Wild Magic Prequel Short: As They Came In-- a M/M fantasy romance

1- So Will They Leave It

*****In the Wild Magic Series, Dasan and Nibley are husbands who have been together forever, since before same-sex marriage was allowed or even tolerated. This is their story.*****

NIBLEY—

My ma used to always tell us the story of our birth, mine and Dasan's. Only minutes apart, to women who had been friends since they were themselves in the cradle, we chose the same day, the same hour, to make our appearance into the world.

"The poor midwife finally gave up running back and forth between our homes," she would tell us as she kneaded bread for the morning's breakfast. "She forced me to move over into the Sarleno home to deliver you, Nibs. So when Dasan was born, she had to only move over just a bit to pull you the rest of the way out."

"As they came into this world," the midwife said as she handed me to Ma. "So shall they leave it. Together."

It was a prediction I felt in the core of my very being each time Ma spoke it aloud with just a hint of a smile in her voice. She knew. She always knew.

I knew my whole life I would one day be Dasan's husband, but Dasan took a little more time figuring things out. Mayhap he knew, and he just refused to face it. Mayhap he was afraid— afraid of the way we would likely be mocked, scorned, cast out for our love for each other. But I've never been anything but patient, and I think my years of waiting on the stubborn man to truly see me attributed to that.

We grew up under the watchful eye of both of our families— my pa the town baker, Dasan's the blacksmith. Though we were both the eldest in our families, neither of us wanted to follow in our respective pa's footsteps.

We spent our days exploring the woods outside of our childhood town inside the Teren border, called Tu'riah, doing our best to stay out from under our pas' thumbs. We fished, hiked up to Sretou Pass, and just in general kept ourselves away from home and the watchful eye of those who would judge our bond.

I ruined everything when I made him realize how he really felt about me. When I pushed his feelings in at him and made him face them. When I showed him how good I could make him feel.

The moment he was able by law, Dasan joined the king's army, barely 18 and with baby fat still heavy on his cheeks. Our parents threw a kind of going-away party, Dasan's pa equal parts proud and disappointed that his son wasn't taking over his shop. Luckily, Marina, Dasan's ma, had borne three more boys, and each of them had taken far more of an interest in the family shop. My own parents only had my sister, but she was already sought after by plenty of the village boys, so it was only a matter of time before Pa found an heir in my sister's husband.

Dasan kept away from me for most of the party, and I knew why. He was running away from a future he didn't want, the town we grew up in, and me. He was distancing himself from me, terrified of what he felt for me, and I for him.

Luckily for him, I've always been the smarter one; and he wasn't the only one who was old enough to join the king's army.

DASAN—

I felt Nibs' eyes on me all night, but I forced my attention on my family and the others. He had to know, I was doing this for him as much as for myself. We weren't meant to be together— we were both men, for the gods' sake. It was unnatural, and his stubborn refusal had pushed me to extreme measures.

Nibs had been by my side since birth. He was like one of my limbs, an irreplaceable bit of me. And if we were to get together— to publicly declare our love— we would be ostracized, hated by many, accepted by very few. And I couldn't allow Nibs to live that way. He was sweet in a way I'd never seen in a man. He was precious, to be protected, and if that meant taking myself out of the equation so he could find some woman to love and marry and make babies with...?

Gods, I didn't want to. The very thought made me ill. But I would, because I did love him, dammit. I hadn't realized how I loved him until recently. Until a hike up through Sretou Pass, then a swim in Ekator Lake. We'd always swum naked, ever since we were children and had come up here the first time. And yet suddenly, it wasn't just my best friend Nibs.

It was a very naked, dripping, laughing, sexy Nibs. His skin dark from too much sun, his eyes bright with laughter as he pushed his lank hair from his eyes, his prominent abs cut like steel. His cock long and heavy, hanging beneath a patch of light colored curls. His nipples dark and erect, making my mouth instantly water for a taste.

I turned away, horrified by the thoughts that had come into my mind. I covered my own prick, my horror compounding that it was plumping with interest.

"C'mon, Dassie," Nibs shouted from the lake below. I stood on the cliff above, where we had made it a game to jump as far into the lake as we could. Nibs' taunting made me roll my eyes— he knew how much I hated the childhood nickname he wouldn't let go of. "You scared, big guy?"

I jumped, cannon balling so I splashed him with a huge wave. He went under with me and we both came up at the same time, Nibs choking a little as he laughed hysterically.

Then he was right there, shoving me under the water, and my twitching cock made the complete change to hard when I opened my eyes under the water and Nibs' prick was mere inches from my face.

Nibs and I had never really been interested in the girls of the town. I was always far too excited by my and Nibs' next planned adventure, and Nibs had always been far too focused on... me. We'd had interest from them, for sure. Even their parents had made mentions of us showing an interest in their girls— trying to bag the baker and blacksmith's sons for their daughters. But Nibs had flat-out ignored or refused them, and I'd made polite excuses about not having time, then run away as fast as I could.

That now all seemed like excuses as I stared at Nibs' naked body and my entire body felt as if it was lit on fire. I came back up out of the water, gasping and shoving away from Nibs. He watched me with confusion and concern.

"You alright, Dassie?" he asked, reaching for me.

I slapped his hand away, disgusted with myself and my body's sudden reaction to my best friend. And terrified he would notice. Gods, how would he react? He was a man, masculine and dominant in every way. He would revile me for what I was feeling.

I swam to the edge of the lake, followed closely by my friend. I covered myself as best I could, ducking down to grab my trousers I had left hung on a tree branch.

"It's ok, you know," Nibs said gently from a few feet behind me. I froze completely, realizing with a rush of embarrassment that he must have seen.

I turned a little, staring back at him, and immediately wished I hadn't. His skin glistened with drops of water that sluiced down his pecs and pooled a little in his belly button. His long, lean legs were braced apart, his face gentle and affectionate, and his cock... dear gods, his cock was semi-hard, leaning up against his thigh.

"I feel the same way, Dassie. It took you long enough to notice." He laughed, smiling as he took a few steps towards me.

I turned completely, still awkwardly hugging my trousers to my groin, and stared Nibs down in dumb confusion, my heart hammering in my throat as his long legs ate up the distance between us.