{"id":466,"date":"2008-10-05T22:05:00","date_gmt":"2008-10-06T02:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.branchandroot.net\/archive\/?p=466"},"modified":"2015-08-02T12:36:52","modified_gmt":"2015-08-02T16:36:52","slug":"once-there-was-a-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.branchandroot.net\/archive\/2008\/10\/once-there-was-a-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Once There Was a Man"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Zechs sighed against Treize&#8217;s shoulder. &quot;If all the world were like you, maybe it would work.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Treize&#8217;s chuckle vibrated through his chest. &quot;There&#8217;s a weight to put on me.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Zechs snorted. &quot;Most of your soldiers would think it true and possible.&quot; He leaned up one one elbow, looking down seriously. &quot;You took me in too, you know. I thought you could control everything. That you could shape all of OZ because you shone so bright.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Treize&#8217;s lifted a hand, running his fingers through Zechs&#8217; hair. &quot;I hoped I could,&quot; he murmured.<\/p>\n<p>Zechs slipped back down with an exasperated sigh. &quot;Your own fault, then, if I blamed you personally.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Perhaps.&quot; Treize drew him closer. &quot;But you know that war will never leave us. That being so, should we not seek to make it a bright, just thing?&quot;<\/p>\n<p>&quot;I don&#8217;t think we can,&quot; Zechs whispered, hand spread against Treize&#8217;s chest. His mouth quirked, a shade bitterly. &quot;That being so, should we not seek to see that people remember how hideous it is for as long as possible before we have to learn again?&quot;<\/p>\n<p>&quot;But you know that brightness, that nobility. You&#8217;ve felt it.&quot; Treize&#8217;s voice was low and intense with the perfect surety that captured everyone around him, including, Zechs had to admit, himself.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;I&#8217;ve felt it,&quot; he agreed slowly, careful not to meet Treize&#8217;s eyes while he was feeling his way toward a truth. &quot;But&#8230; not in war. Only in&#8230; in duels of honor.&quot; He turned onto his back and stared at the ceiling, and repeated quietly, &quot;If all the world were like you, then yes.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>It was Treize&#8217;s turn to lean over him, smiling ruefully. &quot;Perhaps you&#8217;re right.&quot; While Zechs stared at him, taken quite by surprise, he wound his fingers into Zechs&#8217; hair and kissed him, slow and deep. &quot;Not even our honor and strength could stop the dishonorable from ruling,&quot; he murmured into Zechs&#8217; mouth. &quot;So. Perhaps, instead, we must serve those who do stop them.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Zechs relaxed all at once, light-headed with relief that he would not be called on to fight that battle again, that his oldest friend would hear reason. &quot;I will serve that ideal willingly,&quot; he whispered back, hands sliding up the powerful line of Treize&#8217;s back.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;Mmmm.&quot; Treize&#8217;s smile turned soft and pleased as he leaned down to draw a slow tongue up Zechs&#8217; neck. &quot;Good.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Zechs took in a quick breath, pulling Treize tighter against him. This was sure; this was present and now, the weight of Treize&#8217;s body over his, the heat of his hands, the slide of his tongue against Zechs&#8217;, urgent and intense in ways Treize hid when it was just words, and Zechs answered with passion.<\/p>\n<p>He cried out when Treize&#8217;s cock slid into him, thick and hard and certain, whole body drawing taut with heat, relaxing into the sure simplicity of it.  <\/p>\n<p>&quot;We will serve only the world&#8217;s light, then,&quot; Treize murmured against his ear, nipping gently. &quot;Tend the fire of honor and determination and commitment. The purity that I always loved in you&#8230;&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Zechs&#8217; arms tightened and he moaned, husky, as the velvet of Treize&#8217;s words and the hard edge of his conviction stroked him to orgasm and wild heat shuddered through him. Treize arched over him, thrusting harder, head tossed back as he groaned. &quot;Yes!&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Zechs gathered him close again, as he relaxed, and laughed soft and helpless against his shoulder.  &quot;And after it all, here I am again, in your hands,&quot; he whispered. <\/p>\n<p>&quot;Perhaps we are in each other&#8217;s hands,&quot; Treize murmured back.<\/p>\n<p>Zechs smiled, letting himself hope.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>End <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After it all ends, Treize and Zechs speak of why it happened and where to go next. Written for the <a href=\"http:\/\/asylums.insanejournal.com\/porn_battle\/9677.html\">Porn Battle<\/a> prompt: Zechs\/Treize, after the fire. <span class=\"summary-meta\">Philosophy with Porn, I-3, inexplicit series spoilers<\/span> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"teaser\">\n<p>&quot;We will serve only the world&#8217;s light, then,&quot; Treize murmured against his ear, nipping gently. &quot;Tend the fire of honor and determination and commitment. The purity that I always loved in you&#8230;&quot;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,41,509],"tags":[265,370,248],"class_list":["post-466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gw","category-gw-standalone","category-porn","tag-gw-treize","tag-gw-treizezechs","tag-gw-zechs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.branchandroot.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.branchandroot.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.branchandroot.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.branchandroot.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.branchandroot.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.branchandroot.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.branchandroot.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.branchandroot.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.branchandroot.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}