#noodlekit

But Gaetan wouldn’t let it go. He wanted to see Letho’s home; his memories of Stygga were fuzzy at best. He’d only been a boy when it’d fallen. They traipse up the winding, dusty path into the Tir Tochair mountains and Gaetan makes an awed ‘oh’ with his mouth as the turrets of Gorthur Gvaed emerge from the yellowy-brown rocks of the terrain. It was built into a deep chasm, with a smattering of green surrounding the crumbled walls. Gaetan grins at Letho, who can’t help but smirk back as they steer their horses down the slope.

Serrit and Auckes are already settled, and they meet the two new arrivals in the courtyard. Despite several years of hard work, the donjon is still in pretty bad shape, and Gaetan’s gaze wanders over the scars on her walls. A mirror of her current occupants, he thinks ruefully. Serrit sweeps his dark hair from his face and eyes Gaetan suspiciously, but they don’t say anything.

The first evening is a little stilted. Auckes, the more level-headed of the two, offers Gaetan alcohol and a game of cards, but Serrit goes to bed early. They don’t like change or outsiders in equal measure, and for a while Letho’s worried that this was a mistake. The two others were used to having him to themselves for the winter. Had he inadvertently damaged their happiness by thinking of his own?

It turns out that Letho doesn’t have to worry for long. Gaetan’s sharp tongue meets Auckes’ sarcasm on even ground, and his first scuffle with Serrit ends in laughter. Letho’s concern eases, and he thinks it’s going to be a peaceful winter after all. 

Then Gaetan becomes their accomplice in mischief. It takes them a little longer to begin their pranks and jokes, but when they start, they work hard to make up for the lost time.  One of them captures a lizard from the nearby oasis and put it in Letho’s bed. When he snarls and looks at the window, he sees a floppy mop of brown hair, two shaven heads and three sets of impish yellow eyes watching his reaction with glee.

They cut out the ass of his trousers, place a bucket of cold water above a partially open door and draw on his face with charcoal when he gets drunk one evening. Letho resigns himself to a disrupted winter, and then the dynamic changes again.

It starts when they spar properly in the courtyard and the vipers are enamoured by Gaetan’s grace and agility; the tight turns and flips that help him navigate around their small battlefield, dodging their dual blades. The symmetry between their fighting styles is breath-taking. Gaetan is breath-taking. Letho smirks as Serrit and Auckes watch Gaetan leave for a bath with matching gawks.

Then Gaetan decides to sunbathe naked one day. Even though it’s midwinter, the southern temperatures are still balmy, and their guest strips off on one of the many balconies overlooking the courtyard. His limbs sprawl out on the chaise longue he’s dragged out for his own purposes, his eyes close, and the sweat gathers on his already tanned skin.

It’s Auckes who spots the delicious meal laid out for them so generously. He spends some time admiring from his vantage point on a higher floor, keen serpentine eyes tracing the lines and curves of Gaetan’s body, committing the topography to memory, before he heads into the keep to locate Serrit. They sit together then, their communication more or less non-verbal, as they decide whether they’re going to ask Letho first. 

They walk past him in the keep on their way to enjoy Gaetan and inform him of their intent as a mediation between their own desires and respect. At least he knows now. The largest of the viper clan places his book down with a sigh and follows them.

As a large shadow blocks out his sunlight, one of Gaetan’s eyes pops open. He considers the three vipers gathered around him, gaze finally resting upon Letho who has a quirked brow in question. And then the little bastard arches across the chaise longue, lithe limbs quivering, muscled chest flexing; it’s an invitation. It takes approximately two microseconds for Serrit to drop to his knees and lick a long strip up Gaetan’s thigh, savouring the salty taste of his sweat, eyes big and pleading. The others join when Gaetan’s legs flop open and his fingers curl in the ties of Letho’s trousers 

Quick tongues lap every inch of him, tasting their new lover with enthusiasm; Gaetan’s soon boneless and shivering, unable to keep up with their hunger. They carry him to bed where they can take him apart further without the penetrating glare of the sun on their backs. The vipers curl around their cat, holding him tightly, and quiver in delight when he begins to purr. Purr. They can’t get enough.