The air was damp and filled with the putrid smell of blood and decay. Ludwig wrinkled his noise in disgust but refused to give any other sign of discomfort. He was here for a reason and as long as he hadn't found what he wanted he would put up with the dirt and the stench in the air. A faint scream reverberated through the tunnel he was currently walking in and Ludwig felt the hair on his neck rise.

The dragon pit was not a pleasant place to be, it was here that newly captured or hatched dragons were tamed and even though most surrendered rather quickly a few of them put on a fight. And even of those a few proved to be untamable and until it was decided what was to be done with them, or rather how best to dispose of them, they were kept here in the lowest parts of the pit, chained and bound and nearly starved to keep them weak.

Ludwig had spent quite some time searching for a dragon; he had watched when newly captured beasts had been brought in, as rarely as that ever happened these days, he had inspected every new hatchling that had been bred in these walls but the result had always been the same. They were insufficient. He looked for strength, not body strength but strength of spirit and mind, an equal that wouldn't just mindlessly carry him but one that was a challenge that could live up to what Ludwig expected from him.

This was his final option. The untamable dragons deep in the dungeon's bowels, those that soon would be put to the sword for there was no use for a dragon that would not obey. Those whose defiance was unyielding even in the face of death. It was a risky decision and he had to put all the weight of his family's name behind the request but in the end he had been granted access, but only after he had signed a paper that freed the master of the pit and his men from all responsibility. Ludwig had no problem with that, he didn't come here to die and if a Beilschmidt didn't want to die fate had no choice to accept that.

Or something like that the saying went.

Not that Ludwig kept up with what the common people whispered about his name.

They reached a gate, a rusty thing with screeching hinges and even a bent bar, as if someone or something had tried to break free. Ludwig stepped through, his guide staying behind and the look he gave the blonde once he was through spoke much of his fear. But Ludwig was unconcerned. He had heard rumors about this one peculiar dragon, a beautiful thing in the sky, but ferocious and defiant even as starved and depraved of light and water as he was at the moment.

He had been captured a few months ago and since the head sorcerer still held some hopes for his taming he was alive but his time was running out along with the patience of his captors who grew tired of tending to the wounds he struck in those who tended to him.

Ludwig had a torch with him, no electricity down here yet and he carefully picked his way over the uneven floor where years of imprisoned dragons had left their marks on the stony ground. The wall was stained with what appeared to be dried blood and other more unpleasant things and the stench here was even worse than in the upper parts.

There was a pale figure slumped in one corner, the torchlight reflected from what appeared to be chains and then a bit of red flashed as the light hit eyes, followed by a hiss and the rustling of cloth as the figure stirred.

He was thin, bones were poking out of malnourished flesh and there were dark shadows under his eyes. The skin was covered in dirt but under that seemed to be unnaturally white, the same as the hair that stuck to his dirt streaked face. Bit what mostly captured Ludwig's attention were the eyes, those fierce glowing red eyes that hold all the feral wildness of the beast hat hid beyond human flesh.

He bared his teeth, flashing white against the faded pink of lips and the snarl that erupted from his chest was more than just a warning – it was a challenge. "Look at you." He snarled and his eyes narrowed as he took in Ludwig's form. "What brought you down here princess?" His voice is hoarse and scratchy, its sound echoing unpleasantly against the walls.

Ludwig didn't reply, he has no inclination of playing games with that dragon, no he tried to assess the worth this person might have for him. He looked scrawny at best but with a bit of care and lots of food that could be remedied.

"Something ate your tongue? Or is that stick in your ass preventing you from speaking?" His words woke an ire within Ludwig, one he was not used to. There was a smirk on the man's lips, despite the bruises, despite the dirt that clung to his gaunt features, they fire in his eyes was bright as it could be. Yes, this was exactly what Ludwig was looking for.

"I could need someone like you." Ludwig said, crossing his arms before his chest. He needed a bit of fine tuning and a lot of work on his manners, but that was nothing that Ludwig couldn't handle. The other snorted. "And why would I put up with a stick in the mud like you?" Before Ludwig could say anything to that he pressed on. "You're not the first to come and claim me, to fight your battles and hide behind me. I'd rather die than fight for the likes of you."

Ludwig met his gaze levelly, he had nothing to hide and he didn't come here to 'claim' but to make an offer. "I fight my own battles, but there are things I can't achieve on my own. I don't search for a servant, but for an equal, for someone exactly like you." At his words the look in the man's eyes changed, ever so slightly, the scowl not yet gone but now there was clearly interest. "What would I gain from that?" He asked, his tongue darting out once to lick over his lips. The tip was unnaturally long and sharp.

"Like I said, you would be my equal, not in rank, I can't allow that but those are formalities. Your words hold the same weight as mine, I will heed your council as you should heed mine. And of course a change of location." Ludwig's voice was even, he didn't give away how important this was for him. This was the only dragon that fit his demands, and he would take this one or no other.

"Fine, under one condition." Ludwig raised an eyebrow, there was a certain glint in the other's eyes, making Ludwig wonder what exactly that condition was. "Fight me. With a sword, with fists, I don't care. Only fight me and show me that your worlds hold true." Ludwig almost smirked, almost. He liked this one more and more.

"Deal."

Ludwig had preferred it to give Gilbert, that was his name, time to gain some strength before their battle, but the other insisted on fighting him immediately after he was released. There was no need of drawing it out unnecessarily. And after he had reassured him that he had still plenty of strength left, he was a dragon after all, Ludwig had finally relented.

The weapon Ludwig chose was the sword.

He was also good with his fists but that fighting style didn't suit him, it was too brute and often made a mess. No the fine arts of swordplay was much more to his liking. The battle was held in the dungeons, in one of the training rings for those who liked to educate their charges in 'human combat', a feature used more often than one would have expected. Roderich would act as a judge, as much as he hated it to be down in this 'filthy rat hole', he would be strictly fair, and more importantly, trustworthy. He had brought Elizaveta with him, despite Ludwig's protests that the dragon pit was no place for a woman.

But then again one would be foolish to treat Elizaveta like a woman, noble or not.

As it turned out Ludwig was in for a surprise. Gilbert was half starved, weakened from weeks of imprisonment but still he held his ground against the other. He even got close to landing a few hits, but Ludwig was using what little advantage he had over Gilbert's experience and eventually overcame it him with body strength.

Gilbert tried to land a blow but Ludwig deflected his blade and pushed into the now open space, shoving his full weight against the smaller, unbalancing him in the process. Gilbert fell hard on his butt once his footing was lost and Ludwig was on him in a blink, pushing the blunt edge of the training sword against his throat.

For a moment they were locked in that position, both panting and sweating from the effort and it was in that moment that Gilbert decided that this human was worthy of him. He smirked, almost as if he was the winner and pushed aside the blade pointed to his throat.

Roderich clapped his hand, calling an end to the duel and declaring Ludwig as official winner. He still wasn't too excited about Ludwig's choice to take in Gilbert but he respected his friend and would accept every decision he made. Albeit younger Ludwig was almost too responsible, always serious and hard working. If he said he could handle it Roderich wouldn't doubt him.

Ludwig tossed aside his sword and reached out his hand, after a short moment when both eyes were locked on each other Gilbert grabbed the hand and let himself be pulled up. Ludwig wrinkled his nose. "You reek, you should take a bath." Gilbert huffed. "I want to see you smell like flowers after spending a few months in that piss hole."

"We'll work on that language." Ludwig reprimanded but there was distinct smile on his lips. He started to like Gilbert, he was blunt and a bit rough at the edges but he would be a good counterpart to his own stern self. And if the way he wielded a sword was anything to go by he would wreck havoc in the sky.

He thanked Roderich for his efforts and took Gilbert by the arm again to finally lead him out of the pit and to his own rooms. Gilbert really needed a shower and he would make sure the other got one before he let him anywhere near his furniture. He didn't really want to think about what exactly stuck to Gilbert's skin.

The moment they reached Ludwig's rooms he shoved Gilbert into the bathroom and slammed the door behind him, causing a startled 'What the hell?' echoing through the closed door. Ludwig settled down for a bit of waiting time but before he could do so his attention was peaked by Gilbert's not so quite muttering.

"What is this even? Come on who has a garrote attached to the wall? Aren't garrotes supposed to be like thin or something? And what is that supposed to b-" His voice was cut of by a yelp and the unmistakably splashing of water. It had dawned on Ludwig that Gilbert might just not be familiar with the concept shower and his suspicion was proven when he quickly entered the bathroom to a quite unique scene.

Gilbert was 'fighting' the shower head that was spraying cold water in his face, his eyes furious and his clothes soaked, setting the whole bathroom under water in the process. Ludwig lunged forward with a growl and yanked the head out of Gilbert's hands, directing the water into the tub before switching it off.

"It attacked me!" Gilbert pointed an accusing finger at the shower head. "But no water monster can defeat the awesome me." A light headache was prodding at Ludwig's skull and he rubbed his temple in annoyance. "This is not a monster and it is used to clean yourself." He explained, exasperated under the accusing glance of Gilbert.

He then simply decided to take matter in his own hands and take care of cleaning Gilbert; maybe he could beat some common sense into him in the process. Ludwig's parents had come to accept rather soon that their son liked his home not only clean but spotless clean. But no matter how hard his mother worked to clean out his room or the kitchen or the bathroom she never got it clean enough and eventually she would just let Ludwig do the cleaning, it saved a lot of nerve.

She would have been worried but other than that Ludwig was the perfect kid, diligent in everything he did, and honestly who would complain if the tedious act of scrubbing floors and dusting off shelves was taken from one's hands? And Ludwig continued to make them proud, being the best in his class and aspiring a carrier in the military, proving to be skilled in both battle and tactical matters.

So when Ludwig decided to take over the cleaning he did so with an overly professional manner. He didn't accept any objections as he stripped Gilbert of whatever meager clothing he had been wearing. The clothes were then silently dropped into a heap at the door with the mental note attached that they would later burn in the fire place.

Gilbert was then dumped into the bathtub and Ludwig climbed in after him sans his shirt and with his pant legs rolled up. At this point Gilbert had given up any form of protest, it was pointless anyway and he'd rather not Ludwig made true on his threat of throwing him in one of the pools in the underground bathhouse. Gilbert technically wasn't afraid of water but he couldn't swim and the thought of deep holes with water in them made him uncomfortable.

So he sat in the bathtub and let Ludwig lather his hair with soap and scrub away at his skin until it was bright red but clean. Ludwig shoved past him to stand in front of him to get better access to his neck and Gilbert found himself full face with a quite interesting sight.

Ludwig's pants were soaked and clung to his legs like a second skin but the most interesting part was that Gilbert cut make out quite a bulge between his legs. It wasn't that Ludwig had a hard on it was more that he simply had an impressive package and Gilbert found himself drawn to that package. Before he knew it he had grabbed it.

Ludwig who had been bending over to reach for the soap shot up like he had been bitten and stood for a moment with painfully straight back and bulging eyes. "What are you doing?" He growled once he had collected himself enough to realize that Gilbert wasn't threatening his manly parts but instead was squeezing them almost tenderly. Thank goodness Gilbert couldn't see the blush on his cheek from this angle.

Gilbert noticed however the slight shiver that ran through Ludwig's body as he squeezed a bit tighter and he also noticed that Ludwig hadn't batted his hand away. Interesting. Instead of an answer he gave Ludwig's balls a tight squeeze and smirked as he heard the sharp intake of breath somewhere above him.

"Stop that." Ludwig growled, but still he didn't move to stop the other. "Make me." Gilbert taunted and leaned forward to press his lips against the bulge that was significantly bigger than before. Maybe if he had known what he triggered with his words he would have thought them through a bit more. Okay who are we kidding he would still have said them, knowing exactly what they would get him into.

Ludwig growled again. Only this time it was a pure animalistic sound, one that sounded threatening and promising altogether. Gilbert had never before heard a human making such feral noises, and it turned him on immeasurably.

Ludwig grabbed the scruff f his neck and pulled him up against the wall and before Gilbert could react there were lips on his, pressing firmly, demanding entrance and as rebellious as he usually was, Gilbert found himself quite pliant to Ludwig's demands. Gilbert lifted his hand to press against Ludwig's neck and bring him closer but he was caught before he could reach the other and his hands were pressed against the cool tiles above his head. A shiver ran through Gilbert's body as he felt a knee wedge between his legs and his groan was swallowed up by Ludwig's hungry mouth.

Before he realized what was happening he was turned around and again pressed against the tiled wall, somewhere in between his assault and the position change Ludwig had managed to shut off the water. Gilbert's head was spinning; the hot breath in his neck and that hand that was on his body drove him crazy.

"It seems I need to teach you some manners." Ludwig's voice was hoarse and if the firm warmth that pressed against the back of Gilbert's thigh was any indication he was just as hard as Gilbert. Ludwig kept Gilbert's hands pinned while he was fumbling with his belt until he had pried open the buckle and with one smooth motion he pulled it out of the loops. He was tempted to give Gilbert a spanking with the belt but things like that should always be handled with delicacy.

So instead he dragged Gilbert's hands down, pushing the other man onto his knees and using the startled moment of surprise to tie Gilbert's hands to the faucet, forcing him to kneel awkwardly on the hard ground of the bathtub. He then used the opportunity to get a face towel from the rack on the wall and forced the cloth between Gilbert's teeth, essentially cutting of the tirade of complaints that had erupted as soon as he had noticed what Ludwig was doing.

Gilbert still struggled, but there was something I his eyes, a sort of lust that seemed to quarrel with the offence at being tied down. Ludwig sat down on the tub's edge and nudged his foot against Gilbert's erection, observing with curiosity how a jolt seemed to surge through the other's body and he arched his back, moaning deeply into the towel.

Ludwig had a peculiar taste in bed, he had no preference as to woman or man but there was one thing he liked, no wanted in every one of his partners. That certain submissive and a little bit of masochistic streak that made them moan under the heels of his boots and beg for more as he commanded them to lick them clean.

And Gilbert had exactly that streak. It was obvious in how he squirmed; wiggling his ass into the air almost as an offering to the god that Ludwig now was to him. Ludwig continued moving with his toes, driving Gilbert half crazy with his teasing but that was the point. When Gilbert tried to increase friction by rubbing down on the offending foot, Ludwig pulled back his leg, causing Gilbert to moan in frustration. He would have made Gilbert beg for attention but since he had no intention of removing the gag anytime soon he would have to handle this differently.

Ludwig leaned over to reach the cupboard under the sink and pulled out a small box with his emergency bathroom equipment. He kept the bigger box with his toys and utensils in the bedroom but sometimes he ended up in the bathroom without time or motivation to walk into the bedroom to get what he wanted first. He didn't need to look to get the item he wanted and after a bit of thinking he pulled out a second item before h put the box back where it belonged.

Gilbert had grown restless, not being able to see what Ludwig did behind him was kind of unnerving and he found himself becoming more and more anticipant with want. He was startled when there were suddenly fingers at his entrance and instinctively he tried to get away but a firm hand on his stomach prevented that. And then all the breath was caught in Gilbert's throat as a sharp pain in his backside sent shivers of pleasure through his body. He tensed and the pain intensified and he couldn't help but moan, the sound muffled against the cloth in his mouth.

The pain was delicious and he was almost disappointed when the sharp sting faded and only the feeling of stimulation remained. But that was quickly remedied as another finger was added and the pain was back, drawn out longer this time, an exquisite torture that made Gilbert's heart race. He was sweating; his skin was hot and cool at the same time as the pain ebbed through his pleasure wrecked body.

Before the pain could fade this time a third finger was eased into him and this time tears came to Gilbert's eyes at the sharpness of it and despite feeling as he was being ripped open his body was rejoicing. Gilbert bit down on the towel, his breath becoming more and more labored and Ludwig hadn't even touched his cock yet.

Ludwig pulled out his fingers and slapped a hand on Gilbert's round ass, as punishment for the obvious jerk of hips that came as a response to the withdrawal of fingers. He took the other item he took from the box and coated it in a generous amount of the lube he had used previously on his fingers. He was could be sadistic no doubt but he wasn't necessarily callous. Some things needed to be handled with delicacy after all.

He spread Gilbert's ass cheeks with one hand while the other lined up the dildo in front of his entrance. Gilbert's back arched as he pushed it in slowly and Ludwig could clearly hear his struggle breath against the towel. It was the most delicious sight he had had in a long while.

Ludwig worked slowly at first, pushing the dildo in until it was almost swallowed up before he pulled it out again. And every movement sent shivers through Gilbert's body. The moisture on his body was no longer only water but mixed with sweat that was helpless against the heat that radiated from the other's body. The pale skin glistened and looked so tasty Ludwig wanted to bury his teeth into it.

With a devious smirk that was lost on the writhing man beneath him Ludwig leaned forward, hand braced on the opposite wall and dug his teeth into Gilbert's shoulder. His victim gave a startled moan and a shudder closely followed as Ludwig worked to make a mark in the almost white skin. The purplish bruise stood out in stark contrast and Ludwig lowered his head again to leave another, right beside the first.

His other hand kept steadily moving, in and out, in and out. His own erection was painfully obvious against the constricting cloth of his pants and he caught himself rubbing his thighs together in a sort of desperate attempt on gaining some relief. He hadn't been this horny since, well since ever practically. He wanted Gilbert so badly, it took an almost physical toll on him to hold back and not just slam into the other.

He grabbed a fistful of Gilbert's hair and pulled his head up so that he had access to his neck. A lick of tongue and then teeth again, he nipped at Gilbert's exposed skin and drank in every shudder his actions provoked. Gilbert had a unique taste that, despite being freshly cleaned, reminded him of camp fires on summer nights and ashen taste of fresh grilled steak. Ludwig wouldn't be surprised at all if he were to fall addicted to that taste- and the person in question.

It was at this point that Ludwig decided he didn't only want to see and taste Gilbert, he also wanted to listen to his voice. With great reluctance Ludwig pulled back from Gilbert's neck and loosened the knot that held the towel in place. Another tug and the obstructing fabric was gone, the room immediately filled with heavy pants and soft groaning. The sound instantly went to Ludwig's crotch, his already painfully hard erection throbbing with desperate want.

He pushed in the dildo as deep as possible and peeled of his pants when Gilbert's moan cut right through the air. He hastily poured some lube on his member and positioned himself right behind Gilbert, pulled the dildo out with one smooth movement and pushing into Gilbert in another one. He didn't give the other time to adjust to the change, the feeling was to intense and he moved, setting a quick pace right from the beginning.

Gilbert's breath hitched at the intrusion and his hands grabbed the faucet to cling onto, lights were dancing in front of his eyes and the way that sweet sensual pain was invading his body was just too much for him. He openly voiced his pleasure, moaning and sometimes even screaming. Ludwig grunted behind him and nails dug into his hips and so he moved to meet every thrust. He could feel his voice go hoarse but he didn't mind, because in that moment he suddenly felt a hand on his cock and all coherency was washed away as he was once again coaxed into hardness.

Ludwig thrust as hard as possible, skin slapping against skin and each thrust sent a rolling shiver through Gilbert's body. Yet he came back every time to meet him. His hand found Gilbert's member and he hastily pumped and the hoarse almost-scream he got in reply spurred him on even more.

It didn't take long after that, Gilbert had danced around his limit for a long time now and a few hard tugs were enough to finally send him over the edge. Ludwig was more resilient, but he hadn't been exposed to so much pleasure. He had to hold Gilbert's body upwards for his last few hard thrusts, all the strength had left the other with his orgasm but Ludwig was able to release shortly after.

He let go of Gilbert and the other slumped down, heavily panting and mind still high upwards somewhere in blissful heaven of sex. Ludwig pulled out and sat down on the edge of tub again, his leg were shaking from the effort but damn he felt satisfied.

"Not bad for the first time, but you still need some training." Ludwig allowed himself a slight smirk as he noticed the shiver that ran through Gilbert's body upon hearing his words and the oh so promising undertone.

Ludwig decided he really liked Gilbert.