No one took his desire as seriously as they should, the passion that blew through him like a storm was unyielding in his pursuit of finding himself on the other side of the ropes. In the West Indies there was not a mouth that could work a dick like his, or lick that of a cunt like cake as he. Yet, for what felt like a thousand years his body had gone untouched…spanked, but not touched. Truly he felt as though his skin were to set fire at the desire and animal like need that ran through him.

The stars in the sky all seemed to burn out as midnight became morning and still he remained by the sea. Gale watched the sunrise once more from the failed light of the lamp that had burnt out long ago. He sat with his hands folded between his knees to keep warm and a half finished bottle of red wine at his side.

The crimson stain of the wine made his lips tint dark and blurred his vision so that it was only the moon he could see as it slipped beyond the horizon.

The sadness was gone, but that numb ache of the mundane had set in. He was a prince now in his own right, rich by the way of his clothes and a compliment to be paid to the way his tie was still perfect in the way the light blue bow rest against his throat. The Courtesan looked like a bird perched perfectly on the edge of the walk and even though he heard footfalls he cared not for the men that may be coming.

These hours were his, they belonged to the whores as they walked their way home with pockets full of coin.

@Atrice

Leonardo was on his way home from a busy night. He’d had no less than three costumers this night and he was quite spent. First a man, who wanted nothing but Leonardo’s mouth, because anything else would just be too humiliating, even if no one were supposed to know… and then two women, who had been quite satisfied by everything Leonardo did to them – both what they asked for and more than that, because he liked to leave all costumers well satisfied and wanted to make sure they gained the release they wanted. Even the women; perhaps especially the women, because they were often neglected by their husbands. That’s why they came to Leo, after all. He’d be the man of their dreams for an evening.

But now he believed it was time for him to dream; perhaps about Pierre de Belleville’s luxurious bed or perhaps just about his future in which he owned and ran Renata Frascati’s famous brothel. First things first though; he had to get home.

The leather trousers he wore were dark and tight; the simple shoes were easy to kick off and the light grey shirt he wore had not been closed with the strings by the hem. It was open enough to expose his one shoulder and the upper part of his hairless and youthful chest. He blew a strand of hair out of his eyes as he walked towards the water by Piazza San Marco, hoping he might catch an early gondola for the rest of the way home… the sun was rising, after all. It was a new day, after all, but still very early.

By the water there sat a… person. With long silver-like hair and a bottle of wine by his side. It was a he, wasn’t it? And he sat just where Leonardo was supposed to be to try and look for someone to take him the rest of the way home…

“Hey… Signore. Did you see any gondolas yet?” Leonardo asked the stranger with the wine.

@Lily

“I have not, the hour is still early.” Gale answered the question as though a spirit upon the shore, his eyes still fixed on the place where the sun would rise and the world would start to wake. It was his call to arms and the only time the heat of the day would allow him to sit in the sun without fading away to protect his skin. The wine warmed him while the night was cool and painted his cheeks with enough flush that he did not need the sun to aid in his coloring, and despite the fine nature of his bones he looked healthy enough as is.

“But they will come soon enough, come to take us home and back to the places we belong no?” He asked the man without even a glance, and took another drink from the bottle. Though his manners did get the better of him he turned to face his companion and was taken aback at the beauty before him. This…this youth, with his unkept hair and his well kissed lips nearly breathed in the very air of freedom and the little embers embedded in him that could start a fire.

Galen no longer needed the wine to keep him warm, not when there was such a curious young man to be his company.

“I will share with you if you wish it. It will come from the North, watch for it as my sight can not be trusted.” He offered the wine and hoped for the youth to be his company, but worried that the company this man may expect would not be as he was fit to share.

“It has the finest lantern, one of pure gold and red cushions.”

@Atrice

No gondolas yet, so he’d have to walk, Leonardo thought to himself, as he stood there slightly behind the youth with the silverlike hair and the bottle of wine. That did look so comfortable and calm though, but Leonardo really ought to go home and catch some sleep… it had been a busy night for him and he hadn’t had much rest. To be honest, Leonardo was actually tired. The youth with the wine spoke of how the gondolas would come soon and take them home.

“I hope so, I don’t know if I feel like walking anymore. I feel like resting in a warm bed.” Or just a bed, really. His bed was not half as comfortable as Pierre de Belleville’s bed, but it was his bed and he could sleep in it. Then the other young man turned to look up at him though, and seemed to look him over. The other was almost… beautiful. Despite being male, Leo thought him beautiful. And it was a rare thing to meet a man you’d add such a term to. He was almost feminine, this one, but his eyes and certain other features gave him away.

He said he’d share with him… what, a gondola? Leonardo listened curiously and saw the wine bottle being offered to him, while the feminine youth spoke of the gondola he was waiting for.

“The color of the cushions don’t matter as much as how comfortable they are to rest against.” Leonardo said with a smile and sat down next to the other, “I’ll share your gondola, since you’re offering. Where will it take me though? To my home… or to yours?” Leo just had to know, because it sounded nice. He looked the other over more; he didn’t look poor at all. Perhaps it would not be so bad to follow this one to his home and rest in his bed.

“You can call me Leo, by the way… and what may I call you?”

@Lily

“Oh they are very comfortable indeed,” He preened at the ability to brag about them, to boast the wealth that lined his pockets now, “My master would have it no other way. He has only the best, and for his family? Well, he would have nothing second hand for sure.” This was the way of the French as clear in his beautiful Parisian accent that could almost pin him straight to the Rive Gauche where the river divided the city in two.

“Even here,” Here as though Venice was nothing special nor was it a place for Kings.

He studied the boy a bit still stuck on his quip about the color of the cushions and turned his nose up a little retort,

“And you should care about the color of the cushions, they are every young Courtesan’s canvas. You would not look as bright against red as you would purple or blue, but it should matter if you ever want to get beyond walking the streets smelling like…fish.”

Gale motioned for the other to join him, and offered him the wine.

“Gale. And yes, as simple as that. Leo…” He tested the name on his tongue and wondered what it was short for.

“And where would you rather go? Home or with me?”

The silver-haired youth said the cushions were comfortable and then began speaking of how his master would have it no other way. His master? So this was a servant? And what a fine looking servant he was, waiting for a gondola of his own, with comfortable cushions… and a bottle of wine in his hand. Then however the other began speaking about the color of the cushions and how it was indeed important. Perhaps it was, if you were used to luxury. Leo wasn’t though; he grew up in a brothel and he had only recently become familiar with luxury, thanks to Pierre. But he wasn’t used to it.

He arched a brow though, at the other’s comment about him, “I smell like fish? It’s a wonder then that you want me to join you.” Leo said, honestly a bit offended by that comment. Yes, he’d been working all night, but that was rather rude. Now he wasn’t sure about that gondola to the other’s home anyway, but they’d introduced themselves to each other. Gale and Leo. Short and simple.

Then Gale wondered where Leo would prefer to go.

“A moment ago, I’d have chosen your place. But I’m tired and I’m in no mood for insults like yours. So perhaps I would rather go home to my own bed after all.” It wasn’t that the other wasn’t handsome and it was nice of him to offer gondola and wine and all, but honestly… after a night with no sleep and with work, Leonardo needed better treatment than this. He still hadn’t taken the offered wine either. Even a whore could get offended, especially one who was just pretending for the sake of retribution.

@Lily

Master was a term best met with benefactor or father, as this was what Jean-Luc was the youth who had once fed the bottom of a brothel of his own. His dark desires and his kink had earned him a reputation with the pirates, but The Frenchman who paid for his contract had his eyes on the mind hidden behind the pale skin and silver eyes.

“You smell like fish because you have been fucking,” The language harsh even on his sweet tongue, “But this is not a bad thing is it? It is hard work.” He stood to meet the other man, the simple name to such a complex mind.

“A moment ago, I’d have chosen your place. But I’m tired and I’m in no mood for insults like yours. So perhaps I would rather go home to my own bed after all.”

“But mine is clean, freshly laundered with the finest linens in all of Venice. My home faces the sea so that the smells from the canals never reach it and I only have the very finest and coolest breeze of the ocean.”

Gale came around the back of the other man, walking around him as though to appraise him, “And there is a copper bath with scented oils and as much fresh fruit as you would want, salted meat, and baked bread.”

A hand came to touch Leo’s shoulder as perhaps one would a prized horse to judge the flank and speed the beast could carry. Yes. He would do.

@Atrice

He had the most feminine appearance Leo ever saw on a man and the sweetest voice, but his words and his mind did not seem as feminine and sweet. Leonardo was liking him less and less and almost wished he had never approached him. After a long night with work, leaving Leonardo tired, he didn’t feel up to insults or being offended by a stranger. Not even a beautiful one. Leonardo knew all about how looks could be deceiving… after all, he was not what he pretended to be either.

The other said it straight, why Leo smelled like fish but then added that it was hard work and that made it not such a bad thing.

“It is. Don’t remind me.” Leo replied in a few short words, not meeting the other man’s gaze now. And then he told Gale straight what he thought; that he wasn’t in the mood for insults and considered his own bed after all. Gale had stood now, while Leo was still sitting and the other tried to sell his bed to Leonardo. It did sound nice. But he walked around Leonardo as if he was nothing but an animal in a market to be sold, all while golden words flowed from his lips.

Leonardo looked up at him when Gale touched him, arching a brow, “That all sounds very nice. And I’ll go with you, if you agree to my terms. It has been a long night, after all.” Leonardo said and stood too, now meeting his eyes, “There is a price to pay, of course. Coin and kindness. That is all I want. And depending how much you pay of both, I’m yours for anything you want.”

@Lily

It pleased him to see the other man so undone, as though seeing inside his soul for the very first time and wandering about it. If he reached up just now and brushed back a lock of that dark hair would he be able to find it within the ruins of what was left of the night? He could barely hold open his own eyes, would he be able to be the strength that this soul needed?

“Coin is not to be worried of, do I look like I do without?” He brushed his hand along the jaw of Leo’s frown and smiled, “And kindness I have plenty. Even if my words are to the point and without my manners. For it has been a long night.” And in that he closed his eyes as he felt the wave of the wine-induced illness wash over him, but before he could be sick he started to laugh lightly at first until it turned into something a bit more whore-like.

The boat came then, breaking through a fog that rest low on the water, the mists of the morning still to rise, and with the lantern hanging heavy and full upon the front perhaps one would mistake it for the sun. The gondolier still wore his mask, a face that was without any meaning or pleasure to the eye. It was not painted nor was it made of fine materials, and the black ribbon came back through the blonde hair as though sewn in.

Curtains of a fine golden fabric, warmed in the lamp light as though to say to the men and women that they would come to pass that what happened behind them was made of elvish things and impish dreams. This was the world that Gale had come to love and with an open hand he invited Leo in.

“Come…let me put you to bed.”

@Atrice

There were no ruins within Leo – he was simply tired and wanted to rest. He chose this life, after all, and he knew what it was all about. Leonardo grew up in a brothel and he knew all about whores and their tricks and their lives before he became one too. And it wasn’t a life he planned to live forever; only long enough to be able to convince his dear sister that he was a whore too and she should take him in and that he was no threat to her. So there were no ruins, only a need to rest and not be treated like dirt.

Gale told Leo that he had plenty of both coin and kindness, even though his words right now were without manners. Well Leo hoped he had at least some manners… Leonardo had, after all, despite his upbringing in the cheaper district in Rome in the ancient brothel, now run by his uncle.

The boat came and Leonardo quietly watched it arrive, while he stood beside Gale and the other slipped into the gondola and held out his hand to Leo.

Leonardo smiled as he took the hand, “Will you sing me a lullaby then?” He asked with a wink and joined Gale among the soft cushions behind the curtains. He made himself comfortable, but knowing that Gale had agreed to pay, he made sure to stretch out his arms and not keep his legs assembled, to make himself more alluring to the feminine man he’d joined.

@Lily