Happiness in a roll of silk, in looking fine – it made every kind of sense, except perhaps here, under Jason’s eye, the splatters of mud receiving his first admiration. Mark looked away; the bath was incredibly inviting, yet he couldn’t help wondering if his legs would manage to get him there.
“You should want a beautiful husband,” he observed, and then fell over.
Once more, he felt Jason’s arms raise him; “You need to warm up.” There was a twist of concern in his tone. “I should not have set you such a task when you are so untrained to work. I am sorry.”
“You told me to wear other and more suited clothes,” Mark replied, mouth dry, after a moment. He could scarcely believe he was admitting it but it felt easy and good to do so. “I could have obeyed, rather than gone my own way.” He coughed, and felt Jason’s arms begin to tighten around him only to loosen abruptly, Jason ducking his head and flushing.
“Get those things off and I’ll lift you into the bath.”
Mark tensed, uncertain what was meant or what he was feeling.
“I’m your husband,” Jason still would not look at him, though he kept his arms steady at his back. “It is not improper. Can you doubt that I understand your wishes in such matters?”
Mark shivered again, but it was not the same shiver that the cold had brought. It occurred to him that to demur now would be to suggest that he suspected Jason’s motives, when the man had forsaken his own bed at the orders of the new husband who refused to sleep with him in the biblical sense or any other.
- - -
“I cannot be married to a farmer!” Mark had shouted at him – the wedding night had begun with anger and ended in spite. “I am a noble and you are some penniless knight whose ancestor perhaps carried chainmail at the Conquest! You may not presume to touch me!”
“I know you loved him,” Jason had answered, hands held out, standing across the room in an ugly, rough nightshirt, amongst all his ugly, rough furniture. “I know you miss him. But he would not marry you and I have done, and I did not intend to punish you by it.” The edge of temper in his voice, a suppressed irritation.
“Leave me alone!” Mark had burrowed himself under the covers, already weeping. He could not bear to hear Sir Robert spoken of in such bald terms. “I shall let you do nothing to me.”
A hiss, a short let-out breath that Mark would learn later, much later was what Jason did where Robert would have cursed and sworn and lashed out at his surroundings. “I should not force you in any thing on this earth. Has it occurred to you that I did not chose this match either?”
- - -
Shakily, Mark began to peel off the sodden silk until he wore nothing besides his short hose, and then, biting his lip, them too, now laying completely naked before Jason’s gaze for the first time.
Looking ahead, at the wall, Jason lifted him – the heat of his skin striking all the nearer now that there was nothing but his clothes between them – and laid him gently into the hot water.
“Thank you...” he said, very quietly, after a moment.
Jason’s hair was dark with rain, and his clothes were also muddy. Mark realised for the first time that he had his own work to do, which Mark had taken him away from.
“Thank you,” Jason replied. “If we work together, this will be better, for both of us.”
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Re: Free Gift Fic -2
Date: 2011-03-17 01:53 am (UTC)“You should want a beautiful husband,” he observed, and then fell over.
Once more, he felt Jason’s arms raise him; “You need to warm up.” There was a twist of concern in his tone. “I should not have set you such a task when you are so untrained to work. I am sorry.”
“You told me to wear other and more suited clothes,” Mark replied, mouth dry, after a moment. He could scarcely believe he was admitting it but it felt easy and good to do so. “I could have obeyed, rather than gone my own way.” He coughed, and felt Jason’s arms begin to tighten around him only to loosen abruptly, Jason ducking his head and flushing.
“Get those things off and I’ll lift you into the bath.”
Mark tensed, uncertain what was meant or what he was feeling.
“I’m your husband,” Jason still would not look at him, though he kept his arms steady at his back. “It is not improper. Can you doubt that I understand your wishes in such matters?”
Mark shivered again, but it was not the same shiver that the cold had brought. It occurred to him that to demur now would be to suggest that he suspected Jason’s motives, when the man had forsaken his own bed at the orders of the new husband who refused to sleep with him in the biblical sense or any other.
- - -
“I cannot be married to a farmer!” Mark had shouted at him – the wedding night had begun with anger and ended in spite. “I am a noble and you are some penniless knight whose ancestor perhaps carried chainmail at the Conquest! You may not presume to touch me!”
“I know you loved him,” Jason had answered, hands held out, standing across the room in an ugly, rough nightshirt, amongst all his ugly, rough furniture. “I know you miss him. But he would not marry you and I have done, and I did not intend to punish you by it.” The edge of temper in his voice, a suppressed irritation.
“Leave me alone!” Mark had burrowed himself under the covers, already weeping. He could not bear to hear Sir Robert spoken of in such bald terms. “I shall let you do nothing to me.”
A hiss, a short let-out breath that Mark would learn later, much later was what Jason did where Robert would have cursed and sworn and lashed out at his surroundings. “I should not force you in any thing on this earth. Has it occurred to you that I did not chose this match either?”
- - -
Shakily, Mark began to peel off the sodden silk until he wore nothing besides his short hose, and then, biting his lip, them too, now laying completely naked before Jason’s gaze for the first time.
Looking ahead, at the wall, Jason lifted him – the heat of his skin striking all the nearer now that there was nothing but his clothes between them – and laid him gently into the hot water.
“Thank you...” he said, very quietly, after a moment.
Jason’s hair was dark with rain, and his clothes were also muddy. Mark realised for the first time that he had his own work to do, which Mark had taken him away from.
“Thank you,” Jason replied. “If we work together, this will be better, for both of us.”
- - -