Alone at Last

Writers: Aaron, Heather
Date Posted: 6th September 2021
Series: Lavender Run

Characters: Brennault, Zavek
Description: Brennault and Zavek are finally alone.
Location: Emerald Falls Hold
Date: month 9, day 19 of Turn 10

Brennault

"Thank you, Cook!" Zavek called after the plump, middle aged woman as she left to go to the small cottage she shared with her husband.

The woman, Faranth help her, had lingered all evening, it seemed, preparing her master's dinner and then putting a ready made breakfast in the icebox. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate her hard work, but he had been waiting all evening to get Brennault alone.

"I thought she would never leave," Zavek admitted to Brennault, turning to look at the runner.

Brennault grinned, obviously glad to see the lovely woman go to get some rest.

"Maybe she wanted to be sure she approved of me before she left you to my devices," he joked. Half-joked. "She's a dear, really. I can't help but love her."

"She does like to look after me. It bothers her that I live in this big house all alone." Zavek lifted his shoulders in a little shrug. He couldn't have the family he wanted, so he preferred not having one at all.

"She's a good woman," said Brennault. "I like to think I have a nose for that kind of thing. Does she have a son of her own?" he wondered.

"She does, he's grown and long since gone out on his own." Zavek moved about the kitchen as he spoke, turning down the lamps that kept the area lit at night.

"She must miss him," said Brennault, his smile widening and his heartbeat quickening as the lights grew dim and homey. "This seems more like the kind of place someone would want to come home to after they've been out on the road a while. Than someplace to get away from. The light like that... it always reminds me of home."

Zavek flashed him a grin as he went through the living room, dousing lamps and then double checking that the latch and bolt were in place on the front door. He didn't want any interruptions tonight. Grabbing the lamp on the kitchen table, Zavek carried it in his left hand and then took Brennault's hand in the other.

"Let me show you the rest of the house."

Upstairs there were quarters for an entire family and a separate den there for evenings spent by the fire. "The living room downstairs is for visitors, this one is where I usually relax." He explained. The area was made from the same polished wood as the rest of the house with a large rug and furniture arranged by the hearth.

Brennault's breath caught in his throat for a moment as he followed hand in hand with Zavek. He had not felt like this in Turns. And it was worth every minute of the wait.

"It's beautiful. Very cozy," he said. Much cozier than the guest quarters he had enjoyed on his last visit. "Thanks for sharing it with me. It really must be a little lonely here all by yourself. I... would love to keep you company."

Zavek's mouth tipped into a little grin as he squeezed Brennault's hand. "I wish you could… without causing suspicion." He took Brennault by the indoor bathroom to the master bedroom.

A large bed dominated the center of the room with matching tables on either side. To the right were his and her closets, although the 'her' side stood empty. A sheer gauzy canopy flowed around the bed and served the two fold purpose of keeping out bugs and adding a little romance to the room.

"Keep me company now?" Zavek could make no guarantees or promises on how long they would be able to see one another. If Brennault was at the house too often, or they got careless in anyway…. But they could at least have the next couple of nights before facing reality.

"For right now, right now is all there is." This was hands down the most exciting and romantic moment of Brennault's whole life. And while they could not hold onto this forever, they could hold onto this for now.

"Marvel says there's not a soul in sight downstairs." Brennault smiled and held a hand out to Zavek.

Alone at last.

Taking Brennault's hand, Zavek pulled the younger man up against him and kissed him hungrily. He'd recounted their parting kiss over and over again in the month that they'd been apart. The taste of Brennault was even better than he remembered.

Brennault's eyes fluttered closed. He had kissed a lot of people. But no one had ever kissed him quite like that. Like they had been crawling through the desert for weeks. And when they came to the first sip of water, they chose him instead.

In that moment Brennault would have given Zavek anything he asked for. He was on fire for the man. And for that moment, that moment was all there was.

When they parted for air, Zavek's fingers were making quick work of Brennault's shirt buttons. A little part of the beastcrafter's brain kept urging him to slow down a little, but it was like telling a starving man to quit eating.

When the last button slipped free, Zavek pushed it off of Brennault's shoulders.

"Wait", Zavek panted, gripping Brennault by the shoulders as a thought occurred to him. "You've uh… you've done this before, right?" It hadn't even crossed his mind before that there was the possibility that the runner was a virgin.

Brennault held back the urge to burst into laughter. Nobody liked to be laughed at, and it was good that Zavek was pausing to make sure he was OK.

"I have. It's OK. You're not going to hurt me." It was not as though nobody _could_ hurt him, experience or no. But he knew that if Zavek was trying not to, he would not.

"We can do anything you want."

Relieved, Zavek resumed his exploration of Brennault's body, lean and toned from running. "Anything, hm?" No limitations was certainly enticing, not that Zavek had anything other than making love to Brennault until they were both weak planned, but it was nice to know that Brennault was comfortable.

Stepping back, Zavek stripped out of his shirt, his blood heating as he remembered how nice it had felt holding Brennault against him in the water earlier.

"Anything," Brennault assured Zavek as he untied his trousers, wiggled his hips until they fell to the ground, and then kicked them back with his discarded shirt. "But you're welcome to tell me exactly what you mean to do with me... if you'd like to be sure..."

He reached out to touch Zavek's chest.

The muscle beneath Brennault's touch quivered in response. "I think I'll leave you guessing," Zavek said, directing Brennault's hand down to the button of his pants. "Anticipation," he said in the runner's ear, "is half the fun."

"If you're about to deliver as much fun over again as anticipation as we've had so far," Brennault giggled, "I might melt into a puddle under your bed." He knelt down and eagerly began to unbutton Zavek's trousers – though obligingly slowly.

The sight of Brennault on his knees was nearly his undoing. "I'm beginning to think I might be the one doing the melting."

"Oh, just you wait," Brennault said as he grinned up at Zavek. And he kept his eyes locked on Zavek's as he got to work. Brennault would show him just how familiar he was with this.

**Fade to black**

Rolling onto his back, he reached out and put his hand on Brennault's thigh. "You were perfect."

Brennault in turn laid his hand on Zavek's. His first impulse was to ask how long he could stay. He wanted to sleep the night through with Zavek. But that was a risky proposition and did not best serve the goal of keeping his secrets. And knowing that the question could scarcely do aught but remind Zavek that Brennault should leave, he would simply refrain from asking it.

"I could say the same about you," he answered. He grinned and leaned his head to touch Zavek's shoulder. He could wait to ask about whether he knew how he was going to get his sheets washed without rousing any undue suspicion, too. Or when... if... they could do this again. This moment would only last a little while, and nobody needed a reminder.

"Every minute of the wait was worth it."

"It was," Zavek agreed. "I'll grab us something from the kitchen while you clean up. I told Cook I wouldn't need her services until lunch, so we should have the house to ourselves until morning." He lifted his eyebrows and winked, effectively letting Brennault know that he planned on using all of the time they had to his advantage.

Slipping out of the bed, Zavek grabbed a towel from the basin and tossed it in Brennault's direction before he snatched up a pair of his linen sleep pants. "I'll be right back," he said, leaving Brennault alone as he padded barefoot down to the kitchen.

Brennault took a deep breath and lay there for a short while, recovering in a bit of afterglow from the former exertions. He was more than glad to hear that everything he had wanted might actually be more possible than he realized. He rolled carefully off the bed and stood, walked to the basin, and took the opportunity to do a relatively quick but thorough job of cleaning up.

He was going to have to send something nice for Cook with Marvel next time he was away...

When Zavek returned he carried with him a tray ladened with sandwiches and fruit juice. "Your firelizard friend is gnawing on a snack, my thanks for his guard duty." He chuckled as he sat the tray in the middle of the bed and then crawled in to sit crossed-legged while digging into the sandwich.

"If you don't mind my asking, where did you learn your way around a man's, um… bedroom? The Weyr?" Zavek knew first hand how difficult it was to find a bed partner in the Hold territories.

"You can ask me anything. All the sideways flirting and innuendo is fun, but it's nice to be able to speak plain and true, too. My first time with a man was at the station where I grew up," said Brennault as he took a spot across from Zavek atop the towel. He was smiling from ear to ear at the meal, the informal seating arrangement, and the mix of Marvel's contented feeling into his own. "But I've been a lot of places." He hoped Zavek was not disappointed in that. He could play innocent well enough next time, if that was what Zavek liked.

"Including the Weyr."

"The station where you grew up, it was more.. open minded, than the Hold?" Zavek asked, chewing thoughtfully.

"Oh, by far," Brennault nodded in agreement as his stomach growled hungrily even while he was chewing, too. "Got me in trouble once, back when I was first on the road. Before I took to heart the importance of being discreet, actually." He winced, embarrassed. "But. On the whole, I'm glad to have grown up where I did."

Brennault's upbringing sounded nice, Zavek thought, and free. "Being a runner sounds nice. You could have a man in every Hold," he reasoned teasingly.

"Men at the Holds can be complicated," Brennault chuckled. "Like you need me to tell you that. And as I learned as a younger man, women can be, too..." He reached across to touch Zavek's knee.

"Are you OK? I don't want to... seem like I'm trying to trick you or anything. I feel something for you I don't know that I've ever felt for anyone else. But I do have friends out on the road and at the Weyr that I like to mess around with."

Zavek smiled around the large bite of sandwich in his mouth. "Mmmfnnnn…." He swallowed. "I'm fine. I'm jealous of your freedom, not what you do with it." Maybe someday he could be free like that, if he could ever come to have Lavender Run in his name instead of his father's….

Brennault smiled back, though it was tinged with sadness and sympathy.

"I'll keep coming back as long as you feel safe to have me," he promised. He would do whatever was in his power to give Zavek whatever little bit of freedom he could. "I know it's not the same, but..."

Zavek lifted his hand. "Don't feel obligated. You're young, you have a job to do and places to be." There was always plenty of work around Lavender Run to keep Zavek busy. "But when you're in the area, the door will be open. And I'm sure we'll have regular need of a runner's services."

"The last place I offer to go is someplace I feel obligated to be," Brennault grinned. "I feel confident that I can service any needs you may have." Well, some innuendos were hard to pass up.

"Oh, I'm confident you'll be more than able." Zavek smiled a little and then confessed. "I like having you here so…" he shrugged a little, "I think we'll be able to work something out, as long as we're careful. And I _do_ travel for business sometimes."

"Having Marvel makes it easier to communicate without other people seeing," Brennault said, smiling back and feeling a bit relieved that Zavek was not going to call this their last time together. "And he loves anyone who feeds him, so."

"I like it here, too. With you."

For now, while it lasted, they had the safe haven of Zavek's bedroom.

"When do you have to leave?" Zavek asked.

"I don't have anywhere else to be. I cleared the schedule for your package," Brennault grinned. "It was very important to me."

"Then there's no rush. We can sleep or… if you've regained your… energy…." Zavek trailed off.

Brennault perked up immediately.

"There will be plenty of time to sleep later!" he assured Zavek. "Tell me. What needs can I service?"

"Well first," Zavek began, his eyes lighting with desire once more as he pushed the empty refreshment tray out of the way….

Last updated on the October 1st 2021

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Alone at Last