Bond DVD Extras

Extra Scenes #3, Chapters 14 and 16, Heavy On the Breathing

1. Day 89, Saturday, December 26, Draco, "God, yes, Merlin, he was losing the ability to breathe and Harry was going to kill him, but what a way to go."

2. Day 130, Friday, February 5, Draco, "I'm being too subtle for you, aren't I?" Cornfoot said, and Draco found himself blushing. Apparently he'd turned into Harry when he wasn't looking.

ooooooo

Author Notes: There was this bit I'd started to write, set during the Christmas holidays, that I soon realized was kinda fun but added little or nothing to the actual plot of the story. It was about how sad and lonely (::snicker::) the boys were during the Christmas holidays, when they had no friends around and no classes to attend and nothing whatsoever to do but... um... get to... know each other better. A lot better. Ahem.

So I abandoned the scene, skipped right over the holidays in the fic, and the scene stayed in unloved, half-finished oblivion on my hard drive, until Garak21 asked if I'd ever written anything set during the Christmas holidays.

Yes, I said.

Ever thought of posting it? she asked.

No, said I.

Well, do so, said she.

All righty, said I.

So here it is, for Garak21 and anybody else who's interested :)

Day 89, Saturday

In some ways this was one of the better Christmas holidays he'd had, Draco thought as he gently bit Harry's earlobe and Harry gave a small moan and they abandoned their latest study session. Yes, sometimes it was a little boring, and lonely, and he missed his family and friends and the Manor. And he supposed Harry missed the Weasel-den too. But not being obliged to go to class - or even leave their room, for that matter - had its advantages. Namely, sex pretty much whenever and however they wanted. It was like so far he was spending the entire holiday in a heady state of sexual bliss.

They hadn't even bothered with clothing yet today, he realized as Harry impatiently kicked their books off the bed and they landed in a heap, and he winced as he heard a crinkle of paper. That was probably his three-foot long Potions paper, landing at the bottom of the pile.

Oh well. Excellent opportunity to practice those smoothing charms he'd messed up during his Christmas exams. Later. Right now Harry was very efficiently distracting Draco from anything other than the pleasure of their bodies, his touch sure and confident as he licked Draco's neck just so, bit that place on his earlobe - right there, and he was smiling and his eyes were closing in delight as Draco responded with all the things he knew Harry liked, their mouths hot against each other and their limbs entwined, very nicely attuned to one other.

This was definitely not as bad as he'd thought it would be, he thought as he pushed Harry onto his back and nuzzled into his neck. Mother would probably be pleased to hear that missing the Manor for Christmas was not the disaster she'd feared it would be. Not that he would explain it to her. Not only was he more likely to get a spectacular haul of post-Christmas sweets if his mother felt bad for him, but "Dear Mother, Happy Christmas, having a wonderful time, Harry's a brilliant lay," was not an owl he felt any need to send.

In fact, there were only two problems with his life right now. He was a bit hungry, and frankly, his arse was getting a little sore.

Not that Harry was rough at all, unless Draco wanted him to be, but the human body didn't appear to be built to do this so many times in a row. And while on the one hand he was rather thrilled to have had so much sex that he was reaching the limits of his body's tolerance, on the other hand... well, ouch. He pulled back with a slight hiss as Harry's hand slipped down his lower back and between his legs.

"You all right?" Harry murmured into his ear.

"Yeah, fine," Draco said breathlessly, then winced as Harry repeated what he'd just done.

"What's wrong?"

"Erm..." he cleared his throat. "I think twice before lunch is my limit."

"Oh." Harry pulled back, a little disappointed, but understanding.

"It's not that I don't want to," Draco said, and he pulled Harry closer again, gasping as Harry returned to his lips and they started stroking each other. But he winced a bit as Harry's grip grew firmer and he realized with dismay that he was a little tender there too. And that for once he wasn't totally thrilled at the prospect of a hand job. He didn't much miss being inside another person during sex - too busy getting off on the brilliant sensation of having another person inside him - but when that wasn't going to happen... well, being tossed off wasn't that great a substitute. Especially as it seemed that was also going to involve some... discomfort.

Hm... well...

They'd discussed oral sex, before, with Esposito. Harry had been (predictably) squeamish at the thought. And it really hadn't come up again, as they were both normally too eager to bother with anything slower than mutual pleasure. But maybe it was high time Harry got over that particular hang-up...

Well, Harry might balk at the thought of giving. But if Draco remembered anything about how it felt when he was looking forward to burying himself in somebody and they suddenly changed their minds, he probably wouldn't terribly mind receiving right about now. And if it went well... well, he was a Gryffindor. Marvellously fair-minded and all. That had to work to Draco's advantage.

He worked his way down Harry's neck, down to his chest, slowly licking and biting down Harry's body and slowing down as he got to his stomach, and Harry smiled, his eyes closed in pleasure, and started to pull him back up. Draco stopped him and instead went a little lower.

Harry froze. Draco looked up to see green eyes warily regarding him. He propped his chin on Harry's stomach, and they gazed at each other for a moment. Harry made a questioning sound in his throat.

"I don't want to come back up," Draco said carefully. "And I don't want to have sex." He cleared his throat. "But that doesn't mean all we can do is toss each other off."

Harry's eyes were doubtful, hesitant. "Erm... I don't know if I..."

"I'm not asking you to. But I don't mind trying it myself."

"Really?"

Draco nodded.

"Have you ever... erm..."

"Not on a boy."

"No, I mean-" Harry broke off, eyebrows going up. "You mean, you've done... that... to a girl?"

Draco smiled, amused at how Harry, now perfectly at ease with sex in general, still reverted to shy awkwardness whenever something new came up. "Yeah, plenty of times."

"You didn't mind?"

Draco shook his head.

"And has anybody, to you-"

"Oh yeah," Draco smirked. "Lots of times."

Harry blushed to the roots of his hair, and Draco had to remind himself that mockery right now might not lead to a satisfactory conclusion. "What's it feel like?"

"Do you want me to tell you, or show you?"

Harry swallowed hard, his pulse racing.

"Let me show you," Draco said, and smirked as Harry hesitantly nodded and lifted himself onto his elbows, licking his lips unconsciously as he watched Draco.

He resumed his path down Harry's stomach, down to his groin and stopped, abruptly a little nervous. Right. Somehow he'd momentarily forgotten exactly what oral sex entailed. This was... he braced himself and made himself ignore the little voice in his head that perked up to tell him he'd never done this before, and that touching another boy with his hands was just a tad different from taking him into his mouth, and what if this was disgusting and what if he wasn't very good at it or-

He shut the little voice up and closed his eyes, trying to remember what Pansy had done the last time they'd been together. Um... no, Pansy was a bit pervy and what she'd done just might shock Harry into celibacy for the rest of the week. Eileen had been nice, though. She had... he tentatively moved to lick Harry, and was rewarded by a hiss of indrawn breath. He opened his mouth, pressing an open-mouthed kiss along the side, sliding his lips up slightly, barely touching Harry with his tongue, and had to quickly move back as Harry gasped and his hips jerked up reflexively.

"S-sorry," Harry stammered, "I, erm-"

"Shh." Draco resumed his path up, then down, then took a deep breath and hesitantly took Harry into his mouth, and any nervousness he was feeling was almost obliterated by a blinding flash of shocked arousal from Harry. Draco glanced up in time to see Harry close his eyes and toss his head back, and felt disorientingly as though he was Harry, all rational thought obliterated by the mind-blowing pleasure spiking through him.

Draco grinned. So far, so good.

"All right, then?" he let go of Harry long enough to ask, and returned, using his tongue a little more.

Harry nodded quickly, eyes closed tight, and lay back down, the strength in his arms giving out. Clapped a hand over his own mouth, biting down hard, a soft keening sound of delight getting past his clenched jaw.

Mm, yes, very nice. "Should I go on?"

Harry nodded again, his breath in gulping gasps.

"What do you say?" Draco teased, his mouth hovering and open over Harry so that Harry could feel the warmth of his breath.

Harry let go of his hand, eyes still squeezed shut, and managed to gasp, "Please!"

"You sure?" Draco gave him a slow lick, his own groin starting to ache with arousal as Harry shuddered.

"Mmyeah, uhn, god, please, fuck," Harry gasped, and Draco decided to abandon any pretence of teasing or going slow; they were both much too far along for that. He took Harry into his mouth again, moving his tongue and increasing the suction, and the spike of arousal jumped impossibly high and he felt Harry's orgasm begin, and moved off before Harry could touch his head in warning.

"S-sorry, I can't - oh, ohgod-" Harry groaned and threw his head back as he came, hard, and Draco took himself in hand, figuring four strokes ought to do it and overestimating by two, as his muscles tightened and a wave of pleasure broke over him.

Harry was still shocked, Draco realized with amusement as his own breathing slowed down. Lying there half-disbelieving that Draco had just done what he'd done. That he'd felt such intense bliss over something so simple.

He grinned as Harry's eyes opened and he stared at the ceiling.

"You all right?" he asked, laughing.

"Erm..." Harry said weakly. "That was... god, that was... erm..."

"I take it you enjoyed it."

"Fuck, yes!" Harry said fervently, and Draco laughed again.

"What?" Harry asked, a bit defensive.

"You're not quite the blushing virgin I married, are you?" Draco smirked, and Harry felt around for a pillow to hit him with.

"Does it always feel that... brilliant?" Harry asked.

Draco shrugged, not sure if he'd been quite as overwhelmed by his first blow job as Harry. Maybe it was due to the bond, or the fact that Harry was still relatively inexperienced. Or maybe it was just that Harry was particularly susceptible to enjoying oral sex.

"Did - did you want me to, erm-"

"Not right now," Draco chuckled. "Later?"

"God, yes. I mean, when you said, I thought I wouldn't want to but if it feels that brilliant it wouldn't be fair, would it? Because I definitely want you to do that again," he said earnestly.

Draco laughed again. "What, right now?"

Harry rolled his eyes, finally regaining his equilibrium. "What's it like?" he asked curiously as Draco moved up beside him on the bed and lay down on his side.

"I just showed you."

"No, I mean, doing it yourself."

"Oh. Erm." Draco thought for a moment. "All right. I wasn't sure before, but really, it's not bad. I mean, I've done girls before, so it wasn't really that weird. Though I've heard that if it takes a long time, your jaw gets sore."

Harry nodded thoughtfully, idly tracing a finger down Draco's chest. "This is..." he shook his head, a small smile on his face.

"What?"

"I just - I wasn't looking forward to the hols without any of our friends, but... I have to admit, this isn't bad."

"Which part?"

"The part where it's past noon and we've still not got dressed but we've already shagged twice and... well, done this." He grinned. "I could think of worse ways to spend the holidays."

"Yeah, me too," Draco grinned back.

Harry laughed, turned over onto his back. "God. That was intense." He stared at the ceiling. "I think you broke me."

Draco laughed, shaking his head. "You're..."

"What?"

"Why on earth didn't you ever have sex before?"

Harry's eyebrows drew together. "It wasn't on purpose. I would've been happy to, it just... didn't seem to work out."

"Why not?"

"I dunno," Harry shrugged.

"You went out with Cho Chang, didn't you? Did she not want to?"

"We never even got that close. Best we got was one date at the Three Broomsticks on Valentine's Day. And a kiss at Christmas."

"You're joking."

"No."

"I would've thought the Gryffindor girls would've been mad for you."

"I wish."

Draco mulled that over.

"When did you?" Harry asked.

"When did I what?"

"Lose your virginity."

"Fifteen. I would've before, but Pansy didn't want to go that far, and the other Slytherin girls... well, it just didn't work out."

"What was it like?"

"With Pansy? Brilliant. Except she, erm, bled a bit, and I felt like a bit of a heel. But she was all right the second time."

"Mm."

"What?"

"I... I was really nervous, with you, the first time - I mean, I could tell you were in pain."

"I didn't mind."

"No... but I still... I didn't know if I was doing it right, I just..."

"You did it right."

"Well I know that now..."

They were silent for a few minutes, each lost in his thoughts, Harry's hand slowly caressing Draco's chest.

"Were you nervous?" Harry finally asked curiously

Draco raised his eyebrows. Reflected for a moment that if anybody had ever told him in September that by Christmas he'd be seriously discussing inner feelings with Harry Potter, he would've owled St. Mungo's Idiot Ward - even more so than if they'd suggested that he'd be having sex with Harry Potter.

He shrugged slightly. "I didn't agree to the Serenity Spell just out of concern for you."

Harry smiled and pushed him onto his back, drawing closer and resting his head on Draco's chest, one arm thrown over him and one leg between Draco's. Draco closed his eyes, inhaling deeply, warm and sated and... content. So strange, that the scent of this room, this bed, should be so soothing. A comforting mix of skin and sweat and honeyed oil and sex. Of two people lounging in bed, skin on skin, for hours, becoming so much a part of one another that it was almost impossible to tell where one ended and the other began.

He moved slightly and tilted Harry's chin up and Harry obligingly raised his head and covered Draco's mouth with his own, and they kissed deeply for long moments while Harry's fingers caressed the back of his neck and Draco slowly ran one hand down Harry's back and side, smiling as he hit a ticklish spot and Harry shied away slightly.

"I'm glad you did," Harry murmured. "Don't know what exactly I was so afraid of, but I'm glad you were braver than I was."

Draco smirked. "It wasn't that difficult, married to the Boy Who Lived to Be Terrified of Sex."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'd say it was nice to see you getting in touch with your own Gryffindor side," he said dryly, "but I don't much want to get vital parts of me hexed right off."

Draco snickered. "Not likely; I've a vested interest in some of those vital parts. Besides, there's nothing Gryffindor about being randy and tired of petting."

"Mm. Suppose so..." Harry ran his fingers through Draco's hair and slowly moved his lips down the side of Draco's neck and behind his ear, pressing closer, half on top of him now, and Draco thought vaguely that, sweat-damp and sticky as they both were, this should have felt awkward or faintly disgusting. But it didn't. It felt right. More than right, as a matter of fact - more like bloody brilliant, and his body was beginning to let him know just how brilliant. Amazing, what a bond could do.

He felt Harry's amusement through their bond. "Speaking of vital parts and being tired of petting..." Harry said, and began moving leisurely down Draco's chest and to his stomach.

"Hm... are you planning on... oh... returning the favour?" Draco asked, slightly breathless as Harry's tongue did wicked things to his navel. Damn, Harry knew that always left him somewhat... dazed.

"Mmhhm..." Harry continued his unhurried progress downward, and didn't pause as he reached his destination and took Draco into his mouth in one slow, smooth movement.

Draco sighed deeply, shivering as Harry's tongue began to caress him. Merlin, he'd forgotten just how amazing this could feel. How could he have forgotten? Or was it actually better than it had ever been, because of the bond?

This had been an excellent idea, he congratulated himself - and then all thought fled as Harry started to seriously apply himself to wresting every shiver Draco had within him, and through the bond he caught Harry's intense concentration as Harry focussed every fibre of his being on Draco's reactions.

And did a hell of a good job at it, too. "Oh... ooh god..." he breathed, unaware that he'd spoken out loud until he heard and felt a chuckle from Harry, and caught his breath. The effect of the murmuring laugh, while Draco was deep inside Harry's mouth, was dizzying.

"What's... so funny?" he managed to whisper.

"Mm, you're very... responsive," Harry murmured, and Draco opened his eyes long enough to see Harry's eyes almost glowing green, before Harry returned to his task, and the sight of Harry going down on him, the feel of it, and the emotional rush of Harry's easy confidence now that he had Draco turned to boneless helplessness, made Draco's eyes roll to the back of his head and he gave up any pretence of detachment or dignity. This felt just too bloody good to do anything but revel in it. Draco had absolutely no idea whether Harry's technique was unexpectedly expert-level or whether he was absolute rubbish at this, but he didn't care. It felt like he was being taken higher and higher, heat gathering and brilliant lights going off behind his closed eyes...

God, yes, Merlin, he was losing the ability to breathe and Harry was going to kill him, but what a way to go. He arched his back, grabbing onto the headboard to avoid grabbing Harry's hair, amazed at the feverish pitch of his arousal, vaguely aware that he was moaning continuously and unable to decide whether he needed Harry to continue for the next fifteen years, or bring him off now, before his heart gave out.

"Shhh," Harry gently held down Draco's helplessly bucking hips, then gripped him a little more firmly, gave that tiny fraction more suction, and Draco felt his climax rushing through him, realizing that he hadn't warned Harry and Harry might not be too keen on repeating the experience if he got a mouthful of - damn, too late - and he unravelled completely as he came, shaking and crying out, so hard and so long it felt like he'd never done anything else but come in his entire life.

Draco lay panting, dazed and utterly spent, eyes closed as small aftershocks continued to race through him. Opened his eyes and stared blankly at Harry as Harry laughed softly.

"What?" he whispered.

"Mm. You're very... um... attractive when you come," Harry said, his voice low.

"Yeah?" He closed his eyes, his whole body still... humming, or something, in contentment.

"I don't normally get to watch," Harry said softly. "You're... you let go. It's... it's nice."

"You broke me. I know you did. Merlin." Draco kept his eyes closed and distantly wondered if he'd blacked out somewhere in there. Wondered if he was going to black out right now. Certainly felt like it.

Harry chuckled. "Go to sleep," he said, and climbed back to the top of the bed, taking Draco into his arms.

"D'you want me to... erm..." Draco began reluctantly, not knowing how he'd return the favour if Harry wanted him to.

Harry chuckled. "You're in no shape to right now. Later?"

"Oh yeah." He yawned. "Yeah, of course. Bloody hell," he mumbled as he started to drift off. "This is the best Christmas holiday ever."

ooooooo

ooooooo

Author Notes: This is a scene that got cut out of Chapter 16 before I sent it off to Kyllikki for a very good reason: it added little or nothing to the plot.

Day 130, Friday

Draco realized a voice had just gone up at the end, indicating a question, and looked up. His Charms partner, Stephen Cornfoot, was staring at him expectantly, and Draco had no idea what he'd just asked about, as he'd been too busy musing over the article about Parnassus McKay's messy demise to really focus on anything. Besides, Cornfoot was a Ravenclaw and seemed to have today's entire exercise memorized, so it wasn't as though he'd particularly needed Draco's input until now.

"Beg pardon?" Draco said.

"I said, fancy a shag sometime," Cornfoot said, his very casual voice covering a bit of tension.

"What?" For a moment the juxtaposition of Charms class and McKay and Cornfoot's statement made so little sense that Draco literally couldn't understand him.

"Fancy a shag, I said," Cornfoot said.

"With who?"

"With me."

Draco blinked.

Cornfoot's mouth quirked slightly and he leaned a little closer, pitching his voice a little louder but still low enough to not be overheard over the background hum of students working on their charms around them. "I am asking if you would like to engage in sexual activity."

"With you?"

"Yes," Cornfoot said patiently. "Sexual activity, with me."

"Why?"

"I'm doing research to compare and contrast gay and straight sexual intercourse."

Draco looked at him askance, and could almost hear Pansy saying "Honestly, Ravenclaws," when he told her about this at lunch.

Cornfoot rolled his eyes. "No, Mordred, not for research. Because I'd like to shag you."

Draco stared at him blankly.

"Oh god. Gryffindor thickness is contagious. Do you have any clue what I'm talking about?"

"Wait, seriously? You want to have sex with me?"

"I'm being too subtle for you, aren't I?" Cornfoot said, and Draco found himself blushing. Apparently he'd turned into Harry when he wasn't looking.

"But... why?"

Cornfoot took a deep breath, clearly summoning patience. "Because there's roughly eighty students above the age of consent in the school, and only forty are male, only six of those are gay or bi, and frankly most of those are just not to be countenanced as sexual partners." He paused. "Also, I'm gay," he said clearly, just in case Draco had missed that one.

Draco mentally ran through the list of boys he knew who went that way, and nodded thoughtfully. Cornfoot was quite right. Not an acceptable one in the lot.

"All right..."

"All right, you'll sleep with me?"

"No! No, I mean all right, I understand-"

Cornfoot started to laugh at his discomfort, and suddenly Draco was almost... intrigued. He pursed his lips, regarding Cornfoot narrowly. Not bad looking. Pureblood, thank god. Ravenclaw, which might be very convenient, as it offered no intra-house awkwardness, no entanglements with Harry's house, and no ready source for ridicule if it became known that Draco Malfoy was shagging a Hufflepuff...

And he was actually seriously considering it, he realized. "This is definitely one of the stranger moments I've had this year," he muttered.

"Really. In a year involving a forced bond, shattered windows, a honeymoon in the middle of the school year and a mysterious near-death experience, a proposition from me rates as one of the stranger moments. You do know how to sweet-talk a boy, don't you?"

"Why ask me, though?" Draco asked curiously. "I've never had the impression you fancied me."

"I don't, not really. Though you're quite fit. But you've had experience having sex with another bloke. I'd like to." Cornfoot tapped his quill on the table unconsciously, clearing his throat. "Despite our stereotype, not all Ravenclaws are convinced that all learning comes from books. I'd rather not start out completely clueless when I leave school."

"You'd like me to instruct one of the few gay members of our year in gay sex?"

"Essentially, yes."

"All right, just wanted to know what I'd be getting into."

"Me, hopefully," Cornfoot deadpanned.

Draco winced. That kind of punning was unacceptable. But as for the actual proposal...

He regarded Cornfoot thoughtfully. Really, not bad looking. A little taller than Draco, lean, well-built, nondescript face, pleasant blue eyes. A little quiet, but it wasn't necessary to be on conversational terms with a sexual partner.

This might be a somewhat better alternative than taking up with Pansy again. Though Draco had never had any qualms about casual sex with her in the past, things had changed between them this year and it no longer seemed quite... right to sleep with her and not worry about possible ramifications. He no longer had a superabundance of allies or friends in Slytherin; he couldn't really afford to jeopardize one of the only steady sources of support he had.

This was simple, uncomplicated. Not likely to lead to anything. Recreational sex for sheer tension-release.

Which he had severe need of, these days. Between the nerve-wrecking nature of his family's precarious political balance, and the yawning void of uncertainty about the future, and school, and... and the thing he tried very hard not to think about...

This would probably be fairly helpful in that area, he realized. A far better solution than wanking sessions that left him dissatisfied and missing Harry and absolutely mortified for doing so.

He'd really thought girls would be a good antidote; he'd always liked them before, and they definitely didn't remind him of Harry. But maybe what he needed was another boy to take away memories of Harry. Drive Harry out of his thoughts and fantasies.

"Right, then. When?"

Cornfoot blinked at him for a moment. "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"You want to..."

Draco smirked. "Yess..."

"You want to have sex with me," Cornfoot said slowly.

"You know, I believe we've danced this one before," Draco said dryly, much more comfortable now that the tables were turned. He laughed at Cornfoot's reddening face. "Did you think I was going to turn you down?"

"Erm, frankly, yes," Cornfoot said uneasily. "I mean, I was very much hoping you wouldn't, but I know you were straight before..."

"Leave the straight and gay labels to Muggles," he waved that aside scornfully. "Do you have any experience at all? I'm not keen on deflowering yet another trembling virgin."

"Merlin, no," Cornfoot said, chuckling. "I dated Ellen Brook last year."

"She dates boys?" Draco asked, surprised.

"She dated me," Cornfoot shrugged. "I think we were both hoping we could still, you know, marry, provide pureblood children to our families, that sort of thing."

Draco nodded. That made sense. And showed that Cornfoot was discreet; this was certainly the first time he'd ever heard of Brook dating any male in the school. Which brought up another thing: "I don't particularly want this becoming common knowledge," he cautioned.

"No, nor do I. My mother would have fits because you're male, and my father because you're Lucius Malfoy's son," Cornfoot said bluntly.

Draco narrowed his eyes, stung.

"I don't particularly care who your father is, Malfoy," Cornfoot said. "It's not him I'm hoping to bed, after all."

Draco looked away, pushing down resentment and focussing on the matter at hand. "Right. When?"

Cornfoot licked his lips, whether from nervousness or anticipation Draco couldn't tell. "Tonight after dinner? There's an unused classroom Ellen and I used, fifth floor, near Boris the Bewildered-"

"Yeah, I've used it before. I've Quidditch tonight, though. I'm done at nine."

"Is this a one-time offer, or-"

Draco shrugged. "I'll let you know after tonight."

Cornfoot nodded. "Tonight at nine, then." He smiled slightly. "All right, d'you want to finish off the fourth charm set?"

Draco blinked, off-balance at the topic change. "Er - yeah, all right."

"You don't have a clue what the set is about today, though, do you?"

Draco scowled at him.

"I noticed you were a bit distracted, even before I brought this up."

Draco's scowl deepened. This was to be about a mutual exchange of favours; it certainly did not need to be complicated with intrusions into his personal thoughts and feelings.

"From the boredom of the class, I'm sure," Cornfoot said smoothly, and segued into a quick, concise review of the day's topic. Draco listened with half his attention, the other half trying very hard not to think about how... cold all of this had been. Student A wants sexual experience; Student B wants suitable distraction; they schedule a mutually convenient time, and carry on as before. No worry about motivations or politics or personalities or feelings.

Exactly what he wanted. Simple, effective, and beneficial to all involved.

And no, it didn't bother him at all.

And it didn't bother him at all later that night, as he and Cornfoot indulged in one last unhurried snog before they parted company and he headed back to the dungeon. Body still pleasantly zinging and worn out from the aftermath of their activities, nerves somewhat steadied, another assignation planned for two days hence, and no involvement of his emotions at all.

Excellent.