Sitting at the table near the sullen man, Pullo agonized over seeing Vorenus in such a state. His superior officer had decided earlier to go to a local pub to drink rather than go home. Pullo suspected that this was due to more than just the recent antics of their general. Having taken quite a bit more than was his usual habit, Lucius had become quite talkative, divulging things to the other man that he never would have dreamed of when sober. Pullo listened with a friendly ear, saddened, as well as angered, by the poor treatment of a man that he had come to know and respect by his wife.
Titus had tried to drop hints that perhaps the man should look elsewhere, suggestions that the other man waved away, denying the possibility of them. After a time, believing that he´d had quite enough to drink, Pullo helped his friend out of the bar, with Lucius leaning on him for support. Although Titus knew the way that the other man had draped himself over him was more due to inebriation than anything else, it still caused warmth to rise in his belly. And elsewhere.
The usually close-lipped Vorenus continued to rant about his feelings to his companion, slurred words full of emotion. What´s wrong with her?’ he asked Pullo. Pointing to himself, he added, What´s wrong with me?’
While there may have been a time when Pullo would have enjoyed seeing the man in pain, that time had long since past. He also had a hard time understanding why Lucius would continue a life such as this when it could be easily changed. Titus reiterated how the other soldier would be better off without his fickle mate. This fell on deaf ears, as his comrade turned suddenly, grasping him roughly by his tunic.
I won't leave her!’ Vorenus exclaimed, clinging to the other man briefly before sinking to the ground. Gazing up at the other man from where he now lay, he added, I´d rather die than leave her.’
Wearing a look partly of compassion, and more of something else, Pullo gathered the man up from his place on the ground. He was mildly surprised when Vorenus wound an arm around his neck. Perhaps this was just to keep himself upright. And the way that Lucius leaned into him so that he could feel warm breath caressing his neck was due to intoxication. In any event, Pullo held the man close, murmuring words of comfort.
"It´s alright, lamb. It´s going to be alright.’
Lifting his friend´s body onto his shoulder, Titus carried him in the direction of his home. Upon arriving, he almost brought Lucius up the stairs to the doorway. Almost. Telling himself that he should spare his friend the embarrassment of being brought back to his wife extremely drunk, Pullo brought him to the room that he had adjacent to Vorenus´ home. He laid the officer gently onto the narrow bed, taking a seat beside him.
Pullo watched the man rest. This whole situation seemed strange to him. Not that long ago, Pullo would have as soon as punched him as anything else. But now? Now, Vorenus had somehow managed to take a hold on his life. Circumstances kept bringing them together, and Titus couldn't deny that he was glad of it.
Rustling on the bed brought Pullo out of his reverie. Vorenus was now awake, looking up at him pointedly.
"Where?-" Lucius began to say while attempting to rise, dizziness causing him to sink back to the bed again.
Pullo continued to watch the man, a strange expression on his face. "Don't worry. You're in my room." Upon seeing the other's quizzical gaze, he added, smiling, "Couldn't bring you back to Niobe as you are, now could I?"
Titus regretted the words as soon as he saw the effect of mentioning his wife's name. Vorenus replied, "It's not as though she'll care where I am. Eight years, and she didn't even care whether I was alive or dead."
"You don't know that, I'm sure that-"
"I do know!" Vorenus interrupted, rising up somewhat from the bed, face animated with anger as well as sadness. "When I came back, she acted as though she wished that I hadn't. Eight years, and all that I thought of was her of somehow getting back to her and what we had. She can't still love me if she treats me this way."
Pullo reached out, placing a hand onto his shoulder in comfort. "I'm sure she still does."
"She doesn't even want me to touch her! Am I that repulsive?"
"Hey, now," Titus said, giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze, "Enough of that kind of talk. There's nothing wrong with you. I know plenty of girls who would give you a go." He smiled slyly at his friend, "A few men too."
"Men?" Vorenus asked in disbelief, "Like who?"
Pullo's smile broadened. "Me, for one. I guarantee you wouldn´t be able to keep making those sour expressions of yours if I did."
Lucius sighed heavily. "It must amuse you to mock me thus."
Pullo leaned closer, deciding to push his luck. What was the worst that could happen? That the officer would deck him? And the best that could happen? "Who said that I was mocking you?" he answered, laying a hand onto the other's bare thigh.
Vorenus' blue eyes widened as the other man loomed closer, his intentions obvious. Yet he made no moves to stop him. Later, when he was sober, Vorenus would blame it on a mind numbed by alcohol. For now, he just continued to stare as Titus' lips connected with his. It wasn't what he expected. A firm, but gentle press. Lips parting his to deepen the kiss. A tongue sweeping his mouth possessively. As Titus pulled away, he chuckled at the other man's strange expression.
"It's not often that you're speechless, now is it?"
"Look, I don't I mean, I'm not-"
"Relax," Pullo interrupted as he took hold of Lucius' shoulders, pressing them gently down to the bed. "It's just a little fun. It's no good for you to walk around all wound up. If Niobe won't give you release, then someone has to."
Vorenus frowned up at the other man. "So now I'm your charity case?"
"No," Pullo replied, sliding a hand upward from his friend's inner thigh to caress the area hidden by his tunic, "I think of it more as officer appreciation."
Lucius placed a hand onto the other's arm, fully intending to stop the caress, but it froze there as Pullo began to do something that made his toes curl. Pullo leaned down to murmur into the shell of his ear. "Like that, do you?"
He looked down into Vorneus' conflicted face, watched how his jaw worked nervously. A little more pressure, and he had Lucius tilting his head back as he groaned. The officer unwittingly spread his legs, allowing the other man better access. Pullo grinned as the other man squirmed on the narrow bed.
"A few more moves like that, and you'll fall off the bed," Pullo chuckled.
Lucius tried to keep hold of himself, but he was quickly loosing the battle. He shouldn't be doing this. He'd taken vows. But it had been such a long time since he'd had any kind of release. And Pullo was very talented. If he could make him feel this way just with his hand
"I-I always knew that you were perverse," Vorenus told him, trying to keep his voice level.
Pullo laughed as he continued to stroke the officer's hardening member. "I haven't even begun to show you how perverse."
A thought suddenly occurred to Vorenus, causing him to push himself up onto his hands. "If you think for one minute that I will lay here on my back and spread for you like a woman, you are sorely mistaken."
"Now, now," Titus said, making a placating gesture with his free hand. "That's not what I had in mind."
Vorenus watched the other man push his tunic up, exposing his hardened length. "Then what-?" He stiffened as he felt himself engulfed by the heat of Titus' mouth.
Lucius gasped at the strange yet wonderful sensation. This was like nothing that he'd ever felt before. He couldn't help but moan at the delicious suction. He couldn't help but shiver at the sight of his member disappearing into the other man's hungry mouth. It was something that should be obscene, but somehow wasn't, because it was Pullo.
"I c-can't believe that you're doing this," Lucius groaned, gazing down at the other's bobbing head.
Titus paused in his work to look up at the other man, removing his mouth with a moist sound. "You should feel honored. I wouldn't do this just for any man."
Vorenus could hardly think with the way that Pullo was now kneading his erection as he look up at him, wearing that grin of his. "Don't think that I am going to give you any special treatment because of this."
Pullo's grin widened. "Wouldn't dream of it, sir."
Then, that heated cavern surrounded him again, a hand stroking the base of his shaft while suction was applied above. It wasn't long before Vorenus' hips started to move of their own accord, thrusting up into that heat. Lucius' hands clenched, bunching the bed covering up into his grip.
Looking up, Pullo saw the other man's head loll back onto his shoulders as he moaned aloud. By the gods, the sounds that the officer was making were becoming too much for Titus. His free hand found its way under his tunic and around his own already erect member. He stroked himself in time to the movements of his mouth on his commander's member. Lucius moaned loudly as Pullo took him even deeper, a blissful expression on his face. Titus wondered absently if the officer would make similar arousing sounds if he were to take him. Pullo shivered as a scene played across his mind of Vorenus gazing up at him with those beautiful eyes of his, one leg thrown over his shoulder as Titus pushed into his tight heat. Would he grit his teeth and groan through them as he was doing now? Would his skin glisten with perspiration as he trembled? Of course, Titus knew that Vorenus wouldn't allow this. At least not yet.
By the way Lucius was panting, and making clipped, guttural sounds, Titus knew that the man wouldn't last much longer. He stepped up his efforts, making the other man squirm on the bed. Pullo was close himself, thrusting into his own tight grip. What he wouldn't do to feel Lucius around him just once.
Every muscle pulled taut, Vorenus was there, groaning deliciously, emptying himself into the other man's waiting throat. He collapsed onto the small bed, chest heaving. Undone by the noises Lucius made when he came, Pullo reached his peak as well, spilling himself over his own hand. He pulled away from the other with a moist sound, finding himself a little out of breath as well. Pullo shook his head, smiling to himself at how the other man had already fallen asleep. He supposed that it was the alcohol. He wondered if his friend would even remember it in the morning. Maybe it was just as well. Lucius was noble to a fault, and apparently still very much in love with his wife. It might be better to leave well enough alone in that regard, and take what friendship the man had to offer.
Or maybe a sizeable offering at the Temple of Venus was in order.