The Laying of Boundaries

Author’s Notes: Alright, well, looks like this will be more than just a one-shot yummy smut-fest…ha, a tiny itty bitty almost impossible to see plot has been nibbling at my ankles…it’s really nothing big or exciting, I just needed to write…ha and well, yeah…

Reks could only hope that Migelo had wanted nothing more than a bit of assistance in the shop; perhaps to aid with a weighty object that even Migelo had problems with or to help count items in the back to make sure nothing had been lifted the previous day, or perhaps to watch the shop while Migelo dealt with another customer across town.

But somehow, Reks just knew it had nothing to do with the shop, or the state of the shop…or anything that didn’t have to deal with Reks and his brother, then again, what else could Reks have expected when Migelo had called him down to the shop and away from Vaan.

Naturally, Reks couldn’t help but contemplate these things in his mind when he and his brother had parted and now that he was strolling over the stoned paths of the city and making his way to Migelo’s Sundries, with a thin wary sensation weighting down upon his chest like a bad cold or something of the like. Either way though, the feeling in his chest or the suspicions in his mind, were not ones he was pleased with.

Moments later, Reks had arrived at the picturesque and modest shop that was tucked safely away between several great column, with just a small number of citizens standing outside and next to the banner chatting a bit while considering certain situations that were of little to no interest to the young man Reks…and yet, little did he know that he would soon be in the same boat as those very men.

He passed through the entrance, the musky aroma of phoenix downs and potions washing over him just as soon as the portal was opened, but he paid the scent little mind. His eyes peering about the shelves and the aisles of the old, worn and mold barring shop as his head perked up. And he found himself astounded at just how tricky a task it could be to catch sight of such a great being in the relatively small and rather dim interior of the shop.

“Migelo?”

He spoke up, finally catching the sight of the other who was hunched over a box and lining up several valued ether vials upon a finely crafted wooden shelf in one of the walkways. The only response that Reks had been given by the creature was a humble call,

“Here boy, draw near, let me speak with you.”

And Reks came, walking through the aisle and glancing down to Migello who was at the floor, on his burly legs, Reks’s eyes went to the bottles that those large, awkward fingers were gripping onto dexterously with just his fingertips as he meticulously lined them up next to each other in a cozy little row at the very rim of the ledge. And it was just an instant later when Migelo began to speak, though he failed to avert his gaze to the young man, he hardly acknowledged him in fact, and he only focused his concentration on the bottle as he watched them attentively.

“Could you truly be so careless Recks, that you could fall so low, especially in public? If anyone was to find out…”

And he was cut off by Reks who spoke up quickly,

“But no one’s found out, have they?”

“You forget in your state of adoration, I was to find out Reks…but you are lucky that it was I, for if it was another…no one could foresee what may well have happened then.” And it required no second thought to Reks to detect the disappointment in Migelo’s voice, the two boys had always been so cautious before…they were so very watchful of how and where they showed affection, they’d kept it hidden for so long, or rather, Reks had been the one to keep it shrouded in mystery for so long, the one who had to shroud it in lies that not even Vaan was aware of.

“Migelo, please, you have no need to be so concerned about this, about us.”

Migelo shook his head then in the slightest show of fluster, “No Reks, My concern is for Vaan. He doesn’t understand, and when someone else catches a glimpse of you two in such a manner, I’d hate to think of what will happen to the boy. You’re the one who got him into this.” A sigh escaped moist reptilian lips, “You need to let him go…just let him go.”

“…I…I can’t, you can’t be asking me to do that to him, Migelo…I can’t, he…he has nothing without me, he needs me!” His voice was nearly panicked at even the thought of letting Vaan go, of rejecting him and turning him away. Reks just couldn’t do it; he could handle a sword well for his age, but he could never to that, of all probable things.

Migelo turned to Reks then, large eyes looking up to him, trying with great repercussion to force an irritated or mortified air upon his features. “Or have you been misguided, Reks? Are you so blinded by your affection that you cannot see that it is you that need him, that it is you cannot go on without him and that you cannot bare the thought to release him for the fear of loosing him…evermore?”

Reks’s face took on a shocked expression, something of anger, something that could have suggested that he was stunned that the other was saying this…and more than anything, that it might possibly be true. “You don’t understand; if he didn’t need me he could leave me at any time, I’ve given him choices and he doesn’t step back, he doesn’t regret this.”

“That’s only because he doesn’t know that it’s wrong, he doesn’t know that he should be ashamed, he doesn’t understand that brothers should never feel for one another in such a way…you’ve hidden everything from him, you’ve never told him nor did you ever restrain him or set him right. The fault is upon you to blame.” Migelo snapped in clear disapproval and Reks gave an almost baffled look, a look that showed hurt or pain in a small degree and he was speechless.

Reks’s features wrinkled in frustration as he fidgeted stubbornly, “It was never like that!” He nearly shouted as he suddenly turned on his heels, his palms slammed against the wooden door as he left in a fury, his head down in shallow anger. And the last sound Migelo heard beside the slamming of the doors was Reks’s feet on the floor and the slight clatter of just a few bottles and precious gems from the reverberations of those two great doors, and one ether teetered at the edge before leaping to the bare floor and shattering, leaving nothing but a pool of hateful liquid in it’s wake as the fluid seeped over the laid stones and the glass rang against the ground. All Migelo could do was silently shake his head and give a small sigh, hoping with all his strength that Reks would finally be able to let Vaan go…once and for all.

The elder brother was nearly frantic, though all of it was hidden, and hidden well; though his form was stiff, his head down and grumbles coming from him as he shook his head to himself, trying in desperation to sort everything out in his head…though, it was nearly too much and if his legs had stopped moving, he knew they would be shaking at that very moment.

Was Migelo right?

Was all of this Reks’s fault, was it Reks who was in the wrong by accepting his brother in such a way, for cradling him so close and laying kisses upon petal-soft lips and caressing skin in a more intimate way than a brother should?

He didn’t understand it at all, and he didn’t want to accept it. He could never force Vaan away, that was not an option, and simply put…it never would be, for either of them, and both of them knew it.

And despite the rush of frenzied thoughts in his young, irrational head…he knew at least one thing, even if it was one thing only, he had to see Vaan…right at that moment, he had to.