Like Lyra and Bon-Bon
It was the last, golden hour of the afternoon before the sunset when General Seaspray alighted on the terrace of the old College of Arts. The warm light made the age-worn stone of the ancient building glow and, with the moss and ivy growing on the still-ruined parts, made it look like one of the treehouses on the lower levels of Mount Aris, where majority of the Returners had settled.
Seaspray gave the city a long look, noting once again how carefully Sky Beak had chosen this place for his headquarters: high enough above the harbor and the everyday bustle of rebuilding that everygriff wasn’t constantly running to him for advice and orders, but not so high as to make him seem aloof or inaccessible… and well away from the locked-up, empty Winged Citadel at the top of the mountain. As one of the most prominent Returners, and the brother-in-law of Queen Novo, Sky Beak scrupulously avoided anything that the Remainers might have taken as a sign of undue ambition and desire to split away from Seaquestria.
The general snorted; he did not have a high opinion of the more paranoid sort of Remainers, still seeing dangers around every corner even though the Storm King was gone, and a new age of trade, exploration and friendship between various nations and peoples was dawning in the Southlands. They could have at least looked at the royal family tree and realized that one of Sky Beak’s children was most likely to end up ruling Hippogriffia above the waves, as a viceroy or vicereine to their aunt Novo or cousin Skystar.
With another snort and a shudder that shook him from crest to tailtip, Seaspray put the petty politics out of his mind. He and Sky Beak had to deal with politics too much during the day; the evening was their personal time together.
Speaking of which, where was Sky Beak? While he waited for Seaspray on the terrace perhaps only one time in ten, he was always a polite host and would come out to meet his guest unless the weather was truly nasty. Seaspray cast a quick look at the sky: mostly clear, with scattered tufts of cloudstuff that were starting to glow golden and pink in the light of the approaching sunset. The warm wind rustled the wildflowers growing in the gardens of the College, and tugged at the feathered crest of Seaspray’s uniform cap. The weather was as nice as you could reasonably expect this time of the year!
Shrugging, the general gave up on guessing. He’d find out soon enough what was occupying his friend. He opened the terrace door and knocked sharply on the frame, before walking right in.
After the bright sunshine outside, it took even Seaspray’s hippogriff eyes a moment to adapt to the dim light inside. He did not let that slow him down, walking confidently through the unused outer rooms, until he passed through curtain of coral beads and emerged into Sky Beak’s personal room.
Sky Beak was sitting at his desk, the warm light of the setting sun falling on him and making his coat and crest gleam with gold. The sight made Seaspray’s heart stir. In his opinion, his old friend had always been the more handsome of the two, and rather than diminishing his good looks, age, responsibility, and fatherhood had given him an aura of nobility and gravitas. He could have been one of the ancient heroes and statesgriffs whose statues gazed upon the Plaza of Stars before the gates of the Citadel, but instead of cold marble and tarnished bronze, he was flesh and blood. Wonderfully alive, warm, yielding flesh and blood… Seaspray felt another part of himself stirring, and stifled a grin.
“Still working, I see,” he said, taking off his feathered General’s cap and tossing it to one of the cushions surrounding a small dining table.
Sky Beak looked up, startled, before flashing him a wan smile. “Oh! Seaspray, I’m sorry… I was distracted,” he said, rising and coming to meet Seaspray. “Please don’t think I had forgotten about you,” he said as they clasped forelegs, then moved into a hug. There was an unusual tension in Sky Beak’s body, and as he looked over his friend's shoulder, Seaspray’s eyes focused on the letter on the desk that he had been reading.
“Bad news?” he asked cautiously as they drew apart, nodding towards the table.
“Not exactly,” Sky Beak said and sighed. “Unexpected, yes, and even pleasant, in a way… but very inconvenient. Here, read for yourself. It’s from my wife.”
Seaspray looked at the letter, while Sky Beak walked over to a side table and poured out two drinks from an elaborately cut crystal bottle. It was indeed from Ocean Flow, his friend’s wife, who had remained in Seaquestria and refused to come back to the dry land, or even take hippogriff form again, even now that the Storm King was gone.
Despite his commitment to the Return, Seaspray understood Ocean Flow’s reluctance. She had been one of the priority targets during the invasion and only through the heroic efforts and sacrifice of her personal guards she had escaped, when so many others – including her brother-in-law Starstream – had been taken or killed. After that, it was no surprise she only felt safe in the sea! While they regularly exchanged letters, and Sky Beak visited Seaquestria when he had the time, there was a distance, both physical and emotional, between them. And Seaspray was selfish enough to appreciate that distance, and what it meant for him.
He scanned the message quickly. There had been some kind of a scheduling snafu, and Princess Seastar was unable to come to the banquet held in honor of the new trade treaty with Klugetown that would take place tomorrow evening. As the sister of the Queen, Ocean Flow was taking her niece’s place. She wished for Sky Beak to join her tonight at the rehearsal, and dine with her afterwards, as she wished to discuss their plans for Terramar’s education now that his sister was attending the new academy in Equestria.
“You see how it is,” Sky Beak said in a weary tone, offering him a glass of something purple that smelled of berries and alcohol. “I simply can’t refuse. We haven’t talked in a while, and of course I must think of Terramar’s future… and of course, it’s my duty to help her ensure everything goes smoothly tomorrow. I’m so sorry, but we must put tonight off.”
Seaspray nodded and tossed back the drink. It filled his beak with a strange explosion of flavors, burning as it went down his throat but leaving a strange coolness in his mouth. He coughed and smacked his beak in an appreciative fashion.
“Seaspray! That was twenty-year old crystal berry brandy,” Sky Beak said, eyes wide. “You’re supposed to sip it carefully, not chug it down like… like Abyssinian arrack or something!”
The general hiccupped, twice, and thumped his chest with his fist. “Sorry! If it makes you feel any better, it’s damn good stuff taken this way, too.” He met Sky Beak’s gaze and smiled. “And don’t feel like you need to apologize to me; we both know our duty. And I’ve never wanted to come between you and your wife.”
Now Sky Beak was smiling, too. “You never have. I must have told you before that it’s one of the things I most love in you.”
“Many times, but I don’t mind hearing it again,” Seaspray said, his smile broadening. “Do you think she knows?” he asked. It was an old question, and Sky Beak’s answer was one he had heard many times.
“I think she understands us. But I also think she does not know, because she does not want to know. We are still married, and, well… It would be politically unwise for us to divorce, even if we wanted to.”
Seaspray nodded, understanding him perfectly. A prominent Returner, the very leader of the Reclamation, divorcing his Remainer wife, to pair up with his male lover, another Returner and one of Seaquestria’s chief Generals! It would be a scandal in the royal family, but more than that, it would threaten the unity of the entire Seaquestrian society. It would risk splitting hippogriffs and seaponies apart, into two separate peoples.
No, it was unacceptable. Seaspray’s entire life had been about duty and self-sacrifice to protect and defend his Queen and people, and if that meant being discreet about their relationship, and never doing anything to risk the integrity Sky Beak’s marriage, the general could and would live with that.
But it did not mean that tonight had to be a complete waste, though.
“Knowing you, you had planned a slow, pleasant evening together, where we could both undwind, chat and joke while we sipped that brandy; then we’d have a dinner where you fed me tidbits while I tickled your flank with my tail; and finally, we’d move to your bedroom for a night of passionate lovemaking until we finally fell asleep in each other’s arms,” Seaspray said.
Sky Beak smiled wistfully. “You know me well. Yes, that was the plan, more or less. I had hoped you and I could sample an amphora of the yellow wine we found in the College’s cellars, untouched by the invaders or the years… It’ll have to wait for another time, I’m afraid,” he said and sighed.
“I’m looking forward to that,” Seaspray said. “However, you aren’t in such a hurry that you can’t have some fun.” He turned around and looked over his shoulder, grinning as he raised his tail. “Come on, Sky, time’s wasting.”
Sky Beak lifted his gaze from his lover’s firmly muscled behind, the pucker at the base of his flagging tail, and the pair of plump balls hanging beneath, and met Seaspray’s eyes. “You can’t be serious,” he said, but there was a note of excitement in his voice that he wasn’t even trying to hide.
“I’m entirely serious,” Seaspray said, flexing his sphincter and drawing Sky Beak’s eyes back down. “We have a quick, hard rut, get you cleaned up, and you’ll be off to see your wife in no time.”
“Seaspray, I— I thank you, really, but it’s not fair for you,” Sky Beak said.
“Oh, come on, Sky!” the general said. “Stop being so storm-damned noble and fair for once! Can’t you be just a little selfish, and think of your own pleasure? And if that’s too much for you, then be selfish for me! I want you to stick your lovely, thick dick balls-deep in my ass, and rail me like a harbor harlot! Is it so hard to understand?”
Sky Beak looked at him, eyes wide, beak hanging open and wings flaring. “Uh. That’s... a lot more direct than you usually are, 'Spray," he said. "Not to mention more explicit!"
“Usually, I'm not in a hurry to get you have sex with me, Sky. And I am a sailor; we're known for rough language,” Seaspray said, grinning. “C’mon, Sky, I know you want a turn on the top.” They were equals in bed, as in everywhere else, but usually it was Seaspray who mounted Sky Beak. Having the tables turned like this was an exciting change of pace for both of them, he thought.
His friend looked at him, then at the half-full brandy tumbler still in his hand. Sky Beak shrugged, said “Oh well,” and tossed it back, just as Seaspray had done before. His eyes watered as the potent liquor went down, and it took a moment before he could speak. “You- you were right… it’s good that way, too,” he said in a slightly choked voice. “Okay. Let's do this. Just let me get some lubrication…”
With a couple of hard wingbeats, Sky Beak hurtled across the room and vanished through the door leading into his bedroom. Grinning to himself, Seaspray trotted over to the window to check the sun’s position, his half-hard equine shaft swaying with each step beneath his belly. Plenty of time left, he thought as he heard Sky Beak fly back in and land with a clatter of hooves, cradling a porcelain jar in his claws.
“I’ll do you, and you do me,” Sky Beak said, opening the jar and placing it on the corner of his desk. Seaspray nodded and scooped up a generous dollop of the flower-scented cream in his claws before turning to attend his friend’s cock, already dropped and twitching with his heartbeat. Even before they had become lovers, Seaspray had admired his friend’s heavy balls and broad sheath, and the gently curved, thick shaft nestled within.
Now, he gripped the hot shaft gently but firmly and began to spread the oily ointment along its entire length. He slid his foreclaw over the thick ridge of Sky Beak’s medial ring, making him twitch; it was followed by a gasp and a rustle of wings as he carefully spread the lubrication over his blunt cockhead, his touch making Sky Beak's length swell and harden.
Then it was his turn to squawk, as he felt the cool touch of the ointment on his sphincter. It worked the opposite way from the brandy, as the coolness quickly faded and was replaced by a pleasant, tingling warmth. His pucker winked, and Sky Beak immediately slipped an ointment-covered claw in, lubricating the inside of his passage.
“I, ah… I think I’m ready,” he gasped as his friend probed his ass gently, pushing deeper in until his blunted clawtip passed over the bulb of Seaspray’s prostate, making his cock slam into his belly, spurting a drop of clear fluid from its tip. As much as Seaspray enjoyed being on the top, being the one to take the cock – or claw, as it may be – had its share of pleasures, too.
“I’m ready, too,” Sky Beak said, moving behind him as Seaspray spread his legs, flagged his tail up, and rested his chest on the desktop. “Now… what was it that you said, about harbor harlots and such?”
Seaspray let out a short laugh and looked over his shoulder at his lover, who was just aiming his shaft for his hole. “You know exactly what I said. Come on, Sky… let me have it already!"
The two hippogriffs moaned in unison as Sky Beak granted Seaspray’s wish, his well-lubed cock slipping into his lover’s welcoming ass. “Ahh… you feel so big,” Seaspray gasped as Sky Beak pushed deeper into him.
“Nnhh… and you feel tight,” Sky Beak replied as he started to piston in and out of Seaspray’s rear. Starting slow and gentle, he quickly built up speed, and soon the force of his thrusts made the general’s shaft slap against his belly, flinging drops of precum from its tip.
Moaning loudly, Seaspray started clenching his ass in time with Sky Beak’s thrusts, squeezing the lovely stallion rod plundering his innards. “Don’t – unhh! – don’t hold back, Sky… I want you to – ah! -- cum…”
Sky Beak responded by slamming his loins against Seaspray’s buttocks, their balls smacking together. “Won’t… be… ahh… much… longer,” he panted. “Ohh… spread your… ahh… wings, I need… something to, ahh, hold onto.”
“Huhh… sure, whatever you, ahh, want,” Seaspray replied, doing as his friend asked. At once, Sky Beak grabbed them and hoisted himself up over Seaspray’s rear, wringing a loud, shocked squawk of pleasure from him. With that little change of angle, Sky Beak’s cock was now hitting Seaspray’s prostate with every thrust, making his self-control collapse like a sandcastle when the tide comes in.
“Yes, like that, yes, harder, oh Sky, please, please,” he babbled, feeling his friend’s cock swell, the flare grinding down on his oh-so-sensitive gland even harder, until with a heartfelt cry of joy he came. Through the haze of pleasure, Seaspray felt Sky Beak grip his wings harder, almost painfully tight, and slam deep inside him, shooting his seed in him in hot spurts, in time with the throbbing of his prostate and the gushes of his own cum.
Then it was over, and the two hippogriffs lay there, one on top of the other, hearts racing and bodies trembling. “Ohh… that was really something,” Sea Spray said hoarsely. “Thank you, Sky…”
“You’re welcome,” Sky Beak replied, nuzzling his cheek with his beak. “And thank you! This was all your idea, Seaspray.”
They rested there for a few moments, enjoying the intimate closeness and the warm afterglow of their lovemaking, before Seaspray stirred. “We’re wasting time, Sky. Get off me, so we can clean you up. Can’t have you showing up smelling of stallion sweat and semen!”
“No, we can’t have that,” Sky Beak agreed, dropping back onto his rear hooves, and pulling his softening dick out of Seaspray’s bottom with a wet slurp. “No, don’t get up, I can handle this myself…”
Seaspray rolled halfway onto his side and watched Sky Beak wiping first his receding cock, then the rest of his crotch with a towel. Another towel caught the sweat beading on his flanks and belly, followed by quick sweeps of currycomb. Then a quick spritz of perfume, blending with and masking the stallion musk. In just a couple of minutes, Sky Beak was again the image of a handsome, dutiful administrator and diplomat, adjusting his sash of office in front of the mirror.
“I’m sorry to leave you such a mess, Seaspray,” he said, looking at his friend. With his sweaty coat, ruffled wings, messy mane and tail, and a trail of cum oozing from his still-twitching asshole, Seaspray looked more like a harbor harlot than a distinguished hippogriff officer.
“Never mind me,” Seaspray said. “I’ve got plenty of time to clean up while you’re gone. Now, get going, or you’ll be late!”
Sky Beak nodded and turned to go, then hesitated. Another flap of wings, and he was suddenly by the desk, leaning in to nuzzle his beak against Seaspray’s face. “Thank you again, ‘Spray. I don’t know what I would do without you, my love.”
Then he was gone, leaving Seaspray with a silly, lovestruck grin on his face that was better suited for some excitable teenager like Sky Beak’s daughter, than a mature, experienced officer of Seaquestrian navy.