Hype

“Huh?” he asks, and tries to sit up. Kas, straddling the back of his legs, tuts and pushes him back down into the cot. He's much stronger than his lithe build suggests - all wiry muscles and fight-calloused hands. “I mean … Forgive me, I didn't catch that?”

Kas hums, and continues to apply the ointment the healer prescribed for Steve's wounds. They’re healing, but they still hurt. Steve’s fingers curl into the pillow as Kas focuses his attention on the nastiest one.

“The kingdom of Hawkins, sweetheart. Tell me more about the place I'm about to conquer.”

Steve rolls his eyes.

“It’s a beautiful nation,” he recites what his tutors have drilled into him since childhood. “Rich in history and natural treasures. Gold and other precious metals in the mountains to the north, and the freshest, cleanest water in the-”

“-river delta in the south,” Kas singsongs. “I know. It may be surprising to you, but I can read. What about its people? What do they like to eat? How do they pass their time after a long day out in the fields? What tales and songs do they pass around their hearths?”

“I-” Steve stammers. Shit, what kind of question is that? How is he supposed to know what the common people eat, or do with their time? “They are, um- … good people. Law-abiding and hard-working, and-”

“-and god-fearing and all of that shit.” Kas sighs. “What beautiful lines they’ve taught you.”

There’s a plop, like a bottle uncorking, and a moment later, those calloused hands are on Steve’s ass instead of his back, warm and slick with oil.

Steve moans and arches his back as well as he can in his current position, lying on his stomach with Kas’s weight pressing him down into the mattress.

“Beautiful sounds, too,” Kas rumbles. Steve can feel his cock filling out, pressing hard and insistent into the space between his thighs. “Tell me about the man who taught them to you, then. You must’ve spent a lot of time with him. Surely you’ll know more about him than about the common folk.”

Steve just barely manages to disguise the incoming groan under a needy whine.

“Let’s not talk about him now,” he begs, letting his voice drop to the low, sultry purr that always does its job. Kas swears and rocks his hips, and slips in two fingers at once to scissor him open. “Why think about him when you’ve got me here, ready to fulfil your every desire?”

Kas chuckles and curls his fingers. This time, the gasp that slips from Steve’s lips is not an act.

“My every desire? Someone is full of himself. I desire lots of things, big boy, and a great many of them lie outside this tent. Which is exactly why I want to know all you can tell me about the king of Hawkins. What kind of man is he? What does he love the most in life? What are his weaknesses? What was he hoping to accomplish by sending you to me?”

Steve thinks of the spies, disguised as travelling merchants and sellswords and cheap whores who have joined the approaching army over the last few days. Thinks of how he's supposed to sneak out - once Kas is well worn out from fucking him and fast asleep - to meet them. Thinks of all the beautiful false information he has spun in his own head, to make sure both sides suffer maximum damage.

He has just opened his mouth, words neatly arranged on his tongue, when the world tilts. When he manages to shake the vertigo and the confusion from his head, Kas is grinning up at him, dark curls fanning around his head on the pillows.

“Can't upset those wounds, can we? Not after I spent all that time patching you up.”

Steve thinks of the sounds of Hargrove's belt breaking his skin. Thinks of the sick glee in the man's voice as he told him to count the lashes out loud. Thinks of the perverse pleasure in his eyes as he took him on the floor after, each thrust tearing at the fresh wounds.

So you won't forget who you belong to, pretty boy.

“He's not a man,” he whispers, shifting his weight so that he can straddle Kas’s lap and sink down on his cock. “There's nothing human about him. He enjoys pain. He thrives on making people suffer. And I want him gone.”

Kas chuckles, but Steve doesn't miss the little hitch in his breath, or the way those hands tighten on his hips as he starts to rock himself.

“Better be careful what you wish for, honey. There's plenty of people who'd tell you that I, too, am a monster.”

It's true, Steve thinks. Someone sure is full of himself. After all, Hargrove being gone does not automatically mean that Kas will be in power.

Well, all the better.

Let them both revel in their delusions of grandeur. Let them use him and beat him and fuck him to their hearts’ content. He can take it. At this point, he knows his way around monsters better than he knows how to deal with humans.

And as far as monsters go, he'll take his chances with this one.

“Huh?” he asks, and tries to sit up. Kas, straddling the back of his legs, tuts and pushes him back down into the cot. He's much stronger than his lithe build suggests - all wiry muscles and fight-calloused hands. “I mean … Forgive me, I didn't catch that?”

Kas hums, and continues to apply the ointment the healer prescribed for Steve's wounds. They’re healing, but they still hurt. Steve’s fingers curl into the pillow as Kas focuses his attention on the nastiest one.

“The kingdom of Hawkins, sweetheart. Tell me more about the place I'm about to conquer.”

Steve rolls his eyes.

“It’s a beautiful nation,” he recites what his tutors have drilled into him since childhood. “Rich in history and natural treasures. Gold and other precious metals in the mountains to the north, and the freshest, cleanest water in the-”

“-river delta in the south,” Kas singsongs. “I know. It may be surprising to you, but I can read. What about its people? What do they like to eat? How do they pass their time after a long day out in the fields? What tales and songs do they pass around their hearths?”

“I-” Steve stammers. Shit, what kind of question is that? How is he supposed to know what the common people eat, or do with their time? “They are, um- … good people. Law-abiding and hard-working, and-”

“-and god-fearing and all of that shit.” Kas sighs. “What beautiful lines they’ve taught you.”

There’s a plop, like a bottle uncorking, and a moment later, those calloused hands are on Steve’s ass instead of his back, warm and slick with oil.

Steve moans and arches his back as well as he can in his current position, lying on his stomach with Kas’s weight pressing him down into the mattress.

“Beautiful sounds, too,” Kas rumbles. Steve can feel his cock filling out, pressing hard and insistent into the space between his thighs. “Tell me about the man who taught them to you, then. You must’ve spent a lot of time with him. Surely you’ll know more about him than about the common folk.”

Steve just barely manages to disguise the incoming groan under a needy whine.

“Let’s not talk about him now,” he begs, letting his voice drop to the low, sultry purr that always does its job. Kas swears and rocks his hips, and slips in two fingers at once to scissor him open. “Why think about him when you’ve got me here, ready to fulfil your every desire?”

Kas chuckles and curls his fingers. This time, the gasp that slips from Steve’s lips is not an act.

“My every desire? Someone is full of himself. I desire lots of things, big boy, and a great many of them lie outside this tent. Which is exactly why I want to know all you can tell me about the king of Hawkins. What kind of man is he? What does he love the most in life? What are his weaknesses? What was he hoping to accomplish by sending you to me?”

Steve thinks of the spies, disguised as travelling merchants and sellswords and cheap whores who have joined the approaching army over the last few days. Thinks of how he's supposed to sneak out - once Kas is well worn out from fucking him and fast asleep - to meet them. Thinks of all the beautiful false information he has spun in his own head, to make sure both sides suffer maximum damage.

He has just opened his mouth, words neatly arranged on his tongue, when the world tilts. When he manages to shake the vertigo and the confusion from his head, Kas is grinning up at him, dark curls fanning around his head on the pillows.

“Can't upset those wounds, can we? Not after I spent all that time patching you up.”

Steve thinks of the sounds of Hargrove's belt breaking his skin. Thinks of the sick glee in the man's voice as he told him to count the lashes out loud. Thinks of the perverse pleasure in his eyes as he took him on the floor after, each thrust tearing at the fresh wounds.

So you won't forget who you belong to, pretty boy.

“He's not a man,” he whispers, shifting his weight so that he can straddle Kas’s lap and sink down on his cock. “There's nothing human about him. He enjoys pain. He thrives on making people suffer. And I want him gone.”

Kas chuckles, but Steve doesn't miss the little hitch in his breath, or the way those hands tighten on his hips as he starts to rock himself.

“Better be careful what you wish for, honey. There's plenty of people who'd tell you that I, too, am a monster.”

It's true, Steve thinks. Someone sure is full of himself. After all, Hargrove being gone does not automatically mean that Kas will be in power.

Well, all the better.

Let them both revel in their delusions of grandeur. Let them use him and beat him and fuck him to their hearts’ content. He can take it. At this point, he knows his way around monsters better than he knows how to deal with humans.

And as far as monsters go, he'll take his chances with this one.

“Wow,” says Steve, pressing under Eddie’s shoulder blade until something pops. “The label was right. It was high time you did something about this.”

“Hrrrrrgh,” Eddie replies.

Steve chuckles. “Okay, turn around.”

Eddie does. Briefly wonders how ridiculous exactly he looks. His bun has come loose, and there's probably a perfectly circlical pressure mark surrounding his face.

Steve does something to his arm.

Eddie has no idea what exactly. Eddie didn't even know there was something wrong with his arm.

All Eddie knows is that he makes a sound that has absolutely no place in a physiotherapy session.

“Um,” he says, startled. “Sorry. That was... uh.”

“Don't worry.” Steve winks at him. “I get it all the time. Now, get down on the floor. I'll show you some exercises you can do at home.”

This physio thing must be working after all, because Eddie has never dropped to his knees so fast in his life.

Listen I'm not saying I moaned like a slut while getting a massage last week but write what you know about and all that.