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King of the Oak (3/3) Robin/Guy
Title: King of the Oak (3/3)
Pairing: Robin/Guy
Rating: Hard R
Warning: Sex, a bit of swearing.
Summary: Sequel to Lion's Heart. In this part: Guy comes down to earth, and gets grounded.
Part One
Part Two
Guy was never clear on the interval between being pulled into the empty air and arriving on solid ground, but his immediate response was to get as close to it as he could.
“On your way Simon. I think Guy might be down there some time.”
Guy breathed in leaf mould. It was wonderful.
Robin joined him in a casual sprawl on the floor.
“You know, Vaisey’s going to come and arrest you in a minute,” Guy mumbled.
“No he isn’t. Not unless Much is doing a terribly bad job. And that wouldn’t be like him. Most of the time. Takes pride in his work.”
“Oh.”
“Saved your life Gisborne, think you owe me.”
“Owe you?!”
“Don’t worry, this isn’t a needlessly elaborate plan for another fuck. I just want that box. The one you chased me out a roof for.”
“Oh.” Guy said, telling himself that what he was feeling was exhaustion, not disappointment. “I haven’t got it with me.” Which was technically true, even if he could feel the trinkets digging into his hip against the floor.
He should feel vulnerable, sprawled out like this, back to Robin. But any blow from Hood was unlikely to be made from behind. It would be when they were eye to eye, both armed.
“Really?”
And then Hood’s nimble fingers were racing across his body, searching all over.
“Augh!”
“Ticklish? Really? You don’t seem the type.”
Guy flopped over onto his back and glared. He reached for his dagger.
It wasn’t there.
“Looking for this? Swap you.” The dagger was in Hood’s hands.
“I don’t want the damned box, but I don’t have it with me. If you had something I wanted, I might trade for it, but you don’t.”
And then Robin dropped back to sit on his heels, head cocked to one side.
“Ridiculous. I’m everything you want, and you’ve only just started to realise.”
“Arrogant outlaw bastard.”
“Basic truth of my life. Everyone always wants me. My life, my death, my aim, my obedience, my command, my money, my land, my love, my body. Everyone.”
“Right now, I would really enjoy your absence.”
“Liar.” And Hood dropped a hand onto Guy’s knee. He stifled a gasp, but apparently not quick enough.
“You see? The slightest suggestion of a touch, and your breath comes faster, your heart beats faster.”
And Hood was crawling, making his way from Guy’s side to kneel between Guy’s legs, staring downwards, eyes lively with promise.
“Perhaps if I found walking trees attractive.”
Hood looked down at his persistent foliage and laughed.
“Sherwood has some very beautiful trees. I spend large portions of my day staring at them.”
Both of Hood’s hands were on Guy’s knees now, and the weight of promise kept Guy prone. Those hands were pushing upwards, strong as the rising tide and just as persistent. They were almost where Guy needed them when Robin paused, and began to rub his thumbs in maddening circles against the inside of Guy’s thighs.
“If you stop to barter now, I swear, I’ll-”
“Agree to anything unconditionally? Do you ever stop to wonder why men rule the world Gisborne? We’re so delightfully stupid like this.”
And Hood’s head bobbed down, to mouth the shape of Guy’s length through his ill-treated leathers.
“Nnh! Just get on with it, before we have your men or mine tripping over us.”
“Yes, sir.” Robin breathed without moving his head, and either the words or the movement of his lips succeeded in eliciting another scrambled gasp from Gisborne.
He was quickly, but not hastily, released before Hood grasped him carefully.
“Its not going to break off, get a move on.”
“Where’s my box?”
“You BASTARD!”
Gisborne could feel himself flush stupidly, and he would have kicked Robin if not for fear of serious damage.
“Where. Is. My. Box.”
“In the manor! I swear to God, stop playing with me and I’ll have it left by the oak for you to collect! I don’t want it.”
And that lie must have been enough, because blessed wet heat engulfed him, and Guy screamed into the palm of his own hand.
Guy alternated between lying there dazed, and snatching hold of Locksley’s hair, forcing him into the thrust of Guy’s hips. Locksley made no protest against being manhandled.
“Did Richard teach you this? Teach you to take it rough?”
The thrust into Locksley’s mouth was punctuated by teeth. Guy fell back and smashed his head off the floor.
The brief sting was erased by a dutiful tongue, careful and attentive.
Yes, he could see Richard teaching Robin this, teaching him an intimate worship of his king.
The coiling desire at the base of his cock surged, and he wondered if it would be polite to warn Locksley, if he had any interest in being polite, if the king had expected Hood to swallow him down without complaint.
“Robin!” He managed, before those fingers of his were tickling maddeningly just behind Guy’s balls, at a patch of skin that drove him up towards the sky. They knew no restraint, and were reaching back where Guy would not have permitted them if asked. But Hood wasn’t asking, and Guy was beyond protestation. A finger brushed inquisitively between his cheeks and Guy howled one last time, emptying himself into Hood’s mouth.
When he opened his eyes, Locksley was wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.
“Well, when I’m right, I’m right.” A woman’s voice said.
“You!” Guy yelped, struggling to wiggle back into his breeches, staring at Morgan.
Hood just sat back on his heels.
“Was this a truth of yours, my lady? Are we of interest?”
“I said your name to him, and watched his face. Clear enough for one who knows how to look. And this is an odd kink in your tale, child.”
Guy climbed upright.
“If you breathe a word of this-”
“Don’t threaten her.”
“Or what? You’ll refuse to let me fuck you in future?”
Hood rolled his eyes and failed to look embarrassed.
“I’ve still got your dagger and Morgan can take care of herself. My lady, did you want me? I’m a little preoccupied.”
“I have travelled through your lands and told you no truths. That was rude of me, I come to make amends.”
“I’m listening my lady.”
“Then listen. That dark one, who’s growling and fierce like thunder beside you…oh, I don’t need to bother with the poetic nonsense for you, do I child? He has done no harm simply for the love of it. Plenty done in anger, or for power, but he doesn’t even know if power’s what he wants. That much is obvious. But you may not have noticed, with all the push and shove between you.”
Hood for once was silent. He seemed to be considering the forest floor in great detail.
“I think I am in need of your advice lady.”
“My advice, Robin Hood? You ignored it when you were Robin of Locksley.”
“Yes. And I’m not Locksley at the moment, am I? Not in the way I should be.”
“Well, if that’s what you need my words for-”
Guy stepped forward growling.
“That’s enough nonsense crone.”
The crone’s wrinkles shifted across her face to trace what might have been a smile.
“Stronger men than you have raised hand against me. They ran home crying.”
He reached forward to grab her by her hair, but then there was powder in his eyes, and he couldn’t see, couldn’t breathe either, and he choked, writhing on the ground, tears on his cheeks.
“It will pass. Don’t fret.”
He was still lying there, gasping, when Vaisey’s men found him, and he was given a polite but insistent escort back to the castle. Hood was nowhere to be seen, and there was a weight lacking from his pocket. That crafty little bastard. Those roaming hands must have made free with Gisborne’s pockets whilst he was distracted by Hood’s mouth. He’d got what he wanted without using the damned dagger that had been left in the dirt at Guy’s feet.
When he arrived in Vaisey’s chambers he couldn’t bring himself to meet the man’s gaze.
“Gisborne.”
“Sir.”
“I was doing you a favour today, and you repay me by undermining my authority, scrambling up a tree like a monkey, for the sake of a peasant’s brat…no, wait, for the sake of precious Marian and the besotted flutter of her eyelashes!”
It sounded like it might be a long rant.
“She is supposed to be obeying you, you idiot, not the other way around! You tell her to heel and she comes to heel, she doesn’t whisper fetch and send you barking up a tree!”
He hadn’t thrown anything yet, which was promising.
“I’m sick of watching you moon over her. Get out of my sight, I don’t want to see you for a week.”
“…sir?”
“I mean it! Stay out of my way or I’ll do something we’ll both regret. You’re on my last nerve Gisborne, and every time I look at you I want to break something over your head, or bend you over a table. And you won’t permit the second and I might kill you with the first. Kill you! What the devil were you doing today? You could have broken your damned neck! I thought you had!”
Vaisey was…upset. Guy gawped.
“GET OUT! Don’t stand there with your mouth open like a fish, get out of here before I have you dragged out.”
He left. It was late, and ordinarily he’d have stayed the night, but that could be potentially suicidal tonight. He borrowed a horse, and braved the dark countryside instead.
He should show Marian he was well, tell her the boy was fine, but the weariness and the aches were deep down in his bones, and he needed his bed. He rode straight to Locksley.
When he had arrived, there were fires burning and families sat beside them waiting for something.
He stopped on the edge of the light, surprised. It seemed a lively gathering.
“I still can’t believe he tied summat to the tree.”
“He did, I swear, right before we started to fall. From me own clothes!”
“You’re a lucky lad Simon. Could have got the pair of you killed.”
“He was brave as anything, wasn’t even surprised when Hood turned up.”
“That’s because Hood always turns up. You should all be indoors.”
There was silence, and a flicker of fear as he broke into the conversation.
And then cheering.
They were cheering. Him.
Guy looked on in shock, feeling as if he were stitched to his horse.
They were smiling, and jumping up and down, and pounding one another on the back. No-one was laying a hand on him, but they looked as though they wanted to.
“Bed!” He shouted, and made a break for the stables.
He finally staggered into the house only to find Thornton, the cook, and a couple of the maids huddled together around a candle.
“My lord!”
Their smiles seemed genuine. Guy felt unaccountably wobbly.
“I’m going to bed. Everyone needs to go to bed, and to stop staring at me like I’m the prodigal son.”
“I’d like to send a lad to Knighton, if that’s alright, sir. Lady Marian wanted to hear as soon as you were found.”
“Yes, fine. Make sure nobody wakes me tomorrow. Unless it’s Lady Marian.”
“Of course.”
The stairs to his room felt steeper than usual. Perhaps being banished from the castle for a week could have its uses. Seven whole days, in which he might manage not to accumulate any more bruises. To rest.
To his profound irritation, somebody was already resting on his bed.
“Not now Hood. I’m in enough trouble because of you.”
“Really? Is Vaisey having a tantrum? But I didn’t send you up that tree, I only helped you out of it. And I told you, I want my box.”
Guy started stripping out of his jacket, ignoring the attentive eyes of Hood, lounging cat like in the middle of the room.
“You took the jewellery. Unless Morgan’s trying to do you out of a job. You’re here for a fuck.”
“Now who’s an arrogant bastard? The jewels belong in the box.”
“If you didn’t want a fuck, you wouldn’t be sprawling across my bed like an invitation, you’d have found what you wanted and run.”
“It’s my bed. I’m entitled to lie on it without being propositioned.”
“And being left unfulfilled earlier has nothing to do with this.”
Hood gave up the act, and laughed.
“Are you interested or not, Gisborne?”
Guy felt himself move forward, and stopped.
“No. I want to know what’s going on.”
“What?”
“The fucking, Robin, explain it to me.”
Robin’s eyebrows shot up.
“Well, generally, when one man likes another’s body very much.”
“Very funny. Explain this. You hate everything I do, and everything I stand for. I’ve got everything you ever called your own. And you’re offering me that last little bit as well.”
Robin closed his eyes, and began speaking, slowly.
“Locksley belongs to me in a way you will never understand. It bred me, and it loves me. I can’t help but love it with every drop of blood in my veins. You don’t even have the capacity-”
“Don’t try and tell me what I have.”
Hood laughed.
“Really, what do you love, Gisborne? And I won’t believe you for a second if you say Marian.”
“You know nothing about that.”
“I know you don’t understand love. You understand possession. But you’re an idiot if you don’t know she’s stronger and braver than both of us. And one day, all that strength and bravery…she’ll do something you wouldn’t like, something you’d forbidden, and then what? Could you cope, knowing your possession wasn’t just a toy? Or would you just crush her?”
“As if you know how to love without possessing.”
“I SERVE the ones I love,” Hood snapped, rising to a sitting position on the bed, and there was danger in the air.
“Yes of course, you serve your king on your knees, you serve your peasants, living outcast in the woods…and you serve Marian…” Guy swayed. “Is that it? Is spreading your legs for me some kind of warped service to Marian, to Locksley, are you trying to distract me…?”
“You think I’m not distracted? I told Will I was off to gather honey. Honey! At night!”
They had started shouting over one another, and Guy closed his mouth with an audible snap.
“One last time. You hate me, so why-”
“That’s just it! I’m not sure I do hate you any more. Morgan…isn’t the only one to tell me things about you. And you’ve shown me yourself. Vaisey is a monster. You’re a monster’s pet. A mistreated, unloved, mangy little cur maybe, and you’re hungry for respect. But you’re only getting fear, you idiot.”
“There is no respect without fear.” Guy intoned, with heavy certainty.
“You can’t be that stupid. Not when my entire life turns you green with envy, and the respect given to me is respect born of love. Admiration. Look…I don’t know what I’m trying to say, and I didn’t come here to lecture.”
“How thoughtful of you.”
“Augh! There are things you need to be shown, things Marian might be able to show you if you were ready, but you’ll hurt her unless you are. I’ve been hurt.”
Guy had a sudden moment of terror.
“Hood, if that was a declaration of love, I’m throwing you out that window.”
“No! It was a declaration of…truce. Do a good job of Locksley. Learn to love it, and I won’t fight you for it. Not until the King comes home.”
“And when he does?”
“I’ll fight you without pause. You’re a traitor to the King, and you’re dishonouring my lands. But the people cheered you today, because you did something, maybe not for love of them, but that’s what it looked like to a lad hanging in a tree. I won’t try and win them away from you. Think about it. I’ll let you have that, people that give a damn over whether you live or die, who worry if you don’t come home, who keep a fire burning. Just…give a damn for them in return. Keep them warm. Keep them fed. Keep the Sheriff from their door.”
Hood was sat on the very edge of the bed now, voice low in a hypnotic intensity that made Guy want to grasp Locksley’s hair in his hand and pull the man’s head back, baring his neck. He had the oddest premonition that Hood would let him.
“You…you’re surrendering to me.” He murmured.
“A little, I suppose.”
“You give your word?”
“I do.” And then Hood was level with him, staring up into his eyes. And he leaned forward, brushing his lips against Gisborne’s carefully. If Hood had been a woman, he would have said tenderly.
Guy wrapped his hand around the back of Hood’s neck, and Hood let him.
“And are you part of this bargain?”
“Do I need to be? Do you want someone in your bed that’s bound to be there, or do you like what I give willingly?”
And there it was again. That niggling question.
“I need to know. Why are you willing?”
“Guy, you girl, you cannot be this insecure. Even Much is more subtle about fishing for complements.”
Guy tightened his grip on the back of Robin’s neck.
“Do not compare me to your manservant!”
“Fine. I like getting things I shouldn’t have, Gisborne. I like the challenge, I like the danger, and I’m good at getting them. That’s why I make an exceptional thief.”
Of course. Hood was just a contrary bastard.
“Satisfied? Do we have an agreement?”
He could have no contact with Vaisey for a week. That would look like a serious acceptance of Hood’s offer.
And Hood was warm, edging towards him, warm and waiting.
“Yes.”
Hood grinned, and dragged him towards the bed.
Pairing: Robin/Guy
Rating: Hard R
Warning: Sex, a bit of swearing.
Summary: Sequel to Lion's Heart. In this part: Guy comes down to earth, and gets grounded.
Part One
Part Two
Guy was never clear on the interval between being pulled into the empty air and arriving on solid ground, but his immediate response was to get as close to it as he could.
“On your way Simon. I think Guy might be down there some time.”
Guy breathed in leaf mould. It was wonderful.
Robin joined him in a casual sprawl on the floor.
“You know, Vaisey’s going to come and arrest you in a minute,” Guy mumbled.
“No he isn’t. Not unless Much is doing a terribly bad job. And that wouldn’t be like him. Most of the time. Takes pride in his work.”
“Oh.”
“Saved your life Gisborne, think you owe me.”
“Owe you?!”
“Don’t worry, this isn’t a needlessly elaborate plan for another fuck. I just want that box. The one you chased me out a roof for.”
“Oh.” Guy said, telling himself that what he was feeling was exhaustion, not disappointment. “I haven’t got it with me.” Which was technically true, even if he could feel the trinkets digging into his hip against the floor.
He should feel vulnerable, sprawled out like this, back to Robin. But any blow from Hood was unlikely to be made from behind. It would be when they were eye to eye, both armed.
“Really?”
And then Hood’s nimble fingers were racing across his body, searching all over.
“Augh!”
“Ticklish? Really? You don’t seem the type.”
Guy flopped over onto his back and glared. He reached for his dagger.
It wasn’t there.
“Looking for this? Swap you.” The dagger was in Hood’s hands.
“I don’t want the damned box, but I don’t have it with me. If you had something I wanted, I might trade for it, but you don’t.”
And then Robin dropped back to sit on his heels, head cocked to one side.
“Ridiculous. I’m everything you want, and you’ve only just started to realise.”
“Arrogant outlaw bastard.”
“Basic truth of my life. Everyone always wants me. My life, my death, my aim, my obedience, my command, my money, my land, my love, my body. Everyone.”
“Right now, I would really enjoy your absence.”
“Liar.” And Hood dropped a hand onto Guy’s knee. He stifled a gasp, but apparently not quick enough.
“You see? The slightest suggestion of a touch, and your breath comes faster, your heart beats faster.”
And Hood was crawling, making his way from Guy’s side to kneel between Guy’s legs, staring downwards, eyes lively with promise.
“Perhaps if I found walking trees attractive.”
Hood looked down at his persistent foliage and laughed.
“Sherwood has some very beautiful trees. I spend large portions of my day staring at them.”
Both of Hood’s hands were on Guy’s knees now, and the weight of promise kept Guy prone. Those hands were pushing upwards, strong as the rising tide and just as persistent. They were almost where Guy needed them when Robin paused, and began to rub his thumbs in maddening circles against the inside of Guy’s thighs.
“If you stop to barter now, I swear, I’ll-”
“Agree to anything unconditionally? Do you ever stop to wonder why men rule the world Gisborne? We’re so delightfully stupid like this.”
And Hood’s head bobbed down, to mouth the shape of Guy’s length through his ill-treated leathers.
“Nnh! Just get on with it, before we have your men or mine tripping over us.”
“Yes, sir.” Robin breathed without moving his head, and either the words or the movement of his lips succeeded in eliciting another scrambled gasp from Gisborne.
He was quickly, but not hastily, released before Hood grasped him carefully.
“Its not going to break off, get a move on.”
“Where’s my box?”
“You BASTARD!”
Gisborne could feel himself flush stupidly, and he would have kicked Robin if not for fear of serious damage.
“Where. Is. My. Box.”
“In the manor! I swear to God, stop playing with me and I’ll have it left by the oak for you to collect! I don’t want it.”
And that lie must have been enough, because blessed wet heat engulfed him, and Guy screamed into the palm of his own hand.
Guy alternated between lying there dazed, and snatching hold of Locksley’s hair, forcing him into the thrust of Guy’s hips. Locksley made no protest against being manhandled.
“Did Richard teach you this? Teach you to take it rough?”
The thrust into Locksley’s mouth was punctuated by teeth. Guy fell back and smashed his head off the floor.
The brief sting was erased by a dutiful tongue, careful and attentive.
Yes, he could see Richard teaching Robin this, teaching him an intimate worship of his king.
The coiling desire at the base of his cock surged, and he wondered if it would be polite to warn Locksley, if he had any interest in being polite, if the king had expected Hood to swallow him down without complaint.
“Robin!” He managed, before those fingers of his were tickling maddeningly just behind Guy’s balls, at a patch of skin that drove him up towards the sky. They knew no restraint, and were reaching back where Guy would not have permitted them if asked. But Hood wasn’t asking, and Guy was beyond protestation. A finger brushed inquisitively between his cheeks and Guy howled one last time, emptying himself into Hood’s mouth.
When he opened his eyes, Locksley was wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.
“Well, when I’m right, I’m right.” A woman’s voice said.
“You!” Guy yelped, struggling to wiggle back into his breeches, staring at Morgan.
Hood just sat back on his heels.
“Was this a truth of yours, my lady? Are we of interest?”
“I said your name to him, and watched his face. Clear enough for one who knows how to look. And this is an odd kink in your tale, child.”
Guy climbed upright.
“If you breathe a word of this-”
“Don’t threaten her.”
“Or what? You’ll refuse to let me fuck you in future?”
Hood rolled his eyes and failed to look embarrassed.
“I’ve still got your dagger and Morgan can take care of herself. My lady, did you want me? I’m a little preoccupied.”
“I have travelled through your lands and told you no truths. That was rude of me, I come to make amends.”
“I’m listening my lady.”
“Then listen. That dark one, who’s growling and fierce like thunder beside you…oh, I don’t need to bother with the poetic nonsense for you, do I child? He has done no harm simply for the love of it. Plenty done in anger, or for power, but he doesn’t even know if power’s what he wants. That much is obvious. But you may not have noticed, with all the push and shove between you.”
Hood for once was silent. He seemed to be considering the forest floor in great detail.
“I think I am in need of your advice lady.”
“My advice, Robin Hood? You ignored it when you were Robin of Locksley.”
“Yes. And I’m not Locksley at the moment, am I? Not in the way I should be.”
“Well, if that’s what you need my words for-”
Guy stepped forward growling.
“That’s enough nonsense crone.”
The crone’s wrinkles shifted across her face to trace what might have been a smile.
“Stronger men than you have raised hand against me. They ran home crying.”
He reached forward to grab her by her hair, but then there was powder in his eyes, and he couldn’t see, couldn’t breathe either, and he choked, writhing on the ground, tears on his cheeks.
“It will pass. Don’t fret.”
He was still lying there, gasping, when Vaisey’s men found him, and he was given a polite but insistent escort back to the castle. Hood was nowhere to be seen, and there was a weight lacking from his pocket. That crafty little bastard. Those roaming hands must have made free with Gisborne’s pockets whilst he was distracted by Hood’s mouth. He’d got what he wanted without using the damned dagger that had been left in the dirt at Guy’s feet.
When he arrived in Vaisey’s chambers he couldn’t bring himself to meet the man’s gaze.
“Gisborne.”
“Sir.”
“I was doing you a favour today, and you repay me by undermining my authority, scrambling up a tree like a monkey, for the sake of a peasant’s brat…no, wait, for the sake of precious Marian and the besotted flutter of her eyelashes!”
It sounded like it might be a long rant.
“She is supposed to be obeying you, you idiot, not the other way around! You tell her to heel and she comes to heel, she doesn’t whisper fetch and send you barking up a tree!”
He hadn’t thrown anything yet, which was promising.
“I’m sick of watching you moon over her. Get out of my sight, I don’t want to see you for a week.”
“…sir?”
“I mean it! Stay out of my way or I’ll do something we’ll both regret. You’re on my last nerve Gisborne, and every time I look at you I want to break something over your head, or bend you over a table. And you won’t permit the second and I might kill you with the first. Kill you! What the devil were you doing today? You could have broken your damned neck! I thought you had!”
Vaisey was…upset. Guy gawped.
“GET OUT! Don’t stand there with your mouth open like a fish, get out of here before I have you dragged out.”
He left. It was late, and ordinarily he’d have stayed the night, but that could be potentially suicidal tonight. He borrowed a horse, and braved the dark countryside instead.
He should show Marian he was well, tell her the boy was fine, but the weariness and the aches were deep down in his bones, and he needed his bed. He rode straight to Locksley.
When he had arrived, there were fires burning and families sat beside them waiting for something.
He stopped on the edge of the light, surprised. It seemed a lively gathering.
“I still can’t believe he tied summat to the tree.”
“He did, I swear, right before we started to fall. From me own clothes!”
“You’re a lucky lad Simon. Could have got the pair of you killed.”
“He was brave as anything, wasn’t even surprised when Hood turned up.”
“That’s because Hood always turns up. You should all be indoors.”
There was silence, and a flicker of fear as he broke into the conversation.
And then cheering.
They were cheering. Him.
Guy looked on in shock, feeling as if he were stitched to his horse.
They were smiling, and jumping up and down, and pounding one another on the back. No-one was laying a hand on him, but they looked as though they wanted to.
“Bed!” He shouted, and made a break for the stables.
He finally staggered into the house only to find Thornton, the cook, and a couple of the maids huddled together around a candle.
“My lord!”
Their smiles seemed genuine. Guy felt unaccountably wobbly.
“I’m going to bed. Everyone needs to go to bed, and to stop staring at me like I’m the prodigal son.”
“I’d like to send a lad to Knighton, if that’s alright, sir. Lady Marian wanted to hear as soon as you were found.”
“Yes, fine. Make sure nobody wakes me tomorrow. Unless it’s Lady Marian.”
“Of course.”
The stairs to his room felt steeper than usual. Perhaps being banished from the castle for a week could have its uses. Seven whole days, in which he might manage not to accumulate any more bruises. To rest.
To his profound irritation, somebody was already resting on his bed.
“Not now Hood. I’m in enough trouble because of you.”
“Really? Is Vaisey having a tantrum? But I didn’t send you up that tree, I only helped you out of it. And I told you, I want my box.”
Guy started stripping out of his jacket, ignoring the attentive eyes of Hood, lounging cat like in the middle of the room.
“You took the jewellery. Unless Morgan’s trying to do you out of a job. You’re here for a fuck.”
“Now who’s an arrogant bastard? The jewels belong in the box.”
“If you didn’t want a fuck, you wouldn’t be sprawling across my bed like an invitation, you’d have found what you wanted and run.”
“It’s my bed. I’m entitled to lie on it without being propositioned.”
“And being left unfulfilled earlier has nothing to do with this.”
Hood gave up the act, and laughed.
“Are you interested or not, Gisborne?”
Guy felt himself move forward, and stopped.
“No. I want to know what’s going on.”
“What?”
“The fucking, Robin, explain it to me.”
Robin’s eyebrows shot up.
“Well, generally, when one man likes another’s body very much.”
“Very funny. Explain this. You hate everything I do, and everything I stand for. I’ve got everything you ever called your own. And you’re offering me that last little bit as well.”
Robin closed his eyes, and began speaking, slowly.
“Locksley belongs to me in a way you will never understand. It bred me, and it loves me. I can’t help but love it with every drop of blood in my veins. You don’t even have the capacity-”
“Don’t try and tell me what I have.”
Hood laughed.
“Really, what do you love, Gisborne? And I won’t believe you for a second if you say Marian.”
“You know nothing about that.”
“I know you don’t understand love. You understand possession. But you’re an idiot if you don’t know she’s stronger and braver than both of us. And one day, all that strength and bravery…she’ll do something you wouldn’t like, something you’d forbidden, and then what? Could you cope, knowing your possession wasn’t just a toy? Or would you just crush her?”
“As if you know how to love without possessing.”
“I SERVE the ones I love,” Hood snapped, rising to a sitting position on the bed, and there was danger in the air.
“Yes of course, you serve your king on your knees, you serve your peasants, living outcast in the woods…and you serve Marian…” Guy swayed. “Is that it? Is spreading your legs for me some kind of warped service to Marian, to Locksley, are you trying to distract me…?”
“You think I’m not distracted? I told Will I was off to gather honey. Honey! At night!”
They had started shouting over one another, and Guy closed his mouth with an audible snap.
“One last time. You hate me, so why-”
“That’s just it! I’m not sure I do hate you any more. Morgan…isn’t the only one to tell me things about you. And you’ve shown me yourself. Vaisey is a monster. You’re a monster’s pet. A mistreated, unloved, mangy little cur maybe, and you’re hungry for respect. But you’re only getting fear, you idiot.”
“There is no respect without fear.” Guy intoned, with heavy certainty.
“You can’t be that stupid. Not when my entire life turns you green with envy, and the respect given to me is respect born of love. Admiration. Look…I don’t know what I’m trying to say, and I didn’t come here to lecture.”
“How thoughtful of you.”
“Augh! There are things you need to be shown, things Marian might be able to show you if you were ready, but you’ll hurt her unless you are. I’ve been hurt.”
Guy had a sudden moment of terror.
“Hood, if that was a declaration of love, I’m throwing you out that window.”
“No! It was a declaration of…truce. Do a good job of Locksley. Learn to love it, and I won’t fight you for it. Not until the King comes home.”
“And when he does?”
“I’ll fight you without pause. You’re a traitor to the King, and you’re dishonouring my lands. But the people cheered you today, because you did something, maybe not for love of them, but that’s what it looked like to a lad hanging in a tree. I won’t try and win them away from you. Think about it. I’ll let you have that, people that give a damn over whether you live or die, who worry if you don’t come home, who keep a fire burning. Just…give a damn for them in return. Keep them warm. Keep them fed. Keep the Sheriff from their door.”
Hood was sat on the very edge of the bed now, voice low in a hypnotic intensity that made Guy want to grasp Locksley’s hair in his hand and pull the man’s head back, baring his neck. He had the oddest premonition that Hood would let him.
“You…you’re surrendering to me.” He murmured.
“A little, I suppose.”
“You give your word?”
“I do.” And then Hood was level with him, staring up into his eyes. And he leaned forward, brushing his lips against Gisborne’s carefully. If Hood had been a woman, he would have said tenderly.
Guy wrapped his hand around the back of Hood’s neck, and Hood let him.
“And are you part of this bargain?”
“Do I need to be? Do you want someone in your bed that’s bound to be there, or do you like what I give willingly?”
And there it was again. That niggling question.
“I need to know. Why are you willing?”
“Guy, you girl, you cannot be this insecure. Even Much is more subtle about fishing for complements.”
Guy tightened his grip on the back of Robin’s neck.
“Do not compare me to your manservant!”
“Fine. I like getting things I shouldn’t have, Gisborne. I like the challenge, I like the danger, and I’m good at getting them. That’s why I make an exceptional thief.”
Of course. Hood was just a contrary bastard.
“Satisfied? Do we have an agreement?”
He could have no contact with Vaisey for a week. That would look like a serious acceptance of Hood’s offer.
And Hood was warm, edging towards him, warm and waiting.
“Yes.”
Hood grinned, and dragged him towards the bed.
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This I liked!
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