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It was October 1890, and Phoenix and Edgeworth were somewhere between the 3rd and 4th stage of the transcontinental horse race. They found a small cave at the base of the mountains. The mountains were surrounded by a dense forest, and a river flowed through the woods. A small stream ran past near the cave’s entrance, and they decided to set up their nightly camp there. A month had passed since the start of the Steel Ball Run race across the USA. The team had yet to win a stage, but they were confident that their time would come.
After they brought their inventory into the cave, they led their horses, Pess and Missile, to the small stream, and they both scanned the area for other racers. One could never be too careful, especially since strange things had happened since the race began. Some riders had gone missing without a trace, while others were found dead for inexplicable reasons.
“The coast is clear here. How are things on your side, Edgeworth?” shouted Phoenix from a clearing in the nearby woods.
“Don’t shout like that, you idiot! Do you want to tell the others what our position is?” Edgeworth spat at Phoenix as he walked over to him. “And there were no signs of anyone on the other side of the forest either.”
Phoenix and Edgeworth strolled back to the spot where they planned to set up their camp. The team had fallen into a rhythm, dividing the tasks at the end of each long day. Usually, Phoenix would go hunting for dinner while Edgeworth tended to their horses.
“Are you going to do the hunting and cooking today? I want to wash all our dirty laundry downstream,” said Phoenix, as he picked up their bag with the dirty laundry.
As part of the lower nobility, Edgeworth was often taken hunting as a child, but the foraging and cooking always fell to Phoenix. Phoenix, who travelled the country as a moderately successful actor before the race, had done a handful of jobs, including working as a cook.
“If you like your deer or pheasant cooked with shell splinters, I’ll do it today,” Edgeworth muttered.
“Would you rather do the laundry again?”
“Heavens no! I don’t want to repeat the disaster of a week ago!”
In said disaster, Edgeworth managed to lose half of their clothes to a strong water current. Consequently, they had to share their remaining clothes to survive the harsh weather conditions of the race, as money was tight at the moment.
“Then why don’t you catch us something nice for dinner?”
“Hmph. Fine,” Edgeworth retorted as he picked up the holster with the small revolver from the floor.
Phoenix smiled at the other man and went back to their dirty laundry.
Edgeworth walked back to the dense forest. Since it was already mid-October, some small animals were preparing for hibernation and were on the search for food. But none of them were big enough to feed two grown men. Edgeworth continued to quietly walk through the forest. He spotted a deer and hunkered down behind a fallen tree trunk to wait for it to come closer. He quietly took out the revolver from the holster and pointed it at the animal. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, a mountain lion with a loud growl appeared and attacked the deer. Shocked, Edgeworth ran away to not to fall prey to the cougar too. When he was by the river again, he stopped and was out of breath.
“No luck today?” Phoenix asked, smirking at the panting man. He was currently knee-deep in a shallower part of the cold river with the sleeves and trousers rolled up.
“Oh, shut it!” Edgeworth wheezed, leaning on his knees.
Phoenix laughed as he continued to do the laundry. When Edgeworth had caught his breath once again, he watched Phoenix as he worked. The sun was about to set, and they still had nothing to eat. Maybe he would have better luck catching fish in the river…
“Come in and help me! We’ll finish sooner, and I can help you with getting food for tonight,” Phoenix offered. “There’s still some of your stuff left there in the bag.” He pointed to the beige bag on the ground.
Edgeworth looked at the bag and walked over, rolling up his sleeves as well.
They had finished washing and hanging up their clothes when the sun had disappeared behind the mountains. Phoenix wiped his sleeve across his forehead.
“Finally. That took long enough,” he exhaled deeply and turned to the other man. “Well, let’s get some meat for tonight. I’ll try in the forest this time.”
“Fine, I’ll try my luck with the fishes,” Edgeworth mumbled. Phoenix threw a smile at him and walked away to get his hunting gear. That left Edgeworth to stroll along the stream. He watched the water ripple as some smaller fish swam around, and he couldn’t tell how deep the river was.
Even though they had left the Arizona Desert, the cold nights from the desert carried over to the mountains. It got darker by the minute, and the howling of the wolves over the forest made Edgeworth’s skin crawl. Hopefully, they would find something soon and could retreat to the safety of a warm fire.
But then, he heard a cracking noise behind him. Thinking it was his travel partner, he turned around while saying “Ah, finally. Let’s get ba—”. But he couldn’t finish his sentence as a mountain lion stood there, baring its teeth at him. Edgeworth was shocked and walked slowly backwards to avoid making any sudden movements and to make the wild animal angrier. However, he didn’t see the large stone lying on his path and tripped over it.
“Waah—!” cried Edgeworth out as he fell backwards into the river. He submerged into the cold stream as he sank to the bottom. His back hit a rock on the stony floor, and he cried out underwater. He felt how his lungs filled with water and started to panic. Disorientated, he flailed his arms around to swim to the surface.
When he came up to the surface, he gasped for breath and swam to the riverbank. Completely drenched, he heaved himself out and spat out the water. He wrung the wetness from his soaking shirt. The cougar seemed to have fled after hearing Edgeworth’s loud cry and not wanting to get splashed.
Great, just great. Everything was ruined: his shoes, his holster, the revolver itself. Stronger gusts of wind came from the mountains and amplified the cold that Edgeworth felt.
Where the fuck was Wright when one needed him?
“Wright!” he shouted as he threw his arms around himself to keep some body heat. The wind continued to blow along the path of the waters and sent chills down Edgeworth’s bones.
No immediate response came from the other man, so Edgeworth shouted again. His teeth clattered as he walked towards their small campsite. It didn’t take too long until he could hear Phoenix shout out to him, and Edgeworth drew attention to himself. When Phoenix saw the shivering mess, he ran over to Edgeworth. With a bleeding deer around his neck, he stopped close to the other man.
“What happened to you?” he asked as they walked to the cave’s entrance.
“F-fell into the r-river.”
“Shit! Let’s get you warm again. Can’t have you get sick now,” Phoenix cursed as he sped up to drop the dead deer by their saddles. He immediately searched for their blankets. “Take off your wet clothes. Here, take this to dry and warm you up.” Phoenix gave him a blanket.
“Th-thank you. What a-about dry clothes?” his teeth continued to clatter.
“They’re still wet. You’ll have to do without any. I’ll start the fire now,” Phoenix scurried over their campsite to gather sticks and stones for a fireplace. It took less than 5 minutes before a fiercely burning fire lit up the cave.
Edgeworth had taken off all his clothes and wrapped himself in the blanket. He sat on the ground next to the only source of warmth. He felt how exhausted he was and nodded off for a bit.
In the meantime, Phoenix began to skin and gut the deer. He prepared a stew to hopefully help his race partner warm up. He could see the blue lips shivering. If Edgeworth were to get sick, it would most certainly mean the end for him in the race. There wasn’t another bigger town for at least 200 km from their current position. Phoenix only had limited knowledge in herbal medicine, which was to say that he couldn’t even name three different flowers. He couldn’t help Edgeworth if a fever broke out. He would have to choose whether he would leave the other man and let him to his almost certain death in the wild or get him the help he needed, even if it would cost them valuable time in the race.
Phoenix didn’t want to think about either of these scenarios. He chopped up the last of their carrots and added them to the boiling water over the fireplace. From time to time, he checked how dry the clothes of his travel partner were and if Edgeworth had stopped trembling.
It didn’t take long for the stew to be ready, and Phoenix prepared a bowl for the shivering mess.
“Here, eat up. It’ll warm you up.”
“Th-thank y-you.” Edgeworth took the wooden bowl with his shaky hands and put it to his bluish lips.
They ate in silence.
As Phoenix rinsed their bowls and had brushed out and taken care of the horses, he finally retreated for the night. Earlier, he had already set up Edgeworth’s sleeping bag, and the man went to try to sleep immediately. Even then, Edgeworth was still freezing and shivering slightly. Even if the man was sometimes a pain in the ass, Phoenix did deeply care for his travel partner.
So, after a long day, Phoenix called it a night by placing his own sleeping bag on the other side of the still-burning fire. As soon as his head hit the saddle and he faced the opposite side from the fire, he was slowly drifting off to sleep.
“Phoenix, I’m still cold,” said Edgeworth loudly after a while.
Phoenix groaned slightly as he came back from the land of dreams. He thought about how to help the unfortunate man, but he believed that Edgeworth wouldn’t like the solution that a half-asleep Phoenix came up with.
“I know of a way to help, but you probably won’t like it,” he said, turning over to face the other man.
“I don’t care anymore, help me please,” whined the freezing man.
“Fine. I’ll share my body heat with you.”
Edgeworth faced the dying fire once again as Phoenix scooted over with his sleeping bag. He positioned himself behind the other man. He lifted the sleeping bag and blanket from his partner and moved up so that he was flush to the backside of Edgeworth’s naked body. Phoenix combined their sleeping bags and blankets to share them between the two of them.
“Is that fine?” Phoenix asked as he wrapped his arms around Edgeworth.
“Hmm,” sighed the latter, sleepy as he snuggled up against Phoenix’ hot body.
Phoenix took that as a yes and buried his face into the neck of the other man. He closed his eyes and soon fell back asleep.
However, his dreams consisted of Edgeworth, the man he had been with since the start of the race. This also made Phoenix feel frustrated at times as he didn’t have a moment to himself to erm… enjoy himself privately.
Sure, they were both men, and it was natural to pop an undesired boner or two. But travelling with Mr. Stick-Up-His-Butt left Phoenix rather frustrated in that department since the past month, as the other man did have a rather light sleep. Every time Phoenix thought he would have a quick moment to himself, Edgeworth would wake up from the noises Phoenix made while shuffling around.
So, while Phoenix didn’t have control over his dick getting hard while he was asleep and it poking at Edgeworth’s ass, it wasn’t Phoenix’s fault that Edgeworth was such a light sleeper. Edgeworth felt the other man’s cock through the clothes. Even though he was still a bit cold, the red heat of shame that rushed to his face spread a bit of warmth through his body.
How could this man be so frustrating? He knew what Phoenix was up to on several nights and deliberately made it clear that he heard him. But this, this was a new level of annoyance. Getting excited by lying with another man. Had this man seriously no shame at all?
But why did Edgeworth feel so good, so right? He was closer to Phoenix than he had ever been to anyone else before. His mentor taught him about the sins and consequences of lying with another man, and Edgeworth was terrified. He never felt any attraction to the women who would throw themselves at him. But… Men fairly often caught his eye and left him feeling confused and ashamed of himself.
And Phoenix was, objectively speaking, a very good-looking young man. Leaning to be a bit too sarcastic at times, but clearly smart and well-spoken. Edgeworth would rather be held at gunpoint than admit to any of these things to the other man. He definitely cared for Phoenix. But again, he couldn’t be with another man.
But what if just for one night? Just for one night, being held close to someone you care about. Feeling what affection would be, for the first time. Would that be alright? Edgeworth was lost deep in thought. He didn’t notice how Phoenix cuddled him closer and was shifting slightly against his lower backside.
Edgeworth couldn’t contain himself any longer and woke up Phoenix for a second time.
“What now, Edgeworth?” mumbled Phoenix against his nape. The breath was warm and gave Edgeworth goose bumps. His brain was about to short-circuit, and in seconds, he came up with an idea that would hopefully benefit the two of them.
“I’m still feeling cold,” he began as Phoenix groaned and started to detach himself from the naked man. “Hear me out. I have an idea that I’m sure you’ll like.” Edgeworth sat up and turned to face his travel partner.
Phoenix sighed but said nothing as he also sat up. He was too tired to argue back. Edgeworth seemed fidgety as he tried to think of a way to explain his plan. When he had found his voice again, he cleared his throat and pulled the blankets tighter around his body.
“So, I’m still cold and I know that you have a er… problem,” he looked pointedly at Phoenix’s groin. “Plus, I’m aware of all the times you tried to find a minute to… you know,” Edgeworth said, and suddenly Phoenix was wide awake once again and pricked up his ears. Edgeworth continued, “So, my plan is to warm my body up with something hot from the inside. With your … d-dick, for example.” He stumbled over the last few words and resisted the urge to pull the blanket over his rapidly blushing face.
Thankfully, he didn’t or else he would have missed Phoenix’s reaction. Phoenix’s jaw dropped, his eyes widened, and he looked dumbfounded and was left speechless. Did he understand Edgeworth correctly? Did this man, Mr. Stick-Up-His-Butt, seriously suggest what he did? Warming his body from the inside with Phoenix’s cock?!
How could Phoenix not be absolutely flabbergasted? If Phoenix’s boner was only half-hard a minute ago, it was now standing at full attention and Phoenix closed his dropped jaw finally.
“Let me get this straight. You want me to fill you up to warm you up?” he spoke quickly, feeling hot and aroused.
Edgeworth nodded and turned his look away from Phoenix. “Yes,” he answered meekly as he lay back down again.
Without further ado, Phoenix got up to get their little bottle of cooking oil and returned to the sleeping bags. He uncapped the bottle and covered his left hand with the liquid. He prodded Edgeworth’s backside lightly with the oily substance before he reached between his buttocks. As he circled the outer ring of muscles, another shiver ran through Edgeworth, and he tensed up.
“Relax. It’ll make this easier,” Phoenix reassuringly said while caressing the other’s hip.
Edgeworth tried to calm his nerves by deeply inhaling. Soon, his muscles unclenched, and Phoenix continued to move again his oily fingers over the entrance. Slowly, he put one finger into the tightness and waited for Edgeworth’s reaction. As none came, he continued to further thrust his finger into the warmth.
Phoenix felt the walls, and when he thought the man was ready, he inserted another finger. With slow and careful motions, he prepared Edgeworth. Two fingers became three, then four and with each scissoring, Phoenix felt how Edgeworth loosed up.
Up until this point, Phoenix had intentionally avoided touching the other’s prostate to not overwhelm Edgeworth for his first time. But with his last expansion of his fingers, he lightly touched the bundle of nerves and got an immediate reaction from his partner.
“Nghhh, are you done yet?” he asked as a shiver of arousal went through his entire body.
“Yes, I think you’re ready now,” Phoenix answered as he withdrew his fingers. He grabbed the little bottle of cooking oil once again and poured some more onto his hand. He coated his cock in the substitute lubricant and guided it with one hand to the cleft of the other man. He rubbed his dick up and down the crack twice before putting it against the awaiting hole.
With a light push, the burning cock entered Edgeworth and Phoenix carefully bottomed out. He sighed loudly as he lay flush against the other’s ass once again. He wrapped his arms around Edgeworth’s waist and buried his face into his neck.
“Is this fine?” he whispered softly.
Edgeworth had his eyes closed as he breathed a low “yes”.
The heat emitted from the burning cock spread throughout Edgeworth’s entire body. He had never felt anything like this, but it felt incredible. He was warm and very full and cuddled back into Phoenix’s chest and arms. His breathing slowed, and he fell asleep, feeling completely relaxed for the first time since the start of the race. Phoenix followed suit soon enough, and both slept through the night.
As the first sunrays hit the little cave’s entrance, Edgeworth tried to shield his eyes from the annoying, bright light with his elbows out of his eyes. He wasn’t successful, and soon enough, he was wide awake. He tried to turn around but was blocked by the arms around his midriff and cock still inside of him. It was then that he registered that both men were still attached in the same position as they had been a few hours earlier.
“Phoenix,” he called out to the still-sleeping man. “Wake up! The sun’s up and we’ve got a lot of ground to cover today.”
“Hgnnmm,” grumbled the other man behind him. He buried his face deeper into Edgeworth’s warm neck. “Gimme five more minutes,” he mumbled near incomprehensibly. He snuggled a bit closer to the warm body in front of him, which made his cock also move inside of Edgeworth. It brushed against the other’s prostate, which made Edgeworth take a sharp breath in.
The pressure on the point aroused Edgeworth and he kept shifting back into the half-hard cock. His own dick started to get hard as he continued. The fidgeting woke Phoenix up, and he yawned and stretched his arms as far as possible. Then, he noticed how Edgeworth was squirming against him, and Phoenix put his arms back around his middle. He heard the little puffs that escaped his travel partner and became aware of his throbbing cock.
“Hmmm, is that what you want?” Phoenix asked, his voice still sounding a bit sleepy.
Edgeworth didn’t reply. Instead, he thrust his hips back harder to hit his prostate each time. Phoenix took this as his confirmation to help the other man and slowly pounded into him.
Phoenix pressed a kiss against Edgeworth’s nape and flicked his tongue at the usually covered skin. His grip wandered from the midriff to the hips as he fastened his pace. He let go of the nape, and his lips wandered to the other’s ear. He licked the outer shell of the ear until he reached the earlobe. He nibbled on the soft skin, and Edgeworth immediately reacted by turning bright red and letting out a low moan.
“You liked that?” Phoenix asked in a low voice against the lobe.
“Heavens, y-yes,” whimpered Edgeworth.
So, Phoenix continued to suck on the earlobe as he fucked Edgeworth. Edgeworth clenched whenever Phoenix hit his prostate, so Phoenix tried to angle every thrust against the sensitive point. This made Edgeworth’s mouth hang open, and he started to moan uncontrollably.
“Don’t stop, ha—I’m almost there,” Edgeworth begged as Phoenix filled him again and again.
Phoenix also felt that he was close to his release and picked up his pace. He had let go of the earlobe and attacked the nape again with his mouth. He sucked and bit the pale, sweaty skin until a purple hickey appeared.
Suddenly, Edgeworth clenched very hard around him, and with a jerk he arched his back and came untouched. He fell limp against Phoenix’s warm chest, who bit for the last time hard into Edgeworth’s neck to stifle a loud moan as he shot his load deep into the other man.
Both men stayed in their embrace, satisfied and boneless, for several minutes until Phoenix’s cock flagged. He removed himself carefully from Edgeworth and stood up to get something to clean up. When he returned, Edgeworth was already up and looked disgusted at the mess underneath him.
“Ergh. Did you have to finish inside? Now I have to wash up,” Edgeworth said grouchy as he took the offered towel from the other man.
Phoenix scratched the back of his neck as he said, “Well, at least you’ve got some experience with the river. And I wouldn’t mind pushing you in and doing this again.”
Phoenix laughed when he heard the loud, shocked “Wright!” and the cum-stained towel was thrown into his face. It was worth it.