Erikur's Big Break

Life, Relationship change

Erikur moves into his new home and he and Fenneck talk about their relationship.

Fenneck was working on mending a pair of trousers when the door to the shop opened and Erikur burst in excitedly and ran up to Fenneck. "Guess what!!!" he exclaimed as he started jumping up and down in front of the desk Fenneck was sitting at. "What?!" Fenneck asked, setting down the project he had in his hands. "I got a seat!!!" Erikur exclaimed joyously. "I'm in the orchestra! I get to move out and live on the second level in my own house! I'm a real musician!!! Look!" He held up a new key to his new house and jumped up and down excitedly. Fenneck leapt up and pulled him into a giant hug. "That's amazing! I'm so proud of you!" Fenneck told him with a beaming smile on his face as Erikur continued jumping up and down as they embraced each other. Naertho walked in from the back, clearly having heard Erikur's joyous shouting and came up to embrace Erikur. "Congratulations, dear," he told him proudly. Erikur squeezed him before stepping back to wipe the happy tears from his eyes. "I'm so happy!" he said joyously. "This is literally a dream come true!" Fenneck smiled at him and pulled him into another tight hug. "You get to live on the same level as me now!" he exclaimed. Erikur nodded. "Uh huh! And we can hang out whenever we want now!" Naertho smiled sweetly at them. "Fenneck, why don't you take the rest of the afternoon off and go celebrate. I'm sure Erikur needs some help packing," he told them. Fenneck nodded and jumped up and down with excitement. "Okay! Thank you!" he exclaimed before quickly grabbing his things and leaving with Erikur.   They ran down to the second level and Erikur excitedly led him toward his new house only a few doors away from Fenneck's. He unlocked the door and walked inside, revealing an almost identical layout as his own house, except the kitchen was separated by a wall from the living room. It was pretty bare except for the essentials like the table, chairs and couches. Erikur waved his hands to show off his new abode proudly. "What do you think?!" he asked Fenneck excitedly. "It's wonderful!" Fenneck told him. "I can't believe you finally get to live here!" Erikur nodded. "Me either! I swear I was going to go insane if I had to live another day in my parents' house!" he exclaimed as he led Fenneck into the living room. "Come here," he said, taking Fenneck's hand and pulling him into one of the rooms. "This is my bedroom," he said, gesturing around the room. It had a simple wardrobe and a small fireplace in it as well as a queen-sized bed that sat about a foot off the ground, something between a meditation mat like Fenneck had and an actual bed that humans slept on.   Fenneck gave Erikur a side hug as they admired his new living space. "Wanna break it in?" he suggested playfully to Erikur. Erikur gave him a bashful smile and shrugged. "I mean... are you sure? I know we haven't really gotten to hang out much since the last time-" Fenneck pulled Erikur into his arms and cut him off as he kissed him, grateful to have some real privacy for once and too excited to be with Erikur again. Erikur kissed him back and pulled him to the bed excitedly and they both let themselves go to one another. It was so much more passionate with just the two of them now and Fenneck found himself adoring every inch of Erikur's beautiful, perfect body as they made love to each other.   After a few hours they collapsed next to each other in the bed and Erikur curled up into Fenneck's arms, trying to catch his breath. "Fen?" he asked. "Yeah?" Fenneck asked him as he huffed happily. "I... I think I like men," Erikur said nervously. Fenneck started laughing. "No shit," he said sarcastically. Erikur playfully elbowed him and giggled. "I mean... I think I... only like men," he explained. "Does... does that make me weird?" he asked Fenneck, looking up at him with his big, fearful green eyes. Fenneck shrugged. "I don't know," he said honestly. "I like girls too, I think," he said. "Honestly, I find myself turned on by a lot of things," he said with a sad shrug. Erikur giggled at him. "I've tried," Erikur told him. "Like when Sasha kissed me that one time. I tried to like it but... it just felt wrong," he said, unable to hide the disgust from his voice. Fenneck shrugged and cuddled into Erikur's arms, trying to keep warm on the bare mattress in the cold room. "Luckily we don't really have to worry about it," Fenneck said thoughtfully. "I mean, we won't marry anyone until we meet our thiramins and until then we can just be with each other," he suggested. Erikur shrugged. "Yeah, in secret," he said, huffing in disappointment. "Besides, we might not meet our soulmates, Fen. My parents didn't," he said sadly. "I'm just worried there's something wrong with me. My papa made it very clear that being with a guy like this is wrong and a... a sin. Something Corellon hates and will punish elves for when they die." Fenneck shrugged. "My parents taught me very different things about Corellon and elves," he argued. "They said he's sometimes a girl even." Erikur gave Fenneck a worried look. "No one else here believes that stuff, though." Fenneck scoffed and jumped out of the bed to find his clothes. "Where do people even get this stuff from?" Fenneck asked him in annoyance. "My parents have a bunch of books on elvish culture and lore that they've read to me and never once does it say anything like that," he pointed out. "They did say Corellon will punish those who follow Loth but that's kind of obvious." Erikur shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "Mostly word of mouth, I guess. I'm pretty sure my parents don't even own books." Erikur suddenly got really quiet and nervous. "He's gonna be pissed," he muttered under his breath. "Who?" Fenneck asked him. "My papa," he said quietly. Fenneck turned and gave him a quizzical look. "When you tell him you're gay?" he asked. Erikur shook his head fearfully. "Oh hell no, I'm not ever gonna tell him that! He'd kill me for sure! I just mean about moving out and getting my own job. He's been having me do his work on the farm for years now," he explained. "That should be illegal," Fenneck said angrily as he finished getting dressed. Erikur nodded in agreement and finally picked up his clothes to get dressed as well. "Yeah," he said. "He does help out, he just wants me to 'pull my weight' as he puts it." Fenneck rolled his eyes. "Dumb," he said. "Well luckily you get to get out of that shitty situation. I'll go with you and help you pack and make sure he doesn't put up a fight," he promised. "Really?" Erikur asked him gratefully. "They might not let you in, though," he said worriedly. Fenneck shrugged. "You've been 'pulling your weight', right? I'd say that gives you some ownership of the house and they can suck my cock if they want to fight me on it," he said proudly. Erikur smiled at him. "Thanks, Fen, I don't know what I'd do without you," he said gratefully. Fenneck smiled and nodded toward the door. "Come on, lets get you moved in," he said decisively.   As they left Erikur's new house, they saw Leonid walking home from work. He gave them a worried look, seeing them walk out of a random house. "Hey guys, what are you doing?" he asked them suspiciously. Erikur held up his new key excitedly. "I got into the orchestra!" he exclaimed. Leonid's demeanor did a one-eighty and he dropped the bag of books he had in his hands and swept Erikur up into a giant hug. "Oh my gods, Erik!" he exclaimed proudly. "Congratulations!" he told him with a beaming smile. "We're going to go and get his stuff from his house so he can move in tonight," Fenneck explained. Leonid nodded excitedly. "Okay! Well, let me go and tell Faina and we can make dinner to bring over and help you get settled in," he told Erikur who smiled gratefully. "Thank you," he said. "That would be wonderful!" "Of course!" Leonid told him. "You guys go on ahead and... good luck," he told hem with a worried glance. Erikur nodded and they headed down the stairs into the third level of the mountain.   "Thank the gods I don't have to live here anymore," Erikur said as they walked through the layer of dirt and grime that covered the stones. They saw Erikur's father working in the field with the goats and they instinctively held their heads down so he wouldn't notice them. They finally got to Erikur's house and Erikur hesitated for a brief moment before leading Fenneck inside. In all their years of friendship Fenneck had never entered Erikur's house. Erikur was very adamant about how embarrassing he found it and he always tried to go to Fenneck's house instead of allowing Fenneck into his own home. The house was simple enough but quite filthy. The ground was also covered in dirt, no doubt tracked in by the long days of working on the farm. The kitchen was fairly bare of food but covered in tons of trash and containers. Catherine was sitting at the table when they walked in with a small kitten in her lap that she was playing with. There were quite a few cats roaming about the house, all of whom looked kinda gross and thin. A few of them ran up and started meowing at Erikur and Fenneck when they walked in. "What is he doing here?" Catherine whispered to Erikur, motioning to Fenneck. Erikur leaned down to his sister. "I got a house!" he whispered excitedly as he held up the shiny keys he was so proud of. Catherine's jaw dropped in shock. "You got in?!" she asked in bewilderment. Erikur nodded proudly. "Yep! You're looking at the new sixth chair flautist for the Flottenheim Palace Orchestra!" he said proudly. She smiled proudly at him. "Congratulations!" she whispered. "Mama is in her room resting before Papa gets home," she explained. Erikur nodded. "I'm moving out," he told her. "Right now. That's why Fenneck is here. He's helping me." Catherine nodded. "I can help too," she decided, quietly standing up and gently carrying the kitten over to a bed in the corner of the room that had a few other kittens in it.   Erikur led them both into a small room where there were two beds on either side of the walls. There was a small gas lamp but other than that it was almost completely dark. "I wish I was going with you," Catherine mused quietly under her breath as she started folding up the bedding on Erikur's bed. "Why don't you?" he offered. "It's plenty big and and there's an extra room," he pointed out. She looked at him in surprise. "Really?" she asked. Erikur shrugged. "Yeah, I mean, you'll have to be okay with Fenneck and Alexei coming over a lot but sure. You can cook for me!" he teased her. She shrugged happily. "Okay!" she exclaimed. "Do you think Mama and Papa will let me?" she asked him. Erikur shrugged as he started packing his clothes into a bag. "Who cares? We're both adults. They can't tell us no," he pointed out. She dropped the blanket she was folding and ran over and pulled Erikur into a huge hug. "Thank you so much, Erik!" she told him gratefully. Erikur smiled at her. "Of course, but hurry!" he told her. "I want out of here before Papa gets home and throws a fit!"   They hurriedly packed Erikur and Catherine's things, which wasn't a lot. Erikur peeked out of the room to see the coast was clear as they each took their bundle of stuff, mostly wrapped in blankets and a couple bags and quietly moved through the living room. "Can I bring some of Masha's kittens?!" Catherine quietly begged Erikur who shrugged. "Sure, I guess so," he agreed. Catherine scooped up three of the small cats right as the front door opened. Alexandre, covered in dirt and grime looked at them with surprise and a raised brow. "The hell are you doing? Why is Fenneck here?" he asked Erikur aggressively. "And where the fuck do you think you're going?!" Erikur swallowed nervously. "I uh... I got a job!" Erikur said, clearly hoping his father would be proud of him. "I got a position as a flautist in the palace orchestra! So I have my own house now on the second level of the mountain!" Alexandre looked shocked and dumbfounded by this news. "You're a fucking musician?" he asked Erikur in annoyance. "Playing the flute isn't a real job!" he exclaimed. "Unless you're a whore!" Erikur started shaking fearfully. Fenneck stepped up next to him. "He is one of the best flautists in Flottenheim," Fenneck defended him. "He's moving out and Catherine is coming with him so neither of them have to live in this stinky, disease-infested hell-hole. Move." He glared Alexandre down, angry that Erikur's father would dare to treat him like this. "My son doesn't need some faggot tailor standing up for him," Alexandre spat in his face. Fenneck's blood started to race and he felt himself growing angry. Luckily Catherine spoke up. "Move Papa," she told him. "You can't stop us," she told him plainly. "Can't stop what?" their mother spoke up, walking out of her room behind them. "What on earth is going on?!" she asked in shock at the scene in her kitchen. "Erik thinks he got some fancy new job and a fancy new house," Alexandre said aggressively, still glaring at Fenneck. "He did," Fenneck spat. "And he's leaving now." Alexandre looked like he wanted to beat the shit out of Fenneck and Fenneck wasn't so sure he wouldn't, but he held his ground. Erikur finally spoke up. "I'm leaving, Papa. This is what I want and what I've worked for. Let us go," he told him. Alexandre glared at them but reluctantly stepped aside. "Don't come back here when you lose your job when a better musician takes your spot," he spat at Erikur. Fenneck opened the door and led Erikur and Catherine out and closed the door as Catherine managed to make it out with her handful of cats in her arms and the giant bundle of clothes she was carrying. "Come on!" Fenneck told them and they started moving quickly to the lifts.   They finally made it to Erikur's new home and Erikur opened the door to see Faina and Leonid in the kitchen with a beautiful fresh meal laid out on the table and some gifts on the table. "Surprise!" she exclaimed happily. When they were finally inside and the door safely closed behind them Erikur dropped his load of bags onto the ground and took a deep breath of relief. Fenneck went straight to Erikur's room and dropped the bundle of stuff he had on the clean stone floor before going back in the kitchen to retrieve the other bags as Erikur hugged Faina and told his parents what had happened at his house. Catherine walked into the living room and Fenneck showed her the other room. "Here, this way," he said, taking one of her bags. She looked around the house in awe and relief. "This is so... so wonderful," she told Fenneck when they were inside her new room. "Thank you, Fenneck," she told him. "For standing up for Erik like that. I know our father is a piece of shit sometimes. He doesn't mean to be, he's just... resentful." She gave Fenneck a sad smile and Fenneck nodded and shrugged. "I know. I just don't understand why he hates Erik so much." She shook her head as she laid the kittens onto her bed. "He's always been that way," she explained. "I think he hoped Erikur would be more... manly and want to take over the farm but... he's Erik," she said thoughtfully. "He likes playing with ribbons and tooting on his flute," she said surprisingly affectionately. Fenneck nodded in agreement. "Let's go eat," he suggested as they set down the rest of her things. She nodded excitedly and picked up her kittens again as they walked back into the kitchen.   "So I made some fresh bread, some stew and a honey cake to celebrate!" Faina exclaimed happily. "We also got you some cooking utensils to help settle into your new home," she told Erikur lovingly. "I brought over some extra blankets that we didn't need and some firewood to get you started," she told him. Erikur smiled gratefully at her. "You guys are the best," he told them gratefully. Catherine's jaw dropped at the food. "This smells amazing," she said in awe. "Oh thank you!" Faina said, walking up to Catherine. "It's so nice to meet you," she told Catherine. "Erikur has told us so much about you," she said, pulling Catherine into a hug, startling her. "Please," Faina told them, gesturing to the table. "Eat! You have a lot of unpacking to do!" They all sat down and ate their meal gratefully. Catherine looked overjoyed as she ate the delicious meal. When they had finished, Leonid showed Erikur how to build and tend to the fireplace in the living room while Faina helped Catherine settle into her room and set up a bed for the kittens. Fenneck started organizing Erikur's clothes into his dresser and was soon joined by Erikur as Leonid inspected the rest of the house.   "How's it feel?" Fenneck asked him as Erikur started helping him store his things. "Like..." he thought for a moment, trying to come up with the right words. "It feels like the first time we kissed," he said, giving Fenneck a bashful smile. "Like everything is starting to make sense." Fenneck laughed at him. "The first kiss we had I totally fucked it up by jumping away in shock!" he teased him. Erikur smiled and leaned against him playfully. "I didn't care," he said wistfully. "The second one was pretty damn good though," he said with a mischievous look in his eyes. Fenneck stared into Erikur's eyes for a moment before pulling him into an excited embrace and kissing him, passionately grabbing Erikur's face in his hands as he let their lips enjoy each other's.   They stopped in fear as they heard glass shatter and they looked up to see Catherine staring at them in shock in the doorway to Erikur's room. She had dropped a teacup on the ground that had shattered onto the hard stone. Erikur's face flushed red and he looked at his sister with a horrified look on his face. "What broke?!" Leonid shouted from another room. Catherine shook her head in fear and jumped as Faina appeared behind her. "Just a teacup, dear!" Faina shouted to her husband. "Here, let me help clean that up," she said, running off to grab a broom. Catherine shook her head at Erikur and Fenneck who had moved away from each other. "What the hell?!" she asked them in disbelief. Erikur started shaking nervously. "Please Cath, don't... don't tell anyone!" he begged her. "Don't tell anyone what?" Faina asked as she returned with a broom and towel to clean up the mess. She studied Erikur and Fenneck before nodding in understanding. "Um... I think Leo needs help with something," she said, setting the broom down and leaving them. Catherine carefully walked over the glass and leaned in toward Erikur and Fenneck. "Erik," she said, worried. "This is illegal!" she scolded them both. Erikur exchanged a worried glance with Fenneck. Fenneck tried to help him out. "Look, my parents both know," he explained to Catherine. "Don't worry, it's just... like, for fun. We aren't trying to date in public or anything," he explained. "We know how dangerous it is and we're careful. Just... don't tell anyone, okay?" he begged her. Catherine pursed her lips. "Look, I'm not... surprised," she told them. "I'm just worried, okay? This is seriously dangerous. You can get killed for this," she told Erikur sadly. He nodded. "I know, Catherine," he told her. "Please?" he begged her. She nodded understandingly and pulled Erikur into a hug. "Be careful!" she told him protectively. "You too!" she told Fenneck. "Who else knows?" she asked them. "Only Alexei," Erikur assured her. She sighed in agreement. "Okay," she agreed. "Are you guys like... in love with each other?" she asked, trying to understand. Erikur cast a nervous glance at Fenneck and shrugged. "We don't know," he told her. "We've only fucked a couple of times. We're mostly... experimenting," he explained. She nodded slowly, trying to wrap her head around this. "Okay," she told them. "Just be careful!" She walked over to the spilled teacup on the ground and looked back up at Erikur, as if she had an idea. "Fine," she said. "But if I have to keep one of your secrets, you have to keep one of mine," she decided. Erikur shrugged. "Okay," he agreed. Catherine leaned down to the cup and waved her hand over it causing the liquid to vanish and the cup to reconstitute itself magically. Erikur raised his brow in surprise and Fenneck chuckled. She picked up the cup and smiled at Erikur, clearly happy to show off her abilities and sauntered into the other room.   Fenneck giggled. "I like her," he said decisively. "I don't know why you always complain about her," he teased Erikur. Erikur sighed. "She's not as annoying as she used to be," he mused reluctantly before turning back to his wardrobe. "We aren't... like... in love... right?" he asked Fenneck nervously. Fenneck shrugged. "I don't really know," he admitted. "I'm not quite sure what it feels like if I'm being honest with you. I like being with you, though. I think it would be safer if we don't... get our hopes up," he decided. "I mean, if we fall in love then we'll want to live together and have a family together and... we can't, and that would... suck." Erikur nodded. "Yeah... it would," he agreed as they finished hanging up Erikur's clothes.   "I think that's all of them," Fenneck said as he searched the bottom of the bag. "Hey, do you remember the first tunic I ever made you?" Fenneck asked him. "I didn't see it in here." He paused for a moment and looked up at Erikur quizzically. "I actually have never seen you wear it since that first night," he said sadly. Erikur's face flooded with sadness and guilt and he turned away from Fenneck as he walked over to the bed. "I uh... My dad threw it in the fireplace that night," he explained, wiping a tear away from his eye. "That's why I asked you not to make me clothes in that color anymore. He called me a... he called me and you some mean names and he tried to keep me from seeing you again for a while. Luckily I kept my flute from him and was able to hide it in my room." Fenneck sighed in defeat and heartbreak for Erikur. He walked over and sat down next to him on the bed and rubbed his back comfortingly. Erikur sniffed and tried to collect himself. "He wasn't wrong," he said. "I am a faggot. I like shiny pretty things. I like playing the flute. I do like men and I like the color purple," he admitted with a weak shrug. "Maybe he was just trying to protect me," he said sadly. Fenneck leaned against Erikur, frustrated to not understand how it must feel to be in Erikur's situation. "It's still mean," he told Erikur. "He's mean to you. He doesn't need to be. Even my dad was always very blunt with me about certain things I could and couldn't do for my safety but he was never mean about it," he said as his heart broke for Erikur. "I wanted to punch him for the things he told you today," he admitted. Erikur smiled. "I'm glad you didn't," he said. "It would have made things worse." Fenneck shrugged. "Yeah, but it would have felt pretty damn good," he mused, prompting Erikur to giggle.   Erikur looked up into Fenneck's eyes. "I do love you, Fen. Not like that really, but you're the best friend in the whole world," he told him. Fenneck smiled. "I love you too. I'll always be your best friend," he promised. "They can't arrest us for that," he told Erikur before kissing the tip of his nose. Erikur leaned against him and took a deep breath. "I'm so glad I have my own home now," he said happily. "Me too," Fenneck said before kissing him on the head.