September at Diodati

Polidori has finally had enough; between Byron's constant fucking, laudenum, screaming fits, paranoid accusations, tantrums, insults, threats, innuendos, flirtations, suggestions...he's through. Angrily throwing his few possessions into a trunk, the doctor prepares to leave his Lord's service.

Byron, of course, chooses this moment to appear in Polidori's doorway. "What are you doing?"

Polidori whirls, dropping what's in his hands. It, of course, happens to be a jar of leeches. He smirks at Byron's expected horror as the black creatures writhe on the floor. "Leaving," he snaps.

Byron recoils a little, lip curling with disgust. He manages to raise his eyes from the horrible nightmarish wriggling things to look at Polidori's face. "Leaving?"

"Yes. I was going to inform you as soon as I was done packing." Smiling, Polidori gathers the leeches and places them in another jar, pouring some water from his pitcher for them.

"Why are you leaving?" Byron averts his eyes, looking out into the hall as he speaks to Polidori, hardly able to focus on the conversation at hand.

Sighing, Polidori puts the jar of leeches in his trunk. "There. They're gone."

Byron goes to sit on Polidori's bed. "Why are you leaving?" he asks again, this time looking his doctor in the eye.

"Do I really have to answer that?" the doctor snarls, tossing shirts into the trunk, carefully avoiding looking at Byron; he's sure he'll lose his resolve if he does.

"Yes."

Startled, Polidori packs his armful of clothing and looks at the Lord. "You're serious."

"Of course." Byron watches Polidori pack, coldly. "Did something happen?"

"I am not one of your servants, my Lord," the title comes out as an insult. "I am a doctor. I can work anywhere I choose, in England or the continent. I see no further need to put up with your abuse." His voice matches Byron's for coldness.

"I'm aware of your ability to work anywhere. Somehow I thought you had chosen to be in my service knowing what you were getting yourself into. It's not as if I hid my reputation from you."

"I gave you the benefit of the doubt, and assumed it was exaggeration, out of respect for your title. I see that I was in error! Don't worry, I shan't be slandering your name, but I will be taking my leave of you."

"Polly-Dolly..." Byron said with a little laugh, hardly able to take this seriously. "Please."

Eyes blazing with rage, Polidori stamps over to the bed. Standing, he's not a great deal taller than Byron sitting. For a moment, it looks as though he might strike the other man, but he visibly holds himself back, taking a deep, restraining breath.

Byron takes Polidori's raised hand and brings it to his mouth, kissing it tenderly.

The doctor shivers and gasps. To his horror, he feels his legs buckle and he's suddenly on his knees in front of Byron, his hand still held captive.

Byron looks down at him, expression surprisingly serious, lifts his chin and kisses him on the mouth.

Polidori's eyes close, and he melts against Byron. When he opens his eyes again, pulling back a little, his expression is very open and vulnerable, searching his Lord's face for deceit or mockery.

"I'd miss my Polly-Dolly." Byron said softly.

The doctor leans back still further, eyes narrowed as he watches for the slightest twitch of Byron's lips, the smallest crinkle around his eyes. "...why?"

"I adore your innocence." Byron stroked Polidori's face. "I do enjoy tormenting you for it, I know it must be tiresome. But I do ...like to have you about."

Raising an eyebrow, Polidori's jaw tightens, but he gives a very small nod, leaning into the hand on his face. "Why?" he asks again, even more softly.

"Because you're not one of my servants. You are here entirely of your own volition. You could be anywhere else." he strokes the Italian's cheek with his thumb. "The only other people I see besides you are my servants and Shiloh. And I've never been sure if he knows that I'm not a figment of laudanum." he smirked.

Byron's comment draws a startled laugh from the doctor. "I'm glad I'm not the only one to suspect that..." he murmurs, more distracted than he would like to admit by his Lord's touch. He finds his lips softly parting, as though for a kiss.

Byron smiles, almost wickedly, sliding off the bed and kissing Polidori passionately.

Polidori gasps, practically crawling into Byron's lap in his sudden rush to be as close to the Lord as physically possible.

The poet practically purred, wrapping his arms around Polidori and licking his lower lip.

The doctor allows himself to be gathered in Byron's arms, moaning as his lip is licked. His eyes are rolled up, looking up pleadingly.

Byron smiled into the kiss. His fingers worked deftly at Polidori's shirt buttons, stripping the man. His kisses trailed from Polidori's mouth down his neck, wandering down his chest. He pushed the doctor onto his back, straddling him and taking his time, tasting Polidori's nipples.

Polidori gasps again, glad that he's on his back, or he probably would have fallen there, anyway. He relishes the feeling of Byron's soft, firm mouth on his nipple for a moment, before trying to push the other man away, frantically.

Byron allowed himself to be pushed away. "Are you alright?"

"I...we...you're a man!"

"You were enjoying it a second ago."

"I'm a man!" The doctor's voice is getting increasingly shrill.

"I've kissed plenty of men before."

"I haven't! And I don't intend to! I want to be just and pure and righteous, so that when I die my soul will go to God's eternal grace and love!"

Byron looked vaguely confused. "What's impure about kissing?"

"Of course there's nothing impure about kissing; when it's a man kissing his wife. Anything else is sinful and...repugnant. Especially between two men." His moral high ground is a little diminished by the fact that he's half naked on his back with another man straddling him.

Byron looked down at him with a raised eyebrow. He sat in silence for a moment, then decided to simply not reply. He began unbuttoning his own shirt.

"What are you doing...?"

Byron shrugged the shirt off, leaving it on the floor. He leaned down, pressing their naked chests and bellies together, nestling into Polidori's neck.

Polidori tenses for a moment, then his whole body relaxes. He's never felt so warm or comfortable. Comforted.

Byron smiles, kissing Polidori's neck. "Does this feel particularly sinful?"

"N-no...but that would defeat the p-purpose, wouldn't it?" He shivers, goosebumps raising along his neck.

"Oh?" Byron murmured into the man's skin.

"Sin wouldn't be worth doing if it didn't feel good."

"Are you suggesting it's worth doing?" he chuckled.

"What? No! I...I just mean that, if sinning were unpleasant, no one would do it, and the Devil would never take any souls..."

"How do you know that god doesn't make this feel good?" Byron planted a kiss on Polidori's lips.

"He does," Polidori protests, a little muffled by Byron's lips, as he tries to gently push the other man away. "Just not...like this..."

Byron stroked Polidori's curly black hair affectionately.

Polidori sighs. "You don't believe me."

"No."

The doctor smiles up at his Lord. "Just because you're morally depraved and a lost cause doesn't mean I want to be," he says, playfully.

Byron chuckled, kissing Polidori on the mouth again. "You say 'morally depraved' like it's a bad thing." he chuckled.

Polidori laughs. "Yes, I do. Apparently you do not." The doctor pauses before kissing back, tentatively.

Byron smiled, weaving his fingers through the man's hair as they kissed gently. He was fairly certain that Polidori wasn't going to leave now.

"I, ah...don't really know what to do," Polidori admits in a hushed voice, quite unnecessarily.

"Do?" Byron murmured, happily breathless.

"You know..." he gesticulates extremely vaguely toward their crotches.

Byron laughed. "I think perhaps we should leave that for another night, sweet doctor." he kissed him on the ear.

Part of Polidori really wants to protest that he feels something should really be done urgently. What that something is, he has no idea.

"You should unpack."

"Unpack...? Ah...yes..." Polidori flushes, turning away from Byron until his cheek is resting on the floor. "I am sorry about my, ah, dramatics..."

"I'm sorry you were unhappy." he kissed Polidori's shoulder. "I'll see you for breakfast."

The doctor opens and closes his mouth a few times, feeling like he should say something, and really wanting Byron to ask him to come along, or to stay, but unable to find the words. "Yes. Breakfast."

Byron stood heavily, picked up his shirt and left Polidori to unpack, buttoning up his shirt as he left.

Gritting his teeth to gather his resolve, Polidori calls tentatively after him, "My Lord?" After a moment's pause, he tries again, more certainly. "I, ah, noticed your breathing was a little laboured. When we were...so close together..."

Byron chuckled, buttoning his last button. "So was yours, Polly-Dolly."

"...be that as it may, as I am your physician, I think that I should examine you." Polidori tries to hide his blush by retrieving his shirt.

"You think so?" Byron laughed. "Alright."

"Yes. I do." Polidori does his best to look stern and not flustered. "Would you be more comfortable in your chambers, my Lord?"

"That would be nice." he said, continuing to his room, not looking back to see if Polidori was following him. Once there, he stripped off his shirt once again and sat on the bed.

Polidori swallows hard, wiping his sweating palms on his trousers, before stepping over to the bed. There, he stands in front of Byron and carefully palpates the poet's chest. "Does any of this hurt?" Now that he's become a little intimate with Byron, he's interested to find that he can feel clinical detachment and also enjoy the feeling of the other man's skin under his hands.

Byron sighed. "No, it feels fine." his nipples were hardening at the touch of Polidori's inquisitive fingers.

Not to mention other parts of him.

"Alright." Laying his ear against Byron's chest, Polidori murmurs, "Breathe in and out for me."

Byron did as instructed, breathing slowly, one arm wrapped around Polidori's back.

"Ahh...that's...not necessary..." the doctor murmurs, eyes closing as he tries to concentrate on Byron's breathing.

"Just for my balance, Polly-Dolly." he chuckled, the sound deep against the doctor's ear.

"Ah. Yes, of course." Polidori shivers as the chuckle rumbles against his ear and jaw. "Well," he says, pulling away abruptly, "you sound fine now. But I want you to let me know if your lungs or throat hurt. And I'll be keeping an eye on it."

"If you wanted an opportunity to touch me again, all you had to do was ask."

Polidori colours again and turns away. "What? No, of course not! I'm simply doing my job as your physician."

"I don't mind." Byron laughed.

"Why should you? It's what you hired me for, after all."

"I mean I don't mind if you just want to touch me."

"Oh. That." The doctor hesitantly sits on the bed beside his employer, then carefully leans his head on Byron's shoulder.

Byron grinned, stroking Poli's hair. "Sweet boy." he murmured.

"Why do you say that?" Polidori chuckles, closing his eyes and enjoying the feeling.

"It's what you are, darling." he chuckled, laying back on his bed and pulling Poli down with him.

"Darling, is it?" Grinning shyly, Polidori allows himself to be pulled down, instantly curling against Byron's side.

"Do you not want to be?"

"I would certainly rather be your darling than not," he says, wryly. "I've seen how you treat your servants."

Byron laughs. "Oh?"

"Never mind." Polidori deliberately drapes an arm across Byron's bare chest, trailing his fingers over the coarse, black hairs with interest.

Byron groaned happily, letting Polidori explore.

"...does it feel nice?"

"Yes."

Polidori rolls onto his side, bracing his head on one hand, so he has a better view of Byron. He slowly works his free hand across the poet's chest, commenting, "It's strange...I've touched you like this plenty before, but somehow it's...different."

"Different how?" he said suggestively.

The doctor misses the suggestion. "I'm not sure. I suppose because I'm touching you for...personal reasons, rather than medical ones." He smiles, lightly runing one nail over Byron's nipples.

Byron groaned. He guided Polidori's hand down to his trousers.

"Umm..." Polidori hesitates, then firmly grasps the bulge, trying unsuccessfully to think of it as an anatomy specimen.

Byron lets his head fall back happily. "Mmm, do you want me to undress?"

The doctor nods resolutely, trying not to look as terrified as he feels.

Byron unbuttons his trousers, allowing his cock to spring out.

Polidori finds himself stifling a laugh as the little fellow leaps out so eagerly.

Byron makes a face at him. "Are you laughing at my cock?"

"No! Of course not! Why would I do that?" Mostly in an effort to distract Byron, Polidori seizes the cock...and is then not really sure what to do with it.

Byron laughed, guiding Polidori's hand on his cock.

Polidori again feels that curious separation; part of him is electrified by the feeling of Byron's cock, and the other is merely interested in it as a strange part of human anatomy.

Byron sighs happily, getting Polidori's hand into the proper rhythm and then letting go.

Feeling rather like the first time he held a scalpel alone when he feels Byron's hand withdraw, Polidori loses the rhythm for a moment before beginning again on his own. He's frowning so hard as he concentrates that he looks almost in physical pain.

Byron chuckled, languidly enjoying the virginal touch on his cock. He always did enjoy deflowering men.

"It's so soft..." Polidori murmurs, almost without realizing he's speaking. "But so firm under the skin..."

"Have you never touched one before?"

Polidori shakes his head. "...not a live one...not...like this."

"Don't stop." Byron said said, curling his fingers in Poli's hair.

"Alright." Encouraged that he's not doing something horribly wrong, Polidori continues stroking, finally relaxing a little.

Byron groans happily, bucking his hips a little.