Villain's Second Heart: Trapped in A Fantasy Novel (BL)-Chapter 84: Fracture

"What the fuck is that!?"

Ezra rose up in the bed quickly - too quickly. He pulled some of his still-tender skin on his wound, causing him to wince in pain and lower himself back down.

He stared at the black bag in Oberyn’s hand. Moments ago, the Nephilim showed it to him and withdrew something long and phallus-shaped out - a toy for pleasure, about seven inches and girthy. Just about the size of Oberyn’s -

"It was a gift from Rav," he said, inspecting it up and down. "He said you’d know what it was. One of Alcor’s treasures or something."

Ezra facepalmed and sank back into the bed. "Of course he did..."

His mind flickered. Alcor’s treasures - the term stirred something in him. He had received a lot of Alcor’s items, that were now stored in his System Inventory. Nothing like THAT, though...

There was something in particular in his inventory that made him anxious. A Nephilim feather - Oberyn’s feather. Alcor was in possession of it even before they swapped...

[Curious about it, are you?]

Ezra’s eye twitched at the sudden invasion of Alcor’s voice in his mind, but he didn’t want Oberyn to notice his worry.

He pushed it out of the way. Now was not the time to dwell on that.

"Well, tell Rav ’thanks’, I guess," Ezra blushed, turning away.

Oberyn smiled, looking from Ezra to the toy in his hand. "So, what’s it for, anyway?"

Ezra screamed internally.

[I think Oberyn is growing on me, too. Though I always did prefer to watch.]

’Can’t you mind your own business?’ Ezra thought back to his ’inner demon’.

[Not like I have anywhere else to go. Might as well be entertained. And if anyone is the ’demon’, it’s you, Ezra. Don’t forget - that’s my body.]

’Yeah, well...I didn’t ask for it. Thank your precious Storyteller for that one.’

The comment was enough to shut up Alcor, for now.

When Ezra returned to reality, he saw Oberyn was still staring at him, confused.

"Sorry, I zoned out for a second," he said, his eyes shifting away from Oberyn in a hollow attempt to mask his lie.

Letting Oberyn know how much control and freedom Alcor had in his mind wouldn’t help anything.

"It’s...well, I don’t know if it has a polite term. In my world, they call it a ’dildo’ which I find to be a kind of gross word..."

"Dill...dough?" Oberyn repeated. The word seemed so innocent from him.

"Yeah. It’s to put up your ass for sexual stimulation. It feels really good."

"O-oh."

Ezra blinked.

"I...think I understand why Master Rav gave it to me, now."

"Master?"

Oberyn turned his head away in embarrassment. "He...suggested I call him that..."

"Man, if I weren’t injured right now, I’d go have some words with Rav...damn cat. Can’t leave him alone with you for one hour, can I?"

Oberyn frowned slightly, but forced a smile underneath. "I never realized how jealous you were, Ez."

"I’m not jealous!" Ezra fought back, jealous. "It’s totally normal not to want to...well, share...that stuff is supposed to be a you-and-me thing, you know."

"You know Rav and I would never do anything without your permission. You’re acting silly."

"Yeah well, the way you say it always makes it sound like you would do it in a heartbeat if I said it was okay..."

Oberyn hesitated for a brief moment before responding.

"If that were true...would it be so bad? I’m excited about all of this - it’s a new world to me, and it feels so good...good enough to forget everything else that’s wrong. I’m not saying I would ever pick Rav over you - not for anything. But..."

Ezra had known men like Rav before. Men who flirted just to see if they could win. Men who made intimacy feel like a performance, not a promise.

"I think Rav’s a bad influence," Ezra said flatly. "His sleaziness around sex isn’t a good example of what your boundaries should look like."

Ezra knew he’d messed up before the words finished leaving his mouth. Oberyn glowered back at him, hurt.

Ezra could feel it. The other side of Oberyn - the terse, guarded, defensive side. The fiery, impulsive, and obstinate Oberyn, who tried to murder him within seconds of meeting.

"You don’t have to talk to me like I’m a child. I’m not stupid. I know the concept of boundaries, Ezra."

They both took a heavy breath, unsure of how to proceed with their conversation. Neither wanted to upset the other, but they had a clear philosophical disagreement.

"Maybe things in your world were different, Ezra," Oberyn said after a long pause. "And maybe they’re different in this world than I understand them to be, too. I can only speak from my own experience. I enjoy it with you. I promised you’d always be my number one when it came to any of that. I understand - clearly - that to you, it has a substantial romantic connotation, and I’m not afraid of that."

Ezra peered back at him, eyes somewhat glassy. The lingering pain of his wound made it tough to focus.

"And despite all that, which I do CLEARLY understand, Ezra, Rav isn’t looking for romance when he flirts - not with you, not with me. He seems to understand the ’fun’ side of it, not just the ’possessive’ side. So, I’m sorry if not all of my inner thoughts are completely to your satisfaction."

"Oby..."

"Yes, Ezra?"

His voice was stiff and sharp. It hurt more to hear him talk like that than any flesh would.

"If it means that much to you, then you can do whatever you want with Rav."

"It doesn’t mean that much to me, which is the whole point I was trying to communicate, so thanks for paying attention. All I said is that I WOULD. I never said I was dying for it, or that it would ever even happen."

"Oby, I’m sorry, okay? In my world -"

"We’re not in your world!"

Ezra’s mouth hung open in shock. Never did he expect Oberyn to snap and yell at him...not like that.

"I see."

Ezra’s eyes lidded downward.

’Am I the one being unreasonable?’ he asked himself.

[No, Ezra. But with Rav, this is how it always goes.]

Oberyn removed his shirt in a hurry and threw it to the corner of the room before sitting on the bed, his back to Ezra.

"Are you too wounded to assist? My curse mark needs treating."

His words were absent and cold. Transactional.

"I can do it."