Chapter 2: Part two: Abgrundanziehung
Summary:
Ehren finds xiem selbst drawn to this mysterious stranger, who xier knows is not entirely human. Even though there could be danger in doing so, xier decides that the thrill of it all is worth the risk.
Notes:
A note on titles:
I'm utterly fascinated by words that can't be translated into English, so that's what the title of the fic and every chapter are.
The fic title means "like a fantasy."
Chapter One refers to the feeling of peaceful solitude one feels when walking through the woods alone.
And this chapter's theme is summed up in its title, meaning, "you're drawn to something or someone that's potentially no good for you, but you want it all the same."
This fic has been a labor of love and I really hope you've been enjoying it!
Now we introduce some smut.
Chapter Text
When Ehren opened xies eyes, xier stood in a meadow not unlike the one xier had originally found xiem selbst in. Jeffrey released his hold on xier, and took a step back, allowing xier to look around. Despite the meadow looking very normal, there was a preternatural feeling about it. The colors were more vibrant, the sky was more gray than blue, and a mist hung in the air. On a deep, soul level, Ehren had the strongest sense that this was a place where few people had walked.
As if reading his mind—actually, Ehren knew by now, Jeffrey could hear xier thoughts, as clearly as if they had been spoken aloud—he said, “You’re right about that. Usually the only people who come here are already dead.”
Ehren’s interest piqued, xier began a barrage of questions.
“Do you remember dying?”
Somewhat guardedly, Jeff answered, “It wasn’t pleasant. It hurt. A lot.”
Apologizing, Ehren then followed that question up with another: “What’s the first thing you remember after… As soon as you woke up?”
With a bit of an impish smile, Jeff answered, “Standing outside my cell, and the guards weren’t freaking out, so I knew.”
“And you didn’t have any blood anywhere on you, and you weren’t in any pain.”
Jeff nodded.
“Then what happened?”
“Well, then my grandmother appeared next to me, and that’s when I really knew. She took me with her.”
Jeff then described walking into a portal of white light which led to a swirling tunnel. The walls of it were a kaleidoscope of colors. The next thing he saw was his grandmother’s house, which he was scared to go into at first, knowing what he had gotten up to inside. She had assured him, however, that this was her memories, not his, and so not a single drop of blood had been spilled. He had relaxed and followed her. After snuggling her cat, he had shared a tearful conversation with her, and she had forgiven him.
Sometime later—which was actually, as it turned out, six earth years—his mother had arrived, and they, too, had talked.
The thing that bothered him was that his grandfather, who had died when he was a small child, nor his dog, Frisky, were with them. It began to nag at him the longer he spent there, and so one day, he approached his mother and grandmother with a proposition.
“I said that I had to go find him. And so… I left. Only that was a cover for what I really wanted to do.”
“Which was?”
Jeff chewed on his bottom lip, staring far off into the distance. “Do you really want to know?”
Indicating yes, he continued.
“I went back to my house in Bath. I wanted to see if the soul of my first victim was trapped there. Turns out, he was.”
The ghost of Stephen Hicks had angrily set upon Jeff in a similar fashion to his murderer. He struck Jeff across the face, lobbed punches into his stomach, asking him why, why had he done it, and why he hadn’t had the courage to confess earlier. Jeff, bruised and bloodied, had begged him to stop, begged him for mercy. This word had triggered him.
“And without another word, he put his hand on the top of my head… and he pushed down on it. And it seemed as if it opened a hole in the floor. I fell through, and it felt like I’d fall forever. But then I found myself outside the Oxford apartments again. Only it wasn’t them… not really. It looked a lot darker and more dilapidated. So, I went inside, and inside was…”
Jeff hadn’t realized it, but as Ehren listened, xier could feel trauma radiating off of him. It was an energy as well as an emotion, stirring in the air, sending off waves that vibrated through xies body, sickening xiem. Xier again touched Jeff, this time on his shoulder, snapping him out of his nightmare.
“You don’t have to tell me everything.”
Jeff suddenly exhaled, then inhaled sharply, and hung his head. He embraced Ehren yet again, only tightly, and Ehren froze as xier realized that Jeff was weeping. Into xies ear, like the fluttering wings of a moth, were sobs. Despite xiem selbst, Ehren’s heart broke for him. How could a man reviled as such a monster be so utterly, poignantly human? And yet, he wasn’t. Not anymore. His every feeling now radiated from him, from the inside out, in waves, fluctuating in intensity. The environment around them both picked it up and changed ever so slightly. The sky grew darker. The mist grew thicker. Jeff’s sadness was literally transforming the world. This could not possibly be faked. His remorse was real and true.
Compelled by this, Ehren yet again kissed him. He recoiled.
“Stop that,” Jeff admonished xiem.
“Why?”
“Because… because I’ll only hurt you.”
“I don’t feel threatened.”
Jeff’s blue eyes glazed with fresh tears, and his bottom lip trembled. He looked so much like a child.
Ehren, in contrast, had been forced to mature early. It was the plight of every cripple. At age twelve, when Ehren was beginning to suspect that something discordant lurked in xier understanding of xiem selbst, xier had suffered an aortic aneurysm. When xier had been playing at recess at school, swinging upon the swings, xier had suffered what had felt like a ripping sensation inside xier chest. A friend at the time had panicked when xier had suddenly collapsed backwards off the swing, and had sprinted to summon a teacher. The pain had been so immense that Ehren had lost consciousness. It had only been almost a whole day later when Ehren had opened xier eyes to see the strained smiles of xier parents. That had been the day that xier had been diagnosed, changing the trajectory of xier life forever.
Having Marfan syndrome meant several things: one, you looked strange; two, your heart and bones could have deformities; and three, you ran the risk of your eyes becoming damaged. Your entire body was very fragile, due to a lack of protein that built the connective tissues of one’s body. It was almost as if you had been born with one foot already in the grave.
Ehren hadn’t realized that all of this had passed through xier mind, and, consequently, had crossed over into Jeff’s, until he had stopped crying, and had looked stricken.
“You’re sick?”
Ehren had at first furrowed xier eyebrows, still not used to Jeff’s adeptness at telepathy, but then had nodded. “It’s an extremely rare disease, and it’s incurable. I’m warned against having children.”
Jeff then looked confused. “But you’re—oh!”
Ehren had looked sheepishly at the ground. Xies luck with men had never worked well. Being so tall and slender, xies breasts were small, barely noticeable, allowing xier to pass quite well. Nevertheless, xier had found it easier to date women, and had never started testosterone. In fact, it wasn’t recommended, due to issues with bone loss and the potential to exacerbate xies heart condition.
Jeff reached out then, and, gently, stroked his thumb over Ehren’s chin and lower lip.
“Listen to me,” Jeff said, at first sharply. “Listen to me: there’s nothing wrong with you. In fact… you’re very handsome.”
Jeff then took his opposite hand and slid it down Ehren’s flank, producing a shiver to run through xies body. With a soft grip to the hip, Jeff brought Ehren’s body to rest softly against his. His mouth then crashed into xies, and kissed xier passionately. In response, Ehren placed xies long, slender hands around Jeff’s shoulders. They then began an oral choreography, Jeff’s teeth grazing xies bottom lip, Ehren’s tongue lapping his top lip, Jeff tilting his head and massaging his bottom lip delicately up and down Ehren’s. Jeff then bent his head slightly and left a trail of kisses down one side of Ehren’s neck and up the other. Ehren then took one of xies hands off Jeff’s shoulder and stroked his sternum, then slid it lower to the top portion of his stomach. Jeff rumbled low in his chest in pleasure, and his opposite hand went to the fly of the jumpsuit. He dragged it down to his waist, and the black t-shirt underneath evaporated like smoke. Ehren then guided it from his shoulders until it hung limply at his waist. Xier then began to plant kisses over Jeff’s pectorals as he sighed happily.
“I can’t remember the last time I’ve done this.”
Cautiously, Ehren allowed xies long, spindly fingers to stroke at Jeff’s abdominal muscles, causing them to stiffen, then relax. He whimpered.
“I’ve never been with a man before.”
Jeff’s blue eyes opened and gazed lovingly at Ehren. Without another word, he slipped xies jacket off, then, with some help, removed xies shirt. Ehren then, grinning, slid off xies black skinny jeans and briefs. Jeff slid the jumpsuit the rest of the way down off his lean frame, slipping his feet out. They stood there together in the clearing, nude, admiring one another. Jeff’s arms were stiff at his sides, his hands clenched tightly, as his cock twitched at full mast. Ehren’s small tits stood at attention, their nipples pert, and xies cunt throbbed. Still, they only looked.
Jeff then closed the distance with a long stride, snatching Ehren’s ass, sliding one hand down the back of xies thigh as xies leg wrapped around Jeff at the waist. Jeff kissed xiem deeply and moaned as his erection rubbed against Ehren’s stomach. Ehren’s fingers traced Jeff’s jawline, then xies hand dove between them. Xiem fingers and thumb tickled at the head of Jeff’s cock and he growled hungrily into xies mouth. With one hand cupped under xies ass, wrapping his arm around xies shoulder blades, Jeff lifted xiem up off the ground, and, breaking the kiss to glance around, decided to nestle xiem up against the bows of a nearby spruce. Jeff’s cock teased Ehren’s slit in slow, sweet circles, causing xiem to arch xies back.
“I’ll be gentle,” Jeff whispered, before he began to enter.
Ehren whined, xies hands stroking Jeff’s back as the walls of xies cunt stretched to accommodate him. Jeff nipped at xies lower lip and purred that xies hole was very soft inside, eliciting laughter.
Using the give of the spruce boughs as leverage, Jeff rocked slowly in and out of xiem. Ehren gave instruction to Jeff to angle his cock downward and slightly to the left, and when Jeff hit a soft lump, Ehren cried out in pleasure.
“What was that?”
Chuckling at Jeff’s naivete, Ehren giggled and replied, “You found my g-spot.”
Raising his eyebrows, Jeff blurted out, “I thought that was a myth!”
Ehren laughed jubilantly. “No, no! It’s completely real--es fühlt sich wirklich gut an…”
To which, Ehren bucked xies hips up against Jeff’s, and Jeff, taking the message, kissed xiem and started going faster. It wasn’t long before the two of them reached the zenith of pleasure and lowered themselves to the grass.
Jeff held Ehren in his arms like a prized possession. His fingers ran through xies hair, while his other hand stroked xies flanks, arms, neck, face. It was a bliss he hadn’t felt in quite some time, and never with a living person. He never wanted it to end.
Try as Ehren did to remind xiem selbst of the identity of the man xier had coupled with, xier found that xier couldn’t. Perhaps this was the man behind the mythos. The mythos of horrors, mind you; Ehren barely knew the case, but xier knew enough to know that the men who found themselves in Jeffrey’s arms were either dead, or destined to be.
Jeff’s brow furrowed, and he looked down at Ehren quizzically. “Is that regret?”
Ehren shook xies head emphatically. “No. Just… this has been a strange day.”
Startled, Jeff had lifted his upper body off the ground. “Hold on, what time is it?”
Ehren looked this way and that, and chuckled, realizing xier had left xies backpack upon the hill.
“It’s not funny!” Jeff exclaimed frantically. “You need to leave, if you’re here after dusk, you’ll be stuck here!”
Alarmed, Ehren jumped to xies feet, dashing to get xies clothes and reassemble xies outfit. No sooner had xier gotten on xies boots that a soft, silvery light began to manifest around xies body.
“Hurry!” Jeff cried behind xiem.
“But how do I go?!”
Jeff pointed up the hill to an identical rock. “You have to be touching it!”
Ehren, despite knowing the risk of remaining, stared longingly back at xies lover, who was still unclothed. Jeff cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted at xier that time was running out, GO!
Mustering an Olympic effort to race uphill, Ehren scuttled xies feet as quickly as xies joints would allow. No sooner did xies hands both touch the rock did the strange realm vanish before xies eyes.
It was, indeed, nearing night; the sun was hanging low in the sky, vermillion streaks painting the horizon.
From the pine trees across the meadow, Ehren clearly heard Jeff’s voice, thin, distant, straining, calling out to reach xies ears.
“Come back for me!”
I’m recalling how she didn’t really give a shit when he died but felt kinda bad for her dad, and now I do too. Imagine adopting this mentally retarded nutball and then she brings spirit warding powder to your father’s funeral
