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[Sharpie]

"Hey! You cheeky thing!" Rufus gave Azarion a cuff around the head, as an older brother might do to a younger sibling. "I don't need to be laid - not as desperately as all that, anyway!"

He gave Azarion a considered look. "At least I've had sex in my life... pretty sure you'd burn up from the inside if a girl told you to your face that she fancies you."

It felt good to tease someone - it was all a bit of fun, anyway, and he'd stop if Azarion gave any hint of having a thin skin and not being able to take it. The inelegant lettering of RVFVS NEEDS LAYD was proof enough that he could take it, though.

"I bet nobody has told you to your face that you're cute, though," he added, watching the younger slave's face out of the corner of his eye.

 

@Chevi

[Chevi]

"Hey! You cheeky thing! I don't need to be laid - not as desperately as all that, anyway!"

Azarion huffed and chuckled as he got cuffed on the back of the head. It might have started a brawl with anyone else, but Rufus was a kind person, even when he was miffed a little. And it had been a good joke.

"At least I've had sex in my life... pretty sure you'd burn up from the inside if a girl told you to your face that she fancies you."

Azarion huffed again, rolling his eyes. Would not.

"I bet nobody has told you to your face that you're cute, though," 

Cute.

Azarion responded with a series of gestures, some simple and some borrowed from the Sarmatian trade signs. He doubted Rufus would follow all of it, but at least he'd get the gist. He was more annoyed than angry, though. I am nineteen years old. Which meant, both by Roman standards and his own culture, he had been a grown man for years. I am a charioteer. I am the best rider in Rome. After many of those years, Azarion was finally beginning to take pride in himself again. Signaled by slowly and painfully growing his damn hair out. I'm not cute.

@Sharpie

[Sharpie]

The signs that followed were rapid and Rufus couldn't follow all of them by any means, though he got the basic gist of what Azarion was on about.

"Well, you are, then - haven't you ever seen a nice young man who you thought looked cute? Not the way babies and children are but..." Rufus ran a hand through his hair. "Good-looking. Someone you wouldn't mind kissing, at least." It was a shame that Azarion didn't live or work somewhere he could take a peek at himself in a mirror on occasion - Rufus had only managed it by dint of being around when the mistress' body-slave was polishing the mistress' mirror, after all.

Was he about to get murdered? Probably. Oh well. "You're good-looking, even if you don't like the word cute."

 

@Chevi

[Chevi]

Despite his annoyed signing, Rufus did not seem to change his opinion.

"Well, you are, then - haven't you ever seen a nice young man who you thought looked cute? Not the way babies and children are but... Good-looking. Someone you wouldn't mind kissing, at least." 

Azarion froze again. Good-looking... sure, he could deal with that. It was a little surprising, since he didn't even know the last time he had seen himself. Of course his cousin tried to make him believe the same, despite the embarrassment when he'd disrobed at the baths to show off all the scars. But the mention of kissing threw him for a loop again.

"You're good-looking, even if you don't like the word cute."

Azarion's hand traveled to his mouth before he realized it. Right. Even if someone thought he was... not terrible to look at. Suggesting the idea to kiss brought him right back down to earth. That was what the scribbling referred to, on the wall. I hear he has no tongue.

@Sharpie

[Sharpie]

Ah, shit... he'd managed to circle right back around to the topic he'd tried to get away from which had made Azarion so uncomfortable in the first place.

He might as well lean into it, if he couldn't steer away from it. "You haven't kissed anyone, have you?" he said. "Would you... would you like to?"

He hadn't meant to make Azarion so uncomfortable, or to remind him about certain things.

"I'd kiss you, if you'd let me," he added, thinking that Azarion would probably rather kick him in the balls and bugger off, and never see him again. Oh well, it was worth a shot, at least.

 

@Chevi

[Chevi]

Rufus knew immediately that he had said something wrong, and he looked sheepish about it.

"You haven't kissed anyone, have you? Would you... would you like to?"

Azarion slowly shook his head at the first question. What was the big deal with kissing, anyway? People were all about it. Azarion was not dumb, he knew it was a part of intimacy, but he was not sure it lived up to all the praises.

The second question took him by surprise. He stared at Rufus again.

"I'd kiss you, if you'd let me,"

Azarion's brows furrowed as he was trying to find a way to react. Did Rufus like him?... Unlikely. Then again, Azarion had not really been liked by anyone, so fuck if he knew what that looked like. The more likely explanation was that he offered out of pity, because he felt bad about the whole conversation. Which was somehow worse. On the other hand... it was a chance. What was he going to lose? Rufus' friendship, maybe, but given how rarely they met...

How did this even work?

After staring for what felt like a long time, Azarion slowly nodded. Fuck it.

@Sharpie

[Sharpie]

"All right," Rufus said, and took a quiet breath. He'd never kissed anyone who was mute before, never mind someone who'd had their tongue cut out. Well. He didn't have to use his tongue just to kiss Azarion, did he - Azarion would probably find it uncomfortable if he did, and that was the last thing Rufus wanted.

"All right," he said again. "If I - if I do something you don't like, or that makes you uncomfortable, just put your hand on my chest and push me away, all right?"

He stepped closer to Azarion and gently put one hand behind his head before tipping his head slightly to one side and pressing his mouth to Azarion's.

 

@Chevi

[Chevi]

Rufus suddenly seemed less sure about this idea. Maybe he'd expected Azarion to reject it. Gods, why was this so awkward? People did this all the time for no reason whatsoever. 

"All right... All right. If I - if I do something you don't like, or that makes you uncomfortable, just put your hand on my chest and push me away, all right?"

I'll probably punch you, Azarion thought. Poor Rufus deserved better, though, he was trying. And all of this was such a hot mess, it somehow made Azarion resort to his usual defiant attitude. Just do it, idiot. Don't act like a little girl.

Rufus put a hand to the back of his neck, and pressed his lips to Azarion's. Azarion, not knowing what to do or what to expect, let him. The touch of his lips was soft and warm, not entirely an unpleasant sensation, although so far he failed to see what the fuss was about. He closed his eyes. Maybe it would be better.

@Sharpie

[Sharpie]

The problem with kissing was that most people used their tongues at some point in the process and Rufus was keenly aware that Azarion didn't talk - from everything he'd gleaned since their first meeting, he guessed the younger man didn't even have a tongue. Or not a full one, or something. Romans could be utter barbarians when they wanted.

It was mostly what kissing led to that made it a fun activity for people, though. Rufus didn't think Azarion would appreciate doing that out in a back alley, and it wasn't as though either of them could invite the other back home to do it in more comfortable surroundings; Rufus slept on a mat in his master's room and Azarion probably slept somewhere surrounded by other slaves working at the stables.

He carefully slid a hand into Azarion's hair, wanting to deepen the kiss without using his tongue (he'd probably only get it bitten if he tried to do this the usual way, after all).

 

@Chevi

[Chevi]

Truth be told, Rufus was probably doing his best. He was not someone Azarion particularly wanted to kiss, although he was handsome. And he was gentle too, the way he kissed her, threading one hand into his hair. With his eyes closed, Azarion felt more of the sensation of being kissed gently by someone. It was pleasant. Tentatively, he moved his lips too, pressing back against Rufus'. Maybe he could do this. Maybe the scribblings were wrong.

Azarion pulled back, a little flushed by the sudden intimacy. He looked at Rufus sheepishly, nodding. For lack of a better reaction.

@Sharpie

[Sharpie]

"Well," Rufus said, a little at a loss for words now. "Things normally progress to, well, sex - but I'm getting the impression you don't think of me like that, somehow. Which is fine - and a back alley really isn't the best place for that, anyway."

And now he was babbling like an idiot, talking to fill a probably-awkward silence that Azarion couldn't. He had no real experience of dealing with mutes and it showed.

Which was completely unfair to Azarion, besides not being his fault in the slightest.

"I guess you prefer girls to guys," he said. Despite the lack of speech, he had no doubt at all that Azarion would correct him if he was wrong.

 

@Chevi

[Chevi]

Azarion turned somewhat read at the mention of sex. Nope. He knew enough about sex to know he did not want to do it in an alley on a whim. Ew. Rufus noted, somewhat rattled, that he probably preferred girls to guys. Azarion shrugged, making an ambivalent gesture. Girl or guy, didn't really make that much of a difference. He was just... not sure what he was supposed to feel yet. While makig out with someone.

He finally reached out, for lack of a better option, and patted Rufus on the shoulder. He did what he could. He turned back to scratch on the wall. RVFVS FRIEN

@Sharpie

[Sharpie]

"You'd go with a guy if he was the right one," Rufus said, hazarding a guess at what Azarion's signs might mean. "Same here. No hard feelings if I'm not the right one."

Azarion patted his shoulder then, whether in confirmation or commiseration, he wasn't sure, before he turned back to scratch something on the wall. Rufus peered at it; the thin lines weren't the easiest to read, after all. When he deciphered the scratchy letters, he leaned back, smiling. "Always. It's good to have friends."

Somehow, he didn't think that mute young man had very many friends - or, more realistically, that he wouldn't allow too many people to get close enough to him to consider them friends.

 

@Chevi