Fic: The Camera Eye: On Display 2/2 [MiA x Subaru, NC-17]
Title: The Camera Eye: On Display [2/2]
Chapter: Thirty-fifth in The Camera Eye series. Links to previous installments can be found here Split in two because of LJ’s post limits, Part 1 is here.
Author: Boots
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Porn industry AU, drama, smut, romance
Warnings: Male/male sex, polyamory, frottage, deepthroating
Pairing: MiA (Mejibray) x Subaru (Royz) (main), Yo-ka (DIAURA) x Yuuki (Lycaon), Kai x Uruha (GazettE), mentions of Yo-ka x Byou (SCREW)
Disclaimer: DIAURA belongs to Ains, Mejibray belongs to White Side Group, Royz belongs to BP Records, the now-disbanded Lycaon belonged to Vogue Entertainment, SCREW and GazettE belong to PS Company, I own the story only.
Summary: Subaru is about to participate in one of the porn industry’s major events - the Japan Adult Video Expo - for the first time. He’s about to experience a lot of firsts - including the straight side of the industry, and a rival who’s gunning for PSC Productions.
Notes: The Expo is based on a real-life porn industry event, the Adult Entertainment Expo, which is sponsored by Adult Video News and held every year in Las Vegas. Like the Expo depicted here, it consists of trade, fan and press events, including autograph signings (though the format of the signing here is based more on visual kei instore events).
Subaru lay on a couch in the green room, an arm over his eyes.
He didn’t think that just standing behind a table, smiling and chatting and signing his name, for a couple of hours would be so exhausting. But it was. His throat felt scratchy and he had a bad case of writer’s cramp.
And he still had the press conference to get through later on. Not to mention the party.
He heard the scrape of a folding chair being pulled up next to him. “Hey,” said a familiar voice. “How are you doing?”
“I’ll survive,” Subaru murmured. He lifted the arm and turned his head just far enough to see Yuuki occupying the chair, still holding his whip in his lap.
“I’m going to have to touch up your makeup before the press conference if you’re lying like that,” Yuuki said. “Well, I’d probably have to touch it up anyway. Everyone wears face masks to the trailer screenings so we can watch the fans’ reactions without having them recognize us, and that’s hell on makeup.” He put a hand over Subaru’s arm. “Did you have fun out there?”
“It was just so . . . so . . . I didn’t expect them to be so many of them,” Subaru said. “So many people to see us.”
“Not just to see us,” said Yuuki. “Remember, a lot of people were booth-hopping - collecting autographs from as many actors as they could. But I did see a lot of people going through the line more than once, which meant we were selling videos. Did the fans behave themselves?”
Subaru nodded. “Well, other than the one who came right out and asked if Yo-ka and I were really a couple. I didn’t know how to answer that. Yo-ka heard it, though - he leaned over and told the girl, ‘He’s a very dear friend.’”
“Smart,” Yuuki said. “The girl can take that however she wants. I knew I loved that man for a reason.” He leaned over toward Subaru. “Are you up to taking a little walk? I want to show you something.”
Subaru raised his arm again. “Do I have to walk far?”
“To the other end of the building,” said Yuuki. “There’s chairs along the wall if you need to sit.”
Subaru sat up, slowly - and found a face mask, a baseball cap and a baggy sweatjacket being shoved at him. “What are these?”
“The mask, I brought a package of them with me. The cap is from one of the other booths. The jacket I borrowed from one of our staff. Put them on - we’re going incognito.”
Which meant they would probably be walking out among the fans. Subaru pulled on the items, watching Yuuki getting similarly dressed, tucking as much pink hair as possible under the hat. “Okay,” said Subaru. “Now what?”
“Come with me.” Yuuki took a couple of steps - Subaru noticed he’d temporarily switched to flat shoes - and then turned around. “Oh, that badge you have? You might want to turn it around. We can turn it back around if you need to, but you don’t want to be advertising to the public that you’re Subaru of Eros Films.”
Okay, they were definitely going out among the fans. Subaru fully expected Yuuki to lead him out the same door they went through before. Instead, they were headed to the back of the green room, through a door, down a corridor, around a corner, through another door . . .
Finally, Yuuki stopped at a set of double fire doors labeled “EXIT” and pushed on the metal bar to open it. “Welcome to the other side of the Expo,” he said.
The two men stepped out into a room that was filled with booths like Gay Alley had been - but it was bigger. Much, much bigger. In fact, the booths seemed to spread out for miles. Instead of bearing pictures of beautiful men, they all had photos of women. There were tall ones, petite ones, mostly Japanese, a few Western-looking, sporting every hair color found in nature and a few usually seen only seen in anime. They were all curvy, buxom, and scantily dressed.
“Oh, my God,” Subaru said. “Oh, my GOD! Look at all the companies!”
“This is straight porn,” Yuuki said. “This is the other side of the industry. And I mean ‘straight’ as in it’s aimed at straight men. There’s plenty of lesbian stuff in these videos, too.”
The two actors began to make their way down an aisle. Subaru’s head swiveled from left to right, trying to take it all in. There were the fanboys lining up to get autographs - some of them looked clean-cut and normal, others were, well . . . kind of creepy. Looking like they didn't get out of their homes all that often - rumpled, pasty, with an odd look in their eyes. Otaku in the BAD way.
And there were the actresses themselves, smiling and waving and signing like Subaru had just been doing. Some of them seemed to be doing it on automatic pilot - like they were smiling-and-waving machines who had been at it for years and were used to it.
He couldn’t help but stare at some of the women’s . . . proportions. Not because he was genuinely interested in a sexual way - he was very much a man’s man. But because he didn’t think he’d ever seen anything like them in-person before. To say they were pumped up with silicone was an understatement. Some of them flat-out looked like they had twin watermelons shoved in their chests.
And MiA worried that a nose job and a few little nips and tucks to his face made him an “artificially created porn star?” He was downright natural compared to these women.
Subaru leaned over toward Yuuki. “How do they sleep?” he whispered.
“What do you mean?”
“Those chests! I couldn’t sleep with something like that in front of me! I mean, if you rolled on your stomach, it would be like sleeping on bowling balls!”
Yuuki laughed. “Oh, my God, I’m never going to be able to get that image out of my head.”
“Well, it’s true, isn’t it?”
“I’m sure they get used to it fast,” Yuuki said. “It’s kind of a necessity on their side of the business.”
They passed a booth that had created an impromptu mud pit using a children’s wading pool, a bag of garden soil and water. Two bikini-clad actresses were wrestling in it, making a big show of almost-but-not-quite pulling off each other’s tops, much to the delight of the whooping and hollering male fans. The sight of it made Subaru a little uncomfortable - somehow, it seemed more exploitive than what they did in front of the cameras.
Another booth had a monitor up that was showing select clips of videos - actresses starting to disrobe, early-stages-of-foreplay between an actress and an actor, an actress emerging nude from a pool, shot from behind.
“Do they have plots in their videos like we do?” said Subaru.
“Some do,” said Yuuki. “From what I understand, the straight side of the industry is going more toward ‘gonzo’ porn, though.”
“What’s that?” said Subaru.
“Gonzo is porn shot from a first-person point of view,” Yuki said. “It’s supposed to make the viewer feel like he’s the one with the actress. You also have the girls talking directly to the camera a lot.”
“Oh,” Subaru said. That kind of creeped him out, too. He decided he liked their own side of the industry much better.
The next booth they passed had a couple of the actresses performing a striptease act - complete with poles - behind a pane of glass, while fanboys whooped and screamed. One actress shed her pants, exposing that she had nothing on her bottom but a thong, and strutted over to the glass, bending over and pressing her assets, so to speak, against the pane. One of the fanboys rushed toward the strippers and was pulled away by security - but not before he pressed his face to the glass, right over her bottom, and licked it.
Subaru suddenly found himself shuddering with mild revulsion. This was a far cry from the sensuous fantasies they had in their own videos. It seemed kinda . . . sleazy.
If he’d been straight, this was enough to turn him gay.
* * *
It was with a huge sense of relief that Subaru arrived, along with Yuuki, at the back of Gay Alley. He felt a bit like a Dorothy who’d taken a trip to a weird, surreal, sort-of-disturbing Oz and was now safely back in Kansas.
They ended up next to a group of similarly masked, hatted and sweatjacketed figures. “You’re just in time,” said the one closest to them - who sounded like Yo-ka. “They’re about to start the trailers.”
“Where were you guys?” said the person next to Yo-ka - who sort of sounded like Byou.
“I wanted to show Subaru what’s going on over there,” Yuuki said, jerking a thumb toward the straight side of the building.
“And he survived it?” said the guy on the other side of was-probably-Byou - who was most likely Jin.
The lights in the room dimmed, and the head of the Japan Adult Video Association, Male Division walked out in front of the screen. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he announced, “welcome to the traditional conclusion of our Expo - the unveiling of each company’s trailers for next year. Unfortunately, one company is conspicuous by its absence - this is Avalon Video’s last Expo as a standalone company, and next year, its performers will be with Eros Video.” A groan of disappointment went up from the crowd. “But don’t worry - you will be seeing at least one of their key players in the trailers tonight. And without further ado, we’re going to get things started with Adonis Video . . .”
Byou leaned over and whispered to the group, “We’re last. Uruha told us earlier.”
Subaru turned his attention to the screen. Adonis’ preview was . . . nothing to write home about. Their big title of the year seemed to be a porn parody of Free! - plus, there were a couple of other titles in there, one of which seemed to be a crime drama, the other a romance.
“We’ve got nothing to fear at the JAVAs from them,” Yo-ka whispered.
This was followed by a couple of indies, Hard Candy (who seemed to be emphasizing the “hard” part of their name, since their big title was some sort of police story set among the BDSM world), a few more indies, Eros Films’ own trailer (which was mostly for a non-PSC Yuuki vehicle called Shadow), another indie . . .
And then came Heavy Hitter, filled with musclemen, thumping music and a testosterone-soaked narrator growling, “Real porn for real men. Starring real men. What YOU want, not your little sister.” Subaru noticed most of the fangirls standing in steely silence at that one - an even some angry murmurs.
Finally, the screen filled with the familiar red and white PSC logo. A hush of anticipation filled the room . . .
And then, familiar music began - the swirling keyboards that had opened Datenshi Blue. The screen showed the pattern of falling feathers that had been under the opening credits of that video . . . until the beat of the music really kicked in, and suddenly, an image of Yo-ka in the new film - dressed in white, looking anxiously out into the distance - burst into the middle of the screen. The audience let out a delighted gasp.
The image of Yo-ka faded, and was replaced by one of Yuuki in his demon outfit, twisting his whip in his fingers - and the gasps were louder. When the next image was of Byou, looking very much the anxious boyfriend whose lover had gone off to fight evil, the audience started to realize what they were seeing - and the gasps became delighted squeals.
Next, the trailer showcased the two newcomers to the Datenshi Blue franchise - when Subaru burst fullscreen, all in white and with his angel wings visible, the squeals became a roar, and the roar became deafening when the final star was revealed - MiA, in his demon costume.
Finally, the logo appeared on the screen - “DATENSHI BLUE 2 - HEAVEN, HELL AND EARTH,” with “Coming Soon” below that. The trailer had one more surprise, though . . .
There was a quick scene of Yuuki, in character as Moloch, saying, “You have no idea what the Prince of Darkness has planned.” And as he said “Prince of Darkness,” an image of Aoi appeared for less than a second, suddenly bursting into the picture like an interrupted TV broadcast - the effect like something from a J-horror. And the crowd gasped again - did they just see who they thought they saw?
The lights came up, and there was a deafening roar. Yuuki and Yo-ka hugged each other, and then each took turns hugging Subaru. To say the trailer was well-received was an understatement.
In another part of the room, Uruha was literally sagging against a wall with relief, while Kai hugged him. He turned his head in the direction of the delegation from Heavy Hitter - who didn’t look happy.
“Take that, you bastards,” he mumbled under his breath.
* * *
There wasn’t much time to savor the victory - the next step was to go upstairs, change clothes and get ready for the press conference. When Subaru went up to his hotel room, it was the first time he’d seen MiA since that morning.
“How did it go for you?” he said. “The show, I mean.”
“Pretty good,” said MiA, rummaging around in his overnight case for something. “A lot of the fans told us they were sorry Avalon was shutting down. They wanted to know what I was doing next, and of course, I couldn’t tell them. I just told them to watch the trailers.”
“I didn’t have time to think about anything,” Subaru said. “It all went so fast.”
“Did the American journalist talk to you?” said MiA, finding the shirt he was looking for and pulling it out.
“What American journalist?” said Subaru, walking toward the bathroom with his toiletries/makeup case.
“There was a guy going around with a translator,” MiA said. “He was asking all kinds of questions about how it feels to be a gay male performer who’s watched by women. I have a feeling he’s doing one of those look-at-how-wacky-Japanese-porn-is stories. We’ll be featured right after the elder porn.”
Subaru frowned. “Did you say anything?”
“I gave him a couple of quotes,” MiA said. “I’m just hoping the translator got what I said right.” He walked up behind Subaru, grabbed him about the waist and leaned over to kiss his shoulder. “I’m glad we’re rooming together tonight,” he said.
“I’m glad, too,” Subaru said, leaning back against MiA. Oh, he was tempted to start kissing him, and touching him, and sliding off his clothes . . .
He couldn’t, though. Not with the press conference to go to. The trade show itself might be behind them - but the evening definitely wasn’t.
* * *
The four stars of Datenshi Blue 2, along with their director, were sitting in another green room - this time, an office adjacent to the hotel ballroom where the press conference was being held.
They were the only ones in here right now - the Expo staff summoned the companies one at a time, like a restaurant maître d’ informing people that their table was ready. After Yuuki had done everyone’s hair and makeup - including Uruha’s - they had all waited in the director’s room until they got their call. “Come down to the Green Room. One more company, and then you’re up.”
Uruha had briefed them while they were waiting. “Hopefully, they’ll just ask you about the video,” he said. “If they ask you about Heavy Hitter? You reply that every company has a right to find its own unique audience, and we’re very happy with the one we’ve got. If they ask about the Eros and Avalon merger? You say you can’t comment, because the process isn’t complete yet.”
Now, Subaru sat there feeling like he was back in college and about to take an important exam. He kept going through the answers in his head, determined to use the right one in the right situation.
“Hey,” Yo-ka said, putting an arm around Subaru’s shoulders and hugging him. “Don’t worry. It’ll be fine.”
“Have you ever done this before?” said Subaru.
“No. I haven’t. Neither has Yuuki. MiA?”
MiA shook his head. “No press conferences for me, either. I really never thought I’d be doing one.”
“Until you became a famous director?” Subaru said with a big smile.
“Well . . . maybe then.”
A staffer - a woman dressed in a very professional-looking suit, appearing more like someone who’d be working in an office than for a porn trade show - approached the group. “All right, they’re ready for you,” she said. “Walk straight out and up the steps to the dais. Each company is being given about ten to fifteen minutes.”
“Not much time,” Uruha mumbled as they crossed to the conference room. “They’d better not ask us any bullshit questions.”
They settled in, while the attendees applauded them, and the moderator - the head of the Japan Adult Video Association - said to Uruha, “Uruha-san, would you like to introduce your people?”
“Hello,” Uruha said, bowing to the audience. “I’m Uruha, head producer-director of PSC Productions. Tonight, I’ve brought with me the actors from our upcoming film Datenshi Blue 2 - at far left is Yuuki, next to him is Yo-ka, on my left here is Subaru, and beside him is MiA. We’ve had a spectacular amount of success in the past year, and these actors have been a big part of it. Well, MiA just joined us - and we’re expecting to do great things with him. We would be honored to take your questions.” He bowed again.
The first person up to the microphone was a hulking guy in an ill-fitting suit. “Mashiro Koji, Adult Extra,” he said. “Why did you choose to market your videos to an audience of women?”
Subaru nearly groaned - this was the kind of question he was afraid they were going to get. Uruha replied, “We saw it as an underserved market. The publishing industry is certainly aware that women have an interest in male-male romance and sexuality. Magazines like June and Be Boy have been selling to women for years. Why not carry that over to video as well?”
Yuuki leaned over to the mike and added, “The feedback we’ve gotten from our fans - both at today’s show and elsewhere - indicates that we’ve hit a chord with them.”
“Feedback meaning a lot of squee-ing,” said Yo-ka, which drew a laugh from the room.
The next reporter got up - a hipster in a flannel shirt, jeans and indoor sunglasses. “Nizuma Akito, The Daily Porn” - one of the bigger porn blogs, which usually covered the mainstream side of the industry, but occasionally touched on the gay one. “You’re known as a major company - and yet, all the stars you have with you tonight are associated primarily with indie companies. Do you think mainstream porn is poaching the indies for talent?”
“It’s not poaching,” Uruha said. “Datenshi Blue and its sequel were made under co-production agreements with Eros Films.”
“And I would like to point out that we did NOT sell out,” Yuuki said. “We made these videos because we WANT to, not for money or mainstream recgonition.”
“We chose to make videos with PSC, while staying with our own companies,” MiA said. “That’s because we believe in the integrity of what they do, and the quality of their work. PSC isn’t just your run-of-the-mill company that doesn’t care about quality.”
Subaru was starting to feel out of his depth. He was becoming acutely aware that he was the only one who hadn’t said a word - and he couldn’t think of anything to say. There was another reporter asking about the competition, and Yo-ka was saying something articulate about how competition kept everyone sharp, and Uruha was throwing some small praise in the direction of their competitors, saying PSC had to stay on its toes to keep ahead of them . . .
I have to say something, Subaru thought. I can’t just keep sitting here. They’re going to wonder who this kid is who just looks pretty and sits there silently . . .
The next reporter stepped up - another hipster, only minus the sunglasses this time. “Takagi Eiji, Triple-X-Tra. What do you feel about the criticism you’ve taken from Heavy Hitter Films - their marketing seemed to be targeting you directly?”
Oh, God, there was something they were supposed to say here, and Subaru couldn’t remember what it was, but he felt that he had to say something, and so he blurted out the first thing that came into his head . . .
“I’d hate to know how much that company is spending on its actors’ gym bills.”
Oh, crap - did he just say THAT? Oh, crap, oh, crap . . .
But the room was breaking out in laughter and applause. Yo-ka added, “I guess they want to put the heavy in Heavy Hitter, don’t they?”
“I’d hate to be hit by one of those guys,” said MiA.
“I don’t think their game is hitting,” said Yuuki, casually. “More like fisting.” The room exploded again.
Subaru suddenly felt a lot more relaxed. His blurted-out remark had actually gone over well. Not only that - but it had started a chain reaction of similar remarks. And suddenly, what he was supposed to say popped back into his head, and he leaned back over to his microphone.
“All kidding aside - look, every company is entitled to its audience. Heavy Hitter thinks they’ve found theirs, they’re marketing to them and that’s fine. We’re very happy with the audience we have, and we’re going to continue making videos for them.”
“I couldn't have said it better myself,” Uruha said
Subaru sat back in his seat, breathing a huge sigh of relief. Well, he’d gotten past that one. It would be easier from here on in.
As it turned out, there were just a couple more questions - one of the bloggers asking about Datenshi Blue 2 (which they all expressed enthusiasm about without giving away any major plot details), and a writer for a gay publication noting that a couple of their videos had been picked up for overseas distribution and asking if they thought their material would play well overseas.
“Our themes are universal,” Uruha said. “Love, longing, fantasy, indulgence . . .”
“And pretty men with other pretty men,” said Yo-ka - drawing a laugh.
Subaru added, “I can’t imagine anyone of any nationality not finding my co-stars here attractive.”
“MiA in a tight pair of booty shorts is universal,” Yo-ka said.
“Yo-ka not wearing any shorts at all is even more universal,” Subaru replied - getting a bigger laugh.
“And this speaks louder than any words,” Yuuki said, holding his whip over his head - which drew whooping and applause.
The moderator stepped up. “Thank you, PSC Productions,” he said. “Next, we have the ladies of Jug-gernaut Video . . .”
The staff was ushering them out the opposite door they came in. “Thank you very much,” the woman in the business suit said, bowing to them. “You may go straight to the party now - it’s in the ground floor ballroom.”
“No, thank YOU very much,” Uruha said, bowing to her. “It’s an honor for us to be asked to participate.” When she had gone back into the conference room, he turned to his actors. “How do you think it went?” he said.
“They had to ask us about fucking Heavy Hitter, didn’t they?” Yuuki said.
“I would have been surprised if they hadn’t,” Uruha said. “But Subaru? You had the best response on that one.”
“It just sort of slipped out,” Subaru said. “Really.”
“I was beginning to wonder if you had stage fright,” said Yo-ka, wrapping an arm around him. “And then, you came out with that.”
“I was beginning to wonder if I’d be able to talk, too,” Subaru said.
“Come on - let’s go downstairs,” Uruha said. “I’d like to see how much havoc Aoi has been able to wreak.”
They headed for the elevator. Well, that was another first for today. First trade show, first press conference, first encounter with the straight side of the industry. Subaru was beginning to think he’d lived ten years in a single day.
* * *
As it turned out, the party was the least remarkable part of the day.
There was a pretty decent selection of izakaya foods and an open bar. Aoi, of course, was making the social rounds, talking to actors from other companies, and once the press conference was over, bloggers.
Subaru was content to sit at a table with his group of friends, enjoying beer and yakitori and agedashi tofu. A big platter of yakisoba arrived later. Some actors from other companies came up to them, mostly to congratulate them on the upcoming video. “Man, I’m hoping our company doesn’t release anything the week you put that out,” one actor from Adonis told them. “We’re going to get creamed if they do.”
“I don’t notice any of the Heavy Hitter sides of beef here,” Subaru remarked after the Adonis guy had left.
“I don’t think they’d hang out here,” Yuuki said. “Probably most of them are gay-for-pay would-be mainstream actors.”
“Hey!” Yo-ka said. “Byou’s a would-be mainstream actor, you know.”
“He’s not gay-for-pay,” Yuuki said. “He’s the real deal. I know. I’ve walked in on the two of you.”
“And you didn’t mind watching,” Yo-ka said.
“I never mind watching you,” Yuuki said. “I mind even less when I get to join in.”
“They’ll be at the JAVAS, though,” MiA said, quietly. “Heavy Hitter, I mean. And they’ll probably try to show us up.”
“We’ll be more than ready for them,” Yuuki said. “They may have the muscles, but they’re not going to look as good on the red carpet as us.” Never mind that last year he had literally fallen on the red carpet - that wasn’t going to happen again.
“I’m not going to worry about them,” Subaru said. “I’m just going to have a good time right now.”
“We ALL should have a good time right now,” MiA said, reaching for Subaru’s hand and grasping it.
Subaru smiled at MiA. “MiA, you didn’t wear your tiara to the press conference.”
“Koichi wasn’t there to see it,” MiA said. “Don’t tell him, okay?”
They both laughed and squeezed hands again. No, they weren’t going to worry about Heavy Hitter - at least, not now.
* * *
As it turned out, by the time they got up to their room, Subaru and MiA were too exhausted to do anything but take off their makeup, change into T-shirts and shorts, crawl under the covers and fall asleep, curled up together under the covers.
And there they stayed until a ray of sunlight came through the curtains and fall across Subaru’s face.
Subaru woke up slowly, snuggled closer to MiA, and considered falling back to sleep. He was warm and comfortable, and the bed felt nice.
Okay, they had to vacate these premises by noon, and the two of them hadn’t taken full advantage of any of the hotel’s facilities yet, so to speak. But still - after the frantic activity of the last day, he just wanted to rest.
MiA stirred next to him, opening his eyes, slowly. “Morning,” he murmured.
“Morning to you, too,” said Subaru. He kissed his friend’s forehead. “Did you sleep well?”
“Mmmm.” MiA raised his head, blinking, and looked toward the alarm clock. “It’s twenty after nine - what time did we pass out?”
“About 1:30 or 2,” Subaru said. “All I could remember was I was exhausted.”
“Me, too.” MiA rested his forehead against Subaru’s. “We didn’t get a chance to do anything about being in this room together.”
“We could make up for it still.” Subaru yawned and stretched. “Just give me a moment.” He stumbled toward the water closet - the suite had separate rooms for the toilet and bathing facilities, like a Japanese home would - and when he finished there, headed for the washing room to brush his teeth.
Might as well wash up while I’m here, he thought, stripping off and sitting on the bathing stool next to the handheld showerhead mounted in the wall. As he lathered up, his mind kept going over the events of the previous day. The fangirls going nuts for him . . . the press conference . . . the frenzied reaction to the Datenshi Blue 2 trailer, and the roar of approval when his own face appeared on the screen . . .
It was just all happening so fast. And to think that a mere six months ago, he was getting out of college and wondering if he could get into the porn industry long enough to pay off his bills.
MiA joined him in the room. “You have the right idea,” he said, heading for the sink.
“I needed it after yesterday.” Subaru stuck his hand under the wall-mounted shampoo pump. “MiA, what was it like for you the first time you went to one of these things? Were you, well . . .”
MiA finished with his toothbrush and rinsed. “Overwhelmed?” he said afterward.
“Well, I don’t know about overwhelmed, but there was just so much . . .”
“Last year was my first.” MiA pulled off his own T-shirt and shorts and walked over to the washing area, sitting on the second stool. “I just remember being baffled by all the people who had shown up specifically to meet us. You don’t realize how many people are watching us until we have these things.”
“It felt . . .” Subaru ducked his head and began rinsing his hair. “Well, I know a porn star isn’t a REAL star, but it sure felt like I was one. And that was, well . . . crazy. Wild. A little scary. I mean, I’m just a video game designer from Osaka, and . . .”
“I know,” MiA said, softly. “I know the feeling. You think you’re just some guy who decided to do something nuts in order to make money, and the next thing you know, you’re the center of attention. It’s, well . . .”
“Crazy?”
“Unexpected,” MiA said. “But you learn to go with it.”
“This is going to take some time to get used to.” Subaru hung up the showerhead and reached for a towel. “I’m not used to having people line up for me.”
“They’re lining up for a reason, though.” MiA said, reaching for the dispenser of shower soap. “You’ve got something special. You’re not like other guys in the industry.”
“You’re special too, you know.” Subaru finished drying and tied a towel around his waist. “Not just because of who you are on video.” He picked up a hairdryer.
MiA glanced over at Subaru while lathering his hair. “You’re cute, you know that?” he said. “And you don’t need to wear that.”
“Oh . . .” Subaru looked down at the towel and blushed.
“It’s just me, remember? Besides, after we finish up in here . . .”
Oh, Subaru remembered. Which made him dry his hair twice as fast. And when he finished up and handed the dryer back to MiA, all he could think of was - what did he do now? Did he just go into the other room and lie back down on the bed? Did he wait for MiA to finish up? Sex was easy when there was a script and a director to tell you what to do.
He slowly backed into the bedroom, fumbling with the tie of the towel. And now, it didn’t want to become unknotted. Just great. It was a damn good thing he wasn’t on-camera.
MiA came walking into the room, completely naked, reached for the knot and unfastened it. The towel dropped to Subaru’s feet. “Um, thanks,” he said.
He watched the older man move over to the easy chair across the room and settle into it. “Come here,” he said, holding out his arms toward Subaru. “Like the night we first met . . .”
Subaru remembered very well. The orgy at the Suicide Ball, the two of them retreating into a room together, then grinding against one another until they both hit ecstasy . . . This was different. They were both already naked. They’d had all-the-way sex with each other already. And this room was all their own - at least for a few hours.
Subaru walked over to the chair and leaned over, bringing his lips to MiA’s, and felt his friend’s arms wrap around him, pulling him closer, so that more and more of their skin was touching.
One of Subaru’s hands wandered downward as their lips opened and they began to plunder each other’s mouths, finding MiA’s navel ring and tugging gently on the strands - he loved the way the other man shuddered a little when he did that, his tongue pushing into Subaru’s mouth harder, faster.
Subaru lowered himself until he was straddling MiA’s lap, one hand continuing to play with MiA’s navel ring, the other brushing over his nipples, squeezing gently before rubbing back and forth. MiA broke away from Subaru’s lips long enough to let out a long, delicious moan.
“I love how you feel so much,” Subaru murmured, tugging at the metal strands again.
MiA shuddered. “I love how you feel, too. I want to feel all of you against me.”
“How?” Subaru said breathlessly, stroking the nipple again.
“In my lap . . . your ass against me . . .”
Subaru felt another shudder of desire. He stood up just enough to turn around, so his back was to MiA’s face, and sat down again, his lover’s erection pressing against his bottom, his back against MiA’s chest.
“Yes,” MiA murmured. “Oh, yes, Subaru . . .”
Subaru began to move his hips, grinding against him, rubbing his ass against that hardness. It was so close to his opening, so tantalizingly near, offering the promise of full sex, but . .
Not yet. Not quite yet.
He leaned back into the other man’s lap, continuing to grind against him, rubbing every part of their bodies he could together. He could feel his thighs pressing against MiA’s strong ones - and MiA had such beautiful legs, oh, God, those legs alone were a turn-on . . .
His back pressed against MiA’s chest, rubbing against the nipples he had been pleasuring . . . and then MiA returned that favor, reaching around, hands running up and down Subaru’s chest, brushing over the hard buds . . . and then taking them in his thumbs and forefingers, squeezing gently. Subaru arched forward, letting out a loud cry.
He began to grind against MiA harder and faster, pressing his body against his lover’s, feeling MiA lift his hips, rubbing and grinding, both men letting out a moan - especially when MiA’s fingers started to rub lightly against Subaru’s cock.
MiA leaned over and whispered, “Stand up.”
Subaru was reluctant to do so - it felt so good, the contact the friction, the heat - but he did as he was asked, feeling the shakiness of his legs beneath him as he grabbed the arm of the chair to hold himself upright.
MiA stood up as well, and said, “Now, you sit.”
Subaru settled into the chair, watching MiA kneel in from to him, gently pushing Subaru’s thighs apart so he could settle between them, running his hands along them, stroking them top to bottom and back again. The younger man raised his head so he could look at the man down there, beautiful and naked and ready to pleasure him, only him . . .
MiA leaned over, his tongue touching Subaru’s cock, so hot and slick, running up the side of it, swirling back and forth, then pulling back as MiA began to kiss along the shaft, lips pressing, pulling back, then a flick of tongue again, working his way up toward the head.
It was all agonizingly slow, delicious and torture at the same time. Subaru found himself moaning louder, grabbing the back of his lover’s head, pulling him closer . . . and finally, before he knew it, he was groaning, “Suck me, suck me, please, I need to feel your mouth all around me . . .”
And then MiA’s lips were enveloping the tip of his cock, pulling him, surrounding Subaru with wet heat. He sucked, moving down further, and further, making Subaru think he was going to be swallowed whole, but in the best possible way, he’d gladly sink into this delicious pleasure . . .
MiA pulled back, slowly, sucking hard as he went, drawing a loud moan from Subaru - which got louder as his lover’s fingers slipped up his stomach, to his chest, finding the nipples and stroking them as his mouth started to move down again.
Subaru was starting to feel like a creature of pure heat and lust now, his legs falling further open, droplets of sweat running down his torso, his hands grasping the back of MiA’s head, lightly pulling the hair as the older man sucked harder, moving up and down faster . . .
One hand left Subaru’s nipple and moved up to his lips, pushing in and out of his mouth, and Subaru sucked on the fingers as eagerly as MiA was sucking his cock, tonguing them, growling deep in his throat, just wanting more, more . . .
MiA pulled back, shifting his position a little, and then moved down. And down. And down.
Subaru’s eyes suddenly flew open when he felt MiA move down past the point where he’d gone before - even further than he’d gone in any of their previous playtimes together. Oh, my God, Subaru thought, is he . .. .
He was. He was buried throat-deep. Fuck, oh, FUCK . . . Subaru grasped the chair arm, struggling to hold on as MiA pulled back, and oh, yes, he was moving down and down and DOWN again, the wet heat seeming to envelop every inch of him, sending exquisite tingling through every inch of Subaru’s body . . .
On the next outstroke, Subaru finally let go, climaxing so hard that he thought he was going to turn inside-out, flooding MiA’s mouth with his essence - a luxury they couldn’t afford on-camera.
MiA pulled back, slowly, looking very pleased with himself. He swallowed, and then moved up to kiss Subaru, the younger man eagerly kissing back.
“Subaru,” MiA said, “I’ve never done that before! I’ve never given full deep throat. I’ve come close, but that’s the first time I . . .” He hugged his lover. “It was just that you sounded and felt and tasted so good, I couldn’t get enough of you, and before I knew it I was completely relaxing in my mouth and throat and it was happening!”
“I’m so glad!” Subaru said. “Do you think you’d be able to do it on-camera?”
“I don’t know,” said MiA. “It’s different on-camera than off . . . but I know I’d want to try it with you.”
“MiA,” Subaru said, “you haven’t come yet, you know.”
“Oh,” MiA said. “Oh, that’s right.” He rubbed the back of his head. “I was so excited about deep-throating you that I forgot!”
“Let me sit in your lap again,” he said. “Like we did before.” Subaru got up - and if he thought he was wobbly-legged before, he was flat-out like a newborn deer now. He grabbed the arm of the chair with both hands as MiA sat down, gracefully.
Subaru straddled him, rubbing his ass against the other man’s hardness again, pressing downward, moving back, slowly, feeling the hot thing slide over his skin, caressing him. Subaru pumped a little faster, gripping the chair arms, thinking again about the sensation of being completely enveloped in that wonderful mouth, swallowed whole in the nicest way . . .
He began a steady thrust, shifting his position a little so that the cock would rub first against the firm curve of one buttock, the flesh rubbing and caressing, then shifting again so it was rubbing in the cleft, enveloping MiA in heat. Subaru heard his lover’s moan of delight, and it made him move faster, harder, flat-out grinding on him now.
MiA raised his hips, grinding up on Subaru as Subaru ground down on him, the men moving together in frenzied heat now, MiA murmuring, “So good, oh, I can’t believe how good you feel, close, I’m so close . . .”
Subaru moved faster still, using his ass as a sex toy, rubbing and rubbing, doing anything to bring MiA anything near the level of ecstasy he’d experienced . . . and finally, MiA arched upward, letting out a hoarse cry, Subaru feeling hot wetness on his ass.
He sank down on MiA’s lap, leaning back against him, and the two kissed, softly, Subaru tasting his own intense orgasm on his lover’s mouth.
“You’re wonderful,” MiA said. “You always are.”
“Are you going to tell anyone that we, well . . . I mean, that you . . .”
“That I deep-throated you?” MiA said. “Maybe.” He wrapped his arms around Subaru and hugged him closer. “But I think I’d rather keep that between us. They’ll find out when we do it on-camera.”
“I like that idea,” Subaru said. “Both the looks on their faces when we surprise them, and . . .” He snuggled closer to the other man. “The idea of us having a secret.”
“See, I told you that you were special,” MiA said.
Subaru closed his eyes. He really wanted another nap right now. No, they were going to have to leave here soon. Well, they could always go back to MiA’s place, have their nap there, and then . . . maybe Round Two before Subaru went home.
Another first to add to the list - MiA’s first deep-throating. Just one more reason this was the most extraordinary weekend Subaru had experienced in quite a long time.
* * *
Uruha and Kai waited downstairs for the car that would bring them home, their bags packed and waiting beside them.
“I’d say it was a success,” Kai said. “The trailer went over good, the press conference wasn’t a disaster, you got some nice compliments at the party . . .”
“There’s still the matter of Heavy Hitter,” Uruha said. “And the JAVAS. You KNOW that they were the ones who fucked it up.”
“Baby, I told you not to worry about them,” Kai said. “You’re going to come out on top. You always do.”
“Oh, I know,” Uruha said. “And what I have to do now is get back in that editing room and make sure Datenshi Blue 2 is the best damn porno ever made. And after that? Make sure MiA Adore blows the original MiA Amore out of the water. And then?” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I think we’re making a pirate movie. Complete with real ships. I don’t know how we’re going to get them, but we’ll find a way. And . . .”
“Slow down, love,” Kai said. “You don’t have to kill yourself.”
“I just want to make sure that we’re the best damn company we can be,” Uruha said. “If that’s the case - I’ll know we’ve beaten any competition, no matter what the sales figures say.”
“And I know you will,” Kai said. “You respond very well to competition, you know.”
“Can you believe I used to be a lazy bastard, Kai? Reita used to have to come to my house and literally drag me out of bed in order for me to go to school.”
“But you were never lazy when it came to filmmaking?”
“Never,” Uruha said, softly “It was the one thing I wasn’t lazy about. It was my life’s passion.”
“That’s why you’re so good at what you do,” Kai said. “And you’ll keep being good at what you do. No matter what.”
The car arrived, and they gathered their bags. It had been a weekend like no other for them, too.
Plenty would come of it - maybe more than they bargained for.
Chapter: Thirty-fifth in The Camera Eye series. Links to previous installments can be found here Split in two because of LJ’s post limits, Part 1 is here.
Author: Boots
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Porn industry AU, drama, smut, romance
Warnings: Male/male sex, polyamory, frottage, deepthroating
Pairing: MiA (Mejibray) x Subaru (Royz) (main), Yo-ka (DIAURA) x Yuuki (Lycaon), Kai x Uruha (GazettE), mentions of Yo-ka x Byou (SCREW)
Disclaimer: DIAURA belongs to Ains, Mejibray belongs to White Side Group, Royz belongs to BP Records, the now-disbanded Lycaon belonged to Vogue Entertainment, SCREW and GazettE belong to PS Company, I own the story only.
Summary: Subaru is about to participate in one of the porn industry’s major events - the Japan Adult Video Expo - for the first time. He’s about to experience a lot of firsts - including the straight side of the industry, and a rival who’s gunning for PSC Productions.
Notes: The Expo is based on a real-life porn industry event, the Adult Entertainment Expo, which is sponsored by Adult Video News and held every year in Las Vegas. Like the Expo depicted here, it consists of trade, fan and press events, including autograph signings (though the format of the signing here is based more on visual kei instore events).
Subaru lay on a couch in the green room, an arm over his eyes.
He didn’t think that just standing behind a table, smiling and chatting and signing his name, for a couple of hours would be so exhausting. But it was. His throat felt scratchy and he had a bad case of writer’s cramp.
And he still had the press conference to get through later on. Not to mention the party.
He heard the scrape of a folding chair being pulled up next to him. “Hey,” said a familiar voice. “How are you doing?”
“I’ll survive,” Subaru murmured. He lifted the arm and turned his head just far enough to see Yuuki occupying the chair, still holding his whip in his lap.
“I’m going to have to touch up your makeup before the press conference if you’re lying like that,” Yuuki said. “Well, I’d probably have to touch it up anyway. Everyone wears face masks to the trailer screenings so we can watch the fans’ reactions without having them recognize us, and that’s hell on makeup.” He put a hand over Subaru’s arm. “Did you have fun out there?”
“It was just so . . . so . . . I didn’t expect them to be so many of them,” Subaru said. “So many people to see us.”
“Not just to see us,” said Yuuki. “Remember, a lot of people were booth-hopping - collecting autographs from as many actors as they could. But I did see a lot of people going through the line more than once, which meant we were selling videos. Did the fans behave themselves?”
Subaru nodded. “Well, other than the one who came right out and asked if Yo-ka and I were really a couple. I didn’t know how to answer that. Yo-ka heard it, though - he leaned over and told the girl, ‘He’s a very dear friend.’”
“Smart,” Yuuki said. “The girl can take that however she wants. I knew I loved that man for a reason.” He leaned over toward Subaru. “Are you up to taking a little walk? I want to show you something.”
Subaru raised his arm again. “Do I have to walk far?”
“To the other end of the building,” said Yuuki. “There’s chairs along the wall if you need to sit.”
Subaru sat up, slowly - and found a face mask, a baseball cap and a baggy sweatjacket being shoved at him. “What are these?”
“The mask, I brought a package of them with me. The cap is from one of the other booths. The jacket I borrowed from one of our staff. Put them on - we’re going incognito.”
Which meant they would probably be walking out among the fans. Subaru pulled on the items, watching Yuuki getting similarly dressed, tucking as much pink hair as possible under the hat. “Okay,” said Subaru. “Now what?”
“Come with me.” Yuuki took a couple of steps - Subaru noticed he’d temporarily switched to flat shoes - and then turned around. “Oh, that badge you have? You might want to turn it around. We can turn it back around if you need to, but you don’t want to be advertising to the public that you’re Subaru of Eros Films.”
Okay, they were definitely going out among the fans. Subaru fully expected Yuuki to lead him out the same door they went through before. Instead, they were headed to the back of the green room, through a door, down a corridor, around a corner, through another door . . .
Finally, Yuuki stopped at a set of double fire doors labeled “EXIT” and pushed on the metal bar to open it. “Welcome to the other side of the Expo,” he said.
The two men stepped out into a room that was filled with booths like Gay Alley had been - but it was bigger. Much, much bigger. In fact, the booths seemed to spread out for miles. Instead of bearing pictures of beautiful men, they all had photos of women. There were tall ones, petite ones, mostly Japanese, a few Western-looking, sporting every hair color found in nature and a few usually seen only seen in anime. They were all curvy, buxom, and scantily dressed.
“Oh, my God,” Subaru said. “Oh, my GOD! Look at all the companies!”
“This is straight porn,” Yuuki said. “This is the other side of the industry. And I mean ‘straight’ as in it’s aimed at straight men. There’s plenty of lesbian stuff in these videos, too.”
The two actors began to make their way down an aisle. Subaru’s head swiveled from left to right, trying to take it all in. There were the fanboys lining up to get autographs - some of them looked clean-cut and normal, others were, well . . . kind of creepy. Looking like they didn't get out of their homes all that often - rumpled, pasty, with an odd look in their eyes. Otaku in the BAD way.
And there were the actresses themselves, smiling and waving and signing like Subaru had just been doing. Some of them seemed to be doing it on automatic pilot - like they were smiling-and-waving machines who had been at it for years and were used to it.
He couldn’t help but stare at some of the women’s . . . proportions. Not because he was genuinely interested in a sexual way - he was very much a man’s man. But because he didn’t think he’d ever seen anything like them in-person before. To say they were pumped up with silicone was an understatement. Some of them flat-out looked like they had twin watermelons shoved in their chests.
And MiA worried that a nose job and a few little nips and tucks to his face made him an “artificially created porn star?” He was downright natural compared to these women.
Subaru leaned over toward Yuuki. “How do they sleep?” he whispered.
“What do you mean?”
“Those chests! I couldn’t sleep with something like that in front of me! I mean, if you rolled on your stomach, it would be like sleeping on bowling balls!”
Yuuki laughed. “Oh, my God, I’m never going to be able to get that image out of my head.”
“Well, it’s true, isn’t it?”
“I’m sure they get used to it fast,” Yuuki said. “It’s kind of a necessity on their side of the business.”
They passed a booth that had created an impromptu mud pit using a children’s wading pool, a bag of garden soil and water. Two bikini-clad actresses were wrestling in it, making a big show of almost-but-not-quite pulling off each other’s tops, much to the delight of the whooping and hollering male fans. The sight of it made Subaru a little uncomfortable - somehow, it seemed more exploitive than what they did in front of the cameras.
Another booth had a monitor up that was showing select clips of videos - actresses starting to disrobe, early-stages-of-foreplay between an actress and an actor, an actress emerging nude from a pool, shot from behind.
“Do they have plots in their videos like we do?” said Subaru.
“Some do,” said Yuuki. “From what I understand, the straight side of the industry is going more toward ‘gonzo’ porn, though.”
“What’s that?” said Subaru.
“Gonzo is porn shot from a first-person point of view,” Yuki said. “It’s supposed to make the viewer feel like he’s the one with the actress. You also have the girls talking directly to the camera a lot.”
“Oh,” Subaru said. That kind of creeped him out, too. He decided he liked their own side of the industry much better.
The next booth they passed had a couple of the actresses performing a striptease act - complete with poles - behind a pane of glass, while fanboys whooped and screamed. One actress shed her pants, exposing that she had nothing on her bottom but a thong, and strutted over to the glass, bending over and pressing her assets, so to speak, against the pane. One of the fanboys rushed toward the strippers and was pulled away by security - but not before he pressed his face to the glass, right over her bottom, and licked it.
Subaru suddenly found himself shuddering with mild revulsion. This was a far cry from the sensuous fantasies they had in their own videos. It seemed kinda . . . sleazy.
If he’d been straight, this was enough to turn him gay.
* * *
It was with a huge sense of relief that Subaru arrived, along with Yuuki, at the back of Gay Alley. He felt a bit like a Dorothy who’d taken a trip to a weird, surreal, sort-of-disturbing Oz and was now safely back in Kansas.
They ended up next to a group of similarly masked, hatted and sweatjacketed figures. “You’re just in time,” said the one closest to them - who sounded like Yo-ka. “They’re about to start the trailers.”
“Where were you guys?” said the person next to Yo-ka - who sort of sounded like Byou.
“I wanted to show Subaru what’s going on over there,” Yuuki said, jerking a thumb toward the straight side of the building.
“And he survived it?” said the guy on the other side of was-probably-Byou - who was most likely Jin.
The lights in the room dimmed, and the head of the Japan Adult Video Association, Male Division walked out in front of the screen. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he announced, “welcome to the traditional conclusion of our Expo - the unveiling of each company’s trailers for next year. Unfortunately, one company is conspicuous by its absence - this is Avalon Video’s last Expo as a standalone company, and next year, its performers will be with Eros Video.” A groan of disappointment went up from the crowd. “But don’t worry - you will be seeing at least one of their key players in the trailers tonight. And without further ado, we’re going to get things started with Adonis Video . . .”
Byou leaned over and whispered to the group, “We’re last. Uruha told us earlier.”
Subaru turned his attention to the screen. Adonis’ preview was . . . nothing to write home about. Their big title of the year seemed to be a porn parody of Free! - plus, there were a couple of other titles in there, one of which seemed to be a crime drama, the other a romance.
“We’ve got nothing to fear at the JAVAs from them,” Yo-ka whispered.
This was followed by a couple of indies, Hard Candy (who seemed to be emphasizing the “hard” part of their name, since their big title was some sort of police story set among the BDSM world), a few more indies, Eros Films’ own trailer (which was mostly for a non-PSC Yuuki vehicle called Shadow), another indie . . .
And then came Heavy Hitter, filled with musclemen, thumping music and a testosterone-soaked narrator growling, “Real porn for real men. Starring real men. What YOU want, not your little sister.” Subaru noticed most of the fangirls standing in steely silence at that one - an even some angry murmurs.
Finally, the screen filled with the familiar red and white PSC logo. A hush of anticipation filled the room . . .
And then, familiar music began - the swirling keyboards that had opened Datenshi Blue. The screen showed the pattern of falling feathers that had been under the opening credits of that video . . . until the beat of the music really kicked in, and suddenly, an image of Yo-ka in the new film - dressed in white, looking anxiously out into the distance - burst into the middle of the screen. The audience let out a delighted gasp.
The image of Yo-ka faded, and was replaced by one of Yuuki in his demon outfit, twisting his whip in his fingers - and the gasps were louder. When the next image was of Byou, looking very much the anxious boyfriend whose lover had gone off to fight evil, the audience started to realize what they were seeing - and the gasps became delighted squeals.
Next, the trailer showcased the two newcomers to the Datenshi Blue franchise - when Subaru burst fullscreen, all in white and with his angel wings visible, the squeals became a roar, and the roar became deafening when the final star was revealed - MiA, in his demon costume.
Finally, the logo appeared on the screen - “DATENSHI BLUE 2 - HEAVEN, HELL AND EARTH,” with “Coming Soon” below that. The trailer had one more surprise, though . . .
There was a quick scene of Yuuki, in character as Moloch, saying, “You have no idea what the Prince of Darkness has planned.” And as he said “Prince of Darkness,” an image of Aoi appeared for less than a second, suddenly bursting into the picture like an interrupted TV broadcast - the effect like something from a J-horror. And the crowd gasped again - did they just see who they thought they saw?
The lights came up, and there was a deafening roar. Yuuki and Yo-ka hugged each other, and then each took turns hugging Subaru. To say the trailer was well-received was an understatement.
In another part of the room, Uruha was literally sagging against a wall with relief, while Kai hugged him. He turned his head in the direction of the delegation from Heavy Hitter - who didn’t look happy.
“Take that, you bastards,” he mumbled under his breath.
* * *
There wasn’t much time to savor the victory - the next step was to go upstairs, change clothes and get ready for the press conference. When Subaru went up to his hotel room, it was the first time he’d seen MiA since that morning.
“How did it go for you?” he said. “The show, I mean.”
“Pretty good,” said MiA, rummaging around in his overnight case for something. “A lot of the fans told us they were sorry Avalon was shutting down. They wanted to know what I was doing next, and of course, I couldn’t tell them. I just told them to watch the trailers.”
“I didn’t have time to think about anything,” Subaru said. “It all went so fast.”
“Did the American journalist talk to you?” said MiA, finding the shirt he was looking for and pulling it out.
“What American journalist?” said Subaru, walking toward the bathroom with his toiletries/makeup case.
“There was a guy going around with a translator,” MiA said. “He was asking all kinds of questions about how it feels to be a gay male performer who’s watched by women. I have a feeling he’s doing one of those look-at-how-wacky-Japanese-porn-is stories. We’ll be featured right after the elder porn.”
Subaru frowned. “Did you say anything?”
“I gave him a couple of quotes,” MiA said. “I’m just hoping the translator got what I said right.” He walked up behind Subaru, grabbed him about the waist and leaned over to kiss his shoulder. “I’m glad we’re rooming together tonight,” he said.
“I’m glad, too,” Subaru said, leaning back against MiA. Oh, he was tempted to start kissing him, and touching him, and sliding off his clothes . . .
He couldn’t, though. Not with the press conference to go to. The trade show itself might be behind them - but the evening definitely wasn’t.
* * *
The four stars of Datenshi Blue 2, along with their director, were sitting in another green room - this time, an office adjacent to the hotel ballroom where the press conference was being held.
They were the only ones in here right now - the Expo staff summoned the companies one at a time, like a restaurant maître d’ informing people that their table was ready. After Yuuki had done everyone’s hair and makeup - including Uruha’s - they had all waited in the director’s room until they got their call. “Come down to the Green Room. One more company, and then you’re up.”
Uruha had briefed them while they were waiting. “Hopefully, they’ll just ask you about the video,” he said. “If they ask you about Heavy Hitter? You reply that every company has a right to find its own unique audience, and we’re very happy with the one we’ve got. If they ask about the Eros and Avalon merger? You say you can’t comment, because the process isn’t complete yet.”
Now, Subaru sat there feeling like he was back in college and about to take an important exam. He kept going through the answers in his head, determined to use the right one in the right situation.
“Hey,” Yo-ka said, putting an arm around Subaru’s shoulders and hugging him. “Don’t worry. It’ll be fine.”
“Have you ever done this before?” said Subaru.
“No. I haven’t. Neither has Yuuki. MiA?”
MiA shook his head. “No press conferences for me, either. I really never thought I’d be doing one.”
“Until you became a famous director?” Subaru said with a big smile.
“Well . . . maybe then.”
A staffer - a woman dressed in a very professional-looking suit, appearing more like someone who’d be working in an office than for a porn trade show - approached the group. “All right, they’re ready for you,” she said. “Walk straight out and up the steps to the dais. Each company is being given about ten to fifteen minutes.”
“Not much time,” Uruha mumbled as they crossed to the conference room. “They’d better not ask us any bullshit questions.”
They settled in, while the attendees applauded them, and the moderator - the head of the Japan Adult Video Association - said to Uruha, “Uruha-san, would you like to introduce your people?”
“Hello,” Uruha said, bowing to the audience. “I’m Uruha, head producer-director of PSC Productions. Tonight, I’ve brought with me the actors from our upcoming film Datenshi Blue 2 - at far left is Yuuki, next to him is Yo-ka, on my left here is Subaru, and beside him is MiA. We’ve had a spectacular amount of success in the past year, and these actors have been a big part of it. Well, MiA just joined us - and we’re expecting to do great things with him. We would be honored to take your questions.” He bowed again.
The first person up to the microphone was a hulking guy in an ill-fitting suit. “Mashiro Koji, Adult Extra,” he said. “Why did you choose to market your videos to an audience of women?”
Subaru nearly groaned - this was the kind of question he was afraid they were going to get. Uruha replied, “We saw it as an underserved market. The publishing industry is certainly aware that women have an interest in male-male romance and sexuality. Magazines like June and Be Boy have been selling to women for years. Why not carry that over to video as well?”
Yuuki leaned over to the mike and added, “The feedback we’ve gotten from our fans - both at today’s show and elsewhere - indicates that we’ve hit a chord with them.”
“Feedback meaning a lot of squee-ing,” said Yo-ka, which drew a laugh from the room.
The next reporter got up - a hipster in a flannel shirt, jeans and indoor sunglasses. “Nizuma Akito, The Daily Porn” - one of the bigger porn blogs, which usually covered the mainstream side of the industry, but occasionally touched on the gay one. “You’re known as a major company - and yet, all the stars you have with you tonight are associated primarily with indie companies. Do you think mainstream porn is poaching the indies for talent?”
“It’s not poaching,” Uruha said. “Datenshi Blue and its sequel were made under co-production agreements with Eros Films.”
“And I would like to point out that we did NOT sell out,” Yuuki said. “We made these videos because we WANT to, not for money or mainstream recgonition.”
“We chose to make videos with PSC, while staying with our own companies,” MiA said. “That’s because we believe in the integrity of what they do, and the quality of their work. PSC isn’t just your run-of-the-mill company that doesn’t care about quality.”
Subaru was starting to feel out of his depth. He was becoming acutely aware that he was the only one who hadn’t said a word - and he couldn’t think of anything to say. There was another reporter asking about the competition, and Yo-ka was saying something articulate about how competition kept everyone sharp, and Uruha was throwing some small praise in the direction of their competitors, saying PSC had to stay on its toes to keep ahead of them . . .
I have to say something, Subaru thought. I can’t just keep sitting here. They’re going to wonder who this kid is who just looks pretty and sits there silently . . .
The next reporter stepped up - another hipster, only minus the sunglasses this time. “Takagi Eiji, Triple-X-Tra. What do you feel about the criticism you’ve taken from Heavy Hitter Films - their marketing seemed to be targeting you directly?”
Oh, God, there was something they were supposed to say here, and Subaru couldn’t remember what it was, but he felt that he had to say something, and so he blurted out the first thing that came into his head . . .
“I’d hate to know how much that company is spending on its actors’ gym bills.”
Oh, crap - did he just say THAT? Oh, crap, oh, crap . . .
But the room was breaking out in laughter and applause. Yo-ka added, “I guess they want to put the heavy in Heavy Hitter, don’t they?”
“I’d hate to be hit by one of those guys,” said MiA.
“I don’t think their game is hitting,” said Yuuki, casually. “More like fisting.” The room exploded again.
Subaru suddenly felt a lot more relaxed. His blurted-out remark had actually gone over well. Not only that - but it had started a chain reaction of similar remarks. And suddenly, what he was supposed to say popped back into his head, and he leaned back over to his microphone.
“All kidding aside - look, every company is entitled to its audience. Heavy Hitter thinks they’ve found theirs, they’re marketing to them and that’s fine. We’re very happy with the audience we have, and we’re going to continue making videos for them.”
“I couldn't have said it better myself,” Uruha said
Subaru sat back in his seat, breathing a huge sigh of relief. Well, he’d gotten past that one. It would be easier from here on in.
As it turned out, there were just a couple more questions - one of the bloggers asking about Datenshi Blue 2 (which they all expressed enthusiasm about without giving away any major plot details), and a writer for a gay publication noting that a couple of their videos had been picked up for overseas distribution and asking if they thought their material would play well overseas.
“Our themes are universal,” Uruha said. “Love, longing, fantasy, indulgence . . .”
“And pretty men with other pretty men,” said Yo-ka - drawing a laugh.
Subaru added, “I can’t imagine anyone of any nationality not finding my co-stars here attractive.”
“MiA in a tight pair of booty shorts is universal,” Yo-ka said.
“Yo-ka not wearing any shorts at all is even more universal,” Subaru replied - getting a bigger laugh.
“And this speaks louder than any words,” Yuuki said, holding his whip over his head - which drew whooping and applause.
The moderator stepped up. “Thank you, PSC Productions,” he said. “Next, we have the ladies of Jug-gernaut Video . . .”
The staff was ushering them out the opposite door they came in. “Thank you very much,” the woman in the business suit said, bowing to them. “You may go straight to the party now - it’s in the ground floor ballroom.”
“No, thank YOU very much,” Uruha said, bowing to her. “It’s an honor for us to be asked to participate.” When she had gone back into the conference room, he turned to his actors. “How do you think it went?” he said.
“They had to ask us about fucking Heavy Hitter, didn’t they?” Yuuki said.
“I would have been surprised if they hadn’t,” Uruha said. “But Subaru? You had the best response on that one.”
“It just sort of slipped out,” Subaru said. “Really.”
“I was beginning to wonder if you had stage fright,” said Yo-ka, wrapping an arm around him. “And then, you came out with that.”
“I was beginning to wonder if I’d be able to talk, too,” Subaru said.
“Come on - let’s go downstairs,” Uruha said. “I’d like to see how much havoc Aoi has been able to wreak.”
They headed for the elevator. Well, that was another first for today. First trade show, first press conference, first encounter with the straight side of the industry. Subaru was beginning to think he’d lived ten years in a single day.
* * *
As it turned out, the party was the least remarkable part of the day.
There was a pretty decent selection of izakaya foods and an open bar. Aoi, of course, was making the social rounds, talking to actors from other companies, and once the press conference was over, bloggers.
Subaru was content to sit at a table with his group of friends, enjoying beer and yakitori and agedashi tofu. A big platter of yakisoba arrived later. Some actors from other companies came up to them, mostly to congratulate them on the upcoming video. “Man, I’m hoping our company doesn’t release anything the week you put that out,” one actor from Adonis told them. “We’re going to get creamed if they do.”
“I don’t notice any of the Heavy Hitter sides of beef here,” Subaru remarked after the Adonis guy had left.
“I don’t think they’d hang out here,” Yuuki said. “Probably most of them are gay-for-pay would-be mainstream actors.”
“Hey!” Yo-ka said. “Byou’s a would-be mainstream actor, you know.”
“He’s not gay-for-pay,” Yuuki said. “He’s the real deal. I know. I’ve walked in on the two of you.”
“And you didn’t mind watching,” Yo-ka said.
“I never mind watching you,” Yuuki said. “I mind even less when I get to join in.”
“They’ll be at the JAVAS, though,” MiA said, quietly. “Heavy Hitter, I mean. And they’ll probably try to show us up.”
“We’ll be more than ready for them,” Yuuki said. “They may have the muscles, but they’re not going to look as good on the red carpet as us.” Never mind that last year he had literally fallen on the red carpet - that wasn’t going to happen again.
“I’m not going to worry about them,” Subaru said. “I’m just going to have a good time right now.”
“We ALL should have a good time right now,” MiA said, reaching for Subaru’s hand and grasping it.
Subaru smiled at MiA. “MiA, you didn’t wear your tiara to the press conference.”
“Koichi wasn’t there to see it,” MiA said. “Don’t tell him, okay?”
They both laughed and squeezed hands again. No, they weren’t going to worry about Heavy Hitter - at least, not now.
* * *
As it turned out, by the time they got up to their room, Subaru and MiA were too exhausted to do anything but take off their makeup, change into T-shirts and shorts, crawl under the covers and fall asleep, curled up together under the covers.
And there they stayed until a ray of sunlight came through the curtains and fall across Subaru’s face.
Subaru woke up slowly, snuggled closer to MiA, and considered falling back to sleep. He was warm and comfortable, and the bed felt nice.
Okay, they had to vacate these premises by noon, and the two of them hadn’t taken full advantage of any of the hotel’s facilities yet, so to speak. But still - after the frantic activity of the last day, he just wanted to rest.
MiA stirred next to him, opening his eyes, slowly. “Morning,” he murmured.
“Morning to you, too,” said Subaru. He kissed his friend’s forehead. “Did you sleep well?”
“Mmmm.” MiA raised his head, blinking, and looked toward the alarm clock. “It’s twenty after nine - what time did we pass out?”
“About 1:30 or 2,” Subaru said. “All I could remember was I was exhausted.”
“Me, too.” MiA rested his forehead against Subaru’s. “We didn’t get a chance to do anything about being in this room together.”
“We could make up for it still.” Subaru yawned and stretched. “Just give me a moment.” He stumbled toward the water closet - the suite had separate rooms for the toilet and bathing facilities, like a Japanese home would - and when he finished there, headed for the washing room to brush his teeth.
Might as well wash up while I’m here, he thought, stripping off and sitting on the bathing stool next to the handheld showerhead mounted in the wall. As he lathered up, his mind kept going over the events of the previous day. The fangirls going nuts for him . . . the press conference . . . the frenzied reaction to the Datenshi Blue 2 trailer, and the roar of approval when his own face appeared on the screen . . .
It was just all happening so fast. And to think that a mere six months ago, he was getting out of college and wondering if he could get into the porn industry long enough to pay off his bills.
MiA joined him in the room. “You have the right idea,” he said, heading for the sink.
“I needed it after yesterday.” Subaru stuck his hand under the wall-mounted shampoo pump. “MiA, what was it like for you the first time you went to one of these things? Were you, well . . .”
MiA finished with his toothbrush and rinsed. “Overwhelmed?” he said afterward.
“Well, I don’t know about overwhelmed, but there was just so much . . .”
“Last year was my first.” MiA pulled off his own T-shirt and shorts and walked over to the washing area, sitting on the second stool. “I just remember being baffled by all the people who had shown up specifically to meet us. You don’t realize how many people are watching us until we have these things.”
“It felt . . .” Subaru ducked his head and began rinsing his hair. “Well, I know a porn star isn’t a REAL star, but it sure felt like I was one. And that was, well . . . crazy. Wild. A little scary. I mean, I’m just a video game designer from Osaka, and . . .”
“I know,” MiA said, softly. “I know the feeling. You think you’re just some guy who decided to do something nuts in order to make money, and the next thing you know, you’re the center of attention. It’s, well . . .”
“Crazy?”
“Unexpected,” MiA said. “But you learn to go with it.”
“This is going to take some time to get used to.” Subaru hung up the showerhead and reached for a towel. “I’m not used to having people line up for me.”
“They’re lining up for a reason, though.” MiA said, reaching for the dispenser of shower soap. “You’ve got something special. You’re not like other guys in the industry.”
“You’re special too, you know.” Subaru finished drying and tied a towel around his waist. “Not just because of who you are on video.” He picked up a hairdryer.
MiA glanced over at Subaru while lathering his hair. “You’re cute, you know that?” he said. “And you don’t need to wear that.”
“Oh . . .” Subaru looked down at the towel and blushed.
“It’s just me, remember? Besides, after we finish up in here . . .”
Oh, Subaru remembered. Which made him dry his hair twice as fast. And when he finished up and handed the dryer back to MiA, all he could think of was - what did he do now? Did he just go into the other room and lie back down on the bed? Did he wait for MiA to finish up? Sex was easy when there was a script and a director to tell you what to do.
He slowly backed into the bedroom, fumbling with the tie of the towel. And now, it didn’t want to become unknotted. Just great. It was a damn good thing he wasn’t on-camera.
MiA came walking into the room, completely naked, reached for the knot and unfastened it. The towel dropped to Subaru’s feet. “Um, thanks,” he said.
He watched the older man move over to the easy chair across the room and settle into it. “Come here,” he said, holding out his arms toward Subaru. “Like the night we first met . . .”
Subaru remembered very well. The orgy at the Suicide Ball, the two of them retreating into a room together, then grinding against one another until they both hit ecstasy . . . This was different. They were both already naked. They’d had all-the-way sex with each other already. And this room was all their own - at least for a few hours.
Subaru walked over to the chair and leaned over, bringing his lips to MiA’s, and felt his friend’s arms wrap around him, pulling him closer, so that more and more of their skin was touching.
One of Subaru’s hands wandered downward as their lips opened and they began to plunder each other’s mouths, finding MiA’s navel ring and tugging gently on the strands - he loved the way the other man shuddered a little when he did that, his tongue pushing into Subaru’s mouth harder, faster.
Subaru lowered himself until he was straddling MiA’s lap, one hand continuing to play with MiA’s navel ring, the other brushing over his nipples, squeezing gently before rubbing back and forth. MiA broke away from Subaru’s lips long enough to let out a long, delicious moan.
“I love how you feel so much,” Subaru murmured, tugging at the metal strands again.
MiA shuddered. “I love how you feel, too. I want to feel all of you against me.”
“How?” Subaru said breathlessly, stroking the nipple again.
“In my lap . . . your ass against me . . .”
Subaru felt another shudder of desire. He stood up just enough to turn around, so his back was to MiA’s face, and sat down again, his lover’s erection pressing against his bottom, his back against MiA’s chest.
“Yes,” MiA murmured. “Oh, yes, Subaru . . .”
Subaru began to move his hips, grinding against him, rubbing his ass against that hardness. It was so close to his opening, so tantalizingly near, offering the promise of full sex, but . .
Not yet. Not quite yet.
He leaned back into the other man’s lap, continuing to grind against him, rubbing every part of their bodies he could together. He could feel his thighs pressing against MiA’s strong ones - and MiA had such beautiful legs, oh, God, those legs alone were a turn-on . . .
His back pressed against MiA’s chest, rubbing against the nipples he had been pleasuring . . . and then MiA returned that favor, reaching around, hands running up and down Subaru’s chest, brushing over the hard buds . . . and then taking them in his thumbs and forefingers, squeezing gently. Subaru arched forward, letting out a loud cry.
He began to grind against MiA harder and faster, pressing his body against his lover’s, feeling MiA lift his hips, rubbing and grinding, both men letting out a moan - especially when MiA’s fingers started to rub lightly against Subaru’s cock.
MiA leaned over and whispered, “Stand up.”
Subaru was reluctant to do so - it felt so good, the contact the friction, the heat - but he did as he was asked, feeling the shakiness of his legs beneath him as he grabbed the arm of the chair to hold himself upright.
MiA stood up as well, and said, “Now, you sit.”
Subaru settled into the chair, watching MiA kneel in from to him, gently pushing Subaru’s thighs apart so he could settle between them, running his hands along them, stroking them top to bottom and back again. The younger man raised his head so he could look at the man down there, beautiful and naked and ready to pleasure him, only him . . .
MiA leaned over, his tongue touching Subaru’s cock, so hot and slick, running up the side of it, swirling back and forth, then pulling back as MiA began to kiss along the shaft, lips pressing, pulling back, then a flick of tongue again, working his way up toward the head.
It was all agonizingly slow, delicious and torture at the same time. Subaru found himself moaning louder, grabbing the back of his lover’s head, pulling him closer . . . and finally, before he knew it, he was groaning, “Suck me, suck me, please, I need to feel your mouth all around me . . .”
And then MiA’s lips were enveloping the tip of his cock, pulling him, surrounding Subaru with wet heat. He sucked, moving down further, and further, making Subaru think he was going to be swallowed whole, but in the best possible way, he’d gladly sink into this delicious pleasure . . .
MiA pulled back, slowly, sucking hard as he went, drawing a loud moan from Subaru - which got louder as his lover’s fingers slipped up his stomach, to his chest, finding the nipples and stroking them as his mouth started to move down again.
Subaru was starting to feel like a creature of pure heat and lust now, his legs falling further open, droplets of sweat running down his torso, his hands grasping the back of MiA’s head, lightly pulling the hair as the older man sucked harder, moving up and down faster . . .
One hand left Subaru’s nipple and moved up to his lips, pushing in and out of his mouth, and Subaru sucked on the fingers as eagerly as MiA was sucking his cock, tonguing them, growling deep in his throat, just wanting more, more . . .
MiA pulled back, shifting his position a little, and then moved down. And down. And down.
Subaru’s eyes suddenly flew open when he felt MiA move down past the point where he’d gone before - even further than he’d gone in any of their previous playtimes together. Oh, my God, Subaru thought, is he . .. .
He was. He was buried throat-deep. Fuck, oh, FUCK . . . Subaru grasped the chair arm, struggling to hold on as MiA pulled back, and oh, yes, he was moving down and down and DOWN again, the wet heat seeming to envelop every inch of him, sending exquisite tingling through every inch of Subaru’s body . . .
On the next outstroke, Subaru finally let go, climaxing so hard that he thought he was going to turn inside-out, flooding MiA’s mouth with his essence - a luxury they couldn’t afford on-camera.
MiA pulled back, slowly, looking very pleased with himself. He swallowed, and then moved up to kiss Subaru, the younger man eagerly kissing back.
“Subaru,” MiA said, “I’ve never done that before! I’ve never given full deep throat. I’ve come close, but that’s the first time I . . .” He hugged his lover. “It was just that you sounded and felt and tasted so good, I couldn’t get enough of you, and before I knew it I was completely relaxing in my mouth and throat and it was happening!”
“I’m so glad!” Subaru said. “Do you think you’d be able to do it on-camera?”
“I don’t know,” said MiA. “It’s different on-camera than off . . . but I know I’d want to try it with you.”
“MiA,” Subaru said, “you haven’t come yet, you know.”
“Oh,” MiA said. “Oh, that’s right.” He rubbed the back of his head. “I was so excited about deep-throating you that I forgot!”
“Let me sit in your lap again,” he said. “Like we did before.” Subaru got up - and if he thought he was wobbly-legged before, he was flat-out like a newborn deer now. He grabbed the arm of the chair with both hands as MiA sat down, gracefully.
Subaru straddled him, rubbing his ass against the other man’s hardness again, pressing downward, moving back, slowly, feeling the hot thing slide over his skin, caressing him. Subaru pumped a little faster, gripping the chair arms, thinking again about the sensation of being completely enveloped in that wonderful mouth, swallowed whole in the nicest way . . .
He began a steady thrust, shifting his position a little so that the cock would rub first against the firm curve of one buttock, the flesh rubbing and caressing, then shifting again so it was rubbing in the cleft, enveloping MiA in heat. Subaru heard his lover’s moan of delight, and it made him move faster, harder, flat-out grinding on him now.
MiA raised his hips, grinding up on Subaru as Subaru ground down on him, the men moving together in frenzied heat now, MiA murmuring, “So good, oh, I can’t believe how good you feel, close, I’m so close . . .”
Subaru moved faster still, using his ass as a sex toy, rubbing and rubbing, doing anything to bring MiA anything near the level of ecstasy he’d experienced . . . and finally, MiA arched upward, letting out a hoarse cry, Subaru feeling hot wetness on his ass.
He sank down on MiA’s lap, leaning back against him, and the two kissed, softly, Subaru tasting his own intense orgasm on his lover’s mouth.
“You’re wonderful,” MiA said. “You always are.”
“Are you going to tell anyone that we, well . . . I mean, that you . . .”
“That I deep-throated you?” MiA said. “Maybe.” He wrapped his arms around Subaru and hugged him closer. “But I think I’d rather keep that between us. They’ll find out when we do it on-camera.”
“I like that idea,” Subaru said. “Both the looks on their faces when we surprise them, and . . .” He snuggled closer to the other man. “The idea of us having a secret.”
“See, I told you that you were special,” MiA said.
Subaru closed his eyes. He really wanted another nap right now. No, they were going to have to leave here soon. Well, they could always go back to MiA’s place, have their nap there, and then . . . maybe Round Two before Subaru went home.
Another first to add to the list - MiA’s first deep-throating. Just one more reason this was the most extraordinary weekend Subaru had experienced in quite a long time.
* * *
Uruha and Kai waited downstairs for the car that would bring them home, their bags packed and waiting beside them.
“I’d say it was a success,” Kai said. “The trailer went over good, the press conference wasn’t a disaster, you got some nice compliments at the party . . .”
“There’s still the matter of Heavy Hitter,” Uruha said. “And the JAVAS. You KNOW that they were the ones who fucked it up.”
“Baby, I told you not to worry about them,” Kai said. “You’re going to come out on top. You always do.”
“Oh, I know,” Uruha said. “And what I have to do now is get back in that editing room and make sure Datenshi Blue 2 is the best damn porno ever made. And after that? Make sure MiA Adore blows the original MiA Amore out of the water. And then?” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I think we’re making a pirate movie. Complete with real ships. I don’t know how we’re going to get them, but we’ll find a way. And . . .”
“Slow down, love,” Kai said. “You don’t have to kill yourself.”
“I just want to make sure that we’re the best damn company we can be,” Uruha said. “If that’s the case - I’ll know we’ve beaten any competition, no matter what the sales figures say.”
“And I know you will,” Kai said. “You respond very well to competition, you know.”
“Can you believe I used to be a lazy bastard, Kai? Reita used to have to come to my house and literally drag me out of bed in order for me to go to school.”
“But you were never lazy when it came to filmmaking?”
“Never,” Uruha said, softly “It was the one thing I wasn’t lazy about. It was my life’s passion.”
“That’s why you’re so good at what you do,” Kai said. “And you’ll keep being good at what you do. No matter what.”
The car arrived, and they gathered their bags. It had been a weekend like no other for them, too.
Plenty would come of it - maybe more than they bargained for.