Suikoden

Ted lifted his arm from over his eyes, wincing in the early afternoon sunlight. It was getting a little late, and he knew that Tir had to be home soon, but... He turned on his side to gaze at the gently snoring boy next to him, asleep on the grass. Birds sang away merrily in the tree above them, and the brook splashed soothingly by, convincing him to wait just a few more minutes. He had no desire to wake Tir, not to gently shake the boy awake and tell him to leave the peaceful santuary. But, perhaps, to nip his ear and nudge him with his nose, or to kiss him to conciousness, to--

Ted sucked in a sudden breath. He was becoming aroused at the mere thought of touching his friend. He had to stop. He should just wake Tir up and go back to Gregminster. Tir had things to do... But he couldn't. He couldn't break the spell of the moment just yet. The spell--

Ted was breathing too hard, he knew, but couldn't stop the feeling, couldn't stop his thoughts. Scampering quickly to his feet, he scurried behind the big oak tree to their rear, and undid his belt, then pulled open his pants. He removed his single black glove to get a better grip on himself, and started stroking quickly, knowing that time was slipping away. He held onto the images of Tir, the ones recently created when the boys had swum naked in the pond together, one oblivious to the effect he had on the other. But now those moments came back clearly and he could now let them cloud all other thoughts, without worrying about concealing his hunger. He whimpered aloud, seeing in his mind the cool skin and damp hair of his best friend, almost felt Tir's fingers on his manhood, rather than his own.

"Hey, Ted! What're you doin' all the way back here?"


There was a sudden gasp, and it wasn't made by Ted.

That gorgeous face popping into view was the final vision for Ted. He burst with his passion, unable and unwilling to stop the flow of his violent ecstasy. He lay afterwords, breathing hard--not bothering to cover himself or the mess he had made, and never breaking eye contact with his shocked audience.

"Um--uh, I'm sorry--I--"

Ted let his breathing slow. He'd been caught; why hide it now? Might as well go for it. He'd been looking for such an opportunity, anyway. "Hey, Tir... Say, do you ever...ever do this?"

"... You mean, ever...?"

Ted nodded, still exposed. "Uh-huh."

"I, uh... Well, what I mean is--s-sometimes." He was blushing, but staring at Ted intently. "T-Ted. What's that on your hand?"

Ted burst out laughing. "Oh, god, Tir! How can you ask me such a thing?" He giggled. "Come here and I'll show you."

Tir's face flamed, but he took hold of Ted's hand and brought it up to their eye leve"Not"Not....not that," he said forcefully, turning Ted's palm up. "That."

Ted looked down at his hand and gasped. He'd removed his glove. I'm such a dumbfuck... Now Tir had seen it--he'd seen the Black Rune.

"Hey, listen, uh, Tir. Well, this is a secret, you know?"

Tir looked deeply into his friend's eyes, his own round and wide. His hand trembled, still holding Ted's, and he was breathing unevenly. "You said you would never hide anything from me."

"Does it look like I'm hiding anything from you, Tir?!" Ted retorted, shouting out of anger at himself and not his friend. Tir looked away and tried to retract his hand, but Ted held him fast, gripping his arms with his hands holding him tightly to him. "I'm not going to hide anything from you, Tir. Not ever again. I swear; do you believe me?"

Tir nodded. "Yes, Ted."

Ted let go, afraid of scaring his young friend. "Sorry about this, I--"

"What do you think about?" Tir suddenly interrupted.

"...Think about what?"

"N Wh What do you think about...when you--when you do that?"

Ted looked down at himself, and the whole erotic situation of being open like this and Tir staring at him, covered in his own sticky cum, made him more aroused than he had been while his friend slept. He swallowed hard, staring hard into Tir's eyes. "I think about you."

Tir was silent for a moment, a slightly surprised look on his face, but not fear. "You're--"

Ted didn't have to look down, he could feel it. "You--you wanna do it this time?"

"In front of you?!"

"TO me."

Another pause. "Would you do it to me first?"

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

"Gremio, calm down! You'll ruin the stew," Cleo complained, watching the cook as he nervously stirred the pot on the stove.

"Gremio? Ruin stew? Impossible!" Pahn exclaimed from his seat at the kitchen table. He was eagerly picking his teeth with his daggerblade, starving and impatient as usual.

"Oh, you'll eat anything!" Cleo laughed, rolling her eyes.

"That doesn't change the fact that Gremio's a great cook!"

The sound of boys' laughter suddenly bursting from the hallway beyond made Gremio start and, dropping the stirring spoon in his haste, he ran for the door.

Cleo was nearly knocked over in the rush, seeing nothing but a blonde blur as Gremio's waist-length pony-tail swept by her. "--Hey!" she cried out, making as though to grab him. But a strong hand grabbed her wrist first.

"Oh, let him be," Pahn chided her. "You know how he is with the 'Young Master'." He chuckled to himself and Cleo glared at him warningly. It was quite obvious to them that Gremio felt more for his young charge than the protectiveness of the bodyguard he was. Since he'd rescued Tir from that gang of bandits when the boy had been a mere fourteen years old, there wasone one else on Gremio's mind...or heart. But to proclaim his affection... No; even the infatuated man knew that he could never tell Tir of his true feelings. For one man to love another, and with a nine-year age difference, and...Gremio was his servant, for crying out loud! It had to remain a secret; it was best for everyone.

Cleo and Pahn followed their friend and found him in the foyer.

"Young Master!" Gremio cried.

"Hi, Gremio!" Tir smiled in a friendly manner.

"Young Master! I've been sooo worried! Where have you been all this time?"

"What do you mean, 'all this time,' Gremio? I'm only about half an hour late."

"You're fourty-three minutes late, and I've been worried absolutely sick about you!"

"...Hello, Gremio."

For the first time the man looked beyond Tir to the other boy. The dark figure had the appearance of a young man, but Gremio recognized the wisdom of experience in the grey eyes...and he shivered. "...Ted." He nodded a bit stiffly.

Tir laughed. "Why were you worried, Gremio? I was with Ted."

Ted hung his arm possessively over Tir's shoulder, giving Gremio a smug look.

"Oh, you know how Gremio can get about you, Young Master," Pahn smiled, then winced as Cleo's elbow found its way to his side. "What I mean is, we were worried because you weren't on time for a meal."

"Especially tonight," Cleo added, "because your Father is going to make an announcement." She stared off a little dreamily as she said, almost to herself, "I wonder if he and Miss Sonya... Oh, we'll have a toast, tonight!"

"And a feast," Pahn grinned, patting his stomach.

"Feast..." Gremio murmured; then, "Oh, my god! The stew!" and flew out of the room.

"I'll go, uh...give him a hand," Pahn said to the others, winking as he turned.

"Leave some for General Teo!" Cleo joked. "Okay, Young Master; you and Ted go get cleaned up. I hope you've got something nice and clean to wear tonight."

Tir and Ted looked into each other's eyes briefly before running upstairs together.

Boys, Cleo thought as she headed for her room downstairs. Always a race with those two...hmph. Reminds me of Gremio and Pahn. In her own closet she found a pink and silver cloak to go over her mail. Her boots were polished so that they gleamed like diamonds, and her short, blonde hair was tucked neatly beneath her helmet. She couldn't be sure, of course, but she had a pretty good idea what Master Teo planned to announce at dinner. After all, he'd asked that Gremio set an extra place at the dining room table... She could hardly contain her excitement.



"How about the red?" Tir appealed to his companion, spinning around and covering himself with a deep crimson-colored cloth.

Ted, having just finished pulling up his ivory pants, let the blue tunic in his hand fall to the bedroom floor. He stood directly in front of the shorter boy, pretending to be critical in his examination of the outfit. Suddenly, he grabbed the shirt away and flung it to the ground.

Tir stood there, in his underwear, with a confused look on his face. "...The blue, then?"

Ted shook his head. "I like you like this."

"Ted!" Tir cried, as the other boy tackled him and threw him onto the bed, collapsing on top of him and smothering him with passionate kisses. Their bare chests touched and burned fire into their sensitive skin. "Ted...mmm..." Tir continued to moan softly, as moist lips gently coursed down his chest. But suddenly they stopped. "Ted...? What's wrong, Ted?"

"Tir, I have to tell you something."

"Now? ...Is it about your hand?"

"Yes."

"Ted, why do you wear that glove?"

"Tir, I--"

"Young Master! Din--!" The door had flung suddenly open, revealing a startled Gremio. His face turned red in embarassment at...having walked in upon goodness only knew what he thought, but he recoveruickuickly and continued. "Dinner's ready, guys. Better hurry up!" He spun around and closed the door gently behind him.

Tir continued to stare at the door, even when Gremio had gone.

Ted laughed softly. "This will have to wait; our talk, I mean."

Tir grinned back at him. "Our 'talk', huh?"

"Get dressed," Ted said, moving off the bed to retrieve the discarded red tunic. "This looks fine."

"Just fine?"

"Just put it on... You'll look great."

They finished dressing, but before going to the dining room, Tir asked, "Will you tell me later?"

"Well...yes. But I was going to say... Um, I have a pretty good idea what you're Father's going to say tonight--what I mean is, I heard him talking to Commander Kraze, and--"

"Kraze?" Tir snorted. "What's that arrogant prick got to do with my Father's announcement?"

"Oh, I'm sure we'll hear all about it. But what I wanted to ask you is, no matter what happens to us after tonight...can I come with you?"

"Come with me where, Ted?"

"Anywhere...everywhere! I want to be wherever you are." He clasped Tir's to him by the shoulders, his eyes delving deep into his friend's. "Please, Tir; just let me stay with you."

Tir looked into the eyes of his best friend and, for the first time since they'd met, he saw fear. "Of course, Ted," he whispered.

"Young Master!" Cleo's voice called from the hall, interrupting the solemn silence.

"We should go," Ted said, trying to appear more cheerful. "Come on, Tir! And, listen: don't call Commander Kraze a prick. I know, I know; I don't like him much either. But I have the awful feeling that he's going to be your Father's 'special guest' tonight."



Gremio carried the serving trays into the dining room as carefully as possible, despite the way his hands were trembling. What kind of fool am I? he cursed himself. Even Cleo knew better than to walk right into the Young Master's bedroom! Stupid, stupid...

And to see him there, on the bed, with Ted!

Suddenly he ran into a wall, and nearly dropped the tray. He looked up chagrined, expecting to see a stain on the wall that he'd have to clean up before company arrived, but met instead with an angry face.

"C-C-Commander K-K-K-Kraze!"

"You imbecile!" the middle-aged man snarled. "Look what you've done to my cloak!"

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Commander. P-please forgive me!"

"It's alright, Gremio," said a more friendly voice. "This isn't a social gathering, you know; it's just business."

Kraze glared at the abashed servant on his way to the dining room, but said nothing more out of respect for the General, if nothing else. But once inside and alone with Teo, he let his anger show.

"I can't believe he was once in the army," Kraze raved.

"He was up for promotion; he was to be a Captain," Teo reminded him.

"And why did he give up his career to work in your home as your cook, will you remind me once more?"

"He doesn't just cook," Teo explained. "Gremio was the Lietenant who rescued Tir from those roughians four years ago. Perhaps it was fate; one of those rogues gave him that star-slashed scar on his cheek I guess he felt it his duty, to become Tir's bodyguard, I mean"

"Hmm... And how has that turned out?"

"Tir's had no problems since."

"Perhaps that is because the Scarlet Moon Empire is at peace now, and you are no longer a threat to Harmonia, eh, General?"

Teo shrugged off the supposed-comliment. "I'm sure Gremio has had a hand in it. And he is, incidentally, a wonderful cook."

"Hmm." Kraze glared as the servant returned with a fresh tray of stew and salad. "I'll be the judge of that."