Archenemy [brinary&Hideki] (Private)

[brinary]

Even with his hands occupied and his mind elsewhere, Kris was able to place the multiple, short vibrations against his hip. Haye was responding to the outfit pictures Kris had sent- per his friend's demands- and knowing him, it probably involved a lot of screaming in text form. Of course Haye recommended wearing eyeliner or something when meeting up with Joshua, bur Kris knew he'd feel uncomfortable if he'd worn something like it. And maybe a small part of him, a small part that hoped hard, was concerned about messes or accidents. The thoughts that followed weren't his fault entirely but he did wish he could get them to stop. He was going to try to fan his face when he heard noise at the front door. Immediately, he flustered again and couldn't help smiling at the door as it opened.

 

Joshua Weibenburg looked cool and composed, totally elegant, as he leaned against the door frame. Kris had been running through things to say in his head but they all came to a slow and stilted pace as he looked on. The other man looked back at him just as quietly. The writer could barely hear their breathing, noting Joshua's casual smoking, wisps of hair, and long fingers, his body cast in bright light and shadows behind him. An intense yearning was warping his mind because he wanted to fold himself around Joshua and kiss him silly. He felt silly as the blush returned to his cheeks and he prepared to speak. The following events baffled him, although he wasn't mad that they happened. If he had to hypothesize, Kris assumed it was his hopeless admiration that triggered it, the expression shining clear on his face as his brows turned upwards and his smile widened. Things transpired so quickly, Kris was swept up by it.

 

Literally, mostly.

 

Kissing Joshua was overwhelming. He didn't know where to put his hands, didn't know how to move his body, had read articles and books describing moments like this with focus and ample attention. Actually living it was different. His hand reached up to grip onto Joshua's shoulder as the other man's mouth dominated his own in ways he couldn't imagine were actually real. The pace Joshua went at was infuriatingly hot, Kris letting himself enjoy the kiss, leaning up into the older until his neck so awkwardly it hurt. He'd stepped forward and moved his arm up to drape down over the other's shoulder, fist clenched in the fabric tight as he pushed forward to close as much distance between them. All of that heat and passion went straight to his cock and the noise he made when the businessman broke the kiss would be appalling and humiliating to recount.

 

'Playing with fire. You're playing with fire.' It was why his body was so hot and his veins felt full of adrenaline. Playing with fire. This would come back to haunt him, scars or something to remind him of a death that was nearly escaped. Even if Joshua looked composed, the explosive man was right under the surface and Kris couldn't quantify how many things seemed to piss off the blonde-haired businessman. Fire right under the crust, not even in the mantle, waiting to be pushed up to soar to new heights and limits. But with Joshua looking at him like that, Kris decided he wanted to be there-- he wanted to see him. Still melted from the exchange, Kris felt nearly boneless and was holding onto Joshua like a tether to life. It felt good to get touched like that and it felt good to be grabbed and held so fiercely. He felt wanted in all sorts of ways.

 

He wanted Joshua in all sorts of ways.

 

Letting go of him took a few minutes. The writer felt like he was peeling himself off, the hand on Joshua's back lingering as he slowly trailed it up and over his shoulder. The other was still slack with the weight of the food he'd prepared.

 

His eyes felt hazy and he briefly leaned into the hand that grazed over his cheek, still loopy. It'd been years since he'd been kissed so properly. And it'd never been kissing like that. With a wordless nod, Christopher slowly entered the home and looked around. The interior looked very nice. It'd been mostly shaded when he'd been sneaking around last time. But inside was cozy. Overly warm, the man slowly took off his jacket and let out a shuddering breath as he did as instructed. His lips were tingling from the kiss still and he didn't exactly know what to do with his hands, just settling on the comfortable couch and looking around. What were they supposed to do after that? Just speak normally? If anything, Kris had hoped for that as an after-dinner thing. But if that was just Joshua's response to him arriving, then well. Kris really did shudder imagining what the rest of the evening had in store.

 

Christopher tried to get comfortable, although the slight tightness in his pants was a bit irritating. He prayed it would go down. Joshua was probably scrutinizing his food right now and he was hard from some kissing.

Glancing around, Kris noted the lush accommodations and cozy atmosphere. It was really nice. Very big and

empty. Kris felt like he'd be paranoid living alone in such a large place-- oh. That could answer a few questions about why the businessman was so inclined towards crazy theories. A brain with that kind of imagination could be good at cooking up some fun stories.

 

As he waited for the other man, Kris finally checked his phone and sent off a quick response to Haye's 10 unread messages.

 

> At J.'s house right now, I'll try to text when I can :'^)

> YOU R A REALLY ALREAYD CALING HIM J. I'M SHITTING MY SELF!!!! I'M SHITTING!!

 

The stream of texts that followed made Kris rub his forehead and put his phone on a softer vibrate setting. Haye was losing his mind (which was well within his rights, this was pretty... special) and Kris didn't know if he could deal with all of that right that moment. To take his mind off of things, the male opened his phone up to begin playing some shitty word game. Haye's texts would drop down from time to time quizzing him on random date stuff. What was Joshua wearing, what was the house like. Kris made the mistake of telling him the bare minimum about the kiss and Haye absolutely lost his mind. It was a lot to deal with.

 

But it kept him occupied and Kris found that he enjoyed talking about Joshua a lot more than he should. Haye's elaborate scenarios were eyeroll-inducing but playing into them, thinking about them for himself, Kris... liked it. Being in Weibenburg's home certainly didn't help with his already pre-existent fantasies of playing house with someone. He felt like hiding behind one of the couch's throw pillows, grinning at his own stupidity. Playing house with anyone but especially Joshua Weibenburg...

 

Ugh, how embarrassing! He really did take the pillow this time, resting his chin against it and trying not to shout at himself. This wasn't his apartment, he couldn't just needlessly scream into things every time he felt a surge of disgust.

 

The sound of motion from the kitchen then footsteps made him hurriedly put the small pillow back. Seeing the blonde again was like a fresh burst in him, explosions multiplying as the older man settled in next to him. He wanted to watch TV and eat popcorn or some stupid sappy shit. His body instinctively pivoted towards Joshua's presence and he ducked his head at the compliment. "Ah, yeah, I'm glad," he replied as he straightened and nodded. "Yeah, white wine is great. It's very great." He knew he was sounding stupid and cringed internally at the shit coming out of his mouth. "I usually keep at least a bottle or two inside of my fridge, it goes well with fish. And ice cream, really goes well with ice cream." He needed alcohol IMMEDIATELY.

 

Seeing the label was frightening-- Kris would never think to get something so luxurious. He didn't even think he had the proper storage for something that nice. People got bottles of wine like that to showcase them on countertops, perhaps glass cabinets, as a fixture- as a decoration. Actually indulging in it? Impossible. But here he was and the wine wouldn't drink itself. Getting more comfortable, Kris leaned let his shoulders relax. Under the lights in Joshua's home, his shirt was still opaque but features of his body were definitely seen in parts where the color thinned near the seams or the fabric was softened, especially around where his arms met his torso. He didn't know what to say to Joshua in the situation. And he didn't want to show how hot he was feeling.

 

While Kris consciously held himself to occupy as little space as possible, the other spread out and he couldn't help but look. Joshua's legs were so long and his arm felt so close. He was close. Just a tiny bit, the writer allowed himself to shift a little closer. Their ankles brushed and he went forward with loss of what to do to get the wine open. As he leaned forward, he wet his lips to speak but felt the man's eyes on his body and then the hand on his thigh and almost sobbed on the spot. Why was Joshua torturing him like this? Did he want him to burst on the spot?

 

He was thinking of uncorking the white wine as he glanced over at the other's sweet smile. The expression made him smile in return and he almost wanted to look away, glancing down at his knees quickly before looking back up. "It's been busy. I had a lot of things to write," he answered simply, biting his lip to concentrate on not going into too much detail about the news circuit. He didn't want to bring shit-fest politics into this date. "I've been running around town like crazy for the last... for the last almost week, it seems. I think most recently, my sister's dog Franco ate pesticide grass because he never learns his lesson, so we had to take him to the vet."

 

Was this oversharing? He didn't know. He didn't know how much to talk about with Joshua or even if Joshua wanted to know all of this stuff. It wasn't hard to pick apart all of the things he'd done over the days that stood out. Mostly because the days blended into a monotonous back ache. "He's a greyhound. I think they're supposed to be smart. He's usually really smart, just not when it comes to eating grass. So, uh! I'd ask about you but you've been keeping busy, I've seen," he finished with a grin. Watching the businessman uncork the white wine, he hummed at the question. Kris looked towards where he could see the dining hall then looked back at Joshua's comfortable form leaning into the couch. His suit looked pleasantly rumpled, his hair a bit unruly, and Kris could still taste the tobacco on his lips.

 

"I think I'd rather stay here, it's pretty cushy." He eased closer to Joshua, daring to put a hand gently over the one on his thigh and give it a squeeze. "I'm, uh. I'm really glad that you wanted to do this with me. I feel like it's been some event-filled days for the both of us," the man started and brushed his curls from one side of his face, attempting to tuck unruly ones behind his ear for the time being. "Do you like shitty '10 Question' games? I know people think they're corny. But, y'know." He shrugged. "I'm corny. If you don't want to, that's fine obviously, I just." He laughed lightly and grinned, sheepish. "I'd like to get to know a little more about you in this kind of- sense and setting."

[-Hideki-]

A deep chuckled came from him as the other was babbling nervously and it made him relax more to see that the brunette was even more nervous than he was and hid it a lot worse too. To think that this sharp and quick mouthed eloquent man, that this writer who seemed to brandish words like a sword could get that babbly and nervous, shy even was interesting. Josh definitely wouldn’t have expected that although he had gotten the notion that he was much shyer when it came to touch and flirting than breaking the law to write a new article back in the club already. It was incredibly cute though and there was a grin on his face as he looked into the brunette male’s green eyes as he was repeating how well white wine went together with ice-cream directly following the first time he had stated it. Weißenburg leaned over towards the man more and the other leaned in too, their legs touched and it was at this point obvious that the Christopher wanted that contact too while they were sitting on the sofa together.

 

He had seen it, the bulge in the other man’s pants as the kiss seemed to have aroused him that much already and it took him some discipline to leave his hand on the journalists thigh instead of letting it run up and rub and grab the other’s erection, feeling it through his pants before freeing it. The fact that Christopher had an erection turned him on more too and his mind got stuck on the man’s dick for a moment. Was it average, small, huge? Did he have his foreskin or not? Did he keep his pubic hair like him? Was that curly as well as the other man’s hair? Would he let out a gasp if he grabbed his balls? What would he do if he was to move up his hand, grope him, undo the button of his pants, feel and stroke his heated cock, lean down and lick it like a lollipop before giving him head, tasting the other’s dick as an appetiser before dinner?

 

That lit his own dick on fire and he felt it tingling down there his blue eyes were staring at the man’s bulge and he was just realising how he stared when Christopher spoke answering the questions he had raised before. And the blond tried to focus despite all the sexual tension that filled the room and even made the air they breathed thick and taste like lust to him. It didn’t help that he could see hints of Rosario’s body through the fabric of his shirt but he made it and got his mind away from the thoughts previously on his mind listening as the other man spoke about how he had been busy and had had a lot to write. And when he said that he felt like he had been running through the city the whole last week one corner of his lips went up as he said:”Tell me about it.” Since he had gotten the same feeling but in his case it was probably normal. Running for mayor of the city meant showing presence everyday somewhere in the city on a mission to gain attention and to convince more voters that he was the right guy for them.

 

The mentioning of the other’s sister’s dog having gotten sick from eating too much grass with pesticides on it stuck out and he really hoped the dog was doing well.”She must have been upset and afraid. If anything is up with my sister’s dog she immediately starts to get hysterical and to cry.” He told him remembering how his sister reacted when there was anything out of the ordinary with the dog at all. She had once felt a small enhancement on the bulldog’s body and had sobbingly called him saying her dog had a tumour and she was scared he had cancer now and he would die if they didn’t go to the vet immediately. Josh had left his office and driven her to the vet and the cute vet had blinked his eyes behind his glasses and had said in a dry voice:”That’s a pimple.” As Jacqueline had had to hold herself up as she had been feeling the exhaustion from the internal stress she had had come back in the moment of relief Weißenburg had facepalmed hard yelling at his sister if she was serious making such a fuss over a pimple. The vet had laughed and had said it was very touching how concerned she was for her dog. “I once drove her to the vet because she was too upset to even drive, literally shaking; because of what turned out to be a pimple the dog had she had thought had been cancer. That cute vet probably thought we were idiots.” Joshua informed the other remembering how the vet had basically not realised his flirting but had been paying attention to his overly emotional sister instead., it had frustrated him even more. “Anyway, I hope that Franco is well again.” The blond let him know in a genuine tone of voice. “Maybe you want to take the bones from the hock home for him?” he suggested.

 

When he learned that the dog was a greyhound and supposed to be smart but that he just didn’t learn when it came to eating the grass with toxic topping the businessman laughed! “Greyhounds are usually pretty clever and agile as well as dynamic.” He remarked still amused. “Jacqueline’s dog is an old English bulldog. He’s lovely and clingy but also stubborn, lazy and dull sometimes.” Joshua let him know. “Every time I see him I want to rescue him though because she named him Tinkerbell and dresses him up.” The blond informed the other and it was clear from the way he spoke that he disapproved of people dressing up animals. “I always try to tell myself that at least she doesn’t dress up her sons.” The man stated followed by a laugh. “Does your sister have kids too?” he asked curious to see whether the journalist was an uncle as well.

 

Thinking about the dogs some more he sighed and said. “I always liked dogs. They are loyal, honest, hard working and obedient.” The blond stated. “I am probably getting guard dogs soon.” Joshua said thinking back about what Hector had suggested. “I am still undecided about which breed though. I was thinking about Rottweilers.” The businessman mused. “Maybe I’ll go for Doberman Pinchers again though. I have those guarding the property of the company at night.” he added and shrugged. It was rather obvious to come to the conclusion why he was about to buy guard dogs for his private home now and it was even more funny that he had invited the reason for it into his house and the journalist was sitting on the sofa with him, their bodies slightly touching and his hand on the man’s thigh.

 

He raised his eyebrows as he was pouring some wine into both glasses when the other addressed Josh and that he would ask about his days but had seen he had been busy. Nowadays it was publically known what he did for the most part as it mostly were appearances in their city somewhere and he smiled. “Ja, you know from the TV already.” He said placing the bottle of wine back onto the coffee table, leaning back into the sofa again. “I also hosted the governor and an acquaintance from Washington though.” He told the other. “And I’ve met up with some old friends from my Army days.” Weißenburg told Christopher. “That was not covered by the news.” He said in a playful tone and then added. “I think you might even have heard of one of my friends, depending on whether you spend time on the internet or not.” Joshua guessed as Tristan was pretty well known, especially by those concerned with politics. “Tristan Jiles?” he told him the name curious as to whether he did know the man or not and to learn what he thought about him.

 

A smile played around his thin lips when the other man told him that he’d rather stay in the living room. “I always eat here too.” The blond let him know and he did. He liked it better to eat on the sofa alone then placing himself into a hall where every sound of his lonely silverware would echo back to him. The dining room was not made for one but for many and he usually only used it when he was either having multiple or official guests such as the governor for instance. Hence he was glad about the decision especially since they were able to be closer that way and right when the so extremely embarrassing thought of offering each other bites from their food made him cringe about himself internally he felt the touch of a warm hand on his and his blue eyes widened as he peered to the hand on the thigh that was now covered with and squeezed by the other male’s hand and his blue eyes gazed up into green again as the touch to his hand electrified him and the electricity was running up from there streaming across his whole body and he held his breath, interlocking his fingers with the brunette’s looking at his long pale white fingers that looked even whiter through the contrast when intermingled with the light brown ones of Rosario.

 

Hearing the other speak in that new tone again, that was different from how he had spoken to the conservative man before, that slight nervousness and shyness shining through as he spoke made him realise that he started to like the other man’s voice and the words themselves he liked too. And he agreed with them as he was glad that he had been unreasonable and reckless enough to invite Christopher over to his house for a date too. “So am I.” he said, slightly mumbling the words as he looked at the younger one as he was brushing his curly hair out of his face in an attempt to tuck it back. Again this was a moment where the other was so incredibly tempting and attractive to him that he felt the urge to jump him, to pin him down, kiss him wildly while undoing their pants to rub their dicks against each other, to feel the heat and the pulse of the other’s throbbing rod against his own while their tongues would be entangled like copulating snakes.

 

Rosario spoke further oblivious as to what urge had arisen on Joshua’s mind again as he asked him whether he liked ‘shitty 10 Question games’ only to add that he knew that they were corny and that it was fine if he didn’t want to but that he would just like to get to know more about him and Joshu couldn’t. The man was just too cute in that moment and his stupid heart was at it again, pounding like crazy, hammering in him like a heavy bass and it was a wonder that the complete man wasn’t vibrating due to that like glasses in a showcase if one turned the music too loud. He was certain the other must hear it! Could he? Could he hear how his dumb heart was screaming that embarrassingly? Without any warning the tall man leaned over and kissed the other again, his hand running through the curls passionately and caressingly and what had been supposed to just be a quick kiss escalated and it seemed like Weißenburg wanted to devour him, to eat him up, saliva getting exchanged as lips and tongues feverishly clashed and more blood was rushing downstairs as he got more aroused and he could feel the kiss in his cock and he was hard by now too. Not full hard but hard enough to make his pants feel constricting and way too tight.

 

He was breathing heavily when their lips parted and was leaning his forehead onto the other’s, his eyes still half closed, their noses touching, his body burning, every cell screaming to touch and be touched. Weißenburg had to pull himself together somehow since he wanted to get to know the other better too. He actually had questions he’d like to ask him, things he wanted to know about the other man and why not through some game? “I don’t mind ‘shitty 10 Question games’!” he answered his voice slightly husky and thick with arousal. “I have never played one though. Do we just take turns asking each other ten questions each?” the man wanted to make sure that he had gotten that right and he felt like the younger one must think he was clueless for not knowing that so he added. “I haven’t been on a date like this for twelve years. And back then I don’t think question games have been a popular thing to do on dates. Nor weird apps where people seek sex and relationships by writing who and what they aren’t attracted to instead of who they are searching for!” he explained and he knew he should have stopped there but his lips kept on moving and words came out. “I sometimes find that the world has gotten more illogical and confusing. Sometimes I wished to get back to previous times because they felt so much less confusing and more alright and clear and then I remember that they probably must have sucked as well in their own way, that I was just too young to care or really notice though.” The businessman said and slightly shook his blond head. “Anyway, I’m going to reheat the food for us. I think it will be nicer to play ‘shitty and corny 10 Question games’ while we enjoy good food and some wine.” He told the other brushed the man’s hair back and let their lips faintly meet again, before he stood. “If I cook you might get food poisoning but when it comes to reheating stuff that I haven’t cooked, I’m a pro!” he assured him and left the living room a throbbing erection stretching his pants, blood boiling, body heated and he inhaled and exhaled deeply when he had reached the kitchen.

 

Certainly it would be nicer to play the game while eating something together but more importantly he needed to calm his body down at least somewhat or he would not be able to go through ten, probably not even two questions before he would be eating arse instead of food then. He was stoically and absent minded reheating the dinner for them, his hand rubbing over his confined erection unconsciously, hoping he’d calm down. Although he still had a boner when he was putting the food onto the plates he wasn’t as enthralled and heated anymore and he reappeared with silverware and two huge plates piled with food. Placing them onto the coffee table he got seated again, this time incredibly close to the other man right away and there was a smile on his face ignoring the uncomfortable tightness in his silver pants. Joshua took his glass of wine, waited for the other to grab it, then he raised it, nodded towards him and took a sip of it before he turned towards the food. “May I ask the first question then…” he suggested cutting off a piece of the hock. “What was it that made you want to become a journalist?” he wanted to know. “I mean, why not a novelist or scriptwriter?” This was something that he was really curious about. The motivation behind the man’s profession and what he did that boldly and unapologetically! Joshua shoved the piece of hock into his mouth, chewing on it while waiting for the other to answer question one!

[brinary]

Every noise and movement Joshua made seemed to set a burning desire lancing down his spine. He felt like he couldn't even slouch with how tense and electrified he felt. The increased physical contact didn't help his already fraying sanity. Kris just decided that this was another obstacle to overcome. The tension didn't have to be crushing. Speaking of crushing, Kris didn't know where he'd put Joshua on his scale of 'how much I like you.' It certainly felt crushing being near him, and the unbidden memories or thoughts regarding Joshua were extremely encompassing. It definitely went way above that silly love he'd had for the police officer years ago, beyond his confused emotions and desire for Haye, to a more adult realm than Kris had ever really occupied romantically or sexually.

 

He'd wanted to be fucked before and to be held by someone. He could top but had difficulty imagining it anymore since Joshua was the only person who really stayed in his fantasies as of late. Hopefully he could still touch and hold the businessman in an affectionate manner. Once he got physical contact, it was a gnawing craving that could lead to him cuddling with anything within sight if he got desperate enough. Those things within sight were typically couch cushions or a throw blanket.

 

From Joshua's slow smile to the way his face emoted, Kris could hardly keep his eyes off of him. As the other spoke of his own sister and her dog troubles, his brows lifted and he grinned at the story the other told him. Watching the way his lips moved and how he enunciated made his heart feel so soft. It was actually pretty funny, too. He grinned and nodded along with a snort then laugh. "Sounds like my sister," he murmured in agreement, then felt his face warm at Joshua's blatant kindness. The urge to avert his eyes or cover his face made him look coy. "Awe, thanks. He's doing alright now. But the bones is a good idea- I hadn't even considered it." They should have a dog-date. Take their sisters' dogs from them and go out together. A picnic, even, while the two dogs frolicked and played and Kris could feed the blonde man any number of things. Curl up in his lap and talk nonsense. Maybe curve a hand around his thigh and lean forward, kissing him underneath some shade to cool their heating bodies. A number of ideas were bouncing around in his head from that. Hearing the other laugh made them increase infinitely as a bigger smile pulled at Kris's lips.

 

"Pffttt-- TInkerbell! That's so cute. If the dog likes it, then I completely stand behind it," he said with a mischievous grin. "Don't get jealous of his dashing good looks and impeccable style." At the question, he shook his head. "No kids of her own. Her fiance has two though, but they're pretty old, like in middle school right now. But they get along pretty well. I'm sure she'll add five more to the household they get eventually if he gives her an inch- literally. For now, Franco's been her only 'kid,'" Kris explained with a fond smile thinking about his sister. Shanie did deserve the best in life and she wanted kids in a bad way. He himself was fond of children. They were chubby and smiled a lot, amazed by the simplest things, fun to manhandle and toss around. Franco would probably die once more kids were introduced to a combined household. For now, though, he was the cherished and loved only child.

Joshua mentioning guard dogs made him want to groan but he'd have to endure it. It was actually kind of funny to think that he was the cause of such an idea, but it also endeared him further to the situation. It seemed pretty crazy to assume a man like the mayoral candidate could put things aside and invite him over. Kind of funny, kind of sweet, very reckless on Joshua's behalf. If he had been some con-artist journalist, this entire date would end in disaster for the man. But he was genuinely interested in both the blonde and what he was like as company. Even speaking so freely about his ideas of guard dogs, it felt like eons ago that he was the one that caused concern for extra security. "I like Dobermans," he hummed. "They're very elegant and often terrify me. Truly the ideal." He could imagine Joshua with a Doberman Pincher. It came out like an oil painting in his mind.

 

After pouring the wine, he leaned back a little with Joshua but still kept himself a little more propped up to watch the other attentively. Nodding, Kris thought about how he'd remembered hearing about the men coming into town. His news room acquaintances had been incredibly nervous about it. Foreboding, they would say, foreboding Joshua's ascension to the other political realms. Even without knowing Joshua incredibly personally until recently, the Hispanic could already tell the man was motivated when it came to many things. Becoming governor seemed like something he'd want to do, if only for the powers it entailed and the success it stood for. When Joshua mentioned his friend was Tristan Jiles, the brunette's eyebrows shot up and he blinked. "Oh! Really? Wait-- no, I can picture it now," he mused, surprise immediately transitioning to a relaxed but interested posture again. Tristian Jiles had made a huge name for himself across the internet. Christopher knew a few of his friends who'd had plenty of unpleasant run-ins with the man, typically online.

 

Some people discredited internet commentators, but they were becoming an even more crucial part to the political world now'a'days. He wasn't surprised at all that Joshua actually knew him. Apparently the businessman just had a lot of vocal friends in high places. He wondered how their friendship came to be in the first place but the Josh was smiling at him again and he forgot a lot of what he was thinking about. Especially when the other man locked their fingers again. A pleasant shiver made his smile wobble and he wanted to kiss him shamelessly. Climb over him and kiss him, or even lit their joined hands to his lips to graze his teeth and tongue to Joshua's knuckles, Kris didn't discriminate at any of the ideas floating around in his head as he looked back at the other man. His shock was so apparent that it made Kris want to outright giggle. Or touch him more.

 

The kiss had been unexpected again but Christopher's body was ready to meet Joshua's own this time. He didn't know what got the man to react this way but he wouldn't complain about it. Especially when it felt so good. What gave it away this time was the silence that followed his flustered admission and suggestion. Green eyes looking into blue, Kris could feel his body starting to tense but didn't connect it to the tangible feeling that prefaced the sudden kiss. As Joshua grabbed him, he understood that it would've happened eventually, another outburst like the one by the door. He'd seen the man looking at him, ooglig his erection which made itself painfully aware again. Joshua's mouth swallowed the moan that eked past his mouth, half-surprise and half-raw desire. The hand that'd been holding Joshua's hand over his thigh squeezed tight and the other flew up curve around the man's neck. His lips were open admittance, welcoming the feeling of another tongue. It didn't feel nearly as slimy as he'd imagined it would but hot and very, very damp. The fact that he could smell Joshua so much and even taste the other man made his legs open wider as he leaned forward to return the kissing as best as possible. With anything, Kris tried his best at it. The more interested he was, the harder he dedicated himself to the task.

 

He hoped there would be many, many more chances to get better at kissing with Joshua.

 

Holding onto the other still, he stared at the man's flushed face. His cock gave another hot throb at the expression there of such bare want. Christopher wanted to put dinner aside just so he could indulge their shared needs. The husky voice cut straight to the bone. How could he be expected to focus on answering questions like that when all he wanted to do was bury his face in Joshua's lap, suck and moan with that red face and husky voice aimed down at him? Focusing was getting incredibly difficult. All he could do was nod, not trusting himself to speak, just watching Joshua as he continued to. Thankful for the older man's anecdotes, it gave him time to get his wits about him and finally smile again. His cock was hurting for attention but he let his legs slide closer to try and quench its desire. "Reheat, wine, questions. Yes," he finally spoke, still somewhat breathless. At the kiss, he felt himself trying to chase th other man's lips feebly before laughing at Joshua's proud declaration at his shitty skills. Watching Joshua go, he felt better in knowing the blonde was just as hard as him. And it made a sizeable tent.

 

Unconsciously, he rubbed his legs together and felt himself sit up straighter, eyes closing at the friction that ran along his cock. If Joshua came back and looked just as desirable, which he would, Kris was almost positive it'd be nigh impossible to keep from mounting him. How could this have happened? He felt like a whore with the thoughts running through his mind, clashing with the helpless romantics, because while he wanted Joshua to kiss him 'good morning' and send sweet texts throughout the day, help him cook, he also wanted truly profane things. To be shoved against the couch and stripped until he was fully exposed, stretched and fucked by those long fingers, body lost in heat. To claw at Joshua's bed sheets, splattering cum on them as he rode out a second orgasm as he was fucked forcefully into the mattress. To tear the house down begging and moaning and choking, overwhelmed by everything the businessman could give him, decided to let him have.

 

His head hurt from thinking about it so much. And his cock was also no much better, still sitting heavy and straining. He crossed his legs fully which didn't completely help because the friction was so little but felt like SO much. However, it did hide it.

 

Out of sight, out of mind might not apply in the specific scenario but he was doing the best he could with what he had.

 

Joshua came with a great distraction- food! Sitting up a little more, Kris smiled as Joshua sat next to him and followed his lead, picking up the glass of white wine and copying the others actions. Ugh- shit, this wine was good. He tried not to drink it greedily but did take a second quick sip with a pleased sigh before setting it down. He'd impressed himself with the food. It looked like it came out really well and if Joshua was readily eating it, then Kris's mission had been an outstanding success. The question reminded him of career fairs for some reason and he paused with a piece of hock raised to his lips. Should he give Joshua the no sympathy version or a real, grounded truth? This was all about them being open after all...

 

"My uncle, he was a freedom writer," he finally answered then ate his piece of hock. Mmm, yep, he'd done great. Sipping some more wine, the Hispanic grinned albeit sadly. "It's a little heavy, but... we were poor and community was everything. No one spoke out in my country. We were too scared, many were. But the ones who did, like my uncle, were seen as heroes to some and nuisances that'd get the entire neighborhood razed down by others." He was eating slowly, eyes getting a distant edge to them as he spoke inbetween bites. "When I was younger-" bite, swallow, "my uncle meant a lot to me-" chew, sip, swallow, "and helped my family a lot."

 

"One day... he went missing. My uncle Chinaseuh. They forwarded us a portion of his tongue in the mail. The outspoken ones always went missing. The ones in danger, they always received pieces of the missing- of the "ghosts."" Kris looked towards the ceiling with a straight face before he spoke again. "Leaving was really hard. Coming here, everyone thought we were... like. Scavengers. Trying to steal and dig our way into their community. No one knew what I went through, what my sisters had to deal with, my mother. No one ever tells the truth and the people that do always die. I didn't care if I died. I needed to report on things that I thought really mattered, so I decided to go for journalism. A lot of the times, people see pictures of hurt children or famine on glossy magazine covers but no one ever cares to read about it. I want... to make people care and really show the world what happens."

 

With a tense face, he huffed. "Also I really only ever wrote erotic fantasy novels and I sell them for like, 50 cents a pop on Amazon, people like reading about dragon-sex and monsters, which is really nice, and I guess TMI, I write about monster sex. Shit sells." He finally broke a smile then booped Joshua's nose with a finger, the fork angled up and away from the other's face before Kris went back to eating. "My turn! Did you have a dream job that's very different from what you're doing now, or is running your business like, had it always been your first desire?" Onto lighter territory.

[-Hideki-]

He snorted and laughed at the same time when Christopher said that he stood behind dressing the dog up in drag if he liked it and hinted that Josh would just be jealous of the bulldog’s good looks and style. “Well he doesn’t look too thrilled about his dresses.” Weißenburg said and then grinned shaking his head. “But you’ve gotten me there. I’m just jealous because I’d always wanted to wear a petticoat once and look as stunning too.” He jested, finding the absurdity of it rather hilarious. As if it wasn’t absurd enough how that poor bulldog looked in those dresses. “I think I leave dressing up ridiculously and making a joke out of oneself to Wilcox though, he’s much better at that than I am.” He decided still smirking and then he remembered something. “Did you know that Nisha doesn’t like him? She usually doesn’t dislike people but she outright called Terry a cunt.” Weißenburg laughed at the mere memory.

 

There was another type of smirk forming on his face, a more suggestive one when the journalist said that he liked Doberman Pinchers because they were elegant and terrified him and that this was his ideal. “I see.” He commented the smirk widening, one eyebrow raising! “Terrifying but elegant ! Do I too qualify as that to you?” Josh asked moving his eyebrows up and down jokingly before he got a little more serious again. “However that they terrify you make them pretty much my ideal as guard dogs should you ever get the idea to peek through my window and record me without permission again.” The man stated.

 

Josh got the initial surprise about him being friends with Jiles! Tristan was a completely different personality type and had rather different views too although they also had some agreements. Not only that, he had also released a video bashing Weißenburg’s politics in a not so nice way. However he had not attacked the businessman on a personal level and that was why he had had not much of an issue with the video. “Are you surprised because of the video he released where he accused me of wanting to turn the city into a real life version of George Orwell’s 1984 and wanting to establish a police state?” he asked curious about what had caused the instant surprise. “He never got personal and only attacked my views, plus, we have been friends for decades and we’ve gone through a lot of shit together back when I was in the Army.” He explained. “Did you have the honour with him or ?” the blond asked because somehow he got the feeling that the other had had an encounter with Jiles or maybe was close to someone who had had. Since Rosario wrote news articles that also got published online it wouldn’t even be farfetched if Tristan had picked apart one of his articles, reading it to his fans and followers whilst commenting on it and drinking some high-proof alcohol.

 

After they had shared that heated kiss and he had disappeared in the kitchen, returned with the food and had asked the younger male the first question upon indulging in his favourite food his question got answered. However it wasn’t what he had expected and he listened intently and quietly, with a concentrated face. Josh wasn’t sure what he had expected, something idealist, something ideological, lechery for sensationalism? Those had all been things that wouldn’t have surprised him but that did surprise him. He learned about the man’s uncle who had been outspoken against the tyranny in the other’s home country and how that had been the man’s death. How they had gotten his tongue send back to the family as a threat and a warning and how the other basically had wanted to follow in his uncles footsteps and to reveal hidden truths that no one told even stating that he didn’t care if he died. Well, Joshua had known that much. The other hadn’t seemed to care about the gun he had aimed at him all too much, it had been as if the brunette just had had no survival instinct or was generally apathetic about his own life.

 

It was idealism in a sense but it was rooted deep and he could understand why the other cared to prevent a development as in his home country, that he cared for transparency and to inform the population about what was going on. To fight an authoritarian oppression! The other’s story even reminded him of things his grandfather had told him about, of what his grandfather’s family who had stayed when he had left with his grandmother had written to his grandfather and described had been going on around them until they had died in a rain of bombs that had fallen onto and destroyed their city. Whenever his grandfather had spoken about his family he had said that he had warned them, he had wanted them to leave too but they had called him paranoid and too anxious, they had said that something like that was just absurd and that it could never happen and no one would implement things like those because what his grandfather was saying was just insane and in the end it had come worse than his grandpa had predicted or even had thought in his wildest imagination and it had been late for them to leave because the US wouldn’t take in any more refugees from Germany. And then they died in the bombing of their city.

 

So he could see the will to stand against oppressive authoritarian regimes and tyranny or devotion to the truth, he too was very devoted to the truth certainly, but he just couldn’t see how this translated into slander articles about him or trying to reveal his sexual orientation to the public using an illegally recorded sex tape of him, or why he was that focussed on him in general. Maybe he had actually believed there was some corruption and deal with the police going on and had broken in due to that but why had he not just left when he had seen that they obviously had not made any deal or had been involved in any shady business but just had fucked? Was it the devotion to the truth? That it had bothered him because Joshua was not revealing that he was gay and he thought it was lying by omission? But then again his sexual orientation didn’t matter and he was also not a tyrant who had to be overthrown with all might, he wasn’t even elected anyway.

 

“I can understand why you have chosen this path for yourself and I think that your uncle would be proud of you.” He told him as he genuinely thought that the man would be since the other had basically carried forward his life’s work but he couldn’t get rid of that confusion and what irked him about it. “But do you think I am the same as a murderous tyrant or why did you focus so much on throwing me down?” he asked because he really wanted to know this. They were getting closer to one another, they were getting to know each other, they obviously were both hot for each other but this incident had still happened, it was still a thing and Josh couldn’t just forget that massive violation of his privacy, it certainly was still on his mind and it still bugged him. He sighed then. “I know you did documentaries and are generally concerned with the subject of immigration. Maybe you’d like to talk to my grandfather; he came as a legal immigrant in 1935 to escape fascism. There are even letters from his family who stayed there and all of that and last night my grandfather expressed that we young people should listen to the elderly more and I got the feeling he wanted to talk about some of it. I don’t know if it’s interesting for you though.” He suggested. His grandfather was not in politics at all, he was just a regular old man, no public figure, no one knew his name, with a lot of things that had happened throughout his life and a lot to say what he had not spoken about much but now that he was really old and had more time on his hand to think and reflect wanted to speak to younger generations about.

 

 

Having said that he continued to eat as he had neglected the food while he had been listened in such a focussed way so he took the time in which Christopher asked him his question to take another good portion of meat and potato dumpling. He was chewing as he looked at him after the other had asked his questions. A dream job, he mused as he couldn’t recall that he had ever had something like that. Swallowing the food he scratched his chin and felt the stubble that were slightly coming back again after he had shaved in the morning. “I honestly don’t think that I’ve ever had a dream job.” He told the other truthfully. “You know, I grew up incredibly poor in the worst district of the city. My parents had hard labour jobs that didn’t pay well at all. My socialist mother still lives in that ghetto because she is too stubborn and refuses to take any money from me.” Joshua told him. “Anyway, growing up I was surrounded by shit. Dirty and destroyed streets, drug dealers, shootings in our street, violent gangs! I went to a public school where everyone was checked for guns and drugs before entering. I was in the minority and got regularly attacked in a racist way. Crime rate incredibly high, especially violent crime and robbery and I had almost nothing. I didn’t even get Christmas presents or things like that, because my parents couldn’t effort it.” Josh informed him his tone of voice calm, descriptive and free from complaint. “However I got aware of the fact that there were people who had a much better life, lived in much nicer places, had nicer things, especially on TV but even in my shitty public school many were at least somewhat better off than I was. And I hated being that poor, I hated eating potatoes almost every day because they were cheap, I hated having nothing and living in such a place. I didn’t want to live that way, I wanted to get to higher and better placed and I wanted a better life, to be a winner with power and not feeling like I was in a loser place and left powerless. My mum always blamed it on the system, on the rich people, she advocated for changing the system and that the rich should give more of their wealth away in order to make things more equal as she said. But I thought to myself that all those people on the upper end have somehow gotten there too! If not they themselves their parents or grandparents or whoever, but someone must have gotten them into that place and if they could get there it meant there was a way to get there and why shouldn’t I be able to?” Weißenburg let him know.

 

“So I swore to myself that I would one day make it to the top, that I would get out of the ghetto, out of poverty and to never fall back there ever again. That I’d be a winner! And that was what was important to me and what I focussed on. I never asked myself what I would like to work as because it would be fun or I had a talent for it. I just asked myself what would get me closer to my goal and out of there. The pattern I noticed was that those successful and rich mostly owned something, a business for instance, or they worked in economics in another way, so business and economics were a guideline. But the first thing I actually dreamed about was getting a college degree, to be the first in my family to have an academic qualification, which I needed to be successful.” He let the other know. “To get that I joined the Army when I had finished at my shitty high-school because no one had wanted to give a scholar-ship to some white male kid from such a bad school and then I went to war! I sure had thought about what that meant if I joined the Army and what I’d have to do and I felt I was totally prepared for it but fuck, I was not prepared, no one fucking was. Not even Brix and he’s from a military dynasty, both parents in the military and the whole family since decades but the culture shock man.” He said shaking his head. “I hated shooting someone but I obviously had to. They were the enemy it was kill or be killed. I never shot light-heartedly and I never enjoyed it but I always looked them into their eyes if possible. If you end a life, at least look them in their bloody eyes I thought.” Weißenburg said and sighed as he remembered a moment when he had stood under some cold, rusty shower before Jiles had entered the washing room. The man had looked hot back then, he had never had broad shoulders or broad bones but his ectomorph body had actually looked really dynamic and athletic with the muscle he had gained and his dirty blond hair had been short and well kept, but his face had been blank and his eyes too had stared into the nothingness and Josh had said with a mocking grin:”What’s wrong Jiles, did you get turned down by that Captain again?” But Jiles had not laughed nor gotten back at him, he had just stared at him and his face had become incredibly mad. “Fuck you Weißenburg and shut your stupid trap. I have shot a fucking brainwashed toddler alright! A fucking six years old or something who was about to blow himself up in the name of his imaginary sky daddy! I know I had to because otherwise he would have killed dozens of civilians, my comrades and me but I still gave a child a headshot. So piss off and leave me alone will you!” he had yelled at him and Joshua had turned the shower off, had slammed his hand onto Tristan’s shoulder and had left without a word.

 

“Sorry, I lost track here a little.” Joshua apologised and refocused his mind to dream jobs as a child and what he had wanted to do when he was older and all that. “There was that on time when we were at the zoo for my sisters birthday when we had been kids– it had been her greatest wish so my parents had saved money for it the whole year so that we could go there as a family one time – and I was standing in line to get into the dolphin show with my sister when that kid of rich parents in his expensive clothing stood behind me. He was apparently mad that he and his friend had to wait behind me and my sister so he started to insult us. ‘Look at that trash there, they should have a separate entrance for us so that we wouldn’t have to wait behind people like those.’ And I got mad and turned around and asked him if he had a problem and he said his problem were my loser stench and my loser clothing and my loser face that made him feel sick. It made me even more mad because I didn’t think I was a loser but I knew that my clothing and the stuff I had was shitty and I hated it that this piece of shit had better things than I had and someone like him had the audacity to call me a loser. Then he picked on my sister’s dress and her cheap glasses and the braces and she started to cry so I punched him right onto his nose.” Weißenburg let the other know. “It broke as well as his Dior glasses. And because the ghetto trash had punched first what fit the picture perfectly my parents had to replace the glasses since the boy’s mother insisted although they were millionaires. My parents paid it off several years and I got the beating of a my life when we were home again for throwing the first punch and using violence and it made me hate that bloke even more and it made me angry about the loser things I had and I didn’t want to have loser things anymore.” He explained and then a wide and bright smirk appeared on his face, triumph in his eyes. “Four years ago the architect company that very guy had inherited went bankrupt, he was broke and I bought his company for nearly nothing. He asked me if he could still work for the company and I grinned at him and I said I don’t hire fucking losers!” Joshua happily said and laughed. “He had never done anything to achieve his wealth and then he was too stupid to maintain it. And I worked myself from the ground up to the top, when I say I am rich, it means something, it means that I have achieved something. When he bragged about it back in that zoo it was just pathetic as he bragged about the achievements of someone else.” The white blond explained. “Anyway, I think I achieved exactly what I wanted to achieve career wise in my life although I didn’t have a dream job per se.” he ended his answer to the question.

 

Joshua had eaten quite a bit of the food on his plate already and he took another sip of the wine his blue eyes looking into the other man’s green ones. “And here I go with the next question for you.” He smiled and then took another sip. “How did your coming out go, if you are still in the closet, why?” he wanted to know. It was a question that interested him due to more than one reason. For once he liked to know how this had gone for the other, plus maybe he could gain something from hearing it and if he was closeted he wanted to know why because he had accused Josh of lying by omission and lying was an immoral act. And when he thought that Joshua acted immoral because he didn’t reveal his sexual orientation the other would in his very own eyes act immoral as well. “And - I’m going for a second because it fits this one well, you can ask me two in row then as well – how did you get where you are from your first crush/boyfriend to now in regards to your let’s call it romantic life?” the businessman was curious and he also hoped that this would be a more light hearted subject.

[brinary]

Laughing with Joshua didn't feel very unnatural. If anything, its introduction into Kris's life made the writer want some form of encore. Their rapport came about without much force and Kris's easy smile at Weibenburg's dog story stayed as they spoke. He never had to consciously remind himself to giggle or guffaw. Maybe because the situation they were in, a date, felt so good to think about that it warranted a smile anyways. But even more than that was because the businessman said funny stuff and made funny faces. He liked how he was candid about the little parts of his life. The jab at Wilcox made his snicker behind his hand and he leaned in when Joshua began anew, 'hm'ing then snorting again, tears springing to his eyes as he put a hand over his mouth as to not spit outright as he laughed. Imagining sweet Nisha calling Terry Wilcox a cunt- to his face- was something he didn't know he needed. Now that he had it, he relished in the knowledge. It was just another reason to like that lady. And Joshua's sister herself sounded like a familiar sort of dramatic that he saw in his own kin.

 

Thinking about Joshua's family and meeting more of them was dangerous territory. He was getting domestic again and trying to avoid those straits was going to benefit him in the long run. Hopefully. Maybe. When the blonde poked fun at his Doberman Pinscher comment, Kris outright elbowed him. Nothing too hard but definitely jovial and a little challenging, looking up at him with a smirk of his own- accompanied by a blush. "Shut up," he muttered, simmering down as the man continued. To that, he merely sniffed then said helpfully, "If you have them play frisbee and catch a lot, they'll get used to knocking something down then dragging it back to you."

 

The question about Jiles made him nod, 'mmm'ing as he remembered. Someone had sent it to him with the intention to pick it apart but was only angrier to realize he and Jiles had the same opinion. It did make more sense as Joshua explained. It was sort of like a higher-level example of he and Hayes. If he'd taken the video essay route, and Haye's had become a big figure in some political sense, there would probably been a diatribe or two scrutinizing his friend. Knowing that Joshua kept people around him that disagreed with him made him feel a little better about... "their" future. Completely avoiding politics happened to be a challenge for Kris. In a fantasy where he and Joshua were dating, he bounced on the blonde's dick regularly, and they kissed casually when he made lunchtime visits to the man's office, politics never came up. Now he could alter the ridiculous image better to replace 'no politics' with 'some politics. ' God dammit-- no domesticity! "Me? Hon-- oh, no, not really. I got asked to moderate a debate between him and someone on twitter, but ended up just being in the peanut gallery watching. I talked to him a few times before then over DMs, just to get things," a shrug, "settled, make sure we understood what was expected. The debate was pretty shit. The other person got angry with me because I made too many inappropriate noises at thing Jiles said. Which was, y'know." He waved his hand. "I was laughing." Jiles said funny things sometimes and the situation had been so ridiculous he couldn't help but make little noises behind his hand or laugh somewhere in the distance. "I'm sure he's probably gave me a good lashing somewhere at sometime but I honestly couldn't tell you what it was about. I think I had food poisoning that week?"

 

Speaking about his past was always weird. He felt survivor's guilt among many things, a mass of confliction and a need to flee from some unresolved thoughts. Joshua's initial response made him nod his thanks and his next question didn't surprise him at all. "When you began, it wasn't extremely personal. I scrutinized how well-versed you'd be as a mayor. But what I did, it wasn't to expose you-- I feel," the man had to pause and made a face. His expression read heavy conflict. "I feel... I don't- okay, I'd gotten a lead about shady happenings with the police department. And I'd heard you'd be having a private meeting. It seemed like something of a last straw. All the bullshit articles about you are critiquing your... ability to wipe your mouth and say thank you after eating carrot cake. No one was saying anything grounded in fact, presenting fact, or caring about real stuff. So I felt frustrated. Finally getting information about a topic I'd been suspecting made me jump the gun," he explained as a frown. "You're not a murderous tyrant. You do get crazy angry though, which isn't a mark of tyranny, but reminds me of tyrannical kings from cartoon shows."

 

Joshua mentioning his grandfather made him lean forward and his eyes nearly glittered with interest. "Really? I'd-- well, I'd love to talk to him, absolutely. You know, sometimes I forget people have grandparents that are still alive. Morbid. I'm being morbid, my answer, is yes, that sounds cool, thank you." More wine. He needed MORE wine, he was sounding so stupid and talking way too much.

 

Kris settled in to listen to Joshua's answer. The first sentence made him blink in a bit of surprise but he ate quietly and was mute as he listened. Having done research on Joshua, the Hispanic knew some of his background- poor family, politically opposed mother, his sister as his strong supporter, first in college. But hearing the description of his background was a little captivating. It was one of those unbelievable tales that only select people could boast having- working hard and climbing to the top. In some ways, his feelings felt eerily familiar. Although living in an environment marred with a lot of binds, Kris tried his damndest to elevate himself. He'd always been firm about doing something to get the truth out there as he saw fit. While he had that deep desire, his goal was to do that and get his parents out of the gutter at the same time. And for the most part it'd worked. A few years back, the writer had finally accumulated enough investment money and royalties to pay off the mortgage for his parents. They got to move out of their cramped two-story to a more comfortable one floor, wide house nearer to the suburban parts in town. Just a few minutes' drive away from his sister. He supposed his dream had always been more them-focused than himself. Success was a high school memory. Gaining personal accolades and proving himself was the main beef that drove Christopher. It was the enjoyment of personal merits but also the burning and venomous desire, deep in his heart, to spite everyone possible who doubted him. And that spiteful part said that once he got his fame and his fortune, he could talk as much shit as he wanted and make sure his uncle's memory wouldn't be for naught and that he'd be sitting pretty and happy while all the people in his schools were left to suffer for ever making he or his family feel miserable.

 

That spiteful part was never in the forefront of his mind. It did, however, provide needed motivation whenever Kris felt too rundown. Joshua's brain had worked different and his motivations seemed more straightforward.

 

You see something you want. You don't have it. You work until you get it.

 

Hearing a snippet of Joshua's military experience made him want to reach out, at least touch him. Shanie had joined after highschool herself and gone into the ROTC program in college. They'd given her secretarial work but she proved herself to be incredibly efficient as a medic, a great planner, and incredibly responsive. Eventually, she ended up in the Marines, which was something none of his parents understood but were proud of her for it nonetheless. Tessa made offhand comments about PTSD for a lifetime. Shanie had eventually left and enjoyed her work as an EMT. But Kris still had letters and pictures she'd sent from her time, the bewilderment, the culture shock, the paranoia, laughs, and depression that'd been wrapped up with her experience.

 

If there was any killing she did, it was never mentioned. She didn't talk about it anymore. Seeing someone relive memories from that time looked painful so Kris, mostly done with his food, reached out to gently hold Joshua's thigh, if it was any consolation. Once the man worked through it and continued, he let his hand remain their gingerly, the other busy as he slowly ate the remaining food off. Kris was a vacuum-- compact and fast in how quickly he sucked up anything before him. Joshua seemed occupied while he was speaking so the man hoped, in the back of his mind, the other hadn't noticed his eating habits. The blonde's mood seemed to switch quick, going back to talking about a zoo incident so matter-of-facty. Now that Joshua explained himself, Christopher could kind of see the rationale behind why Joshua seemed so ready to fly off of any given handle. The guy had probably stuck close to his guns and been bottling up a lot of frustration. They really did have paralleled experiences, just extremely different modes in how they handled what they were given. The businessman mostly seemed to relish in his wealth while enjoying vulgarly the irony of his situation. He congratulated his progress and continued to strive for a certain greatness- according to himself, informed, slightly, by others.

 

Kris peaked in high school, strove for more in college, and had felt himself enjoying a plateau in his life. He wanted to secure the health and happiness of others, risking his life haphazardly while always telling himself it'd be worth it as long as the truth was known and his family would get reparations from his death or maiming. Joshua's main motivation had been an internal anger and frustration, expressed outward, driving him forward. Kris's own had been a response to outside forces and having those forces push him further and further up as he drove as hard as he could to reach a place. He internalized many things, kept his hands balled at his sides, and kept going until he decided he was okay with where he was. Perhaps his complacence was a delusion- Kris, if he really thought about, couldn't imagine being alright with mediocrity. If his life was to become quiet and homely, it'd have to be the best of the best quiet and homely.

 

Joshua's story had granted him enough time to sip at his drink and finish his food. The white wine had begin to work its magic, cheeks tinged hazy pink although his mind was still sharp. It did delay his reaction for a moment because the blonde's question took a few seconds longer to process. Oh! The pink darkened quickly as he played with his collar and laughed.

 

"My family doesn't really know," Kris said after his chuckles died down. He admitted it lamely and with another trademark shrug. "They never ask. There are wombs in the family-- they get the brunt of the 'settling down' and 'grandkid' questions. My Mother and Father never really asked. I didn't go out of my way to tell them. That way if they ever got pissed at me for not saying anything about, say, in my lurid fantasies where I have a cottage with a dog and a garden and an iguana, several other lizards- including a salamander- as well as a partner with a penis, who I would refer to affectionately as, my personal pan-fried pizza," he said in one big long breath before slowly sucking in more air and spreading his hand with pushed out lips then smiling, "I can just say, 'you didn't seem to care that much.' And that's how you delude yourself about a future event for nearly two decades without more than three centimeters of guilt."

 

Nodding, he seemed to look wistfully to the distance. "I had a crush on a police officer for way too long. His name was Chen, he was a trainee, he had dimples and a cute smile and he only knew me as 'that guy who brings in empanadas.' Good guy, that Chen," he said laughing and cringing at his own past. "Guh, I was so lame. I'm still lame, obviously, but... I was 18 and I didn't know," he laughed harder. "How to exist, basically. So I just cooked for him and hoped he liked me. He moved away a while ago, though. I think he opened a bar in New Hampshire." The man looked thoughtful. "I ate a girl out when I was in my 20s. That was like. The first and last time I ever really had sex like that," he admitted transparently then looked back at pretty blue eyes. His smile was open but his eyes were obviously embarrassed.

 

"I don't get out much. I get crushes but... there's not much I really do. I like..." He flushed again and had to let out another laugh, finally looking away. "I've only liked a few people. They're usually older than me. Either a little or incredibly mean, casually and purposefully. Hard to understand, easy to laugh around. Nice asses. Good dancers. Make me feel gooey. UGH, talking about this is making me want to gag I'm so lame." He rubbed his fingers under his eyes with a heavy groan-laugh, leaning over then straightening up, flipping his hair and trying to muse it back into some decent shape. "But I've been single for ages. I don't think I've ever had a really monogamous relationship since, like. My freshman year? And she left for Paris when we broke up. I've never dated men before, and that's not without want or trying to. So I'm just a big, extra," he winked. "Loser."

 

With a sip from his wine glass, he did a gun-finger at Joshua. "What kind of movies make you cry, and have you ever sobbed or given some kind of loud reaction, like terrified screaming, during a movie going experience? Asking for future plans." Oh yeah, he went there. Future plans. Which he honestly meant as 'are we going to watch movies later in this evening that will make you cry while I try to suck your dick' but future plans could mean SO much.

[-Hideki-]

“So you did actually have more contact with Jiles than I thought.” Joshua said when he heard about the other moderating a debate between Tristan and someone else. It amused him that Christopher had not been able to control himself and keep himself from laughing about the former soldier’s remarks towards what probably had been a friend or acquaintance of his, it also didn’t surprise him that said person had gotten mad at him. “What he says is quite hilarious sometimes. There is that famous shit-show live stream debate that was moderated by a conservative and contained one fundamentalist Christian participant, Ryan Stephenson, a feminist communist woman and Jiles where Tristan just refused to take any of it seriously and his participation mainly consisted out of dirty jokes, sexual innuendoes and calling Stephenson, who had gotten mad and was constantly pointing at Jiles as a prime example of a degenerate and decay, gay, asking him why he denied it that badly that he wanted to be fucked raw and spanked by a guy dressed in a Nazi uniform. And the Christian couldn’t take it anymore and asked the moderator to stop Tristan from making those inappropriate, sinful remarks that shamelessly but the moderator said he’d allow it because he was pissing himself laughing at that shit-show.” Weißenburg told Rosario certain that he had at least heard of it.

 

Sceptically raising an eyebrow he listened to what the journalist had to say, telling him that it had not been personal at first and that it had been frustrating to him that his colleagues couldn’t find any critique based in fact and evidence and everyone just complained about his foul mouth and when he had gotten that hint it had felt like a last straw. “So my vest was too white for you and you felt like you needed something to drag me down and keep me from winning?” he summarised how he had gotten it and then sighed. “What I don’t understand though is, when you’ve seen that there wasn’t going on what you’ve suspected and wanted to cover, what would have been of political relevance but had seen this instead, why didn’t you just leave? Why did you record it and watch it and stare at us like that as if you hadn’t seen two men getting at it before? Do you really think I’d be that horrible that you were desperate enough to use just everything you could even though it had nothing to do with politics and was deeply intimate and personal and not illegal to keep me from winning?” he just badly wanted to know why since it didn’t fit, didn’t fit what the man had described at his goals.

When he was told that the other didn’t see him as a murderous tyrant only to add that he got crazy angry and it reminded him of tyrannical kings from cartoon shows he left out a snorting laugh again. “I do have a temper I never denied that. But I wouldn’t see myself as the tyrannical king, more as the likeable anti-hero-hero, who saves the day!” the man said with another laugh. “Well, I am not a professional politician and I am rather proud of it and to be honest, the voters are fed up with those anyway.” Weißenburg stated and shrugged his shoulders. “They want people like them and me. And they already voted people from the working field or business into office. So I don’t see why not me! I brought myself and my business up to the top; I can bring our city to the top as well!” he stated and the last sentence was something that he had differently formulated said during his campaign as well.

 

The glistering in the younger man’s eyes was clearly showing interest, more interest than he had thought to speak with his grandfather. “Ja, really.” He chuckled. “We can arrange a meeting with him. He is free… well, almost always. Just not when there is some sport event on the TV he wants to see or Friday evening, he plays bingo at church then and on Saturday he plays Poker in my father and Nisha’s restaurant.” He informed the other. Joshua laughed when the other said he tended to forget that people still have grandparents that were alive. “I’m forty and I don’t think that it would be safe to assume that any of my grandparents were still alive either. My grandfather has celebrated his 100th birthday this year so he is already much older than the average life-expectancy is.” Weißenburg granted the other.

 

 

When he had asked the other man the follow up questions to the ones he had answered Christopher blushed and played at his collar nervously and the blond was a tad disappointed to hear that the man indeed was in the closet like himself explaining it with ‘they had never asked’. His face looked a little strained as he followed what the other said and a slight frown was appearing on it. “What ever happened to lying by omission? You blamed me for it while you do the same. No one ever asked me either, except for Nisha and I didn’t have to answer it seemed., and yet you have been there in my yard condemning me for this and told me that I was a liar. Why should I have to come out and you shouldn’t? Why am I a liar and you aren’t? Where is the difference that made it seem like a good idea to expose me and out me publically?” he wanted to know as the hypocrisy stroke him again.

 

His mood got more light again when the other spoke about his romantic history and he started by letting him know about a crush he had had on police officer when he had been eighteen and how he had always appeared at the station to bring him food what Weißenburg found incredibly sweet and cute and his lips curled up in a smile as he watched the other. It only made it cuter that the brunette blushed at it and seemed so embarrassed about it. The information that followed wiped away the smile on his face and he cringed, cringed hard, cringed visibly, his face looking grossed out and he wasn’t proud of not being able to control that obvious disgust but he just couldn’t when he heard that and imagined it and urgh… “Are you serious? You really did that to a girls…. And you didn’t gag or like throw up or something… you got that close to IT?” he asked completely baffled his face looking as if he had bitten into a lemon.

 

There wasn’t even concern about whether the other would laugh about him for that reaction or found him childish and silly and crazy. He was just freaked out by women’s private parts. He had seen them once - and not those pictures in biology class that showed poorly drawn a cut through the body of a woman to see the anatomy, he could handle those as he was extremely brave alright - but a porn movie during movie night in the Army. Heterosexual porn! Joshua had seen those parts and he had initially gotten incredibly grossed out and especially when that hot, attractive man had done something to those parts, so he had left the room a little too hastily and had gone somewhere, just away. And later on Brix had approached him with a wide grin on his face calling him an idiot. “They asked what was up with you. I told them you probably had wanted to take care of your hard on privately. I am not sure if they believed it though because, dude, your face had turned green. You know that this is ridiculous right? It’s just body parts.” And Weißenburg had blushed and said. “I know this myself alright! It’s just …you know about those people who find spiders so incredibly disgusting and repulsive that they jump on the table when they see one?” he had tried to at least explain his reaction somehow and it had only made Carlton laugh at him again. “And you jump on the table and turn fucking green when you see a….” he had gotten cut off before he had been able to say it. “Urgh!” Josh had made and Brix had laughed again shaken his head and had just kissed him.

 

It had been something that had also struck him when he had learned that Jiles was gay after the man had left the Army. He had asked him why he had gotten a hard on from those porn movies and why the hell he had hit on that Captain and Tristan had grinned. “I was horny. Incredibly horny because at that point I had not yet found someone in the Army! And there was a pretty hot man with a nice arse consisting only of muscle and a delicious cock in that video after all. And there was a dick penetrating a hole wasn’t there. And I wanted to penetrate something really badly. So I could easily ignore that woman that was on the hole.” He had explained and then said further. “And that Captain, I was never serious about that and obviously she would have never wanted me, she was a dyke everyone knew! I just found flirting with her was fun especially because of the pissed off reactions I’ve gotten from her.” Tristan had let him know and had grinned in a way that had been way too knowingly for Josh’s liking. “Why do you ask or care?” he had wanted to know playing onto Josh just acting like he was straight. “I was just curious to learn.” Josh had yelled at him too loudly what had made the other man burst out in a flash of laughter.

 

What he learned next was that the other had had quite a few crushes but that he had apparently never had much luck or success with men. He listened interestedly when the man told him how the guys he had been attracted to had been, heard the man call himself lame plenty of times and then got informed that he had only had one monogamous serious relationship and that had been in freshman year in college and he was once more surprised and baffled when he told him that this relationship had been with a woman and he had never been in a relationship with another man. It was one thing to try sex with a woman once and realise it wasn’t one’s thing but to be in a stable and committed relationship one had to sleep with them and be romantic with them and all of that and he couldn’t imagine how that worked. Morrison baffled him even more. Being a fucking gay bottom and having a wife and a bunch of kids. Like, how? How could he get it up and fuck her? Well, one couldn’t call him monogamous that much was for sure as Morriosn was an adulterer. He obviously had never asked Peter about any of that though because they had never really talked about anything personal besides, screw Morrison, he had not forgotten that night on his stupid rain shelter and the jump from it, and his back and ankle and knees…

 

Weißenburg’s blue eyes looked at the younger one questioningly and curiously. “You’ve been in a monogamous relationship with a woman.” He repeated. “How? Just how did that happen what led to this? How did you get the idea to be with a woman in that way?” he was interested to understand. “I mean, I never would have gotten the idea to try anything with a woman. I was never drawn to them, not their bodies and not their mentalities whereas I always looked at men; I was drawn to other men, their mentality and their physique! I just knew I loved men. So are you a little bi maybe? Or were you ashamed and wanted to be straight? Or were you just confused or curious or something?” the businessman asked.

 

He had never had anything with a woman. Well, he had kissed one once because he had lost at spin the bottle at a birthday party of his neighbour in middle school and it had been like kissing a wall. Not gross or anything – he was just grossed out by their private parts and to a degree by tits – but just dull. He could have pressed his lips against the window and gotten the same feeling.

 

His first crush and well, ‘relationship’ had been with another guy from his school. They had both been outcasts at their school and not well liked because they were just too white and they had been close friends since they had been ten years old. Hanging out almost every day even after school and had just been incredibly close and Josh had known he had liked him a lot even then but he had realised how he liked him when puberty and his hormones had kicked in. It had been an awful cliché but he had had a crush on his best friend and when he had not been able to take it anymore he had kissed him and told him that he had been in love with him, he had been fifteen back then And his heart had jumped and he had been relieved when his friend had said he loved him too and outside of school he had taken his hand, they had cuddled and kissed and been more close than before and his friend who had lived alone with his unemployed mother who was depressive, anorexic, alcoholic and abusive to him, who had been starved of any kindness and affection had liked being held by the other and even liked the kissing. He had been fine with mutual masturbation but when they had wanted to take another step further at age 16 and when Joshua had touched him sexually, he had gotten tense, Josh at first had thought he was just as nervous as he was but when he had touched his arse and his finger had prodded him he had started to shake and cry uncontrollably and the blond had stopped it immediately and had asked what was up with him and his friend had repeated ‘I can’t do this!’ several times and it had confused him until the other guy had said he really loved him as a friend and he had thought he could endure being with him like a couple to secure the friendship he had been scared to lose because he would have had no one anymore then when he had confessed to him and for the nice affection he got but he couldn’t do this. He couldn’t have sex with a male and that it had crept him out to be touched by another guy like this.

 

It had been incredibly painful to Weißenburg He had frozen and his heart had clenched and he had looked at the other in disbelieve, felt betrayed, ashamed, used and he had said nothing and had just left the other behind and gone home where he had screamed in his room and had broken a lot of stuff that he had flung against the wall in his anger and pain. He had even shouted at his little sister when she had entered the room to see if he was fine since his parents had not been at home but she had approached him anyway and had hugged him.

Since he had felt gross, like a fool and hurt and alone he had driven into the city centre where they had that youth centre for LGBT youth a few month later and since he hadn’t had the money for a ticket he had always been tense sitting in the subway because he had been scared to get caught without it. But he had gone there more than once anyway and he had met people, none from his neighbourhood though but a lot of middle class teenagers. There he had laid his eyes on a handsome guy who had been a little older than him and in his first year of college and he had gotten together with him and that guy had actually been the one he had lost his virginity to. Turned out he had been a cunt and a slut though and had let other guys from his college fuck him too. When Josh had found out he had told him that he had never said they’d be exclusive and that he had had to be stupid to think that an inexperienced high-school boy was enough for him.

 

Hence his first experiences had been everything but great but it had changed when he had met Carlton alias ‘Foxy’ in the Army. They had been in love and seriously together for many years although the spark had gotten dim somewhere along the way and when Joshua had left the military the fire had been dead completely and left them as incredibly good friends. Being focussed on his career and his business then he had not really bothered much. He had seen someone here and there but nothing serious had ever come from it until he had met Ilay later on and it had been more intense, more overwhelming and deep than everything he had experienced before. And it had scared the shit out of him at first to love someone that much. It had been the greatest time of his life with him but he had lost him and had gotten reminded of why he had been that scared of it in the first place because it had hurt like hell.

That had been when he had realised no one wanted a relationship with a closeted man and he shouldn’t even try anymore so he had let it be, buried himself in work again, had had his hook-ups and physical affairs and then fucked Morrison and now he was sitting there with Rosario who made his stupid heart race too fast and think embarrassing stuff and he was seeing himself falling for that man although his mind screamed that he should be incredibly cautious.

 

With a sigh he turned towards the man and leaned closer, taking that hand that the other had placed on his thigh into his, stroking the back of his hand with his thumb. “I don’t think that you are a loser or lame.” He stated after the other had claimed to be an extra loser with a wink. “That story with the policeman is incredibly cute, I mean it. If I had had an office when I was younger and some attractive cutie would have shown up with food all the time I would have realised it and certainly made him mine. Either this Chen was straight or plain stupid if he didn’t. “ the businessman told him, a smile on his face as his blue eyes looked into the handsome, cute, freckled face of the other, taking his other hand reaching into Rosario’s hair to wrap a curl around his finger.

“I definitely share your thing for hot arses by the way. However, a change in what you are into apparently occurred. My arse isn’t worth a mention, it’s just flat and I am a horrible dancer. When I dance it looks like a car accident. I have no rhythm, well, when it comes to dancing that is.” He winked coquettishly. “Maybe that change is actually good though since you didn’t seem to have too much success with the impressive dancers with nice arses.” The blond man let him know, the smile turning into a smirk.

 

He didn’t get back any distance between them when he was asked the next question for him but there was a surprised expression on his face when he heard the question, it did get neutral soon again though. “No.” he clearly said. “I don’t get emotional watching movies. It’s fiction and not real anyway. I know some people cry when they see movies, my ex did sometimes and every time he claimed something had gotten into his eye, but I never got it why people cry at movies, doesn’t make sense to me.” Joshua told him. “About crying in general, it might make me seem cold or whatever but I don’t cry, I can’t, it’s like I am just incapable of it.” The blond man let the journalist know. “I am sure I did cry as a kid, not much but a few times. I faintly remember that I hated it and it felt wrong and like I really shouldn’t and that made me angry about myself but eventually it stopped and I just never cried again. I get incredibly angry instead.” The man explained with a shrug to dismiss it as he didn’t think it mattered in any way. “Though, I have proven myself perfect to cry on my chest or my shoulder. I have a lot of practice because of my sister too.” He let him know with a laugh.

 

When asked about his future plans he smirked and raised his head up high. “Well, in a more distant future I want to climb the political ladder to the top after I became billionaire in business that is the next goal I have. I am not stopping just here.” He let the other know and then his smirk turned more playful and more flirtatious. “As for the immediate future, I am planning on getting to know you more and finishing our game, drinking the wine after the wonderful food you made for us and then I’d like to well, connect with you in an intimate sense.” The blond man said although he was sure it had been obvious that he had other hopes and desires then only the talking although he actually enjoyed talking to the other man. And the other man obviously too wanted more than just words from him it had been pretty visible after all.

 

Still that close to the brunette, inhaling his seductive scent, he let go of his hand for a moment to grab the wine from the coffee table and take another sip, keeping it in hand. “I’d like to know what your favourite family holiday tradition is!” he asked and then went for a follow up again because he found asking two in a row had been a good idea so they could stick to it.

“And what would you say is your quirkiest, or considered most embarrassing hobby or thing you just enjoy to do?” he was curious, a playful smirk now forming on his face again.

[brinary]

Christopher shrugged. "I guess if you can call it that," he answered with a tilt of his head. He always found himself getting in situations with internet personalities. Hardly any of it was purposeful, lesser so direct. Sometimes he'd get tweeted at, like one woman-- he think it might've been the same one who'd instigated Jiles's initial temper surrounding videogames- tweeted him a while ago about his apparent misogyny and sexist remarks in a few articles he'd written. It'd been a 7-message long tweet while she was standing proudly on her soapbox, awaiting his answer. All he could say was 'I don't know who you are on the highest of keys, but you misspelled the Ocarina, it's not Ochrereena... big yikes.' For some reason the response blew up; he didn't understand why, but let it be. Hearing Jiles's own hilarity and knowing he wasn't alone in his hapless laughing was comforting in some odd way. He remembered hearing all about that live stream, including snippets from videos people recorded of it, audio takes, and everything. Nothing compared to actually watching it for its entirety though. It was a big ass shit fest and watching it while eating popcorn in his bedroom had been far more fitting than he'd ever thought it would be. "Sounds like a bad joke just by its set-up. A Christian fundamentalist, a feminist communist, a wanna-be nazi, and a videogaming commentarist walk into a bar. Like that sort of thing. Except it happened, and it was real, and it was hilarious." The world of politics truly needed rancheros voices like Jiles's sometimes.

 

"No! Yes. I don't know-- I got mad no one was taking you seriously enough to try and actually find grounds to accuse you of shit. So I acted rashly."Admitting to his faults was making him grow stiff and pouty like a schoolboy who was having a hard time apologizing for sleeping in class. He couldn't help it and put his thumb to the edge of his lip, but tried not to chew at the nail there and instead listened to Joshua's series of questions with raised eyebrows. Well, that should be obvious. "I mean. I don't want to say 'I don't know,' even though that's kind of the truth? I think it was just..." He paused for a moment to think and then threw his shame aside for the moment. "I thought I was crazy and had finally lost it for the first, say, ten minutes I'd gotten there. Then after a while I was just sort of transfixed, mystified, then in admiration. I kept filming because that's what I'd come there to do, I would decide if I'd dump the footage later or never, but leaving would be like... going through so much shit only to put up surrender and go through more shit to leave. Of all the things, staying was just out of pure perversion and stubbornness." He finally gave in and teethed at his thumb nail before putting his hand back down, shamefaced. "You've got fantastic form. I mean. It was pretty crazy stuff. I just got rooted to the spot." He really did want to get that footage- some footage. Leaving empty-handed would have been admitting defeat and Christopher Rosario did not admit defeat. Saying what he did to Joshua was already something he cringed at (he always cringed at his former actions inevitably) and having to explain himself was making him want to grump.

 

But he did deserve some interrogation. Joshua had still opened his home and a little bit of his heart to him.

 

"Your grandfather has more of a social life than I've had in the past decade," Kris said before he gaped again. "100? Me cago en Dios." He whistled low. "Congrats to him!" Someone had a grandfather who was 100 years old. That's an entire century of seeing and learning and knowing. And apparently he was still in good enough health to be watching sports games and playing poker and bingo. What a legend. Joshua became more and more interesting and weird as the minutes ticked by.

 

The other's frown at his admittance made him frown in return and he sighed hard. "Everyone probably assumes I'm gay on the platform that I hold," he answered mildly. "I'm sure if I told my parents or if it got out to any former or recent colleagues I had, have, or will have, they wouldn't be extremely shocked. I was criticizing you because most of the groups that support you will tear you down for your sexuality. You even had 'Concerned Mothers' back you. They believe in a Joshua who likes-slash-loves women and who eventually have put his seed in one to lead to having a child. And what I said in the yard was stupid, so breaking it down and reasoning it makes me sound even dumber." He pushed the memory aside with a shake of his head. "I just think a lot of the support you get is based on a perception and a desire for someone non-political. And yes, some things should stay your business, but in the realm of this world's media culture, you stopped having those privileges to much of the general public when you started your campaign- which is bullshit, but." A shrug." If you want, I can come out with you. Not a-- I mean, not as a couple thing if that's way too intimate of course, but, just casually letting it slip. It's no biggie. Well for you it probably would be. I'm not. I'm not making things better."

 

Joshua's disgust made Kris burst out laughing. The man's face was something cartoons needed to take notes from-- it shifted and changed without a hint of subtlety. "Haha, oh my god, you're too much." He wiped a tear from his face giggling. "Yeah, I did. It wasn't that horrible! I was freaked out too but we were- it's a long story but it was sort of my 'duty' at the moment. It wasn't that horrible. Oh my god, you look like you're gonna go green, hhh--" He wheezed and began laughing again almost to the point of minor hysterics. His voice didn't hit a new octave thankfully, he was just left out of breath at Joshua's very blatant objection to the entire thing. He had to dab more tears away from his eyes once he could finally control himself, leaning heavily into the couch with a shake of his head. Such an odd man! He was so gay that women's privates entirely turned him sick just thinking about it. The irony.

 

His own laughter nearly returned when Joshua was struck, again, dumb by his open admittance to being with a woman. He grinned throughout the entire questioning, tickled to have Joshua be so stunned by something he found to be completely casual. "I think I was just drawn to anyone in that part of my life. She was the only person I'd ever done anything sexual with. She seemed to have a certain intuition and knew I was gay. I never actually had sex with her, it was mostly," he laughed, embarrassed again, "her fucking me? Straps and such. I mean," Kris snorted, "she was like, strong as hell, a roller-derby-rugby-player so she was muscled and everything. I don't want to say, 'oh hur dur it was just like being with a guy' but she was the one who was like, 'you realize dating me is super gay of you right?' and it was. I was. And am. She was still great though." He'd met her at a BDSM thing with a friend and realized she was in his Biochem class, as well as recognized her from an interview he'd done about the hopes for a wrestling club for the college's school paper. Admittedly, Hila totally rocked his world and Kris felt no regrets on the matter. Without her he would still be some crazy virgin looking for love and a quick nut. "I still think women are really pretty. I admire the female form. I just can't get hard from touching them. Unless they smack me." Kris sighed dreamily and recalled happier times before looking back at Joshua with a toohy grin. "That applies for anyone though. Of course consensually. If someone smacked me out of the blue, I'd probably raze them until someone pulled me off. I'm still talking so much, I'm sorry. I sound weird."

 

Talking so conversationally about something like this was weird for him-- he'd only ever confided in people like Haye, who'd been there to see it, and outloud in his apartment so whatever demons were there would be too bored to do anything to him. When he'd been younger, he never pinned down his sexuality. He still felt, to a certain extent, that anyone who touched him nicely and looked at him hot would immediately get at least an inch of his affection. Hila was just who he happened to end up with and probably informed a lot of fantasies from that point on. Stronger people, taller people, who were daring and dashing but still cute. She was in no way unfeminine. With large breasts and a huge ass, Hila was unmistakably a woman. Her face was even very femme with long eyelashes and plump lips with a vampy sense about her, like a more rogueish Mae West. She'd just been decked with muscle. Broad shoulders and muscular arms, thick calves and strong thighs. Her stomach had been incredibly flat with layers of visible built musculature. Thinking back on their relationship made Kris feel glad he'd allowed himself to be bullied around by Haye's weird friends enough to go to that party.

 

Joshua did the thing where he decreased the proximity at an alarming rate. Kris heated up at the words and looked askance for the moment with a little laugh, before looking back into blue eyes. It was horribly flattering for one and for two, imagining meeting Joshua when he was younger made his heart feel like it'd pop out onto the floor. Imagining Joshua in a policeman's uniform or trainee-mandated tight shirt and soft pants made his dick feel like it could get hard again in just a few seconds. Cheeks warm, he listened to the other talk about his ass and his poor dance skills. Laughing by the end, he moved closer and placed his freehand on the blonde's wrist where his fingers were still curling his hair. Kris placed a gentle kiss to the man's hand and smoothed his own hand down the other's arm. "Dancing can be taught and any ass is a nice one as long as there's something to pinch. If it's just bone back there, I'd recommend a doctor."

 

It wasn't too surprising that Joshua didn't get spooked easy or cry at anything. It was hard to imagine that the businessman would. Kris knew a lot of people- mostly men- who had been so pissed when they cried as children that their emotional spectrum had shifted tears to anger. Which seemed like such a shame. Kris only cried in specific situations, usually at the most inane things. "I guess I'll call dibs on your chest, but I don't cry very often either," he said mildly before listening to the other man grin and speak about his plans. Which, also, weren't surprising but a little... The journalist in him was itching. Imagining Joshua in office was plain weird. Joshua's cocksure pride did make him grin, though. He'd been content with the media mess around Joshua but if he actually ascended the rungs of this political ladder, Kris felt like he'd be left with a lot of questions and ill-feelings. It was harder to imagine a life with a settled down Joshua as a governor or senator. And yeah, he was jumping the gun, they weren't going to be settling down together or anything but a man could dream and has dreamed. His feelings were swiftly discarded as he felt himself growing hot in the face again.

 

Playfully nudging the others foot, Kris narrowed his eyes at him. "Stop smirking and smiling like that. You look too good for my own good. I feel like I'll have a heart stutter." At the questions, he looked up to the ceiling to contemplate and pursed his lips.

 

"There are a lot... Oh, shit!" He snapped his fingers and laughed. "Dia de los Muertos for sure. Day of the Dead and everything. It was always very big in our household, as there were plenty of dead to celebrate. In Guatemala, especially, you make these giant giant kites and fly them all together. They're massive and really great. And my mother, she makes flambre, it's like this big, massive cold dish with eggs and meat and cheese and spinach and scallion, it's delicious. We would all get together, the family, for making the kite and helping cook the food. It'd be like a rotating cycle for a week." He explained all of this with obvious happiness. "So I learned how to knit and stitch because a lot of the kites we would make in my household would be out of fabric from old quilts, or we'd finally give up our clothes if we had too many patches alongside them and they'd be shred and we would use those for the kite. Of course there's big paper constructions but the kites look like sails sometimes if you use the fabric just right.

 

"My Mom would be in the kitchen cooking and playing music. Going out to the garden centers to collect bundles for flowers and making boquets and then going through any old family pictures we could find, even scraps from old newspapers mentioning obituaries, and of course decorating the sugar skulls. We would lay on old cardboard from the dumper heaps and trace our outlines each year and collect them all to make skeletons, from when we were just babies to whatever age we happened to be. Going out in mid-afternoon to clean and decorate the graves. My sisters would dress up. Of course," he scoffed, "can't do all of that once we came up here but we still celebrate it as much as possible!

 

Shanie shows up and Tessa finally materializes and we clean the front yard and do the same rotating schedule. My Mother has a garden she maintains as best as possible so I prune it whenever I can visit her and we snip and collect different ones for their meanings, and we make tiny grave memorials in the backyard and light candles and decorate them with sugar skulls and the incense. We add onto the altars from previous years and eat. It's so fun. Ugh. It's so cathartic. My Dad even plays some guitar when he can but usually it's left up to me. I'm nowhere as good as he is, he was a musician for a while, but I try my best. Hands down favorite tradition. The entire week was always really fun but we condense it down into a day now and that's still the time of my life. As for most embarrassing hobby..."

 

Kris took a long drink of his wine to quench his strained throat then drummed his fingers against Joshua's thigh once he put the glass down. "I don't think writing fantasy smut is that embarrassing. I guess... Hm, I sing really off-pitch a lot. And, great segue actually, crochet and knit a lot." He smiled. "It helps when you're anxious, which happens for me a lot, especially in certain mind spaces, so I knit. Finger-knitting, too, is really good."

 

The alcohol was really working now. He stared up at Joshua for a few seconds, just taking him in, eyes lidded with pleasure before he pinched his thigh. "Okay, got it. One: Do you believe in aliens at all, and if yes, why, if no, why. Two! Uhhh... what's a memory you look back on fondly or you think is super cute, even if you were really embarrassed in the moment?"

[-Hideki-]

Again he didn’t know what he had expected but it certainly had not been that and he looked at the other somewhat dumbfounded, staring into the green eyes, seeing the man chewing on the nail of his thumb while he was telling him what had made him stay there and record Joshua fucking Morrison and Rosario looked ashamed about it. He looked ashamed! This journalist could feel shame for his actions! A wonder! Wonders existed! When he realised the absurdity of the situation his lips twitched up into a smirk his blue eyes still watching the other, his eyebrows raising. “So you got turned on by watching me having sex, like porn, while you recorded it just to record something because you had come to record like a stubborn child?” he had to summarise it as it couldn’t unfold it’s true weirdness and just seemed unreal if one didn’t speak it out loud at least once. A chuckle was to hear and it turned into laughter when Christopher admitted the businessman was in a fantastic form and that the ‘stuff’ had been crazy enough to root him on the spot. “Maybe I was wrong and you are more of a perverted voyeur than a sensationalist leech.” He corrected himself still laughing but not as intensely. “I can handle voyeurs better than sensationalists.” He winked a grin still manifested on his face as he teased the other man.

 

He listened carefully to what the younger one was responding starting off by informing him that he thought that the people in his life already assumed he was gay and that they probably wouldn’t be shocked hearing that and Joshua’s face got darker when the other said that he on the other hand was getting support from people who assumed he was straight and who would shred him into pieces for being homosexual if they knew and not even the fact that Christopher admitted that what he had said to him in the yard back then had been dumb and reasoning it sounded even dumber could light up his expression. “I don’t choose who supports me and why they do so. And as a candidate for mayor I have to hold dialogues and answer questions of all citizens and not only acknowledge those whose opinions I 100% agree with. And they had questions, so I went there and spent a day with a bunch of fearful middle aged mothers who had some serious and reasonable concerns and some that were in my opinion bullshit but I answered all of their questions and didn’t ignore them. I could have ignored them and said I won’t take the invitation. Like the current mayor does but it doesn’t lead to anything good to leave those people alone with their fears and to not listen to them and answer them. They’d then someday just be easily instrumentalised by radicals who pretend to have answers and to listen.” Josh found shaking his head. “I know it myself that there are people amongst my voters who have unfavourable opinions about gay men…do you think it feels good to know?” he asked. “Well, it doesn’t. But again, this is not about my sexuality or sexuality at all but about me wanting to do something of value, something relevant for this city that I think is right and the people like what I want to do for this city.” The blond man stated with a stern expression.

 

The seriousness and the heaviness didn’t disappear out of his face when the brunette suggested that they could come out together, that he could let it slip, that it was not a big deal, correcting that for the blond it probably was and that he was not making things better. Josh snorted. “No you aren’t making it better indeed.” He agreed to that clearly. “Maybe for you it’s not a big deal. Maybe your environment has been different than mine.” The blond man said. “Had I come out or had someone found out I was gay back in my school and neighbourhood they wouldn’t have only picked on me in groups and stolen my food and stuff for being white but they would have kicked the shit out of me for being gay. Then I was in the Army and had they figured me and my boyfriend out the both of us would have lost our jobs immediately and gotten brand marked with a dishonourable discharge for being gay back then. And although I’m neither exactly ashamed nor feeling guilty about it there are still internal things and concerns I have too. Take my grandfather for example. He is a 100 years old. Maybe he’d get a heart attack from the shock if I came out and then my gayness would have killed him.” He explained and shook his head. “I can’t just come out like it was no big deal. I can’t just drop it into a speech in a humorous way to be faster than an exposure like Ilay said either. It’s not that I hadn’t been thinking about coming out to my family in private as of lately and many, many times before but I just couldn’t due to multiple reasons.” Weißenburg let the other know, his face looking a little dejected.

 

And there it was the laughter that had almost been expected and Josh asked himself if people who were disgusted by spiders got laughed at like that as well. Probably not even though spiders were much less gross even if not exactly pretty. When the other said that it had not been that awful and that it had kind of been his duty in that situation his face flinched in another wave of disgust and sickness and his colour was bordering on green now as back in his Army days. “Something as gross is never any man’s duty. No man has to do something as disgusting. One should teach boys at school that they don’t have to, I think, if you actually thought it was your duty.” His body shuddered at the thought and this porn video came back to his mind and it made it only worse what led to Rosario bursting out into laughter completely again, this time it bordered onto hysteria and he had to wipe away the tears he laughed because of Weißenburg’s unhealthy skin colour. “Come on, it’s not that funny. You’re worse than Brix really. I can’t be the only one, I am sure there are plenty of people disgusted by IT.” He started to pout at this point and sighed. “You just don’t understand me.” He exclaimed half jokingly rubbing his green face with his hands.

 

Blinking his blue eyes he looked at the man when he was told that this woman and her plastic toy had been the only person the other had ever been with sexually as he realised what that meant. He had probably been the first male to kiss him like that and he would be the first man to sleep with him! A small smirk was forming around his lips as he looked at him. It was a weirdly exciting thought to him as he had never been with someone who had not had sex with another man before him. This was new! And he looked as if he had just been given the biggest chocolate cookie on the plate.

 

He definitely didn’t think that being with a muscle, body-builder kind of woman had anything gay about it. Plenty of straight blokes were into those chicks and they didn’t look masculine either. They often had painted feminine faces, feminine hair, painted plastic claws instead of nails and then there were the tits and the overall form not to mention their mentality and psyche were undeniably those of women making the dynamics straight too but the whole thing the other described was hard to gasp for him, started at the ‘I was drawn to anyone at this point’. It got even less relatable when the younger one stated that he admired the female form. “What about their form do you admire?” he wanted to know. “I have never understood feminine aesthetics and their physique doesn’t appeal to my eye. I never got why our society considers women the beautiful and aesthetic gender, I find males to be much more aesthetic and handsome, to me we’re the beautiful gender.” The businessman stated and then looked questioningly when the other said touching women didn’t make him hard except for when they smacked him but that he could get hard no matter who smacked him consensually. What? This was definitely odd. Sure Josh could get rough and aggressive and liked to have some rough and wild sex but smacking someone? He had never smacked a man he had been with and he had not wanted to smack them and he couldn’t really imagine developing feelings for someone and then hitting that person other than the occasional sexual slap on the arse. “Are you a masochist or something?” he asked curiously.

 

“Hm?” he made a little surprised when he felt the other’s hand at his wrist as he was wrapping Christopher’s curls around his finger as it confused him a little when the brunette male pressed his lips onto his hand kissing it in such a gentle gesture before letting his hand run down his arm, it made him feel strangely warm, not as in horny or turned on but just warm as he peered into the cute face that smiled at him before telling him that one could learn how to dance. “I am not so sure that I will ever make a decent figure dancing. My mum tried to teach my dad how to dance and he constantly stepped on her feet to the point she gave up and whenever there was an occasion where she wanted to dance she danced with my little sister.” He informed the other that the chances for him to ever be a good dancer were really low. He grinned about the comment the other made about every arse being a nice arse as long as he could pinch it. “I like to do more to hot arses than just pinching them.” The businessman said with a suggestive grin. “But if that’s the factor you judge that by than yes, my arse qualifies as nice but every arse does then. Well, except for maybe Jiles’s arse.” He commented with a laugh and then added with a little concern in his voice. “Maybe that’s not that funny though considering how unhealthy bony he indeed looks.”

 

Chuckling when the other let him know that he’d reserve his chest for crying then although he didn’t cry that often Josh pulled at the turtleneck shirt he was wearing. “That’s a plus since my shirts will stay mostly dry then.” He remarked playfully. “My sister cries often. Sometimes when I ask her the reason she yells at me and says she doesn’t need a reason and I should leave her alone.” Weißenburg said shrugging. His sister was generally emotional and dramatic and she was rather unapologetic about it. When one called her overly emotional like Josh did all the time the woman said that one could not be too emotional just too heartless. What was bullshit but she didn’t care.

 

After he had smirked and let the other know what his plans for their night together were he saw the younger male blush again what was really cute and made his smirk only grow wider and he realised that he already liked to make the brunette blush and he also would like to kiss his face. Instead his foot got nudged and he got told that he should stop smirking and smiling at the other like this as he was too good looking and the other might get a heart stutter and Josh laughed. “No problem, if your heart stops I’m gonna revive you!” the businessman winked, leaning over some more pressing his thin lips onto Christopher’s freckled, blushed cheek.

 

As he listened to the journalist talk about his favourite family holiday tradition he smiled and leaned back more casually trying to imagine what the other said before his minds eyes and for a day that had to do with death and the dead it sounded incredibly colourful and happy and lively. This was certainly interesting as well as foreign to him. “This sounds like a really nice and fun time, also really close.” He stated and then chuckled. “It’s odd because it has to do with the subject of death and it’s still celebrated. If something in my culture circles around death and loss it’s always about mourning and memorial. No actual celebration or anything.” He stated and then shrugged. “I didn’t know you played the guitar though. I’d like to hear you play one day.” Joshua let Rosario know smiling.

 

He raised an eyebrow when the other mentioned writing fantasy smut. “I’m actually curious to read that stuff you write, to get to know your smutty fantasies. It is rather tempting. Do you think it’s good enough to make me hard even without visual stimulation?” he asked in a playfully challenging way whilst chuckling. Singing off-pitch wasn’t really something he’d count as a hobby it was actually something that a lot of people did when they were alone and Josh sang under the shower sometimes and he was as bad at singing as at dancing. The knitting was interesting though although not embarrassing even if it was something for women. “That ability to knit is actually really practical. My sister can knit and sew and all that stuff and she can make her own clothing. She asked my grandmother to teach her back then when she was still alive as my grandmother was a professional tailor.” Joshua told Rosario. “Have you ever knit some clothing? Like a scarf or a hat maybe?” he wanted to know.

 

At the first question he was asked he shrugged. “If you mean by aliens little green and grey guys with tiny thin limps and giant heads or reptilians or something like that then no, I don’t. If you mean by aliens if I would think that there is a possibility that some sort of life exists somewhere else in the universe, like I don’t know, for example a single-cell organism or some kind of simple life form or whatever, then yes, I think this might as well be possible. I generally think that we have yet a lot research to do about our universe, a lot of stuff to learn.” He gave him his answer right away.

 

The answer to the other question was more difficult and he had to think about it for a while, musing before he finally started to speak again. “My ex – Ilay, the man in the ice-café, I think you figured but in case you didn’t care enough about that scene to pay attention, he is my ex – and we met through the lawyers who worked for my company. They brought him on board for a specific situation and when I saw him the first time it was like a fucking thunderstruck right through me and when I got to know him, heard how he spoke, saw him move, all of that I was just melting for him like a wax figure in the Sahara and crushing so hard it hurt. Obviously I couldn’t flirt with him or do much though as I was in the closet and we never had a second alone. I sometimes threw gazes towards him, looked at him and in some moments our eyes met and I smiled and he smiled and there was electricity between us I thought and I really wanted him to be mine and I wanted to go out with him.” He started the story he was about to tell.

 

“Well, I always had that Christmas party in the company, still have, and I was in a pretty good mood since the whole year had been a huge success for me and the party was well organised, the hall looked great and I wanted to celebrate as all my employees too. Until Ilay appeared as one of my lawyers, Melissa’s, plus one and they were standing together the whole time, laughing and chatting and that woman always felt up to him, touching his chest and all that and I got jealous and it scared me that if I wouldn’t do something, just anything, it’d be too late and the both of them would select the wallpaper for their new house together. I was going over the question whether he had given me the same look I had given him or if I had just imaged but it, that I thought he was gay, that he really seemed gay, maybe he was bisexual on my mind and I constantly stared at him but whenever he looked at me I looked away. It was so frustrating and I couldn’t deal with my opportunity and chance if I even had any pass me by so I don’t know what had gotten into me, maybe it was the egg-nog, but I put on a microphone and jumped onto the stage and I gave the most cheesy, cringy Christmas party speech you can imagine. I talked about the time to see and value what one had obvious before oneself, about not wanting to miss chances, wanting no regret, to be honest about ones feelings and acknowledge them, that everyone should and that I hereby did ask the one I was into to go out with me and a lot of more embarrassing shit that people apparently found touching because they were all just as drunk.”

 

He took a breath. “Thing was, at that time everyone thought that me and Kelsey were into each other and that there was something going on between us, people wanted to see us together. It was stupid but all of that had started when I had caught the secretary before she could fall when she had slipped on a freshly cleaned floor in the company and I was seen with her body in my arms. After that she flirted with me and that got noticed too but I am not going to let people hit the floor so that no one will suspect I was into them. Anyway, the people loved it but Ilay didn’t. He looked as if he wanted to throw up and left the hall and I panicked as he was running away from me so I said something stupid to end the speech, everyone cheered ‘Go get her’ and when I left that stupid stage I ran right into Kelsey who looked at me with a rather hopeful look in her eyes and I just thought ‘Damn it!’ since I needed to go after Ilay to find out why he apparently found me that disgusting that he was running like that. So to get away and to not having to discuss with Kelsey that I had not been talking about her I said:”I have to go to the bathroom, it’s incredibly urgent, later!” but I had forgotten that I still had that microphone on my head and it was turned on so everyone in the room thought I either needed to throw up or had diarrhoea and they were laughing.”

 

Joshua paused leaned his head into his neck and continued to speak then. “I didn’t even care in that moment though and just threw the microphone away and ran outside where I found Ilay sitting on the bench in the snow and I just wanted to ask him why he had ran away when he raised his head, looking into my eyes saying:”What are you doing here! Don’t mind me, I’m leaving your idiotic party! I think I hate Christmas parties. It’s horrible. I shouldn’t even have shown up to this stupid thing.” And it made me mad because it was painful and I barked at him. “Leave my party out of this you sound arrogant and that’s not cute. If you don’t want to go out with me, fine, if you are with Melissa and you’re all lovey-dovey now, good for you, I just thought you felt the same way I did, that’s all but I might have misinterpreted it. I wasn’t trying to insult you by what I said and if it makes you feel better they think I meant Kelsey.” I was laughing because it was really uncomfortable and he then stared at me as if I was some kind of alien and when I was about to go back inside again he yelled after me although I was still almost next to him, just because of the motion to leave I had made.” The blond chuckled at the memory. “He yelled:”I am not with Melissa, we are best friends from college. I begged her to put me as her plus one because I wanted to see you outside of work and I wanted to talk to you but you looked away from me all the time. And of course they thought you meant Kelsey, I did too, and everyone’s talking about the two of you anyway.” You can’t imagine the relieve I felt and what chaos was going on in me but I turned around to him and smiled before I went over to the bench and placed myself next to him and my arse kinda froze immediately because that bench was frozen and had snow on it.”

 

“So I was looking at him and he was looking at me and he blushed and then I spoke again saying:”So now that you know that I have been talking about you, would you say returned my feelings and would go out with me!?” And he stuttered a ‘yes’ and blushed even more. He easily blushed in general. We were just sitting there, freezing our arses off together, that intense tension between us and we were staring straight ahead and were silent. I was nervous, never have been that nervous about stuff like this but Ilay intimidated me. He is definitely not scary at all and I don’t mean it in that way but more like, I didn’t know how to approach him, I at the beginning felt like an unsophisticated idiot next to him but at least I wasn’t the only one, another of Ilay’s exes, whom I am still friends with reported the same feeling. However after a while I thought either I’ll pull myself together and make some move or we’ll be frozen into ice-sculptures before either of us does or says a thing. So I did that…” the blond man said and moved his arm, shoving it behind the backrest and Christopher’s body, wrapping it around his waist, grabbing his arse with his hand, smiling at the other. “Then he turned around to me and just said:” You are groping my arse.” And I got nervous again and was about to move it away saying:”I take it back don’t sue me.” He then laughed and protested:“No, don’t, I like it.” I found him weird but so adorable in that moment, even more so when he added. “Can you squeeze it more because it’s pretty frozen.” That was when I was losing the nervousness and getting brave enough to actually kiss him.” Joshua ended his answer to the question.

 

The businessman sighed. “I definitely acted embarrassing and made an idiot out of myself that night, so you see it wasn’t the first time that I made a fool out of myself because of him like in the ice-café, we started out like that.” he told the other. “But even if I – like you’d say – been totally lame back then I actually won and he went ice-skating and to the Christmas market with me.” Weißenburg smiled nostalgically. “That’s probably why I am fond of the memory although it has gotten a little well….you can imagine … to remember that time because I lost him, he dumped me six years ago.”

 

“Anyway, let’s not talk about Ilay anymore it’s unimportant. Let’s focus on you shall we.” He showed a charming smile and pulled Christopher so close that he was almost sitting on his lap. “I’d like to know who the most important person in your life is and why this person is so important to you!” he said and then continued with the second question. “It’d also interest me a lot how your ideal dream date with your idea dream man would be? Doesn’t matter if it’s as cheesy and embarrassing as my Christmas speech back then, I want to know!” he pointed at him and then nudged his nose against the other’s cheek.

[brinary]

At least he was laughing instead of screaming. Even if it was embarrassing, he could weather it better than if Joshua had started to get really cross. Being called a 'stubborn child' made him nearly cross his arms but he relented and just endured the laughter. It was agonizing to look into the other man's eyes after confessing but at least, at least, at least. "Well when you put it like that, I.. uh... yes, I-- yeah," the man finished with a mumble just before Joshua's laughs started to heighten. Watching the other react so strongly, it made the tiny explosions shake his stomach down. Joshua really did have no right looking so attractive. "I can tell this is going to be a joke that'll hang over my head for years to come," Kris muttered gloomily, but a smile still tugged slightly at the corners of his mouth. Even with their sometime-giggles, Kris could see that arguing or trying to explain his reasoning to the businessman would be fraught with a lot of plain disagreements.

 

He didn't mean to say anything that would make the other man feel even more shamed or defensive. Alas, that's what was happening. Kris listened and wondered if the man had ever expected the amount of scrutiny he'd get from all of this. To an outside observer removed from the political realm, practical media coverage was most of what they happened to see for their local politicians. In the game of cutting people down to their core, ensuring anything about them can be aired, men and women running for these positions often needed to hire PR. Kris hypothesized that Joshua's image of a sharp-tongued, cutting, "everyman" business mogul was encouraged by the public's reception to it. And if he had a PR agent- a wise investment- that person was probably in the dark about his sexuality and also a big motivator for his behavior. The blonde's view on things was hard for him to understand personally-- he was sure Joshua still saw him as 'one of those radicals.' And if he didn't, it was only recently his ideas had been dispelled. There were miles between them in all sorts of way, even if they were still physically close. And he wasn't sure if either of them had the patience to make an arrangement- something long term- last. Even his half-hearted attempt at suggesting a mutual coming-out wasn't good. At least the other man was opening up to him-- and for as much as Weibenburg stated it didn't bother him, and that he didn't have exactly any hang ups about the issue of being closeted, he well... He seemed out of it. Sad. Kris wanted to reach and take him in close or do something reassuring in general.

 

The writer did something he rarely ever did-- he conceded. "I see what you mean," he said after a moment and looked at his lap. "There are a lot more complications than just the typical cut-and-dry coming out, or navigating political waters. I think we just have different perspectives on things." That was putting it mildly. His tone held no malice or judgment. He just generally wanted to return to the warmth from prior, reignite the spark, before he could inadvertently dampen the mood anymore. Talking politics wasn't going to get them anywhere except in a massive headache. And even if Joshua didn't fuck him tonight, that was alright by him- he wanted to leave here feeling like they'd gotten closer as friends or just as people. So the best thing to do was treat Joshua as if he was Haye in his 20s-- see that there's a wall that could be overcome; realize the skill set you're currently holding might not be good enough to propel you right without causing damage to the wall; step away.

 

So this was him stepping away. For both their sakes.

 

Moving onto lighter subjects that disgusted Joshua was a lot better. Maybe it was still mostly negative for the cringing, sickened businessman, but Kris found himself having a ball at being such a source of confusion and disgust. He was still snickering a ton but could kind of understand Joshua's disgust. He had plenty of former colleagues and old friends who'd been completely turned off by anatomy. Lesbian girls who were horrified at the mention of penises, finding them to be gross, too fleshy and muscley at the same time, and wholly unappetizing. Other gay men who thought vaginas were the devil's den and couldn't imagine having to handle anything so different from their own genitals. People who just didn't like genitals as a whole. People had their preferences! Growing up around many women, he found himself to get used to the female anatomy, especially lots of bosoms, lots of vaginas. Poor Joshua must really have a big disgust for them. But that was still hilarious and something Kris could probably still use to tease him.

 

Joshua's curiosity was so funny. He tried not to grin and laugh again at the others question, instead sighing as he thought. "I think they're pretty. I suppose it could be cultural?" he suggested, thoughtful. "But the women in my life, and who I remember from my town and village, were always gorgeous to me. They'd have such long pretty hair and strong arms from doing so many labor-intensive things, but still be shapely, and carry themselves very proudly. But that's for both of the sexes. I like duality in anything, seeing hard and soft stuff. My rationale, though, is that I think my Mom and my sisters are gorgeous... excluding all other women from that would be cruel, because there are certainly women out there who resemble them. Likewise, if a few features of my mothers' and sisters' were changed, I would still think them to be very strong but graceful." Kris was still thinking about his answer a lot but the second question made him laugh for sure. "Ahhh, maybe a little. I wouldn't want anyone to slap the... heck out of me or anything, like they're exorcising a demon. But light slaps are nice. Pinches. Little pains. Let's not talk about all of that now," he finally chuckled, acting coy about the entire subject. Instead, he focused on progressing the conversation and feeding off as much physical contact Joshua would let him get in before thinking he was being pesky or annoying.

 

"We can start slow. Maybe doing the mashed potatoe or something, then work our way up. Hopefully that'll cut down on the 'toe stepping' you might have inherited from your Father," he joked back smoothly. "And if push comes to shove, I might have to book your sister for dances. Aww, nevermind I'd feel rude if I did that. We can be bad together." Christopher wondered if his affectionate statements were a little bit rushed but they just kept coming out. Joshua might just be ready for a quick, easy lay and to put this behind him (although it didn't make sense, why confide in him, indulge in the silly questions game, if this was going to be a discarded experience or yet another conquest) but the writer was immediately jumping into more warm, longer-term waters. Boyfriends, perhaps. At most, he could see Joshua having him as a revisited side-thing to release his feelings and cum into. Asses being the next focus of their conversation didn't help deter him from that thought much.

 

Bringing his attention to the turtleneck instantly made Kris think about Joshua's throat.

 

Not thinking about Joshua in a softer, more-"gooey", warm way was difficult with the man nuzzling him like that. "Lame," he muttered before fully embracing the kiss to his cheek with a big smile. Talking about things he liked was certainly fitting as a transition from something that made him so happy. He liked him so much. It hit him so hard, sitting there after getting his cheek kissed his fucking cheek that he was completely losing his edge around Joshua. Having sex and being held down while Joshua railed him from behind sounded amazing, but the little moments where their eyes met and Joshua kissed his cheek or touched him sweetly was making him absolutely melt. If this was all a ruse, then Joshua was very good at acting. Even the air was clear from their prior charged, intention-ridden contact, now dulled into something more sweet and intimate. Weibenburg was frustratingly charming and Kris kicked himself for falling for it. A chemistry and energy was charged between them, even with all of their disagreements and poor run-ins.

 

"Death is treated differently everywhere. The dead, who are at rest, would probably like to see the smiling faces of their community celebrating them and their memory. Having so much happiness reinforces understanding death as not a boogeyman, but something to be greeted and understood civilly." He made a face at Joshua's comment about his guitar playing and shook his head. "I'm not that good at all and I'll probably forget all my chords if I try to play around you," the Hispanic man said, giving the other a chilled look. "You are much too distracting."

 

When the challenge came up, he raised his eyebrows then lifted a shoulder. "It could, it could not. You don't strike me as the type to be invested in elves or warlock tales, but you might find out you've got a new fascination. If it does, make sure to send pictures," he said breezily. "I always like feedback of any form from reader." He didn't think his writing was all too scintillating in a brand new way. Bodice rippers were meant to be lewd, bawdy, and almost nonsensical in terms of their plot structure. But people liked his stuff-- he got few complaints and they had hundreds of thousands of purchases across the platform. Maybe his skills as a reporter really had been a waste of time because becoming such a minor sensation had made him a pretty penny, and been a lot of fun.

 

Sometimes writing the same thing over and over, with small tweaks to anatomy or background, could get boring. But writing smut for fun AND getting paid to do it? Amazing. Knitting something useful was different. He considered it, trying to remember. "Mm... I did footsies for an old co-worker's daughter. Scarves, usually, and a quilt once. Nothing too extravagant. Your sister has a really amazing ability though-- constructing actual clothing is tough," he laughed, impressed with the diversity of talent in the other man's family. An unconquerable grandfather, seemingly nice parents, a sweet step-mother, and a cool sister.

 

When Ilay was mentioned, the other man knew this was going to be a ride. He got settled in for it, leaning into the couch and finally sneaking his arm around a throw pillow to knead at as he listened. What he wanted to do was curl up with the damn thing but that would come off too juvenile. Instead, he listened closely. Obviously Ilay had been a large part of Joshua's life; Kris didn't doubt there were still feelings there on both ends, buried beneath years and changes. They'd gone different ways obviously, parting on good enough terms to render them still close later in life. This picture of a floundering and nervous Joshua was endearing, sweet, and definitely funny in a sense. It was still hard to try and put aside the niggling worries regarding the relationship Joshua still had with his ex. You didn't love someone so much and break up just because of life choices. Life choices were life choices but that didn't erase love or attraction. Joshua was obviously a desired man. He had a lot of experience. He was well-versed and appreciated aesthetically.

 

Shit, he's jealous.

 

It was happening, he could feel it in his gut, that sharp churning. He didn't know who of, though- was it for Joshua, desiring someone so strongly and ending up with them? Or Ilay for being desired and pursued? It was hard to tell. His fingers occasionally fiddled but never played with the strings of fabric like they were used to. Kris had to remind himself that this wasn't his home so fickle habits weren't going to be tolerated. Some of the parts made him grin, especially the diarrhea bit, but he mostly kept quiet and watched Joshua weave this tale. Of course it would have a happy ending-- the men had ended up together, on good terms, sweet and safe and sound. It seemed so perfectly befuddling and cute that it was like a comic or something. He wasn't expecting any actual action, so immersed in the story that the blonde grabbing him made him gasp before relaxing. Joshua seemed so happy reminiscing about Ilay that Kris found himself feeling happy for that happiness.

 

He found himself hoping that one day, Joshua could feel positively about him. But that thought felt double-edged because another train rode around his head-- what if he was just a replacement? What if he was right and Joshua wasn't over his former lover?

 

"You sound really lame. The both of you do," the writer agreed with a half-smile. Kris felt compelled to do something, anything, and loosened his hold on the pillow to reach out and touch Joshua again but instead found himself hauled even closer. The pillow was left behind and he blushed at their proximity then grinned. Shifting, the man closed the gap so he was half propped on the blonde's thigh, and let his legs hang cross ways so they draped over the other's. The questions he asked were hard but manageable, and the Hispanic had to think deeply before answering, voice slow.

 

[The businessman sighed. “I definitely acted embarrassing and made an idiot out of myself that night, so you see it wasn’t the first time that I made a fool out of myself because of him like in the ice-café, we started out like that.” he told the other. “But even if I – like you’d say – been totally lame back then I actually won and he went ice-skating and to the Christmas market with me.” Weißenburg smiled nostalgically. “That’s probably why I am fond of the memory although it has gotten a little well….you can imagine … to remember that time because I lost him, he dumped me six years ago.”

 

“Anyway, let’s not talk about Ilay anymore it’s unimportant. Let’s focus on you shall we.” He showed a charming smile and pulled Christopher so close that he was almost sitting on his lap. “I’d like to know who the most important person in your life is and why this person is so important to you!” he said and then continued with the second question. “It’d also interest me a lot how your ideal dream date with your idea dream man would be? Doesn’t matter if it’s as cheesy and embarrassing as my Christmas speech back then, I want to know!” he pointed at him and then nudged his nose against the other’s cheek. ]

 

"My... sister, Tessa." He had to think of how to phrase this before he began. "We don't speak. Not often at least. Okay, I don’t want this to be too heavy, so I’ll keep it short, but she’s the most important in a really specific way that I think matters. When we were immigrating, a lot of things happened to her-- a lot of trauma. In the states, she got distant and disdainful. There were times where she would be totally out of control and our parents didn’t know what to do with her. They had to have her transferred to another school in our zoned area because she was pulled out from the first one before they could expel her,” Kris explained. “She would go to council and get therapy and be better for a few months, but it would all spiral back. Once I was in my senior year, she stopped being around the house in general. She had a lot of issues- she still does. But she’s incredibly important to me. I always try to find out where she is or hunt down whatever friend she may have to get some information on her.” The man quieted for a moment before continuing. “Sometimes she’ll call me. She’s been there for me through a lot. The bond we have is something really deep and sincere. And she always shows up for El Dia. I make sure to remember that. She always shows up. Maybe never there when you want her, but pops in when you need her and don’t even know it.”

 

With a wave of his hand, he cracked a smile. “Onto lighter, though! I love my entire family. They’re all really important to me, even though they probably think I’m like, a petulant louse half the time. More trouble than I’m worth,” he snickered. “Ugh, so my ideal date.”

 

“Well.” He paused dramatically. “After meeting up at his house to engage in a delightful array of affection and nuzzling over coffee, we leave after an hour of idle chatting and watching some shitty show while drinking our respective drinks. From there, we go to a roller skating rink or arcade. I am bad at all the games and skating but he’s okay with it, and laughs at me and with me a lot. I feel like I’m allowed to act like a total fool and he won’t completely judge me. He’s probably good at skating and better at games so he’ll be helpful. We’ll trade in our tickets for a stuffed animal or two then eat nasty pizza. He chastises me because I have lactose issues but it’s only one slice of nasty pizza, so I’ll be okay, or so we think!” Kris leaned into Joshua fully and let his arm drop behind the blonde man, idly reaching to play with the hair at the nape of his neck.

 

“We are both riddled with intestinal pain about thirty minutes after our initial consumption. We cancel any other plans for that evening then spend it either at his place, which I imagine to be very comfortable, or my place, which is very comfortable and prone to smelling like incense.” Green eyes softened at his dreamy date. “It’s so horrible. We feel like we are literally suffering. But we’re together and we cuddle up to lie on our stomach and drink lots of tea and watch documentaries, groaning together. He passes out from the pain first so I get first dibs on the bathroom and shower. I spend the rest of the night taking care of him until he’s alright enough to take a shower. One of us farts, which really is something that ties people together, farting in a shared space. It’s the highlight of our romantic evening.

 

“Then we make out a ton and he lets me grind on his knee, but we both have to separate because we’re adults with busy lives. I keep the stuffed animal/animals we win.”

 

Kris smiled at the other. “Alternatively, the date could start with me being at his house and staying there. I’m not very fickle. Alrighty, I think we’re nearly done by this point. Your questions are...One! What’s one feature about you that you don’t think you like, but everyone else seems to adore and don’t say racoon hands, annnnd two.” He thought, the hand that’d been playing with the stubble and short hairs at the back of Joshua’s neck traveling up towards his actual hair, lightly running through the strands. “What’s your ideal vacation spot if you were going on a couple’s tripa. Like it’s the very first big, big travel plan with your lover?”

[-Hideki-]

Joshua had looked down and had supported his head on his hand while he had been in his thoughts for a while until he heard Christopher’s voice and he rose his head turning towards him, looking at him with his big blue eyes widened as the other told him he could see his point. A deep sigh came from him when he heard the man say that there was more to it than the typical cut-and-dry coming out. “You see, if I were to step before my parents I could just say ‘By the way I’m gay and I didn’t tell you for almost three decades’, I could press that over my lips somehow as I could still control this. I could control telling them. What I couldn’t control would be their reactions, how they would see me and treat me from there on, neither could I control or know what impact that could have on my life, how it could potentially change my life. And I don’t want to lose anything I have and have built because I love men. I shouldn’t lose something solely because I am what I am, especially not a family member.” He explained and then shook his head a little embarrassed about what he had just spilled anyway. “I shouldn’t bore you with this.” He added. “That we have fundamentally different perspectives in general shouldn’t be news to either of us should it!” Josh found and a small smile reappeared on the face that had gotten so concerned and serious before. This was a subject that had left him sleepless the other night after all and had made him lay wide awake staring at the ceiling of that small guest room in Nisha’s and his father’s house hearing those god damn raccoons on the attic, creeping around there stealing shit.

 

He was actually listening curiously to what the younger one had to say about why he found the female form admirable as Josh didn’t get it and couldn’t relate and he gave him a questioning look when the other said it was cultural. Did he mean because society was so gynocentric and saw women as the beautiful gender that he had kinda eaten that up willingly or what? Weißenburg didn’t get it but the brunette hadn’t finished his explanation yet so he listened with a concentrated face as if he was trying to solve a really complicated mathematical equation, well, the maths would have probably not been as difficult for him. It seemed like he had gotten the completely wrong track because what the other male actually told him about was his mother and his sisters and the women from his village. He described the features he had liked and he raised his eyebrow when he had said ‘strong arms’. Well, Joshua liked muscular and strong arms too but on men, on women it would look weird to him but he soon learned the other liked duality in both men and women.

 

The businessman didn’t know if this had confused him more or had enlightened him somehow, he wasn’t so sure about this but he mused and was scratching his chin absent minded for a moment thinking about his sister and his mother. “Well, I don’t know if I get it but when I think about the way my mother and my sister look and Nisha, I feel they look warm and familiar and that is pleasant you know and there is a certain beauty in familiarity so I find them in a sense beautiful but it’s different and I don’t get that when I look at other women and I am not thinking about their form or finding their physique in any way stunning and I honestly would never want to see either of the three naked, that would be even worse than strange women I suppose.” Joshua found and he shook his body as if someone had just given him an electronic shock. It would cause aversion having to see that. He had even cringed hard when his mother had told him she had breast fed him as a baby when Jacqueline had been pregnant with her first child and Weißenburg had asked her why she had done that to him while there had been so many nice bottles available for him she could have fed him with. His mother had laughed about him and Jacqueline had laughed about him too. Nisha had not because she had mumbled something about that she would like that experience his mother had had too, getting the tunnel vision again. And then there had been that one time at their Christmas dinner in a restaurant where Jacqueline had started to breastfeed her baby and Joshua had screwed up his nose and had looked grossed out and he had told her to do it elsewhere because it was distasteful and ruining every guests appetite and his mother had bashed him for an hour about him not having the right to take young mothers rights away and that he was just an awful chauvinistic arsehole basically while his statement had been completely apolitical actually he just found tits to be generally distasteful and ruining his appetite.

 

Josh smiled warmly at the cute man next to him when he said that they could start slow with teaching him how to dance and if nothing would help he’d have to book his sister to dance with. “I wouldn’t take it personal.” He let him know, “She dances a lot better than I and she actually enjoys it.” The blond told the other and it really was like comparing day and night. His sister moved smoothly and flexible and he looked stiff and like a tin soldier that had gotten out of pace. And the only one who had ever danced with him had been his sister anyway. Ilay had wanted to dance with him one time at his mother’s birthday party but he had refused to and when the other had asked why he had said he was a horrible dancer and his mother would hate him even more and potentially decide to flog him after all if he constantly stepped her son onto his feet what Ilay had found quite funny although Joshua had meant it. “As long as you wouldn’t book my sister for other things too and wouldn’t find being with her more enjoyable than with me I’d be fine. And I’d get to look at your cute arse and your body while you were dancing with her.” The blond winked placing a hand onto Rosario’s hip, still smiling at him.

 

He nodded when the other said that death was treated differently everywhere and that the happiness that his culture had reinforced understanding death as something to be greeted and understood and that he thought that the people who had died would have much rather liked seeing the living happy and celebrating. “I guess that makes a lot of sense.” He found somehow. “I think my grandmother would have liked people to share good memories and be happy too but no one was, no one even smiled.” He remembered. It was a mourning and grieving culture and death was looked at as something inherently sad, tragic and a loss and everyone had looked ridded off of happiness. Ilay’s culture had been similar to Weißenburg’s, though it had even longer and more intense mourning. Nisha on the other hand found that death was not an end but a new beginning and that one would get reborn in another life. “Nisha thinks we’re all getting reborn as something. What would you like to get reborn as if you could choose? She also said Wilcox’s karma was so bad that he’d get reborn as a dung beetle.” He laughed.

 

He playfully moved his eyebrows up and down when Christopher told him that he would miss all chords and would not be able to focus on playing the guitar as he was too distracting. “I’m glad to hear that I am that appealing to you but I’d also like to hear you play regardless of you saying that you aren’t that good.” The blond told him. “I really like music. I have an expensive piano I can’t play with a marble Beethoven bust next to it okay, I’m classy.” he said jestingly although he actually did have exactly that in his house although he wasn’t sure why he had bought it anymore. “So why don’t you record a song for me and send me the video. I would like you to sing me a song that I could listen to.” He suggested with a daring smirk.

 

“Hm, maybe I could enjoy warlocks and elves. I am all for Viking stories and Germanic and Nordic mythology. So I think I could give it a go.” He said before he busted out in laughter uncontrollable when the other asked him to send him dick pics as feedback. “Ja right! I’ll take a picture of my erection and send it to you via internet like some perverted high-school kid or a creepy stalker.” He laughed shaking his head at the same time.

 

Weißenburg chuckled a little awkwardly when Christopher said that he indeed had been totally lame, that actually both Ilay and him had been lame. “Ja, probably.” He shrugged the smile growing. When he had pulled the other closer he was glad to feel the man closing the last bit of physical distance and laying his legs over his and he felt cosy and warm and his dump heart was beating like that again and he was welcoming the other answering his question so that the beating of his stupid heart got drowned out by the other man’s nice voice.

 

It got rather serious and heavy after that and he listened intently and interestedly when Rosario told him about his relationship to his sister. It seemed really close, a bond that had formed strongly over the experiences they had made and what they had overcome together and he could relate to that story somehow in a way that was different but still somewhat similar regardless. It made him feel sad for the other to hear that the person he loved so much and he had this special bond with was going through so much pain and had so many difficulties in life and his blue eyes looked deep into the other man’s eyes, his hand from the arm that was wrapped around him gently caressing the other, the other hand placing itself on the man’s knee as he was just making his presence known to him as the brunette had done when he had drifted off to his Army experiences. “It’s really valuable! Something like that I mean. Someone you have gone through something incredibly difficult and dangerous and whom you have supported and gotten support back.” He said his face serious and tense and then it lit up again and he smiled. “Compared to that the complications and issues this person might have and might bring into your life often doesn’t matter.” The blond man said. “I have seen a lot of people affected by the results of trauma, who are on disability nowadays. A good friend has severe PTSD and anxiety and his body is damaged as well so he is in physical pain too. He sometimes acts weird as well.” he told him without mentioning Jile’s name even though the other might know whom he was talking about regardless especially since Tristan had called himself a cripple on the internet more than once. He’d still not say ‘Jiles is a mental and a physical cripple have you known?’ “I also got to know someone who has gotten hunted through a city and then tortured by the Russian police and he was acting out quite a lot, really aggressive and defensive at the same time and I think that if one had put him into a classroom, you know…” he said sighing.

 

“That’s a good idea.” Joshua found when the other said that they should get to a lighter hearted topic again and told him how he loved his entire family although they sometimes thought he was more trouble than he was worth. “Are they right though? That you aren’t worth the trouble? I hope they aren’t or that’d make me quite an idiot.” The blond jested and then listened as the other was telling him about his dream date and he was smirking and laughing quite some times and he was feeling himself relax into the touch when the other was laying his arm around him too and was playing with the silky blond strands of his hair and the stubble in the nape of his neck where Jacqueline had shaved it short and completely off to contour it and he leaned his neck into the hand and was thinking that if he massaged him he would melt and sink into the sofa and make embarrassing half-moaning sounds as he enjoyed it a little too much. It had been years when he had been last touched this affectionately or given a massage for that matter – that one time where Nisha had trampled on his back and had burned him with fucking stones because he had seemed too tense to her didn’t count it had just hurt like hell. He had had his share of animalistic and rough fucking so he wasn’t sexually frustrated or starved in any sense but this he had not had and he had not known how much he had missed it since the other had started touching him like this now.

 

When the other finished his tale about his ideal dream date Joshua smiled at the journalist. “Well, I haven’t been roller skating but I can ice skate so I think I would be decent enough at that too.” The blond said and then added:”I could pass on the stomach ache. Farting I don’t mind though. In the Army I farted into some guys face to wake him up once, he didn’t appreciate it. Should have said I was trying to bond with him!” the man laughed again remembering his comrade’s face and the other guys laughing.

 

At Christopher asking him the first question he got caught up on the raccoon hand thing. “I was completely fine with my hands before you two bullied me and called them raccoon hands and said I had small palms. I don’t have small palms, not small alright, and my fingers are normal too okay!”he protested and then took a breather trying to focus on the actual question, thinking about it intensely for a while then shrugging. “Honestly, I don’t have a part of my body that I dislike. I don’t seem to have body issues. Well, sure I don’t have an eight pack like that best friend of Nisha’s she knows from that group in the centre she goes to who has a boxing club, like seriously, the guy is fucking Hercules and I’d really like to lick his abs…” he coughed. “But other than the lack of an eight pack and having this instead,” he pointed at his stomach, “I’m fine I think.” He then thought again. “What my former partners liked about my body were my eyes and their colour, Ilay said I looked like an ice-prince what was incredibly cheesy, my happy trail, my jaw when the stubble grew back and the obvious one, my dick. I wasn’t supposed to mention my hands but one of my exes recently said that he loved them because I could reach … anyway, I was also told I have a nice chest and shoulders.” The man told him grinning.

 

The second question he didn’t have to think about at all though and the answer came initially. “The North Sea!” he said. “Doesn’t even matter if in Germany, the Netherlands or Scandinavia! Just the North Sea!” the man repeated and his face looked a bit dreamy and kinda as if he had gone there on his mind now. “In winter, during Christmas time ideally. We could sit there and watch the tide. Seeing a supposed emptiness of mud that’s still so lively although it looks like a waste and then having the powerful, foaming waves coming back taking over! The North wind would blow into our faces coldly and we’d tease each other and shove each other until he falls into the arriving waves, he’d pull me down with him and we’d start to make out in the freezing cold water, touching and fucking with our wet heavy clothing on as the waves were getting higher and would be brushing over us and everything would taste like salt. We’d have rented a nice holiday home close to the beach and we’d run back there because it’d be fucking cold, we’d get into a hot shower and then sit on the sofa together under a blanket nakedly, drinking hot wine and listening to the sound of the fireplace until we’d end up having sex again, passionately, getting each other’s bodies hot. And after that he’d bake some Christmas cookies for me and I’d stand behind him and annoy him.” Weißenburg told him and then smiled. “Let me guess: Lame?” he asked with a grin. “I love the North Sea. I have plenty of books and documentaries at home about it. When my grandpa told me and had shown me old photos from his vacations with his family back when he had been a kid I always wanted to go there. I even dreamed of living on a boat there once, it was a silly dream but nice at the same time.” He let the other man know. “I always wanted to go there but despite it not being a problem financially anymore at all I’ve somehow never have.” He realised it himself now. “I have always been too busy. Too busy taking chances and opportunities to get even higher on the ladder. I have actually never travelled other than for business purposes.” The businessman admitted and he felt a little disappointed in that moment. “I should change that before I am too old or dead huh!” he said half to Christopher half to himself.

 

“Well, three questions left. Let’s go for the countdown then.” The man laughed and then smirked at the journalist. “If you were a billionaire like me, what would you do with the money then?” he wanted to know looking interestedly and challengingly at the younger male but when he was thinking about the next question he wanted to ask his face went serious and stern and he was questioning if he should or shouldn’t ask something as obvious. But he decided to go for it no matter how obvious as he just wanted to know. “Do you think that you could or would even want to be in a serious long term relationship with a closet case and someone with an opposing worldview and political opinions?” the man asked his tone serious and he wanted a serious, thought through answer. He just needed to know this. He was opening up to the other man and if they continued like that he’d fall for him and he shouldn’t open up to someone or fall for someone if the man wouldn’t consider or want to be with someone like him anyway, if someone like him was alright for a fling or some fun but not for anything worthwhile. That didn’t mean that Weißenburg would want to stay in the closet forever he just couldn’t tell if he’d actually ever bring himself to come out privately. Josh didn’t want to go through that much pain again as it had caused him when Ilay had left him because Ilay had not been able to take it anymore and had felt hurt by Joshua’s closeted status and what that had brought with it and meant, that had been why he had stayed away from anything serious and dating in the first place since then until now. “Something more light as my last question: What do you think is the most sexy thing about yourself and how would you seduce someone with or without its help?” he was curious a smirk slowly getting back onto his face.

[brinary]

It was hard to rebut Joshua's statements or really say anything to make the man feel better. It was an issue that Kris himself had faced. Using circular logic only got him so far; it was still a great way to ignore the problem of his sexuality in general, but the novelty wore off once his brain realised its own cleverness. Kris could potentially care just as much as Joshua but be incapable of expressing that specific anxiety. But the man's struggle was relatable and he looked so worn out even talking about it. He wished he could reach out and make him feel better, but all he could do was squeeze his thigh and drop his eyes, understanding, before lifting them up again.

 

Even after his explanation, the shudder that ran through Joshua made Kris almost break into fresh cackles. He relented, instead snickering behind his hand. "I don't get why people haven't had suspicions about you yet if this is how you react to even thinking about a woman's body." The disgust was so plain to see, it amused him to think people wore blinders to it all. Maybe Joshua really just was charming and had a convincing explanation for everything, though he would've found it difficult himself to explain why he wasn't exactly attracted to girls. "You're so skittish, my goodness." He rubbed the other's arm with a tender hand, although his laugh was hearty. "If anyone even breathes 'bosom' around you, you seem like you'd break out into hives and nervous sweating. Don't worry-- there are no 'v words' here. Acting like an eight-year-old in sex-ed."

 

Talking about dancing did make him want to see it. Witnessing moments of intense embarrassment was absolutely hilarious. It's comparable to seeing a friend accidentally fall in some tremendous, silly fashion. It was horrible but absolute comedy. "Yes, but it seems like it'd be more fun to dance with the Tin Man. And the Tin Man did absolutely swimmingly for the choreography of the time. Just a little oil in the joints, that'll work things out," Christopher joked. His finger prodded at the other's arm then gently tickling his elbow. "If an automan can do it, I think perhaps you stand a slight chance." Even with how stiff Joshua described himself to be, Kris felt like it'd work well in certain situations. "There are plenty of instances where my 'cute arse' could be dancing against you," he said, eyes lifting to the other man's face with seductive intent. "Just stand still and let me do the work. For maximized performance, following my movements. It doesn't require a lot of grace or elegance. Just being keen on me." Kris had never been a dancer- that was reserved for Shanie and Tessa- but he knew how to have fun. And a few off-chance experiences with Haye told him that 1. people that didn't know how to dance were partial to following someone else's lead 2. the perfect way for a non-dancer to dance with someone was to hold them from behind and let the other go wild. Kris didn't think of himself as 'sexy' per se, but he was aware that most anyone reacted to an ass pushing against their front and hands on their neck.

 

College was wild.

 

If there was ever something to be enthralled by, it was death. Reincarnation also fascinated him, although he'd never learned enough about it to gush or anything. Nisha's comment- as told by Joshua- made him snort again in a very undignified sense before he held a hand to his mouth to avoid completely breaking out into giggles. "Mmm-- I think an alpaca, a Peruvian one. They're very sweet and treated kindly. I'd like to be treated that sweetly even though I spit on people and balance on cliff tops." He grinned at the other man. "I can picture you as some sort of noble albatross. Or a very cute raccoon." His smile turned particularly devilish at the last jab, dedicated to mercilessly teasing the other about that one small, off-hand compliment. God bless Nisha for having said something so hilarious.

 

Joshua's hand on his hip was a familiar and comforting weight for the rest of the back and forth, even when the man said such odd things. Who owns a large piano and doesn't even use it? Rich people were so weird. And singing a song? Now that was plainly preposterous. Kris could already hear his voice-cracking just from the idea alone. "I can only sing in Spanish," he replied weakly, as if the very thought was enough to make him light-headed. "You're so odd." Like, beyond weird. Maybe it was just not having a really good filter but the thoughts that came to the business man's head, and the things he would say as a result, made the younger man feel weak. His thoughts were just reinforced by Joshua actually going along with the internet thing. "So odd," the man laughed with a raucous smile. "If you're serious, I'll forward you my number instead, just in case my dial-up computer happens to not be able to download your scanned polaroid. E-mail a nude..."

 

Being close and cozy was easier after laughing and touching so much. But especially laughing. In Joshua's loose hold and supported by his knees, Christopher was reminded of the gaps between their ages and their heights. That wasn't a negative take, though. He rather liked it. He liked Joshua in general. Opening up to him little by little was easier over the hours they'd been chatting. Certain topics were still hard to communicate without feeling that choking feeling, emotions pushing his throat closed, but he pushed through it. Even for the blonde man's weird idiosyncratic behvaviour and off-the-wall comments or thoughts, his actions felt good and helped him get through what he had to say. It bolstered him to continue while also feeling reassuring, as if Joshua was communicating that he could stop at any time if things became too rough. There was even something in how Joshua spoke that made him feel incredibly full. Full of what, he didn't really know, but it made his bones feel heavy. "Yeah, you're right," he agreed, trying not to be too solemn. He listened patiently as Joshua told of his own experiences with people that had PTSD, nodding. He'd actually been diagnosed early on in life- refugee trauma, child trafficking, dealing with the heaps of things he'd seen on his journey to immigrate. It was in part why he knitted so much in earlier years and explained why he'd calmed down. Medication and treatment had gone mostly for Tess; she'd been hit the hardest. It really was a depressing topic, dumping down all of their shit and admitting to the issues the people in their respective lives had.

 

Onto lighter!

 

He punch the other's shoulder gently before he spoke, guffawing at his gentle jab. Making Joshua smile like that was still the highlight of his evening. "Ice skating is fine, too. I'm just as bad as that as I am roller-skating," he interjected then was tickled silly by the image that was conjured. A young Joshua farting on some poor sod's face in the Army. "What a cheeky bastard you--PFFT! CHEEKY! Ugh, I astound myself, I didn't even mean for that," he said, shoulders shaking with laughter. It continued at Joshua's raccoon hand, rant, Christopher nearly tipping himself back with how funny he found it. Winding up the businessman was just TOO easy to pass up on doing. “Ahhh, you’re too much,” he wheezed, patting Joshua’s back as the man continued to speak. Joshua was very confident. Even the way he held himself read self-assuredness. Maybe the man had issues in the past but any concerns about his physique seemed to be a figment. He was still grinning but it’d calmed, idly playing with the other’s hair still and rubbing gently at the back of Joshua’s neck. He did have incredible eyes- piercing eyes, terrifying when they wanted to be, but sweet and warm despite their icy color. He’d only seen brief glimpses of the other parts but could confirm that the hands, the eyes, the shoulders, the chest-- Weibenburg was handsome and sexy. “I can only go off of what I’ve personally had interactions with. Maybe we’ll get to your reach and happy trail later,” Kris mused. “I don’t doubt them to be wrong at all.”

 

Genuine excitement and exuberance from Joshua felt like being sprayed by salt water on a much needed hot day. It totally cleaned Kris’s heart and the man felt a heart-breaking amount of affection swell in the pit of his stomach, traveling up to his throat, for the man under him. He wanted to make him happy- he wanted to see that dreamy expression when reality lined up with imagination. The date was descriptive to lull Kris into his own thoughts about it. Joshua obviously had considered this before. It didn’t sound too out of space or mundane, just the perfect amount of mundanity and excessive adventuring (sex on the beach? sandy, but an adventure all its own.) His fingers had stilled in petting Joshua’s hair as he just sat and stared and listened, smiling at him with something close to complete adoration. “Yeah. That’s pretty lame,” he agreed quietly, but there was only a small glint of the teasing that he’d been previously doing. “I think it sounds absolutely splendid.” Then the blonde said something pretty crazy-- not even one personal vacation for himself! Kris was mystified and pinched his shoulder gently. “Of course you should. Successes are great, yeah sure, but you should also indulge yourself in delights beyond this state and county and country. Go on a vacation, you weirdo,” Christopher chastised.

 

Nodding shortly, Kris adjusted himself in Joshua’s lap and met his challenging smile with a serious nod of his own. Holding up one hand, he counted off Joshua’s questions, looking idle and slowly nodding as the last two were presented to him. He pressed his three raised fingers to his lips as he organised answers. “Well… if I was a billionaire like you, that means I didn’t get my money from the lottery. Which means I wouldn’t have to give the large initial sum to the government. So I think I’d use the first ten thousands that would have gone to the government for my family. I already got them their second house now and they really love it, so I’d make sure they had good insurance and a retirement plan that worked for them. Then I’d pay off their car. And tell them to save some up for things that went awry, like plumbing or a roof issue,” he began. “The second half of that first sum would go toward their surgeries, since my Mother and Father both have really chronic joint pain and my Dad has tendonitis. I’d have that allocated for their treatment and surgery options since fixing those would probably take about a year? Then I’d give the third part to my sister Shanie so she can pay off her medical school loans once and for all, and then get Tessa into a dedicated rehabilitation facility.”

“After that, I’d probably split my money into fourths? One for me, the other for savings and investments into properties in the States, the third for investments into Guatemala and other South American countries, the fourth for using to support the third category when the government powers there inevitably try to shut me down or kill me. I call the fourth ‘wagging money’ because they don’t like the kill people that are too rich without trying to extort them first. So I’d… put money into the States by buying up land and using them for public projects and infrastructure support, as well as vacation spots so I can charge people to stay in cute bungalows by beaches or amusement parks. Ummm, then.” He nodded. “Money for Guatemala to actually build up. Reintroduce public projects, try to mitigate gang presences and corruption, then extend that into a big thing for the all of South America. Maybe I’ll make a business about that. Finally, I’d buy a little coffeeshop, with a dedicated bookstore, and have it be my own personal coffeeshop and people come in and read the books and they can buy some but it’s teccchhhnically a library. Doesn’t that sound cute? I love it.”

 

Christopher took another moment to gather his thoughts. “To answer the last for middle, I think… I’m not that sexy,” he finished with a laugh then shook his head “Uh, I don’t know.” Grinning, he thought about it and began to slowly speak. “People say I have intense eye contact. By people, I mean maybe four people in my whole life. Or that I have a very… sexy voice over the phone? I think I’ll call someone and speak to them while stretching in bed or something. Apparently, it’s attractive,” the brunette laughed. “Stare them in their eyes as we talk about the weather and see if they get the memo about my apparently strong, immersive gaze.” To punctuate it- unconsciously- he looked up into sharp blue eyes. “That’s all I got though. I’ll run a poll later asking any who will entertain my ridiculousness about it later.”

 

His expression slowly grew grave and he sighed. “You asked me about if I believed re-incarnation before. So this is your bonus question,” he began. “I… think some of the things you say are dumb.” He had to be honest and blutness was good. “I think you think the same about me. And we’re both in the closet. We’re both politically active. We’re bound to clash, often,” he reasoned before huffing hard then moving again. He turned and straddled the other’s knee, his own fitting into the open space of the man’s lap. Christopher let some of his weight sink onto the man’s knee and wrapped his arms around his neck so they could be even closer, nearly flush. Slowly he pressed his forehead to Joshua’s. “It’d be really hard, but I’d be willing to be with you despite it. Because I can say for certain that I like you,” he stated shortly and earnestly. “Even if you are really lame and fly off the handle and get mad at having cute racoon hands, I still really like you.”

 

Returning to petting the back of Joshua’s head, he hummed. “Since your question was a bonus, I’m using it for one of my final three. Could you date someone like me, who you have such conflicting views with, who’s in the closet sorta-kinda?” He twists a lock of Joshua’s hair, smiling. “Second… If you had to choose one outfit to wear everyday, to every occasion, what would it be? And third. And very important.” Pausing for dramatic breath, Kris’s smile dropped and he stared at the man very seriously. “Do you give your shirts or sweaters to people you like? I like how you smell. So even if you, hypothetically, kick me out, I want a keepsake, like some stupid cotton sweater, or if we, hypothetically, get together, I would like… something of yours anyways.”

[-Hideki-]

“Hmm?” he was a little surprised at the statement that the other couldn’t understand how people could not get suspicious about his sexuality if the thought about women’s naked bodies gave him the creeps. “Well, I usually don’t think about women’s naked bodies. I mean who would imagine something that repulses him all the time.” Joshua told the other. “Neither is it the case that I have to deal with people around me specifically talking about such parts to me much if at all. Who talks about what they do with their wife’s or girlfriend’s or hook-up’s bodies to their boss? It probably would have been different if I had been one of the construction workers but I am not so I am good. The same goes for a candidate for mayor. No one walks up to me and talks about shit like that, so I can’t cringe. The Army was tougher in that regards and I am not so sure if no one was suspicious about me. If they were at least no one let me know personally. And I also had my boyfriend at that time cover for me. He laughed about me, not as insanely as you just did though, and called me an idiot but he still tried to cover it up somehow by finding excuses and rationalisations for my behaviour.” He explained to the other why he thought people at his company nor the population was suspecting him of being gay. Maybe he also didn’t seem to fit into the stereotypes they had of gay men either, who knew.

 

Josh turned his face to the other when he said that he was skittish and then teased him although he was tenderly stroking his arm. “Tits are gross but not as gross. So I won’t cringe at that word.” He told him. “And I am not uncomfortable with the subject of sex at all. As long as it involves two men! Would you laugh about a heterosexual who doesn’t want to hear about what I do in bed like this as well?” he wanted to know as it interested him. Straight guys acted extremely to two males even kissing sometimes so Weißenburg not being fond of and finding getting graphic images of the female reproductive organs being treated by someone planted into his brain to be sickening to him shouldn’t be that weird or extraordinary nor was it him being childish.

 

His eyes blinked up and a playful, slightly dirty smirk was appearing on his face. “I’d certainly fancy that kind of dancing.” Josh commented and he absolutely did. Letting Christopher rub his arse up against him and grinding against the other in return sounded like something he’d definitely be able to practice and he’d actually like to do. Then again he’d get a hard-on too and depending on the location and who else was around that’d be inappropriate and he’d feel like a stupid teenager getting boners in embarrassing situations.

 

An alpaca was definitely an odd choice. Most guys he knew would have probably said an eagle, a lion or a bear or something along those lines. But an alpaca, he hadn’t seen that one coming. Although when he looked at the younger journalist he could definitely picture it. “Weirdly fitting choice.” He commented with a grin on his face that disappeared again when the other said that he could picture him as a really cute raccoon. Damn Nisha for this stupid remark about his hands, now this raccoon thing would be glued onto his butt as flies onto an adhesive strip. And he couldn’t really see himself as a raccoon at all. His mother had often said he behaved like an elephant in a china store and his sister often called him an ox head and he himself saw himself more like an alpha wolf or something as this was much cooler than some stupid raccoon. How did Nisha even get that association, his hands didn’t look like that at all or did they? The blond sighed. “I don’t steal stuff and I don’t creep into other people’s houses.” He stated. And then a cocky smile appeared on his face as he peered over to the other. “I am cute though and smart and Nisha said those little thieves are supposedly smart.” The businessman said.

 

“Then do that. Record it as a video and put subtitles. Jile’s has subtitles under his videos too.” Weißenburg said not accepting that as an excuse to not sing him a song. “No one has ever sung a song for me before.” He added and then raised his eyebrows when the brunette said he was odd. The blond didn’t find himself particularly weird. Maybe there were people more normal than him with more understanding for social cues and tact but they also were more boring than him too. “If I am odd already you are five times as odd.” He commented and the grin grew. “I don’t care if you find me weird though as long as it’s not in a bad way.” Josh let the younger one know and laughed when the other made fun of his comment about how absurd he found it to send pictures of his cock to other people over the internet or at all for that matter. “I can offer you a naked self-portrait of mine though. I draw it on my computer and send it to you.” Joshua stated. “I don’t want to spoil shit but it’ll be a stick man with a hard dick the size of its body because I can’t draw.” The blond remarked actually starting to like the idea of doing that just because he found it fun.

 

The blue in his eyes flashed up like lightning and his lips curled up in a dirty grin when Christopher told him that he could only judge based on what he’d personally interacted with on Josh’s body and that they might get to the reach of his fingers and the happy trail later. It made the grin only go wider when the brunette man told him that he didn’t doubt his former lovers about that. “You bet we do.” He breathed into Rosario’s ear slightly biting his earlobe in a playful way.

 

The man did say that his dream couple North Sea vacation was lame but the way he looked didn’t match up and made it obvious that he actually had liked it and that somehow made Joshua happy to the point where he was imagining himself together with the cute freckled man in this scenario. Maybe he’d be lame together with him! Maybe being lame together with another guy like he had been lame with Ilay was what he had actually missed and needed the whole time where he had thought that just fucking needed to be enough for him in his situation and maybe, maybe just maybe, Christopher wanted exactly that lameness as well. That got somehow confirmed to him when the other told him that he found that the scenario described sounded splendid and it made Josh smile internally what was to see in his eyes when he looked at the younger man and he could see the two on a stormy beach in winter and in a wooden house in front of the fire place pressing each other’s naked bodies together. It threw him out of his thoughts when he was told to be a weirdo and that he should go on a vacation. The blond man chuckled amused but he knew the other was right about that this time. Not going on vacation was odd! It was not healthy either. He knew that much he wasn’t an idiot but there always had been opportunities and something to do to rise further and whenever he had sensed such an opportunity he had gone after that and had forgotten about vacations or his private life, he had gone after it almost compulsory. As if he was obsessed with reaching as high as he could get, of getting better and faster and more influential, to boot out others and defeat them, being the winner, the winner of the game of life but those people he had booted out probably had travelled for vacation during their lives whereas he had not. “After I have won this election, I will, to celebrate.” Joshua nodded. “And who knows, I might not be alone anymore by then.” He stated and smirked at the journalist.

 

Having asked the other what he’d do would he be a billionaire too he got something that seemed like an already completely planned through schedule. Like the other had actually planned to become a billionaire and then implement all the things he was saying helping out his family first, what he could definitely understand, and then saving the continent it seemed, leaving almost nothing that he’d do entirely for himself. Josh had helped his family as far as they had let him, he had done investments in the state and the nation to get himself and their state and nation further but it had all been economical projects, never social ones. Beside that he found that one should invest in the own nation first and if then the nation would be problem free – what would never happen so it was completely hypothetical – he’d do something to improve their allies and further their strength but only their allies. Like France, Israel, England, Germany because the land of his ancestors really needed a wall and he’d help to get rid of the old insane hag too and Poland because his mother’s family had come from there like hundreds of years ago or so! But his state and nation had to come first. He didn’t understand why the other wanted to do something for other nations while there was much to improve in theirs and for the American people. “Why not focus on the US first?” he asked casually. “I think if you wanted to invest in social projects and rebuilding projects here is enough to do. When all the problems here are solves and we live in utopia, we can help befriended countries.” Joshua stated and somehow he had the feeling the other would not agree with him. But maybe he’d surprise him one could never know right?

 

Then he decided to bring focus onto the more private aspects of it all because they seemed to get along a lot better as private than as political people. “I do however understand why you want to help your family and support them. And I also find it fascinating and great that they let you buy them houses.” Weißenburg said. “I was trying to improve my family’s living standards too but they are god damn stubborn and too proud for their own good!” Joshua told him. “My mother told me she wouldn’t take a penny of the money that I leeched out of the working class and the poor when I wanted to try and get her out of the ghetto but at least my father has taken the starting capital for his restaurant back then. The stupid thing follows: He tries to pay it back! Every month I have to rebook the money he sends me to his own bank account because he doesn’t stop trying years later since he says: ‘A father doesn’t take money from his son!’ so the money always goes back and forth between us. And Nisha wouldn’t let me help her so that she can be happy either because she jumped on the ‘I wouldn’t be a good parent if I took large amounts of money from my stepson train’ from my father! I am planning on giving the money to her as a Christmas present in a card that states its purpose so that she can’t refuse it anymore and they don’t have to try and safe money because it would be rude to give back a Christmas present.” He told him. “I am sure it must be great if you can make the people you care about happy and assure they have a good life. My family denies me that. Well, my sister allows it to an extent at least, usually when it comes to her son’s future, health and education.” The businessman said. Why was everyone in his family this stubborn, thick-headed and proud?

 

When Rosario stared into his eyes after having said that people had told him he made intense eye contacted he laughed and stared back with a rather tempting gaze. “You do have an intense gaze and the green colour is pretty mesmerising and it definitely does help that your eyes are part of a really cute face.” He found but as soon as the following question, the most important one to him, was starting to get answered he felt himself getting tense and keyed up while he was waiting for what answer he’d get as there was a lot that depended on this answer, even something really immediate so he stared at the other waiting for his answer. About the remark concerning the reincarnation question he shrugged apathetically. He had not seen that as a question of their game but a part of a follow up conversation to one of the other questions he had asked but they probably had different perceptions about that too as about so many other things.

 

What followed was a list of facts that were all undeniably true and rationally viewed the both of them should definitely not even sit on the same sofa and be as close to one another and considering those factors the least reasonable would be to try to establish a romantic relationship and future with each other. They both thought about each other’s politics as dumb, they were both in the spotlight on a political stage, Josh more than the other but that was unimportant and they’d definitely collide and argue a lot. All of this was true. He couldn’t say anything against it but he didn’t like to get that list. He always said ‘face the facts’ or ‘face the truth’ and ‘if they can’t deal with reality, well, tough luck!’ and now he was faced with the truth, he knew about it, he dealt with it but he didn’t want to hear that basically it’d be completely bonkers to date, to start a relationship, to allow feelings to be developed because they were complete opposites and not compatible. A thought came up on his mind; maybe he should call Ari and make him a marriage proposal! They were incredibly similar, shared the same view and political outlook, had a similar personality, were into the same dudes, got along splendid and had never argued during their friendship. Perfect! Well, they weren’t attracted to each other at all and there was no spark and no chemistry not to mention that they were both tops but fuck, they would be functional in every other aspect. The whole idea bordered on absurdity. The thought about this none existent romantic relationship plain ridiculousness and he couldn’t even think about how it’d be to kiss him, probably weird as fuck. If he thought about it Weißenburg had only fallen in love with men who had been completely different than he had been. His shy and vulnerable friend in high-school, Carlton ‘Foxy’ Brix and Ilay, they all had been completely unlike himself in different ways. He seemed to have a tendency to get attracted to people different to him and here he was attracted to another man who was different than himself and whom he was about to crush on seriously and if the other couldn’t imagine he had to stop it before he did fall for him.

 

He looked at Christopher sceptically when the other was shifting and then straddling his knee letting his weight sink onto his leg before he wrapped his arms around his neck and then placed his forehead onto Weißenburg’s. What was this now? Hadn’t he just reasoned into a completely different direction! Apparently the other went against his reasoning, stating that it’d be difficult but he’d give them a chance despite that because he knew for certain that he really liked him. Hearing the younger male say that he liked him made his heart swell, swell over and there were wings in his stomach even though he hadn’t had chicken in a while and it would be news to him that pigs had wings. There was a slight rosy blush to see on his cheeks and he smiled letting out a laugh when the journalist said that he liked him despite him being totally lame and getting mad at having cute raccoon hands. The blond businessman laid his ‘cute raccoon hand’ onto the brunette man’s cheek and pressed their lips together, kissing him intensely but in a different way than he had done before, leaving his tongue out of it for a moment though he had to restrain himself. He liked him he had said! HE liked HIM! It was ironic, absurd, illogical but it was how it was and somehow he would have liked to see the faces of the other man’s readers if they only knew. His heart was jumping in his chest and he was feeling way too happy about those little words, much happier than he should.

 

Getting the same question turned back at him his smile just grew. “I obviously don’t have a problem to be with someone closeted.” He started and then chuckled. “It’s true that I won’t be able to completely forget what you did to me yet but despite all the conflicting feelings I’ve got I think that the decision whether I’d be able to give you a fair chance and could imaine something was when I invited you over here for the first actual date in twelve years after you’ve let me see someone who was a human, opened up to me a little and made me want to get to know you. There had been something intriguing about you from the start and by now I, well, against all reason I have come to like you too Christopher.” Joshua answered clearly and before he could start to make an awkward face or blush again he skipped right to the next question.

 

“The black suit my sister made for me.” The blond answered what he would wear had he to wear the same thing all the time for the same occasion. When the brunette started to get that serious about the last question of his he raised an eyebrow sceptically and his face got a little stern and he was concerned what kind of question this would be now and when the actual question was asked he grinned and laughed asking himself if the other was even serious about this but he still undid the buttons of his jacket, threw it aside and then pulled the turtleneck shirt over his head showing it to the other. “You can have this, I give it to you. You can remember this night then.” He told him and laid it around Christopher’s shoulder. “And to answer your question, yes, when I am in a serious relationship and in love with someone I let him wear my shirts. I’m actually quite fond of it. My former boyfriend’s have all been shorter than I and I found they looked cute and hot at the same time when they wore a too big shirt of mine and nothing else.” Josh said and leaned a little forward. “I can imagine that you’ll look particularly cute in my stuff.” He breathed and grabbed the other by the arse kissing him demandingly and in a claiming way, his lips and tongue being imperious as he pulled him closer against his now uncovered torso. The traces of his muscles showing through pale skin, blond trimmed hair growing on his toned chest and the happy trail he had spoken about perfectly visible.

 

He broke the kiss only to strip Christopher out of his shirt, the turtle neck shirt he had given to him dropping from the man’s shoulders, the journalists own shirt flung somewhere – it landed on the moose head – before he brought his lips to the younger man’s neck, kissing, sucking and biting it leaving his marks where his mouth travelled to. One of his hands was touching the man’s torso, feeling the other’s warm skin and the abdominal muscles while the other hand was slowly running up the brunette’s right thigh reaching for his crotch. His lips went further down until he found the reporter’s right nipple. The blue eyes flashed up as his tongue was licking over it, teasing it before he started to vigorously suck it and pinch it with his teeth, to then suck and lick it again, the left hand caressing the man’s body wandering up to the chest rubbing the lonely left nipple, pulling and pinching it. Touching the other man made his body go hot again, his blood leaving his head getting straight into his dick instead, a tent forming in the silver pants. He certainly liked to toy with and to mildly torture his partner’s nipples, he had always found it hot especially if they were really sensitive there and that he wanted to find out. There was a bunch of stuff that he wanted to find out and the hand that had been on Rosario’s thigh was now strongly groping the confined cock of the brunette and feeling it enthralled him and aroused him, his body heating up further.

[brinary]

Things just fell well into place for Joshua, then. His work experience was different, which was to be expected-- not a boss but a simple employee on the newsroom floor. People overshared like it'd been their designated job. Kris had known more about other people's sex lives than the actual topics they were meant to be researching sometimes. Gossip was common and personal stories more so, practical strangers coming up to him for the sole purpose of discussing scandalous shit. Some of it was really good-- Kris soaked up juicy stories without even wanting to. But most of the time, he was just confused by the assault his brain had to undergo from a coworker whose name he couldn't even remember. "I guess I just never got to experience that. Everyone I knew from work assumed everything about anyone," the writer finally said after getting a few chuckles out. "Oh, 'insanely,' as if I was in hysterics rolling on the floor. You haven't seen my insane laughter yet, I promise you that."

 

At the question Joshua posed, Kris snorted and exclaimed, "Of course! If they're cringing and shuddering and turning green, yes, of course, I would totally make fun of them." It wasn't a lie either. Kris probably did have a higher tolerance for "gross" things than the average person, but he regularly taunted heterosexuals and homosexuals and whatever fell inbetween alike for their prickly disgust. Sometimes people were offended at his ribbing but it was like being terrified of worms, in his opinion. And worms made even more sex! The opposite sex was just top-tier mundanity.

 

Their flirtatious back-and-forth was fun and all but Kris loved seeing the smile drop from Joshua's face at the raccoon comment. It in fact lit his whole face up as he waited for the ma's reaction. He couldn't stop his grin from growing ever-more into a shit-eating one, looking at Joshua's opaque disappointment and minor vexation. It was shortlived since the cockiness reared its ugly head and the blonde just had to go and ruin his fun. "Let me have one thing to tease you with. If you begin to think of yourself even more favorably, there'll be no living with you," he muttered with a pout nearly pulling his face down. Just when he got the upperhand, too!

 

Joshua became even more insufferable with the singing thing. He rolled his eyes to the heavens and they stared there even has his smile stretched out more, trying to keep back laughter that wanted to roll out. So many statements and taunts were switched around by the infuriating businessman. Instead of landing on target, they were drastically altered by whatever mechanism made that older man's head tick. Kris's teases became fodder for Joshua's platform. It was so hard not to laugh at the absurdity of it all, of the man next to him in that moment saying truly some of the most inane, juvenile shit. Kris's laughs finally broke from his barely-straight face at the self-portrait. "Eugh," he wheezed. "That's so gross, I love it. I'll print it out and frame it." Was indulging Joshua a good idea? No, it seemed like it'd bite him in the ass, but Joshua as a whole was a bite in the ass. And an assbiter for good measure. His particular brand of weird just complemented Kris's own. Something so valuable couldn't be swept aside! In the moment where the writer was happy they were giggling and having a fun time with each other, Joshua always seemed to bring it back to that electric state.

 

The bite was more like a nip, playful, but still present. It made Kris fidget and feel even more indulgent. It was sort of that nasty perfect balance? Their transitions from smoothe to giggles to sensuality to shared sweetness lined up almost totally. He could imagine himself laughing with Joshua over an inside joke as much as he could imagine the other man's hand curled around his waist, fucking him into a shitty boxspring mattress at some luxury campsite. He could imagine having a life with someone who he'd been antagonistic towards for months on end. And it pleased him to see and hear (reading between the lines) a confirmation from Joshua-- his own warm eyes, not being alone anymore. He could imagine this dinner being repeated; Kris would make something delicious, they'd both sit down to eat it and talk; Kris would eat his way too fast, Joshua would finish last; Kris would end up in his lap, wine glasses forgotten or empty, as the businessman touched him and recalled old tales from his youth.

 

What the? "The States already have systems built and reinforced in their government to progress their own public projects," Kris answered with raised eyebrows. "It's a first-world country that has its issues, but for the most part has a history of getting things done. Guatemala is a third-world country with a broken and... seriously corrupted power structure that needs the hands of other people to funnel money into it and force things to be done correctly." Don't get mad. Don't get angry. He wasn't angry-- actually he was just more confused. "It's... I love the United States and it has done a lot for me, but I love my country, too, and I want to help my countrymen, and they-- objectively-- need more help than the U.S." To him, a billionaire in Guatemala isn't ever someone who pushes the government, it is a politician or a president who looks away from drug cartels running rampant. Those were the billionaires who squandered life after life and drained precious resources from the land. Even thinking about it was getting him hot, getting irritated, and it was manifesting in a cross expression. Quickly, he breathed in deep and closed his eyes, smiling as he exhaled. "I love my country, I need it to be better. So I have to make it better. A charity drive can only do so much," he finally said in a more measured tone before opening his eyes. "But I'll help them at the same time, so America can be even better, and Guatemala can become moderately alright."

 

Thankfully they segued into something different. Hearing about Joshua's family made Kris admire them more. His small smile had evened out again into a grin, all the while as the blonde practically complained. "Wow, so the stubborn, proud behaviour isn't just you, it's a family tradition," he observed lightly before adding on, "I like the way your family sounds." With a huff, the writer continued to speak as he idly bounced his foot. "My Mom and Dad fought me tooth and nail. I only got them to move in because I made them stay at 'my house' for a month to help me get acclimated to 'my move' before breaking the truth." Chuckling, he began speaking again, "They didn't like it. At all. But I'd made them a promise-- I told him that once I could, I'd move them to somewhere nicer. That's how I got 'em. You can't tell your child 'oh don't honor a promise that's bad' because that'd be a shitty lesson. Maybe that wouldn't work on your folks, though." He snickered.

 

His snickering continued, cheeks fanning out a blush at Joshua's lame, stupid compliments and retorts. "Eugh, shut up," he'd muttered, taking a moment to recompose himself before continuing into the final question of it all. All of the emotions, from their intense kiss at the doorway to mutual frustration and confusion when talking politics, came boiling to a head. The end result was getting to see what Joshua Weibenburg looked like when he was blushing and pleased. The imagery smacked Christopher across the cheek with its beauty and he felt himself thinking 'shit I really like him' for a umpteenth time that evening.

 

Kissing Joshua under these circumstances was totally different. He could follow it a lot better, for one, but it wasn't a sexually enticing kiss. It was something that was sweet and said a lot with very little. He kissed back, mouth moving to slot together even better. Breaking from it left the same tingling sensation buzzing in every part of him but something warmer had settled in his gut, spreading through him as he listened to Joshua's answer with a dreamy grin. Joshua said he liked him, Christopher Rosario, which was super weird and inane but absolutely top-notch by the writer's standards. Actually it was really elating and he didn't know what to do with himself for a moment because really, all he could think of was laughing hard and kissing Joshua more. Which he did after Joshua answered the first question, kissing Joshua quickly again to stifle the excited manic energy boiling in him. "Good, because having this be a one-sided feeling would have been really piss." He wanted to kiss him again and again.

 

By kissing Joshua-- again and again- Christopher had firmly meant the other's mouth but then a form-fitting, turtleneck shirt was shed and Kris could think of a lot of places he wanted to kiss. He leaned forward a little as it was drape around his shoulders like a small towel and he leaned a cheek against the material with a fond grin. "Thank you," he murmured, extra close to the other man now that he'd leaned forward. When Joshua himself came forward a little, that predatory glint in his eye, Kris felt himself tense up and this time met Joshua's lips with just as much passion. He let the man's tongue plunge past his lips and sucked at the deep, probing muscle, hand clamping on the other's shoulder as he pushed himself closer. There was no need to, since Joshua pulled him, and he found that out when Joshua broke the kiss. Every detail of the man's body sent him into shudders, especially the trail of hair disappearing neatly down buttoned trousers.

 

Hands made quick work with the shirt, Kris feeling the chill of the room clash against his heated body. With a shake, he yelped then let the hand that'd continued to linger at Joshua's head and neck run through silky, blonde locks. Sexually inept didn't begin to cove the loss the writer felt at the pleasure coursing through him at the moment. Not even one experience while dating someone could compare to how deliriously good he felt. Freckles dotted his shoulders fully, dusting down his chest to settle in lighter and sparser patterns down his body. But he was heavily freckled. Skin pinkening from the attention, his blush was also full-body, practically radiating his heat as he ground himself against the blonde's thigh. Kisses to the neck had elicited giggles, their bites and sucks whimpers and hisses, but having his nipples toyed with was foreign. Sometimes, sure, he flicked one when he watched porn and jacked off, but they'd never been something he thought about. The shocks that coursed down his body made him yelp out fully this time, and loudly. It didn't feel good.

 

Then it felt really good. And when Joshua used his teeth like that and pulled and sucked oh it was amazing. "Ha--aah, Joshu-- ah! Shit, shit." He could barely speak, words punctured by gasps then short moans. Kris had mostly kept quiet during any kind of physical encounter, voice caught in his throat and breaths stuttering. The vocalizations were eking out of him, whispery at first then becoming fully realized noises as the blonde continued to assault on his chest. He pushed his hips to rub into the hand of the man groping him, shaking with the strain and effort of trying not explode from excitement. And while the businessman was used to having a lot of control, the Hispanic felt incredibly useless doing nothing. The position was awkward but he snaked a hand between them, the heel of his palm rubbing into the formed tent of Joshua's silver pants. His nipples were responsive to the attention, pert against his brown skin. Looking down and seeing that nearly made him lose it right there. Instead, he refocused that energy into tugging Joshua's hair, trying to get his attention before the man made him keen and cum right there (a thought that felt incredibly real with how his cock was being rubbed and groped right now.)

 

Already half-hard, the memory of the evening's start and punctured moments in the middle made the blood rush there seemingly faster- as if his body was saying, "finally!" and picking up from the last checkpoint it remembered.

[-Hideki-]

Conservative candidate Joshua Weißenburg couldn’t have been any less surprised upon the journalist telling him that everyone at his work assumed everything about everyone and he could imagine the gossip, the slander of the vultures in those halls. “No really?” he remarked sarcastically. “I would have never guessed that, it’s so untypical for the vultures.” The blond said grinning widely. “I bet if your news outlet would have an in-company newspaper you’d tear apart each other for mere sensationalism and getting off on scandals in people’s personal lives.” The businessman said and imagined this with a grin! He could see it on his minds eyes and he’d really like to introduce this idea to those news outlets so that the lying press would be busy tearing each other apart.

Joshua snorted when Christopher let him know that he had not seen his truly insane laughter yet and he smiled at the other. “I bet I will hear it soon enough.” He commented with a grin.

 

“Pfft!”he made when Rosario who had had way too much fun teasing him with the raccoon thing was pouting and complaining that he should have at least one thing to tease him with and that there wouldn’t be any living with him if he started to think even more favourably about himself because Josh had started to pick the positive parts out of it and had went on about that he was really cute and smart, what he was, no doubt about that. He was very smart obviously and the people of their city found him smart too and the governor and the guy from Washington. “We all know that you are attracted to my confidence!” the businessman said raising his head a little moving his eyebrows up and down playfully.

 

Weißenburg had to keep himself from bursting out into laughter, instead he bit his thin button lip and grinned way too widely when the other said how gross that stick-man would be and how he loved it and would hang it onto the wall and frame it. Josh would totally draw that now! He’d send him something like that for real just so he could make him put this up somewhere and burst out into laughter when he saw it when he visited the other. “Buy a frame then. I want to see that.” the man stated and he couldn’t control himself anymore and started to laugh about the thought alone. “You can put it onto your bedside table with a flower and a candle next to it.” The blond man suggested and the more bullshit he talked the more amused he got and the louder he laughed as if he was back in high-school again. This definitely would have been one of the moments where his sister would have called him childish.

 

The disagreement wasn’t surprising at all, the emotional reaction was somewhat though and Josh watched the other with observant blue eyes when he angrily?, passionately?, affectedly, that was definitely one aspect, explained to him why he would do it that way. It didn’t change anything about his own outlook though and it wasn’t exactly news to him that their country was a much better country than Guatemala. It was the best country of the world anyway and that was a fact obviously! “I know how great our country is but a) its greatness is threatened and b) if something is great the people have to ensure that it stays great and work on making it even greater, by voting for me as mayor for example. We have the best country on the planet and the most powerful one and we need to maintain this status.” The businessman said. “To say that this is a first world country so we should just let it be and let the government handle it and look at other nations who messed up their own shit and help them while there are still problems and things to be improved here is not the right way. Our country first! Our people first!” Josh found and he had said this several times to the citizens of their city that they came first for him and they had loved this as they had gotten the feeling that no one cared for them enough anymore over the years and no one listened to their problems and concerns in the world and no one cared to improve their lives.” And then we can help out allies because strengthening our allies will benefit us too but we can also not allow one to be better than us in anything because we need to stay on top.” Weißenburg found and then there was something else that he had caught on and that had shocked and confused him a little.

 

“But maybe you don’t see this as your country and the American people not as your people but the country you left because it was too shitty and dangerous for you to stay there. Or why do you call Guatemala your country and those people your people and not the US your country and the American people your countrymen?” he asked. “You lived here for so long and you still don’t see this as your country? I have met an asylum seeker from Russia who isn’t here long and yet he doesn’t see himself as Russian anymore, my grandfather also calls the US his country and the Americans his people.” Joshua told him and he looked rather curious. However maybe he had now found the source of the other man’s anger and hostility towards him. He didn’t just disagree with him, Josh’s politics made him mad and he felt personally affected by them.

 

A chuckle escaped him when the journalist remarked that it wasn’t only him with the stubborn and proud behaviour but that it seemingly was a family tradition of theirs, telling him that he liked how his family sounded before he explained to him how he had tricked his family into buying them a new place to live in and it made him grin widely. “It could work with my sister or my father. But my father has a house and I could get my sister easier if I just invited her and her sons on a trip and showed them a nice large place that is better and roomier for her son’s than the apartment in the city centre she lives in I suppose. No chance with my mum though.” He let him know shaking his head thinking about his mother. That woman truly was a handful.

 

Busting out in laughter he looked at Christopher amused the way he blushed at his simple compliment to his looks and the reaction he gave him going ‘Eugh’ telling him to shut up. “No.” he answered. “If I’d actually shut up every time some left winger wants me to I wouldn’t be talking anymore at all.” He stated still amused, smirking widely. “It’s adorable though how you can’t even take a small compliment in regards to your looks without getting all flustered and going ‘Eugh’. I do that a lot so beware.” He let him know with a wink.

 

He wouldn’t have imagined just how happy it had made him to hear that the younger male actually liked him and that he could imagine being in a serious relationship with him but it did, it made his heart jump joyfully in his chest and then they shared that affectionate and soft kiss before he had to answer the same question and they kissed afterwards yet another time just that Rosario initiated it this time and Josh’s eyes went close again as he returned it and indulged in it for a moment, his heart hammering like crazy since this time the other man had kissed him onto his mouth the first time that night. A grin was on his face even before his eyes were fully open again and he heard Christopher say that it was good because it would have been piss had his feelings been one-sided. “It certainly would have been.” The blond man confirmed. “It’s a horrible feeling, I know that.” he added and the thought of his first crush from his school days came back and how all of that had went down back then had been incredibly hurtful to him and he had not forgotten the pain completely even now.

 

The way Christopher’s body reacted and how he was heating the man up was turning Josh on more, especially when he could hear the gasps and the way the man moaned his name when he was sucking, liking and biting his nipples like that as it was incredibly hot to him. He grinned having found out that he indeed seemed to be sensitive there what felt like a jackpot especially when the man’s nipples reacted to being toyed like that perking up, getting hard making the sexy freckled body of the other looking even more erotic to him. It made him kiss one of the nipples, then lick over it eagerly tasting the salty skin, then sucking again while he tortured the other nipple at the same time, pulling and pinching it. He felt the other’s hand messing up his hair and his hips pushing into the hand that groped him while he heard the noises the man let out which only enthralled him further and made the flame in his crotch grow.

 

When Chris’s arm was snaking between them and he felt the palm of his hand rubbing over the tent in his pants Josh’s dick twitched, wanting out of the tight and restricting confinements, as the blond businessman exhaled deeply against the other man’s nipple, lust overcomining him even more and he wanted the other to give his cock more attention as it was yelling for it in the pants of his suit. Meanwhile Josh’s fingers unbuttoned and unzipped the journalists pants, taking the hand that had formally been busy with the nipple to help out with pulling the man’s pants and boxers down enough so that the semi-hard cock could string free. His hand squeezed his balls before running over the shaft, up and down, pressing his thumb against the veins on the pulsing, heated rod, teasingly going up again circling his thumb over the tip of the man’s dick, using some pressure, then going lighter again. He had just grabbed the shaft, closing his thin long fingers around it beginning to stroke him when he felt the tug on his blond hair.

 

Weißenburg who had been sucking the man’s nipples while stimulating Christopher’s cock was taking his mouth and tongue from his nipples looking up at him liking over his pecs, a hungry blue gaze meeting green. He took his head away from the man’s torso completely now and started to nipple at his jaw before a husky voice was breathing into his ear. “Free it! No need to act shy now.” wanting the other to know that he could touch his body too, his dick was even throbbing and craving stimulation. Stroking the other man and from time to time rubbing the glans and pressing onto the slit to tease him before continuing to give the man’s dick, pumps and strokes, fondling and massaging his balls with the other whilst kissing his throat and neck he waited for Rosario to make his move on him. When his cock was finally freed the cool air that clashed with his heated dick gave him a little chill and he felt himself drowning in anticipation, glancing down towards their cocks which had a rather prominent difference in colour and a less prominent one in size. Joshua’s cock was aesthetic, pulsating blue veins sticking out and it was hard enough that the glans that usually was covered by his foreskin was lurking out; it was thick and about average size, proportionate to his body’s height, although he would never use the term ‘average’ for it.

Looking at both of their exposed dicks he got the urge to rub them against each other, wanting to feel Chirstopher’s throbbing, heated cock against his own.

[brinary]

" 'Oh I would have never guessed that ahuhu,' eat it." Kris gave him a gentle shove but couldn't disagree. "We already do that, it's called 'being mean and airing dirty laundry,' and it happens at least every other week. I've never participated because," he raised his shoulders, smiling proudly, "I am a Great person who has Never Done Anything Wrong," obvious sarcasm, "but I've seen a few get ugly. It's funny if you're about eight feet away from the firing squad."

 

Joshua's confidence only made Christopher roll his eyes. And smile. AGAIN. Infuriating didn't even begin to cover it. Spanish had a more diverse range in terms of its vocabulary for the particular brand of pomp and silly Joshua had. He could never say it; knowing him, the blonde would surely use context clues and refute it, or accept any curse wholeheartedly with his weird mental flipping. Imagining the man as anything but confident was now firmly out of his mind. It only got worse when they were both cackling over Joshua's stupid fucking suggestion. Framing it was something Kris had been thinking, too, and having his stupidity reflected in the King of Lameness made the other sputter and groan as he laughed. "You're so an-noy-ying, holy shit, I hate that we're definitely going to do this now," he mock-sobbed. Their first act as a pseudo-couple would be that. That. Literally being idiots and making a meme out of a nude. This was the worst and best idea Kris had ever collaborated with someone on in a while.

 

Talking politics was also one of the worst and best ideas Kris has ever had, period. But Joshua was beginning to make him rethink his stance on it in general. The shit... he said. Was inane, with a capital I. Kris could see it now, him panting from exertion, being fucked against some surface that wasn't a bed, as Joshua recited his stupid political taglines at him. He probably would eat his ass while mouthing the words for his next speech. How annoying could someone get! The question about his stance on the country really set him back in a place, a kid in school, being demanded to state his allegiance by some brat in his class. The rhetoric was just so similar. Kris could feel his body wanting to react to the memory, but swallowed the immediate insults that jumped to mind, wrestled his anger as usual. That kid was not Joshua. This was not school.

 

Weary, he answered, "They both are." Kris brought his hand up to play with the back of his hair, needing something to do as they answered. "It was never my decision to leave, although I'm glad we did. But that's my home," he answered resolutely. "America is, too, it's the home that welcomed me in, and its people are mine, but I can never not feel the joy of being in my country. The rest of my family is in Guatemala, the rest of my heritage. My blood is old there. My roots are there. I am like many species of animal that lives in these states now-- introduced, but not native. Am I proud to be American, yes, but am I also Guatemalan, yes. I will never not speak the language, I will never not cook the food, I will never not know the names of provinces, of towns, of traditions. Being back in that country brings tears, tears to my eyes." He was shaking his head now, conflicted. " You don't want to flee your home when it's on fire, because so many memories have been built there, grafted onto your skin, into your heart, but when threatened with pain, you must leave. Do you get what I'm saying? You must leave and save anyone who was also in that house. That's what my Mother did. And I'm beyond thankful for that. She saved her children, she saved herself, she found her husband and she made good on old declarations. But Guatemala is still my home. And I will see it loved and built up to be what it should always stand to be known as, just as much as I will see America love and built up to be what it should always stand to be known as." Kris sighed, pondering. "Maybe it's just who I was raised to be as. My Uncle used to say for a beautiful place like ours, the people are who run it dirty. I stand by that. Guatemala did nothing to me or my family. The governance did. The powers did. And I can't blame my country for being run by trash." He shrugged, seemingly content with that explanation.

 

"All I'm saying is," Kris began slowly. "No one I know ever objected... to a "vacation home" quote-on-quote. Maybe your Mom can be convinced to accidentally permanently live at "your vacation home" quote-on-quote, it's-a-ruse-and-obvious-ploy, quote. End quote."

 

Kris groaned. "Don't compliment me too much, I can feel my desire to yell growing at the thought of suffering more!" he exclaimed, wanting to clutch at his ears. Instead, they just got red from his embarrassment. "You're sadistic. I resent that you're going to exploit my weakness now." Green eyes looking sharply at the other, he 'tsk'ed. "I"ll just have to compliment you as much as you compliment me, compliment you until you grow sick and tired of it. That's the plan. I'll out-compliment you."

 

Just a few seconds being exposed to the colder air made his nipples feel incredibly odd. The breath Joshua fanned against them was one part relief and one part frustrating, fingers tightening in his hair as an automatic response. The experience between them extended in different ways, miles apart, as the other man somehow made quick work of his clothes. He didn't even hear the sound of the zipper but only felt the insistent tugging. Lifting himself from Joshua's lap, Kris helped facilitate in bunching the fabric down and away. The curls on his head were seen in the more relaxed, looser version of his pubes. Typically bountiful, Kris had seemed to have some sort of earnest hope for the evening. Hair trimmed down low, his cock was flushed a darker and pinker shade than the rest of his skin and twitched at the cold air. The writer had every intention in observing what happened but Joshua touching him really did a number on any semi-coherence that could've been had. His eyes squeezed close reactively, hands faltering in their motions, as he tried to close his throat, somehow stop the insistent moans that kept bubbling in his mouth.

 

One eye opened mid-way through, squinting really, as he watched tousled blonde hair and pink lips work at his chest. He saw his own fingers tug and watched as the other's gaze fixed on his own. Another knee-jerk murmur flew past his previously pursed lips, now slack with--

 

Feelings he couldn't place. Feelings he couldn't organize. Everything was too much to linger on the constriction in his chest, but he knew everything fell underneath an umbrella of deepening affection. Kris tilted his body to lean into the nibbles and bites, taking Joshua's words to heart. Although the businessman continued his onslaught, Christopher made an honest effort, twitching hands finally finding the button for Joshua's silver suit's slacks. He unfastened the restraints and fumbled with the zipper but finally got the other's pants open and his cock coaxed out from beneath breeches. It was pretty gorgeous. His throat burned just looking at it, although that could be the vocal wear from all the wanton noises he found himself making.

 

Cautious fingers wrapped around the man's length, squeezing slow and differentiating pressure as he worked Joshua's cock up and down. His mouth wouldn't close. He was utterly in love with it? Could someone fall in love with another person's penis?

 

They were both stroking each other, obviously staring. It was a bit crazy-inducing. Chris stopped mid stroke, thumb working the head as flushed cheeks expanded with a sharp exhale. "This can't do." Kris made sure the couch was clear before he leaned into Joshua, kissing him deeply. The hand in his hair went to cradle his cheek instead and the lip-lock only lasted about two or three seconds before the brunette was pulling away. Flushed though he was, Kris's obvious determination was striking in lust-sharpened green eyes. "I need you to lie back so we can do this better."

 

Getting Joshua to agree to his whims was easier than expected. It set a precedent Kris hoped would continue. He'd gotten most of his pants off in the position adjustment and wasted no time in straddling the now resettled blonde. A thankfully spacious couch allowed the room for this careful operation. Lining up their erections, Kris was once again straddling Joshua. The first press sent chills through every piece of him, but it wouldn't be enough. Carefully lowering himself, he kissed Joshua's neck as he pressed again, hips pushing up as their cocks slid together almost impeccably. Immediately, teeth sought flesh, the brunette muffling a moan into the other man's neck, the grip he'd had on the couch tightening with pleasure.

[-Hideki-]

There was something going on with the other man that was making him think that he was battling himself to not hit him now. It was obvious to him that this had somehow infuriated Christopher but he couldn’t wrap his head around why. It was a completely legitimate question in his opinion and when the other spoke like that he had to reckon with being asked further about it. But the man next to him was incredibly tense now and the blue eyes of the conservative observed him sceptically trying to figure out in which way the man was about to lash out on him now. The attack he had seen coming be that a verbal or a physical one didn’t follow though; instead he heard a weary voice answering him. What he heard made him raise an eyebrow and it completely went against Joshua’s logic and what he believed. He could see that the man was emotional but then again the subject of belonging and where ones home was was connected to emotion, home was a feeling in itself and to Weißenburg one person could only have one true fatherland and home not two.

“It can’t be both.” The blond said in a rather dry tone of voice. “Home is where your heart is and your heart can’t be at two different places at the same time.” The man stated. “You’re either a proud American or a proud Guatemalan. If both countries were in a conflict you’d have to pick one side, which would you chose?” he asked. “See, it already starts there.” The businessman found. “It has been said ‘Who ever loves that country is a Prussian’ and I think this goes for America too. If you truly love this land you are an American but if you prioritise another land and can’t really define your allegiance to this nation but are conflicted and more prone to where you’ve been born you are not a true American in my book.” He said.

 

Listening further he nodded. “Yes, I understand that.” the man said and it wasn’t the first time he had heard something like that. Actually the man sounded a lot like his deceased grandmother now. But his grandmother had always obviously missed her birthplace. She had been homesick her entire life and had had a heavy heart when she had known her fatherland was going up in flames bombed into ruins, knowing her family was in danger and would probably not survive! “I get that it was not a voluntary decision you’ve made especially at that age and that your mother made the decision for your good and your safety, but doesn’t that say a lot about the place, that she had to make this decision in the first place?” The man spoke running his hand through his hair. Weißenburg smiled when the other told him what his uncle had said about their country. “You and your uncle speak like my grandmother used to.” He stated. “Of course it’s not the fucking trees and the seas and the nice cultural buildings and the achievements of the past one can blame for current politics, it’s pretty obvious. But the people of a time define the nation of the time.” The man said and he sighed. “My grandmother never fully arrived here too though, just like you. That was the number one reason why she fought with my grandfather. Her heart was kinda hanging overseas, always. She taught my father German for example and my grandfather always demanded English to be the language spoken and didn’t want my father to learn it in the first place.” Weißenburg told him. “My grandfather wanted to change our family name. She refused blaming it on the money but I think she was just really opposed to give up her heritage.” Joshua laughed thinking about his grandparents when his grandmother had still been alive. “Do you wish to go back to Guatemala one day?” he was interested to know.

 

Josh laughed when the other ‘threatened’ to make complimenting a competition and out-compliment him to the point he’d get sick and tired of it. “You can certainly try this and throw as many compliments my way you want.” The businessman let him know. “Thing is Christopher, I am not going ‘Eugh’ at compliments, I actually appreciate them. So you can compliment my physique and my face as well as my superb character all you want, it might have the same effect on me like a soothing massage or a bath in a whirlpool.” He chuckled leaning his head back relaxing on the sofa. Josh liked to receive compliments; he liked acknowledgement and admiration if it was only genuine. The man had even appreciated Ilay’s cheesy ice-prince compliment because he knew that the man was actually expressing that he liked his looks, was drawn to him and appreciated him and he liked that feeling. He in a sense needed that feeling too for his ego; one could blame his narcissism for it and one could blame his childhood experiences and other people trying to make him feel inadequate for the narcissism that had resulted from it and had been his mechanism to battle the external experiences and it had manifested itself into his personality and at forty that would not change anymore that easily either.

 

 

A deep breath escaped him when Rosario’s hand finally closed around his throbbing length and the man’s hand cautiously experimented with pressure and started to move it and sparks of pleasure were building up in his body, his heart beat started to rise and his eyes peered from their cocks up into Christopher’s face, seeing the lusty gaze and the open mouth, hearing the wanton sounds and lewd noises he made and that added to the arousal that was about to overtake his body. His hand was moving more frantically on the other man’s cock and Josh pressed his lips onto the man’s open mouth, biting down on his bottom lip. He wanted more than that, this was not enough. He wanted to feel the other more, increase the pleasure running through them and he let out a gasp as he felt the other man’s thumb teasing the head of his cock as pleasure was shooting up his body. The blond could feel the man’s other hand on his cheek now before their lips met a few seconds again before the other expressed what he had wanted to express as well.

 

Weißenburg had absolutely no objection to get into another more practical and comfortable position for them so that they could pleasure each other more and better so he moved the other man to the side so he could reposition himself. He got up from the couch for a moment and dropped his pants and boxers to the ground completely, stripping off his socks with his feet before his naked pale butt hit the sofa again and he was lying down with his head on the armrest, his tall body stretched out over the luxurious leather. One could see the flow of his body hair that had different shades of blond, the happy trail ending in a blond bush of pubic hair that he left as it grew, his hard cock standing like a tower. Josh’s arm reached out and he pulled Christopher closer, his hand squeezing his naked arse when the man straddled him and their dicks were aligning. Heat was rushing through him when he felt the other’s delicious cock pressed against his own, feeling it pulse and throb against his own aching cock and he breathed hearable when the reporter was pushing up his hips and their dicks were rubbing against each other. Josh’s hips automatically rocked against Chris assimilating pace and rhythm to him and he started to pant slightly as the pleasure was building up, his gaze flashing at the other with lust when Christopher kissed his neck as they were grinding their dicks together. The businessman leaned his head to the side a little giving the brunette more space on his necks whilst enabling himself to press his own lips against Chris’s neck and shoulder, sucking and pinching the skin as his hips moved on their own. The man gasped into the other’s ear when the journalist let out a moan and bit down into the flesh of his neck.

 

His heated body wanted more; he wanted more friction and more stimulation, more intense pleasure. His arm slid between their bodies and his hand closed around their cock’s pressing them together in heat as they were thrusting into it while his lips were slightly parted and he left out feverish breaths. He moved his hand giving their heated cocks some strokes as he moaned against the other man’s neck. Pre-cum was oozing out and over his hand, their dicks getting more slippery. The pleasure was rising and with it the urge to ravage the other, to feel his insides clenching around his dick and he couldn’t bear with it anymore. “Shit! I can’t…” he gasped out and grabbed Chris by his shoulders threw him over and pinned him down on the other side of the sofa. Weißenburg caught him into a wild and lewd kiss, his tongue conquering the other’s mouth before he broke it and kissed placed all over his body until he reached his waist.

 

Spreading the darker featured man’s legs he positioned Christopher’s arse in a way that was convenient for him. His eyes blinked up with desire and the sight of the sexy freckled arse and the tight hole turned him on more, his dick twitching in anticipation. Kneading the other’s arse cheeks and spreading them his mouth sucked his balls before he shifted again, his tongue licking over the freckled skin of Rosario’s arse, slightly biting down into the soft flesh. Joshua’s tongue then found itself between Christopher’s arse-cheeks, licking over his anus, pressing onto the tempting entrance. Using his index and middle finger of his right hand he was prodding the other’s hole, spreading it out some to make way for his tongue that was slithering inside penetrating the other man’s arsehole. Josh was drenching the hole with saliva, his tongue moving like a snake inside, trying to reach as far as it got, opening the other up and trying to get his muscle to relax. His left hand reached for the other’s balls and cock to not neglect them, the way he did so wasn’t as rough and harsh as with Morrison though as Christopher wasn’t Morrison who enjoyed to be treated roughly and having his cock tortured and the other had also said he had never been with a man before and for a moment he wondered whether that muscle chick had ever given him a rimjob. Josh started bobbing his head slightly, his tongue penetrating the tight insides, then he stopped and just moved it around again until he felt a relaxation.

 

Pulling his tongue out of the other man’s anus he got his body up and leaned over to a small cupboard with a lamp on it that had quite a few drawers and was placed next to the sofa. He hastily and impatiently opened one drawer and took a bottle of lube out of there. Joshua got back to Rosario, flung a grin to him, his eyes flashing up hungrily and filled with yearning desire as he was rather casually drowning his hand in lubricant, applying it onto the other’s hole before he applied it inside using three of his long fingers. At that opportunity he stretched out the brunette man’s hole some more and pressed his fingers against Christopher’s prostate, slightly pulling them out and then thrusting them in again.

 

Having fooled around enough he lifted up Christopher’s butt, threw his legs over his shoulders and rubbed his dick against the lubricated hole. His cock was throbbing and twitching, yearning to be buried inside of the other. Josh’s chest was rising and sinking rather quickly as he was slightly starting to pant again when the head of his cock was prodding the other man’s entrance, the blond slowly sticking it in. A gasp came from him when he felt the tightness wrap around the head of his dick and when he was finally completely buried into the younger one he was feeling the grip of the muscle and the heat of his insides around his pulsating rod. Joshua’s hands were grabbing the other man’s waist firmly, holding up his arse when he was starting to move, sparks rushing through him again, slowly at first to find a rhythm and then he was starting to increase the pace and the strength of his thrusts.

 

Josh was ravaging the journalist’s tight arse, his balls slapping against the other’s butt, noises of clashing skin filling the room and sweat starting to glister on his pale body. The harder he was penetrating him, the more pressure he exerted and the more he stimulated the man’s prostate the tighter the muscle choked his dick and the greater the pleasure he felt. Weißenburg left out deep and pleasured moans, his mind was mush and only filled with said pleasure at this point as he was hammering deep into the other, hitting his prostate like a nail and every time he rammed his dick inside it felt like the journalist’s anus wanted to devour his dick, as if it didn’t want to let it go anymore and it was sending sharp sparks of electrifying pleasure through the businessman’s body, setting him on fire, making him thrust inside relentlessly and frantically to feel more pleasure, to bath in it, to have his mind wiped clean from anything else on it. The deep growls and moans were to hear regularly now and he couldn’t nor cared about holding back his voice at all. Half lidded eyes peered into the cute freckled face that was as consumed in pleasure as his and it only made his blood boil in his veins more. One hand grabbed the other man’s dick and gave it some irregular pumps as he couldn’t really focus as he felt how his orgasm was starting to built up, growling lowly as he was pushing in, his fingers clawing deep into the man’s flesh, his cock feeling as if it would melt inside of Christopher and he needed to get himself over the edge, his vision slightly blurred from heat and pleasure. “Fuck! Chris!” he moaned in ecstasy thrusting back into him.

[brinary]

He was too tired to be incredulous but did look at Joshua oddly as he explained his thoughts on the matter. Christopher never understood that line of thought. People couldn't love two things at once, or be proud of two things at once. "That's like saying parents have to pick favorites," he replied. "And maybe parents do pick favorites. But sometimes they don't. If there's a war, I would only try to view things from a factual standpoint to see whose side I would champion, and then maybe I just won't champion a side."

 

Joshua's grandmother sounded similar to... his family, in general. Kris gently played with the collar of the blonde's shirt as he listened, nodding slowly then answering. "Leaving your heart across an ocean is a good phrase for it, yeah," he hummed, continuing. "I do want to go back. I've gone back before, to do a documentary piece years ago." Kris got a faraway look in his eyes for a moment then shook it off physically, shivering then losing all air of seriousness. "Bleugh. The nail in the coffin is, I feel the way I feel and if you feel the way you feel, that conflicts with my feelings, then... that's okay! We agree somewhat and disagree mostly," he finally puffed. "I love my countries. The end. What's your 'the end'? I don't want to get sad while I'm with a sweet guy. This isn't a bar," Kris half-joked.

 

Kris's expression soured further until he exhaled deeply. "That's lame," he said simply. "I guess I'll make a mental note to withhold compliments and not pile them on." He rolled his eyes, pinching under Joshua's chin. "It's really unfortunate, too, because when your body finally begins to degrade you'll probably still look stupid and good. I'll just make fun of your raccoon hands and maybe your matching raccoon feet."

 

 

An unexpected development , one that Kris hadn't been anticipating, was the shocking ecstasy that touching someone would give. His fantasies extended as far as him being touched or handled. Maybe he'd kiss back, grope roughly for support, then he and this phantom would live happily in a home. Feeling flesh under his fingers in real life was completely different, in a good way! He liked the give Joshua's cock had, a very obvious extremity with its own pulsing in a mewl, how doing little things made the blonde react strongly. It wasn't really the right time to be playing analytics but Kris couldn't help his nature. The entire exchange was enthralling and pleasurable. The little gasps, like the bite as his lip, only made him more sure that a big change was needed. Chewing at his own lip after his proposal, Kris was excited to find Joshua pliant and enthusiastic about a change in pace.

 

Already naked, the writer had to remind himself not to stare and to keep moving as he placed himself over Joshua. Even with him lying down like that, Kris wanted to scoot forward the few more inches to settle over the others ramrod erection. He wanted to feel that tension, the pain of it, followed by an explosive pleasure- but that was unrealistic because he read so many articles about the importance of preparation that honestly made anal fissures more unappealing than they already had been. This felt good enough though, 'good enough' meaning 'overwhelming and nice'. Joshua picked up a good pace and rhythm, one that had Kris tensing and moaning, every other action a wild shudder as he felt his orgasm be staved off by the sheer force of his willpower. Time and time again he felt like he was going to explode, like he should yelp out about needing a minute because he felt like he was so so close. It didn't get any better when Joshua's hand was added to the equation. Kris, who had been eagerly sucking marks onto the man's collarbone, spasmed with a strangled grunt. The writer lifted himself slightly, bucking into the hand and against Josh's cock all at once, faint, rushed breaths panting out from his lips. He knew, in some regard, he painted a picture; green eyes half closed and curls wet and mused with wild abandon, as he worked his toned form with a feverish need.

 

Kris wanted to know what provoked Joshua to take direct action because he would have to repeat these things later on in life. Their kiss left him breathless yet again, and he let himself be kissed and touched, the attention making him a lot more pliable than before. "Mmm, Josh, Joshua--" he whimpered. And then being spread like some wanton whore-- unlike the description, it thrilled Christopher even more. He felt like he couldn't look down, eyes flying up at the first suck. His lips pursed-- heat was flushing through him. Every moment was anticipatory; Kris was chanting in his head to relax, to be okay, relax relax relax.

 

The first press made him choke. His collective insides felt like they were tensing from something so foreign, so different. He dug his nails into the leather of the couch and grit his teeth. Relax. But it was hard to practice something that'd been a theory for so long, just a fantasy. It felt so much better than he could have imagined. Once the man had him stretched and was tongue-fucking his asshole proper, it felt better than great. Kris's voice was worn from moaning and he had the side of his other hand locked between his teeth, lips pursed together as he quivered and gasped and hiccupped throughout the rimjon. It was weirdly soothing?

 

It felt cold, when Joshua pulled away. Immediately, the man wanted to wrap his arms around the other and beg for him to do anything, just not move, for hours on end if need be. That impulse scared him shitless. At least the small break gave him time to gather himself. His breathing was sore now, throat dry with anticipation and use. He watched the other man move above him with a confusion that hopefully wasn't showing. It came together when the snap of the bottle cap combined with Joshua's predatory smile as lube cascaded down onto his fingers. Still spread and flushed, Kris thought about the hypocrisy of feeling modest about being fucked when he was practically holding himself open for Joshua at this point.

 

Sex felt a lot different. Kris had expected fireworks and a lot of burning. Tension and screaming. He found that he could barely speak, though, the ability dying down at the first press of Joshua's heavy tip and then it slowly going in. His body had stopped understanding how to process and understand things that didn't explicitly revolve around that moment. If it wasn't Joshua and it wasn't him, then there was no reason to think about it. In fact, there was no reason to think period-- the overwhelming pleasure had killed his synapses and ruined thought. Breathing inhibited, brain working slow. Christopher just let himself enjoy getting fucked by someone he really liked.

 

His hands flew everywhere, holding onto the man's shoulder, tangling in his hair, scrapping down Weibenburg's back. He couldn't even control himself. His body reacted on its own, squeezing tight around Joshua, relaxing and tensing on its own accord in direct reaction to the pleasure of being pummeled. Drool was making its way from the corner of his lip, he was bent in a position he knew would bring him pain, but the only thing that mattered was the moment. He could distantly hear himself groaning Joshua's name, the warble that his keens took on, and the incomprehensible words that followed after it. Trying to tell him that he was going to cum, to beg him to keep going, but the only thing that he could discern distantly was 'Josh.' When the man touched his cock, tugging and stroking, he made a strangled yelping noise. "oH fuck-- guhhhn, fuck, fuck Joshua, Josh, Josh, please, I--" It was happening before he could even stop it. Lidded eyes opening wide, then squeezing close as he dug his fingers into the blonde's back. With a long shudder he was cumming, fucked through his orgasm as he spent himself with interrupted gasps ad moans.

[-Hideki-]

Christopher clinging onto his back, the way the other moaned his name, the drool that was running down from his bottom lip, the other’s pleasured face which he finally got to see was incredibly erotic and arousing and he didn’t mind how the man’s hands were scrapping his back, he even wanted him to hold onto him even more firmly. When Josh had closed his hand around the other man’s cock and was stroking him he felt how heavily it was pulsating and twitching and how Chris’s body was trembling under him, how the muscle was getting so tight around his cock that it pressed all air out of the businessman’s lungs, hearing the younger male yelp, calling out his name, begging him, his fingers digging deep into the flesh of his back and then the journalist came while Joshua was fucking him, thrusting into him deep and hard, cum running over his hand, dripping down the brunette man’s cock, some getting onto his abdomen. It was a way too hot sight, and the other’s insides constricting that hardly and tightly around Weißenburg’s dick, making his body melt in pleasure was enough to send him over the edge too.

 

He took his hand away from the brunette’s dick and back to the waist, holding incredibly tight, his thrusts were getting harder but losing regularity and rhythm now, his muscles were constricting and sticking out clearly and more defined, tendons and veins were getting visible, his carotid sticking out again as he bucked up into the other, his fingers clawing into the man’s flesh, as he growled due to the pleasure that was overflowing him at the peak, his climax, his mouth slightly open, his face heated as he was unloading inside of Chris, his seeds filling the other male up.

 

Closing his eyes for a moment he was panting heavily and his chest was rising and sinking incredibly fast, his heart pounding so hard that he felt it might break through his rips and would show through his skin. His skin was glistering from sweat and his temperature was still up. He opened his blue eyes again and his face looked pleased, satisfied as he bend over and pressed a feverish, breathless kiss onto Christopher’s trembling lips, his tongue parting the other male’s mouth, wrapping around the other’s as if it wanted to melt together with it. As heated and as passionate as the kiss was as short it was too because Joshua needed to catch some air. A string of saliva was attaching their mouths when he had broken the kiss and looked into the green eyes with an intense gaze. His cock was still buried between the reporter’s legs and he remained so for a few seconds more before he pulled it out, the air in the room feeling cold against his cock that had stuck in the heated insides of the other man. A swell of sperm was dripping out of the hole when he pulled out and was running along the others thigh and onto the leather of the sofa, the sight made a new spark of arousal form in him and his eyes lay on the other man’s tight hole for a moment beholding his ‘work’. The good thing was that leather was easy to clean from their body fluids later.

 

Rolling off to the side he sat up and there was an automatism that had formed as a habit the last years that made him want to get distance between them when his hand was closing around the package of cigarettes. He needed to remind himself that this wasn’t one of his flings, not a hook-up, that they had had an actual date, that they had talked, that they both liked each other for his brain to understand that he could lay with him like this for a while. Hence he lit his cigarette, pulled the smoke deep into his lungs and let it out again, before he was lying down behind Christopher again, their sweaty bodies slightly touching and he wrapped the free arm around the other man’s darker tanned body. Josh didn’t say anything, he was just laying close to the man, smoking while his blue eyes were taking in the sight of his stunning physique. His manly body had something elegant, something graceful and not some chicks as the other had tried to tell him before. Josh looked at the dark body hair, the curly pubes over his magnificent dick that he had yet to suck another time – he hoped there would be one anyway – and there was a smile playing around his pale, thin lips as he pulled on his cigarette again, examining the patterns of Rosario’s cute freckles. He was hot. And handsome. And gorgeous. And if Joshua would tell him he’d go all ‘Eugh’ at him again and that thought actually made him chuckle.

 

Then again, he couldn’t help but to at least tease the other man a little. Pressing his body somewhat closer behind the other’s, taking the cigarette out of his mouth, he laid his chin on the journalist’s shoulder breathing into his ear. “Your pleasure face is amazing. Incredibly hot. I want to see it again.” The man whispered and kissed his neck and jaw with a smirk on his face. And then there had been the way he had moaned his name that heatedly, he wanted to hear it again too, hear him call out his name like that again, he thought as he was nudging his nose against the other man’s freckled cheek. “And have I told you that I am totally into your freckles before.” Weißenburg said and lightly let his cigarette free hand brush over the other man’s torso before he rose it the man’s head and stroked some curls out of the other’s face. “It’s totally ‘lame’ though…” he emphasised that word “…. that you can’t take a complement.”

 

Weißenburg let his long, thin fingers run through the other man’s curly hair, caressing him, wrapping the curls around his index finger, playing and messing with it, with a joyful smile on his pale face that was even innocent looking. He already loved that hair. The texture, the thickness, the chestnut colour, how it framed the other man’s face, how it was basically untameable if one didn’t count the ‘hot hair guillotine’ in that was. He had no clue why the other had dyed it or straightened it in the first place. “I already wanted to touch your hair badly when I saw how it really looked like for the first time.” Joshua admitted as he was wrapping another curl around his finger. This had been in that stupid club. That the other man didn’t know though as he had still no idea that the guy in the camouflage pants had been him. In retrospect it was quite funny though. The other had obviously been enticed by him a supposed total stranger, just touching his shoulder and whispering into his ear how hot he was. It was cute really.

 

Josh leaned over towards the table and pressed out his cigarette in the ashtray on the coffee table before he leaned back again continuing to play with the other’s hair just that the other hand was caressing and roaming over his body in a sensual way, feeling his skin and body hair. “Was it like you had imagined though? Sleeping with a man for the first time I mean?” Joshua was curious. He had never been anyone’s first guy before after all and the thought was quite exciting too. Then there was a smirk forming on the conservative candidates lips and he grinned into the other man’s face. “And how was it to sleep with your political enemy as a serious left-wing journalist?” he asked in a teasing manner, stretching one of the other man’s curls until it was straight and then letting go seeing how it curled back together again. “Imagine if they knew? Your fans and readers. That you are into me and I was inside of you out of all people?” he found the thought hilarious. Then again it wouldn’t be much different vice versa. Some of his followers, many, would be shocked about that too even if one left the gay factor out of the equation.

 

Laying like that for a while, just holding the other he enjoyed the silence around them and just being close and that no one was rushing into the shower with a guilty face to hush out of his house like a beaten dog as quick as possible. “Would you like to spend the night?” Weißenburg suddenly asked and he didn’t know where this was coming from now himself but while he surprised himself he didn’t regret having articulated the invitation. “Take a bath with me, then watching a stupid movie together in the bedroom?” he suggested. “Or would you rather be on your way and do whatever you have to do for that night?” Joshua shrugged and looked up to the ceiling for a moment and then back into green eyes. He kinda wished for the other to stay. To fall asleep next to him because he hadn’t had that in years! The man had not even known that he was capable of missing something as stupid and he had never thought about it but in that moment he just would have liked to not spend the rest of the night alone as always but with Christopher.

[brinary]

Could Joshua hold him tight enough to bruise? It seemed more likely than he'd thought, the pressure on his waist so firm and nearly crushing. His orgasm made him want to relax and close his eyes, get his bearings, but the oversensitivity was being maximized by Joshua. Difficult as it was to encourage the other's behaviour, Kris's gasps and sobbing moans seemed to help a little in that department. And he struggled to keep his eyes open, to look at the man above him as he neared his own threshold. All his senses were being overloaded. From the fingers digging and clawing into his sides and waist, to the growling, the slapping of wet skin, the smell of their combined musk, and Joshua's gorgeous, gorgeous face. If this had been another stint where he hadn't masturbated in a month, Kris was sure he could have gotten hard again and came from the sight alone.

 

His hand loosely holding the back of Joshua's neck, he finally let his eyes close as the other stopped and came in him. He didn't know how he thought it would feel, but it was definitely satisfying. He could feel his body tensing around Joshua but finally relaxing, allowing Christopher himself to sag somewhat. Joshua's kiss didn't come as a surprise this time-- he felt like he was getting a little bit of a hang, what with noticing the particular gleams in the blonde's eyes, or reading the particular tensing of his body. Christopher thought dimly about all the places Joshua's mouth had been in their encounter as he returned the kiss with the last of his energy, panting as their lips parted. His gaze was unwavering, staring up at Joshua with a half smile and wet, plumped lips. He was a messy lover, drool and saliva lingering at certain parts of his face, green eyes slightly agitated from closing his eyes so hard, the tears that formed and threatened to fall like waves on a beach.

 

 

They only flinched closed as Joshua pulled out. The drag was unexpected; Kris shuddered at the pinch of pain, then the sadness at being left a little empty. It was weird. Not having a cock in you for years on end didn't feel strange but suddenly an however long they'd even been at it, that short time compared to years, it felt foreign the sudden cold and slack that his ass felt like. He could even feel things moving, the semen coming out, settling with the movement of Joshua's cock and its disappearance now. Kris felt like his existence had briefly slid inside of a stranger's body. He let himself spread out wantonly, no shame in hiding his body but just the overall exhaustion and need for comfort. Slowly the man remembered how to use his extremities, rolling his shoulders and lifting a hand to rake his curls out from his face (although they stubbornly fell back into place.) Joshua was shifting near him, and he watched, green eyes observing the other before a smile curled on his lips again and he made room for Joshua to lay down.

 

This is what his fantasies had been missing. The closeness. He liked this part a lot. Joshua's body fit so well with his, or at least it felt that way. Cheek resting against the leather, he thought about what he would do if they were facing each other. Probably have one hand was between their bodies, lightly tickling his fingers up Joshua's chest before settling down and just resting there, moving up and down. Kissing and gazing at one another. But being held from behind felt just as good. All in due time. After all, they were dating. The brunette turned his head just a little to glance back at the man looking down at him, and wanted to ask him, 'what?' but couldn't bring himself to form the words. Joshua was too gorgeous. Especially when he was smoking and chuckling. When he did anything, really, Joshua was attractive. Christopher looked away and settled back down, feeling his cheeks burning again.

 

It was so juvenile to be flustered about how cute a boy was. Joshua's dick had just been inside of him and he was still blushing because he liked him.

 

"Wh--" Stunned at the husky voice in his ear, he let out a started laugh shortly after, voice breathless from that evening's activities. "Oh my God, you're so..." The other man stole his tagline and he could only laugh again, stupefied. "It's lame that you think me not taking compliments well is lame. Don't take 'lame' from me, it's practically my catchphrase," he murmured. Body pressing back into Joshua's, he turned his head slightly to catch one of Joshua's fingers in a small nip. Staring up at the man with mischief and affection, he settled back down for the pure fact that the position was a pain on his neck. Knowing that Joshua was observing him made him want to curl up, but he fought the urge to, because he knew he liked it. And he figured it was something to get used to.

 

The writer kept glancing back anyways, just because he really liked to look at Weibenburg. Like a cat with a fussy owner, Christopher let himself lay there prone with the occasional chuckles or faked churlish responses. His hair being played with was one of his favorite things-- anyone close to him was invited to touch it as their heart desired, and having it played with by someone he liked so much made him dizzyingly happy. Although he'd never admit it. "Oh. At the rally?" he asked, interested before 'tsk'ing. "To think it was the hair that did it... Is that why you played cute and did the footsie and everything? My hair?" He was half-joking but still interested as he never did pin down why that day had been the deciding factor for Joshua.

 

Being touched, teased and fondled truly did unlock a guilty pleasure in Christopher. While this couldn't be called "innocent," their post-sex haze was so sweet and nice that ruining it with wanting to get fucked again was a sad thought. But Joshua really was making the Hispanic turn to mush. It took him a few minutes to be able to answer the question the other had posed. With a slow hum in the back of his throat, Kris nodded slowly. "It felt really good. Better, excellent. Amazing. It was less... painful than I thought it would be. Really good. Really, really good." He laughed. "I'm obviously sex-stupid right now. I'll give a better answer tomorrow, when I'm more... not sex-stupid," he ended with another chortle before quieting to listen to Joshua's little hypotheticals. He hummed. "If they knew, then, oh well. I'll be happy to give them tickets if they'd enjoy being spectators to a repeat of what we just did."

 

They lulled into silence and it was comfortable. He felt like he could doze off. He craned his neck to look back at Joshua when the man asked his slightly hurried questions, and rolled over fully to face him and kiss him sweetly. It held the same passion, but an ease and relaxation to it, as if they'd already been doing this for years. Hand smoothing over Joshua's jaw, he stroked it as he broke their kiss. "Bathing sounds good. I pick the movie." Pecking the blonde's nose, he moved again, swinging himself over Joshua then into the space between the coffee table and the couch. Being vertical had led to more vertical motion with the semen at his thighs again but he ignored it in favour of gathering their clothes.

 

"These should be washed. You have a hamper in your room right? Because if not, there's going to be a corner designated for just clothes now." Kris looked back at him with a smile before making his way up the stairs. As big as Joshua's house was, it seemed to operate like any normal house-- you could tell which bedroom was the master's, the bathroom didn't have weird controls and Joshua did, in fact, have a hamper in his room. All things which Kris knew how to operate and work his way around. By the time the other man came up the stairs, he was already making the bath and looked delighted at how large the tub was. Suds-upped and warm didn't deter a lot of heavy petting. Kris had to pull the plug on their slowly growing arousal; he really didn't want to have sex again. Not because he disliked it, or because he was too tired. But too much exposure to Joshua's cock might make him into a monster that he never knew he could become. The writer needed to vent some measure of self-control, even if the blonde seemed befuddled by the concept in general.

 

Wearing only a shirt Joshua had procured for him, the rest of that evening was spent with Kris wondering if this would become a semi-regular routine. Having heartstopping sex, soaping up, washing off, then curling up with one another in the comfort of a large bed. Legs tangling with the blonde's, Christopher watched the movie for as long as his attention could allow- and denied anytime Joshua pointed out that he'd nodded off. But he fell asleep incredibly fast, pressed up comfortably with his new--

 

boyfriend.

 

So lame.

[-Hideki-]

Joshua merely let out a laugh and ignored the other’s complaint about him stealing his catchphrase from him enjoying their closeness, playing with his curls and how the other man looked up into his eyes, having to turn his neck in the process to look up at him. When the journalist then asked him if it had been the hair that had made him initiate body contact and acting cute with him after the blond had admitted that he had wanted to touch his hair the whole time Weißenburg had to laugh about him again and an amused smirk was playing around his lips. “You’ve gotten me there. I did all of this, invited you today and talked to you in such a manner, just so that you’d let me touch your hair without yelling at me and scratching my face you cute idiot.” The businessman answered sarcastically because it was much easier to answer sarcastically than to talk about his confusing, conflicting feelings and desires and what had gotten him to act as he had and to see the other in another light. And while he was incredibly blunt, even with his complements and usually just said how he saw it he wasn’t all too good at talking about something like this, it was embarrassing too after all.

 

He also had gotten yelled at and scratched in his face because he had just touched that girl’s hair in kindergarten. But it had been really interesting hair, long as hell and it had even looked unreal and he had badly wanted to touch it. Apparently he had not been the only one to just grab that girl’s hair though and she had gotten mad and had yelled at him and scratched his face. He had not gotten the reaction why she had hurt him because he had not wanted to hurt her but his mother had explained to him that he couldn’t just touch other people’s hair and he had never done something like that again like this.

 

A wide and self-satisfied smile was to see on his face when Christopher told him how excellent, amazing and good it had been and felt to have sex with him and he pressed his lips against the brunette’s neck, his lips still curled up in a smile. A chuckle was to hear when the other man told him that he was ‘sex stupid’ now and would give him a better answer than this one tomorrow. “But I like this answer.” The blond let the other know and he really did. The answer contained a lot of positive adjectives after all and that the man had found their sex amazing was really pleasing to hear. That he had thought it would hurt much more was a little amusing, then again he couldn’t say anything about it as he had no idea how it felt to have something inside and he really didn’t want to know because he already didn’t find the thought to get fucked appealing in the slightest.

 

Snorting he looked at the other man when he told him that if his fans and readers knew that he’d give them tickets to watch them have sex. “So you think that your left-wing readers are all little perverted voyeurs like you are?” he teased him grinning cockily when he remembered what the other had said in regards to the video and why he had kept staring through the window even when he had figured that there was nothing of political interest but just sex going on in the room. To imagine Rosario in front of his window watching him fuck with a hooked gaze, probably hard was crazy but also hilarious. Most likely Josh had been lucky that the other hadn’t started to fap and ejaculate against his window. The thought made him laugh and shake his head at the same time. It was hilarious, in an absurd and completely wrong way.

 

His heart jumped when Chris kissed him that sweetly, let his hand run over his jaw and agreed to spend the night with him and it made him happier than it really should. The man closely watched the other when he stood from the sofa and he could see his sperm running down the man’s leg and the sight made him grin dirtily. Those thoughts were interrupted though when the younger male pointed out that the clothing should be washed and asked him if he had a hamper in his room. Joshua informed him that he did have one that he usually had his dirty clothing somewhere on the floor though anyway until the next morning when his cleaning lady would arrive and tidy up and clean the house and do his laundry. Her name was Yvonne and she was an angel, Weißenburg didn’t know how his household would be maintained without her although he could pass on the scolding he often got from her and the constant reminder that he had nasty men habits and that he needed a woman who was fierce enough to get those out of a forty years old and for some reason she always suggested her cousin to him.

 

His blue eyes followed the other man when he left the area with the sofa and left the living room to go upstairs. He took a deep breath and lit another cigarette before he followed the other man up where he could already hear the water running into the bathtub. The businessman didn’t let the opportunity to sneak up to him and wrap his arms around his waist from behind slip, didn’t miss to kiss him eagerly before they took a warm and relaxing bath together. It had been a while since he had taken the time out of the day to take a bath and smoke while doing so. It usually were quick showers he took but this was really nice especially in company.

 

The man also didn’t bother that Rosario had insisted on picking out the movie for them. He didn’t really care what they watched anyway, he had just wanted the other to spend the night with him and he had achieved it, although it had not needed any persuasiveness at all since Christopher had initially liked the idea. And although he would never say it out loud the blond man liked to lay in bed with the other, cuddling up and having their legs entangled, trying to interlock their toes like their fingers. Josh’s feet were thin as well and his toes were thin also and bony and relatively long too. So in a sense they fitted his hands after all and when he realised this because the other had announced making fun of his ‘raccoon hands’ and his feet if they were similar he blushed faintly.

 

Throughout the movie the journalist was about to fall asleep quite sometimes and he found it cute and funny and teased him with it and the man denied what was obvious every time what didn’t make it any less amusing. When the other had finally fallen asleep for real the blond stroked through his hair and softly kissed his lips, smiling totally sentimental and stupidly glad that no one was there to see that kind of face he made and although he had made fun of the other for dozing off he fell asleep during the end of the movie holding the other man in his arms not knowing what the end of that movie was now.

 

 

 

 

In the morning he growled and blinked his eyes after his phone was buzzing for the trillionth time in the early morning and since he never was in a good mood when he was woken up and had a truly terrifying aura he didn’t want to turn to grab the phone but it buzzed again. When he wanted to turn around he realised for the first time that the warmth he felt wasn’t his blanket that had gotten such great abilities over night but that he was holding a man in his arms, a cute one, a handsome one, one he had slept with, one that was an idiotic left-winger, one he liked and although it was morning and he hated mornings he grinned when he looked at him for a moment though that died off again when he heard the fucking phone yet another time. He somehow managed to pull out his arm under the younger man’s body and rolled to the side where his phone was laying on the bedside table. And there they were, a trillion messages from his adviser, the last one telling him to finally answer and to turn on the bloody news already! Josh looked if he had slept too long but it was fucking 6:30am and he wanted to tell his adviser that and throw the phone into the hamper. He decided against it though and turned on the news. He chose ‘WOLF news’ because he found they were the only ones with good reports that focussed on the facts.

 

The screen showed a petite blond woman in a pinstriped black costume holding a microphone who was positioned in front of a government building. Joshua knew this lady. He had talked to her. She was from his party. The first thing other than the woman his half asleep mind registered was the name of their city and then the words ‘asylum’ and ‘refugee status’ and suddenly he was wide awake, antipathy rising up in him, his blood starting to boil angry and he wanted to scream at the screen that they didn’t want those terrorists in their city as he kicked his blanket away sitting in front of the TV in his boxers about to write an angry post using high as fuck murder and violent statistics and how they had risen from Europe when the woman on screen went over to two men who were apparently the asylum seekers and who didn’t look like Muslims at all. Weißenburg let his phone sink as he watched and actually listened more focussed now.

 

“I’m standing here with Björn Pahnke a chemist from Germany and Sören Overgaard a history professor from Sweden who have arrived in the states currently and have filed an application to be granted asylum here in the US. Doctor Pahnke is it correct that you are seeking political asylum due to the reason that there is at the moment a lawsuit filed against you in Germany with the threat of up to three years in prison for having stated your political opinion and that you see your rights, the right of free of speech and opinion taken away from you by the German state ?” she asked the man who had caramel hair, silver grey eyes, a strong jaw and was wearing a dark blue suit and a red tie. “Exactly. I publically expressed my opinion on my own personal social media page and the next thing I knew was being told that the state is pressing charges against me under an old paragraph also known as the ‘blasphemy paragraph’ which could get me into prison for up to three years for expressing my opinion. This has happened before. While the German constitution has freedom of speech granted there are laws making freedom of speech impossible and people’s rights to express themselves are restricted constantly. I’m being persecuted for having expressed my view which the government doesn’t agree with and wants to silence.” The man explained in a calm and composed tone of voice.

 

The woman had been given a tablet while the man had spoken and she nodded into the direction of the device. “We have the statement in question right here, translated for me and it appears that you have stated that Islam is a tumour that causes inevitable destruction to the society exposed to the ideology and that every follower of said ideology was a cancer cell and by allowing people with such a worldview inside the own country one welcomed an obvious Trojan horse that will sooner or later result in the destruction of the host culture, take over and turn it into the same shitholes those people came from and that history has shown so and that there are dozens of examples for this procedure. You then stated that every one murdered, every victim of rape and terror in Europe is the fault of your chancellor who allowed this to happen and that she should not only be condemned for breaking the law by letting the invading hordes into the country but also should be convicted for complicity in murder and rape and locked up for a life time. Which is your opinion as you said, one can agree or disagree, but you are not allowed to say this in Germany apparently and to avoid getting imprisoned for your political opinions you fled here where there is still freedom of speech.” The woman said really proudly and the man nodded. “This is correct. It’s also supposed to be a statement. A statement that we’re not going to take their fascistic method of silencing us as our government apparently hasn’t learned anything at all.” Björn said and the woman nodded. “Thank you. Professor Overgaard. You are seeking asylum for you and for your family because you see your children and wife’s lives threatened by Muslims in your neighbourhood in Sweden. Is it right that someone has threatened to rape your daughter if she doesn’t cover her complete body?” the woman interviewed the other man and Joshua was beaming at the screen like a child on Christmas, no, even more. This was perfect! Gold for his campaign! Pure gold for his campaign! Those men were wonderful. He would let them make their statement and he would help them to get through with it too.

 

When the woman gave back into the studio there was a grey haired man in a black suit sitting behind a desk informing about the outrage this had caused in Germany and Sweden and that if those two men would be granted asylum in the US this could lead to a diplomatic crisis. He showed a video of the a speaker of the German government demanding to return their citizen against whom current proceedings were going on and who had broken their law who had left the country somehow even though he had not been allowed to do so (they had not thought that there had been the risk of flight) and that not returning him to them would be violating their sovereignty. While the Swedish government emphasised that this man and his family were allowed to immigrate to the US if they so pleased but granting them asylum would be a major insult against their nation and the conditions in their nation. Then the grey haired man appeared on screen again who was talking about how different political groups in the US responded and that some wanted them to be send home immediately, that they made a mockery of actual asylum seekers and refugees while others were in favour of granting them political asylum because they got persecuted for their opinions. Then their city’s mayor was interviewed and the man was sweating, incredibly tense and nervous, extremely uncomfortable that their city had been dragged into that international affair and that he had to give a statement. Their current mayor didn’t really seem to have any clear opinion about anything at least it always looked like it. The short, chubby man was fondling his collar when he was assuring that their agencies and judges would process and review those cases and come to the rightful decision according to their laws.

 

Joshua didn’t care about what was said anymore he was grabbing his phone and was texting his adviser back. ---I WANT THOSE TWO MEN! WHEN I SPEAK TODAY! ARRANGE SOMETHING! --- And then he was rolling around on that side of the bed happily while he was laughing in sheer delight. “Perfect!” he rejoiced and dynamically got out of his bed, calling the man from Washington who had visited him two days earlier while he was dancing around a little. He heard a hectic voice and the sounds of fast footsteps on the floor, no sign of sleepiness that early in the morning. “Those asylum seekers from Europe, they need to be granted asylum! Grant them asylum!” Josh said his lips curled up in a smile getting right to the point. “Mister Weißenburg, good morning.” The man from Washington said before he coordinated some people who had asked him something while he was walking through the floor. “This would certainly be beneficial for you as well as our office’s course. I have already made this a point on the schedule I have to talk with the president about. I shouldn’t let this go under for sure. But I can’t talk to him now. He is eating Froot Loops and watching his series and he always gets mad when someone interrupts him watching his series.” The man said nearly running into some guy who carried a pile of files. Weißenburg raised an eyebrow and formed ‘What the fuck’ with his mouth wordlessly. “He is the president! What series can be more important than his damn job!” he barked into the phone and the man on the other end started to stutter. “Well, he appears to be a huge fan of SpongeBob SquarePants. He likes the starfish, finds him really clever. And last time I disturbed him he threw something at my face, fortunately I could repel it with my phone.” The man said and Josh didn’t believe his ears. “SpongeBob SquarePants? The president is watching SpongeBod SquarePants? Are you kidding me! Then talk to the Secretary of State.” He said and crossed his arms. “Is abroad.” The man said and Weißenburg sighed. “Alright, I don’t care what you do, or how you do it, but could you somehow arrange it that those two men will become citizens of this city, I would very much appreciate it.” He said and the man nodded, then remembered that the other couldn’t see him. “I’ll see what I can do.” He said and they hung up.

 

“SpongeBob.” He repeated. “Unbelievable. I’d be much better at that job. Loser.” Weißenburg mumbled to himself and then he remembered Christopher who was lying in his bed. He was walking around it and leaned down to him, kissing him and letting his hand run through his hair. “Morning.” He greeted him with a smile.”I have just gotten splendid news. If I always wake up to splendid news when we spend a night you should always sleep in my bed.” Joshua jested, excited blue eyes looking into green. “However, I have to rush now. But how about I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning and we drive to my father’s restaurant and have breakfast with my grandpa. He has most energy during the morning hours you know. Just text me your address later alright!” he decided and went into the bathroom with his cellphone in hand, letting ‘WOLF news’ on in the bedroom.

 

He got himself ready in a black suit, a grey shirt and a black tie this time and when Christopher and he had left the house together and he said his goodbye and ‘see you tomorrow’ to him he disappeared in a black limousine that was picking him up. Inside he looked into the face of his adviser and his assistant and they started to talk to him immediately telling him that they had been able to get him an appointment with the two men and that both of them were ready to speak on his stage together with him at midday.

 

Joshua met the two European men an hour before he was giving his speech in the ‘cultural centre’ of their city and he found them really easy to get along with and polite. They told him a bit about who they were and their motivations and Josh gave them some insight about who he was and what his political goals were and neither of them seemed to find major disagreements and showed themselves delighted that he wanted to advocate for their case and even give them the opportunity to talk on such a stage and to grant them such attention so that the people could hear their statement. It was a win-win situation. Josh would benefit from them and they would benefit from him. And when Josh stepped onto the stage they stood a little in the background at first until he had led to the point where they were addressed. “As a former soldier, I have seen those ratsnests with my own eyes, I have seen what this ideology leads to and I don’t want our nation to suffer this fate. And we can see what uncontrolled immigration of people from third world countries with an ideology incompatible with ours can lead to as well, lives of decent American citizens have already been lost to their terror. Those gentlemen over there are from Europe and when we thought of Europe, we have once thought about the enlightenment, about rich cultures, about scientific progress but now when we think of it we think of crime, murder, mass rape, Muslims forcing their believes on people, burkas everywhere. And those men have seen the consequences firsthand. Professor Overgaard’s family was threatened, he had to leave his home because his daughter and his wife weren’t safe anymore and Doctor Björn Pahnke has stood up against what’s happening in his country and what his government is doing and is now persecuted for using his right of free speech ladies and gentlemen and I think that we should listen to them and their stories. Not only listen but to grant them asylum in this country. Those men are not some goatfuckers who we fight abroad because they attack our free world and threaten our way of life constantly, their culture is compatible with ours, they have high qualifications as a doctor of chemistry and a professor of history and we can benefit from them. We give them something and they give us something valuable and beneficial in return. This is the type of immigration that has made this nation great and not what the left is trying to sell you, some goatfucker who hates this nation and wants to see it destroyed, beats his wife and forces her to wear a bin liner everyday won’t benefit anyone here, it will destroy our culture, the culture you can admire in this centre. It also is a punch in the face of every soldier who risks his or her life to defend our freedom from those terrorists and now we shall listen to our new friends.” He said, his followers who had come to see him speak in the cultural centre were applauding his speech and then listening to the new arrivals in their city. Josh’s blue eyes were wandering through the crowd and his stomach turned upside down when he saw Ryan Stephenson winking at him giving him thumbs up and he felt like he wanted to throw up, why did this arsehole have to show up at his speeches for fucks sake and why did he have to like them, couldn’t hate them, was that too much to ask?

 

There was a question round afterwards and than a buffet and at one point he had seen Ryan Stephenson leaving the event seemingly in a hurry and he had no idea why or where that bloke was going and he didn’t care either he was just glad he was gone. When he had put a bunch of shrimps onto his plate one of his bodyguards was suddenly walking up to him. “Sir!” he said and Josh turned around to him. “Hmm?” Josh made looking at the man who was even taller than himself. “We have a problem, follow me to the back door.” He said and followed the man but not without asking what that ‘problem’ was. “AntiNa.” He answered. ‘AntiNa’ was a radical international left-wing terrorist group that had basically destroyed a complete part of a German city a while ago and who were known to be violent. “What is with AntiNa?” Joshua wanted to know not getting what he and his event had to do with AntiNa. “European AntiNa has corresponded with American AntiNa and they have a mission going under # NoAsylumForNazis and # SendTheFascistPigsToJustice and they are after your guest speakers. The Swedes family had already been evacuated from the house they had been in after the address had been made public but the group has mobilised and blocks the main entrance of the cultural centre. They also weren’t happy when they heard you referring to Muslims as goatfuckers over life stream either and have basically declared you unprotected game.” The man explained as he was led out of the back entrance and had to get into the limousine where both European men were sitting in already.

 

“Disappointed?” Josh asked them after a while when they had left the city centre behind. “Was to be expected!” Björn said and Sören nodded, silence followed and one bodyguard asked where they should go now and the blond had no idea. Where could he go with two men that would probably then be kidnapped by ‘AntiNa’ and brought to god knew where. He looked at his phone instead and saw a tweet from Tristan Jiles. --- Freedom of speech protects all opinions. No one should be persecuted for their opinion in a democracy and a free nation. No matter what they say. Ever heard of:‘I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it’! Grant them asylum! # FreedomOfSpeech ---

“I know the perfect place!” Weißenburg said and told the driver the address and he could see how the men’s faces lit up a bit.

 

The limousine was incredibly full now with him, his advisers, some bodyguards and the two Europeans but no one spoke. There was just the voice of the reporter from ‘CCIN’ news to hear from the tablet one of his advisers held and basically everyone was following the events. Joshua didn’t like CCIN news and wanted ‘WOLF news’ instead but his adviser had said that they needed to know how those on the other end of the political spectrum thought to be prepared and he couldn’t argue against that. “Should a candidate for mayor of a major city call a Middle Eastern and African nations ‘ratsnest’ and Muslims ‘goatfuckers’? Sounds unbelievable but this appears to be a question in our times. Joshua Weißenburg conservative candidate for mayor has done just that during a speech where he advocated against taking in immigrants as well as asylum seekers from Muslim nations and advocated in favour of high qualified immigration from Europe. This also leads to the question whether this man is a racist. We’ve asked the people of the city what they think about the statements of their conservative candidate. Mandy Peterson, for you!” the screen changed and they saw a woman with black locks and a red knit cap on her head walking the streets with her microphone.

 

She went up to an old man who was just leaving a pub and walking up to him. “Good day Sir!” she said and the man looked a little confused confronted with the camera and why suddenly someone wanted his opinion about politics. “What do you say about Joshua Weißenburg calling Muslims goatfuckers?” she asked and the man chuckled. “Well, it lacks diplomacy. It was a slip up in words choice. He should have not used that word. But other than that what he said in that speech was factually correct.” The man answered slowly. “You don’t think that he is a racist?” the young woman wanted to know from the old man. “No. He’s not a racist. He is a good guy I think. Not a professional politician but I think he will learn to balance out what terminology to use better given time.” He answered and it was not the answer the woman wanted. “Would you still vote for him?” she asked and the man nodded. “Yes, I’m gonna vote for him.” He said and smiled before he said that he had to go because his wife had made dinner for him. The woman then asked the next person she found who was a female college student as it seemed. “What do you say about Joshua Weißenburg and him call….” She was cut off. “Disgusting! The man is disgusting! He is a racist! Someone like this should not run for mayor. Who still votes for or is in any way involved with such a man isn’t any better. This moron should resign from running for office. What is he even talking against immigrants the whole time, doesn’t the guy have like German parents or something. Let’s deport him back there, they can have him, we don’t want him.” She yelled into the microphone visibly mad and the reporter laughed. “His grandparents.” She corrected because she felt obligated to otherwise she wouldn’t have.

 

It went on like this and the people were basically divided into two different sides on the matter. When Mandy Peterson gave back to the studio where her red headed colleague sat behind a blue desk a picture of Joshua’s property, his business appeared on screen and Weißenburg went into ghost mode, his eyes opening wide and he ripped the tablet out of his adviser’s hands. “After conservative candidate Joshua Weißenburg caused outrage by referring to Muslims as ‘goatfuckers’ and their nations as ‘ratsnests’ ‘AntiNa’ as well as other groups have called for protest in front of the businessman’s company. Hundreds of people are currently blocking the building and expressing their outrage. Stones have been thrown into windows as well as small plastic bags filled with goat shit.” Was said and Weißenburg felt how his blood was boiling from anger again and how his carotid was sticking out again. “Good that you have insurance. Do they cover cleaning off goat shit too though?” His adviser said and Josh glared at him as if he would kill him if he’d not shut up immediately. The picture in the background changed and one could now see people in front of a mosque. “Supporters of candidate for mayor Joshua Weißenburg have gathered in front of the local mosque in a protest against another one being built. Members of the community reported that the protesters yelled ‘goat fuckers’ at them and someone had flogged a pig’s head onto their door. “ she paused and went to the next subject.

 

“Simultaneously to the ‘goat-fucker-scandal’ the policemen are over challenged at the library where a memorial of the famous English poet and author Winston Shaklebeard writer of classical works such as ‘Jolio and Rumira’ has been revealed today. The libraries property has been stormed by different groups of anti-racist protestors who said that Shaklebeard has been a racist and a slave trader and that no such memorial should be shown anywhere in the city and have called for tearing it down. There have also been women’s rights activists who claimed that Shaklebeard was a misogynist who want to see that statue gone as well. The statue got defended by a group of librarians and literature students as well as different conservative and patriotic groups who want to protect the creator of important English speaking literature. Accompanied by the ‘New Right’ movement of Ryan Stephenson who too is here to protect the Shaklebeard stature! Caroline Millstone is present for you!” One could hear loud screaming, the police trying to hold back two groups who shouted at each other from getting near each other and in the middle of it all terrified looking librarians who had climbed the memorial to not get beaten up while the journalist was shoved around in the crowd and ignored.

 

When they finally arrived at Jiles’s place he was glad to get out of the car and away from his advisers who binge watched the news. The two men from Europe followed him into the elevator and up to Tristan’s loft where they waited in front of the door. There was music to hear from behind the door and he had to ring the bell more than just once until the music was turned off and an annoyed and pissed Jiles was shouting that he would open the door. When the door was opened Josh’s blue eyes opened wide when he saw his friend in front of him dressed in a fucking Deadpool costume. “Weißenburg!” Tristan looked confused and surprised and then he looked to the two men. “The European pro-trolls who seek asylum?” he observed but Joshua didn’t say anything he just stared at the costume. “Why the hell are you dressed up like Deadpool? It’s not Halloween, it isn’t even October.” The blond wanted to know and Jiles leaned into the door frame in his costume. “I told you I was into cosplay didn’t I?” he answered and Joshua screwed up his nose. “Hell no!” the man commented what made Tristan laugh. “Come on in.” he said and gesticulated them to come inside.

 

Upon entering the businessman saw Jiles’s younger boyfriend Mitya dressed up in a Spiderman costume sitting on the large bed and they apparently really had been about to fuck in those costumes because he had gotten aware of the other man’s erection in the tight bodysuit before the other could hide it by pulling the blanket over his lower half. Joshua looked to the two men he had brought along who looked a little confused and taken aback by the weird appearance of the two men but then Tristan finally pulled off the mask from his face and Weißenburg explained the situation to him. The man pressed his fingers against the bridge of his nose when the explanation had ended. “Let me get that straight. You were thinking ‘ Shit literal fucking left-wing terrorists are after them, where could I hide them, ha, I know at Jiles’s place would be a splendid idea’?” Tristan said in a sarcastic mocking way. “No. I saw your tweet and I knew your place was perfect for them.” Weißenburg explained and Jiles looked at him. “Isn’t that amazing how inspiring my tweet was to you?” He couldn’t cut out the sarcasm. Then he sighed. “Alright. My bed is large enough after all.” The man said and it was. His bed was as large as other people’s rooms were.

 

The Swede coughed slightly now. “No offence, I am not homophobic or anything but I really wouldn’t feel comfortable sleeping in the same bed with three other men.” He said and his German friend shrugged. “I don’t mind.” He said and the other looked questioningly. “Really?” he wanted to know. “No. I’m bi myself. I have slept in the same bed with men before.” He stated and sat down on the bed as to test whether it was comfortable or not. “It’s extremely comfortable too.”Björn said and Mitya didn’t seem amused at all and he looked at the other wearing the costume still but without the mask. “Don’t get funny ideas. I’ll be sleeping in the middle. You don’t get near him.” He barked at the man and the German laughed. “What a pity. I thought we could have a threesome.” He jested in a sarcastic tone and it made the ashen haired Russian even more jealous and he shoved the other down from the bed so that he was rolling down the steps that were built like a pyramid that led up to the bed. “Autsch!” the man said holding his crotch. “My testicles.” he said and Sören laughed at his friend. “The Russian Spiderman is true evil man.” Pahnke found and Weißenburg laughed as well. “I am not Russian!” Mitya protested and the German snorted. “Right. And I am not German, I am Nigerian. And like Obelix fell into the magic potion as I child, I fell into bleach and that’s why I look like this.” He mocked the other sarcastically again. “You are not Nigerian.” Mitya said dryly and Björn looked at Weißenburg with a raised brow. “What is with this man? Why doesn’t he understand sarcasm?” Weißenburg could only shrug his shoulders though.

 

After Mitya had protested further and had been clinging onto Jiles saying that they should throw those guys out because they only wanted into Tristan’s pants because he was that incredibly attractive what had embarrassed Jiles because Jiles looked how he looked, who had then told his boyfriend he probably needed to go have his eye sight checked because no one would go to such length to have sex with him and he wasn’t attractive and that it was a wonder that some as good looking as Mitya himself found him attractive what only made the Russian more angry, Joshua had to help Tristan to pump up a rubber boat and pad it out with pillows and blankets so that Sören had a place to sleep as well before he could finally leave the apartment again.

 

Back in the limousine he found his advisers laughing about a new techno remix of Weißenburgs ‘goatfucker’ speech combined with the ‘retarded’ comment and Joshua frowned immediately and ripped the tablet out of their hand again and told them to shut it when they wanted to speak to him. He felt that tiring feeling inside again but then he thought about the last night, about that date, about Christopher and about their conversation and there was a smile playing around his lips again. He opened a painting program on the tablet and drew the ‘self-portrait’ he had spoken about with the other. He even used different colours for the stick man with the massive penis before he looked at it with a smug smile. His adviser peered over his shoulder. “What the…. Sir, why are you drawing something like this?” he asked and Josh grinned. “I had a date. I’m sending this to my date now.” the blond found it amusing. And the adviser took a deep breath. “How should I say it…. DON’T! I don’t know what woman you’re seeing but women don’t like jokes like that and you’ll probably get sued for sexual harassment.” The adviser advised but Josh ignored him. “No. And I’m gonna send it with my sisters mail account anyway.” The businessman assured the other and the man didn’t look convinced. “You have the password of your sister’s mail account?” he asked. “Yes. It’s simple to figure out women’s passwords if you know them well enough.” The man said and his adviser knew had he said that in public everyone would call him misogynistic again. Then again the more they demonised him, the more offending he was, the more votes he would get. The man was not sorry about Weißenburg having used the terms he had used during his speech today either. And Josh send Rosario the stick-man with the giant cock from the mail account of ‘Jacqueline W.’ along with the comment ---You still need to send me those links to your smutty stories. And I want to see this fine piece of art I drew for you on your bedside table now. ---

 

The first thing he did when he arrived at home was taking a shower before he ordered himself some food, watched a movie and then went to bed. He logged into his sisters mail account, checked the messages and found the link to Christopher’s smut stories. He began to read one of them but he soon figured out why he had not finished any book during the nights in quite a while as the lines and words blurred and his eyes went heavy after only five minutes and he was falling asleep with the tablet on his chest. It was at 1am that he was ripped out of his sleep – he had had a dream of Rosario and him in that fantasy world the other man had described in the smut story and they had just sucked each other’s cocks when that stupid ringtone had ruined everything – and his hand reached for his phone blindly and he had just growled as to answer the phone when a yelling female voice was making him sit straight in his bed. “Why did you use my mail account Joshua! And why do you send such weird, gross stick men to a C. Rosario with it you moron!” she screamed and seemed really mad and upset. “Huh?” Josh made half-asleep and then he realised what she was talking about, rubbing his blue eyes, his lips curling up in a smirk. “It’s a self-portrait of mine obviously that I made especially for said C. Rosario.” Weißenburg told her finding it hilarious. “Oh please! “she hissed. “I have seen your thing Joshua!” Jacqueline was apparently really upset that he had used her mail account for this. “What is that supposed to mean? Do you want to say I have a small penis?” the man crossed his arms not amused by that anymore. “I have seen bigger!” she sounded satisfied to say this in this moment. “And now explain to me why C. Rosario sends me a link to gay porn stories of elves and orks, that stuff is disgusting Josh. And I don’t want your gay porn on my mail account.” She complained and Joshua sighed. “Sorry. I didn’t want to use my work mail account for this for obvious reasons and yours was the most simple and quick solution. I mean your password is fucking ‘Tinkerbelle’! How obvious!” the businessman explained and she snorted. “Says the guy whose password had been ‘Ilay’ for the longest time. I have no clue what you changed it to then though since it’s not Ilay anymore.” Joshua flushed fire red and got incredibly embarrassed that she had known that. “I need to sleep now.” he said and hung up on her and he had been able to hear her laugh in the background.

 

The alarm went off at five-thirty and he disappeared in the bathroom right away and then got dressed in a business casual look before he battled with the BMW’s manual gear again whistling in the car to some shitty tune from the radio trying to ignore the excited and happy feelings he got to see Christopher again. He shouldn’t be that happy about it like some stupid teenaged boy, he was forty after all but he couldn’t help it. He wanted to get there soon, storm his fucking house, press him onto himself and kiss him. It was embarrassing. So fucking embarrassing. How much of an idiot was he. It was just breakfast and it was a second date, more or less a date because Chris would speak with his grandfather but he was still looking forward to it too much. It was scary even and he feared that he’d seriously fall in love with him if he would be given the time and he didn’t know what he thought about falling in love anymore after he had been tossed aside once. Not to mention that Rosario and he were not exactly on the same wavelength. It was not safe territory that both of them had gotten into obviously but he knew he didn’t want to return but walk further into it.

 

The navigation system led him straight to an apartment building and the blue eyes stared at it. He had thought the man lived in his own house, especially after he had told having bought two for his parents. But either this was not the case or the journalist had given him a wrong address and didn’t want to see him anymore after all! The thought was painful and he hated the idea so he slammed the door of the BMW close and marched to the door to see if there was a bell with his name sign on or if he had been fooled after all. His body was tense and he couldn’t breathe for a moment until his blue eyes saw the other man’s last name on the sign and he felt a wave of relieve and pressed his finger onto the bell, waiting for the other to open, a cool breeze blowing through the blond hair, standing in front of some building at 6:30am.

[brinary]

Sex was obviously a sleeping aide. He'd heard about people having the best rests after a long, passionate nights. It might have been the cuddling that did it for him, in all actuality-- being told he was a 'cute idiot' and having his neck kissed, all that good stuff. But Christopher found his body roused when movement occurred under his back. It came in large pieces-- the ice cream, the date, the couch, the bath, the movie, the sleep, the bed. Here he was in Joshua Weibenburg's bed, dressed in some loose shirt and a pair of boxers that felt more like loose shorts on him. More rustling was happening and then the electric noise that buzzed the air- the television. Chris lay prone on the bed with his eyes still closed and completely boneless. He'd mastered certain arts as a child and pretending came easier than some others.

 

He heard the broadcast, listened closely to the situation, and found his eyes opening into the smallest slits possible. The greys and whites were projecting alongside the sheets. They formed deep tunnels of shadows and highlighted otherwise shallow dips as a woman from WOLF discussed asylum seekers from Germany. Freedom of speech. Muslims and Islam. The integrity of old laws, threatens of rape. The situation was dire and despicable on both sides. And Chris had to listen to it all with the understanding that Joshua could only pull happiness from something so weird and miserable. How anyone could sleep through the man's hollering and whoops and cheers was beyond him. Christopher theorized that Joshua Weibenburg worked on a separate level of reality where his actions, words, and thoughts did not immediately and directly affect people around him. It was some level of idiocracy. Maybe some sort of savant-ism? A special type of jackassery?

 

Christ. He'd let that man's dick go inside of him, and cum, inside of him. He'd let an idiot savant cum inside of him.

 

They weren't dissimilar in their obsession with bad news. Maybe they were made for each other.

 

It was hard not to get lost on that particular train, thinking with wild abandon of how this could never work out. But he forced himself to disregard it. He just woke up. He'd just become aware. The day was fresh. Joshua was not without his amazing qualities. He would not let politics rip him apart- not this early, at least.

Listening to the broadcast, his eyes closed again, he let himself lull into a state of half-sleep with distinct awareness. Joshua was on the phone. Joshua was mentioning Spongebob. A new promotion at a local bed and breakfast was going on. Storms were battering the coasts in Hawaii, bringing strange new creatures. Joshua was coming back. He let himself be more awake now with the man's footsteps padding into the room, stirring then leaning into the kiss, green eye opening to look up at the man. He could only smile tiredly at the excited man's face. "Okay," he murmured, voice paper-thin, the wear on his vocal chords finally in full effect.

Kris was left alone. He sat up in bed, watching the news, and then slid out of bed. He went downstairs first to make tea and prepare coffee for the other. His phone was still there, practically dead. It'd been buzzing throughout the night. The writer found the rest of his thing, plugging the charger up and leaning against marble countertops as he fixed his hair in the reflection of a microwave. The coffee press was worked out, the kettle had steam blowing from its nozzle, and he poured a small cup of mint tea. Lounging in the kitchen, with the cold air and the morning sun barely peeking in through various windows, Kris had to reflect on what a lovely life he and Joshua could live if the world went silent. If they would just settle down.

 

Kris found his pants and fashioned the plain white shirt Joshua had given him. He had to do some adjustments but having his belt notched tight, Joshua shirt tucked in, he made an alright image. His hair refused to lay down. Especially since it was only half-dry when they'd gone to bed, they were now haphazardly sticking out and making a Medusa-mess of his countenance. Everything was falling into his face and he felt like he was 12 again.

 

The morning progressed quickly.

 

Joshua left in a limo. Kris walked out of the expensive, rich complex, earphones fitting snug and music playing lightly as he walked the streets. He liked a good morning walk. Especially this early, when the sun wasn't reigning its typical terror. His e-mails kept doubling with each minute-interval refresh. Haye wanted details. His mother was worried. His sister sent him a picture updating him about the dog (he was back to eating carrots and looking happy.) Life would have been proceeding as normal except things weren't anymore. For some reason, wanting to care about politics less only made everything seem that much worse. So once he was finally back in his apartment and saw a livestream link on his charged laptop for Mr. Weibenburg's speech, it was the final test for a hopeful apathy.

 

Instead he found himself wanting to scream.

 

'Ratsnest?' 'Crime, murder, mass rape?' 'Muslims,' 'burkas,'-- 'goatfuckers?!'

 

Haye called him while his mouth was still a gaping maw, and opened with a low whistle. "Your boyfriend is

really just letting his balls hang out for everyone to do what they please, huh?"

 

Kris didn't even hang up, just held the phone as he listened. Eventually Haye sighed and hung up on his own. Long after the livestream ended, Kris was still sitting at his desk with confusion creasing his brow. Even with a facemask, more tea, and a round of Minesweeper, the sad truth had to be acknowledged: Christopher Rosario still cared a whole lot. And Joshua Weibenburg was a literal fucking monkey for saying the stupid shit he did. People could change how their boyfriends dressed, what their boyfriends ate, how their boyfriends handled situations but could they change the political outlook and job that their boyfriends were pursuing? Had it even been 24 hours yet and Kris was already seriously considering running away to a foreign country and restarting?

 

Their were tons of people that looked like Joshua. Tons of people that probably had a better temper than Joshua, and just as nice of a dick, with great grip and a penchant for dancing. But there weren't a lot of them that were actually Joshua. Which was the annoying part.

 

Weibenburg had ruined his life. How could he make biting political commentary without thinking about how the man would perceive him now?

 

The day proceeded as any day with Joshua saying something ungodly stupid would-- tumultuous. Kris had to begin writing up a report following the details of the two men who had been the main topic of the blonde's speech, while juggling keeping on track with hit after hit on the news cycle. Protests, political splits, petitions for asylum, petitions for deportation, petitions for peace, confusion all around and misnomers being thrown into the ring to be celebrated or torn to shreds. Late afternoon had the writer with cramped fingers and a stiff wrist. His note book had been properly leafed through-- he'd made at least two reports about political uprisings in Northern and Central Europe. A quickly pieced together hot-take landed him as one of the circulating top results for a while. In his quickly written article, he postulated, questioning rhetoric, the maintenance of constitutions, traditions, and other such laws, as well as the place they had in the regular lives of the masses. The particular ending was being focused on- specifically, the last four to five paragraphs.

 

'Freedoms to and freedoms from are the rudimentary lessons we're taught in any regular class. Freedoms to speak our minds are popular. Freedoms from death when rebelling against those mind speakers are also popular. But the tentative balance of such laws has been long-since romanticized. There hasn't existed a period in time where no one used these powers embedded in their nation's fabric to batter a group, a movement, an ideology. Like all things, time warps, misconstrues. Things that are meant to progress naturally or be unmovable, unfortunately, are changed.

 

Recently I have some to thank for letting me speak a piece of my mind, and not making me feel stupid with the response I received. I spoke passionately about Guatemala and the Guatemala I knew. The Guatemala I had been raised to love was the country, and for its failures, to condemn the people who ran it into the ground. Of course, everything is tainted with the people; everything is remembered in the context of its time. The Guatemala I love is an eternal fixation. Much like a painting hanging in any museum, I have not been old enough to see its drastic changes, but restorations have stripped and changed it slowly and surely. I have not been able to see how history has treated it but only read about it. In the context of my living present, it is totally different from how the future and the past will see it.

 

Maybe my idealism will be mocked. Maybe it will be construed as a violent and outraged spirit, held by an extremist idiot battling for a lost cause. Maybe others like me will be vilified, or deemed heroic.

No one knows what time will bring. We live in a fragmented world with only nuggets of information to digest. I think this time more than any in the last two decades has held some of the future's to-be-remembered vitriol and scandal.

 

I once viewed my city as a microcosm representing something bigger happening nation-wide. But it is widening into an interesting sort of bacterial colony. And the more it grows, the less I feel like the scientist and the more I feel like the stubborn variable under a microscope. As things develop, I urge anyone out there to take a moment away from all sensory inputs and reflect on their stances. Is there a legacy you'd like to leave? Is there a legacy you'd like to see? When all this fire and brimstone has died down, and people can only reminisce through stories, what do you want to be able to tell? What do you want there to be left to say?

 

These are a lot of questions that maybe you can answer quickly or maybe you can't. As a nation, I hope we can come to gather a great selection of responses. Seeing more of the same two drastically different responses is getting a little boring.

 

Then again, I'm just a biting political commentary pleb. And yes. I'm ending this essay using 'pleb.' - C. R.

 

His Twitter was blowing up. DMs had been left by the dozens about different situations all happening at the same time. All Kris could rightly say was 'Fascists don't mean what people seem to think they mean, and why would you fuck what you eat? The world is being nonsense, I'm going to binge Naruto' followed by retweeing the electronic remix of Joshua's new speech and commenting:

 

'The drop could use work. Redundant use of warble effects, unappealing vocaroo utilized on the 'goat' part. 4.5/10. Be better. :^/'

 

A Youtube friend of his had a short back and forth discussing Joshua's jawline while the internet blew up about them being playful towards a dangerous idiot. His friend responded by posting a picture of Handsome Squidward alongside an appealing photo of a pensive, mid-speech Joshua, and Kris felt better. By evening, he had taken a break. He was watching Spanish soaps while waiting for his braised beef stew to come to its completion. It'd been boiling for a few hours now; it'd be anytime now. Walking made him stiff and trying to lay down only agitated his back. His e-mails were still coming in at a steady rate although one particular one seemed out of the ordinary.

 

Opening Joshua's glorious nude did make Kris kind of want to throw up from laughter, but he kept the urge inside and just grinned. What a fucking weirdo. Without a second thought, the writer went through his bookstore, all his epub and pdf files published under the cheesy alias of Nicholai Tung. One fan-favorite novel seemed to be an intrepid tale involving a traveling merchant band, the knights they picked up from bog monsters, and the wild sex they all end up having- with each other and other creature alike. Christopher had a great time writing that particular piece. It took a few minutes to print the picture in fully rendered color, more to dig through his useless junk and get a gaudy frame for it. But finally the man had the framed nude of his new boyfriend sitting proudly between his candles and some books on the bedstand.

The picture he sent was attached to the e-mail containing a link to his Amazon store and the shitty story he wrote.

 

'From your favorite celebrity,

C.'

 

Christopher ate by himself while watching Youtube videos. He ignored calls from several news networks while working on editing a piece for a food journalist friend. He enjoyed a nice shower, took himself to bed, and fell asleep watching more things on his tablet. An alarm he'd set for the following day went off in the middle of the night due to Kris being a general idiot. But that bump in the night was forgotten in another haze as sleep took over.

 

His dreams were plagued with Joshua Weibenburg ruining his life, his career, and Kris enjoying every second of it before being left in a cottage meant for two while watching his not-husband gallivant around with someone younger while he was in his 70s. At least there was a dog to keep him company in the dream. When the husband's away, women in folklore had always turned to their furry companions. His dog was much the same, a sweet pitbull with a penchant for pieces of dehydrated sweet potato.

 

Waking up the next morning was easy. Kris got three hours of sleep, made his tea, brushed his hair and put out clothes to look presentable in. Just a regular day with a regular person. Just meeting someone's regular grandfather like it was a regular thing. Totally not a crazy weird date or anything. If he thought about it like that- as just a meeting with an interesting man, thanks to an interesting man- the nerves almost calmed themselves. There was nothing to worry about because everything was professional, and would remain professional. Totally not a date. A second date. First date as boyfriends. Christ, Joshua Weibenburg was his closet-boyfriend, what the fuuuuuuuck.

 

The control panel by his door buzzed just as the realization hit him. Shuffling forward, he peeked at the camera, then got his bag. Stopping at the door to pull his shoes on, Kris jogged down the stairs. In a few minutes he opened the door, glasses on and dressed in grey jeans and a crewneck sweater. "Hey," he breathed, much more taken aback by Joshua's usual beauty than he had any right to be. It was the cool tones; something about the fire-ice quality and Joshua's stupid hair and pretty eyes really suited a nice, early morning. "Morning. Hi. Besos." He leaned forward, pressing kisses to the air near Joshua's cheeks before pulling back with a fond grin. "Sleep well?"

[-Hideki-]

He had totally pressed that finger onto the doorbell decently enough and yet he found himself pressing onto it again, he waited another few seconds but still nothing. No one was opening him or appearing outside. Joshua grumbled and there was an unsettling feeling within him giving rise to the fear that Chris would not open the door, that he had decided that the two of them dating had been a stupid idea and was now trying to ghost him. But Weißenburg was no man to just ghost, if he didn’t want to go out and have breakfast with him, not even if he got to talk to his grandfather too he should face him and tell him into his face that their night together had been a mistake and that he didn’t want him anymore. The mere idea pissed him off and he used the bell again and again and again until after a few minutes the door of the house finally went open and Christopher nearly bumped into him because Josh was standing right inside of the door like a dog whom had not been allowed to follow his owner into the bathroom and was jumping and scratching the door.

 

Seeing the man wiped away the tension and the unrest in him that had settled in when he had waited and made his heart pound higher instead. When he got a simple ‘Hey’ though he felt disappointment! Who greeted his boyfriend like that? Josh raised an eyebrow sceptically when the other then at least said good morning to him leaning forward. The blond man was ready to kiss him but he was not kissed, instead he got air kisses next to his cheeks and then got a grin from the other man. Josh looked over his shoulder if maybe someone was standing there and he was keeping it to that because of this but there was no one to see around at all. It frustrated him. “At least kiss me properly god damn it!” he mumbled and grabbed the journalist by his arse to pull him towards himself, pressing their bodies together as he leaned down and kissed him passionately and demandingly.

 

When the kiss broke and the other man asked him if he had slept well Josh shrugged. “For someone whose business is being bombarded and whose sister calls him in the middle of the night to complain about him using her mail account I slept perfectly well.” he answered. “How about yourself?” he wanted to know as he led the other to the lent BMW, held the door to the passenger’s seat opened for him closing it after he had gotten comfortable inside. The man didn’t waste any time typed the address of his father’s restaurant into the navigation system to get the quickest way from Rosario’s place to there and started the engine remembering what Nisha had told him about how he shall treat the manual gear to not embarrass himself in front of the journalist if he wouldn’t be able to start the car.

 

From the corner of his eyes his gaze travelled to the other man next to him from time to time especially when he had to wait at red traffic and maybe he got it wrong but he kinda sensed that something was weird or off with the other, as if something would bother him. He also had not seemed quite as thrilled to see him, not as he had expected at least and certainly not how he himself had felt and it bugged him. They had been so into each other and close and now it appeared to him as if the reporter wanted distance back between them. As if he wanted to not really make this a date but to keep as professional about it as he could and it was not what Josh wanted and not what he had thought would happen. He had been glad to see him again, he had wanted to see him again but he wasn’t so sure how the other man felt right now for some reason. “Does something bother you? Is something wrong?” he asked straight away with a strained look on his face because of what he thought he could sense slightly irritated him and made him nervous.

 

Since it was that early in the morning and no shops were opened yet it was easy to get a parking space directly in front of the restaurant and turned his face to Christopher who sat next to him. “Here we are. That’s my father’s restaurant. They open at 8am but we can still go inside. Nisha and him are always down there early to prepare everything for the work day.” He explained to the other, got out of the car, opened Chris’s door and closed it after him again and then went over to the huge glass door of the restaurant that had been designed to resemble the beach his father and Nisha had met. By opening the door one could hear windbells sound which were put above the door to let them know when a client had arrived.

 

No one was inside, the tables were shining cleanly and plainly, there were some boxes placed onto the bar and the place had something about it that reminded of a picture in a magazine. “Hello!” Joshua called into the empty restaurant and one could hear someone juggling with dishes from the floor that led to the kitchen and a few seconds later Nisha stepped into the restaurant with a warm smile. She wore a dirndl and had her hair braided into two braids, one right and one left. Her eyes sparkled when she saw the two and she walked faster up to them. “Good morning!” she greeted and turned around to show them her dress. “Look. I have bought this new. We have Bavarian food week. Does it suit me?” the small woman wanted to know and Joshua quickly turned to Rosario. “My family is not from Bavaria but from Saxony, don’t get that wrong or my grandpa will not forgive you.” He gave him the hint then smiled at Nisha. “You look really beautiful and it fits you perfectly.” He complemented and she was looking really happy. “How do you like it?” she asked Christopher before Weißenburg wanted to know:”Where is grandpa? I called him and said that we were getting over to see him yesterday.” The woman gave the both of them a calm and leisurely smile. “He’s upstairs but he has not forgotten. He said he had to make his round to care for the plants and had to feed the fish first though because he always does that after he has showered.” She told them and Josh sighed.

 

Then suddenly Nisha was bouncing up and down and then throwing herself at both of them to hug them. “Awww, I’m so happy that you’re dating now, I knew it was a good idea to go into the ice-café together although Joshi misbehaved liked that. You’re such a cute couple. I make you….” In that moment someone dropped a box with glasses and it made an awful clanking noise that echoed through the room. Nisha turned around and Weißenburg turned his head into the direction of the door to the floor and he looked into the grey eyes of his old man whose skin had lost its colour. The man looked shocked and Joshua looked just as shocked just that the blond man’s heart was starting to race in panic and he was starting to sweat and just looked completely overwhelmed. This was not good. Not what he had wanted. Josh saw his father grabbing the box with now broken glass, turning around wordlessly disappearing behind the door again. “Dad!” the businessman called after him but no response and the man didn’t return either. “Shit!” he cursed and left Nisha and Chris there going after his father.

 

Nisha looked like a sad puppy in the rain, she held a hand pressed against her mouth and had tears in her black eyes. “Oh no, I didn’t want that!” she turned to Chris holding onto his lower arm. “I thought he was in the kitchen. I would have never done that, really, trust me. He’ll hate me. He’ll hate me because I outed him. What should I do now?” she pleaded and gasped for air. “I didn’t know he listened! Even though he’s my husband I would have never just done that to Josh, it wasn’t my place to do it. He will hate me so much. He probably won’t ever talk to me again.” The lady was beating herself up feeling horrible and guilty about herself when the door to the floor opened and a man stepped inside. It was neither Joshua nor his father though. It was someone much older with huge, thick glasses, a flag printed baseball cap on his thin white hair walking inside. “Good morning. What is all the fuss with you kids again? Calm down whatever it was will not even be half as bad as you imagine hun, the world will go on and on and on.” The old man said and stopped when he was rather close to the two of them peering up into Christopher’s face, moving his glasses up his nose, then down, then up again but no matter what he did he couldn’t get a clear view of Rosario’s face because his eyesight was just too bad. “Must be broken.” He concluded. “I need new ones.” He added speaking with himself then he shook his head. “You are the befriended journalist of my grandson who wanted to speak to me? I was very surprised.” The man said and shook Chris’s hand. “I’m Will.” He introduced himself not exactly formally and then went over to a table to sit down gesticulating the reporter to come over and sit down too.

 

Joshua Weißenburg had no idea how many times he had said ‘Dad’ now standing behind an angry man who was showing him his back chopping onions probably imagining it was Josh’s head. His father’s body looked tense and he had his shoulders pulled up while the knife was mercilessly cutting the onions apart. It hurt, It hurt so badly that it was numbing and the blond didn’t know what he was supposed to do now. That had been exactly what he had wanted to prevent, what he had feared would happen and his father was apparently utterly disappointed, angry and probably ashamed of having a gay son. And then the way he had figured it out. He had not had the opportunity to break it to his father gently; no it had hit him right in the face. The blond let his hand run over his face but it didn’t help much because both were sweaty. “Dad! I can understand if you’re disappointed, I never wanted you to be but it’s not that I can help it or chose this I just am like this. I don’t care what but can you just say something and not ignore me.” Josh said and he felt like he was left to die right there.

 

“I am disappointed.” His father growled but he still didn’t look at him, then he turned around and pointed between his eyes with the knife. “Not because my son apparently …..” he averted his eyes to the side and chewed on his bottom lip, “….prefers the company of men though….” He coughed. “But because you little shit didn’t think I was important enough to know who the hell you even truly are. You didn’t care. You left me oblivious, I made my gay jokes around you, I asked you about women in your life and you kept silent about this, the whole time. You made an idiot out of me Joshua and that’s disappointing.” He stated and Josh stepped back because of the knife the other was gesticulating with while talking which seemed everything but safe to him. “That’s what I feared though, that you’d act weird and get uncomfortable around me and not make your stupid gay jokes anymore. And I feared you’d avoid me and not do anything together with me anymore if you knew. When I was young there were those gay guys talking to you and you said that you’d never want to be in the changing room with one of those and you looked uneasy around them and I didn’t want our relationship to be ruined because of that.” Weißenburg explained and his father who had now taken another knife and was beheading a fish was getting rather rough with the fish feeling slightly guilty for having made such comments that had led his own son to think that he’d ignore him and he’d shove him away if he told him that he loved other men. At the same time he couldn’t get over the feeling of Josh having made a fool out of him for …yes, for how long exactly anyway?

 

“Since when did you know?” his father asked cutting open the fish. “Well, I always liked men and when I was young, a child, I imagined myself living in a house with a man when I was older but I had no idea what it meant back then. So if you’re asking me since when I knew what it meant I think it was around twelve or thirteen.” Josh explained still tight and uncomfortable, finding it difficult to talk to his father about being gay. His father rammed the knife into the fish and it made Weißenburg shudder. “You kept this hidden from me for almost three decades!” he yelled, strongly holding onto the worktop. “How many of your lovers have you introduced to me as ‘friends’? You probably laughed about me behind my back with them didn’t you!?” his father barked and the blond pressed his fingers against the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry and no, no one laughed about you.” Josh said and sighed. “If you need to know, two! Carlton, the major back when I was in the Army….” He was cut off. “You were both soldiers and you … what?” he shook his head not wanting to think about that one and Joshua ignored that remark. “And then there was Ilay!” the blond said and his father was musing for a moment. “The lawyer who was that anxious?” his father wanted to know and Weißenburg raised an eyebrow. “He wasn’t anxious; you just scared him shitless with your rant when he didn’t want to eat that pork roast and it was embarrassing too.” Joshua told him and his father turned around with the knife again a piece of fish pluck on it. “I thought he was a vegetarian. Do you know how annoying vegetarians are for restaurant owners?! They are awful clients and one of those vegan people had pissed me off that day again and I was thinking ‘not again’ when he said he couldn’t eat any of the food.” His father nearly started all over again.

 

Josh remembered clearly though, he didn’t have to remind him. His father had given Ilay a death glare and had hissed at Joshua since when he would hang out with such weird people and everything had fallen out of Ilay’s face before his father had mumbled something about vegetarians. Ilay who had been incredibly tense and had shifted on his seat had then said he was not a vegetarian and his father had shouted at him ‘Vegans are even worse” and had went on an endless rant about vegans yelling at poor Ilay who had nearly had a panic attack before he had shouted over Joshua’s father’s rant that he was Jewish and not a vegan to make it stop. His father than had blinked his eyes to process the information, had shrugged and said. “That’s fine. Nisha can make you something else then no problem.” And Ilay had nearly sunken down from the seat because his body had lost all of the intense tension.

 

“He was a nerve wrack when we went home thanks to that.” Joshua told his father who had turned towards the fish again shaking his head. “I still don’t see why though! Why you thought I was such a horrible person that you didn’t tell me…” he shook his head more vigorously. “Nevermind.” The man said. “Tell your grandpa!” he then told Joshua and Joshua went chalk white. “What? I don’t think this is a good idea…. I really don’t….” it made Josh nervous all over again. “Geh jetzt und sage es Opa! Sofort! The man is a hundred years old. He should know who you are. You should have no such secrets from your grandfather. Beweg dich!” his father demanded and Josh sighed. At least he talked to him again and had looked at him. It could have been much worse.

 

When he entered the restaurant again his grandfather was already sitting there with Chris while Nisha was obsessively cleaning the bar even though it was clean already. “Joshi…!” she called out to him in an apologetic tone and with a sad face but Josh gave her a slight smile and said. “It’s fine.” Walking over to the table taking place next to Christopher, his body tensing up again because he really had no idea how to break it to his ancient grandfather that he loved men and for a moment he looked to Rosario and then to the old man, back at Chris and then at the old man again. “Grandpa.” His voice sounded Will fumbled around with his glasses again with the same dissatisfying result. “Yes.” The man said looking really calm and at ease at both Christopher and Joshua. “It will be difficult to explain this to you but I have to tell you something, it might be shocking….” He started out and thought how he could tell the old man but his grandfather raised an eyebrow over the brick thick glasses as he looked at him. “Is this when you tell me that you fall in love with men and not women and that this nice boy here is your partner? I asked myself when you would tell me that you’re gay for many years.” The old man said and Joshua’s jaw went open, nearly hitting the plate of the table.

 

“Wait! What? You know! How do you know!?” Weißenburg was surprised and looked at the man in disbelief. His grandfather smiled and chuckled. “I am always aware of my surroundings. Very aware! I keep my eyes open and when you keep your eyes open you see. I was never an ignorant man my boy; I never ignored signs and hints of what I saw. It saved my life and allowed me to get a hundred years old.” The old man explained and Joshua searched for a hint of disapproval or disgust on his face but there was none at all, he seemed content with it. “So you don’t mind that I’m …” the blond wanted to know and his grandfather laughed again. “Gay? No, I don’t mind. I am on this planet long enough to have learned that it doesn’t matter. It would be sad if I had not progressed in my own thoughts and views.” the man stated. “People who they call LGBT today have been around always, unlike what some dimwits say it’s not a new invention and no matter the society and how hostile it was against them they always existed.” His grandfather started and his eyes seemed to go distant and Weißenburg knew the old man well enough to know that he’d tell them some story.

 

“Back in Dresden when your grandmother and I lived at her parent’s house there was that one neighbour. Quiet, secretive, seemed alone. He was an intelligent and sophisticated man, a professor. And everyone knew there was something out of the ordinary with him. Sometimes strange men would leave his apartment and everyone in the street assumed that he was like you. And it was true. He was. And as the kid I have been – I had marriage plans and a job but I was a child still – I felt an aversion towards him. The idea that he would engage with other men liked that seemed distasteful to me and it made me uncomfortable to think he’d look at me in such a way, you know. Of course he would not have. I was just some stupid teenager who didn’t look in anyway extraordinarily attractive. But I still thought it and I avoided this man. I even screwed up my nose when I saw him.” His grandfather told them and closed his glazed eyes chuckling about himself. “

 

One night your grandmother heard something outside again and she woke up from it and woke me up and told me to see what it was as she had gotten scared. So I got up and looked out of the window and onto the streets. And the noises were a wounded man trying to reach the door to unlock it but he had no chance to, he was just scratching on the wood with the key laying on the stairs. I had the impulse to help him but I hesitate for a moment what I am not proud of but I grabbed a jacket and the key and went although your grandmother was worried. She was scared he’d do something despicable to me. I told her she shouldn’t be silly as the man was half dead and couldn’t do something even if he tried. So I helped him, dragged him all the way up, treated his wounds, he couldn’t believe someone actually helped him, told me he thought he’d die in front of that door.” His grandfather paused. “The brownshirts had beaten him into a pulp when he had been seen stepping out of a certain establishment he told me. He knew that I knew because everyone kinda knew and avoided him. I talked to him that night and the following month while he couldn’t walk I helped him every day. He was a normal man. He didn’t try once to do anything to me. He was not ill as it was commonly believed either and my wife’s concern that he could infect me somehow was nonsense too he never made me gay. He fled with us later. We stayed friends until he died.” The old man had ended talking about his memories when the door went open.

 

A plump lady in her sixties stepped inside. She had a flat cap on her head, a long grey ponytail, and an old, opened trench-coat over an ‘Support Sandro Bernotti’ shirt, ripped jeans and chucks on her feet. Joshua’s mother Nicole Rosinsky was carrying a package with an old toaster under her arm as she went inside of the restaurant. She wanted to approach the bar counter straight away when she saw the old man, her son and Christopher sitting there. “What are you doing here Josh?” she asked rather surprised to see him in the restaurant that early in the morning. Joshua just wanted to answer telling her what they had come into the restaurant for but his grandfather was faster. “He just told me.” The old man said. His mother looked at Josh surprised and then she smiled. “It was about time. And I won the bet, I was closer. I said he’d come out with 39 and you 45 so you owe me old man.” She was sounding happy.

 

Weißenburg couldn’t believe his eyes though. “You knew too? And you placed bets about when I’d come out to you!” he didn’t know what was going on anymore. “Of course we knew. How can one not know! The only one who was always deliberately looking away was your stupid father but he is a stubborn donkey anyway. It’s hilarious though that you thought we’d actually could buy that you could be straight for a second.” His mother laughed about him, placed the package with the old toaster onto the table and pulled Joshua’s cheek. The man was getting mad and blushed. “Why would that have been that absurd.” He barked and his mother busted out laughing and she turned to Christopher. “Do you know what he did as a child when he had found one of those perverted magazines his father always hid from me because I had forbidden him to have any because they are degrading to women? He looked at it, he screamed in horror and he tried to flush it down the toilet and it totally clogged the toilet.” She told them. “When he was a teenager, not a single poster of a female in his room, all men. When his father made him watch sports he looked at the players butts so obviously that it was a wonder how his father could overlook it, I think Josh didn’t even like watching sports at all. When he was in primary school he had those knights castle from Lego or something and there was a princess figure in a dress and a dragon – totally bad representation of women if you ask me that needs to stop – however he never played save the princess he saved some other knight figure. Then he nearly spat out his food when his sister was pregnant for the first time and we talked about breast feeding and you could hear an adult man complaining to his mother why she did that to him and that there had been a lot of wonderful bottles available instead….” She was about to continue apparently finding it really amusing and nice to tell someone all those stories about her son but Joshua had blushed even more, his hands had clenched into fists and his red face didn’t look amused at all. “We’ve all gotten it now mum! I am just the gayest thing that was ever alive would you stop with the stories now!” he barked and it made her pull his cheek again.

 

His mother leaned her upper body onto the toaster package and her large blue eyes observed Chris as if she was trying to figure out if she knew him and if so from where. Then her face lit up. “You are Christopher Rosario aren’t you!” she figured it out. “I really like your articles and your documentaries were sooo important more people should watch them, seriously. “ the woman complemented him and then smiled brightly when her eyes went back and forth between Joshua and him. “I am really happy that my son now has such a great and righteous partner. Maybe you can wash his head and make him less unbearable. I mean I have had to come to terms with him being a corrupt corporate leech with no soul but his politics are … urgh…” she made, shuddered and turned green as Joshua had when Chris had told him about his sexual activities with women.

 

He could already feel the headache coming, his mothers presence often gave him a headache these days. He nudged into Christopher’s side. “I told you that you attract radicals with your writing. She is a prime example.” The blond told him and a snort came from Wilhelm Weißenburg who was shaking his head. “Then the two of you have something in common it seems.” He commented like the only adult in the room slapping a bunch of misbehaving children in a row and Josh blinked his eyes. “I don’t cater to radicals.” He protested and his grandfather snorted again. “Oh yes you do! Your rhetoric is inflammatory. And you’re attracting people you don’t want to attract. And who sows the wind will reap the storm. You ain’t gonna have no control no more. You’ve already lost it child.” The old man said and Josh’s eyebrows narrowed. “What are you even talking about grandpa?” He wanted to know and the man laid his head to the side. “Pig heads flogged onto doors? People getting harassed and being called ‘goatfuckers’ by an angry mob that doesn’t let them pass? I doubt that was what you had in mind when you gave that little speech of yours.” The man stated. “Of course not but I don’t have anything to do with that in the first place. It’s not like I said ‘Yo, go and flog pig heads onto doors and assault people.’ All I was saying was that this ideology is harmful in more than just one way and that it contains awful aspects that are incompatible with our culture. I have seen it. You can’t deny it. The ones with the burkas often hid the bombs too. I have seen them blowing themselves into pieces and dragging dozens with them. They even send their children to blow themselves up for that ideology just to kill ‘westerners’. They killed friends of mine in front of my eyes in the name of that ideology! So don’t you tell me that it is harmless.” Weißenburg protested and his grandpa sighed. “I’m not saying that this ideology is harmless, it isn’t I am aware. But that’s not the point. The point is that problems need to be addressed in a solution oriented and rational analytical way. Breeding more hate won’t solve anything though. And I know you have not told them to do so but they felt encouraged by your words.” The old man said tiredly.

 

Then he waved his old hand looked at Christopher and him again. “Rather tell an old man now when you’ll get married.” The man wanted to know. “I really like wedding feasts and I’m not getting younger, I’d like to be invited to my grandsons wedding and celebrate it before I die. I have unfortunately given up on your sister; she has a horrible taste in men. But she gave me three wonderful great-grandchildren what makes me proud as her grandfather. So it’s your turn now! Let me be a guest at your wedding!” he said with a wide smile on his lips.

[brinary]

His phone had about fifteen notifications by the time he reached the final set of stairs. Josh had to know how doorbells and buzzer systems worked Why all the notifications? Puzzled, but dismissive, Christopher had to get used to the man being so close and looking so... alert? There were already too many Weibenburg Wonders to handle! Introducing casual normalcy didn't seem to be the correct solution as far as the blonde went. If anything it only agitated him. Getting kissed so soundly because of something mildly irritating wasn't a bad trade-off though. Christopher made a surprised noise then wrapped his arms around Joshua's neck, eyes closing in pleasure. Being wanted in this way was still so new to him that every time their lips parted, he felt dizzy, licking them like he needed to savour every touch, to remember.

 

It didn't seem to bother Joshua much at all. He continued answering his question as if groping someone and kissing them hard was normal. Pass the salt, how was your day, how about a finger against your asshole while I dominate you in public. Christopher barked a short laugh as he followed the man to his car. "It was sleep," he said vaguely with a flippant shrug. "I got it and then I woke up. Usually I have really wild dreams but there weren't any too exciting to report this time." What a fancy car. Its leather upholstery wasn't even that worn out. There weren't any deep crevices in the surface. It was spick and spam, neat and spotless. From how Joshua ranted about his truck during the rally that one time, he could imagine the blonde's hair sweat-slicked to his forehead from feverishly oiling his leather. It made him smile to himself as he buckled in.

 

Maybe it was because there weren't a lot of people coming in and out of the vehicle? It put his own car to

shame (even though he still adored it.)

 

As they drove, Christopher couldn't bring himself to speak. There were useless comments he could say- wasteful air to fill up a void that could just be his own personal doing. He kept his mouth shut as the day prior went passing through his head. 'Goatfucker,' MS Paint nudes, dreaming about abandonment. His precious little cabin. That cabin, that cottage, had always been sacred in his dreams. Nothing bad ever really happened when he was in that space. Being with Joshua in domestic bliss then watching him leave seemed so odd. Tiny thoughts plagued him. The writer found himself with an elbow on the passenger console and staring out of the window, far away, when Weibenburg spoke up. Snapping from his stupor, he hurriedly nodded then quickly shook his head, laughing lightly. "No, no I'm okay. I was nodding yes for o.k. Just some poor sleep on my part," he answered. It was okay because it wasn't a lie-- his sleep has been few, his dreams had been slightly troubling. It was poor sleep. It was nothing that Joshua had to worry about- nothing they had to linger on. He went back to leaning against the console and looking out of the window at the shops and districts they passed. "I'd nap on the way there, but I feel like I'll drool and won't notice it until I'm talking to your folks... How embarrassing that'd be."

 

They arrived shortly. Kris felt stupid leaving the man's truck, feet briefly hanging over the side before he hopped out with a smile at the blonde. "Thanks." As they entered the establishment, Kris realized that this particular establishment was one of Haye's favorite haunts. He'd heard him mention the place a bunch of times, even seen pictures on Facebook from lunch dates, but this was the first time he connected it. Still glancing around, he only tore his eyes away from surveying so they could admire. Joshua's quick hint seemed like important pop quiz material so he nodded shortly as he smiled at Nisha. "I think it looks gorgeous on you, and your hair is very nice today, too. You look very charming."

 

Nisha was running a gambit for becoming his top five favorite people. Joshua held the spot over her for now, but seeing Nisha happy made Christopher happy, and isn't that what favorite people evoked? Happiness?

Suddenly Nisha was hugging him and Joshua. Awkwardly, the Hispanic patted her back with a muffled laugh before startling at a jarring clank in the background. He could feel Nisha and Joshua's attentions, but it was hard to turn his own head to see the ruckus. All he knew that it sent everyone into a whirlwind. Next to him, he could feel the tall man tense, felt Nisha's own sagging against him. Left with the woman, he turned more to watch Joshua sprint away before looking back at the sad woman. Well. This was a shit show. Nisha was pancking. Joshua was gone. His Dad found out he was gay. It wasn't even breakfast time fully yet. It was, in all actuality, too early for this shit.

 

With calm tones and quiet hushing, Chris was rubbing Nisha's back. "It's okay, it's okay-- no one is going to hate you or never speak to you again, it was an incident that was honestly bound to happen at any rate-- you didn't out him on purpose, you were just responding to what you thought was a closed situation," he comforted. "You couldn't have known and your intentions weren't ill. They weren't even intentions at all. It's going to be okay, Nisha..." Noise made him slow in his speech although he didn't pause in his ministrations. As the old man got closer to him, Christopher decided, okay, yes, this is definitely the grandfather, what a bad first impression to make. Standing still for him, the writer patiently waited and then grinned ruefully.

 

'The befriended journalist'- if that was one way to put it...

 

"Nice to meet you, Will. I'm Christopher," he said rather awkwardly. Gestured over to the table, all Kris could do was glance at Nisha and try to encourage her along as he went to sit with the elder. "Um... this is quite a situation to meet you in. A lot of things are happening and I'm sorry about it." He offered an apologetic half-smile before his eyes worriedly followed the now busy Nisha. He could understand-- stress cleaning was one of those things that thankfully produced decent results while also making decent changes. "I'm... I'd wanted to ask you things but I think it'd be odd with Joshua here," he started again. "So I think I'll just start with one of my recent interests: you own plants? What kinds?"

 

Keeping a light conversation going didn't need to be maintained for too long. For however long it did go on, it was perfectly fine. He liked Will. Will seemed a decent sort. They talked amicably, even though the younger man felt a constant tension in his shoulders thinking about the underlying situation. His ears could faintly pick up some far-off discussion but the words were too muffled for any understanding to be made. Kris felt like excusing himself to the restroom then climbing out of the window-- but that'd be much too childish. And probably something Weibenburg would do. They had their own brands of crazy. Weibenburg's crazy worked for him; Kris didn't think he could quite pull it off. When Joshua finally reemerged, Christopher felt immediately attentive, gaze following him as he sat down. A hand on the thigh, a rub to the shoulder-- that's what Christopher wanted to give. Comfort. But the situation held him back. All the writer could do was watch mutely at the exchange unfolding before his eyes.

 

Was it surprising that Joshua's family seemed to have caught on to how gay he was? No. What regular straight guy got repulsed by women? It'd be one thing if the blonde could hide his reactions but his entire body contorted when someone mentioned anything gynocentric.

 

But it was good to know that they were so accepting. The solemn story was quickly followed by the arrival of someone... completely different? From quick stories Joshua told him and basic 'reporter knowledge,' Christopher identified the woman as his mother. And also identified those chucks as chucks he probably-- no, definitely owned. What a stylish woman. Apparently knew that Joshua was absolutely flaming, as well. Christopher kept his mouth shut to politely watch the show unfold. He fell easily into a still state, observing with little movement of his own. Family really did treat their children as children, even when that child has grown up. Joshua was being harassed and embarrassed and chortled at left and right. It was refreshing to see someone typically in control be powerless to a woman wearing chucks and a trenchcoat in hot weather.

 

They made for a strange cast. The hard right Joshua, his leftist mother, an 100-year-old man and a sweet but nervous foreign woman.

 

He'd fallen so deeply into the roll of an audience member, he was surprised to even be addressed. Truth be

told, Christopher was, just a little bit, staring at the blushing Joshua- just trying to commit the image to memory. He shifted to face her better and listened with his elbow against the table, chin propped on a fist. Nodding along and smiling encouragingly were his usual behaviors but the woman obviously needed no prompting-- Joshua Weibenburg was getting a thorough embarrassment. The kind that only could be dreamed by parents, the kind they looked forward to relishing in later years.

 

But it was confirmed. Joshua was incredibly fucking gay.

 

It felt like ages since he'd last spoken. Christopher tried not to let the laughter into his voice as he began speaking amicably. "I think you sound really... cute," he settled on, enjoying the little scrap he'd thrown into the hot pan that was Joshua's flustered state. He needed to relish the moments where the man's careful composure was disrupted. But then he was actually being addressed AGAIN-- recognized even. He seemed just as surprised as Joshua's mother was when she announced her knowledge. His work seemed like a distant memory sometimes even though he continued to pump out article after article, commentary after commentary. The documentaries especially weren't that old; his latest film had been only two years ago. Being recognized and having his portfolio, in a way, acknowledged and recognized was still strange to get used to. Not unpleasant though! He grinned and ducked his head modestly. "Thank you. I'm glad you like them; it's really refreshing to hear that people actually consume the things I make, I guess." Now it was his turn to blush.

 

Glancing up at Joshua, then at his mother, and the other people in the room, he shifted in his seat before snorting. Mother and son, huh? He could definitely see it. Unconscious body language Joshua had obviously mimicked from her. Turning green. Being a snazzy dresser. He could totally see it.

Joshua's nudge made him open his mouth, a sharp retort already in hand, but Will cut him off. And proceeded to say literally everything Kris wanted to say to Joshua since FOREVER, but more importantly since yesterday. It was the familial thing. You listen to your grandfather more than your boyfriend, right? That's how relationships worked, right? And his grandfather seemed incredibly wise. Kris hoped Joshua got a fucking clue and maybe chilled the fuck out with the thinking he could separate himself from certain things because what the ACTUAL fuck--

 

What the actual fuck? Marriage!?

 

"Uh." Christopher felt it now, his face burning, and the nervous laugh that sounded more like a goat bleating. "Uhhhhhahaa, um, I think that's entirely up to Joshua." He glanced up at the man with a smile that was way too wide, nerves making him immediately grin like an idiot at the idiot of being married to Joshua and living in a home where they could argue over color swatches for a cute room and make dinners for nobody except themselves with a room they'd share, a bed they'd fuck in and sleep in, together, just them, all by themselves--

 

Stop it. "I don't think we can do a shotgun wedding. Vegas wasn't that fun for me and I'm sure Joshua would rather treat everyone to a big, extravagant affair," the man joked mildly as he looked to his boyfriend (hisboyfriend) with raised eyebrows. "No blood diamond engagement rings, though."

[-Hideki-]

It was definitely embarrassing and Joshua’s cheeks were glowing after his mother had decided it would be a good idea to talk about what he had done as a kid that might have been indicators that he had an interest in men – well alright it definitely were indicators that he was gay he could acknowledge that but moderate ones, he was not flaming gay or anything – and that he could imagine the reporters amusement while he listened to that didn’t make the situation any better. Hence his blue eyes fixated closely onto Rosario when he spoke for the first time in a while to tell him that he sounded cute. “Well I am cu….” He wanted to say in his usual confident demeanour but then he caught on the way the other had said it the pause between ‘you sound really’ and ‘cute’ and he lightly pushed Chris’s shoulder. “You’re totally mocking me again aren’t you? I was a normal boy alright! God damn it!” the blond insisted blushing even more furiously.

 

That only made his mother laugh looking into Christopher’s green eyes. “Yes, he was such a cute kid indeed. He looked like an angel too with those big blue eyes of his. And he was always so protective about his little sister. Then again he stole that poster of that actor from her because he wanted it, just in case you thought the posters in his room had been football players or something they hadn’t been.” She remarked. “Yes, he was adorable. “ his mother sounded a little dreamy with a sparkle in her eyes that then died and her voice became deep and she sounded like some demon creature from a video game. “And look at what he has become now!” the woman said and pointed at him. “First I didn’t steal her poster we gambled and she lost. Second I’m gonna ask Nisha if she’ll adopt me because you are a socialist monster!” he complained and his mother laughed. “Fine with me son! That’d spare me all the complaints about you people annoy me with and the demand of a justification for your politics that I can’t give them. I can just direct them to Nisha then.” Nicole laughed and Josh couldn’t keep himself from imagining a bunch of leftists storming the restaurant bombarding Nisha with political questions that she could totally not answer because she didn’t follow politics.

 

The modest reaction of the journalist when Weißenburg’s mother expressed that she was a fan of his work made the woman smile widely. “Aw, you’re so sweet and humble. I was sure that there could only be a great person behind that work.” She let him know. “It’s so important to stay down to earth. But some people lose all humbleness and they take off like Icarus.” His mother’s eyes gazed to Josh from the side and her son raised his eyebrows. “I am humble.” The businessman said, making his mother snort. “Oh, yes, definitely. ‘Look at me I’m so f-ing rich, I made it to the top, I’m the only one to get the city to the top too, no one else can do that, it’s totally true’.” She imitated him and he rolled his eyes and sighed. It had been like this between them for years but now that he was running for mayor this seemed to have become the largest part of their interaction.

 

After his grandfather had dropped the marriage bomb that had followed his political lecture for Joshua the old man looked at them awaiting and hopeful while both Weißenburg and his mother stared at the old man with wide blue eyes and then they turned to Chris when the man made that ‘Uh’ sound, blushed and soon busted out into nervous laughter what Josh found rather cute actually. What wasn’t so cute was that he shoved the whole subject over to him and made his grandfather focus on him as well ! He also didn’t know about which part of him he was making fun of with the ‘big extravagant wedding’ remark, about the fact that he expressed that had one or two times maximum - cough – expressed how rich he was or because of how overly extremely gay he was according to his mum, not that those stories weren’t the truth or anything.

 

He would have liked to leave it at that but he knew that his grandfather had been totally serious about the marriage thing. So he took up Chris’s comment in regards to the engagement rings. “What? And what shall I do with those blood diamond engagement rings now if you don’t want them? I thought you’d love them.” he asked fake indignant and sighed turning to Will directly. “Look, grandpa, Nisha has just set us up and it’s a bit early to marry now but when we get married you’ll be the first I’ll tell!” he assured the old man before his mother talked again. “Marriage is overrated anyway. It doesn’t change anything about the relationship, it’s useless. In old times it was just an institution of oppression of women.” She barked and Josh rolled his eyes annoyed while his grandpa’s eyes narrowed. “What do you know about the times of old kid! You have no idea. I married my wife because we loved each other and wanted to and we were happily married our entire life.” He reprimanded the woman as if she was a child and Josh’s mother snorted, then she shook her head. “Anyway, I want to get rid of that toaster now. I’m on my way to Maria; we are taking care of the preparation for tonight’s women’s forum and Harold asked me to drop this by when I am already in the city centre.” She commented and then turned to Chris to explain because the man couldn’t know.

 

“Harold is my boyfriend and he and my ex get a long way too well. And they have that game going on where they pull old electronic stuff out of the trash or buy it and then they give it the other to repair. It’s a totally stupid game and unnecessary but they seem to like it. Although I ask myself how my ex-husband and my boyfriend can be friends it’s weird.” She found not able to wrap her head around it. “It’s not weird.” Joshua commented and then added. “When I was with Ilay I befriended his ex too. We are really similar, get along well, have the same outlook on things. And although I’m not with Ilay anymore, we’re still good friends.” He informed her and the woman narrowed her eyes. “Do you want to say that Harold will leave me but stay friends with Erwin?” she hissed at her son and Josh sighed. “No. That was not what I said. That’s what your twisted women logic made out of it.” The blond told his mother and he could have seen it coming but she yelled. “Did you hear that?” she asked Christopher and even Will who was hard of hearing held his ears close. “How! I have tried to raise him properly and he’s still become a chauvinist prick! It’s all his stupid father’s fault I am sure of it.” She barked and then calmed a bit again leaning over to Christopher. “Your community has a misogyny problem. You should write an assay about that once, it’s an important issue. My stupid son and his disgusting friend Terry Wilcox are good examples….” She was cut off by Josh. “Terry cares a lot about women. He cares about what they wear and how much they eat.” The businessman joked but his mother didn’t find it funny. “Aside from that he doesn’t even believe half of what he says, he is a complete fake, maybe he isn’t even really gay and just plays that too.” Joshua added. “Tss, it’s not only Wilcox though. What is about that Jiles who insults women who have legitimate criticism of video games? Isn’t he gay too? He calls women ‘bitter cat ladies’, ‘men hating dykes’ and says that they are frustrated because they haven’t seen a ‘cock’ in a while!” she brought Jiles onto the table and even though the blond tried to not laugh he did. He busted out into laughter at his mother repeating the stuff Tristan said on the internet.

 

The woman shook her head as if he was a completely hopeless case and turned around to the door that led to the kitchen. “Erwin!” she shouted extremely loudly. “What!” Josh’s father shouted back from the kitchen. “Come over here you donkey I don’t have time!” she shouted again. “I’m preparing my father’s breakfast so you have to wait bloody old bat!” his father shouted back. “You’re the same age you idiot!” she screamed. “That’s different. Women are like flowers they wither and men are like whisky, you get the hint you hag!” he came back at her and Josh shook his head. “That’s normal between them.” He told Chris so he wouldn’t even start to wonder listening to his parents again. “Then I put the toaster onto the counter.” His mum exclaimed. “Toaster?” his father asked. “The one Harold gave me for you to repair.” She informed him and his father’s voice got lighter. “Great! How is he doing with the old video recorder I gave him?” he asked. “Fine I think!” she told him and the shouted conversation ended.

 

Josh’s mum was dragging the toaster onto the counter where Nisha was now putting full bottles into the shelves. “I’m off then. Don’t forget to vote for Sandro Bernotti!” she said into Chris’s and Will’s direction and Joshua looked at her as if he wanted to ask her ‘seriously?’. “You do know that I’m your son right? You could at least be more discrete about it.” He criticised but she ignored him. “The other women are probably already waiting for me, I’m a speaker today too.” She announced and went straight for the door but turned to Chris another time. “It was so nice to meet you in person.” she told him and then Nisha’s soft voice sounded. “Can I come too?” she asked Josh’s mother and the woman blinked her eyes. “No. It’s not for you, not your place and not your discussions to have.” She said and out she was. Nisha’s face went sad and disappointed and she looked at the bottle she was holding in hand placing it onto the shelve with a sigh. It made Joshua feel bad and he wanted to go behind his mother and tell her to take Nisha to that stupid toxic feminazi meeting but it wouldn’t help anyway so he turned to Nisha. “There is a meeting of the women of my party in a few days; if you want I can drive you and Jacqueline. You’ll like it better there anyway; there are many women who share your hobbies and they aren’t angry and evil. You can dress nicely and Jacqueline can do your hair too.” He suggested and the thin woman smiled again. “That sounds lovely.” She said.

 

The door to the floor went open again and Weißenburg’s father stepped into the restaurant and looked around. “Is that hag gone?”he asked.”Good.” he then said and placed a plate in front of Will who always ate fish for breakfast. Then he turned his eyes to Josh and to Chris and saw them next to each other and he got a little uncomfortable thinking that they were a couple. It was weird to see his son next to another man with that knowledge about them but he might get used to it. He coughed. “And you are his….” He coughed again “…..boyfriend?” he asked and examined Christopher closely then he pursed his lips. “You aren’t a vegan are you?” he wanted to know with a sceptical almost threatening glare and Josh sighed. “He’s not a vegan.” He informed his old man. “Good. I don’t like vegans.” He informed the other. “If you aren’t one I may or may not approve. But if you hurt my son I’ll hurt you.” He hissed and Joshua slapped his hand against his forehead hard. “I’m not Jacqueline!” he protested because his father was now acting the same way he acted towards the men his sister had introduced to him. And Erwin placed a plate each with English breakfast in front of them, ignored his son’s protest and walked off into the direction of the kitchen again but Nisha walked around the counter and grabbed his arm. “Joshi said he’ll drive me to his party’s women’s meeting! Do you think I should make lemon cake or chocolate cake for it?” she asked looking up at him. “I don’t care but you could make me a lemon cake hun.” The man said making NIsha chuckle and he kissed her before he left the restaurant for the kitchen again. “I’m gonna make both. And one for him too.” She decided. “Do we get some too?” Josh asked jokingly but Nisha took it seriously. “Of course what cake do you want?” she asked with a smile.

 

Will had started to eat the fish and since he was finally getting his breakfast now, for whatever reason it was delayed by a total fifteen minutes what was totally unacceptable because he always ate the same thing at the same time he was gathering new motivation and turned to Chris. “If I understood it right, you didn’t drop by just for an introduction and Josh letting us know that you’re lovers, you wanted to ask me something about my life at least that’s what Josh said.” He brought it up again. “So why don’t you start. I tell my stories best with food on the table.” He let the other man know.

[brinary]

Christopher waited with a patient smile for Joshua to catch the meaningful lapse in his words. Grinning mischievously, he watched the falter in the man's words then took the shove in stride and patted the blonde's hand. "Uh-huh." Weird situation or not, it'd granted him with seeing the inner mechanics of how Weibenburg's family worked. Specifically in how it targeted him. A blushing Joshua was something to be remembered for the ages. Even more so because it was so bright. His cheeks were practically in flames and his forehead and chin didn't even seem spared from the spreading redness. Is that how pale skin worked? You just ended up seeing or showing the full extent of any emotion? Although maybe not. Joshua was quite dramatic- it could just be that dramatic nature manifested. "Perfectly normal. Nothing even a little strange. Not in the slightest," he continued before resting his chin back on his fist, looking more relaxed at having the chance to add to Joshua's public teasing. Raccoon hands, past child embarrassments, and emotional stuff- those are the things that made Weibenburg squirm. He'd need to remember that. It'd come in handy later.

 

An eyebrow quirked up, Kris stealing a sideway glance at the other man. Joshua, an angel? He couldn't imagine it. Big blue eyes... Sure. But angelic? The man looked like he was chiseled out of ice and casted with faint pastel colors. Everything about him was sharp angled. Even his mouth was hard against his, cutting when they kissed. Maybe the entire kingly visage had come in way later. Christopher liked to think that maybe Joshua had horrible cystic acne as a young teen (although it was probably untrue; there wasn't an acne scar to be found on the guy, and he'd seen him all over at this point) or perhaps a particularly bony look about him. He found taller people had that gangly stage where their limbs seemed ill-fitted, as if someone had stepped on their feet and pulled at their arms ad necks like taffy. Most of the conversations just had Christopher in the background listening and daydreaming. He was caught between pursuing his fun ridicule of what young Joshua looked like, while the other wanted to do its new favorite past-time, which is imagine apartment-shopping with Joshua. No, no, cottage. Cabin. By the sea, just like Josh had described. With the waves battering against rocks and the cold salty spray.

 

Ugh, now he was just thinking about getting face-fucked.

 

Not great. Particularly when Nicole was now speaking to him. The warmth on his cheeks grew; he could lie and say it was just him being humble. Totally not thinking about blowing someone's son. "Heheh, thanks..." Being used as a device for comparison never quite sat right with Kris? Mostly because he hated his parents making his sisters feel bad about themselves. Kris being young with a lot of success under his belt didn't get used as much as his older sister's military commitments had been. There was a lot of a overlap though. He couldn't completely disagree with this one though. Joshua and Christopher were very different and very similar in odd ways. Joshua's sky-rocketed notoriety was relished. He drove fancy, he dressed snazzy, he had no problem making it clear that he was wealthy and successful. Which was good for him- but it could get annoying. Kris had his own smaller notoriety but handled it with an unbecoming humbleness. He lived small, he talked even more modestly, thanks a plenty, and rarely indulged in fancy fare. Looking back and forth between the pair, though, he wondered at their relationship. Everyone seemed to be on relatively okay terms with one another. He could understand the irritation a mother would have at her son doing what she felt was wrong or unjust. But there was such an... adult way in how she pointed her finger and raised her voice that was different from his own treatment at home.

 

Of course his mother yelled at him, but always in a way that was both condescending, loving, and light. It never felt like an adult speaking to another adult. But a mother reprimanding her child. He supposed there was some of that in Nicole's tone and interactions too-- it just. It was uncomfortable to be there to weather it out.

 

The look Joshua gave him when he elegantly dumped the marriage issue onto his lap was priceless. Green eyes widened as if to say 'What?' then crinkled with a small laugh, the Hispanic raising his hand to lightly chuckle before taking a more proper position. "Trade them in for Ring Pops," Kris answered with a roll of his eyes. "It'd better suit your aesthetic tastes." Teasing aside, the absence of 'if' spoke volumes to him. Kris momentarily wondered if Joshua was just humouring his pleasant old grandfather. Because if he thought about marrying Joshua Weibenbug, if he thought about something so long-lasting, he was sure to erupt in a burning face. Instead he nodded along with what his boyfriend said in an effort to be supportive. Since they'd totally have a wedding. Yeah. For sure.

 

He didn't want to believe in it too hard, or it'd just make him absolutely bubbly.

 

More weathering. Although he attentively listened to Nicole, he was also attentively listening to the back and forth when the woman's voice reached a decibel equivalent to 'ouch.' Kris was good at not flinching, remaining still when her voice raised. He weathered the storm like it was any old day. The best course was to remain that way, keep his mouth pressed shut, and make sure she was aware that he was listening and absorbing what she said. Right now, he just wanted to stay on her relatively good side. Avoid her general tirade-path. More back and forth; no one in his family was as politically diverse or politically interested. Go fucking figure-- people that flee for political freedom fear being politically outspoken. Being a reporter was hard for both of his parents. Even now, they hated when he spoke about it, or tried to watch the news over at his house when the political talkshows were on. So this experience was definitely jarring. It was even beginning to hurt his brain some; a headache was forming right at the sides, pounding just under his ears.

 

Nicole leaving was-- well. Christopher was grateful! If he thought Joshua was the loud one she definitely took the goddamn cake. Learned from the best, for sure. "Have a good day," he intoned with a tired smile. It was way too early to deal with so much drama. But maybe that was good! He had longer hours to recover. Maybe he needed those hours for a nap-- being around Joshua's family completely wore him out. It was like watching a hyperbolized skit about politics and relationships play out in an actual reality. Who would've known people could truly behave this way? Once things settled down and he watched Joshua inform Nisha about his stupid party's ugly gathering, the writer couldn't even bring himself to suggest a plethora of other ways to get involved.

 

He just sagged.

 

Should have made more coffee to keep him going throughout the day. Briefly Christopher's eyes fluttered close, before flying open again at another opened door. It was that pale man from earlier. Joshua's father. So he was meeting mom, dad, and grandpa all in one big fell swoop. A great day for first impressions. He straightened himself up as the older man approached their table, serving fish to Will, before directing the big question to him: are you my son's boyfriend.

 

He nodded.

 

The vegan question was random, but he still answered, shaking his head as Joshua answered for him.

 

He nodded twice more at the man's assessment of vegans, and his threat. It didn't seem that ridiculous to be protective over one's son. Instead he smiled, thanked Mr. Weibenburg for the breakfast, and began to eat after a short, internal prayer. There was already food in his mouth when Joshua's grandfather turned to him. Swallowing hurriedly, Christopher rubbed his chest then pat his mouth dry with a few mini-napkins that had been nestled in his back pocket. "Yes, I-- well, we were talking and you came up. Joshua told me a little bit about you and I was really intrigued," he answered. "I was always enthralled by listening to stories from people older than me, and especially from such different circumstances. I just wanted to know about your own immigration here and living through so much history." In all actuality, he had a litany of questions from Will, but inundating someone with multiple inquiries wasn't Christopher's style.

 

Instead he continued eating, taking smaller bites to chew faster and swallow whole so his talking would be less interrupted by long pauses. "Of course I don't want you to have to relive anything that pulls you into a strong memory. It can be difficult to pull some people out of their pasts when they get to speaking about it. I don't want that to happen. I was just... interested in knowing more about you," he finished, practically repeating himself and laughing because of it. "Sorry. I already said that but it's just the simplest way to describe what I was thinking."