Friday 18 July 2014

Thoughtful



A picture says a thousand words. Write them.
Mission: Write a story, a description, a poem, a metaphor, a commentary, or a critique about this picture. Write something about this picture.
Be sure to tag writeworld in your block!

Picture Source:
d3nde.deviantart.com
What was he going to do?
He had stared sightlessly at the fire for so long that he could still see it when his eyes were closed. He closed them now and got a memory flash of earlier in the night. Three persons entwined in ecstasy. He sat here as the sun rose with the scent of them still on him. Them. Two lovers. One male, one female. He thought he was possessed. Such a thing. He had heard rumours of it, but he had never thought of himself as attracted to men before, so when Rose suggested her cousin join them, he had initially assumed the cousin would be female. He had done that once before; had two women in his bed. That had been an unforgettable evening.
He had slumped through the dinner. Bored. Afterwards, he hurried off to head up to his room and stripped ready for what he thought would be happening with her.
She had known he may have had doubts. She entered first, and was alone. She kissed him eagerly and slid her hands inside the front of his embroidered robe to reach for him through his linen undergarments.
“Oh, I missed that,” she whispered to him as he hardened with anticipation..
“He missed you, too.”
“He seems very pleased to see me.”
Henry chuckled, low and throatily. “Where’s your cousin?’
“He’ll be along in a minute.”
“He?” He stepped back and closed the robe tightly over his body.
“Oh, didn’t I say that?” she asked disingenuously.
He took another step back. “No. You didn’t and you know you didn’t.”
An amused tinkle of laughter. “Does it matter?”
“What? Of course it matters.”
“Why?” She slid in close to him again. “He’s beautiful; like you.” She grinned. “In fact ... I can’t wait to see the two of you together. The light and the dark.” She gave a catlike shiver of anticipation.
“No!”
“You don’t do that?”
Be with men? “Of course, I don’t. And you know that.”
She laughed. “But have you ever tried?”
He was speechless. “Ah... no...”
There was a knock at the door.
“Ooh.” She jumped with excitement. “That’ll be him.”
He wasn’t sure what he expected but the man who was standing in the doorway when he opened it was not it. He was not effeminate. He looked remarkably like him, but as she had said, the dark to his light. They were of a similar height and build; wide shoulders and muscled arms. The man carried himself in such a way that he knew he was physically fit. Henry spent all his time riding and fencing to keep in shape and it also allayed the boredom.
She reached past him and grabbed her cousin by the arm, tugging him into the room with them.
The man glanced at his face as he passed him. “Are you sure he wants to do this?”
He shut the door firmly.
“He does. He just doesn’t know it, yet.”
“Oh, honey,” her cousin answered, “That’s not fair.”
“What do you care?” he retorted. He had a wild urge to open the door again, and throw them both out.
The cousin looked deeply offended. “I do not force myself upon anyone.”
“He doesn’t need to,” she added. “Now, cousin Evan, this is my friend and sometime lover, Henry.” She grabbed Henry by the arm and drew him closer towards them. “Henry, this is Evan.”
“You don’t expect us to say hello or something?”
“Manners, Henry,” she chided.
He rolled his eyes. “Hello, Evan,” he started, “Sorry to waste your time.”
Evan lifted an eyebrow. “So it’s a no, then?”
“I am afraid so. But Rose can stay.”
She pouted.
He never could resist Rose pouting and she knew it. She kissed him.
And then she kissed Evan.
Evan wasn’t wholly into it; he kept looking out of the corner of his eye at him as if he thought it would upset Henry.
Rose was annoyed. “You can both go to bed alone if you are going to ignore me.”
She stalked over and poured herself a wine. The men watched her walk across the room. They glanced at each other.
“It’s your room,” Evan said. “And if you don’t want to... that is understandable.”
Henry’s manners were too good. “Perhaps a wine, first?”
Evan gave a short nod. She passed him a goblet. “Thank you, Rose.” He took a sip after holding the glass up to him in a silent salute. “A delay would be sensible in case someone saw me enter.”
Did anyone see you enter?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“A long delay will make tongues wag, a shorter one and people will think you are just delivering a message.”
“Indeed.”
She leaned in against Evan. “So what is the message?’ she asked coquettishly.
“I would be happy to bed either of you.” He sounded amused.
She kissed him again. This time he was more interested; responding to her and holding her firmly against his body. Henry watched them.
“Will we show him how it’s done?” she asked Evan.
Henry snorted. “I don’t need lessons.”
“I know you don’t-”
“Oi.” Evan objected at the implication that he did need lessons.
She threw herself onto his ornate bed. “So show me,” she teased.
~~~~~
They shared her; one on each side. But then, sometime during the touching and after too many cups of wine, he lost track of whose hand was whose, and whose mouth was whose.
It changed from the men sharing her, to the cousins sharing him.
She crept out at some point and he woke to see Evan sitting in the chair, shirtless and watching him.
“Still here?” Henry asked.
“Yes.” Evan studied him. “Are you well?”
“Me?” He was surprised at Evan’s concern. “Ah... yes, Thank you.”
Evan stood and slowly approached him. Henry sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed ready to stand. The other man put a hand under his chin and lifted his face. He brushed his lips gently against Henry’s before stepping away to finish dressing.
Henry stood, found his brocade robe and put it on. He held his arms tightly folded across his body. He looked uncomfortable and conflicted and Evan seemed to know. He didn’t try to touch him again.
He stopped just before the door. “You know who I am and how to contact...” He stopped talking. “If you wish,” he added in a quieter tone. “Good night, Henry.”
~~~~~
So now Henry sat and tried to think. If he was very honest with himself, it was Evan that he had enjoyed the most. And it was Evan that he wanted to see again. And alone; without Rose.
And it was that realisation that he wasn’t sure how to handle.
~~~~
© AM Gray 2014

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