TW: Affairs, Couch Cuddles

Title: ~Our Stanza~

Far stretches of dark dense wooden shelving appeared to go on farther than spaciously possible. Various colours and sizes of texts filled every potential space on the shelves, fabricating thick walls to cut through the constricting and small library. Old papers between leather bound novels mixed with thin glossy texts corresponding together perfectly though lifetimes apart. Life forms were few and far between on the second floor that's ceiling almost brushed the tops of the shelves, just holding high enough for no pedestrian inconvenience.

Tucked back to the farthest wall, swimming in deep with the largest and eldest editions few ever did occupy. Pages collected dust and the occasional cobwebs, but the timeless space down the corridors of shelving was warm and welcoming, secret and safe.

Fingering through the ancient books giving no heed to the titles laced in the spines, lanky Xephos hummed quietly, eyes constantly watching over the height of the books and into the next isle. His breathing was slow to emerge from his chest, holding it in longer than his lungs normally desired. Every text seemed to mold together, amassing into one grand epic of a tale.

Xephos' fingers skipped along, jumping from cover to cover, almost picking up in pace when a dark figure caught his gaze from the nearby isle. He tried to pretend he never saw the outline but his heart was already pumping stronger, pushing at his stubborn breathing.

He stopped at a familiar thick book, the only one on the shelf with a lack of dust, track marks being clearly visible from where it was constantly pulled out. Closing his eyes, Xephos tried to calm himself as he waited, already playing the approaching events out in his head. Silent foot steps behind him whipped shivers up his entire body as he convinced himself not to turn around. When the sound stopped, when Xephos knew the person was directly behind him he held still, and waited for his cue.

"A dove so fair on this darkest night, please send me to my mind's delight." The words poured out as sweet velvety tones, the click of a tongue pressed the last word out with no sense of urgency.

Xephos opened his eyes. Content with the words, a smile spread across this face. "You the raven who calls from my dreams, I send prayers for your love's esteem."

An audible sigh was easily picked up by Xephos' ears even before he turned around to face the amateur poet. Serenity filtered through his bones and every muscle as eyes that leveled with his own smiled back at him, "Rythian..." Xephos sighed contently, falling forward clasping arms around the man's bony frame. He took in a deep breath of Rythian's scent as hands placed themselves gently around his shoulders. The old cotton shirt tight to Rythian's chest felt like an accustomed blanket of safety with soft fibres that caressed his skin.

"What page are we on?" Xephos' voice heated the neck his mouth pressed against. He couldn't help himself as his impatience forced his lips to wander Rythian's shoulders, popping kisses to exposed skin.

A reliable hand lifted Xephos' chin from its musings, "Seven hundred and sixty two." Rythian's hushed words puffed out like mist as he caught Xephos' lips, tenderly massaging them together before introducing his tongue to the mix.

Xephos willingly opened his mouth, letting Rythian peruse it to his liking. They pressed together like two broken puzzle pieces, jamming to fit with one another. Rythian's hands moved leisurely down Xephos' body, slipping the tips of his fingers just under the belt. Such an action lit Xephos' like a bonfire as he encouraged their hips to rub.

Breaking for air was a sin that both flushed faces repented for, gluing lips and tongues hastily back together. Xephos couldn't contain himself as he jumped into the other, arms circling around Rythian's neck and legs sitting securely at his hips. Rythian stumbled back, hitting a shelf behind him rattling the books with their combined weight. He seized gluttonously at Xephos' bottom to hold him, fingers squeezing to manipulate the flesh roughly.

Frenzied noises flared as both failed to keep the decibel low. Xephos' high short moans grew in regularity as he felt a single wandering hand push up under his shirt and along his back, gently urging him to raise his shoulders, growing taller as his neck stretched ever further to keep the messy intimacy of their lips together. Jolting his hips into Rythian's stomach Xephos could feel him judder with the action before he twisted them around to slam Xephos into the shelving. Corners of the hardcovers spiked into Xephos' back as Rythian broke their fervent kiss to shower his neck in light pecks trailed with butterfly kisses on the soft skin.

A bottomless appeased sigh passed Xephos' lips as he adjusted his limbs, "Four hundred and ninety pages left then..." He could feel Rythian respond with a low vibration from his throat as he dismissed the thought. "Has it really been that long..?"

Peeling away his lips Rythian stretched his jaw, "Seven months, two weeks and counting today," Slanting his head skyward he nipped smoothly at Xephos' bottom lip, tugging it back into his own mouth to suck gently at the flesh before letting it retract back, "Six days."

Catching a laugh in his throat Xephos loosened his legs to let himself fall slowly back to the ground. With feet strongly planted again he dropped his arms, "I didn't know you were counting-"

"As well?" Rythian smiled, adding to Xephos' train of thought.

"Yes," Bringing a hand up Xephos brushed his fingers lightly along his abused lips, "Didn't know you were counting as well..." While his mind danced in a haze Rythian reached back to slip out the only unsoiled book, using the entire length of his fingers to hold it with one hand. "Rythian," Xephos inhaled, knowing he would never get tired to their neatly rehearsed parts, "Read to me."

Rythian grinned, curving an arm in the air to gesture to their undisturbed sanctuary, "Of course Xephos." He bent down to give an arched bow. He might have even genuflected in accordance to their shared tale but still hadn't caught his breath from supporting the weight of the other. "This way..."

Offering a delicately hovering hand Xephos felt the warmth of skin around his fingers, pulling him out from between the stacks. His heart finally began to settle as they found their undisclosed clearing where shelves parted just for them. The small overlooked corner with the musty sofa that looked just as old as the books, hidden by the optical illusion of the dark wood structures, was sanctuary.

Lifting their slackly clasped hands, Rythian directed Xephos around with ease. He let go to gradually descend into the lumpy cushions, laying his entire frame along the sofa and propping up his shoulders with the beaten armrest. The hand that held the book dangled hazardously close to the floor as the other arm beckoned Xephos to join.

Not giving it a second thought Xephos folded gently forward. With minor shifts, he kicked off his shoes and climbed onto Rythian, positioning his legs in between the others and resting his head just below Rythian's chin. He could feel his head rise with the paired lungs and heart beneath him as he placed arms carefully around Rythian's neck.

Each had an exchange of slight body movements, settling into one another and allowing gravity to find them a proper place. Rythian rested the heavy book in the center of Xephos' back, giving both the opportunity to purely relish the sensation of one another, allowing their breathing to synchronise.

Only until the end of the book: Those were the words they agreed upon. Once they had read the very last page they swore it would end. Everything between them would end. They would pretend like it never happened. Even when their common friends would drive them to meet again in the future, they would never show any emotion beyond what they had before, this.

Their secret would die with them. Those close to them would never be the wiser for if they were never asked they would never have to lie. Their secret fling, sparked from their damp embers. It was complete chance both fled to the exact same library when browbeaten and drained. It was their familiarity of one another from brief introduction in the past that brought them to talk. It was their relatable difficulties that made them see eye to eye. It was the book that brought them close, but it was the moment when their hands overlapped in the spine of their book that they let the floodgates go.

The promises they made, every extra step they took to secure that no one could ever uncover their dalliance. They had secret code of poems that changed each week, always afraid of getting caught. With every page of the book their time together grew shorter, their affair slowly coming to an end. Soon they would fall back entirely into the arms of their respected partners, neither would ever breathe a word nor even think about it again. They swore up and down the walls of their pact, the rules they set, the words they used, every detail lined perfectly. They never realized the possibility of both of them not wanting it to end.

Both pushed for the relationship to linger longer than it should have. Xephos would sometimes claim the book had been misplaced somewhere else in the library so that they could only spend their allotted time curled up on the sofa, even when both of them knew no one besides them ever moved it. Rythian had his own devious plans as well: reading slower and slower every time they met to keep the story going. None of them ever admitted their exact thoughts about the procrastination but in the back of their minds they knew the truth.

As Rythian continued to read, Xephos distracted himself with the way Rythian's voice reverberated through his chest and buzzed his skin. He had long ago given up on following the story, picking up only on key points here and there. The old story revealed a tale of a pure maiden who journeyed with her beloved Redcrosse knight and all the trials they faced even after they settled down with a perfect life. The old English and dance of the poetry was magic as it left Rythian's lips. The low sweep of his voice entranced Xephos to teeter on a deep sleep, kept only awake by the desire to hang on every word as their precious time continued to slip away with each verse.

"Xephos..?" The arms around Rythian's neck adjusted, displaying that he was in fact was still listening, "I think we should call it a day..."

Groaning in protest Xephos tightened his hold around the other, "We can't be out of time already..." He complained, rubbing his chin under Rythian's collarbone, scratching his trimmed beard against his shirt. "We're not even done the chapter yet."

"We've both been gone without word for too long. We can't allow any kind of suspicion to-" Rythian swallowed his words with the coaxing of Xephos' captivating lips. Entering into another session of frantic damp skin exploring and muffled sounds, Xephos pulled himself up to pin Rythian's shoulders with his forceful palms.

"You can't... you can't leave..." Xephos' voice curled in desperation as he spoke between stretches of lips. "Stay... stay..." Fingers spread to affirm the hold he had on Rythian's shoulders.

"Xephos... I have to go." Rythian dislodged his arms from the sides of the sofa to take hold of the keen other, "We can't afford to take any more risks..." Soften eyes gazed sadly back, trying to convey every possible apology.

Releasing his grip, Rythian smoothed his hands along Xephos' back, to calm and keep the bubbling protests at bay, "You know as much as I do thatwe have to be a secret. If word ever got out..."

"I know, I know." Xephos sank back to Rythian's chest, "Our lives would go completely awry..." A sigh escaped his lungs as he imagined how everything could crumble in an instant, "But can't I be selfish for one time in my life?"

Rythian gripped tightly to the confines of Xephos' body, "If only I could grant that wish..."

Falling into the familiar comfort of the warmth of one another their breathing became the only noise to fill the space. Rythian was steady, but Xephos' air was forced as he tried to drive home the concept that they could not be for the umpteenth time.

"Come back to mine."

"What?" Rythian struggled to sit up with the sprawled weight keeping him down.

"You heard me," Xephos smiled cheekily at the other through skewed hair, "Come home with me."

Pushing again with more force, Rythian managed to slide out from under Xephos, retracting his limbs to sit compactly against his chest. "You're crazy! What if-"

"He's half way across the world on another extravagant business trip," Xephos' voice flashed with disillusionment for a split second before he fell back into the comfort of other as his wide palms found Rythian's knees, squeezing them firmly, "The house will be empty."

Rythian skirted his hands around, looking for something to bring him back to reality, "That's too big of a gamble. Meeting outside of the library... a-and I'm already expected to be at home soon."

"So? You can make up an excuse can't you? Just so we can have a bit longer..." Sloping forward Xephos' nose found Rythian's, connecting the ends with a light press. Rythian's eyes jostled around, desperately looking for something else to focus on. With the lightest of smiles, Xephos raised a hand to brush Rythian's cheek, dragging the back of his hand across the skin. "You don't have to stay the night, even though I would prefer that..."Butterflies whirled in his stomach as he savoured the thought. Having Rythian in his arms, being utterly alone together for the first time, having the chance to finally show everything that was growing inside him, it would be a dream within a dream.

Unsteady eyes blinked, fluttering with the speed of Xephos' butterflies, "The whole idea is so dangerous." Rythian's voice barely cracked on his last word, letting the thought begin to settle in his mind.

"When has danger ever stopped you?" Xephos' chuckle sizzled out between his teeth as he titled his head, connecting their lips again more confidently and firm than the last. Both fell into a trance, unable to have any new thoughts as their breathing intermingled. Rythian's impulsive hands grabbed at Xephos' cheeks, moving the skin impishly with their harmonizing movements. It was his desperate attempt to find a hold, and what his yearning hold found was Xephos.

Little by little, they came apart, lips finding circulation again. "It'll be another part to our story, and remember, until this one," Xephos knocked the displaced book laden with words using his knuckles before picking it up off the floor, "Until this one is done, our story is still on going."

Taking extra care with his arms, Rythian took the book in one hand and Xephos' fingers in the other. He could feel the story slipping as he began to concentrate solely on Xephos' bright eyes, "Then let's avoid the ending." The book plummeted to the floor, his hand finding itself tangled into the man's short brown hair. He pulled Xephos closer, breathing in the growing confidence and breathing out his precautions.

"Take me home."