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Machias was perusing the shelf in Elliot's room, enjoying a bit of leisure time following a nice dinner. He'd been spending more and more time over at the Craigs' now, especially when his father couldn't meet him for dinner. At first he used the time to study for his doubled up classes at the political academy, but he realized he was fast heading for burnout if he didn't also fit in some time for relaxing. Fiona and Elliot were happy to have him, and he was grateful. That didn't mean he wasn't going to be a little nosy, checking out Elliot's collection of memory quartzes while Elliot worked on his next composition.
"Oh, Aidios," Machias sighed. "Elliot, why do you even have this?" He pulled one from the shelf, recognizing the title. "They turned it into an audiobook?"
Elliot looked up. "Which one?"
Machias showed it to him. "One of Dorothee's, really?"
Elliot grinned. "I had her sign my first edition copy. She gave me that as a thank you for being a reader."
Machias scowled, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Why are you a reader of this trash?"
"It's not trash!" Elliot insisted. "It's actually very sweet. She nailed the romance. In fact, she asked me if I wouldn't mind doing a bit of the music for the start and end of one of her recordings. I told her I'd consider it."
"...You know this one is about Jusis and myself, right?" Machias tried again, hoping Elliot would understand where he was coming from.
Elliot shrugged. "Sure. I think everyone knows that." He frowned. "Oh, it's not that bad. Have you even read it?"
"No! Of course I haven't read it!" He considered issuing a cease and desist to Dorothee's publishers, but the names had been changed and the situations were vague enough that it could be argued it wasn't him and Jusis. Never mind that they'd slowly been pushing their relationship forward, visiting each other occasionally on the weekends since leaving Thors. It's not as though Dorothee's books had anything to do with it.
"Take the quartz," Elliot suggested.
"I don't want it."
"Just give it a shot," said Elliot. "I haven't had a chance yet but I heard the sound quality is great."
Machias pursed his lips, about to argue again, but sighed. He pocketed it. "Fine. At least I'll get to have a good laugh at the purple prose."
"It's really not that bad," Elliot promised him.
"That remains to be seen."
Machias wasn't sure, but he figured he had very little to lose.
-
He didn't have a chance to listen to the quartz until the following week, busy as he was with classes and friends, and of course making time to spend a night in Bareahard. Long distance relationships were a lot of work, but he and Jusis had made a promise to one another. They were both committed to it, and while they still had the occasional bump, they'd been making it work. He returned home late from the library and decided it was time to put away the studying for now.
His eye caught the quartz which had been gathering dust on his desk where he'd left it. He figured he would return it to Elliot sooner or later if he wasn't going to listen to it, but there was some time now. He pulled out a puzzle book, put the quartz into the player, and sat down to listen. A generic voice introduced the name of the book and the publishing company, and Machias hoped that wasn't the narrator. He started his puzzle as a light bit of classical music played an intro theme.
The actual narrator began.
"The library was quiet as he stepped inside, the comforting scent of books surrounding him, easing the day's tensions. Micah relaxed as he perused the shelves, searching for the textbook his professor had recommended."
Machias scoffed. He supposed that 'Micah' was him. He worked on his puzzle, just a simple numbers game to keep his mind occupied while he listened. The voice sounded vaguely familiar but he couldn't put his finger on it. Maybe that was the reason this person had been picked to do the reading. A smooth, soft tone that was comforting as it was pleasing. He listened to the description of himself, annoyed with the accuracy, down to what color tie he'd favored for the school uniform.
"'What are you doing here?' Micah asked, stopping suddenly as he rounded the next shelf. Standing in front of him was his rival, Julius."
He laughed. "Micah and Julius, huh, Dorothee?" he muttered.
"Micah studied the other boy in detail. His soft blond hair fell into his eyes, which were as blue as the summer sky. His perfectly pale skin was a contrast to the pink lips which curled into a frown, and Micah wondered what it would be like to taste them."
Machias paused, pencil raised above the next box as he listened to the description of Julius from Micah's point of view. She really had captured all his features quite well, pointing out all the little things he appreciated about Jusis's appearance. Down to the way he held himself, so casual and aloof. Jusis put a lot of care into how he dressed, but he didn't look like he made any effort at all. It was irritating.
"'It's a library,' Julius said. 'What do you think I'm doing here?' Micah scowled. Of course he would answer so arrogantly. Didn't he know this was supposed to be his day for the library? They didn't exactly have a schedule, but there was a silent understanding between the two of them. Micah would have the library to himself, free from interruption on Friday evenings, while Julius would enjoy it on Saturdays."
"How the hell did she find that out?" Machias wondered out loud. There had been a sort of unspoken agreement between them at first, until he was able to let go of his irritation at being anywhere near Jusis for longer than a few minutes.
He listened to the conversation between his book counterpart and Jusis's, marveling at how well she'd managed to capture their voices. The narrator, he thought, was especially good at Julius, his intonation and cadence downright perfect.
"Unable to help himself, Micah shoved the other boy in anger, a few books falling off the shelf where Julius had landed. They tussled, grappling one another, and landed together on the floor. Luckily for them, the library at this hour was empty, and their fighting went unnoticed. Micah was about to gain the upper hand when Julius reversed their positions, flipping them over. He pinned the other boy to the ground, and Micah was about to protest when Julius suddenly kissed him."
Machias's pencil was on the desk now, and the quartz had his full attention.
"Micah's mind was racing. What was Julius doing? Was it a sneak attack just to distract him? He wasn't about to let Julius gain the upper hand. With renewed fervor, he returned the kiss, forcing Julius to open his mouth, thrusting his tongue past his lips in an attempt to win this round."
"Okay," said Machias, shifting in his chair.
He felt himself blush, heat rising in his face as the narrator continued, describing a rather passionate make out session between two people who were ostensibly himself and Jusis. Also the narrator was a bit too good at the little noises, all the moans and gasps that the boys in the book were apparently making.
Unable to help himself, he grabbed his ARCUS and called Jusis. He picked up on the second ring.
"Regnitz, it's rather late-"
"Listen to this."
He held the mouthpiece of the ARCUS to the speaker while the narrator described the conversation in the aftermath. Letting Jusis listen for a few seconds, he then turned the volume down and brought the ARCUS back to his ear.
"Dorothee put out an audiobook of that story she wrote about us."
Silence on the other end.
"Jusis?" he tried.
"I've got to go. And stop listening to that."
"Jusis, wait-"
But he hung up. Machias had no idea what that was about. He was tempted to call him back, but decided to give him some space. Amused - and a little turned on - he turned the volume back up on the player, and sat back to listen to the rest of it. Hearing, 'I told you so,' from Elliot would be worth it, he thought.
-
A week later, Machias had purchased the entire series on audiobook, having returned Elliot's original copy to him. He was expecting Jusis that evening, so he prepared a nice dinner for the two of them, glad when his father agreed to give them a bit of privacy. There was no shortage of work to get done in the office after all. He met Jusis at the airport and they caught up on the way back to Machias's house. Their awkward conversation of the previous week was all but forgotten as they ate and conversed.
They moved inevitably upstairs to Machias's bedroom, kissing and undressing slowly, not wanting to rush the night. It was one of the more difficult things about a long distance relationship, Machias thought. Not just missing out on the sex, but the physical intimacy that came before and after it. He never thought he would miss just sleeping next to Jusis, holding him close, but he did.
"Oh, let me put something on," Machias said, remembering what he'd planned to do.
Jusis finished undressing to his boxers while Machias put in a quartz, then joined him on the bed, equally naked. They fell to the mattress together, kissing one another, legs entangled. Both were distracted by one another as the quartz started up. Then the narration began. Jusis stopped immediately.
"I thought I told you to stop listening to that!"
Machias laughed. "You did. I didn't listen. Why? What's wrong?"
Jusis pushed him away and got out of bed.
"What's going on?" Machias asked, concerned and a little irritated as Jusis crossed the room.
"You haven't figured it out yet?" Jusis asked. "Listen, Regnitz. Listen very closely to the narrator's voice."
Machias sat up and listened. The narrator was now describing in detail the classroom where Micah and Julius were making out, and things were about to move forward. Machias wished he was as lucky as Micah right now, but Jusis seemed to want to prove a point to him. He frowned, looking at Jusis who appeared annoyed, but also partially amused. Embarrassment slowly started to creep over him as he suddenly realized why Jusis was acting the way he had.
The narrator, the man whose voice he'd been listening to - and jerking off to for the past week - was none other than Jusis's brother, Rufus Albarea.
His eyes widened, mouth opening in surprise.
"Oh."
Jusis smirked, no longer annoyed now, but extremely entertained. "'Oh' indeed," he said. "Judging by your reaction, I assume you finally figured it out. I called him that night, you know."
Machias ducked his head, covering his face in embarrassment. At least Jusis wasn't angry. "Ahuh?"
"He said he was doing a bit of philanthropy. Proceeds for these audiobooks are going to a charity for adult literacy across the empire. Did you really not wonder why the narrator went unnamed? Can you imagine the scandal if it got out that Rufus was narrating trashy smut like this?"
"...Yeah, I can imagine," Machias muttered.
Jusis laughed and swapped out the quartz for music instead. "He said he had guessed it was about us, but he'd already signed the contract to read them all. We had a good laugh over it. But you…"
Machias looked up as Jusis came over. "Don't."
"You got off on it, didn't you?"
Machias didn't think he could go any redder. "Shut up! I didn't know."
"You," said Jusis, pushing him back to the mattress, "are a filthy, perverted commoner, Machias Regnitz."
"You're the one who's with me, Jusis Albarea," Machias returned, though he was glad Jusis wasn't upset. He wasn't sure when he'd get to hear the end of this one, though. Jusis was going to tease him for ages. "So what does that make you?"
"You've no right to call me arrogant anymore," said Jusis, kissing him. "I've never masturbated to descriptions of myself in flowery prose."
Machias supposed, as he rolled over with Jusis, kissing him again, that he could let Jusis win this round.