Authors: Mika Fox
"Well,
you haven't seen my art," he says. "Maybe I'm bright on the
inside."
He
says it with a completely straight face, even adding a serious tone for
emphasis, and Dominic must say he has a really hard time seeing anything bright
whatsoever. Not that he doesn't like that―Killian isn't colorless, he
just deals in darker shades.
"You're
right," Dominic says. "I haven't seen it. Maybe I should?"
Killian
scoffs, looking back up at the ceiling.
"Yeah,
that's not happening," he says, and Dominic's eyebrows go up.
"You
do know we're showcasing our projects in a few weeks, right?" he reminds
him. "A whole lot of people are gonna see your work, eventually."
"Exactly,"
Killian says. "In a few weeks. But until then, it's nobody else's
business."
"Wow,"
Dominic says. "I wouldn't have pegged you for an insecure artist."
"It's
not about insecurity," Killian immediately says, but without
defensiveness. "It's about letting art take its time. You never show off
something in progress, that's like craftsmanship 101."
"Fair
enough." Dominic thinks of how he doesn't have much of a problem showing
his photos to others, even when they're not done or as in this case, before the
whole series and project is done, but he gets where Killian is coming from.
Maybe his art is personal to him, in a way Dominic's generally isn't.
"Well,"
Dominic says. "I'd still like to see it sometime. You know, before the
masses."
Killian
throws him a look, narrowing his eyes in a way that tells Dominic he might
actually be considering it.
"Don't
hold your breath," Killian says, but Dominic isn't convinced. Honestly,
he's kind of bursting with curiosity at this point, after watching Killian work
for so many hours, on so many occasions, yet never catching a glimpse of the
finished―or half-finished―product.
"Can
you at least tell me what style you prefer?" he asks, rolling over onto
his side and tucking his arm under his head, keeping his eyes on Killian, who
seems to hesitate.
"It's
mostly abstract," Killian says. "Sometimes I do portraits and stuff,
but that's mostly when I draw, and I prefer painting."
Dominic
doesn't know what he expected, but somehow he can imagine that Killian's
paintings would be full of jagged shapes and rash brush strokes.
"And
what do you paint?" he prods, and Killian gives him a tired look, before
sighing. Dominic fights a smile. Killian can pretend all he wants that he
doesn't like talking about this, doesn't like being asked stuff about his work,
but it's obvious that he enjoys it. And Dominic enjoys it too, so it's worth
pushing his luck for.
"Whatever,"
Killian says. "Anything I feel like. Expressionism is a favorite, I guess,
but I don't know. I'm only comfortable working with a few styles, but I love
all of them for different reasons. Can't do surrealism for shit, for example,
but I still like looking at it." He glances over at the
Dalí
print on his wall. "It's just... eerie. I like
that."
Dominic
keeps his eyes on him, rather than looking at the piece of art. It occurs to
him that he likes the look Killian gets when he talks about this, the way his
eyes light up, the way his entire expression somehow becomes more open and
inviting, even if just for a moment.
Right
now, Killian is more interesting to watch than any painting, and Dominic does
his best to ignore how risky that is.
♦
"So,
who's the guy?" Alina asks, peering at her brother over a row of chips
bags. Dominic meets her eye, before looking down at his own work.
"Just
a guy," he says. "He's taking the same class as me."
"Uh-huh,"
Alina says. The rustling sound of snack bags fills the small store as she
places them neatly on the shelf. "That can't be all of it."
"What's
that supposed to mean?" Dominic says, picking canned beans out of his box
and putting them on the shelf in front of him. Alina hums in consideration.
"Well,"
she says. "You've been spending time with him, you talk about him. Must be
more to it than just one little hookup."
Dominic
doesn't reply, and the rustling of aluminum bags stops. He can practically
sense
Alina's
hazel eyes on him, just barely reaching
over the top of the shelf.
"Unless,"
she says suspiciously, and Dominic imagines those eyes narrowing, "there
has been more than one hookup?"
Dominic
still doesn't answer, but Alina has no patience for that; a second later, a bag
of ranch chips hits him in the head, and he looks up to glare at his sister.
"
Ow
," he exclaims. "What the hell?"
"Oh,
come on," Alina says tiredly. "That did not hurt. But now that I have
your attention,
spill.
"
Dominic
hesitates, vaguely wondering why the hell the women in his life are so keen to
hear about his relationships, but Alina raises her eyebrows at him in a way
that tells him she isn't going to drop this. It reminds him of that time when
he was seven years old, and she forced him to tell her about his first
crush―there's no use in fighting it. He glances around the store, which
is currently occupied only by them and a teenage girl with headphones, and he
sighs, bending down to pick up the discarded bag of chips.
"Fine,"
he says, straightening and tossing the bag back over the shelf. Alina catches
it with ease. "We've hooked up a few times. But that's it. It's no big
deal, trust me."
"How
so?" Alina says, putting the bag on the shelf on her side. Dominic shrugs.
"He's
pretty set on that," he says, picking up two more cans of beans out of the
box. "No dating, just the benefits, that whole thing."
"Uh-oh."
He
looks over at his sister.
"What
do you mean
, uh-oh
?" he asks.
"Why?"
"Sounds
like trouble," Alina says, grabbing more chips bags to put on the shelf.
Dominic frowns.
"Not
if I agree with that sentiment, it doesn't," he says. "What, two
hot-blooded young males can't keep it casual?"
He
adds it with some sarcasm and one raised eyebrow, and Alina throws him a tired
glance.
"In
my experience," she says, "if a guy is that determined to 'keep it
casual', it's trouble. If it wasn't a big deal, it wouldn't be a big deal, and
there would be no need to be so 'set on it'. Sure, it's all fun and games, but
before you know it, the second you so much as smile at him wrong, he freaks
out. Trust me, the
uh-oh
is
warranted. It could get messy. I mean, I don't know if the same rules apply to
your team, but that's what I've learned, at least."
Dominic
cocks his head.
"Actually,
he plays for both teams," he says. "So, who knows?"
He
adds it a bit dryly, but Alina gets the message. She shrugs, before looking
down at her box of chips bags, gathering up a few more.
"Well,
bisexuals are elusive beasts," she says. "There's no telling what he
might do, then."
Dominic
huffs a laugh, and he hears his sister mirror it from behind the shelves. He
pauses, tossing a can up and down in his hand, thinking. He's got nothing to
worry about, right? Sure, he and Killian haven't been hooking up for long, but
he's pretty sure he can refrain from developing a massive crush on the guy, or
at least refrain from acting as though he has one. If nothing else, he tends to
be the one who has to cut a guy loose whenever any messy feelings start getting
involved, so he's confident that he can handle it.
Alina
might be half-right, though; Dominic does have the feeling that Killian just
might freak out, as she so eloquently put it, if he did act even the slightest
bit invested toward him. He'll have to make sure to keep his distance, lest he
lose a more than decent partner to spend his time with.
"Well,
don't worry about it," Dominic says, reanimating and putting a couple of
more cans on the shelf. "He's not exactly nice to be around, I'm sure I'll
be fine."
Alina
makes a noise of something between confirmation and doubt.
"If
you say so," she says, picking up her now empty box and making her way
past Dominic as she heads for the back room. "But you've already got it
pretty bad, from what I can tell, so there must be something about him. And
take my word for it, little brother, guys like that have a way of sucking you
in and making you beg for more. Stay vigilant."
She
uses her free hand to clap his shoulder helpfully, before continuing on to the
back room.
"Interesting
choice of words," he calls over his shoulder, earning a grossed-out groan
from Alina and making him laugh as he gets back to work. His mind wanders for a
moment, finding thoughts of Killian's eyes, that rare smile, the way it feels
when his hands and mouth trail over his skin, and Dominic feels a dangerous
warmth pool in his gut.
Then
he thinks of Killian's bored expression instead, his abrasive attitude, and his
less-than-friendly demeanor, all of which snaps him right out of it. He starts
stocking the shelves again, determined to train his focus entirely on that.
He's
got nothing to worry about.
Chapter 8
Snap
Dominic doesn't
really spend much time at the art building, anymore. Ever since he decided to
take a break from working on his project, he has nothing to print, and nothing
to edit, so he sees no real point in going there. Additionally, since he can
now hook up practically whenever he wants with the one person who was half his
reason for being there in the first place, he has even less incentive to go. As
it is, this leaves him dividing up his time between working at the store,
relaxing, and hooking up with Killian.
The
last one might be his favorite.
Nearly
two weeks into their arrangement, Dominic realizes that he has become very
comfortable with it, perhaps a bit
too
comfortable.
He'll text Killian whenever he feels like it, and Killian, having seemingly
even less to do during the day than Dominic, will give him the all-clear to
come over. By now, Dominic has spent so much time at Killian's apartment that
it has become quite the habit, even if Killian does usually end up throwing him
out after a while.
Dominic
doesn't mind. Sure, he likes spending time with Killian―even aside from
the amazing sex, he is actually fun to hang out with, on a good day―but
he knows what their deal entails. He isn't bitter about the fact that Killian
essentially just takes what he needs and then asks Dominic to leave, because
Dominic is, after all, doing the exact same thing with him. It's just how it
works.
That
said, Dominic has found himself occasionally wanting to stick
around―which is a first, for him. He can barely remember ever hooking up
with a guy and also wanting to spend an exceeding amount of time with
him―with Killian, it's been a regular thing for a while now, essentially
integrating him into Dominic's day-to-day life in a way Dominic isn't quite
sure how to feel about. He tells himself that it's simply because he hasn't
hooked up with one guy long enough to reach that point, before. It's the only
explanation that makes sense.
Regardless,
he still wants to see him. He still wants to spend time with Killian and talk
to him, still wants to have sex with him, and he still wants to kiss him, which
is honestly just weird. If he didn't know any better, he'd say he was getting a
little attached to the guy. More than once, Dominic has found himself wanting
to text Killian about some random thing, before he stops himself, as he
realizes that doing so would be oddly inappropriate. They're not friends, he
reminds himself. They hook up, and that's it.
Despite
having decided to take a break from his project, Dominic can't really resist
taking photos; it's more of a compulsion than an interest after all, and he can
never stay away from it for too long. That's how he finds himself in Killian's
neighborhood one day, having spent the last two hours wandering around with his
camera and photographing anything that catches his eye. When he spots Killian's
apartment building, he actually stops dead in his tracks.
How
did he end up here? It's not exactly close to his own place. He supposes he
must have walked in this direction through force of habit, seeing as how the
college isn't too far away.
As he
stands there, he's a little surprised by the sudden urge he gets to visit
Killian. It's not like it would be that odd―he has spent a lot of time
there lately―and although their time together is generally made up of
exclusively physical activities, he actually just kind of wants to hang out
with him at the moment. He looks down at the camera in his hands, its strap
secured around his neck, before he glances back up at the apartment building.
He
could use a break.
After
stuffing his camera into his bag, Dominic makes his way up to the building's
front door, skimming along the listed names to find Killian's; it's somewhere
in the middle of the list,
Hayden, K.,
stamped
out in black letters. He lifts his finger to press the button next to it, so
that Killian can buzz him in―he knows he should be home, at the
moment―when someone suddenly opens the front door. Dominic steps back, as
a short, old woman appears in the doorway. She seems surprised to see him
there, and he smiles kindly at her. It doesn't stop her from eyeing his mussed
hair and pierced ears with some stern disapproval, but she still allows him to hold
open the door for her, and slip inside when she's gone.
Dominic
vaguely thinks that perhaps he shouldn't just come over unannounced like this,
but he can't help himself. He just really wants to see Killian, just for a
minute. It's not weird, he tells himself as he rings Killian's doorbell on the
seventh floor. Not weird at all.
The
look on Killian's face when he opens the door says a little differently.
"The
hell are you doing here?" he says. There’s no bite in his voice, just
slightly annoyed confusion, and he frowns.
"I
was in the neighborhood," Dominic says, as casually as he can.
"Thought I'd stop by."
Killian
takes a step back, regards him for a second, almost suspiciously.
"We
got phones for that," he says, but he doesn't send Dominic away―at
least, not yet. Instead, he turns around and heads back into the apartment, and
Dominic steps over the threshold, closing the front door behind him.
"So
I always have to text before coming here?" he asks, a little jokingly, but
Killian's reply is harsh.
"Yes,"
he says over his shoulder. "Those are the rules."
Dominic
is surprised by the way his heart sinks, if just for a moment. It occurs to him
that maybe Killian hasn't enjoyed their time together as much as he has.
"Your
rules, you mean," he says, hiding the uncomfortable sensation with a dry
tone. He dumps his bag on the floor and makes his way into the light, open
space of the apartment. Killian has moved over to an easel by the window, where
he was no doubt standing just moments before Dominic arrived, and he looks up.
"We
gonna have a problem?" he says, sounding more bored than threatening, and
Dominic puts his hands in his pockets as he shuffles across the floor.
"No,"
he says, shaking his head. "No problem."
"Then
what do you want?"
Dominic
tilts his head, as he comes to stand in front of Killian, right next to his
easel. Dark green eyes watch him closely, lollipop spinning between
paint-stained fingers.
"I
want to hook up," Dominic says simply, deciding to straight-up lie, rather
than reveal his much less physical intentions for coming here, thus effectively
pushing down the strange feeling of disappointment inside. "That's what we
do, right?"
Killian
eyes him up and down quickly.
"What,"
he says dryly, "you think you can just come in here, and I'll bend right
over for you?"
"Not
necessarily bend over," Dominic replies, not missing a beat. "But I
wouldn't mind."
Killian's
expression grows dark, and for a split second, Dominic fears that he crossed
the line. Judging from the challenging edge in the artist's expression though,
he's still safe.
"Rules,
remember?" Killian says. "You don't get to do that."
"Yeah,
about the rules," Dominic says casually, moving in just a little bit
closer, hands still in his pockets. "How come they're only yours?"
Killian's
eyebrows go up, ever so slightly.
"What
are you saying?"
"I'm
saying, fuck your rules." Dominic takes another step closer, but Killian
doesn't back down. Of course he doesn't, he never would. "I'm not your
bitch, and if I want to hook up, I have the right to suggest that. Right?"
Killian
takes a slow breath through his nose, eyes not leaving Dominic's for a second,
and Dominic finds himself rather enjoying the couple of inches of height he has
on the guy. He takes him in with his gaze, up and down, slowly and deliberately,
and it's only a matter of seconds before he starts buying into his own lie,
that he came here to see Killian for purely carnal pleasures. At least, that's
what the heat in his gut is telling him, that crackling that starts up whenever
the two of them are this close to each other, air charged with intentions and
memories of just how amazing they can be together.
"Well,
what if I don't want to?" Killian says, in a voice suddenly lower than a
moment ago, a tell-tale sign that his own intentions are shifting, just like
Dominic's. Dominic gives him a minute shrug.
"Then
we won't," he says simply, before glancing down along Killian's body
again, tilting his head. "I think you do, though."
He
locks his gaze with Killian's, watches as the guy pulls his bottom lip in
between his teeth and releases it, slowly. It's enough to make Dominic's mind
go completely haywire.
"You're
lucky you're cute," Killian mutters, and Dominic knows he has won. When
Killian leans up to kiss him, he does nothing but eagerly reciprocate,
relishing in that familiar sensation of throwing a match into a tank of
gasoline. It takes only a moment before it consumes him, burning away any trace
of doubt or disappointment he may have had moments before this kiss.
It's
odd, how the two of them seem to have their own language when it comes to this.
Once they start, it's like it all unravels on its own, hands knowing exactly
where to go and mouths finding one sweet spot after another, making them both
moan and come apart within seconds. Dominic keeps his eyes closed as he grabs
the hem of Killian's tank top, only moving away from him to pull the garment
over his head, and Killian isn't far behind, swiftly yanking off Dominic's thin
sweater and throwing it to the floor. They bump into the edge of the couch as
they stumble toward the bed, before quickly regaining their balance and
continuing to hastily, and rather clumsily, undress.
The
sudden vibration against Dominic's thigh takes him by surprise, and he pulls
away from Killian's mouth to look down. His brief confusion is quickly remedied
when Killian curses under his breath and fishes his own, vibrating phone out of
his pocket. He checks the caller ID, before tossing the phone onto the couch
without even so much as dismissing the call. Dominic frowns.
"You're
not gonna get that?" he asks, and Killian makes a noncommittal noise.
"Not
important," he says against Dominic's lips, effectively distracting him
once again, even as the phone keeps vibrating against the cushions of the
couch.
As
they finally manage to strip down completely, Dominic feels quite sure that he
will never get tired of the sounds Killian makes as he's pressed into the
mattress, Dominic trailing searing kisses across his neck and chest, teasing a
nipple with his tongue before moving down along his stomach. Killian arches his
back as he does it, smoothing his fingers over Dominic's hair and moaning
deeply in the back of his throat, making Dominic's heart race. When he reaches
past his hips and moves further down, it's even better, Killian biting out a
strangled sound as Dominic wraps his fingers around him and slowly takes him
into his mouth.
"Oh
shit," Killian mutters under his breath, now twisting his paint-stained
fingers into Dominic's hair and egging him on. "Oh fuck, that's good."
He
already sounds breathless, seemingly restraining himself from thrusting up into
Dominic's mouth, and it turns Dominic on so much more than it should. It's only
a while later, when Killian is a shaky, hot mess, that he stops his ministrations
and moves back up along his body, finding Killian's mouth with his own and
savoring the way their lips meet in a devouring kiss. It spreads a pleasant
stream of heat through his body, slower and more intense than usual, and
Dominic can't stop touching him, can't stop smoothing his fingers over
Killian's arms and sides, his face, hands moving down to his lower back so he
can press their bodies together. Through it all, Killian keeps making those
sounds, keeps driving Dominic crazy, and Dominic isn't sure how much more of it
he can take. He's already so far gone by the time Killian decides to expedite
things, leaning over to his nightstand to get the lube Dominic knows should be
there.
So
obviously eager, Killian is anything but passive underneath him, touching and
kissing in impatient encouragement, while Dominic pushes his legs apart just
moments later and slowly slides a slicked-up finger inside. Killian groans
against his skin, digging blunt fingernails into his back, and Dominic screws
his eyes shut, leaning his forehead against Killian's collarbone as he works
him open at a gentle, leisurely pace. He hisses a sharp breath through his
teeth when Killian suddenly bites down hard on his shoulder with a pleased
groan; it hurts, but the pain quickly blends together with the high, and it
does nothing but urge him on.
Dominic
seems to lose his vision somewhere along the way―it's all dark and
fireworks and flashes of pale skin and green eyes, and he feels like that
should bother him, but it doesn't. Far from it, it does nothing but narrow his
focus, makes him fix every ounce of his attention on the gorgeous boy
underneath him, and by the time he finally gets a condom on and pushes inside,
he can feel them both already starting to fall apart.