Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Midvalley's Serenade ❯ Professor Hornfreak's Encore ( Chapter 7 )

Professor Hornfreak's Encore

I dozed off and woke a little before first sunset, and found myself looking at Chapel's face. It was good to see him really sleep for once, prone as he was to bouts of insomnia. At least one of the inner demons that plagued him had been laid to rest today. I thought back to how we had spent the time together and a warm feeling flowed through me.

I tried to memorize his face, the twin curves of his dark lashes, high cheekbones, the strong nose, too sturdily built for beauty, but handsome on his face. The mouth that laughed so readily but that often had a tinge of sadness. I pondered the enigma of Nicholas D. Wolfwood-Chapel. What did I really know about him? Everything and next to nothing. It was as if he had two personalities. He was an odd mixture of innocence and cynicism, courage and timidity, so shy and guarded one minute and then so willing to open himself to me the next. On the one hand, no one could be more predictable than Chapel. There was rarely a question about what he would wear, drink, eat or smoke, on the other hand, he surprised me on so many levels. A thousand thoughts flitted through my head as I watched him sleep, but only one feeling.

I called it lust. I called it infatuation, but still somehow, a feeling had taken root in my heart and flourished there. I tried to pull it out as if it was a weed, but the roots were too deep. Just looking at him now made me feel sick with desire, wanting to fill him again, wanting him to fill me. Foolish. Foolish. I lay back and dozed again.

I woke to find him propped on his elbow, looking at me with a thoughtful expression in his deep blue eyes. He reached over and brushed my hair from my forehead and kissed the faint scar. He looked like he wanted to say something.

."What is it?"

"I want you again," he whispered.

"Come and get me," I chuckled.

And then, there was a knock at the door.

"Who the hell is that?" Nick growled," I thought we had the `Do not Disturb' on the doorknob.

He jumped to his feet, threw on his sweat pants, stormed to the door and flung it open.

"You!" exclaimed Nick as he made a fist. "God, I ought to---"

"Help, Midvalley! Call him off me! I need to talk."

It was Lenny. Nick stepped aside and Lenny squeezed by him.

"Nice chest," he said appreciatively.

I had pulled on my sweats and was sitting at the table. Nick threw himself into a chair, lit a cigarette and fixed Lenny with a lethal stare. The switch from tender lover to stone killer was complete.

I knew that Lenny had taken in the state of the room and had no doubt about what we had been up to. It was second nature for him to make flippant comments about other people's sex lives, but with Chapel's ice cold eyes on him, I knew he'd choked back ten or twenty choice zingers. I had never seen Nick so angry. The only thing that would have stopped Lenny from turning tail and running was if his concern was about music. Despite the fact that Nick had probably scared him shitless, he said, "Well, aren't you going to play tonight, Hornfreak? You told me last night, you needed me. Well, tonight we need you. The club is sold out again. Seriously, the word is out that our playing was so hot last night and yours in particular, that a lot of people are paying to see the Midvalley Five. They are going to be really pissed when they get there and there are only four of us and there is no Midvalley the Hornfreak on the bill. I'm begging you. Come and play."

I looked at Nick to see how he felt.

"I got back so late, I only caught the last two numbers. I'd love to hear you play," he said.

Lenny shot Nick a look of gratitude which was turned aside with icy contempt.

"Can you be there in 45 minutes?

"We'll be there," said Chapel.

"There'll be a taxi waiting downstairs," Lenny called over his shoulder as he bolted from the room.

We dressed hurriedly, but we were still so connected by our intimacies that it was hard to keep our hands off each other. If anything, we were hornier with our clothes on. My mind busied itself with a half dozen scenarios, imagining places where I could fuck or suck him off between sets.

We were half-way down the hotel steps when Chapel reminded me, "You forgot Silvia."

I rolled my eyes and went back to the room. When I got down to the bottom of the stairs, I looked at Nick, and said, "I'm having a hard time thinking of anything else."

"I know what you mean," he sighed.

When we got to the club I made sure that they gave Chapel a good seat. There were only a few minutes before the set was supposed to start. Just enough time for a squeeze of the hand, then the club owner got on the loud speaker and announced the Midvalley Five and the audience erupted in applause.

The music that night was amazing. If I should ever die and go to heaven, I hope they have music like we played. I'll probably go to hell and have Skip Walker as my drummer, but at least for a night, I experienced a little heaven on earth.

Sometimes in a club, I'll listen to a band playing and I'll be thinking I've heard this all a hundred times before. Stale, flat, boring-uninspired crap. And then maybe by the second or third set, they get loose. To me it always feels as if a muse entered the club and for a while the music flows with incredible beauty. It was like that for us all night long. The souls of five musicians tethered together in an attempt to express the essence of song. Chapel has his God, though I don't begin to understand its place in his life. Music is my god and I worshipped it that night.

Lenny saved "Daredevil" for the last encore. We annihilated it and the audience was blown away. The applause went on and on. I caught a glimpse of Chapel out of the corner of my eye and he was pounding his hands to pulp for us. I saw tears in his eyes and as if we were bound by some biological tie, I found tears sliding down my cheeks. The audience thought that was so great that I was showing emotion, they clapped some more.

I began to be impatient to be with Nick again. I wanted to get the chit chat and autographs done with, take him home and bury myself in his sweet ass. But the crowd was so big and enthusiastic , for the first time in my life, I felt ill at ease with the fan adulation. There had never been so much contact before. People put hands on my back, on my shoulders, my waist, my ass. Finally it was getting difficult to stay polite. I left and went to the employee rest room to take a piss. It took a minute or two to relax enough to even do that. I mentally shrugged away the memory of all those hands clutching at me and did my business. God that crowd had been hard to deal with. I pushed back into the hallway and saw Dave the Roadie. He looked like he was looking for someone. I wondered if he and Lenny were back together. Nick was leaning against the wall in an alcove looking out towards the bandstand. Dave spun him around and planted a wet one on his lips. Nick fell back against the wall with a confused look. I cleared my throat and when Dave saw me, he hurried out the other way.

I grabbed Silvia and said to Nick "Let's get the hell out of here." We pushed the back door open and stepped into the night.

"Shall I call a cab?" asked Chapel.

"Hell, no. Let's walk."

Nick fished out a smoke, flicked a match, cupped his hands around the flame and lit the cigarette. We walked for a while in companionable silence.

"I'm glad I came to hear you play tonight. You were great."

"Thanks. Everything was fine until the end when all those people were touching me. All I wanted was to get away and be with you."

"Did you? I wanted to be with you too. I got jealous. Again. Jealousy is a strange thing. I never had to deal with it before. But last night when I saw Lenny kissing you, I could have killed him. Today when he came into the room, all I could think of was him and you together last night and I wanted to smash his face. You and Lenny were lovers before, weren't you, Midvalley?"

"We had sex, Nick, but I wouldn't have called us lovers."

He sucked in a lungful of smoke and finally blew it out.

"Then all those fans touching you tonight," he continued. "I was sure you'd want to go home with one of them. Isn't that what you used to do? I overheard lots of talk about you tonight from some really attractive people. You're more famous than you know. You could have anyone you wanted. They all want you. You're great. I felt jealous of them too."

I wondered where he was going with this conversation, and I began to feel uneasy. It seemed like it had cost him a lot to say this and I think he was expecting a response from me but I couldn't think of anything. Nick sighed and lit another cigarette, took a drag and then slid an arm around me. I slid mine around him and we kept walking.

"Jealousy is a dangerous emotion," I said.

"I know," he responded, "I felt it. I think I could have killed Lenny, for real."

"Jealous lovers kill the ones they say they love. Do you want to kill me, Nick, if I decide I want to screw Lenny instead of you? What gives you the right to decide? You don't own me anymore than I own you. Should I kill you because I saw you kissing Dave the Roadie tonight?"

"I didn't kiss him. He kissed me."

"I noticed you didn't turn your head away."

"He caught me by surprise. I knew you went to the men's room. I thought it was you coming back."

"I wish it had been."

"Really?"

"Yeah. But you're scaring me, Nick. I guess if seeing me with Lenny made you jealous enough to want me, maybe I'm grateful you were. Because I did want you. But I won't tolerate jealousy in a lover."

"I wanted you before that," he said quietly.

This was news to me and made me curious, for I had wondered what had changed his mind.

"What made you realize that you wanted me?"

"I was sick with worry when you got shot that you were going to die. I knew I didn't want to lose you. And then when I was taking care of you I started to notice things about you that maybe I was afraid to before.

Like the way you toss your head back when you say something funny and your hair falls around your forehead like commas. The way your eyes light up when you talk to me, and your skin is really something special to touch. I never knew your skin was so soft and pale until I changed your bandage.

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I got an erection when I touched you. I had given up hope that anything of that nature was even possible for me. But even though I wanted you, I was afraid that I would fail and wouldn't be able to perform."

"So I called you a pathetic tease and drove you off to Mei City."

"To tell you the truth I never went to Mei City. I just had to get away. I figured if I mentioned Legato's name you wouldn't ask for details. I actually went out by December."

"Isn't that where you studied to be a priest."

"Yeah."

"So, did I drive you off to December with the things I said to you?"

"Being called pathetic hurt a lot, but I still felt that if you hadn't had a concussion you would never have said it. Not that I didn't think it was true. Mazarov and his gang left scars. My biggest fear has been that I would be pathetic for the rest of my life. I used to hide the pain behind my priestly chastity, but I can tell you that it's one thing to choose to be chaste, but quite another thing when you have no choice. I have been so hungry for human touch that I do reach out from time to time. I never meant to tease you though. I went to December to try to clear my head and try to think things through."

"And?"

"I couldn't think. I spent my time helping out at an orphanage there. Thank God there was so much to do. Otherwise, I would have just worried the whole time. Then a few days ago, I thought I'd better head back because I told you I would. Maybe I felt in the back of my mind that something might still be possible between us. I don't know. And I would have been back earlier, but my bike got a flat. Picked up a spine from a Devil's Claw. Long story. Anyhow, when I finally got in and saw your note, I cleaned up and came straight to the club. I think I heard a couple of numbers, next thing I know, you and Lenny were getting it on in the alley. And I got jealous. Now you tell me you won't tolerate jealousy in a lover."

I had let the "L" word slip out. But it was how I thought of him.

"Am I your lover, Midvalley? Or am I just for sex, like Lenny?"

Shit. I thought to myself. Trust Chapel to lay it all on the line. I never expected to have to answer a question like this so soon. I just didn't know what answer to give him. I pulled him to me in an embrace and kissed him. "You are so naïve, Chapel."

He pulled away from me and reached into his jacket for cigarettes again. He lit one, took a drag, and said, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Don't be so defensive." Defensive didn't quite cover his reaction. He looked stricken.

"Nick, it's a natural reaction for someone who has never had good sex to attach a deeper meaning to it when they finally do. As much as I like you, and believe me, I do, my sex life is complicated. Hell, my whole life is complicated and so is yours for that matter.

Your equipment works. You are officially no longer an asexual freak. You are a very attractive man in case you didn't know it. Many a night I have watched women throwing themselves at you while you sat there and smoked. Did you not notice them or were you afraid to because you thought your cock was broken? Maybe someday you'd like to have children. I think the world would be a better place for having a bunch of little Chapels running around. And you know, Nick, no matter how often we screw each other, I will never be able to give you children.

And then there is the job. It's a pleasure being partnered with you. But how long do you think they will let it go on? A year or two at most and then what? When we are separated for months at a time, I know I'm going to get horny and I know I'm going to scratch the itch whether you're there or not. I would expect you to do the same. I want you to play the field, get comfortable with your sexuality. I'm saying this for your own good because you are my lover and not just for sex like Lenny. But here it is, I will not tolerate a jealous lover."

He reached for me, looked into my eyes and held his palm against my cheek.

"So what do non-jealous lovers do, Midvalley?" he asked.

"They trust each other."

"I'll keep that in mind," he said and he kissed my neck as if discovering it for the first time.

"And for God's sake, don't kill Lenny. Great musicians are hard to find." I murmured in his ear.

"I'll keep that in mind, too," he whispered back. He slid his arms around me and pulled me to him in a tight embrace, closed my mouth with a kiss, slid his hand slowly inside my pants until it came to rest on my cock, and fingered me until I was quivering and half-blind with lust for him.

I did the same to him, so he could feel the sweet torture of being pushed to the brink with no hope of immediate release. We were shameless, but had no witnesses except a black she-cat in heat who yowled pitifully for a mate.

When we finally reached the hotel, we barely kept our hands off each other in the lobby and then only because of the clerk on duty. Our ascent of the stairs was downright dangerous, as we unbuttoned and kissed and tripped, bared chests, sucked nipples, necks, earlobes, lips-then stumbled and fondled and groaned. Careless of discovery, we finally staggered into our room, peeled jackets and shirts in seconds, pants pooled around our ankles. We neither of us could get our shoes off. We fell to our knees on the blankets still piled on the floor.

God, we were hot for each other. Our hands and lips were all over each other., but we were still hampered by our pants and shoes. Our haste was comical. Nick managed finally to kick off his soft tan shoes. He wriggled out of his slacks while I was still wrestling with a knot in my left wingtip that refused to budge. Nick, impatient for action used my empty trouser leg as a tow line to drag me across the floor to the bed. He dropped down onto the blanket beside me, wrestled with my shoe and swore at it , until with a look of triumph on his face, it came off. He tossed it on the floor and peeled off my grey sock while I laughed at his antics.

He straddled my waist and leaned over me with a sexy smile. "That was the hardest thing I did all day. I think I deserve a reward," he said.

"The hardest thing?" I said as I stroked his erection which throbbed at my touch. "I think I deserve the reward. You've put this off long enough. I want to feel you inside me tonight, Nick. Why don't you come inside me?"

"I'm not sure I know what to do."

"Do it anyway. Think of it as your final exam from Professor Hornfreak. Just relax. I'm an easy grader," and besides," I moaned with pleasure at the thought, " I really want to feel you inside me."

We kissed as lovers kiss, with tenderness and passion. He was careful with me as I had shown him. He lay me on the edge of the bed. I leaned back. With his right knee on the bed and left foot on the floor, he raised my buttocks with his hands and ever so slowly eased his cock into my opening. We both gasped at the sensation. I hooked my left leg over his right shoulder and he began to move in me, slowly testing this new feeling, the almost unbearably pleasurable compression of the tight sheath on his tender skin. He closed his eyes and with every slow thrust into me, he groaned deeply.

It was hot in the room, no breeze flowed through the curtains. Sweat beaded his forehead and when he opened his eyes, he looked into mine and thrust again. Then he shifted me further back and moved his left knee onto the bed. I brought my legs down from his shoulders and wrapped them around his waist. He leaned in close to me and fastened his lips on my neck and kissed it as if he meant to consume it. I gave myself over to the sensation of his movement within me and with every slow thrust, I felt a dizzying heat begin to build. His body began to shudder with each push he made into me and finally when the heat seemed to reach critical mass, he covered my mouth with his and slid in his wild tongue. He began to move faster in me. I captured his tongue and sucked on it. This seemed to drive him crazy. He felt the same tight pressure on his tongue as he felt on his cock. When I released it, he uttered a choked animal cry.

He was so very deep in me. I felt him with my mind and then as if a lens were opening, I looked down at myself through his eyes, felt his pleasure as he stroked my skin with his hands, felt the tenderness and lust with which he crushed my lips beneath his. I felt each sensation of his blood engorged cock as it moved in the so tight opening. I have never seen myself as beautiful, but through his eyes I saw a Midvalley that I never knew existed. Was my body that well-knit, my eyes so liquid, my features so fine, the fall of my hair so graceful? I felt the agitated flutters of his heart, so like my own. So this was the love that he felt for me then. I felt his pleasure and saw in slow motion as his hand reached down to stroke my cock. He stroked in time with the rhythm of his motion in me, faster and faster like an arrow shot from a bow, seeking its target, focused yet abandoned. I cried out in surprise as I fell into my body, found my release and my hot semen jetted onto his belly. With a cry as startled as my own, he came in me some moments later, thighs trembling. Then he slipped himself out of me and still trembling, lay his length along side me, his head propped on his hand, his dark bangs plastered to his forehead with sweat. I brushed them idly back with my hand. He leaned over and kissed my forehead.

He wore a puzzled look and some other emotion played on his face that I could not read. A delicious lassitude overcame me and I could not keep my eyes open. I stretched, sighed, and sleep claimed me.

When I woke some hours later, I found sleep had claimed him too. A cool breeze was finally flowing through the window. I covered us with a sheet and we slept until morning.