Alfred hums a little into the kiss, into the pressure of Herbert rolling on top of him. It sort of reminds him of the first time they met, only this time, he's not scared out of his wits.
Really, there's a lot about that night he maybe hasn't fully processed yet.
"I'll try my best not to squirm," he chuckles, letting his head relax back to stare upward. "But I can be a little...a little ticklish in places."
"Well don't tell me that. Then I'll want to find them all so I know where best to attack."
He strokes the sides of Alfred's calves, then lifts one foot to set it on the bed so he can get at more skin to kiss. He nearly reaches Alfred's knee when a small mark makes him pull up short. He pauses, rubbing his thumb over it. Frowning faintly as something tugs at the corner of his mind. "Alfred, love. What's this?"
His only response to that comment is a little helpless giggle - he's vaguely ticklish just imagining it, and he tries to keep himself from moving around by letting his thoughts wander, shutting his eyes and enjoying the feeling of soft kisses against his skin.
Yes, that first night. That first day here, really. That night before, full of restless sleep, where he had wound up upside-down in a bed like this one, so troubled-
The question pulls him from his reflection, and he looks down to Herbert in confusion for a moment before realizing what he's talking about.
"Oh - that? Just a birthmark, I was born with it. Mother called it my little star. I usually wear tall socks, and it's in a funny spot, so you must not have noticed it before."
"A star..." He remembers -- but no, he doesn't want to remember, not now. Not when he has Alfred, here and whole and alive before him. Or, well. Not --
It doesn't matter. Alfred is here, and that's all that does matter.
He presses a kiss to the mark and concentrates his efforts on Alfred's inner thigh rather than lingering on those thoughts.
"Mmhmm," he confirms softly - but he feels...something, there, in Herbert's voice, in his heart. A stirring, another ghost of something far from his time.
But his lover presses on quickly, and so he dismisses the matter for now, softly groaning at the attention to his inner thigh. Best to let the thoughts travel a bit more, yes. Keeping calm.
That dream. Right.
That dream really should have been more of a marker to him that something was calling him to this place, drawing him in. It had been horrifying at the time, but...was it really so terrible? He can recall it, if he tries, clear as day....
It's better if he just presses on, rather than think about the past. Better to stay in the here and now.
Honestly, he wishes he could leave more lasting marks. Fingerprint shaped bruises all over Alfred's skin, scratch marks on his back and thighs, dark purple marks he's sucked into his skin. But they all disappear as quickly as he makes them, alas.
Whatever Herbert is coming to grips with, the edges of it needle Alfred, bother him in a way he can't quite fully ignore - but he tries, oh he tries, especially under the attentions of long nails, soft lips, searching tongue. There are spots around his thighs and hips that make the little groans go quite loud indeed, and he's struggling not to move headlong into round two.
Part of his body, quite visibly, is beginning to disagree.
Biting his lip, he tries to think about the dream. It had been strange, with him leading Sarah on, with the Count looking...that way, with Herbert-
He thought this might be coming. He pauses, and rests his chin against Alfred's hip, looking up at him. "Guide is a good word for it. The dreamer's mind comes up with all the main details. I can't place anything in the dreams, but once in there I can move things around a bit. Like chess pieces on a pre-set board."
"Was fascinating." Herbert moves back up the bed to stretch out next to Alfred, stroking his fingers lazily back and forth over his stomach. Seeing how Alfred imagined his father. Shirtless, in leather pants. Moving so sinuously, like a panther on the prowl. And how Alfred imagined himself! Those black lace stockings were delightful. Herbert thinks he might have a pair, if Alfred ever wants to borrow them.
"Once I saw the direction things were going, what you seemed to want in the dream, I simply... helped things along. Tried to help you realize a few things about yourself."
Alfred considers this, thinking back over the dream, over how it had gone. It would be easy to think that Herbert had bent things a little, but...what he's saying rings true.
Nothing he got in that dream was anything he didn't actually want.
Bringing a hand up to rub at his face, he laughs a little bit. "Well, you...you definitely did that," he jokes, glancing down at their current position.
"It...well, I should have listened to it more. I'm, ah... I'm...sorry about...the way your...father...."
That's really the awkward part of all this, to him.
"The way he appeared in your dream, you mean?" Herbert spiders his fingers up Alfred's chest and taps his chin affectionately. "Father's had many lovers over the centuries. I've seen him in worse positions, I promise you."
Herbert turns to tuck himself up against Alfred's side and rests his hand against Alfred's chest. "Did it help you, then? The dream. Did you learn something about yourself?"
Well, it's good that Herbert doesn't seem to mind the fact that Alfred definitely dreamt about getting - in that figurative way that happens in dreams - thrown down and...well...things happened with the Georg from his dream. And at the time, he wasn't exactly not enjoying it.
As Herbert rolls and cuddles up, Alfred slides his arm around him, holding him close. It's good that he doesn't really feel the cold anymore, he thinks, or they might both be a little chilly by now.
"Yes. It...it took me a while to understand it, but...yes." A little smile, and he tries to think back. "I...I think it was the most vivid time I've dreamt about anything...like that. I'm...I'm actually sort of...glad, knowing you were...there for it."
Admittedly, there was quite a lot to unpack about Alfred's dream. A lot of depth there. Such a difference in how Alfred acts and how Herbert thinks he wants to act. To be pursued, to be wanted. Perhaps to be dominated, in some sense. And maybe Herbert can give that to him. Slowly, in pieces, so Alfred can ease into it.
"I'll have to peek in on your dreams more often, then. Make sure you're having good ones."
Even Alfred has no idea how to begin unpacking it all, to be completely honest. But tonight has been a start, learning about himself by degrees. Another step on a journey, and with a sweet and willing guide. Purring a little, he nuzzles up against his lover, peering at him through his thick eyelashes.
"I would like that, I think. I just hope none of them are too...embarrassing."
But he's smiling, plainly not that worried about it. Experimentally, he tries to focus on Herbert, pursing his lips a little -
He feels so relaxed, so at peace right now. Curled around his lover, the boy he adores so much, with all his heart. And then he hears, quite clearly though as if it was spoken from a distance, Alfred speaking to him with his mind.
Herbert gasps in delight and pats Alfred's chest proudly. "I did hear that, look at you! That's incredible, you're learning so quickly."
"Ah! Really?" Alfred is positively beaming, absolutely giddy with this entire evening. He feels happy, safe, strong...and loved. So, so loved.
Hugging Herbert just a little tighter, he tries to make his grin a little bit sly and doesn't quiiiiite get there - still, it's cute, and his fangs are even this time.
"So you...you liked...what I was thinking, while we were...ah...during?"
"Mmhmm, I did. You were so possessive. So... dominant. It made me feel very wanted. Like you couldn't wait to have me. It was incredibly attractive. And so is that smile of yours." Which gets rewarded with a kiss and a single finger dragged slowly down the centre of Alfred's chest.
The kiss and drag of the finger are both met with another little purr, rumbling low in his throat. He traces little spirals on Herbert's skin with his own fingertips, his very carefully filed claws very softly scratching.
"I'm...I'm not really sure where it came from, but it...I don't know. It felt...right? Sort of like I was in that dream, a little bit."
"I liked those stockings you were wearing, in the dream. They suited you. The black lace? Delicious." He hums at the touch, the light scratch of nails against his skin.
"You can be rough with me, you know. You can be like you were in your head. Say all those things out loud. If you'd like."
"...You think so?" Alfred doesn't wear a lot of black - he prefers colorful clothing, bright and cheery. But...well, maybe it wouldn't hurt to darken things up just a little, he muses, if Herbert thought he had looked nice that way.
The assurance makes him blush a little, his smile turning very shy.
"I - really? I don't know, I...you know I get a little bit...nervous, being louder, o-or more...assertive."
"Well yes, but you don't need to be." He walks his fingers over Alfred's chest, watching him thoughtfully. Alfred could do so much if he only... let himself go a little.
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Really, there's a lot about that night he maybe hasn't fully processed yet.
"I'll try my best not to squirm," he chuckles, letting his head relax back to stare upward. "But I can be a little...a little ticklish in places."
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He strokes the sides of Alfred's calves, then lifts one foot to set it on the bed so he can get at more skin to kiss. He nearly reaches Alfred's knee when a small mark makes him pull up short. He pauses, rubbing his thumb over it. Frowning faintly as something tugs at the corner of his mind. "Alfred, love. What's this?"
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Yes, that first night. That first day here, really. That night before, full of restless sleep, where he had wound up upside-down in a bed like this one, so troubled-
The question pulls him from his reflection, and he looks down to Herbert in confusion for a moment before realizing what he's talking about.
"Oh - that? Just a birthmark, I was born with it. Mother called it my little star. I usually wear tall socks, and it's in a funny spot, so you must not have noticed it before."
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It doesn't matter. Alfred is here, and that's all that does matter.
He presses a kiss to the mark and concentrates his efforts on Alfred's inner thigh rather than lingering on those thoughts.
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But his lover presses on quickly, and so he dismisses the matter for now, softly groaning at the attention to his inner thigh. Best to let the thoughts travel a bit more, yes. Keeping calm.
That dream. Right.
That dream really should have been more of a marker to him that something was calling him to this place, drawing him in. It had been horrifying at the time, but...was it really so terrible? He can recall it, if he tries, clear as day....
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Honestly, he wishes he could leave more lasting marks. Fingerprint shaped bruises all over Alfred's skin, scratch marks on his back and thighs, dark purple marks he's sucked into his skin. But they all disappear as quickly as he makes them, alas.
It doesn't, however, stop him from trying.
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Part of his body, quite visibly, is beginning to disagree.
Biting his lip, he tries to think about the dream. It had been strange, with him leading Sarah on, with the Count looking...that way, with Herbert-
Wait.
"...You can guide...dreams, you said?"
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"...So...the dream I had...my first night here...?"
But like Herbert just said, he can't add anything to a dream. Only guide what's there.
Oh, that's.
Embarrassing.
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"Once I saw the direction things were going, what you seemed to want in the dream, I simply... helped things along. Tried to help you realize a few things about yourself."
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Alfred considers this, thinking back over the dream, over how it had gone. It would be easy to think that Herbert had bent things a little, but...what he's saying rings true.
Nothing he got in that dream was anything he didn't actually want.
Bringing a hand up to rub at his face, he laughs a little bit. "Well, you...you definitely did that," he jokes, glancing down at their current position.
"It...well, I should have listened to it more. I'm, ah... I'm...sorry about...the way your...father...."
That's really the awkward part of all this, to him.
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Herbert turns to tuck himself up against Alfred's side and rests his hand against Alfred's chest. "Did it help you, then? The dream. Did you learn something about yourself?"
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Well, it's good that Herbert doesn't seem to mind the fact that Alfred definitely dreamt about getting - in that figurative way that happens in dreams - thrown down and...well...things happened with the Georg from his dream. And at the time, he wasn't exactly not enjoying it.
As Herbert rolls and cuddles up, Alfred slides his arm around him, holding him close. It's good that he doesn't really feel the cold anymore, he thinks, or they might both be a little chilly by now.
"Yes. It...it took me a while to understand it, but...yes." A little smile, and he tries to think back. "I...I think it was the most vivid time I've dreamt about anything...like that. I'm...I'm actually sort of...glad, knowing you were...there for it."
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"I'll have to peek in on your dreams more often, then. Make sure you're having good ones."
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"I would like that, I think. I just hope none of them are too...embarrassing."
But he's smiling, plainly not that worried about it. Experimentally, he tries to focus on Herbert, pursing his lips a little -
'So...can you hear this?'
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Herbert gasps in delight and pats Alfred's chest proudly. "I did hear that, look at you! That's incredible, you're learning so quickly."
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Hugging Herbert just a little tighter, he tries to make his grin a little bit sly and doesn't quiiiiite get there - still, it's cute, and his fangs are even this time.
"So you...you liked...what I was thinking, while we were...ah...during?"
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The kiss and drag of the finger are both met with another little purr, rumbling low in his throat. He traces little spirals on Herbert's skin with his own fingertips, his very carefully filed claws very softly scratching.
"I'm...I'm not really sure where it came from, but it...I don't know. It felt...right? Sort of like I was in that dream, a little bit."
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"You can be rough with me, you know. You can be like you were in your head. Say all those things out loud. If you'd like."
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The assurance makes him blush a little, his smile turning very shy.
"I - really? I don't know, I...you know I get a little bit...nervous, being louder, o-or more...assertive."
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"If I told you I liked it, would that help?"
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It may take some time, before Alfred needs less assurance than this - but this has been a big step already, and he feels...good about it.
He nods a little, resolute.
"If you like it, then I... I'll try. I just worry that I'll sound...a little silly. I'm not a very, ah...d-dominant...person."
He says that, of course, but...is it the truth? Does HE know if it is?
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It gives me the same sort of thrill."
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Speaking of biting....
"Herbert, was - was THAT what a bite is...meant to feel like? It was-"
He shudders a little.
"It felt...very different from when I was...you know."
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