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“You do realize this is super fucking weird, right?” Daniel asks.
He's sprawled out on the couch, looking deliciously grandfatherly in his jeans, t-shirt, and cardigan, a book dangling from his fingers, and he's looking at Armand over his glasses as if he’s a misbehaving teenager trying to leave the house in a too-revealing dress, which makes Armand’s stomach squirm pleasantly.
The too-revealing dress is, in fact, one of Daniel’s old sweaters. It's dark blue, threadbare, and a little too big on Daniel, a relic from when he'd temporarily put on an extra thirty pounds some twenty years ago, so Armand is absolutely swimming in it.
Or at least, Armand is trying to make Daniel think that he’s swimming in it. They're not actually all that different in size. Still, he thinks he looks very little indeed, with his fists bunched up in the too long sleeves and his legs bare, one foot rubbing nervously over the other.
“Because I've tried to kill you?” he asks, and then he makes his mouth do that thing that so often makes Daniel do whatever Armand wants him to, where it turns into an upside down U.
Daniel appears disappointingly unaffected.
“I mean, yeah, but that's really just the tip of the iceberg, babe.”
In his best imitation of a human person, Armand wraps the fingers of one hand around the opposite forearm and rocks back and forth, biting his lip.
“You know,” Daniel says with a sigh, dropping his book onto the coffee table. “I actually thought that once I'd been turned, you'd stop seeming like an alien.”
Armand stares at him with wide, unblinking eyes.
“But you're just weird, aren't you? It's not really a vampire thing, it’s more of a you thing.”
Armand drops his arm and glares at Daniel, drawing himself up to his full and considerable height.
“Forget I troubled you,” he snaps, eyes flashing. “You're a spoiled, wretched child and it would have been nothing but charity for me to give myself to you anyway.”
Daniel snorts.
“Aw, c’mon, babe,” he says. “I didn't say it wasn't hot .”
Armand pouts, his size illusion slipping in and out of his control.
“Is that you doing that?” Daniel asks, sounding irritated in the way he gets when he's disoriented.
Armand makes himself look a little guilty, though what he feels is a sharp stab of satisfaction at having irritated Daniel.
Daniel looks at him like he doesn’t buy it.
“I’ll make you a deal,” he says. “You can call me whatever the hell you want as long as you don’t fuck with my head while you’re doing it.”
Armand narrows his eyes at him. Fuck with my head is such a broad category. Well, he’ll simply choose to abide by Daniel’s mandate according to the narrowest possible definition of the phrase; he stops making himself appear small.
“Much better,” Daniel says. “C’mere.”
Armand clasps his hands behind his back and drags his feet a little as he crosses the room. At his real size, the sweater is scandalously short, barely covering his soft cock. He’d chosen it carefully out of Daniel’s closet, trying on sweater after sweater until he’d found the perfect one. He doesn’t normally gravitate towards blue for the very reason he chose it for tonight; it makes him look soft.
When he stops by the side of the couch, Daniel’s big, strong hands grab him around the waist, just like he’d hoped they would.
“Daddy,” Armand murmurs, making his voice small. “I had a nightmare.”
A series of intense, conflicting emotions pass through Daniel’s eyes, making their color shift from jade to amber to a dark, forest green.
“It’s okay, kiddo,” he says. “Come, sit with me.”
He moves as if he’s about to make room for Armand to sit next to him on the couch, and Armand panics a little.
“No!” he says, in his normal, demanding voice.
Daniel freezes.
Gentle again, Armand clambors into Daniel’s lap. He sticks the end of one sleeve into his mouth and tries to suck on it, but immediately makes a face at the texture and spits it back out again. Of course this makes Daniel laugh, and Armand frowns at him reproachfully. It’s not a glare this time, but it’s not entirely back to his sweet little pout either.
Daniel rubs his thighs reassuringly. It feels nice, relaxing but also promising.
“Do you want to tell me about it?” he asks. His cock is rapidly filling out under Armand’s bare ass, and Armand shifts a little, teasing. Daniel grunts. It’s a totally organic and unrefined sound and it's very, very cute.
Armand realizes then that in all his planning, he hadn’t come up with an imaginary nightmare to impart to Daniel. A significant oversight. He casts around for something suitable.
“You left me with Louis,” he says. “And then you never came back.”
He makes his eyes go wide, does his best to summon tears. They’re reluctant to come; he is wildly happy.
“And after he was done with me, he took a knife, not even a nice, pretty dagger, a regular kitchen knife, and cut me from here –” he trails a finger from the collar of the sweater slowly down to his lower belly, “to here, and then he took all my organs out and put them in a blender.”
“Armand –”
“He made me drink it!” Armand says in mock-horror.
That was a serviceable improvisation, he thinks.
Daniel is looking up at him, bemused and a little exasperated.
“What do you think the blender symbolizes?” he asks wryly.
Armand narrows his eyes at him.
“You’re very irritating,” he says.
“Mm,” Daniel agrees. “You love it.”
Armand sighs.
Daniel looks at him for a long moment, then wraps his arms around him, pulling him in close.
“Do you need your Daddy to make you feel better?” he murmurs into Armand’s ear, rubbing his back in soothing circles.
Armand swoons, a devil allowed into heaven.
“Yes,” he breathes. “Please.”
Armand expects Daniel’s method of making him feel better to involve touching his cock. Instead, Daniel starts rocking him back and forth, still rubbing his back, and plants several gentle kisses in his curls.
“My sweet boy,” Daniel says. “You’re safe, okay? You’re always safe with me.”
Armand whines.
“I’m never going to leave you with Louis, or with anyone else. I’m never going to leave you at all.”
“Yours forever?” Armand asks quietly.
“Forever and ever. You went and made your old dad immortal, remember? You’re never gonna get rid of me. Stupid thing to do, if you ask me. You wouldn't see me keeping my old man around forever.”
Armand doesn’t let him lighten the mood. He forces his heart rate to quicken, breathes shallowly against Daniel’s neck.
“Baby, you’re shaking,” Daniel says, sounding genuinely concerned. How sweet.
“I feel so scared, Daddy,” Armand sobs. There it is – now that he’s found the tears, they’re at his command. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Shhhh,” Daniel says.
Armand moves again, surreptitiously grinding down on Daniel’s now very hard cock. Daniel’s breath hitches.
“Daddy, what is that?” Armand asks innocently, between hiccupping sobs.
Daniel chokes on his own bloody saliva.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” he coughs. “Is that what we’re doing?”
Armand leans back to glare at him.
“Don’t break character,” he snaps.
Daniel pinches the bridge of his nose.
“I just – I mean, a heads up, maybe…”
Armand shifts his body again and Daniel’s hips buck up to meet him. Armand grins. Blood in the water.
“Teach me all about sex, Daddy,” he whispers. “Be my first.”
Daniel’s head falls to Armand’s shoulder.
Armand knows perfectly well how much it disturbs Daniel, how young Armand was when he was first taken, but it actually happened to him, so Armand has decided that Daniel can suck it up.
“Please,” Armand whispers in his ear, knowing just which screw to turn. “I want it to be you.”
Daniel growls into Armand’s neck and his hands find his waist again, squeezing. Armand hums happily and wiggles until their hips slot perfectly together. It’s a sensation he cherishes, up there with curling around Daniel’s ass in bed, and slipping his long, thin fingers between Daniel’s meaty ones and touching the hair on the back of his hand with his fingertips. It all gives him the feeling of fitting perfectly. It’s a feeling he hasn’t often had occasion for, and now he feels it every single day.
How strange death is, how wonderful.
He feels Daniel take a deep breath.
“That's Daddy’s cock, sweetheart,” he says, and leans back, still looking wary but also resolved. The little bit of iris still visible around his blown out pupils is back to its reassuring jade. “You have one too, you know, it's just a whole lot smaller.”
Armand grins. It's a lie, and it shows him that Daniel understands the game they're playing.
“Do you want Daddy to show you what it's for?”
Armand can see that Daniel is fighting himself to get the words out. Later, he'll probably make fun of Armand for being into some unbelievably cringey shit, but for now he's playing along, and that's really all Armand wants.
Armand presses his balled up fists to his mouth and nods, eyes impossibly wide.
“Okay,” Daniel says, trepidation and arousal bringing the gravel in his voice to the forefront. “Give your old dad a kiss first though, yeah?”
Armand considers pretending not to understand this instruction so Daniel will have to explain kissing to him, but he thinks this might strain Daniel’s patience to the point of breaking, so he drops his hands back onto Daniel’s shoulders, leans down, and presses a sweet, chaste kiss to his lips.
A hand comes up to tangle in his hair.
“My little angel,” Daniel murmurs when Armand pulls away. Armand appreciates that he manages to keep most of the irony out of his voice.
They're still close enough to feel each other's breath. It makes Armand’s chest feel tight, and somehow open at the same time.
Daniel closes the distance again and kisses him, still closed-mouthed but a little more insistent. Armand sighs happily and melts into it, allowing himself to be kissed rather than actively participating.
Daniel’s hands slide slowly down his back until they find his ass and squeeze.
Armand moans into Daniel’s mouth involuntarily before remembering his role.
“Daddyyyy,” he whines. “What are you doing?”
“I'm making you feel better,” Daniel growls. He presses on Armand’s ass, guiding him towards movement. “Move your hips for me, honey.”
Daniel has never called him honey before. Armand likes it, even though it briefly reminds him of Louis.
What does he taste like?
Daniel knows the answer to that question now.
Armand moves his hips stutteringly, as if he isn't quite sure how, and Daniel gasps.
“That's it,” he says, swallowing thickly. “Good boy.”
It’s a moniker that has only ever gone the other way. Armand uses it with abandon, laughing when it flusters Daniel, especially in public where it tends to deeply confuse people, but now that it’s been turned back around on him he understands Daniel’s reaction to it. His cheeks flush with borrowed blood, his vestigial breath quickening of its own accord.
“Want to be good for you,” he murmurs. So you’ll keep me . So you won't let anyone else touch me.
“Do you feel that?” Daniel asks, rubbing their noses together as he ruts up against him. “You're getting hard too, just like Daddy.”
Armand giggles.
“It feels funny,” he says.
“Funny good or funny bad?”
“Funny good.”
Daniel presses another quick kiss to his lips and then spins them, planting his feet on the carpet.
“Slide down to the floor between Daddy’s legs,” he says.
Armand pouts, even as his mouth waters.
“I'm not getting rid of you,” Daniel promises. “I want to show you something. You'll like it, I promise.”
“Okay,” Armand says breathlessly, too eager for this little roleplay, and slides down onto the floor. He kneels between Daniel’s feet, hands folded in his lap, eyes big and curls mussed and lips slightly parted.
Daniel is staring at him when he looks up, enraptured.
“Armand…” Daniel breathes, leaning forward to brush a thumb across his cheek.
“Amadeo,” Armand corrects softly.
Daniel’s hand freezes on his face. He squeezes his eyes shut, grinding his teeth. Armand can tell that he's counting in his head. He hopes he's not annoyed enough to leave Armand alone here on the floor.
It's his name, he thinks defensively, to do with as he pleases.
When Daniel’s eyes open, they're amber again.
“I don't want you pretending I'm him,” he says flatly. “I'm not cool with that.”
Ah, jealousy. Armand can work with that.
“Who?” he asks innocently, pressing a kiss to the inside of Daniel’s thigh over his jeans.
Daniel grabs his hair and pulls, hard.
“ Armand.”
“That's not what I meant by it,” Armand gasps, resisting the pull a little, just to feel the tug on his scalp.
Daniel stares down at him, assessing, then lets him go roughly.
“Baby,” he says pointedly. He grabs a throw pillow from the couch and holds it out towards Armand. “Put this under your knees.”
Armand is so touched by this that he doesn't joke or snipe or argue about the name. He just looks up at Daniel warmly and takes the pillow.
When he's settled, he prompts, “What were you going to show me, Daddy?”
It takes Daniel a moment to respond.
“Right,” he finally says. “Uh.”
Armand gazes up at him, trying to be patient. It helps that he loves being in this position, a supplicant at Daniel’s feet.
When Daniel starts fumbling with his belt, Armand’s eyes drop quickly to his lap. He feels starved, even though it’s been less than twenty-four hours since he last had Daniel’s cock in his mouth.
His hunger for his fledgling is insatiable.
“Here,” Daniel says gruffly, pulling his cock out. It's back to being only about halfway hard, and Armand can practically feel it filling out on his tongue already. He licks his lips. Then he gathers himself, tilts his head, and looks up at Daniel’s face questioningly.
“You put it in your mouth,” Daniel says.
Armand makes a face, channeling his annoyance at Daniel’s lackluster improvisation into his own character’s confusion and disgust at the idea of putting his Daddy’s cock in his mouth. Daniel is a much less experienced actor than Armand, he must remember that.
“Is that what it's for?” he asks. “Putting in my mouth?”
“Among other things,” Daniel says. He doesn't sound like he wants it badly enough, which Armand resents.
“I don't think it will fit,” Armand hints.
“You do have a very small mouth,” Daniel says, gripping Armand’s chin and running his thumb along his bottom lip. “Like a doll’s mouth. You'll have to open up as wide as you can. Can you do that for me, sweetheart?”
Obediently, Armand stretches his mouth open wide.
“Very good,” Daniel says, pushing his thumb in and holding Armand’s tongue down to peer at the dark cavity of his throat.
“I'll fit,” he says, “just barely,” as if he doesn't shove his entire cock down Armand’s throat every chance he gets.
It is actually true that Armand would struggle to take it if he were human. As it is, he's always left with a pleasantly aching jaw, and sometimes, if he's lucky, a split lip.
tonight, though, Daniel seems to have something else in mind.
“Start with the tip,” he says. “We’ll work our way up to taking all of it. I don’t want to hurt you.”
Armand frowns. Daniel loves hurting him. Hurting each other recreationally is one of their favorite pastimes.
“Come on,” Daniel coaxes. “You want to be a big boy, don’t you? This is something that big boys do for their daddies.”
Armand perks up at that. It makes him think that maybe Daniel won’t have a leg to stand on, when it comes time for him to make fun of Armand for this later. Maybe Armand will be able to look through his search history and find some ammunition.
He leans forward tentatively and gives the head of Daniel’s cock a little kitten lick. He makes a face.
“It tastes funny,” he says.
“Good funny or bad funny?” Daniel asks.
Armand shrugs.
“Well?” Daniel says.
Armand leans in again. He pauses for a moment on the threshold, then sucks just the head of Daniel’s cock into his mouth and suckles on it like a pacifier. He turns his eyes up to Daniel’s face for approval.
Daniel looks stricken, horny and horrified in equal measure, the picture of safety and comfort in his cardigan and glasses. Armand hums around his cock and Daniel’s hips twitch upward.
“Okay, thats…” he says. “That’s, um…”
Armand sucks a little more of him into his mouth, lips stretching obscenely. Daniel reaches out and runs a thumb along the place where his cock and Armand’s lips meet. He tries to push it in alongside his cock, to no avail.
“Such a perfect little mouth,” Daniel whispers. “Beautiful.”
Armand flattens his tongue along the underside of Daniel’s cock, hollows his cheeks, and sucks as he slowly pulls off.
“Fuck!” Daniel says, his eyes squeezing closed for an instant before flashing at Armand. “I don’t think I’m buying that you’ve never done this before.”
Armand rolls his eyes.
“Are you going to give me notes on my performance?” he asks.
“Hey, it’s your show,” Daniel says. “Just pointing out an inconsistency.”
“You are so irritating.”
“Extremely rich coming from you.”
Armand sighs.
“Fine,” he says. “I will give you a terrible blow job for the sake of realism.”
“Don’t fucking give me an attitude, Armand. You’re the one who decided there would be zero conversation about how you wanted this to go.”
That tone of voice, the very real anger there, makes Armand vibrate with lust. He shoves his hands between his thighs to keep himself calm and still. He wonders if Daniel will punish him now.
“We never used to plan such things,” he says. “We always just –”
“Yes, because you could read my mind, asshole. And I was extra spontaneous because I was high all the fucking time. I don't know what you want from me here.”
Armand stares up at him, unblinking, face blank.
“I want you to be my Daddy,” he whispers.
“I don't know what that means !” Daniel shouts.
Armand is silent for a long moment, long enough that Daniel starts to shifts awkwardly on the couch.
“Relax, fledgling,” Armand says, voice both soft and commanding. He can see it immediately loosen the tension in Daniel’s shoulders. “It's a game . Nothing more.”
“It sort of fucking seems like more than a game,” Daniel grumbles.
Armand grabs hold of his thighs, squeezing hard, though not hard enough for his nails to draw blood through the denim.
“I am your maker,” he says. “Your protector, your master, and your father in the blood. You are safe with me.”
Daniel relaxes against the couch cushions, his breathing growing more even.
“Okay,” he says. “Yeah, no, point taken.”
Armand doesn't say, I know I'm not perfect, but I'm better than my father. He doesn't say, I never got to have what you have with me. He doesn't think of Marius in these terms, even now.
Still, understanding thrums through their bond. It would likely break down if they tried too hard to articulate it, but the underlying feelings mesh.
“Back up for a minute, let me get my pants off,” Daniel says, relenting, and Armand gladly does as he's told, shuffling back on his knees to watch Daniel bare his legs. Armand loves those legs. They're strong but soft, and so hairy. He loves the wrinkles around Daniel’s knees, the scar across one of his shins, the patches of discoloration that come with age.
“Alright,” Daniel says, when his jeans are on the floor. Armand notices with mild disappointment that he's left his belt tangled with them. Daniel pats his thigh. “Forget the blowjob. I'm gonna open you up now.”
Armand climbs into his lap but shakes his head as he does.
“There's no need,” he says. “I've already done it.”
“But you don't even know what sex is ,” Daniel teases, wrapping his arms around Armand’s waist. Armand likes this, the feeling of their bare legs sliding together below the press of their clothed chests. It feels intimate in a different way than being fully nude.
Armand leans in and whispers in Daniel’s ear, “Girls don't need to be opened up.”
“Okay, no,” Daniel says.
Armand freezes. He knows why Daniel is hesitant about the rest of it, but this was meant to be a bone thrown his way, and not knowing why he won't chase it makes the deep-seated insecurity that lives full time in his chest rear its ugly head.
Daniel seems to sense it immediately, because he's rocking Armand again and rubbing his back.
“I’m not saying no forever, I'm just saying... one thing at a time. Please. For the love of God.”
Armand relaxes a little, though he still feels raw and exposed, fighting the urge to bite at Daniel, either physically or verbally.
“Just… let me take the wheel, okay?”
Armand bites his lip.
“Okay,” he whispers.
He's not quite meeting Daniel’s eye. Daniel ducks his head down, forcing eye contact.
“I mean it, Armand,” he says. “Try to let go a little bit. You're wound so tight I'm afraid you're gonna snap.”
He leans in and presses a kiss to Armand’s jaw. Armand tilts his head back, exposing his neck.
“I know what you need,” Daniel tells him, “better than you do.”
And maybe he's right, because that sends a shudder all down Armand’s spine.
“Yes m–.... Yes, Daddy.”
“I'm taking you back to bed,” Daniel says, and gathers Armand up in his arms.
Clinging to Daniel’s neck, Armand rests his head against his chest as he's carried to their bedroom. Daniel’s newfound strength, sucked ravenously from Armand’s wrists and throat and thighs at every opportunity, makes Armand feel reassuringly small in his arms.
When he's placed on the bed, he moves to take off the sweater, but Daniel stops him with a hand on his chest.
“Keep it,” he says. “We're gonna get you back to sleep and I want you to be warm.”
Armand knows perfectly well that Daniel likes the way he looks in it, and he wishes he would just say so, but little boy gets fucked to sleep by his Daddy is just the sort of game he'd been hoping for, and he's not going to postpone it just to fish for compliments.
“You keep yours too,” he says, reaching for the cardigan’s lapels and pulling gently on them, then looking up into Daniel’s eyes. They're green again, that dreamy jade he'd become obsessed with in the 70s. He'd bought everything he could find in that color: scarves, figurines, jewelry. He'd even wallpapered his and Louis’s bedroom in it once. He'd been so frightened of Daniel’s eyes changing when he took the Dark Gift, and perhaps it was that fear that had preserved them. He doesn't know. He is grateful.
“Mm,” Daniel says. “We’ll both be warm. Good. Now lie back on the bed for me, sweetheart.”
Armand chews his lower lip as he obeys, scooting backwards with an affected lack of grace and sprawling across the sheets, his stretched arms pulling the sweater up to reveal his cock, still hard, and an enticing little strip of belly.
“Gorgeous,” Daniel says, and whistles. Armand blushes. “Prettiest baby from here to Modesto, and you're all mine. Isn't that right?”
Armand nods.
“All yours, Daddy,” he says, closing his fists around the ends of his sleeves again and fiddling with the ribbed fabric as he shifts from side to side with nervous excitement.
None of it comes to him by instinct, all of it is a show, yet he relishes the performance. Each fabricated squirm makes his skin tingle, his belly warm.
If it unsettles Daniel, he's doing a better job of hiding it now.
“Daddy knows what you need to feel better, and to fall back to sleep, but you'll have to trust him, okay?”
Armand nods and lets his legs fall open, trying to make the movement look absentminded, meaningless.
Daniel bites back a moan. A droplet of blood appears on his lip where his fang has just descended. Armand’s eyes follow it as Daniel licks it up and closes his eyes, forehead furrowed, willing his fangs away.
Armand loves watching him do this, practicing a skill he hasn't yet mastered. It takes Daniel a great deal of effort to tame his fangs. It's adorable, kittenish.
When Daniel crawls up the bed towards him, it takes Armand’s breath away, the smooth, easy movements of this beautiful body that Daniel had struggled to control mere months ago. He hadn't been sure when he’d turned him that the tremors would cease. He hasn't told Daniel this, has let him believe he knew he would be healed by the blood, can't quite admit the extent of his selfishness.
Daniel settles between his legs, propped up on his forearms. Armand sort of wishes he'd let him take his whole, comforting weight, but the closeness soothes him nonetheless.
“I'm going to make you mine forever,” Daniel whispers, and before Armand can respond Daniel is kissing him, sweet and slow, and Armand is melting back into the pillows with a happy sigh. The slide of Daniel’s cock against his makes him whine softly.
Daniel breaks the kiss to murmur against his lips, “That feels nice, doesn't it sweetheart?”
Armand nods, pressing a sweet little kiss to the corner of Daniel’s mouth.
“Yes, Daddy,” he says, voice lilting and high and soft, another practiced affectation. “Feels so nice.”
“Could make you come like this,” Daniel says.
Armand doesn't want that.
“What does come mean?” he asks, just to punish Daniel for so much as thinking about not fucking him.
Daniel’s hips stutter deliciously.
“I'm going to show you, baby,” he says, voice strained, and, mercifully, he shifts so that his cockhead bumps against Armand’s hole. The borrowed blood pumping through Armand’s veins sings in anticipation.
“This will feel a little funny at first,” Daniel says, catching Armand's gaze and holding it, like he's keeping an eye out for any sign that he's going to break him, as if he could, as if anything but his absence could hurt him.
“Funny good or funny bad?” Armand asks, feigning nerves.
“Just funny,” Daniel says. “But then, it will be the best thing you've ever felt. Okay?”
Armand nods.
“Okay,” Daniel says again, more to himself than to Armand. “Tell me if you need me to slow down”.
Armand will do no such thing. He nods again.
He isn't sure he remembers the first time this was done to him. He has a few jumbled memories from his childhood that include his body being used, but he can’t place them in time, and they are so few he's certain they represent only a fraction of such encounters.
Still, he's certain he was never touched with such reverence, such care, certainly not the first time, and not in the brothel, perhaps not even by Marius, whose reverence and care felt so different from Daniel’s in a way Armand can't quite wrap his head around.
Daniel presses into him so slowly, so gently, that it feels to Armand like a tide coming in. Most days, Armand savors the ache of taking Daniel’s cock, but tonight there is no pain.
Still…
“It feels so big, Daddy!” he gasps. “How will it fit?”
“Hush,” Daniel says. “Your body was made to take me. Just relax and let it happen.”
Your body was made to take me, Armand thinks. How beautiful, to think that this body, knit together in the belly of a woman he no longer remembers and the source of so much of his grief, was created for the pleasure of a beautiful, infuriating boy who wouldn't be born for another 450 years.
“Yes, Daddy,” Armand says, and he lets his limbs turn to jello.
He gasps when the last inch slips in.
“How does it feel?” Daniel asks.
Like all the emptiness inside me has been filled , Armand thinks.
He wiggles his hips a little, making Daniel gasp.
“I feel so full, Daddy,” he says. He wriggles a hand between them and presses down on his belly, magnifying the sensation of fullness. He bites his lip and lets his eyes fall shut.
When Daniel says, “Are you ready for me to move, sweetheart?” his voice is breathy and desperate.
Armand nods frantically.
“Mm-hm,” he says, and before the noise has fully left his lips, it's turned into a gasp, because Daniel has started moving.
His thrusts are slow and regular, and Armand returns to the image of Daniel as an ocean, waves crashing upon the sandy shore that is Armand’s ancient and ravaged body, made new by Daniel’s love.
Lover, he thinks, I am yours forever.
He reaches up and tugs on Daniel’s cardigan, pulling him down until his full weight rests on Armand’s chest, their faces tucked into each other’s necks. There's less room for leverage this close together, but Armand doesn't mind. They rock together, close and warm, chasing nothing. Armand tangles his fingers in Daniel’s curls.
“My beautiful boy,” Daniel whispers, holding him close, and Armand feels tears prick at his eyes.
“Yours,” he chokes out. Body, mind, and soul. If he has such a thing.
Heat is building slowly in Armand’s belly, and he does find that he feels a bit sleepy. He stifles a little yawn and Daniel laughs softly.
“Have I scared away all the monsters from your dreams that easily?”
“Mm,” Armand hums. “Safe with my Daddy.”
Daniel lets out a wounded little noise. Much to Armand’s chagrin, he pulls out.
“Hey!” Armand protests.
“Shhh, baby,” Daniel says. If Armand’s eyes look red, Daniel doesn't say anything about it. “I'm just moving us a bit, so you'll have an easier time falling asleep. Roll onto your side for me.”
Armand does as he's told. The vulnerability of it prickles up his spine – his back to Daniel, exposed, in just his stolen blue sweater. He feels small and unguarded. But, of course, Daniel is here to protect him.
“Good boy,” Daniel tells him, fitting his hand into the dip of Armand’s waist and squeezing.
He settles down behind him, fitting their bodies together. It's not the way they usually sleep; most mornings find Daniel’s head resting on Armand’s chest, or Armand curled around Daniel’s back. Daniel has never entirely stopped being Armand’s beautiful boy, but Armand thinks perhaps they should add this to their repertoire. He feels safe in Daniel’s arms, perfectly held.
When Daniel slips back into his body, he lays a hand on Armand’s belly and rests there a moment, joined and still.
It's nice, but soon Armand is squirming. Daniel chuckles.
“What did I tell you?” he says. “You won't be able to get enough of it now. Daddy’s perfect little slut.”
Armand whimpers, and it's not an affectation this time.
“Shhhh,” Daniel says, rocking into him ever so gently. “Close your eyes, kiddo.”
And then, to Armand’s shock and delight, he starts singing, in the rough, gravelly, slightly off key voice that fills the house when Daniel showers.
“Rock a bye baby, in the tree top, when the wind blows the coffin will rock…”
Armand is startled to feel tears spill down his nose and cheek.
“When the bough breaks the coffin will fall, and down will come baby, coffin and all…”
The hand on his belly finds his cock and starts stroking in time with those gentle thrusts.
“Ah!” Armand gasps softly.
“This is coming,” Daniel whispers, and, well, it certainly is now.
Armand spills over Daniel’s fist and it's like no orgasm he's ever had before, strangely gentle and easy and leaving him feeling calm and sleepy rather than wrung out. He lets his eyes close again.
He doesn't know how long Daniel spends rocking into him after that, but he thinks it's a long time. He's drifting, the pleasure a light and dreamy fog.
And then, Daniel stills.
There is a golden moment of drifting together before he whispers, “Are you awake?”
“Mmmm,” Armand hums.
Daniel laughs softly and squeezes him.
“I'm going to get a towel,” he says. “I'll be right back.”
Armand grabs his arm and holds onto it ferociously.
“Nope,” he says.
Daniel snorts.
“Does this mean I'm not in charge anymore?” he asks.
“You are never in charge, beloved,” Armand says sleepily. He feels Daniel nip his shoulder defiantly and smiles. He lets the arm go.
“Fine,” he says. “Get your accursed towel. But be quick about it.”
He gasps when Daniel slips out, the sudden emptiness threatening to drag him down into darkness, but Daniel fetches the towel quickly and is back to mop Armand up before he can start spiralling in earnest.
“How was that?” he asks, as he drops the towel onto the floor.
“That was lovely,” Armand says, rolling onto his back and managing to suppress the desire to remind Daniel where the hamper is, “but I still want you to terrorize and molest me.”
Daniel rolls his eyes as he flops down onto the bed next to him.
“I will rape the shit out of you, babe, if that's what you want, but I need you to give me like half a second’s heads up next time, okay?”
Armand shivers.
“Consider this your heads up then,” he says. “Take me by surprise. I, for one, enjoy spontaneity.”
“No, you don't. And you can't torture me for being too interesting and then turn around and call me boring.”
“You will never free me from the prison of my own actions, will you?”
“I will never let you live it down, no.”
Armand rolls onto his side to face him, like they're at a slumber party. Daniel mirrors him, arm tucked under his head.
“You love me,” Armand says. It has taken some time for this fact to sink in, but now he feels it deep in his guts. He watches Daniel’s crow’s feet deepen as he smiles.
“Course I do,” he says, reaching out and brushing a loose curl behind Armand’s ear. “Though you torment me endlessly, I would sooner die than lose you.”
Hearing his own words turned back on him makes Armand blush.
“Hey,” Daniel says. “I just had an idea. Have you ever seen one of those videos of a hot girl humping a giant teddy bear?”