“Need to know basis.”
“Yes, that. Need to know. He tells me what they want, not who they are.”
“And then you shoot them in the face.”
Miko kissed Toby on the nose, the last piece of the mark's face that had been left intact. And left on the lampshade. “Just once.” Toby lifted his chin and Miko kissed him again, the taste of cinnamon on his lips from anxiously eating candy on Miko's behalf while Miko was on the phone with Frank. “And I am not the only one to fuck up. Simon did!”
“Do tell,” Toby said, his eyes growing wide.
“He was to kill this man, poison him slowly to make it look like he was ill. The man married into a rich family and they wanted him gone. But before Simon finished him the man made his will for his illegitimate son to get the money. And the family could not cover it up because he arranged to publish it in newspapers!” Miko giggled, more at the disgrace Simon must've felt than the story itself. “It was worst thing that could happen except if he did not die.”
“Oops,” Toby laughed. “What did they do?”
“I do not know. They were unhappy. Silva must have given them a deal to clean it up.”
Tracing his fingertips over the flower petal tattoos on Miko's arms, Toby asked, “What happened to the son?”
Miko shrugged. “Maybe he got the money. Or he is dead. Maybe that was the deal.”
“He couldn't have been a kid then. They wouldn't hurt kids.”
“No, not on purpose.” Miko watched as Toby drew his fingers up Miko's arm, across his chest to the tattoo for his sister. He held Toby's hand there for a moment, remembering how he'd shied away from the same touch when they first met, Toby's innocent curiosity that Miko had immediately shot down. He brought Toby's hand to his lips. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
Miko shook his head. “I will have to make a list.”
Toby smiled. “Put it on a postcard. Will you write to me while you're away?”
“We will open a post box for you here.”
“I have one.”
“That is for work. This is separate.” He kissed his hand again and let him go. Toby brought it straight to Miko's pants. “I will add that to the list. First.”
“First?” Toby scoffed.
Miko thought for a second, then earned a quick smack for nodding with a grin on his face. But Toby couldn't have been too annoyed because he kept going after the zipper, and Miko groaned as Toby freed him. Miko brought his own hand down to entwine with Toby's, to touch himself in a way that had never been possible with anyone else. “First.”
“You do a lot for me too, you know,” Toby said, gently stroking him.
“I bopped your father on the bottom with the photo album.”
Toby made the kind of choking sound that marks would make when Miko jumped out and stabbed them by surprise, his hand frozen mid-stroke and his mouth open. He closed his eyes and whimpered. That was when Miko remembered that Nasir was very smart and had advised him not to tell Toby about it. But before he could even think of what to say, much less say it, Toby was laughing and shaking his head. “Of course you did.”
“It was accident?”
Giving him a look, Toby said, “Lie.”
“He will not go to the cops and tell them a German man with a red mouth stole his picture album and bopped him with it.”
“Nope. Not a chance in hell.” He laughed again. “Why would you do that?”
“I am fucked in the head.”
“You're just strange,” Toby said, thankfully resuming the motion of their hands. “But can you please not mention my family when I'm trying to have sex with you?”
“Of course.” Miko had to remind himself that Toby was much more uptight about sex. And practically everything else. “I would do anything for you.”
“Thank you.”
Miko shifted his weight as Toby jerked him off, Toby's own erection pressed against him. “Do you want to have sex with me? Really have sex with me?” He rocked back against him to show Toby what he meant.
It wasn't quite the level of shock as confessing to mildly assaulting his father, or the same sound that came out of him, but Miko's question had a similar effect: Toby stopped what he was doing and stared for a moment with his lips parted, then gave an uncomfortable laugh. “Do you want me to?”
“Okay,” Miko said agreeably, hopping off and holding out his hand to help Toby up.
Toby blushed and reached for him, his eyebrows knit as he stood and admitted, “I've uh...never done that before.”
“A virgin.” Miko grinned, suddenly eager for the opportunity to pop that particular cherry. He would've liked to have been Toby's first time altogether, to see how shy and awkward he was, and to introduce him to the world like he had been himself, in a night of infinite hedonistic pleasure. But Toby was shy and awkward with him now as it was, and Miko held his hands, walking backwards towards the bedroom and dragging Toby along. He'd always enjoyed being the aggressor with Toby and this was no different, using Toby's lack of experience to dominate him. Then Miko tripped on his own sagging pants and Toby had to catch hold of him to keep them both from falling over.
“The ever graceful little spoon,” Toby teased, his hand firmly around Miko's right wrist even though he had barely caught the fingers on Miko's left hand, still avoiding embarrassing him even on instinct.
For as much as Miko liked being little spoon, being cuddled from behind, he wanted his eyes on Toby now, not to miss a single second. Miko dropped his pants the rest of the way and kicked them off, leaving them in the hallway as they made their way to the bedroom.
“How do you want to...”
Miko pulled off Toby's shirt and tossed it aside, smiling as he unbuttoned Toby's pants. “Drop.”
Toby slid his pants down and stepped out of them, looking self-conscious as if he really was a virgin. Miko sat on the bed and scooted back, stacking both pillows up to lean on and relaxing with his knees up as Toby stood there growing more and more nervous. Reaching into the nightstand, Miko tossed the lube to his feet. Toby crawled onto the bed, pausing as he unscrewed the cap. “How long has it been since you've done this?”
It had been long enough that Miko really had to think about it to remember. “Years. A while before we met.” In general Miko did prefer to be on top, especially with someone like Toby who had such a clear preference to the contrary, but Miko didn't mind being the bottom with the right man. Or woman. Toby was the right man for him in every other aspect, he could be there too. “In Amsterdam. Before I shot that man in the face. It was a woman. She was a lot of woman.” Toby laughed, a nice break in the tension. “She was rough. You be gentle.”
Nodding, Toby wet his fingers with lube and unsurely raised his eyes to Miko. Toby had fingered him before, although it was rare for Miko to get the inclination. He only really craved it when he needed a little extra to forget himself, to shrug off the Mako Shark and focus on who he was with Toby, not what he was manufactured into being.
“It is okay,” Miko said, reaching for Toby's face and guiding him down, the reluctance leaving him when his lips met the familiarity of Miko's cock. He let out a low moan, curling his fingers in Toby's hair, the strands lightly catching the edges of the prosthetics.
Toby carefully brought the tip of his finger against Miko, barely pressing as he pleasured him with his mouth, his tongue sliding over the tip. He met Miko's eyes before slowly sliding it in further, moving his finger along with the bobbing motion of his head and then adding a second.
Miko felt like this moment couldn't have been more perfect, wishing acutely that Toby had been his first time too. He stood corrected when Toby found his prostate, the moment made significantly better, and he tightened his hold on Toby's hair, his head falling back on the pillows.
“You okay?” Toby asked, his breath hot on Miko's skin, his lips still close enough to graze him.
“I will come. Do it now.”
Toby licked his lips and removed his f
ingers, reluctantly rubbing lube over himself. “If it hurts I'll stop.”
“I know.”
Lifting Miko's knees a little higher, Toby positioned himself, clearly about to chicken out until Miko pulled him closer and kissed him, not caring that he could taste himself on Toby's lips. Toby pushed in a bit quicker than Miko was anticipating and he tensed involuntarily, but the look on Toby's face more than made up for the initial discomfort, like his concern over causing Miko pain was the only thing preventing him from coming right away. “I'm hurting you.”
“I am okay.” Miko kissed him again, holding Toby's face to his as Toby clumsily thrust inside of him, trying to hold back against what his body wanted, something Miko knew from years of personal experience felt too incredible to fight. Miko grabbed Toby's ass with his right hand, an act of encouragement rather than aggression to physically make Toby fuck him.
Toby laughed insecurely and kissed him back, finally letting the motion come naturally, getting out of his head so they could both get back to enjoying themselves. This was the part Miko did love about being a bottom, the sense of fullness, the physical contact on all sides, Toby's body touching him, inside of him, and he clung to Toby with all he had, closer to him than ever before.
Miko shuddered as he came and Toby groaned with the sensation of it, thrusting only a few more times before coming himself. Miko loved that part too, the moment where his partner collapsed on top of him with all of their weight.
“God, that was...” The look of serenity on Toby's face warped back to worry. “Was it awful?”
“I had forgotten what it was like.” Until now Miko hadn't really considered that he'd deliberately stopped letting men top him, that the effects of the incident in Nice were still with him just like the nickname he'd earned because of it. He'd only trusted a woman not to hurt him. And Toby. “You are so beautiful with this,” Miko set his hand on Toby's forehead, the beginning signs of wrinkles someone his age shouldn't have, “that I should like to cause you stress.” Blushing, Toby tried to pull out but Miko held him in place. “Stay. I want to remember this while I am in bed with Kevlar.”
“I didn't hurt you?”
“No, it is nice. It feels safe, you know?”
Toby smiled like there was a deeper understanding between them, like Miko had put his thoughts into words. “I know.”
They spoke very little on the morning of Miko's departure, just appreciative gestures and longing glances. They'd made love and Toby made streusel, and they drove to the airport in silence, Miko behind the wheel. They never had done stupid shit with the car.
“Can I come in with you?” Toby asked and Miko nodded, thinking about all the needless precautions he'd taken before to keep up the lie. Toby carried his bag for him and Miko slipped the car keys into Toby's pocket in case he forgot and left with them.
Miko took a luggage tag just like he had the first time he'd been called away, writing Kocham Cie and slipping that into Toby's pocket as well. Toby got teary eyed then, hugging him tightly, but they didn't embrace for long, both of them knowing that would just make it harder for him to leave.
“Be safe.”
“You too. Careful of parsnips.”
Toby forced a smile and nodded, beginning to walk away and then turning back and calling for him, “Hey, little spoon.” There was a spark of light in the sadness of his eyes and he smiled genuinely now. “Don't forget to smack Simon in the face.”
Supplies and Demands
Miko: Age 16
There was a car parked outside the factory when Miko returned from mailing his letter to Ophelia, a rental from the looks of it. The engine was still ticking as it cooled so whoever was visiting had only just arrived. Miko suspiciously circled it before heading inside.
A stocky man sweating through a light-colored linen suit was standing by one of the conveyor belts while Nasir hammered shut a box and carried it to him. The man didn't reach for it even though Miko could tell from where he stood, and from personal experience, that it was heavy, and Nasir set it on the conveyor belt instead. Hardly looking at the box, their visitor dismissively rattled off, “I'm gonna need a couple more 9mms as well, silencers to match obviously, and bullets...you did remember to include bullets for the guns in this box didn't you?”
Miko twitched, seeing blood dripping from the man's pores, staining his suit. Nasir had only been Miko's friend for a short while, but Miko already loved him even more than he'd hated him before, and he wanted to bleed this pig for his rudeness.
Nasir's expression didn't change at being treated like an idiot, he just subtly held his hand out for Miko to stay put. The man hadn't even noticed Miko, which would've cost him dearly if Nasir hadn't intervened on his behalf. Nasir cleared his throat and said, “No.”
“Excuse me?”
“That was not part of your order. If it were, I would have it in stock. Since it wasn't, I don't have it in stock.” They did have it in stock. Miko could see several boxes of bullets right there on the shelf, and beside them cases with guns and silencers. He'd shuffled them around just that morning for exercise. “You'll have to come back on Friday.”
“Friday?” the man scoffed. “I've made arrangements to have it all shipped tomorrow. You think I can just hop on a plane to America carrying enough guns to win a war?”
“If you believe eight guns is enough to win a war, I will place a wager on your opponent.” Nasir scooted the box closer to him. “Make other arrangements. I will see you Friday.”
“Silva will hear about this,” the man spat, briefly looking at the box as if he actually expected Nasir to carry it to the car for him.
“Yes, he will,” Nasir agreed, flashing a toothy grin. “Have a nice day.”
Struggling with the box, the man glared at Nasir and hauled it towards the door. Miko desperately wanted to trip him but Nasir gave him a warning glance and gestured for him to come over.
“Who the fuck was that?” Miko asked, still scowling after him.
“An associate. He works with Frank.”
Miko was so angry that he hadn't even registered that the associate mentioned America, but now his scowl softened and he looked with curiosity where the man had just been standing. “The guns are for Frank?”
Nasir had never encouraged Miko's fascination with the other assassins. It was the first time he'd mentioned one of them by name, even after Miko had been telling stories about them for weeks. Miko knew about Frank and about Charlie, his handler. He didn't know about American associates. He didn't know that man. “Would you like to learn how to shoot, Miko?”
I get to shoot Frank's guns, Miko thought and eagerly nodded. “You told associate that you did not have them.”
“Associate got what he asked for, and what he deserved. Now you have three days to fire as many bullets as you'd like. I will teach you how to clean the guns and then he can have them once you're finished.”
Miko grinned, holding back the urge to jump on Nasir and hug that skinny body of his with glee. “Thank you, Nas.”
Frank would shoot Miko's guns.
Since Miko had been putting together guns for months and learned firsthand the value of gun safety, they only had to practice loading and unloading with one usable hand before heading out back to start shooting.
“I will make left handed guns for you, but it is important to be comfortable with either in case you ever need to use someone else's gun.” Nasir gave Miko a pair of earplugs. He had big earmuffs himself, so large that it looked like his long, thin neck might collapse under the weight of his head. “Do you remember when you shot that man?”
Miko nodded.
“It was a gun like these? 9mm?”
“I think yes.” Miko remembered it being bigger, but Nasir said 9mms were most common, and Miko hadn't exactly been in his right mind.
“Where did you aim?”
Putting a candy into his mouth, Miko stared at the wine bottles Nasir had set on the fence to shoot. “His heart. I wanted to kill him.” He
could still see Anton's neck becoming a geyser, the way blood sprayed into the air. How Anton convulsed on the ground like a dying fish.
“And where did you hit?”
Miko had never admitted to Hector that he'd been aiming somewhere else. It was a failure on his part, but compared to the failure of taking care of his sister, it was hardly worth mentioning. “His throat.”
“How did you hold it? With both hands?”
With a slight twitch Miko raised Frank's gun, his right hand underneath the left. He thought about what Anton had said, “Put that down before you shoot your fingers off.” Miko was no longer excited to be shooting. He couldn't see the prosthetics on his stumps even though he could still feel them, and knew for certain they were there.
Nasir moved behind him, adjusting his hands to a more natural position, one that didn't take a fresh and extremely painful injury into consideration. “The first gun I fired was an AK-47. Do you know why they use those for children?”
Miko had assembled assault rifles. He wouldn't let a child anywhere near them. “No.”
“Because accuracy does not matter. All you have to do is pull the trigger and hold on.” Nasir released him and stepped back. “You killed Anton. With no training, in a state of shock and grief, eight years old, using your left hand, your right hand in tatters. I would like to see what these idols of yours would do in that condition.”
Cracking a smile, Miko turned his face so Nasir wouldn't see him blush.
“Now aim.”
Miko shifted his stance so the sight was lined up, instead of just pointing and shooting like he had with Anton.
Nasir laughed to himself. “You favor your left eye. Did you know that?”
“This is bad?”
“It is good that you are left handed. You would be cross dominant. Your shooting would be off if you used your right hand but sighted with your left eye.”
“My shooting is already off.”
“Your shot was. And that is okay. Your next will be better.” Nasir went and drew a circle with chalk on the fence. He seemed to have no concern about walking in front of a loaded gun, despite the fact that Miko would've very willingly shot him just a short time ago. “There.”
The Mercy of the Mako Shark Page 9