Reap the Earth at Which you Stand [boyxboy]

Chapter XXXVII

~Wednesday 24th January 2018~

Vasile was happy. Truly and genuinely happy. He hadn't felt such an emotion in so long, not since before he met Dakota all those years ago. He could smile, yes, and laugh, and act like everything was alright, but it never was. In the dark, alone in his bedroom, or in his office, the thoughts would swarm him. The loneliness, the crippling regret, all of it would seep out of the corners in Vasile's mind, tormenting him until he could take no more.

Yet, that didn't happen anymore. Not with Dakota. Not with the boy laid in his arms, half-asleep, paying little attention to the movie that Vasile had put on. It was some romance crap that Vasile had chosen on behalf of Mylo, who was too busy groping Akos across the room in one of the armchairs to even notice. Vasile didn't care, it was just background noise, there was too much to be happy about that he was more interested in.

For one, the boy resting atop him. Dakota had barely left Vasile's side over the past few days and, even though he wasn't conscious for the majority of their time together, Vasile was still just as pleased. He finally got to spend time with his boy, his Kept, without interruption. Dakota had given the excuse that he was staying at Tanner's house for a little while, not wanting to worry his parents, but that meant he could stay with Vasile as long as he wanted. So long as he checked in with Veronica once a day, he was free.

Vasile hoped that, in another day or two, the effects of the ring might have worn off entirely and Dakota might have a little more energy. Vasile didn't mind him when he was tired, he was always so clingy, and the man needed that after such a long separation, but he would like to have some more conversations with him. There was only so much he could talk about to his slumbering lover, sometimes he wanted a little response.

"Take me to bed, Koko," Vasile heard Mylo purr across the room, loud enough that even Izelon seemed to arch an eyebrow. As much as the gargoyles tried to give one another privacy, there was only so much they could do to drown out the conversations they could hear around the penthouse. Namely, one being about Mylo having a very low sex drive as of recently. That seemed to happen any time his eating habits would worsen, and that only made Akos ever grumpier.

From what Vasile could tell, Mylo's dry spell had begun late last month, when he was barely interested in helping Akos through his heat. He had every right to deny him, it was his body after all, and Mylo didn't have to do anything he didn't want to. Of course, that meant that Izelon had to be up there in the cabin with Akos, ensuring that he was chained properly, and probably dealing with some ugly crying too. Akos had been in a permanent bad mood ever since Mylo had been put in the hospital all those years ago, it was nice to see him somewhat happier over the past few days due to the boy's positive progress with Dakota.

"For the love of God, take him upstairs before I get permanent brain damage from listening to the two of you," Dakota grunted drowsily, covering his eyes with one hand, "I thought Pete and Loral were open," he added in a whining tone, one that only made Vasile chuckle. He ran a hand through Dakota's hair, brushing the curls from his eyes and smiling when the boy keened to his touch. He responded so well, even when only half-conscious, that had to be one of his best features.

"You didn't have to live with them when Mylo was younger, Dakota," Izelon commented with a laugh of his own, shifting around on the other couch and stretching out his legs, "they used to fuck like bunnies any time they were given five minutes. I considered moving out," Izelon merely chuckled to himself when Akos shot him a glower, holding up his hands in mock surrender. Really, Vasile thought, he was lucky it was only a glower. Akos knew enough to truly embarrass Izelon in front of Dakota. At least they both understand each other's boundaries.

"You say that like we didn't have to deal with all your escapades," Akos chimed in, rising from his seat with Mylo gleefully clinging to his torso like some horny little monkey, "there are decades of stories, I'll tell you some time when I'm not busy, Dakota," with more impatient whining from Mylo, Akos made quick work of disappearing to their bedroom. If only that was enough to quiet them down. Maybe those boundaries would be crossed sooner than Vasile had thought. At least Vasile would have some back up when pulling the two gargoyles apart.