Gifts

This story contains big spoilers for episode 25. It is a sequel to all my other stories, especially Musings and beyond. Please read those first if you’re a new reader. Thanks.

The sheltered place by the stream where the three of them had spent the day catching a buzz turned out to be their favorite trysting spot, considering that the weather continued to stay warm well into the evening that week. Work was over and they were together there again, stretched out on a mat, entwined and kissing. The tanned pirate had pulled the raven haired samurai’s kimono half off and was hungrily sucking up a bruise in the tender flesh at the edge of his armpit, and said samurai was struggling valiantly because it both hurt and tickled. Unfortunately, the pirate had his full weight on him and was holding both wrists held quite firmly, so he wasn’t going anywhere.

“Mugennnnn,” the samurai growled, “for god’s sake, enough!” This was the second such bruise he had suffered in the past handful of minutes, the first being in the soft and giving flesh of his waistline, another favorite place the pirate attacked often. Jin tried unsuccessfully to wrench himself out of Mugen’s grasp, and then resigned himself to the fact that he’d most likely be receiving at least one more bruise before the evening was over, probably somewhere on his inner thigh. That was the third area of his body always bearing a mark, and since Mugen was obviously in wolf mode today, that meant he was going to be sniffed, licked and bitten until he was ready to punch the guy out.

At times like this, Mugen reminded Jin of a fellow student’s puppy he had watched for a few days. The silly creature had delighted in rolling in his dirty socks and grinding its nose into his crotch and armpits. Mugen didn’t have a thing for his feet, thank god, but he did seem to have this strange need to get his face in places that made Jin feel both horrified and aroused at the same time. He could usually keep him out of his armpits by threatening not to kiss him if he started licking and nibbling in there the way he liked to do. Jin was not interested in tasting his own sweat and he could not understand the appeal it held for Mugen. Besides, it tickled way too much and was just too weird for words.

And the bruises…Jin had at least one on him all the time, usually more. He had almost become used to it by now, but the things ached and itched as they healed, and he grew annoyed at how often he became aware of them throughout his day. They were such a constant presence in his experience, Jin often found himself absent-mindedly rubbing or scratching himself in the places Mugen tended to put them, even when there wasn’t a bruise there at that particular moment. It had become a habit of sorts.

Yes, Mugen was in wolf mode. He had untied the front of his hakama, but instead of doing something useful, he was nuzzling his balls and poking that sweet spot behind them with his nose. Eventually he began to tease Jin’s ass with his tongue and that felt very nice, but the attention ended all too soon. Mugen moved upward again, sucking one sac into his mouth and using his teeth just enough to make Jin nervous. He swirled his tongue around a few times and earned a sigh, then let go and went after the other one the same way. It was good.

Just when Jin was starting to hope Mugen was finally settling down he stopped. Jin prayed his head would move upward, but it did not. It moved sideways and Jin braced for the inevitable. It came. Teeth grabbed a hunk of thigh, right where it joined his body, and he felt the familiar pain/pleasure as Mugen began to pull up another bruise. Jin groaned in frustration. He’d had enough. The fucking wolfbrat was diving him crazy. He bore the sensations, waiting for an opening, and when it came he managed—after some impassioned grappling—to end up sitting on Mugen’s back, the two of them tangled up in his hakama.

“Hey, you’re only up there cuz I landed on a fucking rock,” Mugen complained.

“All’s fair in love and war,” Jin replied, untying the back of his hakama and freeing them from the dark fabric. “Mugen, I am done with this little game of yours. I don’t care what we do. You can even decide, but enough of that.”

“Get off me so I can kiss you then.” Jin complied, welcoming the kiss. After a long while, Mugen pulled back. “So I can really decide what we’ll do?” he asked against Jin’s mouth.

“Yes. Decide. Anything, so long as it involves orgasms.” Capturing Mugen’s mouth in another lingering kiss, Jin was so achingly aroused at this point, he would have agreed to just about anything.

“Well, I’m afraid to ask you. It would be a big request, I think,” Mugen said after they broke apart. Mugen knew Jin’s master at the dojo had asked it of him, and he knew Jin hadn’t been into it. Jin looked at him with a puzzled expression, racking his brains trying to figure out what he could be thinking of. Nothing came to him.

“Ask, ask, for god’s sake!” he exclaimed, dying of curiosity.

Mugen scrutinized his face carefully, going back and forth in his mind, and decided to take a chance. “Well OK. But promise me that if you don’t want to you’ll be honest about it. I won’t get pissed or insulted if you don’t want to.” Jin nodded his assent, impatiently motioning him to continue talking. “Um…well…OK. What I want is to trade blowjobs. There, I said it.”

Jin’s eyes widened. It was a big request, as it turned out, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it. He had fantasized about doing it, to be sure, but to actually do it…he didn’t know if he even could. He had topped Mugen off in a moment of passion weeks ago, but this was different. His desire to please his lover was very great, however, so he didn’t want to shoot the idea down outright.

He stroked the dear face and stalled. “You do me first, and let me be with the idea for a while, all right?”

Mugen nodded happily and lunged at him. He had expected Jin to refuse immediately, so this was a good sign. Performing the beloved task with his usual aplomb, Jin was soon moaning and writhing with pleasure instead of frustration. He came into the warm mouth and felt his heart melt at the sight of the spiky-haired pirate attending to him so lovingly. Mugen didn’t let him go. He held Jin in his mouth as he got smaller and smaller, nursing on him gently enough that it continued to feel wonderful, even though he was super sensitive after his orgasm. Jin’s heart melted some more. Wanting to give Mugen the same kind of pleasures he so freely offered him, he decided he would face his fears and do what Mugen asked.

Mugen finally lifted his head and kissed him. He was so horny at that point, he didn’t care anymore whether Jin sucked him off or not. Throwing caution to the winds, however, he asked one more time. “Do you think you can do me now?”

“Yes, I will,” Jin replied. “But please don’t expect it to become part of our regular repertoire. I don’t believe I can promise you that. Agreed?”

“OK, no problem,” came the happy reply. He couldn’t believe it, this was going to be good! He leapt up and had his clothes off in record time, then sat back down in front of Jin, eyes lowered. Jin was charmed to notice he was trembling. He stroked the eager member lightly with the backs of his fingers, then brought his face near and breathed in Mugen’s scent. Spicy and musky, yes it was Mugen. He could smell it on his hands for hours after they had been together, and he found the scent familiar and comforting. He lay his cheek against the soft warm skin and felt it throb in response.

Jin willed himself to stay in the present, for the last time he had done this was the morning of The Disaster. His lips traced Mugen’s length. It was about as long but much thicker than Master Enshirou’s. Mugen’s pubic hair was thick and wiry with a reddish tint, whereas Master’s was fine and black with strands of gray. He engulfed the head in his mouth and had another reminder that it was not Master, as the girth of it stretched his jaw in an unfamiliar way. Master was always silent and unmoving, even when climaxing, but Mugen was letting his enthusiasm show, as usual—he was moaning, squirming and mumbling endearments. It’s Mugen, it’s Mugen, it’s Mugen… Jin was practically chanting it in his head to keep the bad memories out.

Mugen was pleasantly surprised. Jin was really good at this! He hadn’t known what to expect, considering how little Jin used his mouth on him. His only complaint as the ministrations continued was that Jin was a little too good at it. He was going after him like a whore did—no teasing, no playing, just strong solid technique that was going to bring him off quickly. Jin had his mouth around his top half and was pumping what he couldn’t engulf with his hand, working that sweet spot just behind the head with his tongue in such a way that Mugen couldn’t keep still. And every time he looked down to see who was doing this to him it got him all that much closer to his orgasm. It was amazing. Jin was sucking him off!

“Man, you’re good!” he gasped, in between moans.

“Mmmm,” was Jin’s reply, not pausing in his activity.

“Hey, could you take it easy? I don’t wanna cum so quick,” he pleaded.

Jin raised his head and smiled ruefully. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m used to trying to get this over with as soon as possible. I’ll try to do better,” he responded, and then went back to business, but with less intensity and more playfulness. He did want to show Mugen a nice time, but old habits die hard and he was only partly successful at reining himself in.

As he worked on Mugen, Jin tried to stay in the present, he really did, but the memories and questions wouldn’t go away. He found himself obsessing about whether Master Enshirou had known what he was going to do and had asked him to pleasure him anyway. Jin searched his memory for any sign this was so, but could remember only that Master had looked into his eyes and stroked his face briefly after he had climaxed, something he rarely did. Otherwise, there had been nothing unusual about their interaction that morning. Master had thanked him as he hastily dressed, and had bustled out the door without a second glance the way he always did.

Suddenly the body he was ministering to caught his attention, for it was writhing and making enough noise that it interrupted his thoughts. It was clear Mugen was close to orgasm. He hadn’t even noticed that he had put a few fingers inside him, lost in his own memories as he had been the past few minutes. Feeling that he was too distracted to do a very good job, he picked up his pace both outside and inside, vowing to do better the next time.

“Oh my god Jin, I’m gonna cum, I’m gonna cum!” Mugen warned. He wanted to give Jin a chance to back off if that’s what he wanted to do, but Jin didn’t stop. He continued to ruthlessly suck and stroke him until he came, then swallowed every drop without hesitation—a fact that made Mugen mush out completely. Still moaning and not quite back to earth yet, he sat up, pulled Jin’s mouth off of himself and brought it up to his own for a searing kiss. After several minutes he let go and fell back with a great sigh. “Mister samurai, you’ve got to be one of the best cocksuckers I’ve ever known,” he enthused, stroking the head that landed on his shoulder.

How gratifying it was to do that to someone when they so obviously enjoyed it. Jin smiled inwardly, glad Mugen had asked him and glad he had agreed to try. The gift he had given had been so gratefully accepted and appreciated, Jin felt very pleased and content. It was not like doing it to Master Enshirou at all! It had almost been fun and he felt proud that, distracted as he was, he had apparently measured up to the others in Mugen’s past. He lay on Mugen’s chest, enjoying the feel of his arms around him and the warmth of his body next to his.

But suddenly Jin realized something was terribly wrong inside. A wave of nausea arose in his guts and he broke out in a cold sweat, his entire body going weak. He sat up with difficulty, and Mugen could see that the pale face was turning grayish-green and felt afraid. The emotions leaking out of Jin were awful, but Mugen didn’t have time to react before Jin turned and began to retch in great heaving spasms. The food he’d had for lunch was long digested so there was nothing to throw up, but his body continued to go through the motions of vomiting anyway. He convulsed uncontrollably for another minute before he collapsed on his side, moaning. He lay there as if dead for a long while, then finally stirred.

“Mugen,” he whispered, “this isn’t about you. This isn’t about what we just did.”

“I know,” Mugen whispered back, gently brushing a strand of hair off the damp face. “So, he tried to kill you, huh?”

Jin felt as though a bucket of icy water had been thrown over him. He jerked up on one elbow and stared at Mugen, mouth open.

“Yes…no…I don’t know,” he stammered, then hung his head and was quiet for a few moments. “I believe so,” he whispered finally, and then the vertigo returned and the retching began again. It felt as though something was coming out of him, even though nothing actually was, and he groaned at the discomfort and helplessness he felt as he lost control of his body once more.

When it was finally over, Mugen stood up and grabbed him under the arms. “Come on, get up. If I had a cup I’d bring some water to you, but I don’t so I’m gonna get you to the water.”

Jin protested, but still allowed Mugen to pull him up and help him walk to the stream, and sank to his knees on the bank.

“Drink. You’ll feel better.”

“I’ll just throw it up.”

“Better than dry heaves. Now drink!” he ordered.

Jin obeyed. He cupped his hands in the water again and again. It tasted good and settled his stomach. Then he splashed his face a few times. “Thank you, Mugen. You’re right. I don’t feel dizzy anymore,” Jin said with a weak smile. He sat there for many minutes, waiting for his body to get its strength back. His mind was still whirling, however, and the question couldn’t wait any longer: “Mugen, why did you say that…about my master? What made you say such a thing? I’ve got to know.”

“Well, let me see….” Mugen began. He honestly didn’t know how he came to make the observation he made. He never thought about how he got his intuitions, he just accepted them, so he tried to figure it out. “You already admitted you killed him, right?”

“Yes.”

“And I’ll take a wild guess that the last man you gave head to was him.”

“Yes, that morning.”

“That morning?!? Holy shit Jin, you should have told me. No wonder you freaked out.” He shook his head, but felt glad to finally understand what the hell was going on. “Well, you were throwing out all this blood and confusion and horror just now, so I guess it felt like you were defending yourself from an attack…one that horrified you.”

“Defending myself….” Jin whispered. No matter how many times he ran the pictures of that night in his head he always came to that conclusion, but it was so hard to accept. He hadn’t been able to accept that Master Enshirou had been there to kill him and so he had come to doubt his own experience.

Jin stared at the horizon, and Mugen could feel him going inward. He thought he’d be waiting till midnight for the tale, but Jin began to speak. “I woke up when I heard the door to my room open. A man walked over to where I slept and stood behind my head. He drew his sword, so I grabbed mine and threw my futon up between us. I knew when he sliced it in half that it was Master, as I smelled his scent. Patchouli soap. He missed me twice but I didn’t….”

“So I’ll bet it wasn’t ever his habit to come to you, right?” Mugen asked. “You were the uke. It was always your job to go to him. Am I right?”

“Yes,” Jin whispered.

“So what was he doing there? He wasn’t there to give you a blow job, huh?” Jin almost laughed out loud at the absurdity of Master Enshirou ever considering such a thing, and felt a small ray of hope stirring in his heart. “He drew his sword first,” Mugen continued. “What the fuck were you supposed to do except fight for your goddamn life?”

“Yes,” Jin admitted, perhaps for the first time. “I had to fight for my life. Even after I knew who it was, I couldn’t stop. I had to fight.” It was all true. He had even known it was true, but in the face of the condemnation of so many at the dojo, he had doubted himself. Everyone had known where Master was found dead. Everyone must have wondered why he was there.

Mugen was right, Master had never been in his room before that night. It wasn’t how things were done in shudo. Everyone at the dojo knew these things, and yet the disgrace had still been his. He'd been cast out, and a part of him had accepted that disgrace wholeheartedly. What had actually happened was too horrifying, so he had chosen to believe a self-condemning version of it instead.

He had needed Mugen’s observations to accept reality again, and his whole being sang at the relief and release he felt. What had really happened hurt his heart greatly, for although he had come to hate many things about his master, he still loved him. As opposed to his real father, Master Enshirou had always encouraged him, defended him, and challenged him to do his best. For the longest time, he had thought of him as the father he should have had. Jin had not wanted to believe his master capable of doing what he had done, so that had made the reality of the situation almost impossible to accept.

Now with his ally by his side, he could finally face the truth. Master had tried to kill him. He had been defending himself. The truth was painful, and the grief it caused him was very real, but it felt liberating to see it so clearly.

“Thank you, Mugen. I believe you may have just saved my sanity,” Jin said, his voice hoarse with emotion. He reached for his lover and drew him into a kiss, amazed at what was happening in his body. He felt as though a cage he hadn’t known was constricting his chest was suddenly gone. A certain blackness he carried in his heart dispersed and he took a deep breath in response. Again, he found himself offering a prayer of thanks to whomever was responsible for bringing Mugen into his life.

Jin felt happy. In fact, he felt jubilant…and horny again. It was getting late and Fuu would probably start to worry soon, but he didn’t care. He broke their kiss and stood up, testing his legs and finding them strong, his head clear.

“Come with me,” he ordered, grabbing Mugen by the arm, practically dragging him back to the mat where they had left the oil. He poured some into his hand and began to stroke himself, a sight Mugen had never seen before. He watched the flaccid member lengthen and rise and began to salivate. “On your knees, wolfbrat,” Jin demanded.

“Wolfbrat?!?” Mugen laughed. He had never heard Jin’s private name for him before, but decided he liked it. “You really want to go again?” he asked incredulously. This was not like Jin at all but he was certainly game, so he put his head on his hands, thrust his ass up in the air and spread his legs suggestively. “Acceptable, sir?” he purred.

“Quite acceptable,” replied Jin, kneeling behind him and positioning himself at the back entrance to Mugen’s body. Mugen moved to meet him and Jin thrust himself all the way in, earning a heartfelt moan, stroking slowly and deliberately. He knew Mugen had just cum, so he would need a fair amount of fucking if he was going to get another orgasm out of him. He took his time, waiting until the body below him was shuddering and sighing before reaching around to hold the stiffening cock.

Mugen groaned and bucked against him. “I don’t know if I can cum again,” he gasped. He was spent, and the stimulation of Jin stroking him felt almost painfully intense. Mugen’s ass was aching, his balls were aching and his cock was aching, but Jin was relentless

“You will!” he ordered, quickening his pace, feeling close himself, but not wanting to spend until Mugen did. He leaned down to bite the back of his lover's neck and felt him shudder. “Come for me, Mugen,” he whispered, nipping at his neck and shoulder, pulling back and aiming at Mugen’s prostate, pushing himself into that sensitive place roughly while he quickened the manipulation of his cock.

Mugen cried out, it was almost too much! His body struggled with the sensations and could focus on nothing but the growing orgasm deep within himself. When it finally exploded, he lost control and collapsed on his side, but Jin flowed with him. Still deep inside, he wrapped his arms around Mugen’s chest and continued to thrust until he reached his own climax, holding on for dear life as the sensations washed over him.

“OhmygodOhmygodOhmygod….” Mugen was murmuring, both of them panting and shaky.

Jin kissed the sweaty shoulder then fell back with a deep sigh. “Sweet,” he breathed. “Thank you, Mugen. Thank you for everything this evening.”

Mugen turned and kissed him passionately. “No, I should thank you,” he replied. “You pushed past a lot to go down on me, and I really appreciate it. No one’s ever….” He trailed off, not wanting to get too mushy and ruin things. He just smiled his crooked smile, then declared, “Man I sure wish we didn’t have to walk all the way back to the house. I could sleep for a week right now.”

Jin chuckled, giving his lover’s yummy ass a smack as he stood to hunt for his glasses and clothes in the dimming light. Mugen dressed too, rolled up the mat, threw it over his shoulder, and they headed back to the house in silence. Both felt the need to say something more but neither could find the right words. The gifts they had exchanged felt too important, too meaningful, for pithy sentiments. As the house came into view, they could see light from the hearth flickering in the windows.

“Looks like Fuu’s home,” observed Mugen.

“I should hope so. It’s late.” As they reached the door, they turned to each other and gently bumped foreheads.

“Mmmm,” sighed Mugen.

“Yes,” Jin whispered back, and they walked inside the house together.

end