Archenemy [brinary&Hideki] (Private)

[brinary]

Defending Haye only earned him raised eyebrows and a snort, which was definitely not encouraging, but Chris was obviously not one to be perturbed by disapproval or dismissal. It just didn’t work well to be as stubborn as he was when the man across from him was just as hard-headed. An unstoppable force, an unmovable object. The roles switched between the two so much that they might as well carry both titles in these collisions. A new struggle now was quelling the urge to just apologise and nuzzle up into Joshua in a good old fashioned affection-white-flag. Especially after what happened in the car drive over, their fun on the ice rink, he didn’t want to start more trouble.

 

Instead of listening to that voice in his head that desired to reach out and kiss Joshua until they were both wordless, Christopher decided to double down on his bull-nature as much as possible. No man was going to get the best of him just by existing, that was for certain. Especially when it came to the third most important man in his life! Haye had seen him through the thickest ruts and supported him with good grace and big smiles. And sure he lo-iked Joshua a lot but that didn’t mean dumping his friend to the slaughter dog sitting next to him. Resolve firmed, the brunette rolled his eyes. “I swear you have the affects of a, like, ten year old with this competitive thing” is what he WOULD have said if he didn’t know better. But he did have one last adult gesture to just confess that this wasn’t supposed to be a giant thing. Luck would have it that he could never win against someone as thick as Joshua, especially when Joshua decided to be mature and make a painfully accurate insight that made Christopher flush down to his neck.

 

There were times when emotional intelligence trumped everything and the blonde showed a surprising amount of insight in how those fields functioned. It was INCREDIBLY agitating. Chris squirmed, feeling admonished and wanting badly to strike back in that embarrassed way that drove him, to say something-- but there was nothing to be done. Joshua was right and he liked that he pointed out a sensible fact. Why did he think that’d work? “Sorry,” he replied lamely and felt pleased, in a guilty way, at skin pressed into his neck, soft hair brushing against the heat under his chin. “You’re right,” he admitted after a moment of quiet spent petting his boyfriend’s hair. “I’ll learn from this.” Self-awareness in spades, Joshua must have been hiding his hand for the past few days because Christopher had so rarely the chance to hear him make a meta commentary on this predicament. Also was it weird that he thought this jealousy thing to be a little hot? No, he didn’t!

 

Abuse was bad, emotional or verbal, and that was a fact. It wasn’t that making Joshua jealous got Christopher excited but the fact that someone felt the need to claim him; to boldly fight just feeling like his “area” as it were was being encroached on--

 

That was hot. Ew, why did he find it so hot?

 

“I mean,” Chris started in response, eyebrows furrowing. “Yeah, I would have said that and I still do to some extent. But…” It’s different when two people like each other a lot. That’s what he wanted to say. The argument was valid but the man somehow felt that his partner would pounce on the sentence in multiple ways. And he had to admit that the few friends he had, well, they were either very similar to him or complete opposites. Circumstances had been different though! There were no biases formed, no knowledge of Christopher’s sometimes insane antics and past. Joshua’s friends would meet Chris as the nosy, no-good news reporter that their buddy just so happened to decide to fuck.

Chewing the inside of his cheek, he huffed and nodded in acknowledgement. “Okay. True! But still. Technically you’re dating a weird criminal. Like, a more morally ambiguous Spiderman. But with slightly more muscle definition. And no engineering degree.”

 

He quickly colored again at mention of the Inciting Incident, that clusterfuck of a night. His tia was always right about these things… “Oh, please, that’s the definition of self-control,” Christopher countered somewhat feebly and quickly added on the cheerleader point. Which was oddly, once again, countered by his boyfriend. His flushed cheeks went brighter yet and he rolled his eyes with a half scoff, half laugh. “I can just cheer for everyone who I can. That’s a cheerleader; I am cheering, just for everyone. But yes. I’ll root for you. Even if you are a little boggart,” he said affectionately. He hated how soft he got over the idea of just being Joshua’s personal hypeman. Though the blonde had ideas that Christopher were definitely against, he would love to be the one to encourage the other. Shower him with love and give him enthusiastic thumbs up.

 

There it came again; that urge to drop his guards down to the negatives and launch himself at Joshua. And take care of him, and pet him, and kiss him until he couldn’t tell the difference between down and up. He hated going so gooey. “Awe, pobrecito…” His touch and eyes both turned tender. He checked himself quickly though and resisted again, simply stroking the man’s hair and then tutting. “You’re deserving of some time and relaxation. You’re going to burn yourself out in the middle of your finest hours at the rate you’re going, and sure, it hasn’t happened yet but it will. You still have a lot of time to learn how to slow it down, relax and reset.”

 

But he wasn’t helping with that front, kneading and pinching- practically abusing- his boyfriend’s thigh as some means to hold back his own gross feelings. Gosh, he was a mess; that didn’t keep him from holding his position when the man relented. Joshua was obviously hurt. And Christopher didn’t really know how to handle it, only opening his mouth stupidly to say ‘no you’re fine’ until things were happening. Things happening.

 

Ew, what was happening. Looking across the way at Joshua, Christopher cocked his head to the side. Joshua was then close-- he couldn’t tell how it happened. Maybe he lost track between the stutter his brain made with the other’s hand suddenly gripping him tight. His throat tight, eyes startled, the man felt pressure building in his chest as a squeak just barely escaped, too startled to make much of any noise. The proposition was laid out bare on the table and the younger shuddered, near keening, as he felt his hips begin to push into the pressure of Joshua’s hand.

 

Then it was all yanked away from him. Christopher lay prone for a minute, bug-eyed, flushed, and having trouble regulating his breathing as his body wet cold from lack of the continue touch. His brain slowly processed things then churned faster and faster to make sense of the challenge. Because that’s what it was, a challenge; a retort for the wrongs Chris had gotten up to tonight due to fighting his own lame sentiments. An internal war resulting an external strife. Well these things were better for the blonde; he was always good at denying himself and spurning others. With that knowledge, the man shakily got to his feet and adjusted himself with little discretion. “Alright,” he rumbled and leveled Joshua with a firm, solid gaze as he blocked the television with his frame. Slowly he bent until his face was not even two inches away from his boyfriend’s.

 

“Take off your clothes,” he breathed, “and be prepared to soak. I’ll get the bath salts and the tiger balm. And queue up a gameshow, and prepare the gauze.” His thumb brushed against Joshua’s lip and he whispered. “I am going to take care of you until you get tired of me.”

With a kiss to the nose, Christopher left the living room and got a pot of water set to boil on medium, dropping a satchel of dried leaves and blossoms into it. Then, he went into the hall, to the bathroom, tuning on the faucet and plugging in the stopper to start a bath for his darling dearest fucking boyfriend.

 

If that was the game, then he chose his path-- they were going to be domestic as fuck. Beside, Christopher thought, maybe in a future where we’re together and he’s a withered old crow, I’ll get the practise in now rather than later.

[-Hideki-]

Joshua was shocked! For a moment even speechless when he looked at the brunette journalist and heard him utter such words as ‘Sorry’ and ‘You’re right,’ promising him to learn from this. The blond man didn’t know what he had expected as a reaction to his analysis but this hadn’t been it. It was a first. And maybe this would be the last time the other agreed with him and admitted that he was right when they argued and they would argue. Chris wasn’t Foxy with whom most arguments had circled around house shores as neither of them had wanted to do any of them and the reporter also wasn’t Ilay who, as a private person in a relationship was the opposite of what he was as a lawyer and that was rather submissive and cooperative. Then again, maybe there would be many first times and surprises waiting on the path of Chris’s and his relationship. This was definitely the first time that someone as far to the left of him had ever agreed with him or admitted to agree with him on anything. And as the surprise was wearing down a pleased grin was appearing on his face. “Of course I am right.” He said, grabbing the other man’s neck, leaning over to kiss him. “I appreciate it.” He then added after the peek on the other man’s lips in a voice so faint that one could have thought one was imagining things.

 

Unlike the former reaction of his boyfriend this one wasn’t surprising at all. It was incredibly obvious that Wei?enburg’s and Christopher’s personalities mismatched and not only that, there had been a lot of bad blood coming towards the conservative candidate from the journalists side to the degree everyone would have probably called both of them complete fucktards for even trying this. So the actually interesting part was the one the other didn’t say and that had only been hinted at with a ‘But’. Josh raised his eyebrows looking at the other man awaiting the sentence. “But…?” he asked wanting to hear what the brunette had meant to say. When the other then agreed that Jiles was not exactly normal only to add that the blond was technically dating a weird criminal before comparing himself to a superhero he couldn’t hold back laughter. It was amusing how the other man pictured himself. Actually this was twice as bad because he still couldn’t get the pictures of JIles and his Russian boyfriend dressed in a Spiderman costume out of his head. “Then you at least got a chance that Jiles will love you. He has a thing for Spiderman it seems. Especially a Russian Spiderman who denies that he’s Russian.” Joshua said not caring for the lack of context. “Jeez, I’ll never get those pictures out of my head again but I think that one actually has some degree in engineering or a talent for it.”

 

He liked it. The idea of the other man actually rooting for him, cheering him on, having his back and he had to admit to himself that this would actually make him happy. So far Wei?enburg had been a lone wolf in that regards. No one had had his back when he had built up his company and no one had had his back when he had entered politics. He had only had himself to go to. Yes, there had been a period where he had had Ilay but at that point the most rough times and struggles to establish himself, to rise up had been over. He had only even met him because he had arrived at a certain level of the playing field with his company. So the idea was exciting to him but at the same time unrealistic. Christopher was opposed to pretty much everything he wanted for the city, for their state, for their nation. It was more likely that in their professional lives they’d continue to oppose each other. Then again wouldn’t that be proving their integrity and sincerity?

 

The warmth he was then met with and the warning that he shall rest and relax regardless for he’d burn himself out otherwise actually felt like he was bathing in that green affectionate gaze and he did actually relax into the touch of the other. Feeling those hands running and tutting through the silky blond strands of hair! He liked that. He liked having his hair played with almost as much as he liked to feel and play with other people’s hair, especially if the hair was nice or unusual or both. There was no doubt that he’d have to learn to take time outs and had to actively learn how to rest. “Maybe you can help me learn huh?” he suggested and it was more serious than he made it sound as it was clear that left alone, he’d do what he always had done. “I just often feel like I’m still that young guy who can’t rest if he doesn’t want to be stuck in a pile of shit forever and have nowhere to rest.” The man admitted. Despite all of the bragging, all the emphasising of his wealth he sometimes forgot that his position was an entirely different one. That if he took a minute, that if he went on vacation and stop hoarding and increasing wealth and guarding that wealth, everything would still be there, that he’d return into his mansion in front of the fireplace and wouldn’t find that people had taken all of that away from him and he’d return to the ruin that was the “house” of his childhood with that pathetic squeaking door and the duck tape fixing the living room window.

 

After he had laid the cards out onto the table it was Chris’s turn to make a move. He had given him the choice between the options available and now he shall choose! Not to mention that the flustered, dumb founded reaction had been rather satisfying. To have turned him on, fuelled the fire and then let him drop into the pool filled with ice water that Chris himself had placed there. It actually took a moment until the other had adjusted himself enough and his blue gaze was lying on the other man when he stepped in front of him blocking the TV. His eyes didn’t yield a bit when his lover was bending over, their faces ever so close and Josh was not showing any reaction although there was the impulse to press his thin lips onto the other man’s and just shut him up but he didn’t. He let him have his choice and when he spoke Wei?enburg smirked widely and cheekily before he couldn’t hold back laughter anymore at those instructions and how they were delivered. “With pleasure.” He laughed and got up from the sofa, towering over the other with his height, his eyes following Chris out of the room.

 

Shaking his head with a still amused grin the blond reached to his back and pulled his shirt over his head, flinging it to the side. This attire was a lot more practical than the suits he usually wore. Standing there shirtless, with those military pants on he could see his reflection in the turned out TV and the picture was a familiar one. How often had he looked and run around like that back in his army days. In those very pants without a shirt on! But as familiar of a picture it was and how good he still undeniably looked he could see the difference. He wasn’t that guy in his early twenties anymore, Foxy’s hair was more grey than red these days and Jiles lacked an eye and his arm looked as if someone had tried to fry it, time has not stood still, they were older, considerably older and the suit was fitting him a lot better than this these days. Josh was toned, one could still see his abs but it was no comparison to back then considering that there was some fat on his body too. He could pinch it and he did, a little unhappy about it being there.

 

Maybe he should get to that fitness and boxing club he was a member at again. The one Nisha’s best friend ran. That guy with the eight pack. It had been a long time since he’d last been there actually. Good thing he had at least lifted Morrison once in a while. Wei?enburg still remembered his first time going there because Nisha had suggested it. Joshua had hit on the owner after he had seen how he looked but had gotten turned down multiple times although the guy had said he was bisexual telling Wei?enburg that he was simply not his type. No one had ever said that to Joshua before and in the first moment it had pissed him off beyond believe and he had told him to fucking look at him again and if he needed to have his eye sight checked if he couldn’t see that he was the definition of hot what had only amused the guy further and had made him laugh at him saying: “Everyone get’s rejected. You’ll get over it buddy.” With a punch to his shoulder.

 

Turning away from his reflection that definitely lacked an eight pack – he never had - and the clear defined six pack he had had as a young man he dropped his pants and kicked them somewhere, leaving him in black tight boxer-briefs which he didn’t drop just then and there as it was already a little chilly as it was. Instead he decided to go after Chris and see how the preparations for their childish little game was going. Hearing the sound of running water it wasn’t difficult to make out where the other man was and he found his way to the bathroom with ease, leaning in the door frame, watching the brunette man for a moment, grinning widely as he was letting his eyes roam over the other’s body checking out his arse. “How are things going with my bath?” he teased.