Souvenirs From Dead Worlds

As consciousness slowly seeped into Sam's mind he catalogued what he could without having to open his eyes. He was naked; that was immediately apparent. He was lying on his back and could feel Kias' forehead against his shoulder, Kias' breath against his arm. One of Kias' arms lay across Sam's chest.

Sam remembered the night before, when they'd decided it would be best to sleep naked. Because their clothes were uncomfortable and because they didn't want to wrinkle them more than they already were and because Kias had a fantastic ass, and really, it would be a pity to cover it up.

Sam slid carefully out from under Kias' arm, managing not to wake him. He would have liked to doze in the comforting warmth of Kias' ambient body head for another hour or so, but he had work to do. So far, he'd done jack shit towards actually making a record of this society. Sam fished through the pile of abandoned clothes on the floor and located the small notebook and pen he'd hidden in his jacket. It was time to start writing down details of some of the things he’d seen so far. Though... perhaps he'd make a few omissions.

#

When Kias awoke, sleepily groping around for Sam's body, he discovered Sam was no longer in bed with him. He felt an unpleasant jolt of anxiety, reminiscent of the first time he'd fallen asleep with Sam but woken up without him. But then the scratch of a pen drew Kias' attention to the other side of the room where Sam sat on a chair near the window. He had a small book in his lap that he was writing into. Kias stayed quiet, still, and watched him.

Sam had put his pants back on but was still sans shirt, his dark skin looking even more delicious in the morning light streaming through the windows. The light also made the scar tissue marring Sam's shoulder stand out more distinctly. It looked much like the almost healed scar on Kias' stomach, and Kias was fairly sure Sam had gotten it in much the same way as Kias had gotten his. Kias wondered if Sam had ever used his scar to impress men. Or women? Kias didn't even know if Sam was attracted to women or not. He'd never asked.

Sam glanced up and, seeing Kias awake, smiled at him, letting his book fall shit. "Sleep well?"

Kias made an incoherent sound and stretched, exposing a generous expanse of naked torso in the process. He felt gratified when Sam's eyes lingered on the bare skin.

"I was thinking we could start our day off with a bath," Sam said as he stood.

"I don't think people here bathe every day, Sam."

Sam grinned. "I know, but I'm feeling rather sticky." Sam patted his hand at the base of his ribs, and yeah, Kias could maybe remember how that might have come about.

Kias bit his lip to keep from laughing. "I guess there are some things a man of your status might do better not to smell of all day."

"Just my thoughts." Sam pulled his shirt and jacket on, then hid the pen and book in a pocket inside the jacket.

Kias crawled out of bed, well aware of Sam watching while pretending not to watch. His pants were a pain to get into, and it seemed a lot of trouble when the baths were just downstairs, but he did it anyway. Kias wasn't exactly used to such aversion to nudity yet, but he much preferred it to what he'd seen last night.

Kias wondered if the thought of getting caught turned Kalem on or if it was just so socially acceptable to do things like that in public here that nobody else would have minded if they had seen it. Sadly, it was hardly the first time Kias had walked in on a scene like that, but he'd hoped he would never have to again.

As they descended the stairs Sam wrapped an arm around Kias, his hand coming to rest lightly on Kias’ hip. Kias wondered if it was new found dedication to his role, or if it was some kind of after effect of the intimacy they'd shared the previous night. Kias hoped it was the latter. He hoped the casual affection in Sam's touch was real and would last beyond this assignment.

The baths, it turned out, weren't so much baths, plural, as they were a bath. A rather large one.

The bath was circular, sunk into the ground, and big enough that it was almost twice the length of Kias' body. It was already filled with clean, steaming water. Kias hadn't exactly been enthusiastic about the bath idea — it had seemed a bit superfluous — but Sam had shut the door and was taking off his shirt and yeah, Kias was starting to like the idea.

Kias' shirt came off easily but his pants were always the struggle, especially with all the steam in the room making the material cling to his legs. Kias wasn't sure if the pants were meant to be this tight or if they just fit him poorly, but Sam was already naked while Kias was still trying to force the things down his thighs. Sam laughed at Kias from where he sat on the edge of the bath, dangling his legs into the water.

Kias yanked his pants the rest of the way down and tossed them in the corner. "Did you really have to get me pants that are so difficult to get in and out of?"

Sam grinned up at him innocently, feet kicking the water idly. "I didn't anticipate needing to get you out of them quickly. Given the way they make your ass look, though, I should have."

"Funny." With a firm shove from behind, Kias sent Sam splashing face first into the water.

Sam spluttered to the surface, laughing, then ducked his head under the water again to wash his hair away from his face. He smiled at Kias after resurfacing. "Come in! Water's nice."

The water was indeed nice, Kias found when he slipped in, but he wasn't sure how much of the warmth he was feeling was coming from the water and how much was from seeing Sam wet and naked. He was pretty sure the sight before him could get his blood warming on even the coldest of winter nights.

At its deepest the water only came up to the middle of Kias' chest, which was something of a relief since Kias couldn't swim. Sam clearly could, though, and did, gliding the short distance through the water to the other side of the bath. When Sam beckoned him over, Kias decided to preserve any dignity he still retained and waded through the water instead.

"Soap," Sam said, holding up a white, slightly misshapen lump. "Dunk your head under. I want to wash your hair."

Kias gave him a sceptical look. "I washed it before we left, which was about a day ago now. It can't really need washing again already."

"I didn't say your hair needs washing," Sam said with a promising smile. "I said I want to wash it."

It was an unpleasant sensation, water all around Kias' head, dampening sound, as Kias submerged his head. He spluttered as he lifted his head out of the water again, wiping errant strands of hair away from his face. Sam grinned and motioned for Kias to sit in front of him on the bench that ran along the edge of the bath underneath the water.

Sam's hands were gentle as they worked the soap into Kias' hair, building up a lather. Kias was reminded of the first day they'd met, when Sam had brought Kias back to his world and they'd showered together. Except... well, there was a more intimate undercurrent here. Kias wasn't sure if he was just reading more into it because the previous night was on his mind or if the way Sam touched him had actually changed, but it just felt more... more.

Sam's fingers rubbed against Kias' scalp, relaxing him when he hadn't even been aware he'd been tense. Maybe he was always tense.

When Sam spoke again his voice was barely above a whisper, preserving Kias' sense of calm. "Okay, dunk your head again. Try to rinse all the soap out."

Getting the soap out was far more of a bother than making his hair damp had been, and Kias wished for the simplicity showers provided. It probably hadn’t been a good idea, putting soap in his hair when it didn’t need it, but the feeling of Sam’s hands on his scalp had been worth drying his hair out a little.

"Okay, sit on the bench again," Sam said after Kias had finished. "Back to me."

Kias obeyed, and Sam pushed Kias' wet hair over his shoulders before starting to rub the bar of soap against Kias' back. There were no wash cloths, so after the soap had been applied it was just Kias' slippery, soapy skin and Sam's hands gliding over that skin. Kias was beginning to wonder if this was a deliberate attempt at seduction or if that was merely an incidental side effect. Kias was feeling pretty thoroughly seduced.

"Okay, turn," Sam said softly after a while. Kias obeyed, turning on the bench to face Sam.

Sam looked down at Kias' lap and grinned as he wet the soap. "Well, I'm glad to see you're enjoying this."

Sam had to move close to reach Kias' chest, one knee between Kias' thighs and his other leg dangling off the edge of the bench.

"You're the one who's washing me just because you find it amusing," Kias' huffed, but he couldn't help but notice that Sam wasn't entirely unaffected by the experience either.

Kias didn't really understand why they were playing games. He was enjoying Sam's soap slicked hands rubbing against his chest, yes, but it seemed to Kias that Sam was intentionally avoiding giving Kias — and himself — what they clearly wanted. When Sam's thumb stroked over Kias' nipple, Kias almost lost control and just pounced on Sam. But this was a game and there seemed to be rules, and Kias would do his best.

"Want me to wash anything else?" Sam asked after a while, and it didn't even sound suggestive. Just earnest.

But Kias was growing impatient with the game. Sam was older than he was and knew more about doing sex stuff the right way, and yeah, being washed actually felt really, really nice, but... "Yeah, my dick."

Sam actually had the nerve to look surprised and laugh a little, like yeah, totally unexpected turn of events. But there were rules Kias didn't understand and he'd broken them and he really just did not care anymore as long as Sam would give him what he needed.

"Well, all right then," Sam said with an easy shrug. "Kneel up on the bench."

Kias obeyed, kneeling on the bench so that the water reached the middle of his thighs.

Sam smiled and then snickered before quickly forcing his facial expression back to neutrality. When Kias frowned at him, Sam smiled again and explained. "I'd forgotten about the, uh." Sam gestured in the direction of Kias genitals. "The unfortunate incident with the hair removal stuff."

"I thought it was what you wanted me to do," Kias said.

Sam's fingers slowly stroked up and down Kias' thigh, and Kias shivered. "Because naturally my thoughts were 'that guy's hot, but he'd be hotter if he looked more prepubescent.'"

Kias shrugged and shifted restlessly under the attention of Sam’s fingers. "I didn't know you then, Sam. It wasn't out of line with what I expected from you at the time."

For a moment Sam looked troubled by the reminder, but then he took a deep breath and his face relaxed as he let it go. “Anyway. I don't think we should actually put the soap on your dick. It might be a bit too harsh on the skin. Let me wash around it with the soap first."

Kias made an incoherent grumbling noise as Sam began to lather up the soap again, rubbing it over his thighs.

"This okay?" Sam asked as he gently rubbed the soapy lather into Kias' balls.

Kias wanted to say that it would be a lot more okay if Sam's hand was just slightly higher, but instead he made an embarrassing whimpering noise which sounded enough like a yes for Sam to continue what he was doing.

"Okay, get in the water and rinse the soap off," Sam instructed after rubbing his soapy hands over Kias' ass a few times.

Blinking the haze of arousal out of his eyes, Kias frowned at Sam. "Hey, you said you'd..." Kias gestured vaguely.

Sam grinned. "No soap on the dick, remember?" He gave Kias a shove, sending him into the water with a splash.

"You're mean," Kias said, shoving his damp hair away from his face. "I should report you for being mean."

"I shall make sure to translate your cruelty report with the utmost accuracy." Sam held out an arm to Kias. "All right, come back here."

Finally, finally the game seemed to be over, and when Kias knelt on the bench in front of Sam again, Sam's hand was on him almost immediately.

Sam chuckled, carefully pulling back Kias' foreskin. He ran gentle fingers over the glands, and splashed water over it to rinse it. "We'll be the most unpopular inn patrons if we make a mess of their bath."

Kias wasn't entirely sure that was true, given what he'd witnessed Kalem doing with Seba on the couch last night. He was too busy making needy sounds and resisting the urge to thrust into Sam's hand to say so, though.

It was then, of course, that Kias heard the sound of the door opening.

#

For a moment everything — Sam's hand on Kias' dick, Seba in the doorway — froze. Then Kias made a sound of annoyance and Sam realised that yeah, he still had a handful of Kias' junk, and let go. Kias let himself fall back to sit on the bench properly while Sam's eyes remained firmly over Kias' shoulder on Seba.

"Sorry," Seba said, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. He was dressed in loose, plain cotton clothes that Sam concluded were probably sleepwear and was carrying another set of clothing in his arms.

Sam managed to recover from his surprise and pull himself back into character.

"No, my apologies," Sam said, desperately trying to sound calm and controlled despite what he'd just been caught doing by a fourteen year old boy. "The bath is for all guests. My behaviour was inappropriate."

Seba made a small sound of acknowledgement but, Sam noticed, didn't actually disagree. In fact, he took the statement to heart by stepping into the room and shutting the door behind himself. Sam averted his eyes when Seba started to take his shirt off.

"Kalem wanted me to speak with you," Sam heard Seba say, followed by the soft sound of fabric hitting the floor. "He was a bit drunk last night, and he's concerned he may have behaved inappropriately."

"He did come on rather strongly," Sam admitted, eyes on his feet as he kicked them idly under the water.

There was the sound of more fabric hitting the ground and then soft footsteps, and when Seba spoke next he was closer. "I think he was more concerned that... Well, you two, you and Kias, seem to be rather close, more than... In any case, he thinks his actions may have offended Kias, and that may have bothered you. Maybe."

Sam gave Kias a questioning glance, accidentally getting an eyeful of naked fourteen year old boy as Seba slid into the bath a respectful distance away on Kias’ other side. Sam quickly averted his eyes again and addressed Kias. "Seba said he thinks Kalem offended you. Any idea why he might think that?"

"Kalem's existence offends me," Kias said firmly. He tangled his foot under the water with Sam's.

"Did he do something, though?" Sam asked cautiously. "I had to go looking for you because you took so long coming back..."

"I know what he did and they know what he did and I really don't think your life would be improved by knowing," Kias said in a way that was somehow defensive. When Sam glanced at him, careful to avoid looking at naked Seba, Kias' shoulders were hunched and he was staring down at his hands which rubbed together apprehensively.

Sam was silent for several long moments before finally building up the courage to ask, "Did he touch you, Kias?"

Kias' head immediately snapped up to give Sam a look which suggested he thought Sam was somehow mentally impaired. "No." Kias shook his head in annoyance. "He didn't touch me." Kias nodded his head in Seba's direction.

"Ah..." Sam said slowly, the pieces finally starting to come together. Well, it sounded like he and Kias weren't the only ones partaking in some rather public displays of affection.

Sam addressed Seba again while keeping his eyes carefully averted. "He is a little displeased, yes."

"That's what I thought," Seba said. "He suggested I offer to make it up to you or to Kias, but... well, I think that would just offend you more. You won't even look at me."

Sam had some ideas as to what Seba had meant by making it up to them, but he preferred not to think about it too much. "I don't think anyone who's not your own age should be showing that kind of interest in someone as young as you."

"Yes, that's the impression I got," Seba said. Sam heard splashing from his side of the bath, likely Seba starting to wash himself. "So let's pretend I offered with the utmost sincerity and you politely declined."

"Whatever keeps you out of trouble." Sam decided he may as well start washing himself so they could get out of this awkward situation as quickly as possible. He found the soap, and started building up a lather on his chest.

"This isn't your native language," Seba observed. "What language do you speak?"

Sam splashed water on his chest to rinse it off. "You wouldn't have heard of it."

"Try me," Seba said, and it sounded almost like a challenge.

"You wouldn't have heard of it," Sam repeated, this time in his own language.

Seba was silent for a stretch, and Sam noticed that the sounds of him washing had paused. "You're right. I've never heard that language before."

"Mhmm," Sam hummed, too occupied with washing his face for actual words.

"Will you teach me?" Seba asked, and he sounded so earnest that it surprised Sam into looking up at him. And then quickly away again because wow, yup, still completely naked.

"It's not a language you would ever come across again. It would be of no use to you." Especially since you're going to die soon, Sam added mentally.

"That's why I want you to teach me," Seba said. "Because I'm unlikely to find anyone else who could."

Sam was now thoroughly clean, he decided, and leaving would no longer be a kind of running away. He'd done what he'd come there to do. "We'll be very busy and I really don't know how teaching you would benefit me," Sam said as he stepped out of the bath. Kias followed.

Sam heard the splash of Seba standing as well. "I could help you! I know my way around, I know where things are. I can get Kalem to agree to let me, too. I know how to deal with him."

Picking up a towel to dry off with, Sam let out a long sigh and considered the pros and cons of agreeing to Seba's proposal as he dried himself off. A negative point was definitely that he was connected to Kalem. Sam was sick to death of Kalem. Sam was also concerned that Seba might get clingy. His only companionship appeared to be from a child molester, so Sam wouldn't have been surprised if Seba firmly attached himself to anyone not trying to touch his junk.

But there were advantages, too. Having a guide to the city could certainly be useful, and if Seba could manipulate Kalem as he said perhaps he'd be able to buy Sam and Kias a little peace from the guy.

By the time Sam was dry, he'd made his decision.

"I am going to give you five words, and then me and Kias are going to go have breakfast. Meet us afterwards. If at that time you can tell me the five words I gave you and what they mean, you can come with us and be our guide, and I'll teach you more words."

There were a few moments and silence, and then Seba spoke. "Give me ten."