More Than Nothing - 5. Masquerade

The masquerade party is wild and so intense. Jasper doesn’t know what he’s doing here, but with a mask on, he is enjoying the freedom of blending into the party unnoticed.

“Hey. You’re here to see Ryan, right?” The guy behind the bar asks with a cheeky grin as he pours Jasper’s drink. “He’s upstairs dancing tonight.”

Jasper tries to act uninterested, but the minute the bartender turns his attention away, he is making his way upstairs.

He’s shocked by what he finds on the top floor. There’s porn playing on screens around the room, which is clearly doing it’s job because there are numerous guys hooking up with absolutely no concerns for who is watching them. Nothing but masks on. It’s intense to be in the room and yet everywhere he looks there is someone getting head at the very least. Jasper feels himself becoming very anxious as he wonders what he’s supposed to do. He can’t move, his feet feel glued to the spot, but he’s desperately trying to not look, or linger his gaze on anyone who might come over and start talking to him.

A hand touches his shoulder and Jasper spins around quickly, ready to start talking his way out whatever they wanted.

“It’s you, ‘help me escape the gay bar without being seen because I’m not gay’ guy isn’t it?” The familiar voice is peaceful and makes Jasper relax somewhat, until he realizes the gay who’d kissed, licked and bitten at his neck against a wall and left him aching with a boner he didn’t know what to do with, is here in nothing but a bowtie, underwear and more body glitter than ever before. Maybe some of it is glistening sweat, either way his gaze has certainly been on him too long. “You okay? Probably shouldn’t be up here if you’re not ready for this kind of thing.”

“You’re the one who invited me to this thing.” Jasper replies quickly.

“Invited you?” Ryan frowns, then gives a subtle smile. “How about we head downstairs where there’s less voyeurism,” he suggests.

“No, I’m going. This is not...Me.” Jasper says, turning around right as someone walking towards him, holds up a penis shaped object, out of which glitter explodes like an ejaculation all over Jasper’s face. He turns back to Ryan who is really trying not to laugh.

“Are you okay?” he asks, through a stifled laugh.

“I’m overwhelmed. There’s naked men everywhere and there’s glitter in my eyes.” Jasper says annoyed.

“Yeah, glitter in the eyes is not fun. Come on, lets get you cleaned up.” Ryan takes Jasper’s hand and leads him towards the stairs. His eyes stinging, Jasper lets Ryan lead him until the noise is fading away.

“Where are we going?” Jasper asks.

“Staff bathroom,” Ryan answers.

“What? Why?” Jasper asks, panicking about why Ryan is taking him somewhere so private.

“Better lighting.”

Ryan isn’t lying, the moment Jasper opens his eyes he feels like he’s going blind. Jasper is standing against the sink, with Ryan carefully wiping damp paper towel along his eyelids.

“Stop blinking so much,” Ryan says with a laugh.

“I can’t help it,” Jasper laughs. Ryan’s thumb sweeps at the corner of Jasper’s eye and he blows gently. “What are you doing?”

“I think I’ve got it. Now you can blink.”

Ryan steps back and Jasper misses the intimacy of his touch. He blinks a few times, and his eyes feel much better. “Pretty sure there’s still glitter in there,” he lies.

“Okay,” Ryan closes the gap between them and Jasper’s breath hitches at the way Ryan’s body presses against his. “I can’t see anything else in there.”

Jasper gulps as Ryan steps back again. Jasper turns around and looks at himself in the mirror, shocked by the glitter covering his face. “Oh god,” he gasps. “I cannot go home like this. I look... oh my god.”

“You look beautiful,” Ryan breathes.

Jasper glances at Ryan in the mirror. There’s admiration in his eyes as their gaze meets. Ryan’s lips twist into a soft smile that Jasper finds himself desperately wanting to feel against his. He forces himself to look away.

“What’s wrong?” Ryan asks.

“I can’t be seen like this.” Jasper closes his eyes as a tear slips down his cheek. “I look...”

Ryan’s hand softly touches his shoulder. “It’s just glitter.”

“It’s not just glitter,” Jasper shakes his head. “But it would really help if I didn’t have a face full of glitter I cannot explain away.”

“Most of it will wash off in the shower,” Ryan offers.

“I’ve got to get to the shower without being noticed, first.”

“Guessing you don’t live alone?”

“No. And if my best friend sees this, he’ll have a field day.”

“Do you want to shower at mine?” Ryan offers.

“No,” Jasper says quickly.

“Okay.” Ryan steps back and Jasper turns around to face him.

“Just showering on my own, right? You’re not trying to hook-up with me?” Jasper asks.

Ryan laughs. “I’m just offering my shower. I’ve gotta get back to work, but if you want to come to mine, you’ll have to hang around. So, I’ll see you after work?”

“Okay,” Jasper nods, not sure why he’s agreeing like this. He follows Ryan out in a daze, heading to the bar to kill time.

“Oh my god, now you look the part,” the bartender greets Jasper. “Were you guys hooking up? Good for you!”

“We weren’t,” Jasper says quickly.

“Oh. Guess I don’t need to apologize for the dick-breath then.”

“What?”

“He and I hooked up before the shift. I thought if you guys made out after he’d blown me, I should apologize,” the bartender smiles as he slides a drink to Jasper.

“I didn’t order anything.” Jasper says, flustered.

“Babe, you walk around looking that cute, and guys will buy you drinks,” the bartender winks and moves onto the next person, leaving Jasper to look around the bar to see who could have possibly brought him a drink, but as time goes on and nobody makes a move on him, he’s surprised that he’s kinda disappointed.

Finally the night is coming to an end, and Ryan turns up. He smiles at Jasper with a softness that warms Jasper.

“Want a drink before I close the bar down, babe?” the bartender asks Ryan, batting his eyelashes.

“No, I’m good.” Ryan shakes his head and turns to Jasper. “You’re still here.”

“Yeah.” Jasper nods, so ready to get the hell out of this place, shower and bed. Part of him is considering crashing at Ryan’s. He’s too exhausted to even consider going all the way to Ryan’s place, just to have to go home again.

“I’ll get my things and be right back,” Ryan says before heading to the staff room.

“Ooh, you’re going back to his place? How exciting!” The bartender leans against the bar with a smirk. “Hopefully he does that thing with his tongue on your ass. Fucking bliss.”

Jasper looks away from him, not sure how he’s supposed to respond to that statement, but he barely gets a chance before Ryan is walking back over to him.

“Ready to go?” Ryan asks.

“Yes. Get me out of here.” Jasper says, getting up from the stool and walking basically rushing from the room.

“Oh, hey Ryan, before you leave.” Damien calls out before Ryan follows him out.

“Not in the mood Damien.”

“Have you heard about that band The Obsolete?” Damien asks.

Ryan gives an impassive shrug, paying no attention to him.

“Well turns out one of their singers is getting married to his long-term girlfriend from church.”

“Damien, you know I don’t care about celebrity gossip. Stop stalling me, it’s pathetic.” Ryan turns and walks out after the cute glitter covered man who he’s promised a shower to.

Jasper stands against the wall of the club, looking nervous and stupidly cute with the glitter dancing off his cheeks. It’s a sight Ryan wishes he could pause and enjoy. But right now, Ryan has to take him away so he can wash away the most real thing about him. Despite how uncomfortable he’d looked in the club, the moment they shared alone in the bathroom had been so sweet and intimate that Ryan wants nothing more than to embrace that.

Truthfully, all he’d wanted was to kiss him. Those shy eyes looking at him with so much trust. Not to mention the clear bulge in his pants as Ryan had pressed against him. It’d taken all his self-control to not push for anything further. He could almost taste how much Jasper wanted it, but seeing how worried Jasper had been to see his own face in the mirror reminded Ryan that he can’t rush someone through their journey.

Ryan can’t help but notice that Jasper’s head is down the entire walk to his house. As they arrive, Ryan lets Jasper in first. He leads him upstairs and hands him a towel as he flicks on the light to the bathroom. Ryan sits on his bed and waits for Jasper to come back out so he can take him home.

**** 

A knock on the door wakes Ryan. The sun is up, and he’s asleep in his work clothes, hair still full of spray and glitter. He gets up, looking over at his empty bed. The last thing he remembered was hearing the shower running, and he must have drifted to sleep.

Ryan makes his way downstairs where he finds his mom, Jules, is making him breakfast.

“Morning darling.” She calls out, turning around with a smile on her face. “We need to talk.”

“Everything okay?” Ryan asks.

“I may have accidentally yelled at your new partner. I thought Damien was here.”

Ryan stares at his mom surprised. “Oh my god mom. When did you see him?”

“He was asleep on the couch. I woke him up to make him leave. Then when I realized he wasn’t Damien, I offered to drive him home. I have to say, he is a beautiful, polite young man. I’m so happy for you.” Ryan’s mom’s enthusiasm is too much for him this morning. Ryan hangs his head against the kitchen bench.

“Mom. Jasper is not my partner. He came here to wash the glitter off his face so nobody would find out he’d been at a gay bar last night.”

“Well. He’s more than welcome to hide out here any time he needs to,” Jules says with a shrug.

Ryan smiles at the thought. “If he ever braves the bar again, I’ll let him know.”

Jules slips a piece of paper towards Ryan.

“What’s this?” Ryan asks.

“I guess this was in case he’s not ready to brave the bar again.” Jules smiles, sipping at her coffee.

Ryan unfolds the paper. “Mom, did you make him leave his phone number?”

“No. I found this on the coffee table when I got home,” Jules grins. “Go on, text him. If he’s not comfortable at a gay bar, maybe see where he would be comfortable.”

Ryan can't wipe the smile off is face as he takes out his phone, adding the new phone number and sending a quick text, hoping to hell he'd not been given a decoy number.