Title: The Gift of a Friend Author: Parlance, Copyright 2000. Email: par_lance1@yahoo.com Web site: http://www.geocities.com/par_lance1 Feedback appreciated. Flames will be passed among friends and ridiculed. Pairing: Lance/Joey Rating: AU/Fantasy. NC-17 and nothing less. You've been warned. Classification: Plot quickly degenerating into smut. Archive: Please ask fist.
Disclaimer: This story contains homosexual themes, gender play and lovely, hot sex. The series takes place amid the backdrop of an environment of enforced slavery, though the relations depicted in this particular story are consensual. If that offends you, you're not old enough to be reading it in your jurisdiction, or you cringe at the sight of high-falutin' medieval prose, flee.
This is fiction. I know nuthin' 'bout nobody. I especially don't presume to know nor care about the sexual preferences of *Nsync, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera or Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds.
Author's Note: This story is set in the Lyris universe, an alternate universe fantasy world I created years ago. There've been many characters and lately I decided it's *Nsync's time to play. It is not entirely necessary, but you might want to read "Idle Pleasures" to get some character background.
Set on Earth during the Middle Ages, but in a mythical land. Suspend your beliefs about race, color, gender and sexual preference because the only prejudices here are based on class. Slavery is legal and forms the socio-economic background for this society.
There are three genders - the third is a cross between the male and female gender known as transsexuals, or "transies" for short. They have the faces and voices of men, but the bodies of women and can reproduce. Lansten is one of them.
Cast of characters/name changes:
Lansten - Lance Justin - same Joshua - JC Joseph - Joey Brittany - Britney Christina - same King Kenneth I - Babyface
A shout out to Brandi, who started the whole mess. And to my tireless betas Chauvee, Sammie, Jackie B and Karen. And Jess, still kicking and screaming. What up, Goldblum.
For Joeyfull, who's been begging for it. ;-> Apologies for the lack of "pulsating manhood" references.
"Catch, Joshua! Oh, come now, you are not even trying."
It was a warm day in the kingdom of Lyris. The pleasure slaves were being allowed some recreation outside behind the castle until they were called for supper. Some slaves sat and gossiped with each other in a courtyard. Others played catch or merely ran after each other, laughing and yelling.
Joseph, one of the slave-grooms, stood inside at a window, watching the other slaves. He kept an eye in particular on those he was in charge of: Joshua, Brittany and Christina, as well as Lansten, the transie for whom he had harbored more than a passing fancy since their childhood.
The grooms and maids and other slaves who did not serve as pleasure slaves were almost never allowed the luxury of afternoon play. Those rare moments a groom had to himself were usually spent resting until duty called. Joseph smiled wistfully to himself. He enjoyed watching the pleasure slaves in their carefree moments, and he often wished he could join them... or perhaps even be one of them. But then he reminded himself that the price for spending one's days solely satisfying their masters was often too dear to pay.
Joseph's thoughts turned to Jason, a comely, but ill-fated pleasure slave. His insatiable master, the Crown Prince, had worked him to exhaustion. Jason's loyalty had amounted to nothing; one night when he was unable to perform to his master's satisfaction, the poor slave had been put to death. Joseph shuddered at the memory. Best to leave the job of pleasuring to those cunning and creative enough to fulfill the freemen's desires.
"Joseph." Joseph turned to the voice. It was Jonathan, the slavemaster, who was in charge of all the pleasure slaves. "I need you to retrieve Lansten. The King has offered him to a guest, a lady of the Emperor's court. He must be prepared and adorned with his finest jewels as befits her standing."
"Yes, sir," Joseph, the slave groom, bowed respectfully. Joseph turned back to the window. Lansten, the slave in question, was playing handball against a wall.
"LANSTEN!" Joseph called in a booming voice and Jonathan jumped. Lansten stopped to look up.
"I could have done that, Joseph," Jonathan told him wearily.
Joseph grinned. "Sorry, sir." He told Lansten, "Meet me downstairs. You are being called." Lansten nodded and threw the ball to another slave before walking quickly towards the slave entrance in the back. The other slaves continued playing as if nothing had happened. Such an event, after all, was commonplace in their lives.
Joseph met a rather grimy Lansten at the back entrance and shook his head at the slave's appearance.
"Lansten, why must exert yourself so when you are outdoors? Have you torn your skirt? Yes, you have, as I suspected. No matter. You will have to put on a fresh one anyway. Why do I allow myself to be surprised?" He took Lansten by the wrist and led him upstairs towards the room where Lansten slept and bathed.
"I thought you might be miffed with me," Lansten told his groom as he grinned. "So I brought you a rhododendron."
Joseph took the flower from the charming transie's hand and breathed deeply. "Thank you, but we must make haste. We cannot keep your company waiting."
"Who is it, Da?" Lansten asked, evoking the term of affection Joseph's charges had given him.
"The Emperor of Japan sent an representative to discuss trading with the King. A woman. You will be entertaining her tonight."
"Oh! I do not believe I have been with someone of such high stature from Japan before."
By then the two had reached the room Lansten shared with the three other slaves whom Joseph groomed each day. Lansten sat on a stool as Joseph filled a tub with water that had been warming in a cauldron.
"No, I do not believe you have. And I have been instructed to decorate you with jewels tonight." He helped Lansten into the tub and swiftly bathed him, without the deliberation he normally took each morning when he bathed the pleasure slaves. Occasionally, he looked up at Lansten, and the transie admired his warm, brown eyes. He longed to caress his dark hair and trail his lips with his fingers.
"Joseph, when is your birthday?" Lansten asked as he stood in the tub while Joseph soaped the triangle between his thighs.
Joseph smirked at Lansten. "In two days, I believe. Why do you ask?"
"No particular reason," Lansten answered evasively.
"If you are planning anything on my account, do not trouble yourself, duck."
"Do not be so silly, Da. You are always so thoughtful about our own birthdays. We could not simply let the day pass without a celebration or gift."
"You could. I have the best gift already having you ducks as my friends." Joseph kissed Lansten on the nose and proceeded to rinse away the soap.
After Lansten was dried and oiled, Joseph took a small vial and dabbed Lansten's body with perfume. Then, he rouged Lansten's lips, cheeks and nipples with a dark rose color. Black kohl was applied to his shimmering green eyes. Joseph brought a small jewelry chest to Lansten, who helped him choose a few thin gold chains to attach to his neck, waist and ankles. Bracelets were attached to Lansten's wrists and upper arms. Joseph paused to examine his handiwork, and added small dangling earrings. Last, he brushed Lansten's hair and used a antimony paste to affix the tiniest of pearls to his blonde locks.
"It was easier when the King had you wear your hair to your shoulders," Joseph commented.
Lansten nodded. "But it will turn out beautiful in your capable hands all the same, Joseph."
"You flatter me, Lansten, but let us see if your company agrees." He patted Lansten on the knee. "That is enough. Stand up, let me put a new silk on you."
Joseph attached a skirt of fine silk, but left Lansten's breasts bare. He approved of the final results. As he escorted Lansten to their slavemaster to present before the Emperor's emissary, the transie schemed of how he might best surprise Joseph with his birthday gift.
A week passed after Joseph's birthday before Lansten was able to corner the groom. After Joseph fed the slaves at noon one day, he gathered their plates and cups and placed them on his cart. Lansten flitted after him as Joshua and the Twins exchanged knowing glances.
"Joseph," Lansten called softly so not to startle him.
Joseph turned to the blonde slave. "Will you come back after you have taken the cart to the kitchen? Will you be busy today?"
"I do not foresee it. But allow me to ask Cook." He raised an eyebrow. "What do you have in mind, Lansten?"
"I will tell you when you return, Joseph. Not before." Lansten smiled coquettishly. Joseph shook his head but he returned minutes later.
"Now, what is it?"
"Follow me." Lansten led Joseph down a hallway and towards a closet. He opened the door and as much as his strength allowed, prodded the brawny man inside.
"Lansten, damn you, what is this about?" But he said this in mock anger, curious to know what the transie had planned.
Lansten grabbed a torch nearby and followed Joseph into the closet. He rested the flame on a stand.
There was a stool in the closet, and Lansten placed his hands on Joseph's shoulders and bade him to sit down.
"Now, will you tell me what this is about?"
Wordlessly, Lansten untied his one garment and wore nothing but a smile.
Joseph responded, "I have seen that, Lansten. Several times."
Lansten, undeterred, bent down and reached over to slip Joseph's silk wrap from his hips.
"Lansten!" Joseph struggled to keep his wrap firmly tied around his hips. "What do you think you are doing?"
Lansten gave a mock sigh. "Giving you your birthday surprise." Lansten straddled Joseph's formidable thighs. "I have wanted to make love to you for so long, Joseph." Lansten fingered the head of Joseph's member through the silk cloth with his fingertips. "But tell me this is not what you want and I shall bother you no more."
Joseph groaned. "Lansten, we will be caught. We might be punished severely."
"No, we will not. No one inhabits this hall. If we are discreet, our masters will never know. And even if we were caught," Lansten continued as he coaxed the head of the cock from its silk covering, "you are not forbidden to bed with me. And what does it matter if those silly gossips in the harem know that we sought pleasure in each other's arms?"
"You- you have Justin," Joseph began. He was weakening under Lansten's expert touch. Lansten was in turn delighted to see his penis swell at the slightest touch of his fingertips.
"Justin knows. He understands that this is my gift to you on your birthday. He lays no claim to me, nor I to him."
"Lansten, I am your groom. I am supposed to look after you. I cannot take advantage of you."
"Joseph, you think too much. We will make love and you will still be my groom and I your little duck. And we will remain the dearest of friends. But perhaps we are avoiding what truly troubles you; if you do not desire this of me, tell me and I will leave."
Now, Joseph's entire cock was free from the fabric and Lansten encircled it in the palm of his hand. He stroked it slowly, deliberately, as he spoke to Joseph, and rested it against his own pubic mound as he teased the defenseless groom.
"You are truly the devil's servant, Lansten. Of course I desire this of you."
"Then speak no more and let me have the pleasure of offering my body to you." Lansten caressed Joseph's cheek and kissed his mouth, reveling in the feel of Joseph's moustache and beard lightly scratching his skin. Joseph closed his eyes and surrendered. Lansten released Joseph's cock and took the groom's face in his hands. He pushed his tongue past Joseph's mouth and lapped gently at the sensitive flesh. Joseph opened his eyes and began to relax, his fingers trailing Lansten's neck and the outline of the transie's milk-white breasts. Lansten, encouraged by Joseph's response, probed Joseph's mouth more intently with his tongue. The groom, afraid to make a sound, suppressed a moan.
Joseph caressed Lansten's dusky brown nipples, but his motions were gentle, apprehensive, as if he were holding fine china. Lansten wanted Joseph to play with him more freely, and he took one of Joseph's hands and pressed it against his breast, forcing Joseph's fingers to close in a tight squeeze as Joseph watched in awe.
Joseph lifted his eyes to Lansten's. "I do not want to hurt you," he whispered.
"Joseph! You massage me with stronger hands than these!" Lansten whispered back. "I am not asking you to hurt me. But you must not be afraid." Now he kissed Joseph more firmly, creating a powerful suction between their mouths as Joseph cupped Lansten's breasts and circled his nipples with his thumbs. When they broke away, Joseph gasped for air.
Lansten was wrong.
There would come a change after this day, if only in the way Joseph perceived the transie, whom he had groomed for the pleasure of others since Lansten began his training at the age of 15. Though he had admired Lansten for years, he had been taught to groom his charges with the utmost detachment. Joseph had often lain with the female maids and scullery girls in the palace, but never one of the beautiful slaves of the harem. So thorough was Joseph's training that strangely enough, he had never thought of Lansten as a sexual being. Now Lansten sat on his lap, freely making a gift of his body. The prospect was overwhelming, to say the least.
Joseph continued his exploration in silence. He brought his fingertips to the undersides of Lansten's breasts and down the transie's belly. The King preferred his female and transie slaves to be slender in build, but nevertheless round of belly and thigh and buttocks, and Lansten more than fulfilled the King's wishes. Joseph pressed his fingertips just under Lansten's stomach and rubbed gently, sending a pleasant sensation straight to Lansten's clitoris. Lansten smiled and squirmed at the ticklish feeling. Joseph look up and returned the smile. Even by the dim light of the torch, he was taken aback by the sparkling beauty of Lansten's green eyes.
As Joseph paused Lansten took the opportunity to caress Joseph's dark nipples, appreciating the feel of the light fur on Joseph's chest, so rare to one who lived among male pleasure slaves who were required to be clean-shaven at all times.
Joseph put an end to Lansten's explorations by placing his arms at this sides. "No," Joseph told him. "Allow me to do the work." His hands traced Lansten's spine, sending more delicious sensations to the transie's nether regions. The hands lowered to Lansten's soft behind and kneaded them firmly. Lansten was amused to watch Joseph take charge and equally pleased to learn that Joseph's talents were not limited to his morning massages. As Joseph's inhibitions waned, he touched Lansten's body in the ways he already knew would emit contented sighs from the transie.
Joseph asked Lansten to stand before him while still straddling his legs. Joseph's hands left his buttocks and now massaged Lansten's thighs. His fingers trailed the silky hair between Lansten's thighs, then firmly coaxed Lansten's clitoris until he climaxed. Lansten smiled to himself, remembering the many mornings he secretly reached his peak while Joseph massaged him.
Joseph spoke. "Lansten, you are truly beautiful. It is a mystery why you would give yourself over to a lowly groom such as I."
Lansten lowered his body until he was kneeling on the floor. "Because this groom is truly handsome and is certainly never lowly." With this, Lansten slid the remainder of Joseph's wrap from his thighs and took the head of his erect member to his lips. He delicately licked a precious drop of fluid from the head and kissed the tiny slit. He took the head into his mouth and suckled it slowly, savoring the salty taste and scent of musk. The head sunk past his lips down to the ring. Lansten let tiny moans escape from his throat, sending vibrations throughout Joseph's taut body. Then Lansten let Joseph's penis slip from his mouth so he could lick it with circling motions with just the tip of his tongue. As he concentrated on pleasuring Joseph, he shifted his body to the side to keep his knees from growing sore.
By now Joseph felt as if his bones had become a mass of liquid fire. He caressed Lansten's hair and pleaded silently for the transie to cease his relentless tease. And yet, he never wanted the mounting pleasure to end.
Lansten drew his lips away from Joseph's cock as the latter moaned in frustration. But Joseph would not be abandoned for long. Lansten pushed back Joseph's thighs and held Joseph's ball sac in his hand. Gently, ever so gently, he caressed the rough skin with his fingertips, as Joseph seriously contemplated stuffing his silk into his own mouth to keep from crying out. Lansten bent forward and laved Joseph's sac with his tongue. Joseph looked down to see Lansten smiling as he kissed and nipped at the tender flesh. Just as carefully, Lansten wrapped his mouth around Joseph's sac, filling his mouth as much as he could, and sucked as his tongue massaged the underside.
So this is what they are trained to do, Joseph thought as he anchored himself against the wall with the palms of hands.
Lansten held each half of Joseph's sac in his mouth as long as he could (an admirably long time!) and paused only long enough to breathe before he took in the other half.
After a few minutes of this, Joseph, red-faced, gasped, "Lansten, by the gods, I shall die! Please, please..." His words dissolved into incoherent babbling. Please what? He knew not what he wanted next, but Lansten absolutely had to end this merciless torture or he would release before he wanted to.
Lansten took pity and ceased his oral homage to Joseph's body. He stood to face Joseph again. He paused for a moment to smile at his friend, then guided Joseph's member inside his moist sex. Both man and transie shuddered as Lansten lowered himself on the swollen cock.
Lansten clutched Joseph's shoulders as Joseph held the transie by the waist. Joseph proved himself to be well endowed and Lansten's hungry, tight sex eagerly accommodated him. The transie sighed with pleasure as he rocked his hips. Joseph awkwardly attempted to mirror Lansten's movements until Lansten shook his head with a grin. "Let me do the work now." Lansten closed his eyes and pressed his body against Joseph's. Joseph appreciated the position he was in because he could hold on to Lansten's ample buttocks and feel the muscles clench with Lansten's every movement.
The two knew it would not be long; they had been approaching the edge long before their bodies had become one. Though Lansten's eyes were closed, Joseph never took his away from the gorgeous sight of Lansten undulating his hips while beads of sweat shone on his body and his lips formed a perfect "O." The flickering light of the torch illuminated their amorous pursuits and Lansten's silhouette danced along the wall. Joseph buried his nose in the crook of Lansten's neck and breathed in the scent of his body.
Lansten rocked his body with increasing fervor until he felt Joseph stiffen beneath him. Lansten grabbed Joseph by the back of the head and pulled him forward for an open-mouthed kiss, a trick he had learned long ago to quiet one's screams. Joseph gratefully reciprocated the kiss as he and Lansten spent their passion.
The two exhausted slaves remained joined for a few minutes as their breathing slowed. Lansten covered Joseph's face with soft kisses - first his lips, then his cheeks, the tip of his nose, and his eyelids. They shared a few moments of silence before Joseph withdrew.
Joseph and Lansten both prepared to leave before their masters could notice that they were missing. Joseph bound them in their silks, then Lansten took the torch and opened the door. Lansten looked around and finding no one in the hall indicated to Joseph that they could leave.
Joseph instantly transformed from the lover to the groom as they approached the room where he slept. Joseph produced a pan for water and sponged both Lansten's and his privates. Lansten received a tingling reminder of their lovemaking as Joseph thoroughly bathed his clitoris, labia and vagina. Fortunately, there was no other groom in Joseph's room at the moment. The sight of a groom bathing a pleasure slave was nothing out of the ordinary, but the sight of one also attending himself would raise more than a few eyebrows.
After Joseph emptied and stored the pan, Lansten took Joseph's hand and sat him down on his pallet.
"Thank you, Joseph."
Joseph smiled sheepishly. "Why on Earth are you thanking me, Lansten? It was your gift."
Lansten shook his head. "So modest. You are not planning to greet me in the morning with a mere peck on the cheek are you?"
Joseph frowned. "Lansten, I believe we agreed that nothing would change. Besides, we do not want to call attention to ourselves."
"I realize that, Joseph, and nothing has changed. But we do not need to go to such extreme lengths to pretend nothing happened, do we?"
Joseph at first did not answer the question. He was deep in thought. "Lansten, I am afraid."
"Pray tell, of what?" Lansten asked, almost impatiently.
"Lansten, I regard you and the others with the utmost respect. And now I am afraid that I have committed a breach that may have been unwise-"
"What exactly are you telling me, Joseph?"
"I am afraid of falling in love with you."
Lansten grew quiet as he regarded his friend carefully. "Are you saying this is a real possibility? Are you in love with me now? Be honest with me."
Joseph was startled. "No, Lansten-"
"Oh. Well, now I am disappointed," Lansten teased.
"Lansten, be serious, please. I love you as I love the others. You are a beautiful transie and I admit I have entertained fantasies of what it might be like to spend a night in your arms. But I am not, as you have put it, in love with you. And if I were, I would content myself simply with being in your presence each day, as I have for so many years. You are with Justin. And as your friend, I would never do anything to create a chasm between you."
Lansten nodded. "Then why even speak of a danger that does not exist, Joseph?"
Joseph hesitated. "I- I do not know, Lansten. I am confused. Perhaps I accepted your gift in haste. I-"
"Dear Da." Lansten took Joseph's hands in his. "Once again I say that you think far too much. How many times have you shared a bed with a maid? Have you fallen in love each time? Of course not. Can we not see this merely for it what it was? We enjoyed each other's bodies, and no more. And that in itself is a joyful thing."
Joseph considered Lansten's words and smiled. "You are correct, Lansten. And it is my turn to thank you.
I could not ask for a better gift, or a better friend." Joseph stood and extended his hand to help Lansten. "But now I must go to see if Cook needs me."
"Busy, busy Da. Scarcely any time to play." Lansten reached up to kiss Joseph lightly on the lips. "Until your next birthday, then." Lansten winked.
Joseph grinned. "Must we wait so long?"
"Well, I can see if Joshua is available," Lansten teased.
"No, thank you." But his grin never faded as he made haste towards the kitchen.
Lansten returned to his own room, where all the slaves were resting. Justin was also there, having come to the castle for his weekly visit with Lansten.
"So?" Brittany, one of the Twins, inquired.
"What was he like?" Christina, the other, asked.
"You must not eliminate a single detail, Lansten," Joshua chimed in. Lansten ignored them all and greeted Justin with a warm kiss as the other three slaves surrounded them.
Lansten turned to the others as Justin held him in his arms. "I do not think that I should tell you."
"What?!" Joshua cried. "But that was the agreement. We say nothing, and you share!"
"Listen to me. Joseph is not one of us. His is our groom and takes care of us. He is our Da! Out of respect for him, I do not think we should treat his exploits in the manner we treat one of our own. He would sense that I told you and it would be an embarrassment to him. I cannot betray him that way."
The others were shamed into reluctant agreement. "Well, it is understood, Lansten. But could you not give us the vaguest of clues?" Brittany pressed.
Lansten sighed. "I will say that Joseph is a wonderful, appreciative lover. That is all."
"Really?" Justin asked with amusement. "Should I be jealous?"
"No more jealous than I should be when you are with Joshua," Lansten retorted. He sniffed at his lover. "And from what I detect, it seems you two have already availed yourselves."
In the kitchen, Joseph shelled peas for a stew the slaves' cook was preparing for supper. The cook eyed Joseph suspiciously.
"What have you been up to today, Joseph?"
Joseph stammered, "N-nothing unusual, madam. Why do you ask?"
"I noticed a skip in your step as you entered the kitchen, that is why. And you are positively glowing.
Have you been sporting with the stable girls again?"
"I-I-"
The cook chuckled. "Whoever it is must be special to have stolen your tongue. Well, keep it up. A satisfied slave is a productive slave, I always say."
"Yes, madam." Joseph grinned back at the cook. Keep it up, Joseph echoed in his mind. If only I could! But as Joseph shelled more peas, he contemplated the likelihood of Joshua's "availability."
FINIS
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===== "Yea, verily, this sucks." - Christopher in "Idle Pleasures"
"The Secret Marriage": the fic that dares to ask, "Why run when one can scurry? Why decorate when one can bedazzle?"
Parlance's *NSYNC Fan Fiction: http://www.geocities.com/par_lance1