The Title Will Go Here - 26. Chapter 26

- XXVI -

He was by his room when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out, looked at the screen, sighed, and pushed the Talk button.

“What?” he asked tiredly after he pressed the phone against his ear.

“You awake?” the phone asked quickly, and he sighed again.

“No,” he said. “I am sleeping. You are talking to my clone. What?” he asked again after the phone made a semi-embarrassed sound.

“You in the hotel?” the phone asked in the same quick manner.

“Uh huh,” Leon nodded absent-mindedly.

“Care for a quick cup of coffee?”

He let out another sigh.

“Open your door,” he said, and patiently waited for a minute or two until the door clicked open. “I am going to hang up now,” he said into the phone, looking at Stratos, whose shirt was half-unbuttoned and who didn’t wear any shoes.

“Right...” Stratos blinked at that and gave him a crooked smile.

He stepped aside, letting Leon in, and Leon headed straight towards the kitchen without asking anything else. It was obvious that they would go into the kitchen – Stratos spoke in a hushed voice, and tried to make as little noise as possible while he was walking. His precious kelari was asleep – that much was more than clear. For some reason, he didn’t feel the same old, familiar wave of dark irritation splash inside him as he expected. Instead, he just felt a prick of slight annoyance. He was too damn tired for irritation, he thought, and his hand slid into his pocket just so it could touch the membership card with a phone number on it.

He stepped around the fridge that was still slammed against the wall, grabbed a chair, and sat down, pressing his elbow into the counter. He watched Stratos quickly working the coffeemaker, and a few minutes later, he sighed again.

“What?” he asked when he noticed curious glances that the musician would shoot at him every couple of seconds.

“Nothing...” Stratos shook his head, and then let out a small smile. “You just look...” He paused, searching for the right word. “...radiant,” he finished, and Leon blinked at that.

Radiant, huh? No shit, he thought, and his hand slid into his pocket again.

“That’s because...” He was about to say, ‘...I just had one hell of a great fuck.’

“...I’ve had a few drinks and shitload of fresh air,” he said instead, and touched the card again.

“Ah...” Stratos nodded and reached for the cups.

Leon took one of the cups out of his hand when he handed it to him, and grimaced a quick ‘no’ to a small bottle of creamer – right now he wanted his coffee black.

“So...” he said a few minutes later when Stratos wouldn’t say anything.

Stratos sighed and drank more of his coffee. Finally, he lowered the cup without putting it on the counter.

“He wants to take off the Lock,” he said in a low voice, and Leon blinked.

“I figured that much,” he said slowly. “After what happened...? I wouldn’t be surprised if you’d done it already...”

“Wait...” Stratos frowned and put his cup down. “Wait... You are not going to tell me that I am out of my goddamn mind?”

“No,” Leon slightly shook his head and drank more coffee. “What’s the point? No matter what I say, it’s not going to change anything, and...” He shrugged indifferently. “...I don’t feel like wasting my breath anymore.”

It was true – he was tired of saying the same thing over and over again. Trying to prove Stratos wrong was completely and utterly useless, and to be honest, he didn’t really care anymore. He wants to Unlock him? Then he should go ahead and do just that. He didn’t fully admit it to himself yet, but what happened earlier today had changed something in him, and changed it drastically. The fact that Stratos didn’t even hesitate before he was about to hurt or even kill him without as much as asking, made him realize just how much more Stratos meant to him than he did to Stratos. If he hoped for something before, if he hoped to be able to somehow turn everything around, to get Stratos back, to win this maddening competition, now he knew better. There was no competition – he knew that with brutal clarity. He thought that would tear him apart, but it made him feel strangely indifferent instead. He touched the card with Max’s phone number on it one more time and drank more coffee.

“Oh...” Stratos said and blinked several times. Leon thought that he looked slightly disappointed. “We are taking it off Sunday evening,” he said a minute later, and Leon slightly narrowed his eyes.

“This Sunday?” he asked.

“Yes,” Stratos nodded and picked up his cup again. “I called Katherine, since I figured she’d know at least one person to be able to do it...”

“Of course, she would!” Leon snorted at that.

“Yeah, well...” Stratos continued a few seconds later. “She did... Of course,” he nodded at Leon’s expression. “And you will never guess who it is!”

“Who is it?” Leon sighed after Stratos stopped talking, clearly expecting him to start guessing.

“Julian Salamander,” Stratos said in a low voice, and now, it was Leon’s turn to put down his cup.

“No shit,” he finally said, and Stratos gave him a slow nod. “Huh...” Leon picked up his cup again. “So she managed to talk Salamander into Unlocking your kelari... Why him?” he muttered mostly to himself, and then shrugged. “Have fun with that,” he said and took another sip of his coffee. “This coffee tastes like crap, by the way,” he said a second later, and Stratos sighed.

“I know,” he said. “Look, about what happened today...”

“I am not talking about it right now,” Leon interrupted him and stood up, leaving the cup on the counter. “Maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after, maybe next year, but not right now. The only thing I am doing right now is going to bed, so good night!”

Stratos looked like he was about to say something, but at the last minute, he changed his mind.

“Night,” he said quietly, and Leon went away without saying anything else.

...Right before he fell asleep, Leon reached for his pants that he tossed on the floor next to the bed, and pulled out his membership card from one of the pockets. He looked at it for a minute or two, and then sighed, put it on the bedside table right underneath his phone, and turned off the light by the bed. Maybe he’ll call him tomorrow, he thought, and closed his eyes. Maybe he will, or maybe not... He’ll figure it out in the morning.

That night he dreamt of Stratos – nothing new there; would happen rather often – but this time, the dream was a little different. In this dream, Stratos’ eyes weren’t bright-blue – they were very light, pale shade of grey, and they seemed completely bottomless, making Leon feel like he was drowning in them. He was drowning, and it felt exquisite.

****  

When he woke up, the room was brightly lit. He slightly frowned at that – it was the first week of January, and it wouldn’t get this sunny until late morning. Right now, he felt like it was no later than nine, however. He propped himself on one elbow and looked at the clock by the bed. Then his expression became dumbfounded.

“Noon...?” he muttered, and grabbed his phone, wondering whether the clock was broken.

The phone informed him that the clock was just fine, and he slowly sat up on the bed, letting the blanket to slide down to his waist. He didn’t go to bed that late last night, and he didn’t drink that much either to stay asleep for so long. Then he sighed. He did have a hell of an afternoon, though, and later in the evening, he did have an even bigger hell of a very sweet encounter – a kind that hadn’t happened to him in a long time.

Speaking of that sweet encounter... “I will talk to you in the morning,” he remembered himself saying, and let out a quiet curse. He sat still for a few minutes, frowning at the card on the bedside table, mindlessly turning the phone back and forth in his hand. Finally, he frowned deeper, reached for the card, and straightened up.

He slowly punched in the number, and hesitated before hitting the Call button. Then he hit it and pressed the phone against his ear, the same deep frown still twisting his eyebrows together. He almost cursed again when there was no answer (“Well, it’s not morning anymore... Guess he figured it was your message...”), and was about to turn the phone off, when all of a sudden, there was a soft ‘Click!’ and he blinked when he heard a cautious:

“Hello...?”

Nope, wasn’t a voicemail, he thought a second later, and his frown smoothed out.

“Hey,” he said, trying to sound casual. He had no idea whether it worked or not. “I know I said I’d call in the morning, but...” He sighed. “I just woke up...!”

He listened to the silence for almost half-minute, and right when he was about to say his name, there was a slow and soft:

“Leo...”

Leo...? Seriously...? Nobody ever called him ‘Leo.’ Not even Stratos. He narrowed his eyes when he couldn’t figure out whether he liked it or not.

“Yeah,” he said in the same hopefully-casual manner. “I didn’t wake you up, did I?” he lowered his voice, and there was a quiet laughter on the other end of the line.

“No... No, you didn’t. I got up a couple of hours ago... You called...” The voice said after a slight pause, its intonation almost bewildered, and Leon sighed and got out of bed.

“I said I would, didn’t I?” he asked seriously and pushed away a sudden image of him dropping the card on the ground.

“You did,” Max agreed with him in the same soft manner.

Leon walked into the bathroom and turned on the lights.

“Have you had breakfast yet?” he asked and critically looked at himself in the mirror. What he saw satisfied him – he hasn’t gained any weight, was in the same excellent shape as he was four years ago (even though he rarely worked out), his hair was just the right length without a need of a haircut, and his eyes weren’t bloodshot as he was afraid.

“Sort of,” Max was saying meanwhile. “I don’t eat much in the morning... Usually pig out in the evening...”

Leon hemmed at that.

“Wanna have coffee?” he asked and turned around, looking backwards, checking out his own ass. His ass looked good and he turned on the water in the shower.

“I love coffee,” Max said a few seconds later, and Leon nodded at that.

“Me too,” he said. “And coffee they provide here tastes like one of the worst crimes against humanity...”

Max laughed at that. Leon thought that now he sounded relieved.

“I’m gonna take a quick shower, and then I’ll be on my way,” he continued. “Tell me your address.”

“Uh...” Max said, and Leon quietly snorted when he heard it. “Address...? Why?”

“Because,” Leon answered seriously. “I want to pick you up.”

“You don’t have to do that... We could just meet at the coffee shop or...”

“I know we could,” Leon interrupted him. “But I want to pick you up...” He paused and grabbed a towel, putting it closer to the shower. “I have an agenda,” he finished a few seconds later.

“Oh...” Now Max sounded thoughtful. “All right, you have a pen?”

“Don’t need one,” Leon leaned on the sink counter, which immediately brought some good memories. “I’ll remember.”

“Oh...” Max said again. “Okay, the address is...”

Leon listened with a small ‘downloading-to-memory-hard-drive’ frown, and nodded slowly when Max finished talking.

“Got it,” he said with another nod. He glanced at the clock through the open door of the bathroom. “I’ll be there just a little after one,” he said quickly and walked closer to the shower, checking out the warmth of the water. It felt just right. “Want to grab a quick lunch also?” he asked and let out a smile when he heard a slow, somewhat hesitant:

“Sure...”

“All right then,” he said. “See you in a bit.”

He turned off the phone, put it next to the sink, and stepped into the shower.

On his way out, he stopped by Stratos’ room and impatiently knocked on the door. He knocked again, louder, when there was no answer.

“Open up, Gregorio...” he muttered, and was about to knock again when the door finally opened. “Hey,” he said quickly, completely ignoring Stratos’ wild hair and lack of shirt. Right now it didn’t matter. “I am going to go and grab a bite to eat...”

“I don’t...” Stratos started saying, but Leon couldn’t care less about what he wanted to say.

“...so I will meet you in the hall,” he continued without even slowing down, and Stratos blinked at that and slightly narrowed his eyes. “What time do you think you’ll head over there?”

“In an hour or two,” Stratos said slowly without looking away from Leon’s face. “You okay?”

“Peachy,” Leon nodded. “Later!”

He walked away without waiting for a reply, and then stopped, smacked himself on the forehead, and quickly turned around.

“I need your car keys,” he said loudly, and the door that was almost closed, swung open again. “I need your car keys,” he said again when he saw Stratos’ puzzled frown. “Stratos, I’m in a hurry...!” he said impatiently when the musician wouldn’t say anything. He sighed. “May I please have your car keys?” he said a bit quieter, and Stratos blinked.

“Err... Sure,” he muttered and reached for something behind the door. A minute later, he handed Leon a set of keys.

“Thanks,” Leon grabbed it out of his hand. “I’ll refill the tank. Later!”

Stratos opened his mouth, about to say something, but Leon was already by the stairs. He closed his mouth, shrugged, and shut the door.

****

“This is not bad,” Leon said half an hour later, looking around the studio apartment with curiosity. “You rented it?” He looked at Max and slightly frowned at something, his expression thoughtful. “Just for several days?”

“Mmm...” Max shook his head and glanced around as if looking for something. “The magazine did... Actually, they own it,” he nodded and slightly frowned. “Where the hell did I leave my keys?” he muttered, staring at the table and clearly trying to remember.

“Max, there is something I want to say,” Leon said suddenly, and Max blinked and looked at him.

There really was something Leon wanted to say. He thought about it the entire time he was in the shower, and then thought some more while he was driving here. He looked into the pale eyes, noting wary cautiousness. Max looked like someone who was expecting to hear something unpleasant.

“I...” Leon started saying slowly, and then he sighed. “I feel...” He hesitated for several seconds. “I feel good about this,” he finally said in the same slow manner. “I feel good about this and I don’t want to fuck it up...” He continued without looking away from the pale eyes. “I guess what I am trying to say is...” He thought for a second. “Let’s take things slowly,” he nodded finally.

Max looked at him without saying anything for almost thirty seconds, and just as Leon was about to ask him if he did manage to fuck it up somehow, he let out a smile and quietly said:

“I like that.”

“Good...” Leon nodded and let out a smile of his own, feeling strangely relieved. He wasn’t lying – he did feel good about this. Good and... Hopeful...? He almost shook his head when a sudden image of Stratos flashed in his head. It was the same image as the one in his dream – his eyes weren’t blue but pale-grey instead. He liked pale-grey. “Are those your keys?” he asked quickly when he noticed a set of keys right next to the TV set, and Max blinked and turned his head.

“Ah...” he said with satisfaction and quickly walked towards the TV. “Knew they were here somewhere,” he muttered after he grabbed the keys and put them in his pocket. “So...” he said when he walked closer to Leon. “Coffee...?”

“Yeah...” Leon nodded and reached for something in Max’s hair. “You’ve got something there...” he muttered and pulled out a small, white, thread-looking thing.

“Lint,” Max sighed when he saw it. “I have lint problem... One of the reasons I hate doing laundry...”

Leon laughed and dropped lint on the floor. Then he realized that his hand was still lingering near the chestnut colored hair. Then he realized that his face somehow ended up next to that hair, and that he found the scent of it quite pleasant. Then he realized that he wasn’t simply inhaling the scent, but his lips were actually sliding down the warm temple, and his fingers were now buried in the dark strands.

Max’s breathing became slightly faster and shorter, and he turned his head, about to say something, but as soon as he opened his mouth, his tongue darted forward, and a few seconds later, he found himself tracing those lips, and soon enough, both of them were fully immersed into each other’s mouths, while their hands started working on taking off their clothes.

This time, the kiss wasn’t hard or forceful in the slightest – it was deep, slow, and sensual. They started slowly walking towards the bedroom, and by the time they got to the bed, they weren’t confined by their clothes anymore.

...“Well...” Leon said an hour and a half or so later. “Technically, we did take it slow...”

“Yeah, we did...” Max agreed with him, his eyes half-closed. “And holy hell, it was good...!”

“It was amazing...” Leon muttered, still feeling a sweet echo resonating inside him.

“Uh...” Max sighed suddenly, and Leon opened his eyes and looked at him.

“What?” he asked with a small frown, and Max sighed again.

“Uh... Right now I am lying on one hell of a big wet spot,” he said in a low voice. “And it gets colder by the second,” he finished with a small grimace.

Leon snorted at that.

“Come here...” he muttered and pulled Max closer to himself, locking his arms around the glowing body.

Max let out a quick, satisfied sigh, wrapped his arm around Leon’s waist, and rested his head on the other man’s chest. They lay still for several minutes without saying anything, feeling each other’s heartbeats, and realizing that they strangely matched. Finally, Leon unlocked the circle of his arms and slightly shifted on the bed, making Max’s head to slide towards his shoulder.

“You are a screamer,” he said quietly, and Max opened his eyes and looked at him.

“Mmm... You are a moaner...” he said with a small smile, and his ears started glowing pink.

“With you I am,” Leon agreed with him in the same quiet voice. “I haven’t been too vocal before...”

“Not even with the one you expected to see last night?” Max asked without looking away, his expression suddenly serious, and Leon looked at him silently for several seconds.

“Not even with him,” he finally said. Then he sighed. “I didn’t actually expect to see him,” he said slowly. “Was more of a knee-jerk reaction... Like a bad habit...”

Max looked at him without saying anything, his expression serious, and then suddenly, he smiled again.

“You know...” he said in a low voice. “That membership card was just an excuse... I knew that you didn’t forget it...”

“I kind of figured that,” Leon nodded and propped himself on one elbow, making Max to slide on the pillows. “I am very intuitive,” he said seriously and leaned closer. “Plus...” he added a second later and slowly ran his tongue on the side of Max’s throat. “Your blushing kinda gave it away...”

He started placing slow, light kisses on the neck in front of him, and Max slightly raised his head, giving those lips a much better access while burying his fingers into Leon’s messed up by now hair.

“Leo...” he breathed a minute later, and Leon brought kisses to a sudden stop.

“Nobody ever called me that before...” he said quietly, and Max opened his eyes and looked at him.

“You want me to stop calling you that then?” he asked carefully, and Leon seemed thoughtful for a couple of seconds.

“No,” he finally said, and then smiled and leaned closer again. “No... Don’t stop... I like it...”

“Leo...”

The pace of the kisses started picking up intensity and speed, when all of a sudden, there was a light, merry melody ringing through the air. Leon let out a low, frustrated growl and pulled away from Max’s throat.

“It’s Stratos...” he muttered when he caught a look in the pale eyes. “His concert is tomorrow night, and since I am his manager...” He reached for his pants that he dropped on the floor next to the bed. “...I’d better answer that,” he finished gloomily, and finally, fished his phone out of one of the pants’ pockets. “What?” he asked impatiently after he pressed the phone against his ear.

“When are you coming back?” Stratos sounded equally impatient.

“Why?” Leon frowned.

“Because I need to rehearse,” Stratos answered a little louder, and Leon rolled his eyes.

“You want me to hold your hand while you are doing that?” he asked with a hint of annoyance. “Do it by yourself...! Make your kelari to stand next to the piano,” he added a second later, and Stratos let out an irritable sigh.

“I don’t need you to hold my hand,” he said with restraint. “You have my keys!”

“Oh, for the love of...” Leon briefly closed his eyes. “Just walk there! It’s ten minutes away from the damn hotel...!”

Stratos let out another sigh, and this one was louder and more irritated than the one before.

“You have my keys...” he said slowly. “...including the hall key!”

Leon closed his eyes again, but this time, for a different reason. “Son of a bitch,” he thought.

“I’ll be there in forty minutes,” he said in a defeated tone of voice and opened his eyes. “Care if I am not alone?” He glanced at Max, catching a surprised look in the pale eyes.

“Who are you with?” Stratos sounded like he was frowning.

“A person,” Leon answered with a sudden jolt of irritation. Also, he thought, it’s none of your goddamn business!

“I don’t care,” Stratos’ frown was replaced with annoyed impatience. “As long as I can work in peace, it’s all good. So move it...!”

“Be there in forty minutes,” Leon said gloomily, and the phone suddenly clicked dead.

He sighed and sat up on the bed.

“I have his damn keys,” he grumbled and reached for his pants again. “Come on,” he sighed and got off the bed. “I am not leaving you,” he glanced at Max, whose expression was curious. “I’ll give him the key, and then we’ll go and finally have coffee...” He nodded, and Max smiled and silently got out of bed.

They were almost fully dressed when Leon thought of something.

“If he comes off like an ass, just ignore it,” he said quickly, and Max blinked at that. “He gets that way before the performance... He is not that bitchy normally.”

“Bitchy I can handle,” Max said seriously, and Leon nodded and patted his pockets, making sure he had his phone and keys. (“Goddamn keys...!”)

When they got into the car, finally leaving the apartment, it was almost 3:30 in the afternoon.