I get a little bit Genghis Khan

[vacabdication]

[ There have been continents and decades passed between when Ajay and Pagan knew each other. Happily, Ajay’s time in Kyrat to date has made Pagan very aware of at least one thing they still share; a flair for the dramatic. Such a flair is probably at least partly to blame for why it’s been night on impossible for Pagan to get a message to Ajay about meeting without Ajay dramatically disposing of the messenger. There’s the radio, of course, but Pagan doesn’t quite trust that nobody is listening in, and it wouldn’t do to have any of those delightful little monkeys decide to try and off Ajay for fraternizing with the enemy. So he lays the groundwork, plants the idea – ends one of his rambling calls with I’ll have to have you to dinner, sometime, and leaves it at that.

Then it’s terribly easy to have Ajay scooped up after those awful little tourists send him out on a jaunt on one of their experimental substances – god, a look at the two of them and it’s easy to remember why, accent aside, he is far more likely to present himself as of Hong Kong than of England – and brought back to the palace. Of course, he’s high as a bloody kite, and Pagan is rather proud of the delicacies he’s acquired for their little soiree a deux, so he has Ajay sequestered in a private room to recover. There is a fully stocked ensuite attached, which Pagan prays Ajay will use, and his clothes are filthy so Pagan has them ferreted away to be washed (and in some cases, mended) and a selection more suited to dinner with a King left for Ajay to choose from – a classic black tuxedo, a rather dashing and elaborately embroidered kurta set, several beautiful suits in an array of colours, even a selection of wonderful blazers and (please no) designer jeans, should that prove more within Ajay’s comfort zone. And, most importantly, a gilt invitation to dinner on thick, creamy-coloured card waiting for him on the bedside table when he wakes.

It might be sensible to have Ajay’s weapons removed, too. For maintenance, he could say. It would be a terrible, tragic loss if Ajay Ghale, son of Mohan and great hope of the Golden Path, were to suffer a sticky trigger while facing down a tiger, after all. But Pagan Min is not a sensible man, and so he chooses to give preference to the semi he gets thinking about an immaculately dressed Ajay vaulting the table to hold a pistol to Pagan’s temple rather than common sense.

After all, for Pagan Min to host a dull dinner would be unthinkable. ]

Comments

[vacabdication]

Never have I ever been with a man. Or is that a different game?

[ It's not quite an answer to the question Ajay asked. Here's the thing: he'd meant it when he said it. Now, in very close quarters with Ajay like this -

well, perhaps it's only that it's been a very long time indeed since he had sex with anyone, but that attraction is floating around again and Pagan can't quite bring himself to blow any chance of it out of the water, just yet. Emboldened in a way he would have thought it would take far more alcohol to achieve, he smiles, and declines to elaborate. ]

And you?

[vaaris]

[ well. he'd call pagan out for hedging like that, but...

two can play at that game. he looks pagan dead in the eyes, and then takes a very deliberate sip of his drink.

but. there's something else that's been nagging at him. ] Why didn't you have me picked up earlier? Your guys aren't that bad at their jobs.

[vacabdication]

How rude! At least I pretended to answer.

[ He's going to take it as and indication that there may be hope for him yet. Why burst this bubble before it's completely necessary? ]

Part of me was hoping you'd see the light and come back of your own accord. I didn't think you'd take well to being abducted. Eventually, I got desperate. It started to seem as if further dilly-dallying would result in you actually managing to kill me. And I thought, well, since there's really only two possible outcomes here, why not skip to the end? Lay my cards on the table. The worst outcome was that you'd shoot me in the face, and you were on track to do that anyway.

[vaaris]

[ that gets met with a scrunch of his nose. ]

You thought I'd come back willingly? To what, get killed or handed over for some fun with De Pleur? [ even if he knows that's not what pagan had planned now (probably? hopefully?), it doesn't change what he was thinking then. ] And what was I supposed to do, cross the country with all three of your generals trying to kill me, waltz up to the palace gate, then knock and ask nicely if you'd come out and play?

[ a little snort of laughter, and then he's finishing off his drink. ] Or I could have called you up over the radio and told you that I wanted to be friends, and then Sabal and Amita could have fought over who gets to shoot me for betraying them.

[vacabdication]

[ Well, put like that it is rather funny, and Pagan starts laughing too - something that starts as a swift exhale through his nose, and builds into a full, shoulder-shaking chuckle, and he raises his glass to Ajay before knocking it back. ]

Well, when you put it like that. You know, I thought our little radio chats were nice. A lovely little thread of human connection in this terrible world. And all this time you thought I was trying to lull you into a false sense of security, awaiting the day I could have my henchman electrify your nipples. Christ, it's been too long since I had a friend. Top up?

[vaaris]

They weren’t… the worst.

[ which is as much as pagan is getting. in reality, sometimes they’d been the only friendly voice in a world that felt like it was trying to bite off as many pieces as it could, and there was a not-so-insignificant part of ajay that looked forward to them, questions about pagan’s attentions aside. ]

And I didn’t know that’s where you’d have De Pleur start. [ a little grimace. ] Pretty sure that mental image is gonna follow me into my nightmares, thanks.

[ holding out his glass, because he’s going to need alcohol to get through thoughts of nipple torture with de pleur. ]

[vacabdication]

Point of order, it is not where I was going to have De Pleur start. I wasn't going to have him start at all.

[ He's still smiling as he says it, but there's a part of him that feels it's necessary to make that extremely clear. Rationally he realizes it must already be - Ajay wouldn't be sitting here with him having a drink if it wasn't - but still. In any case, he refills Ajay's glass and then his own before setting comfortably back onto the couch, sitting half-sideways this time so he can face Ajay more easily. ]

He asked to be there, you know. Said he had to see the person I was so excited about first-hand. And I wouldn't have let him come at all if we hadn't got word that the Golden Path was going to try and take you. Do you know I initially thought they were going to hold you hostage? I fear I've become terribly unimaginative these past few years.

[vaaris]

Still. [ taking his glass back, tipping it towards pagan in a little gesture of thanks before taking another drink. ] I know the guy would enjoy it. Way too much.

[ and then a little snort. ] Pretty sure Amita considered it. She wasn’t exactly fired up about an American tourist hanging around.

[vacabdication]

Ah, lovely Amita. She's terrifying, that one. It's funny how alike they are, given all their bickering. Both feeding you the same shit, only Sabal rolls it in sugar first and Amita tells you you'll be setting women's rights back a hundred years if you don't just hold your nose and eat it as-is.

[ He twists around a little more so he's facing Ajay fully, one arm propped up on the back of the couch, one leg now just fully up there, ankle resting over his opposite knee. ]

It is a shame you didn't really get to see Kyrat properly before you got caught up in all of this. I've grown complacent over the years, obviously, but planning the things I wanted to show you made me just a little excited to see it all again. She really is a beautiful country, underneath it all.

[vaaris]

Sabal isn’t —

[ but no, what’s the point of defending the guy to pagan min? it’s not like sabal would appreciate the gesture.

so a little shake of his head. ] How do you know them? It’s not like you guys exchange Christmas cards.

[ and then… well. it kind of comes out before he can stop it: ] Then why’d you let the place go to shit?

[vacabdication]

I have spies, my dear boy. And before you get offended, so do they. Theirs just keep defecting because I offer a living wage and dental.

[ The second question, though - that's harder. Not hard to answer, just hard to dig into. Like an infected wound with a piece of shrapnel still in it. ]

There were... circumstances around your mother's departure that made things rather more complicated than a dramatic breakup. I fell into a cesspool of self-pity and didn't come out for quite some time. It's astonishing the amount of damage one man with almost unlimited power can do, when he's bent on self-destruction but too much of a coward to address the matter directly. Enough damage that it seems impossible to fix once he comes out of it, certainly.

[vaaris]

[ even after pagan’s promise not to lie to him, that last answer still counts for more honesty than ajay was expecting. so there’s a thoughtful little hmm as he processes it, but… it’s probably too early in this weird relationship to start lecturing the guy on how to run things.

so. ]

Is that how you know I’m not a spy? [ with a tip of his head and the barest edge of a grin around the corners of his mouth. ] Or is this just how you like to interrogate people?

[vacabdication]

[ Oh.

Hmm.

Now that is an oversight. ]

Do you know, it never occurred to me that you might be a spy. Certainly you've proven yourself capable enough that letting yourself get picked up so I'd think I had the upper hand isn't outside the realm of possibility. Perhaps it's overconfidence. I could always tell when you were lying when you were little because you'd suck your bottom lip into your mouth after you told a fib. Like you were trying to clean it off. I imagine you've outgrown that one, though.

Then again, it's been so long that I'm not sure it wouldn't be worth it to have you here as a spy, just to have you here.

[vaaris]

[ well. he was going to make a joke about his nipples, but pagan bringing up A Fond Childhood Memory is probably a good answer for whether or not he was hitting on ajay earlier. (definitely not.) and while it's not the worst time he's ever botched a case of mixed signals, it's still --

get it together, ajay.

it's why he knocks back his refill in one go, because pouring alcohol on a situation always makes it better. ]

Do me a favor and don't pass that one on to De Pleur. Just in case, y'know, you change your mind about the whole torturing thing.

[vacabdication]

[ Ajay drains his drink in one go and for just a moment Pagan contemplates telling how much a bottle costs. He errs on the side of kindness, topping it off again, and gives him a smile. ]

Ajay, it is my fondest hope that if you're ever tied up within the palace walls, De Pleur will not be part of the equation.

[vaaris]

[ ah. it's great that ajay doesn't actually have a chance to take a sip of his drink before pagan hits him with that, because the choked sound he makes definitely means it would have gone straight up his nose. what the fuck! if pagan isn't hitting on him, what was that supposed to be?! ]

Oh. Cool. [ he can feel the blood rushing traitorously up into his cheeks. dammit. ] I'll, uh. Keep that in mind.

[vacabdication]

[ Is Ajay blushing?

Don't get ahead of yourself, Pagan. He did just throw back a glass of scotch like it was a jello shot. Still, the fact that he's uh-ing instead of recoiling in disgust is intriguing. ]

Do. But look at me, I've gotten us all off track. Weren't we playing a game?

[ He is absolutely still playing one. ]

[vaaris]

Was it --

[ he swallows, and suddenly looking down at the glass in his hand is a lot easier than looking directly at pagan. fuck, it's been too long since he's drank -- his tolerance has got to be fucking with him, that's the only thing that explains this.

right? ]

I mean, it's your turn. To ask something.

[vacabdication]

My turn, hmm?

[ He takes a sip of his drink - more measured than Ajay's, but still meant to fortify as he holds his gaze steady on Ajay's face even as Ajay looks away. He's not drunk. He has far too much of a tolerance for that. It's simply that Ajay is beautiful, and somehow... magnetic. Pagan is drawn to him even as he's aware that indulging his impulses could be dangerous, like a swimmer in a riptide. ]

Would you like it if I kissed you right now?

[vaaris]

[ clearly, ajay ghale isn't someone who learns a lesson. because he is midway through a drink this time, and he nearly chokes on it when pagan drops that question on him.

instantly, his eyes snap back up to pagan's face -- almost expecting this to be some sort of trap, but there's nothing in the other man's expression but amusement, curiosity, and a trace of something else that makes heat flutter at the pit of ajay's stomach. ]

I --

[ it'd be safer to laugh it off. better still to sidestep and say that maybe he should get some sleep. but he hasn't gotten where he is by avoiding risk, and once you get a taste for it, there's really no turning back.

his eyes drop to pagan's mouth, and the way he licks his lips is a subconscious thing. ]

Yeah. [ breathed out, like a secret in the air between them. ]

[vacabdication]

Good. Good. Because I'd like it too. Very much.

[ And so there's nothing to do but please them both. Pagan puts his glass down but doesn't wait for Ajay to do the same. Leans in, takes Ajay's face in his hand in a mirror of the way he did it before, and indulges the thought that's spent so much time bubbling to the surface this evening. It's slow, but not quite soft; the press of his lips against Ajay's, the shift of his thumb to Ajay's chin to guide his mouth open so that Pagan can slip his tongue inside, all clearly hungry but measured, controlled. He tastes of the scotch they've been drinking and a part of Pagan mourns that, regrets that he can't discover the taste of Ajay yet. ]

[vaaris]

[ yeah, putting down his drink probably would have been a good idea, huh? but his brain is currently on overload, and that means all ajay does is stare at pagan like an idiot as the other man sets down his glass, leans in, and --

oh.

fuck, he doesn't kiss like a straight guy.

it's slow but heated, as if ajay is a delicacy that pagan wants to have melt on his tongue, and it sends a wave of heat down ajay's spine. he's scarcely even aware of the sound he makes into pagan's mouth in response -- caught somewhere between a sigh and a moan -- one hand lifting to grip at the other man's shoulder because it feels like he might be swept away without something to hold onto. ]

[vacabdication]

[ Ajay breathes a little sound into the kiss, grips at Pagan's shoulder, and if he were aware enough to do so Pagan would count that a rollicking success. As it is, he isn't really processing anything beyond the fact that it feels good, and that Ajay gives every appearance of also thinking it's good. All in, then. He puts his other hand to the back of Ajay's head, burying his fingers in all that thick, dark hair as he presses closer. He pulls back just a shade - just enough to bite at Ajay's bottom lip and suckle where the press of his teeth had been before he delves back in, stroking his tongue against the other man's and relishing they way that it's entirely different from anything he's known but still feels so wonderfully right. Too right, almost - it's dizzying, and he finally breaks the kiss just to steady himself, catch his breath. ]

Well, then.

[vaaris]

[ pagan starts to pull back, and ajay would be embarrassed about the little sound of protest that escapes -- but then the older man nips at his lower lip, just hard enough to sting, and fuck. ajay's just lucky that the sound that gets torn out of him is muffled when pagan presses their mouths together again; it's just a kiss, and he's over here melting into the couch cushions like some kind of swooning teenager.

it's still too soon, somehow, when pagan pulls away.

which is maybe why ajay hasn't come up with anything remotely clever to say; his brain is full of static and fog, skin flushed and pupils blown dark and wide. he licks his lips again, almost chasing the lingering taste of pagan's mouth on his, but it's enough to make his lower lip sting where it's been pressure-bruised, and fuck.

greedily, he uses a fistful of pagan's jacket to drag him back down again for another kiss, and there's nothing controlled about it. it's hungry, openly wanting, punctuated by the low sound he makes as pagan's tongue slides against his. ]

[vacabdication]

[ Oh, but that's good. Better somehow, and it was pretty damn good before! But where before there was just the delicious warmth of Ajay opening to him, now there's the heat of Ajay instigating it, pulling Pagan hungrily in, and that's electric. It's a kiss that demands escalation. If Ajay were a woman Pagan would pull her into his lap, a tried-and-true move that has almost always got him precisely what he wanted. It's not a move that feels quite right with Ajay, and not only because Ajay is taller, and muscled enough to make Pagan very dubious about the potential success of lifting him. So he does the opposite - shifts forward until he's sitting over Ajay, plants his knees on either side of his hips and pushes him back against the sofa.

Not enough. Still not enough. The kiss is wet now, messy, and Pagan wants more. He slips his hand down to the fly of Ajay's jeans and pauses there, letting his thumb trace a loop over the button. ]

Yes?

[ Murmured against his mouth, hot and wanting. ]