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 Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2019 1:33 pm
Prompt There are many parties and celebrations going across town; for whatever reason, you are in a part of town where live music is playing and everyone is dancing all around. You lock eyes with someone in the crowd and, in all the movement, the crowd winds up pushing you together. Whether intentional or accidental, you get one dance together before you are separated. Was this person someone you know or a complete stranger and, did you want the dance or did you try to escape it? --Will you ever find each other again afterwards?
Nataniel didn't like to drink in public. He knew too well how alcohol made him behave, and he wasn't so reckless that he thought it wise to release himself on the world at large, rather than keeping his antics to the seclusion of a single bar. Neither was there usually reason to drink in public because he had two comrades he went out over the weekend with. They had a 'usual' bar they attended. They had a usual booth they sat in. He enjoyed the usual, and deviation from that was a strain.
But thanks to recent festivities, his barmates had elected to move the party onto the streets, where a crowd had gathered and a live band was playing. Not the type of scene Nataniel enjoyed at all, particularly when he didn't drink just as a social activity.
He usually had a goal in mind. And this did not seem the place to achieve it.
Logically, Nataniel knew this. And because he knew this, it shouldn't be too much a stretch of the imagination to assume that if his options were to 'leave and be sober at home' or 'stay in this crowd and drink,' the wiser option was for him to leave. The more comfortable option was for him to leave. It made sense. He knew this.
So why didn't he?
There wasn't any single rational answer, but when Elijah clipped a pink charm necklace around his throat, and Noah slung an arm over his shoulders and passed a frozen strawberry margarita into his hands, the right thing seemed as though it should be to stay and drink and be part of this. That was what he usually did with this pair of comrades. He stayed out, and he drank. Somehow one turned into two, turned into four, turned into a shot of Jäger, and god, he did like music, and he did like to dance, even if he would never do so in a crowd without a little bit of added encouragement.
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Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2019 5:04 pm
Of all the places December could have been this evening, a party was the least expected! Not that he was complaining!
By order of his General, he was to drain the over crowded places of the city, one of them being this place with it's loud music and its happily bouncing people. Or dancing. That's what they called it, didn't they?
He had been waiting for a good place to power up, knowing that his uniform blended quite well with just general fashion that you could see walking down the street. But before he could, there he went, swept down the sea of people who were laughing and twirling around without a care in the world. Someone's arms held onto him for a moment, bouncing around in a hopping manner before swinging him towards the next person who took his hand.
For the first time in a long, long while, he laughed out loud in genuine joy, and enjoyed every dance he had with someone, all the way up until he he spotted Nat right across the dancefloor. Whether he liked it or not, the people were forcing him closer and closer to the man until he nearly stumbled right into him.
"Sorry about that! I didn't expect to see you here! Are you having fun?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 04, 2019 6:55 am
It didn't matter how much he enjoyed dancing, Nataniel almost never partook in it. Being that he wasn't a complete robot, he still had the capacity for great and unholy embarrassment. Which felt substantial, considering there wasn't much he did that could elicit such an emotion in him. Even if he wasn't always confident, per se, neither was he usually outright ashamed of himself.
Except when he was dancing.
Maybe because he didn't understand why this felt 'fun' to him, and it almost certainly probably shouldn't, and didn't he look like a complete idiot out here in public, and where was the benefit, and- So much of it was so unclear that it simply seemed wisest to avoid any too exuberant displays when he could help it, which, he almost always could. Even when he was at the bar becoming progressively more smashed, the fact that he couldn't always hear what was playing kept him from doing anything regrettable. That, and his attention was usually elsewhere.
But since he still didn't have any meaningful reason for why he was out here now, besides that two of his bar comrades had dragged him into it, his attention wandered, seeking a purpose.
He wouldn't have enjoyed being swept into the crowd on a normal night. More than a handful of bodies around him typically made him uncomfortable at best and extremely agitated at worst. The few drinks he'd had, though, somehow managed to dampen the care he felt toward much of what he would otherwise take issue with. It was a warm night- Or was it the alcohol? Both, probably. The constant motion of the dance and near proximity of strangers didn't help, either.
The girl nearest him had long, pale fingers, brushing down from his shoulders to his chest with the flightiest of teasing touches, and a red-lipped smile that looked far too pleased with itself to be anything innocent. In the next moment, she was whisked off, and suddenly, the face in front of him was more familiar.
"December..." His own quiet voice was drowned out by the music, and he blinked down hazily at the boy before him now. He hadn't expected to see anyone he knew here, and the fact that he was somehow made the sense that he knew he ought to be ashamed of himself streak haphazardly across his mind before being smothered by overbearing music and an escalating warmth. "I think so," but it was hard to tell and difficult to function with his usual reasoning. "How did you get here?"
Didn't he not have a a car, or something? Something like that, Nat was sure.
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Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2019 1:29 pm
"Are you okay?" The bouncing and dancing stopped and Dessy looked a little concerned for his friend. He didn't seem quite in his right... Maybe drunk? Alcohol did that to people, didn't it?
"The subway." A lie, but he couldn't say he simply teleported here. "Do you need to sit down? Um... Did you come with anyone?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2019 8:06 am
The sound, the atmosphere, the people around all lent themselves to continued movement. A clear-headed Nataniel would've seen someone he knew from outside his evening bar activities and made a conscious decision to remove himself from the situation. Nights with Noah and Elijah were distinctly not nights he wanted to see anyone else familiar. He knew he wanted to keep these behaviors- the drinking, the dancing, the... want- away from the very few other social endeavors he had.
...But he'd only met December in person once before, and he couldn't remember feeling especially overcome with the notion that the younger man was smart enough to even have an emotion like any particular vindictiveness that would let him judge any absurd behaviors Nataniel had.
In fact, it was December that had maybe seemed a little too bouncy, and a little too hyper, and a little too uncomposed and a little too... obnoxiously stupid to be taken seriously.
What did it matter if Nataniel acted ridiculously in front of someone like that?
His palms slipped down to December's hips, tugging him near in the dance as his fingers brushed just barely beneath the fabric of his old t-shirt to skim over smooth, mocha skin underneath. The heat of December's skin beneath his hands was almost encouraging, and Nataniel leaned into him, dipping to feel the warmth of the side of December's neck just barely against his lips-
"Mm?" December had stilled, and when Nat pulled back to look at him, those pastel purple eyes didn't look as though they had quite the bouncy excitement Nataniel may have expected. "Yes," he answered in a slow drawl. "I'm fine." He tipped his head toward where he thought he saw someone that looked like Elijah. He always hesitated to call them 'friends,' but he doubted December would understand as much. "I came with two of my friends. Over there, somewhere."
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Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2019 11:29 am
Nat was right.. December was obnoxiously stupid. That isn't to say he didnt' try to show a lick of intelligence. Often it was wrong and completely out of place, but he did try!
And in this case, tonight, with the dancing around him, he was a little more focused than usual. Those hands that suddenly pulled him close and brushed against his skin felt strange.. Not unwanted, but seemingly out of sorts for his friend, and the way those lips came to touch his neck just added to the strangeness of it all.
It reminded him alot of what people wanted from him, and what his general had forced him to give over.
Nat wasn't like that though, was he? No, this was just a hug and he was out of it simple as that.
"Are you sure you're fine? You don't look so fine. You like a little drunk." With how his head seemed to roll, that certainly seemed like the case! Dessy didn't mind, but did wrap his arms around Nat's chest, half to hold him steady and half because, well, he couldn't remember the last time he hugged someone where it didn't feel like he was scared to death because something had just happened.
"Do you wanna leave? Wanna go home, maybe?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 30, 2019 12:35 pm
'Are you sure you're fine?'
Did Nataniel typically sound like someone who was 'unsure' of himself? Even if he was inebriated at the moment, there were no grounds to assume that he should say something that wouldn't be true to him. Maybe it was even less of a potential outcome because of the alcohol he'd had that night... Since he could still count on one hand the number of drinks he had, Nataniel felt little concern for his mental or physical state.
"'Fine' and 'drunk' aren't mutually exclusive," Nat replied. He was fine. He'd said as much. Was December incapable of listening? He kept one hand at the younger man's hips, and the other, he drew back to himself, skimming fingers up beneath the lower hem of his shirt to lift it enough to expose the toned muscles of his abdomen. "December, I promise there are few people more deliciously fine than this."
But did he want to leave?
Nataniel had a vague recollection of thinking he should leave because there was nothing for him to gain by staying. There was no benefit to spending his time here when it didn't end in the only reason he cared to get drunk, and the only people he cared to get drunk with were enjoying the festivities. He'd stayed because a drink had found its way into his hand, but there wasn't one now. Just... the warm, soft press of December beneath his palms...
"Yyyes," Nataniel decided slowly, addled thoughts taking longer to form a cohesive decision than was his norm. Home made sense. It was what he'd wanted from the beginning, wasn't it? He could stand to take December home...
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Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2019 8:26 am
"Oh, I guess you're right." While he understood the whole being drunk and being okay as not being related, he didn't really understand the joke right away. And when it did finally click in his head, he laughed and pulled Nat closer to him.
This wasn't how the man normally acted, was it? Dessy very much remembered him being colder than this pleasantly handsy man he was being now.
"Okay, we'll go home then." For once, Dessy was being decisive, and pulled out his dinky little phone. Just barely good enough to hold the Uber app and place a pickup for them both. This time, he had money, just enough to get a quick ride to Nat's apartment.
"You got everything right? Keys, wallet, and.... Me, I guess? Good good, then off we go! I'll make sure you get home safe!"
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Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2019 11:21 am
December pulled him in as he laughed, and Nat leaned against him in response. The younger man hadn't shied from touching him when they'd met up at the internet cafe, not from holding his hand, or leaning on him, or hugging him, and while Nataniel would be hard-pressed to say that his own demeanor invited these things, neither was he a man who didn't enjoy the contact. December smelled like summer. With every inhale Nat could taste the heat at the back of his throat from that mocha skin and in December's hair.
"Do you need my address?" he asked, peering down at the phone now wedged between them. He'd driven here, himself, and it wasn't like the apartment was far... Since he'd only had a few drinks, he could probably make it back without incident...
He glanced from December's phone and out across the venue, where his motorcycle was parked at the side of the street. It seemed weirdly far, didn't it?
His gaze went back to the phone, and he helped fill in his address when the app prompted. Nat wasn't typically an uber user, himself, since it seemed to invite too much potential for the assigned driver to try and converse with him. God forbid. It should be alright with December here, though. He searched halfheartedly for his bar comrades. "I should..." But should he let them know? They'd dragged him, unwilling, out here. It wasn't unreasonable that he'd want to leave before they were ready.
Instead, an affirmative nod toward December. "Yes," he agreed, arms looping around the smaller man's hips once again. "Got it all."
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Posted: Wed Aug 21, 2019 8:27 am
"Yes, your address would be good. Can't get home without it, right?" Drunk people were weird, Dessy concluded. Not that he didn't know that before, but to see someone drunk and affectionate was new. He could easily say he liked it since it meant Nat was super cuddly. And cuddles like this were never a bad thing.
It wasn't very hard to get Nat to move with him since he seemed to want to cling to his waist. Hard for him to walk but not hard to guide him to the side of the road while they waited for their ride. Given the whole party thing going on, they were able to have a car show up much sooner than later.
"Once you're home, I'll make sure you're a-okay, then go on my way, if you'd like that. I know I'm not quite your super best friend now, so I don't want to bug you too much." That and still had a quota to hit. But these hugs were really hard to turn down. "Unless you want me to hang out a little longer..."
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Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2019 11:44 am
He could be convinced to follow December toward the street while they waited.
Nataniel considered himself a lot of things, but needlessly stubborn wasn't one of them. It was reasonable, he told himself, that they should want to go home. The hour grew later, and Nat's penchant for not wanting to be amidst a crowd unless there was something in it for him felt ever more pronounced. What had even compelled him out here to begin with? Just Noah and Elijah...?
Ridiculous that he would let two nonsense boys sway him. Even though December had never been over before, it wasn't as though there was any reason not to. Maybe they weren't friends, per se, but what could one childish boy do with the information? He wanted to go home. December would take him.
He tipped his head to rest against the side of the other boy's.
Their car came in a matter of minutes. No matter how little he used the service, there was no denying that it wasn't at least convenient as a mode of transportation, if not still a bit strange to think about. Nataniel ushered December in before him and closed the door once they were settled, with Nat scooched near enough to brush December's side and eyes shut. "Do what you want, December," he hummed, settling a hand on the other's lap and curling his finger's against the end of his shorts.
He looked like such a child. He sounded like such a child. Nataniel had never gotten the impression since their very first attempt at playing Final Fantasy together that December was someone who was mature.
...He didn't really like immature people. They were a ridiculous sum of work. His brother was immature. Needy. Nataniel's lip curled at the thought.
But December had such warm, smooth skin... Such pretty legs, now that Nataniel was seated and situated enough to look at them. Such unattractive clothing... Nataniel twisted in his seat, carding fingers through the back of December's hair and drawing the other boy near as he tipped to touch his lips against the side of December's neck.
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Posted: Wed Sep 04, 2019 1:12 pm
He was so close! Not that Dessy minded, though he did send a sheepish smile to the driver. Nat's touch was nice, gentle, and a little eager, but letting anything happen in the back of a car like this would upset the driver, and they could get into trouble.
Instead he moved Nat's fingers by lacing his own with them, but there wasn't much he could do against the fingers in his hair, or the lips against his neck.
A very soft sound left his lips, goosebumps left behind where he was kissed. Such a gentle touch was incredibly strange to have, and part of him wanted more.
"Nataniel.." he whispered, squirming away just enough to look him properly in the eye. "Could you wait...? Just long enough to get home...?"
If someone wanted him, Dessy was taught not to deny them. He knew that was what he was best at, really, but here? When they were nearly back to Nat's apartment already? That probably really, really wasn't a good idea. As an apology, he leaned forward, pressing his nose against his companion's neck. "Just a little longer, okay?"
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Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2019 4:15 pm
"'Wait?'" Nataniel repeated softly, as if testing the word on his tongue, unsure of what significance it could have when falling from December's lips. What was he supposed to be waiting for? It was true that he was impatient to be home, as there was little merit to him being out at this social gathering to begin with, but he was no child who needed coaxing to be patient in the car. They would be back at his apartment soon. He wasn't terribly concerned over it.
Not when there were ways to occupy himself...
December laced their fingers together and Nat tugged the hand up, dragging December's arm up to drape over Nat's shoulder. He didn't know exactly how he felt about this boy. It was strange to think that he had so few... interpersonal relationships to compare it to. Friendship wasn't a strong suit of his, and typically when he met with groups in person, it was briefly. Never more than once.
If absolutely nothing else, Nataniel didn't think he wanted that with December. Were they friends? They played games together and had hung out together before... He touched his teeth to the shell of the other's ear and pinched lightly, a deep, reverberating sound of impatience dragging out of his throat.
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Posted: Sat Sep 14, 2019 7:54 pm
A soft, excited gasp caught in December's throat, cheeks reddening as his eyes quickly glanced at the driver in the front seat. It was dark so he couldn't see much, but it felt like he could see them, the way Nataniel grabbed him, putting his arm around his shoulders to press them even closer.
And December liked it. The attention, the gentleness, he wanted it to keep going and a weird sort of warmth filled his belly as it did a flip when Nat bit him again.
"Y-Yes, wait..." Again he whispered, his soft voice trembling this time. He wasn't afraid, no, not in the least! Just... It wasn't right to keep being touched liked this in public. "When we get home, you can touch me all you like, but we gotta get home first..."
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Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 10:47 am
He still had no idea what he was supposed to wait for. Nataniel didn't think he was doing anything particularly offensive, and it was not his intention to do more than he was already doing. It was something like... an experiment, you see, an investigation to determine what the extent of his connection was with December.
Were they friends? The other boy had a lot of traits Nataniel found unfavorable, and it seemed like December was perhaps a bit too talented at trying his patience. Nat did like, perhaps unconsciously, that December was here now, though... Seeing him home from a situation that Nat didn't care to be in. They could play games together. December saw the merits of his beautiful angel, Dusk. December didn't act like he thought Nataniel was too incapable of social function to not look at strangely.
He liked that...
What he didn't like was the thought of expecting too much from his friends. Wanting too much from his friends when there were no reasonable grounds to do so. Nataniel had always thought that was a poor choice. But it was so hard to distinguish between someone who was a friend and who wasn't. Or someone who was a friend and someone who more could be expected from...
He slid his attention from December's ear down to his neck, trailing his tongue over the beat of his pulse.
The car stopped, and Nat blinked, sitting up a bit straighter to more carefully observe their surroundings. The parking lot to his apartment... "Mm..." The sound was soft as he stared out the window. At a short prompt from the driver, wondering if this was the right place, Nataniel opened the car door and slid out of the seat. "Did you want to come in?" He asked December. "Or were you going home?"
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