Chapter Text
The day Sethos finally gets the confirmation that he’s been accepted to Kshahrewar, a huge celebration takes place.
Both friends and family are invited. Nahida offers to host dinner at the Sanctuary, and Alhaitham and Kaveh place a massive takeout order at Lambad’s to bring over, with Dehya and Candace mostly covering for the drinks. Tighnari and Cyno help pay for the food and bring decorations, which Collei, Faruzan and Layla make sure to hang up and place. Finally, Nilou is in charge of desserts, of which she makes sure to include both sweet and more savory ones. Wanderer, who chipped in to help buy the drinks and desserts, flies around during the whole process, helping here and there so everything will be as perfect as possible.
When Sethos arrives at the Sanctuary to share the good news, he’s welcomed by yelled congratulations and hugs. Wanderer even gives him a kiss hidden from the rest behind his hat, which earns them cheers and even some whistles.
“Congrats,” Hasumi murmurs, only for his boyfriend’s ears. Sethos smiles brightly at him, caressing his cheek and giving him a quick peck before the hat is back in its proper position.
Dinner is a messy and loud affair, with everyone talking among themselves and also taking their time to congratulate Sethos. Food is passed around, and the atmosphere is lively until everyone has had their fill.
Once they finish eating, they all break off into smaller groups to keep conversations going for a bit longer. Soon enough the stronger drinks are brought out for everyone except Collei (and Nahida, who doesn’t enjoy the taste anyway). Wanderer takes advantage of the moments of peace to pull his boyfriend aside by the hand, Sethos following after him like a puppy wagging its tail.
They make it to a hallway a bit hidden from the rest of the party, where Wanderer takes hold of Sethos’ hips to pull him closer, their faces only a few centimeters apart.
“I finally get to have you all to myself,” Hasumi whispers, a possessive note sprinkled in those words. He doesn’t need drinks when he can get drunk on the adoration radiating from those warm green eyes.
Sethos chuckles, slowly walking backwards until he’s pressed between the wall and Hasumi. He takes off his partner’s hat and carefully props it against the wall next to them. “Anytime you want me all for yourself you just need to say so.”
This gets an appreciative hum out of Hasumi, who presses him more firmly against the wall and starts trailing kisses up his neck. Every few kisses he stops to pay more attention to the spot he’s on, earning breathy moans in response. His hands slide up from their place on Sethos’ hips, making their way under his clothes until they’re tracing patterns on the bare skin of his back.
One of Hasumi’s hands leaves his boyfriend’s back to bury itself in brown curls, gently pulling the hair back to focus on the skin right under Sethos’ ear. He eagerly sucks on that spot, causing Sethos to let out a whine and try to grind his hips right into-
“-aylaaa, where are- WHOA,” Faruzan stands right at the end of the hallway, well and truly drunk and staring at them with wide eyes. Both men stay still, Wanderer’s face still pressed against warm brown skin.
Sethos stares right at Faruzan with eyes as wide as hers, painfully aware of how Wanderer is getting progressively more tense. He hugs him closer as an offer of comfort. “Uh… She’s not here, Madam Faruzan.”
“Well, clearly,” Faruzan replies, speech somewhat affected by the drinks she had. She stumbles up to them and pats both on the head. “Don’t worry, youngsters. I won’t- hic- I won’t tell anyone! Oh, you guys remind me of my younger days with my girlfriends!”
Sethos is positively mortified at that point, and he feels Wanderer drop his head on his shoulder with an annoyed groan.
“Ah, riiiight, gotta find Layla!” Faruzan starts walking the way she came from, barely avoiding twisting her ankles with her heels. “Byebye kiddos, wear protection!”
Even after Faruzan leaves them alone, the mood is well and truly dead at that point. The puppet takes a few more seconds to just hug Sethos close before letting out a sigh.
“Faruzan’s too drunk, I’ll walk both her and Layla back to avoid them getting caught in something stupid.”
“Ah, I’ll join you!” Sethos is about to go with him, but Hasumi stops him with a hand on his chest.
“No, you won’t,” Hasumi tells him. When Sethos tilts his head in confusion (and a bit of hurt), his only answers are raised eyebrows and a finger pointing down. His eyes follow the finger’s direction to… the still very noticeable tent in his pants.
“Ohhh… yeah, good point.”
The sheepish expression and quiet tone make Hasumi smile, and he presses a quick kiss to his boyfriend’s lips. “I’ll be back soon. Go join the party once that goes down a bit. As for us being interrupted again… well, later I guess, if you’re good.”
It’s only really meant as a joke, but Hasumi notes the way Sethos shudders with renewed interest. As he leaves, he tells himself that he’ll put that knowledge to good use next time.
*****
Except, he doesn’t, because “next time” keeps eluding them in the most ridiculous ways possible.
After getting interrupted by both Aether and Faruzan in the Sanctuary under different circumstances, they figure the third time’s the charm.
The only charm the third time has is the surprise appearance of Nahida, who was supposed to be out for the day. And who thought the groans coming from Wanderer’s room were from pain.
She blasts the door open while surrounded in an ominous green light, only to pause at the sight of Wanderer sitting on Sethos’ lap. Both of them are mostly clothed, though Sethos is shirtless and clearly in the process of taking his boyfriend’s shirt off too.
Wanderer stares Nahida right in the eye with a blank expression, studiously ignoring his partner turning alarming shades of dark red next to him. “Buer.”
“Oh. I thought I heard…” Nahida’s big green eyes lose their ominous glow as they stare in confusion for a bit longer, before she covers them with her small hands and turns around. “Forgive me, I’ll give you some privacy to continue your couple activities. I’ll be back tonight.”
With that, she walks out of the room still covering her eyes, only a little green branch remaining to close the door behind her.
As warming as the thought of Nahida rushing to his aid in case he gets attacked is, Wanderer is not amused with the results. Having to spend five minutes reassuring Sethos that Nahida won’t like him any less for this is also not high on his happy list.
*****
The fourth time they, admittedly, aren’t in the best place for it. Maybe as a testament to their rising frustration, the date that is supposed to just be an innocent picnic on a big tree branch in a relatively solitary section of Avidya Forest quickly turns into a heated makeout session.
Through their other ill-fated sessions, Hasumi has the suspicion that Sethos likes to feel overwhelmed to an extent. He’s right, and soon enough he has the man laying down on the branch and squirming under his weight. He lets the deep, hungry kisses they share last more than he usually would, letting Sethos run out of air just enough to have him panting during the seconds they part. The way those strong thighs try to close around his hips with each grinding motion has heat rushing down for him. Each little sound Sethos lets free only serves to make him wetter, and all the more eager to take him.
Hasumi sits up, staring at the absolutely divine picture right in front of him. The man is laid down like an offering, half-lidded green eyes almost swallowed by black. His brown and silver hair frames his flushed face, and his lips are swollen from the thorough kisses as well as shiny with a mix of their spit. His long shirt and dark pants do little to conceal how painfully hard he is.
The sight makes the puppet lick his lips, and he scoots back in order to have easier access for his next move. Distantly, he notices that he kicked something off the branch, but he can’t bring himself to care.
Now at eye level with his boyfriend’s lower half, Hasumi can’t resist teasing him a bit. He slowly runs his hands up those strong thighs, completely ignoring his cock to go higher and lift his shirt.
Dark blue eyes innocently blink up at Sethos before Hasumi starts to press sloppy kisses to the skin under his navel. The sweet desperation in that face finally pushes him to get on with it, and he prepares to go lower.
That is, until he senses a burst of electro energy from below. Fast approaching.
“Hey, you dropped-” Cyno freezes, using his abilities to hold onto the side of the tree next to their branch. He’s holding the basket they brought their food in, which Wanderer vaguely notes is what he likely kicked earlier. The General’s expression doesn't change, but he does look away from them to give them some time to compose themselves. “... You guys know you’re still in public, right?”
Sethos sits up and hugs his knees to block the view of his erection, while Wanderer just sits exactly where he was and looks like he’s considering stepping off the branch.
“Uhm, well, good thing the clothes are still on then-”
“What are the fucking chances anyone would make it to a branch this tall? That’s hardly ‘public’-”
The expression Cyno levels at them is pretty effective at shutting them up. He hands Wanderer the basket and rubs his face in mild frustration with his now free hand.
“I guess that logic works in your favor, but try to not do that again,” Cyno says as he prepares to jump back down to continue his duties. “I will say though, your luck…”
Wanderer closes his eyes. “Don’t.”
Sethos lets his head fall forward, his forehead hitting the top of his knees. “Nooo…”
“... sucks.”
With that, Cyno lets go of the tree to go back to his patrol, laughing as he avoids an anemo slash on his way down.
Wanderer takes a few seconds to sulk, and then turns to look at his boyfriend. Sethos hasn’t really moved, still with his face hidden. He only lifts his head up a bit when he feels Wanderer get closer, brilliant green highlighted among flushed brown skin. Delicate pale hands gently caress along his thighs to try and soothe the embarrassment radiating from Sethos.
The brunette finally lifts his head enough to now rest his chin on his knees instead, earning a soft laugh from Wanderer due to the pout on his face. The quick kiss he gets more than makes up for the laugh.
“It’s getting late, we should go,” Wanderer holds out his hand to help Sethos up.
Once they pack everything up, Wanderer picks both Sethos and the basket up and flies in the direction of the City. While they’re both happy in each other’s company, the frustration adds up a little bit more for both of them.
*****
The fifth time isn’t really an attempt or them getting carried away. It can even be called cute.
Alhaitham and Kaveh finally decide to get married, which means there’s a celebration with dinner at Lambad’s. Once everyone has eaten their fill and congratulated the newly-engaged couple, they invite all of those who want to hang out for a while longer for a drink at their house.
Faruzan offers to take Collei home so Tighnari and Cyno can join the rest, as both her and Layla can’t stay for drinks either. Candace leaves early to be able to make it to Aaru Village before midnight, and Nahida returns to the Sanctuary in order to study an old text Sethos brought over a few days ago. Everyone else pools money to buy way more than a few bottles of wine, and they all head towards Alhaitham and Kaveh’s house.
Well into the night, a lot of them are approaching black out drunk. As the only one that physically can’t get that drunk, Wanderer mostly kicks back and watches the mess in amusement.
(In other words, he’s making sure no one gets hurt.)
The engaged couple, Dehya, Cyno and Tighnari are piled around the table Dehya and Alhaitham dragged in from the study, playing very heated rounds of strip Genius Invokation. Cyno is the only one with all his clothes still on, and the way Kaveh is groaning into his hands across from him says he will remain fully clothed for a while more. The most sober one of that whole bunch is Alhaitham, which means precious little seeing as he sways a bit too much every time he tries to walk. Wanderer is certain he’s never heard that man let out a full laugh before, let alone laugh that much.
Nilou fell asleep an hour ago on the couch across from the one Wanderer is sitting on. She got drunk enough to dance on the same table the rest are playing on, and then promptly conked out on the couch after getting her much deserved cheers.
The only one currently missing is Sethos, who left the game around the time Dehya lost her pants. The puppet considers getting up to look for him, but then his boyfriend walks out of the kitchen with a full glass and stumbles over to the couch he’s on. Sethos plops himself on the couch and then lays face down on Wanderer’s lap, offering no complaints when he takes the glass from him and takes a sip.
“I’m taking this from you, you’ve had more than enough,” Wanderer scolds him a bit, downing half the glass for good measure. The only answer he gets is muffled mumbling and a nod against his thighs. The ridiculous sight gets a snort out of him. “As cute as you’re being, I’d feel better if you could breathe and speak clearly.”
The words have their intended effect, and Sethos turns so he’s facing him. There’s a noticeable flush on his cheeks, and the puppy eyes he’s trying to weaponize close in bliss when Wanderer sinks a hand in his hair and starts giving him a gentle head massage.
“Puppy eyes are only effective if you’ve already asked for what you want, idiot. And no, I’m not giving this back,” Wanderer teases, tipping the cup to take a healthy gulp of it.
It’s only then that his very drunk little bee decides to ask.
“‘Sumi… can you fuck me, please?”
It’s a great thing that in that moment the table on the other side of the room erupts into delighted cheers when Alhaitham loses his shirt against Tighnari, because it covers both the soft question and the way Wanderer chokes on his wine.
“Se- Sethos, what,” Wanderer coughs, his voice a bit shaky. It’s good he doesn’t need to breathe or that would have been messier. “Why would you ask this now?”
Generally, Sethos is fairly easy to reason with. And apparently drunk Sethos is just as willing to talk, even if he’s missing a filter or two.
“‘s just… we always get interrupted,” Sethos’ words are a bit slurred as he speaks, and he turns big, watery green eyes to look at him. “Sooo, wanted to ask pr- pre- properly. Can you fuck me, please? Want you…”
“Wh- little bee, we can’t do that here,” Wanderer keeps his voice as low as possible to match Sethos’ tone. There’s no need for this conversation to reach anyone else. He gives a cursory glance at a passed out Nilou before continuing. “It’s getting to me too, ok? But not now, we’re not alone, and you’re very drunk. We’ll find some time another day.”
Somehow, he’s not expecting the way Sethos’ expression falls further. “But even… even then…”
“... ‘Even then’?”
The way Sethos turns a bit to bury his face on his boyfriend’s thighs again is kind of cute. “Even then you never- hic- get hard… ‘m I doing something wrong?”
Before Sethos can follow that train of thought (or, gods forbid, start crying), Wanderer decides he might as well take this opportunity to explain.
“Hey, no, you’re so good,” the praise gets the brunette to turn back to face him, and he notes the way Sethos’ eyelashes flutter at those words. The sheer adoration in those eyes gives him the small push he needs. “This may put a bit of a wrench into your fantasies, but I can’t get hard, Sethos. I don’t have a dick.”
A few seconds of silence follow while Sethos blinks and processes that information. The longer it goes on, the more anxious Wanderer feels.
“Ohh, thank you for telling me,” Sethos finally murmurs, a sweet smile on his face. The plain happiness and acceptance soothes the part of Wanderer’s heart that was still guarded from his boyfriend. “That jus’ makes… makes it better. You can fuck me with any dick you choose.”
The pretty, dopey smile only vaguely distracts Wanderer from the way his brain short-circuits at the words. Sethos knows now, and even then… still wants to bottom for him. This is way too good to be true.
“Oh, can I? Would you let me?” Wanderer would be lying if he said the idea doesn’t appeal to him. He’s been getting comfortable with the idea of having to bottom once Sethos found out about his body, and he doesn’t dislike the thought at all, but this… is so much more appealing.
“Please. Want it so much,” the slurring is easing up a bit, but Sethos is clearly still drunk. The way he’s attempting to be seductive and comes across as cute only highlights it. “Can eat you out too, but I want you in me… been practicing.”
Wanderer carefully ignores the way the mental image of Sethos eating him out is affecting him, because his brain grabs onto the other interesting bit of info in that sentence.
“... ‘Practicing’?”
Sethos only hums happily, putting up three fingers. And that mental image makes Wanderer stand up before he ruins that couch. He lifts Sethos up bridal style in the process.
“That’s enough for now, you’re too drunk,” Wanderer states. He calls out a quick bye to the crowd at the table, and heads for the door with his charge once he gets answering calls (and some drunk whistles). Once they’re outside the door, he turns to the now-sleepy man in his arms. “You’re going to get some sleep, and we will talk about it later on. Alright?”
He gets a nod and a kiss to the cheek, and then he takes flight. Those that remained at the party briefly wonder why their prickly friend looked so red, but don’t dwell on it much.
“Okay, clearly we’re not going to be able to fuck without actually planning it,” Hasumi states the morning after the celebration, arms crossed while sitting on his bed across from Sethos. “So we should probably get on that before we die of blue balls.”
The blanket pile that calls itself his boyfriend doesn’t answer, just pulls the fabric tighter around himself and groans. Whether it’s because of his hangover or embarrassment at his actions last night, he’s unsure. As much as he loves him, Hasumi has little patience for the antics.
“Get out of there,” the whispered order loses any harshness it was originally meant to have, considerate of the headache Sethos may be sporting. Hasumi pulls a part of the blanket away and is faced with mortified green eyes. “What exactly are you hoping to do by making yourself into a blanket wrap, huh?”
“‘Kay, fine,” Sethos rasps as he emerges from his little burrow. He closes his eyes at the bright light coming from a nearby window, and there’s a faint green tinge to his skin as he leans forward a bit.
Hasumi is quick to help him lay back down, this time without the covers and with his head resting on his lap. In an echo of the previous night, a caring hand buries itself in brown and silver curls to try and ease the hangover headache.
“We could go to the Temple,” Sethos suggests, closing his eyes at the soothing sensation on his scalp. The skepticism must be practically radiating from Hasumi, because there’s a quiet giggle before the brunette continues. “It may not seem like it at times, but everyone’s living areas are very private and with a nice distance from the others. No one would hear or see us.”
There’s a thoughtful hum, and then the hand not in Sethos’ hair gets placed on his chest. The fingers trace meaningless patterns over his skin.
“That can work,” Hasumi agrees. He feels a strange sort of contentment for such an unremarkable moment. The few rays of sunlight shining across Sethos’ arm make for a lovely view for him. “We should also talk about the act itself. There’s some steps and preparation we have to go through if you really want me to fuck you.”
“It’s not an ‘if’, I want it,” the correction comes quickly, though the red dusting over those warm brown cheeks isn’t far behind. “I’m just embarrassed at how I said it.”
The answering laugh is melodious, a reassurance that his love isn’t upset at Sethos’ impulsiveness the night before.
“Don’t be, it was funny,” Hasumi teases. Now that the green hue has disappeared from the other’s face, he helps him slowly sit up so he can be propped up against him and hands him a glass of water. “And it’s better anyway, taking into account that I have to get myself a dick for the occasion.”
Sethos accepts the glass with a grateful nod. “Is there anything you need me to get?”
“Nah, just focus on getting yourself ready. I can get everything else,” Hasumi’s pale fingers go back to tracing patterns on his boyfriend’s chest. They eventually settle right over his heart. “Date?”
Sethos takes some time to think while he finishes the water. The birds singing outside start to seem more beautiful than grating, and he notes with relief that his headache is easing up a little.
“How about in five days? I have to leave tomorrow to handle some things at the Temple on the days before that, and my classes don’t start until a week after,” Sethos turns to look back at Hasumi, who takes advantage and gives him a quick kiss.
The puppet suddenly gets up, finding some satisfaction in the cute, frustrated pout his actions cause.
“I’ll join you once I have everything ready,” he tosses Sethos a set of clean clothes, and doesn’t bother to hide his amusement at how he perks up once he realizes why he got up. “Now, let’s get you some breakfast. You humans actually need it.”