Title: Five + One (A Kradam Choose Your Own ~Adventure)
Author: sprat
Rating: PG-13
Length: ???
Warnings: None in this section.
Summary: Five kisses (and then another one)
Previous Part: HERE


Five

The daemon lashes her tail. "Why must I? I won him fairly. He sought to bind me and failed." She and Adam both look at Kris, small and crumpled in his sorcerer's robe on the road behind her.

Adam shifts his grip on his useless sword, licks his lips. "Because I should miss him a great deal if you kept him," he says, carefully. Kris is stirring now, thankfully, his eyes open and confused, seeking out Adam's. Adam lifts his eyebrows, tilts his head toward the daemon, fractionally. Kris glances at her, his face tightening in remembrance.

The daemon is looking interested now. "Is he your catamite, then?"

Adam coughs, takes a breath, opens his mouth to make an amused denial and then stops, suddenly remembering the marsh at Rumy, Kris's voice droning on and on as Adam hacked them a path through the dense undergrowth: something about the laws of binding, how kinship and sex make contracts on the magical plane. "Yes," he says, after a moment. "That's right."

The daemon's tail twitches. "I cannot smell your claim on him," she says, suspiciously.

Adam swallows. "We have been apart for some time. He ran away. He is a very unruly...catamite." Behind the daemon, Kris is rolling his eyes. Adam frowns at him, shakes his head.

"Do you mark him anew, then," the daemon says, lifting a hand. "And I shall consider your claim." She curls one triple-jointed finger and Kris skids through the dirt into the space at Adam's feet. Adam sinks down next to him, puts his hands on Kris's head, on his sides, his shoulders, his arms, feeling for injuries. Kris bats at them, weakly. "I'm fine," he says.

"You are not fine," Adam tells him, voice low. "You got the wrong daemon. This one flung you about like a straw man and now she owns you, apparently."

"No," Kris says, and clears his throat. "Not if you can...convince her you had a prior claim." He shifts uncomfortably, avoiding Adam's eyes.

Adam opens his mouth, closes it again. "You're not saying we have to--"

"No," Kris says. "Not...that. Just. You'll have to kiss me." He's still looking steadfastly at the air above Adam's shoulder.

Adam feels his eyebrows lift. "I'll have to kiss you," he says, his mouth twitching.

Kris presses his lips together. "There's no need to be an ass about it," he says primly.

Adam does smile, then, moving one of his hands to the side of Kris's face, stroking lightly before he lets his palm settle there, cupping Kris's cheek. He brushes his lips over Kris's lightly, smiling when Kris's eyes fall closed. "You might have tried just asking for a kiss," he murmurs. "Before you went to all the trouble of summoning a daemon."

Kris sighs. "I quite dislike you," he says. But when Adam presses back in for a real kiss, he sighs against Adam's cheek and opens his mouth for Adam's tongue, his hand sliding up to cover Adam's where it cradles his face, one knee lifting to press against Adam's thigh. Adam hears himself make a noise as he presses even closer, licks deeper into Kris's mouth, sucks at his bottom lip before they finally break apart. Kris blinks up at Adam for several seconds, then, silent and serious, and Adam lifts his eyebrows, strokes Kris's flushed cheek with his thumb.

"Very well," the daemon says, into the hush. "I recognize your claim, swordsman, and accept your challenge."

Adam feels his eyes narrow, free hand closing tight around his sword's leather-wrapped hilt. "Challenge?" he says.

Kris looks contrite. "Oh," he says. "Hmm. A duel. I should have anticipated that."

Adam shakes his head, scowling, and then he rolls to his feet between Kris and the daemon, sword at the ready.



No poll this time! Last piece HERE.