Collapsed World [MxM, Non-Con, Mpreg]

Part 50 [Julius]

There was no way for anyone to tell, but Julius' living quarters were filled with the evidence of his love for Iris. Even the teas that he drank were Iris' favorites. In fact Julius had never really cared for tea himself, but Iris had always insisted on having the stuff imported in from whatever vendors he could get to come out to their little corner of the universe, and of course he had grown his own, mixing different blends to create his own flavors.

The scent of tea always reminded him of Iris because of that. There were also various paintings and planets, all of which were reminders of Iris and all of the things that he'd loved in life. Julius filled his space with these things, not so much because he missed Iris or needed these things to remember his old mate, but because he felt guilty for his freedom to have such things when he didn't know if Iris knew any sort of freedom or not.

How could he possibly be surrounded by the things that he himself loved if Iris wasn't able to enjoy the things that he loved as well? He knew that it was silly, and having such things wouldn't make Iris' suffering any less, if he was indeed suffering, but it helped remind Julius that he couldn't just think of himself, there were many others that also deserved happiness and peace. He had to be the one to provide that for them.

Julius watched Taj carefully, he was never sure how the other was going to respond to his questions, or whether he was going to answer them with honesty, dodge them, or flat out lie to him. It always made Julius sad whenever Taj didn't tell him the truth, especially if he ever flat out lied to him, but that was mostly because Taj never seemed to tell him the truth in its completeness. He still wasn't sure if Taj was actually hiding something from him, or simply wanted to keep personal things secret from him, either way he wanted for Taj to open up to him.

Julius wanted to help Taj in any way that he could, but he found that was hard to do if he didn't actually know what was going on with him. Even if Taj didn't tell him the whole truth, Julius still listened carefully to what he had to say, nodding his head in quiet understanding.

"I see..." Julius offered, though he didn't mention that his taste in tea wasn't actually his own, but his ex-lover's. Iris would have indeed enjoyed a vast collection of teas and it made Julius' heart heavy to be reminded of him.

Julius was glad for the change in subject, but he was also taken by surprise by it. He'd known for a long time that Taj had some kind of feelings for him, but had never acted on them or said anything about it. And of course he knew that he was the one that provoked Taj to be more honest about his feelings, since Julius was the one that had kissed him first. Julius looked at Taj, examining him very closely and seeing pure honesty him in for what was most likely the first time.

It was shocking and appealing all at the same time. He'd never heard Taj talk like this and he'd never seen his aura such a lovely color before. It made his heart pound with excitement. As Taj toyed with his tea cup and spoke quietly, Julius was unconsciously getting closer and closer to the younger male, until he was so close that Taj easily took him by surprise with the soft kiss that was pressed against his lips. Julius moaned softly, wrapping one arm around Taj while his other hand worked to carefully set down his own cup of tea before it joined together with the other arm and wrapped around the smaller male's slim body.

"Taj..." Julius moaned into his mouth before he went to deepen the kiss even more, savoring the sweet taste of Taj's mouth. Julius knew that he should probably pull away, that he should stop this before it went too far. Taj didn't know what he was getting himself into, he was still young and too innocent, and Julius didn't want to be the one to cause him pain and heart break.

While Julius had strong feelings for Taj, who he considered one of his own, he was well aware of how complicated his life was because of this war and his past. His desire for revenge meant that he would probably never be able to fully give his heart to anyone ever again. But much like Taj, he found it hard to make himself stop, and before he knew what he was doing he was lifting Taj off to the bar stool and completely into his arms, still kissing him softly yet vigorously.

His lips moved from the others mouth to his neck, kissing and sucking on the exposed skin as he carried Taj into his bedroom, but instead of putting him down, Julius sat on the edge of the bed so that Taj was sitting in his lap, spreading out his wings before laying back against the bed so that they rested comfortably underneath his weight.

"Kiss me like that again." Julius whispered softly, reaching up and cupping Taj's face with his hand, softly caressing his cheek with his thumb, admiring how lovely he looked in the soft light left on coming from the other room. He'd been denying it to himself for a long time now, just how much he wanted to feel Taj's soft body pressed up against his own, but in that moment it was the only thing that he could think about.