kinkfest | Heroes [Final Fantasy III, Luneth/Arc, NC17] (Reply)

Title: Heroes
Author: wounded_melody (will be posted however @ http://junkiecosmonaut.insanejournal.com so if you want to archive/rec/etc please use the author name junkiecosmonaut)
Rating: NC-17
Beta: none
Warnings: slash, possible shota? (not sure of official FF3DS character ages)
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy III (DS) belongs to S-E and I make no profit from this fanfic, hopefully some love though!
Prompt: June 28th: Final Fantasy III, Luneth/Arc: Saving the world, one step at a time - "I never thought I'd be a hero."
Word count: 2397
Summary: Only after becoming a hero can Arc admit his feelings to Luneth.
A/N: This is my first time participating here, so I hope I did things right with the prompts and all ^^;;;
Hope NC-17 is OK for the requester, it just kinda ended up that way...
Also, I haven't played the game for awhile, but did look up faqs to refresh my memory, so I hope there are no huge inconsistencies!
Special thanks to sagemuraken for answering an impromptu inquiry of mine!

"Heroes"

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The grand ballroom of Saronia Castle was filled with crowds of people who had come to pay their gratitude to the four who had saved the world--Luneth, Arc, Refia and Ingus; four orphans who had beat insurmountable odds and defeated the very worst evils, restoring peace to all. After a few speeches, and the gifting of medals to the four from Prince Alus, everyone began to mingle. After several hours, Luneth somehow found himself listening to a drunken Cid, who was going on about how he planned to make a business out of airships, either by building more or giving people rides, at least that's what Luneth thought he said as he rambled on and on. The silver haired youth discreetly looked around the ballroom to try and locate his friends, and possibly plan an escape route from Cid. Luneth spotted Ingus in a far corner of the room, deep in talk with Princess Sara, and occasionally whirling her about when the orchestra played something new. He also found Refia quite easily, for she was in the middle of a group of what could only be described as admirers, who hung on her every word as she described the different battle they had fought on their adventure. Now, if he could only spot his best friend, Arc...

Luneth felt a surge of jealousy beginning to rise in him as his eyes finally found Arc, who was in a private, and quite intimate looking, conversation with Prince Alus. It was almost an incomprehensible sight to Luneth, as Arc had always been painfully shy and introverted. The only person who had ever been able to engage him in conversations longer than three words was Luneth; only he had been able to make Arc smile or laugh openly. Even as they had traveled with Ingus and Refia, and met so many new people, Arc was never fully at ease unless Luneth was nearby. Now, the shy youth was acting in a manner that he had only done so with Luneth, head bent in close to Prince Alus', laughing softly at something the soon-to-be-crowned king had said to him with a wink. For some reason this sight not only made him jealous, but it began to make him angry as well.

He couldn't explain exactly why, except that he felt like he had regressed back to being five years old, where best friends were forever and three was always a crowd. It was worse though because it was Alus that Arc was talking with. When they all had first met Alus, Arc had seemed somewhat drawn to the exiled Prince, as Alus too was being bullied by those around him. It was Refia who had mentioned offhandedly that they seemed like kindred spirits, and wasn't it too bad that Arc wasn't a Princess? Luneth shook the memory from his mind and shot a glare across the room at Refia, who was still far too involved with others to even notice.

Without thinking any further on it, Luneth turned and headed towards Arc and Alus, leaving Cid to continue proposing his plans to the empty air in front of him. As Luneth drew closer, the two turned to him and smiled warmly, almost innocently.

"Why Luneth!" Alus exclaimed, as though he had been wanting him there, "Arc has been telling me all about the times you and he spent together as children. I wish I had such a wonderful childhood friend!"

Arc blushed slightly, which made him look--as Refia would say when he did that--adorable. "It was fun remembering all those times," Arc explained. Luneth practically glared at Arc, feeling almost betrayed that he would share their stories, as if they were secrets for only the two of them to know.

"Excuse me a moment, your Highness," Luneth said as he grabbed Arc's hand and began to pull him towards the hallway, "but there is something I need to tell Arc before I forget." Prince Alus looked a bit puzzled but still smiled and nodded as he watched the pair retreat from sight.

Luneth was almost dragging Arc down the hallway until he came across an unlocked room and pulled them both inside. He let go of Arc and closed the door, leaning against the wood and scowling at his friend.

"What's wrong, Luneth?" Arc asked, looking confused and a little hurt, which immediately wiped the scowl off Luneth's face.

"Sorry Arc, I just haven't been able to talk with you the whole evening. Actually, ever since we saved the world we haven't had a moment to just...just...stop and talk about it!"

Luneth didn't expect Arc to laugh, but he did, an amused and happy giggle that he didn't try to hide. "I know!" Arc exclaimed. "I wished we were back home and could go to our secret cave, I've been wanting to tell you so many things since that final battle!"

"What things?" Luneth had been there when they all fought against the Cloud of Darkness...had he missed something important?

"Well..." Arc began to blush again and now Luneth felt all the jealousy and anger drain from him. "You know what, Luneth? We are heroes!"

"Heroes...yea, I guess you could say that." Luneth hadn't really thought about it, just that he and the others had righted wrongs as they appeared in their way. They had been saving the world, one step at a time. There was never really a moment when he questioned it, just accepted things as destiny and followed the flow of it all. It seemed that Arc had experienced their whole journey quite differently.

"I never thought I'd be a hero," Arc said happily.

"Of course, I never doubted it. I don't think anyone doubted us, look at the heroes' welcome they are throwing us!" Luneth grinned as he motioned towards the direction of the festivities outside of the room.

Arc looked down at the floor, his voice becoming softer and quieter, so much so that Luneth had to move forward to hear him. "That's not quite what I meant," Arc began. "You have always been a hero, ever since we were kids. Like the time you saved Lady Malim's cat from that huge treetop or when you put out that fire in Mama Nina's kitchen. Then, after you made your way through Altar Cave, there was no doubt how brave and strong you were. And when...when you chased those bullies away from me...I knew you were a hero...but I wasn't..."

"Awww those things were nothing big," Luneth replied sheepishly, starting to feel both proud and embarrassed from his friend's praise.

"But they were!" Arc's head suddenly snapped up and his voice grew louder. The soft light in the room reflected something in Arc's eyes...tears?

Luneth made a motion towards Arc but the brown haired youth stepped back and held his hand up, wanting to finish. "You see, because I wasn't a hero, I knew I could never be equal with you. I would always be someone you would have to protect and feel sorry for, no matter how close we were. You don't know how much it hurt because I couldn't think of anyway to be a hero too, I was too scared and shy. But then...then all this happened, and no matter how awful things became, or what terrible things happened, part of me was glad it was all happening, because I could be a hero too. And now that I am, Luneth, now that I am, I can finally...finally..."

"Finally wha-?" Luneth's question was cut off as Arc surged forward and kissed him. They fell back against the door with a thud, which broke apart their kiss. Luneth's eyes were so wide with shock that Arc couldn't bear to look into them; he pressed his face against his friend's chest and murmured "please don't hate me now." Arc began to sob softly, snapping Luneth from his stupor.

"Hey, hey, don't cry!" He wrapped his arms tightly around his friend. Things were starting to piece themselves together in his mind. All that time Arc had liked him...perhaps even loved him, more than friends or adopted brothers...all that time he had felt that he wasn't good enough, that Luneth would only, maybe, accept his feelings if he were a "hero" too.

"I'm sorry," Arc sniffled a little and held onto the front of Luneth's shirt. "I really...I really like you Luneth. I couldn't tell you that before. But now I can...so please, if you can't accept it, just...please just don't hate me..."

Luneth pressed his mouth to the top of Arc's head and murmured "idiot". He then gently pushed Arc from his chest and made him look into his eyes.

"I don't hate you Arc," he said, his hand cupping his friend's chin and raising his head up. "I know you feel it was important to be an 'equal' to me, but I never thought of you as any less. Being heroes doesn't change anything between us. It has made you bolder though."

Arc had to smile at the compliment and the two laughed a little. Luneth still held Arc's chin gently in his hand and studied his face, almost as though he had never really seen him before. Arc's pale skin was pink with his blushing, dark brown eyes half closed and hidden by long dark lashes, lips slightly swollen from that sudden kiss. Luneth ran his thumb across Arc's lower lip, feeling how soft it was and drawing a very sexy sigh from his friend. That sigh, and the new-found acknowledgment of Arc's beauty, awakened in Luneth something he had always known and felt, but had never faced.

A moment of quiet passed between them, and in that moment everything changed. Luneth took the initiative now, leaning forward to claim Arc's lips in a more forceful kiss, holding him tightly in his arms as he pressed his awakening body against Arc's own. No more words were needed now, just gasps and sighs and soft moans as the two tugged at each other's clothing, stripping themselves bare even as their lips never parted for more than a few seconds.

Undressed, Arc was even more beautiful than Luneth could have imagined. His pale skin was unmarred and was like porcelain, save for the soft pink hues where his blushes would arise--across his chest as Luneth lapped at Arc's hardening nipples, down his stomach as Luneth placed kisses along the smooth skin, and all around and between his legs, the color rising in his stiffened member and even behind that, where his parted legs revealed the small opening that arched up towards Luneth's touch.

It was some ingrained instinct that took over as Luneth licked at Arc's opening, causing him to moan. Luneth then wet his fingers and slowly pushed them inside of Arc, gently working them as he swallowed Arc's painful gasps with his mouth until they turned to gasps of pleasure.

"Yes...there..." Arc sighed as Luneth moved his fingers inside of him. When Arc began to push on them with his own strength, Luneth withdrew, and both of them somehow knew what was to come next.

Arc sat up and took Luneth's hardness into his mouth, now making him the one to gasp and moan as Arc slid his tongue up and around his length, wetting the tip as much as he could. Then he turned over onto his stomach and got up on his hands and knees, his back arched and legs splayed wantonly as he looked over his shoulder at Luneth with half lidded eyes.

This sight alone nearly made Luneth come right then and there. It was only with incredible willpower that Luneth was able to close the space between them and slowly start to slide himself into Arc's hole. Luneth closed his eyes and gripped Arc's hips tightly, making sure that he went slow, even as his body screamed at him to push deep in the tight warmth. Arc's breathing was ragged and pained at first, but then as Luneth finally sank all the way in and waited, he began to relax, especially as one of Luneth's hands left his hip and began to stroke him.

Arc moaned at the duel sensations, the dulling pain and the sharpening pleasure, and Luneth had no choice but to move, causing them both to cry out at the new sensations. Luneth automatically stroked Arc in rhythm to his own movements, lost somewhere between the pleasure he felt from being inside of Arc and the pleasure of hearing Arc's moans and eventual cry at his release, which made Luneth fall over the edge as well, coming deep within the hot body for what seemed liked hours. After that, everything seemed to go dark.

Luneth had no idea if he had passed out or merely lost his senses for a moment, but he soon began to realize that he was lying on his back, still naked, with an also very naked Arc curled up against him, their arms thrown around one another. He looked down at his friend and found Arc looking right back at him, both of them displaying content smiles. Luneth pressed a kiss to Arc's forehead and the other made a happy sighing noise. They laid there for a long while, quiet at first, then whispering reassurances and sorry-just-in-case before finally saying what they had both felt for a long time, even if it took saving the world for Luneth to finally realize it and for Arc to finally admit it.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

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Epilogue: The party had started to die down when Luneth and Arc finally re-emerged into the grand ballroom. A few people looked surprised that they were even missing, while those like Alus and Refia gave them amused looks that also begged for details. Cid, however, was a bit miffed at having being ditched by Luneth and demanded to know where the two had gone for so damn long. Luneth and Arc merely laughed and ran over to join Refia and Ingus for a final standing ovation from the crowd. The cheers were long and loud for the four heroes who had saved the world. As they waved to their well wishers, Luneth and Arc slipped their free hands together. They both knew another adventure was starting, just for them.