Justice Stream!

“Hey,” Llewelyn said suddenly, “what’s that bottle beside you? Don’t tell me that’s alcohol.”

Lawfer looked at the forgotten bottle, then nodded. “Yeah…it is. Arngrim gave it to me. I think I’m going to drink some.”

“Let me have some, too,” Llewelyn begged. “There is no way you could handle all of that.” He blushed a little and added, “Besides, there’s something I need to do…”

“Okay,” Lawfer agreed. “We’ll both drink some, and then…I’ll tell you about the person I fell in love with.”

He uncorked the bottle and sniffed its contents. His eyes instantly watered from the odor. This was clearly a very potent drink.

That Arngrim, Lawfer thought. He knows I have low tolerance… Without another thought, Lawfer lifted the bottle to his lips and drank deeply.

The instant he put it down, Lawfer felt light-headed, giddy, and confused. The world spun around him, and he fell in a heap on the ground.

“Lawfer? Hey…Lawfer!” Llewelyn knelt over the young man’s body and shook him. “Hey, wake up!”

Lawfer was out like a light. Llewelyn smiled at the soft sound of his snoring—not the loud, obnoxious kind of snoring that kept one awake all night, but the heavy, rhythmic breathing of deep sleep.

As Llewelyn watched Lawfer sleep, he realized that now would be the perfect time to do what he’d wanted to for weeks…but he was frightened. What if Lawfer rejected him? What if he pushed him away? What if he came to despise him?

Llewelyn knew that his love for Lawfer was a perverted kind. Nature had not intended for him to feel this way…

Yet he remembered the love he had felt for Milia, and his feelings for Lawfer were exactly the same. He wanted to make love to the man lying before him, explore his body as he’d explored Milia’s.

“I love you…” he whispered. Then, knowing he could get no further at this rate, he lifted the bottle of alcohol and drank the rest of the liquid inside.

Llewelyn had higher tolerance than Lawfer, and the “liquid courage” seemed to act as both a stimulant and an aphrodisiac. He leaned forward on his hands and knees and gently kissed Lawfer on the mouth.

He regarded the cuirass Lawfer wore with annoyance. He wanted to feel Lawfer’s skin against his, wanted to feel his heart beating as they held each other…but this stupid armor was in the way, and he had no idea how to remove it.

Suddenly, Llewelyn realized that he was taking advantage of Lawfer’s drunkenness. Of course, he himself was drunk, but it just wasn’t right for him to remove the older man’s clothing without his permission.

“Hey…Lawfer.” There was hint of poutiness in Llewelyn’s voice, and he leaned forward to kiss the sleeping man again. Feeling bolder this time around, Llewelyn quietly opened Lawfer’s mouth with his tongue to deepen the kiss.

Perhaps it was the penetration of Llewelyn into Lawfer that stirred him; perhaps the alcohol had simply worn off a bit. Either way, when Llewelyn opened his eyes, he started upon finding Lawfer’s blue eyes looking up at him.

“Ah!” Llewelyn sat up sharply, almost falling backwards. “Lawfer, you’re…awake?”

“Yes.” Lawfer sat up slowly, so as not to upset his stomach. Alcohol never did agree with him.

But he knew what Llewelyn had been doing when he awoke, and he understood there was nothing holding him back any longer.

“Llewelyn…about that person I’m in love with…” Lawfer stared into Llewelyn’s eyes, his face flushed from the alcohol as well as from shyness. “I just…I just want to be with him.”

Then, with a forwardness uncharacteristic of the young knight, he wrapped his arms around Llewelyn, hugging him to his chest as tightly as he could.

“I love you,” he whispered, just as Llewelyn had done to him.

***

“So what was that drink you gave him, anyway?” asked Lorenta, intrigued by Arngrim’s unorthodox idea.

“Something I used to drink when I’d had a particular harrowing day on the battlefield,” Arngrim replied, picking up a rock and throwing it into a nearby pond. “It helps you…forget.”

“Forget?” Lorenta repeated.

“Yeah. It has slightly different effects on different people, but basically it makes you temporarily forget about any problems you have.”

“Like the fact that I’m supposed to be missing.” Lorenta grinned at Arngrim and shook her head. “You’re quite clever for a big, dumb heavy warrior.”

“Hey, it’s better’n bein’ a prissy, stuck-up mage,” Arngrim growed, half joking but still irritated.

“Prissy?” Lorenta put her hands on her hips. “I was a married woman! What do you think my husband and I did together, just sat around and commented on the weather?!”

Arngrim laughed loudly. “It’s different if you’re married.”

“How is it different? You watch the way you speak to me, youngster, or I’ll have to teach you a lesson on how to respect your elders!”

The grin remained on Arngrim’s face as he made a mocking bow before the elegant einherjar. “Forgive me, my lady. I am undereducated in the ways of haghood.”

“Oh, that does it,” Lorenta said, walking slowly towards Arngrim. “You’ve crossed the line now, sonny.”

***

Lawfer had removed his armor, much to Llewelyn’s delight, and the two kissed each other passionately as the sun set.

“Oh, Lawfer,” Llewelyn sighed as the spearman kissed his neck and then his shoulder, “you’re so…amazing…”

“Really?” Lawfer stopped what he was doing, a look of surprise on his face.

“Yes,” Llewelyn answered, smiling shyly. “You’re sweet and kind, and you seem so safe when everyone else is around…but now that we’re alone, you’re passionate and loving and…” His voice lowered and his face reddened. “…and I can’t wait any longer. I want you, right now. Even if the Lady Valkyrie appears and commands us into battle…I want to stay here with you, and love you, as I loved Milia…”

Lawfer felt a burning desire spread throughout his entire body, centering on an area between his legs. But that area was already burning, for the alcohol had quickly traveled to his bladder…

“L-llewelyn,” Lawfer stammered, “I’m sorry, but…I have to go do something. I’ll be right back, and then we can…can continue where we left off, okay?”