"Here," Boarstaff said softly.
Sebastian hesitated, then nodded, allowing Boarstaff to lead him into the silvery glow. The moonlight bathed Sebastian's form, revealing what had been hidden beneath simple clothing during the feast.
Sebastian's chest and arms bore a network of scars where components had been torn out, some still healing, others already fading to silvery lines. The brass that had once formed rigid plates at his joints now flowed like liquid metal beneath his skin, visible as golden veins that shifted with his movements. At histhroat, where a high collar had once concealed the junction of metal and flesh, copper threads spread in an intricate pattern that pulsed faintly with his heartbeat.
"Beautiful," Boarstaff said softly, meaning it. Not despite the scars and alterations, but because of them, each mark a testament to Sebastian's choice, his painful journey toward something more authentic than what his father had designed.
Sebastian's expression revealed skepticism, but he didn't argue. Instead, he reached for Boarstaff, his fingers working at the fastenings of his weather-worn clothing.
"You don't have to," Boarstaff began, but Sebastian silenced him with a look.
"I want to," he said simply.
Piece by piece, Boarstaff's garments fell away, until he stood exposed in the crystal light. Sebastian's gaze traveled over him, taking in the new scars from their escape from the citadel, the older marks from countless battles, the subtle signs of healing that showed his body's resilience.
"And you call me beautiful," Sebastian murmured, as he traced a particularly vivid scar that curved along Boarstaff's ribs. "When you carry the history of your courage on your skin."
Boarstaff had never thought of his scars that way, as a record of survival rather than damage. The perspective shift was unexpected, a gift he hadn't known he needed.
When they came together again, it was with newfound awareness of each other's altered forms. Boarstaff guided Sebastian down to the smooth stone at the cave's mouth, where moonlight washed over them both. He lowered himself to his knees, pulling Sebastian close to him, his mouth finding the hollow of Sebastian's throat, tasting the salt of his skin mixed with something metallic and uniquely Sebastian.
"Let me see all of you," Boarstaff murmured against his skin, hands sliding down Sebastian's sides, fingertips tracing each scar, each place where brass flowed beneath flesh.
Sebastian arched into his touch, a soft sound escaping him that would have been unthinkable from the controlled vampire Boarstaff had first encountered. His hands tangled in Boarstaff's braids, pulling him closer as Boarstaff's mouth explored the terrain of his chest, tongue tracing the path of a particularly prominent scar that curved from collarbone to ribs.
"You have no idea what you do to me," Sebastian breathed, his voice uneven as Boarstaff's teeth grazed a sensitive spot along his ribcage. "How much I've wanted this... wanted you... since that night in the pools."
Boarstaff looked up at him, moonlight catching in Sebastian's eyes, transforming them to liquid silver. "Show me," he challenged softly.
Sebastian pushed him back against the stone, the cool surface a stark contrast to the heat building between them. He straddled Boarstaff's hips, his hair falling around them like a dark curtain as he leaned down to claim Boarstaff's mouth in a kiss that held nothing back, no restraint, no careful distance, just raw need that had been building since their first encounter.
"Let me," Sebastian splayed his hands across Boarstaff's chest.
"Yes." Boarstaff moved his hands to Sebastian's hips, eager to touch, to feel every part of him.
What followed was unlike anything they had shared before. Sebastian moved above him with a grace that seemed both calculated and instinctive, his body finding rhythms that his mechanical enhancements would once have regulated into efficiency rather than pleasure. His long hair cascaded around them, creating a private world illuminated only by slivers of moonlight catching on brass beneath skin. He lowered himselfonto Boarstaff's cock with deliberate slowness, his body tensing at the initial penetration before gradually relaxing.
"Gods," Boarstaff gasped, the tight heat of Sebastian's body overwhelming his senses. He gripped Sebastian's hips, nails digging into flesh hard enough to leave marks, fighting the urge to thrust upward, allowing Sebastian to control the pace.
Sebastian braced his hands on Boarstaff's chest, using the leverage to rise and fall in measured movements. His head tilted back, exposing the line of his throat where brass threaded beneath pale skin, catching the moonlight as muscles flexed and relaxed. With each downward motion, he took Boarstaff deeper, a small sound escaping him when the angle shifted just right.
"You're magnificent," Boarstaff breathed, watching the play of emotion across Sebastian's face, pleasure unmuted by mechanical regulation, desire unfiltered by artificial constraints. Every sensation written clearly on features that had once been carefully schooled to reveal nothing.
Boarstaff watched, transfixed by the transformation that had nothing to do with physical changes and everything to do with the freedom with which Sebastian now moved. Gone was the careful restraint, the precise control that had characterized him before. This was Sebastian discovering his body anew, learning what it could feel without mechanical regulation, giving himself over to pleasure with an abandon that stole Boarstaff's breath.
"You can touch me," Sebastian said, his voice rough with desire as he continued to ride Boarstaff with increasing urgency. "Everywhere. I want... I need..."
He didn't finish the thought, but Boarstaff understood. He moved his hands from Sebastian's hips, and began exploring the terrain of his altered body, tracing scars with gentle fingertips, following the flow of brass beneath skin, learning the new sensitivity of places where components had been removed. Eachtouch drew responses that Sebastian couldn't hide, couldn't regulate away, his body reacting with an honesty that was entirely new.
Boarstaff sat up suddenly, wrapping one arm around Sebastian's waist to hold him close, changing the angle between them. Sebastian gasped, hugging Boarstaff's shoulders before scraping his fingernails in shallow trails of fire down his back as the new position drove him deeper. Their chests pressed together, heartbeats thundering against each other, sweat making their skin slide as they moved in unison.
"I never knew," Sebastian breathed against Boarstaff's ear, "it could be like this."
Boarstaff wrapped his hand around Sebastian's cock, stroking in rhythm with their movements. Sebastian's reaction was immediate and intense. He arched his back, as his breath caught, internal muscles clenching around Boarstaff. Without the regulators to dampen sensation, every touch seemed magnified, overwhelming.
"I can't—" Sebastian gasped, his rhythm faltering, thighs trembling against Boarstaff's hips.
"Let go," Boarstaff urged, continuing his steady strokes, while gripping Sebastian's hip hard enough to bruise, guiding him when his own movements became erratic. "You don't have to control it anymore."
