Complexities ((Jack Wheelan & Tacitus Kapsetakis)) [PG-15]

Kisses...stupid, dizzying kisses...a month with Jack and Elijah was still driven insane by his boyfriend’s kisses. That couldn’t really be fair, could it? Of course, as often as the boy wished he could call Venus power abuse, it wasn’t just a matter of that anymore. Because of all the stupidly inconvenient times for the small boy to fall in love (really, what part of 'Legion to run' did Venus not get?), it had to be now. It had to be now and it had to be with Jack Wheelan, son of Venus. So not only was Venus definitely playing a part, Venus was definitely playing a part. And it was stupid and inconvenient and horrible. Because Jack knew how Elijah felt thanks to the amulet he had been given, but the Praetor had no idea how his boyfriend felt. Which was what made the whole thing so horrible; when it came to the cold hard facts, Elijah was in love and chances were Jack wasn't. A month was an absurdly small amount of time, though, and Elijah wasn't ready to give up on his boyfriend or those stupid dizzying kisses. Even if Jack didn't feel the same yet, the son of Discordia wasn't going to throw in the towel that easily. It would take a hell of a lot more...a month. A month of this, of everything...maybe it wasn't even love! The boy wouldn't really know either way. Stop lying to yourself, Elijah...you know perfectly well...it had to stop somewhere. Besides, Jack may have had a perfectly good reason for not saying anything. Not the right time? Not the right anything? Perhaps Elijah was just over thinking it all. Reading too much into things...he had no idea how the amulet worked, maybe he should stop assuming anything. Stupid dizzying kisses. Not fair, but the boy couldn't bring himself to care too much. Because whether Jack loved him back or not, the older boy hadn't left yet...which was definitely a plus in the first place.

There were much more pressing matters at the moment, though. Mostly Elijah taking a much needed afternoon off to be with Jack. One of these days, Calix would resurface and the younger boy wouldn't have to worry about juggling so much. In the meantime, the boy figured some time off couldn't hurt. As much as Elijah was devoted to the Legion and keeping things running smoothly, the past month had proved to him that he still needed to put aside some time to be a normal teenage guy. Well, as normal as a teenage guy half-blood could be. Whatever that meant. And right now, it meant finding a place where he and Jack could make out in peace. With the warm weather, no place outside was any good, and Elijah didn't want to think of any scandals that might occur if someone walked into the First Cohort barracks and caught Praetor Emmanual pinned to the bed. This really left only one completely private spot...the Praetor's room. Elijah had been avoiding it as a place to spend time with his boyfriend for awhile now. Between the facts that it was his bedroom, Tac was often in and out as he pleased, and all the rest of that stuff, the boy didn't want to end up in any sticky situations. Not that he didn't trust Jack, because he did...more than completely, it was just that the thought of being with his boyfriend in his room was a bit daunting. At this point, though, Elijah figured it would be safe enough to hide out there with Jack for a bit. He'd put up a sign on the door to let Tac know it wasn't a good time to come in. All the boy wanted was Jack and his stupid dizzying kisses.

The sole problem with square rooms was walls. Walls that Elijah could be pushed against as Jack kissed him. Walls that Jack could pin the small boy's arms over his head against. Which was the current predicament. Elijah was pathetically helpless as Jack held his wrists high with one hand, his other hand resting firmly on Elijah's waist. Keeping the younger boy back against the wall and Jack's body flush against his. There was no way to get around the fact that this was a perfect position to be in, and the son of Discordia couldn't think of anything he'd rather be doing than being pinned to the wall by his boyfriend. And Jack's lips on his...so many sensations. The scruff of Jack's beard against Elijah's face...the way he got to taste the older boy...the feeling that whether he was struggling against Jack's hold or not (who could tell?), the kisses just got more and more passionate. Obviously, dating a son of Venus was the only way to go...the small boy was more than spoiled from the start. Because kisses. Kisses that were passionate and loving and meant something. More than something. It was completely unexplainable. But who cared, because this was one of those things Elijah would allow to not make any sense. It would be nice if it did, but life didn't always work like that. A brief thought...had he put a sign up for Tac?

Then Jack's tongue was running along Elijah's lips and any coherent thoughts went into hiding.

Kisses…deep, passionate kisses…a month with Elijah and Jack still swooned at his boyfriend’s kisses. He knew it wasn’t fair. Elijah was still so innocent, so inexperienced, and Jack was taking full advantage of that. He knew he should slow down, back off a bit, and give Elijah more time to adjust to whatever this relationship was, but that wasn’t the way Jack worked. Slow had never been his preferred way to work, and the way Elijah made him feel…It was incredible and wonderful and confusing. Jack had been with other guys before. He had enjoyed the time with them, but he had never felt so strongly connected to them. He had never felt like he actually loved them. With the other guys, the goddess of fertility showed herself. But with Elijah, Jack saw the goddess of love. The best part was that Elijah loved him back. Jack knew that wasn’t fair, either. He knew exactly how Elijah felt, but his boyfriend had no idea how he did. How was he supposed to tell him, though? Just because he was a son of the goddess of love didn’t mean he knew the language of love. He would never admit it aloud, but he was terrified of getting it wrong when he finally spoke up.

Regardless, there were much more pressing matters at the moment. Mostly Jack stealing Elijah away for some much needed time off. The boy worked way too hard. Calix had disappeared when Lúth did, leaving all the work of the Legion up to Elijah. It wasn’t fair, but at this point, Jack could understand. If Elijah suddenly disappeared, he’d probably hole himself up somewhere for a while, too. Right now, though, Elijah was here, he was stressed, and he deserved some time off. He deserved some time to be a normal teenager with his boyfriend. The Legionnaires got that time, so why shouldn’t Elijah get it, too? Finding a place with some privacy, though, seemed to be an issue for Elijah. Jack wouldn’t have minded making out somewhere outside. Rolling in the grass, pinning his boyfriend to the ground, and kissing him senseless sounded pretty appealing to him. Elijah, however, wanted privacy. That meant the grounds were out-of-bounds. Warm weather brought too many other demigods outside. Jack had suggested his barrack, but Elijah had quickly shot him down on that. He was afraid of somebody walking in on them while he was pinned to the bed. The idea had brought a smirk to Jack’s lips. He hadn’t said it aloud, but that was exactly where he had seen things going. If Elijah wanted complete privacy, the only space still open was his bedroom in the Principia. Jack had happily followed him there. If Elijah truly believed it to be private, that opened up so many possibilities.

One of the greatest things with square rooms was walls. Walls that Jack could push Elijah against as he kissed him. Walls that Jack could pin his boyfriend’s arms against. Which was where one of the private possibilities had led them. Jack had tried to start slow. He had kissed Elijah tenderly and lovingly, but the wall had proved too tempting. It only took a few seconds for Jack to shut the door, spin his boyfriend around, and push him back against the wall. Caught off-guard, Jack had the perfect opportunity to capture Elijah’s wrists and pin them high above his head. The younger boy had struggled at first, but Jack had quickly taken care of that. Holding both of Elijah’s wrists in one hand, he firmly placed the other on his waist. He hadn’t stopped there, though. The heat of the moment took him away and he pressed his body flush against Elijah’s. With no room left to move, Elijah had no choice but to return his kisses. And with each passing moment, the kisses got more passionate. Because they meant something. All those things Jack didn’t know how to say, couldn’t say, was scared to say, got poured into his kisses. And Elijah responded to his kisses. Elijah kissed back with a kind of ferocity, passion, and love that Jack had never experienced before. And it pushed him over the edge. It pushed him to beg for more.

Before he could control it, his tongue was running along Elijah’s lips, tasting him, begging for entrance, and the only thought was that he wanted more of the boy before him.

Tacitus liked being out and about. He usually walked around, learning training and generally trying to improve every and any skill he could work on. From the shadow travel thing (which he was finally starting to get the hang off... sort of) to the mess that was training with weapons. He hadn't really made plans for this particular day though and the young boy was quite sure he'd find something to do. Well, he actually really wanted t get some of his Roman toy soldiers and build a nice battlefield again. His little barbarian army needed to taste defeat yet again. With that sort of plan in mind, the young boy made his way toward the Principia, where he and his sleeping bag spent a lot of their time at night. Elijah Praetor was usually in doing paperwork or something, which was why Tacitus didn't want to pop in too much. He didn't want to distract Elijah Praetor from his work. Not while the snoring one hadn't emerged yet. That would have been very bad manners of the young boy.

When Tacitus arrived at the Principia, he didn't see Elijah Praetor, which probably meant he was out doing something important. Tacitus smiled slightly, knowing he wouldn't disturb the Praetor by his visit this time. He closed the door behind him and looked at the empty Principia for a moment. He was sure he'd left most of his toy soldiers here. Well, apart from a few. It took him a short while to gather them all (as Elijah Praetor didn't usually make him clean up in the way his mom did back home) and as he'd set them up for the grand battle, he noticed he was a few men short. With a slightly disgruntled expression Tacitus turned his eyes on the door. He'd heard a noise or two while he was here and for some reason he figured the cat that housed with the Snoring one had gotten into Elijah Praetor's room and was now trashing the place. Tacitus liked the kitty, even though he hardly ever saw it. Most it did was sleep, just like the snoring Praetor.

Tacitus, wanting to stop the animal, instantly headed for the door and pulled it open. It had probably one of those bad idea scenario's from the start. As soon as he saw what had been going on in the room, his mouth dropped open and his face turned to confusion. What was going on in there? His hands instantly flicked to life, without a thought from his side. 'What are you doing to Elijah Praetor?' His hands signed before his mind had wrapped itself around the situation. Since Elijah Praetor didn't look hurt, Tacitus was even more confused. In the end he figured he probably didn't even want to know this and he turned resolutely, walking away without even wanting to look back. He didn't remember closing the door and instantly headed for his toys. They'd have to fight without some of the stars this time. He picked some of them up and started the bloodbath, not wanting to think about whatever it was he'd just walked in to. No, he'd just sit here, playing with his army, pretending nothing had happened and more importantly, that he hadn't seen anything of nothing that had happened. Nope, nothing at all. The first victim of battle fell to the carpet, the toy was a Roman, falling at the hands of a barbarian. No matter, the Romans would win, they always did.

((I'm a wee bit rusty I guess.....))

It was so unfair how magical Jack's kisses were.  There was certainly no denying that fact.  Even the times when things moved a bit faster than Elijah would have planned, he didn't mind.  Because his boyfriend wasn't just kissing him with nothing.  Passion, adoration, a want for Elijah...a need for Elijah.  Sure, it got confusing at times...trying to figure out the difference between Jack showing affection and Jack being...Jack, but they were both trying hard.  It was definitely a little difficult with the younger boy being much more of a verbal communicator and the other being much more physical.  Different communication styles being put together the way they were...different everything, really.  Of course, the two had known that going into the whole thing and had pushed forward anyway.  Right now, Elijah was figuring it was working.  Because they were making it work.  It wasn't easy, but the boy was relatively certain relationships never were.  Especially at this age.  Especially at this age as half-bloods.  A son of Discordia and a son of Venus dating...this whole thing was...horrendous.  And perfect.  The Praetor wouldn't change things at all.  Well...he would like to know if Jack loved him, but it wasn't necessary right now.  Because in some strange way, Elijah felt as if Jack was showing him.  Although he couldn't really be sure.  The entire thing was confusing, and the boy would be having a talk about it with Jack soon.  Just not now, because Elijah was too wrapped up in what was going on here and now.  Kisses...Gods...stupid dizzying kisses!  This had to be a crime.  Venus power abuse!  Anything the son of Discordia could call his boyfriend out on, even though he couldn't...and wouldn't.  He had to stop thinking...thinking while kissing was a bad idea, because each time the boy remembered that Jack had him pinned to the wall and was kissing him like this, he lost his thoughts and had to figure out where he left off.  Stop thinking, stop thinking, stop-

Jack's tongue.  Jack's tongue was running across Elijah's lips, and without even thinking, the boy parted his lips.  Oh, Gods...that was...and Jack...Jack tasted like Jack and it was perfect.  Struggling slightly against his boyfriend's firm hold, Elijah whimpered softly.  He wanted to be closer to Jack, if that was even possible.  It probably wasn't...the older boy already had his boyfriend pushed as back against the wall as possible.  Gods...the son of Discordia almost wished the older boy would let go of his hands so the boy could feel, too.  He had seen Jack's abs...Elijah would have been the first to tell someone that he had never found abs too attractive.  But with the son of Venus...everything was so different!  So...not Elijah!  Those abs were phenomenal.  And Jack's scruffy facial hair...the younger boy had never been into that, either, but once again...different!  The feeling of the scruff against the boy's face as they kissed was...the boy had no words.  It simply wasn't fair that Jack knew exactly what he was doing and Elijah had no idea.  And the contradicting statement that followed that one...the boy loved it.  Every second, every kiss, hug, smile.  It was terrible...for how short a time the completely illogical couple had been together, the young boy shouldn't be in love.  It was ridiculous.  The only explanation the boy could figure was that in the four months between their first meeting and them becoming a couple, Elijah had been falling for Jack the whole time.  All attempts to push the older boy away were Elijah's means of denying that he had feelings in the first place.  And kept falling deeper and deeper.  And here they were...Jack's tongue was in Elijah's mouth, exploring it, meeting the younger boy's tongue from time to time...and it was...

The door?  Oh Gods, was that the door, or was that Elijah's imagination?  If that was the door, that meant Tac had come in.  Which was seriously bad news, because the last thing the Praetor wanted to deal with was an eight year old catching the older boys in a moment like this.  It was completely inappropriate, and the child's parents would have Elijah's head if they found out.  Because the boy was supposed to be taking care of Tac, being responsible...not letting the Legacy of Pluto catch him being a hormonal teenager.  Opening his eyes and tilting his head away from Jack, exposing his neck but getting a better view of his room, Elijah saw Tac quickly walking out the door.  Oh Gods...now he'd have to figure out how to explain to the mute child what he had just seen.  "Jack," Elijah gasped softly, very much unable to move.  "Jack...Tac just...Tac just walked in...saw us..." the boy was still quite dizzy from the passionate make out session and was having difficulty stringing words together.  "Gotta go explain to him..." how the hell was Elijah supposed to explain what the child had walked in on?  As his head cleared, the son of Discordia was able to tear himself away from his boyfriend.  Looking around, Tac had definitely left his room.  Probably heading to the Main Room to play.  Looking into Jack's grey eyes, Elijah took a deep breath.  "We've got to..." no...not we've...Jack.  The son of Venus would probably be much better at explaining what had been happening.  The younger boy didn't think "hormonal teenagers" would be a very good explanation.  Jack would be able to put it appropriately.  That was much more his area of expertise.

"I bet he went to the Main Room to play...he...Jack...do you think you could explain all...this to him?" Elijah said sullenly.  If Jack couldn't do it, he would have to...a pretty impossible task as far as Elijah was concerned.

Jack slipped his tongue into Elijah’s mouth with a bit of a smirk.  He knew what he was doing to his boyfriend wasn’t fair, but he was enjoying every minute of it.  He didn’t need his mother’s amulet to know the boy’s emotions were all over the place, but it certainly helped.  It gave him an idea of exactly where those emotions were.  Elijah was struggling against his hold, and his deep desire and want hit Jack hard.  The amulet was supposed to let him feel another’s emotions without being affected by them.  It usually worked, but when the son of Venus wanted his boyfriend as badly as he did now…  He may not have been affected by the way Elijah felt, but knowing it was reciprocated was enough to want the boy even more.  Snaking an arm around Elijah’s waist between his body and the wall, Jack pulled him closer, forcing his boyfriend to arch his body into his own.  Knowing full well what it would do, the son of Venus tugged lightly on Elijah’s lower lip, losing himself further to the passion.
 
A soft sound reached Jack’s ears, strange, new emotions mixed with the ones he was already sensing, but he paid no attention to them whatsoever.  He was too caught up in the moment, in his boyfriend, to notice or care that sometime not right had happened.  Besides, if this were a party, the intruder would just shut the door and go away, leaving him to do his thing.  But this wasn’t a party.  This was Elijah’s bedroom.  And Elijah was turning his head away from him.  Jack wasn’t going to quit that easily.  He wasn’t going to stop showing his love just because his boyfriend turned away.  He quickly kissed a line down his neck, suckling at the soft skin around his collarbone.  Running his teeth lightly over the bone, he kissed across to the boy’s shoulder, still holding him close.
 
And then…and then Elijah was pushing him away, mumbling something about Tac and being seen.  It took Jack a few minutes to pull himself back to the present and then to figure out what Elijah was talking about, but when he did, he ran a hand through his hair in frustration.  He had seen Tac around a few times.  He was the young, mute child who seemed to enjoy following Elijah.  Jack got the feeling that it wasn’t a good thing if the boy had walked in on the pair of them.  He studied Elijah’s face carefully and tried to block out the bit of radiating that was slowly starting to roll off of the boy.  With a sigh, he dropped his hands and nodded.  “Fine.  I’ll go talk to him.  I’ve never had to explain something like this to a kid before, though…  If I screw up, please don’t be mad.”
 

Turning away, he headed into the Main Room, instantly spotting the boy with his toys.  Loping over, Jack stood next to him for just a few seconds before sitting down in order to be closer to his level.  “You saw us, didn’t you?” he started quietly.  Without waiting for a response, he continued, “I bet you’re really confused.  I would be, too, if I didn’t know what I had walked into.”  He paused and licked his lips, forming his words carefully.  “Tac…  When two people really love each other, sometimes they show it in more physical ways.  It can be hard to put those feelings into words, but sometimes it’s easy to show.  Have you ever drawn a picture for your mommy or daddy to show them you care?” he asked.  “In some ways, it’s almost like that.  Does that make any sense?”

Tacitus wasn't very concerned about the two men in the other room as he sat playing. Okay, so maybe he was worried and concerned but that was because he had no clue what it was supposed to mean, whatever it was they were doing. Tacitus picked up one of his barbarian figurines and glared at it. Why was he still thinking about this anyway? This wasn't right, this wasn't even important. But it was, wasn't it? Why else would he be so bothered by it. What other reason could there be for this disturbing stuff to creep up in his mind over and over again. Tac set the barbarian in the middle of the Roman camp and mentally willed the soldiers to attack, to let the bloodbath unfold before his mental eyes. Motionless the figurines stood in real life and the young boy stared intently at them. If this had been a movie, people would have presumed it had been paused at this point.

Inside the mind of the young boy, it was anything but silence. It was a war, one barbarian (which he'd named Jack) was fighting half the Legion. He was losing of course but the general (which he'd named Elijah) wouldn't let the Legionnaires finish the scene. He kept yelling that Jack the Barbarian was a Roman, just like them. Tacitus deliberately stood on the Roman Barbarian at that point, feeling the satisfying snap as the little piece of plastic snapped beneath his foot. Tacitus smiled a wicked little smile but it soon faded to a neutral expression as Jack, the Roman version, walked into the room. Tacitus looked up at him with a slightly curious expression, not moving his foot to reveal the remains of his victim. He'd keep that hidden, his little secret. He'd probably throw the pieces in the dirt when he could find a way to sneak them into his pocket or something. For now, he had to pay attention to was Roman Jack was going to say. It had to be important if he could leave doing weird stuff to Elijah Praetor for it. Not that Tacitus really cared, he was confused, which resulted in anger from the young boy, anger he carefully kept hidden and at a minimum. Frustration rather than full blown anger. Tacitus sat down, and Jack soon did the same. Tacitus still kept the broken barbarian hidden, now playing with his Roman soldiers and making quite a display out of it, only half listening to Jack as he spoke. He caught and saved every word though, no matter how little he appeared to be listening. This was his supposed way to deal with everything that was going on.

At the questions the man asked, Tacitus felt the childish desire to say 'No.' and glare at him, not wanting to understand. It did make sense though and Tacitus had been raised to be polite, although right now he didn't feel all that pleasant. His feelings were pretty close to a dark thundercloud, hovering above him and shooting lightning at the man. Not polite at all. Not that it showed in the way he acted. Tacitus was a great actor, by far better than most people expected. They saw him as the cute little kid, they didn't have a clue what was in his mind, what he saw in his waking hours. The darkness that hid in his mind. Words translated into actions. Tacitus turned his head to the side, where one of the mental images stood facing another. 'I really hate you.' It told the other shape, who just chuckled right before he was brutally ripped to pieces. Tacitus raised his eyebrows at the scene he'd just witnessed. Now that made sense! He looked at Jack and smiled a small smile, holding his notepad up. 'I think I understand, Jack Sir.' He'd written down and he now told Jack. Perhaps his parent tried to show each other how they felt in the wrong ways, constantly yelling at one another. Perhaps one of them just ought to grab a knife and have a go at the other. It was a lot more obvious and wouldn't leave any confusion or doubt, just a lot of blood. Tacitus suddenly thought he understood why they didn't take that option, blood stains were horrible to remove from clothing and carpet, or so his mom told him. That alone was a good reason to avoid the knife. So a baseball bat maybe? He felt a lot calmer though, no longer angry. At least he understood now, what it was going on in there, a proper display of emotions, one that didn't leave doubts. A way of communication that even he could participate in. Tacitus liked that and he'd be sure to tell his parents about it.

((I think Tac just went evil.... |: Creepy kid))

Following Jack into the Main Room to talk to Tac, Elijah tried to keep a neutral face.  But he was undeniably concerned...he trusted that Jack would be able to explain things just fine, but the boy couldn't help but feel guilty.  He should have locked the door to his room...put a sign up for Tac.  As much trust as he put into the child, Tac was still only eight years old...and really didn't need to see...what he had just seen.  And Elijah wanted to be there for Jack, just in case he needed a fallback.  Or moral support.  Or whatever.  Just be there.  Presenting some sort of unified front so it didn't appear one sided...like the son of Venus was attacking him or something.  Elijah figured that might be an idea running through Tac's mind.  Really, the boy had no idea what was running through Tac's mind.  He had never walked in on anything like this before.  It didn't help that the boy knew the child looked up to him.  Did this mean Elijah had completely destroyed the trust they shared?  Gods...why couldn't he have just remembered to put up a sign or locked the door?  As he approached the Main Room, the son of Discordia could hear Jack talking.  The older boy seemed to be doing fine...much better than Elijah would have done.  Ready to step into the Main Room, Elijah froze solid at the next sentence that came out of Jack's mouth.

Tac…  When two people really love each other, sometimes they show it in more physical ways.

Elijah finally managed to take a step back, hiding himself from view before sinking down against the wall until he was sitting.  Pulling his knees up to his chest, the boy tried to take deep breaths.  That was not fair.  Jack knew the younger boy loved him.  Elijah knew his boyfriend would never love him back.  It was not okay to exploit that sort of thing.  And Elijah was not okay with anyone throwing that word around.  Love was serious...you couldn't just throw that word out there to explain making out against the wall.  It would be different if the love Elijah felt was reciprocated.  But it wasn't, and now Jack was just using the word to explain it all to an eight year old.  Angry and sad tears welled in the corners of the boy's eyes.  How could he keep pretending after hearing something like that?  Things were supposed to be different, now.  Elijah and Jack were a couple...but the boy couldn't keep pretending everything was okay.  Because it wasn't...not anymore.  Letting his mind return to the present, the boy gauged where the conversation was.  Which was kind of difficult when only one person involved was speaking.  But Jack had stopped talking and there was the soft sound of pen scribbling on paper.  Which Elijah figured was his exit cue.  No one had seen him, which made for an easy getaway.

Quietly treading back to his room, Elijah took a deep breath, trying to wipe away the tears that had fallen without ruining his makeup.  For a moment, the boy just leaned against the door, unsure of what to do.  Would Jack have been able to feel the younger boy's emotions from where Elijah had been hiding from the Main Room?  Would he try to come back to his boyfriend?  Make it better?  Make excuses?  Millions of scenarios spun through the son of Discordia's swirly chaos mess of a brain.  None of them were too nice.  Love.  What a stupid thing.  Wasn't love supposed to be nice?  Not painful like it was right now.  No.  Elijah wouldn't let Jack come after him.  He wouldn't let Jack near him at all...it was time to start playing the avoidance game.  Keep the older boy at arm's length, not deal with any of this until Elijah was good and ready.  A little nagging voice in the back of the boy's head said that was a terrible idea.  That Jack would find him before the boy was ready and nothing would work right.  The voice kind of sounded like Lúth.  Funny that his sister had become Elijah's voice of reason.  Grasping his sister's blue crystal, feeling it beating steadily, the boy tried to keep his tears at bay.  "Paenitet, amica mea," Elijah whispered softly, doing what he should have done from the beginning...turning the lock on the door.  And keeping his fingers tight around it even after he heard the lock click into place.