Strike A Bargain on Your Knees

It had been two full tendays and Ashenivir was beginning to think that Master Velkon’yss would not call on him again. The way things had gone that day, the way the Master had been, he had hoped…well. Hopes were futile things, weren’t they? He could hardly expect a busy, talented Master of the Arcanum to waste time indulging a mere apprentice. No matter how often that apprentice relived the feel of the Master’s hand on his head, or the taste of the Master’s cock upon his tongue.

Ashenivir sighed, resting his chin in his hand and tapping his pen-nib against the parchment without making a mark. So much still to write, yet he could hardly keep his mind from wandering. He was startled from his daydreaming when there was a knock at the door—a message runner, shoving a carefully folded note into his hand before darting away, satchel bumping against her hip.

He unfolded the note and as soon as he had read it he could do nothing for a few moments but stare at it, stupidly. It was from Master Velkon’yss, his neat and slanting hand instructing Ashenivir to attend his quarters at once.

At once.

Praying desperately that he was not wildly misinterpreting things, Ashenivir hurried to ensure his appearance was pleasing—robes clean, hair neat, no remains of breakfast in his teeth—then made his way swiftly down through the Arcanum to Master Velkon’yss’ quarters. The small suite of rooms was several floors below the ground level of the Arcanum, beneath the staff quarters and the message runners’ hub. A handful of the Masters took up residence in the Arcanum when they were teaching, even if they had quarters elsewhere in the city, for they found it more convenient for their work.

The teacher’s quarters were, therefore, far quieter than the many floors of apprentice’s rooms that Ashenivir spent most of his time in, and the far-flung corridor where Rizeth’s rooms could be found was unoccupied save for him. Ashenivir was not surprised that Master Velkon’yss valued privacy over easy company.

The door opened at Ashenivir’s first knock, closing quietly behind him the moment he stepped inside with a nudge from a mage hand that flickered out of sight the instant its work was completed. The low lilac glow of the continual flame sconces flickered over the walls, draping neat shelves and dark zurkhwood wall cabinets in indigo shadows. Master Velkon’yss did not so much as glance up from his desk as Ashenivir entered.

“Kneel,” he said. He did not raise his voice, but the low word held more command than any violent shout could have. Ashenivir dropped at once to the floor, clasping his elbows behind his back; already he could feel his pulse thudding in his ears.

“Tell me, apprentice Zauvym,” Master Velkon’yss said, and Ashenivir thrilled a little that Rizeth had remembered his name, “what did you do when you left here last?”

“Returned to my quarters, Master Velkon’yss,” he said.

“Only that?” Rizeth finished whatever it was he was writing, cleaned off his nib and set his pen carefully aside, turning in his chair to regard Ashenivir. His cool expression betrayed no hint of his feelings—Ashenivir could have drowned in the crystal-sharp crimson of his eyes. He would have been glad to.

“I–” his mouth felt suddenly dry. “No, Master Velkon’yss.”

Rizeth said nothing, watching, waiting, until Ashenivir confessed;

“As soon as I returned, I pleasured myself to the thought of your cock in my mouth.”

There. That brief, cold smile, that look of hard satisfaction, as though Ashenivir had correctly performed a tricky somatic gesture or recounted a complex theorem.

“I suspected as much. Come here.”

Ashenivir began to rise, but the Master interrupted.

“Did I tell you to stand, apprentice?”

“No, Master Velkon’yss.”

Ashenivir returned to the floor and felt the cool stone beneath his palms as he crawled the short distance to where Master Velkon’yss sat, never lifting his eyes from his hands. Heartbeats counted the seconds as he stared at Rizeth’s boots, stretching on interminably until a hand took his chin and lifted his head. Master Velkon’yss slid a thumb over his lower lip, pushing into his mouth. Ashenivir opened wide, complying with the silent demand, and Rizeth’s thumb pressed over his tongue and deep into his mouth.

“So eager to do everything I say,” Master Velkon’yss murmured, almost to himself, as his eyes traced Ashenivir’s face.

“Yes, Master Velkon’yss,” Ashenivir said, the words distorted by the thumb in his mouth. He pressed his tongue up, laving the underside of it, holding his mouth open despite how badly he wanted to close over it and suck. He was uncertain of what precisely was wanted of him in that moment.

“It does make me curious,” Master Velkon’yss said. His thumb pushed deeper, just enough so that Ashenivir gagged a little. The faint smile twitched the corner of the Master’s mouth again. “Just how obedient are you, I wonder?”

Ashenivir tried to convey with his eyes that he would do anything, anything at all, should Rizeth only ask it of him. Master Velkon’yss released his jaw, withdrawing the thumb from his mouth, and Ashenivir whimpered for its loss.

“Do you want me to fuck your mouth again?” Master Velkon’yss asked. To hear those words in that voice was nothing less than a dream made manifest. Ashenivir nodded, eagerly. “Very well. Sit up.”

He did as bidden, tucking his arms behind his back again, and his face was soon buried between Rizeth’s legs, the Master’s cock hitting the back of his throat. He moaned as Rizeth tugged at his hair, expertly manipulating his head and making his scalp sting pleasantly with the force of it.

“You have a fine mouth, apprentice,” he said, hauling Ashenivir free for a moment, watching intently as he gasped for breath, his lips swollen and slick.

“Thank you, Master Velkon’yss.”

Rizeth pulled him down again and his eyes rolled back, heat flushing him head to toe as all fell away but the cock in his mouth and the hand in his hair. His own cock strained beneath his robes, and he hoped that he would have the presence of mind to make it back to his quarters when Rizeth was done.

He gasped again when Rizeth lifted him free once more, mouth feeling too empty.

“You may use your hands,” Master Velkon’yss said, then added, as Ashenivir reached down between his legs, “on me, not yourself.”

Ashenivir nodded as best he could with Rizeth’s hand still tight in his hair. Rizeth’s cock twitched beneath his fingers as he curled them about the shaft, and he realised the Master was close. He began to stroke, straining against the grip on his hair to get close enough to lick at the tip, his mouth watering with need. His own spit slicked the way as he slid his hand faster, and soon enough the fingers in his hair tensed and Master Velkon’yss let out a short, sharp groan as he came. Ashenivir caught as much as he could with his tongue; the rest painted his face in hot stripes.

Master Velkon’yss released his head and allowed him to sit back.

“Once again, commendable,” he said. Ashenivir lifted his hands to clean up as he had before, but Master Velkon’yss caught his wrists halfway through the cantrip. “Not yet, apprentice. Remain on your knees.”

Ashenivir knelt, cum dripping down his face, as Master Velkon’yss tidied himself away, turned back to his desk and picked up his pen. Ashenivir licked his lips, savouring the taste, and swallowed what was left in his mouth.

“Master Velkon’yss, what do you wish—”

“I will have use for you again later,” Rizeth cut him off. “Until then, you will be silent and not disturb my work. Am I understood?”

Ashenivir nodded.

For many long minutes he knelt there in silence, save for the soft scratch of Master Velkon’yss’ pen or the quiet shifting of papers. He kept his back straight, his head slightly bowed, palms upon his thighs above knees already beginning to ache, and wondered if he would be fortunate enough for Master Velkon’yss to want to keep doing this with him. His thoughts wandered, drifting, until something nudged at his crotch and he gasped in surprise.

Master Velkon’yss shot him a sharp look, and Ashenivir’s mouth snapped shut. He blinked, looking down, and saw the spectral, trailing glow of a mage hand floating between his legs. His eyes widened as it carefully pushed aside his robes, unlaced his leggings and pulled free his still half-hard cock. Ashenivir glanced up at Master Velkon’yss, but the Master appeared engrossed in his writing, frowning slightly at the parchment beneath his hand.

Apart from being translucent, the mage hand looked just as Rizeth’s did. Long, slender fingers and neatly trimmed nails, with a grasp that was firm enough for satisfaction even though it flickered and wavered with magic. One of those fingers trailed over the head of Ashenivir’s rapidly stiffening cock, trailing pre-cum down his shaft with a slow and deliberate motion. Ashenivir bit his lip, breathing hard through his nose. He had been instructed to remain silent.

He would do as he was told.

The hand slicked him with his own eagerness, an embarrassing amount of it for a non-corporeal touch to have brought about, and began to stroke. It moved with a steady, firm pace, which only began to increase when Ashenivir could no longer restrain himself and bucked his hips up into its grip. The remains of Master Velkon’yss’ cum still clung to his face, uncomfortable in a pleasant sort of way—a reminder of what he had done. That and the forced silence, the deliberateness with which Master Velkon’yss did not look at him…all made the touch of the mage hand almost impossible to bear.

He managed to stay silent right up until he came, when a gasping moan tore itself from his throat as his head fell back, eyes closing in pleasure. He felt the conjured hand dissipate from around him, blinked back to himself to see Master Velkon’yss looking up from his writing. Ashenivir heated as the Master’s eyes took in his flushed, cum-stained face and bitten lip; the mess he had made of himself at the mage hand’s insistent touches. With a calm, deliberate motion, he set down his pen.

“You have performed adequately,” he said, and the faint praise made Ashenivir’s eyes shine. He rose from his seat, and Ashenivir found himself once more presented with Rizeth’s cock, just as enticing as ever. “You may suck my cock again—under your own initiative this time. However,” his hand trailed over the top of Ashenivir’s head with just enough pressure to impart a warning. “If you take too long to please me, you will find yourself choking again.”

“Yes, Master Velkon’yss,” Ashenivir said in a rush, and did not care how eager he looked as he dove forwards. Now permitted to make sound again, he made up for the long minutes of silence with whimpering sighs and heavy, whining moans as he devoured Rizeth’s cock. Master Velkon’yss’ gaze was a thing of hot weight upon him, burning as he watched Ashenivir wrap a hand around his cock, stroking as he mouthed at the tip, slicking his tongue back and forth.

He savoured every inch, hollowing his cheeks as he took Rizeth deep into his throat, tilting his head up just enough to look up at the Master. Rizeth’s violet-grey face was dark with flush across the bridge of his nose, and Ashenivir sighed to see it. The pleasure he felt at knowing he had brought about such a reaction was almost as great as the pleasure in committing the act itself.

He swallowed Rizeth down yet further, as far as he could, gagging yet still feeling as though it was not deep enough. He was almost tempted to drag it out, to go too slowly, so that Rizeth would fuck him deeper, would make him choke on it. But, no, much as he wanted to be used that way, he wanted to please the Master more.

Master Velkon’yss held his gaze as Ashenivir continued to dip his head up and down, squeezing his hand tighter about the Master’s cock. Soon enough Rizeth’s jaw tensed, lips parting over a soft groan, and Ashenivir was rewarded at last with a throatful of cum. He swallowed greedily, determined not to waste a single drop. Master Velkon’yss pulled free of him, and he sat back on his heels, slightly dazed and waiting for instruction.

Rizeth reached down and ran a thumb across his lip, swiping away a slick of spit and cum.

“A fine look for you, apprentice,” he said, “but I cannot have you leaving my quarters in such a state.”

A twist of his wrist and a soft shiver of magic saw Ashenivir clean. He was glad for the freshness of his face; sorry to have the reminder and the mark of his service taken from him.

“You may stand,” Master Velkon’yss said. Ashenivir got to his feet and could not entirely suppress a wince at the ache he now felt in his legs. How long had he been here? He had lost all track of time. “Now, apprentice Zauvym, let us not continue the pretence that you wish nothing in exchange for your services. I am not a fool.”

Master Velkon’yss had already given him what he wanted, even if the Master didn’t seem to realise it. Still, when opportunity presented itself…

“What did you have in mind, Master Velkon’yss?”

“I propose this,” Rizeth crossed his arms, regarding him coolly. “I will provide you with a measure of private tutoring, such as you will certainly benefit from, and in exchange…” he let his eyes trail up and down Ashenivir’s body, the force of his gaze almost a physical thing. Ashenivir shivered. “In exchange, you will provide me with whatever assistance I request of you—including allowing me to test the limits of your…obedient streak.”

Oh, sweet Mystra, he had to be dreaming. He had to be! How could Master Velkon’yss not realise this was all he’d ever wanted?

“You want to use me, Master Velkon’yss?” he dared to ask, hoping his voice wasn’t trembling too badly. Rizeth gave a curt nod. His heart leapt and he had to fight to keep from shouting in delight. He bowed his head. “Then I am at your service for as long as you desire.”

“Very good.” So saying, Master Velkon’yss returned to his desk. “I will send for you when next I require your presence.”

With another bow, Ashenivir hurried from the room. To his credit, he managed to make it halfway to the next floor before he let out a short yelp of joy, pressing his hands to his face over a ridiculous grin.

He had no idea what Master Velkon’yss intended to do with him, but he couldn’t wait to find out.