The Proper-False (Part six, PG-13, 1584 words)
Title: The Proper-False
Author: lilian_cho
Rating: PG-13 for kissing and mild swearing.
Fandom: Original
Pairing: Adrien/Nicholas
Wordcount: 1584
Warnings: Adrien found James McAvoy's voice sexy; what else is new? I swear I'll stop writing scenes where Nicholas brush his teeth. Probably. Next time, it'll be Adrien's turn to brush his teeth!
Bonus: Toddler Nicholas' last frontier and Supplies for Sam
A/N: Answers holidaysmut's aviation and awkward moments challenges and writing_game's prompts: adjust, eXact, meandering, nod, obsession, of age, rashly, skin of her smile, shortage, standard lunatic, usefulness and values.
Unbeta-ed as of yet, please do point out jarring SpaG and/or continuity errors.
Writing that last scene was hard. Hopefully it flows/reads okay. I wish we have a U.S. pickery comm. like Britpickery and hp_britglish =( Would make my life easier.
Part [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 ]
Nicholas would love to be able to say that he continued being the perfect attentive boyfriend for the rest of the flight. But whereas takeoff is the bane of Adrien’s existence, it’s the ultimate sleeping aid for him. As the plane gained altitude, he nodded off in his still-upright chair. He only roused ten or so minutes later when a flight attendant handed Adrien a glass of orange juice.
Yawning, he remarked, “Oh hey, they use real glass in the business section.”
“That they do,” Adrien replied, taking a sip from his glass.
“Can’t people, like, wrap the glass and break it silently, then wield it as a deadly weapon?”
“We’re not allowed to bring nail clippers past airline security, but we can buy nail clippers and scissors two meters away from the security checkpoint,” Adrien said dryly. “There’s no rhyme or reason to it.”
“Hmm, I suppose so,” Nicholas conceded. “Is that a screwdriver? Can I have one?”
“Since we’re flying on a U.S. airline, I suspect the answer is no.”
Nicholas placed his hand over Adrien's and dragged the glass over to his side. He took a quick gulp before Adrien could protest. “I didn't taste the alcohol at all.”
“It’s meant to be orange juice and vodka, not vodka and orange juice,” Adrien pointed out.
“Depends on who you talk to.” He took another swallow before releasing Adrien's hand. “I think I like mimosa better.”
“I’ll let you sip-or, rather, gulp-all the champagne you want from my glass when we're in New York,” Adrien intoned solemnly.
Nicholas grinned. “It’s your duty to ensure I’m properly lubricated after all.”
Adrien choked on his diluted screwdriver.
*******
After an uninspiring 'five-star' meal (business class food is still airplane food), Nicholas retrieved a headset and reclined in his chair. He didn't bother browsing the in-flight movies; instead, he set the music channel to 'easy listening' and made himself comfortable. Next to him, Adrien was watching an animated movie.
Sensing Nicholas' amusement, Adrien said, “The other movie has too many explosions and not enough cute guys.”
“Uh-huh. Whereas this one has...color-coordinated garden gnomes. Clearly a superior choice.”
“Indeed it is; for one, the romantic male lead has a very sexy voice.”
Nicholas snickered.
“I won't be surprised if all the young impressionable gnomes have conflicting feelings about that one.”
He clapped a hand over his mouth before he started giggling. “I'll leave you to your newfound gnome obsession then.”
Adrien smiled but didn't look away from the screen; he seemed genuinely absorbed in the movie. He must be the type to always watch a movie and read a book to the end. Nicholas spread the thin blanket over his chest and adjusted the headphone volume until the music became a lulling background noise.
He leaned his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes. Lights from the movie flashed beyond his eyelids, and he fell asleep in no time at all.
*******
Nicholas became conscious to a crick in his neck and gentle pressure at the corner of his lips. And now, as the enchantment was at an end, the Princess awaked... His lips curved in sleepy amusement.
“Are you awake?” Adrien asked in a low voice, and Nicholas was suddenly very much awake.
His dry eyes blinked open to the sight of Adrien's face very, very close to his. He could feel puffs of warm breath against his mouth as blue-grey eyes searched his face, waiting for something. After some interminably long seconds, Adrien leaned back in his own chair, allowing Nicholas to breathe again.
“We're thirty minutes away from our destination,” Adrien said. “I thought you'd appreciate the time to go to the restroom and freshen up.”
“Um, you're right, thanks.” Nicholas groped around for the toothbrush case that he had set aside. “Wouldn't want to meet prospective in-laws with eye gunk and furry teeth.” He tried to stand up, and abruptly realized he was still wearing his seatbelt.
“I always forget that I'm wearing them,” he laughed awkwardly. He nimbly stepped around Adrien's long legs; the man-damn him-didn't even try to make this easier for him.
He closed and locked the bathroom door, which automatically turned on the bathroom lights.
There was no exact science to flirting, but he suspected Adrien was about to kiss him earlier. And whatever it was that he saw in my expression did not translate into a green light. He splashed cold water on his face and pulled out a couple of facial tissues. He wished he’d thought to bring his moisturizer with his toothbrush, since the face lotion the airline provided smelled strongly of lavender.
What did he expect, anyway? That I had a sultry ‘come-ravish-me’ look ready when I just woke up thousands of feet above ground? He squeezed out white toothpaste from the airline’s itty bitty tube with a bit too much force.
Nicholas appreciated that they needed to get some kissing practice in before they met Adrien’s relatives. Actually, it was decent of Adrien not to paw him in the name of ‘practice’ so far. He was better than Richard Gere because he had principles. Gotta remember that one for Maureen later.
He spat out toothpaste and gargled to soothe his dry, itchy throat. After rinsing and drying his toothbrush, he wiped the metal sink with a paper towel. As much principle as someone who hired a pretend boyfriend could have, at any rate.
*******
The flight attendants were preparing the passengers for landing when Nicholas walked back to his seat. Adrien handed their headphones to the smiling flight attendant standing next to his seat. Between the two of them, he and Adrien amassed four packs of peanuts, pretzels and rice crackers.
He looked at the tiny packs dubiously. “I guess if I eat like a bird these would come in handy.” He opened one of the rice crackers packs and poured the mere handful into his palm. “Then again, birds eat more than their body weight; bad analogy.”
“Steady on, starving college student.” Adrien sounded amused. “I'm sure my brother will take us out to dinner the moment we landed.”
“Awesome!” He crunched and swallowed the rice crackers. “Travelling always makes me hungry.”
Adrien raised an eyebrow. “Even though you spent most of it sleeping?”
“Exactly,” Nicholas nodded solemnly. “I burn calories in my sleep.”
“Just wait until you hit thirty.”
“Spoken by someone still in his early twenties.” He opened a pack of peanuts. “Want some?”
“Mid-twenties, actually.” Adrien grabbed a few peanuts from the proffered pack. “That was a warning to myself too.”
Nicholas tossed two peanuts into his mouth. “As long as you don't start obsessing about calories.”
Adrien said nothing in answer. When Nicholas glanced over, he saw that he was once again staring unseeing ahead of him. I guess landing isn't his favorite part of flying either. And it's been such a smooth flight too.
Nicholas didn't think about what he was going to do next. He leaned over as much as the seatbelt allowed him, and grabbed Adrien's seat to steady himself. Adrien, snapped out of his reverie, turned and looked at him.
He took a quick breath and pressed his mouth carefully against Adrien's full, pink lips.
Adrien’s lips were soft and dry from the recycled cabin air. Nicholas inanely thought that he should’ve brought his chapstick onboard, but then Adrien made a small noise, lips parting and pressing back against his. Nicholas’ eyes fluttered closed in response, savoring their first kiss.
Their bodies gravitated toward each other, still secured in their separate seats. He dimly registered the pilot announcing something or other over the PA, every sound and noise around him coalescing into static white. He tasted Adrien’s warm breath against his mouth, felt his own heartbeat where Adrien’s fingers touched his neck.
It was just a kiss, yet he was starting to feel out of breath. When Adrien’s fingernails lightly grazed his nape, he let out a sound that might have been a small whimper.
The noise startled him out of his haze. Eyes blinking open, Nicholas discovered that sometime during the kiss, his hands had migrated to Adrien’s broad shoulders. He pulled away slowly, dropping his hands in his lap. Adrien, eyes fixed on his mouth, gently untangled his fingers from Nicholas’ wavy hair.
They straightened up in their seats, still facing each other. Sometime during the last few minutes, the plane had come to a complete stop. All around them, he could hear the clinking sound of people taking off their seatbelts.
“What was that for?” Adrien’s half-lidded eyes were the colors of a stormy sky.
Nicholas cleared his throat. “You looked like you were starting to freak out again, earlier.” He sounded unconvincing, even to himself.
“Mmm, I think I’ve developed a phobia for car rides too. Think you can help with that?” Adrien said with a teasing smile.
Nicholas could feel himself flushing. At least I don’t have fair skin. Thank God for small favors. “I think I should bill you extra for these therapy sessions.”
“Does this mean we’ll get to make out on a therapy couch?” Adrien asked, sounding absurdly hopeful.
Nicholas couldn’t stop his bubble of laughter. “I don’t want to know what fantasies you harbor for your therapist.” And, since he did want further make-out sessions with Adrien, he threw caution to the wind and said, “Okay, if only for the sake of medical science.”
“Of course,” Adrien agreed solemnly.
Author: lilian_cho
Rating: PG-13 for kissing and mild swearing.
Fandom: Original
Pairing: Adrien/Nicholas
Wordcount: 1584
Warnings: Adrien found James McAvoy's voice sexy; what else is new? I swear I'll stop writing scenes where Nicholas brush his teeth. Probably. Next time, it'll be Adrien's turn to brush his teeth!
Bonus: Toddler Nicholas' last frontier and Supplies for Sam
A/N: Answers holidaysmut's aviation and awkward moments challenges and writing_game's prompts: adjust, eXact, meandering, nod, obsession, of age, rashly, skin of her smile, shortage, standard lunatic, usefulness and values.
Unbeta-ed as of yet, please do point out jarring SpaG and/or continuity errors.
Writing that last scene was hard. Hopefully it flows/reads okay. I wish we have a U.S. pickery comm. like Britpickery and hp_britglish =( Would make my life easier.
Part [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 ]
Nicholas would love to be able to say that he continued being the perfect attentive boyfriend for the rest of the flight. But whereas takeoff is the bane of Adrien’s existence, it’s the ultimate sleeping aid for him. As the plane gained altitude, he nodded off in his still-upright chair. He only roused ten or so minutes later when a flight attendant handed Adrien a glass of orange juice.
Yawning, he remarked, “Oh hey, they use real glass in the business section.”
“That they do,” Adrien replied, taking a sip from his glass.
“Can’t people, like, wrap the glass and break it silently, then wield it as a deadly weapon?”
“We’re not allowed to bring nail clippers past airline security, but we can buy nail clippers and scissors two meters away from the security checkpoint,” Adrien said dryly. “There’s no rhyme or reason to it.”
“Hmm, I suppose so,” Nicholas conceded. “Is that a screwdriver? Can I have one?”
“Since we’re flying on a U.S. airline, I suspect the answer is no.”
Nicholas placed his hand over Adrien's and dragged the glass over to his side. He took a quick gulp before Adrien could protest. “I didn't taste the alcohol at all.”
“It’s meant to be orange juice and vodka, not vodka and orange juice,” Adrien pointed out.
“Depends on who you talk to.” He took another swallow before releasing Adrien's hand. “I think I like mimosa better.”
“I’ll let you sip-or, rather, gulp-all the champagne you want from my glass when we're in New York,” Adrien intoned solemnly.
Nicholas grinned. “It’s your duty to ensure I’m properly lubricated after all.”
Adrien choked on his diluted screwdriver.
*******
After an uninspiring 'five-star' meal (business class food is still airplane food), Nicholas retrieved a headset and reclined in his chair. He didn't bother browsing the in-flight movies; instead, he set the music channel to 'easy listening' and made himself comfortable. Next to him, Adrien was watching an animated movie.
Sensing Nicholas' amusement, Adrien said, “The other movie has too many explosions and not enough cute guys.”
“Uh-huh. Whereas this one has...color-coordinated garden gnomes. Clearly a superior choice.”
“Indeed it is; for one, the romantic male lead has a very sexy voice.”
Nicholas snickered.
“I won't be surprised if all the young impressionable gnomes have conflicting feelings about that one.”
He clapped a hand over his mouth before he started giggling. “I'll leave you to your newfound gnome obsession then.”
Adrien smiled but didn't look away from the screen; he seemed genuinely absorbed in the movie. He must be the type to always watch a movie and read a book to the end. Nicholas spread the thin blanket over his chest and adjusted the headphone volume until the music became a lulling background noise.
He leaned his head back on the pillow and closed his eyes. Lights from the movie flashed beyond his eyelids, and he fell asleep in no time at all.
*******
Nicholas became conscious to a crick in his neck and gentle pressure at the corner of his lips. And now, as the enchantment was at an end, the Princess awaked... His lips curved in sleepy amusement.
“Are you awake?” Adrien asked in a low voice, and Nicholas was suddenly very much awake.
His dry eyes blinked open to the sight of Adrien's face very, very close to his. He could feel puffs of warm breath against his mouth as blue-grey eyes searched his face, waiting for something. After some interminably long seconds, Adrien leaned back in his own chair, allowing Nicholas to breathe again.
“We're thirty minutes away from our destination,” Adrien said. “I thought you'd appreciate the time to go to the restroom and freshen up.”
“Um, you're right, thanks.” Nicholas groped around for the toothbrush case that he had set aside. “Wouldn't want to meet prospective in-laws with eye gunk and furry teeth.” He tried to stand up, and abruptly realized he was still wearing his seatbelt.
“I always forget that I'm wearing them,” he laughed awkwardly. He nimbly stepped around Adrien's long legs; the man-damn him-didn't even try to make this easier for him.
He closed and locked the bathroom door, which automatically turned on the bathroom lights.
There was no exact science to flirting, but he suspected Adrien was about to kiss him earlier. And whatever it was that he saw in my expression did not translate into a green light. He splashed cold water on his face and pulled out a couple of facial tissues. He wished he’d thought to bring his moisturizer with his toothbrush, since the face lotion the airline provided smelled strongly of lavender.
What did he expect, anyway? That I had a sultry ‘come-ravish-me’ look ready when I just woke up thousands of feet above ground? He squeezed out white toothpaste from the airline’s itty bitty tube with a bit too much force.
Nicholas appreciated that they needed to get some kissing practice in before they met Adrien’s relatives. Actually, it was decent of Adrien not to paw him in the name of ‘practice’ so far. He was better than Richard Gere because he had principles. Gotta remember that one for Maureen later.
He spat out toothpaste and gargled to soothe his dry, itchy throat. After rinsing and drying his toothbrush, he wiped the metal sink with a paper towel. As much principle as someone who hired a pretend boyfriend could have, at any rate.
*******
The flight attendants were preparing the passengers for landing when Nicholas walked back to his seat. Adrien handed their headphones to the smiling flight attendant standing next to his seat. Between the two of them, he and Adrien amassed four packs of peanuts, pretzels and rice crackers.
He looked at the tiny packs dubiously. “I guess if I eat like a bird these would come in handy.” He opened one of the rice crackers packs and poured the mere handful into his palm. “Then again, birds eat more than their body weight; bad analogy.”
“Steady on, starving college student.” Adrien sounded amused. “I'm sure my brother will take us out to dinner the moment we landed.”
“Awesome!” He crunched and swallowed the rice crackers. “Travelling always makes me hungry.”
Adrien raised an eyebrow. “Even though you spent most of it sleeping?”
“Exactly,” Nicholas nodded solemnly. “I burn calories in my sleep.”
“Just wait until you hit thirty.”
“Spoken by someone still in his early twenties.” He opened a pack of peanuts. “Want some?”
“Mid-twenties, actually.” Adrien grabbed a few peanuts from the proffered pack. “That was a warning to myself too.”
Nicholas tossed two peanuts into his mouth. “As long as you don't start obsessing about calories.”
Adrien said nothing in answer. When Nicholas glanced over, he saw that he was once again staring unseeing ahead of him. I guess landing isn't his favorite part of flying either. And it's been such a smooth flight too.
Nicholas didn't think about what he was going to do next. He leaned over as much as the seatbelt allowed him, and grabbed Adrien's seat to steady himself. Adrien, snapped out of his reverie, turned and looked at him.
He took a quick breath and pressed his mouth carefully against Adrien's full, pink lips.
Adrien’s lips were soft and dry from the recycled cabin air. Nicholas inanely thought that he should’ve brought his chapstick onboard, but then Adrien made a small noise, lips parting and pressing back against his. Nicholas’ eyes fluttered closed in response, savoring their first kiss.
Their bodies gravitated toward each other, still secured in their separate seats. He dimly registered the pilot announcing something or other over the PA, every sound and noise around him coalescing into static white. He tasted Adrien’s warm breath against his mouth, felt his own heartbeat where Adrien’s fingers touched his neck.
It was just a kiss, yet he was starting to feel out of breath. When Adrien’s fingernails lightly grazed his nape, he let out a sound that might have been a small whimper.
The noise startled him out of his haze. Eyes blinking open, Nicholas discovered that sometime during the kiss, his hands had migrated to Adrien’s broad shoulders. He pulled away slowly, dropping his hands in his lap. Adrien, eyes fixed on his mouth, gently untangled his fingers from Nicholas’ wavy hair.
They straightened up in their seats, still facing each other. Sometime during the last few minutes, the plane had come to a complete stop. All around them, he could hear the clinking sound of people taking off their seatbelts.
“What was that for?” Adrien’s half-lidded eyes were the colors of a stormy sky.
Nicholas cleared his throat. “You looked like you were starting to freak out again, earlier.” He sounded unconvincing, even to himself.
“Mmm, I think I’ve developed a phobia for car rides too. Think you can help with that?” Adrien said with a teasing smile.
Nicholas could feel himself flushing. At least I don’t have fair skin. Thank God for small favors. “I think I should bill you extra for these therapy sessions.”
“Does this mean we’ll get to make out on a therapy couch?” Adrien asked, sounding absurdly hopeful.
Nicholas couldn’t stop his bubble of laughter. “I don’t want to know what fantasies you harbor for your therapist.” And, since he did want further make-out sessions with Adrien, he threw caution to the wind and said, “Okay, if only for the sake of medical science.”
“Of course,” Adrien agreed solemnly.