaccustomed to such intimacy, the nuzzle was enough to distract Kagesawa. It was already difficult enough to switch between tasks, but to have to try to concentrate on something much less interesting while he could have been—

“I am a bit tired, though. For real this time,” Satoru said.

“Me too…” Kagesawa sighed.

“But?”

“But I could always go for another round. Always.” He groaned at his own stupid self. It hadn’t been this bad since his teenage years. It probably hadn’t been this bad even then.

“Hmm, fine.”

“What ‘fine’?”

“We could test if the feedback loop works.” Harumine seemed surprisingly, almost suspiciously forthcoming.

“Oh, like you say, ‘for science’?”

“Yes, sure, that’s the reason.”

“Is it really that infectious through the link?”

“I’d dampen, but it’s too late now. Might as well.” Satoru kissed his neck.

“You really are quite sensitive.”

“Shut up.” Satoru grabbed Kagesawa by the hair, turned his head to kiss him and sat on his lap to rub himself against what was already getting hard.

Can you be gentle with me again? That was rather nice in its own way. Kagesawa was in the mood for something more mellow. Satoru let out a little snort.

“I can work with this…” He nibbled on Kagesawa’s lips.

Kagesawa’s mind was flooded with soft and cuddly thoughts. He smiled as he kissed Satoru.

You’re such a softie.