Nicolo di Genova @dagenovaconamore - Tumblr Blog

alkaysani-yusuf:

His arms wrapped around Nicky in kind, holding him tight as the water continued to drain. He breathed out deeply as warm lips pressed to his throat, his shoulder, a shiver running through him. His fingers spread wide of Nicky’s back.

No, he did not want to think about those dark times. Or the fear they had caused that had not lived in him until then. There was, of course and always, the fear of what death might be their last. But what had happened to Andy and Quyhn? It was more awful than that.

His hands dragged down Nicky’s body as he pushed up on the tub. Tempting creature, his Niccolò. He let his eyes drink him in. Trying to forgot these dark fears. He smiled, knowing Nicky hated to be even a little wet when he got into bed. But it was the offer of a song that had his eyes lighting up. His smile even wider now, but softer too.

“You know how I love when you sing for me, hayati,” he murmured, he took the offerend hand and stood, stepping out after Nicky. “Voice of an angel.”

He reached out to grab one of the large towels from the shelf. He wrapped it around Nicky’s shoulders, pulling him close. It was chilly but there was Nicky against him and what more warmth could he want?

“You always ease me,” he said softly, pressing a soft kiss to that beloved mole, then the very corner of his mouth. “But I would very much love to hear you sing.”

Nicky gave a slowly spreading smile when when his Yusuf took hold of him and didn’t allow him to stand so easily. There were hands splayed against his back; Nicky gave Joe a soft nasalized huff before he was allowed to stand. Then his Yusuf was standing with him and he was being dragged around with a towel for poetic words and fleeting warmth between their bodies.

“Do you want to hear something old fashioned? Or should I pull out the timeless Dean Martin, as they say, hmm?” Nicky asked this as he shimmied with his towel going down his back. He knelt just enough to dry his legs. “There are so many songs I would want to sing to you, amore mio,” Nicky told Joe as he stood back up and dried Joe’s chest before doing the same to his own. “Or maybe some pop?” Nicky was teasing now but he couldn’t help himself. “Some Britney Spears or Usher?” he offered with a wink.

Kissing a smiling Joe was such and easy thing. That crinkled look on his beloved’s face was everything to Nicky. When Nicky pulled back, he immediately pushed forward again as his face found his Yusuf’s damp neck and he sucked off droplets of water and hummed, again, as he wrapped the towel around his waist. Nicky then backed up and held onto the towel with one hand as he motioned for Joe to follow.

“Or maybe you want to hear some hip-hop, yes? Would that thrill you?” Nicky was chuckling because he was unable to tame his face when he was facetious with Joe. “I could sing you some Rihanna,” he joked. “Yellow diamonds in the light, hmm?” Nicky made himself stop with an impish grin, knowing he was being ridiculous. “Request something, go on.”

#alkaysani yusuf

alkaysani-yusuf:.

Joe did not mean to silence Nicky. And if he needed to speak of these fears, Joe would always listen to him. Always. After Quyhn was first lost they had spoken many times of it. How could they not? How? It had consumed them both, that fear.

But he had so startled Joe with this. He hadn’t been prepared to hear those words, to feel that fear again. Not when they were here and safe. Not now. His heart raced still. He shivered as the water began to drown though he was sure that wasn’t the only cause.

He was out of breath all over again as Nicky pressed their foreheads together. His hands rubbing up and down Nicky’s arms. His dark eyes moved over his face, taking in each beloved feature. Each one as familiar as his own. The slope of his nose, that mole, those lips, the sharp cool color of his eyes. How many times had he drawn that face?

He shook his head, Nicky didn’t need to apologize. Joe shouldn’t have reacted that way. Should have let Nicky speak. His hands caught Nicky’s face and he closed his eyes as soft lips pressed against his cheeks. He kissed him once more, his lips and then his jaw, that spit just behind his ear.

“I don’t want you to be uneasy,” he murmured. “What happened to her… I know we cannot control everything around us, but I will not let that happen. I won’t, I can’t.”

After hundreds of years with this man how could he possibly go without him? It would tear his heart out of his chest. Surely he would be as good as dead, worse. He pulled back to meet Nicky’s eyes.

“Let me get you to bed, Nico,” he said softly. “I know how tired you are.”

Hugging Joe when he said he didn’t want Nicky to be uneasy, Nicky shook his head and smiled. “And I don’t want you thinking about dark times. They wound you, Yusuf. They always have.” He paused for a breath and then, pressed a kiss to Joe’s throat. “It was a dream. It will pass,” he assured his lover before pressing more kisses to the curve of Joe’s neck and his shoulder.

“I don’t want to sleep,” Nicky said when Joe brought it up. “Let’s dry off and then see what happens.” Joe knew Nicky didn’t like to be wet in the sheets and why should they be when there was shelving for towels by the the door of the bath?

Nicky put his hands on the edges of the tub and raised up over Joe. “What would you say if I offered to sing you something, hmm?” he taunted with a raise of his brow, knowing how Joe got when he sang, which was rare. Nicky’s singing voice was deep and smooth, and would certainly be heard by Andy and Booker. Nicky could remember when he’d first sang around Joe and the reaction to the sound, not unlike Nicky’s when his Yusuf had first sang for him. Joe had a much richer quality to his voice. Nicky was raised on hymns and it showed in his inability to waver from the classics.

Slowly, Nicky got out of the tub and held his hand for Joe to follow. “Come with me, sole mio,” Nicky said softly. “Let us ease each other.”

#alkaysani yusuf

alkaysani-yusuf:

There it was. The worst fear. The one that pulled them from sleep gasping for breath and desperately reaching for the other. That they might be trapped, caged, separated from one another.

“Don’t say such things,” Joe whispered, the tremor in his voice betraying the very real fear in his heart. He didn’t know how Andy continued on. And he could not imagine the agony of Quyhn’s eternity. “Don’t even speak them.”

Though they had many times after Andy lost Quyhn. In quiet shaking voices, tears held back when they could be. It had taken so long to come back from that dark time. He couldn’t imagine facing eternity without Nicky. Allah, his whole chest hurt to even imagine it. To know he was suffering and be unable to help him. His arm tightened around Niccolò.

“I can’t- I can never lose you that way, Niccolò. I wouldn’t survive it. Whatever anyone around us thinks, it doesn’t matter. If I never get to hold your hand in public or take you dancing, that’s fine as long as I don’t lose you.”

He shifted enough that he could look over Nicky’s shoulder and turn his face to meet Joe’s. There was a very real fear in his eyes.

“These times will pass and change. We’ve seen it before. And we will live to see it again. Together. That is the only label that matters, that I am yours and you are mine and we… we are together. I love you, Niccolò. Amore mio. Please, let your head and heart rest from these thoughts. I will not lose you, I cannot.”

He didn’t want to leave this bath either, except there was a large and comfortable bed waiting for them. His lips caught Nicky’s, regardless of the angle. Kissing him hard, tongue brushing lips, his hand gripping Nicky’s jaw. His body thrumming with this fear.

He could not lose Nicky. Not like that.

Nicky intertwined his long fingers with Joe’s free hand as Joe pulled him into a kiss with the other. Kissing Joe was never a hard thing to do, and he was never bashful about the act. Nicky met the use of tongue with his own and pulled their connected hands to his chest. They kissed until the need for breath, and then they kissed again. The water lightly sloshed around them as Nicky pushed closer, wanting to apologize for the thoughts he’d caused within Joe by using his own body for comfort.

Reaching out with his foot, Nicky wasn’t fully stretched in the tub, but he could feel the plug with his foot. He pulled on the chain, and the cooled water began to drain. Meanwhile, he slowly turned into Joe and continued the kiss. How he loved those lips, that beard. Nicky relished in the rubbing burn he received. He then sucked on Joe’s lower lip, pulling at the bit of plump flesh with his mouth. Swallowing, Nicky finally let his eyes flutter open, and he touched his forehead to his Yusuf’s and breathed.

There was not a word Nicky could speak and calm Joe, they both knew this. Nicky was at fault for bringing up such things. Their immortal fear of being caged and never able to touch the other again. There was nothing more terrifying, and Nicky was sorry he’d put the thought in his Yusuf’s mind, and so, he nuzzled Joe’s face. While the draining water began to gurgle and leave their bodies damp and cold, Nicky pushed against Joe’s chest and finally spoke.

“Mi dispiace amore mio,” Nicky apologized softly before he kissed Joe’s cheeks. He then pushed their foreheads together once more, Nicky always being more of a physical romantic than spoken one. He ran his tongue over his own lips, tasting Joe there and sighing. He wanted to sleep, but more than that, he wanted his Yusuf to be of sound mind again.

#alkaysani yusuf

“You’re an incurable romantic.”

#kaysanova #joe x nicky #the old guard #indie rp #i made a quick thing #promo #out of swords

fangirlshrewt97

Joe: Nicky, I need the…

(Nicky hands him his sketchbook)

Joe: Oh, also, I didn’t have a chance to…

(Nicky hands him coffee)

Joe: Marry me?

Nicky: We’ve been married the last seven hundred years.

#joe x nicky #yes my man is like this #out of swords

alkaysani-yusuf:

“Nico,” Joe sighed softly. “This is an old guilt. What brought it up?”

It wasn’t only Nicolò, Yusuf too had killed his countrymen to protect Nicolò. Once they had decided to stop murdering one another, had realized they might not like each other but they were connected. All those years ago Yusef had defended Jerusalem because it had needed defending against invaders. Not because of a holy calling. Nicolò had been his calling. His gift from Allah. Not a challenge to his faith, a renewal, a chance to forgive and to love.

But for Nicolò it was more complicated.

His chin lifted and he wrapped his arms around Nicky as he pressed his face against Joe’s neck. But his hold was light. Nicky was restless suddenly. Turning in his lap as suddenly as he had turned the first time. Nicky’s back settled against his chest again and Joe let his hands spread over his chest, his stomach, pulling him in tight.

“We are good men, Nico, you are a good man. The best man I know. Ya qamar. We do our best, we try to turn the tide of this world towards something good. God forgives.”

His lips pressed just behind Nicky’s hair, breathing him in. Dragged across his jaw. Sin, Allah, faith. They had been alive so many years, had seen it all change so much. Once what they had was commonplace, perhaps not paraded in public and celebrated but there were great poets of his people who celebrated the love between two men. The hate that existed now was in some ways altogether new.

But he could not find a way to say to his love; sin is relative. Yes, killing was a sin. But if they killed evil men? Was the sin not forgivable?

Nicky kept his head against Joe’s shoulder and sighed softly. It was old guilt, but guilt and Catholicism? They were such a muddled mess. Plus, there was Nicky’s moral compass which always pinged when he had dreams of the past, even they were of saving and fighting alongside his Yusuf.

“Before I fell asleep, I was thinking about long ago. How it was so different for us then. How no one cared about who a man loved. How we used to go to public springs together and bathe together and no one batted an eye. But now, we are labeled as gay and it is such a burden of a label, Yusuf. What would have happened to us if we’d been caught in the many Inquisitions? Would one or both of us take Quynh’s place? Even now, my own home country would find a way to split us up. They say that people get more close-minded with age. And I don’t think it’s just people. It’s the culture itself.”

Going quiet, Nicky shook his head, feeling like nothing had made sense. It was an ebb and flow of the world. People would cry that gays had more rights now than ever, but did they ever think of the ancients and the indigenous peoples? How it was a hardly a sin in those times? Who were the real heathens?

Swallowing hard, Nicky took Joe’s hand and looked at it with reverence and thought about how skin color had always, ALWAYS been a deciding factor for those of lighter skin and not quite so with those who had dark complexions like his Yusuf.

“I don’t know why my mind went there. Or maybe I do. Maybe, it’s because we were discussing the roots of things and just... popped into my head. I despise it, sole mio. You are the love of my life, the love of my immortal existence. There is nothing wrong or needing of a label about that.”

Nicky sniffed and brought Joe’s hand up for kisses. He took his time and kissed each finger slowly and methodically before his lips touched Joe’s thumb. They then slid immediately to Joe’s palm before he nuzzled his jaw and cheek into that hand.

“I never want to leave this bath,” he muttered, finally relaxing and slumping against Joe again.

#alkaysani yusuf

alkaysani-yusuf:

Joe realized his quiet words were being lost on Nicky, as he felt the tension draining from his love. He was falling asleep. He’d thought he would. All the more reason Joe should be the one holding him and bathing him. Lest he slip down past the edge of the water.

Joe grew quiet, still dragging the warm soft cloth over Nicky’s shoulders and chest, keeping him warm. His lips pressed to the side of his face, his temple, his shoulder. He was content to hold him as he drifted. He relished these quiet moments. Baths especially, plumbing and hot water- the first time they’d gotten to experience that indoor they’d practically stayed in for a week. Wasn’t quite as amazing as hot springs- nothing could truly beat nature after all- but very convenient and impressive.

He let his eyes close, breathing in Nicky and the soap and the warmth of the room. Only to jerk them away as Nicky jerked in his arms.

“Niccolò!” he breathed sharply, alarmed.

He steadied Nicky as he turned, water sloshing, trying to keep him steady.

“Nico, rouhi, what was it?”

His hands tightened on his hips. The concerned didn’t leave his expression, only deepened as Nicky seemed so determined to ignore whatever had just passed. Lips pressed to his and he could not deny Nicky a kiss he so obviously needed. Returning it with as much passion and reassurance as he could manage. One hand sliding to the small of Nicky’s back and pulling him closer.

He didn’t want to let him pull away, but watched as he grabbed the clothe. A small shiver running through him as warm water slid down his chest and back.

“You haven’t lost me, amore mio,” he said quietly, the words barley more than soft rumble. “Tell me. What was it?”

NIcky wished he could have seen Joe resting with him. It was only downside to being the little spoon, but the upsides? Being in Joe’s arms, having his nose against the back of Nicky’s neck, and keeping Joe away from harm? Nicky wouldn’t have it any other way. Sleeping apart was so difficult for him now, after such a long time. Though, he remembered a time when he wouldn’t dare sleep in the same bed as a Moor. How awful he’d been, even though he’d protected his Yusuf back then, when he couldn’t understand their connection or the feelings he had for this man.

Having sprung a awake the way he did, Nicky felt bad for scaring Joe. The dream had been awful and he wanted away from the memories of killing his countrymen to protect his Yusuf. He tried not to have regrets, but his morality? Such a nagging thing, always. It ruled everything he did. Made him who he was. It wasn’t a terrible thing to be moral, and yet, he would have to pray and think on it, later when he had a moment that he wasn’t being sheepish and trying to reassure Joe that it was okay.

“I dreamed of killing Romans for you,“ Nicky finally admitted in an old Italian dialect. He pressed his lips together and continued washing Joe’s chest and shoulders. The thoughts about the dreams were so nagging and he was tired of it, tired of feeling bad for killing men who thought of his Yusuf as nothing but dirt. “I dreamed of saving you, my sun.“

Nicky slowed his washing and looked to Joe with troubled eyes. “I would never do anything different, Joe,” he finally said in English. “But every death back then and until now, I remember them. They are blood on my hands and it is a sin. No matter if the Pope pardoned us all. It’s sin, amore mio.”

Sighing, Nicky slid forward and put his face into Joe’s neck and then rolled it as he reclaimed his seat between Joe’s legs with his back to Joe’s chest. How he loved this man. How he would do anything to protect him, and not just because of the guilt he he felt for having once been a raging racist. No. It was more because of his love for his Yusuf and the will to be the one to sacrifice for his beloved Joe.

#alkaysani yusuf

holllanov

that ultra-kind of love you never walk away from

#joe x nicky

alkaysani-yusuf:

Had Nicky not been so tired Joe would have given him first go of who washed who. But he wasn’t sure his poor Niccolò would last even as long as it took Joe to scrub his back. All that really mattered was the closeness anyways, the warmth of the water, the indulgence of just resting together this way.

There had been times they’d taken it for granted, he was sure. But it wasn’t often. Not since they’d lost Quynh to the ocean.

“Trouble maker,” he murmured, returning that soft, searching kiss.

His eyes were bright, crinkled at the corners with his joy. He loved when Nicky was like this. Playful, tired, naked. He grinned and took the wash cloth, putting it in water and dragging it up Nicky’s chest as he ducked head to kiss and nip just behind Nicky’s ear.

A softer kiss to his Niccolò’s jaw, his temple, and then down to his neck. He hummed his agreement.

“I do like when you smell like me, habibi,” he admitted, as if Nicky did not know this well. “So do you.”

He lathered the washcloth and set the bar of soap aside. He smiled when Nicky took one of his hands and pressed it to his chest. His fingers spread wide, thumb finding a nipple and gently teasing until the flesh hardened under his touch.

The washcloth moved gently over the other side of Nicky’s neck. His contented hum dragging an answering one from deep in Joe’s chest.

“Amore mio,” he whispered, nuzzling his face against Nicky’s. “Have I told you how much I adore you?” His lips dragged back to the corner of Nicky’s sharp jaw. “How unbearable this life would be if I did not have you beside me? How even the death you dealt me was sweeter than the days I had ever lived without you?”

His hand dragged lower, down the center of Nicky’s chest. While the washcloth moved across the back of Nicky’s neck. Such a beautiful neck, such a long line of smooth pale skin.

Nicky smiled warmly and though his eyelids were heavy, he still looked at Joe fondly and never ceasing to be in love. There were countless moments when they brought up the past and how they had killed each other so many times. His Yusuf always seemed to take it stride, but Nicky was always a bit pained by the memories or what he’d believed to be the truth at the time.

Hate had fueled Nicolo to kill that man over and over again, and when it stopped, when they agreed to no longer kill each other for they were something alike but also not of the regular world, Nicolo di Genova had put up his sword in defense of a Muslim man. He could remember the first Roman warrior he’d killed, all too easily, in defense of Yusuf and he could remember the second, the third, and every man he’d killed to keep them from hurting his heart. Those first nights together, how they had managed, Nicolo could remember sleeping with the livestock. He could remember accepting food and water from people whom he was supposed to kill in the name of his Lord,

“Yusuf,” Nicky finally said as he came up out of his mind and realized he’d drifted off in his lover’s arms as he was bathed and kissed and pampered. He woke up rigid and wiped his face, hoping he wouldn’t weep. “Sole mio,” Nicky gasped as he sat forward and dropped his knees to the side, lightly thumping the edges of the tub. He turned in the water, which sloshed around them, and put his long fingers to Joe’s face and saw the reaction, the concern. “I dreamt of us... A thousand years ago. Us,” he told his beloved as he shook his head.

Sighing, Nicky blinked his owlish gaze and then dropped it with an embarrassed smile. “I’ve frightened you. I’m sorry,” he whispered. He sat in the water and let his hands take Joe by the throat and cradle his head as Nicky leaned in for a kiss. Not a light kiss either, this kiss was deep and reassuring. He wanted his Yusuf to know that it was all right, now. He’d come back.

“Let me wash you,” Nicky said, though it was barely a request and more of a way of changing the subject. He took the washcloth from his Yusuf and dunked the wet fabric into the warm water and touched it to his Yusuf’s neck. Nicky swallowed softly and finally breathed, deep and relieved. “I don’t like to lose you,” he whispered carefully. “My Yusuf,” he hummed.

#alkaysani yusuf

alkaysani-yusuf:

“I would never,” Joe agreed.

He valued their intimacies, big and small, too much to pass them up. So many years and still he could never let these moments go. He knew in the course of a normal life time so many loves could come and go. And yet never could he imagine it being so for he and Nicky. Nicky was his in soul and heart and body and the opposite as true. He was entirely his Niccolò’s.

The others made jokes and he understood. He knew Andy had felt, did feel, the same for Quyhn. And sometimes he felt guilt and thought perhaps they should hide their love a bit. But how could he? And he knew Andy would never ask it of him. And lonely Booker, with his drinking binges and his jaded jokes, perhaps he would prefer it. But he could not deny his love for Nicky anymore than he could deny his need to air.

He groaned softly as Nicky’s hands worked the muscles at the back of his neck. He loved those hands. He moved with Nicky, stepping into the hot water.

Before he sunk down into it he grabbed the soap from higher up. Of course he had more. When he could get it, he did. Knowing Nicky’s sentiment. He sat with back to the tub and spread his legs to make room for Nicky.

“Sit, let me bathe you, love,” he murmured. “It smells good on you too.” Or perhaps he just liked that smelled of each other.

His eyes moved over Nicky’s body, taking him all in. Admiring what he thought to be the most singularly beautiful human in the world. He knew others would disagree. He was sure Nicky himself did not understand his beauty. But Joe did. Even when they’d been fighting, furious with one another for the mere offense of their existence and refusal to die. Even then he had know how beautiful his Niccolò was.

And when they had put their blades down he had found himself wanting to touch and soothe rather than hurt. And now, now he could never give up an opportunity to do just that.

He tugged gently at him, pulling him down against his body.

Nicky smiled big when Joe agreed with him. He watched as Joe joined him in the tub and reached for the soap. He nodded gently, knowing he’d said he wanted to wash Joe, but in actuality, he would have to wait his turn, which was all right. It didn’t upset him to be cleaned first.

“Si amore mio,” Nicky said softly as he lowered himself into the tub as the water continued to pour into it. He splashed a little at Joe and chuckled before he kissed Joe under his chin and then on the nose and finally on the mouth as if playfully searching out his lips.

Nicolo lounged against his Yusuf and reached with his long legs and skilled toes to turn off the water so it wouldn’t fill so high that they made splashes onto the floor. He then handed Joe a washcloth and slid down until his head was against his Yusuf’s chest and his shoulders were out of the water along with his bent knees as he relaxed. He honestly could fall asleep just like that. It was so comfortable.

“You want me to smell like you,” Nicky pointed out with soft bit of laughter as he took Joe’s free hand and set it on his chest, which was beneath the warm water. He would have hummed if he was one for songs, but since he wasn’t, Nicky simply sighed and rested and let Joe do with him as he pleased.

#alkaysani yusuf

richardmaddan

You think I go too far? That I am unethical? I would say immoral. I believe this can change the world. A fine justification. I’ve heard it so many times before.

LUCA MARINELLI as NICOLO DI GENOVA THE OLD GUARD (2020) dir. Gina Prince-Bythewood

#nicolo di genova

bookersebastien

#nicolo di genova

alkaysani-yusuf:

Nicky looked so very exhausted that Joe would have easily conceded to going straight to bed. He’d overfed his poor Nicolò. And he would have been content to just hold him. Nicolò himself seemed confused as to what he wanted. Joe smiled at how sleepily he seemed to vacillate between wanting to touch and wanting to rest.

Dark eyes could only watch as Nicky shed his shirt and he was laughing softly as he spread their arms wide and then disappeared into then washroom. Joe lazily followed.

“Nicolò,” he murmured. “Yes, my heart. Til they kick us out.”

His breath caught as warm hands pushed under his shirt and spread across his skin. His hands found Nicky’s hips, rubbed and pulled Nicky closer even as he pulled Joe’s shirt off. He huffed a breath, pleased at the compliment. He liked to hear, even after all this time, that Nicky would compliment him. That Niccolò still wanted him so.

“How could I say no to such sweet pleas, my Nicolò? My beloved Nico. I would love nothing more than to bathe with you.”

He pushed Nicky’s hands away, working his pants open, and pushing them down his hips. He ducked his head, lips dragging down Nicky’s jaw, nosing at the soft place where his neck met his jaw, breathing him in.

Nicky could vaguely remember how the Romans had lived with their sweet, sweet fruits and nuts, and the honey they used to sweeten everything. There was no pasta, no tomatoes, but there was a thick, creamy cheesecake that was smothered in honey. It had always been so much for him, to have their light food and heavy desserts, and the wine, even as a priest, in the years before he met his Yusuf. They seemed like a blip in his life now that he had over nine hundred years of history with Joe. For that long, they had been each other’s rock and sure, there had been fights. After all, they had killed each other many times before they realized they were meant to be -- soulmates. Nicky could remember when they hadn’t slept tangled together or when he had gone to confession about loving another man, how difficult that had been to reason with his morality. He did not miss those days.

Stepping out of his boots and jeans, Nicky smiled sleepily at Joe, knowing that if he did fall asleep in the bath, he would be cared for. He would always be cared for, no matter how angry they got at one another. There were no more days when they went without the other. They didn’t fight for something without both of them believing in it. He just couldn’t imagine life without Joe and he knew Joe felt the same about him, and that was why they were fiercely protective of each other and their little family, The Old Guard.

“I couldn’t imagine you saying ‘no’ to something so intimate,” Nicky said between sighs when Joe nuzzled him, smelled him. It was such a thing between them, to push a nose under a spot that was prone to sweat and scent. Nicky chuckled, still so sleepy, but awakening with the need for his Yusuf. “To the bathwater,” Nicky said as soon as he had Joe’s pants removed. “I do hope we have some of that sandalwood soap left,” he hummed as he massaged the back of his Yusuf’s neck and stepped into the warm water of the big tub. “It smells so good on your skin,” Nicky said softly.

#alkaysani yusuf