"Well. I'm happy I invited you, as always." John says in his normal gregarious way, walking towards Eddy with his hand outstretched. "You sounded very good. Maybe you should think about making this quartet a regular thing."
Please look at Ian too. he wills as he smiles his thanks at John, then nods once as John does.
Good.
He wishes he could talk to John, tell him to compliment Ian or something. He's absolutely positive that John thinks highly of Ian. Of course he does, why wouldn't he? He's also absolutely positive Ian doesn't know it. But he can't meddle like that, of course. Ian definitely wouldn't want him to. So he watches in silence as John shakes hands and walks off to talk to someone else.
There are other people around them, clearly wanting to talk to them, but Eddy is pointedly staring at Brett.
Wait, what?
Brett's been quiet, today. Wait. Is there a problem between them or something? Brett looks back with his soberest stare and before Todd knows it they are walking off to somewhere backstage.
Shit.
Are they okay?
Automatically he takes over from Eddy, shaking hands, responding to the occasional hug, muttering platitudes and words of thanks, dishing out compliments to orchestra members, but all the while his heart is in his throat.
Have they had an argument? It's not like them at all. In fact, he can't ever remember them arguing. Which would be weird for anyone apart from those boys, who are just too adorable for their own good. He smiles at the bassoon who has started a whole monologue about something he's not quite following, but all the while his eyes are going past the guy's face to the hallway, willing his friends to come back. What the fuck is going on back there?
Just as he is deciding fuck it, he's going to go check on them, it hits him. Wait. Oh, wait. This is about Eddy bottoming, isn't it? Of course it is. It must be. Just as the relief starts flooding him he sees the boys coming back in and he can't help his grin.
See? Adorable. Two boys, both flushed, both looking so relieved, their eyes glittering.
Yep. That's exactly what it was about.
He shakes his head in slight amusement and focuses back on the conversation with the bassoon.
It's show time before he knows it. Ian has been okay, really, through the afternoon, through dinner. At least he thinks so, but he's making sure to stay close to him anyway. He really doesn't need a repeat of what happened at lunch, for either of them. And finally, now that they are getting ready again, for the first time he himself is feeling excited too. The first concert went well. This next one will just be for them to enjoy, right? He takes a deep breath and tries to drink it all in.
Look. He's in Taiwan, right now. He's here with his friends, with his love, they've all worked hard for this and now they're about to go on stage again to play the most beautiful quartet in the world. Well, in his humble opinion, anyway. So he absolutely needs to make the most out of this moment before it goes away and never comes back. He's the first one out of the dressing room, walking through the building with a smile and back into the concrete hallway where they wait.Okay, so this concert lark is all great and stuff, but to be honest he's starting to look more forward to after, by this point. He has Ian in his arms again, whispering sweet nothings in his ear, keeping him calm. It's not keeping himself calm, though, because he can feel his excitement mounting. God, how he wishes they had a little time to themselves, just so he could go down on him. He's sure Ian would return the favour happily. He clears his throat and tries not to get hard. He only half succeeds, especially when Ian's cheek colour in return.
He's feeling it too.
Oh, he could so easily kiss him now, lose himself, but come on. He has more self control than that, no? So he lets go of Ian with nothing but a sly smirk and he takes a deep breath as the applause comes through the door. Then he grabs his cello and smiles around the quartet.
He loves this moment, this moment of walking on stage to roaring applause, nothing but smiling faces in the hall, the lights bright in his face. He sits down on his seat and drinks it in before the moment goes away. This is why they practise, why they study, why they do what they do.
He's going to enjoy every second of this.
YOU ARE READING
Con Brio: Todd and Ian's story
FanfictionHi there and welcome to another episode of Avdk80 writes Breddy! By *very* popular demand, Author-san's got your back: here is the next installment in the Andante-verse: Todd and Ian's story! It will be a sweet little story, with lots of sexual ten...