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I'm getting old, Richard thought with chagrin.
It hadn't been a difficult fight, and it wasn't a particularly difficult move, but something in his back had twisted, shocking him with a sudden bright blaze of pain. He'd recovered his mental composure quickly and brought the bout to a successful conclusion. But now, two days later, he still felt the occasional twinge, like an ominous messenger from the future.
"Would you like me to rub your back?" Alec asked, setting aside both the book and the cat which had been competing for his attention.
"Is it that obvious?" Richard replied, surprised. They never touched each other outside of bed, never even walked close enough for their shoulders to brush, never mind their hands or hips or thighs. The offer was an unexpected gift, one which he would be a fool to refuse.
"For one who's famous for his grace, you've been lumbering about like a bear. Get that shirt off, lie down, and we'll see what we can do." While Richard unbuttoned his shirt, Alec retrieved the small bottle of oil Richard used for cleaning his swords, wrinkling his nose as he poured some of the pungent clove-scented oil onto his hands.
"We'll smell like a pastry shop at MidWinter if we go out after this. Children and dogs will be following us down the street, licking our footprints," Alec muttered.
Lying on his belly on the wide bed, his trews slid down to his hips, Richard shivered in anticipation, wondering if the back rub would turn into something more. They didn't make love in the daytime half often enough. The slanted sunlight through the window shone gold against the plastered walls, setting them aglow; he wanted to see Alec's body in that golden light. But then he was lost in sensation as Alec's surprisingly skillful hands sought out every knot, every aching muscle.
"Where -" Richard began, then bit his tongue, remembering the unspoken rule: Don't ask.
But Alec was in a mellow mood, soothed just as Richard was by the fluid motion of his fingers over skin and supple muscle. "We had horses when I was young. I didn't much care for riding - too jostly - but I liked rubbing them down and brushing them after. Sometimes the stable boys would pay me a few pennies to do their work while they dallied with the milkmaids. A nice little business I had of it, too, until my mother found out, and we were all soundly beaten - the boys for sloth, and me for greed. There were probably any other numbers of sins involved as well, but, being young and naive, those are the two I remembered."
Richard chuckled. For all Alec's brittle veneer of sophistication, there was still a curious air of innocence to him. At first Alec had always seemed somewhat surprised by Richard's suggestions in bed, as though these were things he had once heard about, and then forgotten without bothering to explore further. Whatever the shortcomings that had caused his parting of the ways with University, overindulgence in lewd behavior did not seem to have been one of them. However, once he and Richard began to explore such behavior, the ways in which they could enjoy each other, he quickly became enthusiastic and then, intriguingly creative.
As Alec continued his task Richard let his mind drift, totally relaxed. He wondered what it might be like to, oh, lie naked in dappled sunlight, his body and Alec's entwined, warm breezes caressing them as bees droned lazily nearby. The vision seemed so real for a moment that he hardly heard Alec's voice murmuring softly in his ear. Then he became aware of Alec's fingers, wandering far lower than his back, and opened his eyes.
"Feeling better?" Alec asked, smiling wickedly.