TRP: Anwyll and Raef (Wrath and Lust)

**MINK**

[Day: 405 Setting: Anwyll's cave.]

The divide was growing, and it wasn't his family's
fault.  Goro's words still flitted
through his mind.  Anwyll had eaten him,
had gone after him.   The first dream,
the one with the sick man crawling with maggots, was further back, less
important.

What mattered was Goro, his friend, his family, had been
hurt at the hands of someone he was supposed to trust.

Someone he was supposed to help, protect, love.

By the time Raef made past the entrance of the cave some of
the hot anger had run its course, but his heart still thudded and he felt too
tense.

**COYOTE**

A familiar iron scent wafted from the back of the cave. The
large main chamber was empty, but a trail of blood led to one of the side
tunnels, as though something had been dragged.

**MINK**

Raef's had dropped to his dagger.  He hesitated a moment before following the
trail. "Anwyll?" he called, glancing around the cave, on edge.  Shit.

**COYOTE**

The trail led down deep, to where it was cold and dark.
Finally, the tunnel opened into a small chamber.

Anwyll had dragged the body of a dead lizardman into his
cave and carefully torn it apart. The chest cavity had been snapped open. Some
organs were gone, as though they'd been eaten, but others-- the less appetizing
ones-- had been removed and set aside. Anwyll sat soaked in blood, licking the
blood off his fingers.

Once he saw Raef, he looked briefly puzzled, then delighted.
"I'm sorry, my love," he said, rising to his feet. "Did you say
you were coming today? This is an unexpected pleasure. Let me get cleaned
up."

**MINK**

His chest felt too tight as he walked; if there was some
fuckin' monster waiting...He breathed out a soft sigh when he saw it was
Anwyll, though covered in blood with a dead lizard-thing next to him.

Raef scowled after he sighed; he wasn't supposed to feel
better at this.  Anwyll had fucked up -
and didn't look like it was even on his mind.

He quirked an eyebrow. "...No, but why'd I not come
after last night?"

**COYOTE**

Anwyll paused, looking mildly surprised and confused, then
concerned. "Is everything alright?"

**MINK**

Raef stared.  Did --
no, Anwyll had to know. "No, everything isn't 'alright!" he hissed,
nearly throwing his hands up before he could stop himself.  They clenched and unclenched instead.
"You ate Goro!"

**COYOTE**

"Goro?" Anwyll said after a pause. "Oh. Which
one is... oh. The small, angry cleric, isn't he? The one Diva made a deal
with." He sounded puzzled. "Raef, he hasn't been by. Are you
okay?"

**MINK**

Raef's brow furrowed. "Yeah, the cleric..." he started,
slow, measured, confusion mixing in with the anger still settled low from what
Goro had told him. "I'm fuckin' fine.
Goro'a fuckin' not and that's not fucking okay!  Said you fuckin' ate him last night."
His hands tightened again.

**COYOTE**

Anwyll looked concerned, and somewhat baffled. He reached
out to squeeze Raef's arm, hesitantly, to see if Raef would let him. "I
haven't talked to your cleric friend before. You requested I leave him alone.
Raef. I'm covered in blood. Why don't we go upstairs? You can explain
everything that happened."

**MINK**

Raef tensed under the touch, but didn't pull away.  Anwyll seemed honest - he always did - and
Goro seemed honest. What the fuck was...he scowled as he pulled away to start the
way back to the main cave, away from the stench of blood and flesh.

"I also told you he wanted to meet you," he
answered, tone still cool.

**COYOTE**

Anwyll paused a long moment, like he was trying to puzzle
something out. "You did," he said slowly. "I'm sorry, I was
having a busy night when you spoke to me. A small band of the local lizardfolk
have been encroaching on my territory. They normally are quite worshipful of
me, but this band in particular was becoming meddlesome, and it took my
attention. I forgot to contact your friend. You said he thinks he met with
me?"

He moved up the tunnel, and he motioned for Raef to follow
him.

**MINK**

Raef was slow to follow, but he did.  He glanced back towards the trail of
blood.  That...fit...but...

...he was too fuckin' old...

"Yeah...said he dreamed you...were sick." He
glanced at Anwyll. "...then you are him." He sounded a little more
certain - made himself sound more certain.
Goro had been fuckin' torn up.
That had been real.

**COYOTE**

"Ate him," Anwyll said to be sure. "He
dreamed I ate him. Like. As a four-course meal? Cut him up and dined on his
liver?"

He sounded baffled and vaguely amused, but then he caught
himself, and said, "I'm not trying to make fun, my darling. I know you're
concerned about your friend. This is unusual, is all, I suppose." He
reached the top of the tunnel and climbed out, emerging into the main chamber,
then continued walking to another tunnel, one that led deeper into his home,
into the bathing area.

"What else happened in the dream?" Anwyll said.
"Can you describe it all to me? Any major, meaningful events?"

**MINK**

Raef bristled, but it was short lived: he didn't know he was
supposed to fuckin' feel.  If Anwyll was
telling the truth then someone else ate Goro and that was also fuckin'
unacceptable, but then...

His jaw tightened as he was led to the bathing area.

"Like you swallowed him like a snake," he
answered, wrapping a hand around his dagger's hilt to squeeze the grip.
"He said you were, I dunno, sick and covered in maggots...and then the
dream changed." He shrugged. "...then he talked with you about
gettin' Diva's deal.  Then you ate him
and Pride came in and saved his ass."

**COYOTE**

Anwyll halted suddenly.

**MINK**

Raef almost ran into him. "What?"

**COYOTE**

Anwyll turned, slightly. His expression had become very cold
and very angry. He held up his hand like he was thinking, then, once he was
done, dropped it to squeeze Raef's arm again.

"Let me see if I have this correct," Anwyll said.
"Goro tried to contact me. And then he had a strange, terrifying dream in
which-- seemingly-- I attacked him against your wishes. Mind you, such an act
would not benefit me at all. Such a thing would not harm your friend in real
life, only terrify him and turn you all against me. And then... once your
friend was helpless and terrified... Pride showed up, and saved him. And
now--"

Anwyll paused there, as if too angry to speak.

"And now," Anwyll said, "because of this
extremely strange dream your friend had, that clearly was not me... your friend
is grateful that Pride rescued him from me, the terrible snake monster who ate
him. Pride. The dream demon. Doesn't this sound a bit suspicious to you?"

**MINK**

Raef glanced down at Anwyll's hand before looking back up,
frowning.  It made sense...and he hated
it...it was easier being pissed off at someone he could do something about.

And if it was all fuckin' Pride then that was a major
fucking problem because Goro was friends with Sam, and maybe Sam didn't know
his damn patron was playing tricks

"You're not fuckin' bullshitting me, right?" he
asked, fingers tightening, purpleand grey smoke tracing over his fingers.

**COYOTE**

"No," Anwyll said. "You know I have no
reservations about lying to people, my love. But there is a difference between
you and other people, and that is the fact that I intend to spend a very long
time with you. Forever, perhaps, once you are ready to leave your old life and
join me. And though I have no reservations about lying to people..."

He cupped Raef's face with his bloody hands. "Raef, I
will never lie to you. Especially about such petty, meaningless things as this.
It would only serve to drive you away from me, and I could not stand that. You
are mine now, and I intend to keep you. And when I say you are mine, I do not
mean that like you are some dog I've leashed-- I mean that you have chosen to
be mine, and chosen to be with me, because you want to be."

He smudged his bloody thumb across Raef's cheek. "And I
intend to treat you well. Like a partner, not like some beast I've tamed."

He dropped one hand, but kept the other on Raef's face.
"I will not bullshit you. You asked me not to harm your friend. So I
didn't. I am a simple creature."

**MINK**

Raef looks from one golden eye to the other, seeking any of
the lie that could be there, but there was only concern that mirrored the
tender touches to his face.  There was no
lie, nothing that would make his heart sink and his stomach clench.

He reached up to place a hand on the side of Anwyll's face,
stroking the soft, blood dotted skin.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, offering a small sort
of smile. "He was...just fuckin' terrified..." And...and...if Pride
had done this...His jaw tightened.

**COYOTE**

"You don't need to apologize," Anwyll said,
holding him still. "Anger is a natural reaction. Listen, I know this might
sound condescending, but are you certain he didn't just... have a nightmare?
Maybe something Pride stepped into and took advantage of, not realizing what it
was?"

**MINK**

Raef dropped his hand to Anwyll's shoulder.  He lightly stroked Anwyll'sneck and nodded.
"Yeah...it wasn't a nightmare."

**COYOTE**

"Well. If you're certain." Anwyll leaned into the
touch, which was pleasant. He still had not gotten over how wonderful it was to
touch Raef, skin to skin, in the real world. It had a different feel to it--
more pleasant in the real more, more firm, more electrifying.

**MINK**

Raef kept up the soft touches, smiling a little as Anwyll
leaned into them. He liked that.  Liked
that he could touch him like this without the fog of a dream.

"Guess we'll find a way to deal with him." He
shrugged.  He'd have to tell Goro, try to
convince him...if he could.

Raef traced his fingers up to slide his thumb under Anwyll's
chin to draw him down for a soft kiss that tasted of iron. "...thank you
for keeping your word."

**COYOTE**

"You don't have to thank me for that," Anwyll
said, and kissed Raef softly, letting it be a long, lingering satisfying kiss
before he parted with a contented sigh. "I wish he'd leave us alone. I
admit, I was angry with him before, but I've grown tired of this
conflict."

He moved, again, towards the baths. The blood was growing
sticky on his clothing, which he disliked. "I didn't resent him before he
started killing our siblings and our children. He is canny and cruel, and he is
prideful, but... he is the embodiment of his name, like we all are, and that's
something good. Delightful, even. I simply wish he'd stop twisting the Sins
against each other."

**MINK**

Raef breathed out, quiet, soft, pleased, as the kiss
broke.  It lingered still, a warm tingle
that he didn't want to chase away.  He
let Anwyll's neck go to follow him once more, but his hand slipped down to run
over Anwyll's arm, his slender wrists, and finally to twine their fingers
together.

Whenever he touched him, it was better. Everything was
better.  His heart still leapt, still
yearned for the touches that were the same and yet so very different than the
dreams.

"...yeah... it isn't right..." Family against
family...and if Goro was gonna be like him...he paused a little in his
steps.  If Goro hadn't spoken with
Anwyll... "...oh...Goro feels like you...well...not as good." He
winked with a flirting sort of smile. "...but still like you...why?"

**COYOTE**

"Mm. Maybe you can feel that I love you," Anwyll
said, pleased with the flirting. "Shall I go wash the blood off or shall I
leave it on?"

**MINK**

Raef laughed and playfully pushed Anwyll towards the water.
"Get cleaned up.  You're a
mess." He chuckled. " Mmm...but no...his aura's fucked up, too."

**COYOTE**

"It is?" Anwyll was puzzled again. "Fucked
up. How so?"

He began to strip his clothing off. The bathing area was
simply a large pool with a faint undercurrent, the section of a passing river.

**MINK**

"It's not there...I thought...maybe it was a little
gold...like yours," Raef answered as he undid the straps of his boots and
slid them off.  His eyes flickered over
Anwyll as the demon stripped.  He never
got tired of that sight.

**COYOTE**

"That's puzzling," Anwyll said. "Perhaps I
should send him a dream, tonight, so I can take a look."

**MINK**

Raef paused in tugging off his shirt.  He shook his head. "No.  I don't think he'd like that." Goro'd
kill him for letting Anwyll neat him again before he could talk to him.

He finished removing the rest of his clothing and stepped
into the water.  He held a hand out to
Anwyll. "Come'n.  I'll clean
you."

**COYOTE**

The water was pleasantly hot. Anwyll let Raef clean the
blood off his skin, then spent a while grooming Raef in return, filing his
nails to sharp points and cleaning out the dirt from underneath them. There was
something incredibly pleasing about this basic task. He had never been able to
perform it before.

**MINK**

Bit by bit creamy white skin was revealed as flakes and
clumps of blood were washed away.  Raef
lost himself in simply cleaning Anwyll, enjoying the skin beneath his fingers
and running his fingers through silken locks.
Then he was taken care of and he could've fallen asleep under the loving
touches.

Once they were clean he lounged against Anwyll, tracing a
finger over the demon's knee beneath the clear surface of water.

"Mmm...I'm glad you showed me where you lived," he
murmured.

**COYOTE**

It was a long time since someone had touched Anwyll softly
or gently, in reverence or affection, rather than harshly or in violence. He
had forgotten how pleasant it was.

The problem with touching Raef was that-- it felt like being
hungry, but indulging himself did not sate him; it only made him want more.

He steadied himself, though. He resisted the urge.

Raef was slight-- dexterous rather than strong-- and it'd be
fairly easy to hold him against the slope of the pool and do whatever he
pleased with him, dig his fingers into Raef's skin and claim him, leave Raef
with dozens of small bruises and scratches across his body saying mine, mine,
mine.

Anwyll thought about this, explicitly. He turned to regard
Raef and gave him an appreciative look, making it clear-- without words-- what
he was thinking, what he wanted to do to Raef, but wasn't doing, not yet.

He kissed Raef's hand. "I'm glad I showed you where I
lived, too."

**MINK**

A deep flush crept across Raef's cheeks at the look turned
his way.  Oh, he liked (loved) what he
saw in it.   It was a hungry look, a look
that made his skin prick and his heart beat dangerously fast.

He smiled at the soft kiss to his hand.

"I wish you hadn't waited," he said, turning more
to his side.  He slipped his hand up to
Anwyll's face, stroking his thumb over his cheekbone to leave a line of water
that glistened in the light.

Raef took a soft breath, ran his hand back to hold the back
of Anwyll's head, and he leaned in to place a on his forehead, the tip of his
nose, and finally his lips.

"You're even better in person." One more kiss, a
little deeper, a little more hungry. "...if only you were closer..."

**COYOTE**

Anwyll liked it when Raef was hungry. And Raef often was;
Anwyll suspected that Raef wasn't getting enough at home. He needed this
roughness, maybe. Someone to unleash this wrath on, to be a monster with.

He slunk down further into the water, then pulled Raef over
to him, firmly down against him in his lap.

"I'm glad I waited," Anwyll said. He kissed Raef
again, letting himself linger and grow more excited, but not giving in; simply
enjoying the sensation of Raef on his lap, enjoying the way Raef touched him,
like he couldn't get enough. "I've had other warlocks. D'you want to hear
about them? I can tell you. They weren't as good as you."

**MINK**

"You just like to make me wait," Raef mumbled
before being drawn into another kiss, one that took his breath away.  Anwyll always took it away, and he wanted him
to.  He wanted the kisses that were
teasing, the hungry touches, the bites, the scratches, all of it.  Everything Anwyll offered him and more.

He simply wanted Anwyll.
Like Az, like Hansel, like Griffin, even like Aesar, he wanted
him...needed him.

"Mmhmm.  Tell me
about them." He twined his fingers through Anwyll's hair, shifting his
hips to settle as close as he could, loving the feeling of his demon under him
and against him.

**COYOTE**

"Well," Anywll said, watching Raef play with his
hair. "There were a few paltry warlocks I picked up as I decided to grow
my power. Most of them died, though, or they completed their quest and no
longer needed me, so I let them go. But my favorite... my favorite was a man
named Rook."

**MINK**

"..mmm...I'm not your favorite?" Raef winked,
chuckling softly. "What'd Rook do?"

**COYOTE**

"You're my favorite now," Anwyll said. "And
you will see why. He was a drow, a dark elf, and he lived deep beneath the
surface of the world, in the Underdark. I used to live there, too, in the
caves. They called me the Wise Basilisk, the Singer-in-the-Deep, the snake in
human skin, and the drow dared not venture into my caves, because they were
afraid I would catch them and I would eat them.

"But this child, this Rook, heard my singing, and he
was fascinated. He was drawn to me. He was a commoner from Menzoberranzan, the
City of Spiders. Have you heard of this place?"

**MINK**

Raef's nose wrinkled.
Being underground, alone, avoided... he didn't like the thought of
Anwyll like that.  He stroked his fingers
down Anwyll's neck.

"Yeah..." It had been a long time, bit he had
heard of drow, their city, and the wicked deity they followed.  It was a dark place.

**COYOTE**

"It is an interesting place," Anwyll said,
lounging contentedly with Raef against him. "Large. Over-populated.
Seething like a city of insects. I called the child to me, because he was alone
there, and mistreated. The problem was, the tunnels in the Underdark are
winding and full of monsters, and they were far too dangerous for a child, so
he could not come find me. I, meanwhile, could not venture close to
Menzoberranzan, because I would be driven off. And so I could never meet him in
person. But I visited him in his dreams, and I guided him. I gave him advice. I
gave him some of my power, that he might survive.

"And he used it well. He learned how to see through
walls. He learned how to wither a man into a corpse just by touching them. He
learned how to pass through solid objects without a trace. He learned how to
summon demons to his command. He grew older, into an adult, and he became one
of the most feared assassins in the city. And I loved him, and he was
mine."

Anwyll paused there for a very long time, as if the next
part was troubling.

"We became lovers," Anwyll said, less pleased now.
Less content. More sad. "And I looked forward to meeting him in person. I
craved it. I wanted to hold him in my arms and feel the weight of him in my
lap."

**MINK**

A small frown creased Raef's brow.  The tale made his heart flutter and each
pause, each whisper of sorrow in Anwyll's voice, made his heart ache for him.

"What happened?" he whispered, now brushing back
Anwyll's hair, a soothing touch.  He was
there for him, if he wanted it.

**COYOTE**

"I told him where I was and guided him to me. And when
he reached me, he fell into my arms, and it was the most amazing night of my
life. And in the morning, when the glowing mushrooms had phased through their
eight-five hour light cycle... he tried to kill me."

**MINK**

Raef's touches stopped. "Why?" He didn't
understand that; didn't understand trying to kill someone you loved.

**COYOTE**

"I don't know," Anwyll said, quietly puzzled.
"I was so upset. Enraged. Betrayed. I didn't think, I... just killed
him."

He lapsed into silence.

**MINK**

Raef hooked his arms around Anwyll. "I'm sorry."
He squeezed and placed a kiss on Anwyll's forehead.  He knew that feeling, having to kill a lover
(husband)..it was different, but the hurt never went away.

**COYOTE**

"I think someone turned him against me," Anwyll
said faintly. He pulled Raef against him so that Raef was resting against his
chest, Raef's face in his hair, and petted Raef absently. "The drow in
that city feared me. Perhaps the Baenre clan... the matriarchs... perhaps they
offered to adopt him into their clan if he killed me for them. But now I'll
never know."

He kissed Raef's shoulder.

"I never let anyone else meet me in person after
that," he confessed. "The wound was... too raw. It's been hundreds of
years. But-- I'm glad I waited for you, my love. I'm glad I brought you
here."

**MINK**

Raef leaned against Anwyll, tucking one arm up while his
other hung in the water.  He traced thin
circles along Anwyll's hip and side.

"Maybe...it sounds like something they would do,"
he agreed.  The drow, from the stories
and books he had read, often did that.
He worried his lower lip, turned his head, and kissed Anwyll's neck.

"Thank you for trusting me." Raef smiled softly.
"I'm glad you let me come..." He nuzzled his face in close.
"...I won't hurt you..."

**COYOTE**

"I suppose I was willing to risk it again," Anwyll
said. He kissed Raef's forehead. "I'm sorry your friend is upset."

**MINK**

Raef's eyes fluttered shut at the kiss. "...thank
you...I'll talk to him." Tell him about this, about Anwyll, if Goro would
listen to him.  Then he'd find a way to
take care of their problem.

He shifted to sit up a little, resting his arms on Anwyll's
shoulders.  He pressed a kiss to his
lips. "...thank you..." For trusting him, for letting him in, for
giving him a chance, for everything.

**COYOTE**

"We'll figure it out what's going on with your
friend," Anwyll said. "Such things are puzzles, but they are often
less complicated than they look."

Then he sighed contentedly. "How long are you here? Do
you plan to stay a few days? Or-- must you go, like last time?"

**MINK**

Raef nodded. "We'll figure it out," he
agreed.  They would.  Goro'd be fine.  He had to be.

He twirled a strand around his fingers. "I have to
leave in the morning..." take a teleportation circle back home.  There was a picnic the next day. "...but
I'll come back." He smiled. "I'll stay longer next time."

**COYOTE**

"Good," Anwyll said, satisfied, and kissed Raef
again as a reward.

**MINK**

[End]

Title: Wrath and Lust Summary: Raef confronts Anwyll about
the dream with Goro.  Anwyll said he
wasn't there, that he was busy and forgot.
Raef believed him.  When asked
about Goro feeling like Anwyll, Anwyll was just as perplexed.  Anwyll tells a story about an assassin named
Rook.  Raef promises to never hurt
Anwyll.