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A loud groan accompanied Roland as he dropped the books he was carrying. This was also followed by the sounds of said books hitting the coffee table they were being deposited on, two piles already covering most of it.
“Do you think we can convince Angela to add an elevator here?” Roland whined, stretching his back as he observed the results of his labour — as in the books he’d been forced to carry — with something of a frown. “Not having the ability to teleport is an issue for everyone but her.”
Chesed chuckled from behind the counter, somewhat dismayed by the amount of books. He would be the one organising them later, after all.
“I’m sure if you ask nicely she might consider it… Although I’m starting to think she enjoys making us walk all those flights of stairs~” He offered a freshly brewed cup of coffee to Roland as he sat in front of him, shoulders slumped and soul threatening to leave his body.
“If she enjoys it then I’m fucked.” He groaned. “Any idea what those are?” Pointing once at the books on the table, he continued. “I thought we would stop moving piles of books around once we got relocated to The Outskirts.”
“Angela mentioned these books mostly contain Abnormalities from other branches of L. Corp.” Chesed began, taking a sip of his coffee. “Since we have little experience with them, she seems to be having issues classifying and sorting them into the correct floors.”
“So now I have to go up and down redistributing the books until we’ve figured that out?” Roland sighed, finishing his coffee with an overly dramatic gulp. “Can’t say I’m enjoying this.”
“Don’t worry, once I’m done with them I’ll save you some work and take what doesn’t belong in Social Sciences back myself.” Chesed didn’t mind much, though he hoped it wouldn’t take him several trips.
Roland stared at him with large, wet eyes and an exaggerated pout so full of affection it was a little embarrassing. At least enough to make Chesed blush, although that could’ve something to do with it being Roland.
“Oh, I love you… You are my most favourite librarian!” He half-sobbed, practically jumping off his seat to hug Chesed by his side. “Chesed, you are the only one who truly cares about me… Sob…”
“Did… Roland, did you just say ‘sob’ out loud~?” Chesed asked, already knowing the answer. Hard not to know when Roland was pressing his face against his arm et al.
“Shush, let me have this.” Roland said, rubbing his head from left to right still on Chesed’s arm.
Chesed couldn’t help but laugh. It was just so painfully cute of Roland, not that he was going to tell him that. There was always the possibility he’d find the comment offensive, even if he was being utterly adorable. He patted Roland gently on the head until his crocodile tears finally stopped.
Once he was done, Roland more or less twirled away, walking back towards the coffee table and grabbing the first book his hand made contact with.
“These are a lot of books just for you though.” Roland said, opening the book and definitely not reading it even as he moved the pages with one finger.
“I’m afraid many things fall into ‘Social Sciences,’ or so it seems~”
“Hm, I guess.” Putting some effort to understand the contents of this particular book, Roland began half-whispering the sentences in front of him. “Appears as a pair of shoes… Can cause massive amounts of drooling… Affects mental faculties and produces a general loss of control… Sounds a tiny bit like those shoes in Hod’s floo—”
Roland didn’t get to finish, a pink ribbon violently shooting out from the book and wrapping itself around his arm.
“—... Hm, Chesed, I think I need some assistance here.” Roland spoke normally, sounding utterly unbothered even as he pushed his arm away from the pages to avoid getting it sucked into the book.
“Oh!” Chesed blinked, understandably surprised by what he was looking at, moving toward Roland once his brain fully comprehended his request. “Of course~ Let’s see if we can pull those off you.” He tried sticking his finger between Roland’s arm and the ribbons, trying to tug the pink strings away.
“This thing is a little needy, I think.” Roland pulled his arm as far away as he could, still holding the book with his other hand. While he was managing to create some distance, the ribbon refused to let go. “I’m starting to think we’re going to have to beat it up…”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine if we can just—” Chesed began, falling right on his ass after the book poofed out some sort of candy pink smoke. He coughed with an open palm covering his mouth, which Roland could only see from the corner of his eyes since he had to turn his face to the side to avoid the aforementioned soot.
Before he had a chance to ask if Chesed was alright, Roland was finally pulled into the book. The ribbon strips were sentient enough to take advantage of his temporary distraction, something that Roland would loudly complain about later.
Roland fell but for a moment, falling onto a soft, strangely sand dune-like looking and extremely purple floor. It wasn’t sand, or any material of the sort — he’d compare it to a half-filled mattress or an old couch. Comfortable enough, but not enough to use it for anything longer than a two hour nap.
All around him the same pink smoke from before congregated, surrounding him. Clouds of it slowly moved around Roland, almost like he was in the eye of a storm, only safe by the grace of whatever Abnormality this book belonged to.
Reflexibly he looked upward, staring at the ‘ceiling,’ to call it something. Even more clouds lightly blanketing a bright, white light in the sky. A fake sun, perhaps? From wherever the ceiling started, impossible to see from Roland’s position, hung more of those ribbons. They decorated the sky like a sort of awning or canopy, messily wrapped around each other while dangling over Roland’s head. Some had been cut and disentagled, only for their ends to end up on the floor. Others fell perfectly straight, more alike curtains in their length and width. Well, straight in comparison to the other ribbons, even those that were somewhat slanted appeared far more purposeful in their positioning than the rest of this pink mess above him.
He could also see some twinkling, here and there. It vaguely reminded him of those little creatures in Netzach’s floor, when seen from afar. Or those fairies that happened to be Malkuth’s. Except, of course, fuchsia coloured. When close enough they were probably nothing more than specs of dust, or something equally unimportant.
Not a minute after Roland had somewhat recovered from the fall, still laying on the floor — he was a tad too annoyed by this entire situation to get up yet, — he felt something fall directly onto his body.
Chesed.
Chesed was what had fallen on him.
“My back is gonna regret existing tomorrow…” Roland mumbled, mostly to himself, before gently pushing Chesed by the shoulders. Just enough to see his face. “You’re heavy, believe it or not.”
Roland couldn’t help but notice, as Chesed’s face separated from his chest, that he looked a little distracted. Perhaps dizzy was a far more accurate description? His gaze was unsteady, seemingly incapable of properly making up what was in front of him, and his head would wobble ever so slightly as he tried to stare at Roland.
“Oh~ Sorry~ I didn’t mean to fall on you~” Chesed giggled, sounding somewhat drunk. He didn’t make any attempts at getting off Roland’s body, moving his legs up and down, on a rhythm that was supposed to look playful.
That was when Roland noticed something that made very little sense to him.
“… Chesed, why are you wearing heels?” He asked, having the distinct sensation that he was metaphorically fucked. Chesed was far too tall to need heels, on top of the fact that Roland couldn’t imagine him ever wearing anything in such a bright shade of pink.
“Am I~?” Chesed asked right back at him, turning his head slightly backwards — enough to look at his own feet. “Uh… I am~ How strange~” That was all he said, before giggling again.
“Yeah… Your hair is also kinda… Uhm. Pink. At its ends.” Roland dared to touch Chesed’s hair, exactly at the point where his natural blue turned into that same fuchsia most of the book they were stuck in happened to be.
Pursing his lips, Roland tried to remember what he’d read about this Abnormality before it decided to attack them. There was something about it causing dizziness or euphoria, like certain substances. Unlikely to be dangerous in the traditional sense — Chesed wasn’t going to attack him or the like, which meant Roland wouldn’t need to stick Durandal anywhere in Chesed’s body. There was however a not zero possibility Roland would also get affected by this pair of shoes, and that made the chances of them escaping by themselves quite low.
Surely some of the other librarians would realise what had happened and would get them out, but neither of them would live this down. The humiliation would be worse than whatever torture this Abnormality could provide them.
“Hey, Roland~” Chesed called out to him, tone soft and gentle still, his breathing hitting Roland right on the neck. “Roland, are you listening to me~?”
“Ah, uh, sorry… I was… Distracted. Thinking of things.” Roland now had to also consider the possibility that he was being affected by the glittery smoke around them, because he didn’t usually sound that dumb.
A little dumb mayhaps, often on purpose, but never like this.
“You’re so silly~” Chesed didn’t appear capable of noticing or caring about his temporary stupidity at least. “I was telling you~ You smell nice~”
Oh. Well. Hm. That was… Nice. Roland appreciated the compliment, though he didn’t exactly want to admit as much. In different circumstances he would’ve found this far more agreeable. Enjoyable, even?
“Well, that’s nice.” Were the first words Roland managed, rapidly realising that was the response of a damned nerd. Apparently today was a day for him to embarrass himself as much as humanly possible.
“Hehe… You’re nice~” Chesed smiled at him, his eyes positively clouded, wrapping his arms around Roland’s shoulders. He pressed his face right against Roland’s neck again, taking a deep breath through his nose.
Was Chesed actively sniffing him?
… Actually, that was sort of sexy.
“I hate my brain, I hate my brain so much.” Roland whispered, staring at what passed for a ceiling while trying to ignore Chesed’s body on top of his. And the aforementioned smelling he was doing.
“I’m sure your brain is also nice~” Chesed said, seemingly losing his ability to read the room and keep that sort of commentary to himself.
“Thanks, I appreciate it.” Roland shot back, only mildly passive-aggressive. To an extent, Chesed’s words came from a genuine place — it didn’t change the fact that they pissed him off a little.
Chesed giggled loudly, the sort of drunk chuckling that Roland would’ve openly called cute in different circumstances. He stared down at Roland, never losing that sort of drunk expression of his, before lowering himself to press their lips together. It wasn’t the first time they’d done this, but theirs had been an entirely too proper, positively demure arrangement up until this point.
Roland was a little too unprepared for romance, willing to play with the idea of dating yet much preferring to keep things as slow as it was considered acceptable. Chesed, for his part, was perhaps a tad too accommodating to ever request anything from him. If he actually wanted to move things along in this specific direction in the first place, of course.
Once or twice Roland had assumed this might’ve been something Chesed wished for, but he always kept it to himself. He would’ve accused him of being too polite for his own good, except for the fact that Roland had seen what Chesed was capable of when his buttons were pressed.
Being on the receiving end of that sort of passive aggressiveness could make men like him fold and shrivel from the shame alone.
No matter, they were taking things slow, to a relatively painful degree. They’d kissed before, but definitely never like this. It was, long story short, quite the change of pace to call it something polite.
His hands reflexively wrapped around Chesed’s waist, bringing their bodies closer. Meanwhile Chesed used his own hold on him to deepen the kiss. There was a slight vibration between their mouths, like Chesed was still laughing — or simply couldn’t stop himself in the first place.
If someone had told him that there was an Abnormality capable of making you weirdly horny while high… Alright, so Roland wouldn’t have been that surprised. A little confused, perhaps.
When they separated, Chesed still grinning like he’d just smoked Netzach’s entire stack of weed, Roland could see a thin line of saliva still connecting them. Saliva that also appeared to be a pinkish hue. Maybe one could chalk that up to the general ambience of their location, but as Roland began to feel ever so slightly lightheaded, he realised that was in fact not the case.
“Welp, I’m fucked.” He mumbled to himself, for what felt like the millionth time that day, trying to ignore the fact that he was getting painfully excited about his current position. Emphasis on the painfully.
“If you want~” Chesed rubbed his face against Roland’s chest, utterly shameless. “It’s not really how I like to do it, but I’ll try for you if you want~”
“While I appreciate the request, I—” Roland stopped himself. Whether it was whatever the Abnormality was doing to them, or the actual and very real horny part of his brain that stopped him, the world would never know. “—Wait, does that mean I can put it in?”
Truthfully, he was more than capable of begging for it, if necessity arose.
“Pfft~” Chesed managed to giggle even louder, not that it should’ve been possible. “Roland, you’re so silly~ You just gotta ask~”
This was simultaneously the best and worst day of his life. Slightly sliding further into best. Roland wanted to wait until it was over to give his full review. He was close to giggling just as Chesed did, from the excitement alone — doubly so knowing he was allowed to put a hand right on Chesed’s ass.
Wait, now that he thought about it, could this be entirely the fault of the Abnormality? Chesed clearly was affected, what with the pink ends in his hair, high and/or drunk state and the pair of heels he’d been wearing… But could Roland be under its metaphorical spell and simply not realised this fact?
Was this horniness he was feeling completely unrelated to his actual, genuine feelings?
Chesed whined softly on top of him, after Roland’s hands reflexively squished his ass.
Maybe he didn’t care if this was because the Abnormality made them weirdly horny or whatever it was it did. Maybe this was perfectly fine and Roland needed to be thankful for the life he had.
Yeah, that made sense to him.
With very little care for the general wellbeing of Chesed’s cranium, Roland rolled them around, now being the one on top. This was a much better position for what he wished to do, starting with pulling Chesed’s jacket off, accidentally opening his shirt in the process. He was thinking of also getting that out of the way, but with it open Roland could happily push his face on Chesed’s naked chest — which was more than enough for him.
“Pfft… Roland~ That tickles~” Chesed half-giggled, half-moaned as Roland continued to rub his face against his breasts. His hands played with Roland’s hair, messing it up as he began licking up and down the space where his sternon was located.
Roland’s hands, generally free to do as they wished, opened Chesed’s pants, dragging them down along with his underwear at the same time. Even if this wouldn’t be the last opportunity Roland had to touch Chesed like this, there was no way he wouldn’t be taking full advantage of it.
He vaguely felt something wrap around the end of his own pants — and his legs, — but decided to ignore it. Whatever that was, it surely wasn’t all that important.
What was important was for him to sneak his fingers past the lips of Chesed’s cunt, rubbing at his clit while Roland’s mouth entertained itself with his nipples. Chesed moaned loudly, his voice high-pitched in a way that came off as somewhat unnatural to him. At the very least, Roland could hardly remember ever hearing him speak or make any sounds at such a high pitch, never mind this.
It was delightful all the same, the sort of thing that was enjoyed in the moment but later could be easily used to embarrass Chesed until he was red in the face, hiding behind the counters in his floor. Roland would’ve even taken the time to imagine this more clearly, but Chesed had chosen that moment to pull his face back up, kissing him once more.
At that moment it occurred to Roland that Chesed didn’t entirely taste like himself — there was an aftertaste to the kiss, to the saliva mixing in between their mouths and tongues, that was not natural. Another side effect of the Abnormality, surely. It only made him more excited though, the novelty of it all. He rapidly moved his fingers further downward, pushing his index inside Chesed’s cunt while pressing the end of his palm against it. This way he could press on his clit as he fucked Chesed with his finger, keeping him in place by holding his hips down with his still free hand.
Once more he felt something wrap around him, this time the arm that kept Chesed still. It had the same weight and used as much strength as the ones on his legs, though Roland would obviously ignore this.
Separating from Chesed enough to look at him, Roland found himself with an image that was, to describe it kindly, disgustingly erotic. Breathless, his blush from his ears to his cheeks then crawling all the way down to his chest, looking up at him with a pleased but drunk-like smile. It might’ve been a sign that he was a weak man to be this desperate, but what could Roland do but kiss him again, when Chesed looked at him like that?
He added a second finger inside his cunt, opening Chesed further, his legs framing Roland’s hips as they tensed. If Roland had not been so painfully occupied enjoying how he moaned, he probably would’ve teased Chesed for dripping down past his fingers.
It was worse when Chesed came, practically screaming and soaking Roland’s entire hand. He pulled his hand out, half-cleaning it over his own pants — not that they were capable of absorbing all of it. Before Roland could fully consider what had happened, Chesed pulled him down for yet another kiss, his own hand sneaking between their bodies to rub over Roland’s clothed and admittedly hard cock.
There was that feeling again, a cord or the like wrapping itself around Roland. In this case, the sensation was on his left arm and midsection, but now he had no interest in actually checking what it was.
In his mind there were far more pressing matters to take care of, and specifically matters that were pressing down on him. Or his cock to be precise.
With a hilarious lack of coordination, that would’ve gotten him laughed at in most circumstances, Roland pulled Chesed’s hand off of him for long enough to open his pants, pulling them down along with his underwear.
There was no reason for him to be wasting time by trying to be seductive.
It was almost shamefully easy to push his cock inside Chesed’s cunt; there was no resistance, only an inviting warmth that Roland had almost forgotten what it felt like. Roland’s hips moved in a fast, irrational sort of rhythm. There was no clear point to it, except to find whatever pleasure Chesed’s body could provide him.
Roland wished to rub his hands up and down Chesed’s chest, pressing on his skin until he was covered in bruises, but he found unable to do so. It was then that his brain decided to figure out the obvious — those things he’d been feeling, all wrapped around him, were but strands of the ribbon that got them in this position in the first place.
Said strips only tightened their holds when Roland tried to fight them off, not that he could do so in any way that mattered when his hips continued to meet Chesed’s. From one minute to the next he became too lost in the momentary pleasure to even fight them off, head falling unceremoniously in the space between Chesed’s neck and shoulder, simply enjoying himself.
The soot they’d been expose to was also to blame for his inability to do anything but mindlessly fuck the body underneath him, if he wished to be technical. Thankfully Chesed certainly suffered from the same lack of control, desperately moving against him yet incapable to properly hold onto Roland, like his body lacked any real strength.
(It would make him feel slightly less embarrassed later, not being the only one affected to this extent.)
He came not so long after that thought had formed and dissolved into his mind, somewhere between the confusion and the pleasure. His hips twitched, a feeble attempt at putting some distance between himself and Chesed — the ribbons didn’t seem interested in letting either of them go, even as Roland began whining and thrashing from the overstimulation. Getting soft inside another person wasn’t always his idea of a good time.
Except that he wasn’t doing so. Perhaps for a second he did, but then his body simply refused. Yet another side effect of this Abnormality? Roland couldn’t remember ever managing that all by himself, so it had to be.
As the bright pink strips refused to let them stop, they also managed to pose their bodies, a display of debaucherie just for them. Or it. Roland wasn’t sure, if he was honest. All he knew was that his and Chesed’s bodies were dragged and twisted, still joined by their hips. Compelled to push and grind against one another until they came again.
There was no way for them to escape them, not now. While Roland’s mind rapidly lost itself in the metaphorical pleasure high, and the more literal high the Abnormality was happy to provide, he hoped that someone would find them soon.
… Actually, he didn’t exactly want to be seen in this position. It was one thing to be walked on in the middle of a heated moment, and another whatever this was.
Perhaps they’d be lucky and get booked before Chesed’s assistant librarians found him gone and went to check on the books Roland had brought to his floor. Unlikely yes, but he could dream.
At least his brain would be too addled and his body far too tired to worry about this in the near future. He wouldn’t even notice when he finally passed out, still puppeteered by the pink ribbon until he was finally pulled out of its book.
Roland woke up in what he was sure happened to be Chesed’s bedroom, comfortably snuggled under the covers. Speaking of the owner of said bedroom, he was currently using his chest as a pillow, curled at his side while sleeping soundly. He was even snoring a little.
Last thing Roland remembered was having some of the most intense sex of his life — half on purpose, half manipulated by horrors he comprehended to a certain extent, — and eventually passing out in the middle of the aforementioned sex.
He also was feeling a tad groggy, as he began making sense of his body and its current state. Whatever that Abnormality did to them, it caused the same (or worse) delightful side effects that a night of heavy drinking did. While Roland wasn’t about to get himself in that book any time soon, this was an important piece of information that wouldn’t be ignored in the future.
“Ah, you finally woke up.” Angela’s voice came from his right, followed by her closing a book with a rather loud thud.
Apparently she’d been sitting beside the bed the entire time as they slept.
That didn’t bode well.
“Hi… Angela…” Roland stared at her with the sort of fear in his heart he’d not felt since she cut all his limbs. Trying to sit on the bed without disturbing Chesed, pulling the sheets and covers slightly off himself, he asked the only question that mattered. “Be honest with me, how compromising was the position you found me in?”
Angela observed him with an indifference only a researcher looking at their subject could possess. Whether this was a positive sign or not, he wasn’t completely sure.
“Do you want me to be honest—” She began, with a soft sigh through her nose. “—or would you prefer I softened the blow?” It was nice to see all those comments the other librarians had been making about how she approached social situations were creating a positive change in her attitude.
However, there was no way for him to see this as anything but painfully humiliating.
“That means you found me in the most compromising position possible.” Like that wasn’t obvious.
“This is another opportunity in which I wish I could make my memories disappear… But if it makes you feel any better, it’s hardly the worst memory I possess. Far from it, in fact.”
“I know you’re trying to make me feel better, and I appreciate it—” Roland began, remembering that he too should be encouraging this change in Angela. As much as he was also supposed to encourage changes in himself anyway. “—but I can’t lie, I kinda wish I was dead.”
“Understandable.” Angela rolled her eyes. It seemed like she’d expected that response from the beginning. “You’ll be happy to know we’ll move that book to General Works.”
“… Why would I be happy about that?” He shot back, rubbing his head. In his life could Roland remember ever feeling so utterly worn out. Every single one of his muscles was begging for mercy simply for existing.
“I’m planning to keep it somewhere secure. It’s not often that an Abnormality’s book is genuinely dangerous, but seeing as it can catch people off-guard like this…” She trailed off, uninterested in finishing the sentence. Roland understood all the same.
Unless, or perhaps until was far more accurate, they could be sure this Abnormality wasn’t about to suck people in and get them horny-drunk, horny-high, or whatever it was that caused the bouts of sex-related insanity on a regular basis, it was better to keep a watchful eye on it. Angela was possibly the most adept at this task, and the least likely to be affected by that thing as well, so it only made sense to return the book to General Works.
“Well, hopefully it doesn’t get worse than this.” Hopefully I don’t get affected again, was what Roland meant, but he was a tad too embarrassed to dare put those words in his own mouth.
Besides, if Chesed happened to be the other affected party, he was willing to humiliate himself again. Or at least willing to be convinced of doing such a thing. That was some of the best sex he’d ever had in his life, after all.
“I can see the face you’re making.” Angela said, taking him out of whatever thoughts involving an extremely horny Chesed he just had. Did it really show on his face what he was thinking about? “Yes, Roland, it did. You were saying that out loud too.”
“Awww, putain.” He groaned, pushing his back against the headboard. Today simply wasn’t his day.
“Will you be alright?” Thankfully Angela wasn’t about to worry about his growing shame, not unless it was particularly entertaining to her.
“I’m fine… Or I’ll be fine, once my head stops feeling like I went through a bender.”
“I’ll have one of Chesed’s assistants bring some water for you.” She sat up, book held tightly under one of her arms. “Try to get some more rest. I’ll be taking care of that book.”
“You’re being extra kind and understanding, Miss Director~” Roland grinned at her, pleased with the way Angela began glaring at him.
“Don’t make me regret that kindness and understanding then.” Her shoulders visibly twitched. This had annoyed her a little more than she wanted to admit, uh? Or mayhaps it was her own embarrassment talking. Either way, it was bad enough that she immediately teleported out of the room.
Hopefully she wouldn’t go back on having that assistant librarian get them some water.
Chesed somehow managed to curl closer to Roland, making a sound that existed in the space between snore and meow.
“An adult man shouldn’t be this cute.” Roland sighed, choosing to hide under the covers. Once someone came in with some water he’d consider moving again.
Cuddling with Chesed until he woke up, if only to make fun of him for getting attacked and turned into a silly, horny mess, took priority.