Archive of Our Own ^beta

Being back in space still gave Amuro the chills, sometimes.

The dreams — nightmares, really — of Lalah had quieted down a bit now that he’d been back out for a while, but he still found himself occasionally expecting to see her when he turned around.

Would she be happy to see him?

Mad? Sad?

It was something he’d turned over in his head a million times, no closer to an answer than he had been the first time.

It also didn’t help that he could still feel Char embedded in the very back of his mind, a slumbering presence that neither waxed nor waned regardless of how wide or deep Amuro travelled into space. He’d been presumed dead at the end of the Gryps War and Amuro hadn’t bothered to tell anyone else about how he knew that wasn’t true, even after Sayla had confirmed that Char was still alive.

Surely death would have at least withered the vines that Char had grown inside of him, finally freeing Amuro from the shared bond that he still hadn’t figured out how to sever. He’d had to make peace with it in the end, eventually losing the will to fight against something stuck so firmly inside him.

His own mind had been rebelling against him, constantly replaying what he’d done until his relationship with Beltorchika had completely fallen apart. He’d never admitted the truth to her, but he thought she had her suspicions.

He appreciated that she hadn’t brought those suspicions up while breaking up with him, kind to the end when he didn’t deserve it at all.

Even now he still remembered the weight of Char’s body on top of him sometimes, an unwelcome reminder of a terrible mistake that he didn’t think he’d take back if somehow given the choice.

If they met each other again, Amuro wasn’t sure what he’d do.

Every time he found himself chasing up Londo Bell’s leads on anti-Federation activity, he wondered if this would be the time that the rumours led right back to Char.

Because if he was still alive, which Amuro knew he was, there was no way that he wasn’t up to something. They’d been on the same side only when Amuro had turned his back on the Federation, but with the Titans gone he’d had no reason not to go back. Char, on the other hand, had been nothing but clear about his hatred for everything the Federation had done since long before the Titans had taken power.

That was how Amuro found himself disembarking a civilian ship into Sweetwater, trying his best to blend in amongst the civilians milling about. He always hated this kind of recon work, feeling vulnerable without the familiar armour of a mobile suit, but it wasn’t like they had much of a choice.

Londo Bell was a military outfit in little more than name alone — they got no recognition, no backup and the very bare minimum of manpower and funding. Amuro suspected it was the Federation making a very basic effort to bring the remnants of AEUG and Karaba back under control without actually having to look after them in any way, but with the Titans gone he didn’t have any reason not to take their offer.

He had nowhere else to go, after all, and being able to get back in a mobile suit was better than being relegated back to his old gilded cage to die alone and forgotten.

In any case, there was no way they could chase down rumours of anti-Federation activity through a show of military force. Rolling up in mobile suits would cause more problems than it could possibly solve, and they lacked the numbers for any sort of ground-based demonstration.

Their only real option was sending small teams into various colonies for boots on the ground reconnaissance, looking for any sign of resistance and listening out for rumours. They’d managed to head off a few small resistance groups this way, but Amuro couldn’t help but feel like there was something bigger going on that they were missing.

Looking around Sweetwater it was obvious that the Federation couldn’t have given less of a shit about the refugees who made up the majority of the population. The streets were cramped and poorly maintained, and while the people were clearly making the most of what they had there was an element of despair that Amuro couldn’t quite shake off.

It wasn’t surprising that Londo Bell had gotten word of a potential uprising on Side 5, although they had no information on which of the colonies it was. Their already stretched unit had no choice but to stretch further, groups of ones and twos landing in various places to see what they could figure out.

Amuro was already on his third landing, the first two leading him nowhere beyond the usual civilian irritation at the way the Federation ignored anyone who wasn’t on Earth. He was beginning to think they’d been misled, worry growing that they’d intentionally been led left while someone launched an offensive on the right.

Whether that ‘someone’ was a resistance or the Federation, he didn’t really want to know.

Sweetwater immediately felt different, though.

Even beyond the obvious, something about the place put Amuro on edge. The foreboding feeling only got stronger as he walked around, keeping his eyes and ears open while trying to look as inconspicuous as possible.

And then —

It faded into something familiar, a pointed tug on the thread that trailed from the back of his mind..

Amuro had never been to Sweetwater before but he let himself walk, his feet taking him through residential streets and down snaking back alleys until he was standing in front of an absolute dive of a bar. There weren’t many people inside, a single bartender standing near a couple of customers who were seated at the bar and one man sitting alone at a table near the back.

Amuro sat at the table and crossed his arms, staring down the man in front of him.

If it hadn’t been for the distinctive scar between his eyebrows, he almost could have been anyone. His hair was a lot shorter than the last time Amuro had seen him, sunglasses gone and clothes muted and casual; but even if he’d managed to change his entire face somehow, Amuro would have still known it was him.

And if Char Aznable was making himself known after so many years, it couldn’t be for a good reason.

“Amuro,” Char said almost fondly in geeting, and Amuro strongly considered leaping over the table to beat him to a pulp.

Even without a little part of Amuro living in Char’s head, Amuro’s violent urge would have been obvious from his expression alone. Instead of responding like a normal person, Char breathed in deep and exhaled with a pleased little sigh. “You haven’t changed.”

Amuro glared harder, his hand twitching to curl into a ball.

“I don’t recommend doing that,” Char said, his eyes not leaving Amuro’s face. “The people here like me a lot more than they like the Federation, and one hint of a Federation spy causing trouble could start a riot.”

Amuro was, all at once, intensely aware that he’d walked into a trap.

Char was right — there was a reason they kept such a low profile while chasing up their leads, and attacking Char could blow his cover immediately.

At the same time, Char had been more or less completely gone for years at this point. If he’d wanted to stay hidden, he would have. He’d revealed himself to Amuro for a reason and if Amuro walked out now he had no chance of getting any sort of sense of whatever it was that Char was clearly planning, obvious trap or not.

Sitting back in his seat, Amuro relaxed his fist and tried to block out the amusement he could feel radiating off Char. It didn’t work.

Raising his hand and gesturing at the bartender, Char stayed quiet until two glasses of liquor were delivered to their table. Amuro ignored his, even as Char raised his glass and held it up between them, and after a long moment Char shrugged, knocked his glass against the one sitting in front of Amuro, and took a deep swig.

It was a bastardisation of the last time they’d drank together, before Char ‘died’ and after Amuro had calmed down a little bit from his temporary loss of control. It had felt like a tenuous ceasefire then, whereas this felt like he was just being mocked.

And Char had barely even said anything yet.

“What do you want?” Amuro eventually asked, trying clumsily to force the situation to his advantage. Verbal battles weren’t his forte and he was fairly sure they both knew it.

Char just looked at him, taking another drink. “What makes you think I want something?”

“You’ve been publicly dead for years, and then I just happen to come across you in a refugee colony. Excuse me if I don’t think this is a coincidence.”

“You don’t believe it was a coincidence that Londo Bell would hear of anti-Federation activity on Side 5, and then you would be chosen to go alone to Sweetwater?”

Amuro looked away, scowling; how hard had they been played? Was there a traitor in Londo Bell?

“Bright might not be a Newtype, but he’s always been…suggestible.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’ve never noticed that he seems to know a little more about what’s going on than he should?”

Amuro didn’t want to admit that he hadn’t noticed, so he just scowled. That was as good as an answer, though, and Char just raised an eyebrow.

“You should really pay more attention to the people around you. You never know what you might be missing, or when someone might be putting ideas in your captain’s head without him even realising they’re not quite his own thoughts.”

“Say all that is true,” Amuro said, ignoring the insult buried in there. “What’s the point of all that?”

“Surprise attacks have their place, but that’s not what you and I are about.”

“You and I,” Amuro said, disgust and disbelief colouring his words. “There is no ‘you and I’.”

“That’s not how I remember it,” Char said. Amuro flinched when he saw himself taking Char’s cock and, worse than that, enjoying it. Char continued on as if he hadn’t done anything at all.

“I wanted you to know that I’m coming, Amuro. That we’ll be meeting again soon.”

“What are you planning?”

“Always so straight to the point,” Char sighed, gesturing to Amuro’s glass with his own. “Can’t two old…friends enjoy a drink before getting into serious business? It’s like you know nothing about politics at all.”

Amuro nearly laughed in Char’s face, pushing his glass aside in clear rejection. “I’m a soldier, not a politician. And we’ve never been friends.”

“I suppose that’s true. We’ve always been so much more than that.”

Amuro felt more than saw himself stabbing a sword into Char’s forehead, followed closely by himself pushing Lieutenant Quattro up against a wall and kissing him hungrily.

That was quickly followed up by Amuro hitting the bed with Char on top of him, Amuro choking on Char’s cock, Amuro writhing as Char fingered him and acquainted Amuro with his own prostate, Amuro coming from having Char’s cock inside of him and Char’s hand jerking him off.

Amuro forced himself to keep a straight face against the onslaught of images backed up by his own very good memory, but it was harder to control his bodily reactions. Finally snatching his full glass up, he chugged it down and tossed the empty glass back on the table, not caring that it slid across the surface until it collided with Char’s own.

“Bathroom,” he said through gritted teeth, ignoring Char’s smug look. It was probably time to leave, but he still didn’t have the faintest idea of what Char was planning. If he went back to Bright and announced that Char was alive, which Bright already knew, and had nothing further to give — what would be the point of that?

So instead he walked past the line of urinals and into the stall at the end with the mostly-attached door, managing to get it locked behind him so that he could take a deep breath and scrub his hands through his hair in peace. Despite everything he’d been through, three wars and non-stop military bullshit, Char had the ability like no one else to completely throw him off-balance.

His cock was half hard, which only made him feel worse, and Amuro forced himself to calm down so that he could actually take a piss. He was acting like a horny teenager and it had barely been two days since he’d last spent the night with Chan — there was no reason for him to be falling apart just because some dickhead reminded him of the only time he’d ever spread his legs for someone else.

His cock twitched hopefully again and Amuro groaned in irritation, tucking himself away and flushing the toilet. He needed to get his head back in the game and stop letting Char run all over him.

He was going to leave here with some useful information, however he had to get it.

With another steadying breath, Amuro pulled open the stall door and stepped out, only to be caught off balance mid-step and shoved right back inside.

“Amuro,” Char crooned, taking advantage of Amuro’s stumble to crowd him into the back corner of the stall and swing the door shut behind himself. “You were taking a while.”

“Get out!” Amuro knocked Char back, trying to get a little space, but as the stall door opened inwards all that happened was that Char hit the door and stayed there, leaning back against it in a far too casual pose.

“You’re lucky I like it rough, otherwise I might take offence to how often you shove me around.”

Kicking off the door, Char closed the half step between them, grabbing Amuro’s chin when he tried to look away. “Isn’t this familiar.”

It was excruciatingly familiar and Amuro closed his eyes to try to ward off the arousal he could feel coming from Char. Unsurprisingly, considering the re-awakened hold Char still had on his mind, closing his eyes did nothing but make the images more vivid. Kissing Char in the hallways of the Audhumla, going to bed with him, getting caught up in an unimaginable feedback loop of shared pleasure —

“I have a girlfriend,” Amuro said, opening his eyes to glare at Char.

“I know.” Char let his fingers slip from Amuro’s chin, blunt nails dragging down his throat. “Hand-picked by the Federation to keep you docile, was she?”

“They’re not still doing that.”

“Aren’t they?” Char’s expression darkened, anger building up around him that almost made Amuro concerned to be in an enclosed space with him. “You think they’re not still playing with you? That they forgave you for your little rebellion against their Titans?

“They got you off their precious Earth and barely let you go back, and all the while they can make you fight for them as long as they make you feel useful and provide you with some extracurricular entertainment.”

“Better than pretending to be dead,” Amuro spat. He didn’t believe a thing Char said — maybe he wasn’t quite in love with Chan, but that would come in time. There was no way the Federation had put her in front of him, they barely even cared what he did now.

Char’s anger suddenly dissipated, his fingers now playing with the collar of Amuro’s shirt. “That’s the spirit. Did you mourn me, Amuro?”

“I knew you weren’t dead.”

“Mm,” Char said, sounding unsurprised. “Because I’m in here.”

Char’s fingers stroking the base of his skull made Amuro’s knees shamefully weak but he forced himself not to waver, subtly trying to angle himself for an escape. “Don’t you miss how good it is when we’re inside each other like this?”

“No,” Amuro’s mouth said.

Yes, his mind said.

“I missed it too,” Char said, leaning in so that his lips were brushing Amuro’s jawline, just below his ear. “Are you going to let me fuck you, Amuro?”

Amuro just glared, although it wavered when the fingertips of Char’s other hand hooked into the very top of his waistband. He was so horrifyingly, obviously hard and was quickly losing his grasp on the rational parts of his mind that were telling him to deck Char and run. By the time Char’s thumb started brushing down the fly of Amuro’s jeans, his lips trailing down Amuro’s neck, Amuro didn’t even want to put his hands on Char out of fear he’d hold him close instead of pushing him away.

“Or,” Char said into Amuro’s throat, forcing Amuro further against the toilet stall wall so that he could make Amuro feel how hard he was, “maybe I’ll let you fuck me this time.”

Before he could catch himself, Amuro moaned.

“I see,” Char said, irritatingly smug. “Does it get you hot to think about fucking me?”

Amuro kept his mouth shut, not wanting to give Char the satisfaction of admitting that yes, it did. It wasn’t like the man couldn’t tell, anyway — even without the cock pressing into his hip, he could tell exactly how turned on Char was and he didn’t doubt that it went both ways.

“Amuro,” Char said in a low, sing-song voice, “I asked you a question.”

Char’s hand slipped away from the back on Amuro’s neck, his thumb pushing between Amuro’s lips and forcing Amuro to part his teeth from the steady pressure that Char was applying against them. “Does it get you hot.”

Char’s thumb pressed down on Amuro’s tongue, almost making him gag. “To think about.”

Char’s other hand stopped teasing and flat-out groped him, cupping Amuro’s cock through his jeans. “Fucking me.”

Amuro bit down.

Hard.

“Fuck!” Pulling his thumb back, Char only managed to help Amuro’s teeth rip his skin open. When he finally got free, Amuro tasted blood and there was a wetness on his lips that he didn’t think was just saliva.

“Fuck,” Char said again, his eyes on Amuro’s lips and his breathing coming hard and fast. “Amuro, you’re so—”

Amuro’s head collided with the wall as Char kissed him, although in truth it started off as less of a kiss and more of Char licking his own blood from Amuro’s lips. He didn’t seem at all concerned about the state of his hand, now moving onto licking the taste of himself out of Amuro’s mouth.

He would never have treated Chan like this, and she never would have done the same in return. No matter how far she pushed him, not that she ever would, Amuro would never draw her blood. They had regular sex in regular bedrooms, not this aggressive hook-up in a scummy dive bar bathroom.

…A scummy dive bar bathroom where anyone could walk in, and they weren’t exactly being quiet.

“Wait,” Amuro gasped as soon as Char’s tongue was no longer in his mouth. Char didn’t listen, of course, and Amuro wrenched his head to the side. “Not here.”

“You’re suddenly shy?” Char asked, slowly unzipping Amuro’s fly. “Didn’t take you for the type.”

“Char,” Amuro said firmly, grabbing his wrist and preventing him from going any further. “Not here.”

Char was silent for just long enough that Amuro began to wonder if he wanted to get fucked in a bathroom stall, and then he smirked. “I was wondering how long it would take you to remember where we are.”

Amuro opened his mouth to bite back, verbally this time, but decided it wasn’t worth it when Char had already turned around and opened the stall door. He barely remembered to zip his fly back up before following Char back out into the bathroom.

His arrogance showing in that he didn’t even bother looking back to check if Amuro was following, Char turned away from the main area of the bar and led Amuro through the back door. If Amuro’s brain hadn’t been firmly planted in his dick, he might have considered the potential for an obvious set up as Char just happened to lead him to a small apartment nearby that didn’t look particularly lived-in.

As it was, though, he was mostly just glad to be somewhere that seemed halfway clean and didn’t have the possibility of other people walking right by them, especially as Char was pulling him in by the front of his shirt when he’d barely even managed to kick his boots off.

Char was relentless, not giving Amuro a second to form a thought as he bore down on him. His tongue was in Amuro’s mouth and his hands were shoved up under Amuro’s shirt, and it was all Amuro could do to hold onto the slightest bit of control — he refused to be at Char’s mercy, especially when he could feel Char’s need pulsing between them and lighting up his own mind.

Char moaned into his mouth when Amuro pulled his pants open, one hand disappearing down into them to free Char’s cock. It made him feel powerful, being able to bring that kind of reaction out of this man in particular, and he managed to pull away from the kiss to look down as he wrapped his hand around Char’s cock.

He wished he could say he didn’t remember it.

He wished he could say he hadn’t thought about being told to suck Char’s cock and how easily he’d gone along with it, despite having done nothing of the sort before then or since.

He wished he could say he hadn’t gotten off to it since then, but unfortunately he wished for a lot of things that never came true.

“Bold of you,” Char said approvingly. Amuro had to let go when Char pulled Amuro’s shirt up over his head, but once his arms were free he took Char into his hand once again, trying to figure out the right way to make the little bit of Char that lived in the back of his mind spark up with pleasure.

At the same time Char brushed his thumbs over Amuro’s nipples and his breath caught, not realising that he’d been sensitive there. On the next pass, Char’s nails caught against him and he gasped, the sound disappearing when Char took his mouth again.

Two could play at that game, though, and Amuro trailed his hand down Char’s cock to feel up his balls instead. He was pretty sure that Chan did that thing he liked by going—

“Have you been practicing with other men?” Char asked, his hips rolling towards Amuro. “Should I be jealous?”

It sounded mocking and Amuro didn’t bother dignifying it with an answer. There hadn’t been any other men — if he had been unsuccessfully chasing the same high with women, he could tell himself that it was just a difference between sex with men and sex with women.

If he had tried other men and still failed to find the same heights of pleasure that he’d found with Char, he would have had to admit to himself that he’d so enjoyed getting fucked by Char, not just getting fucked.

It was a risk he couldn’t take, so he’d only chased women and pretended he didn’t notice when the occasional man’s eyes lingered a little too long on him. Still, he was well aware of what got him hard and he figured the concept would be broadly similar.

And, not to mention, using his hands was far safer for his dignity than once again trying and failing to blow Char without gagging on it.

As embarrassing as it had been, the thought once again made his cock jump in his jeans and he pressed his spare hand over his crotch, trying to take some of the pressure off.

Char noticed, of course.

Running his thumbnails over Amuro’s nipples one last time, this time hard enough that the pleasure-pain stole Amuro’s breath away, Char grabbed both of Amuro’s wrists and lifted them until his hands were level with his shoulders, far away from any way to give himself pleasure.

“Aren’t you overdressed, Amuro?”

“Aren’t you?” Amuro shot back, not forgetting that last time he’d been fully naked while Char had still been half dressed. It had made him feel and look more vulnerable than he should have ever been around Char, and he wasn’t going to let it happen again.

“If you want to see me naked so badly, you could’ve asked at any time.” Releasing Amuro’s wrists, Char’s shirt disappeared in short order. “I would’ve said yes.”

“You were pretending to be dead, I wasn’t going to track you down for a…booty call.”

“But you wanted to?”

“Not what I said,” Amuro huffed. He crossed his arms over his bare chest, trying to look powerful rather than insecure. He didn’t know if he got there.

“You don’t need to say it for me to know it.” Pulling Amuro closer by the belt loops of his jeans, Char touched his forehead to Amuro’s in a mockery of the communication between normal suits. His exposed cock was hard between their bodies and Char rocked his hips just slightly, rubbing up against Amuro.”We both know how often you’ve touched yourself while thinking about me.”

“No,” Amuro started, but his pathetic attempt at defending himself died before it even started as Char made a concerted effort to remember every single time he’d gotten so much as a flash of Amuro thinking about him. The physical contact made it far too easy for Char to get through to him and Amuro wrenched his head back.

It didn’t do much when they were already standing bare torso to bare torso, and Char’s hold on his belt loops prevented him from moving away entirely. Even worse, his attempts to move only really served to rub himself against Char, who of course moaned at the feeling against his bare cock.

“Just like that,” Char said directly into Amuro’s mind as he moaned again, and it went straight to Amuro’s dick — so much so that when Char let go of his belt loops in favour of unzipping his jeans again, this time Amuro let it happen. Char’s hand was warm around him and better than he remembered, but Amuro bit his lip and refused to give Char the satisfaction of making another sound. Even when Char took them both in one hand, forcing them to rub up against each other and making pleasure spark through Amuro’s body, Amuro wasn’t going to give Char that much.

That is, until Char’s other hand slid around to the small of his back and then lower, the tips of two fingers just barely brushing over Amuro’s hole and forcing a sharp gasp out of him.

As he went unsteady for a moment and had to lean into Char to catch himself, Amuro was uncomfortably aware that he was, once again, about to be swept away by Char’s pace. That was only going to end up with him spreading his legs for Char again and, while the thought made his cock twitch, he wasn’t going to let Char do whatever he wanted once again.

Grabbing Char’s face with both hands, Amuro pulled him down and kissed him, slipping his tongue into Char’s mouth before he could take the initiative again. Char’s hand returned to his back and pulled him in close, the hold tightening further when Amuro intentionally thought as loudly and as clearly as he could about what he imagined Char would look like when he was getting fucked.

“I thought we agreed,” Amuro said against Char’s mouth when they finally pulled apart, Char’s reactions making him bold, “it’s your turn.”

“When have we ever agreed on anything?”

“We agree just fine when your mouth is busy doing anything other than talking,” Amuro said, kissing Char again before he could keep going and just piss Amuro off. His regret over having done this before had well and truly been overruled by how goddamn horny he was, and Chan had become little more than an unfortunate afterthought.

It was too hard to focus on anything other than Char when the man was pressed up against him, his hand was still holding their cocks together, and he was pulling and pushing non-stop on the part of himself that lived in Amuro’s brain. The world outside of their little shared universe had ceased to exist, and all Amuro could bring himself to do was shove Char’s open pants and underwear down to the floor.

His own quickly followed, Char letting go of him just long enough to strip Amuro of what little he had left on. Amuro knew it was ridiculous to feel like being completely skin-to-skin with Char was more intimate than anything else they’d ever done, but there was nothing that he’d done in the last while that could have been considered even close to rational and so he didn’t let himself dwell on it.

“Bed,” Amuro demanded, not wanting to let Char take advantage of his momentary distraction and win control of their little power play again.

“If you insist,” Char said, his hand closing a little too firmly around Amuro’s wrist and pulling him further into the apartment, away from the front door they’d barely made it past. The bedroom was as lacking in signs of normal life as what Amuro had seen of the rest of the place, but there was little time to admire the decor (or lack thereof) when Amuro was being shoved onto the bed with Char climbing on top of him.

Amuro watched the scar between Char’s eyebrows come closer, unhidden by masks or glasses or hair, and then he closed his eyes as Char kissed him again

Char had a strong thigh planted between Amuro’s own, one hand going to Amuro’s hip to encourage him to rub himself up against Char. He barely needed the push, having been hard for long enough that he just wanted to come, but he forced himself to hold back at least a little so that he didn’t come too soon.

Still, the pleasure and the skin-to skin contact was shaking off the last bits of rust clinging to their mental bond and that was making it hard to not just lose himself entirely. He felt like he was looking through a window straight into Char’s mind, but all that was there was Amuro himself.

He could practically see himself through Char’s eyes when Char pulled back from the kiss, laid out and rolling his hips so that he could get some friction against his cock. It was too much, seeing himself like that, and so he grabbed Char around the waist to forcibly reverse their positions.

Considering their relative size difference it was obvious that Char let him do it, landing on his back with a soft thump and shifting to let Amuro kneel between his legs, but Amuro wasn’t going to complain when he was now able to set the pace. It wouldn’t take much for him to slide into Char from this position, to mess Char up the way he’d been messed up years before, and —

“Are you going to fuck me or are you just going to imagine it,” Char said, spreading his legs invitingly. While Amuro had been lost in his thoughts he’d retrieved a bottle of lube from somewhere, and Amuro bit back a moan when a slick hand ran up his cock.

It was more than perfunctory, Char obviously playing with him and enjoying the way Amuro twitched in his hand.

“Wait,” Amuro said when it got to be too much, needing a moment to pull himself back. Thankfully Char actually listened, pulling his hand away and wiping it on the outside of Amuro’s bare thigh.

“Really?” Amuro said, Char just looking at him full of obviously false innocence. Rolling his eyes, Amuro held his hand out for the lube, raising an eyebrow when Char shook his head.

“I’m not a patient man. Hurry up before I get bored.”

“Don’t I need to…” Not able to actually get the words out, Amuro thought about laying back with Char’s fingers inside of him, and it felt perversely good when the unspoken visual made Char groan and roll his hips into Amuro.

“You were a virgin,” Char said, Amuro not taking the bait to defend his own experience in other ways than…that. “I’m definitely not.”

Faster than he could actually take in any details, Amuro saw a string of flashes of men, Char the only constant in each one. Each was gone before he could tell anything beyond the bare minimum, and yet it still made something dark gnaw at his stomach.

“No need to be jealous,” Char said directly into Amuro’s head, his fingers grasping at the back of Amuro’s mind as surely as his fingers were wrapping around Amuro’s cock again to position him properly. He finished his thought out loud, pulling himself up to speak directly into Amuro’s ear.

“I usually imagined they were you.”

“Fuck,” Amuro said out loud, or in his head, or both at once. There was no chance of him holding back any further, the head of his cock pressing up against Char’s hole until the pressure gave way and he slid inside.

None of the women he’d ever been with had asked him to do this and his first thought, above all else, was just tight.

“What else were you expecting?” Char said and he actually sounded vaguely offended even as he shifted his hips to get Amuro in deeper and dug the nails of one hand into Amuro’s bare back.

If Amuro had a comeback, it was gone as he seated himself fully inside Char, needing to take a moment to steady himself and just breathe. Char, though, had clearly used up any urge he had to be helpful and he rolled his hips to leave Amuro thrusting back to meet him.

“Come on, Amuro,” Char said, his voice strained. His head had fallen back as he’d arched into the feeling of Amuro entering him, but now he was leaning up again and sinking his teeth into the base of Amuro’s neck to make Amuro shudder in a mix of pleasure-pain.

Char’s mouth fell open with a loud groan when Amuro thrust into him again, harder than he would have dared with Chan or Beltorchika or anyone other than the man in front of him who made him feel such a confusing mix of lust and anger. He didn’t care about Char’s pleasure, focused only on getting himself up, and somehow he got the feeling that Char enjoyed that more than he would have anything else Amuro could do.

For his part, Char was arching up into Amuro and panting against his throat, teeth and tongue catching against Amuro’s skin with every few thrusts. He was likely leaving behind heavy marks that Amuro would have to explain later, but for now Amuro wasn’t thinking about the consequences of their actions.

He couldn’t think about much at all really, not when he could feel the pleasure of being inside Char at the same time as he could feel Char’s pleasure at having Amuro inside him. It was almost like he had Char behind him as well as underneath him, the pair of them fucking him together.

“I knew all you wanted was me,” Char said, breathless but smug.

The “because you’re mine” went unspoken but Amuro heard it anyway, although it somehow seemed muffled as if Char had tried to stop it from getting through. It gave him a sick little thrill, knowing that Char Aznable of all people was so focused on him and him alone, and his body shook when Char’s tongue ran over the sensitive scar that had been left behind when Char had put a sword through him.

Chan had asked, more than once, where it had come from.

Amuro had never wanted to tell her.

Suddenly irritated at his own weakness, at his mind and body’s insistence on holding part of himself away from his girlfriend while he gave everything so easily to Char, Amuro took it out on Char’s body and couldn’t even bring himself to feel bad about it.

If Char was going to leave bite marks on him, he’d leave twice as many across Char’s throat and chest. If Char was going to spread his legs so easily for anyone, he’d make sure that Char always remembered the feeling of his cock above all else.

The sudden hit of possessiveness might have concerned him if he’d had the mental space to actually think about it, but there was no time for that when he was fucking into Char so hard that the bed was actually hitting against the wall, his mouth alternating between muffling his moans against Char’s sweaty skin and leaving bites and hickeys across it.

He felt each thrust, each bite, each hickey as surely as if it were happening to him. He could feel it when his cock pushed up against Char’s prostate, and he could feel it when Char finally shoved a hand between their bodies to stroke himself off.

Amuro even felt like he was having an orgasm when Char did, but the fact that he didn’t physically come meant that he was able to keep fucking Char through it, not stopping when he could feel like it was getting to be far too much for the other man. It was intoxicating to know that Char’s thoughts had been reduced to a stream of nonsense, not able to catch himself when Amuro wasn’t giving him so much as a second to get back under control and the overstimulation was keeping him caught between pleasure and pain.

Char had one hand clenched in Amuro’s hair and the other dug so firmly into the bed that the sheets were in danger, still shaking despite the fact that his come was already drying between their bodies. All he could do was take what Amuro was giving him, his skin flushed and sweaty and thoroughly marked up.

“You’re beautiful,” Amuro thought, unbidden, when it finally got to be too much. If Char heard it he didn’t respond, his back arching into Amuro at the feeling of Amuro coming inside of him. The thought was gone as soon as it appeared and Amuro didn’t try to chase after it, instead only focused on riding out the last of his orgasm and trying not to collapse his entire weight onto Char as he fought to get his breath back.

Eventually Amuro managed to shove himself over to lay on his back, his cock finally slipping free from Char’s body, and he stared blankly at the ceiling while waiting for his heart rate to calm down to something below ‘racing’.

He was still getting flashes from inside Char’s mind, mostly a jumble of different thoughts that he couldn’t quite untangle with his brain having quite possibly leaked out of his dick, and a weirdly congenial silence settled between them.

Until, of course, Char had to ruin it.

“You should stay.”

“...The night?” Amuro said, his brain not still entirely back online. He’d probably be able to feel his legs again soon, but that was about it.

“You don’t need to go back to the Federation. Once they’re done with you they’ll put you down, but you’ve got more potential than they’ll ever know.”

“What?”

“They don’t care about anything except their Earth,” Char said, sitting up. Amuro didn’t particularly like the intense look in his eyes and they were still connected enough that Char’s hatred was slipping through too easily. It felt unhinged enough that it actually scared Amuro a little bit, not quite sure what Char would be capable of in such a state.

“All they want to do is enrich themselves at the cost of the Spacenoids, and they’ll use whatever they have at their disposal to make sure their rule isn’t threatened. Including you.”

“I’m not at their—”

“Join Neo Zeon, Amuro,” Char said, as if Amuro hadn’t said anything at all. “You’ll be important here, because I know your worth unlike them.”

The missing pieces began to fall into place and Amuro groaned in despair. It should have been obvious from the start, but he’d let himself get swept up in Char’s madness and had lost all good sense…again.

“Is that what you’ve been doing this whole time? Rebuilding Neo Zeon?”

“Amongst other things. Amuro—” Char went to stroke the back of Amuro’s neck again, but this time Amuro knocked his hand away.

“And you’re telling me this now, because?”

“Because it’s too late to stop me. And because most men tend to be more agreeable after sex.” Char smiled, flicking a finger against one of the bite marks on Amuro’s shoulder.

Time had somewhat softened Amuro’s memories of what had happened after the first time he’d slept with Char, his brain choosing to prioritise the good memories over the bad. It was all coming back in waves now, though, and this time it felt even worse because he’d done it again.

“I’ll never join you.” Pulling as hard as he could on the thread between them, Amuro made sure that Char could feel every inch of his resolve. He would rather die than join Neo Zeon.

Char slid off the bed with a sigh, apparently unconcerned by the come that Amuro could see beginning to trickle down his thigh; Amuro looked away, knowing it was too late for him to be able to forget that image.

“Well, I tried. If you’re staying with the Federation, you’ll have to excuse me,” Char said, Amuro refusing to look but still hearing the sounds of rustling fabric as Char dressed himself. “Big day tomorrow, you know what it’s like.”

“What are you planning?” Amuro finally looked around, only to regret it when he noticed how close Char had somehow gotten to him.

Once again, Char grabbed his chin and held him in place, pressing a quick kiss to Amuro’s lips that was gone before Amuro could react and fight him off. “Tomorrow I declare war against the Federation, so I’m sure I’ll see you soon.”

“War? Char, what are —”

Char kissed him again, as fleeting as the last, and walked to the bedroom doorway. He paused before passing through, turning back and showing just how poorly his shirt hid the marks that Amuro had left all over him.

He looked like he’d been mauled, and Amuro had no excuse other than that he’d wanted to do it. Amuro looked away, ashamed of himself for more reasons that just one.

“And take care on your way out of Sweetwater — I wasn’t kidding when I said that the people here won’t take kindly to a Federation spy walking the streets. I’d hate for you to die before I can kill you.”

Char stepped through the doorway and disappeared from sight, leaving Amuro to stew, once again, in his shame and the knowledge that he’d fallen for Char’s stupid act all over again.

And — war? He needed to get somewhere to contact the ship, he had to tell them what was happening, they had to do what they could to stop it.

But, of course, there was always a strong chance that Char was lying. And if the Federation came in with its full military power to crush an innocent refugee society, all that would do is drive more anti-Federation sentiment in the colonies.

They couldn’t act until Char did, and Amuro knew that was the only reason why Char had told him as much as he had. Even the offer to join him hadn’t felt entirely genuine, but when he reached out to see if he could get a better insight on Char’s thoughts he found himself running up against a solid wall that he supposed Char had put up between them.

That was it, then — either Char was about to start a war, or he was about to do something else entirely that would probably be just as bad. In either case, Amuro had been played for a fool from start to finish when he should have known better than to even get involved in the game.

Next time, he wasn’t going to let Char get one over him. Next time, he’d be ready and would make sure that he could get the upper hand before Char even knew what was happening. Next time —

Well, Amuro really hoped there wouldn’t be a next time.

He didn’t trust himself not to fall for it again.