Straight Line
d+b
952 words
“Okay, okay, I have one!” Dom shouts, waving his arms to conjure silence. He catches many of their eyes, then crosses his arms and leans against his chair-back, jutting his knee out so it rests nicely against Billy’s. Once Dom’s own personal field of gravity starts drawing everyone’s face toward him (Dom abhors a vacuum, don’t say he doesn’t know physics), he smirks and asks them, “What’s the exact point when you, A, go from mates to more-than-mates, and B, from more-than-mates to an actual certified relationship?”
Billy’s head swings outward, looking around the table along with Dom-the sneaky bugger, feigning nonchalance. Dom watches out the corner of his eye until Billy’s line of sight connects with Cate’s.
“It’s before kissing,” she says intelligently. (Of course one of the girls would answer this.) “But not too long before it. And it’s usually gradual, isn’t it?” She rubs her lips together. “You don’t ever get the proverbial switch flipped on there. As for part B.” Smile. “That comes with a conversation. It must be named a relationship to exist as such.”
Several nods and murmurs of agreement. Elijah’s “Dom’s face is a relationship,” which Billy snorts softly at but Dom studiously ignores (after elbowing Billy, who then stops shaking his shoulders and elbows Elijah next to him). “But,” Dom says, tilting his head and squinting at her, “can you think of, like. A paradigm friendship that starts before point A and proceeds to point B? Anyone you know? Anyone at a certain stage of development? Anyone here, even?”
Elijah snorts, this time, and Billy takes care of the elbowing himself.
“If I may-” Billy starts.
“No, Billy.” Dom smiles at him. “Don’t say anything that’ll give Cate a bias.”
“… And what you just said won’t?”
“We’re not in a relationship, are we, Bill?”
“No.”
“We’ve not kissed, have we, Bill?”
“Not like that…”
“Then shush, you’ve nothing to worry about.”
“Ahhh,” Cate grins. “I see. You two are before stage A. One night, you’ll realise it! You’ll kiss. And you’ll have the dreaded conversation. Won’t you?” She laughs, all the others wearing appropriately humourous expressions of oh-my-god-she’s-right. “And you, Dom, with all your hullabaloo about getting into our dressing rooms! It was all an act, wasn’t it?”
Dom merely has to twitch his eyebrows.
Billy situates himself so as to appear conspiratorial to everyone else, but open to Dom. He speaks loudly enough for Cate to hear across the table. “We’ve fooled another one.”
“Is what you say,” Orlando says, shaking his head and smiling. Everyone is smiling.
Billy’s face only brightens. “We’ve fooled all of them!” And here, by ‘brightens,’ we mean ‘becomes maniacal.’
“So,” Bean says, “you’ve fooled us into believing you’re not lovers…?”
Before Dom can even think about nodding saucily, Billy grabs him by the chin and the top of his head. It’s not an embrace, it’s a brace, and Billy’s not looking at Dom, anyway. “Fooled you into thinkin’ we are, is what I meant.”
“Sooo…” Viggo settles, his head lowering toward his shoulders. “If you were to kiss Dom right now, Dom would be completely surprised and reject you, Billy?”
Clever Billy, holding Dom’s jaw so tightly shut.
“I wouldn’t kiss Dom.”
“What if I did?” Orlando coos from Dom’s left side. “Would you be jealous, Billy?”
He releases Dom, shakes his head and shrugs at Orlando, amused and interested. “Go for it.”
Dom tries to burn a hole in Billy’s eyes with telepathy. It’s not a great weapon, as one might have guessed. Doesn’t even singe.
Orlando tugs Dom’s head over and with Orlando, no dare is ever second rate. This is a kiss. Dom counts it off to seven seconds, then breaks it, thanks Orlando and resettles merrily, looking to Billy.
Who shrugs.
Billy must have a breaking point. Dom swears to god he’s seen traces of it.
Orlando leans across Dom’s lap to Billy and slowly creeps up on his mouth. Everyone goes slack-jawed and stares at that. From Dom’s vantage point-the best vantage point-it doesn’t look like there’s any tongue, but Orlando is pressing tightly against Billy’s lips. (Dom supposes Orlando abhors a vacuum, as well, even though he probably doesn’t know too much about physics.)
As soon as Orlando is gone, Elijah has taken his place, and Billy is flushed and surprised but there is tongue in this one, Dom is sure. It makes that noise.
Elijah sits back. Billy beams crazily and has the gumption to say, “Anyone else?”
While everyone else is saying, “AH! AH! Told you so!” Dom, in fact, pulls Billy in by the back of the neck and has to work a little to twist Billy’s head in the right direction, but winds up completing the action they had all anticipated with little delay. He makes sure there is indeed tongue in this one, and that there is lip-biting, and that Billy is reciprocating very, very enthusiastically by the end of it.
Breaking point: passed. Billy, ignoring the logic they all bombard him with, how they knew, why he couldn’t hide it and how that kiss was a threshold-breaking kiss beyond all doubt, whispers into Dom’s ear (the one facing away from the table): “Can you do that again sometime?”
“Why, Billy, what in the world could you ever mean by that?” Dom whispers back. He closes his eyes and feels Billy toying with his hair, flip-snt, flip-snt.
“… Ehm… Can we be us now? Because… we’ve had months of repression, I think that makes up for the intermediate inexclusive dating period we skipped.”
Dom laughs-bubbles over. “You’ve finally fallen for my traps and charms, Bill.”
Billy snorts. “You’ve finally noticed.”
~
I ♥ my vensre, for she knows all.
952 words
“Okay, okay, I have one!” Dom shouts, waving his arms to conjure silence. He catches many of their eyes, then crosses his arms and leans against his chair-back, jutting his knee out so it rests nicely against Billy’s. Once Dom’s own personal field of gravity starts drawing everyone’s face toward him (Dom abhors a vacuum, don’t say he doesn’t know physics), he smirks and asks them, “What’s the exact point when you, A, go from mates to more-than-mates, and B, from more-than-mates to an actual certified relationship?”
Billy’s head swings outward, looking around the table along with Dom-the sneaky bugger, feigning nonchalance. Dom watches out the corner of his eye until Billy’s line of sight connects with Cate’s.
“It’s before kissing,” she says intelligently. (Of course one of the girls would answer this.) “But not too long before it. And it’s usually gradual, isn’t it?” She rubs her lips together. “You don’t ever get the proverbial switch flipped on there. As for part B.” Smile. “That comes with a conversation. It must be named a relationship to exist as such.”
Several nods and murmurs of agreement. Elijah’s “Dom’s face is a relationship,” which Billy snorts softly at but Dom studiously ignores (after elbowing Billy, who then stops shaking his shoulders and elbows Elijah next to him). “But,” Dom says, tilting his head and squinting at her, “can you think of, like. A paradigm friendship that starts before point A and proceeds to point B? Anyone you know? Anyone at a certain stage of development? Anyone here, even?”
Elijah snorts, this time, and Billy takes care of the elbowing himself.
“If I may-” Billy starts.
“No, Billy.” Dom smiles at him. “Don’t say anything that’ll give Cate a bias.”
“… And what you just said won’t?”
“We’re not in a relationship, are we, Bill?”
“No.”
“We’ve not kissed, have we, Bill?”
“Not like that…”
“Then shush, you’ve nothing to worry about.”
“Ahhh,” Cate grins. “I see. You two are before stage A. One night, you’ll realise it! You’ll kiss. And you’ll have the dreaded conversation. Won’t you?” She laughs, all the others wearing appropriately humourous expressions of oh-my-god-she’s-right. “And you, Dom, with all your hullabaloo about getting into our dressing rooms! It was all an act, wasn’t it?”
Dom merely has to twitch his eyebrows.
Billy situates himself so as to appear conspiratorial to everyone else, but open to Dom. He speaks loudly enough for Cate to hear across the table. “We’ve fooled another one.”
“Is what you say,” Orlando says, shaking his head and smiling. Everyone is smiling.
Billy’s face only brightens. “We’ve fooled all of them!” And here, by ‘brightens,’ we mean ‘becomes maniacal.’
“So,” Bean says, “you’ve fooled us into believing you’re not lovers…?”
Before Dom can even think about nodding saucily, Billy grabs him by the chin and the top of his head. It’s not an embrace, it’s a brace, and Billy’s not looking at Dom, anyway. “Fooled you into thinkin’ we are, is what I meant.”
“Sooo…” Viggo settles, his head lowering toward his shoulders. “If you were to kiss Dom right now, Dom would be completely surprised and reject you, Billy?”
Clever Billy, holding Dom’s jaw so tightly shut.
“I wouldn’t kiss Dom.”
“What if I did?” Orlando coos from Dom’s left side. “Would you be jealous, Billy?”
He releases Dom, shakes his head and shrugs at Orlando, amused and interested. “Go for it.”
Dom tries to burn a hole in Billy’s eyes with telepathy. It’s not a great weapon, as one might have guessed. Doesn’t even singe.
Orlando tugs Dom’s head over and with Orlando, no dare is ever second rate. This is a kiss. Dom counts it off to seven seconds, then breaks it, thanks Orlando and resettles merrily, looking to Billy.
Who shrugs.
Billy must have a breaking point. Dom swears to god he’s seen traces of it.
Orlando leans across Dom’s lap to Billy and slowly creeps up on his mouth. Everyone goes slack-jawed and stares at that. From Dom’s vantage point-the best vantage point-it doesn’t look like there’s any tongue, but Orlando is pressing tightly against Billy’s lips. (Dom supposes Orlando abhors a vacuum, as well, even though he probably doesn’t know too much about physics.)
As soon as Orlando is gone, Elijah has taken his place, and Billy is flushed and surprised but there is tongue in this one, Dom is sure. It makes that noise.
Elijah sits back. Billy beams crazily and has the gumption to say, “Anyone else?”
While everyone else is saying, “AH! AH! Told you so!” Dom, in fact, pulls Billy in by the back of the neck and has to work a little to twist Billy’s head in the right direction, but winds up completing the action they had all anticipated with little delay. He makes sure there is indeed tongue in this one, and that there is lip-biting, and that Billy is reciprocating very, very enthusiastically by the end of it.
Breaking point: passed. Billy, ignoring the logic they all bombard him with, how they knew, why he couldn’t hide it and how that kiss was a threshold-breaking kiss beyond all doubt, whispers into Dom’s ear (the one facing away from the table): “Can you do that again sometime?”
“Why, Billy, what in the world could you ever mean by that?” Dom whispers back. He closes his eyes and feels Billy toying with his hair, flip-snt, flip-snt.
“… Ehm… Can we be us now? Because… we’ve had months of repression, I think that makes up for the intermediate inexclusive dating period we skipped.”
Dom laughs-bubbles over. “You’ve finally fallen for my traps and charms, Bill.”
Billy snorts. “You’ve finally noticed.”
~
I ♥ my vensre, for she knows all.