Given and Denied

 

"Permissum mihi sentio vos. Sino mihi venia vos would speciosus in vestri Secuutus." *

    

      Great...another Latin speaker.

    

    "Uh..." he wasn't sure what the other man had said, but he managed to decipher 'permission'.

    

    Cursing softly with each press against him from the soldier, he looked up at Vulpes finally.

    

    "You--you really aren't going to stop?" He breathed, his head swimming with the surreal reality of it all.

    "Am I truly that undesirable to you, Courier?  I thought I had made it a point that I want this, which is something you had required." He looked down at the man underneath him, taking in the little imperfections that aided in the Courier’s good looks. 

    Glad for a moment reprieve, he looked back up at Vulpes.

    

    "It's not that, you are good looking and that voice is--but it's just... I don't make it a habit to sleep with people that terrify me." He admitted finally.  "Or that want me dead."

    "I am forbidden to send any other men after you for your head." he replied, an eyebrow quirking upwards as a small, amused smile curled onto his face.

    

    "You find my voice attractive..." 

    

    The cogs were turning and churning in Vulpes' head.   Would all he have to do is talk to the man?

    That's not a good smile.

    

    "Maybe?  Did you forget the part about I don't sleep with people who terrify me?  That was kind of an important part...at least for me."

    He lifted off of Andy.  He crouched in front of him, a hand resting on the other man's lower leg.  He frowned in thought.

    

    So there are aspects he finds pleasing with me.  How am I to use it to my advantage?

    

    "It is a great offense to refuse a gift from the Legion, as you have continually done so."  

    

    His voice was staying in a low tone.  Eyes never falling from Andy's face as he searched the man for any hint of enjoyment.   He was testing the waters with the very thing Andy had said he enjoyed.  For a moment, he swallowed, those same eyes focusing on something else for just that split moment. 

    

    But once his attention returned to the man in front of him, it was intense.  A single bead of sweat rolled down Vulpes' temple from the heat.   The temperature of the day only added to the taller man's pain.  Unfortunately, with how he crouched, the lower half of his uniform didn't leave much room for privacy.    He wet his lips with his tongue. 

    

    "You're opportunistic." he stated, leaning forward, slowly making his way to return over the Courier. 

    

    "And you are continually declining the opportunity of a lifetime.  You were not given some pitiful slave..." he rumbled. "But one of Caesar's finest.  You have the opportunity to lie with a Legion elite and live."

    

    You do things recklessly.  That must sound appealing someway...

    "I am just not one who finds sex to be a once in a lifetime thing, it's..." he fumbled for a way to explain how very wrong it was to be given around like some sort of sick gift.

    

    What I wouldn't give for an ounce of Arcade's intelligence right now...

    

    He watched as Vulpes' face lined up with his again, the taller man leaning over him.

    

    "You must have some sort of realization; some sort of thought that being pawned off as a gift without any input of your own isn't right...don't you?"

    

    I think I'd have better luck trying to make a hole in Hoover Dam with my skull.

    For either his own sake, or for Andy's, Vulpes was keeping his body held off of the Courier--for now.  The tension that it caused through his body from his stomach and along his shoulders was excruciating.  He could feel the heat of a fresh rivulet of blood trail down along the length of his back. 

    

    "My opinion matters little when my performance is in the service of the Mighty Caesar."  He replied, voice level, not giving an ounce of a hint towards what his back was feeling.

    

    The statement of Andy's towards sex was very confusing for the Frumentarii leader.  It entered onto his face, brows knitting together minimally.

    

    "You are not some little hive mind and for the love of anything will you let me give you a damned stim for your back?" He begged, now looking worriedly at Vulpes' back over the shoulder above him.

    

    "Your opinion's do matter and I know you've got thoughts of your own or else you'd never be a spy leader by now, or have sent those damned assassins after me." He retorted, trying reason yet again.

    This mouth thinned into a mere line.

    

    "Will you agree to this arrangement if I allow you?" he asked.   Otherwise, I can do this all day.

    

    "Why are you so adamant about that?"  A question he'd already asked, he was sure, but the fact that Andy kept offering the stimpak was confusing even more. 

"Possibly," he crawled away from the Legion soldier, moving out from under him to his pack.    

    "As your enemy, you should be revelling in my wounds. Not attempting to heal them."

    I keep asking myself that very question.  "Because I told you there's a difference between realistically punishing someone and just being god damned barbaric!"   The only revelling I'll do is when I meet you at the battle and kill you then myself.  Withdrawing a stim he frowned at Vulpes' wounds.

    

    What kind of leader thinks it's a good idea to injure his troops almost beyond helping?

    In a swift and fluid motion, Vulpes pulled his legs towards himself before sitting on the floor of his tent.  Even in his own 'home' did he seem unable to relax.  It could have very well been Andy's presence which he saw as an invasion.  But overall, he seemed ever vigilant and alert.  However he'd been raised by the Legion, they had done their work well.

    

    "You find it 'barbaric' because you do not understand." he replied.  "Everything is done for a purpose; everything is an example to others. When I strive and succeed, I am a model for those beneath me.  Just as I am when I rise and fall."

    

    He wasn't exactly aware why he was explaining things again.   He felt the need to, no matter how strange the sensation was.

    "There are plenty of other ways to show that without turning your back into ribbons." He retorted darkly, carefully placing a hand along the other man's back before inserting the needle of the stim.

    

    Fuck he needs more than just one but I suppose I shouldn't push my luck.

    

    Pushing the plunger down, he watched the medicine enter Vulpes' body, taking it out he grabbed his pack to shove the empty syringe inside.  Pulling out a cloth, he dampened it with purified water and carefully began to wipe away the blood, cleaning what he could before the Frumentarii could stop him.

    

    Fucking hell this looks bad.

    

    "There is a limit to everything I say, and this went beyond it."

    Glad that the courier couldn't see it, his eyes shut tightly at the pain of the cloth, the stim helping only slightly with the pain.   His skin twitched and jumped under Andy's administrations.  Opening his eyes, he stared across at the fabric wall of his tent.   This wasn't the worse that could be done to him, and he fully knew it. 

    

    "I am grateful for it."  He said, wishing that his back's flesh would stop flinching.  He saw it as a weakness instead of what it really was.  ED-E still hovered outside, the small sound of static permeating Vulpes' mind.   He wasn't stopping the Courier from tending to him.

    "You should never come this way; to test the hands of Fate.  You don't belong here."  His speech was as quiet as it'd ever been; nearing a hoarse whisper. 

    He paused, staring at the small, deep wounds with a frown before wetting his lips.

    

    "I don't, you're right.  But I was pulled into this and now I have no way out but to see it through till the end.  That pistol you saw, it should have left me in the grave, but I suppose Lady Luck saw fit to give me a few more punches to roll with."  He wiped away a rivulet of blood, reaching into his pack for a second stim.

    

    "Sooner or later I won't be able to cheat death again, and I'm sure on that day you'll be there, watching me fall happily.”  Pulling out his only superstim, he inserted it again, hand holding him down in case he jumped at the sensation.

    

    This will heal him up much quicker than a regular one.

    

    Instead of fastening it on he slowly injected it, hand resting on Vulpes' shoulder as the plunger moved down.

    "You're bolder than I originally accredited to you."  He replied, giving the slightest of sounds as the second syringe entered his raw flesh.  The sensation of the second one was warmer than the last, but it's heat was soothing as compared to that of the outdoor heat.

    

    "To carry around the pistol meant for your death.  You ripped it from His hand and, in turn, use it against him." 

    

    The sentence caused a small memory to crop up; one he had thought was long forgotten.  An old belief. 

    

    To carry the weapon Death had anointed to take your life ensures his protection therein.

    

    A fallible belief.  No mere weapon could keep a man living forever.  He noted the hand on his shoulder; a soft, rough pressure. His head turned slightly. 

    Andy gave the faintest of chuckles.

    

    "Like I said, it has sentimental value."  Pulling the syringe out, he stuffed that one inside the knapsack as well.

    

    "You have done much to thwart Caesar's Legion. It will be a sad day when the single, most influential man of the Mojave dies a glorious death."

    "I have done everything Caesar has asked me to do technically, as I'm sure your intelligence has told you," he picked the rag up again, noting with more relief that the wounds had stopped bleeding, already a little scabbed over.

    

    They should be healed up a bit by tonight.

    

    He poured some more water on the rag, ringing it out and setting it aside.

    

    "I doubt I'm the most influential man the Mojave has seen, I'm just one of several."

    

    But that you think I am is interesting, if not a little boost to my pride.  He sighed, running a hand through his hair before scratching lightly at the stubble along his jaw.

    "My Lord has already told you of your accomplishments.  Most of which were nearly impossible.  You have the NCR coming to you frequently, you use your wealth to assist the sick and those undeserving in Freeside.  Karl has not returned from Red Rock.  Captain Curtis is missing."  Despite hating him, Vulpes had a certain amount of respect for the Courier.  The things he had done, a testament earning of it. 

    

    Shame I could not talk you towards service for Caesar.   At least that way we would be allies. 

    

    There had definitely been something about you that I could not pinpoint in our first meeting.  I should have started to watch you then.  I was not aware of the path you were going to follow. 

    

    "I would say that is all influential.  Wouldn't you?"  He leaned forward, the shorter man's administrations having helped greatly with his pain.  His hand was placed along Andy's leg, slowly crawling upwards and inwards.

    "Papa Khan unfortunately ended Karl's life when he spoke ill of them in front of him, nor was I responsibly for whatever happened to Curtis." He replied.

    

    That was Boone's doing, technically I didn’t kill him.

    

    "As for the NCR," he swallowed, feeling the hand again.  "The same reason you visit the strip to keep watch, I play the NCR accordingly." He answered smoothly, a well-practiced lie.

    

    "Like I said, I'm just very lucky, nothing more or less."  It had been his motto for a long time; almost religiously he clung to the image of Lady Luck since his re-awakening in Goodsprings.

    "Something must have sparked Karl's anger...”  Vulpes purred.  He made no other mention of Curtis.   While he doubted Andy was speaking any truth, for fear of being gutted, the tactic of simply playing to the NCR's needs was a highly plausible one.

    

    His hand inched up further; giving Andy's thigh a light squeeze, thumb just lightly caressing near the man's clothed member.   He leaned further towards the man, face inching over closer.

    "He and I got onto the topic about the difference of Legion soldiers and Khan warriors, it wasn't my fault he couldn't keep his cool."

    "You're right, it's not."  He stated simply, swiftly moving to cup the other man while he'd attempted to move away

    "Uh hah…hey, I uh thought we weren't going to do this," He asked, giving a nervous laugh as he felt Vulpes' hand while staring at the ice eyes before him, the Courier moved to inch away from the hand.  I am so glad no one else knows about me being here. 

    His mouth curled upwards again, giving almost a hapless-side-smirk.  Those icy eyes lowered to Andy's mouth, simply taking note at how they formed words.  A man who enjoyed the intricate details of everything he came across. 

    

    "I allowed you to tend to me so that, in turn, I would owe you."  His voice lowly thrummed, keeping that tone he'd learned struck well.

    

    "And in turn, am performing this of my own volition.  Do not allow your terror to override curiosity..." 

    

    His eyes lifted back to Andy's.  His hand leaving the other man's apex to slide upwards, underneath the dark tee.  Trailing his blunt nails along the flesh underneath, he soon came to Andy's chest, just lightly pressing against him. 

    

    This time, there was definitely a hunger there that wasn't present before.  Just under the surface of the cool, calculating man.

    The Courier, a man who on a daily basis flirted his way through the Mojave and enjoyed almost nightly romps practically squeaked when he felt Vulpes' hand on him.  Taking in a shuddery breath, Andy tried to see the logics of Vulpes' mind, while his own was muddled with half formed thoughts.

    

    "The only...ahh-h...curiosity about you I've had was what had gone through y-your head at Nipton...to think razing it was a thing of beauty."  Tilting his head back, he closed his eyes at the constant sensation of the Legionaires' hand on him, the fingers cool to the touch, each spot they pressed into sending an electric jolt through his veins.

    The Courier's choice in conversation topics surprised the Frumentarii.  While especially proud of his lottery and the burning of Nipton, even he knew it wasn't exactly a choice conversation for bedroom activities. 

    

    You have a dark heart in you, don't you?  Allowing yourself arousal while asking about my wonderful cruelty to those who were highly deserving of my judgement.

    

    "Flames cast a wonderful glow amongst the cries of the guilty. The dissolutes knew only of corruption, greed and selfishness.   Their cowardness was nearly awe-inspiring in how it captivated them within their fear...”

    

    His chin rose somewhat as he kept his eyes on Andy, fingertips now just pinching a nipple underneath the cloth.

    

    "Have you ever watched a town be razed to the ground from start to finish?  Heat and flame reach up to forever try to lick the sky."

    "They weren't," he gasped softly.  "They weren't innocent but they didn't deserve to be strung to a cross." He retorted, trying to keep his wits about him as Vulpes hit his buttons.

    

    Oh god why is this turning me on?  Why am I -letting- him turn me on?  His pants were still unbuckled from earlier, though he could feel himself straining against them.

    

    "I s-suppose you think Vegas should burn too?"

    He gently twisted the nipple in his fingertips before allowing it to be freed, hand snaking its way back down the other man's stomach.  His touch paused as he felt an imperfection across Andy's torso.

    

    Tilting his head, he gave the courier's ear another nip and lick. 

    

    "It already is…" he breathed.

 

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--Super rough Latin translation--

 

*(Let me feel you. Allow me the grace you impose on your Follower.)